The bed seemed to lurch upwards, dumping me onto the floor, as though it was telling me that sleep was over. I have actually fallen out of it, my head on the cold metal floor, and my plot in the air. My plot also felt cold, which was odd. Getting onto my hooves, I found myself naked. A little note seemed to glint, drawing my attention.

‘Sorry for the inconvenience, but we had to remove your gear as you slept. We left you with a complementary stable jumpsuit. Your gear will be returned after being washed and fixed.’

- Shamisen

I was unsure if this was an act of good generosity, or that the mare planned to do something with me. She was not so crash as to force a pony into a job they didn’t want to do, but it was unwise not paying her back. I just hoped that whatever she had planned did not involve a lifelong contract.

The jumpsuit must have been old, but well kept. On the shoulder was a patch with ‘R&D’ on it, not uncommon, but not normally hoofed out do to their history. I put the jumpsuit on, not wanting to leave the room with my bare plot hanging out.

Exiting the room, I found many ponies looking over the balcony. I tried to see what they were looking at, but none of them would let me through. The stair looked free of ponies, so I trotted over to it, to get a look. To my shock and horror, it was Sweet who was the center of attention. She was on a cot, had a bunch of tubes sticking out of her and into some metal box. Three medical ponies in white coats stood over her, focused on the box, or on Sweet.

Nearly falling down the stairs, I rushed over to Sweet, only to be stopped by Rototom, who held me back with a hug. “Calm down, everything is going to be fine.” My sister said in a calm tone. I didn’t want to be calm, I wanted to know that Sweet was going to be okay. It was her fault Sweat was like this in the first place.

Pushing my sister to the side, I trotted over to Sweet, one of the medical ponies giving me some space. She had two tubes going through her nose, two more sting into her neck, and a clear mask over her muzzle helping her to breath.

“Hey Vibraphone, you’re not looking so well, so what’s up.” Sweet rasped weakly.

I forced a smile. “I should be asking that of you.”

She blinked slowly, seemingly trying to process what I just said. “Naw, I’m good, I’m good. The doc’s gave me some medicine, so everything’s fine now.” She slowly blinked again. “So when did you turn purple?”

Taking a closer look at her eyes, they were glazed over, and unfocused. One eye was actually looking in a different direction from the other. Turning to one of the medical ponies, I cleared my throat to catch the mares attention. Her uniform covered her nearly completely, so I could only see that she had a black coat, and gold eyes. “What’s wrong with Sweet?”

The mare looked down at a clipboard. “Let's see.” She ran her hoof down along the paper, reading a list. “She has a lead slug in her left lung, a fracture in her skull that was healed before being properly set, same with two ribs. A parasite was located in her intestates, and five more were found hiding under her jumpsuit, drinking her blood. She has a blood born virus attacking her liver, and a massive internal infection.” She put the clipboard to the side. “We have her on an antibiotic cocktail, which is being done through a saline solution blood transfusion.”

I held a hoof up to my mouth in shock. “Will she be okay, will she recover.”

The medical mare looked over at Sweet for a moment before looking back to me. “The truth. If it was one or two problem than she would be fine, in time. But there is just too much going wrong with her, and if we try to move her, she would only get much worse before we got her to a hospital. We’ve done what we can, but at this point, she’s not going to pull through. The pain killers will at least make her comfortable before she passes on.”

My flank hit the ground as my back legs gave out from under me. “That’s a lie.” I weakly pointed my hoof at her. “Tell me that’s a cruel lie.”

She just shook her head. “If you have anything to say to her, now’s the time.”

I looked back at Sweet, one of her eyes rolling over to look at me. “Sweet, I’m… I’m so sorry.” This couldn’t be happening, I got her back to civilization, so she should be fine now. The doctors know anything and everything about saving ponies lives, yet they can’t do anything.

“For what.” Sweet said in her strained raspy voice. “Everything’s fine.”

I didn’t like this, backing away slowly, I just couldn’t see her like this, it was just too much. “I’m, sorry, but I need some air.” Turning away, I headed to the door.

“Vibey wait!” Rototom called out to me, stopping me before I opened the door. “You okay?” I just glared at her. She knew I was not okay, how could I be, my best friend was dying, I was far from okay. “I mean, if you want to talk about it.” She reached out with a hoof, but I just slapped it away.

“Ya talk. Like how this is all your fault, how you sent us on this clusterfuck of a job.” I looked her in the eyes, locking our gaze. “So let’s talk.”

Rototom sighed. “Shit happens okay. How was I to know there was were going to be pirates, how was anypony going to see that coming. The Lurkers too, until recently we both thought it was DJ Cerberus making up a story.” She looked away. “It’s just… It’s just that, I’m sorry.”

“Sorry doesn't fix Sweet.” I spat back at her. She looked ashamed, and she should be. After all of this, manipulating, I just wished she would find some deep hole and stay there. “She’s dying, and all you can say is sorry!”

She glanced back at me. “It’s all I got, it’s all I can do.”

I used my hoof to force her to look me in the eyes, I wanted her to not just hear what I was going to say, but see me say it. “Then stop doing things. Stop interfering with my life. Stop thinking that you know the best for me. Princesses know, you only fuck up everything you touch.” I glared at her in the eyes until she looked away. I wanted to know she felt ashamed for this, that this was her fault. “If you wanted to do something, you should have taken her place.”

Rototom turned away, and walked off deeper into the bar, head low to the ground. I didn’t wait to see where she went, or if she just got a drink, I didn’t care.

Outside of the bar, everything was quiet, all but a low rustling of wind. My eyes welled up, and my nose began to run. I couldn’t hold it in anymore, and collapsed onto the ground and bawled like a foal. The tears ran freely, soaking the fur under my eyes and falling to the ground.

I had no right to say what I just said, in the way I said it. I might as well have just stabbed my sister with a dagger. I knew that every time we traversed the big island metro that we might not come back. One false step, turn around the wrong corner, or simply run out of supplies. Death was a way of life in those tunnels. I should have stepped up, and taken Sweets place. We could have shared the punishment, any pain would be work saving her. I would’ve survived, I know I would.

I don’t know how long I sat there on the floor, seconds, minutes, hours, not that it mattered. What was I going to do, Sweet was the one who got the jobs, last time I did it, we ended up foal sitting for a day. Work as one of Shamisen lackey, I didn’t know any other ways to get good work. I could join back with Orthrus, but I didn’t don’t like the idea of returning to them with my tail between my legs. “Just tell me this is a nightmare.”

