“Oh really?” I squeaked out, giving him his best smile as sweat started to roll down my forehead. “You're Strawberry's... Grandfather?” I grabbed a glass of water that was on the edge of my desk and downed all of it in one go and slammed the glass back down.
"Yeah, I uh... Know her." I straightened my posture and gave him my best smile.
“Really? How?” He asked, that knowing smirk still on his face. He adjusted in his seat.
I bit my lip. The fuck do I do? I mean... I could lie straight out my ass and come up with some bullshit but that wouldn't feel right. Man, I guess biting the bullet is my best option right now... I hesitantly moved for my phone that was in my suit jacket. His eyes followed my movements closely as if he was expecting me to pull a knife or something.
I brought it forward and quickly brought up the gallery. I picked a recent picture. It was another selfie, this one was with Strawberry kissing my cheek as we were lounging on the couch. It was the last picture we took on Sunday evening.
I coughed, then showed it to him. His eyes widened, then narrowed and I could feel the temperature in the room drop. I gulped.
“I gotta hand it to you, kid...” He said, nearly growling. “It takes balls to come clean just like that, but...” He jolted forward.
I jumped from my seat and pressed myself against the wall, holding up my hands. "Oh God, not the face! It's my only redeeming quality!" I braced for the hit but it never came. I opened my eyes and lowered my hands, he had leaned to my desk and was looking at the phone.
“She looks happy. Good.” He then looked straight up at me, still glaring. “Now, here's the thing... He leaned back in his seat and relaxed. “I already knew. I had to do a test of character.”
“You... Knew?”
He laughed. "Of course I did! I had some of my boys in Ponyville to check up on her and they reported back to me that you two were really close." He got up from his seat and started walking around. "If you would have lied and gone around the subject, you would have a reason to cover your face."
Oh sweet baby Jesus, thank fuck I didn't go with Plan A. I blinked and sat back down in the chair.
“You had ponies watching Strawberry in Ponyville?” I scratched the back of my head. “Your... boys was it?”
“That I did.” He sighed and shook his head. “Strawberry is a sweet girl. Wouldn't hurt a fly, so I had to keep tabs on her.” He looked at me. “I had some... Work associates watch over her and keep me posted.” He returned to his seat.
“I'm getting old, James.” His eyes softened as he noticed that my phone had flicked to another picture of Strawberry, this one was with just her. “She's the youngest of my grandchildren and all her siblings are polar opposites to her. Makes me want to keep her safe. Which begs the question...” His eyes narrowed once more. “Can you?”
I blinked twice and pursed my lips, running a hand through my hair. “Well, sir-”
“Call me Lucky.”
“Okay, Lucky...” I scratched my chin. “Well, Strawberry is like... How can I explain it without sounding too cheesy...” I tapped my chin with my index finger. “She's like an anchor to me.” I eventually spoke and placed my phone back in my pocket.
“When I was told I wouldn't be able to go home I uh... I wasn't in a good spot. I drank because I had nothing else at that point and she came over and helped me get back on my feet...” I shook my head.
“If she wasn't there for me like she was, I'd probably not sit here right now.” I rested my arms on the desk and leaned forward. “She's everything I have and it'll be a cold, cold day in hell before anyone tries to take her away from me, or hurt her in any way.”
Lucky smiled at that. “Good answer.” He glanced up at the clock and his eyes widened. “Come on, it's getting late. Let's go back to my estate. You can stay the night there and meet the missus.” He started walking to the door and I followed him. Once we left the office and was in the elevator, I looked down at him.
“So...” I started and he glanced up at me. “If I would have answered that wrong or would have lied, what would you have done?”
"Oh, just settle it the old-fashioned way." He chuckled and waved a hoof. "Take you for a trip to the harbor where you'd get to try out your new concrete shoes."
Oh, God.
"...And this is the main manufacturing line. In the far back, you can see your prototype in final assembly." Dex pointed out a corner in the far back as we stood on a walkway above. "Follow me and we'll head there right now..."
I followed him down a staircase and immediately gathered glances from the hardworking ponies. Some of them just raised an eyebrow and went back to work, no one really spoke up. Dex and I walked to the corner he pointed out from above.
