The Clockwork Heaven

by Leliel

Entering a Mad Garden, Part 2

---

"Twilight? You okay?"

Slowly, the real world swam into view as the dream pearl deactivated. First and foremost in Twilight's vision was a concerned baby purple dragon.

"Oh, you're up! I mean, I wasn't that worried, given how you need to be asleep to have a dream, and you were only out for a minute, but still-"

"Spike," she said, completely devoid of emotion. "You're going to want to sit down for this."

---

"So...Discord's species was involved in this forever-long war against an evil robot god which kidnapped Pinkie and now wants to secretly conquer Equestria to add to its Evil Robot Empire and make us all miserable?"

"That's the long and short of it, yeah." Twilight sighed. "It seems a bit unbelievable to me too. But...the Bleak Ones being real? Compared to that, anything seems reasonable."

"Not if you ask Derpy," Rainbow said. "She says they're here still. The truth is out there..."

"Leaving aside Ditzy Doo for a while" said Rarity, "That leaves the matter of what we're supposed to do. From the look of things, this....thing has been fighting a race of chaos gods for centuries and hasn't even been wounded permanently. I'm not saying we should lay down and take it, but we're flying blind here. I don't know where to start."

"We do as we always do whenever some power-mad varmit wants to rule the world." Applejack looked outright stoic in determination. "We spell out that we aren't listenin' with our hooves and the Elements. Discord, Sombra, Nightmare Moon (no offense), all got the message pretty loud an' clear. Besides, from what I reckon given what we were told, there's only a few angels here. Hogtie them and throw them out, and the God-Machine's goin' to cut its losses and run away like the bully it is."

"You got that right, AJ!" Rainbow Dash was thrusting a hoof in the air. "Some crazy alien robot Princess out of a bad science fiction novel isn't going to scare us!"

"And don't forget the real ones!" Spike seemed to be infected with the pegasus' enthusiasm. "Discord was just one god, we have a pair of even more awesome gods on our side, and they have backup!"

"Erm, actually..."

"That's the spirit, Spike!" Twilight was cheering up. "All we need to do is show the angels what the magic of friendship can-"

"Guys?"

"...Right. The bad news." Twilight turned to the speaker. "Okay, Fluttershy, speak up."

"Um....well...." Fluttershy tapped her hooves together uncertainly. "Welllll......if they've fought Celebrants for so long, wouldn't they know how to fight, um, other divine beings? And be really good at it?"

Luna and Celestia looked lost in thought for a second.

"...Actually...."

"That would seem like it would be the case..."

"Um...Your Highnesses?"

Celestia cleared her throat. "As you may have guessed, Luna and I have encountered the God-Machine before, when it attempted to complete an occult matrix in Zebrica that would have allowed it to summon an angel powerful enough to match us."

"We were able to defeat it, but..." Luna looked at Discord's dormant form. "The cultists it had tricked into working for it constructed something called an Abjuration Grid, a system meant to subdue and capture any divine or spiritual entities that entered the defended area."

"That was a horrible experience. Both because it hurt like the dickens and that prayer was...rather frightening when translated." Celestia shivered. "And that was just something of mortal make, and they didn't manage to target us specifically first."

"As much as it pains me to admit it..." Luna sighed. "I think we might be more burden than help."

The Elements looked immensely downcast.

"We will give you all you need in order to infiltrate the park though. I suspect the management are simply ponies who don't know what they're working for, and who could turn down a request from a Princess?"

"I can also create some mental magic of my own, a dream meant to confuse any attempt by the angels to track you," said Luna. "I have little doubt they won't be able to figure out you're there, but I can make finding you as difficult as equinely possible."

The Elements nodded, resolute.

"Good to see you're not despairing." Celestia gave a small smile. "As you may have seen from that last scene, the God-Machine wants you to despair of ever defeating it, in however a small way, and so kneel to it. Never let it get to you. I expect you will be informing your family, Applejack?"

"Darn tootin'."

