//------------------------------// // Chapter 7: Contract II, Prototype, Part 2 // Story: The Dark Brotherhoof // by CelestialScribe //------------------------------// "Ordinance! Load in some X-W.H.I.P. rounds!" Twilight ordered over the rapid beeping of electronics, flashing of warning symbols and overall chaotic noise surrounding her. "Yes ma'am!" The cerulean coloured stallion complied, jumping over the smooth white décor and computer equipment. Ponies desperately ran around, seemingly in no particular order, to carry out their assigned duties to keep the spaceship, her spaceship, operational. "Auto! Lock coordinates onto sector fifteen, we need to jump the foxtrot relay!" Twilight again commanded, this time to a terrified-looking mare. Panic was surging through the command deck, muffled explosions and screaming could be heard coming from exiting corridors and stairwells. "Sparkle!" Came the voice of her commander through a holographic screen that now shone onto one of the spacious cockpit's walls. "Yes sir!" Twilight quickly conformed, momentarily pausing the mashing of important apparatus to face the moving picture of her ragged, worn-down superior. "You need to get those ponies out of there, we've got confirmed marshmallow frigates inbound!" The commander managed to inform prior to his screen turning to static. "Oh, Celestia, save us." Twilight speedily turned towards the sealed metal shutters. "Blinds! Lemme see what we're up against!" The brown mare hastily ran and furiously pushed buttons adjacent to Twilights acquired target. The shimmering, large silver screen was hoisted above the window, which then assured their fears. A battalion of flying marshmallows, locked onto Twilight's ship, burning the empty vast black space behind them as they blasted at the vulnerable vessel. Multi-coloured streams of marshmallow coated the window, eliminating the view and threatening to burn through the reinforced glass before the automatic ship response had them sealed. "Great work EDI, can you give me any good news?" "Negative, Sparkle. Odds of success are diminishing rapidly, and I am receiving frequencies from below decks that the Applecores have breached the loading bay." The AI stated matter-of-factly. "Dammit! Have Applejack finish those shield calibrations, we need to prepare for the jump, and we can't do that with an engine blocked with marshmallow!" Twilight searched for anything of possible significance at her controls, any way she could slow down the impending assault on her home-world. "Receiving a message from Corporal Applejack now, Sparkle, patching you through." "Fire the whipped cream cannon! Anything to slow them down! Fire team, respond!" Came Applejack's unmistakable voice followed by the drone of machinery locking into place. The orange mare in the screen was sweating as red lights flew around her, until she looked through the screen at Twilight with relief. "Twilight! Thank Celestia!" "Applejack! What's going on down there?!" Twilight asked while fiddling with some more controls at her station. "You tell me, Twi, it's your dream." "Wha-?" Twilight timidly stirred in her sleep, her hooves bringing a squishy, soft object closer to her snout. Her eyes were heavy, so she decided it was best to let them win for now, going back to munching the object. Wait, what? Twilight suddenly defeated the tempting eye gods to expose herself chewing a pillow. Drool was running down the left side of her cheek and, upon taking it out of her mouth, revealed a large damp mark on what she though must have been a 'tasty marshmallow'. She reached a hoof into her mouth, and pulled out a single hair, before turning the pillow over and launching her face back into its comfy embrace. Alas, sleep would not come for the purple mare, possibly as she wanted to find out what happened next in the glorious space epic. As well as that, the dried drool was becoming incredibly annoying on her cheek, she felt the need to clean it now more than ever. *Scratch, scratch* Not good enough. Twilight lifted the sheets drowsily, attempting to put as little effort in as possible. She rose slowly and had a scan of the cabin. Applejack seemed to be missing for now, and the very early hours of the morning were shining through into the cabin. She had guessed about five in the morning, another hour until Manehattan, as Applejack returned, pushing a small cart with a tray on top. "Mornin', Twi." Twilight grunted a vague reply of: "Uh." "Not a mornin' pony, are ya?" The lavender mare was too busy rubbing the sleep from her eyes to respond. "Good thing ah got us some coffee." Twilight perked up at the sound of this, and both mares enjoyed the refreshing taste. For now it would have to prove a substitute for toothpaste. Coffee flavoured toothpaste. Hmm. Her claim to fame quickly vanished as the familiar feeling of thick enamel plastered her teeth. The remaining hour trip was spent in relative calmness. When she wasn't talking to Applejack, Twilight was in awe at the marvels Manehattan had to offer as the