Death Dealerby Eliseo221ChaptersChapter 1 (Edited)Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 4Chapter 1 (Edited) Celestia had arrived on the building about five minutes ago, she had stayed in her carriage, though, trying to muster the strength to see Him. Now don't get her wrong, she knew she could crush him in the blink of an eye, and she knew that he would never do anything to harm anypony, or as he would put it, anyone, but she had seen this day coming for the past year, and she had been dreading the decision that she had to make. The request she had to make. Steeling herself, Celestia finally exited her carriage, the armored ponies went to unhooked themselves, but Celestia interrupted them, “No, my little ponies,” she said with a calm and motherly tone, hiding her true emotions very well, “I have to do this alone.” She knew they were going to protest, so she preemptively struck with a response to the unasked question “Everything will be alright, my little ponies, he is a friend.” the ponie guards eventually stood down, and let their leader go in the building where the most influential mortal resided: The Ember Corp HQ, previously known as The Ember River manufacturing Co. The building itself was what some would consider beautiful, and stood at 10 stories high, very futuristic looking with very gentle curves made of steel, concrete, and glass. It also incorporated plants on several overhanging ledges. How he was able to make materials such as concrete and steel look like this, was beyond her, as most of his inventions. Celestia started walking up the stairs, seeing many of her little ponies, all of them bowing before her. She kept walking though, she wished she could stop and greet them, after all she had not been in Ponyville in a while, but she had matters to attend to. Soon enough she reached the front door and surprisingly, it opened automatically. ‘One of his many inventions no doubt’ she thought as she crossed the threshold. Inside, Celestia could see that it was as beautiful as on the outside, incorporating metal, glass, and plant elements into the design of the building. Celestia thought it was beautiful, opposite elements such as industry and nature, she thought it was impossible for them to coexist in balance, yet he proved her wrong, like in many occasions. Celestia walked into the up to the receptionist having no idea where to locate the person she was looking for. “Excuse me” she said, keeping the hesitation form her voice “Where can I find Eli?” The receptionist didn't look up in the beginning, she was too busy writing down something on a piece of paper “Do you have...an...appointment?” she trailed off as she saw who was standing in front of her, and as soon as her brain restarted, she jump off the chair and went around her desk, bowing deeply “Princess Celestia!” she said with her face nearly touching the floor, “Forgive me, I didn't know it was her highness!” “Do not worry, my little pony. I just need directions” she said, a calming smile on her face, to tell the truth, she just wanted to get this over with. “Of course, your highness!” the mare said as she raised her head again, “Just go to the elevator over there and press the Up button, once inside, press the button with with a star on it, that will take you to the boss’s office” She finish replying quickly. Celestia just smiled “Thank you, my little pony,” was all she said as she turned away and walked to the ‘Elevator’. At the ‘elevator’, Celestia noticed a panel with two buttons on it, one for up and one for down. Making her selection, the door opened immediately, opened, revealing a metal box with the back wall made of glass. Beyond it, she could see Ponyville in all of its advanced glory. Celestia was lost in thought. In just a few years, this person, this human, had advanced their scientific knowledge by at least 300 years, and Ponyville was the epicenter of the scientific renaissance, and it showed. Though it does not have the tallest building i Equestria, Ponyville has more buildings above 30 stories than in Manehattan, and the population we had boomed to three times it size, though it somehow still remained a thriving farming community, no doubt thanks to this man. It seemed he made it a point to emphasize how important it was to respect the farming community and nature itself. Snapping her self out of her short day dream, she turned around, the ‘Elevator having more than enough space to allow for her to fit in five times comfortably, and pressed the button with a star on it. Immediately, the door closed and the whole thing moved up, reaching its destination in less than 30 seconds. The doors opened, and she was met with a small hallway, its ceiling was made of glass and on each side many different plants grew as happily as if they were growling outside. Exiting the small foyer like room, she entered another room, this one a lot wider and its roof was a glass dome, in its center it had an apple tree, and its branches heavy with what she recognized as apples from the Apple family. Soon after she saw a desk, the secretary’s eyes widen as she saw the princess. Scrambling to get out of her chair, she stepped in front of the Princess and gave a deep bow. “Princess,” she said, her head still bowed, “we were not expecting you” she finished as she came out of her bow. “Yes, my little pony, it was very sudden.” she said, keeping her mask of regality. “I would like to speak to Eli though, it is very important.” “I will let the boss know, your highness.” with that the mare gave another bow, and turned around walking towards the big oak doors that were next to her desk and gave them a knock. It took about 30 seconds to get a response which came in the form of the door opening just enough to see the mare. “Yes, Rolled Scroll?” “W-well, sir, you have a visitor,” rolled scroll said, motioning with a hoof towards Princess celestia. The door was then opened completely revealing Eli, a Biped that was about six feet tall, with a goatee and mustache on his face, his skin was tan from the sun and his eyes were light brown. He wore a black suit and tie, with a simple white shirt on, a symbol of a hammer and anvil on a golden tie clip, a stylized flame on his cuff links. Immediately, Eli’s eyes widen, he was definitely was not expecting the princess to visit him. But soon he apparently noticed something on her, his eyes becoming...sympathetic? pitiful? Celestia could not tell, he was always harder to read than her little ponies. “Come on in, Celestia. Scroll, please cancel the rest of my meetings for today” he said to Rolled Scroll and motioning with his hand to his office, foregoing the bow and the title “I was not expecting you” Eli said as he closed the door. Celestia couldn't help but stare at his office. It was a perfect balance of industrial design and natural beauty. She would have kept looking, but she was interrupted by a hand on her withers. “What's wrong, Celestia?” he said as he kept walking, his hand still on her withers while leading her across his office and to a set of doors that lead to a lounge. As they entered, the first thing Celestia saw was that the entire back wall was made of glass letting in enough light to make her feel like she was outside. “How did yo-” that was another thing that Celestia always found uncanny about the man. The rest of her little ponies were never able to see through her mask, but to the human it was like she was not wearing one to begin with. “Really, its not that hard to figure out. Please, sit.” He said as he motioned to a sofa on one side of the lounge, to her the glass wall gave her an unobstructed view of Ponyville. “You never come to visit me at my office, that must mean that there is something wrong.” Celestia thought about this for a moment she tried to figure out how she would put this, eventually she decided to put it as simply as possible “I need your help.” She said, looking to the floor, too ashamed to look him straight in the eye, she herself could not even believe what she was about to ask for. This statement made Eli freeze for a moment. Why would, what amounts to a goddess, need his help? Eli suddenly got a sinking feeling. He didn't like that feeling. Steeling herself, Celestia continued summoning a scroll “The griffin’s took another city today, Trottingham. We lost 5,000 soldiers in that battle alone, bringing the total death toll for the war to nearly 22,000” She finished as she wiped a tear from her magenta eyes passing the scroll to Eli. He took it in his hand, looking over the exact figures and details of the battles. Most of the time this type of document would be classified, mainly due to the fact that most ponies were sensitive to this type of information. Eli looked at the princess, the sinking feeling increasing tremendously, and it increased even more as he opened his mouth to ask the question he knew he would regret asking. “What do want me to do?” Silence reigned for what seemed like hours, eventually Celestia started to speak. “We are outnumbered, we are out trained and the enemy has more experience with war than we do, I've refused to ask for you help before now, but I fear that I have no other choice. I am desperate.” She said as she looked Eli in the eyes, her gaze went down again as she continued to speak. “You once told me about your people. You told me of their culture and of their achievements, you told me that your technology made our most advanced scientific equipment look like toys, and I'm inclined to believe you.” Her voice was somber at this point, she was getting ready to ask what she came here to ask. Eli’s sinking feeling kept increasing more and more as Celestia paused, apparently trying to find a way to word her question. Not being able to come up with something, Celestia just decided to be blunt “Do these achievements also apply to weapons?” At that moment, his stomach finally dropped. “Are you asking me what you think you are asking me?” “Yes, I ask of you, no, I beg of you, please, make weapons for us.” She said as she gave a little sob where she was sitting, keeping her head down in what almost looked like a bow, but that was impossible, Celestia would have never bow to a simple mortal. “Celestia, I don't believe you know what you just ask of me” he said perfectly calm, containing the storm of emotions he had just below the skin Celestia looked back up at the man standing in front of her “Believe me, if I had any other option I would have taken it in a heartbeat.” Celestia said as she let out a snort of frustration from her nose “I've tried to negotiate for the last five years, since before the actual fighting started. I've offer them everything, I even tried to give them land, but apparently what they want I could not give to them. And that is why I need, we need weapons, because in the face of an unrelenting foe, we need to use unrelenting force. Nothing else will work” Eli just sat there, looking at the solar diarch, not believing what she had actually asked of him. It was true that he didn't know much about the war, he did not keep up with current events, and since that… day, his work has been his life. But still he didn't expect what the war to be so bad Celestia would resort to asking him for weapons. That made him think, why had she not taken action her self? “Why would you, the second most powerful being in the entire world after discord, need human weapons? You who control the sun. You who could obliterate an entire army. Why have you not taken action even now” “Yes,” she straightened up and looked at the human, a mixture of pride and dread was visible on her face “It is true that I hold a power like no one else, my shields are the strongest there ever were, but they can only protect one city at a time.” she continued as she began to deflate “I can attack with the power of the sun, but at best everything within a 15 mile radius would die, at worse,” her face was now facing the floor again, her expression that of dread “I could ignite the atmosphere on fire” Eli gave a big sigh, “Is it really that bad?” he asked ,his eyes never leaving her since they started talking “The war, I mean”. “We will loose within the year” was all she responded as she looked back at him. Eli just stood there, looking at the solar monarch and trying to make a decision. It was harder than most would think, as countless scenarios flew by his mind at blazing fast speeds and unfortunately all of those scenarios came back to one line of thinking: Them or Us “I will need some time to think,” was his response after a minute of thinking “How much time? we don't have much to spare” she immediately straightened up with alarm. “Celestia,” at this moment, slight outrage started to creep onto his voice “you still don't know what you are asking me. What you are asking me to do.” He suddenly stood up, and started walking to the liquor cabinet on the other side of the lounge and pouring himself a glass of Granny Smith’s hard apple cider “what you are asking me is to decide how horrifically they die and from which side. Do I want an untold number of gryphons to die by the thousands, or do I want the ponies to die what could be a slow and painful death at the hands of the gryphons.” he continued as he savored the taste and the slight burn of the cyder. Normally this would have been one of 100 bottles sold each year by the family, and it usually went for about 100,000 bits, but he was very good friends with the Apple family and they gave him this bottle for his birthday. “I unders-” “No you don't.” he interrupted her as he sniffed the cyder in my hands “You won't until you see the aftermath, until its too late to turn back.” He threw his head back, and finished the small glass “Now if you'll excuse me, I have to make preparations for my best friend’s wedding." Was last thing he said as he walked out of the lounge. Chapter 2One Week Later It was a beautiful day for a wedding. Eli made sure of that the weather team wouldn't plan any bad weather for her special day. Eli walked down the hallway of the Apple family house, the girls all decided to stay the night before while the groom stay in his own apartment, using it as an opportunity to have what possibly was the last slumber party they would ever have together. Eli had just arrived at the house, wanting to check on the progress the girls had made in getting the bride ready. He wore a pair of black pants and a white shirt, a blue vest and bow tie accentuated everything and made him look sharp, but not sharp enough to outdo the groom. he stood in front of the Applejack’s room and knocked. “Who is it?” The voice of Rarity came through the door “It's me.” Eli responded, “Just wanted to check on the progress you guys were making” “Oh! We should almost be done,” Rarity said, cheeriness in her voice, “just give us another hour and we should be good to go!” Eli groaned at her definition of ‘almost done’ “Ok, Well we are almost ready too.” Eli continued as he dusted his shoulder and straighten his tie. he was about to say something else, but was interrupted before he could open his mouth “Ya better be” Applejack from what sounded like next to the door, “Ya don't want to have the poor girl waiting for the groom instead!” “Of Course!” he responded faux indignation in his voice “What kind of best man would I be if I didn't get the groom to the church in time!” “A slow one!” Rainbow Dash responded, quickly followed by a laughter from everyone inside the room. “Alright alright” Eli raised his hands in defense, “I need to talk to Granny Smith real quick girls, then I'm going to go get the grom. we'll be waiting for you guys at the church” a chorus of okay’s quickly followed and Eli walked away. As soon as he did the room returned to the normal chatter. Walking down the stairs and turning to the kitchen, Eli saw Granny Smith was putting the finishing details on the wedding cake. Looking at the wedding cake, it was obvious to him that a lot of care and attention had been put into it. Everything from the countless multicolored sugar flowers to the miniature bride and groom was perfect. Eli stood in the door to the kitchen waiting for the old mare to finish her decorations, and once she did Eli gave a knock on the door frame, attracting the mare’s attention without startling her. “Oh, heya sonny,” she said with her grandma smile “you here for the stuff?” she asked as she winked. Eli just smiled back and winked “yes, granny” was all he responded. Granny smith just nodded and walked to a closed liquor cabinet. Unlocking it, she pulled out a bottle of Zap Apple Cider. This one was not vintage or anything, but it was still her special recipe, and one of the rarest alcoholic drinks in the world, as she only made two or three bottles a year. This surprised Eli, when he asked Granny Smith for a bottle of cider he was just expecting a normal bottle not this. “Granny smith,” Eli broke the silence, “what is this?” “Well its Zap Apple Cider of course!” she said as if it was nothing, “you asked me for something to make a special toast. Or did ya forget?” continued the old mare, her signature smile on her face “I’m supposed to be the forgetful one, not you young whippersnappers” “Yes, but I wasn't expecting it to be Zap apple” he said as he grabbed the bottle of cider. “You don't make many of these any more” “Yea, thats true” Granny Smith walked back over to the cake inspecting it one more time “And I don't drink any of it but maybe once a year!” she said as she sounded irritated “I have an entire cellar full of the stuff because of that damned Doc!” she looked back at him from where she was standing “And plus, you are family sonny, even if you aren't an Apple, and I would only give the best for family” she turned around facing the cake again, a shaky hoof rubbing her chin “I also have a little gift for the bride and groom too. It’s a vintage that has been in the cellar for about 40 years, a little older than the one I gave you” Satisfied with her work, Granny Smith walked over to the sink, starting to wash her utensils. Eli just looked at her for a moment and remembered that he had to pick up the groom and take him to the church. “Thanks Granny” he said as he looked at the watch “I have to go, but ill see you at the wedding” “See you then, Eli” and with that he left the house Walking out of the door, his personal limousine, a black limousine that was conceived by one of his younger designers, awaited him. He couldn't help but notice it reminded him of a chopped and stretched 49 Mercury. Behind his limousine a much longer, white limousine awaited for the bride and her entourage. Waiting by the door to the black limousine was his chauffeur, whom Eli liked to affectionately call ‘Alfred’. As Eli got closer the car Chauffeur opened the door for him, granting him access to the vehicle. “Welcome back, Sir. Where would you like to go?” “Its almost time for the wedding,” he said as he entered the car and sat on the seat, “so take me to riverside tower. Lets see how our groom is doing” “At once, sir.” Was all the chauffeur said as he closed the door. With that, Eli left for one of the few high end apartment buildings that had recently sprung up in ponyville lately. *** The stage was set, Eli was standing in a room he had used to give the groom a few encouraging words, though by looking at him you would think it made it worse. with some free time, Eli decide to go over his list, a little habit he had picked up from Twilight, and put a check on everything that was done. ‘The church was rented: Check(obviously)’ ‘So was the venue for the reception: Check(double obviously)’ ‘The Cake was done: Check’ ‘The decorations were immaculate: Check’ ‘The priest was here: Check’ ‘The catering was set up and was delicious’...Eli popped a “sample” he had taken from the kitchen: ‘Double Check’ Eli looked up from his list and saw that the groom was nervously fidgeting with a lightning shaped pin on his chest, his dress mirroring Eli’s, but with a black suit and not just a vest. ‘The groom is nervous...:Triple Check ‘ Everything seems to be in order, but at that moment, the light blue pegasus decided to assault Eli with a thousand-and-one questions...again “how do I look? Does my hair look okay? Is this supposed to look like this? Is it hot in here? How do i look!? does my hair-!” “Come down buddy” Eli, with a light slap to the face of the stallion, interrupted what was probably going to be a very long string of the same questions “I’m here for you, and I'll be literally standing by your side when the mare of your dreams walks in through those doors” he said as he put his hands on the stallion's shoulders, “just don't expect me to hold your hoof, Okay?” This drew a laugh from the stallion and he visibly relaxed. “Thanks, Man. I needed that”. “Thats what I’m here for, literally.” Eli gave the best reassuring smile he could give “well that and to prevent any stallions from coming in and stealing the bride from the altar” he added under his breath “What was that?” “Nothing” He responded, “We should get going, the ceremony starts in about 15 minutes” “But do you didn't answer my questions! How-” “You look fine, really” Eli said in time to stop the stallion from going into panic mode again. “Now c'mon, Soarin. Its time for your wedding” *** The church was beautiful, and it was more beautiful as Rainbow Dash came in through the doors, flanked by the other five girls, Scootaloo and Applebloom carrying the bride’s train. Her dress was, of course, designed by Rarity, it was a white gown with stripes of color throughout the dress, train and veil, a little bit make up applied to her face, though Eli knew it was most likely Rarity’s idea. How did she get RD to let her put makeup on her? Rarity has her ways. The girls wore much simpler dresses, each one a different color of the rainbow. just after the bride and bridesmaids Eli saw the ring bearers, Spike and Sweetie Belle. Spike carrying the rings on one hand, and in the other, he held Sweetie Belle, arm in leg. Besides him, Eli could have sworn, he heard a clang. Looking to the groom he saw Soarin, mouth agape and eyes wide. Giving him a gentle shove with his knee, Soarin snapped out of his zombie like state and closed his mouth with a click. Eventually, the bride and the groom met at the front of the altar, looking at eachother in the eye. “You look beautiful, RD.” At the sudden compliment Rainbow Dash blushed, shifting her weight nervously “T-Thanks, you look very handsome too.” At that moment the priest decided to start the ceremony “Dearly beloved, we gather here today to…” *** The reception was being held in a high end hotel on the edge of Ponyville’s new “rich district”, near Soarin’s apartment building. Eli was sitting besides the now husband, who was sitting next to his wife and besides her Scootaloo sat, the other seven girls sat in their chairs of choice with no particular order. Before them where were several tables that were reserved for close friends and family. *DING DING DING* the hitting of a fork on an empty glass brought all of the attention to Princess Twilight, she was the prime organizer for this function, but due to her princess duties, she had to leave most of the legwork to Eli. He didn't mind, actually, he enjoyed it. It was the first thing he did in several years that did not concern his job. “Hello, Everypony” she started sounding a little bit nervous, she had gotten a lot better at public speaking since she and Eli had met, but every once in a while the nervousness returned. “It is time for the bride and groom's friends and family to say a few words. First up, the man who made all of this possible.” She finished as she looked at Eli. Standing so that everyone in the crowd could hear, Eli cleared his voice started thinking what he was going to say, but it didn't take him long to come up with something. “Hello everypony. Let me just say how honored I am to have Rainbow Dash as my best friend. We’ve known each other since before we went touring around the country, doing shows and demonstrations to expose my inventions to the public eye. After that, she was my right hand mare, helping me organize races and other events, to say that we have gone through a lot is an understatement.” “I remember the time she told me she was in love, and his name was Motor Racing” this drew a hearty laugh from the crowd and a blush from Rainbow Dash who laughed too. “And I believed her, so when I needed someone to take over the racing division of my company, there was no better choice.” He took a moment to looked at Rainbow Dash, the nostalgia making her eyes water. She gently wiped a tear from her eye so that she did not smear the make up, lest she draw Rarity’s Wrath later on. “Now Soarin on the other hand, I met while I was recruiting drivers for the first Equestrian Dakar rally race.” Eli remembered it like it was yesterday, the first truly massive event RD and Eli organised. It was a 500 mile race going through all types of terrain, from desert to sea to mountains. “He had decided to try his hoof at motor racing while the Wonderbolts where in between tours, and went out to one of the venues we where using to test the driver’s skills. Turns out, he is a better driver than he is a flyer,” now it was time for Soarin to be the but of the joke, another round of laughter and another blush later, Eli continued “But that’s saying something, he is an awesome flyer. After he won the first Equestrian Dakar Race, he decided to leave the Wonderbolts and pursue a career as a professional race car driver. As soon as I heard that, I extended him an invitation to drive for my company, and believe me, I could not shove it in his face hard enough.” At that comment, the crowd gave a small chuckle, not knowing if it was meant to be a joke or not. Tensions dissipated once a hearty laugh was heard from Soarin followed by a “You can say that again!” “The final things I want to say, are that I have a gift for you, Rainbow Dash, that I will give you later, and to say...” there was a short pause where Elli tried to keep the mist from his eyes “that I think of both of you as my best friends, without you too, I would not have made it through these tough times in recent years.” At that, the crowd let out a sad ‘AWWW’ “for that I would like to propose a toast” a unicorn server appeared from one of the many doors and made his way around the guests of honor’s table and the one for close friends and family, serving each a glass of Granny's Zap Apple Cider. “To the lov-I mean Awesome couple” he said as he turned to look at the husband and wife, giving them a wink and drinking his cider. “Thank you all for your attention” Eli left the stage center of the room and took his seat back besides Soarin, who gave him a brohoof to the shoulder. “Thanks Eli, for that wonderful speech” Twilight said as she took center stage this time “I would like to say some words now. *ahem* Let me start by saying that when I first met Rainbow Dash, she didn't give the best first impression. It was the summer sun celebration and...” *** The day was coming to an end, the cake had been eaten, the bouquet had been thrown, and the dance had been danced. Right now everybody had walked out of the church to bid the husband and wife farewell. Eli stood at the end of the rows of people, next to the driveway. He watch as Soarin and RD made their way through the crowd of ponies just to stand in confusion as the limousine was not waiting for them. “Where is our ride?” Rainbow Dash asked, confusion rising as a smile cracked Eli’s face in two “Your ride will be here soon enough” He said as he passed an envelope to them. Opening the envelope, Rainbow found luxury hot air balloon tickets, and a set of directions stating that they didn't need anything and to report straight to the airport. “What is this” she asked. “Part one of your gift,” Eli said grin still on his face “part two should be here right about now” and at that moment the roar of a first generation, V8 diesel engine ripped through the crowd, one of only two ever made. The effect on Rainbow Dash was immediate, her ears perked up and her eyes widen, pupils the size of dinner plates, tears starting to run down her face, she could recognise that engine anywhere “H-h-how dd-did you...wher?” she wiped her eyes, deciding to hell with the make up. A moment later the car rolled to a stop in front of RD and Soarin, being driven by Alfred. Rainbow Dash stared at the car for what, to her, felt like hours. To her this was no ordinary car, this was thesonic wave, the car Rainbow Dash drove when she and Eli were on tour. Rainbow Dash thought she had lost it, and after the accident Eli thought so too. “I found it on a junkyard near fillydelphia last year” he said as a flash of nostalgia crossed across his face “even rebuild it my self in the old shop. I thought it would be a goo-” “T-the old shop?” Rainbow Dash interrupted him “but you had mothballed it. You brought it back on-line just for me?” RD asked, not knowing what else to say. A moment later all Eli saw was a blue blur that few up to his face and hugged him “THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!” she said as she rubbed part of her makeup on his face “you are the best friend a mare can ever have! Besides direct nitrous injection...But thats besides the point! THANK YOU!!!” “Your welcome,” Eli smiled, it truly was worth all of the time he put in it “but I think you should get going. You wouldn't want to miss your flight would you?” “You are right!” Rainbow Dash said enthusiastically as she wiped the remainder of her tears and (much to Rarity’s displeasure) make up “Rainbow Dash is never late!” With that RD and Soarin jumped in the car, which had been modified to be street legal and a passenger seat was added. Rainbow Dash quickly put on a