Blindsided

Lazuli rolled her eyes as she held a hoof up to her ear, blocking out background noise from the city below as she stood out on the balcony of the hotel room, leaning on the railing and speaking into her earpiece. “For the fifth time, Steel, it wasn’t her.”

“Did you even watch the interview?” Steel growled back. “She was a dead ringer for what you described. What was different?”

“Different mane. Different prosthetic – that thing was attached at the skin, there’s no way she removed it that quick without visible scars and irritation.”

“So now you’re a forensics expert?”

“Also, completely different personality. She has no reason to be so bubbly and happy if it isn’t natural for her, given she has no idea she was under surveillance. She’s either a damn good actor, or it isn’t her.” Lazuli looked down on the street below, then chewed on her lip. “Besides, don’t you have a raid to do? You’ll catch her then, if they’re the same mare.”

“We did conduct the raid.” Steel grunted. “Right about the same time she walked off screen after getting a phone call, conveniently.”

“…Okay, a little suspicious.” Lazuli looked up. It was still dark, though the sun would be rising soon. “Well, was Ayize in there?”

“No.” Steel snorted heavily, one that Lazuli could tell was extremely annoyed. “In fact, barely anything was there. Just a few machines – not nearly as many as you described, and all the documents in the desk were mostly gone.”

“Also…very suspicious…wait, how could they know you were coming? Moving all that machinery in a day would need advance warning.”

“Well you did leave two unconscious and bleeding guards outside. Maybe that tipped them off?” Steel suggested with a bit of venom in his tone.

“Geez, what’s got up your ass?” Lazuli snarled. “I’m the one who got you the information, did you expect me to spend an extra ten minutes stuffing them into boxes? They would have found them regardless of how I hid them.”

“Yeah, I know, it-“ Steel sighed. “Sorry. The higher-ups are kind of angry that I didn’t get much from the raid. We captured a few workers, some documents, but not nearly as much as you said, and…they’re calling into question your credibility.”

“Well they can bite me.”

“That’s what I wanted to say, but you can’t just say that to your superiors, Laz. Unless it’s me.”

“Okay, you can bite me then.”

“That’s- okay. Laz, listen. I just need you to do something for me while you’re there in Manehatten.”

“Uh-huh?” Lazuli chewed on her lip again, unamused.

“That company – Green Motors? They’re having a party in Bridleway. Big gala thing, basically anyone can come as long as they’re dressed formally and all. I want you to go there and see if you can find anything. Bring Cirrus too.”

“You know I hate parti- wait, no. Absolutely no way am I bringing Cirrus.”

“Laz, you know it’s suspicious for a lone mare to show up and start asking questions. Come with a partner, it’ll take the heat off.”

“I’m not involving Cirrus in this.”

“Lazuli, you know nothing will happen to her – it’ll be fine.” Steel’s voice became more stern, even commanding. “In fact, that’s an order. I’m ordering you to go to that party and see what you can find.”

“Well that’s not an-“ Lazuli paused, glanced back through the sliding glass door, then took a deep breath. “Alright, commander. I’ll go to the party, I’ll make some friends, sip some bad drinks with ponies way richer than me and see if I can find what’s under the prosthetic genius’s skirt.”

“I’d put it a different way on the report, but good.” Steel said in approval.

“Have you considered the possibility that Ayize might have, you know…stolen the ideas from Green Motors?” Lazuli asked.

“…” Steel was silent for a few seconds. “…Just…get to that party.” He abruptly cut the connection. Lazuli felt at least a bit of pride knowing she had posed a possibility he hadn’t thought of. She wasn’t quite sure why she was so vehemently defending a zebra who very well might be an enemy, but something about Kiama just made her feel cheerful. The zebra’s optimism and excitement rubbed off, she supposed.

She took a few more minutes to take in the view. While it wasn’t the greatest, as a room with a real view of the city would have surely been ten times more expensive, she enjoyed it all the same. Gently climbing over the railing, she firmly wrapped her tail around the barrier and let herself hang from it, looking down to see the cars and occasional carriage drive past far below, along with the ponies trotting to their early jobs. The bustle of city life was not hidden from her in Canterlot, but it was never quite so busy.

“Laz?” Cirrus called out as she stepped out onto the balcony. Lazuli quickly tugged herself back up, turning around and smiling as her tail pulled her back onto the ground in front of her. “Oh, gods, you were there.”

“Just enjoying the view.” Lazuli kissed her on the cheek. “You’re a much better one, though.”

Cirrus’ cheeks went visibly red and she bashfully waved a hoof. “Stop it, you.”

“Sleep well?” Lazuli asked. “Sorry I wasn’t awake when you got home.”

