//------------------------------// // Chapter Four - Murphy's Law // Story: A Series of Unlikely Occurrences // by XYZDreadnought //------------------------------// Equestria: Canterlot Academy of Magical Studies Snowy Yawned as she walked out of the staffroom canteen, a carton of chocolate milk levitating in front of her. She took a half-hearted sip as she sleepily made her way to her Office. 'Well that was quite possibly the most painfu... second most painful night of my life' She thought, talking another, longer sip of her chocolate milk, giving a little moan as she did so 'Sweet Celestia, why do you taste so good!' she finished it though, her masterpiece. She grinned. And what's more its tried, tested and fully functional. and its currently sitting under a dust-cover in the A.M.R.D (Advanced Manipulation of Reality Department) Auditorium, ready for presentation. Despite her weariness, she had a little spring in her step... ...which immediately vanished as soon she sighted the group in the corridor ahead of her. Three Unicorns were standing around learning on the walls, right next to the poster warning personal; 'For your own safety, and for the safety of others: please refrain from tempting fate'. They all wore the Academy jersey. 'Great' she thought gloomily, 'Students.' The Academy had them of course, its just that in her far off corner of this impressive establishment, in the secluded and comparatively isolated area the A.M.R.D buildings inhabited on campus (some Arch-chancellor of long ago decided it wise to keep the department separate from the rest of the campus, with good reason), was not an area they frequented, and due to the rarity of a 'chaos' magic affinity, means that the amount of students that go to this department are minimal at best, So bar the occasional lecture, she rarely had to deal with them. These didn't like the look of these ones either, The first was tall and lanky, with a rather greasy look to him, 'Does he even know what shampoo is?' The second one had a slightly punkish look to him with a few face piercings and a ridiculous mohawk, 'They'll let just about anyone in these days.' The third one was stocky and broad, and was probably on the hoofball team. 'looks like someone stuck an Icecream cone on an earth pony's forehead.' In short they looked like trouble, and she was not in the mood for idiocy. She attempted to walk past with her head down, focusing on her drink, and hoped that they weren't nearly as dumb as they looked. She got halfway before... "Hey little filly, what's someone pretty like you doing all on your lonesome," Said the greasy one. She internally groaned 'Oh Celestia, Ponies like him exist!' she thought incredulously. Rolling her eyes, she tries to continue, only to be cut off by the first one again, this time stepping in front of her, flanked by his obvious cronies. "Aww, don't be like that," he sleazed, "we just want to get to know you a little." "Or a lot," snickered the punky one. She resisted rolling her eyes again, "oh they must get all the mares this way," she thought sarcastically. She really didn't have the patience for this right now so she tried to get the quick way out. "Despite how... 'Enticing' your offer might be, I am a senior member of the faculty and I have important business, so if you don't mind..." She delivered po-faced. The look of surprise on their faces slowly disappeared, to be replaced with a variety of emotions. The Greasy one slipping back into his sleazy grin, the punk seemed even more interested, and only the big guy showed any signs of uncertainty. "Heh, I've always wanted to do a teacher," said the punky one, somehow lowering Snowy's opinion of him further, if that were possible, 'seriously?! how do ponies like him even get in?' "Uhh... I don't know guys," said the the bulky one. 'huh, he's smarter then he looks... mind you, that's not hard.' "What's the matter, chicken?" Said the punky one. "Uhh... No." said the Bulky one. The greasy one gave them both a look, shutting them up, before turning to Snowy again. "Come on, are you sure you don't want to spend a little time with us?" And then she saw the rings. They were faint, but you could just see them over the whites of his eyes. She inwardly grimaced, "oh of course, one of those ponies." She knew the type, at one point in life they found out that they had a chaos affinity, and suddenly they think they are the next incarnation of Discord, and can do whatever the hell they please. "We know that feeling all too well don't we?" Said her brain, which she ignored. Sloppy execution, mind you, you'd have to be very impressionable to get caught in that hypnosis. Time to show this guy he's nothing special. She looked down at her carton, it was nearly three quarters full "Damn, I was enjoying this." She looked the lead colt in the eyes with her best deadpan, before taking three steps backward. Then making sure that the eyes of all three were focused on her, she put her mouth on the straw, her horns golden glow intensified. She then took a deep breath out, then, begun to drink. Their confusion quickly gave way to shock and disbelief as the carton begun to disappear, the cardboard unravelling from the bottom up, leaving a rough rectangle of chocolate milk suspended in mind air, being held in her glowing aura. The watched in mounting horror as the last of the straw disappeared into Snowy's mouth. She glanced at the chocolate milk critically for one second before holding it to one side, and dropped it. BANG! They stared horror-struck at the black, smoldering hole in the floor