Chapter 8
* * *
He found himself alone on the concourse. His shoes squeaked against the polished tile, each reflecting the shimmering flicker of the cold fluorescent bulbs overhead. The silent crash of an ocean wave was depicted through the many irregularly shaped ceramic shards, their chaotic ordering conveying a brisk dynamic image through the silent still mosaic.
It was more vivid this time. He walked aimlessly in a tight circle, taking in the scene with stark clarity. The long plate glass windows of the concourse revealed a pitch black void on either side. Nothing discernible save for the faint twinkling of so many points of light. One side of the corridor neatly melded with the other. There was no way forward. Only a interminable winding passage that lead back from where he came. This was the terminus. This was safe.
His shoes scuffed against the low pile of the well trafficked nylon carpet. It felt familiar, much like the diamond stamped steel plates or the tile mosaic that he had trod upon before. Discolorations from years of neglect and mishandled coffee cups littered the utilitarian environment.
Don’t look back.
Before him stood a glass case, mounted neatly upon a rough hewn, but well varnished wooden pedestal. A bear stood within it. Brown fur draped over a lumbering frame, two sightless glass eyes staring listlessly down the never-ending concourse. Heavy paws rested upon sculpted boulders, propping the stuffed carcass up; mercifully unaware as it gazed eternally against the harsh empty vista.
Staring into the sun would only burn your eyes. Staring down the corridor would burn your soul.
He walked around with care. It left him nervous, not as if the beast would suddenly come to life, swinging sharpened claws or lunging forward with bared teeth. But rather, instead of roaring a hostile challenge, that it would merely utter a whimper. An agonized plea.
The single path stretched out ahead. Barren beige walls and shiny plastic flooring. He stopped for a moment, to glance behind. As he turned, the corridor’s path branched off into innumerable fractal hallways, each bearing their own unique features.
The paths did not beckon to be explored. They simply bespoke the travels of others. He quickly turned back to face the concourse.
All paths lead forward. One path lead back.
He was not alone. The concourse bustled with activity. A veritable migration walking in opposition to him, eyes glazed as they stared singlemindedly down their own path, striding purposefully towards their own destination.
Each one was him.
Each path, a choice once made.
The heavy rhythmic stomp and soft hiss of hydraulics caught his attention. Amidst the crowd was him, once again. The blackened steel breech suit with the head shaped like a dragon’s skull and the crown of glowing glass eyes towered slightly over the heads of others. He looked to it, and it looked back briefly, not saying a word. The bleak countenance of the utilitarian armor did little to hide the forlorn sadness of the man inside it.
He nodded sympathetically, knowing well the weight cast over that heart. The steel clad interloper strode past him, utterly resigned with regret. That which drove him seemed to be only a tiny sliver of hope, a candle in the harsh uncaring void. A sense that wrong could be righted, even at a terrible cost.
“See you soon,” he whispered, as the heavy metallic footfalls receded behind him.
He continued down the endless corridor for some time, lost in his own listless thoughts. Every rendition of himself shuffled past silently, unwavering in their journey.
Do I have somewhere to be?
The concourse was nearly as wide as a freeway now. The crowd shuffled by at their strident pace, briskly following the path that stretched as long as the universe was old. Each fleeting lifespan touching upon a fraction of that long branching thread.
He stopped, turning around to gaze into the depths.
The universe gazed back. Myriad alternate realities, each of their own unique structure and unfathomable detail. Each pathway forged by seemingly arbitrary or inconsequential decision. The total sum of all that he was or would be. Every one of him receding to an infinitesimal point in the distance, crossing the event horizon of a future he would never know.
He saw everything.
* * *
Laurie awoke with a start. Not from any imagined nightmare or panicked sense of anxiety. A deep guttural bark from across the room sent him bolting upright.
He looked across to see Trent, sitting up and perspiring heavily.
“Are you okay?”
“Ahh... Yes. Sorry, did I wake you?”
“Just me, as far as I know. No idea about the rest of Ponyville. Dear Celestia, I didn’t know you could make noises like that!”
“Sorry. I think I was having a dream.”
“Well I don’t want to hear about it. I’m going to have enough trouble getting back to sleep already! Bloody hell. I think I know the last thing those animals must have heard before they ended up on your dinner table.”
“Eh? Oh... Not really like that actually. I’ll explain later,” he mumbled as he flopped back into bed.
Laurie sighed. “Okay. Auughhh... What in Luna’s Oceans were you actually dreaming about there?”
“I can’t even remember.”
* * *
The first rays of sunlight cast their warmth over Ponyville, greeting those who started their mornings early. The streets were still mostly bare, and the beds were still mostly full, but one small grey pegasus stood ready to meet the break of dawn.
This was her favorite time of each day. The early sun warmed the soft fur of her neck as she craned her head upwards. Her haunches rested on a thick gnarled tree root that jutted out from the base of the Ponyville Library, as her bright blonde tail absentmindedly swatted at the packed earth. Every day brought something new and different, but she enjoyed the constant familiarity of her morning ritual.
A looming shadow slowly moved across her, marked by the soft crunch of gravel under boots. She looked back to see a tall strange figure approach. A pair of eyes that would match the level of Princess Celestia’s stature gazed downward curiously. She stared back; surprised, but intrigued.
It raised one hand, palm flat with fingers gently splayed, and waved.
“Hello,” Trent said.
“Oh, hello!” she replied, happy to meet a new friend.
