Chapter 3
A Simple Business Trip
"It's just good business."
-The businesspony's creed
“Sir?”
“What is it? I'm busy.”
“We have reason to believe that we have been hacked.”
“Hacked? By whom?”
“Well, more like somepony in the company has been sending out confidential files.”
“Do we know to whom? Or who it was? What have we lost?”
“Not yet on both accounts, Sir. A few weapons testing reports. Shipping manifestos.”
“Is that all? You are sure the culprit hasn't been found? Or that there are no hints to his or her identity?”
“I am very sure, Sir.”
“In that case, I want all terminals monitored. I will have a watchdog program written up. If this happens again, we will know it. Thank you for letting me know.”
“Just doing my job, Sir.”
Twilight Sparkle's Office, Ministry of Magi-Technology
“Wait, you think E.A.T. did what?” Rainbow Dash asked.
Twilight Sparkle rubbed her forehead as she repeated herself. “All I said was that I think that E.A.T. might have had something to do with Sunny Dale's death.”
Rainbow Dash nodded, “I repeat my previous statement: Wait, what?”
Applejack leaned back in her chair. “Twi, um, Your Highness, I'm inclined to agree with Dash. We've confirmed that the Harvesters were responsible for her death. Ah highly doubt that a multi-billion dollar corporation would associate themselves with a well known criminal organization. Just saying. It just might be a coincidence.”
“I would think so as well, but then I had Sunny Dale's terminal checked out.”
Twilight's horn glowed as a violet field enveloped her terminal. The metal block rotated to face Rainbow Dash and Applejack. On the screen were a group of open windows. One was labeled “Gilda Griffin's Wing Merc. Shipments,” while another was named “Typhoon bomb Schematics”. All of them bore the seal of E.A.T. Rainbow Dash and Applejack leaned in closer. Their full attention had been obtained
“These are only a few of the files that I found on Sunny Dale's terminal. It seems that she has been in contact with a spy named 'Pony X' within E.A.T. for over a month. He or she has been sending her these files, always ending the message with the words 'not yet'. The last transmission was heavily encrypted. She only managed to decode the file halfway before she was sent home for the night. Her terminal's record says that the file was copied into her neural implant.”
Applejack tapped a hoof to her chin. “So you think this 'Pony X' got found out and spilled the beans on Sunny Dale?”
Twilight nodded. “Except for the mole being discovered. I do not believe Pony X would risk sending me a message if he or she were found out. E.A.T. could have found out about the transactions and contacted the Harvesters to ambush her.”
“That's crazy,” Rainbow Dash said, rolling her good eye. “This could just be a huge coincidence. Maybe the Harvesters just happened to come across her and decided to pilfer her augmentations. You still don't know for sure that they were working with E.A.T.”
“Actually, Twi could be onto something,” Applejack interjected. “Mah team has thoroughly mapped out Harvester territory for the past couple of years. Ah didn't think of it at first due to mah being... disoriented after last night's sleep, but this hit was made outside of Harvester territory. They usually hang out in the lower part of the city near the slums and the shipping yards. They stay out of the business districts due to the traffic and the definite witnesses that would be around here. The fact that they would come across the poor mare so close to the Ministry and so late at night cannot be anything close to coincidental.”
Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes. “Hmm, good point.”
“They could have been staking out the place as well. Twi, do any of the files that were sent to her include any mention of the Harvesters?”
Twilight shook her head. “None whatsoever. Those kinds of files could have been blacklisted. These were just general 'off the record' files. Nothing really illegal. Just stuff that didn't quite make it into the books. A lot of companies make military contracts these days. If we want to find proof of their connection with the Harvesters, we might need to go to the source.”
Rainbow Dash straightened up at that. “Wait, are you saying that we are going to go to-”
Twilight Sparkle nodded and smiled. “Captain Rainbow Dash, Chief Applejack. We are going on a little business trip to Equestrian Augmentations and Technology.”
