• Published 21st Jun 2014
  • 3,608 Views, 261 Comments

Equestria Exiled - AndrewRogue



A cellist finds a way to get herself into serious trouble on the Manehattan Space Station. Now she must find the Elements of Harmony, unravel the secrets of the Grand Equestrian Empire, save the universe, and find a way to make some friends.

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Chapter 6 - Choices

Two years. It had been over two years since Octavia had last set hoof in Manehattan’s hundredth tier. Two years since its warm and brilliant light had last shone on her coat. Two years since she could walk without having to step around trash or homeless ponies. Two years since she could take a breath and not be nauseated by the stench of oil and filth.

Of course, the impact was a little muted when experienced sneaking through back alleys and hidden behind a magical shroud, but still. Even at its worst, the hundredth tier was a paradise compared to Octavia’s home.

The trek through the station had proven surprisingly dull. Octavia had not known what to expect, but silently trotting through the station’s maintenance areas and hidden ramps while concealed by some magic glamour or somesuch just did not seem to fit with the hectic nature of her last escape.

Councilor Shimmer’s insistence that the six of them walk in silence despite their apparent safety irked her, but, ultimately, did not really matter. Silence simply gave her time to think.

Vinyl, on the other hoof, had nearly gone stir crazy. It did not surprise Octavia: even in the short time she had known the unicorn, Vinyl had never managed to keep quiet for an extended period of time. Still, despite her apparent discomfort, even she had decided to give up trying to speak around the third time Councilor Shimmer fried her into silence with a glare.

Their eventual destination proved to be the station’s unofficial top tier: Central Park Heights. Octavia had only seen the small cluster of buildings from a distance, since, despite being located right above Central Park, the city guard maintained an around-the-clock watch on the lift. It made sense, of course. Only the very richest ponies lived in the Heights.

They probably considered the unicorns and pegasi that lived in the hundredth tier as only marginal improvements over ponies like herself.

“Well, Sunset, it has been a pleasant excursion, but I have some work I must complete before the next council meeting,” Councilor Fancy Pants said as they stopped in front of one of the buildings. Despite ostensibly talking to Councilor Shimmer, his gaze fell into the space where Octavia and Vinyl stood. “Perhaps lunch sometime later this week? I feel we have been working far too hard lately.”

“There will be plenty of time to rest after we take care of the council’s current business. Until then, I think we should stop messing around and just concentrate on our own work.”

“Are you sure? I feel the last few weeks have been rather fruitful.”

“Yes, I am sure,” Councilor Shimmer grunted. “You should focus on your own work. If I need help, I’ll let you know.”

“If you insist.” He nodded at one of the guards. “Let us go, Fleur. I’m sure a veritable mountain of messages have accrued on my console while we were gone.” He smiled at the empty space where Octavia and Vinyl stood and said, “Best of luck to you,” before walking off.

Councilor Shimmer sighed and opened the door to her home, flicking her tail in its general direction. “Okay. Flash? I’m exhausted from Fancy’s stupid errand, so I’m taking the rest of the day off. Fetch Lyra and bring her back here, then go stand in for me at the council building.”

“Okay, Councilor Shimmer.”

“You can contact me if its important, but—”

Octavia worked out what the councilor wanted quickly. Nudging Vinyl to make sure the unicorn followed, she trotted through the door while Councilor Shimmer spoke with her guard.

Her hooves clicked across the floor – even the floors here were infinitely nicer than the stained and scuffed linoleum she was used to – and Vinyl’s echoed right behind her.

“Do you suppose we can actually talk now?” the unicorn grumbled.

The door slammed shut as Councilor Shimmer came in. Her horn flared brightly as she dismissed the magic, then she sagged. “I’d rather you didn’t, but I don’t have the energy left to stop you anymore. Even with Fancy helping, maintaining that spell so long is a pain in the flank.”

The rumble of Octavia’s stomach interrupted the councilor’s grumbling. Her face reddened slightly, particularly under the inscrutable gaze of Councilor Shimmer and Vinyl’s amused grin. “Sorry,” she mumbled.

