//------------------------------// // 1. The Science Fair // Story: The First Adventure // by bkc56 //------------------------------// This was the most pressure Quicksilver had ever been under. He felt like everything depended on the next few minutes. He’d spent weeks researching and testing prototypes. Building the final version of the device had taken several days. He really needed this to work. Quicksilver used his magic to place the crushed source minerals in a tumbler cylinder inside a heating chamber, and sealed the opening. His horn glowed blue as he created a small plasma ball under it as a heat source. The chamber needed to be as hot as an oven for baking bread to create the needed reaction. With a second spell, he began to slowly rotate the cylinder to keep the contents mixed and evenly heated. There was a tube coming out of the top of the heating chamber to collect the vapor passing it through a spiral condenser. With a third spell, he ran water over it for cooling. He waited. It seemed to be taking forever. A bead of sweat ran down the dark red hair on his face as he focused on the three spells. His hard work and concentration paid off as he spotted the beginnings of a small drop forming at the end of the condensing tube. Slowly, it grew in size until gravity had its way, and the drop fell into the collection container with a faint splat. He had successfully extracted a drop of mercury from raw cinnabar! He released a sigh he wasn’t aware he was holding before grinning from ear to ear and clopping his hooves together. He pranced in place when another drop splashed into the flask. He spun around to face the judges. His smile faded, and his ears fell slightly at the sight of their neutral faces and quickly moving pens. Quicksilver gulped. A couple of them nodded to him as they scribbled notes on their clipboards. His muscles relaxed a little. The lead judge addressed him. “Thank you for your demonstration, Mister Quicksilver. A very interesting display indeed, and an excellent complement to your printed project summary. Your control over multiple simultaneous spells was also very impressive. Yes, most impressive.” “Thank you all for taking the time to see my project in action,” Quicksilver replied. For the first time since his demonstration started, his breathing and pulse began to slow. The lead judge nodded, and they walked off to find the next project on their judging schedule. Quicksilver’s parents quickly trotted up to him from where they had been watching. Quicksilver broke into a big grin, prancing in place for a couple steps as he saw his parents approach.  “Did you see how well that went? It worked perfectly! You both helped me so much getting the report put together and testing out the prototypes. Thank you. Thank you!” “Oh, son, you did such a great job,” his mom gushed. “We’re both very proud of you,” his father added with an approving nod. The large hall echoed with hushed conversations and the sounds of ponies walking around. Students flitted about their assigned tables spread throughout the room, setting up their display boards and, in some cases, a demonstration of the project. All this happened under the watchful eyes of their teachers.  Quicksilver was by himself at his table, making a final check of each connection on his extraction device to make sure there would be no leaks. His eyes shifted between his checklist and the device repeatedly. This had to work perfectly for the judging tomorrow.  “Hi!” His focus broken, Quicksilver tensed and jumped slightly. He spun around to see who had spoken to him. He was greeted by the smiling faces of a sky-blue pegasus filly and a dark gray pegasus colt. “Misty? Cloudy! Hey, it’s great to see you guys!” They giggled and tackled each other in a hug, dancing around a bit. It was a miracle they didn’t knock over any of the nearby projects. Chuckling lightly, they let go. “Yeah,” Cloudy said as he stepped back. “It’s been at least a couple months since we were last together.” Misty added, “It’s not like when we all lived in Canterlot and could see each other every day.” She gave Quicksilver a playful shove with her hoof. As he regained his footing and shook his head, Quicksilver continued, “Since this is the setup day, I guess you two are also in the fair?” Misty jumped in, “Yes, we both are. I’ve got a project on nightshade genetics. Cloudy’s entry deals with various cloud types and their water content.” “What have you got going on here?” Cloudy asked, stepping closer to inspect Quicksilver’s project. “It’s a demonstration of the process of extracting mercury from mercury sulfide, also known as cinnabar. It’s really, really important to me. I can explain it all later.” He turned from the table to face his friends. “And I see you two both have your cutie marks! When did that happen?” “Yes,” Misty said, “We both got them this year.” Quicksilver glanced at Cloudy’s cutie mark -- a cloud with rain below it. “So Cloudy, a rain cloud?” “Yup. I got it a couple of months ago…” “Oh, oh, let me tell it. I love this story. I want to tell him,” Misty interrupted, prancing in place. “Okay,” Cloudy sighed, “you can do it.” He smiled, shaking his head a little at her enthusiasm. “Okay, okay, as you know, pegasi start flight training early, sometimes before they start school. Those that have an interest or are skilled in flying can keep training during regular school,” Misty started. Quicksilver