//------------------------------// // Demonstrations // Story: Six Discoveries // by Wiz Ahmad //------------------------------// “Guess this actually wasn’t worth it,” Sandbar muttered. “I should’ve listened to my internal instincts.” “Where were you all? This is the second time you’ve skipped a class in the past three weeks,” Twilight hissed in anger. “It’s only gym,” Gallus mused, trying to shrug it off. “Besides, we got plenty of physical exercise while we were out on an adventure.” “I guess that explains all these interesting items you have with you,” Starlight Glimmer concluded. “But we can examine them later after the final class.” “You missed biology,” Fluttershy added, causing Ocellus’s mouth to droop in sadness. Not wanting to be left out of the authoritative reprimanding circle, Applejack pitched in. “And you had us worried. We looked all over the school for you.” “But let’s not get bogged down with the misdeeds you’ve done,” Rainbow Dash cut in. “To class, NOW! Leave your items in the front hall here. I’ll make sure no one takes them.” “Promise?” Silverstream cooed. “Promise. Now go!” In class, Gallus whipped out his pen and began to take down notes at an astonishingly fast rate, while many of the other students were using their third quill pen. Right away, questions fired away from other students, completely ignoring Applejack’s instructions and explanatory sentences. “How do you never run out of ink?” “What is that?” “Can I use it?” For a change, Gallus raised his hand. “Yes, Gallus?” “Can I do a brief demonstration? Everyone won’t keep quiet about my pen.” Applejack’s eyes widened. “It looks cool. But hold yer excitement, dear class. We will be holding a seminar in the gym for all the students where Gallus can explain about his pen.” Gallus sighed but managed a smile. He knew Applejack liked new topics as much as everyone else, but Twilight Sparkle would be infatuated with his pen. Struggling to keep composure while taking notes and listening, he couldn’t wait to explain it all. After a good two hours the school bell finally rang and Twilight’s voice rang loud and clear from the halls. “All students, please proceed to the gym. We will be hosting an important ‘New Objects in Equestria’ event.” Rainbow Dash rounded up Gallus, Yona, and their fellow students and led them down a back hall, while Twilight and the others set up a small stage in the gymnasium. “Welcome to the ‘New Objects in Equestria’ Event,” Twilight Sparkle announced. “I’m sure some you may be aware that there was an incident last night where several portals opened up into Equestria and brought several objects in. It appears that while our most prized students were gone, they have found said objects and would like to show them to our school. Silverstream, come on out!” “Hi everypony!” Silverstream said, trying to maintain her smile as she unfolded her wings to help keep her balance as she pedaled into view from behind a curtain. The treaded wheels gripped fairly well on the hard gymnasium floor. In spite of the crowd, Silverstream upheld her joy, and feeling a little bolder, leaned a little as she rode around in a little circle, before popping a wheelie… and almost falling over. It was only a tiny wheelie, but for her it was one of the biggest accomplishments ever. “This is Spinner my…” “Bike,” Twilight added. “It’s called a bike.” Silverstream smiled back at the headmare. “This is Spinner, my bike. I found it in the mountains behind the school, and I enjoy riding it, even if I’m not the best at balancing on it.” She then explained as best she could the different components of the bike and how they worked - the handlebars, the pedals, the gears and chain, and the seat. Next up was Yona, who immediately tossed her ball up in the air, using her horn as a sort of ‘hook’ to catch it. “Yak show you football, which you kick and toss for fun!” She held it up. “Unique oval shape, so easy to kick and flies well!” “Not exactly the best for quidditch but may work for buckball,” Rainbow Dash noted. “Care to give it a try tomorrow?” “Is pony serious? Yak can’t wait to play with ponies using new ball!” Then it was Gallus’s turn. He strode forward, smiling at the audience. “This is a ballpoint pen,” he announced proudly, holding it up like a scepter. “At this school we use quills as pens and dip them in ink as needed. They’re weak and their thin wooden tips break easily. Not a ballpoint pen. This one stores its ink in a thin tube, which feeds it down to a tiny ball on the end - can you see it?” He held the pen close to those in the front row, and they all peered closely. One soon noticed. “Yeah I see it! Neat!” “Good,” Gallus continued, pointing to different parts of the pen. “Now, as the ball rolls, the ink comes out - smooth as butter - onto the paper. The shiny tip as you can see, is very hard and virtually unbendable. It’s encased in a shiny metal cone-shaped tip, and behind it is a softer section for comfortable writing. Next comes the little clip, which can be used to hold the pen onto a thin surface - like the paper itself. Finally at the end, there is a little button, which you press to extend the tip out for writing. Pressing it again retracts the tip into its housing.” “I mean, seriously, this is ground-breaking,” he concluded, shooting a grin at Twilight Sparkle. “Just think if we could produce more like these, how quick and consistent note-taking could be in class.” Right on cue, Twilight Sparkle squealed, looking like she was ready to just swipe the pen out of Gallus’s hand. “This really is groundbreaking! I have so many parameters to analyze!” Gallus sighed and half-rolled his eyes, handing over the pen. “By all means, Miss Twilight. Just don’t damage it.” “Thank you, thank you thank you!” Twilight squealed again, already bounding off to her office. “Okay, who’s next?” Rainbow