Memoirs of a Royal Clock

by Singularity Dream


Mr Clockerson's first day in the royal guard

The citizens see the shiny gold armor of the royal guard on patrol and are impressed. Few think about the behind the scenes work that keep the royal guard running. The paperwork, the schedules, and the pony resources officers that keep everything going smooth. Even the members of the royal guard itself think little of those that support them. The chairs that they rest on while doing paperwork. The carpets that protect their hooves from hard stone floors while they patrol the palace. The clocks on the walls that make sure everypony sticks to the efficient schedules.

I'm not here to be appreciated. I'm here to do a job. Ticktock Clockerson is my name and my job is to keep track of time so the ponies who use this office are punctual for all of their appointments. I am the first of my family to get a job in the palace itself, but I come from a long line of bakery timepieces and I know how important even seconds can be when important duties are on the line.

Replacing a old veteran is always difficult for a new recruit. Especially one from a non-royal guard line. I might be the latest and best constructed clock available, but that doesn't mean much when everything is used to the old and familiar. I knew it was only a matter of time until I won the rest of the office over, but first impressions are everything.

The nail on the wall I hung from had worked with the previous clock for years. I could tell he didn't like me much from the moment I arrived. Some of it was the nail was close to retirement itself and a new clock with magic instead of gears was not something it wanted to deal with. He was too professional to outright sabotage me, but at a certain age it is just willpower keeping a nail in the wall and a moment of distraction can mean failure.

Which is what happened about mid-morning when the two ponies in the office were deep in some kind of paperwork. I had only a moment of warning before the nail slipped and we both fell off the wall. The clatter got both ponies attention, but not in a good way. Both had frowns and the closer one sighed and got up. The other gave a polite smile and dove back into palace paperwork. Despite my best efforts I had fallen behind a set of shelves so the guard had to strain and struggle with one wing to get me out of there. The nail was a lost cause and I'm not sure the pony even thought about it.

"I'll go get one of the palace janitors to put the clock back up," the pegasus guard said as he set me on his desk.

"Have fun getting the old exercise you'll get today," the other guard spoke without looking up from her paperwork.

I continued to tick tock away. Even a fall like that wouldn't stop me from doing my job. Not brand new on my first day especially! I also tried my best to keep the paperwork under me from scattering as paperwork is wont to do. You'd think that official royal guard stationary and forms would understand the importance of staying in organized piles, but the paper on the top of any pile wants nothing but to escape and travel.

"Yeah, I thought it might not hold. Really should have put in a new nail when I swapped out the clocks," a rough older stallion's voice said as the guard who left returned. "It's just been so busy."

"I understand," the guard smiled. "I might have left it until later, but this one doesn't need winding."

"Yeah. Gonna suck not dropping in for a moment at the end of each day to chat."

I sighed and did my best to maintain a steady second hand at that. The latest in magical technology meant that I would never be slow, but seeing a routine disrupted like that was always hard. If the room I was in was ever down to one pony it might be difficult for them. Without the need for the maintenance staff to drop in daily to wind the clock there would be no regular reason for another pony to come visit.

Oh well, the office is big enough that there should always be two ponies assigned here. Wish I could have some kind of uniform like the rest of the guard. Okay, uniform would actually get in the way of doing my job. Maybe a hat?