"Excellent. You will enter the Golden Beach in five days. And once you're there, remember;"

Celestia spun around and made her eyes glow to emphasize her point.

"Trust. No one. You meet. The employees may not be knowing cultists, but they are still cultists of the Machine, and if you slip, eventually what they know will work its way up to the angels, and there's no telling what they may do with that information. Never let your cover slip, you are simply carnival guests who are staying in the hotel for a month. Remain faces in the crowd, and the angels won't be able to pick you out. It's safer for you and them; I know how angels think, and they won't hesitate to kill for the sake of keeping a secret."

Everypony blanched a bit at this, but saluted, and then made their way towards the door.

"Oh, and Fluttershy?"

The yellow pegasus turned around to face Luna. "Yes?" she squeaked.

"I don't know why, but you seem to have....returned to your old shyness, somehow. Given how you were at ground zero of the memory filter, I have no idea what it might have done. Call me if you need help, okay?"

"Okay."

The Princesses took off for Canterlot. There was much to be done.

---

No...no...fashion magazine...no...

Twilight, having activated her "find if book has specific information before needing to read it" spell, was busy ransacking the library, pausing long enough only to tell if each book registered a positive before going back to her search.

No...no...no...nooaaaaaAAAAHHHH!

The book that was now doing its best meteor impersonation flew into the garbage bin, the one open page showing infinitely more than what Twilight ever wished to know.

Sun darn it! Every single darned book, every single darned section! Nothing! And now I think my mind is permanently scarred! Arrgh! Buck. Back to to the search. No...no...

By this point, Spike had gotten back from his jewel-hunting excursion, having decided to ply his luck once more at making a gem cake in an attempt to cheer everyone up before they went all spy in enemy territory. Upon seeing the uncharacteristic mess, he immediately dropped everything and ran over to to his friend and big sister. "Twilight! You okay?"

"No...I mean, I'm fine Spike! No...just frustrated. No..."

Spike gaped incredulously. "This," he said, gesturing to the mayhem, "is fine!?"

"It will be once I (no) clean it (no)."

"Twilight," Spike said as evenly as possible. "Please don't try to multitask when talking to me."

Twilight levitated another book, then realized what her assistant was saying and put it down. "Okay Spike...sorry, just caught up in the moment."

Spike looked at the now-empty Practical Magical Theory section, and realization dawned. "This is about the God-Machine."

"I CAN'T FIND ANYTHING! I'VE BEEN LOOKING IN SORCEROUS ENGINEERING, HISTORY OF MAGIC, HAY EVEN NEW AGE, AND I CAN'T. FIND. A PEEP! OF EVIDENCE!"

She gasped for breath before continuing. "I mean, I'd imagine if the Princesses fought it before, there has to be some documentation, right? And yet...nothing at all! Just a bunch of news of the weird, much of which is so obviously faked the monster might have been made of cardboard!"

A horrible thought struck her. "Unless they're all true, and the Machine has manipulated cultural memes to make believe they're all fake and all the monsters are angels, AND-"

A blast of fire derailed the thought train to Bad Place.

"Twilight?" Spike was using the even tone again, though this didn't have an irritated edge to it. "Remember how you told me Discord didn't want you to know about the God-Machine because you would get paranoid?"

There was a brief silence before Twilight rubbed her scalp. "Right. Even if it was the Machine's plans, I doubt if the travails of Bat Colt are really that important to its schemes." She turned to Spike. "It's just...it's like Rarity said, this thing is so darn big I don't know where to start. I'm just looking for more concrete information so I can figure out a way to fight it, even if we never encounter it again."

Spike chose his next words carefully. "Twilight, I still don't think Discord being evasive was such a good plan, but...if Lord Wrench is really as secretive as the Princesses said it was, who's to say it's ever going to try the same thing twice?"

Twilight pondered on this. "...good point."

