Rarity Belle
For the next hour or so, I spent most of that time being quiet and reflecting on myself as to how I felt about my parents. I would add the occasional comment to the discussion that my father Formaggio and Tomato were having, but in the end, I never came to a conclusion. I was finally brought back to reality when Twilight interrupted my thoughts.
“Rarity, it’s a quarter to two. Have you entered the tower?” To my forgetfulness, I answered out loud.
“What? No, not yet.” The three stallions at the table stopped what they were doing to stare at me.
“Uh… not yet what?” Formaggio asked. I had to use everything in my will to keep myself from throwing my hoof into my forehead.
“Oh, nothing, just… talking to myself.” I pulled my phone out of my suit’s pocket and clicked it on to check the time. As she said, it was one forty-five PM.
“Mister… um, father, I don’t mean to rush, but don’t you think it’s about time we got on with my tour? I do have other things I need to do today after all...” I said, thinking more on the ponies I would have to fit with suits I had yet to put together lying in pieces all over my workshop than the conference I would have to have with Princess Luna later. I’m sure she’s there because she wants to talk to me personally about this… The old stallion lifted his foreleg and slid back his sleeve to reveal a rose gold plated watch around his wrist.
“Oh my, I didn’t expect to be here so long. I apologize Tomato, Formaggio, I need to be back at the office by two. We’ll have to get together again soon. Maybe next time we can bring Fragola and Sweetie, hmm?” He said, making a side glance at me. After glaring at him, I managed to keep from going off in front of the Bisques. Hold your tongue. He knows he put me on the spot and he’ll get an earful about that later…
“Of course… It was a pleasure seeing you again, Tomato, Formaggio.” I gave a curt bow and followed my father out of the booth seat we were in.
“Thirty two bits, right?” he asked them. Tomato shook his head.
“Nah, this one’s on the house. For little diamante, alright?” Tomato gave me a hug and then began to rebutton his pure white chef coat. My father took five copper out of a bit case in his pocket and left it on the table.
“Very well then. I’ll leave this here for Keylime, if nothing else.” Tomato gave him a pat on the back and said,
“You’re a good stallion, Bronze Belle. See ‘em out Formaggio!” as he headed down the stairs and back into the kitchen. The three of us made it back down to the lobby, and after getting a piece of paper expertly slipped into one of my pockets by Formaggio, my father and I left Bisque’s Cavallian Restaurant.
“Wow. I’m impressed I didn’t catch him do it.” I said not really caring who heard.
“Him do what?” my father asked, still carrying my extravagant Iris bouquet and that bag with the strange property that refuses to let my magic grip it. Oddly enough, it looked like his magic was only gripping the handles as well… What in the world is in there?
“Formaggio. He slipped a paper with his number hastily scrawled on it in my pocket. I always knew he had sticky hooves, but I suppose he’s gotten better at it.” I catalogued the number in my phone. Maybe I will give him a call soon.
“Ah, I see. So… you seemed… distracted? At lunch I mean. Is there something wrong darling?” Of course I was distracted. You made me feel terrible about myself because you were a terrible parent for half of my life! You and her… Goddess, you frustrate me!
“No, nothing in particular. Nothing more than normal I guess.” Well, at least there’s no monster attacking me now. Sweet goddess, please let me not have just jinxed myself.
“I see. Before I show you around, let’s get to my office first. I’d uh, really appreciate it if you opened your present.” We approached the entrance to the tower, and like any other Manehattan skyscraper, Argent tower broke the clouds above and just about rivaled the mountains in the distance for its spot in the sky. I’d never remembered it being this big, but at the base, it was almost the size of a hoofball field.
“Quite a sight isn’t it? This tower is fifty percent taller than the original trade center was in Manehattan. It’s currently the tallest building in Equestria.” There was pride in his voice and it was plain on his face that this was his achievement as much as it was Argent's. As much as I blame his job for some of the things that went wrong with our family, he still seems to love the work he does here. I wonder if he knows about the mirrors… Let’s find out…
“I’ll say. So, tell me. Does Argent produce mirrors?” He furrowed his brow.
