Spark Wars - New Change

by AverageSMILEnjoyer

Chapter III - Tales Of A Gray Mare

Chapter III - Tales Of A Gray Mare

"Nghhh... Too early..."

It was a new day on Kitein, and the digital display in the wall of my bed-hole couldn't help but to announce with a loud siren the arrival of the Aurora Hours.

If it was just a little bit smarter, I bet I would feel the smugness of that little bastard.

My usual waking routine consisting of a shower, attempt at mane grooming, and some lazy transformation once that failed, always started at sunrise and after sunset. It was pretty much how the whole household operated.

A forty-eight hour day-night cycle is a serious step up for quite a lot of races. For that reason, the days and nights were split into two quarters. The Aurora and Meridiem for day, and Tenebris and Nocte for the night.

With twelve hours to burn each quarter, we woke up at the start of Aurora Hours at 0:00, then did whatever was needed to do throughout the day. Lunch break was at noon at 11:59, which is when Aurora gave to Meridiem Hours, and continued until sunset, which is when we had dinner and went to sleep with sunset at the start of Tenebris Hours at 23:59.

We woke up again in the middle of Tenebris Hours, at 30:00, and kind of took a break, did our hobbies, had a Nightbite, relaxed and what not. We started working again at midnight with the arrival of Nocte Hours at 36:00, all the way through until half way through Nocte at 42:00 when we had a Moonmeal and then went to sleep, and then we woke up the next day with the sunrise at 0:00.

I quickly finished my routine and immediately made my way down to the kitchen.

Auntie Red was already inside, she sat quietly by the table, looking lost in thought. Her 'I-don't-know-what-to-think' had me puzzled, and a bit worried.

Something happened while I was asleep, though I couldn't determine whether it was good, or bad by my senses alone.

So I approached the table and sat down right across from her. Then I used my confusion to non-verbally ask for an explanation.

Auntie saw me and bit her lip, then lifted her HoloPone, “Could you give me your thoughts on these readings?”

Right on clue, my own HP pinged and after a few taps with my magic, I had a sheet of holographic data before me. I immediately noticed a graph which showcased the performance of our Master-Class M1-X Server. The graph started as it usually did, kinda low, but relatively stable.

And that’s when the graph went vertical. And what's even more surprising is that it went upwards and stayed there.

Short text at the bottom showed a simple math which undoubtedly Red herself made. It read: ‘415% Increase in raw processing power’ and today's date.

I lifted an eyebrow. “I… have no idea. Did you find a new server stashed somewhere inside a wall?”

Red smiled, “No. All this is still our old Masterclass.”

"Whoa..." I helpfully added, then my sleepy brain caught up with the new information, "Whoa whoa whoa, wait what?! Wha… What happened?”

“The droid happened.” She noted, “Yesterday I told it to go haywire on the M1-X and see what it can do. When I woke up, the B3-Z3 unit had a set of data ready for me.”

“But this is huge!" I exclaimed, pointing towards my HoloPone, "You sure it didn't have a seizure, or fixed the results a bit?"

"My thoughts exactly, and no." Red shook her head, "Measured it myself. Five times just to be sure. What the droid did, these are the results."

Still in denial, I held my head in disbelief, "Well, what did it do?”

“Well..." This time Red let out a worried sigh, "That’s another thing. It actually didn’t do much. Turns out, our server has never been overclocked. Contrary, it’s been underclocked this whole time.”

I frowned at the news, “Are we really that stupid?”

“No. It has been sabotaged.” Red dropped the bombshell, “The droid simply found a mechanical block inside the processors.”

“Who...?” I began, but an answer already formed in my head, “N”

Red simply nodded. “Our dear zebra friend sold us for one reason or another an underclocked military grade server.”

“But— Ts— Why?!” I stumbled over my own tongue. None of this made any sense!

Red continued, "I don't dare to try and guess what that zebra's deal is, but it had to be something highly profitable."

I shrugged, "Smuggling? It would explain why N looked so aroused about the prospect of me looking for a buyer."

Red nodded. “Could be the case. Though, I don't think we have to worry that much about her yet."

Her calmness about the situation made me raise an eyebrow.

"We bought that server almost a decade ago, Violet." Auntie elaborated, "Whatever scheme that winged zebra was up to, it had to run its case already.”

Hesitantly I nodded.

A moment of silence passed, before I spoke up again, “So…” I grinned, “We are set for life then?”

“Well, not for life," Auntie shrugged, "But this new revelation does give us the space to grow our business.”

“By how much?” I kept my grin.

“Well…" At this point, even Red couldn’t help but grin, "With all eight of our drones running simultaneously, and if I also count in your scheduling software, we are currently running at twelve-point-five-percent of our new maximum capacity.”

I did a spit-take with my drink.

“Violet, please mind your table manners.” Red exclaimed, though her 'do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do' clued me that that was her exact same reaction when the droid brought Red its data.

There was a moment of silence where I returned to my food. Red tried to hide her excitement, but it was delicious.

Slowly though, it turned sour.

“Are you heading into the city today?” Auntie spoke up after a moment.

"Yeah...?" I carefully voiced, "I have a gig in the Tropo Club.”

“I…" She paused, and her 'bad-news' immediately gave me chills, "I don’t want you to go. Not today.”

“What?!” My eyes widened and started to immediately complain, "People are counting on me!"

"You’ve brought strange droids with ties to royalty to the homestead, someone has already bugged your speeder over it, and now we have a highly valuable server, Violet." She shook her head, “There is just far too much strangeness going on all at once, and I don’t like it.”

“I mean, I see your point. But—”

"Violet, who is to say someone won't go directly after you next time?” Red butted in, ”I am worried about your safety, people will understand."

"They will boo the next guy and then demand a refund.” I deadpanned.

"Violet—"

But I wasn’t done, as my social fix wasn’t the only reason why I had to visit the big city today.

"And..." I started, but shyly looked to the side, "I am kinda low on... you know."

Auntie thought for a moment, before exclaiming, "Love?"

"Don't call it that." I retorted, and pouted, "...It's uncool."

Auntie only rolled her eyes, but then looked at me confused, “I thought you only needed to go once a month or so...” She bit her lip, "Are we... not enough?"

"No, No!" I lifted my hooves in reassurement, "You guys are cool, I just..." Damn, what do I say? This couldn't have been a worse timing to tell Red about the turret incident, which I suspect being the prime reason I got juiced out, "I just learned a new trick yesterday, and overdid it a bit." I settled down on a half truth.

"Oh." Red noted. An assortment of emotions went through Red's head. First worry, then indecisiveness, but eventually everything cleared out into a concession.

I didn't wait a moment and jumped up from the pillow, and across the table between us, "Thank you!" I threw my forelegs around her in a hug.

"Violet!" Red exclaimed at the taste of her own medicine, "I didn't say anything yet!"

