"To define it as a recurring theme, or rather, a recurring point in these negotiations, would be an understatement. You are utterly obsessed with it."

You're calmly sitting in the Great Queen's Tower's hotel café, sipping on a morning coffee. You were a bit hesitant about leaving the airy, well-lit hotel room for the public areas of the Tower which are designed more towards changeling tastes, but you haven't eaten anything for nearly a day now. If it wasn't for your mortal needs you'd probably stay in the hotel room as much as possible, which isn't a great way to collect intelligence.

Insert joke about antisocial ponies here.

The café unfortunately lacks any windows. It's entirely lit by an array of chandeliers that cast a dim glow over wooden tables interspersed between dark stone pillars. You've chosen a table near the entrance where light from the corridor outside filters in. You're getting rather tired of the gloominess of changeling architecture.

However, something else is weighing on your mind at the moment. After the adrenaline of last night wore off, you realized that making a very loud and dramatic escape from a secret underground facility on your first day here puts you in quite a lot of danger. Every changeling government office and agency is bound to be on high alert at the moment. When you first arrived, the government taking the time to investigate your false background seemed low.

Now, though? Who knows how many intelligence agents are going through every scrap of data they have on those in the Tower. They won't even have to look too far- if they only investigate non-changelings, they'll have a very short list indeed.

You feel like you're climbing down that stairwell all over again. Calmly trotting into an ever narrower pit. The only path is forward, or back.

How many changelings here know about the secret facility and the breach? Are they watching you right now? Are they perhaps right behind you-

"Cold Heart! There you are!"

"By the stars-! oh." Snap, the nymph caretaker, has somehow snuck up behind you. He stares at you with a slightly uncertain expression. "Uh, hello, Snap."

"Were you alright last night? You seemed pretty focused on something when you left-"

"Focused? Focused on getting back to my bedroom, perhaps. Heheh," you chuckle nervously. Snap takes the seat opposite you without waiting for an invitation.

"You left so suddenly, though. Did I say something offensive? Did you feel uncomfortable there? I'm sorry, I don't know much about pony culture-"

Huh. The poor 'ling thinks you left because of him. You're slightly relieved that he didn't get suspicious of you, though. And why should he? You're just a businessmare, after all.

"Yeah, Snap, it's not about any of that. I really was, uh, feeling sick. I would have loved to chat a bit and try some of that 'cola'," you explain as gently as possible. For some reason Snap's worried muzzle and flattened ears make you feel a twinge of guilt.

"Oh. Ahem. I suppose I got myself worked up over nothing. Do you mind if I join you?"

"Uh, sure." He's already sitting at your table but you don't feel the need to bring that up. "Wait, where are the nymphs? Are they still asleep?"

Snap smiles at that. "If I could get them to sleep for longer than four hours at a time, I'd be a much happier 'ling. No, they're with another caretaker; one of my colleagues. I handled the nymphs from home to the Tower, she's going to take care of them during the Tower stay, and a third caretaker is taking them back. I'm still in the same room, though, and I'll be pitching in whenever I'm needed. Taking care of nymphs is no easy task."

Changelings must be raised really differently from ponies if they get tossed between caretakers like that so easily. No wonder they're in a foul mood all the time.

"...right." Well, time to gauge the situation. "Say, I heard about some sort of, uh, incident last night? Do you know anything about that?"

"'Incident'? I heard from a love service officer that one of the elevators broke down, if that's what you mean."

Phew. It seems the changelings don't want to make a big deal of the breach and are keeping things hush-hush. That doesn't mean you're off the hook, though.

"Uh, yeah. Did they get it fixed?"

Snap orders a coffee from a nearby waiter. "Hm? I think they did, yes, but it took them some time. You should have seen the hotel lobby. Completely jampacked. No 'ling is crazy enough to trot down the stairs ten floors."

"Right," you nod in agreement.

You trotted up the stairs ten floors last night after losing your pursuers.

Snap idly taps his front hooves on the table as you sip your coffee.

"Cold Heart... if you don't mind me asking, what do you think of the Great Queen's Tower? I mean, what do you really think?" Snap stares at you seriously. "What does it mean to you?"

You're about to give him a standard monarchist answer- 'I love all of it and the Queen is great blahblahblah'- but something in his expression stops you. You set down your cup and seriously think for a moment. You've been too overwhelmed with everything going on so far to pay attention to your own feelings.

"I find it... well... uh... look at it from my perspective," you mutter. "You come and bring war to Equestria. You blow up our homes, and our farms, and our schools. You shock our society more than it ever has been in history. And then I come here and see this... wealth and grandeur. It's built on that." You look up and lock eyes with Snap.

"The Great Queen's Tower is built on war. And I hate it."

Snap blinks and looks away. "Ah, that's... insightful."

There's an uncomfortable silence. You instantly regret revealing your true thoughts like that. Why would a businessmare associate with the people she hates?

