//------------------------------// // Science Camp Day 1 // Story: Finding a Voice // by AmpUpHeart //------------------------------// The next week, Streax had gotten adjusted to the fitness schedule. Although she still faced getting overwhelmed by the exercise, she was slowly getting used to asking Pulsewing for a break. She was generally ashamed of asking, due to her social insecurity, but Pulsewing learned the signs that Streax was feeling troubled, often in her facial expressions. But the school year was drawing to a close. Streax was talking with Split and Fluttershy about their summer plans. "I'm going to Cloudsdale to visit my family," said Fluttershy, "So I'm going to be gone for most of the summer." "I'm not really doing much," Split said, "I'll just be hanging out at my house." "I'll be going to a science camp," said Streax, "It'll be for two weeks." "Sounds cool," Split said. ........................ Streax finished packing her bags and her parents walked her to the lab. "We'll be nearby whenever you need us," her dad said. Streax nodded, but didn't say anything. She was a mix of emotions. She was both excited and nervous for this camp. Her parents helped her get settled in her dorm and left. Streax looked around. It was a small room with two beds. Whoever the other pony was already unpacked and was doing something else in another room. Streax began to hum a song, too nervous to go anywhere, when her roommate suddenly burst in. "Hey!" She said cheerfully, "You must be my roommate!" Streax nodded, too on edge to speak. "My name is Party Pie! Who are you?" "Streax." "That's a cool name. I couldn't help but hear you humming that song outside. That was pretty good." "Really?" "Yeah. I just moved to Ponyville, and I haven't heard anyone sing that good since I got here!" "Technically, it wasn't singing. It was humming." "Still, it was good. But anyway, it's getting late. I'm going to bed. Good night." Streax curled up in bed herself. 'This is going to be interesting,' she thought. ........................... The next morning, the ponies were lined up with the teacher in front of them. "Welcome," she said, "I am Metra Mire. I'll be directing your labs these few weeks." "Please," a pony known as Topaz Tea said, "What could we possibly be doing?" "Well," Metra said, "We'll be working with measurements today." Topaz rolled her eyes, but Streax didn't notice. When the labs were set up, there were scales, metal rods, a graduated cylinder, and water. Streax was sharing a lab table with Party, Topaz, and a colt named Boron. "You have many different types of metals," Metra said, "Your job is to identify them. Does anyone know how to do this?" Streax raised her hoof. "You look for characteristics that can be used to identify the substance, such as luster, color, density, malleability, etcetera." "Very good, Streax!" Metra said, "I must say that I've worked with your parents for years. They've been teaching you." Streax blushed. "But today, we'll be talking the most about density. The scale you see in front of you is a triple beam balance." She went on to explain the procedure of using the balance, finding the volume of the samples, and finally calculating the volume. But Streax didn't seem to be listening. Her eyes appeared to be glassy and her gaze, far away. Metra decided to snap her out of it. "Streax?" She asked. Streax snapped her head up and briefly shook it. "Did you hear everything I said?" Metra added. Streax nodded. "You must use the triple beam balance to find the mass of an object. A kitchen scale won't work because the weight of an object changes with the gravitational pull on it. Mass doesn't. As to find the volume, you must drop a sample into a graduated cylinder containing enough liquid to cover the sample. Through water displacement, the liquid will rise, and the change in the liquid's volume will equate to the solid's volume. After that, finding the density is just a matter of dividing the mass by the volume." The ponies looked at her, shocked. Streax looked around, confused. She was listening the whole time. What were they staring at? "I'm sorry, Streax," Metra said, "I thought that you weren't listening." Streax just gave her an odd look, but turned back to her group. .............................. Streax was helping as the group measured each metal. She paid special attention to the arrow on the scale where the line was supposed to be when the scale was perfectly balanced. When they were measuring one of the metals, the ponies were starting to write down the measurements before the scale had been "zeroed." "Hang on," she said, "It's not perfectly level yet." "It's close enough," Topaz said. Streax didn't reply, but squeezed in to where they were crowded around the scale and slightly tapped the single gram weight. The line moved down. Too far down. Not satisfied, Streax tapped the weight back, and the line slid back up. Streax quietly huffed in frustration. "Just forget about it," Topaz said, annoyed, "You don't have to get it exact." Streax ignored her, and tapped the weight ever so slightly, making the line slip into place. Sighing with relief, she went to where her paper was and wrote down the measurements. "You know that you didn't have to do that," Topaz said. Streax looked at her, at a loss for words. She knew that this was some type of bullying or something similar, but she couldn't think of anything to say to defend herself. She remembered that a way to stop a bully was to ignore them, so she just shrugged and went back to the others.