//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 - The King of Thieves // Story: The Toll of Clockwork Tower // by Faindragon //------------------------------// I suppressed another yawn, before I tiredly took another bite of the sandwich. The polished knife, suspended in the air by my magic field, reflected the weak light that shone through the window from the gas lamps outside. My eyes didn’t leave the blade as I rotated it around slowly. It was too early for this. My sleep that night had left much to wish for. I had been tossing around in the bed for the greater part of the night, my mind unable to leave the thought of what had happened. Of what I was about to do. Walk into the heart of Pocket’s hideout, accuse him for the murder of Pendulum and, if I were wrong, get information about who it might have been. What if I’m not wrong? I groaned and looked away from the knife and out on the empty street outside. Then what should I do? Attempt to kill him and hope I would get out alive? Like that would ever work. Sighing, I took the last bite of the sandwich. Five years ago I had been part of the streets. It had forced me to learn how to survive, shaped me. As a unicorn, and a tiny one at that, hoof-to-hoof combat had been out of the question. Of course, I had tried to stay away from fights as much as possible; I simply wasn’t built for them. There had been those I couldn’t run from. The street had taught me how to throw knives, but it had also, more importantly, taught me to run instead of fight. With a groan, that was quickly interrupted by another yawn, I looked back at the knife. So why travel into the depth of a criminal-gang’s hideout? I’m a clockmaker’s apprentice for the love of Celestia! I gave a start as a hoof landed on my shoulder. Without even thinking, I twisted and jabbed the knife towards the attacker, in a heartbeat spun around to face whoever it was. Before I could react, the knife had been smacked out of my magical field and the unpleasant feeling of my magic dispatching uncontrollably spreading through my body. Gust looked down at me, snorting as he retracted his wing again. “You got good reactions, I’ll give you that,” he said simply as he placed down his breakfast on the table next to my empty plates. “Unnecessary to attack someone in here, though.” His eye hardened as he took a step closer. “Neither Rose nor Octavia would’ve been able to deflect that blade.” His tone was hard as steel as he jabbed his wingtip into my chest. “Luckily for you, it was me and not them.” “I...” I shrank back some under his heavy gaze. I hadn’t heard him entering the room; he was silent for his size. “I didn’t mean to...” I trailed off and looked into the table, taking a deep breath. “Just take it easy while you stay here,” he sighed and sat down. “I don’t want an accident with deadly outcome.” I looked up as he motioned towards the knife. “Especially with something as deadly. Maybe better to let it sit there.” I nodded, my eyes locked on the blade buried in the wall. “I didn’t mean to attack you,” I said weakly. “I thought about... today and you surprised me and—” “And I startled you,” Gust ended my stuttering. I nodded again. He took a couple of deep draughts from his jug, eyeing me over it’s brim. “Try aiming low next time,” he said as he placed down his jug again. “A slash against the kneecap isn’t deadly, but it’ll put most ponies out of fighting condition.” He motioned towards the knife again. “Especially with a blade like that.” I blinked and looked at him. “The... kneecaps?” He nodded. “With a slash against the kneecaps you can easily put someone out of fighting condition. If it turns out to be a friend... well, it doesn’t take too long time to heal a wound like that, and at least you’ve not slit their throat.” “I... I’m going to think about that,” I said. I looked out the window again, my thoughts never standing for long in one place. For what felt like hours, the only sound that could be heard was that of the clock above the counter and Gust eating his breakfast. I could feel how he looked at me, and it couldn’t have been more than five minutes before he broke the silence. “You’re sure about travelling into the sewers and seeking out Pocket Slip already?” he asked. “Rose would be more than happy to give you refuge for as long as you need.” He chuckled softly. “Can’t say I can complain about it either.” I slowly shook my head. “I can’t.” I didn’t even look back at him, my eyes on the dimly lit street outside. “I need to find out what happened... Why it happened. Right now, the only pony who can give me any hint towards where I can find those answers are Pocket Slip.” I sighed. “Besides, I can’t risk the guards finding out that you’ve helped me.” “The guards aren’t authorized to just barge into any place they want in the search for you. Or...” He hesitated. “At least they needed one when I was enlisted. Could take days to get a search warrant through the system and in our hooves. But since the curfew have been taken in effect...” He sighed, and in the reflection of the window I could see how he shook his head. “Equestria doesn’t respect the rules it used to exalt.” “How was it?” I asked slowly. “Before the curfew started? Were you a guard back then?” I turned around and looked at him. He didn’t move. His eyes, both the real and the mechanical, were staring unseeingly past the knife embedded in the wall. Then he slowly shook his head. “No. I wasn’t a guard when the curfew was put into effect. I had been discharged nearly a decade earlier.” He