Two hours and three minutes. Looking at my pipbuck, the clock reminded me of just how soon this mission would be starting. Of course, Merit, Sweet, Harp, and I were just sitting here, waiting for Rototom and Temboril. Sorrow an Mayall had already arrived, but they’d left and gone off ahead of us.

I was still not feeling all that well, and the idea of going under the water was still not sitting right with me. But at the very least, I didn’t feel as bad as I felt yesterday during the briefing. Some pain killers, and much needed sleep helped with that, but it wasn’t quite enough. I still didn’t feel all like myself, but then again, I did have wires still stuck in my brain.

We were sitting at a little coffee house called Rubiaceae, in Station Pancake. The station itself was not all that remarkable, really. Being built post great war, it had Orthrus hoof prints all over it, which sort of dimmed whatever uniqueness it might have had otherwise. Most of the station, like the rest of pineapple Island, was used to grow food. Though despite the name, more than half the product grown here is coffee beans.

Thus, the shop named Rubiaceae, standing out in its frilly light pink glory, contrasting with the cold gray of the rest of the station. The frilly pink decorum also extended outside of the coffee house to where we were sitting. I didn’t know if I should be worried or impressed by the waitress, who looked strikingly similar to a doll I had as a filly. It mostly had to do with her prosthetics, which had a polished wooden outer shell, and covers over the joints to make it look like she had real ball joints. The rest of her getup was makeup, and a frilly dress that I had to admit was cute.

“Wow, this place is amazing.” Unwinding, Harp was seemingly enjoying herself. Though she didn’t seem to have a taste for coffee, dumping six cubs of sugar and a far dose of coconut milk before properly drinking it. “I’d love to come back here after this is all over.”

“Not sure about coming back to this place.” Merit only added one sugar cube to his coffee. “But never in all my life did I once think I’d ever have fresh coffee. Hell, even instant coffee was a rare luxury up in the clouds.”

“You hear that, Viby? We should invest in coffee when this is all over.” Sweet Sax had hers black, don’t know why, she always had a stomach ache afterward. “We’d make a killing.”

“I like that idea. No more risking our lives for bits.” I nodded and hoofed at my drink. I liked my coffee with two sugar cubes, a bit of coconut milk, and whipped coconut cream on top. It wasn’t bad, though I never got to drink it enough to get used to it. Mostly because it cost three bits a cup, which amazed me when their main competition was Metro Cola. A bottle of Metro-Cola’ Lurker-Blue cost only one bit a bottle, so that was going to stay my drink of choice for an energy boost. How other ponies chose to drink coffee over cola, even with it’s higher price, baffled me.

“Hay!” The familiar voice of Cornett called out to us from the other side of the street. She had her son in tow, pulling a cart of gun cases along with them. “Heard you were going hunting!” Our cover story was officially a day long hunting trip. While not the most conspicuous of covers, it at least would keep others from asking too many questions to where we were at. “So I thought I’d tweak your gear.”

“Wait, since when did you have my gear?” I had to ask, thought I already had a pretty good idea of what had happened. “I thought my sister was getting it back from security?”

Cornett playfully waved her hoof at me. “Oh your sister sent them over, and I couldn’t help myself. I even got to work on the Lelantos!”

“What?” I responded flatly.

“Flugelhorn dear, show her.” She gave a small wave to her son. The stallion looked less than amused by this, but complied, opening the first gun case. Inside was my Lelantos, though sleeker looking. The bulbous air tank had been replaced by a slightly smaller one that looked a to be more re-enforced, while under the barrel was another smaller, secondary air tank. “I changed it to a two-tank system, so it should work more efficiently now with each shot. Also, I added a full tank release, in case you need a real power shot. Just be careful, because you can’t shoot it again until it re-pressurizes.”

I lifted the rifle, and surprisingly, it didn’t feel all that different in my magic. The only slight difference I felt with the two teal air tanks attached to it, was that the balance had shifted a bit more to the center. That would actually be good for dealing with recoil when firing, not that it had all that much recoil to begin with.

“Not bad.” My words brought a smile to Cornett’s muzzle.

“I knew you would like it.” She waved at her son, and he pulled out a few more crates. “That’s why I made more. These ones are the finalized, finished product.” Sweet opened up one of the and pulled out a gray and black Lelantos. “They’re made to a more factory friendly standard. So less and easier to manufacture parts, but that also means parts are easily interchangeable in case one needs to be salvaged or canabalized for parts.”

“Nice.” Sweet opened the cylinder of the rifle, and spun it. “Though I’d rather have an AG, I’m more than willing to give this a try.” Closing the cylinder, she put the rifle to the side. “While we’re on the topic of guns, did you finish what I asked for?”

Cornett covered her mouth as she snickered. “Oh, did I ever!” Flugelhorn pulled the biggest case off the cart, knocking over a bunch of other cases. “But you’d better use this responsibly. I can’t have my family name be tarnished, so I’m trusting you with this.”

“I’d never dream of it.” Sweet gleefully loomed over the large gun case and opened it up. Inside was what I referred colloquially to as a big fucking gun. It looked a lot like the heavy automatic shotgun Sweet had when she came to rescue me, but the action had oddly been moved behind the trigger. It also had a gunmetal black finish, with a chrome metal frame wrapped around it. Also inside the case was a visor, a harness, some sort of rigging arm. “Ohh, so awesome!” she lifted the gun, and gave it a hug. “I’m going to kill so much shit with this!”

“So, is this some new type of heavy auto shotty then?” I asked, feeling more than just a bit curious about the gun.

“Yep!” Beaming with a smile, Cornett answered. “I obtained two Orthrus broomsticks over a year ago, but didn’t know what to do with them since nopony was interested in buying them. Well, when miss Sax Solo visited to buy a gun, she had a brilliant idea. In place of her missing wings, she wanted me to design a rig to hold guns for her, and allow her to fire them with her mind. Now, I don’t know anything about cybernetics mind you, but I do know turrets and turret systems.” Running her hoof over the system, she marveled at her own work. “So, I made a personal pony turret system. To get it to work right, the gun and harness are attached by a self-stabilizing articulating arm, and a levitation talisman. Targeting is done through the visor, so all a pony needs to do is fire, and the system does the rest.”

“Got it, you built my friend a death machine.” I had to admit, I was impressed. “So, if you don’t mind me asking, where did the arm thingy come from?”

“It’s an old robot arm, don’t bother asking me the model as I haven’t the slightest.” She shrugged and almost sounded like the topic of robots bored her. “one of my workers likes to mess with that tech, so I simply put them to work.” Sounds legit. Cornett grabbed one of the smaller boxes, and passed it over to me. “You can have this back as well.” Opening it, inside was my Lunar Eclipse, along with my two leather cartridge holders. “I loaded them with hollow point, but let’s hope you don’t need them.”

