Taking up a long stretch of a tunnel, the inside of the casino was just as flamboyant as the outside, bright lights pointing the way to game tables, slot machines, and one big arrow pointing at a big wheel. The sound were nonstop clicks, beeps, and laughter, with an odd moan now and then. Most ponies here had their best clothes on, trying to live the life of the wetly as they make themselves poorer, though the odd pony dose trot away richer, they were the exception.

As I followed Guitarrón further into the casino, I had to keep my eye on Turnip. I wasn't sure which was distracting the lurker more, the ponies in skimpy one piece bunny suites, the games, or simply sensory overload. I was a bit worried about him, and if he was going to be okay after all of this.

We wanted the next section of the casino, and the thick humid air smelled sickly sweet. Unlike the game floor, this part of the casino offered no hope of getting your bits back. Known as the pony auction, it had a stage in the middle of the room, a bunch of private rooms off to the side with their own small stage. A glorified brothel, the pony on the main stage would commonly auction themselves off to the heist bidder.

One of the private rooms was left open, and I could see the ponies inside. The working mare straddled a pole, bending over with flexibility that made me a little jealous, and was wrapped up with ribbon like a present. Upside down, she was giving one of the patrons a long kiss.

Not wanting to get caught staring, I pushed along, ignoring the debauchery, sadly Guitarrón had stopped to watch one of the strippers instead of moving to the next room. Irritated, I looked up at the mare, she had a glossy teal coat, dark blue mane, and she had what I would describe as a slutty stable pony outfit. The barding was basically just a corset, panties, and leggings. All of it held together with leather belts.

I poked Guitarrón. “I get you like this stuff, but I have things to do.”

He waved me off. “Just wait a moment, it’s almost at the good part.”

Sighing, I decided to humor the shadowrunner, though I couldn’t understand the appeal. Now it it was a stallion with a little extra fur on his face, maybe I’d be more inclined to enjoy this. The mare herself maneuvered on the pole with the kind of agility expected of an acrobat, twisting all the while in seductive poses. The mare suddenly sped up, climbing higher on the pole, and kicked off of it, right at us.

Guitarrón caught her in midair, spun around once, and finished with a kiss as she led back. Pulling her back onto her hooves, the stripper hugged Guitarrón, and he nuzzled her back. “Miss Echo, this is my wife Conga Pulse.”

Conga sized me up with her eyes, looking a bit unshared of me. “You don’t look like another floosy.” She tilted her nose up at me. “Just so you know, I can and will knock out a few teeth if you’re after my husband.”

I sighed. “No, thrice no. I’m here for a job, you can keep him.”

The look on Congas face went a blank for a moment. “So you’re here for that.” Her eyes shifted about. “Well don’t let me keep you from it.” She tugged on Guitarrón shirt. “Now come on sexy, there’s an empty room on the other side.”

Being dragged away by his wife, Guitarrón waved at me. “Just go to the far back room, you’re looking for the mare from Ironshod, the one in the red dress.” I nodded, and went on my way, not wanting to hear the two get close to each other.

The next area was a bunch of private rooms, of which I quickly passed. At the end of the casino was where the real business took place, as scantily clad ponies were replaced with ones in suits. There was a small cafeteria, with a few employees on break, one only with a pair of bunny ears on. A few of the desks were covered in paper, and busy ponies sorted through them, or scribbled on them.

As I looked around, a mare in a tight fitting black bunny suit stepped up to me. Surprisingly her front legs were natural, and decorated with cuffs near the hoof. Her back cyber legs were made smooth and were a matted grayish black, making it look like she had stockings on. The mare’s coat was a solid white, and her mane a carrot orange. The bunny mare look fit her a bit too perfectly. “Miss, are you lost? Unless you have business back here, I’ll have to ask you to leave.” She had a firm but gentle voice, which commanded my attention without feeling threatening.

“Yes, I was asked to come. Something about your boss having a job for me. Name’s Vibraphone Echo, but some ponies have been calling me dragon slayer.”

The mare scratched her chin, looking me up and down like Conga did. “Hmm… Must be for the bodyguard work.” She reached out a hoof, and I reciprocated, shaking it.” I’m the head manager of this place, Citole Serenaded.” She pointed to a door at the back. You will find my mother there, but you might want to wait a few minutes, she’s currently training a new higher.”

I looked at the time on my pipbuck, it was nearly noon now, about lunch time. “Sorry but I have things to do later today, so the sooner this is done the better.”

Citole stepped out of my way. “Just remember that I warned you.” That gave me a bad feeling.

Opening the door, my nose was assaulted with smoke and incenses. The smoke had a pungent smell to it, tobacco to be sure, but mixed with something else. The incense on the other off was a more pleasant smell of flowers, mint, and a few other herbal smells.

Inside was a colorfully decorated room, with the walls covered by tapestries, the ceiling having curtains draping from it, and pillows everywhere. In the middle was a large round bed, the inside blocked by a thick red curtain. Stepping closer, the sound of a moan made me regret not waiting a few more minutes.

Opening the curtain, my eyes were assaulted with the sight of a mare mounting a stallion. It was the mare from Ironshod, still in her red dress, and slowly moving her hips as she arched her back. Clearing my throat to get her attention, I also hoped to end the sound of two bodies of flesh rubbing up on each other.

The mare didn’t stop her mounting, instead leaned backwards, a move that got a moan from the stallion, and looked at me upside down. “Oh, hello there!” she said without an ounce of shame.

Pushing back the feeling of just walking away, and swallowing it down. “I was told you have a job for me?”

She smiled, and giggled. Leaning back forward, she lifted a leg and spun around, something that made the stallion go limp. “Miss Echo, it’s good to see you.” She reached out and picked up a long pipe that was sitting in a stand on the bead near her with her cyber hoof, the digits looking more fine-tuned than my own. Sucking in the smoke, she held onto it for a few seconds before tilting her head up, and letting out a stream of smoke. “We never were formally introduced were we. My names Vielle Serenaded. I’m the owner of this establishment, and a representative in the Capital Group of the Trade Union.”

My ears drooped. Not only was she a nympho business mare, but a Politician too. “Just so you know, involving me in political battles triples my cost.”

Vielle pointed at me with the pipe. “Smart mare. You’d be surprised how much more a Politician will pay just for the sake of paying more.” She placed the pipe back in her mouth, berthing it in. “But no, I have other more reliable ponies for that.” The smoke escaped from her mouth as she talked, sending a small part of the cloud to me. It finally hit me to what was one of the other smells in the smoke, Cannabis.

