//------------------------------// // Science! (87) // Story: Griffin the Griffin // by BlackWing //------------------------------// Science! =Still Gilda= "Let's see what else he has written on magic....." Entry Twelve While soaking Gilda was fun, I think she was a little upset at me about it. It was only a small gem, but it got her pretty soggy. There's a fair bit of water around, but following testing with the dogs, I found that the water spell was more effective when I used it, and the earth spell was better when they did it. It seems that having a natural connection with the element, as well as your knowledge of said elements will improve your ability to use it. Example, knowing how water flows, it's properties, states, and how it reacts with other things should not only make the 'caster' able to use it in different ways, but make all those ways more effective. Basically, knowing the science behind it makes it more effective. Diagrams below.... "What............ I don't even...." I couldn't even make sense of this. I knew some science, like states of water, but this..... It had two circles with number, and circles around them, labeled 'H', connected to a third, larger one, labeled 'O'. I had no idea what that was. It was titled 'water'. Is this what his world's science is like? I don't think I'll be able to figure this out on my own. Since we don't have any teachers on board, I guess I'll just have to ask the one who wrote it. Entering the medical bay, I saw Griffin laying there, just as broken as before. It was kind of painful to look at. Someone so full of life and vigor, just, laying there. I kept reminding myself that it was only temporary, and that he was just in recovery. Still, even laying in bed, he was furiously scribbling something with his right hand while fiddling with a gem in his left. "So..... if I.... no, no... how should I.... oh, hey Gilda... what's up?" "Well.... I was reading your journal... and I saw some stuff that makes no sense to me....." "Ah..... atomic models..... Not exactly a light concept, but pretty useful." "Do you think you could teach me?" "Well, alright. There are various elements in the world, each of which takes different forms in their natural states." "So, water, which is liquid...." "Not quite..... Water is a liquid, but it's made up of two gasses that, when combined, increases their density to that of a fluid. There's hydrogen, which is this one here, 'H' it's the smallest and most common, and then there's oxygen, which is the eighth smallest. Hydrogen is flammable, and on contacting oxygen, burns very easily in an exothermic reaction, which turns it into water vapor." He then explained to me the entirety of what he called 'atomic theory', using water for all the examples, and how they were magnetic, and all sorts of other things. There was something he held back, saying 'I'm pretty sure it's impossible at this point without proper refining methods, but I don't want to give out knowledge that could lead to nuclear warheads, so, it's not a matter of trust, it's a matter of me taking this to my grave.' But he explained how to separate the 'atoms' with electricity, and that it could be done with magic, but only for an instant before it would recombust, and that's what he was trying at this moment. "The problem I'm having is when I turn water into hydrogen and oxygen gas, there's enough energy there that it ignites immediately and combines again, resulting in an explosion......... I can't split the gasses and keep them apart long enough to do anything with them. It's a near instant low yield explosion, so unless we use it inside someone's body it's useless, and it uses more magic than other spells due to it's complexity... having to use the water spell to split it and wind spell simultaneously to direct it. Good for taking down tough targets, but dragons with their magic resistance.. ugh...... It'd be good on alphas, or those big changelings we fought....." "Hmm... is there any other way we could use electricity?" "Well, temporary paralysis maybe, but spell wise, wouldn't it just be easier to grab a cloud? Hmm.... unless we could interrupt the nerve impulses by negating the electrical signals... that would be very useful, because enemies wouldn't be able to block..... even just numbing them, or spastic muscle contractions..... hmm... wait...., it wouldn't need that much..... yeah.... yeah! Okay. Back on earth, there are these electric bug zappers. They look like tennis rackets, but with metal wires, and when an insect touches it, it kills it.... but that's not what a lot of people use them for. They hit each other with them." "Why?" "Well.... the electric shock stimulates the muscles in the same way a nerve impulse does, but it's more powerful, and it makes ALL the muscles in the person's arm contract. Normally done when someone is holding a cup of something so they spill it on themselves. The point is, it doesn't even take that much electricity to do it, so if we were to charge our weapons and shields, anything conductive that contacts them will get a nasty shock, stunning them and opening a hole in their defenses. It would work with Gem Blades too, since it's magic electricity and gems conduct that..... I can't exactly test it here, do you think you could try it out in the test