//------------------------------// // Chapter 6 // Story: Twilight makes first contact // by Immanuel //------------------------------// "All right," Twilight Sparkle said to the small conference of team leaders that had gathered around her for a quick afternoon briefing, "what have you got? Miss Elkinger?" "A partial breakthrough, I believe," Senior Mage Elkinger of the Magic team said, smiling with smug satisfaction. "On a hunch, I had my team observe the Chemistry team's experiments on the local materials, and exposed some of the reactions to super-tense thaumic fields. "The result was to an extent clear: Any tested chemical reaction will cause structural integration in the materials, while without a reaction, the seepage is to all intents and purposes nonexistent. Furthermore, in partial reactions, magic was only integrated into affected parts. Also, with varied tension thaumic field testing, there was a direct correspondence with the tensity and the rate of integration with any given chemical reaction. "However," Sr. Mg. Elkinger said, with a raised hoof, "testing with lower tensities also showed clearly that different chemical reactions have different rates of integration. I was assured by Doctor Charcoal that this rate had nothing in common with the known thaumo-chemical properties of the materials and reactions in question. "Therefore, I can conclude that while a chemical reaction may be a cause for susceptibility for passive thaumaturgical seepage in the local environment, perhaps even the biggest cause, there is no way to rule out other causes, as the actual mechanism is still unknown. "Still," she added with an excited grin, "this line of questioning appears eminently fruitful. We have numbers and graphs and a plethora of testing to do!" "Very good, Senior Mage," Twilight said with a nod and a Princess Smile #D4 (you have done well, but your information concerns me, and therefore you should do even more). "However, unless I am mistaken, this information would seem to indicate that living beings would be the most vulnerable to passive seepage." Twilight glanced to the representatives from Chemistry and Biology teams, making sure their faces reflected the seriousness of this worry, and rested her gaze briefly on Professor Pattesbury from the Communication team. She didn't let it linger there. The stallion's team was already progressing as fast as it could, and showing remarkable progress besides. "What level of tension are we talking about here, Miss Elkinger?" she asked. "The lowest observable seepage at the moment was still at a tension of more than hundred million times that of what we have inside the containment tome. We are currently testing lower level tensions with local yeast-equivalent. Lady Pie's idea," Sr. Mg. Elkinger said, with a mixture of genuine gratitude, slight bafflement and just a hint of embarrassed exasperation. "We have her notes on the matter, of course, but..." "Let me guess," Twilight said with a blank tone. "You can't read them?" "Not in so many words, I'm afraid, Your Highness," Sr. Mg. Elkinger said. "She explained some, but insisted that she had been serious enough for the day and went to roll in the grass with the local equines. They seem to still be enjoying that." "Oh well," Twilight sighed, levitating a fresh pastry to her mouth and taking a nibble, "at least we got some sweet rolls out of it. These were made with the local yeast, I take it?" "Oh yes," Sr. Mg. Elkinger said. "Actually, by one of the locals. The one with the short, dark mane, carried by the palomino queen." "Mm, she's gorgeous," Doctor Greenleaves of the Biology team said dreamily, before blushing furiously. "Um, academically speaking, of course!" she stammered. "Don't worry," Twilight said with a laughter, levitating half of her sweet roll to a local equine that had wandered next to her, lured in by the smell of the pastries, "they are magnificent, indeed! Why, I was taken in by their grace immediately upon arrival! Still, we should keep our minds focused for now. What else?" Several ponies jumped up, looking like they had something interesting and/or important to report. After a quick acknowledgment by glances, Doctor Charcoal took the first turn. "The locals may be of some help with the seepage problem," she said quickly, barely containing her excitement. "Chemistry-wise, I mean. The things they have discovered!" "Oh?" Twilight said with a raised brow. "Indeed!" Doctor Charcoal said. "We were first informed by one of Professor Pattesbury's team..." Aether Song was happy. No, ecstatic! She was part of the project, the most interesting, most important, most the of anything of everything ever, and she was still just a research assistant, technically. Her dissertation was on hold for the duration, but none of that mattered. She had already been quite beside herself of joy when her mentor had introduced her to the project, 'as reward suitable for your talents, in honor of your work ethic'. Assigned as a research assistant to Professor Pattesbury's team, she had been working on the most esoteric logical constructs, refining and extrapolating and helping to bring them into life as actual magical constructs, antithetical as that seemed to their very nature. That work