Cyberpony Y2K

"Molesworth, you better not be fucking with me."

Gilda folded her arms over her chest, glaring down at her informant. Molesworth cringed, but shook his head. "No fucking here," he said, with an awkward chuckle. He adjusted his oversized spectacles, then gestured to his monitor. "You can look for yourself, Gilda. The Inquisitors wiped you and your buddy from the database. They're coming for you."

"Fuck," Gilda said. "I didn't...I thought...dammit!" She punched the wall, causing Molesworth to cringe again.

"Please, Gilda! I've gotten too many noise complaints...ponies will start asking questions..."

"When? When did this happen?"

"W-well, I don't get the info as soon as it happens, i-it--"

"When?"

"A week ago," Molesworth said.

"Fuck!" Gilda shouted. "A fucking week? And you'e only just now coming to me?"

"I only just found out!" Molesworth whimpered. "Please—keep the noise down!"

Gilda shoved past him, heading for the door. As she threw it open, she found an angry looking colt on the other side.

"Would you mind," he said, "keeping it down?"

Gilda flipped him off. "Go fuck yourself," she said, elbowing past him.

He reached out, grabbing her shoulder. "Hey now. You're disrupting the entire--"

Gilda grabbed his elbow, then shoved hers back into his chest while yanking. She heard something break, as he gasped, then she whirled him around, driving his face into the dumpster besides Molesworth's door. The colt fell to the ground, leaving a bloody smear and a dent on the side of the dumpster.

"Gilda!" Molesworth shrieked. "What have you done?"

"And fuck you, too!" Gilda shouted. She took to the air, flying above the dingy apartment houses in the bad part of Las Pegasus. Yet it still wasn't too far until she arrived back at the Dazzle Den. She landed a bit away, then walked the rest of the way to the entrance, trying to maintain a calm facade. Technically, it was a no-fly zone, but the average pony didn't care.

Gilda strode into the Dazzle Den, and the guards at the entrance didn't so much as look twice. They all knew her by now—and a couple of them owed her.

"You look upset," a voice said, as an android fell into step with her.

"Four?" Gilda asked.

"Yup!" Sonata Four gave a happy nod. Gilda had always wondered about why the Dazzlings' androids dressed so very differently from the Dazzlings themselves. More...punk style outfits, less upper class suits. Sonata Four wore scuffed purple jeans, a blue crop top, and a sleek black jacket. "What's up? Slept on the wrong side of your nest or something?"

"Ha ha," Gilda grumbled. "Me and Rough are going to be leaving soon. Probably today." If she could figure out where to go. And...could give up her vengeance on Filthy Rich.

Her blood boiled at the thought.

"Aw. Here I was thinking you were gonna stay a while this time."

"I don't think we're coming back."

"Inks?" Sonata asked.

"Inks," Gilda agreed. She hated the ponies' annoying habit of shortening words for no apparent reason. But in this case, it could be used to disguise what you were really talking about.

"We've...got two coming here soon," Sonata Four said. "I'm not supposed to talk about it, though."

"Got it," Gilda said. Coming for us. We've got to go. "Thanks for the heads up."

"No probs!" Yeah, there it was. Just as annoying as it always was.

Gilda rode the elevator up to the top floor, before striding out. Her room was the...seventh, yes. She had acclimated to Equestria faster than most of her kind, but the massive buildings still got the better of her more often than not.

Gilda froze, however, upon seeing an Earth pony marching past with one of the Adagio androids right behind her. Earth pony, dark brown mane, and violet goggles around her neck, complete with a music note Cutie Mark on the chest.

Octavia freaking Melody. And worse, she turned, and looked directly at Gilda. "Can I...help you?" she asked suspiciously.

Gilda, for the first time in a very long time, panicked. She threw out a cheap, sorry excuse for why she was staring. "Nah, sorry. Just had to stop and remember whether or not I left the kettle on." She gave an awkward sounding laugh, backing away.

Octavia scoffed quietly, turning back away. "I don't have time for this," she muttered darkly, marching off quickly.

Gilda stared after her, then let out a deep breath. She hurried over to hers and Rough's suite, throwing open the door. "Rough, we have a problem," she said. But she stopped, not getting past that statement before she stared at the situation.

Rough Tumble and two of the Dazzle Den's prostitutes sat, all with clothes on, with a poker game set up between them. One of the prostitutes was wearing Rough's jacket. The other one seemed to be winning.

