//------------------------------// // Chapter 16: Questions // Story: Factory of the Magical Variety // by Conglomerate //------------------------------// It was a long night, I had carefully gone over everything I wanted to say, from what I wanted to reveal, to my requests. I didn't want to go around saying I was going to save the world willy nilly, that wasn't a good idea. I did want to speak to the head of government though, through them I could get support and access to essential resources. I could also possibly gleam information from this "Twilight", if she was asking about me, then she must have seen me at one point or another. She was probably one of the ponies at Dragon's peak, which meant she had the capabilities to deal with dragons. I'd have to get on her good side. The sun rose, but I still had time to prepare, I still had to replace my drill, and I could stock up on any extra resources. I wasn't too anxious, this could go three ways, good, bad, or neutral. The good meant I go into contact with the government, allowing me to get support and resources for my cause, a best case scenario. The bad meant I somehow made an enemy of the ponies, I would have to go into hiding and defend myself from any attacks. The worst case scenario. The neutral way was I got into contact with the ponies, but wasn't able to get into contact with the government, or they didn't want to help. I would be on my own, but uninterrupted. An ok option. By the time I had finished stocking up, It was nearly noon, so I started to head to Zecora's house. I was a little nervous, but the pony wanted to meet with me, and Zecora would be there as well. I arrived at the house, apparently early as neither Zecora or the pony I was supposed to meet were there. Checking the position of the sun, it was pretty much directly above me. Maybe they were late? I didn't have to wait long, as both walked out from the trees together. I recognized the purple unicorn from the mountain, I guess her name was Twilight. Lets get this started. "Hello, you must be Twilight." I said in as much of a cheerful manner I could "Oh!" She looked surprised, "You weren't who I was suspecting. Do you happen to know somepony similar to you who could fly?" What was that saying? Keep your friends close but your enemies closer? Well, I didn't intend to make Twilight my enemy, but we weren't friends yet either. Lets hope Zecora plays along. "Yes I do know of that person. I know them pretty well." I answered. Zecora looked confused for a moment, then nodded in understanding. I guess she knew what I was playing at. "Are they available? I'd like to ask them some questions." Twilight asked, sitting down on the ground. "Unfortunately not, though I think I can answer a few of them. I could also relay any questions I can't answer to them" I answered again. "Shoot" "Well, uh... I guess my first question is what exactly are you?" Twilight asked. "That's a bit rude, but if you must know, we are called 'Techs'" I answered, feigning annoyance. "Alright then." Twilight shied back a bit, before continuing, "What are you doing here?" "Surviving I guess, it hasn't been too hard." I answered. "Surviving? Are you supposed to be here?" Twilight asked. "Not really, I don't know the exacts on how we got here." I answered. SCU's weren't my specialty after all, I had no idea how this had happened. "Do you have a name?" Twilight asked. "Yes I do, it's Tecka, and the other one it Tecker." I made up a variation on my name already. "Are you like brother and sister or something?" Twilight asked. "You could say that..." I intentionally trailed off. "Ok then, why did you want to meet with me?" Twilight asked. "Well, not you exactly, just ponies in general, but you seem like the right person to meet with. As to why, we need help, surviving is easy enough, but doing what we actually need to do isn't possible right now." I answered. "What do you need help with?" She asked. "Resources mainly, it's hard to construct something when you don't know the locations of the resources necessary. Or the common names for it." I answered. "Common names? Do you speak a different language?" Twilight asked. "I can speak plenty of languages, what I meant though was that my people have different names for things than your people do." I explained. "Like how you say 'people', and we say 'ponies'?" Twilight asked, thinking back to my choice of words. "Exactly" I said. "Can you describe what you're looking for?" Twilight asked. "Yes I can, we're looking for a dense metal that's blue in color and very resistant. I believe it's called Cobalt." I answered. "I remember seeing 'Tecker' carrying some, is that not enough? It was quite a lot." Twilight asked, still amazed at how much 'Tecker' had. "No, it isn't, we need a lot more." I explained. "How much more? And where did you even find that much?" Twilight asked. She must really want to know where I got so much. "A lot more, and Tecker didn't tell me where he found it." I lied. I didn't want Twilight to know I 'stole' it. "Oh... Any other resources that you need?" Twilight asked, dissappointed. "Yes, one is a blue crystal that has strange affects on gravity around it. The other is an orange crystal that provides