Bow Down Before The One You Serve

Sprout shivered as he passed through Maretime Bay's town center. The town square still looked ragged and torn as he passed by the remains of the fountain that the rampaging bot had ruined. . .nearly a month and a half ago. The rest of the town didn't look much better. Some of the windows that had been shattered by the shockwaves that had shook the town to its foundations were replaced- though they were the exceptions to the rule. Most windows were just covered in cardboard and duct tape to keep out the wind and rain to a point.

It felt eerie since even at her worst, his mother wouldn't have accepted the town to look so horrid but with the silence that permeated the streets and the glimpse of a few Canterlogic branded security guards that patrolled on a street corner or two, things had changed.

He passed by a large mural that had graffiti plastered all over it. He couldn't read all the anger spilled out upon the bricks, but the small sample of it made him rather worried about how things had gone when he and Posey were away. He knew that pushing his mother like that would destabilize the town- he wasn't an idiot- and yet seeing the scrawled hoofwriting condemning Canterlogic's actions and existence made it real.

Fuck Canterlogic. Earth ponies lie. If we don't do something, they'll kill us all. Each glimpse of anger he could read through the scrawling text made him steel his resolve for what had to be done. He pulled up his poncho and slunk away as the rainclouds gathered.

"And that's all, Hitch." Sprout crossed his hooves as he tried to vent the feelings that he had kept bottled in the week since he and Posey had come back from Zephyr Heights. He waited for the orange stallion to say anything but he didn't. "Have you been listening to a word I've said?"

Hitch nodded. "Yeah, just a lot to take in. Bit conflicted on the whole you and Posey are married thing." He waved a hoof as he tried to rephrase that as Sprout gave him a look. "I mean good for both of you. Especially since I figured you would get hitched. . .bad choice of phrase. . .married, its just that I work tangentially for Canterlogic. Your mother pays my salary and sometimes, not always, asks me for any news with you. So do I lie and say that there's nothing major or tell the truth and worry about Canterlogic responses? It's a moral quandary." The slightly worried sheriff tapped his hooves together in thought. "Plus they can send one of the new squads out and ask personally. It sucks."

Sprout shrugged and picked up his half finished piece of pizza, pointing it at Hitch to punctuate his words. "So lie. It's not that bad. Plus I think half the town is bugged anyway so at some point she'll find out. Not like there's much Mother can do. We put the marriage documents in Zephyr Heights, gave a copy to Alphabittle so Bridlewood knows, and we have one at our place. Plus there's probably some pegasi news outlet that has mention of the wedding or actual video proof of it. Keeping a thing like me getting married out of a tabloid or a more reputable news source would be impossible." Sprout shrugged. "Now what about the new police? I would have sworn that you were the head honcho in the Bay?"

Hitch sighed. "I was. Then things swiftly got out of hoof your mom got on that interview and the video of the robot leaked onto ClipTrot. There was a. . .riot. Ponies nearly died and all I did was sit there and watch it."

***

"Hitch, you get the fuck out here, now." Windy looked through the glass of the Sheriff's Office and grumbled as she touched her megaphone, clicking the button on and readying the crowd of ponies behind her- unicorns, pegasi. . .even a smattering of earth ponies in the mob that was forming from the low hum of anger that the town held within it. "I'm going to march right up to Canterlogic and tell them a piece of my mind. Our minds. You know how hard it is to find a fucking job in this town if you aren't an earth pony? It's not easy I tell you what."

Hitch popped his head from under his desk. He had been furiously messaging the others on what to do. Sunny was an alicorn, Zipp and Pipp could disarm the anger in the crowd for pegasi. Izzy could do. . .something. They had mentioned they would be there as fast as they could since each of them were dealing with their own issues with that video. "Windy, as a member of Maritime Bay and as a technical employee of Canterlogic, I suggest you send a strongly worded email or a form letter or anything else than what you're thinking of doing."