"But you were gonna~!" I grinned and let go of her.

Red rolled her eyes and sighed. "I suppose I deserved that..." she crossed her forelegs. "You may go do whatever you need to do, just..." she trailed off, glancing away. “Be extra careful, now more than ever.”

"Auntie, I'll know about any ill intents long before anyone tries anything funny." I shrugged and tapped at my horn, "And even if something does come up, I've got a Blaster Pistol and a horn full of nasty surprises!"

"What about your speeder?" Red gave me a look. "I know you are turning the alarm off, otherwise it never would have been such a close call yesterday."

Ah. Right. The proximity alarm that my speeder is equipped with. Completely forgot about that one. I turned that thing off cuz it was firing off false alarms during my performance as a DJ. Super annoying.

"Right." I stood up from the table and saluted, "No worries, I'll keep it on every day from now until things settle down."

With a nod from Red, I finally made my way towards the exit.

“And Violet?” Red continued, “Do not brag about our Masterclass server. I mean it, Violet. No one has to know.”

I sucked in air in audible pain. “Ah… right." Dejected, I left the kitchen. "Yeah. Alright I can do that.”

\            /
>==°o•o°==<
/            \

📺Soda City Funk

Rhythm. Movement. Beats. Music.

Those were the only things on the minds of the dancing landscape before me. Love for the music, passion for the rhythm, and sync with the beats, all merging together in perfect harmony.

I came to call this energy that sustains me the 'Source', as… well, it is the source of everything I can do. 'Fuel' is then the stuff I need for the Source, and I am not calling it love, or affection. That's just... uncool.

I don't exactly know how all of this works, but I imagine this Source as an infinite crowd on a dance floor, which jumps up and down sporadically and randomly. This crowd can then tire out and settle whenever I am low on Fuel for this Source.

If I keep this crowd alone, it’s doing its own thing. Dancing to the rhythm, waving sporadically, or rising and falling in random intervals. Whenever I use Source though, it kind of just stops being random and instead this infinite plane rises up or falls down to create a pattern. This pattern then mimics whatever Magical effect I desire.

As far as I can tell, Magic and Source aren't exactly the same, it's as if Source was the binary, and Magic itself was just the language, interpreting it. It's how I am able to not only wear a disguise, but can also mimic the magic of whatever I disguise as.

It sucks that I still need to learn the spells though.

I can tell how far away I am from starvation by 'feeling' the excitement of the crowd. If they dig the beats and jump high in excitement, I can function normally for about a month. If they are idle and completely still, I am probably dead. I’ve never really been that hungry in my life, so I can only hypothesize, but it doesn’t take a genius that low equals bad.

So far the only way that I know about how I can get this crowd excited again is by bringing in new music as a Fuel through 'eating' other people's feelings. It doesn't matter which I take, but the positive ones generally don't taste like shit.

No clue how that works, but it's the reason I come to this club once in a while.

To ‘eat people's brains’.

I love my family to bits, but what auntie Red and Blu are providing me with are just nibbles. It might have been enough when I was little and had nothing to do other than play games on the Scale and maybe help around the homestead. Nowadays though, my body just needs more. I probably wouldn’t starve, but if I want to work and do cool shit, I need Magic on top of all of that. And Source is literally Magic for me.

Very early in my life I've learned about three forms of feeding that my body was capable of. One is the passive stuff where someone else feels something for another, which I can tap into just by standing near, though it's like trying to drink mist. It does something, but not much.

Next there is deception, which is far more effective than only passive feeding as now I am dipping into running water. But it's also trickier as I have to impersonate someone who is the target of the emotions. I don't really have much experience with this one, and Red forbids me from trying something like that at the homestead. And I was never in a bad enough shape to employ this tactic in the Thunderhead.

And finally active feeding. Similarly to how I can sense other people's emotions, whenever someone feels something directly towards me, with or without a disguise, it is always clearer, and far more concentrated. In contrast to everything else, active feeding is like forcing a water pipe down my throat.

But in a good way!

Then there is what I found here in my very first time behind the DJ pult.

What little-me found out here in this Tropo Club, was bigger and more important than I could have ever imagined. The first time I came across this place little-me immediately fell in love with the loud music and all the people moving into the rhythm. The DJ there was no one else than Riggle who I was introduced to, and when she saw my enthusiasm she put me behind the pult.

Riggle announced me as ‘Dj Pony’ and the crowd there d'awwed and roared in cheers. I, of course, had absolutely no clue what a Disc Jockey did. So of course little-me took it literally, and I rode that disc all the way into the sunset.

That was the first time I was exposed to the 'Ambience', and man. I was completely mesmerized.

It is a phenomenon I noticed which occurs when a crowd of people feels the same thing, the same way, towards the same thing, or at the same time. Man it was raw and there was so much of it.

It was as if I was using each type of feeding at once. It had the abundance of passive feeding, it felt indirect towards me like deception, however everything was perfectly accessible just like the active feeding. All with the added bonus of being a practically infinite food source. Like diving in a water reservoir, and all I need to do is open my maw to get full face of it.

In that single moment of the crowd’s cheers and laughter, when the Ambience was saturated with Fuel, I knew exactly what I wanted to do in my life, and when no one was looking, I sneaked in a cutie mark on my flanks so I had an excuse.

Fast forward to today and I have a full contract and a dedicated crowd of followers.

And my Fuel supply? Literally limitless. I felt like I could sip forever and I wouldn't make a dent.

One other fascinating thing I learned about my eating habits is that there isn't a limit to how much Fuel I can take in at once. Though there is still a technical limit. It's like, the more Fuel I store, the more Fuel I need to store it. I kind of… bleed it out if I have too much. I haven't experimented with the exact limits, cus the only place I can work with this much Fuel is here in the open. What if I start to spontaneously glow in the middle of performance? Or worse, transform back to my bug form?

As it stands, I am happy and content. Every so often I come here to play music to replenish my Source, and then come back to work on the Homestead.

Rhythm. Movement. Beats. Music.

That, was my HoloPone. Letting me know that my airspeeder detected suspicious activity in proximity. And right at the unfortunate time as the beat of the song was leading into a drop.

With a flick of my horn I brought up a live holographic feed of the immediate surroundings and a small semi-transparent cyan hologram of the airspeeder projected on top of my foreleg. What I saw next almost made me drop all of my beats.

It was the same guy, alright. A green drake, with tail and a hoodie covered in neon. Only this time I saw the small holographic drake approaching my speeder with, instead of a tracker, a whole damned slicing gear.

I immediately slammed a repeat on the playing song and stepped away. Already I could see him in the hologram sitting down. Undoubtedly scanning the interior for a weak point, and true enough, the next time I looked I saw him pulling out a probe and preparing to penetrate the hull. I had to do something, else the bastard would drag something out of the speeder's flight terminal.

