Swift stretched her legs and back as she walked into the manor after a hard day of work. As she approached the kitchen, some odd pounding noises made her ears stand at attention.
Looking into the living room, she saw Verdant was merrily humming along as he was hammering some nails in the mantle above the fireplace.
“Verdant. Might I ask what you’re doing?” Swift inquired, cautiously approaching the stallion.
Looking over his shoulder, Verdant spat the hammer into his hoof. “Oh, I’m just setting up a little Dream Valley tradition for Hearth’s Warming.”
“Ponies in Dream Valley celebrate Hearth’s Warming by… hammering nails into fireplaces?” She tilted her head as she spotted a small pile of something by his hindlegs. “Are those… socks?”
“Yep,” Verdant replied before picking up a pair from the pile. One matched Verdant’s coat and bore his cutie mark while another matched Swift’s. “I had Splash make some socks for everypony here so we can partake in the tradition my family started, to go along with the dolls she’s making for a more modern tradition.”
“Your family… started a Dream Valley tradition?” the unicorn asked as she took the pale blue sock in her magical grasp.
“Yep. It’s where everypony in the house puts small gifts into the other pony’s socks as they’re hung by the fireplace,” Verdant explained before placing his sock onto one of the nails. “Y’see, it all started when my grandma Minty accidentally smashed a magical candy cane into a bunch of crackley little pieces. This lead to—”
“Well, it’s certainly a nice story,” Swift cut him off. “So, any idea on what to do for dinner tonight?”
“Not sure, but I was wondering if you’d be willing to help me with something,” Verdant said as he started to put another sock onto one of the nails.
“I do believe that I could help you hammer the remaining nails in,” Swift said as she picked up the hammer.
“Actually, it’s not that. I need you to go and do some information gathering with me.” A smirk then appeared on his muzzle. “Covertly.”
“Verdant… while I like the idea of participating in a covert mission, I must ask what kind of information requires you to covertly gather it.” Swift set the hammer aside as her brow rose.
“Well, some ponies at the community center were putting together a secret gift swap thing for Hearth’s Warming and I ended up getting this one mare called Pixel Flash,” Verdant answered as he walked up to the unicorn’s side. “I know she likes video games, but I don’t know what sort of games she has already, so I want to ask her wife so I know what to get.”
“And I assume there’s some sort of rule that indicates you can’t just ask her directly?” Swift asked as she and the shamrock stallion walked towards the kitchen.
“Yeah. One of the rules of this little thing is that we're not supposed to directly ask others what the one we’re getting gifts for likes.” Verdant looked the noblemare in the eyes. “This is why I need somepony who can be stealthy… and perhaps to play the bad cop.”
“Verdant...” She looked down at the shorter earth pony. “This seems like a somewhat underhoofed way to achieve a goal...”
“I know, but I’m not doing this to try to win some competition or anything. I just want to give Pix a nice little present for Hearth’s Warming that she’d actually like,” Verdant pleadingly said.
“And that’s why I’m willing to help you,” Swift replied with a smirk. “So, where shall we find this wife you mentioned?”
“In fact, I know just the place.” A grin from Verdant joined Swift’s smirk.
***
The pair eventually found themselves standing outside a large building that was five storeys tall. The building was a pristine white that matched the snow upon the ground. Carved above the building’s front entrance were the words ‘Vanhoover Institute for Science and Technology’.
“Here’s the place,” Verdant said as he and Swift headed towards the front door. “High Gear works on the third floor.”
“Well, this is quite the facility,” Swift observed as she looked around the lobby. “Do you think they’ll allow us to see her?”
“I’ve got something that’ll guarantee that,” Verdant replied as he reached into his saddlebags. He then pulled out a pair of laminated cards that had the pair’s faces and fake names on them.
“Take your card and follow my lead,” Verdant whispered as Swift took her card in her magic. A moment later, they arrived at the lobby’s front desk.
“Afternoon. We’re here to pay Dr. High Gear a visit,” the two then held their cards up to the mare at the desk.
“Sure thing, Dr. Lettuce Leaf and Dr. Scalpel. She should be up on the third floor,” she said as she pointed towards an elevator.
“Thank you. Have a good day.” Verdant waved as he and Swift stowed the cards away.
