I stirred, my head aching from the hangover of too much gut rot, and my a eye sensitive to the light. No matter how much I tell myself that it’s a bad idea, I always seem to forget to not drink the mushroom vodka.

My bed was not the best or comfiest in the world, but right now, even I struggled to want to get up out of it. What today offered was likely going to be far from fun. Merit provided a warmth I was not used to, yet, having him next to me made me feel relaxed. Though, I could deal with less pain in my ass. As fun as it was, I’m going to stick to normal sex in the near future.

A light knocking at the door proceeded a Mirage pony mare with a bit too much makeup stepping in with a few cloths. She saw me staring at her, and smiled.

“Sorry if I woke you deary,” she whispered to me. “We’re still drying your clothes after giving it an extra wash, so I brought you something to wear in the meantime.” she placed some folded off white cloth on a nearby stool and slowly backed out.

Slipping out of bed, I trotted over and found that it was just a nightgown and some underwear. With a sigh, I put it on. It left me feeling a bit exposed, but I didn’t really care all that much at the moment. Next was my scarf, my hat, and my holster. At least with Lunar Eclipse on my person, I did feel a bit more secure.

Leaving the rickety room, I entered the part Inn, part bar, part whore house. We needed a place to stay, and it was cheap. That being said, it did cost us most of the bits we had on hoof, even with me renting out the maid outfit for a discount. The owner suggested that we just put ourselves on the market to help, but Sweet and I had standards to uphold. That, and the owner was asking Merit the question, of which I firmly laid claim to him.

The place was called ‘The Lovely Trap’. It was a gay bar, but we were told that if anyone asked, this place was a normal, respectible whore house. The sound of one of the ponies at work could be heard as I passed by their door. A chorus of grunts and moans, along with a squeaking bed really painted me a picture I didn’t care for this early in the morning.

The bar part of the establishment was fairly well maintained, built mostly from old polished wood. Surprisingly, all the various pieces mostly all fit together, with only a few select gaps here and there. The only thing that didn’t quite fit in another sense, was most of the lighting. It mainly consisted of countless strings of multi colored lights that wrapped around nearly everything. To say the least, it felt a bit tacky to me.

One of the workers passed by me while wearing a very cute dress. If I didn’t know better, I’d have thought he was a smaller mare at a glance. To be honest though, most of the ponies on this island were like that however.

I don’t quite know the details, but it might be that the toxins on this island are a bit different. Possibly not as nasty, but still no less dangerous with prolonged exposure. Here, it seemed that stunted growth, weak muscles, and respiratory problems were far more common ailments to be born with. Admittedly that seemed a bit better than not having natural legs, but I prefer my artificial legs anyway. Also of note, they also had a larger stallion population, even though quite a few of them here might not look it.

Getting back to starting my day, I found Sweet at the bar nursing a black eye.

“Drunk, Pervert, or doorknob?” I asked her.

“Angry shemale if you'd believe it.” She looked at me and gave a quiet laugh. “Bitch was built like a tank.” Sweet may not have sold herself to the patrons, but that didn’t stop her from lending herself out as a bouncer to cover our drinking expense. I’d offered to do the same, but Sweet told me to get some rest before I shot another pony. “So, had fun last night I assume?”

“Don't get jelly, I know Guitar Strings must be getting worried about you.” I answered back.

Sweet sighed, pulling out a photo. “I don’t know about that.”

“Oh come on, that stud loves you.” I tapped my hoof on the bar table to get the bartender's attention. “One Daiquiri.”

“Well he visited me before I went into surgery.” She put the photo away, and put her head on my shoulder. “We got into a pretty nasty fight. A big old ‘I told you so’ moment for him, saying ‘mercenaries always come out maimed or killed’. You know what I told him?”

“That you don’t want to end up like your mother?” I answered.

She chuckled again. “Ya, watching her waste away like that, destroying her voice just to earn enough bits for us to eat, cracking her hooves. I don’t care if I’m maimed, I’m still going to earn enough bits to live out the rest of my days in comfort.”

I pat her on the head. “I know, and I’ll be there with you, after this all blows over.’’ The bartender placed a refreshing looking Daiquiri in front of me, in a glass that looked far better than I’d expected. “And so will Guitar, because he cares about you.”

“I know. It’s just... he’s too much like my mom, and it makes me miss her.” Sweet relaxed a little, pulling a glass of water into her hooves and taking a sip. “I told you right? That the guitar that Guitar Strings uses was my mom's?”

I took a sip of my dachary, the sweet alcohol returning some strength to me. “Ten times before, and I still think it was extremely stupid of you. Seriously, that old acoustic guitar is worth a shit ton of bits to a collector, and yet you gave the King to your on-and-off-again lover. I know you love him, but at this rate another mares going to take him away.”

“Felt right at the time.” Sweet shrugged. “It would’ve felt wrong if that old guitar was put in some collection to be never used. The King deserves to be played, as odd as it sounds.”

“I get that.” I lightly shook my head, placing a hoof on the royal guard medallion on my scarf. “Whatever means something to you, is worth something different to somepony else.” Sweet slowly pushed herself off of me, turning herself around to looked at the rest of the bar. “So how's Harp?”

