//------------------------------//
// 364. Troubleshooters: Tia and Twily: Charter by Ultra1437 
// Story: The Sun and the Stars: A Twilestia Prompt Collab 
// by Fuzzyfurvert 
//------------------------------//


by Ultra1437


***



“Let me get this straight.”  Twilight’s eyes flashed dangerously.  “You want us,” she motioned to herself and Celestia with a wing, and then swept it back to point at the spaceport behind them, “to ferry you.”  Celestia quirked an eyebrow, but let Twilight hold control of the conversation.

“Yes.  And one other, along with some equipment, nothing too large.”  The only other pony in their conversation was a white pegasus stallion, rivalling Luna in size.  He had a cloak on to keep the chill away, looked at the pair through small, square glasses sitting on the bridge of his muzzle, but was otherwise uncovered.

She looked him in the eyes.  “Why?”

“Because I can pay you handsomely.”  He stood straighter, almost proudly.

“Nope.”  She turned away, intent on leaving.

“I haven’t even named a number.”  His posture slouched somewhat, as his wings twitched once.

“We don’t need the money.”  Twilight started walking away.

He interposed himself in her path, but she kept on going around him.  With a sinister tone he spoke, “What if I could give you something else...”

Celestia heard enough.  “She said no.  That wasn’t a maybe.  That wasn’t a yes.”  Moving next to Twilight, she raised her voice as her horn lit.  “Threatening her will only worsen your case.”

He stumbled back, “No, no!  I wasn’t threatening her!  What did you think I meant?”

“It sounded pretty clearly to me that you threatened her,” Celestia’s response was hard and as Twilight kept walking, she kept herself interposed between the two.

“What?  I meant n-nothing of the sort!  All I was o-offering was a chance to find him again!” he stammered slightly.

Both ponies’ ears perked and they stopped.  Twilight turned and spoke, “You have ten seconds.  Start explaining.”

“Okay.”  Head dropping sadly, he took a deep breath and spoke quickly, “I am one of the chief architects of the CometCorp Dynamics mining corporation.  A specialized survey crew recently discovered a comet.  Initial scans and samples put its origin here in the solar system some centuries ago, possibly from around the time he disappeared.”  He exhaled once he finished and looked up.

Twilight had come around Celestia.  “You are sure of this?”  She blinked back tears.

He nodded once.  “I am.  I need to get out to it quickly, but it’s in deep space and it is moving.  A normal transport would never even catch up to it.”

Twilight looked over to her marefriend, her eyes asking an unspoken question.

Celestia nodded once before speaking.  “We will have to see these reports to verify what you say.”  She looked to Twilight, her marefriend lost in the memories that resurfaced.  “If they check out, and only then, will we think to about ferrying you.”

The pegasus’ relief was instantaneous.  He launched into a hover excitedly repeating, “Thank you!  Thankyouthankyouthankyou!”

Celestia held up a hoof.  “We’ve only agreed to look at the scans and reports, nothing more.  Now then, mister…”

He froze up and dropped back to the ground.  “Ah, sorry!  I’m Chief Architect Cheap Echo, at your service.”

“Well, Mister Echo, expect a message in the morning to set up an appointment.”  Celestia looked to Twilight, whose face was warring between happiness and disappointment.

“I will!  And again, thank you for giving me this opportunity.”  He took wing almost furiously, speeding off into the distance.

After Twilight returned from her memories, she heard a shout of joy.  Noticing Celestia’s joyous smile she asked, “So, love, shall we head home?”

Celestia leaned over and nuzzled Twilight softly.  “That would be lovely.  I just hope this all checks out.  It will be good to finally find him and put this all to rest.”

Twilight leaned back into her, nodding enough for Celestia to feel it.  “Indeed.  I just want to hope for the best…”