4: PROTOCOL_ENGAGE

The hours passed by like a flash, easy to lose time in a station, especially with Ghost going through the body. She slowly blinked a few times and saw Noctis carefully getting out of his station, smiling like an idiot as her eyes focused on the nicely-sized round orbs between his legs. He didn't notice her staring until he turned around to close the station and set it to auto-clean.

"Ah, you're awake. I was going to get something to drink, would you like anything?" He blushed as he spoke, grabbing his bodysuit and duster from the bench they rested on with a wing, and doing his best to put the bodysuit on while hiding himself from view.

"I can get it myself, but I should probably hurry up though, things to do." Twilight shook her head, pressing her forelegs down onto internal pressure pads so the station began to open. She got out, set it to clean, and wasted little time in getting dressed, but it didn't stop her from brushing her haunches against Noctis beforehand.

"Spend less time trying to annoy." Noctis commented as he put on his duster. She cracked a grin and bumped him with her shoulder as she walked to the door, he followed behind as she left and glanced at her. "What's your percentage?"

"Just shy of seventy." She said, leaving the sleeping quarters and turning left to go to the back of the entry room, passing by the now empty common area and stopping at the room's kitchenette built into the back wall with a couple of delivery systems, it even had a mini-bar for late-night get togethers. "What are you having?"

"Coffee." Noctis replied, as Twilight got her own cup of green tea. She snorted as he had several spoonfuls of sugar added to his drink along with a great deal of milk, it was almost more milk than coffee.

He frowned at her. "Coffee doesn't taste all that nice by itself, I just want the caffeine."

"Then drink tea, or chug an energy drink." Twilight tutted, moving to go through a door to the right of the kitchenette. "You don't have coffee there, you have coffee-flavoured milk."

"Adding milk makes coffee bearable." He countered, then frowned. "Energy drinks are an awful concoction of undesirable chemicals, only a fool would willingly drink them."

"Guess I'm a fool, then." Twilight smiled with a shrug, taking her beverage alongside her.

The door they passed was marked as the Armoury, it held everything a Crown Agent could want in terms of Crown tech. There was a larger section in a back area throughway where techies worked on a great deal of R&D projects as well, expanding on current technologies or developing new augments and equipment from scratch. Whenever a megacorp brought out something new, it wasn't long before it found its way here or into the Solaris Armoury too and tinkered with until it was understood and reverse engineered. The Royal Guard had something similar in their own sections, but only ever cared for what was sanctioned for military use. Everything here in the main space was kept secure behind code locked magical barriers and storage units, and everything further back was far more fun; from heavy-duty power armour for strike assaults to massive anti-material rifles made for taking down extremely armoured and shielded opponents, a few items amongst many other things utilised when Agents weren't doing their usual 'illegal' stealth and subterfuge tactics.

There was even an experimental build for a mech somewhere in the back.

It all got used when it was needed, a few items were missing and probably undergoing repairs in the main workshop, or being repurposed. Twilight eyed a few implant cases in their storage units as she trotted past them sipping her perfectly hot drink, she'd had a few of those before she swapped them out, they'd had their uses. They had their own fitting decks here too, far more professional than the ones Velvet had in his shop, but really that was just because of the medical A.I and flexibility of which they could swap out older parts with new upgrades, or get new decks in to stay state of the art. Techies smelling of component grease and oil were going around putting items away or taking inventory, the occasional mod was taken to be worked on for upgrading or recycled down for newer pieces. The Armoury was always a constant hive of activity in some manner or another.

She smiled as she approached the back wall where a sizable security room lay off to one side, which interconnected with all the Armoury's other rooms, it was the least haphazard out of all of the sections and rather neatly organised with stacks of secure ammunition crates in alphabetical order in one corner, weapons in locked cabinets from smallest to largest, and numerous tools and implements for fixing or tinkering set along the wall in an order that didn't make sense to her, only their owner.

"Rize, are you about?" She spoke, poking her snout through the window hatch of the security room's station, sharply jerking back with a crack of a grin when a hammer slammed down in the space her face had occupied a second before and the pony she was looking for rose from underneath the counter. "There you are."

The venomous glare from intense golden eyes she was receiving from the small alabaster Unicorn filly with the flowing iridescent-orange mane was more than enough to scare off most of the techies from ever coming near the security room or dare to mess with its incredibly precise sorting system, and woe be to any that tried. Twilight didn't even get away with doing so, and she wasn't going to upset the very temperamental filly that handled the lists and levels of inventory of the Lunaris Armoury lest she find herself put very low down on priority listing for testing newly minted items. This was Rize's domain, leave all hopes of negotiation at the door and accept what fate deals. That was for most people, anyway. Twilight had a small saving grace up her sleeve when Rize didn't want to play nicely.

"Anything new in since I last popped by?" Twilight gave the filly a warm smile.

"You haven't visited in over four months." Rize said in a tone, carefully levitating the hammer back into its marked place on the wall amongst the other tools. "Obviously there's new things, many new things."

"And can I see the new things I'd be interested in?" Twilight asked in an equal tone.

"I guess so. I have some time to spare." She gave the smallest of nods, her fierce glare softening to a degree as she trotted over and passed through an open door into one of the connecting rooms.

Twilight had caught her in a good mood, no need for any bribes. Waiting patiently, sipping at her drink, and bringing up the extranet in her vision, she casually flicked through a few news articles to see if there was anything of significance that had made it into the public eye, and quickly checked on the police reports from the other day. She noted some general craziness around the east side of the extended plateau, but nothing too irregular for the area. The north and south were the most calm as per usual, the east having some trouble in the West Cliff ward and being shut down already by an Agent that was assisting police. When she checked the Agent database she saw that it was Hex, she knew the mare mostly in passing, and shared a couple drinks with her sometimes when Agents gathered here in the garrison. Out the corner of her vision she saw Noctis had taken to waiting in the corner of the room's ceiling, his own drink the right way up in one membranous wing while he was upside down, his long fleshy tongue snaking into the cup on occasion.

Bats.

It was only a minute or two before Rize came back with a large sleek black case floating alongside her. "This is a prototype the R&D lot are playing with, might be of great interest to you once it's done."

She laid the case onto the counter, unlocked it with a code, and opened up the security window with a button, the hatch widening enough that the case could just slip through. Most augments and items made by the Crown were capable of being taken apart into small enough pieces to fit one of these containers. Twilight gently flicked the clasps and lifted the lid, nodding. Rize knew what she liked.

It was a missile rack augment going by the small empty metal holders tightly clustered together within the four compartments, snugly fixed within the chassis that would fit inside an augmented limb for any creature, with a slightly different collapsable arrangement for swapping between internals. This one differed to other racks she'd seen before, and counted sixteen holds per compartment, so the missiles would be quite small; not that that was a measure of yield. That did mean the architecture was different though, the beginnings of the layered firing system were there, and the makeup of the internals was partially done. The diamond-filament weave going through it and the slots for gems that were probably going to be rubies was a nice touch.

"This is going to eat through power, but it looks promising." Twilight smiled, running a hoof over the metallic housing and glancing up. "Rubies in the sockets?"

