Clockwork Dreams

by Insanity Engine

Chapter 1

Deep, cobalt blue, fading into the purest of teals. Such a beautiful sight. Studded with the soft beginnings of stars. The sky never ceased to amaze Dusk Breeze, always managed to steal her mind on flights of fancy and adventure. She uttered the shallowest of stalling sighs and let the warm summer wind tickle her mane.

Maybe one day, she thought. Maybe one day, I’ll be able to fly, too. The thought brought the smallest of smiles to her face and she closed her eyes. For a moment it was nice to forget and sit, to enjoy the world for what it was. She let her mind wander and her thoughts roam free, probing out and ever further to new, uncharted lands.

Dusk Breeze had always loved tales of adventure. Even as a small filly, still young, still naive, she had spent most of her time in the library, reading. And while others were out and about enjoying the company of each other, she was lost inside her mind, recounting tales of long past.

And yet, no matter how much she read, one thing always caught her interest above all else: the sky. To fly. To get up and away from the world on the ground, and ascend up, above the ceiling of clouds. To see the world from a different perspective. It had always been her biggest dream, that one day, she too could fly up above and be free.

A dragonfly alighted on the broken tip of her horn and slowly she opened her eyes, careful not to scare the small creature away.

“Hello,” she said softly, smiling her small smile. Oh how she envied the creatures of the small, the insects with their nimble, quick wings. She craned her eyes up as far as she could and watched the dragonfly at rest, saw and noted the intricate natural mechanism of its four powerful wings. Saw how, not unlike the machines she loved to build, this small animal followed the same basic mechanics: a central power source, intricate hydraulics to move piston powered limbs, and a simple computer to guide it all seamlessly.

All bundled so seamlessly into one tiny little insect.

It took her a second to stop the distracting torrent of thoughts and bring her mind to the present again, at which point the dragonfly had already departed, leaving her with a clear image in her mind of beating wings.

Maybe one day I can fly, too.

The endless expanse of ever darkening blues caught her interest again, and she spent the next ten minutes just looking, watching. Observing. Thinking the thoughts that never really stopped, seeing intricate clockwork patterns in the shapes of the clouds where others would see more natural, organic things.

And then it struck her, full force. A blinding bright light went on in the back of her head, and suddenly she knew. She understood all the unspoken, implicit details; the small insignificant things that would make her dream into a long sought after reality.

So she stood. Slowly, of course, for even though she was so full of newfound excitement she still treasured the small things in life. The feel of the grass underneath her hooves, that ever present warm breeze through her mane, the soft warmth of the setting sun on her back. The small things that made the big things that much more enjoyable.

Her saddlebags clinked pleasantly against her sides as she made her way up the worn path to her shed, shadowed by the ever reaching limbs of a large, spreading tree. As she passed into its shadow she looked up and felt the refreshing chill of the cold forest air wash over her. A dragonfly flew past and with a detached smile she gently pushed open the door.

She was home.

Filtered through the roof the light became soft golden brown, accentuated by swirling flecks of bright dusk. Without really thinking, Dusk Breeze trotted to the far side of the room and let her saddlebags fall to the ground, oblivious to a renegade cog and an escaped spring that rolled underneath a nearby table. She turned, and she looked, and she thought. And while she thought she began gathering materials.

A ratty old sketchbook with half a cover, scrawled all over with messy writing. A single feather quill. An inkpot long stained black from use.

She pushed aside a pile of books and set her sketchbook down with a thump, throwing up a cloud of acrid dust in the process and eliciting a sneeze. One day she’d have to clean the place, she thought. But she never really got around to it. It was always something new, something different that caught her attention. Cleaning was never a big priority. Plus, she kind of liked the smell of old oil and steel. Her shed would probably lose its charm anyway, if cleaned.

And then she took a moment to slow her thoughts, to order her ideas. For a moment, she was still. Standing, thinking. Eyes closed and breath slowed.

She opened her eyes and concentrated, tapped into her faulty magic again. She reached out with her mind and turned the pages of her sketchbook, smiling faintly at each of her past projects until she came to a blank page. Then she took hold of the quill, then the inkpot. And that’s where she felt the familiar drain, followed by a sputter and a spark. And the inkpot fell.

Black sloshed all over the desk, covering the fresh white page and staining the already stained wood. Dusk Breeze was surprised, then concerned, then calm.

“Silly thing,” she muttered softly. But she wasn’t upset, nor was sge annoyed. Such trivial things no longer caught her ire, and with a reserved sort of air she started the task of cleaning the mess. Her magic had always been faulty, ever since she had broken her horn so many years ago. It would sputter and fail when she least expected it. And it would cause accidents where a normal unicorn would have no trouble.

But the accident was minor, and the sketchbook perfectly salvageable. The ink had already settled into the cracks in the floor and made new patterns in the wood grain. There was really no point in cleaning what was already gone, so instead she found herself a pencil, worn down to just a nub, and started drawing on a new page.

