Pony of the Gears

by TheFoxern

17: Revelation

“What do you mean, not technically?” Copper said, glaring at Doctor Whooves. Even Chrysalis was struck silent. And in such a small little room that had been magically sealed, with just the three of them, silence had a serious job here. And it was an expert. It had taken Copper a moment to get used to it, but when Whooves had started talking, that was the least of his worries.

“Well...I mean...you know. Technically she is, but at the same time not.” He was fumbling for words. It's one thing to practice an explanation in one’s head and a complete other to do it under the type of gaze Copper gave him.

“But-” he stopped, took a deep breath and closed his eyes a moment. His thoughts had been jumbled up and needed a quick sorting through. “What do you mean, that she's not technically Celestia? You can't just come in here, say that and expect everypony to just...understand.”

Again there was a moment of silence and Copper wished that Chrysalis would speak. Say anything. Anything at all. “It's...not easy to explain. But technically-”

“I swear if you say technically one more damn time, I am going to beat the ever living hay out of you, stuff it back in and do it again.” The words spilled from Copper with almost painful force. The air in the room tingled.

“I-” he hesitated and then cleared his throat. “All right. To be completely honest, I'm not sure.” Copper slumped back against the wall, his eyes still closed. “All I know is that it is Celestia, but she's like...not in control... Or something. Or...well, she is, but not completely?” He stared blankly at Copper, who opened his eyes and looked back.

“So what you're saying...is we're dealing with something more powerful than Celestia? Something that can practically subdue her and take control?”

There was a slight hesitation, but then he nodded, “Yes. I think that's a reasonable explanation.”

“How long?”

Both of them jumped slightly at the sound of Chrysalis' voice. “How long what?” Whooves said, staring at her.

“How long has this...whatever it is, how long has it been in control?” For the first time since Copper had heard her, this was the first time she did not sound above. Did not sound as if everypony was beneath her. For the first time, she sounded...heartbroken seemed the best word for it.

“I...I'm not sure...but...” Again he hesitated, but the look Copper gave him, drove him to continue. “Probably around Luna's rebellion.”

“So over a thousand years ago,” Copper said and rubbed his face. The last few days had been going so well.

~

“What do you mean, replace Celestia?” Chrysalis said, staring at him.

“We can't have her just vanish, now can we?” Copper looked at her and gave her a slight smile. “Things will go even smoother if we simply replace her. If we do it right, only a few ponies will know about it and we won’t cause major problems.” He started walking again.

“But... What...” She hesitated, frowning at him as she followed him. “How exactly are we going to do this?”

He was wondering where he was walking to, but when they came out into the garden, that was fine. “Well, we're going to use Pop Pot.”

“You're going to kill Celestia?” Chrysalis had to admit that this was a fairly impressive idea. She liked the fact that it would put her into far more power.

Which Copper knew, which is why he wanted her to do it. “Not me. Pop Pots. And if we do it right, nopony will know and we might actually get away with it.”

“No more hunted changelings...” she mumbled, staring off into the garden. Copper could practically see her mind racing with ideas. “We could get things back to the way that they were...but make them better for changelings.”

“Don't get ahead of yourself,” he said, looking at her. He was trying to determine if this was indeed a good plan. He would have to talk with Whooves and see if he had come up with anything. “There's a lot of work to be done. And I need Spyglass and Chestnut to help me.”

“Yeah...sure...” The far away look in her eyes, told Copper that he at least had her convinced.

He took a few steps away from her, touching her gently with his hoof before he went back into the castle. “That's step one,” he murmured. “Now for step two.”

Copper found Spyglass and Chestnut helping Pots through the main hall. “Well?” Spyglass said and Copper could practically taste the dread in his tone.

“Well what? I said I would handle her. She's agreed,” he said, giving them both a smile.

But Chestnut looked skeptical. “Really,” she said, staring at him, “just like that? She just...agreed?”

“Once I explained things to her, yes.” He moved closer to Pots, taking a better look at him. He was looking a bit better, but the blank, sleepy look on his face told him that it would take a while for him to recover. Pots was not like Copper in a fighting sense. Pots had probably never been struck before, let alone beaten. He just had to hope that Pots could recover from this. “And as soon as we get Pots settled in, I'll tell you two a bit more of what I need you to do.”