for a few seconds before turning back to Snowy She raised her eyebrow. They ran. Snowy listened until their hoof-falls could no longer be heard in the distance. She then calmly walked to a nearby bin, and proceeded to cough up what remained of the carton. "The things I do for respect around here..." she muttered between coughs. She looked back sadly back at the crater in the floor. "I wonder if there is any more in the canteen." she thought. She yawned again, and looked at a nearby wall clock, "Two hours and a-half till my presentation" she thought "Maybe I'll take a quick nap in my office too, just a quicky..." Two hours and fifteen minutes later... "Wakey-wakey miss Sunshine!" Snowy shot up off the desk and out of the small puddle of drool that she had been collecting under her mouth. "Iwasn'tasleep!" she said quickly, wiping the drool from her chin and blearily looked to see who had woken disturbed her. Her eye's focused on what was she then realized was one of her least favorite ponies. "Oh, hello Quantum, what do you want?" She grumbled, accusingly. Quantum was flashing his trademark annoyingly cheerful cheerful smile as he said, "I saw you come in looking like you just died, twice, and I just thought I'd come in and wake you before you slept through what could possibly the most important presentation of your academic career!" "Well... thanks" She said guardedly, before adding "And I was NOT asleep!" His expression didn't change "Alright, alright, no need to be so Short-Tempered," he chipped. Snowy slowly put her face on her hoof. "And here it comes..." she muttered. "I mean, if its as amazing as you say it is, it will make everything else seem Tiny in comparison," Looking up the clock, she began collecting her notes, all while thinking; "Hang in there Snowy, if you ignore him, he might go away, or shut up... or disintegrate" "I hope that it doesn't fall Short, that would be dreadful after all the work you put in it." Snowy walked out the door. Quantum followed her. "Still, with you running the show, the chances of that happening would be minuscule." "Go-away,Go-away,Go-away,Go-away,Go-away,Go-away,Go-away!" "No doubt about it, your discovery will Dwarf all others." "Must not kill members of the faculty. Must not kill members of the faculty. Must not kill members of the faculty... 3 minutes later... "...not kill members of the faculty. Must not kill members of the faculty. Must not kill members of the faculty... "...So then I said to the bartender, hey don't be like that, some of my best friends are Gryph... Oh hey were here!" "OHTHANKCELESTIA!" Said snowy, bolting for the Auditorium backstage. "Well, good luck with your presentation! cya later!" He said, waving, before walking to the audience entrance. "Not if I see you first..." Mumbled Snowy. "Ahh, Snowy, I was hoping to have a quick word with you." Said a voice in front of her. She looked up to see the slightly more welcome sight of Intended Consequence, the department administrator. "Mrs. BitterFrost, how was your morning?" His tone was clipped and precise. She jerked her hoof back "I just spent about Five minutes being talked at by Quantum, what do you think?" "not well then." He said. "Lucky guess." said Snowy, deadpanning. "I don't see how being sarcastic at me will change anything." He returned calmly. "Yeah well, with all due respect, what do you want sir?" Said Snowy. Intended Consequence sighed, adjusting his glasses with his hoof before getting to the point "I just wanted to check that everything was in order for your presentation." "Everything's fine, thanks for asking," She said dismissively. Intended Consequence ignored her "Mostly I just wanted to go over some safety considerations..." "We've been over this consequence..." Said Snowy, rolling her eyes. "And were doing it again because I don't think you're talking this seriously enough." He said irritably. "I've already told you there is nothing to worry about." She said. "And I say there is, especially considering this experiment contains not one, but four void crystals. You know what happens when those things go critical." He said. "Uhh... No I don't. Nopony does." Said Snowy, raising her eyebrow. "Yes, that's the point," He said plainly "No one knows because no one who was ever caught in the blast were ever seen again." "You're worrying too much" said Snowy "Those things only do off when either struck or grasped with magic. I've put an anti-telekinesis ward on the frame, so it should be fine unless someone climbs on stage or throws something." "But..." He started, but Snowy cut him off. "It will be fine, sir. I know what I'm doing, I built the damn thing," She said impatiently "Now if you excuse me, I have to prepare." Snowy walked off, Leaving consequence standing there. He sighed deeply, "I wish Ponies wouldn't say things like that, it's just asking for trouble," He said, mainly for himself, before going to find a seat. The Auditorium had a reasonable audience, it was filled with all the Senior Faculty (all four of them, five if you included her) as well as other researchers and staff. Most of the senior students had also shown up, as well some of the freshmen. A few objects were on stage; there was a lectern, covered in notes, and a large object under a tarpaulin. about the size and shape of a door, and a bucket of tennis balls. The general murmuring died down when Snowy walked onto stage and walked to the lectern, climbed up onto the stool that someone had kindly left behind it. When She was sure she was balanced, she picked up a stack of cue cards in her golden