“While I wash the first tier’s filth off, feel free to eat. I assume at least one of you knows how to handle food that doesn’t come in a box?” She did not even wait for an answer as she continued, “Once Lyra gets here, I would like to speak with you and her. I’m sure Vinyl can find a way to entertain herself while the grown-up ponies talk.”

“I can prolly find some way to manage,” Vinyl said with a smile.

Octavia ground her teeth. The councilor reminded her more and more of Concerto by the moment. She had managed to avoid throttling him, but she was not sure she if she would be able to replicate that feat with Councilor Shimmer. “Thank you. Is there somewhere I could store my cello?”

“Sure. There’s a couple small guest rooms down the hall you two can use. Use separate rooms, please? Whatever bonding you two have been going through, I’d prefer you not do it on my beds.”

The blush on Octavia’s face deepened and she found an interesting floor tile to stare at, not at all willing to see whatever lewd expression Vinyl was making. She might not be able to avoid eliminating Councilor Shimmer at this rate. The rest of her life being spent mining on a distant asteroid had to be better than this.

“Oh, and please. Stay inside, don’t use any of your accounts on the network, and try not to mess my home up too much.”

Vinyl’s hoof on her back stopped her from snapping at the councilor as she started up the stairs. “Relax, Octavia. Shimmer’s an ass, but I think you’ve pushed her enough for one day. I think you seriously pissed her off when you forced her to bring me along.”

Octavia deflated, letting her breath out. “Dealing with you is the least of what she deserves. She may well be the rudest, most insufferable—”

“Like I said, Shimmer’s an ass. But she has a damn nice place, doesn’t she? And I bet she’s got some great stuff in her kitchen. Come on.”

Luckily, Vinyl did not seem to have much trouble navigating the labyrinthine interior of Councilor Shimmer’s home. To Octavia, the amount of space in the house was absolutely overwhelming. Each room – and there must have been nearly a dozen of them on this floor alone – could have comfortably fit two of Octavia’s units.

What really stung was that most of them looked like they were barely used. What was the point of taking up so much bloody space if you were not going to actually do anything with it? The kitchen was the worst part, though. She was sure that there was more food here than in entire shops near her housing block. And, of course, every single bit of it was fresh, green, and glistening.

Another surprise came as Vinyl proved herself quite adept in the kitchen. She had figured the unicorn was the type to eat out every night – probably junk only slightly better than what Octavia herself ate – but she actually seemed familiar with the various magitech devices arrayed on the steel counters.

“Is there anything I can do?” Even if the last time she had even considered cooking real food had been as a filly, she figured she could still lend Vinyl a helping hoof.

“Nah! I got this. Just a bit tricky trying to do it without magic, you know?”

Octavia stared at her for a long moment, but let it pass. It probably was a lot worse for somepony who normally had magic to take care of life’s tedious banalities. Like picking things up.

Octavia opted to let Vinyl handle the cooking herself, since she seemed to be enjoying herself. Besides, there was a certain sense of novelty in having a meal prepared and served to her by a unicorn. And, she had to admit, something about this little, domestic quality amused her. Somepony like Vinyl enjoying it while she loathed it just simply struck her as... uncharacteristic.

