(Beware, this is the new and improved version of the second part of the first chapter. The old version of chapter one is still there if you want to read it, but only this version is considered canon to the rest of the story)
Prologue, Part 2
Celestia's Newest Students
CelestiaCorp.
That was the name of one of the most successful, famous, and advanced science and development corporations in the country. It was founded right here in Canterlot by a woman named Celestia and her younger sister Luna with the money they inherited from their wealthy mother and father upon their passing.
Around the time Captain Jupiter appeared, 20 years ago more or less, there was a similar company known as Starswirl Laboratories that amazed pretty much everyone with their innovations...but suffered greatly due to internal corruption and the involvement of the criminal organisation known as 'the Maggia'...which lead to the emergence of many of the super-powered criminals Jupiter once fought.
CelestiaCorp was meant to be different than its predecessor. Better. With a stronger figurehead, tighter security, less shady dealings and more focus on bettering the human race as opposed to just do what is immediately profitable.
While she was criticised by many, Celestia stood firm in her beliefs, and refused to be swayed by notions of greed or foul play. No matter how often what was left of the Canterlot Maggia, various military organisations, or Rex Storm, the power-hungry owner of the rival research company known as 'Storm Tech', tried to manipulate her into using her science for their selfish purposes, she made sure to never give in. No matter how many threats or lucrative propositions she had received, Celestia had never strayed from her ideals of science only being used to help humanity evolve towards a better future.
Celestia's infectious optimism and personal strength inspired many to follow in her wake, including some of the greatest minds of this generation. Revered scientists and born prodigies joined the company one after another, and it didn't take long until CelestiaCorp became one of the greatest research companies around.
However, despite how many people signed up to work for her all the time, Celestia herself periodically travelled to schools all over the city in search of people who showed potential. If she found someone who impressed her, then she would occasionally offer them a choice to become her personal students and study under her guidance.
The first students she ever took on were a couple of High Schoolers going by the names of Sunburst and Starlight Glimmer, both of which had since graduated with top honours, with the former of the two taking on a career as a teacher while the latter was now in charge of CelestiaCorp's engineering division.
She had taken on a couple students later on, but very few of them impressed her nearly as much as Glimmer and Sunburst did...at least until she made a discrete visit to a science fair hosted at a small suburban High School known only as Canterlot High.
It was there she met the 18-year old engineer-in-training Sunset Shimmer and the 16-year old math and science-genius Twilight Sparkle.
While they didn't know each other that well back then, the two of them once joined forces to win the science fair Celestia visited. And when she saw what the two of them had created, Celestia immediately offered to take them both under her wing and let them study at her company.
Naturally, they accepted, and were now researching at the company as Celestia's newest students.
CelestiaCorp had many facilities bearing its name...some of which weren't even in Canterlot City. A few of them were even based outside the country.
However, the most prominent and by far the most well-known building owned by the company was the giant skyscraper in the middle of Canterlot with the words 'CELESTIACORP' written on it in big all-caps letters.
The CelestiaCorp Tower.
It had 84 floors and stood firm as the second tallest building in the city, with only the Empire Canterlot Building towering over it, and could be spotted no matter where in the general vicinity of Canterlot you happened to be. Truly an impressive piece of architecture beyond any doubt. It was here where most of the company's research was done, and it was here where Celestia herself usually spent her days.
However, while most of the building's floors were comprised of laboratories of some kind or another, there was actually a small cafeteria at the bottom floor that the company's employees could use to relax and have a bite to eat or a cup of coffee to drink.
It was there where Twilight Sparkle was currently enjoying a cup of tea with Sunset Shimmer while waiting for her friends to arrive.
Given CelestiaCorp's extremely high security standards, it was a bit of a hard sell to actually get this little social visit approved in the first place. Celestia herself was fairly easy to convince given her personal trust in Twilight's judgement, as well as her sociable and optimistic demeanour...but the same could not be said for her sister Luna.
While Celestia was clearly the face of the company, given that it was named after her, the younger of the two sisters were the one ultimately in charge of the safety and well-being of CelestiaCorp Tower itself, and she wasn't as close to Twilight as her sister was...so when it was up to her to allow a group of teenage girls, including one with a small criminal record at that, to wander around a place filled with highly sensitive equipment and specimens, Luna obviously said no at first.
