A Soul in Steel and Iron

by Cyber V

Rating: teen
Tags: Other, Original Character, Tragedy, Adventure, Human, Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe
Length: 67197

I was just a ordinary guy and lead a normal life, but when I died, I wish to live more and I got it.

All I want to have is a nice boring, normal day at the library, but I couldn't do that anymore when I got hit by a car. However, as I felt my world around me fade away and as I was staring at the light at the end of the tunnel... I made a wish; To live more of life. I was then spoken to from a being called Karma and he offered me my wish, another chance at life. Of course I accepted, thinking I was getting a second chance to live, which I did, but I wasn't expecting my second chance at life was to wake up in a body made of cold steel and iron.

This is my story of how my life went from ordinary to just plain downright weird very quickly.
Opening song that fits this story
Credit for the awesome cover art goes to DreamActualizer, and I have this is surely awesome for his first time on something this big.

Story is set in the 'Chess Game of the Gods' universe created by Rust and Blackwing, with only a mild amount of gore, but will change the rating if needed.

Given the seal of approval by Troutking.

Edit: Holy Moly! This story reached the feature box on 12/2/12, thank you all that are reading this story, you just made one very happy author.

Published 2012-09-18 11:44:02 UTC
Last updated 2016-02-12 02:06:53 UTC

Chapter 2: Reasons

Reasons

Eleven Months Later…

"Alright let's see what's next," Clockwork said to herself as she glanced over from her project and to a sheet of instructions that had originated from the scroll that she got from Karma, "okay, it looks like that I should now tighten the three bolts on each side, which then I would hear a… click?" she confusingly read but continue reading the scroll, "come from the body, indicating that everything inside is now locked into place," she assumed as she examined what the instructions pictured, she then turns her attention away from the sheet of scroll and towards the table, where the mechanical wonder laid on it.

Clockwork gazed at up and down the machine, noting the some of the odd features on it from the two lower limbs that were hanging over the edge, each being held up with a log of wood underneath its feet, to the upper part of the chest where a assortment of gems, cogs, wires, and other mechanical engineering laid exposed, to the little appendages attached to the end of the upper limbs and then to the rounded head on its shoulders.

"You know what, even if this whole deal does turn out to be a prank, I think I might keep this thing as a statue because it looks kind of awesome or I can sell it for scrap metal later on," she stated and then gave a sigh, "and I'm talking out loud when there's nopony around again, sigh, well let's tighten those bolts now," she instructed to herself as she looked away from the table and its current occupant.

She grasped a wrench from among the other tools laying on the table in a silvery glow and started working on her next task. "You know Jace," Clockwork started as she started to tighten the first bolt, "I hope that you'll appreciate me for what I am doing for you here," she said as she made a complete turn on the first bolt and then made her way to the second, "because it wasn't easy to try to keep this project under wraps," the second bolt now completed tightened, "and you're also very expensive, I mean I nearly used all of my bits just for ordering and buying the parts and materials for you," she informed as she worked on the third bolt.

After she finished tightening the third bolt, she made her way around the table and started with the forth bolt, "I also gotten strange looks from my neighbors and friends when they saw me carrying your body, well your body was in pieces at the time though… but still," she thought as she focused the wrench onto the fifth bolt.

"But I can't complain that this experience hasn't been very interesting, because I learned a lot of new things about engineering just from by studying your body schematics," she declared as she finished with the current bolt and floated the wrench over the sixth and final bolt, but just as she locked the wrench with the final bolt she had the sudden urge to hit herself over the head with it, "look at me, I am talking out loud to a piece of rock that's hanging from my neck," she said as she looked down at the pouch that is hanging around her neck, which contained the crystal of a supposing soul inside of it.

"If somepony were to see me talking to you right now, my next vacation will be an all paid expense to a padded room, with a straight jacket on and sipping down pill-filled tequilas all day," she exaggerated her possible future as she stared at the pouch and then return her focus to the last bolt, "and it wouldn't help me if even I think I'm a bit nuts already," she confessed as she made a move another turn, but then the wrench came to an abrupt stop, causing Clockwork to stop in her banter and pay attention to the uncompleted automaton on her worktable.

She saw the gear works and levers start to move and then all of a sudden a set of three pieces of metal plates slid out of ports from the sides and moved over the insides with a crack, surprising Clockwork from the sudden noise. She saw that they now adding a somewhat layer of protection for the insides from the outside, "that wasn't a click," Clockwork annoyed from the improper information, "but at least I now know the use for these parts," she said as she tapped the 'ribs' of the automaton, "now I just need to figure out the uses for the other odd parts I put into this thing… eh, I will figure that out later down the road."

She made her way back around the table and picked up the instructions and examines what needs to be done next. "Well Jace, I have some good news and some bad news too," she said to the pouch, but when she didn't get a reply she continues what she is saying, "the good news is that after months of buying and ordering, fabricating parts, assembling you and lying to everypony I know about you, as well as a bit procrastination on my part, you're almost done."

"But the bad news is that to fully complete you, I need to get your head and chest covers and there's only one pony I know who can make those, and that's going to be a problem," when she didn't get a respond again, she added with a sigh, "again, I'm talking to a rock." She placed the scroll on the table and took a clean piece of parchment and quill that was lying around on it and started tracing the schematics of the head and chest covers.

...

Clockwork nervously stood in front of a low built building as other ponies walked past her, going on their own business. She looked up and saw the sign hanging above the door; Forge's Forge, I wonder if he stills remembers me from the last time I was here, she thought as she shrugged the saddlebag on her back and stepped forward and opened the door and was meet with the smell of burnt metal, along with the sound of ringing metal coming from the back. She stepped into the building and closed the door and the sound of a cannon going off was heard over head, causing Clockwork to flinch in pain. Ow, she thought as she rubbed her ears to clear the pain from them, he really needs to change that doorbell of his.

The sound of metal on metal stopped and was replaced by the sounds of hoof steps coming towards Clockwork, "Welcome to Forge's Forge," a male voice called out from a doorway that leads to the back, "if you have a request, then I will do my best to make sure that you get the best," and then a middle aged grey colored earth pony limped into the room, but then he stopped in his tracks when he saw Clockwork standing at the entrance, "oh it's you," he said as he squinted his eyes at her.

Ah scrap, he remembers me, "hi Forge, how are you?" Clockwork casually greeted as she waved at him and with a small smile on her face as well, "I have a few small requests for you."

"Oh no, oh no no no," Forge said as he started to shake his head worriedly, "the last time, I did something for you, I was flung through a wall, in fact you still owe me for the damage that your last request did," he said as he pointed to part of a wall, where the coloring is lighter than its surroundings.

"Hey, if you had just followed the structure design of that coil spring like I told you, you wouldn't have been thrown through the wall," Clockwork enlightened Forge.

"But why did you have to coil it here in the store though?"

"I wanted to make sure that it was up to the task for a project that I was once working on," Clockwork explained the reason, and then her gaze settled on the lightly colored wall, "and clearly it wasn't," she added with a wince as she remembered seeing Forge being thrown through the wall when the spring snapped and he was on one side of it when it happened.

Forge sighed and placed a hoof on his forehead, "just tell me what your request is and I'll be the judge of it to see if it is safe for everypony's else safety, especially mine."

"It is nothing much," Clockwork said as her horn glowed slivery and her saddlebag unlatched and the finished copy of the scroll containing the schematics of the finishing pieces of her secret project, floated out of it and towards Forge.

He grasped the parchment in a hoof and took a look at it, "alright it appears to be just a plain helmet and chest piece, but what's up with these dimensions, because these won't fit a pony?" Forge asked as he noticed the odd measurements, "just what are you making now Clockwork and what are the reasons behind these pieces?" he asked as he squinted at her, suspicious.

"It's nothing dangerous, I'm just making a sculpture," Clockwork casually lied.

"A sculpture really?" Forge questioned.

"Yeah, I wanted to try my hooves at art making with metal and to also clear up some clutter of scrap metal laying around on my property, and as for what their reasons are, they're to keep the sculpture together so it wouldn't fall apart," she explained with only the last part true in her lie.

"Huh uh," Forge said unconvinced, "okay then, I will make them, since they don't look like to be dangerous at all."

"Oh thank you so much Forge," Clockwork happily thanked him, "when do you think they will be ready?"

"Well, since your requests are simple enough, I say that I can have them done around… in two to three hours," Forge estimated as he looked at a clock hanging from the fall and saw that it read two thirty-six, "so stop by when I'm closing up, I will have them done by then, is that okay for you?"

"Yeah, that's perfect Forge," Clockwork approved, "alrighty then, see yea later Forge," she said as she turned around and made her way out of the shop, "oh and I promise that I will pay you back for the damage someday," she added as the shop's door closed behind her and causing the doorbell to fire off.

Forge stood there for a few moments after Clockwork left and looked at the piece of parchment that he got from her and shook his head, "oh Clockwork, I hope that you're not going to get into trouble with this new project of yours," he hoped as he took Clockwork's instructions from his hoof and into his mouth and limped back to the back of the store to get started on Clockwork's, hopefully harmless, requested items.

…

Clockwork made her way from Forge's shop and up main street, passing other greeting ponies along the way, "okay let's see here, what's should I do for the next two hours or so?" she asked herself and was answered back be her own stomach, "oh that's right, it's lunchtime and I didn't eat much of breakfast, because of the excitement of almost completing Jace's body that and I'm running out of food, so I guess I can get some groceries while I'm at it. Wait a minute; will Jace be able to eat anything when he gets his body?" she asked herself, unaware that she is walking towards a group of ponies, "I don't think so, because I didn't see anything that resembles a stomach at all as I was building him."

"Hey Clockwork, are you're talking to yourself again?" a pony called out to her as she walked passed a group of children, causing Clockwork to pause and then let out a groan of frustration as her annoying habit was pointed out by the now laughing group of ponies.

Clockwork looked at the unicorn that pointed out her habit and said to him in an annoyed tone of voice, "just leave me alone Taunt Line, I just want to have a nice and pleasant day and you're not helping with you pointing my habits out."

"Then you should get lessons on how to not talk out loud for the whole town to hear," Taunt taunted, "and while you're at it, get some for your engineering skills while you're at it," he teasingly added, causing his small group to laugh some more as Clockwork embarrassingly looked away from them as they walked away laughing at the bad lucked engineer, all the while Clockwork getting the feeling of rising anger, but she calmly continue her way up the street in the opposite direction the others went, revealing no signs of anger to those around her.

She made a quick turn down an alleyway as soon as she came upon it and sat down and took a few deep breathes to impede the raising anger, "why does… no remember Clockwork, no talking out loud," she scolded herself as she took a few more calming breathes, why does everypony keep questioning my engineering abilities? Because it feels like they don't want me to use my talent at all, she crossly questioned.

A few minutes later, Clockwork silenced her anger and made sure that it wouldn't rise again, she stood up from the ground and made her way out of the alleyway that she entered from. Before she took a step out of the alleyway, she stuck out her head and looked both up and down the street for any signs of Taunt and his group of friends, which caused the pouch to swing around on her neck. The silver machinist fully stepped out of the alleyway and was soon on her way to find something to silence the raising hunger of her stomach.

Clockwork didn't have to walk far, for her nose was met by the scent of something sweet baking. She followed the smell and soon came upon a small store called the Sweet Shoppe that's set between two buildings, with one of them named The Rock, while the other one is a bar called The Hard Place with sounds of ponies horsing around coming from it. Talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place, Clockwork thoughtfully commented as she walked through the wide open door and was immediately spotted by a cheerful, pink mane, white Pegasus from behind the counter.

"Well if it isn't Clockwork, long time no see," she said as she saw Clockwork, with a flap of her wings she bounded over the counter and over the table that Clockwork has sit herself at, "so tell me, how are you, where you have been all of this time and what would you like to eat?"

"And hi to you too Frosting," Clockwork said amused by her longtime friend, "I'm fine, I have been working on a project and I would like a large frosted cookie please," she answered in order to her friend's questions, "now answer me this, have you been snacking on the cookie frostings again?" she asked a question of her own, with an eyebrow raised for an added effect.

"Nope, well… maybe just a little, now one large frosted cookie coming right up," Frosting confirmed and then with another flap of her wings, she bounded over the counter, quickly reached into the display case underneath and pulled out a plated cookie, with sprinkles stuffed into every available space of icing on top. Frosting calmly and carefully walked around the counted and carried over to Clockwork instead of bounding over the counter in her usual manner.

As soon as the plate was out of mouth and on the table, Frosting took the opposite seat of Clockwork just as she lifted the frosted cookie in a silvery grasp and took a bite out of it. "So, what new project are you working on this time that is causing me to rarely see my best friend and number one customer for almost a whole year?" Frosting asked as Clockwork as she lowered the half eaten cookie back down on the plate.

"Well Frosting as I said before; I am still making that sculpture," she repeated her lie to her friend and was rewarded with a guilt feeling.

"You're still working on that thing?" Frosting surprised at what Clockwork said, "That's not like you at all, because it usually takes you a week, two tops, to work on a project and then move onto something else," Frosting stated, "what's so special about this sculpture that got you to make it?"

"Well, I wanted to try my hooves in art making and get rid of the scraped projects on my property," she answered her inquiring feathered friend.

"Clockwork, we have been friends since kindergarten, I know you better than anypony else here in Ironwood Falls, in fact maybe more than you do yourself. So I know what I'm saying when I say this to you; you're horrible at art," Frosting blunting called out, "because you were never able to express yourself without freaking out over something that doesn't involve precision and inner gear workings, so is there another reason why you've been on this art project for almost a whole year?" Frosting asked with a questioningly hurt look.

"I'm sorry, but I can't tell you what that reason is Frosting," Clockwork apologized, "but there's a possibility that I might be able to help somepony, that had probably lost everything in his life, with what I am making."

The hurt look on her friend's face dropped from her face and then the look of understanding appeared, "now that's the Clockwork I know," she said as she got up from the table and walked back to the back of the counter.

"Uh, what do you mean by that?" Clockwork confused by her friend's sudden change in behavior.

"As I said Clockwork; I know you better than everypony else here in Ironwood Falls, so when you said that what you're doing is to help somepony. I know that is true, for you would never lie about helping others, because you're always serious about that kind of stuff," Frosting clarified as she leaned on top of counter, "and plus you said that the pony is a 'him'," she added with a grin and a wink.

"Huh?" Clockwork baffled at what her confectioner friend said.

"Don't say anymore," Frosting said as she held her hoof, "just go and help this stallion," with that she got up from the counter and walked through a door into the kitchen in the back, leaving Clockwork alone in the sweet shop.

But Jace isn't a pony, Clockwork shook her head and reached into the saddlebag for some money, but just as she pulled out some bits, Frosting stuck her head out of the kitchen door, "also don't worry about the cookie, it's on the house," she then went back inside and was soon followed by the sounds of banging pots and pans.

Clockwork smiled at her friend's deeds and finished off her snack and then left the Sweet Shoppe after placing the plate on the counter. What should I do now? That question caused Clockwork to pause in front of the store, "what should I do next?" Clockwork asked herself and then she remembered what Karma said in the letter about Jace being not from this world. "I'm not sure if that's true or not about you Jace, but with how odd your name is and how your body is coming along, I have to say that that fact is becoming a reality," she said to the pouch around her neck, "and so you might going to be a little lost in this world, so I guess I can stop at the library to pick up some books for you," and with her next task and destination set in her mind, she started making her way up the street towards the library.

…

"History and geographic books, maps, old newspaper articles," Archive listed as he wrote them down in the binder, he then look up at the engineering unicorn, "this isn't the usual reading material that you usual check out, so care to explain to me what's with the sudden change in interest of genres?" the old librarian asked Clockwork just as she placed the books and scrolls into her saddlebag with her magic.

"Oh well you see Archive, I felt that I am lacking in some subjects," Clockwork calmly lied, "so I am just taking a refresher course on them."

"Ah huh," he said with a questioning look and then soon accepted the lie, "well can't disagree with ponies who wants to learn, so return the checked out items within a week without losing it, as well as no rips, tear, stains or any other form of damage on either of the goods, or you'll be paying a fine of fifteen bits."

"Gotcha, well I have an appointment to keep, so see ya later and have a nice day," Clockwork said as she made her way to the entrance.

"You too and remember you better not lose those manuscripts like you did with the scroll, or you'll be the one to the replace them," Archive called back to Clockwork just as she left the library. Jeez, he still remembers about that, Clockwork thought as she walked down the steps of the library. Just as Clockwork stepped onto the cobblestone streets, the town's clock tower bells started tolling, compelling Clockwork and possibly other ponies in the area to count the number of rings from the tower. "Fourteen… fifteen… sixteen, so it's four o clock, wow almost two hours went by very quickly than I thought," she recollected, "now let's see if Forge is done with my requests," she then started making her way to her weary friend's forge.

In half an hour, she made her way through the town and at the front door of Forge's forge, "I hope he was able to make those parts I requested," she said as she opened the door and stepped inside and was met with the sounds of cannon fire over her head. "Jeez," Clockwork cried out as she rubbed her ears from the explosion, "why am I keeping on forgetting about that doorbell of his and why does he even have it?"

"The reason you keep on forgetting about my doorbell is because you have a lot on your mind," Forge answered out loud as he limped into the main room from the back, "and as for your second question, the reason I have it is because I need something louder than me when I am in the middle of metalworking to alert me when I have customers."

"True, but still, cannon fire, can't you find something else that isn't so hurtful on the ears?" Clockwork complained.

"Alright enough, are you here for your orders or are you here to form a complaint about my doorbell?" Forge asked her, slightly annoyed from the subject of matter, "because I'll be happily obliged to keep them and maybe sell them to somepony else."

"Okay okay, I'll stop talking about your doorbell," Clockwork said as she realized what Forge just said, "so you were able to make them?"

"Yeah I was, they're right over here," the earth pony said as he limped over to behind the counter and pulled out a large box from it. He carried the box over to Clockwork and dropped it in front of her, making a loud thud to be made when it hit the floor, "now remind me, what are these parts are for again?"

"They're the finishing touches for a statue I'm making," she answered him with the same lie, "why do you ask?"

"Well it is just that these parts seems to be a little complicated for a simple art project," he observed the package, "so answer me this Clockwork, what are you making?" he asked as he faced Clockwork with suspicion written on his face.

Clockwork felt a hint of perspiration forming on her brow under his gaze, she quickly calmed her fast-paced heart and said to him in a calm tone of voice, "well as I said earlier Forge, I am making a sculpture and since this is my first time doing an art project, and I want it to be absolutely perfect and amazing."

Forge gave a sigh and backed down from the staring contest he started, "sorry about that Clockwork, but one can never be overly cautious for the safety of others as well as one's self," he explained his behavior to her as he made his way behind the counter.

"That's perfectly understandable Forge," she agreed as she picked up the package in her magic, "I do tend to put others in… hazardous situations with my crazy contraptions, but I promise this one is going to be different," she promised as she reached into her saddlebag, "now, how much do I owe you for the parts?"

"Sixty bits for both of them," he answered.

When Clockwork heard the price, she winced and took out a bag of bits from the saddlebag and did a quick count inside of it, well its official, I'm completely broke, she sadly thought as she floated the bag of bits over to Forge and saw him take it, it's a good thing that Frosting gave me that snack for free or I wouldn't have enough for those parts, "you're going to starve me out of food and home, because of you Jace," she angrily whispered.

"What was that Clockwork?" Forge questioned.

"Nothing," she quickly answered.

"Then what are you still doing here?" he asked and as Clockwork opened her mouth to answer, he quickly added, "you know what don't answer that, just go home so I can close up here and I am pretty sure that you want go home so you can finish that art project of yours."

"Sorry, I'll go now," Clockwork apologized as she left the forge with the sounds of cannon fire. Forge gave a sigh as soon as the door closed behind Clockwork and started preparing to close his store.

"I seriously hope that you're not going to get into trouble with this project of yours," he then made sure that the forge's fire are doused and all tools are in their proper places before he close up the shop and goes home.

…

"Oh scrap, I don't know if it is just me or something else, but it feels like that these parts had gotten heavier," she complained as she walked up the pathway to her house after making her way from Forge's, "you know what Jace, you can add my health to the list of things you changed since you entered my life," she added as she took her house key from its' hiding place and unlocked the door.

She placed the key back into the hiding place and walked inside, shutting the door behind her as she entered her darkened home. She concentrated and with a slivery glow, the candles that are hiding in the dark lit up, causing the room to light up and revealing the almost complete form of Jace's body on her worktable.

She walked over to the table and moved the package from her back and set it on the table, and then she removed her saddlebag and leaned it against one of the table's legs, "finally after almost a whole year of lying to just about everypony I know, I am finally going to finish your body Jace," she said out loud as she removed the pouch from her neck and set it on the table, "and you know what Jace, I was never much of a liar, but I had gotten better at it for your sake, sigh, I don't like it one bit and I have a feeling that I might need to lie some more later in the future," she added as she proceeded to open the package containing the final pieces for the engineering wonder that's laying on her table.

She ripped open the package and pulled out an over-sized chest plate in her magic, "wow, once again Forge you impressed me with your amazing talent," she placed the chest piece on the table and turn her attention back to the box, "now let's see about that helmet," Clockwork said as she then pulled out a rounded shaped helmet and saw that what Forge meant about it not being able to fit a pony's head, for there was no room for the ears and muzzle to fit inside of it, "well of course it wouldn't be able to, because it wasn't made to be worn by a pony."

She placed the helmet near the head of the automaton and picked up the scroll of instructions, "alright what should I do now?" she spoke to herself as she looked at the instructions and started reading it, "okay, it says here that the torso covering will just lock into place as soon as I place it on," she translated what the instructions pictured, "seems simple enough."

She turned her attention from the scroll and towards the mechanical being and picked up the chest plate in her magic and examined it and saw six groves set into the lower portion of the underside of the chest plate, "huh that's pretty self-explanatory," she commented as she flipped it upright and moved it over the ribs and set it over them and lower it over them, but as soon as she set the plate over them, a series of clicks and whirls was heard from the inside.

After the sounds of clicks and whirls from inside of the machine finally stopped, Clockwork tired to remove the chest plate and found that it is now locked onto the body, "well I don't know how that's locked in, but it's definitely not going anywhere," Clockwork said as she gave up trying to remove the plate cover, "well let's see what I should do now next," she picked up the scroll and flipped the page and there she saw drawn on it is a diagram of a gem being inserted into the forehead of the machine, "okay, I think I can take over from here now," she said as she set the scroll down.

She placed the scroll down and picked up the pouch and opened the drawstring and tipped it over and quickly caught the soul bound gem in her magic. A smile formed on her face when she saw the pulsating gem, "it's time Jace," she stated as she walked around the table and to the head with the gem floating behind her. She levitated the gem over the forehead and lowered it into a slot set into the forehead.

As soon as she pressed the gem into the slot, the gem was quickly encased by panels sliding over the slot's entrance with a click; Jace's soul is now locked inside the metal body. "Now just for the helmet and I'll finally complete you Jace," Clockwork picked up the helmet and levitated the head a bit and slid the helmet on. As the base of the helmet came to a rest at the bottom of the head, there was another click, compelling Clockwork to give a tug on it and found that is now somehow locked into placed, "okay, even though I built you from scratch this is just plain nuts, I still have no clue of what you can or can't do," she said as she finally gave up on removing his helm.

"Well, even though I don't know how you work… yet, I am finally done making you, and so I believe I earned myself a little snack," she said as she walked away from the table and towards the kitchen portion of the room and opened the fridge, and only saw a few slices of bread, a tomato and some cheese, "ah scrap, I really need to go grocery shopping, but unfortunately I'm broke," she pointed out as she shut the door, "it looks like I'm going to bed hungry."

She turned around and saw the Jace's still form on the table and realized something and started walking towards the table, "wait a minute, how come you're not moving Jace?" she asked him as she leaned over Jace's metal face and stared into the lifeless eyes. Clockwork raised a hoof and gave a few taps on his face and when she didn't get a response in return, "ah scrap, how do I turn you on?"

A/N

Well folks here you go, a completed chapter 2 for 'A Soul in Steel and Iron', and I am terribly sorry for how long it took for this chapter to come out, but you all know how it is, work, family, friends and health, I'm surprised that I have time to be a brony at all. Now if you want me, I'll be working on chapter 65 of 'A New Point of View'.

Also remember, leave a comment, review and questions behind at what you think about this chapter. Oh and also,,congratulations to bronymaster1 for being the one hundredth person to favorite this story.

End A/N

Chapter 3: Discovery

Discovery

"Come on Jace, wake up," Clockwork pleaded to the still form of the automaton on the table as she's flipping through the stack of instructions for any clue on to turn him on. "I don't believe it," she said frustrated as she tossed the instructions onto the table after going through them a dozen of times, "somepony or something, gave me these instructions for this amazing engineering wonder… and they forgot to put in a freaking on switch. I mean come on, that should've been the first thing when one is designing a machine, especially one on this scale."

Clockwork's stomach then started to grumble from the lack of food that it has received today, "argh, I can't think on an empty stomach," she stated as she moved away from the table and back to the fridge to feed her stomach with its measly contents. She hastily put together a sandwich with the last of contents of the fridge and a bite out of it, "ugh, I think the cheese went bad," she commented as she tossed the sandwich into a trashcan beside the sink, while the bitter taste of the bad cheese is ravaging her sense of taste.

Clockwork levitated a cup out of the dish rack near the sink and floated it under the faucet and turn on the water, quickly filling the glass with water. When the class filled up with water, she shut of flow of water and brought it close and took a mouthful of and swished it around, washing the bitter aftertaste of the cheese. There must be something I'm missing here, she thought as she spit the water into the sink and looked back Jace on the table, releasing a sigh as she remembered her promise, "maybe there's a step I missed."

She quickly downed the rest of the water and put the glass back into the dish rack before she walked back to the table and picked up the instructions and brought them over into the candle light and started examining them more carefully for any steps that she might have missed during the construction of Jace's body. "Ah!" She cried out in aggravation as she threw the pages of Jace's specs onto the floor, causing them to scatter all over the table, "I looked through all of them carefully and the only thing I found, are some little markings on some of their edges."

"And I'm talking to myself or maybe I'm talking to you Jace, but you're currently a lifeless statue though so maybe I'm talking to myself still," Clockwork said in defeat, "I think I better pick these up now," she suggested as she started to pick up the pieces of paper from the floor with her magic, but as she was picking them up, she noticed that some of the markings match up. "What do you have here?" she questioned as she dropped the other pages and brought the two closer to each other.

As soon as she fitted them together, she was surprised to saw that the markings now formed into a sequence of words: The final step. "You got to be freaking kidding me?" Clockwork said in disbelief at what she just learned as she looked at the rest of instructions on the floor, "the final step is hidden throughout the other pages?" she asked to air as she lifted up the other pages and saw that they are fragments of words.

"Ah great, not only is the final step spread throughout the other pages, they're in form of a puzzle," she observed as she brought another set of pages together and saw that they don't match up, "I hate puzzles," but then she gaze drifted over back to Jace. "But I'll do it just this once for you," she added as she placed the other sheets of paper on the table and started randomly placing the pages to find the last step.

…

"There it's finally done," Clockwork said as she placed the final piece among with the other pieces, now creating a long line of papers stacked on top of each and finally revealing the last step to her after spending hours working on it. Clockwork let out a yawn as stood up from the floor, compelling her to look at a small ticking clock on the table and saw that is very late into the night, "oh wow, it's getting late. I really need to go to bed, but first…" she turned her attention to the final step before her hooves, "let's see what the final step is."

She levitated a lone candle stub from the table that has somehow outlasted its other waxen brethren above the last instruction, "The final instruction…" she let out a yawn as she started to read through weary eyes, "… is to get the soul to start flowing through its new form and this can be accomplished within a few steps… yes, finally!" Clockwork announces as the numbness of sleep is temporarily banished and to be quickly replaced be the sense of excitement, "… the first step is to rest the source of one's stores of magical aura onto the forehead of the figure in need."

"One's stores of magical aura?" Clockwork questioned when she read that, "does it mean my horn?" she asked out loud as her eyes look up at the silvery glow encased horn on her forehead, "well I guess so, because one's magical aura does mean the magic inside of anypony and since I'm a unicorn in this case, I think that the "the sources of one's stores" will be my horn," she concluded, "so the first step is saying that I should place my horn on Jace's forehead," she said as she looked at Jace as she suddenly imaged herself kissing where Jace's mouth should, causing him to wake up like some kind of prince in a reversed situation of some kind of fairy tale.

Clockwork shuddered at the thought, "oh thank the gods that I don't have to do that," she thanked and then she looked at Jace and added, "no offence Jace, but I'm saving my first kiss for my special somepony someday and you're not even a pony," she then comprehended what she said, "oops sorry, but you might've been once, however you're not anymore," she stated and then frown as her bad habit got the best of her, "well let us continue the final step, shall we?"

When she didn't get answer in response, Clockwork lightly slapped her hoof into her face in annoyance, "why am I asking you? You're currently a nonresponsive hunk of metal," she let out a sigh at what she just did, "let's just continue with the final instruction, so I can catch up on some the nights I skipped when I was building you," she looked back at the final instruction and resumed reading, "…now then extend your magical aura throughout the body until it has filled every space within it, hold it there for the final step. To fully connect the soul to its new form is the final step, say the spell; ignire in anima et factus unum cum mea, igniting the aura within, causing the crystal to fuse with the gems throughout the body, thus connecting it to its new form."

"Okay, step two is pretty self-explanatory, but that last step seems a bit weird though, because I never seen a spell structured like that," Clockwork admitted as she finished reading the last two steps of the final instruction, "but if it can help you Jace, then I'm doing it," she carefully lifted the puzzle made out of the pages of the scroll with her magic off the floor and stacked them in order on the table, all the while as the creeping feeling of sleep is slowly returning, "I better do this quick, don't want to fall asleep on the floor again or I'll have a back aches in the morning," she walked over to Jace's head with the candle following her. It came to a stop above the stacked instructions as Clockwork stood at the head, "alright step one; rest horn on forehead," she placed her horn on Jace's forehead, approximately over the area where the crystal of Jace's soul is resting, "check."

"Step two; let the magic flow from me and into the body," she closed her eyes and concentrated, releasing energy from herself and guiding it throughout Jace's body until it filled every available space, "and hold it there, check," Clockwork strained as the exhaustion of maintaining multiple spells at once started asking for its' price, "okay, now for the last step; igniting the energy inside the body, connecting Jace's soul to it as well as to the body."

She took a deep breath to help steady her nerves and to clear the sleep from her mind before she uttered the words of the odd spell, "ignire in anima," she felt the magic inside the body starting to change, but she pressed onward with the spell, "et factus unum cum mea." As soon as the last word left her tongue, she felt her magical reserves inside her and in Jace's body suddenly burst like a firework, quickly filling them both up with magic that feels… chaotic, but at the same time orderly, which made Clockwork to drop the candle from the sudden rush of the strange magic invading her natural reserves of magic. "Whoa, what was that?" she asked as she started to shudder, "well whatever it is, it feels like I am on some kind of sugar rush."

But just as soon as the chaotic magic had invaded her reserves of magic, it started to withdrawal from her and into Jace's body, along with her own sources of magic, "wait, what's going on? Stop, you're taking my magic," she panicky ordered the chaotic magic that's stealing her own. When the flow of her magic didn't stop, Clockwork tried to cancel the spell by severing the flow of her magic, but found that she no longer has control of it. She even tried to remove her horn from Jace's forehead, but found that she can't even move, "please stop," she pleaded with whatever or whoever that has control over her, "just stop and let me go, please."

As Clockwork was about to faint from her reserves being drained by some unknown force, the flow of magic unexpectedly reversed and quickly rushed back into Clockwork just as the force that was holding her suddenly disappeared, causing her to be flung back from the sudden backlash of magic. Clockwork flew back and landed painfully on the hardwood floor and started to feel her head pounding like one is banging on a set of drums. "Oh my head," she said as she placed her hooves on an area of her forehead right below her horn, "if I ever find this Karma character, I'm going to give him a piece of my mind when I find him for putting me through this… just as soon as this headache passes," she promised as she slowly stood up groaning as she felt every ache make itself known as if she just went through a washing machine.

"Wait, Jace," she looked back at the table and at Jace and there she saw a silvery glow encasing Jace's metal form, "Jace?" Clockwork warily asked the mechanized being on the table as she took a few cautious steps towards him. She jumped in surprise when the glow suddenly became as bright as a star, blinding her from the sudden flash of light. "Ah jeez, my eyes," Clockwork cried out in pain as she held her eyes in her hooves. After rubbing her eyes to clear the sunspots from her eyes, she looked away from her hooves and at Jace. She moved closer towards to the table, alert for anymore sudden bursts of lights, but as she neared the mechanical creature on the table, she became aware of a bitter smell of something burning.

"But I don't have any food left, so what could possibly be burning?" Clockwork asked and then she noticed a faint glow coming from next to Jace and it was getting brighter. Curious at what it is, she walked around the table to see what was making the glow and when she came into view and she felt her heart stop at what she saw what was making the glow; the stack of pages contain the spec designs for Jace's body had somehow caught on fire. "Oh scrap, oh scrap, oh scrap!" Clockwork panicky repeated as she bolted from the table and towards the sink, quickly picking up the same glass that she used from the dish rack and quickly filled it with water from the faucet.

When the glass completely filled up, she removed it from underneath the flow of water and rushed back to the table containing the now fully formed blaze, that's consuming Jace's blueprints. She brought the glass of water over the flames and dumped the water on it, causing the fire to immediately go out and black smoke to rise from the blueprints, causing Clockwork to start coughing as some of it entered her lungs. She waved a hoof over where the instructions were, hoping that they weren't damaged to badly. But when the last of the smoke disappeared and revealed waterlogged black ashes instead of the instructions, Clockwork felt her hopes of saving them dash away at their sorry sight.

"Oh slag," Clockwork said as she floated the glass back over to the sink and shut off the still flowing water, "well it is a good thing that I was able to finish you Jace," she pointed out the silver lining of the situation, "but what caused the fire?" as soon as she said that, her eyes settled on a pool of melted candle wax in the middle of the remains and then she understood what happened, "oh scrap metal, I'm going to get it from Karma when he finds out that I accidently set fire to his diagrams," but then the pain and headache returned when the adrenaline left her systems, "or I guess we can call it even thanks to all the pain he did to me," she suggested as she craned her neck and felt it pop in some places and then she realized something, "wait, did the final step even work?"

She quickly made her way over to Jace and leaned over his face, "Jace can you hear me?" she asked him, but instead of a normal response, she heard a clicking of gears coming from his chest. Feeling excited, she quickly rushed around the table and put an ear on his chest, listening for another sound. When she didn't hear anything, she removed her ear and rubbed a hoof in it and placed it back on the chest plate, was I imagining it?

A few seconds later she was answered with a click of gears moving and then another and another, until the sound of gears started to move into rhythm like that of a heart, "yes, yes, yes," Clockwork happily repeated as she pulled her ear away from Jace's chest, "he's alive, he's finally alive," she giggled out of excitement as she rubbed her hooves together in glee, Clockwork immediately realized what she was doing and stopped the sleep deprived induced act, "okay note to self; do not do that again, ever," she instructed herself just as she let out a yawn, telling Clockwork that it is very late, "oh jeez, what time is it?"

She looked at the clock on the table and was shocked to learn what time it is, "it's freaking four in the morning?" Not believing at what she's seeing, she rubbed her eyes to temporary clear the sleep from them and looked back at ticking timekeeper, "oh scrap, it's really four in the morning," just then the tolls of the activities that she did earlier started to ask for their payments. "Okay, I think it is time for me to go to bed now," she stated as she then started to wobbly make her way towards a set of doors at the back of the room and away from the remains and the now completed automaton. Clockwork entered through the right one and closed the door just as the metallic being's right hand moved.