~

Copper put his leg up, covering his eyes. “So everything she's done from then on, has actually been something else pretending to be her?”

“Well...” Doctor Whooves hesitated, “Yes. Probably,” a slight pause, “Most likely.”

“So than it wasn't Celestia, who did this to my kingdom? Or called for the murder of countless changelings?” Chrysalis stared Whooves, who shook his head slowly.

Copper placed his head down on the table. “Well, this doesn't change my plans,” Copper said and both looked at him.

“But...can you really kill Celestia now? Knowing this?” Chrysalis said, staring at him.

Doctor Whooves gave him a look and some unsaid words passed between them. “We'll have to see,” he finally said aloud.

“That's the main plan,” Copper agreed with a nod. “If it's powerful enough to take control of Celestia and hold it for this long, we can't risk anything.”

“I've beaten her before,” she said, sitting up a bit straighter.

“Yes,” Copper agreed, with another nod. “But that was when you were quite charged up on power and I don't think it was taking you seriously. You caught it off guard...and that's what we need to do.”

~

Spyglass shifted slightly, it was the first time he had worn a coat and he was doing his best to keep the tan hat on his head. “There,” Copper said with a smile. “You look like a genuine mailpony now. And with this patch, it shows that you're delivering important documents.” He gave the patch on the coat a slight tap. “Should get you through any place and ponies won’t bother you as long as you look like you're in a hurry.”

“Am I in a hurry?” he said as he shifted again. Even with the mail bag only holding a few letters, it still felt uncomfortable. But as long as he had his spyglass on the other side, everything would be all right.

“Not really, no,” Copper said chuckling. “You do have a long way to go. Now, your first stop is Havel Beach, going to Seas Pony. Ask for Coaster. Say you have an important letter for him. He'll help you get to Jeta, which is the second letter. Then comes the hardest letter...” He looked around; nopony was anywhere around, but Copper was still hesitant about this. “The third letter needs to go to Corser. In Canterlot.”

Spyglass went rigid and stared blankly past Copper. “Canterlot...” he said slowly, his eyes going unfocused, “I...” There was a few moments of silence, before he swallowed and nodded. “Right. Canterlot. And nopony but those who the letters are addressed to are allowed to read them.”

“Not just read. Not even see them. Nopony is allowed to even see the letters besides those they are addressed to. If anypony says that they will deliver it to them, you must refuse. Say you have explicit instructions to deliver it to them personally.” Copper felt a bit of a knot forming in his stomach. He would much prefer to go himself and have these conversations in person, rather than in letters. But this had to be done. There was no way he could get into Equestria, she would know immediately. Or at least, he had to assume that she would.

“Right... Personally,” he said, taking a deep breath and nodding.

~

“But this does change a few things,” Whooves said, taking a seat back at the table. “It changes how we go about things a little.”

Copper looked at him. “I don't see how. Does it know that we know it's not Celestia?”

There was a moment of hesitation and the word 'technically' seemed to float in the air, before he simply shook his head and said, “No I do not believe that it does...”

“Then there's nothing to change. It will continue to act like Celestia, because it thinks that we don't know otherwise.” He glanced at Chrysalis, who was remaining silent, before continuing. “We have to act as though we don't know and treat the situation as though it were Celestia.” He gave the Doctor a look to silence his next sentence. “And if it begins to stop acting like Celestia, then we will adapt. Simply knowing ahead of time gives us a very large advantage. We must treat it as Celestia, but be prepared for something else.”

The Doctor nodded slowly. “Yes...I suppose you have a point there...”

~

“I still don't think it's very practical,” said Ellis as she eyed the parts on the table and the rough drawings beside them. “Honestly it seems a tad...bulky.”

“Well, to deliver the kind of voltage I'm planning, it needs to be a bit bigger than my previous design,” Copper said with a slight tone of annoyance. He had asked for help and Ellis seemed so eager to help, but so far, all she had done was criticize. He wouldn't mind so much if it was helpful criticism, but Ellis had a way of pointing things out that Copper could do nothing about.

She flipped over a few pages. “I thought you sent Chestnut after your notes. How did you get these?”

“I have the basic design of the Shocker memorized. I rebuilt the darn thing so many times that it just stuck...” Copper was having difficulty connecting two parts. “Could you hold this down for me?”