Though, with a little extra diplomacy, including an offer of a free cake and breakfast in bed, Luna reluctantly agreed to let Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack and Pinkie Pie gain access to CelestiaCorp Tower for one day...but she wasn't happy about it.
Now all they had to do was to get there.
While they sat there waiting for all of them, Twilight and Sunset used this opportunity to talk for a bit...though the topic of their conversation was perhaps not something that Twilight was all that comfortable discussing.
"So...did you go for it this time?" Sunset asked with a coy smile that simply oozed of confidence. In fact, almost everything about her said the same thing. She had red and yellow hair that flowed over her back like flames, a healthy tan, a cool and collected voice, and even though she was currently wearing a lab coat, she still had black leather boots on her feet.
Her lab partner Twilight on the other hand was clearly a bit more on the nerdy side, with her huge dorky glasses, dark blue hair with noticeable pink stripes in it and was neatly tied up into a bun. And even though she had a noticeable dark skin tone, her cheeks were still obviously blushing out of embarrassment when she awkwardly answered, "Weeeell...no, I didn't. I told him I couldn't."
"Oh, okay..." Sunset said in a slightly disappointed tone, dropping her smile a little, "...any particular reason why?"
"I guess I just didn't feel like it."
"Hey, Twilight, I get what you mean, but it's not everyday you of all people, no offence, get asked out by someone like him. It's not good for you to let opportunities like that slip all the time."
Twilight took a sip of her tea, "Don't get me wrong, I'm flattered that Flash, or anyone at all for that matter, thought I would make good dating material, but he's...well...maybe not my type or something. Besides, he's your ex, that just makes it a whole ton weirder!"
"Well...technically I only went out with him to get popular back when I was CHS's queen bee," Sunset clarified a bit shamefully. "I didn't really 'like him' like him, you know?"
"Then that's another reason for declining. I mean, if you didn't like him for any reason other than that, then I don't see really why I would."
"Fair enough," Shimmer conceded while tasting a bit of her own tea. "Though seriously, you really should find someone. You could use the distraction."
"Distraction? Why would I need a distraction?"
Sunset sighed, "I've seen how you are when you're focused on an assignment, and it has me a bit worried."
"About what?"
"Look. When you focus on something, you really focus on something. Don't get me wrong, that's good and all, but do you ever just, I don't know, let loose a bit?"
"If by 'let loose' you mean 'get drunk, have wild parties or kiss people I barely know', like the stereotype of my age-group would suggest, then no, I'm not."
Sunset shook her head, "No, what I mean is 'hang out with some friends, go on dates, or at least have a life outside the lab', because you don't really seem to be doing that a lot."
"Hey! I do hang out with my friends!" Twilight insisted. "I mean, aren't we sitting around here waiting for them right now?"
"Yes, to show them the things you're into. When was the last time you took an interest in what any of them wanted to do?"
Twilight was about to respond to that, but then stopped herself when she couldn't come up with anything to say in her defence. 'Well...I guess you could count that visit to the new Canterlot Mall opening...but that must have been a few weeks ago at least. But didn't Pinkie want my help organising Gummy's birthday party? Wait, no, I was too busy trying to map out the symbiote's alien genome that day. And then there was that barn sale that Applejack had the other day...that I was also too busy to help with, or what about that soccer game Rainbow wanted me to see. Oh, yeah, the one that I completely forgot about. Come to think about it...when was the last time I helped any of them out with anything?'
She began to analyse her past behaviour for an answer to that question, but when she eventually found one, her brain immediately went into overdrive.
"Oh no, no, no, no, this is a disaster!" Twilight suddenly ranted, catching Sunset off-guard. "How could I not noticed it sooner?! I'm a terrible friend! I failed every single one of them because I was too busy with this new internship position, even though I'm supposed to care and make time for them when they need me! They may say they're happy for me, but they probably think I'm just a geeky anti-social nerd who cannot even bring herself to care about anything besides my nerdy research, someone that cannot even bother to show up and help them with their problems or do what they want, what they think is fun!"
Once she was starting to get a bit hysterical, Sunset calmly asked, "Uh, Twilight?"
...But Twilight didn't really seem to have heard her.