alone, by sheer association to the project, was sure to open up positions in any university she might want to join in her post-doc career. Hay, there was a good chance she would soon be founding a new department in any university she might care to join! They all would, most likely. There was no telling what new interesting, profound, breathtaking, original fields of research the expedition to that completely alien universe would bring. It was a good time to be a scientist in Equestria. It was a good time in general. First, Luna's return had launched a renaissance of arts and philosophy. Then, Twilight Sparkle's meteoric rise to princesshood had sparked a new age of science and innovation. Every day, it seemed, some new discovery was made about the nature of magic or the cosmos or the very existence itself. And now, this greatest discovery so far. Yes, Aether Song had been plenty excited just to be part of the project, a face in the crowd of thousands. Then the call had come: the expedition needed capable field observers for the communication team, and off she went. And now she was here! In another world! Another universe! In an alien creature's lap! Taking notes on the strange mathematics she was being shown and making sure she was transmitting the alien vocalizations to the nascent translation matrix in its shell, she was sure she would have been too excited to focus if not for the strangely soothing effect the slow strokes of the alien's dextrous appendages on her mane and coat had on her. The prime-sapient held its odd, but immensely useful and endlessly versatile little what-ever-it-was, a magicless magic mirror, a book with a single transforming page, a chalkboard that responded to touch and played sounds and showed images... Whatever it was, the creature held it in front of her, and slowly expanded her mind with the equations and images it showed her. With the aid of an increasing team, she transcribed the equations into Equestrian notation, trying to find similarities and common points and communicated back with images and equations of her own, usually suggested by the team, or one of the more senior mathematicians or physicists that had come through the portal. She liked the alien's reaction, whenever they did that. At first, it had seemed transfixed by the sheer presence of floating lights, but when they had learned to communicate better, it, and other prime-sapients that had arrived that morning, seemed more and more excited by the equations themselves. They really were communicating, and even if it still was merely exchanging mathematical descriptions of the natures of their respective universes, that itself would have been enough for several lifetimes. Aether Song had long since stopped trying to understand everything that was coming and going through her. There was simply too much raw information here for anypony. The expedition was struggling to make sense of it all, and was expanding to keep up with its own progress. She bet that already the majority of Equestrian academia back home was gearing up to handle the influx of new, tantalizing tidbits that flowed through the portal. Still, she could sense that there was a structure to the prime-sapients' teaching. After learning their respective mathematics, the aliens had paused, and had now started a new line of communication. It started slowly again. First, the string of logical symbols that said approximately 'the following will describe'. Then a list, no, a table of empty placeholders. And then...something different. These were not equations. They weren't logic propositions. Under each place in the table came a list of categories. 'These categories describe the same thing'. Aether squinted, and nudged the alien appendage with her muzzle to show understanding and the desire to continue. There were...numbers. Relationships with numbers. Something she had been told was a waveform. Alien graphs and pictures. None of it looked familiar. She hurried to transcribe it all while the alien paused, waiting for her acknowledgment. She motioned it to continue, but also formed the symbols for indeterminacy and unknown to the prime-sapient, making sure it understood that they needed more information to make a connection with their own knowledge. There was no telling if they would, however. By the way the science teams were acting, the prime-sapients had already provided knowledge of the physical world well beyond anything ponydom had dreamed of. All this could simply be something ponies had no experience of. Still, if she understood the prime-sapients' communication protocol correctly, they were being presented by building blocks for something, maybe their actual language even. But the table was filled, one by one, with similar looking lists of numbers and graphs and waveforms. The pictures seemed to imply the transition from simpler to more complex, but she still could only signal her non-understanding. The prime-sapient paused, perhaps hesitant, or thinking. Then it pointed at two of the slots on the table and cleared the ...thing, and started listing something new. Aether studied the lists of numbers and the new pictures. Clearly, somehow, these two slots, described by their respective categories, were now made to