Not interested in getting high, I took a step back. “Citole said it was bodyguard work. Just so you know, I have other work later in the day, so I can’t do an all day job.”

Smiling, she pulled herself off the stallion. I looked away, trying to ignore the sound of seeming flopping over. “That’s fine, I just need you to look after one of my ponies for a short job.” She got off the bed and trotted to a cupboard, I could see some liquid stuck to one of her back legs, making me shiver a little. Pulling out an envelope, she trotted over to me, the pipe still in her mouth. “Take this.” She hoofed over the envelope.

Taking it, I looked back at the mare. “And this is for?”

“A simple package you will be delivering” She said in a sing song way. “The bodyguard part is just half of the job I want you to do. The poor, poor stallion does need some pony to look after him, you know mares right, some them need a black eye to learn not to touch unless given perdition.”

Remembering one of my last times here, a mare did jump up onto the stage and got real close to the stallion. She got dragged out of the casino by her hooves. “Right, and the envelope? Or is this a blindfold deal?”

Vielle shook her head. “Don’t worry, if I was going to send a pony over there uninformed, I would have higher the syndicate for the job. Something that would be counterproductive to my business.” She took a long breath of her pipe, blowing the smoke into the air. “The envelope has the video evidence of a client doing something real stupid, scandal level stupidity. You're delivering the envelope to that client's mother, it will be up to her to decide on what to do with it.”

I almost face hoofed. “So this is what, blackmail material for family to use on each other?”

Chuckling, Vielle took another puff on her pipe. “Quite certainly. It’s the sign of good parenting when the parent will go out of their way to correct their child’s bad behavior. Uncorrected children grow up to be damaged adults, and damaged adults are bad for business.”

“Wait, but you have to be an adult to even come here in the first place?”

She sighed. “True, but said client is still young enough to learn. And their family is wealthy, so I’m willing to give a little help in hopes to not have more trouble down the tracks. It also help keep my business's reputation from getting slandered, something that’s a full time job on it’s own.” She placed her pip down on the desk. “And that’s why I want you, and not some syndicate lackey to deliver this. They only know how to threaten and extort, not the best way to deliver a friendly message from one mother to the next. But sending the Dragon slayer, it would be like getting a movie start to do it, something a pony does not simply ignore.”

Thinking about it, it did make sense. Vielle wanted to maintain a healthy relationship with her clientele, or at least with her wetly patrons. My job was to help resolve an issue that could poetically get worse if not dealt with carefully. “Ok I understand. I protect your employee, deliver the envelope to the appropriate mare, and let them know who I am.” I placed the envelope in an inside pocket of my jacket. “Is that correct.”

Vielle smiled. “This is why I love working with professionals, always to the point. My daughter will fill you in on where you’re going, and who you will be looking after. She will also discuss your payment.” She took a step back and trotted back to the bed. “Now if you ever want a good bump and grind, come see me, I’m sure I can teach you a few new tricks.” Daughter winked at me, and I shook my head. “A shame.”

Not wanting to stick around to see her mount the stallion again, I left. Turnip was sitting in the cafeteria with Citole, whom looked a little confused. The lurker had his mask off, and was eating a donut. As I stepped closer, Citole saw me and waved me over.

“What’s the matter?” I damn well knew what the matter was.

She glanced at Turnip, and back at me. “I’ve never seen somepony with cybernetics like that before, it looks too organic.” She whispered to me.

At this point I didn’t feel like playing along, the sight of cum on her mother’s leg was still stuck in my mind. “That’s because it’s not cybernetics. Turnip here is a Lurker, blue blood and all.”

Citole cocked an eyebrow at me. Her head slowly turned to Turnip, seeing him nibble on the donut, carefully eyeing. After what seemed like a minute, she slowly turned her head to me. “How?”

“They live on the big island, Future Park. That’s about all I can really say.” I sat down at the table, pulling an unopened bottle of Metri-Cola to me. “They weren’t very interested in talking about themselves too much. Still talkative, just suspicions of us.”

She scratched her chin, still looking confused about the lurker. “Strange times. Well whatever he is, I thinking it’s best to not let my mother know about him, She a mare of many tastes.” It took me a moment to understand what she had suggested, sending a shiver up my spine.

I waved Turnip over, and he gave me a nod, trotting over. “So about this job, I’ve got around six hours before I have to pick up my guns. Cornett was adamant that I stop over for dinner.” Turnip sat at the table like it was perfectly normal for him to be here, His face looking satisfied, covered in frosting. I rolled my eyes at him, knowing that he was simply a harmless silly Lurker. “I rather not upset the ponies tuning up my guns.”

Citole paused for a moment, obviously thinking. “Cornett, as in Cornett’s guns and knives?” I nodded, and she smiled. “Interesting.” The smile grew bigger. “You know what, if you can get me in on that dinner, I might have something better then bits to pay you.”

I didn’t know to be concerned, or be interested. I picked the middle ground of cautiously interested. “Why, and what’s better than bits?”

The mare waved at one of her coworkers. “Can you bring over some soda, and soup?” A bunny mare nervously gathered, and delivered what her manager asked for. Metro-cola, and Punga soup. I was not going to complain about the soda, and the soup was far harder than what I normally would have, so not going to complain about that either. “Just a quick question, what do you think of Flugelhorn?” Citole blushed as she asked the question.

The question almost killed my appetite. It was easy to see what she wanted me to do, I’ve seen it many times, and it was the look of a mare who wanted a stallion. “He’s an ass.” Was my response.

“Ah, what?” Her face contorted in confusion.

I had to take a deep breath before explaining. “Sorry, but I don’t know much about him. He’s a hard worker, that’s for sure. A bit vindictive, but from what he has to deal with, that’s natural. Other than that, well, I don’t know, he’s not my type.”

“I see” Citole scratched her chin. “Well… if you do this job, and get me in on this dinner. I can give you something you can get real use out of. Like a new pair of back legs. The kind that has no cut corners, or cheap internals. I know we have a few spare ones we can give out, what do you say?”

I had to pause and think about it. I did like my back legs, though they were the bare bones skeletal type, strong and reliable. But it never felt like it was me, I liked rugged stallions, but I liked to be pretty, something I couldn’t really do with my current back legs. “Hmm, fine. I’ll do your job, and get you in on the dinner. But you better have the legs ready for me.”

