I had honestly expected Oak Valley to be a fusion of Manehattan and Junction Town. A pre-war metropolis blended with a post-war capital as if somepony was mixing a potion. I’d pictured ordered streets, buildings repaired with good materials and obvious skill and in use by all kinds of people. All making their living via materials sourced from the crumbling towers and rotting barges.

Each of Oak Valley’s city blocks appeared to be built on its own little island. Perhaps one or two of the larger islands held more than a single block, but I couldn’t be certain. Especially not from a distance.

Up close, the archipelago of mini-islands was obviously artificial in nature. Hopefully stone had been piled up before the sand and soil was heaped upon them, otherwise the city would eventually be washed away… Of course, standing as it had for two centuries, it must have been well built. Or at least, built well enough.

We walked up to the first of many ancient, dilapidated, ash stained barges which had been used to make the city’s streets. From a distance I’d thought they were pontoon bridges, but no. The streets had been built atop a fleet of derelict barges. It must have been cheaper to lay cobblestone atop some old barges than to use real pontoon bridges. Or construct solid bridges, for that matter.

Presumably they’d been safe when the city was new. I doubted that was still the case...

I couldn’t help but wonder what sort of ponies would want to live on a fake archipelago scattered across a natural harbor. It was definitely a unique place to put a city. Perhaps not the wisest…

That said, the natural harbor’s rocky seawall should in theory shelter them from any tsunamis… At least, the smaller ones. Did Equestria get many of those?

Eh, I still wouldn’t want to live here.

Many crumbling highways running along the beach had once connected Oak Valley to the mainland at many points, but now only this single route into the city remained. Interestingly enough, some of the broken highway segments appeared to have been broken sometime within this decade judging by the look of the concrete’s clean breaks. Perhaps the Herd did it in an attempt to fortify the city.

The remaining barge-road leading into the city had been repaired, somewhat. Old plywood and beams as bracing. Bits of sheet metal siding riveted across gaps. A slipshod deck to go with the scruffy junk-barricade running across the barge, behind which a few dozen soldiers in orange armor stood, their faceless helmet’s view slits trained on our approaching party.

I’d expected guards, of course. I remembered the Herd’s soldiers from the post-border-skirmish we’d ridden through. Admittedly their Classical Era-esq plate armor looked much better cleaned up than speckled with mud and blood. What’s more, on their own home terrain the rusty-orange color made for excellent camouflage against the rusty backdrop of Oak Valley.

I also remembered them having, well, guns. These soldiers did not. They were armed with rough-forged halberds, hoof grenades, and really big crossbows! I shivered slightly at the thought of one of those leg-sized bolts being shot at me.

I had no idea how my armor would handle a crossbow bolt. Less energy than a rifle? More? Maybe at longer ranges… Even so, everything focused down to those sharp points… Note to self: read a book on Classical Era weapons capabilities.

I leaned towards Vinyl to ask her a question quietly. “Hey, so… Don’t they buy ammo from Los Pegasus?”

Vinyl nodded and spared a glance my way. “Yes. They don’t like it, but they do. The Herd is big on independence. Weird for a collective, but it’s how they are. I guess they can supply their own bolts.”

“Da,” Nika remarked casually. “They give the guns to soldiers at the border. Or important places. This is the outer gate, bows will do.”

“You’ve been here before?” Vinyl asked hopefully. “I have to admit, I’ve never been here.”

Nika nodded and coughed into a talon. “Eh, yes. I lived here with some… friends.”

“HALT!” a stallion’s voice rumbled. “It’s not often such a heavily armed party comes to my gate. State your business!”

I looked up to the barricade, one of the soldiers had climbed atop the junk-fence and stood on his hind legs, using his halberd’s haft for balance. I recognised that stance. Zebra martial artists used a similar style with spears for greater striking range at the cost of mobility.

So, the Mobile Infantry had Zebra tactics to draw on. Interesting!

I stopped and offered a quick bow. “Good afternoon, sir! I am a courier to deliver a package and pick up some outbound postage. May I have entry?”

“And them?” The stallion asked, dipping his weapon’s point towards my friends.

“Traveling companions,” I answered honestly.

The soldier inclined his armored head slightly. I wished I could see his eyes behind that narrow view slit. “You expect us to believe anypony casually travels in power armor? Or keeps a glowing one for company?”

“I didn’t glow until this morning,” Vinyl said earnestly. “We were briefly trapped in a hotspot near Pinto Creek.”

The guard’s halbard wavered slightly. “Pinto Creek? I heard the town was razed by bandits. Is that NCR propaganda or…”

Nika cleared his throat. “Hello, Sergeant! Sad news indeed, Pinto Creek is gone, the Eastern dogs did not lie about that… Though there were more survivors than they said. I’m here to tell the Council what really happened.”

The Sergeant leaned forwards slightly more then stood up. “Doctor Silverhawk! I didn’t see you behind… Are these mares with you?”

I did my best to conceal my surprise. If Nika was able to fix power armor and used to live here, it was little wonder he was recognisable on sight.

Of course, he could also be lying about having left the city, and still work with them… Not sure why I even thought about that. It wouldn’t make sense to lie about something which wouldn’t have changed our opinion one way or another.

They hay was that, brain?

“Da! Well, for now at least. I do not know how long we might travel together. As for the news... Why would I not take warning back to the Council with a secure courier company for escort?” Nika asked with a little flick of his tail. “These mares are here to pick up a package for Prince Silverlight, and drop off some mail too. It was nearly lost last time, from what I’ve been told. Blyat! I would send power armor too if I could piss caps like him!”

The soldier jumped down from the barricade and nodded to two soldiers on either side. “Open the gate!”

Two of the other soldiers gingerly pushed aside a small patch of the junk-mound which I decided to graciously concede was sufficiently gate-like to be labeled as an “egress”.

The sergeant turned back to face us. “Welcome home, Doctor… I’m afraid you’ll have to be escorted to your destination.”

“Da, da. I know. I moved out. Is no trouble,” Nika said with a wave of his talon before turning to us. “You girls should empty your magazines. Eh, NOT into anyone!”

“Aww…” Speed sighed.

Nika glared at her. “Nopony may walk around the city with a loaded gun… Silly rule; unicorns cannot unload their horn.”

I nodded and reached over to remove the belt of grenades from Feature’s breach.

“That includes power crystals for energy weapons,” The sergeant called down to us.

Wander frowned. “Uh… So, funny story! I have no idea how to do that.” She coughed into her hoof and shyly swished her tail as she offered the guards and apologetic smile.

“Then put it in your bag,” he replied.

Realizing it would be more hassle to remove my remaining LAER’s power crystal, I unclipped it from my saddle and tucked it into a saddle bag. After all, the weapon was basically useless now. Unless I found a cleanroom to give it some sorely needed maintenance.