“Not directly. We sell much of the tin and silver that we mine to companies that make mirrors and looking glasses. Indirectly we do, I suppose.” Wasn’t there a code word for them?
“Not even vanities?” I asked. He tilted his head and looked at me.
“I don’t know of many vanities that would be made of silver. This place is mostly offices. We run all the technical stuff here and give the workers a place to live. The only thing that’s ‘manufactured’ here is when we take the raw gems to be cut. Unless you count internal programming as manufacturing a program, but I don’t think that’s common place.” He checked his watch again. “Gah, I need to be back to work in the next five minutes. Do you mind hanging out around my apartment for the next half hour? I’d hate to not get to show you around, but I just don’t have the time right now.” I internally rolled my eyes and let out a long sigh.
“No, I suppose I don’t.” I we were standing on the concrete porch just outside of the doors when I remembered why I was here in the first place. “I’m about to head in Twilight.” As soon as we walked in, I was greeted to the nearly pure white and silver bottom floor lobby akin to that of a hotel. There were two desks on either side of the lobby which was shaped like a plus symbol made of varying sizes of rectangles. There was a dark green and gold crisscrossing carpet in the center that was over-headed by one of the largest chandeliers I’ve ever seen, lined with possibly thirty white candles just from the front alone. The base of the floor and all the countertops were done in polished white stone that I could have sworn had flecks of gold all along them, and every piece of wooden furniture was made of a dark red grain of some kind, studded with more gold that held the fine leather upholstery to the back and the seat. White vases with intricate blue designs running along the tops and bottom in an Algol fashion filled with clear water blue Lupine flowers in every corner of the lobby.
While I was stunned by the decor at first, I was quickly pulled out of my trance when I felt eyes on me. The room was nearly empty save for my father and I, or so I thought when I spotted the mare who was more or less glaring at me from behind one of the counters. I glared back.
“I see you’ve finally brought a mare back with you. Although, this one is a little young I’d think,” she said in an almost spiteful tone. She was a bright white pegasus, presumably a few years older than me, with A mane that ran through blue to yellow like a gradient and eyes that were almost completely gray blue like ice, as if she were blind. How is she staring at me if she’s blind? Or is she blind? She commented on my appearance… Wait a minute, a little young!?
“Gah! Oh, Brightness, you startled me. No, no, this isn’t anything like that. This is my daughter, Rarity.” Her expression was a mixture between bored and spiteful as her eyes moved from my father to me and back.
“Ah, my mistake. I suppose I can see the resemblance, but she’s far too pretty to be your ilk. In any case, she’s properly dressed so I doubt she’s from a street corner around here. Nice to meet you, my name is Brightness.” She bowed her head after my father started his way over to the counter and I hesitantly followed, still not sure what to make of her just yet. Either she was just plain rude, or she knew my father well enough to make jabs at him almost as sharp as my own.
“I… I see. Rarity Belle, how do you do…” Her expression lost it’s spitefulness, but attained something else to replace the boredom. We shook hooves, and it was almost as if I were struck by lightning or something. I pulled my hoof back as soon as I could, but she acted like nothing happened. Was that static?
“In any case, I didn’t call you over just to poke at you, Mister Argent is getting impatient. I was about to call you when you walked in the door. He needs you. Now” So just what exactly is she? She’s almost… intimidating…
“Oh, right, I suppose I am late. Brightness, would you mind taking Rarity up to my apartment? I’d prefer not to make Stannum mad before I head to Zvyr. He might make me stay longer than I have too…” Zvyr was a good ways north of Equestria on the globe and fall has just started. I’m sure it’s cold up there, and my father was never one to do well in the cold. Brightness let out a loud sigh and buzzed her wings like a humming bird over the counter.
