"So, tell me again why we're here?"
"We're here for a seminar."
"Uh huh. And," the voice drew out the word, brow rising slightly, "You brought me along, because?"
"Because nopony else wanted to come."
"So you dragged me, a dragon, to a seminar about unicorn magic."
"Yep!" The unicorn grinned with the exclamation, walking through the flood of ponies inhabiting Canterlot's ivory streets. The sun peeked through the small clouds over the city, casting small shadows across the street, ponies using the shade whenever they could in the sweltering summer heat. "Oh, I can't wait! They're going to be showing off lots of advancements in magic and science!"
"AKA, lots of boring stuff." The dragon sitting on her back simply grumbled, placing his chin on his claw as the other drummed a knee. "Why didn't you just come alone?"
"Because, this is something you really should experience with somepony else. I thought you'd be excited? This is the kind of stuff that let me give you your moustache!" Twilight quirked her mouth and looked back, letting her body move on autopilot. She knew the city well enough to walk its numerous, winding roads without looking. Well, without looking much - she still had to avoid other ponies on the street.
"Yeah, I know. It's just, there's this really good book I was reading, and I wanted to get it done. Burn some time back home, you know? Enjoy the breeze and sun," Spike turned his eyes to the sky with a scowl, "Which doesn't seem to be shining right now."
"It won't take long, Spike, honest. C'mon, be excited! There's a lot of stuff going on in Vanhoover right now, and Stalliongrad's scientific community has made tons of advancements in unicorn magic!" Twilight added a spring to her step, bouncing much like her pink friend did back home, "Oh, I'm so excited! Did you know that real research into magic only started a century ago? And now we've got machines that run entirely off magic! It's amazing!"
"Yeah, yeah, real amazing..." Spike sighed, setting his chin back in his claw. The cobblestone below him seemed a lot more interesting than what was to come, and he knew exactly what was coming. A bunch of old stallions and mares spewing a bunch of nonsense and techno-babble that he'd never understand. "Can't wait."
Twilight groaned, quirking her mouth slightly, "Please Spike, at least act excited! For me?"
"Only for you, Twilight." Spike took a breath, gathering up all the excitement and wonder he could for the sciences and arts that made up only a piece of Equestria's culture, "Woohoo, we're going to see an awesome science convention."
I know somepony started crying somewhere from that monotone. Twilight sighed, losing the bounce in her step - luckily, too, her legs were starting to burn -, turning her eyes back to the street. She knew Canterlot like the back of her hoof, and a good two weeks of planning prior burned the path she needed to take into her mental map of the grandiose capital, and sure enough, there it was.
Standing tall and proud, much like the castle it tried to mimic, the Canterlot Theatre stood much taller than most of the buildings in the city. Its golden pillars were crafted to match Cloudsdale's architecture, holding up the massive vistas and decks of the upper floors, while its smooth, ivory walls reflected the sun's light like a gigantic mirror. Even the doors themselves seemed monolithic to the unicorn now approaching them. A huge crowd was assembled outside, made up of ponies from all classes, from the meagre countryponies of Dodge Junction, to the nobles of Canterlot, to the citygoers of Fillydelphia and Manehatten. Nopony seemed willing to miss out on Equestria's greatest showing of scientific and magical advancement. Even some Gryphon nobles had arrived to partake in the festivities, though it was more likely to scope out the competition, rather than invest more time than necessary in inspecting the country's culture.
Still, the massive variation in the crowd did little to tear the librarian's eyes from the gigantic, masterfully crafted oak doors, murals of silver drawn to show several of the greatest minds of her country's history: Starswirl The Bearded, Clover The Clever - most well known for her advancements in chemistry and alchemy, but, little known fact, she was also a published author -, Thornhoof The Far-Seeing - he was an interesting one, known as one of the very few ponies born with 'memorus eternus', a disorder that creates extremely clear memories for a pony. He could recite every word from every book he'd ever read, and the sheer fact that such a condition existed absorbed months of Twilight's research time, spent on the famous historian -, Sharp Angle - famed for his advances in mathematics and physics. A sharp stallion by any standard! -, and several other lesser figures decorated the massive doors. All heroes and heroines that Twilight strived to be in her own studies.
"Wow... it never ceases to amaze, this place." Twilight felt her smile only grow as the sun refracted off the polished walls and onto the crowd below, making it look more like the palace of the Gods, rather than a forum for academics and scientists.
"I'll give you that much, Twilight. I can never get over how they make this place look so shiny! It's like a gigantic diamond!" Twilight felt drool drip onto her back, making her skin crawl, "Mmmm... diamonds..."
"Spike, focus! And stop drooling on me!"
"Oh, uh, sorry! Appetite, and diamonds are rare. R-Right, so what're we here for?" Spike scratched one of his namesakes on the back of his head, the crowd's murmuring covering up their conversation.
"We're here for several subjects that I've taken particular interest in. There's talk that magic is really a universal formula that applies to all ponies, rather than just unicorns, and the theory is being presented to a lot of ponies of high-standing today. There's also lots of smaller projects, like flowers that grow in a few seconds, and the typical transformation spells that're supposed to make automatons from boulders and such." Twilight smiled, feeling quite excited, though the same expression wasn't present on her assistant's face as she looked at him. It was simply confusion, as if somepony just hit him in the face with a brick.
"Automa-whats?"
"Automatons. Right, sorry... they're like the robots you hear about in foals' stories. Automated machines that make decisions based on their own pre-written logic. It's an extension of the computers we have today that run arcade machines."
"Ohhh. So they're like giant video games?"
"Except they don't need interaction. It's all theory right now, but we should be able to have golems wandering around in the next, ohhh." Twilight tapped her chin in thought, "Twenty years or so?"
"That long, huh? Sheesh. It better be worth the wait!" Spike grumbled, climbing onto Twilight's head as he surveyed the crowd. "Huh, didn't think the Gryphons would show up."
"They participate in these shows as well. Glyph is one of the big showers of weather research, since their kingdom is kinda... well, under the weather, to put it lightly." The mare grimaced as her thoughts turned slightly, quickly casting away the current disasters the Gryphon kingdom was going through. Weather research was such a heavy field for them that pegasi were constantly interviewed and studied in order to reproduce their cloud control effect. It was a sad show, since Twilight had never heard any hint of success from all that research. A quick shake of the head cast away her dangerous thoughts, and her eyes turned back to the foot of the massive doors.
A loud creak from the monoliths stole the sound from the crowd, and all eyes turned to the crack in the gigantic brown walls. Three stallions walked out, all dressed in noble regalia and shining silver, proceeding to several prepared podiums at the top of the steps.
"Ahem! Er, testing..." The stallion at the center's voice boomed across the crowd, giving the microphone in front of him a few test taps. Megaphone technology had been extended into a rudimentary announcement system, but it was quite hard to set them up, and the fact that it was still in testing was heavily accented by the screeching from the speakers. "You can all hear me, yes?"
A set of nods rolled in from the crowd, returned by the stallion. "Very well. Welcome, esteemed guests, VIPs and passersby who have come to attend the Canterlot Science Convention. I am the organizer for this event, Grand Lane, and I am quite happy to see such a massive turn out! The sciences are extremely valuable to all the races and species on Gaia, from Glyph to the Dragon Nest Isles, and all our fair countries in between. Today, we hope to share with you some of our knowledge, advancements and technologies, and inspire a sense of curiosity and spirit of innovation in others who may have ideas of their own. So, I welcome you to our great convention, and I wish you all have a good time! Please, proceed through the lobby and receive your brochures, and food will be handed out at one. Have a pleasant day, everypony!"
"Oh, this is so cool! An address from one of the leaders in science, Grand Lane!" Twilight giggled and bounced along with the crowd, a dissatisfied grumble coming from the dragon on her head.
"Yeah, so cool. I wanna see those automa... auta... robots, though! Can we check those out first?"
"That depends on how the event's going to work. We have to follow the order they set out, or else it all goes to Chaos in a hoof basket."