“Thanks, Cornett.” I placed my revolver under my vest, and the two holders on top of it. It was good to have it back on me, made me feel less exposed. The bayonet for my Lelantos had its own sheath, so I fastened it to my back leg, I was not much of a knife mare like Cornett was, but having it at the ready was always a good idea. “Did you bring anything else?”

She scratched her chin for a moment. “Now that I think about it, your sister did tell me to bring something else.” She picked up one of the cases that had dropped to the ground, and opened it. Inside was what looked like a boxy gun, with three large bullets next to it. “Before you ask, I don’t know what it is, I was just asked to attach a railing system to it.”

“Okay…” I lifted it up, feeling a bit confused on how I would even use whatever this thing even was. “So, what’s it meant to attach too?”

“A new leg.” The voice of Rototom called out. Looking over at her, she was all geared up along with Temboril. As the approached, I noticed that their blue cloaks concealed some of their far better gear. Rototom though took off a case on her back and placed it down in front of me. “Got this out of an old evidence locker, felt that you could find some use out of it.” Inside the box was an old cyberleg, the same kind I’d gotten from Shamisen Tuning, if in slightly better condition. “The I.G.L. or industrial grappling leg, remodified to smuggle contraband from one station to another. While we quickly caught on to them, these legs still pop up from time to time.”

“So this dumb looking gun goes into that leg.” Getting the cyberleg was not something I was going to complain about, but the boxy gun was another issue altogether.

Rototom rolled her eyes. “That dumb looking gun is what we call ‘the ripper’. It’s an experimental weapon and talisman combination and all that, but it shots a special type of bullet. The ripper round.” She tossed the leg to me. “It’s single shot right now, but one shot will be all you need. Basically the gun fires that solid slug and breaks it apart while it travels down the barrel, thus projecting a wide cone of shrapnel at whatever you point it at.”

“So, it’s a shotgun?” I placed the leg to the side, as Sweet helped me take of my normal prosthetic. “would it be better if you just gave me a 12 gauge?”

“Yes, but being a shotgun is not the point of this gun.” Rototm said as she shook her head. “It’s a tactical weapon, and a very powerful one at that with a much wider area of effect than you might think. If you ever find yourself cornered against multiple foes, you can use it to punch a whole through quite a few of your attackers all at once. Even if they have good armor on, unless it’s power armor, this should still find it’s way through any gaps their armor has.”

Sweet attached the grapple leg to me, and I activated it with a wave of my magic. Before I could give it a look over, Cornett was already installing the ripper gun into the smuggling compartment.

“Right, so are we done here.” I asked, lifting the leg up and looking it over.

Temboril trotted up, and dropped a bunch of talismans onto the table, along with a few holotapes that had talismans embedded into them. I had seen the talisman holotapes before, were inserted into a modified pipbuck, it allows a pony to perform the spell imprinted onto the talasman. “Don’t be so impatient Vibraphone.” She began to pass out the talismans. “Now everyone but merit gets a disguise talisman.” She passed the holotape talisman to Harp. “Now unless it’s necessary, don’t take yours out princes, you can only use one at a time.”

Harp gleefully took it. “I always wanted to use magic, levitating this has been so much fun.”

“Right,” Temboril continued, “Now other than the disguise talisman, I’ve also given each of you a telepathy talisman, magical armor, and muffle talisman. This should be enough versatility to help you out in almost any situation.” We all took our individual talisman, and started to apply them. Instead of working on my own at the moment, I helped install Sweet’s into some of her ports. “Now, these may be higher quality talismans then your use too, but they’re far from unbreakable. So don’t push them more then you need to, and try not to lose them.”

Once I had them installed into Sweet, she turned to do the same for me.

‘Hello, hello!’ Harp called out over telepathy. ‘Can you hear me, over?’

‘Yes, we can,’ I thought back at her. ‘now can you take that out? You’re a bit loud.’

‘Oh, sorry.’ She quickly ejected the telepathy talisman from her pipbuck.

I looked back at Temboril. “So anything else?”

“One thing.” She responded. “The red dress the princess has on is woven with a ballistic weave, so do try to keep her in it as it’s her best protection if things go poorly.” I cocked an eyebrow at her. Really, a dress is her best protection? Temboril simply sighed and continued. “Think of it like bullet resistant fabric. We recovered the dress from a M.O.I. safe and had been studying it. It’s very sturdy in its construction, but the materials are rare on the island. Because of that, Orthrus only uses it for specter armor.”

“Wait, you can’t mean…” Harp gasped. “Does this mean that this dress was designed by the head of the Ministry of Image? Mrs. Rarity herself!?”

Temboril shrugged, her face staying stoic… that was until two hooves wrapped around her in a hug, putting a more annoyed look on her face. Biwa held onto his daughter with a smile on his face, “Oh yes, from our records, that party dress was one of a few prototypes made for the ministry mares during the great war. The perfect combination of protection, and style. Ballistic chic is what Mrs. Rarity had called it.”

Temboril tried to shake her father, but he would not budge from the hug. Rototom lead over with a smile. “Those two look so much alike, it’s uncanny, right?” looking at the two, both had the same a lime green coat, and dark green mane, the only difference was that one was a younger mare, where the other was an older stallion

“Well if they really are family, that that’s not odd then.” I responded.

Rototm chuckled to herself. “True, except that Temboril has no mother.” I cocked an eybrow at her. “She’s his clone.”

A metal cup bounced off Rototoms head, being thrown from a quite displeased looking Temboril.

“No telling secrets you blabbermouth!” Rototom responded to Temboril’s outburst by sticking her tongue out at her before trotting ahead of us. Rototom was always like that to be honest. If she didn’t get her way, she would get vindictive. It was always the thing I hated about her the most. As her sister, she would protect me, but I’d also commonly be the target of her anger, though it would rarely be anything all that bad. Temboril trotted up to me in my sister’s absence, having had finally broken away from her father. “She’s a talented specter, but the bitch can’t ever let things go, can she?” Hanging her head, she deflated a bit. “Had to give her a black eye once because of it.”

“You too?” I responded.

Temboril began to chuckle, and so did I. Sweet joined us, snickering herself. “Last time she got that way with me, I put crabs in her bed. She didn’t notice at first, and ended up running out of her room completely naked and covered in them. Never laughed as hard in my life.”

“And you spent a day in minimum security for that.” The voice of Naqara caught our attention, she looking us up and down with stern eyes. “Something some ponies can’t seem to take.” Yeah, well I at least had a good reason to not stay locked up in that madhouse.

