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Clockwork

by That 1 Guy

Chapter 15: Pegasus Device

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Clockwork awoke with a start. A quick check of his surroundings confirmed his suspicions. The bandages were gone from his legs and wing, he was already dressed, and his body was devoid of aches and pains. He was dreaming, but of what? He sat up, finding himself in his room back home, again. There were no sights or sounds of war. . . actually, there wasn’t any sound at all.

Even as the pegasus set himself on the floor and carefully made his way to the door, he couldn’t make out the sounds of his hoofsteps on the wood. His breathing and heartbeat were inaudible as well, he could only barely hear himself think. The stallion held his breath as he made his way downstairs, looking over his shoulder every few seconds to check to make sure some kind of eldritch horror wasn’t going to eat him. He had always wondered if the belief that death in a dream was equivalent to death in real life.

“Allow me to get that for ye, laddy.”

The pegasus froze as he reached for the handle that would open the door to the outside world. A cold, grey hoof rested on his. He slowly looked to his left. That voice, no, it couldn’t be. “Moppet?”

Much to Clockwork’s horror, the figure next to him resembled his late friend in almost everyway sans a key few. The mule’s hat was gone, and his eyes were now nothing but empty black holes. His supposedly friendly grin was too perfect to be natural, and the gash in his chest dripped with a black tar instead of blood. “The one an’ only.”

“No.” Clockwork shook his head furiously as he tried his best to wrench his hoof away from the creature’s death-grip. “You’re not real. You’re not him! The real you is dead!”

“Now now now, don’t be rude to the only real friend yev got! C’mon, let’s go fer a walk. My treat.”

Clockwork felt his mind scream in protest as his body complied with the demon-Moppet’s suggestions. Like water, the corpse-mule opened the door and led the engineer outside. Clockwork was both confused and horrified by what he bore witness to.

It was the Invasion of Ponyville, in all its violence and horror. Yet, it was all so very quiet, and still. Everything seemed to be either frozen perfectly in time or moving slower than a snail’s crawl. The corpse still firmly grasping Clockwork’s hoof led him through the carnage like it was a trip through the park. Dear sweet Celestia, was he humming?!

The duo stopped at a part of the invasion Clockwork didn’t recognize; no, he hadn’t been here when it actually happened. So, why the hay was it so well detailed?! The bloody scene was of Axel, the brutish griffon in charge of the battle, though he didn’t appear to be killing anyone at the moment. Instead, he was standing over. . .

Goddamit Clockwork, wake up wake up wake up wake up WAKE UP!

The guillotine-wielding beat stood over the headless corpse of a city guard, said guard’s head occupied the griffon’s right claw as he held the cranium to be exposed to the lowering sun. His broadsword, covered in a fresh coat of red, occupied his other claw as it stood impaled in the red earth. He was shouting something to a small gathering of troops, many of which were whooping and hollering, others raising their own bloody swords to the heavens. Clockwork noticed that the guard’s eyes and mouth were closed and devoid of terror, as though the owner of the head had been asleep at the time of his death. The stallion prayed that he had died painlessly and without fear, for it was all he could really do now.

“An admirable scene, ain’t it?”

Clockwork slowly looked towards the source of the voice. Something in his body began to replace the ever-present horror as gradually as melting ice. He gritted his teeth.

“The blood, the violence, the lightin’, that look of victory in the soldiers’ eyes! Beautiful, eh?”

The pegasus shrugged lightly. “Beauty. . . beauty is only within the eye of the beholder.”

“That don’t apply to me.” the corpse-mule pointed to his empty, bottomless sockets. “Ye wanna know the best part ‘bout it all though?”

Clockwork didn’t respond, he wasn’t going to play this demon’s little mind games. Unfortunately, his silence did little to keep the mule-shaped thing from answering anyway. “Tis thanks to ye that this is all ‘appenin’!”

Clockwork's eyes widened, though he remained silent.

"’ad we not been lollygaggin' around at yer place, we might've been able to stop all this early! Yer ‘ouse is a fortress anyway, yer folks would’ve been just fine even if we 'adn’t went to check up on ‘em! We could've saved the Lost Foals earlier an' kept more ponies from dying if we ‘ad followed my plan from the start!"

"Be quiet. . . please," the pegasus hissed.

"You could 'ave been ‘ere before this all ‘appened if you knew where ta look."

"I said. Be. Quiet."

“Ye would still ‘ave a real friend! Oh, an' speaking of which, ye never really kept yer promises to me, did ye? Yah blew it, Clocky. Yah blew it 'ard, an' now there’s a mare who wanted you around her who’s probably dead in Canterlot, but the only one you’ve thought about since yah left the city was that bullheaded mare who couldn’t friendship her way out of a wet pa-"

“SHUT! UP!”

