Curtius Station was a nice change of place, being far better kept than Charon's Stop, and having a lack of death lingering about. The Station had a clean coat of paint, and clear bold signs directing anypony were they wanted to go. My first stop was the security checkpoint, and then into the station at large.

Rufus jumped out, circling me once before going on ahead. He didn’t go far, staying in my line of sight, his tail wagging like it could come off. A few ponies waiting for the train were surprised by the hound, but his friendly personality quickly put them at ease. Cyberdogs were not uncommon here, so most of the residents wouldn’t respond negatively to Rufus nosing around.

Turnip on the other hoof drew much more attention. Looking a bit like the pony reaper Mort with his hood up, he only needed to have his mask painted white to complete the look. But that’s where the intimidating part of him ended, as it turned out, he had motion sickness, and was going to need something to eat after puking up everything he had.

“How are you holding up?” I nudged him with a hoof.

He glanced back at the train, and back to me. “Kindly, no more moving metal box, kindly.”

Nodding, I lead the way to the security checkpoint. Rufus came bounding over as we went upstairs.

“We will be doing a contraband check, please stand in line.” The Orthrus regular spoke with a flat bored tone. “If you have any controlled substances, weapons, or foreign lifeforms, I will need to see your ID.” I passed over my ID, and she quickly scanned it, passing the ID back to me. A two headed cyber dog came out, bigger then Rufus, and with light armor on. The big dog proceeded to sniff us, one head chasing below, and the other up high. The cyber Orthrus had no problem with me, and Rufus, but stopped at Turnip.

“Can you removed your mask?” The regular asked, pointing at Turnip. He looked over to me, and I nodded. Removing the mask, the regular only gave him a courtesy glance, and raised an eyebrow. “What is this supposed to be?” she asked, looking over at me.

“He’s a lurker, found him in the big island metro.”

The regular sighed, looking annoyed. “Fine, whatever. Better not tell that joke further in the station, we’ve been having problems with Lurkers infiltrating the station.”

“Lurkers do not infiltrate.” Turnip spoke up.

“Ya, ya. Just go, you three check out.” She waved us off, and moved onto the next group of ponies. “Damn cyber junkies” she muttered.

Turnip looked over to me. “Lurkers do not intentionally infiltrate.” I just laughed and trotted out of the checkpoint.

Entering the main part of the station, we were met with rich colours, bold geometric shapes and lavish ornamentation. Though the Pineapple Island is considered part of Orthrus territory, The Trade Union ran everything outside the security forces. As long as Orthrus got its taxes, the Trade Union was free to govern as they liked. As a result, the island took on a culture of its own, with capitalism as its core nature.

Ponies of all kinds were here, the main street being a busy place, with ponies on the move, having places to be. It was the central hub for commerce, so a lot of bits moved around here, and tempers were always high.

“EXTRA EXTRA, READ ALL ABOUT IT! UNKNOWN VERTABUCKS SIGHTED ON THE SURFACE.” A young colt called out, trying to get as much attention as possible to sell his newspapers. The paper was mostly gossip, and horoscopes, but sometimes had a few good articles.

A curvy mare in a red one piece and bunny ears fluttered her eyes at me. “COME TO THE LUCKY RABBIT’S FOOT CASINO, WE’VE GOT ENTERTAINMENT GALORE! DON’T ACCEPT SECOND RATE WHEN THE BEST GAME IN TOWN IS RIGHT HERE, WAITING FOR YOU!” I’ve been there twice, finding both times that the place just sucked up all my bits. Though getting a striptease from a stallion was fun.

Another crier caught my eye, this one a large earth pony stallion. He looked tough, but I bet looking tough was more important than actually being tough. “THINKING ABOUT GOING TO THE SURFACE, OR TRAVERSING OLD ABANDONED TUNNELS? IRONSHOD FIREARMS HAS THE GEAR FOR YOU! GUNS, BULLETS, ARMOR, MASKS, AND SURVIVAL KITS. WE HAVE WHAT YOU NEED, AND AT A FAIR PRICE.” His voice was the loudest of the bunch, drowning out the rest of the criers. “THIS WEEK WE HAVE OUR NEWEST STOCK ON SHOW, SEE FIRST HOOF THE NEXT GENERATION OF ECONOMIC AIR RIFLES, AND THE FIRST COMMERCIAL RAILGUN AT OUR SHOWROOM.” That last part peeked my interest, it would be nice to have my own railgun. The only problem was that it be far too expensive for me to justify buying it.

I pulled out the card my sister gave me, the location of Cornet’s shop was printed on it. Feeling like I might as well give it a shot, it was located not far from the Ironshod showroom, so I could do a little sightseeing before heading to club Three Dog.

