//------------------------------// // The Feed Bag // Story: My Clockwork Stallion // by Aegis Shield //------------------------------// My Clockwork Stallion Part 2: The Feed Bag Now, there were many things Twilight Sparkle could have done to help investigate the Cuckoo Clock she’d left with Time Turner. But, after much careful thought she went with the simplest route possible. She decided to write a letter to Princess Luna. If the message scratched on the back panel (“Happy Birthday Starswirl, Love, Luna”) was genuine, then there was nopony else she could hope to get more information out of. Waiting until the midnight hour was a chore and the purple mare felt guilty for keeping Spike up that long, but with the proper amount of ice cream and board games soon the time was at hand. Twilight knew Princess Luna would be on the royal throne at this hour of the night, so it was a perfect time to send dragon-fire mail. Twilight didn’t dare recite aloud the letter she’d composed for Spike to write. If the clock turned out to be dangerous or something, she didn’t want the poor little guy to worry about it. Enough craziness happened around Ponyville, she didn’t want to add to the stack. Dear Princess Luna, I’ve found something at the Golden Oaks library here in Ponyville that I wanted to ask you about. It’s a really unusual cuckoo clock. On the inside of the back panel is a message that looks like it might be from you to Starswirl the Bearded! Did you know him? My local clocksmith, Time Turner, says it’s a really unusual antique and he’s been cleaning it for me. Is there any history or anything to it? I’ve already found a sealing circle on one of the gears. It’s not dangerous, is it? Your Friend, Twilight Sparkle Spike blew fire over the scroll and away it went. The two of them spent the next twenty minutes or so cleaning up the main room of the library of all of their snacks. They found half a dozen stray board game pieces and made sure they found their proper homes. Twilight straightened her desk a bit, throwing away a few old checklists and things from last month. It wasn’t long before Spike stopped, clutched at his belly, and belched up the reply note. The paper was thick and fancy, covered with blue and spidery-looking hoof-writing. Dearest Friend Twilight Sparkle, Please do not ask us about that clock. Speak not of Starswirl to us, either. We prefer both to fade from memory. At the end of its usefulness, do not throw it away. Destroy it. Luna There was no parting comment like ‘your friend’ or ‘sincerely’, just a quick and striking signature. The tail of the a at the end of it was so long and harsh that Twilight was surprised the paper hadn’t ripped. The purple mare found herself swallowing just a bit. Should she reply back? Why wouldn’t Luna want to speak about such an old, fascinating artifact? Questions boiled up inside Twilight and it was all she could do not to grab paper and quill to write another letter to Luna. Sighing and sending Spike up for bed, she began to put out the lights one by one and pull the shutters of the library windows. She would have to consult with Time Turner tomorrow. =-=-=-= Time Turner looked as though he’d gotten as much sleep as Twilight when she discovered him. Keys and Clocks was strangely silent when she came in, after the bell above the door had quieted. “Time Turner?” she asked, tilting her head. The poor brown stallion looked a little haggard, and the shadow of a beard had appeared on his chin overnight. “You’re never gonna believe what I’ve found. This clock just keeps getting weirder and weirder!” he grinned coltishly at her and she smiled back at his sudden spark of energy. “I sent a letter to Princess Luna, she’s already replied back.” Twilight said, stepping easily behind the counter to stand beside him. “I’m pretty sure the note we saw is genuine. She seemed upset about it and asked me to destroy it when we’re done with it.” Time Turner gasped at her. “What? No! We can’t do that! This thing is one of a kind!” he squawked, flailing a bit. A tiny gear suddenly fell out of his fur and he snatched it up, placing it on the table in front of them among the others. “I think there’s more here than we know,” Twilight agreed slowly. She didn’t like the idea of going behind Luna’s back, but… it was just so interesting!” she almost whined, which made him smile. “I know what you mean,” Time Turner said, leaning and getting a thin wooden yard stick. “But here, let me show you what I found,” he gestured. Leaning with a careful hoof, he pried open the little door where the bird of the cuckoo clock was supposed to emerge. Turning the yard stick on its side as not to break the bird off its plank, he pressed the stick in past it as though to measure how deep the paneling of the clock went. He pushed it in, and in, and in some more. Twilight began to gape as it passed the twelve inch mark, then the twenty, then the thirty! “Impossible!” Twilight squawked, leaning over the open panel to peer inside. “It’s bigger on the inside than on