“Easy… Easy… That’s it…” Alex carefully directed the second wing onto the Raptor’s chassis. It had been a long weekend, but the Raptor was almost done, as well as the hangar expansion at the back of the facility. In the end, he was glad he let Rose help out more with the Raptor than he let her with the Scorpion.
With the wing finally in place, Alex secured the last connections and hopped off the one-man aircraft to get a final look at it. Damn, look at you… just a few more finishing touches and you’ll be ready for testing. The design itself was sleek. Both wings were positioned by the side of the hull, and each was capable of independently pivoting on an axis, either aligning top to bottom for regular flight, or front to back when either landing, or pushing the speed. The best thing about the wings, however, was their anti-gravity properties, which ultimately flew the whole aircraft.
Alex made his way over to the nearby holo-projector. “Rose, run a diagnostic for me. Give me the results here.”
“Already running it. I’ll have the results shortly.”
A familiar whirring sound caught Alex’s attention, and he instinctively swiveled his head to see who had entered the garage. It was a pony he didn’t recognize: a brown coated stallion with a slick black mane. He wore a facsimile of a suit with a red tie that had a large dollar sign on it, as well as a confident smile that Alex couldn’t help but hate.
Alex raised his brow at him. “Hello. Can I help you?”
The stallion kept his chipper attitude as he advanced. “Hello, my good fellow – Alexander, I believe? My name is Filthy Rich, though you can just call me Rich. I just wanted to come by and say that I’m extremely impressed with all these… things, you’ve managed to put together here in Ponyville.”
Alex blinked at him. “Uh… Thanks?”
Filthy Rich began wandering around the garage, examining things. “You’re welcome. Now, it’s recently come to my attention that you’re looking to start up a business, correct?” He stopped to eye a nearby Blue up and down. “Something along the lines of private security, am I right?”
Alex frowned. “I’ve considered it… What are you getting at?”
Filthy Rich looked Alex head on with a smile. “Why I’m just here to give you a business offer. I see great potential in this endeavor of yours, and I want to help you with it.”
“Something tells me you want something out of it too.”
“Well I can’t deny that, now can I? I wouldn’t be a good business pony otherwise.” Filthy Rich began slowly pacing. “I’m sure you’ve heard of Barn Yard Bargains, haven’t you? Well you see, I don’t just operate Barn Yard Bargains here in Ponyville. I have a branch in Manehatten, Baltimare, Canterlot; you name it. I am quite the business pony, and believe you me, I’ve worked with you sciency types before. You make these wonderful inventions, things that could change pony society as we know it, and yet you have no way to sell them.”
Alex narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms at that last statement, though didn’t interrupt him.
“And that’s where I come in,” said Filthy Rich as he stopped pacing some distance away from Alex. “As for your particular case, I believe I already have a suitable business model that I think would benefit us both quite well: I purchase some of your machines, divide them up between the branches, and rent them off for a respectable sum of bits in which we both get a share. Let’s say, seventy / thirty – my take?”
Alex continued to frown at the smug look Filthy Rich was giving him. He huffed out of his nostrils and turned his back to him to review the Raptor’s diagnostic. “The Liandri are not for sale.”
Filthy Rich shook his head. Ah, such a shame. Another one of these. “I’m sorry my good stallion, I meant no disrespect to your wishes... However, I would like to point out that I have quite a few business contacts that could be very beneficial to this endeavor, or… otherwise.”
Alex’s subtle movements against the floating wall of light stopped with a jerk. Filthy Rich spoke up again after he’d given him some time to think. “Well? Would you like to reconsider my offer?”
Slowly, Alex lowered his arms to his side, allowing his fingers to hang. Remaining stock still, Alex slowly but clearly spoke, “Are you threatening me?”
Filthy Rich chuckled. “Oh, you don’t have to see it so much as a threat. I personally like to see it more as… an inclination.”
Hands slowly ball themselves up as Alex’s head gradually turned to look over his right shoulder. His mouth twisted in predator rage and his right eye glowed a brilliant, green. “You think you can threaten me?”
His smile drained from his face as ice ran down Filthy Rich’s spine. His ears caught faint metal taps coming from somewhere behind him. Swiveling to see what it was, his heart leapt as two Blues, both of which with their alien weapons drawn, walked up from behind and stared directly at him. In fact, every Blue in the room was doing just that. Filthy Rich sucked in a breath at the sight and his irises shrunk. In the end, it was Alex’s voice that ripped his attention away from them.