In a flash of inspiration, I remotely connected to the speeder's speakers. With a few tweaks and connecting some apps together, I then turned them all aaallll the way up.

He literally jumped up into the air and broke off the probe against the hull in the process, which I enjoyed immensely. He of course immediately turned around for my voice, which I don't doubt he wouldn’t take long to realize I wasn’t actually there and proceed to trash my speeder now that subtlety was out of the window.

"You better start running,” I informed him. Hooves shaking from the sudden rush of adrenaline, “Cus I already posted your face all over the Hunter blogs in a real, high volumetric definition!"

The wannabe slicer frantically scrambled for his gear and ran away. Amusingly enough, he tripped over his own neoned tail and dropped something from his slicing gear, damaging it even further. He either didn’t notice or didn’t care as he left it behind and disappeared out of the holo-recorder’s range.

“Oh wait! Please stay!” I yelled after him, “I changed my mind! I wanna see your face ground into the pavement! I'll record the audio and mix it into my next masterpiece!”

I allowed myself a brief moment of relief. I do trust my anti-slicing software to protect my speeder, or at the very least wipe my flight records as a last resort, and even then I am a single call away from Red in which case we can just pack our things and move the Homestead somewhere else.

Still, I made sure to be true to my word and actually send his pics to the Hunter-net. I opened their app on my HP and just quickly cropped the hologram to only include his face and his slicing kit. And for good measure, even included the pic of the tracker I acquired last night, along with a short explanation and the drake’s last known location.

“Ohhh~ You're gonna get trashed man!” I exclaimed, grinning like an idiot.

I pressed publish and then… then…

Then I realized the song I set on repeat was still playing. Still winding up for a drop. And all the people on the dance floor were looking at me with reeeal not nice expressions. Aaaand I still had the headset on my head, which of course picked up my voice so that everyone in the club could hear me chewing out a guy three blocks away.

“Oh crap!” I helpfully exclaimed as I scrambled back towards the DJ pult and immediately let the song down.

"Woo!" I heard a single voice, though it was probably sarcastic.

After a while I turned the volume down.

“Sorry everyone!” I made an attempt to salvage my reputation, “Some son-of-a-Beldon tried to slice my speeder.”

It seemed I was in the clear. I couldn’t really make out the specific mood of any single person, not in this packed crowd, but the Ambience only carried annoyance mixed with understandment.

Thankfully it didn’t take long for everyone to start enjoying themselves again, and even I got back into the swing as the adrenaline wore off. The dance floor was once again filled with moving bodies.

Rhythm. Movement. Beats– Oh god, that's my boss giving me a stink eye.

  \            /
  >==°o•o°==<
  /            \

Half an hour and twelve songs later, I passed the Throne to another DJ.

As it often is with everyone on Kitein, the next DJ was some dragon with a cliche DJ name like, F1re Cl4w, or T3rri8le F4te.

Yeah... I wasn't sticking around. Not for that. And neither do I plan on staying in the city as a whole. Not when people are literally out to get me. I had no illusions that the deal with the drake punk was over. If nothing, the next thing whoever hired that guy would try, is to go directly after me.

So I made my way across the dance floor and towards the back rooms to pack my things.

Aaand that's my boss waving at me...

Now, my boss and I had a kind of laid-back relationship, so I doubt I was in some kind of serious trouble. Still, I hesitated before changing my direction to lead me towards her.

The entire Club consisted of a long tall hallway, pretty much identical to N's warehouse as these types of rooms were supposed to house adult dragons when they were built.

On one end was the DJ setup, or The Throne as we call it, as it is a higher placed platform with its own stairs and massive speakers below it. Then there was the dance floor, full of lights that lit up the floor with various shapes and colors. Except the paths immediately next to the walls of the room, which I used to get to the bar in the back, as no way I am going to try and force my comparatively tiny body through a crowd of giants that don’t pay attention to anything.

My journey brought me towards the club’s bar table where my boss already sat, waiting for me. The bar itself then was a long oval table halfway leading into the wall, with a shelf stacked with drinks in the center and a bartender serving drinks from inside. There, sipping on a brown cocktail and watching my arrival, was the owner of the Tropo Club and my boss.

My boss was a Wyvern. A breed of a dragon with no wings, an elongated body, and more fur than scales, with hers being yellow. Wyverns also had a muzzle as wide as their whole head and a horn on their foreheads. She could probably levitate me, open her maw and take my whole head off in a single bite. Which was probably my impending fate by the way she was looking at me.

I sat up next to her while trying to decipher what she was thinking, but unfortunately the Ambience still proved to be too... er, loud.

“So… What was all that about?” She began with her deeper voice.

I hesitated for a moment before replying cautiously, knowing that my words could be misconstrued and land me in trouble. The last thing I want her to think is that I pissed off some mob boss and will only bring them to her doorstep.

“Just some bastard thinking he'll grab my speeder. Nothing to worry about now,” I said with a small shrug. Though I couldn't help but to keep glancing towards her in a futile attempt to assess her thoughts, and at that moment, I was as inconspicuous as a Rawwk egg in a powerline.

I couldn't help it! I always got this nervous tick whenever I didn't know exactly what the other was feeling. Auntie says I rely on my emphatic superpower too much, but I can't exactly turn it off!

My boss rolled her eyes and then bumped me with her claw, “Relax! You are not in trouble. Stop looking at me like I'll bite your head off!”

A shiver went down my spine. It still felt weird when someone points out exactly what I am thinking. I shook my head and let out a small chuckle. "Sorry Rig, just... Bit on edge right now." I said with a sheepish grin.

Some time after I became DJ for this club, the old owner retired and passed it to Rig, who then in turn left the music scene to me. Rig has been my mentor and close friend ever since.

Under Rig, I learned the ins and outs of the music theory, and brought new energy and fresh ideas into things.

Really, me and Rig made this place like home away from home.

"It's just..." I shook my head, "You hear about stuff like this in the news you know? It's not something that's supposed to happen to you."

"You are popular, well, at least here." She took another sip from her brown drink, "You kinda should have seen something like this coming."

"I guess..." I wish it could have been just about popularity. At this point, the things pointing at our farm are piling up!

The Wyvern leaned in after giving a quick glance around the bar, "You think it's about the droid?"

I swear I felt a shiver go down my spine. She knew?! How?

"You texted me about it, remember?" Rig pointed out, noticing my shocked face.

"Right..." I nodded and relaxed, "Well, no. No, the drake had to have been after something else, at least the first time. The timing just doesn't add up. Though now that this is the second time, I... I really don't know what's happening."

Rig then leaned back and crossed her arms, "I suppose now is a bad time to tell you there is someone in the Cantina, asking for you."

My heart skipped a beat. "For me?"

Rig nodded, “Yep. I would have told them off, but since it was another pony, I figured I would first ask–”

It's the girl from yesterday!