CRACK!

Clockwork spun around and punched the not-Moppet with enough force to crack its skull. The body soared through the air, over the still carnage as the world began to darken. It impacted, limp in the dust a considerable distance away. It continued to repeat a few choice words in a sing-song voice until Clockwork finally returned to the world of the conscious.

Ye didn't keep yer promises.
Ye didn't keep yer promises. . .


Clockwork looked up from his desk. He had fallen asleep working, again. His barracks had changed little in the week he had been back, and his knowledge of the war at large was almost non-existent. "Knowledge of wartime events may cause severe hampering of mental capability,” the memos had said. “The average Equestrian citizen is not mentally prepared for such violence at such a young age, often times never,” they had told him.

The pegasus groaned as he lifted his right forehoof from his desk to expose the fresh, and surprisingly large, crack in the dark wood. He still couldn't believe that the nerve endings were still fully functional. Ignoring the pain that was already becoming far too noticeable, the stallion hurried out of his room and limped towards the infirmary. He laughed under his breath, realizing that he probably had achieved the record for most visits.

The pegasus wandered through the corridors for some time. Despite the facility's well lit passageways, he knew that it couldn't have been past midnight by now. The lights were probably the one thing that-

The stallion slowed to a halt as he noticed a grey figure walking down the hall some ways behind him. Her mane was a matted mess, her teal eyes were slightly watery and had dark circles under them. She was wearing a small robe that matched her eyes, and her lip piercing seemed to have been taken out recently. She looked only half-awake, even with the coffee cup hovering next to her in a veil of dark pink magic.

Her eye’s widened as soon as she spotted him, and Clockwork did the same.

“Oh, hey,” she mumbled, sounding startled but too tired to express it properly. “Something the matter?”

Clockwork smiled at her, knowing that she looked like she needed some cheer. "Hey Wetwork. Just heading to the infirmary, again. You alright?."

"I guess,” the mare replied in a way that signified that she was telling a bold faced lie, exhaustion in her voice. “What about you?”

Clockwork rubbed at his leg. “I think I need some pain medication.”

"Would you like me to help you there? I was getting some sleeping pills myself."

The pegasus smiled. "You would even if I refused."

With only a nod and a soft sigh, Wetwork trotted over to where he was.

It took about five minutes before either of them spoke again, and sweet Luna it was an odd five minutes.

Neither expected to see the other, and the two of them were torn between what they should say. Wetwork kept looking at the bruises he sported, while, to Clockworks mild dismay, he kept finding himself trailing a little behind Wetwork to get a better side-view of her. The robe she was wearing pretty much hugged her, and something twinged in him when he snoticed the way she moved.

“So, uh, what are you doing up this late?” Wetwork asked, sounding a little lost regarding where to start off from.

“I had a bad dream, and I punched my desk,” he replied, a little dazed.

“Oh.” the mare looked to the floor for a second before taking a swig of her drink. Clockwork was never a fan of coffee, but he couldn’t fathom how she could drink straight-black like it was nothing. “Well I’m glad that you got out of there alive. I hear it was awful.”

Clockwork’s brow raised in confusion. Hadn’t he already told this story to practically everypony in Research and Development? “That’s putting it lightly, but yeah, it was awful. I’m glad that you didn’t have to go through it yourself.”

She nodded and gave him a small smile. “Thank you. Honestly, I was scared when they put the entire cave system on lockdown. A lot of us thought the floor would come down on top of us with how it sounded.”

“Good thing it didn’t,” Clockwork said, a little perturbed.

The unicorn looked away, trying to hide the light blush that colored her muzzle. However, said blush was quickly replaced by a look made of pure concern mixed with a little anger. “I’m sorry to jar the mood, but what were you doing in Cloudsdale? You should have been in Canterlot as soon as you saw the airship.”

Clockwork sighed. “I was there on an assignment to do what I do best, fix stuff.”

“All R&D staff are supposed to head back to Canterlot immediately under any sort of attack,” she countered, more for the sake of doing so than anything else.

The pegasus shrugged, stopping for a moment to rub his aching hoof. “Yeah, but I got some kind of recommendation thing. It said I could go to Cloudsdale if I wanted.”

“And you accepted,” she replied flatly.

“Yes.”

“I don’t mean to be frank, but repairing dropships doesn’t give you injuries as bad as yours were without something going horribly wrong.”

