Turning Gears

by Shadow rift

Rating: teen
Tags: Adventure, Alternate Universe, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Comedy, Other, Romance, Spa Ponies, Octavia, Sex
Length: 6215

Two scientists making their way into the world

Meet Astra Aquaduct and Neodymium Bolt, two scientists who want to be remembered for their contributions to science and the world around them. In the process, they each meet their own special somepony and make their own mistakes in the long run. But in the end, it will all be worth it.

This is a collaborative effort between me and E-Tec. Who also did the amazing art work

Published 2015-06-16 18:20:01 UTC
Last updated 2015-06-28 21:39:52 UTC

Chapter 1 part 1: an unexpected explosion

Chapter 1 part 1: an unexpected explosion

As Neodymium Bolt walked towards the center, he couldn't help but get a little smile on his face. Today was the day that him and his best friend/Co worker were finally going to open that case.

It was left behind by discord some time ago and Astra and Neodymium had both assumed it to be some type of energy converter or a generator fueling Discord's powers. Unfortunately, a power source was the only thing that the two of them had considering how it had shocked both of them whenever either of them had touched it.

One way or another the two were going to find a way to open that case and find out what it was. No matter how long it takes.

Finally reaching the door's to his place of work, Neodymium said hello to the receptionist and quickly grabbed his tool belt and placed it on his wrist before making his way to the lab.

Eventually he did make it there only to see Astra reading some type of note and completely ignoring anything surrounding him. To his side was the case the two had been working on for a while, various cables and electronics hooked up to it.

"Ah good morning Dr. Bolt!" Astra said as he placed the note down and opened the door for Neodymium to make his way inside, his cheerfulness being reflected in his voice. "Morning to you Doctor Aquaduct. I'm guessing things went well with Colgate last night?" Astra had been working on trying to date a mare working in the same facility as them, and though Neodymium had not known much about this mare, he at least knew her name.

"In fact, it went horribly. I saw her kissing another stallion and left." Astra said as he grabbed a pencil and quickly began writing in his notes, although he said it rather happily, which is what confused Neo the most.

"Uh, your saying that like its a good thing..."

"Yes I know. True this mare held my affections for quite a while, but after contemplating under the stars, I met the most beautiful mare I have ever met in my life."

"And this mare would be..." Neo said as he poured a glass of water and levitated it over his lips and down his throat.

"Octavia Melody!"

He nearly choked on the water as he heated that name. There was no way in Tartarus that Astra had managed to meet and begin a relationship with a musician like her. He quickly regained control over himself and looked back at Astra, who was now grinning from ear to ear.
"No way you're dating her. Dude, she's practically a rising star and your just saying her like that!?"
Astra's grin quickly became a blank stare before turning into a look of annoyance. "We can discuss whether or not I'm lying later..." He said as he turned back to look at the machine, "...right now we have more important things to deal with. Head over to that leaver on the left and I will count down."

Doing as he was told, Neodymium made his way to the leaver and enveloped it in his magical aura. "Dr. Aquaduct, what'd you have in mind on opening it this time?"

"It's very simply Dr. Bolt! Just crank these two leavers three times at the same time and bottom in front of the case will begin blinking, signifying its ready to send the electrical current into the case to open it. Press that, and we open the case! Now when I count to one I need you to pull that leaver and so on until I'm done. Ok?"

"Got it!" Neo said as he continued to hold the leaver with his aura.

"Ok then, One!" He sent it the leaver down and up

"Two!" Another leaver down

"Three!!" Another time he sent the leaver down and eventually, both of them heard a loud beeping sound come from the control panel.

Astra hovered over to it and waved his hoof for Neo to come. When he did he saw three green lights on the left and right sides of the panel, with a large red button in the middle, a red light coming from it as well.

"Here we go..." Astra said as he pressed his hoof down on the button, making all the lights on the panel in front of them disappear.

However, the reaction that they were anticipating did not occur.

Nothing happened.

Both looked at the case unsure if it had anything done to it. There wasn't a single scratch or burn mark on it.

