The Dusty Mare

It's not the sunlight in his face that wakes him up; it's the noise that reaches his ears. Sure there's the "sounds of the city" playing in his ears, but beyond that there's the noise coming from his Bracer. Really shouldn't have set it to act as an alarm clock. Regardless, Black listens to it, crawls out of bed with more than just a bit of protest. Yawning, the stallion rubs his eyes and takes a few seconds to stretch. "I'm up, I'm up… not sure for how long though." The stallion mutters looking back to his bed only to get a louder noise coming from his bracer. Seriously, the bed was unbelievably comfortable, he wondered if he would be allowed to bring it home with him. "I wish." Black muttered as he shook his head. "Anyway come on sleepy head, no more dreamland adventures for the day…" Talking to himself the stallion yawned as he headed over to the bathroom and started the shower. Good fifteen minutes later though he was out, still a tad exhausted but at least he was up and moving. "First though I need…" He looked over to his bracer found it still roaring for attention. Without much thought he walked over, shut it off and checked the time.

"I got time for breakfast…" Now he just needed to fill his empty belly. Yawning slightly the stallion looked in his fridge before frowning to himself. "Oh yeah, empty." Sighing he made his way back into the room and started to mess with the built in terminal. "Hello this is room 72, I'd like to order room service." Placing his order a moment later the stallion settled on the floor and looked around. The Dusty Mare; it's one of Manehattan's many hotels. Wasn't the largest or the fanciest, but it had just about everything that a pony could more or less ask for. After yesterday's orientation the stallion had went looking for the place - really any place that would be close enough for him to rest his head for a few hours. "Love to be back home in my lab though." The stallion muttered as he got to his feet and checked the door.

"Room service." A mare called out as she wheeled a cart into the room and smiled.

"Thanks." Black returned her smile for a moment, though it dropped the moment that she disappeared. He was to busy digging into his food to hold onto it. It was pretty easy to distract the stallion sometimes, all one needed was either tech or food in his face. Pausing for a moment Black heard a familiar ringing as he groaned slightly. Got a call it seemed. "Seriously I just got up..." Black muttered as he looked at the counter. "Answer."

"Hi sweetie, it's mom."

"Hey mom, wasn't expecting to hear from you so soon." Black returned to his food. "What's up?"

"Nothing much, I just wanted to see how you were doing. How was your first day at E.I.?"

"Not bad, we just did orientation and they had us start work." He heard his mom squeal for a moment.

"That's great! You always did like to hit the ground running. So what are you going to be working on?"

"Mecha." Black took a bite of his food as the other line went dead for a moment.

"R-eally?"

"No mom I'm messing with you. We're building exoskeletons to help the disabled walk again." The stallion chuckled slightly as his mother breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh thank the stars…"

"Come on mom, you should have been able to see through that one." Black stated as he took another bite of his food. "There's no way they'd have interns building machines of war. I don't even think Epona builds war tools."

"Least not lately."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Military contracts."

A fair point. Black simply shrugged. "I'm pretty sure no one has done that since the war ended 20 years ago mom. There's no need to worry about that."

"Well I wouldn't be too certain about that~"

"What, some of your old contacts tell you something interesting?"

"Not exactly. But you should know that major competing companies like E.I. and Llamrei do have their own little skirmishes going on."

"You mean Corporate Wars?"

"Bingo."

"Mom I'm pretty sure nothing like that will happen while I'm in Manehattan." Black stated with a shrug.

"You can never be too sure."

"Mom~" Black sighed as he rubbed his forehead.

"Did you bring your sidearm?"

"Mom you asked me before I left." He could feel his mom pouting over the phone.

"I need to make sure my little foal is protected just in case anything goes down in Manehattan. So do you have it or not?"

Black rolled his eyes as he looked at his things and nodded halfheartedly. "Yeah, yeah I have it. Don't plan on using it though."

"I know. It's like a condom sweetheart; rather you have it when you don't need it then not have it when you do."

"Not the analogy I'd use…"

"I know, I know. But speaking of condoms~"

"Oh come on, mom~ it's only my second day here."

"I know, I know, but I'm still pretty sure you already found one or two mares that are cute."

Black didn't say anything.

"You have found some right?"

"It is *way* to early for this…" Black muttered before taking a breath. "I don't know, maybe?" Pygmy squealed over the phone, forcing her son to cover is ears.

"YES! I need names sweetheart, give me all the details. What do they like? Are they pegasi, unicorn or earth pony? Do they like guns?"

"Mom calm down. I haven't even talked to the girls yet." Pygmy made a noise that signified her disappointment. "I'll talk to them later and give you details afterwards, till then I gotta finish breakfast and get ready, kay."

"Fine~ just promise you'll call as soon as you have anything."

"Yes mom." Black muttered halfheartedly.

"Promise."

"I promise I'll let you know about the mares I meet… later." The stallion stated as he waved a hoof over his heart and crossed it. "Anyway I gotta go mom; just finished breakfast and should get going."

"Alright, love you sweetheart."

