The two mares, Kantele and Citole, had both dragged in a large case behind them, almost fighting over who got their first. I defused the situation by dragging luggage in myself, and pushing the two mares inside. Kantele had forgone her business suit, now in a black dress with silver trim, a very striking look. Citole was still in a bunny outfit, but this one being a suit, and not a one piece.

“So… I’m guessing Citole is on top?” I couldn’t help but make a joke, the two did look like they were going out for a date.

“Oh please, I’m the one on top.” Kantele blabbed out. Citole face hoofed, and I had to hold back from laughing. “What? Was it something I said?”

Citole and I decided not to explain it to her, and processed to the dining room. The setup left me both impressed, and a bit baffled. A lot of it was normal dining room stuff: table, seats, plates. What was odd about this was the decorations; pink hearts were on everything, along with ribbons and bows. It was like they gave the decorating over to a little filly whose life goal was to get married and play house.

“How lovely!” Kantele gushed as she skipped over to the table.

Flugelhorn stepped out, holding a plate of bread rolls on his back, and placed it on the table. “Nice that you think so, Mother decorated.” He seemed as dreary as ever, looking over at Kantele and sighing.

“Don’t worry, I have an explanation for this.” I assured him, and he nodded before returning to the kitchen.

The sound of metal banging on metal caught me by surprise as Citole bumped her hip into mine. I gave gave her an irritated look, but she just smiled. “I got the legs as promised, you want to try them on?”

She didn’t need to bump my hip to ask me, what was she going to do next, slap my flank? Calming down a bit, I nodded, and Citole trotted over to her case.

Inside the case were two full cybernetic back legs, their color was a matted black similar to the dark blue leg covers given to members of Orthrus. On the flank, where a cutie mark would go was what looked like a cutie mark engraved in brass. The symbol was that of a cat-bell, with a bow, and ribbon behind it. It looked like the cat-bell had cat ears and a tail. Looked up at Citole, I raised an eyebrow. “Who gambled this leg away?”

Citole sighed. “Mother felt like we should give you something special after you resolved that situation so well. So we're giving you my sisters back legs.”

“Wait, what?” why would they give me something like that. “And what did she have to say about it?”

She shook her head. “My sister passed away a year ago, caught something from the surface.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be.” Citole said with a weak smile. “She was an Orthrus vanguard, so we were expecting that something would happen. At least the illness allowed us all to say our goodbyes, far better than a letter about how she was lost.”

I lifted one of the legs up, it was a little heavy, but I could get used to it. “So she was part of the first response troopers. My best friend was aiming for that, they're some of the bravest ponies I’ve ever met.”

Citole took the leg, and moved behind me. I balanced myself as she began to detach my old leg, and install the new one. “Ya, she’d come home with stories about how she helped clear a tunnel infestation, or help stomp out a bandit incursion.” The new leg attached, and I focused my magical energy into it, getting the leg to balance so that she can attached the next one. “My brother is going to be a bit pissed over this, but mother said that the Chime’s legs were made for a warrior, so they have to go to a warrior.”

“You have a brother?”

“Yes, two actually, and three sisters.” She spoke with some pride in her voice. “And before you ask, joke, or snidely suggest, no we don’t have different fathers. Though my two older sisters were from father’s previous marriage.” It was a bit surprising, how I already caught her mother cheating. “You were just thinking about my mother’s stupid hobby weren’t you?” I froze. “Well father's old age has caught up with him, and mother… you know what, let’s not talk about my parent’s sex lives.” She slapped the second leg in, nearly tipping me over.

Getting myself balanced, I activated the second leg, and began to test them out. I almost fell on my face at first, I was used to the prosthetic legs, so I was not used to actually having some power behind the legs. When I finally got the hang of them, I found the legs very pleasant to use, as they allowed me to move with a lot more care. “They’re real nice. I’ll be sure to take extra care of them.”

Citole dropped my old legs into the case. “You better, I’m expecting you to return them if you find anything better to replace them with.”

We both returned to the dinner table, my back legs moving with a bit more of a wide step, causing my hips to sway almost dramatically. Full cyber legs were defiantly different from the cyber prosthetics I was used to using, so it was going to take a little longer to get them to move normally.

Kantele had been fiddling with the decorations, attaching one of the paper hearts in her mane, and giggling to herself. Yes it was cute, but not what you expect of a CEO of a major company, she was acting more like a distracted filly. Flugelhorn seemed less than amused by her, having taken a seat himself, and putting jam on his roll.

The seat was comfortable enough, large enough for all of my leg to rest on, with a little cushion for my nonmetal parts to rest upon. “So, I never got to ask you, how long have you been in the gunsmithing business?” my question directed at Flugelhorn, in hopes of getting the atmosphere a little friendlier.

Flugelhorn took a bite of his jam roll, slowly chewing before swallowing the piece. “Family business, so all my life.” He was being as pleasant as always. “This shop use to be the original Ironshod Firearms, long before the Brass Apple family moved in and took the name.” He glared at Kantele, and she cowered a bit, using one of the paper hearts to hide behind.

Clearing my throat, I brought the attention to myself. “So, about my guns, I’m curious to see what your mother built?” Though it was fun to see the rich mare be looked down on, it was my idea that she come here, so I felt I might as well look after her until she said what she wanted to say.

Mister grumpy had stopped glaring at Kantele, and gave me his best business pony smile, which needed a lot of work. Seriously, what kind of mare would like this jackass? “Yes, mother had plenty ideas on what to build for you, but we all decided on an older build. For the most part It was already built, we just needed to forge a few new parts, and add in a new talisman to it.”

I took a roll, and added some jam to it. The jam looked like pineapple, a bit old fashioned, but still good. “I’m just happy to know I’ll get my guns back. I’ve not been having the best time without them.” Biting into the roll, it was quite good, and was still warm from the oven.

“Really?” Flugelhorn asked, looking a little concerned. “What happened?”

I sighed. “The worst of it, I got molested by a bandit, almost raped. But I managed to get out of that situation. Thank Celestia that your mother left me my knife.”

Everypony at the table had their mouth open from what was likely shock. Flugelhorn was the one to break the silence. “I’m glad you were able to get out of that situation. I would hate to hear you come to harm.”

Hooves came from behind me, and wrapped around me into a hug. “Oh it must have been horrible!” it was Cornett. “You must have been so scared.”

The sudden hug took me by surprise, causing me to be stunned for a few seconds. “It's alright, I’m…” My eyes watered, and tears escaped my eyes. “I’m fine.” Damn my emotions, now she had me crying.

“I can see that.” She squeezed me tightly, putting me at ease. “But still, something like that must have been horrible.”

I closed my eyes and sighed. “It was. I had my knife, so I just played along until I could strike.” Opening my eyes, I looked at everyone, now feeling calmer. “When I saw what she was going to do, I panicked. Almost lost my life because of it. Rufus here saw that the bandit was not alone, and got her before she could shoot me.”

