Eating one of the food supplement bars, I found it not too bad. Not as good as a home cooked meal, or even the M.R.E. I had earlier, but far better than the pink crap the republic fed everypony. And with me skipping lunch, it did well as a light meal. Including the one I had eaten, I had sixty of the bars, ten in each box. Quite enough to share around and get in good with ponies that would be beneficial to my life here.

Luckily, I didn’t plan on staying long, so trying to make friends here and raise my E.C.S. was not a thing that I needed to worry about. If I wanted, I could probably hoard all the supplement bars, then I wouldn’t have to eat that pink crap for over two weeks.

Arriving at Clarinets place, I was surprised to find Paixiao and Ruan there. Luckily it didn’t look like they were doing anything real private, though they were in lighter clothes then normal. “Hey, come in Chime!” Clarinet called from the back of the room, waving her hoof.

Trotting in, I saw that a few things had been moved around, and a cot had been placed next to the bed, with its own bedding. “What’s going on?”

Clarinet had a sheepish grin on her face. “Well I went to ask Paixiao if she wanted to hang out later, Ruan too, and they said yes. So were hanging out here, maybe having a sleepover.” She chickened out, she totally chickened out.

Paixiao trotted over, and sat on the cot. “For a moment there, I thought she was propositioning me. It was a little funny.”

Clarinet had a scrunchy look on her face, like she was desperately trying not to look embarrassed. With a sigh, I dropped the saddle bag, and got out of the overalls I had on. Having less clothes on sometimes felt nice, and we were all mares, so I didn’t mind it as much. “So what are you planning for this sleepover?”

Clarinet’s eyes darted back and forth, looking a little confused. She definitely didn’t think that far ahead. “you said you were getting a job, what did you get?” oh, so that’s how it is, throwing the attention back onto me.

“Ministry of Awesome, looks like I’ll be working with Blaster Beam.” Opening up my saddlebag, I pulled out the boxes of supplement bars. “I also go these as a reward for helping fend off the attackers, and as an apology over interrogating me.”

Ruan trotted over and looked over the box. “Nice, how many did you get?”

I pushed a box into her hooves. “Sixty, ten to a box. So I have plenty to share”

Ruan looked at the box, and then at me. “You sure, it’s yours?”

Shrugging, I picked up to other boxes, and trotted to the Clarinet and Paixiao. “I plan to just keep two boxes for myself, the rest you girls can have.” Passing each of them a box, I could see that Paixiao was salivating. “Just remember to only eat one.”

Paixiao looked at me a bit confused. “Only one?”

“Yep.” I said with a smile. “The rest are for you to make a few friends with. You know, bribe them with some food, and get a dialogue going.” I looked at Clarinet, who looked a little happy embarrassed. “And you, why don’t you use this as an opportunity to get a special somepony. I’m sure there’s a few mares here that have shown some interest.” Now her happy embarrassment turned into just embarrassment.

Laughing, Paixiao patted Clarinet on the shoulder. “Here, I’ll ask around my work, see if there’s any single mares who are into mares. There’s got to be at least one or two.”

Ruan trotted over, already eating one of her food supplement bars. “I can do the same. I don’t know about this one mare, I think she may just be a slut, but she does seem to be into other mares.” Her eyes moved from Clarinet, and over to me. “So do you know what you will be doing in the M.o.A. frankly I don’t know shit about them, just that the do… things?”

Now all eyes were on me, and I felt a little embarrassed. “Well, I’m not quite sure yet, but I’m going to be working with Blaster Beam. You know mare that guided us off the island, So I don’t think it will be paper pushing.” I pulled out the pin from the shirt pocket I had put it into. Paixiao and Ruan looked at the pin with some awe, but Clarinet looked a little disappointed. “Is everything okay Clarinet?”

She nodded. “Ya, but it means you will probably be leaving. Ponies who work with the M.o.A. tend to not stay in one place for long. But I’m glad you got an important job, I knew you were something special.”

I rolled my eyes. “I’m not all the special, I’m just useful to more powerful ponies, that’s all. Frankly, it feels like I’m just an available pony in the right place at the right time.” If there was anything I learned from being here, it was to not get a big head, and downplay everything I do. The sooner other ponies think I’m not equal with them, the sooner I start getting unwanted attention from ponies that could pin me as a spy. “If any of you would like to switch places with me, I’d be willing to, but I’m not sure how Blaster Beam would feel about that.”

Paixiao and Ruan both shook their heads at the idea of working with Blaster Beam, and Clarinet laughed. “Sorry, but I’m needed at medical.” Clarinet said through her chuckling. “A M.o.P. representative will be coming around soon to check the clinic, so Doctor Click needs me to help keep the place up to standard.” Clarinet put her box of supplement bars to the side, and got off the bed, trotting to her terminal. “Here, let me show you how set up new contacts, so that we can stay connected with each other over the network.”

Setting new contacts through my E.C.S. was no different than it was on the network at home, but I had to use the pass card to access my contacts. Shortly, Paixiao and Ruan were added to my contact list, and I was to theirs. This made it so that we could send messages to each other from within the republic, All I needed to do was access any terminal with my E.C.S. pass card.

The rest of the day went by uneventfully, as we shared a little bit about ourselves. With myself having to be careful to not let slip about being with Orthrus, but my time after it gave me a lot to work with, so it was easy enough to do. Clarinet avoided talking about her time as a raider kid, which was understandable, and Ruan didn’t have too much to say, as she lived a relatively normal life. Paixiao was the one with a lot of stories to tell, though timid looking, she had definitely been through a lot. And she had ended up on pineapple island as a cheap escort for a pony who later put themselves in a drug coma. She managed to stay on the island working with a locale drug dealer, probably the one I knocked out.