The crowd thinned out the further away we got from the market, with most of the ponies here delivering food orders, or making supply runs. The casino was in the opposite direction, in the red light district, so we were unlikely to run into any drunk ponies here. It was all business in the manufacturing district, unless you had someplace to be, you didn’t belong here.

Ironshod seemed to take up a fair amount of the district, with a whole tunnel just for showing off their armements. Other smaller establishments seem to grow out of the pockets that Ironshod had not claimed. Selling leg modifications, gun accessories, surplus ammunition, and even toys.

It was not a marketplace, in which I could trot in and make a purchase. Everything here was meant to be sold in bulk, and resold elsewhere in the metro. Trying to buy anything here was going to come with a lot of paperwork, so simple browsing was going to get me a few irritated glares.

Passing up the stalls, we traveled deeper into the district, ‘Cornet’s Guns and Knives’ happened to be near the end. The shop was in a maintenance tunnel, the front doors having taken the islands style to the next level, looking more like imposing statues then doors. Turnip seemed to be scared of them, and in truth, I was a little unnerved by them as well.

Inside was a busy workshop, with ponies working on grinders, tinkering with small parts, and sorting through scrap. Next to me was a display wall with different guns, knives, and other kinds of weapons hanging from it. Most of them looked like weapons I had seen, and used before, but just a little different. Longer barrels, stocks with large springs, and most of the guns were affixed with bayonets.

A stallion sat at a desk in front of me, busy looking through paperwork. A sign hung off the desk stating that he was, ‘customer service.’ He was a rust colored stallion, with red mane. His cyber legs had a custom look to them, being thicker and having digits allowing him to hold the paperwork with his hooves.

I pulled out the card, and placed it on the desk. “Excuse me, my sister recommended I come here for a new rifle. You do special orders, right?”

The stallion looked up at me, but only with his eyes, not even moving his head. “Yes, and no.” was his response. Shuffling the paperwork, and placing them down on the side, he picked up the business card. Taking a careful look at me, he sighed. “I’m sure your sister may have said we can make new guns for anyone. But we have a waiting list, which cost bits on its own to get on. I don’t think you have the scratch to afford what we sell.” He pushed the card back to me.

I could see why they were further in the back of the district, far away from the common working ponies as they can be. “I see, figured as much. Well do you know where I can get a quality AG5, my last one got wrecked.”

“Check the Ironshod shop in the market, last I checked they had a surplus.” He said with a dismissive tone.

Putting the card down and leaving it there, I turned to trot away. Rufus and Turnip were already waiting for me, ready to go. Before I could take one step, the voice of an excitable older mare called out. “FLUGELHORN DEAR! WHO’S THAT AT THE FRONT?”

The stallion Flugelhorn grumbled before calling back. “JUST ANOTHER MERC MOTHER, NO NEED TO GREET THEM.”

“Oh nonsense!” The mare hopped out from behind a curtain, she had a charcoal coat and pink mane. Her cloths were thick forge workers overalls, but had been ornamented with gold and silver trim. “If we can’t even properly greet a customer, then why bother having a shop to begin with.” Her voice had a rasp that came from too much smoking, but still had this cute upbeat cheery tone to it. “Or did you already forget that you almost turned your special somepony away because you thought she was just another trooper mare.”

Flugelhorn sighed. “No mother, I have not forgotten.”

“Good.” The older mare said with a nod. Her attention turned away from me, quickly eying Rufus and Turnip before going back to me. Trotting up, she raised a hoof, and I reciprocated, shaking hooves. “Names Cornett, Cornett Chromatic of Cornet’s Guns and Knives.” She pointed over at the stallion at the desk. “That’s my son, Flugelhorn Chromatic. He’s a bit of a shy grump, but can be real charming guy when you get to know him.”

“Names Vibraphone Echo. My sister sent me here, she thought you might be able to help me out.” Her ears had perked up, and a smile formed on her face. “Can you?”

Cornett laughed. “Of course I can. At the very least I can modify one of those Orthrus revolvers, like I did for your sister. Make it so telekinesis has a stronger hold on it, good when you’re in a pinch, and have a gasmask on.” Nudging me over to the desk, Flugelhorn got up and gave us some space. “Just drop off what you got, and I’ll see what I can do.”

I unloaded Turnips bag of the battle rifle, and airgun. I also dropped off my enforcer, and the combat knife that I had. Cornett looked over the weapons, eyeing the parts for the two rifles. “Well the air rifle is certainly out of commission, some parts can be salvaged, but it’s junk now. What happened?”

“Took a hit from a paradise dragon.” I answered.

“Right, right, that would do it. And what’s this?” She pointed to the parts for the battle rifle.

I wasn’t sure if I should mention the pirates, but felt it would do little harm I have her a half truth. “Some deep dweller types were dressed up like pirates and using them, they attacked us and we defended ourselves. The rifle was the only thing worth anything on them.”

