Temporal Cogs

by Summonerx

Rating: teen
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Other, Diamond Dogs, Original Character, Adventure, Pinkie Pie, Crossover, Twilight Sparkle
Length: 13735

A time travel story of adventure and intrigue.

Clockwork is a diligent unicorn who works on the Equestrian railroad. When the site is attacked and the train is robbed, he is plunged into a journey across the land...and across time itself. Along the way, he meets many new friends, but will they be enough to save Equestria from forever being plunged into a dark alternate reality?

[[UPDATE Feb 2015 - Currently on hold, pending chapter 5 and 6 but in night classes and working 40hrs a week so will have to get back to it soon as I can]]

Published 2014-06-01 22:30:02 UTC
Last updated 2014-08-24 11:46:45 UTC

Chapter 2 - Noise Amongst Nothing

That evening, four guard pegasi and two earth pony nurses came into the camp. They were accompanied by the two messenger pegasi whom had been sent off to get the guards in the first place. The two returning pegasi greeted the leaders of the camp and then went off to rest from their long flight as the guards and nurses came walking in.

A dark brown pegasus with golden eyes and brownish red mane approached them, his demeanor making it clear that he was the leader of the group. He was followed by a slate gray pegasus with a white mane, an eggplant purple pegasus with light blue mane, and lastly a peach colored one with green mane. The two nurses came up next, one was white and gray with a cutie mark of two hearts, and the other was aquamarine with darker green mane whose cutie mark was a heart with a red cross inside it.

“I’m Diver,” the leader said authoritatively. “I was told you needed some help. This is Silver Maelstrom, our metallurgist.” He pointed to the silver pegasus who stood next to him and for the first time everypony could see behind his armor was his cutie mark, a shield with a heart and a sword behind it. Next, he pointed to the purple pegasus, “This is Crucial-Point, he is my right hoof pony and strategist. And that’s Dart,” he pointed to the peach soldier, “both our runner and fast hitter.”

“Pleased to have you here.” Forge said as he greeted the guards.

“I’m Ariana and this is my cousin Duet.” The green earth pony spoke for herself and her companion. She then walked over to the silver pegasus and seemed to accidentally bump into him a little to make him smile. Clockwork got the feeling they were dating but it wasn’t very obvious to anypony else.

“Pleased to meet you.” Forge bowed his head then Diver spoke up.
“I heard you had tools that needed mending, Silver Maelstrom will be helping with that and repairing any damaged weapons we need. Dart and Crucial-Point are going to be lead and rear guard in that order, and I will be going back and forth patrolling the air looking for threats during the early morning and late evenings. There will be another set of guards arriving tomorrow morning to swap shifts for us to rest during the day. For now; as we have traveled all day, we are going to take a small rest before starting our guard duties. Do you have a place where we might do that?”

“Yes, you can use my tent for now and we will set one up for you tomorrow.” Forge responded.

“Well, Duet and I want to know where your wounded are; we are anxious to start helping.” Arianna stated loudly.

Clockwork spoke up; “You can find the five injured ponies down in the green tent.” He nodded to his left and the two girls walked on over to the tent.

It was then a strange melody began to echo across the work area. It was the sound of a strummed guitar but it sounded as if it were moving closer to them. Everypony ceased what they were doing to listen.
The music grew ever louder with each passing second. It was then the sound of wheels against rails began to be heard as an undertone to the music. The Pegasus guards suddenly became very defensive, and immediately all the workers followed suit.
Then around the bend came a small steam engine pulling two coaches and on board were a few worker ponies. It appeared that the shift change was happening already for some.
Clockwork was highly confused by this as the shift change was supposed to have happened earlier in the day, but when it hadn’t, everypony had already figured they were waiting until the next morning. Obviously something had delayed the train this morning, though that didn’t explain the music. Clockwork stared towards the approaching engine and then realized that several of the ponies on board were holding instruments.

It was then that a few of the pony workers pointed out three of the musicians were well-known. One was a stallion, a tan colored earth pony with a beard whose Cutie Mark was a small acoustic guitar, who sat singing and strumming from his spot at the far end of the train. He had a closed-trimmed beard that gave him a rugged look. Beside him was an earth pony mare of pink and gray coloring whose Cutie Mark seemed to be a violin with a star behind it; she played rapidly along to the melody, her hoof moving with mesmerizing speed. However it was the third one, a pegasus pony of darker purple and silver coloring, who every pony seemed to recognize more despite the fact that his flank was covered up by a robe. He overshadowed all the rest, his voice booming out with the song...

Down the line we go today
Working hard thats our way
Going down the line today
Hard working is our way

Clank clank go the wheels
of this monster of a mobile
We ponies aren’t use to coal
But with this mess we sure do know
About the Big Train so low....

*woo woo*
*woah woah*
*woo woo*
*woah woah*

The Big-Train is coming, watch it keeping on running
The Big-Train is coming, it won’t be stopping
The Big-Train is coming, you better move along
The Big-Train is coming, come listen to our song...

