So after I had calmed down, I ended up in a blue bunny suit with yellow trim. The ears and shoes that came with the outfit were also blue, and the stockings for my back legs were yellow. On the bunny ears, shoes, cuffs, and the collar on top of the tie were pins depicting the Orthrus symbol. It felt a bit too much, but Citole assured me that it would be just fine, and I’d should just focus on enjoying myself.

It didn’t help me get my mind off what I had heard, though I probably misheard the whole thing about Phorminx being my father. But that would answer a few questions I’d always had. Like if everypony looked down on mirage ponies, then why would mother go through with the treatment? I just had to shake it off and move on. What actually concerned me more was what Naqara wanted with me, and why Vibraphone had sided with her.

“Let’s go, I’m sure the others are waiting for us.” Citole called out as she trotted over to me. She was in a black bunny mare suit, like a lot of the other mares here, and a few stallions. The bunny ears on her head flopped forward, having large earrings on them.

“Okay, just let me change back into the dress.” I was still unsure about the bunny mare suit, it made me feel a bit, exposed.

“Nope, we’re going now.” She gave me a less than calming grin. “If we stay any longer, I’ll be forced to work on my day off.” She took my saddlebag and put it on my back. “Again.”

So I ended up trotting out to the front of the casino, getting a few glances from the patrons, and one mare calling me over to join her at the bar. It was a new experience for me, not one I liked all that much. “How do you deal with that?”

Citole laughed. “You grow a thick skin, and learn how to enjoy yourself with it. Though, the mares are always far worse than the stallions. You would think it’s the other way around.”

“I, I wouldn’t know.” Citole smiled at me as we left the building, I was still unsure about her, but I felt I could at least trust her. Outside, my drone was waiting for me, along with Vibraphone. “Um… hello.”

Vibraphone tried to hide her laughter, but it was apparent that she was laughing at me. “Madam, aren’t you looking splendid today.” Order commented as it flew over to me. “Rabbits were common all over Equestria, and were a favorite pet among many ponies, as well as quick in their breeding.” Now Vibraphone stopped trying to hide her laughter, and let it all out.

“Sorry, sorry.” Vibraphone repeated. “I had a feeling she would put you in a bunny suit, but didn’t think she would actually do it.” She wiped a tear from her eye. “We should get going before you take your rabbityness to heart.”

Frowning, I followed Vibraphone out of the red light district. I was use to ponies looking at me, it was something I had to deal with all my life, but this was different. It lacked the curiosity, or disdain I was use too, the ponies here having more of a look of hunger to them. Citole nudged me, getting my attention, winking before holding her head high. I did the same, and I began to feel a little better.

Our walk went on longer than I thought it would, going through a more industrial tunnel, and ending at what looked like a gun shop. The shop, Cornet’s Guns and Knives, was a quaint place. Like with the farm ponies at the salad bar, but with more metal than wood. Guns and knives decorated the walls, most looked like they were custom made. A rust colored stallion walked out of the doorway, and he looked less than happy to see us.

“Right, Rototom told me that you were going to show up. Come on in.” The stallion motioned for us to follow him further into the shop. “I didn’t expect you to bring two bunny mares with you, one is trouble enough.”

I leaned over to Citole. “What’s his problem?”

“Flugelhorn is just a bit of a grump.” She told me with a smile. “It’s part of his charm. The stallion is actually a good catch that a lot of mares are after.”

I didn’t see it. Charm had more to deal with how elegant, and well-mannered a stallion was, not some rude or distant attitude.

Further in, we entered what looked like a kitchen. I say looked like, because I was sure kitchens did not come with an anvil and a grind stone. The room also happened to be full of knives. There were two ponies in the kitchen, one working over a stove, the other in a wheelchair.

Flugelhorn cleared his throat, gaining attention from the two mares. “Mother, your guest has arrived. And she brought friends, again.” The stallion trotted away, not giving us a second glance.

The wheelchair pony’s face was covered in bandages, and upon seeing her, Vibraphone gasped. “Kantele, what are you doing here.”

Kantele, who was likely the bandaged pony, looked away, saying nothing. The other mare trotted over to us happily. “Good to see that you're alright miss Vibraphone, you had us all worried.”

The two of them quickly hugged. “Miss Cornett, what is Kantele doing here, she should be at the hospital!”

The charcoal colored mare Cornett huffed. “When I heard about Kantele getting hurt, I was understandably worried, and went to check on her. The poor dear was so badly hurt, that the doctors had to open up a part of her skull to help ease the swelling. Worse yet, she was all by herself, no other visitors other than me, Citole, and one of her employees. So when she recovered enough to be allowed to leave, I took up the responsibility to oversee her recovery. I couldn’t just leave her all alone like that.”

Vibraphone lean over to the side to get another look at Kantele. “Will she be fine; she still looks really bad?”