“I say it's a sad dream, one I wish t' make happy.” The voice of a stallion surprised me.

Finding the strength to get up, I figured I had enough strength to deck the asshole. It was an all-white unicorn, with a black spot on his face, and piercing green eyes. The hoof I was going to deck him with went limp. “How?” Was all I could mutter.

He laughed, rubbing a hoof on his green vest, cleaning it of dirt. He gently place a hoof under my chin, smiling at me. “My dear lady, no distance can separate you and I. T' goddesses themselves have chosen us, we have a destiny t' fulfill.”

I backed away, getting his hoof away from my face. “Who are you?”

“Oh my, where be me manners.” The stallion bowed. “Thy names Black Spot, first mate o' t' ship T' Weepin' Pegasi.”

“So it was your ponies who attack us in the metro, and at the hotel?” I readied myself to attack, regretting leaving my enforcer behind.

Black Spot raised his head. “Regrettably aye, t' crew be not known for their delicate work. T' captain you see,... she be one for t' quick and effective approach, and t' crew follows in hoof step.”

“Let me guess, you’re different.” My comment seemed to make him beam with pride.

Winking at me, he took a step closer. “Of course I am, I was taught under Victoria herself. I understandin' t' art o' delegation, interrogation, and subduction. T' captain be only me captain for she has seniority over me. So in time, I’ll captain me own ship, free on t' waters.”

I raised an eyebrow. “And let me guess, other than you, the ship would only be ponies by mares.”

“HA!” His head tipped up, and chest puffed out. “And why not, it would be my right.”

I had enough, this stallion was both full of himself, and insane. “Well you go do that, without me.” I turned around, and wiped my tail at him as I walked away. My path was blocked by an oversized stable door. Clearly painted on it was ‘R&D’ and right in front of me was the controls to open it.

Black spot laughed. “Luna has chosen us, and we must obey t' word o' t' goddess. So me lady, me love, me empress. I’ll be seein' you, count on it.” His voice was like a whisper on the wind, eerie and foreboding.

Turning around, he was gone, so was the two tailed mare. Everything was dark, a pitch black inkiness. Across from me, two golden eyes stared back at me, doing nothing, just staring at me. I was frozen in place, me and the eyes, locked.

*Clang*

The sound of rusted metal scraping on rusted metal filled the room, and a flood of light broke my gaze with the two eyes. Looking up, some pony had opened up a door on the sealing, flooding light down, and banishing the darkness. I could see a head poking out, but do to the light, I could not make out who it was.

The head slowly pulled out. “I found a civilian Mam!” Merits voice called out.

“Good job.” The voice of a gruff mare spoke up. “We can move on now.”

Something fell through the hole, and landed at my hooves. Looking down, it was a small metal sphere with small green bulbs on it. It would flash green every second with a beep. Looking back up, the door was pushed closed, the grinding sound filling the air, and returning me back to darkness.

The only source of light was that of the plasma grenade, which would flash green ones a second.

“I’m sorry.” A week voice whimpered out. In the short flash of green light, I could make out Merit, whose wings were drooping weakly on the ground. “I’m so sorry.”

Another flash of green light revealed that we were surrounded by ponies: tall, short, young, old. All of them looking back at us, hollow expressions all of them.

“Merit.” I spoke. He turned his head, and had the look of shock on his face.

The plasma grenade went off, and everything burned in a flash.

__________________________

My eyes shot open, the only thing keeping me from rolling off the bed in a panic was that I was being held onto it by another pony. Merit’s hooves were lightly wrapped around me. Odd, because we were both still fully dressed, so it couldn’t have been comfortable. But it made me feel calm, just knowing that some pony was with me, it was a good feeling.

Merit had been woken up by my sudden jolt, he letting go of me to rub his eyes. Taking the opportunity, I rolled off the bed, and hit the floor. I had forgotten that my front right leg had been removed for repairs.

“You okay Vibraphone?” Merit peeked over the bed, looking like he was ready to laugh at me.

I got up on all three, and stabilized myself. “Ya, just forgot I’m missing a leg right now. Let’s go down to the bar and get a drink.”

He hopped out of the bed and sat next to me. “What time is it?”

Checking Minerva, it was early morning. “Looks like we slept for the rest of the day, and all night. Time for breakfast.”

“Morning ehy. Haven’t slept that long in a… well a long time.” His stomach growled. “Ya, breakfast sounds nice.”

I checked my gear fist. My trusty hunting air rifle was still broken, its air container had blown open, the barrel was bent, and a valve was loose. My revolver was still good, just needed some polish, but my knife was bent. I still had that battle rifle from before, and a few bullets for it, so if worse comes to worse I could rupture a few eardrums with the thing. My scarf had been scuffed up, but nothing a quick wash couldn’t fix. My tactical barding had seen better days, the alloy plates where my knife was had been bent, that hit was probably what damaged my leg as well. The rad-boar leather was still intact, aside from a few bullet holes, but the stitching had come loose. Tailoring to fix the barding was not going to be too expensive, so it was not a big of a loss is it was for the rifle. My medical supplies was all gone, mostly used on Sweet to help her pull through. I still had my screwdriver, and even the bolt cutter, which made me shiver a little.

“Can you help me down the stairs Merit?” I could walk just fine, it just involved some hopping, it was just that I didn’t feel like hopping around. The stallion offered me a shoulder, and we made our way out of the room.

The two tailed mare was all quiet, and waiting for us outside the door was an Orthrus regular in dress uniform. The regular was a mare, her mechanical legs painted blue to match her uniform, and was reading a comic book to pass the time. ‘Drum Tablature’ a classic detective comic from the republic. The pony took note of us, putting the book down, and saluting. “Morning ma’am, I’m here as your escort.”

I exchanged glances with Merit. “Could you rephrase that?”

The mare looked at us confused for a moment, before her face turned red. “Oh, sorry, sorry. I.. I mean that, I’m to… Oh this is embarrassing.”

“She’s here to make sure you come downstairs and talk with somepony important.” Shamisen spoke up from the top of the stairs. The very zebra looking mare gently trotted over to us, each step having a sense of elegance to it. “But I can’t have that yet. Not with you looking…” she sniffed the air. “And smelling like that.”

