Chapter 7
“Here are the gold wires you asked for!”
“Thank you, now I need a four-thirds hex-tech wrench.”
“How is this ma'am?”
“Hmm, it needs three more thaumaturgic lines along here, here, and here. Otherwise, it will cause an exothaumic reaction which may cause it to explode after extended periods of use.”
“How about this, I've been working hard on this and-”
“Goober! What did I say about working with that gunk?! This is the last straw, report to-!”
“Actually, I may have some ideas for that, report to the weapons research division with all notes you have gathered so far.”
Spike and Gilda could only watch on in awe at what could only be called a seen of perfected organized chaos. The trio had been alone in the R&D Department when they had first arrived, but it didn't take long for the workers to start returning from their lunch period. They had stood confused on seeing the group in their area, and the supervisor had been about to start yelling at them when Gadget had started dragging the others into her work one-by-one. It wasn't even her own invention either that had pulled them in, but the fact that she had pointed out problems with other inventions she had passed by while giving ideas on what to fix, as well as her general exuberance. This left the supervisor sitting on the sidelines in shock as everything fell out of his control until his gaze eventually settled on the griffon.
“You! You are the one behind all this! Who is that mare?! What is she doing here?!” He pauses as he looks at the dragon standing nearby with a glare and a frown.
“And what is that little spy doing here in a secure area?!” The dragon could only roll his eyes in exasperation as he glanced at the griffon who had been taken aback by her boss' actions. Shaking her head she turned her head to look at the stallion.
“Short answer, that would be my boss and pretty much owner of everything here. It was also her decision to bring along the little dweeb.” The supervisor opened his mouth to respond, but froze up as the implication of who the mystery mare was hit him. Shaking their heads, the two turned to watch the organized chaos around the leader of their little group.
“So, does this happen often under little miss perfect at your company?” Spike slowly nodded as he winced at the sound of an explosion from further in the back, stepping to the side to avoid a rolling gear.
“Oh yeah, though there are usually a lot more explosions.” He paused as another project erupted into flames, sending a pegasus flying across the room.
“Though not many more.” He winced as the pegasus collided with a storage cabinet where they were buried in various tools. Gilda just slowly turned to look at her boss and wondered how the young dragon seemed so sane if he had to deal with things like this all the time. She never interacted with him much before, mostly due to him being overshadowed by Twilight Sparkle, but the little guy was growing on her a little, even though she would never admit it.
“Do you have any tips on how to deal with this? My ancestor's journal didn't do her antics any justice.” The two watched as a unicorn flew across the room due to an over-wound spring unexpectedly releasing its tension.
“I'll send you the book I use for Twilight. Though she seems to be on a different level as Twilight hasn't drawn her researchers in like Gadget has.” The two shuddered at the images brought to mind, Gilda at having to deal with situations unknown to the dragon, and Spike with having to deal not only with Twilight but quite likely with another much like her at the Power Ponies headquarters whenever he was left behind. They were spared from their thoughts getting two wild when the mare in their thoughts left the crowd of workers to rejoin them.
“Golly, that worked out pretty well if I do say so myself. I didn't know the full extent of what was being made here, but I'm sure that I've barely seen most of it. I have so many ideas just from today alone, and I haven't even scratched the surface yet of what is available.” The two look at each other for a moment before looking back at the excited figure.
“So, what were we here for again?” Gadget looked at Spike blankly for a moment before she gave a bashful grin.
“Oh right, that. One second.” Turning back, the mechanized mare trotted back to the workbench she was just at to retrieve a block-shaped object from it. She soon returned to the two before handing it over to Spike and gestured towards the door. The young dragon looked it over curiously as the left the lab area for their next destination.
“This is neat, I guess, but what is it? And where are we going now?” Gadget looked over her shoulder at the young dragon before turning to look at Gilda.
“Now, we should be heading to wherever they are holding the board meeting. It should have started by now, right?” Gilda looks thoughtful for a moment and looks around until she finds a nearby clock and nods. Meeting the nod with one of her own the disguised mouse grins as the griffon starts leading them towards that destination.
“Right, as for what that is, you actually gave me the idea earlier when when you mentioned how only unicorns could record things like I showed you.” Spike blinked in confusion for a moment, before he remembered the gems from that morning.
“Wait, you mean this is a video camera?! But it's so small, how did you fit everything in it?” The mouse had to actually smirk to herself at what she created as she tossed her head.