Cornett let me go, and trotted to the side of the room, over to Rufus. “He’s a good boy. A pony’s best friend.” She petted his head, and he barked once. “Well, now you won’t need to go unarmed.” She quickly trotted to the side, and pulled out a case, dragging it over to the table. “Because I have your guns right here.”

I looked down at the metal case, exited to see what she had made. She opened it and placed my revolver on the table, it now sporting brass ornamentation of a crescent moon. “Now when I worked on your sisters enforcer, I named it the ‘Solar Eclipse’ so I felt it was only right to name your gun something similar. This here is the ‘Lunar Eclipse’ a fine revolver, better than what it was before.” Taking the revolver into my hooves, it felt a little heavier, but overall the same revolver I had for years. Cornett smiled, “I’ve added a heavy frame to it, and rebalanced it. You should find that the recoil is more manageable now.”

Activating my TK talisman, the revolver lifted without delay, its own TK talisman matching mine, like with my old hunting rifle. This was going to make shooting the revolver much smoother, and make it less likely that it would just get knock out of my hold. Placing the revolver into my holster, switching out the stun baton, and placing it onto the table.

Cornett trotted over to my side, and picked up the baton. Now that I had a better view of her, she was wearing a frilly heart shaped apron, and a chef’s hat decorated with a big red heart on it. Now I did like my frills, and hearts, but Cornett was going overboard with it all. “Oh! this is fun.” she said with a grin, as she extended the baton, and sending sparks jolting out of the tip. “Where did you get it?”

“From the owner of Free Mare Plantation.” I answered.

She nodded, and smiled. “Well that’s nice of her, something like this can save your life. You should keep it in your hidden compartment.” she retracted the baton.

“My what?” I asked, feeling a bit confused.

“Give me your hoof, the right one” I complied and extended the leg I got from Shamisen. Cornett took it in her hoof, messing with it until a panel opened up, just above the hoof. Like she said, it was a hidden compartment, just big enough to hide a grenade or a small gun. Cornett placed the baton in the leg and closed it. “There, next time something bad happens, you can surprise them with a shock.”

I twisted the leg around, articulating the hoof, checking to see if it moved any differently. When everything checked out, I relaxed the leg. “Learn something new every day.” I bit into a roll I had, the jam was very sweet, and a bit sticky. Flugelhorn passed me a glass of juice, and I used it to down the roll. “Thanks. So, about my new rifle?”

Cornett took a seat at the table, and whistled loudly. “About that, I had to scrap most of the parts. if they weren't damaged, they were made from low quality materials. No good for a high powered weapon.” Two ponies came out, and placed a short gun case on the table. The ponies had forge worker overalls on, and were quite dirty looking. “Thanks, did you make the replacements?” On of the two nodded. “How about the crack?” the other nodded. “Oh I love you two so much!” Cornett jumped out to hug them, but they dodged.

Flugelhorn got out of his seat, and picked his mother up. “It’s not the best idea for you to go hugging them when their still dirty, Let them wash up first.” He helped his mother back to her seat, and returned to his own. “As my mother was saying, she has most of the low quality parts scrapped, and the rest used to make the new rifle.”

I took a sip of my juice “What did you make? It’s still an air gun right?”

Cornett opened up the case, revealing the parts of a rifle I’d never seen befor. “This is the Lelantos, my newest masterpiece!”

It looked interesting enough, but was hard to tell what I was looking at with it in parts. There was a large air tank, a stock, a barrel, the frame, a bayonet, and oddly a large revolver cylinder. “If that’s an air rifle, then what’s with the cylinder, wouldn’t it be better if It had a magazine?”

Smiling, Cornett took the parts out, and began putting them together. “Magazines tend to be a weak point in most guns made today. Good for automatics, Something this is not.” The rifle started to take shape, with the air tank going between the frame and the stock. “What you want is something with power and range, so I scrapped the old idea of what an air rifle should be, and went with a different idea.” after attaching the barrel, she picked up what looked like a metal stick with a sharpened tip, and placed it in the cylinder. “Ball bearings are good and all, but just lack any penetration unless fired from a railgun.”

I cocked an eyebrow. “So you made me a rifle that shoots crossbow bolts?”

“Precisely!” Cornett said with exuberance. “It’s a modern version of an old idea. You get the reliability of a revolver, with the sheer power and penetration of a crossbow. Lelantos will be the envy of all air gun user's, trust me.”

Before I could respond Flugelhorn cleared his throat, getting our attention. “What my mother is trying to say is that this is an updated version of the Hellsing rifle.”

I had to think about it for a moment before it hit me. The Hellsing was an arrow shooting air rifle, a common weapon among hunters, long before the AG5 came along. The hunting air rifle had the advantage of being cheaper, and easier to maintain, along with cheaper ammunition. I still saw the Hellsing used from time to time, mostly by older more experienced hunters.

Flugelhorn continued. “The hellsing had the advantage of being very powerful, with ammunition that could be easily retrieved and reused. Same concept here, but this rifle is even more powerful, as well as being compact, and moddable.”

“Moddable?” I had to ask.

“Yes,” he continued. “You can add a barrel extension to extend the range and accuracy, or remove it to make it a close quarters rifle. If you can find a pony who can enchant the ammunition, or barrel, well the possibilities are endless. And that’s just the barrel, the enter rifle can have interchangeable parts, so if you can find a pony who can make them, you can turn this into a different kind of rifle at your discretion.”

Cornett had attached the bayonet to the barrel of the rifle. “But as is, you could kill a Paradise Dragon with this!”

I looked at the rifle, and to me it was no railgun. “Really?”

“E’yep.” She aimed the rifle above my head and fired, the rifle making a puff sound, and the bolt making a loud clang as it collided with the metal wall. I turned to look, and saw it half way through the metal plate. Tuning back to Cornett, she had a huge grin on her face. “I added one of my vortex talismans to the cylinder, gives a strong spin to the bolts.”

“Vortex talismans?”

She nodded. “I use them in my forge, feeds air into it to keep the coals real hot when I’m making my knives” She pointed to the bayonet. It was a thick knife, around a quarter of an inch thick, curving at the tip to make a fine point. Above the grind was rough with a black finish, giving it a stone like look to it. Overall the bayonet blade look like it was made to kill monsters, of which it probably was. The handle was made from a nice piece of wood, but lacked any kind of wrap to help keep a firm grip when mouth welding it, something I’ll add later.

“So why a revolver cylinder?”

Flugelhorn answered. “It’s where the vortex talisman is held, and when the cylinder in place, it makes an airtight seal as it fires. Most air rifles have multiple moving parts, and must maintain an airtight seal to keep from losing pressure. Here the only moving part is at the cylinder, so less parts are needed to maintain pressure. When the air is shot through the cylinder, the talisman forces it to spin, and it does not lose pressure until it leaves the barrel.