Later, after we had our dinner, more supplement bars, we went to visit clarinets foals. I took a box with me, and hoofed out the bars, of which the foals gleefully took. I still didn’t like this place, it felt like a school that the foal wasn’t allowed to leave. It just didn’t sit well with me, with all the foals living here, away from their parents, like a big carrot and stick wrapped together.

At the end of the day we retired to Clarinets place, the cot giving us enough room to all comfortably lay down. Ruan and I pushed Clarinet and Paixiao together, the two ponies having a habit of sleeping nude, even when sharing a bed with other ponies. Not to say I never did, but not when sharing the bed like that, it just sent the wrong message. It was a bit odd to sleep as a group, but still a bit comforting having other ponies around me like this. I just wished that I didn’t have to lie to them about myself, or that I was not in a place I didn’t belong.

Feeling a little groggy, I opened up my eyes, and saw that I was an hour ahead of the alarm. I could barely make out the others, but I could tell that Ruan’s hoof was poking me in the back, so I rolled off the cot I was on. Stretching my back and little wings, I couldn’t help but feel a bit better after the night’s sleep.

Searching for my stuff didn’t take long, as I had already packed what I’d be taking with me anyway. As it turned out I had room to spare in my new saddlebag, even fitting the old saddlebag. It was just something about how they made the bags, always being able to hold far more than you think it should.

Putting on my gray jumpsuit, and military cap, I quietly slipped out before anypony woke up. I don’t know why, but I didn’t want to say goodbye. I had only known them a short time, but I knew there would be tears, probably from Clarinet, and that’s probably why. If a pony started crying, I might. From Rufus and Turnip, I know I’d start crying.

Very few ponies were up and about at this time, and most of them gave me suspicious glances. I didn’t care all that much, I had better things to worry about then when the ponies here thought about me. The food court was mostly empty, and I didn’t feel like eating pink mush, so I trotted on past it, and made my way to where I was meeting Blaster Beam.

Biting down on the supplement bar, I now had seventeen left, I took a good look at the station. It had a lot in common with the station at Charon’s Stop, but cleaner, and without the boxes of dead ponies. The place was a whole lot of gray, with a few thick lines of color as guides for ponies to get to the trains, and more propaganda posters framed up like they were advertising a movie.

It didn’t take long for me to find who I was looking for, the reaver Blaster Beam was sitting by an old ticket stand, drinking a bottle of blue glowing Metro-Cola. Trotting up to her, I smiled. “And here I was worried that we couldn’t get any Metro-Cola here.”

“You’d think right.” Blaster Beam dug into her bag, and tossed me a bottle of Lurker-Blue. Popping the cap off the Metro-Cola bottle I chugged the wonderfully stupid drink, it’s chemical flavor washing down my throat, making me shiver. The cyber mare chuckled. “Careful there, you can drink yourself sick on that stuff.”

Putting the now empty bottle down, I gave a relaxed sigh. “But it be worth it after all the crap I’ve been through.”

“Like what?” Blaster Beam said dismissively. I pointed at the scar on my lip, and she paused for a moment. “Okay, I’ll give you that. Now hoof over the bottle, I can’t get a refill if I break em.”

I gave her back the bottle, even picking up the bottle cap to give back to her. “So I’m guessing it’s a ministry thing, the cola I mean?”

Blaster Beam looked like she was giving some serious thought into it. “Not quite… It’s more that Metro-Cola made a deal with the republic, allowing them to sell their cola to us, but the I.o.E. control where the soda is sent to. So you can find a few vending machines here and there, but they run out of supplies fast. If you want a more consistent supply, you need to know a pony who’s in good with the I.o.E.” A big grin formed on her face. “If you impress me, I’ll introduce you to a pony I know who can hook you up.”

It was a tempting offer, but I rather go home where I could get cola whenever I wanted. “I guess I’ll just have to give it my all… say, what are we doing?”

The cyber mare motioned with her hoof for me to follow her. We walked over to where the boarding section of the station was, with bright yellow lines signifying were ponies should not stand. “You’re going to help me root out a few spies. If we’re lucky it will be nothing more than some fool who gotten a little greedy, and needs some re-education.”

“And at worst?”

She lifted up a hoof, and it glowed a little red from the inside. “You make sure none get away as I clean house.”

I nodded, understanding what she meant. “So the M.o.A. hunt’s spies, good to know.”

Blaster Beam laughed, her synthetic voice almost squeaking. “We do more than that, far more than just that.” She gave me a you’ll see look, which made me a bit worried.

A railway cart appeared not long after, the pony driving it also having a M.o.A. pin on. As it turned out, we were going to use a more private rail line, not used by the common citizens. The other pony didn’t talk much, not that she needed to as Blaster Beam talked for the three of us through the whole trip.

Most of what Blaster Beam had to talk about where her interests, mostly boring to me. A lot of it had to do with her favorite show she saw as a filly, Pony Town, which I remember watching when I was younger. It was about six friends solving friendships problems, not a bad show, but after a long and slow decline in its popularity, the shows eleventh season marked when it went downhill hard. Blaster Beam’s hobby was collecting the figurines from the show, but dropped it after joining the republic. Now, from what she said, she just makes her own, including plush dolls.

She did talk about something that was interesting, and that was about her cybernetics. She didn’t say much, but she did say that they were prototypes. Her, Theremin, and Waterphone had experimental cybernetics, which was meant to give them an edge in combat. From seeing her and Theremin in action myself, I could attest to this fact. I was disconcerting that the Republic was planning on making more, but not surprising.