“Oh I slept wonderfully.” Cirrus opened up the door, starting to stroll inside, and Lazuli followed. “Not going to ask me how the show went?”

“Well I didn’t wanna make you talk about it, even though I know you absolutely killed it.” Laz nipped at Cirrus’ tail playfully.

“That’s one way to put it.” Cirrus smirked. “I got second place, but I guess you can expect that when you’re competing with generations-old boutiques like R4U.”

“R4U? That doesn’t exactly sound old-timey.” Lazuli tilted her head.

“Rarity For You.” Cirrus giggled softly. “I dunno how long it’s been around actually, but it’s a Manehatten local place, so…”

“Oh.” Lazuli shrugged. “Well still, good job sweetie.” Lazuli planted another kiss on Cirrus’ cheek. “I don’t care who won, they cheated if they beat you.”

“Oh, hush. You should have seen the stuff they had.” Cirrus nudged Laz with her tail. “Speaking of dresses, I heard you talking about a party?”

Lazuli paused, then slowly nodded. “Yeah. It’s uh…work related, though.”

“You were talking about me, though.”

“I-“ Lazuli’s eyes darted from side to side. “That was something else.”

“Don’t lie to me, Laz. What’s going on?”

“Mmn…” Lazuli chewed her lip, then sighed. “I have to go to this party with that Green Motors company. Just a formal thing really, but…they wanted me to bring you.”

“Ooh, Green Motors?” Cirrus perked up. “I just donated to them last night!”

“Yeah, th- wait, you did?” Lazuli blinked. “Why?”

“I saw that zebra on TV, I know I usually don’t donate right away from seeing a publicity thing like that, but she just seemed so…friendly.”

“Oh.” Lazuli scrunched her nose slightly. “Well, I mean…that’s good, then. Do you…want do go?”

“Laz, you don’t need to treat it like you’re asking me on a date.” Cirrus snorted playfully. “Of course I’ll go with you.”

Lazuli rolled her eyes. “It’s not that I want to go to a party, just so you know…sod on’t get any ideas about taking me to other ones.”

“You opened up the options, Laz.” Cirrus teased, then used her tail to pick up her bag from the nearby chair and sling it onto her back. “But the party’s not till tonight, right? Let’s go get some breakfast.”

The day went slower than the one previous, but even so, Lazuli wished it could have been even slower. She wasn’t looking forward to going to a party where she was almost certain she would learn nothing, but orders were orders, even if she could somewhat argue with her superior every now and again.

Lazuli especially hated wearing dresses, but Cirrus had apparently accounted for that when she made a few of the ones she designed for the show. Lazuli found herself wearing a form-fitting black dress that hugged her body tightly, but not so tight that it was absurd. It had a bit of extra fabric hanging off the back, and it paired nicely with a wide-brimmed black hat that Cirrus had her put on just for the fun of it, then decided it looked ‘absolutely gorgeous’ on her. Looking in the mirror, Lazuli had to admit she liked it.

Cirrus’ dress was more flamboyant, bright blue fabric with a frilly skirt trailing nearly down to the floor. She would have worn shoes, but the bright green bottoms of her hooves already looked like them, plus their hard texture made it difficult to put on shoes without breaking them.

The two mares found themselves stepping out of a cab and onto the sidewalk around 5 PM – earlier than most parties started, maybe, but Lazuli was fine with that. The sooner they got in, the sooner they could leave. Not wanting to be a boor when it came to etiquette, though, she wrapped her tail gently around her wife’s and helped her out of the vehicle before walking up the stairs toward the building. It was a rental hall, so Lazuli imagined it wasn’t an overly fancy party, but she was surprised there was security at the door for a public event – and immediately she regretted not wearing a full cloak to cover her tail.

“Hold on.” One of the guards, a rather burly unicorn stallion, stopped them at the door. “Nearly at capacity.” He said, his horn already glowing. “Hat off, ma’am. Need to check if you have weapons, we’ve already had one incident.”

“I believe that.” Lazuli said, her voice laced with sarcasm as she removed her hat, revealing nothing inside. Cirrus glanced at the other guard on the opposite side of the door, but he seemed not to do anything. Lazuli put her hat back on after a nod from the guard.

“Head on in.” He tilted his head to the door, which was easily pushed open. Lazuli didn’t want to seem like a stuck-up mare, so she politely smiled at him – but it was heavily forced.

As the two of them entered the ball room, they were both surprised at the lavish nature of the party. The room itself was extravagant, of course, but that was out of the control of the ones who rented it. The venue was elegantly decorated, with white cloth and décor everywhere; apparently that made everything fancier, Lazuli assumed, looking around and barely being pulled out of her intrigue by a smiling young Pegasus stepping over to her, wearing a vest.

