Temporal Cogs

by Summonerx

Chapter 3 - Circus-stance

Chapter 3: Circus-stance

It was cold and damp when Lazy Chords opened his eyes. He could smell the dampness of the earth and feel the grass beneath his body. The time of day was indeterminable at first but guessing from the way the way the shadows stretched over and around the forest it was somewhere after morning but before late evening. It took him a few moments to remember something was amiss. Just moments ago thieves had broken into the camp he and his compatriots of the musicians’ guild had been at. With that thought alone, he stood up on all fours with such speed that he gave himself a minor dizzy spell.

He stumbled a little, but managed to find his balance again before toppling over. As he righted himself, his hind leg brushed against what felt like the coat of another pony. Looking over to his left, he saw the unconscious form of the green unicorn he had been speaking to just before the thieves showed up.

Reaching out with a forehoof, he gave the stallion a gentle nudge. “Hey, are you okay? Can you hear me?”

The stallion didn’t move at all, and Lazy Chords took note that the controversial pendant seemed to have fixed itself around the unicorn’s neck. His last memory of the hour glass pendant was most definitely not of it being worn; when they had last seen it, it had been floating in the blaze of rainbow and white lights just before everything went dark. He could see that the green unicorn’s breathing was steady but slow. “Hey...wake up!” He cried out while pushing against the body of the fallen pony.

The other stallion did not stir nor did his breathing change right away, instead he stayed unconscious. When Lazy Chords started to look around, he noticed the reason the ground was so chilly and damp: a soft snow was scattered all over the ground and the sun seemed to be just rising. Close to both of them he also saw the railroad, but it looked wrong somehow, with the rails being coated in a thin layer of rust and grass and wild flowers appearing all over.
A sweeping realization of both fear and worry hit him. “WAKE UP!” he yelled, but it came out much louder than necessary. Apparently the other stallion (whose name he didn’t even know yet) heard him and jumped up, blinking his eyes and taking a good long look around.

“Wh.....what happened?”

“Was hoping you could tell me that actually; did you teleport us somewhere to
safety?”

Clockwork began trying to stand up himself and, while a little weak, managed to get to all fours. “No...at least I don’t think I did. I can’t really say for sure what happened. Last thing I remember is struggling to hold onto those pendants.....the pendants!” He panicked and began looking around frantically. It didn’t register to him that anything around them was different at first, but when he looked over at the railroad tracks he made a sound somewhere between disappointment and shock.

Lazy Chords pointed a forehoof at the unicorn’s neck; “That hour-glass shaped one around your neck”

“Oh....whew....”
Before Clockwork could say anymore, he was cut off by the earth pony stating flatly, “Hey I didn’t get your name...”
“Oh, it’s Clockwork, I got your name back at camp tho...you’re Lazy Chords right?”

“Eeyup. But I gotta ask, does that sort of thing happen often for you?”
Clockwork tilted his head in confusion. “What sort of thing?”
“The heroics and fighting thieves and stuff,” Lazy Chords replied, waving a hoof as if to encompass everything that had happened.

“No...first time,” he replied matter of factly while staring at the rails and bending down to get a better look at them. “Actually my second time, the night before I helped rescue some ponies from some Diamond Dogs...but first time fighting thieves.”

Lazy Chords nickered; “My lucky day I guess. Look I don--”
“Hey did you notice the area we’re in looks different?” Clockwork cut him off before he could finish responding.

“Yes,” the musician snorted a little annoyed, “That’s why I asked if we teleported.”

“Ahh...makes sense now.” He bent down and walked around the half buried railroad tracks. “These rails look really old, the iron is rotten, the grass and flowers are using it as fertilizer, and by the look of the soft wood in between these rails here, they haven’t seen maintance in nearly 160 moons or more!”

“And what do you suppose that means? Do you recognize this area?.”
“Not necessarily...it looks just like the one we were in..just...older.” Clockwork tapped the rails, walking all over and around them. To either side the forest was deep and thick and the morning light shone through. It was most definitely morning as the light grew ever brighter in the distance. Strangely the more he focused on his memories of the way things should be the more his mind grew sluggish.