aura, shuffling them around before find the one she wanted, she then cleared her throat, and began to speak. "Ladies and gentlecolts, esteemed colleges, members of the department, etcetera, etcetera. As you know, today I have discovery I wish to share with you, a discovery the likes of which has not seen in this department for decades, not since..." She stopped for a moment flicking a few cards over. "Luna, when did I write all this?" She muttered. She tossed the cards over her shoulder, while saying; "Well, never-mind all that, what's important is that through my research, I have found a way of viewing other planes of existence!" She was satisfied to hear a few gasps from the audience, and at least one spit-take. Somepony raised their hoof. "I bet you are wondering how," she said, pretending not to see. The Pony lowered their hoof. "It is through a device I have designed and built, the prototype I have right here," she gestured behind her to the tarp-covered object in centre stage. She grasped a corner in her magic "Everyone, I present to you..." she cast away the tarp, Revealing what was underneath "...The Void Window!" The Void Window resembled a narrow archway, made of Metal. it was covered in lines, rings and runes etched into almost every inch of it. There were four brackets, currently empty, on the frame, two on either side, one near the bottom, the other near the top. While everyone was examining her invention, she pulled out four cloth wrapped oblongs, she held them in her magic, careful to only touch the cloth, and not the object within, she levitated the four bundles over. Everyone watched as she held each one over the brackets, she then gently loosened the wrappings, until slowly, a void stone slid out of each, into the holsters. The effect was immediate, as the odd black light of the Crystals burned with a new intensity and began to spread rapidly across the the carvings on the surface. when the energy of all four crystals converged on the zenith, the arch began filling with a black mist, solidifying until the center was a solid black mass. It seemed to ripple ominously. There was a suitably shocked silence, as everyone was stunned by the spectacle. Snowy broke it. "would anyone like a demonstration?" There was now a different silence, this time disbelief. "Then what was that then!?" said somepony in the audience. "That was me turning it on." Said Snowy matter-of-factly. "This is its default state, and as you can see, it is currently showing nothing. Now if you excuse me, I will tune it to see if can't find something interesting to look at." She got off her stool, stumbling a bit, but righting herself, she quickly glared at the audience, daring someone to comment, she then continued to the device, turning small disks of metal that blended in with the surface, in a way that probably only made sense to her. The blackness slowly faded and dissolved, revealing... ...A grassy meadow, on what looked like a lazy summer day, the long grass swayed in a gentle breeze. It was mildly anti-climatic, to be honest. Until a creature came into view, ponies gasped; what they saw was some kind of biped clad top to bottom in some form of clothing, it had some sort of hand like appendage, like a minotaur's, and its head was completely bald excerpt on the top and back of the head. it was carrying a large wicker basket and was followed soon after by another, slightly thinner one, and two smaller ones, probably children. They were walking along, laughing and talking, they looked like a family on a picnic. however all sound was muffled and distant, making it difficult to decipher what was being said. "What are they?" said somepony in the audience. "Don't know, I have seen them several times in testing, so they seem to be quite common in other planes of existence," said Snowy, just as interested. "So what we are seeing is another dimension?" Said another. "Well that is what it is for, I thought I had already established that," Said Snowy (who doesn't like stupid questions). "Well they seem to have left our line of sight, so does anypony have questions before I move on to elsewhere?" She asked. "Could they see us?" one asked. "No, while there was a link established between our plane and there's, it is entirely visual, and only one way." Said Snowy, who was ready for that one. "What plane was that?" Snowy was ready for that one too "I don't know, as of yet, I have yet to find a way of identifying or differentiating planes." Some murmuring occurred after that one. but it died down as someone else asked a question. "What happens when you touch the image?" Snowy grinned, she was hoping somepony would ask that. "Here let me show you" She walked over to the bucket, and picked up a tennis ball out of it. She then piffed it at the image. As it passed through, the meadow rippled, before settling, there shock turned into bemusement as the tennis ball then rolled out from behind it. "Absolutely nothing." Said Snowy walking up to the Window, sticking her hoof through it, then walking though and coming out from behind, with nothing but a ripple. "Despite it looking like a portal, it really is only an image, made from coloured mist, we cannot affect it, just as much as it cannot affect us." She stated "Anything else?" The were no more questions, so she moved on, fiddling with the dials once more, the image dissolved, and this time showed what looked like a high-school cafeteria, where more of those Bipedal creatures, several of whom seemed to be singing, something about crowns. Snowy grimaced and moved on. The