But it made sense in its own way. If she could afford appliances – or even actual, honest-to-Celestia food – to cook with, she might have learned to enjoy it too.

~~~~~

The meal did not amount to much more than a salad, but, even as she struggled with the third piece of lettuce that had escaped Vinyl’s ragged and desperate knife attacks, she felt it was a very nice salad. A little sweet, though.

It reminded her of the one she had tried at Crazy Horse, but, where that chef had simply used the fruit as an accoutrement, the unicorn had decided, between the salad and the dressing, to use what must have been every fruit Councilor Shimmer owned.

“It okay?” Vinyl said between mouthfuls.

“It is surprisingly good,” Octavia said.

“Surprisingly?” Vinyl quirked an eyebrow at her.

“Well, based on my experience with you, I assumed hayburgers and cider made up most of your diet.”

Vinyl shook her head in mock disappointment. “I’ll have you know my tastes are exceptionally refined. I only do the hayburger and cider thing every couple days.”

Octavia restrained a chuckle. “Where did you learn?”

“Here and there,” she responded, waving a hoof idly. After shovelling another mouthful of fruits and greens into her mouth she added, “You learn a lot of random bull running a club. Would you believe I also know how to manage finances, all the legal crap that goes into running a business, and how to make ponies fall in love with me?”

Octavia smiled, taking a much smaller bite. “No.”

“Ouch. Not even after I cooked you a nice dinner?”

“You did not technically cook anything, Vinyl.”

Before the unicorn could respond, Councilor Shimmer appeared in the doorway, flanked by a mint green unicorn that she did not immediately recognize. It did not take much of a jump to guess who it was, though. “Octavia, meet Lyra Heartstrings. She is our expert on that rock you found.”

She stood up, bowing slightly as she said, “It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Heartstrings. Thank you for everything you have done for us.”

“Yo, Lyra. Long time no see! Glad we got a hold of you!”

“Vinyl,” Lyra grunted. Her tone warmed substantially as she turned to Octavia and said, “You’re welcome. And the pleasure is all mine, I assure you.” She even offered a thin smile.

“Let’s go up to my study so we can talk,” Shimmer said. She must have caught the slight look of disappointment from Octavia, as she added, “You can finish eating later.”

“Stay here,” Vinyl said, pushing a still surprisingly full plate towards Octavia, “I’ll move. Makes more sense, I think. You got a console I can use, Shimmer? Don’t worry, I’m not gonna get on any of my accounts or anything.”

Shimmer gestured vaguely outside the kitchen. “You can use the one in the rec room. Down the hall, right by the guest bedrooms. I’m sure you can find it.” As Vinyl trotted past her, she added, “And I am dead serious! Do not use anything on the network associated with your name!”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. I got it, I got it.”

Octavia reseated herself at the table, surreptitiously taking a few of the choice morsels that Vinyl had left behind. As the two unicorns pulled up cushions at the table and sat, Octavia said, “To be clear, I have no intention of telling you where the stone is until I am sure you are helping us.”

“That’s not why I wanted to talk to you.” Shimmer looked over at Lyra who nodded. The councilor’s looked around the room before she finally sighed and said, “We think you might be able to help us with what we’re doing. Maybe.”

Octavia nearly choked on an orange slice. “What?”

“We think the stone you have is one of the Elements of Harmony, and Lyra thinks that you might be able to help us find the other five of them.”

Managing words proved too difficult under the circumstances, so Octavia opted to stick with stunned silence.

“I’m going to be frank with you. I don’t like this. Frankly, I’d rather take the stone and have you off the station and out of my mane as quick as I could, but Lyra is well read, overly educated, and she’s got more useless myths and stories crammed into her head than anypony else I know, so I’m willing to cede that she has something akin to expertise in this area.” Councilor Shimmer shrugged. “So, here we are.”

Two words finally came to mind. “Why me?”

Lyra cleared her throat and, after a slight nod from Councilor Shimmer, she started to talk. About Sombra’s plot to rule the Empire. About the Elements of Harmony. About how she thought they worked and how she thought they called out to each other.

And about how she thought Octavia was the Element of Loyalty.

“That… that’s ridiculous!” Octavia nearly shouted, her hooves hitting the table. It seemed so unfair that, just as she had finally come to grips with the situation, it somehow turned completely on its head. “You think I can help you scour the entire universe for legendary magical relics or, what, fight one of the councilors? All because some clumsy pegasus dropped a rock on me? I’m not an explorer! I’m not a fighter! I don’t even have magic! I’m a bloody musician!”

“Yet for some reason you keep doing stupid things to help a pony who, what, got you drunk and took you dancing? Either you are an absolute idiot or you have a severely overdeveloped sense of loyalty.” Councilor Shimmer didn’t give her the chance to retort before continuing, “Either way, let’s focus. I’m perfectly content to just take the stone and send you on your way. But if there’s any chance that you could actually help us get a leg up on Sombra, then I’m willing to give it a shot too.”

“And what exactly do you think I can do?”

Lyra managed to speak up before Councilor Shimmer did, “Has anything strange happened since you found the stone?”

“Yes!” Octavia snapped. “My life has gone straight to Tartarus!”

“Anything more specific?” Lyra asked patiently.

Octavia took a deep breath as she struggled to compose herself. No matter how stupid this sounded, being belligerent would not help matters. Still, the idea that she had anything to do with this rock... “I… I did have a weird dream the night I found the stone. There was a pegasus who told me…” She trailed off, hoping the memory that drifted up would change.

“Told you to...?” Lyra prompted.

“To make sure I didn’t lose the Element,” Octavia finished, all hopes of that being nothing more than a simple dream dissipating. “She called herself Rainbow Dash, I think?”

Lyra started. “Rainbow Dash?”

“I take it you know the name, Lyra?” the councilor asked.

“Sort of, yeah. I think she might have been the previous Element of Loyalty.” Her attention returned to Octavia as she continued, “Did she tell you anything else?”

“Just that we would talk again.”

Councilor Shimmer waved her hoof vaguely in the air. “Then I think we have an answer for what you can do. Find some way to talk to this pony again and get her to tell us where the rest of the Elements are.”

“And what if I don’t want anything to do with this mess?” Octavia asked.

“Then just give us the stone and we’ll send you on your way like we agreed.” Councilor Shimmer shrugged. “Either way works for me. Just make a choice. Sooner rather than later. I need to make plans for what we’re going to do next.”

Lyra cleared her throat. “Maybe you should give her a chance to think? Let her sleep on the decision? We are asking a lot of her right now.”

“Just a little,” Octavia mumbled, not quite under her breath. Both unicorns seemed to ignore it.

“Fine,” Councilor Shimmer said. She stood up, but her eyes never left Octavia’s. “You can give me your answer tomorrow. Do take some actual time to think about it, though. While I’m not exactly eager to bring some groundl— some earth pony fresh off the ramps into this, we don’t exactly have much in the way of options either.”

Octavia somehow managed to meet the councilor’s gaze levelly. “I’ll think about it.”

