Clockwise raced down the darkening streets, cloak billowing out behind her, panic rising in her chest and her breath coming short and fast. Hooves skidded on loose cobbles as she turned sharply down a back alley. The lamplighters had yet to get to this part of Manehatten and the gloom made shadows jump and dance. A metallic form flew above her, casting a slight shadow on the dirty ground. Clockwise glanced up at the bronze bird, a raven, following it's every move as it led her to her friends.
They had been tricked and she had to know that Jay and Bird were okay. This was mostly her fault and she had to know that they had made it. That they had escaped. If they hadn't, she had to do everything in her limited power to help them, although she wasn’t sure what she could do. After a year of this life, Clockwise navigated the maze of alleys easily, allowing the metal bird to guide her, Hew could see what she could not and he knew, she hoped, where Jay and Bird had gone. The clockwork animal banked sharply and flew low to land, she turned again to see it hit the ground gracefully and turn to look at her attentively. The sight of a motionless form on the ground before the metal raven made Clockwise freeze. It was the form of a pony she knew.
Jay's light blue coat was stained with soot and blood, his darker blue mane and tail was a mess and his crossbow lay beside him, broken. She checked his pulse and was relieved to find he was just unconscious. Hew walked to her and Jay, metal claws clicking quietly on the dirty street. Slowly the pegasi stirred, opening his eyes and blinking, a soft moan escaped clenched teeth and he looked up at her groggily for a moment. Clockwise and the raven looked at him intently, as if will alone could heal him.
“Jay?” Clockwise asked tentatively, keeping her voice soft as she crouching down beside him, “Blue Jay? Are you okay? What happened? Where's Bird?”
For a moment he shook his head as if trying to organize his thoughts, then he started to stand. Clockwise rose quickly and helped him to his feet, he swayed a moment, glancing at the metallic raven then locked his gaze on the cream colored earth pony. A thin trickle of red, traveling down the side of his head and stained even more of his coat.
“It was an ambush. Bird took care of most of them but . . . I was hurt in the initial attack.” His soft voice was weak but steady, “She . . . she told me to get to a shelter where the healers would help me and went after a unicorn she thought she recognized. She wanted to know who set us up.”
“Was she badly hurt?” Clockwise walked close to him as he started down the ally in the direction she had come, leading her balance to him when he stumbled. The soft click of Hew's metal feet followed them.
“No, but they were obviously trained. The one she went after appeared to be their leader.” Jay stopped and Clockwise turned to look at him questioningly as if afraid that he was too weak to go on, “You have to go get her before she does something stupid. I think that unicorn is trained well enough to get to her.”
“I need to get you to a shelter! If Bird wasn't hurt when she left you then she'll probably be fine!” Clockwise tried to keep the fear out of her words, words that she didn't believe. Bird was rash and had a tenancy of biting off more than she could handle. “Come on Jay, I need to help you then find Bird.”
Jay didn't move, his dark eyes burrowing into Clockwise as if he could see her thoughts. The blank stare of the clockwork watched them both, never drawing attention to itself. “Clockwise, think about it, I can get to the shelter faster without you if I fly. Bird is the one who is good at this sort of thing, but I think that unicorn was Pathos and there is no way she could escape him alive if he felt like killing her. Hew can find Bird and you can stop the fight. Please! I can't protect her from herself right now, but you can.”
Clockwise winced and looked at Hew to avoid looking at Jay, he was right. His wings could take him directly to a shelter while if he stayed with her, he would have to remain earth-bound. She silently cursed herself for being an Earth pony with all Pegasi friends. Bird was smart but she was vain. She would throw herself head first into any fight she thought Pathos was involved with and a fight with Pathos himself would be too tempting. Clock wasn't even sure why Bird hated him so much, Jay didn't share her feelings and Pathos had always been good to them so it really didn't make any sense, Clockwise shook her head and looked up to meet Jay's gaze, “Jay, you can barely walk right now, what makes you think you can fly?”
“I can fly. My back leg is hurt, landing might be a problem but I can still get there faster.” He hoped Clockwise couldn't see the lie behind his level tone, but to him only Bird's safety mattered. He had once promised himself to always protect his little sister now, his gut told him that Bird needed him and he was incapable. Clockwise could protect her though, if only he could convince her.
Clockwise hesitated, “Are you sure you can fly there?”
“Positive.” Again, he prayed that she wouldn't see the guilt in his eyes.
She looked at him for a long time, weighing her options. Jay was clever and he could probably make the mile to the shelter alone. It was unlikely he would run into anypony else at this time of night, especial if he flew. Besides, it was only a mile by road, and taking a direct rout above would be shorter. Bird was almost certain to get into another fight, and right now, survival was their only goal, to lay low until they figured out who was working against them. If it was indeed Pathos, the black unicorn who had trained and raised Blue Bird and Blue Jay, then they were in more trouble than they had bargained for, if not, they still needed to get through this night.
“Fine. You get to that shelter and I'll go after Bird. Where was she headed?” Clockwise said, trying to sound firm but, her panic from earlier was returning in full force.
“East. Toward the Docks.” Jay motioned in the direction of and ally behind him.
Clockwise nodded and started off at a trot, Hew taking flight behind her. Jay watched her, relief washing over him. He was glad that she had been unable to see his wing underneath his cloak, the joint was forced into an odd, unnatural angle and he suspected it was broken. The moment she was out of sight he sunk to the ground again, no need to hide how hurt he was. He couldn't fly. Luckily, the cloak and the dim lighting had prevented Clockwise from seeing the extent of his other injuries as well. It didn't matter. He would get to the shelter, Clockwise would take care of Bird and in the end, that was all that mattered to him. He closed his eyes, trying to force the pain away and folded his wings as tightly to his body as he could then, with a deep breath, he rose to his feet again and started to slowly limp towards safety.
Clockwise raced down the ally, following the glint of Hew's bronze feathers. He would be able to find Bird for her once she reached the dock area, until then, she knew exactly where she was going. Not far away, she stopped short again, this must have been where the attack was. Bodies littered the narrow alley and she could see the tale-tell signs that the fatal wounds were made by a sword with an expert wielding it. Bird had done this and Clockwise felt sick for a moment. The sharp reminders of the kind of pony Bird really was, always came as a blow. Even though she knew Bird, even though she had lived with the Jay and his sister for a year now, she was never able to see behind Bird's happy, high-strung personality to what she was capable of and what she did for a living. These deaths would not weigh on the Pegasi's mind, in fact, she doubted Bird would even care that these ponies had lost their lives to her. Clockwise picked her way carefully, never stepping on the bodies and she paused to close the eyes of those who stared blankly into the night, Hew circling above her patiently like the scavenger he resembled. These ponies may have been trying to kill Bird and Jay but, they had friends and family too. Clockwise wanted to cry for them but, her fear for Bird kept her going. Bird was crazy and Clockwise thought that what she did was wrong but, despite all of Bird’s tendencies, she was Bird's friend and she owed Bird her life.
The night grew thicker and the lights of zeppelins blinked like stars above her. She ran on, Hew flying ahead, methodically checking every back street and alleyway all the way to dead ends. He was faster than Clockwise and this allowed him to check most dead ends before she got there and he was able to guide her through areas he knew to be not worth her time to linger in. It was slow despite her run, Manehatten was covered in a dense network of such passages and by now, Clockwise and Hew knew most of them. Her fear rising as she worked her way into the red light district. Each dead end and passage Hew signaled her to skip remained lifeless except for the occasional lamplighter and drunk wandering home.
Her chest and legs burned, she wished she was a Pegasus so she could fly. She wished she was a Unicorn so she could teleport or put a tracking or search spell or something to find Bird with. She wished she were a clockwork creature like Hew, who never knew hunger, pain, or exertion. Bird could be dead by now and Clockwise would never know unless she found a body. She hoped Jay had gotten to the shelter all right. She hoped Bird had done the smart thing and gone to find him. She hoped that all of this fear and pain was for nothing and Bird was somewhere safe. If morning came and she and Hew were forced to return to the warehouses to find Bird waiting for them, Clockwise would be glad.