“I guess I don’t have anything better to do. Very well. Follow me to the left elevator.” She stopped to meet my father, who was tentatively holding out my gifts in his magic for Brightness to take. She scowled at him and took my things begrudgingly, then the two split and my father waved as he entered the rightmost elevator. I was almost confused by the gesture, but eventually my body responded and I waived back as the doors shut. “Well? Come on, I don’t want to carry this crap all day,” she said to me from the still open elevator, my vase wrapped in one wing, and the gift bag on the other. The spell was broken, and I shook my head before making my way to the open elevator.
“I can carry those, they are mine after all,” I said politely as she pressed an elevator button with her muzzle.
“Oh, by all means.” Then she just about threw them at me. I managed to catch everything in my magic, barely remembering that whatever was in the bag was difficult to grab as the elevator door closed. Once it did, she pulled a small panel next to the button list open, then pressed a button behind it. “Now then, little miss super hero, what exactly are you doing here?” She suddenly cornered me in the elevator. Her nose was just about touching mine, and my tail was pressed against the wall.
“W-what? Super hero? Whatever do you mean?” I was startled by the sudden change, but this confirmed my suspicions. She is intimidating. She slammed her hooves into the floor, the noise so loud it just about stunned me.
“Don’t play dumb with me! I know who you are, and I know who you work for! Tell me why you’re here!” I shook myself out of my daze and fought back.
“What do you think you know? I am just a tailor who runs a shop in Manehattan! I have come to visit my father for the first time in two years and he wanted to show me around his workplace! I don’t know what you’re on about!” I couldn’t guess why, but her expression softened.
“Ah, so you’re pretty good at coming up with BS on the fly. It helps that all of that is mostly true. But that doesn’t change the fact that everything else was a lie. Fine, I’ll just state some facts and let you stop me when I’ve said enough. Rarity Belle, Age twenty, born April tenth, twenty ten. Your parents, Bronze and Pearl Belle, had two children in the southern town of Ponyville, where you were both raised before your house was intruded upon. After you displayed unique magic, the intruder was killed by a bullet he shot. Your family, Bronze, Pearl, yourself, and Sweetie Belle, moved to Manehattan where you have lived ever since.
After a fallout between your parents, your mother left with another stallion to Applewood, where she would fall to a disease that had been eating away at her mind since she was in her twenties, as of last year. You and your sister lived alone with your abusive father whom you personally reported to Child Protective Services at the age of eighteen, a year after you had been selling your wares. Around the same time, you picked up another name and started turning in bounties as the heroine Diamond.” I flinched. Names, dates, and accurate times. She died of a disease? I knew she was a bit different those last few years, but I didn’t know she was deteriorating… Was she the virus carrier?
“Need I say more? Or should I talk about your employer? Maybe I can get your tongue burning just because I say the right things? I could talk about your friends, your family, even the new members your group picked up not too long ago. Both were rather popular for different reasons.” Shit. Now I’m really in a corner. There’s nothing but static when I try and contact Twilight, I don’t know what to do…
“Damn it, what is the point of a secret identity if everypony just finds out anyways!? Fine, you win. I don’t know how you know what you do, but clearly, you know more than I do. I am here on orders. I would never have contacted my father if I didn’t need his position for something.” She put on a smile that almost rivaled Twilight’s for smugness, and I felt the rising urge to punch her in the face.
“Good. Now that we have honesty in the air, take this card, and whatever you do, do not lose it.” From inside her wing, hidden under her feathers, she took a key card and slid it into my suit pocket. “Take the center elevator and insert it to the slot at the bottom of the panel. This will open a keypad, and you enter the number fifty fourteen. That will take you to what you’re looking for. Use your powers if you must, but be careful. We have sensors here that can detect the use of powers within the building. Remember, fifty fourteen. Five, zero, one, four. Now turn around, face the door, and act like we were having a conversation, somepony is coming around the hall near your dad’s apartment.” When did the world turn on its head? What in the hell is going on here? Who is this mare? The elevator door slid open, and she just about dragged me out with her.