“Might I take your hat, ma’am?” The Pegasus said with a warm smile. Lazuli glanced at Cirrus, who just nodded, so she removed the hat with her tail and handed it to the colt. He bowed his head, then moved off to stow it wherever they kept the hats. Lazuli only now realized that the party must have only had a few hundred ponies in it, which wasn’t overly impressive but she was surprised the turnout was so high for something that had only been announced the previous night. She turned to Cirrus, once they were out of the doorway.

“This looks nice, right?” Cirrus said with a smile. “It’s been so long since I got to come to a party like this.”

“When was the last time?” Lazuli asked tentatively. Cirrus rubbed the back of her head with a hoof.

“Ah heh…actually…when I was a filly, and my mom kinda dragged me along.” She muttered.

“Oh.” Lazuli winced, though it was mostly internal. “Well…we’re probably gonna be here a while, so we can enjoy it, at least.”

“You don’t have to pretend to like it just for me, Laz.” Cirrus nudged her with her forehead. “But at least be a little less brooding, okay?”

“Doesn’t help when you’re randomly searched when entering a ball room, Cirrus.”

“Come on, you’re dressed all in black and wearing a big hat.”

Lazuli snorted angrily. “Don’t.”

“I was joking.” Cirrus bumped her on the shoulder with a hoof. “Now come on, let’s look around.”

The two of them started to mingle in the party, and it became increasingly obvious that they stood out in one particular way – they were the only Draconies there. Perhaps there were one or two others scattered around, but for the most part they were alone in that regard. Luckily no one seemed to mind, not outwardly at least, but it made Lazuli feel increasingly awkward; and vulnerable, she realized, if anyone was watching.

Before long, though, the ball room was at the highest capacity it could be without making everyone uncomfortable moving around. At this point, the lights dimmed slightly to focus on the stairs near the front of the room, where Kiama stood in a much more flattering purple dress, her mane combed neatly and her glasses replaced with more elegant frames – though her metal limb was still clearly on display.

“Good afternoon, everyone.” Kiama said loudly, obviously with a microphone attached to her dress or something similar. “As the owner of Green Motors, I want to thank you all for coming out here today and attending this little gala we threw together. I also want to apologize for the short notice, since I’ll admit I’ve been pretty frazzled lately.” She giggled, eliciting a slight response from the attendees. “I’m quite happy to see all of the mixed faces down there, too. I see we’ve got pegasi, earth ponies, unicorns…zebras, I even see a few griffons out there, am I wrong?” She waved, earning a gentle cheer from a small group off in the corner. “Aaaand…oh, well that’s surprising, even a few Draconies!”

Lazuli inwardly screamed as the zebra’s attention turned to Lazuli and Cirrus in particular. She was just glad there was no spotlight turned on them, but Cirrus seemed intent on being polite. She let out a small whoop, then bashfully covered her mouth with a hoof.

“It’s truly amazing,” Kiama continued, “to have such a diverse group of attendees here. I really hope you all enjoy the party, and that you all can benefit in some way from the work we’re doing here.” She waved a hoof happily. “Now all of you enjoy, and I’ll be down to mingle with you all in a bit.”

As the lights came back on properly, and the party returned to its normal noise level, Cirrus turned her head to Lazuli. “She seems nice.”

“I don’t like her.” Lazuli said bluntly.

“What? Why not? You told me during lunch she looked all friendly.”

“I said she looked friendly, I didn’t say I liked her…or trusted her.” She snorted. “Something about her rubs me the wrong way.”

“What, ‘cause she singled us out?” Cirrus snickered. “Diversity’s good, you butt.”

“Whatever you say.” Lazuli sighed.

“I’m gonna go talk to her.”

“Good luck, she’s gonna have a hundred people trying to get at her.”

“Really? Because she’s walking over here.”

“Wh-“ Lazuli started to say, but a cheery voice interrupted her.

“Gooooood afternoon!” Kiama repeated her greeting from earlier, having somehow waded across the sea of ponies in about three minutes from the stairs – and Lazuli had a decent idea why.

“Afternoon.” Lazuli said, then realized it was in her best interest to put on a more pleasant demeanor. She forced a smile, which she was fairly good at by this point, turning to face Kiama as the zebra walked over with a much bigger and more genuine smile on her face. “To what do we owe the pleasure?”

“Oh, don’t be so modest!” Kiama reached out with her metal limb as a gesture for a hoofshake. “Don’t think I wouldn’t have noticed Cirrus Refin attending my little soiree!”

“Me?” Cirrus’ cheeks turned a light shade of pink beneath her fur – her curved green horns even pulsated slightly. “Goodness, that’s- that’s flattering, that you know me.” Cirrus shook Kiama’s hoof, and Lazuli did the same.