Cornett shook her head. “Her back legs are paralyzed, and she currently suffers from amnesia. The doctors say that she could recover her memories at any time, but she may retain some minor brain damage, and trauma. The poor mare.” The older mare trotted over to Kantele. “Luckily the bandages around her face are just there to cover the missing fur. The doctors had to manually set the broken bones in her face before giving her a healing potion, so they had to shave her face first.”

“What about Ironshod? Wouldn’t they have a problem with you taking care of one of their company’s owners.” Vibraphone asked. “Shouldn’t they be taking care of her.”

A long sigh came from Cornett. “Corporations are like hydras. Cut off the head, and two more are waiting to take its place. I’m betting that they're hoping she never recovers, not that they’d do anything to keep her from taking her position in the company back, but a lot of paperwork will need to be signed before that happens. This is why I like to keep my business on the small side” Cornett then turned her attention over to me. “So who’s this lovely little mare?”

Vibraphone took a deep breath. “This here is princess Harp Melody, of the Orphic kingdom.”

“Oh my” Cornett said, placing a hoof over her mouth in what I guess was surprise. “Do, do I bow, curtsy, salute?”

“Please don’t, just a simply greeting will do.” The bunny suit was embarrassing enough as it was. “You have a wonderful place here, so many knives.”

Cornett chuckled. “Knives are my specialty, daggers too. The shop was passed down to me by the former master blacksmith, but she specialized in rifles.”

“That sounds fascinating.” It was, a little, but guns and knives were just not my thing. “But it’s too bad that we're not staying for long.”

“Why not!?” A voice from behind us spoke up. Looking back, Rototom trotted in, along with Sweet, Xylophone, and Phorminx. “It’s not like we have anywhere to be right now.”

A sudden “squee” came from behind me, but before I could look to see who it was, Cornett dashed passed me, and scooped up Xylophone. “Who is this adorable little filly?”

Xylophone formed a wide smile on her face. “I’m Xylophone. She’s like my momma!” She pointed at Vibraphone.

Vibraphone face hoofed. “No I’m not, she’s just been following me around.”

“Well if you’re not the mother, can I keep her!?” Cornett said excitedly. “I do have the most experience in the matter.”

Little Xylophone was lifted up in a green field of magic, and gently placed back onto the ground. Flugelhorn trotted up to the group, looking less than happy. “Mother, you have your hooves full with Kantele right now. We're not going to let a hyper active kid run around the shop, she could get herself hurt.” Cornett seemed to deflate a little, but nodded in agreement. “As for you.” His gaze turned to Rototom. “This is a place of business, not a place for your friends and family to hang out.”

Rototom’s face took on a deadpan long stare. “So you want me to leave.”

“What? No.” Flugelhorn huffed. “I’m just saying that if you keep sending ponies over here like this, it could…” Rototom locked her lips with his, silencing Flugelhorn.

Pulling back from him, Rototom smiled. “Loosen up, if you keep that up you're going to stress yourself bald.”

Flugelhorn took a step back. “And who’s the one giving me this problem?”

Rototom lightly poked at his chest. “You know you love it.”

“Ehh, what’s going on here?” Vibraphone had walked up to me, watching that odd exchange between the two.

Rototoms eyes seemed to light up. “Oh my, almost forgot about that.”

“About what?” Vibraphone prodded. “Don’t tell me you two are dating.”

The smile on Rototoms face grew a bit wider. “I wouldn’t say that we're dating.”

“We're getting married.” Flugelhorn blurted out, and Rototom looked at him with an angry stare. “What? You may like to beat around the bush, but you don’t have to deal with mares dropping hints nonstop.”

*Thud*

We all looked back to see Citole now resting her head on the table. Turning my gaze back to the couple, I saw that Vibraphone looked stunned, her mouth agape. It was not just her, but everypony had gone silent.

“If you’re getting married.” I raise my hoof, speaking up. “then that means you’re going to have a wedding.” Weddings mean, dancing, dresses, singing, and a big cake. “I love weddings.”

“I know, right?” Cornett trotted out in front of everypony. “I remember mine like it was yesterday. The dress was rushed, Flugelhorn was kicking in my belly, and papa was still contemplating on if he should just shoot my then-to-be husband.” She chuckled to herself. “But that’s enough about shotgun weddings, everypony skedaddle to the parlor. I can’t do any work with you all crowding in here.”

The parlor, which also happened to be the dining room, was actually nice and clean. Excluding a few oily rags, and some well used tools here and there of course. The decorations reminded me a bit of Citole’s room, but with more organization to it. I whispered over to Vibraphone “What’s with the mares here and pink hearts?”

She rolled her eyes, and whispered back. “Not sure, might be a generational thing. Our mother is a bit of a minimalist, and like her, Rototom and I tend to not clutter our homes. Might be the same around here, but with pink ribbons and hearts.”

