The large mare, a little pudgy, or muscled, I couldn't tell which, smiled at me. "Since you are new to the city, we'll forgive the slight. Ignorance can be charming... But only if you act to remedy it." She lifted a hoof to point at me and Easy Breeze. "If you plan to work in construction, then being members of the construction guild should just come naturally."

I rose to my feet, feeling vulnerable sitting in the presence of the unicorn. "Nice to meet you, miss...?"

A little smile spread on her lips. "How rude of me. I'm Miss Mason. These are my associates." She glanced in either direction, but did not offer their names. "And you are Ian Langerman, as the princess announced."

Easy attacked from behind, resting her hooves on my shoulders and leaning over the side in a great feat of stretching. "I'm Easy Breeze, his manager."

Mason quirked a brow at Easy. "My managers are usually more... reserved."

I held up a hand. "I prefer a more hooves-on approach. Mason, what are the terms of your guild?"

"Mm, yes." Mason sat back to clap her forehooves together and one of her assistants approached with a sheaf of paper in their magic. "You are a cautious one, and yet..." She leaned forward. "You are a predator, I feel certain of it." Even as her companions flinched, Mason took a step forward. "You won't fight what you can't win. You look for opportunities to strike. I imagine you're sizing me up this very instant."

She wasn't entirely wrong. I was doing just that, considering how I could get around her, or use her and her guild.

"And to do that," she continued with a confident smile. "To do that... you want to know the lay of the land. Predators don't jump into unknown darkness, not the good ones."

"Ma'am," spoke one of the unicorns flanking Mason. "Are you sure we should... be talk--"

She threw up a hoof, silencing him. "You won't intimidate me, whatever you are. You want to build, predator, you'll build for me." She drove a hoof to the ground with a firm clop. "Read." The other forehoof raised to point at the collection of papers. "Read, understand, then tell me when you're ready to take the next step." With not a shred of fear that some of her companions seemed to be having, she turned away and strode with an unshakeable confidence.

As I watched the others follow her obediently, I had to respect her poise. But that made me wonder. If the construction guild had such a confident and charismatic leader, why weren't more things being built? I glanced around the room and it came easily. They had no more real success getting funded than I had. There were too many other things falling apart.

Easy prodded at my side, seated next to me. "Hey, are we going? We're practically the last ones in here that aren't guards." She had the guild papers in her magic, floating beside her.

"Yeah... We have issues." I turned for the exit. "We should review that, but I don't think anyone's getting much building done at the moment." There was one looming factor. One thing that just overpowered all other failings in their society. "War."

Easy perked an ear at me. "War? What about it?" She reached up and tucked the papers away in that strange pocket that ponies seemed to have. "Besides everypony talking about it like it was going out of style." She rolled her eyes with a disgusted snort. "Ridiculous."

"Yeah..." That wasn't my exact thought. "It's in the way." I stepped ahead of her, hastening. "Until that's resolved, there won't be sewers or much of anything else. Things will continue to slide down."

Easy scampered to be in front again and twirled around to face me with an angry expression. "And what do you plan to do about it? Don't you dare say what I think you'll say."

"What? Join the army?" She flinched and looked twice as angry. I waved a hand downwards. "No plan of that. My specialty is trying to be clever with varying degrees of success, not fighting ponies, or whatever they're fighting." Easy sagged with relief. "But." She tensed. "But... we could help them fight."

Easy formed a very human hand out of her magic and poked me with it. "Now you're thinking of... I don't even know what you're thinking... You'll still need a manager for whatever it is, right?"

That face, so fierce, and yet vulnerable. Damn it, I was thinking of her like a little dog I wanted to be happy. Screw it, she was my dog, and I wanted her happy. "Easy, you're stuck with me until you decide to go." I ruffled the top of her head as she swiftly colored.

"For the... You're embarrassing me," she muttered, looking away, but not shying from the petting. "So, uh, boss, where to next?"

A fine question, I decided. "We need to gather my power." I strode past her, walking purposefully for our room. "And I mean that literally."

"Literally?"

"Well, maybe not that literally." I pulled open the door and... there she was. Water Lily was holding up my phone, gazing at it with wondering eyes as she pawed at it gently between her forehooves. At the sound of my entry, she squealed and dropped the phone as if it were made of fire, letting it flop to the bed she was holding it over.

"Sir! I..." She threw herself prostrate. "Forgive me!" She shook with abject terror. "Please forgive me... I was very careful with it, I swear..."

Easy stalked past me with a scowl. "We turn our backs for a second and you're in here rifling through our stuff? I thought you were better than that."

Water burst into sniffles. "I meant no harm, sir, ma'am... It was inexcusable. I'm sorry!"

I put up both hands, one swinging back to knock the door shut behind us. "Water, what were you doing, exactly?"