She had slowed to a trot to conserve her energy and near midnight, Hew lead her to turn onto a dead ended and almost immediately she was blinded by a blast of green light. The force of the magic threw Clockwise back and when it faded, and her eyes adjusted she saw nothing. Hew picked himself up, a few feet away and hopped quietly over to her and looking expectantly into the alley. Not entirely surprising, if it was Pathos, he was black and Bird was a very dark blue with black streaks in her mane and tail, both would be completely invisible at this time of night with the lack of light, but Hew's eyes didn't need light to see, instead he could perceive the magical signatures of things through a complicated spell that Clockwise had paid a unicorn for when she first made him. All things had a little bit of magic and Hew did not see things in solid form but by that little magic. If Hew thought that this was where Bird and her assailant were, that was good enough for Clockwise.
The darkness was totally complete and Clockwise was painfully aware of how her own coat stuck out in the night, her pretty cream coat and white mane and tail would be impossible to miss, but on the off chance she hadn't been seen, she slunk behind a box and strained her ears. Voices came to her, apparently they had been talking the whole time but she hadn't noticed. They seemed too intent on their own problems to have noticed her either.
“Please, any unicorn with any sense is going to win against a little filly like you.” The voice was male but soft and relaxed, as if having a dinner conversation. The voice of the pony who had first introduced Clockwise to the Blue siblings, Pathos.
“Don't insult me. I have learned so much since last we met.” This was the tenor of Bird's voice. It was cold and steady, but seemed wispy as if she was out of breath.
“Then prove it. I have not been impressed by anything so far except for your stamina and determination.” Pathos sounded almost disappointed, “Nothing new there.”
“Shut up!” Bird's shriek was followed by another blast of light and this time Clockwise saw the glow of Pathos' horn and the aura of magic surround Bir-
A red aura engulfed the book and lifted it up and away before Stasis could stop it. He glared at the floating novel and turn to face the red unicorn who controlled it.
“What was that for! Give it back, Red!”He yelled, starting toward the thief.
“Com’on!” Red laughed and danced away, still levitating the book out of his friend’s reach, “You’ve read this book six times! You already know what happens!”
“So? I’m reading it again! The next in the series comes out next week!” Stasis snapped, although he was more annoyed than actually mad.
“Please, as your friend and as the pony who introduced you to the Counter Gear series, I and telling you that your love is going to end in the next book!” Red laughed and he brought the book closer to him so he could read it, “Where are you anyway? This is Trials right?”
“Clockwise just found Bird and Pathos fighting! Give it back!” Stasis saw his chance but before he could grab the book, Red had whisked it up to the ceiling again. The grey earth pony paced below his book, looking up and for a way he could reach it, “Red Rook! I am begging you here!”
“Today is new release day at Enchanted Comic Books! Do you know what that means?” Red laughed and levitated his orange saddle bags onto his back.
Stasis rolled his eyes but couldn't help but smile, “The new Power Ponies is out today.”
“YES!” Red yelped and levitated Stasis' saddle bag to him and put the book into them. “Do you know what we are going to do?”
“Go and buy one?”
“YEP!”
Red Rook raced out of the library, Stasis following behind slowly. Once they reached the main street of Canterlot, Red slowed and they walked side by side. At noon, the streets were relatively empty and they made good time to the comic book shop only to find that it too, was almost empty.
“I hope we beat the rush and that they haven't sold out.” Red muttered, his voice verging on panic as they weaved through the maze of shelves to where the new releases were displayed.
They made the last turn in time to see a small purple and green dragon snatch the last Power Pony book off the the display. Red moaned as the dragon beamed at the book and started toward the checkout counter. He started to follow the dragon but Stasis stepped in front of him, stopping the red unicorn from proceeding.
“He has the last one.” Red moaned, “Maybe I could pay him the double price to let me buy it from him.”
“Give it up, you don't have the money to spend double price on everything.” Stasis said mildly, “You will just have to wait til next week.”
“No, please.” Red whispered, he closed his eyes and his face screwed up in concentration. A sharp white flash surprised Stasis, the dragon and, apparently, Red as he appeared in front of the dragon, moments before the dragon could reached the counter.
The dragon jumped and clutched the book to his chest as if it would protect him from red unicorns randomly appearing. Stasis collected his wits and sighed as he started to trot after them.
“Um, hey, do you really need that book?”Red asked, panting slightly from the exertion of teleporting.
“Yes!” The dragon replied, now clutching the book in possession.
“Do you think we could, I don't know, work out a deal or something? Maybe I buy it from you? Maybe you live near here and we go in together? Or maybe . . .” Red spoke quickly and a desperation filled his voice.
“Um, I live in Ponyville, and we are going back today so,” The dragon's eyes moved to the counter behind Red as if it was a means to escape, “I'm sorry? I guess.”
Stasis grabbed Red's saddlebags and dragged him out of the dragons way. “Sorry about my friend here, he means no harm.” Stasis said to the dragon who hurried forward to buy the book.
Red watched the dragon sadly but made no further move to stop him. Once the dragon was out of the shop and they watched him through a window as he met up with a purple alicorn and they headed toward the train station. Wait. Alicorn? Purple Alicorn?
“Jeez Red, did you have to try and talk Princess Twilight's friend out of his book? Besides, when did you learn how to teleport?” Stasis asked mildly as he turned back to the shop to browse.
“Princess friend or not, he could have been a bit more considerate. Do you have any idea how long I've had to wait for that book and there it goes, off to Ponyville, far from my reach!” Red stood at the window, watching the pair dejectedly.
“Yeah, teleport. When did you learn to teleport?”
“Teleport? Last week, although that was the fastest I have managed so far, I can't do long distances yet.” Red's tone was sad despite his usual enthusiasm in his magical accomplishments.
“Stop your moping, you just have to wait another week.” Stasis said, not really listening and glancing through the various books that lined the shelves.
“A whole week, Stasis! Just because of some dragon from Ponyville! What has become of the world?”
“I don't think that melodrama suits you.”
“I cleared my whole scheduled for this afternoon just so I could read it all in one go!”
“Well, it's not like you have the rest of summer break free.” Stasis couldn't keep the sarcasm out of his voice, “Besides, I have to wait another week for the next Counter Gear.”
“Power Ponies is different! Counter Gear are books, Power Ponies are comics!” Red whined, half heartedly flipping through a ShadowKnight comic.
“They are both Magical Series and both allow jumps.”
“Yeah, but everypony knows that Magic Novels just aren't as popular since it is all based off of the author's perspective and most authors just aren't descriptive enough to make the jump seem familiar to the reader when it comes. Comics have enough panels of the settings to make the jump and conclusion relatively easy.”
“That isn't true with Counter Gear. Anyway, most comic have the reader replace or become one of the character while novels always give the reader the chance to actually meet and interact with the character since you always make the jump as yourself. I do wish that the novels went further back in time so a reader could watch the characters all the way through the book instead of just jumping to help fix one problem though.”
“It is too much of a pain.” Red sighed and put the ShadowKnight up and didn't even bother to pretend to be looking at the comics around them, “Jumping in a new Magic Novel is rarely worth the effort and usually disappointing since you took the effort to get involved in the first place. Plus, something always happens so the characters don’t remember interacting with the reader except very vaguely if at all.”
“Yeah, but in this one, the character you are helping is Hew and he doesn’t talk and the narrative never switches to his point of view, no matter how many times I have jumped Trials it always resets and the charecters don’t remember you one jump to another or one book to another. Besides Magic Novels are any author's dream come true.” Stasis said choosing a book and starting toward the checkout, “I mean seriously, the chance to show your reader exactly what your character's look and act like, not to mention the setting. If the the ponies who read it don't appreciate it, then it's their problem.”
