“So when I eventually fell, all my prosthetic legs flew away from me. Vibraphone just trotted over and looked down at me with that ‘I told you so’ look on her face.” Rototom bit into a fresh carrot and washed it down with some watered down pineapple juice. “Not that she would say it, instead she just sighed at me, and went off to get my prosthetics.”

Laughter came from Sweet, who had been eating a light salad. “That sounds like her. Always trying to be the stoic one. It made it more fun to see her crack a smile, or start shouting in frustration.”

The friendly atmosphere was, well, unexpected to tell the truth. After Vibraphone had left with Naqara, everything seemingly had turned gloomy. Phorminx suggested we all go have a fresh snack, and talk about what had happened. It was interesting to get to know some of the new ponies I didn’t recognize.

There were the ponies I already knew, Rototom, Sweet, and Merit. I had asked about Light, and where she was at, and Merit let me know that she currently on the Scootaloo’s Resolve, going over navigation notes with the security chief. The other two ponies were a mare called Sorrow, who worked as a smuggler, and an odd looking filly called Xylophone. The filly looked a lot like a earth pony, no horn or wings, but taking a closer look it became apparent that she was a mirage pony. She had spots on her fur, almost like densely packed freckles that formed what looked like mirage pony stripes, and she had a bit of a shimmer when she got excited, something I did as a foal.

We had ended up at what was called a salad bar, a little restaurant on the side of a farm depot. It seemed that it was mainly used by the smaller plantations to store, and sell their crops in bulk, so they could compete with the larger plantations. The salad bar was simply a spot for ponies to make small orders, or even have some food made for them on the spot. The shear freshness was not something I was use too, or the smell of dirt, with the side of something that might belong in the sewer.

The place itself was actually rustically charming, the concrete of the tunnel covered up with wooden boards from the surface, which were painted in solid colors that made it resemble a farmhouse from the books about the old times.

The working ponies seemed a bit wary of us at first, but after Phorminx placed a roll of bit’s down, they got real friendly, real fast. Not to be negative about the ponies here, from what I knew, the ponies of pineapple island were busy folk, so it made sense that they would not have the time to be friendly with everypony that passed by. Though one interesting thing about the ponies here, most of them were not missing any legs.

One earthy colored mirage pony mare placed ahead of cabbage on a plate in front of me. “Here you go miss, now eat up, the fresher it is, better it tastes. But between you and me, it’s even better with a bit of salt.”

The cabbage did look real good. “Oh, thanks.” I said as politely as possible. The mare herself had only one prosthetic leg, it actually being partially made of wood, which was something I had never seen before. “Excuse me ma’am, if it’s not too much to ask, about your legs. Well I mean, how…”

The mare placed her hoof on my snout, cutting me off. “Say no more, I know what you’re trying to ask, and it’s quite all right. My kin’s mighty proud of history, and how we managed to stick together through thick and thin. We do things the earth pony way, though we're not really earth ponies anymore.”

“So you're all descendants of earth ponies.” I could see it, many of the farm ponies here were a bit bigger than most mirage ponies I had seen. “How did they manage at the end of the great war?”

The mare smiled. “Like I said, by sticking together. If you can’t trust your family, then who can you trust? But yeah, my kin got it just as bad as a lot of the others on the island, so when Stable-Tec let us know what was going on, and offered the treatment, we didn’t just sit on our hooves and hope that everything would just blow over. The mares went and got themselves treated, and the stallions took to making our little slice of the tunnels toxin free.”

“How’d they do that, cleaning out the toxins I mean?”

“Well a lot of em did help build the metro.” She said with a beaming smile. “The first thing they did was make all the entryways air tight, and after that, tripled layered all the air filters that brought air in from the outside. Of course my kin are never done until it’s all done, so they started building air filters to capture the toxins already in our stretch of the tunnel. Still, the generation born at that time had it rough. But things got better after each generation, and now we can claim being some of the healthiest ponies on the island.”

It was an amazing thing to learn about. “Your family is quit dedicated, though aren’t the other tunnels not this clean?”

She sighed. “resources sadly. My kin happened to be lucky enough to be sitting on a stockpile of filters, among other things, so when the bad times started, we had everything we needed to make our home safer. The other tunnels didn’t, so when we started giving out the filters to the other parts of the metro, but damage was already done and the infighting started. Luckily farm ponies know the importance of working together, so there was little violence on this island like on the others, even when resources became scarce.”

“That, that sounds real nice.” No, no, don’t go and say that it’s nice that their family struggled. “I mean, it’s good to hear your family was able to get through the bad times as well as they did.” That’s better.

The farm mare looked me over. “How about you, young miss? You got all your legs, but you're thin as a rail. Don’t tell me you’re from some fancy family. Folks like that tend to not come around here.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle to myself a little. “You could say that. I’m from the orphic kingdom.”

“Well I’ll be. The Island of stuffy nobility, don’t know why ponies still follow them. But it’s good you're over here, and away from that mess of an island, no offense.”

“Well um, none taken.” I felt a little hurt, but didn’t want to correct the mare. Not after she was being so nice.

She chuckled, as though she thought about something funny. “You know, a pretty young mare like yourself could do well around these parts. Ever thought about settling down? One of my boys has been thinking about getting a wife, and I’m not going to let him settle with some floosy. He’s a good stallion, smart, strong, a bit on the quiet side.”

