The three thugs lay in cots at the Ponyville Hospital, their wounds wrapped in casts. Phillip Finder glared at them contemptuously.

"Judging by your tattoos, you're part of the Canter Nostra gang," he snarled, leaning in close to the earth pony leader. The gangster maintained an even eye contact. "You're organized crime thugs. You don't have any presence in a small town like Ponyville." He leaned in close, allowing his eyes to fill the suspect's gaze. "So what the hell are you doing here?"

The suspect's response was to spit into Phillip's face and avert his gaze to the ceiling. With a frustrated grunt, Phillip turned and strode out of the hospital, moving back into town at a fast trot.

That did it. That was the last straw. Somepony breaking into his friend's home with a knife and scaring the wits out of all of them was one thing, but a trio of armed, dangerous gangsters striding through the town—through his town—picking on other ponies and looking for Turner for unknown reasons? This ended now.

The pocketwatch was at the center of all this. Of that he was certain. And he was equally certain that Straight Flush knew more than what he was saying.

And speaking of whom...Phillip's head turned, his eyes focusing on a nervous-looking pony in a threadbare coat with a cutie mark of a heart, club, diamond and spade arranged in a circle hurrying down the street, glancing around. The pony turned his head towards Phillip, who reacted by turning and walking away as if disinterested. His target continued down the street, still glancing occasionally over his shoulder. Phil began to follow him, moving through alleyways and ducking behind cover to stay out of sight as he watched Straight Flush hurry towards Turner's Clock Repair Shop.

As soon as his suspect entered, Phillip felt an urgent shiver run up his spine, his body stiffening and his eyes narrowing. Crime sense warning: imminent crime, lives in danger. He started to run into the shop, but checked himself: if he burst in, he might startle Flush so much that he would do something desperate and somepony could get hurt. Instead, he entered quietly, opening the door slowly to avoid tinkling the bell too loudly.

Inside, Straight Flush was speaking to Turner. Turner looked nervous, and not without reason: Flush was wide-eyed, his expression one of desperation and suffocating fear. The unicorn's tail kept flicking: it reminded Phil of a wildcat about to pounce. Neither stallion had seemed to notice him.

"My watch," Flush was saying. "Do you have it? Is it repaired?"

"Your watch?" Turner asked, stepping back a pace nervously. "I...I'm sorry, but things...things have b-been pretty busy here and I just haven't had th-the time to..."

"It's not fixed?" Straight Flush with a dangerous tone in his voice, taking a step forward. Despite being smaller than Turner, he seemed to loom over him threateningly.

"I-I-I'm sorry, sir," Turner said, backing up against the wall (Phillip's hoof twitched towards the vest pocket that carried his baton, but he stayed himself). "But I just—"

"I need that watch back!" Flush almost shouted, his horn lighting up. His coat pulled back slightly and something within moved, like a snake head striking.

But before the knife could be fully drawn, Phillip was moving. His baton came down, striking Flush in the foreleg and bringing him down, where a foreleg smashed into his jaw. The knife clattered to the floor a split second before Straight Flush did, groaning. Phillip pounced on Flush's chest and raised his baton to strike, a thunderous expression of fury on his face. It was only at the last moment that he stopped himself, relaxing slightly and standing. "You okay?" he asked Turner, who was trembling.

"Great whickering stallions," he murmured. "I...yes, I'm fine."

Phil kicked the knife away under the desk and grabbed Flush by the scruff of his neck, dragging him out the back door and outside. Turner, still looking a bit overwhelmed, followed.

Phil roughly tossed Flush down onto the grass and pinned him with a knee. "I have some questions. You have some answers. First question: what is with that damn pocketwatch of yours?"

Flush swallowed. "I don't know, I swear! I-I mean..." he cowered when Phil snarled slightly. "Look, it belonged to my father. His name was Quick Quill."

"Quick Quill?" Turner asked. "Wasn't he one of the original architects for the Ponyville clock tower?"

"Yeah, yeah," Flush said quickly. "He also embezzled a lot of money from the other architects."

"Money that you need," Phillip said.

Flush nodded, looking shamefaced. "Please let me up. I'll explain everything." Phil stood up off him and allowed Flush to sit up. "Cards were always my special talent, but a while ago, I hit a streak of bad luck. I just kept losing. Eventually, I fell so far into debt that I had to borrow money."

"From the Canter Nostra," Phil said.

Flush swallowed. "It got me out of the hole, but they showed up a few days ago, saying they wanted their money back. I remembered the stories about my dad: they say that he hid the money he stole somewhere, because they never found it. I did some looking in my attic, and I found his old pocketwatch and a note. It said that he had hidden the money somewhere in the clock tower, and that the watch had a way to open it. The note said that it'd open at his proudest moment."

"So you hired me to fix the watch," Turner said.

"And then you broke into their home the next night, trying to steal the watch back," Phil said.

"Look, please listen!" Flush blurted, trying to justify himself. "If I don't pay up, they'll kill me. I need that money!"

"And you don't care what happens to anypony else, do you?" Phillip spat, stepping forward. Flush scrambled to crawl away. "You broke into an innocent pony's home, terrorized his family, and put innocent lives in danger all so you could get your money." He leaned down and glared right into Flush's face.

"Get out of Ponyville. Go to the next town and turn yourself in to the Guard. I don't ever want to see you in this town again.'"

"Yes, sir! Yes, I will!" Flush squeaked in a high-pitched voice. He scrambled up to his hooves and hurried away. Phillip kept his eyes on him until he had scurried out of sight, then turned back to Turner, who had watched these proceedings with an expression of shock on his face.

"Turner, I think it's time we fixed that pocketwatch. It's time to end this."

About an hour later, Turner finally looked up from the worktable. "I think I've done it," he said, wiping sweat off his brow. "But what now?"

"Flush said the watch would open at Quill's proudest moment," Phil said, pacing behind Turner. He thought for a moment, then asked Turner, "What time did the clock tower officially start?"

Turner paused, his hoof drawing circles in his mane as he thought. "Ten-thirty," he said.

"Set the watch to ten-thirty," Phil suggestsed, bending over the worktable. Carefully, Time Turner wound the clock and turned the hands to ten thirty. As soon as he did so, there was a soft click, and a part of the watch border opened. His eyes widening in surprise, Turner slowly opened the secret compartment. "I guess I know what that extra part was for now," he said.

Carefully, he turned the compartment upside down. A small, rust-covered key fell out, clattering on the table. Turner picked it up and examined it closely.

"This might fit," he whispered.

"Might fit where?" Phil asked.

"Inside the clock tower, there's a small lock set in the floor on the third floor. Nopony has ever been able to open it or figure out what it's for. But I'd be willing to bet that this key fits that."

"Only one way to find out," Phil said, turning and heading towards the door. "You coming?"

"Oh, yeah," Turner said, snatching the key up. "Allons-y!" The two stallions exited the clock repair shop and started towards the Ponyville clock tower as the sun began to dip below the horizon, darkness spreading across the town.

Author's Notes:

So...the reveal.

I know this might feel a bit disappointing to some, but I after The Sun Falls, I wanted to go back to the first stories I wrote, a little more light-hearted adventure.

Next part: the clock tower's secrets!