> Cyberpony Y2K
>  by J3sterking
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Prologue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was a warm, sunny day in Ponyville, with a light breeze gently blowing through the trees, carrying with it the faint sound of a classical violin. If you followed the sound, you'd end up at a small, unassuming house on the border of the Everfree Forest.  

The forest itself was, perhaps, the most dangerous place in Equestria. Even living close to it, like the citizens of Ponyville did, was considered wild and reckless.

The Earth pony inside played on, however, her eyes closed in concentration. The music she played was from memory alone, every note playing in her mind before it was sounded out perfectly on the violin.

The bow moved back and forth, until, finally, she finished it off. Octavia Melody opened her eyes, letting out a sigh of contentment.

Her musical career had long since ended, unfortunately, but she still loved the music that had earned her her Cutie Mark. She set the bow and violin down, eyes traveling to her to-do list, and she let out a less contented sigh.  

Octavia's hooves tapped against the ground as she stepped over, picking the list and exposing the handgun beneath it. She lifted up the list, examining it carefully, and then set it down. She strode past her table, around her living room couch, and into the small side-room that was her bedroom. The house had four total rooms in all, but was mostly just open space between them. Her belongings, personal or otherwise, were stashed into the corners and sides of the rooms for want of better storage.  

Octavia opened her wardrobe, shoving aside a few old coats and a ragged pair of jeans. She'd once worn fancier outfits—even though ballgowns and dresses had never been her thing, she'd had a certain fancy for tuxedos. Now, however, it was baggy cargo pants, a dark brown tank-top, and a slate gray jacket that almost matched her coat, but not quite. Though Rarity Belle, the beautiful mare who'd designed it, had done her best, practicality had won out over fashion, and she was left with an utterly drab outfit that did its job really well.

She pulled on her belt, and spent an embarrassing amount of time looking for her gun in the nightstand before she remembered it was in her living room. 

"Never sharing that story," she muttered to herself. She holstered it, then made sure her top properly concealed it. Finally, her goggles came on, but she let them hang around her neck as she headed for her door.

Octavia paused in the doorway, looking out into the Everfree. A pair of glowing green eyes met hers, and she saw at least one other pair off in the woods behind it. The stench was something else entirely, and had her gagging even as she pulled out her gun. She loaded in a lead round—no use in wasting the more expensive emerald ones—and fired into the trees.

The Drakes were a crowd favorite gun model, but one thing no one praised about them was that they were loud. The gun's retort echoed through the nearby trees and down the valley, and both Timberwolves were sent off running. 

While she didn't 'like' the noise, the Drake did a wonderful job scaring off Timberwolves, and the other denizens of Everfree. She holstered it again, before trotting on down the rough dirt path out of her house.

She perhaps would have seen other ponies, but her destination was also outside the town.

The familiar old, unchanging sign hung over the same old gate she'd always seen. Octavia walked under it, smiling to herself, and strode down the path to the farm buildings.

This far out in the country, you could see old-school houses, nothing like the rich, technology filled mansions you'd see in the cities. Octavia had sorely missed those at first, and still did, sometimes, but she lived with it.  

"Hello!" she called out, waving to the pony and the android out in front of the barn. "I'm not running late, am I?"

Rarity was a stunningly beautiful unicorn who reclined on a wooden chair with her purse swinging off one arm. Today, she'd chosen to wear a pink dress and business skirt, with a sun bonnet hanging low over her forehead.

Applejack, meanwhile, was a Workhorse, though a bit bulkier than most of her model. She easily cleared Octavia's and even Rarity's height. Since she wasn't working and was heading into the city, she'd chosen to be 'fancied up' as she'd say. Jeans and a denim jacket adorned her, and to top it off was her old stetson hat on top of the faux hair.

"Not at all, darling," Rarity called back. "The rest of us are just a touch early, is all."

"Well, it is my house," the android replied. She turned and gave a nod to Octavia, adding, "Ya can't expect me to be late, now."  

"That is true," Octavia muttered, pulling a sleeve back to check her watch. "We should get going either way. The Friendship Express will be leaving shortly."

"My, always moving, aren't you, darling?" Rarity chuckled.

"I do have an appointment to keep," Octavia replied. "I'm surprised he agreed to the meeting at all, really."

"This'll be yer first time seeing him since..." Applejack trailed off.

"Since my music career ended, yes," Octavia replied shortly. "I suppose he has fond memories of me, regardless. I do wish that my first meeting with him in years wasn't business related, but, well, it is what it is."

"You'll have some time for idle chat, too," Rarity put in. "I definitely plan on a lengthy discourse with Coco, aside from my errands."

"Then we really shouldn't stand here talking all day," Octavia repeated firmly, checking her watch again. "I'd rather not be late."

"Of course, darling," Rarity said with a pleasant smile despite Octavia's eternal impatience. "Shall we get going, then?"

Octavia nodded. "Let's."

They started moving, trotting off towards town. "By the way," Octavia asked, "how's Sweetie Belle doing?"

"She's doing alright," Rarity replied. "She's definitely opening up more nowadays. She's made great friends with Scootaloo and Applebloom, too!"

"Yeah, Applebloom was just tellin' me about that," Applejack said. "They're thinkin' of startin' a club! 'Cutie Mark Crusaders' or somethin'."

"That'll be...an odd group," Octavia said. "Where do they plan on meeting?"

"I had to tell 'em no to the castle," Applejack said dryly.  

Octavia spluttered. "The castle? In the Everfree?"

Applejack nodded. "I don't know what their plan for even gettin' out there was. They all know how to shoot, but that won't help too much about some of the worst critters out there."

"Here, here," Rarity said. "Besides, I don't want them in any sort of situation where they'll have to shoot anything, anyway."

Applejack nodded. "There's a time and a place for it, and for them, it ain't come to that yet."

Octavia's brow furrowed. She hoped that the 'Cutie Mark Crusaders' wouldn't have to worry about that. But, if she thought about it, that didn't make any sense. There would always be more threats to worry about, sooner or later.

"Hey, guys!"

A familiar, overly chipper voice called out to them. Octavia stopped, then let out a small sigh to herself, before she turned around. "Hello, Gloriosa," she said.

A magenta Earth pony in a golden-yellow dress trotted over, short tail flicking back and forth. "I was just wanting to wish you good luck on your trip," she said with a grin. "We've worked with Fancy Pants before, he's a kind soul."

"That he is," Octavia agreed. She was about to point out that ponies were getting loaded on the train ahead of them, but she didn't like to brush off Glorisoa.

"I know you've met him before, and I was just thinking that a gift might be--"

"Gloriosa?" she interrupted. "That's not really going to do anything."

"Relax, Gloriosa," Applejack said, putting an arm around her shoulders. She squeezed her into a half-hug, adding, "Octavia and Fancy Pants are old friends. He'll listen to her."

"...Right," Gloriosa relented. "I'm just...terrified to think of what might happen to those poor androids if Fancy sells."

"He knows, too, so he won't," Octavia said. "Fancy's a good colt, and an avid supporter of android rights. I'm confident we'll have this sorted quickly, and the androids safe from harm."

Gloriosa nodded, then gave Applejack a hug. "I'm certian you gals have everything in hoof."

"We got this," Applejack said dryly, her 'eyes'--or the electronic representation of them, anyway—turning to happily closed.

"Aaaaall aboard!" the conductor shouted.

"We need to get going," Octavia said. "Lovely talking, Gloriosa! Goodbye!" She took off at a canter, heading for the train as quickly as she could.

Rarity and Applejack boarded right behind her, and they quickly got settled into seats as the train whistle blew. The train jolted, then slowly began moving. Octavia waved goodbye to Glorisoa as the train rolled out.

"I still remember that ruby-fueled train I rode to Los Pegasus," Rarity mentioned. "Smoothest trainride I've ever had."

"Fire rubies aren't exactly cheap," Applejack replied.

"Psh! If people afford them for cooking grills, and bullets, then the train isn't that much more expensive."

"Comparatively," Applejack said. "But gem-trains are a lot more expensive than coal trains."

"She does have a point," Octavia said. "As much as I miss the thrills and benefits of high-society, most can't afford those. They have to make do with somewhat archaic technology. But it works, so who am I to complain?"

"I suppose you're right," Rarity relented with a sigh.  

A mare pushed a cart to a stop besides their seats, asking, "Snacks? Anypony?"

A sudden hunger pain reminded Octavia of her skimpy breakfast that morning. "Yes, please," she said, choosing a pastry off the tray.  

"Don't tell me you skipped out on breakfast again," Applejack said as the cart rolled past.

"I ate!" Octavia said defensively.

Applejack's visor raised an eyebrow.

"A little," Octavia admitted.  

Applejack folded her arms over her chest.

"A small plate of hay fries reheated in the microwave," Octavia admitted with a sigh. "I get paid on the fifteenth."

"Darling," Rarity said, "you need to eat more."

"She has plenty of money, she just wanted to play her violin," Applejack said simply.

"Did you...ahem...hear that?" Octavia cleared her throat.

"Eeyup. Up until you fired the Drake."  

Octavia winced. "Sorry, I didn't realize you could hear."

"Eh, don't apologize," Applejack said, waving it off. "Them timberwolves gotta be scared off somehow."

"Hear the music," Octavia clarified.

"Oh. Well, ain't none of us mind that, or we'd have told ya by now," Applejack chuckled. "You play mighty fine, Octavia."

"Hear, hear," Rarity agreed. "Such a pity that 'classical' isn't in season."

"I think I'm doing better work with Everfree than I did back then," Octavia replied smoothly. "But, yes, I do still miss my musical career—as much of one as I had."

"Well, you at least get an audience cheering for you," Rarity said, giving a smile.  

Octavia blushed. "Most of those are work-in-progress..."

"Well, then we'll be really happy to hear the real thing," Rarity replied. "You got Sweetie Belle interested in music."

"I...did, now?" Octavia asked. "That's good to hear. She needs a hobby."

"Well, yes," Rarity said. "It might also do her some good to work with other ponies, even if it's an audience and not personal interaction..." 

Octavia stopped participating in the inane chatter after that, eyes turning to the windows, as the countryside scenery faded to gemstone billboards with flashing lights.

And, finally, a massive sign with glowing emerald letters that read, "WELCOME TO MANEHATTAN".

Octavia felt briefly nostalgic at the sight of the massive buildings of steel and glass, with inactive streetlamps, and a few couriers flitting through the skies over the streets.

But she remembered what this world looked like under the polished chrome and the glowing gems.

"Oh, it's so pretty," Rarity said as the train rolled to a stop. She tipped her bonnet back slightly, briefly revealing her broken horn to Octavia. "This city is always beautiful, no?"

"Eh," Applejack said. "It's fancy-shmancy."

Rarity rolled her eyes. "A farm pony in the big city, unable to appreciate any of the sights."

Octavia got up as the doors rolled open, tuning out the friends' playful bickering. Few ponies walked the streets, as they traveled almost exclusively by car, but some were out and about, hoping to be seen in their fashionable clothing.

Octavia glanced to the side, seeing a hint of graffitti on the nearest building. She cocked her head, trying to get a better look at it.

"Some silly filly spray-painted 'Discord' on the side of a building," a nearby Earth pony said. Octavia jumped, turning to see a familiar cream-colored pony meeting her gaze. Coco Pommel smiled. "With the whole 'zero instead of an O thing, too."

"Coco, darling!" Rarity cried, leaping forward and hugging Coco.  

"Hello, Miss Rarity," Coco said, smiling as she hugged Rarity back. "Here for long?"

"A quick visit, I'm afraid," Rarity said. "Those two have their own work in the city, but I thought I'd take the excuse to visit my favorite assistant."

"Oh, I can't be your favorite," Coco said, shyly, waving off the compliment.  

"I don't think she has other assistants," Applejack put in.

"Pfft! That's hardly the point, now, is it?" Rarity said, waving a hand at Applejack. "Why not you two go ahead and head to the Flight of Fancy? I can handle my business on my own, once I'm done catching up with Coco."

"Of course," Octavia said, nodding. "See you later, Rarity."