"What if they think I'm not worth being their friend, and decide to cut me off from the group?! What if they never want to see me again!?"
“Twilight,” Sunset tried again.
"...And then I'll be too distracted thinking of what a horrible friend I was to do my work properly and Celestia has to cut me loose, making me lose the one thing that I lost all my-"
“Twilight!” Sunset suddenly shouted.
That immediately shut her up, and also made her realise that she was starting to make a scene. She blushed heavily when she noticed that just about everyone else in the cafeteria was staring at her.
A bit embarrassed, Twilight muttered a nervous "Sorry", then buried her head in her hands while letting out a frustrated sigh.
"I...had one of my episodes, didn't I?"
"Pretty much...yeah." Shimmer replied before she gently started patting Twilight on the head.
"Arghh...I know I should stop assuming the worst all the time...but...well, its really hard not to."
"Aw...you shouldn't beat yourself up over that, Twilight," Pinkie Pie provided. "It's no shame in having a little problem with your OCD."
"Exactly," Sunset concurred. "And you don't need to worry about your friends either. All you have to do is try to make some time and hang out with them every once in awhile. It's never too late for that."
"Yeah, what she said! Plus, your problems are nothing compared to what me and my sisters have to deal with all the time," Pinkie added.
"See? At least someone..." Sunset suddenly stopped herself when she noticed something...then took a good long look at the pink-haired girl who was currently sitting at their table, loudly drinking a packet of apple juice through a straw. "...hang on a minute...how long have you been there?"
Too focused on not having another anxiety attack, Twilight hadn't given a second thought as to when and how Pinkie Pie showed up at their table, but when that fact was now put into question, she raised her head and looked at the newcomer curiously.
"Oh, around the time Twilight said 'Oh no, no, no, no, this is a disaster!'...though it sounded a lot funnier when she said it," Pinkie answered with a shrug. Then she held out her hand to Sunset and introduced herself, "I'm Pinkamina Diane Pie, but most people just call me Pinkie. That's waaaaaaaaay easier."
Sunset slowly and cautiously took Pinkie's hand, "Nice...to meet you, Pinkie..." only to be surprised when the other girl shook her arm fast enough to create after-images.
"Nice to meet you too! No, wait, it's better then nice, it's absolutely wonderrific! So what might your name be, girl of bacon-coloured hair?"
"Bacon-coloured?!" Sunset sputtered, slightly offended.
Pinkie couldn't help but giggle at that, "Hihihihi! Wow, that's a funny name. Props to me for guessing it though!"
"What?! No, I'm Sunset Shimmer, and what-"
"Ooooooooooh...so you're the Sunset girl Twilight told me so much about!" Pinkie noted, her eyes filling up with glee. "A bit of a shame though because I would love to meet someone who actually is called 'Bacon-coloured'. It'd be even funnier if it's one of those ironic names and that person isn't bacon-coloured at all, hihihihi!"
Sunset looked at Twilight for an explanation.
"She's...one of my friends," Twilight clarified. "You know, one of those we'd been waiting for?"
Shimmer mouthed an understanding "Oh" in response.
Twilight then turned her attention back to Pinkie, "So...where are the others?"
Pinkie Pie dived under the table, then immediately after, her voice could be heard shouting from across the room near the cafeteria entrance, "They're over heeeeeeere!"
Twilight's eyes quickly set on the entrance, and saw that Pinkie was happily skipping towards them with Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Applejack following closely behind.
An eager smile festered on Twilight’s lips upon seeing them finally here, and she promptly made a move to get up to join them...but stopped once she gave Sunset a quick glance and saw her stare blankly at Pinkie Pie with a vacant look on her face.
"Uhm...Sunset...are you okay?"
Sunset stuttered, "How...did she go...from here to there...I can't...eh..."
Twilight let out a little laugh, "Oh, hehe, that's just Pinkie Pie. She does that. I don't know how, but she does that. I tried to figure out how she managed to do all the things she does once before, but all that gave me was a really bad headache...so I decided to just try not to question it."
Shimmer blinked a few times, then said, "...I'll take your word for it."
"You better, pal," Rainbow Dash, who had suddenly taken a seat at their table provided. "The last time Twilight tried to crack the whole Pinkie mystery, she got all mad scientist about it and strapped Pinkie down to an operating table."