"Diamonds, with rubies as secondary backup. This is an all-in project." Rize said, then levitated the case away from Twilight's glowing eyes while closing it up. "They're still perfecting the missile yields and power consumption, though they should pack just as good a punch as the older Contingence setup, if not more. The idea is to cover a wider area and saturate it with more salvos. Pure fucking shock and awe at half the cost."

"Well hopefully it doesn't brick you when you use it, the Contingence system was decent but I never had enough juice to keep fighting for long after firing off more than two bursts." Twilight commented with a scoff, she'd long had that augment swapped out. Missiles were only useful in certain situations, so something that ate that much power needed to be very decisive. "How long has it been in development?"

"It started about three months ago, and the power issues in testing is why this is now the... fourth prototype? They're talking of working from an existing basis, but that's not flying well with Angle, he doesn't want to scrap what's been designed so far." Rize said, sitting back on her haunches. "He's a hardarse about it, techies keep bitching to me about their problems."

"Angle wants Crown Tech to be the Crown's own. I can respect it." Twilight shrugged, taking a deeper sip and looking back to Noctis, who was simply watching with a plain look from where he was perched. "Anything else on the menu?"

Rize gave a small nod, her golden eyes fixing on Twilight. "Course. Mostly upgrades to what was around, but honestly? I think between how you go out of your way to pay everyone with a name a visit, and how heavily the Princesses invest into Agents that there isn't much you'd want. I keep notes from our tuning sessions, I don't think any of the new stuff is any better than what's inside you already."

"You think?" Twilight raised an eyebrow.

Rize was young, but she had an excellent mind for tech, so Twilight was well inclined to listen. Velvet was the same, a few years ahead of Rize of course, yet the younger generation as they grew up were moulded on this stuff far more than she or most other Agents were. Most Agents understood the tech in them well enough to use it and maintain it in a pinch, but most left the science to the techies. Twilight knew her augmented body, and strived to understand how it functioned with each upgrade so she could get the best use out of it, and knew more than most on how her augments functioned to the point where she could hot-swap or jury-rig things quickly if she was absolutely fucked. Not counting when she was delirious from powerful Alicorns mind-raping her. She'd already somewhat fine-tuned herself to even greater perfection with Rize's help whenever she got new stuff; the filly was quite knowledgeable on the subject, so Twilight trusted her word. It annoyed Velvet a lot whenever he examined her augments. She'd get Rize to have a glance over the new bits in her too, once she'd eventually gone over them herself. Velvet did things carefully, she liked to push it, and Rize liked to assist.

"You're still running Strider Sixes, right?" Rize asked, glancing over the station at Twilight's legs, giving a shrug. "Crown's got the Gallopers and they're just on the same level, the V4's that came out last month aren't a massive step up from the Sixes, it's a marginal difference. Good for those with anything less and they outclass the Fives in spades, consume less power and fit easier, but the difference for you definitely isn't enough to warrant a swap, unless you really like the Crown's architecture or want a really minimal increase."

"Yeah, I get you. I'm just too amazing." Twilight inclined her head at the quick rundown. Striders were Aeon's flagship leg augment for military applications. Gallopers were the Crown's.

Rize rolled her eyes. "That's not what I said."

"Well, thanks then anyway, Rize." Twilight said, yet didn't leave, she had a point on her checklist to tick off. "You've got Ironclad in stock, right?"

"Got a few things, yeah. Why?" Rize wondered.

"Just need to follow up on a lead. What Thuddguns do you have?"

"Want me to bring them all?"

"Please."

Rize took a step back and flipped around towards the wall of lockers and cabinets, going to a marked section in vibrant green with 'Lime Jelly' written across the top panel. Twilight preferred a sorting system of a classic manner, though basing one on foods and sweets was interesting enough, and if it worked, it worked. Rize unlocked several of the lower smaller cabinets and retrieved a couple of hefty dark metal guns with far heavier frames than most pistols, commonly referred to as Thuddguns for the massive punch they packed and the sheer sound they made when fired. Thuddguns were a popular sidearm made by Ironclad Solutions, a Minotaur-based business that generally only made hard-hitting weaponry, heavy pistols, shotguns, melee weapons, some grenade launchers and the like. All of these Thuddguns looked familiar but they weren't what she was looking for.

She examined them anyway with another sip of her drink as Rize laid them across the counter and stood back, flicking the iridescent-orange mane out of her vision.

"Any of these fire a five-two-five slug?" Twilight asked, picking up the nearest pistol in her purple corona, tracing the contour of the large barrel down the frame and examining the internal bore. It wasn't the right calibre. It was close, however it was a slightly more streamlined and lighter version of the hefty pistol the young Gryphoness had used, though it would still take large chunks out of concrete, stone, or people with ease.

"Nah, Ironclad moved on from the five-two-five a while back, these are all standard in six-two, they slimmed down the guns and extended the barrels a bit, the slugs got better velocity and range at the expense of a little uneven weight distribution and lessened impact." Rize explained, glancing at the pistol in Twilight's grasp. "You'd be looking for an Echo series, not hard to find about as they're still quite preferred. I know that Storm & Sons in Eclipse sell a few, I get a couple bits from them every now and then to play with."

"Can they fire destabilisation rounds?" Twilight wondered, looking up at Rize, taking note of the location and mentally filing it away. A cursory check showed it was indeed a gunsmith, on the eastside of the Eclipse ward near Hibiscus.

"Pft, fuck no. The matrix that propels the slugs would screw with the rounds' internal makeup, the gun would jam or explode as the magi-" Rize stopped as Twilight frowned in thought. "...You find one that could?"

"I got shot with one." Twilight grinned briefly. "Maybe it was just a lucky one-off."

Rize shook her head, making her wavy mane bounce. "No, Crown's been playing with destabilisation ammo on and off, the weapon matrix has to be specifically built for the ammo, and unless you put it in a large enough weapon with the rightly attuned matrix, it goes kaput, every time without fail."

"The matrix has to be large enough to contain the raw magic, right, that's what I thought." Twilight nodded her understanding; the anti-material sniper rifle that had blown her leg off in the past during the syndicate raid had been the same sort of weapon, and she'd used the ammo in some heavy-frame sniper rifles on a few assassinations in the past to break through heavily shielded targets. "So no matter the pistol, it shouldn't work."

"It could work." Rize cut in, but waved a hoof in dismissal. "But by toning it down to work in pistols, even larger models, the amount of power it would disrupt would be nothing decent to any modern shielding system. But... I'm guessing it was?"

"Broke the shield, drained a pulse-charge, and still pierced flesh through my duster and my bodysuit." Twilight nodded. Rize knew the score of how tough those were, she helped improve on their design.

"Fuck!" Was Rize's reply.

"Yep."

"Why does the most interesting shit always happen to you?" Rize muttered, collecting, turning away, and putting all the pistols back in their specific places. "Why can't Hex or Dizzy have the crazy shit happen to them? They're always coming in and chatting."

"Hex'll probably have something for you when she comes back, she's in West Cliff, and Dizzy always gets into plenty of trouble so I don't know why you're complaining." Twilight shrugged.