"Aww!" The dragon whined, flopping onto his belly and chin resting on his friend's horn. "Everything else is gonna be so boring."
"Not at all, Spike. Trust me, there's gonna be a lot of cool stuff, things even Rainbow Dash would find interesting."
The two shared a laugh as they passed through the doors and into the lobby, one of the volunteers levitating a pair of brochures over to them. A quick flip through the pages revealed a number of interesting prospects: agriculture advancements, automaton research, programming in crystals, even mechanical advancements in industry - the fabled 'assembly line' was mentioned, something that had been in development for years, if Twilight remembered correctly -, as well as several smaller advancements in magic formulae and theory. But there was one subject that caught both the dragon and unicorn by surprise.
"Hey uh, Twilight. You see this thing here? Page three."
"Yeah, I'm looking at it... 'Foundation Spells'? Is this a new take on all the fundamentals we learn in school?" Twilight raised an eyebrow as the magnificent lobby passed her by, taken in by the thinning crowd with a set of 'oo's, 'ah's, and 'meh's. Massive red drapes hung from the ceiling like waterfalls, holding murals of numerous scientific achievements in Equestria's history, as well as a mistake or two - who couldn't forget those alchemical mistakes made by Clover's students? Still, they all contributed to the field, and a couple even became massive jumps in medical theory -, but the majority seemed to be conquered by Thornhoof and Clover, while a few were dedicated to Starswirl's research on the time stream and 'mana', the fuel source used by all unicorns.
A few even contained murals of the Princesses themselves, such as Princess Luna dwelling over a book and beakers, known to have created the first caustic acid ever in Equestria, and Princess Celestia creating a heat source through the combination of numerous catalysts and a spell, making a large exothermic reaction.
"I had no idea the Princesses were scientists, too," Spike mumbled, observing the numerous scenes drawn onto the crimson rivers, golden pillars and silver crossbeams holding them aloft. A gasp from Twilight turned his eyes away from the huge displays, down to her look of horror. "Twilight, what's wrong?"
"F-Foundation spells... this is research into eternal spellcasting!" She kept her voice down to a whisper, eyes darting around to anypony who might be hearing. She found a few who shared horrified looks with her, but her own remained thankfully unnoticed. "Spike, do you realize what that means?"
"It means spells that last forever. What's the big deal?"
A collective gasp and silence from the hall made Spike follow his friend's example, looking around the crowd now staring at him.
"Eheh... d-don't mind him, everypony, he's still tired. Babies sometimes speak out of turn when they're tired! Hehehe, um, bye!" A quick teleport took them away from the shocked ponies and mildly questioning gryphons, out into the relative safety of the doors. Behind the doors and out of sight, rather.
"Spike! How could you say that!? In front of a crowd, no less!" Twilight tried to aim her glare up at the dragon, but it did little more than constantly tilt her head back toward her spine. Owowowowow, don't do that...!
"Do what? Why're you so mad?" Spike's confusion only grew as he plopped onto Twilight's back, looking back into the hateful eyes of the mare.
"Do what? You just said a taboo in front of Canterlotian nobles, and a whole lot of very intelligent ponies! That's social suicide!"
"T-Taboo?! What'd I say?!" Spike clenched his teeth in terror; taboos were curses, hexes! Did he accidentally end up sending somepony to their doom!?
"Eternal spellcasting! You never say that, it's a cultural taboo!"
"W-Wait, why? It'd be really neat to have, wouldn't it?"
"It stomps all over the original theory of magic, that unicorns have a finite access to mana, and that mana regenerates as time passes. But this 'theory' is something entirely different, and it stands to send us all back to square one concerning magic research!" And though the challenge would be quite welcome - who would pass up the chance to do what Starswirl The Bearded once achieved? -, it would create such a huge ripple in the scientific community that debates would rage for years! Nothing would get done!
Spike recoiled under the librarian's verbal assault as his mind tried to find some kind of shelter, and found one in a question. It was a solution he'd used numerous times before: distraction!
"So, uh... what's the theory?"
Twilight's mouth opened and stalled, her eyes moving to the right in thought. The jaw slowly caught itself and closed, and her mind was sent off into a thoughtful state. Mission accomplished, passed through Spike's mind as he made a satisfied nod.
"I'm... not sure, actually." She went back to her brochure, checking through the times for each of the different presentations. "The 'Foundation' presentation starts in a while, so... maybe we should visit the castle, get some armor?"
"Why armor?"
"Because, once this presentation starts," Twilight's expression became grim as she looked back up at Spike, "I'm worried about what will happen."
"Woah... y-you don't think t-there'll be a riot?"
"A riot? No, not at all." Twilight giggled, shaking her head, "A riot in the world of science for sure, but it'll mostly be verbal. Don't worry."
Spike gave a sigh of relief, "So, what time is it?"
"Around eleven thirty. We've got two hours 'till Judgement Day, so why don't we go enjoy ourselves?" Maybe everypony will have forgotten about us... hopefully.
"Right on!" Spike hopped up onto Twilight's back, and the two carried on back into the massive theatre.
The day went by smoothly, with the mare and dragon only getting a worrisome look or two. The presentations rolled by one after the other, most simply putting Spike to sleep while Twilight looked on with barely-contained glee. Many of the projects that year had physical experiments to show off, from the fireworks spell being implemented in a physical medium, something that required much preparation and enough gems to nearly drive Spike into a frenzy, to agricultural marvels like vehicles that could till fields in only an hour, something that would make Applejack's jaw drop at how easy farming would become. Granted, everything was still in the experimental stages and wouldn't see market releases for another few years, but that didn't detract from the experience.
One of the more amazing presentations was the advent of the assembly line, something Twilight was very surprised to see. Though not because of the concept - no, something like this had been tried a few times in the past -, it was who was presenting it. Twilight tilted her head slightly as the two familiar voices boomed over the crowd, their sources standing up on the stage in one of the massive presentation centers.
The room had been built like one of the theaters in Manehatten or Cloudsdale, the seats being pushed up and back from the stage. Speakers were placed on the pillars separating the upper floor rooms from each other, providing everypony with a clear sound. And plenty of screeching.
"Welcome, everypony, to our presentation on how to make industrial processes an easier, faster thing!" The voice boomed over the crowd, the accent similar to somepony trying to sell you something fifty years ago.
"Right you are, brother! We are here to present the latest and greatest in factory innovation!" Another voice came over the sound system as the curtains opened to reveal a peculiar mechanism, one that screamed familiarity to Twilight. It was a long conveyor belt - not unlike the kind used in some quarries to the North - with several devices along its length. At the start was a box with a picture of a giant apple on the side, facing the crowd. The other end was an empty barrel, an expertly-drawn picture of a mug full of cider on its side. "Ladies and gentlecolts, we give to you an innovation that had struck us early on in our careers!"
Two stallions walked out from behind the curtains and up to the front of the stage, spotlights turning on and shining their rays down on them. They waved to the quiet crowd and stopped next to each other, their similar coats, clothes and manes simply too familiar to her. "Them again..." Twilight whispered, leering at the two stallions on the stage: the Flim Flam Brothers. 'Innovative' cheapskates who tried to take Sweet Apple Acres only a year ago, yet the memory burned fresh and fierce in her mind. Spike simply remained silent, but felt his own brow fall as he stared at them.
Guess I'm not falling asleep for this one... should be good to see how those cheaters dish this one out to us, he thought, scoffing as he folded his arms.
"Well, brother of mine, how about we explain how we came up with this brilliant invention of ours?" Flim nudged his brother in the side, grinning that trademark used-carriage-salespony grin of his.
"Will do, Flim! Ladies and gentlecolts, this idea of ours originated during our quest across Equestria to bring high-quality drink to its ponies. Town after town we traveled to, using old methods we'd learned during our foalhood. These involved the use of magic," Flam tapped his horn to emphasize, his mustache twitching a bit, "And our hooves. As you can guess, this was an extremely inefficient tactic, despite the quality drink it could produce."
Just like how that mare showed us up... Flim thought, grimacing a bit as his brother continued, quickly getting his grin back.