"Ta-ta, darlings! Have fun storming the castle!" Rarity joked as they walked off.

"So," Applejack asked quietly as they trotted their own way. "Filthy Rich is gonna make a play for the Flight of Fancy?"

"Almost certainly," Rarity said. "Fancy won't let him establish proper roots in Manehattan, and he wants to expand. And when Fancy won't sell, Filthy's going to move to his old stand-by."

Armed gunmen and brute force.

"Assuming that Fancy fights off his thugs, people will be hurt, and androids may be kidnapped," Octavia said. "The Crown may or may not attempt to retrieve them, but 'lost property' won't be their priority."

Applejack nodded. "Then we'd best see what we can do."

Ahead of them was the Flight of Fancy. Above its great doors was a massive white swan statue, wings spread wide. Octavia nodded. "Lets."
> The Flight of Fancy
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Octavia Melody tried her hardest to avoid grimacing at the Flight of Fancy's atmosphere. A loud, harsh techno beat pounded against her skull, as the Flight of Fancy's numerous patrons danced in various amounts of clothing. Manehattan was predominantly an Earth pony city, yet Octavia still saw a few pegasi couples performing their mid-air tangos that were oh-so-popular.  

Octavia paused as a waiter slid past. An android—there were a few of those inside, but more of the employees Octavia saw were ponies. Quite the opposite of normal—androids tended to be cheaper in the long run, because, as legal property, they didn't have to be paid.

The waiter leaned his tray of glasses over to her, but she shook her head. "No, thank you."

If he particularly cared about one of the only ponies who stopped to thank androids, he didn't show it, instead moving off in a hurry to other patrons.

"This looks too tame to be a place Filthy's gonna come to," Applejack said quietly.

"I told you: Fancy's a good colt," Octavia said. Covering her ears, she added, "I just wish that this garish, techno-garbage wasn't 'in style'. Or that the stairs up to Fancy's office didn't go right past the DJ's booth."

Applejack looked up to the DJ in question. The unicorn android wore jeans and an open white jacket, showing off a polished, silvery torso. Her blue, shiny mane was short, falling just down to her neck, and her optics were a deep red color, though rather than the imitation pupils that were popular amongst most entertainment-focused ones, this one had a set of bars going up and down in accordance with her music. As they passed her, she gave them a wave as she used her other hand to manipulate the heavy electronic beeps.

Octavia refused to call it music, and hurried past with her ears covered.  

Applejack looked back to the DJ, who gave a completely unapologetic shrug, before returning all her focus to her music.

"I see what you mean," Applejack chuckled.

"I know. If I remember correctly, his office is soundproofed, so--"

"If he weren't nice, then no android woulda shown that much sass," Applejack said, visor imitating eyes closed in a cartoonish, happy way.  

"Har de har," Octavia said. "Eyes up, security's ahead."

The doorway leading to the second story—VIP rooms and office rooms, mostly—was blocked by a sentry android. Flash-point sentry, the most common model used. Previously it had been Wonderbolts, before Canterlot had declared them exclusively for government use.

Octavia almost felt gladdened by that, as the Flash-points had much nicer personalities. At least, if Rainbow Dash was anything to go by, anyway. 

"Hello! Please show note of appointment or ticket to VIP access," the sentry said. His bronze plating was reflective enough to blind Octavia if she hadn't been wearing her violet goggles, and he had a fully simulated digital face that was grinning broadly, if somewhat cartoonishly.  

It was almost cheery enough to distract from the minigun arm he held behind his back. His other arm was held forward, fingers outstretched.  

Octavia slipped into her jacket pocket, before fishing out the note of appointment. She handed it to the sentry, who scanned the note's code with his faceplate.  

"Please wait one moment," he said in the same cheery tone. His face briefly flickered, turning to an exclamation mark, before returning to its normal expression. "Ah, you're with Mr Fancy! Good luck!" He opened the door, then handed back the note before gesturing her through the door.

"Thank you," Octavia told him as she walked past.

"Just doin' my job," he said, though the cheer sounded slightly more authentic.

She was probably imagining that, as the Flash Points were only given one tone of voice.

Applejack had to duck down through the doorway, her plates making uncomfortable sounds against each other.  

"Sorry," Octavia apologized as she lead the way forward. "I should have warned you."

"It's alright," Applejack said. "Workhorses ain't meant for indoor use, anyhow."

Octavia gave her tail an annoyed swish. "You're my friend, not a Workhorse," she said pointedly.

"You're friends with a Workhorse," Applejack argued. "Just because I'm a touch 'fancied up' from the rest of 'em don't mean I'm not a workhorse."

Octavia couldn't figure out how to answer that. Applejack was more to her than a Workhorse, or even a combat android.

But she was getting sidetracked, and she had a job to do.

Octavia looked around, tapping her chin briefly before finding the door helpfully labeled 'Fancy Pants' on the outside. 

Octavia stepped up to the door, giving a nod to the Flash-point outside it before she rapped on it with her knuckles.  

"Come in," Fancy Pants called out.  

Octavia slipped in, leaving Applejack to squeeze in behind her. "Hello, Fancy," she said, letting her goggles fall around her neck. "It's been a while."

Fancy smiled pleasantly, straightening his monocle. As the name suggested, he wore a fine tuxedo and tie, though the top hat that would have completed the look sat on the table in front of him with a glass of wine. Cherry's Jubilee, if the logo on the bottle was anything to go by.

"Well, time flies, as they say," he said. "You at least remember Fleur, right?"

Octavia's eyes traveled to the other mare in the room, a unicorn reclining sideways on a chair, her mane trailing almost to the ground. Her horn was long and curved, majestic. The product of beauty care products that were in no way healthy, intended to make your horn longer and more curved despite how brittle it would be.  

Fleur also, contrary to Octavia's memory, had a cybernetic chip on her temple. Fleur raised her glass  of wine in greeting, smiling warmly at Octavia.

Fleur de Liss wasn't so bad, as far as the Canterlot nobility went. Though, what she was doing down from her mountain was beyond Octavia's guess.

"Yes, quite fondly," Octavia said, taking her seat. Applejack moved to stand behind her, but Octavia firmly pushed over a chair for her to sit in.

With a slightly complaining mechanical hum, Applejack took the hint and sat down.

"Oh, that's a big one," Fleur commented. "Custom model, I assume?"

"Yes," Octavia lied easily enough. "From a small, no-name company." Most people weren't aware that any android could hurt ponies, if you removed a single inhibitor chip from them, so it was best to let them continue thinking so.

For now, anyway.

"Is this some sort of personal business with Fancy? If so, I'll spare you the trouble of asking me and leave already," she said, adopting an apologetic face easily. Octavia felt slightly envious of how easily noblemares and colts could adopt fake expressions sometimes, but Fleur, at least, meant well.

"Nothing that need be discussed quite so quickly," Octavia said with a smile. "Perhaps we have a moment to catch up?"

"Ah, yes, of course," Fancy said with a smile. "Here, I take it you still don't like the expensive wines?"

"I never had enough money to learn to like them," Octavia said, letting a hint of moroseness through her voice.  

"Jiffy!"

A pegasus blinked into view from a side entrance, wings outstretched. "Yessir?" he said quickly.

"Fetch a thing of...hmm, I'm not quite sure what all we have in stock."

"Anything from Sweet Apple Acres?" Octavia asked.

"Yes'm," Jiffy replied. "Be right back!" He zoomed off, a white blure trailing behind him.

"I should have figured you for a whiskey mare," Fleur commented drily. "You never did seem like you fit in with all the fakely sweet nobles and soirees. No, you were much to hard for that, my girl."

"Perhaps," Octavia replied with a shrug.  

"Perhaps? Look at you! You're wearing jeans and a travel jacket. The very image of practicality. I daresay any other Canterlotter would die on the spot if they saw you," Fleur said, gesturing at Octavia.

"I'm back!" Jiffy said, suddenly reappearing. "Sorry for the wait, have to slow down while carrying this." He set down a container of Zap Apple hard cider, with a picture of a smiling Granny Smith on it.  

"No worries," Octavia answered. "Thank you."

"'Twas a pleasure," Jiffy answered, zooming back to his corner of the room, where he sat with a wide smile and open, unblinking eyes.

Octavia had several concerns about the flighty colt, but said nothing. She let Fancy pour her a cup of the cider, the rainbow fizz rising to the glass's brim. She nodded her thanks, then took a sip.

As always, it hit like a bullet. She let out a contented sigh, reclining back in her seat. "It's been a while since I was able to sit down and relax like this," she acknowledged.

"I'm half surprised you actually drank it," Fancy commented. "I suppose Fleur always did have the proper guess of what you were doing, isn't that quite right?"

Fleur nodded. "Yes, I always was able to figure out what was going on in that pretty little head," she said. "I suppose it's because I saw a lot of myself in you."

"I find it hard to see you as a whiskey mare," Octavia commented, giving a smile and a raised eyebrow.

"True, I find myself impartial to Cherry's every time," Fleur replied, raising her glass demurely before taking a sip. She sipped it slowly, letting everyone's eyes remain on her drink before she gave an exaggerated sigh of contentment. "Though, your taste for classical music is one I happened to share. Such a pity that rock, dubstep, and pop have pushed it to the side, isn't it?"

"Perhaps, though tastes are subjective," Octavia answered. "My own drink being the case in point." She took a sip, eager to forget about her failed musical career.  

"Ah, indeed. Though you might be happy to hear that classical seems to be making a comeback. At the Grand Galloping Gala a few months back, Princess Celestia set the music as classical."

"You might have an opportunity to step back into the limelight, Octavia," Fancy said. "Are you going to take it, or are you otherwise committed at this point?"

Octavia made a show of sighing theatrically. "I daresay I wish I could," she admitted. "But, as you put it, I am otherwise committed."

"To what, if I might be permitted to ask?"

"I'm working out of Ponyville these days," Octavia said.

Both Fleur and Fancy looked at her in surprise. "That backwater?" Fleur gasped. "My word. Well, I suppose it would suit your tastes, and they are...subjective, right?"

Octavia found herself gripping her glass unreasonably tightly, barely keeping her Earth pony strength from shattering it. "Yes, indeed," she said, somewhat stiffly.

"Now, Fleur! Look what you've done," Fancy chastised. "I find the ponies there quite charming, actually. Octavia, do you know Rarity Belle?"

"Closely," Octavia admitted. "She's the one who made this ensemble for me, actually."

"My, my," Fleur said. "I never did hear back from her on what a dress would cost, actually. How much was that set?"

"This is Rarity we're talking about," Octavia replied dryly. "She gave it for free and wouldn't let me pay. Though, I do know that some of her dresses go for upwards of a hundred bits, way more if it is a custom fitting. She has a Manehattan branch, actually."

"Yes, it's where I got my suit made," Fancy added. He brushed some imaginary dust off his shirt, adding, "I suggest you make your way there while in town, Fleurr. There's enough bad business in Manehattan to where we should support the better shops, I think."

"That is actually the regrettable reason I'm here," Octavia admitted, sitting forward. She folded her arms together. "A friend of mine heard that Filthy Rich was coming through town, looking to buy your place from you."

Fancy Pants reached over, took his hat, and made a show of brushing off more imaginary dust. Then, he threw back his head, mane shaking, and laughed. "Well, now, that's quite funny, you see. You're worried I'm actually going to sell to him, are you?"

"Not much, but my employers wanted to make sure."

"Well, Jiffy!"

"Yes?" Jiffy said, suddenly appearing again.

Applejack twitched, but thankfully, the pegasus didn't notice her reaction. Fleur de Liss, on the other hand, was giving Applejack a lazy look over, seemingly noting the clenched fist.

Octavia gave Applejack a discreet flick. The android moved to a more forcibly relaxed position. She was jittery, which Octavia could get—Applejack was acting as a bodyguard. Even Octavia's nerves were getting shaken by Jiffy's spontaneous movement.

Though, I shouldn't be, given that I know Rainbow Dash...and the Pie Sisters, anyway...

"Is Vinyl's show over?"