A drone came out from behind Shamisen. It looked like an oversized Twittermite, a bit bigger than Shamisen’s head, and had a camera lens for a face. “Agreed, I can smell them from here” It’s mechanical voice chuckled out. “Did you to sleep with your armor on? Kinky, but not my kind.”

The stupid remark reminded me of somepony I knew well. “Sweet, is that you?”

The drone bobbed. “E’yup! The trooper hooked me up to her drone so that I can see. Makes me want to go back to Orthrus so that I can play with this cool stuff.”

I sighed. “It’s good to know you’re okay. I actually had a bit of a nightmare where you didn’t pull through.”

“Ehh, it comes with the job. Oh they told me that you killed a paradise dragon while I was out, wished I’d seen it.” The two of us were silent for a moment. I could feel tears welling up in my eyes. “Oh sorry, didn’t mean to bring that up.”

“No, no. I just wished you saw it too. It’s just that I should have…” The drone flew up to my face, cutting off what I was going to say.

“Should’ve, could’ve, would’ve” Sweet-bot backed up. “I made my decision, and payed the price for it. You just made sure that that I lived to talk about it. When I get patched up we can have a few drinks. I’m thinking of getting lasers eyes, and rippers for wings. What do you think?”

I chuckled, the tears fell from my eyes, but no new ones followed. “I think you should just stick with the standard. I don’t even think you can get laser eyes, not without risking burning your brain. As for ripper wings, you would have to be somewhere beyond crazy to do that to yourself.”

The Drone bobbed. “Ya, that is a bit much. But there is a market for ponies with augmented eyes. And the wings, that opens a lot of options.”

I trotted up to the drone, and hugged it. “Sweet, please just don’t go overboard. I don’t want to see you catch cyber-sickness. I you want the options, go for it, but don’t forget yourself. I don’t know what I would do if I lost you.”

Sweet-Bot hovered out of my grip. “I know, I know. I don’t want to turn into an emotionally dead rapist. By Tartarus I don’t want to lose the ability to get drunk, or have foals of my own.” The drone hovered over the edge of the balcony. “So don’t worry, after I’m done getting fixed up, it’ll be like nothing ever happened. Though I’ll still need to see a therapist for all of this. Had a fucked up nightmare while I was out.” The drone shivered before floating down into the bar, and out of sight.

That was a huge weight off my shoulders. Knowing that Sweet will be back to her normal self, if with a few new metal bits, put my mind at easy. Shamisen had been waiting patiently, but when I looked at her, she just pointed at Merit, who was standing in place looking confused.

“What just happened, what was that?” He said with a worried tone.

I cocked an eyebrow. “You mean the drone. You don’t have them back where you’re from?” he shook his head.

“We don’t have cyber ponies where I’m from.” He shook his head, removing the confused look on his face. “Actually were almost back to banging rocks together at this point. Our tech has only lasted over two hundred years due to diligent maintenance. Unless it is made out of clouds, we just didn’t have the materials to make anything new, or fix some of the old stuff.”

I almost face hoofed. Worrying about Sweet must have made us forget to explain to the pegasi about our world. Culture shock would be expected. “We’ll explain in due time. But in short, we have drones, and can control them with our minds. We just need the right talismans to do it, limits what we can do physically, but very useful for a weak bodied pony. It’s also a common tool for lazy ponies, if they can afford it.” Merit nodded, and took a deep breath before sighing. I took that as a confirmation that he understood.

Shamisen cleared her throat, catching our attention. “Good, now that that’s done, we can move onto the task at hoof. Everypony else has already gotten cleaned up, so I expect you two to do the same.” Two boxes that were sitting on a nearby table were levitated over to us by Shamisen, placing them at our hooves. "Take these, it’s a change of clothes for you both. I also set up a hamper for the both of you to leave your things in. My staff will pick them up for you, so don’t worry if you can’t find them after washing up. Now go, I don’t want to keep my guest waiting too long. It’s most impolite.”

Merit picked up the box with a wing, and balanced it on his back, I activated my telekinesis talisman, it flickered to life slowly, and had difficulty holding the box steady at first. The talisman must have gotten damaged in the fight with the dragon, which meant I was going to spend bits replacing it. The Orthrus Regular had gone back to reading her comic, probably avoiding gaining any more attention.

The wash room was much like the rest of the Two Tailed Mare: made from old salvage, and polished to a smooth shine. But unlike the rest of the place, it had a coating of paint and wax that gave it an extra shine. Preventing rust was probably the main idea, but it gave it a calming charm to it. The room had a main showing spot, big enough for a group of ponies to wash themselves, but not for relaxing. The showers themselves were push button that only gave you a few seconds of water before turning off, common for those trying to save water. There was a drying station too, which would blast a pony with hot air, this was set up with less concern over conservation, and more on effectiveness. Next to the dryer was a box for cleaning cyber legs, and prosthetics, it was a simple automatic cleaner, allowing a Mirage pony to get some of the dirt and sand out of their joints without needing to scrub.

Near the entrance were the two hampers in question, both with our names on a paper stuck on them. Merit walked up to his, and began undressing. “I gotta say I’m impressed. When I first entered this station I was worried. So many sickly ponies cramped together, with homes made out of junk. But here, it feels like a real peace of civilization. Nothing like the clouds, but then nothing is.” He looked back at me. “Um, Vibraphone, is something wrong.” He caught me staring at his plot.

Quickly looking away, I cleared my throat. “Nothing, I was just thinking.” I trotted up next to him, in front of my hamper. “Charon’s Stop is just not the best example of our people. It’s in the name, Charon’s Stop, it’s superstition, but many ponies believe that the grim reaper makes regular stops here before going back to the afterlife. It’s a place were down on their luck ponies make one last effort to improve their lives, though most only finding their death.”

“I… See.” Merit finished taking off his uniform, and placed all of his gear into the hamper. His face and hooves were covered with grime, but the parts of him that were hidden under his uniform were still clean, aside from being sweaty. His cutie mark was of a metal cross with two ribbons coming from the top of the cross and forming a heart around it. It was charming to say the least, and made me a little jealous. “Oh, one other thing. It’s not cold down here, but every one of you I have see are fully clothed, why’s that?”

I had only detached my barding when he had said that. My mind did a backflip thinking about what he just asked. “You mean your people don’t get dressed before leaving the house””

“Some do, mostly military, but most don’t see the need outside of special events.” He said with a shrug.

