Tears of Harmony

"What if they're wrong?"

"What if they're not?"

There was one place in the charted universe to find all the things one could not find on the civilized worlds: Draconequus. A once-thriving scientific settlement in the Serpent system, Draconequus had been abandoned by its scientists once their research had ended, but they'd left the structures standing. Marauders and mercenaries, looking for a home, had settled the planet a few centuries after, and now the planet's population had expanded to just over two million. Government existed only in the districts controlled by mercenaries, and only if you paid for it. There were no laws, except that residents had to pay the mercenary bands for protection. There was no law enforcement, except for the gangs of hirelings employed by the mercenary bands to act as collectors of that protection money. In the districts not controlled by the mercenary gangs, crime(at least, what would be considered crime on a civilized world) ran rampant. Slave trading, rape, robbery, murder, gang violence, prostitution, and smuggling occurred in every corner, backroom, and alley.

Of the two million creatures living under The Dome, the environmentally-sealed bubble that was erected over the entirety of Draconequus' only city, 90% were comprised of a mix of Griffons and Minotaurs. The other 10% were ponies that had left Imperial space for one reason or another, none of them good. Ponies were heavily discriminated against outside Imperial space, and were also heavily targeted by criminals. To survive as one on a planet like Draconequus, in a place like The Dome, you had to be as ruthless and cunning as the Griffons and Minotaurs who came after you.

No one here would give a single feather about Harmony, my vision, or even me. I'd have to be careful. Luckily, I'd brought Sixfour along with me, and I was an Alicorn. I'd have to draw upon my partner, my power, and my experience to survive.

"Places like these are not meant for Great Ones" Sixfour commented. I turned to look at him, drawing back the hood of the cloak the Starborn had fashioned for me. It was of tight fit, concealing my wings, though designed in such a way that if I needed them, the clasps would give way to grant me flight. It was lightly armored, lined with thin Star steel to deflect light ballistic fire, and finished with an ablative coating to reflect light magical energy. It'd not make me impervious, but it'd give me a chance.

I said nothing to Sixfour as we trotted down the length of the hallway. We'd docked at one of the starports that lied along the edge of The Dome, and were heading into the city proper. There was an airlock ahead, guarded by a sole Griffon, standing upright on all fours. He had some manner of compact rifle slung at his side, a talon on the grip. He eyed me and my companion, and we slowed as we neared the airlock door.

"Best let me do the talking" I said, coming to a stop at the gesture of the Griffon. He regarded us with cautious eyes, contempt for the both of us. He was clad in a dented, dull blue armor, concealing his form from sight, but his head was bare. His head feathers were done up in a style likely meant to pay homage to his mercenary company.

"A Star and an Equestrian" he commented, shifting his grip on his weapon. "Welcome to The Dome. If you have weapons, keep them holstered. Or, at least, use them only to kill our enemies."

"Can you tell me about The Dome and the local amenities?" I asked.

The Griffon huffed. "I'm a door guard, not a fucking guide like you're used to on Equus. This spaceport and the district beyond it is under the rule of the Sons of Gilda, the oldest mercenary company to have come from the species of the planet Equus. We haven't much tolerance for Equestrians, or their creations, so ask what you will and get the fuck out of my sight."

"Forgive me. I'm here to do some...shopping. I'm looking for some rather unorthodox goods, and maybe some mutually beneficial work" I explained. If I'd told him I was there for some soul gems he'd, admittedly, likely not even care, but I didn't want to risk the chance of word spreading to someone who'd be interested in why a Equestrian was looking to buy soul gems.

"Always gotta speak in tongues, don't you, you pompous blowhards? If you're looking for contraband, there's a dive on Obelisk street, the Tarred Feather. Ask the bartender there for a bird named Koss; he might have something for you. Is that all?" the Griffon said.

"Yes. Thank you."

"Whatever. Get what you came for and then go back to your bitch Empress."

At this I twitched, a flip within me thrown. My eyes went wide, and I stepped forward, my head pressed to his. "I DESPISE Empress Twilight, and when all is said and done, the Empire will be no more. Do you understand me?!"

The guard wasn't even afraid, though he looked mighty pissed off. "Won't do me any favors, if it happens" he growled. "Now get lost."

I felt the muzzle of the Griffon's rifle pressed against my breast and stepped back, nodded, and trotted past him as the doors slid open. Sixfour joined me at my side as we cycled through the decontamination process. The doors on the other end of the chamber slid open, and out we stepped into a metropolis of crime, terrorism, and anarchy. On the planet Draconequus the skies were permanently blanketed by a gray-brown vortex of clouds, dimming the light from the system's mammoth star, leaving the surface under a drab and dreary veil. What little sunlight that did get through was drowned out by the lights of The Dome, bright and flashing and pulsing. Neon signs advertising stores and wares, streetlights and searchlights and security lights, digital screens displaying all manner of notices and news from across the void, and the noise! The din of a million markets and bars, the rising hum of skyboats, distant(and not-so-distant) gunfire, the clamor of slave auctions, and even bar music as it filtered out of the dives it rang in all rose to create a cacophony that reflected the planet's namesake.

"The Tarred Feather, on Obelisk" I said quietly to myself, and looked around. The Dome was not laid out in a conventional manner; streets ran and winded and had sharp, V-shaped switchbacks and ended abruptly. They were not labeled, and there were no maps. There was a wide drag in front of us, and a number of streets and alleys spidering out before and around us in an erratic fashion. Any one of them could've had the bar we were directed to. Any one of them could've, also, lead to our deaths.

This was The Dome.