“It’s an absolute pleasure to meet you – honestly, I wish I could have gotten a dress from you, rather than this drab old thing.” Kiama swished her own dress with an absent flick of her hoof. “And this, I presume, must be er…your sister?” Kiama tilted her head at Lazuli.

Lazuli broadened her smile. Admittedly, Kiama’s attitude towards Cirrus made her warm up to her a bit more. “Wife, actually.”

“Wh- oh my goodness, I’m so embarrassed, I’m sorry!” Kiama shook Lazuli’s hoof again. “You certainly are gorgeous, if you don’t mind me saying- oh, that’s awkward, isn’t it? I’m sorry, I’m actually not that great at being a host.” Kiama shook her head. “You two make a lovely couple though, I must say. Oh, and your name is…?”

“Lazuli. Er…Lazuli Cutter.”

“Cutter…that name sounds familiar.”

“It uh…often is, yeah.” Lazuli grimaced.

“Daughter of tho- ohhh…I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to er…”

“It’s fine. Just not a great topic for me.” Lazuli tried to steer the conversation away.

“Well, my condolences anyway, late as they might be.” Kiama put a hoof to her chest, bowing her head slightly. “How are you two enjoying the party then?”

“It’s lovely.” Cirrus answered first. “I’m surprised you went all-out on the décor, who was the designer?”

“Oh, just some fashionistas under my employ.” Kiama giggled softly. “I try not to be so flashy, but I wanted it to look nice. Had I known you were already done with that fashion show of yours, I might have sought you out for help.” It was a tease, but it made both Lazuli and Cirrus snicker.

“I would have been happy to.” Cirrus smiled widely. “I’m always up for helping out, especially with a cause as nice as yours!”

“Well I’m glad you support it.” Kiama nodded. “Oh, speaking of causes…Lazuli, what do you do for work?”

“Er- well…” She heard a slight crackle in her earpiece, which had been clipped into her ear the whole time. She recognized it as code. “I work with the military, actually. Just data management and stuff, out in Canterlot.”

“Ah, darn.” Kiama shook her head. “Er, well, not that it’s a bad thing! I just wanted to ask you something.”

“Me?” Lazuli was skeptical. “We…just met.”

“Yes, well, no offense to your wife, but you seem, erm…” Kiama trailed her eyes down a bit. “More…fit, both physically and just for this er…work.”

“Yeah…sorry, kind of taken as far as jobs go.”

“Well, it’s more of an experiment.” Kiama admitted. “I’ve never actually worked with Draconies before. I’ve worked with all ponies, zebras and griffons, but Draconies are especially hard to get ahold of in Equestria.”

“What…does the experiment entail?” Lazuli asked.

“Oh, just a bit of testing with power sources and materials – I’ve always been fascinated by your species. Your resistance to magic is incredible, and those horns of yours are simply beau-…oh, you…don’t have horns.” She tilted her head slightly. “But…Cirrus does. Why is that?”

“That’s personal.” Lazuli mumbled.

“She doesn’t like to talk about that,” Cirrus finished for her. “Sorry.”

“Oh, my apologies.” Kiama bowed her head again. “Hrm…but…tell me, have either of you two wanted to be cybernetically augmented?”

“That’s a really quick jump from just meeting somepony.” Lazuli said, though it was less of a statement and more of a warning.

“Laz, be nice.” Cirrus swatted Lazuli on the side with her tail quite openly, earning a grunt from her wife. “She’s just asking. Buuut honestly, not really, sorry.” She smiled again, though a bit more uncertainly.

“Apologies, again.” Kiama frowned. “I…do get a bit forward with this sort of thing. I just like to take the opportunity when I can find it.” She nodded slowly. “But I understand completely, yes, of course. But…that offer for the experiment still stands.” She reached into her dress with her metal limb. A pair of rubbery ‘fingers’ came from her hoof to take hold of a small business card, which she handed to Lazuli. “This has my office number on it. If by chance you’re interested, I’ll be sure to compensate you nicely.” She flashed another cheery smile, then let Lazuli tuck the card into her own dress.

“…Thanks.” Lazuli lowered her own hoof. “I’ll keep it in mind.”

“We both will.” Cirrus kissed Laz on the cheek.

“I just have to say you two make an adorable couple.” Kiama squealed slightly. “Gruff and strong, and friendly and delicate – I love it!” She bounced up and down just a bit, then cleared her throat and collected herself. “…Sorry. I’ll leave you two to enjoy the party – keep my offer in mind!” Kiama turned her back to them, calling the last bit over her shoulder before disappearing into the crowd.

“She’s really nice.” Cirrus looked up at Lazuli, who nodded her head slightly.

“Yeah…she is.” Lazuli stared in the direction the zebra had gone, then turned to start to mingle with Cirrus a bit more.