interact. The image was simple enough, but it didn't look like anything familiar. The strings of numbers and wave-forms were simply unintelligible even though she was beginning to feel like she almost could read the alien notation. A long day of transcribing with years of working on logic constructs was paying its due. Then suddenly, one of the equations caught her attention. There was something familiar...if one were to describe it in Equestrian notation...something half forgotten, like something she had seen in one of her freshman classes... Aether let out a small gasp when a sudden recollection hit her. She had to make sure. For a moment, she stopped transmitting the alien vocalizations, and instead prepared a quick summoning. A globe of water from the chemistry lab appeared floating in front of the alien, who looked hesitant. Aether corrected herself slightly, banishing the water, and summoning pure hydrogen and oxygen instead, connecting their containment fields and letting the reaction occur, carefully leeching excess heat off and returning it to the feedback pylons, leaving another small globe of liquid water floating in the air. The prime-sapient communicated. 'Good', the logic symbol said. "After that," Dr. Charcoal said, "it was simple deduction. They were describing chemical elements! And even better, the way they described them showed an unimaginable understanding of their properties. Your Highness, I believe these prime-sapients have managed to prove the atomic theory!" Twilight gasped slightly. "Really?" she squeaked. "How can you tell?" "The equations they used...they were simply too perfect not to be true! After being translated by the Math team, of course," Dr. Charcoal said, nodding appreciatively at Doctor Schoenblume, who nodded back. "They explained the change of mass in the reactions...without taking into account thaumic reactions, naturally. We always knew it was happening, but these creatures seem to have the answers as to why. And electricity and conductivity as well. The formation of crystals...even things like density and hardness seem to have an explanation that stems from a more basic principle! I can't wait to see how all this expands our understanding of the world! And when we learn how magic interacts in relation with the new atomic chemistry - oh! The possibilities are staggering!" "Wow!" Twilight said, her head swimming slightly as she, too, imagined the expansion of knowledge in sight. "First a maximum speed for the universe, and now atomic theory...I wonder how thoroughly these creatures understand the physical world! This is fantastic!" Professor Pattesbury leaned forward, grinning conspiratorially. "That's not even the best part, Your Highness," he said. "Guess what they were teaching us chemistry for?" "What?" Twilight asked, trying to imagine what the locals could possibly have in mind. "Look at this," Professor Pattesbury said, levitating a complex-looking schematic to Twilight. "It's a schematic describing a ...machine, let's call it, of a very, very small size. It's actually so small, that it functions by holding and releasing particles smaller than the atom!" "...What?" Twilight asked again, this time rather bewildered. "Allow me to explain," Dr. Charcoal said. "What we at first thought to be the indivisible particles that make up matter, explained to us by the locals, turned out themselves to be made of other, smaller, more basic particles. The ones Professor Pattesbury just mentioned, apparently are the ones that make up electricity and are the reason for most or all chemical properties matter has. We haven't had time to examine all the information yet." "...Electricity is made up of particles," Twilight whispered astonished. "Well, kind of," Professor Mulberry of the Physics team said, coughing gently into her hoof. "The prime-sapient's equations seemed a little uncertain about that. Some of the properties described a wave. But I suppose it's easier to understand the schematic if you think of it as a particle. Your Highness." "You see," Dr. Charcoal said, "what we have simply thought as electricity is apparently a stream of particles that are themselves part of the particles that make up matter, let us call them atoms for the sake of simplicity, but can change places with the electricity particles of atoms making up other chemical elements. The locals showed us how compound materials are formed by the elemental atoms sharing electricity particles with each other. Along with some interesting equations that describe, well, a whole lot of stuff we haven't had proper explanations for previously." "Okay," Twilight said, nodding, "I'm following. So the device?" "It's capable of storing and releasing electricity particles, like I said," Professor Pattesbury continued, still grinning. "The upshot of which is that it can therefore represent either a 'yes' or a 'no'." "You don't mean-" Twilight gasped. "Yes!" Professor Pattesbury said, levitating more schematics to Twilight. "This one describes a physical representation of a logical operation, and this other one represents how these little devices can be stacked to form...well, considering their size, an unimaginably complex and dense collection of these yes/no devices." "Are they