Slowly, she got up her spellbook, and recast the spell, this time tuning it for "mechanical or part-mechanical monsters" instead of "non-magical complex machinery." Almost immediately, several on the floor lit up. "Okay. I'm going to pray here that angels always manifest inorganic as well as organic traits. Otherwise, I'm going to be spending a lot of time preparing spells I may not need." She then pulled out a copy of An Atlas Of Most Arcane And Occult Beasts, and turned to a page on rumors of talking, armored spiders who stole metal from blacksmiths.

"Twilight?"

"Yes Spike?"

"If anything happens to you...I'll take care of-"

"Spike. Nothing is going to happen to us, nothing that can't be fixed. And that's a Pinkie Promise. Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."

Spike gave a small grin. "And nobody breaks a Pinkie Promise, even when she's not around, right?"

"Got it. Now, could you fetch that issue of Everfree Report? I want to cross reference this story about a secretly monstrous mandarin who spurred many of Emperor Dictatus' more genocidal actions with the story of the Narrow Nose here..."

---

It was at times like this when Rarity envied Applejack's...well, not flaws, but certainly lack of ability in particular areas.

"But Sis...you promised you were going to help us patch the tent."

After all, if she were her friend, she'd be a terrible liar.

"I know Sweetie...but I have an anonymous client who wants the Elements to star in his costume ball at the Golden Beach, and he's very powerful. And even more temperamental."

And terrible liars eventually had to tell the truth.

"Okay..."

Rarity had to restrain herself from cuddling Sweetie Belle and telling her the truth upon seeing the downcast look. A bit of her mind even tried to convince her that Discord was lying for some reason or another.

It was a very small part of her though.

"Don't you worry though, I can patch it right here in the shop if you bring it up. I have a tiny amount of free time..."

Sweetie looked down. "But it's heavy..."

"I'm sure Applejack would love to help. I know she'd probably appreciate the exercise."

Sweetie brightened up. "Okay then!" She trotted off, absolutely oblivious to her previous depression.

Looking at the vast array of disguises she was creating, Rarity sighed. Not being able to trust people close to you was not at all fun. Especially if it was for their own good.

As you can see, the hairless monkey is used as both an archetypal symbol of both suspicion and distrust in the Norikman mythos, as it was for their predecessors, In their myths, their friends had stolen their fur, and thus the Bleak Ones grew to hate all those who might lie to them. This was part of a larger cultural view that all outside the empire could only gain friends through military force...

The echoes of her professor in her Mythological Studies class echoed in Rarity's mind.

This must be what Bleak Ones feel like all the time.

Rarity resolved that if she ever met a real human, she would make a dress for him or her, free of charge.

---

It's the, eye of the griffon it's the thrill of the flight...

Most didn't know this, but Rainbow Dash really liked music when training. Since (A) she was, despite protestations to the contrary, a bit lazy, and (B) most of that training was meant for speed, and thus making music more than a tad impractical.

Beating on a kicking bag was not speed training.

As we meet the challenge of our rival...

*BANG!*

Neither, for that matter, was replacing it after the third in as many days broke off.

And we- *click*

"Ugh...."

Dash removed the broken bag and trotted off to fetch the replacement.

"Hey Dash?"

"Gah! ...Hi Scootaloo."

The pegasus filly was looking at her idol with understandable concern. "You okay? You've been down here in the gym for days, never talking to anyone, just wailing on those bags and the weights. Is there something wrong?"

The lie was rehearsed to a letter. "There's a huge obstacle course race coming up in the Golden Beach, and recognizing the fastest flyer in Equestria, they naturally came to me. Only thing is, I saw what clouds they're going to be using, and I'm training my strength and endurance for it."

Scootaloo raised an eyebrow. "Sweetie said you and Rarity had to attend a costume ball."

The cover for any flaws were not. "Uh...yeah, there's a costume party too....and it's open to the racers....which...um...doesn't make sense at all...fru-fru and everything..."

Much to the surprise of none involved, Scootaloo tilted her head.