“What do you mean?” Lazy Chords questioned.

“Well...” the unicorn swallowed; “I have no idea.”

Lazy Chords sighed; “Well look we can’t sit here tapping our hooves, let’s get.”

“Get? Get where?”

“Anywhere but here.” The earth pony unslung his musical instrument and began strumming it with his forehooves just a bit on the ground before replacing it on his back; it seemed he was checking it for proper tuning.

Then he began heading towards what felt like the north and began walking through the woods.

---------------------------------------------------

A few hours later as the sun was dipping low in the sky, the two found themselves far into the trees and eventually inside a small clearing. The two had been walking for a little over two hours, as far as Clockwork could tell. He thought back to his youth as they walked, he spent a good deal of his life growing up in the little city of Fillydelphia. When he was just a foal before he got his cutie mark, he had lived with his parents in a small apartment near the rail yards. He found the little trains fascinating when they started being built. Earth ponies were the majority of engineers who designed the first set of tracks and little barrel steamers. He had soon found himself visiting the little four track yard every single day and talking with an older pony named Grinder, who would later become his boss of sorts. Because of his interest in the trans and want to find his cutie mark anyway, thinking it be in the railroads that were slowly being built in the city and outside it, Clockwork had instantly jumped at the chance to take on the work of a railroad.

But soon found that maintenance, cleaning, and even riding the trains wasn’t his forte. While not working he learned a few spells from an older unicorn who practiced time-space magic at the behest of his mother. Truth was he really wasn’t good at what he learned in magic either, but one day he learned his special talent was to do with time and timekeeping. Like his namesake, being named after his great great grandfather actually, he had learned to read the eb and flow of time and mentally arrange things so that he could always arrive early and account for any delays in a schedule with practiced ease.

Then it happened, one day a train was going to run late and they had no idea how to ensure that neither their train or another one that was due into the yard in 15min could avoid causing a traffic jam. But Clockwork had an idea and he passed it on to Grinder. He had an planned schedule in his head and explained that if they sped up one train and slowed down the second one, they could indeed avoid the traffic jam and keep on time. Of course there was no normal means to do this, as the vehicles had a single speed, but Clockwork had a way. Using some magic he learned he was able to temporarily (while concentrating and nearly passing out)
expedite the first train to bypass the yard switch just in time to avoid the second train coming into the yard.

In that moment, after recovering from a slight fainting spell brought about by overuse of his magic, his mark appeared. And from then on he knew his talent and was able to move from yard work to scheduling.

This happy memory helped him keep walking the past two hours but the unicorn was tired from it. This and the lack of proper rest was also making him grow weaker as he walked and couldn’t help himself when he stated out loud; “I’m hungry.”

Lazy Chords looked back at his companion and replied; “Yes I am too, but we can’t eat anything in the forest, most of it’s poisonous or somewhat out of season."
The other pony questioned the musician, "How can you tell?"

"I worked a fair bit of time on various farms from Manehatten to Las Pegasus and back. Some of these berries look ripe to eat and some the flowers look fresh and new; not something you see in autumn normally."
"Oh I see."

“And some of these berries and flowering plants are inedible to us ponies; while the cows and some smaller rodents could probably eat them with no ill effects, they contain poison for our kind. The only thing I see worth eating is the grass.”

The very thought turned Clockwork’s stomach; “Blegh..no thanks....I can wait....maybe. How much longer do you think we have to go?”

“Honestly, I have no idea, but wherever it is, it beats waiting around for who knows what to eat us.”

“Eat...us? Like a rabid bear or something?”

The earth pony nickered a little; “Or something....hey what’s that?” He pointed ahead with his right forehoof. In the distance through the trees, apparently just beyond the edge of the woods, large colorful objects appeared. As they drew closer to the boundary, a set of rails and several passenger cars came into view.

“What is that?” Lazy Chords questioned out loud.