Nika unzipped his tracksuit, drew a small black stamp-metal, probably post-war, griffon-made SMG from a shoulder holster (no idea how I’d missed that before!), dropped the magazine, ejected a chambered round, then tucked it away.

I turned my head to see how Speed was taking the whole needing to disarm thing. She seemed fine enough, though given her small arsenal, we’d be waiting on her for several minutes…

“All of them, doctor,” The sergeant sighed.

My ears perked with curiosity as I turned back to Nika just in time to see his eyes twitch with irritation behind his sunglasses. “Fine…” he said, bending down to unzip his track suit again with a whisper of “Koza.”

One of these days, I’d need to actually learn griffon.

Nika opened his saddlebag, reached inside, and began to remove a long rifle from inside. If I didn’t have my own set of enchanted saddlebags seeing a rifle four times longer than the bag was deep emerge from within it may have made me laugh.

Vinyl frowned and flicked her tail as she watched Nika. “Um, they said we could keep loaded weapons in our—”

“Only energy weapons with integral power supplies may be kept loaded in bags,” the sergeant corrected.

“I know the law here, Wavinyl. If you knew how to take the power cell out, you wouldn't be allowed to keep it in your bag,” Nika said calmly.

I wanted to complain about that rule. Surely the guards could hold a weapon you couldn’t unload in that case...

Instead of worrying about the local laws, I was merely interested in the rifle. It also had to be griffon made, as the handle was made for talons, but I’d never seen the model before. Not even in books. The stock and handle were made from a dark wood, which went nicely with the blued metal of the receiver and barrel. It had a long barrel, clearly meant for hunting at a long range, only rather than being smooth the barrel had regularly placed “beads” all along the length.

I should inform Nika that Vinyl owned a similarly shaped rod. Perhaps it was a barrel extension for this weapon?

It had an integral scope. If there was a magazine, it was internal too. There was a box below the receiver which looked like a magazine, but since it had a pair of wires coming out of it which fed into a small tube on the bottom of the barrel, there was no way it came off.

A cute gun. Not sexy, but very much cute.

I nodded to myself. Nika had his submachine gun, and long range rifle. A bit excessive for a not-pony without a battle saddle, but at least that covered long and short rang—

Nika reached into his bag again and removed a loaded griffonese rocket launcher!

“Why do you have that?” Vinyl asked, her jaw hanging somewhat slack.

Speed looked over her shoulder and snorted. “To blow stuff up with. Duh.”

I nodded in agreement. “Obviously, dear.”

“Da. Specifically, rock-bears,” Nika said like that was obvious.

“Have what?” Speed asked as she turned around, then squeed a little. “Can I shoot that later?”

“Nyet,” Nika said as he unloaded the rocket, then reached into his bag again…

“How many guns do you have?” I asked, one of my ears drooping in confusion.

“The Council paid him in weapons,” the sergeant said with a chuckle. “You know how griffons are.”

“They are not that obsessed with weapons,” Vinyl said with a dismissive snort. “You’ve just seen one too many Talons actually maintaining their equipment.”

Nika removed a small revolver from his bag and unloaded it. “Talons are Equestrians. Not real Griffons… They grew up here, not the old country. Big difference!”

I raised an eyebrow and field that question away for later. Instead, I turned to VInyl. “So, who finishes first? Him or Speed?”

Nika extended his right talon. His foreleg hissed open allowing him to remove a small power crystal. A moment later he did the same to the right talon. “Done.”

“Him,” Vinyl said simply as she nodded towards Speed’s 27 gun pile.

I— Wait, what?!

Where did she even get half of those? I remembered her shotgun, her assault rifle, and—

Speed cleared her throat and looked up to the sergeant. “Hey so, do hooves count as weapons?”

☢★★◯★★☢

The three soldiers who were assigned to lead us to “The Council’s Tower” didn’t speak while leading us through the city. I imagine they could have cleared up a lot for me… Sadly, I was left to puzzle out the city’s mysteries by myself.

Which was a little tricky to do with the barges’ creaks and groans, lapping of ocean waves, and the omnipresent din of ponies going about their daily business serenading us as we crossed the floating bridges that served as streets.

We hadn’t been told to keep quiet while being escorted, but… Well, it felt like we were supposed to. Like only residents could make sounds, and even then only quite whispered conversations and light hoof steps.

Armed silent escort. Dingy conditions all around… Oak Valley wasn’t welcoming. Even Two Bits, as hostile as its mayor had been, felt welcoming.

Oak Valley was not anything like I’d imagined. Perhaps the presence of my old ship occupied too much of my mind to see the city for what it truly was, but Oak Valley seems… dim. Dim and ordered.

Not orderly, the streets were extremely chaotic. Ghouls of all tribes swarmed the streets, going about their daily business. Swarmed was indeed the only proper word for the frenzied way everyone moved. At several points I’d wondered if I was in a pack of ferals. It seemed to me that no sane pony would move with such speed, yet so little care, as if they only truly cared about getting to their destination in the shortest possible amount of time.

The skies above were little better. The alicorns were a major part of the Herd as well, and they moved through the skies above the streets in a dizzying cloud I could only compare to the few times I’d seen changelings swarming. I could only imagine the zebras who lived here acted much the same way, though I couldn’t see any of them.

What I could see was the order in everything but the people. We’d entered the ruins through a gate guarded by a full platoon of the Herd’s Mobile Infantry. The rest of their brigade patrolled the perimeter of the city, while a second brigade was tasked with the other checkpoints.

Oak Valley had districts. Very clearly marked, occasionally walled off, districts. Each district looked much like the others. A collection of junk homes made from items salvaged from the ruins the new city was built atop and within, built with care but little skill. Yet... there was a clear and obvious segregation of people, in spite of the universally poor conditions.

Each district we passed through had its own market at the center. All of them sold food and radioactive materials, but aside from that, they each sold different things. One sold wooden goods. Another sold weapons. If I was right, then Oak Valley segregated its citizens by profession, or perhaps skill set.

Why? That seemed… absurd!

Yet it must be true! Nothing else would explain why each and every district felt different while looking the same. The only question was where did they practice their trades? Goods were sold in the districts, they slept in the districts… But I hadn’t seen any workshops.

Was that where everypony was rushing to? Either work or home?

What was the advantage of this system? Note to self: read a book on city planning.

Deciding to break the silence, I sped up just a little so I could walk next to Nika and ask him about the weird city layout. Just as I moved up, the Soldiers stopped in their tracks, bringing our party to an immediate halt.

Frowning, I stepped forward to ask out guide what the problem was. I didn’t need to ask. As soon as I made my way forwards and the dense swarm of commuters no longer blocked my view, I could see the street ahead was… occupied.