“I ahh…” I was a little shocked, and a tad surprised. It was not like the concept of me getting married had never come up with mother, but nothing ever so blatant like this. Most of the time mother would simply have a private dinner with her, me, and one of the noble stallions. Though nothing ever came of it.

“Excuse me, ma’am.” Phorminx interrupted. “But do you have some more of that vegetable juice? We seem to have run out.”

The farm mare beamed a smile at the old stallion. “Oh certainly sir, I’ll be right out with some more.”

Phorminx sighed. “Sorry about that, the ponies around here can be a bit too friendly at times.”

“Oh, that’s fine. She seemed nice, I must have just sent the wrong message. I mean, it is expected of me to take a husband soon, but it has to be a stallion of good breeding.”

“Good breeding.” Phorminx rolled his eyes, and shook his head. “Not to say anything bad about your mother, but Gilded Gold has never had the best eye for stallions. You're better off finding a kind, and hardworking stallion far from the royal court.”

“Too true!” Rototom chimed in. “I know of this one stallion, a bit of a grumpy busybody, but has a good head on his shoulders, and is the best cuddlier. The kind of pony you don’t get from stuffy royals.”

I couldn’t help but feel a bit annoyed by them smearing my family. “They’re not all stuffy. My cousin, Silver Plate, is a fine stallion.”

Sweet bust out laughing. “If the best stallion you can think of is your cousin, then your family has problems. But aren’t you gay? Shouldn’t the whole looking for a husband be, well, not your thing?”

I felt the blood rush to my face. “Th.. that’s private… I mean, not a proper subject for the table.”

A snicker came from Merit who chomped down on a carrot. “Don’t get so flustered, it’s not like mares having relations with each other is odd. It’s not my thing, but even I’ve slept with another stallion.” Everypony slowly turned their head to Merit, who now looked a bit confused. “What?”

“Well, enclave culture aside.” Rototom spoke up. “Are you into mares or stallions?”

Looking at everypony, the only one that didn’t seem interested in this topic was Phorminx. “Well, I, um… I don’t know. I mean I like being close to mares, but I’d also like to settle down with a stallion and have a few foals. Is that odd?”

“Not at all.” Rototom said softly. “From what I’ve seen, most mares are like that. It’s the stallions that are one or the other, well, unless they’re some crazy pegasus.” Everypony then turned their attention to Merit.

He once again looked a bit confused “What? It can’t be that out of the norm.”

The filly jumped onto the table, her face covered in oats. “So what’s everypony talking about?” Everypony started laughing, and I pulled out a napkin to clean Xylophones face.

The mare, Sorrow, who had been quiet most of this time, stood up from the table. “It’s been nice, but I’ve got a few things I need to take care of.”

“Sexy things?” Rototom added with a chuckle.

Sorrow sighed. “If only. In light of recent events, and new information, I need to talk with my kin, and plan out a change of tactics.”

Rototom nodded. “That C.C.N. thing Viby told us about sound like nasty business.”

“To say the least.” Sorrow took one more sip from her fruit juice. “If the C.C.N. spreads out to the other stations, it won’t be long before my kin are rooted out. Frankly, the island might as well be a lost cause until the C.C.N. is dismantled.”

I raised my hoof. “Sorry, but what’s the C.C.N?”

Xylophone used this an opportunity to hop out of my hold. “It’s the great unifier, where all ponies can find true equality!” The pony was beaming with pride as she spoke, though some of it was just her mirage shimmering.

“But there’s no such thing as true equality.” The words just came out of my mouth before I could stop myself. “Sorry, that was rude of me.”

The filly looked at me in disbelief, and the rest sighed. All except for Phorminx, who chuckled. He also got up and waved off Sorrow. “Go take care of your business, but do send some of your kin over to us, we could use their talents in these troubling times.” Sorrow nodded, and trotted off. The old stallion turned his attention over to the filly, picking her up in a telekinetic grip, and placing her in her seat. “First off, don’t go standing on the table, it’s rude. Second, what Harp means by no true equality, is that everypony has their own talents, making them better in some ways, worse in others.” He gave me a knowing look.

I nodded back. “Ye…yes, everypony has something that makes them special, by making them all truly equal, you would be holding back their potential.” Getting a nod back from Phorminx, I relaxed a little. It still felt a bit foreign to me, equality, and everypony having that thing that makes them special. Back home it was all about the caste system. The foal of a baker will grow up to be a baker, same for blacksmiths, engineers, and for nobility. What you will be was something decided at birth, but nopony here believed in that, and found such ideas as… backwards.

The filly blew a raspberry at us. “Naw, if everypony worked together as one, then we can achieve anything. Everypony knows that.”

Phorminx sighed. “Yes, yes, but I think we’re all done here. If you have not finished your meal, then just take it with you. I’ll be escorting the princess back to her room, however, who is going to take the filly?”

Everyone just went silent, and looked about the room. It was obvious nopony wanted to take her. A random filly who just happened to tag along with a group of adults, it did seem odd. Raising my hoof again, all heads turned to me. “I could look after her. I mean, my room has the space for her, and it’s a safe place.”

Xylophone gasped. “Oh yes, yes! I want to stay with the princess!” She was almost bouncing in her seat. “You must have like a humungo bed, and like, big everything.” She gasped again. “Can I try one of your dresses?” Looking over at Phorminx, he was both face hoofing, and nodding. I guess I was looking after a little filly tonight. Oh Celestia, I think I might have made a mistake...