describing us how their psyche functions in material terms?" Twilight breathed. Professor Pattesbury blinked. "An interesting proposition," he said. "I hadn't considered that, actually. I was thinking more in terms of a physical basis for their language. See, they've also begun listing how collections of yesses and nos correspond to numbers and letters." "Oh," Twilight said and paused. "Oh my. How small is this device again?" Now it was Doctor Schoenblume's turn to grin widely. "By my calculations, the tip of your hoof could hold a million Canterlot libraries, Your Highness. Give or take three orders of magnitude." Twilight closed her eyes and moaned slightly as a shiver passed through her body. She wet her lips and swallowed before opening her eyes, panting a bit. "Is..." she started with a hoarse voice, looking at the team leaders through half-lidded eyes, "are there any more reports?" "We have the schematics for the translation construct ready for your inspection," Senior Mage Elkinger said. "And we have some interesting observations about the local hierarchy and social interaction," Doctor Greenleaves said. "Yeah," Twilight breathed. "Give it to me." * * * "So," Professor Morris said, absent-mindedly stroking the mane of one of the alien creatures laying on her crossed legs as she sat on the ground, interviewing one of the ranch owners, "what exactly did you think when you first saw them? The visitors, I mean. Describe the experience. What went through you head?" "Well," Cassie drawled, "at first it was just the one. The one with the lavender coat. Ah thought it was just some weird critter ah hadn't seen before. Though the color was peculiar. Still is, are, whatever," she said with a smile, as she petted one of the alien creatures snuggled up to her chest. "Ah mean, it was just interested in my ponies," she continued. "Then the rest of them came. Dozens, marching towards me from the light, all orderly and purposeful." "What did you think at that moment?" Professor Morris asked. "Well," Cassie said, "it's kind of hard to describe. Ah guess ah just went numb a bit. Couldn't think at all. It was more a feeling of...ah don't know. Awe ah guess. Though ah do remember ah thought of them as magic ponies at one point." "Magic ponies?" Professor Morris repeated with a questioning look. "Yeah," Cassie grinned. "It was around the time ah noticed the white ones with the golden armor. They reminded me of pegasi and unicorns, except smaller. So...magic ponies." Professor Morris nodded, and Doctor Carmichael, also sitting cross-legged on the ground with an alien creature in his lap perked up. "You know," he said, "you actually have the privilege of naming the creatures, Ms. Ryan." Cassie frowned slightly. "Ah thought we were going to ask them what they call themselves." Dr. Carmichael waved the hand not currently active with alien-petting. "We will, I suppose. But it's rather unlikely it will actually translate, and it's going to be pretty difficult to imitate a whinny in the middle of a sentence. So, to acknowledge the probable cause of events, there is going to be a human name, and the honors traditionally go to the first discoverer, which would be you. "Currently, 'Ryan's creatures' has some popularity among the staff, and as to the taxonomical name, well, that's going to be another matter entirely. It'll probably only settle once we have a better idea what we are dealing with, probably after questioning the visitors themselves. I kind of like Pseudohippos Magica Ryanicus myself, or whatever. I'm not a language expert." Professor Morris grimaced. "Hippos comes from Greek, Peter. And you made the genders conflict. Probably twice, actually." "Ryan's critters, huh?" Cassie said slowly, pondering. "It's kind of nice, but...it just doesn't sound very respectful to these fellas. How about...something like cutelings? Or maybe something about how huggable they are?" Dr. Carmichael shrugged. "Your call," he said. "Though I would think about it a bit more. It's not guaranteed to have any lasting power, you know. And I'm not sure you should call them something that reminds people of plushies." "Equus sapiens?" Cassie said. "No wait, that would be a taxonomical name, wouldn't it? Um...hey. How about alponies? You know like a portmanteau between aliens and ponies. And it kind of has a sound of something a bit mightier than just regular critters. Like all-father or almighty or algebra." "Alponies," Dr. Carmichael said, tasting the word. "Hm. Not bad. I'll pass it around. Though to me, it rather reminds of alpacas." "We're getting off-topic," Professor Morris said impatiently. "We were discussing the ...alpony behavior and appearance. How would you describe their interactions with you, Ms. Ryan?" "Well," Cassie said, "they've been nothing but friendly, so far. Ah mean-" she said and pointedly looked at the creatures cuddling in their laps and spread her arms wide, encompassing the ranch. There were visitors all over the place, some taking care of or playing with her ponies, others doing their own thing and still more interacting with the good men and women of the engineering corps who were quickly assembling a research base camp on her ranch. Touching and nuzzling seemed to be the favored