We arrived at our destination after some time, the driver simply leaving after dropping us off. Looking around, I saw a large sign that let me know I was at Friendly Town Station. “Why Friendly Town?” I asked mainly to myself.

“because the old name gave ponies the creeps.” Blaster Beam answered.

I chuckled. “Like what, dead pony station?”

She just shrugged. “Castle Rock, same as the ruins of the town above. I only know the name because I’ve been up there. It’s an odd looking town, from what’s left of it, something like the old east coast equestrian villages from a few old horror, and period movies.”

“So why the name change?”

She huffed. “Nopony knows, the history all went up in smoke about a hundred to a hundred and fifty years ago. Something about an old ghoul going nuts or something, before chewing on the electrical wires.”

I sighed. “You know; I don’t think I want to know more anymore. So where to… boss.”

Blaster Beam smiled. “That’s a good mare. Our first stop is to talk with the local security, see if they got a pony in lockup.”

Friendly Town Station had a lot in common with Trust Town Station, both were clean, had the propaganda posters everywhere, and had a pony population that would give us less then friendly glances when they thought we were not looking. Stable-Tec was good at what they did, but I wished they would add some variety to their underground constructions, all the gray made me depressed sometimes.

There was one thing that was different about this place, all the ponies here had piplegs. Not as well built as Minerva was, the legs were more of an old pipbuck attached to the prosthetic leg. Observing the locals as we passed, the pipbucks seemed to act a lot like an ID, or the E.C.S. pass card. They would use it to get food, pass through checkpoints, and even access terminals. I’d seen similar thing before, mostly involving high security in Orthrus, or sometimes with wealthy ponies who used pipbucks for extra security.

Using pipbucks for ID’s was nothing new at all, and was common practice in Orthrus over fifty years back. But like with all security method’s, the syndicate had cracked it, and had been using it to get around Orthrus. There was a big scandal because of that, and the general use of pipbucks as ID fell out of practice outside of controlled environments where the pipbucks can easily be tracked. Minerva itself was an old refurbished Orthrus pipleg from that time, probably how my sister could have even afforded it.

“Does everypony here have one of those?” I asked, pointing at one of the crude piplegs.

Blaster Beam looked over at what I was pointing at, back to me, and nodded. “Yep, citizens who have properly settled in get one as a sign that they have come closer to equality. It makes it much easier to use your E.C.S. pass card, as you install it into the leg, and it allows you to wirelessly access any terminal nearby. With it, if you are hurt it will call for a medical team, if you're lost it helps us find you, and if you’re in danger it will let ponies like me know, so we can come and help. Cool, right?”

I just nodded, keeping my expression neutral. To me it simply sounded like a tracking device, a very advanced, and intrusive tracking device. Not that most pipbucks weren’t like that, the older models were notorious with how easy it was to track and extract information from. Newer models, like the Orthrus pipbucks, were a lot more secure with the information it held, having their own encryption algorithms for private information. It could still be cracked, but the time and effort it took cracking just one Orthrus pipbuck made it an expensive endeavor.

I missed having Minerva on me.

Arriving at the security station, it was just as I thought it would be, but with more gray than blue. The ponies here had light padded armor, most had riot helmets, and were armed with batons, some with magical energy muskets. Their muskets were shorter, and had what looked like a scattershot lens at the end. It was not the most efficient way to set up a one shot rifle like that, but when dealing with a civilian population, intimidation was far more useful than efficiency.

The station itself had a less is more feel to it, with far fewer posters around here then anywhere else we had passed by. Deeper into the security station, we came to a spot where there were a few private offices’, and Blaster Beam began poking her head into them one by one, stopping at the third one down.

A mirage pony stallion sat behind the desk, reading some paperwork. Clean cut mane, and even cleaner uniform, he reminded me a bit of my father. Blaster Beam stepped in, but as soon as she opened her mouth, the stallion raised his hoof, cutting her off.

“Just a moment, miss.” He said, looking a little red in the face. “You can stop now lieutenant, we have company.” A loud thud came from under the desk , as though something had hit it.

More noise could be heard, it sounding like somepony shuffling under the desk, in small frantic movements. Soon a head poked up from under the desk, it was a strawberry pink mirage pony mare, with a lime green mane. Her uniform was disheveled, and had not been properly buttoned up, making her look like a mess. It didn’t help that she had some white fluid on her cheek. Standing up, the mare saluted “Lieutenant Kendang!” I pointed on my cheek where the fluid still stuck to her, and seeing me do this, she scraped it off her cheek, and licked it off her hoof, acting like nothing was wrong.

The stallion face hoofed. “Sorry you had to see that ladies, but why are you here?”

Blaster Beam took a few steps forward. “Detective Timpani, my name is Blaster Beam, of the M.o.A. and this is-“ She pointed at me. “-my assistant, Chime. We’re here to see the trouble maker you apprehended a few days ago.”

Timpani, raised an eyebrow. “Fife? If there was anything more to interrogate out of her, we would have already done it.”

Blaster waved her hoof dismissively, and smiled. “Oh no, no. We just have a few questions. I doubt she would know anything about what we're after.”

Sighing, the detective rummaged through his desk pulling out some keys. “You know what, I don’t care. Just don’t leave a mess or anything, and bring back the keys. You M.o.A. are all just bad luck for us regular folk.”

Sliding the keys to her, Blaster Beam placed them in her pocket. “Good stallion, now go back to getting your staff waxed, I’ll just throw the keys back in on my way out.”

