The murmuring conversations and excited gasps of the campus drew into a distant hush as Rainbow Dash ascended. She stopped at the second and third story of several buildings, flying from one window to another, careful to duck outstretched oak tree branches.
Twilight quivered, floating after Rainbow Dash in an awkward fetal position. She curiously eyed the pegasus as she blurred from one window frame to another.
Rainbow's eyes squinted. She peered through several sheets of glass, staring in on random classrooms where students sat in ampitheatrical arrangements of chairs, facing the front of their respective chamber. The windows flashed before Rainbow's eyes like camera shutters, each featuring a differently aged professor. At last, Rainbow stumbled upon a particularly small and dusty classroom where the teacher was gesturing towards a dark chalkboard full of convoluted math equations.
With a determined scowl, Rainbow Dash perched on the edge of the rooftop and gripped the bottom of the windowpane with both forelimbs, tugging upwards.
“So then...” An old earth pony with a red-tinted brown mane strolled before the attentive youngsters. Lifting a piece of chalk in his hoof, he proceeded to slather several complex figures across a dark chalkboard. “...as we covered in the last lecture, within an RLC circuit, the inductor provides momentum, the resistor dissipates energy, and the capacitor—”
Clank!
All eyes flew towards the window. Several ponies gasped. Stallions gawked while mares covered their muzzles in shock.
The professor spun about. “Good heavens!” He dropped his chalk with alarm.
“… … …” Rainbow Dash glared into the room. One hoof at a time, she squeezed through the window, stumbling slightly. Not long after, Twilight Sparkle floated through the wall of the building with a faint lavender glow.
“Uhm... can I help you, young lady?” The professor remarked. His graying features hardened into an authoritarian frown. “I don't know if you've noticed, but I happen to have a class in session at the moment.”
Rainbow stared at him... then past him. All eyes fell on her lithe figure as she shuffled across the very front of the class, her hooves making tiny echoes against the dusty tile floor.
“Wait one second...” The professor's jaw dropped. “Did... did you just fly up here?”
“Oooooh...” Twilight suddenly cooed, her violet eyes a-sparkle. “Diffey Q...”
Rainbow's hooves scuffled to a stop. She swiveled one hundred and eighty degrees, making the Professor lean back and the students flinch in their seats at the same time. With a dull expression, Rainbow reached down, grabbed the dropped piece of chalk off the floor in the crook of her hoof, and stood before the chalkboard.
She faced the professor. “Give me a problem.”
“Erm...” The professor brushed his reddish-brown bangs back. “What was that?”
“Is this a classroom or isn't it?” Rainbow grumbled. “Gimme a math problem to solve.”
“Uhhhh...”
“And make it super... super eggheady.”
The students exchanged glances. A few of them giggled breathily.
The professor took a deep breath. “By all means, child...” A sly grin crossed his muzzle. “If you insist.” He leaned back, gestured towards the chalkboard, and said: “Determine the motion equations of this underdamped linear spring-mass system.”
Instantly, Twilight cooed. “Oooh! Is that all?” A flicker of pastel euphoria rippled across her dimples. “Celestia had me doing those before I learned to levitate books!”
“… … …” Rainbow Dash faced the chalkboard. She stood there, doing nothing—until the blue ear closer to Twilight Sparkle twitched.
Twilight blinked. “Oh! Uhm...” She paced in a tiny circle, occasionally phasing through the professor's desk in the corner of the room. “Well, the equation of the motion is in the form of a second order linear differential equation. The second derivative of the displacement x, plus twice the damping ratio zeta times the undamped resonant frequency omega times the derivative of x... mmmm... plus the square of omega times x, is equal to zero! Granted, this is the complimentary solution, assuming no forcing after the initial displacement.”
Rainbow stood in place, fidgeting.
The professor stared at her, eyebrow arched. A few ponies in the classroom coughed.
Twilight rambled on, tapping her fuzzy chin in thought. “Well, since he told us the system is underdamped, we know the damping ratio has two complex conjugate poles. And since this has both real and imaginary components, the solution has to have components of both sine and cosine. Both terms—of course—are functions of time multiplied by the natural frequency omega-sub-n, which—by the way—is the root of the differences of the squares of the undamped resonant frequency and the damping coefficient...”
“Rrrrrgh...” Rainbow hissed through clenched teeth.
Twilight Sparkle blinked the pegasus' way. Her ears drooped. “Oh. Uhm...” Clearing her throat, she trotted up to the chalkboard and gestured with her hoof, murmuring in a meek voice: “Draw an 'x' followed by a 't' in parentheses...”
Rainbow Dash tapped the board with her chalk, sketching each figure as Twilight expressed them.
“Then an equal sign, followed by an arbitrary constant—”
Rainbow stopped in mid-stroke, glaring straight forward.