I decided to give up on the question, and just accept it, even if the mares from around here are a bit too into pink and hearts. I turned my attention to Rototom and Flugelhorn. “So how did the two of you meet? Was it romantic?”

Rototom opened her mouth, only to have Flugelhorn stick a hoof in it. “She was one of our regulars. Her work required a lot of custom gear that didn’t scream Orthrus agent.” He removed his hoof from her maw, and wiped off some of the drool. “Over time I must have gotten use to her, as I stupidly agreed to go on a date with her. I think it was that she didn’t linger around all the time, unlike most mares who get stallion hungry.”

“It was the least romantic date I’d had ever had.” Rototom dead panned. “And it didn’t help that one of his stalkers tried to off me in the bathroom.”

Flugelhorn began choking on some water he was drinking. “What!?”

Rototom smiled, “Oh yes. You had three stalkers, four if you count the mousy little book worm. But she didn’t go out of her way to follow you around like the other three, SHe just seemed to go out of her way to be at places you normally go. So she’s harmless.”

The stallion sighed. “I know that much, but what was the part about trying to kill you?”

She shrugged. “Yeah, it would have been frightening to most ponies, but I was a freshly trained Orthrus specter at the time. I was on high alert for fucking everything. Poor mare didn’t see me coming.” Flugelhorn kept on staring at her. “Right, right. She jumped out of a stall, and came at me with a lead pipe. She must have though I was just another simple rival, as she was so surprised when I knocked that pipe across the room, along with a few teeth in one hoof strike. Sadly the mare didn’t seem right in the head, and tried to come at me with a small knife. I ended up stabbing her five times with the knife your mother gave me, and then reported her to Orthrus. Last I heard about her, she ran off to Charon’s Stop after she recovered.”

“And the other two?” Flugelhorn pressed.

“Well one tried to give me a warning, the cute one with freckles. I beat the shit out of her, and now she’s moved onto another stallion to chase after. I think it’s the son of one of the plantation owners. The other is still stalking you, but after what happened to the other two, she’s been keeping her distance.”

Flugelhorn gave out a long sigh. “At least that explains why the feeling that someone is watching me has gone down.”

I whispered over the Vibraphone once more. “Is this a common problem?”

She nodded. “It’s not as bad as it was hundred years back, but mares still outnumber stallions on this island. The competition just to get a stallion’s attention drives some mares mad.”

“Such a shame.” I looked over at Phorminx, who had taken a seat next to me, and was looking after little Xylophone. “Excuse me Phorminx, but did you ever have that problem?”

The old stallion chuckled. “When I was young, I did. But not as bad as Flugelhorn did. I was a bit of a nobody in my youth. The illegitimate foal of a Orthrus regular and her superior officer, not as an uncommon story as you would think. She ended up having to leave Orthrus, and raise me in Charon’s Stop, doing odd jobs with the syndicate just to get food on the table. So the mares that did give me attention were on the rough side. Things didn’t change until I signed up with Orthrus, and climbed up the ranks, but I was too distracted with helping my mother to see the other mares around me.”

“But you did find a mare right, start a family?” I don’t know why, but I wanted to know, I wanted to know if I had other family… no, don’t think of such thing. There’s no way he’s my father.

Phorminx sighed. “By the time I started thinking about such thing, I was getting old, and working as a specter. Conflict had also sparked up in the metro, and Orthrus had found itself on the wrong end of a gun. By the time things had calmed down, I found myself on the council, and helping organize the peace convention.”

“Oh, the peace talks nineteen years ago? My mother was there, did you know her?” Oh shit, stupid, moron, why did I ask that.

He smiled. “Gilded Gold, yes. We got well acquainted for that week. For an older mare, she still had a certain beauty about her, something you can only get with age. Also cunning and straight to the point. Without her taking the lead, the peace talks probably would have fallen apart.”

“On the topic of politics.” Vibraphone spoke up, “I was told by Naqara that she was interested in taking you in. An ambassadorial position sounds real nice.”

“As good as it sounds, I’m against it.” Phorminx spoke up in protest. “Such a plan could backfire very easily. Its much better if she stays in Orthrus protective custody until the Orphic Kingdom re-stabilizes.”

“That’s something that could take years. Something we may not have the time for.” Vibraphone shot back.

“I understand your concerns. The republic has been waiting for an opportunity to expand, but if we run to the Orphic Kingdom so blatantly, that might be what triggers a war.” Phorminx countered.

I cleared my throat loudly, getting the two’s attention. “Can you not argue over me, as you argue about me?” The two of them relaxed, looking a bit ashamed. “I think I understand the dilemma here. Naqara wants me to side with Orthrus, and use me to force my home to officially Ally the Orphic Kingdom with Orthrus. On the other hoof, you-” I pointed at Phorminx. “-want me to stay out of this, and keep Orthrus out of the Orphic Kingdom’s problems. In effect, maintain Orthrus’s neutral status.”