"Yessir," Jiffy answered, leaning forward and straightening his spectacles. "Want me to fetch her?"

"If you don't mind," Fancy answered.

Jiffy disappeared in a blink.  

"That's quite the combat android," Fleur commented. "I've seen some so poorly designed they'd fly off and shoot anypony who moved too quickly. That one, though—she looks like quality. What company did you say made her, again?"

"They never had a name, and it 'company' is a bit of an exaggeration," Octavia said. "It was a couple of individuals, and they no longer make androids anymore."

"Ah, a shame," Fleur said casually. "They deserve some credit. Few ponies would think of using a workhorse as a model for a combat droid."

"I don't see why not," Fancy scoffed. "They can lift plows. Ever think about what one could do to a pony? Have you seen much action, miss?" He nodded to Applejack.

Applejack seemed surprised at being spoken to directly, so was somewhat hesitant in her reply. "Er, yeah, a bit," she drawled. "I've seen my share of tousles, Mister Fancy."

Fleur gave off a lilting, musical laugh. "My, the idea of using the rural accent for her tone was genius!" she cheered, lifting her glass into the sky. "Strange to think they went out of business, isn't it?"

Octavia was saved from ad-libing a response by Jiffy's abrupt return. "Vinyl Scratch is here."

Octavia almost winced at seeing the DJ from earlier stride into the room, with an easy, carefree gate.  

Up close, Octavia realized that she really wasn't wearing a shirt under the jacket. She could even make out the lines between some of the plates.  

Thankfully, this one wasn't one of the ones made by a pubescent colt who felt the need to design realistic breasts onto robots, and instead, just had two lumps to simulate them.

"Yo, wuzzup, Pants?" the android said in a raspy, nonchalant tone. She stopped abruptly, her red visor focusing on first Fleur, then settling on Octavia.

"Please, have a seat," Fancy said. "These are friends of mine. I've mentioned Fleur before, and this is Octavia Meldoy. A charming Manehattanite friend of mine who's been travelling."

"A pleasure to meet you," Vinyl said in a cheery tone.

"Please, dispense with the factory settings. I'd like to see the real you," Fleur said, attention finally leaving Octavia to focus one hundred percent of her will upon Vinyl. Octavia couldn't manage to enjoy it, however, because she was allowed an easy glance at how Fleur had changed over the years.  

A look of greed and awe filled her face, as her eyes appraised Vinyl.  

"O-kay. Nice to meetcha lovely ladies." She took the offered seat, between Fleur and Fancy, crossed one leg over the other, and let her arms hang over the back of the chair.  

Jiffy appeared with an empty glass, and mimed the action of pouring something into it. Vinyl took the empty cup, then raised it to Jiffy in mock solute. "Thanks, m'dude," Vinyl said.

"You're welcome," Jiffy said, disappearing back to his corner.

"Now, Octavia and I were talking," Fancy said, tipping his glass to her. "And I wanted to ask you: are you happy in your workplace?"

"Uh...yeah," Vinyl said, thrusting her cup forward. "You're a good dude. I get free time. I get to make my own music. It's as good a life as I could ever have."

"I see. All that said, Octavia mentioned that Filthy Rich wants to buy this establishment. Would you be happy then?"

Vinyl stared at him for a long moment. "You could just...disassemble me now," she finally commented. "That would be preferable, actually."

Fancy laughed. "Don't worry, I have a response prepared for Rich already," he said. "And whomever these employers of yours are, Miss Melody, you can let them know."

"Who do you work for these days, anyway?" Fleur asked, but her gaze kept looking right at Vinyl in a way that Octavia absolutely didn't like.

"I work security for an AI rights activist group," Octavia said slowly.  

Fleur managed to tear her gaze away from Vinyl to shoot her with a piercing look. Fancy didn't seem to notice, however.

"You? Working security?" he asked.

"Yes. It's good pay, and it feels good to be making some headway in this world," Octavia said.

"Which group?" Fleur asked casually.  

"Everfree," Octavia answered.  

"Everfree? Hmm. A respectable bunch," Fancy said with a nod, blissfully unaware of the miniature feud between his other two guests. "Though, I will say, I will not need any assistance to handle whatever goons Rich sends to coerce me into selling. I'm not some poor pony without the money or strength to tell him no, and I refuse to let this become another den of broodmares and Salt licks. I have resources of my own to keep him off."

"Fancy," Octavia said, in pleading tones. "He has a lot of money his way, and the people he sends will be more plentiful than you can replenish the Flash-points, or pony guards."

"Once he makes his offer, I shall inform the town guard of what I believe is coming," Fancy said. "They know I don't come to them without reason, and once thugs start showing up, our dear friend Mr. Rich shall find his lackeys contending against Wonderbolts. Any assistance you have to offer is rather moot, where that is concerned, Miss Melody."

If you only knew, Octavia thought. Aloud, she said, "Ever the believer in the monarchy, aren't you, Fancy?"

"It's not that I believe in it wholeheartedly," Fancy replied, in a chastising tone. "It's that I believe that I should not break the rules of the system I am trying to change. If I break the rules, then I show that I do not care about anything other than my own way. One cannot change a system if one also happens to be ignoring it."

"I agree wholeheartedly," Fleur said, nodding. "He's put in a lot of good work towards improving things for androids himself, Octavia. If, at this point, he went and hired some freelance bodyguards before the Town Guard, it would be a blow to his support. It would show a complete lack of trust in the system, and, as he said...that would demote his ability to change said system."

Perhaps, he would have been right, if he would ever have been able to change the system. Applejack stayed silent, and Octavia only nodded, saying, "Well, then I shall let the boss know that you shan't be needing any help, Mr. Fancy." She took a sip of her cider.

"With my sincerest respect, of course," Fancy said. "I respect Gloriosa's work greatly. I think she has the marks of a great figure of change, herself. Just compare the strides she's made to those that, hm, well..."

"Discord?" Fleur suggested innocently.

"A bit of an extreme example, but yes!" Fancy gave a nod. "Discord's penchant for violence first undermines their every action. Any action they take in the name of 'android equality' only means that Canterlot has to respond by saying they will not bow to the likes of gun-toting degenerates."

Octavia took a long sip of her cider.

"They cannot possibly win their war for freedom because no one wins a war. Bullets and bloodshed cannot make the world a better place."

Octavia's hand tightened around her glass.  

"Everfree's continued committment to non-violent measures has my full backing," Fancy said. "Of course, I do recognize that sometimes, conflict is inevitable, as in the current scenario. Mr. Rich is not going to simply let me say no, and that, I think, is regrettable."

"You'd think someone'd have arrested him by now," Vinyl said.

"He's got money, meaning he can bribe off as many people as he needs to," Octavia muttered bitterly.

"I do hope you're not implying that everyone of wealth does such things," Fleur commented dryly, before sipping her drink.

Octavia winced. "Sorry, I didn't mean anything like that," she said. "I simply meant that that is how he is using his wealth."

"Indeed," Fancy grimaced. "Truly unfortunate that he has been so successful using such debased tactics. Well, this is it for him. He will find that the Flight of Fancy will not be sold to him now, nor ever." He raised his glass, and Fleur raised her own.  

"I'll toast that!" she said. "To the Flight of Fancy!"  

Octavia raised her own glass in toast, as well. Get a hold of yourself, she thought. You've always known his stance on violence. You should have been plenty ready for that.

If only Fancy didn't still believe that the system cared about his opinions. No matter how hard he tried, he would never succeed, because some ponies just wouldn't listen.

And the beloved Princess of Equestria happened to be one of them.

Octavia's eyes met Fleur's across the table, and she found Fleur smiling. "Now, on the topic of Discord..." the unicorn said with a grin.
> Fight at the Flight
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I do think there's an awful lot of rumors flying around that organization. Surely not all of them are true, don't you think?"

"Parsing rumor from truth is always difficult," Fancy said casually.

"I take it most of it is false, or exaggerated," Octavia said simply, hoping her tone was neutral. Damn you, Fleur! Damn you to Tartarus and back again, you stupid--

"I mean, yeah," Vinyl agreed. "Lots of it sounds farfetched."

"Indeed? Well, are there any you worry about?" Fleur asked demurely, turning to Vinyl.

"Well, let's see," Vinyl considered that for a moment. "Okay, I don't really worry about any of them because--" She gestured at herself, then at her empty glass. "—Wobot. But if I were a pony, then definitely up on top would be Rainbow Dash."

"Rainbow Dash?" Octavia couldn't help herself. All eyes turned to her, as she cleared her throat and blushed. "I-I mean, surely you don't think the rumors about some prettied up renegade Wonderbolt unit are true."

"Legally speaking, I don't 'think' anything," Vinyl said dryly. "Otherwise, yeah, I think so. I mean, look at it this way—their entire purpose is killing. Come off the factory line, load up on bullets, ship out to action, then wait in stasis until they need to kill again. It's killing all the way down. Factor that in with the fact that every factory occasionally sends out faulty materials, and we have a recipe for one renegade Wonderbolt. I think it is all too likely that one went rogue at some point—it's been, what, seventy years since the first ones were made? So, yeah, Rainbow Dash is not only believable, but...heh...terrifying." She shuddered. "Seriously. Have you seen Wonderbolts?"

"Thankfully, no," Octavia lied easily. "But I suppose I can see what you mean."

"Yes, running into Rainbow Dash alone at night makes for a terrifying scenario," Fleur said, setting down her own empty glass before straightening in her seat. "Hmm. What about the Behemoth?

"Eh...probably a seven or eight on 'danger', but only a 'two' on the 'believable side," Vinyl said. "Sure, it's a giant, scary robot. But, like...what is it? Where'd it come from? All these rumors just say different things. Entertainer, miner, calculator—why build such a massive robot, and how did they do it while not maintaining any sort of consistent--" Vinyl paused, meeting Fleur's gaze.

"Do go on," Fleur said.

Octavia shared a look with Fancy, but the noblecolt nodded, and gestured for Octavia to stay quiet.

"Well, um--" Vinyl seemed to get over her fluster rather quickly. "Anyway, there's just too many different stories about Behemoth. It's most likely all made up. Right?"

"I'd say," Fancy said slowly.

Octavia nodded in the interest of keeping her secrets to herself. Thankfully, Applejack was still keeping quiet, because both of them knew she was an absolutely terrible liar.

"Hmm...Diamond Duster?" Fleur questioned with a smile.

"Pass."

Appleajck looked up in confusion shared by Octavia and Fancy. "Pardon?" Applejack asked.

"I mean...look, I can literally look it up--" Vinyl rapped her knuckles against the side of her head. "Ignoring the questionable science of an android that someone added a human heart to, you...you still didn't make it any scarier? Yeah, that mask looks creepy, from the pictures I've seen, but...you just...installed a weak point onto an android. Not to mention all it has are two pistols—which I'm certain are not diamond, no matter what people say. Diamonds would shatter even if you were just firing lead."

"Don't I know it," Fleur lamented. "Dropped a diamond ring once, and it cracked right away." She reached over, cupping Vinyl's face. "You are a fine model, aren't you?" she added.

"Eeeeeeyup," Vinyl said, her 'eyes' bouncing up and down. While Octavia couldn't hear any music playing, she was certain that the android was playing something to herself as a means of keeping calm.

"Fancy, have you ever considered selling?" Fleur asked calmly, eyes not leaving Vinyl.

"This one? I'm afraid not," Fancy said, keeping his voice neutral. "She was, in every way, worth the bits I spent, and I'm not sure she'd even be partial to leaving."

"I'm good," Vinyl said with a shrug.

"Yes, and I'm certain we've butted into enough of her free time as it is," Fancy said. "So, how about we leave her to go enjoy some quality time with her fellows?"

Fleur pouted. "Are you certain? I could--"

"Fleur," Octavia said, patience snapping.  

Fancy, Fleur, and Vinyl all turned to look at her. Octavia narrowed her eyes so that they were almost slits, then hissed, "I have spent these past few years fighting for android rights. At Everfree--" She spat the name to remind Fleur that they both knew that wasn't the organization she worked for. "--We've managed to go so far as to make it to outlaw the use of androids as broodmares in places like Cloudsdale and Vanhoover. Kindly take my position, and hers, with the respect that it is due."