Citole smiled. “Not a problem. I’ll be waiting for you at Cornett” She pulled out a bag, and a sixteen dice fell out. They were four different colors, blue, green, red, and yellow. “Now that that’s over with, let’s play a game until Bagpipe gets here.”

Dice games were a specialty of the Lucky Rabbit's foot. The games were simple, but addictive. I looked at the dice and knew what kind of game she wanted to play. “Twenty one dots is it.” Citole nodded.

“What’s that?” Turnip spoke up, having finished drinking his metro-cola. “I like games, can I play, Kindly?”

I almost faced hoofed. “Do you have any bits Turnip?”

He looked at me, yes, but do you?”

I paused at his question, and relished he had all my bits in his bag.

“Then I play” Turnip opened up his saddlebag, and pulled out all of our bits. And then some. There was seventy eight bits in total, turnip kept forty four bits, a lent me thirty four bits. The asshole was mocking me with my own bits. “What twenty one dots?” he asked, all too cheerful.

Citole chuckled. “It’s a simple game. We all get four six sided dice, and try to roll twenty one. At the start of the game we all put bits into the pile, and make a role. Whoever has twenty one, or the heist number without going over twenty one wins, but any pony can pay for a reroll. Every reroll cost at least a bit, and can be raised every turn, with whom raising the amount up to a different pony every turn. The game ends when no pony is willing to add more to the pot, and the winnings are divide the bits among winners.”

Turnip nodded. “Get twenty one dots and win, have to pay in bits to play. I can do it.”

The game started, and went on for a few minutes. 1, 5, 5, 6 for Turnip. 2, 3, 4, 6 for me, and 1, 4, 4, 6 for Citole. Turnip payed in for his 1 to be re rolled, getting a 6, ending his game at 22. I played in for the 2, 3, and 4 to be re rolled, getting a 1, 3, 6, only raiding my number by one, bringing it to 16. Citole payed in to re-rolled her 1, getting a 4, putting her on top with 18. I raided the pot by a bit, and re rolled my 1, and 3, getting a 4, and 4, giving me a 20. Citole pushed for a moment, and played in, playing two of her 4’s, getting a 3, and a 2. Dropping her to 15.

I smiled at her, and she frowned. “Giving up?” I mockingly asked, and she shook her head and placed a bit.

The 2, and 3 were re-rolled, getting a 2, and 4, giving her a 16. I held, and she played in, rolling the 2, getting a 5. A 19 was a good number, but I still had 20, so I held. She rolled another 4, getting a 1. I raided the pot all the way, every bit turnip gave me, she met it, rolling a 5.

I was a little annoyed, even breaking even I still lost some of my bits. We played a few more games, Citole winning mostly, but never getting more than few bits from me. I’d be a fool to think I could win against a casino boss in the long run, so I didn’t gave her the opportunity to clean me out after the first game.

Bagpipes eventually showed up, ending the game of twenty one. The pony was not what I expected, with the best word to describe was being cute. The pony had a light pink mane and tail that was a little longer than what most ponies normally had, and the coat which was a creamy light green. On the pony was a tight fitting red bunny outfit that hugged to every curve, and their face had the right mix of embarrassment and resolve. Short, the pony was not a runt, but significantly smaller then me, just a bit taller then Turnip. Cute was the capital word to describe bagpipe, so was stallion.

“This is bagpipe, one of our more desirable employees. Also one that needed extra protection from the mares.” Citole said in an annoyed tone. “I can see why other mares would like him, but I swear, the fuck is wrong with them. Just because he is cute does not give them listens to try to molest him. Seriously some self-respect.” Citole eyed me. “What about you, thinking about jumping the bone with him?”

I ferruled my brow at her, and sighed. “I like the more rugged type, thank you.” Waving my hoof dismissively, and trotted up to Bagpipes. “So you’re my ward for the day. Just let me know if there's trouble, and I’ll make it go away.”

Bagpipes nodded. “Thank you miss...” His voice even sounded like a small mare, almost made me want to give him hug, of which I resisted.

“Vibraphone Echo.” I responded.

He nodded. “I feel it will be a pleasure working with you.”

Citole cleared her throat. “Now that you know each other, time to inform you about where you’re going?” She took a deep berth. “You too will be visiting ‘Free Mare’ plantation. The owner’s son has requested special serves, of which my mother has denied. Instead she has scheduled a counseling service to help the boy through his issues.” She pointed at Bagpipe. “This is a very important job, so you will receive triple pay upon receiving a request for your return.” Her hoof then pointed at me. “Your job is to make sure he arrives at his destination, and the section goes smoothly. This is not some escort job, so if he starts getting touchy, shut it down.” We both nodded. “Good. Now that that’s over, I have work to get back to.” She gave us a glance. “Also be careful, lately I’ve been hearing about muggings in that part of the island, so keep an eye out for them.”

Turnip smiled. “I’ll keep an eye out for mugs.” The cyber dog looked up at him and rolled his eyes.

Nodding, Bagpipes and I left the casino, and trotted to the train. Turnip and Rufus stayed back, to not crowd our new companion, and draw even more attention to ourselves. It was odd escorting a very mare looking stallion in a bunny suit, but this was the job, and I hoped the reward will be worth it.

____________________________________

On our way to the train we did get a few looks, mostly at Bagpipe, which didn’t bother me, but the petite stallion didn’t seemed to like it too much. Most didn’t do more then look, and any that attempted to get too close were meant with my glare, which seemed to do the trick in keeping the ponies back.

After passing through the checkpoint, and paying them their bit, we were off to the next station. I didn’t like the idea of going to another station without a gun on me, I already had to deal with bandits once. ‘

“Th… thanks for agreeing to this.” Bagpipes spoke up. “It’s been difficult for me to get work lately.”

Looking at him, the way he was sitting was cute, though all he was doing was hiding his bulge with his front hooves, it gave him a venerable look to him. No, he was not my type, but just looking at him made me want to give him a hug. “Why’s that? I’m sure that most mares would want to spend some alone time with you.”

He shook his head, the bunny ears flopped around almost hitting me. “No, well yes, I’ve gotten some offers, but I can’t. You see, I’m married, and have two adorable foals. I don’t want to ruin things for them, not even if it meant getting every bit we need faster.”

Well that answers one question, yes, the overly adorable male that many mares want to molest, is in fact, already taken. “So I’m guessing your family has money troubles?”