~~~~~

Octavia stalked back towards the promised guest rooms, struggling to control the anger building inside her. Councilor Shimmer represented everything she hated by unicorns: the casual sense of superiority, the unwarranted smugness, the way in which they thought that they were simply better than earth ponies because they had not been born with the gift of magic…

Every time Shimmer had taunted her or made some snide remark about Vinyl, she had wanted to ram her hoof down the mare’s throat. Then that arrogant, insolent, insufferable unicorn had the audacity to ask for her help like that?

It all seemed like a bad joke. Or maybe just a bad dream.

“Yo, Octavia! You done with Shimmer and Lyra already?”

Octavia nearly jumped. She had been so lost in her own thoughts that she had not even noticed the open door or the open door beyond it. Vinyl was sprawled out on a large sofa, bathed in the pale light from a massive console screen, the noise of some network show or another barely audible in the silence. She nodded.

“Figured. You look pretty pissed, which is about how everypony looks after five minutes with Shimmer. Wanna come chill?”

“No, but thank you. I... need some time alone.”

The look of disappointment that crossed Vinyl’s face was obvious, but brief. “Oh. Well, no prob! I’ll be here for a while if you change your mind.”

Octavia offered the unicorn a forced smile and continued on, entering the guest room she had chosen and kicking the door shut behind her. All thoughts retreated as she flopped down on the bed – sinking far deeper into the soft, pillowy mattress than expected – and stared out the window opposite her.

Outside she could see the darkening dome and the brilliant and beautiful lights of Manehattan’s top tier. They didn’t allow garish neons or flickering fluorescent lights up here, just gentle, pure white lamps that lent the tier an ethereal quality.

It really looked like another world.

And, for all intents and purposes, she supposed it was. One that she did not belong in. Even the idea that something on the station could be worth looking at – let alone having a window to do so – seemed so alien. She had given up on the idea of ever belonging here, but now this world that had chewed her up and spit her out suddenly wanted her back because… because some idiot unicorns with too much time on their hooves thought a stupid magical rock wanted her to find a bunch of other stupid magical rocks.

