//------------------------------// // 7 - Walking through the Past // Story: The Seed of Hope // by Meadow_Dawn //------------------------------// Dawn really wished she were upright and had her hands. It was very difficult to walk and rub her massive headache from all the aptitude and knowledge testing at the same time. Thankfully a guard pointed her the way to the dinner table and she was ready to make an order for food. If the cooks made it, she knew exactly what she wanted… When she entered the dining hall she heard a 'scrrt scrrt scrrt' noise in the quiet room. She noticed it was coming from Dr. Blast,  who was writing on a scroll at the table, a partially eaten plate of food beside her as she worked.  Dawn briefly flicked an ear at the scribbling on parchment, but walked toward Blast, ready to join them. "Hey doctor, how goes? Able to test anything I mentioned yet?" Dr. Blast gave a start, looking up to her before answering, "Not good and no not yet." She said. "Sorry to hear you're not doing well, anything I might be able to help with?" Dawn asked, taking a seat near them while out of the way of their work "Not unless you can convince Dusk to give me the new key to the lab, she changed the locks on me again." "Oh? What made her do that?" Dawn asked, giving a small wave to one of the serving staff to indicate she was ready to request food. "She does this when she thinks I've been spending too much time in the lab and need to go be anywhere else." Dr. Blast said frowning. "It's super annoying and interrupts all my work." The servant came to take the order as Blast spoke. "I'd like to have some broccoli cheddar soup if I may, oh, with some sourdough bread too. Is that possible?" Dawn instructs the server, then answered Blast, "I can imagine... What are you working on?" "Trying that liquid fuel idea you mentioned before." Dr. Blast said as the servant departed. "I know that involves some fairly heavy machinery and more advanced versions of the air conditioning concept I talked about... maybe we can work on the requisites first?" Dawn offered. "Maybe, but right now I can't do anything locked out of my lab… I mean honestly who changes the locks to their own R&D wing every couple of weeks then doesn't give the key to the head of the department?" "I'd have to ask Dusk, but honestly, they probably have a good reason." Dawn answered. "Maybe they're worried about you?" "What?" She said looking at Dawn with signs of bags under her eyes. "Not sure what she'd be worried about, I'm not a security risk, she knows that. At most an insurance risk." "Uhm... Blast? have you slept?" Dawn asked. " Your eyes look like you haven't since we last talked." "Hmm? Yes of course I slept." She said waving a hoof. "I slept...." she started muttering to herself. "23 hours 32 minutes and 12 seconds ago for...4 hours? Yeah, 4 hours." "Blast, you're gonna need sleep to get any of the formulas right. That stuff is volatile!" Dawn exclaimed. "Ponies waste, on average, 30 years of their life sleeping. I want to actually use that time more productively. It’s perfectly fine! I have coffee." "And prolonged exposure to the effects of coffee will shorten your life anyway. It increases your heart rate in a way that, at least for where I'm from, it'll damage you long term while having diminishing effects." Dawn said with worry. "And is it a waste if the time awake is more productive and less prone to needing re-review or retreading existing work if an error isn't caught?” “What’s this about issues with coffee?” Dr. Blast blinked, “That’s what the coffee is for, so I’m not tired and can focus." Dawn sighed and shook her head, "It's the caffeine in the coffee... Still, I'll worry about that argument later. Maybe the longer-term health effects hadn't been studied yet or aren’t true here or something." Dr. Blast looked at Dawn intrigued as she took a bit of her cold food. "I take it I said something else that hasn't been tested here?" Dawn asked, wondering if they were about to write that detail for study as well. "Quite,” Blast said as she wrote on her scroll, “I mean, coffee has been a thing for a long while, but I don’t recall anyone testing it outside of ‘does this kill me if I drink it?’" "Well, the harder part then is whether or not addictions have been explored here either, as that's chemically based." Dawn suggested, suspecting it would get their attention, "Basically certain compounds trigger reactions in our brains and after a while, the brain gets used to having the intake of that chemical and doesn't function as well without it until it re-habilitates itself to not need the chemical. Thankfully coffee, to the best of my knowledge, isn't quite as bad as other chemicals, but it's