Ellis suddenly seemed to want to help again and practically rushed over to assist. “So it breaks easily?”

Copper hesitated and then gave a slight shrug. “Kind of. More of it wears itself down quickly. It would be too expensive to buy parts that could last a long time, as even those would wear out. It was always just easier to use it a few times, then cannibalize it for the next one. Some parts held out for a long time, but...” Something went click and Copper gestured that Ellis could let go. “Overall, I've rebuilt it dozens of times.”

“Sounds like you need a better design,” she said, as she went back over to the papers and parts.

“Yes well, I hope that I don't. This should be the last time that I need this to do anything...” Hopefully it would be the last.

“Why do these look so different?” she said as she glanced between two papers. “Basic design is the same, but...ah, this one has a different...delivery system?”

He looked at her, he was actually fairly impressed. “Yes. In the previous models, I was using two prongs to deliver the shock. One prong was the receiver, where the energy wants to go, while the other was where it comes out.”

“How does this one deliver the shock than?” The piece of paper she held was the new design. He had spent two days on it, working and reworking it.

“It's a bit more complicated, but essentially it delivers all the stored energy directly into whatever it hits. It's a bit more dangerous, as it'll be the first thing that it touches that receives the shock. But it allows for a much higher store of energy and faster delivery.”

~

“Why would it do this?” Chrysalis said, staring at the table. It was obvious she had been thinking quite hard and was finally willing to voice her thoughts.

Whooves and Copper both looked at her, but it was Copper who spoke. “I think it was because you were a threat. Or it thought of you as a threat...”

“So that's the reason my kingdom is in ruins and it slaughtered my people...just because it thought I was a threat?” She stared at Copper. She looked miserable at this point and Copper found himself trying to think of how to make things better.

He managed a soft smile. “Well, considering what we're planning, I'd say that it was kind of right.”

~

“Are you sure this is the best way to learn of the Gem Cog?” Chrysalis said, staring down at Copper. He had watched her change slightly while he was here. But he couldn't tell if it was actually happening, or if it was just his imagination.

“I don't know anyone else to talk with. The letter Doctor Whooves sent me made it seem oddly important I find out more...and...well... I know it's a risk, but I need to know.”

She gave him a harsh look and then turned away. “Fine. Have it your way.” And with that, she left.

He sighed and laid back; her changing must be his imagination. His eyes slowly closed and when they opened again, he saw the familiar coppery landscape, with its clockwork trees and large gears, slowly turning.

His eyes wandered over the familiar landscape as the gear he stood upon slowly ascended. The air felt good here, even if it was just in his own head. It had a slightly greasy and metallic taste to it. His eyes climbed upwards and he stared at the moon. The shape shifted to turn its gaze at him. “Back so soon?” Nightmare said, grinning at him.

In this state, she was just a shadow on the face of the moon, but Copper still did not trust her. She had not tried to escape. “Why are you biding your time? What are you waiting for?”

Her grin increased further, spanning the width of the moon. “Why would I do that? You so willingly keep me so close.” The sound of her voice sent shivers down Copper's spine. “I can wait for as long as I need... Eventually you will break...and then you will be mine.”

There was a few seconds of silence as Copper thought of this. It made sense, but he didn't like that. Someday he would have to find a way to be rid of her, but there were other matters at hand. “What do you know of the Gem Cog?”

The grin spun slowly as she rotated oddly on the surface. “What of it I know? A lot more than you... It is ancient. You silly ponies think you can control it...”

“So it has some sort of will of its own then...” Copper mused, staring past her and at the stars. The more he thought of it, the more he realized that she allowed him to capture her. If she had truly fought, he would have lost. And probably died.

“Perhaps,” she said, her eyes shining down at him. “I would say more it has a plan. Much like yours, which I find quite interesting... Kill Celestia. I tried that, twice and the best I could do was imprison her.” She did something, which Copper could only guess was licking her lips. “But you have so many other plans... Ones that I cannot see...”

“Nor will you see, until they come to light. Now, tell me more of the Gem Cog.” He wondered if she could read his thoughts, or simply skim, or she could simply hear the things he said. How could he hope to keep her trapped here if she decided that she didn't want to be here?