"We sought a way to make the process faster, easier, and most of all, safer. Our old method involved the use of high-intensity levitation magic to produce a crushing force on apples." Flam walked over to the crate and took out an apple to use as an example. "When it comes to the art of cider production, slow and strong is the way to win. You must extract the numerous nutrients and juice from the apple, and crush it down to such a fine liquid that it slips off the tongue like rain. An earth pony's hoof could easily manage this force, but most of the liquid would be lost. And when it comes to a unicorn..." Flam levitated the apple in his magic, walking over to the barrel. He leaned on it and shielded his eyes with a hoof as the apple started to shake in his magic. He winced with effort as he pressed down on the apple in his magic, and eventually, with a resounding CRUNCH, the apple exploded, showering the stage with bits of apple juice and fibers.
His brother wiped some of the shrapnel off his shoulder, showing a bit of annoyance in his expression.
"When it comes to a unicorn, our magic is not so tangible that we can contain the juices when we crush the apple. You may think that using a shield, or placing it in a surrounding cylinder would fix this problem, but what we want is absolute, one hundred percent juice extraction. It took a trip to Vanhoover's Civilian Science And Research center to find our answer, in a very interesting piece of Gryphon technology." Flam rejoined his brother at center stage, looking among the crowd for minute signs of interest. Luckily enough, most of the ponies were leaning forward, listening quite intently. "This piece of technology is a relic from Glyph's past, so we are afraid to say that we cannot show you it. However! It is the inspiration for this fine machine behind us, as well as the inspiration behind the core mechanisms of the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 7000."
"7000?" Twilight whispered, raising her eyebrow, "Wasn't it 6000 a year ago?"
"Probably some kinda upgrade," Spike whispered back, holding his glare on the two brothers. "They've always got a trick up their sleeves."
"Hm. I suppose so." Twilight straightened her posture a bit, looking over the crowd.
"We dubbed this large concept behind us, as well as the core mechanism of the SSCS7000... the high-speed, large-conveyance transit vehicle! Or, in an easier-to-say manner, the assembly line!" Flam said with a grin, looking to his brother.
"Continuing from where my brother left off, we found that the issue concerning efficiency of producing cider was not only in how we crushed the apples, but simply moving it and even storing it. We couldn't do this in a single machine, no matter how large, as the moving parts would simply be too much to program the logic for. So, instead, we took tips from the 'Hundred Claws' exhibit at the Science Center to produce this!" Flim walked to the assembly line machine behind him as he spoke, putting a hoof on a large lever next to it. With a hard shove, the room filled with the rumble of engines as the conveyor belt started to move. As it picked up speed, Flim continued, "So, just like the many blacksmithing shops of Manehatten, and even the gigantic 'Molten Circle' of Canterlot's royal artisans and craftsponies, we had to break up the steps!"
As the machine's belt reached its amazing high speed of a gentle crawl, an arm near the start of the line reached out and took an apple from the crate and brought it back to its body. Another arm joined it and lowered the apple into the body of the machine, where a very audible squelch echoed out over the rumble of the engines. Into a bowl, a very fibrous liquid was spewed, and the bowl was pushed out onto the belt.
"Following that logic, we threw together the rather simple construct of the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000. On this assembly line, you will see the usual pony process of creating cider, done entirely by machinery. First, the apple is crushed and spilled into a bowl, which then goes down the line," As he spoke, the bowl traveled down the line, and was taken up by another machine, which seemed to be not much more than a large sieve with an arm. The liquid was poured into it, and with a quick vibration from the body of the machine, a thin, yellow liquid was poured out into a second bowl. This bowl soon joined its brother's old footsteps and traveled down the line. "And is filtered out. That step was added after a few preliminary tests turned up a rather fibrous drink that certainly did not go down smoothly. Anyway, the third step we have is carbonation, as shown," Flim gestured to the third step, the bowl being taken off the line, another reaching over to it with a kind of nozzle device.
The two arms reached down into the body of the device, and with a quick fwish and a bit of rumbling - Twilight could only assume something inside the machine compressed the CO2 down, possibly magical with the mysterious glow coming from it -, and a mug of fizzy cider was pushed out of the machine and onto the belt. "And now we move to the final step, which is the application of a spice to give cider that iconic flavor, and it will be ready for consumption." The machine completed the procedure with a hose and a drill-like mechanism, spraying a thin cloud of powder onto the mug and mixing it all in. Before the mug could reach its destination, Flim took it by the handle off the belt and, likely so the delicious liquid wouldn't go to waste, took a sip from it. "We used this example as a concept had already been done and proven. This system could be applied to anything from a two-step process for the filling of ink pots, to extremely complex tasks with pony intervention, such as the creation of armor for the Royal Guard, or machinery for most cities around Equestria. It is quite a powerful technology, and one of many we have taken inspiration from Glyph to create. As it is, this is a very time-consuming process, and the proof of concept we have before you today is merely a prototype." Flim nodded to his brother, taking another sip from his mug.
"Quite right. We've taken merely the concept from the 'Hundred Claws' example, and will continue to strive toward building this just as efficiently as it can create many things for us. Ladies and gentlecolts, before you is the next step in industry, and we promise you that we will bring Equestria that next step further!" The brothers bowed to the crowd as their machine slowed to a stop. A round of applause suddenly filled the theatre, numerous patrons with a look of shock and awe on their faces. Even Spike stood and began clapping, the mare beside him preferring to sit and stare.
"Hmph." Twilight turned her eyes away, feeling particularly bothered by the whole display. Her voice was held down by the applause around her, "As if they really deserve all this praise."
"C'mon Twilight, that happened a long time ago." Spike sighed and sat back down, looking over at his friend. "Cheer up. They've got Equestria's best interests at heart."
"I just wish it was a pair of better ponies. Well, we aren't here for this anyway," Twilight looked over as she spoke, the applause calming down as everypony got up to leave, spilling out through the exit doors. "The big presentation is happening soon."
"Yeah. The big 'taboo' one... well, I'll say one thing about this, Twilight."
"Hm?"
Spike smiled, leaning back in his chair, "I'm glad you brought me along."
The time passed slowly for the pony and dragon as they went around, checking out the numerous displays at the convention. Ponies had set up smaller, hoof-sized versions of their projects to show in the main lobby of the building, which, to Twilight's shock, was nearly as big as Canterlot Castle's main hall. It was incredible, seeing the gigantic structure that seemed to tower over even the mountain it stood on. Pillars of gold-lined ivory and stone held the tall ceiling aloft, ending in a massive, glass dome that allowed the sun itself to light the room below. Twilight could almost pick out a design of stars on the glass, but it was too high up to see against the glare of the giant light beyond it.
"Ok, I'll admit. This building's pretty cool." Spike sounded rather defeated, even though his eyes zipped about in interest at all the projects. "Why didn't you bring me before?"
"Because of what you said when we first got here: you didn't wanna come. Science is pretty great though, isn't it?" Twilight grinned as she went from booth to booth, inspecting the numerous advancements that would reach Equestria's civilians and governments eventually. It was an interesting thing, Equestria's science community; the projects wouldn't really reach out to others for funding, given the existence of Canterlot's science convention. Instead, they would all vie for spots on its brochure, and put on the best presentation they could.
The monarchy had nobles act as 'scouts' for the convention, and they would find talented individuals with good ideas. If they found one that could benefit the country - the assembly line sprang to Twilight's mind, much to her chagrin -, they would bring the developers for an audience with the Princesses, who would disassemble their idea in their minds and decide if it deserved government funding. Stories were told of brilliant scientists being completely bowled over by just how specific Princess Celestia's questions could be, and how quickly she could rip apart an equation in her head to its base factors.
As such, many were quite afraid when a scout approached them, and as such, not many projects 'got their hooves into Celestia's purse', so to speak. Still, the ones that did turned out to be vastly important advancements in Equestria's trades, transit, industry and scientific endeavors. I still envy that brain of hers. Makes me wish I was immortal, too, just to find all the answers she has... Twilight entertained the idea of being a Princess herself, spending the rest of Time in library after library, simply reading and absorbing all the information she could. Maybe, one day, she could become that one scientist everypony feared to approach and impress, her word being either the final nail in a project's coffin, or the first step on its way to massive acclaim and praise.
