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System Start.

Accessing files.

- Log 1 -

- Log 2 -

- Log 3 -

- Log 4 -

- Log 5 -

- Log 6 –

- Log 1 -

I have recently arrived at Kanaloa Station, under the protection of Orthrus. The three pegasi that were with me went to Typhoon Station. There were three other brave ponies with us, who stayed behind. I spent most of my day at medical, the doctors babying me almost as much as I normally am back home. Even all the way out here, I’m nothing more than the youngest Orphic princess. Important enough to care for, but not important enough to be treated like an adult pony.

Still, it’s nice to have a fluffy bed, warm food, and clean water. Out there, nothing was nice. All old, rundown, and dirty, nothing like at home. I can see why they hate us, the ponies living in Charon’s Stop. We have so much, and they have nothing. It reminded me of when my sister poured out a bottle of water in front of a peasant, to mock her for not watching her tongue. Water is plentiful here, and at home. But out there, they struggle for even a drop to quench their thirst.

There was one thing out there that was still good. I met plenty of ponies, good ponies. It all happened right after I thought it was over. It was stupid to think I could just go out on an adventure, I even thought I found a guide who would look out for me. Yet all I did was pay for my own attempted assassination. But then three birds fell from the sky. No, five. Two died with the assassin, and the other three, they found me.

I remember it vividly. The shine of his gun, his proposition that I become his hidden concubine so that I may live, and the craft the fell, crushing him. I did what I always had, ran, hid, and cried. But as though sent by ancestor Platinum, they came for me, protected me. A skilled, and upbeat pilot by the name of Wild Winds. A strong and enduring soldier named Merit Cross. And a spirited leader, Light Turbulence. They took me under their protection, in exchange I would take them to my kin. I joyfully agreed.

- Log 2 –

Sorry, I was hit by the sleepys, and felt like it was time to stop. Well today I get to meet one of the Council Representatives. Phorminx was his name. It was strange meeting him, as he scared me a little at first, but seemed far more concerned about my health and comfort. He reminded me a bit of the head maid, strict, yet gentle.

To continue my story, the death of my assassin was not the end to our horrors. Fiends like I had never heard of before came for us. At first they were after the three pegasi, but soon I heard them calling for “The Princess”, and once more my title called for others to hunt me. I stayed close to Light, as their leader, she had been my best hope. The three of them proved to be skilled in the way of combat, but so too was our new enemy.

They, the pirates, seemed to be of all races, and tribes. Once thought lost to our world, now coming for me. There were the three pony tribes, as well as donkey’s, and zebras. If we were not being hunted, I would have been amazed by it all.

Things all came to ahead at an underground warehouse, the three pegasi had managed to take some explosives to use on the enemy, but they had brought out a pony in power armor. The gun was like the roar of a large beast, it’s blood lust unquenchable. They used the explosives to blow out a few pillars around the pirates, but then everything started to come down around us. Below me, the floor opened up, and Merit was there to catch me, but we were left lost is the thick dust.

It was pure chaos, we could see nothing, and the sound of gunfire only came closer to us. That’s when another miracle happened, and a voice called out to us, telling us to follow it to safety. Merit had thought it was his leader, so we followed it, and it took us to safety. Sadly, it was not Light who had guided us out, she and Wild had become lost to us. But what stood before us was a member of Orthrus. Well, a former member, but one all the same. If there was ever anypony who could guide me home safely, this mare could.

Her name was Vibraphone Echo, and she and another mare had been hired to go look for me. As it turned out, I had failed to get through Charon’s Stop without others catching wind of my presence. Even with the help, things only seemed to get more dangerous, as not only did the pirates keep hounding us, also a paradise dragon began stalking us. We managed to get away from the great beast, but we were forced to go to the surface.

- Log 3 –

Hello again. Well Phorminx came back, and had me moved to the Sweetie Belle’s Ballad. It’s one of the old airships Orthrus maintains inside the station. Though old, it looks like it could still soar through the wide open skies. The reason given to me was that it would be safer on the ship, and I would have more room to move around. I had to agree, as the ship had its own cafeteria, and even a small arcade. Another thing was that Phorminx was staying on the ship, so I could easily contact him if I needed anything.

Continuing my little adventure that lead me here, Vibraphone has successfully guided us to her friend, and the two other pegasi inside an old hotel that had been taken over by the rampant surface plant life. It seemed that her friend Sweet Sax Solo had not been getting along with the pegasi, and Light had been knocked out by her. I was worried about the captain at first, but I trusted that the two mercenaries would not have harmed her. I don’t know why, but Light reminded me a lot of the royal guard captain Stratus Dancer. Both were pegasus mares that had a strong aura about them, that made me want to stay close to her. When I was a filly, Stratus was assigned as my personal attendant. It was like having an older sister that cared for me. So seeing Light made vulnerable like that, it made me want to protect her.

However, we got lucky, and the Hotel still had a room in decent working order. It was amazing, having been made for Celestia and Luna, the room had withstood the test of time impeccably, and only had a thick layer of dust to show its age. Light was still out cold, and I was out of energy, so we took one of the rooms to rest in.

When we woke up, well, when Light woke up everyone else, we had little time to talk and collect ourselves. Light had become a bit peeved about being knocked out, and when she exited the room, she saw Vibraphone, and her sister, and freaked out. Oh, Vibraphone’s sister, Rototom, is an elite scout for Orthrus, also known as a Specter. After disarming Light, she informed us that the pirates knew of our location, and that we needed to follow her to safety.

- Log 4 –

Being aboard the Sweetie Belle’s Ballad is nice and all, room to move around, and some of the crew to talk to, but little of anything else to do. I spent some time at the arcade, playing a game called “Fighting is Magic” as the two other games were currently out of order. It was nice to try a game with color to it, as most I ever played were just green and black, but still, I quickly grew bored of it. Fighting games are just not my thing.