I immediately groaned, “Oh sweet Lord, Rig. Don’t scare me like that! Ugh!”

“So I guess you know her?” Rig smirked.

"Yeah,” I sighed in relief for the second time, “I literally ran into her the other night. Told her to come here to hang out."
 
"Gotcha..." Her expression suddenly turned serious. "Hey, this thing about the droid, or at least the speeder seems serious. If you ever find yourself in a tight spot, just give me a call and I'll do whatever I can, kay? I’ll even get you a ticket off-world if it comes to it."

I nodded, "Thanks, I guess."

Rig then poked my side, "Anything for my favorite DJ."

I looked back at the current DJ in the throne, "There isn't much of a competition." I commented.

"Ha!"

The way to the cantina was barred by the club’s long oval bar table. Single large door at the base of the wall there in the back then led directly into the cantina. Understandably, that meant this entrance was staff-only, plus some trusted individuals. Everyone else had to go the long way around.

I of course walked all the way over there on three legs and my eyes directly attached to my HoloP’s display, where I read up upon any updates for my post.

I grinned like a maniac when I saw just how many upvotes and comments it had. Some of the latter directly quoting my outburst from the stage.

One of the hunter admins already approved my post and propped up a wanted status. There was no reward, so probably only the dragon security would go after him, but anyone who signed up to the app in the general location would get an alert and could keep a lookout for the guy and earn reputation in the process by quietly sharing where he was spotted. Already, the drake’s location was updated three times.

“Oh he’s so–” Thud.

I bumped my horn directly into the door.

"I would have told you not to walk with your head in that thing, but you will ignore me." Rig commented and I did just as she said. You would be surprised just how many cool people I meet by bumping into them!

The door slid upwards a moment too late, revealing a short corridor with two more doors to choose from. One leading to the kitchen and the one right across from me to the Cantina.

It was like an airlock. Just not for air, but for the sound.

With a click and slide, the door behind me closed, cutting off the rhythmic sounds of the club, and when I approached, those in front of me lifted upwards, revealing the secondary establishment.

Ah. The Tropo’s Spaceport Cantina.

Favorite spot of many travellers who looked for a way to unwind, hook-up, or eager to share their tales, which consequently made this place the source of everything I knew about the outer space.

The entrance of course led me out from the inside of another long bar table, this basically meant that this single bar table served two different establishments separated only by a wall and a kitchen.

"Hey V," I waved at the Xexto waitress, once I got past the bar, "Bring the usual to my table," To which she waved with one of her six limbs in acknowledgement.

Much unlike the massive hall of the Tropo Club, the cantina was smaller and cozier, though there was still plenty of space. Like the band stage on my right, occupied by a single entity playing all the instruments with so many limbs it put the bartender to shame, which I couldn't help but to gawk at as I walked past.

There were several bunks accommodating various guests and regulars. One of those regulars currently occupied their usual spot, which was now filled with heavily armored Hunters sitting around a table with a lot of credit cartridges and some banks, all arranged around a holographic betting pool currently projecting a familiar drake.

One Hunter, a tiny Breezie of the group sitting on the edge of the table, noticed me passing by. The tiny equine-shaped thing could probably fit into my hoof with space to spare, and its wings gave off the feeling that if I breathed a bit too harshly, it would flutter-off uncontrollably. Though by the tiny brown armor it wore, the Breezie was still a member of the Hunter guild, and from what I can attest to, the smaller they are, the bigger magical punch they can give.

"Oh look! It's her!" The Breezie gave out a squeak. Before I could worry about some kind of a wanted post on my head, the Breezie simply waved and smiled, "Looking forward to the remix!"

I wasn’t really serious about recording the drakes' screams, but I still grinned, as passed by. I still had someone to find.

The pony wasn't too hard to spot among the crowd of strangers of all shapes and sizes. The grey mare sat alone in a far corner inside a small secluded section, slowly sipping on a drink.

The mare still wore the same black jacket as the night before, covering her whole body. The only addition I noticed on her was the much calmer aura and an already-lifted same 'higher-than-thou' mask when I first met her.

I never liked the idea of people wearing some kind of false pretense, to fit in and hide how they are truly feeling. Why not just be yourself? I know it sounds weird coming from a shape-shifter, but I always strived to be myself as much as I could, in or without my disguise. It just felt weird, tainted somehow, when people felt different than what they showed. It was like vertigo, where my brain tells me one thing, but my eyes show another.

I caught a few cracks in her mask as I approached in the form of her sneaking a glance around at anyone who happened to pass by, and I noted her discomfort.

The mare completely failed to notice me however, so I was able to accidentally sneak up on her without really trying.

“Hey! You came!” I exclaimed, "Er..." What was her name again? "Octo... Octavia?"

The mare jumped a little once I walked into her peripheral. She smiled at me politely, but I could vividly taste her resentment, either to that name, or for me surprising her.

"Olivia." She corrected me.

“Oh right!” I exclaimed and finally sat down on the opposite side of the small circular table that stood between us.

“So…” I started, “What brings an earthpony to the Thunderhead?”

“Research, actually.” Olivia replied.

“Oooh~!" I leaned forward with my forelegs on the table, "What’cha researching?”

“It’s…” She hesitated. A wave of ‘I-can’t-say-that’ ran through her head followed by… something weird. I couldn’t quite make it out, but I somewhat figured that she was arguing with herself what to say to me instead.

“Kitein’s wildlife.” She replied.

Yeah… that’s my bullshit detector going off. The taste of ‘lie’ was straight up baked into that sentence. But... I wasn't going to call her out on it. Didn’t care all that much.

“Sounds kinda boring.” I still commented.

That’s when she started thinking... weird again. I could feel the taste of a little bit of sorrow, but then determination right afterwards. I guess she was feeling sorry for lying?

Then the atmosphere spiralled into an empty awkward silence.

I wanted to speak up, but no topics really came to my mind.

It didn't help that the girl avoided my gaze, but still sneaked a glance in when she thought I wasn't looking.

I gave her an unsure grin. Which then resulted in her furrowing her eyebrows and in 'puzzlement' of all things. I in turn lifted an eyebrow. Was I making her uncomfortable or something?

I have a feeling that my new friend wasn't a very social person...

Thankfully, I saw the waitress coming, with a glass of orange liquid in one of her many hands, "Here you go!" She deposited the Soda in front of me.

"Aw hell yeah!" I exclaimed at the sight.

Then she turned to the other mare, "Anything for you?"

"More of the same, please." Olivia finally spoke up and pointed to her empty glass.

The Xexto waitress nodded and walked away. Which resumed the awkward silence.

We sat there, right across each other, observing and I guess judging one another.

I couldn't exactly decipher what was going on between her eyes, and she hid pretty well behind her 'calm-casual' mask, but I recognized a few spikes of puzzlement and frustration.