Applejack's jaw dropped. “You're serious? But... but Ah need a search-and-seizure warrant first. Ah may be Ponyville Chief, but Ah can't just saunter in all willy-nilly.”
Twilight switched off her terminal with a nod and a horn glow. “Applejack, we're not storming the building. We're just making a business trip to inform Doctor August Rain of this terrible tragedy and to see if we can help find this mole within their company.”
As she walked out the office door, Rainbow Dash and Applejack exchanged puzzled looks. Rainbow Dash just shrugged and followed Twilight out the door. Applejack shook her head and followed suit. She found Twilight talking to Spike at his desk.
“Spike, have my carriage brought out front for me. Oh, and please contact Equestrian Augmentations and Technology and inform them that Princess Twilight Sparkle, Chief of Police Applejack, and Flight Commander Rainbow Dash are on their way to speak with Doctor August Rain. If they tell you he is unavailable, tell them that it is a matter of national security.”
As she was leaving, Spike just nodded. “Umm, sure. It's as good as done.” He turned to Applejack. “What happened in there?”
Applejack could only shrug. “Corporate subterfuge. Twilight's getting paranoid... again. So business as usual.” She wished that middle part wasn't true. She remembered the many adventures or mis-adventures they'd gone through simply because of Twilight Sparkle's anxiety and paranoia. Looking back, some of their mis-adventures were kind of funny, but this was bigger than Twilight missing a “friendship lesson” deadline. She was playing with fire with this theory of hers. She hoped that Twilight was wrong. She had heard stories about August Rain that were very different from the rumors of his “life-story”. Very different.
Equestrian Augmentations and Technology Headquarters, Manehattan
Twilight Sparkle was not ready for the immense size of the E.A.T. Skyscraper. Even from a distance, the building looked enormous. The building was 105 stories tall and that was not even taking the needle into account. This was the cumulation of one pony's dream and ambition. As the carriage flew in closer, Twilight got a better view of the building. Except for the windows, the building was covered in sheets of metallic silver. When they caught the sunlight, the reflecting shine made it seem that the building was on fire. As she looked closer, Twilight could see that the Skyscraper was connected to smaller buildings that were about the size of the Ministry surrounding it, each one most likely hosting its own company division. Due to these buildings, E.A.T. Headquarters took up the entire city block, front, back and across. She felt embarrassed when she thought about how much this company dwarfed the Ministry.
As the carriage moved closer to the ground, Twilight noticed two more things. The first was the huge video screen on the front of the building. The screen currently displayed the E.A.T. company logo, a Unicorn with wings of fire, most likely an Alicorn now that she thought about it, soaring upwards. The screen changed to show the company motto, “Equality made mechanical”. Those words made her uncomfortable for some reason. It changed again to show the portrait of a bespectacled Earth Pony with a slicked back mane. He wore a small smile on his face that Twilight felt was halfway between genuine benevolence and smug-satisfaction. The captions beneath the portrait read, “Our founder and creator of this new era: Doctor August Rain.” The buck himself. The second thing that she noticed as the carriage pulled up was the throng of protesters.
Twilight recognized them as the infamous “Ponies for Purity” group. Ponies that rejected Augmentations as unnatural and wrong. The group had made numerous demonstrations and protests all across Equestria, some of which ended in violence. Twilight herself had received pleas from “Ponies for Purity” members begging for her help in ending the “impurity that plagues our land”. She had turned these away, wanting to remain neutral. While she had no problem with ponies speaking their minds, she had heard and read interviews with group members that had made her uneasy. The mindset of these leaders bordered on religious fanaticism. One of the leaders, a Pegasus mare named Bright Wind, had publicly threatened August Rain's life in an interview, saying that if he did not dismantle his operations in Manehattan, he would live to regret it. She had, of course, been arrested. While August Rain had dropped the charges, the threat still remained in the public mind. Twilight could guess that there were some decent ponies among the crowd, but to follow a path where violence was almost certainly a result felt too reminiscent of the days before the war and the protests against her by the Equalists. She shook her head. Some things never changed.