“Mmm...” She retracted and he could see now her whole form, floating lazily against the moon's surface. “I don't see why I should,” she said, smirking. “But feel free to ask.”

Copper had to remember not to get angry with her, she would use that against him. “All right... We'll start simple... When I destroyed the Gem Cog-”

She laughed and it echoed throughout his dream. Things clattered and tinkled below Copper. “Destroyed it? Goodness. You think that you can destroy the Gem Cog? You really don't know anything about it.”

He was almost surprised at how calm he was managing to stay. “Okay... So when I broke it...what exactly happened? Whooves thinks that I will find it again because I'm the Pony of the Gears.”

“Tsk.” She turned over and away from him. “I'm not going to speak to you if you bring him up. Blasted pony.”

There was small hesitation before Copper spoke again. “All right. So I'm the Pony of the Gears...and-”

“Again your ignorance shows,” she said with a grin at him. “You claim the title, without knowledge of it. Long ago, before the Gem Cog was as you knew it, the title was The Pony of Gears,” she mused, as if not really talking to him anymore. “Oh such days those were...when I had true power... Mmm how I miss it...”

Copper stared down at the ground a moment. He knew that Nightmare was ancient, but he was not sure how. “Which existed first? You, or the cog?”

“Oh me of course.” Her attention moved back to him. “I witnessed its creation... But that was when I covered the land. I was every shadow, every creek of a branch, every snap of a twig... Oh what glorious days, when fear truly meant something and could not so easily be gotten rid of...”

Her tone of voice made Copper feel a bit on edge. It was soft and sultry. “Who, or what, made it?”

Again she focused onto him. “Oh I don't know what his name was... I never bothered with names. But oh what power he had... That was back when power meant control. Not many understand that nowadays...” She unfocused once again, but returned to him after a few seconds. “The Cog is a powerful thing. It cannot be destroyed. It cannot be made again. It cannot be controlled. And it cannot be stopped.” The cackle she let loose filled Copper from top to bottom.

“It's...intelligent?” Copper said, his mind was racing. He needed to ask questions while she was still in an answering mood.

“Intelligent?” She laughed and the world shook. “No. Not as you understand intelligence. It thinks, yes. It knows things, yes. But it is emotionless. It has a plan that has been laid and will do whatever it takes to fulfill it. You think you destroyed the Gem Cog? That was merely its vessel at the time. You merely set it loose to find something else. It drove you to that decision. It wanted to be released. It made you break it.”

He could feel her reaching out to him, but he shut her out. “Why?”

“You are so ready to be controlled,” she murmured, but it echoed in Copper's head. “You have spent so much of your life obeying. You cannot deny it.”

“I said, why...” It was difficult to speak now.

She grinned at him and he felt her pull away. “How should I know? I know not what it plans.”

It was starting to feel stuffy, but he needed to know more. “Do you know where it is?”

Her grin grew and that was all the answer Copper needed. “When you find out, it will be too late.”

~

“You are completely sure of this, Whooves?” Copper was still not convinced. He knew there were more powerful things than Celestia, such as Nightmare in her prime, or some other sort of beings that Copper had come across.

“I am completely sure,” Whooves said, staring straight at Copper.

“Where did you get this information?”

“I-” he hesitated, looking at Copper and then took a deep breath. “An extremely reliable source.”

“And you trust this source?”

Another slight hesitation. “Completely.”

Copper frowned at him. What was with that look that he was giving him? This would need further investigating later. “What proof does your source have?”

“I have nothing but his word. But it is the word of someone I trust completely and would trust them with my life.”

“Which is what you're doing...” Copper said with a sigh and then shrugged slightly. “Whatever. It still does not change the fact that she, or it, needs to be stopped. She needs to be stopped.”

He nodded and took a deep breath. Copper noticed how he did not cough, or seem affected by the air. That was oddly interesting. “Yes. And though I am not fond of your plan I...I am confident it will succeed.”

Copper looked at Chrysalis. She was staring at the table, her brow slightly wrinkled. In the past few months, he had learned a lot about her. Her mannerisms, the way she spoke, what she actually meant when she said something, her sleeping patterns... He shook his head and rubbed his face. “This is a lot to take in...”

He hadn't meant that to be aimed at Chrysalis, but she took it as though it was. “There are worse things. It is...almost comforting that it has not been Celestia.”