urban city came into view. It was far, far larger than Ponyville. That became more of an understatement as the actual buildings came into view. What Twilight could only describe as hundred-floor behemoths reflected the rising sunlight beautifully, each colossal structure abundantly more substantial than the last. It was hard to believe ponies actually lived here, no houses were visible- Fluttershy would be greatly out of place. Eventually, the train arrived on time: six o'clock, and Applejack procured a basic map of the few mile radius from the station. It was when Applejack hailed a taxi carriage that they spotted another of Manehattan's 'wonders': there was traffic everywhere. Clearly, if you were not a pegasus, you shouldn't expect to get anywhere on time. The streets were mixes of narrow, packed roads, which somehow, in an instant, could turn into broad, multiple route, highways. The prominent, Bronclyn accent could be heard clearer than the roar of hoofsteps as individual cabbies shouted profanity at one another, causing Twilight and Applejack to shy away from the roads and pretend to do something by searching through their bags. To the drivers credit, the stallion navigated well through the legion of other vehicles and managed to arrive at the destination generally fast. The fare was surprisingly payable, which was a stroke of good luck, as they had no idea how much the motel would cost. The motel was small, especially when compared to its neighbouring buildings, but hopefully this would be an indicator of the price. It also helped that its paint was decayed, walls dented and almost all windows were barred up. Overall, the grey, dingy, two-floor mess wasn't pretty. "It is open, right?" Twilight asked as she cringed. "To be honest, Twi, I'm not sure this place is even a motel." Applejack replied. There was no sign indicating as such, so the only way to find out was to enter. Inside was remarkably better maintained than outside, but they both disliked the thought of staying here. If one word could be used to describe it, brown, would be the only option. Furniture: brown. Walls: brown. Carpet: brown. The air even smelled of wood. It was possibly the dullest place she had ever seen, and she lived in a library. "Can I help you?" Voiced an elderly mare from behind a wore-down reception desk. She had a displeased look on her face, and paid more attention to the magazine laying on the desk than to the two mares that approached her. She had a brown coat, shockingly, and a grey mane. "Uh, yeah," Applejack spoke up, "Is this a motel?" "S'what it says on the front, don't it?" The crotchety mare replied. "Er, actually, no. There wasn't a sign." Twilight corrected. "Oh for..." The old mare stood up slowly, opened a door next to her and began to shout. "JIM! THE SIGN'S FELL AGAIN!" She then sat back down in silence for a several seconds. After what felt like an eternity of awkwardness, another elderly pony, a stallion who was completely grey, came through the reception entry with a ladder placed on his back, almost barely fitting through. Everypony watched him noiselessly, as he did the same, swerving around the desk and exiting. The aged mare resumed reading. "So, uh, how much for one night, two beds?" Applejack questioned. The owner, they presumed, regarded them for some time. As if there wasn't any price system, it was based on how much their faces annoyed her. She looked up and down the mares, crumpling her face with more wrinkles. "Eh. Fifty bits." They couldn't tell whether it was a good deal, or a rip-off, but for one night they didn't really care to search anywhere else. They forked over the bits, and received a key labelled simply: 'Two'. "Thanks!" Applejack said, to which came no acknowledgement. It was probably best to not initiate a conversation anyway. They headed for the broken stair case, creaking as they went up, and saw a sign: '1-4'. They explored the hallway leading from the stairs, and by using math, found the number two after one. The room was exactly like the carriage, just, more brown, and the addition of a bathroom. Another two beds, a table, some candles. An amazing feature was the window, an aesthetic view of a white wall. At least it broke up some of the brownness. "What d'ya think?" Applejack inquired. "It'll do. When does Equestrian Innovations open?" Twilight requested, eager to dive head first into the mission. "Uhhm," Applejack drawled, scanning the room and found a small digital clock resting on the table, it seemed out of place in the room full of dusty, antique appliances. It read '6:45'. "An hour an' fifteen minutes from now, we should probably head out for the nine o'clock tour though. Don't see why anypony would camp outside jus' fer a tour right when they open." "Sure, well, I need to use the bathroom, hopefully they have a toothbrush in there." "Ah doubt it, but good luck with that." To Twilight's relief, there was. Except, the bristles were yellow. Twilight was no hygienic expert, but she knew that it was best to, if not destroy, leave