“That bag looks pretty heavy.”
She nodded enthusiastically. “Yep! It’s all the mail from yesterday! And I know just where to deliver it!”
“Ahh... I hope I’m not keeping you from that.”
“Nope! No problem! I’m waiting first.”
She turned back to look up into the tree. Overhead, an obscenely swollen honeybee nest buzzed with activity.
“I see. What are you waiting for?”
“To get everything right!”
“Hmm?”
“My mail route! I need to get it just right, every morning. That’s why I’m here!”
“Oh. Do you have it written down?”
She gasped slightly, shaking her head and twitching her tail against her flanks.
“Oh no, no, no... If I wrote it down, it would be... It would be always... Always the same! No, I can’t do that. It’s never the same! Never. I keep it all in here instead!” she swiped her foreleg across her head and nodded vigorously.
“That sounds very... dynamic.”
Two yellow rimmed pupils widened, each locking their gaze on Trent for a brief moment. A smile broke across her face as she nodded her head with her whole body.
“Yes! I like that word! It’s all very dynamic! Dynamic!” She hummed to herself as the new word made itself at home. Her tongue happily slathered itself over the wet matted fur around her lips, as she turned back to look at the beehive.
“If you don’t mind me asking, what’s so interesting about that?” he gestured towards the hive.
“They have to make deliveries too! Just like me!” She watched the bees overhead - not seeing them for individual black and yellow specks, but for their flow and direction.
“Is that why you like to watch them?”
The blonde and grey pony nodded, her eyes still tracking the Apinae swarm.
Trent stepped over the tree root, settling down next to her, and looking up as well.
“I guess they have a very dynamic route to take too,” he observed.
“Oh yes. So many routes too! So many routes! If they all flew to one field at a time, they would just get crowded! And all the pollen would be used up! All that flying would be wasted. And then...”
She turned to look at Trent, torn with worried empathy.
“They would have trouble making enough honey. They did have trouble making honey! They didn’t make enough to keep them all fed!” she began to tremble slightly, shaking her head from side to side. She sniffed slightly, holding back a tear. “Those bees aren’t here anymore. These ones are.”
Trent looked down, intrigued at the sudden outburst.
“There, there, now. It’s okay,” he stroked the fur on her back. “Here, I think I have something that might cheer you up.”
“Oh?”
He reached into the paper sack, recently procured from Sugarcube Corner. Out came a steaming hot muffin. Derpy’s eyes locked on with precision.
“Ooooh! Thank you, thank you!” she exclaimed, diving forward and biting into the cinnamon sprinkled top. Trent held his hand out, pressing back against the firm nose and greedily lapping tongue until nothing was left but a crumb-laden paper wrapper.
“You’re welcome,” he chuckled.
She smiled gratefully, before looking back up at the hive.
“So what happened to all those other bees?”
“They’re just not here anymore. Not even the others. Just these. They’re here because they’re the best bees! The very very best!”
“Because the other bees were not as good at getting pollen and making honey?”
She nodded sagely.
“Hmm... It sounds like these bees were selected... Naturally.”
She turned to look at Trent. Her ears flapped against the side of her head, as she twisted her neck, deep in contemplation. The inconsequential pairing of words seemed to allude to a hidden meaning within her mind. A subtle reference that rattled around like a nut inside of a hard burled shell. A nut that soon cracked within a vice-like grip.
She gasped with excitement.
“Yep! They’re the best bees! That’s where they came from too! Naturally too! They were naturally selected, because they’re the best!”
She looked up happily at Trent. He returned the stare, wide eyed and mildly shocked. As if he were sitting next to a lit powder keg, but held in place by an overwhelming curiosity to see what would happen when the fuse ran out.
“So why do you like watching these bees?”
“Because they know just where to go!”
“There are a lot of places they could go...”
“Mmmm, yep! But these bees know the best way to go!”
She turned to look at Trent again, smiling from ear to ear, with her tongue poking out the side of her mouth.
“They’re the best!”
“Heh. Okay, I believe you there. Do you like to watch them every day?”
She nodded vigorously, one eye on Trent, and one eye on the hive overhead.
“They help me think! I have to think about my route every day. It’s always different!”
“Your route must be pretty long,” he said, eyeing the hefty brown sack of letters.
“With so many places to go,” she agreed.
“How do you usually plan it?”
“Oooh, it takes a lot of planning! There are so many places to go. And there’s so many paths to take between each place. And then, there are so many packages too! Most of them weigh just a little, but some weigh a lot! I have to think about that too.”
“Sounds like a travelling mailman problem.”
The blonde and grey pegasus bounced up, her head twitching as the gears in her mind started to spin. She kept her head low for a moment, backing up in a tight circle. Suddenly she spun back around to face Trent, ducking her head between her legs, and looking back up.
“But I’m a mail mare!” she whined.
“Ahh, of course.”
“And it’s not that hard! You just have to add more... More... Things! More things.”
“Hmm, I don’t follow.”
“Things! More things! Like going from one house to another. That’s like...”
“A route?”
“Yes. But no...”
“A vector?”
She looked up again, twitching her ears slightly.
“No. But yes! It’s like a vector. But it’s not. It’s like a vector with vectors all on it’s own!”
“A metric?”
She danced with excitement, her hind hooves tapping the dirt at a staccato pace.
“Yes! Yes! All routes have metrics! So many metrics too!”
“Hold on a second. I never said what a metric was.”