It was odd how quickly she accepted Doctor Whooves’ source. But she probably knew a lot more about him than Copper. He had to force down the random slight pang of jealousy. “So we move on with our plans, then.”

~

“Do you know how bloody hard these damned pieces of paper were to get?” Chestnut said, throwing a bag down in front of Copper.

He looked down at the large bag that landed in his breakfast. “Uhm... Good to see you Chestnut? Good morning Chestnut? How was your trip Chestnut?”

“Don't even start with me,” she said, waving a hoof at him. “It was damn hard to get out of that place...”

“Did Celestia send guards?” Copper said, blinking.

“No!” She stomped around a bit. “Your friends wouldn't let me leave! It was party this and friendship that and come see this!” Copper could not help it. His fork clattered onto his plate and he laughed so hard he nearly fell out of his chair. It wasn't until Chestnut had hit him for the seventh or eighth time that he managed to calm down enough to stop. “It's not funny!”

“Oh come now. They just wanted to make sure you had a pleasant visit.”

“I mean seriously. They weren't even phased when they found out I was a changeling!” She was stomping back and forth again.

“How'd that happen?”

“I-” Suddenly she looked very flustered. “I got drunk. And it was kind of a joke, everyone was trying to mimic Twilight, so I...well, I turned into her and started ranting about books and stuff... They thought it was hilarious. Pinkie gave me a ribbon, saying I had won.”

Copper bit down slightly on his hoof to keep himself from laughing. “Well, it sounds like you had fun.”

She sighed, and turned away from him. “Well...I suppose...maybe a bit. But I mean, it was annoying. They wouldn't leave me alone and kept asking questions about you and how you were and where.” She sighed slightly, shaking her head and Copper couldn't help but notice the small pink ribbon in her hair. “I had to ask Twilight to get your stuff though, your house is under some pretty serious guard.”

He nodded slowly. “That's why I wanted you to seek Twilight out first, I knew she would help you.”

“Her reply letter is in the bag as well, by the way,” she said as she made her way around the table to another seat away from him.

“Ah. Thank you.” He moved the bag to the side. It could wait for a while. First, there was breakfast. He wasn't terribly fond of the food around here, but it wasn't as bad as some of the things he had eaten. Ellis needed regular food, though it was more on the red side of food. But there were things that Copper had found were edible and didn't taste too bad. He had no idea what they were and had no intention of asking, but Ellis assured him that ponies could eat them.

“You have weird friends,” Chestnut said after a while.

“Yes...” Copper said with a smile. “But...they're my friends.”

~

“It would seem that that's the best option...” Whooves agreed, looking at Copper. He did not like his gaze being so watchful. What was he watching for? One does not give that gaze to another unless waiting for something. “Did you find out more about the Gem Cog?”

A shiver ran down his spine, that was odd. “I...did. Nothing of use, but things that are interesting...”

Doctor Whooves stared at him and glanced at Chrysalis. “How exactly did you obtain your information?”

Copper narrowed his eyes at him and was about to retort with some sort of refusal, but honestly he saw no point. “Nightmare. She was purposefully not helpful. She gave me enough information to annoy me, without giving me anything that I needed.”

He nodded slowly. “That sounds quite like her.”

There was an odd moment when they shared a sigh. “But she did give you information?” Chrysalis said, looking at him.

“Yes. You had shown no interest. Nor had you asked,” Copper said in preparation to her next statement.

She frowned at him. It was actually more of a scowl, but Copper could tell the difference between when she was scowling and merely frowning, but attempting to scowl. He was starting to think that he was perhaps spending too much time with her, but she was always so eager to simply be with him that it was hard not to want her there.

~

“And so this will make you fly?” Chrysalis asked, unfolding the large cloth.

“It will help me fly, yes,” he said, trying to fit two gears together. The Flyer Mark 7 was what he was working on, as he had come up with something before he could start constructing 6. It was such a drastic change, it was easier to simply restart rather than change things. He had cut the amount of parts in half and cut the weight as well.

“How do you come up with such things?” She leaned over him, looking down at the parts in front of him.

