Cogs

"Why Canterlot though? Why wouldn't they be in Manehattan?" Wildfire asked curiously, watching Iridescence pack.

"Every major unicorn dominated city houses a low key office. The problem with the unicorns is their power, and this occasionally leads to non-profitable thinking." Iridescence stated distantly, consulting a tie rack intimately.

"What?" Wildfire blurted confused. Iridescence sighed and turned around.

"Rebellion. Ponies with power believing they have a greater right to be in charge than the current. Some ponies: the radical, the free-thinking, the slightly insane, and the incredibly sane take it upon themselves to take action that they believe will put them in power. Of course there are just acts of abuse of power, like what happened with Roselyn, and they are dealt with too. The unicorns are in charge per se, but are tightly regulated, and spend their time living under what they are permitted to do."

"Why am I not coming with you then?" Wildfire said continuing his inquisition.

"Oh darling, I thought I explained that. You have to keep an eye on things, keep the hole open, and most importantly, see that my house is rebuilt. I'm surprised as much of my wardrobe survived as it did. It's not perfect, but Dawn Light has my measurements on file, be a dear and pick up a few replacement pieces." Iridescence playfully ruffled Wildfire's mane smiling warmly.

The sound of masonry falling made Iridescence spin around, another section of wall had crumbled away. Groaning ominously, the floor sagged slightly.

"Plus I cannot really stay here. I suggest you stay with Starfall, although I may have imposed too much on that household. I expect Rouge may appreciate the help and company though." Iridescence looked compassionately towards Wildfire. "Also, it may be for the best that nopony knows exactly what I do in Canterlot."

Autumn Lily lay huddled beneath the bed still; she had not left during the evening, and was having difficulty accepting her now safety.

"Please come out, you need to eat something, and probably wash too at this stage." Starfall suggested softly, holding a hoof towards Autumn Lily. She dragged herself slightly forward, into the light of the bedroom, before hastily retreating backwards at a small sound.

"… and then I was all like poomf with my wings, and then I rammed him into the floor knocking him out." Dusk described entering the room. Starfall gave her a look.

"Not helping." She said simply. Dusk looked down at this statement, seeing Autumn Lily still under the bed she felt her heart sink, and leaped over to press her head against the floor, peering through the gap. Autumn Lily whimpered and covered her face. Sighing, Starfall dragged Dusk by her tail backwards a few inches.

"Can't we just leave some food in here with her? Does she have to come out now?" Dusk said compassionately of Autumn Lily's position.

"Fine. But she cannot stay like this forever; we need to see some sort of progress soon."

Still sore, Iridescence trotted calmly to a nondescript building near the centre of town, above it, near unnoticeable, if you weren't looking for it, airships seemed to pass over with more regularity than any other part of Ponyville. Straining with the physical effort, Iridescence managed to teleport inside the building, to a small office complex. Desk manager Proudstance dropped the coffee jug he was levitating through the room in shock. Without shifting his gaze from Iridescence he rang a small bell mounted on his desk. Reverberating with a slight chime he waited.

"I don't know what you think you have found here, but I suggest you leave. Proudstance said nervously. There was an apparent reason why he was more suited to desk work. A couple of young looking enforcers appeared behind him looking quizzical as to why the bell had been rung, before noticing Iridescence. Their graceful forms tensed, holding their heads low, they allowed their magic to glow through their horns threateningly. Iridescence merely smiled.

"Before you do anything too hasty, I suggest you consult with Truehorn. He may have different opinion as to how I should be treated." Iridescence said softly. Proudstance shrugged and sent a small card from his desk into the ether with a purple flash. Tense moments passed, with little to fill the silence, other than Iridescence humming quietly. Truehorn appeared standing tall, in a flash of brilliant white. He stared down at Iridescence intimidating, then, sagged visibly.

"Oh hells. No! I am not dealing with this right now. I'm glad you're recovering so well, but you have caused little but trouble since your arrival here, and I frankly don't need you dropping in." Truehorn held his face in a hoof and sighed.