the brush alone. Avoiding that, she went back into the main room and began reading Starswirl, that native feeling of time looming over her. Twilight had expected Equestrian Innovations to have an impressive headquarters, possibly the finest in Manehattan, but the actual thing was incomparable to those thoughts. The leviathan that stood in front of the two, mostly-rural, mares dominated its brothers. Even Celestia's mighty sun struggled to demonstrate itself as it was shadowed by the metallic monster. In other words, it was big. Not just tall, but far-reaching. Windows diffused the entire building, each silver, modern square backed up by another hundred. The entrance, thankfully, was easy to spot. There were two opposed revolving doors, and in-between them were three sets of double doors. High-class looking business ponies went in and out. It must have been normal to the everyday Manehattanites, but to Twilight and Applejack, it was crazy; there was probably more ponies in that one building than all the inhabitants of Ponyville. And they were supposed to be sneaky. "So, shall we go say 'hi'?" Twilight queried with a nervous smile. They had got there just five minutes before the tour at nine, thanks to the complexity of the roads leading here. In hindsight, the target should have been obviously apparent because of its size. "Ah guess, unless we wanna be late, an' ah don't think we need any extra attention." They trotted up to the entrance, almost being engulfed by the mass of ponies as they came towards the entries. The two mares ended up at separate entrances, Twilight scraping through a revolving door, while Applejack accessed a set of double doors. They must have anticipated the amount of entrants, so they expanded accordingly. The Ponyvllians met up and looked over their surroundings. Immaculate, polished white walls and flooring lay around various plants and displays of the company's crowning achievements. There were banners of both previous and future projects, but nothing said about Flim and Flam's prototype. The floors were checkered, but only differentiated by shades of white. There was chrome outlines around windows and signs, giving the entire place a futuristic atmosphere. As they were admiring the layout, Twilight read out one of the signs. "Research and development, employees only." The sign pointed up a set of gleaming white stairs, and then at the top of those stairs, left, aimed towards an opening that became invisible to the mares. "Ah'm guessin' that's where we're headin' then, ain't it?" Twilight nodded. "Then ah'll have a look up there to see how we're 'sposed to get through. Try an' find the tour guide, ah'll be right back." "Got it!" It felt much clearer to be following somepony else's orders on getting the job done, rather than making it up as she went along like with Blueblood. She glanced around the ultra-modern reception as Applejack made her way up the stairs. There was many business-ponies talking on phones or to each other, wearing classy suits of black and different coloured ties. There were also some tourists taking snapshots of everything, she could probably ask them for directions to the tour guide, but she had already found her way to Twilight. "Welcome to Equestrian Innovations! Are you looking for a tour?" The tan coated mare investigated. She was wearing an advertised Equestrian Innovations shirt with a blond mane. "O-oh, y-yeah, yeah!" She had no reason to be nervous, unless she was going to directly confront the tour guide about the best way to steal her company's plans, yet still she was a sociable mess if there was any hint of deception. "Great! Please follow me to the others!" Twilight looked back to the stairs as Applejack came down, and signalled the orange pony with a hoof. Twilight had hoped the cowpony spotted her before she turned back and followed the mare to the tour start. "Now that we have a substantial amount of participants, I'd like to be the first to welcome you all to Equestrian Innovations, leading Equestria in the ways of scientific development and creation." The guide repeated as she must have done so many times in the past. "Psst." Applejack whispered as she suddenly joined the tour. "We need a key card to get through." "A key card? Doesn't that seem a bit... retro?" Twilight responded in the same tone. "Ah dunno, but ah think ah've found one already." Applejack pointed towards the guide as she walked away, leading the other tourists towards a banner. Attached to the mare's company shirt, dangling off of the side of her flank was a square card. Considering she was an employee, it was most likely what they needed. "But ah dunno how we're gonna get it." Applejack said with a sheepish smile. "Easy!" Twilight confirmed. "Just talk to her, ask her about this place and I'll 'borrow' it while she's distracted." Twilight clapped her hooves together with pride. "Sounds good, let's give it a shot." They both walked up to the tour guide, but Twilight began to hold back as the conversation was initiated. "Er, 'scuse