I had to think about it for a moment. “So what you have is a high powered crossbow bolt shooting air rifle, with a six shooter cylinder that spins the bolt to increase the power and range. On top of that, it comes with a hoof forged bayonet, and is fully customizable, to match the situation I need it for.”

“E’yep!” Cornett answered. “I see that you like it.”

I had a big grin on my face, which was a little embarrassing, but this rifle was just too cool. At first the rifle seemed a bit impractical, but now that I had a better understanding of it, it was exactly the kind of rifle I was looking for. Ya, I was at a bit of a loss for ammunition, but I could simply stockpile the bolts, and any I used in the tunnels could easily be recovered as long as I shoot carefully. Anything this thing hit was definitely going to get hurt, even if the target has armor on.

“Here” Cornett tossed me the Lelantos, and I caught it in my hooves. The rifle was a bit weighty, it’s parts definitely not made of lighter material, or cut down. Holding it, I was sure I could do damage with this as a simple bludgeoning weapon, which may be why it comes with a bayonet. Looking down the sights, it was basic, but it did have railing for a scope to be attached. Placing the stock on my shoulder, it held firm in my hooves, reminding me of some of the old zebra rifles used in Orthrus gun training. Definitely not the best rifle for sudden, and sporadic fighting, but in a more controlled situation this could be death incarnate in the right hooves.

“It feels real nice.” I hoofed at the cylinder, and it slowly spun, clicking silently. “I’ll have to get short to mid range gun to compensate. Maybe see if I can get my hooves on an surplus AG6, or a shotgun. But overall,” I lifted the rifle up, and took a good look at it’s trigger. “I know that Lelantos will serve me well, and I’ll look after him in return.”

“Him?” Citole eyebrow cocked up a little. “Sorry, but I never understood the him and her references to guns you Orthus types keep using.”

I felt the heat hit my face at the question, how does she not know?

“I know this!” Kantele spoke up. “It refers to automatic guns, versus single action, double action, and bolt action.” I felt my face get a little redder. “I don’t know the origins, but it’s a refrence to orgasim. Automatic guns are often called she, because you pull the trigger and they keep shooting until you stop, or it’s out of ammo. And he is for the rest, as you need to pull the trigger for each shot, and only skilled ponies can effectively fire them in quick succession.” Kantele had said it all in a matter-of-fact tone, which didn’t help my embarrassment.

Citole smiled, giving me a snide look. “I see that you like your guns on the stallion side.”

I glared at Citole, and hoofed the Lelantos back to Cornett, whom began dismantling the rifle, and putting it back in the case. “They’re just more reliable, that’s all.” Not wanting to continue this dialogue, I turned my attention to Flugelhorn. “Is there a way I could get a scope, and a barrel extension? I was thinking of using the rifle as an effective sniper rifle.”

Flugelhorn scratched his chin, for a moment. “I know we still have the scope from your AG5, so we can just give you a similar one that can fit on the railing. As for the extended barrel, you wouldn't need anything special, so we could get you a cheap and light one right off the floor in a matter of minutes.” He nodded. “We can do that, I’ll just add it to your credit, but it’s not going to cost you much at all.

When the Lelantos was packed away, Flugelhorn picked up the case, and trotted it to the back. I could see why this shop came highly recommended.

“Excuse me.” Kantele spoke up. “Before dinner is served, I... I’d like say a few things.” She looked over to me nervously, and I gave her a nod. She turned her attention back to Cornett, and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry for what my mother did, I’m so, so sorry. It was under hoofed, disrespectful, and out of line with what Ironshod Firearms is meant to be.” Her eyes shifted away. “It’s not that being cutthroat is not part of business, I mean getting the exclusive deal is a big goal and all.” She looked Cornett in the eyes. “But to hurt a business partner in such a way is entirely shortsighted, and bound to hurt the business in the long run.”

She opened up her case, and pulled out a bunch of papers, and to my surprise, the IF-155, which she struggled with a little to get on the table. The Bad Seed as a big as ever, but this one looked a little bigger, and had a lot more welding.

At this moment Flugelhorn had trotted back in, and looked entirely displeased. “What’s all this?” He was glaring Daggers at Kantele, whom began hiding behind her LMG. “What are you planning?”

“S.. Sorry. I’m not planning on doing anything bad, honest.” She reached out for the paperwork, but found it missing. Cornett was reading through them quite thoroughly, her eyes practically glued to the paper.

Flugelhorn trotted over to his mother, looking concerned. “That better no be another trick deal.” Cornett hoofed over the papers to her son, and he scanned them. “Wait… this is the patent to the railgun design that mom made.” He flipped to the next page. “And this is it’s copy, and the other copy.” He looked up at Kantele with a baffled expression. “How… no, why?”

Kantele peek out from behind her LMG. “I felt a simple apology was not enough. So I’m returning the patent to your mother.”

With an eyebrow cocked, Flugelhorn placed the patents on the table. “What’s your angle, no way you'd do this over a simple apology.”

Kantele meekly nodded, and fiddled with her LMG. “Well I was hoping to work with your mother, make a business deal, and co-design a new rifle.” She pushed the Bad Seed forward. “I tried to make a rail gun from your mother's design, but couldn't get it to work. So I made this.”

Before Flugelhorn could respond, His mother had hopped onto the table, and was looking the LMG over. She fiddled with the trigger, removed and checked the spark battery, checked the cables, and looked down the barrel. “Not bad.” Cornett said with a grin. “A bit crude, but definitely the work of an a grade engineer. Oh, a port for a plug to go into, that will definitely get around the battery problem, whose idea was that?”

Kantele raised a hoof. “Well the IF-155 works best as a stationary weapon, so if figured that having a plug port would be a advantage.”

Cornett hopped over the LMG, and scrunched Kantele’s face. “How did you get around the power distribution problem, or the magnetic pulse when firing?”

Kantele’s eyes darted about. “I… I had a charge dissipator added along the barrel, and a feedback loop to the body.”

The older mare let the younger go, and smiled. “Not bad, dangerous for anypony that touches the barrel, but I can see how that works.” Cornett paused for a moment, and then her eyes popped wide open. “That’s it.” she hugged Kantele, whom let out a surprised squeak. “If I use two batteries, and set up a feedback loop, and add a charge dissipator to the end of the barrel…”

“It should keep the batteries from exploding!” Kantele finished the statement with a big smile on her face.

Cornett, still holding Kantele, looked over to her son. “Can we keep her?”

Flugelhorn looked dumbfounded, slowly turning his attention down at the patent and sighed. “One, you can't just take ponies in because you like them. Two, she has her own place to return to. And three, after what her mother pulled, I’m against working with Ironshod.” He hoofed at the patent. “But It’s up to my mother who she works with, not me.”