"What," Gilda said, "in all the cages of Tartarus...am I looking at?"

Rough frowned, looking up at her. "What, never seen a poker game before? It's what we ponies do for fun 'round these parts."

"Rough. We need to talk," Gilda said. "Work thing came up. About that last job."

"Ahh....man, I was just about to..." He threw down his cards, then shrugged helplessly. "Sorry, ladies."

Gilda stared in mute shock as they bid farewell to each other, before they returned Rough's jacket and left, giggling to themselves.

Rough threw his jacket back on, but didn't button it straight away. "Well?"

"What the fuck was that?" Gilda burst out, closing the door behind her. "When I heard you were calling up two of them, my first thought was, 'go for it, man', but that...what the hell was that?"

Rough began to shuffle up the deck of cards. "You said something about the job?"

Gilda shook herself. "Inquisitors," she said. "They wiped our records. A fucking week ago. And S4 tells me that two of them are coming to the Dazzle Den here soon. And we've got Octavia Melody here, to boot."

"Room fourteen," Rough said. "She's been here for a couple days. Immediately visited by Sonata, who left, and I quote, 'contemplative and oddly emotional'. Sonata has since been making repeated calls, though none of them have lasted as long as their first meeting. Octavia also has not ordered any of the second floor girls, was once a musician, and is also high nobility." He cut the deck, then began to shuffle out a game of solitaire.

"Huh? When did you find all that out?" Gilda cocked her head, staring at him.

"Just now," Rough said. "Jubilee was just talking about her."

"What?"

"Prostitutes gossip like crazy," Rough said simply. "If Melody was here for us, we'd have been arrested by now."

"She's probably waiting for backup," Gilda said. "Without her android, we can take her and she knows it. Her backup was stalled by whatever caused that explosion in Manehattan the other day." Gilda folded her arms, eyes narrowed. "I think we need to leave."

Rough grunted. "I know it's serious when you're the level-headed one," he replied. He didn't move to pick up his cards.

"What are you waiting for?"

"I know you, G," Rough said. "I'm waiting for you to change your mind."

Gilda let out a breath. "For fuck's sake, Tumble! There's Inquisitors coming in by the dozen! Some cold, hollow vengeance isn't worth it."

"If you say so," Rough said. "Then I'll pack my bags. And we'll never, ever come back here."

"Okay," Gilda said, arms folded.

Rough stood up, stretching.

"Fuck it," Gilda muttered. "We're doing this, but we gotta be careful."

Rough nodded. "We've got to figure out a way into Fancy's house."

"Leave it to me," Gilda said. "I know his security. I designed half of it. We can do this."

Almost two hours later, Octavia sighed, rubbing sore fingers. "Been a while since I played that long in one stretch," she said.

Seven handed her a glass of water. "You play well," she said.

"And, most importantly, I dodged Sonata," Octavia said. She drank down the entire glass in one gulp, then set it down, sighing.

"At least, until they come down here to get ready for their song," Seven said.

"Right," Octavia muttered, before she stood up. She picked up her violin case, listen to animated chatter coming from the main casino.

"You going to stay and listen? It's quite the experience."

"No," Octavia said immediately. "I've gotten too many warnings from the Boss to do that."

Seven nodded slowly, but didn't say anything out loud.

Octavia stepped into the elevator, checking her watch. Seven had passed a few similar 'warnings' on to her, but never elaborated upon them. Octavia didn't want to get her in trouble, so she didn't bring them up.

But...it was lighter warnings than she had feared. She didn't think the Sirens were at all good ponies—people—but the warnings did not seem to be of a lethal nature. At least, not yet.

Octavia stepped out onto the top floor, then paused. Ahead of her was Aria Blaze and one of the other musicians. Lemon...Lemon something. Octavia almost wanted to say 'Snicket', but knew that wasn't quite right.

Aria paused, ears twitching, then stood up abruptly, ears twitching. She looked to Octavia, eyeing her up and down.

"Miss Blaze," Octavia said with a curt nod.

Aria's tail gave an annoyed twitch. Like her sister, she wore a fine, silken dress, though she had decorated hers with some pieces of coral. Including a lovely pair of ear rings that matched her ruby necklace.

"It's...Melody, right?" she asked. Without waiting for a response, she continued. "Well, I suppose I need to be on set right about now. Adagio will kill me if I'm not." She leaned in close, whispering to Lemon, "See you tonight."