Windy rolled her eyes. "Okay, I'll just write a letter of friendship to a pony who owns this town. You don't think this is wrong? Canterlogic owns all of us in some fucked up control, they own the soup kitchen, they have all their hooves in the job market, the stores all sell Canterlogic branded products barring the aisle of unicorn and pegasi branded stuff. I could keep going, this is wrong and you are just telling me to do nothing but just sit down and take it. I did that in Zephyr Heights. I'm not doing that here." Windy took to the air and headed off to Canterlogic with a sea of ponies following her.

Hitch gingerly opened the door and breathed a sigh of relief.

He sat down and looked up at the cloudy sky and wondered what he could do. He was one pony and it wasn't like he actually had much say in what Canterlogic's policies were. That was up to the Board of Drectors, Mrs. Cloverleaf, and her staff. He was just the face of the long hoof of the law and he was good at his job when it wasn't an absolute catastrophe.

He would have sat there thinking about what to do but Canterlogic chose what came next as the screams of ponies hit his ears, the sound of guns firing over and over and he soon found himself in a trance as he headed towards the carnage at a gallop, his hooves skidding over cobblestones, nearly causing him to stumble and fall in his worry.

He was almost glad that Canterlogic was so close to his work. But even the few minutes that it took to run there felt like hours as the seconds ticked away so slowly. He skidded to a stop, gravel kicking up in his wake and stared at the gates of Canterlogic, now so large and imposing that in his addled state they looked to scrape the sky.

"-this was mercy. . ." He heard an automated voice- he couldn't tell whose it was due to the filter Canterlogic's outer PA system gave the speaker. In all honesty, it could even be an automated system given a fake voice. Sprout had joked his mom set up that kind of measure in case ponies got cold hooves. "Be glad that the CEO didn't give the full order."

Hitch's ears began to work again as the shrieks and moans of the crowd, now dispersing in sputtering gasps held their hooves to bleeding wounds that didn't look lethal, at least to his trained eye. He was unsure on how to treat pegasi and unicorns since the Canterlogic branded medical charts and training told him that pegasi bled green blood and that unicorn blood was acidic. From what he could tell, both of those claims, like so many others, were a lie.

"Since this was against the wishes of Canterlogic, we have to warn you that anypony coming in for treatment for these kinds of workplace accidents- they won't get to use their insherurance. The lawyers tell me that any harm done in anti-business activities are on you. Something about you had free will to choose to do what you did. We chose as well. To appease the horrible feelings that fake video caused, we give all of you a wonderful pizza party for free. Thank you and have a Canterlogical Day.

Hitch walked through the devastation as he tallied the wounded and helped those he could. He could faintly hear the jingle of Cantlogic nearby as the speakers just drowned out the bloody masses.

***

Posey sighed as she walked around her flower shop. She had asked a few of her acquaintances- she dare not call anypony her friend since the ones she knew before dating and marrying Sprout were tied so closely to Canterlogic, and the ones she knew after were Sunny and her friends who she didn't trust with a pet rock- to water her flowers and stock but looking at the drooping petals and the few dead plants, she doubted many ponies actually did.

She picked up a hoofwritten note near her begonias and sighed at the looping scrawl that read something like 'Izzy was here'. She put it down and rubbed her eyes with a hoof. Of course Izzy Moonbow and her ilk touched her stuff. She breathed out and sat down on her haunches. She felt the cold floor on her stomach and groaned. She could easily have looked through the damages in nearly half an hour if she wasn't so tired from hefting around the foals- not that she minded since they meant something, but with this being her first time as an expectant mother- and being only halfway through her pregnancy and already looking a bit more advanced than the average mare, she was having a rough time.

And the month long break from work- while needed- made her normal day seem way more work than before. "I should have checked how many of you I'm having while in Zephyr Heights. Though maybe they would have had their own issues reading the tests and stuff. Pegasi and earth pony pregnancies have to be different? Right?" She sad that to nopony in particular, just letting the sound of her own voice comfort her. It was better than seeing the furtive glances she had seen from so many ponies.

Something had happened when they were gone and she was too nervous to broach the subject.

A knock at her shop door drew her attention and she clumsily stood up on her hooves and walked over to the door and opened it. A quiet, earth pony stood there, unsure of what to do. Posey racked her brain for the name of the green mare and finally got the name after searching. "Jazz? What are you doing here?" It was a good question, since the mare worked for Mane Melody and, looking at the time, she probably should be at work.

