At some point while pondering why Twilight would exile me from Equestira, I had dozed off. After waking I was informed by Johnathan Smith that Director Males wanted to speak with me. As I do not do my best diplomacy on an empty stomach, I grabbed a sandwich before being lead to a mostly empty room. Inside was a table, two metal chairs, and sitting in one of the chairs Director Cainn Males. I entered and Johnathan Smith closed the door behind me.
The Director stood up and bent his top half in a bow upon seeing me enter, “Princess Luna. I apologize for my earlier rudeness. Your arrival has put a lot on my mind. Feel free to sit if that’s what’s comfortable... Sorry for the uncomfortable chair; couldn’t bring any nicer ones in here without drawing attention.”
I looked at the chair offered to me. It was almost entirely gray metal. All of the structural support was made out of cylinders. I scooted it out from the table with my magic and found it to be much lighter than I expected. So the legs were hollow then. That would make it cheaper to produce too. On the seat was some manner of puffed up plastic cushion. Hopping into it I confirmed that it was just as comfortable as it looked.
“T’will do fine for our purposes,” I replied, wiggling to try to make the non-existent cushion comfortable. At least the back was angled away from me so my wings were not squished. “I admit. Our introduction did not go the best. I too have been on edge since arriving on your planet.”
“And that is entirely understandable,” Director Males acknowledged, pushing his open hands away from himself, “Let me ensure you, I have every intent of helping you make your platform usable once again. From the information I’ve gathered I highly doubt you all would try to invade Earth. So, on to why I wanted to speak with you; you all need a large amount of pure silicone, correct?”
“Indeed. It must be at least ninety seven percent pure. But the fewer impurities the better,” I replied. I was not thrilled to share secrets of the platform with the humans, but if it got me back to Equestira before Twilight did whatever it was she was planning it would be worth it.
“Purity will not be an issue then,” Director Males assured me, “However We are not sure how to make a four meter tall cylinder of silicon. We’ve never needed to. Have you all developed a technique to meld chunks of pure silicon together?”
“Hard Stuff understands it far better than I do. You’ll have to get him to help you, but once he has the proper amount of silicon we shall be able to repair our platform.”
“It would be quite helpful to learn such a technique. What with pure silicon’s tendency to flake apart,” Director Males hinted, weaving his fingers together.
Was there harm in showing the Humans the earth pony magic Hard Stuff used to fuse things together? Perhaps. I still had no idea as to how human magic worked. The only one so far that had cast any spells in my presnce was the stallion sitting in front of me, and even he managed to hide his casting. But Hard Stuff’s magic did not have many offensive applications. In addition Hard Stuff would be nearby to undo anything negative the humans did. And if they did try anything I would get a better grasp of how their magic worked. Plus this would be a good small step towards knowledge sharing.
“I doubt Hardstuff would refuse help if it was offered,” I shrugged watching my own reflection in Cainn Males sunglasses.
“Wonderful. This will be a boon for our scientists,” Director Males said with a grin, before his expression soured, “Though if it’s more of your magic I’m not sure we’ll be able to duplicate it.”
“Why would that be?” I doubted he would be foolish enough to give away the answer, but if he brought it up I saw no reason to to ask.
“Well here on Earth there is no magic to speak of. Or at the very least, if there is humans have never learned to harness it.” I noticed my eyes widen slightly in the reflection of his sunglasses. I quickly brought them back under control.
Magic is everywhere, and any creature that did not have any access to it would be at such a disadvantage I doubt they would be able to build a civilization such as yours… Is what I wanted to say. But I held my tongue. There was some trickery to that statement. I could not place my hoof on what it was though. I squirreled the thought away to ruminate on later.
“Now Equestira, the very name sounds magical. Surely you all have floating castles and armies of knights to protect you from dragons,” Director Males continued.
“Sorry to disappoint, but the logistics of floating castles make them too much of a hassle to maintain. And while dragons do occasionally visit our cities, a recent peace between them and us has meant dragon attacks are almost unheard of now,” I bragged.