“Ah don't know about you, but I am not seeing a way to get through that mob out there,” Applejack said peering through the carriage window. “Not all of us got wings, ya know.” Twilight nodded. The crowd had the front entrance blocked off. How were they going to get in?
As if in answer to their predicament, a large Earth Pony trotted around the crowd from an entrance in one of the lower buildings. As he got closer to the carriage, Twilight got a better look at him. He was pure white with a short cut mane and heavily augmented. Both of his eyes had been replaced with ocular implants and had shade implants in the place of glasses on either side of his eyes. His forelegs had been replaced with jet black cybernetic legs that seemed to clash with his white coat. On his right foreleg he wore a black band of jewelry with a small emerald that really seemed out of place. His ears had cochlear implants with visible speakers. His back had a battle saddle implanted on him with two visible compartments on the right and left sides of his back. Twilight guessed that if those compartments opened up, she would be able to see the concealed firearms beneath his back. She didn't even want to imagine what other 'upgrades' this pony had beyond the ones she could see. Twilight felt a churning in her stomach that dwarfed the feelings of unease that the protesters gave her. This buck was augmented for combat. He was dangerous, plain and simple. A predator.
As he reached the carriage, the Earth Pony scanned it, starting with Twilight's carriage drawers, then Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and finally ending with Twilight herself. For what seemed like an eternity, he stared at Twilight, causing her to really feel uneasy. It was like he was staring into Twilight Sparkle's soul with those bright blue ocular implants. Twilight could have sworn she had seen a flash of red in them. It wasn't until Rainbow Dash spoke up that he broke his gaze with her.
“Ummm, can we help ya, Sir? Or are you going to continue staring at the Princess?”
The White Pony shook his head. When he spoke, it was in a flat toned voice. Barely any hints of emotion could be heard. “My apologies, Commander. I don't know what came over me. I am Mr. White, head of Security here at Equestrian Augmentations and Technology and Doctor Rain's personal bodyguard. I was personally asked by the good Doctor himself to escort you to his office.”
Applejack gave a slight smile and raised an eyebrow. “Head of Security and the Doc's personal bodyguard? Wow, now that is a lengthy set of duties.”
Mr. White nodded. “The Doctor is a very important pony, General. He is constantly under guard due to the numerous threats and attempts made against his life. He requires nothing short of the finest when it comes to his safety. Now if Your Highness and your friends will follow me, I will take you to the Doctor.” While exiting the carriage, Applejack turned to Twilight with a puzzled expression.
“General?”
Twilight shrugged. Maybe he is a veteran. Probably served under you during the war. Would explain why he is augmented to the teeth.”
As they followed Mr. White around the crowd, Twilight was thankful that the complex was so large. It allowed them to give the protesters a wide berth and Twilight was not in the mood for public attention. She noticed some of the words on the picket signs the protesters were carrying though. “A pony's body is sacred”, “E.A.T. is EVIL”, and “Stop the desecration”.
As they entered one of the smaller buildings, which turned out to be a laboratory, Twilight was impressed. Everything was, to put in a simple term, shiny. In contrast to the very office setting of the Ministry where everything, even the tech labs, was a bit dull in color, everything in the laboratory was as bright as the sun itself. The terminal consoles were bright silver as opposed to the dull gray ones at the Ministry. Ponies in lab coats were everywhere, moving at top speed, each Pony doing his or her duty. The supervising pony was barking out orders in every direction. Yet in all the apparent chaos, Twilight could tell that there was a sense of order here. Everypony here had a job to do and they were doing it, and from what she could see, they were doing it well. It made her envious in a way. Everything back at the Ministry was so ordered and neat that Twilight realized that it had become stale. When she got back, she would have to make some changes.