She nodded some more. “So do you have any bit’s up front?” I placed the two boxes of Orthrus minted bits in front of her. She looked them over, even biting one before scratching her chin. “Here’s what I can do: I can give your revolver a TK modification, I would also give it an ammo expansion mod, but with how I know you Orthrus types are, I won’t mess with its concealability. As for the rifles, I’ll have to strip them for parts, and use them for a new rifle. I have a few older works that I can dust off and work on for you.” She hoofed the knife back to me. “And I’ll add in a bayonet for free, so keep that mass produced piece of sheet metal.”

I slid the combat knife back into its sheath under my jacket. “Is it common for you to just make new rifles for strangers?”

Cornett chuckled. “Let’s just say that this is a favor. Your sister’s one of our… special customers. And if you can’t pay it all, we can just bill it to your sister.” She motioned with her head to Flugelhorn, and he collected the parts, taking them behind the curtain in the back. Cornett took the revolver, emptying it out, and hoofing over the ammo to me. “Luckily I don’t have any major deadlines today, I should have something for you at the end of the day. I’m guessing you want a new airgun, right?” I nodded. “Right, then come back around dinner time, should have something nice for you to use.”

We shook hooves again, and she trotted off, waving to me before disappearing behind a curtain.

Flugelhorn returned, and sat at his desk. I trotted over to him, and he looked at me with a bit of a sorry look on his face. “Is this normal. I’d expect there to be a waiting list, and an upfront fee to be more than four hundred in bits?”

He sighed. “Yes, and no. My mother’s bipolar, and currently on an up.” He picked up some of the paper work he was looking at before. “The rest of the crew simply finishes what she starts. Now if you will, I need to get this corporate bullshit straightened out before they come back to take advantage of my mother again.”

“Again?”

He furled his brow. “Ironshod Firearms got my mom to sell her railgun concept, and are now making it impossible for us to make and sell one.” He slammed the papers on the desk. “They literally waited for her to go into a down, and snuck in. Might have lost the shop if we didn’t keep the deeds in the bank.” He almost seemed to deflate, resting his head on the table. “Fuckers” he huffed out.

His distress made me feel bad for him and his mother. “Maybe there’s something I could do, I was planning to head to Ironshod’s showroom anyways. Maybe I could talk to somepony?”

He lifted up a piece of paper. “Not good, Ironshod has so much bureaucracy around this that not even the president of their company can change anything. The only ponies that have any real power over this right now are Ironshod’s investors, and they’re drooling to get their hooves on a railgun, even if it’s not that good.” He chuckled. “The only way to change their minds is if the gun blew up in Irondshods face on the showroom floor.”

“Railguns can explode?” I scratched my chin. “I did blow off that dragon's head with one shot…” the image of the railgun blowing up in my hooves came to mind, and I shivered.

Flugelhorn sat up, looking concerned. “They can, yes.” He straightened up the papers on his desk. “The battery is a weak point on the rifle, and was the first thing we did testing on. Between the amount of magical power that needs to be poured into it, and the magnetic pulse it produces when fired, the battery can quickly overheat and explode.”

That sent a chill down my spine. “I never heard about Orthrus railguns exploding?”

“That’s because Orthrus uses the most advanced, and expensive materials to make them.” He answered. “The railgun we were making was meant to be more economic. Still expensive for sure, but less than half the price of what Orthrus spends to make theirs.”

“I see. Then that would explain why it didn’t explode on me.” Having both me, my sister, and Harp overcharging the railgun probably would have blown the battery of the one Cornett was making.

Flugelhorn gently tapped the desk, and motioned for me to lean in. getting in closer, his voice was a little softer now. “If I remember right, the power gage often needs to be calibrated. Forgetting to do so lead to the gage saying that the battery was not as charged as it really was. We lost two prototypes that way.” Flugelhorn got back to his paperwork, pulling out a pen, and writing a note on a pad of paper. “And please do come back at dinnertime. My mother can be easily distracted, and any interruption will delay her ability in making you a new rifle.” He hoofed the piece of paper over to me.

Taking the note, I nodded and left the workshop. The note had instructions on how to tamper with a railguns gage. It being as simple as disconnecting the cable to the gage, and reconnecting a different type of cable to the railguns power gage. It seemed that the cable needed to be made of non-magnetic materials, or it would be pulled by the rifle, and give off a false reading.

Memorizing the note, I folded it up, and gave it to Rufus to chew on, it didn’t last a second. Stepping up to Turnip, I smiled. “How do you feel about going to a gun show?”

He cocked his head. “What’s gun show?”

It didn’t take long for us to find the entrance to the showroom for Ironshod’s Firearms, not that one could miss it. The front was decorated with banners with the images of the new guns that were being shown. Guards at the door checked everypony for weapons, missing the combat knife I had on the inside of my jacket, and letting the three of us in.