still able to behave similarly." "Addiction?" She said perking up "Yeah..." Dawn said, mildly surprised her idea worked. "Fascinating …" "What?" Dawn asked "This concept of ‘addiction.’” Now it was Dawn's turn to freeze, taking a moment to process how they didn’t know about addictions. She stared openly for several seconds before taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. "What is it?" Dr. Blast asked looking at her. "I… I couldn't fathom how that wasn't something already known. Forgive me if I offend." Dawn said with a tilt of her head while looking away, as if still processing what she learned. "I mean,” Dr. Blast hesitated, “not sure what to tell you?” "It's fine… just another thing we need to find out if it's a thing here or not." Dawn said, trying to be patient as she heard her stomach rumble. Almost as if on cue, her food was placed before her. "Thank you." She told the servant. "I suppose so." Dr. Blast said. "So how are things?" "Headache inducing." Dawn groaned. "Its been a long time since I had to remember trigonometry, the quadratic equations, or use geometry. I’m positive I got nothing magical right, and have to be taught 'quillmareship' which I can only surmise is ‘penmanship,’ just with quills instead of an actual pen." Dawn sighed before beginning to eat. "Ah, yes. From what I understand, magic requires a lot of advanced math." Dr. Blast nodded. "All my unicorn researchers are very skilled in the subject." Dawn gave a small look that suggested 'I guess I should be glad for something, but I don’t feel it matches' and then said, "at least it was my best subject growing up ... I'm genuinely expecting this to be a nightmare and hoping I'm wrong. Growing up with magic gives an inherent learning advantage." "I suppose so… like, flight is a super easy subject for me. Sure, I understand the magic behind it and how it all works, but I also grew up being taught it all and can feel how it all works. I can’t imagine what it would be like to learn it without that." Dawn nodded, "Or if, say, somehow you just got your wings now. Sure, instinct could help if you have any, and in my case, I’ve played a few flight sims, but it’s not the same of course." She nodded, then paused to ask, "What's a flight sim?" "Remind me to talk to you about video games… or videos and televisions… and the cathode ray tube…" Dawn frowned and tried to facepalm, only to wince as she felt a hoof so hard it briefly left a mark. "Ow..." "What are those?” Dr. Blast began to ask, then looked closer, “Are you okay?" "Yeah… went to facepalm but instead of having a softer muscly appendage, I forgot I had a hoof and it hurts more than when I used to do that. Anyway, I’ll explain the other things when I’m not dealing with a headache made worse by my own stupidity." Dawn said before eating more of her soup. "That’s odd… facehooves don’t usually hurt." "But I’m also used to doing it with an appendage that isn’t as hard." Dawn countered. "Yeah, I mean,” Dr. Blast paused before taking a breath and answering, “We biologically are designed to take that sort of hit. Same with mane and tail pulling, it doesn’t hurt us as we are made to take it. So it’s odd that such a simple action hurt." Dawn blinked, "Wait, really? Tail pulling and mane pulling doesn’t hurt?!" "No, like… literally, that’s how a lot of parents pick up their foals or stop them from running around if they have trouble. Like, horses, that would hurt a lot, but us Ponies feel pressure, and that’s it." "Huh. Neat…" Dawn hummed, eating more soup as she digested the news. Dr. Blast took a bite of her food and went back to writing "So Blast, what do you do when you’re not working?" Dawn asked after a few spoonfuls. "This." She said without looking up. "Reviewing notes? Hypothesizing?' Dawn guessed. She nodded. Dawn chuckled. "I’m beginning to see why the locks were changed." "What do you mean?" "Just an hypothesis Dr. Blast." Dawn said, promptly moving to eat the rest of her meal. Blast blinked and took a bite of her cold food Dawn sighed and began to eat, mumbling, "One of the rare times I’d go for an ibuprofen…" "A what?" Dr. Blast asked. "Headache medicine. Helps the blood vessels dilate safely, relieving the pressure and throbbing since the headache is from tension and constriction of those." Dawn sighed. "Oh, would you like me to get some?" "That’d be appreciated." Dawn nodded, continuing to eat. Dr. Blast got up and left the room leaving her half-eaten meal and notes behind. Dawn finished her soup with a sigh while Blast was gone and she soon returned with a pink vial. "Here we go, anti-migraine potion." She said, hoofing it to Dawn. Dawn nodded, humming. "Liquid so it’s absorbed into the bloodstream sooner