And the energy effects didn't seem to do anything.
"I don't get it..." Astra said as he inspected the case, "7,000 volts of electricity and nothing? How did this case just absorb 7,000 volts of electricity like that! Nothing can just-"

He was cut short as a large explosion erupted from the case, sending both of them back into the walls face first and causing the lab to catch slight fire, each of them sliding down their walls and slamming onto the floor back first.

Astra was just shocked that a large explosion like that didn't kill them, where as Neo had a large smile extending from ear to ear on his face. "That... Was... Awesome!!" He said, leaping into the air and looking back at the machine, "let's do that again!!"

"We are most certainly NOT doing that again!" Astra said as he got into his haunches and looked over his body and notice some of his feather were slightly burned before looking at the machine. "Experiment 19 has failed, number 20 is on its way..." Astra said with a sigh as he didn't even see a single sign of damage to the machine, "You call that failure I call it fun!" Neo said as he began to notice the area around them. Small fires around them and a decently sized hole in the roof and walls.

"Oh no" Astra said, shaking his head and placing a hoof on it, "the motor was what caused that hole up there" he said, pointing to the large hole in the ceiling above them. "What's so bad about the motor flying off?" Neo asked as he attempted to get rid of the small fires, "The problem is that the motor cost 400 bits of our research grant, it isn't ours."

Astra took to the air and examined the large hole, taking calculations of where it could've gone... Until...

"The everfree forest seems to be where it blasted off to. Damn!!"

"Great... Alright, how about this. It's practically a large maze in there so I could've gone anywhere. I'll look on the ground, you look in the sky, deal?"

"Fair enough... Hopefully it didn't get too far..."

With that, Astra exited the building through the hole while Neodymium took off through the main door. The only thing going through his mind is retrieving that generator

Chapter 1 part 2: it's eyesight is based on movement

Most ponies would think twice when it came to entering the Everfree Forest. It was scary, unwelcoming, and housed creatures more terrifying than anything in nightmare or reality.

But when it came to something given by the grace of a research grant, you need to put off your fear so that you can avoid the loss of your passion.

And this was more true for Astra and Neodymium.

Neodymium continued to run towards the Everfree and Astra flew full speed. He was fast as far as Pegasi went, but the more time they waste, the possibility of a predator tearing it apart became even larger.

And this forest seemingly stretched on for miles...

Without much more thought, Neodymium ran into the forest, frantically searching every part of the forest for something resembling an electrical generator. The task at hoof was something not a whole lot of other ponies, or for that matter stallions, would've done easily or bravely, and had it not been for his magical abilities and tool bands, the job at hoof might've scared him much more.

He continued looking through every bush and under every rock around him before a thought entered his head. What happens if something else finds it before either of them? What happens if it's beyond repair?

He shook his head. There was no use in thinking like that, and if experience has taught him anything it's not to call for the devil if he doesn't want to play.

He quickly turned behind himself after he heard what sounded like a large scream.

And then later, something that sounded like a roar.

Galloping as fast as he could towards the source, Neodymium began to wonder what could cause him to even think about doing this. On the one hoof, he wasn't very strong to try to fight something or some pony for that matter, but on the other hoof, he was sorta brave as far as stallions went. Just please don't be a large animal!

His theory was proven correct as he noticed a large Desert Hawking staring down at a blue pony with a pink mane. Why a Desert Hawking? WHY!!!!

As it roared, he quickly began searching through his wrist belts for anything he could've used in terms of either distraction or a weapon, only to find a flare and a small cutting knife. Better to get this thing out of here than to attempt to kill it, he thought as he enveloped the flare in his aura and quickly activated it, the cracking sound quickly gaining the Desert Hawking's attention from the mare.

With his aura surrounding the flare, Neodymium used his aura to guide the flare to the right, the Desert Hawking's gaze following it intently. That's right, he thought as he guided it to the left, once again guiding the creature's gaze. Nice and.... He thought as he tossed it to the right, the creature letting out a grunt and then quickly moving towards the flare.

"Go now!" He whispered to the mare and eventually both began moving at a fast speed, eventually making their way away from the Hawking before-. "Stop!" Neodymium whispered again, holding the mare against himself and placing a hoof over her mouth as the Hawking reappeared next to them.