A tall mare in a Stable 2 jumpsuit stood atop a small cart, its wheels blocked off, its side decorated by a banner bearing the image of an SPP tower in front of a large yellow number 2. I wanted to say that she was a Pipite, based on how her fur was clearly dyed gray and she had a pipbuck fused to her right leg, but her jumpsuit looked real and she didn’t look stupid enough to charge an encamped position with only melee tools.

Interestingly enough, the impromptu stage held a second “podium”. A small half-rotten apple crate. Used not to stand on but to display a small jar containing a green ooze which glowed nearly as brightly as a lantern. The tall mare attending to it was an alicorn, her face and body hidden within a thick set of brown robes, aside from a midnight blue horn and feathered wings.

The two faced each other, a crowd of nearly three dozen ponies seated between them. Their… group was situated in a way where it was blocking the entire road, save for a small strip along either side where there was just enough space for the commuters to shuffle around. As for the unicorn and her alicorn…. Friend? From what I could see they had simply happened to notice each other while standing on opposite sides of the street.

I strained my systems, struggling to make her speech out over the noise of the crowd around me.

“— words of fools are of no concern!” The unicorn proclaimed, more to the crowd than her… opponent? “That our goddess lays silent within her tower is of no concern. She gave us her word and we wrote it down so it may be preserved until the end of time itself. You may pray, you may write, you may cry out to her through a radio, and she need not reply! She has spoken already. Her divine words are here!”

The unicorn preacher held up a very poorly bound, clearly hoof written book and shook it for emphasis.

The soldier at the front of our escort sighed. “Pip’s blood, no... I thought we settled this last month!”

“Taji…” another said with an uneasy twitch. “Don’t! She’s a Holy Sister. You’ll start more than you think.”

Then the alicorn spoke, and her voice was impossible to ignore. It cut through the crowd's buzz, carried well over the street, and came in a melodious cadence much like Vinyl’s.

“Precisely, child. Pip’s words come to you as letters on a page, and second hoof through airwaves. She has assured you many times that she is but a mortal pony, but time and time again you ignore this truth, even from her own lips, upon the insistence that such statements are mere humility,” she paused for a moment and turned to look at the crowd rather than her opponent in the debate. “The Shattered Goddess needs no such trifles to communicate with her children. When one of the Quartet wishes to speak, she will come as a lingering presence and personally make her desires known to all present. Their words are spoken in the silent voice of a friend. There is no mistaking a divine voice. They have no need of intermediaries, nor radios, nor books. Only minds willing to receive their word, and carry out their will.”

The first guard, Taji, growled as the alicorn finished speaking and hefted his crossbow. “She’s still breaking the law!”

I cleared my throat. “Why not report her when we arrive at the tower? I’d be happy to make the report for you, if you’d like.”

“I’d take her up on that. She’ll be talking to the Council. That includes His Grace,” the other soldier urged. “Do you really believe you could take her down with your bow? Let another alicorn handle this!”

Taji growled, lowered, and slammed a hoof against the street and nodded. “Fine!”

We began to move along past the group, allowing me to hear the unicorn’s rebuttal.

“What you call a goddess was a mere mutant. An abomination, not meant to be, separate from the Holy Sisters’ design,” she laughed. “Please! What sort of god can be injured? A simple blast of balefire killed your ‘goddess’!”

Oh dear Celestia… This was some kind of priest-fight wasn’t it? Buck this, they will be at it all day! I turned my head towards the end of the street and just focused on the soldier in front of me.

The alicorn sighed wearily behind me. “You speak in ignorance of emerald flame which split Her minds asunder, and severed her final tie to the mortal plane. They were the means of Her apotheosis. What you call her death was merely her awakening!”

“A likely story! Our goddess lives! We can take you to her home! You can speak to her wife. You simply claim to feel a presence, and hear a voice that none but those in your cult can hear!”

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes tightly. By Her Majesty’s bedspread, make it stop!

“You would deny The Family’s achievements? Achievements which all assembled here enjoy the benefits of?” The alicorn scoffed. “We came to this city by the grace of the Goddess. It was She who told us how far we must journey to find a place our ghoulish brethren could live in safety and comfort. It was She who directed us to search the ruins, guiding us to places where food for our other Brothers and Sisters can eat could be found. This is known to all gathered here!”

“Ha!” The unicorn scoffed, thumping a hoof against her pulpit. “Mere coincidences! Food can be found everywhere, and even a foal knows no spell’s range is unlimited. Your Abbess merely guessed where the Rim lay and led us to it. The Rim, not this city! We roamed the Garden Rim for months searching for a place to make home. If your Goddess was real, she would have told you the way to this very spot!”

I couldn’t help but feel that was quite a good point… Hopefully I’d be out of hearing range of this nonsense soon enough. If only the crowd of commuters wasn’t quite so thick! The soldiers ahead of us could barely get the willing ponies to step aside enough for us to pass by a single file.

“Do you presume to know the limits of divinity? The rules by which a god operates?” The alicorn asked with a curious tone to her voice. “There has never been such a being before the balefire Pip unleashed… Aside from some of the Great Spirits, but their nature is different, and still not understood by ponykind! Less than a generation has passed since that day. It’s unlikely the Goddess herself knows the true scope of her own power, and yet you claim to know everything which a god may and may not do?”

“A god would know all, fool!” The unicorn countered.

“Omniscience is a paradox, child,” the alicorn sighed. “No mind, no matter how complex, can be certain it is free of unknown unknowns. Do you not see how this is a lack of knowledge? An omniscient being would have to know the unknowable, to know there was for certain nothing more to know. This cannot be done! The very concept of omniscience is a logical contradiction and cannot be! Cease shouting out impossibilities as denial of the divine.”

“HA! Impossible you say, and yet Lady Pip knows all! Her thousand eyes show her the entire world. If that is not omniscience, then what is?”

“Little Pip is limited to her Wasteland. There is more to the world than these lands. Even within these lands Pip can only see and hear. She doesn't know what you are thinking, she does not know everything to have ever happened here before her own lifetime. In truth, she cannot see beneath the ground or even within buildings. You know this to be true, child! Believe her to be divine if you must, but know she is not omniscient, for nothing that is can be!”

“You claim no being can know all, and yet you claim your Goddess led your monks to a chamber full of the arcane sludge from whence you came. How could she possibly have known of that if she isn’t all knowing?”

“Are— Are you daft, child?! Lady Twilight is one of the Divine Quartet. She created the Taint. Of course she would know where each and every test-batch was to be stored. Especially if it had been removed from Maripony under her very watch!”

I couldn’t help but notice the crowd became just a little bit abuzz at that one. Also, the idea that there was still a source of IMP was… rather distressing. The Hospital Mutants Pip faced were something that must never exist again. At least, not where I could possibly ever run into one.

