My Clockwork Stallion

by Aegis Shield


My Clockwork Stallion

My Clockwork Stallion
Part 9: My Clockwork Stallion

Rainbow Dash groaned, slowly sitting upright and letting her chin crest the edge of the ditch she’d been thrown into. Hissing when she tried to put weight on her hoof, she looked over her shoulder to see how many pinions she was missing two on one side, one on the other. She wasn’t grounded, at least there was that. Giving a few test flaps she managed a trembling hover until she was out of the hole. Her head hanging tiredly down, she gave herself a little shake to reinvignorate herself. “Everyone okay…?” she managed after a moment. Landing with her bad hoof held up, she found Applejack digging herself out of a sticker berry bush, swearing quietly and gritting her teeth. She was bleeding from her flank, right along her cutie mark. Those Timberwolves had really torn into her, she might need stitches. Not that Rainbow was any medical expert. It was only then that the silence struck her, and she looked over at Twilight, Fluttershy and Time Turner.

Time Turner stood there, looking rather humiliated and frightened. One of his legs was a bronze-and-gold puzzle of turning gears, spiraling springs and quietly hissing clockwork. The powerful light of the sun shone on it all, and he glowed like a pony spirit from beyond the clouds. Eventually even Applejack righted herself and joined the staring. “I-I can explain!” the stallion blurted, his face hot with embarrassment.

It was Applejack that broke the long and icy silence, face-planting into a faint. Fluttershy rushed to her. The blood wasn’t slowing. “We have to get her to a hospital!” she said quickly, popping open her ranger’s pack and splattering a hypo-allergenic gel onto her wound. Her body would hopefully absorb it and clot as quickly as it could with that.

Twilight finally tore her eyes away from Time Turner, nodding and trying to breathe properly. “E-everypony gather up!” Twilight commanded, drawing everyone in close. Hunching and scrunching up her face into a fierce expression of concentration. Time Turner was about to stop her since she wasn’t supposed to cast under stress, but he couldn’t bring the words to his mouth before CRACK! They were gone with a sonic boom of parted air.

=-=-=-=

Nurse Redheart was startled indeed when a group of five ponies suddenly apparated into exhistence in the middle of her waiting room. Her eyes swept over them. Dozens of lacerations, bruising, and one of them was unconscious and bleeding all over the floor. She grabbed the little hospital mike in front of herself, slamming a hoof on the red button next to it. “EMT’s! Muster to waiting room two. EMT’s! Muster to waiting room two.” She leapt out of the little window and into the waiting room, her mane and saddlebags bannering behind her. “Make room, make room!” she said, sweeping down on Applejack as a quartet of medical ponies suddenly burst into the room behind her.

Twilight was swept up in the shouting ponies as they made off with Applejack, took Rainbow Dash to a side room for aid with her wings (Fluttershy went with her), and Time Turner was left where he stood. She gave a little yelp when something cold and stinging touched her side. She jittered away, and the nurse pony apologized. “C’mon, let’s get you to a comfy examination table. You’ve got a few cuts on you,” he said quickly. He herded her to a private room, but Twilight was too busy looking over her shoulder at Time Turner. His ears were down. Just as she was swept into the side room to be treated, she saw him eyeing the door.

Some hours later, when everypony was checked out and placed on bedrest, the four ponies that remained looked at each other from across the room. The unspoken question hung in the air between them. Fluttershy, who had not gotten more than a couple of cuts and bruises, was flittering back and forth between her three injured friends. She fluffed a pillow here, helped with a juice box there, and eventually the nurses had given up on doing much more than making sure everypony knew where the ‘call for help’ buttons were.

Applejack was a little woozy, but otherwise okay. The black stitches made a beetle-like line across her flank and almost to her rump. Thankfully, her earthpony strength would keep it from scarring so at least there was that. “Ah don’t reckon I was hallucinating when I saw that?” she asked Fluttershy. Everypony knew what she was talking about.

Fluttershy avoided her eyes with a little, “Mm…”

“Jeez Twilight, I didn’t know you were dating a robot,” Rainbow Dash said, lying on her belly so she could preen properly. “Owch!” she pulled a broken feather, putting it in the pile next to her. “Guess it goes to show ya, if somepony like Twilight needs it enough--!” Clank! A bedpan launched itself off the floor and hit Rainbow across the muzzle so hard her eyes derped for a moment.

“He’s not a robot! And I’m tired of your sex jokes!” Twilight shouted angrily from her bed, the glow of her horn shining bright. There was a startled silence as the purple mare sat there, panting angrily out her nostrils. Then, there was silence as the bedpan slowly set itself down again. She hung her head a little. “I-I’m sorry, Rainbow.” She said in a small voice. Rainbow smirked a little, rubbing the side of her face. At least Twilight hadn’t aimed for her precious wings.

“S’okay, I’ve been laying it on a little thick,” the cyan Pegasus shrugged.