Jazz tapped her hooves together. "I have a problem. A relationship problem. And with how you helped Pipp with her own issues, even if I do not approve of some of the methods or the switch to more adult programming for her podcasts and the like since I have to edit and film and plan most of Pipp's day or else she gets all flighty or weird about things. . .you know how to break down walls surrounding a relationship."

Posey groaned. "What nonsense do you have for me today?"

Jazz tapped her hooves together. "I want to let Rocky know how I feel and I keep getting right up to telling him but then I either chicken out or fall over myself because he's so attractive."

Posey raised an eyebrow. "I thought he was gay. He isn't?"

Jazz looked offended for a moment before covering it up with a fake smile. "No. He's not. Though I guess I can see why you'd think he was- his line of work, his impeccable grooming, his colorful wings, his huge-"

Posey held up a hoof. "I don't need to hear anything about his dick."

Jazz cocked her head. "I was going to say his huge heart, not. . .that." Jazz groaned. "Can you be serious for once in your miserable life or not." The earth pony blinked as she realized what she said in anger. "Sorry, sorry, that just slipped out."

Posey smiled. "While I would normally be incredibly pissed about somepony saying that to me, I don't mind. I mean it shows you have some kind of emotion outside of being Pipp's assistant. There's something I can work with instead of just hitting my head against a wall figuring out how to get you and this Rocky to get together. Plus I'm trying to be better- if it was months ago, I'd kick you out. Tell me about this little stallion."

Jazz rolled her eyes. "He's not little. He works out three times a week, he loves to sing, he's a teensy bit flamboyant, he loves manes about as much as I love hooves-" Jazz blushed. "I mean both of us don't like that in a. . .fetish. . .way." Jazz whisptered that as she looked around her demeanor looking like she was going to have Pipp jump out with a camera. "Anyway, he also likes playing guitar. Rocky Riff is just the absolute best stallion I know."

Posey shrugged. "I'll show you a thing I got from Zephyr Heights later- bit of a joke souvenir I got. Though I'm not going to use it since Sprout just blows dick records out of the water. Okay, so music. Dinner and a show. Maybe a movie. Okay what about what you can do what you enjoy or feel comfortable with doing. I doubt you want to do some exhibitionist sex to show how much you like your stallion."

Jazz blinked. "Oh earth no. I'm not a prude but that just seems awful. And too forward."

Posey shrugged. "Worked for Sprout and me. Went from pizza to boning in like no time flat. Turned out we had a lot in common- well we both enjoyed how we fit together and it went from there. Helped that his dick was so massive that I was his first. It made it romantic and special."

Jazz coughed. "I bet. Uhm, I can play the banjo. And I like singing. I mean honestly I'd have to since I work at Mane Melody and Pipp has an hourly sing along karaoke session like every single day. I mean I tried to tell her that was a bit excessive and cut into the general profits of the store- even though she's so stupidly rich that she runs that business as more a hobby than anything else- but she just said it was for the vibes." Jazz rubbed her face as she tried to get back on topic. "What does that even mean? Plus, she can just relax and goof off while I have to balance the books and make sure she goes to engagements, appointments, song releases. . .podcast appearances. I run Pipp's life besides her trips to save the world from random evil bullshit with Sunny and her friends. Fuck." Jazz breathed out. "Where was I? Oh right, I want to get Rocky to notice me. Like go on a date, maybe more, notice me. Cause I'm not getting a vacation anytime soon."

Posey grinned. This was going to be fun. "I have a few ideas. But you are going to have to trust me." What she wasn't telling Jazz was that while she was far less of a bitch than a few months ago, she could still have fun with this. "I think banjo serenade, maybe dress up to get him to notice you and boom you get the rocky road to getting laid."

***

Sprout knocked on Windy's door. He had ran through all the permutations of things he could say to her but nothing really worked- he knew he wasn't responsible for what Hitch had described to him- he wasn't even in the same town when the riot happened. He was getting married and it wasn't like he knew the changes in the air until he returned. And yet a small part of him felt responsible- he was a Cloverleaf, he planned on taking over the family business, if he had been here he could have done something, anything to stop the decision of firing on town residents. He breathed out and steeled himself. "Windy, its me. Sprout."