“Of course you would come up with something like that, your sister being an author and all!” Red sighed and followed Stais dejectedly.
“Clarity really wants to get her books into a Magical format but they aren’t popular enough to get that sort of attention.”
“I can’t imagine that politically correct fantasy books would have much of a following.”
Stasis smiled, it was sad but true. His older sister was a politically correct author and really, her editor kept telling her to not quit her day job as a secretary. Clarity loved writing and was good but her books always ended up really boring. Stasis loved Clarity but he had to be realistic, with his parents working as journalists in Arabia, Clarity’s unsuccessful books, and his own ambitions in drawing, his family was doomed to be the poor artists who full heartedly loved their craft but never made it big.
“Oh well, Clarity loves it and that is all that really matters in the end.” Stasis said and handed the cashier the book he had selected.
“Why aren't you two in school?” The cashier asked, “Aren't you juniors this year?”
“This upcoming year, yes.” Stasis said with a smile, “Canterlot Public High let out earlier than the private schools so, we are on summer break right now.”
“Well, enjoy yourselves! Remember that we have another shipment of new releases next Wednesday. Sorry about you losing that Power Ponies.” The cashier waved them out and sent them off with two 10% off next purchase cards.
The afternoon sun was pleasantly warm against Stasis' grey coat and he knew the weather wouldn't get uncomfortably hot until later in the summer. Stasis and Red walked lazily down the street in the general direction of Stasis's family apartment. The summer had only started a few weeks ago but it was long enough for the novelty of freedom to wear away and replace it with almost ceaseless boredom. They had done their best to get a jobs but, nopony wanted to hire sixteen year olds who had little experience in the world. The last few weeks had been spent at various gaming spots and the library. By now, they had both read all of the comics and science fiction the library had to offer and really, Red Rook was the only one of the two interested in cards and board games. Sometimes Red would spend days on end studying magic and when those days came, Stasis spent his time drawing, not that he really minded. Eventually, Red's rather fleeting attention would be grabbed by something else and usually he insisted on dragging Stasis along with him. One of the longest lasting obsessions that they both shared had been Magic Books. These books had a complicated spell on them that allowed the reader to join or 'jump' into the story for a time. Stasis had been a life-long book worm and the very idea of stepping into his favorite novels thrilled him, Red liked the action and drama that jumping brought but, Stasis liked the whole idea of actually seeing the worlds he sometimes wished he could be apart of. The best part of the Magic Books was that they allowed a reader to only be in the book for a certain amount of time before sending them home. It was always ample time to solve whatever the problem was but not enough time for the story they jumped to to become boring. They didn’t all start at the beginning the book, most just allowed a reader to jump at a climatic or falling action part of the book. Still, Stasis thought that it was probably the single best creation of pony-kind.
“So,” Stasis started after giving his friend enough time to get mopping out of his system, “Since you are free this afternoon, do you want to go into Counter Gear with me?”
Red seemed to ponder this a moment before asking, “Which one it that? Six? Trials? Yeah, it has been a while since I jumped any of the Counter Gears.”
“Cool, Whimsy is at a friend's house right now and Clarity won't get off work til later so we will have the apartment to ourselves.” Stasis said .
“I wouldn't mind if they were there,” Red said with a shrug, “ I really like your sisters, they are so much cooler than my bro.”
“Nah, Ace is cool, he just has a tendency for bad decisions.” Stasis replied mildly and started up the steps to his apartment.
“Whatever, you got lucky with two awesome sisters instead of a brother with rocks for brains. What book did you buy back there? I wasn't paying attention.”
Stasis unlocked the apartment and they headed to the kitchen, “It's the latest Daring Do.”
“Really? I didn't know they made Magic Daring Do.”
“I didn't either. Either way, it may be interesting. So, you want to eat then go into Counter Gear or just jump now?”
“Do you mind if I make myself a sandwich?”
“Go ahead.” Stasis sat down at the kitchen counter, dropping his saddlebags on the ground and getting Counter Gear: Trials out of his bag and opening it up to where he left off.
“Shut up!” Bird's shriek was followed by another blast of light and this time Clockwise saw the glow of Pathos' horn and the aura of magic surround Bird and threw her like a doll against the brick wall. Her body went limp as she hit the ground and the glow from Pathos' horn illuminated her as he approached.
“Temper, temper.” He clucked gently as if reprimanding a child. “You always were so fast to anger. It has never worked in your favor.”
“You have no right to critique me. You who live among us, feeding off us, using us!” Bird slowly lifted herself to her feet, as if every movement hurt, it was impossible to actually see the red on her dark coat but her fur had a sleek sheen to it as if wet. “You creature! You evil being!”
“You haven't told anyone yet have you?” Pathos said, his voice still soft and relaxed.
“No, they wouldn't believe me if I did,” Bird's breath came fast and her eyes never left the black unicorn looming above her. Every muscle in her body was tense and her tone was cold, sheathing with an icy hate.
Clockwise's knees shook and she felt her throat and chest constrict. Pathos didn't seem to want to kill Bird but, whatever they were talking about couldn't be good. Whatever was going on she knew she had to stop it and get Bird out of here. Clockwise wasn't sure what Jay thought she could do though. She had to do something but, it wasn't like she could fight Pathos herself. She didn't share Bird's obsessive hate for Pathos and she honestly didn't know why Bird was so convinced Pathos was evil. He was no more crazy than Bird herself.
Clockwise couldn't fight Pathos, but maybe she could get him to go away? Maybe a distraction? Maybe a . . . . ? She couldn't fight but she could make things, that was her special talent wasn't it? Clockwise was a tinker, an inventor. She made things. Mostly clockwork things. Mostly clockwork things like Hew. Those of which were mostly useless in this sort of situation. Hew stood beside Clockwise, his eyes trained on his mistress and Clockwise looked at him thoughtfully. She forced herself to ignoring Bird and Pathos as she pondered Hew. If only she had her saddlebags, she could make that broken clockwork mouse run and give it a voice box of some sort. Loud noises were distracting, right? What she didn't want was for Pathos to hurt Bird anymore or to discover that she was here and hurt her.
Hew cocked his head, almost as if he were asking her something. Hew was by far, Clockwise's best creation, he could think for himself and make his own decisions. Clockwise had made creatures that could talk but they couldn't think so they tended to be like foals that never learned or grew up. Hew had a voice box, but for some reason never spoke though he understood Equestrian. She had also made creatures that were passionate about something but again, the inability to think made them obsessive and incapable of diverting their attention away from their emotions and passion and usually ended up destroying themselves. Hew was not passionate about anything, he had no emotions but he did have goals and a purpose in his existence. He seemed to think that he was meant to be with Clockwise and do whatever she requires, this and the ability to compute things about the world made him valuable. However, he learned things that Clockwise had not originally planned on. He created a personality of sorts for himself and often associated with living animals, not just ponies. He couldn’t, as far as Clockwise was aware, have any attachment for something but that made some of his habits strange. Like his undying loyalty to Clockwise that had made him a constant companion to her or his tendency to prefer some of his animal acquaintances’ company more than others. Could and did Hew make friends?
Furthermore, why didn't he ever talk? She had installed a voicebox and had his animation-spell edited to accommodate speech. If he didn't use his voice box, it wouldn't really hurt him if she removed it and used it to her meet her needs. Loud noises would have to do the trick and distract Pathos long enough for her to get Bird away. At any rate, maybe it would attract the attention of the town guards that should be patrolling the docks. Clockwise motioned for Hew to approach her and he stepped forward, puffing his chest out as if he knew what she had in mind.
