Chapter 3: It's all a dream

In Pyro's POV

Huh. Knocked out again. That makes three in a day. New record.

Well, looks like I'm not going to be awake for a while. I'll check if I have any memory loss.

Thinking really hard, I come across a memory that, like a dream, pulled me into it. Usually I can just watch the dreams from the side, but for some reason I am forced to recollect the memory in first-person.

This dream I am in right now is one of the best I have had in ages. It's about the time I built my watch.

"Hmm. This goes here, this goes there..." I said out loud. I am in a workshop, so no one could hear me. No one wants to hear me ramble on about quantum mechanics. "That piece... hmm. Maybe into the quantum drive matrix..."

I look towards the other parts. The clockwork mechanisms were already attached to the main casing, motor sensors and gyroscopic sensors for the temporal input was detached for a moment to make space for the drive I was currently working on. The power system was just next to it, also detached to prevent rips in the space-time continuum. The hands of the watch were present too, to signify that it was analogue.

"Maybe if I put this capacitor here..." To be completely honest, I have no idea what I was doing. All I know was that the blueprints that I got were outdated and that it did not work.

"Huh. It works!" Pointless tinkering can get you a long way if you tried hard enough. Then, I carefully placed it into the watch, with the other components. Once they were wired up correctly, I closed the casing of the watch and started its power system.

Just then, a bright flash of light came from within the room. I covered my eyes to prevent the temporary blindness that I would have gotten if i didn't. Looking at the source, I hastily shouted, "It works!"

I was looking at me, who used the watch for testing. He ran over to the table and gave me a quick nod. I then ran over to where he stood, set the watch to travel back a few seconds. I clicked the button on the side, and the whole room around me faded into white.

It was not long after that I entered the room again, briefly hearing the past me say "it works!", before I gave a huge grin. I ran over to the table and gave the past me a quick nod, which signals him to go test it out. After he left, I shouted again, "It works!"

Time-travel is a weird thing.

~scene change~

In 3rd Person POV

"Uhh... guys? Who's that?" Rainbow asked while pointing to the seemingly lifeless red body on the ground.

Pyro lay still on the floor, unconscious. The six ponies and dragon quickly shuffled over to the red pony, who seemed unaffected by the surroundings. "Is he okay?" Twilight asked.

"How do you know that this pony is a male?" Was the response Twilight received.

"He just looks familiar. Like I've seen him somewhere before, but I just can't place my hoof on it."

Fluttershy's head poked out of the group. "What happened to him?" She asked, walking over to the pony.

Then came a rude comment. "Is he dead?" Rainbow asked.

"And how would you know that?" Applejack replied to the comment.

They idly stood about the body, waiting to see if he would wake up.

"Hmm...? His left forehoof is... umm... what?" Twilight looked over to the metallic prosthetic. No doubt she has seen metal before, but this was bent? In the way a hoof would, too. The metal does not seem like it had any joints, just a sheet of metal rolled into a tube. She tried to straighten the hoof, and it did. This made her jump back, metal was not supposed to do that.

"He is unconscious, judging by the breathing pattern." Fluttershy spoke up, which made everyone sort of worried. She felt around for a pulse, only to find out that his body temperature was frighteningly high. "Oh, my..."

"What? What is it?" Rarity asked, a slight hint of concern over the tone of curiosity.

"Seems like he has a fever. A really high fever," Fluttershy replied. "We need to get him to the hospital."

So they all helped carry the unconscious Pyro out of the forest and to the nearest hospital.

~scene change~

In Pyro's POV

The bubble of thought forced me out. I am now floating in a void again, waiting for my body to respond to my thoughts. I still can't seem to wake my body...

Then, I see another dream in the distance. This seems to be set in a clock tower... oh I remember. I look down to my left hoof. "Heh." I say into the nothingness. "Guess that was a blessing."

But, as helpful as the incident was, I did not want to go through it again. The bubble pulled me closer to it, while I try to escape from the force. However, it was in vain.

I then regained the feeling of having a left hoof. Even though electronic sensors would do the trick, nothing can match the real deal. I was at a clock tower that was situated on top of a hill in the Ignion Plains. The governors weren't good at names.

There, I was doing a project about clockwork mechanisms and the style of steampunk. Being the only clock tower that still works after centuries of wear and tear, I only had that tower to visit for the assignment. I was looking at the clockwork gearing, counting the number of teeth of each gear to get the gearing ratio. The only part I did not like was the next part, which I was forced to take part in. There was a water puddle due to the tower having a leaky roof, and that it just stop raining before I came here. I did not see it there, which resulted in me slipping over. My papers flew all about the interior of the tower, scattering about in many different directions. I wasn't about to lose all progress on my work. So I went around the tower, collecting all of my assignment.

When I had almost finished collecting all of my papers, I started to look through what I have collected thus far. I then decided to collect the remaining few pieces, which was behind the large gears. Little did I know that there was another puddle, and I slipped again, this time landing dangerously near some of the gearworks. My left hoof, somehow, got stuck between a set of gears for the hour hand. I tried to pull it out, but to no avail. I then tried to break the gear. I still can't. The gears were slowly turning, forcing my hoof inwards. I was really flustered this time. I pulled and pulled, but the gears did not budge. Whoever made the clockworks really wanted the clock to last.

My hoof was starting to hurt now, even though I can't feel it. I know that the hurt is temporary, but I really hurt the time it actually happened. Then, I was forced to watch the bloody mess. The gears pulled on the skin, while I resisted. I felt my skin rip somewhere. Blood began to drip over the gears. I continue to struggle as the teeth slowly ground my hoof, the layers of muscle being squashed, my blood being forced out like a water gun. I was yelling for help now. I felt a lot of pain in my left hoof, or what's left of it. I desperately tried to pull it out of the gears, but now I could hear some bones cracking. The broken bone pierced into the muscle, causing more pain to surge up my body. I hear the tower door opening, while I continue to scream in pain.

"Hurry! Find him!" I heard. They are here to rescue me. "Don't worry! We heard you and are trying to find you!"

I continue to squirm in agony. I could not feel the lower half of my left hoof. As I saw some ponies locate me, I shouted to them, "Here! Over here!"

That's when the gears got the advantage and ripped the lower part of my left hoof clean off the humerus, ripping more skin and tearing more muscle. I then black out due to loss of blood.

The gears of the clocktower were then permanently stained with my blood.

Then, I woke up, gasping for air, pushing back the blanket covering me.

~scene change, time skip: 50 minutes~

"So when will he wake up?" Twilight asked the doctor tending to Pyro.

"If you are lucky, by tomorrow. He got hit on the head with a small object, causing a concussion. Other than that, everything is fine." The doctor in-charge replied. This made the six sigh in relief. As the doctor left the room, Twilight asked if they wish to continue into the forest to ask Zecora about the device. They all silently agreed and proceeded towards the door.

"Gahh!" Pyro jerked himself awake, pushing the blanket away. His face looks drained, as if he had saw something terrifying. His sudden and loud scream caused the mane six to stop dead in their tracks. They all stared at him, and he stared back.

Author's Note

Time-travel! Very difficult to write, yet very interesting to write! There will only be more time-travel in the future, so look out. As for the second dream... it's M-rated for a reason. Also, this universe is almost canon to the main show. Some of the major events will occur/ have occurred, like Nightmare Moon, Discord, Twilight's alicornation... all that fun stuff, but it would be spoilers to give out the rest of the information. c:

Next chapter: The second piece of the watch is returned to the rightful owner. A strange string of events occur over the next few minutes, which thoroughly confuses everyone.