Cornett let go of the younger mare, her ringlets bouncing as she fell back into her seat. “Would you like to work with me?” she asked Kantele.

Tears formed in Kantele’s eyes, and she sniffled. “Yes… I really would love to.” the mare shifted her eyes, and suddenly looked real meek. “Also, well. Ca...can…” she looked away. “nevermind.”

Looking a little annoyed, Cornett, got nose to nose with Kantele. “No nevermind, what is is?”

Her face turned red, and Kantele shrinked back a little. “Well, could I get, I mean if it’s not to rude. a.. a hug, could you do that again.”

The older mare looked a little shocked, but Cornetts face softened, and then looked a bit sad. “Oh my.” She hugged Kantele in a strong vice like hug. “Hugs are free, all you need to do is ask.” I could hear Kantele sniffle a little, but nothing more then that.

Flugelhorn looked more annoyed, than surprised by the scene. Ignoring the scene, he pulled the LMG off the table, and into it’s case, as well as taking the patent into his pocket. “Dinner will be ready in a minute, so no more guns on the table.

Cornett returned to her seat, and soon were were joined by the two other ponies from before, now clean, and in clean cloths. Flugelhorn returned with plates, and silverware, followed by two more ponies with dinner. Altogether there was ten of us at the table, with Rufus sitting on the ground, the others gave Turnip a few looks, but everypony quickly got use to him, and got down to chatting.

The dinner was a casserole and soup. The Casserole was made with mashed potatos, diced carrots, tomatoes, corn, a plethora of green veggies, and to my surprise a sprinkling of rad-boar meat. I was not a fan of eating meat, it was the food of savage ponies who can’t grow real food, but I was okay with a little meat being used to add to the flavor. As for the soup, it was a simple rice and pineapple soup, a little sweet, but complemented the casserole as a side dish.

The dinner went on with everyone talking about everything but business, some gossip, some day to day stuff. Kantele didn’t have much to talk about, other than some engineering talk that Turnip, Citole, and I didn’t understand, but it got a good laugh out of the others. Citole was the biggest gossip of us all, as well as the flirt, but Flugelhorn was pretty much immune to her advances, which seemed to only make her more driven. It was amusing to everypony but Citole and Flugelhorn. lucky Citole gave up, and simply enjoyed the dinner, sharing some gossip with the other mares.

Unsurprisingly a few politicians visit the Lucky Rabbit's Foot in disguise, but one interesting tidbit was that a Orphic princess secretly visits the casino too. Citole wouldn't say who it was, everypony understood and didn’t pry, but the princess seemed to have a major gambling addiction, and was a huge masochist. At one point she ended up in debt to the casino, and sold herself for a night before the casino found out who she was. Luckily it was all under a mask, and all evidence of it was easily destroyed. But after that event, Citole now acted as the princess's personal mistress, and keeps her from getting into that kind of trouble again.

I was getting the feeling that the Casino was where rich ponies go to royally fuck up, and half of Citole’s job was to clean up after them. It wouldn’t surprise me if Vielle main source of influence came from having blackmail on all the other politicians.

Strangely enough Flugelhorn asked me about my sister, A simple “How's she doing.” but seemed odd for mister grumps. My best guess was that they were friends, she was always good at making them. I told him that she was doing fine, also got a leg thrashed, and is on my bad side, but that was nothing new.

I got to learn a bit more about the shop, like that my new rifle was put together by everypony in the shop, not just Cornett, she was better at design, and starting a project. The others, eight employees, not including Flugelhorn had their own specialization, from forging the metal, to making and attaching all the smaller fine parts. As it turns out, the former owner of this place, Cornett’s father, still works here as the main inspector, giving all the finished guns his stamp of approval. The only item made by Cornett from start to finish was the knife, a specialty of hers. Which answered the question to why most of the guns had bayonets.

The employees at the shop left one by one as they finished their dinner, heading home. Even Cornett had to turn in, having used up her energy for the day. Seeing us out, Flugelhorn let me know that If I needed any repairs for my guns, their shop was always open. Citole seemed a little defeated, but nothing she couldn't get over. Kantele on the other hoof was upbeat, having had a good time chatting with Cornett. Turnip ended up carrying my new rifle, the case firmly attached to his back, along with a box of bolts for it.

“So, any of you got plans?” Citole asked, obviously looking for something to get her mind off of being rejected by Flugelhorn.

Kantele shook her head, but sadly I did have plans. “Sorry, I got work to do.” Looking at my rifle, I still needed to get a short to medium range gun, sadly the shops would be closed at this time. “Kantele, could I make an order for an AG6, and some ammo.”

“Right now? Well, ya. I can call the armory to send one over.” She pulled out a com and ear bloom, turning it on. “What kind of job are you doing?”

“Heading to the surface. I’m just doing a scouting job, but I was told that it was best to go at night to avoid trouble.” All mostly true. “So any mid or short range weapon will do. Also grenades if you can spare them.”

Nodding, Kantele pulled out a com and earbloom from a pocket. Not a common device, as they were just wireless pocket terminals, most ponies prefer a pipbuck. “I see, well if you return the rifle, we will just charge you for renting.” I nodded in agreement, and she put her hoof to her ear. “Hello Madal, It’s Kantele, are you at the armory? I’m just renting out a rifle to a friend, she needs some gear for a surface job.” Kantele put her com down. “I’ll just send a message for her to bring what light arms we have on hoof, you can pick out what you like.”

It sounded good to me. “I’ll be sure to return whatever I take, even the grenades if I could help it.”

Kantele’s com beeped, and she picked it up. “Madal just pick up some of the guns, plenty of ammo, and a few explosives... No the IF-155 is not to be touched, the whole stock has already been sold.” Kantele’s face scrunched up. “Like fuck I did! Check again… how many, HOW?”

“Is everything okay?” Citole asked.

“Just make sure nopony takes any more out, I’ll go investigate.” Kantele put her earbloom and com away, looking quite irritated. “No I’m not okay, somepony stole my guns and used my name to do it.”

“That’s bad, but wouldn't you call, you know, Orthrus about this?” I asked.

She sighed. “My employee is taking care of that. I’m going to identify the thief.”

“How?” I understood that corporate ponies hated being stolen from, but I doubt there was anything she could do.

She smiled. “All the IF-155’s have a tracker on them, we don’t remove it until it has been sold. So if it’s anywhere on this island, I’ll know where to find it.” She pulled out her com, and tapped at it a few time. “Got it! Looks like it’s in the red light district.” We both looked at Citole.

Citole frowned. “Hey, my family deals in entertainment, not guns.”