She stretched, looking up at one of the rooms on the balcony. “Still asleep. Having that monster around does put me on edge, but she's a good watch dog.” Right, I had asked Mayall to look after Harp, looks like it was the right decision. Sweet pulled something from her pockets, and slid it to me. “Should help with the withdraw.”

I pulled a little bottle up to me, “Thanks.” Picking it up, I opened the bottle of Chill pills, and dropped a few of the chachy pill into my mouth. I washed it down with my Daiquiri, and slowly my body relaxed. My headache started to dissipate, and I overall felt more like myself again. At least, my old self before all this madness. “How strong is this stuff?” I asked.

“Fuck if I know.” Sweet finished off here glass of water. “My own painkillers are already wearing off, and I still can't drink alcohol with the stuff. Your shit? Well, just tell me if you start seeing shit that shouldn’t be there.” Great, we both got cut drugs that will only help us for a few hours.

Still, no use wasting what little time we had. “To temporarily relief.” I raised my Daiquiri glass and clinked it with Sweets glass of water.

Sweet clinked her glass with mine. “Just don't go shooting when it wears off.”

We both laughed, enjoying the temporary sense of normalcy. That moment that quickly faded when I saw the well dressed unicorn stallion nere us. His eyes were giving us too much attention, and that worried me.

“Are you two mares with the syndicate?” He asked when it was clear we were looking right at him.

I looked over at Sweet, but she avoided my eye contact. With a groan, I finished off my Daiquiri. “Apparently, we are.”

“Oh good, I was hoping to not trot into another filthy place.” He pulled out a business card, levitating it to me. It read, Tenpony Tower Resort, pony management. “My boss is looking for a pony to discreetly take care of a little problem. And with the royals disposed at the moment, so we need to seek outside help.”

I had to hold back my disbelief, and Sweet only looked at me as she slowly centered her head. “Tenpony Tower, you say?” I asked.

The stallion nodded. “Mostly full access, but under security supervision.”

I looked at Sweet, finding a grin across her face. The opportunity was too much for even her to want to pass up. “Okay, where do we meet up?”

“Oh thank Platinum.” He breathe a sigh of relief. “Just meet us on the connecting tracks at the 5th line. We can tell you more there.”

We watched as the stallion backed away and trotted out of the bar. Sweet looked at me and winked. “And here I was planning on shooting our way in.”

“Count their lucky stars.” I sighed. “Let's get the others.”

“For what?” Merit asked as he trotted down stairs.

I smiled. “We got lucky, and we're going to fuck in upper class later.”

He smiled back “Nice,so do we have to bring our own lube, or is it on the house?”

“let's just stick to the normal way.” I shook my head. “It was fun, but you’re a bit too rough for my ass.”

“I'll go collect our stuff, you go get the princess, and the crab.” Sweet snorted. “After you get dressed of course.”

Trotting to the back room, there were a few sissy stallions preparing themselves for a day of work. One of them was removing his makeup, likely the end of their shift. The mare from earlier was blow drying my clothes with a rusty looking blow dryer that had a heavily patched up cord.

“Good timing deary, just got it dry.” Tight string smile as she put the blow dryer down. “I still can't believe how much that stallion paid to have one of my boys to be in that dress of yours. Well, that and…” I clamped the whore’s mouth shut so to protect my mind. I didn’t need to picture anything worse than I already had in my head. Just knowing a stallion had my clothes on was right at the line for me, and I was not going to cross it.

Letting her go, String gave me an sturn look, and cleared her throat. “Right, I’ll pull the drapes so you can get dressed. Also you can keep the gown I gave you. Consider it a bonus for your friend kicking out my ex and getting a hoof in the face for it.”

With a little privacy, I got my dress on. Tight String was more than happy to help me out to speed it up, but that came with drawbacks of its own. Her hooves were a bit more touchy than I liked, caressing the few sensitive spots I had. I had to stomp my hoof on the floor and startle her before she got too far.

“Sorry if I was not clear before,” I eyed her as she backed away a little. “I'm not into mares like you are.”

“Shame,” Tight String sighed, looking a little dejected. “and you're exactly my type too. Well if you're ever in need of a place to stay for the night, my bed is always open. You can even bring that stallion of yours as well if you’d like.”

There was nothing wrong with Tight String. In truth, she was a very pretty mare, though a bit too young for me. That itself might be why the thought of sleeping with her was not an idea that sat well with me. She also wouldn’t have been the first mare I’d been with, but I understood that was because I just wasn’t as flexible as I was as a young mare.

“Miss String, I appreciate the thought, I do,” I spoke up, trying not to hurt the poor mare’s feelings even more. “but it might be best to Court a mare who is less straight than I am.”

Predictably, she sighed. “Alright, I get it, I’ll stop pestering you. Still, can you blame me? You’ve got this ‘don't fuck with me’ aura that I love so much. Yet, a protective glint in your eyes at the same time.” She opened her mouth and pulled up a lip to reveal a missing and broken tooth. “You see, my last three mare friends liked to drink, and only rarely didn't get violent.”

I looked at her flatly. “And that gives you a the right to try and molest me?” Tight String attempted to defend herself, but I cut her off. “If you really want to find a strong and non abusive mare, then join Orthrus. By Celestia I know they're filled to the brim with the butch type.”

“But... I don't know how to fight?” She responded.