They sang out loud as the rest of the work group disembarked the carriage. Once all the other ponies were off, the three musicians packed up their things and walked off the train car themselves. The only one who didn’t disembark the train right away was a large purple stallion carrying a large chest on his back. Though he was not seen at first, he seemed a bit broader than the singer and sported a mane with a very bright pink hue. It was then that two other ponies helped him off and he began walking towards Forge while the pegasus guards began patrolling.

“I have been sent here from Princess Celestia's Royal Magician's Research Guild, on behalf of her Royal Highness I am on my way to Fillydelphia to meet up with other members of the guild to test some very ancient and precious magical items I am carrying.” He then reached into a small vest he wore and yanked out a royal seal.

“I require a private place in which to guard this cargo. For your crew's trouble..” He reached into another pocket and yanked out a small pouch of golden coins; “Princess Celestia has informed us to pay you handsomely.”
Forge nodded and picked up the little sack of coins with his mouth and pocketed them into a small saddle pocket and turned around. “Sure, thank you and your guild for me. You can have that car over yonder.” He nodded towards an empty carriage car that use mostly used by several worker ponies to rest in.

“I and the Guild thank you.” The purple stallion strode off to the car and locked himself inside. Nopony was getting into that car anytime soon.

Later that evening as the sun was lowered behind the mountains, the guard ponies began a shift change as Crucial-Point and Dart came back to rest.

The musician ponies, who had introduced themselves as Vibrant (a lead vocalist), Whispering Breeze (a violinist), and Lazy Chords (an acoustic guitarist). They were busy playing an old pony’s folksong about picking flowers in the rain while the train crew packed up for the night. The guards had successfully thwarted a secondary attack by the Diamond Dogs and the train had moved another few miles forward. The exchange train had dropped off and picked up workers already and headed back, the reason being that the pegasi had scheduled a downpour back near Canterlot so the train crew decided to head out and back early.
Clockwork was busy ensuring everything was moving according to his new micro-time table. Maelstrom had fixed half their tools and the nurses had done their job to heal and ease the pain of several ponies. Some of them had to be sent back on the exchange train for better treatment but others were back to work now.
It was at this time a light rain began to fall over head. The musicians, not wanting their instruments to get ruined, packed up their stuff and went to a newly erected tent. As Clockwork was making his rounds, the stallion musician known as Lazy Chords bumped into him at a brisk trot.

Clockwork was knocked back on his rump and the floating clipboard fell to the ground as the magic around it collapsed. Lazy Chords, being an earth pony, was relatively unphased from the collision.

“Ooops sorry!” Came his reply in haste,
Clockwork got back up and rubbed his rump. “No, it’s alright, I wasn’t really paying attention to where I was going.” He was about to walk off when the other stallion asked; “So ...where can a pony get a good meal around here anyway? We haven’t really eaten all day.”

“ Well if you go visit Sweetie Pie over there;” The green unicorn pointed to a tent with a large cooking pot nearby, “She can offer you and your crew something to snack on. By the way, are you planning on traveling with the train crew?”
“Yup, well that was the plan, Vibrant thought we should offer to work some and sing some to earn our way to Fillydelphia.”
Clockwork nodded; “Well have you spoken with Forge yet?”
“Sure did!” Lazy Chords stated with some enthusiasm, “We planned on showing what we could do first but he and some pony named Cinder asked us to play some songs to raise the morale around here.”
The unicorn smiled and levitated his clipboard and quill back up into the air, “Well, we certainly can use that. Anyway I have to get back to checking on what has and what has not been done yet. If you’ll excu--”

A large explosion of light and sound caught them all unaware. It emanated from somewhere near the camp. It was so brilliant and opalescent that everypony had to cover their eyes and some even crouched down in fear as the light and sound burst forth out of nowhere.
From within a unicorn appeared, his coat was a reddish orange with a darker orange mane with a small streak of peach coloring, and the overglow of light orange magic upon his horn. The next to come out of the light was a blue pegasus with dark blue mane with a touch of silver within. Finally, an earth pony stepped out of the light just as it faded. He wore dapper clothing, glasses, and his his coat was a light green which matched his coat of soft teal with a dark purple streak in it. The unicorn ran towards the third train car without heeding any of the guards, whom were all caught by surprise. Silver Malestrom attempted to jump in and fight, but the unicorn whose cutie mark looked like an exploding hour glass with a ring around its center, simply vanished only to reappear several feet behind him. The blue pegasus then swooped in with an amazing speed, knocking Silver on his back in an instant. The earth pony merely walked past him without a second glance.

The other pegasus guards came forth, prompted by the attack on Silver but the unicorn continued to vanish and reappear; not teleporting, just fading in and out with in the blink of an eye. The guards split up; two heading towards the speedy pegasus and the other two towards the unicorn.

“Not so fast gentleponies...” The earth pony spoke in a demure style of speech. His cutie mark was a like a scar full of stars, and he twisted around and bucked at the sky. At first the pegasi guards were confused at his action, but then an amazing and terrifying thing occurred: the very space between the guards and the earth pony rippled and suddenly they were flying in place, never going forward but unable to land either. They were held, fully conscious and kicking, in a suspended state by ripples in space. The pony on the ground trotted on, ignoring the calls of the guards.