mode of communication everywhere. "They even threw us a party last night," Cassie added. "Oh yes," Professor Morris said excitedly. "Please tell us about that. How did you know it was a party?" Cassie looked at her blankly. "There were balloons. And streamers. And cake. And party hats. We played party games." The learned academics glanced at each other. "What do you think?" Professor Morris asked. "Learning by imitation?" Doctor Carmichael said with a shrug. "Maybe they mimic our behavior to understand us better?" "But definitely observing us," Professor Morris stated. "Oh yes," Dr. Carmichael said, "has to be. I can't imagine how it could be otherwise. But..." "Yes," Professor Morris said, "I know. If they're really from another universe..." "How could they have observed us?" Dr. Carmichael finished. "Well, at least that's what Kuhn said. Maybe there's some odd technology that allows for that and he doesn't know about it." Professor Morris snorted. "I wouldn't suggest that. He's still ripping his hair in frustration over what's supposed to be impossible in the ...alpony equations." * * * "I just finished going over some new equations with Kitalpha math team," Doctor Kuhn started, walking up to Major Quais and Doctor Pierce with a flying visitor in tow, "and they agree with me. There's an element in them we simply do not know anything about. In all of them. Jackson and Argyle reported that the aliens responded to the periodic table with their own, and, well, for one thing, we apparently only share some of the elements with them." "Further proof for the extra-universal theory, then?" Major Quais half-stated, and scratched an alien behind its ears. "Yes," Dr. Kuhn replied distractedly, "but not only that. The chemical properties...the enthalpy formations for instance. They have this additional equation bundle that relates to the Big Six as we call the apparently highest-level equation group the aliens have given us. And we don't know what it actually does, why or how. We can't think of any actual physical property or behavior it describes, but it seems to be a functional part of their chemistry, and apparently can affect...well, just about anything." Dr. Kuhn hesitated for a moment. "Jackson witnessed something that could have actually been a demonstration of this property, when the alien he was explaining the periodic table to somehow...conjured up two contained...clouds of hydrogen and oxygen - I can't believe I'm saying this - and made them react with no excess heat, resulting in a globe of liquid water." "Conjured?" Major Quais asked interested. "Yes," Dr. Kuhn said tiredly and waved his hand, "and he asked how and got an explanation that involves their version of probability current, a manifold that apparently expands more than three spatial dimensions and an application of one of the Big Six that we didn't recognize. But the point was this simply...incredible display of control over a chemical reaction that probably has something to do with these equations that don't correspond to anything that we know of. "The plain fact of it is," Dr. Kuhn said evenly, "that these beings have demonstrated both a mastery and knowledge over physical properties that we have no inkling over. I can't be sure we'll be able to understand, or even replicate their technology without some serious explaining from them. I simply don't know how to proceed." "I see," Major Quais said, nodding. "Well, Doctors Jackson and Argyle are fast proceeding with their explanation over the functioning of flash memory, so we may be soon handing them a database that will explain our language and knowledge." "About that-" Doctor Pierce started, a particularly tiny alien curled up in his arms. "Yes," Major Quais interrupted with a raised hand, "I passed on your objections on any kind of censor to my superiors, and the President's cabinet agreed with you. They believe there's no point in trying to hide anything, so they'll be including just about everything in there." "How large a database is it?" Dr. Kuhn asked. "Well," Major Quais said, "everything in it is uncompressed, including the audio and the video, so we're looking at a 100 Tb drive. There's a rather complete, but simple dictionary we compiled from several sources, very extensive corpus of actual language use, the current Wikipedia, all the audio files in them, and all of English literature we could find, written and audio. There were about a thousand people altogether involved in the compilation. It's all presented in a nice, nested and categorized form." "Not too shabby," Dr. Pierce said. "I didn't know the government could work so fast." Major Quais acknowledged him with a nod. "I suppose it's going to take a while for the aliens to process all that," Dr. Kuhn said. "Jackson did say the English language was a double-edged sword in this respect. On the one hand, we've got enormous amount of digitized data on it to hand over as study material. On the other, it's a language with about four root languages, several hundred dialects, and more internal inconsistencies than you can shake a stick at. He would've preferred to teach the aliens some artificial language, but there just wasn't enough ready material. Guess the aliens will have to struggle with