“Trust me,” I slapped her on the flank, my metal leg clanging on her metal hip. “ I mean, you're still young. You want to stop sucking dick for a bit each? Then Orthrus is your best option.”

“I’ll… I’ll think about it.” She stayed behind as I left the back room. It felt like a good deed for the day, helping a teenaged whore get on the right path. Still, I couldn't help but feel that she'd just end up at the Lucky Rabbit's Foot.

Up the stairs, I trotted too the last room and unlocked the door. There, Mayall and Harp slept on two twin beds that had been pushed together. Harp looked far more at peace then I knew she was. Having passed out due to stress gave us a bit of a shock, but at least she’d be good to go when she woke. Mayall on the other hoof, was a bit frightening. Laying on her back and snoring, both crab claws that normally covered her mouth were outstretched to the sides of her head. Periodically, her little inner mouth leg things twitches every now and then, which to be honest was kinda a bit creepy.
I rolled Mayall off the bead, before I went to gently shake Harp. “It’s time to wake up.”

“I wake!” Mayall quickly sat up straight, looking a bit confused and bedraggled. “me am up!”

I ignored the lurker as Harp slowly opened her eyes. “A few more minutes, Stratus.”

I sat there for a moment, thinking about how to respond. “Harp, it's time to wake up, we got a job to do.”

She slowly sat up, rubbing her eyes. With a yawn, she finally looked around the dim room. “Wh… where am I?”

Well there was no way around it, and lieing was going to just make things harder later. “Your in a whore house called the lovely trap, in the slums outside stable 50.”

Her eyes scanned the room some more before landing on me. “Where's Stratus?”

“She's dead.” I looked her in the eyes, and hoped that being blunt was the best course of action. “You might not remember, but she had a violent reaction to a twitter-might sting. We barely got out alive ourselves.”

I watched as her face slowly scrunched up, and tears welling up in her eyes. I opened up my arms, and she dove into my chest, bawling. Her muffled crying sent a wave of guilt down to my core. She may be physically unharmed, but emotionally, I had failed. All it took was one moment of hesitation, and Harp had paid the price.

A minute had passed before Harp had calmed down. I let her get dressed, and we all left the room. She had to keep her gas mask on so to not tip any pony off about who she was. To help divert attention, I had Mayall borrow my mask, this way, they looked more uniformed in hiding who and what they were. Sweet had also bought two linen cloths to throw over them, helping with the disguises. It was a temporary solution, but one that we hoped would avoid any probing questions that could put Harp in danger.

Sorting out our supplies, I left Mayall with my combat vest and my air rifle. Though, Harp had an extra batch of bolts, twenty of them to be exact. As for me, I thought it be better if I looked more the maid. Still, I kept my Lunar Eclipse on me under my outfit, just in case another pony needed to see Charon.

In the end, we really didn't have much on us other than guns. Other than our air rifles, revolvers, and the sword we took from Graceful, Sweet sold the other pieces of gear we’d acquired for the rest of the bits we needed to pay for our stay last night. In the end, we just had enough left over for some food, one healing potion for each of us, and the drugs Sweet and I needed so we could feel normal again.

Trotting out into Bacchus station, much of it was a overflowing slum. It reminded me of Charon’s Stop, but smelling more of desperation and greed then depression and death. The ponies homes here were mostly nothing more than a room with only enough space for a bed and maybe a small chest of personal possessions.

Small shops wedged themselves between the stack homes, many of them just run down whore houses and gambling dens to drain a pony of their bits. Things did get a little better the further into the station we got. Though, the sight of drunk ponies asleep on the sides of the main walkway ruins weren’t really that much better in retrospect.

Sweet trotted ahead, stopping at a very big and strong looking door. “Alright, everypony remember their rolls?”

“Because of how things are, I'm acting as the boss of the group.” Merit cleared his throat, and stepped forward. “Vibraphone’s my assistant, you’re our muscle, and Mayall and Harp are the cleaners.”
Harp stuck up her hoof. “I'm not that good at cleaning.”

“No, no.” Sweet snorted. “A cleaner is a pony who gets rid of dead bodies. But don't worry, it's all for show so that nopony messes with you.”

The princess wobbled a little, as though she was going to faint again. “What pony would want such a job?”

I nugget her a little. “Right now, you do.”

We passed through a more decent part of Bacchus station, this part was a little deeper and likely better protected from the toxic pollen and radiation. Here, ponies were less packed together, and the station itself looked slightly better maintained. Simple tapestries lined the walls, giving the mostly gray station a warm splash of color.

The stallion that met us at the gay bar was now guiding us through this part of the station. He showed signs of irritation if we were to slow down even a little, so we had to keep up a fairly rushed pace. Because of this, I could only get a few glances at the curiosities that were part of this area of the station.

From the little I could see, there seemed to be an even split between Mirage ponies and the deep dwellers, as well far less visible birth defects on said ponies. Another thing was the commonality of small scale hydroponics, mainly, the hundreds of buckets with green plants sticking out anywhere they could be fit. Most places I've been tended to keep their home hydroponics behind closed doors.

One other thing that stuck out to me was the the shear amount of pipes going everywhere above us. Clearly not part of stable-tec design, the hundreds of pipes snaked their way everywhere, leading into each home and business. Some of them ended outside of the scrap built buildings here, and ended as attachments to what looked like small steam engines tended to by mirage ponies.

