"I keep hearing your concern about my happiness.
But, all that thought you're giving me is conscience, I guess."

classified/ˈklasəˌfīd/ adj. 1. Arranged in classes or categories according to shared qualities or characteristics.
2. Organized in categories according to what is being advertised.
3. Designated as officially secret and to which available to authorized persons only, as for reasons of national security.

VOLUME ONE
ACT ONE: The Stable

“Ace through five, straight!” I declared with a smirk, dropping my cards face up on the round table.

“Damnit Sparkhorn!” The grey unicorn stallion sitting opposite to me slammed his cards down in front of him with a frown. Everypony else around the table followed him. They all glared at me with expressions of regret.

The turquoise coated mare sitting next to me deadpanned, no doubt thinking her previous challenge typical. “Oh Celestia..."

I chuckled as my horn glowed, everypony watching as the pot of poker chips was engulfed in my red aura. I looked over to the grey stallion, my confident smirk still present in my expression. “C’mon Kahn, you still got some chips I ought to have.”

He gave an irritated grumble. “I should have known not to play at your table...” He crossed his forelegs over his chest, arching his brow as his forehead wrinkled below his receding maroon mane. “Fine, if I put in, you’re buying the next round with the units you won off of me.”

“You’ve got a deal!” I looked across the table at the charcoal mare in security barding. “What do you say Glitter? You want a drink with Kahn’s units?”

She gave a stressful sigh, blowing a strand of her pink mane out of her ruby eyes. “You better make it two, Sparks...”

My eyes drifted to the next pony, a brown coated and silver maned earth pony in a white lab coat. "How about you, Doc?"

"As long as it's Mr. Kahn's units, I'll take your offer." He frowned at his ever-shrinking pile of poker chips. "Not much use of staying sober anyway..."

I continued around to the last pony at the table. I didn’t need to say anything to get her response.

“Might as well...” Aqua said with disappointment, resting her chin on the tabletop.

The air smelled of alcohol and tobacco smoke from cigarettes and cigars. Our own table had at least three smoking ashtrays from three pony smokers, not including myself as kept to my trusty corncob pipe. Aqua Wave was the only other pony who didn't have a cigar between her lips at some point during the night.

“So, Spark?” Kahn asked, beginning to deal the next game in his magic. “Where’s Diamond?”

I saw Aqua shoot him a glare. Heh... at least I could count on somepony to lay off that topic. I tried to hide my bitterness towards the question with a shrug. “Why would I know? There’s a reason we keep our affairs private.”

“Yeah but you work for her, you sneaky son of a bitch!”

Ah, speaking of affairs...

Everypony at the table turned towards the direction of the uncomfortable, yet truthful comment about my boss, to see a steel coated unicorn mare, with a long black mane in greasy maintenance coveralls, shuffle up to our table in a drunken manner and sit in a vacant spot, her forelegs grasping the table for balance. It looked as if her body could betray her at any moment as she made an effort not fall out of her chair. Not many could have predicted how much she could have changed since our foalhood, yet… not many could still see how much hadn’t changed. I stayed silent, just glaring at her, pipe clenched so tightly in my teeth I could have chewed right through it.

So, after she blew off our deal with the Overmare, she decides to show up here and play games while the riots -that she organized- were probably going on in maintenance as we spoke? Sheesh, if we were alone right now... Ho boy, she’d be in for one unforgettable lesson in loyalty.

“Deal me in, Kahn.” She demanded with a drunken confidence.

Glitter raised her eyebrow. “Well... I have to say that you’re the last mare I expected to see here tonight. I should cuff you and trot you down to lock-up right now.”

The mare smirked, levitating a decent pile of chips into the pot. “Aww, has maintenance been giving you security dipsticks a hard time?”

“Bucking hell Platinum!” Aqua yelled. “What’s your problem? Ponies are getting hurt because of you!”

"I can vouch for that statement." The Doc chimed in. "My clinics in the med bay have been quite full after your little riots started again." He gave a glance in my direction, no doubt recalling myself being among them.

Kahn attempted to calm the spike of tension around the table. “Relax everypony. She’s drunk. Just let her join in so she could lose to this asshat like everypony else...” He nodded in my direction. Well, I guess I can’t argue with that. “Besides,” He continued, “I think we all agreed a second ago to join her state of mind?"

Platinum Braid agreed with a nod. “That’s right!” She hiccupped as she turned her attention back to me. “Except I’m not going to lose to the asshat. I’m going to win against the asshat!”

Kahn rolled his eyes while Glitter and Doc face hoofed. Okay, the asshat thing is starting to get on my nerves...

“She's such a bitch...” I heard Aqua mutter next to me as she picked up her cards in her forehooves... at least to the best of her ability.

Earth ponies like her and Glitter usually had a harder time just keeping their cards to themselves than actually having a poker face. Unicorns like Platinum, Kahn and I... well... The cards were meant for ponies like us, but everypony had to use them. One of the things that ranged few and far between earth ponies and unicorns I guess. Which was kind of odd, given that earth ponies outnumbered us two to one down here. Then again, no pony ever took the time to add it all up to see who ended up on top. I think we already knew the answer...

I sighed. “Well, why wait?” I waved my hoof at the bartender adjacent to our table. “Can we get a bottle! Hair of the dog!” I yelled over the increasingly crowded Atrium. I looked back to Platinum. “So, are we going to negotiate a new deal between you and Diamond, or did you just come here to lose to me at cards?”

“Yeah right!” She waved me off with her hoof. “You’re just a smooth talker just like your ex-bitch!” She looked around the table. “C’mon everypony, let’s bust this ole’ swindler out!”

Swindler, huh? I was pretty sure she was joking, but she ought to know that I don’t do that any... wait, why is everypony looking at me like that? My eyes shifted between everypony’s glares before I deflected them with a charming chuckle of innocence. “That’s... That’s funny, Platinum. You know, you’ve always been a joker...” I quickly called her bet, levitating my chips into the pot with hers. “But, I hope you brought more than just punchlines to gamble along with your units.”

“Oh?” Platinum raised her eyebrow after another hiccup, her cheeks tinted red with drunkenness. “You mean like how you gambled security ammunition away to Pink Clearance? Lucky my own department was able to win quite a few hands of those.”

Oops...

Glitter’s ears flopped back as she glared at me. “I hope you’re not thinking about doing that again. You’re banned... permanently. I don’t care what the Overmare says.” She glanced up at the circular window to the Overmare's office, overlooking the Atrium before looking back at Platinum. “Now I know how your maintenance crew got their hooves on that weapons stockpile.”

“Hey! That ammo was fairly confiscated and distributed appropriately! It was Pink Level's fault!” I defended. “Besides, you’ve still got plenty in the armory.”

A large bottle of cider levitated over to our table, along with six drinking glasses. I reached out to grab it with my own magic, only for Platinum's green magic to beat me to the punch. Before I could even give her a scowl, a pair of turquoise forehooves swooped in to save the day, yanking the bottle away from the already drunk mare.

"Hey, leave some for the rest of the stable, Platinum." Aqua smirked, playing keep-away from the tendril of green magic before the other mare finally gave up.

"Pffffine! You used to be more fun, Aqua..." Platinum gave a strange giggle, using her magic again, this time to levitate more chips onto the pile to raise the bet. “...Anyway, I’ve found something interesting to help me win...”

I sat back on my haunches against the back of my chair. We all looked at her in suspicion, anticipating her to explain how she’s going to win the game. “And?” I asked.

“Let’s just say I’ve got an escape plan if I risk too much...” Well, at least everypony’s suspicious glares were off of me now. She raised her eyebrow at Kahn. "And what exactly is your excuse, 'Excec'? You ponies always give us maintenance crews the short end. I ought to kick your flank while your security detail is away."

Glitter rolled her eyes, jabbing a hoof at her. "Oh for--! I'm sitting right here, Platinum! Kahn, can I shoot her? Please tell me you want me to shoot her!"

"Pssht." Platinum turned to her with a doubtful look. "You do not want to be shooting me. I'll kick your ass!"

"Oh yeah!?" Glitter growled.

"Yeah!"

After a short silence... Platinum began to giggle, followed by Glitter, then Aqua. Even I started to chuckle as all the mares broke out into laughter. Doctor Root just gave a passive smirk, while Kahn stared unamused into his cards. The tension suddenly evaporated as we were all reminded of the good ole' days. We’d all been old friends since our foalhood, save for the doc. Back in the day, we were probably the best group of friends this side of Stable 17. It was times like this when we could forget that there was this thing called adulthood, that had more or less deemed our friendship an irrelevant phase.

Aqua ceased her laughter first, covering her muzzle with her hoof before clearing her throat. "So... have you guys been listening to Melody Charm's broadcasts lately?"

Glitter nodded. "Oh yeah! I always wondered what happened to those old songs they used to play. I haven't heard songs by Coloratura or Sapphire Shores since I was a foal."

I smiled, recalling Melody's most recent broadcast. "Yeah, I've been listening too. It's okay...."

Aqua glared at me. "C'mon Sparks, these songs are classics!" She shook her head. “But… I didn’t mean the music. I meant the stories from Moral Pages.”

"You mean that fairytale stuff." Kahn mumbled dryly, finally looking up from his cards to flick the ashes off his cigar with his magic.

Aqua pouted. “No! Well, yeah, it’s fiction and all… at least I hope it is, but it’s good writing. And both her and Melody do a good job reading it during the broadcast.”

"Ha!" Platinum laughed, slamming her hoof on the table. "The Overmare may have made her corrupt as shit, but I’ve got to agree with Aqua." She hiccupped. "Plus, music's not the only thing Melody's good at doing. Ain't that right Sparks?"

My eyes darted at her in surprise. "What?"

"What!?" Aqua squeaked beside me, nearly spilling the bottle of cider all over our game.

I glared down at her, seeing what I could only assume was a mirror image of my blush. Though mine was more out of surprise that Platinum knew, while Aqua's sported a hint of jealousy. I cleared my throat, awkwardly prying the cider bottle away from Aqua's hooves and pouring it into the several glasses around the table. I looked sideways at Aqua with a sigh. "Well, go on.” I said, encouraging her to continue as the bottle reached her glass, quickly returning to the former subject. "What kind of stories do you like?"

She shook away her blush as she picked up her cider glass. “Oh, you know… action stories. Exciting stories. But, maybe dramatic stories or adventure, or even horror…” Her blush quickly returned. “…Romantic stories too… Okay, I admit it! I like all kinds of stories.”

Everypony around the table rolled their eyes at that. Kahn gave a low chuckle. “I think I misjudged you Aqua.. figured you'd be the type of girl sweet on happy endings where the day is always saved.”

She gave shrug. “If you think I only like happy endings, saving the day doesn’t always mean it’s happy.”

Glitter shook her head. “Get your head out of the clouds, security mare.” She teased. “If you want to keep working under me, you better start reading some crime novels.”

Platinum rolled her eyes. “Fuck that, don’t listen to her. If you’re into action and romance, you need a good tragedy read, dissolution, neurotic characters. There’s nothing better than an underdog loser becoming a hero.”

I stayed silent, sometimes nodding, sometimes rolling my eyes, but most of the time I kept my face in my cards, maybe taking a break from my pipe for a sip of cider. It wasn’t until Aqua’s eyes fell on me, that my ears perked at the thought of what kind of stories I liked. “I like contentious stories…”

I saw Platinum raise a drunken eyebrow. “Conten-a--what?”

I shrugged, before taking another puff off my pipe. “Stories that provoke some thought on what's right and wrong, you know? What you can or should do verses what you can’t or shouldn't do… maybe it'll show you what you have to do in order to keep the balance of the story. And maybe… it concludes with an answer you don't like.”

This time, Glitter narrowed her eyes at me. “You have a problem figuring out what’s right from wrong?” She asked, amused. “I mean, to be honest it makes sense coming from you.”

I shook my head. “No, no… I know what’s right and wrong. But I like stories that don’t care about what any of you say is the ‘right way’ of doing things. Instead, the characters, ponies, they know inherently what’s right and wrong. They know evil when they see it, and maybe not when the reader sees it.”

Aqua stared at me in confusion. I could have closed her mouth with my hoof, she was so slack jawed. “I’ve… never heard of that genre before…”

Kahn raised his eyebrows in amusement. “Actually, Sparks might be on to something there. Characters who are assertive, and who can take control of the story. If somepony else interferes, the hero can just take back what’s around them, because they don’t care about what other ponies want...” He looked sideways at Platinum. “Or what they think they want…”

Platinum made a gagging noise, pointing her hoof down her gullet. “Eh, that sounds like crap and snoresville. Outdated, like something my great grandpa would read with his porridge. You can’t have a hero who starts at the top and can just blow everypony away. There’s no development in that.”

Aqua contemplated what Kahn and I had formulated as she took another sip of her cider. “So… a character who’s not perfect, like what Platinum enjoys, but has biases, opens with experience, and saves the day… but doesn’t do it the way you’re supposed to do it…” She nickered, rolling her eyes. “You sure you’ve never written an entire bookshelf of novels before?”

That got a laugh out of me. “Virgin, I’m afraid.” I winked at her, before looking across the table. “What about you, Doc?” I'd noticed he’d been awfully quiet since we started this conversation. “What kind of stories do you read?”

His ears perked, only to give an unamused grimace. “If you’re referring to fiction, then I’m afraid I don’t read that nonsense.” He answered snobbishly, adjusting his glasses before picking his cider glass back up.

"You don't read fiction?" Aqua asked, turning toward him with an expression of doubt.

He shook his head. "Nope. I don't like it."

Aqua's doubt suddenly turned to shock. "You don't like stories?"

Platinum raised her eyebrow. "Wait, you're joking right? I mean, reading is one of the only things that keeps ponies sane around here!"

The Doc rolled his eyes. "Oh come on, Miss Braid. Old ponies’ tales aren’t that important. And I think you are living evidence that disproves your claim."

Glitter laughed at that, taking another drag off her cigar, as Platinum mumbled something under her breath.