…

Deep underneath the surface of the earth, a lone cloaked figure calmly walked down an empty hallway that not many like to walk down, because of what rested at the end. After walking a few more yards, the cloaked figure came to a stop at a set of non-descriptive metal doors, but the doors isn't the reason why many stay clear of this hall, it's what behind them that many feared.

The shrouded figure took a calming breath to steady its nerve and then lifted its forearms and rested a pair of paws on them, and with a controlled force, the figure pushed open the door, where sounds of metal scraping each other and steam hissing of release met the one that opened the door. The bipedal creature walked through the doors and took a few steps inside the room that was dimly lit by oil lanterns hanging around on the walls, revealing a series of metallic limbs ranging from a wing of a Pegasus to that of a dragon's forearm.

However the now nervous creature wasn't looking at the décor of the room, but at a larger cloaked figure sitting at a table with an assortment of metal parts on it, and back facing the smaller figure. "What is it?" the shrouded being called out above the sound of the room, causing the creature to hesitate, which was clearly a mistake, "if you're not going to answer me straight away whoever you are, then I think it is time to replace that mouth of yours with a metal version, because after all, I do like to have my questions answered immediately," the shadow covered form threatened.

"My apology Master," the smaller figure said as it then kneeled on the floor, eyes looking down at the stone floor underneath its feet, "I'll answer immediately from now on."

"Ah, Alpha is that you?"

"Yes Master," Alpha quickly answered as he lifted his head up from the floor and towards his master, while pulling back the hood of his cloak and revealing a Diamond Dog underneath the cloth.

"Well what is it Alpha? Because you perfectly know that I don't like to be disturbed," Alpha's master questioned as he lifted a covered forearm and an assortment of metal parts lifted up into the air from the table and started to assemble together as they floated around the caster.

"Master, I believe we've finally found it," Alpha responded back, as he once more bowed to the stonework floor.

This caused the master to pause in what he's doing, "are you sure?" the robed figure questioned as he turned around and looked at the bowing Diamond Dog.

"Yes Master, one of our sensors throughout Equestria had picked up a strange magical energy surge just about five minutes ago," Alpha supplied as he heard a chair scraping against the floor as his master stood up from it. He then heard heavy metal steps moving across the stone floor as his master is walking towards him.

"Are you positive?" the sounds of heavy walking increased.

"Yes Master, the magical signatures are the same."

The Diamond Dog heard sounds of steam releasing and creaking metal as his master stopped in front of the still bowing dog, "where?" Alpha's master inquired. Alpha looked up from the floor and at his master.

"In a small town called Ironwood Falls."

…

"Morning Clockwork, whoa, you look terrible," Frosting observed from behind the counter as a ragged looking silver unicorn with a heavy looking saddlebag stepped into the Sweet Shoppe, "did you do something last night?" the white Pegasus asked Clockwork as she sat down and face plant into it and started to make tired-filled groans to the grains of wood of the table, letting them know of her lack of sleep.

"Frosting…" Clockwork started without removing her face from the table as she heard her friend approaching her table, "… is there anything on that menu of yours that can make wake me up while at the same time killing this headache that's killing me?"

"Well I might have something that can help…"

"Good, give it to me please, because I have some appointments today and I don't want to give the elderly ones heart attacks at the sight of me."

"Okay then, but don't you think you're overrea- AaAaHh," Frosting screamed when Clockwork lifted her head up and stared at her friend with bloodshot eyes, accompanied with bags under her eyes and with the messy mane and ruffled coat, causing Clockwork to look like some kind of wraith from a foal's nightmare.

"You're the third pony to scream like that this morning," Clockwork stated, now slightly annoyed at her friend's reaction, as she pulled her eyes from her friend and laid her head down on the table with her eyes closed, trying to gain some sleep due to the lack of it she had last night.

"Sorry, but what happened to you Clockwork?" Frosting asked concerned for her friend's health as she felt her heart starting to slow down from the fright she gotten at the sight of her friend, "how did you get into this horrible state?"

"This is what a little mixture of magical exhaustion and sleep deprivation can do," Clockwork explained as she barely opened her eyes and squinted at her friend without lifting her head up from the tabletop, "now, about that order? Because as I said; I have a headache that's killing me and I also have some appointments today as well."

"Yeah, you'll definitely need it then, one Wake-Up Call coming right up," Clockwork then heard her friend opening her wings and then flapping noises which was soon followed by Frosting bounding over tables and counters and straight into the kitchen, where Clockwork then heard pots and pans moving about, making something what Frosting called a Wake-Up Call.

Whatever that is, Clockwork thought as she closed her eyes and tried to keep her mind clear so the headache pounding in her head won't use it to hurt her some more, "Karma, you're seriously going to get it for putting me through all of this craziness," she vowed as she felt sleep starting to take hold…

"Here you go," a cheerful voice called out, startling Clockwork and causing her to jolt upwards in her seat, like a student getting caught sleeping in the middle of class by the teacher, "wow, you must be really tired to even try to sleep here," Frosting stated as she placed a steaming cup in front of the silver machinist, "then this will definitely wake you up."

Clockwork looked into the cup and saw a bubbling white half liquid half solid substance in it, and she wasn't sure that she was imagining it or not, but she thought she just saw it trying to climb up the walls of the cup, "ah Frosting, not that I judging your cooking credentials or anything, but what exactly is it? Because I think I just saw it move," Clockwork inquired as she moved the cup with her hooves, trying to see if the thing in the cup will move again.

"Um, I rather not say what I used to make it," Frosting said to her, "but this recipe was made by my grandmother and she was the town's herbalist, so everything she made is perfectly okay to consume," she assured Clockwork.

"Well if you say so," Clockwork said as looked back at the cup and picked it up with her magic, not noticing the confused look from Frosting, and brought it up close to her nose and took a sniff of it, but didn't pick up any odor. I hope whatever this thing is, it is tasteless just like its smell, and then she winced as the headache made itself known, making Clockwork's decision for her, "well, down the hatch," she brought the glass to her mouth and downed the glass, and immediately started coughing and gagging as the concoction slid down her throat and into her stomach, causing Clockwork to shudder at the feeling it made on the way, "ah yuck, it taste like I just swallowed a cup of chalk paste," Clockwork gagged.

"Huh, for some strange reason, my grandmother's mixtures always taste like chalk," Frosting revealing that hidden fact of the drink that she gave to Clockwork.

"Why didn't you say that before I drank that disgusting drink," Clockwork complained as she rubbed her tongue with her hooves to get rid of the taste of the drink.

"If I had, would've you drank it then?" Frosting asked her, "and besides the headache is gone and you're not tired anymore, aren't they?"

True to the Pegasus' word, Clockwork found that her headache is indeed gone, as well as filled with energy that overcame the tiredness, "whoa you're right," Clockwork amazed at how fast the concoction worked, "that's some amazing stuff, even if it does taste disgusting."

"Alrighty then," Frosting started as she stood up from the table, "now that your headache is gone and you're not on the verge of falling asleep where you stand, what would you like for breakfast?" At the mention of food Clockwork started to growl, causing Clockwork to sheepishly smile at the Pegasus, "and judging by how loud your stomach was, I say that… you probably used the last of the food you had in your house, but had to toss it out due to one of the ingredients going bad, which then means that you didn't have any food to eat before you can here."

"You what know something Frosting, I sometimes find it very scary that you know me so well that you can word by word go over what I did last night," Clockwork stated.

"The only thing I can't figure out is how you got into that horrid state," Frosting confessed, "so I'm going to get you some breakfast and in payment, you're going to tell me what's going on with you, because you've been acting weird lately and I'm worried about you Clockwork," and with that, Clockwork watched her best friend walk back behind the counter and then into the kitchen to get her meal.

Clockwork sat there, thinking on how to tell her friend about Jace and his predicament as she started to fiddle with the empty cup that had contained the chalk tasting drink between her front hooves, hoping that it could help her with own predicament. "Ah scrap metal," she said in defeat as she pushed the cup of the foul substance away from her and out of her physical reach, it came to a rest near the edge of the table on the other side, "I am a suppose to explain about Jace, without me sounding like some kind of loony?" she asked herself as Clockwork let out an overwhelmed sigh.

She turned her attention back to the cup and brought it over with her magic and started passing it back and forth between her hooves, "on one hoof; I tell my best friend about Jace and possibly get checked into the nearest mental ward, however on the other; I lie to my best friend about Jace and I might end up losing her as a friend," the cup came to a stop in the middle of the representations of her choices.

"Oh what should I do Jace?" She asked out loud as she grasped the cup in her hooves and releasing it from her magic.

"Who's Jace?" a voice suddenly asked, startling Clockwork and causing her to drop the cup from fright, which then hit the table, but luckily didn't break from the impact. The silver unicorn looked around and saw that during her discussion with the cup, her Pegasus friend had quietly left the kitchen and approached her table with a tray of food and overheard her saying Jace's name. "So who's Jace?" Frosting repeated as she set the tray on the table and then proceeded to sit across from Clockwork.

Clockwork looked at the tray of food and saw a platter of cheesy eggs, hay bacon and buttered toasts and an apple turnover, with a glass of milk on the side. When Clockwork got a whiff of the meal, she felt her mouth started to salivate at the thought of eating the meal, but Frosting quickly brought the tray of food closer to her and out of Clockwork's reach, "nah ah, not yet, you're going to tell me what happened to you first, then I'll let you have the food," she negotiated, "and you're going to start by telling me whose Jace."

"Fine you win," Clockwork admitted defeated, which she was then with her stomach starting to complain to her for its deny of food, "Jace is the pony that I am helping with the project that I just finished put together last night after almost a whole year, which then explains why I was tired this morning."

"What about the magical exhaustion?"

"Apparently to get the project to start, it was to take my magic and then hit me with it, like it was some kind of fish," Clockwork answered as she rubbed the side of her head from the memory of the pain.

"And what exactly is this project Clockwork?" Frosting asked, "Because you never mentioned about it."

"Sorry Frosting, but I was asked to keep the secrecy of this project," she apologized, "so please understand that I can't tell you everything," she remorsefully added, "but I can say this though, it is going to help Jace and others around him as well."

Frosting sat there, staring at Clockwork as she processed what she told her. After about a minute she finally spoke up, "here," she said as she pushed the tray of food towards Clockwork, who then said thank you and started digging into the food, "I believe you, but know that I am just concerned about you."

"I know Frosting, because you're my best friend," Clockwork said as she took a breather from eating, "so be assured when I say that I'm going to be perfectly okay from now on," Clockwork assured her Pegasus friend and then she resumed eating her breakfast.

Half an hour later, Clockwork stepped out of the Sweet Shoppe with a full stomach and completely refreshed, "thanks for the meal Frosting," she called back to her friend who is now standing in the doorway of the restaurant, "I promise to pay you back for it later, maybe by the end of the week," she promised as she made her way down the street.

Frosting watched her until she turn a corner and disappeared from sight, "was I imagining it or did Clockwork's magic seem a bit… different?"Frosting asked herself just as she saw a group of ponies making their way towards the small restaurant, "maybe it was just me," she concluded and then she realized something, "ah great, now I'm talking to myself just like Clockwork."

Chapter 4: Awakening

Awakening

"And… there," Clockwork said as she placed the face of a cuckoo clock into place, which the hands started to move as the face connected with the inner workings, "that should do it," Clockwork stated as she put the clock down among the other she had fixed on her first appointment.

"Oh thank you dear," an elderly Earth pony thanked Clockwork as she stepped into the living room.

"No problem Mrs. Fiddle," Clockwork said as she started putting the tools that she used into her saddlebag, "I am always glad to help," she packed the last of the tools and then made her way to the front door, "now remember Mrs. Fiddle, no more fiddling with your clocks, you're starting to wear out the gear work inside them."

"Duly noted," Mrs. Fiddle said as Clockwork stepped of her house and onto the street. "Oh wait Clockwork, don't forget about your helmet."

Clockwork immediately stopped in her tracks when she heard the strange saying, she looked back at the old pony standing in the doorway, "Don't forget about my what?" Clockwork confused at what the other pony said.

"I said, don't forget about your payment," the aged pony said as she reached back into the house and then pulls out a small bag of bits in hoof, "you almost left without it," she said as she held out the hoof containing Clockwork's earnings.

"Oh right, sorry about, I guess I must be still a little tired," Clockwork guessed as she focused her attention on the bag. A silvery aura appeared around the bag and floated off of the old mare's hoof and towards Clockwork, who then opened her saddlebag and floated the bag of bits inside. "Thanks for that," she thanked the elderly pony.

"No problem dear," Mrs. Fiddle said, "but um, are you okay Clockwork?"She asked the silver unicorn, suddenly concerned about something.

"Ah, yeah, I'm fine," Clockwork answered, "why you asking?"

"Oh nothing dear," Mrs. Fiddle replied back, "I thought you weren't feeling well, that's all."

"Well as you can see Mrs. Fiddle, I'm fit as a fiddle," Clockwork punned with a smile, causing them both to start laughing.

"Well glad to know that you're okay," Mrs. Fiddle assured, "now go on, I'm sure that you have other jobs to do today and I'm not helping you with me holding you back."

"Have a nice day Mrs. Fiddle," Clockwork said as she started walking up the street, "and remember, no more fiddling with those clocks of yours," she added as she stepped out of Mrs. Fiddle's range of good sight.

"I must be losing my sight, because just for a moment there, I thought I just saw Clockwork's magic turn gray," she squinted at the silvery and gold blur that is Clockwork, "nah, I must be definitely going color blind again," she said to herself as she stepped back into her home and shut the door.

...

"Okay what was all that about?" Clockwork questioned herself as walked down the street, "ah great, not only I'm a talking to myself, I am now hearing ponies saying things that they're not saying, oh jeez, I hope this isn't some kind of weird side effect due to Frosting's chalk drink," she hoped as walked down the street.

After a few minutes of walking and worrying about her sanity, she came to a stop in front of a house that is her next job. She walked up to the front door and grasped the quarter note-shaped doorknocker in her magic, gave the door a few knocks with it and then let it go. Clockwork didn't have to wait long until the door swung inward, revealing a sleepy looking grey coated unicorn stallion.

The unicorn spotted the silver unicorn through sleepy, "yo, what's up Clockwork?" he yawned as he brushed a couple fibers of white hair from his eyes, "are you hear to fix my turntable?"

"Yes I am," Clockwork replied as she caught whiff of smoke and hard cider, "oh come on Havoc, have you been partying all night at the Rock again?" she asked as she put a hoof over her mouth and nose to block the smell that the unicorn is saturated in.

"Hey, you know me, I love horsing around and…" he said as he leaned in close, but was immediately stopped as hoof made contact with his face from Clockwork

"Let me stop you right there," Clockwork calmly said, "what you're about to say can either get you to smell cleaner and awake, or…" Clockwork then coldly stared at him, "… you'll wind up with a black eye to go along with that hangover you possibly have in that head of yours," she threatened him as she removed her hoof from his face, "now what were you going to say?"

"… I'll take a shower," Havoc carefully finished his sentence.

"Good thinking," Clockwork said, "now if you'll be kindly enough to let me in so I can immediately get to work, while you're taking a shower," she requested and was responded back by Havoc stepping aside and clearing a pathway for Clockwork, who then immediately walked inside.

As soon as she stepped inside the threshold of the house, she almost tripped on empty bottles that littered across the floor, "and while you're at it, would you care to pick up these bottles? Somepony can have an accident in here," she added to the leaning unicorn that is probably making his way to the bathroom. Clockwork carefully stepped around the hazardous bottles and into the living room and there she saw a turntable that she is hired to fix, "okay, let's see what damage is this time."

She walked over to an oversized turntable and started examining it, "alright, let's see here, there's no gunk in the switches, nothing appears to be stuck underneath the top plate, no spills of any kind," she looked around the outside of the DJ equipment, "outside casing appears to be intact, so that means one thing, the problem is internal not external," she concluded and let out a sigh as she opened her saddlebag and started pulling out screwdrivers and sockets with her magic. "Perfect, just perfect, I always hate working on these things," she stated as she used the necessary tools to quickly, but carefully remove the top of the turntable from the rest of the body, "they're filled with small part that can easily get lost or break, which means I'm paying for the replacements."

She set the controls of the turntable on the floor and then peered inside the now exposed guts of the music making machine, all the while the sounds of water moving behind the wall was heard, indicating that Havoc is taking a shower that and as well as his horrible singing, "for a pony that can make excellent music, he sure sucks at singing. Now that's ironic right there," Clockwork noted as she looked around in the machine for the cause of problems.

"Okay, the belt drive is intact, although it's showing signs of worn, so that should probably be replaced in a week or so, the motor appears to be just fine, as well as the other components," Clockwork pulled out her head from the guts of the piece of DJ equipment and tapped a hoof on her chin in contemplation, "everything is in working condition, so how come it's not working?" and then her gaze settled on the power cord running from the side of the turntable and underneath a pile of trash near the wall.

"Oh please don't let it be what I think it might be," Clockwork complained as she walked over to the trash pile and started removing it with her magic. As soon as the last article of trash was removed, she saw that it is unplugged and lying underneath an outlet, telling Clockwork what happened, "oh Havoc you chaotic dumb nut, why didn't you see if it was plugged in?"

She picked up the power cord and plugged it into the outlet and immediately heard the machine behind her started to whir into life. Clockwork shook her head in disbelief as she lifted the controls of the turntable up from the floor in her magic and placed it back on top of the now powered up music maker, and quickly secured it to its outer casing, "Whoa, you're done already?" Clockwork heard Havoc asked behind her, "that was fast."

"Well the reason I was able to finish so quickly…" Clockwork said as looked at a damp looking Havoc, "… is because all I had to do was just to plug it in," she finished as she pointed at the now plugged in power cord.

"Oh," Havoc said as he saw it and then to the mess next to the wall outlet, "I guess I should clean up around here now and then, huh?"

"Yeah, you should," Clockwork agreed, "now, is there anything else you want me to fix that isn't just unplugged?" she asked unicorn as she started to put her tools back into her saddlebag.

"Well I do have one more thing, wait right here while I'll go and get it," he instructed as he walked out of the living room and into some part of the house to retrieve whatever needed Clockwork to fix. Clockwork reluctantly waited in the living room, starting to feel antsy of wanting to get back to Jace to see if there are any changes with his condition then the still form she found him this morning when she woke up and right before she left for work.

Clockwork suddenly realized something, "oh scrap, what if Jace wakes up when I'm not there, oh he's going to freak out when he wakes up alone in an unfamiliar place, and being in a new body isn't going to help either, I need to get home before he wakes and soon."

"Here it is Clockwork," Havoc announces as he walked back into the living room with an old looking phonograph floating next to him in his magic, "do you think you can fix this?" he asked as he floated over to Clockwork, "because I want it restored into working order."

"Sure let me see it," she said as she grabbed the ancient machine in her magic, which overlapped Havoc's magic and causing him to shudder, "what?" She asked as Havoc released his magic hold on the phonograph.

"Are you okay Clockwork?"

"Yeah I am," Clockwork answered him, "why are you asking?"

"Because I think there's something different about your magic."

"What?" he ignored Clockwork's question as he then started examining Clockwork's magic that is still holding the phonograph. His horn started to glow as he wrapped a magical hold around Clockwork's and the phonograph, "huh."

"What is it?"

"I'm not picking up anything here," Havoc clarified as his magical grasp let go of Clockwork's and started scratching his head, "I swore I just felt something… alien taking hold of my magic," he described the feeling that Clockwork had experienced last night. All of sudden Havoc started laughing, "Listen to me, I'm talking nonsense here, maybe I'm still a bit drunk."

"Yeah, maybe you are," Clockwork said unsure as she brought the old music contraption closer and started examining it as various tools started to float out of her saddlebag in a silvery glow. She removed the bottom of it and peered inside, "okay the gears inside are just a bit rusty, but nothing a little rust removal and lubricate can't fix," she inserted a few tools inside the guts of the music maker and started moving things around inside, "aside the ceased up gears and the condition of the wood casing, everything is in working condition," she said as she put the cover back on and floated over back to Havoc, "so if you do all of the things I said, your phonograph will start working."

"Thanks Clockwork," Havoc thanked her, "but I'm sorry that I got you all the way out here for little to nothing for you to do."

"That's okay Havoc," Clockwork quickly assured him as she floated her tools back into the saddlebag, "now if you'll excuse me, I have to get going to my next appointment," she lied as she started to head towards to the front door, "see ya later Havoc."

"Okay, see ya later then," Havoc called out to Clockwork as stepped out of his house and closed the door.

"Oh scrap, I hope that Jace didn't wake up when I was gone," Clockwork said as she quickly made her way from Havoc's and towards her home across town, but just as she stepped off of Havoc's street, she had a sudden realization, "what if Jace wakes up and decided to explore to see where he is, oh slag, he's going to scare the life out of ponies when they see him, I need to get home before that happens," she quickly increased her speed when that though completely formed in her head.

As she neared the centered the town, the sound of techno and yeah being said multiple times started playing in her ears, when the intro was done and the lyrics started, Clockwork immediately disliked it, "ah jeez, whoever is singing this song sure has one irritating voice and who wants to sing about Friday?" Clockwork asked to the space around her as she run pass by groups of ponies, not aware of the odd looks she's getting from them.

As the song about Friday continued, "personally, I don't like Fridays, because the weekend can be relaxing or it could be stressful- what a minute," Clockwork interrupted herself as she realized something, "where's the music coming from?"

She slowed down her pacing until she came to a complete stop in the middle of the street and started looking around for any music devices that could be the source of the weird music. But when Clockwork didn't find any and noticed that ponies around her doesn't seem to be bothered or not even noticing the bothersome song, she started to worry.

"Excuse me," she calmly called out to a nearby pony on the street and quickly gained the pony's attention, "I don't know if this will sound silly or not, but do you hear that music?" she asked the pony of the music that's playing in Clockwork's ears.

"What music?" the pony confusingly asked Clockwork as the pony started straining her ears, "I don't hear anything, hey, where're you going?" the pony called to Clockwork who had now started running down the street.

"This isn't happening, this isn't happening," Clockwork repeated scared as she realized where the music was coming from; it wasn't playing around her, it was playing in her head, "what's going here, why is this happening to me and why won't that annoying song stop playing?" she asked out loud as she started to cross a street without looking both ways.

All of a sudden a blaring sound of a horn was heard above the Friday music, causing Clockwork to look towards where the sound came from and there she saw a large wheeled metal beast barreling down the street and towards her, with the sounds of thunder to accompany it. Clockwork screamed from the sudden appearance of the mechanize mayhem as she lost her footing, causing her to trip and hit the cobblestone road. She looked up from the ground and saw the metal monster was now almost on top of her, Clockwork quickly huddled up and shut her eyes in fright as she braced for impact… but it didn't come.

"Um, are you okay?" Clockwork opened her eyes and there she saw a group of ponies surrounding her, with confusion written on everypony's face, "are you okay miss?" one of them repeated the question.

"Am I okay?" Clockwork asked in disbelief at the crowd, "I'm going to be run over by some metal monster."

"Ah Clockwork, what are you talking about?" a pony asked as he recognizing the silver engineer unicorn.

"What am I talking about, do you see the big metal beast over there?" she questioned as she pointed a hoof over the crowd of ponies… and at a confused pony attached to a cart, "but, but, but," Clockwork stuttered at the sight as a couple of ponies helped her up from the road, "I swore I saw some kind of huge loud machine coming right at me."

"Clockwork, I think you might've hit your head when you tripped," a pony suggested.

"Yeah, it looked like it was a nasty fall," another agreed.

"But I know I saw something coming right at me," Clockwork still in shock as the memory of what happened is now replaying in her mind.

"I think she has finally gone nuts," she overheard a pony starting to whisper to a friend, "and I'm not talking about the one that goes with bolts," Clockwork felt a slight blush forming in her cheeks when the pony said that.

"I-I think I need to go home," she said to them slightly embarrassed as she made her way out of the circle of ponies, who they all then shrugged and resumed what they were doing before, What's going on here, why am I hearing and seeing things that aren't really there? Clockwork contemplated as other ponies that saw what happened started to ask questions to see if she's alright, but she ignored them and continue on her way.

"What's happening to me?" Clockwork frustratingly asked as she walked into the center of town and was making her way across the town square, "none of this weird stuff has ever happened to me before," she said as she walked pass by a mother and her child, not noticing the child pointing at her and immediately got scolded by the mother, "in fact why is it happening to me anyway?" but just as she left the square she suddenly realized something.

"Okay think Clockwork, there must have been source for all of this mess," she then to recount what she did earlier that day, "let see, this is whole thing started… after I completed the final step of Jace's body," she then felt her anger starting to rise because of the trouble and humiliation it had just caused today, "just what did he do to me?"

As Clockwork made her way onto her street that leads to her home that the source of her troubles laid, she felt her anger increasing with every step she made. By the time she arrived at the pathway that leads to her front door, she was filled with so much anger that if other ponies were nearby, they could've felt the seething anger from her. Clockwork angrily made her way up the pathway, but along the way, she pulled out a metal rod of a long ago failed project that was sticking out of a pile of other scrapped ideas in a silvery glow of her magic as she approached the front door of her home, filled with malicious intents on what she's going to do to Jace with the makeshift weapon.

When Clockwork was about to reach for the hidden key, she remembered that she never had locked the door before she left that morning. She slammed opened the door and entered her home and immediately saw Jace's motionless body on the table, which just angered Clockwork at the sight of him, "I had enough of this," Clockwork declared as she stepped up to Jace's head and pulled back the metal rod like a bat.

"What the hell did you do to me?" Clockwork angrily demanded as she swung the makeshift bat at Jace's head.

…

It's dark… and a bit chilly, those are the words that Jace described about his surroundings as he stood in the middle of an infinite vast space of darkness, "where am I?" he asked as the vast darkness echoed his question, but he didn't get an answer in response.

"Hello, is anyone out there?" he asked out loud as he started walking in a random direction, but he was only able to move about a foot before his face met an invisible object, "oh god that hurts," he said in pain as he held his face in his hands to lessen the pain.

When the pain finally receded into a slight ache, Jace reached out with both hands and felt them make contact with the invisible wall and then started to run them over the wall until they hit the edges of the wall and others meet, compelling him to start exploring them as well and found that he's in a room that's just bigger if he stretches out his arm and the ceiling a few feet taller than him, and with no entrances in or out of it. This caused Jace to start panicking as a small hint of claustrophobia started to sink in at that realization.

"Let me out of here, what's going here? Where am I?" Jace demanded as he pounded on the invisible walls with the vast darkness behind them. This went on for a few moments until Jace's throat started to become sore and inflamed, forcing him to stop his yelling. Jace stopped pounding the wall and dropped to his knees and started taking in deep breaths to replenish what he used in his yelling, demanding for answers.

"Calm down Jace, calm down," Jace instructed and immediately felt his heart beats starting to decrease, he then repositioned himself till he is sitting on the floor with his back against the wall that is his invisible prison. After the claustrophobic induced panic died down to a manageable started, he started to think, "Alright, first things first now that I am calm and not in a panicking state, how did I get here?" he said as he surveyed the room.

"Let's see here," Jace said as he rested his head on his knees and closed eyes in contemplation, "the last thing I remember was leaving my house to go to the library," Jace strained to remember through the fog that is clouding his memories, "and I was also listening to some music as well," he continues as the fog starting to lift, "and then that annoying Friday music started to play that I'll never understand why I liked that song, now what happened next?" he said confused as he can't remember what happened to him after that.

"Come on, what happens next?" Jace frustratingly asked as he slammed his head against the wall and was rewarded with a sharp pain in the back of his head, "Ow, okay note to self, don't do that again," he said as he rubbed the area of pain, he then rested his head back on his knees and tried to remember what happened to him, but a few minutes later he gave up on trying to recover his lost memories and just sat there…

…

Jace opened his eyes and realized that he must have fallen asleep, but didn't noticed that he did as the darkness of the outside matched exactly of the darkness of his dreamless sleep, "so it wasn't a dream," Jace said as he stood up and felt the aches made themselves known from his sleeping position, "or unless I am some kind of Inception kind of movie deal here."

"I must have been asleep for about seven hours if I feel this refreshed," Jace estimated as he doesn't have any kind of time keeping device on him, but then he suddenly realized something, "oh crap, mom is probably freaking out about me for being gone this long," he presumed, "she probably already called the cops to look for me, oh I am going to be grounded till I'm dead for making her worry this much."

"No, your mother won't worry for you," a male voice called out from the darkness, causing Jace to quickly look around to see where it came from, but didn't find anything.

"Who's there?" Jace called out to the darkness and then comprehended what the voice said, "And what do you mean my mom won't worry about me, and where the hell am I?"

"Hmm, it appears that you've no recollection of what had happened to you," the voice observed, sounding surprised, while ignoring Jace's questions.

"Just answer me dammit," Jace yelled as he walked up against one of the invisible walls that he thinks where the voice was coming from, "what's going on here, where am I, what happened to my mom, and who are you?"

Jace heard the voice release a sigh of tiredness before he resumed talking, "very well, but I warn you, for you might not like what you're going to learn."

"I don't care, just tell me."

"Don't say that I didn't warn you then," the voice cautiously started, "Jace… you're dead."

"What?" Jace said as he backed away from the wall stunned, "no, that can't be true, it just can't be," he opposed.

"Think about it," the voice told Jace. "You have never once felt a need to eat or drink, and you have no memories of how you got here."

"But I can feel pain and I can sleep as well, so I can't be dead," he countered, "and where is here anyway?"

"It is true that you're dead, but it's only your physical body that's dead, your soul however is alive. As for where you are, you're soul is in a solid form of that of a crystal, which houses your thoughts and knowledge."

"Wait, what do you mean that my body is dead, but my soul is alive and in a crystal?"

"I was able to extract your soul from your dying body right before you were going to pass through the veil and beyond my reach," the voice explained, "and to preserve your soul, I had to shape it into a physical form so you can survive."

"I don't believe you," Jace unbelievably stated after the voice finished his explanation, "I just don't freaking believe you, because what you just said is just plain impossible, but if what you said is true, why me?"

"Explain."

"Why did you save me?" Jace clarified, "and would you tell me who you are already?"

"I am called Karma," the mysterious being finally introduced himself, "and the reason why I saved you is because of your wish and our deal."

"My wish and our deal?" this time it's Jace's turn for clarification.

"Just as you were dying, you made a wish to live more of life, and I heard it and offered you a deal at a second chance at it," Karma explained, "and you accepted it."

At those words, the fog that was blocking the last part of Jace's memories lifted, finally revealing what happened to him, "this can't be," Jace said in shock and disbelief as the final moment of the car hitting him and then to his dying wish, which was then followed by Karma proposing a deal and him accepting it. "This just can't be," he dropped to his hands and knees, "I can't be dead, I just can't."

"So you finally now remember what happened to you Jace?" Jace heard a voice above him ask, compelling him to look up from the floor and saw a tall dark hooded figure standing above him. Instead of saying anything, Jace just nodded in confirmation, "and as well as the agreement we made too, right?" Karma asked as he bent down to Jace's level.

"I hate to say it, but I do," Jace weakly admitted as he lowered his head back down to the floor.

"Good, now I'm going to give you a second chance at life just as I promised," Karma said as he stood up straight and started walking around the distraught Jace, "but there are a few things you should know first though."

"Like what?" Jace wearily asked as he shakily got up from the floor as Karma continues to circle around him.

"The first thing is that even though you're getting a new life, I can't give you a new body to live it," Karma started off.

"What?"

"However," Karma added ignoring Jace's outburst, "I had gotten another to make you a new one and she just finished it and has just inserted the crystal that your soul resides in into it. Now here's the second thing you should know; you're not able to go back to your old world, for your soul has left its' barriers, which won't allow you to return to it."

"Wait, if I can't go back to my world, where am I going then?" Jace asked as Karma stopped in front of him, "also, out of millions back home, why me?"

"I had asked myself ever since I saved you from death," Karma stated, "however, as time progressed, I sensed that you have the capability to tip the balance of light and dark," this confused Jace, but Karma continues on, "as for where you're going, that's the second thing you should know, I'm sending you to a world that the scale has been slightly tipped in favor of those that sides with the dark."

"Wait, you're sending me to a world that's in a middle of a war?" Jace said in disbelief.

"Not exactly in war, just conflicts here and there, and you're not alone on it, for there are others that are helping to tip that scale back into balance," the hooded figure assured him, "now the third thing you should know is that time has been moving forward without you."

"Wait, you're saying that it hasn't been a day," Jace implied and was rewarded with a nod from mysterious being, "how long then?" Jace asked, a bit scared at what he might learn.

Karma let out a sigh and answered, "It has been over eleven months since the day you died Jace."

"E-eleven months," Jace said as he backed away from Karma until his back hit the wall behind him and slid down it, "that's almost a whole year," he simply put as he placed his hands on his head in astonishment, "a whole year passed by in hours," Jace let out a nervous chuckle at that, "talk about time flying." Karma looked away from the dazed teenager in front of him and at the darkness outside and saw that it is starting to lighten up, which a sense of urgency descended on the god.

"Jace I need you to focus here," Karma ordered as he quickly stepped in front of him, "my time with you is coming to a close and I still have a couple of more things to mention before you enter your new life," he then bent down to Jace's level of sight, "I never wanted to be part of this battle of the gods, but lately the scale has been tipping more and more to the darkness, forcing me to participate in this "game" of theirs," Karma explained, "but since I am a god, I cannot directly interfere in the realm of mortals, especially since of what I stand for. So I need your help to tip that scale back into balance."

"Now for the last thing," he hurriedly said before Jace can say anything, "I have something to give to you," he then reached into the cloak and quickly pulls out an object. He quickly shot out his hand and grabbed Jace's wrist and pulled it towards him, Jace didn't even register what had happened until the god pressed the object into his wide open hand, which Jace then felt several bits of something biting into the palm of his hand, and gave Jace back his hand.

Jace looked at what the hurried god placed into hand, an assortment of gears ranging from the size of a finger ring to that of a wrist bracelet, making a shape of that of a cone, and with a dull silver light shining through the gaps between the gears, "what is this?" Jace asked as he looked up the god with a confused look as Karma stood up.

"That Jace, is the key to unlocking the power I'm going to give you," Karma cryptically answered that only raised more questions, but it doesn't even look like a key, Jace thought as he looked back at the assemble of gears in his hand and then realized what Karma said.

"Wait, you're going to give me what?" Jace asked he looked back up, but saw that Karma has mysteriously disappeared just as he arrived. Jace noticed that the darkness outside is slowly being driven back as light started to invade it, "hey what's going on?" Jace asked as he braced the wall and stood up, but all of a sudden he felt the wall give away, with the sounds of something cracking. He looked at the wall and saw that large cracks are now spreading throughout from his hand.

"Your soul is about to be assimilated into your new form," Jace heard Karma's answer echoes around him, "now, will you help correct the balance in the world I'm sending you, back to the way it should be as my herald?"

Jace looked down at the 'key' in his left hand. I don't know about this, Jace thought as he thumbed one of the gear's teeth, this isn't exactly what I meant to live more out of life, but it was offered to me and I accepted it, Jace closed his eyes and let out a calm sigh, sorry mom, it looks like I won't be able to keep that promise, but I hope that somehow you'll know that I'm going to be helping others in my new life, Jace opens his eyes and stared at the light that has almost completely banished the darkness and declared, "yes I accept," more cracks formed in the invisible walls of the cell.

He then heard a feminine voice starting to chant, "ignire in anima… et factus unum cum mea," and felt a surge of energy suddenly run through him, causing him to drop to his knees and hand, while clutching his chest in pain with his right hand, but before Jace can raise any questions at was happening, Karma started talking.