circlet, its center housing the car’s control crystal, and started the car. the sound and vibrations of the engine made Rainbow’s hair stand on end. it was better than she remembered, but she could not get lost in nostalgia all day long, she needed to get somewhere, and she was not going to be late, ‘not in this car I won’t’. leaning out of the window for a moment, Rainbow quickly waved at the crowd of ponies but disappeared inside the car and spedoff into the night. Chapter 3The wedding was over, Rainbow Dash and Soarin had gone on their honeymoon, and the party guests had all left including Eli. The only difference between him and the rest of the guests was that he did not go home. Instead he he decided to go to one of the high end bars in the town, this one had actually opened about six weeks ago and he had been curious for a while. It was actually very close to where Soarin lived. Eli’s limousine stopped in front of the building, a small group of ponies were waiting to go inside the exclusive bar, most of them dressed in fancy clothes, and stopping them from coming in was a white earth pony stallion with a shaved mane and tail. Behind the bouncer, two other bouncers stood, these two however where Buffalo, their stature dwarfing the earth pony's. “I do apologise, Sir,” he said in a very deep voice. Any other time the stallion would be one of the most polite ponies in town, as his job demanded, but right now he was struggling to bite his tongue “but you do not have a membership to our establishment. I simply cannot let you, or your entourage, in the club without a membership.” The the pony on the other side of the velvet rope, a brown earth stallion with money bags for a cutie mark, just looked at his fellow pony for a moment, his eyebrow twitching as he was denied access to the bar “why can’t it be done today!? I demand access this moment! Do you know who I am? I own this town!” ‘Not any more’ the stallion thought as he sighed “As I was saying, sir,” the bouncer pony prepared to repeat himself again “the manager is not in today, and he has to approve all applications. you will have to wait until he co-” The white bouncer would have done a spit take if had he been drinking at the moment “Mr. Eli!” he said his scrambling to move past the small crowd of ponies, completely ignoring the group of ponies he was talking to before. “We were not expecting you today, would you like to go to the bar section today, or the restaurant section?” This confused Eli for a moment, he had never been here before, and he had overheard what the bouncer had said to the stallion just a moment ago “don't I require membership to enter?” “No sir.” The stallion said as he stood next to Eli “The owner gave you and Lady Dash membership since the day we opened,” he said as he directed the man towards the entrance of the building where the other two buffalo bouncers stood stone faced “someone of your status should not need to ask for a membership from us.” Unknown to any one present, this sentence made the brown stallion’s anger boil within him “to have somepo- I mean, someone as influential as in our establishment is a great privilege.” “Okay then, I will just go to the bar today” Eli said. for a moment he thought about asking the bouncer if he could let the earth pony in as his entourage, but figured that he would just hurt his ego, so he thought against. He didn't want to deal with it today, he just wanted his drink. “Certainly, Sir. Right this way,” the white pony started to direct him to the bar section of the establishment. The whole building had a modern vibe, Eli thought, it certainly was a far cry the designed form most of the buildings around here. Unless they were built by the construction division of his company, most concrete buildings where very boxy with no curves at all. this one, however, Eli notice that they had taken cues from his own buildings. the ambiance was also very interesting, the lights were low, but not low enough to stop anyone from reading the menu. To his right, running along the wall, Eli saw the bar, dim red accent lights were glowing from the bottom, giving an interesting look and feel to the whole establishment. Eli took a seat where the pony bouncer led him to, a seat that Eli thought was too high for the normal pony but perfect for him or a Buffalo, immediately a unicorn stallion came to him, “What will you have today, Sir?” He asked in an accent Eli thought sounded british. “How about wine to start,” Eli said as he looked at the menu “I'm feeling something sweet” “Right away, Sir” he said giving a nod, and walked away, presumably to the wine cellar to find bottle that would suit what Eli wished for. The room was quiet, outside of the far away chatter of the other patrons, there was almost no sound. Eli thought this was odd, but then he saw the small stage at the end of the room with instruments, no musicians in site. ‘They must be taking a break’ he thought as he went back to waiting for his alcohol. Eli was halfway through his first glass of, probably very expensive, wine when the music started playing, the bottle sitting in a bucket full of ice. As the music started playing his ear immediately latching onto the sound of the cello, It was one of the most beautiful he had ever heard. Eli had the sudden urge to turn his head and see who was the pony who player of this wonderful music. Turning around, Eli should have seen a band of ponies playing a song with a jazzy vibe, but there might have as well not have been a band at all, instead all he saw a beautiful earth pony mare cello player. For the first time in the last five years since his wife’s death, his eye was caught by another living being. For the remainder of the song, and a few after the first, he only had eyes and ears for the mare, their eyes meeting a few times during the songs. Eli just enjoyed the music that this pony played, there might as well not have been a pianist or a violinist, all Eli listened to was the sound of the smooth cello. Eventually, the band stopped playing and started to pack up, to Eli’s disappointment. all good things must come to an end, as they say. “Who was that?” Eli asked to the barkeep, “Playing the cello.” “Thats Octavia Melody,” he responded as he kept cleaning the glassware, “she play’s here every once in a while.” ‘I have to meet her’ Eli thought as he began to think of things he could do to arrange a meeting. But at that moment, as if Celestia herself answered his petitions, a voice came from behind him. *Ahem* “Am I right in assuming that I have a new fan?” The angelically beautiful voice came from behind Eli, cutting through his thoughts like a hot knife through butter, a slight Canterlot accent present in her voice. Turning around in his chair, Eli saw a mare wearing a simple purple bow tie that matched her cutie mark. Her eyes, rimmed with a light layer of makeup, where one of the most beautiful he had ever seen. “You would be right.” Eli said as he looked at the mare in front of him “That was quite the performance there.” “Why thank you,” She replied, blushing at the sudden compliment from the human, “it is nice to know that there are still people that appreciate the sound of the cello, and not think of it as just a background instrument” “Indeed,” he started as he stood from his chair “I have seen performances with a cello that would put many violinists to shame, and in my opinion it is a much more flexible instrument. And you certainly know how to bring out the beauty and flexibility in the instrument,” he finished and by this time, Octavia was more than a little red in the face “By the way, my name is-” started as he extended his hand to shake her hoof “Eli,” she interrupted him as she put her hoof in his hand “sole proprietor of Ember Corp. and one of the most powerful mortals to have ever existed?” Octavia finished for Eli, extending a hoof towards him “Charmed” “Pleased to meet you,” Eli said as he bent down and gently shook her hoof. looking at her, a strange feeling in his chest ‘Why is it that ponies insist on mentioning how powerful I am?’ he thought as he released her hoof, it had gotten worse in the last few years for some odd reason. Eli couldn't go one day without hearing someone mentioning it. “So you have heard of me?” he continued when she said nothing else. “Everypony has, Mr. Eli. It is hard to open the newspaper and not see at least one article with your or your company’s name on it, or someone on the street mentioning it. Celestia knows that my sister talked about the races all the time.” This caused Eli to deflate a little, “Sometimes I wish they didn't…” he said low, hoping that no one would hear it, but Octavia did. before she could say anything though, Eli interrupted her. “Would you like to sit with me and share a glass, Miss Melody?” Eli said as he motioned to the bottle of wine sitting in the bucket of ice. “Why yes, I would love to, and just Octavia is fine.” “Okay. So tell me about your self, Octavia, how long have you played the cello?” “Well, right now I'm trying to expand my horizons, playing as many different kinds of music as I can.” Octavia started “I started playing when I was about 10, playing just classical music, and as I grew older I thought that I was too good for any other kind of music. I had my first big break when I was 17 at the Grand Galloping Gala. My school was asked by Princess Celestia put together a band of the best music student and I was there…” *** Octavia and Eli kept talking for hours, the bar was almost empty, there were just 5 people left and two of them worked there, both had a healthy amount of social lubricant in them, but not enough to do things they would regret. “Wait a minute wait a minute,” Eli said as he put his glass of wine down “you are just 24? Someone as accomplished as you? I would have thought you were around my age.” “Really?” Octavia responded, not knowing if to be insulted or not “So how old are you” “I'm 29,” was all he responded, but the reaction was immediate. At his response Octavia had to suppress spitting her wine on her glass. This man, this human, was only 5 years older than her, and was already one of the most powerful beings in this country and several others. “Wow,” he said faking dejection. “Not the response I was expecting. I just might have to drink more.” “No no no! I didn't mean it that way!” Octavia was starting to panicking, afraid that she might have insulted the man in front of her. But as soon as it started picking up speed, her panic train was derailed by the sound of chuckling. “You don’t have to take everything so serious,” he said as he let out a sigh “I was just messing with you.” “I'm so-” she was interrupted by the lights to a section of the building being turned off. Confused, Eli looked at the clock on the wall ‘3:00 AM, time flies when you are having fun’ he thought as he looked at the mare in front of him, he could not let her walk home like this, she was tipsy and it was to early for the cabs to be running. “Looks like they are about to close down. Would you like a ride to your house?” “Well what a gentlecolt,” she responded as she looked for her cello case, momentarily forgetting where she had put it “But I live about a block from here, it would not be worth the fuel to take me there.” “Then I’ll walk you there,” he said with a smile on his face “I insist, a man should never let a lady go home alone under these circumstances,” he interrupted as she was about to protest. “Well if you insist,” she said as she stood up from her chair, proceeding to immediately stumble on her hoofs. Eli grabbed her by the sides preventing her from falling, somehow ending up with his face mere inches from hers, “It looks like I'm a little bit more tipsy than I thought.” Octavia blushed, and it wasn't because of the alcohol “Perhaps I will need some help getting home.” Eli thought that was the most adorable thing he had ever seen, a little drunken pony stumbling and trying to get her stuff so that she can go home. “It would be my pleasure,” Eli said as he grabbed her cello. Octavia quickly found her balance and started walking, exiting the building soon after. After walking for about 10 minutes, Eli and Octavia stood in front of riverside towers, a small 10 story apartment building that overlooked the river, the same building Soarin lived in. “You live here?” Eli asked as he held the cello’s case in his arm. “Yes, on the top floor,” she said as she started to walk up the stairs towards the entrance “Not many earth ponies live there because it is so high off the ground, but I find that the view is simply breath taking,” she continued as she looked at the top floor, hers was one of four there. “Indeed it is” he responded with slight nostalgia. “From the way you say it, it sounds like you've been here before.” “Yes, I own the building,” was all he responded as he also looked to the top of the building. Eli indeed owned the building. It originally it was built as a sort of boarding house for all of the new employees to live in while more houses were being built. Though most employees decided to move, there were a few, like Soarin, that decided to stay. Octavia looked at the man for several seconds, trying to determine if he was joking or not, but stopped when she found no smile on his face. “For some odd reason, I'm not surprised,” was all she responded. “Are you sure you’re going to be okay from here?” Eli asked, concerned for the mare he had just met. “I’m sure,” Octavia responded as she grabbed the cello from Eli, “I think I can still operate the elevator.” this caused Eli to chuckle a little, “yes, well we do try to make them as easy to use as possible.” “I had fun today,” Octavia said as she shifted her weight from hoof to hoof, “thanks for the company… and the wine too” “It was my pleasure, and an honor, to spend this time with you,” Eli said as he bent down to shake her hoof but stopped short, trying to figure out how he was going to ask this. Eventually he just decided to be simple and straightforward. “Can we do this again some time?” “Like a date?” Octavia asked, looking to the side as to not let Eli see the red in her face, “I would love to.” “Its a date then,” Eli responded his heart starting to flutter “How about tomorrow? “That sounds wonderful” she responded as she places her hoof on his outstretched hand “is 8:00 PM okay?” “That sounds great to me.” Eli responded as, instead of shaking her hoof, he kissed it. Chapter 4Chapter 4 Eli had woken up happier than he had in years, slight hangover and all. Last night was the best Night he had in years, he went to RD’s wedding, he had met a mare that had done the impossible and caught his eye, and the last and most important thing, for him, he had spent time with said mare. he felt like he was walking on clouds and nothing was going to ruin it. “Uh, Sir?” feminine voice came from somewhere in the room, shaking his head, Eli noticed