Octavia would have walked on, doing her best to ignore the encounter, if she hadn't seen Lemon's breath catch, eyes widen, wings fluttering.

Aria slipped away, moving with a predatory grace as she went to the Dazzlings' personal elevator.

"Seven," Octavia said slowly, "I'm just going to be in my room for a bit. Why not you take some time off?"

"Alright," Seven said, nodding slowly. "Call me up if you need me." She gave a bow, then walked away.

Octavia waited for her to get a short distance away, then stepped over to Lemon. "Are you alright?"

"Hmm?" She blinked, then gave an awkward smile. "O-of course I am. Everything's just peachy! Why would you ask?" She chuckled.

Octavia raised an eyebrow.

"I'm just a little stressed," Lemon said. "It's Octavia, right?"

"Octavia Melody. And..."

"Lemon Zest." They shook hands, but Lemon made sure it was a short exchange. "Well, I gotta go."

"Lemon..." Octavia put a hand on her shoulder. "Do you need help?"

Lemon shuddered, looking at Octavia with panicked eyes. "Yes," she whispered.

"Come on." Octavia nodded to her room, beckoning her to follow. The third floor was usually empty—those with presidential suites weren't usually the type to mingle. Octavia closed the door behind the two of them, then turned to Lemon. "Alright, I've ensured we have privacy for a little while," she said. "I'm here to help however I can, but to do that, I need your honesty, okay? Start at the beginning."

Lemon took a seat, hugging her arms close to her chest. "W-well, I was...probably still am...a small-time musician in Coltston. I first met Aria at a party. I'm...friends with a noble there, and she hired me to play for a party there. I didn't recognize Aria at first, but we...we became fast friends. I-I think. We talked, had some fun, shared a few drinks. She offered me a job, playing background music while she talked with some...associate of hers. Well, I may not be particularly bright, but when Al Capony stepped into the room, I did recognize him. They talked quietly for a bit about...honestly, perfectly legal-sounding stuff." She fidgeted. "Towards the end, though, Capony got...angry. Started shouting at her. She just stood up, then looked into his eyes. And he left." Lemon put a hand to her forehead, sighing. "I was about willing to just...take the money, walk away, and forget it ever happened. But...well, she gave me a lot more money than she'd promised. Said she liked my music, and invited me to play...here." Lemon grimaced. "It...it was the chance to make it big. Everyone...everyone always talks about that chance, y'know? How you're gonna get it someday. Well, when it stares you in the face, it's a lot more real...a lot more tangible...and yet, still so distant, as you have to convince yourself...it's really you. It's really happening to you and not to someone else." She laughed to herself. "Well, being stupid, I just had to take it. I thought...thought that music would be the end of it. I think Aria...is wanting something...else."

"And you're not interested?"

"Hah, no. Colts only, and not...fish." She grimaced. "Call me biased it if you want, but I do have my preferences."

"Well," Octavia said, "have you considered leaving?"

"This is the fucking Dazzle Den," Lemon said. "If she wanted to, they'd catch up before I could leave the parking lot. And...I'm not sure...what I'm supposed to do here. If ponies found out I just skipped out on a contract, I'd be done. No more shows, ever. Fuck...but...at least I'd be..."

"Calm down," Octavia said slowly. "I can sort this out, okay? Just...be honest to her."

"Are you sure?"

"Quite."

Lemon's eyes widened. "But--"

"I know, I sound crazy," Octavia said, "but I think you're safe, so long as you're honest. If she knows you're not interested, she won't do anything." At least, after I talk to her.

Lemon nodded. "That's...that's probably a good idea. What if I'm just...overreacting?"

Octavia nodded. "Always a possibility."

"Who...who are you?"

"A musician who just so happens to know how to fix androids," Octavia said with a smile. "Don't worry. They know what 'no' means. Be honest with her."

Lemon nodded. "Thanks. I think...you just saved me a whole lot of trouble." She frowned, looking into Octavia's eyes. "Who are you?"

"Nopony important," Octavia said.

Lemon frowned. "I'm not so sure about that."

Oh, Sunset, you're full of shit. "I am important, but only to a few ponies," Octavia said.

"Including the Dazzlings?"

Octavia sighed. "Yes. Somewhat." She picked up a deck of cards. "You play?"