We left the two, and made our way to another part of the security station. The few guards that were on duty, simply got out of Blaster Beams way. Truth be told, I’d do the same, the guns coming out of her back were pure intimidation.

Finding, and entering the cell of Fife, the mare was a cream yellow pony, with a purple and light blue mane. Overall on the cute side. “Can I go yet?” her voice was a little squeaky, adding to her cute demeanor. “I swear I didn’t know, not at all.”

Blaster Beam rolled her eyes. “Kid, from the information I got, you damn well knew whoring yourself out like that would get you in trouble.”

The mare snorted. “I was not; it’s called the marefriend experience. There was no whoring involved.”

“Ya ya, whatever. That’s not what I’m here for.” She stepped up to the younger mare, and Fife backed up onto the wall. “I want to know about your friend Quena, and where to find her?”

Fife looked away from Blaster Beam. “I… I don’t know, we haven’t talked in like years. Not after she met somepony new. A stallion I think, never met the pony.”

“Anything else?” Blaster pressed.

“Ahh…” Fife looked over at me, and I just shook my head. “Yes, there is one thing. She took me to where she was meeting the stallion once, the residential tunnels behind the water processing plant. I think he lived there, or at least close.”

Blaster backed away. “Good, that's enough for me.”

Fife sat up on her bed. “So, am I getting out of here?”

Chuckling, Blaster stepped out of the cell. “I’ll talk to somepony about it.”

Blaster Beam didn’t mention it to anypony, and simply tossed the keys into the detective’s office, and left. From the sounds coming from the room, the two security officers were probably having rough sex, of which I was glad not to see.

“Wait, if everypony has a pipleg, then why do you need to ask about the mare’s location?” I felt it was a fair question. And possibly something I could use if I ever needed to slip away.

“Her signal went offline a few days ago, security was sent to check on her last known location, but she was missing. The I.o.E. thinks foul play, the M.o.A. thinks she’s in contact with a spy.” She gave me a confident look, the kind that a pony gives when they know their right. “I’ve seen it before, ponies suddenly dropping off the grid, only to reappear a few days later. In many case it’s just the pipbuck acting up, but sometimes it’s spies.”

Thinking about it, it didn’t add up for me. “How do you know she is involved with spies?”

Blaster Beam laughed. “They all are. My theory is that the malfunctions are just false flags meant to throw us off, so to get security lazy about checking up on the ponies who fall of the network. When the spies are sure security is no longer looking for them, that’s when they take the pony to their hideout. We just need to find Quena, and get her to take us to the spy.”

“That… makes sense.” I said, thinking that it made sense in a paranoid kind of way. But I had to ask. “Any proof?”

She shrugged. “None yet, But I know that those piplegs aren’t some cheap knockoff. I asked a contact of mine in the M.o.A.S. and they told me that even striped down, the pipbuck legs that the republic makes don’t malfunction unless damaged or tampered.”

“I’m guessing that they weren’t damaged?”

Blaster shook her head side to side. “Nope, barely even a scratch from what I’ve heard.”

We practically had to walk to the other side of Friendly Town Station, which was not that far distance wise, but over two hundred years of it being lived in, most stations were a maze to get around if they didn’t have a main street, this station didn’t. So after having to pass through two separate residential tunnels, and the market place, we arrived at the water processing plant. Providing clean water for the rest of the station, it was easy to recognize with all the pipes poking out of the old tunnel. I didn’t poke my head inside, so there was no way for me to know how the place was being powered. If I had to guess, it was probably pony powered.

Like what we were told, behind the plant was another residential tunnel. The small homes were neatly built in parallel lines and stacked on top of each other. On one side of the tunnel was were ponies used to wait for the train, now turned into an extended housing zone, making the area feel bigger than it really was. Looking at the whole place made me appreciate living in a newer tunnel, where they made more room for housing then what these ponies had. Though it was still far better than the shanty town of Charon’s Stop.

Blaster Beam hoofed me a paper wrapped box. “Okay. You get looking, I’ll keep an eye out.”

“And The box?”

She rolled her eyes. “Right, need to explain the plan more. You're delivering the box to this Quena, but can’t seem to find her, and need to ask the ponies here if they know her. Mail ponies are known for their determination, so it shouldn’t raise too much suspicion.”

I shook the box, finding it light as a feather and probably empty. “So why not use a mail pony for this?”

“We did, but they can’t spend all day on one package, and no clue. So I’m using you.” She pushed me into the tunnel. “Now stop asking questions, and get to work.”

The plan seemed solid enough, except for the fact that most ponies were not at home, and I was not a mail pony. The first few doors I knocked at remained silent, the lack of light coming from under the door was probably a good sign that nopony was home. Skipping the homes that were probably empty, I when straight for the ones that were obviously occupied.

The first pony was a very thin mare, who looked at first hopeful, but annoyed when I told her what I was there for. The mare didn’t know a Quena, and slammed the door on me, when I tried to press for more questions.

The second was another mare, Mostly dark gray on light gray, and very tired looking. I had to admit that she had lovely blue eyes, too bad they were a bit red, and had heavy bags under them. She didn’t know a Quena either, and promptly fell asleep standing up. Feeling neighborly, I helped the mare back into bed, tucking her in. On my way out I could see she had a fair collection of the poster cards that Clarinet obsessed a bit about.

Third was a stallion with a filly on his head. He was friendly and polite, talking much like Clarinet did. Sadly, he hadn’t heard of a pony named Quena either, But he did point me in the direction of a pony who might, telling me that she “knew” everypony worth knowing about.