As they exited the laboratory, they went through several more rooms until they finally came to the main lobby. To say that it put the Ministry's lobby to shame would be redundant at this point. Outside, Twilight could see the protesters, though now she could see a green Unicorn on a box and a megaphone levitating in front of him. Most likely the leader, she thought to herself. She turned to Mr. White.
“Um, how long have they been out there?”
“Since this morning,” he replied. “And everyday before. They won't leave and Dr. Rain will not allow us to force them to leave. Something about respecting everypony's right to protest and all that rubbish. If you ask me, they are a nuisance, especially that Unicorn out there. His name's Blue Note and he is possibly the biggest pain in my ass. A buck can take being called “evil” only one too many times just because of what he has attached to his body.”
Rainbow Dash nodded spoke up. “I hear that. After I got augmented, I got so many dirty looks that I didn't leave my apartment for weeks. Even now, I swear that they are still whispering behind my back.”
Mr. White stopped, turned, and looked her over. “You should have come to work here. Everypony on my security force is augmented. You won't find naysayers about your life choices here. You'd be one of us.”
Rainbow Dash's eyes narrowed. “I didn't choose this. Besides, I already have a job.”
Mr White's “eyes” flashed for a bit, probably an aug's version of surprise Twilight guessed. He looked at Twilight and Applejack who lowered their heads. He turned away and trotted towards the elevators. The ride up to the top floor was silent. Rainbow Dash had unwittingly ended all potential conversations they could have had on the way up. And all she had to do was bring up the elephant in the room that Twilight and Applejack had been careful to avoid. Those words, “I didn't choose this,” still rang in her ears. Twilight wished that Dr. Rain's office was on a lower floor so that the silence could just end. She hated it. After all these years, there were still problems between the friends. Nothing had really changed as she had hoped.
When the elevator finally stopped, Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. Mr. White stepped out first and motioned for the Ponies to follow suit. He then reentered the elevator, nodded to Applejack and Rainbow Dash, and finally bowed to Twilight.
“Dr. Rain's office is down the hall. If you will excuse me, I have work to do. Your Highness.”
As the elevator doors closed, Twilight could have sworn Mr. White was... glaring at her. She shrugged it off and motioned for her friends to follow suit. The silent walk down the long hallway was broken by Applejack.
“So was anyone else 'ere creeped out by Mr. White back there?”
Twilight nodded. “He was definitely a soldier. He's seen battle and judging by his physical state... he still carries it with him. Applejack, did you ever have a 'Mr. White' under your command? He seemed familiar with you.”
Applejack shook her head. “Naw, never seen him before today. Must have been in Big Mac's unit. I weren't the only General in the army you know, Twi.”
“I know that, but the fact that he would call you 'General' after ten years is just odd to me. And he said it with such... familiarity.”
It was Rainbow Dash's turn to speak up. “Maybe he hasn't grown out of the army mentality. Or he just has respect for you, AJ.”
Twilight then asked something that had been gnawing at her since they had arrived. “Did either of you notice the way he was looking at me back at the carriage? And as he was leaving, I could swear that he was glaring at me.”
“I did actually. Perhaps he couldn't believe that Princess Twilight Sparkle would think to come here.”
“I don't know about that. It felt as though he... hated me. Like I had done something to him in the past.”
Before they could continue with the conversation, they arrived at their destination. As they entered the waiting area, the secretary pony looked up from her terminal. She gave a smile and motioned at the double doors behind her desk.
“Hello, Your Highness. Dr. Rain has been expecting you.”
The doors opened onto an office that once again put Twilight to shame. Saying that it was huge would have been putting it lightly. It was the size of an apartment. The window took up the entire back wall, presenting a view of the entire city of Manehattan. There were leather couches against the walls and even a minibar. And in the center was a large circular desk, behind which, in a suit and tie, sat Doctor August Rain himself.