A shuffling came from the other side of the door and soon it opened and Windy peeked outside. The pink pegasus looked worse for wear though it was to be expected since he could see the gleam of a metallic wing flash by as she briefly turned. He had heard the news from Hitch and still it was a visceral image to be confronted with. Canterlogic was known to push boundaries in many different technological fields- but he could count on his hooves the number of times he saw a prosthetic limb of any kind. And usually it was a wooden leg due to his memory being filled with earth ponies until recently.

"You can stop staring, Sprout, and come in."

Sprout nodded and followed her inside, looking briefly at all the art that hung on the pegasus' walls. Most of the pictures were landscapes of Maretime Bay from bird's eye view and it was weird to see landmarks he recognized look so small. "I didn't know you could paint."

Windy popped her head out and shrugged. "I don't. I take the pictures that my marefriend uses for reference pics. She does the hard work of making them look presentable and all that. I mean she'd do all the work if she could but she doesn't have wings to fly with. Not everypony can be like Sunny Starscout, but Prim does alright." Sprout swore she looked proud in the dim light of the hallway.

Sprout held up a hoof for a moment. "Wait, are you dating Primrose? I thought she had a weird thing where she was stalking Hitch like every waking hour."

"Somepony hides in a box and tries to confess their attraction to Hitch in an odd way and poof, I'm a stalker?" Primrose walked out with a wry smile on her face, the grayish unicorn floating a cup of coffee in her magic as she glanced at Windy. "But I figured out that he wasn't interested in me then and the videos Pipp shot of them fucking like rabbits made me reconsider a lot of things about him. You know how many calendars I threw away with his face on them? Far too many to count when I could have just got on Pipp's Ponyfans to see everything in motion.."

"Prim still sees that as a bit of a sore spot."

The unicorn scoffed as she drank her coffee. "Swore off stallions that's for sure. Makes me reconsider all the times I was on shopping trips with Pipp, but whatever, I go to therapy about that now." She bowed. "Greetings, Sprout, I would bow to the next ruler of the Bay but as you can see I'd really not want to spill my coffee."

Sprout awkwardly nodded. "Thanks. I was just planning on checking up on how ponies are doing after. . .that. . .thing that I wasn't here for."

Windy rolled her eyes and held up a hoof. "Not your problem, Red. Anyways I got this wicked cool wing. I mean sure the amputation of my previous wing was a nightmare without anesthetic and actual hospital care since I couldn't walk into the company hospital with it just dangling away." Windy breathed out. "Okay, though, if you told me months ago that I would have this silver wing strapped to me, I'd have thought you were joking." She looked away for a moment to gather her thoughts. "Like I just learned how to fly thanks to Zipp and poof. . .I mean nopony has said I can't fly anymore. It's just I have to relearn it again with this thing and it feels so slow. Like there is a delay in everything. And I wake up sometimes short of breath and hear the screams over and over and I just sit in the darkness wishing I could wake up. But I'm awake and this is it. This is my life now."

Primrose put her coffee cup down and lightly brushed Windy's mane. "Hey, you're okay, Windy." She pressed the pegasus to her chest and turned to Sprout. "Sorry, but I think we might have to reschedule this talk you wanted with Windy. As you can see she's still shaken from the riot and all."

Sprout nodded. "Sure, sure. I can talk later. Didn't think this through all too well." He walked to the door before remembering what else he could get out of this. "Hey, Primrose, can you get me an in with Toots? I need to speak with him. About a lot of things."

Primrose rolled her eyes. "Yes, I do still work for the Art Department. Doesn't mean I can easily get Toots to call you since he's running more R&D stuff, but I know his work number- all Canterlogic personnel are listed in the directory phone book they give to everypony."

Sprout chuckled. "Yeah, well, they don't give me one and with how I've been acting the last few months, I'd probably not get one even if I asked."