me, miss, but ah was just wonderin' when Equestrian Innovations started? Ah heard it was founded a while ago, but Manehattan is relatively new to Equestria." Applejack was good at this whole 'disguise' thing, one might think she was actually interested. The guide began, with a new-found energy, she must have somehow enjoyed her repetitive job, or was at least was good at hiding her displeasure. "Ah, I'm glad you asked. You see, believe it or not Equestrian Innovations actually started as a stall selling..." The words gradually drifted out of Twilight's mind as she began to concentrate. To anypony else, Twilight must have seemed a little off staring at the mare's flank, but to Twilight, her target was bold and clear. She decided against using telekinesis, it would have brought too much notice to her, and went for the earth pony approach. She carefully grasped the key card with her hooves, now would be a perfect time for those 'fingers' Lyra always talked about. She found a small clip on the card, which when pressed firmly, un-hooked it from her belt. Unfortunately along with that came a tug of her shirt. Twilight's heart stopped as the mare began to turn around. She instantaneously put it behind her back and stood on her back-hoofs to hide the card. The pose was uncomfortable and disproportionate, she could feel herself tilting to the sides. "Yes?" The guide asked politely, unaware for now of what had just transpired, but confused at why the mare had adopted such a stand. "O-oh! Erm, yeah, I-I was j-just..." Twilight wobbled to one side, then extended a hoof to the left to counter-balance the right tilt. Disastrously, this only lead to her downfall. Literally. The lilac mare tumbled to the ground, and landed on her back, injuring her arms, but keeping the card out of sight. She nestled the card in her tail to then accept being offered a hoof up. "Oh my gosh, are you alright?" It was a shame the mare worked for the 'big, bad corporation', she appeared genuinely nice and caring. "Oh, yeah. Sorry." Twilight took the mare's hoof and got back up. "I don't think I'm feeling well. I'll, er, come back another time." "That's ok! I'll be here all week. I hope you get well soon!" "Thanks, goodbye!" Twilight said too happily for someone who is supposedly ill. She began walking away as she heard Applejack asking where the 'little fillies room' is, a good excuse to get away. "Well, that's one way to do it." Applejack said appeased. "You get the card?" Twilight smiled and telekinetically brought out the card from the confines of her tail. "Great job, c'mon, let's see what they got up there." They waited until the guide had vanished, and proceeded up the stairs. Fumbling past the many ponies at the bottom level, and into the slightly more secluded second floor, a moment of peace was available when they hit the research and development entrance. The automatic doors alone would have many rural ponies bewildered, especially when noting the small scanner beside it. Fortunately, growing up in Canterlot had made Twilight accustomed to most high-technology, so she new how to handle it. Twilight checked the card instead of holding it to the scanner for now. It had the mare's photograph, identification, her position and some sort of employee number. A series of electronic beeps sounded, followed by a satisfying 'ding'. The automatic doors opened, retracting into the walls as the two 'spies' entered. The scanner wasn't even necessary. "Ok, next, we need to hurry up and change into the cloaks, but not the hood." Applejack said, standing just inside the R&D wing. "Why not the hoods?" Twilight wondered. "Easily distinguishable. If someone spots 'em, everypony in this place is gonna start tellin' their boss about some rival business infiltrators. It's best if we get our own Equestrian Innovations uniform, until then though, the cloak is more formal than nothin' at all." "Alright, where can we get changed?" Twilight indicated to her saddlebags, she had almost forgot about them. Applejack looked down the hall they had entered. There wasn't much change from the downstairs interior. Everything gleamed white, except the corridors were narrow, and spilt off into other directions. It was like being lost in Pinkie's basement, but clean. A little down the corridor they were in, Applejack caught glimpse of a brown door, out of place in all of the white, and entitled: 'Janitor's Closet'. It was far away, but so far this floor seemed empty. "Ah'd say that's our best bet! Let's hope the Janitor isn't actually in there." The duo slowly made their way down the long path, passing one side-hall and taking in the sights of equipment they had never seen. Luckily for Equestrian Innovations, they weren't burglars, else they could make off with some serious loot. The hoofsteps made an eerie echo as they walked, it was far too quiet. Then, another set of hoofsteps joined in the rhythmic beat, and another, disrupting the mares focus and stopping them abruptly. Two more employees were coming towards them, from where