The Visitor

It was early morning with the sun just rising where Professor Safon and Trinity were walking in the woods following the trail caused by Safon’s saucer just two months ago. It’s been a month since Trinity moved in with Safon, and in that month he has been giving her basic lessons on atoms and nuclear physics. As she sat and listened to his lessons she found it to actually be fascinating. The fact that every thing in the universe was actually made of tiny particles she couldn’t see amazed her and she asked many questions much to Safon’s surprise. While she wasn’t sure about helping him at first, she now couldn’t wait to really help him and learn all kinds of things about the universe.

Safon himself was surprised in how quickly she grasped the concepts and he figured it was now time to start the groundwork of building a new machine.

“So what are we coming out here for Professor.” Trinity asked with interest.

Safon looked over to her as he still walked down the trail. “ Well we’re going to my ship and pick up some equipment I left in there.”

“What kind of equipment?” She inquired.

“We’re going to have to build a power supply and nuclear power is the only thing I’ve found to supply enough power to my machine. That and also I need to get my laptop. There are all kinds of information I have saved on there that I can show you.”

Trinity’s eyes grew wide at this news. “ You mean we’re going to start soon?!?”

Safon chuckled at her enthusiasm. “ Well not yet exactly. I need to get in touch with someone about uranium, and we need to get a radiation suit made for you.”

“ To protect me from the alpha and beta rays right?” She asked testing her knowledge.

“That’s right.” Safon said impressed with her memory. “They can really mess you up and give you cancer, and we don’t want that.”

Trinity though back to Safon’s description of the radium girls and the fate of Marrie Currie and nodded in agreement. “Yeah I don’t want that.”

They eventually reached the crash site, still being guarded to keep nosey ponies away. The saucer itself looked the same as it did last time Safon got stuff from it. As he approached it he looked over to Trinity.

“Alright I’m going to climb in there and grab stuff. Just stay there and I’ll be right back.”

Trinity nodded and Safon nodded back before he started to climb in through the top.

As she waited for Safon to return she looked at the saucer. Safon has told her how when it was working it was able to fly across the world in a few hours. She didn’t believe him however. After all how, can a machine go that fast, but now that she was here looking at it she was starting to think he was telling the truth. She really has never seen anything like it before. That has been a theme for Safon though; he has shown her things that she couldn’t believe could exist, things like a large airship that can travel very fast, or his plans for a self-moving carriage.

“Ok Trinity. I got my stuff.” Safon’s voice came in knocking Trinity out of her thoughts.

She looked up to Safon to see him on top holding a leather duffle bag in his right hand and a laptop under his right arm. “Is that the laptop thing you were talking about.”? She asked pointing to said laptop.

He looked at the laptop under his arm. “Yeah, this machine here is able to process information a lot faster than you or I. That processing power will be used to enter the extremely long algorithm that is needed to focus the portal to a precise dimension.”

Her eyes grew wide in amazement at the idea. “Oh my.”

He chuckled a bit. “Yeah I’ll be damned if I’m going to wander through random dimensions trying to find my way home.”

“What do you mean by that?” She asked as he climbed off the saucer.

“Well remember what I said about my first machine not being up to stuff?” He said starting to walk back to Canterlot.

Trinity started following. “Yes.”

“Well let’s just say I wasn’t in the right state of mind when I first used it and I entered it without a way back.”

“How did you ever get back.”? Trinity asked with extreme interest.

“I had to find small tears in the fabric of reality that were weak enough for me to exploit and use as a random version of my machine. It took me years to get home.” He said irritably.

Trinity took note of his irritants at the memory. “I… can see why you don’t want to do that.”

Safon took a deep breath. “Yeah. I’m just glad I’ve learned my lesson. Now lets get home, I have a journal to go though.”

Safon opened the front door of his house and walked in, taking his coat and hat off as he did. “Trinity can you put a record on please?”

Trinity levitated her hat on the hat rack. “Sure. What do you want?” She asked making her way into the parlor as Safon went to the kitchen.

Safon thought a moment as he scratched the newly forming beard on his chin. “Hmm…. How about ‘Shine on Harvest Moon’ the Billy Murray version.”