Phorminx did tell me some of the ins and outs of Orthrus that I didn’t know. For them, security is very important, and many of the soldiers are drilled weekly both in physical tests, and even mental. This meant all members of Orthrus had to be educated, and physically capable to do most of their jobs. This to me made sense to why former members of Orthrus made highly sought after Mercenaries, they were simply worth the bits due to their training alone. He also gave me a few books to read, some I recognized, where others I didn’t. From what was explained to me, these were required reading in Orthrus, as it would expand a ponies point of view, making them much harder to manipulate.

Oh, you’re probably not interested in the day to day boredom. So yeah, back to the adventure at the hotel. Well it seemed that we had even less time to get out then we thought, as a vertibuck came to shoot through the windows just as pirates broke into the room. One of them was a griffin, like a real griffin. Next thing you know, manticores will turn out to be real too! Well, to make this part short, we ran for our lives down into the stairwell.

Sadly, the pirates were already on their way up, and I had to cover my ears as they shot up at us. I wouldn’t be surprised if most of the pirates were half deaf from firing those guns. The others managed to fend them off, and we made it to a dining hall. From there, we had to sneak to the other side carefully, as they knew we were there, they just couldn’t see us. But when we thought we had them, somehow the pirates started teleporting more in, even a pony in power armor. Rototom stayed back to fight them off, and we pushed forward into the kitchen, where we climbed into a small elevator shaft, and climbed down into the basement level of the hotel.

Side note, I hit the jackpot down there. Despite the basement being flooded, I found the most adorable saddlebag, and some self-care materials still in good condition. The floral scented soap was the best. When I finally got to wash up again, I came out smelling like the royalty I am.

On our way out, we were stopped by one pirate. It was only one, yet everyone seemed to be on edge around the mare. Her eyes, it just felt wrong to me, like I was looking at something not quite a pony. The fight with the mare was vicious, and when the opportunity opened up, we rushed out to get away. Vibraphone stayed behind to cover our exit, I don’t know why, but I felt that she should not have been left alone.

Outside, we followed Rototom’s plan, making our way to the Captain Andromeda’s ride. There were two Vertibucks scouting around for us, but we had gotten lucky, and they were keeping an eye on the hotel more than they were on the ground.

- Log 5 –

You know the old saying, be careful of what you wish for. Well, I was most certainly making a polite, and valid complaint to the fact that there was little to do on the airship. Certainly not whining like Phorminx keeps saying I was. The old goat of a stallion decided that if I was bored, that maybe I should do a little Orthrus training today. Basic firearms training, an obstacle course, and even a security test. Each one I got laughed at by the other ponies, the indignity of it all. Other than when I was out at the big island, I had never been so tired in my life.

Back on the ship, I read through more of the books I’d been given. It was a strange collection. One was ‘Purity of Blood’, which was always passed around in secret back home, but none of my attendants would ever let me read it. They always gave me this strange look, even some of the maids, like they were looking down on me. Another was the book ‘Gold Standard’ of which I had read before, many times front and back. A third was one I had never seen, the ‘Equalist Manifesto’ of which even reading a little of made me feel a bit uneasy. I asked Phorminx about the books, and he told me that they were an example of ideology run rampant and fallen into corruption. He also told me that the Ignorant often fall victim to such ideas, and though they think they are doing what is best for the metro, in the end their beliefs burn everything to the ground in favor of unchecked tyranny.

It was something I had to think long about.

Let’s get back to the story. We made it to the theme park ride no problem, but it got real dark inside, and real creepy. Further in the others decided to scout ahead, as at the time, we were hearing strange noises in the distance. To my horror, the shutters closed on us, trapping the others further in the ride, and me all by myself.

I don’t know how long I was there, and I don’t want to know. But the others went off to find a way to open the shutters, and never came back. I was later found by Vibraphone and Rototom, both looking like they had run through a blender. Rototom had lost a leg, and her younger sister was covered in cuts and bruises. The both also had light with them, which allowed them to find the control box for the ride.

It was strange, the ride was still in working order, something that should not be possible after over two hundred years. Not only that, it seemed clean. Well not entirely clean, but the assorted junk found everywhere else had been removed, and new coat of paint had been applied to it. So, hesitation aside, we rode the ride, as it just felt like the right thing to do at the time. Eventually we got to a point that looked like we were drifting through space. It was amazing, I had never seen such a thing before, then Vibraphone had a panic attack and fell off the ride. After Rototom calmed her sister down, we came across the most curious … pony?

Well not quite a pony. It had the shape of a pony, but with a dark purple shell that was in place of a coat, and red glowing joints and eyes. The thing spoke in somewhat broken equestrian, and had a red jumpsuit on that had the name Turnip printed in clear view. Despite the strangeness of it all, Turnip was an interesting… Lurker I think the others called him. Well as it turned out, his kind were slowly fixing the theme park, and they also had a queen. The others I’d been with also happened to have been taken by his kind, so we asked for him to take us to them, and he reluctantly agreed.

Well we got to meet their queen and… well, I’ll save that for tomorrow’s log.

- Log 6 –

Again! Phorminx had me run through the basic training again. Told me that I’m a bit too scrawny for a mare my age. I told him that I’m a princess, I am supposed to be thin. He just laughed and patted me on the head. I wanted to argue more, but after my time on the big island, I understood how helpless I was. Ignorant and weak, that’s what I was, and it had nearly gotten me killed. It could have gotten others killed too. It was not like the basic training was all that hard. Even so, I’m not saying I completed any of it, because of course I failed it all.