Very carefully the Desert Hawking looked at them, studying them both and sniffing either of them. Go away, just go away, Neodymium thought as he began to feel the mare's heart quickly pick up in pace and her mane caring the smell of some type of luxurious soap. It was intoxicating and welcoming, but he was afraid that it might cause the creature to think twice about them.

As if on cue, the Hawking let out a single grunt in defeat and went back into the forest slowly.

Making sure it had actually left, Neodymium let go of the mare's muzzle and body, allowing her to get up and look at her savior. When he caught sight of her however, his nervous system quickly went into over drive.

The mare in front of him had looked like she had taken care of her body for a long time. All the way from her silky smooth pink mane to her perfect little necklace, everything about this mare was perfect. "Umm, excuse me sir?" The mare said, her accent similar to a European accent, perhaps southern.

"Oh! Uh yes! What was it again?" Neodymium said, a blush starting to form on his cheeks, "I was asking how you managed to help me like that" the mare said with a giggle.

"I-I-It was r-really quite simple. A Desert Hawking's v-v-vision is b-b-b-based on movement" Neodymium slapped himself to regain his composure, damning his shyness near cute mares, the mare simply giggling at his sign of nervous energy.

Regaining control over himself, he looked back at the mare, his blush increasing in shade. "Um, as I was saying, the Desert Hawking's eyesight is based on movement. As long as we held still we were practically, uh, invisible"

"I see. Did you need to hold me like that?" She said as she narrowed her eyes, a seductive gaze in her eyes, intensifying the heat in Neodymium's cheeks.

"Relax... You seem to have quite the amount of stress on your shoulders. Why were you out here?"

"I was out here after an item flew off out here. Although I'm willing to bet my friend already found it. What're you out here for?"

"Oh! Yes, you see, my sister and I had run out of a moisturizer, and the main ingredient to our famous moisturizer is the aloe roots I was collecting out here" she said, pointing at the bag full of aloe plant, "Unfortunately, the only place these plants grow is in the Everfree. That creature attacked me right as I was about to leave" a smile crossed her lips, and her seductive look returned along with it, "until you came."

Once again, Neodymium's cheeks flared with the heat of Celestia's sun. This mare was beautiful and highly seductive, and the fact that she was teasing signified two things. Either she liked him, or she was just that, a tease. "I'd like to repay you sometime for what you did." She said, her nose touching his own, making the fire on his face practically begin to melt him.

Time for an experiment.

"How about tonight. Dinner at 5:00?" The mare was taken back for a moment at Neodymium's request, but she quickly regained her own composure just as easily. "I suppose I can make time. I'd be glad to. By the way, you never told me your name"

"My name is Neodymium Bolt, but friends call me Neo. What did you say yours was again?"

Another giggle came from the mare, "My name is Lotus and it's very nice to meet you." She said, holding her hoof up to Neodymium, to which he took it in his own and kissed it, the smell of flowers entering his nose as he laid a kiss on her soft and silky hoof, making the mare giggle once again. "Well, I must be on my way, my sister will begin to wonder where I have gone if I'm not back soon. You can pick me up at the Ponyville Spa, it isn't too far. Goodbye Neo." She said, planting a small kiss on his cheek and completely destroying any form of balance Neo had left.

He came in here to retrieve a Generator, and instead of finding said object, he met a beautiful mare, saved her from a Desert Hawking, and wound up asking her out on a date. All in the same day.

Where did he get the bravery to do that?

After a while, Neodymium decided it would be best to head back to the Science Facility and complete whatever tests him and Astra had left. Knowing him, Astra would want a full report as to where he was.

He smiled as he thought of what he would say. I just got a date with a beautiful mare named lotus.

Author's Note

This is an image of what a Desert Hawking would look like.

Chapter 2 part 1: you owe me

"So let me get this straight..." Astra said, moving his welding mask up his head and placing down the welding tool next to him, "You asked a mare out after saving her, might I add from a highly dangerous carnivores animal, and then simply asked her out?"