“He’s flesh and blood,” Twilight looked down at herself, scrubbing at the bandages on her breast. “W-well, most of him anyway,” she shot Rainbow a glare before she could think of a ‘that’s what she said’ joke or something. “That leg and ribs must be some kind of...” she fished for a word, making a circular motion with her hoof. “Prosthetic.”

“You mean he ain’t a real pony?” Applejack asked.

“No, it means he was injured to the point of losing his leg, shoulder, and at least three ribs.” Twilight whispered, gesturing to the lowest part of her ribcage. “I can’t imagine what that must’ve been like, losing part of yourself…”

“Where is Time Turner, anyway?” Rainbow wanted to know. “Wasn’t he hurt like the rest of us?”

“That Timberwolf damaged his prosthetic leg, there might not be anyone in Ponyville that can fix it. He might’ve gone someplace else,” Twilight theorized. There was some nodding. “He might have to go see a specialist someplace.” She frowned, scratching her chin.

“He didn’t stop in to even say hello and see how we were doing, though,” Rainbow pointed out grumpily.

“Mm,” said Fluttershy, nodding her agreement. “He might be sensitive about it, you know?” she was holding Rainbow’s other wing open as she spoke, inspecting the primaries. “His leg always looked real to me…”

“It felt real too,” Twilight murmured. “It was cold and clammy, but I thought it was real,” she trailed off for a moment. “I bet it was a glamour spell.” She looked up at her friends’ blank expressions. “It’s a spell that’s meant to fool the senses. It would make a mechanical leg look and feel normal.”

“I bet he didn’t like ponies staring at his leg like that,” Fluttershy murmured, pulling a feather so quickly that Rainbow Dash squawked a little. “Sorry,” she said, smiling a little. “It had to come out.”

“E-either way,” Twilight said, “I should probably go check on him as soon as I can,” she bit her lip a little, trying to think of how she might handle this delicately.

=-=-=-=

Time Turner had taken the long, discreet route home as soon as the sun had dipped low enough. Thankfully nopony had seen him ducking through alleyways and skulking through shadows. Using a small blanket that he’d packed for the trip (in case of spontaneous picnic lunch), he had a sort of half-cape wrapped around his clockwork leg. It whined and hissed in protest, needing repair and lubrication. Almost all his oil had leaked out by then. It would seize up soon.

He breathed a sigh of relief when he reached Keys and Clocks, slipping inside and drawing all the curtains. Limping slowly across the room, he tossed his saddlebag and other things off as he went. Finally getting to his private rooms in the back of the store, he shut the door gratefully behind him. His head and ears dipped low. Well, that had just happened. Limping to his corner closet, he fished around until he found his crutch. It was covered with dust, since he usually took such good care of his special leg. Leaning with some tools, he sat down and started to work on his shoulder. Eight screws, eight washers, and some protective casing later, he carefully removed his clockwork limb and put it on his desk. Putting a cap on his shoulder so nothing would come loose or anything, he slipped the straps of his crutch on so he could get around more easily. Turning on a white-light lamp, he leaned over his prosthetic.

Yeah, the Timberwolf that had speared itself on his leg had driven its fangs right along the main lubricant line. That wouldn’t be too hard to replace, at least. It was just a little plastic hose. The mana battery slot seemed intact, it would just need a new battery. Thankfully he still had a few. Using tweezers so he didn’t get punctured battery acid on himself, he slowly removed the tiny glowing cylinder from its slot. Placing it in a waiting dish, he got a fresh one out of his desk. Snapping it like a glow stick, he waited until the stored magic kicked in. Whew, that could’ve been way worse. The leg flinched in response when the new battery was put in. All he would have to do was put it back on, and the glamour spell would function as normal. He’d need to make a trip for the hose, though. Dangit. Working slowly and carefully, the stallion did what repairs he knew how to do. A bent screw here, a plastered crack there. It wasn’t everyday a wild animal that weighed as much as he did tried to take a bite out of him. At least this leg couldn’t feel pain, hahaha! …ha…. ha… mmm…

He wilted with a sigh when his thoughts finally drifted back to Twilight Sparkle. It was fun while it lasted, he supposed. She was smart, and fun, and beautiful. He’d had other marefriends, but his clockwork leg had a way of ruining things. Sure, each of them in turn had said that it wouldn’t matter to them. But, the awkward looks, the sudden lack of any intimacy, it was easy to read in all of them. They’d drifted away. His hoof paused when there was a loud knocking at his front door. He decided to ignore it. The evening had brought rain, and he was in no position to fix anyone’s clock or work the key machine with one hoof. There was more knocking, and he hunched over his work. A low murmur of somepony talking outside touched his ears, but he gave it no heed. Thunder grumbled on the horizon, and a flash of lightning brought a quick flicker of daytime. Time Turner jumped when there was a tap-tapping on the window next to him.