Back on the ship, I read through a few more books Phorminx lent me. The ‘Orthrus Survival Manual’ was an interesting read, giving little tips to help a pony survive outside in our harsh world. It was a book I planned to read a few more times. Phorminx came around again, and we had a nice chat over some tea. He had actually been all around the metro, at one point being a specter himself. From the time before the equalist revolution, and even when mother was a young mare, he had a lot of stories to share. I also shared my little adventure through the big island, though he’d already got his report from Rototom, his still wanted to hear it from me. I don’t know why, but Phorminx makes me feel safe, like if I was ever in trouble, he would come to save me. Strange.

Well back to the story. We went through the sparkle-lurkers home, oh that’s what we were calling them now by the way, and I have to say I was a bit impressed. It was still run down, but they had decorations all over, giving it its own charm. Still not as dignified as my home, but not as ragged as Charon’s Stop was. When we got to the door were our companions were, I had to turn on my charm to get them to let us in, putting to work all the etiquette training I’ve gone through over the years.

Well we met the queen, Andromeda as she called herself. She had a regal aura about her, not to the same extent as mother, but still, she was in charge and she made sure we all knew it. Before negotiations continued, Merit had to tell a tale from the mainland. Amazing was all I could say about it, the whole land of Equestria had air clean enough to breath, it sounded almost unbelievable. After his exciting tale, which I was disappointed to hear that Light was not in it, we got back to negotiating our safe passage through their home.

I’d rather not talk about how things ended there.

After we were let go, and the Sparkle-Lurker Turnip was sent with us. Again, we finally were on our way back to Charon’s Stop. We had to fight off rad-roaches and stalkers along the way, but all were easily fended off. Except one big problem. The paradise dragon from before came down on us, and I mean literally came down on us from above. It had been hiding in a cave above the tracks, and picking off ponies that came along. Many dead bandits were in the tunnel, probably fleeing from the invading pirates.

Things looked grim for us right then and there, Vibraphone had missed her shot with her sister’s gun, and the monster was ready to pounce on her. But then a miracle happened, and a bunch of scrappers had come to help. They harpooned the dragon's leg, and were holding it back by a chain. I didn’t think Vibraphone would have enough time to charge the railgun she was using, and it was like my body moved on its own. I rushed over to her, to helped her charge the railgun, and so had Rototom. When the gun fired, I could feel the electricity in the air, and in short order the monster was finally dead.

After that, we made it to Charon’s Stop, where I finally got to wash up, as well as have something warm to eat, and sleep a little more than I’d been able to in days. Eventually Orthrus came and escorted us to a safer location… and well, now this story has come full circle. I’ll have to think of something new to write about tomorrow.

Day seven here, and now I really wanted to go home. I was sweaty, sticky, and I think I was starting to feel light headed.

“Come on Harp, it’s just a hop, skip, and a jump!” Phorminx called out to me, as a few of the other Orthrus trainees giggled to themselves.

I growled as I yelled back. “I’m not built for a hop, skip, and a jump. Can’t I just do an obstacle course where I can just prance through it?”

“Nope.” He said flatly, and the recruits laughed.

Okay, it’s not a far jump, not far at all. I ready myself, taking a deep breath, and visualizing what I was going to do. I jumped… my legs simply slipped out from under me, and I belly flopped on the platform I stood on, sliding off of it, and into the cold water. Surfacing, I could hear more laughing coming from recruits.

Throwing me a rope, Phorminx pulled me out of the water. “At least you can swim, not something I can say about these two morons.” The laughter from the two recruits suddenly stopped, as the old stallion eyed them down.

“Well my family has a private pool, swimming is one way we keep healthy.” I said with pride.

“Obviously you didn’t do it enough. Now, how about you do a few more exercises and we call it a day?” He said as he pointed at a mat nearby.

Groaning, I dragged myself over to the map, and followed his instructions. I swear he was enjoying himself as he watched me struggle. The exercises were simple warmups, and stretches, all of which made my body ache afterwards. Personally I fancied the daily exercises back home, a few stretches, and then performing some basic dance moves slowly. I never felt as sore from then. But unlike back then, these exercises kept going on until I couldn’t do any more.

Feeling dry, and drained of most of my energy, I simply flopped over and gave up. The shadow of Phorminx blocked the light over me, as I looked up weakly. “You done?” My stomach grumbled and I nodded. “Right, let’s get you something to eat. You’ve earned it.”

Somehow I managed to drag myself over to the cafeteria, plopping my head down on the table. “If I have to do these drills any longer, I think I’m going to fall to pieces.” I weakly wiggled my hoof in the air to show how weak I felt. “Can I get a fruit salad, mango juice, and a kitty to cuddle.”

“Would you like it served on a silver plate, or a golden plate?” Phorminx mocked me.

“Both, I want it all.” I bemoaned.

The old stallion laughed. “I’ll see if they have anything nice hidden away, just stay there.”

I just laid there and dozed off for a little bit. When Phorminx returned, he came back with two coconut shell bowls, a pitcher of yellow slush, and what looked like a few sticks of celery. “Well looks like the cafeteria had something real nice tucked away. Eat up, I know you will enjoy it.”

Looking at the coconut bowl, it was a milky watery white color, with lots of green in it. “What is this?”

He poured the slush into glasses, one for me, and one for him. “It’s seaweed coconut soup, has a bit of an odd taste to it at first, but you will quickly grow to love it. The drink is a mango-pineapple slushy, also good.”

Taking a sip of the slushy, the sweetness hit the right spot to relive some of my soreness. The soup on the other hoof was... well it was not bad, just a bit different. The minced seaweed went down easy enough, and the warm coconut milk gave it a bittersweet taste. There were a few other things in there minced up, carrots, potatoes, and I think a few other greeneries. Overall it was a hardy soup, not my favorite, but not bad.

“I know I’ve asked this before, but how long will I be here?” I didn’t want to doubt Orthrus’s intentions, but it was starting to feel that this place was becoming my prison, and not simply somewhere I was staying for my own protection.