Long story short, Xylophone bounced off the walls until she ran out of energy. Seeing the airship must have mentally overloaded the little filly, because as soon as she stepped one hoof on it, she was running from one end to another, giggling like a mad mare. Once she had run out of energy, I felt like it was a good time for us to go to bed.

“Hey! Hey! Hey wake up!” I didn’t remember setting an alarm, or having it sound so annoying. Opening my eyes, the figure of a peach colored filly loomed over me.

“Five more minutes.” I rolled over, not feeling like waking up quite yet.

“C'mon, get up, I want to see how you turn the screen to work right, like the programs about to start.” Program? I rolled back over to give Xylophone a questioning look. “You know, Puppet Pony Pals. Last episode Pumpkin Vine’s new friends got captured by the evil capitalist, and she left to go save them. If I miss the new episode, I’ll be behind, and Wood Flute will make fun of me.”

The whining of the filly was enough to break my sleepy state. The filly jumped over me as I rolled out of the bed, and slowly dragged myself over to the monitor. Looking at the thing, it had a few knobs on it, and a power switch. The screen itself was already on, but it showed nothing but static. Turning the knob, the monitor made a click and buzz sound as the screen flickered to more static. I kept on turning until the static gave way to a gray screen with a big one in the middle, the screen was now playing radio channel one, but the swing music it was playing was a bit too lively for this early in the morning. Turning the knob again, the screen showed the symbol of Orthrus, and was playing some piano music. It was likely radio channel two, as I knew Orthrus controlled it, and commonly their members would play music live on that radio channel. Turning the knob again, I was hit by what sounded like electric noise that was a bit too loud. Quickly turning the knob once more, the screen turned back to static.

“Come on, the shows going to start!” Xylophone whined, and now she looked like she was ready to cry.

Sighing, I got back to turning the knob, only to come back the channel one. Turning it one last time to channel two, I backed away from the terminal. “Sorry, looks like all we have right now is radio.”

The filly gasped. “No, no, no, no! Like, it can’t be, that’s like the worst possible thing!” The little filly had tears in her eyes, and was shaking a little.

I couldn’t help but give her a little hug, and pat her on the head. “Don’t worry, I’m sure you can catch up later.”

“But.” Her voice was partially muffled in my chest. “Only unpopular foals watch the show later.”

Right, the foal unintentionally escapes from some sort of program, and is worried that she will be unpopular when she gets home. “Why don’t we get dressed? I’m sure we can find something fun for you to do later to make all your little friends jealous.”

She bounced at the idea, but the excitement seemed to drop from her when it turned out all we had was a blue jumpsuit for me, and the white lab jumpsuit she came in with. “Right, I’ve only been using what Orthrus has provided me… Maybe Phorminx can lend us some bits so we can get some new cloths.” I’ll have to ask him about that later.

After we got dressed, the monitor flickered, and the image of a pony behind a desk appeared. The mare was in black and white, and had a Orthrus dress uniform on, making her look quite serious. “Good morning everypony, this is radio channel two news. We have further information about the breaking news from last night, that in fact that the president of the republic, Garmon Keys, has not only passed away, but his death was due to assassination. The identity of the assailants is still unknown, but current accusations are aimed at Orthrus as of now. Council member of Security and Law, Naqara, has released a statement denying any involvement of Orthrus in the matter. Stating that the death of Garmon Keys will likely hurt the stability of the metro, which is not in Orthrus interest.” I trotted over and turned the monitor off.

I looked over at the filly, who’s mouth was now hanging open, and one of her legs was trembling. “What’s wrong Xylophone?”

“He can’t be, like I saw grandpa Keys just yesterday. Why would anypony hurt him?” The filly sounded confused and a bit panicked.

I got down low so the two of us could see eye to eye. “Don’t worry, stuff like this happens now and then, I’m sure your grandpa is safe, and the pony who was hurt was just a body double. My family almost always has a double when we go out in public, well when they go out in public.” This seemed to calm down the filly a little, or confused her, she at least gained some composer.

“If you say so.” She mumbled as she wiped off a tear that almost fell from her eye. “Maybe we could ask Vibraphone about it. She was with Keys yesterday, like, she might know something.” I couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for the kid, she really didn’t know what she’d gotten herself into.

“Right, let’s go talk with Mr. Phorminx first, maybe go shopping for some new clothes before seeing her.” I was starting to miss the dresses back home. Most were hoof me downs from my sisters, but still so pretty. Also, I missed having a pair of nice shoes. “We should stop by a shoe store as well, can’t have a nice dress without a nice pair of shoes.”

Little Xylophone nodded her head, and followed me as we left the room. Phorminx’s room was just down the hall, so the only difficulty about getting there was making sure the filly didn’t get too distracted. Knocking on the door, it took a short few minutes until the old stallion opened up, his dress uniform was mostly straight, and his mane combed back. “Aren’t you up a bit early? Finally done sleeping in every day?”

I huffed. “Hard to sleep in when there's a filly crawling all over you.” I looked back to see Xylophone looking over the balcony, her back legs dangling above the ground as she held herself-up. “It seemed that around this time, there's a show she watches, so she was a bit upset that you don’t get it here.”

“Well, that’s a bit disheartening. But it looks like she’s doing better.”