“Yes. You see, my wife got sick, so it’s going to be another month before she can get back to work, mostly so she doesn’t spread the illness.” Bagpipe shuffled a bit, having a hard time getting comfortable. “The problems is that we rely on her income to get through the time when I’m not working. I would have gotten a normal job, but you know how Pineapple Island is.”

I nodded. It was a working ponies island, were if you didn’t have a job, you didn’t live on the island. Because of that, every job has heavy competition for it. “So how did you end up as a bunny pony?”

Bagpipe looked around nervously. “It kind of happened fast, a bit of a blur really. I had stopped by the job placement office, to you know, and bumped into Citole. She told me that I could get an excellent short term job if I went with her. Manageable hours, for pay plus benefits, and a good looking uniform.”

I had to hold back a laugh. “Let me guess, then you found yourself in a bunny suit, and thrown into a room with a stallion?”

He paused. “Not quite, I was put into a bunny suit, and then given an evaluation.” He tipped his head up a bit, looking a little proud of himself. “Turns out they had been looking for a pony with my skill set, so they were not going to simply use me as eye candy.”

“Skill set?” I asked.

Bagpipe lifted a hoof up to his mouth in surprise. Even his mannerisms he was feminine. “Oh sorry, I didn’t tell you. My real job is a teacher, my subject is pony psychology. After finding that out, Citole wanted me to work as an in house psychologist.”

“And the bunny outfit?”

He sighed. “They told me that it was the casinos work uniform, so I had to keep wearing it.”

I had to keep myself from laughing even more, poor Bagpipe, he was too cute looking for his own good. “So it’s a safe guess that you’re going to the Free Mare Plantation to give a pony some consoling?”

Bagpipe nodded. “If things go well, yes. From what I’m told, the plantations owner’s son has been developing a drinking problem, something that can easily get worse.”

“Ya, I was told something scandalous happened.”

He leaned in, and whispered to me. “Well as it turns out he’s gay, and it seems the presser for him to take a mare is what’s fueling his drinking habit.”

Thinking about it, it made sense. As far as most of the islands are concerned, there are no gay stallions. We all knew they exist, but the general though was that they should still take a mare and have foals. Orthrus, like with most things, had a hoof off policy when it came to how ponies wished to make a family, but the rest of the islands tended to look down on homosexuality.

“Well, if he gets too grabby with you, just let me know.” I clasped my hooves together. “You know how most stallions are, thinking with the wrong head and all that.”

Bagpiped sighed. “You’re not wrong, but you’re not right either.”

____________________________________

We arrived at Free Mares Station, obviously home to Free Mares Plantation. The atmosphere at this station was completely different, though the artistic style was still the same, from the first step inside I could feel how much more laid back everything felt.

There were no bustling crowds of ponies with places to be, or ponies at the corner, shouting for your attention. What was here were a few small stalls for placing orders for large quantities of food, and just as few ponies sitting around. I had heard about how slow passed the food production stations were, where the work was hard, but spread out over the entire day. It made everything here look so peaceful, but from knowing our history, when something goes wrong, their first ones to be burned. Something we learn time, and time again.

A mare in a sun hat and overalls trotted over to us, she had the biggest grin on her face. “Hello ladies, are you lost? Got off the wrong train?”

Bagpipes shook his head. “No, were just on our way to the Free Mares Plantation.”

The mare’s smile persisted. “I see, then would you like an escort? It’s a mighty distance from here on hoof.”

“Sorry, but we will be fine.” Bagpipe answered.

The mare got closer, and was now creeping me out. “I don’t know, things have been getting dangerous lately. You know, been hearing about robberies.”

I stepped between them, and stared down the mare. “I think you should go.”

She backed off. “I get it, you're both strong mares, need no help.” Trotting away, I could hear her grumble something, probably the word ‘cunt’

Looking back to Bagpipe, he looked a little concerned, but overall fine. “Let’s go before more creepers show up.” He nodded, and we were off.

The humidity went up the closer we got to the plantation, as well as the number of busy ponies. At first it was just ponies involved in shipping products from or to the plantation, but further we went in, more and more general labor ponies were around us. They gave us a few looks, some even whistled at Bagpipe, but none broke away from their work.

I wasn’t worried about anypony here doing anything stupid, as it would cost them their job. On this island, if you don’t have a means to support yourself, you didn’t live on this island. It’s why I didn’t live on this island, the rent was a pain in the flank, and my line of work was not stable enough in pay.

Passed the ponies, we entered the main area of the plantation, and into were much of the plants were being grown. Walls and walls of pineapples, tomatoes, and cucumbers were being grown here. The system had them all hanging on racks, which would slowly rotate, and allowed all the plants to get light and water evenly. It was all tightly compact as possible, growing the maximum amount of food in the smallest space, making the plantation was a wall of green all around.

The labor ponies would moves along the rows, picking the ripe fruit, or trimming overgrown plants back. Everything was moving, creating a constant hum of noise that surrounded me.

Pass all the plants, the main office was a lot calmer, with the radio playing in the background, and more space to relax. A mare behind a desk, looked over some paperwork, reminding me a bit of Flugalhorn. Stepping up to her, my shadow caught her attention. “Excuse me, I believe that were expected.”

The mare pulled a book over to her, and flipping through the pages. She looked up for a moment, eyeing Bagpipe. “Yes, you're here.” her voice was a bit nasally, and had a hint of hint of strain to it. “You’re here on behalf of the Lucky Rabbit's Foot, right?” We nodded. “Proceed on the door to your left, I’ll contact the mistress.”

We entered another waiting room, but this one was far better decorated. Mainly with plants growing in the corner, a fresh cucumber teased me in the distance, but also artwork hung from the wall. One painting caught my eye, it being of a pony holding a curved sword, facing off a wave of water as the pony stands on a cliff. I knew it was meant to be symbolic, but the meaning escaped me.

The music on the radio, a soft piano and saxophone duo, slowly faded out. ‘Hello, you are listening to radio channel one, music and news. I’m your host Domra Oakwood.’ The voice was that of a stallion, one of the common voices on radio one. The station rarely had anything interesting to say, but did keep the public informed about trade law, and the goings on between the Orphic Kingdom and the trade union. The music was not so bad either, mostly being Jazz and Swing, it was a good alternative to Club Three Dog's station, which focused on dance and electronic.

‘The Orphic royal court still has no common of the current state of Queen Gilded Gold. My fear that she has fallen to serious illness, but others have suggested that it is but a simple illness, and she simply refuses to have the public see her in a weakened state.’ I’d be inclined to believe the latter, but with everything I have been hearing about her lately, it was more likely the former. ‘The Orphic ponies are restless nonetheless, though princess Rare Pearl is next in line to take the thrown, many are unsure that is a transition takes place, that it will be a smooth one.’