The glass in her hands shattered, glass breaking into her skin, as she took a few, deep breaths. Jiffy appeared at her side, holding a cloth, and she took it without removing her eyes from Fleur.  

Fleur, looking considerably distressed, leaned back in her seat. "A thousand pardons, I'm—I--" She sighed, then tapped the implant in her forehead. "My body's still acclimating to this. I'm afraid it's leaving me not wholly in my right mind, and I'm terribly sorry if I caused you discomfort."

"We're cool," Vinyl said slowly. "Seriously, you were creepin' me out a little, but with Fancy here, I wasn't too concerned." She shrugged. "Don't worry about it."

"And you're not just saying that because I'm your owner's friend?" Fleur asked with a smile.

"Nope! In fact, knowing you're his friend means a lot to me," Vinyl said. "That little, uh, display aside, I think I'd have a humongous preference to being sold to you over Filthy Rich. At least you have an excuse." She rapped her knuckles against the side of her head, where Fleur's implant was.

"I thought you were supposed to be acclimated by now," Fancy asked, looking Fleur up and down. "I've been meaning to ask this entire time...Fleur, my dear...are you alright?"

"Of course I am. It's just...taking me a little longer to acclimate than it does for most ponies," Fleur said, levitating her glass. "It'll only be another week or so. I can feel it. The doctors said that this is perfectly normal, too."

Octavia sighed. "You've seen the Alicorns, right? I'm assuming you saw at least one at the Grand Galloping Gala."

"Of course! She was majestic, beautiful...it was actually under her suggestion that I got this," Fleur said, tapping the implant.

"Did she seem entirely in her right mind to you?" Octavia asked. She removed the rag from her hand. "The bleeding's stopped, but I seemed to have ruined one of your towels, Fancy."

"An ounce of your blood is worth more to me than a hundred of those," Fancy proclaimed, and anyone who knew him could see that she meant it. "That aside, what do you mean about the Alicorns?"

"Anypony whose talked to one knows that they're a little...off, wouldn't you say?" Octavia met Fleur's eyes.

"I...suppose," Fleur said. "Miss Cadenza seemed fine enough..."

"You drilled a piece of metal into your skull with the intention of using it to apply an electrical current to your brain," Octavia said simply. "Does that sound 'fine enough'?"

"Hmm. I guess you're right...just look at what happened a few decades ago. That one Alicorn up and disappeared, didn't she?"

"Have you met Alicorns?" Fancy asked, turning his gaze to Octavia.

"Once, at Everfree's main office," Octavia replied—truthfully, actually. "They like to check up on the android rights movements, let them know that their complaints are heard." And normally, feed them some garbage about how things would change as the nation wanted, as if 'the nation' could better decide what was morally right.

Fancy gave her a look. "Miss Melody," he began, in a tone that made her aware her little feud with Fleur had not gone unnoticed.

The door to the room burst open, and a pegasus bolted into the room. "Fancy, sir! The club's under attack!"

A silence fell amongst the people in the room. "By whom?" Fancy demanded, rising.

"Unknown, sir. They're armed members of some gang."

"Filthy's," Octavia growled, jumping to her feet. "I'm so stupid. It's obvious to anypony who knows Fancy he wouldn't sell to Filthy, so he skipped a step. And you can't even link this to him legally, so he can't get in trouble with it."

"Mount the defense, keep the patrons safe and prevent them from getting access to any of the androids," Fancy said. "I'll trust you to handle how to best deal with this."

The pegasus saluted, then disappeared.

"Oh, no," Vinyl whispered. "Um—what do we do? How do I help? Can I help?"

"No, you can't," Fancy answered. "Stay here, we'll wait this out. There won't be so many that the Flash-points can't handle it, or at least, hold them off until the Wonderbolts arrive."

Octavia firmly decided that she needed to be out by that point, but another worry crossed her mind. "If Filthy knows you better than we'd assumed, he'll know you won't bow to this," Octavia said, pulling her gun from its holster.

Fleur let out a squawk. "You were armed?" she burst out.

"I told you I manage security, didn't I?" Octavia said, stepping right over to the servant's door Jiffy had used repeatedly. "For example, this room has two entrances, and the building itself has plenty." She opened the door, peaking outside.

Two armed thugs—both Earth ponies stopped, standing over an unconscious butler and staring at Octavia.

Octavia didn't give them a chance. The first went down to a heashot, but the other ducked behind a doorframe as the jeweled bullet soared past.

"He's got a bodyguard!" the thug shouted.  

"Son of a bitch," Octavia muttered, ducking around the doorframe. She ejected the spent casings, loading in two extra bullets. "Fancy, we need to be on the move. Check the other door--" Bits of plaster exploded from the doorframe near her head, and she winced, ducking away from it. "Applejack, a hand, would you kindly?"

Applejack stood up, taking off her hat and putting it on the table. "Keep yer heads down, and hold onto yer manes," she told Vinyl and Fleur. "This might get a touch hairy." She charged the wall, smashing through it and colliding with the crook who'd been creeping up to the doorway.

Knowing he was dealt with, Octavia shot past Applejack, hitting another one. "There aren't many coming from that path," she said. "Still, we should--" She ducked back, feeling a stinging across her cheek. She wiped the blood away, as Applejack cursed. "You alright?" she asked, ducking back inside the room.  

"Sorry, one of 'em ricocheted off me--"

"I'd rather deal with a paper cut than you getting pumped full of holes," Octavia said. "Fancy!"

"Path's clear, Miss Melody!" one of the Flash-points shouted.

Melody let out a silent prayer of thanks. "Applejack, watch our flanks!" she ordered. "Fleur, Vinyl, get up and move! We don't have time!"

Fleur, more from panic than anything else, rushed to obey, letting Fancy usher her out the door.

"I-I-I—" Vinyl stammered, then began to play a quiet musical track.

Octavia grabbed her by the back of her coat and gave her a rough shove in the direction of the door. "Your life is important, Vinyl, don't let me catch you wasting it," she ordered.  

She turned just in time to see Applejack throwing a punch, with the servos in her wrist and arm working full throttle under the jacket sleeve. She watched as the fist extended forward several inches, and heard the bang not unlike a gunshot, followed by a cracking sound, and a spray of blood going up the wall besides her.  

Applejack retreated into the room again, retrieving her hat and putting it on top of her faux-mane. "There's still another one back there, but he's hidin' around the corner. He didn't wanna come up and say hi."

"You just killed that guy," Vinyl whispered in shock.

Applejack didn't seem to have any sort of response prepared.

"No, don't think about that, Vinyl," Fleur said. "Everything's going to be okay, alright?" She put her hands on Vinyl's shoulders. "Octavia and her friend are protecting us. Stopping the bad guys, alright? Everything is fine."

Vinyl nodded dumbly.  

Octavia beckoned them to follow, hoping Vinyl would be alright. Androids that still had all the chips added by Canterlot tended to struggle in combat scenarios. Hopefully, she could get Vinyl through this...

"Fancy, do you have a saferoom?" Octavia asked.  

"This way," Fancy said, ducking into a light sprint. "I--"

A burst of machine gun fire interrupted him. They turned as one of the Flash-points fell away from the staircase back to the bottom floor, gun arm pointed at the open doorway.

Instead of a thug, a small, round ball flung through the doorway, landing at the Flash-point's feet.  

"GRENADE!" she screamed, throwing Fleur and Vinyl away.  

She turned out to be half-right. With an echoing boom, the grenade flashed bright white. Octavia stumbled, rolling away and ducking behind the first object she could use as cover while cursing. Her ears were ringing, but she thought she heard some gunfire.

Applejack wouldn't have been blinded, and neither would the Flash-Point—their optics were too good. They'd shut out the flash so as to avoid damage. Their hearing systems were potentially compromised, but that was a secondary concern.

Perhaps too late, she pulled her goggles back over her eyes, gun lifted. She shook her head, trying in vain to clear her eyesight.  

Another bang came, followed by a metalic pinging sound as she felt her cover rattle against her. She winced, but without knowing if it was a gunshot aimed at her or friendly fire, she avoided shooting back.  

Her vision began coming into focus again as she heard the sound of Applejack punching someone. Octavia turned slightly, looking out from behind her cover.

Her 'cover' turned out to be Vinyl Scratch.

"Oh, my God, are you alright?" Octavia burst out. "You were shot--"

Vinyl shrugged helplessly. She said something, but all Octavia caught was a light buzzing sound.

"Damn Rich," Octavia snarled, pulling out her gun. She shot the first thug she saw coming through the door, who fell back, clutching his shoulder.

The sound of Applejack grunting caught her attention. She turned, to see her friend wrestling with an Earth pony. She blinked in surprise, seeing the Earth pony actually lift Applejack into the air, throwing her to the side.

The pony wore a brown, dusted vest, with his red mane short-cropped, and he spat out to the side before wiping his mouth on his sleeve. He turned to Octavia, then narrowed his eyes.

Applejack tackled him, sending the two of them rolling in an open brawl as she punched the Earth pony in the face. Applejack's hat was missing, and she was covered in numerous dents from punches.

Octavia gulped, but didn't risk opening fire. Her handgun was certainly high enough caliber to break through Applejack's armor, and she didn't want to risk shooting her friend.  

Instead, she turned her attention on the doorway. Her aim was somewhat unsteady, but as long as she was careful, she could keep the enemy at bay.

Someone tackled her from behind.

Octavia cursed, gun falling from her hand, as she fell into a brawl with a pegasus. He swung a fist at her face, missing narrowly, as she thought back to all of those ponies who'd been sneaking up the backway to Fancy's office, and how stupid she was for forgetting them.  

Octavia slammed her knee into his stomach, leveraging her Earth pony magic to shove him off of her. He rolled back, then ducked in quickly. He caught her around the waist, wings propelling them both into a wall.  

Octavia brought her fists down on the small of his back, inciting a cry of pain. She kneed him in the stomach, then brought her fist into the side of his skull. He spun around, before falling unconscious to the floor.  

The Flash-Point that had fallen a the start shouted out, "Behind you!"

Octavia spun just in time to see yet another thug climb out of the stairwell, pointing a machine gun directly at her. The pegasus had—intentionally, no doubt—carried her to the staircase, perhaps envisioning that a brawl with an Earth pony was a bad idea.

Octavia ducked slightly to the side, just as Vinyl collided with the gun. Vinyl was an android, and thus, a small chip in her head prevented her from directly harming her opponent. However, nothing stopped her from wrestling with his gun, making sure the spray of bullets hit the wall besides Octavia, with only a single one pegging her jacket sleeve.

She mentally promised to give Rarity thanks for the sturdy vest, before rolling over to snatch her fallen pistol. She rolled onto her feet, shooting at her newest attacker.  

She missed by inches, the bullet going between his and Vinyl's heads with a green trail.

The unicorn jerked his gun away from Vinyl, sending her sprawling against the wall, before swiveling to face Octavia. Octavia fired again, but a shimmering forcefield materialized in the air in front of him. The bullet broke through anyway, but the impact sent it careening off course. He ducked to the side of her second shot, gun training on her, as she leapt to the side.

Vinyl, for the second time, saved her life by tackling him. She grabbed the gun as it opened fire, a few shots going into her side but the majority hitting the wall again before the machine gun made a few, half-hearted clicking sounds. The unicorn wrestled with her, shouting, "Damn 'droid! Le'go!" He punched her in the face, then shoved hard against Vinyl.

Vinyl fell back, but so did the unicorn. Balance lost, he stumbled, foot slipping off the staircase. His eyes went wide, and then fell.  

The stairs were large enough so that Octavia couldn't hear him hit the bottom. But she knew enough to know what was happening next.

Vinyl stared after him a minute, in mute shock, before she realized that she'd just killed him. And as soon as she did, the violence inhibitor sent a signal to kill her.

