//------------------------------// // XXX: Exploration // Story: Memoirs of a Magic Earth Pony // by The Lunar Samurai //------------------------------// The world that I had been a part of for so long was fading from view. With that one instance of confrontation, I was able, regardless of its outcome, to say that I truly was gaining traction into my destined life. This wasn’t something I was particularly aware of at the time, but rather something that I can see so clearly now. I didn’t expect the change, and it wasn’t obvious at first, but I quickly realized how different I had become. I didn’t need to look back to see their reactions, I needed to look forward and watch my own. I was beginning to understand magic, to truly unlock its vast intricacies and to see the why of the subject. It was what I had always wanted, that knowledge of the unknown. I was finally beginning to see the world of magic, the truth of the power it truly possessed. Maybe that is why, the following day, I was confronted with an even stranger phenomenon, one that truly shook me to the core of my being. The day began as all others had, but it’s duration was quite different than usual. When I arrived at the laboratory, the only pony there was Amethyst. I had expected Evenstar’s casual greeting as I placed the mail on the table, but instead it was she who addressed me. “Starswirl, could you start working through the mail?” she asked from her table. I could tell she was focused, as her words felt like an afterthought rather than a question. I didn’t respond. I had become quite accustomed to remaining silent while either Amethyst or Evenstar were working on their projects. I respected the silence of the lab, the serenity that allowed an unadulterated stream of consciousness to flow. It was what made the lab special to the three of us, and I wanted to keep it that way. Maybe that is why Amethyst’s following actions caught me off guard. She was the one to break the serenity of the lab to address me, not the other way around. It was a rather commonplace situation, for one of the researchers to address me, which is probably why I was strangely collected in my response. Only now, looking back on that moment, do I realize what truly came out of that first question. “You know,” she started as she turned her attention from the table, “I’ve got to ask. What is it about magic that you like so much?” “Hm?” I hummed as I continued sorting through the mail. “You’re an earth pony, and you’re interested in magic. You dropped out of one of the most established earth pony degree programs so you could do something that’s never been done before…” her voice trailed off as she tried to wrap her statement up. “Why?” Now, as my mind was fully engaged in the question, I checked the ceiling for a moment as I searched my for the right answer. I wanted to make sure that my response reflected my true desire. It took a moment and slowly formulated the right words to say. “I’m not sure,” I started as I placed the envelope back onto the table and turned to her. “I’m not sure why magic intrigues me more than agriculture. I’m not sure why I want to break through society to pursue something I’m not equipped to fully understand. I’m not sure if I’m even doing the right thing.” I let my gaze drift toward the window as my mind flashed back to Evenstar’s office; when he first showed me the true nature of theoretical magic. “You sound pretty sure to me…” Amethyst muttered as she lifted a few objects from the table and glanced between them. “It just…” she paused for a moment. “I don’t know… it feels off to me. I’ve never heard of earth ponies being so fascinated with magic. I just thought it was something unicorns did.” If I had given myself a chance to dwell on the subtleties of her statement, I would have noted a slight hint of racism along with her confusion. It wasn’t intentional, at least, I don’t believe it to be, but that was the first time I was exposed to her opinions on the matter. Instead, I only responded with the same question. “So… What about you?” “Well…” Amethyst started as she continued looking at the small crystals floating before her. “I guess it started in grade school for me. One day, the teachers took me out of the classroom and told me I was gifted in magic. After that, I was put into an advanced magic primary and secondary school. Naturally, I was the top of my class, so my next move was to come to this school for further studies.” Her tone was rather tepid, like she had repeated the answer dozens of times. It was calculated, rehearsed, cold, yet it bore a slight air of confidence as well. She was obviously proud of her achievements. “So… you’re just doing what you’re good at? That seems pretty easy.” “Oh trust me, magic is anything but easy,” she retorted sharply. “Oh, sorry… I mean… It must have been an easy choice to make. You had everything laid out for you, whether you liked it or not.” I wasn’t trying to make a point with those last few words, but for some reason, amethyst clung to them. “I love magic,” she said coldly. “I was born to like it.” I paused for a moment. “It’s funny. I think I was too.” Luckily, the conversation stopped there. I say luckily because I now see where it could have proceeded. Both of us were vulnerable, but I, and I believe she as well, were in a position where we actually opened up to one another. That wouldn’t be the end of our interactions, no I dare say that was part of the beginning. Regardless, we both turned back toward our duties. She continued to inspect various pieces of equipment on the table, and I busied myself with the earth pony’s letter opener. Our tasks were not reactive, but rather preparatory. We were waiting for