After close to an hour of searching(with only two attempted muggings and one attempted rape) Sixfour and I found the Tarred Feather, set into a row of apartment buildings and warehouses, set back from the street by several feet, the path done up in an arch, acting as a make-shift tunnel, the ceiling lined with pulsing red and white lights. Sixfour and I trotted down the pathway to the bar's door, surprised to find no bouncer outside. We pushed the door open, and it opened into a small foyer, a couch on the left side, the bouncer on the right. He took one glance at us and immediately his talon was on his gun, his eyes suspicious and scornful.

"A fucking Equestrian" he said with a derisive snicker. "Can't imagine what you're here for. If you step through that door, I can't guarantee your safety, you understand that?" the bouncer said.

"Perfectly."

With a jerk of his head the bouncer indicated I could pass, and I trotted up to the door and pushed it open. The room beyond was circular, the bar in the center, wrapping around a support column bearing shelves holding countless bottles of alcohols from across the known galaxy. There was a live band, playing a Griffon folk tune. The clientele was majority Griffon, with a few Minotaurs conspiring in some dark corner. A thestral moved amidst the crowds, carrying trays of drinks. As Sixfour and I stepped in a few revelers turned to look at us; some directed by friends, others having been close enough to see the door part. The surprise and suspicion and contempt rolled through the crowds like a wave, as more and more patrons took note of us, and the bar went utterly silent, all eyes on us.

"This was not a well-conceived idea, Great One" Sixfour whispered to me, and I pushed him with my elbow as I trotted up to the bar, every eye in the bar following me. I clambered up onto one of the stools, one with no others seated near it, and Sixfour followed, though he did not sit. He stood vigilant, on alert.

"Why in the blazes is my bar so qui-- A pony..." the bartender said as he stepped around from the other side of the pillar. He froze in his tracks, eyes wide. "There's a fucking pony in my bar, and it's not just the bat. An honest-to-coin Equestrian, in my bar. And a STARBORN?! Sweet mother, grant us strength!"

"I am not the only pony in The Dome" I exclaimed, earning a laugh from the bartender. A short, mocking bark of incredulity.

"You're the only one with the stones, or stupidity, to walk into a fucking Griffon bar, owned by and under the protection of the Sons of Gilda, and have a fucking sit-down! You're lucky that this IS SoG territory; you'd be DEAD in any other bar! What could have possibly compelled you to CANTER INTO A GRIFFON BAR IN THE DOME, you fucking, fucking MORON?!" the bartender raved.

"I'm not going to just shout my intentions to every patron here. You can all either jump me, or go back to your previous conversations. I am NOT an enemy. Of Griffons, or of Minotaurs" I declared strongly. "Only of Empress Twilight" I added quietly afterward.

The previous din of the bar slowly returned, the patrons cautiously turning away from me and back to their business. A few continued to watch me, though I ignored them to focus on the bartender as he came up to me. He was a Griffon brown of fur, with brilliant yellow feathers adorning his wings. He had an odd cluster of scars on his left jaw, and steely green eyes.

"I'm looking for a bird named Koss. I'm in search of some sensitive goods and services. I was told I could inquire about him here" I said quietly. The bartender rested his chin on one old talon, tapping the claws of his other against the bar itself, regarding me with a careful gaze.

"A pony doesn't come to the fucking Dome, and certainly doesn't seek out Koss, without good reason. If you're an agent of the Empire, you're in for a really bad time, I tell you. And yes, you will be asked, by more than one, if you are. You'd better be able to prove you aren't, or you'll never leave The Dome" the bartender stated.

"Isn't my Starborn partner proof enough? The Stars all rebelled against the Empire five years ago, ordered to be hunted down and destroyed to the last" I explained.

The bartender bawked. "A Star is a damn robot; not hard to spoof! You'll have to do better than that if you hope to survive here."

I was undeterred. "I despise the Empire, and I intend to bring Empress Twilight to justice. I'm willing to do whatever it takes to do that. This," I gestured to the bar around me. "is not how we were meant to live. The species of Equus were meant to live in Harmony. Peace, love, tolerance. I am the envoy of them all."

"Spare me the flowery shit. We've long ago learned not to trust the word of an Equestrian, and what chance could you possibly have of challenging the Empire?"

"Whatever chance I can make, I will take. I won't stop until I've won, or I'm dead. I will bring an end to this foul, corrupt Empire and its plague of dominance."

"You will do this? One pony? Against the titan that is the Equestrian Empire? All the armies of Griffons and Minotaurs couldn't do it, and for nine centuries it has reigned supreme. One pony will bring it all down? I'm no chick, just hatched the day before, you fucking blowhard" the bartender asked, disbelieving.

"One pony, and the fury of a family torn apart, of a dozen dead friends and of the millions who died to oppose it all. One pony, and the legion of Starborn at her back" I replied with conviction. My gaze did not leave that of the bartender's and after a moment he sighed and pulled back.

"I'll send a word. There's no guarantee that Koss will see you, but when he hears of your resolve, then perhaps. If not?" the bartender said with a laugh, and he turned away.

I turned my gaze back to Sixfour, standing behind me. Beyond him, I saw that the bouncer had moved into the bar and was watching me. My eyes turned away and scanned the room. I saw the threstral, the bat pony, casting furtive glances in my direction. The few Minotaurs in the bar stared at me, their glasses long empty, gripped in their hands. I felt no fear, but I was nervous. More than that, I was sad to see how my mere presence made others feel. How the sight of me brought all their anger and hatred to the surface. I wanted to talk to them, to assure them that I was going to help them! That I wanted to destroy the Empire, same as they did.

Instead, I turned back around, and stared at the bottles on the wall.