A knock on the back of Twilight's head snapped her out of her trance, and she looked over to the dragon pulling on her mane. "Twilight, snap out of it! The presentation's about to start!"
"Oh, shoot! C'mon, we need the best seats in the house!" Despite the fact that this presentation could very well tear down everything everypony understood of magic, Twilight simply couldn't miss out on it. She sprinted off towards the stage room for the 'Foundations' presentation.
The place where everypony would bear witness to a new era of magic.
Wow. I figured this place would have... more ponies, actually. Twilight looked about the empty theatre as she sat down, seeing a number of empty seats. The place was deserted, completely devoid of life besides her and Spike.
"This is kinda scary," Spike mumbled as he scooted a little closer to Twilight, wrapping his arms around her foreleg. "We're not gonna get attacked or anything during this... right?"
"No, of course not. But it's like I said, Spike... this is taboo." Twilight turned her eyes to the stage, up at the red silk curtains that seemed to hide the magics of Tartarus. A deep sense of fear pervaded her being as she tried to picture what a taboo magic could do, what an eternal spell could actually perform. A permanent effect exuded on both the caster and the victim, neither able to escape its effects. Like a prison...
Like a horrific prison of the unicorn's own design. It sent chills down her spine as hoofsteps echoed behind the curtains, slow and deliberate like an approaching demon. Nothing accompanied the hoofbeats of three ponies... just the metronome 'click click click' of hooves against the polished wood of the stage. Her heart beat to the rhythm of the metronome as the curtains spread, revealing a picture she really didn't need at that point.
Two mares dressed in ceremonial clothing flanked a cloaked stallion, dressed much like the old legends of the Grim Reaper; all he was missing was his iconic scythe, and a pouch to contain the collected souls as he dragged them back to Tartarus. His hood stood over his head, though the shadow was not so intense as to hide his light blue coat and green eyes, staring back at the mare sitting in the front row.
"So, it seems we have two guests more than I was expecting," he chuckled, a thick voice and Manehatten accent crushing the silence of the room. "Welcome!"
"Uh, t-thank you..." Twilight whispered, simply leaning a little bit into her seat. Spike merely stayed silent, staring up at the imposing figure.
IT'S THE REAPER! Spike screamed in his head, shivering.
"I suppose that, since this is more a private conversation than a presentation, introductions are in order. My name is Nightlight, and these are my co-presenters and friends, Violet Sky and Sunset." The mares nodded as their names were said, creepily stone-faced stares aimed at Twilight. "I'm pleased that you would come to our presentation on this wrongly-supposed 'taboo' of a field."
"Y-You'll excuse me for having a reservation or two, Mr. Light... hehe." Twilight tried to keep her voice balanced, but it was clear she was at least a little unsettled by the stallion on stage. "The cloak is... um..."
"Ah, yes. This. I had to wear it on my way here, and you can understand what that must have been like in the summer heat. Mount Unicornia seems to get much worse heat than most other towns, wouldn't you agree?"
"Um, i-it's not really that bad. All the white i-in town tends to reflect the heat... makes it very nice to l-look at at night."
"Oh, I do agree. Ever been to the Skyline Hotel? I hear their top-floor suite gives a very nice view of the city, and they praise the sight of the moon's light upon the city. I have yet to see it, but I hope to sometime in my lifetime!" Nightlight smiled, the small talk helping to calm them both down slightly. Ohhh, I'm so nervous right now. Calm down, Nightlight, calm. You'll get through this, just remember all the research you've done for this. He gulped despite himself, taking a deep breath.
"Nightlight, shouldn't we be getting on with this?" Violet to his right said in a rather annoyed tone, looking over the empty theatre. "I figured there'd be more ponies. Didn't you say the place would be packed?"
"Of course he didn't, Violet!" Sunset leaned her head back to stare at the other mare, her tone octaves higher than the other, "He said 'we'd be lucky to get a lot of guests'!"
"Then what was the point of coming? We're wasting our time."
"We aren't, you two. I did say we'd be lucky, and I think Law decided to smile on us today."
Twilight's nervous disposition vanished with a perturbed expression on her face, "Wait... Law? I'm very sorry for what I'm about to say here, but why would Law 'smile down' on a field like this? It doesn't make sense."
"Ah, my dear, that's where you could be wrong. But I don't believe we're here to discuss the deeper parts of Equestria's religion, mm? I figure I've already committed a large enough taboo against the Birthrights by simply inventing this field." Nightlight showed a grin despite his heresy, quite happy that there wasn't a Guard presence at these conventions.
"I suppose so..." Twilight squinted her eyes slightly, staring up at the stallion. "So, since this is a conversation... my name is Twilight Sparkle."
And with that name, all manner of Nightlight's composure got flushed down the toilet. "U-Um, d-d-uh... ahem! D-D-You're T-Twilight Sparkle?"
Twilight blinked, surprised by the sudden stuttering. "Um... yes?"
"Oh, it is such a great honor to finally meet you, Miss Sparkle! I've heard so many stories about you and the other Elements!" Nightlight resisted the urge to leap off the stage and kiss her hoof, simultaneously begging for an autograph, "You and Rainbow Dash and Rarity and— ahem! I'm sorry, it's just... I get rather starstruck around celebrities."
"I didn't think we were that famous, Mr. Light." Twilight blushed a bit as Spike lost his grip, both feeling like they were next to something more pony-like than the visage of the Grim Reaper Nightlight had started as. "Thank you, though."
"It is my pleasure, really." Nightlight swept into a bow while his two companions simply looked to each other, giggling. "Anyway, I think I've delayed enough. You're here for the Foundations presentation, and I am your presenter, and co-inventor of the field, Nightlight. My partner was unable to come today, as he came down with a sudden illness. I assure you, it was completely unrelated to this field." He rose back up and cleared his throat, "First, I believe an explanation of the field is in order."
"C'mon Nightlight, let's just hurry up and show this off. I wanna go home." Violet looked over one of her hooves, a rather bored expression on her face.
"Violet, honestly. You're the most impatient pegasus I know, but even you can sit still while I do this." He glared at the aptly-named violet pegasus as her pink eyes turned away, giving a 'hmph' back to her co-worker. "Ugh..."
"Bit of trouble with the staff?" Twilight joked, calming herself down a bit.
"A bit. My apologies, Miss Sparkle. Ahem! Sunset, if you would."
"Right!" Sunset stepped forward with a smile, her puffy mane and tail reminding Twilight of a certain mare, though her mane was a distinct mix between charcoal and snow, and her coat was a lighter shade of the same color. "So, let's see. The science of Foundations, and its magic, started a while back. About three years, I think. Nightlight and his partner were trying to figure out a way for unicorns to contribute more to industry and construction, as our mana doesn't really last that long when handling heavy tools or doing menial tasks, and our bodies can't match the strength of an earth pony." She lifted her leg as emphasis, bending it, "So, they wanted to figure out a way to make mana last longer, without putting more strain on a unicorn through training their heads. What's the scientific term?"
"'Magus Coti', Sunset," Nightlight nodded as he spoke.
"Mana Containment is what it stands for." Twilight added.
"Thank you! Right, the 'mejes kotee'," Nightlight nearly broke his muzzle with his hoof at that, "Need significant amounts of training in order to hold more mana, right? But, what if we could make that mana simply last longer and do more work? That's how all this research started!"
"Thank you, ow... Sunset." Nightlight cleared his throat and stepped forward, Sunset moving back by Violet. "This research gave way to the 'Foundations' field of magic, a study into how mana itself could be extended and stretched out without much effort being placed on the unicorn. This study began as something concerning unicorns themselves; could we use the volatile nature of magic and change it, so we might extract more energy and power from it? This field went for about six months, laden with failure after failure. It wasn't long before the future of this field seemed bleak... until we happened across a breakthrough." Nightlight grinned at one of the greatest discoveries in his life, "It was during our study of the Aura Theory that we found what we needed. Miss Sparkle, you're an academic, if rumor speaks correctly. Might you tell us all what Aura Theory is?"