Primrose brushed her pink mane and groaned. "Okay, okay, give me a bit so I can delicately handle Windy. Then I'll shoot you a text. Still got your phone number?"

Sprout nodded.

Primrose paced back and fort for a moment, rocking Windy ever so slightly with her magic. "Well don't tell him how you got his work number, do you hear me? I'm already on thin ice cause they suspect I'm with Windy. Add in that I'm a unicorn after this riot and I'm surprised they haven't kicked down my door yet."

"Promise."

Primrose smiled, her face changing from the exhausted and miffed unicorn he had met just now to the old Primrose- the soft spoken and quiet mare that had mostly escaped his attention because she was nearly a forgettable mare that blended right into the background. "Thanks." She leaned into Sprout's ear and whispered the next bit, her voice unchanging from the sickeningly sweet dulcet tone that he remembered. "Oh and Sprout? Hitch can suck a dick. Please tell him that." Primrose leaned back and smiled. "Oh and tell Posey hi for me. You two make a cute couple. Congrats on the marriage by the way."

"How did you-"

Primrose laughed. "Unlike most of Maretime Bay, I read the news from other towns. . ."

***

"Posey, I'm not singing this in public. Or private." Jazz grimaced as she read the lewd lyrics that graced the scrap of paper. This had to be a joke, she wasn't going to sing about how much she needed Rocky's privates. She wasn't in heat.

Posey shrugged. "Okay so that's a start. The wonders of figuring out where your boundaries are since I've spent like five minutes talking to you like ever."

Jazz cocked her head. "I've cut your mane before. You spend most of your time ranting about everypony in town. So I doubt that you've spent that-"

Posey waved a hoof. "Talking at someone versus talking with someone in an actual conversation is different. The first one I can just block out any responses, the second is a give and take. And before meeting Sprout and mellowing out a ton, I'd not let you near me. But the past is the past and we can move on."

Jazz rolled her eyes. "Like how you move on whenever somepony brings up Izzy?"

Posey's eye twitched for a moment before she breathed out and let it go. "Izzy is Izzy and let us leave it at that." Posey pointed at the hastily drawn plan. "okay so going by the work schedule and how Mane Melody ebbs and flows in customers and Pipp's dumb karaoke sing-a-long section that kills business, I can expect the place looking dead around lunchtime so we can barge right in and have you play your silly banjo and work your way into his heart."

Jazz tapped er hooves. "I dunno, its a big thing to sing in public. . .I mean I've done it and stuff but not in front of Rocky and then there's the whole 'would he think I'm weird' cause we have a great thing. We have lunch dates and we hang out and watch movies together and if I shatter the illusion about us just being really good friends who just so happen to have each others' house keys and sometimes have ice cream sleepovers watching the newest pegasi reality tv show then it would make work be all weird. That's what friends do."

Posey just facehoofed. "I gave Sprout my keys and we moved in together after we had sex and had a whole thing with his mom- not getting into that but it was a lot- and here you two are being functionally one step away from living together. The next thing you know you're going to say you two shower together."

Jazz blushed furiously, her cheeks turning crimson. "Oh no no no no. I've never even actually seen him naked."

Posey blinked. "We barely wear clothes, Jazz. How on earth do you not know how he looks naked. I was asking if you two shower together which is way more intimate than just walking outside and ogling a stallion's dick. Which going by your reaction, you don't shower together. And you've probably never glanced at a dick in your life."

"Because its incredibly rude." Jazz stomped a hoof. "I mean seriously not everypony can be so open with their desires like you and every time I try to speak in front of Rocky about my lovesick emotions tangling up my feelings for us as very good friends, I stumble over my words or my feet. So I don't know what to do. I mean I could live my life in regret. Maybe that could be better. . ."

Posey sighed. For once Pipp was easier to deal with. All Posey had to do was provide some pointers to that pink mare and she became an internet porn sensation. But Jazz was so much more difficult. She had a conscience and wasn't sheltered to an immense degree like the prissy princess. But she was stuck in her own head and needed a push to get the ball rolling.