Phorminx finished off his soup and sighed. “Difficult to tell. Due to what had happened to you, unless we get a message back from either your mother, or your eldest sister, the council has deemed it too dangerous to send you back home.” Finally, an answer I can pry into.

“I thought the council rarely ever comes to agreement.” I pointed out. “How am I to know that it’s just not you who has decided this.”

Phorminx actually looked away, first time I think I saw the old stallion ever look doubtful. “Harp, you’re a smart mare, we both know this. If we let you go back to your family at this time, how long do you think you will even live?”

That hit me, hit me hard. My family’s internal politics were never kind, that was true. But in the last few years, it had gotten far worse. The weaker mother got, the bolder my siblings had become. “I’m not even eligible for the crown, why would I even be in danger from their squabbling!?”

“Last time this happened, twenty percent of the peasant population ended up executed, another ten percent jailed. All but three candidates for the royal crown were alive, and two of them spent the rest of their lives locked away. Nearly half the royal guard left their posts, some were later found dead in the gutter.” He took a sip of his slushy. “What I’m trying to say is that the passing of the crown is a violent affair. Even though your mother has announced her successor, things rarely ever go as peacefully.”

I glared at the old stallion. “So you want me to stay here, wait out the storm, and maybe be able to plop me on the throne.” I was being unfair, I know it, but still I felt like I had to put it out there.

“No, that’s what you want us to do!” A voice spoke up from behind me, and Phorminx face hoofed. Looking back behind me, seeing an older mare with a creamy white coat, and a long straight black mane. I recognized her to be Naqara, the council representative of Security and Law. “To wait out the storm in our protection, and later have us place you as the new queen. You would not be the first to seek this from us, and likely not the last.”

Phorminx cleared his throat. “No she is simply here for her own safety, nothing more than that.”

She eyed the old stallion. “Sure, that’s all it is.” Naqara turned her attention back to me. “If that’s all you’re here for, then you're terribly short sighted. Even if you have no desire for the crown, you're still in an advantageous position for yourself.”

I raised an eyebrow at her. “What do you mean?”

She quickly looked around with her eyes, not even moving her head. “Come to my office later if you want to know more, but I’ll tell you this now. We currently have an ambassador position open, though only a few ponies are even half as qualified as you to fill it.” With that, she turned away, and trotted off.

Looking back at Phorminx, I couldn’t help but feel a bit confused. “Was… was she offering me a job?”

He gave a long sigh. “Yes she was. Our current ambassador to the orphic kingdom has recently retired, and her replacement is currently on maternity leave. You would think we could just fill in the role with anypony, but you know how your family is. Unless they are of a certain pedigree, they are likely not going to be let in the front door.”

It was true, letting any peasant into our home was frowned upon. Not that it didn’t happen, but they needed to be vetted first, which could take months. “Yeah, I don’t think even the royal help are not related to some noble pony there.”

“It makes me worry sometimes.” Phorminx finished off his slushy. “That your family will go the way of the republic, and be there in name only.”

That little comment hit a nerve. “What do you mean?”

“That in a generation or two, your family will be gone, and some fakes will be running the show. With how your family has been going about things, it’s bound to happen.” I put my drink down to speak my mind about that, but Phorminx put up a hoof to stop me. “I’m not saying your family are bad leaders, that’s far from the truth. It’s just that in another generation or two, I don’t think they will even be around.”

His words felt heavy, like a pressure pushing down on me, ever slightly growing heavier. “Some of my brothers and sisters are doing fine. Like Blue Lilly, and Golden Rule, they’re both fine. And then there's Rare Pearl. She may not be the healthiest of ponies, or the most confident, or even the most well-spoken. But I have confidence that she will make an excellent leader. I know, because she’s been kind to me the few times I’ve seen her.” Phorminx had a look on his face that told me that he believed differently. “What?”

He took a deep breath. “Blue Lilly passed away seven years ago, and her body double has been acting in her place for the past nine years. Golden Rule is sterile, if he wasn’t, we would have countless little bastards all over the place. And that’s just the tip of that iceberg. As for Rare Pearl, I do agree that she is the best one to replace your mother, but...”

“But what?”

“The likelihood of her getting assassinated by one of your other siblings is almost guaranteed.”

I just let myself go loose, and flopped onto the table. “Is there any hope then?”

The old stallion shrugged. “Life goes on. At this point, even if the new queen is a tyrant, there's likely little she can do. And there’s always the possibility that your family will change their views on Mirage Ponies, and let go of the past.”

I groaned. “I know Rare Pearl might accept change, she’s the smart one in the family.”

“Maybe, maybe not. We would have to make contact with her to even know whats on her mind.” Phorminx got out of his seat, and trotted over to my side. “You know, if you took Naqara up on her offer, you could go see your sister, and find out what she plans to do.” I nodded, as it did seem like the most prudent course of action. “But that would leave you clearly under the control of Orthrus.”

“And my family would think I might be plotting against them.” Suspicion already runs deep, so joining Orthrus could only make it worse. “No doubt some of my other siblings would try to keep me from Rare Pearl, maybe even sabotage the meeting.”

Phorminx offered a hoof, and helped me out of my seat. “A disaster in the making, but it would give Naqara a bigger hoof into your island, possibly a way to set up a stronger presence there.”

“That could lead to a war, maybe there is another way?”

We began to trot away from the table, and the old stallion had a little grin on his face. “You could always head home independent of Orthrus. Stay under the radar, and go see Rare Pearl before your other siblings even know you’re there.”

I raised an eyebrow at him. “How would I even do that, and what benefit would Orthrus get from it?”

He laughed. “It would keep Orthrus out of your family power struggle. I have a feeling that Orthrus will need to hold onto its resources for a coming bigger threat.”