And what did they offer her in return? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

“Buck that,” she mumbled. This mess had nothing to do with her. Councilor Sombra, Councilor Shimmer… In the end, what difference did it actually make to her?

She knew it was smarter to get up and try to clear her head, but she simply couldn’t find the energy to do so. Even her cello seemed to hold no appeal. All she wanted was this ridiculous day to end.

~~~~~

The Empire burned.

Beneath the domes of a half dozen stations, plasma fires raged out of control as the Council Guard marched across the ramps, herding hundreds of ponies before them. Some stations were less fortunate than others, the fires igniting the magic circuits that powered most of the city’s infrastructure and blowing out the sides of buildings.

She watched in horror as a few of the towering structures shuddered as they lost stability, eventually collapsing, bringing down the walkways and ramps along with them. It only took a few collapses to set off an irreversible chain reaction that ended with the entire station disappearing in a brilliant flash of light.

“I don’t know that that is what is going to happen,” Octavia growled.

“Hey,” Rainbow Dash said from somewhere behind her, “This is your dream, so don’t complain at me.”

“The Empire is not going to fall to pieces just because I refuse to get involved in some dispute between councilors. Death or slavery are not going to be the only choices. Bloody well nothing is going to change.”

“Again. Your dream, not mine, Octavia.”

The nightmarish image faded and gave way to the soft clouds and the endless azure that she remembered from last time. With a sigh, she glanced back at the pegasus behind her. “Are you real?” The question sounded ridiculous the moment it left her mouth. What sort of answer was she expecting?

“Real-ish, I guess? I don’t really know either,” the pegasus said with a shrug. “I’m pretty sure I wasn’t always the actual, literal, honest-to-Celestia Element of Loyalty, but my memory is a bit fuzzy on how exactly I got here.”

A frown crossed Octavia’s face. “Fuzzy?”

“Yeah.” The pegasus sat down next to her, stretching her wings idly. “I dunno, it’s like I can sorta remember my friends and using the Elements to save Equestria like a dozen times, but when I really try to think about what happened or how I ended up here, I just draw a blank.” Despite Octavia’s flat stare, she grinned. “Totally not helpful, I know.”

“So you really have no idea why you are… in the stone? Part of the stone?”

Rainbow Dash shook her head. “Not really. Your best bet’d be talking to Twilight. If anypony knew what happened, it’d be my favorite egghead.”

“Is she another one of the Elements?”

“Yep!”

Octavia stared off into the unending blue, her mind drifting back to the images of the stations torn apart by fighting, of the Council Guard corralling ponies like property, of entire populations disappearing in a moment. She wanted to believe that the Elements didn’t matter and that nothing would change no matter what pony found them. But she knew that wasn’t true, and hated herself for not being able to believe it. “Do you know where to find the other Elements?”

“Not really. I’d guess Ponyville is a good place to start, though. It meant a lot to us.” For just a moment the pegasus’ voice turned wistful, but she smiled as she spoke up again, “Look, I know things are tough and it’d be easier to just run away, but from what I’ve seen? You’re the kind of pony that doesn’t run just because things are hard.”

Octavia grunted as she lay down on the cloud. “I am sick of being that pony, though. The only thing it ever seems to do is make my life worse.”

“Yeah, it sucks. But that’s who we are. And hey, it isn’t always bad, right?”

“No.” The cloud began to sag under her, signaling that this particular encounter was drawing to a close. “Ponyville, you said?”

Rainbow Dash flashed her a grin. “Yeah.”

The cloud gave way.

~~~~~

Vinyl stared at the console screen, idly humming along to the Power Ponies theme. It was nice to have access to the network again, even if she couldn’t do any of the things she actually wanted to. Things were probably fine at Crazy Horse – it wouldn’t be the first time she hadn’t come in for a couple days – but it was the first time a member of the Council Guard had actually taken a shot at her in the club. Checking in to make sure everypony was cool would be good.

She’d have to ask Shimmer if she could do anything later. But, for the moment, she’d have to settle for using the network to kill boredom. And what better way to do that than by watching a few old, cheesy, pulp network serials?

