Who is talking!

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Well...a shorter chapter....I wasn't planning on making this chapter be like this...It was actually supposed to be about Nightmare Night, but as I started writing a small scene before the event, said scene grew into the length of a whole chapter and it turned out better than I expected. Not much progress Story-wise but I hope you like it anyway and like always EEEENJOY!!!

//

His Hooves quietly clopped over the clean glossy surface of the corridor as Starfall ventured deeper into the Lab. His destination clear in his mind.

The sounds of screeching metal and hammer strikes could be heard in the direction of a chamber he just passed, Twilight and Applejack working hard on rebuilding the Portal prototypes...

With Applejack's experience in construction work, and their close relationship, Twilight decided to ask the orange mare for help in recreating the initial parts of the portals and Applejack obviously was more than happy to lend her a hoof.

But Starfall's destination was deeper in the Lab...

Soon his eyes focused on the words etched into the doorframe he approached.

*M-Tech lab-7*

The light above the doors indicated that somepony was present inside, but there was no ongoing danger. Unsurprising considering the nature of the research and it's researcher.

Without preamble, the unicorn passed through the magical sliding doors and looked inside, noting the familiar sight of multiple scattered notes and mechanical parts mixed with gemstones and unfinished runic contraptions.

Starfall looked at the only other Stallion in the room, who was currently observing a blackboard filled to the brim with different notes, equations and magic formations, very deep in concentration.

Starfall recognised most of the formations, having been the one to do most of the magical side of the work, but he still found some interesting changes that Whooves accomplished during the time of his absence, to better accommodate magic into technology that brown coated Stallion was an expert of.

He didn't call out to him, not wanting to disrupt his concentration, but instead opted to join him In reading through the new notes he created.

While he wasn't that good at the mechanical side of things, he was quickly learning more from Whooves whenever he could, so it didn't took him long to understand the new additions into their research... Although he noticed a small and simple error in one of the equations which was most likely why Whooves was was so focused on the entirety of the blackboard...

"You wrote a four instead of seven in the energy conversion outcome." He said slightly startling Whooves, who without even turning towards Starfall, looked straight towards the error before exclaiming.

"Ah! There it is! I was staring at this Blackboard for the last 20 minutes. I thought I made an error in the measurements but here it is, so simple!" He said while moving over a ladder and very quickly correcting the blackboard using the chalk strapped to his Right hoof.

"Yes...Yes! Now it all works out! Thank you my friend!" Whooves said finally turning to Starfall.

"No problem Whooves. It's our joint project after all...So how is the progress?" He asked, already more or less understanding the recent advancements.

"Ah! I believe I optimised the matrix to accommodate the signal conversion. The theoretical size of the device had been reduced from a house sized to only a room sized, or at least that's my hope at the moment. It's not yet viable for a working prototype regretfully." Explained the Stallion receiving a nod from Starfall.

"It's alright. I'm happy with your progress. I have some free time though, so how about we try and make the project even more compact together?" Starfall asked getting a smile from his friend.

"Dandy! Let's get to work!" Dr Whooves said in excitement before his expression slightly dimmed.

"Ah...But don't you need to get ready for tomorrow's Nightmare Night? I heard you invited the 'Pink Twins' to join you during the celebration. Mind sharing the story behind it?" Whooves said giving Starfall a knowing look at the last part.

"Aha..ha... Well it's not exactly like that.." Starfall laughed a bit sheepishly while scratching the back of his head.

"And? How is it then?" Whooves said with a grin.

"Well...It's not a secret that I'm in relationship with Pinkie Pie. But when it comes to Pinkamena, the situation gets a bit more complicated..." Starfall said piquing the other Stallion's interest.

"How so?" He asked now truly interested. There were rumours about Pinkie's newest Twin sister and he had his suspicions regarding her and a certain project of Starfall, but so far everypony who knew more about the mare, kept their muzzles shut.

"... Could you promise not to talk about it with other ponies?...It's not really that serious but I fear she would be seen differently if everypony knew how she came to be..." Starfall said opting to avoid spreading such knowledge among the general populace.

Despite Ponies being surprisingly understanding towards other races and eachother, clones were a bit of a sour topic because of the real threat of Changelings replacing your loved ones, who were practically like the boogeyman of Equestria...

The appearance of Midnight Moon had been explained as an outcome of an unexpected magical accident, But Pinkamena was a bit more problematic, being an almost identical copy of Pinkie, and Starfall hoped that the topic would just die down on its own with time...

"Of course I won't. You have no need to worry Starfall." Whooves reassured him genuinely while placing a hoof on his shoulder, and Starfall couldn't help but feel warmth in his chest.

It felt nice to have a close friend to whom you could speak without worry.

Starfall didn't even realize that a fragment of his Cutie Mark glowed, but he certainly noticed the Magic of Friendship inside of him that stirred to life for a few moments when Whooves touched his shoulder.

Funnily enough, this Magic spreads like some kind of disease, but one, that you needed to nurture so that it could survive and grow even stronger...And for all intents and purposes the more of it was there the better for everyone so maybe a symbiotic relationship fitted the magic of Friendship better... But let's not dwell on this topic for any longer as it is not relevant at the moment...

"Well...It all went like this..."He started, soon explaining to Whooves the entire situation with Pinkamena, Midnight, and Daybreaker...

Dr Whooves knew a good chunk of the story, having been in the area when many of the events happend, but he still missed a few important elements.

"...Damn. That's certainly a hell of a story... though It still didn't answer my original question." He said with an amused grin.

"Huh?..." Starfall wasn't sure what he meant.

Whooves rolled his eyes.

"Don't you need to get ready for tomorrow?" He asked and Starfall finally understood before laughing.

"Ah! That's what you're all about...Nah Nightmare Night starts in the evening so I'd have the entire tomorrow to get ready. And as for me taking 'The Twins' for a walk...Well I do plan to spend the night with the two, but Pinkie is a candy fanatic Extraordinare. I doubt she would sacrifice her treats for a romantic date..." He said with a hint of amusement in his voice.

"And what about Meena?" Asked Whooves, eliciting a shrug from Starfall.

"To be frank...I have no idea. Haha!" Starfall laughed. "In truth, she is a bit of an unknown, having all the memories of Pinkie but with a totally different personality. I'm not really sure what she likes and dislikes and I'm actually looking forward to getting to know her better... And yeah... it's true. I indeed invited both of them for the celebration. I guess we'll just have to see how it goes."He explained before turning towards Whooves with a sly smile.

"But what about you Whoovy? Any pretty mare caught your eye recently?" He asked causing the other Stallion to suddenly get flustered.

"I-I am a Stallion of science! Such topic don't come in front of the duty I have to the future of Ponykind!..." He said with a huff while his cheeks turned red, amusing Starfall immensely.

He looked at Whooves with the look that clearly said he didn't believe him, and Whooves' resolve quickly crumbled.

"Well...Uh...There might be somepony...But I...I never really had the courage to even speak with her, and....Uh..." Whooves finally blurted out, making Starfall grin at his friends predicament.

"Now that I need to hear!.." Starfall said, pulling out a bottle of Cider out of a small fridge in the corner of the room and pulling the confused Stallion towards a nearby couch. Praise be the practically and neatly furnished Laboratory...

Soon enough, the duo were engaged in conversation, Starfall during his utmost to pry the details of Whooves' infatuation with a certain clumsy post mare, the Research they were supposed to do, all but forgotten, but neither of them cared.

A small delay was nothing if it meant they could spend an evening with their best friend...