I happily leered at the plaza of Mount Aris from the outer deck of the ship. As we slowly hovered toward the palace, the entire city was slowly consumed by darkness as the ship blocked out the sun. After just a few short minutes, the only lights visible were the artificial street lamps and screens littering the city, casting all the hippogriffs and patrolling golems in their dull glow.
The normal din of the city was overshadowed and finally silenced by the heavy rumbling drone of our ship, and all eyes reached up to stare fearfully, or rarely impatiently, at me. I adjusted the lens on my glasses to get a clearer picture of a few faces.
"Oh hoh! She let you out, huh?" I snickered and leaned on the railing when I spied Skystar in a pink blouse and white apron, loose-fit hairnet, and with an absolutely venomous glare leveled up at me. While most of the hippogriffs were certainly focused on the huge imposing aircraft above them, she was one I knew was looking straight at me.
Little wonder. I might not be directly responsible for what seemed to be a work-release program she appeared to be taking part in at some grungy diner, but considering it was my administrator who probably set it up, well..
A yawn from behind drew my attention back, and I turned to see Jury-rig trotting out onto the deck. "G'morning Ed!" She pressed her ear to the platform and nuzzled the metal floor. "And g'morning baby~! Oh! Listen to you purr~!" She hummed happily before skipping next to me and reared up on the railing to scan the city.
"Oh, we should leave the Citadel more often," she chirped. "Look at how far along everything's come!"
I hummed and leaned back on the railing next to her. "Once we've pegged our traitor, we'll have reason to celebrate," she looked up at me eagerly. "But even still, we'll be seeing plenty of the Empire over the next few days and weeks." I met her smile with one of my own before adopting a more serious expression.
"You remember where to look?"
She nodded her head and saluted. "Sure do! Every administrator's console has a secret gem assembly inside, hidden towards the rear left, behind a size five bolt-locked fifteen-centimeter diameter circular panel," I scoffed as she brushed her chest with a hoof. "Use a class two disrupting wand to short the discharge before reaching in." Her horn crackled, and she winced with a squeal. I raised an eyebrow as she held her disturbed pose for a moment.
"And don't use my magic to handle or teleport the disrupting wand," she added finally.
"You sure you got enough sleep?"
She scoffed before igniting her horn again and a saddlebag fell appeared next to her. "Once I get the gem out, I give it a quick scan with this baby," she pulled out a small black console with a set of three rings wired to it. "And that'll let me peak at any data they were shuffling, accessing, or sending within the last month."
I grinned with a nod. "And considering you jumped in to throw a message at our little hacker, all you really need to find is a line of text matching whatever it was you said to them."
We shared a nod. "Easy."
I thumbed the hidden pouch in my coat as I looked around the parlor the local guards had asked me to wait in. Unlike the rest of the city, this room was very old school. There were oil lamps and a candlelit chandelier providing light to the gaudy gold-plated furniture, high-class carpet, and the massive painting of Mount Aris' administrator filling the wall.
As I looked the portrait up and down, the mare herself burst through the door and sprinted between my animunculi guards. "Eddy Beddy!"
I groaned, bared my teeth, and held up a hand. "Do. NOT-" I grunted as Cozy Glow slammed into my chest, throwing me to the ground as she locked her forelegs around me.
"Oh my gosh! When my guards got your call that you were on your way, I thought I was dreaming~. You never come to visit!" I groaned as she sat up to look me in the eyes with a wide, doe-eyed smile. Even though she was older, she hadn't changed much, besides two of her mane curls now stretching down off the side of her head. And the dark blue double-breasted suit she now wore, which hid her gem-decorated collar. "This must be a special occasion!"
She leaned in with a hopeful smile. "Maybe you were considering.." Her smile widened as she tapped her collar.
I met her smile with one of my own. "No, not at all." Her expression soured, and she rolled her eyes.
"Stupid old bastard," she grumbled, all the faux sugar in her voice melting away. I chuckled and snapped my fingers, and one of the two large man-shaped animunculi with me reached down and plucked her off me by the scruff of her neck. I stood up and dusted myself off before leering at her. She scowled at me as she dangled with her forelegs tucked in. "Why the heck are you here then? And where's Jury-rig?" She scanned the room.
"She's slipped up to your control room while you wait in here with me," she blanched and her jaw dropped. I smirked. "Just some simple maintenance I don't trust anyone here to be able to handle."
She composed herself but still leered critically at me for a moment before smirking back. "And what's this about?" She unfurled her forelegs and held up-
I jolted and snatched the pouch she'd picked from my coat pocket. As I paced away and opened it, I heard her snicker behind me. Frowning, I counted out the sixteen single-dose hypodermic needles inside.
With a sigh of relief, I slipped the pouch into my pocket and turned to glare at her. "These are, in simple terms, sixteen doses of alchemically synthesized alicorn adrenaline," I leaned forward to meet her smug grin. "And the fact that I have them on my person does not leave this room. Understand?" I tapped her collar with a finger, which caused her to wilt and fervently nod.
"Peachy." I snapped my fingers and the golem let her drop. I took a seat and folded my arms. "Now! How have things been, Cozy?" She rose to her hooves and looked me up and down nervously, occasionally glancing at my breast pocket. After a moment I rolled my head back with a sigh.
"It's just something to keep me awake, alert, and active. I'm not as young as I used to be, and there's still so much to do," I huffed and frowned at her. "But Jury hates that I use it at all. She's worried too much could-"
"Cause a heart attack?" She interjected, fixing me with an incredulous leer. "'Cause, uh, yeah? Synthetic or not, that sounds like pretty hardcore stuff and you're still mortal, Beddy."
I inhaled sharply and gave her a narrow-eyed grin. "And that is why I measured the dosage carefully," I shook my head and waved a hand at her. "Besides, like I said, Jury hates it. So I haven't even used any in months."
She raised an eyebrow. "But you've got a pack on you?"
I smiled. "For emergencies."
"Buck's sake, Ed, even the flu Skystar came down with was logged," Jury said as she closed the projection from her console. She blinked and frowned at me. "Which you'll recall we already have a report about."
"Shocking is right!" I retorted as I leaned back in the seat we were sharing aboard the ship. "She really hasn't been any secrets?"
"At least nothing on her control deck," she replied with a shrug before rubbing her chin. "Which, of course, excludes her from being the traitor."
I scoffed and waved a hand. "True, but I knew that before we arrived," I leaned back with a hum and rubbed my chin. "Anyhow, tell me more about the former princess' work-release case. I must've missed it in our census audit last-"
"Hold on!" I turned to meet her bewildered glare. "What do you mean 'you knew that before we arrived?'"
I shrugged with a smirk. "Because I think you and I both know who's really responsible."
She blinked and frowned. "Probably, yeah," she leaned closer and looked me up and down. "But if you already know, why are we going everywhere else first?"
I smiled and poked her on the nose. "Cutting off and denying any and all plausible deniability, or scapegoats of course."