“It looks like a ....a train!? But it’s made of metal and so much bigger than it ought to be.....that’s incredible! Its made of metal all over, no wood at all!”

“Well whatever it is, train or not, I see other ponies and that means they have food.”
“I wonder what kind of food they might have?” Clockwork grinned as his stomach growled.

But the other stallion sighed and continued to move towards the strange-looking train.
Each car was made of an oblong box frame with clear glass set in the sides. Instead of being made of wood along it, it had strips of metal down the sides and around the edges. At the far head of the many cars was the large, dark gray engine. Smoke and steam slowly rolled off the smoke stacks and from the wheels. The wheels themselves sat upon shiny rails on a side-line of track. These tracks appeared to be a little wider than the ones Clockwork was used to seeing, but they were rails none-the-less.

The engine looked like a round tube sat upon platform of metal with large metal wheels and two huge pistons. Steam was slowly pouring out of the device but it appeared to be tapering off and water was starting to condense all over the area around the machine. And around the train several ponies of every kind were setting up camp of sorts. There were ponies in makeup and funny shoes, ones in strange outfits made of old burlap sacks, ones who seemingly dyed their manes and bodies to look festive, and a few who wore small jackets and capes.

Small tents were set up on the other side of the rails behind the train, as the two starving stallions approached the smell of cake, daisy sandwiches, and freshly cooked potatoes filled their nostrils and made them salivate.

A female unicorn, whose coat was a rich purple with a silvery-white mane, teal eyes, and a cutie mark of maybelle flowers with two music notes, looked up to notice the two ponies enter. She trotted over to greet them just as a large bulky brown bear appeared behind her, following in her wake. Lazy Chords immediately thought back to Clockwork’s comment about the rabid bear. He was about to shout a warning as he took in the strange sight, when the purple unicorn called out, “Well hello there, strangers! Are you here to see the Fabulous Circus of Equestrian Delights?”

The musician, still startled by the sudden welcome and the big bear behind the violet unicorn, was unable to find the words or remember his manners in time to prevent Clockwork from replying with, “Circus?”
The mare chuckled a little and as she drew closer, she raised a hoof in greeting, “Yes, the circus. I’m May Belle nice to meet you. This here is my friend Riddle.” She nodded backwards to her bulky body guard just a few feet behind her.
“I’m Clockwork and this is Lazy Chords.” The green unicorn waved a forehoof towards his companion, whose mouth was still hanging open slightly.
“Nice to meet you ponies, so if you’re here for the circus, we’re actually not setting up until we get to Ponyville.”
“Oh...no actually....Ponyville? Where’s that?” Lazy Chords raised an eyebrow in suspicion, he’d never heard of any such place.

“That’s just down the rails towards Canterlot heading west, then south after we go through the cave to the other side. Anyway...” a teal glow surrounded her horn and a pamphlet appeared in midair before the two stallions, “here’s our handout if you’d like to know more.”

Clockwork took the pamphlet with his own magic and then looked around it asking bluntly, “Actually....do you have anything to eat? We’ve been lost all afternoon looking for some thieves who stole something and are mostly lost and hungry.”

“Yes, as a matter of fact we do. If you don’t mind helping out with a few chores, we could spare some food for you,” May Belle replied. Then tilting her head to the side she asked, “Wait, what did these thieves look like?”

Clockwork rapidly explained the types of ponies and their general description along with several other things as they followed the unicorn and her bear towards a row of tents. While he was doing that Lazy Chords read the still levitating pamphlet:

The Fabulous Circus of Equestrian Delights

Come see the amazing beast tamer May Belle and her ferocious bear Riddle as they perform nightly!
Eat to your heart’s content at all our fabulous vendors and enjoy our clowns Big Top and Merry Weather as they perform craaaaaazy antics!
Don’t miss out on having your fortunes read at the Ponies of Darkness tent!

Come one and come all! Only 15 bits per family of three plus 1 bit per child! Or 10 bits per couple and 5 bits per pony! Gems not accepted, sorry.