"I'm here to commandeer transport to the Canterlot offices you pretend don't exist. My offices." Iridescence stated harshly, stressing the word ‘my’ with force. "Also I need to requisition a prisoner be available for when I arrive. Blossomfall. Make him available. Also, make Roselyn available, but I mightn't need her just yet."

"You want me to give you my enforcers and an airship to get you to Canterlot? Why can't you just do what you need to here, then get out of my building, and forget you ever came to see me?"

"I want to be sitting in an office with enforcers I can trust, ones that answer directly to me, not some jumped up unicorn with ideas above your station." Iridescence countered harshly.

"How dare you come in here and tell me my job, and my role. You question my ability, and above all, you insult me, yet you expect me to provide you my valuable resources, and selection of prisoners that I am under orders to ship to Manehattan. I saved your life..." Truehorn yelled angrily before being cut across by Iridescence softly.

"No. I saved my life, you merely cleaned up afterwards. Now I make a reasonable request, one office head to another, and I don't particularly want to play the family thing. So I ask of you again; will you provide me with what I ask?"

"If I give you an airship will you finally leave me in peace to do my damned job?" Truehorn asked relenting.

"Give me use of a ship, and a couple of enforcers, for long enough for me to get what I need done, then I'll bring them back, and, with any luck I need never set hoof in this office again."

Rouge watched curiously as the construction team worked. In a matter of hours the manor began to seem liveable again. The kitchen had been refitted, and the door hung back in its frame, and according to the plasterers, the ceiling of the study was almost back to its glory. Satisfied with progress he retired to his office to consult the detailed plan of notable ponies, and their relevance to the family now left. If nopony took the role soon, and if it wasn't the right pony, Rouge worried he might be out of a job.

"Until you know where the ship is, that is the height and distance from this office, it would be best if I take you to it." Shadowbane said irritated, Iridescence having spent the last ten minutes trying to convince her that he was perfectly capable of teleporting himself.

"Look, I don't care how it is done, or who does it, I just want this nuisance out of my office, and out of my jurisdiction, where I no longer need to care about his wellbeing." Truehorn said exasperated. Shadowbane sighed loudly, grabbed Iridescence, causing him to flinch in pain, and disappeared in bright grey light.

"Welcome to my airship. Think of this as a mobile base of operations for my small team. Sadly at the moment it's just me, the other two are being treated for major burns and crushed bones." Shadowbane said monotonously.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Iridescence said automatically.

"No you're not. Nopony is sorry about it. Even I don't care about them, they serve a purpose, beyond that I could not care less." Shadowbane said in the same monotony.

"How did such grievous harm occur?" Iridescence asked after some thought.

"Blossomfall didn't go easily."

"Ah. I saw the state of the manor. I would count them lucky then." Iridescence said smiling warmly.

"Sir, none of this would have happened if you hadn't spoken up for that earth filth." Shadowbane stated leaving the sentence hanging.

"I can't help but feel a question is there." The responce from Iridescence came brightly, but with a slight warning tone.

"I am curious as to why you would stand for an earth pony traitor." Shadowbane eventually replied. The steady hum of the engine filled the silence for a few moments as Iridescence stared thoughtfully forward. Eventually he spoke softly and deliberately.

"Darling, everything is a game. A game I call 'what can I get away with?' where I consider winning if I manage to make as many useful ponies in my debt at the cost of the fewest ponies of any form." Iridescence gave a flick of his head causing the lights to dim. "Rouge is instrumental in plans I have, and I am not above stepping on a few ponies to get what I want. I will lie, cheat, and steal to succeed, and I need the most valuable pieces on the board and in play."

"What could you possibly want? You were born with a silver spoon in your mouth." Shadowbane said bitterly. Iridescence smiled in the darkened cab, slowly circling Shadowbane he enjoyed the tension he had created.

"'Being powerful is like being a mare. If you have to tell ponies you are, you aren't.'" Iridescence spoke softly and cryptically.

"I've heard that said before. Besides, you frequently tell ponies of your power." Shadowbane said unmoved.

"Exactly."

"How is Autumn Lily doing?" Wildfire asked sitting in the kitchen of Carousel Boutique. Starfall gave a compassionate look before responding.