they had no idea. While Twilight's brain was exploding with ways they could be caught and what would happen to them, Applejack kept herself composed and hugged the wall they were next to, bringing Twilight with her.From here, there was four possible entrances. Ahead, the janitors closet, their target. Behind them, the route back to the first floor. Both of these were safe, or they would have already been spotted. The remaining two were around each mare's respective corner, it became easy to tell they each had a employee to take down. "Get the cider pie." Applejack said hushed. Applejack brought one out of her bags calmly, whereas Twilight rummaged through hers like there was no tomorrow, digging her hooves in desperately to find the weapon. Eventually she found it, then lifted it with her telekinesis. "As soon as they come 'round the corners, pie and grab 'em." Applejack said astonishingly quietly. Twilight could only nod, worried that any noise out of her would alert the employees. The hoofsteps became an ominous crescendo, pounding the floor along with Twilight's head in alarm. She pancaked her self against the wall, turning her head to the left she saw Applejack, ready to pounce. Before she could turn right, Applejack grabbed the helpless employee, and in a flash, silenced him. She watched as the target ceased to fidget, smothered in the hilarious knock-out substance, as Applejack gently rested the pony on the floor. "Huh?!" Came a voice from behind her. Oh, buck. Prior to Twilight's mental facehoof for forgetting about her target, she swung around with the pie in hopes to hit anything that moved. The cider pie was blessed with a successful collision into the side of an earth pony stallion's face, eye's open wide in horror preceding his collapse into the ground. She instantly grabbed his legs and dragged him around the corner. Unconscious? Check. Apparently knocking out ponies had become just another list item. "Quickly, get 'em into the janitor's closet!" Applejack called, still quieter than normal. They pulled the snoozing ponies through the hall, a faint trail of the apple liquid following close behind. They reached the closet, opened and closed it hurriedly behind them. "Phew, that was scary." Twilight uttered in the darkness that enveloped them. "We need to find a li-" Without warning, Twilight's mind was read as a piercing white light broke the darkness of the room. Revealing a tired looking stallion lying in a hammock. Not in the slightest fazed by the two mares carrying two knocked out, apple covered stallions. "Um. Hi." Twilight offered. "Howdy." Came a gruff, short response. The stallion was locked into a deep captivation with a magazine titled: 'Flanks'. "So, er, who are you?" Applejack asked slowly while putting down her victim. "Scruffy. The janitor." He flipped another page of the magazine. "Well, Scruffy, we're just gonna let these guys rest here." Twilight said. "Yeah, they were, um, drunk." Applejack contributed. He flipped another page. "We, erm, also need their clothes. It's laundry day." Twilight said, resting both of the ponies in a more dignified position as she pulled off the 'Equestrian Innovations' shirts. "M'kay." "So. We're... just... gonna... go... now." Twilight said as they both backed out of the spacious closet slash apartment, leaving the Scruffy to his bed, tools, and copy of 'flanks'. The door closed behind them, and they breathed a massive sigh of relief. "Thank Celestia for laziness." Applejack said. "C'mon, let's put on these shirts while we got the time." They both didn't need to put on the cloak anymore, and fit into the lab coat versions of the shirt they had saw the guide wear instead. Along with them also came an ID pass for Applejack. Unfortunately, both keycards were from stallions, but they decided to cross that bridge when they came to it. That bridge made an inspiring leap and punched Applejack in the face as they came to a security guard. They were some distance away, but after following the route marked 'In Development', it lead straight past the security checkpoint. They needed to get past the mare blocking them. They watched how others made it past, it was simple: show the ID, guard checks your face, you pass through. But with both mares looking nothing like their ID, Applejack especially, they needed another way. As usual, studying saved the day for Twilight, as she formulated a plan to get past. "Follow my lead." As they walked towards the security mare, Twilight couldn't help but feel giddy at the notorious bookworm she was usually criticized for being, that now could save the day. Starswirl taught many new types of magic, and by coincidence, Twilight had just finished the chapter on hypnosis. Starswirl didn't have enough recordings to fully detail a spell, so Twilight would have to improvise some of it. "Mornin' folks, this area is off-limits to employees below grade three clearance, I'm going to need some identification." The mare spoke in a friendly manner, but Applejack couldn't help but be nervous. She