I let my barding, and saddle bag fall to the ground with a thud, the drop of weight on my back felt nice. “Well here it’s a matter of decency. Not to offend or anything, but ponies going out in public in the nude are seen as savage. It’s what separates us from those who lost their way, shows that we are a civilized society. Order, culture, and decency. That’s what makes us who we are, and keeps our civilization from collapsing from the inside.” I attempted to stop, but without another leg to keep me balanced I had to sit down before I fell over.

Merit chuckled. “I get it, it’s just the thing you ponies do down here. It’s just that up in the sky we can’t make new clothes, so everything we have is passed down from our parents.” He patted down his uniform. “This was once worn by my grandmother Grand Cross. She wore it when doing recon missions over the ocean.” He opened up the uniform to reveal a few symbols on the inside, and pointed to one that looked like a cross shaped medal. It looked a little like his cutie-mark, but rounded on the ends, where his had two points. “This is her cutie-mark, proof she once owned this uniform.” He placed it into the hamper gently. “Because of that, most pegasi tend to not go out with their clothes every day, they don’t want to accidentally damage a family heirloom.”

I started to get it, why they were going out so far to look for a new home. A shirt was not meant to last generations, it was meant to be used until it was worn out, and then replaced. But the pegasus must have managed to maintain everything they own for over two hundred years. It was hard to imagine how they were able to maintain most of what they had passed the first hundred.

Taking off my shit, the thing was once a clean white, but now stained with sweat and blood. It was torn in a few places, and a button was missing. Life in the metro was rough, and fragile things never lasted long, but at least I knew that I could still replace things like this shirt at the end of the day. I tossed it into the hamper, along with the rest of my gear, making sure that my scarf was gently on top of the pile. Last was my panties, it did feel embarrassing to have a stallion in the room with me, but I could grin and bear it. The panties went under my scarf.

Leaning on Merit for support, I pointed for us to go to the automatic cleaner so that I can get my legs cleaned off first. The box only took one leg at a time, but it was easy to see it was of good quality. Detaching one of my back legs, I placed it in the box and turned it on.

“I’ve been wondering.” Merit said, looking at me, I made me feel a little embarrassing being seen in the nude by a stallion. “You said that most of your kind, the Mirage ponies I mean, are born without legs. It must make life difficult, not being able to move around as a foal.”

I nodded. “It is, even after were old enough for our first prosthetics, things don’t get much easier. But we learn how dependent we are of others at an early age, the most rambunctious of us often find themselves stuck, their legs getting away from them. Outside the very lucky, every one of us has a story where as a foal we found ourselves in serious trouble. Some story’s they look back on and laugh, other it’s a scare they carry with them.”

“And you have such a story?”

The box dinged, and I popped my leg out, putting it to the side, and placing other back leg in. “Ya, and it’s not one of the funny ones. My sister has three stories, all involving her attempting to do a stunt, and accidentally sending her legs flying. I learned from her about what not to do.” Pressing the button, the box hummed as it cleaned the leg. “Unfortunately for me, it’s one of those nightmare moments that catch you off guard. My mother was about to give me a bath, so I didn’t have my legs on. She had to grab something up high, and a wire in one of her back legs snapped, causing her to fall and hit her head. As a filly, I panicked, and fell into the bath tub. The water was not deep, just deep enough that I couldn’t get my head above water. I nearly drowned, but dad pulled me out before I did, sis said she never saw him so scared.”

Another ding from the box, and I popped out the leg, putting it next to the other. This was going to be the most difficult, and most embarrassing part, I was going to need help. “I’m going to leave my pip leg in the cleaning box. So can you help me wash up?”

Merit saluted. “Yes ma’am!” I rolled my eyes. Typical stallion, at his best when a mare is at her weakest. Charming, and I did like the attention, but I didn’t like being so helpless around another pony. I popped the leg off, and it fell into the box. Merit caught me before I fell over, and placed me on his back. “If you need to take your legs off to shower, how do you even wash yourselves?”

“I put in the extra bits to have an automatic shower, so I don’t have to take my legs off.” Merit gently placed me under the shower. “But most legs are made to be waterproof, I just need to clean the connectors, and I rather not have to dry off my legs afterwards.”

Water came down on me, socking me before stopping. Merit applied soap to my mane, and began scrubbing. I was held in place by his two back legs, my back on his chest. The feeling of gentle hooves on my head was relaxing, almost helping me ignore the poke I got on my lower back. “Sorry” he said.””

I shook my head. “Don’t be. Why don’t you tell me about yourself, get your mind off of me?” I couldn’t help but tease, it was too easy. “How about how you got into the Enclave?”

Merit chuckled. “I admired my grandmother, Grand Cross. So I followed her hoof-steps and enlisted as soon as I was old enough. My mother wanted me to go to college, and become a doctor, so she was right angry when she found out. You see being in the Enclave was a family tradition, one that my mom broke, turning her relationship with my grandmother sour.” He hit the shower button, and the water rinsed off all the soap, and grime out of my mane and coat. “I was actually patching things up between my mom and I when the big operation happened. Haven’t seen her in ten years.”

“Sorry” I squeaked out. Merit had used a rag to wipe off my connectors, which pressed on a few nerves sending a chill down my spine.

“It’s fine. I have a good feeling that she doing well for herself back in equestria. She’s a nurse you see, worked in a maternity ward, loves little foals. Somepony like that is never without a place.”

He finished washing me off, and helped me out of the shower, and onto my belly. The stallion proceeded to wash himself, keeping his back to me, hiding his half erection. “So what about you, was there more to the story you told back in the metro?”

Water showered down onto Merit, and he applied the soap to his mane. “Oh, that. Ya, more happened. We finally got to the backup, and it turned out the hospital was still intact. Ministry of peace made sure the building would survive most disasters. And Talon company had turned it into their base of operations. So we had a huge flock of griffins to deal with, and they were pissed.” Merit was covered in soap bubbles before he turned on the water, washing it off. “We were joined by a few other strike teams and with vertabuck air support, eliminated the threat. Three other teams had taken heavy losses, so I absorbed them into my team, and continued our mission. In the end, we won the battle, but lost the war. With clear skies, every civilian could see what we had done, so we ran.”