that right now he had an entire conference room full of the heads of every department looking at him, “Are you okay?” the voice asked again. Turning his head to his right, he noticed that it was the chief of engineering, gear ratio, was looking at him with worry in her eyes. “you are distracted today, that's unusual for you, Sir.” “Yes,I'm alright.” he said as he tried to remember the last thing she said, but drawing a blank. What were you saying again?” “we were wondering if there was anything else that needed to be brought up” she said as she finished putting her papers in her folder “No, that will be all. thanks you are all dismissed” with that, the rest of the ponies and one donkie picked up their things and left the conference room. Looking at his schedule, he looked for the next item in his agenda, ‘looks like will be making my rounds on the research side of the facility today’. *** he began walking out of the conference room himself, he took an immediate right, started walking straight to the research and development area. going thru several doors, and a security checkpoint where he himself was to be scanned. ‘We don't want repeat of the changeling incident’ he thought as he felt the magic of the unicorn mare going over him. “sorry for the inconvenience, Sir.” the mare said as she finished the scan, adjusting the earpiece for one of the new ‘compact’ personal magic radios the R&D department just perfected. though the R&D department had made it the smallest it could, it was still large enough that they needed to wear it as a saddle bag. “No problem at all, Amethyst, you don't have to apologize, I'm the one that is making you scan every one, including me” he said as he chuckled “O-ok Sir” she said as Eli straightened his jacket. “So, how is your first week going?” he said as he stopped, there were no other ponies going in thru the door, so he took the time to speak to one of his newest employees. “Its been great, Sir,I managed to learn the scanning spell, it was difficult at the beginning, but after doing it 50 or so times a day, it becomes second nature quickly!” she responded excitedly rubbing the back of her purple mane “thats good.” Eli said, very happy that the mare was adjusting to her new position well. “how is your mother? last I heard she was having problems with her eyesight” this caused the mare in an instant to look crestfallen “Y-yea, she has been getting steadily worse over the years, its actually why I took this job, the pay is good, and now that she is not working,I Am going to be supporting her and my little sister.” she looked to the side, not wanting to look at the man in front of her in the eye“I also wanted to put together some money for a procedure that can help her regain her eyesight.” “hmm, that won't do.” he said as he shook his head and crossed his arms. the mare had a sudden look of panic for some odd reason, but it quickly vanished as he continued to talk. “talk to the employee health department and ask them to put her and you're on our health plan. free of charge of course” “w-w-what, no w-we can't acc-” “Yes you can, and you will” he interrupted her as he put a finger in the air “Just ask your mother to make me a dozen of her best chocolate chip muffins” he continued as he began to turn around “They are to die for!” Eli began to walk away, but then turned around and addressed the mare with the jaw on the floor “By the way, amethyst” she stiffened at Eli calling her “Don't call me Sir, it sounds too old and we are about the same age, Just call me boss.” Amethyst finally got control back of her vocal cords and responded “sure thing Boss!” *** “How is the magic-Electricity conversion ratio, white lightning?” a male unicorn asked as he looked over a circuit diagram, his blue coat as messy as his dark gray mane and tail “its good, but we still can't get the electricity to flow freely enough for the system to work, Rising Star. what else can we do to get more electricity thru the circuit, Flow?” a female pegasus pony said looking at the actual magical circuit on the table, her coat white and her mane blue . “have you tried to rout the electricity thru one of th-” The light green earth pony mare with very light blue mane and tail responded, but was interrupted by the sound of a door opening “There is the triple threat!” Eli said as he entered the room, a grin spread across his face, “blown up any buildings recently?” “Hehehe” the unicorn stallion said with a nervous laugh that was accompanied by the laughs of the two mares, “You still bring that up, no, we try to keep our experiments on the tame side now a days” he said as he remembered the incident about 6 years ago where the three of them blew down the wall of company’s old research facility” “So, what are you three working on today?” he starting, having enough of teasing the three ponies. “We are working on a adding more capabilities to our current control crystals.” he started explaining “As you know, the current design for control crystals allow us to controll cars and other mechanical with greater precision than we could with our hooves.” he said, none of this was news to him, he did help his wife develop it, after all. “yes, we still hold the steering wheel with our hooves but things like accelerating and braking are very uncomfortable to do to the way our rear legs are shaped. but I digress.” “Now, as I was saying,” the stallion said as he looked at the notes “The circuit you and… lady Ember” he paused, remembering the first head or R&D, the lady part was purely out of the greatest respect, as she was not an actual noble “develop was nothing but genius. nothing like this had ever been attempted before,I mean come on! laying down magical circuitry on a gem? I'm surprised no one had ever done it before! not only did you develop the process, but you also invented magicall circuitry itself!...But again I digress” Yes, Eli remembered those days like they were yesterday. Eli came up with the concepts, Ember made them a reality, with Mechano magic begin their first real invention. they had invented a whole new magic that allowed ponies, no matter the species, to control magical actuators, another of their inventions, with the use of control crystals. “So what we were trying to do is add the capability of not only controlling a Mechano magic, but also add the capability to control electrical switches,” the stallion said as he kept looking at the countless diagrams “but we are running into problems.” the stallion said with an exasperated look on his race at this, white lightning picked up where the stallion left of “what Rising star was trying to say, is that the imperfections in each individual gem are causing too much interference with the magic circuit. this is okay with mechano magic since it is controlling something physical, but in this application, we are trying to control electricity, something much more sensitive” “We would have much greater success if we had perfect diamonds, but the kids in section one haven't perfected the CVD process yet.” Flow said “from what they are telling me they only get one perfect diamond out of 50. and section one is using all of the ones they are cranking out. Us in section two only get what they don't use, which isn't much and there is a large waiting list.” “Okay, thanks,I'm just doing rounds today, to get a better sense of what how the research is doing, though it sould like I'm going to have to pass by section one to. see you guys later.” Eli said as he exited the lab, and again tried to remember everything he knew about CVD. if he wasn't mistaking, section one was actually where apple bloom was shadowing today. After he walked down the hallway, he was met by an elevator that would take him to the top floor of the R&D wing:Section 1. *** Applebloom looked over the stallions shoulder, normally this would have angered him, but in this case, he actually asked her to do so. “So, as I was saying, this is the machine we keep a variety of the chemicals.” the gray stallion with black graying mane said as he looked thru the viewing hole in a machine, manipulating the arms placed inside the machine with his magic “Though it looks like we keep them enclosed for our protection, it is actually to protect the chemicals from contamination. There are only a handful of chemicals in here that can actually hurt you, but there are none that will kill you immediately.” the stallion finished reassuring Applebloom in his own way. “Okay. so what do we use these chemical for, Mr Matter?” Apple bloom asked feeling a little bit out of place. usually Applebloom and Dark Matter spent most of their time in on section three and four, sometimes on section two, but not often. this was the first time she had stepped hoof here. Applebloom had spent her entire spring break shadowing Dr Dark Matter, he was an old stallion that worked as R&D supervisor. He was not the nicest stallion in the world, but after shadowing him for a week, the stallion had ‘warmed up’ to Applebloom “Ah, a fine question.” Dark Matter said as put a different combination of chemicals. “We use this machine for any project that needs a highly controlled combination of chemicals, but right now it is mainly being used for the CVD diamond project. It's probably the the most important project he are running right now” the stallion, apparently happy with his work, pressed a button on the machine which caused it to expel a mixture of gas inside a canister. quickly levitating it off and labeling it ‘Blend #45’. “What exactly are we trying to do with diamonds?” she asked, now knowing what CVD was. “Basically, Miss bloom, we are trying to create diamonds atom by atom.” Dark matter responded, but sensing the oncoming question he continued “the reason that we are trying to make them instead of buying them is, as our leader so accurately expressed, ‘Mother nature is an artist, she does not like to make two of the same’. this is okay for jewelry, but for purposes like control crystals, it causes each crystal to have a ‘signature’ that the wearer has to learn before he can fully utilise it.” “Oh,I See.” applebloom responded starting to get the purpose and goals of the project “Miss bloom,are you alright?” he asked, actually showing concern for the young mare, something he would not do for anyone else. “you are not acting like your cheerful selfe today” “Its...its nothing, Mr Matter” Applebloom responded while looking at the floor “Well, its something, but its regarding mah family, i'd rather not discuss it with, no offence, a stranger” “None taken, Miss Bloom,I understand.” he said as he tentatively put his hoof on her shoulder. he was not very good with feelings, so he didn't know if what he was doing was okay or not, but regardless, he moved forward “but if you need to speak to someone, know that I'm here, and I'm sure the boss-” At that moment the door to the lab opened and Eli walked in. The way that they were standing did not look good, alone in a lab room, AB looking crestfallen, and an older stallion with his hoof on her shoulder. Didn't look good at all. “Whats going on here?” was all he asked but the response was immediate. the stallion quickly wiped around looking at the tall Biped like he was about to soil himself “N-nothing Sir,I was just asking the young lady why she looked so down, thats all” Dark Matter was starting to panic at that moment ‘I'm going to get fired!’ he thought over and over again as Eli walked up to them ‘I'm going to get fired and I'm never going to work in the scientific field again!’. Eli looked at the stallion for a moment, his face perfectly neutral, and then looked at Applebloom, “is anything wrong, AB?” “No, E-,I mean, Boss.” she said, remembering that when they were at work she couldn't talk to him like she normally talked to him, the other ponies would think he had favorites. “Its like he said,I was feeling a little down in the dumps, and he was asking me why.” Eli seemingly okay with her answer turned around to the stallio, causing him to jump a little, “So how is the process on the CVD diamonds?” “W-well Sir, process is going slow.” he stuttered a little but soon calmed himself down, knowing that his Boss was not an unreasonable man “It seems like we are still having problems finding the correct combination of gases and compounds to make diamonds. we are getting diamonds, but most are nothing bigger than a grain of salt. every once in a while we get a big one, but it seems like they appear at random” “Hmm. what are you using for the plasma, Dark?” Eli asked as he looked at the canister in the unicorns grasp “right now we are using a mixture of hydrogen and methane like you told us, and we’ve been experimenting with different ratios” Dark matter responded off the top of his head, as he leading the tall man to the running CVD reactor. Eli was pleased that the reactor had come along nicely and was now operational, he had not had a chance to visit the team since the construction phase. Unlike Eli, Applebloom was trying very hard not to let her jaw hit the floor. to her it looked like something out of a science fiction comic book or something, pipes and cables coming out of a big capsule like structure in the middle of the lab. she half expected it to open and for a little green pony to come out of it. Once they were standing in front of the reactor, Eli looked thru the window and noticed something almost immediately “I think if found your problem Doc” Immediately, Dr Black matter turned to look at the man, eyes wide thinking he might have done something wrong, “What is it?” “You aren't putting enough power thru the high frequency emitters, the plasma is supposed to to be a deep lavender color.I guestimate that you probably need about double what you are putting thru it right now” “Hmm...that does make sense, but we can't possibly draw any more power from either the grid or our power plant, not unless we redline our power plant.” “We can't possibly do that, not for too long anyway.” Eli told the stallion as he wrote down something on a book “I'll have to speak to section five and ask them to start construction on another generator at their off site facility.” Eli said as he took another look at the reactor, “but in the meanwhile, do what you can with what you have. “Yes Sir.” “Now if you excuse me,I have several other departments that have to visit” with that and a farewell Eli went to exit but was stopped by Applebloom “Uh...” The young lady spoke up, “can i talk to you, it does not have to be now, but i just need to talk to some one?” “Sure, my door is always open.” he responded, lowering himself to be more at eye level. Dark Matter took that as a signal to make himself scarce “what about?” “Well...” Applebloom started hesitantly, she had planned on talking to Eli for a while, but now that he was in front of her, she was starting to have doubts.“Its about Big Mac. Earlier today, he told us that he j-joined the army. My brother is leaving us tomorrow...”