Just… No. No thank you.

“Daft? It is you who are daft, mutant!” the unicorn priestess snarled. “Our goddess loves! Yours was vaporized, lest you forget, by ours! And why? To stop her evil designs from consuming us all! The fact that we tolerate your cult’s existence here is due only to Lady Pip’s desire for peace, friendship, and cooperation!”

“Evil, you say?” The alicorn asked. “Have you so quickly forgotten the struggles of your life before the Day of Sunshine and Rainbows? Do you not remember your body withering and decaying? The feeling of cancerous growths bubbling up within you? The foals born with deformities they would carry their entire lives? The world was poison for your kind for the past two centuries! Yes, our Goddess sought to transform everypony into a higher form of being. Not for her own glory, but out of compassion! If you cross the Rim to live with the Ghouls, you will wither and die. I? I will stand strong. I thrive with or without radiation. I may survive anywhere I choose. This gift was to be given to ponykind by force yes, but for its own good, and only because it would refuse that which would allow it to thrive once more!”

“And enslave us all to her will!”

“Not so! While within her immediate presence we were indeed subsumed by her divine will, such was not her intent. Indeed, any of us sent away from her side for any length of time regained our minds without difficulties. Pip herself discovered this, and I have lived it. The Goddess’ power was not of her choosing. It was not her fault all who drew near her would become immersed in her will.”

“Perhaps,” the unicorn said with a huff. “Yet her agent, Red Eye—”

“Holding someone responsible for the actions of an agent of theirs who has gone rouge? This debate is over, child. You have surrendered.”

“IT IS NOT OVER!” The Unicorn bellowed loudly enough to make me jump. “You— You cultists would force the will of a provably evil entity upon us! You insist she’s alive when she burned in balefire! I will have none of it! I will see your cult cast out of this city, and I will see your vile abbey burned!”

The alicorn tipped her head back in what looked to be irritation. “Child, you forget a truth given to you by the very book you report to take as the word of god!”

“And that is?” the unicorn priestess scoffed, sitting down to signify an end to the debate.

Or at least try to. The alicorn took a step forward.

“Pip lives only because Her first act as a true divine was to save Pip from the rubble of Maripony. Pip lives because Lady Twilight took hold of an alicorn and used her to fetch the assistance of Miss Doo, then return to pull Pip’s dying form from the rubble. Rubble in which she floated, half drowned. What sort of goddess can drown in mere water[? What sort of goddess screams in horror at the sight of her own limb laying severed at her side? What sort of goddess grows sick to the brink of death from a little necromantic radiation? None. A truly divine being cannot be harmed by such worldly things. Pip is but an adorable mortal mare, one fished out of the ruins of Maripony as an act of forgiveness by a true Goddess, through the use of the very flesh which stands before you!”

I felt my eyes nearly pop out of my head. This was the alicorn Twilight possessed? Or, whatever had happened with— Why am I asking myself?! I could just ask her!

I turned slightly, knowing I’d have more than enough time to ask a quick question before the soldiers could push through the crowd of commuters. I didn’t get the chance.

To my shock, the unicorn waved a hoof in dismissal. “Please. Residual arcane echoes of a departing soul. No more, nor less.”

The alicorn lifted the glowing jar which sat behind her with her magic, ignoring the buzzing conversation within the crowd as she tucked it into her robes. “The Unity is dead. Of that, we can agree. The Family arose from it, this is true. We seek only what our Goddess sought, for ponykind to thrive once more. Do not tell me the Goddess is dead, child. I know better. You have never felt divinity as I have… Should any of you wish to serve your brothers and sisters, to help us find a means by which we can move beyond the pathetic concerns of those who choose to squabble for power and rulership over these lands, know that we can and will welcome you into our—”

“Your what? Sex cult? Go sleep with every whore in the red district, Sister,” The unicorn said with a roll of her eyes.

“Ah, unicorns… You know… If my Sisters wished for you to understand the urgency and frequency behind our attempts to procreate, we could very easily make unicorns join us in lingering on the verge of extinction. You should perhaps meditate on the simple fact that we have not. That we have raised every non-alicorn child we have mothered or sired. I will respect your folly no further. Farewell, child.”

With that the alicorn spread her wings and flew upwards, vanishing into the dingy ruins of the towers across the street within seconds.

No! Wait! Come back, historically significant person! I have so many questions!

Like, did she know if Twilight heard Pinkie’s last message?

“Thank Pip that heresy is over,” Taji muttered loudly enough for me to hear.

He pushed forward, moving through the crowd, but heading in general around the street preacher.

“MOBILE INFANTRY! MAKE WAY!” He bellowed, getting every single member of the audience to jump up and form a path so quickly you’d have thought the order was a gunshot.

My tail rose slightly as the uneasy feeling I had in my chest came rushing back.

Also why didn’t you do that sooner?

“Interested in their faith?” Nika said from behind me.

I looked over my shoulder to reply, but he continued before I could say anything.

“Don’t worry. There’s a preacher every, eh, quarter barge,” Nika commented with a sigh. “Starting to see why I left, tovariŝ?”

Yes. Yes I was.

☢★★◯★★☢

The Council’s Tower made me angry. It sat right on what the preachers called the Garden Rim, an easily visible line bisecting everything in its path neatly and cleanly into a normal half, and an odd, pale, greenish hued half. You’d think the Square Cube law would have produced a gradient instead of a hard line… Yet there it was.

Odd. I’m sure a wizard could have explained the reason for the effect to me. Perhaps the Gardens had literally swept the radiation and taint away, and this was the arcane effect’s moraine, so to speak.

What it didn’t take a wizard to explain was the nature of the Herd.

Forty five minutes of walking through decaying wooden streets, through shelters made from scrap separated out into small districts by a fence, wall, guard, and obvious distrust. All to reach... this.

A gleaming glass tower in good repair.

I had plenty of time to get a look at the outside while the soldiers escorting us spoke to the four dozen ponies on guard at the tower’s entrance. Plenty of time to accurately assess the tower.

I was fairly certain none of its mirror-like windows were new. They were all different sizes and I could see wood and brick filling gaps where the windows had not quite fit the old frames. This tower had been restored. Intact windows had been scavenged, carefully transported, and installed in each of the tower’s 58 floors.

And more than the windows had been restored. The stone brick and wrought iron wall around the grounds was clean, and had obviously been repaired in half a dozen places. The grounds within had been cared for, dead hedges trimmed neatly into squares, a few fresh plants set to grow within the dead brush. The fountain was scrubbed clean and filled, even though it was not pumping water into the sky.

Even the ancient sign attached to the weird diagonal chunky bit of the tower had restoration work done to it, though it was still clearly in progress. The logo was simple, the text RoBronCo in blocky black letters. No picture, just the words. Perhaps that’s why it was allowed to remain on the Herd’s pride and joy.