Inside the showroom were a lot of different ponies. Enough to be a large crowd, but not enough to be crowded.

“Food?” Turnip asked, as he looked around.

Sure enough there was a buffet table off to the side. “Over here.”

We looked over at what was there. I was not hungry at the moment, so I didn’t bother looking for anything for myself. Turnip on the other hoof was considerably focused on the buffet table, looking over the food.

I admit, some of the stuff made me feel hungry by just looking at it. The grilled fruit kabobs looked almost irresistible, and the vibrantly green grass was probably as good as it looked. There was also some stable food here as well, green food chips, powdered food, and even some porridge, spiced up with fresh fruit and vegetables. Turnip picked the porridge, served in pineapple juice, and topped with minced mint. It cost me five bits for the one bowl.

Luckily everypony was more concentrated on the gunshow then to take a look at Turnip when he lifted his mask to eat. Taking a good look at him, he was a little cute, in a freaky glowing crab pony kind of way.

It was still a little more than an hour before the main show started, so I could spare a few minutes before sneaking off to the back. “So Turnip, what was the deal between you and Mayall?”

The lurker nearly spat up his meal. “Mayall?” I nodded. “Princess Mayall spend time supervising workers, more time with workers than others of nest. Mayall gets attached to things more than other princess too.”

“So she got attached to you then.” He nodded. “How did that happen?”

Turnip sighed, which sounded a bit flemmy. “I work, fixing word screen. Got it to make words appear. Mayall, wanted me to open chest it connects to. It opened, took hours, only had books inside. Mayall insisted it had important knowledge, had me study books.”

“So what kind of books were in there?”

Turnip opened his bag and pulled out two books. He had a ‘Greases Pony’s Guide to Fixing Everything.’ And ‘Arcane Science for Eggheads.’ Mayall copied books, had all workers read, study till we read books with eyes closed.”

Now I was real curious. “What were the other books?”

He swallowed his porridge. “Baking for Anarchists, Berenices took. Rest was books on old stories, Mayall took.” Turnip shook his head. “Mayall stopped supervising to read books. We like Mayall, so we still worked, not want her in trouble. I chose to check on her, bring food, request for orders.”

I was starting to peace the picture together. “So that’s when she became attached to you?”

He nodded. “Mayall finished reading, wanted me to keep checking on her. Had me read books she read, started talking oddly. She returned to duty, but had goal, like queen, same passion. Queen want to see space, Mayall wanted to see love and tragedy. We not know what it is, we like Mayall, we help Mayall.”

I cracked a smile. “She sounds cute. Too bad her mother’s a bitch.” Turnip didn’t seem to understand what I had said. “So did anything happen after that.”

“Yes, Mayall started acting like queen. More demands, but took more work herself. She took me, wanted me to stay close. I no hunter, I guard her still.” Turnips red eyes shifted. “Berenices saw Mayall acting like queen, Berenices stopped it. I make poor guard, Berenices hurt Mayall, wanted me to see, wanted Matall to see that I see. Berenices’s hunters gathered workers back to nest, make us remember our place, Berenices is oldest, we serve her fist.”

Now I felt sad. “And what about the Queen?”

“Berenices is favored by Queen. Berenices will be next queen, Mayall will not.” Wiping his mouth, he placed his mask back on. “Some think Mayall should be Queen, some fled nest, found new nest for Mayall.”

Now this was interesting, even the lurkers were having internal turmoil. “Aren’t you worried about Berenices finding this new nest?”

“No. New nest is under water, new nest can move.” Turnip sat up with pride. “Hunters are strong, but workers are smart, workers got under water boat working!”

“Wait what! You have a submarine?” This was something Orthrus would have killed for, or well anypony would kill for. “So if you had a new nest, then what were you doing in that building we found you in?”

“I still had job, I still check on Mayall. I let her know we are fine, read with her too.”

Okay, he was definitely a little cute. He was still a glowing lurker pony, but a little cute.

Feeling like we had spent enough time sitting around, I got up to scout around. With the show not started yet, there was little of interest other than the ponies who came to see the new guns. There were all types here, with the most noticeable being representatives of Orthrus and the Republic. A few other ponies looked a bit out of place, one being a pony in a clean cut suit, with a slick back mane. It was his glare that made him look out of place, seemingly far too aggressive for such a social gathering, making me think he was part of a criminal gang, and maybe related to the bandits. Another pony was a unicorn with two pegasi maids serving him.

I was going need to get to the back, but Ironshod was going to have every way back there guarded, and locked down. One never knows when an invisible pony might teleport in and steal their prototypes. So I was going to need to be let into the back room.