I knocked on the door that the stallion directed me too, and from behind it came the sound of rustling, and the sound of bottles falling over. The door opened to reveal an odd sight, A mirage pony mare dressed up in scanty nightwear, with a lab coat over it, and a bottle of what I could guess was alcohol on her head. “Heeey, *hic* are you here for a checkup, abit *hic* of a bad time… and place.” The drunk mare had a dark brown coat, and a golden blond mane. Red fishnet stockings covered her back legs, with a translucent black veil draped over her body, and red panties almost too thin to cover anything. I was glad that she had the white lab coat on, or I would have mistaken her for a prostitute.

“No, no.” I dismissively waved my hoof. “I’m here delivering a package for a miss Quena, but can’t seem to find her current residence, the most recent information on her states that she may have lived here. I was wondering if you knew where I could find her.”

The mare looked a little disappointed. “That’s no fun. *hic* I was half expending you to say that you have a big package for *Hic* me, and yada, yada.” She scratched her chin, before her eyes opened wide. “The name rings a bell, but I doubt I could *Hic* remember off the top of my head.” The bottle fell off her head and into her hooves. “Oh that’s where you have been! You bad *Hic* boy.”

A poor lead was better than no lead, that was what I hoped. “Well is there anything you can tell me?”

The mare paused for a moment, and shook her head. “*Hic* no, not here. But I may have a file on the mare. *Hic* at my office.”

I sighed, knowing what I had to do next. “Can you take me to your office, the sooner I get this delivered, the better.”

She squinted her eyes at me, and wobbled a little. “I don’t know, it’s my day off, and I’m a little tipsy.”

Scratching my chin, I had an idea that seemed real stupid, but I was in fuck it mode at this point. “I have some food supplement bars I can give you in return.”

The mare raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

I pulled out three of the bars, and hoofed them over to her. “Really.”

She looked at the supplement bars and shrugged, taking them, she threw them into her room. “Good enough” stepping out of her small house, shutting the door behind her. “Let’s go! *Hic*”

I face hoofed. “Names Vi… Chime, Chime Catbell.”

“Charmed.” The mare said with a wobbly bow, “My names Viola d'amore, the Obstetrician and Gynecologist, here in this station.”

Miss Viola was a confusing pony, and somehow though our walk she never once dropped the bottle of alcohol from her head, except when she was going to drink from it. She also didn’t bat an eye when Blaster Beam joined us, simply offering her a drink. Luckily for me, Blaster didn’t drink, having to do with her being mostly cybernetic, so getting drunk was something she simply couldn’t do, even if she wanted too. Supposably it was possible, but it takes ten times the amount of booze just to get her there, so it would be a waste of her bits.

The medical clinic this station had was a bit bigger than the one in Trust Town Station, with a few extra ponies working there. I saw at least two face hoofs from the staff as Viola trotted to her office, and one pony rise a hoof to say something to her, but dropped it and ignored her. I had a feeling that Viola’s outfit was nothing new, but still a bit out of the norm for a member of the medical staff.

“So walk around in your underwear often?” Blaster Beam asked Viola.

The medical pony smirked. “Every day, it’s just on my days off I go without the second layer. Not to sound like a nag, but most of the available clothes tend to be rough on my fur”

Blaster just shook her head. “And what you got on is so much better?”

“Oh don’t be that way, we all like to look a bit sexy now and then.” Viola said as she gave us a wink.

I wasn’t going to lie, even I had my own pair of black panties that I keep for special occasions. “But, don’t you normally dress sexy so that some other pony can see you that way. Not for getting drunk by yourself.”

Viola d'amore just stopped in her place, frozen in mid step.

I felt like I just hit the wrong button, no, I did just hit the wrong button “Ah… I mean it’s totally normal, nothing wrong with it whatsoever.”

She relaxed for a moment, and continued on. A short time later, we got to where her office was, though it looked more like the storage end of the clinic. Blaster Beam and I had to sit outside of her office, patient privacy and all that.

Looking back into the ward we passed, there were quite a few ponies laying down on the beds. None of them looked all that bad, but some had a hefty layer of bandages on. One pony had an IV drip attached to their neck, but still not looking all that bad.

“So did something happen?” I asked pointing at the ponies.

Blaster looked over at the group of injured ponies, and nodded. “Probably the tunnel collapse from a few days ago. It did happen near here, so it’s no surprise that the survivors are recovering here.”

“Oh, I remember hearing about that. Tunnel collapses are never fun, got caught up in one myself.”

“Sounds shocking.” She put up a fake gasp on her face. “So how’d you get out?”

“I got to an exit in time.” I rubbed my chin. “But got clocked in the jaw by a bandit soon after.”

Blaster Beam chuckled “Sounds like how my momma would say welcome home.” I raised an eyebrow at her, and she sighed. “you know what, let’s not talk about our personal lives right now.”

I agreed, though mostly because if I gave out too much, I could screw myself over.

A little later Doctor Viola came out holding a folder. “I think this is the mare you're looking for.” She opened up the folder, showing a picture of a meek looking mare. She had a brownish gray coat, and a dull pink mane. “She went by the name Cajón, but I got a quick look at her E.C.S. pass card, and the name Quena came up.” She pulled back the folder to herself, closing it. “It was all strange, not just the fake name. She had come to me, thinking she was pregnant, of which she was not. Also she seemed quite drained of energy. I told her that she should rest up for a few days, and sent her home.”

Blaster Beam had a smile on her face as she stepped up to Viola. “Any information on where she lived?”