English at first." "We'll see," Dr. Pierce said. "Argyle and I were discussing about Omega point consciousness earlier." "The God of technologists," Dr. Kuhn said with a snort. "I really don't see the point of such speculations. Or those other theories you've made up with him. Simulated reality? Artificial civilization? They're simply not testable." "You don't disagree they've cooked up their appearance for our benefit, do you?" Dr. Pierce asked. "Obviously," Dr. Kuhn said. "The fact that their periodic table is inconsistent with our own alone tells us that this most likely isn't their home universe and therefore their current form is likely made up on the spot. Then there's the similarity to Earth animals, mythological resemblance, Greco-Roman armor...No, I'd say they've observed us - and normally I would say that's impossible between universes, but it's getting more clear by the hour that our knowledge is woefully inadequate - and made bodies for themselves that would get a positive reaction from us. My problem is with the idea that 'they' are not at all what we see here, that the creatures we have met represent a made-up culture just for the purposes of a God saying hi. You can't test that. Ergo, it's pointless fantasy that doesn't change the fact that we have to react as if they were the real deal." "I'd say it's just a logical extrapolation," Dr. Pierce said with a shrug. "It's quite possible their current form is so alien from their original ones that it couldn't accurately represent their real culture or even their consciousness. Therefore, they may be presenting us with an exaggeratedly friendly culture as an expression of non-hostility. Anyway," he said while petting the creature in his arms, "we'll know soon enough, once they can speak with us." "There is actually an avenue of study available to us while we wait for that," Major Quais said. "The cruisers Antietam and Princeton reported back with partial success on the anomalies with their systems." "Oh?" Dr. Kuhn said with a raised eyebrow. "It had something to do with our visitors?" "Indirectly, with at least two out of three problems," Major Quais said. "Firstly, the radar anomaly wasn't exactly. It was a case of the radar, actually every radar at our disposal, accurately reporting just the tiniest little discrepancy with its pulse signal and the map occurring at several discrete locations within the big dome. Every other system than the RBM, however, edited the discrepancy out as an error. The RBM, on the other hand, postulated that the discrepancies represented something, noticed a hidden connection with the light patterns in the dome, and started an analysis." "Discrepancy? Represented something?" Dr Pierce asked, confused. "Yes," Major Quais said. "It turned out there are several small...objects, invisible to just about every sensor, placed in various locations near the alien compound. They move occasionally, at about walking speed. They don't cast a radar shadow, exactly, but the pulse was slowed just enough to show that they are there." "That's...surprisingly spooky," Dr. Pierce said. Dr. Kuhn frowned. "If EM radiation moves slower in these areas, why isn't there any refraction?" "We don't really know," Major Quais said. "Needless to say, since invisibility is a technology we've actually been working on, the brass was rather interested. But that's beside the point. The RBM pattern recognition algorithm started forming connections between various happenings within the dome, and the visible patterns on its surface. The error in the algorithm...that we don't know anything about yet. The crews of the cruisers thought at first it was just a learning error, but when the Antietam rebooted its system and started following its workings step by step...well, it turned out the evolutionary algorithm wasn't restarting due to an error, but because it was constantly guessing correctly." Both doctors stared at him in silence. "Yes," Major Quais said slowly, "we're really hoping that's not the aliens' doing, because...that's just weird. But anyway, the pattern analysis showed that the larger dome was in sync with the smaller dome. And when I say in sync, I mean that the changes in them aren't a reaction to one another. We placed some very high speed CCD cameras at exact midpoint between the domes, and it showed simultaneous patterns. "Furthermore," he continued, "the larger dome also...reacts to, I suppose, or causes, though the camera time-stamps disagree slightly, the activation of the pylons. There are also more minor fluctuations we haven't been able to assign yet, but anyway, it would seem the larger dome is an essential piece of their technology. We have been theorizing it could be a part of their energy distribution system, although we can't figure out the mechanism. "I was also requested to ask the aliens if we could have one of the inactivated pylons for study. What is your expert opinion on the matter?" Dr. Pierce and Dr. Kuhn looked at each other and shrugged. "No harm in asking, I suppose," Dr. Pierce said. "They seem friendly enough." "I'll see what we can find out on-site, first," Dr. Kuhn said. "Could you have the high-speed cameras close to the mini-dome, when it...produces a new pylon? That might help a