nodded, and she continued, “So, one day, I had just finished my flying lesson and was hanging around to watch the other classes practice. “As you know, Cloudy wants to work in weather, as a cloud wrangler as he calls it.” She giggled “Yes, that’s right!” Cloudy exclaimed and stuck out his chest proudly. “Right,” Misty cleared her throat, “so he was there that day too. They’d just finished the drills on wind sprints…” Cloudy interjected, “We have to fly as hard as we can into a headwind, turn, and glide back to the starting point, then repeat. It’s really hard on the wings, but you have to master it if you wanna survive up there.” He flared his wings a little as he described it. Misty nodded. “Anyway, when they finished, everyone was exhausted, sweaty, and standing around panting. Somepony joked about Cloudy needing a shower, and somepony else said he should make his own. “So he took off, found a small cloud, and pushed it over to the practice field. He compressed it and then gave it a couple of kicks. And you know what? It actually started to rain!” Upon noticing Quicksilver quirking an eyebrow, she added, “Most adult pegasi can do that with ease, but given that Cloudy hadn’t had any weather training yet, it was pretty impressive. Takes at least a few weeks to learn how to do that.” Cloudy smiled proudly at that. “Anyway, it was just this little circle of water coming down onto the field. Cloudy glided down, gave the other students a smug look, and walked into his own private storm. “While he was rinsing, one of the instructors yelled out, Hey, what’s going on over there? Everypony glanced over at him, and when they looked back, Cloudy’s flank was glowing. When the glow faded, ta-da!” Misty gestured towards his cutie mark with a hoof. “That’s really cool,” Quicksilver exclaimed, staring at the mark. “I’d have loved to have seen that when it happened.” “It was really fun,” Misty said. “Everyone was excited, and they all gathered around Cloudy to see his new cutie mark.” “So, what about you, Misty? If I had to guess, I’d say your cutie mark is a nightshade?” It was a five-petal flower, light pink with a core of darker red. “You know about flowers?” Cloudy questioned, tilting his head a bit, obviously surprised. “Yeah, I understand a little about plants, especially those few that can also be used in alchemy along with the normal minerals and ores.” “Wow, I had no idea,” Misty said. “But I guess it makes sense you’d know that kind of stuff given that your parents are alchemy researchers. I bet you pick up a lot of cool facts from them. You know how my parents own a greenhouse here in Canterlot?” Quicksilver nodded. “They sell to two types of customers. The first purchase plants and flowers for medical use, like for potions. This is what they love to work on. “The other customers are the status-obsessed Canterlot elite who buy rare plants and flowers for their homes. They’re always looking for the latest thing that no one else has, and they expect it to be expensive. These customers pay the bills. “My parents understand enough about plant genetics to make sure they have the highest potency for medical use. But that’s not enough for me. I want to know more about genetics, I want to really understand it. I’ve studied Mendale’s analytical approach to plant genetics, and I find it fascinating. I wanted to actually try the techniques that he wrote about. So after doing an analysis of the nightshade varieties we had, I did some cross-breeding and generated my own new variety. “My parents documented everything and sent it off to, well, I’m not sure just who they sent it to. Some official place. A few weeks later we got an official letter that acknowledged the new variety naming me as the creator. When I read that letter, POW! My cutie mark appeared. So I think the study of botany and plant genetics is where I’m headed. And I love it.” “That’s a great story too,” Quicksilver said, shaking his head just a bit. “I never really took you for the science type.” Misty laughed. “I know, right? Especially given how much I love to fly. Though while flying is fun, it’s not what I want to do. I’m so intrigued by the whole field of botany, as it’s just so interesting. I love to figure it all out. That’s my special talent, and what I want to do.” Cloudy cut in, “Okay, okay, enough of this science stuff. I get it, you two could babble on about that for hours. You know all that goes over my head pretty fast.” Quicksilver and Misty looked at each other and broke into laughter. Cloudy chuckled along with them, but with less enthusiasm. The hall buzzed in anticipation of the award ceremony. The participants with their families and guests shuffled on their chairs and talked amongst themselves, creating a low, but deafening din that permeated the air. The judges were already sitting on-stage right next to a three-tiered platform for the winners. They’d occasionally flipped through their notes and conversed quietly with each other. Next to them stood a table with the various ribbons and trophies. Also on the table was the big trophy which the winner’s school would keep for a year. The winner’s name would be added to the list from previous years inscribed on the trophy. The lead judge stood and slowly walked to the podium to begin the ceremony. He tapped the microphone a few times. The crowd fell silent. He started with some opening remarks about the value of science, how hard everyone had worked, and the like. The judge spoke in a slow deliberate manner, and showed the same level of enthusiasm he had during the judging. Ribbons were presented to the six honorable mentions. Then after a few more remarks, the judge was ready to announce the top three winners of the fair. “In third place, for an in-depth study of botanical genetics and the creation of a new variety of nightshade, we have…” He paused and looked up from his papers. “Mist Skimmer!” There was a lot of cheering and hoof stomping as Misty pranced on-stage and stood on the third-place tier.  “In second place, for an analysis of water content in various cloud types, we have… Cloud Walker!” More cheers and stomping echoed through the hall as Cloudy took his place. Quicksilver clapped his hooves together at seeing his two friends win awards. He stopped as he realized he was down to an all-or-nothing final opportunity. His breathing quickened, and he could feel his heart thumping in his chest. “And finally, our first place winner, for the practical demonstration using hoof-built equipment for the extraction of mercury from cinnabar, we have…” The judge paused for a little longer and swept his gaze over the audience. “Quicksilver!” He stood up, his head swimming from the roar of the crowd. He glanced at his parents. His dad was sitting up straight and proud, his mom wiping a tear of happiness from her eye. His heart thundered in his chest. As he walked on stage to shake hooves with the judge, the crowd suddenly fell totally quiet. Quicksilver looked around, confused. He noticed Misty pointing at his flank. He turned one way, and then the other trying to see, when his eyes caught the bright glow coming from his flank. As it glow subsided, there was his brand new cutie mark: the alchemical symbol for the element Mercury. It was light blue and stood out against his dark red coat. The resulting pandemonium was deafening. Quicksilver climbed up to the first-place platform. Misty was looking up at him with a huge grin as she clapped her hooves. He smiled back and then turned to look at Cloudy who was also smiling, but it seemed a little forced. He wondered about that for a moment. The judge raised a foreleg to silence the crowd, to no effect. After he tapped the mic a couple times, the room finally went quiet. “Well, that was certainly unexpected and special,” the judge chuckled. Quicksilver spotted his parents in the audience smiling up at him. He waved at them. “That’s the only time I’m aware of when a winner has received their cutie mark on-stage like that, and I have been presiding over this fair for a couple dozen years now!” Quicksilver beamed as he glanced back at his new cutie mark. “What a fine ending to a successful all-school science fair. Thank you for coming here today. It’s always great to see so many young bright minds. Please, everypony, one final applause for all the participants. Oh, and be careful as you exit the building, and have a wonderful day.” Quicksilver rocked on his legs, antsy to get down and be with his friends as the hall erupted in cheers once more. With the ceremony complete, the three friends scampered down from the platform. They smiled and pranced as they gathered together. Misty gave Quicksilver a big hug. “That was amazing,” she said. “I think that’s better than either of our stories.” Quicksilver spun around once as he tried once again to get a good look at his new cutie mark. He then turned toward Cloudy, who just said, “Good job,” and gave him a half-hearted hoof-bump. Cloudy’s parents reached the stage right then and called him over. After saying goodbye, Quicksilver turned to Misty and asked, “Did you notice something off about Cloudy just now? He looked like something was bothering him.” She glanced in the direction Cloudy had gone. “He was a little quiet. Perhaps he was just disappointed to come in second.” She turned back towards Quicksilver. “But for a non-science type, coming in second was a huge accomplishment. It’s not like he’s all about science like we are.” Quicksilver’s ears drooped a bit. “Perhaps. I don’t know. Maybe he feels a little left out since we have science in common and that’s not his thing.” “So, why was this fair so important to you?” Misty asked, moving a little closer. “It feels like there’s more going on here than just winning a prize.” “You’re right. I guess you can read me pretty well. Should I be worried?” He grinned slightly. Misty gave him a playful shove with her hoof. “My parents have encouraged me to apply to Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns for next year. It’s pretty competitive.” He pawed at the floor nervously. “Winning this competition is a great thing to add to the application as it’ll help me stand out a bit more. Any little advantage can make the difference.” “I get it. So, being in the fair was more about planning for the future than about just winning a trophy today.” Her smile faded a bit as she spoke more softly, “I really like how you’re always thinking ahead to what you want, and how to get there.” Nodding, he replied, “My parents have always emphasized that the big picture is just as important as the little details.” “You know, I think I might be getting some ideas about what I want long-term too,” Misty said to herself. “What?” “Hmm?” Her focus returned to Quicksilver. “Oh, nothing. I was just thinking too loudly,” she responded, smiling a bit broader.