“Okay.” She said levitating the translation sheet Safon gave her out of her pocket. While different when written down, Equine and Engish were close enough that Safon was able to make a translation sheet for Trinity to help her understand the stuff Safon would write down.

Squinting her eyes to read the record labels she went through the pile until she found the record Safon wanted. Taking the record to the phonograph she placed it on the pre-wound turntable turned it on and put the needle on the record.

As the music started filling the room Safon came in holding a glass of whiskey in one hand, a lit cigarette in the other and the duffle bag over his shoulder. “Thank you Trinity.” He said idly as he sat his drinks down on the coffee table. Sitting down on the parlor sofa he put the duffel bag on the floor in front of him unzipping the top.

He went thought the contents and set them on the table. “Lets see here Geiger counter, cassettes with audio notes on them, cassette player, microphone for player and the radiation suit.”

As Safon laid the stuff on the table Trinity looked at Geiger counter knowing what it did but not why they needed it. “ Why do we need a Geiger counter? Didn’t you say it’s easy to buy uranium in this day and age?”

Focusing more on inspecting his radiation suit Safon glanced at her out of the corner of his eye in acknowledgement. “ Yes I can but We have to contain the radiation it gives off, and to know it’s contained we need a Geiger counter to make sure.”

“Oh,” Trinity said as she looked at the device. It was just like the pictures Safon showed her. It was a simple rusty olive green metal box with a meter on top and a rod connected to the box by a wire.

Trinity then looked over to Safon as he was still inspecting the suit. Safon told her about this radiation suit. He had it custom made out of tough lead lined fabric to prevent accidental tearing, a belt with many pouches, hoses leading from a filter in the back and a reinforced glass helmet to allow maximum viewing.

Finished inspecting it Safon put it down on the table. “ Looks like it’s still intact.” He said taking a drink from his glass and laughed lightly. “ And the military said that they doubted its durability. Look what survived a crash at 53 years old you pricks!!” He yelled to no one.

Trinity took a step back with concern. “Dare I ask?”

Snapping out of his anger he looked over to Trinity realizing the lack of context. “ Oh yeah I forgot to tell you. Long story short the radiation suits they used back in 53 were flimsy and tore easily. So I designed a tougher one, but they didn’t believe my design would work. That and also I was blacklisted before I could show test results.” Saying the last part unintentionally

That last part caught her attention. “ Blacklisted?”

Safon realized what he said and knew she wouldn’t let it go. She was too curious sometimes. “ Yeah…. Long story short a man named Joseph Mccarthy ruined many intelligent and famous people’s lives by feeding the paranoia of the American people.”

“Why would he do that?” Trinity asked. She’s heard about wealthy ponies running poorer ponies lives but not much about wealthy ponies ruining the lives other wealthy ponies.

He sighed in anger, remembering the vile man. “He wanted to further his career by accusing people of being communist spies. Unfortunately for me questioning the military’s ‘MAD’ strategy constitutes as being a communist. I was then discharged from the military and blacklisted from all forms of atomic research both private and military. On top of that the CIA has
been wanting to ‘question’ me since 57.”

“What does ‘MAD’ mean?” Trinity pressed happy she was getting something from him. Ever since he started teaching her she’s been getting a feeling that he’s been keeping information from her. From him not going into detail on his work for the ‘Manhattan Project’ to what exactly his military wanted with nuclear physics. She was really enjoying learning about it but she felt he wasn’t giving all the information.

“Well you see….MAD is short for…..” He started nervously before a convenient knock at the door. Sighing in relief at the interruption he nodded his head towards the direction of the front door. “Sounds like we have a guest.” He said turning back to Trinity. “How ‘bout I tell you later, when we have more time?”

Sighing at the interruption she decided to accept it and wait till he forgot and catch him off guard. “Yes Professor.”

She headed into the entry hall and opened the front door too annoyed to pay attention to the fact it was Chamberlain at the door. “Safon Laboratories. How can I help you?”

Ignoring her rudeness Chamberlain tipped his bowler hat to her.

“Hello Miss Trinity. How are you doing this morning?”

“Oh! Sorry Chamberlain. I was a little MAD at something else.” She said embarrassed.