Kantele sighed, and looked at me. I knew what was coming. “Can you come with me, once we have the thief's identity, we can hoof this over to Orthrus to deal with.”

Looking at the wealthy mare, the ringlets in her mane had drooped considerably, losing their bounce. She was willing to go and repair the bridge her mother burnt, so it couldn't hurt to help her out here. “Fine, but only because you asked nicely.”

“Oh, okay. thanks.” she meekly responded.

Okay, that was an odd response. “What?”

She looked away. “Well I was hoping you'd say that you'd help because were friends.”

Citole laughed, and I sighed. “Sure, why not. I’ll do this because were friends.”

The four of us, and Rufus stood outside the doors to Club Three Dog, Kantele’s tracker leading us here. The club itself was busy, as though it was never raided by bandits, having a long line of ponies trying to get in.

“Well that’s fantastic, Looks like Three Dog is on reservation tonight.” Citole said with a sigh.

Kantele’s ears dropped. “Seriously, the thieves will be gone by the time we get in.” She checked her com. “Maybe we should just wait out here, she if we can catch them when they exit.”

I shook my head. “At best you will just get the buyer, not the thief. And that’s if they don’t find your tracker before the deals done.”

“So it’s a dead end.” Kantele kicked the floor. “Of all the days for the club to be on reservation.”

I looked up at the bill of my hat, and smirked. “Naw, we got a reservation.” The other two looked at me a bit confused. “Well it’s more of a VIP pass, it sould get us in.”

I motioned for the others to follow me, but asking Rufus to stay, and keep watch. Trotting right up to the bouncer, a large mare with some mean cybernetics. To be accurate, the cybernetics made the mare look large, with heavy looking legs, and in place of wings were two cyber limbs, one holding a baton, the other an ID scanner. Her shades were a micro terminal that was plugged into her head. overall, not the kind of pony I would ever want to fight.

“Unless you have a reservation, get in line.” The bouncers voice was synthetic, artificially low and intimidating sounding.

“VIP” I tapped at the hat. “Cabrette has a table for me.”

A beep came from the bouncer. “Right, you check out.” another beep. “Second floor, the booth with the Metro-Cola decoration.” The bouncer opened the door, letting us in.

Inside it was like we were being assaulted with pounding electronic dance music, Lights shot at the disco ball shined all around the floor, and the black pony outlines on the wall now made the club feel even more crowded in a fun kind of way. The floor was filled with ponies dancing to the music, many with far less clothes than I was comfortable with. At the bar drinkers took up every seat as bartenders worked quickly to serve them. one of the cabinets was still broken from this morning. Looking up, a younger DJ worked the booth, probably fill in for Cerberus do to her condition.

“Vibe, miss.” Turnip caught my attention. “Why is going on? Many ponies, why?”

I almost laughed. Being told about such a place is no substitute to seeing it first hoof, so I wasn’t surprised that he was a little confused. “Remember, this is a place ponies come to have fun. You know, drink, dance, get to know others.”

He looked out at the dance floor and nodded. “Kindly, could try?”

“Kindly do.” at this point I was not worried about him freaking anypony out. Somehow everypony had rationalised him being a cyberpony, and at a place like this, nopony would bat an eye. I took the saddlebags off his back, and let him have his fun.

The rest of us made our way up to the second floor’s VIP section. The area was less crowded, but no less active. A few booths had stallions at them, who were surrounded by at least three mares. It reminded me of when I was in my teens, fighting to have have the biggest catch, and getting a few black eyes from the aftermath.

We found the Metro-Cola booth easily enough, it even had some complementary cola waiting for us, and some glasses to pour it into. At the center was a note addressed to me, I hoped it was just a ‘good to see you again’ note. Sitting at the table, I placed the saddlebags and my hat under the table, getting myself comfortable. “let's Identify the thief and, share a drink. After that I have to get moving.”

Kantele looked over the edge, into the crowd. “Even when on reservation this place get’s packed.” she checked her com. “It’s hard to tell, the gun cases must be hidden.”

Citole got comfortable, properly relaxing. “If I were to guess. They’re going to make the deal up here. The guns are just being held down there.” Kantele sat back down, her ears turned to the bunny mare. “It happens now and then at the casino. The syndicate likes to use our place to do business, despite our objection. Normally the ponies trading goods for bits will meet somewhere private, their thugs will be in the public area holding onto the product. It keeps a smash and grab from happening, as involving civilians will lead to the involvement of Orthrus.”

Nodding, Kantele poured herself a drink. “Sounds stupid to me.” She moved her eyes to look at me. “What do you think?”

I pulled the note over to myself, feeling that there was something in it. Opening it, there was one word inside ‘telepathy’. Somehow I was not at all that surprised. “I mostly did business at Charon's Stop through brokers. There the best thing to do is to make it look like no deal is going on but the deal itself you want others to see.” I poured myself a drink, and took a sip. The fizzy drink tickled my nose and bubbled on my tongue. “The best thing to look for, that is in my opinion, is for something that does not belong.” I scanned the other booths, most were different variations of a stallion and mares, some were just a group of mares getting drunk, and one had two ponies sharing a glass of wine. “Like two ponies having a date at a dance club.” The other two looked over where I was looking, not understanding subtly.

Distracted, I used that opportunity to switch out my teleportation talisman with the telepathy. Clearing my throat, I got the others attention. “It’s a bad idea to stare at others, if you want to get a look at who they are, you should go order some drinks at the bar.” I pointed a hoof at the smaller bar that was up here. Though smaller, it had a wider selection of drinks to order, catering to ponies with a lot more bits to spend then the normal guests. “Citole, you should go with her as well, it’s easier to go unnoticed in a group, I’ll stay here.”

The two got up and left, heading over to the bar. I concentrated my magic into the talisman, opening myself up for a telepathy link. ‘What’s going on Cabrette?’ I waited for a moment, taking another sip from my drink.

‘Vibraphone, you have the best timing, do you know that.’ It was Cabrette, her voice felt a bit strained, but nothing out of the norm. ‘And here I thought you would be off planting that bug. I don’t know if it is a good thing or a bad thing that you're here, but I’ll take it.’

I groaned. ‘I take it that something's gone wrong?’

‘Well that’s the thing, everything is fine. No problems whatsoever, and it’s bugging me.’ I took another sip of my cola, feeling a bit irritated for a telepathy chat over nothing.

‘Here, I can go down to the bar and punch somepony in the face, will that make you feel better.’ Not that I would, but I was not planning to stay long.

‘Well I know this one stallion who's claiming to be the father of the twins, and I know he is not. but sadly he is not here tonight.’ There was a brief pause before she continued. ‘But seriously, that’s not what i’m talking about. I put my ponies out to get a reading on the Equalist movements, and set up the club tonight to filter them out, but they've disappeared.’