I shook my head. “Not really. We heard the news about Garmon Keys, and that only upset her more. I was able to calm her down, but on two conditions.”

Phorminx face hoofed. “What a mess that is. So what are the two conditions?”

“One, she wants to talk with Vibraphone, as it seems that she was with the republic’s president the other day. The other thing, we need some new cloths, shoes too.”

The old stallion sighed. “Well, the shops are going to be closed for a few more hours, and I doubt that Naqara would just let us in, not until she has everything she wants.” He scratched his chin for a moment. “But the investigation is under my jurisdiction, So I should be able to go see her for a few minutes. You want to come?”

I let out a relieved breath. “Most certainly. I didn’t even get to properly talk with her yesterday, so it will be nice to talk with her again soon.”

“Well, give me a few minutes and I’ll be ready.” He looked past me and over at the filly. “Also, make sure the little one does not fall off. The young have a bad habit of doing things before they start thinking. Also don’t forget that drone of yours. There’s a robot shop on pineapple island that might have something useful to attach to Order.”

I left Phorminx to get myself ready, and walked over to my room. Along the way I tapped on Xylophone’s head to get her attention, and she quickly dropped off the balcony to follow me. “So are we going to go see her?” I nodded. “Yes! Next, she will want to be my mommy, and we get to live in a big house, where I will become the next dragon slayer, saving all the ponies and spreading equality to all!” Her excitement reminded me when I would make a fake crown as a foal, and pretend to be the queen. All my dolls were my subjects, and they all loved me unconditionally.

Opening the door to my room, I saw Order sitting quietly on the table, with one red blinking light as the only thing showing that it still had power. “Order, time to wake up.”

A few more lights flickered, and the drone slowly lifted off the table. “Good day madam, Systems check completed, no errors, altered programing, or external connections detected. No intruders, or pests detected. Plenty of radio chatter, but nothing out of the normal. Current battery level is at half capacity, and will need recharging in 7 hours before defensive systems are disabled. I hope you have slept well.”

Xylophone trotted up to the drone. “Hey, can you pick up the Puppet Pony Pals show?”

Order’s eyes flickered as it hovered, not responding to the filly. I sighed. “Order” The drone beeped. “Are you able to pick up a show over the… radio I guess. It’s called the Puppet Pony Pals.”

Order bobbed from side to side a few times. “Sorry madam, but this unit is only able to pick up three open radio signals, any others are encrypted Orthrus signals. If you know the specific frequency, this unit can attempt to tune in to it whenever it is in range.”

I shook my head. “No that’s fine, execute companion program.”

“Yes, Madam. I will be your shadow until the time you do not need me.” The drone flew over me, only making a slight buzzing sound. Looking at the pipbuck on my leg, it all felt a bit too much. I mean I am a princess, but one with no right to rule, so all this kind treatment seemed a bit off. But it would be rude to point it out, wouldn’t it? Sighing I left the room with the filly and the drone in tow, and waited for Phorminx.

So, it turned out that Vibraphone was being held at a small substation run by Orthrus. The place looked a lot like Kanaloa Station, but smaller, and less lively. The place seemed to be like a middle ground for the corporations to do business with Orthrus, so unlike Kanaloa Station, this place had a lot more outside influences. Luckily for me, it meant that I was able to get a few Metro Colas straight from a vending machine without passing through a checkpoint. Xylophone took a sip from the bottle, and then evidently sucked it all down, asking for another. Before Phorminx could stop me, I had given her three bottles, and she started to shake from the sugar rush.

We watched as Xylophone ran and bounced all over the place, surprising a few Orthrus Regular’s. “Sorry.”

Phorminx sighed. “Don’t worry, she should crash soon, just wait a few minutes.”

After a few minutes, we just gave up. Just watching Xylophone run around was making me feel exhausted. So we entered what was a holding facility with the jittery filly, the guards giving us concerned looks as Xylophone tried to greet every pony we passed.

Finally at the front desk, I sat down, doing my best to hold the energetic filly still. The room was mostly a bland gray, and other than a few posters advertising their products, there was nothing much to talk about. There were also a few magazines on a little coffee table. The one that caught my eye was about fashion, going on about retro modern designs. It was showing models dressed up in modern versions of some ancient outfits, with the original outfits displayed on the opposing page. Oddly enough, Ministry mare Fluttershy was the model for a lot of the ancient pictures. “I never pictured her as a supermodel. Learn something new everyday I guess.”

Phorminx trotted over to me, after having talked with the receptionist. “Looks like our timing is spot on. Vibraphone is currently resting in the medical ward, and can see guests.”

“Why is she in medical? Did something happen?”

The old stallion shook his head. “Don’t know, we will just have to ask her.”

A mare in a white doctor’s coat trotted out with a smile. “Council Member Phorminx, it’s such an honor for you to come over here. My name is Dr. Tuhu. You’re here to see our new arrival, correct?”

“Yes.” Phorminx responded. “Could you tell me why she is in recovering well, I was told that she was getting some internal cybernetics removed.”

Dr. Tuhu paused for a moment. “Oh yes, that. I don’t know the details, but I haven't heard about anything bad happening, so likely she is fine. Surgeries like that can be tricky, but with Council Member Naqara flipping the bill, we got our best to take care of it.”

“Wait, why would she need to pay for it?” I stepped up next to Phorminx, looking at the Doctor. who didn’t seem to have any Orthrus symbols on her. “Aren’t you a member of Orthrus?”