“Ah tits, it’s Silicon. Be prepared to get hit on. I don't know how you come from that ugly old stallion, but you are pretty and he is a thirsty motherfucker.” I looked around, still confused by more or less everything that just happened, but there was nopony else in the hallway. Like the lobby, the floor was completely carpeted in that same dark green and gold crisscrossing pattern all the way down in each direction. The walls were a light gray and black with cone shaped lights in between each door that lined them. The hallway was so long in each direction that I could barely see the end of each side. She started off toward the right, and I quickly followed.
“Wait just a minute, what exactly is the meaning of all this? Who are you?” Of all the feelings I was experienceing right now, exasperation was the one I couldn't help but express.
“Shut up! Get the pearls out of the bag and put them on. You’ll need them if you get found out. Now smile! He’s about to turn the corner.” Pearls? Oh, the present. I figured that I ought to listen to her advice, even though this was all extremely sketchy. I dug through the gift bag until I fished out a string of beautiful black pearls that had a strange alluring quality to them and an odd violet shine when held to the light. I tried to grip them with my magic to no avail, and simply wrapped them around my foreleg. One disadvantage to being a unicorn is that any and all clothing to go over the head for normal ponies must open on one side or the other, thanks to the sharp bone that juts out of my skull.
I looked back up, and as she had said, a pony came around the corner. His coat was a dark green, and his mane was an almost luminescent mixture of silver and white. He was an earth pony, but his hind legs looked… as if they’d been gripped by some horrible monster and twisted into terrible shapes, then strapped up to a contraption akin to a wheelchair. He was very thin and frail looking, presumably my age, with dark orange irises.
“Oh, good afternoon Miss Brightness. And who might you be?” he asked as we approached each other. Brightness stopped in front of a door, I stopped with her, and the stallion half-trotted half-wheeled his way to us.
“Hello Silicon,” Brightness said, in a tone that was far too cheery to be real coming from her.
“Um, Good afternoon. I am Rarity Belle, a pleasure to meet you,” I said, holding out my hoof to greet him. Instead of shaking it like a normal pony, he took it and kissed it. Oh boy.
“The pleasure is mine. These are lovely. Did they come from one of our jewelers?” He asked. Argent has jewelers? Oh, right, didn’t he say that they cut gems in house?
“Possibly, I don’t really know. I received them today, actually.” He gently released my hoof and stood back up. At full height, he was a bit shorter than I, and even smaller in frame. Goodness, this stallion has a feminine frame. With a bit longer mane, you could put him in a dress and… Hey! You cut that out! The fantasies were bad enough the other day, this will only make things worse! At least he’s a boy… my brain fought with itself, immediately dressing this doll like stallion in a thousand different outfits, most of which were for mares. Why are so many of them maid outfits?
“They did, in fact, come from this very building. The serial code is always engraved on the first pearl in the string. You wouldn’t know where to look unless you accidentally found it in the right light, or somepony told you, but if you got these today, I’m sure they were from somepony who cares quite a bit. These are a special order item, since the magic resistant pearls can only be manufactured. They aren’t very cheap to make, and we wouldn’t be making much of a profit if we sold them for under a few gold.” His voice was on the higher end of the male spectrum, probably be an alto with a maximum of mid tenor if he had to sing that low. If we sold them?
“I see… are you employed here, or…?” He laughed again and shook his head.
“My apologies, I didn’t even introduce myself. I am Silicon Argent. If we’re getting technical here, I suppose I own the place.” Argent has a son!? Good goddess, did anypony know about this!? Do the Princesses know? How did we not know about this!?
“Oh, so, you’re the heir I presume?” This certainly explains her attitude toward him.
“I am. If I may, why are you here? It could just be simple coincidence, but you don’t happen to be related to Bronze Belle do you?” I could feel some kind of negative emotion radiating from Brightness to my left, but I couldn’t be suspicious or stand out in front of this stallion. He owns the place, for goddess’ sake.