then?" "Um, no? It’s liquid because alchemic potions are liquid." Dr. Blast said. "Curious. So your medicine hasn’t gotten to a gel pill or powder-based pill level yet." Dawn hummed. "No we have pills too....not sure why powder would be a thing, but the headache medicine is Zebrecian alchemy so is a liquid." She said. "Mind the taste." "Hm. Is alchemy different from chemistry?" Dawn asked, trying to drink the potion, only to make faces as she tried to ignore the taste. "Yes, it’s the zebrican form of magic." She said. "Not fully sure what they do or how they do it. The alchemists and shamans are very protective of their secrets." "Curious. I'm used to alchemy being the thing that led to chemistry. People kept trying to find ways to turn things into gold since it was useful for currency." "Yeah, that’s not possible, at best you can make something gold colored like bits, but far from gold." Dr. Blast agreed. "Chemistry was created as an attempt to copy Zebrecian alchemy. Didn’t succeed, but hey, we’ve done a lot." Dawn nodded. "Assuming what I was taught before I came here still applies, understanding atomic makeups will help with making compounds to help in a variety of things, just have to be careful with the whole nuclear radiation and sickness and stuff." Dawn frowned, feeling the headache throb particularly strong. "Not a clue what half of that means." Dr. Blast said cheerfully, but wrote notes on what was just mentioned. Dawn groaned, "I feel so overqualified in some ways, despite not remembering most of my education, yet so underqualified for anything that’d actually help me survive here." "Yup!" Dr. Blast agreed readily. "Ouch… didn’t have to agree so soon." Dawn winced playfully. "Oh, right… I should put together a resume for working, qualifications and… stuff…" Dawn hesitated as she realized most of her skills for technology were rendered incompatible, and now frowned at how little carried over. "What is it?" "Most of my skills require technology that hasn’t been invented yet. At best i can do customer service, but I don’t even know if telephony tech has been invented yet." Dawn frowned. "Telephony?" "Yeah, telephones." Dawn said. "Facinating…" Dr. Blast commented, scribbling in her notes. "Let me guess, we need to go over some of the concepts behind that tech too?" Dawn asked with a sad sigh, slumping her head onto the table at a clear spot to express her fatigue. "When you are better…” Dr. Blast consoled, “and I’m sure you got other skills.” "I genuinely doubt it. I only did entry-level work and hobbies focused on the computer stuff we recorded before." "We have lots of entry-level jobs." "Yeah… we'll see." Dawn shrugged. When all she got was a nod back, she let out a small sigh and said, "Well, I suppose I’d better find out what things I can do. Could go out into town to check out options since Dusk got a bit of allowance money to me… Want to come with?" "Hmm… I probably should so you don’t have any issues." Dr. Blast said getting up. "Just give me a moment to go put my things away. "Thank you." Dawn blushed. "I don't want to rely on Stalwart for everything, you know?" "Its fine, Dusk is always telling me I need to get out of the castle." Dr. Blast said as she swiftly left the room. Dawn blinked, but shrugged and waited where she was. “Oh hey Dawn,” Stalwart said as his head poked around and spotted her, the rest of him following suit. “How’s it going?” “I’ve been better, but not too bad.” “Settling in?” “Kinda. I usually take a couple weeks to figure out what’s ‘normal’ before answering that kind of question.” She said with a half-smile. “About to head out and get an idea of what kinds of jobs are out there.” “Oh cool, need me to come with?” “Oh! No, that’s all right.” Dawn said, raising a hoof and shaking her head as she ignored a small blush in her eartip, “Dr. Blast is coming with me since we can’t get much work done right now.” “All right,” He chuckled, noting the ears’ more energetic movement before meeting her eyes again, “Well, if you do run into trouble, I’m still here.” “Thanks Stalwart, I appreciate it.” Dawn said, “Maybe afterward we can go see what fun there is to be had in town?” “Sounds good.” He smiled, heading out of the room. ‘Not gonna bat your eyelashes at him as he goes?’ Starlight asked Dawn, sounding like he was on her left. “What? No!” Dawn said, seeing his faint outline and stepping back from it, “Don’t be silly!” Dawn’s blush returned in full force as she could faintly hear Stalwart chuckling in the hallway. “Fine, fine, had to say it while I could.” He chuckled, “I’ll keep being in the background I guess.” “Good,” Dawn said, trying to calm herself with a few deep breaths.  