Chapter 1 (Edited) Celestia had arrived on the building about five minutes ago, she had stayed in her carriage, though, trying to muster the strength to see Him. Now don't get her wrong, she knew she could crush him in the blink of an eye, and she knew that he would never do anything to harm anypony, or as he would put it, anyone, but she had seen this day coming for the past year, and she had been dreading the decision that she had to make. The request she had to make. Steeling herself, Celestia finally exited her carriage, the armored ponies went to unhooked themselves, but Celestia interrupted them, “No, my little ponies,” she said with a calm and motherly tone, hiding her true emotions very well, “I have to do this alone.” She knew they were going to protest, so she preemptively struck with a response to the unasked question “Everything will be alright, my little ponies, he is a friend.” the ponie guards eventually stood down, and let their leader go in the building where the most influential mortal resided: The Ember Corp HQ, previously known as The Ember River manufacturing Co. The building itself was what some would consider beautiful, and stood at 10 stories high, very futuristic looking with very gentle curves made of steel, concrete, and glass. It also incorporated plants on several overhanging ledges. How he was able to make materials such as concrete and steel look like this, was beyond her, as most of his inventions. Celestia started walking up the stairs, seeing many of her little ponies, all of them bowing before her. She kept walking though, she wished she could stop and greet them, after all she had not been in Ponyville in a while, but she had matters to attend to. Soon enough she reached the front door and surprisingly, it opened automatically. ‘One of his many inventions no doubt’ she thought as she crossed the threshold. Inside, Celestia could see that it was as beautiful as on the outside, incorporating metal, glass, and plant elements into the design of the building. Celestia thought it was beautiful, opposite elements such as industry and nature, she thought it was impossible for them to coexist in balance, yet he proved her wrong, like in many occasions. Celestia walked into the up to the receptionist having no idea where to locate the person she was looking for. “Excuse me” she said, keeping the hesitation form her voice “Where can I find Eli?” The receptionist didn't look up in the beginning, she was too busy writing down something on a piece of paper “Do you have...an...appointment?” she trailed off as she saw who was standing in front of her, and as soon as her brain restarted, she jump off the chair and went around her desk, bowing deeply “Princess Celestia!” she said with her face nearly touching the floor, “Forgive me, I didn't know it was her highness!” “Do not worry, my little pony. I just need directions” she said, a calming smile on her face, to tell the truth, she just wanted to get this over with. “Of course, your highness!” the mare said as she raised her head again, “Just go to the elevator over there and press the Up button, once inside, press the button with with a star on it, that will take you to the boss’s office” She finish replying quickly. Celestia just smiled “Thank you, my little pony,” was all she said as she turned away and walked to the ‘Elevator’. At the ‘elevator’, Celestia noticed a panel with two buttons on it, one for up and one for down. Making her selection, the door opened immediately, opened, revealing a metal box with the back wall made of glass. Beyond it, she could see Ponyville in all of its advanced glory. Celestia was lost in thought. In just a few years, this person, this human, had advanced their scientific knowledge by at least 300 years, and Ponyville was the epicenter of the scientific renaissance, and it showed. Though it does not have the tallest building i Equestria, Ponyville has more buildings above 30 stories than in Manehattan, and the population we had boomed to three times it size, though it somehow still remained a thriving farming community, no doubt thanks to this man. It seemed he made it a point to emphasize how important it was to respect the farming community and nature itself. Snapping her self out of her short day dream, she turned around, the ‘Elevator having more than enough space to allow for her to fit in five times comfortably, and pressed the button with a star on it. Immediately, the door closed and the whole thing moved up, reaching its destination in less than 30 seconds. The doors opened, and she was met with a small hallway, its ceiling was made of glass and on each side many different plants grew as happily as if they were growling outside. Exiting the small foyer like room, she entered another room, this one a lot wider and its roof was a glass dome, in its center it had an apple tree, and its branches heavy with what she recognized as apples from the Apple family. Soon after she saw a desk, the secretary’s eyes widen as she saw the princess. Scrambling to get out of her chair, she stepped in front of the Princess and gave a deep bow. “Princess,” she said, her head still bowed, “we were not expecting you” she finished as she came out of her bow. “Yes, my little pony, it was very sudden.” she said, keeping her mask of regality. “I would like to speak to Eli though, it is very important.” “I will let the boss know, your highness.” with that the mare gave another bow, and turned around walking towards the big oak doors that were next to her desk and gave them a knock. It took about 30 seconds to get a response which came in the form of the door opening just enough to see the mare. “Yes, Rolled Scroll?” “W-well, sir, you have a visitor,” rolled scroll said, motioning with a hoof towards Princess celestia. The door was then opened completely revealing Eli, a Biped that was about six feet tall, with a goatee and mustache on his face, his skin was tan from the sun and his eyes were light brown. He wore a black suit and tie, with a simple white shirt on, a symbol of a hammer and anvil on a golden tie clip, a stylized flame on his cuff links. Immediately, Eli’s eyes widen, he was definitely was not expecting the princess to visit him. But soon he apparently noticed something on her, his eyes becoming...sympathetic? pitiful? Celestia could not tell, he was always harder to read than her little ponies. “Come on in, Celestia. Scroll, please cancel the rest of my meetings for today” he said to Rolled Scroll and motioning with his hand to his office, foregoing the bow and the title “I was not expecting you” Eli said as he closed the door. Celestia couldn't help but stare at his office. It was a perfect balance of industrial design and natural beauty. She would have kept looking, but she was interrupted by a hand on her withers. “What's wrong, Celestia?” he said as he kept walking, his hand still on her withers while leading her across his office and to a set of doors that lead to a lounge. As they entered, the first thing Celestia saw was that the entire back wall was made of glass letting in enough light to make her feel like she was outside. “How did yo-” that was another thing that Celestia always found uncanny about the man. The rest of her little ponies were never able to see through her mask, but to the human it was like she was not wearing one to begin with. “Really, its not that hard to figure out. Please, sit.” He said as he motioned to a sofa on one side of the lounge, to her the glass wall gave her an unobstructed view of Ponyville. “You never come to visit me at my office, that must mean that there is something wrong.” Celestia thought about this for a moment she tried to figure out how she would put this, eventually she decided to put it as simply as possible “I need your help.” She said, looking to the floor, too ashamed to look him straight in the eye, she herself could not even believe what she was about to ask for. This statement made Eli freeze for a moment. Why would, what amounts to a goddess, need his help? Eli suddenly got a sinking feeling. He didn't like that feeling. Steeling herself, Celestia continued summoning a scroll “The griffin’s took another city today, Trottingham. We lost 5,000 soldiers in that battle alone, bringing the total death toll for the war to nearly 22,000” She finished as she wiped a tear from her magenta eyes passing the scroll to Eli. He took it in his hand, looking over the exact figures and details of the battles. Most of the time this type of document would be classified, mainly due to the fact that most ponies were sensitive to this type of information. Eli looked at the princess, the sinking feeling increasing tremendously, and it increased even more as he opened his mouth to ask the question he knew he would regret asking. “What do want me to do?” Silence reigned for what seemed like hours, eventually Celestia started to speak. “We are outnumbered, we are out trained and the enemy has more experience with war than we do, I've refused to ask for you help before now, but I fear that I have no other choice. I am desperate.” She said as she looked Eli in the eyes, her gaze went down again as she continued to speak. “You once told me about your people. You told me of their culture and of their achievements, you told me that your technology made our most advanced scientific equipment look like toys, and I'm inclined to believe you.” Her voice was somber at this point, she was getting ready to ask what she came here to ask. Eli’s sinking feeling kept increasing more and more as Celestia paused, apparently trying to find a way to word her question. Not being able to come up with something, Celestia just decided to be blunt “Do these achievements also apply to weapons?” At that moment, his stomach finally dropped. “Are you asking me what you think you are asking me?” “Yes, I ask of you, no, I beg of you, please, make weapons for us.” She said as she gave a little sob where she was sitting, keeping her head down in what almost looked like a bow, but that was impossible, Celestia would have never bow to a simple mortal. “Celestia, I don't believe you know what you just ask of me” he said perfectly calm, containing the storm of emotions he had just below the skin Celestia looked back up at the man standing in front of her “Believe me, if I had any other option I would have taken it in a heartbeat.” Celestia said as she let out a snort of frustration from her nose “I've tried to negotiate for the last five years, since before the actual fighting started. I've offer them everything, I even tried to give them land, but apparently what they want I could not give to them. And that is why I need, we need weapons, because in the face of an unrelenting foe, we need to use unrelenting force. Nothing else will work” Eli just sat there, looking at the solar diarch, not believing what she had actually asked of him. It was true that he didn't know much about the war, he did not keep up with current events, and since that… day, his work has been his life. But still he didn't expect what the war to be so bad Celestia would resort to asking him for weapons. That made him think, why had she not taken action her self? “Why would you, the second most powerful being in the entire world after discord, need human weapons? You who control the sun. You who could obliterate an entire army. Why have you not taken action even now” “Yes,” she straightened up and looked at the human, a mixture of pride and dread was visible on her face “It is true that I hold a power like no one else, my shields are the strongest there ever were, but they can only protect one city at a time.” she continued as she began to deflate “I can attack with the power of the sun, but at best everything within a 15 mile radius would die, at worse,” her face was now facing the floor again, her expression that of dread “I could ignite the atmosphere on fire” Eli gave a big sigh, “Is it really that bad?” he asked ,his eyes never leaving her since they started talking “The war, I mean”. “We will loose within the year” was all she responded as she looked back at him. Eli just stood there, looking at the solar monarch and trying to make a decision. It was harder than most would think, as countless scenarios flew by his mind at blazing fast speeds and unfortunately all of those scenarios came back to one line of thinking: Them or Us “I will need some time to think,” was his response after a minute of thinking “How much time? we don't have much to spare” she immediately straightened up with alarm. “Celestia,” at this moment, slight outrage started to creep onto his voice “you still don't know what you are asking me. What you are asking me to do.” He suddenly stood up, and started walking to the liquor cabinet on the other side of the lounge and pouring himself a glass of Granny Smith’s hard apple cider “what you are asking me is to decide how horrifically they die and from which side. Do I want an untold number of gryphons to die by the thousands, or do I want the ponies to die what could be a slow and painful death at the hands of the gryphons.” he continued as he savored the taste and the slight burn of the cyder. Normally this would have been one of 100 bottles sold each year by the family, and it usually went for about 100,000 bits, but he was very good friends with the Apple family and they gave him this bottle for his birthday. “I unders-” “No you don't.” he interrupted her as he sniffed the cyder in my hands “You won't until you see the aftermath, until its too late to turn back.” He threw his head back, and finished the small glass “Now if you'll excuse me, I have to make preparations for my best friend’s wedding." Was last thing he said as he walked out of the lounge.