"Do you... hate us? Hate me?" Snap suddenly asks.

You didn't expect that question and struggle to answer. "Uh- woah, that's quite the question, Mr. Serious!" you tease with a half-hearted chuckle. After a moment Snap laughs with you too.

You hate him. Just a little bit. Every movement and word he utters reminds you that he is, in fact, a changeling. No matter how nice he is to you, that's all he will be.

"You can't blame me for being dramatic after what you said. Anyways, what are your plans for the day?"

Your plans? You're going to be looking for any sympathetic people in the State Bank, and finding some way to contact S.M.I.L.E. You lay awake half the night, paranoia keeping you from sleeping, and wrote a report on what you've found out since you arrived in the Changeling Lands. You're certainly not going to tell Snap that, though.

"I couldn't get any work done at the, uh, State Bank yesterday, so I guess I'll be going there now. Uh... after that I might need to visit the post office. Do you, uh, know where it is?"

The changeling guard who helped you yesterday, Ella, told you to contact the 'Eisenwagen' by sending them a letter in the post office. Even if you don't end up contacting them it'd be good to know where the post office is. It's impossible to find anything in this damn Tower.

Snap rubs his chin with a hoof. "The post office? I would guess it's in the lobby, on the ground floor. A lot of government services are located there. The 'lings living near the Tower have to use them too, after all."

"Oh. That makes sense." You finish your coffee right as Snap's arrives. "I've told you what I'm doing, now it's your turn. What does a changeling do when they're not herding nymphs?"

Snap takes a sip of his coffee and hisses at how hot it is. "I'll be taking the opportunity to tour the city and the Tower. It's not every day you get a government-paid trip to Vesalipolis. Hotel rooms right in the Great Queen's Tower, too. It almost feels too good to be true."

"Being a, uh, caretaker doesn't sound all that bad. You get to be around adorable nymphs all day, the government pays for your holidays, you're doing a public service..."

"And you get to be treated like a second-class citizen," Snap complains, rolling his eyes. "The nymphs aren't a joke, either. They're a hoofful of mischief."

"A second-class citizen?" Here's the interesting gossip on changeling society. "I thought you got a lot of, uh, respect. You've basically raised every changeling. Uh, not you personally. I meant caretakers in general."

"It's seen as a last resort job here. Even though you need special qualifications, most 'lings think caretaking is just a way for the government to keep the unemployed working and paid," grumbles Snap.

"Damn. If it's so bad, why'd you, uh, sign up?"

Snap's muzzle twitches in the ghost of a smile. "Why do any of us do anything? I never thought I'd end up caretaking. Yet, here I am, having made a series of decisions that ended up with me as a caretaker."

"Uh... that doesn't answer my question?"

"It does."

Snap refuses to elaborate, instead electing to finish his coffee. Smug bastard.

You idly tap on the table, planning out the day. You had better get going now if you want to get any work done.

"I'll, uh, see you later then, Snap? I should be on my way. Lots of things to do today."

"Oh! Sure. I'll see you around. Take care of yourself."

You leave the café at a calm trotting pace. Now that you're wearing a pony-style suit, it's back to the good old staring tourists and curious passersby giving you a second glance. At least you're not as brightly coloured as most ponies. Being a walking lollipop isn't exactly the definition of 'inconspicuous'.

Unlike the smooth corners and wide hallways in large pony buildings that provide plenty of sightlines and memorable spots to help naturally guide you to your destination, the Tower features straight, narrow corridors that refuse to meet at anything besides right angles. It'd be impossible to figure out where the elevators are without the help of the regularly placed signs, despite knowing in your head where it is.

You stop at the elevators and consider where you want to go. You've been obsessing endlessly over the meaning of the contents of the file you secured last night- a vague list of dates and references to a 'test' by the Energy Commission.

You're still hoping to find someone in the State Bank with good connections and a distaste for the monarchy. They're bound to know about something as important-sounding as this, even if it's so secretive.

Contacting the Eisenwagen seems unwise. The less people who know who you are and why you're here, the better. One changeling is already one too many, but you're betting on the chance that you won't run into Ella again. However... it was Ella who gave you the document in the first place. There must have been a reason behind it.

It's time to choose...

Where do you plan to go?

A - Straight to the State Bank.
B - The State Bank, but afterwards contact the Eisenwagen.
C - The State Bank, but afterwards anonymously contact the Eisenwagen.

Option C wins the vote with 100% of 5 total votes.

Author's Note

The upload and voting schedule is being changed.
Uploads will now take place at roughly 03:00 UTC on Sunday (Sunday morning for those east of Britain, Saturday night for those west).
Voting will conclude at 00:00 UTC on Wednesday (Wednesday morning/Tuesday night).

The schedule is effectively exactly the same, just moved forward one day. Do let me know if the new schedule is more inconvenient for you all.