“You have the audacity to think that you, a mere fleshling, has any sort of power over me and my Liandri?!” Alex roared.
Filthy rich attempted to stammer out a response, but was promptly cut off.
“Listen carefully, Filthy,” said Alex as he slowly stepped towards the panicked business pony. “Your tiny pieces of gold mean nothing to the Liandri. There is only one type of power the Liandri recognize and that is power that you. Don’t. Have.” Alex spat the last three words as he jabbed Filthy Rich with a finger through his tie, his glowing eye dominating almost all of the terrified pony’s vision. They stared at each other like this for several seconds before Alex growled the words, “Get the fuck out of my sight.”
“Y-yes, gladly!” Filthy Rich stammered before bolting between the two Liandri and out of the garage, all three humanoids staring after him.
No sooner than the door had closed behind Filthy Rich, Alex dropped to his knees, gripping his head with both hands. “Ow fuck!” Groaning, Alex clenched his eyes as a terrible pain racked his brain.
Almost as quickly as it arrived, the pain vanished as if it were never there. Alex’s eyes shot open, their normal color returned. Struggling for breath, he allowed himself a few more moments of rest before finally getting up on shaky legs. Alex glared at the door one last time and turned to get back to examining the diagnostic. “Geez… What an asshole…”
Throughout that entire encounter, Rose simply observed.
Silently watching.
Curious as to what had exactly transpired.
Just as she always had when her regalia began lightly vibrating against her chest, Princess Celestia made her way to her private bed chambers and entered her secret room behind the book case. And, just like always, the same dark figure appeared on the monitor hidden within.
Except this time, Celestia beat him to the first statement. “Hello, Overseer,” she said with a short bow. “Is there something you wanted to discuss?”
“As a matter of fact, Celestia, yes, there is,” the Overseer drawled in his usual, deep tone. “I’ve had a great deal more difficulty reconnecting to my old ‘eyes and ears’ than I expected, but the systems are gradually coming back online… I’ve recently recorded something just this morning that I think you’ll be interested in seeing.”
Celestia raised a brow. “Then let’s see it.”
The imagine on the monitor was swiftly replaced with a moving image of what appeared to be the front of Alexander’s home, with the perspective of the recording entering it through the front door.
Celestia watched in silence as the scene unfolded before her. The recording was from a pony’s point of view; Filthy Rich, if she understood correctly. From what she saw, Filthy Rich offered Alexander a business proposal which he… aggressively refused.
When the recording ended, the image of the Overseer returned to the monitor. “Well?”
Celestia kept up her usual stone cold expression. “That certainly was… interesting… Although I am impressed that he did not get detected. From what I heard in Twilight’s letters, Rose has methods of detecting electronic technologies.”
The Overseer nodded. “A precaution I took long ago. They’re not completely mechanical, and their skin blocks electromagnetic signals. I’ll admit, it was largely useless then, but it finally came in handy. But that’s beside the point. I want to hear your opinion on Laythem’s behavior.”
Celestia looked away for a moment. “I will admit that it is certainly unusual, but understandable.”
“How so?”
“You may have your own sources of information, Overseer, but I have mine as well. Twilight has explained to me how Alexander and Rose are both extremely reluctant to share any of their technology for fear that others may abuse it.” Celestia returned her gaze to the monitor. “I do not know what your plan was, Overseer, but Mr. Rich’s propositions certainly suggested he wanted to abuse it. Alexander’s aggressiveness may have just been his idea of the best response to get his point across quickly.”
The Overseer leaned forward in whatever chair he was sitting in. “He practically threatened him with death.”
“But he didn’t,” Celestia snapped. “Look, I’m not defending his behavior in any way, but we cannot deny that Alexander is very practically minded, and fear works extremely well depending on the circumstances.”
The two remained in silence for a moment, simply staring at one another. Eventually, the Overseer leaned back in his chair. “And what about his use of the word ‘fleshling’? That alone tells me Kriegor might be involved.”
Celestia paused for a moment. “I… cannot rightly say that I understand his usage of the word, but I do not believe it is enough to condemn him. Perhaps he used it to simply frighten Mr. Rich further?”
The Overseer huffed. “I find your efforts to protect him laudable, Celestia, but you and I both know that, either way, he cannot remain until the end of the cycle.”
“And why not?” Celestia emphasized her statement with a light stomp of a hoof. “Why must they continue? Why not simply let go of destiny and let nature take its course?”
The Overseer leaned in until nothing but his black mask dominated the screen. “Because you and I both know that they’re the only way to maintain peace in the world.”