My Clockwork Stallion
Part 3: Bronze Flower
Time Turner awoke with the usual harsh ache of dead weight and numbness in his left-front leg. Groaning as the morning greeted him through thin curtains, he rolled out of bed and favored the other leg instead. Limping along on pins and needles, he got his therapy leg-bangle. Looping the heavy metal ring around his numb ankle, he began working the limb up and down and back and forth until the feeling subsided. Panting a bit, clenching his teeth, he rubbed his poor shoulder as he leaned on his chest of drawers. He rubbed at his matted fur a little, brow furrowed with the old pain he often suffered. If he didn’t keep a closer eye on it it would be worse than ever, he knew. Sighing and studying himself in the mirror for a moment, he went about a more healthy morning routine than normal. After a shower, breakfast with actual food instead of sugary cereal, and some fierce grooming, the brown stallion felt a bit better. Sticking his muzzle out into the crisp spring morning, he felt the sting from his razor pleasantly warm all over his face and neck. Ah well, at least he looked nice.
He leaned to flip the ‘closed’ sign to ‘open’, and his front-left leg seized up on him. He gave a strangled yelp, almost falling over. Making triple-sure no-pony was watching or even out on the street in front of his shop, Time Turner licked his lips a little. Studying the doorframe for a moment, he bashed himself against it. The leg un-seized, as though the muscles had slid back into their proper place. He groaned like he was having an unpleasant time on the toilet, holding his shoulder. He popped it back and forth a few times until he was sure everything was in working order. Ever since his accident it was nothing but trouble. Sighing, he flipped his store’s sign and went about the morning chores of opening the place up.
Time Turner paused at his closet, cocking his head a little. He was extra-extra groomed today… why not? He stuck his head in and pulled a saddle from its waiting hook. It was silky-smooth brown leather with shining iron buckles. It made him look dressed up and fancy for such a Ponyville bumpkin, if he did say so himself. It made him feel more confident to wear it, and it accented the rather nice curve of his back.
Through the morning he ended up making eight keys, resetting four locks, and pulling a bit of sand out of an old gentlecolt’s pocket watch. Not a bad morning, if he did say so himself. Clocks and Keys was having a pretty good day. If he was lucky, he wouldn’t have to graze at all this week, he could have some regular groceries like everypony else. That would be a sight. Running a specialty store wasn’t exactly super-profitable, so the poor stallion often ended up sneaking about the park or even the edge of Everfree Forest for a meal of grass, flowers or leaves. It was humiliating, yes, but a guy had to eat, right? Right.
Sighing at the thought, Time Turner let his thoughts turn to the mystery on his side-counter. When he hadn’t had any customers for almost an hour and there had been plenty of sweeping and shelf-cleaning, he let himself drift over to it. It tantalized him like a fresh apple tart, or pastry. Peering greedily over it with a coltish sort of glee, he peered down into its depths. Twilight Sparkle’s clock. Putting on his magnifying goggles, he got his sensitive instrument roll out. Unfurling it, he began to poke and prod as he had been. “Day twelve,” he said idly, “No change in the ticking I can hear inside. Parts continue to come out normally, but there’s no change. I’m starting to think that the clock itself is just an illusion, and that the face of the clock itself may be the actual time piece. The inside is something else entirely. The only question is, what?” He worked into the afternoon, ooh-ing and ahh-ing now and then until he came to something that made him stop. He had to wait for Twilight for this one. Stopping for a brief and frugal lunch, he smiled when the mare he wanted finally came.
Ring-a-ling-ling, the door’s hanging bell made Time Turner look up from the little alarm clock he’d been tuning up. “Hey Time Turner!” Twilight said with affection, shutting the door behind her and striding across to him. “Find anything new?”
“Oh yeah,” He nodded energetically. “I stopped just so I could have you here for it.” Her face lit up as he spoke, and she leaned eagerly at him. “You’re not gonna believe this, Twilight.”
“After what we’ve seen so far, I’m willing to go on a little faith here,” The purple mare seated herself at a little sitting space where customers normally sat for watch-fittings. Rolling in the chair with some energy, she came to a stop next to him and the contraption she’d always thought was a cuckoo clock until a few weeks ago. “What is it?” she peered at it.
“Look,” he pushed a magnifying glass her way. Her aura took it, lifting it over in front of her eyes. Leaning when he’d put a light at the proper angle, Twilight squinted. “See that?”
