The three of them made their way through the rows until they reached #7, and Illiad could already feel the little emotional eddies from Silver; she had apparently gotten in some rest and some coffee - her mood felt chipper and happy, as per usual.
When they reached the door, Dax leaned in and knocked. "Silver?"
"Door's oooooo-peeeeeennnnn!" Came a sing-songy reply from within. Dax looked back at the other two, shrugged, and opened the door, glancing inside before simply stepping in.
"Hey, Silver - we just wanted... to... wow."
Redd gave Illiad a curious glance, then moved to the doorway as well. Reaching it, his eyebrows went up and he gave a low whistle. Of course, when Illiad was close enough to see what all the fuss was about, he understood.
Silver was seated on a stool at her workbench; though it was usually ordered and neat, it was now COVERED with scrolls and sheets of paper, a multitude of designs and schematics on each one. There were also a number of quills, chalk sticks and even a few nubs of well-used pencils all around her work area - further testament to her level of dedication once she got rolling. When she finally DID look up, she smiled brightly.
"Illiad! And Dax, too! How are yo-"
She then spotted Redd, and both her expression and her mood dipped a bit.
"Redd? What are YOU doing here?"
The maroon unicorn narrowed his eyes. "Oh, simply being a pest, of course; isn't that how I'm USUALLY seen around here?"
Silver rolled her eyes, then her emotions tilted from sullen distaste to warm affection as she turned her attentions to the Trojan and the Blackwater. "What's up, you two?"
Illiad gave a more genuine smile at the sight of Silver hard at work, it wasn't too much unlike the state of his own work room when a stroke of inspiration struck him on a project, just another thing they had in common. "Oh we're not up to much, just wandering about the quarry looking for ways to spend the last few hours we have before we take a train off to Troy tomorrow."
He sighed, really he was sad to be leaving so soon, especially knowing he wouldn't be able to come back until well after the election if they won. Though he supposed if the quarry reached its independent protectorate status it would provide the perfect opportunity to visit the 'new potential ally'.
This will be hard to explain with Redd around. "Oh! I just remembered, I was wondering if you'd be up for a repeat of what we did together the night before last, tonight, only this time with Dax as well so we could all do it together."
He really hoped the message got across because he didn't want to reveal Selena or dream sharing to anyone that didn't need to know, which meant Redd.
Silver's eyes lit up like small twin stars as she heard Illiad's question and realized what he meant.
"OH! You mean-" She stopped herself as she glanced at Redd, then smiled at Illiad. "Together, you say? Oh, that would be..." Her emotions fluxed at a fevered pitch, but she kept her composure; obviously, she LOVED the idea.
"That would be an interesting idea; I look forward to it!"
Dax grinned as well; the idea was also running little frenzied circles in his young head, but he was using his tact and cool demeanor to keep from displaying such outwardly.
"Yeah... fun stuff! So, what's all the paperwork for?"
Silver jumped a bit, as if she'd just remembered something. "OH! Oh, these? Well, I got to thinking about what I might want to present to TrUST, but I didn't think anything here would be suitable enough - so, I sat myself down this morning and started considering what might be considered 'revolutionary' in Troy - so, I've been working up schematics and blueprints for all SORTS of devices that could make life in Troy a LOT less difficult! Look at these..."
She shuffled some of the scrolls around, giving glimpses of all sorts of different, wondrous machines.
"See? This is a Moisture Collector, which can pull water from thin air, given enough time... it can be installed on farmland, and can keep crops watered at a bare minimum, so there'll be no need to rush to water them on excessively hot days... and this is a Sand Blaster, which can be strong enough to blast holes in the ground, but it's ACTUALLY made to blow sand off your hooves, so it doesn't track into somepony's home... and THIS is what I call a 'FrostBox' - it can lower the temperature in a room to whatever level you feel most comfortable at, and all it needs is a thimbleful of water!"