“You made peace… with the dragons… You Made Peace… With the Dragons?” Cainn Males repeated.
“Yes we even have a budding alliance in the making thanks to our newest princess,” I confirmed. It was quite the accomplishment of Twilight Sparkle. Though now I had to question if that accomplishment may have had an ulterior motive.
Cainn Males was rubbing his face with his hands. It looked rather awkward to do so around the sunglasses he was still wearing...
“Director Males, would you allow me to indulge my curiosity?”
“Ask away,” he offered, brushing his hair back into place.
“Why do you wear sunglasses where there is no sun?”
Cainn Males took a breath in before replying, “It’s an issue with my eyes. I take no offence to the question. But I’d rather not discuss it.”
“I apologize anyway,” I said with a bow of my head.
There was a faint buzzing noise. Swiveling my ears revealed it to be coming from Director Males. Indeed, he pulled out a small silver device, looked at it for a moment, then put it back into his pants.
“Your platform should be arriving soon. Johnathan will take you back to the others and lead you all to the hanger,” Director Males gestured to the door, and on cue it opened. Johnathan Smith smiling on the other side. As the door shut I did hear one last whisper form Cainn Males.
“Dragons. That changes things,” And then the door shut.
Starswirl the Bearded pushed open the door to Princess Twilight’s lab. There was a slam and a surge of magic. A puff of air rushed into the room throwing the door open and banging it into the wall.
“Starswirl!” Twilight, exclaimed, her ears perked and eyes wide, “Didn’t anypony ever teach you to knock?” Where had Starswirl heard that phrase before?
Starswirl looked around the lab. Other than a surprised alicorn, everything looked normal. Though it didn’t look like Twilight had been doing anything. She was in the middle of the room, no table or chalkboard pulled out from the wall.
“And why, pray tell, would I need to knock?” Starswirl asked, strolling into the room, “I can’t imagine you of all ponies doing anything illicit in a lab.”
Twilight did not blush or shrink, but rather her coat bristled. “What I do in which rooms of my own castle are none of your business.”
Starswirl chuckled. The way she was acting was like that time through the mirror portal where he’d walked in on a human changing clothes. “You’re right. It isn’t. But that’s not an issue as that’s not why I’m here,” Starswirl said walking past a blank chalkboard and glancing at the notes laid out over a desk next to a brown book with a blue and green sphere on it, “I’ve caught up on all the magical theory that has been written while I was away in hopes of finally looking over your math regarding the sparkle drive.”
Twilight hurried over and pulled the papers on the desk into a pile on top of the book, “You’ve caught up on all of it? Harmony theory? The Message in a Bottle theorem? The Eighteen Arrows Paradox? All of Merlos the Mad’s…”
“Yes. Yes. Yes. And Yes, all of them,” Starswirl interrupted, his eyes leaving the strange bunch of weaving lines on the page Twilight had left on top of the pile, “I understand the nervousness of not wanting anypony to see a spell that may not be working right. As I recall one of them was how you got the way you are…”
Twilight took a deep breath, held it for a moment, then let it out. “You’re right. They’re over here.” Twilight walked over to a stack of papers nearly as tall as her and brushed the dust off of them before levitating them to Starswirl. “I hope this doesn’t keep you busy too long.”
“Oh don’t worry about that. All I seem to have these days is time,” Starswirl assured her, turning to leave. On the way out he felt something crush beneath his rear left hoof. Lifting it and looking back Starswirl saw a piece of chalk, half crushed, that he had stepped on.
“Don’t worry! I’ll clean it up,” Twilight offered with a smile ,“You have lots of reading to get to after all!”
“Yes. Thanks. Sorry about that,” Starswirl apologized.
When he was through the door Twilight quickly shut it and there was a rush of magic. Her muffled voice carried through the door saying something about “a line to earth”. Starswirl shook his head. Dirt seemed like a strange thing to study during the current crisis. But if it helped Twilight cope, he wouldn’t hold it against her.