“But.” Vibraphone spoke up. “If we leave the Orphic Kingdome on its own, it may end up too weak to resist the republic when they eventually expand. And trust me, the republic is going to expand. Sooner than later too.”

“I do agree.” Phorminx said with a sigh. “But if we get involved with the Orphic Kingdom, it would mean sending our own forces into the Gathering Island to help reestablish order for the eventual blowback. Which would open ourselves to attack if the republic does go on the warpath.”

I let my head fall onto the table. “Why can’t we all just get along.”

*Wham*

Cornett dropped a case in front of Vibraphone. “If we were having dinner, I would have knocked you on the side of the head for bringing politics and war strategy into this room. That aside, your sister had your weapons sent over here for safekeeping. I made sure they were looked over and cleaned.”

Vibraphone opened up the case, and pulled out a revolver. It looked like the one she had before, but decorated. Next was a big knife, it was thick, and looked like it attached to a rifle. The last thing she pulled out was what I could only guess was an air rifle, but more. It had all the hallmarks of the air rifles I had seen before, but with a bigger air canister, and some sort of revolver loading system, over the spring canisters most other rifles used. Vibraphone opened up the revolver cylinder and pulled out what looked like a metal bolt, before putting it back in, and smiling. “Thanks. I didn’t get much use out of Lelantos, but it did prove useful when I did use it.”

“Good to hear.” Cornett said cheerfully. “Though I’d much rather you use that rifle for hunting, not for getting into fights.”

“Tell me about it.” Vibraphone huffed. “If somepony told me I was going to have to fight a cybernetic freak show, I’d have stayed home.”

The two had a laugh, though Vibraphone sounded a bit more stressed as she did. The rest of our time here was pleasant, and warm. Cornett served some snacks and drinks, as well as showed off her knife collection. The mare was a bit of an oddball to say the least, but I had to say that some of the knives she made were quite fascinating piece’s, like art, but with an edge. Rototom and Flugelhorn talked a bit more about themselves, it lacking any feeling of real romance, and sounding more like that Flugelhorn simply chose Rototom to get away from the other mares. The funny thing about it, they did seem to generally love each other, in an odd teasing way, that is.

When it was time to go, Phorminx elected to take Xylophone back with him, the little filly less then happy about having to go. The rest of us had one destination. Club Three-Dog.

Vibraphone, Sweet, Citole and I arrived at the club. Everypony else had other plans, or had to get back to work. The club was still closed, as it still had an hour before it’s normal opening time, but Vibraphone confidently stepped inside. Though as she did, she was strangely apprehensive, as though expecting trouble.

A guard sat at the front of the door, blocking the way. The mare was a bit bigger than your average mirage pony, and her legs were thickly built. Strangely, one of her wings was missing, and in its place was a cybernetic arm, which had a revolver on the end. I had not seen such a thing before, and I couldn’t help but feel a bit apprehensive as I looked up at the pony.

Vibraphone tipped her hat. “VIP, and I have a message for DJ Cerberus.”

The guard nodded, and stood there for a moment, not moving. “Right, you're clear to go.”

Following Vibraphone, we all entered the club. The place I had to say was, different. Neon lights everywhere, shadow cutouts of ponies on the walls. In what I could only guess was the DJ booth, was a two toned blue mirage pony mare looking half asleep. Another pony was working diligently on cleaning the floor, ignoring us.

“Well, if it isn’t Vibraphone the Dragon Slayer. You had me worried.” A gold colored mare stepped out from behind the bar. She was quite striking, mostly because her mane glowed red, and she looked quite pregnant. “I’m guessing you have bad news.” Vibraphone opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, she turned away. The unusual mare just sighed. “It’s quite alright, at least your still alive. Going to the surface alone always has its dangers, everypony here knows that. Come, let’s talk. Meanwhile, your friends can have a beer, on the house.”

Vibraphone looked at us, giving us a subtle nod. “This won’t take long.” And trotted off with the mare.

“Well, can’t turn down a free beer.” Sweet cheerfully announced before hopping onto a bar stool.

Citole softly chuckled, and sat at the bar as well. “It is a good way to start the night.”

Sitting at the bar myself, I couldn’t help but feel out of place. “Umm, anything I should know about drinking beer?”

Sweet tilted forwarded, looking at me with a cocked eyebrow. “You fucking drink the beer.”

Placing her hoof in front of Sweets face, Citole smiled and sighed. “Dear, have you never had a beer before?”

I shook my head. “No, never. I know of drinking wine, with picking the right vintage, letting it sit, the swirling of the glass, the sniffing of the vapers, tasting the wine, and spitting it out after. Is it like that?”