Chapter 2One Week Later It was a beautiful day for a wedding. Eli made sure of that the weather team wouldn't plan any bad weather for her special day. Eli walked down the hallway of the Apple family house, the girls all decided to stay the night before while the groom stay in his own apartment, using it as an opportunity to have what possibly was the last slumber party they would ever have together. Eli had just arrived at the house, wanting to check on the progress the girls had made in getting the bride ready. He wore a pair of black pants and a white shirt, a blue vest and bow tie accentuated everything and made him look sharp, but not sharp enough to outdo the groom. he stood in front of the Applejack’s room and knocked. “Who is it?” The voice of Rarity came through the door “It's me.” Eli responded, “Just wanted to check on the progress you guys were making” “Oh! We should almost be done,” Rarity said, cheeriness in her voice, “just give us another hour and we should be good to go!” Eli groaned at her definition of ‘almost done’ “Ok, Well we are almost ready too.” Eli continued as he dusted his shoulder and straighten his tie. he was about to say something else, but was interrupted before he could open his mouth “Ya better be” Applejack from what sounded like next to the door, “Ya don't want to have the poor girl waiting for the groom instead!” “Of Course!” he responded faux indignation in his voice “What kind of best man would I be if I didn't get the groom to the church in time!” “A slow one!” Rainbow Dash responded, quickly followed by a laughter from everyone inside the room. “Alright alright” Eli raised his hands in defense, “I need to talk to Granny Smith real quick girls, then I'm going to go get the grom. we'll be waiting for you guys at the church” a chorus of okay’s quickly followed and Eli walked away. As soon as he did the room returned to the normal chatter. Walking down the stairs and turning to the kitchen, Eli saw Granny Smith was putting the finishing details on the wedding cake. Looking at the wedding cake, it was obvious to him that a lot of care and attention had been put into it. Everything from the countless multicolored sugar flowers to the miniature bride and groom was perfect. Eli stood in the door to the kitchen waiting for the old mare to finish her decorations, and once she did Eli gave a knock on the door frame, attracting the mare’s attention without startling her. “Oh, heya sonny,” she said with her grandma smile “you here for the stuff?” she asked as she winked. Eli just smiled back and winked “yes, granny” was all he responded. Granny smith just nodded and walked to a closed liquor cabinet. Unlocking it, she pulled out a bottle of Zap Apple Cider. This one was not vintage or anything, but it was still her special recipe, and one of the rarest alcoholic drinks in the world, as she only made two or three bottles a year. This surprised Eli, when he asked Granny Smith for a bottle of cider he was just expecting a normal bottle not this. “Granny smith,” Eli broke the silence, “what is this?” “Well its Zap Apple Cider of course!” she said as if it was nothing, “you asked me for something to make a special toast. Or did ya forget?” continued the old mare, her signature smile on her face “I’m supposed to be the forgetful one, not you young whippersnappers” “Yes, but I wasn't expecting it to be Zap apple” he said as he grabbed the bottle of cider. “You don't make many of these any more” “Yea, thats true” Granny Smith walked back over to the cake inspecting it one more time “And I don't drink any of it but maybe once a year!” she said as she sounded irritated “I have an entire cellar full of the stuff because of that damned Doc!” she looked back at him from where she was standing “And plus, you are family sonny, even if you aren't an Apple, and I would only give the best for family” she turned around facing the cake again, a shaky hoof rubbing her chin “I also have a little gift for the bride and groom too. It’s a vintage that has been in the cellar for about 40 years, a little older than the one I gave you” Satisfied with her work, Granny Smith walked over to the sink, starting to wash her utensils. Eli just looked at her for a moment and remembered that he had to pick up the groom and take him to the church. “Thanks Granny” he said as he looked at the watch “I have to go, but ill see you at the wedding” “See you then, Eli” and with that he left the house Walking out of the door, his personal limousine, a black limousine that was conceived by one of his younger designers, awaited him. He couldn't help but notice it reminded him of a chopped and stretched 49 Mercury. Behind his limousine a much longer, white limousine awaited for the bride and her entourage. Waiting by the door to the black limousine was his chauffeur, whom Eli liked to affectionately call ‘Alfred’. As Eli got closer the car Chauffeur opened the door for him, granting him access to the vehicle. “Welcome back, Sir. Where would you like to go?” “Its almost time for the wedding,” he said as he entered the car and sat on the seat, “so take me to riverside tower. Lets see how our groom is doing” “At once, sir.” Was all the chauffeur said as he closed the door. With that, Eli left for one of the few high end apartment buildings that had recently sprung up in ponyville lately. *** The stage was set, Eli was standing in a room he had used to give the groom a few encouraging words, though by looking at him you would think it made it worse. with some free time, Eli decide to go over his list, a little habit he had picked up from Twilight, and put a check on everything that was done. ‘The church was rented: Check(obviously)’ ‘So was the venue for the reception: Check(double obviously)’ ‘The Cake was done: Check’ ‘The decorations were immaculate: Check’ ‘The priest was here: Check’ ‘The catering was set up and was delicious’...Eli popped a “sample” he had taken from the kitchen: ‘Double Check’ Eli looked up from his list and saw that the groom was nervously fidgeting with a lightning shaped pin on his chest, his dress mirroring Eli’s, but with a black suit and not just a vest. ‘The groom is nervous...:Triple Check ‘ Everything seems to be in order, but at that moment, the light blue pegasus decided to assault Eli with a thousand-and-one questions...again “how do I look? Does my hair look okay? Is this supposed to look like this? Is it hot in here? How do i look!? does my hair-!” “Come down buddy” Eli, with a light slap to the face of the stallion, interrupted what was probably going to be a very long string of the same questions “I’m here for you, and I'll be literally standing by your side when the mare of your dreams walks in through those doors” he said as he put his hands on the stallion's shoulders, “just don't expect me to hold your hoof, Okay?” This drew a laugh from the stallion and he visibly relaxed. “Thanks, Man. I needed that”. “Thats what I’m here for, literally.” Eli gave the best reassuring smile he could give “well that and to prevent any stallions from coming in and stealing the bride from the altar” he added under his breath “What was that?” “Nothing” He responded, “We should get going, the ceremony starts in about 15 minutes” “But do you didn't answer my questions! How-” “You look fine, really” Eli said in time to stop the stallion from going into panic mode again. “Now c'mon, Soarin. Its time for your wedding” *** The church was beautiful, and it was more beautiful as Rainbow Dash came in through the doors, flanked by the other five girls, Scootaloo and Applebloom carrying the bride’s train. Her dress was, of course, designed by Rarity, it was a white gown with stripes of color throughout the dress, train and veil, a little bit make up applied to her face, though Eli knew it was most likely Rarity’s idea. How did she get RD to let her put makeup on her? Rarity has her ways. The girls wore much simpler dresses, each one a different color of the rainbow. just after the bride and bridesmaids Eli saw the ring bearers, Spike and Sweetie Belle. Spike carrying the rings on one hand, and in the other, he held Sweetie Belle, arm in leg. Besides him, Eli could have sworn, he heard a clang. Looking to the groom he saw Soarin, mouth agape and eyes wide. Giving him a gentle shove with his knee, Soarin snapped out of his zombie like state and closed his mouth with a click. Eventually, the bride and the groom met at the front of the altar, looking at eachother in the eye. “You look beautiful, RD.” At the sudden compliment Rainbow Dash blushed, shifting her weight nervously “T-Thanks, you look very handsome too.” At that moment the priest decided to start the ceremony “Dearly beloved, we gather here today to…” *** The reception was being held in a high end hotel on the edge of Ponyville’s new “rich district”, near Soarin’s apartment building. Eli was sitting besides the now husband, who was sitting next to his wife and besides her Scootaloo sat, the other seven girls sat in their chairs of choice with no particular order. Before them where were several tables that were reserved for close friends and family. *DING DING DING* the hitting of a fork on an empty glass brought all of the attention to Princess Twilight, she was the prime organizer for this function, but due to her princess duties, she had to leave most of the legwork to Eli. He didn't mind, actually, he enjoyed it. It was the first thing he did in several years that did not concern his job. “Hello, Everypony” she started sounding a little bit nervous, she had gotten a lot better at public speaking since she and Eli had met, but every once in a while the nervousness returned. “It is time for the bride and groom's friends and family to say a few words. First up, the man who made all of this possible.” She finished as she looked at Eli. Standing so that everyone in the crowd could hear, Eli cleared his voice started thinking what he was going to say, but it didn't take him long to come up with something. “Hello everypony. Let me just say how honored I am to have Rainbow Dash as my best friend. We’ve known each other since before we went touring around the country, doing shows and demonstrations to expose my inventions to the public eye. After that, she was my right hand mare, helping me organize races and other events, to say that we have gone through a lot is an understatement.” “I remember the time she told me she was in love, and his name was Motor Racing” this drew a hearty laugh from the crowd and a blush from Rainbow Dash who laughed too. “And I believed her, so when I needed someone to take over the racing division of my company, there was no better choice.” He took a moment to looked at Rainbow Dash, the nostalgia making her eyes water. She gently wiped a tear from her eye so that she did not smear the make up, lest she draw Rarity’s Wrath later on. “Now Soarin on the other hand, I met while I was recruiting drivers for the first Equestrian Dakar rally race.” Eli remembered it like it was yesterday, the first truly massive event RD and Eli organised. It was a 500 mile race going through all types of terrain, from desert to sea to mountains. “He had decided to try his hoof at motor racing while the Wonderbolts where in between tours, and went out to one of the venues we where using to test the driver’s skills. Turns out, he is a better driver than he is a flyer,” now it was time for Soarin to be the but of the joke, another round of laughter and another blush later, Eli continued “But that’s saying something, he is an awesome flyer. After he won the first Equestrian Dakar Race, he decided to leave the Wonderbolts and pursue a career as a professional race car driver. As soon as I heard that, I extended him an invitation to drive for my company, and believe me, I could not shove it in his face hard enough.” At that comment, the crowd gave a small chuckle, not knowing if it was meant to be a joke or not. Tensions dissipated once a hearty laugh was heard from Soarin followed by a “You can say that again!” “The final things I want to say, are that I have a gift for you, Rainbow Dash, that I will give you later, and to say...” there was a short pause where Elli tried to keep the mist from his eyes “that I think of both of you as my best friends, without you too, I would not have made it through these tough times in recent years.” At that, the crowd let out a sad ‘AWWW’ “for that I would like to propose a toast” a unicorn server appeared from one of the many doors and made his way around the guests of honor’s table and the one for close friends and family, serving each a glass of Granny's Zap Apple Cider. “To the lov-I mean Awesome couple” he said as he turned to look at the husband and wife, giving them a wink and drinking his cider. “Thank you all for your attention” Eli left the stage center of the room and took his seat back besides Soarin, who gave him a brohoof to the shoulder. “Thanks Eli, for that wonderful speech” Twilight said as she took center stage this time “I would like to say some words now. *ahem* Let me start by saying that when I first met Rainbow Dash, she didn't give the best first impression. It was the summer sun celebration and...” *** The day was coming to an end, the cake had been eaten, the bouquet had been thrown, and the dance had been danced. Right now everybody had walked out of the church to bid the husband and wife farewell. Eli stood at the end of the rows of people, next to the driveway. He watch as Soarin and RD made their way through the crowd of ponies just to stand in confusion as the limousine was not waiting for them. “Where is our ride?” Rainbow Dash asked, confusion rising as a smile cracked Eli’s face in two “Your ride will be here soon enough” He said as he passed an envelope to them. Opening the envelope, Rainbow found luxury hot air balloon tickets, and a set of directions stating that they didn't need anything and to report straight to the airport. “What is this” she asked. “Part one of your gift,” Eli said grin still on his face “part two should be here right about now” and at that moment the roar of a first generation, V8 diesel engine ripped through the crowd, one of only two ever made. The effect on Rainbow Dash was immediate, her ears perked up and her eyes widen, pupils the size of dinner plates, tears starting to run down her face, she could recognise that engine anywhere “H-h-how dd-did you...wher?” she wiped her eyes, deciding to hell with the make up. A moment later the car rolled to a stop in front of RD and Soarin, being driven by Alfred. Rainbow Dash stared at the car for what, to her, felt like hours. To her this was no ordinary car, this was thesonic wave, the car Rainbow Dash drove when she and Eli were on tour. Rainbow Dash thought she had lost it, and after the accident Eli thought so too. “I found it on a junkyard near fillydelphia last year” he said as a flash of nostalgia crossed across his face “even rebuild it my self in the old shop. I thought it would be a goo-” “T-the old shop?” Rainbow Dash interrupted him “but you had mothballed it. You brought it back on-line just for me?” RD asked, not knowing what else to say. A moment later all Eli saw was a blue blur that few up to his face and hugged him “THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!” she said as she rubbed part of her makeup on his face “you are the best friend a mare can ever have! Besides direct nitrous injection...But thats besides the point! THANK YOU!!!” “Your welcome,” Eli smiled, it truly was worth all of the time he put in it “but I think you should get going. You wouldn't want to miss your flight would you?” “You are right!” Rainbow Dash said enthusiastically as she wiped the remainder of her tears and (much to Rarity’s displeasure) make up “Rainbow Dash is never late!” With that RD and Soarin jumped in the car, which had been modified to be street legal and a passenger seat was added. Rainbow Dash quickly put on a circlet, its center housing the car’s control crystal, and started the car. the sound and vibrations of the engine made Rainbow’s hair stand on end. it was better than she remembered, but she could not get lost in nostalgia all day long, she needed to get somewhere, and she was not going to be late, ‘not in this car I won’t’. leaning out of the window for a moment, Rainbow quickly waved at the crowd of ponies but disappeared inside the car and spedoff into the night.