"Very disturbed, still hiding under a bed, and not talking to anypony." Starfall recited dully.

"That's horrible," Wildfire began, shocked, "is there anything that can be done?"

"Maybe if you can find a pony she'd be willing to open to." Starfall said without confidence. "I have to say how inconsiderate it is of Iridescence to go off on some trip when one of his charges is in such a state." Bitterness dripped from her voice as she narrowed her eyes.

"To be fair he's in Canterlot for you." Wildfire said meekly.

"No he is in Canterlot for himself... Somehow... Don't ask me to say what he gets from this, but I am hugely suspicious of his desire to elevate me."

Cotton Flower stalked about through Ponyville Manor, examining furniture, and checking fixtures.

"Yes, all this will be perfect when aunt Roselyn agrees it's mine." She said arrogantly.

"Madam, I am unsure Roselyn would make such a decision, she has naught but spoke ill of you." Rouge stated politely.

"What Roselyn actually thinks is irrelevant. What matters is the paper. I have links in the department of Documentation; I'll get their assistance and agreement of my rights here."

"Then it may interest you to know that the department of Agriculture and Welfare seems keen for Pearl Ring to take the reins of Ponyville Manor."

"Why would they decide such a thing? Am I considered incapable of running a household?" Cotton Flower asked indignantly.

"Pearl Ring makes a good case that she is best suited to ensure Starlight's livelihood."

"A foal to be the decider of this? Are there no prisons?"

"Plenty of prisons, madam."

"And the workhouses are they still in operation?" Cotton Flower continued icily.

"They are." Rouge said uneasy.

"Oh, from what you said at first I was afraid that something had happened to stop them in their useful course. I fail to see the issue with Starlight."

"You would turn your cousin to labour or incarceration for your own ends?" Rouge asked horrified.

"It's no worse than what I do to hundreds of ponies every year. When foals enter my care they rarely remain with their parents. They are more valuable. They are stronger, more energetic, and easier to educate to the task at hand. Not to mention the fetishists that like to be surrounded by foals. Foals are a good business opportunity; to me there isn't a pony alive I wouldn't sell on if I had the chance." Cotton Flower said without emotion. "I give ponies a future, livelihoods, careers, and responsibility. I see no reason why it would count against me to want the same for Starlight."

* * *

Shadowbane was agitated from spending time around Iridescence. Humming the same tune he had been two hours ago Iridescence continued to pace about the cabin. Gritting her teeth heavily Shadowbane fought her desire to club him with the desk lamp.

"Darling you gritting your teeth is putting me off. Could you maybe do so quieter?" Iridescence said gently. Shadowbane glared with displeasure at him. Shadowbane yelled angrily, gripped Iridescence tightly and teleported the pair to a Canterlot street below.

"We're here OK! Get whatever puerile thing you needed done and tell me when you have." She barked loudly.

"Um, the office is a twenty minute walk from here." Iridescence said meekly. Shadowbane grunted in response and disappeared in bright grey light. Standing alone Iridescence looked about the street. In huge lettering, a poster adorning the opposite wall proclaimed: 'Sweetie Belle Loves You' and underneath the caption was a simplified profile of a white mare with a purple mane.

He looked up to the skyline dominating the city, and at the castle towers, puncturing the sky dramatically. Trotting slowly, Iridescence breathed in the smells of wealth and refinement. Still not Manehattan, but considerably closer to home than Ponyville. In his heady rapture he walked into a life sized effigy of Sweetie Belle, bearing a regal pose. The inscription on the brass plaque was identical to the posters about the walls, but with the secondary text holding her reign details. Smiling slightly at the obvious, and deliberate inaccuracy, Iridescence turned to walk on.

"You dare walk past a likeness to her highness without paying the proper dues?" A tall mare spoke with disgust at Iridescence. He could see she wore the simple black garb favoured by the enforcers. "You shall kneel in the dirt and the sodden ground so that you may know your place wastrel." The icy command came at Iridescence from a force that was used to power.

"Genuflect to her majestic form, lest you lose your ability to respect the one true unicorn."