Once the pair were at the elevator and certain the lobby attendant was out of earshot, Swift leaned close to the earth pony’s ear.
“How did you manage to get fake identification for us?” she whispered as he pressed the button to call down the elevator.
“A certain mutual acquaintance who would wish to remain anonymous for this sort of activity,” Verdant answered as the chime rang out and the doors opened. “Once we’re done here, I will return the cards and have them disposed of.”
“Very well,” Swift replied and was about to press the button for the third floor when Verdant suddenly hit the one for the fourth. “Why’d you do that?”
“My plan will have us in disguise and I figured it’d be best to change and access her lab from the fourth floor instead of the third,” Verdant said as he kept his eyes on the floor indicator lights.
“Fair enough.” Swift nodded as they felt the elevator slowly start to rise. “Might I ask why you chose me to accompany you for this task? I recall Hat Trick was the one of us with the greatest stealth skills.”
“True, but there’s two good reasons I asked you.” Verdant looked the unicorn in the eyes. “One was that I don’t really get to do much stuff with you, Swift. I mean I hang out with Hatty or Forge sometimes and I even sometimes lend Gem a hoof when she’s working at the farm. I mean, what was the last time we really did anything together? Y’know, just us?”
“Hmm… fair point…” Swift brought a hoof to her chin in thought as the elevator chimed and the door opened up to the fourth floor. “I’d say the last I recall was when we fornicated to comfort each other after learning about the time shift in the empire.”
“Yeah… That was…” Verdant rubbed his neck as he and Swift disembarked. “Well, more than a little awkward the next day.”
“Indeed,” Swift replied as she followed closely behind the short stallion. “Still, I did initiate things and we did both require comfort and to… I believe ‘vent’ is the term?”
“Yeah, it is,” Verdant said as they turned a corner. “Um, sorry about just leaving after you fell asleep.”
“It’s alright. What we did was about letting off steam after everything we’d gone through,” Swift replied as she patted his shoulder. “Besides, I really needed the sleep.”
“Okay then.” Verdant came to a halt when they reached a pair of washrooms. “We’ll need to change into our disguises. I’ll sweep the stallions’ room. You check the mares’.”
“On it,” Swift said as she and Verdant darted towards the doors. Stepping inside, the two quickly scanned the rooms before leaving just as quick.
“Stallions’ room’s occupied,” Verdant whispered before Swift grabbed onto him. In a flash, the two were in the mares’ lavatory.
“This room’s clear. Let’s get changed.” Swift then noticed how Verdant’s face was a more sickly shade of green.
“Could you give me a little warning before you teleport next time?” The shamrock stallion swallowed before he and Swift reached into their saddlebags and pulled out some dark blue body suits.
“Sorry, my friend,” Swift replied as she and Verdant started to put on the form fitting clothing. “A downside of developing a teleportation tolerance is that it makes one forget others aren’t so used to it.”
“It’s okay,” Verdant replied as he pulled a mask over his face. “Now, follow me.”
Poking his head out to check the hallway, Verdant and Swift soon made their way to a door that bore a plate that read ‘maintenance access’.
“Watch my back while I pick this lock,” Verdant whispered as he pulled some small tools from his sleeve. Swift took a defensive position, ready to quickly knock out anyone who might stumble upon them.
She didn’t need to hold the position for long as the door clicked open and the pair slipped inside.
“This will take us to the maintenance tunnels. Apparently, the wiring here is so complex and needs to be changed every so often, they made these pathways for ease of access.” Verdant whispered as he hugged the wall, carefully moving about.
“Verdant, how do you know all this?” Swift inquired as she followed suit.
“Pix gave some of us at the community center a tour of this place before showing off this game she was working on,” Verdant replied as he gazed up at a placard on the wall that acted as a map. “Oh, word of advice. If the ponies from the second floor offer you something to eat or drink, don’t take it. Punch did and the results weren’t pretty.”
After a few moments of quietly travelling through the passageway, Verdant held up a hoof. Looking down, Swift saw there was a grate in front of them. Below was a room where a wall-mounted ladder led right to the grate.
It was then Swift heard a click and a voice coming from the room.