She pointed towards the dropped phone. "I... saw it before, and I wanted to... I was curious..."

Easy inclined her head toward the phone. "That's his. Even I'm not allowed to touch that." She looked over her shoulder. "Is this the power you wanted to get?"

"Precisely so." I moved to pick it up before anything else happened to it. "Water." She looked up at my pitiably. "Don't touch this again, kindly."

Water looked perplexed. Easy looked furious. "You're not going to punish her?"

"No need." I sank to a knee and brushed away a few tears from Water's face. "She knows what she did was wrong." Besides, forgiveness was the Equestrian way, at least, the Equestria that I had grown to love. Would this Equestria become that one? Well, if it could start with a few people acting the part... Besides, I liked Water Lily.

"You're t-too kind, sir." She threw out her hooves suddenly and hugged me. "You won't report me?"

Easy prodded at Water's rump. "Will you never do that again? I'll have my eye on you."

Water nodded back at Easy. "Never again, unless he requests it, of course." She sat up tall. "Oh! I had come here for another reason. How did court proceed? Were you received well?"

Easy threw her hooves wide. "He was the star of the show, for a moment." With a glowing horn, she drew out the sheaf of papers. "And he has an invite to a guild."

Water's eyes followed the papers intently. "What good fortune! To be part of a guild, sir, is a considerable advancement. I'm certain they will recognize your skills and promote you high in no time at all."

"I haven't agreed to it just yet." I gestured at the floating papers. "What do you know of the construction guild?"

Water tapped her cheek. "The one run by Mason? She is a demanding guest when she stays in the castle, sir, quite unlike you." Her nose wrinkled faintly. "Her fur is very thick." There was just a hint of disgust there. "But she tips well, when her every need is met."

That was a very maid-centric view of a pony. I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised by it. "Do you know about her, outside of being a guest of the castle?"

Water tapped her forehooves slowly. "Well... There was a time when an earthquake damaged a portion of the castle. They hired her. For a few months, she was a regular around the castle. Very demanding, I mentioned, but she got the job done with her workerponies very well. Once they were done, you couldn't even guess where the holes were."

So she did her job. That was good. A guild leader that just soaked up money would have been something to avoid, and possible considering the social decay of the city. "Thank you, that's good to know." With my phone in hand, I quickly woke it up and... thought I should put a password on it. I hadn't before, but Water Lily had shown a pony could get curious about it, and she had gotten as far as turning it on.

I quickly tapped out a pin for the phone to access it in the future and nodded, satisfied that no pony was likely to force their way past it. That settled, I quickly dove into the informational sections. I needed weapons that weren't hard to make, or use...

Easy was peering at me. "What are you doing? Looking for those soldier aids?"

"Soldier aids?!" Water Lily put a hoof over her mouth. "Is the gentlepony considering joining the army? He mustn't! They would not be kind to his..." She colored and stopped. I could guess she was about to mention my skin. "It... wouldn't suit you, sir."

I flicked through articles, searching for the right one. "I don't plan on going to the frontlines, but I could help from here." I didn't know enough. No matter how far I pressed, more questions were thrust on me. I didn't know enough. "Is there someone in the castle who is in charge of the army? A general or something like that?"

Easy waved a hoof vaguely. "We saw him today. He was the one complaining about the Greeting of the Sun. Even I know that." She smirked devilishly. "Poor outsider. Anyway, General Alabaster is hard to miss. What about him?"

I clicked the phone off and tucked it into a pocket. "He's who we have to talk to."

Easy tapped at the papers still held in her magic. "We going over this or not?"

Right, there was that. "We should." Even if I imagined I couldn't do that right away, I should know. Not knowing is what was getting in the way constantly.

Water Lily suddenly bowed her front forward. "Sir, Ma'am, I should resume my duties. If you have need for anything at all, you have but to call me, or ring the bell." She pointed to a small hand bell, or was that more of a mouth bell, considering the ponies. "Best of luck." She strode for the door. "Your linens have been laundered, have no fear."

I opened the door for her with a quick few steps. "Thank you for the information, Miss Lily."

She warmed. "Just Water, or Water Lily, will do, sir." With a little happy giggle, she trotted through the door.

"And don't go snooping on our stuff," called out Easy, her tongue extended a moment before her eyes moved back to the papers. "Now, let's see... Founded in, blah blah, current leader, blah. Hey, their headquarters, I know that place, mmm..." She raised a hoof to trail along with her eyes as she read quickly. "First page is mostly fluff." She tossed it aside. "Now here's some meat... Mmm... There's a fee for joining." She tapped at the papers. "Five bits per inducted member. One bit per month base dues."

I sat on the edge of my bed, watching her review the papers. There was plenty to go through. Then we had a general to approach.

Author's Notes:

What easy invention would you introduce to give ponies an edge?

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