Chapter 27: Like Cats & Dogs.
Darkness filled a cozy room from the Megamilk Inn, on the bed laid the alicorn of the night, unmoving except for the slow, up and down of her breathing. From the shadows a slender figure creeped into the room, its agile movements fitting for a predator, the creature slowly approached the bed, his slitted eyes focused on the sleeping mare while his claw approached her shoulder when he noticed a shining blue aura around his arm.
“I see your kind doesn’t change even in a thousand years, abyssinian,” Luna lifted and threw him on the bed, she surrounded him with the blanket.
“Wait I can explabfbfbf-” he tried saying but was gagged by Luna.
“Quiet you scoundrel, you were sloppy, I could hear you since you entered the room, now what should I do with you?” the abyssinian began sweating, unable to speak imagined what would this mare could do to him, “I should boil you,” his eyes went wide open, “or pull every single hair of your body,” his sweat now rained from his face, “I could throw you on the dungeon to let you rot for eternity... or maybe I should just let you go,” he nodded furiously “ha! Fat chance, prepare to meet your maker.”
The scared abyssinian pointlessly struggled, trying to set himself free from his captor when the door opened showing Tube Tester on a yellow tube top that revealed all her toned body her minotaur genes granted, her hair made into a bun and a cup of coffee on her hand, “Tinker what’s taking you so long…” the minotauress watched how Luna wrapped the cat boy, who gave eyes filled with hope at seeing Tube, she smiled and sipped her coffee,“I see I’m interrupting, I’ll be back in… about ten minutes,” she said while closing the door, the abyssinian wriggled, moaning for help while Luna watched the door, still confused.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
“Well how was I supposed to know he was your assistant? This little raskall creeped into my room and almost assaulted me on my bed,” Luna said while at the table where the two sisters, two minotaurs and an abyssinian was sitting, all enjoying breakfast prepared by Cherry Dreams.
“I did not! I am innocent of this crime!” the orange striped coat cat boy said pointing with his white colored paws at the ceiling.
“Calm down Lulu, Tube sent him to wake you up, he was just doing his job.”
“But Tia, you know I haven’t seen one of them catfolk since I returned, well except that Capper fella but he didn’t give the best impression, after the party we held he tried to steal the jewels of my crown.”
Celestia added some sugar to her coffee, “weeeell to be honest I made a bet with him that he wouldn’t be able to steal them, I won… besides don’t be speciesist little sister, even if most Abyssinians still tend to be nomadic, the statistics show that crime levels are the same regardless of the presence of abyssinians.”
Luna pouted, she will never get used to be lectured by her sister, “fine, I’m sorry for wrapping you in the blanket Tinker Claw, I was in the wrong.”
The boy smiled while putting his arms on the back of his head, “no worries ma’am, everyone deserves a second chance after a bad first impression.”
Celestia clapped her hooves, “well said Tinker, quite the wise words coming from one so young, by the way, how old are you?”
“I’m fifteen ma’am, I’ll be sixteen next winter.”
“Younger than I expected, and you said he is your assistant Tube?” the woman nodded while eating her eggs on an unladylike fashion, “since when?”
Tube Tester suddenly stopped chewing her food closed her eyes, swallowed and then answered, “since about the time I returned from Canterlot.”
“I believe that was before I was brought back from the moon, he would have been just a little kit, are his parents ok with… ” Celestia put a hoof on Luna’s shoulder stopping her, then pointed at Tinker Claw who was just moving his food with a fork, “oh… I’m sorry if it’s a touchy subject.”
Tiker looked up to Luna with his cat like eyes, “it’s ok, I must admit that I didn’t give the best of impressions either.”
Tube adjusted her glasses, “you don’t have to tell them if you don’t want to, Tinker my boy.”
