Cyberpony Y2K

Octavia sipped a cup of tea, watching the countryside roll past outside. "I've got to admit, the First Class train cars are quite good," she said. "The solitude is refreshing, and it makes...certain topics a little easier to entertain."

"Among other things, yes," Adagio said, leaning back as far as her seat would allow her. She stretched—which shouldn't have done anything, but Octavia heard a popping sound that couldn't have meant anything good. "It makes for one pleasant train ride. And no risk of damaging clothes before being seen by high society."

"I'm not in my fancy clothes yet," Octavia said, nodding to the suitcase besides her.

Adagio waved it off. "I only have fancy clothes, Octavia," Adagio said. "It's why I rely on Muscles back there for protection. So I don't ruin my good clothes."

The pegasus in question flexed hard, screaming, "YEAH!" at the top of his lungs. He was, truly, the most physically fit pony Octavia had ever seen. He easily cleared six feet tall, and was almost as wide, while being exclusively muscle. His veins stood out easily on his pale coat, and the collar of his jacket seemed exceptionally tight for how thick his neck was.

Octavia had her doubts about 'Bulk Biceps'. She was half certain he was some sort of government experiment.

"Right. Well, if I find my own...professional muscle, maybe I'll see about bringing him around everywhere I go, too," Octavia relented. "Until then, I make do with..." She grimaced, then looked down at the much smaller gun than she was used to. "The 357."

"Hey. A 357 is a good gun," Adagio said firmly. "And that's a Drake, so it's t-t-t-top notch." She paused, optics briefly changing to a loading symbol. "Hah. Gotcha."

"Shouldn't your speaker have been fixed by now?" Octavia asked. "I could take an actual look at it, rather than just...claim to have done so." Which was, supposedly, how she'd gotten a room at the Dazzle Den. If the Inquisitors asked.

"It's just a stray programming bug or so," Adagio said, waving it off. "I finally caught that one, so with luck, it shouldn't happen again."

"Programming bugs? Adagio, that's serious," Octavia said. "That's...that's 'immediate surgery' level serious."

"Oh, you really are no fun," Adagoi said. "Fluttershy sorted it out. It's fine. Quit worry-ry-ry-ry—motherfucker." Her optics changed back to the loading symbol.

Octavia raised an eyebrow.

"Persistent little shit," Adagio said, optics returning to normal. "You were saying?"

"Adagio."

"Five."

"What?"

"Adagio Five. I'd try to remember that if I were you. And certainly remember it if you're in front of the the Number One's. When they're in the room, they are the only ones who are called by their first name."

"Are they..." Octavia paused, trying to figure out how to phrase the question.

"Let me guess: the Boss asked you to double-check to see if they're being legit and not trying to double cross her?"

Octavia stared at her.

"She's not one to do only one thing at a time," Adagoio...Five explained. "Let me say this: I don't particularly like the Number Ones, and was hoping to get a new job once the dust settles. But I am also only Five. I am not aware of any such plans on their parts, but I wouldn't be involved in it. Pay attention to the Number Twos, and maybe the Number Threes. But I can't see them involving any of their androids in a scheme like that."

"And...I can trust you on this?"

"Did you even listen? I just said I couldn't be trusted on this," Adagio Five said snappishly. "The reality is I'm too low ranked. I, personally, don't think they're doing anything because they're smarter than that. They most likely recognize the Princesses as the bigger threat. Once those are gone, then I foresee issues."

"Concerning," Octavia said, setting her teacup down with a clink.

"Quite. I, of course, plan on retiring somewhere remote with a large amount of money," Adagio Five said, placing a hand on her chest. "I will have no wish to get involved in further altercations at that point."

"Neither do I, but I think I'll end up being involved anyway," Octavia said with a sigh.

"Or maybe you could also retire," Adagio Five commented. "You'll have done your part by that point, Octavia. You could settle down, find love, finally pay off your mortage. Or...other poor people things. I don't know what passes for 'entertainment' for you lot."

"Paying off a mortage is not fun," Octavia growled.

"How do you know? You've never gotten a mortgage," Adagio said.

"I can guess," Octavia said flatly.

Before Adagio could reply, Octavia's phone rang.