My thoughts drifted to Golden Rule, and how he was getting ready for the worst. Didn’t know much about Rare Pearl, but it didn’t sound like she everything under control.

‘In other news, the Republic has once more partitioned for more stations to join them. One station did take their offer, but the rest remained skeptical. Though the republic’s reputation has slowly improved over the years, many ponies are still suspicious, as passed the border stations, it’s still an information blackout. The republic's president Garmon Keys still states that the blackout is for the citizen’s privacy, and protection. He also added that it was us to his citizen to lift the blackout, and that it continues because the public wishes for it.’

I was not all that interested in the politics involving the republic, but it was hard to avoid where I lived. The republic’s border stations were a nice enough place to live, with low income housing, proper law enforcement, and enough room to install an automatic shower, there was little I’d complain about. The one big complaint, I did have was how the republic's propaganda was everywhere, sometimes it made me wish Orthrus would stop it with their natural game, and start running stations directly.

‘One more bit of news, and this one’s about our rival Marewaii station 5-0.’ my ears perked up. ‘It seems that there was a disturbance at the station, not enough to take them off the air, but six body bags were seen being taken out of the club. When asked for comment, DJ Cerberus was mostly tight lipped. She did tell us that the club was being robbed, and a pony known as the Dragonslayer intervened. An Orthrus investigator at the scene supported the DJ’s statement, and added that the deaths are seen as self defense. Now we at station one do not condone violence, but we also understand that if you have the right to defend yourself, so to this Dragonslayer, good job.’

And the new nick-name continues to grow fame. Not that I didn’t like the name, far better than being named after the cloths I where, it just felt a little too much.

‘And that’s it for the news, tune in in two hours, and I’ll be interviewing minister Komabue Whisper, and her recent push for the Trade Union to work more closely to Orthrus. Her actions have divided the Union, and she will be here today to explain why.’

Music once more filled the room, this time swing. The sound of trumpets played alongside a guitar, with an energetic rhythm. I could see Bagpipe tap his hooves to the rhythm, it almost feeling contagious.

The peace was broken by the entrance of an older mare holding a small case, of which I assumed was the plantation owner, and two assistants that reminded me a bit of the maids with Golden Rule. They had a uniform on, but it was more business casual then the adorable outfits that the maids had on. The older mare looked all business in her gray suit, short cut main. She had a yellow cote any green making, reminding me a bit of a pineapple. But among the most distinct features she had, two cables came out of her neck and attached to a head terminal that she wore like glasses. The terminal simply looked like large blue tinted glasses, but I could see text scrolling in them, something almost impossible to read unless a pony was plugged into it.

She lifted the terminal and her eyes scanned the two of us. “You must be the mares sent by Vielle… you’re late.” The terminal fell back over her eyes. “Never the matter.” she pointed to Bagpipe. “I have a room ready, full privacy, just follow my assistances.”

Bagpipe got up, and bowed. “Thanks for your time mama.” The two assistants led him out of the room, closing the door behind them.

Alone in the room with the plantation owner, I watched as she trotted over and sat next to me. She pushed her terminal up and over her ears, and sighed. “What a mess.” she shook her head and looked over at me. “Names Khlui Rapping” She extended a hoof, and I shook it.

“Vibraphone Echo, also known as Dragonslayer.” I pulled out the envelope, and passed it to her.

Khlui smiled, taking the envelope. “Vielle never disappoints. In and out of bed.” She opened up the envelope, sliding out a compact holotype, and looked at it for a moment before putting it back inside. a letter was underneath, of which Khlui opened up and read. “You know I was fully expecting her to sell this to a rival of mine, not use it as an excuse to ask me out on a date.” She sighed once more, placing a letter in her pocket.

“From what I’ve seen, she's going to want more than a date.” I couldn't help but make a comment on the situation. I’ve only know Vielle for a short time, and I had a feeling that she was on the nympho side.

“Naturally.” Khlui responded. “I wonder if she is as flexible as she was when we were young?”

I face hoofed. “Please don’t, just no.”

Khlui chuckled. “Hey, you could learn a thing or two.” looking away from me, she took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. “But thanks for seeing Vielles little physiatrist here. My boy’s been nothing but a pain this year, I hope this might help get him to calm down.” She shifted her eyes over at me, not moving her head. “I’m sure you didn’t have a problem getting here?”

I shook my head. “Other than a creepy mare, no, no problem at all.”

She relaxed. “Good, good. Lately some ponies have been harassing my workers. It’s been getting a lot worse lately.” She placed the small case in front of her, and smiled. “I’ve heard you're a mare who can get things done.”

I shook my head. “Sorry, but I’m no hit pony, you're going to have to look elsewhere for that.”

“A hit pony, I’d never.” Khlui opened the box, and pulled out what was a retractable baton. “I just need somepony to deliver a message for me. Some pony I can trust to do the job right. Can’t use my own ponies, that just make them a target, and can't hire a mercenary from a broker, they may use it as an opportunity to screw me over. So you Miss Dragonslayer are my best bet at resolving this issue while I still have some control over the situation.”

It was starting to click with me, this was probably the real job. Vielle sent me here because I’m both below the radar, and above it. If I do this job, it’s unlikely any of the tugs will come after me later, as they don’t know who I am, and even if they know me as Dragonslayer, they don’t have my real name. But the reputation I do have would pin me with Orthrus at the most, and with Orthrus have a hooved off stance on most things, most ponies feel safe that they will not suddenly turn into a tyrannical state.

I had to ask one more question. “Why not call Orthrus, they do run security on this island?”

Khlui waited for a moment before answering, as though picking her words carefully. “Orthrus is… good at what they do, I do agree with this. But in this situation, there not going to be much help. You're going to have to trust me on this.”

I was now feeling a little curious about the situation. “And what is this message?” I gave into her request, and hoped I was not making a mistake.

A bolt of electricity arced from the tip of the baton as Khlui glanced at me. “Get off my lawn. Mess with the rad board, get the tusks. Play with fire and get burned.” She retracted the baton, and hoofed it over to me. “You can choose, I just need them to not come back”

I took the baton, and placing it under my jacket. “Fine, I’ll have a little talk with them, see if we can avoid a seen.”