"I... suppose so." Twilight looked up toward the ceiling in thought, dredging up her memories of the study she'd had a long time ago - she was still in school at the time -, "Aura Theory is the study into earth pony and pegasus magic, and the suggestion that their magic is more instinctual, creating a permanent 'aura' around them that sustains their specific effects. They don't call on the magic at will like unicorns."
"Indeed, Miss Sparkle. But there's another fact to it. That fact was the environment itself," Nightlight began pacing across the stage, more as a nervous twitch than anything, "The environment - the entire country, in fact - has its own magical 'aura' that all ponies draw from to create their spells and effects."
Twilight followed the pacing with her eyes, nodding as she took in the new pieces of information.
"This aura is present in many things, and it's actually what we've started calling magic itself. So omni-present, yet we've never acknowledged its existence. Amazing, isn't it?" Nightlight's grin faded as he delved a bit deeper into his own knowledge on the subject, "Foundations actually pulls from this natural aura of the environment, in conjunction with a unicorn's own mana. Through this, a spell can be extended to last for a very long time... decades, if my partner's predictions are right."
Twilight's brow rose up at the figure, "That's incredible... but—" She was silenced by a raise of a hoof from Nightlight.
"I know. It's a taboo against the Birthrights, Reality specifically. She gave us magic so we might train ourselves to be better, not feed off the universe. But that is not what this field does. It assists the environment, and coaxes it into assisting us. We utilize the mana and aura of the environment in conjunction with our own, creating very long lasting spells... of course, this interaction requires something a bit more tangible than thought and mana," Nightlight placed a hoof on his cloak as he spoke, raising it to reveal his foreleg, the other still hidden by his sleeve. Twilight's eyes shot wide as she saw marks along his coat; black sigils drawn all over it by something like permanent marker, but its color was so sharp, despite the hairs in his coat. "This is how the Foundations field is experienced: sigils. Other names include 'symbols' and 'runes'."
"Wait, what?" Spike spoke up, raising his eyebrow, "You draw on yourself and do magic that way?"
"Ah, my friend, that's what it seems like, doesn't it? Not quite. This sigil here," He placed a hoof on a design that coiled around his leg like a snake, lines branching off in swirls. "Is simply one piece of the puzzle. This will pull in residual mana from the environment to fuel the main spell, which is located up here."
Nightlight lowered his hood, revealing what really was hidden by the shadow: black designs covered his face, lines moving down from his eyes and wrapping around his head like a miasma, numerous designs drawn all over like somepony coming from Zebrica's sacrificial age. His hoof rose and tapped a single sigil at the base of his horn, smirking, "This is the 'Foundation' sigil. The spell that I can use."
"That's... might we ask for a demonstration?" Twilight seemed locked on the numerous symbols on his face, looking over the details of each one. It was like an artist had done surrealist art on his coat, a statement of... something, at the very least.
"Of course, Miss Sparkle. Violet, if you would step forward, please?"
With an annoyed sigh, she stepped up beside Nightlight, ruffling her wings slightly under her clothes. Nightlight turned to face her and stepped back slightly, closing his eyes. Twilight felt a wind blow over her as his cloak billowed, the sigils glowing as his thoughts triggered the spell. She shivered as she watched Violet rise into the air, a black and white aura surrounding her.
"As you can see, this is the basic levitation spell that all unicorns learn," Nightlight sat down and turned back to Twilight, absolutely no signs of exertion on his face. "This spell would usually require a lot of concentration on the part of the spell caster, especially on another pony, but through the use of the 'Foundations' magic..." Violet started to fly about the theatre, lying on her back as she was carried on a gentle bed of magic, doing slow loops and barrel rolls through the air like a practiced routine. Twilight's jaw dropped at the display - the stallion was certainly right about concentration. Levitation was something she'd practiced for years during her teachings, so it was as natural as breathing to her, but ponies who didn't know as much as her had to focus so they could lift every part of a pony equally. The display before her put even her own skills to shame.
"That's incredible!" Twilight found herself pulling up on the back of her seat, watching Violet careen through the air effortlessly, as if the room itself was casting a spell on her. Twilight turned back to Nightlight and simply found him reading over a piece of paper; there wasn't even a single drop of sweat on his face. "This is... w-why hasn't anypony studied this before!?"
"The exact same reason nopony showed up to this presentation, Miss Sparkle." Nightlight placed the paper back under his cloak, smiling as his confidence finally built itself up, "It's a taboo, isn't it?"
"Well, yes, but if we could master magic like this... imagine all the things we could help the other races with!" She clamped a hoof over her mouth, suddenly feeling sick. What am I saying!? That's an affront to Reality! Abusing the environment like that... "I, uh..."
"Miss Sparkle, might I ask you a question?" The stallion's expression became serious as he looked at her, adjusting his cloak. Twilight turned to face him, sitting back down in her chair.
"Sure."
"Were this a true insult to Reality, don't you believe she would have struck me down?"
"No. Lady Reality doesn't run the universe like that. But..."
"I don't see this as an insult to the Gods, Miss Sparkle. I simply see this as another advancement in our society. We do not feed off the environment like greedy pigs trying to expand like a virus. We live in harmony with it, the exact same qualities that support our own society. We live in peace and understanding with the environment, and simply seek to become more a part of it."
Violet came back down with a gentle tap of her hooves beside Nightlight, and the blue glow of his sigils faded away with the aura's disappearance.
"I dunno..." Twilight quirked her mouth slightly. He does have a point... this kind of magic feeds off us just as much as the environment, and when we use magic, it's recycled by the natural aura of all the plantlife... according to Aura Theory, anyway. "It feeds off the mana of the air around us. Wouldn't that cause problems in the future?"
"Only if the spells become so demanding of magic that the unicorn runs the risk of falling into a coma, Miss Sparkle. The strain is divided between our own magic, and the magic of the air and life around us. Through my experiments over the last two years, we've only found a few spells that could used through this, but we have found a relationship: the sigils used in Foundations make up equations, the same equations used with spells. You simply need to reduce that equation to several symbols," Nightlight raised his hoof again, tapping the three symbols around his horn, "Race, Initials, and Spell. That's all you need to create the effect, and they're placed on the three main magus coti around the horn. All the other sigils you see on me were drawn as my research continued; they're all on numerous 'concentration' areas on my body where natural magic collects."
"Interesting. Can this field be extended to other ponies besides unicorns?" Twilight placed a hoof on her chin.
Nightlight shook his head as Sunset stared up at the door, mouthing out numbers to what was probably a math problem in her head, "Thus far, no, but that is one of our goals. Spreading magic to the other two races would give everypony the same advantage unicorns have, and it may even lead to new advancements in the country."
"But, don't you think that would cause an imbalance in the country? Everypony helps each other, and unicorns have magic to hold balance. What happens when we lose that advantage?"
"Miss Sparkle, have you ever really considered your magic an advantage over others, despite all of them using the exact same magic as you?"
Twilight opened her mouth to say something before her mind started off on the thought. "Well, in a lot of situations, sort of... magic makes things easier for us."
"Pegasi and earth ponies have their own methods to match us. Some pegasi have learned to move their wings in such ways that they act like hooves, holding and gripping objects. No where near as strong as their legs, but it's a method. Earth ponies have their dextrous mouths, tongues, and in some situations, tails, though it's mostly the first two alongside their hooves. We all have ways of making balance with the other races, be it through simplicity, intelligence, or usefulness to the country."
"Adding magic to the other two would simply make their lives easier." Twilight tapped her chin in thought, thinking of what it would be like for Pinkie and Rainbow Dash to have access to magic spells. A chill ran down her spine, seeing only incredible disasters on the horizon. "Well... it gives us enough time to figure out a balance. Hopefully."
