Drifting Through Realities

by Thadius0

Chapter 18 - You really shouldn't have escalated it that fast.

Tempered had led me to a glassblower's shop. I could tell because of all the wonderful glass vases that decorated the shelves in the windows. Of course, we didn't find the master in the shop. The apprentice was running it, trying to get a feel for how much a piece was worth and how to interact with customers.

Speaking of the apprentice, he was behind the counter as we both walked in. His coat was tan, his mane was brown and scruffy, his eyes were green, and his mark was that of some sort of mold or cast with a vase impression in it. The colt looked at Tempered, looked at me, looked back at Tempered, and decided to greet the native and probably acquaintance of the master rather than the unusual creature in front of him.

"Tempered, sir, master Crystal Clear is out back, examining that strange blue gem you gave him the other day."

I shot a look at Tempered, who was making an effort to look innocent. "Is this what you do with the supplies I give you? Hand them out to ponies I don't know?"

Tempered snorted and rolled his eyes. "If'n ye be expectin' me to find yah a decent glassworker, aye, 'tis what I do."

I sighed at that. "Well, let's move to the back then. Maybe we'll be able to shed some light on what the gem is and how he can work it into his works."

"Good luck with that, I had to treat them like ordinary lumps of iron afore they would melt."

As we pushed through to the backyard and Crystal Clear's work area, I smiled. "That's the secret in a nutshell, really."

"What's that about a secret? Oh, Tempered, my frieaaaaaaand you're the human, aren't you?"

Crystal Clear appeared to be a cyan Pegasus stallion with a slightly lighter mane and tail. His eyes were deep blue, and his mark was that of a glob of red, superheated glass at the end of a metallic stick. He looked from Tempered to me, back to Tempered, then focused on me. I nodded at his last question.

"Eric O'Mally, provider of the crystal that Tempered gave you."

At that, Crystal exclaimed something and pointed a hoof at me. "Aha! So if you provide them, and you were talking about a secret, might I assume you've worked with them before, and know the secret to working them?"

I nodded and walked over to the crystal that Crystal Clear had set up next to his kiln. Poking it with my good hand, I replied without looking back. "It wasn't me, it was the dwarves that worked it. And they learned the trick fairly easy once they asked how I managed to get it to work in their metals without any problems. My answer was simple and blindingly obvious: It's only a crystal if you treat it like one. If you treat it like it's just another lump of ore or glass, it mimics those things. It can't do cotton or fabrics or, sadly, edible things. Metals and glass, it can mimic enough to be integrated into those things. Melt it down, and its other properties infuse the finished work."

"Such as the magic resistance he told me about," Crystal Clear added.

I nodded and held the crystal up, then tossed it into the kiln. After a moment, I gestured at the kiln, and Crystal Clear proceeded to remove the molten glass from inside it. As he began to shape, mold, and blow the glass into form, I saw blue arcs of power dance up and down the surface. The first time it happened startled the pegasus a bit, but when Tempered and I failed to react, he slowly calmed down and eventually failed to react at all when it happened. After what felt like quite a bit of time, we had a bottle that one would normally see in scientific laboratories.

I deactivated the camouflage on my right arm and reached out one gleaming metal finger to the cooling glass. Ignoring Crystal Clear's warnings, I shot a small bolt of power into the cooling mass, and it reacted by generating a small spherical blue field around itself. I smile at the reaction and withdrew my hand, flicking the camo back on as I did so. "It worked perfectly, good stallion."

It would take time and quite a bit of haggling before we would be able to come to an arrangement regarding the proper usage and profit distribution of magic-resistant or repellant glass, but all parties walked away happy. I tossed a small nod to the apprentice as Tempered and I left and went our separate ways.

Today had been a good day, so far.

Okay, so when Octavia and Vinyl had returned to my home yesterday, Octavia had extended an invitation to attend one of the orchestra's sessions. It took a while to find the area she told me they played at, but once I did, the doorpony there only raised an eyebrow before stepping aside and allowing me entrance.

The inside was magnificent. Opulent. Radiant. I could go on, but really, the most fitting words to describe it would have to be: it was truly fitting for a royal performance, either BY royalty or TO royalty. And I had a sneaking suspicion the local Godesses had a han- dammit, hoof, in that.

I was sitting in place for a good thirty minutes with a program before a familiar voice emanated from my right. I turned to see Fancy Pants and Fleur walking over with smiles on their faces. "My good sir, ever since you put me in contact with that smith, I've had an abundance of ideas! Any luck on the glass front?"

