Of Gears and Magic

White sighed again. Ticky was going to be like this for a while. "So, Mr Noblepony, can you help me with this fragile minded mare and carry her to her house...room...hole? She's actually heavier than she looks. Must be all the chocolates she begs from me." White laughs and shakes her head. "Honestly, this mare."

Iccy looked between the two. "I-If you n-need, I c-could L-Let you g-guys use m-my house f-for the m-moment... I-I d-don't m-mind..." he said, Gently lifting Ticky with Magic. "I-I've g-got some m-medical s-supplies t-there...

Ticky continued to mumble. Those gongs were still ringing in her head. The numbers still going by. The clock still ticking. She flailed a bit when she was lifted up but quickly retreated to the security of hiding her face behind her mane.

"A charming offer," replied White, brightly, "What do you think, oh bugger it." She reached into a pocket for a piece of chocolate she had scavenged from the kitchens at her work. "Ticky? Open please." She popped the chocolate into her mouth. "This usually works," she explained to Icarus, "But she owes me for this. Had to trade a carton of cigs for a block, these perks are hard to get."

Icarus stared blankly. If Chocolate worked, Why didn't she say so? He could have gotten quite a few bricks up top. A lot of Nobles loved the Treat. "I-I could c-cover f-for it... I-It IS my f-fault, h-having k-kept her b-busy..." He admitted, already patting himself down for his other Bit pouch.

Ticky humbly took the chocolate from White like a foal being spoon fed. The melting of chocolate in her mouth made her calm down to a mere whimper. She opened her eyes and meekly looked around. Despite having calmed down a bit, she still was quiet and rather bothered. But she could probably walk on her own now.

"The stuff only does so much, I'm afraid," White said, looking at the result, "She's still going to need rest. Cousin, Mr Nice Noblepony has graciously offered a place to rest after your little incident." That was what they always called these cases. Incidents. The sort of term you use in a kind of sighing resignation. "I don't know him, but he seems to know you, so is that okay? Just nod or shake your head, that's a good mare."

Icarus kept sitting and shuffling his hooves. Felt a little odd, Being just Feeling out of it.

Ticky nodded to her cousin, not offering any verbal response. She flailed her hooves at the ground, desiring to be let down. The chocolate was nice, but the pain in her mind moments ago still ached. Something she would love but hardly got a hold of, if her cousin allowed it, was alcohol. Sometimes though, she could get some without her sister quipping her about it. Those were peaceful nights.

"All right, I think you can let her down now," White laughed, motioning at Ticky's flailing movements, "You've passed the test, noblepony, and of that I'm glad. The world needs more kind strangers." This was punctuated by a genuine smile. "I've got to ask, though. How did a creator like you-" She pointed to Icarus' wings. "-become aquainted with my cousin? It's not like your social circles are very close."

Icarus shuffled his hooves. "I-It's a l-long s-story... W-When I w-was y-younger, I-I always L-Love e-exploring t-the Tower. A-And... W-Well, One t-time, I-I w-was e-exploring, A-And I m-met T-Ticky. S-Selling f-flowers j-just like t-today." Icarus smiled at the memory. "I-I ended up b-buying one, s-simply because I n-never saw something l-like that b-before."

He then made a face. "B-Besides, I d-don't c-care much about s-social Circles. T-Too closed m-minded."

Ticky was relieved to be on the ground once more. She took a moment to get a breath before following. She began to listen in on them, thinking of when she first met Iccy. She blushed at the memory, and how nervous she was to sell flowers.

She was mostly silent for the exchange of words, not really too sociable in public. She almost couldn't keep herself any farther than a few inches from her cousin everywhere they went, and even less when things got busy. If and when they got to Iccy's house, she would let out a big sigh once inside with the door closed behind her.

"Interesting..." White said thoughtfully, "For many reasons, really. Not many nobles appreciate a flower." A small, sad, smile. "For reasons that only the Councils know." She looked around, carefully looking out for people that might be listening.

"But I probably shouldn't say stuff like that, should I?" she laughed nervously, "You know, 'Progress!' and all that, right?"

Icarus shrugged a little, Giving a little wave to the guards who stood rigid when they passed. Soon, They were inside Icarus' Home, and, with the door shut, all the outside noise dwindled to near nothing.

"H-Here we are... M-My own h-home."

One thing that would be noticeable, besides the noise gone, Is that there were flowers in pots Nearly all over. Every flower was one Icarus bought in the past, except for a few new blooms grown from the older ones.


There was a room that seemed almost sealed off, That had a haphazard "Workroom" sign across it. Off to the distance, a kitchen.