"Then I, Karma; the god of Balance, accept you to be my herald," the now known god of Balance declared. All of a sudden the gear work key in Jace's hand disappeared, but not without releasing a silvery light just as the walls of the cell completely shattered, allowing the light that was being held back to finally invade the broken cell and rush at Jace, causing him to flinch and move his arms in front of him in a defensive guard just as everything disappeared in light, which was soon then followed by a warm comforting sense of darkness that made Jace to start feel sleepy...

"What the hell did you do to me?" a feminine voice angrily demanded out loud above him, breaking the sound of silence and the grasp of sleep over Jace's mind as he felt a blunt object making contact with his head with surprisingly great strength, making Jace to fly off of whatever he was laying on and onto the floor that was about a few feet below. As soon as he hit the ground, the darkness that was covering his vision disappeared and he saw that he was now staring at a hardwood floor, which he then started to get very annoyed.

"Okay, this is getting really old fast," Jace declared as he pushed himself off of the floor, "for I am sick and tired of waking up in some unfamiliar place whenever something hits me," he explained as he started to look away from the floor and towards where he heard the angry demand came from, "and as for what I did to you, I have no freaking clue whatever I…" he trailed off when he fully lifted his head up and saw a silver and gold unicorn standing there with a bent metal bar floating in a silvery glow just like the glow around the unicorn's horn, "did?" he said shocked as the glow around the mythical creature's horn faded away, which the glow around the metal bar then soon faded away, causing the bent weapon to fall to the floor with a metallic clang.

Jace and unicorn stared at each other for a few moments as silence was served to each other on silver platters. "Oh you got to be kidding me," Jace finally spoke, breaking the silence between them. The unicorn's response was to roll its eyes up and then proceeding to faint right there on the spot with a sigh of disbelief, falling to the floor with a dull thud, "you got to be freaking kidding me?" Jace asked out loud annoyed.

He reached out a hand to try to stir awake the unicorn pony on the floor, but when his hand came into view of his sight he paused, for it wasn't his hand of bone and flesh that he saw, it was a hand of steel and iron, "what the heck?" he drew back his hand and turned it over and back again, he then pictured clenching his hand and the metallic one followed his thoughts and feeling every movement that went with the motions.

He quickly pushed himself up into a sitting position and started to examine the rest of his body and found that his entire body is made out of metal and gears, "w-what happened to me?" Jace questioned at the sight of the body that he awoke in, and at that moment he remembered what Karma said about his body being dead and how he gotten another to build him one.

Jace looked away from his new form and at the sleeping unicorn on the floor and realized that this is the 'other' whom Karma said that he got to built his new body, "oh you got to be fucking kidding me!"

Author's Note

Sorry about the delay folks, but life around here has been getting a lot more hectic as the date for my two year mission to spread the word of god around the world nears ever so close. However I was able to finish this chapter by staying up late into the night, so I hope you all like it.

Chapter 6: Past Memories and Promises

Chapter 6: Past Memories and Promises

"Would you care to tell me what in Equestria just happened back there?" a shell-shocked silver colored unicorn standing next to the automaton demanded after finding him laying in the grass and nearly having a panic attack at the sight of his leg and the already scratched and dinged up body of her wasted hard work. She quickly threw off her saddlebag as her horn quickly ignited and various tools wrapped in the silvery glow of her magic quickly floated out of her saddlebag at her hooves and drifted over Jace till they came to a stop above Jace's frozen leg. "Because I definitely don't remember anything like that in your blueprints," she explained as she started working on removing the leg's armor plating to get at the inner workings, but not before giving them a quick glance and wincing at the current sight of them. "And what did you do to your leg and plating?" she added, sounding a bit annoyed about the condition of her labor.

"Well you see Clockwork, before you had kindly woke me up, Karma gave me something that looks like a set of gears that he called a Key and that it's a source of my powers, and now that I think about it, what the heck happened to it?" Jace questioned the unicorn if she knows anything, but she just shrugged in response. "As for what happened to my leg, I told you earlier that my joints needed oil," he pointed out just as Clockwork successfully removed the plating off of Jace's leg and then reached inside to unfreeze it.

"A set of gears called a Key?" Clockwork repeated as she looked up at the line of tools floating in the air and then a pair of pliers and a wrench drifted out of it and into Jace's leg under the control of her gaze and resumed working. "Do you know what it unlock's and how is it a source of your powers?" she asked Jace as he felt something in his leg slightly give away to the persistent mechanic in his leg, causing it to kick up into the air and nearing hitting Clockwork in the face. "Oops, sorry, wrong set of gears."

"I don't know what it unlock's, but I think it created the sword for me to beat whatever that thing was," Jace replied as he looked behind him at the remains of the monster timberwolf that is slowly turning to ash as if an invisible fire is slowly consuming it.

"So wait, you're saying that it was this Key thing that created your sword?" she excitedly asked as she fiddled with something inside of Jace's leg and it responded to her fiddling by lowering itself to the ground. "Do you know if it could make anything else just like it did with the sword?"

Jace shrugged in response. "Nope sorry, I don't even have a clue where this key thing is now."

"Well that's kind of reckless," Clockwork commented as she stuck her head into Jace's leg.

"What do you mean by that?" Jace asked the unicorn inside his leg.

"A god had basically probably given you something that is very powerful and you somehow ended up losing it before you even woke up, that's kind of reckless and stupid on your part if you ask me," she explained as she pulled her head out of the automaton's leg. "I mean come on, how's that even possible?"

"Hey cut me some slack, I was just basically dumped off into this new and crazy world without even a hint of it, so I'm just running and acting on instinct here till I get a solid footing of what I am actually supposed to do," Jace clarified.

"Call it whatever you call it, I still think you're reckless and stupid." Clockwork said as her tools started to drift out of Jace's leg. She then raised her hoof and brought it down onto Jace's leg with a bang, causing a series of clicks and clanks to be heard and then soon followed by Jace feeling his leg unfreezing. "There I fixed it," she announced as she started replacing the armor plating. "But your joints still need oil, so be careful on how you move or you might end up seizing up again," Clockwork promised as she attached the last of the plating back on.

She stepped away from Jace as he started to push himself off of the ground and stood up straight. "Thanks Clockwork," Jace said, feeling grateful to the unicorn engineer as he stretched, but at the sound of gears moving and straining, he stopped and remembered what he is now. He looked down at his hands, remembering what he just did moments ago and that he's no longer human, but a soul now encased in metal, I'm not human anymore and I never will be again, he thought as he clenched his hands.

"Is everything alright Jace?" Clockwork asked, startling Jace as the unicorn's question brought him back to the world around him.

"Huh, what?" Jace asked as he looked down at the unicorn at his feet. "I said, is everything okay Jace?" she repeated the question as she pushed aside a lock of her golden mane, revealing the look of concern on her face.

"Huh? Oh, yeah everything's okay Clockwork," Jace quickly assured her.

"Alrighty then, just checking," Clockwork replied, however, she wasn't fully convinced of Jace's answer, but she decided to not question him anymore as she started to put her tools away, decided to let Jace to tell her some other time willingly.

As Jace moved around, liking the feeling of being able to move once more, he felt the eerie presence of multiple pair of eyes staring at his back, He looked towards where the feeling was coming from and there he saw a crowd of ponies standing there several yards away, looking frightened and ready to run at any moment. "Hey Clockwork, how come those ponies over there are looking as if they're ready to run like a herd of deer?" Jace asked his mechanic as he looked down at her and saw her putting away the last of her tools back into her saddlebag and snapping it close.

"Huh?" Clockwork said as she levitated her saddlebag back onto her back. Jace pointed to the group of ponies and they quickly responded to Jace's action by swiftly turning around and running away scared. "Oh," Clockwork hesitantly started as her ears fell down, now looking as if hurt. "Well you see Jace, the reason why everypony is scared... is well because of me."

"Because of you? Why?" Jace questioned. "As far as I can tell, you're not the type to cause others to be afraid of you."

"Thanks Jace," Clockwork said as she smiled up at him, but her smile didn't last long as it soon disappeared. "Well you see Jace, everything I make has a tendency to be dangerous," as soon as she said that, a panic look quickly formed on her face. "Sorry, I meant harmful dangerous, but you one the other hoof is that you're kind of, um."

"I get it Clockwork," Jace stopped the unicorn's thought process. "They're nervous because they think that you might have created something that's more dangerous than that Iron character and the super timberwolf combined," he concerned her worries. "But there's something you need to know," he started as he knelt down in front of Clockwork. "I always hated violence, so I try to find solutions without resorting to throwing fists," he explained as he looked at his hands once more. "But now that I'm some kind of war machine though, that's going to be a little harder to keep."

"Clockwork!" a voice cried out right before the mentioned pony was tackled by a fury of white feathers. "Thank Celestia that you're alright," Jace watched the same Pegasus that had insulted him earlier today, cry out in relief as she's now pinning the now stunned unicorn to the ground. "I just heard what happened from the others, are you okay?" Frosting asked as she got off of Clockwork, allowing her to pick herself up from the grass.

"Yeah Frosting, I'm okay," Clockwork confirmed as she fully stood up and shook some bits of grass out of her mane. "And you have Jace to thank," Clockwork said as she pointed towards the automaton that's still kneeling there, observing all that just happened.

"Wait, Jace?" Frosting questioned as she finally noticed him kneeling there.

"Hello Miss Frosting was it? I'm Jace," he greeted himself to her as he crouched down in front of the two ponies, making himself comfortable just in case of an inquiring.

"Clockwork, the robot you made just spoke to me," Frosting said in disbelief towards the unicorn mechanic. "And I think it just introduced itself the pony that you said you've been helping for the past year."

"Well Frosting," Clockwork started. "You do remember how I said that I have been working on a project to help Jace?" she asked her Pegasus friend, which she nodded in response. "Well the project I have working on is to give Jace here a new body and a second chance of life after he'd died," she finished, not mentioning that Jace had to make a deal with a god to get that second chance or that he wasn't a pony in his past life to spare the automaton of any questioning that might be coming his way.

"So wait a minute here," Frosting spoke, sounding as if she realized something. "The reason why Clockwork and I are still standing and talking to each other right now is because of you Jace and that body that Clockwork made for you?" she asked the automaton.

Jace thought it over before answering the Pegasus. "If you put it that way, then yes."

"Holy moly," Frosting said, suddenly excited as she turn back to Clockwork. "Clockwork, do you know what this means?" she asked the silver unicorn, but she quickly answered before she can. "It means Clockwork that your wish came true."

Wish? Jace thought as he stood up, feeling that he's no longer the center of the conversation, and looked towards the now stunned unicorn.

"How do you know about my wish?" Clockwork questioned her friend, her eyes wild open as if a personal secret was just told.

At this, Frosting suddenly became sheepish. "Heh heh, well you see Clockwork. I kind of sometimes overhear you talking once in a while when you're having one of your 'deprived of sleep state' that you're sometimes get in when you walk into my store." The Pegasus explained as the engineer unicorn let out a moan of embarrassment as her face is becoming red to match her current feelings. "Sorry Clockwork, I mostly tried not to listen, but I can't help it sometimes," Frosting apologized as her sheepish face suddenly became an excited one. "Now if you'll all excuse me, I have to tell everypony who'd saved us all."

Before Clockwork or Jace can say anything stop her, she quickly spread her wings and took off into the sky, and flew off in the direction where the crowd of ponies from before had ran away to. "Um, excuse me," a small voice spoke up that was soon followed by something tapping Jace's metal leg, creating an echoing metal sound. Jace looked away from the pink and white blur that's Clockwork's Pegasus friend and down at his feet, and there he saw the same filly that he'd saved from being stepped on by the monster timberwolf.

Jace crouched down to her eye level and said, "hey, I know you. You're the filly I saved from being crushed, am I right?" The filly nodded her head in response. "Are you okay, not hurt are you?"

The filly shyly looked away from Jace's concerned gazed and there he saw a tiny horn barely sticking out the filly's mane. So this one's a unicorn as well, he thought as she looked back at him. "Yeah, I'm alright, thanks to you mister robot."

"Please call me Jace," he suggested to the filly, which she nodded in confirmation. "Alrighty then. By the way, what's your name, because I was a little busy at the moment to learn it there and then."

"My name is Arcana."

When she said her name, Jace felt a deja vu feeling stir inside of him in response. "That's a nice name," he said trying to make sense of what he's feeling.

"It's alright I guess, but at least it's better than being called Magi like my brother," Arcana spoke her thoughts.

"There you are Arcana, I've been looking for you everywhere," a voice called out about them, causing Jace and the mentioned unicorn to look up and to see a white and silver Pegasus colt gliding down towards them. When the little Pegasus shakily landed, Jace saw that the most notable feature of the colt is a pair of oversized goggles resting on his forehead that looks like it's threatening to fall down over his eye at any moment. "I'm so glad that you're alright Arcana, I was worried that something might had happened to you when the timberwolves attacked."

"I'm glad to see that you're alright as well Star." When Arcana said the colt's name, the same deja vu feeling feeling once more stirred within Jace. Arcana looked up at the automaton towering over them and pointed at him. "I was just thanking Jace here for saving me from that freaky timberwolf."

Star the Pegasus looked up and finally took note of Jace standing there. "Thank you for saving Arcana's life. I wouldn't know what to do without her," the colt said to him. Jace picked up the gratitude in the colt's voice as well as a hint of something else that he couldn't place, but he didn't paid much mind to it as he stood up and towered over them.

"It's no problem, I'm glad to help in any way I can," Jace said as he looked up and took note of the evening sun in the sky, this has been one very interesting day, as well as very long. "Now I suggest that you two best be going now," he started as he looked down at the two foals at his feet and suggested to them, "Your parents are probably wondering where you two are, especially after what just happened today."

He saw the two foals nod their heads in agreement to what he said. "Yeah I think you're right about that," Arcana said as she turned to look at Star. "Let's get home quick, your mom's probably losing her feathers, worried and sick about you and I don't want to know what's going through my parents' and brother's head right now." She looked back up at Jace and added, "Bye Jace and thank you again for saving me."

With that final goodbye, she and Star quickly left him standing there as they ran off and made their way home. Jace stood there and tapped his chin as he watched the two foals ran in the distance, causing the tapping sound of metal on metal as he tried to understand what he felt from learning the two's names, like as if he had meet them before, but that there's something those two are missing. "I see that you've met Arcana and Star Streak," Jace heard Clockwork announce herself as she walked up next to him when the two foals disappeared from sight. "There's something about them that gives everypony around the idea and feeling that they're going to do great things."

"Why's that?" he asked as he looked down at silver unicorn.

Sensing him gazing at the top of her head, Clockwork looked up and met his gaze and answered, "well for Arcana, she would be drawing strange symbols that gives me and other unicorns shivers whenever we looked at them. While as for Star, he promised, or more liked vowed, in front of his whole class that someday he's going to 'fly faster than a shooting star in the night sky'." She shook her head in disbelief. "His classmates just laughed at him and his dreams, but he didn't let that get to him, because whenever I see him, I get a strong feeling of conviction from him, even astronomers swore that the stars were shining brighter that night when he made the promise."

"That's very interesting." Jace said intrigued. "But for some I was getting the feeling that there should be a third one." At his words, he saw Clockwork's ears droop down close to her head as a sad look quickly formed on her face.

"Well you're right Jace, there should be three of them, but not anymore. Aceiro, a young earth pony colt, had died in an explosion about several months ago at one of the town's furnaces. We don't know what was the cause or how it happened, but the whole building was nothing but a pile of charred wood and burnt stone by the time the rescue team arrived, so the thought of him surviving were pretty slim, however they never did found his body though." She looked away and gazed off into the direction the unique foals disappeared to. "So Arcana and Star, as well as Aceiro's father, are hoping that he's still alive out there, somewhere. But the rest of us just thinks that the explosion just didn't leave anything behind to be found."

These ponies acts and feels like a human would, Jace thought as he felt great sorrow for the colt that he had never met and just learned, as well as the grief from Clockwork. In fact, I think they're more human than a human. "Well, what's in the past is in the past. There's no point to grieve some more for those that already passed on," she said as she raised a hoof and wiped her face of any forming tears before looking back at Jace with a sad smile. "Let's go, I want to check up on a friend of mine to see if he's going to be okay," she then started making her way out of the park.

Jace stood there as he observed her. Maybe just a little more human, he thought before he started to follow the silver unicorn.

...

Frosting must have told most of the townsfolk about Jace and Clockwork by now, for when they left the park, they were met by a large crowd of murmuring ponies. As soon as they saw Jace's large automaton form standing behind Clockwork, they all fell silent as one. The unicorn was starting to feel the familiar uncomfortable feeling from their gazes that she had received multiple times whenever one of her inventions had run amok in town. Clockwork nervously cleared her throat before addressing to her friends and neighbors, "hello everypony, I'm sure that some of you might be wondering of what just happened a few hours ago. So if you'll take a moment, I'll explain-"

"We all know what happened," Clockwork heard a familiar voice announce from the crowd, "we just don't believe it, especially me." Clockwork then recognized the voice just as the owner of it stepped forward, causing the crowd of ponies to part for him; Taunt Line. "And I refuse to believe that I was saved by the pony with the glichiest talent in town and her freaky contraptions."

"Well deal with it, because you just were," Jace finally spoke up, startling the crowd of ponies.

"It could talk?" Taunt questioned as Jace saw him take a few steps back away from him and Clockwork, I guess Clockwork's friend didn't mentioned that I could.

"Yeah, I could talk," Jace confirmed as he stepped around Clockwork and towards the ungrateful pony, who's now backing up away from him as fast as he can, but he then fell onto his haunchs as Jace towered over him. "If it wasn't for Clockwork and her talents, she would've been taken to who knows where, while you and those that has the same opinion of her would been killed or being killed," he said to the cowering pony at his feet.

"Jace stop it," Clockwork ordered, causing the automaton to look back at her. "Let's just go, I believe he'd gotten the point," she said as she pointed to the now scared Taunt Line.

"Okay Clockwork, but just one more thing though." Jace looked back at the pony at his feet and lowered himself to Taunt's height and whispered, "If I hear anything more about you insulting Clockwork or her abilities..." he trailed off as he reached down and picked up a golf size rock from between the earth pony's front legs and brought it up to his face. Jace applied some force on the rock with his fingers, hoping to shatter it. However, there was a sudden cracking sound as the rock was suddenly pulverized into dust, causing Taunt and a few ponies, even Jace, to flinch. Whoa, that's to much, Jace thought as the dust slipped through his metal hand, but he was glad to see that the pony in front of him wasn't paying attention to him as his focus was on the remains of the rock trailing from his automaton hand. "Do you get me?"

A now pale looking Taunt looked back up at Jace, managing to say in a somewhat controlled voice. "You're b-bluffing, there's no way you're going to do that just after you saved us all."

"Are you willingly to take that chance?" Because you probably were there when I took down that timberwolf monster." Jace then stood up and looked down at the pony at full height. "So you know I can do it," he finished as he then turned around and walked back to Clockwork's side, which she then started walking off towards town as he neared her, compelling him to follow behind her.

When Clockwork estimated that she and Jace are out of the hearing range of the still shocked crowd behind them, she looks back at Jace and said, "Were you really serious back there?"

"Yes and no," Jace answered the unicorn as they passed by several ponies that he gave a quick wave at them and they hesitantly waved back at him. "Because you see here Clockwork, there are people back on my old world with that same superior attitude that that same pony has, which by the way, what's his name?"

"It's Taunt Line." Jace just shook his head at the name.

"You ponies sure do have weird names here," he commented, which Clockwork responded back with a pouting look.

"Looks who's talking, Jace is even weirder by our standards, for it has no meaning behind it whatsoever," she retorted.

Jace was about to argue with the unicorn when he realized that the ponies here in this world might have never heard a human name till now. "Touche madam," he admitted. "Well anyway, continuing what I was saying from before. People, or ponies in this case, who thinks that they're better than those around them, then thinks that gives them the right to step on them just annoys me to no end. However, he was right back there about me bluffing, because as I told you earlier; I hate violence and would try to find another solution without throwing fists. Heck, even the sight of blood makes me a bit queasy, but that Taunt Line character doesn't know that now, does he?" Jace said as he gave Clockwork a mischievous wink.

A smile formed on Clockwork's face as she realized what Jace had done for her. "Thanks Jace." However, her smile didn't last long as it disappeared and was replaced by one of concern. "Although I hope that they won't use that as a reason to dismantle you bolt by bolt, and trust me, they have done it with a few of my inventions before."

Jace just shrugged his shoulders in response. "What done is done and besides, I'm sure that you'll out for me like I did for you, because after all, it's what friends do." Silence immediately fell between the soul bound machine and the unicorn engineer as Jace and Clockwork suddenly stopped in the middle of the street, thinking over what he just said. They looked at each other with the sense of confusion hanging in the air between them, compelling Jace to break the silence, "we are friends, aren't we?"

Clockwork thought the question over in her head. "Even though I'm still a little mad at you for the humiliation that you'd put me through the past year, you did save us all of our lives and possibly risked yourself to be dismantled for defending me even though you don't know a lot about me. So yeah, I think you're friends, not the best of friends mind you, but still friends nevertheless."

"Well that's good to know," Jace said assured as Clockwork resumed walking, making her way towards a destination unknown to him. "Because I'll probably going to need some if I'm to survive in this crazy world," he added as he started following the silver unicorn.

...

As Jace followed Clockwork, they made their way through neighborhoods filled with ponies, some of them looking scared at the sight of the tall automaton walking among them following the silver engineer pony that made him whose reputation is questionable, but most of them approached right up to them and thanked them for saving them and their love ones before moving on with their lives.

"You ponies are sure friendly," Jace observed as a mother thanked the both of them as she passed by them with two foals in a baby carrier saddle hybrid on her back, Both of the baby ponies looked at Jace and waved at him, compelling him to wave back. "As well as a bit adorable. So why would anyone want to harm, let alone kill you all?"

"I don't know Jace, but that minotaur was looking for something in this town that must be very important if he's willingly, or desperate enough, to kill everypony in search of it," Clockwork theorized. "And for some strange reason, he thinks I knew what he's looking for and can lead him to it."

"Did he say what this thing is or what it looks like?" Jace questioned the unicorn, which she shook her head in response as they turned down onto an adjoining street, Jace's heavy metal footsteps causing the the ponies ahead of them to look back at them with wide eyes filled with surprise before quickly parting aside for them to walk by.

"He didn't even know what it looks like himself, for he had device with him that's probably a scanner of some kind to help him."

"So why was he kidnapping you?"

"Because whatever this thing is, it apparently emits a unique magic signature and I'm completely soaked in it."

"What's a magic signature?"

Clockwork came to a stop in the middle of the road at Jace's question, nearly causing Jace trip over her. She looked back at him with a look of realization on her face. "Oh, that's right, you're from another world. So you probably never heard of magic."

"Hey there's magic on our world, but it's either in fantasy stories or it's bogus done by illusionists," Jace clarified. "So I know of magic, just not the signature part."

"A world where magic is just fantasy," Clockwork skeptically said, not hearing Jace's question. "How do you survive if you don't have magic to levitate and move heavy objects, defending yourselves, or just to change the weather? You must be living like savages."

"Hey! Just for your information, my race is the most intelligent and dominate race back on my world," Jace said defensively, protecting his dignity and honor of his old home.

"And yet, you got yourself killed." Clockwork stabbed through his defenses and right into his dignity and honor. "And if I remember correctly, it was some by some annoying song and lack of insight," she added, her words stabbing into Jace's dignity and honor again before kicking it and leaving it on the ground to bleed and die where it laid.

"...Can we get back to you telling me what a magic signature is please?" Jace depressingly asked as he averted his eyes away from the hurtful unicorn and hung his head in shame and defeat.

"I'm sorry Jace," Clockwork immediately apologized when she realized what she said to him, meanwhile trying to suppress some forming giggles at the sight of the depressed machine standing before her. "Alright then, back to the magic signature. But first, there are some things you need to know here Jace, everypony as well as other creatures that's living here in this world has magic flowing through them, every single one of them different in their own way.

"Now I don't remember much about this subject from school, but I think that Earth ponies can extend their inner magic into the ground, causing the surrounding land to become fertile for life to grow around them very easily as well as draw magic from the earth, giving them more strength than a Pegasus or a unicorn. As for Pegasi ponies, my friend Frosting gave me a brief understanding of the inner workings about her race, that their able to get their inner magic to flow through them and into their wings, allowing them to fly as well as interact with clouds and the weather."

"Let me guess here, Pegasi are the speed demons on this world because their able to draw magic out of the air like an Earth pony on solid ground," Jace guessed and Clockwork nodded in response.

"Yeah, you're right. In fact, there's this one Pegasus that was able to go so fast, she broke the sound barrier and somehow the light spectrum, which created a rare occurrence called the sonic rainboom, and so far she has been the only one to do it. Well the princesses could possibly do it easily though, but hey, it's a big thing since it was a normal Pegasus that did it."

"Princesses?"

"I'll get to that later, so for now just wait." Clockwork filled her lungs with a deep breath of air before continuing with her explanatory session to Jace. "Now for unicorn, like me," she emphasized as she tapped her horn with a hoof. "Are unfortunately not the strongest or fastest ponies out of the three races, but we are the only ones able to bring out our inner magic into the physical world around us and bend it to our will. Although I've read and heard that deer are able to use magic from their antlers, but that's kind of hard to prove due to the fact that deer are nomadic and don't stay in one place for long, especially around towns and cities."

Deer could talk and use magic here too? This is a crazy world I've landed in! Jace thought as Clockwork resumed talking. "Now, not all unicorns' magic, as well as Earth and Pegasi ponies, are not the same even though if two ponies are from the same race. They all defer in ranges of strength and type of talent they have, for example; one Pegasus will be faster than anypony while a same Pegasus of the same build and gender might be a weak flyer, but has a talent that could make up for that weakness that makes that pony unique in her or his own way.

"Unicorn magic is a little more tricky to explain, but I'll try my best," Clockwork warned Jace. "Unicorns' inner magic matches to the pony's strength of will and strength of their talents, as well as appear in the color of the unicorn's aura." Her horn glowed in a silvery light of her magic as a series of tools floated out of her bag and started to circle around the caster. "On rare occasions, a unicorn's aura will change in color or strength if something life changing happened to the caster, but that rarely happens." Her tools started to float back into her saddlebag. "Now this is where magic signatures comes in, because you see here, all magic leaves some residue or print behind as a result since unicorns can't be a full hundred percent efficient in casting spells, but they can work on it to be as close to a hundred efficient when casting so that they leave very little of their signatures behind."

"Ah, so it's like a fingerprint then," Jace compared as he understood what Clockwork is saying.

"A fingerprint?" Clockwork questioned as she gave Jace a confused look that's being accompanied by a slight tilt of her head.

"Oh right, you ponies don't have fingers. So you wouldn't know what a fingerprint is then," Jace said, suppressing the urge to slap himself for missing the one obvious fact about ponies; no hands, just hooves. "Alright, a fingerprint is a tiny print left behind by fingers like these," he said as he crouched down and held out a hand in front of Clockwork, spreading out his fingers for her to see, which she raised an eyebrow at the sight of it, causing Jace to suppress another urge to slap himself with the same hand for not acknowledging the fact that he's no longer human anymore.

"However, since it appears that I'm now a machine and not made out of flesh and blood anymore; I don't have them anymore to show you," he said as he stood up, feeling slightly embarrassed at what he just done. "But they're same and are filled with spirals, loops, waves, and on some rare cases hook shapes, creating a unique print that no two are the same, which everyone back on my world had ten of."

"That's very interesting. So as I was saying from earlier, whatever this thing is that Iron was looking for, it must gives off a lot of magic signature to coat me in it for Iron trying to pony-nap and kill everypony here in Ironwood Falls."

"And you have absolutely no idea what this thing is?" Jace inquired, which Clockwork shook her head in response.

"Not a clue, but I think that there's a certain somepony I know that might knows something of what's going on here though," Clockwork said as she turned around and walked up to a building that Jace had unaware followed the mare to. When the unicorn walked through the double doors and closed behind her, Jace saw the familiar red plus sign painted in the middle of the doors.

"Oh great, a hospital. I don't like hospitals," Jace shuddered as he ducked down and followed after Clockwork through the doors.

...

Clockwork breathed in the smell of disinfect and rubbing alcohol as she walked down the halls of the hospital, passing by doctors and nurses as they rushed past her and a bowing automaton to tend to patients that had arrived that evening. "Move aside!" a voice called out from behind the two, causing them to quickly press themselves to the nearest wall just in time for a group of ponies rushing past them, wearing the traditional white coats that doctors wear, pushing a trolley with a pony on it that's covered in scratches and teeth marks. "Quickly get this one taken care of," one of the doctors ordered. "We still have others more injured than this one that we need to get, blasted those darn timberwolves." The doctor and the others quickly soon vanished out of Clockwork's sight as they turned down another hallway, leaving them and a few other ponies alone in the hall.

"I'm sorry for all of this mess." Clockwork was surprised to hear Jace apologizing for some reason, causing the unicorn to look back at the automaton to see him looking down at the ground as if he's the one that caused those pony's injuries.

"Why are you apologizing Jace, you're not the blame for all of this?" Clockwork questioned as she turned around and stepped into Jace's view of sight. "It was Iron and his timberwolves, not you."

"Yeah, but if I had been faster at destroying those timberwolves and stopping that minotaur, many or maybe none of you ponies wouldn't have been so seriously injured."

"But it's thank to you though that this is the only thing that everything had gotten from that frightening situation," Clockwork pointed out. "So if it wasn't for you, everypony would have died while I would have been taken to who knows where."

"So I guess that if it wasn't for you building my body and me stopping that minotaur, there wouldn't be a... What did you call this town, Ironwood Falls?" Clockwork nodded her head in response. "Then I guess that if it wasn't for us, Ironwood Falls wouldn't be on your maps anymore."

"It isn't even on our maps to begin with in the first place"

"Huh?"

"I'll explain later," Clockwork promised. "Now come on, cheer up, because it's a bit freaky for me to see a depressed looking machine."

"Then it'll be probably even more freaky for you if you'd somehow met Marvin." Jace chuckled at his joke and then noticed the confused look on Clockwork's face as she stared at him. "Err, it's a reference joke about a character from my world," he explained to her. Clockwork just shook her head at him.

"Your world sounds just plain crazy," she stated.

Says the mythical creature in front of me, Jace thought as Clockwork removed herself from Jace's face and started making her way down the hall, making the decision for Jace to continue following after her down the halls of the hospital. Clockwork made her way down the hallway, glancing around till she spotted a tired looking mare sitting behind a desk, wearing a small hat with her mane done into a bun behind it, a traditional look that singles her out from others that are not part of the hospital staff workers. "Um, excuse me nurse," Clockwork started as she walked up to the desk, gaining the nurse's attention on the other side. "I was wondering if you could possibly help me to find somepony."

"Sure..." the nurse started before noticing Jace's mechanized form standing behind the gold and silver unicorn. "Um..."

Sensing the nurse's hesitation, she followed the nurse's gaze back to Jace. "Oh, don't worry about him, he isn't a danger to anypony," Clockwork assured the nurse as she looked back at the mare behind the desk. "In fact, he's really friendly."

Discerning what Clockwork is trying to do for him, Jace gave the nurse a wave and greeted her, "Hi, nice to meet you." She responded back with a small unsure wave of her own, looking as if unsure of what to say.

"Well anyway, could you help me help find a certain somepony please?" Clockwork repeated her question, shaking the nurse's attention away from Jace and back to her.

"Oh yeah, sure." The nurse reaches behind the desk and pulls out a clipboard from the other side. Clockwork took note of the small stack of papers attached to the clipboard, there were that many? "What is the name as well as race of the pony you're looking for?"

"He's name's Archive; and he's an Earth pony."

When Clockwork supplied the name of her friend to the nurse, she started to flip through the sheets of paper of the clipboard as she muttered the name under her breath as the rest of the noises of the hospital slowly drifted into the background until the nurse came to a stop on a single page near the end. "Ah, here we are Archive the Earth pony archivist." The then nurse peered closer to the clipboard and read something under her breath that Clockwork or Jace couldn't hear. She glanced up and back at Clockwork. "You wouldn't happened to be Clockwork now, would you?"

"Yeah, I'm Clockwork." Clockwork gave the nurse a puzzled look. "Why you asking?"

"There's a note here saying that if anypony should be looking for this patient, I should ask if they're Clockwork." The nurse then placed down the clipboard before she pushed away from the desk and got out of the chair and stepped around the desk and stood in front of Clockwork and Jace. "If yes, I'm to immediately guide the visitor Clockwork-," she took a quick glance upward towards Jace, "-and any others that might be with her. So if you'll be so kind, please follow me," the nurse instructed before turning around and started making her way down the hall.

As the nurse made her way down the hall, Clockwork looked up at Jace and found him looking back at her. "Don't look at me, I got nothing." They heard a throat being cleared, causing the two friends to look down the hall to see an impatient looking nurse watching them as she had stopped a little away down the hall. I don't know what's going on here, but I want answers, Clockwork thought as she started walking with Jace following close behind her. The nurse faced forward and resumed walking down the hall with the two friends now in tow.

Clockwork and Jace followed the nurse down the hall, up a couple flights of stairs and down some more hallways, all the while passing by other doctors and nurses with patients whom had momentarily stopped in what they're doing to watch Jace walk by them before resuming back to their tasks. The nurse finally came to a stop at a non-descriptive door and turned around to face Clockwork and Jace. "Here you are," the nurse started as she pointed at the door, the only thing making it stand out from the others is a golden plaque with "C5" written on it that's hanging on it. "But please, for your friend's health, don't take too long with him, because he was seriously injured when they brought him in and still on intense care watch. So if he's going to make a full recovery, he'll need rest and peace," the nurse informed them before walking past them, possibly to return to her original job.

Clockwork stepped up to the pristine white door of "C5" and looked at it, feeling as if that whatever is behind the door, its holding the answers to her questions. Which it might does, Clockwork thought as she raised a hoof and placed it on the doorknob. "So who's Archive?" she heard Jace asked before she could open the door as he stepped up next to her.

She gave him a sideways glance. "Archive's a close friend of mine that Iron had seriously injured for information when he couldn't find what he was looking for at the library, but Archive told me to run instead when he saw me then answering Iron."

"So you think he might knows something of what's going on then."

"Or that he could've been more concern for my safety, but I hope that he does might though, because I don't know what to do next if he really doesn't know anything," Clockwork voiced her worries as she turn her eyes back to the door and took a deep breath before saying, "well, here goes everything." She then turns the knob and pushed open the door before walking through it to the other side.

When Clockwork entered the hospital room, she was surprised to see that she wasn't the only visitor, for standing there next to the bed containing a heavily bandaged Archive is the ironmonger Forge and her Pegasus friend Frosting. "What are you all doing here?"

Instead of answering her, Forge moved from Archive's bedside and walked towards her, his limp slightly more pronounced, making Clockwork to believe that he's been using his favored leg more often than usual. He came to a stop as he stood in front of her, where he then spoke. "There's something we want to talk about with you Clockwork."

Before Clockwork can ask what it is, there was a commotion behind her. She looked back just in time to Jace bang his head into the top of the doorway. "Jeez," Jace said as he removed his face from the frame and ducked down even more to fit through the door. "You ponies sure have small doors," he said as he crouched into the room. "Or maybe it's because I'm taller than you ponies." He then became silent as he finally noticed that Clockwork wasn't alone in the room.

Everypony looked at Jace and him back at them, the sound of the heart monitor in the room being the only thing to be heard. "Forge," a voice wheezed, causing everypony and automaton to look towards the occupant of the bed. "Step aside, there's something that she's needs to know," Archive managed to say before a coughing spell fell on him.

Forge stepped aside to allow the unicorn to pass as she walked passed him and towards the injured Archive. When she came close to her aged friend, she saw that Iron must have done more damage than she originally thought, for Archive's face was heavily covered in bandages and his left hind leg is in a cast. "What is it that I have to know Archive?"