Aqua shook her head in disbelief. "Let me get this straight, you don't ever read stories?"

The Doctor shrugged. "The stable’s journalism does just fine for me. Maybe even some Equestrian history. And of course, science and medical books.”

"So, I’m guessing that’s a ‘no’ on listening to Melody’s broadcasts with Moral Pages?" Aqua asked doubtfully.

He shrugged. "Hey, as far as I'm concerned, Miss Charm is a talented DJ who plays good music, and Miss Pages is a talented writer who writes good stories. But it's their job, they’re supposed to do that."

"Oh, come on, Melody is nice." Glitter claimed, before taking a swig of her cider.

"She's just like every other pony who's been in charge of the Stable radio broadcasts." He countered.

My gaze shifted towards Platinum. “Well, I guess she can thank ‘Nightmare Maintenance’ over here for making her news broadcasts a bit more exciting.”

Stem raised his eyebrow at me. "I'll bet that if Melody knew you, she'd never have another slow news day in her life."

I felt my eye twitch as I squinted at him. "And what's that supposed to mean, Doc?" I asked, puffing a cloud of tobacco out the corner of my mouth.

"Oh, I’ve got the feeling she already knows him pretty well." Aqua mumbled, crossing her forelegs.

I smirked, before leaning closer to her. “Jealousy is not an attractive quality on you.”

She rolled her eyes. “What? And you think smugness is attractive on you?”

“Thanks for noticing.” My smirk continued to deflect. "Smugness is harder to maintain than it looks..." I turned back to the rest of my friends. "Alright... I raise you guys 50 credits."

Celestia, I love poker.

Alright, let’s get this over with...

Once upon a time...

in Stable 17, [REDACTED], Equestria.

*** *** ***

A Few Hours Earlier

The blade wasn't too big... but hot damn, it was big enough.

I sat on an examination table, leaning sideways against my flank in my dreary state of mind... and appearance. My ears flattened in annoyance at the sound of a mare with a fatal case of hysteria. Her screaming, even in the hallway outside the office, pierced through my eardrums worse than a knife to my leg.

...well, almost worse.

The mare's crying finally lowered to a dull whimper, only for the background noise of medical drills and other patient complaints to replace it. I was grateful when a familiar pony in a white lab coat trotted into the room, though I'd never show or admit it. "It’s about time." I said, sourly.

His tired-face and eyes suddenly shot up from reading his clipboard, to gaze at me from horn to tail. He shook his head with a forced grin. "Did they dig you out of the Storage Level?"

I only snorted in response, rolling to my other side, yet still keeping pressure off my other foreleg.

He rolled his eyes as he moved in front of me. "You amaze me, Mr. Sparky. You're either the most accident-prone pony in Stable 17, or you're just getting too lonely." He chuckled, half-heartedly. "What is it this time?"

I deadpanned. "Well, what does it look like?"

He rubbed his chin with a hoof, looking at the wound. "Well, I can tell you what it doesn't look like..."

"Wiseass..." I groaned, lowly.

“I wouldn't be here if I wasn't. Anyway, let's take a look at it." He examined it further, poking and prodding at my leg, making blood and pus spill onto the table.

I hissed, trying to hide the sharp intake of my breath. "You've got a bad bedside manner." I joked, doing my best to ignore the pain.

The doctor laughed regardless. "And you've got a bad leg. But unlike your humor, it looks like we can save it.”

I would hope so. I’ve definitely had worse.

He moved over to a medical tray and pulled out some cotton swabs and a small bottle. "You know, you ought to start using the emergency room."

"No, doc..." I winced as he dabbed my wound in alcohol and prepared several syringes on the medical tray across from where I laid. "Just sew me up here!" I demanded, hitting the examination table with my forehoof.

He mumbled something under his breath, continuing to swab the punctured area and cleanse the broken tissue. "So, you still haven't answered me. Who stabbed you?"

"Nopony important enough to care about." I muttered.

"You know, one of these days I'm going to trot in here to something I won't be able to fix. With the amount of times you come in here? There's a high probability that you're already a dead pony trotting."

"Don't I know it." I said, sounding bleak.

He chuckled as he looked my left foreleg over again. "Have you ever considered another line of work?"

My eyes narrowed at a syringe being filled with some kind of medical liquid. I knew these things were sometimes necessary to keep me going, and I always appreciated a little boost from time to time, but the conventional chems used in the clinics always made me drowsy. "Hey sport, none of that stuff, c’mon..." I said tiredly, ignoring his question. "You know, the bandages will be fine by themselves. None of that painkiller or healing potion magic stuff. Makes me feel all fuzzy when it wears off."

He turned around in amusement. "Hey! Do I come up to your office to lecture you on how to beat a confession out of a pony?"

I rolled my eyes and sat up. "Come on kid, I haven't got all night."

He shook his head as he began to give me doses of the medication. Painkillers, healing potions, and all the bubbling medical dictionary terms I've yet to fully comprehend. "You might feel a bit nauseated, but if you do, just have your wife to fix a, um..."

He caught himself as I looked up at him with a raised eyebrow.

He cleared his throat awkwardly, quickly fetching a bandage to wrap around my wound. "Sorry Sparkhorn... I didn’t know what I was thinking. I know that you’re--"

“It’s fine, just forget about it.” I sighed, looking down at my bandaged leg as the doctor finished his work by biting the length of the cloth off, reminded of how I’d gotten it that morning. I still can’t believe she did that... it all happened so fast. I'll be having a little chat with the Overmare later.

The doctor sighed as he checked my name off of his clipboard. “I assume this one will go on your tab as well?” He looked at me over the rims of his glasses, raising his own suspicion seeking eyebrow.

I sighed, dodging another one of his questions of my life acquisitions. “I really appreciate this, you know sport?"

Yeah, this obviously was not my first trip to the medbay. The shiny steel countertops, pink and yellow medical boxes, and clean grey atmosphere may not have been the most unique things in a stable, but it always made you feel like home. Wherever you went, you could never escape it. It's something everypony got used to here. One way or another, you got used to it. But this room especially was one of the many reoccurring highlights in my life. It hadn’t even been a year since the 'Doc', 'sport' or 'kid’ -who calls me by 'Mr. Sparky' in return- became the executive physician in the medbay, and he already knew me as a loyal customer. While my past has given me the knowledge of how to deal with stuff like this... you know, like knife wounds, given the circumstances, the Doc felt like the better choice. Though, dealing with his overused posh mannerisms, especially for a young earth pony, made the decision that much harder to make. But naturally, we got to talking about life and things, and we’d become somewhat good acquaintances. Not enough to really appreciate each other’s presence, but we found common perceptions, so that was good enough to talk life with him.

“Hmmm...” He returned to his clipboard notes, writing his sentences with a stable-tec pen that he held between his teeth. He gave a nod, satisfied with his work, and dropped the pen in the medical tray next to him. “And that’s Doctor Stem Root, if you don’t mind... Mr. Sparky.”

“Whatever you say, Doc. Am I good to go?” I slid off the med cot onto three of my good hooves.

He rolled his eyes. “I guess so. I expect you’ll come up with some story about how you got that gash in your leg tonight at the cards tournament?” He asked as if accusing me of something.

Really? Well, I couldn’t blame him for his suspicions. But that doesn’t mean he had the right to accuse me of all ponies. He’d better watch it.

“Listen, whatever work you’re into is none of my business, but your tab has been around since before my predecessor tragically and unexpectedly died.”

Hey, what’s wrong with somepony dying in unexpected tragedy?

“And judging by your ‘habits’ you certainly are not a pony worried about rations. And...”

Ah Luna... He’s forming speculations. I better stop him before he forms one too many. “Look Doc. It’s like I told you before; I’m just a Stable Loyalty Inspector. The Overmare takes care of it, including parts of what I owe in every health service budget. Now it’s like you said: My work is none of your business. So, do yourself a favor and stop worrying about it.” I chuckled, giving a reassuring smirk. “It’s nothing exciting anyway. Just as boring as your job.”

Stem fell silent for a few moments, looking down at the concrete floor before taking his glasses off with his hoof to wipe the lenses on his lab coat. “Oh, trust me, as long as you’re alive this job will never get boring.” He said, putting his glasses back on. “What with the curious wounds and friendly indirect threats...”

I’d be the first to admit that I was, without a doubt, a suspicious pony, whether I deserved it or not. But I worked for the Overmare. Usually, I could make it through the day without getting a second glance. Stem Root on the other hoof... No. He’s the executive physician which means the Overmare’s hoof is the hoof that feeds him. Sure, we’re all gambling ponies in Stable 17, but he better watch how much he’s willing to lose.

I let myself out, rolling my eyes with a sigh. “Have a good day, Doc.”

“Same to you Mr. Sparky.” I heard him sigh in a similarly defeated manner to mine. “Same to you...”

*** *** ***

I yawned as I trotted back from the medbay. I hadn’t gotten any sleep since the ‘incident’ that occurred the night before. My eyelids felt heavy as I made my way through the grey hallways. My leg didn’t feel all that bad, maybe a little sore with every step, but the Doc patched me up pretty good with all his pain relieving chems. Besides, pain is something that I’ve learned to tolerate. The chems, however, meant that my drowsiness would only increase. I stopped in front of the elevator to the living quarters and rubbed my eyes with my forehooves. Stem Root mentioned something about a card game tonight.

“Oh crap, I almost forgot.” I croaked in realization through a throaty groan.

The annual 52 cards tournament, aka, the Stable-Tec gaming mandate, started tonight. Blackjack, poker, roulette. The game room is usually where everypony goes to get a fix for their gambling addictions, but the cards tournament turns the entire atrium into a casino. It was an ingenious concept developed by Stable-Tec to... you know, give everypony the opportunity to earn some extra aptitude credits. Some ponies took advantage of that more than others. Everyday, for a week, you had to gamble for at least four hours. If you didn’t, well... That’s when admin would send somepony like me down to collect. Eh, but that was a rare occasion. Like I said, everypony here is a gambler of at least some degree.

I pulled my hooves away from my sore eye sockets with another groan and hit the lift button for the elevator.

The doors began to open. *ding* “Lev-...” *static* “...-edbay…”

Hmm... that’s weird. When the double doors finally retreated, I froze in place, startled by the sudden prancing out of a young unicorn filly off the platform, before she bumped into my injured foreleg. I yelped in pain, even with all the ‘medical’ relief, as I glared down at her in anger. “Woah! Hey, damnit kid!” I looked up to see a timid colt trot out after her. His ears drooped upon seeing me standing in front of his friend.

She squeaked with embarrassment -or fear, I wasn’t sure which- as she backed up against the wall alongside the colt, both looking up at me nervously. “Oh! O-oops! Sorry about that, mister.” The filly said, rubbing the back of her neck with her hoof.

“Yeah...” The colt agreed, looking crossed at the filly next to him. “I guess SOMEPONY wasn’t looking where she was going.” The filly only giggled, both standing back up to trot around me. “Nice going klutz.” He whispered.

“Sorry...” The filly shrugged. “Now c’mon, it’s got to be around here somewhere.”

I watched the colt roll his eyes as they passed me. “Yeah, unless they left it outside the stable. Another brilliant deduction from the ‘Daylilly think tank’”.

“Ugh! Whatever, jerk!” She said, right before blowing a raspberry at him.

I sighed, rolling my own eyes as I started to trot inside the elevator. I swear, ignorance is bliss with foals these days. I noticed the filly keeping her eyes on me as she pivoted alongside the colt, pressing the elevator button again before the doors could completely close. I raised my eyebrow in annoyance, watching her smile innocently up at me.

“Hey, uh... grumpy guy, before you go, can you tell us where the storage room is?” She asked, keeping her innocence plastered across her muzzle, while her coltfriend facehoofed.

“Hey, uh...” I began, mocking her stutter, then deadpanned. “...no, ignorant filly, I cannot.”

The colt growled in frustration as he tugged at her mane with his magic, making the large purple bow, tied around the back of her mane, bob up and down. “Damnit, would you come on and shut up! For the love of Luna, Daylily!”

I stepped back onto the platform and hit the descend button. My lungs forced me to sigh, the doors once again starting to close. Oh c’mon, they’re probably just fetching some supplies for their parents. Damnit! I can be nice to ponies! I CAN be nice! I opened the doors back up before the young ponies could trot away. “Actually, yeah...” I said, both of them turning back towards me. “You’re on the wrong side though. Storage is in the West wing.” I pointed to the stairwell across the hall. “Just go through the East wing exit right there.”

The colt remained unamused, while the filly gave a wide grin. “Thanks so much mister! It means a lot!”

I nodded, trying to put on a friendly smile. I flinched, however, when she galloped up and hugged my foreleg... my... injured foreleg. “Hey! Would you--! Ow!” I hissed through my teeth in a wince, before I wrapped my magic around her and pushed her back across the hall towards the colt. “Do NOT do that!”

THAT... is what I get for being nice! Figures...

“Oops! Sorry!” She winced at me in embarrassment again. The colt groaned and slapped her foreleg. “Ow! What was that for!?” She pouted.

“For being an idiot!” He scolded back, both starting towards the stairwell I pointed to. “Do you know what he is? Why don’t you ask him if he can show us around the place? Or better yet, paint another one in his honor, just for him to see, in case he doesn’t realize...”

Punks... I ought to drag them up to administration for that. My mind throbbed against the inside of my skull. I hit the elevator door button, the two young ponies disappearing through the far doorway. Next time... Damn kids...

Right now, I needed to get my mind off of the attack last night. Damnit, it was not supposed to go down like that! I can already picture the Overmare sending me a notice; ‘That I need to submit a report ASAP!’ Well, I say, 'damn her!' I’m headed back to my room, and after that I guess fate would decide if I make it to my bed before I pass out.

I sighed, leaning my body against the wall of the elevator. The steel felt cool against my face, helping my mind stay awake. A moment later, the elevator stalled and static rolled out from the speakers again. A sudden plume of sparks erupted from the control gears, causing the doors to open and close repeatedly.