He finished getting all the bubbles and dirt out of his coat and mane. Putting me on his back, he took me to the dryer. “I said that the Enclave didn’t train us to be cowards, but by the end of that day, I was proven wrong.” The dryer was switched on, and warm air surrounded us. “So, do we just stand here?”

“E’yup.” I responded. “It shouldn’t take too long.”

It was like a warm vortex, the air turning around us. Merit held me in place as the dampness slowly evaporated off of me. It only took a minute, but we were mostly dry. Our manes and tails still held some of the water, but that would dry on its own in time.

Helping me put my pipleg back on, Merit seemed to enjoy carrying me around. Supplying some magic to the leg, the hud display appeared in my vision, doing its routine checks before disappearing. With the leg back on, I used the telekinesis talisman to attach my two back legs. I tested the legs out, the back legs were made for reliability, nothing all the specialized, so all I had to do was move them a little to see if they worked right. They required only a little magic to move, the more complex spell matrix programing was in my hips, so it took only a few seconds for them to calibrate.

Standing on three legs, it felt good to be up under my own power. I just needed to get my fourth leg back and I could leave all this behind me. Though I had one more question. “What happened after the war, to you I mean, in new Cloudsdale.” The hamper holding our stuff was already gone, and the boxes Shamisen gave us were in their place.

Merit opened up his, pulling out a standard stable barding. It had no marking on it, meaning it was surplus, and the wing holes were a little larger. “Not much really, I stood by my commander, it was what I was trained to do. Things went smoothly for a year, and I found myself ranking up quickly.” He slid on the jumpsuit, his wings popping out of the back almost comically. “Then the commander got assassinated, the new commander didn’t like me much, and so I found myself in the brig for a year. The new commander later got assassinated, along with his three successors. They all happened to be family members.”

“Sounds bloody.” I added. In my box was what looked like another stable barding, but far more customized. It had no sleeves, something that never went well with metal legs, and was a little thicker than normal stable barding. On top of it were purple frilly panties, something I quickly put on.

Merit continued. “After I got out, I found myself a head away from being the next commander. So I did the smart thing and vanished. Wild took me in, she had retired from the enclave and gotten a job teaching foals how to fly, that’s it where she met her husband.” He patted down the jumpsuit, zipping it up so that it was snug on him. “I worked as a laborer for a few years after that, helping to keep the city together as I waited for things to cool down.”

Placing the barding on, and zipped it up. It was more snug then tighten, and the tab for the zipper was hidden under a button down collar. It was nowhere near as protective as my tactical barding, or had as many pockets, but it was nice and comfortable. The hem and trim were heavily done, its gold color was bright on the navy blue barding. “But you did get back with the Enclave.”

“Yes, but it’s only been two years since the team was put back together. Were more law enforcement now then a real military. The ponies need us, but they still don’t want us.”

I nodded. “I can understand that. Well I can only hope things work out well. I know that once New Cloudsdale is publicly known, it’s going to be all that anypony can talk about.”

Merit chuckled. “It will be nice to be popular.” He offered me a shoulder, and I used him to keep myself stabilized. Clean and dressed, we left the wash room.

__________________________

The Orthrus Regular guided us downstairs, and to one of the game tables that the Two Tailed Mare had. Light and Wild were sitting at the table, playing a game of cards, along with a third pony. The pony was an Orthrus officer, her uniform having more decoration than the regular, and a few medals displayed on her blue jacket. She had a tan coat with a cream colored mane, both accented with gray stripes. Her brown eyes sized Merit and I up, and smirked. She had a normal right foreleg, which had an Orthrus pipbuck attached, the Orthrus symbol boldly imprinted in it, another sign of her importance.

“Good, good. Now that you’re here we can get to business. Besting these two at cards was starting to get a bit repetitive.” Her voice had a bit of a deep tone to it, not close to that of a stallion, but deeper than a mare commonly has. The mare motioned with her foreleg to two empty seats at the table. “The names Mandolin Clef, of Orthrus Pony Relations department. Now please, sit.”

Taking a seat, I quickly took a look around. Sweet was on a cot, covered in clean bandages, and the drone hovering above her. Next to Sweet were the three troopers, the four of them were talking among each other. Harp, Turnip, and Rototom were nowhere to be seen, and other than two employees of the bar, the place was empty.

Mandolin gathered the cards and chips, neatly placing them to the side. She also call over one of the staff to clear away a few drink glasses that sat empty on the table, along with the coasters that kept the table clean of water stains. When everything was clear, and both Merit and I were settled in, Mandolin placed two small boxes on the table and spoke.

“Now I don’t think need to explain why I’m here, not completely, so I’ll just go over the cliff notes of what’s going on. First off, the princess will be taken under our protective custody. With her safely out of danger, it’s all a matter of treating her as a pony of her station before returning her home.” She pushed one box over to me. “As a mercenary under the employ of Shamisen, we are simply offering a rewarded for locating Harp Melody, and bring her into our protection. Any talk about Orthrus being directly involved passed your return will be seen as slander, not that such a thing would get public acknowledgment.”

Pulling the box to myself, I opened it to find it full of Orthrus minted bits. One Orthrus bit was worth ten Republic bits, of which was more commonly used. Quickly counting them, the box had twenty of the Orthrus bits, making it a payment of two hundred bits. Not a big payday, but I still had the big payment coming my way, so I accepted the hush money.

Clearing her thought, Mandolin continued. “On the subject of Orthrus involvement.” She pushed a second box to me, another twenty Orthrus bits. “For your assistance of an Orthrus specter, who was in an investigation of the unknown vertabucks seen flying around the islands. A second reward is due.” I nodded, accepting the second hush money. “Good, good. Now that that’s over, we can move onto the issue at hoof.”

I cleared my throat, catch a glance from Mandolin. “My partner Sweet.”

“Your employer will have her taken care of.” Mandolin answered. “Now about our three outlanders, they will be coming with us.”

Merit glanced about, his eyes falling on Light.

Light sighed. “We had a long talk, and Mandolin has guaranteed our safety, and eventual return home. We are to lead a delegation to New Cloudsdale, so that Orthrus can establish peaceful communication between our ponies, and theirs. Until then we must remain in their protective custody.”

“So what’s the catch?” Merit asked, turning head over to Mandolin.

“This will not be an immediate action.” Mandolin answered with a straight flat tone. “Between internal politics and outside events, we dare not risk the few vertabucks we have until we know it’s safe for such a mission. Contacting this New Cloudsdale is useless if it only leaves us open to an attack. So until this storm passes, you three will have to stay in our custody.”