Dr. Blast shortly returned, now without her lab coat. She showed herself as just a red pegasus with a black mane and a water molecule for a mark. "Shall we go?" Blast asked. Dawn nodded, making sure her saddlebag that she was given still held her coins, then walked after Dr. Blast. Dr. Blast headed for the castle gate, asking along the way, "So, got any ideas on things you want to see?" "Not sure. Maybe a bookstore, a hobby shop, any stuff that might look entertaining." She nodded as she walked, looking every bit like a sleep-deprived pegasus who had a surprisingly athletic build for a mare who worked in a lab all the time. Dawn stayed quiet, walking along and observing Blast with mild concern at her fatigue. Despite her concerns, Blast seemed otherwise normal and was humming as they walked along. It wasn’t until they were out of the castle that Dawn began to look around at the town, now being in the main square by its statue outside the castle gates. "Hmm… now let’s see if I can think about where the jobs are hiding." Dr. Blast said, scratching her chin as she stopped in front of the statue. Dawn nodded, staying quiet to avoid interrupting their train of thought "Whelp, I have no clue!" She finally declared. "So we shall do the oldest of scientific methods to find them." "Hitting the pavement by just exploring and finding out huh?" Dawn asked. "We call it ‘stumbling blindly around till we smack into something that works,’ but same principle I suppose." She said looking at Dawn. "How did you know such an ancient scientific method?" "Because that’s how my parents insisted I search when I was old enough to do so, despite most companies switching from in-person applications to other methods." Dawn said, not looking forward to all of the walking. "How can you take an application any other way?" Dr. Blast asked, intrigued as they walked into the town. "Make a note of that to talk back at the castle. I'll tell ya there." Dawn answered, knowing she was in a public place and trying to be mindful. "I should, in theory, remember." She said as they walked. "So, what type of job are we going for?" "Great question. I wish I knew." Dawn answered, trying not to feel like she was repeating herself. "I've generally been better at brainpower-centric jobs instead of physical ones… I'm embarrassingly out of shape unless my coming over here somehow changed that." "Hmm, sooo… reception or help-desk type of thing?" "Very possibly." Dawn nodded. "So we can check out the museums then. Any particular subject you’d like to go over? We can use this as an educational type of thing." "I don't know what subject's history to even begin with… I've been horrible with historical events to boot. Doesn't help I was deliberately mistaught growing up." Dawn blushed. "Maybe we can go in and see what I can learn or am comfortable performing and go from there?" "That… doesn’t help.” Dr. Blast said, blinking at her idea, “There are dozens of museums in this city dedicated to just about everything. It would take at least a week to visit them all, and that’s if you only spent a short time on one, then moved straight to the next one." "Ouch... " Dawn winced, then resigned herself to repeating her abilities yet again. "Well, generally speaking, I have experience in technology, but as we talked about, a lot of what I know or learned is stuff we don't have… Any idea on things that involve troubleshooting to make things work or… Hm, most repair or troubleshooting would just have me be the repair pony wouldn't it?" Dawn asked as she realized a possible flaw in her idea. "Well, yeah… If something doesn’t work, you take it to a repair pony, the blacksmith, or replace it if you don't repair it yourself." She answered, thinking. "Hmm… Museum of technology sounds like a place to start." "Sounds like it… make sure you have your notepad and ink ready. I suspect I'm going to be mentioning more things I've forgotten about or not thought of that we could try to make eventually." Dawn warned. "I… don’t have it on me.” Dr. Blast answered, “It’s in my lab coat." "Sooo we need to drop by a quill and ink store then." Dawn smiled. "I don’t really have any way to carry it." Blast said simply. Dawn nodded and shrugged. She had made her offers, and now waited for them to lead the way. "Anyways come on." Dr. Blast said, starting to head into the town. Dawn followed, the pair walking for a while until they came to a large building. Wide stairs led up to the oversized doors with huge pillars along the front. Over the pillars were the large letters spelling, “National Museum of Technology.” Dawn observed the title, understanding it was big to get attention and be legible, and then focused more on the items that might have been on display both on the