“Vinyl,” Lyra said from the doorway.

“Hey,” Vinyl said, not looking up at her.

The mare sighed and stepped into the room, her horn briefly lighting up to pause the video and flick the room’s lights on as she continued, “We need to talk.”

“Just you and me?”

“Shimmer preferred I talk to you alone. You irritate her.”

“I do my best.”

Lyra rolled her eyes. “What will probably happen is that, in a day or two, we’ll turn you over to Commander Shining Armor to make a statement. If you get vetted through the city guard it will probably be too much of a hassle to bring you back. The story we’ll use is that you ended up stumbling up to find me after you got left at a clinic in the lower tiers. Then you’ll do a quick interview with one of the network sites and apologize for your own part in this mess. You’ll likely face a few fines, but, provided you play along, everything should be okay.”

“And Octavia?”

“We’ll take care of her.”

“Lyra…”

“Think for a second!” she snapped. “If you know what’s happening to Octavia, you’ll probably get drunk and blab it to the first pony you find. It’s safer for everypony if you don’t know anything else.”

Vinyl let Lyra’s snappishness slide. “Guess you’re right. You really don’t think Sombra’ll randomly arrest me?”

“Shimmer doesn’t think so. You’re lucky that club of yours is half as popular as it is. He already went on the network news sites and publicly apologized for Trixie’s antics, so, as long as we make sure ponies know you’re okay and back out there, he probably won’t bother.” She must have seen the change in Vinyl’s expression, as she quickly added, “But he might still try to talk with you. Or maybe he will just have you arrested anyway. Either way, best for Octavia that we don’t take any risks.”

“Yeah, but—”

“I am sure you’ll get on fine without needing to know how things go for her.”

That particular barb found its mark a little too easily. “Look, Lyra—”

“I don’t want to talk about it. Particularly not tonight.” The mare stifled a yawn and leaned against the room’s doorway. “Just thought I’d fill you in. So start practicing for the inquiry. It should be pretty cursory, but it’d be easier for everypony if you did it right.”

Vinyl stared at a spot on the doorway, unable to decide whether she wanted to be annoyed or apologetic. Time apparently did not heal all wounds. “Alright,” she eventually mumbled. “Anything else you need?”

“No. Just take it easy and don’t do anything stupid for a couple days, then Shimmer will kick you out when she’s ready.”

“Sounds good. Could you flick the lights back off and the vid back on before you go? Doc said I should avoid magic for a couple days, so…”

The lights turned off and the vid resumed as Lyra walked out.