Oh-kay...?

"Eh, you ok?" I finally asked.

"Yes. I am fine." The mare retorted after a moment, which only made me lift my other eyebrow.

Then she proceeded to glance at me more subtly.

I mean... Whatever. I have friends with far more weirder quirks. Maybe she just fancies me!

"There you go!" The waitress returned with Olivia's drink. She gave each of us a single look, lifted an eyebrow, and then left.

Finally, the weird one-sided staring contest concluded as I took a sip of my drink and Olivia looked down into her own. This time thinking up a shitstorm.

"How about you?" She suddenly resurrected the long stale body of a conversation, disturbing me from my attempts to decipher her thoughts, "What brings you to Kitein?"

I guess it's for the better. "Well... Nothing really. I was born here."

"Ah." Olivia nodded, "I am off-world. I have arrived only last week."

Whoa, whoa whoa! Wait what?! Hell yeah, jackpot!

"Off-world?!" I suddenly exclaimed, "Oh we're gonna be the best friends ever alright!" While my friend-list was expansive, it didn't really reach out into the galaxy. Well, at least none that I could keep contact with. Off-world communication is expensive!

Never before have I passed on an opportunity like this, and just like with all the people before her, I was about to juice the pony before me of all the space things!

I couldn't help but to rear up with my forelegs on top of the table and started babbling excitedly, "Do you, like... Have a spaceship? Have you ever been in a space battle? Or dodging space rocks? O-Or other space things? Girl you gotta tell me EVERYTHING!"

There was a warm smile spreading across her features, which she attempted to tuck under her 'calm' mask with mixed results, but I could tell she was getting more comfortable without it on.

"I er... terribly sorry to disappoint you, but I only ever rely on commercial means for travel." Olivia looked towards the table apologetically, crushing my excitement in the process, "The only interstellar crisis I have ever encountered is a pillow shortage."

"Aw, c'mawn!" I threw my hooves into the air and let myself fall back down into the seat while pouting at her.

Olivia smiled a little bit wider at my antics, and of course that is the moment my empathic superpowers decided to work again and pull 'cute' out of her. I fought my blushing pouting face, while debating whether I should call her out. I'm not cute, I am cool! But, at least her mask melted away, so I'll let it slide. This time.

That said, her mind slowed down now that the awkward icy wall between us melted. Finally, I got a good look at the real Olivia. Her mind was currently singing 'I-am-comfortable' contrasting her usual ‘on-edge’ caused by the other patrons in the cantina. I suspect she had either a problem or a bad history with other species, and me being a familiar equine face put her at ease.

Olivia lifted an eyebrow in amusement. "I presume it is safe to say you're rather fond of space travel, aren't you?"

"Fond of?" I threw my hooves into the air, "Girl, it's like, literally my life dream to be a spacer!" At once, my excitement was back in full, "Space is just, So, COOL! The space lazers, dodging space rocks, space explosions, space battles! Man, I've never been in space myself, but everything I know about space I learned from people who lived through it and stopped by willing to trade stories! I'm basically almost an expert on space!"

Olivia chewed on her lip, "I don't want to sound like a downer-pony, but... space is mostly empty, you see. With light-years of nothing in between. Unless you are deliberately seeking trouble, you will find yourself traveling days or weeks at a time just to get to the nearest star system. Which, as it turns out, can be rather uncomfortable without an ample supply of pillows..." She finished under breath.

"Heresy!" I jokingly exclaimed, "But I get what you are getting at. No worries though, I've been training my whole life for long periods with nothing to do but wait!" I commented and levitated the Cola to my face.

Unfortunately I underestimated just how close it was to my muzzle without looking and accidentally submerged my face in the carbonized drink.

I of course inhaled and the moment the drink started to fizz in my nostrils, I jettisoned it out right afterwards, which then had the unfortunate side effect of launching everything else in the glass out into my face.

"A-are you okay?" Olivia exclaimed.

"Eugh... Okay that was horrible." I shuddered at the sensation.

Unfortunately, now I had most of the drink on myself. Worst of all, my glasses were covered in the stuff and were now all sticky.

I levitated the windshades off my face and started wiping them with a tissue I took from the table.

For a moment I looked up and, for the first time without my windshades interfering, her set of violet eyes locked with my crimson reds. While I myself didn't really think about it all that much, the girl before me visibly... slowed down.

For a single instant, I swear I felt something along the lines of 'gorgeous', which was swiftly pushed aside with a wave of 'get-hold-of-yourself'. Still, it put a grin on my face.

I levitated back the windshades where they belonged to shield the poor innocent girl and the effect was immediate. Olivia blinked and cleared her throat, as if nothing happened. In addition, her uppity mask was up again. What was with that thing anyway?

"Erm, I do not wish to alarm you," Olivia interjected, "However there is another particular motive behind my visit, you see. It's not just about meeting the only other pony on Kitein."

"Well, I am not the only pony." I corrected her, "I actually know of—"

"Violet." Olivia interrupted, and showered me with 'serious-now'. "I am here for business reasons as well."

Aaaal-righ-ty-oo then! This conversation just got a lot more interesting!

"Oooh~!" I exclaimed, "Alright, lay it out on me. I'm listening." I laid back with a grin and motioned for her to continue before bringing my hooves together like a proper businessmare.

"I've... recently ascertained that you are currently in the possession of..." The way Olivia inconspicuously looked around for any unwanted listeners, and I knew exactly what she was about to say before she said it.

"...A particular drone."

Okay, not quite, but close. Phew!

I slowly nodded. "Yeah I have some drones. Though I bought them a few days back actually. These are the MX-14s we are talking about, right?"

Olivia frowned and started shaking her head, "I think you misunderstood, a drone as in, an insect drone. It resembles..." Again she looked around, and then leaned in and whispered. "...a black pony."

Okay, this conversation now got way too interesting. Uncomfortably interesting. So interesting I felt a crawling sensation up my back.

"Well, I don't know of any pony droid... or drone." I said carefully, "But if I did, why would you look for it?"

Once again she discreetly glanced around, contemplating 'how-much-can-I-say', "The drone is the property of an important pony I represent at this moment."

That forced a squint out of me. More worrying, is how she knows I have it. Did the drone send out a distress signal? "And... How did you get to the conclusion I have something like it?"

"The merchant who sold it to you provided me that information." Olivia explained without a hint of a lie.

This time it was me who struck the other with a piercing stare, and thankfully she laid out everything bare for me. There was a very bold aura of ‘attempted professionalism’ that she was trying to maintain, but I still could feel a ‘naive expectancy’ coming out of Olivia, so whatever she was saying she herself seemed to believe it. But more importantly, my bullshit detector stayed in the green during the 'important pony' part.

It definitely looked like bullshit, but didn't smell like it.