Image was replaced yet again, this time with a rocky field of ash and lava, with volcanoes in the distance. The Image was replaced again, this time with a scene that looked like it was right out of a Science fiction move, with space ships in a pitched battle over a forest moon. After everyone had finished gawking she changed the Image again. This time showing a massive black dragon, laying down on a hoard of oddly shaped gold. The dragon lifted its head, and everyone gasped, as it seemed to have no eyes. It then faced them and said in a voice that seemed both ancient and timeless; "Do you mind?" Snowy quickly cut off the image, the window fading to black. She looked out at her audience. "Lets pretend that didn't happen." She then continued on with her demonstrations, showing many weird worlds places and creatures, all the while explaining some of the technical aspects of the device. Some places looked familiar, yet odd, such as one where Canterlot was covered in tall chrome buildings, and another where Equestria seems to have been turned into some sort of wasteland. "Well that's it," Said Snowy turning the window to its default state once more "Now that you've had a good look at its capabilities does anyone have anything else they want to ask me? Just so you know my research will be available for study and review within a week." There seemed to be a lack of questions but one Stallion raised his hoof. "Yes?" She said. The Stallion cleared his throat, then said "I guessing that those crystals power the device? what exactly are they?" Snowy sighed, she hoped ponies wouldn't ask that "What those are..." She mentally braced herself "are void stones." There was a slight panicked uproar, with a few shouts of "are you mad!?" and "The Abyss is wrong with you?" She Shot up a magical firecracker, drawing the attention back to her and silencing them. She cleared her throat "While your concern is understandable, it is unfounded, the device is completely safe I assure you." The disbelief was almost palatable. She sighed "The window channeling the energy is completely safe, I have tested it, there is no harmful emissions of any kind, barring actual physical damage to the crystals or the device, there is no danger." "But you admit that it is dangerous." Said somepony accusingly. "Obviously you weren't listening," Getting annoyed "Yes it is dangerous, Void stones are always dangerous! But they are also powerful and useful. And they only react when they come into contact with magic or are struck, and even then it has a sizeable delay. Not to mention that there blast radius is minuscule! Only three meters." "But there are four of them..." Somepony began, but Snowy cut them off. "It makes no difference. people have tested them before, no matter how big the stone, or how many there are the blast radius is always 3 meters! Believe me, I checked." She continued her little rant "And even if it was bigger, We are in the middle of an Auditorium! Barring an idiot, what could possibly happen that could cause..." "Don't finish that sentence!" Said Intended Consequence urgently, cutting her off. "What?" she said, annoyed "That was nearly tempting fate!" He said "Be careful, He might be listening!" Snowy's eyes widened in alarm, she jumped back from the window and put her hooves on her head. Ponies shielded there faces, dived under there seats or just looked around nervously. They all knew what tempting fate meant, it meant attracting the attention of Him The equestrian God of fate, contrived circumstance, the million-to-one chance and cause and effect. To tempt fate, act arrogant, sometimes even just saying his name, was enough to attract his attention. There was complete silence, as everypony waited for the worse. After about five minutes of nothing happening, no cosmic anvils descending from the heavens, or earthquakes, Snowy gently lifted her head. Gingerly she walked back over to the void window, she gently poked it. Nothing happened. Snowy joined in with the room-wide sigh, until... "I think we got away with it." Said somepony. Everypony glared at him. "What?" "You just had to say it, didn't you?" said Snowy, beyond annoyed. The back wall promptly exploded. A large mangled piece of mental, soared through the hole, ricochetted off the Window and embedded itself in the sealing, small bits of loose timber raining from the ceiling, a large portion of it landing on Snowy. "The hell was that?!" Shouted somepony. "No idea!" Said another "Maybe the alchemists are messing with ballistics or something." Meanwhile in home economics... A cooking teacher and his student, stood, covered in suet, gawking at what remained of the stove, and the wall behind it, which now gave a nice view of the Academy grounds, and the A.M.R.D building. The cook unfroze first, she glared down at the student, before giving him a cuff behind the ear. Now back at the plot... "Never mind that!" Said Intended consequence. "Someone help Snowy Before something else happens!" Too late. No sooner had he said that, then the Void window, whose frame was already bent oddly from the impact, started behaving oddly, instead of a sold black mass, it had became a swirling vortex of black, grey and purple. Odd black lightning crackled in the center. Snowy groaned from under the pile of wood, barely lifting herself up, she glanced up at her device. She sighed, oh well, she was dead. She tried to think of some last words, but then just decided to go for the time honored method of cursing the deity to blame. "Dammit Murphy!" The lightning then struck her and she vanished.