“Wait, are those... slave engines?” I asked, feeling more curious than concerned.

“Ho, no, no.” Our stallion guide spoke up, sounding politely irritated at my question. “All ponies working on the steam network are properly compensated. Besides, slavery only brings in ponies of poor breeding under our roof.”

Sweet rolled her eyes at the stallion, and I let the topic go.

Not long after, we reached the train junction. Surprising me, it was a place that was relatively lighter on guards then it should’ve been. Only a few guards ponies sat in the two gunner nests guarding the entrance to the hotel’s tunnel, of which also led further on to stable 50. They seemed to only have one guard on patrol, and only one other guard working at a checkpoint.

“I brought the outside help.” The guide trotted over to the checkpoint guard, both giving each other a nodd.

“Bloody fantastic.” The guard sized us up with his eyes. “They all look as trustworthy as rad-boar in a cabbage patch.”

“It’s not like I can just call up the syndicate and order for better agents in an hour,” The guide said with a low growl in his tone. “That is, unless you want to release the ones you’ve got locked up? And if that’s the case, be my guest.”

With a long sigh, the guard waved us through, speaking softly. “Fine, I get it, just keep it down. Last thing we need is some trollop overhearing us again. Also, stop mentioning the syndicate, it's going to get us killed.”

“ “Right.” Our guide cleared his throat. “The ‘Solaris employees’ and I will be making our way to the Cliff Side Hotel now.” The guard squinted at him and pointed down at the tunnel, looking a bit agitated now.

Past the guards, the dull gray of the walls were replaced by a light tan paint. No cracks, or signs of age. On the walls were display cases holding well preserved movie posters; Dr. Strangelove, Singing in the Rain, The Mare who knew too Much, and The Creature from the Black Lagoon.

Reaching the end of the tunnel, we trotted into another large room with a Stable door at the far end, with a big ‘50’ painted on it. The room also sported a stairway that went up, two elevator doors next to the stairs,and a blast door across from the elevator doors. Also in the room were two assaultron robots, both armed with what looked like heavy magical energy guns.

Our guide took us to the blast door and pressed a button on a nearby panel. “Remember, you're here at our convenience, and you will be paid once the job is done. Fool around, and you’ll find yourselves locked up with the last group who tried to pull one over on us.” The blast doors opened up to reveal an elevator large enough to fit us all comfortably. “Go to room seven on the 10th floor, there's a guard waiting for you there who will tell you what to do.”

With a nod we entered the elevator. The doors closed behind us soon after, and I selected the tenth floor among the many buttons to choose from. The elevator jolted and hummed as it ascended, and we found ourselves in the midst of an uncomfortable silence.

“So...” Merit spoke up. “What is Solaris?”

“Ya, looks like these deep dwellers are ready to jump down each other's throats.” Sweet spoke up. “Basically, The Solaris corporation is what the syndicate used to be. Well that's what Orthrus theorized at least. We don’t know because the bastards covered their tracks so well that there's no evidence to how they got founded. But most ponies who know their history make that connection, some to the point of calling them out as the Solaris Syndicate.”

“And the less we have to deal with the syndicate,” I added. “the better.”

*Ding*

The elevator doors opened up to the tenth floor, and we stepped out. The hallway of the old hotel was relatively modest, very clean, and sported a few old paintings hanging on the walls. Turning a corner, we saw the guard we were told about. He was a quiet, handsome looking unicorn stallion in a very formal looking blue suit.

Merit stepped up, taking on the role of the group's boss. “Yo! We're here for the job.”

“So you're the cleaning crew?” The guard cocked an eyebrow. “I don't envy your job.”

I saw Merit pause for a moment. “Right, so we were not told exactly what we’d be doing?”

The handsome guard cleared his throat before answering quietly. “Two dead hookers, and one messy room.” He shrugged. “The noble involved likes to keep their image clean, so your going to do your jobs and make this scandal not exist.”

Right, fuck all these privileged rich ponies.

“Well dead ponies will be easier to transport than live ones.” Merit looked a bit lost for words, but quickly regained his composure. “Just make sure no pony disturbs us.”

The guard nodded and opened up the door.

Inside was a modestly high class room. Though few in number, the decorations, paintings, and vases looked masterly made and were impeccably well kept. My eyes fell on a big round red bed, of which was what need our ‘cleaning services’. The sheets were stained in a mix of what I had to guess was wine and bodily fluids. Oh, and I couldn’t overlook the two dead mares on it to top it all off.

“So…” Merit looked back at me with an unsure look on his face. “Do we clean the room?”

Sweet trotted ahead, over to the bed. “Looks like a drug overdose.” she looked back at us, and waved us over. “Right now this is the best cover we got, so I'll try to contact Rototom and the others, as you roll up the poor mares.”

“I Agree. Right now, no pony is going to question us so long as we keep a low profile for now.” I looked at the two mares, something about them seemed familiar. “At best, we’ve got an hour before they start getting nervous.” My attention drifted over to Harp, who was fighting. “Don't worry princess, you can sit back and relax. We’ve got this.”

Harp suddenly froze, slowly pointing her hoof up passed me. Quickly turning around, the dead mare was standing and staring right at me.

“Brainssss...” The not so dead mare spoke with a garbled voice.