"Love you too. End Call." Hearing the line go dead Black shook his head as he leaned back and returned to his food. "I swear she is way to interested in me getting a marefriend." Not that he wasn't grateful or interested. It was just… these kinds of things were difficult for him. He was a techie through and through, not really a socialite. Sure he had friends back home and he didn't have much of a problem meeting new ponies but he preferred to work on his craft then go out and meet new faces. "Speaking of faces though I should check in on the gang later, see how they're doing." Finishing his breakfast the stallion looked to his clock before gathering up his things for the day. Glasses were once again on his face, his clothes for the day were chosen and his bag was in place. "There we go, good as new." The stallion muttered as he fastened his smartwatch back onto his hoof and set the earpiece in place. Right on time it seemed, had another call coming in. "Again? Hello?"

"Good morning Black."

"Hey Ion good to hear from you… again." The stallion muttered as he made his way over to the balcony and pushed it open. "What can I do for you?"

"I'm just checking in on my favorite techie that's all."

"Well that's kind of you." Black muttered as he stared out towards the Manehattan skyline and smiled. "It's a nice view." The stallion thought aloud.

"Good morning." Seeing a pegasi fly by him the stallion waved them off.

"Morning." He shouted back before looking over the balcony and jumping off himself. It was a 70 floor drop, probably went from 0 to 60 in less than a second. Didn't bother him in the slightest. Spreading those over-sized wings of his, the stallion broke into a glide before turning down one of the streets. Landing wasn't all that difficult - fact he glided into a walk, tucking his wings as he did and took a better look at the city. "So anyway, how's it going? I wasn't expecting to hear from you so soon."

"None ever do. I take it you're on you're way to E.I.?"

"Where else would I be going at this hour?" Black stated as he smiled slightly.

"When tech is involved, you could be going anywhere at this hour."

"You sound like my mom." The stallion groaned.

"I take it you just got off the phone with her?"

"How'd you guess?" Black muttered with a sigh.

"She asked about mares again didn't she?"

"Yep."

"Hm~"

Ion said no more on the subject and in turn Black found himself walking in silence. Not that he was complaining about it at the moment. Rest of the city would be filtering that out in about an hour or so.

"So how is Manehattan treating you so far anyway?"

"Well the sights are nice - nothing like Reins but it's still really nice." Black muttered before shrugging. "I like it, so far anyway."

"No complaints?"

"Not at the moment." The stallion muttered as he adjusted his bag. "Mean no one tried to mug me yet so… yeah I'm good."

"You don't sound all that convincing."

"I just… miss my tech." Black stated. "I wasn't able to bring most of my hardware when I came here, just small little projects and my tools, long as I'm here I won't be able to work on all the stuff I'd like to work on."

"Things like your Exo?"

"Oh no, I brought that." Black made a noise. "It's not finished yet and I won't be able to work on it often but I brought it." He grinned. "There's just a lot of other stuff back home I want to work on. Like Mockingbird or Sanskrit."

"You build to much you know that?"

"Maybe." Black shrugged. "But what can I say; I like to build."

"True, anyway I just wanted to ensure you were fine with your new surroundings. Though I guess it's still a bit early for any real complaints isn't it. I'll call back in a few days to check up on you again."

"Alright talk to you soon, Ion."

"Later kid."

Ion hung up a moment later, leaving Black to walk the streets in relative silence. All he heard now were the 'sounds of the city'; a.k.a hovercraft, the sound of shops opening at this hour and the like. "I really want to look at one of these hovercrafts one of these days, we only have grounders back in Reins." The stallion muttered as he watched one fly by. A tiny voice in his head told him that he only wanted to dismantle the piece of tech. It wasn't exactly wrong, but still it was besides the point.

"Omp!" Stopping black snapped out of his thoughts as he looked ahead, finding a mare with a selection of books now scattered around her.

"Sorry!" Black squeaked as he helped the mare up. "I wasn't paying attention to where I was going."

"It's alright." The mare stated before her eyes locked onto the stallion. "You… you're one of the new interns."

"Uh… hi Ms. Sparkle." Twilight Sparkle adjusted her glasses as she stared up at the stallion for a moment.

"And you're Ashtrail right? Black Ashtrail."

"Yep." A silence passed between the pair as Black used a wing to scratch his head. "Uh… how about I help you with these?"

"Huh? Oh yes, that'd be great." Whatever had put the two in a daze was forgotten as the two started picking up the books, one through the use of magic the other by his wing.

"I know this book…" Black muttered as he looked at a book with a fond smile. "Madam Hooves and the Black Order. I haven't read this in months. Good choice." Setting the book aside Black went about gathering a few of the others around him.

"You've read it before?" Twilight Sparkle smiled as she as she reached for another book. "I've been curious about reading it for a while now. It's the sequel to Madam Hooves and the Veiled City isn't it?"

"It is. The author was supposed to have done a sort of stand alone or prequel to the series, but she decided to finish this one first so everypony wouldn't be left in suspense for too long." Black explained as he stacked another book. "It dives further into her search for her daughter in the city of fog."

"Yes! Wait is Ash Kicker really trying to help her or is he really working for Zeus? I was a little concerned considering where she left off in the last book." Twilight admitted as she drifted off topic before shaking her head. "No don't tell me, spoiler's ruin the story." The stallion chuckled as he stacked another book.