Khlui nodded. “That would be for the best.” She hoofed over compacted hollow tape over to me. “This will allow you to get to where the ruffians hang out without having to take the long way. I’ve been locking all the non-essential doors to slow them done, but they have a skilled hacker with them, so it didn’t do much.”

“I have one more thing to ask, what did your son do?”

She sighed. “Same thing I did at his age, got involved with a stripper.” She laughed. “Now that I think about it, my mother did something similar. Actually, I don’t think there is one strait pony in my family, I know my husband like to pretend he is.”

I had to chuckle. “You should tell me about it later.” Khlui gave me a smile and nod, and I was off. I normally didn’t get too friendly with a client, but being on friendly terms with a plantation owner tended to have really good benefits. If I played my cards right, I could easily move out of my old place, onto this island, and have and easy going job. Could even bring sweet with me

____________________________________

After regrouping with Turnip and Rufus, we followed the nav point set by Minerva. The two had been trailing us the whole time, but were prevented from going further into the plantation. As it turned out, Turnip is good at making friends, and they played a game of dice until I arrived. None of them were beating any bits, but simply having a friendly game. Rufus won most of the rounds.

We ended up in an older less used part of the metro. From the looks of it, it was a Stable-Tec construction warehouse, converted into storage by the plantation. When the metro was first being made, this was where much of the supplies, and machinery entered, and later sealed up tight, and converted for other uses. The place still had the large drill machine used to dig out the tunnel, though it had long been striped for parts. Other skeletons of old machine sat around this place, doing nothing more than rust.

Five ponies sat around a lamp, playing cards, and smoking cigarettes, drinking what looked like bottles of booze, and being quite loud about it. I made the assumption that these were the ponies I was looking for, and trotted over to them.

One of the group got up and trotted over to me, keeping me at the edge of the light. The pony had a creepy grin on her face, and a sun hat on. No doubt, it was the pony who offered to give me directions. “Now you must be lost if all are down here. Ya see this is what happens when you turn down a friendly strangers offer to help. You make a right fool of yourself.” Definitely the mare from before. “Here, why don’t you come sit with us, we're almost done with our game here.”

I signaled to Rufus and Turnip to stay where they were before following the mare. I was going to follow along for now, and see if this situation could be resolved peacefully. The group were all mares, no surprise there, and had that delinquent look to them. Their manes had neon colors added to them, and their tails looked like they were assaulted with a blender filled with paint. They all had jumpsuits on, but modified with the kind of patches I would see in trendy shops, lots of skills and heart. One mare even had a spiked dog collar on, even had a ring for a leash. If I didn’t know better, I say that they were bandits, but they lacked that wild look in their eyes, the kind a pony gets from living like a savage.

Sitting among the group, I could see that they were much younger then I was, probably between seventeen and nineteen. I could also see that they were all armed with Digger Guns, the cheap 12 gauge shotgun pistols could only fire one before needing to be reloaded, but that didn’t make them any less deadly. One Ganger had her digger gun modified with a stock and extended barrel, probably making her the sniper of the group. The rest had unmodified guns, though all the guns were decorated with pink hearts. I was now worried I was at a gun slinging sleepover party, where we paint out hooves before shooting at each other.

The mare in the sunhat sat next to me, her grin still creepy as fuck. “So what happened to the tramp? Let me guess, Taphon showing her the Rapping family fucking.”

That escalated quickly. “Ah... no.” The gang of mares all looked agitated, their eyes on us two. “That’s not why she's there.”

Sun Hat tilted her head in the way when you know someone is hog shitting you, or at least you think they are. But her smile didn't fade, actually her whole face started to look forced in place. “Don’t lie to me!” I decided I needed to get a closer look, so I leaned closer to her face. “What!” her face flushed, but nothing on it moved. “Hey I’m not into that.”

It was faint, but I could see the slight signs of scars under her coat, all over her face. She was not smiling, her face was paralyzed into looking like that. I pulled back, and furrowed my brow. “What happened, who did that to you?” No pony made a noise, they all looked at us disquietly.

Sun Hat scooted back and pointed her hoof at me. “SHUT UP, WHAT DO Y’ALL KNOW?”

I hit a nerve. I had a few ideas of my own, but I didn’t want to say the wrong thing. “Not much as it turns out. So why don’t you tell me about it.”

She seemed to relax a little. “And what should I tell y’all anything?”

I pulled out the baton, extending it. One of the mares jumped when it extended. I then turned on the power, bolts of electricity sparking of the baton. The made the rest jump. It was confirmed for me, they were just a bunch of kids. “First off, I want to know, were you the one harassing the plantation?”

The mares looked among each other, and one seemed to puff herself up. “Ya, why the fuck do you care.” Sun Hat tossed an empty can at the loud mare, pulling the attention back to herself.

“What she means is fuck you.” Sun Hat said, placing a hoof in a pocket.

I turned off the baton, and dropped it. “I’m not here for a fight, I just needed to know.”

Sun Hat took her hoof from her pocket, and relaxed again. “Fine, whatever.” she huffed.

I pulled out my combat knife, it still covered in the dried blood of the bandits, and dropped it. “Good, because I already killed three ponies today, and I think the blood is starting to make my skin isch.” The five mares were taken aback, one falling from the box she was sitting on, and hiding behind it.

Sun Hat nodded. “Yes mam.” Everything about her had tensed up. I could imagine what she must have been thinking; to her I was a killer, who did not fear them, and purposely dropped my weapons. I must have his a primal fear.

“You see.” Sun Hat continued. “I use to date Taphon, the plantations owners oldest, we dated for a long time.” I can already see how that ended. “I well wanted it to be more, told him I wanted to be with him, yakow, forever. But the damn fool freaked out, said he was not ready, that he needed space. I don’t know why.” Answer, he’s gay. “Well I was heartbroken, but my papa talk me that if the saddle falls of, you just have to put it back on again, so I didn’t give up. Well, news of him being single got around, and the mares came running, depart whores.”

I had a good idea what happened next in the story, when a lot of mares gather for the attention of a stallion, it can get ugly, especially for the mares closest to the stallion. “So a fight happened I guess?”

Sun Hat shook her head. “No, Taphon formally turned them all down, said the same thing he told me, but calmer. They all went away, but they didn’t give up, sending him letter, their underwear.” I shivered at the last part. “I tried to tell him that if he didn’t take me back, then they would not stop. But the damn fool turned stubborn. Well, not long after that, som… some..” tears started to fall from her face. “I ah, don’t want to talk about it.”