She looked back, confused.
“But I know what it is! I know what it is now! It’s like a trait, or like... Like a... Oooh! Like a price in a store, but its different for everything.”
“So each route has several metrics, each with a different cost?”
“Yes yes yes!” she nodded her head vigorously.
“Interesting. Did you know what a metric was before, but just needed to match a word to the idea?”
“Umm...” she looked confused again, crossing her eyes slightly and bobbing her head in a small circle.
“Did it make sense after I said it? Or more sense, for that matter?”
“I think it did.”
“I have a question for you.”
“Okay!” she exclaimed excitedly.
“What is spread spectrum frequency division multiplexing?”
Her eyes went wide for a moment, independently staring in their own direction. She sat down for a moment, letting her head twist about as she thrust her nose upwards.
“It’s like a piano!” she squealed, as she hopped back up.
Trent stared for a moment, before breaking into a smile.
“Very good. Would you like another muffin?”
She practically bowled him over as she dove head-first into the paper sack.
“Thank you!” she managed, with the paper wrapper still sticking out from her lips.
“You’re welcome.”
She finished the warm muffin, smacking her lips and running her tongue over her grey furry jowl.
“You’re very nice.”
“I’m glad you think so.”
“My name is Ditzy Doo! But a lot of ponies call me Derpy... I don’t mind really.”
“Mmm. I’ve been called a lot of things too. But you can call me Trent.”
They both turned back to look at the hive.
“Did you see that big metal monster the other night?”
“Hmm... can’t say I have. What did it look like?”
“Well it was really scary! But it also acted really nice. Everypony saw it, and even the Princess came to see it too!”
“Maybe it was from outer space.”
Derpy breathed slowly for a moment, deep in contemplation.
“No, I don’t think it would come from outer space.”
“Oh?”
“It must have come from another place just like this,” she stamped her hoof against the dirt.
“Another planet?”
“Yes yes! Another planet! A planet in outer space... Not this planet, but another one like it!”
“Would you like another muffin?”
“Oh yes please! But... I’ll save this one for later,” she smiled.
* * *
“Any day now,” Spike muttered, tapping his small claws against the floor.
“Mmmuurmmmghhhh,” Twilight responded, with all the lucidity she could muster.
“Finally. I hope you remembered to give the Princess a change of address, because I’ll be happy if I don’t see another one of these for a while!”
The juvenile dragon unceremoniously dumped the pile of letters next to Twilight’s bed, a mixture of clean white parchment and cracked yellowed scrolls, each coalesced from the magical vapors that emanated from the dragon’s belly.
“Whaaa?”
Spike did not dignify her question with a response. He simply held out the calendar pilfered from the downstairs kitchen, tapping one claw at the series of X’s that blotted out the next week.
“Ohh... Your grooming thing.”
“Molting! Do you see these?” he poked at the loose scales around his belly.
“Well, that just means your baby scales are going away.”
“Why, you’re exactly right! Thank you, wise and learned magical master of the obvious.”
“Spike...” she groaned.
“I know what you’re going to say. The books are shelved, the kitchen is swept, and your supply of ink and paper is stocked. Everything should be just fine here, while I’m gone.”
“The caves near Dragon Mountain?”
“Only the best place to get a mineral oil bath. And did you know they have fresh pumice from the lava pools? I’ll have my new scales polished until I can eat off them! I hear they have water polo in the sulphur springs too. And all the gemstones I could eat!”
“That sounds...”
“Like the most relaxing week of my life,” he said with a grin.
“Mmm, well don’t let me keep you waiting,” she said as she buried her face in the pillow.
“What did you make last night? The kitchen was a bit of a mess.”
“Oh, that was for our guest. You were already asleep when he came over last night.”
“Hmm... Meh. How’d that go?”
“Well it was interesting, but we didn’t have a lot of time. I think he’s going to come over here again today.”
“Ah. Well that would explain the mostly hairless monkey looking thing standing outside.”
“WHAT!” Twilight bolted out of bed.
“He’s been out there a while now.”
“Aaaagghh!”
Twilight tore around her bedroom in a circle, brushing her hair back into long straight strands, jabbing a toothbrush in her mouth, and spitting it back into a levitating bucket. The magical multitasking mare stopped to collect herself, breathing steadily as she marched down the staircase with measured restraint.
She turned to look back upstairs.
“Well Spike, I hope you have fun at the Dragon Mountain spa. I’m going to be busy learning new and amazing things from our guest. And it’s only fitting that he, where-ever he’s from, should make official contact with only the most intelligent...”
She paused for dramatic effect.
“Smartest...”
Her mane tumbled across her back as she propped herself up with the absolute worst display of false humility ever known to Equestria.
“And scientifically minded pony in all of Ponyville!”
The door opened swiftly, and she stepped outside with confidence. Moments later, her jaw dropped as she caught sight of Trent and Derpy sitting on a tree root, staring up absentmindedly at the hanging bee hive.
This left the proud purple pony in a state of panic. To the casual observer, it would almost appear if she was choking.
On air.
* * *
“Have you finished planning your route?”
“Almost done!”
“You must be very good with math.”
She shook her head.
“Oh, no. No... I’m not. But I wish I was.”
“Well, you must have a natural talent for it, if you can do this every day. It really is a very hard problem.”
“But I don’t... I don’t know how to do it like that,” she said, looking up with a hint of sadness and shame.
“You can still solve the problem though. You should be proud of that.”