“I see.” So it was join Orthrus as an ambassador and risk antagonizing my own family, or not and attempt to sneak home on my own. “But how would I even get home without drawing attention to myself. More so get to Rare Pearl?”

“A specter could help you with that. Though you would need some non Orthrus ponies to stick with you too.” Phorminx sighed. “Personally, I think it’s best if you just stay here. I can easily set you up with a job here. I mean you’re are a smart girl, I’m sure you would do well with us.”

It was something I needed to think about, though the message was clear; going home would be very dangerous right now. But what else was there for me to do, other than get a desk job here? That was probably the smartest path to take, though it would mean watching my family chew itself up and doing nothing about it. “What would happen if I decided to just stay here and wait out the storm back home?”

“The metro will move on.” Phorminx said with a clarity in his tone. “With or without you, the metro will move on. It’s up to you if you move with it, trot ahead of it, or trail behind.”

“And it’s safer to tail behind, then to lead ahead.” Phorminx nodded in conformation. It was a lot to take in, but something I have been waiting for from day one, to know how Orthrus will use me. It was a bit of a depressing thought, but at least they gave me options.

Kanaloa Station was by far one of the most advanced stations I had ever been too. Not in the ‘hovercrafts everywhere’ kind of way like in a novel I had read once, but more in the fact that everything worked. And it all worked quite well, actually. Clean water, air conditioning, automatic doors that didn’t squeak, and even automatic lighting that turned on whenever I entered a dark room.

The only other place as well kept as Kanaloa Station was my home, Stable 50. Though almost half of the internal workings of the stable were over two hundred years old, and needed round the clock maintenance. Here, they could make new parts to replace their old ones, something our blacksmith can only do with basic parts. I knew that the Orphic Kingdome regularly traded for new parts from Orthrus, but from what I knew, most of the parts given to us were second hoof, or their second rate surplus. Still, Stable 50 was able to run like it did two hundred years ago because the parts had been made to last. It also helped that Orthrus had trained staff that knew the ins and outs of a stable, so the few times they were let in, any problem the stable had was quickly fixed.

In the past few days I was allowed to see a lot of the station. With the old stallion as my chaperone, many of the small checkpoints in the station just waved us through. It was nothing all that exciting, as most checkpoints were just redundant security measures. The idea of even still using them was for if the station ever got invaded, there would be multiple choke points for Orthrus to use. Still, even with Phorminx, we couldn’t go anywhere in the Station without making an appointment first. From how he described it to me, anything of a sensitive nature worked under a minor lockdown, so to ensure there is no tampering or leaks, both from external and internal dangers.

I asked Phorminx about what internal dangers they were worried about, and he told me that it was for the possibility of a coup. But then he told me that the worst that ever happened was when a council member got too old, and went senile while still in power. She wanted to make herself immortal, and tried to get the R&D staff to do it. She was later detained when she was caught tampering with the crusaders mainframe they had at the station.

This brought me to a question about what a crusaders mainframe was, but all Phorminx would tell me was that it was a supercomputer that Orthrus had built here in the station. It made sense, something had to have been running all the subsystems at this station, as a place like this would be too difficult for ponies alone. Back in stable 50, we had a mister handy plugged into the system to help keep things running smoothly. One of the politest computer systems I have ever seen, though Montgomery was the only computer system I knew of up until recently.

We passed through another checkpoint, this one requiring Phorminx to hoof over some paperwork before we were let in. “Here we are.” The old stallion announced.

“And here is?” I asked feeling a bit confused.

Phorminx smiled. “The programing labs. They mostly do debugging and virus hunting, but whenever we need some custom software, then they’re the ponies to talk to.”

We trotted into the programing labs, and well, there were terminals everywhere.

Trotting into the programing lab, it was wall to wall terminals. Many of them were rigged together to make some sort of super terminal, or some sort of thing. I just didn’t understand it at all. Even the ponies here looked confusing, with one having an absurd headset and goggles on. Another pony looked as if they had been taken prisoner by the terminals, being surrounded, and tangled up in the cables. And there was a third pony who had one leg plugged right into a terminal, the prosthetic seemingly discarded on the ground nearby.

“C… Can we back out slowly? I think the terminals have gained sentience, and have taken over this room.”

Instead, I was pushed further in by Phorminx. “Don’t be silly, everything’s fine here.” One of the terminals made a loud pop sound, turned dark, and started to smoke. “See, even if they gain sentience, it’s not like they will last long.”

Oh har, har. “Fine, but if we’re here so that I can learn programing, you’re going to be disappointed.”

Phorminx rolled his eyes, walking over to the pony with the headgear on, and tapped on the metal dome. “Fujara, I’m here to pick up my order.”

“Animal, vegetable, or mineral?” Fujara questioned.

“Drone.” Phorminx answered.

Fujara pulled off the head gear, revealing a blue stallion with a soft looking face. He was good looking in a androgynous kind of way, enough to know he was a stallion, but could pull off the mare look if he tried. It kind of made me want to put him in a dress, something with pink ribbons. Then Fujara put on the biggest, and thickest pair of glasses I had ever seen, and now I no longer wanted to do anything to him. That pony should just buck up and get cybereyes. “Drone… yes, I remember now, it’s in the back.”

I followed them as they trotted over to the back room. “So why are we picking up a drone?”

“For the most part, your security. Not to say that you’re in danger here, but when dealing with high profile ponies, one can never be too careful.” Phorminx responded as we came up to an Orthrus drone on a table. “I felt it would be the best way to give you round the clock security, but without having to put you under round the clock surveillance. I originally requested a cyberdog, but this is what they had available.”

Looking at the drone, it resembled an oversized Twittermite. It had a teardrop like body with a Big round face, two large eye like lenses at the front, and above them had an antenna each. Two wing like hover generators protruded from its top, and the tail end was a power transformer that looked like my old Captain Andromeda toy raygun. On the left and right side of its belly were two rails, and where the mouth would be being what looked to be a radio speaker in a cage.