"But think about it. A sigil drawn onto the chest of an earth pony would allow them to levitate their tools during work, or baskets during a harvest. A sigil drawn between a pegasus' wings might allow them to bring along special things that they can't carry with their hooves or mouths, or even support their wings in the case of an injury." Nightlight stopped his pacing at center stage, "This is an incredible movement on our hooves, Miss Sparkle."
"Yes... yes it is," Twilight mumbled, smiling slightly. "Is there a chance I could learn this as well?"
Nightlight recoiled in complete shock, "The Twilight Sparkle wants to learn from me!?"
"Of course. You're the expert here, after all."
The stallion started bouncing about the stage, grinning like a colt on Hearth's Warming Eve.
"Wow, lookit you, Light. Just can't get enough of teaching a celerity," Violet quirked her mouth as she turned to watch Nightlight bounce around her, her messy blonde tail spilling out from under her ceremonial garb.
"I'm really sorry, Miss Sparkle and... dragon. He gets really excited sometimes." Sunset offered an apologetic grin, the peace offering happily accepted by Twilight.
"It's alright, Miss Sunset. I'd be happy to learn from him." An opportunity to learn and grow was rarely sacrificed by Twilight, even when she was under the gun for an assignment.
Eventually, either through exhaustion or his own glee dying down, Nightlight stopped bouncing and stared at the floor. He grimaced a bit as he remembered what he had to do later on, moving back to center stage. "Curses... Miss Sparkle, I'm afraid I won't be able to teach you this."
"Huh? But you seemed so excited. Is there something else you have to do?"
"Yes, there is. I'm afraid I have to return to my partner in Manehatten and work out more of the kinks in this field. Believe me, if I had the time, I would gladly teach you, since I'm sure both of us would benefit from the research. However, if you'd like, give me two days and I can send you a compilation of our notes." Nightlight raised his brow as Twilight nodded, a giant grin on her face.
"I can wait! Oh, this is so exciting!"
"But I have one request. Well, two, actually."
"Anything."
Nightlight nodded, clearing his throat - he really needed to drink more water -, "Request one is that, if you discover anything new that may change the field, you write a letter compiling your notes and send it to me in Manehatten. In the compilation book, I will include a return address to which you may send your letters."
"Alright, that's not too hard. What's request number two?"
"I ask that you stay away from the more experimental sigils."
"Why is that?"
Twilight tilted her head slightly as Nightlight raised his hoof to his forehead, and with a swipe, wiped away the Foundation sigil. As if reacting to the loss of its base, the other sigils melted and fell off his body, the ink splattering to the stage below him. "What'd you just—"
"This sigil is a special one, a removable spell. The more experimental sigils are far more permanent, and cannot be removed. I'm worried that, if somepony saw you covered in ink like I was, you may run into trouble." A hint of remorse trickled into his words, the same shown through his expression. "Promise me this, please."
Twilight sighed, looking down at the floor. "I don't know. I can't control my curiosity sometimes, but... what if I don't let anypony see what I'm doing?"
"How so? These sigils can stack up pretty quickly, and become very difficult to hide."
"I have my ways, trust me. I promise that, if I don't find a way to hide the permanent sigils, I will stay away and assist you anyway I can with the ones that can be removed. Is... that agreeable?"
Twilight held her breath as Nightlight's eyes turned to the stage, Violet and Sunset looking to him with worried expressions. If she gets found out and this all comes back to me, a lot of ponies are going to be in danger. Can I trust her to keep this secret? If rumor's right, she knows the Princess... but she'd likely be the most harsh in her persecution. Is this safe to do? Not in the slightest, but Twilight Sparkle is the most brilliant pony in Equestria right now. If I did send my notes to her, she would blow this subject wide open... probably even cut the study time down by half. He looked back up at her, biting his lip slightly as he thought. The look on her face was near-heart breaking in its anticipation, and he gulped in the fear that he'd shatter her by saying no. Smartest pony in Equestria, a prodigy in magic research, and a curious mind that just can't be satisfied with one or two answers. She truly is the greatest asset I can get into this field... but what if somepony finds out? That's the only issue. Maybe...
"Miss Sparkle."
"Yes!?" Twilight shouted, quite a bit louder than she'd first intended.
"Mind stepping up onto the stage, please?" Nightlight gestured to his side. Twilight's horn quickly lit, and she vanished, reappearing next to the stallion. "Gah!"
"Sorry, sorry! Um, what do you need me to do?"
Nightlight calmed his hyperventilation as well as he could, staring at the celebrity beside him. He took a few steps back so he wouldn't pass out from simply being next to her and took a breath. "Alright. I'm going to place a levitation sigil on your forehead. I want to see how well you can hide it. Alright?"
"No problem!" Twilight smiled and stood with a proud stance, "I did study illusion during my free time."
"Then I'm sure this won't be difficult at all." Nightlight smirked, reaching under his cloak. "Now then, the application process of the sigil is not unlike getting a tattoo. I'm going to use levitation to inject ink just under the surface of your skin and 'bind' it to you. Simply put, this ink will bind to the magus coti under it, allowing you to open a path between the environment and your own mana. Now, hold still."
Twilight took a deep breath and stood stock still, gulping as to how the process would go. She'd never gotten a tattoo before, so would it be painful? What if she shook or twitched? Would the process be ruined? Would it all fall apart? Is my head gonna blow up?! Oh, I'm nervous! Darn it, Twilight's Brain!
"Done."
Twilight stared at the stallion with a look of disbelief.
"I'm not kidding. I've gotten quite good at this. Violet, your mirror, please?"
"K," Violet said as she reached under her dress, pulling out a small hoof mirror. She tossed it over to Nightlight who caught it in his magic, and held it in front of Twilight's face. Sure enough, on her forehead was a small sigil, one she recognized as the second figure used in the levitation incantation: a flipped 'U' with two dots next to each other inside the curve.
"So, Miss Sparkle. How does it feel?"
"Not... bad, actually." Twilight turned her head, looking at it from a few different angles. "I should've gotten a tattoo sooner. I like it!"
"Glad you do. Now, before I actually bind it, I'd like you to hide it."
Twilight nodded and squinted her eyes, focusing on the image in the mirror. Her aura wrapped around it, and after a few shimmers of the field, the sigil disappeared. Sweat began to roll down Twilight's forehead as she fought to maintain the spell, nearly growling with the effort.
"A cloaking spell?" Nightlight's brow rose as Twilight gave the spell up, the sigil reappearing like a fog had moved out of the way from it. "I'm very impressed, Miss Sparkle! Not many unicorns can bend light like that!"
"Trust me... it took... a lot of practice." Twilight took a few breaths to compose herself, before sitting back up. "Sorry, I can hold it a lot longer usually."
"No, that's quite alright. That will definitely work in tense situations, but you should probably find a more permanent way to hide it. Still, I'm happy with the effort... so, if you could just tell me where you'd like the notes sent, I will get on that task as soon as possible."
Twilight grinned, nodding, "Just send it to the Ponyville Post Office with 'To Twilight Sparkle' on it, and they'll send it my way. Thank you, Mr. Light."
"My pleasure, Miss Sparkle. I hope to see you again, and I'm quite excited to see your coming research." Nightlight returned the grin before surrounding the ink pool around him in his magic, dragging up the liquid and moving it up into his cloak, possibly into an ink pot under it. "Hopefully, we will meet again in the future?"
"I'd love to."
The two ponies shook hooves with each other, and, with the presentation finished, Nightlight and his companions left the stage. Twilight and Spike soaked in the silence of the theatre. Well, relative silence. As Twilight turned to the chairs, she found that Spike had fallen asleep. She sighed and shook her head, smiling a bit as she hopped off the stage and placed him on her back. The day was close to being done, but her focus was hooked on the next few days.
It was time to explore a new field of magic, and she couldn't be more excited.
"I'm sorry, you'd like me to what?" Rarity raised her eyebrow, blinking at the rather frazzled unicorn standing in her open doorway. She hadn't anticipated Twilight to come barreling by the boutique to ask her to become some test subject in a crazed project of hers.