I trotted up to the unicorn, though keeping enough distance to not startle the unicorn. “Well you look out of place, a member of Orphic royal court?” up close, the pony was a stallion looked only a little older than I, with a pale blue coat, and a blond mane. The two pegasi looked the same, light gray coat and black mane. Their black and white uniforms were to die for: frills, embroidery, and the little black shoes. I was above theft, but I wouldn’t mind borrowing one of their dresses for an evening. The unicorns cloths had its own charm, being all black, with a puffy pink shirt underneath, and a black tie on top of that.

The unicorn gave a one note laugh. “Quite right. I was getting terribly bored of dealing with the ignorant here. Good to know some ponies here can recognize royalty.”

I did a curtsy. “Names Vibraphone Echo. Professional bodyguard and hunter.”

The unicorn tipped his top hat. “Golden Rule, third son of Queen Gilded Gold.” One of the maids passed a wineglass to Golden, and he took a sip. “You don’t seem to be on guard duty, so here to see the railgun?” Another wineglass was passed to me.

I took a sip of the drink, it was pineapple wine, super sweet, and a good 20% alcohol. “Yes, I had a bad run-in with a Paradise Dragon a little while back, luckily there was a specter with my group when it attacked. I had to use her railgun to kill it. But the next time it happens, I want to be prepared, not lucky.”

“Lucky indeed.” He stopped to think for a moment. “Wait, you wouldn’t happen to be that mare would you, the one mentioned on the radio?”

“It’s a long story, but yes.” I took another sip of the wine. “And don’t worry about your sister, Orthrus showed up to pick Miss Melody up. A member of their PR department was with them, so she is in good hooves.”

Golden sighed. “That’s good to know. Even with all the tradition and politics going on, she’s still one of my little sisters, and I worry about her.” He stopped to rub his chin. “You wouldn’t happen to know why she left without a proper escort would you?”

I finished off the glass of wine, and let one of the maids take it. “I’m afraid it’s currently a sensitive topic, not something I’d talk about where unwanted ears could hear.”

Golden tipped his hat. “Of course, where are my manners. I’ll be viewing a private showing of the railgun before everypony else. I’m sure I can have Ironshod squeeze you in.” He took a glance past me. “But just you alone.”

I curtsied. “Naturally.”

Turnip and Rufus didn’t come with me to the private showroom, but they were let into the back, not far from where I was, same for Golden’s maids.

The room was spacious, and far more comfortable to be in. The seats themselves were plush, and soft classical music played in the background.

We were not alone, as three other ponies were sitting in the room. One was a sultry looking mirage pony mare in a red dress that covered her, but only barely. She had a silver coat and light green mane, and bright blue eyes. Her front legs were mechanical, and the color her coat, but her back legs were natural, decorated with a few gold rings.

The next pony was another mirage pony mare, but this one wore a brown suit. She had a dark pink coat, and light pink mane, and her brown eyes were enlarged by thick glasses. On her suit was the emblem of the republic, but next to that was a trade union pin.

The last pony was the ganger looking pony from before, a mirage pony stallion. He had a charcoal colored coat, and a yellow and red colored mane, with orange eyes. A scar that went over his nose and under his eyes added to his intimidation factor, and his clean black suit made him look even more dangerous.

The sultry mare glanced over at me and giggled, but stuck to her side of the room. The intimidating stallion had been talking to her, looking angry, but never raising his voice. She seemed to control the conversation they were having, the stallion stopping every time she raised a hoof and letting her talk.

The republic pony ignored us, scribbling down on a clipboard, staying in her seat.

“Not as private as I like, but fine with me.” I spoke quietly to Golden.

He took a seat, and invited me over. I sat a short distance from the prince, so not to send the wrong message. Not to say he was not attractive, but the prim and clean stallions were just not my type. They tended to be high maintenance, which was something I didn’t like to deal with.

“What can you tell me about what happened to Harp?” Golden was calm, but he leaned in close, showing that he was worried.

“A lot of it is speculation I’m afraid. My employer felt it was an assassination attempt, and a way to get rid of some of the mirage ponies in the orphic kingdom. Something about if she just disappeared on the big island, many ponies would go out there to look for her” An Ironshod employee came over and gave me a glass of wine.

Golden Rule had taken a glass as well. “Makes sense, my sister might not have a right to the throne, but she has become popular among the peasantry. I know some of my brothers and sisters see her as a threat.”

I took a sip from the glass, the wine tasting much better than the one from before. “And do you?”

He raised his glass and sipped it as well. “Yes, but not in the same way as the rest of my family. They think she will use her popularity to attempt a coup. I’m more worried about one of our knights using her to attempt a coup, because of her popularity.”

“How so?”

Golden sighed. “Simple really, the bigger army tends to win. Even with the queen’s best efforts, our population has still dropped as the Mirage Pony population grows. Even our army is almost made of entirely mirage ponies now. So if one of our knights were to marry Harp, and later attempt a coup, our army may just let the knight take over just to have Harp become queen.”