"That's incredibly depressing and I'd rather do anything else than see you fester with some weird crush for fifty years." Posey sighed as she felt a twinge of actual pity towards the greenish mare. As she racked her brain for an answer, it hit her in the face. An easy way to have Jazz and Rock work through their sexual tension in private. "We could foalnap him instead and you could sing your serenade in private and then its a captive audience."

Jazz looked horrified. "That can't work at all. Like the logistics and the legality and the whole mess of carrying him."

Posey shrugged. "It's a plan and I'd rather do something than having our mental wheels spin. Because look at the time." Posey held up her hoof with her very imaginary watch. "We've been here hashing out plans for forever. And sometimes the dumbest plan works. And you shot down my joke idea of you singing a song with explicit pornographic lyrics about his cock and how much you want to stuff it. And you said you can barely talk to the stallion normally. Foalnapping isn't a normal situation- it probably makes your heart rate rise and all that stuff."

"Still that sounds incredibly illegal."

"I mean Pipp's mom foalnapped Hitch and pretty much held him at spearpoint like last month? Like she threatened him to marry Pipp or possibly die. And that worked out fine enough."

Jazz cocked her head. "What? But Pipp never- I mean Haven's a perfectly good. . .diplomatic immunity?" She sat down with her head in her hooves, utterly flabbergasted that nopony had actually told her much of anything of that incident. Pipp had glanced over that incredibly important fact so quickly that all Jazz had known was just 'surprise Queenly Visit" followed by 'giant robot attack as seen on ClipTrot.' There wasn't a hostage situation in any of that. "Holy fuck, Pipp can actually lie straight to my face." She giggled for a moment as she took in that world shattering information before trying to recenter her emotions in the maelstrom that was within her.

It worked for Pipp. It had to work for her. She was the one pulling sixty and seventy hour work weeks to plan out Pipp's entire life. Sometimes she had to say fuck you life and take the plunge. If she didn't do something she'd die alone as an old maid. Her mother would probably see her as a failure. It wasn't easy for a country mare to decide to become a manestylist and hooficurist- it wasn't done in the boonies. Maretime Bay was a big ole town and she needed to get going or else she'd rock up to a family reunioquin without a few foals in tow. She breathed out and coolly stared at the angry yellow pony in front of her. If Posey got knocked up then anypony could cause she was the town bitch that everypony hated.

"Okay, Posey, let's foalnap Rocky. Safely. I wouldn't live with myself if he got hurt."

***

Sprout pulled out his phone and stared at it for a moment as he tried to talk himself out of calling Toots because it just felt too soon to advance his plans- he had had a whole plan for this sketched out in his head but the moment he had walked into the Bay again and saw the aftermath of his mom's interview she couldn't talk her way out of. . .well he didn't know what to do. A part of his almost wanted to march right up into Canterlogic and finish it in a messy finality- quick, painful work burning out in a blaze of glory like it was a videogame but he realized quickly that he wasn't a superpony with powers, he was relatively normal all things considered.

What he could do is shake them to the core and destabilize them from within. He breathed out and dialed Toots' number that Primrose scrawled out on a faded piece of paper and waited for him to either pick up the unexpected call or wait for the dial tone to leave a message. Either worked to shake Toots' confidence since the gray stallion was mainly all talk even with his control of tech development.

"Sprout? How did you get this number?"

Sprout lied. "Still have a company phonebook and your number didn't change all that much."

Toots' voice wavered over the line. "Okay, well what do you want?"

"Need to talk. About a whole lot of things." Sprout remembered something as he gathered his thoughts. "I think I know who sent Posey a little message all those months ago. Sweets is above you in the Canterlogic pecking order and, sure, Mother would tell somepony to send a bit of a threat to somepony she didn't like. She'd tell Sweets. She's her right hoof mare in all things. But Sweets is not a pony who'd like dirtying her hooves all that much- she delegates everything. But you. . .you work like a cog in the machine. Somepony tells you exactly what they want and you deliver. Sure it might take you a while, but you do it. You try to please everypony."

"And?"

Sprout sighed. "Sweets put you up to delivering that message a few months back. The one that freaked both Posey and me out." He didn't know, but he could bet he was right.