the outside?!” She couldn’t see the yard stick being pressed into through the doorway at all. It was as though it had disappeared through a portal gateway or something. “That’s not all. I was doing little hammer checks to see what sorts of metals were inside?” Time Turner got a stethoscope from his bag of tools. Leaning, he put the pads in Twilight’s ears and tapped the receiver a few times. When the purple mare nodded, he pressed the receiver up against the side of the clock. Tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick. She frowned in confusion. “It’s ticking…” she whispered as he pulled the stethoscope off of her. “But I was sure it stopped!” “My theory is there might be another clock inside this one. If there’s more room inside than there should be, there’s no telling what sort of craziness is in there. If Princess Luna wants it destroyed when you’re done using it, there might be a good deal of strange stuff inside.” Time Turner said warily, turning the clock on its side. They stared at the short message that had been scratched into the panel in silence. After a time, the brown stallion began to work at it again. Twilight and he had long, detailed conversations about clockwork, Starswirl the Bearded, and Princess Luna. They traded theories about the ‘love’ bit that was in the note, as well as about each other. A friendship blossomed over the course of the afternoon. Evening came on swift wings. “So what does ‘amniomorphic’ mean, anyway?” Time Turner said as he ran a cotton swab over a stubborn golden gear. “It’s one of Starswirl the Bearded’s greatest creations,” Twilight said matter of factly, cocking her head as she pored over a book of fancy pocket watches. “Amnio can mean two things: either ‘pot’ or ‘a mare’s womb’.” “Like the amniotic sack? Where a foal is made during a pregnancy?” Time Turner glanced up from his work. Twilight nodded, smiling wide. My my, wasn’t he well-read! “Very good! Yes! And then ‘morphic’ means ‘to change’ or ‘the ability to morph into another shape’.” The scholar said. “And remember, Starswirl lived in a time period before prenatal care was invented—“ she paused for a moment, gesturing to her belly a little. “It was a spell meant to cure birth defects in unborn foals. It revolutionized unicorn medicine in that era.” “Really?” Time Turner said, taking a gear in his tweezers and dipping it carefully in his cleaning fluids. “That’s pretty advanced stuff, right?” “He was a genius,” Twilight said reverently, leaning on her elbow with a sigh. Then she began to giggle a bit, until he looked up at her with a cocked eyebrow. “The other interpretation is the literal one. Amniomorphic can also mean ‘to shape pots.’” She began to laugh a bit louder as she built up to the joke for him. “So that makes Starswirl the Bearded a ‘hairy potter!’” She began to laugh aloud, pounding on the display case a couple of times. Time Turner deadpanned. He didn’t get it. When Twilight saw his silence she stifled herself embarrassedly, giggling behind a hoof. Maybe not so well-read as she thought. Ah well. Time Turner looked over at one of the many, many clocks on the wall when his stomach growled impressively. “Oh jeez, I haven’t eaten all day, and it’s already late!” He sighed a little, making a mental tally of the food in his tiny kitchen upstairs. Nothing sounded especially appealing. Twilight looked over as well, startling at the hour, “Oh, darn it. I can’t clank around in my kitchen at this hour, I’ll wake Spike,” her stomach followed suite as she spoke. The purple mare frowned, the gears in her head turning idly. “Wanna get something out?” Time Turner offered after a few moments thought. “I’m sure the Feed Bag is open at this hour.” Twilight’s face lit up and she nodded. After grabbing their saddlebags and locking up the shop, they were off. The Feed Bag was a rest and eating place for ponies. It was all old wooden troughs, simple foods like salted hay and sugar water, and there was always pleasant mood music on the tiny stage in the corner. When Time Turner and Twilight Sparkle arrived, it was a bustling time. It must’ve been the end of the night shift for a few ponies. Thankfully the sectioned off stalls made for a quieter time, while the music floated along through the rafters. The place was suited up to look like a relaxing old barn, complete with stalls to section off the tables for privacy. “Two please,” Twilight told one of the passing waitresses. They were led to a stall and given the usual pony staples. It was soothing to eat in such a way, really. Like it was supposed to be that way. It was quiet in the stall, you got to stand in one place, and you didn’t have to balance on a stool or worry about plates. As the wooden gate was closed to show that stall was occupied, Twilight very suddenly found herself alone with Time Turner. She almost giggled to herself. The two of them ate in silence for a long time, both lost in their own thoughts. Standing shoulder to shoulder and occasionally bending to get a new mouthful, the two