It took some time, but Clockwork managed to tell his fellow scientist of his unintentional role in helping save Cloudsdale from complete and total atomization. “So after all that, I met somepony I at first didn't believe was there.”

“. . .Charger, that friend of yours that Taffy talks about?” Wetwork asked, voice dubious.

Clockwork would’ve nodded and smiled at the mention of the mare he loved, but. . . something kept him from doing so. Was it how the yellow mare had acted when they reunited? How he had acted? Or was it maybe that. . . yep, it was because of the look in Wetwork's eyes.

“Umm. . . hey, I was wondering if-”

‘We’re here,” Wetwork interrupted the stallion as she pointed upward. Sure enough, they stood at the entrance to the infirmary.

Clockwork’s only words spoken during the treatment of his light sprain were of how he acquired said wound. He had been here far too many times to care for the surroundings any longer. It was all so dull now, so. . .

Wait.

The pegasus’ brow furrowed in concentration as a select few synapses fired together for the first time. It almost felt like fireworks going off in his brain. He got to his hooves faster than lightning as his thoughts spiraled downward into the thralls of a possible idea. He barely had the mental power to thank the nurse for her efforts and to beckon Wetwork to come with him; he was on the verge of something. Something good.

“Wait! Clockwork, what about Haywire?!” the mare asked as she sprinted after her companion.

“Go wake her up and both of you meet me at the firearm testing lab in half an hour!” the pegasus shouted over his shoulder.

‘You know how she is when she doesn’t have her coffee!”

“Then make it a full hour!” Clockwork went from a sprint into a dead-gallop as his mind continued to work away at the idea. Mental flashes of blueprints and failed experiments whizzed by, the pain in his hoof was nonexistent.

It just might work.

The pegasus practically kicked in the door to the testing range. After a quick look over of the various storage bins that lined one wall, Clockwork retrieved an old friend of his and its respective box of ammunition. Without a moment’s hesitation, he tossed the weapon onto the nearby modification table, scavenged some random metal sheets from the scrap bin, and acquired a few choice tools. After he had everything he needed, Clockwork set to work, even though Wetwork and Haywire had yet to arrive.

The stallion couldn’t believe why he hadn’t thought of this before. Such a thinly framed weapon couldn’t be made out of something like iron or brass and expect to hold up under the duress of war! Further, a firing pin designed to fire two shots based solely on how far back the hammer is pulled? Good goddesses, no wonder why this thing had never got past the prototype stages!

It wasn’t much longer before Clockwork was practically tearing the LeMane apart until there was nothing left but it’s surprisingly thin skeletal framework. After replacing said framework with a thicker, Mithril variant, he began to carefully tack on specific bits and pieces with a speed he had never accomplished before. Something was driving him, something wonderful. The subconscious promise of success.

“Clocky, there better be a really good reason why I was awoken to the absence of a pot 100% freshly ground Saddle Arabian coffee or so help me I’m gonna-!”

“QUIET!” Clockwork roared. “Eh, sorry. I just need to get this one piece in and it’s really difficult if I have distractions and-”

“You’re trying to put this in backwards, dumb-bum.”

Clockwork froze solid. “. . . What?”

“This one piece.” Haywire hobbled over to and shoved Clockwork away as she removed a few pieces from the weapon and rearranged them. The end result was the parts fitting seamlessly. The pegasus forgot to breathe for a moment as he looked over the weapon.

Haywire beemed at his befuddled expression.

Even then, it now seemed more like a work of art now rather than a weapon designed to permanently cripple and/or end life. It gleamed like pure silver, and everything looked. . . well, right.

Clockwork took the weapon in one hoof and spun out the cylinder. In addition to the weapon having become incredibly light, it was also working much smoother than before. Now, the only thing left to do was test it. "Goggles? Ear protection?"

“Already had them~," Haywire chimed as she held out a pair of each to the stallion, taking a heavy slug of coffee from the mug that now occupied her spare forehoof. As Clockwork set the items over his eyes and ears, he remembered that Haywire's taste in coffee was almost the polar opposite of Wetwork's. To be honest, there could've been more sugar in there than there was liquid, considering it had the consistency of carmel and almost as likely to turn a flirt with diabetes into a full blown relationship.

Shaking the thoughts of a drink he didn't even like from his mind, the pegasus turned his attention to loading his firearm. Seven rounds of .44 magnum were set in the outer ring of the cylinder, each bullet forming a part of the circle that surrounded the single 12 gauge shotgun round at the cylinder's center. With a single, long breath, Clockwork brought the weapon to bear and pulled the hammer back to its fullest extent. Everything fell into place with a soft clink!

After another deep breath, Clockwork pulled the trigger.