I nodded as I looked back at my program and raised an eyebrow at the last entry in it. "Yeah, he and I went out to find a glassblower today. Got lucky. I'll make a mention that you should be introduced as well so that our specialty wares get the market they deserve."

Fancy sat next to me, and Fleur on the other side of him. "Capital, simply capital. Business will really take off soon, I'm sure. The ability to insulate laboratories is only the start."

My mind whirled as I saw the bigger picture play out before me. "Insulating labs leads to more unicorns or others experimenting, and experimenting safely. Which leads to innovations. Which leads to things you can invest in and have pay off in the long run. Are you saying I may have provided the means for a social evolution?"

I felt more than saw Fancy nod at my question. "Quite right, and I'll make sure you get a small cut of the profits, because you helped make it all possible. Not in bits, no. Just little things, little gifts. Like a second prototype of that which is invented, if I can snag a second one for you."

I smiled at that and pointed at what I'd seen in the program. "By the way, do you know what this is about?"

It merely read And the performance will end with a special song as played by Octavia.

Fancy shook his head at that. "No, sorry. Wouldn't you have a better idea than I? You're her friend and house-guest, after all."

I pondered the unicorn's statement before there was the sound of the orchestra tuning up, which drove other thoughts out of my mind. After a minute of this, the conductor tapped a few times, and then there was silence.

The conductor then raised his...gah, I never learned what those are called. Anyway, he raised it, and with a single motion afterwards, the music began. It was wonderfully moving stuff that anyone from back home would call the height of classical, and I entertained myself by just closing my eyes and sinking into the sensation...

...And letting the right one diagram all the sound waves. Because why not? Normally used for surveillance or sneaking around, I figured enjoying an orchestra was enough reason to bust it out. It's not like Xavier would mind: he loved compiling data like that. I'd always counted every similarity between the world I landed in and the world I came from as another point in my favor to getting home. Now I just counted the music as good and enjoyed it.

It was over far too soon, as good things almost always are, and then I heard Octavia speak up then.

"And now, I would like to play a special melody for my friend, who is here tonight. Eric, I hope you enjoy this."

My eyes snapped open and focused on Octavia as she began to play the finished version of the song I'd walked in on her playing. And it felt like my heart was breaking all over again as I focused on what Octavia managed to convey with notes.

Rage. I had been mistreated time and again, and railed against the ones doing it every time.

Sorrow. For all I had-

Loss. My home. My family. Some of my body!

Pain. Excruciating. Mind-numbing. And not just physical pain.

Acceptance. Because none had ever done anything different.

And finally...Hope. Because now, I was here.

The song was long, winding. But there wasn't a dry eye in the audience. I looked to Octavia and nodded my head slightly, then tilted it. Both thanking her for playing the song, and asking if it would be alright if I thanked her for it. She caught my eye and nodded. I stood up and cleared my throat, catching the attention of every pony in the hall before they began to applaud her for the song.

"Ladies and gentle...is it gentlecolt?" Fancy nodded at my question, and I picked up my speech again. "Ladies and gentlecolts! To miss Octavia, a better friend I could never ask for! For not only has she housed and helped feed me ever since I arrived, but she has graciously tried to help me with my problems time and again. Because that's who she is. Even if she only knows a portion of the true extent of my issues, she still saw fit to include what she could in song and play it for you. For all of you! To Octavia!"

The sound of the other ponies in the hall echoing my cheer brought a blush to the grey mare's face. The evening had begun on a very good note.

I had escorted Octavia back to her home when I realized that something was dreadfully wrong. The front door was ajar, for a starter, and when we looked in, it looked quite like a struggle had taken place. And then we heard the sound of voices that were not Vinyl's.

I carefully snuck inside while motioning for Octavia to do the same. The voices came from out back, and while I headed out to see who was there, Octavia headed upstairs for some reason. I'd only just gotten to a window when the voices became clear and my blood boiled at the sight.

Cloud Stuffer was there with two different pegasus goons. He and one of them were around Vinyl's motionless form, while the other was watching the back door. A slight opening in the window allowed me to hear what he was saying.

"Right, you and me, we take her back, you, stay here and deal with her housemates. Take them by surprise, and you should be able to stop even that human thing."

I was just about ready to burst out the back and deal with the trio with Origin when there was a crash from an upstairs window. And then Octavia came from above looking like a mare possessed, wielding a cello like an ogre would wield a club. She descended on the goon meant to distract us and knocked him out with a single hard swing that unfortunately also broke the musical implement. Cloud and his other goon started, then grabbed a hold of Vinyl and flew off into the night. I came from within the house and looked down on the stunned goon.

"You and your friend made a very terrible mistake just now. Let's see how long it'll take for you to correct it..."