Vinyl fell limp, head hitting the ground with a thud, as Octavia cursed. Thankfully, there didn't seem to be any other ponies rushing up to shoot at them, so she holstered her gun as she rushed to Vinyl's side.

"Fancy, I need help!" she called out.

Fancy looked out from the doorframe he'd pulled Fleur behind, then blanched. He rushed over, falling to a crouch besides Octavia. "What happened?"

"She accidentally killed that unicorn," Octavia said. "Meaning she's dying." She rolled Vinyl over, looking at the back of her head, before taking a deep breath. "I'm going to try and save her, but I'll need a hand."

"I'm here," Applejack said, landing besides her. Her opponent was nowhere to be seen, presumably having run off rather than die in battle.

"Where's the service plate? Damned custom models—here!" Octavia pointed to the specifically marked metal plate on the back of Vinyls neck, adding, "Remove it."

Applejack, none to gently, ripped the plate off and threw it to the side.  

Octavia looked inside, to the various blinking lights, and sure enough, found the violence inhibitor with its blinking red light. She gulped, then reached into her coat pocket. She pulled out a needle, then took a deep breath. "Here we go," she said, plunging it in. Delicate precision was required. One wrong move and she could seriously hurt Vinyl, potentially, irreparably. But all she needed to do was sever one wire, and push one button.

A click and a beep were her reward. She let out her breath, long and slow, as the red light faded to green.

"She's alright, then?" Fancy asked.

"She's stable," Octavia corrected. "I only knew one or two things. This is my first time dong this in the field, and I don't know how to remove it entirely."

"Even if ya did, Canterlot wouldn't accept it if they ever learn what happened," Applejack commented. "If people learn that an android hurt another pony and didn't die, as Canterlot says'll happen, then they might start to question the things Canterlot's sayin'. They can't allow that."

"What are you saying?" Fancy demanded.

"I need to remove the violence inhibitor, but there's no one in Manehattan I can particularly trust this to," Octavia said, "because if people learn that I did that, then she will be killed."

Fancy stared at her. "And you're suggesting that I do what?"

"Give her to them," Fleur answered.

Fancy stared at her. Fleur stepped out of the doorway, wobbled, then fell to her knees, leaning against the doorframe. She shuddered. "She's right, Fancy. Canterlot will not permit her to survive, at this point. But they can keep her alive, and hidden."

Fancy turned his gaze back to Octavia. "Don't think I don't know who you really work for," he said. "You don't plan on throwing her into the fire just to prove a point?"

"No," Octavia said. "She's a victim. She won't have to fight if she doesn't want to, Fancy. Though if she so chooses, then we'll allow her the chance to make a change. Same as we did with Applejack, and Rainbow Dash."  

Fancy stared at her for another moment. Then he sighed. "People will talk if I just give her away," he said calmly. "She got damaged in the fight, so I sold her to you, to take care of her."

"How much?"

"Fifteen hundred," Fancy said. "Anything less and it won't be believable."

Octavia winced, but nodded. "Done. I'll have it sent within a week."

Fancy nodded. "And Octavia?"

Octavia looked up from the hole in Vinyl's neck, looking towards Fancy.

Fancy met her gaze. "Don't come back."
> Smooth Sailing
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The quiet way that Fancy had told her he never wanted to see her face again stuck with her all the way to the train station. 

Fancy had long been a friend of hers—he'd always gone out of his way to be kind to her, through her bungled musical career and during the hard times afterwards. Even now, he'd still agreed to their meeting today. He'd made the time for her.

And now the two of them were friends no more.

Don't think about it like that, Octavia scolded herself. He just...wants some distance. He doesn't want Discord hurting his people by proximity. He doesn't like violence...you've always known that much.

"Darlings?"

Octavia stopped at the light, aristocratic drawl. She turned to one side, where Rarity was holding up an umbrella to shield herself further from the sun. She narrowed her blue eyes, saying, "When I said to have fun storming the castle, I meant it in jest."

Octavia finally stopped to examine herself. She was covered in dust and broken bits of plaster, with a nasty cut on her cheek and several small rips on her jacket from close calls with bullets. Applejack easily looked worse, covered head to hoof in dents, her gloves, bloodstained, and oh, right. She was carrying Vinyl over one shoulder.

"Well, um," Octavia said, beginning to realize that they'd drawn the attention of the entirety of the waiting line for boarding the train. 

Rarity sighed, stepping closer. "I heard you got into a gunfight," she said. "Is everything alright?"

"Just scratched up, most of us," Octavia admitted.

"Nothin' that won't buff out," Applejack said. 

Rarity turned to the android, then did a double take. What is that."

Octavia winced. "One of Fancy's androids got shot by the gang that attacked," Octavia said. "So I offered to buy her off him at a discount..."

Thinking about it, her personal bank account didn't quite have fifteen hundred bits at the moment...

Rarity's lips drew to a fine line. "This way," she said without emotion. 

"That's not where we get tickets," Octavia protested, following Rarity anyway.

"Pfft! Puh-lease, darling, do you think they'll let you bother the other passengers upfront?" She shook her head, stepping through the crowd.

Octavia made her way, cursing Rarity's longer legs. Applejack lagged just behind her, having to move carefully so as to keep Vinyl's head from exploding.

...Right, she needed to have an expert look at that as soon as possible. Vinyl hadn't woken up yet, and she wouldn't, not until the inhibitor was removed. 

Damnable invention, Octavia thought. I hope whoever came up with that one is burning in Tartarus.

"Smooth!" Rarity said, waving.

The train conductor turned, straightening his spectacles. When he saw the speaker, he grinned broadly. "Why, hello, miss Rarity!" he bellowed. The minotaur leaned down, kissing the back of her hand. "What can Smooth Sails do for you today?"
Rarity thumbed over at Octavia and Applejack. "I was wondering if we couldn't ride in one of the luggage cars, so as to not bother the other passengers."

"Hmm..." Smooth Sails opened the ledger he kept with him, examining it closely. "There isn't so much cargo in car eight, Smooth Sails thinks you'd find it most comfortable. Any other pony, Smooth would laugh at, but he trusts Rarity to keep her hands off other passenger's cargo." With the vague-and-not-so-vague threat out of the way, he slammed the book shut. "Smooth will even charge you for cargo space, and not passenger seating."

Rarity let out a sigh of relief. "You are a well and true gentleman, Smooth. How much?"

"Hmm...Smooth will only charge you for three, considering dead weight back there," the minotaur said, pointing at Vinyl.

"She's not--" Octavia cut herself off, sighing. 

Smooth elected to ignore her. "That'll be thirty bits," Smooth said. "And Smooth suggests you get on sooner rather than later."

Rarity fished out the bits—one did not simply 'haggle' with minotuars, especially if they were choosing to be generous—and handed them over. "Thank you so much, Smooth. How's the missus doing, anyhow?"

"Splendid! Smooth's wife is the image of perfection!" He flexed, muscles threatening to tear through his sleeves, as if this, in any way, related to the physical well-being of his wife.

Octavia tuned out the brief small talk he made with Rarity, and even Rarity's small talk with Coco Pommel, the young mare she had managing her Manehattan branch. Octavia climbed into the cargo wagon without a word, then helped Applejack get settled in on a sturdy looking crate. Vinyl took some finagling, but she was set up across a few boxes, with her head in Octavia's lap. Octavia held Vinyl firmly in place, knowing that she'd be in some danger once the train started moving.

"Out with it, Octavia," Rarity said, sitting across from the musician. "What happened?"

"Filthy...apparently arrived at the same conclusion, I did," Octavia said slowly. "He skipped bargaining and went straight to violence. His thugs arrived while we were at the Flight of Fancy, and during the fight..."

"You can tell the nitty-gritty stuff to the ponies back at the castle," Rarity interrupted. "Is that one in any danger?"

"If she gets jostled too much," Octavia said. "I'm...I'm not as good as Fluttershy yet."

"Fluttershy can't do field-work," Rarity countered. "As much as I love her, she's not sturdy like you are."

"You jest need to train up with yer hands a little more," Applejack said, lifting one hand in a fist. "A little more trainin' woulda shown that pegasus the what-for."

"That damned unicorn is what screwed everything up there," Octavia muttered. "Just think, one in about four or five unicorns is practiced enough to create a shield spell. And this one...this one does just good enough of a job to send my bullet off course. Vinyl here has to come save my flank. Twice, from the same ruffian."

"I didn't rightly see what happened," Applejack intoned, "but anypony would get screwed over by point-blank machine gunfire."

Octavia rubbed her side, but paused as she heard the train whistle, and the familiar call of, "Aaaaall aboooooard!"

"Finally," she muttered. With a curse, she grabbed Vinyl firmly by the shoulders, just as the train jolted. 

She muttered several back-to-back prayers aimed at any deities listening, as the train started moving. The hole Applejack had made in Vinyl's neck had been covered with a scarf—and the bright red scarf was not a flattering thing on her—but a single, slowly blinking light told Octavia what she needed to know.

"She's still stable," she said with a sigh of relief. "The last thing I need right now is to try working on an android in a moving train."'

"Few would," a wry voice answered from the door.

Octavia's gun was an inch out of its holster before Rarity said, "My, here I was thinking I'd be safe from unnecessary conversation with you back here."

"It almost sounds like you don't like me," came the reply. The android stepped into the room—she was clearly an expensive, custom order of some sort. A great mane of orange swept across her back, her eyes two pools of green light with two bright green lights for pupils—advanced imitation eyes, for top-dollar customers. She wore a spiked collar, and a deep violet jacket, undercoat, skirt...all her clothing seemed to be shades of purple, actually. 

"Who is this?" Octavia asked slowly.

"Oh, a greenhorn, is it?" the android asked, sitting down on a box.

Octavia bristled. "I am not," she said.

"Octavia, this is Adagio," Rarity said quietly. "She's with the Dazzle Den."

Octavia stopped short, then fully holstered her gun.

"That's a nice pistol. A Drake, if I'm not mistaken?"

Octavia nodded. 

Adagio sighed. "My, you ponies get more boring with each new recruit," she said. "Is Rainbow Dash still around, Rarity? It might be fun to hang with her before I head back to Las Pegasus."

"Adagio," Rarity hissed. "This is not a secure location."

"Five bits says it's more secure than you'd think," Adagio said, nodding to the door. "One of my boys is keeping an eye on that door. We're not getting any interruptions."

"Still, it would behoove us not to discuss such matters until we get to Ponyville," Rarity said. "I swear I told you this last time—are you Seven?"

The android made a great showing of checking the pin on her jacket. "Hmm...nope, Five. Same as last time I checked."

"Apologies, you all look alike to me," Rarity muttered. "Why make nine androids that look exactly like you, I'll never understand."

The Adagio android shrugged. "It comes of thinking highly of yourself," she said simply. "I'd do the same in her position, though I think that goes without saying. What's with the stiff?"

"She's not a stiff!" Octavia snapped. "She's alive, thank you very much!"

Adagio stared at her. "So we're clear, part of this trip to Ponyville is now going to be spent discussing the fact that Discord apparently shot up the Flight of Fancy."

"We did not!" Octavia burst out. "We were attacked by Rich's thugs while we were there."

"Are ponies saying it was Discord?" Rarity asked carefully.

"Not really," Adagio said. "As far as I am aware, there's nothing to connect Discord to the shootout at all, though I understand that dear mister Fancy hasn't made any official statements yet, but the Crown will probably pin it on Discord if they can."

"You know that some of these officials can be persuasive," Rarity said slowly. "But he's an old friend of Octavia's, so I'm certain he won't say much."

Octavia was not sure how much trust she was supposed to show to Adagio, so she knew she had to be careful about what she said. Thankfully, Applejack seemed to agree on this front, and so neither of them mentioned that Fancy had pretty much severed ties with them.

Hopefully it would still all be alright.






Octavia, Applejack, and whoever the hell the other two were kept talking the entire trip, seemingly under the false assumption that Vinyl was not conscious. Granted, if any of what they said was important, she couldn't say.

She also couldn't see or move in the least, and if her feeling receptors were working properly, she was certain that she'd be feeling the missing panel in her neck.