“High Gear audio log number seventy eight,” the mare’s voice said as Verdant cautiously moved the grate aside before climbing down the ladder. “My miniature cannon prototypes have been turned down by the guard once more.”
Verdant softly touched the floor as the mare let out a sigh. It was then Swift started to climb down, seeing the lab coat wearing mare had her back to them as she recorded. She could only see her light violet mane and tail.
“I can’t really say I blame them, but I am making progress. Dr. Bunsen Burner has seemed to figure out a good formula for the chemical propellant and we’ve concluded that a more rounded arrow shaped projectile would be far more efficient than a spherical one. The issue seems to be figuring out what would be the optimal material. Perhaps instead of a harder metal for striking power, a softer one would be better.”
As the mare continued to talk, Swift touched down on the floor and along with Verdant, slowly stalked their way towards her.
“On the bright side, my teleporter prototype will be getting a test run tomorrow, so hopefully it goes well. End log.” The mare pressed down on a button on the recorder before letting out a sigh. It was then Verdant reached the mare.
“Hello, Doctor,” Verdant spoke in a much deeper voice than his usual tone.
Upon hearing his words, the mare quickly spun around to face the unexpected voice. Swift saw the panicked looking mare had a light blue coat, a set of green spectacles and a pair of amber eyes.
When her eyes fell upon the disguised stallion who was glaring at her, she let out a sigh of relief. “Oh, hi Verdant. Who’s your friend?”
“Oh, son of bitch! How’d you know it was me?” Verdant foalishly grumbled as he pulled off his mask.
“Not to be rude, Verdant, but you’re the only stallion I know that’s that short.” The scientist giggled when Verdant’s right eye twitched.
“I’m not that short. I’m only slightly shorter than the average mare,” Verdant muttered as Swift pulled off her mask.
“Yeah, and you’re a stallion. The only shorter one I know is Short Circuit.” High Gear said before patting him on the head. “Anywho, what brings you two here?”
Verdant took a cleansing breath before he spoke. “What I’m about to tell you can’t get back to anyone at the community center. Alright?”
“Lemme guess. You got Pix for the secret present thing and you came to ask me what she’d like?” High Gear asked as she moved around the room, behind a large console.
“You are correct, Doctor.” Swift stepped forward, holding out a foreleg for her. “Swiftsword, at your service.”
“Nice to meet you,” the spectacled mare replied as she shook Swift’s hoof. “So, anything in particular you had planned?”
“Well, I was thinking about getting her some sort of video game, but I don’t really know what she has or would like to have.” Verdant stepped up to Swift’s side in front of the console.
“No problem, just gimme a sec,” Gear said as she reached into her lab coat and pulled out a notepad. “Seems some games on her wish list are Mighty Morphin’ Pony Rangers: The Fighting Edition, Mortal Fighters: The Movie: The Game, Super Marinara Sisters Vs., Neightendo World Championships in either the gray or gold cartridges, and Ponybius. I figure if you get her one of those, it’ll be the perfect gift for her.”
“Alright. Thanks, Doctor.” Verdant nodded as he and Swift started to disrobe. “Just remember, we were never here.”
“You got it. Say, want me to use my teleporter to put you outside the lobby?” High Gear asked as Swift’s magic stuffed the bodysuits into Verdant’s bags.
“Pfft. Yeah, right. I’m gonna test out some experimental teleportation device.” Verdant rolled his eyes as he and Swift made their way to the door. “I’d have to be crazy or incredibly stupid to do that, Gear. I’m a pony, not a guinea pig.”
“Eh, suit yourself.” High Gear shrugged as Verdant stepped out the door. Swift turned to look at the bespectacled mare.
“Your machines seem quite amazing to me, Doctor.” Swift offered her a soft smile. “Miniature cannons and a teleportation machine are things I never would have dreamed of before. You seem to be the most brilliant earth pony I’ve ever met. I swear, no unicorn could ever come up with amazing inventions like you earth ponies.”
High Gear gave Swift a flat, half-lidded look. “I’m a unicorn.” She then raised her bangs, revealing a scar on her forehead where a horn would be.
“Ah… Sorry… My bad.” Swift said sheepishly as she backed towards the door. “I’ll see myself out.”