bit. I don't expect much from a macroscopic analysis but we'll see." * * * Stony Hinge and his crew were just setting up a new feedback pylon, when the spindly aliens came to watch. They looked on possibly fascinated as a master runecrafter traced the patterns required for total resonance and responsivity on the surface of the stone. "Is it safe for them to be here, boss?" Perry Winkle asked. "Should be," Stony Hinge said with a shrug. "The pylons have completely internalized magical auras. Still, you should get the Princess, or somepony else who can understand these guys a bit in case they want something. And everypony," he said, raising his voice, "please refrain from begging for backrubs! It's embarrassing and impedes your work!" * * * "Fascinating!" Dr. Kuhn whispered, as the smooth, glittering surface of the pylon suddenly turned into a dimly glowing pearly white. "I wonder what it's made of." "Expect for the glitter, I would have said it was polished granite," Major Quais said. "Well, I'm sure it will reveal its secrets under an electron microscope," Dr. Kuhn said. "That's assuming we can actually cut a sliver from it," Major Quais replied with a snort. "How does it feel?" "It's...well, it's a bit cool to the touch, actually," Dr. Kuhn said, tentatively touching the pylon, then moving his hand on the surface. "Very smooth. Less friction than marble, I'd say. Can't feel the grain at all. Are you sure there's no radiation, by the way? The glow disturbs me." "That's the only radiation we can detect, Doctor," Major Quais replied. "As always." "Oh, look," Dr. Pierce said. "It's the boss alien. How do we ask for one of these?" "They apparently understand some of our words already, considering they use them occasionally," Major Quais said. "Doctor Jackson said that the symbolic logic he and Doctor Argyle are using is still a bit too abstract for this kind of thing. So...just ask and mime, I guess." * * * "I believe," Twilight said after watching the alien presentation carefully for a while, "that they want one of our pylons. What do you think, Pinkie?" "Oh, definitely!" Pinkie Pie answered cheerfully. "Good guess! Can I go next?" "What do you want to say?" Twilight asked with just a hint of doubt in her voice. "Oh, I just wanted to say 'You're welcome' through interpretive dance!" Pinkie answered. "And maybe ask for one of their flying machines! I want to try one!" "Go ahead," Twilight answered, levitating one of the inactive pylons towards the aliens. "I can't guarantee they'll understand you, though, Pinkie. Our communication is still a bit spotty at best. What do you think they want a pylon for?" "Maybe they think they're pretty," Pinkie chirped, spinning like a whirligig on her hind legs with her front legs spread wide. The prime-sapients looked on as Twilight levitated the pylon to them and set it upright on the ground in front of them. Twilight watched equally fascinated, as the one in dull blue-gray used one of their long-distance communication devices. After a moment, a huge alien chariot carefully approached the group. "Aw!" Pinkie said disappointed. "They misunderstood me!" * * * Much later in the evening, in a petrography laboratory several hundred miles away from the first contact site, one Professor Hadley was compiling a report about the day's findings. The object in question was recorded to have changed mass when moved through the anomalous barrier. Currently the weight of the object is measured at 83.56 pounds (see appendix 1), implying a density comparable to styrofoam, as opposed to almost exactly hundred times greater density on the anomaly site. The reason and mechanism for this change is currently unknown. Other changes occurring during the transit included a cessation of optic phenomenon, which resulted in a curiously colorful pattern forming on the surface of the object. Cautiously, a conjecture can be made that the object was 'active' within the barrier and 'inactive' (note below) outside it. Request for study of the material on-site. Additionally, the surface friction of the object was observed to increase substantially when passing through the barrier. See table 1.1 for the list of friction coefficients measured in the laboratory. Notable is the increase in the surface friction when measured against finer grain materials. This phenomenon may be explained by the presence of apparently fractal pattern on the object's surface. The material fractures easily along the grain, and so far not at all against it. Electromicroscopic analysis so far has been unsuccessful, as the material failed to emit x-rays under the electron stream. High-frequency lasers, however, reveal a fractal pattern on the surface of the material, which continues under the surface. It is possible that this pattern permeates the whole object. The emergence of the pattern causes the increase in friction coefficient, which, depending on the depth of the fractal and the grain of the contact material, may be indeterminately high. NOTE: While mostly inactive, the microscopic analysis of the object revealed a faint vibrating pattern in the 60 kHz range. * * * "Very well, ponies," Twilight Sparkle said to the experts in the Magic team, "let us begin. The goal tonight is to create a magical