He shook his head at the prices and wondered how a circus got to be so huge; the ones he had seen were always tiny and often traveled by road and hoof and never by train. The town of Ponyville was also on his mind as he had never once heard of any such place in all his travels, but he had never traveled by rail before either. The whole day had been strange, but just as he started thinking about it May Belle interrupted his thoughts.
“Well, that sounds like three ponies we saw pass by here hours ago. They were headed to Ponyville it seemed. But even if they traveled all night and into the next morning we’d still beat them there by train tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow might be too late.” the brown stallion injected.
The purple unicorn laughed a little and smirked; “Well sadly even if they could move fast and traveled non-stop they’d never make it to Ponyville by hoof that quickly.”

Clockwork replied with, “What would it take to get a ride on your train then?”
She laughed, “A little hard work is all.”
The brown earth pony spoke up this time, “Then that’s just what we’ll do.”
Clockwork nodded. “Indeed....but can we eat first? I don’t think I can last much longer..” with that the bubble of green magic wrapped around the pamphlet faltered and was subsequently caught by Lazy Chord’s teeth as a reaction. May Belle nodded with a smile and went to get some grub for her guests, nickering a little as she and Riddle walked away from the two strangers.

---------------------------------------------------

Hours later after having eaten, set up camp, and prepared for the evening, the two stallions had learned a lot about their new surroundings. The circus was only setting up for the night as they had just traveled from Fillydelphia and were heading to Ponyville. Having originally been from Manehattan, they had only just started traveling this current year. They learned that they were near Rambling Rock Ridge, which Clockwork insisted would have a junction nearby with an attending pony who could send word back to his boss to report the situation and possibly figure out where the thieves had gone. Assuming, of course, that the thieves had passed by.
The edges of Foal Mountain had also been pointed out to them, along with an explanation of the route the train would be taking early the next morning, which Clockwork had noted was strangely familiar yet different than the only route he knew. As night fell, Clockwork sat resting as Lazy Chords started putting on a small music show while clowns and acrobats practiced all around him and his joyful melody. May Belle and Riddle practiced their act in the background. The bear rode around on a giant ball while the purple unicorn laughed as she cracked a whip held aloft with her magic.
“Is your bear always that friendly?” The green unicorn asked while watching.
“Mostly...” she giggled as the whip cracked again and the bear turned around on the ball, did a somersault, and then reversed course. “He can do most of these tricks if I just ask him, but the whip adds excitement!”

“You know I’m curious - this train of yours, is it a new model?”

“Model?” she asked, distracted by the balancing bear.

“You know....a brand new type. I have never seen one like this.”