‘So they all scurried off, not all that out of the ordinary for them. They're probably going to pop up tomorrow at one of the plantations, protesting about the unequal treatment of the workers.’ The protests rarely did anything, other then keep the Trade Union in a state of worry. They did try to kill off the Trade Union over two generations ago, so it was understandable that there was tension about their movement. The Equalities at least understood the position of Orthrus on violent mobs, that being a eye for an eye, so they at least play nice here.

‘True’ Cabrette answered. ‘But this is different. Normally they just gather in one place, so finding them just involves following the hoof traffic. Not this time, they just upped and just vanished.’

This was odd, but I didn’t see what it had to do with me, unless they were going to be where I was going… ‘Let me guess, you think they all went topside?’

‘It’s the best guess I got. I sent a pony to look into it, but she should have been back here over six hours ago.’ I could feel a sigh through the telepathy. ‘That’s why I’m glad you're here. because you're going up there already, can you look for her?’

It was a fair request, though I doubt I could find this maire easily. ‘I’ll keep my eyes out for her. What does she look like?’

‘Green coat, red mane. Look for a green hood, and leather armor. The girl has a thing for the classic.’

I deactivated the talisman, not wanting to transmit my thoughts by accident to anypony wanting to listen in. If anything, coming back to the club gave me another heads up to what I might have to deal with topside. At least the equalists were pushovers, so getting around them was not going to be a problem. My biggest worry was them attracting a paradise dragon, or the pirates.

“Hello miss.” a deep voice spoke up.

I nearly jumped, between the telepathy call, and looking out into the club, I didn't see the stallion take a seat at the booth. “Sorry, but that seats taken.” He was a burgundy red mirage pony stallion with a dark blue mane, and blue eyes. He had green military fatigues on, common among the republic, and a green military beret. “My friends will be back soon.”

The republic stallion looked over at the bar for a moment before looking back at me. “Can’t we at least introduce ourselves, be friendly and all. The names Theremin Synthesizer.” He gave a little bow.

Not planning on sticking around, I felt I could at least humor the stallion. “Vibraphone Echo.”

“A lovely name for a lovely mare.” He complimented. If I had a few drinks in me, and was planning to stick around, I’m sure i would feel more flattered, interested even. Sadly I had things to do, and he was a bit too clean cut for me. “So, how about we talk until your friends get back, then I’ll be on my way.”

He didn’t seem to be the problematic type, and was a bit odd to be flirted with by a stallion, so playing along a little wouldn’t hurt. “Alright, but only until they get back.”

“Honored.” Theremin smiled. “So is this a normal hangout for you?, you don’t look it.”

“Now and then, ya. today I’m just passing through, If I was planning to dance I would have come in a dress.” And maybe a few glow sticks, it was that kind of club.

“I see.” The stallion said, looking deep in thought for a moment. “Sorry, it’s just that this is just not the normal haunt for ponies like me, kind of feel real out of place here.”

“You and most others. I tend to work in and around Charon’s Stop, most ponies around there don’t have the bits to rub together to make it worth come to a place like this. Sad, really.” Not that they can’t make their own clubs, though it tends to be more drugs than alcohol over there.

Theremin frowned a little. “So true. It feels shameful how ponies can throw their bits around here when it could be better used helping those in need.” He words had passion to them, making me a little worried that he might break out into a speech. The frown disappeared and a smile returned. “I can see that you're a pony who understands that. Your eyes have that look about them, a beautiful brilliance you could say.”

“Thanks.” He was flattering, but it was not making me feel comfortable.

“It’s what drew me to you.” He leaned in closer “You seemed to have look of purpose about you, not like the other mares here. They all seem lost, disconnected from the world, forcing themselves into another ponies world.”

“I.. I, think you're mistaken.” kay, this was confusing. I’ve heard of flirting but this was odd.

He leaned back. “No, I don’t think I am.” He had a lot of confidence in his voice. “I can tell, Your the kind who get’s things done. The kind of pony who's a benefit to all those around them. The kind one like myself can't help but be drawn to.”

I took another sip of my drink, putting on my best poker face. “Next your going to say I’m the hero of legend, who is going to save the world.”

He laughed. “If you want to be, well anything is possible.” He pulled out a card, placing it on the table, and sliding it to me. “I’m part of a group whose goal is the unification of the metro, and returning to the surface.” I picked up the card, one side had a big ‘=’ on it, the other side had the directions to an equalist recruitment center on this island. “We've been slowly bringing the metro to our side, but sadly there are many who resist, many who see that the way things are not as things should be..”

“I see. But if I remember correctly, the equalist revolt twenty years ago was not see as a positive event.” From what I know, it was a downright slaughter.

“True, but as the saying goes, ‘If peaceful protest is prevented, then violent outburst is inevitable.’ Our enemies are the corrupt, ponies who seek to dominate others for their own wealth. The group I belong to seek to stop them from abusing others, and to bring everypony to the ideals of equality through understanding, not through force.” Theremin smiled once more. “I know that a pony as beautiful as you would do well as a member. Maybe we could even team up, help bring equality to others, together.”

I put my cup down, having finished most of it off. I had to give him an ‘A’ for the effort, but he was barking up the wrong tree here. I was still feeling a little upset over getting molested by a bandit, so I didn’t have any interest in a one night stand right now, and his attempt to convert me to his ideology was off putting. If he would drop the Equalist angle, and ask me another day, I might give him a shot.

“Sorry, but I’ll give it some thought.” No need to burn bridges, so I slipped the card into my pocket. “Maybe we can talk another time.” He may not be my type, but he was close, less rugged, and more rough around the edges.

“Ya I’d…” He was cut off by the sound of a glass smashing on the floor.

Kantele stood at one of the booths, a broken bottle of wine at her hooves, and the look of sheer anger on her face. Sighing, I pushed myself out of the seat. “Sorry, looks like my friend’s an idiot.” I trotted away from the booth over to Kantele, near her was a confused looking Citole. “If you're going to drink, do it at the booth.” Looking at the two sitting down, they were an old stallion and a mare, both sharply dressed, and less than happy looking. “Sorry for the trouble.”

I attempted to pull Kantele away, but she shrugged me off. “Vibraphone.” She looked me in the eyes, and motioned to the mare. She had a golden mane with curls that didn’t quite fit her age, and cream coat that looked too bright to be her real color. “This is my mother, Guzheng Brass Apple.” I mentally face hoofed, “Also the one who stole my product.” The situation just went from bad to fucked up in less than ten seconds flat.

“My daughter, I do not steal.” Guzheng spoke up, her voice held a calm irritation to it, something I could understand. “Are there any more accusations you wish to spout out from that worthless mouth of yours.”

I had to mentally collect myself, taking a deep breath and exhaling, before saying anything more. “Ma'am… It’s a pleasure to meet you.” I gave a little bow,. “Miss Kantele was worried about a corporate spy stealing her new product. Now that we know it’s just you, any misunderstanding can be cleared up.”