She ran her hoof along the brass feathers and tapped the plate that the feathers were attached to. She lifted a little hook hidden beneath the tooled brass and the plate swung forward. Hew's inner chest revealed turning gears and cogs of all sizes and thin copper wires. Three bronze cubes sat installed to the lower left of his breast, each cube had a maze of little wires attaching them to each other and to a panel. More wires disappeared to his lower body, head and wings. Clockwise examined the wires for a moment, again wishing she had her saddlebags, then she lifted part of her cloak and moved the edge into the space between two of the boxes. Wedging it there so that she wouldn't be hurt, she started to unwind the wires from the cube on the left. This was the voice box while the box next to it was an information file on aerodynamics so that Hew could fly. The final box was what held the source of Hew’s animation spell and functioned much like a brain would.
It was slow work without her tools but, the constant tones of Bird and Pathos talking kept her going. Hew stood perfectly still, his head cocked down so he could see what his maker was doing and when she finished, he stood up straight and looked to her expectantly. Clockwise had the little cube on the ground now and she wrapped up some of Hew's loose wires so that they wouldn't affect any other parts of his working before she closed his chest and secured it.
Clockwise gently moved the box to one side and flipped it over to reveal that the cube's back was open. Here she started to move the little dials that adorned the inner box. If she could make the voice box's settings so conflicting, the results should be a loud screech. She hoped. The only real problem was how to trigger it without the help of an animation spell. Hew's animation spell was restricted to the inside bronze that made up most of his body so now that the cube was not attached to him, it was no longer animated. Clockwise had heard of voice boxes that were damaged during calibration that started shrieking and she had also heard that crushing a voice box will result in a whine until the magic that initially held the box together wears away. She didn't know if either of these were true and she only had one voice box to experiment with. Chances where that once she started, she couldn't go back because that that point Pathos would be almost totally guaranteed to find her. She couldn't calibrate the box without a unicorn and the whine after crushing it, didn't seem likely. What to do? Again, her gaze fell on Hew. He pecked the box and picked it up in his beak, looking at her. What if she temporarily connected it to his animation spell? The conflicting settings she had just put in would probably freak out and . . . Clockwise opened up Hew's chest again and threaded one of wires out and relocked his chest. She motioned for him to hold the box in one of his claws and she carefully started to wire the voice box.
The effect was immediate and a high pitched wail tore from the little cube. Clockwise flinched away and covered her ears with her hooves while Hew immediately took flight away from Clockwise and circled the narrow ally. She hopped that the timing was good and that the desired effect wouldn’t backfire. Clockwise peered out to see Pathos and Bird had reacted much like she had. Bird was hunched on the ground, her hooves covering her head and Pathos' face was skewed up in surprise. Pathos looked up at the bronze bird and immediately started shooting green lighting in his direction. Hew was fast was doing a good job of being a difficult target. Bird looked up and saw Hew, for a moment she just stared at him before realization hit her. She jumped to her feet and raced down the ally in Clockwise's direction. Pathos noticed and turned to stop her but Hew swooped down, assaulting him with claws and that blood curdling shrieking.
Clockwise leapt up to meet Bird and without more than a nod, they both bolted down the street. The shriek of the voice box and the flashes of green light soon faded behind them but they didn't stop running. They ran from the red light district and left the docks far behind before they slowed and even then, they didn't speak or stop. They didn't go back to the warehouses, instead they made their way to the shelters, in hopes of finding Jay and finding a place to sleep before facing the fast coming morning.
The sun had just started to shed light on the smog of the city when the two reached the shelter Jay had been heading towards. Bird was covered in blood and soot, she had lost her cloak long ago and thin straps of black leather could be seen holding various weapons close to her body. Long leather cuffs were on each of her legs and the sword usually strapped to her back was broken. A knife was secured under each wing so that they were invisible when her wings were folded but didn't hinder her when flying. Clockwise was also aware of the thin razors laid between each of Bird's dominate feathers and the razors on the inside of each of her leather cuffs. A holster for another dagger was visible on her flank but the sheath was empty. Bird limped and held one of her wings gingerly, her head hung low and she had barely spoken on the run back.
Now, at the shelter, the healers there took one look at Bird and turned them away. No matter how hurt she was, they couldn't be caught harboring a potentially dangerous individual. Clockwise had begged and pleaded, and they were able to learn that Jay had gotten their safely only hours ago. Finally, they admitted Bird and Clockwise. Bird being forced to immediately remove all of her weapons before they started to heal her while Clockwise was allowed to see Jay. He was asleep and she was now just how hurt he was. He was still faring better than Bird though. The loss of blood had made her weak and now that the adrenaline that had made her able to run had worn away, she fainted and gave the healers no trouble.
Clockwise went to the roof, now that her two pony friends were safe, her concerns had turned to her clockwork companion. Hew was smart and he would probably get rid of the shrieking voice box before coming here. That is assuming that Pathos didn't kill him first. Clockwise could sleep despite her exhaustion. Her clockwork creation was just as much her friend as Bird and Jay. He was out there alone, fighting to save her.
Stasis didn't turn the page, he knew that it was blank and that the jump count down would be triggered. He looked up at Red who was now cleaning up his dishes from making a sandwich.
“You ready?” Stasis asked.
“I was thinking,” Red said slowly.
“Uh oh.” Stasis replied mildly.
“Do you really want to go in to get Hew out of trouble?”
“What do you mean?” Stasis asked, confused now, “Are there other options?”
Red scratched his head and looked at Stasis with a daring look on his face, “Well, yes actually. I think I know how to get us to jump to a different place, say, the beginning and we could watch the whole book play out without really interfering.”
“Oh Celestia! How did you figure out how to do that?!” Stasis couldn't keep the alarm out of his voice, he was sure that jumping out of the spell's guidelines was ridiculously illegal, not to mention dangerous.
“Simple really, engage the normal spell then cast a time placement and teleportation spell during the jump and come out when and where ever you want!” Red grinned and looked hopeful, “Wanna try it?”
“I don't know, seems kind of risky, why not just play by the rules?” Stasis said, feeling slightly uncomfortable under his friend's enthusiasm. Red’s special talent was based around theoretical magic but, theoretical magic was still really risky, even when a pony who is talented in the unknown was controlling it.
“Why? You have done it five times now! Why not watch everything? It will be like a movie!” Red said, “It's not like there is anything against it, I don't think anypony has ever tried it. If it's dangerous, I am sure the original spell has some fail safes to jump as back to where it wants us to go.”
“Maybe, “ Stasis paused, thinking, “You know Red, this sort of thing is what got you kicked out of Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns.”
“So? With this day in age, anything they could have taught me, I can teach myself with all of the resources available.” Red shrugged, he had never cared about being kicked out in the first place, “So do you want to try it?”
Stasis looked at the open book for a moment. He had always loved meeting the characters and feeling what they were going through and this was his absolute favorite series. He had first started reading it when he was fourteen and most of the books had already been published. When the series started, Clockwise and Bird were both thirteen and Jay was fifteen, they had aged as the series had gone on and Stasis had always felt as if they had learned about themselves and grown as characters just as he had grow. There was a strong personal attachment and it hurt him more than he would ever admit that the seventh book was to be the last. If Red was right, then there would be no harm in trying to jump out of the arranged situation. This was just one jump, one afternoon. If Red thought he could do it, they why not?
“Sure, lets try to aim for the very beginning of this book when Clockwise is fixing Hew's wing.”
“Alright!” Red went over to stand by Stasis and watched almost giddily as Stasis turned the page.
Stasis was silent and his eyes ran over the little poem at the bottom of the second page
Join to help a friend.
Join when loyalty would bring an end.
The paths now intertwined unravel.
A new road is chosen to travel.