“It’s a button,” Twilight said, sounding unsure. “At least, I think it is,” she trailed off, frowning a bit. “Is that what it is?”
“I think so,” Time Turner nodded a bit, not really sure what else to say about it. They both stared, side-by-side. Maybe ten inches down, inside the impossible contraption, was a little red button the size of a thimble. It stuck out oddly, as though not fitted exactly right, but it was definitely an activation switch of some kind. “If this blows up when we push it--” The stallion started, looking worried.
“I don’t think anypony would plant a booby-trap inside a clock, though,” Twilight murmured, shaking her head. The stallion next to her started giggle-snorting a little. She’d said ‘booby’, hah! She gave him a wry smile, shoving his shoulder a little.
Clearing his throat a little, he picked up one of his instruments in his teeth. It was so sharp and thin it reminded Twilight of a dentist’s tool. Leaning with a steady grasp of his teeth, he prodded back and forth. No reaction from… whatever it was. He pushed directly onto the button, gritting his teeth and grunting with a little effort. It didn’t move. Both ponies sagged in disappointment. It didn’t do anything! There was a long silence of the two of them staring at it. They itched to know what it did. Twilight even tried to surround the button with her magic and push it forcefully, but something was physically keeping the bit of plastic from depressing into itself.
“Wait,” Time Turner looked at Twilight. “Didn’t you say that sealing circle we found could hold things in a certain way?” he tried to remember what the purple mare had said over a week ago.
“Magic things, yes. It’s like laminating a spell to stay in one form, or to hold its power for a really long time,” The young scholar said thoughtfully. “Didn’t you take that gear out, though?”
“Yes, it’s over… it’s over… over-rrrrrr…” Time Turner nosed back and forth through the little piles of gears, springs and shafts that he’d made a mess of taking out of the clock. “Here, this one!” he took it in his teeth and set it on the table before her. The gear was tiny, made of bronze, and had been polished to a shine along with the rest of what the brown stallion had taken out of the device. “Maybe you can break it?”
“Break the sealing circle?” Twilight frowned.
“If the circle is holding the clock the way it is, it’s probably holding the button as well.” Time Turner thought it made sense, but from Twilight’s perspective it was grasping at straws.
“That’s a little presumptuous,” The purple mare said, picking the gear up with her teeth and setting it in the brightest circle of light they had. “If it was connected to the clock I could see that making sense, but if it was for the whole thing--” she paused to look down into the now-ominous depths of the clock, “It would’ve stopped working when you took it out.”
“Just try it,” The stallion insisted. “I’ll buy ya lunch, promise,” he offered, lighting his face with another coltish grin. Twilight shook her head with a smirk. Hopeless flirt, this one was. Ah well. Lighting her horn and puffing out her cheeks, the purple mare gathered magic to her cause.
The sealing circle began to smear on the gear. Tiny though it was, it clung like permanent ink. Twilight’s magic scrubbed harder, back and forth. The gear itself began to bend a little. The light grew brighter, then brighter, then even brighter. POW! It went off like a fire-cracker and Time Turner dove behind a table like a bomb had gone off. After a short silence, he peeked up at her. Twilight’s mane was frizzed out and her face was blackened in certain areas. A strand of her mane had a tiny orange flame on it, which he quickly patted out. “Ow.” The mare mumbled.
“Where’s the gear?” Time Turner’s eyes flicked back and forth around the floor. “Are you okay?” he quickly amended when he saw her look. “What happ-!”
CHCK. Both ponies froze. CHK-CHK. They turned to look at the cuckoo clock. It was vibrating visibly. They took slow steps backward. CHK-CHK-stuh! Ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch--- a long, brazen-looking tendril began to reach up and out of the cuckoo clock. It was a thousand tiny-gears, a million little screws and panels and little blinky lights. It wriggled just a little, then vibrated again as though it were stretching its muscles. Then its tip sprang open into a razor-sharp, apocalyptic flower. A needle sprang free from the center like a drawing swords, and golden sparkles of light dotted the tip of each of its ‘petals’.
The stallion’s eyes widened in recognition. “Get down!” Time Turner tackled Twilight behind the counter while the bizarre, clockwork plant rose higher and higher until it was well-over three feet high from its base at the cuckoo clock.
