Wonderful Mechanical: Keen Eye and the Wonderbolt Saboteur.

by Monocrome_Monogatari

The Warm Embrace of Friendship

Earlier I mentioned a way to tell how productive a pony is by looking at how organized their workplace is. Rivet’s lab exists on the border between a type 1 and a type 3. Everything here has its exact place, and every place has a thought out purpose, but there’s so much stuff going on, so many projects still under development, that to an untrained eye it looks like a mess. The room is a balancing act between order and chaos.

Which is why it’s fun to touch his stuff when he’s not looking.

“Nope!” my foreleg was painfully twisted back by Shine Struck “Not until Rivet gets here.”

“Oww… You’re no fun.” I pouted.

Even without mischief, it was impressive to glimpse at what Rivet's been up to. Automated cloud sculpting machines, armor made up entirely of reflective surfaces for clear sky stealth flying, and judging from the machine that’s been pointing at us the entire time we’re here, even heat seeking systems, or something even more intimidating. I don’t know if I should applaud or be afraid.

Then again, all applause and adulation has some fear in its base.

When you see something incredible, you heap praise on it both to encourage that exceptionality, and out of a fear that it might disappear, or worse, be turned against you. There’s a reason “awesome” can also mean something terrifying. The gods must be kept happy after all.

There are a lot of applause worthy ponies here.

I looked around. “Still, judging from the casual and familiar way you guys carry yourselves around here, plus the dents all over the lab, you guys seem to play with his stuff plenty. What gives?”

“We only do it when he’s around. We stress test for him” Calm Wind said.

“In more ways than one, I bet.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Playblitz accused.

“Nothing Nothing Nothing.”

“You sure love to talk about that.” Swift Justice quipped

“It’s the meaning of life after all.”

“How Discordian of you.” Shine Struck said.

“Don’t you dare say anything like that to me ever again.”

“Alright alright… jeez.”

Swift justice seemed to be contemplating something, looking into the distance and muttering something. “Keen eye…Keen eye…”

“You called?”

“Huh? Oh I was just wondering…I swear I’ve heard your name somewhere before.”

I raised my hoof to my chin and took on a flattered pose. “Hmm? Are you perhaps a fan of the fine arts? I’m quite famous on the street corner next to Manehattan Central Park. Especially with the guard, they’re such fans they repeatedly haul me away for themselves!”

“…No.”

I brought my hoof to my forehead and played shocked. “Oh so you’ve renounced the arts entirely? For shame for shame!”

“What? No! Look I’m just saying I’m sure I read your name somewhere, or at least a name that sounds like yours, back in law school.”

“Well names that have “Eye” in them can’t be too uncommon. I’ve met several Justices in my life. Never liked a single one though. I hope you break the pattern.”

He smirked. “Sounds like a challenge to me.”

“Why, Swift, are you coming onto me?”

“Not even if I did swing that way.”

I sighed theatrically and slumped my head. “They never do.”

Playblitz laughed. “We should really introduce this guy to Long Run.”

“So wait…” Calm had an inquisitive look on his face. “Rivet said he called you to figure out who’s been messing with his machines. How can you help? Aren’t you just a painter?”

“Are you only JUST a flyer?”

“I don’t follow.”

“Don’t tell me that you have no interests outside of mindlessly flapping those oversized wings of yours? No hobbies? No passions? Nothing on the side? That’s really sad…”

“HEY!” Playblitz practically growled “What we do isn’t mindless! It takes a lot of effort to be a top flyer!”

Calm Wind ignored Playblitz’s complaint. “Well…I like to do some writing during my time off.”

“See? We all learned a valuable lesson on not making assumptions about ponies—“

“You’ve been making assumptions about ponies all day” Swift deadpanned.

“—because even the plainest looking ponies have hidden sides to them."

“I’m not plain looking, am I?” Calm looked down at himself

“Don’t listen to him, Calm.” Shine Struck comforted, glaring daggers at me.

“As for me, let’s just say that I have a keen eye for things.”

Everyone groaned.

“Well, having an eye for a cutie mark is pretty vague. If I saw that then I would assume that the guy was a professional voyeur” Playblitz said, eyebrow raised and smile half-cocked.

“…No comment.”

“Wait… ‘Met plenty of Justices before’… ‘Have a keen eye for things’…your cutie mark… your behavior…” Swift’s eye lit up as he made the connections “Oh! I know who you are!”

Crap

“I heard about you back in law school!”

“Aaaand challenge failed. You just had to be a lawyer. Good job Justice.”

“Go on…” Star Shine urged swift with an inquisitive look.

“This guy was apparently a legendary investigator in Los Pegasus! He solved a string of impressive cases for a few years and then quit, disappearing without a trace.”

“Is that what they’re saying about me?” I puffed up my chest a bit. Sure I left that life behind, but compliments are compliments.

“Well, you’re also kind of used as a textbook example of what not to do in Evidence Law.”

And there it goes. Bye pride~!

“What do you mean?” Shine Struck asked.

Swift Justice took on an amused half-sneer as he went on “From what I heard, he liked playing detective more than actual detective work, things like guessing where a pony had been based on the bit of dirt on their hooves, or making elaborate predictions based on vague personality quirks. He seemed to guess right more often than not, but his methods were so roundabout that actual investigators and forensics often had to work overtime to find proof that would actually stand up in court. There’s debate on whether you were a genius or just extremely lucky.”

I sighed “Definitely the latter.”

His eyebrow rose at that. “Though now that I see you face to face, I have to know. Why did you quit?”

“I just got tired, realized that the illustrious mysteries I loved so much were nothing like the real thing. Is that so hard to understand? I mean, have none of you ever achieved something, only to wonder if it’s what you really want? Have you ever doubted your dreams?”

“That’s not what I hea—“

“What you heard is probably, definitely, entirely wrong” I cut Swift off. “Look, I’m just here for Rivet’s sake, and I’d rather keep things low key. Do you mind keeping quiet about this?”

They looked at each other with predatory smiles.

“Sure thing.” Playblitz said, his smile becoming uncomfortably wide “after all, what’s a little blackmail between friends?”

I could only gulp as the warm embrace of friendship began to ensnare me.

Comments

[Azure_Shadow]

Umm...I just wanted to let you know that the mare of Squad Zero's name is Shine Struck in case you didn't already know.

And yeah! Swift knows his stuff! Congrats on having the first fic that displays Swift doing something similar to actual lawyering.