“Thanks.”

~~~~~

Octavia groaned as she woke up, the brilliant light from the window cutting through the haze of sleep and directly into her retinas. The hundredth tier was entirely too bright. She could go to sleep or wake up at any time and it would be pitch black in her unit. Stuffing her head under a pillow did not help much, but it did allow her to endure the brilliance until she was ready to handle it. Unfortunately, no amount of lazing about in bed – no matter how delightfully comfortable it was – would make her ready for today.

It might not have been much of a life, but throwing it away because of a magic rock, a couple weird dreams, and the words of a pony she would sooner push off one of the ramps than spend another five minutes listening to was not at all appealing. Unfortunately, Rainbow Dash had been right: she was not the sort of pony who could, in good conscience, leave things alone.

She might not have liked the Empire or the Unicorn Council, but it was her home and she happened to like some of the ponies that lived there.

Despite the pillowy embrace of the mattress, the smooth and cool silk sheets, and the perfect, climate-controlled air, she managed to extract herself from the bed with minimal fuss. She grunted as she stretched out, glad that the pain had faded to nothing more than a little residual stiffness.

All she needed now was the chance to wash the greasy feeling out of her coat, style her mane, and she would feel like a brand new mare. Being unable to shower for a few days was not the absolute end of the universe, but she hated feeling dirty. It would have been nice if Hooves had had a proper shower...

Her face warmed a little as she considered that she had spent an entire night sleeping next to Vinyl looking like this. Not that the unicorn had looked much better, now that Octavia thought about it, but still.

Unfortunately, nothing could be done about it now. The best she could do is ask Councilor Shimmer where her bathing room was, get cleaned up, and then forget about having a normal life. She doubted being clean would do much to improve her standing with the councilor, but to Tartarus with her and her opinions.

Stepping out of the room, she started down the hallway and paused at the rec room, where the door still hung halfway open. She peeked her head in, curious if Vinyl had actually gotten up before her, but found that the unicorn was actually sleeping peacefully on the sofa with some network vid or another still playing quietly on the console.

She briefly considered stepping in and turning the screen off, but decided against it. Vinyl looked too peaceful to risk disturbing. She did opt to shut the door though. If Vinyl wanted to sleep in, then she should sleep in. It was not as if anything from this point forward really needed to concern the mare. Provided Councilor Shimmer held up her end of the deal, it would just be a matter of time until Vinyl could forget all about this mess, forget about Octavia, go back to her club, and…

Octavia sighed, walking to the kitchen. To her surprise, the councilor was sitting at the table, studying a tablet while she levitated a steaming mug in front of her muzzle.

She did not look up as Octavia entered, instead taking a sip from the mug before asking, “Did you make a decision?”

“Is that coffee?” Octavia asked.

“Yes. The dispenser is on the wall. Just hit the button. Be careful, because it is much stronger than instant mixes.” After a moment she added, “And if you want to clean yourself up, the bathing room is just down that hall.”

“Thank you,” Octavia said, pressing the button a little harder than needed as she glared at the inattentive unicorn. She had wanted to know that, but something about Councilor Shimmer’s tone set her on edge.

Probably the implication that Octavia did not know she was a mess.

Moving the mug to the table took a little effort – it had not been designed with earth ponies in mind – but she managed without spilling or burning herself. “I decided I will work with you as the Element of Loyalty.”

Councilor Shimmer looked up from her tablet. “You do understand that, if you do this, you aren’t going to be getting to stay here in my apartment and freeload, right?”

“Yes.”

“And you do realize that you might end up spending the rest of your life in Everfree or worse?”

“Yes.” Her answer was a little more curt that time.

“And you get that, once you’re in, there’s no way out? I can toss you off to another station easily enough right now, but if you start actually playing these games against Sombra—”

“Yes! I get it!” Octavia snapped, bringing a hoof down on the table. Coffee sloshed over the edge of her mug. “Is there a particular reason you are trying to talk me out of this now?”

Councilor Shimmer shrugged, taking a sip from her mug. “I’m trying to make sure you’re sure, because, frankly, only an idiot would want to get involved in this.”

“Then let me make this as clear as I can: I dislike you, Councilor Shimmer. I think you – and most unicorns, really – are insufferable, arrogant, and just plain unlikable. But that does not mean that there could not be worse ponies ruling the Empire.” She knew it was stupid to actually say all this to the councilor’s face, but she needed to show Shimmer that she would tolerate being pushed around like this. “Besides, maybe I can help make the Empire a better place with this power.”

To her surprise, Councilor Shimmer seemed nonplussed, simply taking another sip from her mug. “Alright. Do you have any idea where we should be looking, then?”

“Ponyville Station,” Octavia said, finding some perverse pleasure in the fact that that answer actually caught Councilor Shimmer off-guard. “I spoke with Rainbow Dash last night. She is not sure exactly sure where the other Elements are, but she does think that Ponyville Station is the right place to start looking.”

Councilor Shimmer finally lowered her mug to the table. “Well, I suppose it’s better than feeding off the scraps of Sombra’s investigation. Getting the Element of Loyalty first was fortunate, and I doubt he’ll let us get that lucky again.” She slid out of her chair and levitated the tablet into the air as she continued, “If that’s the case, I will arrange for a shuttle to take you to Ponyville Station in a couple days. Until then, I suppose you can make yourself at home. Don’t make a mess, don’t be stupid, don’t go outside, and don’t let Vinyl do anything stupid.” Seemingly as an afterthought, she added, “In fact, don’t tell that idiot about any of this. The Elements, you working with us, Ponyville Station… any of it. The less she can accidentally blab when she gets drunk or bored, the better.”