“Son of a bitch!” I growled, repeatedly hitting the ‘close’ button on the control panel over and over. Not this again! “Come on you steel disaster, move!” Finally, after I reared up and pounded the control panel into the wall with an apple buck, the doors gave a satisfying clank, and began to close normally. I swear, do maintenance ponies ever do their fucking job around here? I specifically told Platinum Braid that the elevator between the atrium and the medbay needed to be fixed by last week!

The double doors had almost completely closed, when my ears perked at a voice shouting towards me from down the hallway to hold them open.

After what had just happened when I tried being nice? My hooves are staying firmly planted where they are, thank you very much!

I nickered after a forehoof caught the narrow opening between the doors anyway, just in time, prompting them to reopen to my dismay. The pony who caused that dismay however, spawned some delight to brighten my mood.

“Oh! Hey Spark!” The mare giggled. “Glad I caught you.”

I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at her. In a playful way of course. “Oh? Is there a problem, officer?” I tried my best to hide a smirk wanting to grow on my smug expression. “I swear, whatever it was it wasn’t me!”

She seemed half offended and half amused by my response. “Oh, shut up, you stupid stallion!” She poked my chest with her forehoof and a mischievous smile. “You know it’s not like that!”

The elevator doors finally closed behind her as we began to descend. I looked over the mare dressed in the blue security uniform with black armor padding and the yellow ‘17’s printed all over them.

Her name was Aqua Wave, a smooth turquoise coated and green maned Earth Pony. If I could call anypony a friend in Stable 17, I guess it would be her. A pony that I’ve known since we were foals, Aqua and I grew up and wreaked mischief on the stable together, alongside some other friends who were all mixed up in living like a bunch of hoods. For some of us, that truth took longer to accept. So, when I heard that Aqua Wave had given up her cherry bomb chemistry set for hoofcuffs and a security baton, let’s just say that it was at least the fifth most surprising thing to ever happen to Stable 17. I guess I never got over the fact that almost all of my friends became the very thing we despised as fillies and colts. But I wasn’t going to say ‘no’ to having friends in high places.

After a minute of futile attempts of swatting her forehoof away with my own, the elevator gave it’s staticky ’ding’ and opened its doors to the Atrium. It wasn't until we both trotted out into the hallway that she noticed my bandaged foreleg and finally stopped her poke assault.

"Oh! Sparky, what happened?" She lowered her head to get a closer look at the blood-stained fabric that kept the wound from seeing light.

Crap... Looks like I'll have to come up with something now instead of later. "O-oh this thing? Well uh... you know how it is, I--"

"Sparky..." She quickly interrupted my search for an excuse. "Please don't tell me you're... 'working' again."

The truth was definitely not far off.

But still, I gave the most convincing sigh I've ever produced and did what I do best: I lied my ass off. "No, but you know how it goes. Somepony shot their mouth off, so I got pissed and they broke a Sparkle-Cola bottle on me. I swear it wasn't my fault this time."

She shook her head in disappointment. "I'd expect this kind of thing from Platinum Braid, but you? You know better Spark! You're a Stable Loyalty Inspector for buck sake!"

I rolled my eyes and gave her a playful poke on her side. A little revenge from earlier. "Oooh I'm sorry officer. You're not going to arrest me now are you?" I gave her that irresistible smile I'd learned to form.

She gave a defeated sigh, but she couldn't help but reflect the same smile that I'd given her. "You're an idiot, you know that?"

Well, I don’t know about that... The truth is that while I left that old life, the trouble from it likes to follow ponies around. I'd tried that once, to be an honest and responsible pony, and try the family thing. Well, that pursuit led me straight off a cliff and into a pit of misery, heartbreak, and a nasty divorce. Sure, I’ve been working for the Overmare for a while now, but that doesn’t mean much has changed.

"Hey, that's debatable." I declared in amusement. "But what's not debatable is that I'm a handsome buck." I pointed to my cocky grin-plastered face with my forehoof. "I mean c'mon! Look at me! Do you really think I'm gonna let anything happen to this mug?"

She gave me the biggest deadpan I had ever seen, slapping her forehoof to her face.

*** *** ***

"Hey, when the hay are you gonna get your mane cut?"

I shrugged, looking over her own mane as I poured myself a cup of coffee. "Well, whenever you do I guess."

Aqua gave me a look, leaning against the adjacent counter to the coffee machine, while sipping her own cup. "I'm a mare, Sparks. Come on, your sideburns are longer than your ears. Your mane is so old fashioned.”

I shrugged. "Look, who's got time? I've been up all night, drafting this year’s census."

Technically... that was the truth. Or it at least had some truth in it. The census has to accurately count how many ponies are in each department. A good way to know who’s working for whom... just in case they need to be paid a visit.

"Hey, speaking of Kahn." She said, changing the subject "That was a pretty good pitch you made the other day. Him and Glitter were pretty pleased."

I gave a satirical raise of my eyebrows. "Were they?"

She nodded as I followed her out of the diner. "Yeah, they really were. Glitter wanted me to tell you, well done."

“Well...” I said, rolling my eyes. "I can't tell you how deeply moved I am to hear that."

She sighed, shaking her head. "How do you like that? I pass along a compliment, and all you can do is be snarky about it. 'Snarky Sparky'. You could at least be a little bit polite. It might not even kill you to say ‘thanks’." She chuckled.

"I'd much rather say, ‘thanks’ to a ration slip raise." I said with a sigh, eventually making our way back up the hallway to the living quarters.

"Hey Sparky!”

My ears perked at my name, both of us turning around to see a grey-coated stallion with a slicked pompadour mane like my own, trotting up to us, but wearing a greaser jacket over his stable suit.

He approached, Aqua rolling her eyes before trotting on without me. “Oh for Celestia’s sake. Tell me when he’s gone.”

My eye twitched as I turned toward the other approaching pony. "You're a real genius you know that, Parlour?"

He stopped with a confused look. "Huh?"

I shook my head, "Do you just walk up to all your contacts when there's a security pony standing RIGHT in their face?" My magic materialized around the collar of his jacket, flipping it up. "And what the hell is this? Your old man is still letting you wear this thing after what happened with your ga--”

“Yeah, yeah, please." He groaned, waving his hoof in front of me before flattening his collar back. "You don’t need to tell me the story. Look, all I wanted to ask is if you got that tip for this weekend’s game yet.”

I furrowed my brow with a sigh, trying to remember which players were pitted to win versus take a fall. “The score should be 7-3 by the end. I’m still working on the rest.”

He nodded, repeating the score I just gave him under his breath. “Okay, I got it. When you get the rest, come find me, and next time you play cards against my dad, he’ll be so out of it, he’ll be falling out of his chair.”

"Hey..." I gave the younger stallion a look. "Greasy Gears may be one mighty bastard but we still go way back, so give him a break once in a while, huh? You ever think about how he raised you and your sister by himself?”

He rolled his eyes. "Save it, will ya?"

Letting my disappointment be known, I shook my head, and I turned back in Aqua’s direction. “Just show the buck some respect. You owe him that at least. Especially after he wakes up with half his losings split between you and me...”

He shrugged before giving me a smirk. "Hey, you know the bosses are really missin' ya down in Pink? You ever gonna be workin' again?"

I felt myself smile at that. I guess I should take pride in the fact that ponies still appreciate my work... even if it is from the old days. With a shrug and a click of my tongue, I trotted off. "Be seeing you at the mandate tonight, Parlour. Or else you'll be paying off another citation with your cut."

He nickered behind me before I finally heard him trot away. The words “Jive-ass bastard” hissed from under his breath. I'll make sure to cite him for that later...

“Alright Aqua, he’s gone!” I announced, looking around for the smaller mare. My ears perked at her calling me from around the corner.

“Hey Sparky! Come see this!”

I gave an exhausted yawn, making my way around the corner. Geez, I must really be tired. “What is it now? Don’t tell me you shot another poster!”

She rolled her eyes, silently pointing her forehoof to something on the wall next to us. It took me a minute to realize what she was pointing at, before I saw...

"What... the hell... are those?" I asked, looking down the length of the wall.

Aqua was silent for a moment, before whispering... "I... I think they're called flowers."

Right... flowers... well, whatever they were, there were a lot of them. It was a mural of endless flora images that must have stretched across the entire hallway, and right in the middle of the living quarters. They were artfully painted on the once-blank surface with what looked like regular maintenance paint made to look like something that'd belong on a canvas. Like pastels or... something.

Hell, I don't know art.

The former sea of grey and dullness was replaced by a green field of big yellow sunny-like flowers, some with small white petals, others blue or red, overlapped by a clear blue sky with a bright sun shining over the view. The only thing missing was Celestia herself, watching over the glory of Equestria. There were so many colors. So much light and life. It was like nothing I've ever seen before. Sure, I've seen stuff like this with grass and the sky in book illustrations and old pre-war photos. But, it was nothing as creative as this. I mean, it’s impressive... but I was still able to prevent a small smile from appearing on my muzzle. Good. Because if I didn't, then I might not have been able to resist imagining myself actually stepping into the world that the image produced... I rolled my eyes at the ridiculous thought. Who needs it? I could live without it.

Eh... but Aqua on the other hoof...

I looked beside me to see her staring in awe at the colorful wall. She looked a little more impressed at the art than I did.

Flowers, I guess, aren't really my thing. Besides... I like grey. Grey is a nice, safe, and protective color. A unifying color. My favorite color even! ...though I like more of a dark grey, than the lighter steel grey of the stable, so that of course vindicates me of all bias! Anyway... It’s like I said before, the color is something you get used to here. Grey should be everypony's favorite color by now.

But still... the change was intriguing. The only other things closer to excitement these walls get are the Stable-Tec motivational posters or the occasional heroic poses of ponies running for Overmare. That got old after seeing Diamond Blossom and Khan go at it for the fifth year in a row. No, the detail in each of these flowers; in each petal, in the sky and in the sun, it was unique. It couldn't have been an easy task. Whoever did this must be pretty skilled with a brush.

Ah, geez... Red Alert, Inspector Obvious! A unique and colorful pony is on the lose! Trying to clash against the grey... against the Overmare's grey... against all of our grey.

You have to get used to it if you want to trot these halls. Or else you pay the price.

Nice, dull, safe, protective, unifying, grey-walled reality came back to me like a harsh slap to the face. This can’t be here. Yes, this was art. Eye-catching, creative... and half-way decent art. But more importantly, it was vandalism. And it just happened to be that we were the ponies who are supposed to be responsible for preventing things like this from happening. Maybe I liked the concept of erasing somepony’s attempted activism more than I should, but grey and dullness had to win at the end of the day. So, procedure would not only have us order this to be taken down, but also apprehend the artist. We’ll have to keep an eye out for an art-themed cutie mark.

"Don't you dare!"

I turned to see Aqua's angry expression fixed on me. "What?" I shrugged.

"I know that look. You were thinking about reporting this weren't you!?"

I stared at her with a raised eyebrow. "What? You're not?"

"No! Are you blind!? Look at this! It's the most beautiful thing that's ever happened to this dull hallway. Hell, to this stable! And you want to tear it down!?"

Ah Geez... Is she even speaking Equish? She knows why we have to!

This time it was my turn to face hoof. "Uumm... Hello?” I pointed to the word ‘security’ printed on her chest pad. “Did you forget that we’re both in the rule enforcement business? They’re going to wonder how a security mare and a loyalty inspector went through the living quarters and somehow missed an entire vandalized hallway.” I sighed, despising the regret in her naïve eyes. "Besides, if we don't report this you know somepony else will, so we might as well wreak the benefits."

She gave a pout, sitting down on her haunches to stare longingly into the mural. No doubt falling victim to her imagination, thinking that she could step into the false reality. "But... it's not fair..."

I stayed silent for a few moments, myself staring back at the unnaturally pretty stable wall. I wondered how many flowers there were. How long did the artist spend painting it? Who was the artist? I turned back to Aqua, offering my hoof to help her up. “C’mon, maintenance will have this cleaned up before the tournament tonight."

She pried her eyes away from the wall, looking at me with her pouting expression. I pulled her to her hooves once she took my hoof. "No... it'll probably be a security shift. Didn't you hear? Maintenance is rioting again."

"I-- Wait... what!?" My head shook in disbelief. "Again!? But we just broke a deal last week!" Well that explains why the elevator was on the fritz. Platinum Braid. That long maned hippie can’t ever play by the damn rules. One of these days, I oughta give her a forehoof sandwich.

Aqua nodded. “Yeah. Something about a maintenance mare going missing last night. Platinum Braid said the mare found some kind of holotape, and that the Overmare didn't want anypony to hear it. Platinum is accusing her of having the mare killed.” She raised her eyebrow at me. “You wouldn’t know anything about that would you, ‘Mr. Loyalty Inspector’?”

“You’re... you're kidding, right?” My forehoof pointed at her. “First of all, that’s... that's just rumor! Nothing but baseless accusations from those pinko bastards down in maintenance!” I chuckled dismissively. "Had her killed... why would she... I mean what would she do to... eh... the hell do they know, anyway!? Insurrectionists! And hey! Second! Why would you think I’d know about that? I don’t do that kind of thing! And I resent the question!”

“Right...” She pointed to my bandaged leg again. “How did you get that wound again?”

“U-uh... I... I told you! It was just a bar fight in the mess hall. What exactly are you trying to accuse me of?”

“Hmmf, nothing.” She shrugged. “Just doing my job.”

"Ah..." I rolled my eyes before shooting her a smirk, "You would pick now of all times to start doing that..."

Her glare quickly started showing cracks before we both gave a small laugh, finally trotting away from the crime scene.

“So, what do you think?”

“About?” I asked.

Aqua gestured behind us to the wall. “Well... about the painting. Who do you think did it?”

I thought for a second, trying to remember the usual suspects of stable vandalism. But... this seemed a bit different. “Well, Aqua... what I think sounds a bit too farfetched...”

She gave me a puzzled look. “Well, hit me with it.”

