//------------------------------// // Disco's Coming Back // Story: The Science of Magic // by theworstwriter //------------------------------// Nothing. The six friends found themselves occupying a small island in a sea of non-space. Beyond the edge of the metal platform, there was nothing. No light, no sound, no smell. Twilight couldn’t detect the faintest trace of energy from anywhere on the spectrum. Before their confusion and fear could settle, the emptiness parted briefly and a stone bridge rose up from it, its edges dotted with faintly glowing orbs. A short distance out, the lights disappeared and nothing more could be seen. A sound echoed from just beyond the edge of visibility on the bridge. An echo should have been impossible here, given that there was nothing for the sound to bounce off of, but this anomaly went unnoticed. The sound repeated at a steady pace, growing in volume, approaching from the darkness. “Hoofsteps!” Pinkie exclaimed. Twilight gulped. “Not exactly. Whatever’s approaching, it has two legs. Not four.” “I can hear you, you know.” An odd looking creature emerged, carrying an unknown face that still somehow conveyed a deep sense of sorrow, despite its unfamiliarity. The elongated monkey continued forward. Something resembling a loose-fitting white labcoat swayed softly on its frame with each step. Fluttershy’s eyes grew wide as she took in the sight of the new animal. “It... talks.” Applejack and Rainbow Dash briefly made eye contact, nodding once before rushing toward the alien presence with every intent to subdue it. They rebounded off of something unseen when they reached the boundary between platform and bridge. It came to a stop just a step away from the platform. “I mean you no harm. For now I would just like to talk.” Fluttershy stepped forward. “I’d like that very much. I’m always fascinated to meet new creatures. Um, not that I’m calling you a ‘creature’. I’m just not used to finding something I’ve never heard of that could I could speak with.” “Do be careful, dear. I don’t think we know enough about the situation to consider ourselves ‘safe’ at the moment,” Rarity said, the worry in her voice quite obvious. “I think I understand. Intelligent life is rare. How about some introductions, to lighten the mood? I’m Simon. What’s your name?” At the sound of that very calm introduction, every pony in the room loosened a bit. There was no reason to be tense and uncivil. If the makers wanted to hurt the ponies, there were easier ways. “My name is Fluttershy and just... um, just because an animal can’t talk doesn’t mean it isn’t smart.” “Of course. I didn’t mean to imply that,” Simon said with a smile. “It’s okay. If you don’t mind, I have a lot of questions for you...” “I’ll answer what I can, but first let’s finish introducing ourselves.” Rainbow Dash reared up and spread her wings, striking one of her best poses. “I’m Rainbow Dash, the fastest flier in Equestria!” “I’m Pinkie Pie! I’d throw you a party, but I don’t have any supplies on me right now.” Applejack tipped her hat lightly. “Name’s Applejack. Pleasure to make yer acquaintance.” “Rarity. Delighted to meet you.” “I am Princess-” Twilight stopped herself. “No, nevermind. My name is Twilight Sparkle.” Simon raised an eyebrow, then lowered it. “Splendid. Now I know there are a lot of questions on both sides here, but I would really like to know what you’re doing out here in the middle of nowhere and what sort of technologies you’re using. As much as those questions tug at me, though, I think it’s only fair that I let all of you ask a few things first. You were moved against your will, and for that I apologize. Please, go ahead and ask a few of your more pressing questions.” Faster than even Dash could react, Twilight was at the edge of the platform, staring over the bridge and into Simon’s eyes. “What do you want?” “Well, I want some questions of mine to be answered, but I can wait a bit.” “I know you’re not stupid, but you seem to think we are. That’s not what I meant.” Simon broke eye contact, staring instead at the stone beneath him. “That’s... a very tough question. I can tell you that personally I only want to understand.” “To understand?! THAT’s why you manipulate huge numbers of innocent creatures into doing... whatever it is you’re trying to get us to do?” Dash glared at Simon, unsatisfied with his answer. “Trying to get you to... wait, you’re... you’re part of the experiment?!” Simon looked up and stared with disbelief. Twilight stared back. “You didn’t know?” Pinkie snapped into a creepy stare, her eyes very wide but her pupils very small. “Twilight. Don’t tell him anything about Disco.” Simon blinked. “Disco?” Twilight looked at Pinkie for a second before letting out an exasperated sigh and turning back to Simon. “Nevermind. Yes, we’re part of your experiment. Our circumstances are just... different. My question stays. What’s the goal? Why do you need a new energy source?” “You’re quite snippy. I’ve told you I mean you no harm. I’ve let you ask the first question. Why are you so hostile?” “Because I don’t TRUST you. What does it say about you and your kind when you’re willing to control every life you feel is beneath you just so you can get whatever advantage it is you want so badly? Who can do that and claim they’re WORTHY of trust?” “You’re looking at the situation all wrong. We didn’t find and enslave innocent souls for our nefarious purposes. We felt that we had reached our limits. We didn’t think we could do something alone and so we set out to find allies who could help us. You weren’t placed under an oppressive yoke. We just had a monitoring system for your own good. So that you wouldn’t destroy yourselves or your home. We never interfered unless necessary and we never asked you for anything. We provided you with a bountiful source of arcane energy to help your society progress, but we never forced you to use it.” Simon took the last step, leaving the bridge and crossing through the invisible wall. “We gave you the gift of your very lives! What have we done to wrong you?” Twilight narrowed her eyes. “Why have you started