ponies found themselves in good company. Twilight smiled up at Time Turner, which he returned with his lopsided one. Finding a salt-lick cube in their hay, he nosed it over to her side of the trough. He’d already had three, he felt like he was hogging them all. The purple mare smiled, chewing thoughtfully to herself. “You know,” Time Turner said softly, looking over at Twilight, “Thinking about Luna and Starswirl— I wonder if things ended really badly?” The brown stallion tilted his head in a thoughtful way. Twilight nodded slowly, waiting until she’d swallowed to speak, “That might be the case. If they had some sort of relationship and it didn’t pan out how the Princess wanted, maybe she’s a little bitter. Alicorns live a lot longer than ponies, maybe we just dug up an old scar on her heart…” she trailed off, wilting her ears in a guilty way. “Dessert?” A mare leaned over the wooden gate, a pair of feed bags in her teeth. Both ponies nodded eagerly, having eaten all the hay they could hold. With help from the server, both of them managed to get feed bags onto their faces, tied loosely behind their ears. Sugared corn and a few other pleasant things were inside. The tab was pinned to their little wooden gate, and they were left alone again. “Mhrrrm-hrm-mrrhm-hrm,” said Time Turner thoughtfully, his tongue snaking out to pull more of the sugared feed into his mouth. He crunched noisily, quite enjoying himself. His ears perked up and forward. Twilight smirked at him, shaking her head. “Huhm hrm-mrhm-rrrm?” he said into the bag, looking at her. The purple mare snorted, not understanding a word he’d said. The brown stallion finally realized he had something over his face and gave up, laughing a little. The mare rolled her eyes good-naturedly. “Luh-luh-luh-luh!” he waggled his tongue up and down to make the feed bag dance on the end of his muzzle. Twilight gaped at him as he curled forward in laughter, stomping a hoof. Then she joined him, laughing gaily. =-=-=-= Luna sat deep in thought on a placid lake. The lack of wind and clouds made it like a mirror. Her magic didn’t disturb the waters, and kept her aloft. Out on such a big body of water she could be alone to think without a guard hovering nearby or anything else bothering her. A Pegasus on the wing would be heard, and she could teleport if one grew near. The midnight pony stared at her reflection. So, Twilight had found the Clock of Five Mysteries, had she? Well, that was fine. Its intricacies were well-hidden and there was no reason to jump on the poor thing. Luna already regretted the biting reply note she’d sent to her friend and loyal subject. Perhaps she should not have been so harsh. She’d not received a reply to her reply, so perhaps Twilight had gotten the message reading between the lines. The Nighttime Princess took a deep breath, watching tiny fish nibble curiously at the tips of her hooves. She tilted her head back. “Starswirl,” she murmured the name aloud. She hung her head a little, her face slowly morphing into a hurt expression. There was a pony she’d not thought about in ages. A pony she’d not wanted to think about in ages. He’d been Celestia’s protégé all those centuries ago. He’d been an avid star-gazer, and even spotted all the patterns and angles Luna had put into her night sky back then. His star charts and magical genius were the stuff of legends, and ponies still knew his name. Twilight even dressed in his likeness for Nightmare Night. Luna had loved him. And he’d— “I’ve not seen that face in some time,” Luna startled when Celestia made her presence known nearby. Seeing the twitch in her wings, the solar Alicorn bent her neck apologetically. “I didn’t mean to startle you. I can let you be if you want…” “No, we would enjoy your company,” Luna murmured, smiling in a weak way. Celestia asked questions with her eyes, but the night princess didn’t speak until she’d come and sat on her haunches next to her. The fishes were fascinated with her sister’s hooves as well, nipping and swirling around them in a silent, ever-turning circle. “Twilight found the clock that we made for Starswirl,” Luna said after a long silence. “Ohhh,” Celestia said in a knowing way, extending a great white wing over her sister’s shoulder. “I see,” she nodded a little, looking at her sister in concern. “It’s been centuries, he’s long gone,” “It still hurts,” Luna said softly, hanging her head, “Such weakness in my heart, we wish we could shed it,” she looked ashamed of herself, and Celestia’s wing tightened around her slender body. “Oh no no, Luna, never wish such a thing,” her big sister whispered. “If you cannot hurt, you cannot love either. It goes hoof in hoof.” Luna looked up at her with soft eyes as she spoke. “I won’t tell you not to linger on it, because I know you will, but try not to for too long,” Celestia leaned and tenderly kissed her sister’s worried brow. Luna gave a quiet smile. They sat in silence for a long time, before the solar alicorn let her sister be alone with her thoughts. End of Part 2