A bellowing of laughter came from Sweet, as she pushed Citole’s hoof out of her way. “A better question is if she’s ever had alcohol before.” I shook my head again. “Well shit, first time for everything.”

Three tall glasses filled with a foamy golden brown fluid were placed in front of us. I looked at the others to see what to do. Sweet tilted the glass upside-down with her mouth, drinking it all in one go, while Citole had somehow found a straw, and began drinking the beer through it. Looking at the drink, I gave it a sip. It was a bit bitter, with a refreshing aftertaste.

“This is not bad, not the best thing I’ve had. I mean, it could use something sweet to it.” I saw the bartender roll her eyes at my comment, making me feel a bit ashamed. Insulting the local beverage was being rude. The least I could do was finish the drink, so I decided to follow Sweet’s example, and drank it as fast as I can. This took me a few gulps, the drink not wanting to go down easy.

Placing the now empty glass, I took a long deep breath.

“Not bad for a first timer.” Sweet chuckled. “You want another, princess?”

I waved my hoof at her. “No, no. The drink was quite alright-” *Hic* “-Oh my, I got the hiccups. Out of all the possible times.”

“Miss Harp.” Citole got in my face. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine… fine.” Strange, my head was feeling fuzzy. “What’s in that drink?”

“Hops, barley, and oats. Your standard beer.” The bartender stated.

“Oh good.” I looked down at the empty glass. “Then why does my head feel funny?”

“You gotta be kidding me.” Citole stated. “On one beer?”

I tapped on the bar with my hoof. “You know what, I feel good, good. Another beer.”

I could hear Sweet burst out laughing, I didn’t care why, because I was feeling good.

After the second beer, things became a bit blurry, and soon after more ponies entered the club. It was actually quite fun, with music pumping, ponies dancing, and lights flashing all around. Citole stayed close to me, something about me not straying off. Lots of the ponies were real friendly to me, some wanting to show me some new dance moves, though I’d hardly call just moving my hips as dance moves. One pony came up to me, offering to sell me some party mints, it sounded fun, so I asked Citole if it was alright. Sweet came around soon after, needing to talk with the mint pony, privately, outside the club. Another pony asked me if I was interested in having a private dance with her and her friends. Vibraphone stepped in to talk with them privately, and when she got back, she said sadly they had to change their plans for the night.

It had gotten late into the night when the swimming-ness in my head was now a minor fuzziness. Citole left to go back home, something about having to work in the morning, leaving me with Vibraphone. Sweet was around, she just needed to rest in the back, something about her having a few too many glasses more than she should have had.

Vibraphone felt it was a good time for us to go, and while the club was still very much active, it had gotten late. Stepping out into the street, the ponies here were still very much active as it was in the day, though some of the shops were closed. “Let’s not linger around too long, Harp. The ponies up and about at this time are a bit… off-putting.” She looked out both ways on the road before stepping out, motioning me to follow her.

I wasn’t sure what she meant by off-putting, but then I had a look at some of the ponies that were about. Some had excessive cybernetics, others had tattoos wherever their fur was exposed. One mare had barely any clothes on, and was trotting around like she was in a daze. It was really all I needed to see to want to quickly get out of here.

It was a bit strange trotting back to the train tunnel, as all the lights had been dimmed, and much of the chatter of active ponies had dropped to a muffled murmur. It was not all dark, as a drone illuminated a wide area over two Orthrus regulars patrolling the tunnel. The two regulars give us a friendly nod as they passed by. knowing they were nearby did help me feel a little secure, as did having Vibraphone escort me to the train.

“Miss Vibraphone?”

She glanced over at me. “Yes.”

“I did some thinking. Well, not a lot of thinking, but some.” It was close to none, I’ve just been too distracted, stupid me. “About what you where talking about before, about taking the ambassador job. I just wonder if there was another way.”

“What do you mean?” She glanced about, looking like a vigilant guard.

“Well, I don’t want Orthrus to get involved in my family’s mess. They already have their hooves full with maintaining order as it was, to have them stretched thin, like Phorminx said, it could end up badly for Orthrus. But,”

“But you don’t want to see your family rip each other apart over the crown.” Vibraphone finished for me. I nodded in agreement, having nothing more to add. She took a deep breath and sighed. “Here’s the thing, It does not matter to me how you go about this, as long as it ends with the Republic being contained, and the pirates driven out. Sadly, we can’t do one and ignore the other, it has to be both. If we can forge a proper alliance with the Orphic Kingdom, then we should have the pony power to do that. Orthrus on its own could drive out the pirates, but the Republic is something I think ponykind has never seen before.” She looked at me, her eyes, they burned like a raging fire. “They need to be more then stopped. the republic needs to be smothered in its crib before it can grow any further.”