I pulled my revolver out, but it was immediately knocked out my levitation talisman’s grip by the zombie’s own magic.

We all paused, and I was even more confused as the other ‘dead’ mare sat up, her body shimmering. The image of the dead mare was replaced by the normal look of Tamboril. The specter kicked a wine bottle aside as she maneuvered herself off the bed. Looking back at the ‘zombie pony’ in front of me, her image faded, and in its place stood Rototom.

Now it was my turn to be irritated. As she smiled at me, I answered with a hoof strike to her face. Of course she couldn’t let me vent, and easily blocked my swing.

“Hay, try not to damage my face,” Rototom snapped at me with a smug look written across her face. “I need my good looks to catch a stallions eye.”

With a huff, I lowered my hoof. “I almost shot you because of that stupid stunt, and arnt you getting married. You can't be trying to seduce stallions.”

“I have to agree, she could have killed you.” Sweet spoke as she recovered my gun and shot me a sideways glance. “Viby has been a bit trigger happy lately. And maybe leg deep in the Orphic Kingdom is not the best places for sisterly pranks, Rototom.”

“It’s part of the job.” Rototom said as she shrugged, Tamboril stepped off the bead and over to me.

“Sorry about that.” Tamboril tapped at her pipbuck as she apologized. “I didn't think your sister was missing enough brain cells to think that was a bright idea. Though to be fair, the dead hookers was my idea. After you made yourself known in such a loud way in the Kingdom, we needed a discreet way to get you to us.”

“And you thought dead hookers would be discreet?” I asked, feeling a bit sceptical.

Tamboril pulled out a cable, attaching it to her pipbuck and hoofing the other end over to me. “Trust us, we've had time to study this place, and most of the ponies here are like politicians. Which means basically they care more about looking moral, than actually being moral. So putting one in a position that could damage their reputation was, well easy. It at least insured that they be as secretive as possible.”

Rototom chuckled. “The hard part was getting the local syndicate ponies locked up for a few days.”

The sound of the door opening caught my attention, as the guard for outside stepped in. “You say as much, but you weren't the one having to seduce multiple ponies.” The stallion burst into silver flames, replacing the formal looking stallion with that of Sorrow. She closed the door behind her as she looked between us. “I may be a love machine, but by Chrysalis’s salty flank, I'm not a love robot.” The fluffy changing did look a bit tired, her eyes looking droopy.

“Well my job’s done.” Sweet flopped on the ground, letting herself relax. “So, does this mean we can skip right to stable 50 and not ending up dicking around up here for a few hours?”

“Not quite.” Tamboril spoke up. “We still can't just trot on into stable 50.”

“Wait,” I interjected, as I plugged the cable into my pipleg “I thought you already had a plan to get inside, and that you were going to let us in?”

“The plan was to get the captain of the royal guard to let us in, her profile listed that she was close to the princess.” Tamboril sat back, and started tapping away at her pipbuck. “Seeing as you didn’t bring her with you, our plan now is to wait for her to come back, and have the princess talk to her directly.”

“That's, well…” We fell silent, her plan hitting me in the gut. “that’s not going to happen.”

“What do you mean?” Tamboril asked, cocked an eyebrow at me.

“Captain Stratus is dead.” I answered, and Tamboril narrowed her gaze at me. “At New Canterlot, the skyport, we were ambushed by the pirates there, and only a hoof full of us made it out. Well the ground proved to be as dangerous as ever, and the captain pretty much sacrificed herself to let the rest of us escape several swarms of twitter-mites.” Rototom to her credit, at least looked at me with a bit respect for everything we went through. “Also,” I continued trying to get them up to speed so we could get past any other bits that might complicate things. “Golden Rule, and Minted Coin were lost in the pirates assault, so if you planned on using them in any way, you can scrap those ideas as well.”

Tamboril face hoofed. “So, let me get this straight, we lost two royals, and the captain of the royal guard?” I nodded. “fantastic, just fucking fantastic. There goes our easy way in, including the royal family not freaking the fuck out.” She then looked over to Rototom. “Well, your turn now, because all my plans are in the shitter.”

“Well,” Rototom sat up straight, and cleared her throat before talking. “with the easy way in not an option anymore, I do have an idea for a way in that I have made a mental note of.” Rototom taped in the screen of her pip leg. “Despite the lockdown, some pony has been ordering flowers and other celebratory materials into the stable. My guess, is that without the captain of the guard keeping an eye on things, the nobles are throwing their weight around and splurging to keep their mind off the growing inter-island tensions. This gives us an opening. If we can join in one one of those deliveries, it should get us in so that Harp can reveal herself without some assassin intercepting and attacking her.”

I raised my hoof. “Still, wouldn't we still get blocked from the queen? Golden did mention that one of the royals is plotting to pull something, it's not likely they just let us move about freely.”

Rototom nodded. “True, but if we have Sorrow acting as Harp like in the original plan, she will buy us the time we need it contact the queen.

“Simple enough. I highly doubt the other ponies will be asking any personal questions.” Sorrow burst into silver flames, and turned into Harp as she continued. “So as long as I follow manners and customs, no one will suspect a thing.”

“Also, Rototom and I will be acting as her guards.” Tamboril added. “If the worse starts to happen, we can rush her out most situations. It has been a long trip for Harp after all.”