And she drew even as the late of the day turned into dusk, and dusk into night, and the insects began their nocturnal chorus. And in the silence of the shed, the only sound was the rhythmic scratching of pencil on paper, a curious sort of rasp that made its own nighttime music. Until finally the scratching ceased, and she stood back, proud of herself.

“I will fly,” she whispered, almost hesitant to break the silence of the new night. For to her, it seemed such a travesty to interrupt something that had only just started.

Before her, gleaming in a shaft of filtered moonlight, an intricate blueprint detailing the ins and outs of pair of mechanical wings. Long and lithe, like those of a dragonfly. Powered by hydraulics and pistons and her own faulty unicorn magic.

She smiled, proud of herself, before closing the book and trotting to her room. She lay her head to rest, and she dreamed. She dreamed of abstract mathematical patterns in a sky powered by gears, and she saw herself flying through it, strong and free, on wings made of purest steel.

“I will fly,” she muttered in her sleep.

“I will fly…”

Comments

[Generaal]

Not bad.

this reminds me of that Hebrew Brony song I once heard.

[BlitzBolt]

Gotta say I enjoyed this

Well worth the wait when you told me you posted this last night

Hopefully you write more, I wouldn't mind learning a bit more about Dusk Breeze

[Silver Cloud Drifter]

You have earned my thumbs my fellow writer! Great work! I really feel for this unicorn with the broken horn. Dusk Breeze huh. Like this guy above me said, I'd really like to hear more about her and her past! Why is her horn broken? Does she have anypony looking after her? Has her lack of magic made her an outcast from other unicorns? And your writing style is incredibly fluid and just beautiful!

CELESTIA DAMMIT!!! Why can't I write like that! Calm down Silver. Let the LOLuna soothe you. dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/Luna_lolface.png Anyway, favoriting this!

Stay frosty my delicious friends. Silver, out!

[Insanity Engine]

529085
Woah bro. Woah. I didn't realize people were actually interested in this silly little story. D:
But I'm glad you like it thus far! I've sort of relegated it to the backburner for now in favour of working on my novel and another fanfiction, but I do enjoy the character of Dusk Breeze so I'll be sure to add more to this as time goes on.

Also for the record, Beta is my boyfriend, so you'll probably see his characters in my story and vice versa. :D

[Silver Cloud Drifter]

531656
Yeah, I know. I somehow stumbled upon his story a little while after reading this, and saw Dusk Breeze was in his story. Also, what is your other fanfiction about? Is it here on fimfiction or someplace else? And what's your novel about? I'm currently working on a novel series about an outcast from a universe that helps keep this one in balance.

[Insanity Engine]

531682
Well the other fanfiction is Metroid based. It's over on fanfiction.net if you're at all interested in the Metroid series! There should be a link over there on my profile, but if not take a wild guess at what my username is. :P

AS FOR MY NOVEL. It's about aliens and space and corrupt governments and mutants and pain and sorrow. Lots of sad stuff and pain. I hope to get it published one of these days but for now it exists solely on my laptop.

[Silver Cloud Drifter]

531700
Not to be rude, but to quote Discord, "UGH! Gag." dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/discord.png Sorry, but aliens and corrupt governments! That is oh so overused! However, if you can make it original and AWESOME, I'll take back this statement. Sorry about the rudeness.

[Insanity Engine]

531720
Not rude at all, your opinions are just as valid as everyone else's. c:
Well I've been working on it for like, upwards of five years now. The plot keeps changing. The ideas are certainly cliche, but I'm hoping the characters and situations are believable and original enough to warrant at least some interest. Either way. Either way. c:

[Silver Cloud Drifter]

531771
Ha! I know the feeling of a changing plot! I have a whole file on my computer that's I don't know how many pages long about a story I once thought I could publish! It's about this criminal who was on his way to prison on a ship, when the ship gets destroyed and he gets stranded on a deserted island. I've basically abandoned trying to make it follow the original plot. It's more my dump for random ideas now. Why you ask? Well, let me put it this way. The island now has steampunk automatons, time travel, and frikkin gods from various cultures. That's how screwed it got. It still serves as a great creative outlet though!

[Insanity Engine]

531796
Are you kidding that sounds like an awesome creative outlet. :D

[Silver Cloud Drifter]

531799
It doesn't make much sense now though. Ah well. Everypony needs something to let creativity flow. Also, if it wouldn't be too much trouble, could you maybe check out my stories here on fimfiction and maybe leave some feedback? I'd really appreciate it!

[Insanity Engine]

531809
Certainly! I can't really do much reading right now due simply to circumstance but I'll check out your stuff in the coming days. c:

[Silver Cloud Drifter]

531906
Thanks a million! I really appreciate it! dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/yay_red.png