Stasis knew it would normally take them back to when Pathos started fighting Hew. The bird would be hit but, he would be able to give Clockwise and Bird enough time to escape. Pathos, who is unaware that Hew belongs to Clockwise, decided to take him back to his headquarters to be dissected and it is the reader's job to get Hew away from Pathos so he can return to Clockwise. Normally, the book would remove the readers and then another chapter appears that talks about Clockwise getting Hew back and going to talk with Bird and Jay. Bird knows something new about Pathos and Jay says that he wants them to leave Manehatten to try and start life over. Just before they can talk about it, Clockwise's family locates her and forces her to return to them and the last thing the reader knows is that Jay wants to leave while Bird refuses to leave and Clockwise's family plans to ship Clockwise to a reform boarding school. Stasis always thought it was a horrible ending.
The wave of magic washed over him as he and Red were sucked into the novel. A blur of colors whizzed past him and the familiar feeling of being taken apart and put back together again filled him. Stasis saw Red's aura surround him and he felt a sharp jerk that wasn't normal. The blur seemed to speed up for a moment then it all vanished. Red and Stasis stood in a dark dirty alleyway. Red was sweating and breathing hard but looking triumphant. This was not the normal place of arrival but it didn't seem to be the place that they had been planning on either.
“Where are we no-” Stasis was interrupted as a pony ran headlong into him at a full sprint, knocking him and the other pony to the ground.
He struggled to stand up but he was trapped and could see that Red was in a similar situation. The other pony disengaged itself from Stasis and raced over to Red and the dark blue pegisi that ran into him. Stasis stood and shook himself and now got a good look at the two. A cream colored earth pony and a dark blue peg-
It was Clockwise and Blue Bird! Where were they? Stasis spun around to see a black unicorn shooting bolts of green light at a bronze raven down the ally. He noticed the shriek of the voice box, quieter because of the distance and muffled by the various crates that littered the ally. As he watched a pit formed in his stomach, a flash of light hit Hew and sent him careering into a wall and Pathos turned to look at him, Red, Bird, and Clockwise who were now all staring at him with various degrees of terror.
Stasis and Red had just stopped Bird and Clockwise from escaping Pathos.
The black unicorn shot one more bolt of magic at Hew, destroying the voice box and thus, silencing it. Clockwise winced then turned tail and she and Bird started to sprint away. There was a flash and Pathos appeared in front of them, both skidded to a halt and started back towards Red and Stasis.
“Oops,” Red breathed, “I might have miscalculated.”
“You think?” Stasis snapped, his mind racing for a way to fix this but terror and panic slowed his thoughts.
Bird and Clockwise were beside them again and Pathos started at them with those brilliant green eyes. His face totally emotionless and his stance tense. Bird glared at Red and Stasis then flapped a few feet into the air and drew one of her knives, she positioned herself between Clockwise and Pathos, purple eyes meeting green.
The air seemed heavy as the two forces stared each other down. Stasis could feel the nerves, the first one to crack would be the one to lose, that was how these books tended to go. There was no way Bird's high strung personality could hold her together longer than Pathos's calculating mind.
“Red.” Stasis breathed softly, afraid to draw attention to himself, “If you know how to undo whatever we just did, you’d better do it now.”
Author's Note
Yeah! First chapter, I hope that you like it! Constructive Criticism is appreciated but please be nice!
Special thanks to my editor Sefzaps! Remember that there is no such thing as too nit-picky!
Jay had gotten to the safe house and they had admitted him without a word. The healers were gentle and didn't ask questions. They put him in an empty ward so as not to wake any of the other ponies staying there. They cleaned and bandaged his wounds, placing healing spells on the wounds that were still weeping blood and his wing, which had just been pulled out of place. With his wing set and everything wrapped up, food was brought and his weapons where taken with the promise of their return when he left.
The sleep seemed so inviting and the relaxed, fast efficiency of the healers was soothing. But Jay's mind raced. He was unable to completely relax with the thought of Clockwise and Bird still out in the night. It had occurred to him now that he was thinking clearer that maybe sending Clockwise after Bird had not been a good move. Sure, Clock was smart and resourceful but she was also rather sentimental and there was no way that she would stand a chance in a fight. Bird needed someone to reign her in and Clockwise could talk some sense into her but, if there was already a conflict what could the tinker do? Jay told the healers to expect two more ponies before they left him. He lay in the bed, every part of him hurt or was sore and guilt clenched his stomach. While he lay in safety, his friend and sister where out there. He had to go to them, but what could he do? Common sense told him that he would be more useless than Clockwise and would just be dead weight but, the nagging sensation told him he was failing as a brother and a friend. What if Bird hurt her wing? She relied on them heavily when fighting and although her talent wasn't flying related, if she lost that, her chances of winning against an experienced fighter was slim. What if Clockwise was drawn into a fight and killed? What if Bird kept fighting and they both died? What if Hew couldn't find Bird and Clock spend the rest of the night searching for a pony who was gone? What if they never came back? What if he never found out what happened to them?
Jay lay there, unable to sleep unable to stop thinking of the worse possible situation. His thoughts growing darker and his chest tight. Almost against his will, Jay fell into a restless sleep. As usual, his dreams were filled with the dead, some long gone and others new from that very night. These were the nightmares that filled his dreams, all of the ponies he had killed. All of the wrongs he had done to them. All he had stolen from them, their life, their loves, their future. Tonight, two more bodies hung in his dreams, two that he had never cut into but their deaths would weigh on him all the same. Added to the normal torments of sleep, Jay saw Bird and Clockwise laying before him with all of the nameless others he had stolen everything from to get nothing.
Only in sleep did all of Jay's masks that he showed the world fall away. Only in sleep could he not lie to himself to cope with what his life had become. In the day Jay could always keep up his walls. His lies. His masks. It was all for Bird. Be cheerful, be kind, be strong, she needed him. He had to protect her from herself. He had to guild her. It was only in sleep could he admit that he needed Bird more than she would ever need him. He could leave this life and start over and Bird would be just as safe as if he had been with her. Only in sleep did Jay ever admit to himself how broken Bird really was and how unfixable that break had become.
Hew's inner workings were jarred as he hit the brick wall but he could feel his mistress drawing away from him. That was the goal. Mistress leave safely. Distract black unicorn. Keep Mistress safe. He was more or less unhurt so he shifted to his feet and launched into the air again. Hew swooped towards the black unicorn, preparing to dive away from the bolts of magic, holding the screeching voice box in one bronze claw. He swerved as the unicorn started blasting magic at him again.
Suddenly something changed. Hew knew something was different and the sudden shift caused him to miscalculate and dive too low to the unicorn. A strong green magic crashed into him, throwing him back into a wall again. Hew barley registered his damage, all of his focus was on the change. Something had become wrong. Something that was not meant to be. In that instant that the something changed everything, his mistress was stopped in her retreat. Hew did not know how he knew something was wrong but he knew it to be true. That which was not to happen had happened and now everything was different.
It seemed that the black unicorn had noticed too, his eyes were drawn in the direction that Hew's Mistress was. Hew was in the air and attacked the unicorn's face but again he was hit by that green aura and this time, the unicorn followed him to where he was thrown. Another bolt of magic destroyed the voice box and then the unicorn turned and started toward where Clockwise and Blue Bird were. Hew struggled to stand, now registering the bent feathers and disassembled leg, damaged when the voice box was destroyed.
Hew righted himself as much as he could and tried to forced his flight spell to levitate him a few centimeters off the ground. He was incapable of this and tried to balance on one leg to get up, he opened his wings and tried beat upward, his wings scraping on the cobble street. He managed to gain some altitude, his balance was off only when he has a few feet up could he right himself. Hew had no way to feel pain but it was odd sending signals to his leg to find a lack of acknowledgement or movement. He flew clumsily but was able to get high enough to see the magical signature of the black unicorn and Blue Bird facing each other, his mistress was behind Blue Bird with the magical signature of another young earth pony and unicorn. Hew saw a difference in the earth pony and the unicorn. They were the change. Their difference was not like the black unicorn's, no, they were both exactly what they seemed to be, but their magical signatures seemed to clash with the world around them. It was unlike anything that Hew had ever seen before, it was like their very presence was editing the magical signature of everything around them, like ripples in a pond. It made Hew unsure. He could feel it effecting him and he was unsure if it was good or not. He only knew that he had to stop the black unicorn. He sped up, he heard his mistress's call to him and the other pony say something, addressing the other unicorn as "Red". Hew didn't bother with this and flew into the face of the black unicorn, he pecked and beat the unicorn with his wings and almost immediately magic hit him directly in the chess, as he was flung back he knew that his efforts had been fruitless, he also knew that his animation spell had been damaged somehow. For the first time in his existence, Hew felt his wings grow heavy like the metal that they were. His vision blurred and the last thing he registered was crashing into a crate and hitting the ground.