“Don’t worry, I understand.” I didn’t think I wanted to know how her face got paralyzed.

“FUCK YOU!” Sun Hat spat on the ground. “What do you know, nothing that’s what!” She put her hoof into her pocket, and pulled out an enforcer, placing the revolver in her mouth, and pointed it at me.

Now I was taken aback. The Digger guns I understood, but to have a enforcer, she would have had stolen it, or be part of Orthrus. I face hoofed. “Your part of Orthrus. Fuck me, this is getting stupid.”

Sun Hat growled. “uck yaa, a ar o ortis.” The idiot spoke through her gun.

The mare who fluffed up her chest before, took a step forward, looking more confident. “What sis is saying is, fuck you, you dumb ass bitch.” I wanted to smack her, I wanted to smack her good.

The pony who was behind the small box whimpered before raising her head and speaking up. “Dollu!” now I had a real name for Sun Hat. “Stop this, ma and pa will be mighty pissed if they knew you pulled a gun on a pony.” She looked over at the other two, and glared at them.

One of the two spoke up first. “We don’t want to get ma’s bet again.”

“Ya, our backsides still red from the last time.” The second finished.

And this got a whole lot dumber, this was not a gang, this was a family. This changed the dynamics a lot, like that they weren't going to abandon their sister no matter what I do. Family’s family.

I kept my hooves up, trying to not be threatening. “You need to calm down… Dollu was it. I’m not here for a fight.”

“Wll, ob bg!” She was preparing herself to shoot the gun, anything I do now could get me shot.

“Dollu, listen to me.” Her more reasonable sister spoke up. “She’s not one of them, you don’t need to do this.”

I had to act fast. “Minerva, S.A.T.S.” Time slowed to a crawl. Having time to think, I quickly figured out what I needed to do. “Selecting for me to roll forward, and pick up the stun baton, it put me right up next to Dollu. I doubted she was all that skilled with the gun, so it was likely she would not easily shoot a moving target.

Time slowly returned to normal speed, and my back legs moved on their own, propelling me forward into a role. The baton entered the grip of my cyber hoof, assisted with the Minerva's TK spell. I seemed to move in a blink of an eye, catching Dollu off guard, and allowing me to get right up on her before she even fired a shot. I held the baton under her chin, and she didn’t move an inch, her eyes looking at me in terror. Not feeling like she would even listen to me, it would be better if I took her out and talked with one of her sisters.

I pushed the baton into her coat, and turned on the power. The mare immediately tensed up, and the gun fired harmlessly into the wall on the other side of the room. The bullet still flew past my ear, sending a sharp and painful ringing into it. Dollu fell to the ground, this time her whole body paralyzed, the gun falling from her mouth when she hit the ground.

The rest of the sisters were stunned, mouths agape. Sighing, I put the stun baton away, and picked up the gun.

“Don't you dare touch ma sister gun!” The more aggressive sister jumped forward at me as she spoke. Her intent was clear, and she was definitely a strong mare, a bit bigger than me, but she lacked proper combat training, or any conditioning. I sidestepped the mare, piston wiping her face, and she stumbled, but quickly regained composure. So I bucked her, and she hit the ground.

I looked at the other sisters, and none of them looked ready to fight me, which was good, because they are all still armed with their digger guns. Dollu had also recovered from being shocked, slowly getting, and then curling up into a tight ball. The more reasonable sister jumped over to her eldest, and began comforting her.

I dropped the enforcer at Dollu hooves, looking down at the mare. “I don’t know what you went through, but I can tell you I know that I know how it feels to have a pony look after you.” I pointed my hoof at the more reasonable sister, “If I was a lesser pony, I would have killed the lot of you.” I pointed back down at Dollu. “You, and the sisters that love you, and it would have been your fault. From one regulator to the next, grow a pair, and get over yourself. You got bigger things to worry about.”

The reasonable sister petted her sister mane as she looked up at me. “You’re Orthrus too.”

I shrugged. “Was, things weren’t going will for me, turns out it was my sister's fault. You know how sisters can be, they think they know the best for you, and it just makes you angry.” she smiled and nodded. “Well she's a specter, and wanted me to be one too, but I didn’t have the same ambitions. So she had me pushed out of Orthrus so that I could be secretly put into specter training or something.” I stomped at the ground. “Now I’m stuck doing this shit.”

Dollu sat up, visibly shaking, and tears were staining her coat under her eyes. “Specter, that’s just my luck.” She sniffled as she rubbed her eyes, and a little chuckle came from her “You know, that’s my goal. That and fixing my face. When I become a specter, I’ll make them pay, each one will get it slowly. You see, they beat my face in with hot iron rods, trying to make me too ugly for Taphon to take back, violated me too. Dimdi found me-” She motioned to the more reasonable sister “dragged me to a medical pony. They saved my life, but most of the nerves in my face were dead.”

“So you joined Orthrus to earn the bits to fix your face.” I pointed out, and Dollu nodded.

She pointed at her more aggressive sister. “Dholak went hunting for the mares that did this to me, but they all had ran off. Every now and then, one would appear, and we set them start.” I had the feeling this was the harassment I was sent to stop.

I trotted over to my knife, and put it away. “Okay, I get it now, this is a revenge job. But you need to stop this. The next pony that comes out here is not going to be nice, and some pony is going to die.” Dimdi seemed to shrink at the idea, the mare seemed a bit too fragile to be doing this kind of thing. “Any who, you're going to have bigger problems soon.”

“What are ya’ll talking about?” Dollu asked as she got up.

I cracked my neck, making a popping sound. “You didn’t hear this from me, but the islands are being attacked by outsiders. Just this morning Club Three Dog was attacked by bandits who had been taken by the outsiders. Whoever they are, they have an army, and they are not friendly.”

The sisters looked among each other a bit confused. “Hog Shit!” Dollu spat out, putting her enforcer back into her pocket.

“It’s all true. Saw then myself. Even got chased by a vertibuck.” I didn’t have anything as proof, but I did have the next best thing. “Turnip, can you come here and take off your mask?” Turnip stepped into the light with Rufus behind him, his dark purple chitin made him almost seem black in the darkness, and his glowing red eyes felt far more menacing too. “I picked up this fella along the way, he's a Sparkle Lurker. Turns out there's a whole mess of them on the big Island.”

One of the sisters in the back, fell over, her hooves slipping out from under her. Turnip raised a hoof and waved. “Hello, kindly don’t shoot, I friend… Friendly.” He smiled, but the glowing red inside of his mouth only made it even creepier than Dollu.