grounds and preparing for the ones inside. A scaled old steam engine, one-quarter scale sat in view, showing an engine with a cabin barely big enough for an engineer and a small boiler ahead of him. The plaque had a message that was still easily read,  In 1278, blacksmith Iron Hoof was working in his forge late into the night. To remain awake, he had placed a kettle of tea over the forge flame. Becoming distracted by his work, the tea reached boiling, but debris from the forge had clogged the kettle. It built up steam until it exploded with a ‘bang,’ debris lodging itself into the wood. Iron Hoof began experimenting with steam, and in 1280 he unveiled his prototype ‘steam engine’ to his village. The engine only moved 5 feet, but it did so under its own power, beginning a slew of research into the power of steam. Unfortunately, Iron Hoof never got to see the results of his invention. A few months later, on the eve of 1281, the town woke from a massive explosion from Iron Hoof’s home. The inventor of the steam engine had also discovered the dangers of boilers and the instability of original designs. Before you is a replica of the original prototype, constructed from eye-witness descriptions and the remains of Iron Hoof's blueprints that survived the fire. Dawn hummed, curious, but starting to see bits of the design, "Interesting… definitely needed some safety mechanisms though, but I can see the methodology from this." "Yeah, the original designs were screaming metal death traps, and that was if they didn’t break down. Half the time, they did." Dr. Blast said beside her. "Yeah… Not sure if I'd enjoy working on one at the moment till I had more control and coordination, but I guess I could learn how to do that, depending." Dawn hummed, seeing each display as a job option she might not have thought of. "Well, this is just the first expit-… thing… display? Bah who cares." She waved and hoof and started to climb the stairs. "Yeah, point is I'm spotting ideas for what jobs I think I could try. I know that things will have improved n all since then." Blast nodded as she climbed the stairs with Dawn following. Soon, they entered a large entry area with a huge hot-air-balloon suspended from the ceiling. Dawn chuckled at the hot air balloon and read the inscription before nodding, "Definitely can't do anything like that. terrified of heights, despite my mentioning what I was used to for longer distance travel." Dawn said, hinting at the planes she had somewhat explained before. "Yeah, these are mostly for fun though." She said. "The airships are the main travel option if you don’t want to go by train." Dr. Blast said as she headed for the desk "Remind me to drop by those to see where things are now so I can figure out what knowledge might carry over." Dawn nodded and walked with. She nodded as she signed them in. "Let’s go, on to a wonderful world through technology!" Dr. Blast said, heading deeper in. Dawn laughed, following them along, "What, am I four and didn't realize it? ... Actually, can magic do that?" "9th level spell, very rare." She said chuckling "I… get the feeling I'm a very very long way away from that being an option for me." Dawn chuckled nervously. "Most likely. It’s an extremely rare spell for a reason." "I suppose it'd be 'fun' to set that as a goal, even if it's out of reach." Dawn smiled, adding, "For now." She chuckled. "I'd recommend a more realistic goal, I don’t think Princess Twilight has even reached that level of spell yet and she was the brightest mage of our time." "That's… that’s fair." Dawn blushed, then grinned. "It would be way too much to think it’s like books I read, where just because of how I got here that I’m exceptional at anything." "Everyone is exceptional, just some are more exceptional in more noticeable ways." Dr. Blast said as she walked. "And who knows why Fate brought you here." "I’ve never been one to believe in fate before." Dawn answered with a shrug, "and I wasn’t meaning it like that, more like exceptional magic, physical skills, or something generally valued by the populace." Dr. Blast nearly stumbled at the first part. "Wh-what?" She asked, looking shocked and plainly staring at Dawn. "What’d I say?" Dawn blinked. "Fate is a very real thing, it controls well… most things." She said. "You are literally marked by fate like everyone else." "So… are we talking a literal thing or an entity, the concept or what? Cause I only know of fate as a concept." Dawn blinked. "How am I marked by fate? What evidence are we talking here?" Dr. Blast pointed to the mark on Dawn’s flank. "Your Cutie Mark." "Oh... that. I kinda didn’t get told much about it." Dawn said. "I remember Celestia saying stuff about how it represented