"Never the sort of shit that you manage to get yourself into though." Rize stated with a small huff. "Hope they have something cool to share."

"Hopefully." Twilight smiled. "Thanks as usual, Rize. I'll see you."

"Yep. Bring me that pistol and I'll owe you, I want to pull that spell matrix apart." She said as she went back to whatever she'd been working on under the counter before Twilight arrived, abruptly ending their conversation without so much as a goodbye.

Twilight would keep that in mind. She checked off the box and added a new one to visit the Gunsmith in Eclipse after she was done seeing the Gryphons in lockup, she was already behind schedule on that.

"Are you still going to shadow me, Noctis?" She said to the Thestral as he was already hopping down from the ceiling and straightening his back. "Not that I don't mind the company."

"I will see you to your destination." He intoned, a slight tug poised at the corners of his mouth as he fell in with her again when she moved to the door.

"It seems Resplendent was in a fine mood." Noctis commented as they passed through the lobby, after Twilight had finished being accosted once more by Titania for a goodbye in a bone-crushing hug that probably wouldn't help her spinal injury.

"She doesn't let you call her that to her face, right?" Twilight smiled, glancing back as she stretched out. "Didn't know you knew her all that much."

"Her brother talks of her often when I visit Solaris." He replied. "He is far more amicable, but no less methodical with his duties. They both take their work seriously."

"Yeah, they're good kids. Princesses picked them for a reason." Twilight agreed.

After a moment, Noctis flicked his gaze to her again. "I notice you haven't had Resplendent switch you from covert to standard. What passes for your standard, that is."

"Yeah, what I have will keep, I figure I'm going to need something silent pretty soon." Twilight gave a nod. "Once I see to my errands I'm going to have to do a bit of sleuthing."

"Very well."

While she'd have preferred to switch her loadout of augments from covert weaponry to something more universal for common encounters, what she had was perfectly workable, and she'd already had enough of sorting out her inner workings for one or two days. If things really necessitated it then she'd order an emergency recall while out in the city and get back here pronto.

With Noctis in tow she decided against going through the Mausoleum again, it was probably best to avoid the Lunar Guard she'd taunted, and she was running out of coin on her person to put in the font. A walk through the centre of the castle to get to the Solar Wing would be fine, she might possibly see a few familiar faces, but in truth she was a little people'd out. The stop to see Rize had been a bit of a snap decision instead of going straight to Vee, but it had likely been a good move. All information had its use, no matter how small.

Their trek from one side of the castle to the other was thankfully uneventful, other than a few customary looks in their direction from newer staff in the castle. The offices where people worked were already buzzing in the early hours as more employees came in, quickly setting up and getting stuck into the previous day's work, several androids moving around with them to assist with the workloads. This batch of rooms and open floors dealt with everyday issues people across Equestria faced in day-to-day life, being part of the Crown's own insurance company known as Phoenix. There were several branches around the country, though this was a main hub. The way Twilight saw it, most insurance companies were simply there to take people's money and rarely cash out, but not the Crown.

Due to the rise in crime over the years, most companies offered insurance at higher rates than normal for certain incomes, even districts in a lower ward or out on the furthest reaches of the extended plateau had ridiculously priced monthly payments and mediocre payouts on certain damages. The Crown did what it could, its numerous money-making ventures in nearly every sector along with the most basic level of tax from its Chronicle system kept the treasury moderately full to the point where its own insurance company paid out fair amounts to victims of the widespread crime that plagued the city, and obviously was the most popular among the lower classes so they wouldn't fall into debt and crime. As of late they'd been paying out a lot more, but the treasury still generally kept level even with the heavier hit. She'd seen a few weeks back in an article when a Minotaur gang around the West Cliff district had gotten into trouble with the CPS, and Agents had to be ordered in as backup because it had been far too much for them to handle alone. It was so easy for criminal violence to destroy everything around itself, several highrise flats and local shops had seen more than a little damage from crossfire and stray bullets.

Minotaurs primarily favoured 'protection' rackets amongst their other ventures, and in West Cliff they were finally getting cornered in on by police and Agents alike, it was likely why Hex was there now in fact, helping to stamp it out once and for all. Minotaur weapons mainly consisted of heavy melee weapons and augments that utilised their sheer strength, or heavy shotguns that covered wide areas, and shops that they enjoyed tormenting were always partially demolished by vehicles being thrown into them or chewed up by pellets and slugs. It cost the Crown, it cost the businesses, and it cost the taxpayer. All said and done with a single gang of Minotaurs, a lot of people needed compensating.

Shit like that piled up very fast. It was no wonder phones were going crazy when Twilight and Noctis moved through, the sheer amount of calls these folk and the other branches must deal with on an hourly basis must have been overwhelming. But Twilight knew things would improve, there were a limited number of criminals, and every day they took down a couple dozen more, while Agents and the police only got stronger. Her own little mystery on her hooves was out of the ordinary, yet once she got to the bottom of it she'd be back to helping everyone else.

They came upon an entrance hall into the westside of the castle that at once was clear they were moving into Celestia's territory. Regal orange and yellow silk banners hung from the walls, inlaid with golden trim and inscribed with poems down their lengths. The marble of this wing, and a majority of this side of the castle, was pure white and dazzling, the gold veins running throughout the material practically blazing in glory. The Solar Guard that stood by the sun-blessed golden doors stood to attention as they approached. Even if they as Agents weren't well liked, the Solar Guard respected the chain of command, at least in person. Twilight and Noctis nodded to them both as they were admitted.

The long passages with a few connecting hallways were both simple and decorative, dozens more banners adorned the walls alongside ancient tapestries inlaid with sun-blessed gold and trimmed with white-gold, alongside pale glowing rivulets of Celestia's Grace. Like Luna's Mercy, it was a unique metal-alloy, but made of sun-blessed gold, moon-blessed silver, palladium, and platinum. It was probably the most expensive and rarest of metal alloys to exist on Equus next to Luna's Mercy, and harder to create with the inclusion of sun-blessed gold in the mix. Twilight knew from her old studies that alongside knowing the rituals to create gold and silver blessed by their celestial bodies, the Princesses could also create the extremely rare alloys themselves. It was knowledge that was practically unheard of in modern Equestria, and it was something only given to certain elite mages in the Royal Court by special allowance.

Through a few rooms partially staffed and passing into the next, it was the connecting hall to the Solar Wing, with one side facing the outer grounds and sunlight streaming in from the massive stained glass windows on its right side. The historic records of events in the glass were dedicated to moments in Celestia's reign, both before and after Luna's return. Twilight and her friends' escapade of Nightmare Moon's reform was still in the Great Hall, where both Sisters held joint court on the few occasions they opened to the public for making statements or such else, having moved there when this new Royal Palace was built atop the mountain. The old palace was still where it used to be, but these days it was a history museum dedicated to the preservation of old artefacts and Canterlot's long and timely past, Canterlot History Museum, to be precise.