She looked back and forth between the hive and Trent several times, still feeling uncomfortable.
“Other ponies at school always told me to solve problems one way, but I was never good at that.”
“Can you show me how you solve it?”
Derpy’s eyes lit up, as she smiled and nodded.
“Oh yes. Yes yes! I know a lot of ways!”
“I’m listening.”
“First you add things!”
“Ummm... you add the route costs first?”
She shook her head.
“No no... First you add things that make the costs! Things that change... Things...”
“Variables?”
She nodded vigorously.
“Yes! Variables! And some variables that change too! Sometimes a lot of variables change.” She stood up and pointed her hoof up, slowly tracing out a large circle in many discreet ticks.
“Sometimes time is a variable! Sometimes it’s a vector!”
“Okay. What do you mean when a lot of variables change?”
“It’s like... It’s like... Ohh, It’s like a tree!”
Trent looked at the enormous trunk of the glorified treefort library.
“I’m not sure I understand.”
“Trees grow up!”
“Yes, yes they do...”
“But they only grow up!”
“Hmm... And if they grew sideways?”
“They wouldn’t line up! Nope! Things fall down, so trees grow up!”
“So they line up with gravity?”
She thought to herself for a moment, before nodding slowly.
“Yes, but it’s not because of that. It’s because of what it is!”
“Trees grow up, because gravity creates a vertical gradient?”
Derpy shot into the air, spinning around several times with her wings outstretched, bouncing on her hind hooves.
“Yes yes! Yes! It’s a gradient! So is the wind! It changes so many variables at once.”
“Hmmm. So when you plan your route, you add all the variables to create route metrics, and then you add a wind gradient to follow...”
“Which changes during the day! It’s a gradient with a time variable!”
“Oy... That sounds like it makes things more complicated.”
“Nope nope! All that makes it easy!”
“Do we have the same definition for ‘easy’?”
“It’s easier to choose. It’s... There’s more choice. The choices are bigger, so they’re easier to make!”
“The number of choices?”
She shook her head.
“The relative cost of each choice?”
Her eyes lit up as she nodded excitedly.
Trent thought for a moment, rubbing his chin and studying the bubbly grey pegasus.
“So... You add many variables, such as the wind speed, wind direction, the weight of individual packages, distance between houses, density of houses, and whatever else... So that the costs of various paths will have a wider range of magnitude. Then you can group routes by similar costs, and use a selection bias to preferentially favor lowest cost aggregate routes?”
She stood still for a long moment, letting here eyes roll gently back and forth.
“Yep!” she said, with a curt nod.
“That’s really impressive, actually."
“Yep! Yep! Almost finished too!”
As they sat staring, they heard the unsteady trot of hooves approach from behind.
“Um... Hello,” Twilight said.
“Oh, good morning,” Trent returned with a smile. “Did you sleep well?”
“Yes, I did. Did you have a good night yourself?”
“Ah... It was okay. Woke up a bit early for some reason.”
“I see. Am I interrupting anything?”
“Oh, no. We were talking about trees just now.”
“They grow upward!” Derpy nodded her head with enthusiasm.
“Yes... Yes they do...” Twilight remarked. “Um, Derpy? You’re not getting sidetracked again, are you? I see you still have a pretty full bag of mail sitting there.”
“She’s planning her route.” Trent offered. The grey pegasus nodded in agreement.
“Well, do you need me to get some paper so you can write it down? I imagine it might be kinda hard to keep track of it all?”
Derpy’s eyes went wide again.
“Ohhh, no no no... Nope! It’s okay. I’ve got it all ready!” She tapped her hoof against the side of her head.
Trent nodded sagely.
“Goodbye Trent! And, thanks for all the muffins!” She squealed happily as she hoisted the hefty mail sack over her haunches.
“Have a good day. I know you’ll get it all delivered too, because you’re the best pony.” He winked. “The very very best!”
She danced around happily for a moment, before waving to the two, and departing into the cool brisk morning air.
Twilight approached slowly. “I’m sorry about that. I hope she wasn’t bothering you or anything.”
“Hmm? Oh, no, it’s quite all right.”
“She can be a bit... out there. But I’m glad you were nice to her. Not everypony is.”
“Ahh.” His brow furrowed.
Twilight sat next to Trent on the tree root, curious about his fixation on the bee hive.
“What’s so interesting about that?” she asked.
“They know just where to go,” he turned to look at Twilight with a grin. “They’re the best bees. The very best.”
“Uhh... Ok.”
“She’s brilliant, you know.”
The purple pony simply slapped her forehead by reflex.
“Ah... Good one.”
* * *
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CH8: A Beautiful Derp.
Had some fun writing this actually. I hope the math stands up.
D'awwww
Ditsey Doo the theoretical physicist/ mathematician words cant describe how much awesome this is
. I tip my hat to you good sir
. Now i wonder what will twilight's reaction will be if Trent tells her that Ditsey is actually smarter than her, hmm blood would be shed
I can easily see a Ditzy that had trouble with Algebra, and yet excells in Quantam Physics. In fact, I just saw it up there ^.
Just read 1-8 in one go.
Very good writing style; an almost Douglas Adams/Terry Pratchett-esque sense of humor and intelligence. The only real knock I'd give is that the first few chapters are kind of hard to follow. I had to re-read some of them twice just to understand what was going on. Other than that, this is a great fic so far, and you've earned both a track on the story and a watch on your blog from me.