The blue pegasus flew near the camp, watching as most of the workers had already split between those who would fight and those who would hide for safety. The only one who did not was the purple and pink stallion who was guarding a chest in the third train car. Instead, he began barricading the windows and door in preparation for what he was sure would be an outright theft.

That didn’t stop the unicorn from simply walking up to the door and opening it. Right as the door opened a spear came out to meet the pony in the face but the unicorn faded out and suddenly the spear lunged forward, along with the purple stallion holding it. Clockwork suddenly realized what was going on and spoke out loud without meaning to. “Time magic...that pony is using time magic!” He seemed a little bit elated and worried all at once. This did not stop him from running forward like a crazy horse and attempting heroics. With a burst of his own magic, which had a dark purple overglow to it, the world instantly slowed to a crawl. He concentrated on his spell while simultaneously watching as the other unicorn casually walked around as if time had not slowed for him.

This had proven Clockwork’s theory in a split second but as he galloped closer to the train car, it was already becoming too late. The thief levitated the chest out the door before suddenly slowing to a crawl. Realizing his chance, Clockwork did a dual-focus and yanked the box away but his magic imploded and he too returned to a normal temporal stance. The other unicorn looked over at him sharply, releasing the hold he had on the box momentarily and he vanished from sight. Clockwork thought fast and tossed the chest over towards the camp before feeling an extremely heavy and powerful kick against his face, knocking him back with such force he thought his jaw might break.
The box popped open as it hit the ground near Lazy Chords’ hooves and out tumbled two items - a shiny pendant in shape of hour glass with opalescent sand, and another pendant in the shape of an 8-point star with what appeared to be glowing star-swirls and motes of light with in. Lazy Chords realized these were the very items the ponies before him were after. On impulse, being the just pony he was, he grabbed at both pendants with his mouth and on instinct took off away from the fight, but he didn’t get far as a blue streak slammed into his back and forced him to drop the items. The hour glass pendant bounced one direction and the star pendant another. Amazingly his guitar was left undamaged by the attack, as it had fallen to the side of his flank when he had been hit.

The green unicorn got up just as his rival reappeared in front him snickering, and with a quick thought the two pendants began rising and floating towards him wrapped in an orange glow. Clockwork pulled himself up and began pulling at the items with his own magic, which wrapped around the items leaving streaks of the other’s magic in between his own. As the two strained to hold the items, the earth pony trotted right up behind the unicorn.
“Oh surely you're not overpowered or anything there Flux, now are you? I could help..”

“NO...I have this....Tear! You and Rift go back to our entry point...ugh...”

The earth pony, now known as Tear, huffed and casually trotted back from whence he had come from. Rift followed suit as the unicorn’s voice was loud enough for even him.

“Look you don’t know what you're doing or what you’re fighting against; give up this pointless feud and we’ll leave you in peace.” Flux spoke directly to Clockwork.

“Uh....ugh.....I don’t think stealing really counts as pointless fight to lose or win. You..” He spat as his purple magic began to intensify and block out the other’s orange magic around at least one pendant. But Flux began walking backwards, yanking the pendants along and thusly Clockwork as well.

“He-YAW!” Came an unexpected voice from a certain bearded earth pony, who had regained his composure by now, and ran full tilt towards the orange unicorn. Flux quickened his pace and narrowly dodged the swift kick to his face. Clockwork had to take several steps back to avoid it completely, but never once did he let go of the pendants.

“Really now....you too?” Flux sighed and began yanking harder and pulling faster until he and the other two strange ponies were within a few feet of one another. “Well I warn you now...we want what we have here...so if you will excuse...” The brilliant light burst forth, and their eyes began to glow white as if lit from within. Lazy Chords, not giving up yet, rushed headlong into the light but was held in place by it. Clockwork, fearing he would lose the pendants and not sure what the light was, ran in behind him but found himself stuck and paralyzed by a tingling sensation all up and down his body.

The light began as a rainbow of colors but quickly turned a blinding white. Just as it did, Clockwork gave up on both pendants and focused on one of them blindly hoping to at least steal one away before the three vanished. The hour-glass pendant flew towards him, surrounded by a rainbow hue of light which twisted his horn overglow into a vivid display of color which spread to his own body and Lazy Chords’ with a vibrant rainbow aura.

Then the flash of light intensified into a brilliant, eye-searing beam forcing them to shut their eyes. Even closed, their eyelids did little to abate the pain. Then, a sound like a thunderclap and rush of air bombarded them with such force that both were lost in total darkness.

Author's Note

Update - 6/7/2014 - Fixed a few scenes and rewrote the song portion.

Chapter 3 - Circus-stance

Chapter 3 - Circus-stance

Chapter 3: Circus-stance

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

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

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

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

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

“Wh.....what happened?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“What do you mean?” Lazy Chords questioned.

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

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

“Get? Get where?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Fabulous Circus of Equestrian Delights

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“What....what does that mean?”

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

“Well?” Lazy Chords questioned indignantly.