She laughed, “No silly, that thing’s older than me!”
Clockwork started in surprise. She had to be mistaken. There was simply no way in Equestria that the machine they had here was anything but the newest model. Sure, it looked a little weather beaten, Clockwork thought, but surely that meant that the manufacturer had simply recycled pieces of scrap metal to make it, right? In fact, based on that theory, this is most likely a private invention, perhaps made by somepony here in the circus itself.
He was just starting to organize in his mind how he could present such a finding to his boss when Lazy Chords sat down next to him. The earth pony waited for a moment, watching May Belle and her bear, Riddle. When it became clear that Clockwork wasn’t going to snap out of his reverie any time soon, Lazy Chords decided to have his own chat with the purple mare.
“So, how long have you been with the circus?”
May Belle took a moment before answering, waiting for Riddle to finish a maneuver he was working on. “Oh, I’ve been with the circus for about four years now, but I’ve only been managing it for about a year and a half. Ever since Tight Rope retired.”
“Managing?” Lazy Chords asked. “You mean you’re the ringmaster?”
She nodded, finally turning her full attention to the earth pony as Riddle nosed his performing paraphernalia under a blanket and started to amble away. “Great job tonight, Riddle!” she called after the bear, realizing that he was leaving. He grunted back to her as he continued to shuffle away.
“I’m sorry,” Lazy Chords said. “I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
She shook her head. “No problem, we were done anyway.” She still held the whip in her telekinesis above their heads and for a second, a bit of moonlight flashed off of her eyes giving her an almost sinister look. Lazy Chords nearly took a step back, believing now that she and Riddle really could look like a ferocious beast with an even more ferocious tamer once they were in the ring. Then the moment passed and the unicorn mare tucked her whip away, none the wiser to what he’d seen.
“Well,” Lazy Chords started, trying to remember what he’d wanted to ask. It was about this time May Belle started to happily hop towards him and giggled a little bit.
“So...” She came right up to his ears and whispered in an almost seductive manner, “Are you two special someponies ?” She grinned.
The earth pony paled and his mouth hung open “N..n...n..no! We aren’t! I barely know the pony!” He felt heat in his cheeks and his eyes nearly bulged out of his sockets.
May Belle laughed and stepped back, “I see...well anyway, you ponies should probably get to sleep soon, you can use that tent over there near the tracks.” She pointed a forehoof at a small brown tent next to a mucher larger one of black and purple fabric, highlighted with a rich blue. Centered over the entrance was a marquee with the symbol of the moon and stars tastefully embroidered on it. Clockwork chose that moment to snap out of his deep thoughts just in time to see that Lazy Chords was walking away.
“Hey wait up!” he called and attempted to gallop after the other pony. “I have to find the inventor of that train in the morning, Grinder...he’s my cousin who’s also my employer, he would love to have that design.”
“I see a little food and some rest have lightened your mood,” Lazy Chords replied, turning to look at his unicorn companion. To his surprise, Clockwork was closer than he expected and he nearly knocked into him. May Belle’s words echoed teasingly in his head as he jumped back to put more room between them. Trying to act nonchalant he said, “You know, whatever happened we should probably call local authorities and tell somepony about the theft.“
“Well maybe, but we have to corner those ponies first.”
Lazy Chords raised an eyebrow, “Why? It’s not really either of our concerns.”
“Why? Because they did us wrong that’s why.”
As they passed by the dark blue and black tent a strange female voice called to them from inside; “Did you wrong, did you say?”

“Did them wrong, I think they did,” came another voice, this one male, and then followed by some uncanny laughter.

“Yes they did us wrong,” Clockwork replied as he looked at the dark entrance to the tent. He couldn’t see inside, not even with the light of a nearby lantern, which gave him a slight chill, not helped at all by the wet ground and cool weather around them now that night had fallen.

“We can see your troubles clearly...” came the male voice in retort.
“Just step inside little deary,” came it’s female counterpart.

Lazy Chords rolled his eyes and kept moving, “If I learned anything in my travels, it’s to not trust anyone who speaks like they know everything. Come on Clockwork.” But when the stallion turned around, he found that his companion already at the entrance to the door of the larger tent near their small one. “Ah geez...” He rolled his eyes and dropped his instrument off only to walk back to the slightly bigger tent and enter the utter darkness. The tent was filled with light smoke and while not bad it was sweet and strong all at once.
Candles were nearly everywhere within the tent, hung within metal lamps or held up by metal poles in nearly every corner which gave the little space an air of mystery. Two cloaked figures stood near a table more brightly lit by what appeared to be brilliant white glowing gemstones. They sat on either side of the long rectangular shaped object. In between the lighted stones and in front of the two figures were two stacks of cards. Each one face down displaying a multi colored jewel-like design of impressive quality.
“Come on in, don’t be shy..” Said the male voice sweetly.
“..see your future through our eyes.” The female one chimed in.
“You can see the future?” Clockwork asked skeptically, “I mean I have magic that can manipulate it but I can never really see it.”
The two figures giggled; “Well our magic is a lot different lets just say that.” The male voice stated and placed a hoof on one of the cards and then using his mouth he flipped over the top card. On it was an image of a dancing pony silhouette standing on two hind legs surrounded by two strange objects that floated in mid air on ropes and above the pony’s curly mane was a single orb with a star design. Below it the card read Party Goer in unique mouth-written script.
The female figure then flipped over another card, the overall color of the card was dark pastels and shadows, the first card held the silhouette of two dragons in mid-flight with coins falling from their arms. Above them in the center was the symbol of a coin with two stars on either side, on the bottom it was written Greed.
“Go ahead...hoof shuffle the cards and pick one and flip it over.” The female voice instructed. Clockwork did as instructed, using his forehooves he clumsily reshuffled the cards and then with careful pushing recreated a stack and flipped over the top card with his own mouth. Upon it was the silhouette of a strange looking pony with a mohawk and beads with stripes on it’s body. Above the card was a single 5 pointed star and at the pony’s hooves was a pitcher full of water that was spilling into a nearby pond, the figure’s head was tilted upwards. In the upper most portion of the card three stars stood with similar in placing to the other two cards. On the bottom of the card was written The Heavens.
“Ahh a unique reading indeed...” The male voice said and the female voice chimed in; “..it surely means you face a great challenge in your life with a test of your faith, a chance of renewal, and...” she pointed a hoof at Lazy Chords; “..it’s your turn to turn over the next and last card sir.”
“Why? I don’t even believe in that stuff.” Lazy Chords huffed and rolled his eyes.
“Why indeed...did you two not travel together already? Don’t you want to know your fortune?” The voice continued from behind her cloak.