Maybe this mare before me has something to her after all, if she managed to get anything out of N.

That, or she is loaded.

That said, the revelation of how she got the info about me is a bigger problem at hoof right now. If it's true and N is selling information about who has the drone, I really should get rid of it in the near future.

And it might just be this mare’s lucky day...

Though that doesn't mean I am going to give the drone out to her for free. Oh no~

"Alright." I waved with my hooves in a concession, "I do have your drone. Unit B3-Z3 alias 'Beezee' right?"

Olivia's eyes shined at my revelation. Relief was pretty much plastered all over her face, and it was more of a 'oh-thank-goodness' as if hearing a friend is alright after an accident, than ‘convenient’ of a business pony talking about an asset.

Curiouser and curiouser...

"Just be ready to bargain, cus you won't be getting it for free." I leaned in as well, then gave her a serious look and put my bullshit cards on the table, "Before I found the drone, my family had been in a tight spot. Right now the drone is the only thing keeping us afloat and we don't expect to be in the green zone for a while."

I laid back again, "If you want that drone, the least I expect is a military-grade drone manager server for a replacement and a million credits on top."

Was it an over the top shameless money grab? Oh absolutely, but that was the point. I didn't actually expect to get all that money, I only wanted to see her reaction and then negotiate the price down. If she was outraged, I might be able to shake something extra out of her, but if she was calm about it, then I’ll have to be a little bit smart about the deal. Hopefully—

"Oh absolutely!" Olivia replied with a smile, "Something like that can be easily arranged!"

Warning bells immediately rang throughout my head. I would have settled with twenty-five thousand as my minimum but all of it? That would spring the homestead up the Tibanna mining leaderboard! Either her boss is really that wealthy and I just got horribly robbed, or this mare doesn't have much of a sense on credit pricing.

Unfortunately, I had experience with this type of instant agreement, and I am glad to say I've never been tricked by those. Damn. And I was beginning to like her.

Olivia doesn't plan on paying at all.

"Up front." I added.

Now she bit her lip and shifted her eyes, "Well, you see... The pony I represent isn't presently available, but they will require the drone's return quite urgently. Nevertheless, once you've returned it, I can assure you that the individual I represent will be willing to compensate you generously!"

I put on my ‘doubt’ face.

“I mean it!” Olivia exclaimed with her forelegs on the table, “I have no intention to swindle you.” She adjusted her hooves and took on the best ‘serious’ she could manage, “Once the drone is safely in our possession, you can look forward to your payment!”

I kept the same face on for a moment, but when all I got out of her was ‘naive-hope’ I started slowly shaking my head with a very much judging stare. Sure with my glasses still on, but this bitch sure as hell ain't seeing my awesome eyes again!

After a moment of her at best mediocre convincing smile, I got myself a bit of a concession from her mind. There was a trickle of confusion, then self-centered consideration followed immediately by crumbling confidence and growing panic. Her mask was surprisingly durable though, it was pretty interesting seeing her face in a perfect presentation of 'calm-professionalism', with her head behind it going ‘whatishapeningwhyissheshakingherheadOHGODWHATDOIDO’

Her muted reaction certainly was a far fetch from even my expectations. I expected her to have a better plan to take that drone from me than 'I'll pay you later', or even just wanted to confirm that I had the droid and jump me later. But from the way her head broadcasts her feelings, I guess this mare truly believed I would just brainlessly say yes.

That's when I got a pretty good idea about what kind of pony Olivia truly was. She wasn't a naive nobody getting herself lost in the Tropo, or an inexperienced scammer on her first field job.

Olivia was a rich kid on a mission.

The way she speaks was a little bit of a give away. She tries to not sound like a snob, but I have a good feeling that the ‘I-am-above-you’ mask is there for a reason. By the way she’s acting around other races, she probably has never seen anything else than a pony in her life. Other than on a holopad. Probably also read a high-rated guide to Thunderhead for rich people before heading out.

I bet the rich individual is probably one of her parents. She probably heard her daddy talking about the drone behind closed doors and decided to look for it for whatever reason. Maybe she has some older siblings and wants to prove herself in the family, or something. Point is, I believe she really intends to return with money. What I don't believe, is her fighting for the money. I can already imagine her father taking the drone and saying ‘Aw thanks honey, but money is... scarce.’, and all Olivia would say is 'Yes, Papa.' then forget all about me two days later.

Though... Olivia seems to know a lot about the drone, and might even have history with it. Considering that so far I've missed my opportunity to wrench anything out of its databases, this might be a good opportunity to learn at least something. If I push, perhaps she would let something slip up...

"Sorry, but no deal." I said and laid back. She was about ready to start arguing but I stopped her, "I don't want to hear it. Do you even comprehend what you are asking me to do?" I shot her a glare, "I'm not going to gamble my family's future on a promise." Then I eased on her a bit when she evaded my gaze. "Hey I want to trust you, I really do. But I am not going to give out the drone without some immediate returns."

I still wanted her in the conversation, otherwise how else would I make her slip up about the drone, or even better yet, about its creators. Hopefully, Olivia was as naive as I thought and didn’t realize what I was up to. Otherwise she might just gain some of those negotiation points on me.

Time for another of my bullshit cards.

"Besides..." I lifted a hoof and unassumingly inspected the back of it, "I already have a better offer for it."

‘Warning-bells’ rang inside of the girl’s head, "What? Who?"

I shrugged. "Well, I didn't really catch their full name, but they did call themselves the Empire—"

Her voice rang throughout the entire Cantina, causing a couple of heads and eyestalks to turn our way. I quickly assessed the crowd and picked up on a few ‘surprised’, ‘annoyed’ and what I've dreaded the most, ‘peaked-interest’. Thankfully, none of the races I recognized were close enough nor were one of those possessing super hearing.

I turned back towards Olivia and gave her a glare. “Keep your voice down. Or do you want everyone to know of our business?”

The mare looked at me like a kicked Tooka and fidgeted in her seat while trying to inconspicuously spy around the cantina. She made an attempt to collect herself and repair her calm mask, though her growing panic made that difficult. Eventually she turned back towards me and spoke with a hushed tone.

"Violet, you absolutely mustn't trust the Black Empire," Then she adjusted her hoof, "You should instead trust me."

I only lifted an eyebrow at that. "Like hell I will! I barely know you, and the first thing you tried to do is to rob me! You really expect me to unquestionably trust you that you won't turn tail and run the moment you get it?"

"Yes!" Olivia waved at me with her hooves again like a crazy person.

I just rolled my eyes and stared at her in confusion.

Alright. This is getting nowhere. I am starting to think that the girl literally has nothing to offer me for the drone but empty words. I’ll be better off to just drag everything I can out of her and leave. Just talking about the drone with her in the open is apparently more trouble than it is worth.

"Alright, spill it. Else I'm leaving." I finally spoke. "Why is this drone so important?"