“Yes, actually, he’s my father. He was supposed to give me a tour of the building, but he had to go to an urgent meeting with yours. I was really just going to wait here in his apartment for the next half hour or so. Miss Brightness was kind enough to guide me here.” I'd hoped that would give her the chance to escape. As long as there aren't two of us, I can ditch this guy at any moment.
“I don’t know why you’re telling him all this, but I sure hope you have a plan to get away from him.” I heard Brightness in my head almost as if she were speaking through the brand. I fought every urge to give her a look of confusion, but she followed my queue.
“That is correct. This is his door actually, so I believe my work here is done. If you need anything, give me a shout, at the help desk in the lobby,” she said for the whole class to hear this time, putting specific emphasis on her words. Well, she obviously has some sort of telepathy. I wonder if that means this connection is open to her now?
“It is.” she responded to my thoughts. I simply gave her a blank stare and she bowed after unlocking the door. “Au revoir.” Then she quickly trotted back to the elevator.
“Well, if you’d still like to see the building, I can give you a tour if you like. Father had more than he initially thought to discuss with mister Belle, so he might be longer than half an hour.” At least he’s polite.
“Only because he wants to bang. Not into mares, but you're at least an eight.”
Can you not?
“I can, but we’ll see if I will. I suppose I’ll stay out for now. Call out my name in your mind if you need me. Remember, once you manage to lose him, get to the elevator and enter the code. I can only keep this up for so long, so don’t take forever.” Once she finished, the feeling of being alone in my head returned as if to signal that she was gone. The connection was still there, but very faint. I wonder if this is what she did when she shook my hoof earlier? … When I didn’t get a response, I figured she’d really left.
“I would like that. I’d hate to disappoint him, but I’m sure he’d rather have me see the place before I have to return to my own shop back in Manehattan.”
“Oh, so you have your own place? What do you do?” I opened the door to my father’s apartment before I responded and was surprised by what I saw. It was clean, well furnished, and filled with pictures. Pictures of us…
“I uh… I’m a seamstress. I make clothing. This suit is one of mine, actually.” I was barely paying attention to Silicon now, this whole room had memories of home and it all started to flood back in. Frames on every shelf, different photos of times back before we moved. Mother was in some of these pictures, and he still had them displayed. What in the world… He was just as bitter about her as I was, why would he…?
“Mister Belle keeps a clean place. Did he get those flowers for you as well? I’ve always found those particular colors delightful together,” Silicon said from behind me. In all these memories, I’d nearly forgotten he was there. I set the flowers and the empty bag down on my father’s dark wood coffee table in the more or less monochromatic apartment.
“Oh, right. Irises are a favorite of mine. They used to grow in the wild around the house we lived in back when I was just a filly. They aren’t so common up north, so I don’t see them much anymore.” There were only two doors in this apartment, and after checking one, I found the bathroom I was looking for. The place was still nearly spotless, the counter made of the same gold speckled white stone to match the tub while the room just about matched the hallway for its black lower wall and light gray upper wall. I stood up at the sink and unraveled the pearls from my wrist to put them on properly. Special order, huh? You lying bastard… yet, I can’t say I’m, angry about it this time.
When I was little, I would always find a way to get a hold of my mother’s pearls and try to dress up like her. She was always the lady of high class dress and style, and I wanted to be just like that. She was a singer by profession, so dressing to be admired was merely part of the job, yet she always did it so well. She carried herself with an air of elegance, behaved like a mare of fortune, yet at the same time, was always so caring and kind when I was young.
Through the years though, she began to lose that air, becoming more out of place with each annual passing. When she finally left, I had expected it, really. She wasn’t the pony I remembered at that point, didn’t say so much as a word to either Sweetie or I about leaving. Were it not for the screaming match the two had before it all fell apart, we wouldn’t have even known. Oh, mother. What ever happened to you? Couldn’t you have said something? Why didn’t you tell anypony you were sick? Why didn’t we notice?
I let the pearls sink on my neck, just reaching the collar of my suit, shining with a violet light on their strange black surface that just about matched my hair. Well done, father. You couldn’t have picked out anything more sentimental, nor anything that fit me as well as these. I exited the bathroom and found Silicon holding a family picture of all of us, the last one that was taken before we moved.