The Doctor laughed. “Was when I was younger, but I moved to the private sector years ago. Unlike most of the stations on Friendly Island, Station 231 is open to non Orthrus members, and is where the private and public sectors work together.”

“So, you were hired by Naqara to help Vibraphone.” I think I got it, but it still seemed odd to me.

Dr. Tuhu sighed. “No, I’m being paid to do paperwork right now. Naqara hired a team of surgeons that specialize in dealing with cybernetics.” She took a deep breath “You know what, let’s just go to her, and you can ask her yourself. I’ve got a ton of work to get back to, miss.”

Without so much as another word, we followed the Doctor. down the hall. It was all quite clean, and for the most part, empty. A few rooms had ponies in them, each one looking in good condition, though bandaged up. When we got to Vibraphones room, it was the second to last one in the hallway, and we could hear two ponies talking.

“Actually the worst part about not being able to see, was that my imagination started running wild. Every little noise became a monster, and I think I had a nightmare while I was awake, go figure. But it wasn’t all bad. Guitar Strings came and stuck around for a few days.” Looking in, Sweet Sax Solo was sitting next to Vibraphone. “He’ll deny it, but when she saw me, he started to cry. Thought he might have lost me.”

Vibraphone sighed. “I swear, you two should just tie the knot already, and get stable jobs. Just remember, I get to wear purple at the wedding. No poke-a-dotted pink crap.”

Sweet chuckled. “Yeah, I still don’t know why Rototom thinks that’s a good idea for a wedding. Good thing she’s not getting married soon.

“Good morning.” Stepping in, I immediately got the attention of the two mercenary mares who had help me get back home. “Are we intruding?”

Vibraphone shook her head. “Not at all.” She beckoned me over. “I was actually wondering how you were doing, with you know, being stuck with Orthrus.”

“Oh, that. It’s been fine. I even learned a few new things, like shooting a gun, and running an obstacle course.”

Viby cocked an eyebrow, turning her gaze over to Phorminx. “Why would a princess need to learn that?”

The old stallion cleared his throat. “Just simply giving her something to do until she can return home.”

“Right, and shooting guns is the best thing for her.” She faced hoofed. “You know what, let’s talk about that later. So, what brings you three over here?”

“Oh, well a few things. But first, how are you doing? Why did you need surgery?” I didn’t want to bombard her with questions right now, so I felt it was best to stick to the most pressing questions first.

Vibraphone rubbed the back of her neck. “I had some unwanted cybernetics put in me, so I asked to have them taken out. Sadly, it’s easier to put something in, then it is to remove it. This damned jack was plugged right into my nervous system, meaning their options were limited. Luckily the surgeons were able to remove the wireless systems that were sending signals to my brain. Sadly they had to leave the datajack untouched, messing with that could paralyze me from the neck down.”

That was a little shocking. “Why would somepony do that? That’s, just wrong.”

“To them, it’s a matter of opinion.” Viby sighed. “You know the phrase about Rose tinted glasses? It was kind of like that, but in the brain. Persephone station looked wonderful as it was, but add a whole holographic system to it, it felt like the city of the future made real. Sadly, it was all fake, and it gave others a backdoor to your own mind. Not that the ponies there seemed to have any issue with it. To them, being a slave to the C.C.N. was their freedom. It was really all too overwhelming.”

I think I was missing something, because I was having a hard time understanding what she was talking about. “How could a pony see being a slave as freedom? That’s just, I don’t know, wrong.”

She nodded. “It is, and even now more ponies are being convinced to put the collar around their neck.” She reached over and picked up a bottle of Metro cola, sipping it from a straw. “It would take me all day to properly explain, lots of little things to point out. But to put it simply, the republic gives everything a pony needs to survive, and over the years, the ponies grew dependent on the republic. It’s like how a drug works, but with food, water, housing, work, and education. It’s all done with a system called the Equality Credit Score, where the more equal you are, the more the republic gives you stuff.” Viby raised her hoof before I could speak. “Basically everypony gets food, water, shelter, and work. But the more inline to the republics message you are, and more you push others to be like everypony else, the better the food, water, shelter, and work. The ponies also get gifts as rewards for being more equal. The ponies there are addicted to the whole thing.” I sat down finally getting it, well some of it. “So what was the other things you wanted to ask me?”

Before I would say anything, Xylophone bounced up. “Do you know what happened to mister Keys? Like, the stupid radio pony said somepony hurt him, but why would anypony hurt him? Mister Keys was like the best old pony ever.”

Viby looked up, then away from us. “Yeah, I heard that news too.” With a sigh, she looked back to the little filly. “Garmon Keys is still alive, he’s… exclusively working within the CCN now. I know he was not happy about it, he wanted to keep working for all of you.”

Xylophone scrunched her nose, and took a step back. “That’s not fair. Why do adults have to be so unfair all the time?”

Phorminx placed a hoof on Xylophone’s head. “Because the world is unfair at times, and we adults have to be unfair so that foals like you can live happily. I’ve met mister Keys a few times, and he would always bring up his two daughters every time. His pride and joy he would call them. I think he knew it made me a little jealous.”

Viby placed her bottle of metro cola back on the table next to her bed. “So, any more questions?”

I shook my head. “No. But we could stick around if you like, talk about things and stuff.”