On the other hand, she should be dead. She'd killed a pony. Androids had been known to kill ponies on accident, of course, but they always died from the shock of it. Androids were, unless specifically designed to, not able to withstand the thought of having ended a pony's life. 

To make the matter even more confusing was that she didn't particularly feel guilty. Vinyl liked what she'd seen of Octavia so far, and the stallion had been trying to shoot her. True, Vinyl's only real thought had been to stop him from shooting, but partly because she couldn't do anything further.

Okay, whenever she was trying to make a particularly complicated song, she worked out a rough framework for the beats. She could do that here.

Starting with the known, and obvious, facts. She killed a pony, had seen some sort of error message, and then blacked out. She had vaguely heard Fancy selling her. Vinyl was now on a train, with her head in Octavia's lap.

Next, things that were dubious in her mind. According to officials from Canterlot, androids were not supposed to be able to survive the shock of hurting a pony. This was at least partly incorrect. Maybe she had a bug? She remembered...they said Canterlot wouldn't let her live. Was it because she had a flaw that made her dangerous? 

Okay, that was a good theory, but she didn't think she had all the info. What else was there?

Oh, right. She was certain that Octavia was not, in any way, affiliated with Everfree. Whatever that conversation had been, she'd picked up that much, at least. Even so...

Wait. The other pony they'd met—Rarity?--just referred to 'Adagio'. Bloody Tartarus, had she been sold to the Dazzle Den? No, Fancy wouldn't do that.

If he knew.

Regardless, as she felt herself being carried once more, she considered that she didn't have much of a say in it at this point—if you could have said that she'd had a say in the first place. The most she could have done was voice her disapproval, and that, only because Fancy allowed it. 

He was a good enough pony. Vinyl had never chafed under his command. Wherever she was going, she felt like her life wasn't going to be as easy as it had been before.

And she'd almost finished that new song, that Fancy was sure to love...

"Fluttershy!" Octavia shouted. "We've got a hurt android!"

Silence, except for light, echoing footsteps. Then, so quietly that she had to strain her ears to catch it, some pony saying, "Oh my. What happened?"

"A few bullet shots, and she accidentally killed somepony," Octavia answered. "Is there an emergency bed clear?"

"Yes, this way," Fluttershy said. "What did you do?"

"I—I turned off the inhibitor," Octavia said. She keeps saying 'violence inhibitor'. I've never heard of that, but she clearly knows more about this than I do. "But that's all I know how to do."

"It's fine, it was enough," Fluttershy said. "Set her down here. Pinkie! Are you--"

"Here!" a cheerful voice boomed from overhead. Vinyl heard a metallic grinding sound.

"Don't do that!" Octavia shrieked. She let out a sigh. "How many times must I tell you--"

"Geeze, she looks bad," Pinkie's voice came—it sounded synthesized, so Vinyl felt safe to say android. Except...that couldn't be right. Androids were forbidden from working on other androids, to any degree.

Except that they were also talking about removing a piece of machinery that supposedly didn't exist.

Another voice spoke up—this one was definitely an android, and seemingly, a cheap one, as the voice had no emotion whatsoever, and was completely computer generated. "Did you destabilize the cloud link, or simply disconnect the power from the kill switch?"

"The latter," Octavia answered.

Another voice—How many ponies are in here?--spoke up. "Ugh, then she's still conscious, scrap-brain."

"Limestone!" Pinkie chided, with another of the grinding sounds that seemed to follow her talking. "Don't be mean to her. It shouldn't be too bad, right?"

"Mm-hm," another voice chimed in. At this point, Vinyl was beginning to piece one or two things together. Namely, the fact that a vast majority of the voices seemed to be coming from directly above her...?

"I do hope the train ride wasn't too rough on her," Rarity spoke up.

"Shouldn't have been," Pinkie said. 

"We can't say for certain until we get a good look at the damage," the monotone voice said. 

"So—she's still conscious?" Octavia asked, hesitantly.

"Hm-hm."

"Yes."

"Yupperoni!"

"I just told you that!"

No doubt about it. All four of them seemed to be hanging from the ceiling somehow. Where even was she, anyway?
"Vinyl, I'm so sorry," Octavia whispered. She felt the scarf being pulled off her neck, and the whirring of heavy machinery. "I should have treated you gentler..."

"Did you rip off this panel?" the angry one demanded—Limestone?

"Uh, that was me, sorry," Applejack said. "We were in a rush."

"Rush jobs," Limestone spat.

"It's all they had time for," the monotone one said. "Usually, perfection is out of reach, so we have to make do with the most readily available substitute."

"Ah! There Maude goes with the timeless wisdom again!" Pinkie clucked her tongue—or made a similar sound, anyway, as Vinyl thought she was an android. "But hey! I think this is a pretty good substitute! We can have her back on in a jiffy!"

Oh, Jiffy. She was gonna miss that flighty feather-brain.

"Really?" Octavia said. "Oh, I was worried I'd done some sort of serious damage. That's a relief."

More for me than for you, lady!

"Well, worry no longer!" Pinkie said.

"Yes, you only actually made one mistake, and that was partly due to the rough treatment of her ride here," Maude said.

"Oh, dear," Applejack said. "She gonna be alright?"

"Yes. Aside from us having to reboot her sensory systems."

Vinyl felt something tugging at her throat—presumably, ponies were starting working on her now. 

"Which...is that a bad thing?" Rarity asked, after a minute's silence. 

"Well..." Pinkie began, which was immediately not a good sign. 

"So, um, not to worry you or anything," Fluttershy said, "but we don't have the option of turning her off while we do this...which is how it's normally done. Doing it while the android is awake is...um..."

"It hurts like a son of a bitch," Applejack intoned. "Ugh. Sorry, Vinyl, I shouldn't have been so rough."

"Don't worry! The pain is really, really, really temporary! Like, five—ten...maybe thirty seconds!" A moment's silence.

"I don't think that was very reassuring," Maude said.

"Yeah, I know," Pinkie Pie said dejectedly. "Anyhoo, brace yourself! I'm gonna do it in three—two--"

Vinyl heard Limestone say, "Ugh." That was her last thought before being completely engulfed in pain.
> Disc0rd
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Vinyl lived for music. Sure, it's what she had been made it do, but she felt like this wasn't some programming thing. She loved music—and not even just the stuff she made. Techno, rock, even classical. There was something soothing about it, even in the worst of times.

She'd also found out that if she muted her speakers, she could listen to music without anyone else hearing. Often times, when stressed, she'd just play some music until she was calm again. The only way anyone could tell was by her eyes, and only if you knew her well enough to know what the dancing bars meant.

Just as suddenly as it had started, the pain stopped, leaving a general feeling of numbness in Vinyl. "Owwwwwwww," she said, her newly reactivated voice box sluggishly drawing out the sounds. "Whyyyyyyyyyyy?"

"Oh, get over it," Limestone said. "Rip the band-aid off, am I right?"

"Limestone!" Pinkie chastised. "That was not nice."

"Hm-mm," Marble said, somehow sounding more stern. 

Blurry forms of gray appeared in her vision as her optics booted up. "I still can't move," Vinyl said. 

"That'll be a minute, sorry," Fluttershy said in her ears. Vinyl felt someone poking at her throat again. "How are you feeling?"

"Wonderful," Vinyl drawled. "Cherry goddamn sundae."

"Oh, really?" Another set of metallic grinding, followed by a shape appearing in her view. "You don't sound like it."

Vinyl didn't answer for a minute. "Did I just swear?" she asked. "I'm...not s'posed to do that..." Couldn't, actually, because Fancy had told her not to.

"You don't have to worry about that," Octavia chuckled. 

A light tinking sound alerted her just as a pony's face appeared in view. Yellow coat, with slightly curled pink hair streaming from her head. She wore a white doctor's coat, and looked into Vinyl's face with concern. "Don't worry, you're safe," she said.

Vinyl didn't want to try answering that at the moment. "Where am I?" she asked instead.

"Um..."

"We can't answer that just yet," Pinkie's voice came, with another grinding sound. "Sorry. We have orders."

Fluttershy moved out of Vinyl's face, letting Vinyl get a good look at Pinkie...or, so she assumed it was Pinkie. 

Hanging from the ceiling by a series of metal tentacles was a massive construct. She couldn't see much of its main body, partly because its mechanical eyes were in the way. Four eyes on long, flexible stalks, each one different. Two were made to resemble normal pony eyes of different colors, one was simply a red screen with a lighter red dot in the center, the last she wasn't even sure functioned as an eye. It was simply a metal ball, painted to look like an eye, except at the edges where the pain had been scraped off.

That one looked more directly at her than the others, and Pinkie's voice sounded from somewhere just behind it. "You might wanna hold still, we're putting in some new plating for your throat, then we'll see about the rest of the bullets, alright?" The eyestalk gave a happy bob, sending the eye rolling in its socket, producing that grinding sound she'd been hearing up until this point, and, presumably, chipping off whatever paint was left on the far edges of the eye. 

"Ahh..." Vinyl squeaked. 

"Are you gonna scream?" Maude's monotone voice came. 

"Really, please don't," Limestone added, the red eye narrowing. 

"O-okay," Vinyl squeaked. Behemoth. That's what she was looking at—the only thing she could be looking at! It had to be the size of a truck, probably bigger! And what was with the four eyes and voices? Good God! What was she even looking at?
One of the tentacles, this one with a tool at the end, began jabbing at her throat. "You ever considered replacing your casing?" Limestone asked. "This stuff isn't that durable."

"Uh..."

One of the imitation eyes turned to look at her stomach, and a couple of small tendrils came out to pull the jacket away. 

"Sorry, but your jacket seems to have been ruined," Maude's voice came.

"N-no worries." Discord. She was at a DISCORD base. Granted, they didn't seem like they planned on killing her, but she also knew that Canterlot would not care if they blew the base to smithereens with her inside it or not.

"Here, I shall make you another," Rarity's voice came, from somewhere on her right. "Consider it an apology for letting you get caught up in this mess."

"No worries."

"Is she alright? You didn't damage her with that stunt, did you, Limestone?" Pinkie asked, that eye grinding once more as the stalk turned to look at the red one.

"You brutes! Don't you see you've scared the poor thing?" Rarity snapped. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Miss...Vinyl, was it?"

"Eyup."

"I'm Rarity, Rarity Belle. This here is Doctor Fluttershy, and—well, you've met Applejack and Octavia, right?"

Vinyl nodded weakly.

"Hey, she's moving again!" Pinkie said. 

Maude's tentacles fished a bullet out of her stomach. "Getting rid of all these holes is going to take a while," she said, still showing no emotion. "I'm actually with Limestone on this one. This could be a good opportunity to replace some of it with armored plating."

"Mm-hm."

"She's not in much of a condition to make that choice right now," Fluttershy put in. "We can always do that later, if she wants it. She might want to stay away from the fighting."

"You're...you're the Behemoth," Vinyl choked out.

All four eyes turned to look into her face. 

"These are the Pie Sisters," Rarity said. "There's a long story behind that, and I'm sure they'd be happy to tell you sometime when they aren't performing surgery on you."

"But, yes, we're the Behemoth," Pinkie said, eye rolling again. 

"Mm-hm."

"So, um, yeah...do you think you could...patch the holes? I can worry about the other stuff later," Vinyl said with a chuckle.

"Mm-hm," the last of the Pie Sisters said. 

"Oh! This is Marble Pie, and she's excited to meet you, and is hoping we can get along well once you get used to us," Pinkie said, eye doing a couple of three-sixty spins.

"Mm-hm," Marble said with a slight bob. 

Maude finished fishing out bullets and a few scraps of fabric from her stomach. "Fluttershy, do we have any of the responsive paneling in stock?" she asked.

"I'll go check," Fluttershy said, rushing off. Well, she was clearly intending to move fast, but she wasn't moving very quickly, especially when she had to briefly take flight to get past a pegasus leaning against the doorframe with legs outstretched. 
Vinyl focused her gaze on the pegasus, quickly realizing a few things. This pegasus was wearing punk city garb, focusing on a black jacket, white tank top, and worn, scuffed up jeans. She wasn't wearing shoes. She was an android. And she had a rainbow mane.