"Clockwork, because of what I've heard of what you've done today from Frosting," he started as he nodded towards Jace at the other side of the room. "I'm afraid that we all have failed our promise in trying to keep you safe."

Clockwork was shocked as she stood there after hearing what Archive said, trying to make sense of what he just said. "What do you mean that you all failed to keep me safe, why would you or any of you make promise like that anyway, why did I needed to be kept safe anyway?" Clockwork questioned everypony as she looked at her childhood neighbors and friends, feeling uncomfortable and upset about the whole situation she's in. "Who made you make that promise to anyway and for what reason?" Clockwork finished the last question in a scream as the stress of the situation and the stress from earlier today finally broke down her mental barriers.

"It was your mother Clockwork."

Clockwork's frustration and stress disappeared when she heard Forge answer her. She stood there for a few moments before her mind registered what he finally said as she looked at him and saw that Forge has a sad look on his face while taking note that Jace had at some point slipped out of the room unnoticed. She looked away from the ironmonger and to Frosting and Archive, both with the same sad look on their faces as well. "My mom?"

"She made each and every one of us promise something to her in keeping you safe and protected," Frosting explained as she looked up and met Clockwork's gaze.

"Protect me, protect me from what?"

"We don't know," Archive answered this time. "Before she left, all she told me was that I must keep everything that involves anything with engineering away from you. So she requested for me to move everything involving engineering to the out of the way part of the library so that you wouldn't be drawn to it and discover your cutie mark and your talent."

At the mention of her cutie mark, Clockwork took a glance at the twin pair of gears linking each other that adorn each of her flanks. "Wait a minute," Clockwork started as she had a sudden realization when she took note of Archive's words as she looked back at him. "How could've my mom knew what my talent was going to be? It's impossible to know one's destiny before it's discovered."

"That's what I thought too as well and so I didn't follow up on her request, but on the day she left, you came to the library and started browsing around for something to read." Archive took a breath to help steady himself. "I was surprised to see you come back with a book about engines and how they worked, that is when your mother's words came true. So I tried to rectify what I failed to do, but it was already too late."

Clockwork remembered that day as if it was just yesterday; she had only been a filly with no cutie mark back then and had just gotten out of school and was waiting there for her mom to pick her up so they can walk home together. However, after getting tired of waiting for hours since the last pony had left the schoolhouse, she had started making her way back home alone, but along the way she stopped by the library because she gotten a feeling to go and explore it. Clockwork remembered how she walked down the main hall of bookcases, that at the time had felt immense to her due to her small size, until she came across an isle that said "Engineering" on the sign and felt excited for some reason at that moment when she started walking down it and came across the book that Archive mentioned, and now that she thinks about, when she'd brought the book to Archive to check it out, he had a surprised look on his face when he saw it. Clockwork quickly shook her head, not wanting to descend any farther on that particular memory.

She looked up from Archive and towards her childhood friend. "And you were on it as well?" Clockwork asked the Pegasus, feeling betrayed by her best and closest friend. The pink and white Pegasus nodded in response. "Then how come you didn't tell me anything of all of this at all?"

"I wanted to Clockwork, I really did," Frosting said, sounding as if the secret had been hurting her all of this time. "But your mom made me promise not to say anything of this to you and to be by your side when you need me."

"I thought we were friends, because friends don't do this to their friends." Clockwork's eyes are now filled with tears of anger by the deceit of her friend.

"Clockwork, please calm down. She didn't have any choice," Forge said to her, trying to calm the angered unicorn as he limped to her side. "Like Frosting here, we wanted to tell you, we really did, but we couldn't tell you anything if we were to keep you safe."

"Keep me safe from exactly what though?" Clockwork angrily questioned as she quickly stepped around him as soon as he'd gotten near her. "And what's your role in all of this?"

"You wouldn't understand if I told you Clockwork," Forge said to her as he looked back at her.

"Try me," the unicorn challenged him. "Because I've already seen some crazy things that just happened today."

The earth pony let out a sigh. "I was to discourage you of your talents should you happened to discover it. So I would once in a while tamper with a part or two whenever you would request something at the forge to cause something to go wrong in your inventions." When he said those things, it was as if a veil was lifted away from Clockwork's mind as she recounted all of her past failed creations and their causes; a stripped bolt and nut here and there, a strained piece of metal, an improperly forged spring coil.

"You're willingly to put yourself in danger from your tampering, just so that you can keep a promise you made to my mom." Clockwork was bewildered at the danger the ironmonger was willingly to put himself through, causing her to forget about her anger to her childhood friends and neighbors. "Why?"

"This is where you might not understand," Forge said to her, now looking as if he's reliving a particular memory. "Because you see here Clockwork, on that day she came to my shop, I saw her scared and nearly in tears. I asked her to see what's bothering her and she told me that she couldn't stay here in Ironwood Falls any longer and needs to leave. She wouldn't, or maybe she couldn't, tell me why she's leaving, all she did was to have me promise to her that I should watch over you and keep you safe, and again I don't know why she asked us all of this, but by the look on her face when she asked me, I could tell that she loves you very much and wanted to take you along wherever she's going, but can't and it pained her greatly to leave you behind. But because of what happened today Clockwork, it now seems to be what we all fear that might happen someday."

Forge then once more started to limp towards the engineer. When Clockwork saw him moving closer to her, she was about to step away from him, but then pause as she saw pained sadness behind his eyes, finally allowing the forger to near the unicorn. "Clockwork, do you care about the safety of everypony that lives in town?" Forge asked as he placed a hoof on her shoulder, Clockwork immediately picked up on the sadness in his voice when he asked her.

Clockwork remembered the wish that she'd made all of those months ago just before she came upon Jace, confirming her answer. "Of course I do Forge." She noticed her friend in the corner of her eye, causing her glanced at Frosting and saw the Pegasus sitting there with a hoof draped over her eyes, tears running underneath the hoof as she's biting her bottom lip as if to hold back a wail. She then glanced towards Archive and saw his eyes are closed shut as tears are seeping through at the corners of his eyelids and into his bandages. What's going on here?

Clockwork looked back at Forge and saw that are tears in eyes as well. "Then there's one thing you must do to keep them, as well as yourself Clockwork, safe from any danger." He paused to take back his hoof to wipe his eyes of tears before continuing, his voice now filled with sorrow. "Clockwork, you must leave Ironwood Falls and never look back!"

Author's Note

I suddenly realized that this chapter and the latest chapter for my other story has some irony in them, because you see, I got home and the latest chapters are about leaving, that is seriously funny.

Well anyway, hope that you all enjoyed this chapter and it feels great to write again, but I am still stuck doing my writing by phone, but nevertheless, I did (ugh, hope to get a new computer soon). Have a great time and see you all later.

-Cyber V

P.S. Report any mistakes you see in the comments and I'll try to corret them as soon as possible.

Chapter 7: Tears and Promises

“It was your mother Clockwork.” Jace felt the mood in the hospital room drop a few degrees when the heavily beaten pony in the bed mentioned the silver unicorn's mom, he then saw Clockwork stiffen at the mention of her mom, okay, I'm out of here. He carefully and quickly left the room quietly -keeping his head down so that he could pass through the low door frame without hitting into again- not wanting to be the giant pink elephant in room while something that appears to be very personal to Clockwork was discussed.

“My mom?” Jace heard Clockwork right before he quietly closed the door and was relieved that he was able to get out of the room in time as he heard the hurt in her voice right before he closed the door. Following by memory, Jace made his way through the halls, trying to make his way back outside, once again causing doctors and patients alike to squish themselves to the walls to allow him to pass by, earning him some more stares as he walked by. When Jace finally made it outside, he fully stood up as he stretched, causing a symphony of metal straining and gears turning to be heard. He lowered his arms and looked around and saw that ponies outside had stopped what they were doing to stare at him, some with a frightened look painted on their faces.

I should probably do nothing that seems threatening, Jace thought as he moved away from blocking the door and sat down on the street, leaning against the building of the hospital. When the ponies saw Jace sat down and appeared to be relaxing, they resumed what they were doing, although always keeping the large automaton within their sights for any movement. Jace leaned his head on the wall, peering at the quickening sunset that told those around that night will be soon upon them. He closed his eyes and started to contemplate his situation. Okay, let's see here; I'm a soul bonded to a machine in a land of colorful ponies that according to Fate, is in a turmoil that forced him to participate in this 'game of the god' and thus had me become his herald to help correct that imbalance. He also mentioned that there are more 'others' like me that the gods choose to be their representatives, but I didn't find any other mention of mechas like me, as well as no mention of humans, in any of piece of information I had at hand. So that either means that my info is outdated or that they're not mechas or humans, but in different forms... geez, this is giving me a headache.

Jace's thoughts were pulled away when he suddenly became aware a series of whispering voices around him, “see, there it is.”

“It does look a little scary, but cool at the same time though.”

“I dare one of you to touch it,” another voice joined in. At what the voice said, Jace slightly opened his eyes and there he saw that he's surrounded by a small crowd of colts and fillies ranging in different colors and races that Clockwork mentioned earlier. He couldn't help but feel a smile form under the helm at the sight of the adorable and curious foals. His eyes then focused onto two nervous colts as a third stood behind them looking a bit smug.

“Do you think its asleep?”, “Can a machine even sleep?” the two colts nervously whispered to each other, unsure about Jace's still form.

“Fine, if you two chickens are not going to touch it, I'll go and touch it,” the smug one said as he walked pass the two colts and cautiously walked up to one of Jace's hand that's resting on his legs. Jace observed the now nervous colt as he stretched out a hoof and carefully touched it, like a child would do when poking its parents while they're sleeping. When the colt didn't get a reaction from him, Jace saw a smile grew on the foal's face as his confidence grew three times. The foal turned around as he addressed to the rest of the foals there, “see nothing to it, it didn't even wake up.”

Jace just sat there as the now brave crowd of foals walked up to him and started poking him, causing a symphony of metal tapping as the foals tapped various armor plating on the automaton, which caused the children to laugh in enjoyment as the music they're making on him. Jace couldn't help but be amused at the sight of the curious children as they now have a rhythm to a the sounds coming from his automaton body. When the last ring of their makeshift song ended, the foals started giggling at what they did, which Jace couldn't hold it in any longer and joined in with a chuckle of his own, causing the crowd of foals to look at him and saw him looking at them, freezing on the spot as if they just got caught sneaking into the cookie jar. “Not bad at all, that was pretty good. However, it seems that there's something missing at the end...,” Jace complimented them, before he started to rub his chin in contemplation. “Oh I know what's missing, this.”

Jace then lifted a fist, causing some of the foals to quickly duck to the ground, and pounded on his chest. A gong like sound resonated from Jace's chest. “There we go, now your song is complete.”

There was moment of pause as the foals stared at the automaton, comprehending what they just saw and heard, before bursting out in laughter at the silliness of the machine before them. Jace then noticed that it is getting dark and addressed to the still laughing colts and fillies before him, “alright, alright you all. Now that you had your laugh, I think you should start heading home since it's getting late and your parents are still probably shaken up from today's events.”

This earned him a series of ahhs from the foals as their fun is now over. “Go on you all, time's a wasting and I bet that you don't want to worry your folks,” Jace said as he shooed them away, which they reluctantly complied and started to walk away, but not without them running up to Jace to quickly get a touch of the machine that saved them while thank you's and goodbye's were said as they left him alone, but before they left though, Jace noticed that some of the foals had those markings on their flanks while some are blank of any. Forgot to ask Clockwork what those markings are and their meaning.

Jace sat there a the side of the street, watching ponies walk by and occasionally waving to them, waiting for Clockwork to come out of the hospital. The setting sun finally gave its dominion in the sky away to the moon and its night. Jace looked up and watched the raising moon as the stars started to shine brightly in the night sky. Wow, nights are never like this back home, a pang of sadness hit him at the thought of his family and old home-world. There's no going back home, for this is my new home now.

…

The sound of a door opening and closing jolted Jace awake, making him realize that he must have fallen asleep at some point while waiting for Clockwork. At the thought of the pony engineer, Jace glanced towards the front doors to see who came out and sure enough, saw the pony in question sitting there under the lights of the streetlamps, her head hanging, causing her golden mane to hide her face from sight. Jace got up from the ground and walked towards the unicorn.

“So how's you're friend doing...” Jace trailed off his question when Clockwork looked up from the ground to face him, revealing a pair of red tinted eyes and damp fur around them, telling Jace that she has been crying recently, causing him to revise his question, “um, is everything okay Clockwork?”

“No Jace, everything's is not okay,” Clockwork wept as tears started to form in her eyes. “I can't stay here anymore.”

Jace was taken aback at what Clockwork said as he saw her starting to cry. Unsure what to do next other than the obvious, he sat down next to the crying unicorn and wrapped an arm around her, causing the unicorn to gasp at the sudden, but kind filled, gesture from Jace. “Hey easy there. Take deep, calm, breaths and explain to me what you meant by that you can't stay here anymore, and I'll see if I can help?”

Clockwork couldn't help but let out a sad filled laugh at what Jace is trying to do for her. She took in a breath and started to talk, “I don't think you'll be able to punch or cut this problem Jace, because you see, it involves the both of us.” Clockwork looked up to the machine that's trying to comfort her. “Jace, because what I done for you and what you did, I have to leave Ironwood Falls and never come back.”

“What, why?” Jace asked shocked as he removed his arm from around her. “You live here and helped saved the town, so why are you saying that you need to leave it?”

“In order to keep everypony safe Jace!”

“Safe? Safe from what?”

Clockwork shook her head at that question. “You, me or those that Iron is working for, I just don't know the answer to that one and my friends didn't have an answer as well. All they said that if I stay here any longer, I'm putting everypony in great danger if whoever Iron is working for sends something more dangerous than a Minotaur and a pack of timberwolves, if Iron had told them about you and me.”

“So that whoever they are can get whatever this thing is,” Jace thought as he leaned on his knees and stared off into nowhere.

“That's right, and since I'm the only link to this mysterious object, it furthers 'hammers the nail in the coffin' of my situation so to speak,” she released another sad-filled sigh as she realized that there are not many options she could choose from.

“Well, what is it that you want Clockwork?” Jace asked as he looked back at the unicorn, causing her to look eye to eye.

At his question, Clockwork remembered the promise she vowed almost a year ago before stumbling across Jace. “I want to help those around me Jace... and I can't do that if I'm going to be putting those I love in danger.”

“Then I guess there's no other choice now is there,” Jace groaned as he looked towards the star-filled night sky. “Butts, this suck hard. My first day awake and I got attacked by vicious plants and a freaking Minotaur that planned to kill a whole town and now we're going to have to leave before I even could see this town.”

Clockwork picked up something Jace had just said. “We? But I'm the one that needs to leave, not you. So why did you say as if the both us are leaving?” she asked as she looked at the still stargazing machine.

“Well think about this Clockwork, it was you built my body in the first place. So if Iron told those he's working for about me, then I'm risking the lives here in this town as well and I'm sure my boss doesn't want me to do that,” Jace replied as he finally looked back at the unicorn at his side. “Also, we're friends and friends stick together to help each other, and besides, you're going to need a bodyguard and I need to a very talented engineer to keep me in good working order. So we need each other and frankly, I'm scared that this town of yours is going to scrap me as soon as you're not looking.”

Clockwork couldn't help but laugh at Jace's thoughts as the feeling of his assurance for her and his safety, but mostly her's though. She looked up to the night sky and oddly felt comforted sitting there next to Jace as they both stare into the night sky. As much as I don't like, Jace is right, we can't stay here if we're going to risk everypony's safety. We'll need to leave soon, at that thought, Clockwork felt some tears leave her eyes as she stare at the full moon.

…

Jace didn't know how long he sat there with Clockwork in front of the hospital, staring at the night sky and feeling its calming effect take hold on the both of them, but the sound of light snoring shook his out of it and to look towards his companion to find her asleep on the ground, with some tears still lingering at her closed eyelids. Realizing that it is way later than he thought it was and that they're going to probably have a long day ahead of them tomorrow, he reached out to Clockwork's sleeping form and gently slid his hands underneath her as not to wake her. He carefully stood up with Clockwork in arms and started to make his way in the direction of Clockwork's home.

Jace tried to be silent with his metal footsteps on the cobblestone road as much as he can as to not disturb the sleeping unicorn in his arms, but with events that happened today, it's going to take more than metal footsteps to wake the unicorn that suffered through a lot of physical, mental and emotional stress from today. When Jace finally made it to the neighborhood that he first confronted a pack of timberwolves, he made his way by memory back to Clockwork's home and there he was glad that the unicorn was asleep as he winced at the sight of the remains of the broken door hanging on its hinges. Jace ducked through the doorway and into the front room with the smashed table in pieces all over the floor, I am so glad that Clockwork's asleep for this.

He made his way to the back of the room, navigating around the tripping hazards that's lying all over the floor thanks to the light of the moon that's coming through the doorway. Jace came to one of the doors in the back of the room, quickly shifting all of Clockwork's weight into one arm to open it before risking dropping the unicorn. He once again ducked under the low door frame and entered a bedroom that he guessed must be the unicorn's when he had explored Clockwork's home when she was out cold earlier today, finding it full of small machines and schematics, with books about the unicorn's profession. The automaton quietly walked over to her bed and placed her in it, removing the pony's saddlebag full of tools and setting them on the floor before pulling up the covers over her, making sure that she's comfortable.

Jace made his way back to the main room, but stopped at looked back at the now peaceful sleeping pony. Jace couldn't help but feel worried for the pony that helped him for all those months and now had to leave her home and town for the price of her willingness to help others in need. He feels like a complete jackass now. I promise Clockwork, I'll make everything right, Jace let out a sigh as he started to leave the room... and ended up smacking his head right into the door frame. He let out a small groan of frustration as he angrily questioned why the doors are short but the ceilings are higher than necessary for a pony.

He ducked through the doorway and silently closed the door of Clockwork's room. Jace turned around and faced the wreckage in the room. Unless she made a some kind of WALL-E, I guess I need to clean this up. Now, where's the light switch... please don't tell me this world doesn't have electricity?

…

Warm and soft, those are the only things that Clockwork felt right now and doesn't want to leave them, but then became aware of the sound of something moving in the next room, causing her to reluctantly open her eyes weakly to find that she's in her bed. Jace must have carried me home and put me to bed when I fell asleep outside of the hospital, the sound of something moving in the next room once again drawn her attention, what is Jace doing? She pulled aside the covers and hopped out of bed, her hooves hitting the wood floor with a thunk as she moved towards her bedroom door to see what the automaton is up to.

The first thing that greeted her when she opened the door was the scent of something cooking, causing Clockwork's stomach to growl in hunger, reminding her that she haven't eaten anything at all since yesterday afternoon after the attack. She peered out the door and there she saw Jace crouching at the stove cooking whatever that her stomach wants to have badly. Jace must have sensed her staring at him, for he turned towards her and gave her a wave. “Morning sleepy head or should I say almost afternoon.”

“It's that late?”

“Yup,” he replied as he turned his attention back to the stove and to whatever he's cooking. “You sure were exhausted, although I don't blame ya as you had a very rough day yesterday.”

“What are you cooking?” Clockwork asked as she walked to over Jace to see what he's cooking. “And where did you get the food, for I don't anything to eat left?”

“Oh, um, I hope you don't mind. I took some of your money and bought some food to make you breakfast since you probably didn't get anything to eat since yesterday.” At the mention of eating, Clockwork's stomach growl, causing Clockwork to give Jace a sheepish grin at his correct deduction as he stared at her before turning his focus once more to the pans in front of him. “I guess I was right. As for what I'm cooking, I'm cooking diced up potatoes with egg and cheese with cut up onions and bell peppers with apparently something called hay bacon, but hey, bacon is bacon so no complaining there. Oh and buttered toast, don't forget the buttered toast.”

Clockwork's mouth started to water as Jace described what was going to be her meal and then she realized something about Jace. “You can cook?” She asked him as he started to scoop food from the pan and onto a single plate.

“Yeah I can, my parents taught me how to cook from my dad teaching me how to grill to my mom cooking with the stove,” Clockwork wasn't sure, but she thought she heard some sadness when Jace was mention his parents, however Jace resumed talking before she could ask. “Although now I'm a machine and can't eat anything now, that doesn't mean I can't still cook... heh, Bender would be proud.”

“Who?” Clockwork asked with a raised eyebrow.

“No one of great importance Clockwork,” Jace answered as he picked up the plate and handed it over to Clockwork. “Here you go, enjoy.”

Clockwork glanced at the food-laden plate and barely controlled herself from drooling at the sight of it. She grabbed the plate in her magic and took it out of Jace's hand and brought it over to the table. She stopped in mid-step when she noticed that something is missing. “Um, Jace?”

“Yeah?” Jace called back as he started to wash the dishes in the sink.

“Where's my table and on that note, where's my front door?!”

“Oh yeah, about that, a timberwolf barged in and I fought with it on the table. I had to toss out the remains last night, sorry about that.”

Clockwork could feel a slight headache starting to seep into her head, but she shook her head and made her way to the couch. “It's to soon for me to deal with right now,” she said as she sat on the couch before digging into her first meal of the day. She levitated a fork-full of Jace's food to her mouth, but paused right before, contemplating that she was about to eat something that Jace made., however, her stomach won her over with its annoyance of being withheld food. Jace's food was probably the best home cooked meal that Clockwork every had in a long time, so abandoned the fork and set about stuffing her muzzle with more of the food that's making her palate sing with the many, but equally balanced, flavors.

Clockwork then heard laughter, causing her to look up to see Jace holding the counter to hold himself from falling to the ground. “Wow, you must have been starving, or you really liked my cooking.” Clockwork then realized that he was laughing at her forgone of manners, causing a blush to spread across her face. Jace looked up and immediately stopped laughing when he saw the unicorn's flushed embarrassed face, making him feel more like a jerk than a need friend now. “Sorry Clockwork, I didn't mean it like that, it's just that... it was funny seeing you like that, er, that isn't what I mean either. Ah freak!” Jace whirled around and slammed his head against the wall... and ended up putting a hole in the wall. “And I just put a hole in your wall, didn't I?” He called out from within the walls.

Clockwork winced at the sight of the damage, but she couldn't help but giggle at Jace's awkwardness around her. “You don't have much experience talking with mares, do you?” she asked Jace as he pulled his head out of the wall.

“No I don't, but if by mares you mean girls, then the answer is still no. In fact, you're the only female that I have been near this long.” He said as he sat down cross legged, inviting a series of groans of much needed oiled gears and cogs, reminding Clockwork to do that as soon as possible... before leaving town.

She looked down at her plate to resume eating, with utensils this time, but frown when she saw that she had cleared her plate in a frenzy to stuff her gullet with food. “There's still more in the pan in case you want more,” Jace said, clearly understanding what she was thinking.

“Aren't you going to eat anything Jace?”

He shook his head in response before leaning it against the counter, staring at the ceiling. “As I said before, since I'm a machine now, I can't eat or drink anything anymore. Gosh, I'm going to miss eating, especially meat.”

“Wait, you eat meat!” Clockwork said in stunned horror.

Confused at the tone of Clockwork's, Jace faced the unicorn and the stunned horror that's written all over her face. It then drawn on him on one important fact that he completely looked over, which resulted him slapping himself upside the head. “Oh crap, that explained all the horrified expressions from the food vendors when I asked for any meat-based product, you all are herbivores.”

“You eat meat!” The stupefied unicorn once again repeated. “As in, living things?”

“Yes, I ate meat. As did everyone from my old world, but we did it out of necessity as our bodies needed the important nutrients that it has.”

“You still ate a living thing Jace.”

“True that we ate living things Clockwork, but you have to understand this though, my old race was the dominate race while animals around us could barely think, I mean sure, there were ones that were smarter than others, and even then there are some things that we could only eat. But you have to believe me on this Clockwork, if an animal could talk, then it would probably consider murder by some if we ate it.”

The last words calmed Clockwork down enough, but not completely. “You still ate meat though Jace.”

“And I'm not denying that, but since I'm a machine, you have nothing to fret about. Beside, I'm sure that pony has never been our menus-” at least not where I'm from that is, “and besides, meat isn't just the only thing my kind ate, we omnivores, so we eat fruit and vegetables along with grains and whatnot. There are even some that are completely... um, herbivores, like you, but they don't flowers or anything like that though.” This seemed to relax Clockwork a little more to the point she's not freaking about the new fact about Jace and his former kind.

“Okay, that's good to know at least,” Clockwork said and saw Jace relax his shoulders now that uncomfortable conversation is over with. Clockwork and Jace sat there in silence, both staring at each other until Clockwork started to giggle with Jace following soon after, till they both were laughing.

“Wow, we're an odd bunch, huh?” Jace said as he regain control of his laughs.

“Yes, yes we are,” Clockwork agreed as she wiped a foreleg across her face to wipe the tears away, but she immediately pulled her leg away from her face revealing a look of disgust, “ugh, that's horrid.”

“What, my cooking?” Jace asked confused.

“No, I stink, very badly. I smell like a timberwolf's bad morning breath.”

“It's a good thing that I don't have a nose anymore then, huh?”

Clockwork rolled her eyes before jumping off the couch and made her way to other door next to her bedroom as she said to Jace, “well everypony else does and I don't want them running away from me, now do I? So if you don't mind I'm going to wash myself if you don't mind.” She put a hoof on the doorknob and gave it a turn, swinging open the door to reveal a bathroom on the other side before stepping into and closing the door.

Jace soon heard the sound of running water coming from the other side of the door. “Wait, how did she just opened the door with a hoof? Ugh, great another question added to list of questions I already have.” He stood up and made his way outside to give Clockwork a little more privacy. He walked down the short walkway, passing by a pile of smashed up wood, and sat down on what appeared to be a body frame of some kind of vehicle, although it was completely rusted so Jace couldn't make out what type of vehicle it was suppose to be. Jace looked around at the junk yard, taking note of the many (but obvious failed, if he had to take a guess at the state they're in) inventions that mostly composed it, surprised at the near similarities of machines back Earth. “Wow, if any of these things worked-”

“Then she would all be in much greater danger,” a gruff voice interrupted him, causing Jace to looked towards where the voice came from. There he saw a much older gray stallion without the horn or wings, but looking as if he's been caught on fire a few times in his life, walking towards him with a slight limp in his step. “And discovered that much sooner as well.”

“Who are you?”

“I'm Forge and you must be Jace if I remember Frosting correctly,” Forge the pony said as he limped up to Jace and gave him the scrutiny look at the machine in front of him. “I have to say, Clockwork did an amazing job with you Jace, did you know that she only asked me to make the chest plate and helm that you're wearing right now? Glad that I went with the high grade steel instead of the low grade iron, because I didn't know know what exactly she was making at the time even though she said she's making a statue out of the junk she has.” Forge gave a quick glance around them at the mentioned junk pile. “Although she might have actually did for some of your parts now that I think about it.”

Jace couldn't tell if the pony was intentionally insulting him or not when he said, but he went for the latter as the pony suddenly pressed an ear to his chest. He was starting to get uncomfortable as the stallion held his head on his chest, before Jace could say anything about that, Forge suddenly removed his ear and glanced with a approved look, which then turned into a slight frown. “I'm no engineer, but I can tell a great piece of machinery when I see and hear one.”

“That's great and all, but I'm sorry if I'm being rude here gramps, but why are you here? Because I don't think you're hear to see how I tick.” Jace asked as he lowered himself to the stallion's eye level.

The stallion snorted at the remark of being called gramps, but didn't allow it to bother him much. “I'm here to give something to Clockwork.” Jace then saw that the stallion is wearing a single saddlebag on his side. “Before she needs to leave.”

“So your the one that told Clockwork that she needs to leave.” Jace now remembered seeing this pony in the hospital room before leaving it at the mention of Clockwork's mom.

“I wasn't the one, but nevertheless, I still agree to the fact that she needs to leave just the same.”

“Why though? This is her home, don't you care about her at all?”

A dark look appeared on Forge's face at Jace's words, and said in a rising tone of anger, “of course I do care about her, we all do. We're the only family that she has left in this town and it breaks our hearts to tell her to leave this place and to never come back.”

“Then why though?” Jace asked in an equally rising tone to match the pony's.

“To keep her safe!” The pony yelled at Jace, causing him to taken back at what the pony said as Forge quickly shut his eyes, forcing a couple of tears to roll from his eyes and down his cheeks. “It's to keep her safe Jace, she can't stay her now that they know about her. We tried to shield and protect her like we promised to her mother for all those years, but in the end we failed her and her mother and now the only way she could be safe if she leaves Ironwood Falls and never come back.”

Jace just sat there, watching the pony get a control of his emotions before facing Jace once again. “There's another reason why I'm here though Jace, because of you.”

“Because of me?”

“Yes, because Clockwork made you, or your body more exactly if what Frosting told us is true, those that are seeking Clockwork would seek after you as well, but with the power that you have, we're sure that the both of you will be safe.” The ironmonger took a breath to resolve the reason why he's here. “Jace, will you promise us, all those that care about Clockwork, that you would keep her safe unlike we were able to.”

Jace felt a lot of pressure as he contemplating the weight of the pony's words, feeling desperation and worry from the stallion, however he also saw a glimpse of hope in his eyes. Jace hung his head and let out a sigh before speaking. “I do kind of owe it to her after she gave me a second chance at life, albeit not the second chance I was imagining; a second chance nevertheless. But why me though? Why are you all risking to put Clockwork's safety in the hands of a complete stranger that you so far saw that can be more dangerous.”

“True, while you can be dangerous and even threatened somepony-” the image of a terrified Taunt Line came to Jace's mind, “-but you're kind as well, because even though you had no right to risk your life to save us, you did it anyway though. So I guess that's why we're asking you Jace, because if there's one thing we ponies do best is seeing the kindness in others... well ones that are not running away that is.”

Jace chuckled at the truth in the stallion's words, “I guess that's why you ponies are so friendly and trusting, well most of you anyway.”

Forge just shrug in response. “So will you promise us Jace that you'll look after Clockwork and keep her safe.”

“Well, seeing that we're stuck to each other from now on due to this crazy mess... I promise I'll keep her safe Forge.”

“Thank you, you have no idea how much this means to me and the others,” Forge thanked, gratitude now filling his voice.

“Jace, who are you talking to?” Clockwork's voice rang out of the door-less house as the silver unicorn herself followed soon after, with a towel in her magic that's in the process of drying her mane and face. When Clockwork removed the towel and saw Forge standing there, she stopped halfway down the path as she gave him a small glare. “Oh, it's you Forge, what are you doing here? And it better not be here to tell me to hit the road as soon as possible, or I swear to Celestia I'll throw something heavy at you.”

This caused the aged earth pony to quickly take a few cautious steps back away from the slightly peeved unicorn. “No no no, that isn't why I'm here. I'm here to give something to you,” he said as he reached into his saddlebag, pulling out a small box and holding it out to Clockwork in his hoof.

Clockwork's silver aura of magic appeared around her horn as the same color of magic wrapped around the small box, causing it to float out of Forge's hoof and floated towards Clockwork till it came to a stop in the air in front of her face. With a puzzled look, she flipped open the box and out floated a necklace with a pendent that looks like a gear broken in two, but the other half is missing though. “What is this?” Clockwork asked as she looked back at Forge.

“It belonged to your mom Clockwork.”

“It's my mom's?” Clockwork repeated as she looked back to the pendent with a quizzical look on her face. “But I don't remember her owning any jewelry though, let alone anything like this one, why do you even have it in the first place Forge.”

“She gave it to me when she suddenly one day came home a year or so after she left Ironwood Falls with a young filly and told me to give it to you when you're older Clockwork as she said that it belongs with you more than her.”

Clockwork glanced back at the pendent swinging in the air, looking as if dealing with mixed emotions, before letting out a sad sigh and levitating the necklace back into the box and snapped it shut before looking back at Forge, “I don't suppose you know where she went Forge?”

“I do not, sorry Clockwork. I wish I could tell you everything that we know about your mom Clockwork, but she had secrets and I believe that she doesn't want to, or couldn't, tell lest she puts those she loves in danger.”

Clockwork released another sigh of sadness. “Thanks Forge, I suppose we'll be dropping by your shop to pick up some supplies before leaving.”

“Yes, I suppose that you will. My shop will be open after hours, so you can come by then.” Forge then turned around and started limping away from Clockwork and Jace, but he stop after a few steps to give one last look back at Clockwork. “I wish that this doesn't have to be, we all do Clockwork, but we don't see another way that can guarantee both the safety of the townsfolk and you at the same time. I'm sorry,” he finished as he resumed walking away, favoring the limp as he made it down the street.

A moment later after Forge left, Clockwork spoke in a emotionless voice, “come on Jace, let's get you finally oiled. Don't want you to freeze up again.” She then suddenly turned around and quickly walked back into her home before Jace could say anything.

Jace got up and followed after Clockwork, feeling worried for the unicorn. When he walked through the door just to see Clockwork throw the small box on the counter, with little to no disregard of its contents or to those who owned it, as she pulled out a can of oil from under the sink in her magic. “Since you destroyed my table, you're going to have to sit on the floor so I can apply the oil to your joints,” she instructed Jace in the still same tone of voice.

“Is everything alright Clockwork?”

“Just sit down Jace already,” Clockwork repeated as she hung her head, hiding her face from Jace behind her mane. However, Jace picked up a hint of frustration this time, causing him to comply with the task that the unicorn gave him by sitting right there on the spot. Clockwork soon then went to work with the oil can on Jace's joints, occasionally asking Jace to extend an arm or do stretches for her as she worked, not once looking at Jace in the face.

When Clockwork finally finished with her oiling and made her way to put the oil can, Jace once again asked her what's on his mind, “is everything alright Clockwork?”

“Yeah... everything's alright,” she answered hesitantly as she put the can away and stood there, but Jace could tell that she's glancing at the small box in front of her. “Clockwork,” Jace said sternly causing Clockwork to slightly flinch. “My body of flesh and bone may had died, but it doesn't mean that my thinking has along with it. I know that something is bothering you Clockwork and it has something to do with your mom.” Jace saw Clockwork's body give a wince at the mention and knew that he hit right on the nail. He stood up and was relieved that the sound of metal on metal was now silenced as his oiled gears and joints smoothly slid across each other. “Now, I'm not forcing you to tell me anything right this moment, only when you feel like it though.”

Jace turned away from Clockwork and started to make his way towards the front door, but when reached the doorway, he stopped when he heard Clockwork started to speak, “I don't know who she is anymore.” Jace looked back at the unicorn and saw her now facing him with a hurt look on her face, “I just don't know who she is anymore Jace. I've been told many times that she loves me, but she hasn't been there for me ever since I was a filly when she ran away, which I thought is was my fault that she didn't love me anymore and disappeared in the first place. It's not helping either that not even the others doesn't know much about her or where she disappeared to, so how do I know that my mom really loves me when all I'm getting is vague information about her and things that she left behind for me?” Clockwork questioned as tears started to run from her eyes, causing her to cover her face with a foreleg to attempt to hide them but failing though, “I just don't know anymore.”

Jace walked towards Clockwork and knelt down beside the distraught pony, and wrapped a comforting arm around her. “Don't worry Clockwork, I'm sure that you're mom loves and cares about you very much, because why else she would put so much planning if anything were to happen to you?”

“I guess you're right,” Clockwork said as she took a calming breath. “I just want to know why she left though.”

Jace pondered what Clockwork told him when idea made itself known in Jace's head. He looked down at the silent unicorn. “Well you can ask her that when we find her.”

“Say what?” Clockwork said as she stared up at him with a confused look, unsure what she just heard Jace say.

“You can ask her yourself when we find her,” Jace repeated as he stood up. “We have to leave town anyway, might as well travel across, er... um, what's the name of this country?”

“It's called Equestria,” Clockwork answered, still confused at what Jace is trying to explain.

“Really, it's called Equestria? Well anyway, as I was saying; if we're going to be traveling across Equestria, we might as well have a purpose than traveling around pointlessly and picking up weird characters along the way.”