Next to her was Phorminx, who looked just as stoic. “Looks like you're all getting geared up. That’s good.” He passed over a holotape to me. “Install this into your pipleg. It’s the official specter program, and though you’re not part of the core, you three will need it to help protect Harp.”

I took the tape, and placed it into my pipleg. “So, what’s different from the one I already got?”

“The one you already have is an older, bare bones version of tactical S.A.T.S. This one will allow you to properly plot out your movements, or connect with anypony with the same program. Not only that, but it will also give you feedback and a tactical assessment of all those around you.” He gave me a slightly more serious look. “I hope you use it to make sure that Harp comes out of this unhurt.”

I instinctively saluted. “Yes, sir!”

“That never gets old.” Naqara smirked out her words, her head tilted up looking down at us with a feeling of superiority. The old mare loved to remind everypony their position in relation to her own, like it was a hobby of hers. Or now that I think about it, maybe it was a actually a kink of hers. “Now there’s no need to go over the mission, as I’m sure you know it by heart already. As such, you understand why this is important more than any other pony on the islands could.” She pulled out another holotape. “Take this. It’s not much, but it’s the little things that help keep us together when times get tough.” She turned over to Biwa and poked his face with her hoof. “Now for you. Get back to your office, you have plenty of paperwork to do.”

Biwa groaned, but conceded to Naqara poking, turning to walk back.

Phorminx waited for them to get a little further away before looking me in the eyes. “Miss Vibraphone, trust me when I say this, you have great potential. When you come back from this, we would be glad to have you return to Orthrus, miss Sweet too. So, just remember that you will always have a place here.” With that, Phorminx turned and trotted after the two other council representatives.

“That’s deep.” Sweet said before chuckling. “Not that it isn’t an enticing offer, but I plan to retire after this mess is over, what about you?”

“Ya, at least for a year or two,” I nodded. “I don’t plan on doing any major work. we’ve earned that much.”

We quickly got to packing up our supplies, which thanks to Cornett, included plenty of spare ammo for all of our guns. Merit received a standard pump action 12 gauge shotgun, along with a Lelantos which he needed one of us to charge. We also received a boxed, home cooked meal from Cornett, making feel a little uncomfortable to receive this much good will from her. With all our gear in tow behind us, we were off to the sub, of which I still did not feel comfortable with.

“All we have to lose is our chains!” A dreadfully familiar phrase caught my attention on our way to the long entrance hall leading to the surface exit. “Take back the means of production! Throw down those who seek to control you!” A less than healthy mare stood on top of a wooden crate, shouting equalist propaganda to anypony that would give her their ear.

A hoof gently landed on my shoulder, Temboril looking at me with an annoyed look. “Try not to listen to that garbage.”

“After the shit I went through, you don’t have to tell me that.” I rolled my eyes. “Aren’t you at least worried that she may be an agent?” I was not going to just go and shoot the mare, but knocking her around with a stick sounded like a good idea, give her a good hoof to the face for spreading that nonsense. Maybe that was just me being more than a bit vindictive for having my fucking head opened up and mess with.

“One, she is not, we checked.” Temboril just shook her head. “Two, don’t think I don’t know what you’re thinking. And three, that mare is only solidifying her place as a quack. All the workers here own the small plot of land they work on, so she might as well say that they should overthrow themselves. Those republic fanatics are so far gone that I don’t think they themselves even understand what they’re saying anymore.”

The soapboxing mare continued. “They look down on you, the little pleasantries they say are nothing more than minor aggressions, whittling you down bit by bit, until they have you under their control. Don’t let the fat cats marginalize you, keep you from what we all are owed. Even ten percent of the bits they own could feed you all ten times over, yet they hoard it to themselves. No, the bits belongs to everyone, spread equally and fairly, so all can afford food to eat and a home to live in. Take the words of Livenka Fortissimo to heart, that everypony has a right to dignity, but it is those who take for themselves which they could give to others, the greedy, they are the ones who old everypony down. It is only when we all share and act as one, are we free to truly be ourselves! In equality, we are all free. So throw off your chains, cast down the greedy, and become equal with your fellow ponies!”

I turned to Temboril and deadpanned at her. “Can we at least shove a sock in her mouth?”

She faces hoofed. “If you’re willing to get arrested for assault and doom this mission to failure, then be my guest.”

The door to the surface was a big slab of metal that opened upwards. It was made to stay strong, and last damn near forever, giving the ponies a small sense of security from the outside. As I stared up at it, Flugelhorn passed us as we’d finally caught up with Rototom. As she glanced back to the still grumpy seeming Flugelhorn, I noticed that she was looking a little less annoyed than before. She may have always been quick to anger, but at least it seemed that Flugelhorn made her a little happier when he was around.

“So seriously,” Sweet gave a half smile to my sister as we simply watched Flugelhorn. “why that stallion? I mean I know options are limited, but why mister grumpy pony?”

“It’s a long story.” Rototom just sighed. “Maybe I’ll tell you it all later.”

Temboril pulled out her gasmask as she trotted past us. “Yes, let’s not get onto any long stories, as we’ve got places to be, and time is limited.” We all followed, pulling out and equipping our gas masks, readying ourselves for the outside.

The enormous metal door squeaked as it opened. Humid air flowed in, and the air filters near the door roared to life. Reflections of sunlight beamed in, decorating the floor around us with dazzling patterns, almost as if it was inviting us to the outside world. Something we all knew well well was a trick to lull the weak minded into a false sense of security up there. Too many things waited in the shadows outside, and all of them wanted to kill us the moment they got the chance to do so. And that was before mentioning the republic and the pirates we’d no doubt find hunting us along the way.

Together, we trotted out prepared for the worst, knowing we would not return until our mission was done.

Our trek through the jungle was luckily short and uneventful. Clear skies above, and only a few things out in the foliage looking to eat ponies. While the monsters that prowled the surface were out of sight for now, their tracks crisscrossed all over the path we trotted. Thankfully, with the muffling talismans activated we didn’t attract any unwanted attention. We did have a problem with a few carniverous plants being in our way, and insects buzzing all around us. But both were nothing too mutated to be a danger, or at least, weren’t problems that couldn’t be solved with the application of a blade.

The beach was a nice sight to see. Even if it was through our masks, we could still make out the clear, glistening water. Not far from where we emerged was a sturdy old dock. The concrete had fared far better than it really should have after two hundred years of saltwater exposure, but it’s condition wasn’t worrisome to me. Still, the rest of the beach was covered in barnacles, seaweed, and the remnants of sand-lurk nests.