“So you want this to follow me around?” I didn’t like the idea of that at all, and would much rather have a little cyberdog following me. “Can’t I get something cuter?”

Fujara hoofed over a pipbuck to me. “It’s not as bad as it sounds, and the council member here had us install a few extra programs and talismans to make this fella a lot friendlier than the more common drones.”

The Pipbuck was the common variation of pipbucks Othrus used, nothing all that different about it but it’s paint job. Unlike others I had seen here in the last few days, this one did not have the Orthrus logo imprinted on it, instead it was clean white color, with light pink buttons and borders around it’s screen. Snapping in on my left leg, the screen turned on with a blue light, and text scrolled. “And what about the pipbuck?” maybe I should have asked first before putting it on… and maybe it needs a few heart stickers to make it even cuter.

“Oh that’s so you can control the drone.” Fujara answered. “as long as you have that pipbuck on, the drone will recognize you as it’s master, and protect you with its life. But because of that, we had to change up the pipbucks talisman functions, so that one you have lacks the levitation ability.”

Right, lose levitation magic, but gain robotic guardian. I could only hope it’s worth it.

Once the pipbuck finished booting up, the drone slowly came to life, very slowly. “Oh almost forgot about that.” Fujara trotted up to the drone and began to shimmer a little. The drone suddenly sparked to life, not in any big way, but enough that it began to move around. Fujara looked over at me as he continued to charge the drone “You’re going to need to charge the drone every now and then. The battery system may be good, but it’s nothing like the ones used in the older robots. It will last a long time if using minimal systems but can drain quickly if pushed to its limits.”

The drone lifted off the table and over to me, circling me once before stopping. “Good evening madam, is there anything I can do for you? I do live to serve.”

“Wait, it has an AI, isn’t that dangerous?” Not that I had a problem with AI’s, but they were prone to malfunction, and rumored to eventual attempt violent anti-pony revolts.

“A.I. goodness no!” Fujara responded, “This drone uses an advanced virtual intelligence, so it lacks the ability to learn and evolve. Personally I would have loved to place an AI in this, but most we have are too old, or in active use.” I tilted my head a little, having a hard time understanding what he was talking about. “Sorry, a VI is simply a computer program with recorded responses, and an algorithm to understand what it’s being asked. The particular program was developed by one of our sub AI’s in the base, so at times it does seem like it is sentient.”

“But it’s not?”

“Nope.” Fujara shook his head. “If you took that pipbuck off, and gave it to another pony, the drone will never know the difference. It will never question an order, or will it wonder about its own existence. In truth, it’s not much different from a pipbuck. Just swap the pipbuck case with a robot body, and it’s stable-tech programming for something more tailored.”

The drone slowed down and landed near me, the soft humming coming off of it quieting down even more. It did have its own charm to it, the teal core body, and magenta eyes gave the bot a less industrial feel to it, unlike most things here. “What kind of things can it do?”

“Many things madam.” The drone spoke up, it’s voice clearly based off of a mister handy, though a bit buzzer. “I am programed with both caretaking, and defensive programing. Attaching the appropriate tool to me will allow me to carry out the task. Arm and claw, I can help with cleaning, picking up your favorite crumpets, and prepping the tea table. An energy weapon, I can clear out those pesky roaches, or convince a vagabond to move elsewhere.”

Looking at the thing, it did seem to lack any kind of tool to make it useful, other than buzzing around. “So it can’t do anything right now?”

Fujara chuckled. “No, it has a few surprises. Twitter-bot’s like this were originally made for scouting tunnels, and soon after were updated for clearing out rad-roaches. It does this by producing an electrical field around it, zapping the bugs as it flies over. Just make sure you fully charge it first before using the electric field, as it will drain the drone fairly quickly. Other than that, the two rails on the bottom is where you can attach tools and weaponry.”

I nodded. “Right, so it can electrify anypony that comes after me, good to know.”

The lab pony then went on about some of the other systems I might need to know, mostly just little things like how long it can function without a full charge, and the kind of tools it can use. As he spoke I provided the drone with more power, though from what Fujara described, it would take two hours to fully charge the bot, so in the end we just plugged it into the wall to speed up the process.

“So what do you think?” Phorminx asked me as he put his hoof on the drone.

I rolled my eyes. “Fine, I give, it’s actually a bit cool. Though I’d still rather have a cyberdog.”

“That, I do agree.” The old stallion said with a sigh. “But cyberdogs have become low priority for development, so right now drones are much more available.”

“Really?” Orthrus sits on one of the biggest stockpile of tech ever, It’s doubtful that they couldn’t allocate even one adorable cyberdog to me, I mean, I’m a princess. “Orthrus can’t supply a cyberdog.”

Phorminx looked at me with doubtful eyes for a moment. “All valuable cyberdogs that would be appropriate for the job are already working, and the creation of a new one involves a lot of red tape, and the allocation of resources that are currently not open to change at this time.”

“Sooo… do you mean Orthrus does not have cyberdog parts, or that they can’t just make them when they need them? I mean, you ponies can make anything you want here; everypony knows that.”

“Miss Harp Melody” the old stallion sounded a bit disappointed. “Do you know how to make a pencil, like the ones foals use in a class?”

The question was, well an odd one, but I hope he had a point. “Yeah, it’s simple right. You need a stick of charcoal, a stick of wood for the charcoal to go in, then that metal ring to go on top to put the rubber eraser on, right?” He nodded. “So what does a pencil have to do with cyberdogs?”