“What's the progress?” Dex asked as he adjusted his glasses and leaned forward.
“We just finished final assembly, sir!” A pegasus mare said, grinning at him. Her eyes widened when she noticed me behind him, staring down at it with my arms crossed.
I decided to skip on the suit jacket today and had rolled up the sleeves on my white shirt. With my arms still crossed, I leaned forward and took in every detail of the back scratcher.
“Everything seems to be right. I can't spot anything right away...” I reached out for it but turned to the mare before I picked it up. “Would you mind?”
“N-not at all, sir!” She stammered.
I picked it up and ran my fingers over the neck, not feeling anything sticking out. The soft grip at the end also felt good, nothing uncomfortable about it. I placed one hand on the handle, then pulled out the telescopic neck to its full extent. To look extra professional, I raised it to my head and looked down the neck, it was perfectly straight.
The head was exactly like I wanted it, there were no rough edges there as well. I did a small function test and scratched my own back with it. Once finished, I withdrew the neck and placed it back down on the brace it had been lying on.
I turned to the mare who was sweating bullets. “Are you the one who made this?” I pointed at it.
She nodded hesitantly, still looking nervous as shit. “W-well I didn't do it all alone, but I did most of the work...”
I relaxed my posture and patted her on the back. “You did a great job, it's better than I expected.”
Her ears perked and her wings fluttered happily. “R-really?!” She started levitating up a bit from her wings moving, then dropped to the ground. “Oh wow, I was super nervous working with it... It's my first prototype...” She murmured and her ears lowered.
I turned to Dex and thumbed to the mare. "I sign off on this prototype. It's approved and I want to request that miss... Uh..." I scratched my neck and gave her a lopsided grin. "What's your name?"
“Oh! My name's Artisan, sir...”
“You can call me Jay, calling me sir makes me feel old.” I held out my hand and she shook it with her hoof. I cleared my throat as she released my hands and turned back to Dex.
"Right! I want Artisan here to oversee production if all products made are the same quality as this from the start, we won't have to trouble us too much with the end of the line quality checks as much."
Dex nodded and wrote down what I said in his journal. “That shouldn't be a problem, I'll see to getting the proper paperwork ready.”
Artisan's face lit up with a huge splitting grin and she started bouncing around. “Oh my sweet Celestia, thank you!” She squealed, then hugged me. I tensed up and my lips became a very thin line. She gasped as she realized what she did. “Oh no! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to...”
I chuckled and straightened my shirt. “It's fine, I understand that you're happy with this.” I looked up at the clock and frowned. “Right... Dex, time's up! We gotta head back to HQ and sit through another shitty fuckin' meeting!” I flicked his horn and he stumbled, glaring up at me.
“I swear to the heavens above if you do that one more time...”
Blah. Blah. Economics. Blah. Blah. Blah. Lawsuit. Blah. Blah. More economics. B-L-fuckin'-A-H.
They had been droning about the same shit for what felt like hours. I adjusted in my seat as Dex finally cleared his throat at the end of the table. I glanced down at a rolled up piece of paper in front of me, then up at Dex and back at the paper. I smirked as an idea formed in my mind.
"Today, Mr. Andersen-" he was interrupted as a spitball hit his cheek. He glared at me. "James-" Two spitballs hit his face in quick succession. Chuckles were heard around the room. Seems like everyone else was also bored. Even Blueblood was covering his mouth and was alternating his eyes between Dex and me.
Dex sighed heavily and rubbed a forehoof to his forehead. He levitated the roll of paper away from me and I pouted. “Party pooper...”
“Jay and I were down at the manufacturing department and overlooked the final prototype.” He levitated up a blueprint and a folder. “After careful consideration, we gave it the okay as it was made very well and was up to our standard.” He then opened his folder and levitated out a paper slip.
There was a picture of Artisan and some other details on it. “Jay instantly saw the potential of an overseer position for this mare as she made the prototype and would be able to start production smoothly with a team of ponies she would pick out.”
Murmurs went around the room and Blueblood levitated the slip over to him and read over it. “She's been working for us for the last four years, perfect attendance and no major faults or mistakes. I see nothing wrong with this.” He said as his eyes wandered around the table. Most of the ponies nodded in agreement.