“No, I want to, I never knew my parents, as far as I know they must have been just passing by Laburinthos and at least they were decent enough to leave me at the door of the orphanage, otherwise I wouldn't have lasted a day, I was raised among the calves there but I never did fit, they were all too big and strong and I was small and weak, so I didn’t have friends, I remember that I used to skip classes and jump from ceiling to ceiling on the buildings, and probably should confess that I wasn’t as law abiding as I should be on those days, I used to dismantle lights from the street, I liked to collect the bulbs, I sometimes removed some parts of the cars on the street, and sometimes I pickpocketed for some change, one day I was laying near this very inn when I saw Professor Tester walking carrying a huge machine, of course I didn’t know her at the time, I got curious about that huge machine with lights and buttons so I followed her, I snuck into her room when she left and stared at the thing, I don’t know how long or when I began to remove parts of the machine with my claws, all I know is that this was the most interesting thing I ever did, I didn’t even noticed when the Professor came back, I just knew that I had to disassemble it and when I was done she was right behind me, I freaked out and tried to leave but she grabbed me by the scruff and stared at me directly into my eyes, I thought that was it I was done for but, she told me she was impressed on how quickly I disassembled her machine and well, Professor, I think you can tell this part.”
“What did I tell you about leaving things unfinished *sigh* anyway, long story short, the next day I went directly to the orphanage and adopted him, I’ve been training him since then, his room is on the top floor, don’t ask me, he personally asked to be as high as possible.”
Celestia was moved by the story she just heard but Luna was in tears biting the a tissue staring at the boy, “oh the torment you must have endured,” she grabbed Tinker Claw and hugged him tight, “oh you poor, pathetic, misunderstood, kitten. Let me embrace you, AS FAUST AS MY WITNESS, YOU WILL NEVER BE ALONE AGAIN!”
Tube Tester finished her coffee and cleared her throat, “Luna you are exaggerating, that was a long time ago and please let go of my assistant, you are suffocating him,” little Tinker again struggled to set himself free until Luna let him go, “anyway, you wanted to meet Professor Icon didn’t you?”
Celestia finished he waffles when a thought crossed her mind, “Tube, if he is living here, how come we didn’t see him yesterday when you came.”
“Oh, well he came with me, but went straight to his room, silly kitten worked too hard again and was sleepy,” Tube said while tenderly patting Tinker’s head, “anyway, let’s finish up and get this over with”
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
At the academy of sciences of Laburinthos you could find some of the biggest minds in the Minotaur lands, the group walked through the halls to reach Professor Fam Icon’s lab. As they walked Celestia could see that Tube Tester was upset about something, she had her hands on her pockets and kept grinding her teeth.
“Tube is there something wrong?” she finally asked, at what the woman shook her head without saying anything.
Behind them there was Tinker and Luna chatting, the alicorn hadn’t left the boy’s side since breakfast, they were chatting about video games and how she wanted to help with Professor Icon’s development of a home video game console, when he suddenly needed to make a stop for the bathroom.
The other three continued until they reached a door where Icon’s lab was located, Tube knocked at the door and waited, nothing happened so she knocked again a bit stronger, still nothing, she opened the door to let herself in, “before you ask, no I don’t think he would mind that we barge in.”
The trio entered the lab that looked more like an arcade, there were many video game machines, some disassembled and others that looked like nothing they have ever seen, there were many posters of characters and blueprints, on the back of the room was a middle aged minotaur with a pair of headphones, next to him was a smaller figure also wearing headphones, they were staring at a screen where you could see a small figure jumping barrels. Tube Tester annoyed for being ignored stomped the ground startling at the pair playing the game making them fall on the ground.
“What gives!” the minotaur who got up cleaning his lab coat from dirt and looking at his visits, “oh… Profesor Tester,” he said with a monotone voice, almost looking annoyed.
“Professor Icon,” she responded with similar or probably even more venom in her voice.
He put one arm on his back and stroked his abundant beard with the other hand, his coat was a very dark brown color meanwhile his mane and beard were black, he was wearing a sweater under his coat with what appeared to be a star, flower and mushroom patterns.
“I believe you were the one who said that you will never set hoof on my lab, Professor Tester.”
Tube Tester crossed her arms under her generous bosom, “believe me, I would be here in this house of wasted potential without a good reason. Here my companion is interested in your leisure promoting project,” she said making air quotes.