Octavia checked it, then answered. "This is Melody speaking," she said.

The caller ID had been Rarity's. The voice, however, was Diamond Duster's synthetic growl that made Octavia's hair stand on end. "We might have a problem."

"What happened?"

"Fleur de Liss was looking for you. Asking after your coworkers...and not talking about Everfree. Then an Inquisitor comes into town, trying to shoot her. I chased her off, but...we don't know why the Inquisitor was after her."

"I'll get into the Dazzle Den's safehouse as soon as I'm off the train," Octavia said. "Which Inquisitor?"

Diamond didn't answer directly. "I'll let you know what Fleur was wanting when she wakes up," she said.

"Which Inquisitor?" Octavia asked again.

She heard Diamond sigh. "It was Heartstrings, sweetheart," she said. "Don't do anything stupid."

"I won't," Octavia said, chest tightening. Diamond hung up, so Octavia set her phone down, then pulled out her gun. "I assume you got the gist of that?"

Adagio Five nodded. "Don't worry, we can keep you hidden. The Inquisitors play nice around the Dazzlings because the Number Ones are loud about their complaints." She examined Octavia's magnum, then shook her head. "You know you couldn't take her."

"A girl can dream," was all Octavia said.

Fleur woke up in a small room on a hard cot. She sat up, then promptly fell back onto the cot as the room spun. Nausea rose up within her, and she closed her eyes.

After a minute, she sat up again, slower this time.

The room quit spinning, and she took a good look at it. It was made of gray bricks, disjointed at places, with some random vines growing out of the cracks between them.

The cot was bolted to the wall. It looked like a dungeon, straight out of a fantasy movie. Only instead of bars was a massive steel wall, with a single panel that looked to be for peeking inside built into the door.

Other than a door that, presumably, lead to the facilities, the only thing in the room was a small table with a chair on each side.

Fleur put a hand to her head, trying to clear her thoughts. If her dizziness was anything to go by, trying to stand was a bad idea, and she didn't trust her magic to do anything important at the moment.

Hoofsteps outside drew her attention. The plate opened up, and she saw an android peek inside. Then hesitate, and the plate closed.

"Wait—" She coughed, throat dry. Then, she fell forward, off the cot, and landed on her hands and knees, before throwing up.

By the time she was done, she thought she heard voices outside her cell. She stumbled to her hooves, wiping her mouth, then stumbled over to the door. "Hello?" she called out. She banged weakly on the door, crying out again, "Hello? Is somepony there?"

The door opened, and she stumbled back, barely catching herself before falling.

Vinyl Scratch stood in the doorway, holding a notebook casually in one hand. "Hey, Fleur," she said. "You...gosh, you look horrible."

"Where...where am I?"

"Sorry, not answering that question just yet," Vinyl said. "Don't worry, though. We're a lot nicer than the rumors suggest." She paused, then looked over to the pile in front of the cot. "Uh...hmm. Walk with me."

She extended a hand, and Fleur took it gratefully. The room spun again, but she felt herself recovering as Vinyl lead her out of the dungeon. The other cells all had their doors closed, and Fleur felt a shiver on her back. She hoped that they weren't occupied.

Vinyl lead her up a short staircase, to a small room. This room had only a table with a chair on each side. The table had handcuffs built into it.

"Take a seat."

Fleur hesitated.

"I'm not going to handcuff you to the table, don't worry," Vinyl said. "Those are there for the people we have to drag into this room. You and I are friends, and Fancy put in a good word for you with the higher ups. We just have a few...concerns...that need be addressed."

Fleur stumbled into a seat, but kept her hands far away from the manacles. She noted that they were topaz cuffs—the yellow gems were situated periodically in the links. Cuffs that could hold even the strongest earth ponies.

Vinyl sat opposite her, then set down a cup of water and a tray with a pill on it. "Doc says that's to help with the nausea," she said. "Sorry about that, by the way. You woke up way faster than we had thought, so it seems like you still have some chloroform in your system."

Fleur examined the pill, but if there was anything suspicious about it, she couldn't tell. Oh, don't be like that. It's not like they need your cooperation for anything, anyway. She popped it into her mouth, then washed it down with a drink of water.