"Agreed, but I'll say this. The author doesn't disappoint."

"Just like A.K. Yearling."

"True." Stacking the last book Black looked back to the mare as he returned her books. "Here you go. I have to say you have excellent taste in literature."

Twilight flourished a bit as she finished stacking her own pile. It wasn't that often she received a compliment on her book choices nowadays. Pausing Twilight's color returned to normal as she looked back at the stallion. "Thank you for helping me with my books."

"No problem. I take it your bringing those to E.I.?" Black asked as the pair started walking on.

"Yes, I like to read them in my spare time." Twilight admitted. "What about you?"

"If I'm not reading I'm building tech, and if I'm not doing either I'm working on alchemy. Though when I do read it's mainly stuff on how to build tech unless my mom hides those and lays out other material to read."

"You're a hardcore techie I take it." Twilight asked with a smile.

"Well that's one way of saying it." Black smiled light-heartedly. "But what can I say - I like to build. It's what I do, makes me happy."

"It's good to do what makes you happy." Twilight muttered with her own smile. "That's the whole reason I started working at E.I. I love science and building technology. Especially since it's being used to help ponies."

"Same." An easier silence crossed between the pair as they kept walking.

"So how did you start building?"

"Uhm…" Thinking back to his mom the stallion gave an awkward smile before it became more sincere. "It's always been a part of my life really. Mom's family owned a gun shop since before I was born, I used to help her build merchandise before I started displaying a talent for manufacturing other forms of tech."

"You own a *gun* shop?" Twilight gave him a look.

"Well… technically it's now a gun and cyberware shop and I don't own it yet but… yeah." Black gave her an awkward look as he scratched his head. "That's not going to affect me interning at E.I. will it?"

"Well… no. I'm just a bit surprised that's all." The mare admitted. "We don't hear that our interns run a gun shop."

"Yeah I get that." Black muttered. "But I figured you might have already known, I mean it was on the papers I sent in." He stated. "But enough about me; what about you? What did you do before you started working at E.I."

"I used to help my mother at her job; studying the stars." Twilight admitted as Black made a noise.

"Really?"

"Yes, honestly I wanted to be an astronomer when I was younger, follow my mom's hoofprints." Twilight stated with a sincere smile.

"But then you found your talent in science." Twilight nodded happily.

"In a way, yes, I like knowing how things work, what makes them tick."

"I know that feeling." Black grinned. "I think that's the main reason I started building in the beginning. The joy of taking apart something new for the first time."

"Figuring out what each component does to make the device work." Twilight continued.

"It's a great feeling." The two said together as they sighed in unison. Reaching Epona Industries the two looked at one another before smiling. Though it quickly ended when the two realized what they were doing and flushed. Looking back to the company the two pressed on in another silence before Twilight coughed slightly.

"So~ you build cyberware?"

"Yep, build the best in Reins." That caught Twilight's attention.

"You're from Reins?"

"Hm? Yeah, I didn't mention that?" Twilight shook her head. "Well~ yeah I'm from the colony. Where are you from?"

"Canterlot." Black whistled at that.

"The capital huh." Before their conversation could press on further the two found themselves interrupted by a coughing mare. "Hm?"

"Willow, is something wrong?" Twilight asked as the mare looked at her.

"I know you just got in, but the CEO would like to speak with you Ms. Sparkle."

"Oh, I'll be right there." Twilight stated as she looked back at the stallion for a moment. "Sorry I have to get going. Maybe we could continue this conversation later?"

"Sure thing." Black stated as he watched the two mares trot off. Left alone Black tapped his hooves a few times before looking around. "Well… I still got some time before we start… might as well waste it."

Author's Note

Initiating P.I.E....

Initiating voice_narration.wav

Opening Encyclopedia

{E.S.F.}
The Epona Security Force is Epona Industries personal defense force, charged with protecting company personal and acting as company enforcers.

Cyberfingers
Cyberfingers are an implant commonly associated with Equestrian cybernetics. Located at the base of the hoof. Typically distinguished by their glossy, metallic appearance they extend in order to act as fingers, enabling the augmented pony to grasp items similar to Griffons and Dragons.

Items

Limb Enhancers
Limb Enhancers were once a common item located in Equestria. Developed to act as pseudo-limbs for Earth-Ponies they were later mass produced for all Equestrian use. Limb Enhancers operate through the use of a synthetic manastone that draws power from innate Equestrian mana reserves. It was found that Limb Enhancers steadily drain mana from their wearer, causing unnatural graying of the coat and mane and were effectively discontinued, being replaced by Cyberfinger Implants.

Ashtrail Model 14mm Heavy Pistol "Ardonlight"
Black's chosen sidearm, usually kept concealed in a protective compartment in his bag. An original model, deigned for Black's personal use.

Atlesian M-35 Assault Rifle {Modified}
A popular assault rifle favored by Private Security Forces and corporate threat-response teams. Mass-produced, with reliable firing accuracy.

Initiating P.I.E. shutdown...