I sighed, thinking back to what she told me about the maintenance riots. “I think, what we have here is a case of memorializing vandalism. Those goddamn hippies in maintenance are trying to recall back to the old insurrection days. You remember the last time way back, the first time I got drafted, all that spray paint? Maybe they’re using flowers now instead of threatening messages, but it’s anti-overmare all the same.”

I could see the gears turning behind her expression of thought. “So... other than repaint the walls, what are we going to do about it?”

“Well, nothing...” I shrugged. “With over 300 ponies in the stable, and one third of them in Maintenance alone, it could have been anypony. And if they're really rioting again, then we’ve got bigger things to worry about than catching just one vandal. Could have been somepony close to Platinum who’d remember the riots, IF it wasn’t Platinum herself, though she was never the artistic type.”

She raised a skeptical eyebrow at me. “Do you really think that maintenance is resorting to drawing flowers on the walls? For what, trying to spite everypony that lives here?”

I gave another shrug. “Well, I don’t have evidence to prove it, but that doesn’t mean I can’t find any to say that it’s part of the riots. BUT, unless we’ve got any witnesses, administration is just going to look at it as a random act, since it’s all the way up here in high clearance living quarters.”

“So...” She said with a defeated sigh. “What are you going to do... Inspector?” She asked in the similarly playful way I called her ‘officer’.

I rolled my eyes and chuckled, my enthusiasm for the subject decreasing with every word. “Well... You know, I could work the case on my own. Search for evidence, you know, prove my theory... allocate some security from maintenance, steak-out some hot spots for vandalism... OR I could spend the same amount of time and energy beating you all at the cards tournament tonight.” I teased with a devilish smirk. "I've thought about it, and I think I'd be a hell of a lot happier if I did the latter."

Aqua snorted at that, rolling her eyes as we finally made it to my room. My horn glowed, levitating my badge ID to the lock reader, unlocking the steel door and sliding it open with a mechanical hiss.

“Hold up, I almost forgot the reason I caught you earlier.”

I turned to look at Aqua with a yawn. “What’s that?”

“You’re banned from the gun range again. Glitter Punch wanted me to confiscate your gun. She says it’s serious this time.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me...” I guess that’s what I get for being too friendly with a security mare. Then again, siphoning off security's ammunition for our loyalty agents in Maintenance might not have been the most prudent of ideas. “Fine...” I groaned, sounding defeated. My horn glowed again, pulling a .45 pistol out of my stable barding with my magic. I silently gave it to her before I turned back around.

"Ahem!" I froze, my ears perking at her forehoof tapping the floor behind me. “And the one you stole... Plus, your forty-five seems to be missing its silencer.” She added, her smirk mischievous.

Heh, that made two of us... Again, my horn glowed. This time levitating a 10mm pistol over to her, followed by the sleek black cylinder that I’d acquired some time ago to put on the muzzle of my favorite pistol. "Send Glitter my regards..." I yawned before finally entering my room.

She giggled. “Are you sure you’re not too tired to beat me at the cards tournament?”

I rubbed my eyes, working up a weak smile. “Oh, I’m making it. Sorry to disappoint you, but nopony’s stable units are safe tonight.” I snarked, trotting slowly toward my bed.

“Don’t count on it Spark! I’ve got a new technique to use and everything. I’ll bust you out before you can say: ‘ace’!"

*** *** ***

The next morning hit me like a train. My head was pounding with a hangover from last night, and I couldn’t even remember how it ended. I groaned, pushing up from my bed, my legs hesitating to adjust to my weight. I could have sworn the mattress felt a bit uneven for just one pony sleeping in it. Eh... probably just imagining things. As my forehoof moved up in a futile attempt to numb the migraine, my eyes caught the bandage still covering my leg. Was I wearing this the whole night? Saving anymore migraine fuel, I used my teeth instead of my magic to unravel the blood-stained cloth. I gave a sigh of relief to see the wound was completely gone, save for a small scar that lied in its place. Another for the books.

I finally rolled out of bed, drowsily moving over to the mirror and sink on the opposite end of my room. After a few dry smacks of my lips and a lazy attempt at rubbing the sleep out of my heavy eyes, I twisted the nobs until warm water drained from the spout onto my hooves. I winced when I splashed it on my face, the warmth only penetrating for a quick second before rendering my face to a tap cold state. Surrendering to the fact that using water to wake myself up was just as uncomfortable as getting out of bed, I quickly halted my efforts with a shake of my head, mane, body, a flick of my tail, and an exhausted groan. The steam from the water quickly fogged up my mirror, so I reached up with my hoof and wiped it clear, revealing the image of a dull blue unicorn stallion with a dark murky mane, blood-red colored eyes, and a hickey on his neck, staring miserably back at me. A guilty pair of jumper cables loomed behind me in the background, following my every move, as they always have since the day they had magically appeared on my flanks. I tried to ignore them, instead focusing on the curious love bite on my neck.

I wonder who gave me that. Last night kind of turned to a blur once we opened up the third bottle of cider. I couldn’t even remember who won the game. I usually don’t get that drunk when credits are on the line like that. Well, since Aqua was sitting next to me, I should probably ask her. Hell, maybe it was her. Then again, I recalled her saying something about a shed or a barn to explain the black eye she gave me for asking her out once. Whatever that meant... There’s just somethings a stallion can’t have I guess. Well, whoever this mystery mare was, she wasn’t here now.

Suffering through the pain in my head, I used my horn to levitate a comb. I turned on my Pip-Buck radio, hoping to catch whatever was left of the morning news broadcast.

Usually, nopony bothered with the news since... well, nothing ever really happens. Nothing without our say-so anyway. But... today was going to be different, as Aqua had informed me the day before, another Maintenance riot had sprung up, almost overnight it seemed.

static “...-ey there everypony. Hope you enjoyed that little tune of ours. This is Melody Charm, wishing everypony good luck tonight for the second round of the 52 Cards Tournament. This next one goes out to all of Stable 17 security. Keep holding those nasty rioters back. Drinks will be on me when you come by the Atrium.”

With my mane turning from wet and soggy to combed and slick, I looked back up at the mirror, admiring the more pleasantly groomed reflection, as the stable broadcast station began to play a song.

”...playing solitaire till dawn,
with a deck of fifty-one.”

I looked over to my terminal on my desk. Reluctant to bother, I trotted over and switched it on. I typed in my password to access my office information, allowing me to search for any cues to indicate an all but expected new message from the Overmare. I had it opened to my residents’ files however, and feeling a sudden impulse to do so, I navigated to a tab that was questionably labeled, ‘friends’. What we had all talked about last night replayed in the back of my mind like a holotape, alongside the surprise appearance of Platinum Braid. A list of five ponies’ names appeared, each with a tab containing information about them, that I’d ~~obsessively~~ collected over the years. They were but a few of the friends that I’d made over the years, providing me company to suffer with as I grew up, and who would consequently become the banes of my existence sooner than later.

Aqua Wave, a strong, cute, and somewhat naive mare who had the amazing, albeit cursed, ability to tolerate others’ maximum ignorance and far too inclined to reserve her judgment. When we were foals, Aqua always tried to get a science themed cutiemark with her lifelong chemistry set. Go figure she got hers by throwing a cherry bomb into the stable swimming pool. The wall of water that followed happened to drench a bunch of hoods running from security. Once in security herself, she’d finally sleep in the barracks instead of a cell.

One of the first foals I had met outside of the orphanage was Glitter Punch. Another strong earth pony filly who loved to pick fights with the oldest and toughest colts in the school room, eventually getting her stars and brass-hoof cutiemark. She was the daughter of a hard-headed security officer. Wish I could have seen the look on her old buck's face when security dragged his daughter home after a night of her hanging out with foals like us. She was always physically competitive, even acting more boyish than most colts at times. But she eventually came home to law and order... sort of. Guess she felt she owed it to her pops... but me and her both know he'd be rolling in his grave if he knew exactly how she became our current Chief of Security.

Kahn... don't ask what that's short for. He wiped every record of his full name from the stable database... I always imagined it was... Kahuna something... Anyway, he's a unicorn stallion, a bit older than me but still of my generation. He’d always have Glitter's back during her fights as foals, but his main concerns were ration slips and card credits. And the way to get those was by stealing other ponies' terminal passwords, lock-picking their safes, or hacking them straight up. He taught me, and arguably all of my friends, everything we'd know today on how to... take advantage of the stable. I went to school and formed a group of friends with him. And, before referring to him as an ‘old friend’, I knew him as the rebellious son of a wealthy exec, although, I’m not sure if he ever saw a single credit of inheritance. Most of the fortune he’d eventually have, I like to think anyway, was due to our adolescent heists of criminal activity that he’d conduct for our little circle of friends. He may not have ever paid the lawful price for that, but he sure as hell paid the social. He's currently the Exec in charge of the stable intelligence and data keeping department.

Diamond Blossom was probably the prettiest and smartest filly in the orphanage, if not the whole stable. She knew more spells than any of my other unicorn friends combined. That should have left me impressed, however I always recalled more envy than anything, given my… condition. But she was useful; from stealing comic books to picking safe locks. Only trade off was the lack of a silver tongue she managed to possess today. It's a miracle that her stuttering attempts of persuasion didn’t get us killed. I’ll admit though, once upon a time, I had a pretty hard crush on her when we were growing up... Me, along with every other pony. Back then, I thought we deserved each other. I was her closest friend after all... I'd regret ever thinking that. Diamond had a profound need to be loved, so much so that she would do just about anything. Obviously not something an orphan could obtain very easily, but Celestia and I know, she was a resourceful one. One of the many cynics who would eventually join the ranks of the stable socialites, constantly having to put on an act to hide her sorrow, anguish and her crafty guile. Naturally, the ponies of Stable 17 chose her to be the Overmare, despite her past of running around with hoodlums like us. I guess when the alternative was an Overstallion named ‘Kahn’, she was the obvious choice.

Then there was Platinum Braid, a poor, abused, unicorn filly, whose father worked himself to death in maintenance. Although, rumor has it, that she might have had more than nothing to do with his head getting smashed inside of a reactor. Her cutiemark was... Well, I wasn’t exactly sure what it was, and I'll leave it at that. While she wasn’t the smartest mare in the world, she was a unicorn who was decent at magic. She always saw herself as morally superior to all of us, though usually bucked us in the shins if we ever challenged her. She was incredibly self-destructive and just as prideful. She was the only one of us who would return to that side of the law. Now, this just might be my personal bias talking, but the supervisor of the maintenance department became a hard position for me to respect as is. This doubled in effect when I realized how much loyalty the position could divert from the Overmare and the Stable. When one third of our population works in Maintenace, you do the math.

Ah... and then there’s the big question... Who am I? Well, lucky for you, I've made profiles of just about everypony. Including myself. No, that doesn’t make me obsessive, it's my job! Now, usually, I don't like other ponies to know much about my life, so... eh, forget it... what difference does it make? It’s not like any of this matters to me anymore... My name is Spark Charger. If you didn’t already pick up on it, I lived underground in a Stable. Stable 17. From what I knew at the time, it was some kind of stable specified for regional administrators and high-ranking military personnel, before the war with the Zebras broke out into total balefire and megaspell annihilation. Stop me if you've heard this before, but it wasn’t really ’total’ annihilation. Ponies survived in giant underground fallout shelters called Stables, such as mine. Lucky me for the stable... and the war too. I wouldn’t be here telling you this story otherwise.

I was... I am a Stable Loyalty Inspector, usually a very general and average job for unicorns. Half the job is stamping contracts and writing reports, the other is... let's call it 'account managing'. I'm an accountant, in a sense. The Overmare's accountant, or Stable 17's... hell, maybe just Stable-Tec's accountant in general. When it came down to it, us Loyalty Inspectors had to keep track of everypony; everypony's actions, everypony's words... everypony's thoughts, especially. And if our first job was to add a name to a list, our next job was to cross it off. Was my work questionable? Not unless you think questioning it was worth a citation. After all, loyalty is a virtue. I’ve worked for the Overmares of the stable, and a few other power holders, in exchange for getting me out of a lifetime of working in the maintenance department. I mean, could you imagine? Me? Working as some kind of Pip-Buck Technician? The best thing I could do with a wrench is hit somepony over the head with it. There was no way I’d spend any more time down there than what my cutiemark permitted.

But the ultimate power holder was still the Overmare. Of course, that gave Diamond Blossom the opportunity to use me in such ways the Execs may not have approved of. In exchange, she provided extra rations, paid for my medical bills and granted me use of the security gun range for target practice, as long as Glitter Punch played along. Were we corrupt? Were we abusing our power? It never mattered to me, and quite frankly, not to anypony else either. Nopony important anyway. Besides, as long as our stable-ops manual permitted it, everything was fair. But fairness and corruption aside, the stable still kept us all safe. And while I acted like the big and scary 'peacekeeper', nopony ever got too hurt. Well... again, nopony important. I had to enforce the stable's safety... And the hazards I clear would usually hit maintenance harder than other departments. I'm damn near a warrior for the working pony... but, I guess it's wishful thinking these days to say most aren't too busy being grime licking asshats to realize that.

Suddenly, the light over my interface began to blink, telling me that I’d received a new message.

”Smoking cigarettes and watching captain kangaroo.”

About time. Let’s see what she wants.

”Don’t tell me, I’ve nothing to do...”

*** *** ***

As I expected, the message was asking me to submit my report on my encounter with a mare named Sugar Spade. She'd found an old data terminal in one of the abandoned levels of maintenance below Stable 17. Nopony knew what was on it, not me, not even the Overmare… at least so I was told. Unfortunately for Spade, she managed to extract the data onto a holotape and refused to hand it over to Security, claiming there was nothing on it. Well, we knew she at least took something because the Overmare got an alert for a security breach from that very terminal, and security footage confirmed that Sugar Spade was the culprit. Still, she was by all accounts, innocent. A wife and mother, security can't exactly barge into her room and arrest her for concealing evidence that could possibly be embarrassing for the Overmare.

