//------------------------------// // Learning Nuclear Physics // Story: Twilight Tries... // by Peni Parker //------------------------------// Are you sure all this stuff is really necessary, Starlight? It seems like you might be going a little overboard with the, um…visual aids. . . I know that this is a complicated subject that involves a lot of equipment and such, but in case you hadn’t noticed we’re kinda running out of room in here. I can’t take two steps without – oof - bumping into something. . . All right, if you say all this is necessary then I guess there’s no way around it. Now where’s the camera? . Ah, here it is. Ahem. Hi, everypony, and welcome to another episode of Twilight Tries! In today’s episode, I’m going to try to…learn nuclear physics! And joining me today is our good friend Starlight Glimmer! Say hi, Star – AH! . Oh good, the camera seems to be okay. Hehe. S-Sorry about dropping the camera just now, everypony. As you can see right now there’s a lot of books and models and equipment and various other things all piled into the room and it’s making it a little difficult to maneuver the camera around. Or maneuver myself around for that matter. . . Yes I accept that all this stuff is necessary, Starlight! I just wish you’d told me just how much stuff we were going to need for this episode beforehoof. If I’d known it would be this much I would’ve chosen a larger room for us to do this in. Though honestly I’m not sure if there even is a larger room in the castle than this one. . . No, no, it’s fine. We’ve already started the episode so let’s just – oof – keep going. *SIGH* Okay, so getting back on track, the reason why it is that I’m trying to learn nuclear physics today is because, well, essentially Starlight wanted to be on the vlog again and this is what we agreed upon to make that happen. I feel like I’m going to need to expound on that. . Yeah, I need to expound. So you see, last week Starlight came to me and expressed interest in doing another episode of Twilight Tries together – which I have to admit took me a bit by surprise because I didn’t think she enjoyed being on my vlog that much. But I’m so glad that she does! *SQUEE* Anywhoo, I of course told her that we could do another episode together, and soon enough we were brainstorming ideas for what the subject of that episode should be. We came up with a lot of ideas during that brainstorming session, or rather Starlight came up with a lot of ideas during that brainstorming session since she pretty much just kept listing potential subjects one after another in an incredibly long and unbroken sentence. And whoa nelly did she come up with some truly, shall we say…interesting ideas, many of which I really don’t want to know where they came from. Though I am morbidly curious and concerned where she got the Viking funeral idea from. Anyways, eventually we agreed that I could try learning nuclear physics with Starlight being the one to teach it to me, because if you’ll remember from the ghostbusting episode of this vlog we learned that she has a degree in nuclear physics. . . Yes, with a minor in mechanical engineering. I remember, Starlight. So, yeah, that’s how we ended up here. I have to say that nuclear physics isn’t an area of science that I’ve ever had much of an interest in, but I am looking forward to this lesson today. After all, learning is the third greatest magic there is! Right behind friendship and proper silverware placement. . . Okay, Starlight, be over in a second! Well, everypony, it looks like we’re ready to get things started. So let’s, um…get started! . Oof. . All right, I’ve got my camera for recording, my quill and parchment for note-taking, and my ever-enduring thirst for knowledge. Teach away, Starlight! . . Uh-huh. . . Uh-huh. . . Ooh. How interesting. . . Sorry for that interruption just now, everypony. Starlight was starting to get really technical on some of that stuff and I figured most of you were going to eventually lose interest if I’d kept recording. Truth be told, even I was starting to lose a bit of interest after about fifteen minutes. So anyways, I asked Starlight to keep the material in the remainder of the lesson to the level of a 101 course. She agreed to keeping things introductory and is now trying to find a model of a nuclear powerplant she made to explain how fission helps create electricity. Though she’s been sifting through all this stuff looking for that model for about eight minutes now, so I’m not quite sure we’re going to get to that part of the lesson. . . Oh, good. It’s sounds like Starlight found the model. Now I just have to find her. Hang on, Starlight! I’ll be right there! . . . Oof. *WHIRRING NOISE* That…doesn’t sound good. Uh, Starlight! I bumped into one of these machines and now it’s making a very unsettling noise! . . Yeah, I’m not really sure what machine this is. I see what I think might be a model number on it though if that helps at all; 1F02. . . It’s a proton accelerator? Um, okay. Do proton accelerators usually make this much noise? A-And vibrate a lot. . Oh boy. The look on Starlight’s face right now is not inspiring confidence. T-This isn’t a big deal, right, Starlight? I just accidentally turned the proton accelerator on and you can easily turn it off, r-right? . . IT’S GOING CRITICAL AND YOU CAN’T SHUT IT DOWN?! Oh dear. SPIKE, OWLOWISCIOUS, CODE 8! EVACUATE THE CASTLE! EVACUATE THE CASTLE! Okay, so, um…some mistakes were made involving the proton accelerator and now the castle is what Starlight says is called a ‘hot zone’. Basically what that means is that the castle is extremely radioactive and dangerous right now. But don’t worry, Starlight, Spike, Owlowiscious, and I all got out in time and Starlight and I were able to put a magical barrier around the castle to keep the radiation from spreading. That’s the good news. The bad news is that, according to Starlight’s calculations, it’s going to take a few weeks to fully decontaminate the castle, even with magic. So as you’ve probably deduced, that means the four of us need a place to stay for a while. Spike went off to see if any of our friends will be able to put us up until the castle is habitable again, but right now I’m a little concerned about our living situation for the foreseeable future. . . Absolutely not, Starlight! There is no way in Tartarus I am going to stay with Trixie! Not after all the chaos that happened when she stayed with us. . Oh, Spike. You’re back already. Were you able to find us a place to stay? . . Oh thank goodness! At least we don’t have to worry about that now. Well, everypony, given that it seems the nuclear physics lesson is over I think it’s time to end this episode. So as always, thanks for watching, and I’ll see you next time on Twilight Tries! . . Oh for - No, Starlight, this incident doesn’t mean that we can try doing a Viking funeral on the next episode! Will you please stop pitching that idea already! Yeesh. By the way, Spike, which of our friends agreed to take us in? . . Wait, who?!