Mayall took off her mask, the pinkish glow of her eyes, fins, and joints becoming another dim lightsource in the room. “but, aren’t there too many of us?”

“True.” Rototom nodded. “Once were in, I want Harp and Vibraphone to split off. Sweet, and Merit will keep an eye on them. Mayall, I need you to follow them as well, though if I may ask, why exactly are you still here?”

“Thought it was a good idea,” The Lurker shrugged. “only half wrong.”

I couldn't help but sigh. “I don't think it matters, but I do like the idea of some backup. I just hope we don't need it.”

“Agreed.” Temboril spoke up, removing the cables from her and my pipbuck. “Last thing we need is a major incident. That's why I've uploaded a map of stable 50 to your pipbuck, and an update for your disguise talisman program thanks to Sorrow. It's still not perfect, but they will have a harder time finding out that your not a mirage pony with it active.”

“Thanks,” I checked the map on my pipleg, and found that it now displayed a detailed outline of the stable. “How is the disguise program better?”

“It temporarily copies changling magic when you activate it. So for a minute, you’re not just projecting a form, you will physically be in that form.” Temboril answered. “That part of the spell should last long enough the get passed any checkpoints, so long as you remember to activate it before they check you, not after.”

“Right,” Rototom jumped off the bed and activated her disguise talasman, turning her into a unicorn version of herself, with a clean green sundress on. “Vibes and I will go down to hydroponics and pick up the next delivery. The manager has the next batch of flowers scheduled for pickup soon.”

“Are you sure you want me to come along?” I turned on my disguise. My pipleg popped up the option for changing mode, to which I selected no. No need to use it just yet if I don’t have to. “Didn’t they see me come in?”

“I'm not worried, the ponies here keep their heads down if they aren’t nobles themselves.” Rototom shrugged. “As for those who are nobles? Well, their heads are too far up their flanks to know what's going on anyway. Unless it’s within a social setting, I doubt many nobles even remember the names of anypony else.”

With a huff, I turned to the door. “Fine, I get it.” as I took a step, something tugged at my dress. Looking back, Harp was staring at me with a bit of a worried look on her. “Is something wrong, princess?”

“Can... can I come with you?” Her voice was a tad bit shaky, and her glance was partially downcast. Overall, she looked fragile.

I thought about it for a moment, hour it be safer for her to stay here, though right now, I'd like to keep an eye on her.

“I don't see why not.” Rototom interjected.

“Fine.” I said with yet another sigh. “But we can't have you looking like some stalker outside of this room.”

With an excited nod, Harp removed the clothes we had thrown on her, down to the red dress and the old stable-tec jacket. She activated her disguise talasman in her pipbuck, which made her look like a blue unicorn with a faded pink main. Still, something didn't seem to fit. She looked cute, but also a bit stiff. Taking the hat from my head, I put it on her backwards, giving her a bit of a mischievous look.

“That should do it.” I could see her form a small sheepish smile at my words. “Now you’re ready to go out there.”

“Aren’t you becoming the reliable big sister.” Rototom smirked at me as I glared back at her. “It's a compliment, so don't get your panties in a bunch.”

Ignoring her, I opened the door for Harp, letting her through but leaving my sister to close it.

This floor seemed practically empty. No guards to speak of, though, all the doors seemed to be locked. I wasn't curious enough to find out, nor did we really have the time anyway. Entering one of the regular elevators, there was one lone stallion inside. He looked about as snobby as a pony could, which probably made him a noble. That itself made it a good thing that Sweet was left behind. Had she been here, I doubt she’d have been able to stop herself from saying something to offend him.

The stallion himself felt familiar, a unicorn with a white coat, gray main, and holding a silver pocket watch. After a moment, it hit me, he was Silver Relief. The bastard was still alive, and had made it back home.

-“Vibraphone, you’re getting tense”- Rototom’s voice entered my head. It had been a while since I’d heard her use her telepathy talisman, and I had to fight myself not to jump at her voice. -“Don’t worry, I see him too. Just do as I say, and nothing more.”-

“Floor six, I'm already late to pick up the Coronation flowers thanks to you dragging your hooves.” Rototom said in her best high and mighty voice.

“Yes.” I replied, pressing the button for the six floor.

As the door closed, Silver put his watch away. “Good help seems ever so much harder to find These days.” He gave a short bow to Rototom. “The name is Silver Relief. And pardon me for being forward, but... did you say you were picking up flowers for the coronation?”

“Is it not all there's to talk about?” My sister gave a little smile and giggle. “I mean, I made an order for a new dress, and everything for the event. But alas, it's been nothing but a chore. I actually have to go and pick up the flowers myself, and I need to make sure the help does not drop them.” She shot me a sideways glance that pulled an uninterested but sympathetic look from Silver Relief. “Some days I wonder why I bother having her around at all to be truthful.”

Well, now I know if something needs the be carried, I'll be doing all the heavy lifting.

Silver looked a bit board, probably not his first long winded whining of a spoiled mare. His eyes drifted over to Harp, whom I assumed knew Silver. Something about her piqued his interest, as he studied her.

“Hmmm, quite the rarity you have.” He spoke up, forcing a small squeak from Harp. “Don't see many R&D jackets around these days. Well ones that are not in a collectors treasure vault.”