That's where I come in. It was supposed to be a simple extraction; sneak in and grab the tape, then sneak out. That's it. nothing more.... Listen, some ponies are guilty enough to justify punishment... but, when it came to political threats, like that of Sugar Spade... sometimes it comes down to the most important pony in the room... and I’ve got to look out for number one.

*** *** ***

"Good morning Inspector."

I nodded with a smile at the young mare. "Morning Cherry. Is the boss in?"

The Overmare's secretary stood up and nodded as she escorted me through the door to her office, announcing my presence.

"Overmare Blossom?"

Oh yeah... and there was one more thing that I forgot to mention...

"Your Ex-husband is here to see you."

Her secretary closed the door as soon as I stepped into the Overmare's office. I saw the mare herself, silently facing her large circular window, looking down over the atrium, Pink clearance pit bosses preparing for the second night of the 52 Cards Tournament. She was a white coated unicorn with an icy colored, and dark blue mane. Her cutiemark, a yellow blooming flower, though instead of the bud, there was a perfectly cut diamond. I saw her eyes shift upwards, catching my image in the glass' reflection as I trotted closer to her semicircle desk. I cleared my throat, making my way to the center of the extremely immodestly decorated room. "You wanted to see me, Diamond?"

She turned around with a look of...

Uh oh...

"Where. The fuck. Have you been?" She scolded. “I was expecting you in here, my office, at least 20 hours ago.”

“Really?” I asked, mockingly.

If I had any sense, I probably shouldn’t have taken the witty conversational route.

"Well, that’s funny because I had no intention of being in your office 20 hours ago."

Well, so much for proving I had any sense...

The look in her eyes told me she was holding back every urge to turn around and apple-buck me in the face. "You--! Ugh! I told you to report back to me as soon as it was done!"

"Hey! I was tired. The Doc had me on so many painkillers, I was barely able to make it back to the living quarters."

This didn't calm her expression. She narrowed her eyes at me and began poking my chest with her hoof. And not in a playful way like Aqua would. "Do you think I'm an idiot!? I saw you in the Atrium last night, playing with those... hoodlums! Do you think we have nothing to talk about?"

“No...” I shrugged. “I just can’t think of anything that I’d WANT to talk about.”

“Can you act serious for once in your life!” She huffed, trying to regain some of her composure. Her eyes suddenly narrowed at my neck. I only realized too late what she had noticed. "...And what. Is. This!?" She tugged at my collar with her magic, feeling her eyes burn through a certain blemish on the side of my neck.

"It's um..." I raked my brain for an excuse. It's not like it was the first time she'd caught me like this, but... the circumstances were a bit different. "Well, she didn't wake up with me this morning, so you couldn't expect me to know, could you?"

She rolled her eyes in disgust, finally releasing her magical grip on my Stable jacket. "Do you have any idea how much of a liability you've become? You're compromising this entire operation. You steal from the armory only to trust the shadiest of all ponies to handle security munitions for our agents! You gamble, drink, sleep around, and now you’re going around parading that leg wound like injuries just fall out of the ventilation around you! And..."

"See? I was right." I interrupted, snidely. "Nothing. I want. To talk about."

She narrowed her eyes, her horn suddenly glowing again, levitating a tin of tobacco cut from my Stable jacket's front pocket. I winced as I watched her crush it in her magic and toss the loose stable grown cake to the floor. Damnit! If she knew how much that stuff costs me! To think I ever thought how Orange Clearance could afford to keep gambling. Hell, my ration slips alone probably keep their tobacco rackets running. I'll have to buy another tin later.

Okay, so technically it was a code violation to smoke outside of the atrium or other specially ventilated rooms, along with all the other violations she had called me out on. But I knew that she knew, that I was indispensable, at least for the time being. I didn't think she was going to find anypony else with my... ‘experience’, any time soon. So, a few code violations didn’t hurt.

"...And you lied to me about quitting! Ugh! You and that... that silly pipe!" She yelled, glaring at me with heated eyes. "It's... IT'S--!"

I raised my hoof in protest. "It's what I always do, honey..."

She looked at my leg, only to turn around with a sarcastic chuckle of surprise. "Yes well... It's amazing you even had the common sense to take off that silly bandage before you came here. Thank Celestia for small favors!" She sighed, plopping her head down in her forehooves as she sat at her desk, causing a few papers to slide off and onto the floor.

We were both silent for a while. This part was always awkward for us. Or at least for me. We used to be happy, compromising, and dare I say understanding. The cold silence, save for the buzzing of her desk terminal, told me those days will never resurface.

"Please tell me you have the holotape..." Her muffled voice barely escaped through her hooves.

"Well... not exactly..." I sat across from her desk with an anxious sigh, my expression finally sinking to seriousness. "The mare is dead..."

Her ears perked up, slowly lifting her head to glare at me. "...what?"

*** *** ***

"...And... the holotape?" I heard Diamond ask, cutting me off before I could explain the gritty details.

My eye twitched in resentment as I glared down at her. "The holotape?" I asked, fuming from her lack of... well... sincerity? No, I never really cared about that. Responsibility? Responsibility, yeah let's go with that. "Diamond, two innocent ponies are dead because of that damn holotape!" I seethed. "Now I don't know what value she was to Platinum, but she's about to launch a revolution over this! So, you tell me, what was on that damn holotape!?”

"You don't know what you're talking about!" She stood back up. The strands of her blue colored forelock fell in front of her ghostly face from stress. "The executive council will have my hide if they find out that vital Stable-Tec intelligence was stolen!”

“Well...” I shrugged. “It’s not like this is the first time I’ve saved your hide from the executive council. What has it been? Three removal trials now?”

She narrowed her eyes, aggressively pointing her hoof at me. “Do NOT go there... Charger...” I could have sworn I saw a few more strands of her mane spring out. “That holotape could have more than just political consequences. It could hurt the integrity of the Stable. Just imagine, ponies will want to open the door to the outside!"

My head shook in disbelief. "Come on, I mean this is Platinum we're talking about here. She's a short-fused impulse of a grease horn, but she's not really that... crazy, is she?"

She gave me a look.

Okay, she honestly belongs in the stable asylum. I shook my head again and sighed, looking down at the floor, my thoughts teasing the idea of regret.

"Oh Celestia..." She trotted out from around her desk to look me in the eye. "Don't tell me that you feel bad for what happened. And for what? For two ponies you had hardly met before they tried to kill you? You simply executed your right as a loyalty inspector and removed a couple of insurrectionists who threatened the integrity of our stable."

I looked back up, eyes narrowed in disgust. “Fuck. You. Diamond.” I felt my ‘F’ accompanied by several drops of enraged spittle. “After what she did, it was either me or her, but that doesn’t mean it was supposed to go down like that!” I watched her give me a bewildered look, hesitating to respond as I continued to fume. “Doesn’t it bother you that the holotape wasn’t even there!? She was just a normal pony! No weapons or explosives... you know, besides a really big kitchen knife...” My forehoof instinctively rubbed over the scar on my opposite foreleg. “Meanwhile, maintenance is up in arms, ready to blow hay out of half this stable because of this mess!”

Her face began to sour, even more so than what I thought possible coming from her. She jabbed my chest with her hoof again. “Don’t you dare lecture me, you son of a bitch! I didn’t want you to kill her either! That is all on your vigilante actions, that I have to justify by the way! I swear, we have ponies crying 'stable brutality!' every time you trot down the hall! Meanwhile, the executive council is cracking down on every decision I make to ease restrictions on security using excessive force, let alone any sort of violence used by my loyalty inspectors." We shared a moment of resentful glaring, myself picking my words of defense against whatever emotional artillery she was preparing to barrage me with, only for her to finally break up her temper with a regretful sigh. “Spark... I hate making excuses for our morals just as much as you do, but we--"

"Oh, Luna..." I rolled my eyes, "Spare me... please, Celestia, spare me another one of your speeches."

"You--!" She stiffened, giving me another painful poke in the ribs, my words pulling her temper right back. "...are so fucking... AGH!!" She threw her head back with a growl before returning a loathing stare. "Fine... we can call it what it is then. Evil for evil. That's what our excuse has always been, has it not?"

I shrugged, giving a click out of the corner of my mouth. “Evil, huh? Who needs to make excuses for evil? Murder is evil, Diamond... An accident is fate. So long as the accidents happen to the right ponies...” That didn’t make it right... though I suppose it doesn’t make it wrong either. “I just want to make sure that Sugar Spade was the right pony. Because if this was all for nothing...” I shook my head and sighed. “Look, I’m not going to pretend like my conscience is completely clean here, but this better not come back to bite us.”

"Maybe we wouldn't have to worry about that if you were a bit more prudent!" She snapped back.

"Come on, don't turn this on me!" I seethed, knitting my brow in anger. "I work for you, remember!? Or do you forget, when we started this gig, that you told me to keep the political threats out of high clearance by any means necessary!?"

"I am NOT going to debate this with you!" She stiffened further, her horn abruptly flashing and beginning to glow a vibrant hot pink, her magic rippling with fury. "You are the biggest pain in the flank in the entire history of the stable, you know that!? No wonder Angel Mist suspended you so many times! I oughta take your badge right now myself, before the Council finds out about this mess!"

I barely noticed the change in atmosphere, the pink glow in the room fading to a darker red. After a spark of concern crossed Diamond's face, I could tell my own horn had lit up, my contained rage beginning to rupture. "I swear if you weren't the Overmare..."

She narrowed her eyes and ground her teeth, stepping closer to me, muzzle to muzzle. "You better choose your next words very carefully, or else you’re finished as a Loyalty Inspector for Stable 17.” Her voice hissed like a snake, gradually raising with every determined word from her mouth. “And I’ll personally see to it that your ass is busted back down to maintenance! AM I CLEAR, CHARGER!!!?” Her horn suddenly flickered, her building energy making her aura glow brighter with rage.

I could feel my own anger pulse through every cold running vein in my head, charging my horn with an even brighter red glow that grew around us. “Crystal...”

“Cut. Your. Magic. NOW!” She demanded.

My eye twitched as I stared down her muzzle, my rage finding nowhere else to go but to power my horn. Damnit! She knows that's hard for me to do while she’s--! I swear, if she makes me lose control, I'm gonna--

“Um... hello?” The sheepish voice beside us did nothing to dent our argument as we both turned instantly toward the new voice.

“WHAT!?” We both screamed in chorus.

Cherry winced, shrinking back a bit from our sudden snap before whimpering her response. “U-um... Your afternoon appointment is here, Ms. Overmare…”

We both looked up to see the suspicion-seeking glare of a familiar grey unicorn stallion, accompanied by the somewhat amused and just as familiar charcoal earth pony mare in security barding. “Geez...” The security mare shook her head with a smirk. “I haven’t seen you two go at it like that since graduation day.” Her gaze shifted solely toward me. “You gonna do as she says, Spark?” She asked, warning me with a glare. “I don’t need to remind you what spells you’re prohibited from executing.”

“...no.” I muttered in defeat, sharing an awkward look with Diamond. Finally, we both cut off the energized flow of magic from our horns. My own being harder to cut of course, hiding a grunt from forcing my aura back down into my skull. I swear, after all these years, I don’t know how I haven’t burst from magical overload yet.

Diamond was the first to recover from her anger, as she greeted our new visitors. “Kahn. Glitter Punch.” She said, slightly out of breath as she brushed her disheveled mane back with a hoof.

Kahn stared between us with an arched brow. “We’re not interrupting anything, are we?”

Diamond forced a laugh, cantering up to them with all the graceful innocence she could afford. “Oh, no, no. Nothing important anyway.” She gave a quick glance back at me and sighed. “...but, could you be so kind as to wait outside for a moment while I finish... discussing things with Spark.”

“Uh huh...” He shared a skeptical look with Glitter, before turning back on Diamond and I. “And... what is it that you two are discussing? Sounded pretty... heated.” The doubt in his voice was undeniable.

Before Diamond was able to respond, I cleared my throat and spoke up beside her. “It’s a report... I was supposed to update Diamond on the state of the stable. As you know, Kahn, I’m working on the census in your department. I was supposed to give an update yesterday morning, but I slept in, and went to the cards tournament instead.” I nodded hesitantly at Diamond. “And... I am... s-sorry... that I did that... sweetheart.” I swear, every inch of my face was twitching with resentment as I forced myself to say that. Wait... Is Diamond actually blushing right now!? Sweet god of divorced couples, help me!

“Yes! Th-that’s right!” Diamond awkwardly cleared her throat, motioning for Cherry to take them back outside. “Wewillbedoneinamomentsopleasewaitoutsidethanksbye!” She urged in one breath. Cherry nodded, quickly escorting them back through the door, but not before Glitter was able to snicker the word ‘sweetheart’ at the expense of Diamond’s flushed face. After closing the door, Diamond hung her head with relief, her mane once again falling over her red-tinted face. "SWEETHEART!?”

I gave an awkward chuckle, watching her shoot me another glare. “Yeah, because who would buy that?” I could have called her by the usual ex-wife adjectives if she prefers that. The one starting with a 'B' comes to mind... A sigh escaped my lungs as she trotted toward a counter against the back wall of her office. “So, are you going to tell me what that was about?”

She gave a defeated sigh, beginning to organize some dishes across her countertop. “Kahn, Glitter and I will be discussing how to proceed with the rising threat of the new maintenance riot, and how to silence them as soon as we can. Preferably without violence, unless we want the executives to come snooping around again. We’ll have to have a talk with Platinum Braid if we want things to work out, however...” She caught my attention when her horn began to glow, levitating what looked like a priceless china tea pot in front of her. "Tea?" She offered up a pair of teacups as well, lifting them between us.

That actually got a laugh out of me as I raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

She rolled her eyes, levitating one cup away and pouring one for herself. "It’s times like these that I wonder why we ever got married in the first place."

I raised my eyebrows with a huff. "That'll be one of those ancient mysteries our future radroach overlords will be studying for centuries."

She deadpanned at me before slapping her forehoof to her head. “Charming...” She cleared her throat and set aside her tea. “Anyway, in regard to Platinum Braid, she must be the one who has the holotape now."