“I see, Joy sweetheart, would you kindly bring us tea, the pot is ready in one of the burners.”
The smaller creature finally stood up showing a canine face, “yes Professor Icon, at once,” she saluted with her paw and ran to the room next door.
Celestia watched the little girl leave, “was that a female diamond dog, professor Icon?” she asked meanwhile the minotaur rummaged behind one of the machines, pulling several bean bags.
He placed them on the ground in a circle around a coffee table, “yes she is my pupil, please sit down, I would present myself but I see you already know who I am, and who may you be…” he stared at the pair of mares, “taller than average mares, both horns and wings, manes floating on a nonexistent wind… I would say you are Princess Celestia and Princess Luna from Equestria or should I say ex-Princesses?”
“You are well informed Professor,” Celestia said while sitting on the bean bag, Joy returned with cups of tea, giving one to each guest and one to Fam Icon, the girl had a yellow coat with long darker yellow ears, she had the hair on her head tied into a small ponytail, she was wearing a green vest and a black skirt, everything under a white lab coat, “and who may you be little one.”
“I am Joy Miner, you are tall pretty pony, you two are, what are your names pretty tall ponies?” Joy asked while wiggling her tail.
Both mares giggled, “I am Celestia and this is my sister Luna, nice to meet you.”
“Celestia and Luna, pretty tall ponies are kind like Professor Icon,” she said in her sweet voice smiling.
“Maybe we should stop Tinker, Abyssinians and Diamond Dogs have terrible relationships even at this time of peace,” Celestia said.
“Stop me from what?” the boy said and silence filled the room.
Celestia and luna watched terrified how Joy suddenly jumped in Tinker’s direction, Tinker stood there and caught Joy on his arms and spinned her, “Friend Tinker, it’s been a while,” she said while Tinker put her on the ground.
Celestia and Luna relaxed, “Ok, this is a new one even for me, on my centuries I have never seen a diamond dog and an abyssinian hug like friends.”
Tube siped from her cup, “yeah well, Tinker was never raised among other cat folk.”
“That makes sense, Tia this gives me hope that one day there will be peace between the two species… wait please don’t tell me she has a sad background, I’m still recovering from earlier,” Luna asked the male minotaur.
“What, no, why? She is the daughter of my gem supplier, she was really interested in learning science and technology, so he asked me to put her under my wing, being the daughter of a merchant, she was in contact with many cultures, a merchant can't be a bigot if he wants to sell his goods.”
Luna gave a sigh of relief, but then Tube spoke, “and that’s what I meant by wasted potential.”
“Oh you are going to start again,” the man facepalmed.
“Joy aced every single test she was put, I can’t believe you are using her for your ridiculous toy.”
“It’s not a toy, it’s an entertainment device.”
“Tomayto tomahto, it’s still useless in the grant realm of things, even your pupil’s personal project in the uses of gems in optical drives is more important!”
Both minotaurs have stood up and were at each other's faces, steam coming from their nostrils.
“You are a great scientist Tube but you lack vision, my device will be just the start on a series of advances that will take Equestrian civilisation to the last frontier!”
“Oh yeah? The only way for that to take us into space is in those imaginary stories your games have inside.”
Everyone else in the room watched how the two minotaurs spat venom at each other, Joy and Tinker nodded at each other, then each of them grabbed a hand of their mentors and put them on their own head. The effect was almost instantaneous, both minotaurs looked at their pupils and began rubbing their heads, their faces and the muscles on their arms softening.
Tube Tester breathed in and let out a sigh, “anyway, I’m not here to discuss, just to bring you this mare that wants to fund your project, Tinker when you are done meet me at my office, we have a lot of paperwork before we leave to Equestria.”
“Wait Tube you are leaving?”
“What do you care?”
“I don’t, is just too sudden, you are so close with your project about solar energy.”
“I’m not abandoning it, I just got news that Equestria might have what I need to complete it, why are you going to miss me?”
“I… no, well I’ll feel your absence.”
The woman stopped at the door for a second, looked like she wanted to turn back and say something but then continued to her office.
Celestia cleared her throat, “I guess I’m not needed for this, would any of you sweethearts take me to the cafeteria?”