saying we instead of I?” “Because I was speaking to you all as one man, but now you’ve gone and started defaming the character of my species, and that has always bothered me. We make mistakes, but so does everyone else. Human beings are not evil by nature. We’ve done terrible things and I admit our history isn’t one to be proud of, but I just can’t stand when every other species we come across condemns us so heavily for some perceived wrong that doesn’t exist! We do what we do with the best of intentions, and I believe that for the most part we have made the right choices.” “Then why don’t you just tell us the point of the experiment?” “I just did. We reached the edge of what our science could do. There was a gap we couldn’t cross by ourselves, so we reached out and-” Rarity stomped both front hooves down with a thunderous bang. “Wait just a moment! It’s my understanding that this miraculous thing we’re supposedly capable of that you are not not comes from FRIENDSHIP. Do you mean to tell me you ‘humans’ have been around long enough that your science can create entirely new types of life, but you don’t get along well enough to make a few friends? That’s ridiculous!” “Friendship? I’m afraid you’ve lost me,” Simon said, tilting his head to one side. “The surge in energy you detected came from the power of our friendship,” Twilight said calmly. “I’m afraid I don’t actually understand it any better than you, though.” “Wait a sec. You’re telling me these guys don’t have friends?” Dash asked. “Of COURSE we have friendships!” Applejack tried to shake the confusion out of her head. “Then what in tarnation is this all about? Y’all already have friends, whaddaya need us for?” “We don’t KNOW! This is what I’ve been trying to tell you! There’s something we don’t understand, something we know about but can’t quite see, so we gave thousands of new lifeforms the chance to exist and put down safeguards to stop them from hurting themselves, and we ask for nothing in return but the chance to study so that we can figure it out! I don’t see where we did anything wrong! I admit moving you six here against your will could be seen as mean, but we were just a little startled to suddenly see so much energy appear like that. I’m even more confused now that you tell me your incredible power comes from something as cheesy as friendship. Clearly there is some information missing, but if we can all remain civil, hopefully some real learning can happen.” “Um... excuse me, but, can humans do magic?” Fluttershy scraped a hoof across the ground for a moment before correcting herself. “I mean, can you um... use arcane energy to do things that, if you didn’t know better, you would call magic?” Simon turned to look at her. “Well, not naturally, no. We have it all figured out and we have technology to let us use it, but we’re not born able to. Why do you ask?” Fluttershy stood tall, exuding an unusual amount of confidence. “Because I think maybe it’s the same. Unicorns can do magic. Pegasi can fly. I think maybe ponies can just do something that humans can’t.” Simon’s face went through a number of subtle transformations before finally settling on what could only be described as a look of sheer horror. He swung his gaze frantically about the room for several seconds before deciding nobody and nothing else was present. “I truly, SINCERELY, hope that you’re wrong.” Fluttershy lost some of her inexplicable confidence, beginning to shrink back. “Oh, um... why is that?” “Because not all of us agree that every sentient being has the right to live freely.” “What in the hay is that supposed to mean?” Dash asked, irritation still present in her voice. Simon frowned. “If there is a difference between us that lets you do something we can’t, things will not go well for you. You’ll be dissected and the part of you responsible for the difference will be studied. Many people think that because we made you and gave you all that you have, we are within our rights to take it away. We aren’t evil. We’re just greedy, and some of us are blinded by our desires. If we know something will harm another, it’s not in our nature to do it. But in your case... the desire to finish the experiment will override the shades of grey. It’s not completely clear to everyone that you are living, thinking creatures. Somehow the idea that we made you makes people view you as less than alive.” “That’s horrible! We eat, we breathe, we talk we laugh, we love. We’re here discussing the matter with you right now! How could anypony... er... anybody possibly think like that?” Rarity scoffed, turning up her nose and closing her eyes. “They don’t really think like that. They don’t think. While there are some bad apples among us who don’t care about anything but their own happiness, anyone who really believed you were alive... that you were more than a collection of cells, wouldn’t ever want to hurt you. Humans are... stubborn. Ignorant. We’re getting off track. There might not be anything to worry about, and I’m sure you still have a lot more questions for me, as I have many more for you.” The darkness opened up again, and a second bridge rose up out of it. It joined the platform at a point directly opposite the bridge Simon had appeared on. This one did not fade into darkness a short distance out. It kept on going and going until eventually it disappeared due simply to the eye’s inability to see something that far away. Pinkie Pie broke her long silence, bouncing rapidly in place with excitement. “Everything’s ready! Come on, girls, it’s show time!” She galloped off into the distance, so confident her friends would follow that she didn’t look back. She didn’t need to. After only a moment’s hesitation and one or two shrugs, all six ponies were heading down the length of the mysterious stone path leaving Simon alone. Simon blinked, completely unable to fathom what had just happened. He cautiously toed the line where the new bridge began before stepping firmly forward onto it. He set off at a brisk walk. And so it was that six ponies and one human charged blindly toward the most unpredictable future imaginable.