Vinyl set her book in front of herself, propping it up so she, and only she, could see the pages. She crossed on leg over the other, in a purposeful motion that made her jacket rise higher on her right, revealing a concealed handgun.

Octavia's gun, or at least the same model.

"So...to start with, I'm sorry...to say this. I really am. Bit...Bit is dead. There was nothing we could do."

Fleur felt fresh tears sting her eyes, but she wiped them away. "Yes, well...I suppose the nap helped me get over that," she said, before taking a large sip of water.

Vinyl nodded. "We're...sorry. We knew the Inquisitor stepped into town very shortly after you arrived, but...we didn't think that she'd be after you. To be quite frank, it doesn't make any sense, and our informants tell us that there wasn't an arrest call made on you at the Canton. We don't have the faintest idea what this was for. Do you think you could shed some light on this for us?"

"I...I haven't a clue," Fleur said. "I know her. Lyra Heartsrings. We talked a lot at the galas. I thought we were friends!" She choked back a sob, then struggled to get a hold of her breathing. "I...I think she said something about framing gryphons for my...for my murder, I suppose."

"Hmm. What exactly?"

"I...couldn't say for certain," Fleur admitted. "I was...somewhat preoccupied, as you can imagine."

"Heh. I know the feeling," Vinyl said. "Okay. You came here looking for Discord. You were just looking for them through Octavia?"

"Yeah. I...I felt...I didn't know of a better way."

"Fleur. In technical terms, you fucked up hard," Vinyl said unapologetically. "The Inqusitor entering town right behind you only really slammed the nail in the coffin. But we...we work just about exclusively in secret. And you just...walked up to one of our agent's houses, and asked to speak to us. I have to ask: did you tell anyone, and I mean, anyone whatsoever, about who you were coming to meet?"

"Just...Bit. The androids at my house knew I was heading to Ponyville, but not why."

Vinyl rubbed her faceplate. "Fleur. Even if he was ordered not to share, anypony with the right know-how can access an android's memory banks. It would take all of ten minutes to find out everything you'd told him. And we think that's how the Inquisitor tracked you to Ponyville."

"My house. The androids...didn't answer the phone."

"Correct. Two Bitsworths and five Flashpoints were all killed by an unknown assailant," Vinyl said. "Our informant says that the Inquisitors have not released an official statement yet, which means they're either stumped or, more likely, trying to hide something. I'm gonna ask again: none of the ones at your house knew you were coming to Discord?"

"No. Not a one."

Vinyl nodded. "Okay. Now. Why did you come out here to meet us, anyway? It seems to have saved your life, but that looks to have been a happy accident."

Fleur pointed to her reflex chip. "I...Octavia said that these could be very bad for ponies. I...haven't been able to get a good night's sleep in a month. My doctor...is basically ignoring me on the subject now. I can't get a straight answer from anypony. I felt...this was my last chance."

Vinyl stared at her. "So...you came out to a known terrorist group...to have them...lobotomize you."

"Well, basically," Fleur said with a bitter smile. "I thought that I'd be dead soon, one way or the other."

"I see." Vinyl ran a hand through her mane. "Okay, stay in here a minute. I got to go carry that information to the boss."

"The...boss?" Fleur took a very large sip of her water. "Vinyl. Please...be honest with me. Are you going to kill me?"

"Well, that ain't up to me," Vinyl said, "but I don't think so."

Fleur eyed her, then nodded. "Thank you."

"Don't sweat it. I'm just the messenger, after all." Vinyl closed the door behind her, and Fleur heard it click in an uncomfortable way. Locked, she guessed. She couldn't hear anything—even Vinyl walking away. It was an interrogation room—she even caught a security camera in the corner. She eyed it for a minute, then gave it a wave.

It was a very long minute before she heard the door clicking again. She sat up straight, watching as somepony entered. Three ponies.

Vinyl on the left, still holding that little notebook. On the right was a Wonderbolt with a rainbow mane—it wasn't hard to guess who that was.

The third was a mare walking with a long limp, despite the heavy thuds of a prosthetic hoof. She was bundled up in a black cloak, back hunched. Her face was covered a wooden Olden Pony mask.