"It was a spur of the moment type of thing Astra. She was attractive, scared, a slight tease, and she smelled like rich shampoo."

"That still doesn't excuse you for asking her out so suddenly."

"What the Tartarus are you talking about? Didn't you do the same thing with Octavia?"

"Not entirely mate. We at least had a plan after we left with each other last night. Do you at least know where your taking this mare?"

Neo opened his mouth like he was about to say something. But no words came to him immediately. Astra was right. He had absolutely no idea where he was taking her, and nervous energy began to fill his body.

As if sensing his nervous energy activating, Astra spoke up.

"Look, don't stress out about it. As far as what you told me she seems to like luxury, so take her to the most luxurious restaurant you can think of."

"Like what?"

Astra took a minute to think. It wasn't every day that his friend asked him for mare troubles, and it most certainly wasn't every day that he was asked to help a friend with any type of problem what so ever. But that didn't mean he couldn't improvise.

"I have an idea..." He said, taking his hoof out from under his chin, "Octavia and I were planing on having a date night tonight at one of her favorite establishments. A japa-neigh-se restaurant. If you'd like, I can convince Octavia to allow me to bring you both along."

"Really?" Neo said, "Thanks! I owe you!"

"Your gonna owe me a lot more than you think." Astra said as he looked at the generator, a complete look of uncertainty and fear taking him over. "Let's just try to salvage what little we can from this..." He said, a sudden spark coming from the machine in front of them and catching a nearby paper on fire.

"I wonder what the financial advisors are gonna say when they realize what happened here." Neo said as he took a look around the lab, the flames now gone and replaced with scorch and burn marks. "That's why you owe me right?" Astra said, using the fire extinguisher below him to get rid of the small fire.

"Right now let's just hope we can salvage whatever's left of this generator" Astra said, pulling down the welding mask and activating the welding tool, pressing it down into into the generator and attempting to repair it. "I still can't believe it obtained less damage than I originally thought." Neo said, looking at the generator and only noticing a few dents and scorch marks.

"Believe me when I say there was more than just a few dents and burns in it mate. Can you pass me that wrench over there?" Astra said , pointing to a wrench on top of the tool box. As Neodymium went to grab it, he began to notice something odd about the case they had been trying to open for so long. Not only did the case have a control panel of sorts on it now, but it also had a large blinking button right next to some type of screen.

"Hey Astra, where did that panel come from?" Neo asked as he gave Astra the wrench, "What are you talking about?" He said, turning to look at the case and noticing the same panel that Neo had seen. Taking off the welding mask and turning off the welding tool, Astra floated over to the case and inspected the panel on it.

"Odd... I don't remember any type of panel being on this before..." Astra said as his hoof ran along the panel. "What do we do?" Neo said, looking at Astra for the answer to their predicament.

"I'll tell you what we do... We're going to start experiment 20..." He said as he quickly moved his hoof to the button and pressed down on it, a large click echoing throughout the room and making the case gleam with a pale cyan light and vibrating slightly. "Astra... What did you..." Neo barely had any time to answer as sonic wave blasted them both back from the case, it's lights growing brighter and brighter and the sonic waves pulsating at a faster pace.

It seemed to be charging...

With one last large sonic pulse, the case let steam blow from the areas of the lights, before all its pieces fall onto the ground, a cyan colored ball of bright light right in the middle of the fallen pieces, glowing like a small star. Both doctors eventually regained their composure and were absolutely stunned to see the floating ball of energy, it's majesty and grace overwhelming both of them and held them in place.

"W-What is that?" Neo said, breaking the silence the two held. Making their way closer to the orb, Astra grabbed a containment capsule and slowly moved the capsule around the orb, sealing it immediately upon entering the capsule. With a smile, he looked back at his friend and nodded, "Let's find out..."

************************************************

"I don't believe it..." Neodymium said, the screen in front of him displaying billions of amounts of data, "There are billions and billions of data banks in this single orb. How is that even possible!?"

"Because it isn't just a data bank it's a power source." Astra said, planting the capsule inside of the analysis machine, a large metallic clink being audible throughout the analysis room. "This orb isn't just able to store all types of data, it's also able to power all types of machines and tools. It basically makes the cloud factory in cloudsdale look like a battery!"

