DAiE Ch. 4 P. 4 - The Brothers' Offer

>You are Doctor Anonymous.
>And right now, you're about ready to lay these unicorns out.
"Excuse me?"
>You stand up. The whole time you've been here, you haven't really internalized how small these creatures are, compared to you.
>Neither had they, apparently.
>Pinkamina looks on at you with her mouth slightly open. Flim's eyes grow wide for a second, but that smarmy, businesspony smile creeps back onto his face.
>"Settle down, friend, settle down!"
>His brother joins in. "Calm down, my dear, uh... what are you, sir?"
"I'm a human."
>You spit out the words with an aggressive sneer, intimidation dripping from your voice.
>"W-we got off on the wrong hoof here, my dear human! What we mean to say, is we'd like to either purchase it, or... decommission it."
> You're not sure why you're acting like this, typically you're rather docile.
>Maybe it's the cider.
>Maybe it's that they're threatening something you helped make.
>Maybe it's that they're threatening something PINKAMINA made.
>That last possibility, and the shooshing and papping of the pink pony next to you as she tries to calm you down, stuns you slightly.
>You sit down, still watching Flim and Flam.
>A single hoof steadies itself on your shoulder as Pinkamina looks back to the two unicorns.
>"What do you want with my flying machine?"

>"Right, we should explain ourselves before we go, ah, throwing around offers."
>Only your internal dialogue keeps you from speaking up. What the hell is wrong with you?
>"See, my brother and I are actually here representing a sort of conglomerate of our fellow businessponies."
>"Salesponies, entreponyeurs, small business ponyers, that sort of folk."
>"And that invention of yours is a lot like our Super Speedy Cider Squeezy-"
>"Your Squeezy Thingy."
>"...yes, our 'Squeezy Thingy'. In the right hooves, namely, ours, it's a wonderful tool of science. It brings fresh cider to everyp0ny who could want it."
>Pinkamina giggles, "Yeah, when it's not full of leaves and bark."
>The brothers are not amused. "Yes, it was a... regrettable lapse of judgement, on our part. But that's just the crux of the matter, my dear mare."
>"In the WRONG hooves, a device like that could change a lot. Not only could it be dangerous, but - it might hurt the wallets of some very influential ponies."

>The anger in you starts to boil.
>Pinkamina frowns. "What do you mean?"
>"Why, Ms. Pie, imagine if we made a fleet of Cider Squeezies, and went around producing cider that we sold cheaper than any other cider business could compete with!"
>She puts a hoof to her mouth, an eyebrow raised. "Isn't that what you were trying to d-"
>"NOT the point! The point is, if we ran every other pony out of business, we wouldn't just have a monopoly on our hooves, we'd be bringing the entire economy down. Ponies without jobs have no bits to spend, y'see."
>Anger. Rising.
>"And just imagine what your flying machine would do if it got out. Our Cider Squeezy would only take out a specific market, if we used it irresponsibly."
>"A machine that lets earth ponies fly through the air? Why, that'd make an entire RACE of ponies irrelevant!"

>"Quite frankly, my dear mare, you'd be upsetting the natural order of things. And what's more, you'd be deeply upsetting the economy, if anyp0ny could suddenly travel anywhere without magical or pegasus aid? Why, think of the consequences!"
>"Entire markets would shift. Maybe even collapse, and new ones would spring up."
>"And that's what's really wrong, Ms. Pie. Outside of our Guild's hooves, your machine could upset a very careful balance."
>"Which is why some very important, and very RICH ponies have given us this liberty."
>Flam produces a suitcase, and lays it on the table. His magic opens some sort of locking mechanism, and you and Pinkamina are taken aback by the radiant sight before you.
>"10,000 bits, my dear mare, to either place that machine in our capable hooves, or to simply see it... vanish."
>"In the interest of protecting the order of things of course."
>Okay, now you're fucking mad. You look over to Pinkamina for vindication, and - wait.
>That look on her face.
>Is she actually fucking considering this?