"I'd like you to let me try some spells. I've been doing what studying I can, and I need a test subject for tomorrow's tests. Please, Rarity?" Twilight got down on her knees and put her hooves together, putting on her best puppy-dog face.
Rarity furrowed her brow at the unicorn before her, "No, Twilight! I'm not going to be part of some silly research project of yours. I'm sorry, but it just will not happen." The unicorn was adamant in her position, now becoming quite agitated. "You know how I feel about others using spells on me, especially if it's to do with an experiment."
"Um... I was hoping you'd make an exception? Please?" Twilight made as good a grin as she could, "For a friend?"
"Not even if you were about to pay me my shop's weight in diamonds, Twilight. And pick yourself up off the ground, dear," Rarity cupped Twilight's chin and pulled her up to a standing position, "Ladies do not grovel and beg. We use charm and reasoning in order to bargain and haggle."
"Right, sorry. Still... are you sure?"
"Very sure, dear. I don't want unicorns using magic on me, even if it is in a controlled environment. I am very sorry, but I simply will not accept this invitation." Rarity shook her head, a look of disappointment on her face, "Though, if there is any other way I can help, I would be glad to, believe me."
"Thanks, Rarity... I'll keep that in mind." Twilight hung her head with a sigh and turned away, walking down the steps from Carousel Boutique. She caught the scent of fused gems from inside; apparently, Rarity was trying out a new method for binding gems to her clothing, and it stunk up the place something fierce. "I'll see you later."
Rarity sighed, shaking her head, "Please, Twilight, pick yourself up. I'm sure somepony will be very happy to help you."
Twilight simply nodded before Rarity closed the door and returned to her work, leaving the librarian to continue her trek down the street. It's not like she didn't see this coming, but it was still a damper on her plans. Rarity making an exception... well, it was worth a shot. She nodded at the thought; it was, but Rarity really was the best bet she had. Her friend had one of the sharpest minds she'd seen in Ponyville, and her memory was top notch; she could've charged through Twilight's notes in a night, and known the details like the back of her hoof. All the safety procedures, all the cautionary footnotes, all the general facts. Darn it... doing this with Rarity would've made things so much easier. It's a lot less stuff I have to keep track of, and with an experimental field of magic, that's a good advantage.
Turning her eyes to the horizon, however, revealed another possible solution. The familiar gingerbread-look-alike walls of Ponyville's own bakery, and sure enough, the hot sauce lover herself held within. A light blinked on in Twilight's head, and her sorrow soon gave way to excitement. Of course! Who else has a better memory than Rarity? Pinkie Pie! She's a little irritating, sure, but her Pi— Her face froze as she stopped, brain completely stalled on the thought. ...The Sense That Shall Not Be Named. Yeah. With the disaster averted, her mind quickly rebooted and she quickly sped up into a sprint. Surely she'd help!
"Sorry, Twilight, can't do it!"
Twilight's jaw hit the floor as Pinkie sped around the kitchen. "B-But I didn't even ask yet!"
"I know, but I know it's going to be something, and that something isn't something I can do right now! Or tomorrow! Or the next day. Maybe Saturday?" Pinkie stopped in the middle of her sprinting, calmly resting a hoof on her chin as she balanced two bags of sugar on her back. "No, I've got a party then. Sunday's 'Planning Night', and Monday, I'm hanging out with Rainbow Dash. Sorry, Twilight, I'm all booked up!" She went back to her sprinting, Twilight hearing small gigglesnorts between the hoofsteps. "Hehehe, 'booked'... maybe if I asked you to redo my schedule, I'd have time!"
Such an act is suicidal at best, and end-of-the-world bad at worst. Twilight shuddered at the thought of balancing Pinkie's schedule; the mare was all over the place, constantly making plans with others and reorganizing everything in the hurricane of her own head. What sense could Twilight possibly make of it? "I'd like the challenge, but I don't think I'd h-have enough time. Maybe later."
"That's alright, I can do it! And I am sorry about having to miss out on this, Twilight. What exactly did you wanna ask me, though?" Pinkie's voice was becoming harder to track as the pink mare tended to treat after treat, restocking the shelves out front, playing 'chatty clerk' with the customers, and bringing things up from the basement.
Twilight simply sat down amidst the chaos and listened for her voice, speaking as calmly as she could. "I wanted to ask you if you wanted to help me with an experiment."
"Oh, an experiment? How exciting!" Pinkie's voice seemed to bounce off the walls as she, hopefully, neared her top speed. "What is it? Changing chocolate sauce to hot sauce? Changing colors? Camouflage? Oh, turning invisible! That would be so cool! I could surprise Rainbow Dash with that by sneaking up behind her while invisible and going BOO!"
"GAH!" Twilight screeched, turning to her left. What use did Pinkie have for invisibility? She moved fast enough to simulate the effect! Sure enough, the air next to her was empty, but she was more sure of that air being the source of the 'boo'.
"Sorry! Still, what's the experiment?"
"I'm just testing spells on ponies..."
"Oh. But why do you need me for that? Can't you ask Rarity?"
"I did, Pinkie. I could really use—"
"What about Fluttershy?"
"I can't ask he—"
"Lyra?"
"She's got other things to wo—"
"Bon Bon!"
"Pinkie!"
"I was just about to say her name! Wait, that's me!" A gigglesnort quickly followed the realization, Twilight responding with a simple sigh. The librarian was beat with simply communicating with her friend, and though the scent of baked treats begged her to stay, her need to find some form of reliable test subject was too demanding. "Sorry, Twilight, but I'm sure somepony'll help you!"
Gotta be somepony out there... the problem's just finding them. With a shake of her head and a farewell that she hoped was more cheery than she felt, Twilight headed out of the bakery and back into the afternoon sun. A few clouds drifted by overhead as her eyes picked out images in them; a ball here, a bird there. Clouds were strange things, puffy marble that the wind would carve into recognizable shapes, smashing them together or pulling them apart to suit its design. Funny, how something so random could create such sharp shapes. Twilight smirked at the thought; even random occurrences could seem to follow some greater picture. Sort of like the Pi— no, no, don't lock up, brain! Don't lock up!
After a minute or so of internal panic, Twilight brought herself back under control and continued her trek through Ponyville. The clouds above did give her something more than white shapes in the sky to look at, a certain pony claiming to be the fastest flyer in Equestria. She's not the most ideal subject, oh no. But the thing about those safety protocols is that they can all be tracked by me... but what would happen if both me and my subject made a mistake? Rainbow's body is one of the toughest I've ever seen. She'd survive disasters that would otherwise reduce a pony to a puddle of muck! Perfect for my levitation experiments, and generally if anything goes wrong. Twilight's brow fell slightly in surprise, "Wow, look who became Little Miss Doomsayer. Anyway, where would she be?" She whispered, searching the sky.
How would somepony pick out a sky-blue object moving so fast, though? The only remarkable part of Rainbow Dash was her namesake mane and tail, as the rest of her just blended in with the clear sky. Sky-blue body on a pegasus who wants to be noticed by the world. How ironic. She giggled slightly at the thought, and picked up the pace. Well, first choice is obvious. Her house... or would it be a fortress? With a mental shrug, she ran down the street, straight for the edge of town where the famous cloud house hovered, and hopefully, where the famous pony herself would be.
"No go, Twilight."
The hunt was relatively easy. Rainbow was sat on a cloud near the ground under her house. Convincing her to be a test subject, however, was harder than Twilight's entrance exam into Celestia's School For Gifted Unicorns. The red on her face built from pure frustration was a good notice.
Twilight took a few calming breaths; at least she was able to actually ask Rainbow the proper question before being turned down. "Why not, Rainbow Dash?"
"Because." The pegasus simply shrugged, lounging on the cloud. "I don't feel like being 'experimented' on."
"But you're the best choice I could make with this!" Third best. Maybe fourth. Don't say that, she'll just fly off.
"Sorry, Twi'. Being studied just kinda bugs me, it's like a really excited fan watching my stunts and trying to do them on their own." She shuddered, wings fluttering out in a twitch.
