Author's Notes:

This first chapter is merely to set the scene for the story. The clop begins in the next chapter.

The SFM art featured in this chapter was made by the talented Wintergleam!

At the edge of Ponyville, right at the opening to the Ghastly Gorge, was an old abandoned clock tower. Twilight had always thought it odd that a clock tower was built in such an awkward place and wasn’t surprised to find it walled off as a derelict building. Ponyville was, after all, surrounded by all manner of the weird of wonderful, including magical cloning ponds, haunted castles, a monster-infested forest, etc. An abandoned clock tower was perfectly normal by comparison.

Or at least so Twilight thought, until she heard its bell toll.

She had always heard a bell toll somewhere in Ponyville every night at 7 PM right on the dot. It was unusual in that it was the only hour marked by a bell, even more unusual in that the bell would only toll the hour once. When she first moved to Ponyville, she thought it was just the town bell announcing nightfall. This was supported by another observation - the streets would slowly but surely thin out and empty shortly after the bell rang, suggesting that the bell signalled the townsponies to return to their homes before darkness fell.

That was until she started trying to visit her friends and neighbours after dark, only to ever find them answering the door a small hoofful of times.

She didn’t think much of it, putting it down to country ponies turning in early to allow them to get up earlier. She had left it at that. Years came, years went. Discord reformed. Tirek attacked. She became the Princess of Friendship. And Twilight never thought much of the bell or her fellow townsponies’ odd evening behaviour.

Until one day she was bowled over by a revelation.

“Ponyville only has one bell! One!” Twilight Sparkle pointed out, her potato and dandelion soup lying forgotten and cold. “And do you know where it is?” She leaned so far across the restaurant table that it was a wonder gravity didn’t drop her facefirst in her dining companions’ meals.

“It’s not in my salad, dear, that’s for certain.” Her herd sister, Rarity, chided goodnaturedly.

“Hmm.” Her other lunch companion, a light amber unicorn stallion, had long since gotten used to dodging getting skewered by Twilight's horn during their regular weekday lunch meets. As far as Doctor Horse was concerned, getting impaled by excitement-incarnate is an acceptable risk that comes with having Equestria's most curious mare as a fillyfriend. “The clocktower?” He suggested with a little smile.

“Well, I’d fancy a guess too, but something tells me you’re simply dying to tell us anyway, darling.” Rarity said with a knowing smile.

“It’s in the clocktower!” Twilight went on, excitedly, “That abandoned one at the edge of the Ghastly Gorge!” She magically waved her entirely unused soup spoon due north. “I went up to Stargazer’s hill last night and counted down to 7PM. And guess what?”

"I'm really starting to enjoy this little guessing game," Rarity giggled into a forehoof.

“Let me guess, then. The bell rang?” Doctor Horse said, a forkful of rose salad held in a holding pattern near his mouth.

“The bell rang! It was the very same bell I hear ring just once every day at 7PM!” Twilight exclaimed. “And if you think that’s weird, wait ‘till you hear what I saw next!” She squeaked, practically bursting with excitement at her discovery. “I saw ponies! Ponies moving about in the shadows, entering the tower! That tower might be the very reason most ponies are nowhere to be seen after 7 every night!”

“It is certainly the reason your soup is growing cold.” Rarity teased.

“Well, if you’re really that curious, we can take a look around inside together.” Doctor Horse suggested, deciding his salad had waited long enough. “How about…”

“Tonight!” Twilight declared, “I’m going to investigate that tower tonight! I’ll get to the bottom of this, just you wait!”

“Tonight? Oh, that is a little soon.” Rarity said, a touch of worry on her face.

“Well, we can always accompany her,” Doctor Horse said, watching Twilight’s adorkable enthusiasm with amused endearment, “I’m sure we can make arrangements. How about—”

“I need to go make arrangements! Lunch was amazing! Same time tomorrow? I’ll tell you about everything I find!” The soup’s fate was sealed as its diner disappeared in a puff of teleportation.