“But why though Jace? Why do you want to do this for me?” Clockwork questioned the automaton's want to comfort her and what he's suggesting.

“Because I lost my family Clockwork. I'm never going to be able to see my family or friends ever again since I can't go back,” Jace answered with sadness lacing his voice, causing Clockwork to consider that Jace had literally lost everything the moment when he'd died and was brought to this world, and then she thought of those that taken care of her for most of her life. “As for why I want to do this for you Clockwork, it's because you're my friend and had taken care of me for nearly a whole year, helping me to give me a second chance at life. I'll be forever grateful for that, and so I want to help you in return by helping you find your mom and get some answers to whatever is going on in this pastel colored world.”

Clockwork felt comforted by Jace's words even though some of it was a bit touch of a sad subject to begin with. “Thanks Jace, you're one of the few friends I have that actually does care about me. So I have to say I'm sorry for being a lousy friend as I've been self centered and inconsiderate recently, that I never considered what it must be like for you right now after you died and everything.”

“Hey, it's alright Clockwork. I understand completely, because I too know what it's like to have everything you known turned upside down.” Jace and Clockwork laughed at the commonality that they now both share.

“How do you do it Jace? How do you not let things bother you, especially after what happened yesterday?”

“I try not to let them Clockwork. I've been trying to see the good sides of every situation I've been in so far ever since I got here and to take one day at a time right now, because yesterday had just tried to kill me, so I don't want to know how today, let alone tomorrow, will try to whack me. So if I fret every little thing and focus on the bad things that happened, it's going to be a sure thing that I'm going to crack sooner rather than later, but also don't try to forget those bad things as well as they are need for one to learn and grow.”

“So you just basically smile and wave at every situation that comes your way and keep moving forward then?”

“Exactly, and also don't forget to laugh now and then too as well, for it's good for the soul you know?.” Clockwork couldn't help but smile at the wisdom, as well as the comfort, of Jace's words.

“Thanks Jace, that's a good advice to have an give.”

“No problem, it also helped that I already had my freak out moment when you were unconscious after I found out that I've been dead for nearly a year and was brought to life in a land of colorful talking magical horses.” Jace said as he started to laugh, but was cut off when he was rewarded with a wrench hurled at his head with a clang of metal, causing Jace to fall and hit the floor with an earth shaking crash soon followed by the wrench. Jace craned his head off the floor and at Clockwork to see her standing there with an annoyed look on her face. “What was that for?”

“We prefer to be called ponies Jace, not horses.”

“Alright yeesh, you didn't need to hit me with a wrench anyway Clockwork.” Jace said as he got up from the floor. “Where did you even get one that quick by the way?”

“My home is filled with many tools to build machines Jace, of course I can find a tool fast and had to for that horse comment you made.”

“Is it really that bad of an insult?” Jace questioned as Clockwork walked past him.

“It just might be me, but I suggest that if you value your second life, you wouldn't repeat making a horse comment around anypony else,” Clockwork replied back as she stepped through the door while calling back to Jace. “Now come on Jace, if we're going to be traveling, we're going to need some supplies and the day is already half over.”

Jace stood there, trying to understand what just happened. This world is going to drive me insane pretty soon, Jace thought as he dropped the issue and followed the unicorn, but not before hitting the door frame on the way out, leaving with angry remarks as he followed after her.

…

“You know Jace, this would be a big hassle for me on my own, but with you here though, this is easy, and we're making great time as well.”

“I don't think my second chance of life is to be a pack animal,” Jace silently mumbled to himself as he followed after Clockwork down the main market street, carrying a series of bags that has been accumulating in Jace's arms after a few hours of shopping for their leave of Ironwood Falls, not even feeling the weight he's been carrying around what seems to a few hours, although, I guess there are some advantages of being a machine. When the townsfolk learned that Clockwork was leaving, they received a lot of mixed reactions ranging from to those that were surprised and begged her to stay, causing Clockwork to sadly explain to them why she needs to leave, to even some boldly declaring that they are finally getting rid of the source of their misfortunes and bad luck, although they quickly became silent when they noticed Jace's tall imposing form announce itself from behind Clockwork. Many gave Clockwork the supplies she asked for either free of charge or a lower price, albeit the last is due to the ponies that bad-mouthed about Clockwork before noticing Jace looking at them, while the rest did it out of kindness.

After Jace guessed what felt like another hour or so had passed by following around Clockwork looking for anymore much needed supplies for their journey, Clockwork stopped and took note of the position of the sun in the sky before looking towards Jace, “It's almost time for us to head over to Forge's, but there's one stop I need to make before we do though.” Clockwork then started to walk away before Jace could say anything, compelling him to reluctantly follow after her. They made their way out of the market and to the center of town, earning raised brows from some while others who got word of Clockwork's departure were sadden by the sight of them. Clockwork stopped in front of classic looking bakery called The Sweet Shoppe that's stuck between what looks like a bar and a music store, Jace then noticed the names of the buildings and couldn't help but laugh a little at the absurdity before him.

“Wow, talk about being stuck between a “Rock” and a “Hard Place”, this shop it literally there.”

Clockwork felt the contagious infection of laughter creeping in and was soon laughing along with Jace. “I know right, I once asked Frosting why she set up shop here and she told me that it would be funny and couldn't let the opportunity pass by to get some laughs out of it everytime she looks at it.”

“So this is your Pegasus friend's shop then. Well it kind of does makes since since her name is Frosting and that she looks like she has been taste testing to many sweets of her's.”

“Yes she does, doesn't she?” Clockwork agreed as she took a breath. “She's also been a good friend to me even despite the circumstances she was under when my mom made her promise to be that kind of friend to me.”

“So she agrees as well that you need to leave for your safety, as well as for the others, then too as well?”

“Yes and at the time I was upset and said some things that I shouldn't have said to her and I don't want to depart on hard feelings.”

Jace nodded, understanding what Clockwork wants to so. “I'll wait out here for you,” Jace said as he made his to a tree across the street and set down their supplies by it before setting himself on the ground and leaned against the tree in a relaxed manner. Jace saw Clockwork once more take in a deep breath before stepping through the door and into the bakery.

…

Clockwork looked around the empty bakery, seeing that everything is the same and that nothing physical had change, but Clockwork can feel that the atmosphere has completely changed from it's usual and seemingly present uplifting and cheerful environment to that of sadness and regret. “Frosting, are you here?” A sudden sound from the kitchen alerted Clockwork that the shop isn't empty as she assumed and that somepony is here.

“Clockwork, is that you?” the familiar, but less than cheerful, voice called out from the back before the owner of the voice herself stepped through the door. Clockwork held in a gasp when she the tear-streaked cheeks and red eyes of cried tears face of her friend. “It is you, but why are you here though, I thought you would never come back?”

“I came to apologize to my best friend Frosting.” Clockwork stated as she walked up to the counter. “I'm sorry for about all the things I said back at the hospital, I've been so self-centered and inconsiderate that I didn't realize what you, or the others for that matter, must have been put through all this time, will you forgive me?”

“It is I who's suppose to be asking you for forgiveness Clockwork,” Frosting said as she stepped around the counter. “It's true what you said about us being friends, I shouldn't have kept this secret from you all this time.”

“No, I understand Frosting, you did it to keep me safe for my mom. I've just been so inconsiderate that I never thought about how everypony else might be feeling or experiencing around me till someone showed me that his life is just as messed up as mine now, maybe even more.” Clockwork said as she hung her head. “I'm sorry Frosting, I've been an ungrateful and uncaring friend.”

Clockwork felt a wing wrap around her as her friend's voice spoke up. “Clockwork, I know you well enough, even more than yourself sometimes, that your actions were justified for I completely understand, especially after all that happened yesterday. So I accept your apology, but I too must ask for forgiveness from you, for I knew that you'll be taking this harder out of all of us the longer it sat and waited.”

Clockwork looked up and saw a warm smile across her friend's face as some of her cheerful personality returned to her eyes. She felt a small smile make it's way to her face, feeling it start to grow as Clockwork fully embraced her friend in return. “I do, thank you for always being there for me Frosting.”

“Thank you for forgiving me Clockwork.” Frosting replied back in return. “I just wish though that you can stay here though, but we know that's not a possibility right now, because you're probably going have to leave town soon, huh?”

Clockwork looked up to a nearby clock hanging on the wall and saw the time, telling her that her time to meet up with Forge is nearing. “Yeah we are, we have to meet up with Forge soon so we might leave tomorrow morning as I'm putting everypony in more danger the longer I linger in town.”

Frosting broke their embrace and faced Clockwork. “I understand Clockwork. Hey, maybe whenever this problem is all cleared up, you can come back,” she said hopefully, looking on the bright side of the situation, reminding Clockwork of Jace's ideology, which then caused her to smile.

“Yeah, that would be great Frosting. Well, I have to go now, but I'm glad that we were able to make up so that there wasn't any hard feelings between us.”

“Me too as well Clockwork, so I'll see ya soon then?” Frosting asked as Clockwork started to make her way to the front entrance.

“Count on it. Bye Frosting.”

“Goodbye Clockwork,” Clockwork heard her friend said as she stepped out of the store, the feeling of cheerfulness once again present as she left.

Clockwork looked towards where she last saw Jace and there she saw a small crowd of foal hanging around the automaton. She made her towards the group and as she neared it, she could hear Jace talking, “leave me alone already, and shouldn't all of you be in school or something?” He asked the crowd of foals.

“There's no school today because it's a Saturday,” a foal from the group quickly replied back in response. “Now, can you show us how you made that sword that you used to beat that huge timberwolf?” This was followed by the rest of the foals agreeing and then started to ask Jace to show them the sword as well.

Clockwork smiled as she heard Jace groan at his failed attempt for some peace and decided to intervene. “Okay you little ones, it's time to leave Jace alone, we have some things to do and I''m sure that you all still have schoolwork despite what happened yesterday.” This earned her a series of moans and complains from the foal, but Clockwork ignored their cries as she shook her head and shooed them away, which they all reluctantly complied.

“Thanks for that Clockwork?” Jace said as he stood up, now freed of curious foals, and gathered up their supplies. “They're adorable, but they can be sometimes be overbearing.”

“Of course they can be, they're foals, how did you expect them to act?” Clockwork questioned as she motioned for Jace to follow her. “Now come on, it's almost time for us to meet up with Forge.”

Clockwork lead Jace, following the familiar path she had taken multiple time before. This is going to be my last time taking this way to Forge's, Clockwork solemnly thought as they made their way to the earth pony's forge. They arrived at the forge and made their way inside, but when Jace's hunched form was halfway through the doorway, the sound of cannon fire ranged as soon as Clockwork stepped inside, causing Jace to quickly shot up straight, smashing his head through the header of the door and into the wall, causing stone and wood to shower around Jace just as the ironmonger himself stepped into the room.

Forge stood there in silence as he stared at Jace and the apparent destruction he just caused to his shop before sighing and looked at Clockwork with a smile frown, whom the latter gave him a sheepish smile in return. “It never cease to amazes me how anything you built and brought to my store always in one way another cause damage that I have to fix Clockwork.”

“It wasn't her fault Forge, your doorbell just surprised me is all.”

Forge shook his head, “just forget about it, I got used to repairing my shop on multiple occasions. But that's not why I asked you to come by Clockwork.” The aged earth pony walked around the counter and ducked behind it. Clockwork could hear Forge rustling around underneath the counter before coming back up with a small wrapped package in his hooves. “Archive asked me to get this from the library and to deliver it to you since he's still in the hospital and all.”

“What's in it?” Clockwork asked as the package was wrapped in silvery glow of her magic as it levitated off the counter and towards her.

“I don't know and neither does Archive, he said that he got the package from your mom about a week after she left, with a letter containing instructions to not open it and to give it to you Clockwork if something should ever happen to you. We didn't know what that meant, but I guess now we do,” Forge said as he cleared his throat before continuing. “So anyway, we have no idea what's inside it.”

Clockwork returned her attention back to the package in her magic and proceeded to unwrap the package, revealing a box with her intertwined gears cutie mark adorning the cover. Clockwork was confused as she stared at the mark on the box that is identical to her cutie mark adorning her flanks. “Forge, you said that Archive got the package close to week after she left, right?”

“Yeah, why are you asking?”

Clockwork didn't answer the stallion's question as she continue speaking, “and I didn't get my cutie mark till a few days after she left, correct?”

“That's correct, where are you going with this Clockwork?” Forge questioned as he stepped around the counter and walked up next to the unicorn.

“If my mom was gone by the time I got my cutie mark, then how does she know what my cutie mark is.”

“That isn't possible Clockwork, nopony can know one's cutie mark before it appears when a pony discovers their destiny...” Forge started to point out, but fell silent when Clockwork showed him the cover of the box. “But that isn't possible.”

“Well somehow it is, not only did my mom knew what subjects I'll express interests in, she somehow knew what my cutie mark looks like exactly even though she wasn't there to see me get it. How does she know a lot about me when she wasn't there with me?”

“I don't know Clockwork,” Forge answered. “Your mom apparently knew something that we all don't, more especially about you though.” the aged earth pony let out a sigh at the mystery of Clockwork's mother deepens, “I wish I could help you find the answers to your questions Clockwork, but I don't know where to even look for them, none of us do.”

Clockwork felt a small frown started to appear as she looked at the box in her magic, confusion dominating her thoughts about her mom as her unanswered questions started to pile up against her mother. Clockwork let out a exasperated sigh and glanced back to Jace, remembering the promise he made to her earlier today, causing her frown to turn into a small smile as she remembered the feelings of comfort from his promise. She looked back to Forge and gave him a hug before saying, “well, thank you anyway Forge, for everything you and the others did for me, but I suppose it's now time for us head home so we can prepare to leave tomorrow morning.”

“It's alright Clockwork,” Forge said as he returned the hug, “I'm sorry for everything that has to happen lately and wish we could help, unfortunately there's nothing we can do though, but that doesn't mean that can't hope for the best for you.”

“Thanks Forge,” Clockwork said as she broke the hug, “well we have to get going now.”

“I understand, goodbye Clockwork and be safe,” Forge responded back as Clockwork and Jace started to leave the forge.

Clockwork stopped halfway through the door before looking back one last time at her friend, “I will, oh and next time you see Archive, tell him that I'm sorry and thanks for everything he'd done for me.”

“Will do.”

“Thanks Forge, goodbye and hopefully that I'll be able to see you again someday,” Clockwork said as she faced forward and walked out of the store for the last time. Clockwork meet up with Jace who was waiting for her as she said her goodbye. “I guess this is it then, huh Jace?”

“Yup.”

“I suppose we should get back and get ready to leave tomorrow then huh?”

“Yup,” Jace repeated with a nod, which Clockwork responded back with a nod of her own in understanding. Clockwork silently started making her way back to her home once more with Jace in tow. After a moment of silence, Jace asked her a question that has been on his mind since Clockwork's conversation with Forge. “Hey quick question Clockwork, what's a cutie mark?”

…

“So a cutie mark is basically a stamp on your butt that defines who you are and what you're going to do with the rest of your life then?” Jace said simplifying what Clockwork had explained to him what a cutie mark is as they were making their way back to Clockwork's home, as well as Clockwork being surprised to learn from Jace that there's nothing like it back on his old world, but wince when he mentioned about tattoos and how they're applied.

“That's crudely putting it, but yes,” Clockwork confirmed as they arrived at her home.

“My god, that would be a nightmare,” Jace stated as he followed Clockwork inside as she ignited the candles throughout the home to give them light. “I'd understand if you have a passion for what you're doing, but if you don't and stuck with something that bores ya, you're still stuck with it no matter what.”

“Everypony can still do other things that interests them,” Clockwork objected as she set the packages on the counter next to the small box containing the pendent before looking back at Jace who's setting their supplies on the floor. “For example; one could have a talent for painting or flying, but has the passion for cooking or being an animal caretaker instead and they do just as great as to what their cutie marks may tell otherwise. So just because their cutie mark tells them what their talent is doesn't mean that they're confined to a rut with it for the rest of their lives.”

“I suppose that makes it better, I guess,” Jace said still unsure of the fact of cutie marks. “I just still can't wrap my head around that you ponies will base your life around something that can dictate you whole life.”

“I can't believe that you have nothing like it back in your old world, just wondering around with no idea in mind of what to do,” Clockwork countered before shuddering at a thought. “And don't ever speak of tattoos again, it's freaky that you'll do something like that to your bodies.”

“It's a lifestyle choice, so only some do it,” Jace explained as he started to organize their supplies for their unavoidable exodus from town. “Hey Clockwork, are you going to open the package that you got from your mom?”

“Oh... yeah sure,” Clockwork said as she levitated the package she got from Forge off the counter and towards her. She removed the lid of box, revealing several items inside it. Clockwork removed them from the box and splayed them out in her magic revealing what the objects are: an enclosed envelope with the unicorn's name on it, a compass, what looks like several maps, and a strange looking thin cylindrical shaped piece of metal. The envelope getting her attention first, Clockwork set the compass and maps on the counter as she brought it close to her so that she could give it a closer look. “It looks like a letter.”

Jace watched Clockwork open the envelope and sure enough she pulled out a letter and a photo along with it, she then started to read the letter. As Jace watched the unicorn read the letter that's apparently from her mom if Jace had to take a guess, he saw her eyes starting to get teary as she let her magically grip dropped the letter and the photo, not once looked at it, as she turned away from him and started to walk towards her room. “I'm going to bed Jace, so don't bother me till morning when we need to leave.” Jace quickly took note of the upset hint behind her barely controlled tone of voice, so he didn't say anything as Clockwork stepped into her room and closed the door behind her, cutting them both off from each other.

Curious, the former human stood up and walked to the dropped letter, silently grateful that Clockwork had oiled his joints so that he won't make any unnecessary noises. He reached for the letter and saw that it is written with hast as if the writer didn't have much time and was crying as well if the few smears here and there of long dried tear stains was any indicator. It was still legible however, so he started to read it in the soft glow of candlelight...

'Dear Clockwork... If you're reading this, that means that you were put in danger recently and I'm sorry, for the cause is of my doing, but know that I never intentionally wanted any harm to come to you as I was trying to keep you safe. You're probably confused about everything and have questions about me, but I can't reveal anything without fear that I won't be putting you or the others in danger. I'm sorry Clockwork, but if something had happened to you, I don't think the others that I put your care in will ever forgive themselves, even I couldn't live with myself if some harm did come to you because of me. So that's why, enclosed in the package, are several objects that you will need if my fears are a reality, you'll eventually figure out what they are because your a bright filly, reminding me of myself when I was your age.

Clockwork... you're probably hurt that I left you all of a sudden and I'm sorry, all I can hope is that I'll be able to deal with this problem soon so that I embrace my sweet little filly once more without the ghosts of the past haunting me. It pains me to no end that there's a chance I might never see my little filly again, so if everything goes as plan, then I'll be home within the week and get rid of this letter as if it never had existed as I make it up to you for disappearing the last few days without the fear of losing you being in my heart again, but if I don't however... know that I love you so much Clockwork, and please... forgive me.

With a love and hope to see you soon, your mom,

-Aurora Gearwork.'

If Jace still had a body of flesh and blood, he was sure that he'll be crying right now due to the message that the letter contained. However, he could still feel and right now he's feeling great sadness and worry for Clockwork if the letter was any hint to what may have happened to her mom all those years ago. Jace looked away from the letter and towards the silent door of Clockwork's room and worriedly thought for the unicorn behind it, I hope that she'll be okay.

He then noticed the photo on the floor, causing him to reach for it...

…

Clockwork doesn't know how long she's been laying there in her bed, but she has to say that it must have been hours from the way the light of the setting sun gradually made its way across her bedroom wall until it faded away, leaving the light of the rising moon starting to shine through her window and make its way down the path the sun had taken. All the while hearing Jace moving around in the room next door, probably packing and some cooking by the sound of it. The recent memory of the message from her mom once again made its way back, causing Clockwork to once more shed some tears into her already tear soaked pillow as she tried to suppress the anguish wail deep within her as the meaning of the letter made itself known to her once again.

She had really loved me all this time, but that doesn't matter if she's dead though, Clockwork thought as she rolled in her bed and stared into the distance in the raising darkness. She then remembered the promise that Jace made to her earlier that day and scoffed at the idea of it, what good will it do to find somepony for answers if they're dead? I don't know what to do anymore, I'm left in the dark with no answers of what I need to do. What am I to do?

'Try to look for the good in every situation,' Clockwork's ears quickly perked up at the sound of Jace's voice as she sat up in her bed. She looked around her room, she saw nothing but shadows that couldn't hide his metal form. She laid there quietly, listening to see if Jace had said anything, but she was rewarded with only silence as the automaton had already became silent almost an hour ago. She leaned back down on her pillow and contemplated the words of advice that Jace had also given her earlier that day. “Okay, I'll give it a try I guess. Let's see here... she sent a letter, even despite that I got it years later. She just didn't abandon me like I thought she did, because she actually wanted to keep me safe from her past. Sh-she was upset that she was leaving me because she... loves me, mom loves me and wanted to come back.” When she said that, she felt warmth spreading through her as a small smile started to make it way to her face. 'Now don't forget laugh... it's good for the soul, you know?' Clockwork let a small chuckle escaped her throat as she remembered Jace's final advice as she laid there, enjoying the feeling of knowing that she was loved.

A small groan from her stomach suddenly erupted from her stomach, reminding Clockwork that she skipped dinner and the fact that she cried up to now had made her rather hungry. She then remember the sounds of Jace cooking something, inspiring her to climb out of bed and make her to her bedroom door. She opened the door and was about to step out when she saw that there's a covered plate on the floor at the base of her door. Picking up the plate in her magic, she removed the cover and was greeted by the sight of a couple of sandwiches underneath.

“Sorry, it isn't much.” Clockwork looked away from the sandwiches and at Jace who's sitting just outside the doorway and staring into the night sky. “Most of the dishes I know how to cook involve meat in one way or another, heck even those sandwiches suppose to have meat in the original recipe, but I replaced it with something you ponies call hay bacon, so I suppose it'll make do.”

“It's alright, thanks Jace,” Clockwork said as she walked up to him and leaned against the door frame as she levitated a sandwich off the plate and took a bite out of it, enjoying nice fresh crispiness of the lettuce and tomato, accompanied by the salty taste of the hay bacon and crunchiness of the toasted bread. When Jace didn't move once as Clockwork ate, she followed where he's looking to and saw the bright full moon, surrounded by many bright stars in the sky. She quickly finished the sandwich before asking Jace, “So what are you doing out here Jace?”

“Just enjoying the night sky you ponies have,” Jace answered. “I've always been kind of a night owl, so I always enjoyed nights like this, but the night skies back on my old world isn't anything like this one, it's like someone had just painted it. Also it's a nice way to pass the time as I just recently discovered, maybe it's because I'm now a machine and all, the need of sleep isn't there anymore. I can still sleep though, it's just it isn't a needed necessity anymore.”

“That's really interesting, I never thought that being in this body will change some of your mental thoughts on things like that,” Clockwork said as she too gaze up at the moon.

After a moment of silence between the two, Jace broke it as he spoke, “Clockwork... I read the letter.” The unicorn's ears splayed back at the mention of the letter, but Jace didn't noticed as he continue talking, “I could tell that your mom loved you and I know that I promised you that we're going to find her. However, the way the letter was written, that might be a promise that I couldn't keep, but there's a possibility that your mom might still be alive though Clockwork.”

“What do you mean Jace? There was chance that she wouldn't make it back home.”

“That doesn't mean that she's dead though,” Jace retorted as he finally looked away from the moon and towards the unicorn next to him. “I felt a lot of love from that letter, hurt to as well, but there was also hope. She wanted to come back Clockwork, so I think she's still alive and I think that this proves it.”

Clockwork saw him reach out his hand and opened it, revealing the photo that was inside the envelope with the letter that she completely forgot about. She took the photo in her magic and brought it into the light that's flooding out of her home and onto the walkway. When she saw the photo, she couldn't help but let out a stifled cry at the sight of it. It was a faded photo of an older unicorn mare that's smiling as she embracing a small filly with a silver coat and golden mane that's playing with a puzzle cube in her hooves with a look of concentration that Clockwork immediately knew who the ponies in the photo are. Below the pair of unicorns was something that made Clockwork put a hoof to her mouth as her sight became watery, tears threatening to fall any moment. For there, written in ink is a simple message...

I'm coming back home to my little filly, no matter what.

Author's Note

I finally finished with this freakishly long chapter and I have to say, there were sure a lot of crying in this chapter, but hey, I'm just the story teller here and that is were it went. I ven got teary eyed as I wrote the lette part and if I hear raging against crying then you are one cold hearted son of a gun. I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter and leave any comments or questions that you have below.
See ya all later and have a good night,
-Cyber V

Chapter 8: New Faces

Author's Note

Hey you all,

Sorry about the long periods of no response between my stories getting updated. I have a lot on my plate and it just eats into my writing time, but I still finish them nevertheless. Albeit, it takes me a month or so to update. I can't make any promises that I'm going to try to update my stories faster as that's not possible at the moment. Hope you understand and enjoy this new chapter.

-Cyber V

Chapter 8: New Faces

Alpha once again stood before his master's room of nightmares, dreading as he once again became a messenger of ill news. He took a breath of stall metallic air to steady his near breaking nerves before pushing the doors open, hoping that nothing terrible will happen to him like to those that disappointed him as the diamond dog stepped into the darkness. He quickly made his way across the room and bowed to his master standing a few feet away from him, his back always facing him. "Alpha, I hope that you have good news to report, judging on the way how quick you came in," the cloaked being said, causing the diamond dog to flinch at the misunderstanding. A cloaked head appeared above his shoulders as he looked away from whatever he's working on this time and faced the nervous canine. "Tell me that you were able to recover it?"

"Master, I deeply apologize if it appears like that," Alpha started to shake as his master walked up to him. "But I'm afraid that I instead come bearing with unfavorable news about the recovery of the key. We were able to track it by the signature it left behind until-"

"Until what?"

"Until it just vanished a day or so into the trail," Alpha finished with a nervous swallow, waiting for any punishment that might be coming his way.

"What did you find at the end of the trail?" Alpha's master asked, catching the diamond dog off guard by the unexpected question. "Which way is it heading?"

"Uh, there appears to be another tracks with the target and that they're heading north."

"Interesting, it must have somehow figured to mask its thaumatic signature," the cloaked figure commented as he walked around the still bowing diamond dog and towards his table. "Now, about that other task I set out for you, I hope that that you have better success than this last one." Alpha cringed inside at the expected results of his latest assignment.

"Master… my pack failed to apprehend the target, but it was because they didn't understand their orders and thus failed," Alpha blamed those in his pack for his failed assignment as he finally looked away from the floor and up towards his cloaked master.

"Oh I believe you Alpha," the cloaked figure agreed as he started to assemble something together. "I would've been deeply disappointed if the target was to be easily capture by a pack of dimwitted diamond dogs. So I don't blame you for this failed assignment, as your pack were just a test in the beginning." Alpha didn't know either to by glad he isn't getting punished or insulted for his species to be so lowly thought of. However, he didn't linger on this thought as his master resumed talking, "when I first came across you, you were just the idiot runt of the litter, so to speak, with no future in him whatsoever. But with my help and care, you became so much smarter, stronger, and cunning that you became the alpha of your pack very quickly."

He turned around to face the alpha, holding something in his grasp what seems to be a metal egg. The alpha's master approached him and ordered for his paw, which the diamond dog complied and soon found the metal egg in his paw. Alpha gave the egg a confused look as his master walked away from him. "Master, please forgive my ignorance, but what is this device that you gave me?"

"If my theory is correct, that device should give you an edge to apprehend the target. Although, I would suggest that you tell your pack to wear some protection. Just in case."

…

The sound of metallic footsteps, accompanied by the clip clop rhythm of hooves, was present as automaton and unicorn walked down a near invisible path through the forest, with light filtering through the treetops. Jace found the setting peaceful, reminding him of the hiking trips he did through the forest and mountains back home on in his old world. The sounds of birds singing, winds rushing through the trees…

"Gah! What in Equestria is this thing?" And apparently a cry of frustration from a pony was the only thing to be heard in the forest as Clockwork shakes the metal cylinder in front of her in her magic.

"So I take it that you still haven't figured out what that thing is or what it does then Clockwork," Jace said as he reached for the cylinder and pulled it out of Clockwork's silver magical grasp to get a closer look at it.

"It's frustrating, there's no signs of any seams, knobs, buttons or markings of any kind that could indicate that it could open."

"It looks like just a plain piece of metal to me," Jace observed as he turned it over and just as the unicorn said, there's no sign of anything to indicate that it isn't anything more than just a piece of metal.

"It may look like it, but there's actually a very complex spell weaved into that thing, which I have no clue what it does or how to activate it by the way. It's just very frustrating," Clockwork explained as she took back the cylinder from Jace and slipped it into her bags.

Jace noticed the slight discomfort in Clockwork when she shifted her bags. "You know Clockwork, I can carry those if you want me to if you're getting uncomfortable."

"Nah, it's alright Jace. I'm fine. It's just that you're already carrying a lot of things there," she said as he motioned with her head towards the few packs on Jace's back. "I'm mean, you were basically designed by a god, given a key that holds unknown power that can unlock unknown abilities built into you, and yet, I'm using you as some sort of pack animal. That just doesn't sit right with me as an engineer, do you get me?"

"Yeah, I think so," Jace agreed just as they came to a small clearing. "It's getting dark and this looks like a good place to stop for the day," Jace said as he took off the packs. "I'm going to gather wood for a fire, so take a load off Clockwork, because you must be really tired since we walked almost all day."

"I'll be frank, I'm a little jealous because my hooves are killing me and I'm still sore from yesterday's walk," Clockwork questioned as she levitated off her packs, removed her rolled up blanket from her pack and splayed it out over a pile of comfortable looking leaves before gingerly settling onto it, letting out a sigh of relief. "I guess being a machine has some perks."

"That may be true, but there are a couple of downsides as well." Jace replied back with a solemn tone of voice before heading towards deeper forest. "I'll go and find some wood before it gets to dark."

As Jace walked away, Clockwork couldn't help but feel worried for him as his thunderous form gradually disappeared into the forest. "I hope he's going to be alright."

…

When Jace returned to their campsite half an hour later with an armful of wood, he found Clockwork once again working again on the mysterious object giving by her mother with a tensed look on her face as he passed her and started to work on the fire. "If you stare at that thing any longer, you're going to drill through it with your eyes or horn. So why don't you give it a rest?"

"I just don't know Jace, but I just can't as it feels like there's something about it that just wants my attention. Ugh, I just don't know how to explain it fully Jace," Clockwork explained as she looked up to see Jace creating a tiny pile of leaves and needles that's going to be the beginning of their fire. "I'll get the tinderbox," Clockwork offered as she reached for her bags.

"Nah, don't sweat it Clockwork. I got this one." Jace said as he picked up a stone. Before Clockwork can questioned what he meant, Jace quickly strike the back of his hand with a rock, causing sparks to fly onto a pile of old, dried up leaves and pine needles which were after a moment of smoke started to be engulfed in flames. Jace quickly piled the wood on top of the small flame which after a moment finally started to burn.

"Not bad for my first time making fire." Jace looked away from his impromptu fire, feeling proud until he saw the look of horror on the unicorn's face, which made him worried as he turned around to see if there's anything behind him. "What, what is it?"

"You didn't just did what I think you just did," Clockwork said, causing Jace to look back towards the angry unicorn. She got up, ignoring the soreness in her hooves, and walked up to Jace as the want to just hit him with a large wrench came to mind.

"What, I just wanted to give making fire by myself a try," Jace explained before a large clang rang through the small clearing. Jace found himself splayed on the ground with his head bent back. "What the heck was that for Clockwork?" Jace questioned as he looked back up at the unicorn and was surprised to see a large wrench pointing at his head.

"It may be your body, but I've been tasked to make sure that you you're not going to trash yourself," Clockwork stated as she waved the wrench around threatening in Jace's face. "And since I made your body, I don't take it likely when my work is getting trashed. I can technically say that I own you Jace as I'm the one that had fabricated the parts and built you, but I won't because I'm nice like that."

"Says the crazy unicorn with a big…" Jace started as he pushed himself up but then trailed off when he realized something. "Uh Clockwork, where did you get that wrench?"

"Huh?" Clockwork then noticed the tool in her magic, surprising her with its sudden appearance that it caused her magic hold to suddenly loose grip on it as her focus faltered momentarily. It slid through her magic and fell to the ground with a solid thud. "Where did that come from?" Before anything else can be said, the wrench suddenly started to lose its form as if it was made of water and compressed itself until it was the familiar metal cylinder once more.

"Whoa, how did you do that?" Jace asked Clockwork as she picked up the cylinder once and studied it in the dying light of the evening sun.

"I don't have a clue Jace," Clockwork said with a puzzled look on her face before it became an annoyed look as she let out a moan of frustration. "This thing is driving me nuts. I'm supposed to have a talent for these kind of things and yet, I can't figure out what this thing is that my mom made."

"If you ask me, it looks like nanotechnology to me, or something like it at least." Clockwork turned towards Jace at what he said as he prop himself and sat down next to the fire. Jace took note that the unicorn is looking at him. 'What?"

"Nanotechnology?" Clockwork voiced the word, hearing how the strange word sounded rolling off her tongue and couldn't help but feel excited at the prospect of learning something new of an unknown kind of technology. "What is it Jace and what does it do?"

"Nanotechnology is just machines built at minuscule levels that could do basically any task you instructed them to do."

"Just how minuscule can they get?" Clockwork inquired.

"Um, I think just as small as a grain of sand, maybe even smaller."

"Okay that's not possible," Clockwork responded back as she stared at Jace like he's now a living thing of flesh and blood. "No machine can't be that tiny, trust me on that. The smallest machine I've ever made was about the size of a rodent and that was very difficult with the fabrication and assembling of the parts. So there is no way that nano-machines could exist."

"Well I admit that nanotech might sound like a fictional impossibility, but that doesn't mean it couldn't exist. I mean, take your mom for example Clockwork, she knows a lot about you than you know yourself and that she was able to make something that's apparent to nanotech, which you're having trouble to know what it does at the moment."

Clockwork thought this over before letting out frustrated sigh. "You're right Jace. Ugh, this is all just so confusing and it's infuriating me. It feels like I'm just getting farther and farther away from the truth about my mom whenever I discovered something new about my mom," Clockwork said as she walked back to her blanket and dropped down on it, as she buried her face in her front hooves as her ears droop down the sides of her head, revealing her defeated mood to Jace.

"Don't worry about it Clockwork." Clockwork peered from her hooves as she looked up at Jace, her ears perking at his voice. "We will eventually find the truth, but unfortunately we can't do a thing about so try not to worry about it. The only thing you should worry about right now is…" Jace trailed as he reached into a bag, pulling out a pan and waved it at her. "What do you want for dinner?"

Clockwork gave Jace a small smile.

…

After a night of watching the fire to the point that Clockwork finally dozed off to sleep, Jace watched over their small camp for any sigh of danger like he has done for the past few days since leaving Ironwood Falls when he got a feeling that they're being followed. Clockwork was shocked when she learned that Jace has been keeping watch all night after the first couple days and explained to him that isn't healthy at all, especially with his sudden death and its' unknown changes to his psyche, and demanded that either there be night shifts or go to sleep when she does. Of course Jace agreed to sleep when she does, but nevertheless stays up through the night when Clockwork finally goes to sleep after attempting to stay up with him. When asked if he got some rest from the unicorn in the following morning, he'll reply that he did and change the subject to how far they have traveled. It was a repeating routine that they both had put themselves into.

"How far have we gone so far today Clockwork?"

"A few miles at best," Clockwork replied back as she looked away from the map. "Ugh, this is going to forever to get somewhere by hoof. I wish we had a train station for Ironwood Falls, but it's because that it doesn't exist is the reason why don't have one in the first place."