She chuckled. “My favorite topic, stuff and things. It’s fine if you want to stick around princess, it really is. But I don’t think we have all that much to talk about. I mean we could, but it would put the filly to sleep, and the old stallion there can run circles around any topic we chose. I mean, don’t you have other things you rather be doing?”

It was true, I didn’t have much to say. “Well at least we know you're fine, and maybe next time we can go do something. The little one here, and I are going to go get some new clothes, as the ones we had are a bit bland. Maybe some shoes too.” Suddenly I was hit in the face with the beds blanket, and removing it, Vibraphone had gotten out of the bed. “What?”

“Gramps, mind if you step out? I need to get dressed.” Vibraphone opened up a bag, and pulled out a red cap.

“What are you doing?” Phorminx backed out of the room, and turned round. Looking back at the mare who should be in bed, she had already removed her gown, and was placing a black suit on the bed.

Vibraphone began to get dressed, starting with her underwear. “I thought about just staying in bed all day and relaxing. But the idea of going out shopping is too much to pass up.”

“So, wait, you mean you’re coming with us?” Obvious question is obvious. “Don’t you need to heal up?”

She now had her pants on, and was now working on a white shirt. “Modern medicine, if everything is clean, and properly sealed up, just spray some healing potion on it, and remove the stitches after a week.” With the shirt on, she picked up a black jacket, which was torn up. Vibraphone just tossed it to the side, and pulled out a red scarf. “So I should just be fine as long as I don’t get in any hoof to hoof fights.” Once the scarf was on, she placed the red cap on, and smiled “You know what? I feel like getting a nice dress. Perhaps something with a floral print on it.”

Sweet snickered. “See, I told you that you wouldn’t stand lying in bed all day.” She trotted over to the door. “So what’s everypony itching for, something stylish, or something sassy?”

I thought about it for a moment, but as I was to give my answer, Vibraphone trotted in front of me. “Both, and then some. That’s the answer.”

I watched as the two mares left the room, the filly close behind them. A little nagging thought popped into my head, something I had almost forgot. “Order.”

“Yes Madam!” the drone responded.

“Do you have an audio recorder?”

The drone bobbed. “Yes madam, do you wish to make an audio note?”

I shook my head. “No, but I’ll need you to record something for me later. So keep it at the ready.”

“Yes madam.”

Vibraphone had something important to talk about with Phorminx, and the truth was, I was a bit curious to know it was.

I had been told about Curtius Station, but never been there myself until just now. Home to the trendiest ponies around, that’s what I had been told, and it didn’t disappoint. Except there were just so many different ponies, it was hard to tell what the current trend was. Some had their manes styled up, others wore bright colorful clothes, and I saw a few with cybernetic accessories.

“Oy! Don’t fall behind princess.” Vibraphone called out to me. In my distraction I had fallen behind.

As it turned out, the first shop we started out at was a little boutique that specialized in simpler, but lovely clothes. The daywear we all picked was quite cute. Vibraphone got a powder blue dress with purple floral print, Xylophone was put in a light pink dress, and Sweet skipped the dresses altogether, sticking with her jumpsuit. I chose a white dress with a light blue sash. The simplicity of it felt calming to me, and went well the light blue sandals I had found in the boutique. I had also found some pink sandals for the filly too, unlike the rest of the ponies here, we didn’t have metal legs.

Vibraphone had placed her hat and scarf into her bag, the bright red seeming to clash with the dress. Trotting up to her, though hard to see, I could pick out a few scars on her. Mostly the one on her lip, but the fur around one of her eyes also seemed a bit off. “So… any other places you’d like to check out?”

She took a deep breath and sighed. “Yeah. There’s a few ponies I need to talk too, give them some bad news. Also, there’s a pony I should go check on. Last time I saw her, she was hurt pretty badly.”

That sounded depressing. “You want me to help you?”

Shaking her head, Vibraphone smiled at me. “It’s fine. I’m not going to fall apart over delivering some bad news. Though, I wish there was no bad news to deliver.”

“Do you have anything else planned, like something fun? I mean, I hope it’s not all doom and gloom.”

She gave me a faint little smile “Well, I am going to stop by Club Three Dog. Might as well have a few drinks there. Maybe see If I can gather a few friends along the way.”

“Neat.” I looked down at what I had on. “you think this is a good look for a club?”

Vibraphone chuckled. “Yeah, no. These dresses are for just trotting around. We will need to go to another store for clubbing attire.” She eyed me up and down “What do you prefer? Miniskirts, or short shorts?”

It took me a moment to process what she was asking “Uhh, never worn either before, so, a skirt I guess.”

“Oh!” The filly Xylophone jumped in, now a little sluggish from before. “Like, can I go?”

Vibraphone frowned. “Seriously kid, I doubt you will last long enough to even be awake when we go.”

“Awwww.” She kicked at the floor in disappointment. “But I want to know what it is.”

We both gave each other a look, and Vibraphone sighed. “Look here. Clubs are places adult ponies go to do adult things, around other adults. A foal like you would not have any fun there, unless you think the idea of adults ignoring you as fun.”

The little filly scrunched her nose. “Fine, but I get to keep the dress.”

“Deal.” Vibraphone finished, rubbing at the foal’s mane. “Now I need to buy the most adorable pair of shoes, as they look like they will go well with my black matted legs.” I watched as she trotted her way over to where the shoes were.