who you are, so is it just magic displaying that or what? How's it work?" "It’s your special talent. It appears when you find what you are meant to do with your life." She said. "... Seriously? You're kidding right?" Dawn blinked, "I could understand if it were a manifestation of magic as a part of who you are, but you're telling me it dictates what I’m supposed to do?" "Yes and no." She said. Dawn blinked, "So… How is it 'fate'?" "Because it’s what you’re supposed to do, and it’s always something you like. Take mine," Blast said, turning to show dawn her flank and the two hydrogen, one oxygen mark. "I got this when I messed with that chemistry set. However, as I told you before, I didn’t follow it and I was miserable. Then I followed it, and I am happier than ever when I am working. Princess Twilight and her friends are called upon to solve major crises because they are destined heroines, so it’s a good bet they will win." "Then... how the heck is mine telling me what to do?" Dawn blinked in bewilderment. "I can see how it might be symbolic, but what am I supposed to do, raise the sun since it's a sunrise?" "Not a clue. You’re… sort of an odd case due to circumstances. We don’t know what yours means, as you didnt get it through normal methods.” "I mean, from what Celestia said, it sounded like it could also represent something that was core to who you were, in which case, I'd say this represents hope, cause I clung to hope despite rather dire circumstances." Dawn tried to explain, seeing how that might get contradicted by watching Blast closely for any telltale signs. “Though… I think she mentioned something about destiny…” "That… is semi-right and semi-not." Blast hesitated before taking a deep breath and starting another lecture on something so simple. "What you are supposed to do, and what your Special Talent is, is a core part of you. It’s what you are good at. Take the Element of Honesty for example. Her Cutie Mark is three apples. She was destined to run her family’s apple farm since her entire family are farmers and always have been. The Element of Kindess is butterflies. She was meant to care for animals, and is one of the kindest, most gentle mares you’ll meet, like a butterfly… You see what I mean?" Dusk paused, continuing at a nod from Dawn. "You clinging to hope in a dark time may be what yours means or you could be destined to be a weather pony. Honestly, I don’t know. Magic isn’t my field and this is more just stuff me and Dusk have spoken of and I cannot say for sure what your mark means." "I'll have to talk to Dusk, especially since I doubt I'm interested in being a meteorologist." Dawn said, tilting her head briefly as she had considered the idea of being a weather pony, thinking it like a weatherman on the radio or tv. Regardless, something wasn’t adding up to this explanation in her eyes. "Meteorologist? What do void rocks have to do with weather?" "I… what!?" Dawn blinked, astonished. "Meteorology is the study of the weather and climates to do weather forecasts. That’s what you meant by weatherpony right?!" "We know all about weather, not much to study there. And why would we need to forecast the weather?" Blast asked, blinking at Dawn’s results. "… don’t tell me…" Dawn blinked as the pieces fell together, a look of horror growing on her face as things clicked. "You use magic here to do something to the weather." "Do… if you mean manufacture weather at the Weather Factory in Cloudsdale, then yes." Blast replied nonchalantly. "Why do you ask?" Dawn bit her lip, took a deep breath, let it out slow, and tried to control herself so she didn’t draw attention from anyone else before answering, "Because back where I’m from, that’d result in cataclysmic events through the world to the point that the harms would far outweigh the good… Stopping a monsoon somehow as an example would cause issues in the pressure buildup and the flooding would be even more severe in a local area. Breaking up tornados suddenly would cause a wind shear so bad that no buildings made with the usual materials would stand, not to mention potential violations of the law of conservation of energy!" "Wait… wait, hold up.” Dr. Blast said, raising a hoof before looking Dawn in the eyes. “Your… weather… it behaved on its own?" "Yeah. No magic there." Dawn said, as if it were obvious. "That’s… disturbing, and so,” Blast said before shuddering as she finished, “unnatural.” "Hm." Dawn said quietly, allowing the subject to drop. Who was she to comment about how their magical or supernatural weather control was unnatural compared to their completely natural processes… that and it’d cause too much of a fuss if she pushed. "So what's next?" "Right… walking through the