"Wait, I think I remember you saying something like that your town don't exist?" Jace asked surprised as he looked down at Clockwork. "But it looks like it's been there for generations, how can it not exist? That just doesn't make sense."

"The town does physically actually exist Jace, we just don't show on any current maps."

"Oh, so that's what you mean that they town isn't on any maps, but why is that though?"

"I say that it was probably a few decades ago, give or take a few years with the scarce amount of town history for that time. There was supposedly a cartographer from Canterlot-"

"Wait wait wait, Canterlot? There's a city called Canterlot?" Jace couldn't help but chuckle at hearing the name of the city.

"Yeah, what about it?" Clockwork asked, confused why Jace is chuckling at hearing about Canterlot.

"So what, you also got cities named Fillydelphia and Manehatten?" Jace joked, which confused the unicorn some more before getting the feeling that there was a joke somewhere here, which annoyed Clockwork.

"In fact yes, there are cities called Fillydelphia and Manehatten. Now shut up, do you want to hear the story or not?"

"Sorry, and yes please continue."

"Thank you," Clockwork said before resuming where Jace interrupted her, "now, there was supposedly a cartographer from Canterlot that got lost trying to confirm a settlement that was rumored to have made a town out here, but he never did find the settlement as he getting constantly turned around in the forest and concluded that it was just a rumor and nothing more. So nopony doesn't know that there's a town out here unless you have the settlement records or happened to be from the town itself."

"Is that what really happened," Jace asked, incredulous about the story. "And why didn't any of you fix this mistake?"

Clockwork rolled her eyes before responding. "I don't know if the story is true or just some silly story to cover up somepony's laziness. As for why we haven't corrected this mistake, we actually grew to like the peace and quiet we get from being looked over, but that doesn't mean we don't want to go out and see the world. So some of us will go and visit towns and cities for weeks on end and bring back what they've seen and learn."

"Ah, so your town is almost like an Amish one, but accepts anything though."

"Amish?" Clockwork sounding out the word as she looked up at Jace for clarity.

"Oh, um, Amish folks are simple folks that have beliefs about not accepting technology, or of some sort, and live in communities away from the progressing world, but they still let their young go out and see the world to let them make the choice to stay in the world or to leave it and come back. At least that's what I think Amish are."

Clockwork gave Jace a quizzical look before facing the trail once more. "I said this before, but I'll say it again; your world is just so weird."

"Says the talking unicorn that's a myth from where I'm from," Jace countered, which caused Clockwork to ponder about that.

"Touché," Clockwork concluded, earning a small chuckle from the both of them. "Hey Jace, do you think we can take a break? I'm a living thing here and a gal still have needs you know."

"Yeah, sorry about that. We'll take a break at the next clearing we come across to." Jace promised the unicorn.

A few minutes and a good distance later, they came to a small clearing and to Jace's word, they stop at it to rest and to do their businesses. However, due to the peaceful setting of the clearing with the warm sun and the soothing sounds from the gentle flowing creek nearby, Jace and Clockwork fully agreed to stay and rest a little longer. Clockwork set up her blanket and laid on it, she started to pull out tools and random pieces of metal, bolts, nuts and gears from her bags and started to fiddle with them in her magic. After a moment, Clockwork stopped assembling her creation when she noticed Jace standing a little away, reaching over his shoulder as if trying to grasp something that isn't there. "What's the matter Jace?"

"Nothing much, I've just been wondering about something." Jace replied back as he lowered his arm and faced Clockwork.

"Wondering about what?"

"Well lately, I was wondering how I create things like the sword I did back then at Ironwood Falls, but I don't have a clue how to duplicate it and it's frustrating me that I don't even know how my own body and all its abilities work. So I've been trying to remember what I did, but all I can remember is a vague memory of someone talking and feeling somewhat filled with righteous anger, then after that… it just appeared and I used it like I knew how already. So I just want to know how to control it so that I can protect others around me."

"Don't worry Jace, I'm sure that you'll figure it out soon. Besides, since I made your body, maybe I can figure out how to unlock the rest of your power for you." Clockwork offered as she resumed to fiddle with her contraption.

"Thanks Clockwork. But sometimes I wish that my God, Fate, left me instructions on what to do and how this mechanical body works." Jace said as he sat down next to the unicorn. When Jace mentioned about instructions, Clockwork once again stopped what she was doing and looked at Jace with a sheepish smile.

"Uh, there were instructions Jace, but I accidentally set them on fire though when I was activating you. Please don't be upset."

"Nah, I don't blame you. "Jace said as he gave her an apologetic wave of a hand. "If I got this right, it was before when you hit me and fainted, and you weren't exactly okay at the time judging by how long you slept afterwards. Besides Clockwork, I don't think I haven't seen the last of my God, so I'll ask him if we can have another copy of my blueprints."

"Oh that won't be necessary Jace," Clockwork said with a proud smile.

"But I thought that you said you brunt them though."

"I did, but as I said, we won't need the blueprints anymore."

"Why is that?"

"Because I can remember any design, blueprints or schematics of any mechanical device I've seen, especially if I had built it before. How do you think I'm able to fix you up so quickly?" The unicorn asked the automaton the rhetorical question, which he nodded in understanding.

"That's quite a helpful skill there Clockwork. I guess I don't have anything to worry about when you're there to repair me," Jace joked and was rewarded with small rock to the side of his head from Clockwork's general direction. Jace quickly looked at Clockwork to see her still fiddle with her stuff just as if nothing had happen, but Jace detected a hint of a faint smile on her face. He just shook his head and leaned back against a tree and watched the sky.

…

Alone… all alone…

Jace opened his eyes and glanced around, looking for the owner of the whisper, but all he saw was a sleeping unicorn sleeping away with her tools lying around her when she dozed off a while ago judging by how long the shadows are reaching across their clearing now. However, all Jace was concerned with was the sad filled whisper he just heard moments ago as he sat there quietly, waiting to hear it again to be sure that he isn't going insane. Jeez, I think I am going insane Jace wearily thought when he didn't hear anything for a while and went back to relaxing…

A sudden rage-filled yell pierced the silence of the clearing that was followed by a large cracking sound that caused Clockwork to jerk awake. "Okay, I definitely heard that one." Jace stood up, alert for any sign of danger. "Glad to know that I'm not going to crazy."

"What was that?" Clockwork asked in a dazed as some of her thoughts were left behind in the dream world. "What's going on Jace?"

"I don't know Clockwork," Jace replied back as he started to sling their bag over his shoulder. "But we're going to find out."

"Wait, we're heading towards the source of the sounds?!" Clockwork said disbelieving as she hurriedly put away her things back into her bags. "Are you nuts or something?"

"Well I am technically nuts… along with gears and bolts," Jace jokingly said as he looked back at Clockwork to see her with an unamused expression in response to Jace's joke. "Right… not the time for making wisecrack jokes," Jace noted Clockwork wordlessly pointing out the seriousness of the situation they're in. "Yes, we're going to see whoever, or whatever, yelled and then made that sound."

"Why?"

"Because you see…" Jace trailed off as he was puzzled by this, as he all felt was the need to see whoever shouted. "Actually Clockwork, I don't know exactly. All I have is this feeling that we need to see who shouted."

"You want to investigate the noises… based on a feeling?"

"Basically yeah," Jace confirmed and Clockwork gave him an incredulous look. "Look I don't know how to explain, let alone why, Clockwork, but it's like something is talking to me. I know that I'm not crazy as I normally didn't hear voices before I got to this world, and I also know that the voices I hear aren't my own either as they sounded different from each other."

"Wait, this happened before?"

"Yeah, in fact it was right before some Timberwolves attacked me."

"Jace, I think that was me," Clockwork revealed, looking surprised at learning that fact. "I don't know how, but I think you somehow heard me."

"Maybe it came with the job," Jace said with a shrug of his shoulders. "All I know is that I'm supposed to help those in need, and so that's exactly what I'm going to do. Besides, if something happens to me, you can just patch me up."

"But what if this individual is really dangerous though Jace?" Clockwork nervously asked, concerned about the automaton and his sense of immortality. "And I can't just 'patch up' a ripped off arm, or worse your head, when I don't have resources at hoof to fix something that seriously major. So, I'm coming to make sure that you don't wreck yourself," Clockwork complied as she got up and packed up the last of her things and faced Jace with a look similar to that of an angry schoolteacher. "And if you do, I'll make an angry dragon seem like a kitten in comparison when I get through with you."

"Okay, okay, I promise that I'll be careful Clockwork," Jace promised as he picked up their supplies and swung them over his shoulder, and started to make his way to where he thinks the noises came from when he recalled what the unicorn said, causing him to look towards the silver pony. "Did you just say dragon?"

…

It didn't take long for the automaton and engineer to make their way through the trees and greenery till they came to the broader of an immense clearing that made them stop in their tracks that can be best described as a war zone.

"Oh, my God. What happened here?"

"Sweet Celestia, what is this place?"

In the center of the clearing is what looks like a fighting ring that has craters here and there. On one side there are a series of large boulders, some riddled with craters while there are some looking as if something has whittled down the middle to the point that the top halves just broke off. The other side are thick pillars with a series of random rods placed throughout the pillars, which some are splintered and missing rods. However, what drew Clockwork's attention was the single reddish pillar that was cracked in half down the middle as she stepped into the clearing and towards the damaged pillar.

"This place looks like some kind of training ground," Jace observed as he followed the unicorn into the clearing, keeping alert for any sign of the dangerous being that caused this damage. "But this place looks like crap."

"Jace, you need to come and see this," Clockwork called out for his attention, still at the broken pillar.

He made his way towards the unicorn and kneeled down to her height. "What is it Clockwork?

"Jace, do you know what this is?" Clockwork asked which he replied back with a shrug. "This is Ironwood Jace, you can tell by the red veins within the grain of the wood." Even though the light is slowly dying, Jace saw the red veins running along the wood grain just like she pointed out, giving the wood its reddish color.

"Okay, let's pretend that I don't know what it means and you explain it to me," Jace suggested.

"Right, I'm dealing with a former human from another world," Clockwork said as she rolled her eyes. "Ironwood is a type of tree that has traces of iron in it when grown in iron rich soil, which makes it better, stronger, and tougher just like iron."

"Is that how your town got its' name?"

"Yes, the first settlers came across a grove of Ironwood trees and decided to build the town there and that's how Ironwood Falls got its' name; the sound of Ironwood trees falling. Well anyway, Ironwood is a very tough material, difficult to process though, but when one does it right though, it is an amazing material to use. In fact, there are still some buildings back in town that still has it for their foundations as some Ironwood samples can also stand against the test of time But look at how many red veins are in this one pillar Jace, especially how close they are."

"Yeah so?"

"Jace, this particular strain of Ironwood is as strong as steel, maybe even stronger."

"So wait, you're saying that something figuratively broke steel," Jace put together what Clockwork was getting at as he glanced back at the broken pillar of wood. Nothing else was said as Jace and Clockwork wordless moved away from the destroyed pillar without needing to say another word as the gravity of the situation settled upon them like snow.

Clockwork and Jace explored the clearing a little more until they came across a well-worn path that looks like that has been used for decades. Jace took the lead down the path with Clockwork wearily following behind him. When Jace turned around a bend in the path, he suddenly stopped when he saw was around the corner, there was sudden rang of metal as Clockwork walked into Jace a second later. "Ow, why did you just suddenly stop Jace," Clockwork groaned as she stepped around Jace as she rubbed her muzzle with a hoof, but she paused in what she was doing as she saw what made Jace stop in the first place. "Whoa."

Spread out before them in numerous rows and aisles are rocks stacked up into small towers with a bouquet of flowers in front of them. Clockwork was the first to move as she walked towards the stacks of rocks and carefully made her way through them carefully. "This is one strange rock garden, although it's a bit creepy if you ask me."

"Uh… Clockwork," Jace hesitantly started, unsure how to break it to the unicorn of the true nature of the place they're in. Clockwork looked back at him still not realizing where she's standing. "This isn't a rock garden Clockwork… this is a burial ground."

A quizzical look appeared on the unicorn's face as she looked down at her hooves and noticed the slight raised mounds of earth underneath the piles of rocks and flowers. Clockwork's pupils suddenly became pinpricks when she confirmed what Jace said. Jace heard her quietly mutter apologies to the burial mounds as she quickly, but carefully, shuffled around the grave sites until she's once again standing next to Jace on the path, looking as if she unwittingly awaken the dead and is waiting for them to get her.

"What's wrong Clockwork, don't tell me that you ponies don't have graveyards here in this world?"

"We do Jace, but there's something about this one that feels odd, like it's… sad, from being alone and forgotten."

"I don't think that's the case here Clockwork." The unicorn gave Jace a questioning look when he said that. "Well, I'm not expert on psychology or anything, but look at this place; no overgrown weeds or shrubbery around the sites or on the markers, the upkeep clearing with no patches of dead grass, no signs of animal activities at all, and the final thing are the flowers. Whoever did this has love and respect for those that rest here and takes a great deal of care in keeping this place beautiful for them, making sure that they aren't lost and forgotten," Jace said as he pointed at the path that's running at the edge of the clearing and into the trees. "And they will be living nearby."

"I don't get it Jace, is this a dangerous monster or a very caring, and apparently lonely, ponyfolk, that we are looking for or not," Clockwork voiced her thoughts as both her and Jace resumed walking down the path, but this time keeping Jace between her and the burial ground as she couldn't help but give a light shudder whenever she glances at it.

"I don't know Clockwork, maybe they're both one the same," Jace replied back with a shrug of his shoulders just as they passed through the tree line. "Clockwork, stay behind me," Jace said as they stepped into a courtyard overgrown with weeds that's coming through the cracks in the paving stones. What caused Jace's concern for Clockwork's safety however, was an old chateau-looking building in front of them that looks like it just went through a raid long ago, but some of the damages looked fresh though. "Stay close and watch out for any signs that's suspicious," Jace instructed before he cautiously and quietly, as much as he could with his metal form anyway, make his way towards what he guess is the entrance with Clockwork wordlessly following behind him, reaching into her bags and encased the closest thing with her magic and pulled out her mother's invention, keeping it up in the air in preparation to swing at anything that comes at her.

Jace quietly set their bags at the foot of a couple of short steps leading up onto the porch before climbing them and approached the entrance, carefully taking note of the damaged and numerous rotten boards to avoid them, not wanting to break through them. He reached the entrance and peered through the broken doors and into a room that Jace concludes that it could be an entrance hall, but he couldn't tell with all the apparent damage that looks like many living something's were used as wrecking balls, he looked back at Clockwork and motioned for her to stay put, which she responded back with a quick nod. Jace entered the building with his fists raised, ready to fight anything that might still be around, I wish I know how to use my powers, Jace thought as he reached the end of the hall and entered an open inner courtyard, revealing how truly big the building is. Whoa, Jace thought as he looked around, taking note how ancient the building looks.

The sound of something moving quickly across wood to Jace's left right as something yelled out, "I told you to stay away from my home after the beating I gave ya'll last time." This startling Jace, causing him to look where the yelling came from just to see something white and yellow coming right at him, catching him by surprise. The blur suddenly flipped and nailed him in the head with such a large force that it stunned Jace as he suddenly took off into the air and flew back through the entrance hall and out to the outer courtyard, which he landed and skid across it, causing sparks to fly as metal meet stone once again meet.

"Oh, Clockwork's gonna kill me," Jace groaned as he pushed himself off the ground, holding his head as all he could hear is literally ringing of metal. He could barely hear Clockwork saying something over the ringing as he pushed himself up. "But first; what the heck just hit me?" Jace questioned just as he heard a scream come from Clockwork, causing him to look just to see arguing with Clockwork… another pony? Jace could make out that the other pony is a white stallion, although slightly bigger than other stallions that Jace remembered, arguing with Clockwork as she's waving her makeshift weapon threatening at him, not allowing him to get near him. However, the oddest thing about this pony is that he's apparently wearing a yellow robe, something like that of what a monk would wear.

"What are you doing? I'm trying to save you from that thing," the pony argued as he stepped close to Clockwork which she swung her tool down at the pony's in response. Jace watched the tool shift into a giant wrench right before it made contact with his head, causing the pony monk's head crash through the floorboards of the porch, and causing Jace to wince at the violent scene.

"And I'll tell you again, he's not a monster you creep," Clockwork responded as the pony groaned as he tried to pull his head free out of the floorboards of the porch.

"What's with you ponies aiming for the head?" Jace questioned as he walked up the steps to the porch just as the mysterious pony finally unstuck his head.

"Why did you hit me? What the heck is wrong with you, you crazy pony?"

"You know, I wouldn't call the unicorn with a giant wrench crazy," Jace stated, causing the pony to look up and see him standing there, and allowing Jace a closer look at him in return. A snow white coat, blonde colored mane and tail, blue colored eyes. However, there are a couple odd things that stood out to Jace, the main thing is his monk clothing of course, he then noticed his tufted ears and with what looks like two earrings in the left one. "Now, why did you just attacked us?"

"I only attacked you, not her. I don't hit girls," the pony stated, which Clockwork frowned at that.

"I'm not some helpless filly, so don't give me another reason to hit you again," she threatened as she threateningly waved the wrench at him. Clockwork then suddenly looked up at Jace with an excited look. "Oh Jace, I think I have a theory on how this thing works. It works by reading whatever I need if I hold it in my magic."

"That's great Clockwork, but I don't think now's the time for theory testing," Jace said as he turned away from her and towards the earthpony who's finally getting back on his hooves. "You still haven't answered my question; why did you attacked me?"

"I was attacked a few days by a group of diamond dogs, so when I saw you, I thought that you were a diamond dog wearing armor, although I can see now that you're not a diamond dog. So who are two and what the heck are you?" He pointed his question at Jace's metallic form.

"I'm a, or was actually, a human." At the confused look from the pony, Jace waved it off. "I'll explain what it is later, anyway, I'm Jace and the crazy unicorn with the wrench here is Clockwork. Now, since you know who we are, you tell us who you are, well that, and you hit me-"

"Kicked," the pony interrupted.

"What?" Clockwork said confused.

"I kicked you, not hit you. There's a difference you know," the pony clarified. There was a sudden clang of metal meeting head and the pony's head was once again buried into the porch with Clockwork standing above him with the wrench at her side. After a moment to get unstuck, the stallion pulled out his head with a pop and looked at Clockwork as if she's insane, appearing to be unhurt despite getting a head-full of metal and a face-full of wood twice. "Why do you keep hitting me?"

"Well let's see here, you attacked my friend here, you were acting like a total creep and the finally; you could've damaged my machine." at least I'm among her priorities, Jace dejectedly thought as the pony gave Clockwork an incredulous look before looking towards at Jace.

"Is she serious?"

"Oh, she is serious when it comes to things like this, unfortunately," Jace affirmed about Clockwork. "But I gotta admit though, her work is pretty amazing, considering where I came from before."

The pony looked troubled as he looked back and forth at Clockwork and Jace, considering if one or the other, or both, are just plain crazy. Before he could make up his mind though, an annoyed, and somewhat cranky, voice called out, "Precious, what's with all the racket, I'm trying to have a nap here you know." Every head turned towards the entrance just to see an elderly light gray earthpony mare walk through the doorway, wearing the same monk robes as the stallion, even down to the same earring, although she's only wearing one. When she saw Jace and Clockwork standing there next to the other robed pony, she immediately beamed and said with a cheerful smile," oh Precious, why didn't you tell me we have visitors and that you're making friends with them?"

"Ah…" the pony known as Precious started but the old mare interrupted him.

"Well, what are you waiting for, to make personal written invitations? Invite our guests inside already, they're probably exhausted and hungry after traveling through the forest for who knows how long. Come, come." With that, the old mare made her way back inside the building, humming a tune, before anything further can be said.

"Ki!" 'Precious' called out to his elder, but the other pony didn't hear or just either ignored him. The white pony let out an exasperated groan, before glancing back at the odd duo and addressing them, "well, you heard her, come on inside and rest up." The pony's expression suddenly became dark as he became serious. "But if you're going to cause trouble…" He left the rest unsaid as he motioned for them to follow as he made his way after the elderly pony. Clockwork looked up at Jace with a raised brow and he just shrugged his shoulders in response. Clockwork looked unsure for a moment before deciding to put away her wrench and follow after 'Precious' and the elderly mare into their home.

…

"It's so nice to have visitors again," the elderly mare said, who had introduced herself earlier as Ki, as she set a steaming bowl of what looks like thin stew each for Jace and Clockwork in front of them as they sat next together at a low table, which is a perfect height for ponies, but forcing Jace to sit cross-legged. Although he still towered over it though. "We haven't had guests since… actually you know what? I can't remember. Hey Precious, when was the last time we had guests?" Ki asked the visibly annoyed pony as she sat down next to younger and bigger pony, across from Jace and Clockwork, with their own bowls in front of them.

"I don't know, a decade or two?" the younger pony guessed.

"Eh, I'm not sure as my memories has been somewhat getting fuzzy lately, but that sounds about right, I think." A concerned looked flashed across the younger earthpony's face when the older earthpony was momentarily confused. "Well anyway, eat or the stew will get cold, and trust me, it tastes better when it's hot."

"Oh sorry, I didn't know that we were supposed to start first," Clockwork said as she glanced at the bowl in front of her and noticed that there are no utensils to be found. "Um, how do I…"

"Clockwork, like this," Clockwork glanced over at Jace to see him holding the bowl in his metal hands near his head and tipping it towards where his mouth would be if he had one.

"He got it down, not many do get it on the first try," Ki pointed out as Jace set the still filled bowl back on the table. "How did you know what to do and why are you still wearing that armor for? Take it off and rest, I'm sure it'll be a load off."

"I read something like it in a book. As for the armor though…" Jace started just as he glanced at Clockwork to see her raise the bowl in her hooves to her lips and took a sip of the stew… to immediately spit it back into the bowl. Judging by the disgusted look that Clockwork is trying to hide behind the bowl, he was glad that he doesn't have a stomach this time. "As for the armor, I can't take it off unfortunately, and I don't want to talk about it as it brings up memories that I'm trying to get past."

"Oh, dear me, that's horrible. How do you cope with it? It must be difficult to eat and do other things," Ki stated as she raised her own bowl and took a deep sip of it. She swallowed it and let out a breath of content. "Ah, delicious, there's nothing like crabgrass stew to clear the old airways. Well anyway, I'll respect by not asking."

"Thank you and don't worry about me; I'll get by," Jace replied back as he pushed the bowl away from him.

Clockwork let out a shudder as the elderly mare took another sip of the foul tasting stew. She set her bowl down and politely scooted it away far from her as possible. "So anyway what brings you two this far into the middle of nowhere?" the younger pony finally speaks up as he too partake of the stew, showing no signs of disgust as well as he drank it. He set his empty dish back on the table and looked at them suspiciously. "And how do you know of this place?"

"We actually didn't know about this place till now," Clockwork answered. "We were actually making our way north to find somepony, when we heard something out in the forest. We followed where we thought it came from and then we came across this place."

"Oh, that explains why you were at the back door: you must have heard Precious here practicing at the training grounds then, because this silly pony thinks he has to be strong in order to keep me safe when in reality, I'm capable of looking after myself," Ki laughed as she hit the shoulder of the younger pony next to her with a hoof. Jace and Clockwork glanced at each other, both thinking the same thought; he's their monster?

"Well, I think I best be off to bed. It's getting late and I skipped my nap so I can talk with Precious' new friends, so I'm tired like no other," Ki yawned. She got up from the table, but then she grabbed his cheeks in her hooves, scrunching his face in. "But it was great to see him making friends though, so it was worth it. Now have fun and be good." She gave him a pat on the cheek before leaving the room. Jace and Clockwork sat there with the white pony for a few more awkward minutes, their bowls of stew gone cold long since then, till the sound of movement finally ceased in the building, allowing them to be alone once again.

"Hey, um, I just want to apologize for attacking you and freaking out Clockwork out back then," the white pony shyly apologized, breaking the icy silence between the three of them. "I just wasn't sure if you were to cause trouble or not for my home and family."

"It's alright, I understand perfectly," Jace said, accepting the stallion's apology. "I would too attack a stranger if I happened to find him sneaking around my home when it's getting dark. So you're not at fault for attacking me, but you did kind of freaked out Clockwork there a bit though, as she just gone through rough times lately."

"I'm sorry for scaring you Miss Clockwork," the pony apologized as he bowed his head towards her apologetically, making Clockwork flustered by the earthpony's behavior.

"Please, just call me Clockwork and I guess I'm sorry too, for hitting you… with a wrench… into your porch… twice." Clockwork felt embarrassed as the pony in front of her is apologizing for something much worse than what she did to him. "So it's all good Precious."

The pony monk lifted his head and faced them. "Um, that isn't my name by the way."

"It's not?" Clockwork questioned.

"Yeah, Precious is name that Ki started calling me long ago," he revealed.

"Then what is it?"

"It's Quinn. My name is Quinn."

Chapter 9: Questions and Despair

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 1: An End and a Beginning

A/N

Well folks Cyber V here, and I have this idea in my head for a while, so I decided to write out it and hope that it becomes a success, that you readers for deciding to read this story and remember to leave your comments and reviews behind.

Also before I forget, I don't own any of the MLP franchises expect my OCs.

End A/N

Hello folks, Jace here, and this is my story of what happened to me right before and after I died, but first let me tell you this; death can happen to anyone, especially to morons like me. Yeah that's right I died because of my stupidity. Now let me tell you all to those that are reading this, the tale of my second chance at life…

…

"Mom, I am going to the library," I called out to my mom as I stood in the doorframe, while fiddling with my MP3 player looking for a good song to listen on the way there, "and I am going to take my bike," I added as I finally decided to just set the MP3 player on random and clipped it to my belt.

"Don't forget about your helmet," my mom called back to me.

"Come on mom, the library is only a few blocks away and there is only one highway to cross as well," I pointed out.

"Alright fine," my mom finally consented, "but please be careful Jace, okay?"

"Don't worry mom, I will," I promised as I put in the earbuds into my ears, "see ya later mom," I said as I stepped outside and shut the door as I heard my mom saying 'goodbye' and 'I love you' as I shut the door, jeez mom, I just going to the library. I made my way to the side of the house to get to my bike so I can ride it to the library.

Just as I am about to take off to the library, I played the music player and the song It's My Life by Bon Jovi started playing in my head, getting me into the mood as the piano played the opening measures of the song. I started to pedal my bike in rhythm with the song down the driveway and soon was making my way down the street and towards the library.

As the song was coming to end, I looked down at the clip-attached music player to see what was going too played next, but when I saw that the next song was Friday by Rebecca Black, I was disgusted by the horrible music, what is that song doing in there? I questioned as I made a move to delete the horrible music, but the sound of a howling car horn quickly drew my attention and I saw a Buick coming towards me and I realized something; I'm crossing the supposedly safe highway on a red light and a car is coming towards me.

I felt my heart stop as the car hit the rear end of my bike, causing me to serve out of control and then to be flung off of it. I closed my eyes as I took to the air and felt the air blow around me and at the moment I remember my mom saying, "Don't forget about your helmet," I don't think my helmet would've helped me in this case anyway, I grimly thought, as I then made contact with the pavement.

I felt the burning, piercing pain as the pavement sanded my skin like sandpaper does to paint and my bones breaking and their shards now moving about in my body, piercing my inner organs, but the pain didn't stop there as I am now rolling across the pavement, getting more scrapes and bruises and felt my world become upside down. I felt myself being rolled into the roadside ditch, feeling the grass and other plant life being crushed underneath me as I finally came to a complete stop, and then I felt something started seep from underneath me and into the ground and let out a pain filled scream as my body told me what happened to it.

After what seems like a few minutes of screaming in pain, I finally stopped and opened my eyes and saw that I am now staring at clear blue sky above and then I hear the song Bleed it out by Linkin Park playing in my ears, telling me that the music player had somehow survived the accident and was still playing. The feeling of my breathing be restricted, compelled me to take in a deep breath, but I was met with a wave of pain, telling me that my ribs had probably pierced my lungs and possibly other vital organs, oh god, I'm going to die, I thought, frightened by the very idea. I saw a man lean into my vision of view and I saw him started to talk to me, but I couldn't hear him due to the screaming lyrics of the current song in my ears.

The man started to panic and he pulls out a cell phone and quickly made a call, I'm guessing 911. I turn my gaze upward and felt the raising fear ascend once more and it made me realized that my life has been safe boring and ordinary with no excitement and that I haven't done much with my life, then the surrounding area of my vision started to fade away to black, but the center of my vision didn't fade away too, but instead became a blinding white light; like that at the end of a tunnel, oh god, I'm really going to die. The song Bring Me Back to Life by Evanescence started to play now, I wish I could've lived more of life, I wished as I heard the music, and I will if I ever make it out of this mess, I added as I closed my eyes and the music abruptly stopped, telling me that my music player has finally stopped working and that I am no longer going to be listening to anymore music.

"Then do I have a proposition for you," a voice suddenly echoed around me, making me to open my eyes, so I can see who said that, but I didn't see anyone there and the sounds of sirens can be heard in the distance.

"Huh, who said that? Who are you?" I painfully asked, causing me to cough and hack and make some blood to trickle out of the corner of my mouth, "what's this proposition?"

"Before I answer that, what's your name?" the voice asked me.

"My name is Jace."

"Well Jace, I heard your wish to live and I have to say, I am moved, so I am offering you a second chance at life, but I want something from you though," the voice answered me, "as for whom I am, I am called Karma," he introduced himself, "now will you accept my offer?"

"Before I even think-" I started to hack and coughed up some more blood as I felt it started to fill my lungs, "before I even think of accepting any offers; what is it that you want from me?" I wearily asked Karma.

"Ah, I see that you're still alert even on the verge of death," Karma observed, "well as you must know, what I am requesting from you is your service."

"Service, what service am I going to be doing?"

"Oh nothing much, just to come to me when I call for you and such, now I suggest you choose quickly, because I sense that you don't have much time left to live," he pointed out, "and it will be a real shame to see such a promising soul go to waste."

I thought what Karma offered over, but just as he said, I saw my vision started to get blurry, telling me that my time is definitely nearing, I'm afraid of what I might be getting myself into, but I am even more afraid of dying, "alright I'll accept your offer."

"Excellent, now reach up towards the light so I can make our agreement official," Karma instructed me. I painfully lifted my arm, feeling my shattered bones in my arm grate against each other, but I was only to raise it halfway, "come on now, just a little more," Karma encouraged me. I raised my arm more and into my eyesight and I saw that it was all bloody, with some shattered bone shards sticking out of the skin, I must be really in bad shape if my arm is any indicator. I finally fully raised my mangled arm towards the light and immediately heard Karma respond, "excellent, now hold on."

I felt something wrap itself around my arm, causing wince as the pain lanced through me from the pressure being applied on it, and then it was followed by the feeling of something pulling me up and immediately the pain that my broken body was generating, is starting to fade away as I started to raise towards the light, I'm sorry mom, I thought, I promised that I will be careful and I broke it, but don't worry mom, I promise I will come back… someday, I finished the thought as I became surrounded in light as the world around me faded away.

...

A robed figure stood there in the middle of a plain of white, holding a light blue spark of light in his upheld hand, "this one is sure interesting," Karma contemplated as he examined the spark that he extracted from Jace's dying body. Karma clenched his hand shut over the spark and gave a small surge of energy and opened his hand, revealing a small crystal in its place.

"Of all of those mortals in that world, why did this one move me the most?" he questioned as he placed the crystal deep inside his robes, "well I may not know the answer to that, but I sense that he has a lot of potential," Karma observed about his new… employee, "maybe he's the one I am looking for, but first he'll need a new form and I know the right person who is qualified to do it," he then started to walk off towards the distance, "or I should say, the right unicorn, a special unicorn."

…

"Oh come on," a silver unicorn with golden hair cried out as she pounded on a set of doors that belongs to a large building and has a picture of a book with set of scrolls crossing each other in front of it, "please let me in Archive, why won't you let me in?" the unicorn questioned as she continues to pound on the door.

"No, and I am not going to let you in Clockwork, because you'll just make a big mess like last time," Archive called out to Clockwork, "and I just finally cleaned up the library and I don't need you making anymore."

"Oh come on Archive," Clockwork annoyed at what Archive said, "You know perfectly well that it wasn't me that made that precarious stack of books," Clockwork accusingly pointed out.

"True, but it wasn't me that made the precarious stack of books to fall and create a large mess all over the place," Archive replied back through the doors, "I mean, why did you have to take a book from the bottom of the pile anyway?"

"Because I saw something interesting and I wanted to have a closer look at it," Clockwork explained her side of the story, "and can we stop talking through the door, because it is getting really tiresome," she called out to Archive, but she didn't get a reply back, "look if it helps, I promise I am just going to look through the library, possibly get a book or two and I won't make a big mess and if I do, I'll volunteer myself to clean the library for a week," Clockwork promised and started to wait for an answer.

After a few minutes of waiting outside, she heard the door's locks started to finally unlock and then they opened and there, in the middle of the now opened doorway, stood a very hesitant and a slight elderly earth pony, "alright I will let you browse around," that caused Clockwork to let out a cheer of joy, "BUT, if I find even one scroll out of place, I am going to hold you on to that offer you made, got it?"

"Got it, thanks Archive," Clockwork thanked him as she made her way past him, eager to get started to look through the library's shelves, but Archive quickly stopped her with a held up hoof.

"Remember even one scroll and I'll even make you clean the rafters as well," he warned her about the promise she made to him, annoying old coop.

"Alright I got it; don't leave a mess or I'm cleaning it and much more," Clockwork simplified it, "would you let me inside now?" she asked the uptight librarian and was rewarded with him putting down his hoof and clearing the entrance into the library, "thank you."

Clockwork entered the library and immediately she was met with the familiar smell of paper, parchment and slight dust as well and the sight of the main hallway made of bookcases with little signs above to tell what genre lies behind them, with chandeliers hanging from the rafters every few yards and a small checkout counter set off to the side. A smile formed on Clockwork's face as her thoughts are filled with the possibilities of different knowledge to be learned and with that she took off and started to make her way down the hallway of books with a set destination already in mind.

Clockwork walked past signs that ranged from classical to drama, but the most noticeable sized genre in the library was the fiction, I wonder why the fiction is the largest of them all, Clockwork pondered as she walked through the small grove of bookcases that makes up the territory between the fiction section and to the next one, well at least a pony is not going to be bored if they are looking for a good fantasy, but I am interested with what lies beyond this section of the library.

She soon passed the large section that made up the fiction genre and made her way farther into the library, where is it? Did Archive move the section farther back again? Clockwork questioned as she looked up at the signs, until she saw the sign she was looking for, which hold some meaning for the marking on her flank; Engineering Wonders.

"I sometimes wonder why Archive placed this particular genre so far in the back," Clockwork said to herself and then she realized something, "and I'm talking to myself again, jeez I really need to learn to stop talking out loud when there's nopony around," she said to herself again.

She made her way down the ally of bookcases and started to examine the scrolls and books that filled them, "let's see here; read that; never built that; horrible results from that one; still feeling the burn from that one; still paying off the damage that one caused," Clockwork listed the failures and their results out loud as she walks down the slight dusty passage filled with knowledge.

"Ah, here's one," the silver pony engineer said happily as she spotted a thick, dusty scroll sticking out a bit above her head. Clockwork concentrated and a silvery glow of magic formed around the scroll and took it out of the shelf and towards her, "it's so dusty," she commented as she blew on the scroll, causing a small cloud of dust to fly up into the air, and then unfurled it to see what it contained.

"Oh and this is a big one," she happily said as she found that it was multiple sheets of parchment than one giant scroll and there on written on the first page is the title, "The Great Works by Leo-neigh-do da Vinci? Hum, sounds interesting. Now let's see what we have here," she said as she started to rifle through sheets of parchment, "thirty-three barrel organ gun; ah no, a lot of things can go wrong with that one, giant crossbow; a few things can definitely go wrong with that one, a three barrel cannon, okay what is up with this pony and war machines?" Clockwork questioned the pony and the reason for the machines of war.