Twilight bit her lip. “Erm... an upper case letter 'K.'”
Rainbow resumed, swiftly sketching it out.
“Follow it immediately by the subscript number 'one'... or j-just a tiny '1' just below and to the right of 'K', and to the upper right of that is a lower-case letter 'e' on the same level as 'K'...”
Rainbow speedily drew the equation out. The professor gawked, his muzzle hanging more and more agape. The students sat up in their chairs, craning their necks to see.
At last, after a full minute of tap-tap-tapping the board with chalk, Rainbow Dash came to a stop, dropping the instrument altogether with a powdery clatter. She twirled to face the professor, pointing at a full equation on the board:
“Is that it?” Rainbow Dash grumbled.
The professor stared, dumbfounded.
Rainbow leaned forward, her brow furrowed. “Hello? Is that it? Is that the solution to your underdiaper line dance mass thingy?”
“Why... yes!” The professor nodded, wide-eyed and impressed. “Yes indeed!”
“… … …” Rainbow gaped at him. “… … … I don't know math!”
The professor grimaced.
Rainbow swiveled towards the students.
They all fidgeted in their seats, staring curiously at the mare.
Rainbow blinked. Then, turning on a dime, she trotted straight through Twilight, burst through the door, and marched down the nearest flight of stairs.
“Eeep!” Twilight Sparkle yelped as she rolled after the pegasus on the end of her lavender tether.
The past is a ghost, the future a dream, and all we ever have is now.
Those are some mighty uncreative numbers you got there.
TwiTwi. . .
I was wondering why this one. . . then I read the last part. Convoluted math indeed. I hope Twilight will be happier.
You and me. . . you and me.
Hap. . . I should of known.
Dash cannot deny that Twilight is real. At all. Or is it ?
-Spirit
Is this the new symbol, then?
Why
Yep. Certifiably not a hallucination, Paint Bucket.
Ok I was really starting to question what exactly she was doing; but it looks like Rainbow Dash is trying to figure out if it really is Twilight following her or if its all in her head, or something to that effect.
It just goes to show, doesn't it?
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5804008
Have fun making an HD version, Swan Song!
*cackles wildly in the distance*
Ohoho! Dashie is getting maddie! I think I need more whiskey. Feels are incoming!
26 viewers.
We were all watching and waiting, weren't we.
Was I the only one refreshing IC's page to make sure he hadn't come online yet?
And I still missed first! Damn!
5804009 Still doesn't mean its actually Twilight though.
That was *REALLY SMART* of RD to come up with that plan under pressure like that.
I've got a better answer.
*ahem*
42
*mathboner*
I gotta give Rainbow Dash credit here, that's certainly one way to prove if something is a hallucination or the real thing.
5804013 Whether Twilight was real and not made up.
I'm now rather confuzzled with sadness that they really did die, and happiness that Twi is real.
Please just talk to her already so I can start shipping you two Sun damn it
Math? I just woke up, but I can handle this, I guess.
i.imgur.com/kh6vzGi.png
My head hurts. Stahp.
Edit: It's been about 40 minutes since this chapter was posted and the comment section is already flooded? Do you guys stalk this story or something?
5804032 One day. . . I'll learn whatever you just spit out up there.
. . .
Or not.
So it just took six chapters for Rainbow Dash to acknowledge Twilight's reality—maybe.
We shall now have six chapters of Twilight in denial over all that happened since she was killed.
5804049 You could do it anyway. That never stopped the train before.
Cough axe puns cough.
5804061 Hey, six chapters apiece isn't all that bad considering the beginning of Urohringr.
5804065 Touché. IC must be losing his touch.
"I don't know math!"
Said the pony who has a education loving ghost anchored to her 24/7.
By the end of the story, Rainbow will know math.
She inflicted this upon herself.
Meanwhile, I am liking this new place. They obviously have Equestrian equivalent scientific understanding, and possibly no small amount of industry as well. Sure, there have been previous places like it, but they always seemed more low key than what this nation is looking to be like. It has a dedicated, giant university after all, a naval fleet of some sort, and the know-how to use it.
Have we translated from magitech and steampunk to something more industrialized?
5804063
Meh, those axe puns were all a bit derivative.
Now that's using your noggin, Rainbow. Well done. Hopefully that'll put the matter to rest. I'm hankering for some conversations.
Also, a thought I had earlier today (I have to keep myself entertained whilst bludgeoning suburbanites with poultry, don't I?): What's Rainbow's quest gonna look like, I wonder? Specifically with regard to the Yaerfaerda symbols and rousing her friends from their eternal slumber. Is it gonna be a Gotta Catch 'Em All sort of situation, with Rainbow traipsing the world with a chorus of ghostly banter? Or is it gonna be a Pass The Torch thing, with Rarity taking Twi's place at some point, and so forth? I mean, I've been assuming it's the former, and I have no reason to suspect otherwise, but occur to me it did, nonetheless.