Two sparkle-lurkers trotted up to us across the sand. The crab ponies were dressed up in what looked like old fishing outfits that to be honest, looked out of place on them. The first outfit was an old ragged getup, complete with a bright yellow raincoat. Where it had split and torn from wear, it had been repaired and held together by sewn in fishnet.

The second lurk however, looked like she had lost a bet to be wearing that outfit. She only had half of the outfit the other one wore, with the rest of her outfit was just fishnet. It hardly covered enough of her to be useful, but then again, I’m not sure why they wore them in the first place.

“Fishnets...” Sweet hummed curiously “I don’t remember the old world ponies eating fish? Griffins maybe?”

The male lurker nodded. “Aye, we found these artifacts on a sunken griffin trawler.” The lurker tilted his head. “Griffins are the ones with the big fins, and big jaws, right?”

“No…” Sweet answered. “There like birds, but with claws.”

“Yes, we did find some bones of something like that.” The female lurker nodded. “Had a beak, but was like no bird we had ever seen. Also guns, lots of guns. All rusted through.” She then pointed over to the harbor. “The sub is ready, so let’s be quick. Being out in the open is bad luck. Things in shadows always watch.”

“Like you guys.” I responded.

She nodded. “Oh yes, but not today. We mostly all in sub.”

I had to give the lurkers some credit for being smart, using an old boathouse at the end of the dock to hide the entrance to their sub. Though the old wooden structure was mostly dilapidated with many openings in the rickety looking boards, you would have to get up close to even see that the sub was there. As for their own security, it didn’t take a spectre to see the lurkers hiding in the water or under rubble. The republic would know enough about the lurkers to keep an eye out for them, but still, this would likely be enough to catch one or their scouting parties off guard.

As we approached the sub, everypony began to enter except for Sweet and I. As I waited for the others to board, I noticed a solemn looking gray mare sat on a moldy bench against the wall of the old boathouse. Her face was obstructed by her gasmask, but I knew she was looking at me, and was likely actually Sorrow, the changeling from before.

“I know I’ve asked this a few times already,” Sweet probed. “but you sure you’re okay?”

I nodded. “Just give me a moment. I did this once already, I can do it again.” Easier said than done. I was just glad all my legs were synthetic, if they weren’t, I figured that they’d be shaking themselves right out from under me right now. “Just go on ahead without me, I’ll be down shortly.”

“Alright, just don’t make me have to come back up,” Sweet softly sighed. “ladders are a real pain in the plot to climb.”

I watched as Sweet descended, her head bobbing which each step. Once she was down, and out of sight, I looked over at Sorrow.

“So, I’m guessing you want to talk.” I offered to her.

She nodded, and pulled out a bottle. “You might need these.” Passing them over to me, I examined the bottle filled will white pills. “I lowered the dosage, but even then, you should try to only use them when needed.”

“Chill?” She nodded at me, and I sighed. Looking at the bottle long and hard, I opened it, dropped two of the pills into my cyber hoof. “No way around it, is there?” Lifting my mask up, I popped the two pills, and swallowed. I followed it with some water from my canteen, before putting my mask back on.

“Just keep in mind that’s all I have, or will give, so make it last.” Sorrow folded her legs, and tilted her head ever so slightly. “The last thing you want is to start using the heavier stuff.”

I placed the bottle into my saddlebag. “I know, not like I’ve not seen chill addict before. But I didn’t think the shudders would come on so fast.”

“That was just a panic attack, not the shivers.” Sorrow explained. “The shivers come from Med-X abuse, a common alternative to Chill.” She then shook her head. “Let’s not get into the science of drug abuse, or we’ll be here all day when I know we have better places to be. But I’ll give you this warning. Chill abuse victims tend to develop a loosened sense of reality, and it’s something that when it develops, can’t just be fixed by some addiction treatment.”

“I understand, I’ll use it sparingly.” I’d seen my fair share of chill addicts, they never seem to be all there. Speaking of such, I was already starting to feel more myself, and quite comfortably relaxed. Looking at the entrance of the sub, I didn’t feel as apprehensive about it anymore. “Well, I guess we should get going.”

The changeling nodded. “Let’s hope this is easier than it sounds.”

We both entered the sub, slowly making our way down the ladder to the dark interior. While the chill may have helped with my fear of water, what did bother me was what might happen to me if I keep taking these pills, low dosage or not. It was a worry I’d have to shake off and put to the back of my mind. Right now, the pills kept me relaxed enough to just deal with being in the sub, I still felt a sunken feeling in my stomach about the mission itself.

I didn’t take all that good of a look at the sub the last time I was on it. The adrenalin crash I had back then probably had something to do with it, as well as about a dozen other reasons. However now with a clear head, I found that this sub really didn’t fill me up with much confidence in the repair skills of the Lurks. Rust stains were all over the place, along with less than professional repairs. The Lurkers did a good job getting this thing running, sure, but it was easy to see that they lacked either the tools, or knowhow to properly maintain this thing.

“How is this thing even running?” I asked.

“Megaspell fusion core engine.” Mayall spoke as she appeared from behind me. I spun around to find the sparkle-lurker was wearing an old a sailor’s suit jacket, a short skirt, and a captains cap. The three were old and worn out, but clean looking, on top of being quite the odd combination altogether. “The core components eke cameth equipped with repair talismans, so twas only a matter of clearing the coral off of the ship's haul.”

“Just...” I pointed at the rusting walls trying to not sound rude. “it looks trashed in here. You sure those talismans are working?”

She shrugged. “Nothing is meanteth to last still, but I’m sure in time mine kin can maketh this behold like new.” She motioned her… lurker-hoof-thing, for me to follow. “Come, check out wast I command this vessel.” She seemed excited about the matter, so I couldn’t refuse.

She hopped up into a seat that seemed to take a commanding position in the center of this room just behind the ladder we'd come down. It struck me as odd that this would be the so called 'bridge' of this ship, as it was also the entrance. Within direct view of her ‘command’ chair, were lurkers working at softly glowing terminals, with numerous grimy but still blinking lights. There were four doors to this roughly square room, each one leading down a hallway and out of sight.

“This is wast we control the sub, wires still needeth to beest replaced, but it’s mostly in full working order.” Mayall smiled. “Ahead is the lessening room, whither we can see without eyes.” Pointing back at the ladder, I found another hatch that lead downward. “Below is whither we liveth, beds and food is thither. Behind us is the rooms for the Arcano engine that powers this vessel. Best not to wend thither for thy own safety. ”

I nodded, not really knowing what to say. Then again, ‘don’t stand next to the magical reactor’ didn’t need much added on either end of ours. However it did seem that something needed to be said before we moved on.

Sorrow stepped in front of me, with a serious look on her face. “How many ponies can this ship hold?”