“Interested?” He mustn’t have heard me exit because he fumbled with the picture for a few moments.
“Oh, my apologies, I was just looking. Mister Belle doesn’t talk much about his family, so I always assumed him to be alone. Do… you and your sister live with this mare in the picture?” I shook my head.
“No, my mother died last year.” I found it strange, the feeling I had to associate with those words. Not one of sadness or regret, but pure disappointment. Things… probably wouldn’t have turned out the way they did had she told us about it. I wonder if father knows?
“He doesn’t. I did quite a bit of digging to find that one out. She kept it very hidden. Supposedly, the stallion she ran off with was a doctor who was looking to try and treat her. She couldn’t bear to let her family see her like that, so she decided it best to take off. I imagine she wasn’t supposed to get found out, but things don’t always go according to plan. I think your father was the initial carrier, but I don't think his powers are something he can actively control.” Brightness echoed.
Gah! I thought you left! I almost jumped in front of Silicon.
“No, no, I’m always listening. Call it an old habit I just never managed to kick. The boy is talking to you, you might pay attention.” I looked back at Silicon and managed to read ‘to hear that.’ on his lips before I heard it.
“Yes, It… it was unexpected, to say the least.” He nodded and put the photo back on its shelf. That picture was after one of her performances. I only picked up the piano back then because I wanted to play with her, now didn’t I? Strange, how fast things can change. I’d almost forgotten…
“I see. Well, I suppose you won’t see much of Argent tower if we don’t go ahead and get a move on, now will you? Is there any particular floor you had in mind to see first? This side of the building, as I’m sure somepony told you, is mostly apartments for our employees and the rare few that choose to live here. It’s not particularly expensive, but it certainly isn’t the most budget friendly option around.” He laughed. Yes, I’d like to see your basement, where you keep all of the skeletons this company is hiding.
“My father mentioned this was the tallest building in Equestria. I’d love to see what the view looks like.” If I can’t go down, I might as well go up. With any luck, he won’t have much to show me, and I can get out of here and explore the lower floors…
“Ah, of course. That view is about the only real tourist attraction Tin has, actually. Follow me.” We left the apartment and I didn’t have any way to lock the door, so I just hoped that closing it would be enough. I spotted a camera every few meters on the ceiling, so if anything did go wrong, they would have a record of it… but on the other hoof, that might make things difficult… I’ll have to move through frozen time to avoid being detected when I do start my mission proper.
“I can guide you once you finally manage to lose Silicon. There are only about ten floors outside of the lobby that he’d probably want to show you. Make sure he doesn’t try to walk you out of the building, otherwise you’ll lose your chance,” Brightness added.
Understood. I followed the stallion to the center elevator and noticed the card key slot at the bottom of the button panel right away. It wasn’t quite in plain sight, but it clearly wasn’t for those who didn’t know. If I wasn’t looking for it, I wouldn’t have seen it. Silicon pressed the top most button on the panel that read ‘R’ and the elevator doors closed. I suppose I wasn’t paying attention earlier, but at the moment, we were on the seventy-fifth floor… out of one hundred fifty, not including the roof. I’ve been in most of the skyscrapers in Manehattan, but nothing even came close to this. The tallest I could think of was probably the Empire building, and even that didn’t go more than one hundred floors.
“Goodness, I didn’t realize we were this high up!” I exclaimed.
“Ah, yes, it’s pretty tall. It’s not called the tallest building in Equestria for no reason. Originally, the Trade Center held that title, but after it fell, my father had to relocate. After two years of nonstop construction, the tower was seventy five percent complete, and most of the lower floors were already back to work. My father wanted this to be a place to break records, so that’s what he set out to do. Nothing of this scale had ever been completed as fast as the tower was, and nothing in this country is nearly as tall. Come a few years, Tin should be a huge city, possibly rivaling Canterlot for size thanks to the rapid growth this town sees. Nothing may ever top Manehattan for size and commerce, but Tin is bound for a track like that. It should be quite a sight, one day…” I found it strange that he would say something like that. It was as if he had hope for the future, but was sad about it at the same time.