A sharp whistle came from in front of us. We had arrived at the train stop, only now to realize that it was far darker in here than the rest of the station was. “Smother the republic in its crib. Such harsh words comrade.” A mare stepped out, her fur and worker overalls smudged with grease, and her prosthetic legs chipped and rusted. “But what was I to expect from a capitalist spy.”

Before I could say or do anything, Vibraphone had her revolver out and pointed at the mare. “You know; I’m not surprised at all to run into your kind here. What did they promise you? Food, water, equality? Let me tell you this, nothing they offer will be worth what they take.”

The mare laughed. “What they take, what is there to take from me? You capitalists already took everything.” She walked up to us, stopping when Vibraphones gun touched her head. “So, you’re going to-“

*Blam*

The mare hit the floor, and I could see a faint whiff of smoke from the barrel of Vibraphones gun. “We need to go. There's never just one equalist.”

“But you just shot her.” I should see the blood oozing from the mare’s head. “Why did you shoot her?”

She huffed. “Her ideology was terminal, so I had to put her down for our own good. Now let’s go before her friends show up.” The sound of metal clacking on concrete resonated in the tunnel, coming from the stairs we had come down from, and in front of us. Vibraphone took a step back, and got close to me. “Scratch that, when I say go, we run.”

Lit by the light of an electric lanterns, the ponies came into sight, one of them looked as dirty as the mare before, holding improvised weapons. One had what looked like an air gun, but it had six arrows on the end, and another mare was armed with a digger gun. Closer now, I could count them, five from the stairs, and four in front of us. We were surrounded, and Vibraphone didn’t have enough bullets to stop them all.

Suddenly I felt a tap on my shoulder “Excuse me Princess Harp.” Startled, I looked to see who it was. Looking back at me was three horizontal glowing green lines. I nodded. “Good, let’s get you out of this situation.”

With a flash, I found myself in a brightly lit room, of which, my eyes did not like. Giving my eyes a few seconds to adjust, I was finally able to make out exactly where I was. The Sweetie Belle’s Ballad. Somehow I had been teleported to the airship from another island. “How?”

“It’s our set point teleportation platform.” The Orthrus specter spoke up. “It allows anypony with a teleportation talisman to return to this platform when needed. Sadly, only two were ever built, and the resources to build more only exist off the islands.”

Suddenly Vibraphone and another specter appeared on the platform, except Vibraphone was being held to the ground, her revolver in her mouth. “You a stupid bitch!” The specter shouted. “The fuck is wrong with you!”

Spitting out her gun, Vibraphone shouted back. “And what, just let them go where they please! Those brainwashed lackeys are destruction wrapped in pleasantries and charity. You can’t just let them take over.”

The specter placed her hoof on Vibraphones neck, choking her. “What you did I call murder.” Using her other hoof, she released a seal on her helmet, and shook it off her head, revealing Rototom. “What the fuck happened? You were never so quick to kill before.”

Pushing her sister off of her, Vibraphone got back onto her hooves. “The republic is what happened. They need to be destroyed before things get worse.”

“And killing ponies in cold blood?” Rototom poked her sister in the chest. “How does that help any pony?”

She swatted Rototom’s hoof away. “It’s a goddess damned start. Orthrus should never have let the Equalists take over. We should have killed them in their crib.”

Rototom took a step back. “Still, what you just did, I have to turn you in.”

Vibraphone smiled, but the smile did not fill me with anything positive. “To whom? You all are going to have to do the same soon.”

The sharp sound of feedback ringed around us “That’s enough!” Looking around I saw Naqara up on a higher platform looking down at us, accompanied by Phorminx. “Meet me at my office, the three of you.” The older mare turned around, and left the room, leaving Phorminx, who trotted down some nearby stairs over to us.

“Are you alright, Harp? You didn’t get hurt did you?” Unlike Naqara, he felt much warmer when talking to me.

Still, I felt a bit unnerved by Vibraphones actions, but I shoved those feelings back, back to the same place as the truth about Phorminx. “I’m fine. Did you have these two follow me all night?” The two specters stopped for a moment to wave at us, before continuing their way upstairs, Vibraphone in tow.

Phorminx sighed. “Miss Harp, you’re a target, and likely you will always be. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I felt if as long as you didn’t know, you could at least enjoy yourself without always being worried.”

I didn’t like the idea of always having a babysitter all the time, but as demeaning as it was, I understood why. “I’m not even allegeable for the throne, and yet they all want me dead, don’t they?” I could feel myself tear up. “My family hates me, the republic hates me, why was I even born.”

Phorminx stepped up to me, giving me a hug, patting me on the back. “There, there. You're safe here.”

I let him hold me, it was warm, comforting. “Could I really live here, far from all the bloodshed that’s to come?”

“Yes.” His hug became firm for a moment. “It would be a bit boring at times, but you can live in peace with us until the storm blows over.”

“It would, for me.” I wiggled out of the hug. “But it makes life more difficult for you. Not because I’m here, but that I’m here with you.”