“Plenty.” Mayall answered before scratching her chin. “Well, not a gross amount. We didst exsufflicate the torpedo bay. The weapons wast too rusted to beest hath used, so we putteth the eggs thither for safety. ”

Sorrow paused for a moment before asking another question. “If you could take some of my kin aboard, could you take them to the mainland?”

“This again?” Mayall responded with a dejected tone. “My kin has't our own plat full, if 't be true thee can provise a safe lodging for some of mine to stayeth, then maybe. But till then, we not has't the room.”

“What’s this about?” I asked Sorrow

“Uh…” She just scrunched up her muzzle. “With what we know about the republic, it’s too unsafe for my kin to stay on the island. So, I was hoping then we all migrate to the mainland, start out new there.” She tapped her hoof on the sub and gave Mayall a nod. “The vessel may be perfect for doing that, along with the lurkers of course. I was also seeking help from Orthrus to set up a colony for them once we got there. In return, we’d get a bunch of tech to help make it work, and a safe place to call home. It’s a win, win.”

I cocked an eyebrow. “Isn’t your kin being changelings going to be a problem?”

“Depends” Sorrow responded. “Most ponies react poorly to what they don’t understand. But Orthrus likes to keep their members philologically evaluated, right? So it shouldn’t be to hard for them to pluck out their more… adaptable members to be sent to the colony. From there with order established, civilians can be let in, and wham bam Orthrus has a new colony under its control.”

“Okay, I get it. So, you want to use Orthrus as protection and cover on the mainland.” It was not a stretch of an idea, and truth be told, it was a solid plan. Well once all the little details like food, and power generation is solved, but there were many minds at Orthrus who were adept at figuring out all those little details.

“That, and having Mirage ponies around would be a big help.” She said jokily. “Your kind is real useful at keeping the lights on when the generator breaks down.”

“I would like to concur.” Mayall chimed in. “But mine lurkers has't our own plan. We must not beest collared by ponies. Ponies art still harbingers of disaster.” I know she didn’t really mean that as an insult, but it still made me deadpan.

“Here, miss Vibraphon,” Sorrow sighed and pointed to the hatch under the ladder. “go and meet up with your friends down below. For now, I think it’s best if I talk with Mayall privately.”

I didn’t want to be in the middle of this in the first place, so I complied and descended down the ladder. I did feel a little insulted by Mayall, but sadly what she was saying was not entirely untrue. Ponies did make a mess of this world, but we also gave it all the tools we’ve been using to survive all this time. As much as I would have liked to explained that to them, it also felt a bit rude to impose myself onto the politics between two non-pony, pony like tribes.

I climbed down into what looked like the mess hall. It felt as cramped as it was above, even if it had a bit more total space in here with what looked like a foldable table currently set up in the middle. There was also a little kitchen set into the back wall, and a bathroom in a hallway that skirted off the side of it. The other side of the room was where I guessed the cabins were, nothing more than a cloth sheet separating this room from it.

There were three Lurkers mulling around in here currently, each one in a red jumpsuit and covered in grease. It reminded me of Turnip, and that this was his family. I let out a sigh as I honestly missed the weird little guy, but I knew he would have been happy that his family was safe and sound.

In a corner was another Lurker, one I’d overlooked. Probably because this one was not clothed like the others, which was something I had not seen befor. Stranger yet, this lurkers mouth looked deformed, like it was actually a pair of claws.

No, not like claws, it was a pair of crab like claws. It was very uncanny to look at, where one of the claws dangled to the sid revealing the strange looking lurker’s vertical mouth. The other claw was in place, making half the shape of a pony mouth and snout, including half of a fake nose. Such a strange looking setup for a creature to have.

Another oddity was a third pair of legs. Set between the front and back legs, the third pair were much smaller, and had what looked like fins attached to it. And as if to complete the odd sight, was it’s tail. It looked flexible at the chitinous base, but the rest of it looked rigid. The way that the attached fins and quills on it were folded up, made it look more adapted to be a weapon then any tail I’d seen before. The odd creature looked over at me curiously, and I decided it was time to stop awkwardly staring at it.

Sitting at the table and tapping away at her pipbuck, was Temboril. Having a top tier specter sitting in front of me made me feel a built inquisitive, a rare opertunity for me. Sitting at the table, I tried to be reserved in my body laguige, I just couldn’t help but to have a fat smile on my face. “Miss Temboril, you… uuu, you know my sister, right?”

She nodded. “Far more than I’d like too.” She looked up at me with just her eyes. “Just so you know, I’m not one for playing pranks. So if you want to get back at her, just don’t try to drag me into it.”

“No, no.” I waved my hooves about, rejecting the idea. “Trying to prank Rototom is only inviting a prank war, and she’s a shitty loser to her core.” I scratched my chin for a second. “Hold on, what do you mean, ‘more than you’d like too’?”

“Her and I were once sent to capture a Syndicate sub-boss, who ended up being a real pain in the flank to even find.” With a sigh, she switched her pipbuck’s screen off. “We got lucky and located the bitch, and sadly only way we could get in close was by playing the role of private escorts. Oh, and it just so happened that in order to maintain our cover, we had to put on a show for her gang first.” Looking back down at her pipbuck, she cleaned a smudge off of it with her hoof. “I’m not all that into mares, that night confirmed my feelings. Your sister however? Let’s just say she enjoyed our show together more than I did.”

“I regret asking.” I nearly gagged as I thought about it. Of all the ews...

“Thought you would.” She smirked. “So, what did you really want to know?”

“don’t know,” I shrugged. “I thought you might have some good advice for me as a spectre?”

“You’ve done well enough so far.” She rolled her eyes. “But just in case I’ll say this: don’t forget the basics of your training. It’s the foundation of everything you know for a good reason. From the books you read, to the drills you run, all of it will help you survive as a spectre.”

I nodded. “can’t argue with that.” I paused for a moment, remembering something my sister said earlier. “why did my sister say you were a clone?”

“Everypony always asks...” I got a long sigh from Temboril before she spoke softly to me. “Because I kind of am one.” She quickly looked side to side before continuing. “The science is a bit complicated, but simply I was born in an artificial wound using skin cells and sperm from Biwa, my father.” She looked a little annoyed when she said his name. “As you can see, I’m a perfectly normal and healthy mirage pony, which was not at all their goal to create.”

I raised my eyebrow, at this. I’d be shocked if the process did not sound familiar somehow. “What was their goal?”

“Stem cell research mostly.” She replied. “It was one big Orthrus experiment with cloning. Big enough of a project that somehow my pod had been forgotten during part of it. When they came around and checked, they of course found that it was still in use and had a baby foal inside.”