"I did not!" Twilight insisted, her face heating up in the process. "I was just trying to measure her brainwaves, not anything invasive!"
Rainbow gave her a sceptical look, "Then why was there a scalpel on your desk?"
"For other research projects."
"And those projects being...?"
"Ahem!" Applejack interrupted. "Gettin' off-topic there, Rainbow."
Then she spat in her hand and held it out towards Sunset, "Name's Applejack, pleasure makin' your acquaintance!"
Without a beat, Sunset took her hand and shook it, seemingly not bothered by the saliva in the cowgirl's palm. "Sunset Shimmer."
Fluttershy, who, along with the other girls, had taken a seat at their table, spoke up next, "And I'm...I'm...Fluttershy."
"I'm sorry, could you repeat that?" Sunset asked while she tried to make eye contact with the introverted girl currently hiding her face behind her long pink hair.
"It's Fluttershy!" She squeaked out a little louder...though not exactly loud enough to hear her properly.
Shimmer leaned in a little closer, "Didn't quite catch that."
"Her name's Fluttershy!" Rainbow suddenly answered for her, but with enough energy to make Sunset flinch a little. "She's my best bud, and she's really nice, but she can also be a bit...well...shy...especially around strangers. No offence."
"None...taken. And you are..?"
"I'm the one and only Rainbow Dash; star athlete, ace photographer, future pilot and probably the most awesome girl you're ever gonna meet!" she answered proudly and with a clear sense of bravado.
Sunset chuckled a little, "Hehe, well you certainly don't lack for confidence."
"I'm just saying it as it is," Rainbow boasted. "It's not bragging if its true, right?"
"Sugarcube," Applejack began, drawing Rainbow's attention. "every time you talk about yourself you end up braggin'... whether it's true or not."
"Hey! I can be humble..!"
Applejack slowly raised an eyebrow.
"...when I feel like it."
Applejack sighed.
Sunset loudly cleared her throat to get the others attention. "So, it's just you four who're coming today? We're not waiting for anyone else?"
"Nah, it's just us," Pinkie answered, having just finished her apple juice pack. "I would have loved to invite lots and lots of more people, but Twilight didn't like that idea very much."
"Well..." Fluttershy voiced loud enough to hear. "...Rarity was supposed to be here today, but...she's...not coming."
Sunset noticed something in Fluttershy's tone when she said that, almost as if she was sad about something. She made sure to make a mental note to herself about that for future reference. ‘Yeah, I figured there was one missing. Now, I think Twilight told me something about this girl before...’
"Rarity huh..." Sunset mused. "That's the one who liked fashion, right?"
"Eeyup...that she sure do!" Applejack replied with a small smirk that seemed to basically scream out, 'you have no idea...'.
"Cool. So...did she give a reason for not coming?"
As soon as she asked that, all of the other girls started to look nervous all of a sudden. Clearly there was something interesting currently going on about this 'Rarity' person. Though what exactly, she can only guess.
Eventually, Applejack answered with a vague, "It's...complicated."
"I see..." Sunset replied in a quiet tone. She briefly considered asking them to elaborate, but ultimately chose not to pry into their personal lives until she knew them better.
So instead, she reached into the pocket of her lab coat and pulled out a couple of plastic cards while explaining, "Anyway, these are your temporary ID cards. As long as you're in the labs, you will need to keep them on you at all times."
The girls picked up their respective cards and noticed that their names were all printed on them, along with the title of 'Visitor'. There was even a small metallic pinch in the corner to make sure it could stick to someone's clothing and not fall off.
"Uhh...why do we need these?" Rainbow questioned while giving her card an inspection. 'Just 'Rainbow Dash'? Seriously? There should be a 'Danger' in there somewhere.'
Twilight was quick to give an explanation, "Well, CelestiaCorp has really tight security, and the research we're doing in the labs here are far too risky for us to allow to fall into the wrong hands."
"Just imagine what would happen if a common street punk got his hands on a functional freeze ray...or if a potentially deadly virus ended up accidentally being released into the atmosphere." Sunset added for example.
Fluttershy shuddered a little at the thought.