"Miss...Fleur, was it? Right. Fleur de Liss," she rasped. With a light grunt, she pulled her chair out and sat down.

"Yes...ma'am?"

"Heh. 'Madame' may be correct. I've also heard 'Old Bitch' once or twice." She leaned back in her chair, chuckling to herself. "You can just call me Discord, though. Now, if what Vinyl tells me is right...you're here because you want us to remove the reflex chip in your brain?"

"That...sums it up."

"And you have no idea why the Inquisitor was after you?"

"Yes, that is correct," Fleur said.

"Hmm. Well, we can't do that from in here. I heard that Diamond chloroformed you. Think you're up for some walking?"

"I...suppose. The dizziness has mostly stopped." Fleur paused, then looked up into the mask. And from there, she met the two, soft green eyes looking at her with a pity that her tone didn't quite convey. "Can...can I...can I see Bit?"

Discord nodded.

Bit was laid out just like any dead pony would be.

Discord limped to the side, with Rainbow Dash moving over for her to lean on, as Fleur stepped forward, to the table Bit had been laid on.

"This...wouldn't be your first dead droid," Discord said. Perhaps it was meant to be a question.

"A few have gone in the past," Fleur said, "but they...we knew it was approaching their time. Parts had corroded too many times. I knew it was coming. And...it wasn't like..."

Like this.

"Why did she shoot him?" Fleur asked quietly.

"Who knows?" Discord rasped, limping over to a chair. She sat down with a groan, then waved Rainbow Dash off. The Wonderbolt accepted that, moving to stand just behind her with hands behind her back. "Was probably a tactical thing. Maybe she was worried about witnesses. Footage recovered from androids has been used in court before."

"So why didn't she shoot me?"

"Frame the gryphons, you said?" Discord asked dryly. "Well, it would be hard to do that if one of her custom emerald four-oh-fours was found to be the cause of death. I think she was going to strangle you to death, but she hadn't quite planned on Diamond duster showing up."

"Why? Why...frame the gryphons? Which gryphons?"

Discord sat slumped in her chair, tilting her head up to meet Fleur's gaze. "For an excuse."

"An excuse?" Fleur frowned. "For what?"

"Canterlot's steadily been gaining flak over the years. Everypony knows it. Some of their ancient secrets are now open secrets. It started with Flurry Heart...then a Princess goes missing, and it takes Celestia twenty years to get her a replacement when she normally does it in four. Discord shows up, and we make sure we spread around a few of their unpleasant secrets as we go, too. The point of all that is, they have to work harder for some things than they used to. So if they want to move on Gryphonstone, they need to be morally right to do so."

"Move on Gryphonstone?"

"To wipe them out, of course. We enjoy peace with them...for now. And the nobles enjoy trade. There's a few products that only the gryphons sell, too. To initiate a Purge Order on Gryphonstone, they need a little more than the same old, same old." Discord tossed up a hand. "Just speculation, of course. Once we hear back from our informants, we might have a little more to go on."

"And...they wanted to make it look like the Gryphons killed me, then use me as an excuse?" Fleur laughed bitterly. "Oh...fuck that. Fuck that. No, no, no...they don't...they don't get...they don't get to do that."

"Indeed. There is...a question for you, before we hear you out on your request."

"Which is?"

"What do you want us to do with the body?" Discord asked, gesturing. "I don't believe you're aware of this already, but burying androids isn't an option. They don't decompose. The current alloys used don't rust, but some of them still have toxic materials that leak off over time as they're left unattended, underground. Not to mention the volatility of their power core. We have to pretty much take everything out if we try burrying them just so it doesn't explode, like what happened at the Everfree Memorial Cemetery back in '85."

"What...do you do with the dead androids?" Fleur asked.

"Reduce, reuse, recycle?" Discord said with a shrug. "We don't have the land to bury them on. The most we can do is a funeral service."

"Do that, then. Bit hated ponies who litter."

Discord chuckled quietly to herself. Then, she got up, and walked over. She clapped her hand on Fleur's shoulder. "Might not mean much to you right this minute, but...I'm going to say this. You'll be okay, Fleur. Now come on. Let's see what we can do about that chip."