shook his head. “Falk had just been appointed as Captain of the Royal Guards after the last captain, a mare named Kite, died in her sleep. The nobles pressed him and demanded my discharge.” He shrugged. “Not open demands, mind you. But, judging by how quickly it was done, I think I was too close to nest up something they rather not wanted to share with the rest of Equestria.” He chuckled slightly and looked at me. “A year later, Rose had taken me in here, and I had better things to think about than what the nobles were doing behind Equestria’s back. By the time the curfew were put into effect, I had been here for a long time.” “You...” I blinked and just stared at him. “You never tried to find out what it was? If they discharged you for it, I picture it was something big.” “Oh, it was,” he said and nodded. With a wingtip, he motioned towards his mechanical eye. “But they were very... adamant I was kept away from it.” I shivered slightly as I looked at his eye in disgust. “They... took your eye?” He nodded. “Oh, not the nobles. They didn’t have anything to do with it. The henchstallion they sent, however...” His face darkened. “Fitting, seeing asI took his life.” He shrugged at my horrified expression. “As he died, he gave me their warning about what they would do to Rose if I didn’t step back and give this up...” He shook his head with a frown. “I couldn’t put Rose, or her daughter, in that danger, so I withdrew from it.” I looked away from him. What if the nobles have anything to do with this? But it was a decade ago, could it still— “I doubt the nobles have anything to do with this, Clockwork,” he said as if he had read my mind. He chuckled as I looked back at him. “I don’t think the nobles have gone from working around taxes, by moving large amount of foundings together and then split up as gifts, to senseless killing of a master clockmaker.” He shook his head with a frown, tapping a hoof in the table. “No, I still suspect that Pocket Slip is involved in it. He’s the only one who get’s something out of it all.” He motioned towards the knife. “He even have something in it pointing towards him so that you will find him.” Looking at the knife, I slowly shook my head. “Pocket Slip doesn’t work like that. He tried to buy me into doing it, or call in favours, but he would never kill Pendulum just to persuade me into it.” I looked back at Gust. “He know that wouldn’t work, especially not if I had evidence that it was him.” Gust slowly shook his head. “If it wasn’t Pocket, then who do you think it was? Did Pendulum have any enemies that wanted him dead? You were his apprentice, you if anyone should’ve known that.” I blinked at the change of subject. “I... no, not that I know of.” “Do you know anyone who could easily get a hold of an Asphodelus blade, then?” he pressed on, motioning toward the blade with a wingtip. As I just stared at him, he shook his head. “You have to understand why I don’t think it was anyone else than Pocket, Clockwork. An Asphodelus blade isn’t easy to come by, and it nearly guarantees that the guards won’t put much energy behind following up the murder; they simply can’t put enough resources into a chase through the sewers to find the murderer. No, the Asphodelus blade was used for a reason, and I believe that reason was to point you towards Pocket Slip.” No, I thought slowly as I looked between him and the knife. It... it couldn’t be Pocket. He wouldn’t— Or would he? I stared at the initials, PS, on the knife’s pommel. The blade is only used by the thieves of Pocket Slip’s gang... so it must’ve been someone from there. That, and Pocket want me to open this door, I can’t simply— I blinked and looked back at Gust, who raised an eyebrow at me. As I didn’t say anything, he spoke, “I asked what you planned to do down there. Find Pocket Slip, but what then? Yesterday, you said that Pocket might know something about who did this. But if it is him, don’t you think he can easily mislead you?” He leaned forward, tapping a wingtip against my chest. “What if he’s done all this just to get you there so he can make you do that job for him?” “Then I’ll kill him,” I growled lowly. Pushing away his wingtip, I met his eyes. “If Pocket was involved in this in any way, I’ll make him pay.” “And how did you plan on getting to know that?” Gust said without giving me a chance to continue. “If Pocket needs you for that job, don’t you think that he would’ve covered up for it? I might now know much about him, but he’s not stupid. If he was, he wouldn’t have been able to hold a grip around the gang as long as he has.” He would’ve covered up for it... I gave out a small laugh. Of course he would. Gust raised an eyebrow at me, and I gave him a slight smile in return. “Of course Pocket would cover up for it. Most importantly, he wouldn’t send Spot. I would’ve noticed on Spot if he tried to keep me away from the shop or if it was something more behind it. He was never good at keeping secrets.” And what if he didn’t know? My smile slipped, but I quickly pushed away that thought. There was nothing to know, Pocket wasn’t behind it. Gust opened his mouth, but closed it again. Shaking his head, he looked out the window. “You’re doing this, then? I can’t convince you to stay for one more day? Think it all over one last time.” I shook my head. “I can’t put Rose or Octavia in that danger.” He smiled sadly as he looked back at me, his mechanical eye still on the street outside. “Then you should leave before it’s getting too late. I won’t hold you.” Nodding, I rose. “Thank