Phorminx took a step back, his face looked somber and serious. “I thought as much, once a pony lets the cat out of the bag, eventually everypony knows.” He looked up to the upper platform, where two ponies worked. “Let’s go to my room, talk about this in private.”

I nodded in agreement, and the two of us trotted up the stairs and out of the room. The ship itself was quiet, other than the night crew conducting maintenance work on the ship. Despite the ship rarely ever being used, it looked like it needed round the clock work to keep it running at full strength. After moving through a few doors, and some long hallways, we arrived at the VIP end of the ship, my room only being a two doors down.

I had been in Phorminx room before, but it always surprised me how little was in here. He had a bed, cabinet, and a table with two chairs, but very little in the way of decoration, other than a custom air rifle he had on the wall. It was obviously not of a standard design I had seen, with what looked like a cooling system attached to the barrel.

On his bed was my drone, Order, which told me all I needed to know. He already knew that I knew. “Order, come here.” The drone came to life, and hovered up to me. “I would make a terrible spy, wouldn’t I?”

Phorminx chuckled “You're about as subtle as a train. Not that you can’t be trained, but that would take a lot of time.”

I gave Order a poke on its mechanical mouth piece. “Traitor.” Trotting over to the bed, I sat down, the bed being a lot firmer than I was use too. “So then, is it true?”

He trotted over and sat next to me. “Up until you arrived, it was only a rumor. I probably should have left it alone, let it stay that way, but my curiosity got the better of me. I had medical do a DNA test, see if Gilded Gold had actually gotten the treatment herself, or if…”

“If you’re my father?” Phorminx looked away from me and sighed.

“Yes. Before I could never get close to you, and I knew not to ever try. So I never knew what the truth was. Well, now I know, and I don’t know how to feel.” His voice cracked as he spoke, and tears welled up in his eyes. “I’m a father, your father, and I never got to see you grow up.”

It must have been because he was starting to cry, because I was too. “So then it is true. Everypony has lied to me, from the start.” He looked at me, eyes wide. “Sorry, it’s just that… I’m only ever been told that I was an... error in judgment. That I was nothing more than mother salvaging a child who should have died at birth.”

Phorminx gritted his teeth, inhaled, and gave a long exhale. “Then don’t go back, reject Naqara’s offer. We have ponies who can help you start a new life, give you a new face and name. You can leave this mess behind, and live with me, as a family.”

I shook my head. “But I can’t. They’re still my family, and even if I hate them sometimes, I can’t leave them behind.” I got off the bed. “I know them, and Rare Pearl is the best of us. If I can help her maintain order, help her keep the rest of my family in check, then I have to do it.”

With a sigh, Phorminx got off the bed. “You're definitely more your mother than anything else. If that’s the path you want to trot, then I will not stand in your way.” He turned to a small metal coffee table next to his bed. “But before you go, take this with you.” Pulling out a key, he unlocked a drawer in the coffee table, and opened it up. He pulled out a revolver, much like the one Vibraphone, and other members of Orthrus used. “This has served me ever since I joined Orthrus. I want you to have it.

“But, I can’t, I shouldn’t.” The revolver had a short heavy barrel like the others I had seen, but blued steel in color. It also had pristine white mouth grip, with the Orthrus logo imprinted onto it in gold. “I’m not even a member of Orthrus.”

He pulled out a holster and smiled. “Doesn’t matter. Think of it as part of your inheritance. Also, I don’t like the idea of you going out into a potentially dangerous situation without a reliable gun at your side.” He worked on the holster until it comfortably clung to my chest, one loop going around my leg. “The grip is made of an old radboar tusk, so it’s gentle on the mouth while being strong as steel, also the holster is made from the hide of the same radboar, the leather treated with magic so that it won’t simply wear out over time. Also the holster will hold twelve spare bullets on its own, but don’t forget to load the revolver. Rarely will life give you the time to load the gun when you need it.”

“But what if it misfires?” I had heard of the dangers of old world guns, like them suddenly going off on their own and killing somepony.

He chuckled. “A gun like this, never. This is the pinnacle of revolvers, it will only fire when you pull the trigger, and never on its own.” He placed the revolver into the holster, and I could feel the weight on my neck. It was heavy, not in just weight wise, but… well emotionally heavy. Like I was now carrying some ponies burden, no somepony’s responsibility.

I looked at it and smiled. “It clashes with the bunny suit.” We both laughed, and I felt like a small weight has been lifted off my shoulders. The burden of feeling like the family’s unwanted mistake was gone, and in its place, the responsibly to save that family now hung from my chest. A gift from the father I never knew I had.

I looked Phorminx in the eyes and smiled. “I think I need to talk with Naqara.”

He smiled back. “Then I’ll escort you to her.”