heat." I described. "I don't know too much about crystals, but I do know somepony who does, maybe they could help you with that?" Twilight said, thinking about what she knew. "That would be most helpful." I replied. An expert in the field would definitely be helpful. "Are there any questions you have for me?" Twilight asked. "Yes, I do have questions. First, do you find my appearance scary?" I asked. I wanted to know exactly what other ponies thought of me. "It's a little intimidating, but not necessarily scary." Twilight said. "Do you have any way for me to get into contact with your government?" "Yes, I do. Why would you want that though?" Twilight asked, confused. "I guess you could say I'm an ambassador. There are some things I'd like to discuss." I said. I mean, it wasn't a total lie, I don't have the qualifications, but I was the first contact. "I could arrange a meeting for you, if you'd like." Twilight said. "I would like that very much, thank you." I replied. "Do you have any more questions?" Twilight asked. "No, I do not. Thank you for meeting with me." I said, concluded. "No problem, I'm sure we could become good friends." Twilight said, standing up to leave. "Friends huh? Alright then." I replied, guess I'm adding another one to the list. Twilight paused for a moment, looking at my tech, then spoke up again. "I do have one more question." Twilight said, "Go ahead." I replied "What are those things on top of you?" Twilight asked. "You mean these?" I asked, gesturing to my guns with the inserter. Twilight nodded. "Do you recognize them?" I asked "I have actually, somepony named Nightmare Moon had one of them." Twilight said. "Is this 'Nightmare Moon' a tall dark pony with blue armor?" I asked "Yes, how did you know?" Twilight asked, surprised that I knew of them. "She stole one of these from me, she wasn't very nice." I explained, recounting my encounter with her. "What do they do?" Twilight asked, curious about their purpose. "They're weapons." I said simply. "WEAPONS?!" Twilight shouted. "Yes, weapons, I use them to defend myself." I explained further "How do they work?" Twilight asked nervously, "They launch projectiles." I said "Care to demonstrate?" Twilight asked. "No." I said, there was still some things I would like to keep hidden. "Ok, well... I'll see what I can do about getting you an audience with the crown." Twilight said "The crown? So you have a monarchy?" I asked. "Actually it's a diarchy." Twilight explained "So what, a King and a Queen?" I asked. "No, two princesses, and they're sisters." Twilight said "Interesting." I said, I wonder how much control they had over the country "What form of government do you have?" Twilight asked. "We have a Federation, it works out alright." I explained, "Interesting, does it have a name?" Twilight asked. "I don't remember the official name, but most people just call it 'The Federation'" I said, I actually did remember the official name, but 'The Galactic Federation' would've blown my cover. "Where is it located?" Twilight asked. Another difficult question, how could I answer this without revealing I'm not of this world? Maybe I could do a half truth. "In comparison to here? I don't really know, I don't recognize any of the landmarks, what is this country called anyway?" I asked "Equestria." was all Twilight said. "Can't say I've heard of it, it's possible the Federation is on the other side of the globe." I said, knowing full well it was a lot farther away than that. "That doesn't sound good, not much is known about places that far away." Twilight said. Looks like I got lucky, this world doesn't have global communication yet. "Are there others like you?" Twilight asked "There are a lot like me, though most aren't so sociable." I answered. "Like Tecker?" Twilight asked. "Well, he can be a little blunt." I lied. I just bought myself a get out of conversation free card when I'm in the plane, nice. "This has been very informative Tecka, but I do have to go. I'll let you know how long it'll take for you to receive an audience when I get back. For now, goodbye." Twilight said, starting to leave. "Thank you Twilight, goodbye for now." I said, not really moving. With that, Twilight left. Leaving me and Zecora alone. "Why did you lie? She asked, clearly wanting an explanation. "There are some things I'd like to keep hidden, I'm sure you have your fair share of secrets as well. Don't think I didn't see that tattoo underneath those bands." I said. Zecora looked baffled, then checked her bands to make sure they were covering her leg. "Touché, congratulations on conversing without dismay." She said. "Thank you for setting this up Zecora, I am in your debt." I didn't enjoy saying that, being in debt was not a good thing. Especially in the Federation, but this was between friends, so I'm sure it was fine. "Consider it payment, for saving my life." was all she said. "Well I'll be off then, there are still things to do." I said, turning to leave. Zecora nodded, and headed back into the forest, probably to go gather some herbs. I still had things to do though, but my flight was delayed, at least until I got an answer back from Twilight. Looks like it's back to waiting... Yaaaaaay... To Be Continued...