"I..." Olivia paused. She was thinking all weird again. Suddenly, all that naivety was gone, replaced by confidence and I already didn't like the things her head was broadcasting.

She raised her gaze and wore her 'bargain' expression. "H-How about this? While I may not have a means to compensate you, if you escort me to the drone, I will share what information I know. We can continue our discusion about any monetary rewards afterward."

How?! She was completely clueless! She was distraught and not thinking, and I felt all of it! How did she make a complete one-eighty?

Against all odds, the girl had me and gave a fair offer. She caught me reaching into her cookie jar and now she had plenty of negotiation points to tease me with. Did she spontaneously learn to read thoughts? Or was she smarter than she let on? No, I would have noticed any of that... Hm,  unless…

For a moment I was picking the risks of taking a stranger to the farm, against learning about the drone. Her reaction to this Black Empire definitely means she knew something about it, and by extension about what I am and potentially where I come from. A whole lot of stuff that I need to know. I might never get an opportunity like this again.

Though I don't trust her at all. Taking her to the farm is a serious risk which I don't think I can take after this many close calls. Though... Her sudden change in attitude just gave me an idea, and she did seem to be pretty squeamish around guns when I first met her… Aaand the docks are far less populated with witnesses than the cantina…

I took a deep breath, "Alright. I'll take you to the drone." I lied.

Olivia took a collected sigh in relief, "I guarantee you will not regret this decision, Violet." She gave me a nod. I would have felt bad about lying to her, but... Well, I do feel bad lying to her.

"But there are rules!" I cut her off, "Just to be clear, I don't trust you a bit. You tried to scam me and been all kinds of shifty and weird towards me, so anything I say goes." I channeled my inner winged Zebra, "If you act out, I'll throw you into the abyss, capish'?"

Olivia nodded and didn’t seem to be intimidated by my threat. "But of course!" she exclaimed, “You have nothing to worry about from me!”

With that, I stood up, “Wait for me here. I have to gather some of my stuff before we depart.”

\            /
>==°o•o°==<
/            \

We arrived at the dock without incident, though now I wore white saddlebags on top of my hoodie. I also tried to discreetly prod Olivia for any information, but the girl was tight lipped.

When I spotted my speeder I made my way towards it. That’s when I spotted something laying on the ground nearby. It was the damaged part of the slicer kit the neon-covered drake dropped earlier. I picked it up in my magic, shrugged, and took it with me.

I stopped by my speeder and opened it up to deposit my saddlebags. The mare already made a move to board, but I stopped her and she looked at me questioningly.

"Just a sec, I have to scan you." I explained.

Olivia paled, "S-Scan me? Is that truly necessary?"

"Yep! I take my home’s security real seriously." I deposited the broken thing in the speeder's side-compartment, while also pulling out the same scanner box from last night.

When I turned back, I also took it as an excuse to glance around the docks. We were completely alone.

The grey earthpony took a surprised step back at the sight of the device floating in my magic, "I-I don't want you to look underneath my clothes." She fidgeted on her hooves.

"That's an x-ray you are thinking of. This scanner only picks up electronic devices." I explained while trying to not grin like a maniac.

"R-Right." The mare nodded. Though she looked even less reassured. Then when I finally started approaching her with the scanner fully operational, Olivia started to shake like an unearthed centrifuge. Mph~! she's gotta be hiding something real good.

But… I considered myself a thoughtful person, so for a moment I lowered the scanner, while the girl followed the device with a full-blown apprehension.

“Are you alright?” I asked her and she looked up at me in confusion and a little bit of relief when the box wasn’t getting any closer.

“W-Why wouldn’t I be?” Olivia stood a little bit straighter, trying to hide her real emotions, but I could smell my negotiation points hidden somewhere on her body.

“You are shaking a lot, and I don’t think it's because it's cold.” Then I carefully voiced a way out of the situation for her, “Is there anything… you want to tell me?”

However, Olivia only shook her head. “I am just cold! Not used to being so close to the open streets, you see! Hah...”

Said a pony with a hide wearing a full-body jacket.

“Are you sure?” I pressed. I wanted to give her a way out, since it would be easier. But I am going to get those points out of her, either the nice way, or the 'blaster-in-the-face' way, “Because, when I turn this thing on…” I pointed at the scanner and she followed it with her eyes, “And it finds something…” I paused and gave her a look, “...our deal is off.”

After a bit of hesitation, Olivia shook her head again.

Her funeral!

“Alright!” I happily exclaimed. The very first thing I checked with my scanner was her face cuz’ that’s where—

Yep!

I lifted my HoloPone and… Whoa. That’s like, ALL the red flags! That mare was hiding an earpiece in her left ear this whole time! And I really didn’t like the things it was doing, including transmitting audio, which, now that I think about it, makes sense. I knew there was something weird about how quickly she decided to cash in on my curiosity in the middle of fresh panic after failing to gain my trust.

Someone was coaching her in the ear!

I turned the holographic diagram around and showed it to her.

“O-Oh, that is simply my—” The mare of course started spewing bullshit.

“That’s an audio transmitter." I shut her down, "And it is not only currently transmitting audio, but also the geological location.” And I turned away from her with a resigned expression, with my horn still alight with magic from holding the scanner, disguising me unbuckling my blaster holster, “The deal’s off.”

“But—”

Olivia started, but I didn’t give her the time to breathe and whipped around with a blaster at ready.

To be completely honest? I fully expected to have a fight on my hooves. I expected my blaster to be instantly knocked out of my magic, while the girl would have reached into her jacket for something nasty, but by that point I would have already drilled a hole through her foreleg with a lazer from my horn, ready to face any backup.

However, it seems I’ve read this mare’s character pretty well.

Instead of jumping me as a last resort, the girl simply froze up mid-sentence staring at the pocket death floating in red magic pointed at her forehead.

Her reaction also told me that she doesn't have any wired-in reflexes for having a weapon shoved to their temple, and counting in all my reads on her, I really doubt she's some sort of a super spy.

I took a deep breath and slowly lowered the blaster, still pointed in her direction but no longer in her face. "Last chance." I said. "And no lies this time kapish? I will know." The mare nodded slowly, her wide eyes never leaving the floating weapon.

"Who do you work for?" I started.

Olivia hesitated, her gaze darting around the docks in search of something, a way out perhaps, but she eventually sighed and replied, "There isn't anyone. It's just my father and I." She exclaimed, but her panic escalated as I squinted at her. "B3-Z3 belongs to Princess Lavender! We were simply trying to find out what happened to her, you see?" She quickly added.

Princess Lavender, huh? That's the name of the royalty Cogsworth mentioned he worked for.

So Olivia knows the name of the droids’ former owner. That gives her some credibility I suppose, but not much. For all I know she only did her homework. She did, however, reveal the identity of the recipient on the other side of the earpiece.