“That went well, Prince Charming,” the restaurant’s Maitre’D said as he sauntered over. “Does she even know that you two are six months into dating her?”

“Oh shush, Maitre,” Doctor Horse chuckled, goodnaturedly. “A gentlecolt does not rush a lady. Princess Twilight has her own pace, one I’m very much enjoying.”

“Such a lovely gentlecolt you are, my Horseykins.” Rarity giggled, kissing the stallion on the cheek.

“Adorable.” The Maitre’D rolled his eyes. “But speaking of rushing, what are you two going to do about tonight?” He dropped his voice, despite the three of them being the only ones in the Hay Bale’s dining hall that afternoon. “She is no doubt going to find Clocktower.”

“As I said, Twilight has her own pace,” Doctor Horse said, offhoofedly.

“Do you think she’s ready, dear?” Rarity raised an eyebrow.

“I think that is for Twilight to decide for herself. Our task is to simply help make sure she doesn’t rush herself. Speaking of, Maitre, bill please. The two of us have a princess to find before she disappears without us." Doctor Horse said as he stood up and offered a forehoof which Rarity gratefully accepted. "Oh, and can I please book a table for three for tomorrow, as usual?”

“Such casual optimism. Just don’t cry all over me when you cancel your reservation after tonight,” the Maitre’D chuckled.

“Oh, I don’t plan on tears.” Doctor Horse smiled, “After all, Princess Cadence has assigned Rarity and I to her.” He and Rarity both shared a nod and a smile. “And the Princess of Love is never wrong.”

Twilight had never been so frustrated in her life. There was something going on with the tower, there was no doubt about it. Unfortunately whatever it was included a magical forcefield of her brother’s calibre, one she couldn’t crack at the risk of warning its caster of her intrusion. The obnoxious barrier cared not for her teleportation spell either. At least there was nothing stopping her giving the barrier an almighty pout.

The old clock tower sat there, its smug shadow looming over her in the gathering twilight. It cast a sinister silhouette where it say between the gaping maw of the Ghastly Gorge. But Twilight only steeled her resolve. She’d crack its mystery once and for all….once she figured out a way to get in, that is.

Twilight fluttered back down to the tree line, receding into the dark shade cast by the last rays of sunset. Seriously, what’s up with that?! Even the Starswirl-The-Bearded wing of the royal archives wasn’t this heavily protected. But the overzealous defenses only served to convince the Princess of Friendship that something was going on inside that tower.

As she sat in the gathering dusk, the darkness reminded her of how alone she was. This may well be the first incident she faced all by herself in a long while. She would have gone to her friends for help. Except she had a strong suspicion they were also victims of the bell’s mysterious lure seeing as they would often be unavailable after 7PM. She gave a loud sigh as she forced herself to focus on the task at hoof. She had a plan B ready, she always did, though this one had risk margin just teetering between ‘acceptable’ and ‘Smarty Pants’. Pocketwatch in hoof, she counted down the minutes to 7 PM. 7…6...5...4...3...2…

The bell tolled.

Twilight’s ears drooped as the bell echoed exactly 6 times up and down the gorge, growing deeper and eerie with each echo. ‘It’s just sound waves bouncing back and forth, Twilight. Nothing to worry about.’ She tried to convince herself. She found her logic die away at the sight of the last slip of sunset dying away around the corner of Mount Canterhorn. A dark chill ran up her spine. She gathered what little courage she had left as she waited.

Soon enough, they arrived - Ponies, trotting up the old brick road leading up to the tower. Some walked in groups. Some seemed content to hang back by themselves. Some wrapped themselves in heavy cloaks and hoods. The smiles and lively chatter was certainly uncharacteristic for ponies under some evil spell.

To Twilight’s surprise, she also noticed a few Royal Night Guards and Love Guards in the mix, bearing lanterns for the group. They were mixed in amongst the ponies, detaching one by one from the group to stand guard at fixed intervals along the road, lighting up the path for any stragglers.