"But..."
"Sorry, Twilight. I'll help with something else if you want, but I don't wanna be poked and prodded by a million different machines with some crazy magic stuff going on."
Twilight's eye twitched a bit.
"You alright?" Rainbow tilted her head slightly, staring at the decaying mane on Twilight's head as random hairs started to spring up.
"Just fine." Was all Twilight could say, while internally, her mind was going wacko with assumptions and guesses. Who was left for her to ask, and would they turn her down, too? Need a contingency plan, a Plan C, D, E, F, G, H, and everything else up to ninety-nine. Ponies to ask, um... Lyra, Bon Bon, Thunderlane, Roseluck, Daisy, Lily, Aloe and Lotus, who else? Princess Celestia! Yeah, she'll *definitely** not tie me to a tree over trying to learn about a taboo field of magic! Ugh. Think about it later, I've still got Fluttershy and Applejack to ask.* She hung her head at the thought of the two last friends she had to ask. I'm doomed.
Rainbow simply raised her eyebrow at the sight of her quickly-about-to-cry friend. "Maybe you should just head home for the day, Twilight. You look burnt out."
"No, no, I'm fine! Honest. Just, heh, need to ask somepony else. Sorry for bothering you, Rainbow!" With a grin and an about-face that would impress most soldiers, Twilight raced off before her mind broke out of its binds, leaving a slightly confused pegasus behind.
Eh, it's her typical weird self. Rainbow shrugged and grabbed her cloud, giving her wings a few hard flaps to bring it up to a higher altitude. A nap seemed like a pretty good thing to do, and she wasn't going to miss an opportunity to saw a few logs!
"Right, Rainbow Dash turned me down, Rarity doesn't like magic, and Pinkie's got planning. Who else? Fluttershy and Applejack, of course!" The pony racing through town was down to her last two options before she had to make do with anypony she could ask. The last two ponies who could make any kind of competent research subject for a field she didn't want anyone to know about until it was time. The shy pony, and the stubborn pony.
Yep, so doomed. May as well go with the obvious choice first! There's no way Fluttershy would let me down! No chance at all, right? *Right!?*** She shouted in her head, trying to convince herself that there was still a chance for success in her dilemma. An image of Spike flashed in her mind for just a moment, but she quickly swept that away. Dragons and unicorn magic really didn't mix sometimes, something that was proven when she used teleportation to get away from a particularly rowdy group of ponies. If I hear the words 'Grand Galloping Gala' within the next three hundred years, I think I might hurt myself. Anyway, focus! To Fluttershy's cottage!
And with a few sparks from her horn, Twilight vanished from existence, her target clear and her experiment's success assured. There was no way she could fail now!
"I can't do it, Twilight!" Fluttershy squeaked from... somewhere in her house, Twilight looking around the living room of the cottage. Even the animals seemed to have abandoned ship, the whole place devoid of any sound beyond Fluttershy's panting as she hid in whatever hiding place she could fit her slender body into.
"You've gotta be kidding me," Twilight moaned, moving around the cottage to try and find her friend. "Fluttershy, please!"
"I can't, Twilight! What if you turn me into a cactus? Or accidentally turn me a different color? I don't want to become a plant!" The rustling of feathers and the sound of something falling over was Twilight's only notice of her friend moving to some new hiding spot.
"I promise I won't turn you a different color, and you have no idea how hard it is to turn somepony into a cactus! That needs way more magic and a lot more time than I'd have!" Twilight groaned, frustration only building in her mind like two rock shelves pushing up against each other, just waiting to release a horrific earthquake.
"I know, but it's still possible. I don't like that possibility!" Another squeak from the gentle pegasus. At least it was helping to quell Twilight's frustration, which only built right back up with Fluttershy's constant fear of turning into some kind of plant life.
She really doesn't know how much magic was used to turn my parents into potted plants ten years ago, does she? Twilight tilted her mouth up at the side, sighing. "Fluttershy, I'm being honest here. I swear on my life that I won't put you in any danger. I only wanna try a few simple spells!"
"How simple...?" Fluttershy whispered.
She's nearby, that's good. Twilight sat down on the floor in the middle of the room, staring at the hint of a pink tail sticking out from behind her friend's couch. Not really the most effective hiding spot with that blasted bunny sitting on top of it, staring over the back at his host. Petkeeper? Master? Does that rabbit even *know** about the terms used in a pet/owner relationship?* Twilight quickly shook off the conundrum, I can think about that later. "Very simple, Fluttershy. Just some levitation, maybe a few simple muscle spells, a transformation or two..."
"Transformation? I-I'm perfectly happy being a pegasus, thank you!" The tail vanished from behind the couch, and Angel fell right off the couch from a gust of wind, a flash of yellow and pink flying up the stairs. This was quickly followed by the slamming of a door, and the end of Twilight's conversation.
From the red on her face and her lowered brow, she wasn't very happy.
"I'm sorry, Twilight! I don't like the idea of magic being used on me, it's something I can't stop on my own!" Fluttershy was reaching new volumes with her 'shouting', which amounted to not much louder than a typical speaking voice. Twilight simply sighed and hung her head, staring up at the rabbit sitting on his head by the couch.
Note to self, ask Rainbow to teach Fluttershy about confidence. It may just save my sanity. Angel and Twilight shared a groan, the mare getting up and heading over to the front door.
"I'm sure somepony will help you though!" Fluttershy called out from a crack in her open bedroom door. "I'm very sorry!"
"It's alright, Fluttershy, honest. Somepony will help me out, I know it. Thanks!" Twilight showed herself out, waving to the bedroom door, or what she could see of it, before heading on down the path. Angel gave a single wave and a gruff sigh before closing the door behind Twilight, off to do whatever rabbits did in their free time.
Yeah, if I find anypony else. Rainbow Dash turned me down almost immediately, she locked herself in her room, absolutely terrified of the idea, and Rarity doesn't like magic being used on her. Pinkie's busy with party planning, too... She sighed, feeling defeated. It was only a day after the presentations - her sigil had been removed by Nightlight, thanks to a quick memory and a very fast teleport to catch up with him -, and she was frantically trying to find a test subject she could trust. A pony that wouldn't feel at all awkward being relentlessly studied while she tried a number of possibly dangerous and taboo'd spells on them. Nothing wrong at all.
Just finding that one pony in a town was impossible.
"And I really doubt AJ would want any part in this." Twilight raised her head slightly, looking off to the hill covered in apple trees: Sweet Apple Acres. It really wasn't all that far from Fluttershy's cottage, the barn's roof easily in sight from the top of the walk. "Why would she let me do this?" She mumbled, tilting her mouth slightly. She's really tough, sure, but still. Why would she help somepony like me when she's got the farm to look after? Twilight chuckled to herself as she walked down the path, passing by the short trees and bushes, yet not really going anywhere in particular. The big, strong mare helping out the egghead with her big science project. Should've expected the same thing from Rainbow, really... hm. Is it worth a shot? Ponies walked by her once she crossed the threshold into town, aiming concerned glances at the crestfallen unicorn, but thankfully not prying as they carried on with their own days.
She considered the option and looked up, finding herself at the path leading up to the farm. Well, lucky me. Now I don't have to walk across half the town like I was already doing. Convenient. Her eyes turned up the hill and over the crest, trying to see the farmstead through the hill. "Well, hopefully AJ accepts my invitation."
The trip was quiet through the orchard, dirt and dust being her companions beside her shadow. The breeze carried a strange quiet with it, Twilight's mind slowly rolling in the silence. What do I do if she turns me down? Ask Spike and possibly tire myself out trying to use magic on him? Or ask somepony else...? No, this kind of thing would spread like wildfire. She sighed; her last chance was held within the expanse of the apple trees around her.
The hefty 'THUD' of nearby trees distracted her thoughts, a grumble leaving her mouth as she was thrown out of her train of thought, unpleasant as it was. Just ahead stood the tall barn of Sweet Apple Acres, the landmark of an entire farm. Weird how a building marks a farm, but there's this giant orchard systematically planted around it.