Chamberlain chuckled. “ Oh don’t worry about that Miss Trinity.”

“If you say so.” Trinity responded unsure.

Moving on Chamberlain cleared his throat. “ Yes well anyways is the Professor home right now? I have a message from Fancy Pants to relay.”

“Yes he’s in the parlor.” She said gesturing him inside. “ Do you want me to take your hat?”

“ No thank you Miss. I shouldn’t be long.” He told her as he followed her inside to the parlor.

The two walking into the parlor to find Safon changing the record on the phonograph, before noticing the two out of the corner of his eye. “ Chamberlain! How have you been?” He asked getting up to meet the butler.

“Oh I’ve been fine and you?” Chamberlain asked his hat in hoof.

“Eh, We’ve been fine, making progress on planning and are starting to gather materials.”

The butler nodded. “ Good, good. Now while I would love to exchange pleasantries a bit longer I have a message from Fancy Pants.”

That got Safon’s attention. “ You do! Why didn’t you open with that?!”

Chamberlain raised a hoof to begin a response, but was interrupted by Safon.

“Never mind. I haven’t heard from him for a month. So did he get the airship built?”

The butler nodded to Safon’s question. “ Yes, he’s putting the finishing touches on as we speak and will be doing test flights tomorrow.” Safon got excited at this news. “Great! So now what?”

“ Now Fancy Pants plans to put on a show for both the military and his investors. In two weeks he’s going to show off the large and small models at the Wonderbolt stadium to give everypony a practical demonstration.”

Even more excited Safon hugged Chamberlain. “ Chamberlain that’s the best news I’ve gotten in a long time.”

After being realized Chamberlain straightened his bow tie and checked the time on his fob watch. “ Yes. Now I must make haste and contact both the military and investors.”

Safon nodded and lead Chamberlain to the front door. “ Ok. I’ll get my suit ready for the show. and again thank you for the news.”

Chamberlain put his hat back on and started to leave the house. “ I’ll be sure to get more details to you as soon as possible.” With that the butler quickly made his way down the street likely to the nearest telegraph office.

After watching Chamberlain leave Safon turned to Trinity. “Trinity we’re going out to eat tonight. My treat.”

After two weeks of preparation the time has come for Fancy Pants to show Safon’s airship design to the world. There was both big brass from the military and investors for Fancy Pants Industries were all gathered in the VIP both of the Wonderbolts stadium for a private showing of the airships.

Safon and Trinity were both sitting at a table in the corner out of the way. Safon dressed in his gray suit with the jacket over the back of his chair and Trinity dressed in a beige skirt with a white dress blouse with a banker collar and a red and pink floral tie. They were looking at Fleur De Lis who was on the phone with Fancy Pants. She spoke on the phone for a few more minutes before hanging up and heading to the pair.

Trinity was the first to speak up knowing what this event could mean for her. “ So. What’s going on?”

Fleur sat down at the table with the two.

“Fancy plans on piloting the smaller craft himself while an earthpony engineer pilots the larger one to show that they can be flown by anypony. After flying around a bit to show speed and maneuverability he’ll land them near by to allow for tours of the interior to show how they work. If this goes right and the military like them you’ll make royalties off of the patents.”

Safon leaned back in his chair confidently. “That sounds like a plan and the civilian ones will be icing on the cake.”

“Right.” Fleur responded.

As the three sat at their table a stallion's voice called out to Fleur.

“Fleur dear there you are!”

Knowing whom it was she turned around to find Hoity Toity approaching. “Hoity! It’s been so long.”

“Indeed it has been.” Hoity said before noticing Safon. “And you must be Professor Safon. I’ve been looking forward to meeting you.”

“Well I’m afraid I have the disadvantage of not knowing about you.” Safon replied.

“Professor.” Fleur stated. “This is Hoity Toity, editor and chief of the most popular fashion magazine in the world and a long time friend.”

“I See.” Safon said before turning back to Hoity Toity. “Well it’s nice to meet you too. I would get up to shake your hoof but I’m afraid my leg brace locked up on me.” He said pointing to the metal brace on his right leg.