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

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

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

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

Author's Note

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

Chapter 4 - A Hop, Skip, and Jump

The next morning had been rougher than expected on Clockwork, he hadn’t slept well and was cold from horn to rump. The sun was barely coming up over the horizon when they loaded up the seven carriages. The two cloaked ponies from before were no where to be seen and their tent had already been dismantled and put into a rear carriage by the time they had started helping out.

May Belle had ushered them around, with Riddle’s help at times, to packing up tents and tackle with swiftness. By the time the sun was just above the horizon in all it’s glory they were on the front carriage sitting as the train began rolling. It didn’t take nearly as long as Clockwork had expected to reach the junction, but the very sight of it caused him to pale in confusion.
Where there had once been a guard house made of sturdy wood and two manual signals painted blue and green with a large flat switch to swap the track lines back and forth, there now was a much simpler little cabin with a smaller switch, no signals, and a friendly earth mare who waved the train onwards after tossing the switch which led to the tracks for crossing an upcoming massive bridge. Even Lazy Chords, who had been by this junction not to long ago, seemed a bit confused.

“Hey what happened to the signal mount and two geared-switch?” The unicorn asked out loud; causing every other pony from the circus to stare at him in bewilderment. After a moment he realized he was gawking at the outside window before he saw everypony staring and cleared his throat before looking down in embarrassment.

“Maybe we’re on different tracks?” Lazy Chords whispered to him as the others on-board turned back to their own things and conversations.

“There’s only one track and train system as far as I know.” Clockwork replied; “Something’s seriously wrong here...I just can’t put my hoof on it.”
Lazy Chords huffed; “I reckon you’re right but what can we do?”

The green unicorn sighed in agreement and sat silently as they continued onto and over the bridge across the river below it. Deep down he knew there was something extremely off about everything, but despite knowing the switch post by heart and recognizing the bridge, he was fairly sure the more he thought about it, the more he knew something was just wrong about everything. However it seemed as if his mind grew cloudy the more he focused on it. It was as if something was actively keeping him from noticing the obvious answer.

After traveling through the Canterlot interconnected cave system the circus train had continued onto a switching track and then southerly towards Ponyville. When they arrived Lazy Chords had noticed the village was rather surprisingly large for how simple the housing was and between the brightly colored roofs and town center it seemed all rather cozy.
He and the rest of the train’s occupants saw it only in passing as the train slid into a siding south of the town near a small mountain and across from a very deep green forest which seemed to have rain just within it’s borders but not beyond. Lazy Chords, with his guitar in tow, walked around towards the back of the train. Here a majority of the workers were unloading various things including the tent supplies while Clockwork and May Belle started to converse about the town.
“So that town is Ponyville?’
“Yes indeedy it is. Very small by average but a good mix of all kinds. And while it’s a bit rural between Sweet Apple Acres and Market Square, you won’t find better produce in all of Equestria!” The purple unicorn cheerfully announced as she walked forward. Her bear pal looked out the door, snorted, and walked back into his train car with other circus animals.

“Lazy Chords..” Clockwork called out to him and trotted forwards a bit. “Let’s go looking for those thieves.”

“Might as well. Thank you May Belle” The stallion nodded; she only grinned and nodded back before turning around and barking orders to the others. The earth pony walked forward followed by his companion who still was a bit away.

“You know I never heard of this place.” Clockwork stated as he caught up finally.
“Yeah me neither.” Lazy Chords said with a small huff.

“Looks very....” the unicorn thought a moment before going on with; “..quant.“
"I suppose you’re use to something a little bigger."

“Actually I am, I use to live in Fillydelphia with my parents before I got the job working on the railroad. But since then I have merely lived on the rails only occasionally visiting home.” The unicorn replied.

“Well I like it here, reminds me of where I grew up; small, quiet, and friendly.”
“Still...” the unicorn started but was cut off as they entered town. There were ponies everywhere some were shopping, some were flying, some were just randomly dancing or relaxing outside in the sun.

The sounds of a distant school bell rang for morning classes and the smells of fresh apple pie mixed with strawberries and something akin to marshmallows was carried on the breeze.

An earth pony mare with a tan coat and blue and pink mane and cutie mark of three wrapped candies walked by talking with a sea-foam green unicorn whose cutie mark was a lyre. In the distance another earth pony with an hourglass cutie mark walked briskly by followed by a pegasus with a wall eyed stare and small bubbles for a cutie mark; followed behind by another earth pony with a rose for a cutie mark wearing strangely dual colored glasses.

Overhead a few pegasi flew by pushing clouds around preparing the sky for a sunny day.

Lazy Chords casually over to the first vendor he found; the shop appeared to be a cake shop known as Sugar Cube Corner. I happy bubbly pink earth pony danced around her kitty Mark was a bunch of balloons of yellow and blue variety.
"Excuse me," he asked politely, "Have you or any other pony seen three strange looking ponies of odd cutie marks walking around here?"
The pink pony laughed and giggled and laughed some more and made a weird squeaking noise then responded with; "No silly but there are a lot ponies around here!"
She ended with another giggle before realizing something; "Wait are you new here?!?" She gasped loudly; "Oh my gosh we gotta throw you a party!"