And the house was empty, besides them.

Ticky was relieved to be inside. Her eyes opened up to curiosity was they scanned the collection of flowers. She softly smiled, going up to one of the vases and sniffing one. Her smile began to grow as she saw more. The thought that somepony cared so much about flowers made her feel better in the soul. She was never really big on flowers, only intending to make money, but it gave her a bit more appreciation to see them like this.

She let her eyes gaze about the room freely until they saw it. The clock. She immediately locked in place, terror taking over her. For several moment's she couldn't look away, but with a shriek, she curled up on herself and shut her eyes tight, softly whimpering to herself.

White blinked at the scene, standing stock still. She was freaking out at something else entirely.

"You kept...all the flowers?" she said disbelievingly. "All of them? Really? I don't know whether to be impressed or concerned. So I'm just going to say this; 'Why haven't you asked Ticky out like a normal pony?'"

She was looking around the house for clues of Icarus' personality when Ticky freaked out. Again. She sighed. "Sir, can you please put your clock away? Ticky gets anxious around them, I'm afraid, and she won't calm down like this."

Icarus blushed at the reactions of his own place. Quickly taking the clock and shoving it into a cabinet, he turned around and shuffled his hooves. "I-It l-livens up t-the p-place... H-Helps m-me think." He explained, heading into the kitchen. "E-Everyone's f-focused on machines... I-It helps a l-lot, having s-something... G-Green, I-I think." He started making a simple meal, lowering his head. "A-Anything I c-can get you t-two?"

Ticky didn't hear most of what her sister said, or the fact that Iccy dodged the 'date' question. She clutched her head and mumbled incoherently to herself, feeling depressed for being so helpless around other ponies. Trying to push the mental pain and numbers aside, she managed to make some kind of answer to Iccy.

"...Alcy?"

She winced at asking for alcohol. She knew it was taboo, but it did help in the right quantities, along with getting her more out of her shell. Past experiences showed she could be rather pleasent sometimes. Most of the negative habits having not been formed.

White shot a sharp glare. They didn't touch alcohol in their family, but sometimes the drink touched them a little too much. White herself drunk more than she probably should. It was a habit she was trying to shake off, but if one drank, so would she.

"Two small glasses of your weakest drink, please" she said with a huff, "One glass, Ticky. One glass for tonight. The last thing we want is to be dependant on stuff we cannot afford, okay? And kind sir, please don't give Ticky more than that when she's here. It's a guilty pleasure for a very good reason."

Icarus nodded, and blushed sheepishly. "A-All I've got is a f-fairly old bottle of c-champaign... A-About a y-year or t-two. I-Is t-that o-okay?" He asked, already getting down a couple Glasses. He only filled one to start, however.

Ticky was giving her cousin a sad innocent puppy stare as she restricted her volume intake. Champagne was hardly enough a substitute. She whined and bounced on hooves in hoped to convince her otherwise, but the idea of something to drink was too much to ignore. She scampered over to the glass of champaign and drank it down swiftly.

"...More p-please?" She said holding out her glass between both her hooves. One was not enough. A little more couldn't hurt.

White, frozen in mid reach of the glass now snatched had a smile plastered onto her face while the rest of it went to a mixture of despair and irritation.

"No," she said sharply, "One means one, cousin Ticky. If you are calm enough to from a coherent question, you are calm enough not to need more alcohol. Just a glass for me, kind sir. Just to relax the nerves a bit. And don't use that look, cousin. It just makes you look dependent. You know one more wouldn't be enough, and then before you know it, you're dancing on the table singing the Hedgehog song." She blushed faintly. "Not that I've seen anypony do that."

Icarus blinked a little. "W-Well... I-If you s-say so." He said, Pouring another glass for White Woods, Setting the bottle down after he poured it out. Seeing how distressed Ticky was, He had to ask, "A-Anything else I c-can do?"

Ticky giggled a bit to herself. Her cousin would say some of the silliest things. Shala stared at her glass a bit and tried to sip at the last bits a the bottom before looking to the bottle again. She looked like she did want something else, but she wouldn't say. At least not to Iccy.

White drained her glass, then thought for a bit. "Not for me, thanks. I better get home and explain that Ticky is spending time with a friend to her folks. Can't have them panicking and makings foals of themselves."

She turned to Ticky. "Don't drink any more, okay? I really mean it. Don't even try to use the oh so adorable stare on your poor host. And kind sir, I would appreciate it if you didn't give her more. Give inch and take mile, thatsort of thing. Anyways, I must be off. May I see you both soon."

She headed to the door.