The end of another busy day in Ponyville was fast approaching, as evidenced by Celestia's setting sun and the emergence of Luna's moon. As ponies were making their way to their respective homes for the night, two other ponies in cloaks looked to be just entering town as they made their way to the square. Upon arriving, the two sat by the fountain and removed their hoods. The first pony was a a deep red pegasus stallion with a dark gray mane and a cutie mark depicting a sun peeking behind a cluster of clouds. The other one was a larger pegasus stallion with a forest green coat, dark brown mane, and several thundering rainclouds for a cutie mark.
The larger one then observed the town before speaking to his companion. "Cloud Burn, look around this town and tell me what you see."
Cloud Burn did as his partner asked and noted the quiet homes that surrounded them. "Houses, shops, a few ponies walking around. Everything seems pretty hunky-dory here big bro Tempest Tailwind."
"Exactly." Tempest Tailwind took on a look of disdain as he stomped his hoof on the ground. "These ponies have become content. How can they be content when there is pure evil running amok? All of it is right underneath their noses yet they refuse to take any action or even acknowledge its presence!"
Cloud then placed a hoof on his older brother's shoulder before speaking again. "Chill out bro, we'll find what we're looking for and then get rid of it, just like you said. After that, everyone'll thank us and we'll get all the fame and glory. Cool?"
Tempest took a deep breath and sighed before looking to his brother and smiling. "Thank you dear brother, how I long for your optimism and overall calming effect."
Cloud laughed before wholly hugging his brother. "Don't sell yourself short Tempest, you've got some good things about you too. Your drive, passion, and determination are all awesome and they make me wanna help you out as best I can."
Tempest smiled again before looking ahead and seeing a hotel. "Come, we'd best get off our hooves and rest up so that we can find work tomorrow." Cloud nodded and the two then made their way to the hotel and managed to get a room with two beds and a decent view of Ponyville.
"Man I can't wait to head out tomorrow. Wonder if there are any places where I can show my top tinkering skills." Cloud then took out a small hand-made alarm clock and placed it on the night stand between the two beds before climbing into his own.
"Well we'll find that out for ourselves tomorrow little brother. For now, we rest and prepare for what the next day has in store for us." Tempest tucked himself into his own bed before turning out the light, allowing both brothers to fall peacefully asleep.
The sun rose gently over the horizon as Tempest and Cloud woke up rested, relaxed, and ready for the day. They made their way to the lobby where breakfast was being served and went to get something to eat. Tempest got oatmeal and cereal while Cloud decided to make a waffle and side it with scrambled eggs and fried asparagus. Tempest grabbed a newspaper with his wing before joining his brother at their chosen table.
Tempest then scanned the classified section before looking to his brother. "Ah, what good fortune, it seems that the weather team in this town is searching for someone new to join their team. Oh, and it says here that there's a pony who needs help running his little trinket shop. Seems like just the right fit for the both of us, wouldn't you say?"
Cloud took the paper from Tempest and looked at the listings he mentioned. "As long as this owner doesn't mind me 'improving' some of what he sells, I think we're in business big bro."
Tempest smiled as he ate his breakfast and leaned in to whisper to cloud. "And what makes it even better is that I can scan from the skies for what we are looking for and you can develop something to aid us in our mission."
Cloud smiled proudly as he finished his meal and went to dispose of his dishes. "See, this is why I love you bro. You always know how to make the most out of any sort of situation or opportunity."
The two of them soon went their separate ways with Tempest going to Town hall and Cloud heading to the shop his brother mentioned. Upon reaching the address, Cloud walked in and found a light brown Earth pony stallion with a dark brown mane and an hourglass cutie mark behind the counter who looked to be hard at work.
Seeing as how the pony didn't seem to notice him come in, Cloud decided to make his presence known. "Uhh, 'scuse me?"
Upon hearing that, the pony jumped, almost hitting his head on the counter, and sat up to eye the newcomer. "Yes, hello. Welcome to Gadget Gardens, how may I help you?"
Cloud cleared his throat before responding. "Hey, my name's Cloud Burn. I saw an ad that said you needed a shop hand?"
The pony seemed to ponder before lighting up. "Ah, yes. I just put that ad last week, though I wasn't sure if anyone would respond. Anyway, pleased to meet you Mr. Burn. My name is Time Turner, but you can call me Doctor or Doc for short. Now then, if you don't mind, I'd like to assess your mechanical abilities."
Though somewhat put off by his strange mannerisms, Cloud regained his composure and stepped up. "No problem, what do you got for me Doc?"
Doc then brought what he had been fixing up to the counter, which looked to be a strange cuckoo clock. "You see, a client of mine informed me that his clock has stopped working and asked me to fix it. I've already identified the problem, but if you do the same thing yourself as well as present the proper solution for it, the I will undoubtedly hire you."
Cloud accepted the conditions before taking the clock in his hooves and opening the back, exposing the gears and other machinery. He observed the inside before using his wings to send a gentle breeze into the clock that seemed to swirl around inside for a bit before coming back out onto Cloud's face. Immediately, he could tell that there was something wrong. He then blew more wind into the machinery, allowing him to sense the issue again and zero in on it.
"Okay, I see the problem." He reoriented the clock so that Doc could see as well. "The gear that swings the pendulum is broken. That broken gear is keeping the rest of them from turning with it and that leads to the stopped clock we have here, basically the gear needs replacing. Also, I felt that some of these other gears were a bit sticky so maybe we could give it a quick wash or something before we return it.."
Doc smiled as he took the clock and placed it onto his back. "Well done Mr. Burn. Not only did you identify the main issue with this clock, but you also presented another issue that needed tending to. I'm very proud to call you my new assistant, welcome aboard." Doc held out his hoof and Cloud shook it proudly. As the latter followed the former into the back room, he couldn't help but wonder how his brother was faring.