He leaned back in his seat, and looked over to Light. “And you agreed to these terms?”

Light nodded. “I don’t like the idea of waiting anymore then you, but if it insures that our mission is a success, then we will have to wait.”

Merit sat back up in his seat. “So we got our marching orders, but can we at least have breakfast first.”

“Afraid not” Mandolin spoke up, answering Merit. “With our top priority to the princess’s safety, we will be moving out as soon as possible. Allowing all of you a rest has drained what little time there is to spare.” She got up out of her seat, and trotted past me and to the door. “Oh, and don’t worry about food. The mess hall serves a fantastic pineapple pie all day, I’ll send an order to hold one for you three.”

The three pegasi shrugged and got up. Merit gave me a less than happy look, and I nodded back at him. It was sad that I was not going with them, well mostly him, but not being part of Orthrus meant I had to stay put. I was of course, no pony of importance. One of Shamisen’s staff gave a bag to one of the regulars, probably the pegasus stuff. And as though they were never here, they were gone, the door shut, and I was sitting alone at the game table.

The three troopers were still around, keeping sweet company, I could only guess that they were under a different command.

The door from the kitchen opened up, and Shamisen came walking through with a plate of grilled pineapples and a potato patty. The smell was absolutely divine. Placing the plate in front of me, one of her staff also placed a pint of lager. Looking from the lovely breakfast, and up at Shamisen, who now had taken a seat. “A bit early for a beer don’t you think?” raising an eyebrow as I spoke.

Shamisen covered her mouth with a hoof and chuckled. “In my line of work, it’s never too early for a drink. It can be too early to become inebriated, but not for a simple drink.” One of her staff dropped off a cocktail glass filled with a blue glowing drink. “I find it calming for the nerves, and a good pick-me-up for what might be a busy day.”

Sighing, I took the beer and gulped half of it down. Holding in a belch, not wanting to be unmannerly, I gave Shamisen another look, this time with my brow lowered. “Can’t I just get paid and go home. I did what you ask, and Sweet lost her eyes because of it, so whatever you have planned, leave us out of it.”

She just put her elbows on the table, and held her head up with her hooves. “Darling, I’m sorry to tell you this, but were in it deep. The recovery of the princess was one thing, all you would have gotten was a few knocks on the door, and a few ponies asking about her. But not long after you left, ponies started coming back from the surface, talking about vertabucks flying about. One said they saw a griffin, and another saw a Zebra.” Shamisen sat back and took a sip of her drink. “It’s all any pony can talk about around here, and then you come through after killing a paradise dragon, with three strange pegasi, a specter, and a pony who looks a lot like the mirage pony princess Harp Melody.”

She didn’t need to spell it out for me. Even if I had no importance to all this, there was going to be ponies who think I did. “And you want to use this to your advantage, right?”

Shamisen smiled. “I’m so glad you’re not some simple brute. Though a bleeding heart intellectual would probably be worse.” She sipped her drink. “But yes. This is a unique opportunity where doors that are normally closed to ponies like you and I, are now cracked open. Out of simple curiosity of course, but just open enough that we can get our hoof in.”

“Okay, I understand that, but why would I even want to do, whatever it is you want me to do?” I already had a huge payday coming my way, so going in for more bits was just playing into my sense of greed, something that had little power over me.

The door from the kitchen opened up again, and Rototom stepped out with a bag on her back. “Because why not, that’s why.” She dumped the bag on the table, smiling.

“That’s not a good answer.” I responded.

“Okay fine, I get it. You just want to get paid, go home, and wait for Sweet to get her new eyes. I understand that, and if things were different, I wouldn’t stop you. By Tartarus, I’d join you if things were different.” Rototom took a seat and opened the bag.

The first object to come out was a cyber leg, it pushed over to me. “So what makes the situation so different that I, not Orthrus, have to do this?” I used Minerva to help me attach the leg. It was easy to tell that the leg was not the one I was using before, it looking more armored, and the hoof was a little odd looking.

“Because right now Orthrus command has a stick up their plot, and think this is going to be another political shitstorm, that they can wait out.” Checking the bag, I found my revolver, now polished clean, along with the leather cartridge holders for it.

“So what are you not telling me?” I was still not convinced, but my interest was peaked.

Rototom pulled out my scarf, and medallion from the bag, hoofing them over to me. “Before I joined up with your group I went to investigate the pirates myself. I didn’t get much information, but I did get enough to set off a few alarms so to say.” A pint of beer was dropped off for Rototom, I dug into my food as she took her first sip. “You see the ship they came off of, is but one of a fleet of ships. I don’t know how many, but from the sound of things, there are a lot of them.”

Putting the scarf and medallion aside, I pulled out a black jacket. It looked like the kind that the bandits used, but with all the spikes removed, patched up, and reinforced. “So they’re here to stay, not a big problem. Between the three big factions here, I don’t see them fighting their way in.”

My sister tapped on her pipbuck, and selected a recording. “True, and that’s what I thought. But this changed my mind.” She pressed play on Athena, and the recording crackled on.

“This be first mate Blackspot too Weepin' Pegasi, reportin' in. I repeat, this be first mate Blackspot too Weepin' Pegasi, reportin' in.” I cringed, that was the stallion from my dream, it was hard to remember, but I knew he was in the dream I had earlier.

A regal sounding voice of a mare spoke up “Ahh good, good. Been takin' your time welp, now report.”

“Madam Admiral! Aye, at once.” Black Spot’s voice was filled with surprise and worry. “T' hunt continues Madam, they managed t' stay just out o' reach, but have made a fatal error. T' foals got separated and have started usin' their radio t' communicate. Their meetin' up at a ruined hotel at some theme park.”

“Anything else” The admiral inquired.

“Aye, interestin' news.” He whistled, showing that he was excited. “In our chase we broke through t' what looked like a drug manufacturin' facility, like what t' zebras tend t' have, but with more tech and less cast iron pots. Here’s t' real interestin' part, t' ponies runnin' t' place were like no ponies I ever seen”

“How so.”

“T' ponies have little horns, little win's, all t' colors o' t' rainbow, and gray stripes. Strange no? Well stranger still they were all cyber ponies, and not like t' kind that come out o' Caledonia, it’s like their legs came off an assembly line. Also, one we capture also happened t' be pregnant, so not a zonie, unless they can get preggers now.”