“I can,” both Joy and Tinker said at the same time, “jinx” both said in unison again giggling. The three of them left Luna and Fam Icon to discuss business.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
At the cafeteria Celestia was eating a cake while the boy and girl were eating sandwiches.
“Sooooo, what was that back then?”
“I dunno if we should speak to pretty pony Celestia about the professors.”
“Yeah, it would be kinda rude to speak about their falling-out.”
Hmmm, so they had a falling-out, this is getting interesting, she thought, “yeah, that would probably be rude, but what if we can help them in any way.”
Both Joy and tinker lifted one eyebrow, not buying what Celestia was saying, they watched ant each other and then nodded, “We know that pretty pony Celestia just want to know what happened, not really to help the professors.”
Celestia was surprised at the cunning of the duo, maybe I’m losing my touch, she thought.
“However,” Tinker said while both smiled showing their fangs, “we can be flexible, we have information, if you have the coin.”
Celestia began sweating, has she been bested by this teens? Was her curiosity that great to pay them? “How much,” for Faust, she was weak.
“One hundred Equestrian bits, or one hundred and thirty Laburinthian Drachma...” he said and Celestia pulled her purse, “each.”
“Oh come on! You can’t be serious...”
“Does pretty pony Celestia want the information? No coin, no information.”
“Fine, you two little devils win,” she paid them, “now speak.”
Joy spoke first, “Professor Tester and Professor Icon used to be mates, intimate mates.”
Tinker spoke after her, “they were married for a few years, but then Fam Icon decided to work on video games.”
“This made Professor Tester angry, her anger grew when Professor Icon recruited me for important console project.”
“Which is unfair since you had already decided to pick Icon as mentor, anyway, one thing that Tube tester hates is watching potential being wasted, as you probably already know, you knew her longer than me,” Celestia nodded.
“Professors fought one night at Professor Icon lab and they got separated, Professor Icon was sad for long time, there are a few more things but now we will say no more, for this is enough to understand the professors fight.”
“There is probably no way to fix it, we have been trying to ages with no success, maybe what they need is a time apart, you know what they say, distance makes the heart grow fonder.”
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
A few days later the group was at Laburinthos Train station, Joy was hugging Tinker saying their goodbyes, “Friend Tinker, you must promise to write.”
“I promise joy, you promise to come visit Ponyville.”
“I promise.”
Tube Tester put her hand on her niece, “I’ll miss you kiddo, don’t forget to tell my sister my address and make sure Joy gets safe home.”
“Will do aunt Tube, I’ll miss you.”
The group boarded the train directed to Equestria, it would be a few days travel, in their cabin Luna was reading some of the pamphlets she got from Fam Icon while Tube read a book, Tinker was sleeping with his head on his mentor’s lap, she stroked his head with her free hand, while he purred in his sleep.
Celestia stared at her old friend, she opened her muzzle but was interrupted by Tube, “don’t even think about it,” she said while her face was still covered by the book, “I know what you are thinking, Celestia and no I don’t need help, you probably heard it on the academy and is true, I was married to that buffoon and then we broke up, but I have no interest in fixing that relationship, so please don’t waste your breath and let us look at the future.”
“But...”
“No buts, unless you want me to leave yours bright red.”
Celestia kept silent on the topic, she has known Tube Tester for decades now and she has never seen her lose her cool like that, she must still feel something for that male but Tube was probably too stubborn to admit it. She thought in ways she could help her friend even if Tube refused her help, but then again, if Fam Icon didn’t feel the same all this was in vain.
Back at Laburinthos, Professor Fam Icon was adjusting the elements on a panel, when he stopped and looked at his desk, he opened a drawer and pulled a box, inside there were pictures of he and Tube of their happiest times, and a smaller box, he opened it and there it was his wedding ring, he pulled it out and gave it a kiss, then put everything back in the box and inside his desk and closed the drawer. If only he knew that back on the train to Equestria, Tube Tester was carrying her own wedding ring on a chain around her neck, close to her heart.