Dash announced. Smolder dropped her skateboard and pushed off, sliding into view with a smug smile across her face, before replacing it with a smile. “The dragon Smolder presents to you: the board! A board with four wheels that you can ride on and play around with using just your feet and imagination. I don’t know much since like you all, I’ve never seen or used something like this before, but I’ve tried a few moves. Let’s see what I can come up with on the spot. Rainbow, can you turn off some of the lights please?” “Gotcha.” Rainbow Dash closed off some of the skylights above and switched off some of the light fixtures, so there was only two lights lighting the audience and one big skylight together with another light fixture beaming down on the area where Applejack, Rarity, and the others stood. Smolder couldn’t lift the board into the air while jumping, but she could scoop it, flip it, and ride on it. It would take all the knowledge she learned from fiddling with it back near the tree to put on a good show. Smolder dropped the board, letting it land on its side with a sound that no one had heard before. She sat for a moment, then walked up to the board, reached out with her back foot, and tapped it hard, causing it to spin longitudinally. Her eyes watched it rotate intensively, looking for the right moment to make her next move. As soon as the board had spun twice and was the right way up, she hopped on, adjusting the tension in her legs to allow her to stay on and smoothly roll away. Leaning to turn, she came around in a circle, before pushing the board’s tail sideways a little. Her front foot missed though, and she stumbled off the board, catching herself before a fall, earning a little gasp from Twilight and the audience of students simultaneously. “It’s okay. Mistakes happen. I’ll continue,” she whispered. Hopping on and pushing off again, Smolder pulled the tail again, a little less harder this time, and caught it with her foot, allowing her to quickly change direction as opposed to leaning in a wide circle as before. Next she stood with the board upside down over her toes, and hopped up, flipping the board right side up and resting her feet on top simultaneously, using her wings and arms to quickly regain her balance before she lost it. Finally, she pushed down on the tail, lifting the nose into the air and fought as hard as she could to keep her balance. Spreading her wings, Smolder then used them like a pull string to pull herself into a centralized rotation, all while keeping her feet balanced on the board and tucking in her arms to keep her speed up. A little screech rang out as the tip of the board’s tail ground against the floor a little. With a quick, precise move, Smolder released the tension after about fifteen turns, letting the board drop down level with that same distinctive sound, before folding her wings and hopping off. A moment of silence stood before the audience of students cheered and gasped in awe, many still unable to comprehend what they had just seen. Even Rainbow Dash was amazed at the little dragon’s incredible feats, taking a moment to realize that she needed to reset the lighting in the room. “How did you do that?” Twilight Sparkle inquired (having teleported back into the room), as soon as all the lights were switched back on and the crowd’s excitement died down. Smolder simply shrugged before replying, “I practiced for a good half hour in the grass near a tree where I found it. I learned how to flip the board with my feet and simply balance in a few positions.” She then turned to the audience. “And that is just the tip of the rock. I’m sure I can do more but I need some alone time to experiment more and practice.” Gazing pleadingly into Twilight’s eyes, Smolder let out a quiet whisper so the audience wouldn’t hear her. “Can I keep the board, please?” Instead of directly answering, Twilight then went over to Ocellus and Sandbar and asked a quick question, then walked up to the center of her makeshift stage and gave an announcement. “And that wraps up phase one of the ‘New Objects in Equestria’ event,” she declared. “Each of our talented students here will get to keep the objects they found. I expect all of you to respect their usage of their prized possessions, and inform me at once if they get hurt or use them in any way that violates the school’s rulebook. After I finish my research project on Gallus’s pen, he can have it back, and will be sharing it between classes. Whoever gets the best mark in each class’s classwork will get to use it for their next class.” “Yeah!” many of the students cheered loudly. “Now onto the second half of the event, which, due to the type of objects Ocellus and Sandbar have, cannot be brought inside. Please follow Guidance Counsellor Starlight and other staff members to the front entrance, please.” As everyone prepared to head off, Silverstream prepared to mount on her bike, but Applejack stopped her. “It’s too dangerous for you to be ridin’ somethin’ like that with a hurt wing,” she advised. “Let’s head to the school nurse’s office so ah can get ya all healed up.” “Aw! But I’ll miss the big event with Ocellus!” Silverstream pouted. “You won’t miss much,” Applejack consoled. “It’ll only be a few minutes. Besides, everypony’s still taking time to file out of the gym.” Silverstream sighed and slowly walked beside Applejack down a hall towards the office. Meanwhile, Smolder was still staring at her board, trying to figure something out. It took a little tap from Rarity to knock her out of her trance. “Darling, we need to get going now, the crowd’s almost left.” Smolder just turned and looked at Rarity, then stood up, slapped the board’s tail, and grabbed it by the front truck. “I think… I may have figured out a way to flip the board over with both feet - and while staying on top of it.”