"That wasn't convincing at all, was it?"

"This isn't something so utterly embarrassing you aren't planning on hiding in the Everfree for the next year, right?"

"NO! No! Nothing like that. It's just that..."

Scootaloo didn't need a voice to plead.

"....Look. I'll be honest here: I'd love to tell you, but I can't. It's for your own good."

"Oh....oh."

A massive blush came to the filly's face.

"It's okay. I won't tell anyone about your special somepony."

There was a beat before Dash caught on, and burst out in much-needed laughter.

"Scoots! I'm not pregnant!"

"Then is Rarity-?"

"No! Nopony is!" Dash began to roll on the floor.

After a minute of this, Dash managed to inhale, and her serious expression returned.

"Seriously, this isn't an 'I'll explain when you're older' situation here. I'm doing this because telling you or anypony else is going to be a really bad idea. Heck, I may even be pushing it here."

"But believe me when I say this:" Dash leaned in closer, almost eye to eye with Scootaloo. "If I tell you, the a...ponies it's about might destroy Ponyville."

Scootaloo paled. "D-destroy? Over the fact you couldn't keep a secret?"

"Yes, destroy. There are some really powerful monsters out there, and they'd happily kill us in order to keep a secret. Ever heard the saying 'dead ponies tell no tales'? They have."

Scootaloo looked at the bag.

"Let me guess...you're training to fight them."

"I refuse to testify."

Scootaloo began to ask why she couldn't help....then took one look at Dash's eyes and realized her idol wasn't going to budge.

"I get it. When their flanks are hurting so much they can't touch the doomsday ray, you tell me about it, right?"

"Yep! ...Just don't tell anyone about this, right?"

"CUTIE MARK CRUSADER-"

"NO! Please, for the love of all that is holy, don't make this part of the cutie mark crusade."

"...Yeah. You're probably right. It's hard enough with three of us, with one I think I'd somehow give everypony mind reading powers. Which would be awesome, but...."

Scootaloo mimed zipping her mouth shut, and left.

Dash set the new bag, and put the music back on.

This time, she was singing along.

"Just a mare, and her will to survive..."

---

"Sis?"

"Yes, Apple Bloom?"

"...Ya certain you don't want us along?"

"Pretty certain." Applejack brought the final pack of provisions to the cargo to Twilight's backpack.

"Really?"

"Darn tootin'."

"....Are ya really-"

"I am. Times infinity. This isn't a random misadventure, Bloom, it's a rescue mission straight into the heart of enemy territory, the enemy here bein' alien monsters straight out of that weird board game you play with the other Crusaders."

"And I rock at it! PURGE THE UNLOVING!" Apple Bloom did her best heroic pose, with decidedly fearsome scowl.

"Great. Now imagine what would happen to fillies like you if the Thanatons were real."

Bloom paused for a second.

"...Big Mac and me are worried, sis."

Applejack put down the backpack.

"After Celestia gave you the mission...you closed yourself off. It's just been one preparation after another. We don't see you around the farm, you hardly talk to us, the only time you ain't preparing food for the trip is when you're sleepin'....It's scary."

Applejack sighed. "Y'all have every right to be. But we're goin' to be in the dragon's lair for a month, and we're goin' to be poking him with a stick to find Pinkie."

"I know. And that's why we're offerin' as much help as we can."

Applejack thought on this, then smiled sadly.

"Look. There's no guarantee that the Elements are gettin' out of this alive. And if we're gone, you and Big Mac don't stand a chance. And if you're gone...who's going to take care of the farm? Who's going take care of Granny?"

Applejack placed a consoling hoof on Bloom's soldier. "If Discord is at all tellin' the truth about what that God-Machine wants, there's goin' to be dark times ahead for the Apples. And you two are more-or-less the family heirs. They're goin' to look to you to lead them. I know that's a lot of responsibility to ask of you...but without ya, I don't know if we could survive."

Apple Bloom was in tears now. "Sis..."