A few more precious tapestries hung on the opposite wall, their inlay of Celestia's Grace blazing like small beacons in the sunshine that reflected off them, making it appear as though molten lava flowed across their lengths. Celestia, for all her motherly love and wonderful compassion, was a mare of ostentation; she loved to put on a show, and show great flourish where she could. She never begrudged anything lower, but if it was in her ability for her own affairs to be regal and beautiful without taking away from others, she'd make sure it was damn well a wonder to behold. A few carefully maintained pieces of furniture made of meadow-blossom were placed around, more numerous than anything Luna would have, their plush red-silk cushions lovingly well kept. At the majestic halls far end, Celestia's Honour Guard stood by the pale opaque crystal doors, their ornate golden-tinted armour and Spearshots gleaming, and mounted above was the Sunspear. Its gold body and blade and red leather-wrapped handle complimented by the large and polished uncut ruby that made up its pommel. The ancient-Equish cut into it glowed the same as on its sister-weapon, still alive with a measure of power, as was the ruby.

"Agents. Morning's greetings." The left Honour Guard dipped his head in a polite nod. "Her Royal Highness is still within her quarters, do you have business with her?"

"I do. He's tagging along." Twilight returned the nod, bumping Noctis with her shoulder as she mentioned him. "You boys having a nice day?"

"As well as can be expected." The right said, his toned pale-blonde form was pretty nice under that ornate armour, his voice and baby-blue eyes were cute. She'd like to tear that plating off him and ride... she was too horny. "Be free on your way."

A tap of their Spearshots on the polished stone floor and the large enchanted crystal doors moved inward. The slabs closed behind them after they stepped past into a very beautiful chamber dotted with fresh flowers and greenery. A tending Unicorn in a simple flowing dress looked their way with a level of caution but relented soon after, knowing they weren't here to cause trouble. Celestia's abode was the antithesis of Luna's dark and gothic chambers. Not to say Luna's wing wasn't welcoming in a particularly sombre or brooding kind of way, though it required a certain mood and taste. Celestia's own wing was inviting in a more pedestrian manner, the kind of regality lay here that one would ascribe to something out of an epic poem of divine beauty rather than one of terrific gloom.

The pale walls were covered with warm coloured silks just as most of her castle-side was, but the room was almost like a single constant art piece, with a narrow flowing stream of water that was carefully structured in wooden channel to perfectly run around its edges and through every room within the wing, the smoothed wood faintly streaked with gold, the water within carrying perfumed petals that gave the wing a gentle serene feeling. The channel twisted through multiple crystal installations and small magically manipulated trees to support its odd design, and it was absolutely gorgeous and eye-catching, specifically commissioned by an artisan. The red carpet underhoof was so soft it felt like Twilight was walking on clouds again, and the earthy oiled smell of the old furniture was homey and welcoming alongside their plush upholstery. Visiting Celestia was obviously as it was to see royalty, but also like seeing an old family friend.

They found her not in her study, but in her personal garden.

The sprawling garden extended over an entire enclosed wing of the castle, attached to the Solar Wing, known as the Verdant Estate. It was more akin to a living forest or blooming meadow than a garden, its numerous plants and fauna left to grow free and wild where Celestia didn't personally cultivate it. Twilight ventured inside the extensive and smoothly connected wing, moving through towards an obvious glow, and gently stepped over a thin running brook as she trotted over to where the Princess of the Sun was overlooking many clustered bushes of scarlet roses. The newest of them just was sprouting next to the open earth where she was currently planting new seeds, with their green buds reaching towards the sunlight that was being welcomed in by a massive segmented skylight, which almost encompassed the entire ceiling. On certain days where rain was scheduled to pass the mountain, Celestia opened it up so the entire Estate could get a thorough watering. Judging by how wet everything looked ─including herself─ she'd already done that, and yet she didn't have a speck of mud on her pristine body.

While Luna stood imposingly at eight hooves, almost double that of the average pony, Celestia stood higher at just under ten hooves, being as tall as the average Minotaur. Her alabaster coat shone like calescent flame in Her Sun's golden rays, visible under her pale ochre dress that thanks to the rain, was semi-transparent and hugged her curvaceous form, her ethereal mane and tail gently flowing in a non-existent breeze as they always had, and shining just as fiercely as her coat.

She possessed an almost obscenely voluptuous degree to her body alongside her regal poise; shapely flanks that widened into powerful supple legs, massive thighs and haunches, and a truly enormous croup and posterior that rivalled anything else she could think to compare her rear end with, to the point she'd gladly welcome it as a unit of measurement. The flaming sun of her cutie-mark was visible on both sides of her haunches even from this back angle with how large they were, everything about her already blatant appearance was made all the more obvious with the damp clothing. It erotically clung to her rather protuberant intimate areas, of which perfectly overlooked some extremely bountiful teats that hung down entincingly with their heavy mass. Yet somehow, she still succeeded in looking perfectly graceful and noble despite the incredibly explicit degree of proportion and semi-nudity. Twilight wasn't ashamed to admit Celestia was drop-dead legendary and that she unequivocally coveted her mentor's body.

Luna's beauty was rather subtle in an almost aloof otherworldly manner, but Celestia's was as clear, searing, and brazen as the Sun itself, to the point that she could see Noctis was readily averting his gaze and keeping his eyes solely focused on Celestia's face. After all, while her dress was very snug right now in all the best places, she'd apparently decided against wearing any underwear today. Twilight was quite content to leer though as she couldn't pop an awkward boner, unlike him.

She could always get an augment...

Celestia smiled as she glanced their way, her warming gaze focusing onto Twilight with unbridled love in her twinkling azure eyes. "My ever faithful student, welcome, Twilight." She said, turning to face Twilight fully, the warm smile on her muzzle widening as she inclined her head to Noctis. "Agent Lucet Noctis, a pleasure to have you."

"Please, your Majesty. Noctis will do fine." He bowed politely, lightly blushing at her words.

"Still calling me a student?" Twilight smirked at her mentor, giving her a casual bow. Noctis already knew she never had to use Celestia's title, he'd probably have a go at her for it again at some point later though, all the usual spiel about pecking orders and divine right dictating respect at all times...

"It's a hard habit to drop, Twilight." Celestia laughed gently, the sound like a melody on the ears, as her large horn glowed, golden magic passing over the rose bush barely blooming and helping it flourish into the sun. "I will reiterate that you are still my student, just simply one under a new axiom."

Twilight shrugged, cantering over, leaning up, and tightly embracing Celestia in a pleasant hug, the Princess craning herself down and sincerely returning it in earnest. She backed off after a few blissful moments, simply happy to be in Celestia's graceful presence. She rested back on her haunches in the soft grass and smiled around at the beauty of the Estate, taking it all in. It was literally a breath of fresh air in comparison to most of Canterlot proper. She could so easily forget she was in the city when she was here, it was almost like going back in time to Ponyville, hanging out in the countryside at Fluttershy's old cottage while she, Spike, and the girls all shared a picnic.

"Nice to be back here." Twilight sighed with a happy, if slightly bittersweet smile.

"How was your mission to the Zebralands?" Celestia enquired, staying standing as she kept her gentle gaze. "I trust it went well?"