“No, that is...” but before he could finish the pink pony zipped inside and slammed the door.

Clockwork laughed a little before his new found friend spun around on him. “Well that won’t get us anywhere.”

“Gee you don’t say..”
As they walked past the bakery Clockwork pointed out the multicolored homes, the many stalls of food and wares, and a curious shop called Quills and Sofas.

“Well why don’t we split up and ask around here? We can meet back in an hour.” the unicorn suggested.
“And how do we know when that is?”

“Well by all the sundial over there.” he tilted his head and horn towards a small sundial in-between several houses in a small square opening.

“Oh...why not make it two hours?” the earth pony came back with; “Gives us plenty of time to look around.”

The unicorn thought a moment, then nodded in agreement; “True that does give us a lot more time. Meet you back here in two hours then.” He waved a hoof and trotted off in the direction of the Quill and Sofa store while Lazy Chords walked in the opposite direction.

As the sun hung lower in the sky, the circus tent began filling with ponies of all shapes and sizes, meanwhile Clockwork and Lazy Chords met back up as promised on the two hour mark. Strangely a small table with cake had been set up and next to it was that crazy haired pink pony with a little alligator and a rather oddly shaped cake.

“Um....” Lazy Chords stated as he stepped closer. The pink pony held balloons in one hoof while dancing around crazily.

“Welcome welcome welcome, to Ponyville; Welcome welcome welcome, from all of us here. We hope you like your visit, please have some cake, welcome welcome welcome, it’s not hard to take!” She sang in a sing-song rhyme while dancing around at seemingly random intervals.

Clockwork smiled cheerfully, truly enjoying the antics the pony pulled, while helping himself to the cake that was offered. “Thank you.” He said when she had finished her song.

Lazy Chords cut in; “Is this really the time for cake?”

“There’s ALWAYS time for cake!” The pink pony burst out loudly. Lazy Chords sighed and went over to examine the cake. “Did you find anything?”

“Not really.” the green unicorn responded between. Meanwhile the pink pony danced around then seemingly pulled a cannon out from nowhere and blasted confetti and streamers everywhere.

Clockwork grabbed some cake on a plate and began munching on it. Lazy Chords, after rolling his eyes, joined in and thanked the pink pony.

“Yah! Welcome to Ponyville!” And with that she broke into song and dance. Then other ponies began joining in before the two could make any escape. It was going to be a long evening after all it seemed.

Journey to the Wasteland (Sneak Peak)

Journey to the Wasteland (Sneak Peak)

NOTE FROM WRITER: Due to school and work this will be a little slower then before. Here is a sample of the chapter to wet your whistle.

The town citizens were busy gathering around and heading towards the barkers and makeshift signs all pointing towards the newly erected circus. It seemed to be a great start to a good evening after all. Nearby the two strange ponies from the fortune telling tent walked through the crowd in deep blue cloaks while Lazy Chords and Clockwork had been distracted by the pink earth pony with her party balloons and cake.
As the cloaked ponies walked around town they took notice of the various other ponies around.

“I see much strife in their futures.” The female said.

“Strife or not, it’s not our place to tell them....unless they pay.” Said the male one back.

“That’s not really funny Fortune. These ponies have weird futures and I think we should tell them about it. Seems wrong some how not to.”

“I agree Fate, but a little humor never hurt anypony before.” The male smiled from under his cloak.
The two walked around the town taking in the sights and sounds of the place, knowing nothing of it before hand. They walked past a large oak tree with windows and a door, the sign outside had a picture of an open book on it. A purple unicorn came out at just that moment and greeted them with a “Hello” as she walked past them, followed by a slightly shorter creature they recognized as a dragon from their many travels around the Equestrian world. They responded with a hello themselves and walked back towards town. As they passed various shops and stores the sun sat steadily and the moon started to raise above the horizon.
A yellow earth pony with circular glasses and a mane the color of violet seemed to hiding behind a bush with a small note pad in his mouth watching the oak tree intently. He appeared to be suspiciously stalking whomever the purple unicorn was. He watched as she and her dragon companion walked down the path and followed them with his eyes.
Fate looked over at her brother who nodded in understanding. Together they walked swiftly over to greet this odd fellow.

“Do you always hide in a creepy manner behind bushes watching mares or is that just how you get dates around here?” Fate questioned in earnest.
The yellow earth pony dropped his note pad and started up at the cloaked pony before him. “I...I....I ...” He was at a loss for words and appeared rather caught off guard. Then Fortune stepped in with; “You..you...you what? My sister asked you a direct question, we expect a response.” His tone gave off the feeling of one who was not really waiting to be polite but waiting for a cue to attack.

“Oh..I’m sorry..no, “ the pony laughed nervously while shifting his gaze to the ground; “I...are you two friends of hers?”
Fate chuckled a little; “No, but if you’re not either I suggest you go. I don’t really take well to sneaky ponies, especially not stalkers.”

“Stalkers!? I’m not a stalker! I...I merely need to give her a message.” The yellow pony retorted.

“Then why don’t you just go tell her your message? Or are you a real liar?” Fortune injected.