“I see. Well, that doesn’t surprise me. I believe that Manehattan lost almost fifteen percent of the population to Tin during the tower’s construction, and only more have followed. That isn’t to say that the space hasn’t been filled since then, but I know that the population here is always growing.” We continued to discuss business and population rates until the elevator finally rang after what seemed like hours of upward travel.
“We call this floor the sky deck. It’s sole purpose is to be a viewing area for the general public. Triple reinforced glass makes up the walls from floor to roof here. The upper floors aren’t as wide as the lower ones, so this part of the tower is about as small as it ever gets, but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t accommodate several ponies. As a matter of fact, this part of the tower is used not unlike a ballroom to host parties for when we celebrate anniversaries of the company.” Just like he said, the room was more or less empty, save for the column that functioned as a support beam and housed the singular elevator. The windows ran all around us and touched the floor and the ceiling, leaving the breathtaking view from above the clouds and the forest below for all to see. I was never one for heights, but the sight was something only a pegasus would know. The sun was just beginning its descent and the sky was clear blue, save for the occasional cloud one could look down on. Pine trees ran as far as the eye could see, fading into the blue horizon where it looked like there was a small fog forming.
“What is that? The fog down there?” It didn’t look… quite right. It was definitely fog, but it was swirling, almost like it was moving.
“Oh, yes, that would be the hidden lake. Most ponies don’t know about it because it’s surrounded by dense forest, but there is a small lake over there that produces a strange fog that’s said to only fade on nights of clear blue moons. Essentially, it only appears once every three years. My father took me there when it was clear years ago. A place so untouched by civilization that it has a strange magic around it. I don’t think I’ll ever forget that day.” His tone was not one of fondness, I but... something I couldn't place. It was strange. Just like our earlier conversation, he sounded positive, yet I could tell there was a negative emotion behind it as well.
“Is that so? Maybe you can show me some time.” He turned and gave me what I could only describe as a sad laugh and a disappointed smile.
“Sure, it’s a date. The last one was actually in may of this year, so it’ll be a while before then. Any where in particular you’d like to see next? I have a few places in mind if you don’t.”What an odd stallion. I don’t know how to read him at all…
“I suppose I don’t. Lead the way.”
The next hour consisted of us talking while visiting various unique floors within the tower. A floor that was mostly an indoor ‘pool’ as he called it, but I would call that a water park. An indoor garden with unnatural lighting that made the plants grow in unusual ways, a laboratory, busy with workers running around who all seemed to want to show Silicon some new experiment that produced some strange reaction to the gems they mined. The floor with my father’s office, which was almost as luxurious as his apartment, the floor that was more or less a jewellery store where he almost gave me a pair of diamond earrings that I couldn’t accept. I turned him down because I called it far too gracious for a stranger, but in reality it was because I never had my ears pierced. I’ve always been afraid of needles, but that’s something I keep to myself. The fight with the kraken was probably the most terrifying one I’ve ever been in, simply because it was literally my greatest fear. Eventually, with one amazing thing after the other, Silicon ran out of things to show me, which left me back at my father’s apartment.
“Well, this has been quite the experience. Had I known that this place was more of a resort than a business, I might’ve visited sooner.” Silicon laughed and nodded.
“Of course. I always tell father that we should advertise some of these things more, but he prefers to keep things like that specifically for his employees. ‘Why pay to send them somewhere when they can vacation within their workplace?’ He would always say. Of course, it’s not as If I don’t take advantage of these things myself, but you know how it is. The clever entrepreneur always tries to keep growing their business.” I nodded in agreement.
“Of course. But that does beg the question, does your father intend to pass this on to you?” In an instant, Silicon’s smile faded.
“Not for some time. He wants me to have at least ten years of experience working before he gives it to me.” What an odd tone. No emotion at all. You would think he'd at least be angry about something like that, yet... he's just so apathetic.