Vinyl shouldn't have been surprised, really—as she'd told Fleur earlier, Rainbow Dash was the most believable part about the whole 'Discord' mess. Vinyl had seen the pictures of her, taken during shots of action. Rainbow Dash had gone rogue after Wonderbolts were declared illegal for civilians to own, so her design was slightly outdated, though she still had the signature 'Wonderbolt blue' coloring, as crayons would put it. Her arms were folded across her chest, hiding her weapons from view. 
Oh, and her eyes were like those of the older Wonderbolts—designed to look like a pair of flight goggles. The glass was red, and showed no signs of imitation pupils. 

"Hi," Vinyl said.

Rainbow Dash gave a slight nod. "Heard the screaming, thought I'd check to see if everything is alright." 

"No worries, Dashie, we have everything under control!" Pinkie said, with a chorus of agreements from her sisters. 

"That's good," Rainbow Dash said with another nod. "So, Melody, mind explaining this one?"

Octavia stiffened. "It'll be in the report," she muttered.

"You can give that now," Rainbow replied.

Octavia pointed to Vinyl.

"She was here for all of it, wasn't she?" Rainbow asked. 

"And if you know that, then that means you already have an idea what happened?" Octavia asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Because I was making sure you weren't followed, and you were, up until the train station," Rainbow growled.

"By whom?" Rarity demanded. "I'd have noticed—"

"It was a drone of some sort. Tiny, winged thing. I didn't get a good look at 'im myself, but it's not that hard to figure out who sent him."

"But he didn't follow us here, so we're good," Octavia said firmly.

"Octavia," Rainbow said in warning. "You narrowly escaped death today."

"I was shot at repeatedly. I only got out because Vinyl saved my flank," Octavia snapped. "I think I got--"

"The Princess of Inquiries was asking after you," Rainbow interrupted.

"An Alicorn?" Vinyl burst out.

A moment of silence passed, as Rainbow focused her attention on her.

"Oh, um, sorry," Vinyl said. "You can just, uh, continue."

"An Alicorn was asking after you," Rainbow repeated as if the interruption hadn't occurred. "I need to know what Fancy knows, because we have to assume that anything he knows, the Princess of Inquiries knows as well."

There was a moment's silence, which Octavia broke.

"I—"

"Rainbow Dash!"

The Wonderbolt jumped, turning to see a scowling Fluttershy holding up a small bundle. "Are you court-martialing my patients again?"

"I wasn't--"

"OUT!" Fluttershy grabbed her roughly by the coat, shoving her out the door. "If you've got nothing better to do, go fetch some armor plating for Applejack, just stay out of my way!" She paused. "Um...please."

Rainbow stared at her in mute silence, before moving off to comply.

Fluttershy turned around, face quite pink. "Um, sorry about that," she said. "I, uh, lost my temper." She gave an apologetic smile.

"It's fine, darling, this is hardly the time or place for it," Rarity said. "As she herself admitted, the Alicorn failed to track you here. Not like any of them could, anyway."

Fluttershy unwrapped the bundle, setting up a few sheets of smooth, white panels, still blushing.

"We...do have a problem, though," Octavia admitted. "Fancy and Fleur both figured out I'm with Discord."

Rarity gasped. "Both of them?"

"I didn't confirm it to either of them, so Fancy has an excuse not to say anything," Octavia said. "I trust him. He won't spill. Fleur...I'm not so certain."

"I figure she's good enough, if she didn't have that chip in her brain," Applejack scoffed. She took off her hat, dusting it off. "Rarity, can you go mention this to the Boss? She'll wanna know."

"Certainly, as soon as Rainbow Dash is back," Rarity replied. "She said Princess of Inquiries?"

"I think so," Vinyl said. "Is...that better or worse than one of the others?" There were no more than six Alicorns at any time, supposedly picked because they represented the Elements of Harmony. 

From what she knew, some of them were a far cry away from the mythical artifacts of goodness.

"Inquiries is bad," Octavia muttered. "Very bad."

"She's kinda...on a longer leash than the others," Pinkie said, rolling her eye slowly to one side. "A real meanie."

"There aren't many Inquisitors, especially as she's rather new," Rarity said, "but you and Octavia will both want to stay in the castle for a while, at least until we think she's no longer looking."

"Bloody Tartarus," Octavia muttered, resting her face in her hands. "An Alicorn...I can barely hold my own against an unarmed pegasus, what am I supposed to do against a deity?"

"They ain't deities, they bleed same as any pony," Applejack scoffed, "but ain't none of us were ready for that confrontation yet. The plan ain't gonna change because of Midnight Sparkle, no matter how hard she looks."





A violet streak soared across the Manehattan skyline, wings twisting, before alighting on an arm stretched out from a violet cloak.

"Well?" Midnight asked, voice taking on a slightly metalic hum. "Did you see her?"

Spike turned, his mechanical head looking her right in the eyes. "She was beautiful," he whispered.

Midnight blinked. "What?"

"That pony...with the violet mane! She was gorgeous!" He puffed out his wings, spinning around on her arm, briefly hanging from her elbow upside-down. "I—wow! I think I'm in love, Midnight!"

Midnight stared at him, then rubbed her face. "Spike," she chided. "What about Octavia?"

"Oh, um...she was with the pretty mare."

Midnight slammed a palm into her face, making a dull, metalic ping as she hit her prosthetic eye. Her vision from that half blurred, the world turning into a teal mass briefly, as she winced. Gotta remember to stop doing that, she thought. "Did you at least see where they went?" she asked.

"Er...a train?"

"Which train?" Midnight demanded. 

"I don't know. The conductor might!"

"Who was the conductor?" Midnight asked.

"Erm..." Spike cocked his head. "A minotaur?"

Midnight sighed, wings sagging with a rattling of metal. Her horn lit up, and she poured a little magic into Spike. "Direct line, Minuette. Authorized: 'Summer Sun'."

His eyes lit up, accessing the free energy, before a series of green lights lit up along his spines. A hologram appeared in the air above him. "Hey, Princess," Minuette said, smiling at the hologram of Midnight on her end.

"Any luck on your end?" Midnight asked.

"Not really. These gang members don't know who hired them, though I think it's safe to assume it's Filthy Rich."

"Safe to assume, but we can't arrest ponies on 'assumptions'," Midnight said. At least, not the upper nobility. "What about Octavia and her android?"

"No luck. Only a couple of living ponies saw her in action. Unless Fancy or Fleur told you something, the only others are either dead or MIA."

"What about that pegasus?" 

Minuette shrugged. "He got beat up by an Earth pony. He knows nothing more than that. As far as that big Earth pony gangster went, I don't have the foggiest clue. He's not a small name, either—he's experienced. Goes by 'Rough Tumble'. He and the boss pony both vanished before Indigo and I arrived."

Midnight sighed. "So no leads, then?"

"Nope. I wanna check out Everfree, though, see if Octavia is actually one of them."

"Leave that to Sour," Midnight replied. "She's there, she can find that out shortly."

"Got it. What do you want us to do with these guys?"

"Cull them. We don't need trash in our kingdom," Midnight ordered.

"You got it, boss. Any orders for what to do next?"

"Hang around in Manehattan," Midnight answered. "I'm going on the move again. I lost the trail on my end..." She gave a glare to Spike, letting him know what that meant. "...But I want you and Indigo to stay here. How's she holding up, by the way?"

"Rookie's doing just fine," Minuette said with a grin. "Her aim is only slightly worse in the field than during training, and she doesn't waver hardly at all. She's shaping up to be an excellent Inquisitor." She flashed a supportive grin at her off-screen partner.

Midnight smiled. A consoling thought, at least. "Make sure she gets a chance to voice her thoughts on this case," she answered. "Relay anything that sounds useful back to me."

"Heard and accepted," Minuette answered. "I'll call you the moment I find anything useful."

"Thank you," Midnight said. "End call."

Spike ended the call. "Well, it's hardly my fault," he said, flapping his wings in a disgruntled fashion. 

"I don't remember programming the ability to find ponies attractive into you," Midnight muttered. "Next time, stay focused. This could have been huge."

"I know, I know," he apologized, head bowed. "Sorry."

"It's alright. We'll get more chances," Midnight said. And they would, she was sure.

She'd make sure of it.
> Matters of Trust
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Talk had died died down after Rainbow Dash had returned with some metal plating for Applejack, at which point Fluttershy had thrown her and Rarity out. Octavia was thrown out after Fluttershy swabbed her cuts with disinfectant, and by that point, the Behemoth had finished fixing her plating.

Vinyl was a little unsure about the Pie Sisters at first, but she quickly found herself laughing at every one of Pinkie’s jokes, even if the rest of them were somewhat quieter. Marble, in particular, seemed to say little beyond, “Mm-hm” and a light bob of her eye, though Pinkie seemed to have a good guess at what she was feeling normally. 

Fluttershy peeked out the doorway, then said, “It looks like Octavia is off giving her report.”

“Sounds about right,” Applejack muttered, before grunting as the final piece of armored plating was attached to her shoulder. She rolled her shoulder, listening for anything out of place, before letting out a, “Yeehaw! You girls patched me up right as rain!”

“Aw, it was nothin’,” Pinkie said, eye rolling to one side in a bashful fashion.

Or, so Vinyl thought. The tone conveyed it more than anything. If she looked closer at the Behemoth, she did see four mechanical hooves, though she had yet to ask if they were cybernetic, or purely mechanical, or...actually, she hadn’t yet worked up the courage to ask anything.

“Well, what do we do about Vinyl?” Fluttershy asked. “This place is really old, and if she wandered outside, she could get hurt badly. And if she stays inside, she might get caught in one of the traps.”

“Ah, booby traps, of course,” Vinyl muttered. “Um...I’m fine sitting here until--” She stopped. “Actually...what next? I...I don’t know what you guys want.”

“A large part depends on what you want, Vinyl,” Applejack asked, pointing a finger at her. She grabbed her tank top, pulling it over her head.

“What I want?”

“Ain’t no one who owns you no more. Yer free as a bird.” She threw her jacket back on, then pulled her hat onto her head. “If you want to help us, yer free to offer up a hand. If you just wanna sit down and avoid the action, hell, we’d let you do that jest fine.”

“But aren’t you worried I’ll go alert the Princesses?” Vinyl asked slowly. “Besides, if I leave the castle, no one’s gonna care that I’m ‘free’.” She made sure her exaggerated air quotes were plainly visible. 

“First off, we didn’t say you were free to leave right away,” Applejack said. “I’m afraid we may have to keep you here for a little while. And the second part is why we’re fightin’, so that androids can be truly free, and the other ponies Canterlot’s hurtin’, too.”

Vinyl had to admit, that did sound heroic, but... “I don’t know the first thing about combat,” she said. “I’m not built for it, either, even if I...can hurt ponies now.”

“’Can’ and ‘should’ are two entirely different questions,” Applejack said. “It takes some work figurin’ out when yer supposed to attack, and when to hold back. We normally try to avoid violence, if we can help it.”

“We’re not out to hurt ponies,” Pinkie said.

“Not the good ones,” Limestone growled. “Bastards like Filthy Rich need to be buried in a pine box.”

Applejack didn’t answer that directly. “Sometimes ponies only listen to fightin’,” Applejack said. “And Celestia seems to be one of ‘em, but there’s a lot of ponies out there who don’t want to hurt no one.”

“But, if you wanted to stay around, we’d be happy to have you,” Fluttershy put in. “It’s always nice to meet a new friend, though I guess it can be scary sometimes.” The poor girl hid in her mane, casting a nervous look Vinyl’s away when she noticed the android’s attention.

“Well, um—I don’t bite, if that’s what your worried about,” Vinyl said, gesturing to her face—which lacked a mouth entirely. 

Fluttershy giggled. “I wasn’t really worried about that,” she admitted. 