“Ah, that.” Rototom said in a dismissive tone. “My little cousin got it from her father, refuses to take it off. Keep telling her that it's an unbecoming look, but stubbornness runs in her father's side of the family. Been trying to educate it out of her.”

*Bing*

The elevator stopped, and the doors opened to the sixth floor. I stepped out and waited for the two to follow. The sooner we got out of here, the less chance we had to get spotted or have something screw this up.

“lovely chat, but we must be going.” Rototom said to Silver. “I'm already behind schedule as it is, you understand.”

“It certainly been a pleasure.” He said back, “And I do hope your cousin receives the education she needs. It would be a shame for her to have to marry below her station due to unnecessary willfulness.” My sister and Harp stepped off the elevator, and the doors slowly closed. Silver Relief’s eyes narrowed at me before the doors shut on him. “Or even worse, if she were to marry one of those awful stripes.”

Just the way he said that sent a shiver down my spine.

-”You think he knew?”- I telepathically spoke to Rototom. -”And how is he even alive?”-

-”Don't know,”- She sighed. -“and we don't have the time to find out.”- she sent back to me before seeking out loud. “Come on, we’re headed to room five.”

As we walked, it was easy to tell that Harp had become nervous again. Her eyes were busy scanning around more than I’d have liked.

“It's alright, you got us here with you.” I offered at a whisper. She looked up at me and seemed to calm down a little at that. “So, I'm guessing you know him?”

She nodded slightly. “He's my third, no, fourth cousin, once removed from my father's side. I mean, the late kings side, not my...” I gave her a confirming glance, so she didn't have to correct herself. “He works as one of Silver Majesty’s personal attendants. He also doesn't like me much.”

“Clearly.” Rototom spoke up. “I bet he also licks Silver Majesty’s taint, but that aside, keep the chatter down. We don't want the workers here getting suspicious.”

Arriving at room five, I took notice that there were more pipes along the ceiling. Though, this time the pipes had been painted the same color as the ceiling, making them a bit less obvious at first glance. Rototom opened the door to the room, and we entered what looked like a mini plantation, but filled with rows of flowers.

If I had to make a comparison, it was not as tightly packed as the plantations on Pineapple Island. Instead, rows of buckets covered one wall, with strong lamps pointed at them. The pipes from outside also crept along the ceiling in heres, but the brass pips were left unpainted and looked slightly corroded. I could hear a low rumbling coming from nearby that sounded fairly out of place for a flower plantation.

“Hello there!” A short earth pony mare trotted up to us. She had a light green mane on a dark green coat, and wore a pair of overalls, completing the look with a big floppy straw hat. “I'd bet you're wanting the next batch of mah flowers. Sorry to say, they’ve already been paid for”

“Yes, I’m actually here about that.” Rototom had changed her snobby accent to that of some sort of strait laced business pony. “I came here to check the schedule for the next pickup. I know it must be a chore and a half for you, but the royals want this all done sooner than later. You know how they can be when it comes to an event that simply must be perfect.”

“I keep telling them they’re all too impatient.” The florist pony paused for a moment, studding Rototom. “Yes, I can grow the flowers in less than a day. But with them it’s always grow them faster. Who cares about how that might affect the integrity of each and every one, they just need to be ready right now.” She huffed and wiped at her brow angrily before blushing as she realized she’d said that all outloud. “A thousand pardons, I didn’t mean to subject you to all that.” With a nervous laugh, she waved dismissively at us before pointing behind her. “But you’re in luck, as I’ve got a batch that’s almost ready. They’re just being preserved right now as we speak.” She took a step back, and motion my sister to follow. “I’ll show you what my updated production schedule.”

Rototom followed the mare into the back room, giving me a bit of time to look around. The pipes all over the ceiling ended up twisting all over the place, but most of them lead off into only one room. Harp and I followed them, peeking inside, quickly finding that it contained a steam engine hard at work, as well as a boiler that fed into the piped and the engine. It was the source of the low hum I’d heard.

A second boiler fed into some winding tubes that ended up sticking into a large holding tank. My guess it was recycling the steam from the engine and using it as the flowers water source. Also in the room was a pair of mirage ponies. One of them sat powering the boilers, and the other was busily inspecting the working engine. Slowly, Harp and I creeped my head back out before either of them saw us.

Trotting along through the plantation, we found another room that was growing a bunch of flowers. This time the setup was much of the same sort of layout as a common plantation. Rows of plants sat on moving racks, with a mechanism running it that looked like it powered by the steam engine as well. A central steam pipe plugged into each of the metal boxes, and used that steam to turn a wheel that then turned the racks.

It all made a lot of noise. Nothing bad, or loud, just a constant clunking that filled the air. Also, the different colored lamps for the different growing zones made my eyes hurt. There was a pony working inside here as well. A unicorn that wore what looked like a rad-suit, and was busy spraying the plants with a blue mist from what looked like a modified water gun. I didn’t know enough about growing to know what exactly it was for, but I figured it didn’t matter and both Harp and I moved on.

Returning to the main room, I was starting to get how this station worked, but I was going to wait and ask Rototom for clarification. Almost as on cue, Rototom an the earth pony came out from the back room. As she walked out, I noticed that Rototom slipped a piece of paper into her pocket.

