OCD or why Minuette wants to strangle Flitter

Minuette packed, quietly and sternly, almost somberly. To the unaware watcher, Minuette was simply preparing herself for a trip. However, to whoever knew the full story, Minuette was preparing herself to sleep, for probably an entire week, in the house of the pegasi that, ironically, destroyed hers.

"Are you sure you have to take all this?" Octavia asked. Minuette was packing alright, but not the usual things a pony would pack, like a book or the occasional pajama. Minuette was packing two cases. One with papers and designs, the other with many building pieces, along with screwdrivers, hammer, rulers, etc. All in all, it looked more like she was going to a far away workshop than a house that was right around the corner.

"House or no house, I still have a lot of work. If I'm going to have to sleep outside, then I will just continue there." Minuette locked the case with the tools and building parts.

"But can't you work here? You don't have to carry all that stuff around."

"Unfortunately, I have to. I really do have many things to do, and I just can't concentrate with ponies going in and out while they fix the house."

Octavia looked at the bed. It could barely be called a bed at this point, what with holes and cuts all over it. It would probably just rip apart if somepony did so much as sit on it. The rest of the room was no better. Minuette had already pulled all the pieces of clock that were still useable, adding them to the things she was taking with her. However, she had ripped many parts of the wall in the process, making the whole damage worse.

"Flitter and Cloudchaser are preparing their a room for me in their house. They should be done by now." Minuette closed the second case. "Or at least, they should be if they followed the schedule I gave them."

"You gave them a schedule?" Octavia asked. "Why?"

"I like to be on time. I also like the ponies around me to be on time as well. I told them I would be arriving at midday. I plan to do just that." Minuette placed a key around her neck.

"Well, I'm going to go home and practice now. Call me if anything happens." Octavia said before leaving. Minuette promptly closed her house and locked the door.

"And then she tells me to take it easy..."

Birds flied, sun shined, grass grew and Minuette was not happy. Understandable, since her sleeping place was destroyed. However, the walk to the house of the twins had calmed her down a little. Sure she was upset, but it had been an accident. A very dumb and avoidable accident, but and accident in the end. It would be useless to stay angry.

"Why in world would a family of pegasi live on the ground?" she asked herself. The house of the twins was a lot bigger than expected. A lot bigger than what two ponies would really need. It even had a second floor!

"Minuette!"

Minuette looked up. Flitter descended from the sky and landed right in front of her. She was smiling, a sharp contrast to what Minuette expected.

"You need help with the bags? I can carry them. One. I can carry one. Can I carry one?"

"No thanks Flitter. I can manage." Minuette sighed.

Minuette followed Flitter into the house. The inside was just as big as the outside suggested. A large main room that was connected to the kitchen, the dinning room, a bathroom and a set of stairs. The room itself had a couple of couches and a small table. Quite a friendly place actually. There was a small bronze sun hanging above the door.

"Like it?" Flitter asked.

"All this stuff. How do you pay for it?"

"Cloudchaser and I do small works here and there, though Thunderlane pays most of the bills. He's a team leader in the weather management."

Before either Minuette or Flitter could say anything else, a pegasus foal flew through the window. He was, like Flitter and Cloduchaser, gray, with sliced back mane.

"Hey Rumble. Whats up?" Flitter asked.

"Flitter, Thunderlane sais that lunch is in two hours at the table...who are you?" he asked sharply, catching Minuette by surprise.

"This is Minuette, the friend I told you about." Flitter answered. Minuette could swear that Rumble was trying to pierce her head with his sight.

"Right. Friend. Anyways, Thunderlane says that lunch is in two hours. Cloudchaser will help me set the table."

And without another word or wait for an answer, Rumble flew out the same window he flew in. Minuette was about to ask Flitter about it, but she beat her to it.

"Sorry about that. He's a little miffed because you're taking his room."

"Where is he going to sleep then?"

"With Thunderlane."

Flitter took Minnuete on a tour of the rest of the house. Just as the first floor entrance, the entire place was designed for a family. The kitchen, the dining room were big enough for the four inhabitants of the house and the bathroom had no shower, signifying that it was for guests.

The second floor was pretty much like the first. One family room that was connected to three bedrooms, plus a bathroom.

"You share your room with Cloudchaser?" Minuette asked. Flitter nodded before leading to the room she assumed was Rumble's and, for now, her's. It wasn't very big and, like most male rooms, very empty, except for a couple of things, like a small bronze sun that hung above the bed and a working bed that was used for homework.

Since she planned on finishing her designs, that suited her just fine. Distractions were the last thing she wanted right now. In fact, as soon as they entered the room, Minuette started unpacking her work sheets and drawing tools.

"Uh, you don't want to see the rest of the house?" Flitter asked.

"No need to. I've got everything I need right here." Minuette placed the second case under the table, ready for immediate use if necessary. In just a few seconds, the table had gone from the bare nakedness of a kid's homework place to an adults work space. The change was rather jarring, considering the amount of materials that Minuette placed.

"I don't need any help." She said before Flitter could even open her mouth. "I'm sure."

"Oh. Okay then. I will go help Thunderlane with lunch then."

And with that, Minuette was left alone with her work. Since she couldn't start on her clocks yet, she decided to star fixing the designs on paper. Time went on while she worked. Yesterday's events were starting to fade from her mind. She liked work. It helped her take her minds of things. No distractions, no interruptions, no-

"Hey Minuette! You're all settled now?" Cloudchaser asked from a window. The sudden question made Minuette force too much magic into her pencil, ripping the page apart.

"You ripped your paper." Cloudchaser said. Minuette groaned, magically throwing the paper in the garbage din.