Silence reigned over the line for long enough to tell Sprout that he had hit the mark. "And if that was true. . .what you just wanted to let me know you deduced something?" Toots coolly tried to pass through the dangerous waters of this conversation. Both ponies knew the line was being monitored- it was Canterlogic after all. "I'm going to hang up now unless you have something more to say."

Sprout rolled his eyes. It was a give and take talking to anyone in the company. "So a second robot? My prototype idea of a robot wasn't enough to let die on the creativity vine? Oh and the little riot I missed. Either we have a whole team of trained ponies I don't know about that live in the walls of Canterlogic like its a black site doubling as a secret barracks or somepony rigged the Welcoming AI with a whole Defensive Protocol Subroutine. . ." Sprout let that rhetorical question hang in the air- both stallions either could guess the answer or definitely knew it.

"So?"

"Let's meet and discuss some things. Just stallion to stallion."

More silence. "I'm going to have to report anything I discuss with you. It's company policy."

Sprout chuckled. "Don't mind. It's not like I have anything to really hide. And knowing Canterlogic, they already know where they stand. Let's do a neutral place. Not Posey's house cause that's a terrible idea. Could do the park. Not like there's all that many ponies out anyway." He watched company security patrol the sidewalk as he spoke. "It's a wonderful day. I suggest you touch grass sooner or later. You know how cooped up everypony gets in your section of work. Running calculations in your head."

"Fine. Be there in twenty."

Sprout hung up and felt bile creep up the back of his throat before his stomach settled down again. He had been incredibly nervous and could have botched the whole thing- and if that had happened he would have had to resort to just blurting out everything he planned to in this meeting and therefore leaving him with no gossip or ammunition to use to put Canterlogic on the hook.

Not everypony was Primrose- he doubted Canterlogic put such stock in tabloids or rumors.

***

"Are you going to wimp out now?" Posey glanced over to Jazz who was pacing around nervously.

Jazz shook her head. "No, its just the first technical crime I will do since like stealing pens from ponies when I was little. My whole family told me over and over how important each and every choice we have is and how bad choices are the worst ever. So I'm of two minds about this. . .that's all."

"Was Pipp of two minds when she decided to bed Hitch?" Posey didn't mention the fact that the prissy pink princess decidedly had been for a while, but at least she had been far less annoying about bedding a mate.

Jazz groaned and looked down at her newly painted- and dried- nail color. The reddish hued polka dot design was definitely different than the checkerboard pattern that she had worn only hours before. She wasn't a criminal, not at all, but she had enough knowledge of crimes- she adored true crime podcasts and thriller movies. Jazz had changed her recognizable features as much she could- her coat not included. Dyeing her coat to some gauche color would ruin her vibe and Pipp would never let her live it down.

She put on the black ski mask and tried to deepen her voice as much as she was able thanks to the mandatory voice lessons Pipp had dragged each and every Mane Melody employee for. Pipp had called it "employee bonding vibe check time." Jazz had, up until this point, called it a yearly annoyance. Jazz quietly nodded at Posey and pushed the door of Mane Melody open.

Rocky sat there like usual- attractively scrolling his phone since there wasn't any other customers and he usually had the store cleaned in such an immaculate way that Jazz could eat off the floor. Not that she ever tried, that would be weird, but she could in theory do it.

"Hey, Jazz, why do you and Posey look like you're robbing a bank?"

Jazz froze for a moment. Of course Rocky would see through the disguises. "I am not Jazz, this is. . .uh, a foalnapping to send a. . .message to Pipp."

Rocky rolled his eyes. "Nice put on voice, but I know it's you. First of all, your coat and cutie mark. I know that well. And secondly, you didn't really come into work today. You took one flustered look at me and hoofed it on out of here. I mean I know the shop isn't doing too well since the last potion made everything stink in here for like a whole week. Dunno about you, but Pipp's ideas are not always the best for business. Incredibly creative, yes. But I get why you're here."

Jazz and Posey shared a quick look before the green earth pony answered in her fake voice. "You do?"