"Certainly madam. While I am doing that, would you like my papers to review?"

"Keep your pestilent tongue still. Know that I am the most senior pony that is ever likely to grace your worthless presence." She retorted in anger. Iridescence pressed his head to the ground in a deep bow to the statue, while levitating across to the mare his passport and identification documents. "Insolent cur! You cheek my authority by claiming to be of such birth. The nobility of the family line you impersonate sickens me to no end. Not just because you have assaulted a unicorn of birth to steal his papers, but because you insult my intelligence by claiming it is you." Iridescence arose, his chin damp from the pavement and smiled slightly at the mare.

"Oh madam, I can assure you I am Iridescence. I know for one that right now you are contemplating taking me to your fine offices. Offices I am in charge of I might add, and could recount the horrible practices that are engaged there, and I can further assure you that if you continue that tact, I won't allow it."

"A pony such as yourself, covered in scars and cuts, bedraggled and alone could not be Iridescence. Nobility would never appear as such. I insist that I shall take you to my superior, and let her deal with you. She will know if you speak true. Trust me, she'll find out every truth you hide, and call out every lie you use to shield them."

"Well then, if I am your prisoner, could I at least have the courtesy of your name?" Iridescence asked sweetly.

"Silence!" The mare barked angrily, forcing Iridescence to walk forward.

"That's a pretty name. I like it, so, Silence, tell me more of yourself." Iridescence said deliberately obtuse.

"You will remain silent!" Iridescence was rewarded with a kick to his ribs, causing him to double over in pain. The mare, possibly Silence, forced him back to his hooves, and shoved him to march forward.

"You know Madam, I am a unicorn, I could just teleport away." Iridescence said confidently, receiving another kick for his trouble.

"In this city? With eyes on every street corner? You wouldn't get through the night without being rounded up and dragged before justice." Iridescence nodded slightly, picking himself up. That much he knew to be true. The enforcers, while minimal, were spread so well that ten ponies could watch hundreds, and so long as the population never learnt how few there were, fear would do the rest.

Of course there were the pegasi guards in great numbers keeping peace in general, and a larger network of informants, but operating as an enforcer the ratio was around one in one hundred. The pair reached a main street bisecting through the city, the castle entrance now much more visible at one end.

With more force than necessary possibly Silence forced Iridescence's head to the ground, before bowing herself as a fine carriage pulled by white pegasi stallions went past. In the top of his vision, Iridescence saw a pony he had only seen in the flesh once before. Empress Sweetie Belle rode past holding herself proudly and not deigning to look anywhere but straight ahead. Possibly Silence dragged him back up to be able to walk again, and jabbed Iridescence sharply in the gut to spur him into moving.

"You should feel privileged to have been so close to Empress Sweetie Belle." She shouted angrily. Iridescence smiled inwardly, he recognised the building they were approaching, and possibly Silence had no clue as to what she was getting herself into. Barging through the door, she bodily dragged her prisoner in tow, through the threshold and dumped him upon the cold marble floor.

"Ah, Saffron, you have bought another to my ministrations yes?" A patient elderly mare addressed the enforcer that had dragged Iridescence in.

"Saffron? I preferred Silence." Iridescence said cheekily smiling warmly at a familiar face. The elderly mare approached Iridescence and placed the tip of her horn on his forehead. For a few seconds she concentrated then pulled herself up.

"Saffron, consider yourself dismissed. Expect to be punished for your actions this afternoon." The mare stated simply.

"But Poppy Leaf, I have done no ill. I acted..." Saffron began, as Poppy Leaf held up an aged hoof.

"Her tongue has got her into trouble. Have it removed." Poppy Leaf stated to an apparently blank wall, though, detaching from its shadows, two stallions took a screaming Saffron from the building.

"Perhaps a little harsh darling." Iridescence said standing up.

"Give an inch and they'll take a mile, yes?" Poppy Leaf stated softly. "I didn't need to read through your memories to recognise you; that I did for her benefit." Iridescence gave her a compassionate hug and sat on a comfortable sofa in the antechamber

"It's good to see you again. How have things been going these past few years?" Iridescence said warmly.