“Undo? What? Do you think I time travel?” Red hissed, his ears back and his eyes wide.
They had jumped into high stress situations before but for the first time, the knowledge that there had to be a good ending was gone. This wasn't supposed to happen, Stasis knew a reader shouldn't ever be able to change the course of a story. No matter what you did in a Magic Book or Comic, the outcome was always the same, or the book's characters would start to fix the situation themselves, like a 'You lost this round, read again'. Readers didn't affect the story. Why was this even possible? Red's bending the rules seemed to have bent more than just the guidelines readers went by but the stories' as well.
The night seemed to be holding it's breath. Bird and Pathos looked at each other, hostility etched in every one of Bird's features while Pathos remained blank like a slate. Stasis could have sworn they stood there for an hour, Bird flapping rhythmically to keep aloft and Pathos barely breathing.
It was broken by a clatter behind them and a lopsided bronze form flew over them and launched itself at Pathos. One of Hew's legs hung limp and dead from a few chinks of metal and one wing was badly bent but he was able to keep himself airborne and mostly upright. He beat Pathos back with his wings but there seemed to be a hitch in his movement. He seemed, for the first time, mechanical instead of a living raven made of metal. Stasis felt a cold shiver run down his back, none of this was supposed to happen. Hew flew up then turned to dive at Pathos.
“Hew, back!” Clockwise yelped but the clockwork raven ignored her and dipped lower to peck at Pathos's eyes.
Pathos's magic hit Hew full in the chest and threw him back into a stack of crates and the metal bird was still. Stasis darted back to where Hew had fallen, a soft whirring came from the broken body. The bird tried to pick itself up but was unable. With a series of clicks and whirs, it looked up at Stasis then turned to look past him as it's mistress. Blue lights that lit eye sockets dimed, flickered, and faded. Clockwise choked, she seemed to sink into herself and deflate as if her will had faded with Hew's animation spell. The bronze body seemed more of a shell than a body. Hew dead? Couldn't happen, that is exactly what the reader was supposed to prevent in a normal jump.
Faster than Stasis could see, Bird chose that moment to move. She darted forward and behind Pathos, dagger in hoof, she came down on Pathos's back. Stasis knew enough about fighting to see that only Pathos's twisting away from Bird had save his spinal cord from being severed. Pathos's side was stained red but he didn't seem to feel the deep bite of the blade, his horn immediately flared and Bird was engulfed in green. He flung her down against a wall, she twisted and her back took the brunt of the force, snapping her head back but her wings and legs remained undamaged. Bird hit the wall with a sickening thud and slumped to the ground in a dark blue heap. She looked up, eyes scanning the alley then searching the ground for the lost dagger. The dim light of a single lamp showed it laying out of reach at Pathos's feet. Pathos looked at Bird as if disappointed and picked the dagger up with his magic.
Seeing Bird thrown seemed to enliven Clockwise and she sprang forward to help Bird but a blast of Pathos's magic threw her back. Bird was visibly shaking as she got unsteadily to her feet and looked up at them. A fresh stream of blood dripped down her face and her wings hung limply at her sides. Pathos tossed Bird's dagger into the air with his magic then caught it as it fell. He seemed unconcerned with the proceedings, but played idly with the knife and looked attentively at Bird without speaking.
Stasis looked at Red and saw his own conflicts in his friend's face. It was torcher to stand by and watch but, the fact that this was happening at all meant something was extremely wrong. Usually the book would provided some relative protection for readers but now, they had changed the course of the book and it seemed they were apart of the story. They hadn't been hurt yet but they had never seen a character hurt this badly or die. Could they die here? Red looked scared, conflicted, and confused. His ears twitched and his eyes were wide. A red aura flickered around his horn as if he wanted to do something but couldn't figure out what to do and terror prevented him from completing a spell. Stasis didn't have magic and was not an athlete. He couldn't fight. He had read this book so many times, he almost knew it by heart, why was this so out of control? Why couldn't he think of something? He knew these characters, he knew this world, but why were these things happening? They had done something more than just stop Bird and Clockwise from escaping and now something more was wrong. Was the escape really that vital to the world in general? This was the second to last book, nothing major was should really happen until the next book right?
Stasis shivered and stepped away from the broken body of Hew. He looked at Clockwise then at Pathos. The black unicorn had relaxed although he was still on guard.
"Please stop!" Clockwise said softly, her voice shaking. “Please, let us go. I don't know what Bird has done to you and I don't know why you set us up but there has to be a better way to deal with it.”
Stasis looked desperately at Red, the unicorn met his gaze and only shook his head. Pathos glanced at them with a relaxed curiosity then turned his focus to Clockwise.
"My young Lady Gearsmith, your family is extremely concerned with your whereabouts." Pathos said pleasantly.
Clockwise visibly winced at her family's title and name. Her eyes shifted between Bird and Pathos, "Please let us go. I need to get Blue Bird to a healer."
"What would your family say about your associating with criminals like Miss Bird? A pony of your standing and bloodlines walking the streets with a filly mercenary." Pathos asked, his tone remaining relaxed and casual as if they were at a dinner party and he had all night.
"We are going to leave now, I'm sorry about the trouble." Clockwise said, her tone becoming polite and steady. She started moving slowly toward Bird and watching Pathos carefully for a sign that he was going to stop her. Bird drew her last knife and flapped clumsily into the air, violet eyes locked on the black unicorn, seemingly unaware or uncaring that Clockwise's goal was to get them both out alive. Bird looked suicidal.
Stasis took the opportunity to move backward, closer to Red. "Can you send up a flare to attract the attention of the officers that should be at the docks?" Stasis whispered, "I don't think Pathos is going to let them go. None of this should happen."
“Flare? Right. Easy.” Red said, he too seemed to have gotten a grip on their situation, “Are you sure that an officer would be on our side though?”
Stasis shrugged, “Pathos may be a Lord here but there is no way he would commit a murder in plain view of the city guard unless he knew he would be totally backed up by the Council.”
“I really need to reread these books. He isn't going to care about killing in front of normal civilians, right? Or killing normal civilians for that matter.” Red hissed and glanced behind them, “Lets get a little ways away so I have time to get a few flares up before he attacks us. Try to distract him if he goes for Bird or Clockwise before I get the flares up.”
Stasis only nodded, both of them started to slowly back away. Clockwise inched closer to Bird. Bird still oblivious to Clockwise's intentions of slipping away and Bird launched herself forward at Pathos, although slower than before. She was able to dodge a few bolts of magic sent her way but one clipped her wing and she spun out of control and crashed into a pile of crates. Yet again Bird picked herself up but now all of her injuries of the night seemed to wash over her and she sunk to the ground again, her trembling legs unable to hold her. Pathos flicked Bird's dagger into the air one last time before letting it clatter to the ground. He approached Bird and smiled at her gently. Clockwise growing tense and circling carefully behind Pathos so he couldn't see her as easily.
"Miss Bird, I had high hopes for you and then you had to go off and try things your own way." Pathos shook his head, almost sadly, "It's a shame really. Now you are just getting in my way." Pathos's horn flared and Bird looked up at him with hate but unable to summon the strength to stand.