Naqara’s room was on the other side of the ship, near the bridge, which luckily was a straight hallway and a door away from us. Her room, unlike Phorminx’s, was a bit more well decorated. Mostly it was picture frames with her and a bunch of other ponies in it, many of them having her surrounded by foals. She also had a few rifles on her wall, along with what looked like a hunting trophy of a Paradise Dragon Claw. Above her bed was a flag depicting the Orthrus symbol, overtly stating her loyalty to Othrus. Rototom and the other Specter stood on the either side of Vibraphone, in front of Naqara. The three of them looked back to see us, and parted, allowing me a good view of Naqara.

“Good of you to come.” Naqara sat on her bed, looking as confident as ever. “Have you come to give me an answer to my offer?”

I nodded. “Yes.” I took a deep breath, holding it in as though it would give me more of the clarity that I needed. Letting it go, I continued. “I need your help, I need to save my family before it’s too late.”

“So you accept my proposal then?” She smiled wide.

I shook my head. “No, that would put Orthrus in danger. I want to do this without Orthrus’ direct control.” She raised an eyebrow at me. “I need you to help me get to Rare Pearl, so that I can talk to her, secretly. I don’t want others to think I’m trying to take over. I don’t want to see ponies die because I was too rash.”

Naqara scratched her chin for a moment, looking serious before smiling. “Yes, I can see it. The big problem is simply getting to the royal family, loud or quiet matters not, as long as you make it to stable 50’s door. After that it’s all up to you.” She got up off the bed, and trotted over to me. “But to do it all without leaving our hoof prints all over, that will be tricky, and take a lot of resources. Are you willing to pay the price?” I nodded. “Good, because you’re going to have to go a roundabout way to get to stable 50, and I’ll need to get something done first before you get there.”

“As long as it does not start a war, I’ll do it.” I responded.

“Actually, that’s exactly what I need you to do.” She rustled through one of her pockets, and pulled out a strange cube. “This here is a very special Ministry of Moral spy bug. With it attached to a receiver up high, we can listen into every signal in a very wide area. From our records, It’s construction was meant for rooting out spies here on the islands, but it also opened up old Equestria’s secured messages for interception. A problem that was never fixed.” She placed the cube back into her pocket. “I need some ponies to sneak into Marewaii Skyport, and install it into the radio receiver for a few minutes. If what we already know is correct, the data collected should give us enough evidence to catch the republic preparing for war, and stir the council to declare a need for a dictator to head this new conflict.” She placed a hoof on her chest. “Meaning myself. Once we have collected the necessary data, you are to move onto stable 50.”

“So, you want me to put you in power, that’s all this is about.” I couldn’t help but feel angry at this, her asking this of me, it felt wrong.

She nodded. “It’s not as bad as it sounds, I’m not going to clam dictator for life, just until the republic is beaten down. As the council is now, It cannot conduct a war, not with the five heads all trying to go in different directions. If all things go well, by the time you’re done with forging an alliance with us and the Orphic Kingdom, Othrus should be properly reorganised to deal with the republic.”

I thought about it for a moment, and it all made sense, except... “Wait, if all you need is a high place for the bug, then can’t you just use a balloon? Get the bug sky high with that?”

Naqara sighed. “We already did an experiment like that, and as it turns out, the bug pumps out a lot of magic. Unless it’s connected to a grounded system, it fries everything. Right now the only place that could have the thing installed without immediately frying is the Marewaii Skyport.”

“I see.” I had to concede, not that it was unknown that old world tech tended to be dangerous. “So how does this keep Orthrus out of the spotlight?”

“By not having any active Orthrus agents with you.” Was her answer. “The cover story can simply be that due to the assassination attempt, you hired ponies you knew to take you home in secret. Isn’t that right, Vibraphone?”

I looked to my side to see Vibraphone looking at the ground. “Right. Along with installing the bug, I’m to escort Harp back to her home.”

“Good.” Naqara clapped her hooves together. “If you do that, we can forget your murderous outburst from earlier ever happened. Too bad that mare died when she was mugged by a gang of ponies.” Her attention turned back to me. “I’ll see to it that you have a proper amount of guards with you. Two, no three ponies should do it. Also, it should take a day for everything to be prepared, so relax until then. Now get going, I have other business to attend too.”

Vibraphone and I left the room, Phorminx gave me a nod, staying behind. “So that’s that then.”

Vibraphone nodded. “E’yep.” She pulled out a small bottle, opening it and dropped two pills into her hoof. “Just to let you know, don’t bother me tomorrow. I’ll probably be drunk, and well, doing other things.” She popped the pills into her mouth and gulped. “Also, sorry you had to see that. I should have kept my cool.”

I watched as she trotted away, and something clicked. The confident mare I knew from before, she seemed to be gone. In her place was a new Vibraphone, driven, yet troubled. I already missed the friend I made back on the big island.

Footnote:

Quest Finished: Political compass