"Yeah? How'd you deduce that, Sherlock?" I watched her close her eyes and inhale deeply as if to keep herself under control. I winced. For Luna's sake, she's gonna pop a blood vessel. "Alright, sorry..." I expected what she was going to ask next. "What do you want me to do?"

Peeking her eyes open, her next sentence caught me off guard. "Oh no. Not you. That ship has sailed and will be at the bottom of the ocean by the time the lights go out. Security shall be the ones to extract her... however..."

There's always a catch.

"If they require all hooves on deck, I won't hesitate to ask for your... 'expertise' to assist." She trotted back over to her tea set, drinking the remaining contents of her cup, before levitating a rag to polish whatever stain off that might have surfaced. "Now, was there anything else you wished to report... sweetheart?"

*** *** ***

Figures...

I trotted miserably through the hallways of the living quarters, levitating the large bucket beside me. It was rush hour for the other residents. Ponies tried to move through the crowd to get to their labor departments or get to their quarters for those who had night shifts.

It figures that she’d make me of all ponies do this.

Arriving at my destination, I groaned in annoyance. A mob of ponies were admiring what I'd reported to the Overmare.

I heard their collective opinions as I waded my way through them. "Wow!", "Look at that!", "Do you think it's really like that out there?", "No way, these things are just a myth.", "It's so pretty!" "Can I get a painting in my room too, mommy?", “I don’t know... is this even allowed?”, “Oh come on! They’ve got to leave it up.”

Thud

At the sound of a metal paint trough hitting the floor, the entire mass of ponies fell silent, gasping as they turned towards my position.

I looked around, seeing every one of their faces turn to awkward frowns of confusion.

“Spark?” One of the mares trotted up next to me out of the crowd. Her eyes darted between the paint trough and pail, before narrowing at me.

Melody Charm, a cute, talented unicorn with a lemon coat and red and orange swirled mane, she was one of the ponies in charge of the stable broadcast station, delivering relaxing tunes as well as reporting on events of interest, and of course the mandated evening broadcast of the Overmare throughout our radios and Pip-Bucks. Now, while I may have a certain reputation among certain members of Stable 17 society, I have a... complicated reputation among the common public, and not just from being a lucky buck in the game room, or as the Overmare’s ex-husband. I admit, I get around the stable in more ways than one, and Melody, along with a [REDACTED] number of other mares, was somepony I’d share a drink with, and then a bed with shortly after. She being a member of the media, and me being... well, me... the relationship was, needless to say, frowned upon by Diamond. Okay, she frowns upon all of them, but you get my point.

She blinked at me in surprise. “I didn’t know you were a painter.” She said, partly teasing me.

I gave a half-hearted chuckle. “That makes two of us...”

She tilted her head curiously. “Are you ‘working’ again?”

I gave a tired sigh as I brushed my mane back with a hoof. “No... But, being a Stable Loyalty Inspector, I guess teaching a wall a lesson in conformity isn't completely out of my line of work...”

Everypony around us began to murmur to themselves again, scratching their heads at my choice of words.

I deadpanned. “I’m gonna repaint the wall grey...”

“Aaaaawww....” The crowd of neighbors whined in harmony like a sad choir. After hearing I was going to take down the object of their admiration, the rest of them around us dispersed, their ears drooping, whispering sorrowfully with tiny expressions of disdain for me.

Whatever. It's not like I owe them any favors... At least I probably don't. Unless... no... no, I'm good.

Melody sighed, trotting around me with a sway of her hips. “I was really hoping that Overmare Blossom would leave it up. It’s such a beautiful monument to the glory of what life was like before the war.”

"Uh huh..." My eyes caught her flanks as she swayed them from side to side, ignoring her sentiment for the flowery mural.

I had to admit Platinum was right... music wasn't Melody's only talent.

She looked back before I was fully able to retract my sinful stare. “I was wondering... since the Overmare is having one of the Stable Loyalty Inspectors repaint the hallway, you must have some explanation for why Maintenance is rioting. What would it take for you to give a statement for tonight’s broadcast?” She said, fluttering her eyelashes with a--

Hold up, I knew that look. With an irresistible smirk of my own, I responded the best way I knew how. “Well..." I smirked, "Have you tried knocking on my door?”

She rolled her eyes, trotting back to me and stopping just inches away from my smug muzzle. Several unmentionable temptations played out in my mind before she crushed them with her forehoof tapping a familiar area on my neck. “Hmm... It looks like somepony's already knocked on your door today, and I’d hate to trouble you with anymore guests.” She said with a giggle.

Okay, that’s it... Whoever you are, mystery mare, you just made yourself an enemy! ...You know, unless you’re cute... and want to do it again... and can keep me sober.

Once again, she turned, trotting away with that seductive sway of her hips, while her tail slyly brushed under my chin. “I’ll catch that statement later I guess. See you around, Sparks.”

“...be seeing you, Mel’.” By Celestia and Luna, she was good. I might just swing by her studio before the tournament tonight and-- wait... the tournament!? I looked back at the long stretch of wall, currently covered entirely by painted flowers. I sighed. I swear if I ever catch who did this, I’m gonna paint THEM grey.

I tilted the bucket sideways until the thick and grey liquid poured out into the trough, then dipped my paint roller into it. I had to stop by the storage room to get the paint, where I’d found that a lot of the other colors were missing, presumably now covering the wall that stood in front of me. That meant that whoever did this, stole the supplies from storage.

’Maintenance is rioting,’ she says. ‘Security is busy holding them back,’ She says. ‘It’s your responsibility for reporting it,’ She says. Why didn’t I just listen to Aqua and keep my big mouth shut? Before I knew it, one row of grey paint covered the first foot of the floral mural. Then another. Then another. I better not miss the tournament tonight because of this. I counted each flower as layer after layer of grey replaced them. The once unique and vibrant colors evaporated into the sea of grey that covered the rest of the stable. Inch by inch, row by row.

The traffic of ponies continued to flow behind me, some of them gasping in heartache after seeing their temporary break from the grey disappear before their eyes. I paid them no mind. “Stupid painting. Stupid mural. This is all your fault you know. You just had to get yourself painted. Damn you!” I stopped myself before I complained anymore to the non-sentient wall. It turns out that talking to a wall is literally just as useless as talking to any other wall. I winced in embarrassment, trying to ignore the looks of concern from the hallway. I deadpanned, still feeling the eyes of somepony behind me. “Well, are you going to finish sweeping, or do you gotta fly somewhere?”

I heard her jump, startled by my apparent awareness. “W-what? I wasn’t-- u-uh...”

I sighed, still double checking for any spots on the wall that I might have missed. “You always sweep this floor. Always... 6 o’clock sharp... every night.” I groaned to myself as I recalled the time of night, the same time for the last two years, ever since she joined maintenance, and the same tune she’d whistle over and over again that came with it.

“O-oh! Uh... S-sorry!” The mare’s voice stuttered. “I didn’t mean to interrupt you just now. It’s just... you looked so... well, sad.”

My eye twitched offensively at her claim before turning around to meet her face to face.

Yeah... a Brown Clearance resident... Janitorial mare. Complete with coveralls, a hammer, spray bottle, broom in hoof, and that annoying blue and orange bandana that wrapped around her long pink mane. And, what a surprise... A broom cutiemark. She has no idea what I had to do to ponies like her during the last maintenance revolt. She had to have thought that I at least look like I could be from the generation that was drafted... yet she trots right up to me, like I’m some kind of--

Oh, right... I look like a painter... Wrong side, idiot!

I glared at her, narrowing the distance between us, watching her backpedal and shrink back against the opposite wall with a nervous grin. “I-I uh...” She gulped, “I-I've never seen you in maintenance before. A-are you new? I just... well, I just thought that you could use... A friend? Somepony to talk to?”

I raised my eyebrow at her. “Oh, well isn't that wonderful?" I said mockingly. "Is that what I could really use?”

Her grin dropped like an anvil on her head as she stared up at me, fear in her eyes. “Yes?” She squeaked, sheepishly.

I paused, a bit lost for words at her empty-minded response, before sighing. “Yeah kid, I could use a friend. And you ain't it. Now move along, before I kick you so hard, you'll be wearing your ass for a hat.” I levitated my badge ID in front of her. “And if I catch you slacking off again, I’m citing you with a code 1929.”

She whimpered, giving a rapid nod as she sprang back to her rear hooves, balancing her forehooves against the broom handle. Before I knew it, she sped away, whistling that same stupid tune... except this time at a much faster pace, matching the new and improved speed of her sweeping.

“Little punk...” I mumbled before turning back toward the abysmal wall.

At least the job was done. I was out of flowers to count. No more brightly colored mural. Just a monotonous, dull grey. As it should be.

I sighed, relieved that the job was finally finished. Well... almost. I gave it one last touch, mounting the descriptive poster that Diamond had given me, over the newly painted wall.

Courtesy of Stable-Tec and The Overmare of Stable 17. No need to thank us.

Well played Diamond... Well played. I couldn't help but laugh a little, as if to mock the ghost of the eccentric flowers. Take that, you freethinking assholes... My tiny flame of joy was only extinguished, when I looked down to see my stable barding splattered in grey paint. Great... Though as luck would have it, whoever this artist was had decided to paint the wall of the living quarters, which means my room was waiting right around the corner with a closet full of fresh stable jackets.

Well, I’m sure as hell not going to sit here and watch paint dry.

*** *** ***

My ears flickered at the faint sound of shouting from a few floors above, where the generator rooms were. No doubt it was the maintenance crews yelling about taking down the Overmare or something of that nature. I trotted through the hallways with ease, rush hour thankfully over. No more ponies to run into, or yell at for running in the halls or something stupid like that. But, upon arriving before the last turn to my drying paint, my ears perked at a sound much closer. A small, yet high-pitched gasp came from around the corner. Curious, I trotted forward to see who made it.

And there she was. A magenta-coated unicorn filly with a blonde and blue colored mane and tail. She wore her standard stable jacket, fitted for everypony her age, along with a big purple bow that adorned the back of her mane. She couldn’t have been any older than when I was picking ponies’ pockets as a colt. She had her back to me as her focus was solely on the wall I had just painted.

Wait a minute... As I trotted closer, I noticed that her horn was glowing a greyish blue. What’s she up to? “Hey!” I shouted, galloping to her side.

The filly’s ears immediately perked up, turning frantically towards my direction. Her eyes widened in panic at the sight of me.

I could see why in an instant, as I saw a small yet colorful genesis of paint on the wall I had just done away with. Levitating between the two, was a splattered paint brush and color pallet engulfed in a greyish blue aura. I couldn’t believe my eyes, looking back at her, my heart thundered with a mix of shock and outrage. Wait a second... Looking for the storage room... where we keep our paint. Why, that little--! She’s the one who bumped into me yesterday with that colt. “You..? It was you!” I accused in surprise.

I could have sworn I watched her wipe away a tear with a forehoof, wiping her muzzle with the other. It didn't take a detective to see the filly was on the verge of tears when she discovered what I had done to her masterpiece. She should have known better though.

“Y-you--” She regained her composure enough to glare at me. “You’re the one who did this!” She pointed at the poster I had hung over the wall. “W-why?”

I regained an authoritative seriousness as I looked down at her. “You know why. It’s against the rules to vandalize Stable 17 property. What the hell were you thinking?”

With every step I took toward her, she took a step back. “It... It was pretty! I like the colors! I thought everypony would like it.”

I shook my head in agitation. “Wrong answer.” I gestured to her painting supplies with my hoof. “Hand them over kid.”

Her eyes widened, realizing what I'd just demanded. “W-what? No! These are mine! You can’t take them!” Before I could say anything else in response, she abruptly turned on her hooves and darted down the adjacent hallway.

“Damnit Kid! Come here!” I hollered, galloping after her.

Well we definitely shared something in common. We were both impulsive and weren’t kind on following the rules. And maybe if she was watching where she was going instead of looking at me behind her, she might not have run straight into a door frame and make her nose bleed.

She fell back on her haunches, dropping the two items in her magic to clasp her muzzle in her forehooves. She whimpered in pain, only to gasp at her treasured painting supplies clattering to the floor at my hooves. I quickly scooped them up in my magic without a second thought. “Hey! What are you doing? My mom got me those! They’re mine!” She cried, leaping toward me.

My reaction was harsh, quick, and on impulse. With an angry snort, I raised my foreleg and backhoofed her across her face, a purple bruise almost instantly appearing on her cheek. The contact lingered in a silent echo throughout the empty halls, the filly’s expression somewhere between pain and humiliation, struggling to comprehend what had just happened.

She winced, beginning to sob from both my strike, and her confiscated treasures. Her legs suddenly wobbled, giving out from under her body, and forcing her back on her haunches. Her only defense was to stare up at me with pain and shock in her teary eyes. “B-but--! Y-you..! You hit me!”

My eye twitched, before lifting my hoof up to inspect a splotch of red smeared across the back of it. I... I did hit her, didn't I. Slowly, I lowered my hoof back to the floor, still staring down at her coldly.

Of course, I did... It's for her own good, after all. I couldn't count the times I'd been whipped by hooves, rulers, and paddles when I was her age.

I shook my head in disappointment. “Yeah... Let it remind you about the rules we have here before you vandalize a hallway or run from a Stable Loyalty Inspector.” Her items only floated in my magic for a second longer before I pocketed them in my stable barding, my Pip-Buck registering them in my inventory. “Now get out of here before I cite you!” I told her firmly, wiping the filly's blood off my hoof onto the floor.

She didn’t budge for my demand. In fact, she stood back up in protest, wiping away the tears streaming down her face. “But... that’s not fair! I... I need those! It’s the only way I can get my cutiemark! I... I was so close! I could feel it! It was better than any of my other paintings!”

I looked down at her bare flank. No cutiemark, and no Pip-buck. She was a bit older than average to still be a blank flank, just like I was before I got mine. A thought flashed through my mind. She painted that whole mural, and that didn’t give her a cutiemark? I gave her a doubtful look. “What do you mean... other paintings?”