“I....I....we....erm...” And with that the yellow pony clammed up, grabbed his note pad and ran off from the two crazy ponies. Fortune and Fate looked at each other and shrugged before going on their way back towards the circus.
“You know, didn’t those two from the woods who came to our tent last night tell May Belle about some strange ponies slinking around? Thieves or something I think.” the female cloaked pony turned to her brother in question.
“You know I seem to recall that...and the card reading last night was strange. Do you suppose...”
“..that he was one of them?” She continued her twin’s sentence to completion. “Maybe we should...”

He in turn continued her’s with; “..head back and tell them?” They nodded and picked up their pace as they walked.

As they walked through town, three strange ponies strolled past them as they went back to the circus tents. It consisted of an orange and reddish unicorn with a peach streak in his mane, a blue pegasus with a blue coat and dark blue mane with silver streak, and a finely dressed earth pony with light green coat and a teal mane with a streak of purple in it. Fate shivered involuntarily and looked back at the ponies, but they seemed ordinary enough for her.

Chapter 1 - Diamond Startle

Chapter 1: Diamond Startle

A small clipboard floated in front of the kelly green unicorn stallion with a purple mane and matching goatee. He checked off various things on a list as he stood on a small mound between some trees above a recently carved out cut in a hill. His handsome purple and indigo mane and tail were moved by the wind as it rushed past him. His indigo eyes darted around the clipboard looking it over as the sun beamed down. His cutie mark, a round gear sprocket with two smaller gears inside and a pair of wings, was prominent on his flank. Before him stood hundreds of other ponies, mainly unicorns and earth with a few pegasi flying around scouting as they laid rails down at a steady pace.

As he levitated the clipboard and quill with an over glow of dark purple magic, another pony approached him at a brisk trot. He was an earth pony of good stature with blue eyes, caramel coloring, dark brown mane, and a cutie mark of a hammer.

“Clockwork, are we on schedule or have we fallen behind again?”

“Neither,” replied the unicorn as he looked up; “We’re actually ahead by half a day now. We should reach Fillydelphia in three days if we keep this up. Once the rails are joined there, Manehattan will be connected to the main line.”

The earth pony nodded in approval. “Good...we can double time it tomorrow and cut our time down by another day. The sooner we reach the city the sooner the little steamers can roll out onto the tracks.”

“By the way, Forge,” Clockwork asked, looking up from his forms, “how goes the construction on the switch outpost?”

“Eh...” the caramel stallion looked down, chagrined. “Not so good. The switch post back by Rambling Rock Ridge had to be repaired again after those stupid dragons flew by. They ripped up parts of the tracks and took the metal with them. Greedy monsters; once it’s repaired the outpost there should be completed.”

Clockwork frowned slightly and looked back at his check sheet. “Grinder won’t be happy. He promised Princess Celestia months ago we would have a country-wide transportation system before the end of the year. We already have another group working to connect Baltimare but if we can’t link ours to theirs at Rambling Rock well... you know it won’t be pretty. With the Running of the Leaves commencing in all of Equestria in just a few days we need to hurry.”

“I don’t understand why we can’t drill through the mountains between Fillydelphia and Baltimare,” Forge said with a stomp.

“You know why we can’t, Forge; the griffins were promised that we would stay out of their lands unless they allowed us to. The Princess agrees we shouldn’t upset them since they were here first in some of the mountain regions and our truce is absolute.”

“Well, yeah, there is that. But why not go through Shadowdale Forest or by the coast then?”
Clockwork sighed; “I know you're new to leading the workers for the next week, but the surveyors who came out here back in early spring reported that the coast was too rocky at some points and Shadowdale was just too overgrown and dense for us to lay rails.”

“Yeah, yeah; anyway we need to start setting up camp. Care to help?”

“I suppose so...” The clipboard was lowered into a saddle pack he wore and the unicorn walked off his perch.
The trees were being remodeled into ties by earth ponies, while unicorns were carrying large steel bars for the rails. He walked down the hill to a large railcar filled with supplies that sat several yards away from the construction site. Clockwork concentrated and a few parts of a tent lifted into the air. They were moved from the supply car to a nearby spot where a fire was already being started under a large cauldron.

Forge came over and started pounding stakes into the ground with his powerful hooves. He used his mouth to help tie up each rope to secure the tent. Clockwork was joined by another unicorn whom he didn’t know all that well, but she mostly cooked for the working team. She was moving tent supplies as well so that the camp could get setup faster.

“Hey Sweetie Pie, what’s for dinner tonight?”

“Oh hey Clockwork, I’ll have some radishes done in a few minutes. Did you want to help?” She laid down her tent supplies and began walking back to the supply car as he passed her. Clockwork set his own tent down as other earth ponies and pegasi came over to begin setting up.

“Sure.” He smiled as he picked up more tent paraphernalia with his magic and began walking back over to the campsite. Sweetie Pie smiled back and continued to unpack the supplies as a few other unicorns started coming over to help set up camp.