I love how Rainbow doesn't have any self-consciousness. She just doesn't give a flying feather what anypony thinks of her; she's having an existential crisis! Blast the consequences!
Also, thanks for making parts of this chapter indecipherable, 5804032. You've done your job here well.
5804074 Don't tempt him!
5804016
CHALLENGE ACCEPTED
i.imgur.com/t23pNBI.png
I HOPE YOU REALIZE THAT THIS MADE PHOTOSHOP CRASH
i.imgur.com/SOLUkel.png
I HAVE 32GB OF RAM FFS
i.imgur.com/nKUhYcg.png
WHY ARE MY FANS RUNNING FULL BLAST
i.imgur.com/QKmCvnm.png
BRB COMPUTER OVERHEATING
5803999 Huh... I didn't understand what this chapter was for, but after seeing your comment... So that was RD testing if Twilight was a hallucination or not. So maybe that was enough confirmation to RD that Twilight is NOT a hallucination.
5804008
i.ytimg.com/vi/bxn-n2k7w-c/hqdefault.jpg
5804065
What chapters? Some random mint-colored thing walked in front of... you know, I don't remember what happened.
But Urohringr began right after Raindoarke was reunited. There was nothing before that. So what is this sad thing you keep talking about as Urohringr started?
5804084
archive.4plebs.org/boards/pol/image/1386/03/1386034803757.gif
Rainbow could have prevented this. I shall pray for her soul.
5804113 That would be like tempting Twilight to read a book. It's gonna happen regardless.
5804096 I really hope it isn't a pass the torch thing, Twilight Spookle is best Pone.
I hope I never have to learn stuff like that.
Well that is a good way to prove that Twilight is real, both to herself and to us. Will be interesting to see what happens no though...
5804124
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Poor soul. Mathyluutr has taken something from us all.
5804136
I hope so, too. I'm looking forward to the band getting back together, even if most of them have expired.
5804131 We already proved Rainbow Dash, at least. There's no way he can go back on that. :applejackphewfacehere:
5804049 You know, since all of them are dead and will eventually, as I've guessed, be brought back at least in this form, that means we can ship them all together! The Mane 6 is the OTP! Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahha!
*clears throat*
Anyway, I do believe Dash finally acted somewhat sane. I do hope her and Spookle will have time to sort of recover a little bit before being thrust into yet another psychologically scarring adventure!
5804124
You see, each individual byte puts out a tiny amount of heat. Multiply by thirty two billion (approximately), and, well, you get a lot of heat. Hence, the fans need to spin fast.
The above was the non-technical explanation. I could give you a real explanation, but that might turn you into a nerd. You'd then have to replace your avatar with one of Button Mash.
Edit: um, seriously, you shouldn't see temperatures like that unless you are pushing the overclocking envelope, or something has gone wrong hardware-wise with regards to air flow.
I used to be able to derive these types of equations from modeling engineering problems. Best I ever did was in under 4 hours, on the back of an envelope, draw up, lable, and derive the functions for a dynamically adaptive vehicle suspension circuit cos the guy I bmped into the book shop asked if I knew anything about it.
Best Ive done since is simplify the 4th order solution to a possible model of recursive gravity, using complex math.
Dash, has just asked her hallucination to give a solution to a problem that she herself cannot solve, and had the professor reply, That Is Correct.
Dash now has a far better understanding that this Twilight is Not an hallucination.
And apparently I misread the previous chapter on the difference between the Great Falls, and the Firmament, this implying you Can sail over the end of the world.
Region of extreme magic nullification, leads to technological solutions to problems. The harmonic equation shown is related to conic sections, platonic epicycles, and fourier transforms. Both try and create a complex, non circular behaviour, by summation of a series of simpler circular behaviours of varying sizes and position relations.
I really should stop trying to reply at 4 AM. sorry.
5804016
i.somethingawful.com/u/garbageday/2014/goldmine/madden_gifs/Howard_Beale_01.gif
I didn't make this.... but relevant, so here. Add it to your collection.
The Ynanhluutr symbol doesn't really look that much like the others.
Swan said he would brb.
And is not rb.
Is Swan kill?
rip in pepsi swan song
420- 1337
5804183
Much appreciation, amigo.
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The proof is in the proof!
5804128 Honey, Urohringr began after they left Lerris.
5804240
Huh?
The eternal struggle continues. Keep fighting the good fight Rainbow, as students in varying levels of math classes... we salute you.
When I saw the chapter title in my feed, my first thought was EE.
I'm too invested in this story.
5804124
Clearly, Rainbow will use this equation to melt something.
With springs.
Play on Life, the Universe, and Everything.