Twilight Sparkle was there, smiling gingerly. Her umbrella hung in the air above her, the handle outlined in her purple aura. She gave a floppy-hoof’d wave, cocking her head at him. Her eyes flicked down at his crutch, but then went back up to his face. He hesitated for a long time. “Are you gonna leave me out here?” she asked loudly so he could hear her through the glass. Automatically, the stallion turned and limp-walked to the front door to let her in. “Whew!” she said, shaking her umbrella and setting it aside. “Thanks!”

“Listen, Twilight, I’m sorry I didn’t--!” Time Turner was interrupted by her kiss of greeting, which was firm and full of energy. He gave a slight shudder. “I-I’ll get you a towel,” he said dumbly, letting her back into his private rooms beyond the shop. She stopped to wipe her hooves, how cute. He never did that himself, since his home was all hardwood. It was still nice of her, though. When he returned from the bathroom with said towel, she scrubbed some of the rain off of herself. “I’m sorry I…”

“What do you have to be sorry for?” Twilight said carefully, looking into his face. Time Turner hung his head. He waggled his crutch at her a little. “You’re sorry you’re missing a leg?” she said, smiling sideways. “Did you saw it off yourself?”

“No! I was run over!” he blurted, shocked at her.

“Then it’s not your fault,” Twilight said, cupping his cheek a little. He looked into her face, into her carefree smile. His cheeks twinged with heat. “And you don’t apologize for something that’s not your fault, right?”

“Er, right…” he said slowly. “But I hid it from you, aren’t you angry?”

“Why should I be? Your private medical needs are none of my business if you don’t want them to be.” She sat with him on the sofa, glancing past him at the clockwork leg on the desk. She was being so… so clinical about it! He found himself scowling at her. How dare she talk about it like it was no big deal!

“It’s a big deal, I didn’t want anypony to know. I don’t want their pity or… or their staring,” he said a little grouchily. “I’m still a pony! Just different…”

“I have OCD that I take medications for,” Twilight told him softly, cocking her head in mild embarrassment. “Nopony’s perfect. And if they say they are they’re lying.”

“Not everypony has a fake leg, though,” he turned, nodding to it. Twilight’s magic gingerly lifted it across the room to them. It set itself gently on the coffee table across from them. It shifted a little, the hinges whining from lack of oil.

“You… wanna tell me about it?” Twilight offered, sidling up close to him. “I can listen, I promise,” she smiled a little coyly. He pawed at the cap on his shoulder, considering and frowning at the floor for a long time. His ears were down and his scowly face was a sensitive one. “Hey,” she cupped his cheek to get him to look at her, “Remember what Princess Celestia taught us? That we shouldn’t let miscommunication or embarrassment get in the way of being happy?”

“Yeah,” he said softly. Slowly, his gentle smile worked its way across his handsome, coltish features. “Sh-she’s right. You’re right,”

So then, over hot cocoa and snuggled up in a series of blankets, the two of them talked deep into the night. Twilight learned of Time Turner’s accident-- his true age, his physical age, and how his parents had left everything to him after they’d died of old age. Keys and Clocks was their legacy, started up in a small town where money would be easier to save—in a house that their son would eventually call home. They were peacefully resting in Ponyville Cemetary. Twilight was fascinated with how different things must’ve been for him. Spanning over eighty years in chrono-sleep, technology had taken a big leap forward.

After some questioning, Twilight learned that Time Turner was actually wearing a rather advanced version of a clockwork limb that had been pioneered by Princess Luna centuries ago. The only problems had been resources and training skilled workers. Her fall as Nightmare Moon had stalled research for ages. Originally, clockwork limbs had been made to aid retired soldiers that had lost bits of themselves in battle. Only after a bit of political wrangling on Celestia’s part had they been firmly opened to the general populace. Once ponies mastered the art of crafting things with metal, it had been easy to get things going again. Rediscovering and patenting things had taken ages, but luckily Time Turner was a teenager only a few decades after everything had been set in stone. They were still rare and expensive, though. “So yeah, I’m in a few medical records as the youngest pony ever to have one of these,” he set his empty mug down, leaning into Twilight again. The purple mare wrapped an arm about his shoulders, and soon only their heads were sticking out of the blankets.

There was a long silence between them. The clock read close to midnight, and the lanterns had long since gone out. The rain was still pouring heavily outside. Twilight looked over at him, “I… love you,” she whispered softly, leaning and nuzzling the underside of his jawline. The stallion blushed, smiling softly. They leaned into one another. The nest of blankets shifted and both ponies slipped into shadow and soft layers of fabric. She kissed him a few times, hooking her arms around his shoulders to pull him as close as she could. Brown with dark brown made him hard to see in the dark, so it was all touch after that.

“I love you,” Time Turner whispered as her hoof whisked back through his wild mane. His muzzle found the nape of her neck and she gave a pleased purr. The velvet of his nose and the quick nip of his teeth made her giggle softly.

“C’mere…” Twilight whispered in his ear so softly that it tickled the hairs. There on the couch, she gave him every reason to know she would not abandon him. It felt right.

“Oh Twilight…”



End of Part 9