She swept her hoof over the piled table. "And I plan to present THESE to TrUST first - that way, with these bigger things dazzling them, I might be able to slip in one of my smaller works, too - oh, Illiad... I was so worried the other day, but you were right when you told me things would be fine! I mean, LOOK at all this! It's madness!" She laughed. "Well, maybe not madness, actually - more like a FLOOD of inspiration!"
Dax was impressed. "Wow... you HAVE been busy! ALL of this is just THIS morning?"
"Yup!" Silver grinned ear to ear. "Just today!"
The Blackwater stallion simply shook his head slowly in reverent disbelief.
To say Illiad was impressed would be an understatement, and he made that clear on his face. He knew Silver was a genius when it came to this sort of thing, but to actually have drafts of possible prototypes for this sort of thing already, it was almost unbelievable. "I must say this is almost more impressive than the tour Dax gave me of the vault. I'm sure you'll wow TrUST with these, even one of them would assure you funding. With all of these I don't think TrUST would have any problem with giving you anything you ask them for. All of those things would be quite useful in Troy, especially that super efficient cooling unit and the moisture collector, those paired with your oasis locator will make it especially easy for Troy to expand new settlements. If they weren't going to let you name new towns before, they certainly will now."
Redd, however, felt as if he most certainly wasn't welcome here - especially after Silver's reaction - so he began to inch his way toward the door as they spoke. He would simply slip outside, leaving these three (who were OBVIOUSLY friends) to be as they were; apparently, more than happy without his presence.
Illiad noticed Redd starting to edge himself out of the room, he knew what it was like to be somewhere you didn't feel you belonged or didn't want to be, so he let him go without drawing attention to him. He wouldn't force him to stay somewhere he didn't want to be.
Silver's mood and grin brightened even further.
"Oh, they'd-... oh, I don't... there's no need for them to do that! I just..."
Silver took a moment to find her words as Redd quietly slipped out of the shed; he was far quieter than expected, and only Illiad's attention on him was responsible for the Trojan's witnessing of the maroon stallion's stealthy departure. As he went, there was a sense of disappointment coming from Redd... but it was being sidelined by a sense of responsibility; Redd was headed back to the booth they'd found him in, no doubt. But perhaps he'd been hoping for something more? But no matter - his mind and mood were on other things before he left Illiad's passive range.
Illiad had a sly smile at Silver's half hearted protests against naming towns, though it stooped a bit as he felt Redd's disappointment.
Dax and Silver, meanwhile, had gotten into speaking about Troy, of all things.
"Dax? I was wondering if you might be able to find out a few things for me in Troy? Since you'll be headed there tomorrow, I was kind of hoping you might ask Illiad if you two could swing by wherever TrUST is based for me - as a sort of 'scouting party', as it were? Not that I don't trust TrUST..." She giggled a bit. "... but it would ease my nerves a bit if you actually got there and took a look around; let me know what to prepare for, so to speak?"
Dax nodded. "I get'cha... it'll make you feel better if I let you know what it's like there. Well, if Illiad says it's okay, and if it's not against any rules or anything, we could try for you. Maybe we could even... OOH!"
"What?"
"Why don't you send a few of your schematics along with us? That way, we can show the folks at TrUST that Silver Studs has some skill; they'll be all the more excited to meet you when you DO go for a presentation!"
At those words, Silver's mood fluttered a bit - nerves left over from the meeting with Luther, no doubt.
"Well... it sounds good, but would they think I was being lazy if we did that? I wouldn't want it to look like I'm having YOU do all the work for me, Daxie - it wouldn't be right. I don't want to come across as LAZY!"
"Hey, hey - Illiad?" Dax looked at his best friend. "You know more about this than either one of us; would presenting a few of her plans to TrUST be seen as a BAD thing, or would it help things along? What would they say... and would we be allowed to see them, or do we make an appointment, or what?"