(Also, just noticed Discord is listed as an included character in the story. I cannot WAIT to see what you have in store for his interactions with and reactions to Trent will be!)
This was.... Actually Beautiful. Please, keep it up
Ditzy Doo at her best. No wonder Twilight lost it in Lesson Zero.
I hope nobody minds me spending the better part of a chapter describing Derpy's thought process. Quite a bit of "show, don't tell." And on that same note, I'm not entirely sure if what she described actually _is_ a valid method of dealing with the Traveling Salesman Problem, but it feels like it is. Anyone else care to comment on that part?
I don't have what you would call a formal training on the subject matter. But Derpy does mail, and that's pretty similar to TSP. Deciding to have her solve it came before figuring out a method to do so. But it was fun to think about.
Also - are email notifications working for everyone?
It official.... Derpy is pimp....
She is now my second favorite pony....right behind Trixe...
God I'm still having a mind trip over derpys natural selection points....Why the FUCK couldn't my school teach me that way instead of beating me over the head with a fucking science book and a prick of a teacher with no fucking humor!!!!
shalrath...If I teach anyone about natural selection I will use the bee analogy.....
I shall now out of respect of Ditzy Doo never ever call her Derpy..she deserves more
That was very good just read the whole thing sir I tip my hat to you
>“Mmmm, yep! But these bees know the best way to go!”
>
>She turned to look at Trent again, smiling from ear to ear, with her tongue poking out the side of her mouth.
>
>“They’re the best!”
Try avoiding splitting one character speech. Once again only presence of distinctly recognizable character helped me get through this without stuttering.
And savant Ditzy have just made my day.
Why can't you write faster than I can read :(
genius derpy is best derpy!!
you write excellently
i gotta say that i always get so excited whenever a new chapter comes out
MOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!
Autist-genius Derpy for president!
This Fall...
Derpy...
is...
Rain Mare.
39995
Thanks
As for Discord, he does show up several times after the mane 6 arcs play out. Since you asked nicely, I'll give a little hint.
* * *
"Quickly, my little ponies. Let us not delay," Celestia urged through the moist scarf wrapped tightly across her mouth. The ashes swirled thickly in the air, limiting visibility just as they dampened the sounds from the distance; barely discernible over the oppressive whistling of the wind.
"Where are we going?" Twilight asked.
"I still don't know. I just don't," she pleaded.
"Are the others still safe, Fluttershy?" Applejack asked through the makeshift mask.
She stopped, allowing her visor to become transparent as she tapped the side of the helmet.
"They should be. But I don't really know. I'm being quiet."
"You're usually quiet."
"No. I mean radio silence. You can't hear it, but.. others might."
Applejack sighed. "Still don't know exactly how that's supposed to work, but I'll take yer word for it."
Fluttershy gasped suddenly. "Princess!" she hissed.
Celestia stopped, looking over her shoulder as the silvery blanket crinkled across her flank. Her bright multicolored tail was sticking out, a beacon of color in the grey dead landscape. Fluttershy was already there, stuffing it back under the thermal blanket with mechanical determination. Her hooves reached in to bunch the luminous tail between Celestia's haunches, yanking the blanket closed and tacking it shut with short glowing taps from the vari-blade.
"I'm sorry," she managed through tears.
"Everypony!" Fluttershy hissed. Split up! Two groups. One hundred paces. Lay low and still. Do NOT turn around! Do NOT hold your breath! Keep your mouth open and your ears shut. Just in case."
"You can't be serious darling!" Rarity choked out.
"Go now! Do not move until I come for you!" Fluttershy commanded, as she turned to trot away. Her bulky suit had changed to the color of ash, disappearing quickly in the swirling haze.
"Twilight, please come with me," Celestia whispered urgently.
The alicorn and her protege sped off through the thick grey carpet, kicking up a small flurry as they ran. Applejack and Rarity raced away in their own direction, plowing through the blanket of ash.
* * *
"Have we come far enough?" Rarity nearly shouted over the white noise of blowing grey ash.
"Beats me. I don't reckon we need to go much further."
There was a slightly raise lump of ash ahead of her. A muffled crack was heard as she attempted to walk over it.
"What was that?" Rarity demanded.
"Not sure..." she trailed off, looking at her foreleg - still embedded in the tiny dune. "Felt kinda odd. Not like a tree branch or anything."
"Well... I do wonder what it could be," she thought aloud as she swiped at the ashes with her hoof.
The concealed object rolled partially to the surface. A set of bleached white ribs protruded above the sea of grey.
Applejack stepped back slowly, her face concealed by the scarf, but her eyes wide with shock. She turned to look at Rarity, who was still frozen in place, trembling as she withdrew her hoof.
"Reckon we keep going."
She simply nodded from beneath the silvery hood of the thermal blanket.
* * *
"Is this far enough, Princess?" Twilight coughed.
"I don't know, but I'll trust Fluttershy right now. She seems to be a lot more familiar with this."
"I still can't believe what's going on. I mean, who could have done this?"
"I can't understand how they could have done this..." Celestia shook her head dejectedly.
Twilight shuddered, thinking back. "I might know..." She looked to her mentor.
Celestia stared for a moment, allowing the pregnant silence to convey Twilight's answer. Which is to say, that she did not want to say.
"I see."
"I just wish last night could have lasted forever," she said, sinking her head down to the level of the ash.
Celestia blushed slightly, allowing a smile to creep over her face.
"I know what you mean."