My mouth was agape, and why I tried to ask about how they could accedentaly grow a baby, she just raised her hoof in front of me to stop me from asking.

Temboril leaned to her side, sighing deeper than the last one. “How dad explained it, every pony was so surprised that they didn’t really know what to do with me. They just kept me in the lab, and took turns looking after me until they could come up with something. Eventually the council found out, and shut down the experiments. They thought that growing foals was inviting more trouble than Orthrus was willing to take on, saying it could be misconstrued that Orthrus might use it to farm themselves a ready to order army.” She shrugged, and took a sip from a can of water nearby.

The specter continued. “The scientists themselves later went on to leave Orthrus and founded the New Gen Genetics company. And while you now doubt know that name, you should know that the process that made me is still around, and has remained quite popular among sterile couples, for a lot of bits that is.”

“So, were they at least successful at whatever it was they were originally trying to do? What was the project they were working on?” It was almost a morbid curiosity now, I kind of had to know. “I mean, it’s not classified, is it?”

“No, it was decalcified over ten years ago,” Temboril turned her pipbuck screen back on. “mostly so that Orthrus could claim the royalties from some of the tech New Gen sold, while still remaining impartial and technically not responsible for the results of their own research. But the actual experiment, Like I said, was cloning.” She paused on that, seeming to look for the right words. “Well, more like if one could download the memories of someone into a clone. The answer is no, copping someone’s neural pathways, and then imprinting then onto a black slate. It’s possible, but any single error creates a dysfunctional pony, and that’s not to mention that the clones themselves often had something wrong with their body. Cancerous growths, stunted or incomplete limbs for even mirage pony standards, and issues with brain development were huge and frustrating common problems.” She tapped at her pipbuck, flicking through whatever she was reading. “In the end, the project died, and they began to catalog everything they learned. The final report suggested that cybernetics was probably the way to go if they wanted to continue that line of research. Just grow a new body, get your brain cyberized, then install it into the new body.”

What she said about cyberization really put me off, but that was probably only because of the wires that had already been stuck into mine.

“That’s probably true.” Looking around, my eyes drifted to the hanging sheet that covered the hallway to the cabin. “You know, I think I’m going to go lie down. Thanks for answering that for me.” Stepping away from the table, I trotted over to the cabin.

“Vibraphone?” Temboril called out. “Your sister does care about you, you know? Please don’t forget that.”

I knew that she did, because as much as Rototom infuriated me, she was my sister. But who she wanted me to be, and who I was felt incompatible. And It was starting to grate away at me. I just wished she would give me my space, and let me find my own way through life.

After a thankfully shorter than I expected trip, we arrived at the drop off point. We were let out in a lagoon that was deep enough for the Submarine not to run aground at. There wasn’t much nearby, so those of us departing had to swim toward what looked like half sunken pier covered in vines. Other than treading some shallow water, we got to land without any trouble. As we pulled ourselves onto the rickety dock, the Lurkers waved us off from their sub before they slipped back underneath the water.

I had asked Sorrow about her deal with Mayall, and she told me that the lurker was still resistant to the idea. Still, she had hope that a deal could still be made. It wasn’t that I cared all that much about their dealings, because we had more than our fair share of our own problems. But still, they didn’t need to help me as they have, so I owed them, and genuinely hoped that they did got out of this mess alive and unhurt. They were good ponies, er... creatures, and they shouldn’t be involved in the war to come.

“I really wish I didn’t have to wear this mask.” Merit spoke up as he looked around at the scenery. “It’s just so beautiful here, like in some of the old pictures I’ve seen.”

“Let me guess,” Sweet spoke with cocky tone. “All those pictures had naked ponies in them.”

“Well of course they did.” Merit responded. “back then ponies didn’t wear clothes as often. Even today they don’t up in the cloud cities, you all are the odd ones.”

“So, you mean they just walk around like savages?” Harp asked. “You don’t wear loin cloths and all that when you do decide to ‘dress up’, do you?”

“No,” Merit groaned, “ponies tend to have at least a shirt on.”

“And leave their back ends exposed!?” Harp gasped.

“What?” Merit responded. “Well, yeah.”

Sweet chuckled “I bet it’s for easy access.”

“I’d have thought that covering one’s sex organs would be priority one?” Temboril chimed in.

“Maybe it just doesn’t bother them,” Rototom stepped in with her gun out at the ready, her Zeus nicely polished. “with the wind and all.”

“Enough.” Sorrow blurted. “From what our history shows, back then, ponies just didn’t mind nudity. And from what my kin have recorded, the trend for the common pony to wear clothes was started by the Ministry of Image. And as history shows, they were quite successful at starting it.”

“Wow, buzzkill.” Rototom added.

“We’re one a tight timeline here,” Sorrow just sighed. “we can talk about useless things once were at Silver Screen Station.”

I trotted ahead. “She’s right, we have a job to do.” The reaction from the group was mixed, some getting to business, some annoyed, but every pony followed.

The Gathering Island’s forests were some of the densest and unfriendliest of all the islands. They were plentiful with seed spitting plants, vines that whipped out at you, and places with radioactive mist that came and went with the ever changing humidity. Of all the islands you didn’t want to be caught lost outside at night on, this was probably the worst.

We did our best to avoid most of the dangers, and quickly dispatch of those we couldn’t. My Lelantos bolt lancer proved good enough to kill off the dangerous plants, and to scare away some of the wildlife that got a little too curious about us. Rad-boars always proved to be a nuisance on the islands, but were relatively easy to take out if they were alone, and caught off-guard. The overgrown insects on the other hoof were just insufferable, each one coming at us like they had a death wish.

After some trekking through the dense tropical flora, we finally came across a semi-maintained path. The packed dirt of the trail put a bit extra stability under our hooves, and helped to both relax us, and relieve the threat of walking into some pony eating plants. The path was fairly well traveled, as imprints of hooves and shoes were worn in all over the path. Eventually we came across a sign that pointed to Silver Screen Station.

“Alright Every pony.” Temboril called out. “Time to put on our disguises.”

I concentrated on my back-left leg were I had installed my disguises talisman. It’s magic activated, and I felt a tingling for only a second. It was hard to tell what every pony looked like with our gear on, but I could see that the gray stripes from our manes were gone. Checking myself, there was not much I could see that had changed visually, meaning that some of the gear had to come off before I could see the change.

It was thankfully not a long trot to the entrance to the station, as between the ride over here and our time on the surface, I was about ready to get back into the metro. Surprisingly, much of the harmful foliage had been cleared out in a substantial area, making the entrance stand out in the forest as a meadow of grass. The thought of Turnip came up into my mind again, and I stopped to reflect on just how similar this place felt to me.