At the question of TrUST Illiad looked a bit sheepish, "Well, I've mostly interacted with TrUST through the mail, I haven't been to their headquarters outside of the front lobby and an office. I think it would be best if you sent in the designs by certified mail, for security, in conjunction with a letter expressing your willingness to work with them. They may call you in for an interview though, in the which case I guess it would be good for you to know what their main office is like. Alright, I'll do what I can to have Dax and I take a look around so he can tell you all about it. We would need to make an appointment..."
He sighed, before setting into a more confident expression. "Honestly, I think the best course of action would be for you to go and take a tour for yourself. Neither of us would really know what you'd be looking for nor be able to ask the sort of questions that would get us the information you'd want. You could even just talk with them through the mail before you send in your designs, ask them your questions directly and see for yourself whether they are the sort of organization you want to be associated with."
Illiad sincerely hoped that Silver understood what he was trying to say, he thought to himself that he seemed to have been rambling a bit.
It was Silver's turn to wear a sheepish grin.
"Well, I just... just wanted at least SOME idea of what I'd be getting into - and I trust you both implicitly. Therefore, if you two tell me it's okay, then it's okay. I'll trust your judgments. I'm not really looking for specifics, so much... I just... well, y'know..."
Dax stepped in, "It'd feel good to know that someone you trust has already been there before - Oglevy was the same way with the sheds, until I went in and out of them for him. Now? I swear he has at least six different hiding places in Shed Row - most of them IN sheds!"
Silver sighed to Dax. "Thanks for understanding; I'm gonna need all the confidence I can get, and this'll go MILES for me!"
She leaned in and gave Dax a quick sidehug, then did so to Illiad... though his hug lasted a few seconds longer than Dax's, the Trojan noticed.
Smiling, she stepped back and looked to them both. "I'm gonna miss your face, Daxie - you'll be gone for a whole week. Who am I going to tell about my latest inventions?" She gave Dax a bigger hug this time, doting on him a bit. However, Illiad easily caught the look she gave HIM as she hugged Dax; she'd miss Dax, but the thought of Illiad's leaving made her kind heart ache for him... and he could feel it.
Illiad felt a similar ache for Silver, if all went according to plan it could be several months before he could return to the quarry to see her again. He took a bit of solace in the fact that they could still exchange letters and there was the possibility that she could come and visit him in Troy.
He gave a slight smile, "If it really will make you feel that much better, then I'll look into getting to look around their offices so Dax can tell you all about it when he gets back here."
"It really, really would... It would help me feel better about a trip like that, yes. Thank you two - I mean that. I know you won't want to take time out of your visit for-"
"Nonsense!" Dax piped up. "It might be kinda fun to see where all these inventors gather together; it's gotta be FILLED with nifty inventions, right? Might make visiting it worthwhile, y'know?"
The stallion only seemed to have his friend's best intentions in mind.
"Besides... if you can come up with a letter today, maybe we could simply hoof-deliver it for you? That way, Illiad and I might see firsthoof what they think of your ideas! We could do that for her, couldn't we?"
Silver's eyes widened. "Oh, you don't have to go to all that trouble seriously? You'd both do that for me?"
Her volume had shifted mid-sentence, so it sounded more like she was trying to convince herself that it might work.
Illiad nodded with a sly smile, "You know I'd do just about anything for you Silver, I'd be happy to ensure that your letter arrives at TrUST safely. Besides, I'm sure we'll have time at some point to look around what TrUST has to offer to an inventor like you even if you won't be spending much time there."
Silver's entire being both relaxed and rejoiced.
"Thank you SO much Illiad, Dax... you two are GOLDEN! Well, not so much as actually made of gold, per se... more like you're both more than worth your weight in it!"
She hugged them both fiercely; the affection she felt for them (and the little extra for Illiad) poured out of her as she did, and she let loose a whinnygiggle as she held them close. After a moment, she let go of them both - Dax took a hungry breath - and stepped back over to the workbench.
Illiad returned Silver's hug with as much force as she did before taking a step back from the group when released, visibly enthused by the contact.
"Oh, and Illiad? I've been working on something else, as well... but I'm not sure what you'd think... uhm..."