“Well, it's not my best work, but it'll do for a prototype. The front is obviously the part sticking out with the emerald embedded in it, and the back of it flips out to the side.” Following her instructions, the young dragon pulls on the back lightly to find that it does flip out like he was told. Inside of the lid he flipped out was a mirror that showed his face, yet it was what it had covered that caught his attention.
“Whoa, that is a lot of buttons. But which does what? The symbols don't look familiar.” Gadget frowned in thought for a moment before shaking her head.
“Yeah, I guess I should have checked on what is being used right now, but I can easily show you the most important ones until I make a more permanent model.” As they walked along, the disguised mouse showed Spike the important functions of the camera, mostly how to record and replay what was recorded. Soon he was having a blast filming everything around him and watching it on the mirror that was enchanted with a version of a scrying spell that drew the recordings from the gem that was being used as a storage medium.
After another ride on the elevator, the group arrived at the floor of the meeting and were soon in the room that led to the main conference room. The only thing left between them and the door was a stallion behind a desk, one that caused Gilda to frown on seeing. With a shake of her head she walked towards the door guarded by the stallion, Biased Favor.
“I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave. You've been told that you are no longer welcome here and- Hey! What do you think you are doing?!” Gadget had ignored the stallion and proceeded to just walk right by him towards the door to the conference room. When Gilda saw him reach for his boss aggressively, something in her snapped causing her to shriek out a battle cry before grabbing the stallion by the neck and tossing him to the side. The trio watched as he skidded into a corner where he curled up into a shivering ball before looking at the griffon who was staring at her claw in shock.
“Golly, I had forgotten how aggressive a griffon could be when those they are honor-bound to are threatened. That may be of use though.” With a final glance at the stallion, she waved a hoof at the two to follow and opened the door to the conference room. As soon as the door opened a wave of voices came out of the room, revealing that a sound suppression spell was in place. The voices trailed off when the ponies inside noticed that the door had opened and the three found themselves the center of attention, mostly Gilda as the other two were deemed unimportant.
“Miss Gilda, I believe that you were told that you were unwelcome at the company from today onwards. The board has decided that you and your non-existent boss are no longer needed.” The mare that looked to be in charge of the meeting reached over to press a button on the table activating an intercom.
“Ms. Brown, would you please send up security and contact the police to remove an intruder from the building.” The mare leaned back in her seat and prepared to speak again but was interrupted when the intercom flared to life once again.
“Um, ma'am? The police are already here, should I send them up?” Eyebrows rose at the sound of the door guard's voice instead of the front desk secretary. Looking up at the clock, the mare noticed that it was getting close to closing time and Brown Noser had been known to take off early on occasion. With a shrug she reached forward to press the intercom button once again.
“That's fine, send them up to the conference room along with a member of security. There are some trespassers that need to be removed.” Gilda looked at her boss nervously but she ignored those sitting at the table as she looked around the room at the various displays. She recognized the design of the first flying machine she had put out under the company as well as the spaceship toy she had designed for release many years after she had disappeared. From those, to a submarine, her eyes moved from one to another until her eyes settled on one blueprint that stood out, and not in a good way.
“Hmm, that one's not right.” The board-members turned to look at the mare in confusion, many only just now noticing her as they were all focused on the griffon and dragon. They had ignored her as inconsequential since their former CEO and the assistant of their biggest rival had followed her in so they thought that she was only a servant of some kind, especially when on closer inspection smudges could be seen in her fur.
“And what, pray tell, is so wrong over there that you care nothing about the fact that law enforcement is on their way up?” With a glance, Gadget noticed that it was the apparent leader of the group that spoke to her. Looking at the white on white mare, the mouse had to assume that this was the Precious Posterity mentioned in her files as being the head of the Board. Turning the robot's head back to the blueprint she raised a hoof to point at the lower corner of it.
“Interesting how you mention law enforcement as I am sure they would be interested to know about this being a forgery. This blueprint is not one created by a Hackwrench so it is stolen, either the blueprint itself or the name.” Frowns began to spread across the room at this claim before a stallion at the far end leaped to his hooves.
“How dare you?! This company has a reputation for honesty and good morals in all our dealings. How can you claim that one of our company's products are a fraud?!” That stallion, Fair Weather if Gadget remembered right, shook with rage at the accusation, though the mouse noticed that many members of the Board averted their eyes from him. She made a note of this as she turned back to the blueprint.
