For a moment of awkward silence, Maple and Dangerous Karma stared at each other, Starlight standing close at her side. Howe whistled. Valey grinned.
Eventually, Dangerous Karma blinked. "Any chance yer name is Maple? And the filly Starlight? The lot of you fit the description of some ponies I was asked to keep an eye out for."
Maple took a step back, expression faltering. "You were?"
Howe elbowed her in the shoulder. "Someone's popular, eheh? Sounds like you have actors from all over seeking you out!"
"I was," Dangerous Karma replied, wiggling his mustache. "So yer' them, then?"
"It..." Maple folded her ears. "Depends who's looking for us. There are apparently some ponies out there we really wouldn't like to run into..." She shot an uneasy glance at Howe, who winked in return.
"Are there, now?" Raising an eyebrow, Dangerous Karma walked around until he was standing between them and the door they had entered by. "These ponies wouldn't happen to be the type I'm interested in keeping out of Grand Acorn, would they?"
"Defense Force." Valey shrugged. "Internal issues. But these guys here are all on Team Me, and you're not gonna kick me out."
"Hmmmm..." Dangerous Karma rumbled, scratching his neck. "Well, I can't say I'm fond of ponies who are magnets for trouble. It ain't good for business. At the same time, there are friends you want to keep as friends, so let's get on tellin' them yer' here. Follow me, y'all."
"Wait!" Maple interrupted, stretching a hoof out. "Just... hold on. Who's looking for us? You didn't say, and if they're ponies we don't want to run into..."
"Tough beans, then," Dangerous Karma replied. "Like I said, there are some friends you want to keep that way. Sosans, though. Hope yer' in good standings with them."
Maple frowned, but stood aside as he reached for a low black box on the wall, swinging a panel open with a hoof. "Hello?" he began, reaching inside and speaking directly to the apparatus. "Lemon? Those two ladies Shinespark was asking after turned up. Think you can let her know...? 'Kay? Thankee kindly." He swung the box closed.
"Shinespark, huh?" Valey blew a lock of mane hair out of her face, glancing at Maple and Starlight. "Eh, don't worry about her. I've got enough dirt on her to make her scram if things get hairy, and enough to guess there's a pretty decent chance she's on your side."
"We have a side now, huh?" Maple feebly grinned. "Without even trying?"
"That's how Ironridge works, lass," Dangerous Karma interrupted with a growl. "Something tells me you ain't from around these parts."
"Something like that," Valey cut in, changing the subject. "You know what? Mr. Karma, we're obviously making you skittish, so how about we-"
"Maple and Starlight, please report to the main conference room on the top floor."
A loud, magically-projected voice emanated from an unseen corner of the room, halting the conversation in its tracks. Dangerous Karma looked up. "Huh. That was speedy."
"As I was saying," Valey coughed. "Mr. Karma, you've obviously got more important things to do than guide around us troublemakers. We can totally find our way wherever on our own."
Dangerous Karma narrowed his eyes. "Now that sounds like something a pony who was up to something would say."
Valey stuck her tongue out. "Nyaa. When am I not up to something? Besides, weren't you just telling that pegasus how you'd rather have me running around than anyone else?"
"...Suit yerselves. Now go take care of yer business, and get out of my headquarters."
With that, Dangerous Karma turned, stumped around a corner, and was gone.
"Well," Valey said, grinning, "what did I tell you? Me and him? Working relationship. Kaboom. You're not arrested."
Maple sighed. "So why did you spend so much time trying to scare me about hostile guards? If you knew we could make it through just fine..."
"And the better question," Howe added ominously, "is what the Sosans want! Really, you guys are a little too good at drawing attention, here."
"We're not trying to be!" Maple stepped back defensively. "All we wanted was to not be important and just enjoy the city, and..." Her eyes hardened. "It was you who got us in trouble in the first place, you know."
Howe cringed. "Hey, I said I'm sorry! I'm working to pay it off, alright?"
"Should we be going to the conference room?" Starlight cut in, pointing upwards. "Or are we ignoring it and running away?"
"Meh. I doubt running's a good idea." Valey closed her eyes, licking her lips. "DK's obviously watching us. He didn't make it sound like he just wanted us to walk away. Do you really want us to bail here and then have even more ponies breathing down your necks?"
"Right..." Maple tapped a hoof. "And we do need their help, eventually. For..." Her eyes slid to Starlight, then Valey. "You know."
"There isn't something I'm out of the loop on here, is there?" Howe looked sideways at Maple.
Valey grinned. "Pancake, you have no idea."
"So we're going up, then?" Maple cut in, wanting to head off a potentially long conversation that could steer dangerously close to Riverfall.
Howe shrugged. "There's a staircase right there."
"Well then, let's go...!" Valey took off, flapping through a door and up the subsequent stairs, looking back to check that she was being followed.
The upper floors of Dangerous Karma's complex were, thankfully, much smaller and easier to navigate than the base... that, or they had wandered in circles in the mazelike dungeon of white walls and office desks. This time, frequent windows to the outside provided a definite sense of where one was in the building, helping it feel far less claustrophobic and endless.
They also provided a view of the sky, and the fact that it had stopped raining.
"I almost hope this goes quickly, now," Maple was saying, walking down a hallway entirely bordered to the right with windows. "It looks like there's still enough light left to make it to Gnarlbough, and now that the weather is better..."
"You're going to Gnarlbough?" Howe blinked. "Isn't that a little out of the way, if you're going... Wait." He screwed up his eyes, brow furrowing. "Where's your endgame, here? The Howenator tracked you down like a boss, but really? I have no clue where we're actually going."
"We have an errand in Gnarlbough, and then we're going to Sosa," Maple said, calmly pressing on. "Eventually, we want to leave Ironridge."
They climbed another staircase. "So..." Howe hummed. "What exactly can I do to help?"
"Be entertaining," Valey belched. "Seriously, you're along for the ride, you might as well be useful." Hesitating, she added, "You are sticking around, aren't you? You look persistent."
Howe nodded. "Tenacity is my middle name!"
"Honestly..." Maple bowed her head. "I don't know what we need that you can do. All we want is to get where we're going with as few ponies caring as possible."
"And speaking of where we're going," Valey interrupted, "check it out! Looks like we're here!"
They stopped before a large double-door facing further into the building, slightly more trimmed and decorated than the fort's usual aesthetic. Valey tapped them with a hoof, and they slowly swung open.