She rocked back and forth on her hooves, looking embarrassed through her hurt expression. “W-well... a little before I painted that one, one of my paintings had a little... problem. But, how was I supposed to know that the nursery doesn’t allow bright colors because they cause foals seizures!?”

I facehoofed as she continued.

“But nothing bad like that will happen again! I have a lot more practice now! I promise!”

I shook my head as I looked back up at her. “I hate to break it to you kid, but this is not what you’ll get your cutiemark in. Trust me, it’s not a good idea, you’re just going to cause more work for ponies like me. Do us all a favor and try something else.” I said, trying to sound as rational as possible.

I could tell my words hit her deep. She looked at me as if I had just crushed all of her dreams at once, and then incinerated them for good measure, tears once again starting to form in her eyes. “B-but... I like painting... I’m really good at it.” She whimpered.

“Well, the Overmare can’t have you painting any more walls. So, if you didn’t get your cutiemark from that, you never will anyway. Now beat it!” And with that, I finally left her alone.

It’s not like I wanted to be harsh to the kid, but it was her fault that I had to waste my time painting that stupid hallway. It’d be better for both of us if she gave up on that endeavor.

“W-wait!” My ears perked at the sound of her smaller hooves galloping toward me. “You... you can’t just leave me here!”

I looked back at her, raising my eyebrow. “I can’t?”

“I... I’m lost okay?” She admitted, obviously not happy she had to ask me for help after what I had just said to her, not to mention hitting her. “Er, well... actually, I'm not lost, but my parents are! My mom and dad have been gone since yesterday, and they never came home! I can't find them anywhere.” She wiped her muzzle with her foreleg, trying to fight off more tears. “You said you’re a Stable Loyalty Inspector? C-can... can you help me?”

I stared at her silently for a moment.

I had to admit I was surprised. If some asshole had just taken my stuff, slapped me across the face, only to then tell me to give up on my dreams, I wouldn’t give him the pleasure to gloat at me for being lost too.

I looked at my Pip-Buck clock. I still had some time before the tournament tonight, but not enough to go around every level of the living quarters looking for her parents. “That's... that's not really in my job description."

Her head hung low, her already sad gaze falling to the floor in despair. "O-oh..." She croaked.

I gave an annoyed -albeit guilty- sigh. "But... security isn’t too far away. I can take you to lock-up, and they’ll hold you until they find your parents.”

That got her ears to at least perk, looking up at me in surprise. She didn't seem all that relieved, obviously not thrilled by the idea of being ‘locked-up’. Still, she followed behind me with little hesitation.

I led her towards the elevator to the Security offices. “So... I don’t think I got your name before...”

She hesitated to answer me, eventually responding with a shy whimper. “It’s Daylily. And I...” I heard her give a sniffle beside me. “I’m sorry for the walls... I guess-...” Her voice shuddered, now sounding as if her whole reality had just been spun on its head. Her previous innocence and happiness that she’d expressed so carelessly outside of the medbay, had been thoroughly deflated. “I guess maybe painting was a stupid idea...”

One way or another, you get used to it. Better she learns that now. “So...” I continued. “What’s with that colt you were with? Is he your coltfriend or something?”

“W-what!?” She stammered in hilarious embarrassment. “Beam Spire isn’t my--! Why does everypony say he’s my coltfriend!?”

*** *** ***

“I’m telling you Glitter; this is a bad idea.”

I’d arrived a short while ago, handing over Daylily to a couple of security ponies. They said she’d have to spend the night in lock-up until they find her parents.

I didn’t like it, but she reminded me of Aqua when she was a filly. Naïve and innocent in mind. Though she didn’t have a group of friends to teach her how to break the rules a little more aggressively. Accidentally vandalizing a hallway with painted flowers is not exactly something we’d risk committing. The thought of it reminded me of my own time that I’d spent in these cells not that long ago. Maybe I should have felt guilty for her. Maybe... but I didn’t get this far in life by feeling guilty for others. The thought of Sugar Spade and her husband returned to me, if only for a second, but some ponies just get in the way.

Luckily the familiar and uncomfortable atmosphere of the Security cells prompted me to leave before my mind tore itself apart, and I quickly trotted out. My ears perked at the familiar voices of Glitter Punch and Kahn.

“Overmare’s orders, Kahn. With or without you, we’re going in. I swear to the goddesses, I don’t know why Diamond wanted you to be a part of this if you were going to whine the whole time.”

“I'm not whining, I'm--! Nevermind... Anyway, this is an intelligence matter, Glitter. That holotape has critical information on it. Besides, the Executive council has just about had it with your department’s lack of transparency with things like this. Which is why I approve of Diamond’s cooperation to allow me to draft our plan here. Like it or not, I’m in charge of this op, and you’re going to follow my lead. We’re not going in there guns blazing. Platinum Braid is our only objective here.”

“Yeah yeah. But you need to realize that it is my job to do whatever is necessary to accomplish the Overmare’s orders. And leaving the stable is a Security matter. I’m Security Chief, I call the shots!”

Leaving the stable? What was she talking about? I cleared my throat as I entered the room.

The two ponies paused their argument to turn towards me.

“Hey Spark.” My ears flickered at my name as I turned to see Aqua in the room as well, trotting over to me. “We could use an extra gun, you gonna join us?”

I raised my eyebrow. “Join you for what?” I looked to Glitter Punch and Kahn.

“Platinum Braid is held up in the entrance with the holotape.” Glitter explained.

I looked at her in disbelief. “The entrance? You mean the stable entrance?”

Kahn nodded. “We think she saw what was on a classified holotape that one of her maintenance mares had stolen from my department. Now, for some reason, she thinks what was on it justifies her to leave the stable. Now, we all know she can't do that without the proper clearance, but we’re going in peacefully…” He glanced at Glitter. “...and we’re apprehending her. Hopefully we can talk some sense into her and end these riots.”

Glitter raised her eyebrow at me. “Aqua’s right, we could use an extra gun. Diamond told me to ask you to join us if we needed it.” She picked up a 10mm pistol in her muzzle, and trotted over to me, before dropping it at my hooves. “Almost all of my security officers are spread out holding rioters at different levels. So... I guess your ban can be temporarily lifted for this.”

I looked down at the gun, raising my eyebrow before smirking at her. “Only temporarily huh? Well I don’t know if this will be worth my time.”

She rolled her eyes. “Oh Celestia, you are such a foal. After the amount of time you’ve spent in Lock-up, you’re not even legally allowed to own a firearm.” She groaned in defeat, seeing my unchanged expression. “Fine, you do this, you can come back in a few months IF this op goes smoothly.”

I shrugged. "I'll agree to it, but..." My horn glowed, grasping the pistol in my magic. "I want MY gun back. Where's my forty-five?"

Glitter shook her head. "Not a chance. You'll get that when I let you back in. If you think I'm letting you have it now, just so you can sneak away with it..."

"You gotta be kidding..." I vented, rolling my eyes. "What could possibly make you think I'd ever do a thing like that?"

They all looked at me as if I had radroaches crawling out of my ears.

"As... we were saying..." Kahn said, frowning as he trotted up to me. “Just get this straight Sparks, we’re just going in for Platinum. You keep that gun in your holster and look scary as always.” His horn glowed, unhooking a pair of hoofcuffs from Aqua’s security barding.

“Hey!” Her ears flopped as she watched them float away.

We both watched as his magic floated them over to the armory. “Sparky might just be the confidence I need for this op...” He turned to me. “Platinum’s a Unicorn, so we’ll need a hoof-cuff spell unless we want her to escape the second we arrest her. Glitter, Aqua, and I need to focus on crowd control. You do know the spell, right?”

I nodded. “Easy enough.”

Magic spell casting... It’s the common ability that surrounds unicorns, and even earth ponies, so I’ve been told. Now, I don’t know about all of that, but when it comes to hard, physical magic, us unicorns are the only ponies who have it. Sure we were taught the basics like telekinesis and... more telekinesis. It was kind of up to us to seek anything better, and that usually depended on your clearance level. Naturally, maintenance ponies weren't allowed to use anything other than telekinesis, while each level above the other grants you the right to use something a little more powerful. Things like stun and combat spells, for instance, were only supposed to be used by ponies in or above security.

The spells that I know are limited at that, and it didn’t help that ponies like me were limited to the type and amount of magic I could use, which for a unicorn, was a very... what's the word? INFURIATING rule. Sister Cross always told me that it was because I was born with a sort of ‘nervous tic’, deep within my magical aura of all places. At least telekinesis was pretty much the only spell I’d ever really need, right? Any time I’d ‘slip up’, it was the back of Father Star’s hoof or the end of Sister’s Cross’ ruler. But, thanks to Kahn, -who may or may not have helped me swipe some spell books out of the restricted section while we were foals- I knew my way around a few spells... the ones that I’m still allowed to use anyway... let’s just say that there’s a reason I keep a gun at my desk instead of spell book. But a hoof-cuff spell is simple enough. Just a quick flash of my horn, and they’ll appear around a pony’s forelegs. I guess I should be proud of the fact that I could use my magic for something at least, without causing too much... Well, without violating a code 2019.

Glitter rolled her eyes at Kahn. “Why do I get the feeling you’re giving the arrest to him instead of security just to spite me?” Her eyes glanced sideways at me before narrowing back at him. “And... are you sure you want Sparks to? You know what happens when he... you know...”

He did the same, prompting my own eyes to drift to the floor to avoid whatever judgment I may deserve. “It’s not a combat spell, Glitter. He can control it just fine.”

Aqua giggled as she trotted between us, thankfully breaking the sudden wall of awkwardness. “Come on everypony! It’ll just be like old times! The four of us working together!”

I smiled, her naïve excitement kicking down the mental guilt in my mind. Leave it to little Aqua to brighten my day... Thanks Awk’. But... no matter how much I appreciated her interjection, her comment still made me roll my eyes. “Yeah, except we’re taking orders from Diamond to arrest Platinum for going crazy.” I paused. “Actually, they’re both probably crazy...”

“Don’t make me regret this, Sparky.” Kahn looked at me with a flash of doubt.

"Whatever..." I shrugged.

“Alright. We’ve got one more stop to make before we go in.” He levitated his own pistol to a holster on his side. “We’ll need a doctor in case things go sideways.”

My eyes widened. “Wait! Does this mean we’re missing the tournament tonight!?” Heh... I’ll have to cite us all for missing the mandate.

Glitter smirked at me. “Eeyup! But we’re all working on Security’s time now. So, we’re exempt. Sorry to disappoint you, but our credits are safe from your swindling ass tonight.” She playfully added.

*** *** ***

ding “Level Two: Purification Room.”

I flipped through the many functions of my Pip-Buck, the five of us waiting for the elevator to reach the top floor. Finally, I got to the function I had been looking for: The map.

While I despised situations when I had to use it, my Pip-Buck has been vital to me in more ways than one. For one reason or another, I've pretty much been on every level, nook, and cranny of Stable 17. Other than tracking some tagged ponies of 'interest', the map isn't really a function I've paid much attention to. The other times that I could have used it were when I was a colt, lost on the reactor level, and that was before I even had my Pip-Buck. Then again, if I did, I might never have gotten my cutiemark.

I restrained myself from looking back at the image on my flank, as I looked through the map layout of level one.

“Hey, Sparks.”

The screen showed a glowing green blueprint of the generator room, entrance, and other miscellaneous rooms in the--

“Sparky!”

Kahn’s forehoof shook my shoulder, bringing me out of my concentrated daze of my Pip-Buck. I looked up at him, standing across from me on the elevator platform. “Huh? Hey what was--?”

“You’re wasting your time with that thing.” He nodded at my Pip-Buck. “If you haven’t been to level one before, your map’s not going to show up.”

I looked at him in confusion. "Uh... you sure about that?" I raised my left forehoof, displaying my Stable-Tec standard-issue device. His eyes widened in surprise at the green glow. "I've been there before."

I saw Glitter trade a glance with him, before joining in on the ‘glare at Sparky with suspicion’ train. “And... what exactly were you doing on level one?"

I only realized my mistake too late. Crap...

Don't get me wrong, I've had no problem lying to these guys about what I do. And while my cutiemark might argue otherwise, I'd say that deceit was probably my special talent. But with every slip-up, even small ones like this, it gets harder and harder to keep it up.

Hiding my small hesitation, I shrugged. "You know... just..." I paused, before clarifying. "Just the Overmare's business guys, that's all you need to know."

Kahn rolled his eyes. "That's the polite way of saying classified." He said, leaning next to Glitter. The security chief just pouted and turned away, obviously not happy about my shady response. Kahn remained unexpressed, but I knew they both shared the same disdain of holding high offices, while still knowingly being kept in the dark about things above their clearance.

Kahn looked over to Stem Root, who we’d asked to come along and provide medical support if things got too aggressive, although I suspected the real reason was so that nopony would want to shoot at us if they saw we had a stable doctor with us. “Well, Doctor Root WAS the only one with a level one map..." He said, shooting an unappreciative glance in my direction. "...and his badge ID can access the maintenance departments too, so we’re going to follow him through." He raised his eyebrow at me. "Unless you have one of those as well."

I remained silent, knowing I should probably keep my mouth shut before I made the suspicion worse than it already was.

It shouldn't be that big a deal, really. Any time I needed access to certain levels; Maintenance, Medbay, Food Processors, Data Offices, etc., Diamond would upgrade my clearance on my Badge ID temporarily, and then return it so it was to not raise suspicion. The truth in this matter was a bit more... complicated, but my job was a fine cover nonetheless.

"Sorry..." I finally said, making a click out the side of my mouth. "I don't have clearance."

I looked over to Stem Root, who I was currently appreciating for being the only one not glaring at me in distrust. I hope the Doc knows what he’s doing. I wonder why he had security clearance for level one.

I suddenly felt a trickle of guilt as I was reminded that, I too, am being kept in the dark about things above my own clearance. And being the one that usually keeps information from other ponies, it really ...no. No, I can't complain, can I? I know I have no right. I guess now I just know how everypony else feels.