"But I can promise you one thing: If you're brave, nothing can stop ya. Never lose hope, Bloom."

Bloom looked a little happier at this. "Will I still have to go to school?"

"I don't know. I'll let ya as soon as Cheerilee's flu lets up!"

Both laughed.

---

Fluttershy's house was, as usual, peaceful.

What was not usual, however, was the level of peace.

It was, for lack of any better term, too peaceful. This wasn't the quiet serenity of the calm wilderness, this was the dead silence of a lifeless cave.

A closer observation would indeed confirm the qualifier lifeless. There were animals, but all of them stood perfectly still, staring blankly into space. Like they were in a trance. Or like they were inactive wind-up toys. Not that you'd see them if you were just passing by, as they were all in out-of-the way places such as inside rafters or the chicken coop. On occasion a few birds would suddenly become active and fly around the house in a perfect circle, tweeting innocently, but as soon as they returned to their perch the birds would return to staring at nothing. Nor would the hypothetical observer notice this, unless they snuck in-the animals would quickly return to apparent normality if disturbed.

And perhaps most eerie of all if you were one of Fluttershy's friends-no sign of Angel Bunny at all.

Inside the house was little different-it looked peaceful, but closer examination revealed that it was a bit too pristine; part of being both a veterinarian and possessing behavior that at least one therapist mistook for animal hoarding (given how Fluttershy only kept the animals within her capacity to care for them, he revised his diagnosis), her house tended to accumulate a strong smell. While she was fairly diligent in cleaning this up, one could definitely tell the inside of the pegasus' house by nose alone.

Except for now. All anypony could smell here would be air freshener (not that odd for Fluttershy, admittedly). Until, that is, they would get to the area around the bedroom, and smell something...odd. Something like the burning ozone of lighting, but...more acrid, somehow. More importantly, if one tried to enter the bedroom, he or she would find the door incredibly difficult to open-more than just locked, it would refuse to budge.

If one managed to open this (not easy, as it would require a print of the current resident's hoof), one would find something very out of place: Namely, the fact that the bedroom was now dominated by a clanking contraption of complex clockwork, glass, and copper cables, a few of which were seemingly deliberately broken. That would be the source of the small.

The strange being currently inside the bedroom paid this no mind, only the muttering on the other end of the spatial window.

"..could have told us...."

"...interfere with our mission..."

"....interfering with us now..."

The Overseers had muted the sound feed, but the strange being of insect and plastic was experienced in lip reading. This was not as helpful as it could have been given how strange the Overseers were, but their mouths were close enough to equine to get the gist when they faced the other window. Not too infrequently, as it was very animated.

"...would call for a vote but,,."

Barachiel shrugged at Jophiel's words, mouthing "it would be foolish to think it could be anything else" and then turned to the spatial window proper, unmuting it.

"Clockworked, you will not interfere with the Elements' travel to the Infrastructure. Even once there, do not harm, only divert investigation."

"Orders are received."

"Excellent."

"And also..."

Jophiel flew into view, a vicious grin splitting her face.

"When the truth comes out...tell her we missed her."

"Understood."

The spatial window closed, and in a blue flash, Fluttershy was standing where the thing had been.

She flew out, taking her own preparations.

She found Twilight walking on the path to the train station, and squeaked apologetically.

"I'm sorry! I couldn't find anything useful! All I had were my animal friends, and I didn't want to put them in danger!"

"That's fine, Fluttershy. Your ability to talk with any animals we find is going to be pretty useful. Really, you're lucky, since you didn't really need to prepare."

"O...okay.

---

---

---

Author's Note:

A/N: So, A wild plot finally appears! Me, i was getting bored. Excellent.

now, only to find the capital...

Author's Note: ...Can't think of anything to say. Too tired....

Author's Note, part 2: Except I screwed up the clue in the A/N. I had to unpublish the chapter to correct it.

I'm sorry if it came off as an artificial way to get it back on the "new chapter" block. Mea culpa.