She shook her head. “Nothing I know for sure.” Flipping through the folders documents, Viola stopped on one page. “But I did test her fertility, and it was normal. So if she thought she was pregnant, she might have been spending time with a transsexual that hasn’t told her about themselves yet. I’ve seen it happen before, never ends well.”

Blaster huffed with an annoyed tone. “And where can we find this tranny?”

Viola rolled her eyes at Blaster Beam. “Don’t be testy, you’re looking for Uilleann Pipes. She used to live near me, but moved a few months ago. Last I heard, her place is near the old stairs to the surface.”

Giving me a wicked look, Blaster turned around and trotted off. I looked at Viola, who had a look of irritation and dissatisfaction on her face. “Sorry about that, maybe we can meet up later for drinks.”

“Rather not.” She said with a less than pleasant tone. “Your new right? Just a bit of advice, get away from the M.o.A. as soon as you can.”

I sighed. “You didn’t need to tell me that. For me, if I don’t get away… it’s not if, but when I’ll be a dead mare.” Trotting off, I picked up the pace to catch up to Blaster Beam.

______________________________________

“Good day dear citizens of our republic, this is Garmon Keys, here to bring you a message. No stories this time, though I do have one I’d love to tell, but no, a message. It’s about the dangers that the capitalists bring and the secrets and lies they use like a dagger, ready for your back or throat. You and I are but a knife's edge from being nothing more than livestock for the capitalists to trade among each other.

They go by many names; the impoverished, the low income worker, the peasant, and the wage slave. All of them are the same, all suffer the same, and we can all become them. They are the property of the capitalistic system, never to be nothing more than a slave without a color, and a nicer sounding name. If they do not do what their superiors tell them to, then they do not get paid. And without pay, death soon follows.

It’s a cruel system, that’s for sure. None say that disobedience is rewarded with death, but that’s what comes in the end. Be it banishment to the station Charon’s Stop, or starvation in an old abandoned tunnel, that’s the fate of those within the capitalistic system, who do not submit themselves.

The Capitalists use the idea of freedom, and the feeling of independence to place ponies under their control. They inspire competition to trick ponies into placing gilded chains around their neck, as they compete to be the most well-groomed slave among them all. The ponies who live under the rule of capitalists believe themselves to be different, expressing themselves in all manners of colors, skills, and artistry, but it’s all an illusion, as they are trapped in a lie.

There is no hope for them, not for the delusional ponies who live under the capitalists. Not without help. That’s where you, my little ponies, come in. You who know the world for what it truly is. You who understand that freedom is not truly freedom, that self-expression is but selfishness and lies. You who understand that alone you are weak, unable to do much but whimper. But we as a group, as a nation, are unstoppable.

You can save them; we can save them. But only if we remain strong, if we remain unified. Every one of us are but a small part of something greater. It is great that the capitalists fear us so, and wish to tear us down, piece by piece. This is why we must remain vigilant. We have not yet made it there, the strength to unify the metro, but it comes soon. Until then, the capitalists remain our biggest threat, seeking to enslave us all. To brainwash our foals into their ideals, and turn our mares into breeding stock for their ever disposable workforce.

So I remind you, stay vigilant. The capitalists are out there, but together we remain strong. This is your president Garmon Keys, wishing you good luck out there.

The old stairs. It was a general term among most stations referring to the stairway to the surface. After the end of the war, they were the most guarded and feared part of the station. Ponies trying to stay as far away from the toxic air as possible. The blast door keeping everything out, even the ponies trapped outside. And if the door malfunctioned, it meant a slow death for the station as it slowly became poisoned.

It would have been impressive to see back in those troubled times, with ponies on guard twenty-four-seven. It would have been the gathering spot for scavengers, as they geared up before leaving, or selling what they had found. I had seen a few old photos of it, showing a dark time were ponies still found joy in life.

But today, the old stairs are rarely such a place. Having been sealed off up at the surface, the worry of toxins getting in was minor now. Most salvage had been found long ago, and the large groups of adventurous ponies had been replaced by wild punga fruit farmers. Friendly Town Station was no different, except that it provided space for more homes, just like the ones I had been at earlier.

Once more Blaster had me go door to door looking for Uilleann Pipes. Luckily this time the first pony who opened their door knew who I was talking about, and pointed to the right door. Trotting up to the door, I felt a little apprehensive about knocking on it, but with Blaster Beam staring a hole through my head, there was no going back.

I knocked twice, and waited.

“Excuse me, just give me a moment.” It was the voice of a mare, semi-sweet in tone. The door opened, revealing a brownish gray mirage pony mare, with a dull pink mane. She was without a doubt the pony Quena. Her cyber prosthetics looked like they needed some cleaning, rusting a little near the joints, and a few exposed wires. Her pipleg looked just fine, though the screen was all black, unlike the rest I had seen. “How can I help you?”

Clearing my throat, I pulled out the package. “Miss, I’m delivering this to a Uilleann Pipes, is this pony home?”

Quena looked uneasy for a moment before looking me in the eyes. “S…sorry, Uilleann is not here right now, can you come back later?”

I nodded my head, and stepped back. “Good day miss-“

With a heavy hoof, Blaster Beam cut herself between us, making a loud bang on the door. Surprising myself, and Quena, the mare fell back onto her flank. “You must be the elusive Quena, Not checking in your pipbuck when it is broken is not something a good citizen would do.”

Quena looked panicked, her eyes darting about, setting them back on me. All I could do was shake my head, as Blaster Beam invited herself in. Knowing what to do next, I stepped in, closing the door behind myself. “Really, did you have to scare the poor mare like that?” Though I was more annoyed at getting startled myself.

