Chapter 1: That Fateful Visit

*BEEEEP* BEEEEP* BEEE-

I rolled over and hit the snooze button. Damn. That was one hell of a dream. Makes me glad I'm not going up to the castle today. Chuckling to myself, I got ready for work. Running the best clock shop in all of Canterlot was a dream come true for my family, but everypony else had left for Manehattan and they needed me to run the store. I've been doing this myself for years now. A few of my nephews came for Hearth's Warming and fixed up the shop after a blizzard a couple years back, but since then it's been just me.

It's my passion, these old clocks. Ever since I got my triple-gear system cutie mark, my parents knew that I'd take over the clock shop, but they sure as hell didn't know I'd move it to CANTERLOT. Princess Celestia's niece even came in here once with her stallion and bought nearly two shelves of clocks and a giant hourglass. I don't even know why, but it wasn't really my place to question Princess Mi Amore Cadenza.

The train stopped about a mile and a half out from the castle, and I saw a rich-looking couple standing outside the doors of my store. "Great. More newlyweds", I said, speaking to no one in particular. This was the type that would buy out half my stock, and it's not easy replacing some of these old timepieces. Oh well. I walked over to the plaza containing my store.

I opened the door, greeted the two, flipped the door sign to "Open", and showed them around. Now inside, I had a chance to see if I recognized them. The male was a white-coated unicorn with a blue mane and tail and wore a monocle and a suit jacket with a purple bowtie. Cool. His mare was another white-coated unicorn with a mane and tail of two shades of pink. She was almost too thin to be pretty, with a bored expression that spoke of better things to do. Her cutie mark was three fleur-de-lis, and his was an arrangement of three crowns.

Fortunately, he was buying, and all he bought was a simple watch. Before I could even put away the box, who should walk in but Her Majesty, Princess Luna! Aside from royalty in my store, this surprised me because she had been here not six months ago, and looked as embarrassed now as she did then.

"How can I help you, Your Majesty?"

"Oh… um…". She looked down shyly.

I tried to help with a bit of humor. "Something about your location tells me you're looking to purchase a clock". Her head jerked up on the last word, but quickly went back down, as though she thought I knew her secret. Wait. Who said she had a secret to keep? Back to business. I asked her what kind of clock she wanted.

Again, her head jerked, but it was more subdued this time. She began mumbling, and all I caught was the word "sturdy". I took out a round clock with a thick snakewood border, one of the sturdiest clocks. My uncle ordered it specially made from Zebrica, and it was one of the sturdiest timepieces in Equestria.

"Only the best for the princess of the night". I smiled and she looked down again. She then dropped a bag of bits onto the counter, thanked me quietly, and nearly ran out of the store. I saw a flash just outside the door that told me she had teleported back to the castle.

The remainder of the day was mostly quiet, and I stood behind the counter reading the latest issue of Clockwork, when a pearled alarm clock by the register told me that it was time to go home. I locked up the display cases, flipped the door sign to "Closed", and secured the door. I got on the train to the outskirts of Canterlot, and the whole ride home, I could only think of Luna's odd behavior today.

(A/N) So, what do you think? If you're wondering what OverClock looks like, he's on my dA, a link to which is on my profile