> Discovering Secrets > by TheMTVGAMEONE1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > 1 After Talk > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Viper Suit, a formally dressed Pegasus with a black and white mane and tail and a blue coat, was standing in a garden where a moonlight art exhibit was being held. She was largely ignoring the artwork, however. The social aspect of the gallery was far more interesting to her. There were a lot of important ponies attending, even Princess Luna. She was watching two talking in particular. One of them was Viper’s old school friend, Metal Circuit. She was a Pegasus and also formally dressed like her. The difference between them was that she had canary yellow colored fur, a black mane, and a black tail with a bright green and a dark green stripe in it. Her cutie mark was a green circle, with yellow colored power lines and circuits on it. She had recently been given the position of Canterlot district manager of “Advanced Con Ductor Circuits”, or ACDC, her father’s company specializing in electric parts and circuits. The pony she was talking to was an amber colored Unicorn, with a yellow and red mane and tail. Her cutie mark was a yellow and red sun. The only thing she knew about that pony was her name – Sunset Shimmer. Something looked familiar about this Unicorn to Viper Suit, but she didn’t know from where she recognized that pony. Sunset looked older than her, so it couldn’t be a class mate. ‘Maybe a classmate of my dad? I’ll have to look that up when I’m back at my parents house,’ Viper thought to herself. Before she could dwell on it, she was approached by Metal Circuit. “And how was it?” asked Viper. “To be honest with you, this Sunset knows a lot about electronics and stuff from what she had told me, and she seems quite nice. Besides, she got recommended from Princess Luna, but I don’t know… something was odd, like she was distracted,” answered Metal, who was now standing beside Viper, who just looked at her. “From what Luna had told me earlier she works with Twilight, which is great, but I don’t really think that Twilight is a good choice for this project.” “Are we talking about the Twilight?” Viper asked. “Yeah, Princess Twilight Sparkle, who lives down in Ponyville. But like I said, I don’t think she has the know how for electronics and how they work. But I don’t really have to do a lot here, just give them the resources.” “So you have a deal?” “No I gave Sunset my card, and now we need to wait for a reply.” Metal look at her partner, who looked like she wanted to tell her something but nothing came so Metal just said, “Ok then, let’s head back to the party shall we?” And both walked back to the art exhibit. After the art exhibit, Metal and Viper walked to where they both lived. “About this Sunset, do you really think it is a good idea to work with her, Metal?” Viper asked with a worried look on her face. “I can’t say I am thrilled, but like I said earlier I just give the parts. And besides that, she has contacts to the Princesses Twilight, Luna, and maybe even Celestia. And if what they are trying to do works, then do you know what that means for us?” Viper just sighed. She didn’t like the idea at all. Although there was a lot of potential if it went well, there was also a lot at risk. “I know but think about it, if it really works and it gets in the wrong hooves…” “Viper, why are you so worried all the time? Relax a bit, nothing bad will happen, I swear by Celestia.” “You know I just want to be one hundred percent sure you and the company are in no risk. After all, I am the consultant for the company.” “But there is no risk, Viper. Do you know why? Because Princess Twilight is involved.” Viper sighed again, and before they realized it, they were already at home. The house was something special, with one side for each pony. Metal’s side was painted black like her mane, and had green ornamentation. Viper’s side was also painted black, but with the difference that her ornamentation was blue. The lights were also special, while Metal’s side had green lights, Viper’s side had blue and white lights. Also both had their own door. Both wished each other a good night, and went in their side of the home. Metal made herself a quick tea before she got up and walked to a table where a book laid open. In it was written ‘Hi Metal. How is it in Canterlot? Do you like it there, and how do you like your new house? But now enough about that familiar stuff. About this pony that you told me Princess Luna was introducing you to tonight. Sunset Shimmer was her name, right? An old friend of mine with the name Brass Badge had a daughter who went missing around fourteen years ago. Her name was Sunset Shimmer, and she was the personal student of Princess Celestia when she went missing. So whatever is going on here, please don’t take any risks. Take care, Dad PS: this book is great, thanks for sending it to me.’ Metal just stared at the text that her dad had sent her. She was confused. Hadn’t Sunset Shimmer mentioned she had studied technology for about fourteen years? “This is strange,” she told herself. “How could this be possible? She fits exactly to the description of the age, but I’ll have to visit this Brass Badge some time in the next few days.” She rubbed her eyes and closed the book. The good thing about Princess Luna arranging the meeting was that she enjoyed being up late. All the same, it had been a long day, and she was more than ready for bed. She drank the last of her tea, set the cup in the sink, and went upstairs. As she lay down, she couldn’t stop wondering about the strange circumstances of the mare she had met with.. > 2 The Meeting > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was seven am in the morning. Metal Circuit hadn’t slept well; the massage her dad had sent her yesterday, had occupied her almost the entire night. Worst of all, she had a meeting with Princess Celestia at ten am. Metal got out of the bed and walked to the bathroom, where she checked her reflection in the mirror. Her hair was tousled, and under her eyes were two big eye bags. “Whew... I hope those are away by ten,” Metal said to herself. After a quick shower she had new energy, so she quickly brushed her hair and teeth and went down stairs to get something to eat. Although Viper and Metal had their own half of the house with separate doors, the dining room, which was combined with the kitchen, was the only room which wasn’t separated in two. Viper Suit was already awake and had prepared breakfast. “Morning, Metal, sleep well?” asked Viper. “Morning, Viper, no not realy.” “Oh, can you tell me why you didn’t sleep so well?” Metal thought about telling Viper about what her dad had written to her. But then Viper would probably freak out, so she just lied. “I am just nervous about the meeting we have.” “But you’ve been to many meeting’s before with your dad” “Yes, but I am alone on this one, and the future of A.C.D.C lies in my hooves.” “I know that, but you’re not alone, I will be beside you the whole time. And now eat something, you can’t go to a meeting with an empty stomach”. “You’re right, everything will go well. Thank you, Viper.” By the time they finished eating breakfast it was quarter past nine. Metal put her top hat on, which was her trademark. Viper had her blue suit on, and she carried a briefcase. It was a beautiful tuesday morning. Only few clouds covered the blue sky. Viper and Metal walked through Canterlot to get to the castle for the meeting. They had only lived in Canterlot for the past three weeks, so both Viper and Metal still found new things to talk about. The castle was not far from their home, so they arrived at nine forty-five. They went through the big wooden doors in to the lobby. At the back of the lobby sitting behind a desk was a Unicorn mare with white fur, and a short brown mane and tail. She had glasses on and brown eyes. Around her neck was an ascot. “How can I help you?” asked the Unicorn friendly. “Hi, my name is Metal Circuit and this is Viper Suit. We’re here for a meeting with Princess Celestia at ten am.” “Ok, I’ll let the Princess know you’re here. Please take a seat on the couch until you can go in.” “Ok, thank you… ahm.” “Raven.”  “Ok, thank you, Raven” Metal walked to Viper who was already sitting on one of the couches. Some minutes went past, and when they finally got called out they went to a wooden door which was guarded by two guards who opened the door, which went to the throne room. It was a really beautifully decorated room, and on the left and right were guards. At the end was sitting on her throne Princess Celestia, who was speaking to … Sunset Shimmer?! “Wait, why is she here?” asked Viper. “Maybe she’s friends with Princess Celestia? She is good friends with Princess Luna, after all.” “Hey, Metal, do you still think it is a good idea to work with this Sunset? You hardly know her.” “Yeah, because my dad does know her. And I trust him.” “Oh realy? And why didn’t I know that your dad knows her?” “Didn’t I tell you, Viper?” “No, you didn’t ,” said Viper, upset. Both still stood at the end of the room, not wanting to interrupt the talking between Sunset and Celestia. Eventually Celestia noticed them, and