Teleportation - the best way to travel! Not many unicorns master this ancient spell, and even among those who do, the details of how exactly it works remain a mystery. Some even fear what it may or may not do to the caster, but nopony knows for sure.
After much studying, it is time for Twilight Sparkle to perform the spell for the first time. A simple test: Just move from Point A to Point B. But Twilight is about to find out that there is more to teleportation than she thought.
A lot more.
Set prior to the show canon.
Inspired by (but completely unrelated to) Ocalhoun's story Blink.
Chapters (1)
Wow that story is inspiring a new trend in teleportation fics now isn't it?
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Kinda? There's a bunch of fics directly related to Ocal's, but I haven't seen a lot of stand-alone stories on the same general theme. (Except this other, similar one also called Blink, but I'm pretty sure it's actually older.)
Anyway, since this idea came directly from reading Blink, I thought a shout-out was in order.
Honestly feels like something out the show. The whole journey is sweet without being schmaltzy and the end is bittersweet without hitting you too hard. Awesome work.
A tall, white aklicorn?
--Sweetie Belle
That was a very nice and insightful read, and one I whole heartedly enjoyed.
It's a very positive story in the end, and a welcome refrain from the horror of the Blink series (not that the originals and some of the spinoffs aren't good, mind you-just a nice change of pace here), and Twilight talking with all her friends that she has and hasn't met yet was just interesting and heart warming, in its own way.
I really do have to commend you on the positive spin on this here. Writing a story that is ultimately positive but has a conflict-even if here it's just confusion and finding out what is happening-can be a trying experience, but you pulled it off very well.
That was an extremely touching sort of teleportation. Well done!
Very sweet, if a little sad. I like it.
8005249 what are you doing here, Sweetie Belle? Go shoot season 7!
Makes me think of Donna Noble and Dr. Moon,
Nevermind, there's Dr. Moon,
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Yes.
It's like an alicorn but better.
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Thanks, you guys.
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It's not Henry Akeley's mind in an alicorn body? I thought for a minute this might be a Lovecraft crossover.
--Sweetie Belle
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I was wondering 'bout aklicorns.
Am I in season 7?
--Sweetie Belle
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Considering this story, that's not entirely unlikely.
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God, I sure hope so.
That was a really interesting take on teleportation. I see why you say 'inspired by, but not related to Ocal's Blink,' and I totally agree. I honestly like this concept so much better.
But, being who I am, I also need to point out one or two things:
— There were a few words missing that can be easily inserted.
—
Come on, man! We JUST went over this in my thread!
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I'm telling you: Way too many homophones.
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I agree! ^.^
This is much more enjoyable.
Beautiful and deep
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Yeah, I don't really do dark and depressing stuff.
"You are the Sisko, Twilight."
Goddamn wormhole aliens!
Not bad at all.
Heh... That was quite inspiring, if I may say... Now if only we silly humans could all experience something like that, that which would open our minds to what lies beyond our preconceptions...
8005805 Put away that sheet of tabs, Timothy.
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Ah, I'm doing that thing again, aren't I? The one where I make references without meaning to?
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There is only one thing to do: Lots and lots of trippy drugs.
Legal Notice: Fervidor does not condone the use of psychedelic narcotics. But, like, he doesn't judge you either.
8005842 Maybe? Deep Space Nine's writers loved their blissed-out nonlinear wormhole aliens who saw life as a totality rather than a moment in the present. But most stories that attack the subject will bear a family resemblance. Call it convergent evolution.like dolphins and sharks, or birds and bats.
I love it.
8005398 of course you are! Why wouldn't you be?
Sounds like nonsense. If you don't know how it works, then you wouldn't be able to cast it.
This is the absolute best Blink spinoff.
Neat.
So what is the answer to the question?
Needs an 'I' in front of it.
Did you mean to use 'bright'?
And this was very good. I love the way you explained teleportation. If Twilight would apply quantum physics to it she may just understand it. Or end up with more questions.
I honestly like this more than Blink, though I still enjoyed Blink quite a bit. I've gotta compliment you on the use of the supertask concept, it was a great way to shift the story into philosophical matters and perception of reality, nice job!
Nice! The thematical zeugma was unexpected and masterfully done. I'm going to be randomly thinking "there are no shortcuts" for weeks now .^.