She just rolled her eyes. “Don’t give me lip newbie, it may not look like it, but I’m a busy mare. The sooner we get this mystery done, the sooner I can move onto the next job.” Turning her head to the cowering Quena, Blaster smiled. “Now for you. Don’t worry, we just have a few questions to ask. Once it’s all over, we're just going to turn you over to security to get that pipbuck fixed. Do you understand?”

Quena nodded.

“Good.” Blaster found a nice chair to sit down on, and motioned for Quena to sit as well. “Now first off, why have you not gone and had that pipbuck of yours fixed?”

The thin mare was jittery to say the least, looking between me and blaster, quivering a little. I saw that Blaster was getting irritated, at her silence, grinding her teeth. Sighing, I stepped in, pulling out a supplement bar, and passing it over to Quena. “Here, eat this, you’ll feel better.”

Quena stared at the bar for a moment before she bit into it. We both waited for the mare to finished, Blaster looking more annoyed by the second. After what felt like almost a moment too long, Quena spoke. “It’s the headaches. Like somepony was trying to get into my head.”

Blaster Beam huffed. “And what does that have to do with your pipbuck?”

“I don’t know, but it stopped when the pipbuck stopped. I just wanted it to stop. I... I hurt myself to make it stop. But one day I took off my pipleg, and the pain stopped. But I needed the leg to move around, so... so...” Quena looked away.

“So you tampered with the pipbuck part of your leg.” Blaster asked, and Quena nodded. “Okay, Defective pipbuck. I’ve heard of that problem before, I’ll just put in an order for a new one. Now for my second question, who disabled the pipbuck for you? Who had the tools to even open it up?”

Quena froze. “I... I don’t know.”

“That’s hogshit, and you know it.” Blaster responded with a tone of irritation. “Now tell me the truth.”

The mare looked away in a slow jerky motion. “I... I don’t want to.”

Before Blaster Beam could explode on her, I raised my hoof up between them. “It’s okay, we're just trying to find the tools.” I gave Blaster a nod, hoping she would play along. “You do know pipbuck tools are not something a pony can easily get. Isn’t that right, Blaster?”

The cybernetic mare smirked. “Not easy to get is an understatement. We're here to just retrieve the tools, nothing more.” Quena slowly looked back at us. “Still you and this other pony are in trouble, but it’s only a minor offence. A slap on the hoof kind of trouble, that is as long as you work with us. So, who had the pipbuck tools?”

Quena sighed, and rubbed a tear from her cheek. “Uilleann. He said that he found the tools, and was going to try to return them as soon as he fixed my pipbuck. Until then, he told me to wait here, he’ll be back with something to help me.”

“Last question.” Blaster Beams face looked like it was holding back a huge grin, her mouth almost twitching whenever closed. “Can you take us to him.”

She looks at Blaster, and then to me, with a look of distress on her face. “I... I don’t… I… I can take you to where I last saw him.” She said the last part with a sigh.

The grin seemed to overpower Blasters face. “Good.” The cybernetic mare pulled up her saddlebag and hoofed out six talismans, passing three to me and three to Quena. “Install these first, for your safety.”

I looked at the talismans and sighed. “What do they do?” asking as I installed them into my right foreleg, and my two back legs.

“Simple really, one is for a telepathic link between you two, the other records the memories of what currently happening, and the third is a chameleon stealth unit, not as good as invisibility, but if things go wrong, you two can hide as I shoot the assholes that challenge me.”

So simply we were to record and protect any information we saw, simple enough. “Understood.” Looking over at Quena, she was slow at first, but eventually complied, installing the talismans.

It was like something throbbed inside my head, not enough to be painful, but too much to be ignored. ‘Can you hear me?’

‘ah… yes… why are you doing this?’ Quena thoughts had a waviness to it, the mare was trembling not just in body, but in mind.

‘Just stay calm, I have no doubt that once this is all over you will just have that pipbuck fixed, and you can return to normal life.’ The thought I sent her seemed to calm her down a little. Looking over at Blaster Beam, I gave her a nod. “looks like everything is working.”

The grin on Blasters face receded, but didn’t stop being unnerving. “Good, let’s move out.” She motioned for Quena to lead the way. “Miss, if you may, show us where you parted ways.”

Quena looked over at me for a moment, and then at the ground. “yes… yes, it’s not far from here.”

The tunnel we entered was darkened, to few lights to make it conformable for a pony to traverse through. To many places for a bandit or monster to hide in ambush. There were even places where the lights have gone out, making spaces of utter darkness. It was the one thing I liked about the surface, at this time of day there were little to no true dark spots, as the sun lit up everything it touched. Here, it felt like the sun had abandoned it, and darkness ruled.

“It’s just ahead, that’s where we parted ways.” Quena pointed out.

Blaster Beam trotted ahead of us, and motioned for us to stay put. “I’ll go scout it out, if things go well, there will just be a dead drop. So stay where you are.” She moved on, throwing on a cloak from her saddlebag, and disappeared into the darkness.

“She won’t hurt him will she?” Quena meekly spoke up.

Knowing as much about Blaster Beam as I have had come to know, she was probably going to kill Uilleann. Not out of any duty, or order, but because it was easy. Blaster Beam came off as rash and blood thirsty. So anypony who stepped out of line with her was endangered, even myself. “No, Uilleann will be just fine. So don’t worry.”

‘Oh thank Luna’ her though hit me with a wave of relief, something not normal with a telepathy talisman.