“I see. So like it or not, Harp by the nature of what she is, is a threat to the crown.” I took another sip of the wine, the stuff was just too good.

“Sad, but true.” Golden place his glass to the side, on a short table. “Is there anything else you can tell me? If I knew who made a move on her, then I can deal with them appropriately.”

I shook my head. “There was one pony who would know more about it, but he never made it back. A unicorn by the name of Silver Relief. He hired us to find his brother, something we doubted was true, but during a tunnel collapse we got separated. With how chaotic it got, he is likely dead.” I placed the glass down. “The owner of the Two Tailed Mare brokered the job, and was the one who suspected that foul play was going on. To get better information, I suggest seeking her out.”

“I do remember that an Orthrus Specter was with you, how did that come around?” Now the prince was looking for dirt, not that I was going to play his game. It was good to have the upper hand on information.

“Officially, we simply ran into each other out on the big island. The Specter was looking into the rumors of vertabucks flying around, and simply teamed up to get back to civilization.”

“And unofficially” Golden preyed.

I huffed. “The Specter was my sister keeping tabs on me. It seems that even though I’m no longer part of Orthrus, I’m still a specter candidate. It’s more of an internal matter, Orthrus not wanting ponies to think that there is nepotism going on.” It was a half-truth, which I found better than any flat out lie could ever be. If Golden looked into it any further, he would likely stop after finding out that Rototom is my sister, which would keep Orthrus from thinking I told anypony sensitive information.

Golden Rule sat back and relaxed. “That sounds like Orthrus. Let me guess, you’re related to some pony from the R&D, security or scientist?”

I nodded. “My ancestors were members of security, one of them was even head of security before the R&D stable was abandoned.”

He chuckled. “Thought so, like with all the other groups in the metro, even Orthrus has its own royalty, even if they don’t openly say it.” Golden leaned in, dropping his voice to a whisper. “Few know this, but Harp’s father is actually a member of the Orthrus counsel. The rumors of mother taking the gene therapy is all lies, she just got too friendly during the last peace talks.” My wings shot up in surprise.

Okay, that was big news, real big news. There were only two stallions on the Orthrus counsel, an old goat of a pony, and a gay flirt.

I face hoofed. “Harp is Phorminx Melody’s daughter.” I double face hoofed. “And he had no children, and is the direct descendant of Maple Curie, the R&D’s last overmare.” I let out a stressed little laugh.

Golden raised an eyebrow, and sat back. “So I guess that makes her really important to Orthrus then?”

I took a deep breath to calm myself. Helping only a little. “At the very least she has a large inheritance, and culturally important bloodline. But let's say, due to political issues in the orphic Kingdom, she ends up staying with Orthrus, there may be ponies wanting her to take her father’s place. Then again, some may see her as part of the Orphic Kingdom trying to gain control of Orthrus.”

The stallion laughed. “My poor sister, by the nature of her birth, she is a political disaster.”

We didn’t have much more to talk about then the general news. Golden knew as much about his mother’s condition as anypony else. His interest in the railgun had more to do with internal politics, with some members of the royal guard being mirage ponies, and giving a gift of a railgun would help foster some loyalty to him. It seemed that he very much expected the worst to happen, and happening soon.

With little flair, three mirage ponies stepped into the room, all wearing business suits, one holding a gun case. “Good to see that everypony is here.” The speaker was a light brown mare with a yellow mane that was primed into ringlets. She looked at us all, her eyes stopping at me. “And one extra pony, always a good surprise to make new friends.” She bowed to me. “Names Kantele Brass Apple.”

“Vibraphone Echo” I responded.

She brushed her mane back, the ringlets bouncing to the side, “Welcome to the bullet club miss Echo. I’m sure you will enjoy your stay.” Kantele motion for the other two ponies to move onto the stage, where they opened up the case to reveal the railgun. The rifle looked a lot more industrious than that Rototom had, being bulkier, and with rivets and welds. Kantele stepped to the side of the rifle, and cleared her throat. “Now you all know that my family has always lead in the latest of personal protection. From the ministry mare of Wartime technology, to my own mother with the development of the IF-152 ‘Firebug.’ we make what the ponies need. Now many criticized the manufacturing of mouth fired flamethrowers, but in the end, my mother proved them all wrong.”

I nodded in agreement. I owned one of those, a bit heavy to use without a TK talisman, but was the most useful weapon to use on Twittermites, and not have to haul around a huge fuel tank. It was a must have backup gun, and the best intimidation gun. Sadly its intake valve corroded, so until I got it fixed, it collected dust.