As he helped unload more stuff, he looked over the large steam-driven machine made of barrels of reinforced wood, pipes of metal, and large magic-crafted iron pistons. It had no cover from the elements and was a primitive design but it pulled and pushed the load of cars around for the rails, supplies, and workers when the bi-weekly shift change occurred. No pony was allowed to work on the stretch for more than 14 days at a time, and was then given mandatory leave equal to their work days. The railroad had been under construction for the past two years and four months or 30 moons exactly.

The sun sat slowly and when camp had been set, he went to help Sweetie Pie with the cooking. A small task but at least something he was moderately skilled at by now.

“So when’s your leave, anyway?” She turned to him and asked as they finished boiling the water and started adding radishes to the cauldron.

“In three days exactly.” He smiled and looked at her; “When do you get your leave?”
She giggled; “Same as you it seems. I plan on catching the pony-mover back to Canterlot to see my sister. What about you?”

“I actually don’t know; I was debating on going back to Manehatten to visit my family but wasn’t sure yet.”

“Well that sounds like a nice visit either way.” She grinned, levitated the cauldron with her magic and together they yelled “SOUP’S ON!” Needless to say, it did not take long for everypony to come rushing forward.

Hours later the moon rose in the sky as the cauldron sat empty; every last drop of food having been consumed by the hundreds of workers, and the whole campsite was full of stew-stuffed bodies.
Clockwork sat down inside his lantern-lit tent. His bedroll was set up already but he didn’t feel like sleeping. Instead he was reading over various notes, about schedules put together by himself and another group of workers on their way to Baltimare, that was flown to him by massager pegasi.
“There’s so much to do that I don’t know how we are going to do this.” He stated to himself as he sat the stacks of papers down and walked over to his makeshift desk. For a while it had only been a couple of crates, but he’d been able to improve it a few days ago by adding an old railroad tie that had been ruined. He blew the candle out and laid on his bed thinking about the next day to come.
He dreamed a wonderful dream of pink fluffy unicorns dancing on rainbows, strange stories of mixed histories, and of the sun and moon controlled by the great Princess Celestia. He also dreamed of distant yelping and cries for help. It took him a moment to realize that he was hearing a real event. He opened his eyes feeling very groggy, as he attempted to roll off the bed he kicked at his simple blanket getting tangled in the covering. A moment after coming to full consciousness he was able to leave his bed roll and rushed out of the tent to find various large, hunkering dog-like creatures attacking and thrashing through the camp while attacking the crew. Clockwork recognized them as Diamond Dogs; strange creatures who mostly dwelled underground and collected gemstones as an odd racial obsession.

Forge and his predecessor’s had been very stern about tossing gemstones into large piles far away from their work zones to ward off the creatures along with dragons and the occasional minotaur whom might seek out such tiny prizes. While the stones had some modicum of value to the ponies of Equestria, it was deemed far better to dump them for safety than it was to keep them and risk what was going on right now.

“Somepony’s gonna pay for this..” He groaned and sought out a good place to start an emergency escape route, as it was his job to do that in case of danger, along with scheduling. He knew the best tactic was to distract the greedy creatures rather than outright fight them, as not even the earth ponies with all their great strength could keep them at bay for long. He concentrated on moving forward and held the image of two circles of blue light in his mind. In an instant he was teleported several yards away from the fray and he began scouting an easy exit to start shoving his fellows out through. However as he did so he caught sight of something which made him realize the beasts weren’t as stupid as everypony thought; they weren’t stealing gemstones or anything of the like. In their strong paws they held several pony workers! They were abducting the workers, not stealing treasure! His inner moral obligations swirled and he didn’t know what to do. He needed more time to tell Forge and the others what was going on. If he waited too long it’d be too late for the others.

He knew what he had to do, and he didn’t like it one bit. He focused and teleported as close as he could, taking off running at full speed after the mutts who were already starting to vanish into the forest. For him, teleporting was not as exhausting as most thought, but the next trick was sure to be. He concentrated on magical symbols in his mind; some he had been taught by a private tutor in Canterlot but had really never practiced often. The symbol was of an hourglass within two circles with a gray hue. His magic built up and he strained to force it out and around himself.

He felt the magic burst outwards from his body, covering it in a thin layer of brilliant dark purple over glow. The world around him swiftly slowed to a crawl. He looked around as time slowed; the Diamond Dogs now moved so slowly that even at a walking pace he could catch up. Instead, he ran as fast as his hooves would carry him while simultaneously concentrating on his magic to keep himself at an advantage. He counted the beasts and found that six of them were carrying off his fellow workers, including Sweetie Pie!

‘Crap!’ He thought as he turned around to buck the first one within range; the beast was taller than him by several feet but his hyper-speed powered kicks sent the creature falling forwards at an extremely comical slow motion. The beast’s husky face started to show signs of surprise while they released their captive at the same time.

Clockwork couldn’t keep his spell up any longer, but the damage was done. As he dropped the mystical energy around himself things sped up and like a stack of dominoes the remaining five Diamond Dogs fell forward on top of one another due to the closeness of their lumbering bodies. Their no-longer captives ran, flew, or teleported away as swiftly as they realized he had become a rescue party of sorts. As he turned around and began running back to catch up with the others, his back left hoof got caught on a tree trunk and he fell face down into the dirt hard and fast.