Diamond had chosen us to go solo, instead of a better trained security team, because of our relationship with Platinum Braid. Before we started up the elevator, Glitter and Aqua had suited Stem, Kahn, and I up with black security barding, except instead of the bright yellow security print, they had our proper job titles.

I looked down at my own.

Loyalty Inspector

I might as well have just asked them to paint a target on my chest and call it a day. The new protection was heavy, no doubt made of lead to prevent any projectiles from penetrating. For going in peacefully, we sure looked like we were prepared for a fight.

ding “Level One: Stable 17 Entrance.”

The doors opened, and we all trotted out into a loudly humming pitch-black room. We all watched as the only light piercing through the elevator doors began to fade, leaving everypony in darkness. Without a second thought, we all switched on our Pip-Buck lamps, filling the area around us with a dull green light.

Our ears perked at Stem Root trotting forward. “We’re in the generator room now.” His voice echoed around us. “Miss Punch? Our Pip-Buck lamps won’t suffice in this room. Could you find a--”

“Gotchya Doc!” She yelled, every light in the room abruptly turning on, practically blinding us. It was apparent she found the light switch. We all jumped and groaned from the swift sea of light flooding the room.

“Ah! Damnit Glitter!” I squinted, the light searing my eyes, moving my foreleg up to block the light out. “Could you have at least counted down from three or something!?”

The room was large and covered in grease stains and small oil spills, yet still held the same colors and atmosphere of the stable rooms below. I myself backpedaled away from a rather daunting oil spill that had appeared just inches below my hoof. Celestia, I hate maintenance... The middle of the room was lined by the humming sounds of generators, all abandoned by the maintenance ponies supposed to be... well, maintaining them.

“Well, this is maintenance territory all right...” Aqua croaked, trotting next to me at my side. "But... where are the other ponies? Not everypony could be at the entrance, could they?"

"Eh..." I groaned, "Who knows with these freaks..."

"Well... we will." Kahn answered, "And I think we all know what will be in there."

I flatly replied, "...don't remind me. You know how long it'll take to interrogate the whole maintenance department?"

“This way!” Stem opened the door across the room. Just like the doors below, it opened with a mechanical hiss.

Glitter Punch and Kahn trotted side by side behind Stem, while Aqua and I trotted behind them. Glitter looked a lot more anxious than the rest of us. I hope she’s not thinking about doing something we’ll all regret. “How much further?” She asked.

“Just far enough for you to change your mind about all this.” Kahn looked at her with a sigh. “So we can turn around and call that elevator back.”

“Do you expect me to ignore an order from the Overmare, Kahn?”

“No Glitter, I expect you to understand exactly what we’re up against here. Platinum Braid is not the mare we used to know. Sure, she’s still a crazy pinko... but she’s been getting crazier ever since that mare found that damned holotape. My department has been keeping track of Platinum, and... She’s been into some weird shit lately.” He looked back at me with a raised eyebrow. “And I don’t think the blame for her weapons stockpile is solely to blame on Spark. She’s been getting her hooves on weapons for months now. To be honest, we don’t know where she’s been getting them. So yeah, sometimes... sometimes it’s best to tell Diamond Blossom to pound sand and leave Platinum alone.”

We all fell into an awkward silence for minute, soaking in what Kahn had just said. For the first time since I’d accepted coming on this escapade, I realized the gravity of the situation... We were going in to arrest our friend. After that, who knows what’ll happen to her. Will Diamond want her killed? Would she want me to kill her? The thought of Sugar Spade came flashing back to me, replacing her image with Platinum's. After hearing what Kahn had to say about her, that might have been closer to reality than before.

Glitter huffed in his face. “Yeah, well... the stable has rules for a reason Kahn, and Platinum is going to learn that the hard way.”

He rolled his eyes. “The hard way is not what we’re aiming for here...”

Aqua raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, peaceful being the keyword here Glitter.”

"Ah hah. See?" Kahn gave an appreciative nod at Aqua, "The padawan has become wiser than the master."

Aqua blinked, blushing for a moment at the thought before shaking her head and giving him a dim look. "...the hell is a padawan?"

Khan deadpanned, sighing as he rubbed his forehoof through his mane. “Doc, where’s the nearest intercom to the Overmare’s office?”

“Aside from the one in the elevator, the only other one is near the Stable door. We won’t be able to contact her until we get there.”

“Hmm... I don’t think Platinum’s Maintenance crew will be polite enough to give us time to use it.” As if on cue, our ears perked at the grinding sound of a security camera, following our movements as we trotted down the hallway. “I guess we’ll have to trust she’ll send reinforcements if Platinum doesn’t come quietly.”

I chuckled. “Maybe we should have brought Diamond along instead of the Doc.”

Aqua gave me a glare. “Uuh… you do realize that’d make us a bigger target than we already are?”

“No. She’d be the only target.” I looked over to Kahn. “Yeah, and what kind of plan is this anyway, Kahn? It sounds like we’re trotting into an army, and there’s only five of us. Why did I say ‘yes’ to this?”

He frowned. “It’s the plan that has the best chance of both pleasing the Overmare and keeping us all alive.” He shot a glance at Glitter. “However, that doesn’t guarantee either one. I’m open to abandoning this plan anytime you want.”

So, it’s basically a suicide mission. Fan-freakin’-tastic.

“Are you afraid of confronting a little pinko crowd of maintenance ponies, Kahn? What about you, Sparky?” Glitter asked in a teasing suspicion to both of us.

Kahn stayed silent, which meant it was up to me to defend our honor. I looked at her and scowled. “No.” I said, mockingly. "I'm just afraid of us looking like dicks when we come out of there in body bags."

Kahn shot me a piercing glare at that. But before he could give me an ear full, Stem Root cut him off.

“We’re here.” We all looked to Stem as he stood at the end of the hallway. “The entrance is just through this door.”

The sound of crowded chatter emitted from behind the door. I deadpanned as I switched on my EFS and saw a sea of cautionary blips just ahead of us. “You can’t be serious...”

“Oh Celestia…” Kahn groaned, stopping behind Stem, most likely catching a glimpse at his own EFS.

Aqua stared at the door in similar despair. “Oooh... that's... that's a lot of maintenance ponies...”

Kahn nudged Glitter with his forehoof. “Last chance Glitter...”

She sighed, not in defeat, but more in preparation for what we were about to do. “We’re going in.”

Though disappointed and hesitant, Kahn nodded, looking over all of us. “Now listen up. We’re going to lay down some rules. Stick close, don’t pull your guns unless absolutely necessary, and let me do the talking.” He turned back towards Glitter, giving her a warning look. “Got it?”

She rolled her eyes before nodding. “I've got it, Kahn.”

Satisfied, he turned and nodded towards Stem. “Open it Doc.”

*** *** ***

“This ain’t right.”

We trotted into a startling mass of ponies gathered in front of the Stable door. I winced, lowering my ears, not only to shut out the hushed voices of criticism around us, but also the blaring sound of the stable alarm system. Oh, what did these grime lickers do now!?

“Cover my six, Sparks.” Aqua whispered, looking back at me as she moved forward. I followed behind her, making sure to hold my breath from the sheer stench of sweaty, overworked ponies surrounding us.

“What are they doing here!?” The hushed voices around us grew louder as numerous maintenance ponies with contraband security batons, pistols, and riot shotguns turned to see us awkwardly trot through their crowd.

“Be calm!” Kahn and Glitter addressed the mass around us. “Stay calm everypony, just go about your business, this doesn’t concern you. Go back to your departments, please! Nopony has to get hurt!”

I had to say, now that we were here, Glitter’s idea of going in loud and dumb couldn’t have been worse than trotting straight into the middle of this with our guns holstered.

“K-Kahn? I... I don’t like this...” I heard Aqua whisper in front of me.

Suddenly, I felt somepony’s hooves push my side as I stumbled forward into Aqua. Eeww! They touched me! I immediately turned, feeling my blood begin to boil. A maintenance mare filled in the pathway we’d made through the crowd, this time directly shouting at us. “What are you doing here!? We don’t want anything to do with Loyalty Inspectors!”

My eye twitched as my building rage began to dig my forehooves into the concrete floor. I weighed the consequences of accepting versus fighting the urge of claiming instant satisfaction by hitting her back. Just a little whack. A buck to the face. Break her nose. Tie her tail to a pipe and break her legs! SMASH HER FUCKING SKULL INTO THE--!

“SPARKY!”

I gave a distempered hiss as I felt Aqua’s forehoof grab my shoulder. I hesitantly turned back towards her as she gave me a distressed look. “What!?” I snarled.

“Um...” Her expression turned extremely concerned, her eyes slowly locking above my forehead, tapping her own with her hoof. “...horn.”

I blinked, looking up to see the charged red glow of my aura surrounding my horn. With a grunt, I quickly shook my head and cut off its magical current, hiding the difficulty of doing so as much as possible. Damnit... I can’t let it get loose like that! I exhaled, clearing my throat awkwardly before giving the ligaments in my neck a quick crack. “I’m cool...”

“You better be...” She sighed, quickly trotting back out in front of me.

As we waded through the threatening -but, so far non-violent- maintenance crews, we finally approached the stable door, seeing a spinning red light flashing above the entrance. I froze in horror, finally realizing why the alarm system was going off. My jaw dropped to the floor upon seeing it... and what they'd done to it. “Oh shit...”

I stared, hypnotized by the vault shaped hole in the wall that used to hold the Stable 17 door, which was now rolled to the side of the room by its mechanical arm. They opened the door... to the outside!? Goddamnit, not again! Crazy bastards! What the hell was on that holotape that’d provoke this?

“Kahn! Glitter Punch! Sparky!” The sound of the Overmare’s voice erupted from one of the nearby speakers, though I could barely hear her from the babbling of the crowd behind us.

“We read you, Diamond!” Kahn shouted.

I looked up at the entrance’s speaker. “Crazy sons of bitches opened the damned Stable door!”

“I know!” She boomed. “Where’s Platinum!?”

A fearful voice suddenly rose from the crowd behind us. “They’re here for Platinum Braid!”

Well, I guess that cat is out of the bag...

Glitter sighed, pointing her hoof at the hole to the outside. It looked like a cave tunnel through rock and dirt. Just within view, we saw another group of ponies gathered at the far end of the tunnel. “Three guesses where...”

I deadpanned at Glitter, then at the speaker above us. “You don’t actually want us to go out there do you?” The sorry condition of maintenance I could deal with... but stepping out into the irradiated dirt of the stable made my skin crawl. “There’s no way I’m going out there!”

The sound of my ex-wife boomed from the speaker. “I don't want to hear it, Spark Charger! You know your orders!”

I groaned in protest. “Are we even getting paid extra ration slips for this?”

“As for the rest of you...” The speaker spoke louder, attempting to address the riled crowd now behind us. “You are all under charges of treason! Stand back! Go back to your departments before you are all brought to security for questioning!”

My eyes widened as Glitter stepped out of the stable and into the filthy cavern. “Seriously, is no one else freaked out right now? We are about to trot through a cavern filled with filth! Do you have any idea how unsanitary this will be!?”

She stopped after taking a few audacious steps forward. She brought up her Pip-Buck, eying it cautiously, before turning to look at me over her rump. “Okay, look, I haven’t caught any disease yet, Sparks. I’m not gonna worry about getting a little dirty.”

I narrowed my eyes and sat back on my haunches. “Yeah, I don’t think so.”

Kahn grumbled behind me. “Let’s go, Sparky!”

“No!” I crossed my forelegs in protest.

Everypony rolled their eyes at me before groaning. Meanwhile, Aqua flanked me with a glare. “C’mon, Sparks! We can’t stay up here all day! Don’t you want to get this over with?”

I shook my head. “Forget it! I'm not going out there! I don't care what the Overmare says!”

“Aqua...” Kahn said with a devious look. “Get behind him...”

She met his look with a smirk as she did as he told her. My eyes widened, realizing all too late what he meant, before I felt two pairs of forehooves grab my shoulders. “Hey!” I hissed, as they began to push me towards the exit. “What are you--!? No, no, NO!” My hooves scraped against the floor, trying my best to latch onto the safety of the stable as the filthy vault-shaped hole crept closer and closer to my body. “Ah! Stop it! You’re all crazy!” I could only backpedal against their force, but two ponies easily overpowered one. I was just inches away now, holding my breath after the stale smell of dust wafted into my lungs. My hoof finally snagged onto the cubic peg that usually kept the stable door in place. That only lasted for a few seconds before one final push threw me out into the cave, and I landed face first into the dirt of the outside. “Oh! Goddamnit!!!” I wheezed, desperately brushing off the cloud of dirt that sprinkled across my body upon impact.

Oh, I think I’m gonna be sick... I swear to Celestia, I will bury these assholes alive out here!

I looked up to see Glitter standing over me, just shaking her head in disappointment. Well, excuse me Chief Dirt Pony! She sighed, turning her attention back down to the other crowd of maintenance ponies, gathered at the end of the cavern. She tilted her head, giving her own neck an intimidating crack of preparation. “Alright everypony… Platinum’s waiting...”

I stifled my disgust long enough to follow her gaze down the path of the cavern, no doubt filled with all manners of... who knows what! And we were about to trot through it...

Celestia, I hate riots...

Footnote: Level Up!

New Perk: Filly Killer - If that love bite on your neck is any consolation, you know something that many other stallions don’t: How a mare likes it. +10% damage to the opposite sex and unique dialogue options with certain ponies.

New Quest Perk: Dream Crusher - Something about your presence dampens others’ desires to exceed. Any enemy’s chance of getting critical hits on you is now reduced by half.

Author's Note

Hey, congratulations if you got all the way through this... very excruciating chapter. Sorry for that! Anyway, let me know what you think in the comments! This is all obviously still a work in progress, so if you have anything you like or dislike (Seriously though! Let me know if you have any criticisms or suggestions! I consider them all.) And I can’t wait to get back to the rest of the story! I’ve got at least four chapters lined up for editing, and a couple still in progress.