“I...” He paused. There was no answer. “I don't know...” Perhaps it had something to do with being the Pony of the Gears? Since he had become aware of the title, things seemed to come easier to his mind. Or was it just a coincidence that things were working out? Maybe being dead changed the way his mind worked, or when he came all the way back. He thought about the Shocker and how easily the design had come to him. There was no trial and error. But there were several revisions. Just when he thought he was done, he would come up with some new idea that would simplify something, or make something work better.

“Interesting...” He couldn't help but shiver as she whispered in his ear. She had taken such an interest in his work since Chestnut had returned with his designs. The Shocker had held no interest to her, because it would be easy to do with magic. But when he explained that magic would have difficulty stopping it, she got interested. “And you will control it with...this?” she said, prodding the base of his stub gently.

He took a deep breath and nodded. “Yes. The way I'm building it, it will act as a true wing of sorts. Though it will not be as precise, I won’t be able to say...half extend the wing. Or have it twist in an odd way.”

“So you won’t be preforming aerial acrobatics for me? Shame.”

He could hear the smirk in her voice. She was so much kinder to him when they were alone. Almost gentler. There was definitely a joking tone to her insults, at the very least. “Yes, well...sorry to disappoint you,” he said as he slid a rod into place. Next would be cutting the cloth and sewing it mostly in place.

Chrysalis remained quiet for a moment, content in silently watching him. Her question caught Copper quite off guard. “Why do you want to fly?”

Copper stopped mid cut. That had been a question that not many had asked him. “You have flown before, yes?”

She looked at him, arching a brow. “Of course.”

“What would you do if you suddenly lost that?” He looked up at her, pushing his goggles up. “Wouldn't you do whatever it took to get that back?”

~

Copper leaned against the wall outside of the room. With his eyes closed, he felt almost as if the world made sense. Like things could be better. As if everything was going to work out perfectly and nothing would go wrong. But the instant he opened them again and saw Chrysalis standing a few hooves away, looking down at him...he knew it wouldn't.

“So what are you going to do today?” Chrysalis said and the softness in her voice told Copper that Whooves was well away already.

“I need to talk to Pots. See if he is ready to go, or if he has a feeling of when that'll be.” With that said he made his way down the hallway. He was in no hurry.

Chrysalis followed him. “I do not like the fact that you released him the moment Spyglass handed you the letter. He is a threat to my kingdom.”

“As far as a killer goes, I trust Pots. He won’t do anything, because he has standards.” He looked up at Chrysalis and smirked. “Somepony'd have to pay him quite a lot for him to take out a whole kingdom. I don't think there's enough bits in all of Equestria, Trotland, Eagland, or-” he hesitated and shook his head. “Well, not Aquis, they have more money than anyone else. But I can't see seaponies hiring a killer.”

“Chestnut has asked for me to send changelings to Aquis. She says it would be a...” she thought a bit, her brow wrinkling slightly, “As she put it...magnificent opportunity to once again leave the Badlands.”

“And it would,” he agreed, nodding his head. “The seaponies would happily welcome your kind, with the knowledge of the truth or not.”

“You have spent a lot of time there?”

“I think I've been in Aquis longer than anywhere, not including Equestria... I spent a long time in recovery there, after leaving Trotland.”

Copper opened the door they had been heading to and the first thing he saw was an empty bed. He moved into the room slowly and saw Pots standing by the window, staring out. “A bit time ye got haur,” Pots said with a grin, turning to Copper. “Bin waitin' aw day.”

“I take it that means that you're ready?”

“Ready as Ah will ever be.”

He turned to Chrysalis and gave her a smile. “Well then. It's time to start the plan I think. Go find Doctor Whooves, please? I think I know where I can find Spyglass and Chestnut.”

Author's Note:

((Chapter editing assistance by Amneiger.))

Comments

[TheFoxern]

2705215 Heheh thanks a lot, I always like hearing when people enjoy my story. ^^ And it would be nice to get more views, but it doesn't really matter all that much to me. I like to think as long as one person enjoys it, it was worth doing, and lots of people have liked this, so it makes it worth it. xD I highly doubt I'll ever see the front page... Especially since there's only one chapter left.

Also, sorry for taking so long to reply, it didn't show I had received any new messages.

[Razzy]

Chestnut is still a riot. And I like how Chryssie's warmed up to Copper, but retains her snarky attitude.