“Go on.” I motioned with my hoof.

The mare then quickly continued, adrenaline-filled desperation quickly forced her to spill everything out as fast as possible, "Just yesterday, my father received a distress signal from an escape pod hurtling toward Kitein. The message was from unit B3-Z3, asking for immediate recovery before we lost contact." She lifted her gaze from the blaster to meet my windshades, "Violet, the Princess is missing... or worse, and that drone is our only link to what had transpired. He might even know where the princess is right now!" She approached with desperation, "I must reach it, you see?"

That's when suddenly Olivia flinched and her right ear flopped. "No, I can do this! This is our best chance!"

I only raised an eyebrow at her sudden outburst.

I felt a brief brainstorming in her head before she suddenly reached towards her right ear with her hoof and a black teardrop-shaped earpiece manifested in her hoof.

"I am sorry for lying to you. I should have told you from the start, but I didn’t, and I am sorry. I believed this matter was simply too important to trust anypony blindly, and I planned to ask for forgiveness later, and I am sorry for it."

That's when she did something I didn't expect, Olivia lifted her hoof with the device and offered it to me.

"You may choose to not speak to me any longer, but perhaps my father can convince you to assist us."

I was pretty much convinced at this point. Somewhere around the point where she started her apologetic rant. Still though, speaking with her father instead didn't really entice me, and looking at the device in her hoof, I'd rather draw something out of her than a person I can't read.

I still outstretched my own hoof. Olivia then took the hint and deposited the earpiece in it.

Not even a heartbeat and I let the earpiece fall to the floor, crushing the device under my hoof in the same motion.

Olivia stared in shock at my action, completely flabbergasted. Even her mind just went blank in confusion.

"Apology accepted," I simply said while finally holstering my blaster, "But why should I care?" I shrugged.

"W-What?" Olivia stammered, raising her eyes from the broken device.

"What's in it for me?" I elaborated, "I don't know this princess, so why should I care?"

"Why should you—" She groaned in frustration, "A pony's life is at stake here, and all you can think about is credits!?"

"Nope." I lied, "All I care about is my family not going bankrupt and having to beg on the streets of Thunderhead."

A spike of anger and hopelessness ran through her head. So far, all the right responses for a girl trying to desperately ask someone to help.

The mare walked in a circle for a moment, frustration streaming out of her. Then she paused and 'an-idea' lit up above her head.

"Luckily for you, Princess Lavender is the leader of the Bearers." She turned towards me.

"And that is...?" I circled with my hoof.

The mare was baffled at my question as if I was missing some common knowledge, "How can you not know who the Bearers are?!" Then she stopped herself and immediately elaborated, "Essentially, a Bearer is..." She shook her head, "You know what? It doesn't matter. What's important is that she's irreplaceable, and the entire New Equin will be desperate to see her safely returned. Do you grasp the magnitude of that? If you help us, the very ruling class of the Core Worlds themselves would be indebted to you!"

She lost me with the planet names, but Olivia made one thing clear, "Lavender is a space princess?" I  said out loud.

Olivia blinked, then sighed and rolled her eyes, "Yes, Violet. A space princess."

And my bullshit detector didn't move an inch.

I kinda figured this Lavender was some kind of Exo nobility. Someone local's important daughter who got lost or kidnapped and the droid was simply just sold by the kidnappers.

But this is something else. I knew I should've prodded Cogsworth more about where they are from, they've got to cost like... Like a space-lot!

Olivia said something more. Something about being a hero or whatnot, however I was blind at the moment. I couldn’t see much of anything over the massive credit-signs in my eyes, and couldn’t hear her over the loud noise of ‘chi-chang!’

I could get filthy stinking rich off-of this...

For a while, I just stood there, leaning against the open speeder and against my better judgment actually considering taking her along.

Yeah, I thought about ditching Olivia and selling those droids to the highest bidder, but while I pride myself in my extensive list of connections, I've stayed clear of the darker stuff, so I wouldn't even know where to look for a rich buyer. And N is definitely not going to be one.

By far the better approach is to just sell them back to their owners. Sure, a bit scummy, but I did save them from being wiped and reset! And that isn't even talking about the potential rewards...

So... everything Olivia laid out for me checked out. Cogsworth has somewhat slipped about his and Beezee's employment to this princess, and from what I gathered, I had a lot to gain. Just this gig would make me rich, teach me about my own species, and all of that just for letting her speak to the droid.

Of course, I couldn't be sure she wouldn't just pocket any monetary rewards and just disappear, nor was I reassured whether the rich snobs halfway across the galaxy would give a damn about some random pony who didn't even actively participate in saving the Princess.

...However, the solution I came up with to all of these potential problems was alone an enticing enough of a deal for me to take it.

The longer I thought about it, the more I realized I've already made up my mind.

"Alright, you convinced me." I suddenly exclaimed, interrupting the girl.

"Huh?" Olivia blinked with a 'genuine-surprise', "I- Do I merely have to bring up 'space' around you and you will come around?"

"Don't patronize me!" I quipped, while levitating up my trusty scanner which I then pointed back towards the girl. "Space's cool, but space money is cooler."

That earpiece wasn't the only thing on the girl, and soon my scanner started beeping like if at a rave party. For every gadget of questionable purpose I discovered and consequently threw on the ground, the girl flinched in shame.

I didn't entirely hold it against her though. From what I deduced, she just in the heat of the moment forgot those were there.

Then I took her HoloPone as well.

"Nonono—mh..." Olivia started to object, but settled on giving me a pleading look.

I wasn't a monster. Instead of throwing the device for it to join its kin, I instead placed it in the side-contrapment next to all my other junk.

Olivia sighed in relief, "Er..." She made a noise and scanned the desolate dock, as if expecting someone. "W-We should definitely get going. My father is likely racing toward this place as we speak."

I lifted an eyebrow and nodded. Though when she made a motion to board again, I stopped her once more.

"One step." I pointed in her face, "One step out of the line, and you are Rawwk food, kapish?"

Olivia swiftly nodded.

"Welcome aboard." I said and moved out of her way. “Take the spot in the back, and get comfortable. It’s gonna be a long ride.”

It wasn’t long and both of us were seated inside the speeder, with the grey earthpony now comfortably sitting in the pillow behind me. The cockpit of the speeder was small, but we ponies were smaller. It’s when the windshield slid into place above our heads that the girl spoke up again.

"So, how far is your residence?" She questioned, as the speeder lifted.

“A couple thousand miles.” I replied, giving Liara some written instructions over my HoloPone.

"THOUSAND?!" Olivia exclaimed, "There is no way Thunderhead is this vast."

At that I turned towards her with a shit-eating grin, "I live on a Tibanna farm, girl! We'll be spending the better part of the day flying over the abyss!"

Huh, never knew a pony could lose color this fast.