you. Both you and Rose.” I levitated up my money pouch and placed it on the table. “It’s not much, but... it wouldn’t feel right to just leave.” He waved it away with a wing. “Keep it,” he snorted. “Rose took you in by the kindness of her heart, not to get paid for it. The best way you can repay her for it”—he pushed a wingtip against my chest—“is to survive and not do anything stupid. So keep the bits, I’m sure you can have use of them down there.” I shook my head with a slight chuckle as I took a hold around the knife with my magic. “I’m going into the sewers, straight into the heart of one of the thieves gang’s halls. I doubt I would keep them for long before someone pickpocketed me for the pouch.” I pulled a couple of times in the knife, before I sighed and walked up to it. “So keep them.” I took a grip around the knife with my mouth and pulled it out. “Then I’ll keep it safe until you return to us instead,” Gust said and rose as well. “You’ll need some bits when your name is clean again.” “I guess...” Looking back at him, I smiled. “Thank you,” I said simply. He just nodded at me, and without another word, I left the inn and snuck into the night. ⌚ The pain flashed through my body as the knife added another gash to the dozen or so that already marked my back and sides. I tried to scream out in pain, but the only sound escaping my dry throat was a rasping cry. Somepony held me down against the pavement, and no matter how much I trashed with my legs, I couldn’t get them off me. The world spun around me. I could feel the metallic taste in my mouth; my breaths came quickly and painfully. For each heartbeat, blood ran down from my sides, bringing me closer and closer to death. Without any warning, the knife was stabbed straight into my body. I could feel new tears joining the ones already streaming down my face as the hooves keeping me down were removed. Over my own cries, I could hear the sound of horseshoes disappearing. But even through my tears I could see the asphodelus engraving on the blade sticking out of me, gleaming softly in the moonlight. I staggered backwards as the memories hit down on me like a hammer. It had been five years since I last walked into this alley. That time, I had been beaten within an inch of death. The doctor had said that it was a miracle I survived, that I would have been dead if Pendulum hadn’t found me when he did. That nopony should survive those wounds, much less suffer them in the first place. “Focus, Clockwork,” I whispered and glanced back on the street behind me, pushing the memories away. The guards, while easily avoided so far, could show up at the end of the street any moment. “You don’t have time to just stay here!” I told myself and hurried up my steps. The alley was as dark this night as it had been then; the only thing illuminating it was the faint light that found its way in from the street-lamps outside. My eyes wandered between the cobblestone and the walls, and for a moment, I thought about illuminating my surroundings myself, but quickly rejected that thought. If a guard walked past, they would definitely see that light. Instead, I took my time walking deeper into the alley, careful as to not to step on any debris, or stray cat, that might be laying around. Luckily for me, I didn’t need more light to find the small oaken door. Although it was nearly invisible in the dim light reaching this far into the alley, I still remembered where it was. It stood as sturdy as it had done the first time I had seen it, as always locked. It had been a door for the times the Cloaca Canterlot, or simply the sewers, were in use. Now, the only ones using the abandoned sewers were those ponies who wanted to stay away from the sunlight for one reason or another. Of course, it wouldn’t be the first time I unlocked this door without the key. Pocket always made sure that it was always locked, but there had been times when I just wanted to get away from everything. The docks had been my favourite part of the city. I could sit for hours, watching the great zeppelins arrive and depart, carrying goods from far away locations. At night, I could lie and gaze at the stars above, dreaming myself away to a better place. The click of the door unlocking under my magic snapped me out of the memory. Now came the hard part: getting the door opened. It was heavy, and I prayed that Pocket Slip still made sure the door hinges where greased. For a few minutes I struggled with the doors, glancing over my shoulder every now and then. Finally it gave after enough to open up a gap wide enough for me to slip through. For a moment, I froze with a hoof still resting against the door. I stared into the darkness of the sewers that laid beyond the gap, unable to step inside. For the first time in years, I smelled the faint reek of the sewers, feel the chill, damp air that was a part of the Cloaca Canterlot wind past me. Granted, there wasn’t any warmth in the air at this hour of the day anyway, but the air from the sewers... It felt as if something waited for me down there, and that feeling made me shiver and take a step back. I quickly shrugged the feeling off; it had always been present here, and even if I hadn’t been here for a long time I still remembered it. With a deep breath, I slipped through the gap. Standing just inside, my horn illuminating the hallway-like structure. Should I let the door stay opened? I thought and looked back at it. If I need to run, I won’t have time to struggle with it.  