"Oh..." It was Twilight's turn to blush. "I hope that wasn't inappropriate of me."
"Do not worry. It's a natural part of growing up. Trust me, I've seen more centuries than you've seen birthdays, back when we first met, and last night was probably the most fun I've ever had," She sighed wistfully. "I can't really fault you for getting a bit carried away, if..."
"If you were too, Princess," Twilight giggled.
"Exactly," she leaned in close. "What is it they like to say again? What happens off-planet..."
"Stays off-planet," Twilight grinned, as the two giggled together, at peace momentarily with the drab dead landscape.
They waited for some time, slowly relaxing at the prospect that Fluttershy's orders were a false alarm.
"Do you know where we are, Twilight?"
"Umm... Not really. It looks like there's a bit of a dip in the ground here, like it's relatively flat. But it's hard to tell with all this ash."
"What about that rock over there? It might be a landmark."
They approached the face of the enormous cleft boulder. It appeared unnaturally brighter than she remembered - but it stirred the memory of where she was.
"Princess, I think I know where we are now!"
Celestia remained silent, staring at the flat rock face.
"Ohh..." Twilight breathed.
Adorning the rock were several outlines. Not readily apparent, but unmistakable for their silhouettes. A horn. A pair of stubby wings. A set of hooves spread in the air. The faint tinge of a jump rope burned as one arced line. They remained dark, while the rest of the rock had turned several shades lighter.
"This... This is where the fillies used to play."
Celestia nodded firmly.
* * *
"Are you sure we're safe here?" The grey mare inquired. "I heard talk of a forest fire, and it's already starting to get quite warm inside here."
"We should be fine. This baby can a lot of heat!" Rainbow Dash replied as she assembled her suit.
"That's what I'm afraid of. Could we expect this craft to stay cool inside, while being roasted like a baking dish?"
"Easy enough. We'd just need to open the thermal dump panels, although they really need to be hotter to work right."
Luna shot a stern look to Rainbow Dash.
"So... we really don't wanna do that until it's absolutely necessary." Dash finished. Could you just tell everypony to try and relax while we wait for the others to come back?"
"Would we not simply fly out to retrieve them? This craft is capable of that, right?"
"We could, but not just yet. All that ash could choke out the engines, and then we'd be making headway due south, if you know what I mean," she gestured at the controls again. "We only go if it's an emergency. Until then, or until they get back, we're gonna sit tight."
She donned her rainbow-hued helmet, feeling it suction into the neck collar. The augmented wings ruffled as she stretched out inside of the suit.
"And what's that for?"
"My kind of emergencies," she grinned.
* * *
Fluttershy lead Rarity and Applejack to the lee of a rolling hill, where the wind had swept the ash down the the level of the grass.
"Wait here, but stay hidden, and be quiet," she whispered. "I saw something over there." She gestured with one suited foreleg.
"Where's Twilight and the Princess?" Applejack asked quietly.
"I'll get them, don't worry."
Fluttershy vanished again, letting her suit blend with the landscape. She launched herself into the air, her wings beating tiny vortices through the clouds of ash. And then, she was gone.
"Guess it's the waiting game all over again," Applejack grumbled. "Eh, Rarity, what's that yer lookin at there?"
"I... Don't know," she breathed, peering over the lip of the small hill.
Before them stood a statue, alabaster white and painstakingly polished. It was pony sized, and pony shaped. A stone rod jutted from it's mouth, as it stared at a flat slate easel. The statue's eyes bore a relaxed and contemplative expression, as if left to perpetually judge the next stroke of the brush held within its mouth.
"It's beautiful," Rarity whispered.
Applejack looked around. There were countless others. All perfect replicas of the ponies that once lived. A slice of time preserved for eternity, each bearing a happy expression. Blissfully unaware of the horror they now lived in.
"Is that..."
Rarity gulped. "I think so."
A statue depicting a husky but lithe pony in a cowgirl hat trotting along the remains of the gravel road. Behind her, a stone cart filled with round lumps of rock. Each carved with care to give the appearance of a wagon full of fresh apples.
Applejack fell to the ground, wheezing slightly. Rarity ducked back behind the ridge to comfort her.
They stayed that way for several minutes, each unable to find the words to express what they thought. Before long, three figures emerged from the dense choking clouds.
Twilight and Fluttershy raced up to meet the two. Celestia marched up the hill as if surmounting an enemy beachhead. She stopped, and gazed across the tranquil rendition of the town that she once knew. One hoof lifted, pressed over her mouth, as she began to shudder softly.
"Princess, can you get down please? I saw something over there," Fluttershy whispered.
Celestia saw it too.
Her jaw set as she lowered her head, leveling her horn towards the serpentine movement in the distance.
"Be strong, my little ponies," she uttered, before striding forth.
(to be continued)
love it
40841
The complete lack of context actually makes this excerpt really amazing. Can't wait to see how this comes to pass/what will happen afterwards.
40841
Now for the fanboy analysis of facts I can glean from this snippet:
Ponies understanding and utilizing advanced/human-level technology CONFIRMED.
Ponies interacting with humans other than Trent CONFIRMED.
... that's all, really, but that's enough to get me excited to see where this is going.
I've always been so certain that Ditzy Doo is actually a genius, and I loved this chapter for it.