She directed him over to her table, where she grabbed one of the carefully separate scrolls and set it down, opening it reverently. On the scroll were... well, they were... weird, as far as the Trojan could tell. It looked like a pony... sort-of. More like the mechanical shell of one... and merely the beginning sketches, at that. It looked extremely complex, but Illiad could definitely make out a small chamber in the center, and so many gears...
Dax suddenly jumped as if he'd been bit by a snake.
"Holy Cow, Silver! Is that some sort of mechanical armor?"
Silver smiled. "No, Dax... it's a mechanoid. A pony shell, but it can only be controlled by an alternate power source... like, say, a Cloud Diamond?"
Dax's eyes widened. "You mean..?"
"That's right - it's a body for Selena! I mean, well... it's not DONE yet, but... well, I planned it as a magical conduit of sorts, channeling energy produced by the Cloud Diamond - in this case, Selena's Cloud Diamond - into the proper wires to animate and ambulate the mechanoid as if it was a real pony - I'm even working on minute clockworks for facial expressions! If it all works out... then Selena would be able to walk and talk with ANYPONY she wanted to!"
Silver's heart almost glowed at her sense of personal pride, mixed with her empathy towards dream-bound Selena and her excitement to see and hear Illiad's reaction to her strange, yet brilliant, invention... until a sheepish grin crossed her muzzle.
"Of course, it's still a long way from completion, but... well, I don't expect it'll take me TOO long to finish the design! So...what do you think?"
Illiad’s enthusiasm dropped significantly as he saw the schematic, a visible shudder running though him as he attempted to look away without looking like he was looking away. "An... Automaton, really..." he couldn't manage to look away from the unfeeling eyes, even in a schematic they stared back at him from his very dreams. They were so much like the ones he saw before Selena started monitoring his visions. Colonel PANIC, So this is where you came from.
He shook his head in an attempt to clear the visions from his head, looking away from the schematics to look at Silver. "I'm sorry, it's just... You've managed to solve the wrong end of the problem. Selena has a body, it's the power source that we're lacking. Cloud diamonds store energy well enough, but they don't generate it in any useful quantities."
An idea came to him as he looked between the two, before ensuring that the door was closed. "I just realized that neither of you two were in the cave when Luna was here, so you didn't see." He pulled out his gem and grimaced, it would have to do. "This will be close, but not quite what we had then, but it will be easier for me to maintain than that was."
He sat down with the gem held in front of him, his eyes closed as he concentrated. The gem started to glow from the magic being poured into it, expanding into a miniature version of a pony, much smaller than the one they had in the cave. Then it expanded further, the interior mass being re-purposed to make a bigger shell, resulting in a hollow pony about the size of the typical filly. Short locks of a mane sat on her head (In a style similar to season 1 Luna) with a similarly short tail.
It yawned as it started to move, looking between Dax and Silver before smiling. In all she didn't look that much different from in the dream. "Hello again! I didn't expect to see you two until tonight, nor did I expect to be physical again so soon."
With the spell complete Illiad was able to open his eyes, his horn still glowing brightly. "You see? I can maintain this, but only for an hour or so at most. What we need is a way to generate magical energy so she can maintain her form without needing a magical tether. Luna thinks that a spell could allow her to generate energy from the magical emissions of the sun and moon, but so far there hasn't been much success."
Selena shrugged before jumping up to wrap Silver in a very real hug, she sighed contentedly as she nuzzled her neck. "You have no idea how much better this feels to me in reality instead of a dream."
Silver gladly returned the hug, and Dax hugged her as soon as Silver let go.
"Selena! Oh, it's so good to see you again!" She gave a happy hoofclap. "I've been working on... uh..."
She gave Illiad an unsure glance, but decided that perhaps her design might have needed more work. Dax, however, caught the look on Illiad's face when he saw the 'automaton', as Illiad called it. He said nothing... yet. But the Empathic could tell that Dax's curiosity was up. However, he showed no sign of the sort.
