Curse of Clocks

Ponyville is a beautiful place in autumn; gentle cool breezes, friendly ponies helping each other out, Nightmare Night coming up soon, the whole nine yards. Everything that makes anypony lively is joy, happiness, and of course, friendship.

On this particular evening though, a young, earth pony colt with silk brown fur and toffee colored eyes comes running home with his mother in tow.

"Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! YES!!" the little one exclaimed happily as he bounced everywhere, "Thank you so much for getting me this game mom!"

"Anything for my little Button," the cream colored mare said with a smile, "You know that I won't be home for a while, right?"

"Yes mom," Button said, "I know. I'll be a good little colt for Mr. Clocks, and I promise not to cause any trouble."

"Good!" Button's mom said, "If you behave yourself, I might just bring you home ice cream."

"Yay!!" Button yelled, starting to bounce again. As he jumped up and down, along with the autumn breeze, his little propeller hat spun with glee and joy.

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Later that evening, a gray pegasus trotted down Hayfield Ave., humming a tune that his marefriend would occasionally sing while she worked in the garden. As the tune ended, he arrived at his destination: the Mash residence. With a gust of wind from the pegasai above, the gray pony's black mane and tail furled out a little bit. He looked up and saw the weather team giving him a hard time.

"There a nice breeze down there Ray?" the teal pegasus mare asked tauntingly.

"Very nice down here Whirl Wind," Ray retorted before hopping up onto the cloud, "Can I help the weather team today in any way?"

"Nah, just pickin' on our old friend," a slate gray pony said.

"And you know I pick back, right Typhoon?" Ray said with a devious smirk.

"Which is why we pick on you," he retorted.

"Hate to say it, but I have a job to do tonight," Ray said gliding back down to the ground, "I'm foal-sitting Button Mash tonight while his mother picks up his dad and brother from the train station. They're going out for a nice dinner, but Button wanted to stay home and play his new game."

"That's kind of you Ray," Whirl Wind says with a smile, "You get anything out of it?"

"Friendship and smiles," Ray says with a grin.

"Leave it to Ray to volunteer his time," Typhoon said rolling his eyes playfully, "We'll catch you later?"

"Eeyup, y'all definitely will," Ray said. Just as he faced the door, he felt a breeze pass over his shoulder, sending a shivering chill down his spine. He shivered and turned around, "Not funny gu... Guys...?" No pony was there now.

'That was odd...' Ray thought to himself as he knocked on the door.

"Coming!" a voice yelled from inside. A few moments later, the door opened, "Hello Ray!"

"Hi Mrs. Mash," Ray said giving her a hug, "How are you?"

"Feeling good, ready to see my husband," the mare replied, "You?"

"Excited to watch your son," Ray said with a smile.

"Great!" Mrs. Mash said. She turns around and calls into the house, "Button, Ray is here!"

"Which one?" he responds, obviously indulged into a game, "Jet Ray? Or Sun Ray?"

"No, Ray Clocks sweetie," she said shaking her head. She leans over to Ray and whispers, "I told him you were coming over thirty minutes ago. He's so involved in that game, he must've forgot."

"Must be a good game," Ray responded in a soft voice. Just then, Button turns the corner.

"Mr. Clocks!" he says giving Ray a hug, "You wanna watch me play my new game?"

"Sure thing little buddy," Ray says with a gentle smile.

"You'll make an excellent father one day, and Amyah will be a wonderful mother," Mrs. Mash said before picking up her saddlebags, "Take care you two!"

"Bye Mom!" button yelled out, waving.

"You ready to play that game?" Ray asked with a smile.

"You bet!" Button says racing off into the living room. Ray finds the case and reads it. 'The Curse of Las Pegasus'. He also notices that it's rated M. Button has been more interested in the scary games lately so he can over come his fears better.

"Is it any good?" Ray asks, sitting on the couch.

"Oh yeah! I love it!" He says starting the game up.

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An hour has passed since he started playing that game, and it is genuinely interesting. The main character is a pegasus who has been cursed and is trying to escape Las Pegasus without dying. The twist is that the game periodically switches between real world and nightmare world, which turns the map into a living hell. Soon, the character looks at a book that, even in the game, seemed out of place. Button didn't care or even seem to notice. Ray pulls out the strategy guide and looks through it for this part of the game. Strangely enough, it's not in there.

"That's odd..." Ray says quietly. He looks up at the screen just long enough to see that button picked up the book.

"So," the voice of the demon from the game spoke, "you have decided to follow my trail, though all the warnings I gave you weren't enough to shake you, huh? So be it." He looks straight at the camera, but almost straight through it to Ray, "I curse you to fight demons, just like me, to never rest, just like I have. I promise you that the pendulum will fall, and it will be bloody."

What the demon said sent chills down Ray's spine, especially considering that Pendulum is his middle name. He blinked and shook his head. Button was back to playing his game again. The cut scene must've ended when Ray blinked.

"Button," Ray starts, "what did you just pick up?"

"Alicorn Health Potion, why?" He responds without looking at Ray.

Ray picks up the guide and looks through it. Sure enough, that was what was in the room. "Just checking."

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Sooner or later, Button's family returns, and it is time for Ray to retire to his house.

"Thank you so much for watching Button!" Mrs. Mash said giving Ray a hug, "Are you sure you don't want to be paid?"

"Positive," Ray responded with a smile, "It's always a pleasure to watch a very well-behaved colt like him."

"That's good to know," Mrs. Mash says with a soft smile, "Will we see you around town?"

"Of course," Ray says happily, "You guys take care, okay?"

"We will," Mr. Mash said. And with that, Ray starts his walk home. The sky was dark, there was no moon out tonight, which meant it was a new moon tonight. The darkness was a bit more discomforting than usual though.

As Ray walked up to his door, he felt a cold breeze come from the east. "Is someone there...?" ... ... No response. "I could've sworn someone just said 'curse'..." He shrugs it off and walks in. Amyah is already asleep, but Ray's legs are exhausted, as well as his wings for some reason. Instead of going to his room, he falls asleep on the couch. He begins to smile as he dreams of the kind of life he wishes to have. He grabs a pillow and pulls it close so he can feel the presence of his future foal in his arms.

THUD!

Ray's body immediately begins to ache as he hit the cold surface below him. But his body is a lot more achey than a normal fall though... He opens his eyes and reaches for the couch, but his hoof finds nothing. Ray looks to the right and sees blades spinning in a circular motion in front of him.

"AHH!!!!" He yells, shoving away from it. This thing isn't spinning that fast, but still opposes a little bit of a threat. For whatever reason, this six bladed circular contraption is on a narrow pole. The floor beneath Ray is rugged. He looks down at it and sees that there is no carpet, nor any furniture. 'That's weird...' He looks to the wall for some art, but it's upside down. His eyes continue to follow to he ceiling, then Ray's stomach knots up. He stands up and looks up at his floor. He looks down at his ceiling. The paintings aren't upside down. He is.