Please, let this work.

Bang!

One round left its casing and impacted the target dummy not a second later. One, two, three more rounds followed without so much as a moment's error! Clockwork almost leaped in celebration when he had successfully fired all seven rounds, but there was one last thing to test.

Gulping, he aimed the weapon forwards one last time, flicking its hammer to strike the secondary cartridge.

BOOM!

It didn't matter that the firing of the round was amplified by the room's tights walls, or that there was a faint ringing left in everypony's ears after that; Clockwork, Wetwork, and Haywire had finally done it.

"YYYYYES!" Haywire beat her companions to the punch and almost hit her head on the ceiling as she continued to jump around. Then again, it may have just been her coffee finally taking effect, but it didn't matter. Clockwork smiled.

"Ooh! Wait!" Haywire suddenly planted all four hooves on the floor and appeared rooted there. After a few seconds, she relaxed. "We need to go tell the higher ups about this NOW! I'll do it! Great work, everypony. See ya!" The earth pony practically rocketed out of the room before either scientist could react. After she had gone, Clockwork gently placed the LeMane back on the table and ejected the spent shells, dropping them into his coat pocket. He'd be keeping these for a while.

"Hey. . . Clockwork?"

The pegasus looked up and over his shoulder, finding Wetwork looking past the gun and directly into his eyes. "Yeah?"

“You wanted to ask me something earlier?”

Clockwork thought for a moment about what the unicorn was referring to. When the memories did come back, his muzzle almost glowed red. "Oh, that. Well, um, yes; I did want to ask you something earlier but. . .” his voice trailed off.

“Hey,” she said, tone firm, “say it if you want.”

Clockwork sighed. "Alright. “I thought over what I said and did that night in Canterlot, and I've come to regret it. It may sound really stupid, and it's completely up to you and I won't be hurt if you say no, but-"

"Just say it."

"I wanted to know if you would like to start dating. Me, I mean." The words left his mouth like it was wind going through a canyon.

Wetwork blinked, mouth slightly agape.

“And I really am sorry about, well, it wasn’t really. . . I'm really sorry. I just thought we could try and connect more. . . and you do look great in that robe.” Clockwork stopped talking then, embarrassed at his own words. He rubbed his neck and broke eye contact with the unicorn. Dammit. She probably thought he was a jerk, an idiot, a complete fool. She probably-

In a blur, he noticed Wetwork move from her previous spot a short distance away from him. His brain suddenly registered that he. . . tasted something bitter. There was a extra tongue poking around in his mouth, and goodness, there was a wonderful mare with a mane that smelled faintly of bubblegum shampoo and coffee, sweet and bitter at once with just a hint of something he couldn’t place; her head lined up under his just enough that her horn grazed his forehead.

It hurt a little, but it was that good kind of pain.

After a few thousand years had passed by in Clockwork’s mind, Wetwork breathed something into Clockwork's ear that he might had noticed if it wasn’t for the small implosion occurring within his head. The only thing he could comprehend was that, as she walked away, she swayed her hips as she took the longest possible path she could before turning for the doorway, sashaying the entire way.

Clockwork stood there for a while, one wing struggling to unfurl under his coat. He wasn’t sure if he knew what was happening in his life anymore, but he had the slightest feeling that he was beginning to enjoy it.


“Saltwater Taffy to prosthetics development. Saltwater Taffy, your presence is requested in prosthetics development.”

Clockwork waited a full three minutes after the announcer spoke over the intercom. Even after she had called out the same address again two more times, the pegasus mare failed to appear. Clockwork sighed, rolled his eyes, and set back to work.

To be perfectly blunt, the stallion’s mind was on a roll. Even after he had submitted his LeMane to project analysis to determine whether the weapon’s benefits outweighed its costs or not, his ideas had yet to stop flowing out. If this was all because of him punching a desk, he needed to take up boxing. Somehow, everything about the prosthetic research he had been taking part in clicked, and he found that they had been working on it backwards. Rather than create a semi-rigid outer shell and attempting to fit all of the components inside, they had to work on the artificial bone structure first, then the muscle strands, and then to the feathers.

Well, when Clockwork meant they, he actually meant himself, mostly. Taffy had certainly contributed to the project during the early and middle stages, but had been out sick a lot during this month. Weren’t all pegasi vaccinated for feather flu when they joined R&D?

Clockwork shuddered, for he hated needles more than almost anything else. He shook his head and set his mind back on the task at hoof. Before him lay a seemingly random mish-mash of parts, all surrounding a metallic endoskeleton. To the untrained eye, it would’ve seemed like junk, but to Clockwork, it was his masterpiece.