“You alright, Phone?” Sweet asked, putting a hoof on my shoulder.

“I’m fine,” I nodded. “just... last time I was at a place like this, I was under attack by a vertibuck, and, I lost Turnip there.”

“I see,” Sweet sighed. “then let’s not linger too long.” She gave me a little push, and we moved forward. We caught up with Rototom as she pressed the buzzer to the great door leading into the station. She looked annoyed, holding onto it a bit too long before some pony responded.

“What do you want, were under lockdown.” A rude gruff mare responded over the intercom built into the door.

“I want a hayburger with cheeze, some fried hay, a sparkle-cola, oh and some barbecue sauce on the side.” She looked back to us. “What do you ponies want?”

I was about to tell her to not be stupid, but Temboril cut me off. “I’ll have their special. No mayonnaise, heavy on cabbage, and a grilled carrot dog too.”

I looked at Temboril in bafflement, but my attention was stolen by the clanking sound of the door unlocking. The rusty screech of it opening made me cringe, but amazingly, the old entrance slowly opened to us. We all quickly pushed on in, and I quickly noticed that this entrance acted like a large airlock. Another door blocked our way ahead as the one we passed through swung closed with an equal amount of mind numbing squeals. After the door shut and locked, we were blasted with a mist from the ceiling. Decontamination of course, just like at Orthrus. We waited for a minute before the second airlock door opened, and we slowly entered the station.

Silver Screen Station was, for the lack of a better word, claustrophobic and insanely grimy. Now, most of the metro was a bit cramped, but this station was packed with ponies. Not only were there more ponies down here than I’d expected, whatever available space anywhere in sight, was being used. Dirty hoofprints littered the ground in the few spots where I could even see it, and much of the shanty shacks that even scaled the walls looked like they had not been properly cleaned in years.

“Oy, pay up you lot!” The mare was sitting above us in what looked like a small watch tower. Her face and body were obstructed by bulky armor, and she wore a welder’s mask down over her face. Rototom threw the mare a small bag of presumably caps, and she nodded back to us. “Welcome to Silver Screen Station. If anypony asks you where you’re from, kindly tell to shut the fuck up.”

Rototom took the lead, having every pony gather around her. “To all the newbies here, this is syndicate territory. Yes, this is part of the orphic kingdom, and they do have a lord here with plenty of guards. But any authority here was bought by the syndicate long ago, so mind your manners, because the syndicate has a longer reach than just this island.”

“So, no different from any part of the Orphic Kindom?” Sweet snickered.

“Not quite.” Temboril interjected. “It’s the difference between a public execution, or being taken to a back room and shot. Basically, as long as you keep your mouth shut, you should be fine. No playing revolutionary, or hero for that matter. You see something, you don’t say something, you don’t even look at something. Just keep going and focus on what we’re here for.”

We all nodded, and proceeded to take our gas masks off. It was a bit odd seeing every pony without their stripes on. Sweet looked like an earth pony, Harp was a pink unicorn, and I, somehow I got the unicorn treatment as well, though it was hard to resist touching the longer horn I now had. However, I held back, as my metal claw prosthetic would simply go through it, revealing my disguise. On that note, my front right leg was still cybernetic, while the rest of me looked organic. Looking down, even my left leg was just a normal leg with a pipbuck clipped on it.

“Alright ponies, let’s head to our first stop before we attract some unwanted attention.” Rototom called out, and we followed.

Despite how claustrophobic the station was, quite a few of the ponies here kept off of the main path, simply moving about through the numerous back alleys. A few ponies had to squeeze by us, and one of them sloppily tried to pickpocket Sweet. As a reward for their terrible choice, the pony then got a swift kick in the flank from Sweet.

It was strange to see other kinds of ponies here. Most of them were still mirage ponies, but every now and then I would see Unicorns, earth ponies, and even a few pegusi moving around. Most of them were clean-ish, and as I’d expected, they all seemed to be condensed to were slightly wealthier ponies would live. But there were a few exceptionally dirty ones here and there, and one covered in some nasty scars.

“All sinners must face punishment!” The voice of a loud stallion called out as we passed an open area. The stallion was a very old looking unicorn who had propped himself up on a podium surrounded by other ponies. He was draped in black robes, and wore a silver and gold chain hanging from his neck. On the chain, was a symbol of a sun and moon at its end. Imediately, the sight put a knot in my stomach. Of course, bad feelings didn’t stop the stallion from calling out to the crowds.

“The sinners deserve to be cast into Tartarus. Divine justice does not prevent the Goddesses from destroying the sinners at any moment. The sinners, at this moment, suffer under the Goddesses condemnation to Tartarus. The sinners, on this world… at this very moment… suffer a sample of the torments of Tartarus. The sinners must not think, simply because they are not physically in Tartarus, that the Goddesses in whose hooves the sinners now reside, is not… at this very moment… as angry with them as they are with those miserable creatures they are now tormenting in Tartarus, and who… at this very moment… do feel and bear the fierceness of their wrath.”

The old stallion waved his hooves around dramatically, some of the ponies below flinching, as others scoffed. I just wanted to get out of earshot of the crazy old guy.

“Simply because there are no visible means of death before them at any given moment, the sinners should not feel secure. Though because it is natural to care for oneself, or to think that others may care for them, ponies should not think themselves safe from the goddess wrath. All that sinning ponies may do to save themselves from Tartarus pains shall afford them nothing if they continue to reject Lady Roseland. The Goddesses has never promised to save us from Tartarus, except for those contained in Lady Roseland through the covenant of sacrifice.”

“The fuck?” I blurt out. If I wasn’t mistaken, that wasn’t a name that should be familiar to the islands.

Rototom nodded. “Ya, to think the pirates have already gotten this far in.” she pushed me to move on. “More the reason to not slow down.”

Seeing the fanatic made me a lot more weary of who was around us. No pony around us that I could see wore any colors to identify if they were with the pirates. Even so, the fact that they were here in this station was enough to make me check if my revolver was still close to my chest. If there were pirates around, the Black Spot was not far. And if I had anything to say about it, that stallion was going to get a bullet between the eyes.

We arrived at our destination without a pirate intervention, only to have been brought to a less than respectable looking bar.

“The Lusty Unicorn… seriously?” It’s name, it did not fill me with confidence, and Its sign featured a unicorn on a stripper pole.

“Don’t knock it sis.” Rototom said cheerfully. “You’ve got to try this place’s fries. A little salt, a pinch of vinegar, oh it’s simply the best.”