“Yes, I’m sure the matter can be cleared up later.” Citole added, catching on that a scene here was a bad idea. “Isn’t that right Kantele?”

Kantele didn’t let her glare go, but she allowed us to pull her away, and to the booth. Theremin had left, so it was just the three of us, and two bottles of cola. I pulled out my second telepathy talasman, sliding it to Kantele. She was still glaring at her mother, so I practically had to poke her with the talisman for her to see it. Getting her attention, she looked down at the talisman and nodded.

Replacing her light talasman with the telepathy, we both activated them, opening up a telepathic link.

‘The fuck Kantele, I said identify the thief, not jump down their throat.’ I gave Citole a nod, and she proceeded to pour us the remaining soda.

It was easy enough to hide my emotions as I was talking through telepathy, It was part of Orthrus training, Kantele on the other hoof had neither the control or training, and it showed. Her face was scrunched up, and she was holding back tears. ‘Sorry, I’m sorry, sorry.’

‘Stop apologizing.’ I really hoped that dealing with overly emotional ponies was not going to be a thing, ponies with better self control were much easier to deal with. ‘Now that we’ve found the thief, we can leave. When I’m done with my current job, I’ll come back here and help you out.’

‘Promise?’ She looked at me with watery eyes.

I took a long sip of the soda. ‘What are friends for.’

Kantele smiled. ‘Thanks, I’ll gather the evidence, and wait for you.’

‘Well that warms my heart.’ DJ Cerberus chimed in, nearly making me jump. ‘It’s like that old saying goes, about magic and friendship.’

‘Oh, sorry. Didn’t know your talisman was still on.’ I looked at Kantele and whispered. “It’s DJ Cerberus, She must be scanning the telepathy waves.”

Kantele’s eyes widened. ‘Oh miss DJ, I’m Kantele Brass Apple, a pleasure to meet you… well I mean, you know.’

‘Ahh, a rich mare. Well just keep the chatter to a minimum, No other ponies may be tapping in on the wavelink right now, but that doesn't mean it’s safe.’ Cabrette must have been having trouble with ponies trying to tap into private conversations, or she was expecting a message soon, and didn't want us in on it. Probably about the Equalists… oh shit.

‘Cabrette, about the Equalists, I found one.’ Theremin sudden appearance had caught me off guard, almost making me forget about the fact that all the equalist had up and vanished.

‘WHAT! You mean here, at the club?’ Cabrette’s surprised response was all I needed to know that she didn’t know. ‘Can you give me a description?’

I took another sip. ‘Easy, the stallion was hitting on me just a moment ago. Just look for the one with republic military fatigues on. Blue mane, red coat, and a bit scruffy.’

I felt a poke on my side, Kantele had gotten my attention, pointing at the booth her mother was at. “You mean that stallion?”

There he was, Theremin was sitting at the booth, next to the stallion who was already there, across from Kantele’s mother. I face hoofed, my synthetic hoof banging onto my face in a less than gentle manner. ‘That’s him, with Guzheng Brass Apple.’

‘Well shit…’ Cabrette paused for a moment, and I took the time to quickly fill Citole in on the situation. ‘...right. Kantele, you got a good look at the stallion at the booth right?’

Kantele nodded. I rolled my eyes and poked her, and she suddenly remember that the DJ could not see her. ‘Ye… yes.’

‘Okay dear, can you describe what you saw?’ Cabrette asked. ‘Anything out of the ordinary?’

‘Right, well they were just staring at each other.’ She scratched her chin. ‘It was really odd, they didn’t even seem to know I was there until I accidentally broke the bottle of wine. I think they were plugged into something under the table. They both had a cable in them, you know in the part for connecting to a terminal.’

‘Anything else?’ Cabrette pryed. ‘What did the stallion look like?’

‘Black coat, green mane. had a black trenchcoat, and a black hat like Vibraphones.’ Her eyes lit up for a moment ‘The hat even had a badge on it, a star with a pickaxe and shovel I think.’ She scratched her head. ‘That’s all I think.’

‘A badge depicting a star with a pickaxe and shovel on it. Sounds familiar…’ I looked at Kantele, who looked nervous. ‘Right, I remember now, the workers collective.’

‘The what?’ I asked. ‘whos the workers collective?’

‘Not surprised you don’t know them, they disappeared over a hundred years ago.’ Cabrette answered. ‘In a way, it was a lot like what the Labor Union is now, but formed in a much more unstable time. From what the historical texts say, they butted heads with the republic over ideology, and were pushed out. Later they turned terrorist, claiming that the republic was a tyrannical government that oppressed the workers. Though small in numbers, they posed a huge threat. the texts says that they used early cybernetics to link themselves together, sharing experiences and allowing them to fight as a cohesive unit. They were eventually destroyed by the republic, it was do to their use of cybernetics, their linking brains up to each other festered mental instability, and left them vulnerable.’

‘Committing acts of atrocity in the name of the greater good. Sounds like the Equalities.’ I added.

‘Agree, but the workers collective came from the lower class, the equalities are a upper and middle class moment.’ The DJ continued. ‘Anywho, I doubt he is workers collective, it could refer to something, like fostering a rebellion.’

‘Or plugging brains together!’ Kantele added, her eyes going wide, slowly turning her head to the booth. “Mother…”

I reached out to grab her, and keep her from doing anything stupid, but before I could get a hold of her, she was already on the move. She bolted from the table and over to her mother, tripping along the way. I got up and looked at Citole. “Go get Turnip, we might have a huge problem on our hooves.” She nodded, and I ran after Kantele.

She had quickly gotten to her mother's booth, hooves on the table. “Mother, you must remove yourself from this pony immediately, he's dangerous!” I stopped right before the edge of the booth, not wanting to alarm the others in the booth to my presence, unlike the idiot ahead of me. “Mother listens to me!”

Guzheng slowly turned her head to Kantele with a glare on her face. “Have you lost your mind? Insulting a business partner in such a way, I know I raised you better!” Her eyes shifted around locking with my own. I cursed under my breath. “And you, you must be the one filling her head with this nonsense.”

Shit, It’s going to be far harder to defuse the situation when I’m the target of the mares anger. “No ma'am, your daughter is just stressed. She did just lead the unveiling of your company's new railgun.” I hoped that would be enough the calm the situation enough for all of us to leave before a shouting match started. I reach out with the telepathy once more. ‘Kantele! the fuck is wrong with you.’

‘I can’t let somepony use my mother like this!’ She responded, a look of determination on her face.