Twilight tightened the strap around her saddlebags, making sure they covered her wings and cutie-mark. A brief spell gave her what she thought was a more pedestrian manestyle, one not unlike the spiky wild one Aloe and Lotus had once experimented with. She would have gone with a more thorough disguise spell or even an invisibility spell, except she suspected whoever had installed the shield and anti-teleportation field would have also considered those possibilities. With her preparations complete, she took slow, deep breaths. ‘We can do this, Twilight!’ She psyched herself up as she slipped out of the shadows and pressed herself into the throng of ponies on the road.

She was filled with so much relief at blending in so smoothly that she only noticed the five ponies in front of her belatedly - She recognized them as Big Mac, Cheerilee, Marble Pie, Fleetfoot and her own best friend, Fluttershy. She gave a tiny squeak of surprise. Thankfully for Twilight, Cheerilee and Fleetfoot’s animated chatter held their attention.

Twilight tarried a little, putting another pony or two between herself and Fluttershy’s group. She studied her friend from behind. The cheerful smile and gentle blush on the animal caretaker’s face didn’t suggest a pony in the clutches of some evil spell. Frowning, Twilight scanned the rest of the crowd. Her heart raced faster and faster as she noticed more of her friends ahead of her - Rainbow Dash fluttering alongside Soarin and Spitfire, Pinkie Pie bouncing along by herself, and Applejack holding tails with Caramel.

Whatever this was, it had four of the six Elements of Harmony in its clutches! Equestria is doomed!

‘Get it together, Twilight’ Twilight gave herself a mental slap. ‘You’re the only hope now! It’s all on you now! So...no pressure.’

She totally wasn’t feeling left out of whatever was going on.

The gates in the tall, imposing walls that marked the tower as a derelict site slowly opened to allow the ponies through. Twilight felt a chill run down her spine as she entered, the telltale feel of a magic barrier washing over her. She looked up. Her jaw fell. The derelict tower was not-so derelict anymore. In fact, it was fully lit with braziers bearing bright yellow fires lining every level. It was crowned by an eerily glowing red clockface that rivalled the moon, a mighty cyclops that peered disdainfully down at her. The clocktower sat atop a hall big enough to be a palace, the architecture of which Twilight dated back to the time of the Two Sisters. In fact, judging by its exterior, it was probably part of the old grand palace complex centered around the Castle of the Two Sisters. Twilight had never seen architecture from that age this well preserved, not even in Canterlot.

As they crossed the wide circular stone courtyard in front of the palace, Twilight couldn’t help but notice their ranks swelling with more and more ponies. A glance around quickly identified the reason. The courtyard was surrounded by raised platforms bearing teleportation gates through which ponies appeared by the dozens. Signs engraved above each gate suggested there were gates to every major location in Equestria, from Manehattan to Van Hoover. The ponies seemed to mingle seamlessly with ponies from opposite sides of Equestria meeting and nuzzling each other affectionately.

Twilight was just trying to wrap her mind around the scale of what was going on around her when her attention was drawn to the palace doors. The architecture certainly kept up with the whole theme of grandeur, the gigantic double doors being tall and wide enough to let a grown dragon through. They stood wide open, allowing ponies to file into rows of gate-shaped devices that she recognized as magic detectors, likely a countermeasure against disguise and invisibility spells, just as Twilight had predicted. She noticed the ponies would show the guards some sort of badge before being allowed through a scanner.

A badge Twilight didn’t have.

She bit her lip. She was too deep inside the main body of the crowd to slip out. It would have drawn too much attention to herself, maybe even risking discovery by her friends. She decided to try the schoolhouse trick of slipping in with a larger crowd. She attached herself to a group of weathermares being led by Thunderlane, ducking low behind the familiar form of Cloud Kicker and Blossomforth.

It was all going perfectly. Thunderlane’s group filtered into a security gate being watched by a lazy-looking guardspony who was waving them all through as one. Unfortunately for Twilight, a security mare appeared, splitting crowds into a newly opened gate. Noticing the empty security lane, Cloud Kicker dragged Blossomforth away with her, leaving Twilight in an awkward spot. Before she could make up her mind, the lazy guard had already gestured her over. “Badge?” The guard asked.