“I see. I suppose that makes good business sense, this is quite the large operation, even this building alone. Argent owns several facilities on top of this, so I imagine there’s far more to it than one could just pick up in a few weeks.” He nodded.
“Honestly, if something ever happened, I could pick up the business in the event I needed to, but I doubt that day will ever come. Or at least I hope so anyways.” He laughed, picking his happier tone back up again. Anything discussing the future and he always sounds so ambivalent about it…
“Well, I had a great time today. I suppose you must be busy, but if there were ever time where you were free again...” His eyes lit up and for once in this entire event, I thought I saw a genuine smile out of him.
“Oh, but of course! Please feel free to contact me whenever you’d like. I’m always here, but I’m sure I could make time if it’s you.” He took a business card from a pocket in his wheel harness and passed it to me. I took the card and slid it into my suit’s pocket. As I did, I felt the key card and remembered what I was really here for. Such a shame his father appears to have ‘evil plans.’ I wouldn’t mind getting to know him. And making him model for me! He’s just so tiny, he’d be perfect for- Hey! What did I say about that!? Stop it! He is a boy and the son of a very important pony! … I doubt he’d crossdress for you anyways. Especially not in lingerie.
“I absolutely will. Until then.”
“Until then. Au revoir.” He bowed, and then I pulled the apartment door to a close. I waited until I heard the elevator ding, then I prepared to do my job.
“Brightness, I’ll be coming to deliver my things to you in a few moments. Don’t be alarmed if you suddenly find them behind your counter.”
“Ah, so you finally managed to escape lover boy? Or is it that you remembered why you came here initially? Speaking of lover boy, you had some pretty… interesting thoughts about him yourself, to say the least.” Can she see images!? Oh goddess, please no. Nopony needed to see that.
“Um… If you could just not bring that back up, I would really appreciate it.”
“I mean, I can see images but that's a little more than sending a thought. It's kinda like a computer in that text is easy to send across, but anything else and it gets harder to parse. Not that I didn't look, just that it's kinda hard. You should probably move.”
I put a hoof to my face in hopes of shaking the embarrassment away and started toward the elevator. Forty five minutes later, after a monumental discovery and nearly being caught by Argent security, I escaped the tower and made it onto the train.
“Twilight? We have a problem.”
---
“So, did you tell him?” Silicon said from the couch in Stannum’s office. The Chess board had all the pawns removed and the king and the queen left on black's side. White's side had all of the higher pieces, one extra knight and one extra rook. Silicon took the black pawns and set five in spaces surrounding the black king and queen, then moves out the white bishop, the only piece in play.
“I did. He said he needed some time to think about it. I knew he would be apprehensive about it, but I’m sure he’ll come around. He trusts me,” Stannum replied. The old stallion looked tired, so, so very tired.
“Good. The girl has also seen what she needed to. I couldn’t get solid evidence as to who guided her, however. She’s rather social, and she spoke to nearly everypony we came across. It could have been any number of them.” Silicon reclined in his seat, careful to not move too fast. He scratched at the belts that kept his hind legs in place and became irritated when he felt nothing. “These damn things. I’ll be glad to be free of them once this is all over, one way or another.”
“So, what do we do now?” Silicon shrugged and put his hooves behind his head.
“Continue with the plan and see what happens. We don’t have much of a choice in the matter anymore, now do we?” Silicon sighed and Stannum shook his head.
“Surely there must be another way?” Silicon sat up straight and stared his father down.
“Do you think I would be going through with this if there was!? It’s a gamble at best, and if he doesn’t show up with it, then we’re screwed anyways! None of this would have ever come to pass if that blasted mare had never shown up in the first place! It’s her ponies that are collateral here, so who gives a damn!? You keep your mouth shut, and you do as your told. We don’t have time to fuck around anymore.” Stannum shook his head once more and then let it sink into his hooves.
“I suppose all we have left really is hope and threats...”