Rocky smiled as he preened a golden feather from his wing. "Duh, a vacation. Or a day off. Either works." He thought for a moment. "Probably the second thing. I mean I don't see you with a pile of bits and a few tickets to paradise. Plus, it has to be all super duper short notice because you hate Posey so, so much. You just never shut up-"

Posey stared daggers into the back of Jazz's head. "Oh really?"

Jazz waved a hoof. "Shut up, Rocky, please shut up now. Please?"

"and that's before you said she had to be joking about Sprout. I mean he's attractive and all, but I know when a stallion is packing and he doesn't seem to. . ."

Posey picked up a nearby perfume bottle and chucked it at Rocky's head as hard as she could. The blabbering stallion didn't even see what hit him as it knocked him flat on his back and the two mares sat in silence waiting for him to stand back up. They waited and waited, but after about thirty seconds Jazz crept towards the desk and peered over. Rocky sat there prone and silent, his mouth hanging open in shock.

Jazz stared at Posey. "Posey, what the fuck."

"Didn't want him to slight my husband's honor as a stallion. I know Sprout is both a shower and a grower. Plus called it, your potential stallion is gay. I mean 'I know if a stallion is packing?' come the fuck on." Posey rolled her eyes and crossed her hooves in annoyance. "Should have never agreed to do this."

"Posey, its called being attracted to mares and stallions. It's incredibly common. Now help me earth damn it," Jazz ran around the desk and put a hoof to Rocky's neck- quickly getting past the fact that this was the first time she was truly touching Rocky- and checked for a pulse. "Okay, I can feel a pulse at least, but new rule. You don't get to throw shit at anypony. You understand?"

"Crystal. Who gets the legs if we have to carry him out? I'm guessing you, right?"

"Why would. . .don't you start talking about comparing sizes. Why in the world did you do that anyway?"

"Chalk it up to hormones."

***

Sprout sat nervously on a park bench, staring over the Bay that defined Progress Park and the town in general and sighed. He had checked his phone and waited for Toots. He knew the stallion would show- the grayish blue stallion was always on time when there was an appointment, if it was last minute or not.

"Hope I didn't take too long, it's a nightmare to reschedule meetings."

Sprout glanced next to him and was surprised to see Toots sitting there. "When did you. . ."

"Been here a bit. To the point, what do you want from me? Blackmail? News? Codes to get into Canterlogic so you can take care of business?" Toots straightened his bow tie. "It's not my first rodeo in dealing with things like this. Though I do have to apologize about the whole send a message bit. That was not my idea."

"We're taking down my mom. I'd like your help."

Toots laughed. "She's been leading the town for like twenty? Thirty years? It's going to be difficult. I should know. I built most of the technology we use. Sure, its from ideas from your mom. . .and you of course. But my team gets antsy when there's no progress. Unity is a bitch, that. Give a room full of weapon makers a peace and we start worrying. Budget cuts, layoffs, redevelopment into alternate revenue streams. The town doesn't need a giant murderbot what about an amusement park? A flight contraption? A new tool that makes life easier. Take your mom down and you hurt the business. Profits go down, ponies revolt."

"And you already had a bit of that."

Toots flinched. "Yeah, I told Sweets that the interview was a sham. But we had to get in front of the story somehow. Like everypony has phones now. It's hard to swerve the message."

Sprout ran a hoof through his mane. "So help me. Look out at the town and we have a problem. Two months ago, I could walk the streets and see ponies almost loitering- but having fun. I came back from Zephyr Heights and the town is silent and its like everypony has gone underground or quiet."

"We keep an eye on them. You and I both know the town is never truly quiet."

Sprout wrung his hooves in thought. "Yeah. I need your assurance that you won't vote against me when I run for office."

Toots chuckled as he stared at the younger stallion. "That's it. You could have just texted me or something. That's simple-" Toots shifted as he heard his phone buzz. "One moment, that's almost definitely work. Got to respond to this text. . ."

Sprout watched the stallion's eyes move for a moment before turning back to him. "What is it now?"

"So, uh, big news I guess. Bad news. News. You know the new company cops?"

Sprout rolled his eyes. "Yes, they aren't the most inconspicuous around town."

"They arrested Posey and a few others. Something about being 'suspicious'."

Sprout felt his insides drop as the news hit him.