Twilight froze on the spot, blood curdling in her stunned heart. ‘WhatDoIDoWhatDoIDoWhatDoIDo?!’ She squeaked inwardly.

“Hmm?” A tall, stallward-looking stallion trotting down the line of security gates paused by Twilight’s. She squirmed as he studied her carefully. “Oh, that one’s on the guest list. Give her a guest pass and let her through,” he said without a second thought.

A bewildered Twilight suddenly found herself ushered through the security gate. The lazy guard didn’t as much as look at her as he hoofed her a circular metal badge. It was engraved with a stylized likeness of the clock tower. The word ‘Clocktower’ was stamped across the badge’s centre in heavy, solid print.

Finally, a name to call this madness - ‘Clocktower’.

She decided to hurry away before the security guards could change their minds. ‘They must think I’m somepony else.’ Twilight thought, thanking her lucky stars. Deciding she probably didn’t have much time before the guards realized their mistake, she forged onwards into the hall beyond.

Twilight had a difficult time deciding whether the interior was more Canterlot Palace or one of those Manehattan red carpet clubs Rarity dragged them all to for her boutique’s after-party. It was certainly vast with high vaulted ceilings and gilded walls interspersed with marble colonnades. But what stood out the most was the stylized clocktower logo proudly emblazoned on everything from the wall tapestries to the red and gold carpeting covering the hallways. Twilight couldn’t help but think of it as borderline obsessive, maybe even fanatical.

What she saw next only clinched her suspicions. The vaulted ceiling gave way to a high domed roof topping a large, circular hall. Whoever designed the complex layers of defense certainly didn’t count on somepony making it this far as a friendly-looking map and signpost greeted her alongside what looked like a community bulletin board.

But no matter how eager she was to study the wealth of information before her, her eyes were irresistibly drawn to the center of the room. Above, engraved into the plinth supporting the dome, were the words ‘Welcome to Clocktower Equestria East, Home of the Clocktower Mares’.

As if to confirm Twilight’s fears that this mystery extended far beyond her hometown, below it hung a map of the known world, with a large clocktower logo sited over Ponyville. ‘That must be this place’ Twilight thought as she studied the map, ‘But then what are all those other sites?’ More clocktowers marked the map, one other Equestrian site in San Franciscolt, one in Yakyakistan, one in Gryphonia, seven in Zebrica, one in Minos, six in Saddle Arabia, one in Neighpon and many, many more across the whole world. Whatever ‘Clocktower’ was, it was big.

As if to complete the pompously fanatical look of the place, the center of the hall was dominated by an indoor fountain garden built around a gigantic marble statue.

Twilight’s jaw dropped.

It was a marble sculpture that Twilight recognized from the many texts disputing its very existence, one that allegedly dated back to the founding of Equestria, postulated to have been destroyed 1000 years ago to erase the truth behind the Fires of Friendship. It depicted Princess Platinum, her muzzle briddled and her magic sealed with a horn wring, offering her reins up to Smart Cookie; Private Pansy offering his neck to be collared by Clover the Clever; And Chancellor Pudding Head kissing the hooftips of Commander Hurricane. It even featured four other figures that has never featured in any versions she had seen before. The base of the mighty statue was engraved in ancient Unicornian, Pegasopolan, Earthling and Lunarian text as well as two other languages she didn't quite recognize. Twilight knew enough of the first three to understand what it said - ‘By the Fires of Devotion, Your word is Law’

It all came together in Twilight’s mind. ‘The Fires of Devotion’, a very common object of worship for the fictional mating cults and secret societies in many of her more… ‘secretive’ bedtime reading. But they had always been just that, fictional.

But here it was, a mating cult in the flesh, on a scale far bigger than anything she had ever encountered even in the most fantastical fiction, with some sort of dark spell that held even her best friends in its sway.

Her eyebrow twitched dangerously. Maybe, just maybe, Twilight might be in a little over her head.