No song today either but don’t worry, next chapter we get back on track with the songs, I just wanted to introduce the other character and a reason for them to go to Ponyville, Tinker Claw looks pretty much like an orange tabby cat with white paws and Joy Miner… well I think you know who I based her off. Shouts to Booster Spice who gave me the idea to include a character based on Jay Miner, who was an American integrated circuit designer, known primarily for developing multimedia chips for the Atari 2600 and Atari 8-bit family and as the "father of the Amiga".
Hey what’s an atari?
Oh well nowadays is a name of a gaming company but it’s also the name of one of the first truly gaming consoles, I believe I still have mine let me look for it.
No song on this one either, bleh… hey where is him?
He said that he will go look for a gaming console called atari.
Another one? No wonder he takes this long to write this chapters.
Ok, kinda dusty but hopefully still works, oh hey Pinkie, you girls talking about me?
We were talking about how you get too many distractions.
Yeah and what was that about the minotaur relationship? That kinda looked important.
I wanted an excuse on why they were so aggressive to each other and what's better than a couple's falling-out to spice a story.
But... are they going to make peace? At the end of the chapter it looked like they still had feelings for each other.
Well I dunno really what I'm gonna do with them yet, not every story must have a happy ending, let's see how this develops shall we? Anyway I hope you liked today's chapter as always every comment, advice, request, demand or complain is appreciated and don't forget:
Be polite, be careful, educate yourself as much as you can, respect your neighbor so that they respect you and may the force be with you, say goodbye Pinkie.
Goodbye Pinkie. 
Say Goodbye Izzi.
Hey this atari game is not half bad! ping... ping... HAHAHA!
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Yaay, bringing Joy to the Gamers of Equestria.
Realised while reading this chapter, that the guy who wrote Exec, Carl Sassenrath, grew up in Eureka, California, matches very close to The Dark Lord Sassenflash? Because how else except from the Darkest of Arts and Magic would Anyone expect such limited technology of that time, at that price, to be able to crush all opposition the way it did.
The answer to the wedding problem was a bit tricky to implement, but simple to answer. Add a keyboard controller so the games machine can do office work. Then let Everyone be able to write code for it.
Best example for what multitasking does. The ZX80 screen blanked every time you pressed a key, because it was busy servicing the code processing the keypress, and so couldnt update the data on the screen. Thats the very simplest description. Add extra code execution units, even if theyre not full microcontrollers, and designed correctly, different cores can do different things at the same time. True Multitasking.
First steps though. Cartridges. Well, the first carts were jumper and resistor arrays that just triggered pins in the fixed console to run different areas of Rom game code, but eventually memory came down in price to where the game code could be stored in the cart, because punch card wasnt dense enough and the reader cost a fortune for small use?
But first.
Chip tunes.
10040140
Ok, I understood like... half of that, pretty interesting tho, is fascinating how technology came to be in the past.
10040120
I don’t know, never finished it. It was a super interesting concept, but I couldn’t get past the grammatical mistakes.
10040174
Oh, so this must mean that either, I gotten better at my grammar or this fic is interesting enough despite the errors. Either way it makes me happy and doesn't mean I won't try to get even better.
10040188
And I’ve also learned to get past grammatical mistakes.
It doesn’t help that Airship Mauled is also super long.
I’m liking this new character.
Equestria's version of music box?
10041343
Actually, Professor Fam Icon is working on a home console, there are arcades already and Luna was fascinated with them, but he wants to create a home console, right now they are having issues since arcades only work with one game. They will eventually figure it out how to make game cartridges but Luna's funding of her project will help a lot since they didn't really had actual funding from the academy since... well the directors kinda share Tube Tester's view, but still let Fam Icon use the facilities out of respect since he is one of their best scientist.
Dear Author,
I have another good suggestion.
Have you ever heard of
"Do you hear the people sing'' Las miserables.
There is two songs of it,one is for the epilouge.
Also,another good suggestion is Baba Yetu by christopher Tin.
Very interesting story.
Whenever I read a "Ponies experience human music" story I can't help but wonder what the characters in the story that a friend and I have been writing if they were allowed a push or two of the button.