"I'd prefer if you took a more hooves on approach to this office, instead of turning up once every couple of years, but I appreciate you have a life outside of the family business. Other than that, things are pretty standard, nothing outside of the usual, and nothing noteworthy that I haven't already sent you via a letter.

"I made a request for a prisoner, is he available?" Iridescence said smoothly redirecting the conversation.

"Blossomfall is in room four. I hope you get what you need from him, yes?"

"Contact a representative from the local department of Agriculture and Welfare offices, and the same from the local department of Documentation. I'm going to need to consult with them after my meeting."

"A good plan, yes?" Poppy Leaf agreed affirmatively.

Blossomfall drank what passed for water in room four; he sat uncomfortably on the cold metal bench when Iridescence arrived.

"Blossomfall, good to see you." Iridescence began jovially.

"Lad, I expect you have made your parents proud, and yet also disappointed. They will be happy though, I am out of the way."

"If only it were that simple. Since your subsequent arrest, Roselyn went on a violent rampage, attempting to kill me, and Spirit Flame broke into Carousel Boutique in an ill formed attempt to regain control over Autumn Lily ." Iridescence said solemnly.

"Oh. Well these things can't be helped. I never did care much for my family, Roselyn was a different mare in her youth, granted, but I did not like who she was, and her foals, and I will call them hers, as I want no claim on them, are not of any spawn I would be proud or thankful for."

"There is the issue as to who gains control over Ponyville Manor..." Iridescence said leadingly.

"You need me to give a statement as to who I give it to." Blossomfall finished for him. "But there is a catch, if all I needed to do was give a statement, it would have been dealt with by now, from someone much lower down. You need a specific statement from me." Blossomfall sighed and tipped the glass of water upon the floor. "I will write a statement for any pony you favour in exchange for my freedom."

"It will be hard to get an acquittal for your crimes." Iridescence said calmly. "Besides, the issue is larger than that anyway. Roselyn regrettably has say in the matter, and I want a statement giving Ponyville Manor to Starfall." Blossomfall gave a light chuckle, and smiled tiredly at Iridescence.

"I have to disown her, claim the household as my own to do as I wish, then give it to Starfall. For this I want my freedom, and assurance that Roselyn is incapable of finding me."

"I can get you a severely reduced sentence from the mandatory life down to a month at the shortest, but justice has to be seen to be done. A statement can then be released to close family that you passed in prison, while you get assigned to a workhouse, with a new name, and a slight stipend until you find your hooves. You would not have a wavering restriction on interacting with any past acquaintances or family members, nor would you be permitted to discuss your past with any new ponies you meet thereof."

"A month?" Blossomfall said aghast. "Why can I not die after one night as it were?"

"The department of Justice is not happy that you nearly killed two enforcers, while engaging a third in battle." Iridescence said softly. "I can offer you no better, but I assure you that if you fail to take my offer, Cotton Flower will take the estate, and even though you claim to not care for your foals, and they are your foals, this would most likely result in Starlight being sold. Also you will suffer the indignities of incarceration, at Sweetie Belle's pleasure, for the rest of your life. It might even be argued that your life be extended so you can suffer for longer."

"You have me strung up here, I cannot do anything but take you up can I?" Blossomfall said coldly.

"If it comforts you, I never intended for this."

"But you will use it. Like the vulture you are, like the vulture your family is. Even Roselyn, separated by five generations demonstrated this. The rot in your family, the rot that passes for a trait, is deep and spread. I hope you take pride in your actions, the only comfort I can take now is that you will one day grow a conscience, and that everything you have done, and everything your family has done will plague you. Roseblood and Summer Dew chose to die for a reason. One day that reason will take Jade Mayfall, one day soon, and eventually it will catch up with you." Blossomfall spoke icily, hammering in every work patiently and methodically. "I wish I could hope for the same for your parents, but the rot has spread too deep in them."

"Hark, do listen, the legends foretold of the pot informing the kettle of its blackness." Iridescence retorted bitterly. "Sign this, and we may never need cross paths again." He finished thrusting a weighty document before Blossomfall.