“Let me explain.” Phorminx cleared his throat “The charcoal and wood that makes a pencil comes from the trees above us. Somepony has to cut down those trees, meaning somepony has to make the tools to cut down the trees, and somepony has to gather the resources for the tools used to cut down the tree. Once you have the wood, it needs to be cut precisely for its intended use, that involves a tool that needs even more ponies to make and maintain. To make the charcoal, it needs to go into an airtight furnace, be baked, and then cooled. After that, adhesive is needed to bind the charcoal to its wood casing, which is also another process that takes many ponies to do. As for the metal band that goes on the end, even, more ponies and tools are needed for that. As for the erasers, I’ll spare you the trouble about going into that because I think you can see where this is going.”

I understood what he was saying, but I didn’t understand why? “So, it takes a lot of ponies?”

“And lots of resources.”

I sighed. “Right, this chat is fun and all, but what’s the point?”

“Sorry, you get a lot chattier in your old age.” Phorminx placed a hood on the drone. “What I’m trying to say is that a lot of resources go into the tools needed to make the end product. The more complex the product, the more resources needed before even making it. Cyberdogs take a lot of resources, unlike repairing the drone here. Reprograming it takes even less resources than refurbishing it, and unlike a cyberdog, it doesn’t need to be re-trained once activated.

“Okay, Okay, I get it. The drone is fine. Anywho, I do like the idea of not having to clean up after it.”

“Good.” Phorminx took his hoof off the drone. “Now let’s get going before we overstay our welcome.”

Fujara tilted his head. “No, it’s fine, she can stay if she wants. It’s not every day we get such lovely mares down here.” The pony surrounded by terminals made a less then happy sounding grunt. “Oh you know what I mean Janggu! Sorry, she’s got a bit of an ego, and mistakes her digital self with her real self.” Taking a better look at her, she was a relatively plain looking mirage pony mare, and it was now apparent that she also plugged into the terminals. On the screens was the image of a slightly pixelated mare staring back at me. Fujara broke the line of sight, smiling. “You know, maybe it’s best if you move on, we do have a lot of work to do. But I’ll come by to check the drone in a few days, see if the programing is still a 100%. Better safe than sorry, as they say.”

Both Phorminx and I left the programming lab, I was still feeling a bit weirded out by it all. But then, I’m use to politics, not programing, so I was likely the weird one there.

The drone hovered behind me like a shadow. It didn’t make that much noise, and it seemed to hover high enough that if I were to suddenly turn around, I would simply go under it. “You know, I should give it a name.”

“That’s natural.” Phorminx agreed. “What do you have in mind?”

“I want to say Cogsworth, but there’s seven Cogsworths back home. Maybe Pennington.”

The old stallion shook his head. “And there are three Pennington’s at your home too. How about we start from what the drone is classified as. An O.R.D. Orthrus Recon Drone, of the twitter bot type.”

I scratched my chin. “O.R.D. hmmm. How about Order.”

“Yes madam?” The drone spoke up.

Phorminx laughed, and I looked at the drone a bit confused. “Sounds fitting” he said. “Now let’s head back to the ship, I’m sure you want to relax.”

I sighed, knowing if I’d said I still had the energy to do anything, he would just make me run the obstacle course again. “Fine, but I better get some information about the ambassador job I was offered. Order, follow.”

“Yes madam!” Order responded.

The hanger that the Sweetie Belle’s Ballad was being held at was in interesting place to just look around, having more room than any other station because it was made for long term storage of an airship. It seemed odd to me how the hanger had even survived the end of the war at all, but Phorminx quickly answered that by letting me know that the top of the station was protected by an energy shield. Something Stable-Tec got ahold of near then end of the war, but never got to properly integrate into stable manufacturing.

It was not like there weren’t other stations that had extra floors dug down into it, but because of the airship, you could see the different floors of Kanaloa Station, almost like a cutout. It really pointed out how big this place was and how many ponies lived and worked here.

It was something I never got to see back home, how everything worked. Study, politics, and the right to rule, that’s what my life was about, all of it up until recently. I gone from thinking that my family was the center of the world, to that it was simply a big cog among hundreds of cogs in the metro. My family’s importance, was only to maintain order, and if we were to all disappear, the metro would move on and find another monarch to rule.

“Council member Phorminx!” A voice shouted from above. A pegasus quickly descended from above, landing with a slide that was nearly a crash, only stopping right in front of us. The mare was light-brown, with rust red mane, and on her face were gray white dots that resembled mirage pony stripes. “Important news!”

Phorminx straightened up taking on a more dignified pose. “Speak, Trill.”

“Yes Sir!” She said with a salute. “It’s Specter Echo sir, she’s recovered her sister. And that’s not all, Vibraphone was not captured by the outsiders, but by the Republic. Somehow the younger sister made it out, and signaled for help, I don’t know the…” Phorminx put his hoof up to stop her.

“Calm down Private Trill, Just take us too them.”

“Me!” She pointed to herself. “Right now?” Phorminx nodded, and Trill saluted. “Yes sir, right away sir!”

I raised my hoof up. “So should I just go onto the ship?”

“Do you want to go back to the ship?”

I shook my head. “Well if it’s about miss Vibraphone, then no. I would rather know what has happened to her, as she did help get me to safety.”

Phorminx nodded. “Then let us follow private Trill.”

Trill had a skip in her step as we followed her, trotting away from the airship and toward the trains. Unsurprisingly, we were stopped by a few more checkpoints along the way, but it seemed that leaving was much easier then it was to get in. Though it might have been because we were not going through more sensitive areas.

Eventually we got to the train, it looking like an armored luxury carrier. Phorminx froze when he saw it, and I quickly understood why.

“Took you long enough to show up.” Standing right in front of the trains door was council member Naqara, guarded by four Orthrus troopers, armed with belt fed automatic shotguns. “I was half expecting you to be here before me, you must be getting slow in your old age. Or do young mares just detract you too much?”