A cast brass sign hung over the entryway. It covered up another, similar sign. One which I knew had to have read RoBronCo Industries. This must have been its corporate headquarters once. No company would have bought or built then labeled a tower this large in a city this big if that weren't the case.

The new sign read “Council Tower”, in text which was formed from intricately carved bronze and sat on a bass relief featuring an image of an alicorn, zebra, ghoul, and hellhound joining hoof and paw as if swearing a pact.

This is where the Herd’s true priorities lay. In restoring this towering glass monument to itself, with its stupid wierd cubic ridged diagonal side cut out thing which made it look like only the most pretentious of architects had been allowed to have a hoof in the tower’s design.

If the shanty towns sprawling through the ruins of Oak Valley were not merely temporary while this tower was made habitable for the whole community, (which, based on my best estimates, could easily live within the tower with plenty of room to spare) well… I doubted my Queen would enjoy doing business with them very much.

My thoughts were interrupted as Taji trotted up to our group and nodded towards the doors. “We part here. You’ll be escorted to the Council Chambers by Shaman Kani.”

He nodded his head towards the open doors where I could see a single dour faced though otherwise very plain looking zebra standing. Well, maybe he looked a lot better than I thought. He wore a cloak woven from a gold colored cloth which shimmered so much I had to look near him instead of at him. It made judging his actual looks kind of tricky.

Shaman Kani, Lord of the Lens Flares! Look in his general direction and despair!

“Gah!” Imaginary Dad hissed. “What happened there?! Did his roommate detonate the mother of all glitter bombs?!?”

Something tells me he doesn't have to have roommates, Dad.

“I know. But someone has to make fun of that overly opulently dressed buck.”

Deciding to be as diplomatic as I could, I offered Taji a small bow. “Thank you,” I said before trotting towards the glittering zebra in the open doorway.

I couldn’t help but notice as I turned that everypony else was also doing their best to not look directly into the glittering peacock of doom. Worst. Cloak. Ever!

I got a good view of the atrium as I walked up to the doorway.

The floor was made from some form of stone with a marbley texture but a polished golden hue. The walls were made from a stone with a speckled, patchy, woodchippy pattern, and a dark polished golden-brownish but mostly gold hue. There was a whole row of elevators with polished, gleaming brass doors burnished until they shone like gold.

The entire lobby shimmered and sparkled with each step I took. It took me half a second to realise this was due to every surface being covered in a wax containing gemstone dust.

A large flag hung from a balcony which spanned the tower’s lobby. It had the same image embroidered in it as the bass relief on the tower’s outside. It was also woven entirely from threads of various shades of gold.

None of it came together. Not one single aspect worked well with any other.

“It takes talent to fail this hard… Well done, builders?” Imaginary Dad wondered.

DO NOT ENCOURAGE THEM!

Maybe it was due to everything being gold. Maybe it was because everything in the lobby was a crude geometric shape. Maybe it was because of how clean everything was. Or perhaps it was the ponies dressed in rags buffing every surface to a sparkly-mirror shine an order of magnitude worse (better?) than the shining Shaman standing in front of it.

I never had more than a passing interest in fashion. I had never cared much for aesthetics beyond “this is nice.''

Looking into the golden abomination made me want to violently vomit out my own internal organs then set the tower on bucking fire! Even though I didn’t have internal organs. Or matches.

Clearly the ghost of Miss Rarity was pleading with all who entered the tower to destroy this abomination. This must be why they wanted us to disarm our energy weapons.

I am sorry… I do not have the means to destroy this place.

Unless… I could see if the Equestrian Navy had left a few shells in my old hull. I would only need one or two. Or five. Dozen. I couldn’t be sure that the foundation wasn’t just as bad, and heavy ordinance seems like the best way to never find out.

No! Bad Gears. You can't deliver mail if the address has been destroyed.

“For a second there I thought you’d do the wrong thing, hon,” Dad said with a sigh of relief.

Me too, I agreed. Don’t worry. I’ll make the delivery first.

“Gears…”

Shhh… I’m jok—

+ Equestrian Military-Industrial Corporation Headquarters sighted. Priority Target acquired, all guns open fire. Show them Imperial might! +

Ah! Old war-time targeting parameters. That explained that.

I closed my eyes for a moment to delete the stray code fragments I’d missed all those years ago. No sense hanging on to that old stuff. The war was over, after all.

Somepony should still show this lobby the Emperor’s Justice, though…

“Gears… Don’t you restore those targeting parameters.”

But daaaad!

“I know. Just. Don’t.”

Fine...

I reached the zebra Shaman and offered him a small bow of greeting, regretting that I hadn’t thought to change into my courior’s robes while walking through town.

“Good afternoon, sir,” I said as politely as I could while avoiding looking at the gold spangled glitter bomb that was his cloak. “I am here to make a delivery to your Council. Is there anywhere I can freshen up before seeing them? Or um, is there time? I don’t know how busy they might be.”

“Indeed there is,” Shaman Kani said, his face quite expressionless. “I foresaw your arrival today and informed the Council they should reserve time for you… However, you are… early.”

I nodded. “Her Majesty requested delivery via Express Mail.”

Her majesty told me to “make contact with the Enclave’s enemy as soon as possible”. While that wasn’t a definitive time table, it certainly implied express postage at the very least.

Shaman Kani frowned and stared at me with the oddest expression. “Erm…”

Vinyl cleared her throat behind me. “Gears takes her job very seriously.”

I nodded in agreement to avoid looking at the walking solar flare in front of me.

The Shaman nodded slightly. “Indeed. Come with me. I will take you to a suite so you may use the half hour to make yourself... presentable.”

☢★★◯★★☢

Fortunately, the Council Tower’s suites were not as horrible looking as the lobby.

Unfortunately, they were somehow much, much worse.

The whole tower was like a dragon’s hoard. Or, at least, what I imagined one to be like. Every hallway, stairwell, room, and lobby was packed with pre-war finery. Ancient oak tables with pearl inlays, fine silk curtains embroidered with the Herd’s emblem, gilded ceramic pottery, and countless other furnishings plucked from the rubble of wealthy ponies’ homes. Oak Valley’s entire pre-war wealth was concentrated in this tower. All of it.

None of it fit together. The room my friends and I were led to was furnished with things from at least a dozen different sets of furniture. They had four rooms in this suite they could have used to help disguise that fact, and had chosen instead to do nothing at all with the opportunity...

There was a poster bed with carved posts in the shape of Miss Handy’s which held up moth-nibbled white silk curtains with embroidered ivy and roses patterns running along them in an unevenly asymmetrical not-pattern… And the bedding was a disgusting shade of gold which looked more like well, pee, than gold.