“Yeah come on Lazy Chords....it’ll be....interesting.” Clockwork grinned a little as he stated the last word.
“This is ridiculous;” The stallion retorted; “They're just messing with you...no pony can tell the future.”
“Actually we can...” The male voice stated; “Vague as it is our talent is knowing your future, your past, and your present.”
“Riiight...” The earth pony scuffed; “Why not tell us something you couldn’t know.”
“Flip over the next card and you can know that very bit.” The male voice came back.
“Fine....” Lazy Chords rolled his eyes as he came over and used his mouth to flip over the last piece of colored paper. On it was the silhouette of a large scale held up a griffin. On one side was a feather and on the other a horseshoe, behind the griffin was both the sun and the moon and above it in the same spot as the others a cloud with a star near it. In the same script as the others was the word Balance.
“Ahh an inner calling I see...” The female voice stated. “..yes an inner talent will awaken in one of you.”
“What kind of talent?” Clockwork questioned curiously.
“Don’t know honestly....” The male stated and flipped over one more card, together the five cards made a sort of five pointed star pattern but the new card had something far more sinister on it. The silhouette of a goat with a bell on it’s neck sitting on a throne with a pegasus one one side in chains and a strange bat-winged pony on the other side in chains. The words below the card read The Tyrant. With a double gasp the two stood quietly staring at the spread.

“What....what does that mean?”

Neither of the two spoke for a long period of time, the tension grew in the room until Clockwork swallowed hard, breaking the silence.

“Well?” Lazy Chords questioned indignantly.

“This is a very bad omen, it means all together that something very bad will befall you, you will be in a sort of bondage or corrupted by something foul, a new hope arises however and will save you or you will save yourselves, but something disastrous may occur before then. And strangely it seems your fate is linked with both past and future.” the female stated as she slapped one more card down in the center; this one was of seven glasses filling with dark water from what appeared to be light pink clouds. On it was written 7 of Cups.

“Well that’s all for today..” The male voice said as he scooped up the cards, shocking the female pony nearly out of her cloak. For a brief moment both Lazy Chords and Clockwork caught a glimpse of her eyes and face. Her eye was cat-like and was a strange teal color and her left ear appeared pointed. Then in a second she was shrouded in shadow again.

“Umm...thanks?” Clockwork stated as he prepared to turn around and leave.
“Yeah thanks..” the earth stallion rolled his eyes and began walking out.

The unicorn began following out the tent, he took one last glance back as the two strange ponies began blowing out candles and closing up their tent. It didn’t take long for them to reach the guest tent and settle in for the night, Clockwork found himself nuzzling up on Lazy Chords halfway through the night, ended up rolling to his side and falling into an uneasy sleep.

Author's Note:

Update 8/15/2014 - Added additional and missing scenes!