I checked my own sandals. The ribbons around my legs help kept them in place, and the synthetic soles helped to keep me from clip-clopping everywhere. They also help to keep my hooves from chipping, something I’ve never seen before, but one of the maids had told me that it was a common problem before shoes were a thing. Something about how walking on hard stone, concrete, and metal all the time was actually quite damaging for the hooves.

Returning my attention to Vibraphone, the thing she wanted to talk with Phorminx about was still bugging me. I had a feeling they were going to split off from the group for a bit. I’ll just have to have Order follow them when they do.

When we were done at the clothing store, we browsed a few other shops. Not at all intending on buying anything, but it was still fun to look around. I did find some cute glass earrings on sale however, so I had to buy them. Xylophone found a cap done in the old Pegasus military style, which looked a bit like Vibraphones cap, as it even had a metal plate on the front. It was cute how she was emulating Vibraphone, even if she didn’t seem to like the filly much.

Later, brunch was had, and we all had a salad that was quite good. Inexpensive, but fresh and tasty. Everypony had something different thrown on it, from cubes of bread, to even very small slices of bacon. I personally had diced carrots and onions thrown in mine.

“Is that you, Vibraphone!?” Looking over, I saw a white mare with a carrot orange mane. Her front legs were natural, but her back two were cybernetic. The outfit she had on was a red jacket with gold embroidery of rabbits over a black one piece. Over all, so looked like a wealthy mare, or a prostitute. Around here they kind of look the same. “Where have you been? I’ve had no word from you after you chased after that ruffian!”

Viby sighed. “It’s been a rough couple of days, only got back yesterday. I can’t say too much about it, but I got stuck in equalist central.” She waved her hoof around dismissively. “Nonstop capitalists are evil, we must all be the same, and we're all equal here, but some of us are more equal than others.”

The look on the mare's face dropped a little. “Well, it’s good that your back.”

“Say, Citole, how’s Kantele doing?” Vibraphones voice sounded a little stressed, maybe worried.

The mare, Citole, sighed. “Doing better, but she is currently bound to a wheelchair. One of her vertebrae was shattered, so until she has synthetic surgery to replace it. She’s not going to walk any time soon.” Citole took a seat next to Viby. “Not only that, but her mother up and vanished, which is not surprising. It’s not public knowledge yet, but if it got out that she was having private dealings with the equalists, the Trade Union would freak. It’s not as if the Union has an embargo on the Republic, but it’s currently law that all dealings with the republic or equalists have to be publicly recorded. The Union has been paranoid about another revolution happening here.”

“A justified worry.” Vibraphone added. “I’d suggest they throw more bits into security, we might be in for an ugly few years.” She shook her head. “No, that’s probably falling into their hooves. Probably better to invest in leaving the islands, I heard that the mainland is actually livable, Just got to get past the damned pirates.”

Citole’s ears drooped. “Sounds bad. So where's Turnip, and Rufus?”

Vibraphone sighed. “Not... here anymore.” She looked up at the mare. “You know what, this is all starting to get depressing. I’m planning to head to Club Three Dog, and one of us needs an outfit for it, the other will heading to bed.” Her head tilted over at me.

“I don’t know; she looks a bit dainty.” Citole eyed me up, and smiled. “But I think I can help.”

“Good.” Vibraphone smiled, and turned her head over to Sweet. “Can you take the foal over to the general store, help get her some toiletries. I’m still not her mother, but we can’t have her not brushing her teeth.”

Sweet Sax stretched her back. “Yeah, I can do that.” Getting out of her seat, she picked up the happy, but drowsy foal. “Come on kiddo, you want something that smells like flowers, or fruit?”

I watched as the two trotted off, and felt like it was time to use Order. I turned to Citole, and gave her my best smile, though I felt a bit nervous. “So, what kind of club clothes do you have in mind?”

Citole laughed. “Don’t worry, I think I have something that will look really good on you.” She got up out of her seat, and nudged me to get up as well. “Come on, let’s go pick out an outfit for you.”

Sighing, I followed her out of the cafeteria. We kept on going until we were too far away to see the others, and then I stopped. “Excuse me, I just need to do something really quick.” She nodded, and I pulled up my pipbuck. “Luckily I had already the order for Order set up in the pipbuck, and only had to select it to get the drone to do what I wanted it to do. “Alright, done.” Now Order should start following vibraphone, and recording what she says. If I’m lucky, they won’t catch on until the drone returns to me.

Can’t say I was pleased in what Citole picked out for me, or where we had to go to get the outfit. It was interesting at first, entering the Lucky Rabbit's Foot Casino; the lights, the sounds, the pretty ponies having fun. That was until I entered the strip club, and somehow I could hear Vibraphone laughing at me.

It was nothing too bad, just I’ve never seen so many ponies with so little clothing before, the closest was when the maids would help me get washed. It was uncomfortable, especially when we had to stop for a moment, and a mare striper decided to gyrate her hips at me. I didn’t know what to think. My eyes seemed to be stuck, watching the mares plot rotate at me. Luckily, Citole had pulled me away from the hypnotic dance.

In the back room, where a lot of the employees sat around, drinking water. “Alright Miss Harp, my room is just over here. I have a few outfits that might fit you. I kind of went through a phase where I stopped eating, before mother literally had to slap the stupid out of me, but the outfits from back then should fit you just fine.”

“Why does everypony point out how thin I am; I see plenty of thin ponies.”