chamber?" "Sure." "So, what am I here for again?" The only earth pony on board, Dusty Tails? Trails? Something like that, asked me. "Well, I'm going to cast a spell on this shield, and I want you to hit it with your sword, so we can see what happens." "That's it?" He looked at me incredulously. "Well, first we're going to do it without the spell, to see the difference." Grif had also explained proper scientific method to me as well, so I knew first we needed to do a 'control' test, to find out what happens normally. "Alright, ready when you are." I took up a defensive stance and nodded that I was ready. Dusty hefted his blade above his head, then brought it down on my shield as I pushed it forwards to intercept the strike. This ended with his attack powering straight through my block and knocking me onto my back. "You alright?" I shook my head to get the cobwebs out of it. "Yeah. Alright, now with the spell. Ignis." I felt a tingle in the hunk of steel I was carrying, then held it in front of me to defend. I nodded to show I was ready, and braced myself for the strike. It came, the strong earth pony bringing his steel greatsword down on my shield, and me pushing forward to deflect the strike. When they connected, the pony's front legs which were holding his weapon suddenly kicked up into the air, throwing him off balance, making him face plant. He tried to get up, but his legs were shaky. "So.... what are you experiencing?" "Mild pain, numbness, tingles.... it's like my legs fell asleep. It's hard to move them." "And that, is exactly what I was looking for." We did a couple more tests, finding out whether the force behind the strike mattered at all, how many hits it would last for, how to change the intensity of the shock, and what kind of materials it would work against, and most importantly, that if the weapon striking the shield was charged as well, nothing would happen. We tested it multiple times till Dusty was so tired from repeated electrocution that he decided to call it quits. I went back to Grif to report my findings, and he was quite happy to have them. "Alright, so, now that we know it works, and, as I figured, it's best on metals, second best on gems, and poorly on stone and wood. The level of shock depends on how much the user wants to put into it, and if the thing connecting with it is charged as well, it can't discharge, so there's no effect... good...." He then took out a note pad, drew a kite shield on it with a gem behind the handle, and a wire mesh over the face. He also drew a sword with a gem set in the hilt, and finally, Four types of gloves. One for pony hooves, a rubber bit for mouths, one for diamond dog paws, and one for griffin claws so the talons still stuck out. "Rubber insulates against electricity, so wearing these should prevent the tingling feeling and your arm getting tired, as well as any possible electrocution from it. Take these down to Steelhorn. He'll know what to do with them. Tell him I want them ready by the time we reach our destination. We also need to teach the troops how to use them. You're the captain, how should we do it?" He asked me. "I tested it with Dusty, so he knows how it works. I'll have him teach everyone." "Good." He gave me a warm smile, and I nuzzled up against him. Feeling a familiar warmth throughout my body, I dashed out of the room and gave the minotaur the drawings, before rushing to the lavatory to take a cold shower. 'He knows what I'm like, and that I'm not very reserved, but rather than getting jealous or berating me, he just accepts it, all the while he doesn't do anything with anyone else, because he worries I'd be uncomfortable with it...... Would I? I guess I've come to think of him as mine, and mine alone, so, I guess I would be a bit put off he if decided to start sleeping around... yet he doesn't think that way about me... Is it because he doesn't care, or because he trusts me? Uggh, why am I thinking about feelings now? The least I can do is TRY and keep myself under control. I am so hypocritical......' I spent the next couple days in a bit of a routine. Read journal, do sciencey.... stuff, ask Grif what something was if I didn't understand, and then I'd try to figure out a way to use it, if I couldn't, I'd ask someone else who knew more about it, and then I'd test it with someone, followed by a cold shower. Honestly? Estrus wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be. Sure, I had some thoughts that I didn't want or need at certain times, and I found myself looking at everyone around me and having to clench my beak shut, but It's not like I was ready to jump anyone....... except Grif. Whenever I was around him, I got that warm fuzzy feeling and acted just a tiny bit drunk. With him still bedridden, we couldn't do anything, but I often found myself just coming down to see him and nuzzling him. Why did I care so much about him? One day he just dropped into my life, and from that day on I didn't want to leave him alone. Something about him. The way he carries himself? His smell? His honeyed words? I don't think I'll ever know. What I do know is I couldn't live with myself if he got hurt again, so I'm going to do the best damn job I can making sure everyone else is up to par. He's carried us on his back this whole way, no longer.....