Ohoh! Very cool take on teleportation; I don't think I've seen anyone tackle the idea of spending time between the ticks of the world clock in quite this way.
I was about to say, i thought you were stealing the Blink story and giving no credit
So, effectively, she enters a single Planck unit of spacetime, because there is only one Planck unit, and there is only one soul in Equestria, who percieves itself as living over and over again? Deep.
8006084 Well that isn't true, I can copy a sentence in latin, and write it to you, even though I can't understand latin. I'm sure they can just memorize what they need to for teleportation and cast the spell. Like certain runes in a certain sequence, or moving their magic through a mental array in a certain way. They just need to know how to use it, not how it works.
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That's not necessarily true. You can have a system where a certain input always results in a corresponding output, without the underlying process being known. This is known as a "black box." It's used in computer science, math, and stuff like that, but it can also be used to describe fictional devices.
A simple example of a magical black box would be if you have a type of magic where the spells have to be spoken in a specific language and it always has the intended effect when spoken properly. (The language being basically the "source code" of the magic.) Let's say you don't understand this language at all, but you do memorize the words of a certain spell. You still don't know what the words mean, but whenever you say them, fireballs shoot from your hands or something.
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Which question?
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Fixed the errors. Also, thanks.
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I'm glad you liked it.
Heh, zeugma. Learned a new word.
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Thanks!
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By the way, I love that someone actually downvoted that comment for some reason.
Seriously, what?
8006084 Does everyone, that uses a handy knows how it works?
Not as in how to use it's functions and the result (that's what the ponies know. The spell, how to use the function, and the result, the teleportation) but as in how the handy does, what it does. How sound is transformed into a electronic signal, processed and then transformed again into a a transmittable signal etc..
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Operation and comprehension are not inseparable. How many people are able to use computers with little to no understanding of the underlying mechanics, the electrical intricacies, binary code, and so on? It's possible to use something without understanding how it works.
A personal example: when in high school, I took a physics course. We were learning about...friction, I believe, and there were equations for such. The problem I faced was that the equations were using calculus, which I had not taken. While I was able to use the equations to come up with the right answer on the tests, I did not actually understand what they meant, or how the information I was putting in related to what I was getting out.
Similarly, the concept here is that they have a formula for teleportation that they know what it does, but not how. The only complaint I could make about the story is how quickly Twilight reconciles not understanding - I'd just as soon imagine she'd spend years unraveling the mechanics behind the spell - but this it's a better story this way.
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Who Twilight's companion during the teleport actually is.
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True, I admit. Though, I didn't mean to imply that she stopped caring about wanting to understand the spell, just that she no longer found it unnerving.
I'd be totally okay with suggesting she still kept trying to figure it out as pet project out of regular scientific interest.
Best Blink spinoff right here folks.
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Oh, that. I think I pretty much answered that in the story, actually.
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Well, I personally don't really consider it a spin-off. Seems Ocal does, though, so I'll just leave it at that.
Dude made Twilight eat her own corpse. I'm not gonna argue with that guy.
I wish I had the ability to transcend my--well, our--limited perception. I think it might be possible to do, but I don't know how... and frankly, most of me is quite content with remaining in the thing I take as reality, and just doing my best within it.
Trying to put this concept into words is always hard (or at least it is for me), but I think you've hit the nail on the head here. Bravo.
Ok, one pet peeve of mine. "But they were just that: Theories. Mostly guesswork." In scientific terms, theory is not at all guesswork (unlike it is in colloquial speech) and I think Twilight is someone who would know that, so it's odd to me that she would mention theories in the same sentence as guesswork, especially when talking about the scientific community. It just kinda seems OOC a bit. ^^;
Something like "speculation" would be much more appropriate in place of "theories" there.
Well! After reading humor and then gore/horror teleport stories I wasn't sure what to expect from this one but lo, philosophical with an undercurrent of heartwarming! What a pleasant surprise that's left me feeling thoughtful. Bravo!
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Ah, but only if you assume it's written in Third Person Limited.
It could be Third Person Omniscient and the narrator just doesn't know what the hell he's talking about.
I did tweak it a bit, tho.
Perfection.
Well, this thing is absolutely amazing.
What if *I go.
Better than cannibal Twi, at least.