“I see.” An odd silence followed with no pony talking for at least half a minute. “It’s confirmed, t' dead islands be in truth, alive. Take your captives to t' Weepin' Pegasi, I’ll personally see t' their interrogation.”

“And what about t' enclave?”

“Continue your hunt, but by mornin' return t' your ship.” I could hear a soft chuckle from the admiral. “choices, choices.”

“What be it, me admiral?”

“Oh just thinkin'. Should I send t' fleet after a mobile target, or a stationary one?”

“A stationary target would be easiest, would it not?”

The Admiral laughed, sending a chill down my spine. “And so you show t' difference between you and I. You’re a sgrog who knows nothin', and I’m a true pony burdened with knowledge beyond your understandin'.” A loud sigh came from the admiral. “Remember, you have until Celestia’s first light, may Luna favor your hunt.”

“Yes My Admiral, Madam Flintlock Hook.”

The recording cut off, and Rototom lowered her pipleg Athena.

I had attached the new leg during the recording, and tested it out a little. The leg was a sturdy piece of tech, and the hoof could turn into three digest in which I could grab objects. It made drinking the beer much easier. “So how did this change your mind?”

Rototom emptied the rest of the bag, my air rifle had been broken down to parts, and a new knife was in my old knife sheath. The battle rifle I had pilfered was also broken down to parts, it’s ammunition in a box. I placed them all to the side neatly. “She said where to send her fleet” Rototom huffed. “Not where to attack. Whoever this Flintlock Hook is, she is a thinker, I’m sure of that.”

I raised an eyebrow, showing my skepticism. Shamisen cleared her throat drawing our attention. “Sorry love, but your dear sister may have the right intuition, but just lacks the proper way to communicate it.” She finished off her drink and put the glass to the side. “What she is trying to say is that this Admiral does not sound like a pony who chooses brute force to solve a problem, but her own intelligence. On top of that, they have captured a few bandits, which means it won’t be long until pirates start leaking into Charon’s Stop. From there, they can learn of other points of entry to the other Islands, remember, smuggling makes a quarter of Charon’s Stop’s economy.”

I let my head hit the table. “Show how do we stop this from happening?”

Shamisen sighed. “Not a damn thing I’m afraid. With Orthrus’s hoof off approach to the bandit problem, the pirates are going to find allies among our own population. Even I will have to change how I do business to deal with this new faction.”

“So we can’t stop them from coming in, then what do you want me to do.?” I understood the situation, but the rest just flew over my head.

“Simple really.” Shamisen said with confidence. “We need you to help the rest of the metro get ready for them.”

Rototom patted me on the shoulder. “Shamisen is going to call all of her contacts for this, get them to prepare for trouble. Your job will be to help convince them that the oncoming storm is going to be the biggest one in our history, and they need to get ready. You can say that the personal touch is best for this situation.”

“Okay, I get it. Things are going to get bad, and you want me to warn the rest of the islands.” I checked the knife: it was another combat knife, but new and polished. “How am I going to do that?”

Shamisen answered. “Simple, you just need to meet with a few key figures, and help them with a problem. I’ll reimburse you for the job, but past that, this is a favor for a favor job. You do something for them, and they do something for me.”

I nodded.

“I’ll be contacting the Orthrus council, and see if I can get them to put more resources into the issue.” Rototom pulled out a holster from her saddle bag. “Until then, take this. I meant to give you it a few months ago, but well you know.”

It was a rad boar leather gun holster, fine crafted, and looked like it fit my enforcer nicely. It had leather straps attached to it, which looked like it was meant to go over my shoulder, and around my waist.

“I’m sorry that I have to do this, but there’s no pony in this world who I trust more than you.” My sister spoke with a worried tone, and hopeful eyes.

I sighed. “Fine, I’ll do it.”

Shamisen chuckled softly. “That’s good to hear. And don’t worry, you will not do this on your own. That lurker you had with you.” She clapped her hooves and one of her staff went to the back, and soon returned with Turnip. He had leather barding on that covered him from hoof to neck, and a reinforced gas mask sat under his head. The barding had a large hood, and a few metal plates on it, along with two large saddle bags. “He will be joining you. With him at your side, it will be easier to convince others of our situation. That and he can carry any extra supplies you might pick up.”

Thinking about it, a pony shaped lurker was as farfetched of an idea as one could think of. So having him with me would give me the benefit of a doubt. He would also scare the shit out of any pony that saw him, which was something useful I could use. Turnip himself looked a little confused but said nothing.

“You will have one other companion.” Shamisen clapped her hooves again, and the other member of her staff opened the front door. Rufus ran in, his metal paws clapping on the floor. “I know you like him, and he has been needing to get out. It’s bad for his brain to stay in one place for too long. He’s a carrier dog, made for hauling supplies, but his real use is sniffing out trouble. I’m going to have to double my guards with him gone, but I feel he is better use to you right now, than as a guard.”

Rufus ran up to me and put his paws in the chair I sat on, giving me a lick on the face. I responded by petting him. “Aren’t you a good boy, yes you are!” He barked one time and sat on the floor. I turned my attention back to Shamisen and my sister. “So that’s the team, me, a lurker, and a cyber dog. You think this is a good idea?”

Shamisen laughed “Darling, in my line of work, first impressions are a must. Everypony is going to expect ponies in suits, acting like they own the place. They will see you coming, but will not know what to do with you, and that’s how you win this dear.” One of her staff came in and took our empty glasses away. “They need to know that I’m not playing some simple game. It’s a dangerous gamble, and will draw my enemies to come after you and I, but I know this will pay off in the end.”

“When I’m done with the council, I’ll join you as soon as I can. They will listen to what I have to say, but no guarantee they will move.” Rototom find her sentence with a sight. “If things go right, even if the council refuses to move, they will be forced to.” She then pulled out a card, and passed it to me. “One last little help from me. She’s a gunsmith on Pineapple Island, best I have ever seen. Tell her I sent you, and she’ll show you her best stock.” Rototom winked. “Trust me, you won’t be disappointed.”

The card read ‘Cornet’s guns and Knives’ it was a business card, and on the back it stated ‘Best custom weapons in all of the metro.’