“By Celestia....” He spat in anger as he tried to pull himself back up on all fours. It was then that he felt one and then twp spindle-like paws with large digging claws pick him up off the ground and swing him onto a set of broad shoulders.

“I gots the ponies!” The brute holding him called out with a deep, gruff voice. The stench of decay and earth crept around Clockwork’s nose and he felt like he was going to gag from the odor.

The beasts chuckled as he heard some other pony was recaptured and he realized that he had failed in two ways; he didn’t rescue anypony and had gotten himself captured. He was too weak to use his magic and no matter how hard he tried it seemed he couldn’t muster the energy to teleport free.

A few moments went by and Clockwork, who was now starting to feel too exhausted to try any more, had all but given up.

“LET THEM GO!” Came a strained voice from behind them, Clockwork looked up just in time to see Forge and four other stallions come charging into the forest. They ran forward and in unison slammed into the beast carrying him before it could react. Clockwork fell, rolled, and got up unsteadily.

“GO!” Forge called out and without even thinking, Clockwork took off back towards the clearing. He could hear the sounds of fighting while running to safety with the other re-rescued ponies. He would have to ask how Forge had known to come to his aid, but at the moment he located Sweetie Pie and a few others and ushered them forwards.

He could hear the grunts and low calls of the Diamond Dogs as they fought against the ponies. As Clockwork and the others reached the remains of camp he could see various torn tents, tossed supplies, and the first wave of workers were already preparing for another assault just in case.

“You there, get everypony that you can and start packing up camp now!” He called out to one of the directors of the work group, who didn’t even question him, just nodded and bellowed orders. “Escape plan 2-B is now in effect; we are packing up and moving back several miles! Get the drivers to ready the steamer or prepare to pull it; either way we must hurry!”

There was no lack of running that happened after that and things all went by so quickly. The engine was started and warmed, the camp was packed, and as Forge and the others came back from their rescue party the machine was ready to roll. And roll it did.

“...And that’s when we noticed the last of ‘em running off with taking nary a thang. So Forge and the rest’a us followed and that’s how we saw ya.” A rust-colored earth pony explained to Clockwork matter-of-factly. The sun was hitting midday as they munched on grass sandwiches and discussed the events of the night before. That morning, the Diamond Dogs had ambushed a few workers as they attempted to lay rails, but they got lucky and escaped. Already the work was slowing down as the ponies feared an attack at any second.

Clockwork had been allowed to sleep until an hour ago due to being up until the near crack of dawn helping ponies get settled and organizing an emergency plan. He was still pretty groggy as he sat eating and listening to the tale of heroics from the previous night and the horrors of the latest ambush.
Forge spoke directly to Clockwork then; “I sent Flitter-Foul and Splasher to Canterlot last night to request reinforcement guards for the rest of this work trip. He said with luck they’d be back here before sun down with some guards to help protect our camp. I also requested some nurses to tend to our wounded a little better than our cook and wood crafter can.” Forge paused, a thought seeming to strike him. “Clockwork, the shift change steamer is due here before noon. as the scheduler and organizer, do you think we have a day to wait, or do you feel we should press on a few more hours?”
The green unicorn scratched his goatee and thought a moment; “Well on one hoof we are still ahead by a day even with the cautious slow down you took this morning from my calculations. If we waited for the guards we would be back to just on time, but if we pressed on at a slow pace we might only lose half a day at the current speed of laying.”
Forge thought and looked over to his forepony, the rust-colored earth pony named Cinder; his red and orange mane clashed with his dark blue eyes and against it all his cutie mark, a nail and board, stood out prominently. “Cinder; “ He asked, “I know you and your crew were able to fix most of the broken equipment, but how much more is still in need of mending?”
The other pony thought a moment and sipped on some cider from a flask; “Eh..We got nearly all o’it fixed tha’ we could, but sure did find more’n half the tools are broken beyond repair. We’d need to get a shipment from either Fillydelphia or Baltimare before we could be back to a hundred percent use.”

Then Forge looked over to a unicorn mare colored charcoal gray with yellow hair and a cutie mark of an autumn tree, she spoke up before he could ask her anything; “I’ve organized a fruit and berry gathering group to start in a few minutes,” She pointed a hoof to a few other ponies gathering nearby and watching the four eat. “We already plan on going back along the tracks and gathering those apples, strawberries, and squash we saw two days ago. We should be back before late evening.”

“Good; then here’s the plan; Clockwork, I’m calling it quits today since we are so far ahead of our scheduled time, so go ahead and get what planning for tomorrow you can. Cinder, you and your crew keep working on what you can with the remaining tent and tools. And Goldenrod, go ahead and get going; your group doesn’t look like they can wait any longer. Meet back here before sunset so we can welcome our new escorts.”

Clockwork nodded, he had not worked for the newly formed Baltimare & Ohayo line very long at all but knew when to listen to his forepony’s decisions and as such began checking things off his list and preparing for a rest. He turned in for the evening with a sigh and feeling of dread as if something bad might happen.

Author's Note

Updated 8/5/2014 - grammar corrections & then additions