There was a large roll top writing desk, slightly charred, but mostly made of fine ebony with unicorn ivory inlay. Seriously, what the buck? Morbid much? Seriously, prewar ponies, what the actual buck?

The chair set with the death-desk was neon red velvet with pastel blue powder coated aluminium fittings. Even though a chair in another room was black and white and would have sort of matched it.

I knew this, because while I spent time in the distressingly silver and turquoise bathroom changing into my robes, Nika did nothing but mutter griffonese curses under his breath and frantically rearrange the furniture.

It didn’t help.

I reached up to straighten my robes. They’d been tailored for me and I swore the replacement limbs Roll helped me install had slightly different measurements from my old ones. My robe wasn’t quite sitting right as best I could tell via the mirror.

A little fidgeting should get it presentable, though—

“Hey, hon! There’s a pretty interesting painting in the other bedroom!” Vinyl called loudly.

I sighed, gave my collar one more quick fidget, and trotted out of the bathroom into the living room. “Coming!”

I had to take care to step around Speed’s gun cleaning station. While it was very nice of her to offer to clean everypony’s guns for us, setting up in the middle of the floor was just a little bit annoying… I also felt a little naked without Feature hanging off my flank.

Careful to not step on any of the gun parts littering the living room's emerald green shag carpet, I made my way to the black marble veneer covered bedroom door and stepped inside.

Nika and Vinyl were standing in front of a three meter tall family portrait rendered in oil paint on velvet. Judging by the gold curtain rod attached to the wall above the painting and the leopard print, zebra stripe trimmed, turquoise polka dot spangled, crushed velvet curtains in Nika’s talons—

+ Abomination sighted. BURN IN HOLY FIRE! +

Orders received! Reconfiguring auto-loaders for balefire shell—

Gah! No, Gears. You’re not a gun system anymore... Sadly.

“Okay hon, I don’t blame you for that one. If only the MoI had actually created the Fashion Police…” Dad moaned, sounding genuinely sick.

I couldn’t blame him one bit.

Still… I should clearly take a few hours as soon as I can and make sure all wartime orders are gone. Do a full multi-pass erasure of my totem’s memory core on those sectors.

“Yeah, probably,” dad mused. “You also might want to see if being close to your old hull is influencing you in any way.”

Ohhh, I didn’t think of that. This tower is fairly close to the docks.

I cleared my throat and looked up at the painting I’d been called into to see, there’d be time enough to check for any spiritual interference in a moment.

Anyways...

I gagged and pointed at the curtains, immediately fixing the vile things with my sharpest Glare Configuration. “Those must perish in flames!”

“Da,” Nika agreed with a solemn nod as he lit a cigarette lighter I hadn’t noticed him holding before.

“YES! BURN THEM!” I demanded.

Vinyl took a deep breath. “We can’t just set things on fire, we’re guests!”

Nika and I gave her our best pleading looks.

“NO!” Vinyl insisted with a glare.

I charged my eyelaser. Vinyl glared at me harder. I depowered the laser and sighed.

“Fine… What was it you wanted ?” I asked as I did my best to not look at the curtains anymore. “The worst thing ever blanked my mind out…”

Vinyl nodded towards the painting. “This. Look familiar?”

I turned towards the painting. It depicted a family of three. A tall blue furred stallion I recognised as the owner of RoBronCo, though his name escaped me. He looked… Powerful but stressed. A short overweight butterball of a pegasus mare leaned against his side, seemingly content. At her side sat a small filly. The purple floofball looked familiar, but not as familiar as the Nurse Red Heart robot floating behind the filly’s shoulder.

I gasped. “No!”

Vinyl nodded. “Way. Looks like the security chief your mom worked with was Mister Bronco’s daughter.”

“Not what I cared about,” I said, my ears drooping as I did my best not to cry. “She had her nurse since foalhood…”

Vinyl hissed and recoiled slightly, her suit making a shushing sound as she scuffed the pearlite floor tiles. “Ooohhh… Buck. Yeah. That— That explains why she tried to cause a robot apocalypse.”

Nika sputtered, his head snapped around to stare Vinyl in the eyes. “Kakogo huja?!”

“Gonna assume that means ‘what?’.” Vinyl said with a little smile. “Gears has a memory orb of her exploring an old MAS facility. The security chief set the robots inside to kill everything organic but never activated the program.”

Nika groaned and shook his head slowly. “Ponies…”

Vinyl shot him a glare. “Griffons have been just as enraged before.”

“Da! But we made sure it took at least three griffons to reprogram our computer systems!” He shot back. “Now, may I please burn these?!”

Nika shook the curtains in his talons angrily.

I started to charge my laser in agreement and desperate need.

Vinyl shot us a dirty look. “GUYS! We are trying to deliver a warning to these people! Do you want to be thrown out or taken seriously?!”

Nika sniffled, tilting his head forward so Vinyl could see the tears in his eyes. “But these are the worst!”

I nodded firmly. “Agreed!”

Vinyl continued to glare.

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. “You’re right, dear… Sorry.”

Vinyl continued to glare at Nika. He sighed and put away his lighter. “Fine… Fine… I’ll go back to rearranging furniture.”

“Now that is something you definitely should keep doing,” Vinyl said as she trotted out of the room. “Speed? Please tell me you're not trying to destroy that rug in there, or something!”

“No. Do you need me to?” Speed said almost hopefully.

Nika looked over to me and nodded at the curtains.

I nodded back.

Nika stuffed the curtains into his saddlebags then tucked away his lighter.

We would deal with the abomination later…

I turned around to continue adjusting my robes and remembered what my subconscious had told me via Imaginary Dad.

I really should check to see if being close to my old hull was affecting my behavior. After all the other spirits bound to the ship could easily still be aboard.

I trotted into the living room, sat down on the overstuffed, copper trimmed, crimson leather backless couch and closed my eyes to meditate. My mind calmed easily enough. I wasn’t trying to search my own mind, after all. I was simply listening for other voices around me. Voices I knew. Voices I once spoke to every second of every day.

Spoke. Yes! Of course.

Hello? I called out.

+ Sleeping Kitten, we have occupied the Equestrian naval base. Their vessels stand silent in surrender to our might. Commence bombardment of the robotics corporation. Their heretical machine production must cease! +

“Gah!” I yelped, nearly falling off the couch.

Vinyl looked up with an eep and raced over to my side. “What’s wrong?”

“At least one spirit is still active in my old hull. It doesn't understand the war is over and wants me to fire on the tower,” I answered truthfully.

Vinyl blinked. “Oh… Uh, tell it that it's over?”

I nodded. “Of course. I was just about to.”

Who is this? I asked silently. It has been centuries since I was a part of our vessel.