Twilight continued, "Therefore must every person who visits the labs be given the approval of either Luna or Celestia, the company's founders, before they're allowed inside. The ID cards represents that approval, and the security personnel will need to see them if you're to be allowed anywhere inside the tower...well, aside from the lobby of course."
"Sooooo...what happens if we lose them or somethin'?" Applejack asked, while also trying to find a way to stick the card on her shirt.
"To put it simply...the security guards will have to throw you out," Sunset answered.
Horrified at the thought, Fluttershy squeaked, "Th-th-throw us...ou-out?!"
In order to prevent her anxiety-ridden friend from having a panic-attack, Twilight softened it to, "Well, more like...eh...politely escort you...out."
"That still sounds terrifying," Fluttershy quivered. "I don't know if I could handle that!"
Rainbow gave her a few gentle pats on the back to help her calm down. "There, there, Shy, no one is gonna throw you out. And if they try, I'll make them regret it!"
Fluttershy instantly broke out of her anxiety to give Dash a reprimanding look.
"Not that I would hurt anyone to do that or anything, hehe..." Rainbow nervously clarified.
Fluttershy smiled.
"Point is: don't lose them," Sunset reminded. "As long as you have them on, there shouldn't be any issues. Though to be sure, I'd suggest not touching anything either."
"Okey dokey lokey!" Pinkie agreed. "No touchy in the labs. Pinkie Promise."
She then looked at the others sternly, "Right, girls?"
Fluttershy merely nodded silently, Applejack responded with a nervous "Sure thing", and Rainbow Dash didn't seemed to have heard the question, so she answered with a confused "Huh?"
Pinkie Pie got up and looked Rainbow straight in the eyes, "You won't touch anything in the lab and break a Pinkie Promise, would you?"
Dash let out another nervous chuckle, "Hehe, why would I be touching anything? he...hehe-he..." 'It's not like I've been arrested for shoplifting before or anything.'
Pinkie's eyes lingered on Rainbow's for a second more before she looked away and cheerfully announced, "Alright then, LET'S GET THIS TOUR STARTED!"
"Yes, let's!" Twilight beamed while she sprung up from her chair like a spring. "There's so much I've been wanting to show you girls for so long now, I don't know if we'll even have time for them all! We have the bio-labs, the engineering department, the theoretical physics room, Professor Starswirl's collection, 'special projects', or maybe the old archives, and that's barely scratching the surface! What do you want to see first?!"
Twilight's question was met with a slightly awkward silence while her four friends were trying to come up with a good answer to it. Now, her friends weren't exactly dumb, but they hadn't really kept up that much with Twilight's science career over the years, so they were pretty much clueless as to what any of those alternatives meant.
Eventually though, Rainbow suggested, "...Maybe the thing that's closest from here or something?"
"That would be the open testing area. One of my personal favourites actually," Twilight confessed. "Follow me!"
While the work going on in CelestiaCorp was very sophisticated and complex, the same could not be said for their choices in names.
For example, the 'Open Testing Area' was precisely what it sounded like: a very large open room with few discernible features in it where it was possible to test out the inventions the company made that were a bit too big to be used anywhere else.
In fact, it was by far the largest room in the building...and yet, none in Twilight's group were allowed to be in it.
Instead, they had to observe the mostly empty compartment through the thick glass window of a smaller room next to it, with a few computer screens around showing several different angles of the giant room for visual aid.
Now, when it came to a place called the 'Open Testing Area', then one might be wondering what exactly they were testing in there.
At the moment, the company was currently demonstrating the capabilities of something that looked like a giant mechanised bipedal rhinoceros. A demonstration that the group of six teenage girls just outside were glad they didn't miss out on.
While Twilight and Sunset took turns explaining how the rhino-mech worked, Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Pinkie Pie were all staring at it with different levels of amazement and wonder.
Rainbow had even brought out her camera to take a couple of photos of the machine...even though they weren't all that good from the angle she was looking from. That said, she still couldn't get over how awesome the machine looked. If only it wasn't so slow and heavy, she would definitively want to pilot the thing given a chance.
Pinkie was mostly on the same wavelength...and at this point, it was really hard to determine which of the two could have been the worst possible candidate to control one of the powerful behemoths.
Applejack meanwhile was looking it over with a more practical goal in mind. After all, there were a lot of heavy lifting when working at Sweet Apple Acres...and something this big and powerful would no doubt prove to be very useful when dealing with that. Now, if only she could convince Granny Smith to go along with it...