"Pinkamina."
>She hesitates, before looking to you, pulled away from deep thought. A second ago she was a giggling drunk, but this seems to have sobered her up quite a bit.
>It's fucking sobered YOU up, too.
>"That's a lot of money, Doc'."
"Pinkamina."
>"And... I don't wanna upset anyp0ny."
"Pinkamina."
>Her gaze starts to wander back to the shining, polished bits. The slimy smiles of the brothers widening.
>"I could... buy my own house."
"PINKAMINA."
>"Maybe even..."
>You grab her hoof tightly, and she's ripped back to your eyes, the blue pools of her irises punctuated by tiny pupils.
"Pinkamina, don't do it."
>Her faces turns slightly red, and she looks away, before bringing her eyes back to the salesponies. "I'm sorry, but I trust the Doc'. If he says no, then -"
>Another suitcase drops onto the table. "We'll double it."
>Something in you snaps. Something in Flim's face snaps as your fist connects with it at breakneck speeds, every servo in your augmented structure channeling your rage in the form of a sickening thud as your hand bashes into his cheek.

>"Anonymous!" Pinkamina cries out as she covers her mouth, unable to believe what she's seeing.
>"Flim!" Flam cries out as he rushes over to his brother, who's slid a good five feet from the impact of the blow.
>The unicorn drowzily props himself up on a hoof, putting the other to his chin and hissing in pain, pulling the appendage away bloodied. "Y.. you crazy ape!" Flam says, turning to you angrily as he sees that his brother is still alive.
>His horn starts to glow, but you're already on it. Your hand grips the bony point on his head tightly. This apparently shuts him down. You'll have to remember that little bit of information.
"Listen to me, you slimeball."
>He looks up at you, his face contorting slightly in pain. It doesn't seem he has much of a choice.
"There are very few things that truly anger me. But when some greasy little prick like you tries to suppress SCIENCE? For their own GREED?!"
>You're shouting now. In the back of your mind, you hope you don't scare the Cakes. But right now you just can't give a fuck.
"I could break this pathetic excuse for a horn clean off, but I won't. Instead, what I'm gonna do is make YOU a deal."
>You lean down to the unicorn, making sure to get in his face.
"You're going to leave, and you're going to tell whoever you're working for that we said no. And if I catch you trying to interfere with my work again, I'll break this horn off and crush it into dust. Understand?"
>He nods, as best as he can.
"And if I catch you interfering with PINKAMINA'S work? What I'll do, 'my dear stallion', will be worse than anything I could possibly use words to describe."
>You pause, for dramatic effect, before releasing the trembling pony's horn.
"Now get the fuck out."

>Flam's magic quickly grabs the suitcases, and helps his still woozy brother up.
>"W-we're gettin' out of your hair, Doctor. We've s-said our piece, and made our pitch."
>You're amazed that this little stain is still talking. You watch him like a hawk.
>"J-just don't say we didn't warn you, if playing with the natural order of things doesn't come back to bite you."
>He looks over his shoulder at you, still clearly terrified, but somehow managing to make some vague threat.
>You don't care.
>You sit down, your breathing slowly returning to normal. You look down to see the blood on your hand. None of it is yours.
>Normally this would really, really, REALLY freak you out. Blood is the most disgusting thing on the planet.
>But, you're too concerned by the look of fear the pink pony next to you is giving you.
>"D-doc.. you..."
"I'm sorry, Pinkamina. You shouldn't have had to have seen that. I... I just lost my head."
>You wipe the blood off on your coat, and reach over with your other hand to touch her hoof again. She recoils at first, but then looks up to you.
>"Y.. you shouldn't hurt ponies like that, Doc'. It's..."
>You nod.
"I promise I'll never hurt anyone - or anyp0ny like that again, Pinkamina. But only if you make ME a promise."

>You place a single finger on her snout, and her eyes cross in a struggle to keep watching it.
"Never, ever let anyone suppress, or hinder your craft like that. The whole point of science is to USE what you learn to better the lives of others, not to exploit it for greed."
>She hangs her head, nodding, before looking back to you.
"Promise?"
>"Pinkie promise."
"Good, now I think we should get to bed. We've both had too much ci-"
>This time, it's Pinkamina who pulls you into a hug. You stiffen up.
>Okay, maybe that's NOT a normal reaction to being hugged.
>You... don't really understand it, but it feels right. She nuzzles into your chest, the smell of cotton candy wafting up from her poofy pink mane.
>You hug her back, wrestling with a small voice in your head. It's telling you something, but you don't know what.
>And right now, you don't really care.