"And I'm also working, so please...?" she said.

"Please what?"

"I think I'm beginning to understand why Octavia was so frustrated with Cloudchaser when she first came to Ponyville..." Minuette thought. "Cloudchaser. I am working right now and would like to keep working. So if you could please leave me alone for a while?"

"Okay!" Cloudchaser grineed before flying away. Minuette sighed before pulling out a blank sheet of paper, immediately working in a new project. It would barely be twenty minutes before the door opened, revealing Flitter.

"Hey Minuette! What do you want for lunch?" she asked. Minuette took a deep breath, trying to contain her irritation. She turned around slowly.

"Whatever is easiest to make." she grumbled in answer. Flitter nodded and left, closing the door behind her. Minuette sighed again. With all this interruptions, it would be a miracle if she actually managed to start any designing, let alone building.

However, this time she was left in peace. At least for a while. She finished her first design. The another. Then a third one. The another one. After nearly an hour working, she had finished fifteen of the sixteen clock designs for her house. All she had to do now was finish the last one and she could star building them.

"Wait a second..." Minuette pulled a single page from her case. It was old, slightly teared and heavily scribbled on, but she didn't care. She only cared for what she was seeing on it. A half made, pony like design, filled with notes and half finished part designs.

"How did this even get here?"

Just her mind was beginning to enter memory lane however, the door blasted open. Minuette hastily hid the old paper within the designs. Flitter stood at the door way, smiling, widely.

"Lunch is served! You better hurry up or it'll be all gone!"

"Right."

Minuette quickly left the room. She didn't want to waste too much time eating, no matter how famished she had become while working. Flitter followed right behind her, or would have, if she hadn't noticed one, tiny, little flaw within the perfection that Minuette called order that was on the desk. Hard not to, considering the near obsessive level of care the unicorn put in it.

A single page stuck out from the stack.

Minuette walked in the the dinning room, where Cloudchaser and Rumble were setting the table. Or at least Rumble was. Cloudchaser was too busy watching a humming bird that was flying between some roses over the window. Rumble was mumbling to himself, but stopped once he saw Minuette entering the dinning room.

"What is for lunch?" she asked.

"Pumpkin stew." A male voice came from the kitchen. Thunderlane placed a tray with the plates full of food. It did smell pretty delicious.

"You must be Minuette." Thunderlane saluted. "Flitter told us all about the accident."

"Yeah...accident..." Minuette thought drily. Cloudchaser sat at the table. To say that she was uncomfortable would be an understatement. Rumble kept shooting glares at her. Thunderlane ate quietly and Cloudchaser was playing with her food. She felt like a blue stain between all the different tones of gray that composed the family.

"Where is Flitter?" Rumble asked.

"Right here!"

Flitter was, for lack of a better word, happy. Completely oblivious to the tension on the air that lingered in the lunch.

"Minuette. The girls told that you are a mechanic." Thunderlane said.

"More like an engineer." Minuette corrected. "A mechanic only fixes stuff. I design, build and manipulate mechanical artifacts."

"So you are mechanic." Rumble said.

"No. An engineer." Minuette repeated with a bit more force. "There's a difference."

"But if both of them do the same thing, like working with mechanics, doesn't that mean that they are pretty much the same thing?" Rumble insisted. Minuette's fork started digging in the food.

"A mechanic doesn't spend years studying in a university." Minuette finished. Rumble looked like he wanted to continue the debate, but a wing slap from Thunderlane on the head stopped him. Most of the lunch went in silence. Flitter was happy chewing away while Cloudchaser was slowly eating her food, more interesting in staring through each bite. While the banteriong with Rumble had pushed some of the tension away, Minuette still felt rather uncomfortable.

In fact, all she wanted was to get back to work.

"What about dessert?" Flitter asked as Minuette tried to excuse herself.

"I would really just like to go back to work. I have a lot of things to do still and I have lost enough time as it is. So, if you excuse me..."

And with that, she left, leaving the four pegasi to their lunch.

"I don't like her." Rumble said.

"You're just saying that because she's in your room." Thunderlane replied. "But she did leave quite abruptly. Does she really have that much work?"

"Minuette...likes to keep herself busy. Very busy in fact." Flitter answered. "We tried to help her a little but..."

"But you wrecked her house." Rumble laughed, earning himself another wing slap.

"It was an accident. Besides, I'm sure that she was grateful...at first at least." Flitter smiled sheepishly. Cloudchaser gulped down one another bite. Loudly at that.

"How long is she going to stay?" Rumble asked.

"Probably for a week. Less if the repair ponies are fast. They should be fairly quick though. Minuette told me that the damage is superficial, if extensive."

"Minuette should relax a little. Its not like the end of the world will show up if she stops working." Cloudchaser said.

"I know." Flitter replied. "Thats I wanted to help her a little:"

Minuette entered her temporary room. She had food in her stomach and a lot of work to keep her busy. Her designs were almost complete. All she had to do was finish the last one and she could get on to actually repairing and building the clocks. The she could start working on some of the ideas she had for the customer that had ordered a few of her inventions. The house would be a delay yes, but at least she could get the designing out of the way. Work was waiting and-

The old paper was gone.

"I'm sure I placed it here..." She though as she flipped through the stack of papers. But it wasn't there. She checked the case, but it wasn't there either. She looked under the bed, under the table, over the window, but tit was nowhere.

Nowhere!

"But I placed it right here! How could it have disappeared like that?! Nopony has been in this room but me and..." She stopped, realization hitting her like a freight train.

"Flitter..." she growled.