In person, Rain certainly resembled the picture on the screen out front, but with a few minor differences. He certainly looked older than the picture, which had depicted a pony who wasn't much older than Twilight was. His slicked-back mane had flecks of gray in it. His green eyes had bags underneath them, as if he hadn't slept in days. However, he wore the same smile that the picture version of himself had, so there was an accuracy. As he looked up from his terminal, his eyes appeared to sparkle from behind his spectacles. His smile widened as he got up from his chair and moved to stand in front of Twilight.
“Your Royal Highness,” he said bowing his head. “I cannot tell you how much of an honor it is to have the Princess and Keeper of Magic in my company. I have to tell you that I have been watching your career at the Ministry with great admiration. Oh, and I must commend you on the terminals. They are a fantastic. You have no idea how much of a convenience they have been to my company.”
Twilight was taken aback by this. She had been envious of August Rain. She'd never expected that he was an admirer.
“Umm, you're welcome, Doctor. I must say though that I have been envious of you for quite sometime with all that your company has accomplished.”
“Oh, no, no, no, Your Highness. I am the one who should be envious. You are the quintessential example of the self-made Pony. Trained by Princess Celestia herself, studied and memorized practically every spell in the book, rediscovered the Elements of Harmony, defeated Nightmare Moon, defeated and tamed Discord himself, fought back a Changeling invasion, and you ascended to the level of Alicorn and made Royalty. I'm just a simple inventor and Doctor. My accomplishments cannot compare to your own.”
Twilight was about to respond to all this when she heard an “ahem” behind her. She turned to Rainbow Dash and Applejack and realized she had forgotten them. She motioned to both of them.
“I'm sorry, I believe you are familiar with my friends? This is Chief of Ponyville Police Applejack and Captain Rainbow Dash of the Wonderbolts.”
August Rain looked at both of them and smiled. “Ah, of course I am familiar with them. How could I not be aware of two of Equestria's most decorated War Heroes.” He shook Applejack's hoof with vigor. “I must commend you on your victory at the Siege of Canterlot, General. Possibly one of the closest victories in Equestrian history. Your family must be very proud of you.”
Applejack blushed as her eyes darted back and forth. “Umm, thank you kindly, Doc. Though it's just 'Chief' now. Ah'm not part of the military no more.”
Rain nodded. “Oh, of course, Chief. I do apologize.” He turned to Rainbow Dash. “And Captain Rainbow Dash, creator of the Sonic Rainboom and keeper of the Element of Loyalty.” His eyes narrowed as if he had just now noticed her augmentations. He looked them over with a studious eye, inspecting each one closely, even tapping on Rainbow's cybernetic wing. “And I see that you are even a customer of mine. Now that is truly an honor. Which models are those? How do they feel? Do they function properly? If not I could have them given a tune up for you. It wouldn't cost you anything. Think of it as... a favor.”
Rainbow Dash shook her head and stepped back a few paces. “Umm, no, they're fine. Really.”
“Well if you say so,” Rain replied. “I must say that I did not expect Rainbow Dash of all ponies to be augmented. But as you can see,” he said while turning around to show his augmented left hind-leg, “I myself never expected to be my first customer. But, enough jibber-jabber from me. Tell me, Your Highness, to what do I owe this... extremely unexpected visit?”
As he sat behind his desk, he motioned to three chairs. As they sat, Twilight gave him her answer.
“Dr. Rain, I do apologize for interrupting your schedule, but I have some information that could greatly affect your company.”
Rain raised an eyebrow. “Oh? How do you mean?”
“This morning, one of my employees at the Ministry was murdered by the Harvesters. When her terminal was inspected, we discovered numerous files and schematics that had originated from your company. Apparently, she had been communicating with somepony inside of your company named 'Pony X'. Now, I first want to assure you that I had no idea this was happening under my nose. If I had known, I would have put a stop to it. Anyway, I think that her death might have been a separate inside job from within your company. I think that she might have been given something that was linked to the Harvesters and when their mole discovered the theft, informed them and had her killed.”