“Good.” Vinyl swung her legs off the operating table, planting them on the ground. She picked up her jacket, sighing at the bullet holes in it. “Aw.” She pulled it on, saying, “And, um...if the Princesses catch me. What happens then?”

“Well, most likely, they kill yah, since you know more than they want you to,” Applejack put in. “But, if you wanna risk it, there’s always the one-percent chance that, if you turn in the ponies who saved yer life, sell ‘em out and all, then you’ll save your chrome at the cost of a couple dozen ponies who wanted to do right with the world, just so you can spend yer days...I dunno, actually. I’m not sure what they’d do with ya if they kept ya alive. Maybe death would be preferable.” She shrugged. “Or maybe I’m not givin’ ‘em enough credit. Maybe they’re a lot more fare than that.”

“Okay,” Vinyl said. “Yikes. I never really thought about how scary those ponies were.”

Especially the Alicorns. Oh, Stars above...what if she ran into an Alicorn?

“So, you wanna a tour?” Applejack said, seemingly pretending she hadn’t made a previous statement. “There’s a lot of the place that’ll be off limits to ya, at least for now, but I can show you around the hospital, at least.”

“Is...is there a place I can rest?” Vinyl asked. “I think I need to boot off for a bit. Process everything, y’know?”

“Oh, of course,” Fluttershy said. “Applejack, we...we have some guest rooms, right?”

“A few, though we don’t exactly get many ‘guests’,” Applejack said. “Come on. I’ll show ya to a bunk.”

“Hmm. No android stasis tanks, I’m guessing?” She paused. “Wait, how do I recharge?”

“Oh, right, yer new,” Applejack muttered. “Ya don’t need to.”

“Dude,” Vinyl said. “Not funny. I don’t want to have gone through all this just to black out from power loss and then never wake up again. Where do I charge my batteries?”

Applejack reached over and poked Vinyl’s horn. “That doohickey Fluttershy and the Pie Sisters took out did more than just prevent you from hurting anypony. It blocked yer magic—you have unicorn magic, same as any unicorn would, and that keeps ya charged.”

Vinyl stared at her. “Wait, I can...I can do the telekinesis thing?”

“Mm-hm,” Marble’s voice put in.

“Actually, you can manipulate thaumic energy through a conduit—your horn—and manipulate it such as to cast numerous spells,” Maude said. After a slight pause, she added, “But yes, you can also do the telekinesis thing.”

“I thought androids couldn’t use magic,” Vinyl said slowly.

“’Cuz Canterlot wants to keep pretending yer not really alive,” Applejack scoffed. “Long as they can do that, then they can brush off all the complaints about android rights, but there’s no easy way to prove that right now.”

Vinyl accessed her system diagnostics, checking her power. Fully charged. Despite being active for considerably longer in one stretch than she had before.

“So, is someone gonna teach me how to do that?” Vinyl asked slowly.

Applejack shrugged. “Maybe. There’s not a lot of unicorns nearby, though we can certainly find one we trust enough to let up here. You can try practicing a bit on yer own, too. No one’s gonna stop ya, though you might wanna be careful.”

“Gotcha,” Vinyl said, imagining blowing herself up because she wanted to roll up window blinds with magic. A ridiculous thought.

“This way, ma’am,” Applejack said, beckoning.

Vinyl followed, examining the building. The hospital room had been whitewashed stone, but from what the rest of the place looked like, it had clearly been replaced with newer material. 

The building was ancient. Cracked stone bricks made up every wall and floor, and she’d occasionally pass a tapestry. They either seemed to be of Celestia—which were few and far between—or of another pony, an Alicorn. Vinyl couldn’t say who it was. She wasn’t familiar with all the Alicorns over the past thousand years. Despite the fact that they were supposed to live forever, Alicorns did end up being replaced every few decades, normally lasting thirty to fifty years.

Not that Vinyl had seen any of that. She’d only been made seven years ago, just before the Wonderbolts had been declared as ‘government use only’. 

But she wasn’t particularly sorry to see them gone from Fancy’s place. He’d been using a few as guards. They were a lot more dangerous than the Flash-points, which Canterlot had replaced the confiscated Wonderbolts with. 

But the Flash-Points looked a lot friendlier.

“Could I...ask a question? About Discord?”

“Go ahead, but I can’t promise I’ll be allowed to answer,” Applejack replied.

“Is the Diamond Duster real?”

Applejack stopped dead in her tracks, falling silent. “Eeeeyup,” she drawled out. Then she started moving again.

Vinyl moved to be walking right next to her. “Yikes. I’m assuming it’s more complicated than an android with a human heart?”

“I don’t rightly know where that rumor came from,” Applejack muttered. “But...yeah, it’s less complicated than that. Nothing like that crazy rumor.”

“Well, I mean, I don’t imagine sane people wearing masks like that,” Vinyl muttered.

Applejack looked at her. “Sane people don’t join the rebellion trying to overthrow the immortal goddess of the sun,” she drawled. “Everyone here’s crazy.”

“Ah, thanks for the heads up. I was expecting a castle full of reasonable, distinguished gentlecolts.”

“Sorry to disappoint,” Applejack chuckled.

“Don’t be. I’m crazy, too.”

Applejack stopped at a door. “Here’s a room you can stay in. It should have everything ya need, give a holler if you need somethin’. Oh, and, uh...don’t wander off too far, okay? Just...until everything’s settled down somewhat.”

“You mean you don’t want a complete stranger with unknown affiliations poking around your secret base?” Vinyl gasped. “How rude.”

Applejack laughed. “You’ve got a smart mouth, anypony ever tell you that?”

“Once or twice.” Vinyl shrugged. “I’ve got a foul streak when I choose to, as well.”

“Ya gotta let me hear that sometime,” Applejack chuckled. “Right, I gotta head off, though. I’m sure the Boss will want to talk about that mission.”

“Does she have a name?” Vinyl asked dryly.

“Yeah, just only a couple of us are allowed to know who she is,” Applejack said bluntly. “And you ain’t there yet.”

“Gotcha, fair enough,” Vinyl said. “I’m gonna go boot off. I need to think.” 

She opened the door, pausing as Applejack said, “Sleep tight.” 

The room was sparse, mostly just an old bed—thankfully, newer than the castle—and a nightstand. It did, however, have a window, and that lead to her curiosity overwhelming her.

Vinyl stepped up and looked outside.

The castle itself was ginormous, even from the parts she could see. There was a massive courtyard, and in the center of this was a glowing, crystal statue of a tree. It had to be the size of a small building alone. 

The walls separating the courtyard from the outside world were mostly gone at this point. Beyond the remains was a thick, dense forest. From above the tops of the trees, Vinyl couldn’t really see into it, but from the front, she could see that none of the pale light from the moon made it through the treetops. 

Vinyl reached over, pulling at a vine growing along the outerwall. It didn’t move, and...

Vinyl stared at it, looking closer. The ‘vine’ was, in fact, just stone. In fact, there were lots of vines crawling along the outer walls, but none inside. All of the ones she could reach were the same.

Vinyl stepped inside, thinking about this. Then she looked to a broken tile on the ground, and very firmly, stomped on it.

Despite the fact that the tile clearly looked as if it wasn’t connected to the ground at all, it didn’t budge. “Whoa,” she said. The building clearly wasn’t half as old as it looked, then.

But why go through all that effort? Making a fake ruin seemed like a lot of work for no reason. You could have just built a castle. 

Whatever. She’d think about it tomorrow. Vinyl jumped into the bed, then began booting off her systems. 

And that was an interesting experience. All of her systems were so much more responsive, and she could diagnose a lot more than she should have been able to. Up to and including her ‘thaumic circuits’. 

So you’re telling me...they built in systems to scan my use of magic and make sure it was running properly, when I can’t use magic?

That was enough to give her a headache. She decided to pointedly ignore the dumb logic and finish booting off her systems. She set her internal alarm to wake her up at six AM.

That should be plenty of time to do anything, right?





Indigo Zap growled, shoving the stacks of books away from her. The Manehattan Public Library was truly a treasure trove of information...it was unfortunate that Minuette and Midnight happened to enjoy that a lot more than she did. 

And Minuette’s supposed to do more fieldwork than Lyra...

As she leaned back in her chair, Indigo idly scratched at her wrist. The metal plating somehow itched, even after she’d turned off the feeling receptors.

Minuette had made her turn them back on, because of health reasons Indigo didn’t fully get.

Indigo looked over to where Minuette sat, cycling through a few notes on the hologram display in front of her. “Tired?” she asked, without looking.

“I am this closes to giving up and playing video games,” Indigo groaned, balancing her chair on its back two legs. With a little help from her wings, of course.

“Change topic of study,” Minuette suggested. “We have more than one thing we’re supposed to be doing, and a change of pace can help a lot.”

“Mm,” Indigo not-replied. She scratched at her arm cybernetics again.

“Stop that,” Minuette ordered. “You’ll damage them.”

“Do yours ever just itch?” Indigo asked. 

“They did a little, which is why I’m not being super hard on you for it,” Minuette said. “But it’s just a psychological thing. The first few cybernetics are always the hardest.”

Minuette had quite a few cybernetics, herself. Both her hooves were metal below the knee, she’d replaced her elbow joints, and even added an augment or two to her heart. And of course, the one in her temple, boosting her reaction times, but that one was so commonplace, it was hardly worth mentioning.

Indigo touched the implant in her own forehead. That one didn’t itch. It was just her hands. The wing braces she had didn’t itch either—though how the hell she’d go about scratching them was a different matter.

Indigo returned her attention to the terminal in front of her. The temptation to go about playing video games was strong, but knowing that Minuette could see her was a strong deterrent. Instead, she moved to another tab.

Most ponies would find doing work like this in a public library stupid, but the Inquisitors had their own section for ease of access, and they were logged into a secure network. Indigo felt no qualms about searching top-secret information on them. 
Everfree had not yet finished combing their records to see if they had an ‘Octavia Melody’ in their employment, though the knowledge that she did their security should have made that easier. In fact, the whole thing seemed a little weird. Sour Sweet and her partner were infiltrating them, but there was no reason Indigo couldn’t do this faster.

Hmm, Everfree had employed Octavia’s assistance before, it seemed, but for what, exactly, remained unclear. It seemed that they were regularly shelling out large amounts of bits to a freelance ‘security pony’ with a suped up, custom-build android.

Hold up, Octavia was a musician?

Indigo blinked, opening up the tab. With a name like, “Octavia Melody”, it shouldn’t have been surprising, really. But it somehow was. How did one go from ‘failed musician’ to ‘security expert’?

Okay, that was interesting. She’d never paid for that android of hers—not publicly, anyway. And, unfortunately, it was a custom model of some kind, so tracking that down would be difficult.

But Octavia was clearly not a rich pony, and any custom android order was expensive. So...was she working with somepony? Who? Everfree operated out of Ponyville, their main base on the borders of the Everfree Forest, which was where they got their name. Octavia lived in Ponyville—or at least, owned a house there. 

“Hey, do I have permission to contact Sour?” Indigo asked.

“Why?” Minuette asked slowly, looking up from her own work.

“I wanna see if Octavia’s been back at her house since she left Manehattan.”

“Why would Sour know?”

“...Because Octavia lives in Ponyville?”

Minuette stared at her, then stood up and moved to look at Indigo’s screen. “No, don’t contact Sour Sweet just yet,” she said, as she read the reports Indigo was staring at. “Good work, though, this is very informative.”

“Really? Once I started looking into Octavia, I found it all within five minutes.”

“Yeah. And that’s why it’s informative, because we have Sour looking into this.”

Indigo paused, thinking that over. “Ah, shit. You think she’s gone rogue?”

“I think she may be taking some bits from the same ponies Octavia’s getting her pay from,” Minuette said. “But she and Double up are working together on this, and this isn’t enough to go by. That was good work, though. Keep at it. I want you double-checking all the reports Sour’s given us, too—I’ll send ‘em your way.”

Indigo beamed, but it was short lived. She found she couldn’t quite enjoy her success.

After all, this meant that Sour Sweet had turned traitor. And the Royal Inquisitors did not like those.