Hoity and Fleur got a look of worry across their faces. “Oh dear I hope your ok.” Hoity said.

Safon shrugged it off. “Don’t worry this thing does it all the time.”

Trinity however wasn’t buying it and was getting a look of horror across her face thinking she’s failed at her job of making sure Safon didn’t hurt himself

“Professor!!! Didn’t you bring your oil can with you to prevent this?!?!”

“No I thought you brought it.” Safon said not really caring.

Trinity got even more panicked. “How can you be so calm about this!?! You can’t get up now!!!”

Safon sighed. “Trinity you’re overreacting. This damn thing locks up all the time.”

“That means you should always have an oil can on you!”

As the two continued to argue Fleur and Hoity looked at each other.

“Perhaps we should leave the two alone.” Hoity offered.

Fleur nodded. “That sounds like a good idea.”

They left Safon and Trinity to go mingle with the other guests to this event.

The small party continued with ponies chatting among each other, until Chamberlain went over to the main refreshment table and dinged a spoon to a wine glass to get everyone's attention.

He cleared his throat and began to speak up for everyone to hear.

“Fillies and Gentlecolts, Investors, military and friends. On behalf of Fancy Pants I want to welcome you all for coming to this demonstration.” He began. “As I speak Fancy Pants and his head engineer Miss Static Lift are flying two crafts from the airship yard to this location. When they get here they will show how they can travel a lot faster than most conventional airships. Afterwards they will land for you to get a first hoof look at them.”

As he finished talking the loud hums of two engines started to come in. Everyone then went to the edge of the both to look towards the cliff side to suddenly see two airships poking out from around the corner of the cliff.

They looked more refined than the prototype Safon showed Fancy Pants two months ago, both in looking like a finished product with proper engines unlike the boat engines Safon originally used in the prototype, and actually being decorated with his company logo on the smaller one and the Equestrian coat of hooves on the large one.

Everyone watched as the two showed off their speed traveling much faster than any other craft they’ve ever seen, making the corner in record time and to the stadium even faster. Soon they were getting to a stop right at the edge of the entrance trail to the stadium seats. After they stopped the doors on them opened and Fancy Pants and Static Lift came into view taking wooden boards and using them as bridges to solid land.

Everyone was impressed at what they saw and were talking among each other about the crafts before Chamberlain got their attention again.

“Yes they are very impressive crafts, but I must ask for your attention please.” He asked, as everyone got quiet. “Thank you. Now Fancy Pants and Static Lift will take anypony willing on a short flight to show you first hoof the capabilities of the crafts.” With that he gestured the entrance everyone quickly started to file out the airships.

“Come on Professor we need to hurry up or we’ll miss it.” Trinity said looking at the long line of ponies.

Yeah I know give me a second.” Safon replied looking at his leg brace trying to unlock it. After no success he just hit it causing him great pain but it did manage to get it loose enough for him to be able to move it. “Ok there we go. Now lets hurry up.” He said getting up and limping towards the line with the brace squeaking as he moved.

Eventually the two made it down to where the airships were temporarily docked. Safon quickly approached Fancy Pants, who was speaking to General Spitfire. She spotted the Professor approaching and turned towards him.

“Ah Professor there you are!” She began. “I must say I’m very impressed with what I’ve seen so far.”

“Yes in fact she’s told me that if the first hoof view is as good as it was from the booth, then she’ll quickly get a contract set up for us to be the providers of these craft for the Royal Air Force.” Fancy Pants added giddy at the thought.

Safon was taken aback at the news. “Wow I don’t know what to say. Thank you!”

“No Thank you Professor. This will give us an ace against any Griffin attack.” Spitfire said not noticing how uneasy both Safon and Fancy Pants got at the reminder of the tension in the world.

“Yes. Now how about I show you around General.” Fancy Pants said changing the subject.

“Thank you Fancy Pants.” Spitfire replied as she followed him into the airship leaving Safon and Trinity.

“Are you ok Professor?” Trinity asked looking at Safon who was spaced out.

“What.” He said coming to before looking at Trinity. “Oh yes I’m fine just getting Deja vu. That’s all.” He replied still uneasy about the mess he’s found himself in.