Again, he had to utilize mithril to get the weight ratio right. Even with all the artificial muscle strains and minute gears needed to simulate realistic movement and reaction times, it still was relatively heavy overall. Had he not used the miracle metal, this prototype would’ve been discarded hours ago due to its weight alone. Clockwork sighed, everything seemed to be going without problem, and then he had to get to the final, and most important, part of the machine: its power source.

The pegasus instinctively moved a forehoof to his fire ruby necklace. He didn’t know why, but he had always taken comfort in the gesture. Maybe it was the luster of the gem, its sheer size, or maybe what it represent-

Wait a minute.

Clockwork sprinted out the door and down several hallways. He had another idea.

Eventually, the scientist made it to the facility’s library. While nowhere near as big as the one he had been to in Canterlot (dear sweet Celestia, he wanted to stay there for hours), it still harbored immense stockpiles of knowledge for those who needed it. If he was lucky, this place might have the book he was looking for. Thankfully, there was a holographic terminal that contained a complete list of all books, both checked in and out, that the library had access to. This fact alone probably saved Clockwork twenty minutes of darting around like a humming bird.

“Let’s see. . .” Clockwork mused to himself. “G. . .g. . . gems! Yes!” after a few more seconds of furious scrolling, he found his target. Luckily, it was still checked in, and not too far away from where he currently was. After a quick bout of searching, he successfully retrieved the book, checked it out, and made his way back down the hallways of Research and Development. Clockwork almost forgot to look where he was going as he studied the book he had retrieved. Its title was inscribed in large, emotionless letter across the top half of the cover.

Gems & Their Effects on the Magical World

Clockwork stopped for a moment to flick through several pages before continuing on his way. Moonstones could be ground up for healing purposes, sunstone for light, and Sphalerite to fuel generators on par with those of the behemoths in Stalliongrad. The fuel section was where he needed to be, and after searching for a little while longer, he found his desired page. On said page was a black and white technical diagram of a fire ruby in its natural, heart-shaped form.

According to tests and studies conducted as far back as 400 R.C. (Reign of Celestia), Fire Rubies have displayed exemplary performance in the powering of small to medium-scale machines for extended periods of time (though the time varies depending on the exact dimensions of the machine it powers). To this day, it is still not entirely understood how this gem, often given as a gift of affection (and considered a delicacy by dragons), contains so much inherent magical energy. Talks have taken place regarding what enchantments Fire Rubies are best suited for powering, though no definitive answer has been given.

Clockwork grinned from ear to ear as he reentered the room he had left minutes ago. Everything was still here, though Saltwater Taffy was still nowhere to be found. Faustdammit, where was that mare?

The pegasus didn’t bother speculating as he set the book down on the same table as the almost complete prosthetic wing and gently removed his necklace. The scientist gazed at it with a smile that displayed mixed portions sorrow and happiness. If what he was about to do worked, it would be an amazing step forward in the realm of scientific rehabilitation, but his most prized possession would likely never return to its true, and most beautiful, form. The stallion gulped as he removed the jewelry's chain and procured a hammer from a nearby toolbox. With bated breath, he lined the tool’s sharper end with the gem’s platinum lining. After mentally reassuring himself that he wouldn’t damage the ruby, Clockwork brought the hammer down.

Shink!

Clockwork breathed a sigh of relief as he opened his eyes to the result of his efforts. The blade had pried away the lining like a hot knife through butter. He laughed to himself as he examined the red crystal, seeming almost naked, finding it free from damage. He carefully set the gem in place at the wing’s carpal joint. With a bit of effort, he secured it with three metal prongs, then went about assembling the artificial wing in its entirety.

It took some time, and even if it looked like just a loose collection of metal bits at the moment, Clockwork knew he was on the edge of success. After all, this was just a prototype. Even if it didn’t perform admirably at everything, all it had to do was succeed in accomplishing the basic movements. After that, he could refine it to perfection. Almost without thinking, the pegasus successfully hooked the prosthetic several buckles around his chest and pull the straps snug. Huh, it looked like that crudely wing-shaped dead weight he wore for sixteen years had actually been good for something.

The stallion’s thoughts were ripped from his body at the speed of light has he experienced perhaps the most terrible and wonderful feeling the mortal realm could create. Fire and ice shot through his body simultaneously, starting at his left shoulder. Lightning coursed through every muscle strand, fireworks exploded in his skull. He cried, screamed, roared, and laughed in agony.

Everything went black.

Next Chapter: Flight Estimated time remaining: 8 Hours, 26 Minutes
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