"Well enough. The diplomat that you thought was a snake? He was a snake. The annoying part was the few months it took to find the evidence of it, he covered his tracks rather well." Twilight gave a half-shrug. "I sorted him out pretty easily and made it look like a disagreement between collaborating parties. I got back a few days ago but Luna had me on some other work before I could see you. The full details of the mission are with Vee."

"Well done, we shall have a get together and discuss it properly later." Celestia nodded, as if they weren't talking of clandestine dealings and were simply sitting down for tea.

When they had proper meetings after a mission, Celestia preferred to talk with Twilight in person to go over the specifics, going through Twilight's after-mission reports thoroughly with her there, but she'd been straight back into the action when returning to Canterlot. Luna would really only generally care for the basics on a routine mission so long as the work was done efficiently, unless situations like the Gryphons popped up.

Celestia continued. "How did your recent mission from Luna fare, then?"

"...Well enough." Twilight grinned, meeting Celestia's eye. Roll for Charisma check.

"Luna informed me she punished you accordingly for insubordination." Celestia said flatly, an eyebrow raised. "And I visited you while you slept in the hospital."

Charisma check failed.

"Like I said, well enough. The mission was a piece of cake; no one saw me, and it looked like a suicide. Luna was just pissed that I was late, that's all." Twilight gently shrugged.

"Please don't try to upset Luna, Twilight." Celestia gave her a sad smile that immediately made Twilight's heart drop, she always hated displeasing Celestia. "Your profile is mostly spotless, and I trust you implicitly to keep it clear of infractions despite past incidents. You can't do your part to help Equestria if your reckless attitude puts you out of action. What if Luna had decided that your tardiness was out of malice? Or perhaps the result of mental stress?"

Twilight glanced away from that disappointed smile, sighing. "You know me; I play it off, but I know full well I can't go doing this sort of thing without expecting any consequences. Luna simply gave me a good reminder of my place in the pecking order and the severity of those consequences. This was a proper kick in the ass, and I'm not going to ignore it, I promise." Twilight said soberly, taking her mentor's concern quite seriously as she willed herself to meet Celestia's gaze.

"That's good, then." Celestia's smile uplifted at the words, and Twilight felt her chest untighten.

Twilight knew that Celestia knew she was her own worst enemy, and Twilight was staunch in that there was always room for reflection and improvement. The reckless part of herself was often kept in check by her diligent side, but that could be thrown to the wind, as her attention to detail and knowing as much as she could before a situation might hinder her ability to actually progress as quickly as need be, overthinking everything and wasting time, so quite commonly she might make judgement calls on the fly with what information she had to hoof, and sometimes that could have unforeseen consequences.

In relation to obeying orders to the letter and keeping to a schedule, her recklessness came from a simple fact of life; it was too short to get hung up on that sort of thing anymore. She knew that she had to follow her orders, and she did so with a level of precision, she always completed her missions and assignments as perfectly as possible given the right parameters, and even when things didn't go as planned she still made do, a good part of why she was such an excellent Agent was her ability to rapidly adapt to equally rapidly changing circumstances. However, her attitude towards certain details was sometimes what caused the reason for the need to adapt, as her interpretation of an order might be to simply take it as a basic guideline instead.

And as to her current level of timekeeping when not strictly on mission... Well, that was less obfuscous; she had actually mostly stopped caring at all. In her mind, she'd wasted a good portion of her youth, her prime teenage years, on nothing but wasting time, making schedules for utterly asinine reasons like going to the grocery store or the order of which she would clean up the old library, when she should have just done it as she went. But it was something she knew, deep down, she desperately needed to improve on again, at least where the Princesses or her friends were concerned. Celestia and some of the girls didn't mind much if Twilight showed up on her own time even if it inconvenienced them, though that was because they dearly loved Twilight, and Twilight knew she could use that on some subconscious level. It was something she hated about herself, that her training had essentially brute forced into her that using a small detail like that to her own advantage was the right thing to do.

It was; for her work. Not against the Princesses or her true friends, not ever.

It was yet another failing of hers she did her damndest to berate herself over. She failed herself by failing them, and some of her dearest friends were semi-distant these days due to Twilight solely never being there when it mattered to them. Special occasions were often glossed over in favour of her work as an Agent, oftentimes unavoidable, and her friends never knew if she'd actually show up when she said she would. The only ones to not take it too personally were Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Applejack; the first being too erratic in her own timing to really hold it against her, the second being far too kind and understanding to hold any kind of grudge and stay mad about it, and the third knowing the simple realities of life and work tended to best a pony over what they wanted to do versus what they needed to do. She hadn't spoken to Rainbow Dash or Spike for a while now, and Rarity generally kept their conversations quite brief when they crossed paths.

They were all still her friends, they all still loved her, and she would always love them. She truly regretted every missed birthday or get-together, every time they needed her as a shoulder to cry on, to be there to support them, or simply when they just wanted to have a nice chat. She had to do her best to not let it make her bitter, and she had to keep doing her best to be punctual again, or at least show up as early as possible. She had to make the effort to do better for everypony she cared about, and by extension Equestria as a whole.

In the short term of things it meant not angering Luna, as it did upset Celestia, but it also meant that indeed by Celestia's own words; it would steer her clear of infractions.

Too many problems in a short space of time, and either Princess would pull her from active duty for insubordination. It wouldn't be any massive length of time because she wasn't doing something like abusing drugs, or using her position as a Crown Agent to stronghoof the populace for her own gain. Though she'd still be sidelined, confined or placed under watch, and be put in for evaluation, psych or otherwise, and endless drilling. It would also mean she wouldn't be doing her part to help Equestria.

"I'll do better." Twilight said quietly with a hollow smile. "You have my word."

Celestia, ever a paragon of compassion, smiled earnestly in return, stepping forwards with one oversized wing outstretched and pulling her up into a heartfelt squeeze that Twilight all but felt herself melt into, burying her face into Celestia's breast as Celestia leant down and softly nuzzled her with a gentle kiss upon her forehead. She never let her guard down, ever. She never could in the field, out and about in daily life, or even her own little apartment, ever, but here she lowered her barriers completely, slowly letting the tension bleed from her tightly-wound body... she could actually do it here. She was selflessly forgiven by one of the few ponies that truly mattered to her in her miserable life, knowing that she was completely safe in her mentor's eternal embrace. What little natural muscle she had left sagged heavily alongside the artificial against the Alicorn's mighty body. Celestia knew what she was, what she had done, what she was capable of doing, and what she could do; and still deeply loved her for all her faults.

After a precious minute or two she let Celestia go, straightening up immediately. The formidable walls went back into place, secure and unshakable. She most certainly wasn't doing her best to combat the natural reaction that occurred when emotions ran high, and the animalistic action of a hug caused those emotions to run over the edge into tears as stress was released. Not at all. She couldn't cry anyway, she was fairly certain her tear ducts were rendered useless from her eye augments. Didn't mean she didn't feel like she couldn't cry though, or that there wasn't a lump in her throat trying to dance its way up into her mouth.

"Twilight, didn't you want to speak with the A.I." Noctis said from behind her.

Thanks for the segue, Agent.

"Yeah." Twilight smiled, swallowing as she turned her head towards him and caught his knowing gaze, keeping things in check. "Was gonna pay Vee a visit."