sent Sunset out to a door to the left, which probably led to the corridor outside the room. “Hello, my little ponies, please come closer,” said Princess Celestia. As instructed , Metal and Viper Suit walked forwards. Both stopped at around three meters away from the throne and Celestia, then bowed. “Hello, Princess. Me and my consultant are from  the company Advanced Con Ductor Circuits, or A.C.D.C for short, which was founded twenty-seven years ago by my dad.” “So you’re the daughter of Con Ductor then?” “Yes, I am his daughter. Metal Circuit is my name” “So what would you like to discuss with me today?” “Our company has recently become Canterlot’s primary plant for electricity, as you already know, and now we want to expand our business here in Canterlot.” “What would you want to build here in Canterlot?” “My dad and I had thought about a small headquarter, one assembling station, a laboratory , and an security guard house, and around the whole place a security fence.” “Could you show me a drawing?” asked Celestia. “Sure. Viper, could you give the princess the drawing please?” As asked, Viper opened the briefcase and took the drawing with her hooves. Viper then closed the briefcase again and held the drawing in her hooves for Celestia to grab it in her light golden magic. Some time went by as Princess Celestia examined the drawing.  She then looked up from the drawing and asked, “What are this blue things behind the fence?” “This is one of our newest invention in the field of generating electricity. It uses the sun’s warmth to generate electricity. We can’t tell you how it works, company secret. Besides that, it’s still in development. But I can tell you so much that one of those generates electricity for four houses,” said Metal proudly. “I am looking forward to this new invention,” Princess Celestia said, smiling. “But tell me, where did you plan to build this place?" “We would like to build it near the mountains.” “Very well,” said Princess Celestia. She then cast a spell at a crystal, seconds later Raven entered the throne room and walked towards Princess Celestia until she was right beside her. Princess Celestia then spoke. “Raven, bring me the documents for the properties numbered 266, 267, 276, 277, 286 and 287. As well as an build permit.” Raven nodded understandingly and went out to a door on the right. Soon Raven came back with a stack of documents in her brown magical grip. She gave them to Celestia, who nodded approvingly then turned her gaze towards Metal and Viper. “The price for everything is 6,500 bits. If you disagree to this price then please say so, otherwise we shall continue.” After a little discussion with Viper, Metal said, “We agree to the price.” “Very well. So these are the documents for the properties.You need to sign each of them. I will send you a copy of each within a week.” She floated six documents towards Metal and Viper, who read them first and then signed them. Princess Celestia then floated them back to Raven. She then grabbed another document in her magical grip. “This is the building permission. We will send you the copy of it with the other documents” Same as before, she floated them to Metal and Viper to let them read it to make sure everything was allright. “And finally, the payment. Sign here and we will take a portion of the money from your bank account every month." Metal nodded understandingly and read through the document, and then signed where Princess Celestia had told her. Princess Celestia then floated the document back to Raven. She then spoke, “Alright, the work will start in one week. If something is wrong please come to us.” “Ok, thank you, Princess. Until next time.” And with that, both Metal and Viper left the throne room. It was half past ten when both left the Castle. “Whew… that went very well. What do you think, Viper?” But Viper didn’t answer. She was caught in her thoughts, so Metal just let her be. They wandered through Canterlot, Metal liked it here. It wasn’t as hectic as Manehattan, where she lived before. Viper, however, was still lost in her thoughts. ‘Why was Sunset there?  Why did Metal didn’t told me about her dad knowing Sunset? Does she want to hide something for me?’ “Is something Viper?” Viper hadn’t noticed that she was looking at Metal, who was a bit concerned about her friend. “Yeah, I’m fine. I’m just a bit hungry.” Metal knew something was bothering Viper, but didn't want to push further, so she said “Around this corner is a restaurant. How about I invite you to a meal? How does that sound?” “That sounds really good.”Said Viper, trying to put the thoughts aside.