Of Magic and Clockwork

by Midnight_Tempest

Chapter 1: The Rising Tempest

"...ig.t... M.d.ig.t... Midnight!!"

The shouting was enough to shake the young colt from his slumber, as well as leave him on the floor in a sudden daze.

"Midnight! What in the name of Scientia are you doing here?" The annoyed colt looked down at his dazed brother and just shook his head. "Don't tell me you were here all night, reading?" He looked over at the book and became even more annoyed than before. "Oh no... no no... you weren't actually reading that, where you? Please tell me you weren't!"

Midnight lifted himself off the ground and shook himself awake, as his brother grew more and more flustered. "Of course I was reading it, brother... We all know the stories behind our Matriarch, but they all sound so padded and flamboyant. I want to know the truth about her, I want to know her greatness and her mistakes. I also want to know why WE, our family, our house, are now nothing more than over-glorified clock-makers." His demeanor was very calm, cool, unlike his elder brother.

"Midnight... damn it... you know what father will do when he finds out. You'll be lucky if you aren't exiled from the House for this, we were explicitly told to NEVER read from this book. Yet, out of your own impulsive curiosity you went and read from it anyway."

"You worry far too much, Sun-rock. Father doesn't need to know about it, unless you want me to be exiled. It has taken me weeks to just find this book, it was obviously hidden from us and I intend to discover what has been hidden from us." Midnight quickly used his magic to close the book and immediately made his way towards the library doors. "I know that when you were younger, brother, you also had a curiosity about Scientia," he stopped for a moment and looked back at his brother, "so come with me and let us find out together. We almost never spend any time together since you began apprenticing with father." Midnight then turned and continued to leave the library.

Sun-rock stood in the library for a couple minutes, mulling over his brothers words and it only made him more aggravated. 'Curse you, Midnight... you'll live up to your namesake at this pace.' He quickly left the library, but did not choose to follow his brother.

'So, you've lost your taste for adventure. That is a shame brother, but you were always the one that had to make father proud.' Midnight knew that if he stayed in the manor, he would be discovered with the book. His brother was right in the fact that Midnight was a very impulsive youth, and within a matter of minutes he had tore every page that had any relevance to Scientia from the book. His next move would be considered the only sensible thing, after removing the pages Midnight returned to the library and placed the book back where he had found it, and with the lock repaired as well.

The day was quick to pass, as Midnight went about the manor grounds. Although he wanted to read the pages he had stored away, he had to still make it seem as though nothing was amiss. He went to his classes, The proper use of Magic and its Practical Applications, Family History throughout the ages, and Advanced Clockwork skills and Applications.

"You did very well today, Midnight. You seemed to be far more focused than usual, I am sure your father will be pleased to hear of this. You may go now, we will not have classes again until next week, but I expect you to continue your studies. Have a pleasant day, Young Master." Midnights professor then gathered his belongings and left the study, leaving the 'Young Master' alone.

'Finally, I will have the whole of the weekend to study the pages on Matriarch Scientia.' With great enthusiasm, Midnight collected his study notes and left for his quarters. Unlike the rest of his family, Midnight enjoyed the great heights of the manors older towers and could often be found up there daydreaming. But this time, he would not be found in or even near the manor for he had packed prior to beginning his classes for a trip into the mountains behind the manor. These mountains were some of the tallest in all of Equestria and on the clearest of nights, one could see for hundreds of miles.

The climb to the summit was treacherous and an endeavor that Midnight did not wish to undertake that night, so he chose to only climb to a spot that he and his brother used to climb many years earlier. An uninhabited cave, with excellent protection from the elements and a large drop-off about 50 feet from the entrance. It was something the two colts found when they were playing around with their magic, with Midnight suddenly vanishing and reappearing within the cave. The teleporting spell is a very difficult spell to use over great distances, and even more difficult for a filly or colt to attempt. It can also drain a pony of all there energy the great the distance traveled.