"Ugh I'm not interested in war and such," Clockwork announced as she flipped past through the war machines and into the less violent works of Leo-neigh-do da Vinci, "a process to make a colossus statue; sixty tons of bronze? That is way too much metal, parachute; possibly, flying machine; no point for that one, due to that we already blimps, no, no, no, no," Clockwork getting frustrated as she shuffled through the schematics of useless and unnecessary machines and was about to roll back up the verge of ripping scroll and stuff it back into the shelf where she found it, but as she flipped over the current page, she saw that made her paused, "robotic knight," Clockwork read the title as she sat down and grabbed the scroll of papers out of her magic to take a closer look.

The more she read about the complexity of a robot made of levers, pulleys and cable system all assembled inside a suit of armor, the more she became intrigued by this invention, "this is interesting and with a few more… modifications I can probably make it more modernized, how come I didn't find this before?" she questioned herself as she rolled up the scroll and stood from the ground and started to make her way out of the Engineering Wonders section and make her way back to the checkout counter with look of glee on her face.

...

"I take it that you found something that interested you," Archive asked Clockwork as the elder pony saw her finally arriving at the checkout counter with the gleeful look on her face and the scroll she found in her magic, "and I trust that you didn't make a mess in the back again, because if you did…"

"I know, I'm cleaning up the mess," Clockwork interrupted him, "and yes I did find something interesting, but I got to ask, why do you have the Engineering Wonders genre so far in the back?" she asked as she placed the scroll on the counter and slid it across the counter and towards the librarian who then picked it up and unfurled it.

"Because it was requested ," Archive answered her and then look towards the scroll, "The Great Works," Archive read the title, "huh, I have forgotten all about this one," he said as he flipped open a binder that was next to him and wrote down the title and then Clockworks name next to the scroll's name. After he wrote down some more information he furled the scroll back up, placed it into a saddlebag and gave it towards to Clockwork, "now remember-"

"Return the checked out item and saddlebag back within a week without losing it, as well as no rips, tear, stains or any other form of damage on either of the goods, or I'll be paying a fine of fifteen bits, yeah, yeah I know the drill," Clockwork finished Archive and was rewarded with a look of annoyance from him, "sorry," Clockwork apologized, "but it's just that I know the process and that you keep on repeating it," she explained as she took the saddlebag into her magic.

"Sigh, just get going already," Archive told her, "it's getting late and I have to close up soon and I am pretty sure that you want to start making whatever is inside that scroll."

"With pleasure," Clockwork happily agreed with him and started to make her way out of the library, while all the while Archive watched her leave with sense of sadness rising from his heart, that mare is becoming just like her mother… I had hoped that she wouldn't for her safety, Archive sadly thought as he moved from behind the counter and towards the door to lock up for the night.

…

Clockwork stepped out of the library and the scent of fresh, clean, crisp air met her nose, tickling it and telling her that it is indeed getting late and time for her to head back home. She placed the saddlebag on her back just as the set of doors shut behind her and soon followed by the sounds of locks being engaged, she then made her way down the stairs that made up the front entrance of the library and onto the cobblestone streets of her small and boring hometown that is located in the forest to the west; Ironwood Falls.

"I sometimes question myself why I still stay in this small town," Clockwork said to herself out loud, "maybe it is because it's my home or maybe it is because I get separation anxiety when I go even ten yards outside of the town, I don't know… and I'm talking to myself again," Clockwork said out loud as she made her way down streets and turning and onto other streets, passing other middle aged ponies with a wave and them waving back to her in response.

As the sun was starting to set in the distance, other ponies started to make their way back to their own homes, till the only ponies that remained on the streets was the silver and gold pony. I can't wait to start on that new project, Clockwork happily thought as she blindly turns around a corner and collided with a robed pony that was coming in running from the other direction. Clockwork landed on her haunches and started to moan in pain as she held her head in her hooves, trying to stop the headache that is forming from the collision, unaware that her saddlebag had fallen off of her back from the shock of the collision and landed in a pile beside her.

"Oh I'm terribly sorry," the robed pony said as he got up from the ground and helped Clockwork back onto her hooves, "I wasn't looking where I was going," the mystery pony admitted as Clockwork dusted the dirt and dust off of her coat, "are you okay?"

"I'm alright mister, "she reassuringly said to the him as she rubbed the pain out of her forehead, "and it was just an honest mistake and it wasn't totally your fault, because I wasn't paying attention to where I was going as well," she confessed as she finally look at the other pony and saw that it was a dark blue unicorn with white hair swept back, but what confused Clockwork the most is the sight of the robe he is wearing, "um, what's up with the robe, if you don't mind me asked that is?"

"Well its getting cold isn't it."

"Huh, I guess it is," Clockwork agreed with the robed pony as she realized that it is indeed getting colder, telling her that it is getting late and that she needs to get home as well, "well I'm still sorry for crashing into you, but I really need to get home," she apologized.

"Of course, sorry for wasting your time," the mystery pony apologized as Clockwork stepped around him and made her way up the street, completely forgetting about her saddlebag she dropped behind, which it is now being approached by the dark blue unicorn as he reached inside his robes and pulled a cylinder shaped object.

When Clockwork made it about halfway up the street, she heard the unicorn call out to her, "hold on miss, is this yours?" which caused her to stop in her tracks and look back and saw the robed unicorn walking up to her and with Clockwork's saddlebag in his white magical grasp.

When Clockwork saw the saddlebag in his magic she noticed the lack of weight on her back. She took a quick glance behind her and saw that her saddlebag is not there on her back anymore, "oh scrap, yes it is," Clockwork confirmed as she look back towards the unicorn and took the saddlebag from his magical aura and into hers, "thank you sir, if you haven't found, somepony else would've might have first and return it to the library, and I would be in so much trouble with the librarian there."

"No problem, just glad to help," the unicorn said, he then look up to the sky and added, "now I suggest that you should get home now Miss Clockwork, because you don't want to be outside while it is dark, do you?"

"No, I don't," Clockwork answered him, "well thank you again," she thanked him as she turned around and resumed her way back home, what a nice pony, glad to know that there are still some ponies like him, she thought as she made her way up the street, passing homes of other ponies and then a thought appeared, wait a minute, how did he know my name? Clockwork then started to speak up while she turned around, "excuse me sir, but how did you know my…" and saw only an empty street with houses on either side, with no exiting side streets for a pony to walk down, "name?" she finished worriedly.

Clockwork took a few steps back in shock from the sudden disappearance of the robed pony, "what the hoof? Where did he go?" She asked to the now empty street and was answered with a gust of cold wind through her coat instead, "Okay calm down Clockwork, there's no reason to freak out," she rationalized to herself, calming her beating heart, "he just probably learned your name from one of your neighbors, and as for him disappearing; maybe he just ran ran off to find a place to stay at when you had your back to him, yeah that's it," Clockwork reasoned with herself and was once again responded with another gust of wind, "well whatever the reason is, I'm not staying here," she concluded as she turn around and made her way back home, but this time with a quicken pace.

Clockwork hurriedly made her way past houses with neat cut lawns and occasionally passes a house with a few windows that have lights still on behind them, but she ignored them and continues down the street until she reaches a site that at first glance from ponies who didn't live in Ironwood Falls would think it is a junkyard, but for do in the quiet town knows that it is just Clockwork's home with her failed inventions and machines out on display on her front lawn for others to see.

As Clockwork walked up the path of her front yard and through the rusting structures of metal, she looked at them and stopped, "I wonder why these inventions never worked, I put so much heart into their designs but then something goes wrong when I built them," Clockwork said sadly as she stood there for a few more minutes, staring at the inventions she remember working on so she can help her town in some way, "well whatever the cause may be, I am never going to give up for I promise that I would create something that would help everypony," Clockwork declared proudly, a few seconds later she let out a moan of frustration, "ah scrap, I really got to learn to stop talking to myself when there's nopony around," she then resumed walking and made her way to the front door of her small home.

After she got up to the door and unlocked it with a key hidden underneath a piece of metal from another failed project, she placed the key back into its hiding place and entered her home. Clockwork stepped into her dark home with the only light coming from raising moon through the door, momentary lighting up a path in the shape of the doorway into her home, but she quickly shut the door and the darkness reclaimed the house once again.

A silvery glow lit up in the darkness and with a whooshing sound the several lanterns burst aflame, banishing the darkness for now and revealing a large room that is made up by a kitchen, living room and a workstation, with a couple of doors in the back of the room that leads to more of the silver unicorn's home. Clockwork made her way across the room, her hooves clopping across the oil and ink stained wooden floor and towards her workstation, where a large table is set up, filled with small uncompleted or just started projects, and sat down at it while Clockwork removed her saddlebag and placed it in front of her on the table.

"Alright let's have one more look on that robot knight schematic," Clockwork said to herself as she opened the saddlebag and pulled out the scroll of engineering works, "huh, is it just me or is this scroll a little more heavier?" she questioned as she weighted the scroll in her hooves, "eh, it is just probably just me, now let's see what supplies I'll need for this project," she concluded as she unfurled the scroll, but as soon as she opened the scroll a tiny package fell out and landed on the table with a clatter.

"What the- where did this come from?" she questioned as she place the scroll down and picked up the small parcel in her magic and brought it closer and became confused for there she saw, written in beautiful cursive on one side of the parcel, is her name. Clockwork turned it around and about to see who sent it, but the only name she found was her own and no other, "I wonder who it is from," she questioned, "in fact, why was it in The Great Works anyway?" she added as she placed the parcel down and looked towards the scroll, but instead of the title and name of the pony who wrote it, there was a letter in its place.

Feeling more confused and a bit scared, Clockwork picked up the letter and started to read it:

Dear Miss Clockwork

I am sure that you are feeling confused and a bit afraid of the current situation you are in, but I know of your special talent with mechanical engineering and in need of it, so I am placing a task in your hooves, but first you must have by now found the little parcel that came with the scroll...

Clockwork's gaze turns towards the parcel and then back at the letter.

… Inside the parcel is a crystal that holds a unique life that had I saved at the last moment, but unfortunately his body was damaged beyond repair, so this is where you come in; I want you to make him a new body.

The contents of the scroll that this letter came in, holds schematics to very special mechanical wonder that has the ability to help others, but as well as to destroy. There is no other I trust for this task, for I have heard your promise to help others, so that's a reason why I am placing this task in your hooves, but I would like you to try to keep this project a secret. There's also another reason why I am placing this lost soul in your care, for he isn't from this world, so he's in need a educator and caretaker for this world.

"This is nuts, just completely nuts," Clockwork said as she put down the letter, "this just has to be a joke, it has to be," She declared as she shook her head in disbelief, "what kind of pony would go this far just to prank on another pony?" and then she remembered the pony that she collided earlier, "oh I am going to get back at him for messing with my stuff and listening on my promise and as well as this prank," she vowed and then her gaze shifted back to the little parcel and then she became unsure, "but what if this wasn't a joke, because this seems a bit too complicated for a mere joke."

Clockwork stared at the parcel for a while until her curiosity got the best of her, causing her to pick up the parcel and started to carefully unwrap it. "Oh wow," Clockwork said in amazement when she finally opened the parcel and is now holding a shimmering light blue crystal that seems to be pulsating like a heartbeat would the more she stared it.

The more she started to feel sad for it, if what the letter said is true, then he died and somepony just wanted to help him, and then she remember the promise she made tonight and on other nights before, well I do want to help others… fine I'll continue reading the letter, but if it does end up being a joke, then I am serious going to hurt that pony, Clockwork set the crystal and picked up the letter and resumed reading.

Now there's one final thing you should know about the lost soul I am placing in your care Miss Clockwork, his name is Jace and I trust that you'll take good care of him Miss Clockwork, because he'll be confused at first, so try to not give him a big of surprise. Now please take care and may we all meet again properly some day.

-Karma

"Who's Karma?" Clockwork questioned as she saw the name that is signed on the bottom of the letter, and then she looked towards the crystal resting on the table, "so Jace huh, interesting name, odd but interesting name," she commented as she pushed the crystal to the side and brought the rest of the scroll towards her, "now let's see what we have here," she said as she started to flip through the pieces of parchments that is supposedly to contain an engineering wonder.

As soon as Clockwork examined the first page she was amazed to see a complex-looking mathematical equations and engineering schematics, "okay, either somepony had wasted a lot of time just to prank one pony or whoever this Karma character is, he's telling the truth," she said as went back to the beginning and started to read some of the schematics.

"Wait this thing is going to be how big?" Clockwork asked out loud after she read some of the schematics. She looked at the table and then to the scroll in front of her and back to the table, "am I going to need a bigger table," she observed and then her gaze settled on her saddlebag, "what a minute, what happened to The Great Works that was in the bag in the first place?" she panicky questioned as she quickly went for the saddlebag and started to rummage through and soon found a hastily written note:

P.S. I took the scroll that was originally in this bag and replaced it with the other one, and I am sorry about that.

"Ah scrap!" Clockwork exclaimed after she read the letter that Karma left behind, "now I have to pay Archive for the scroll... I'll be getting my fifteen bits back later from this Karma character."

A/N

Well folks, tell me what you think about this story, because I had this story idea floating around my head and won't leave me alone until I wrote it, so I did and I have to say it flowed from my head, into my fingers and into the keyboard, and I add, this came out pretty well.

So I want you readers to leave your comment, reviews and congrats for getting this story out of my head and out into the world, and very successful might I add. I sense a lot of potential coming from this story.

End A/N

Chapter 5: Dues Ex Machina; First Gear

Chapter 5: Dues Ex Machina; First Gear

Jace numbly stared at his hands while he watched the inner mechanisms clench and unclench them as they responded to his thoughts. He looked away from his hands and towards the unconscious silver colored unicorn lying on the floor, "you got to be kidding me Karma, you told me that you're sending me to a world that's in a middle of a war for my second chance at life, but yet failed to mention that the one that made me a new body is a unicorn, what else have you forgotten to tell me about this world Karma?" He rhetorically asked as he reaches out to the table and with the sounds of gears and cogs grinding each other, he uses it to brace himself up.

When he fully stood up, he glances around to see where he has woken up and saw that he's in a large single room that's being shared by a small kitchen in one corner and a single couch living room in the other, and with him and the sleeping unicorn in the third. Jace looked at the table and took note of the tools, scattered pieces of scrap metal, grease stains, and a tiny pile of unidentifiable material that looks it might have been a stack of paper. He turns his attention back at the unicorn and saw its chest slowly rising and dropping in the steady rhythm of sleep, and then notices that the unicorn is wearing a pair of bulging saddlebags that looks like is causing discomfort to the unicorn.

Jace took away his hold on the table and then shakily made his way towards the unicorn, while saying left foot and right foot as his balanced is slightly off due to him being in a new body that was bigger than his former one. "There, that wasn't too bad," Jace commented himself as he walked up to the unicorn and then carefully kneeled down in front of it, not wanting to accidently fall forward and crush the mythical creature, he then reached out for the saddlebags with his right hand and grasped them in his automaton hand. As soon as his fingers wrapped around the strap connecting both of the bags, Jace was surprised when he could feel the soft material that the strap of the bags are made of and the soft fur of the unicorn's backside even though his hand is no longer flesh.

"Okay this is weird; I somehow still have my sense of touch even though I don't skin anymore. How is that possible?" Jace asked and then suddenly remembered what happened to him, "you know what? Forget it, there's probably more things in this world that's going to possibly going to give me a headache, could I even get headaches now?" he shook his head to clear his head of those thoughts and proceeded to slip the saddle bags from underneath the unicorn, "I don't really like to look through others' things, but there might be a clue that can tell me something about this world."

When Jace slid the bags from underneath the underneath the unicorn, it let out a grunt as it landed on the floor with the thud, "sorry miss," Jace apologized and then realized what he said, "miss?" he lend over and peered at the unicorn's face and saw some feminine features written in its face and then he remember how Karma said that it was a she who made his new body, huh, it is girl or do you call a female horse a mare? He questioned as he scratch his head with his free hand, the sound of metal rubbing against metal now heard.

Jace then noticed something new about the unicorn, there on her haunches that were covered by the saddlebags before, is pair of linked gears. He set the saddlebags down and reached out with the freed hand rubbed the picture on her flank with a single finger, and sure enough, his sense of touch is still working and could feel the that the marking on her flank is the same fur as the silver coat around it, with no oil residue of a hair dye being used, maybe it's some kind of tattoo technique here, but why a pair of gears? It's some form of identification? Jace saw the hind leg started to twitch like a dog in response to his prodding, which Jace suppressed the urge to chuckle at the sight and then he realized something, wait a minute, I'm basically touching a girl, "oh jeez, I'm sorry!" he yelled as he quickly jerked back his hand and away from the mare on the floor.

The unicorn didn't even acknowledge Jace's apologize as she continues to doze on the floor, "wow, you're really out cold, aren't you?" Jace observed as he looked away from the silver unicorn and up at the couch in the corner of the room, "I think I should move you from the floor, don't want to hurt you by accident when I'm in this new body and still getting use to it." He extended both his arms and then slid his hands under the unicorn's form and carefully stood up.

"Whoa," Jace said surprised as he found that he was able to easily lift the unicorn even though he estimated that she probably weighs from a hundred eighty to two hundred pounds, "there was no way I could've lift this much in my former life. I guess there are some benefits to having an automaton body." He carefully carried the silver unicorn towards the couch and then set her down on the worn out looking couch.

The unicorn rolled over on the couch, causing it to start making squeaking sounds as the springs strained under her weight, and there he saw that the same symbol of linked gears is on the unicorn's other flank as well. Why does she have two of them and what is their significance? He questioned as he left the sleeping unicorn on the couch and made his way towards the bags on the floor, his steps growing steadier and steadier, and picked them up.

He turns them over in his hands and there he saw that the buckles on the bags is the same symbol on the unicorn's flanks, maybe it is some kind of identification they use in this world, though it is strange that her ID is a pair of gears, Jace looks down and took notice of his new appearance, although I'm not one to talk.

Jace took the twin gear clasp in his hand and undid it and flipped the flap open, and there inside he saw more tools ranging from screwdrivers to wrenches. She must be a mechanic and they must have modern machines here in this world if these tools are to indicate, he flipped the flap back over and turns towards the other bag and undid the same gear work clasp and peered inside, and there Jace saw two small drawstring bags resting inside the lining of the saddlebag. He walks to the table while pulling out one of the tiny bags, which the sounds of something clinking was heard, while setting the rest on the table. Jace then spreads open the drawstring of the bag and looks inside, "holy moly," he said in surprise at what he saw inside, for inside the bag is a small amount of gold coins.

He took a single gold coin from the bag and started to finger it, this must be what they use for money here, he thought as he watched the coin gleam as the sun shining through one of the windows hit the coin, gold must be abundant in this world if it is being used for currency. He placed the coin back into the bag and then that bag back into the saddlebag where he found it. Jace stood there contemplating what he learned so far as he tapped his chin is with a finger, okay this world might have magical creatures from myths inhabiting it that could talk; there might be also modern tech in this world, although it might be clockpunk based tech if I'm the example of that; and gold has no value here if it's being used for coinage, he thought as he turned around and leaned against the table.

"Agh, I need more information than from snooping through a unicorn's personal belongings," at the mention of the unicorn, Jace looks up from his thinking and at the silver pony on the couch, "I guess I need wait for her to wake up then, I can only imagine this is going to go well," Jace said as he shook his head.

…

Clockwork let out a yawn as she lazily opens her eyes and peered around, and saw that's back home, "wow, I haven't slept that well in months," she stated as she stretched out on a couch.

"Judging on how long you slept, I say that you really needed it," a male voice suddenly spoke up above her head, causing Clockwork to pause in an outstretched position. Clockwork heard the sound of wrinkling paper, causing her to tilted her head back over the armrest and saw a large being sitting a few feet away her with a newspaper in its' grasp. "Evening," it greeted her as it waved a hand at her.

Clockwork and Jace stared at each other for a few moments in complete silence, until Clockwork started screaming, and startling Jace to drop the paper. Jace quickly stood up, accompanied by the sounds of gears straining, and made his way to the screaming unicorn, but Clockwork quickly scrambled off of the couch in a panic and scooted across the floor and back up against the wall when he stood up and made his way towards her, however, Jace was only able to take a few steps before he lost his footing and fell hard onto the hardwood floor, causing the room- possibly the whole house- to shake in its foundations.

Clockwork's panic died down when saw that the large being is the machine that she had spent almost a month working on, she then remembered the letter from Karma, "Jace?" she cautiously whispered the name of the soul that is within the automaton laying on the floor.

"Damn it," Clockwork frowned when she heard Jace curse into the ground, "I thought I gotten the walking part down by now," Clockwork heard Jace frustratingly uttered on the floor as he started to push himself off of the ground, gears straining as they worked to help him lift himself, "stupid body," he added when he got himself off the floor and into a sitting position.

"Hey!" Clockwork angrily called out as she stood up and walked towards Jace when she heard the insult, "I don't know who you think you are Jace, but I have spent over eleven months painstakingly working on that "stupid body" for you. So don't go insulting my work, because I worked hard on it," she angrily said into Jace's face.

Jace leaned away from the angry unicorn as he raised his hands between himself and the unicorn, in a defensive position, "whoa easy there that isn't what I mean, it's just that I'm still not use to this body," he quickly explained as he stood up and towered over the unicorn, "I mean it is like I'm wearing a size to big shoe here miss… umm," Jace trailed off when he realized that he doesn't know the unicorn's name, "well this is awkward; I don't know your name, but yet you know mine."

"It's Clockwork," Clockwork supplied her name and then she realized something, "wait, how come you're not freaking out that you're in an entirely new body?" she inquired.

"Well I did my freaking out when I learned I had died and been dead for eleven months, and was told that I was getting a new body," he said as he brought up a knee and used it to push himself up. "But aside that this body is made out of metal and gears, maybe a little bigger then my old flesh and blood one, there's nothing much in difference," Jace explained as he rolled his shoulders and the sounds of gears rubbing each other, "but I never thought I'll say this in my life, but I think you should've used some kind of oil on my joints, because they been grinding each other ever since you fainted."

"Hold on sec, you were a pony when you died, right?" Clockwork asked, ignoring the complaint from Jace as she looks up at him.

Jace looked down at the silver unicorn and said with puzzlement written in his voice, "um, no I was a human when I died," Jace noticed that Clockwork gave him a puzzled look when he said that. "You do know what a human is, right?" Clockwork shook her head in response, "you know tall bipedal creatures, with feet and hands, also lacking a fur coat?"

"Nope sorry," Clockwork answered. "The only thing that comes close to mind what you're describing what a human looks like is a minotaur, although their lower halves are hooved and that they have a fur coat," she said.

"You got to be kidding me Karma?" Jace asked disbelieved as he turned around and made his way towards the table. "My second chance at life and you send me to world that has no clue what a human is and that it is inhabited by unicorns and minotaurs, what else lives in this world, pegasi and griffins?"

Maybe I shouldn't mention that there are pegasi and griffins, Clockwork thought as she watched Jace walk up to the discarded newspaper and picked it off of the floor and then made his way table and then proceeds to leans against it, she then realized what Jace just said, "wait, you know Karma and what do you mean sending you to a new world?"

Jace glances back and Clockwork, "sort of, he's the one who gave me a second chance and only have met him once in person and that was when he was telling me that I'm dead and reminding me of a deal I made with him and that he was gotten someone to build my new body," Jace answered. "How do you know Karma anyway?" he asked her as he opens the paper and started reading from it.

"We literally bumped into each other on the street and causing me to drop my bag, which he then took the opportunity to peek inside, steal a scroll that was inside of it and replacing it with blueprints for your body, which he, by the way, still owes me fifteen bits for that scroll he stolen."

"Bits, is that the name of the currency you use in this world?" Jace asked as he turned a page and quickly skimmed through it before folding it up and placed it on the table, "there's nothing here."

"Yeah it is and right now, I'm running low on it here because of him taking advantage of my bad habits and my wish to help those around me. He's been a pain in my flank for the past eleven months and no offense here, but you as well."

Jace waved it off, "that's alright, for I too would be in a sour mood if I had to build a body out of scratch for someone that stupidly got himself killed."

"Wait you got yourself killed, how?" Clockwork inquired.

"I was crossing a busy street without looking both ways and it didn't help that I was distracted by an annoying song at the time too as well," he explained and was about to continue, but then Clockwork interrupted him.

"Wait, hold on a sec here, is this song about Friday?" she inquired and this immediately got Jace's attention as he looked away from the paper and towards her, "and were you then run over by some large metal creature?"

"That would be the car," he whispered and then he looks back at Clockwork, "yes I was," Jace answered as he walked away from the table and towards the unicorn, "but how do you know that? For they were my last moments on Earth before I died."

"I don't know how, but since I now those memories belong to you, I remember why I came back home in the first place," Clockwork narrowed her eyes and lifted a hoof and motioned for Jace to come closer, which he complied as he kneeled down to her level and was rewarded with a club to the temple of the head by her hoof, causing his head to snap to the side and then to fall to the floor.

"Ow, that hurts, what was that for?" Jace asked as he rubbed the side of his head.

"That's for the humiliation you'd put me through," she angrily declared as she waved her hoof at Jace as he recovered from the floor, "and what do you mean ow? You're made out of metal for pony's sake."

"I don't know how, but it's not my fault that you're somehow reliving the last moments of my life before Karma appeared and offered me a deal."

"That's the second time you mentioned this deal that this Karma character made to you, what is it already?"

"He offered me my second chance of life in exchange I become his herald and fight in his name."

"Why would some pony need a herald and what do you mean fight?" Clockwork questioned.

"How much do you know about Karma?" Jace asked.

"Aside that he's a nosy pony that likes to listen on other pony's businesses, nothing much, why are you asking?" she asked as she raised an eyebrow.

"Well you see Clockwork, the reason that Karma has me as his herald is because Karma is a god," Jace saw Clockwork's mouth drop open when he said that, "more specifically the god of balance and he wants me to fight to help correct the balance on this world."

"A god, Karma's a freaking god? and he sent you here to fight, but Equestria is the most peaceful land there is," Clockwork explained, "the only thing that considers a fight in this country is little squabbles between neighbors."

"I know that, I looked through newspapers that you had in the trash, but I couldn't find anything that could possibly upset the balance of this world," Jace frustratingly said.

Before Clockwork can say anything else, a series of knocking was heard on the front door, causing both Jace and Clockwork to freeze where they stood. They both look towards the front and once again a series of knocks knocked on the door, "Clockwork, are you home?" Clockwork heard her childhood friend call out from the other side of the door, "I just heard what happened today, so I came here as soon as I can to see if you're alright," Frosting called out again, concern now written in her voice.

Clockwork shook out of her stupor and quickly looked back at the automaton and panicky motioned for him to back away. Jace nodded and backed up into a corner of the room, careful not to make a lot of sound with his heavy footsteps as Clockwork made her way towards the front door and opened it and there standing on the other side is her concerned white Pegasus friend, "oh thank Celestia's sun, you're alright. You are alright are you?"

Clockwork nodded, "yeah, I am. Just had a nervous breakdown and just needed some sleep that is all, and as you can see now, I'm alright."

"Are you positively sure?" Frosting asked as she stepped through the doorway, causing Clockwork to step away from the entrance and into the unicorn's home and took note of the room, "because from what I heard from everypony else in town, it sounded like it was something more than just a simple nervous breakdown."

"Okay, you're right," Clockwork admitted, "the stress from the last eleven months just all came rushing in all at once and I just… fell apart. But after a good rest I'm now right as rain," Clockwork said, trying to get her friend to leave, but she saw her friend make her way towards Jace whom is standing in the corner like a statue.

"What is this Clockwork?" Frosting asked as she stared up at Jace's face as he tried to ignore the need to make eye contact with the Pegasus' eyes, great they have Pegasi here as well, what world have I landed into? He asked himself as Clockwork stepped up next her friend.

"Oh, well you see Frosting, this is the project I have been working for Jace for the past eleven months," Clockwork answered as she stared at Jace, the feeling of annoyance rising at the sight of Jace's sad attempt to hide, although, I can't blame him of his size.

Frosting let out a whistle at the sight of her friend's achievement, "holy pony feathers Clockwork, this has to be the most impressive thing you have ever made, but what does it do?" the white Pegasus asked the silver unicorn.

"You know what, I really don't know," Clockwork taken aback from the question, "I just got a set of instructions and just built it. Some parts I can make sense, while there are some that I have no clue about," this got Jace's attention and he slowly lowered his head, but a tiny sound of metal groaning gave away his intentions.

"What was that?" Frosting asked as she quickly looked back at Jace just as he quickly froze on the spot, damn, these joints really need to be oiled.

"Oh nothing," Clockwork quickly answered, "I probably just need to oil the gears inside of it."

"You said that there are instructions to this thing, maybe if you look them over, you could find the purpose for this thing is," Frosting suggested.

"There were instructions," Clockwork corrected as she points back to the table, "I'd accidently set them on fire a couple of nights ago with a candle when I was finishing up on this thing and my magic kind of failed at the moment."

"Okay that's it," Frosting suddenly declared, causing Clockwork to jump from the sudden outburst, "I have seen you slowly lose it for the past year as you work on this thing," she said as she pointed at Jace's unmoving form, "so as a concern and helpful friend, I'm going to take you away from that thing and its depressing hold on you," Jace felt hurt when the Pegasus in front of him said that about him, ow, who knew that these colorful ponies can be hurtful?

"But, but…" Clockwork started, but was stopped when her friend raised a hoof and interrupted her.

"No buts," she ordered as she lowered her hoof and draped a wing over Clockwork's shoulders, "I'm going to take you out of here and we're going to hang out tonight, because A; we haven't done that in a long time and B; it looks like you really need a break before your mind breaks," with her decision made, Frosting pulls Clockwork towards the still-open front door and then outside. Clockwork looked back at Jace one more time before her friend closed the door behind them.

Jace stood there for a few more minutes after the two ponies left, making sure that they both had left and weren't coming back, he then let out a sigh as he dropped his shoulders, feeling exhausted for keeping them up, "jeez, how does Alphonse Elric do this?"

…

"So… what do you want to do Clockwork?" Frosting asked Clockwork as they both walk up the main street, "the movies, eating at a nice restaurant, a pleasant stroll through the park, or maybe listen to some of Havoc's music at the Rocks?" Frosting suggested some of the activities.

"I'm a bit hungry right now, so I guess we can go and get something to eat, but nothing expensive though."

"Alrighty then, lunch in the park it is," Frosting announces, "let's stop by my restaurant so I can get some food first though." Clockwork nodded and they both made their way towards Frosting's place of employment. As they came up to the Sweet Shoppe, Frosting turns towards her friend, "okay, you wait here while I put a meal together for the both of us," and with that Clockwork watched her friend enter the store.

Clockwork took a seat on a nearby bench and started to contemplate about Jace, okay let's see here, Jace is a soul that came from whole another world thanks to the powers from a god of balance called Karma that who, for some strange reason, had put me through a series of humiliating events for the past year. He also sent Jace here to fight a battle that isn't even real, so what's the real reason why Jace is here, and why me though?

"Okay all set now," Clockwork jumped when she heard Frosting's voice cut through the storm of her thoughts. She looked up and saw Frosting standing next to her with a basket resting at her hooves, "wow, you must have been really into your thoughts," Frosting commented. "What were you thinking about?"

"I was trying to come up reasons why I was picked for this project and not anypony else," Clockwork explained, which she was then rewarded a smile from her friend.

"If I have to guess, I say it is because you're the best engineer what this town has to offer."

"That's because I am the only engineer this town has to offer," Clockwork pointed out, "I haven't seen another pony with talents in machining in this town."

"What about Forge?" her friend asked.

"Metal working, not the same," the unicorn quickly answered, which her friend responded back with a sigh.

"Look Clockwork, I don't know okay, but please, try not to think thoughts like those for the rest of the day, because I want to see you back to your old talking-out-loud self, not the dark cloud hanging over her head self that you are right now."

Clockwork heard the concern in Frosting's voice when she said that, "okay I'll do it for you," she agreed.

"Alrighty, let's get going then," Frosting bent down and grabbed the basket's handle in her mouth and then made her way towards the park as Clockwork got off of the bench and followed her white and pink Pegasus friend towards the center of town.

…

Meanwhile, outside of Ironwood Falls' town boundaries, and hidden in the darkness of the forest, a tall shadowy form stood there watching the town, "surround the town," the tall shadowy form called out to the darkness behind it in a gruff voice and he was answered back by a series of growls, "when I give the signal, start herding them all into the center of town. Now go," the cloaked being ordered into the darkness and the sounds of large forms starting running was heard until it suddenly became silent, "meanwhile, I'll be getting... acquainted with these ponies," the figure added as he left the darkness of the forest and made his way towards the town.

…

"Are you feeling better now Clockwork?" Frosting asked just right before she took a bite out of a sandwich.

"A little," Clockwork replied, "but everypony seems to be staring at me right now though."

"Just ignore them and enjoy your lunch," the Pegasus said as she sets her half eaten sandwich on a paper plate right before she turns towards the crowd of ponies that had formed in the distance, "go on, beat it you parasprites," she yelled at them as she stood up on the picnic blanket and took a few steps towards them, "you all already gotten your show today so leave her alone," immediately the crowd of ponies disbanded, leaving Frosting and Clockwork alone in their part of the park with only the tall building of the library watching over them.

"Thanks Frosting," Clockwork thanked as she took a bite from an apple, feeling some of the nervousness fading away.

"No problem," Frosting said as she settled back on her spot of the blanket. "You seriously needed some peace and quiet and they weren't helping with their gawking," she added as she picked up her sandwich and took a bite from it, "some ponies need to learn that it isn't nice to nose in on other ponies' business."

"Excuse me ladies, but do you think you can help me?" a gruff voice asked behind the two ponies, startling Clockwork and Frosting and then causing them to look behind them to see a hooded figure towering right behind them.

"Holy pony feathers," Frosting cried out from the sudden appearance of the mysterious cloaked figure as she started to scramble away, while Clockwork sat there like a stunned deer.

"Oh terribly sorry," the tall figure apologized as he moves a brown hand to his head and grasps the hood and pulls it back revealing a brown furred bull-like face with a pair of horns on either side of his head, and with a gold nose ring running through the middle part of his nose, "I didn't mean to scare you," the now revealed minotaur quickly explained as he raised his hands in a non-threatening way.

"Jeez," Frosting said as she panted while holding her heart, "I think you just gave me a heart attack, why would you do that?" she asked as she looked up to the minotaur as Clockwork shook off of her shock.

"Again I'm sorry," the minotaur apologized again, "all I wanted to know where I can go to find something in this town."

"But first, why are you wearing a cloak and what's your name," Frosting asked the minotaur as he took a seat on the grass and relieving the cramp that was starting to form in Clockwork's neck.

"The reason why I'm wearing this cloak is because I don't want to frighten you ponies with my appearances, and my name is Iron Resolve," Iron introduced himself.

"I'm Clockwork and this is Frosting," she introduced herself and her friend, "but no offense or anything, but you're still going to frighten ponies anyway if you going to keep on walking behind them with a cloak on," Clockwork pointed out.

"You have a good point," he admitted.

"So what are you looking for anyway?" Clockwork inquired the minotaur.

"I'm not exactly sure, but I'll know when I find it."

"How do you know it is even in this town?" Frosting asked.

"I have my sources," Iron mysterious said that for some reason didn't settle right with Clockwork, "now, if you'll excuse me ladies, I have an object of great importance to find," and with that he stood up and made his way towards the library.

"That was weird," Frosting commented as they both watched the brown minotaur enter the library, "and if you ask me, there's something about him that gives me the creeps," she added as she narrowed her eyes at the library doors.