Fluttershy on the other hand was slightly intimidated by the walking mechanical monster and even kept a certain distance from the window leading to the testing area...though that was also because of how far up they were compared to the testing area.
"...And with the new armour plating developed specifically for the Rhinos, they are virtually indestructible," Twilight explained. "This protects the operator inside from all manner of harm that could befall a worker on a construction or demolition site. The machine is even suited to protect them from limited amounts of radiation, as well as extremely high or low temperatures. In addition to that, a Rhino is capable of lifting several metric tonnes of pressure with ease."
When she mentioned that, the test pilot in the Rhino suit decided to use the mech's powerful arms to try to pick up a massive weighted box that even had the words '10 TON' written on it.
While the impressive weight made the hydraulics in the Rhino create a slightly stressed sound, that didn't stop it from lifting the box several metres into the air with relative ease.
"No way!" Rainbow sounded at the sight, taking as many pictures as she could to make sure that she could treasure this moment a bit more in the future. "That thing's awesome!"
"Can I drive it next!?" Pinkie Pie excitingly asked while getting right up in Twilight's face with the best pleading eyes she could muster. "Can I? Can I?! Can I?! Can I?!"
"Sorry, Pinkie,” Twilight answered, taking step back to regain a little personal space. “You need, well, clearance for that."
“Oooh, can you get me some?”
"I'm afraid not."
Pinkie visibly deflated after hearing that, all while making a disappointed "Aaaaaaaaw..." sound.
"Soooo what will it take to get to drive one of those then?" Rainbow inquired while she sorted through the photos she had just taken. "I get that we can't right now, but is there a chance we could try it out later?"
"That would be a bit tricky to arrange. These are just early prototypes, and we're still waiting for official approval before they're going into production. Either way, it's going to be some time before anyone other than our certified test pilots get to drive them."
"That sucks," Dash commented as she began to put her camera back in her bag. "You don't suppose we could-"
Already knowing what she was about to suggest, Twilight answered with a stern, "No."
"But-"
"No!"
"...Fine." Rainbow grumbled dejectedly.
Seeing an opening, Applejack decided to ask, "So...how much would you suppose these doohickeys would cost anyway...when they're on the market, that is?"
Sunset chuckled a little at the question, "Heh, looking to buy one early, Applejack?"
"Ya know, maybe I am. Seriously, the things I could do with one of those on the farm would be worth a heck of a lot."
"I sure hope so. We haven't gotten a price tag yet, but just one Rhino would easily be worth nearly five million dollars at least, so I hope you got the money."
"FIVE MILLION!?" Applejack spat in disbelief. "That's completely outrageous! No way in Blue Hill we're gonna afford that!"
"Actually, it costed us even more than that just to get the materials to build them," Twilight noted. "Plus, the Rhino is not really designed for farming anyway."
"Still, can't blame a gal for-"
"WHOAH, what's that!?" Rainbow suddenly shouted, cutting Applejack off before she could finish that sentence.
Immediately, everyone else turned their attention to what she had spotted.
Another test pilot had just entered the Open Testing Area. However, what he was riding on was probably even more impressive than the Rhino-mech.
It appeared to be some kind of winged flying contraption that the pilot was using to pull off some pretty crazy areal manoeuvres in the spacious but limited testing room.
Unlike most areal vehicles though, where there was a domed cockpit encasing a flight seat, this pilot was actually standing on top of it with his legs attached to the primary steering system, allowing him to control its directions by tilting his body while also preventing him from falling off. To compensate for the air-resistance and G-forces one would expect from flying around at high speeds, the pilot was wearing a high-tech full-body suit that was electronically connected to the flying machine for added efficiency.
"Forget the Rhino thing, I want to fly one of those!" Rainbow declared, pressing her whole body at the glass window while her eyes were gleefully tracking the movements of the fast-moving hovercraft.
"ME TOO! ME TOO!" Pinkie agreed.
“I think I’ll pass...” Fluttershy mumbled, still keeping her distance from the others.