Something did not feel right about all this, and the pit of my stomach felt as low as it ever had been. Shaking off the feeling, I had no place to show doubt, or risk revealing that I’m not who I say I was. “We just need to wait here for her to return. If all goes well, she would have found the pipbuck tools, and we can move on.” Quena nodded, and we continued to watch the tunnel for Blaster Beam’s return.

Being next to Quena felt odd, like the blood vessels in my brain were pulsing. Not enough to be called a headache, but the feeling was hard to ignore. Not only that but my body tingled, like it was being poked by needles that didn’t hurt, just felt strange.

She looked over at me, raising an eyebrow. “Are you okay, you don’t look so well.”

I shook my head. “No, I think I might be ill. Might have been something I ran into a few days ago.”

Quena took a step back from me. “Oh I hope It’s not contagious, that would be terrible.”

I chuckled at her response. “Me too. I hate to be patient zero to a new plague.”

We took to either side of the tunnel keeping a bit of distance from each other, not wanting whatever had hit me to spread to her. With how easily a sickness can spread down here, it was common courtesy to keep your distance from others when sick.

Feeling a bit bored., I sent a thought out to Quena. ‘So, how did you meet Uilleann, he sounds real special to you.’

Luckily for me, she responded. ‘At first he was a client. I normally didn’t get stallions; it was so easy for them to get a mare that it was a bit strange to me. It started as a date, the next day we became more intimate. After a week I lost my virginity to him, it was the most magical night ever.’

Even from the other side of the dark tunnel, I could see that she was blushing. ‘Sounds romantic.’

I could hear her giggle in her mind. It felt wrong to me. ‘He was like no pony I had ever met. Everypony here is so concerned with their E.C.S. that they have no time to get to know a pony, not even my parents knew me. But Uilleann took time to get to know me, every part of me.’

‘Sounds like you love him.’ I added.

She held onto herself, almost like she was expecting an embrace. ‘I truly love him, love him more than the republic itself. If the republic fell tomorrow, it would not matter as long as I had my Uilleann!’

It was a bit much to take in, but somehow I could understand what she felt. To want another pony so close to you that it hurt, there was no feeling like it. ‘Then why lead us to him?’

A cold dread washed over me as she tried to answer. ‘I, I…’

‘you lead us away from him. Didn’t you’ I thought to her, and she nodded. All I could do was face hoof at her action. ‘You do know Blaster Beam will take exception to this.’

Quena nodded again. ‘But she will never find him, never.’

‘Then you do know what will come of this.’

She nodded for a third time.

We just stared at each other for what felt like hours, our thoughts bouncing between use, but neither of us sending anything worth remembering. It all made my head hurt, far more than it should.

The sound of hoof steps broke our mental deadlock, and Baster Beam trotted in with a smile on her face. “I found them!”

Quena mentally yelped, her mind holding in a panicked reaction. Blaster Beam slowly moving up to her, if strutting. The fearful mare backed away a little, but got stuck on the wall.

Face to face, Blaster Beam was almost close enough to kiss her. “You my little pony did well to share what you know. So do you know that that means.”

“N… No.” she said as she shook her head.

With an irritated sigh, Blaster pushed the mare back with her hoof. “It means you go free. Just turn yourself into security and hoof over the talismans. If you do that, and get that pipbuck fixed, then there is no reason for us to ever meet a second time. You understand?”

Quena nodded, and scurried away. Tripping as she started to gallop away, she was confused at what had happened, and so was I. Her thoughts were only of Uilleann, and she hoped that she had not just sold him out.

Trotting over to Blaster Beam, something felt off about this. “Did you really find our target back there?”

The grin on her face was fierce. “It would have been boring if I had. But no matter, we know where to find them now.”

I raised a eyebrow, but before I could ask a question to how, I saw Quena stop in her tracks. The mare looking back at us. ‘Tricked, but how?’ her feeling of worry became overpowering, and both of us realized right then and there. It was the talisman’s.

A scream of pain hit my skull as Quena fell to the ground, she tried to scream but nothing came from her, only a lick of pink flames. Even from this distance I could see her skin crack, and burn from within, engulfing her in magical flames. In the end there was nothing more than ash, and the death wail burned into my mind.

Feeling enraged, I turned to Blaster Beam, going face to face with her. “Was that necessary! Did she need to die!?”

She just chuckled at me, a chuckle that became a deep guttural laugh. “She didn’t need to live either, and this makes things easier for us. How else are you going to sneak into their little hidey hole?” her laughter cooled down, and so did my rage, only replaced with confusion.

“What do you…” Something was wrong, my voice, it was... different. “What did you do?”

Rummaging through her saddlebag, Blaster Beam pulled out a mirror, pointing it at me.

I didn’t see myself, I saw a brownish gray mirage pony mare with a dull pink mane, I saw Quena in my reflection. “What is this?”

“It’s transformation magic.” Blaster Beam said with a smile. “One talisman copied the other pony’s physical characteristics, the other copies the pony’s memories, and mannerisms. It takes some time for it to properly copy the other pony, but when it’s done, it’s hard to tell the differences.”

It all made me feel a little sick. “But why kill her?”

She groaned in annoyance. “Because we can’t have two Quena trotting around, get with the program!”

Almost on cue, my body took a step back and cowered at Blaster. “S… Sorry.”

With a sigh, Blaster Beam walked up to me, and put a hoof on my shoulder. “You’re doing well Chime, and Welcome to the Ministry of Awesome.”

Footnote:

Quest progression: The Magic of Equality is not Friendship. (60%)