August Rain narrowed his eyes and tapped his hooves together. “Hmmm, well, Your Highness, I do thank you for coming to me about this. To tell you the truth, one of my technicians did inform me that our company mainframe had been hacked. I've already had a watchdog spell program written up. The last file stolen had been from yesterday... the night before the murder. I am terribly sorry about that, by the way. Tell me, did you find anything on her terminal that could have been of value or identify the Harvesters' mole or this 'Pony X'?”
Shook her head. “There was a transmission from yesterday as you said, but the file was corrupted so we were unable to get anything from it. We did find some shipping manifestos and some weapons schematics, but nothing that would call for her to be murdered. Pony X must have been waiting for something, because all of the messages kept ending with 'Not yet'. I can have the files returned to you at anytime, Doctor.”
“Thank you, Your Highness.” He turned to Applejack. “Chief, have you found anything else about the Harvesters?”
“Not yet, Doc. I have mah best officers on the case. If we find anything, Ah'll definitely let you know.”
“Thank you, Chief.” He turned to Rainbow Dash. “And you, Captain?”
Before Rainbow Dash could reply that she had no idea why she was even a part of this investigation, Twilight spoke up. “As Captain of the Wonderbolts, Equestria's elite task force and due to the threat level the Harvesters could pose with the information they have stolen, Captain Rainbow Dash will be aiding Chief Applejack in this investigation.”
Rainbow Dash turned to Twlight, mouthing the word “What?”. Twilight just gave her a look that said “Trust me”. Doctor Rain didn't seem to notice the exchange and just nodded.
“Well, Your Highness, thank you so much for coming to me about this. I want you to know that if you, the Ministry, or Chief Applejack need anything at all from my company, you contact me right away.” From under his desk, he drew out a business card. “My number if you ever need to contract me.”
Twilight's horn glowed as she levitated the card towards her. She placed in a saddlebag and smiled. “I will definitely make sure to do so, Doctor Rain. It has been an honor to meet you.”
August Rain smiled. “No, no. The honor was mine. Now, I would have Mr. White escort you out himself, but unfortunately he had other duties today, so I arranged to have his second-in-command escort you out herself. I apologize for the, um, rabble outside my building. I cannot legally force them off of my property. They have the right,” he said with a shrug. “My hooves are tied.”
Twilight smiled. “I understand. And thank you, again, for being so cooperative.”
As they got up to leave, the double doors opened. August Rain smiled. “Ah, here she is right now.”
As Twilight turned to meet the security pony, she heard a “GASP!” from Rainbow Dash. When she got a good look at the security pony, she understood why. The security pony was an augmented Pegasus Mare with an opal green coat and a streaked gold-yellow mane. Despite the augmentations, she knew had met this Pegasus before and the lightning bolt shaped cutie-mark confirmed it.
“Lightning Dust,” Rainbow Dash said in a flat tone.
“Rainbow Dash,” Lightning Dust replied.
The two Pegasi stared at each other before Lightning Dust broke the silence. “Your Highness, Chief, Captain, if you would just follow me.”
As the doors closed behind them, Twilight heard Applejack whisper to Rainbow Dash.
“Old flight-squadmate?”
“You could say that,” Rainbow Dash replied.
August Rain's office, Equestrian Augmentations and Technology
As soon as the Princess and her companions had left, the smile that had been on August Rain's face disappeared. He immediately went to a button on his intercom. The flat voice of Mr. White emitted from it.
“Are they gone?”
“They are.”
“What did they want?”
“They had some information about the Unicorn Mare's murder. They offered an alliance with me to investigate the possibility of a 'Harvester Mole'. They told me that the file that was stolen last night was corrupted, though as we both know, that is a lie. I think they suspect something.”
There was a brief pause. “Do you think they-”
“No, no. I don't think they specifically suspect me. Why would they? Still... I want them monitored. Contact Star-Metal and inform him that there is a problem. I don't want to move against them just yet. Not unless they find out anything more about 'Project: Ascension.' This company is not going to fall. I won't let it happen.”