"Ah yes, Luna informed me." Celestia nodded, turning back to the rose bushes and helping the new seeds take root, glancing over her shoulder. "Tempest knows you're coming. Stay safe when you leave, alright?"

"I'll do my best." Twilight gave a mock salute.

They turned and moved on, further into the Verdant Estate where the trees slowly grew denser, and the bushes thicker, and the scents richer. Curious birds watched them as they pushed past a small thicket of varying flowers into a secluded glade that bore a gently shimmering body of water teeming with life that was surrounded by overgrowth, which Twilight recognised as a landmark of sorts. Going around the outside of the mossy pond and past the few outcrops of rock that sat around it, they came to a protrusion set out from one of the rocks faces that blended in, but certainly wasn't natural.

The monitoring station was currently vacant, no Tempest in sight. The metal panel underhoof didn't make a great deal of noise as Twilight stepped onto it, due to the bumpy layer of lichen that covered its surface. She magically tapped a few buttons on the screen, ignoring the few readouts of the Estate's diagnostics, setting it to locating the mare she needed to see. After a second or so, the screen flashed and found her. According to the station...

Twilight looked up to the semi-flat rocks above the pond where the many canopies of the trees surrounding it overhung, providing perfect cover. She still didn't spot Tempest, until she focused her eyes and dialled up the intensity of the visual augments, and took a moment to listen. Suddenly there she was, the faint distortion in the air as Tempest took the slightest breath in, accompanied by the barest sound of her breathing.

Twilight levelled her horn and shot a harmless bolt of energy at her.

The missile smacked straight into her armoured bodysuit, the energy waves disrupting the invisibility spell she was casting, and the cloaking augment she was using to aid it. The pretty mauve of her body came into focus as Tempest looked back with cocky teal eyes at Twilight, a smug smile present as she lazily lay on her front atop the rocks, the cracked horn and scar over her left eye both striking as ever. The former lieutenant to the Storm King hadn't changed much over the years, still sporting the same vivid fuschia mohawk, only slightly longer now, and the bodysuit had been upgraded to the standard one Guards wore, albeit cut lower on the neck and off at the shoulders and thighs, similar to the style of her old one. Her armour hadn't changed much beyond enchantments, but the Storm King's emblem had been expertly replaced with the insignia of the Crown. Tempest's jaw-dropping curvature and toned physique had also only improved, and while her high skill made her a powerful opponent before, the addition of a few low-key implants to boost her reflexes and speed beyond what they had been made her far more formidable. Twilight reckoned Tempest could still give her a run for her money even with the barest of augmentation, as what Tempest lacked in raw strength she made up for in pure skill.

Tempest had worked for a long time under the Storm King commanding his forces and hunting down persons of interest that invoked the ire of the apeish dictator, who'd promised he'd restore her horn to its former glory for helping him take over Equestria. He'd conquered a lot of land and people beyond the surrounding countries, and when he finally came for Canterlot, he'd decided he would come with the main bulk of his forces in mighty airships, heading the assault himself, and the battle for the city had been devastating and costly.

For him, anyway.

His forces had arrived, delivering their message of takeover as they flew in.

But having detected a massive fleet of fifteen airships beelining straight for Canterlot with little in the way of stealth tactics, they'd been promptly decimated by an already prepared defensive line of firepower and anti-air on the ground as well as the anti-air batteries within the mountain. With Tempest leading them, they might have managed to cut through and land upon the grounds of the Royal Palace, possibly even breached the defences and brought the fight to the Princesses. That is, if the Storm King hadn't immediately gone batshit crazy when they were initially taken by surprise from the counter-strike, and threatened to throw Tempest overboard, or tell her that she could shove his promise up her arse if she didn't remedy the situation.

As Twilight had learned over the years serving the Crown alongside Tempest, she wasn't a mare to make threats to lightly. She'd already warned the Storm King that Canterlot and Equestria on the whole was far more technologically advanced than other people they'd taken on, and he hadn't listened. Her cautions ignored, she'd already been angry. To then snub her on the promise she'd fought for, for so long without end, really wasn't the greatest decision to have made. Then again, Tempest was also prone to rash action when angered and her decision making could be questionable. Twilight remembered helping fight off a bunch of Storm Creatures trying to eviscerate the Royal Guard as they landed, who failed spectacularly against the Guards' prototype Spearshots of back then, to then see a very shocked Tempest Shadow falling from the sky after the Storm King had simply thrown her off the side of the airship in a rage. She'd shot the Storm King with her elemental magic, though it hadn't done a whole lot except stun him for a moment and really piss him off. Twilight had been slightly occupied with a Storm Creature as it tried its best to eat her face at the time, but seeing Tempest was panicking and wasn't able to do any magic, had managed to surround her in a brief corona and slow her fall enough that she landed softer than she would have.

Even with a broken leg from the rough drop, Twilight hadn't expected Tempest to try and beat the fuck out of her when she came to help, even if she was on the other team at the time. Their one-on-one was brief, if a struggle. Twilight had fought some deft creatures but Tempest was on a whole other level even with the injury, and when a quick electro-pulse to centre-mass finally stunned her long enough that Twilight could knock her out, she had plenty of bruises and cracked ribs to show for it. After that, the clean-up of the remaining forces was a simple matter. Morale always tends to break when your commanding airship crashes and burns with your King on it, and seeing your second-in-command get taken down was probably the cherry on top. In the end the Storm King had done more damage to his own army, and less damage to Canterlot than either Chrysalis or Tirek had.

Tempest was arrested and tried for her part in the assault on Canterlot, and little as it may have been her sentence hadn't been too fair. Her fighting prowess however, had caught Luna's eye especially, and the sentence would be notably lessened if she came to serve under the Crown during her incarceration. At the time Tempest was wary, seeing it as simply swapping one set of shackles for another, more dictators holding her chain, but accepted from having little other alternative to stagnating in a cell. Her discipline was a boon, in that she never tried to escape her servitude, and came to understand both the Sisters strict cultivation for improvement in all areas, and that care and compassion for the mind were fairly metered alongside discipline to develop the soul. Twilight, having learned a thing or two about friendship over the years, had checked in on her and built some small measure of trust as well so she'd at least have a friend to hang with when she was finally released. When her sentence had ended she'd been given the option to continue working for the Crown as she'd been a perfect talent, and accepted as she'd found the Princesses to be just.

There may have also been some rumours going around the Thestrals a few years back that Tempest had developed a really close rapport with Luna during all of it, but those of course were simply rumours, and Twilight had absolutely nothing to say on the subject.

Nothing whatsoever.

"Hey, Twilight. Hey, Noctis." Tempest said from her position.

"Knew you were around here somewhere." Twilight grinned. "The cloaking's new, that for when you wanna sneak into Luna's bedchambers?"

"Yeah, sure." Tempest chuckled, rolling with it, getting to her hooves and jumping down. "Got it done about a month back now, curiosity and all that."

"I almost didn't see you. Which one's more powerful?" Twilight wondered.