And what if a guard decided to walk into the alley? They might not see it as off now, but in the sunlight? There’s a reason why Pocket keep them closed, aren’t there? They won’t persuade me down the sewers. I looked down the small road that lead down to one of Cloaca Canterlot many staggered junctions. They would never find me down here. Are you willing to take the risk? With a groan, I took a bit around the rope that was rolled up on an attachment placed on this side of the door and pulled, prepared to struggle with the door for a couple of minutes again. To my surprise, the door slid shut without any resistance at all. I staggered backwards and slipped on the cobblestones under me; with a yelp I fell onto my haunches. The action caused me to lose all concentration, including the spell that illuminated my surroundings, and I found myself in complete darkness. Swearing, I pushed myself up again and rubbed the base of my horn. Interrupting a spell like that wasn’t really the best way to start the day. Of course, had I not forgotten about how easy that door is to close, this wouldn’t have happened, I mentally scolded myself as I illuminated the surroundings again and pricked my ears to listen after hoofsteps. Had anypony, or anything, heard me, it would be better to be prepared for them then just running straight into them. However, I couldn’t hear much besides the water that gurgled further down the sewers and my own breathing. After standing completely still for nearly half a minute I decided to continue down the hallway-like passage. The damp walls reflected the light from my horn as I walked. With each step I took the reek in the air got stronger in my nostrils, until the point where I nearly stopped up to throw up. Not even breathing through my mouth helped. If anything, it made it worse. I could taste the surrounding reek instead. But I pressed on, and once reaching the stream running through the sewers my legs took out the course themselves. Five years later, I still hadn’t forgotten the way. ⌚ “Stay right there, Unicorn.” I stopped at the voice, my eyes darting towards the source of it. “Who are you? Who sent you? What gang?” The voice was that of a young stallion. He stood obscured in the shadows; neither the weak light from my magic nor the few torches that were placed on the walls reached him. An ambush? I quickly discarded that thought. Had it been, then they would have jumped at me before asking any question. It took me a second to connect the question he had asked with the area I had reached, but once I did, it all made much more sense. One of Pocket Slip’s guards? Alone? I had been standing guard here myself at times, although always together with somepony else, for safety. But never alone. Where is his partner? You’re never alone on your post, should something happen.  “I’m Clockwork,” I said, looking around after the second guard. “Pocket Slip sent after me. I’m not part of any gang.” They must’ve put out the fire when they heard the echo of my footsteps, I thought as I peered into the shadows. A small earth pony colt, barely shorter than me, slinked out from the shadows, eyeing me from head to hoof. His dark brown, nearly black, coat was replaced by a lighter hued brown coat just above his hooves. Both his ill-kept, ruffled mane and his eyes shared the lighter color. He wore ill-fitting rag clothes, which wasn’t that much of a surprise for a foal in the sewers. What came as a surprise, however, was the Asphodelus blade mounted on his right front leg, nearly completely obscuring the leg. It gleamed softly in the light from my horn and the torches. I took a step back at the sight of it, my eyes widening some. He smiled scornfully as he looked up at me. “Gangless and carrying a gang knife? Not only that, but Pocket sent after you?” He took a threatening step after me. “Likely story.” “Asphodelus blade, Doff, not gang knife.” A sweet voice spoke from the shadows, causing both me and the colt to give a start in surprise. The voice was followed by a cute giggle. A giggle I had heard so many times before. “Are you ever going to learn?” “Hey, no fair! You said you wouldn’t interfere with this one!” the colt whined and whirled around towards the voice, stomping his hoof in the floor. “You take everypony!” Another giggle was heard. “I do that, don’t I?” The voice was followed by a mare, who seemingly materialized from the shadow. She stopped just inside the light, her honey colored coat reflecting the light as she eyed me up and down with the gaze of a predator, an amused smile on her lips. She met my gaze, and I could feel my body shiver as I looked back into her yellow tinted eyes that radiated an amusement even greater than that on her lips. Like a cat, silently and agile, she walked up to the colt, her tail whisking back and forth. Not once did she turn her gaze away from me. “Doff, be a good colt and go tell Pocket that Clockwork has arrived.” She smiled at me. “I’m going to... make up for lost time.” The colt snapped his attention to the mare. “But Honey—” Taking her eyes of me, she silenced his whining with a disapproving gaze. “Now, Doff.” She smiled again, holding up his chin with a hoof. “Be a good colt and let Pocket know, and I might even find you some ice cream,” she cooed softly. That made the colt’s ear stand straight up. “Ice cream?” he asked excitedly. With a laugh, the mare puffed him softly in the chest with a hoof. “Only if you hurry up, kid.” He smiled up at her again, before he hastily hurried into the darkness, only stopping to pick up and unshielding a lantern. Honey followed him