something, for Evenstar to begin the work of the day. That anticipation, and the lack of it’s fulfilment as I completed my job, prompted me to speak once more. “Where’s Evenstar?” I wondered aloud, more to the room rather than to Amethyst. “I’m not sure. He was here this morning, but he seemed pretty anxious about something.” “Oh?” “Yeah, he said something about a…” her voice trailed off. “about a…” I said a moment later, trying to evoke the final word to the sentence. “I forget what he called it, but I think it had something to do with a proof. Like somepony was developing some revolutionary new proof. I couldn’t make any sense out of what he was saying. You know how he gets when he’s excited.” I stifled a laugh. “There’s no stopping him when he’s like that. I don’t think he realizes how fast he talks.” Amethyst snickered a bit as she moved to the bookshelves and began poking through the rows of texts. “Well, I’m done with inspecting the equipment. Want to do some snooping?” The regard was rather strange to me. Amethyst was commonly a rather reserved mare, but something told me that her reservation was a façade of sorts. This, along with her more… colorful language, was something I found rather relieving about her. I didn’t like the stagnant, all work and no play portrayal of herself. I liked the one that would take risks. “Hmmm…” she hummed as she started scanning the bookshelf. I trotted to her side as she methodically made her way through the books. “Anything interesting?” “Nothing yet,” she said with a frown. “Most of them are just journals and proofs.” “So what are you looking for?” I asked as I knelt down to the lower shelf and cocked my head to the side in order to read the titles. “I’ll know it when I see it.” “Well that’s helpful.” “Maybe not for you,” she quipped. “But I can’t really describe it any other way. I guess…” she paused. “I’m looking for something different. Everything here is about what has been done, I want something about what can be done.” “What?” “Starswirl,” Amethyst started with hint of condescension. “We’re researchers. That’s what we do.” I paused for a moment as I pondered the thought. I had never thought of it so blatantly before, yet I felt like I had known that fact since I started. “Oh, here’s one!” Amethyst said as she lifted a rather strange book from the shelf. It wasn’t strange in the normal sense, but rather, it was strange to the books around it. It was, for all intents and purposes, brand new. The cover was still pristine and the page edges had not begun to turn yellow with age. “What if? A proposal for the dissolution of the ethics board. That’s interesting,” Amethyst wondered aloud as she exposed the interior pages. It was so unused that the pages themselves cracked ever so slightly as they were finally roused from their rigid posture. “What’s the ethics board?” Amethyst shot me a glance as though I had asked the question in jest. “You’re funny.” “I’m serious…” I said, trying to get to the bottom of this newfound mystery. “The ethics board? You really don’t know who they are?” I shook my head. “They’re the final authority on any magical usage. We go to them before we try anything with our experiments.” “What? You mean that magic’s regulated?” As you can assume, I was pretty flustered at this news. I was under the suspicion that all magic and, by extension, all research as well, was completely unfettered. “Regulated is a strong word. They’re more lenient for research, but we’ve come into contact with them a time or two.” I was speechless. The work here had actually been stopped by some group of ponies that thought they could control the whims of the magic creation process. The more I thought about it, the angrier I grew. That’s probably why Amethyst spoke up once more. “They aren’t all bad, mind you. They can just be rather… annoying at times. They keep everypony in check so that the powers of magic cannot be abused.” I must have looked as dumbfounded as I felt, because after a few moments of silence, Amethyst looked at me and stifled a laugh. “You look like you’ve been told that magic isn’t real.” “It hasn’t?” I asked, allowing my melodramatic thoughts get the better of me. Amethyst looked to the board with Evenstar’s decades of work. The numbers and symbols were scattered across the board with an almost cryptic chaos to their construction. Several equations had been smashed into the bottom corners while others ran along the edges, curving between yet more formulas that had been strewn across the dark green slate. “We’re still researching. There’s still things to discover. Just because we can’t experiment with some things doesn’t mean we can’t experiment at all.” Amethyst’s words were true, my heart told me that much, but I couldn’t fight the thought that the entire concept of an ethics board could be the very thing hindering the development of magic. I had let my mind slip from the book, and I didn’t notice as Amethyst slid it back onto the shelf. It was probably for the best that I didn’t touch that book then, for its assertions would have surely changed my views on magic. “Amethyst! Take a note!” A booming voice shouted from the stairs. I yelped in shock at the sudden noise. I hadn’t noticed that Amethyst and I had barely been speaking above a whisper. We stepped from behind the bookshelf to find ourselves face to face with a strangely unkempt Evenstar. “Is something wrong?” Amethyst asked as she tried to keep her voice from matching his. Evenstar took a deep breath and cast a peculiar look to the both of us. His eyes almost twinkled with excitement as he started to regain his composure. He let out a light chuckle. “Quite the contrary, Amethyst… Quite the contrary….”