She chuckled to herself. “They’re all starving dearie, you’re not.”

We entered her room, and… I had to take time to process it. Pink, hearts, frills, a big plush bunny, heart shaped bed, red comforter with pink hearts, heart shaped pillows, and more pink. It was like the girliest girl made this room, and nopony came in to stop her. “It’s… lovely”

Citole sighed. “It was, but mother told me to get rid of all my dolls. I only got to keep mister big because he couldn’t fit through the door.” I nodded… slowly. “Right, but enough about that, let’s get you something fun to wear. What do you feel like, less cloth, or more?”

“How about more.” Citole frowned, and trotted over to her closet, of which from where I sat, it looked like a whole other room. Citole pulled out a dress that was utterly covered in bows and frills. A good dress for a ball, or gala, but I didn’t think it would work. “Maybe a little less.”

She threw the dress on me. “Nope, you have to put it on, then we can tell if it’s too much. I’ll even alter it for you.”

“You have an alter clothes spell?”

Citole shook her head, and pulled out a needle and thread. “Why waste money on that, when my own hooves will work just fine? Oh and don’t worry about my skill, I made most of these dresses myself.”

A sudden feeling of dread washed over me as she closed in.

Four dresses later, one being less of a dress, and more fishnet over underwear, I felt it was time to see if Order had gotten anything useful. Citole had stepped out for a moment to get something to drink, so I had a little bit of time to use my pipbuck privately.

Clicking through the options, I switched to the radio, one of the signals being from Order. I had an option to send a recall signal so that it would come back to me, while it also had a playback signal. So I recalled the drone, and had it play back some of what it recorded.”

“Was that wise to do? Not to say that the Serenad family are bad folk, just that they tend to be a bit more promiscuous than most ponies I know.” The voice was of Phorminx, and I had to agree a little, living inside a strip club was not what I think was normal.

“I wouldn’t worry about it too much.” This time it was Vibraphone. “If anything, Citole seems like a professional, Harp is in good hooves”

“Still, I don’t think she should be around such individuals.” The old stallion sounded irritated.

“She is an adult, a young adult at that. And even if she wasn’t, it’s not like you’re her father.” Vibraphone held onto the last word, almost like she was emphasizing it. There was a pause between the two, hard to tell if it was because somepony was thinking, or if something else was going on. Vibraphone then spoke up. “You know what, let’s just cut to the chase, that’s what I want to talk about.”

A long sigh came before Phorminx spoke up. “So, you know.”

“Yeah.” Vibraphone responded. “Golden Rule told me. Among the other problems Harp can cause by simply existing, this one takes the cake.”

“Right, it was only a matter of time before word got out. I’m surprised that it stayed a secret this long.” Phorminx sounded a bit depressed, his voice sounding a little breathy. “So have you told anypony?”

Now Vibraphone sighed. “When you literally have some pony raping your brain, there's little to nothing you can keep secret.”

“The republic, I knew we should have gone in and wiped the equalists out when we had the opportunity.” There was a growl in his voice. “Not like her existence would have changed anything, it only pushes it forward.”

“What do you mean?”

“War, my dear Vibraphone. The equalist idea of equality is so absolute, it cannot have anything that even questions their ideals.” Phorminx groaned. “I’m sure Naqara is already trying to head me off, and set herself up as a dictator to deal with this when it comes up.”

There was another pause. “I don’t think that would be a bad thing. A controlling bitch might be what we need if the Republic goes to war.”

“I won’t deny that. The council members of Security and law have always been the best suited for the leading Orthrus in times of conflict. The problem I have is if she will willingly step down when it’s over.”

Vibraphone sighed. “With how I saw the republic, they’re already at war, we just have not caught up to that fact. That’s why I think you should convince Harp that she should go with Naqara and take the ambassador job. If we can get the Orphic kingdom to ally with us, I doubt the republic would stand a chance if they were to make a move.”

“So Naqara really did get you on her side. What happened to you over there? You're not the kind to side with the like of Naqara, she offers no easy life?”

“Enough happened to me, more than I even understand, more than I wish I could forget.” There was a sharp bang, like something metallic hitting wood. “But trust me, you need to convince Harp to go with Naqara on this, I’m sure she will be safe.”

“Vibraphone, even if I did tell her to do that, my own words have no power over her. I may be her father, but only genetically. To her, the queen's late husband was her father, and that’s how it should stay.” Phorminx yawned. “Unless you have something else to ask, I think this conversation is over.”

“No, nothing important, I’ll go check up on her. Make sure Citole does not have Harp on a stripper pole.”

The recording ended with a few beeps. “So you’re council member Phorminx’s daughter!” I almost jumped, seeing Citole behind me. “You know what, I think I have just the right outfit for you.”

I looked at her, and the huge smirk on her face. I didn’t know what to feel, as I think I was feeling all the emotions right now. Was I really being lied to all my life? Why didn’t anypony ever tell me the truth?

I could feel tears welling up in my eyes.

“Wait Miss Harp, don’t cry!” She placed bottle of Metro Cola in front of me. “Here, why don’t you go sit on my bed, and have a drink? I can wait a few minutes until you feel better.”

I nodded and held onto Citole. The feeling of another pony next to me made me feel a little better. At least, it made me feel I’m not alone, like I’ve been for most of my life.

Footnote:

Quest continued: Political compass 50%