construct that will be able to translate language correctly between the aliens and us. "As there is no intent the spell can translate from the alien language, we will use only one half of a normal translation enchantment to communicate between the construct and the pony using it. I will perform this as an amniomorphic spell to tie it into my consciousness, and nurture its growth in the spell matrix. "You will supply both the Archiving matrix to map the data we have collected from the alien language, as well as the interfacing magical field between the Archive and the amniomorphic spell and the logical matrix that can read the alien symbolic language. "Once I conclude that the construct is ready for assimilation, you will connect the archive into this fascinating alien device we were provided. We were informed," Twilight said, and licked her lips while her voice gained a husky timber, "that the device contains information that matches several...million...libraries. Understandably, then," she said swallowing, "some time may pass while I will be unavailable as I direct the translation construct to assimilate all the information in the device to map the function of the alien language. I will," she said, and shuddered visibly, "refrain from any attempts to study the library itself. For now. "Meanwhile, I trust the team leaders will continue working as planned, and that you will defer to Lady Shine in any diplomatic problems that may arise. "Is the device itself prepared. Miss Elkinger?" "The integration is complete, Your Highness," the Senior Mage responded proudly, "with no difference to the electrical charges in the device whatsoever. If I may say, Your Highness, there has never been a magical artifact with as fine a structure as this. The scientists are quite eager to use similar techniques to study materials." "Very well," Twilight said and smiled with determination, "begin the enchantments." While Twilight watched, three pairs of highly professional unicorns charged their horns and started weaving complex equations around the crystal lattice that functioned as the physical house for the embryonic translation matrix. "Archive...active," the first pair reported. "Logic matrix...active," the second added a few moments later. "Interface...connected to the Archive...interacting with the logic matrix...ready and waiting for Your Highness, Your Highness," the third pair reported. Twilight took a deep breath and reached out with her magic to the increasingly complex harmonics within the magical field formed by six very talented unicorns. She prepared a spell that was born out of her intention and soul, a deceptively simple form capable of growing and changing its form. Carefully she aligned her magical resonance with the pair maintaining the interface, and completed the spell by connecting her magic with theirs, and thus the entire construct. The multiple enchantments collapsed into a single structure, now only resonating between the crystal lattice and Princess Twilight. Vague colors, fragments and snippets, it was dark and empty and confused. Silent echoes and incomplete beginnings. "As we suspected," Twilight said aloud, her eyes closed as her consciousness was focused on her spell, "the Archive is too incomplete still. Miss Elkinger, please connect the device." Gently, Sr. Mg. Elkinger reached out with her own magic and touched the alien device resting on the crystal lattice. She let her magic resonate with the aura the device now possessed and with a simple mental switch, connected it to the Archive. The same instant, Princess Twilight's eyes opened, flooding the room with brilliant white light. She floated into the air, her mouth open, hopefully not in pain. The unicorns looked at their princess in awe as the sheer complexity of the spell now connected to her psyche sang to their magical senses. After a few moments the light dimmed, and the Princess floated down, her hooves gently coming to rest on the ground. "It's...it's beautiful," Twilight whispered and passed out. * * * "Well, at least she's getting some sleep every night," Rainbow Dash commented as she accompanied Applejack, who was once again carrying the unconscious princess to her bed. "Two nights in a row knocked out by a spell," Applejack grumbled. "That ain't natural! Ya can hardly call that sleep." "Yeah, whatever," Rainbow Dash said. "I'm sure Twi's fine. She can handle this. I'm just glad we're going to be able to speak to the aliens soon. I'm going crazy cooped up inside the dome! I want to fly!" "Simmer down, Rainbow!" Applejack snorted. "How much sky do ya need anyway? Ah could put half of Sweet Apple Acres inside the dome!" "Yeah, that's not gonna cut it," Rainbow Dash said. "Speaking of which," Applejack said, hesitantly. "Have ya noticed something...ah don't know, different about this place today?" "Not really," Rainbow Dash said after a second's thought, "unless you mean all the new aliens and iron chariots around. I so wanna race one of the flying ones!" "No, not that," Applejack said quietly. "It's more like the place isn't...quite as lifeless anymore. Y'know?" Rainbow Dash pondered a moment. "Nah," she said. "Well, I'll mention it to Twi in the morning, if she's awake by then," Applejack said.