"Hey be nice," Clockwork said as she reached out gently smack her friend in the shoulder with a hoof, "it's just some minotaur looking for something that he doesn't know what it looks like."

"I repeat, he gives me the creeps," Frosting repeated as she finished off her sandwich in one bite while still staring at the direction that Iron went in, "there's something about his story that didn't seems right to me." Clockwork let out a sigh as she turns around and resumed eating her lunch.

Ten minutes went by quietly with a songbird or two breaking the sound of silence with their duets and an occasion snore from her sleeping friend. Clockwork started to feel at peace due to the serenity around her, but that all shattered when the sounds of crashing and screaming that was heard coming from the library, "what just happened?" Frosting questioned as she shot up into a sitting position, rubbing sleep away from her eyes.

"I don't know, but whatever it was it came from the library," Clockwork said as she quickly stood up and started making her way towards the library. She quickly ran up the steps of the library and through the doors and into the library and there she saw the reception counter has been smashed to pieces thanks to a bookcase that has been somehow tipped onto it, "Archive is going to throw a fit about this," she said as she ran past the demolished desk and deeper into the hall of bookcases.

She only had to run a few yards until she came upon a sight that made her skid to a stop in shock, for there standing in the middle of the hallway of bookshelf is Iron, holding a bloody looking Archive high in the air by his throat with one hand. "Where is it?" Clockwork watched as Iron demanded into the Earth pony's face.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Archive gasped.

"Don't lie to me, I know it is in here somewhere, because this whole place is tainted with its magic signature," Archive just responded back by hitting Iron's hand with his hooves to break the minotaur's hold around his neck, "answer me!" the once thought friendly minotaur yelled, unfazed by Archive's attempt to free himself.

Clockwork, completely frightened than she has ever been in her whole life, quickly looked around for something to throw and spotted a library cart, an idea hastily forming in her head. She rushed towards the cart and then aimed at Iron's legs and pushed it with all of her strength at the minotaur's legs, "leave him alone," Clockwork yelled at Iron, causing him to look away from Archive and towards her.

The cart crashed into Iron Resolve's legs and then hitting the floor, causing the sound of metal hitting stone to ring throughout the library, but the minotaur didn't even flinched when the cart hit into him. "Well if it isn't the little pony from earlier, Clockwork was it? Well anyway maybe you can help me here, because this old geezer here seems to be having a slight memory problem," he said as he took a step towards Clockwork, kicking the heavy cart aside as if it just nothing.

Clockwork instinctively took a few steps back from the advancing minotaur as she watched Archive struggle in his grasp as he look towards her and spoke in raspy voice, "Clockwork run," he then proceeded to faint right there, at least Clockwork hoped that he'd fainted.

Iron Resolve looked at the unconscious pony in his hand and frowned, "I was hoping to get more information out of him," he then looks back at Clockwork with a smile on his face, "but since it seems that he knows you and told you to run, I guess you know what I am possibly looking for," he said as he lowered his arm and released his grip on Archive, causing him to fall to the floor with a thud, which Iron then stepped over him and continues to approach the frightened unicorn.

Clockwork snapped out of the hold her fear had held over her and quickly ran back to the entrance of the library, but just as she ran out of the hall of books, she heard a shrilling whistle coming from behind her, "there's nowhere you can run now little pony," she heard Iron call out to her as she ran out of the library in a panic.

"Frosting, we have a situation here," Clockwork called out to her friend as she ran down the steps and towards the Pegasus where she then saw that she had fallen asleep on the picnic blanket. "This is no time to be napping Frosting," Clockwork said as she ran up next to her friend where she then saw signs of a struggle around the picnic area; tipped over basket, spilling its contents all over the blanket, upturned grass sods as if something huge had came running by, however the last thing that Clockwork saw made her heart starting to beat faster in fear, for there in the crushed grass next to her friend's head is an impression of that of large claw mark.

"Frosting, Frosting!" Clockwork said in a panic as she shook her friend to wake her, but the Pegasus never once responded back to her. Fearing that she might be dead, Clockwork leaned down and rested an ear on her friend's chest, listening for a heartbeat, there wasn't; making Clockwork believe that her friend is dead, but then she heard a beat then another and then a third beat, causing Clockwork to let out a sigh of relief, "you're okay," she said to Frosting as she stood up, "don't worry, I'm going to get help."

"Don't bother," Iron's voice rang out, causing Clockwork to look towards the library to see Iron Resolve calmly walking down the steps with his arm spread open, "because you're not going anywhere, as well as the whole town," he said as he stepped onto the street, "so getting help is going to be impossible." Wrong, there might be someone who can help, I just need to get to him, Clockwork looked down at her friend and said a quiet apology to her before turning tail and started running away from the advancing minotaur, which he then started to laugh, "as I said before, there's nowhere you can run to," she heard Iron yell, "now after her and round up the rest of the town," he ordered which was then followed by the sounds of howling.

Clockwork glances back and there she saw a large wolf made out of wood and timbers bounding towards her and Clockwork recognizes the creature from a book she once read; a timberwolf. She looked away from the creature that had plagued early settlers and ran as fast as she can, feeling the adrenaline pumping into her heart, but she heard the timberwolf slowly gaining on her.

In a last act of desperation, her horn started to glow in a silvery light as she focuses a spell into thought, which she then turned around and shot a simple stun spell at the timberwolf behind her in an attempt to stun it so she can have more time. Clockwork watched the spell exploded in the timberwolf's face, causing it to quickly stop in its tracks and to start shaking its head, where to Clockwork's horror, saw her stun spell fading away, leaving an unharmed timberwolf there looking more angry than it was before.

Before Clockwork can make another move, the timberwolf leaped into the air and tackled Clockwork, pinning her to the ground beneath it, "get off of me," Clockwork demanded as she charged her magic once more and let off a couple bursts of stun spells into the timberwolf's chest, but just like before, her magic faded away leaving and leaving it unharmed and just as angry.

The timberwolf opened its mouth with a snarl, revealing a set of wooden teeth that looks like they are sharp as a rose thorn, but just as soon as the timberwolf opened its mouth, a foul stench wafted from deep within its body and over Clockwork, causing her to start coughing with her eyesight starting to fade away. Clockwork took a deep breath, inhaling more of the gas the timberwolf is giving off and quickening whatever process that the wolf is giving her, and let out a cry, "Jace help!" she then fainted as the last thing she saw are two rows of teeth descending on top of her, "please help."

…

"Jace help!"

Jace dropped the book he had found when he heard Clockwork's cry for help, "Clockwork is that you?" Jace asked as he stood up from the couch and looked around, but there were no signs of the unicorn in the room, "okay that was weird," Jace said as he knelt down to pick up the book, but just as his fingers touched the cover of the book…

"Please help," he heard Clockwork's voice again, but this time it was quieter than the one earlier as if something had happened to her, causing Jace to pause in his actions. The cries for help from Clockwork made Jace concerned that something might have indeed had happened to Clockwork to make her call out his name from fear, then I need to go and help her, Jace thought as he stood up, completely forgetting about the book on the floor.

I owe it to her for helping me in giving me a second chance, as well as living up to the deal I made with Karma, he thought as he made his way towards the front door and reached out for the knob, but just as he gripped it in his hand, the door burst open in a shower of splinters and pieces of wood as a large object smashed it way though it and into Jace, causing him and whatever went through the door to fly back into Clockwork's house and into her table, smashing it into pieces.

"What the hell?" Jace questioned as he held saw that it was a large wolf that came through the door. However, the wolf appeared to be made up of an assortment of branches and leaves and that it was snapping its jaw in front of Jace's face, trying to get at him, but couldn't due to Jace holding it back by the neck with his hands, "get the hell off of me," Jace demanded as he draws back a hand and clenched it into a fist and gave the strange creature a fistful of iron right into its face.

Jace saw his fist punch right through the lower jaw of the wooden wolf and right through the skull in a sprinkle of twigs and leaves. He then saw the sentient light in the wolf's eyes went out, soon followed by it deteriorating into a pile of sticks and logs, "what the hell is up with this world?" Jace questioned as he stood up, brushing off the foliage that the dead creature left on him. When Jace got the last bit of the twigs off of him, he noticed that hidden among the debris of wood are shiny pieces of metal.

"What do we have here?" Jace asked as he kneeled on the floor and picked one up. He brought it close to his face and saw that the piece of metal appears to circuitry and Jace wasn't sure, but for some reason it feels alive, "I thought this world is too early for this kind of tech from what I gathered," Jace said as he examined the piece of circuitry some more, but the thing in his fingers suddenly disintegrated into a fine dust, "what was all that about?" he questioned, but then his thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of screaming from outside, causing Jace to look up and outside through the broken door.

There he saw that more of those wooden wolves that had just attacked him had broke into other homes down the street and are now chasing different colored ponies from them and onto the street. Worried for their safety, Jace quickly took off like an Olympic runner through the front door, passing a junkyard of scrap metal and onto the street. "Hey leave them alone," Jace called out to a wolf that was chasing a small foal. The wolf stopped chasing the little pony and look towards Jace, which let out a growl when it sighted him that gained the attentions of the other wolves, causing them to cease their chasing of ponies and looked at Jace, allowing them to escape and disappear into the houses.

"Go chase something your own size," Jace called out to the wolves and one by one, they started to growl and snarl at him and started to converge on him like a normal pack of wolves do, "I didn't mean me," Jace said as he took a step back, which appeared to be a hidden signal to them, for they all rushed at Jace and started to attack him. One leapt at him with its jaws spread open, forcing Jace to raise his arm in defense to intercept the attack, causing the wolf bit down on it and breaking its teeth on his metal arm. Jace was amazed that he didn't feel anything when the wolf bit him, which was soon followed by a sense of confidence and he looked at the rest of the wolves.

The wolves stopped in their tracks as well their attack as if they can sense his confidence. Jace looks back at the wolf that is still gnawing on his arm with its broken teeth, "I should've said that you're going to break your teeth, but I guess it's a little too late for that though," he then raised his other arm and brought it down on the neck of the wolf, breaking it away from the rest of the body, which it then disintegrated into the pile of twigs and other forest debris, along with the same strange circuitry that quickly turned into a fine dust just as the first one had.

He looked back at the other timber-made wolves and punched a fist into an open hand, the sound of metal on metal now reverberating in the air, "timberwolves, I think that is what I'm going to start calling you things, but first; it's about time to see what I can fully do with this body," Jace said as he took a step towards the hesitant timberwolves.

…

Clockwork came to with a splitting headache, "ow my head," Clockwork said as she pushed herself onto her haunches as she held her head with a hoof.

"Oh thank goodness, you're finally awake Clockwork," she heard a familiar voice before she felt a pair of arms hugging her, Clockwork opened her eyes and saw her friend Frosting is now awake.

"What happened?" Clockwork asked as she looked around and saw that she's surrounded by what appears to be every single pony in Ironwood Falls, "and why is everypony in town here?"

"We were all herded here," Frosting answered as she released Clockwork from her hug.

"Herded? What do you mean herded?" Clockwork questioned as she stood up and took note of the foals crying, while some of them are huddled up together in small groups.

"Attention ponies of Ironwood Falls," a voice announced before Frosting can answer her question and causing everypony to look towards the same direction and there, Clockwork saw Iron standing at the head of the large group with a long line of timberwolves on either side of him, "do not be alarmed, all I want is to find that has been lost to me and to those that I work for. So if you all cooperate with me, my wolves and I will let you go so you can carry on with your lives normally," he then reached into his cloak and pulls out a small metal box and started fiddling with it as he started to walk around the residents of the town, picking out a random pony and wave the metal box around the pony before shaking his head and telling the pony he or she can leave, occasionally telling the pony to stay before moving on.

This process went on for an hour, until he stepped up to Frosting and waved the box around the Pegasus, and once more he shook his head after what he read from the box, "you're free to go," he said as he waved her away. As Frosting walked away, she looks back at Clockwork with a concerned look before she turned around and walks away.

Clockwork and looked straight into her face, "see, I told you Clockwork, there's no place to run," he said before looking back at the metal box in his hand and started fiddling with it once more.

"Why are you doing this?" Clockwork asked Iron as he waved the box around her, "you know that ponies are peaceful, we would've easily complied, yet you assaulted my friends disturb my hometown and its residents all for something that you're looking for, but doesn't even know what it looks like," she pointed that out as a confused look formed on Iron's face.

"This can't be right," Iron said confused as he waved the box over Clockwork again and looked at the box again, "the readings are off the charts," the minotaur looked away from the box in his hand and looked down at a confused looking Clockwork at his hooves. Clockwork saw a smile form on his face as he bent down to her level, "I believe I found what I was looking for, who would have thought it was going to be the first pony I met in this town or at least a pony who can lead me to it?"

"What?" Clockwork questioned as Iron put the metal box back underneath his cloak.

"You're coming with me," he said as he quickly shot out both hands and grabbed Clockwork, and quickly hefted her over his shoulders and stood up tall before Clockwork can register what just happened to her.

When Clockwork regained her senses, she realized what was happening and started pounding him in the back in a panic, but her hits didn't have an effect on him. "Hey let me go, do you hear me? Let me go," she screamed, causing the town folks to realize what's happening to their neighborhood engineer.

"Hey, let her go you jerk," a stallion yelled out to the minotaur.

"Yeah, leave her alone," another yelled out and soon the whole town of Ironwood Falls was yelling at the minotaur to release Clockwork.

"Keep them corralled and away from me," Iron ordered to a line of timberwolves as he walked by them, "maim those that breaks away from the group," the timberwolves snapped their jaws at Iron and then ran towards the town's residents, completely circling them in no time.

As Clockwork watched the timberwolves snap their jaws at those that got too far away from the safety of the group, she started to cry. "No please, don't hurt them," she cried as she begged the minotaur to take back his last order, "I'll do what you want, just please, leave them alone."

"Will you shut up already?" Iron angrily demanded as he removed Clockwork from his shoulder and held her out in front of him, "I'm getting sick and tired of hearing you begging me to let them go, so you want to know what I'm going to do?" before Clockwork can ask, Iron look back to the other line of waiting timberwolves, "gather the others that were set free here… then kill them all!"

"What? No!" Clockwork was shocked, as well as the other ponies in the center of the ring of timberwolves, when they heard Iron Resolve's new set of instructions as the second group of timberwolves snapped in response before making their way towards the direction of the residential area where the ones that were set free went, "no stop, don't kill them," Clockwork begged.

"Sorry little unicorn, but sometimes, there are things in life you just can't get by asking," Iron said to Clockwork as he hefted her back over his shoulder and continue his way down the path that leads out of town.

"Stop it Iron, please stop it," Clockwork screamed as she pounded on the minotaur's head, careful to avoid the horns.

"Hey bull face," a voice called out, causing Iron to stop in his tracks as well as Clockwork to pause in her crying. Iron turned around and there he saw a large armored being standing there with its arms crossed, "when a lady tells you to stop, you stop," Jace said as he uncrossed his arms and started to walk towards Iron and Clockwork, "especially if it is to keep her friends and family safe," Clockwork felt relieved when she saw him coming towards them, he came.

"Who are you?" Iron asked Jace got closer and noticed more of Jace's body, "what are you?"

"I'm Jace, and as for what I am, well I'm not usually a violent person here, but today I'll make an exception for you, because right now I'm going to be the ass-kicking machine kicking your ass for what you did and were going to do to these friendly ponies," Jace said as he stopped a few feet away, and started to repetitively pound his fist into his palm, "especially to Clockwork here that you have on your shoulder there," he said as he pointed at Clockwork.

"Jace, help me here," Clockwork said as she struggled in the minotaur's hold.

"So are you going to release the pony willingly or am I going to have to beat in that face of yours?" Jace asked as he got closer to Iron.

"I don't know who you think you are, but that's as close as you get," Iron said as he reached into his cloak and pulls out… a whistle?

"A whistle?" Jace inquired as Iron brought the whistle to his mouth and blow into it, creating the same shrilling sound that Clockwork had heard earlier that day. Jace heard a series of growls behind, causing him to look over his shoulder to see five timberwolves advancing towards him, which Jace then understood what the whistle is, "oh it's a dog whistle or would it be a timberwolf whistle?" he asked as the wolves got closer.

"Now isn't the time to be asking that," Clockwork yelled at Jace as she once more tried to pull herself free.

"Get… whatever that thing is and destroy it," Iron unsure what to call Jace as he ordered the timberwolves to attack him. A lone timberwolf broke away from the group and leapt at Jace, but he stepped to the side and grabbed the timberwolf by the neck while taking a step forward, changing the momentum of the wolf's flight and then smashing it into the ground, creating a fair size crater, where a series of snapping sounds were then heard and was soon followed by the wolf falling apart into many pieces of wood and shiny dust.

Jace stood up and face the rest of the timberwolves, "you things really need to come up with new attack plan besides leaping at your targets, because I had already took out your other friends just a moment ago with your predictability," he said as he walked towards the rest of the wolves, whom they all started to shake and backup away from Jace as he drew closer to them.

"Cowards," Clockwork heard Iron called out the timberwolves, "just breathe the gas into the face, it'll be easier to take it out then," the timberwolves heard Iron's orders and three of them leapt at Jace.

He took a stance and draws back a fist before giving the middle timberwolf an uppercut right in the middle of its chest and shooting it the air, creating a shower of sticks and branches. However, he didn't have time to recover before the remaining two tackled him and forced Jace into the ground. The timberwolves opened their jaws and spewed a green colored gas into his face, "why do you keep on doing that?" Jace questioned as he reached out and grabbed a wolf's head each in his hand, "because it is getting really annoying," he says as he draws their heads to the side before smashing them together in his hands, completely crushing whatever their skulls are made of.

"The gas has no effect?" Iron questioned as he took a step back as Jace shook of the foliage and stood up and faced the minotaur, "stay away from me," he ordered as Jace walked towards him, leaving a lone timberwolf behind shaking where it stood.

"I'll ask again, are you going to give me the pony or do I have to break that face of yours?" Jace questioned as he now only stood a foot away from the minotaur. Iron answered back by throwing a punch right into Jace's face, but he quickly reached out caught it with his left hand, surprising Iron by the hidden strength that Jace holds. Jace lowered the caught fist and looked at Iron the minotaur, "breaking your face it is then," he said as he quickly twisted the minotaur's arm to the left, forcing Iron to fall to his knee from the pain as well as letting go of his hold on the unicorn, causing her to fall to the ground. Jace look towards at Clockwork as she stood up and regained her sense of balance, "get somewhere safe."

"After her, don't let her esca- ah," Iron started to make an order to the remaining timberwolves before cried out in pain as Jace twisted his arm some more to stop him from finishing the order, "on no you don't," Jace said to him.

"Go Clockwork, I'll handle things from here from now on," Jace said to the unicorn without looking back at her as his focus is on the minotaur in front of him. Clockwork nodded to Jace and made her way back to the remaining group of the town's residents, slipping by the timberwolves and was reacquainted with them, "now it's time for you to pay for what you did to these ponies," Jace said as he clenched his free right hand into a fist and pulls it back and then with all the strength he can manage, he throws a punch right into the minotaur's face.

There was a sickening snap as the minotaur's head shot back and then flew out of Jace's grip on him and landed a few feet away from where he had started from. Jace looks down at his fist and took note of the specks of blood on it, "you're going to pay for that," Jace heard Iron promised. He looked up at the minotaur and saw him slowly getting up, with a hand up to his face. Iron turned around and faced Jace, holding a hand over the middle of his face, but not being able to hide the flow of blood that's running behind it. Jace saw him reach into his cloak with the other and pulls out a small rod, "they told me to use this only as a last resort, but I think that this would count as a last resort," he said as he held the rod over his head.

Thinking that it's some kind of weapon, Jace stood ready for anything to be thrown at him and was surprised when Iron hurled the device at his hooves and into the dirt. All of a sudden there was a flash of lighting from the point of impact as a series of electrical discharges shot out from the device and towards Jace. He raised his arms to defend himself, but the discharges shot around him and towards the lone timberwolf, striking right through it and causing it to howl as the discharges went through it and towards the remaining timberwolves surrounding the villagers, which they all then started to howl like the first one did.

Clockwork huddled closer to her neighbors and friends as she watched the timberwolves' eyes around them change from green into a dark red color as they howl some more. All of a sudden every single timberwolf exploded into an assortment of branches and logs, but they didn't fall to the ground like they normally do. Instead however, they stayed in the air, floating inside a sphere of white light that Clockwork could feel energizing the air and tingling her horn, telling her that is magic, but not the kind that unicorns use.

"Why are you destroying your own group?" Jace asked as he looks back at Iron, but saw that the minotaur had disappeared among the confusion, leaving behind the destroyed remains of his company as well as the strange thing he pierced the ground.

Jace made his way towards the object in the ground, but as he neared the thing in the ground, a large shockwave detonated from the object, causing Jace to be flung away from the object and to land in a shower of dirt and grass a few feet away from it.

"Ow, okay that one hurt," Jace said as he pulls himself from the crater just as there was a flash of light. He looked at the thing that hit him with the shockwave and there he saw the remains of the timberwolf that was struck first from the strange device, rushing towards the center of the hurricane of light and started to assemble into something that looks like a leg as more timberwolf remains rushed past Jace and towards the assembling pieces of wood before being assimilated themselves like the first one.

"Jace," Jace heard Clockwork call out his name behind him, causing him to look away from the strange phenomenon and towards Clockwork, and ducked when he saw the remains of the timberwolves that once kept the town's residents under guard flying towards him as well as some of the trees nearby having their branches ripped off by some unknown force.

He watched them soar right past him and merge with the growing pile of forest foliage, staring at the logs and sticks that had gathered together, starting to piece themselves together branch by branch, stick by stick, until it started to resemble a timberwolf, but on a much larger scale. "You got be freaking kidding me?" Jace asked out loud as the last remaining pieces attach themselves to the uber-timberwolf and the light of awareness lit up in its eyes.

The king of timberwolves let out a huge roar, causing the ground beneath Jace's feet to tremble from its magnitude. It then looks around and notices the large crowd of ponies gathered in the distance, which it let out a howl and ran towards them, not noticing Jace standing between it and them. "Oh shit," Jace swore right before the oversized timberwolf stepped on him.

The gigantic wooden creature removed its paw off of Jace revealing that he had sunk into the ground, "okay, luckily that didn't hurt this time," Jace said as the back leg of the wolf came down and missed his head by a foot. He saw a bunch of branches that was serving as for the tail of the wolf momentarily pass over him, which he then quickly reached out and grabbed it before it disappeared, and was immediately pulled out of the ground and was flung into the air. Jace soared through the air and landed on the back of timberwolf in a disorientated heap.

Jace quickly regains his senses and looks ahead and there he saw that uber-wolf is almost upon the group of ponies. He looked down at the back of the timberwolf's head and an idea formed in his head, "I hope this works," Jace prays he got into a kneeling position and jumped from the shoulder blades of the wolf and onto the neck. Jace quickly found some handholds at the base of the skull and neck and hoped that they are strong enough for his plan to work as he leans back.

Jace's action caused the wolf to turn sharply into the direction of his leaning as his weight and position altered the wolf's sense of balance, completely missing the mass of ponies and running straight into an oak tree with a loud crash as it smashed into it. However, Jace's momentum didn't stop with the timberwolf, as he flew from wreck of the timberwolf and out of the park where he then saw that the cobblestone pavement was coming up right at him, "oh crap."

Jace hit the pavement, making the sound of metal screeching and creating sparks against the stone as he slid across the pavement and into a nearby wall, which he then smashed right through it and into the room on the other side. He pushes himself up into a standing position and looks around and saw that he had crashed into someone's dining room, I hope those that lives here don't mind having a new bay window, Jace thought as he made his way towards the large hole in the wall, but just as he was about step out of it and back outside, he heard gasp of surprise behind him.

He turned around and there he saw a normal pony without a horn or wings standing there at the doorway of her wrecked dining room, "terribly sorry ma'am," Jace apologized as he bowed towards the pony before stepping out the hole in the wall. As Jace left the house with the stunned pony inside and stepped onto the street, he looks back at the tree where the timberwolf had crashed into and saw that its head had been completely smashed, "ha, you stupid animal," Jace proclaimed as he made his way across the street and towards the park, the sounds of metal footsteps hitting the stone below, "I don't know why would this be considered a last resort, but you're not so tough."

He spoke to soon as he saw the remains of the timberwolves starting to shake and shudder before starting to assemble themselves back together, "oh come on, what does it take to stop this thing?" Jace inquired as he ran past the nearly repaired carcass of the timberwolf and towards the crowd of ponies that for some reason is still there, "run get out of here," Jace called out to them, "that thing is not down," Jace said as he pointed back to the timberwolf that had now fully reassembled its head and starting to get back up.

The timberwolf let out a roar in anger as it took a swipe at the tree it crashed into, ripping the tree out of the ground and making it fall with a great strength, its roots now exposed to the air, "run!" Jace yelled once more at the ponies, which they complied this time and started running as the timberwolf turned around and quickly spotted them. It let out a another roar and starting running towards them, causing some of the ponies to start screaming when they saw it coming right at them. Jace saw a filly trip over her own hooves and fall to ground as other ponies run right past, not noticing the filly that has tripped.

"Why is there always have to be one to trip in situations like this?" Jace questioned as he ran up to the filly to save her, but the timberwolf had already reached the foal and was bringing down a foot on top of her. She ducked her head into her hooves and let out a scream as the timberwolf's paw is coming down on top of her, but she never felt it coming. The filly looked up from her hooves and there she saw Jace standing above her, holding the paw up and preventing it from crushing her, and with the sound of metal groaning and gears straining with each other.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Jace asked as he looked down at the filly at his feet, sounding strained from the pressure he's holding back, "go already," he ordered the filly.

"Thank you," Jace heard the filly said to him before scrambling her hooves and running away to safety before the pressure above Jace increased and forced him onto one of his knees. He heard the timberwolf starting to growl as it is going to get its first victim.

Is it really going to end like this for you? A thought whispered in his head as fell to his other knee."No," Jace suddenly declared as he slowly stood up and forcing the paw upwards, "I'm not going to let my second chance to end like this, definitely not like this," he said as he fully stood up. "Even though I'm new to this world, I'm made a deal to protect those who lives here and I'm going to keep it," he said as he pushed his fingers into the paw, causing the timberwolf to howl in pain from it, and then hollered as he strained while lifting the immense wolf over his head and tossed it over his shoulder.

Jace turned around and started to walk to the recovering timberwolf, "as long I am standing and moving, I'm going to defend these ponies till the day I become nothing more than rust," Jace vowed as he stops right in front of the beast. All of a sudden, he felts something stir inside of him in response to his words, for deep within Jace's body, the key that Karma had given to him and that had appeared when he was bounded to the automaton body, started to shine and the first gear of the key expanded and lacked into the other gears around it, causing them too start to shining as well and then they started to move.

Jace felt an incredible power coursing through him, "what is this?" Jace asked as he looked at his hands, feeling as if he could now lift three of the mega timberwolves over his head with ease.

"You have unlocked the first portion of your powers from the key within you," Jace heard Karma's voice answer him from the air around him like the first time they'd met.

"The first of my powers?" Jace asked the god as the timberwolf fully recovered and was making its way towards him.

"Yes, now use the power of the first gear and create your blade!" the god of balance instructed as the timberwolf reached Jace and raised its paw to smash it down on him in an attempt to crush him once more.

Instead of running or defending himself however, he shut his eyes and darkness quickly filled his vision, but he could now feel the presence of the timberwolf as it is slowly starting to bring its paw down, as if time is decreasing in Jace's favor. Create my blade, what do you mean by that Karma? Jace questioned the god.

However, instead of the god, a series of faint glowing particles appeared in response to his question. Jace observed them as they gathered together to form a single object bathed in light, he couldn't fully make what the object is due to the light bathing it, but he thinks it looks like a sword, "now claim it Jace," Karma instructed him one more, "accept your power."

"If it's going to give me the ability to defend those of this world then I will accept it," Jace proclaimed as he reached into the light and grasped it, causing the light from the mysterious object to rush towards him and filling him of its power and strengths.

Jace opens his eyes and saw that the timberwolf's paw is halfway on top of him, but he wasn't worried of the beast crushing him, in fact he's feeling positive that he can beat it, no that he will beat it. "Time to end this," Jace declared at the beast as there were sounds of gears whirling before the area beneath his right shoulder suddenly extended outward and a handle raised out from the top of it, he then raises his right arm over his shoulder and grasped the handle in his hand.

As soon as hand fully grasped it, the part below the handle suddenly bursts open in a series of metal plates before rearranging themselves and transforming into a sword that is twice as long as his arm and is resting in a cradle. When the timberwolf's paw is nearly on top of Jace, he quickly slipped the blade out of its cradle, swung it over his head and into the timberwolf's paw, watching the blade of the sword cut through the living wood with ease, decapitating the wolf's paw which landed next to Jace.

The timberwolf let out a howl of pain as it drew back its stumped leg and away from the sword welding automaton, "So you don't like sharp things, do you?" Jace observed as he lowered his sword and looked at the decapitated foot and saw that it is starting to turn to ash, "wow, I guess that you really don't like being cut," he then looks back at the timberwolf that for the first time is hesitant since it was created, but it got over that and let out a roar in Jace's face.

"So you're still going to fight?" Jace asked as it reared up on its back legs and swung its other intact paw at him, "I'll take that as a yes," Jace confirmed as he raised his sword and blocked the timberwolf's strike with the flat side of the sword, completely stopping it without any signs of strain on him, "it's time to finish this once and for all," he said as he looked up into the timberwolf's face.

He forcefully pushed the blocked paw away, causing the giant beast above him to lose its balance and to start falling down on top of him. Jace brought his other hand to the sword's handle and gripped it just as the timberwolf's head cane within his reach. He got into a stance and let out a roar sa he swung his sword upwards and sliced through the neck of the timberwolf, which it let out a yelp of pain before falling to the ground, it's now lifeless head on one side of Jace while the rest of its body is resting on the other side, "that wasn't to hard," Jace said as he automatically swung his sword over his head and into its cradle behind his shoulder, where it then unformed itself back into a series of metal plates before turning back into its previous form and sliding back into Jace's shoulder.

"But I don't think that whoever these guys are, they're not going to be beaten easily like this one was," Jace said as he looks down at the timberwolf's body at his feet that is now starting to turn into ash, "whoever they are," he added as he looks away from the dead creature's body and started to make his way towards the direction that the townsfolk went, "well I guess now the whole town knows about me," but he only it a few feet when the sound of gears seizing up was heard right before he felt his right leg freeze up just as he was about to take a step, causing Jace to fall foreward and faceplant into the grass, "damn it, I knew that my joints needed oil."

…

Alpha the diamond dog stood in front of the double doors, hesitant to open and cross them into the room of his master, I best not keep him waiting anymore. The giant dog took in a breath of stale air before placing his paws on the doors and pushed them opened, allowing him to enter his master's domain. "What is it Alpha?" the diamond dog quickly got into a kneeling position as soon as he heard his master ask him when he had stepped into the spacious machine-filled room.

"Master…" the dog started as he took in some more air, this time it has a metallic taste lining it, "… I have received word from the timberwolf retrieval team that you had me sent," Alpha answered as he hear his master moving about, being accompanied by the sounds of steams and pistons.

"Ah, excellent, so I trust that the team was successful in retrieving it then?" Alpha winced when heard his master's expectations of the task that was set out.

"I'm afraid Master, that the word I received isn't good news as you hoped for," the diamond dog corrected and then cower when the mechanical sounds stopped and felt his master's gaze settle on him.

"Explain," he master said in a cold and dangerous tone that made Alpha to swallow and to choose his next words with care.

"Well you see Master, while the team was in the middle of retrieving it; they ran into a… complication."

"Tell me," Alpha's master ordered.

Alpha quickly explained to him what he learned from the reports from the minotaur that was in charge of the team at the time without any pause, until he neared the end, "and Master, it even took out the timberwolves when they were in their berserker stage," the follower finished as he looked up to his master's backside, now sounding concern.

"What?" his master exclaimed as he turned around from his work station and faced the dog, causing him to advert his eyes from the cloaked master, "impossible, timberwolves in their berserker stage couldn't be stopped and repairs itself whenever it gets destroyed and will only stop when its energy cells burns out."

"I know Master, I was there foreshadowing the program when it was underway," Alpha cowered under his master's rage.

When the cloaked being saw his follower cowering before him, he walked up to him and kneeled in front of him, "I apologize Alpha, it is just that I have spent years experimenting on and taming those wild beasts just to hear that they had been easily defeated while in their berserker form," he explained as stood up and made his way back to his work table.

"But Master, aren't you worried that it might be getting stronger?" Alpha spoke up her concerns as he once more faced his master's back.

"It does concern me that it appears to be stronger, but let me worry about while you go and pay this Iron fellow a little visit to collect what he owes for damaging and losing my property, one way or another."

"As you wish Master," Alpha confirmed as he nodded, even though his master couldn't see him.

Alpha stood up and turns towards the door, "oh and one more thing Alpha," the diamond dog heard his master spoke up before he could take a step, "after you're done getting Iron's payment, there's a task that I want you and your squadron to do."

"What do you want me to do Master?" Alpha asked he turns around and saw his master coming towards him, holding a piece of paper in his hand.

"I want you to retrieve those that are in this photograph," he instructed as he held out the old looking photograph to Alpha.

He took it and looked at it, taking note of the yellowing of age on the edges of the photo. Curious, he flipped it over to see if it has a date; it does, but Alpha was surprised at what the date read, "but Master, this photo is over a hundred and fifty years old, everypony in it would surely be dead and rotting in their graves by now," the diamond dog said in surprise as he looked back at the picture and to the happy group of ponies and foal that it has in it.

"You're right Alpha," Alpha's master commented, "all except for one however," he added as he Alpha saw a metal finger enter his field of vision and pointed right above the group of happy looking foals that are sitting together in front of the group of adults. However, he singled one out with a tap of a finger right above a colt that you can tell in the black and white picture that his coat is as white as a freshly fallen snowfall, " he's your target and I believe his name is Quinn."

Author's Note

My Dear Readers,

There is something I have to say, for this could possibly be my last day on this site. Now before you all freak out, I'm not leaving the fandom and never will till I'm six feet under (hopefully not in my young age). But I will say this though, you readers have made me the happiest writer there is and I'm thankful for it.

Now in case some of you readers ignored the lastest blog made by me, here's what's happening:
some of you know about my... predicament of my being mormon and nineteen years old, I'm finally able to go on my mission. The bad news; I'm leaving on next Wednesday for a three month mini (trial) mission in Salt Lake City and I'm not sure if I'll be able to get access to a computer. Now this doesn't mean I'll stop writting my stories, far from it in fact, I'll continue writing (on paper) and write some of it whenever I can get to a computer (will possibly get access once a week for an hour or so, not sure).

If I'm not able to get to a computer to update my stories, then I have a plan B. Plan B is writing the chapters and then mailing them to a trusted brony friend of mine so he can update the stories in my place so you readers can read them, and if for some reason plan A as well as plan B fails, well then, I have this to say; prepare yourselves for three months worth of writing to read when I get back from this mini (trial) mission.

But there are more bad/good news, I will be coming back home after my three month mini (trial) mission, but right after I get a proper fairwell (goodbye party) and my temple recommends vertified, I'll be leaving for my twenty-one month mission call. So overall, I'll be gone for two years. Now if for some reason my plan A and B fails again, then I have this to say again, prepare yourselves for twenty-one months of writing to read (and possible a real book as well that I've been planning to write that might have been inspired by ASiSaI), while I'll be catching up on two years worth of unread chapters (holy moly I can imagine it's going to be a freaking huge number when I get back).

So again, thank you all again for being such great readers, even to those that hangs in the shadows of the internet back there.

One very grateful writer,
Cyber V

"Life is full of possible roads, but only you can decide which you go down on."
-Cyber V