Rototom hoofed over three spell talismans “Also take these, Sweet felt that you'd need them more than her.” it was Sweets Telekinesis, Teleportation, and her magic armor talismans. At the very least I could use the Telekinesis talisman, with mine damaged, so I changed it out. I also changed out the telepath, and amplify sound talismans, putting them away in a pocket.

I looked over the rest of my gear, and began placing them on my barding. The gun holster fit nicely on my left side, strapped down, and the knife had a spot next to it. The bullet holders found a place on my right. The sleeveless black jacket fit easily over me, and my weapons nicely, and I found that I had extra pockets on the inside, which would allow me to hold more bullets for my revolver. Turnip took the gun parts, still not saying anything.

“So where do I head to first?” Both Shamisen and Rototom snickered.

“You’re to head to the pineapple islands, and talk with DJ Cerberus.” Shamisen answered.

“While you're there, go see Cornet, and get some new guns.” Rototom got up out of her seat “Also give her your enforcer, she knows some useful modifications for it.” She moved to the door, looking back at me. “I’ll contact you as soon as I can, so stay strong.”

I could only nod as she left, behind her were the three troopers, one with sweet on their back. Sweet waved at me, but in the wrong direction. “Take care, we’ll be back to being a team in no time flat, I know it.” Her voice was rough, but calm. The trooper with her on his back was the last to leave, as the other two passed him as Sweet talked to me.

I looked over to Shamisen, and she nodded. “Finished your breakfast first dear. You have a long road ahead of you.”

Sent the next few minutes was spent in silence, Turnip and Rufus both also got some food and water. When we were done, we were sent our way, and Shamisen informing us that DJ Cerberus will be expecting us, so it was best to not let her wait too long. Outside the Two Tailed Mare, I felt a lot more eyes on me, but no pony approached. It was not out of fear, mostly, but felt more out of curiosity.

__________________________

“Good morning Marewaii! This is radio station 5-O, deep in the heart of Pineapple Island, here in club Three-dog. That’s three, not one, or two, but three-dog. Baucus the first head is too busy sniffing its own plot, and the other can’t decide what’s left or right. So it’s up to the third to tell you the news.”

“First on in the news, if you heard stories about vertabuck in the sky, well interesting fact, it’s true. We don’t know who has been buzzing about in the sky, but we know it’s not Orthrus flying about. That is unless they have griffins jumping out and attacking scavengers. Yep that’s right, Griffins, as in half cat thing, half bird thing. If you see one, expect hostility, whoever it is, they are less than friendly, and more than willing to shoot on sight.”

“Next on the news feed, The Orphic Queen has made an appearance, and any of you who tuned in may have heard the sad end to her speech. Now I’ not a big fan of the deep dwellers and their bigotry, but queen Gilded Gold has been as far as I know, the most accepting ruler in the Orphic kingdom. So it was sad to see her unable to finish her speech due to illness. I just hope whomever she pick as her successor will be as open as their mother. Somehow I don't see that happening.”

“Last and certainly not least, some good news. That paradise dragon who moved into a main tunnel near Charon’s Stop last night, well it’s dead. Yep, and it wasn’t even the volunteers who killed it, though they helped. A mercenary on her way back from a job killed the monster, took off its head if the report is to be believed. The Dragon Slayer had been on a recovery mission from what I’m told, looking for a lost noble who went off hunting on their own, stupid I know. Well on her return to Charon’s Stop, she had Harp Melody, the Mirage pony princess, three unknown pegasi, and a specter following her. The leader of the Scrappers who went after the Dragon said, and I quote. That mare saved my filly from bandits, and killed a dragon, a hero type if I ever saw one. Take it as you will, but looks like Charon’s Stop has a new celebrity, and who knows, maybe yours truly will have an interview with her.”

“That’s all the news I have for this morning, and I’ll keep you posted in events as they happen, so stay tuned. But in the meantime, some music. What we have is a pony my scouts found in some far off corner of the metro, Acoustic Guitar is his name, and he will be singing his rendition of ‘Queendom of dirt’ now I don’t know about you, but I think he has the potential to be something great, so give the stallion your ears, and open up your feels.”

__________________________

We had gotten on the train, the next cart over was filled with the dead who were on their way home to be buried. The cart we were in had few ponies in it, three to count to be exact. Me, a mare, and a filly. Rufus and Turnip did not count as ponies, so I had to think of a new word. People maybe?

The mare in our cart look on guard, her large traveling bag was kept close at hoof at all time. The filly on the other hoof was more unguarded, hobbling around on the train, practicing walking on her prosthetics. She looked at me with with eyes so wide I thought they were going to pop out of her head.

“You’re the dragon slayer! Right?” she said with exuberance and suspension. I just nodded, knowing no other who would be called by that. “OH MY GOSH, OH MY GOSH, OH MY GOSH.” She ran around in circles, as though she was not hobbling on prosthetics. It made me smile. “Ca... can I have an autograph?” I nodded again, and the filly ran over to her mother. Pinging her mother with her hoof, the mare gave her a doll, trying to ignore the pleading.

She trotted over and passed me a small statue. It was of the ministry mare of peace Fluttershy, on the base was the Words ‘Be Pleasant.’ And on the bottom it had writing already on it. ‘To my good friend Healing Herbs, I miss you, and wish you the best of luck.’ The statute made me feel warm, but I politely hoofed it back to the filly. "Best, not ruin such a treasure.” I thought for a moment, and had an Idea. Pulling out one of my .357 rounds and gave it to the filly. “Think of this as your lucky bullet. If you ever have a gun that can use it, only use it when you need it most. It might save your life.” It felt like a cop out, but the look on her face was all I needed. She placed the bullet in her pocket, and skipped away to her mother. It was strange having that statute in my hoof, like it was important. But it felt better to give it back.

“Next stop, Curtius Station, Pineapple Islands. Keep all your belongings at hoof reach.” We had arrived at our first stop. I didn’t worry about who the next target was, seeing the DJ was top priority. Once the job was done, the next one was sure to follow. But my mind wandered, to the dream I had, and what I said to my sister. I didn’t want her hurt, or dead, did I?

__________________________

Footnote-

New Quest - Family Matters.

Author's Notes:

Well this one took it's time to come out. I lost the original rough draft when I saved over it, and had to re-wight the hole thing. A good thing too, as I was just not happy with the original, probably powered through it a bit too hard. After that, life got in the way for my editor, so much waiting time.

So some advice t all you who want to wright a story. re-writing can be your friend.