The railgun levitated over us, allowing everypony to get a closer look. The thing was not simply bulkier, it looked like a completely different beast than the Orthrus railgun. “This is the IF-155 ‘Bad Seed’ it’s a light machine gun with a two hundred round capacity. Able to fire ten rounds before losing max charge, and can be hooked up to an external powersource, negating the need to be charged completely. Shooting inexpensive fifty caliber ball bearings, this gun isn’t going to be one of the best guns on the market, it is going to be ‘the’ gun on the market.”

My jaw dropped, the ‘Bad Seed’ was a war crime in the making, and not only that, its overall design made Flugelhorn’s plan an impossibility. Just by looking at it, Ironshod had given up on using high end batteries, and were using standard spark batteries, a little heavier, but less likely to explode. Also, with its ability to plug into an external power source, even if the battery could explode, the rifle would still sell.

I raised a hoof and got Kantele’s attention. “Why an LMG. It’s powerful sure, but is unlikely to compete with the Orthrus Railgun at long range.”

Kantele smiled. “True, so true. But when I was having the gun developed, I got to thinking. Why would I want to try to outmatch Orthrus. The answer was that I shouldn’t, I should find a market with an active need. So why an LMG, because there is a demand, and I seek to fill it.”

The brown suited republic pony raised her clipboard. “How soon will this going be on the market?”

Kantele chuckled. “As soon as you need it. I have fifty of them already built, and fifty currently under construction.”

“So you seek to replace the AG-4.” The sultry mare spoke up “I doubt any pony who uses them could afford this gun. It may be a big air gun, but the AG-4 is still the best turret gun in the metro.”

“True” Kantele responded. “But it lacks mobility. The AG-4 either needs a large air tank, or an industrial air pump to function at full strength. The IF-155 can do the same as the AG-4, but is more mobile, and powerful. I don’t assume it will replace the AG-4, I know it will replace the AG-4.”

Everyone remained silent for a minute, all in deep thought. I could see the use for a gun like this, even for me. Rototoms RG-3 ‘Zeus’ was a powerful rifle, but I was unlikely to get my hooves on it unless I became a Specter. The ‘Bad Seed’ was more Sweets style, something if she used, anything would die. If we could get our hooves on it, it would put us above most mercenaries in the metro, making it more likely we would get high paying jobs.

“I’ll put in an order for five of them” Golden Rule spoke up. “And five thousand rounds of ammunition”

“Two of the guns, and two thousand rounds.” The surly mare said in an amused tone.

The ganger pony cleared his throat. “Four, and four thousand.”

The republic pony scribbled on her clipboard for a few more seconds before looking up at Kantele. “Twelve guns, and twenty four thousand rounds of ammunition.”

Kantele looked over at me, making eye contact. When I didn’t say anything, she breathed a little ‘ha!’ placing the railgun back into the gun case, she stood on it. “Thank you all for your time and bits. You all will receive a complimentary pineapple wine, and please oversee our testing of the gun over at the showroom floor.” She then motioned over at me with her hoof. “Miss Dragon Slayer, if you have the time, please come with me.” The other two ponies with her left, taking the railgun with them.

Feeling it was in my best interest, I left with Kantele. Thinking about it, she probably had me pinned before I even entered Cornett’s shop.

“What did you think of my new product? Everypony’s been on and on about that damned energy musket, but with this, Ironshod will be back on top.” Kantele looked very smug with herself, it was a little annoying, but understandable after seeing the IF-155.

“I doubt It can blast off a paradise dragon’s head in one shot, but It probably could kill in less than ten shots. So, it’s probably going to be the first choice weapon for any pony that might deal with a dragon.” I was feeling nervous, and sweat was starting to mat my fur.

Kantele nodded. “I was hoping you say something like that, ponies with first hoof experience are often worth more than their weight in bits.” We trotted down a hallway to a lone door. “That’s why I’m so happy that you’re here. A bit miffed that you went to Cornett fist, but that’s neither here nor there.”

I entered the room to find Turnip and Rufus scarfing food down. They didn’t even pay me any mind when I sat at the table. The walls were decorated with guns, from the IF-1, to the IF-154, this room would impress even the most jaded gun collector. Kantele sat at the other end of the table, tapping on the table to get the attention of my two companions.

“Now to cut to the chase, I know that Cornett wanted you to do… something. Sabotage, or negotiations, I don’t know what, and I don’t care.” She pulled out a clipboard, and pushed it to me. “This is a contract I wish to make with Cornett. It’s for a joint construction of a hunting railgun. I want to sell a economic variation of the Orthrus RG-3, but have yet gotten around the problem of the battery exploding on us. If she agrees to the contract, and develops a working railgun that can compete with the RG-3, her company will receive royalties on every sale.”

“Aren’t you in completion with her?” I felt it was strange for Kantele to request this, ponies of the Trade Union tended to be stubborn in their completions over bits. “Why make a deal with her when you have a leg up?”