Though he himself had never gone, Neodymium had heard all types of stories about the Cloud Factory in Cloudsdale. It was always the first place to get state of the art technology or magic from anywhere, and if what Astra says is true, this orb could possible be eons ahead of its time. Probably even ahead by a millennium.

"What I want to know is what Discord was doing with this thing." Neodymium said, moving towards the capsule holding the still shining bright orb of energy.

"Well it's fairly obvious to know what the Tartarus he was doing with it, most likely using it as a power source of some type. The real question is WHERE did he get it?"

"How could he use it as a power source?" Neodymium's confusion levels began to rise. There was absolutely nothing normal about this technology that they managed to get their hooves on, and the more time they thought about its uses and origins, even more questions came to the surface. "Manticore's magic isn't precisely like your own magic my horned friend. My guess is that he used this as some type of charger for his powers. It's stupid but it's the most I can come up with. The more important question, like I said earlier, still stands. Where in Equestria did this orb come from?"

Silence fell upon the room as the two doctors thought of where it could've come from. Not very many places in Equestria had technology, especially technology as advanced as this. The possibilities of where this could've come from are endless.

And it's uses are just limitless.

Uses...

"Your thinking about it aren't you?" Astra said, still keeping his concentration on the orb. "Project OMEGA? I thought about it but that doesn't mean I'm going to go through with it. It's dangerous and unpredictable, especially with technology we have no control over yet. In my opinion, we should study it a little more before we think about any uses. Especially for things like Project OMEGA."

Nodding, Astra pressed a button on the control pad, making the orb slowly descend into the analysis machine to hide from any other scientist from seeing it. They both knew that if any other scientist had seen it, they'd find out what it was and try to forcefully commence Project OMEGA. They hated the thought of it, and both hoped that someday everypony would forget about it. But it appeared as though that day would never happen.

As the orb descended down into its new storage, the ringing of a clock was heard throughout the facility, signifying yet another end of another work day. Astra's sombre look quickly turned to a look of relief and happiness as he and Neo heard the clock. "Well then..." Astra said, wiping away the sweat on his head with his wing, "Looks like dinner is coming up sooner than we thought Neo. I'll see you at dinner?" Astra said, extending his hoof for Neo to shake, an offer he took with a smile, "See you at dinner."

With a flap of his wings, Astra took flight and exited the Science center, leaving Neo to clean everything left over from this morning, his words echoing through Neo's head like a broken record.

"You owe me more than you think mate."

Chapter 2 part 2: the dinner double date

A quick shower and slight brush of his mane left Neodymium fresh and decontaminated of any radiation or smog leftover from his day of work. The orb that both Astra and him had stated there was no nuclear radiation emitting from it, but there was still no telling what it was or what it could do. And going on a date and leaking radiation all over the place wasn't the most perfect idea for a date, especially if it's you first real date in...

Ever...

How bad can you honestly screw up Neo, your not that bad looking of a stallion, your clean cut and polite and, most of all, you have a well paying job, he thought to himself, trying to psych himself up for his date tonight. Besides, Astra'll be there, so if you screw up you can always blame him!

A smile creeped his face as he continued to see the many expressions of a wrongly accused Astra. It always was funny to see him turn different shades of blue from time to time. Making his way to the door, Neo checked himself over one last time before leaving, checking off a mental check list to make sure everything was in order. Shirt not extremely fancy but nice enough, check. Mane done, he looked in a mirror to see the same mane style he always wore. Eh passable. Breath, a blow into his hoof and quick sniff. Mint. Check.

With the last of his worries confirmed to be nothing more than simple worries, Neo finally opened his door and exited his home, locking the door before turning and heading off to Ponyville's spa. Tonight was going to be a good night no matter what happened, and he was going to make sure of that.