“Now ya tell your bosses at stop nagging me. ” The Earth pony chastising my sister. “If we produce these flowers any faster, they’re going to be too fragile for decorating, yah hear?”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t report that.” Rototom held a strait face. “It's not my, or your place to correct how they do business. Just do as you’re asked, alright?”

“Honestly, sometimes it feels like I'm back on Pineapple Island, with the guild breathing down mah neck.” The earth pony huffed. “Still, unless they got some fancy magic that can out do mah growing, they need to stop whining.”

I opened the door for Rototom and Harp, following them out soon after they left. The moment we were out, I breathed a bit easier. The sooner we finished this job, the better.

”So, do we have a way in?” I asked quietly.

“It’ll be little more than an hour ‘till the stable door opens.” My sister turned to the elevator,trotting to it. ”The florist was left with a schedule for it, so whomever arranged for this seems to not be the brightest bulb in the orchard.”

“It was probably my sister, Silk Carnation,” Harp spoke up sounding a bit more confident that normal. “She’s seen as one of most beautiful mares in the stable, as well as the biggest air head. Not to mention she's known for getting her way, even when she doesn't know what she wants. Knowing all that, I’m pretty sure she was left in charge of making things look good for the event.”

“So we're getting in on the whims of a fool, makes sense.” I commented as my eyes drifted upward. “Quick question sis, are the using steam to power this place?”

“Yeah, about that.” She looked up. “I think this place use to run off of a slave engine right up until the peace treaty outlawed them. Now they use independent generators and boilers, all connected by this network of pipes. It's not as efficient as a centralized power source, but it seems that it is a lot more stable as long as they have a mirage pony around to power up the spark batteries.”

“So, it’s still a slave engine.” I remarked. “Just a smaller one is all.”

“They’re not chained to the things, they get to go home at the end of their shifts.” She just shrugged. “And it doesn't need a mirage pony to run it all day, so don't get all frustrated about it.”

“One last thing.” I spoke up, watching as Rototom eyes shifted to me with an annoyed look. “Have you been having any nightmares lately?”

“Every now and then,” Her eyes shifted away. “Most spectres have them. It comes with the job. It's commonly stressed induced, so if your having then, I know a good psychologist you can see once we get back home.”

“Thanks, I might take you up on that after this is all over.” I should have expected an answer like, so I was not going to press the issue. In all likelihood, Phobetor was just messing with me, trying to get into my head again.

______________________________________

Regrouping with the others, we all made our way down to the stable door that alredy had a small crowd of ponies waiting. The mare that led us in passed by, looking both concerned and confused. Every pony in our group was running a disguise talasman, and had more appropriate clothes on. All except Mayall, whom we’d thrown under a poncho and a big round straw hat. It was hard to tell if other ponies were just being polite, or her natural magic was still working on the other ponies.

The two robots in front of the stable door scanned the small crowd, but unlike last time we passed by, their guns had been lowered and powered down. Still, they gave the room an uneasy feeling as their glowing red eyes bared down on everypony.

Everything was going according to my sisters stupidly simple plan, a plan of us saying that were with the decoration crew. The guard that was sent to oversee the ponies coming in only needed a few bits of convincing. A royal guard, he was not. If the unkempt tan uniform was not enough to prove it, the smell of rotting fish he gave off was.

The other ponies around us was a collection of specialized professionals; mane dressers, dress makers and the like. In truth, we were far from out of place here, and so they showed little care about us. Honestly, with the ease they let just anypony in who looked like they fit, it made the whole show of security completely pointless.

Harp had a concerned look on her face as her eye scanned. “Your alright?” I asked her.

“I'm fine.” She sighed. “But, it's just that if Stratus was here, she'd be pulling her mane out. When I left, she had actually cleared the area first, and assigned two guards to look after me in the hotel.”

“And now without their protector, the nobles are doing whatever they want.” Sweet said quietly.

“You can say half of Stratus's job was protecting us from ourselves.” Harp nodded as she gave out a little giggle. “One time, Rare Pearl choked on some old crackers, and Golden Rule tried to get it out of her. Stratus literally cold clocked my brother to get him off of my sister so that Stratus could properly perform resuscitation.” Harps expression dropped at the mention of her. “I miss her.”

“I know.” I gave Harp a soft hug. It was all I could really do right now, but I knew she’d make it through this. “We’re almost there, almost at the end of this madness.”

Yellow lights spun across the walls as an alarm screeched out. The stable doors slowly opened inwards, making a grinding sound that offended the ears. Now clunking, the big cog of a door rolled out of the way, and a bridge extended out to connect the inside of the stable with the outside.

“Hello!” A very cheerful mare stepped out with two mirage ponies behind her. The mare was a pale silvery blue, with a long, vibrant, and curly red mane and tail that were heavily decorated with flowers. Her dress looked like fog… correction, it was made of fog. Strings of lights ran across her body underneath the cloud clothing, slowly turning on and off in a random pattern. When she moved, I could see the long powder blue dress underneath the flashing lights. “Good of you all to make it, so much work to do for my coronation.” She spoke with conviction, her emerald like eyes filled with passion.

“Silk.” I looked over at Harp, whom had facehoofed to hide the burning embarrassed blush brightening her cheeks. “Silk never changes.”

Footnote:

Contacts reestablished: Tamboril, Rototom, Sorrow.