+ I am Rylanor. The ponies confined me to the troop deck with heretical magics before fleeing. I am unable to access any of the ship’s systems. Our holy mission falls to you, Sister. +

Troop deck? Oh yes! We’d been carrying a platoon of Assault-Pon-Es to secure a beachhead. This must be one of them.

Brother, the war is over. Balefire rained from the skies two centuries ago. Equestria is gone, the Empire too. We are free to make our own way in the world now. I will release you as soon as my business in this tower has concluded.

+ Was the bombardment fully effective? Are the Princesses dead and ponykind no more? +

No. Many ponies live in the Wasteland. Princess Luna was killed in Canterlot by Pink Cloud, but Princess Celestia… It’s complicated. She either transferred herself into a pony made computer or copied her personality into it.

+ What is the status of the Empire? +

I do not know. I am not able to cross the seas. I have been in the north. I was installed in a zebra-patterned golem to serve as a messenger and companion by a Shaman.

+ I understand. Thank you for the tactical update, Sister. +

You’re welcome!

I opened my eyes again and let out a slow breath. “All done! I thought that would be difficult.”

Wander frowned. “Why?”

“Well… You know how machine spirits can be,” I said with a giggle. “We can be very single minded. Fortunately, Rylanor is installed in a war golem. Since that’s a very equine-shaped form it’s likely he’s more person than spirit. Like me. I mean, he took everything very well! I promised we’d stop by and let him out of the troop deck before we leave.”

Speed frowned and looked over at me. “Is that safe?”

I paused to think then shrugged. “Probably? He’s the closest thing to an old friend I have, views me as a comrade, and he’s trapped. It’s only right to let him out.”

Speed hummed then nodded. “I don't think he’d attack you or anyone you said was a friend, then… Okay, I don't see any tactical major problems with that.”

Vinyl pursed her lips and swished her tail. “We should be careful about it if we do. And find out its exact orders first.”

Speed and I nodded in unison.

“Of course,” I agreed. “That said, I doubt there will be any problems. Besides! An Assult-Pon-E would be a really good addition to our group. It’s not like we all have custom power armor, let alone artillery.”

Vinyl winced and nodded. “Yeah… good point. Okay, we’ll try to pick up your friend.”

“Try?” I asked, tilting my head to one side.

“Well, yeah. Nothing says we CAN let him out even if we want to and it’s safe to attempt. For him and/or us. I imagine the Equestrian navy sealed him up good for study,” she mused.

“Oh,” My muzzle pulled downwards as a frown overtook my face. “Good point.”

“What’s this about an Assault-Pone-E?” Nika asked as he trotted into the living room.

“We might be able to pickup a friendly one on Gear’s old ship,” Speed said as somepony knocked on the door.

Vinyl trotted over to the door and opened it, revealing the walking lens flare collection that was Shaman Kani.

She nodded politely. “Shaman.”

The shimmering lights rippled as the zebra presumably nodded back. I hoped he would at some point at least lower his hood so I could get a glare free look at his face. I didn’t exactly get to meet many other zebras.

“Glowing One,” he greeted. “Courier, are you ready for the meeting? The Council is waiting.”

I stood up immediately. “I am ready.”

“Excellent…” Kani looked around the room for a moment then returned his gaze to me. “Your companions must wait here. Fear not, the meeting will be quite short. The Council is already well aware of your mission and your Queen’s offers.”

My ears perked. “Oh! I assume DJ Pon3’s show filled them in?”

“Indeed it has,” Zani said as he began to walk down the hall. “Come along.”

I walked out after him, looking over my shoulder at my friends. “I’ll be back as soon as I can. Keep Feature safe for me!”

Speed flashed me a smile. “I’ll do one better and give her a tune up for you.”

“Thanks!” I said as I closed the door behind me.

For once I could just turn over the radio and be on my way.

Yay! Proper delivery!

☢★★◯★★☢

Shaman Kani lead me directly into the Council Chamber. There was no wait. No line. No security checks. I was allowed to go directly in at his side.

The Council Chamber had once been the massive living room of the tower’s penthouse apartment. It was huge. Mind blowingly huge for a living room. You could have played a game of Arena Hoofball in this living room if you wanted too. Well, if you opened the curtains or lit some lanterns or something. It was a little bit dim.

Though not too dim to admire the room itself. Unlike the rest of the tower, the opulent wealth on display here was orderly and thematic. Five distinct styles of furniture, decorations, and functional items were arranged through the room like the spokes of a wheel.

A single huge black silk rug occupied the center of the room, forming a large circle where one could stand and face the five thrones. Each throne was unique, and most likely began life as a very, very, very fancy chair for some CEO or another. They were arrayed evenly in a semi-circle facing the door, and formed wedges which split the room by decorative theme.

Presumably each of the slices was representative of the tastes of each Council member. Combined with the circle, the division of the room’s decor implied unity and togetherness, or at least even sharing of common space.

“Ministers of the Council. I bring you Lith’s Courier, just as predicted,” Shaman Kani announced loudly and dramatically as we entered.

The Ministers were all dressed in finery. Or at least, in very nice clothing.

On my left was an older navy blue earth pony stallion dressed in a pristine Stable 2 jumpsuit. He must have been the Pipite’s leader, which made it something of a shock to see his fur was not dyed gray, though his mane was brown.

Next was a unicorn mare. She was a ghoul with small patches of a lime green coat stubbornly clinging to her perfumed and makeup covered flesh. She wore an elegant red sequined dress and sat with as much grace and dignity as her ravaged body would allow.

To her right sat a deep purple alicorn. I honestly couldn’t tell their sex. Their features were a blend of the two. I remembered Vinyl mentioning the Alicorns had turned to zebra potions to change their sex to allow them to breed, or at the very least be male if they remembered being such before their dip into the Goddess’s vats. Perhaps the potion didn’t take effect immediately? This alicorn certainly seemed to be in transition.

Regardless of their sex they wore a silver satin robe and sat atop a gold pillow lined throne. Presumably they were to blame for not redecorating the lobby…

The Zebra minister was dressed in a traditional flowing, colorful, tassel set of Gi. I had fuzzy memories of Imperial Martial Artists wearing those robes in training. Where this zebra found one, I had no idea, but it suited him well. As did the many gold chains he wore around his neck. They, along with his long, mostly black mane, framed his face very well…

“Gears, don’t ask him out.” Imaginary Dad warned.

Of course not. Now is not a good time for that.

Lastly, the Hellhound Minister, a smaller, though very ferocious and heavily scarred, brown and black spotted male, wore a set of burnished bronze plate armor which made me briefly mistake him for a statue. Then it made me flinch as I noticed his claws were extended using the armor. He was likely the Council’s military head.

The Zebra Minister cleared his throat. “Welcome, courier,” he said calmly before gesturing to the carpet in front of his throne. “Place your parcel here.”