************************************************
As Neodymium approached the Spa, he was happy to see the first mare out was the same one who he met not too long ago. When she turned and noticed him, she too began trotting his way as well, a slight smile being very visible on her face. "My my MR. Neodymium, I'm impressed..." She said, eventually making her way in front of him and eyeing him from head to hoof. "I normally go by Neo." He said with a sheepish smile and a slight blush beginning to form on his cheeks. "You uh look lovely yourself Ms. Lotus..."

She smiled and continued on. "So Mr. Neodymium, where did you plan on having dinner tonight?"

"Actually, a friend of mine is actually going to join us with his marefriend as well. I hope you don't mind..." Ok, maybe this wasn't going to work out so well...

"I don't mind in the slight Mr. Neodymium. But why did you dress up like that?"

"My friend and I were thinking on going to a family owned japa-neigh-se restaurant in town. I have no idea whether or not it's actually supposed to be fancy or not so I just went with casually."

Lotus's expression suddenly changed to slight shock and worry, "Oh my! Do you think I'm under dressed?"

She wasn't exactly over dressed or under dressed. All she had was the same band holding her mane back and the cute little collar around her neck. If anything she looked better than any other mare here. "I said you look lovely Ms. Lotus. Just enjoy yourself." She smiled at the compliment once again, however this time there appeared to be a slight blush forming on her own cheeks. "Thank you Mr. Neodymium, your quite the gentlecolt." She said, laying a kiss on his right cheek and sending fire all throughout his face. With another sheepish smile, the two began making their way towards the restaurant. Thankfully Astra had managed to give him the directions before.

Eventually the two made it to the restaurant and caught sight of a blue Pegasus wearing a black suit and tie with a grey earth pony wearing a beautiful red dress, her arms resting on the Pegasi's right arm and leaning against him lovingly. When Astra caught sight of Neodymium, he smiled.

"Good to see you didn't get lost mate!" He said, the only response Neo have was a simple rolling of his eyes and shake of his head. "And it's good to see you weren't lying about who you were dating."

"I could say the same about you mate." Astra said with a sly smile. "Enough you two. We're here to eat not bicker like five year old colts and fillies." Octavia said, finally catching sight of Lotus. "Oh! My apologies. It's very nice to see you Ms. Lotus. I am Octavia" she said, trotting towards Lotus and extending her hoof. "The pleasure is truly mine Ms. Octavia." She said, shaking Octavia's hoof and offering her a smile, to which Octavia gave one of her own.

"I must say Ms. Octavia, that is a very beautiful dress."

"Oh this? It's just something I threw on." She said with a slight chuckle.

"Nice suit too Astra. Didn't know you actually had those things."

"It's something I keep around in case of emergencies."

After a few more minutes of conversations with one another, the party went inside and quickly took their seats. What was odd to Neo, however, was the fact the their seats were more of like mats on the floor that they sat on at a small table. As the music continued to play, a pony brought them a tea pot and poured each of them a glass of what Neo thought to be some type of green or herbal tea due to the smell and slightly green color. With the tea poured, the party took a slight sip of the liquid, it's calming taste and warmth soothing them as it traveled down their throats and into their stomachs, warming them at their cores. At first, Neo was unsure as to whether or not Octavia or Lotus would be able to drink from their cups due to their lack of wings or a horn, but the two surprised him when they managed to drink just fine.

"So Ms. Lotus, what job do you possess as of now?" Astra said, unwrapping his wing from the cup and gently setting down on the table in front of him. "Well Mr. Astra, I am currently a spa manager in Ponyville along with my sister Aloe. I do massages, mud baths, herbal baths, and hoof pedicures."

"Oh my! That sounds delightful! I've been meaning to get a massage for quite sometime now, but I can never find anytime for such an event."

Lotus offered Octavia a smile, "Your always welcomed whenever Ms. Octavia. My sister and I work all throughout the week."

The two mares continued to converse with one another, whether it would be on their professions or when the last time either of them had a massage. When their order was finally taken, it became quite once again at the table. "What's wrong?" Lotus asked, looking at Neo and Astra as they sat in silence. "Oh, nothing. We just didn't want to interrupt you two from your conversation Lotus." Neo said, offering her a slight smile. "Well then, I suppose it would only be kind if we turned up the conversation. Astra, what is it that you and Mr. Neodymium do exactly?"