“What is that thing?!” Twilight clung to Time Turner’s underbelly on instinct, but both of them peeked out from the side of the counter on instinct. Another sound like drawing swords heralded a massive cornucopia of golden, panel-like leaves. It was like a mad-pony had decided to make a plant with clock parts. Two parts genius, one part horror. The flower at the mechanical horror’s apex grew bigger and bigger until the whole thing suddenly shuddered to a stop.
A long silence passed, both ponies holding each other on the floor where they hid. They stared at it. The brass-and-bronze-monster-plant-thing did nothing, only stood in its bizarre pose in absolute stillness. Twilight and Time Turner looked at each other, then swallowed. What was with the huge needle-thing? Would it kill them? Was it a weapon? Why would Luna give Starswirl such a thing?
“It’s… beautiful,” Twilight whispered after a time. Time Turner looked at her incredulously. “Look at it,” she breathed, steering his face with a hoof on his cheek. “It was folded up in that tiny space, but it still managed to unfold and spread itself out perfectly. It must’ve taken ages and ages to get that exactly right.”
“Yeah,” Time Turner mumbled dumbly, unable to process what had just happened. “But what is it?” he crouched over Twilight instinctively, and his bad leg dug into her side at an awkward angle.
“Ouch! Gerrof!” The mare finally managed to shove the larger pony off of herself, and crouch behind the counter. “We have to approach this in a scientific manner! Who knows what it is!” she paused, then grabbed a heavy tool off the counter with her magic. Taking aim, she flung it expertly. Clank. The mechanical-plant-thing gave no reaction.
“Realllll scientific,” Time Turner rolled his eyes. Twilight grumbled at him. “Should we sneak away? Maybe out the back?”
“It’s not moving. Maybe it’s just… decoration or something?” The purple unicorn slowly rose from their hiding spot. Time Turner briefly fought to keep her with him, but she managed to wiggle away and out into the open. She froze, afraid it might turn and shoot the needle at her or something. The thing didn’t move. Slowly, slowly, she approached. She could see her reflection in its mechanical leaves, fanned out just so. A smile worked its way across her muzzle. “It’s art,” she breathed. She touched it a few times, much to Time Turner’s horror. It still didn’t react. “I think its art! Luna made this for Starswirl, right? Well, if it did this back in his era it must’ve been a mechanical wonder!”
Time Turner crept out from his hiding place, ears turned back. He stood behind Twilight, then slowwwwly ventured out into the open. He squinted. All the springs and parts were drawn tight on the metal plant. It couldn’t move if it wanted to. “Huh!” he said after a time, standing side-by-side with Twilight. “Well that’s just… just a mystery, then, huh?”
“Maybe that was the point,” Twilight murmured. “Starswirl was a genius, and Luna loved him… maybe the clock itself was just like… uhm…” she fished for a word.
“Wrapping paper?” Time Turner ventured. “To hide what it really was?”
“Yeah!” Twilight’s face lit up when he found the proper way of putting it. “It’s not a clock at all, it’s a big box of mysteries! Princess Luna made a big box of mechanical puzzles for Starswirl to figure out! Since he was a genius, I bet he loved puzzles!” she grinned enthusiastically. Time Turner nodded as more and more clicked into place. “H’ohmigosh! H’ohmigosh! I have to get home! I need to get my sketchbook! We need to catalouge this! Take pictures! Measurements!” Her eyes had clouded over with stars as she pranced back and forth in the background while Time Turner stood there staring up at the flower in wonder. He almost didn’t notice when she’d skipped out the door.
“She is such a dork…” Time Turner chuckled, shaking his head with a grin.
“By the way,” Twilight popped her head back in, startling him. “What’s with the saddle you’re wearing today? I forgot to ask you.” She eyed him up and down. He looked ready to go to a fancy resturaunt, or maybe a play. How strange!
He looked startled at her question, “Uh-buh-well,” he trailed off, ears wilting self-consciously. He’d not expected to be eyed up by Twilight Sparkle, to be honest, but here it was happening anyway. He shifted a little uncomfortably, almost reaching to take it off in front of her. “I thought it looked good…”
The mare studied him for a moment with a quick, calculating gaze. “Ah. Well yeah, it does, that’s true.” She nodded a couple of times to make it official, then zipped away again like she was on a sugar rush. “I’ll be right back! Don’t go anywhere! I have to get my measuring tape and sketchbooks for--!” her voice had faded with distance as she galloped away.
Time Turner stood there, red in the cheeks, “Okay, I’ll be here…”
End of Part 3