"The augment, by far, I just supplement it with the spell." Tempest shrugged, going over to the panel and restoring it to monitoring the Estate.

Invisibility spells were something a lot of young mischievous ponies learned around their teenage years, either for attempting petty thievery or playing jokes on their friends, quite often both. Most common businesses and shops had basic spell detection built into their security systems to spot would-be shoplifters sneaking inside to take a few things, and the majority of megacorps had state-of-the-art surveillance matrixes that could catch someone using the best of invisibility spells they'd trained forever to perfect. But even then, it was par for the course that quite a few Unicorns of today learnt to detect invisible people as a sort of basic home security measure. Cloaking augments on the other hoof were far harder to detect even with thermal vision or something similar, and were able to fool a number of civilian systems and most magical detection spells. For this reason they were generally illegal to sell publicly over certain classifications, or limited to private use if you had a permit, not that it stopped anyone getting them if they really tried to cross the right hooves with coin.

Not all security systems could be circumvented by a powerful augment alone though; Eidos, Albion, and Aeon military robots, androids, and security matrixes were all built with sensing infiltration in mind, to name some, and as technology advanced security would be able to detect newer types of augment cloaking before long. To that end, covering oneself with a decent enough invisibility spell alongside the augment meant that one could fool both organic or augmented eyes, and most detection systems. When a cloaking augment was top-tier military, like the kind Tempest had that was manufactured by the Crown, even semi-competent mages could cast a common invisibility spell to cover their tracks beyond the limits of the technology, while entirely compensating for a lack of magical proficiency that was brought up by the augment.

The Crown-tech cloak was likely one of the newer types she'd read about, able to deceive extremely cutting-edge security by bending light around the user, it had to be layered in the skin of Tempest's body, probably less complex for her as she lacked prosthetics to try and camouflage as well. An invisibility spell created a magical barrier around the user that reflected any light coming back at it, while also forming a certain magic wavelength that threw off a few electromagnetic frequencies. If the Crown-tech cloak used the same principle on the technological side and improved upon its ability to block EM patterns, then it would explain why she was so near-perfectly hidden, even to her Aeon eye augments. It was a certainty she was able to move around with little-to-no distortion in her cloaking either, she'd be an absolute ghost to all but the most secure of organisations.

"Huh, now I kinda want it myself. But then again I'm near capacity, and it'd make things too easy." Twilight smiled with a shrug.

"Oh completely, showoff." Tempest rolled her eyes, gently shoving Twilight as Noctis stood by, silently observing. "Maintenance on Vee yesterday was a slog, though she's fine to have a chat. She's kinda under load right now with all the shit going on around Canterlot lately."

"I don't need much of her time. Just wanted to run a few things by her." Twilight nodded.

Vee managed the entire extranet of Canterlot and everything that entailed, from constant massive public usage around the city to handling excessive data from the police and the Crown both. For a vast magical self-aware A.I created by the combined efforts of two Alicorns ─even if one of those Alicorns was a technophobe─ she was still ever-growing, and the sheer amount of information she processed on a day-to-day basis was probably quite a struggle for her formidable matrix.

It was entirely possible that Twilight's visit was pointless. She'd checked the Crown's files and seen everything they had on the situation which was stored by Vee herself, but the A.I was capable of far more than simple file storage; she had an incredibly inquisitive and smart mind that was almost without peer. Twilight believed no matter how little, anything Vee could tell her would probably be of use. She also liked seeing Vee regardless, so it wouldn't truly be a waste of her time.

She fell in Tempest's stead with Noctis following up the rear, and went along through the flourishing botany of the Estate, getting up to speed on how Tempest had been during Twilight's absence, beyond the usual small talk of her activities with Vee and working. She'd been Vee's Custodian for a while now as well as being a Captain of the Guard, and one of the Crown's best instructors for hoof-to-hoof combat, but she'd actually recently decided she would take on the far greater challenge of nurturing young minds herself. With the Sisters both guiding her as they had Twilight, she'd been learning how to act towards delinquents that needed a firm hoof and a push in the right direction so they didn't act out in society, and was placed as a Wardeness for Canterlot's prime correctional institute; Willowbrook Penitentiary, in the Willowbrook ward.

It was still quite a fresh job for her, but she was thankfully supported by plenty of staff that helped keep everything in order when she or another Warden weren't around. Her reputation as a previous 'bad guy' lent to delinquents thinking she'd be harsher than she was, and being pleasantly surprised when she was simply fair. She told Twilight about a young mare that had been sent to Willowbrook for setting some executive's expensive car on fire, and tended to act out against authority for her issues in the home. She hadn't liked Tempest, constantly facing discipline for disobeying or trying her best to make life difficult, though once the roots of the issue had come to light and Tempest helped her mull through her trouble, things got a little easier to sort.

Apparently the mare was still being worked on, but her behaviour was less offensive than it had been. Tempest didn't take much in the way of credit, owing it to the staff actually following her orders and being decent to offenders. Most young-persons correctional facilities were privately owned and ran like actual prisons rather than a place to help ponies reform, something else the Crown were tied up in fixing along with a thousand other problems that knocked at the door. The battle to return to the old days of harmony was an ever ongoing uphill struggle.

It was nice to catch up and share an equal disdain and longing hope for the world.

They all soon stopped at a secluded grove, utterly blossoming with a myriad of colourful flowers and sweet smells, and surrounded at its edges with tall soft tufts of grass to give a private feeling. At its centre sat an Earthen mare made of light that was affectionately cooing over a rabbit.

Being a magical construct, she was varying shades of a single colour; her mane and tail were a deep navy in their long flowing style, her coat a lighter shade of blue. She was transparent at the moment, not needing to expend more processing power to appear opaque, a few wisps of magical energy rolling over her shapely naked surface when she moved or 'breathed'. Sometimes she would give herself a far more complex solid form, clothing, and a cutie-mark, mingling around the Royal Palace for a few hours as she enjoyed the interactions she could have. A few recognised her and were friendly towards her, but no one commonly knew she was an A.I, unless they worked with Vee and knew what to look out for. She wasn't confined to the Palace grounds, she could always explore Canterlot and still be doing her job right here, though at the current moment with the state of the city that wasn't likely. As it was, this body was a small fragment of her greater whole, on more than a few occasions Twilight had seen her wandering in two places, once also having seen her utilising an android body to wander through the city.

"Hey, Vee." Twilight spoke up.

"Twilight. How are you?" Vee smiled as she watched the rabbit as it curiously danced and sniffed around Vee while she sat there.

"I was gonna ask how you were doing." Twilight looked on, gently stepping into the prettiness of the grove and carefully moving her way through the flowers so she didn't crush any underhoof. Vee loved the flowers. "Lots of problems are ramping up in the city."

"I am equipped to handle it." She replied, partly turning her lightly glowing form towards Twilight and fixing her piercing azure eyes on her, the stare looking concerned. "You need to be more careful, please."

"Yeah, I know. Everyone's getting on at me. I'll try not to turn myself into a paperweight more than I need to." Twilight laughed, meeting Vee's serious gaze.