Neo, confused at the question, looked at Astra absolutely confused by the question. "I thought you told her"

"He never told me what exactly you both study together. And I think Ms. Lotus here would be interested as well?"

"Oh yes! I'd very much like to know about what you do even further."

Astra, now taking a double take on his own concentration, went on. "Well, as I told you before, I am a scientist in many fields. However I mostly study oceanography."

"And I'm more of an engineer. I've designed a lot of the machinery used in the facility we work at."

"Anyways..." Astra continued, "Neo and I normally work together whenever there is a problem neither of us could solve. And recently, our latest project has really hit us hard."

"How so?" Octavia asked, Lotus listening patiently and occasionally staring to the right of her, smiling as she caught sight of Neo.

However, Neo didn't seem to notice and continued on. "Yeah. This latest project has us stuck between a wall and a hard place. Took us 20 test just to find out what was inside of the thing." A quick pause came as the party was present their different plates and bowls of rice, sushi, and salad before being asked if they needed anything else. Only asking for a refill on tea, the pony disappearing into the kitchen and quickly coming out with a tea kettle.

With the tea once again filled up, Octavia and Lotus each placed an even amount of food on their plates before trading the bowls and plates with one another and eventually handing it to Astra and Neo. With their plates full of various food and cups now filled with tea, each of them eating away at the food. Octavia and Lotus seemed to enjoy their food as much as possible, but Astra and Neo were mostly focusing on their day rather than their food, hoping neither of the mares asked anything else about their research. Not only was there nothing else to be said, but they also didn't want them knowing anything else about their research. Or the orb.

Or the fact that it could be used for something as horrible as Project OMEGA. "Excuse me, Neo?"

Neo and Astra both broke out of there thoughts as they heard Lotus's voice. "Oh, uh, sorry. What's up?"

"You and Mr. Astra have barely touched your food. Is something bothering either of you?" Lotus said, a somber expression on her face mixed with concern. "Oh, no, of course not. It's just... We had a long day today and we're a little tired."

Good save mate, was the look that Astra gave Neo as he concluded. They both hated the fact that they had to lie to their dates, especially considering how they didn't want to go into a relationship with a lie. But unfortunately it was one of those times when a lie was a necessary evil.

"I'm sorry to hear that Neodymium."

"Don't be. After all, it's something scientist like us do quite often."

The rest of the meal went uneventful as they all ate in silence, save for a couple of small conversations between one another. With the meal finished and bill paid for by Astra and Neodymium against both Octavia's and Lotus's wills, and went their separate ways, Astra taking Octavia home and Neo doing the same with Lotus.

"I know my friend or I weren't exactly very lively tonight, but... I had fun with you and I hope we can do this again sometime..." Neodymium said as the grew nearer to what he assumed to be Lotus's home. "I understand what it is like to be tired after a day of work, however, it must be even tiring to work as a scientist and come home after working all day long." As they did eventually reach the front door, Lotus had planted a smile on her face. "And honestly I had fun as well."

Neodymium's shyness seemed to return to him after her comment, "Well... Thank you Lotus..."

She giggled, a sound Neodymium knew he was going to enjoy. At least if there was ever going to be a second date. "You're a very nice stallion Neodymium bolt, and very handsome, I would very honored to spend another night with you Neo."

"How about tomorrow night then. Dinner or something between the two of us?"

"I don't have anything going on tomorrow night. Yes, I'd love to. Same time as tonight." She said after placing a hoof under her chin and pondering for a while. "Alright then, tomorrow night at 8. Goodnight."

Before he could leave, Neodymium's face was turned fully around and his lips met with Lotus's own pair, her sweet breath washing over him as he returned her kiss, his face growing hotter as he did so. "Goodnight... Neo" she said, her eyes half lidded as she made her way into her home and closed the door. At first, Neo stood there dumbstruck at what had happened, but his mind came full focus and his face quickly turned into a smile and his brain gave him a salute. As he continued to walk home, the only thing that ran through his mind was the feeling of accomplishment.

Chapter 2 Bonus Chapter: a night to remember

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