Phorminx cleared his throat. “Don’t be absurd, Naqara. Young mares have nothing to do with anything, it’s about the legs. Something that you lack.”

Naqara huffed. “Right, might we get going? Time is not only just money, but also security.” She turned around and entered the train cart, along with the four guards around her.

I looked over at Phorminx “What’s all about the legs? Do you mean my legs?”

“He could mean my legs?” Trill added.

Phorminx sighed. “No, I was not talking about anypony’s legs. Let’s just get onboard.”

The three of us trotted onto the train cart, the seats were nice and plush, unlike most of the normal train carts. Sadly, Naqara sat across from us, making this a bit awkward.

It was strange, I felt fully intimidated by Naqara, but there was nothing about her that seemed intimidating, I just could not put my hoof on it. Starting, she had on a orthrus dress uniform, which lacked any ornamentation other than a pin signifying her rank. There was also her demeanor, of which was calm and stoic, but also inviting. You could say that she was a strong and dignified older mare, yet something about her put me on guard.

“So how has your stay here been? Can’t have been all that fun being around this old stallion all the time.” She crossed her back legs as she talked. An unusual sitting position for a pony, but it seemed to add to her overall demeanor.

“I don’t think it’s meant to be fun, but at least it has not been unpleasant. Even if most things are locked off to me, there plenty of room for me to move around. Also everypony here has been nice to me, so it’s not like I feel unwanted or anything.”

“Hmm.” Her eyes felt like ice on me. “That’s good. We would not want you to feel unwanted here. A pony of your importance, it be a shame if you were to think ill of us. But on the topic of relations, have you thought about the ambassadorial position yet?”

Somehow she made me feel a bit insecure, but I did my best to not show it. “I think I’ll need a lot more time than a few hours to think about something like that.”

She nodded. “True, such an important position, but one that comes with a cost. I’m sure Phorminx here would rather give you a cushy paperwork job, safe, and out of the way.” The train slowed down, as the lighting from outside became brighter. “Looks like we're at our stop.” When the train finally came to a stop, the doors hissed open, and Naqara stepped out. “Take all the time in the world dear, but remember, sooner is better.”

We quickly followed, stepping out into the boarding area, and letting some ponies in. We had arrived at Mercury station on Pineapple Island, and stepping out of the train tunnel, and into the rest of the station, there was little here.

Ahead of us were five ponies and a foal, most looking a bit beat up. Recognizing most of them, my legs began to move on their own, and burst past Naqara, and to the group. “When I heard something had happened to you, I was so worried.”

Vibraphone looked up at me, and huffed. “Yep, first pony to greet me is the princess, go fig.”

I felt a bit insulted by her lack of enthusiasm. “And what’s wrong with that?”

She shook her head. “Nothing. By the way, what’s with the outfit, going through basic training?”

I looked down at the blue fatigues I had on. “Not by choice. The council member thought I needed to get some excess energy out, so he has had me doing some drills. I’ve never been so sore in my life.” Looking at Vibraphone, she was covered in mud, some cuts, and looked entirely worn out. “What happened to you?”

She gave a long sigh. “I don’t think I have the energy to explain it all, so let’s save that for later. Instead, what about the two ponies behind you.”

I stepped aside, letting Phorminx and Naqara by. “It’s good to see that you're still in one piece, leg notwithstanding.” Phorminx spoke with command and confidence. “Sources say that you’ve been through the Republics black out zone?”

She nodded. “Yeah, learned a lot too, I’m guessing you’re going to want to know it all.” The old stallion nodded. “Good, because it’s not something you’re going to want to remain ignorant of for very long.”

Naqara cleared her throat. “On that note, I advise that you must be taken into our custody. For all we know, you’re now a republic sleeper agent.”

Rototom jumped in between them. “Not fucking likely. If you were there, and saw that cluster fuck it took to get her back, you would know that she is legit.”

A hoof pressed onto Rototom’s shoulder, and Vibraphone pushed passed her older sister. “No, she is right.” The mare looked Naqara straight in the eyes. “But if I go into your custody, and tell you everything I know. You have to remove the cybernetics from my brain. Does that sound fair?”

Rototom and I took a step back as Naqara took a step forward. “Brain surgery, sounds like this is worse than what we thought.” Naqara was cool and calm, placing a hoof under Vibraphones chin. “But sounds fair enough. We’ll do what we can.” Placing her hoof back on the ground, the older mare turned around and trotted off to the train. “Now follow us, the sooner we get started, the sooner you can get the help you need.”

Vibraphone followed, her eyes lingered on me, and then focused on Phorminx. “You. When this is all done, we need to talk.”

As she joined Naqara, Rototom came up to me and Phorminx. “What did you do, sir?” the old stallion just shrugged.

I felt more than confused by the exchange, maybe bit disturbed to how brief and less then happy it was. A gentle tapping on my leg took me out of my thoughts, and looking down I saw a peach colored filly with a golden mane. “So you’re a princess? Did mom save you from the dragon?” The filly had gem like blue eye, like sapphires. She also looked a lot like Vibraphone. But… Vibraphone being a mother?

“Um… well yeah, I guess she did.” Was the only answer that I could muster. Looking at Rototom, I felt confused. “I didn’t know your sister was a mother?”

Rototom face hoofed. “Why don’t I fill you in later? Let’s get out of here first.”

I nodded as we all moved to the train, only to see Vibraphone vanish down the dark tunnel. I was sure she was going to be just fine, but I was a little sad that our meeting was so brief. Maybe next time we would have more time to talk. Though right now, I had a few new friends to catch up with.

Footnote:

Quest Started: Political compass

Quest Perk: O.R.D. “Order” The Orthrus Recon Drone can go places most ponies can’t, and can fight as though it is another companion. Customizable, the O.R.D. is a valuable tool to anypony living in the metro, and so polite too.