“Well, it's easy to make that claim since this one is missing the family mark that is on every other blueprint.” Her claim was met with a snort by one of the board-members, causing her to pause and look over to them.
“Well I'm sorry to tell you, but that was already checked and the weird double R that the family used is clearly on there.” The other members nodded along with the speaker, though Gilda looked confused. Moments later her eyes widened in realization.
“The Mouse!” Eyes turned to the griffoness as she pointed towards the blueprint in question. Gadget nodded as she made her way to another nearby blueprint.
“Yes. While the one you mentioned was rather obvious, there was always another secret hidden in every blueprint only known to a select few.” She drew a hoof around a part of the blueprint, outlining two smaller circles atop a larger one in the gem circuitry. Moving to the next she did the same with each one she passed, some in obvious places, others cleverly hidden. Soon she had made a circuit of the room, pointing out the one thing missing from the blueprint she claimed as a fraud.
“But, that all-purpose brush is one of our best sellers! We have had no complaints about it in the years since it was released! Besides, how would you know anything about the Hackwrench family secrets? Maybe the one that wrote that one decided to do something different this time, or the others could just be a coincidence.” The disguised mouse only smirked as she looked over the blueprint. Calling it an all-purpose brush was somewhat accurate, but it was still a bit inaccurate. It was more that a bunch of brushes were put on a rod with a bunch that could flip out in various locations. On a quick examination she could identify a separate brush for mane, tail, upper coat, belly coat, teeth and a variety for hooves.
“Well it's been a tradition for so long, I don't see why I would change that now.” The board-members looked at her for a moment, confused at her choice of words. A feeling that this strange earth pony might be more than they had thought started to creep into the minds of a few of them and an important question came to mind.
“What do you mean you wouldn't do that? Who are you anyways to say something like that?!” The mare was saved from answering as a bunch of ponies came in through the open door. Judging from the uniforms she had to guess that these were the city's police officers, though she wasn't expecting them to be wearing uniforms that she recognized from her own world. The board members looked smug as they arrived but that soon changed to horror at the mechanical mare's next words.
“Oh right, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Gadget, Gadget Hackwrench. Owner of this company and the one who put Gilda Brightfeather in charge and I want you all out of this building for attempting to bypass my decisions and sabotage this company.” The room went silent for a moment before it broke out into an uproar with all of the board members shouting to be heard. The police sergeant rubbed at the side of his head with one of his hooves with a sigh before he called out to the room.
“All right, just what is going on here? We got a call to come out here with no explanation, so let's hear it and not waste any more of our time, all right?” The ponies gathered around the table looked at him for a moment before they started shouting and pointing at the other three in the room, all of whom started rolling their eyes. With a sigh, Gilda reached into the briefcase she was carrying and pulled out a few documents before passing them to the sergeant. He looked them over with a raised eyebrow as the board-members clamored for attention. When he came to the identification papers he inhaled sharply in surprise.
“Lady Hackwrench!?” He looked up from the document to the mare on the other side of the room and back again. Finding that the cutie mark listed matched the one visible on her, a crossed wrench and screwdriver on top of a lightning bolt, he cursed his luck for being the highest-ranking officer to arrive as this was obviously way above his pay-grade. No matter which choice he made there was going to be trouble in his future, he decided on taking the safest course of action.
“Unless one of you can provide evidence of wrongdoing, there isn't much that I can do here.” His claims were met with grumbling while Precious Posterity stood up to get his attention.
“I am sure that we can work this out easily enough. There is no proof that any of those documents are real and- Miss Gilda, I believe that you were told that you were unwelcome at the company from today onwards. The board has decided that you and your non-existent boss are no longer needed.” She was interrupted in her attempt to get rid of the intruders by her own voice, which confused her at first until she realized what was said, causing her eyes to widen in horror. All eyes turned to the young dragon in the room which was where the voice originated.
“Wow, perfect timing there, Spike.” Gilda smirked as the police sergeant walked over to the dragon to look at the object he was holding. Spike pushed a couple buttons on the back before turning it to the officer, replaying what had happened earlier in the room for him to see along with sound. The room was silent as it played through once again from when the trio entered the room until the line that was used to interrupt the board leader.
“Is that a video recorder!? But how!? None of you are unicorns!” The sergeant was wondering the same thing as the video changed things a little with the situation. Gadget smiled though as she flipped her head, swinging her main back.