Silver pondered a moment. "A spell to generate energy? Well... I guess the sun and moon would have a great deal of magical runoff, but how to collect it HERE? I mean, we can't just go traipsing off to the moon, can we? We'd just as-..."
Silver froze in place, and Illiad felt the curious sensation of an idea blossoming its' way through the unicorn mare.
"Waaaaaaait... emissions, you say? Well, the sun and moon hold power, yes... but then again, so does the very ground we walk on, yes?" She stamped a hoof into the dirt as proof. "Maybe... maybe we could simply gather residual magical energy from right here! I mean, the Earth Ponies have ties to the land, yes? That would assume there was also MAGIC there, too."
She began to pace, her muzzle in a pondering moue.
"Earth Ponies... residual magic... generate power... all of this COULD work... but..."
Silver sighed, then turned a sad face to Selena. "Looks like it's back to the drawing board... but this time, I have a better idea of what you'd need, Selena; that'll help LOADS!"
She looked over the halfway-finished automaton schematic on her table, then simply brushed it aside into a nearby wastebasket with a sigh... but a look of determination in her eyes.
"Okay - POWER, then... got to find a way to generate POWER..."
As she paced, Dax turned to Illiad and Selena. "Anyhting you'd like to show Selena while you have the chance, Illiad? Introduce her to someone, show her some of the views around here... y'know, the GOOD stuff!"
Selena was just smiling at how adorable she found Silver and her talk and plans before she turned over towards Dax, "I'm a secret remember? Can't exactly have me traipsing about the quarry where someone might see me. Besides, I get a bunch of Illiad's memories whenever we see each other in a dream, so I guess you could say that I'm living vicariously through him anyway."
Illiad was beginning to look tired, though he didn't show any signs of stopping the enchantment before Selena was done if he could help it. "Selena's right there, as much as I would love to show her around she needs to be kept secret until Luna approves. I only told you two because I trust you both to keep her existence a secret."
He still eyed the schematics every now and again, almost wanting to destroy them so it could never be built, but he couldn't do that to Silver. Figured he'd show up where I couldn't stop him. I guess some visions can't be helped. He sighed as he realized that he'd likely have to tell them why he reacted so strangely to the drawings in the shared dream tonight.
Silver nodded, but seemed a bit crestfallen at the fact that Selena was, true to Illiad's word, a secret. But Dax? He had other thoughts on the matter...
"Well... she could wear a disguise! That's what they're made for, right? I mean, we could find her some proper clothes that could-"
Silver laughed, but not unkindly. "Daxie, I won't have anything solid for at LEAST a few days! But you do have a point, though - maybe I could fashion a device that could realign her visual frequency..."
At this point, Silver began babbling in techspeak... and sort of drifted over to her table once again. However, before she could get wrapped up in anything, she looked back at Selena.
"It just... it breaks my heart that you can't just walk around like the rest of us. It isn't fair. So, I'll be busy putting together stuff for TrUST... but I'll also be working on your rather unique problem in the meantime. It's the very least I could do for somepony so very kind."
Her eyes tilted at Illiad. "... and somepony so very... uh..." Her blush brightened her cheeks, and Illiad didn't HAVE to be an Empath to read what was on her mind at that moment. "... well, YOU know!"
Dax turned to Selena. "Don't worry - if ANYPONY can figure out how to do this for you, it's Silver Studs!"
Silver smiled at the vote of confidence, her 'younger brother' affection was strong for Dax - likely, they'd be friends forever.
Selena awwed at Silver's affection for Illiad before she nuzzled both Silver and Dax. With a wave of her hoof she dispelled herself, Illiad giving a sigh of relief as the glow of his horn dropped significantly.
"Well, we certainly appreciate the effort you're willing to put forth for her. I suppose we could leave you to it then, we'll see you later tonight in any case. It's about lunch time now isn't it?"
Silver smiled as Selena faded from view, then turned back to her two friends.