with her eyes, her tail flicking back and forth like a cats. My own eyes followed the earth pony’s tail as it twitched, before they came to an rest on her flank. “Enjoying the view?” The mare laughed and shaked her behind slightly, and I quickly looked away. “Oh, no need to be embarrassed.” She laughed and turned around to face me again, her eyes twinkling and her tail continuing twitching. “It’s been a long time, Clockwork.” She started walking towards me, her hips swaying slowly from side to side. “You don’t sound surprised that I’m alive,” I noted as I took half a step back to avoid her advances. “I have my sources,” she cooed and continued after me in this ridiculous dance. “Have you gained weight? It fits you, not being the skeleton you were then.” “Spot told you?” “You know how talkative he is when he’s in a bliss.” She smiled at me, rolling her eyes. “Never the one to shut up once he’s done.” She stopped her advances with a laugh. “Not even a hug for an old friend?” “A hug with you never ends there,” I said and took an extra step backwards, just to be on the safe side. “Who else knows about it?” “When did you become this boring, Clockwork? You were always one for some fun.” She smiled innocently and rolled her eyes. “And it’s Spot we’re talking about. Every mare—and stallion—willing to share their bed with him might know about it, especially seeing that it was five years since you died. But, if it makes you feel any better, I haven’t heard many ponies talk about it and your secret has been safe with me.” Her smile dropped some. “Even after you dumped me in the middle of the night.” “I... dumped you?” I blinked and thought back on my time in the gang. Honey and I had quickly become friends, and close ones at that. Closer so than most she shared her bed with then. We had taken care of each other. We had shared each others memories and pain. More than once I had cried out on her shoulder while she whispered words of solace; just as I had been when she had used my shoulder to cry on. She sat down on her haunches, looking up at me. “You don’t remember it?” she asked softly. “Just hours before your death?” That night, the night of Hearts and Hooves day, I had been with her in the park, as had been a tradition between us. We had eaten a small picnic under the stars, just me and her in the silent night. She had been quiet, more so than usually, a clear sign that she had something on her mind but didn’t want to talk about it. As the moon had started to set, I had been forced to leave her. She had begged me to stay, just until sunrise. She had told me she didn’t want to be alone. I shook my head and met her gaze, my heart sinking deeper in my chest. “I didn’t want to leave you alone that night, Honey,” I whispered, taking a step closer to her and sitting down myself, close enough for me to, should I wish, raise a hoof and embrace her. Pocket Slip could wait. “But I was already late to the raid against the zeppelins in the docks, and—” “I know,” she interrupted me with soft tone. She skidded closer to me and put her head on my shoulder. “I hated you for it. I wished...” She interrupted herself with a slight shiver. “But when I heard that you had been attacked and killed... I didn’t do anything but cry for a week.” I placed a hoof over her shoulders, and she smiled up at me through her tears. “Then Spot started talking. Saying that you were alive. I... was happy to hear that and...” She looked down in the floor. “Why didn’t you come back?” “I... was afraid,” I admitted. “If I came back, would they try to kill me again? I was lucky to survive the first time. If it hadn’t been for Pendulum, I would have died that night. But he saved me and took me in as his apprentice. At first, I had thoughts of come back. But... I couldn’t. He gave me a chance to live a different life. Working with clocks was different from anything I had ever done before. I enjoyed it, for once I felt as if I could actually use my horn to do something.” “You didn’t kill him, then? The word on the street goes, but—” “I didn’t,” I nearly snapped, tears forming in my eyes. “How could I do that? Why would I do that? I owed him everything and—” “I know,” she whispered softly, placing a hoof over my mouth to silence me. “I saw you working. I have found myself standing in the shadows outside the shop, wanting to go inside and talk with you. But... I never stepped further. You looked... happy.” She smiled sadly at me and removed her hoof. “Did you ever think about me?” “Of course I did. I missed you, but I was too afraid to go back and get you. I... I’m sorry. If I hadn’t been so scared—” “Just as I was too scared to talk with you.” She gave me a smile and placed her head against my shoulder again. “I have missed you. This... us.” The last word came out as a whisper, but it was loud enough for me to hear. With a sigh, I embraced her in a hug. “I have missed you, Honey. There were days when I decided to go and find you. Both you and Spot. Take you out of these sewers. But... each time I chickened out.” She returned the embrace, and for a moment we sat like that. As I felt her hoof softly caress my back, I pushed away. “I can’t, Honey,” I whispered, shivering in the sudden cold that took the place of the warmth from the earth pony. “I’ve to find Pocket. I need to fix this.” She blinked at me, before she looked down on the cold cobblestone. “I know.” She chuckled softly, shaking her head. “When I heard your voice... who it was Doff had stopped... I hoped that things would go back to what they were.” “Maybe