had to have faith in Twilight though, like she had in her, so the mare toughened up and put on a straight face. "Sure!" Twilight said in joy and anticipation of trying out her new spell. She passed both her and Applejack's identification cards, and waited patiently for a response, preparing her horn. "Ugh, there seems to be a problem here." The guard began, before being cut off by Twilight's combination of stare, glow and speech. She began madly waggling her eyebrows as she spoke. "Everything seems to be in order." The guard repeated in a drone, bewitched by the spell. "Everything seems to be in order." The guard handed Twilight back the cards, Applejack was stunned, but finding the entire thing amusing. "I will tell you where Flim and Flam's research blueprints are." She, again, repeated the words. "I will tell you where Flim and Flam's research blueprints are." Twilight then cut the spell. The glow of her horn ceased, she resumed a normal facial expression, and stopped her eyebrows from flailing everywhere. The security mare resumed her normal tone of voice and rubbed her head. "Ow, sorry, what was that? Flim and Flam's blueprints? They should be through this hall," the mare pointed behind her. "...and to the left. Keep going left until you find the office marked 'Marketing Directors'." "Great! Thanks!" Twilight almost couldn't keep her excitement contained at how perfectly the spell went. She had essentially just created her own working spell that affects the mind! Once they were at a good range from the mare, Applejack spoke up. "How the hay did you do that, Twi? I know you're good at magic an' all, but foolin' somepony into doin' whatever you want? That's pretty scary. An' that whole thing with the eyebrows, that was just creepy." "The eyebrows were the most important part! With that distracting them, it was as simply tapping into their mind and controlling it." Twilight paused and thought. "Like that time when Trixie hypnotised you with your own rope!" "Ah'd prefer not to mention that. Anyway, let's get to the marketing office." They continued on their mission, this time, passing lab ponies who never gave them a second glance, the disguise was working well, and eventually the office came into sight. After checking for anypony who may be looking, they both entered the unlocked door. There were two desks, one marked 'Flim', and the other 'Flam', sitting at opposite walls. The office had a much more homely feel than the rest of the complex, cream walls and burgundy carpets. The walls had photos of Flim and Flam, news articles about their past successes, followed by the downfall of the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000. Their desks were fairly organised, but blueprints could not be found. Afore mentioned inability to find it was cast off when Applejack called Twilight closer to investigate a window. The window seemed normal from afar, but as Twilight got closer, the window expanded into an over-watch of the project below. "Ultra Agile Cider Smasher 9000." Applejack read out. The blueprints were taped to the window, which overlooked an enormous mechanism which must have been it. They looked down upon the intimidating machine, it was at least five times bigger than their first, therefore, must have five times the cider making ability. The contraption was a fortress on wheels, bulky red and cream stripes ran down it, leading to four monster truck sized wheels on either side. The actual cider making process looked as though it was at the back, various bits of machinery pointing out of it like the first, but the front, what was once a simple sofa, had converted into a walk-in room. They had planned on it being a living space as well as their business. They could travel from town to town, ending all opposition from the comfort of their homes. The circuitry could be all controlled from inside the room, it was shown on the blueprints, so it was a good guess that that would be where the flaw is, if any. Twilight could still not decipher most of the blueprints, but Applejack read out some of the non-engineering words and was able to para-phrase some. "This thing doesn't just do apples, Twi, it can process any fruit! It can store 'em, sell em normally, blend 'em into anything, an' they don't even need to do anything! Just a darn button, and every farmer in Equestria can be replaced!" Applejack said with anger. "From the looks of these papers it looks like they've got another song planned as well." Twilight indicated a set of stapled documents lying on the floor. Applejack viscously tore the paper up as soon as the song's presence was announced. "Oh, Celestia not another song." "I've got the feeling they have copies. But I suppose it's a start. Let's get those blueprints, and get the hay out of here." The mares started collecting various papers and photos that were stuck to the window, accidentally catching sight of the monstrosity every now and then, when they heard a voice that froze them into place. "Well, look at what we got here, brother of mine."