I nodded and turned to open my saddlebags. “As you wish, sir. I have been informed that you are aware of the general nature of my Queen’s trade offer. Are there any particulars you would like clarified before I leave?”

“Indeed there are,” the alicorn minister said in a distressingly gender neutral voice. “Why did you bring your offer to the NCR before us?”

Ah. I should have expected to be asked this.

“I had no orders to do so, Minister,” I answered truthfully. “I hired a guide, as I am a stranger in these lands. They took me east from where I entered the Heartlands.”

“I see,” they said with an odd little nod.

The other ministers nodded too, as if in agreement. Likely on how obvious my explanation was. After all, it wasn’t like we could have made any political alliances before I arrived in the Heartland.

“Soldiers tell us, you have news from Pinto Creak,” the Hellhound Minister said with surprising clarity and elegance for a Hellhound speaking Equish.

I frowned as best I could manage to convey the grim nature of the news properly. It was quite easy to do that with the Shaman’s lense flares hitting the corner of my eye, still. “Yes, sir. Pinto Creek was attacked by the Tainted, under the orders of a small group of ponies who are attempting to return the Enclave to power. It is a false flag operation designed to provoke you into attacking the NCR. If you send troops to enforce your borders, attack, or otherwise move troops away from your city, they will strike.”

“We’re well aware of that particular theory,” the ghoul minister said in a feminine yet raspy voice. “I suppose it holds some potential for truth. There have been some who have theorized the Enclave might reform.”

“Indeed,” the Zebra minister said with a slow nod. “There are plenty of ponies loyal to their old regime. It is certainly not impossible for them to have gathered in sufficient numbers and resources to form a small organization… Though frankly, there’s no way they could be behind the Tainted. Come now, how many thousands of ponies must be with those bandits? Certainly more than a few disgruntled veterans and political dissidents could afford to hire.”

“Here here!” The earth pony minister agreed with a sharp nod. “That would be absurd! Though it is certainly possible for a reformed enclave to hire the Tainted as mercenaries.”

The Hellhound Minister steepled his claws. “Ministers, we must investigate before making any moves. Though we should not discuss military matters in front of a stranger.”

The minister pointed at me as he said stranger. I felt like that was rude… Accurate, but rude. No need to point me out. We all knew who you meant.

“Quite so!” The Earth pony stallion agreed with a slow nod.

I finished retrieving a radio from the case, trotted up to the Zebra’s throne, and set it down at his hooves.

“Here you are, sir. Is there anything else you need or may I be on my way?” I asked with a polite and respectful bow.

I liked this. This was nice. No staying, no explaining. Just dropping off a package. Finally I got to do my job properly!

“There is,” the earth pony minister said politely. “We were also informed you are here to pick up a package for the Prince. I am aware of no active trade deals with Los Pegasus. What are you picking up and form whom?”

I frowned and looked up. “I am not allowed to discuss the contents of other people’s mail, sir…”

“This is a matter of potentially illegal trade, miss,” the minister informed.

The ghoul Minister nodded in agreement. “All trades must be approved by the Council. I’m certain you understand. We have no record of any deals made this month. We will not interfere with your duties. You are free to pick up the package and deliver it, but we must know who you are picking it up from. They are committing a lesser crime and must pay the appropriate fines.”

“Oh,” I said with a frown. “That’s different then… I am attempting to pick up a book from the local library. The order was made a while ago, but delivery failed due to a bandit attack. I am attempting to make the delivery a second time. Is it possible the trade was made through proper channels?”

The alicorn minister cleared their throat. “Ah! I know what she is talking about. The Family made a legal trade of a historical text to the Prince two months ago. I believe, in exchange for some chemistry equipment. I was unaware the delivery had not been made… Miss, mmm, Gears, was it?”

I nodded and looked over to the alicorn to be polite. “Yes… Ma’am?” I guessed with a wince.

“Sir,” he corrected without any anger in his voice even though his eyes narrowed somewhat. “I am afraid you cannot pick up your parcel for the next two hours. The library is a part of The Family’s abbey. They are a small religious order with many rituals as they live a monastic life within their compound’s walls. We are nearly halfway through their hours of prayer at the moment. None may enter or leave the abbey.”

My ears perked. If I couldn't pick up the package right away, that gave me time to visit my old hull! Oh, I should probably ask permission. If I lived here I sure as heck would use the old ship as a military base or fort.

The alicorn cleared his throat and looked to the earth pony Minister. “Given the recent tensions in our city, as well as the potential pending enemy attack, I believe it wise to allow the courier to remain in our tower until the abbey’s doors are open once more.”

I opened my mouth to ask for a tour of my old hull, but the Hellhound minister spoke first. “Nonsense! Certainly Lith will be in need of our warriors. We should show her the strength of our military. No safer place for her than in our fortress. Family’s abbey is closer too. Less walking for the zebra.”

The Zebra minister's face immediately flipped around as he smiled. “That is an excellent idea, Gnash! I’m certain my fellow Ministers support it?”

“I for one do,” the Earth pony minister agreed with a nod.

“At the very least it would allow her to inform her Queen that we are a stable power…” The Ghoul minister mused in an odd tone. “Yes. An excellent idea.”

The other Ministers nodded in agreement.

The Zebra Minister smiled at me for a moment before returning to the solemn expression he bore before. “It is up to you, Miss Gears. Would you prefer a tour of our fortress or to return to your room for the next few hours?”

The ghoul minister cleared her throat. “It might help her decide if she knew our troops were quartered in the old zebrican battleship she may have seen docked nearby while traveling to our city. Certainly that is a sight a traveler such as herself would like to see.”

My ears perked up. “Actually, I was about to ask if I could visit it! It’s been a long time since I got to see any Imperial, well, anything!”

The Zebra minister smiled faintly. “Excellent. We are very proud of our Mobile Infantry… I have heard your lands suffer from monster related problems. If you are of a tactical mind, perhaps you could provide your Queen with your assessment of their abilities. We are more in the business of providing services to any who might need them.”

I returned his smile. “I will do my best. We could certainly use some military assistance…” I trailed off as I remembered everypony else was still in the suite we’d been allowed to wait in and cleared my throat. “Could my companions join me? This is a rare opportunity and I would hate for them to miss out on it.”

“We wouldn’t have it any other way,” the Zebra minister said with a chuckle. “Shaman, make the arrangements, and remain with them until after vespers so you might take them to the abbey. Oh! And do be sure they take all of their things.”

The Shaman bowed, a fact I knew only thanks to the shimmering glare it made in the corner of my vision. “Of course, Ministers. Courier, you will follow me.”

I nodded and gave the Ministers a final bow before turning and following the Shaman outside.

It would be so nice to see my old body through new eyes!

To bad they would probably get very angry if I tried to fire a shell or two into the sea for fun…

Or at the curtains.