it can, once all this is over,” I said softly and placed a hoof on her shoulder. “I’ve missed our friendship.” “When you go back to being a clockmaker?” she whimpered, not looking up from the floor. “Will you leave me here again, all alone?” “I don’t even know if I’m going to survive the day,” I muttered, before I sighed and gave her a quick hug. “You still mean a lot to me. I... I will figure something out. I won’t leave you again.” I gave her a quick kiss on the head before I rose again. “But I have to talk with Pocket first.” “I understand.” She rose slowly and wiped her eyes dry with a hoof, smiling slightly at me. “I will take you to him.” I opened my mouth to protest. I was fairly sure that, since I had been able to find my way here without any mishaps, I would be able to find my way to Pocket as well. Her hopeful smile, however, made me change my words. “I appreciate it.” Her smile widened and without a word she started walking. I quickly fell in next to her, my horn illuminating the way as we made our way deeper into the sewers. The silence grew between us as we walked, and more than once I could see her glance at me or feel her tail brush against my leg. After walking in silence for a couple of minutes, I slowly asked, “Isn’t... Doff a bit too young for guard duty?” “Huh?” She snapped up her head to look at me. “Doff?” She giggled softly. “He wasn’t assigned to guard duty, Clocky. He kept me company. Followed me here, if you want.” I raised an eyebrow at my old nickname, but didn’t comment on it. “And you let him act like a guard?” I asked instead. She shrugged with an amused smile. “Doff is grown for his age, and as eager as a certain somepony was to prove that they were mature enough to handle the task of a guard.” “If I remember correctly, you were just as eager to sneak out and stand guard as I was.” I shared her smile. “After all, you followed me each time I sneaked away.” I could feel the smile grow on my face as realization hit me: I had missed this. Five years... and it’s like we haven’t been apart for more than a day. “Only to drag your sorry ass back, Clocky.” She gave me a light flick over the flank with her tail, interrupting my thoughts. I rolled my eyes with a chuckle. “That wasn’t what you said to old Three Hooves.” “Well, you did look cute with his old city-guard helmet on your head,” she said with a laugh. “Besides, he didn’t seem to mind.” “Three Hooves never minded,” I pointed out. “He was just happy that someone wanted to ‘keep an old geezer like him company during the boring night hours’.” “Do you remember the stories he would tell?” she asked, looking up in the ceiling as we walked. “You were always so fascinated to hear about his time in the city guard.” I laughed, the smile on my lips widening. “And you never wanted to hear any other story than that old ponytale about Nightmare Moon. You would always interrupt him to say the villain’s lin—” “The night will last forever!” she boomed, her voice echoing in the sewers, and we shared a laugh as we continued deeper into it, walking close to each other like we had done so many times before. ⌚ The Great Hall was one of the biggest room in Cloaca Canterlot, and also the common room for Pocket Slip’s gang. Even at this hour, in the light radiated by hundreds of torches, ponies had gathered in the room, sitting in small groups around one of the many tables or laid spread out in any of the cushion islands. Multiple conversation filled the room, each one impossible to make out on it’s own, but together they filled the air with a pleasant humming. I recognized some of the faces among the ponies, but none of them seemed to have noticed the opening of the door I stepped through. On the far end of the circular room, sitting on an elevated throne-like seat and with three of his personal guards, sat Pocket Slip himself, gazing down at the ponies in the room. The crimson earth pony looked older than when I had last seen him; traces of gray were clearly visible in his dark-brown mane. At the sound of me stepping through the door, he looked away from the ponies below and up at me, his grim expression vanishing. “Clockwork, you made it!” he boomed, causing everypony in the room to go silent and look up at me. “I was afraid you wouldn’t take up my offer.” I didn’t answer him as I walked down the stairs and towards him. I could hear the whispering among the gathered ponies and feel their eyes on me. What if Pendulum’s murderer is here?  I shrank back slightly under the weight of the gazes from the gathered ponies, stopping in my steps. My mind screamed for me to turn back before it was too late. Or if the ones who attacked you five years ago are in this very room? For a moment, I stood there, looking wildly around myself. Then, with a final shake on my head, I turned my attention back towards Pocket. If they’re here, then they won’t do anything in front of Pocket, I reassured myself. Pocket is not behind this, but he can give me answers. I nodded at the thought and started walking again. Answers I need. “Welcome back, Clockwork,” he said, his tone as warm as it always had been, when I reached his throne.  “I’m happy you saw—” “That’s not why I’m here, Slip.” My voice sharper than I had planned as I interrupted him. The guards at his side tensed, the unicorn one even levitating his blade halfway out of the sheath, and a few of the ponies in the crowd gasp for air. I lowered my voice, shrinking back even more, but continued talking. “You know that.” He looked down at me with hard eyes, waiting for me to finish before he started talking with slow voice. “You might not be a part of us anymore, Clockwork, but these are my halls, and you’re still going to show me respect when I’m talking.” His voice was sharp and I took a step back under his glare. With a wave of his hoof, he dismissed his guards. “But yes, I guessed as much when you didn’t arrive within the given time.” He slowly stood up. The guards glanced at each other before they took a step aside. Even then, the unicorn didn’t sheath his blade and his hard eyes quickly returned to me. Without even glancing towards the guards, he walked up to me, his voice for my ears only. “You’re here about Pendulum’s death.” I nodded and he put a hoof on my shoulder. “You have my condolences, boy. As I understood it from Spot, he was important to you.” He motioned towards one of the door, the one that, if I remembered it correctly, would lead towards the room he used as his office. “Walk with me.” With quick steps I followed him, my eyes never leaving the crowd around us. The ponies stepped aside to give us free way as we walked towards the door, more and more of the crowd returned to whatever they had done before I stepped in. I could feel the knot in my throat disappear. Releasing a breath I didn’t realize I had held, my body relaxed some. When Pocket opened the door out of the Grand Hall and stepped into the hallway on the other side, I looked back in the room. The only one who still looked on me were the unicorn guard, who glared after me with hard eyes. I hurried after Pocket into the hallway; the door gliding shut behind me effectively suppressed the sound from the Great Hall. A few ponies walked in the silent hallway as well, most of them greeting Pocket and eyeing me before they went on with their business. None of them seemed to recognize me or care about who I was. It didn’t even take a minute to cross the hallway and get to the office, but just before I stepped inside I saw something in my corner. Further down the hallway, Spot had stopped in the middle of a step, looking straight at me. He blinked a couple of times and threw a quick glance around himself, before his eyes returned to me. “Are you coming, Clockwork?” Pocket asked. Looking back, I could see that he held the door open. “Yes, I’m just...” I shook my head. I could talk with Spot later. “Yes.” “Take any seat you want,” Pocket said as he closed the door after me. Without waiting, he sat down on one of the cushions laying spread around the room himself. This room wasn’t really the office, but rather a foyer to it. The door in the end of the it lead to his office, and this room was more often used as a waiting room. I skidded over to one of the cushions and sat down, looking over at Pocket. The earth pony met my gaze, and for a moment we sat in silent. “Why have you come to me, Clockwork?” He spoke slowly with tired voice. “Do you believe that I’m behind the murder of Pendulum? That I’m so desperate to get your help so that I would murder him to force you to take the offer?” I wanted to levitate the knife up and drive it into a cushion, yelling at him that I had found it sticking out of Pendulum’s body. Maybe I could... I took a deep breath. “Spot have been pressing me for three days about your offer, Pocket. Yesterday, he said that you gave me until curfew to take the offer, and that after having raised my part of the share to forty percent.” “Yes.” He nodded. “Getting in through that door would greatly—” “And then I found this sticking out of his body!” I interrupted him. With a jerk off my head, I levitated out the knife and plunged it into the nearest cushion, a cloud of feathers flying out of it. “Do you want me to think that is it all just a coincidence?!” I couldn’t keep my voice down, neither could I keep the tears from my eyes. “That’s—” “But you know what, Pocket?!” I didn’t let him talk. “It backfired at you. I’m the one wanted for the murder of Pendulum. The guards saw me standing with the blade over his body.” I took a deep breath and looked up at him. “You wanted the door opened? You have just burned the Celestia damned bridge leading to it!” He snapped his eyes away from the knife, glaring down at me. For a moment, he just sat like that, until I shrank down in the cushion. “Are you finished with your childish accusing, Clockwork?” he asked with low tone, causing me to shrink down even further. “I wouldn’t accept this behaviour when you were a part of my gang, and I won’t do it now.” He looked back at the knife and sighed. “Five years, Clockwork. For five years have I tried to protect you from the ones who assaulted you that night. I spread the news that you were dead, and made sure that Spot kept his muzzle shut, and this is the way you thank me? Refusing to help us inside the palace I can accept, but coming here and accusing me for murdering Pendulum? You know very well that I wouldn’t do that, or else you would have used my body instead of that cushion”—he looked back at me—“so why are you really here?” I took a deep, wavering breath and wiped the tears away from my eyes. Meeting his softened gaze, I could feel some of the anger that had overtaken me disappear. “I want to find out who did it.” I said slowly, looking down in the cushion. “I want answers.” “You want to know whose blade this is,” he stated and motioned towards the Asphodelus blade. “And where you can find him or her.” I nodded. “I want to clear my name and avenge him, Pocket. I think you can understand that.”   “I do, Clockwork. I do.” He leaned forward some. “But it won’t come cheap.” He held up a hoof to silence me as I snapped my head up from the cushion. “I’ll help you with this in anyway I can, but in return you will open that door for me.” “I can’t do that.” I shook my head and looked down at my hooves. “I just can’t.” He sighed and leaned back again. “Listen, boy. I know it might seem... unfair of me to take advantage of you like this, but you have to understand my standpoint. This is the theft of the century, everything is planned in detail. But, should I not get that door opened from the inside... ponies will die, on both sides. I look after my ponies. If that means taking advantage of your situation to save the lives of Celestia knows how many of my ponies? Then that’s something I’ll do.” He rose from his cushion, holding up a hoof to silence me before I could protest. “Take a minute or two and think about it before you make a decision. Once you have decided, I will be waiting in my office.” I looked after the earth pony as he left me alone in the small room, softly closing the door into the office after himself. Groaning, I averted my eyes to the blade and sank down deeper in the cushion. On the way here, I had told myself to keep calm. I had told myself that Pocket didn’t have anything with it to do, that he would never try to force me into working for him like that. Honey had reassured me that everything would be fine, that Pocket would help me. If nothing else so to clear his own name free from it and find out who had done it. I had hoped that it would be as easy as it had been to talk with Gust and Rose about it, if not easier since I had left out all sorrow I could yesterday, but everything had disappeared once I had started talking with him. No matter how much my mind screamed that he wasn’t behind it, my heart wouldn’t listen. The blade pointed towards him, and as the only lead... Snorting in frustration, I drove a hoof into the cushion. Pocket would have gone to the extent of threatening to let the guards, or even worse Pendulum, know about my past. He would never kill somepony to make me work for him. Yet everything points towards him, doesn’t it? the voice in my mind asked. I blinked at the thought, before I shook my head. No. It doesn’t point towards Pocket, it points towards the gang. Someone in the gang is involved, and if anyone can help me find him or her, it’s pocket. And if it was him? Leaning back in the cushion, I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. I firmly pushed that thought, together with the voice, out of my head. Right now, Pocket is the only one who can help me. I’ve no choice but to trust him.  I groaned. If I accept his offer and open the door to the clocktower, and thus the palace, in the exchange for information about who it might’ve been... It felt as if I would betray Pendulum by doing so. The clocktower is—or at least would be once it’s done—his lifework. Using it as a way to commit theft against the throne... I shivered. But what other choice do I have? If I don’t take his offer, my chances to find whoever did this will be small, at best. “What would Pendulum want me to do?” I whispered, levitating the blade out of the cushion and spinning it before my eyes. The answer to that was simple. He would want me to live. Leave it all behind me and live my life. I sighed. But how could I? I won’t be able to live with myself if I run away from this. I have to find whoever did this.   “And when I find them?” I gazed on my reflection in the blade, a tired unicorn looking back, his eyes burning. After a few moments, I shook my head. When I find whoever did this, I’ll make them pay for what they’ve done. They tortured Pendulum to death! How will killing a guilty making me less guilty? I sighed and released the grip of the blade, not even glancing at it as it fell to the floor. You could flee the city. I quickly pushed that thought away. I won’t leave Canterlot. I’ve a life here. A profession. If I clear my name... I could return to it. Gritting my teeth, I rose from the cushions and levitated up the knife to the improvised sheath. Pocket had forced me into a corner. The only way I can clean my name and return to my life is through Pocket. He knows that. Taking a deep breath, I pushed up the door to the gang leader’s office. Two bookcases covered the left and right wall, while three maps, one covering Cloaca Canterlot, one the city of Canterlot and the last one the nearest area around the city, all in great detail, covered the last wall. Behind the desk placed in the other end of the room sat the earth pony, looking down at the desk with a pencil in his mouth. He lifted his eyes to look at me as I entered, but returned to his paper after a moment. “You have made a decision?” he asked around the pencil, frowning slightly. I nodded, more a reflex than anything else, and took a deep breath to keep myself from yelling out instead of talking. “Yes, I have. You know very well that I could only chose one way.” With a twist of his head, he wrote something down on the paper before dropping the pen and looking up at me. “Since I knew that you wouldn’t left the city, yes. We have an agreement then?” “You help me find whoever killed Pendulum and help me clear my name, and I will open that door.” The words came easier than I thought they would. “That sounds reasonable.” He nodded. “I will give you the details about your part of the theft in time, but first thing first.” With a flick of his hoof, he motioned towards the blade. “I have sent word to Lyra, she’s expecting us.”