Guzheng lifted a wineglass, it half full of it’s dark red contents. “I doubt it, I raised my filly to be obidant. She would never raise her voice to me, not unless some outside ruffian is taking advantage of her.” Her eyes glared with a knowing cunning. I doubt she understood the situation, more that she was sure of her own conclusion. “A scoundrel like you would love to have my dear girl in her pocket. You filthy lowlife’s are all the same, every one of you!”

“NO!” Kantele got right in her mother's face. “you're wrong, can't you see that?” The two glared at each other. “Fine, I’ll show you!” She reached out for the cable connected to her mother neck, and vanished.

CRACK

My head turned to the noise. Kantele laid on the table of another booth, her back half unnaturally dangling off the table, and her face covered in blood. My head snapped back to the booth, Theremin stood on the table, his flank pointed at us, and his back hooves with blood on them.

He turned around and cringed. “Shit, I think I broke her back.” his face relaxed, and all emotion drained from it. His eye scanned around, settling on me. “Sorry about your friend, you should get her to a hospital immediately, or she will die.”

Everything felt like it slowed down, like with S.A.T.S. but without all the programs. Even with the music pounding away, I could hear that everyone in the VIP section had stopped talking, and were looking in our direction. In the corner of my eye the bartender was ducking behind the bar, probably calling security. Guzheng had not moved, maybe stunned, or something worse.

I drew the Lunar Eclipse from it’s holster from under my jacket, and aimed it at… Air? Theremin had rolled down onto the ground, and was coming in with a hoof strike from below. I managed to dodge by rearing back, and standing on my rear legs, the cyberlegs holding me up far better than my old ones. He went in for another strike, as i drew my combat knife with my right foreleg to block it, giving me the opportunity to aim Lunar Eclipse eclipse at him. His punch contacted the blade, and pressed into my chest.

CRACK

Intense pain filled my chest as I found myself skidding backwards. Falling back to all fours, dropping the combat knife, breathing was suddenly hard to do. Looking at the blade, it was bent, almost forming a crescent shape. My Lunar Eclipse was still at my side, the extra TK talisman allowed it to stay by my side, instead of just dropping.

Theremin stood in front of me, still with the emotionless look on his face. “Just take your friend and go, neither of you need to die.”

blood pooled in my mouth, and I had to spit it out. “And you didn't need to attack my friend.”

“That he did.” The older stallion from the booth got up, unplugging himself as he stepped out onto the floor. “Your friend was pushing herself into business where she did not belong. She was making herself a threat, and so she had to be dealt with swiftly and firmly.”

I glared. “That’s not firmly, that brutality!”

The older stallion tipped his hat. “And I’m sorry, something that will not happen again.”

“Too late for that.” I pointed my enforcer at him. “Who are you and what are you after?” Citole arrived with Turnip, the look on her face was of pure shock when she saw Kantele. I pushed her to the side gently. “Go get a stretcher, Kanteles back might be broken.” She just nodded, and galloped down stairs

The old stallion smiled. “How rude have I been, never introducing myself. My names Waterphone Inharmonicity. As for what we are after, that’s simple, to bring true equality to all.” I didn’t buy the hogshit for a second, if they wanted to act the innocent, then they wouldn't have hurt Kantele like that.

“Well you can take that equality and shove it.” I activated my magical armor talisman, forming thin plates of magical energy around me.

“A shame.” Waterphone, said in a disappointed tone. “Clear the way Theremin.”

Theremin charged, and I aimed my revolver at him and fired. He managed to dodge, and was now closing in too quickly so I entered S.A.T.S. I selected to side step him, and fire another round. A simple tactic that was difficult to do when in a sporadic fight like this, all made easier through arcane science. I managed to dodge his attack, his hoof crashing into the metal support of one of the booth seats, and I fired.

He rolled, dodging my shot, and was now right on me. Hitting me with the back of his hoof, I found myself crashing into another booth. The ponies in the booth jumped over the other side and ran to the stairs. Getting up, I spat out a tooth onto the floor. Even with the magical armor, this stallion hits like dragon.

He closed in for another attack, and just in time S.A.T.S. was ready for another go. This time I chose to roll into him, and try to knock him off balance with a kick. The maneuver was successful, as my body jumped into a roll, putting me right under him, and with a strong kick my back hooves made contact with his most sensitive part. A dirty kick I know, but this ponies strength and speed was beyond me. But a stallion is still a stallion.

To my shock, Theremin hadn't flinched even a little, instead he just gave me a smile. Rolling away from him, I found the balcony at my back. “The fuck, don’t tell me you castrated yourself.”

Theremin rolled his eyes. “Decided not to bring them today, I just had a feeling that they be trouble.” I didn’t know if it was the cracked ribs in my chest, or that what he just said just now made my stomach churn. probably both. But I was not feeling well. It was likely the hit to my head earlier, probably a concussion. I needed to end this fast, whatever cybernetics Theremin had in him, it put me at a distinct disadvantage.

S.A.T.S. had not charged all the way yet and he was already going in for another attack. Popping open the compartment in my right leg, I pulled out and extended the baton with my mouth. Hitting the power button, the electrical charge crackled as his body collided with me, sending me over the railings. I managed to grab hold of the railing with my right hoof, the digits just barely holding on. Below me, a loud thump hit the floor, Theremin having been stunned mid jump, just twitched on the floor.

Turning off the baton, I proceeded to pull myself up, only to find Waterphone standing in front of me. “Not bad, but a futile effort.” He stepped closer. “I do see potential. We can make you the pony you deserve to be. Stronger, faster, smarter. All you need to do is join us, and help bring true equality.” I spat in his face. “Truly a shame.” Waterphone pulled out a small pistol, pointing it at my head, but before he could finish me off I let go of the railing, letting myself fall to the ground.

Pain enveloped my body, from where the connectors met flesh, to my entire skull, it all hurt. Looking around, my vision blurred, but I could see Theremin look down at me. “Sorry for the trouble Vibraphone, nothing personal you know.” I could only managed a groan. “Better to not move.” He placed a healing potion in my mouth, and I gulped it down. “That a girl. You know were a lot alike, nothing like the other mares. Were different, we see the world like it really is, unfair, flawed, in need of change.” He threw the empty healing potion to the side. “The world deemed me to be born in the wrong body, but I managed to right that wrong. Whatever wrong the world has done to you we can fix it, you only need to join us. Trust me, we seek to make the world better, give everypony what they deserve.” Theremin trotted off out of view, the healing potion did the trick to make some of the pain stop, or at least stop the blood from filling my mouth.

I saw Citole running over to me, her bunny ears missing from her head, and two medical boxes on her side like saddle bags. “Shit, just hold on, drink this and you’ll be just fine.” The pain was much less than before, but I felt weaker now. I tried to drink the healing potion, but I struggled at every gulp.

Everything went black.

Footnote:

Quest Progression:

No Goddesses, or Princesses, Only Mares. 75%

Family Matters. 50%

I like to lurk. 50%