In an instant, Clockwise picked up the dropped dagger and shot forward, only to be lifted by Pathos's green aura and suspended, struggling, a few feet from the ground. Pathos remained relaxed and casual about all that he did despite the difficulty often seen in unicorns when holding living creatures.
Stasis ran forward with the intention of bowling into Pathos, only to be picked up as well. At the same time, Red's horn flared, a bolt of red magic shot towards Pathos and as Pathos easily deflected it with his own magic, Red shot a strong beam of red light into the air. It arched above the tall buildings that had been shielding the light from Pathos's magic and shone like a distress call.
Stasis watched the flare and almost immediately after it had cleared the buildings, Red sent off another, and another. A blast of green magic hit Red, throwing him to the ground as he sent off a fourth flare into the night.
Pathos sighed and looked from Clockwise and Stasis, struggling in his magic, to Red breathing hard on the ground, and finally to the battered Bird who lay before him. "Another time then." He said, "Despite what ponies think, Manehatten does have a relatively effective justice system."
“The city guard is only the Lord's and Council's personal army!” Bird snapped weakly.
"Terribly convenient I'm a Lord then, isn't it?" Pathos smiled down at her one last time then looked at where he held Clockwise and Stasis. Stasis watched in horror as the aura surrounding him and Clockwise turned from green to red, just in time for three armored ponies to turn a corner and come racing towards them. Pathos's horn was lite but a red magic identical to Red Rook's hovered around it.
"Answering a distress signal! Sir! What's the situation?" The leader called as they ran nearer and halted a few paces away. They fanned out and the three of them blocked the narrow alley.
Pathos turned to them and smiled, "Good evening gentalcoals, thank you for the fast response. There has been an attempt on my life by these youths."
The leader of the officers squinted at Pathos in surprise and dropped to one knee, followed by his men, "Lord Pathos! I didn't 'spct to find you n' this neighborhood!"
"Please stand, my airship is at the docks right now for repairs, I was just heading home when I was attacked." Pathos said, politely nodding to Bird, "Luckily I am rather practiced in self defense."
The officers stood and the leader looked over the situation for a moment, "Good thing too! Four against one would be too much for some ponies!"
"Ah, well do you think that they should be secured behind bars for the night? I am sure the courts can see to them in the morning." Pathos said.
"It seems I recognize that blue one there. Maybe she's been brought before the law before?" The leader said, "Don' recognize thoose other three though."
Pathos's magic brought Clockwise forward and set her down gently in front of the officers, "This is the missing, young Lady Gearsmith. I'd suggest you contact Lord Gearsmith and let him know that his granddaughter has been found."
"Lady Gearsmith! The missing! Ah thought you were assumed dead after so long! Why are you here m'Lady?" The lead officer asked, concern lacing his voice.
"I'm not! I just . . ." Clockwise's voice failed her and she looked back at Bird. Her voice changed slightly, sounding polite with a hint of authority, the desperation and fear gone. "Please, Miss Bird needs a healer."
The lead officer looked over at Bird with an expression of annoyance, "Miss Bird? Yes, I 'member watching a hearing for a Blue Bird 'bout a year ago. Been charged with murder and got off with it.” The officer sighed and glanced back at Clockwise, “A heeler will be called for at the station. Your family will be contracted then too."
Clockwise said nothing, just looked attentively at Pathos. Pathos cleared his throat politely and picked up Red and Bird in his magic along with Stasis, "Could I assist you gentlecolts in some way?" He asked the officers.
"Don' go to the trouble, m'Lord, we just need to get them to the station for the courts in the mornin." The leader said easily and motioned one of his colts forward.
"If it would be any easier, I could just teleport us all to the station." Pathos said and without waiting for a reply, there was a flash and the officers and Pathos stood in a dark corridor, looking in a large cell at Bird, Clockwise, Red, and Stasis.
A lamp hung from the ceiling above the corridor and it was enough to see the long rows of barbed cells on either side. The cell that they had been placed was empty apart from six cots attached to the stone wall, three above and three below. The cells around them were dark but shadows of ponies could be seen moving about, probably awoken by the flash of the teleport.
"Why, thank you!" The leader of the officers said once he had recovered from the surprise.
"Just doing my civil duty sir." Pathos said and his magic released Red, Stasis, and Bird to the ground.
"It's so nice having a Lord who doesn't act above us common folk." A younger officer said, stepping forward to check that the cell was locked.
"Oh?" Pathos said pleasantly but there was a hard edge to the one word that made the young officer wince.
"Not that I should judge the Lords, they are a wonderful set of ponies, truly!" The youth stuttered quickly, "Without them and the Council running everything, Manehatten would be in chaos! So much better than when we were still under the rule of Canterlot and those alicorn!"
The room was still a moment, as if waiting for Pathos response but, Pathos only looked at the youth with an emotionless expression.
"Very good." He said once the silence had stretched longer than was comfortable, "I will be off then, it has been a long night. However, expect me back in the morning."
"Are you goin' to press charges against the Blue?" The leader asked, a sharp glance in the direction of his subordinate.
"I haven't decided yet, but I would like to speak to the the red one and the grey one before the court sees them." Pathos said carelessly and started to walk down the corridor, casually scanning the dark cells. "I can see myself out. Good night gentlecolts."
With that, Pathos was gone. The jail was quiet and tense. Bird lay on the ground where Pathos had put her, Clockwise stood beside her while Red and Stasis stood a little ways away. The leader of the officers glared at the younger officer then looked at the new prisoners
"Oh! Lady Gearsmith, please forgive me!" He fumbled with the keys to try and unlock to cell to let Clockwise out.
"No, I would like to stay here." Clockwise said, her voice steady and final, "Please fetch a healer and don't contact my family until the morning."
"Please! I insist!"
"No. I insist." Clockwise said, her tone not unlike Pathos's.
"M'Lady, I . . ." The officer's voice dwindled away but he looked at her curiously, "Well, if that's what you want." He turned to the older of the other two officers, a unicorn, "Confiscate their possessions n' bring them to the main office when you are done." He turned to the younger officer, "You go n' get a healer here, Cure Cut should be the most likely to come at this time of night." With that, he turned at started off in the direction Pathos had gone, the younger officer trotting after him.
The unicorn officer left behind looked over Bird's network of leather straps that held her weapons to her body, “Would you like to turn over your equipment yourself or have me remove them?”
Without a word, Clockwise began to undo the leather straps. Clockwise removed Bird's leather cuffs first then slowly started on all of the other thin buckles. Bird didn't struggle and lay there submissively but did not shift her position to make the job any easier. Clockwise carefully removed the blades from Bird's wings and checked that all of the razors in the cuffs were present before dumping it all on the ground. The officer levitated the mess of black leather through the bars to him and looked at CLockwise as if contemplating whether to take her cloak or not. He decided against it and left without another word, taking Bird's gear with him.
There was a soft murmur of low voices and movement from the cells around them. Bird started to stand, leaning against Clockwise who slowly guided her to a cot.
“Let us help.” Stasis said as he and Red started forward.
Bird shot them a venomous look. "Stay away." She said weakly but her voice dripping with hate.
"Please! We didn't mean to-" Stais started but Bird's cold voice cut him off.
“Don't give me anymore reason to dislike you two.” She snapped, Clockwise ignored the two colts and urging Bird forward.
Red and Stasis exchanged a glance then backed away and watched as Clockwise got the pegasi to a cot. Clockwise removed her cloak and draped it over Bird, muttering soothingly all the while, but Stasis and Red couldn't make out her words.
Stasis and Red backed up and put their heads together. The shadows from the cells around them shifted but no pony stepped into the light to address the newcomers.
Stasis whispered, "I forgot Pathos could change his aura, it was only relevant in book four. Can you get us out of here?"