Chapter 3The wedding was over, Rainbow Dash and Soarin had gone on their honeymoon, and the party guests had all left including Eli. The only difference between him and the rest of the guests was that he did not go home. Instead he he decided to go to one of the high end bars in the town, this one had actually opened about six weeks ago and he had been curious for a while. It was actually very close to where Soarin lived. Eli’s limousine stopped in front of the building, a small group of ponies were waiting to go inside the exclusive bar, most of them dressed in fancy clothes, and stopping them from coming in was a white earth pony stallion with a shaved mane and tail. Behind the bouncer, two other bouncers stood, these two however where Buffalo, their stature dwarfing the earth pony's. “I do apologise, Sir,” he said in a very deep voice. Any other time the stallion would be one of the most polite ponies in town, as his job demanded, but right now he was struggling to bite his tongue “but you do not have a membership to our establishment. I simply cannot let you, or your entourage, in the club without a membership.” The the pony on the other side of the velvet rope, a brown earth stallion with money bags for a cutie mark, just looked at his fellow pony for a moment, his eyebrow twitching as he was denied access to the bar “why can’t it be done today!? I demand access this moment! Do you know who I am? I own this town!” ‘Not any more’ the stallion thought as he sighed “As I was saying, sir,” the bouncer pony prepared to repeat himself again “the manager is not in today, and he has to approve all applications. you will have to wait until he co-” The white bouncer would have done a spit take if had he been drinking at the moment “Mr. Eli!” he said his scrambling to move past the small crowd of ponies, completely ignoring the group of ponies he was talking to before. “We were not expecting you today, would you like to go to the bar section today, or the restaurant section?” This confused Eli for a moment, he had never been here before, and he had overheard what the bouncer had said to the stallion just a moment ago “don't I require membership to enter?” “No sir.” The stallion said as he stood next to Eli “The owner gave you and Lady Dash membership since the day we opened,” he said as he directed the man towards the entrance of the building where the other two buffalo bouncers stood stone faced “someone of your status should not need to ask for a membership from us.” Unknown to any one present, this sentence made the brown stallion’s anger boil within him “to have somepo- I mean, someone as influential as in our establishment is a great privilege.” “Okay then, I will just go to the bar today” Eli said. for a moment he thought about asking the bouncer if he could let the earth pony in as his entourage, but figured that he would just hurt his ego, so he thought against. He didn't want to deal with it today, he just wanted his drink. “Certainly, Sir. Right this way,” the white pony started to direct him to the bar section of the establishment. The whole building had a modern vibe, Eli thought, it certainly was a far cry the designed form most of the buildings around here. Unless they were built by the construction division of his company, most concrete buildings where very boxy with no curves at all. this one, however, Eli notice that they had taken cues from his own buildings. the ambiance was also very interesting, the lights were low, but not low enough to stop anyone from reading the menu. To his right, running along the wall, Eli saw the bar, dim red accent lights were glowing from the bottom, giving an interesting look and feel to the whole establishment. Eli took a seat where the pony bouncer led him to, a seat that Eli thought was too high for the normal pony but perfect for him or a Buffalo, immediately a unicorn stallion came to him, “What will you have today, Sir?” He asked in an accent Eli thought sounded british. “How about wine to start,” Eli said as he looked at the menu “I'm feeling something sweet” “Right away, Sir” he said giving a nod, and walked away, presumably to the wine cellar to find bottle that would suit what Eli wished for. The room was quiet, outside of the far away chatter of the other patrons, there was almost no sound. Eli thought this was odd, but then he saw the small stage at the end of the room with instruments, no musicians in site. ‘They must be taking a break’ he thought as he went back to waiting for his alcohol. Eli was halfway through his first glass of, probably very expensive, wine when the music started playing, the bottle sitting in a bucket full of ice. As the music started playing his ear immediately latching onto the sound of the cello, It was one of the most beautiful he had ever heard. Eli had the sudden urge to turn his head and see who was the pony who player of this wonderful music. Turning around, Eli should have seen a band of ponies playing a song with a jazzy vibe, but there might have as well not have been a band at all, instead all he saw a beautiful earth pony mare cello player. For the first time in the last five years since his wife’s death, his eye was caught by another living being. For the remainder of the song, and a few after the first, he only had eyes and ears for the mare, their eyes meeting a few times during the songs. Eli just enjoyed the music that this pony played, there might as well not have been a pianist or a violinist, all Eli listened to was the sound of the smooth cello. Eventually, the band stopped playing and started to pack up, to Eli’s disappointment. all good things must come to an end, as they say. “Who was that?” Eli asked to the barkeep, “Playing the cello.” “Thats Octavia Melody,” he responded as he kept cleaning the glassware, “she play’s here every once in a while.” ‘I have to meet her’ Eli thought as he began to think of things he could do to arrange a meeting. But at that moment, as if Celestia herself answered his petitions, a voice came from behind him. *Ahem* “Am I right in assuming that I have a new fan?” The angelically beautiful voice came from behind Eli, cutting through his thoughts like a hot knife through butter, a slight Canterlot accent present in her voice. Turning around in his chair, Eli saw a mare wearing a simple purple bow tie that matched her cutie mark. Her eyes, rimmed with a light layer of makeup, where one of the most beautiful he had ever seen. “You would be right.” Eli said as he looked at the mare in front of him “That was quite the performance there.” “Why thank you,” She replied, blushing at the sudden compliment from the human, “it is nice to know that there are still people that appreciate the sound of the cello, and not think of it as just a background instrument” “Indeed,” he started as he stood from his chair “I have seen performances with a cello that would put many violinists to shame, and in my opinion it is a much more flexible instrument. And you certainly know how to bring out the beauty and flexibility in the instrument,” he finished and by this time, Octavia was more than a little red in the face “By the way, my name is-” started as he extended his hand to shake her hoof “Eli,” she interrupted him as she put her hoof in his hand “sole proprietor of Ember Corp. and one of the most powerful mortals to have ever existed?” Octavia finished for Eli, extending a hoof towards him “Charmed” “Pleased to meet you,” Eli said as he bent down and gently shook her hoof. looking at her, a strange feeling in his chest ‘Why is it that ponies insist on mentioning how powerful I am?’ he thought as he released her hoof, it had gotten worse in the last few years for some odd reason. Eli couldn't go one day without hearing someone mentioning it. “So you have heard of me?” he continued when she said nothing else. “Everypony has, Mr. Eli. It is hard to open the newspaper and not see at least one article with your or your company’s name on it, or someone on the street mentioning it. Celestia knows that my sister talked about the races all the time.” This caused Eli to deflate a little, “Sometimes I wish they didn't…” he said low, hoping that no one would hear it, but Octavia did. before she could say anything though, Eli interrupted her. “Would you like to sit with me and share a glass, Miss Melody?” Eli said as he motioned to the bottle of wine sitting in the bucket of ice. “Why yes, I would love to, and just Octavia is fine.” “Okay. So tell me about your self, Octavia, how long have you played the cello?” “Well, right now I'm trying to expand my horizons, playing as many different kinds of music as I can.” Octavia started “I started playing when I was about 10, playing just classical music, and as I grew older I thought that I was too good for any other kind of music. I had my first big break when I was 17 at the Grand Galloping Gala. My school was asked by Princess Celestia put together a band of the best music student and I was there…” *** Octavia and Eli kept talking for hours, the bar was almost empty, there were just 5 people left and two of them worked there, both had a healthy amount of social lubricant in them, but not enough to do things they would regret. “Wait a minute wait a minute,” Eli said as he put his glass of wine down “you are just 24? Someone as accomplished as you? I would have thought you were around my age.” “Really?” Octavia responded, not knowing if to be insulted or not “So how old are you” “I'm 29,” was all he responded, but the reaction was immediate. At his response Octavia had to suppress spitting her wine on her glass. This man, this human, was only 5 years older than her, and was already one of the most powerful beings in this country and several others. “Wow,” he said faking dejection. “Not the response I was expecting. I just might have to drink more.” “No no no! I didn't mean it that way!” Octavia was starting to panicking, afraid that she might have insulted the man in front of her. But as soon as it started picking up speed, her panic train was derailed by the sound of chuckling. “You don’t have to take everything so serious,” he said as he let out a sigh “I was just messing with you.” “I'm so-” she was interrupted by the lights to a section of the building being turned off. Confused, Eli looked at the clock on the wall ‘3:00 AM, time flies when you are having fun’ he thought as he looked at the mare in front of him, he could not let her walk home like this, she was tipsy and it was to early for the cabs to be running. “Looks like they are about to close down. Would you like a ride to your house?” “Well what a gentlecolt,” she responded as she looked for her cello case, momentarily forgetting where she had put it “But I live about a block from here, it would not be worth the fuel to take me there.” “Then I’ll walk you there,” he said with a smile on his face “I insist, a man should never let a lady go home alone under these circumstances,” he interrupted as she was about to protest. “Well if you insist,” she said as she stood up from her chair, proceeding to immediately stumble on her hoofs. Eli grabbed her by the sides preventing her from falling, somehow ending up with his face mere inches from hers, “It looks like I'm a little bit more tipsy than I thought.” Octavia blushed, and it wasn't because of the alcohol “Perhaps I will need some help getting home.” Eli thought that was the most adorable thing he had ever seen, a little drunken pony stumbling and trying to get her stuff so that she can go home. “It would be my pleasure,” Eli said as he grabbed her cello. Octavia quickly found her balance and started walking, exiting the building soon after. After walking for about 10 minutes, Eli and Octavia stood in front of riverside towers, a small 10 story apartment building that overlooked the river, the same building Soarin lived in. “You live here?” Eli asked as he held the cello’s case in his arm. “Yes, on the top floor,” she said as she started to walk up the stairs towards the entrance “Not many earth ponies live there because it is so high off the ground, but I find that the view is simply breath taking,” she continued as she looked at the top floor, hers was one of four there. “Indeed it is” he responded with slight nostalgia. “From the way you say it, it sounds like you've been here before.” “Yes, I own the building,” was all he responded as he also looked to the top of the building. Eli indeed owned the building. It originally it was built as a sort of boarding house for all of the new employees to live in while more houses were being built. Though most employees decided to move, there were a few, like Soarin, that decided to stay. Octavia looked at the man for several seconds, trying to determine if he was joking or not, but stopped when she found no smile on his face. “For some odd reason, I'm not surprised,” was all she responded. “Are you sure you’re going to be okay from here?” Eli asked, concerned for the mare he had just met. “I’m sure,” Octavia responded as she grabbed the cello from Eli, “I think I can still operate the elevator.” this caused Eli to chuckle a little, “yes, well we do try to make them as easy to use as possible.” “I had fun today,” Octavia said as she shifted her weight from hoof to hoof, “thanks for the company… and the wine too” “It was my pleasure, and an honor, to spend this time with you,” Eli said as he bent down to shake her hoof but stopped short, trying to figure out how he was going to ask this. Eventually he just decided to be simple and straightforward. “Can we do this again some time?” “Like a date?” Octavia asked, looking to the side as to not let Eli see the red in her face, “I would love to.” “Its a date then,” Eli responded his heart starting to flutter “How about tomorrow? “That sounds wonderful” she responded as she places her hoof on his outstretched hand “is 8:00 PM okay?” “That sounds great to me.” Eli responded as, instead of shaking her hoof, he kissed it.
