Like Clockwork

It was dark. He didn't mind. The darkness was more of an annoyance than anything else. Cognus absentmindedly lit a lamp, and continued with the device he was working on. Then it occurred to him why it was dark. Great, he thought as he glanced at the clock, another entire day spent at the workshop... He mentally scolded himself. Cognus had promised his father that he wouldn't spend as much time in the factory.

He took a step back and admired his work. On the bench lay his latest creation, the one that had kept him here so late. It was a complex arrangement of machinery, with gears and servos at the joints, rods comprising the internal skeleton, and a large metal spring snaking around the bottom half to absorb shock. About a foot and a half in length, and more or less cylindrical in shape, it was made of steel and bronze. At the end was a sturdy, iron hoof. Cognus had made a fully functioning robotic leg. Well, he HOPED it functioned. There would only be one way to test it out, and he wasn't willing to go through the integration spell necessary for him to control it yet. He took a look at where his own leg should be. It ended right at the joint of his left hind leg. At the end of it was a crude prosthetic limb, made of wood and rubber. Nothing but a glorified peg leg, really. He was growing tired of it. He yearned for something better. Something that he could actually move. Something real.

The machinist packed his tools and a crimson glow enveloped the contraption as he levitated it into a cabinet (he'd return for it tomorrow). After packing up he made a quick inspection of the room to make sure nothing was out of place. He was in one of the factory's workshops, normally reserved for creating and tweaking prototypes for eventual mass production. But with a little luck and persuasion, he had convinced them to let him use a room for his own purposes. The fact that he was the owner's son didn't hurt either. The room resembled a small garage. It had a concrete floor, and on the walls hung a plethora of tools. A few large pieces of random machinery were tucked away in a few corners of the room, remnants of past projects.

The room was satisfactory, so he opened the door and cantered out. It was a chilly night, and Cognus was glad that he remembered to bring his cape with him. It wasn't much, but it took the edge off the cold. He looked up at the night sky, the vast canvas that Luna had painted eons ago. There weren't many things that relaxed him quite like a bit of stargazing. In fact, as far as Cognus could remember, it was one of the only things. Something about the night put him at ease, and calmed his ever wandering mind. His ears perked up as he noticed something peculiar: The moon was absent of its trademark mare. He figured he'd have some trouble getting used to that - It had only been a week since Princess Luna had returned.

Cognus realized he had drifted off into thought again, and had stopped walking. Best to keep a move on, he mused, wouldn’t want to get lost out in the mountains. He continued on his way.

The factory that Cognus was returning from, and the one place he felt he could call home was in Las Pegasus. The City of Lights and Lightning, it was a hybrid city partly built into a mountainside, and the other half built in the clouds. Las Pegasus was founded as a rest stop between Talonopolis and Canterlot. Because of this, it attracted many people, and its population soon grew. Now it is an important transshipping hub and airship manufacturer. It also has a very lucrative entertainment industry. Pegasus power drives a non-stop carnival of theaters, hotels and casinos built into the top of the mountain itself. Other levels cater to the transport industry, and airship yards. Surrounding it are the rings of clouds that support the pegasus part of the city, with cloud pontoon-supported gantries stretching out from the mountain. The inner rings are commercial districts surrounded by residential areas, and the outermost ring is warehousing and airship docks, along with cloud factories for local weather production.

Before he knew it, Cognus was home. He lived in a small cottage on the outskirts of the Entertainment district. Even though his family owned a penthouse in the middle of the city, he found that sometimes a step back from all the hustle and bustle was what he needed. The cottage was somewhat Spartan in design, as his needs were minimal. It was simply a place for him to rest and clear his head. Due to the mountainous terrain, his house was at a higher elevation, giving him a wonderful view of the clouds above, and metropolis below.

He mentally rummaged through the contents of his saddlebag and managed to levitate the keys out from within. After a brief stint with the lock, (The red light from his horn doesn't exactly provide the brightest light to work with) the door was open and he went inside. Cognus shook off the saddlebag and tossed it into a corner. The interior lacked any furnishings save for a desk, a bookshelf, a mirror, and a hastily made bed. Maybe I should spruce the place up a bit... Decorating had never been his thing, and he wondered how to go about such a task. Perhaps I should just leave it the way it is for now. I'd probably end up doing more harm than good.

He took a look in the mirror. The same young stallion blankly stared back at him. Cognus was a unicorn of about average build, if a bit taller and lankier than most. He had a haze grey coat, with a brown mane which he kept just short enough to stay out of his eyes. Hanging from his neck was a pair of metalworking goggles. He had them custom made with bronzed lenses for extra eye protection, and the frames had a metallic, indigo finish. At the moment he had his glasses on as well, making his purple eyes seem more bluish in the light. He squinted a bit as he inspected the glasses, changing the normally vacant look on his face that he normally had. A few cracks had materialized on the lenses. That’s what you get for being so rough with them…

The briefly considered picking something from the bookshelf to read, but decided against it; it was late, he needed some sleep. He lazily moved toward the bed and threw himself upon it with an unceremonious flop. The thoughts running through his head gradually faded as he drifted off into slumber.