"Ooooooh... I've got so many things to work out! I've got to figure out the resonance frequencies involved, the power coupling setup, the efficiency tests, a system capable of housing such a battery..."
She strolled over near them both as she spoke.
"Wiring housings... what kind of alloy would work best for the casing... perhaps a harness for carrying it..."
She suddenly stopped and, without warning, planted a sweet peck of a kiss on Illiad's lips. From there, she continued on as if nothing had happened... yet the blush that rose to her face almost glowed.
"... maybe a bit of armor plating for it... perhaps magnetic locks... oh! Got to remember to make a charging station..."
She meandered her way back to her table, and like a mare hypnotized, took up her pencil and began to draw on the scroll in front of her. With that, Dax smiled and hooked a foreleg around Illiad's shoulders, pulling him to the door.
"Okay, okay... c'mon - let's hit the kitchen. Silver looks like she's on the edge of a brainstorm, and I didn't bring an umbrella!"
He chuckled and waved to Silver as he led the Trojan outside. Once outside and headed toward the manor, however, Dax's muzzle grew serious.
"Illiad... I saw the look in your eyes when Silver showed you that... uh, 'automaton'? It wasn't happy - is something wrong?"
Illiad's face fell as the automaton was mentioned again, he sighed as he looked over at Dax, "It's... not something I'm comfortable discussing where anyone could overhear. If you really want to know, then ask me later tonight when it's just the four of us. As to whether anything's wrong, maybe. It's too early to tell at this point."
He shook his head, forcing a smile to his face, "Let's not worry about that now though, let's just enjoy the last few hours we have at the quarry okay?" He wasn't looking forward to telling them, but at least in the dream world he would be able to show them what he had seen directly rather than just telling them about it.
Dax looked skeptical, and his emotions told Illiad that he was still a bit worried... but he trusted Illiad to know what he was doing, so he carefully stowed the question away. For now.
They made their way through the quarry yard once again. This time, however, Illiad began to notice that there would be memories here for him, possibly forever, all made in a single week.
The Gem Refinery, still in a state of disrepair (but not for long, if the speed of the workers reconstructing it was any gauge), was also the site where Illiad got to see Silver go to work, not to mention where he first met Chuck List.
The mine itself, a gaping maw that led down underground to both peril and riches; it was where he'd encountered the... entity... he'd had to deal with, and thanks to Knee Slapper (and Luna, of course), he had survived.
The quarry yard proper - not only had it been the first sight he'd laid eyes on of the quarry itself, but it ultimately became a battleground when he'd had to bolster both his courage and his wits to do battle with Havoc.
The lunch trailer, where Chuck had tried to introduce the Trojan to his version of a straw dog... his very, uh, 'flavorful' version.
The amazing vault, which had not only been a museum, but a refuge for the nearly-drained Empathic after his difficult duel.
The row of sheds, where not only did they store equipment, but also Doc Zinger and, of course, Silver Studs.
The Pony Express station, where a great number of incredible magical artifacts were kept under lock and key, all under the watchful (if perhaps a bit butterhooved) eye of Taps, also known as Steel Wheels, who was quite an enigma herself.
And the Manor House itself, where the Blackwaters lived, frolicked, lunched, slept and generally existed.
It was somewhat sad, realizing that Illiad would soon be leaving this seemingly quiet, yet altogether bustling and busy place... and there was no real way to know for certain when... or even if... he would ever be able to see this fascinating place again anytime soon. Such a rich place for adventure was a rare find in life - Ponyville was a PRIME example, as was Canterlot, Cloudsdale... and, to this hallowed list, the Blackwater Quarry itself seemed to belong.
As they reached the top of the rise leading from the quarry to the manor, they caught sight of a stallion just exiting a taxicab. He was wearing a police officer's uniform, and he looked somewhat concerned. The cabbie inside nodded to him, sat back, and began to read an adventure novel with hydras on the cover. He began to head for the door when he saw the two buddies coming up the path, and he turned to face them.
"Excuse me, but is there an 'Illiad Easle' here, by any chance?"