Chapter 4Chapter 4 Eli had woken up happier than he had in years, slight hangover and all. Last night was the best Night he had in years, he went to RD’s wedding, he had met a mare that had done the impossible and caught his eye, and the last and most important thing, for him, he had spent time with said mare. he felt like he was walking on clouds and nothing was going to ruin it. “Uh, Sir?” feminine voice came from somewhere in the room, shaking his head, Eli noticed that right now he had an entire conference room full of the heads of every department looking at him, “Are you okay?” the voice asked again. Turning his head to his right, he noticed that it was the chief of engineering, gear ratio, was looking at him with worry in her eyes. “you are distracted today, that's unusual for you, Sir.” “Yes,I'm alright.” he said as he tried to remember the last thing she said, but drawing a blank. What were you saying again?” “we were wondering if there was anything else that needed to be brought up” she said as she finished putting her papers in her folder “No, that will be all. thanks you are all dismissed” with that, the rest of the ponies and one donkie picked up their things and left the conference room. Looking at his schedule, he looked for the next item in his agenda, ‘looks like will be making my rounds on the research side of the facility today’. *** he began walking out of the conference room himself, he took an immediate right, started walking straight to the research and development area. going thru several doors, and a security checkpoint where he himself was to be scanned. ‘We don't want repeat of the changeling incident’ he thought as he felt the magic of the unicorn mare going over him. “sorry for the inconvenience, Sir.” the mare said as she finished the scan, adjusting the earpiece for one of the new ‘compact’ personal magic radios the R&D department just perfected. though the R&D department had made it the smallest it could, it was still large enough that they needed to wear it as a saddle bag. “No problem at all, Amethyst, you don't have to apologize, I'm the one that is making you scan every one, including me” he said as he chuckled “O-ok Sir” she said as Eli straightened his jacket. “So, how is your first week going?” he said as he stopped, there were no other ponies going in thru the door, so he took the time to speak to one of his newest employees. “Its been great, Sir,I managed to learn the scanning spell, it was difficult at the beginning, but after doing it 50 or so times a day, it becomes second nature quickly!” she responded excitedly rubbing the back of her purple mane “thats good.” Eli said, very happy that the mare was adjusting to her new position well. “how is your mother? last I heard she was having problems with her eyesight” this caused the mare in an instant to look crestfallen “Y-yea, she has been getting steadily worse over the years, its actually why I took this job, the pay is good, and now that she is not working,I Am going to be supporting her and my little sister.” she looked to the side, not wanting to look at the man in front of her in the eye“I also wanted to put together some money for a procedure that can help her regain her eyesight.” “hmm, that won't do.” he said as he shook his head and crossed his arms. the mare had a sudden look of panic for some odd reason, but it quickly vanished as he continued to talk. “talk to the employee health department and ask them to put her and you're on our health plan. free of charge of course” “w-w-what, no w-we can't acc-” “Yes you can, and you will” he interrupted her as he put a finger in the air “Just ask your mother to make me a dozen of her best chocolate chip muffins” he continued as he began to turn around “They are to die for!” Eli began to walk away, but then turned around and addressed the mare with the jaw on the floor “By the way, amethyst” she stiffened at Eli calling her “Don't call me Sir, it sounds too old and we are about the same age, Just call me boss.” Amethyst finally got control back of her vocal cords and responded “sure thing Boss!” *** “How is the magic-Electricity conversion ratio, white lightning?” a male unicorn asked as he looked over a circuit diagram, his blue coat as messy as his dark gray mane and tail “its good, but we still can't get the electricity to flow freely enough for the system to work, Rising Star. what else can we do to get more electricity thru the circuit, Flow?” a female pegasus pony said looking at the actual magical circuit on the table, her coat white and her mane blue . “have you tried to rout the electricity thru one of th-” The light green earth pony mare with very light blue mane and tail responded, but was interrupted by the sound of a door opening “There is the triple threat!” Eli said as he entered the room, a grin spread across his face, “blown up any buildings recently?” “Hehehe” the unicorn stallion said with a nervous laugh that was accompanied by the laughs of the two mares, “You still bring that up, no, we try to keep our experiments on the tame side now a days” he said as he remembered the incident about 6 years ago where the three of them blew down the wall of company’s old research facility” “So, what are you three working on today?” he starting, having enough of teasing the three ponies. “We are working on a adding more capabilities to our current control crystals.” he started explaining “As you know, the current design for control crystals allow us to controll cars and other mechanical with greater precision than we could with our hooves.” he said, none of this was news to him, he did help his wife develop it, after all. “yes, we still hold the steering wheel with our hooves but things like accelerating and braking are very uncomfortable to do to the way our rear legs are shaped. but I digress.” “Now, as I was saying,” the stallion said as he looked at the notes “The circuit you and… lady Ember” he paused, remembering the first head or R&D, the lady part was purely out of the greatest respect, as she was not an actual noble “develop was nothing but genius. nothing like this had ever been attempted before,I mean come on! laying down magical circuitry on a gem? I'm surprised no one had ever done it before! not only did you develop the process, but you also invented magicall circuitry itself!...But again I digress” Yes, Eli remembered those days like they were yesterday. Eli came up with the concepts, Ember made them a reality, with Mechano magic begin their first real invention. they had invented a whole new magic that allowed ponies, no matter the species, to control magical actuators, another of their inventions, with the use of control crystals. “So what we were trying to do is add the capability of not only controlling a Mechano magic, but also add the capability to control electrical switches,” the stallion said as he kept looking at the countless diagrams “but we are running into problems.” the stallion said with an exasperated look on his race at this, white lightning picked up where the stallion left of “what Rising star was trying to say, is that the imperfections in each individual gem are causing too much interference with the magic circuit. this is okay with mechano magic since it is controlling something physical, but in this application, we are trying to control electricity, something much more sensitive” “We would have much greater success if we had perfect diamonds, but the kids in section one haven't perfected the CVD process yet.” Flow said “from what they are telling me they only get one perfect diamond out of 50. and section one is using all of the ones they are cranking out. Us in section two only get what they don't use, which isn't much and there is a large waiting list.” “Okay, thanks,I'm just doing rounds today, to get a better sense of what how the research is doing, though it sould like I'm going to have to pass by section one to. see you guys later.” Eli said as he exited the lab, and again tried to remember everything he knew about CVD. if he wasn't mistaking, section one was actually where apple bloom was shadowing today. After he walked down the hallway, he was met by an elevator that would take him to the top floor of the R&D wing:Section 1. *** Applebloom looked over the stallions shoulder, normally this would have angered him, but in this case, he actually asked her to do so. “So, as I was saying, this is the machine we keep a variety of the chemicals.” the gray stallion with black graying mane said as he looked thru the viewing hole in a machine, manipulating the arms placed inside the machine with his magic “Though it looks like we keep them enclosed for our protection, it is actually to protect the chemicals from contamination. There are only a handful of chemicals in here that can actually hurt you, but there are none that will kill you immediately.” the stallion finished reassuring Applebloom in his own way. “Okay. so what do we use these chemical for, Mr Matter?” Apple bloom asked feeling a little bit out of place. usually Applebloom and Dark Matter spent most of their time in on section three and four, sometimes on section two, but not often. this was the first time she had stepped hoof here. Applebloom had spent her entire spring break shadowing Dr Dark Matter, he was an old stallion that worked as R&D supervisor. He was not the nicest stallion in the world, but after shadowing him for a week, the stallion had ‘warmed up’ to Applebloom “Ah, a fine question.” Dark Matter said as put a different combination of chemicals. “We use this machine for any project that needs a highly controlled combination of chemicals, but right now it is mainly being used for the CVD diamond project. It's probably the the most important project he are running right now” the stallion, apparently happy with his work, pressed a button on the machine which caused it to expel a mixture of gas inside a canister. quickly levitating it off and labeling it ‘Blend #45’. “What exactly are we trying to do with diamonds?” she asked, now knowing what CVD was. “Basically, Miss bloom, we are trying to create diamonds atom by atom.” Dark matter responded, but sensing the oncoming question he continued “the reason that we are trying to make them instead of buying them is, as our leader so accurately expressed, ‘Mother nature is an artist, she does not like to make two of the same’. this is okay for jewelry, but for purposes like control crystals, it causes each crystal to have a ‘signature’ that the wearer has to learn before he can fully utilise it.” “Oh,I See.” applebloom responded starting to get the purpose and goals of the project “Miss bloom,are you alright?” he asked, actually showing concern for the young mare, something he would not do for anyone else. “you are not acting like your cheerful selfe today” “Its...its nothing, Mr Matter” Applebloom responded while looking at the floor “Well, its something, but its regarding mah family, i'd rather not discuss it with, no offence, a stranger” “None taken, Miss Bloom,I understand.” he said as he tentatively put his hoof on her shoulder. he was not very good with feelings, so he didn't know if what he was doing was okay or not, but regardless, he moved forward “but if you need to speak to someone, know that I'm here, and I'm sure the boss-” At that moment the door to the lab opened and Eli walked in. The way that they were standing did not look good, alone in a lab room, AB looking crestfallen, and an older stallion with his hoof on her shoulder. Didn't look good at all. “Whats going on here?” was all he asked but the response was immediate. the stallion quickly wiped around looking at the tall Biped like he was about to soil himself “N-nothing Sir,I was just asking the young lady why she looked so down, thats all” Dark Matter was starting to panic at that moment ‘I'm going to get fired!’ he thought over and over again as Eli walked up to them ‘I'm going to get fired and I'm never going to work in the scientific field again!’. Eli looked at the stallion for a moment, his face perfectly neutral, and then looked at Applebloom, “is anything wrong, AB?” “No, E-,I mean, Boss.” she said, remembering that when they were at work she couldn't talk to him like she normally talked to him, the other ponies would think he had favorites. “Its like he said,I was feeling a little down in the dumps, and he was asking me why.” Eli seemingly okay with her answer turned around to the stallio, causing him to jump a little, “So how is the process on the CVD diamonds?” “W-well Sir, process is going slow.” he stuttered a little but soon calmed himself down, knowing that his Boss was not an unreasonable man “It seems like we are still having problems finding the correct combination of gases and compounds to make diamonds. we are getting diamonds, but most are nothing bigger than a grain of salt. every once in a while we get a big one, but it seems like they appear at random” “Hmm. what are you using for the plasma, Dark?” Eli asked as he looked at the canister in the unicorns grasp “right now we are using a mixture of hydrogen and methane like you told us, and we’ve been experimenting with different ratios” Dark matter responded off the top of his head, as he leading the tall man to the running CVD reactor. Eli was pleased that the reactor had come along nicely and was now operational, he had not had a chance to visit the team since the construction phase. Unlike Eli, Applebloom was trying very hard not to let her jaw hit the floor. to her it looked like something out of a science fiction comic book or something, pipes and cables coming out of a big capsule like structure in the middle of the lab. she half expected it to open and for a little green pony to come out of it. Once they were standing in front of the reactor, Eli looked thru the window and noticed something almost immediately “I think if found your problem Doc” Immediately, Dr Black matter turned to look at the man, eyes wide thinking he might have done something wrong, “What is it?” “You aren't putting enough power thru the high frequency emitters, the plasma is supposed to to be a deep lavender color.I guestimate that you probably need about double what you are putting thru it right now” “Hmm...that does make sense, but we can't possibly draw any more power from either the grid or our power plant, not unless we redline our power plant.” “We can't possibly do that, not for too long anyway.” Eli told the stallion as he wrote down something on a book “I'll have to speak to section five and ask them to start construction on another generator at their off site facility.” Eli said as he took another look at the reactor, “but in the meanwhile, do what you can with what you have. “Yes Sir.” “Now if you excuse me,I have several other departments that have to visit” with that and a farewell Eli went to exit but was stopped by Applebloom “Uh...” The young lady spoke up, “can i talk to you, it does not have to be now, but i just need to talk to some one?” “Sure, my door is always open.” he responded, lowering himself to be more at eye level. Dark Matter took that as a signal to make himself scarce “what about?” “Well...” Applebloom started hesitantly, she had planned on talking to Eli for a while, but now that he was in front of her, she was starting to have doubts.“Its about Big Mac. Earlier today, he told us that he j-joined the army. My brother is leaving us tomorrow...”