Yeesh, wrote out an extra 2000 words just making up that "discord" excerpt. Going to cut it off and save that for later though, since it needs to be fleshed out considerably, and checked that it lines up with about 20 other chapters that I haven't written yet. Long story short, Discord is very happy to see them. The pony statues were made by him, since he wanted something to remember them by.
As grim as this particular scene sounds, it's only about a 6 or 7 on the WTF scale, compared to other parts of the story. I think this comes before the "FlutterPTSD" excerpt, so don't worry - things are still nice and peachy back in Equestria.
Much more to write before I even get to that point, so there may be a few slight changes in the process. Getting back to the Fluttershy arc now...
On the plus side, I now know exactly what I'm doing with RBD.
42025 About how long are you planning this chapter?
42047
As long as it takes to tell the story.
Though I'm still not sure how much that will be, it is still fairly considerable at this point. That excerpt alone can probably be expanded into its own chapter.
I think I have a good idea for this story's cover art. Unfortunately, I am quite terrible at drawing. It anyone wants to take a stab (heh) at it, send me a PM.
CH9 in progress now.
I really liked seeing Derpy in this story, when the description started about the grey pegasus siiting by the tree, i couldn't help but break out a smile. She is such a warm character that can make anypony smile
42162
I like Trent's experiment to see just how fast she can understand concepts that get passed along from the translation spell. "Spread spectrum frequency division multiplexing" would have probably sent Twilight, or any other pony, into migraine-ville.
"It's like a piano!" is a pretty clever answer.
It's funny how Ditzy/Derpy is almost unfailingly described as an utter genius in at least half of the fanfics I have read of her. I have come to expect it now, because I simply cannot accept the fact that being walleyed automatically makes her dumb. Far from it. Even when I read a Ditzy fic where she can't talk quite right, it usually is simply because of a disorder that makes it hard to communicate. Given a pen and paper, she can reveal an amazingly complex thought process. Even though we don't see much of her on the show, and she is depicted as clumsy at least once of the top of my head, bronies everywhere seem to, at least partially, agree that there is vast potential within the character for a remarkably capable intellect.
I think we can all take a lesson from this. Just because a pony (or person) doesn't appear to physically line up to our standards of "normal," it doesn't mean that they are mentally handicapped. Oftentimes, physical impairments can hide stunning intellect or artistic ability, and sometimes it only takes a listening and attentive soul to bring that out.
I personally can't wait to see if our dear Ditzy plays an important role in this story. I would think her of bringing forth a great technological advancement to pony society, or at least being able to adapt quickly to human technology. She seems to have an innate understanding of higher level math and evolutionary biology, even though she might not know the terms that go with them. What is important is that she can understand the concepts and link them with the words used to describe them. It's a shame that she is just a mailmare, when it is obvious that her mental faculties could let her do so much more. It seems that Ditzy could have done more if she hadn't been led to believe that she wasn't "good at math" by her teachers and peers.
I mean, look at it. She is taking into account the weight and destination of the individual packages, the size and distance of the clusters of houses she will visit, wind speed and direction and how both change over the course of the day, her own stamina, and factoring in for unforeseen circumstances that may speed or slow her progress. There are literally dozens of variables within that reckoning, and she is doing this all in her head, in the morning, just before she flies her rounds each day. That is some serious mental acuity.
Tl;dr more Ditzy please?
I know this story is yours, and you don't want every internet fiend with a keyboard and fingers to shout out what they wish to see in the story. I just hope that you can make Ditzy Doo into a semi-major character. There is so much potential within her. But, I concede the story to you. It's yours to tell, not mine.
She does play a rather important role. Making her a bit of a misunderstood genius was intentional, rather than just for the sake of characterization. The "bubble" problem she manages to solve plays an important role as well, which (for the sake of the story, and this author's hubris) may place this Equestrian mail mare on par with a particular Swiss patent clerk.
I should only hope that my writing does justice to the depth of her character, rather than simply saying she's a genius and leaving it at that.
"It's good to see you again."
"As you, Princess."
"I must admit that your letter sounded almost uncharacteristically urgent. I have taken the steps you have requested for the sake of secrecy, but I should hope that you would enlighten me on why they're necessary in the first place."
"I believe that should be readily apparent soon, but I'd like to get straight to the point first. Are you familiar with a certain grey pegasus. A mailmare by the name of Ditzy Doo."
"Oh," Celestia stated with a trace of confusion. "Yes, I do know of her."
"She's important."
"All ponies of Equestria are important to me."
"She is an asset."
"As a mailmare?"
Trent shook his head. "She has a calling far greater than her current position. And I daresay that if her cutie mark is accurate, then the universe has a very subtle and sick sense of humor."
"Bubbles? Please understand that I value everypony's unique gifts in this world, but I am at a loss as to why this is significant."
"Let's say that it represents a tidbit of knowledge. Something that she understands freely, even though she is unaware of the implications. That knowledge, with her ability to comprehend it, makes her an asset. The problem is a lock to which she alone holds the key."
"What exactly is this problem you're referring to? Could you describe it?"
"Sure. Can you fit a larger bubble inside of a smaller one?"
"No."
"She can."
"I'm still not seeing the point of this. Perhaps you can tell me how she does this, and perhaps that might explain why we have a cordon of palace guards not allowing anypony within a hundred paces of this room."