"That...is a CelstiaCorp Tech-Flight Glider," Sunset explained. "It's meant to be used by cops and other emergency people to keep trouble in check without having to get bogged down by traffic. And it’s also far more manoeuvrable than a police chopper. While brand new in design, it's actually based on the same tech the Vulture used back when he was a supervillain."
'Yeah, the Vulture...' Rainbow thought bitterly. 'Canterlot's first super-jerk...and also my ex's grandpa. Guess where she got her attitude from?'
"That thing looks way more impressive than those crummy old Vulture-wings though," she commented out loud. "Seriously, did you see how fast the glider could turn in mid-air?! I haven't seen the Vulture in action, but I really doubt he could do that."
"Astute observation, Rainbow," Twilight complimented. "While Gruff Tomb's original invention was pretty impressive for its time, science really has come a long way since then. The glider is also far easier to steer than the Vulture-harness, as well as being a bit more agile, can load more ordnance, and has the ability to effectively hover in mid-air. Plus, the engine is far more advanced, letting it fly longer without running out of power while also being a lot more environmentally friendly."
"In short: the glider beats the wings every time." Sunset concluded with a proud grin on her face.
The test pilot now performed a perfect barrel roll followed by a full-on loop as if to prove her point. To an outside viewer, it might look like he was just having fun (and honestly, who could blame him), but in truth, he was actually going over a detailed list of moves he had to test in order to evaluate how the machine held up in tense situations.
The one who had given him that list, as well as the one who also happened to be the original architect behind both the glider and the Rhino, was also watching the demonstration through a glass window connected to the Open Testing Area. However, she was standing in a room a floor above the one where Twilight's group were at.
At first glance, she would appear to be your average run-of-the-mill researcher, with her neatly combed purple hair and white lab coat...until one saw the four long mechanical octopus-like arms coming out of her back, each with a three-pronged ‘hand’ at its end.
She used one of the arms to pick up her notebook from her coat pocket while she simultaneously used another to reach for a coffee cup sitting on a nearby table. She brought the coffee cup up to her lips and took a sip from it, then used her actual hands to take out a pen and scribble down a few notes on what she had just witnessed.
"Glider: check, Rhino: check. All systems operational and seems to be working perfectly. Ha-ha, looks like I’m ahead of schedule!”
Once she was done with that, the scientist used another one of her mechanical arms to press the button to activate a speaker in order to announce, "Alright, that's enough of a demonstration today! Turn the prototypes off for now and report back to my office when you're done!"
She then let go of the button and said to herself, “Well, that’s two things off my to-do list...now only twenty-seven to go. Shouldn’t be too hard.”
After hearing that, Twilight looked at her friends and said, "And I guess that's it. Up next, we have the-"
"Wait, wait, wait! Hang on!" Rainbow interrupted while she was frantically trying to take out her camera from her bag. "I didn't get a chance to take a picture of it yet!"
Unfortunately for her, she wasn't fast enough to get it out in time to photograph anything worthy of note due to the fact that the pilot had already flown the glider out of the testing room by the time she had her camera ready.
She did manage to get one picture though...but that one showed only a portion of the machine's left wing and nothing else. Plus, it was extremely blurry.
Dash groaned and muttered "Aw nuts!" while slumping over a bit in disappointment.
Applejack put an arm over her neck and said with a chuckle, "Well, hehehe, I guess you should have taken the pictures when you had the chance then, sugarcube."
Rainbow gave Applejack an irritated pout that honestly made her look more adorable than anything else. "Yeah, rub it in, why don't ya?"
"That's what I'm here for, pardner!" The cowgirl joked with a trollish smile.
"I hate you." Dash muttered under her breath.
“Nah, ya don’t.”
Rainbow sighed, then turned to Twilight and asked, "Okay, so if I couldn't get any pictures of the coolest thing around here, could you show me the, uh, second coolest thing?"
"You thought that was the coolest thing in here?!” Twilight challenged while almost squealing with excitement. “Boy, are you in for something! Come on, up next: the Bio-Labs!"
(Wait, wait, wait, wait! This isn’t the ending to this chapter either, isn’t it?
Well, as it turns out, improving on a rushed chapter tends to make it a fair bit longer than it originally was. So now I have to split what was from the beginning only one chapter into three.
I’ll get the third part out as soon as possible...which, to be honest, I have no idea how fast or slow that would be.
Just...stay tuned.)