“That is my latest invention, a prototype camera that doesn't need a unicorn to operate. It's only a proof of concept right now since it still needs one to recharge it, but it is a decent bit of work for the couple hours it took to put it together if I do say so myself.” Hearing that the mare not only brought in a new invention, or at least an innovated one, but that she did it in such a short amount of time began to cast doubts on her not being who she said she was. The lead police stallion shook his head in annoyance and decided to at least play along until he could pass the issue to his superiors.
“Right, no help for it then. I'll have to ask you all to come along until you provide proof that she isn't who she says she is. The current evidence says that she owns this company and it is within her rights to eject you all from the premises considering what is on that video.” The sergeant nodded to his fellow officers and the strode in to begin escorting the board-members out of the building. Said group began shouting at the treatment and tried ordering the building security to do something, but a head shake from Butch, who had escorted the cops up, kept them from interfering. Gadget watched as the group was escorted out, but her eyes quickly settled on one figure that was leaving without complaint, though he still looked disgruntled.
“Actually officer, could I ask that he stays back a moment along with you?” Fair Winds looked surprised to be singled out but still stepped to the side to allow the others to leave first, curious as to what the mare wanted. The sergeant was also wondering why the mare changed her mind about one of the group, but chalked it up to the whims of nobles. Once the room was cleared the two looked at the remaining three in the room.
“What is it that you want? Haven't you done enough to this company's reputation already?” Gadget looked at the pegasus stallion for a moment before glancing at the sergeant's name tag.
“Sgt... Slaughter is it?” The sergeant looked at her for a moment before he looked down at his name-tag and groaned.
“Seriously? The swapped that out on me again? It's actually Sergeant Laughter, Silent Laughter. But after an incident a couple years ago the other officers on the force have taken to calling me that.” The mare tilted her head and glanced at Gilda who nodded as she had heard about that considering how Gadget, Co. supplied them with many of the tools they used.
“Right, Sgt. Laughter. I feel that you should know this as well just to keep an eye out on those you just escorted out, but I have one of my employees going through the the company financial records. I only had a moment to glance at them, but some of the numbers seemed off so expect potential charges against some of them. As for you.” She turned to look at the other stallion who was frowning at her words. She didn't have any evidence about what she was about to suggest, but she had a strong hunch and, combined with some other knowledge she had, she expected that there might be a hint of truth in it.
“You actually care about the company, don't you? And from what I saw many of the others on the Board of Advisers don't speak with you much outside of meetings.” His frown grew even more, but he slowly nodded.
“Of course I care. I was chosen to do a job and I always uphold my family's reputation of fairness in everything we do. Though it is strange that you seem to know that the others avoid me outside of work-related duties.” The mare nodded as she glanced to Gilda once again to see her slowly nodding in agreement. The griffon had noticed that, while he was rather outspoken, it was always for the good of the company even if the others didn't back many of his ideas.
“Well, I may need to double check on how they are chosen, but I'm guessing that the members of the Board of Advisers are chosen by the investors. If I'm right, then I have a hunch as to who one of those investors are, one that I am betting you know her as well.” Fair Weather just stared at the mare for a moment before he glanced at the police officer in the room and chose his words carefully.
“I am not at liberty to disclose the identity of those that I represent. What I can say is that if your claims of who you are are true then I am sure that she will want to meet you.” He may have tried to be careful with his words, but one slipped through that he didn't quite intend and it didn't go unnoticed. He didn't even realize it until the mare responded to him.
“Her, huh? Well, I am sure that we will meet in the future, especially now that I will be personally dealing with the company and my mail. Which reminds me Ms. Brightfeather, be sure to redirect all of it to my current residence.” While Gilda nodded to her, the two stallions looked at her with curiosity in their eyes as nobody knew where the Hackwrench family was living.
“Um, if you don't mind me asking, where is it you happen to be staying in case we need to get ahold of you?” Gadget looked over at Sergeant Laughter for a moment before nodding.
“I am currently at the Harmony Tower, though I am still unsure much of how things are done there so I may need to contact you again with the full information.” Fair Weather's eyes shot open wide when he heard this before scrutinizing the mare once again.
“Wait, you mean the old Golden Oaks building? But it is almost impossible to get a room in that building, the waiting list alone is decades long. So how did you...” His eyes widened in realization as he stared at the mare, beginning to believe that she just may be who she said she was. The mouse wasn't paying any attention to him as she moved to one of the seats so she could sit the robot body down before burying her actual face in her hands, shaking it in annoyance. She stayed like that for a while until she felt her vessel being shaking, causing her to pay attention to the world around her again and she found that she was now alone in the room with Spike.