“So cute.” the words escaped from Dimdi’s mouth, and we all looked at her. She shrunk back. “Well, I.. um... sorry.”

I started to snicker, and the other sisters started laughing, making me laugh as well. It felt contagious. We all stood there, laughing until we were all out of breath. The atmosphere in the room had changed to something much warmer, as though the laughing had banished any ill will from the room. I told them about my run in with the pirates, and they all listened intently at my story. Dimdi sat next to Turnip during the story, the lurker looking a little uncomfortable next to the mare.

“So no shitting, were going to war with outsiders.” Dollu asked me, now much friendly, and less inclined to shoot me.

I nodded. “Looks like it. Whoever these pirates are, they don’t seem like the kind to just leave us alone. Orthrus is probably going to be the first line of defense.”

Dollu looked around at her sisters, and back to me, saluting. “Then I can’t be fucking around here, I need to get ready. I’d be damned if I let same pirates kill me before I get my payback.” She pulled Dimdi into a headlock, holding her sister in place. “I’m counting on you to keep the family safe. I better have a home to come back to when this is over.”

Dimdi started to cry, and Dollu let her go. In a blink of an eye, Dimdi had Dollu in a vice grip like hug, still crying. “But I don’t want you to go. I don’t want to lose you.”

Dollu patte her younger sister on the head. “It’s fine, I’ll be back, by Celestia as my witness I’ll be back, and better than ever.” Dimdi let her sister go, and smiled.

Confident that the sister will no longer harass the plantation workers, I made my way back. Dollu went with me half of the way, hoping to get a few tips from me. I only had two tips, dedication to her duty, and making friends. If she could to that, she was going to be just fine in Orthrus. It’s not like she had an older sister to mess everything up for her.

____________________________________

Back at the Plantation I informed Khlui about the situation, and though she seemed happy about the sisters no longer bothering her workers, she was upset about what had happened to Dollu.

“Such a sweet girl, her family owns one of the smaller farms on the island. Specializing in potatoes. If there was a mare I would feel safe in entrusting my son to, it was Dollu.” I attempted to give the baton back to Khlui, but she pushed it back to me. “I’m just glad everything ended the way it did. Somehow I think my son already knew, he didn’t drink so much before, cider here and there, but rarely rum. It was not long after he broke up with her that he started drinking more.” She sighed. “The stupid boy, he does love her, I can see that. But he just doesn't know himself.” I couldn't help but feel that was a common problem here in the metro.

Bagpipe later joined us, and Khlui took us to her dining room. She wanted to treat us a little herself for helping out her son. I asked if I could shower first, and one of her assistants led me to a wash room so that I could clean up. The table was set with fresh vegetables cut into sticks, and juice made from the same vegetable. There was even an avocado dip for us to use. Tunip and Rufus were invited, the cyber dog happy to have something to eat, but did look a little disappointed that it was all vegetables. Tunip on the other hoof enjoyed the mean, sticking to all the softer food do to him not having any teeth.

We sat around for over an hour, mostly talking about gossip. Khlui was quite interested in hearing about the dinner that was going to happen at Cornett’s, and she cringed when I mention the Flugelhorn already had a special somepony. I could imagine, poor Citole was probably going to hit on a stallion who was already taken.

Turnip also talked a little about his home, most of it was what he already told me, the rest was little day to day thing he helps his princess with. Khlui talk about the time she dated Vielle, at the time Vielle was just a stripper, and Khlui wanted to piss off her parents. They were together for three years before Khlui gave into her parents nagging, and took a stallion. Vielle later married the owner of the Lucky Rabbit's foot, a stallion thirty years older than her.

Bagpipe had a few stories of his own. He had actually met his wife through her brother who was trying to court him, thinking he was a mare. It was both funny, and romantic.

When it was time for us to go, Khlui let us know that she already sent a letter to Vielle about how pleased she was. We said our goodbyes, and I escorted Bagpipes back to the train station, he still stuck in the bunny suit. Turnip still didn’t like taking the train, but had gotten better at holding in his sickness. It was probably because this train moved slower, not going from one island to the next.

Taking the stallion back to the casino, the crowds had died down a bit, being between the time for daytime shopping, and nightlife parties. At the casino, I didn’t see Citole, and didn’t go looking for Vielle. It was safe to assume that Citole was at Cornett’s. Bagpipe left to go get changed, though I got used to seeing him in a bunny suit, I wished him well, and left.

It was a little bit early for dinner, but I felt that it was better than being late. The district was even quieter now, than it was in the morning. Ironshod was still showing off their new rail gun, advertising to ponies who wanted to give it a try at a shooting range. Most of the smaller stalls were closed down, their business concluded for the day.

Outside of Cornett’s sat two ponies with hoods on. The both had their backs to each other, sitting as far from the other as possible while still being in front of the door.

One of the ponies turned to look at me, the yellow ringlets of Kantele main bounced out. “Vibraphone, Darling!” She trotted over to me. “I was almost worried that you might not show up.”

Citole trotted in front of her and gave me a hug. I had to hold back a cringe, really not interested in being touched by another mare right now. “Love and kisses and all that.” She let me go, and her bunny ears flopped out of her hoody. “So how did things go, did Bagpipe get back with little trouble?”

I took a step back, feeling the tension in the air. “Bagpipe is fine, he also seemed real happy to be out of the bunny suit.” I looked over and passed Citole, at Kantele. “Good to see your here. To tell the truth, I wasn’t sure you would show up.”

Kantele gave me her best business pony smiles. “I’m a mare of my word, and you made it quite clear I should do this.”

Citole backed off, and gave me some room. Looking at the two mares, I couldn't help but feel that this was at best, going to end weirdly. I was just glad that it was only two extra mares, things could always be worse, Rototom taught me that well.

Stepping inside the gun shop, Flugelhorn was still at his desk, like he lived there, working through paperwork. Looking up at me, and smiled a little. “You're a little early, but that's fine…” The others walked in, and he sighed. “Seriously… well there's enough food to go around... also bullets.”

Kantele leaned in. “Bullets are good… right?”

Citole also leaned in. “Ya, he works with bullets, so it has to be a good thing.”

Fuck me ten ways to next year, this dinner was going to be painful.

____________________________________

Footnote:

Quest Progression:

No Goddesses, or Princesses, Only Mares. %50

Family Matters. %25

I like to lurk. %25