Blueblood wrote his signature on the paper and crossed over the numbers on the pay portion and significantly raised the number.
Radical.
"So, with that last bit of information this meeting is concluded," Blueblood said, sighing in relief. "About time too, it's just about time to go home." He stood up from his seat as all the ponies in the room started gathering their materials. "Have a safe trip home, everypony and I'll see all of you tomorrow."
I stood up from my seat and stretched my back then rolled my shoulders.
“Walk with me, Jay...” Blueblood said as he passed me. I raised an eyebrow, then slung my jacket over my shoulder and started walking next to him. We stopped at the wall that was just a huge window that had a hell of a view of the town when the sun was setting.
"I have to admit, you're doing good work." He said, looking down at the streets below. "Dex has been reporting your outings to me and I'm impressed with how you handled it with Artisan." He said, turning to me with a smile.
“To be honest, I have been keeping an eye on her record for a chance to promote her and you gave me just that.” He reached for the paper he signed earlier. “Which is why I want you to deliver this to her tomorrow.”
I took the paper and nodded, carefully placing it in my bag. “I'll head down to manufacturing tomorrow after the morning meeting then and have Dex come with me.”
We stood in silence for a while, just looking out over the town. “Are you missing Ponyville?” He asked with a small smile.
I scratched my chin. “Yeah, I really do. Even back on my world, I wasn't much for big cities. Hell, I was basically a country boy...” I crossed my arms. “But work is work, can't stop until I'm done here for now.”
“I can set up a two way-link using some magically crafted candles. It would work like dragonfire but more direct to two ponies, if you'd prefer it like that.” Blueblood spoke after a few seconds of silence.
"You'd have to occasionally come here for progress meetings, of course, but you're not required to stay here. It would be perfectly fine for you to work from home where you're comfortable."
I smiled down at him. “Yeah, I'd like that. Let's talk more about that tomorrow though, Lucky invited me over again and he's fuckin' scary...” I waved at Blueblood as I rounded a corner and went to the elevator.
Time to put on the patented white man smile and enter dangerous territory once more...
-Third person switch-
Strawberry sighed as she walked through the house on her own. She understood now why Jay asked her to move in with him, this house was massive! Even her hoofsteps echoed in the empty house as she made her way down the stairs after cleaning herself up after work. She only had to wait for a day more and he would come back home.
She didn't know why it was that she missed him so much. After thinking about it, it was probably because this is the longest time apart they had spent after becoming an item.
A knock on the door drew her attention away from her sulking and she trotted over, then unlocked the door and opened it. On the other side stood Twilight Sparkle and Spike. Strawberry smiled and moved away from the door and allowed them inside. Twilight had come over every evening, as if on a schedule and that had allowed the two unicorns to bond more over time.
In its core, it was two nerds bonding over book series.
“Hey, Twi! And hello to you too, Spike!” Strawberry closed the door after them.
“Hello!” Twilight smiled and levitated her saddlebags off her. “I brought the books I told you about!” She continued. “It's the newest ones in the series and a spin-off!”
Strawberry squealed. “Oh my gosh, I hope they're as good as I heard they were!” She hopped in place and the three walked into the living room.
Twilight placed the books in order on the table and Spike groaned. “Really?” He asked. “Are you two just gonna read again and freak out over small details?”
Two sets of eyes drilled holes in the little drake who immediately felt very uncomfortable. Thinking quickly, he decided to change the subject. “A-anyway, I got this letter from Jay!” Spike handed over the letter to Strawberry who blushed and read it.
“He says everything is going fine and that he has some big news to share when he comes home. He also says that he'll get home around midday tomorrow.”
Strawberry smiled. She really couldn't wait.
The bars slammed shut in front of the three ponies and the human sitting in the cell.
“Well, there goes my career...” Dex moaned, rubbing his eyes.
Lucky patted his shoulder, easing a grin. “Don't worry, son! I have a friend working to set this right as we speak.”
Prince Blueblood winced as the lock latched shut and they were left in the poorly lit cell. “Once my aunts find out about this I am undeniably, absolutely screwed.”
Jay sat down on his bunk and scratched his right arm. “I just don't know what went wrong.”
Everypony turned to him and glared death at the human.
“What?”