“Hey, Gadget. Are you all right?” With a sigh, the mouse reached out to grab the various wires controlling the body and turned the head to look at Spike.
“Maybe? I'm just realizing that my small actions in the past have had a huge effect on shaping the modern times. Just another thing to add to the list of things I need to research before deciding on where to go with everything.” The young dragon just looked at her while slowly nodding before bringing a hand up to his chin.
“So, what now then? Things seem to have worked out here, but I doubt those board members are going to give up just like that.” The mouse thought on it for a moment before she smirked, letting it show on her avatar's face.
“Well, I think it is time for a press event. They wouldn't dare try anything with all of Equestria watching them. That will also give Silver Shill time to compile all the finance reports and repurchase stocks so we can see who has been stealing from the company, further weakening any hold that they have. Now, who would you say would be the best pony to contact for a short interview?” Spike frowned in thought for a moment, before a grin slowly spread across his face.
“I think I know just the pony.”
<><><><><><><>
The Masked Matterhorn sighed as she entered her apartment a few floors below the castle that was the new Power Ponies home base. She was exhausted from the trip out to Manehatten with the rest of her team where they managed to stop the crime-spree of a pony calling themselves the Ferret. While they hadn't managed to catch them, they had at least managed to retrieve all of the stolen goods, though she still couldn't figure out how he managed to keep getting out of every place they had locked him up in, including a safe at one point.
Shaking her head, the alicorn's horn lit up for a moment as she released a spell, causing her costume and wings to disappear, leaving Twilight Sparkle behind. Shaking herself to free her of the imaginary dust that she felt the spell left behind, she slowly plodded over to a beanbag chair and flopped down atop it, lazily swatting at a nearby remote to turn on the television in front of it. She really wasn't paying attention to it, only using it as a distraction as she decompressed from her latest mission. It was only when a mention of a familiar name came from it that she focused on it while turning the volume up. On-screen was a familiar Abyssian reporter who was well known for covering high profile stories, often dealing with superheroes or members of the elite.
“This is Ann Gora of Channel 9 News, here in front of the Gadget, Co headquarters. Next to me here is one of Equestria's most enigmatic citizens, owner of this company, and heir to one of the few surviving noble houses, Lady Gadget Hackwrench. And to announce her return she has done that which is unheard of by removing nearly the entirety of her company's shareholder representatives. This has all been witnessed by...” Twilight stopped listening as the camera panned down to a familiar figure. A figure that she had missed seeing on her return and should have been there, yet looked to be going behind her back with a pony she had been trying for years to get ahold of. If it wasn't for the extreme soundproofing of every apartment in the building, her cry could have been heard in all of them.
“SPIKE!”
And chapter done. Took way too long as I've just been having trouble focusing on my writing. Most of the time I got more done waiting on game load screens and queue times than on days with nothing going on. Also a hint of some things to come, next chapter? I believe it will be a party, along with a meeting with a face from Gadget's past. 
Stats
Page generated in 0.016 seconds
Total duration
942 users online
369,132 hits today, 2,167,270 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Awesome chapter and nods to G.I. Joes and Swatkats
Jealous twilight of Spike that he got to meet gadget and help her
Signs of a smart person right there, she knows when to ask someone more experienced for help
Considering that the so called "non-existing boss" owns around, what was it, 80% of the company, that's not something any of you get to decide
Well when you grow up around Twilight Sparkle, and supervillains, you quickly learn when the best moment to interupt them shows itself
Hehehe, I can't wait to find out what's gonna happen
It's Celly
I am sad that this wonderful story has not seen an update in so long. This story is just so amazing!
10524764
I still have plans and ideas for this, just having trouble gathering up Writing Energy. So to tide you and others over, a few tidbits. Not sure the total arc count, but the current one is pretty much a world-building one to get things set. The Power Ponies will appear occasionally, but won't be a major part beyond Spike. The second arc though will bring in a few new heroes, each who should have a villainous counterpart. Spike/Humdrum isn't fully decided, though I'm thinking an Abyssinian that is heavily cat-themed. Planning on at least 5 others to join in, with 3 of the villains going by the names Blue Tooth, Patty(Paddy?) Cake, and Flash Mob.
10525014
iteresting! I could also see Twilight being insanely jealous of Spikes friendship to Gadget