“The long and short, We need her.” Kantele said as she waved a hoof to the side in what seemed like a dismissive gesture. “Ponies like her have always been the ones to push an industry beyond what it is. You think it was a company like this that made the first military quality air gun? No, it was some mad inventor who was so pissed off at the young orphic kingdom, he made an airgun to support the rebels.” She sighed, plopping her hooves on the table with a clang. “The ‘Bad Seed’ may be a good gun, but I had to make so many shortcuts in its design that it make me want to throw up.”

“Wait, you designed that gun?”

Kantele covered her eyes. “Fuck ya I did, and it’s the ugliest piece of crap I have ever seen. I wanted my name to be attached to the most elegant gun of our generation, but all I made was a damn LMG. A fucking LMG!”

I passed the clipboard to Turnip, and he put it in his saddle bag. “So why didn’t you work with Cornett in the first place?”

She groaned. “Don’t you think that thought crossed my mind, but before I could make a deal, mother had already tricked her out of the plans. What am I supposed to do, go over to them and say ‘Sorry, but my mom’s the biggest bitch in the metro, you want to work together.’ Not going to happen.”

I slammed my hoof on the table, surprising Kantele. “Maybe that’s what you need to do. Go over there, apologise, and be an honest business pony. For fuck’s sake, Applejack was the element of honesty, and you’re related to her.” Kantele cowered back, and began to cry. Of which quickly devolved into hiccupping. Turnip and Rufus covered their ears. I pulled back my hoof, a bit shocked. “What’s wrong?”

She sniffled, trying to gain control of herself. “It’s a lie, all of it *hic* a lie. I’m no apple. My ma is not just a bitch, she’s *hic* a cheating whore. I was just an excuse to get pa to marry ma, he never *hic* did a DNA test, don’t think he wanted to *hic* know. But I did.” She started to wail again, I just waited for her to continue. “My real pa is some junky in Charon’s Stop.” She sniffled, collapsing on the table. “If I was *hic* pa’s real little gal, I would have made the *hic* best gun anypony ever saw.”

I was stunned, two scandalous confessions in a day, my brain did flips trying to process the information. My emotions bounced around, trying to figure out how I should feel, but only one emotion was clear, anger. I slammed my mechanical hoof on the table, denting it. “STOP WHINING, AND DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!” Kantele jolted up and stumbled back, falling to the ground. I got up onto the table, and she looked up at me with sore red eyes. “If your mother is such a whore like you say, then why did you let her get away with what she did? You want me to feel sorry for you, you who was born with a silver spoon in your mouth. Sorry, but you don’t get my sympathy.” I reared up, and slammed back down on the table, nearly putting my hooves through it, and making Kantele cower. “You have money and power, use it! You should march right over to Cornett, and rip up that copyright your company holds over them, show them you’re the better pony!”

“But…” I jumped off the table and landed by Kantele, putting my nose to hers.

“No buts, you will go over there for dinner, and present them the deal yourself.” She nodded, and I backed off. “Turnip, give her the paperwork” I took the clipboard, and threw it to the ground near her. Kantele collected herself, though still crying, and got up on all fours. “I’ll be there too, collecting my new gun.”

We left her there, I was unsure she would do as I said, but I was done with the bullshit, and needed a drink.

Club Three Dog was at the edge of the red light district, not far enough in it that a pony had to pass by the prostitutes to get in, but close enough to hear them call to you. Even if the mares were playing the part of stallions, they were too dressed up for me, not rugged enough to attract me. The Lucky Rabbit's Foot did have a stallion who had the look down, made me wonder why he was a stripper.

“Do they have food here?” Turnip asked. “I like the food, more be nice.”

His way of talking was slowly getting better, but he seemed to be picking up bad habits as well. Rufus barked, as though to agree with Turnip. I glared at the two, and they shrined back. “Food costs bits, if you want more food, we need to get some work done.”

Turnip nodded. “Work first, food later.”

I nodded back. “Good, I’ll do the talking, so just don’t do anything weird.”

“No weird, I just dance in club. Act like pony.” I could tell that he was smug with himself, mask be damned, I knew he had a smug look on his face.

The club was empty, it still being early in the day, so I was not surprised. But there was something off about it, a lone mop bucket sat in the middle of the dance floor.

*Click* the feeling of a barrel pressed to the side of my head.

“Now just stay calm girly, and nopony needs to get hurt.” A pony with a spiky black jacket held a pistol to my head. His eyes were dilated wide, his teeth chattering. Four other armed ponies pointed their guns around, all where in the same jacket. Bandits were in the club, and looked unstable. “Yet.” he said with a grin.

“This party is whack yo!” Turnip said as he walked in, Rufus right behind him wagging his tail.

All I was able to bring myself to say was. “Oh fuck me with Kantele’s railgun!” and raised my hooves up in surrender.

Footnote:

New Quest: No Goddesses, or Princesses, Only Mares.