'CRACK!'

The clock hit the floor as I chased Angel around the cottage. We both paused and stared at it. Definitely broken. I looked down at Angel. "Now look what you made me do." Angel smiled and hopped off as Fluttershy came down the stairs. "What happened?" I sighed. "I was chasing Angel and knocked the clock off the table. I stepped aside to reveal the busted timepiece. Fluttershy came over and looked at it. "Oh. Well...it's okay. I mean...things happen." I picked the clock up carefully. "Don't worry about it. I'll have it fixed." Shy smiled at me. "So you can fix clocks now?" I chuckled. "I may be a quick learner, but not that quick. I'll take it into town."

I walked down the street with the clock in my saddle bag. I had seen a clock shop around here somewhere before. Now if I could just find it. Ah! There it was. I looked up at the sign:

TIME TURNER'S TIMEPIECES

That was the place. I walked to the door and opened it. A little bell rang as I entered the shop. It was a nice place. There were clocks of all sizes and shapes filling up the shelves and floor. I walked up to he counter. Nopony was there. "Hello?" Nothing. I sighed, the thought of waiting too long beginning to form. Oh well. If I had to wait, I might as well look around.

There were all sorts of clocks in this place! They went from wristwatches to grandfathers. And each one looked different. Had this Time Turner made every one of these by hoof? I began to notice some of the fancier clocks behind the counter. They had small jewels and gold trim. I let loose a whistle.

"Like what you see?"

I turned to find a brown stallion standing at the far end of the counter. Where had he come from? "Um...yeah. They're beautiful." The stallion walked along behind the counter over to me. He stuck out a hoof. "Time Turner." I took his hoof and shook it. "Speedy Quill." His mouth formed a slight smile. "The same Speedy Quill that fought that dragon and lost his leg?" I blinked a few times. He knew me? Of course it was common knowledge about the dragon. Not so much on the leg. "Yeah. That's me. Didn't know I was that well known." He chuckled. "You hear things in town. Word spreads faster than a group of parasprites." We both laughed.

I put my saddle bag down and pulled out the clock. "I was hoping that you could fix this up for me. It's my marefriend's." Time Turner looked the clock over. "Simple design." He picked it up and shook it. It sounded like a foal's rattle. "Internal damage. Not surprising." He set it down and looked back at me. "Should be a quick fix. I'll just take it to the back room and have it ready shortly." He began to walk off with the clock.

I had to admit I was curious about Time Turner. I was rather interested to know more about making clocks. "Hey I was wondering..." I began to pull back when Time Turner looked over his shoulder. "Yes?" I hesitated and then asked. "Could I watch? I like to see how things work." He flashed a smile. "Really?" I shrugged. "I also like to have different hobbies. I'm interested in learning how to make clocks." He turned back to me. "I guess that comes from not having a cutie mark?" I glanced back at my blank flank. He had me there. I looked back at him and smiled.

Time Turner trotted over to the window and looked outside. He then pulled a shade down and flipped his 'Open' sign to 'Closed'. "I've only let a few ponies see my back room before. But I have to admit that there's something about you I like. You want to learn something about timepieces? Right this way." He walked around the counter to a tall, blue cabinet. He opened one of the double-doors and stepped inside. What was he doing? He didn't seriously work in a cabinet did he? He poked his head back out from the door. "Did I mention that it's bigger on the inside?" He motioned for me to follow. I stepped up to the door and looked inside.

Whoa.

He was telling the truth. I had expected a cabinet. I got a room the size of the Apple Family's eastern orchard. And it was filled with clocks, gold, and jewels. I stepped inside. Time Turner closed the door behind me. "What do you think?" My lower jaw decided to hang open. Time Turner chuckled and walked over to a worktable. "Let's see what we can do for this clock, shall we?" I joined him at the table as he took the back of the clock apart and dumped out the loose pieces. He began examining every part and setting it off to the side, little by little emptying the clock of its innards. Soon it was a hollow wood shell.

I looked up at the gold and jewels that were littered through the room. "You earned all of this making clocks." Time Turner laughed. "Of course not. It's a dragon's horde." I looked at him in shock. "You took a dragon's horde?" He nodded as he began to piece the clock back together. "The dragon was dead. He didn't need it anymore." I continued to stare at the clock maker. "Did you kill him." He laughed again. "You crack me up Speedy. I didn't kill him. He was nothing but bones when my father and I found his treasure."

From there Time Turner went on to tell how he had been a young colt when he and his father had fallen into a buried cavern that contained this treasure. Among the treasures were some magical items. One of which was a magic cabinet. "You mean the cabinet we're in right now?" He nodded. "My father and I loaded every last piece of treasure into it and took it home. Surprisingly the cabinet didn't weigh anymore than it had when it was empty. And so I spend my days making clocks for the fun of it. I have more than enough money to live comfortably for the rest of my life." I looked around the room again. "You have all this treasure, but don't use it?" He shrugged. "Why should I? I haven't even used a quarter of the treasure yet. And I don't need nice things." I nodded. I guess that made sense. No use throwing money away on things you didn't need.

I noticed a shelf of clocks off to the side. Every one of them was solid gold and encrusted with multiple jewels, many of them as big as my eye. I walked over to get a closer look. Without looking up from his repair job, Time Turner smiled. "My father made those when we first had the treasure. He melted the gold down into the various gears and casing. Then he added some of the largest jewels in the collection to the design. Just one of those clocks would be enough to buy half of Canterlot." I stared at the clocks for several minutes while Time Turner worked. My eyes fell on one clock in particular. There were three jewels laid into the face of the clock. They were stunning diamonds. For some reason they looked familiar.

Time Turner sat back from the table. "All finished." I walked over to look at his handywork. The clock looked perfect. And it was running. I smiled. "Thank you." He tapped the face. "I hope your marefriend won't mind, but I added a little something to the design." I looked closer. Time Turner had added some thin gold trim and a pink sapphire in the center where the hands connected. I looked up at him. "It's great, but I couldn't afford it." He shook his head. "No extra charge. In fact I don't need payment at all." It was my turn to shake my head. "I refuse to take it without paying you." We locked eyes for a moment. He smiled. "You're not leaving without paying, are you?"

An idea suddenly popped into my head. "How about I pay you with lunch?" Before Time Turner could respond, his stomach grumbled. He chuckled. "I guess I can't say no to a free meal." I slipped the clock into my saddle bag and we walked towards the door. I paused to look at that clock again. The three diamonds sparkled at this angle. And that's when it hit me. I glanced at Time Turner. "That's a beautiful clock. The design, the face, the jewels. So elegant. So...rare. Time Turner froze and looked at me. I gave him a wink. "Let's go grab that lunch." Next Chapter: The Set-Up Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 3 Minutes