museum." Dr. Blast said, processing what Dawn had said before starting their slow walk once more, Dawn following behind. They walked through, seeing many items one would expect and Dawn nodding thoughtfully at a few. Forge bellows, steam engines, a few failed prototypes of steam-propelled carriages, and similar, until they neared the "modern" section. "This is where I’m guessing more practical applications and ideas for me come in." Dawn quietly said. "A bit. More just the technology that came about in the last few decades." Blast explained as she entered. The pair were greeted by the sight of a synthesizer hooked up to some speakers which were playing dubstep at low volume. Dawn blinked at the speaker, then smiled, "I see my suggestions about certain things are already being listened to. What’s the power supply this speaker or amp is using?" "Huh? What do you mean? We've not been able to test anything you’ve told us yet." "How the heck is the speaker even working without electricity?" Dawn blinked, flabbergasted. "Magic." Blast replied, blinking right back. "It runs on magic tech." Dawn blinked, "Magic makes no sense… not yet anyway. … I'll need to inform you how we did it with electricity later." "That was sort of why I’ve been talking to you.” Blast reminded the mare, “Yeah, as right now, unicorns have a monopoly on nearly all modern technology." "Then it’s about time we get some things that don’t rely on magic so more people can do things they never thought they could." Dawn nodded with determination. "That’s the plan." Dr. Blast said as they walked. "And I’ll do what I can to help it." Dawn nodded. "The more we can make not magic dependant, the more we can give dreams to those who can’t use it, rather than those who have it and choose to use it." "That’s somewhat the plan,” Blast nodded, “Obviously we don’t want to go too far and phase out the unicorn’s abilities, but just make things a bit more even." "I’m not saying phase it out. I’m happy I have magic now, but there’s no harm in helping even the playing field like you said." Dawn nodded. "Exactly, just being clear, as there are those who want to take it too far." Dawn nodded her agreement, finishing her observation of the speaker. "That is so jarring… having some tech I’m used to while others are decades behind… onward to the rest!" "What do you mean?” "I’ll explain later." Dawn promised. The pair walked on through a lot of musical equipment, speakers, microphones, and other modern tech. Dawn was just amazed, often commenting along the lines of "so many similarities" and "how do you play these without fingers?" "Huh? We… do?" She said. "Innate magics." "What do you mean?" Dawn blinked. "In our hooves.” Blast said, raising one, “Innate magic that all ponies, zebra, and horses have.” Dawn blinked again. "First I’m hearing of it." "Uh… Okay, I’ll explain later. Okay?" "Good." Dawn agreed. Blast nodded as they walked through modern technology, reaching the magical guitars. Dawn was fascinated by many items, making comments on what things she knew concepts behind and what ones she didn't, like the magical guitars, which looked like electric guitars. Dawn saw much in the way of tech she recognized, but sighed as she realized she was no closer to what she wanted or could do. "Another museum?" Dr. Blast asked as they neared the second hour of exploring. "That might be wise." Dawn said, mildly worried but trying not to show it. After Dawn walked with them to the other museum, she idly but cheerfully commented, "I’m not quite as out of breath as I feared I would be." Dr. Blast remained where she was before heading further, Dawn stopping with her. "So, think of any other type of museums you'd like to see?" "Honestly, this has me doubting myself more, though I know I shouldn't let that stop me." Dawn said with a worried sigh, "Sure, I can see enough about the designs to possibly work on them, but I don't have nearly enough coordination for anything yet." "That… wasn’t what this was about… this has nothing to do with our work. This is literally if you want to work here." Dr. Blast frowned at Dawn apparently misunderstanding what she was told they came here for. "I..." Dawn blinked, and then hit her head with her hoof again, wincing as she realized what they were saying, "I'm sorry Dr. Blast, sometimes an idea gets stuck in my head despite correction. Working for the museum could be a possibility." Several hours later, Dawn felt guilty as they had walked around to other museums and storefronts that Blast suggested. Dawn knew she was repeatedly making social mistakes by overthinking things or missing the obvious. She returned to Dusk with Dr. Blast, half expecting the worst in the report on their progress.