Red looked slightly down trodden, "No. I had planned on taking us to the beginning of the book so we could watch without messing up the story and then when we got to the normal part where a reader would come in, we would do the normal thing and save Hew and the book's normal enchantment would kick in and kick us out."
Stasis wanted to scream. Of course. Red didn't plan. Red never planned. He went through life by making it up as he went along and usually that worked for him. Stasis couldn't live like that. If he could, he arranged his whole month on the first. Summer had not taken him by surprise and he had know exactly what he was doing for the first two weeks. Red added the spontaneous to his life but, these days Stasis planned for Red too.
Stasis took a deep breath and forced his voice to be neutral, "So, now that the story is off course, we may never trigger the natural spell to get us out?"
"Right." Red sounded concerned but not overly so. "Will figure something out, technically all we really have to do is get the story back on course and we're fine."
"How? I think Hew is dead, we are going to need a different way to trigger the spell." Stasis said, "Can we die in a book?" Stasis knew that these books tended to be dark. In past jumps into the Counter Gears had always been high stress but there was always the assurance of being pulled out and that the situation would be rectified by the characters if the reader was unable to in the book's time limit.
"I don't think so but who knows? Quite a few things I didn't think possible have already happened, like us actually affecting anything. Can't say I thought we could possibly get things this messed up." Red shrugged, trying to sound nonchalant, "As for a trigger, maybe-"
A low, cold voice from one of the darkened cells cut through the relative quiet of the jail, "I must admit that I never expected to see Blue Bird in such a sorry state."
Clockwise looked up sharply and Bird stirred slightly, "Bug off." Bird said, her voice soft but it was the only noise and carried in the large room so all could hear.
"It will be the gallows for you. So young, such talent if misdirected." The voice was sarcastic with had no sympathy in it, as if seeing Bird so hurt was a sight to savor.
A big dark green stallion moved into view the cell next to them, his body was covered in scars and his coat was ragged from neglect. "Little Bird. The one who would take any job at the right price." The stallion paced slowly on his side of the bars, his gaze never leaving Bird.
She lifted her head and met his gaze unflinchingly though her eyes were dull. Bird shifted on the cot, her careful movements were obvious but she didn't seemed cowed or ashamed of her condition. "I heard you had fallen but to be lowered to taunts is farther down that I might have guessed." Bird said, her voice still soft but casual, eerily similar to how Pathos had spoken to her.
"Little Bird. All alone. A runaway Lady and lost colts for company. Where is your dear brother?" The stallion said, "Where is the dear Jay now?"
"She's not alone." Clockwise said sharply.
"Oh?" he said, "A Lady trying to lose her title? Another misfit who is unhappy with being one of the lucky ones? How is that shadow of a pony company even for a rat?"
"Rats are unredeemable and unwanted by most. Misfits fall together and find that this world has not stained everything." Clockwise said retaining her mild authoritative tone she had used with the officers, "I'm friends with the Blues and they have taught me more about the world than any tutor. It is a dark world but there cannot be darkness without light."
"Pretty words from a pretty face." The stallion sneered, "You are being dragged down from your pretty petit stood and there is nothing to save you. Blue Bird will be hung tomorrow and you will return to your petticoats and fine wine. You were one of the ones who got to be put in a place of promise and you want to throw it away? Do you know how many fillies your age look up to you wishing they could have half of what you were given?"
Stasis started, the stallion had more or less summed up Clockwise's internal conflicts from book three of the series. He felt his body tense and a slight thrill run through him. A chance to see Clockwise defend herself from ideas that she was once wracked by guilt with? Maybe they didn't mess up quite as badly as he had originally thought is the book was giving them this novel opportunity.
Clockwise turned to look directly at the stallion, her pale blue eyes hard and her face firm, "Being privileged is just as much a curse as living with want. I'd rather endure work and scrabbling for food then watch those around me suffer for my well being. All of them hating me behind my back but trying so hard to please. The aristocratic Lords are no better than the Blues in their crimes. It is a world of smoke and mirror, all the pleasantries when they want nothing more than to poison another ponies drink. In this world, your world, the Blue's world, was the first time I ever saw kindness that didn't expect or require a reward. It was kindness to each other because if they were not kind then no pony ever would be. I was unwanted and lived with the lies that the upper class tells itself until they start to believe it as truth. No matter where you go, you will find cruelty and the world's unfairness. I'd rather try to live by my own labor than oppressing others. Manehatten has fallen into dark days and I don't want to be with the Lords and the Council when they are paid back for all they have done to this city."
"Quite the speech. Do you expect us to be sympathetic? You may not want the world you have but that is hardly our fault. We all have problems, yours just happen to be sugar coated." The stallion said.
"I didn't ask to be born to a family with a title anymore than you asked to be born into suffering! I have no way to change the way the Lords are but I can try and not contribute to or support their ideas and how they run things." Clockwise turned and looked at Bird, who was still and eyes closed but her ears flicked as she listened, "I found ponies who would befriend me and who like me for who I am, not for who I should or who they want me to be."
“Are you hearing yourself?” The stallion said, completely unimpressed, “What I hear is that starving is better than oppressing. Really? You can tell yourself that as many times as you like, it won't change your future.”
The sound of hooves approached them, the young officer appeared, leading an elder unicorn, "Here she is sir. Thank you again for coming."
The cell was unlocked and the healer entered, approaching Bird while the officer remained at the door. Clockwise stepped back as the healer approached and he looked over Bird for a moment before speaking, "Well Miss Bird, I must say that you have out done yourself."
Bird looked up at him, her eyes dull and her voice weak, "Sorry Cure, it's not like I can help that."
"Yes you can. You could try doing something useful with your life for once." Cure Cut said, setting about unpacking his saddlebags and pulling back Clockwise's cloak so he could have a better look at Bird, "You don't really have to go get yourself a fight every time you have a problem Jay can't talk your way out of."
The officer choked, "Do you KNOW her?"
"Yes, Miss Bird has been a client of mine whenever the talents of other healers fail." Cure said mildly and started cleaning Bird's wounds. "If you have somewhere you need to be, please don't feel like you need to stay to protect me."
The officer stared at him a moment, "Well okay. I'm going to lock you in, holler when you're done." The officer left, shaking his head.
The healer worked silently with Clockwise curled up on another cot watching. The green stallion had disappeared into the darkness of his cell again and Red and Stasis slowly made their way over to the cots as well. The night wore on, the cell was occasionally illuminated by healing spells. No pony spoke.
Stasis's mind raced. Hew was gone along with the opportunity to trigger the book's enchantment to send them home. Bird was in jail, Clockwise was well on her way to her family and Jay was at a shelter unaware of what was going on. Pathos wanted to talk to him and Red. Why? Why would he want to talk to them? Why not let them hang? How would they get out? Hew was gone. Bird in jail. Stasis returned to the beginning and seemed unable to break the loop of thought. He ran through it over and over, day drawing nearer.
Finally, Cure finished. Bird had fallen asleep long before and Red and Stasis dozed. Instead of calling for the officers, Cure laid down on a cot as well, seemingly content to spend the night near his patient.
The sun rose and Clockwise had not slept. Miles away, Jay had woken, feeling that now his sister and friend would be back. They were not. Fear chilled Jay, a new fear that something was horribly wrong. Something told him that Bird and Clockwise should be back, safe. They weren't. Where were they? What was this nagging in the back of his mind that things were altered? Jay shivered and felt his chest tighten. Could he have stopped it? Did something really happen or was this feeling the result of the nightmares he had dreaded? Jay closed his eyes and tried to banish the images of broken bodies and tried to convince himself that they were on their way, so close, coming back. The sun would rise and Bird and Clockwise would be there. They had to be. Had to be safe. They had to be okay.
Author's Note
Sorry I haven't updated! Life got ahead of me! Oh well, second chapter! Yeah! I hope you like it! Conventional criticism is appreciated!
Special thanks to my beta-reader, Sefzaps!