Vee knew just about everything that happened in the Palace, including when idiotic Crown Agents put themselves into CAM. She was tied into the main defence complex and had eyes all over the Palace grounds except Luna's side. A slight hole in the grid, but Twilight expected that was made up for by how fucking sneaky and hidden Thestrals could be; who needed an A.I to keep watch over your domain when your Thestrals could hide in and jump through the very shadows themselves?

"I would appreciate it, I do not wish to lose a friend." Vee nodded solemnly, returning her attention to the rabbit that was content to flop in the flowerbed as the sun partially spilled into the grove, and continued speaking while satisfied to observe the creature. "What do you want to know? I hope I can help you, you accessed high-clearance information yesterday, but if I am to guess you did not find what you sought."

"Yeah, very little info on the bastards that tried to jump me." Twilight said. Vee had likely also received the police reports of the apprehended. Twilight had gone over them briefly when she'd been waiting for Rize to grab the Thuddguns, and her gang were still in custody being set to be moved for sentencing ─with an additional side note she'd noticed regarding them she'd need to check on─ and the Gryphoness that had fought her one-on-one was still in hospital, though she'd be moved to uptown Canterlot's main precinct in Eclipse afterwards. It was useful as she needed to see the gunsmith Rize had spoken of too. "I need you to produce a heat map and correlation chart of all the areas they've worked through over the course of the last year. Their colours have been spotted in so many places around the downtown areas and across the plate that it's likely not to give anything concrete, but it'll give me a decent starting point."

"I can do that. Given my current load it should take approximately... two hours to compile the data, once I am finished with what I am being tasked to work on, I may not deliver it to you until midnight. I would like to note that I have looked at the police reports, and I can assume you also noticed a discrepancy?" Vee spoke, turning her head back towards Twilight.

"Yeah, I did. It's something to address when I get there." Twilight smiled, knowing Vee's sharp mind would see what she had. "Also, you'll like this."

Twilight reached into one of her duster's inner pockets with her magic, and thankfully the techies knew not to take anything when they did repairs, pulling out the fired slug from the Gryphoness' Thuddgun. Its tip barely glowed now, but that just likely meant the work on its core had been strong enough to hold magic this long after usage.

Vee's eyes quite literally lit up in curiosity, as Twilight floated it over. Vee took it in her own pale-caerulean magic despite her apparent lack of horn. Not like she needed one, being made from magic herself. She took a moment to turn it about, studying it intently while remaining silent.

After a few seconds, the round sparked as she applied some concentrated force, and cleverly broke the entire slug apart.

Slugs for pistols were generally compact pieces of carbon steel, sometimes jacketed in a layer of tungsten to resist certain heats, and were contoured to travel at the greatest speed possible from a barrel. Depending on the weapon, they might be completely crafted from tungsten to resist the magic of a powerful matrix warping it and leading to jams and weapon explosions. The special types of slug ammunition had magical cores that held a loaded tip, and when they impacted, the magic was expelled outward. The type Twilight had assumed this slug was, was a further specialised EMP ammunition with a second tip layered behind the first to back it up, which was how she came to the conclusion of it being high-tier crafting in order for it to break her shield the way it had.

But she'd be wrong, this wasn't that at all.

Twilight watched in fascination as the slug was taken to pieces, revealing that it wasn't a single piece with a core throughout, but a multi-part magitech device with several different partitions of circuitry and magic each, all there to likely support the tiny hex-core at its back. It had completely gone under the radar of her system detection. This was utterly beyond specialised ammunition. It was entirely unique, and she'd never seen its likeness sold or used anywhere before, not even on the Farscape Web's shadownet. The CPS in Eclipse's precinct had a one-of-a-kind Thuddgun and its magazine with more of these matchless rounds in it inside evidence lockup, and had no idea they were anything more than what they appeared to be on the surface.

"This is a hex-core." Vee stated in a whisper, marvelling at the dead gizmo as she pried it from the back of the slug. "I have no information in my database to support this, it is unprecedented. How can it be this small?"

"What's a hex-core?" Tempest wondered, raising an eyebrow.

"Extremely hard to produce magitech." Twilight said in a hush, as if breathing too heavily would damage the already pulled apart pieces. "Vee's prime essence framework in the inner-castle's Drakunvult has sixteen massive hex-cores, one in each major unit. It powers her entire complex, and half of those are just for her mind."

To her knowledge, Vee was by far the most advanced and truly cutting-edge magical A.I in all of Equus, and the sixteen hex-cores of her entire foundation were each the size of a small car. The eight that made up her brain were housed in secure heavy magitech framing to ensure the safety of the cores, and yet the one from the slug had barely any protection at all, just layered magic around the electronics to keep it shielded; literally the most basic level of magitech possible. How did it manage to function? Did the gun it was fired from help keep it stable? The magical signature behind the device was still very strong, she could feel it, so was it mostly kept secure by expert spellcasting? The presence of a hex-core did at the very least explain in part the raw power behind the slug tip, but now she had a few more questions and theories to add to her pile.

Not to mention, most magical A.I's weren't magitech because of the difficulty it took to produce hex-cores on any decent scale, and certainly not at Vee's level of complexity, the resources and coin that went into a single one alone was vast. On this small of a scale though this shouldn't be possible, they had immutable parts that couldn't be substituted, and yet here was a hex-core that fit in the frog of her hoof. It didn't make any sense, and for that she was as confused and aggravated about it as she was absolutely enamoured by the prospect. It set her mind racing with possibilities, but nothing she should accept or jump to without evidence.

The mystery deepened.

"Her mind? I didn't know that." Tempest frowned, knocking a hoof off the grass. "Might explain why security is so fucking tight when I go check on everything."

"The lead engineers don't let you touch a great deal, I imagine." Twilight said absentmindedly as she thought about the situation.

"You've got that right. Bastards barely let me perform my parameter checks of Vee's wellbeing without trying to jump down my throat." Tempest grumbled. "When I ask them to sort a few things with the servers or whatever if they're not within the limits, they're always fretting and making me leave before they sort anything out."

"It's a very delicate gestalt. Maintaining Vee requires around-the-clock staff to keep everything in order." Twilight commented, taking a few of the smaller parts of the dissected slug in her magic and pulling them closer for examination. "This is insane. It's all been depleted but in the signature there's traces of a dozen different types of magic layered in these sections."

"'Ripples form on the world's surface; The wandering soul knows no rest.' Her Majesty will wish to know of this." Noctis intoned, his voice grave. No question that he meant Luna; she had a disdain for technology, but that didn't mean she wouldn't want to be appraised of serious revelations of this magnitude.

"Inform her. I'll fill Celestia in, then I need to go speak with some Gryphons." Twilight stated sternly, letting Vee take the pieces back as she turned around for the exit, talking over her shoulder to the two mares as Noctis walked with her. "Nice catching up, let's do it again sometime. I'll need those plans ASAP, Vee, and Tempest; stop fucking Luna."

"I shall work in earnest." Vee nodded with a smile.

"Go fuck yourself." Tempest scoffed, rolling her eyes and chuckling.

Time to get to work.

Author's Note

Various changes again, grammar fixes, lore updates etc.
The world has to be consistent, after all.
How are you enjoying things so far?