It took only a couple of hours to make his way up to the cave, using his teleporting spell to traverse the more impassible parts of the mountain. It was almost the witching hour when Midnight finally arrived at the cave, and what a wonderful time it was to be there. The sky was clear and the stars seemed as bright as the sun and even though the moon was only 3/4 full, the glow given off lit up all he could see. 'Wonderful, truly wonderful. A shame that Sun-rock couldn't share in this sight, but he has his responsibilities. I, however, do not have to share those responsibilities with him. Hmm? His thought was stopped for a moment, for in the distance he could see something truly rare. Canterlot, royal palace to Princess Celestia herself. He only remembers seeing Canterlot once before, the day he found the cave. With a large smile and a renewed energy Midnight unpacked the pages, and his supplies, and started reading once more.

He found more articles describing Scientia's 'adventures' and experiments, into a now forbidden practice.
Sorceress Scientia resigned from her place within the Magic Guild, after only being a member for a mere 5 years. Many found this to be acceptable, as these were the wizards, warlocks, and sorceress that disagreed with everything that the young Scientia was doing, yet it never stopped her from acquiring the materials needed for her experiments. Her ties with the Magic Guild were not cut with her resignation, and she was now able to pursue her passion without the bureaucracy and red-tape the Guild forced on every member.

Her experiments focused primarily on the theory that magic and the technology, brought about by science, could be merged to create something that would benefit all of pony-kind. A truly noble endeavor, but not without its flaws. Those flaws would become most apparent in the later years of Scientia's life, but at that time she would focus mostly on small scale improvements. Among these improvements were her 'Clock-work devices'. Machines that could perform menial tasks for what seemed indefinitely. Clocks were a common device for her to practice with, as they were small and very simple for her to manipulate with her magic.

Scientia had spent about 10 years perfecting her technique, when she finally decided it was time to take it to the next level. Large more complex devices, magic infused 'motors' that would propel an object forward. It was at this time that she began to have her first big failures, because of the size of the 'motor' it had to be merged with great amounts of magic and this led to problems. For instance, there was nothing to regulate the magic within the motor, so it would burst forth with a rush of power and then become empty and worthless. But the most dangerous of her failures as the 'motor' gathering more magic than it was originally infused with. Scientia discovered through 20 different trails, that almost half were pulling in more energy than they were made to hold. It was the last of those trails that injured her, and quite possible changed her life forever.

Midnight finished the article to see that it was already dawn, he had spent the whole of the night reading and was now granted a chance of viewing one of the greatest magic spells ever. The rising of the sun. He focused on Canterlot, which he could still see, and marveled at the glory the sun brought. It's light spilling across the land, bringing it's warmth and the promise of better days. When it was done, he returned to the pages and started thinking. Something he didn't seem to do very well at all. 'So, Scientia was injured by one of her trails. Something holding too much magic, how could that be considered dangerous?' He had packed some clocks and clock parts with his supplies, as he was going to study as his professor instructed, and quickly got one of the clocks running.

'Alright, so she infused the object with her magic...' Midnight looked over the notes he had made as he read. It seemed simple enough, just envelope the object in magic energy the focus that energy into the object. 'I can do this, I am the 13th grandson of Scientia the Sorceress. I was born to do this.' The clock lifted into the air, surrounded in an emerald cloud of magic energy. It took a few minutes, but Midnight could see the magic flowing into the clock and the clock ticking away merrily. "YES! YES! I DID IT!" He bounced around gleefully. "Now if it was so simple to do, why would it been seen as dangerous and forbidden? I just don't understand..." His glee soon shifted to surprise as the clock continued to suck up magical energy, and although Midnight stopped using his own magic the clock was still gather energy from its surroundings. But it was already obvious that it couldn't hold much more, it was only a small clock and if the energy couldn't leave like it was originally meant to, it would have to leave by another means.

He made the choice to toss the clock from the cliff, but it was too late. As Midnight threw the clock, the clock exploded in a beautiful green and black cloud. Pieces of the clock went everywhere which, unfortunately for Midnight, was also the last thing he saw that day. He was struck by a large cog, and blacked out. His next waking moment, would also be the worst day of his life.