Reluctantly we all entered the seedy looking place. Surprisingly, the interior had an almost rustic feel to it, with a lot of it made from wood, and other recycled materials. Strangely enough, the place felt a lot like the Two Tailed Mare back on Charon’s Stop. Even a lot of the little decorations being the same, including the mare behind the bar… Fuck! Whats Shamisen Tuning doing here? “Hello?” I called out to her.

The black and white coated, brass legged mare stepped out from behind the bar with a slight smile on her face. “It’s so good to see you all again.” She kept her nose slightly in the air, like with most customers of hers. However, with one look over at Temboril, she tilted her head a little higher. “Except for you, spoiled sport.”

“Well, next time don’t try to set me up.” Temboril shot back.

With a sigh, Shamisen motioned over at a large table. “We have the seating reserved for you, so if you take a seat, I’ll take your order.”

We all took our seat, but her acting as an employee made me feel a little concerned. “What’s going on Shamisen?”

“Orders first.” She sternly said.

Rototom spoke up. “A round of fries, and pineapple juice.”

“Right, right, it will only take a moment” she pulled out a clipboard and scribbled on it.

“And about my question.” I said more sternly.

“Later.” Shamisen said with a frown.

“Oh Shamisen, why must you be so rude to our guests?” Another pony called out from above. She looked familiar, a mirage pony mare with a red dress that covered her, but only barely. She had a silver coat and light green mane, and bright blue eyes. Her front legs were both mechanical, painted to match the color her coat. Her back legs however were natural, and decorated with a few gold rings. Thinking for a moment, I was pretty sure I remembered her being at Ironshods private gun show.

“The names Xianzi Tuning, Shamisen’s twin sister.” The mare stepped down to our floor, slowly, and regally. “I’m the proprietor of this establishment. My sister here is currently working for me until she can regain her place back from those ruffians”

“So the big cunt actually lost her home.” Sweet snickered, but she quickly wiped the grin from her face when Shamisen shot her a dirty look.

“What happened?” I asked. Shamisen just huffed and walked to the back toward the small kitchen in the back of the place. Xianzi on the other hoof sat down with us, and gave Merit a bit of a lusty look.

“Oh, the horror of it.” She said, making a drastic pose while leaning against Merit. “The republic sent their goons, accusing her of being a member of the syndicate. They barged into her establishment, claiming it was to be cleansed and used for the good of all the poor ponies left outside.” She then leaned in whispering loud enough that we could hear. “Worse yet, among them was one of their prized pets, a reaver you called them. Word is that it was some messed up looking bitch with laser guns for wing. Killed every pony there.”

Great, Blaster Beam is still running amok. “Wait, then how is Shamisen here?” I asked.

Xianzi sat back. “Lucky her, she was on a supply run to pinapple island when it all went down. But all the same, she did come here begging me for help. I mean, I told her that Charon’s Stop was a terrible place to set up shop, but no, she had to risk it.”

“one can’t make bits without risk.” Shamisen said confidently, dropping off some glasses of pineapple juice for us. “Even without my establishment, I still have more in the bank then you. Though you might actually compete with me if you stop whoring yourself out so much.”

“Tisk, Tisk.” Xianzi waved her hoof back and forth like a metronome. “You may be playing a good capitalist, but trust me, in a few short years, you will call me Lady Xianzi.”

“Gold digger.” Shamisen spat at her.

“Old Spinster.” Xianzi spat back.

“Enough.” Temboril spoke up. “Fight all you like, but let’s first get down to business. With all that’s going on, we can’t just move from one station to the next without drawing unwanted attention. Can you provide us with a pass?”

Xianzi sighed “A pass, no. Sadly, it’s not possible currently with the royal family placing all stations on lockdown. Even the black market is having trouble moving goods right now.”

“Wait?” Sweet piped up. “We got in by bribing a guard, can’t we just do that?”

Xianzi shook her head. “Getting in from the surface is easier than you might think. The crown can’t just let every pony up there die, as it causes some long-term strife through lost moral and yada-yada. And while some guard ponies making a few bits on the side might fly for this station, what you need is royal approval to go any further, otherwise you're going to be shot on sight if cuaght.”

Temboril took a deep breath, and gave a depressing sigh. “So that means we have to go see the Duke of the station, right?”

“Go? No, look no further!” She nodded her head again. “As it just happens to be, he is here at the moment. If you want to see him, then I’ll just go call him over.”

“Great...” Temboril said flatly. “Is he still a pervert?”

Xianzi winked as she got out of her seat and walked off. A ding came from the back, and Shamisen turned around. “Looks like your fries are done. Back in a moment.” She trotted off to the kitchen.

“So, we have to deal with Polished Jade,” Rototom spoke up. “that’s never fun.”

“Can’t be that bad.” Harp chimed in. “Uncle Jade has always been nice to me.”

“That’s because you were probably still a filly in his eyes.” Rototom took a sip from her juice. “I don’t know about the rumors and such, but I do know that he liked to treat his maids like pets. Makes them wear a collar and all. That stallion has like what, over twenty illegitimate foals? As I hear it, two by his own sister at that.” Harp shrank in her seat a little at that, and it actually made Sweet spoke up.

“Why don’t we not talk about that, it’s impolite.” She deadpanned at Rototom, only making her huff.

“Oh, too true.” An older unicorn stallion spoke up as he was escorted over by Xianzi. He was a jade green stallion with a short well-kept golden mane that screamed that he actually had some real money in his pockets. His black suit looked too new to be anything from the old world, and definitely wouldn’t do him any favors if he wanted to blend in around here. Next to him on the side opposite of Xianzi however, was another mare.

The mare next to him was a younger red unicorn, with a silvery mane, and a dress to die for. It looked like a red and silver ballroom gown, just a bit shorter so that it didn’t drag on the ground. Her boots on her back legs went all the way up under the dress, giving a feeling of authority to them. She wore on her head was a cut wide brim red hat, with a green feather sticking out of it. Altogether, she didn’t look like she was from the Islands, too different in style.

The three of them sat down at the table as the rest of us scooted together to make enough room. If we were joined by any more ponies at this table, it wouldn’t take long for anypony to win a game of ‘spot the outsiders’. Jade simply smiled, and motioned to the mare next to him.

“Since you all know who I am, let me introduce my friend here,” As he spoke about her, the mare seemed almost excited to be introduced. “Miss Red Steel. She's going to need an escort to the next station, and I was told you are the ponies to talk to about that.”

She lifted her hoof in a dainty manner. “I’m charmed to meet you all, somehow I have a feeling that we're going to get along like peas in a pod. May the goddesses be praised.”

Footnote:

Finished Quest: Gear Up Spartan

New Quest: Orpheus and Eurydice

Addiction status: Chill Addiction (under control)