"With pleasure. The problem refers to a means of establishing a virtual event horizon around a contiguous mass of irregular shape or size, which may exist at two points within spacetime through a boundary measured on the Planck scale. This takes into account such considerations that the individual mass bearing components are not treated through the classical model, such that any adjacent particles do not exhibit waveform collapse through the passage of gauge bosons, but rather that the gauge bosons are seen as the junctions between spatially unbound contiguous matter. This can be explained easier by knowing that the integer spin of bosons and the half-integer spin of fermions are not physical properties of matter, but that the matter and it's associated properties are a function of the dimensional shift between any set of volumes that share a common surface. This also goes to explain why the force of gravity is tremendously strong, but is only weakly felt by baryonic matter in such that this chain of dimensional contiguity effectively insulates that force from spacetime as we know it - thank whatever deity you ascribe to for that. As such, when the geometry of this larger bubble is reversed within the confines of an arbitrarily smaller space, in a manner whereby this operation is carried out from two separate points, defined by a state of local entropy that matches two specific points of differing spatial or temporal properties, then the force of gravity is brought to the forefront from within, and the mass in question is effectively insulated from the rest of the universe. Mind you that this only works in this manner, as attempting to invert spacetime beyond a flat geometry would effectively require infinite amounts of energy. However, by performing the operation twice yields a rational solution, since it works at the exact moment that the geometry of the bubble becomes flat, made possible through that the backwards nature of it allows you to reach your destination before you account for localized entropy, and allows the bubble to exist on the other side just as it departs."
Celestia blinked.
"Anyways, that's the layman's explanation... Did you get all that?"
The alicorn began to tremble, lowering her head to the floor and covering it with both hooves.
"OOOOoooowwwww."
"Sorry."
"Exactly what is all that supposed to mean?"
"Ask Derpy."
Celestia sighed, her head still throbbing.
"Please, spare me any further explanations. What are the implications of this?"
"Many great, and terrible, things."
http://mylittlefacewhen.com/f/1226/
I have to say that this story is truly spectacular. Your use of words for visual and explanatory purposes is the best of any fanfiction author I have read (aside from pride). You and pride now tie as my favorite fanfiction authors.
well this time i was able to follow the intelectual musings of trent and derpy. but fuckin a that last one killed me. it was quantum physics right?
43370
The TRUE solution
I'll have to work on Trent's explanation a bit. At the moment it does sound like a bit of technobabble, although I'm trying to make it logically consistent. The model does not recognize elementary particles as physical objects that interact through intermediary force carriers. Rather, the particles and the gauge bosons that serve as force carriers can be described as the same entity, manifested through varying field geometries.
I have a problem with virtual particles, in that gauge bosons would need to make a straight shot between two independently located particles in order to conduct an interaction. These interactions always take place, and do not exhibit discreet variations of force that could be caused by variations in the emission/absorption schema. As such, would it still make sense to treat two interacting particles as particles? Or simply one particle that shares a common surface, but manifests itself as two. So long as any two particles exist in the same universe, within the bounds of gravitational attraction or photonic exchange, they will always be aware of each other. This effectively applies to all particles in the universe, even if their existence only propagates at the speed of light. (A photon emitted from a source is absorbed by it's target immediately, regardless of the distance traveled.)
So do we really need particles to describe the universe?
Anyways - it is a bit to think about. I'm digging back into QFT so I can try to pull of something that passes logical rigeur. Regard everything I say as pure speculation at this point - until I get back up to speed on things.
Science is fun!
44309
I picked up some of that. The particle thing, is that similar to the theory behind spongecake-based universal awareness device that Zaphod gets stuck in in Hitchhiker's Guide? (I assume you've read the series, just by your breadth of knowledge and you writing style; what I'm refereeing is very difficult to explain to a non-fan, lol.)
I always thought
was brilliant in her own little way. 
Good to see a brony own up to her status as a genius.
Tracking.
Sorry for the delay - busy dealing with another side project. CH9 is starting to come together now, although I think I've spent more time dealing with the upcoming RBD and Rarity arcs.
Rainbow Dash gets a student - and then she learns a valuable lesson.
Thanks for your patience - and all the comments!
44405
I had to re-read that bit from HHGTTG, and it is pretty brilliant on Douglas Adams' part. This isn't exactly like that tho. It's just my speculation based on my inability to reconcile a billiard-ball universe with observations of quantum effects. It's hard to describe, as it's really hard just to visualize. But I've been thinking about it a bit... I can't say it's going to be correct, but I think it sounds good enough to be plausible for science fiction.
R.I.P. until the end of time, Oscar Lima Nine Seven.
May i ask how many words you have so far?
I am impressed, I feel like I am actually learning stuff while being entertained. Your style of writing, in my eyes, is very unique and memorable. The flow of your writing has changed dramatically, for the better, since I first started reading story. This chapter, in particular was above and beyond excellent, I await for the next chapter at the edge of my seat.
THIS IS THE BEST STORY EVAR!!!
Finally coming together now, sorry for the wait. Part writers block, part "coming home at 5pm then going back out to run errands/shopping until 11pm every day no matter what".
The first 2000'ish words took a while, because they were transitional scenes, and transitional scenes are usually boring. And I can't write boring. Spiffed em up a bit, and now they're worth reading. Now that that's out of the way, the next 20,000'ish words are going to be a copy/paste from my head to the page. I've had quite enough time to think about exactly how it's playing out. (Fluttershy Arc)
There is one scene I have planned that is so emotionally moving that it brings a tear to my eye, and so outrageously hilarious that I can't stop laughing when I think about it. Also, expect to learn some science.
"Real Soon"
40841 When Rarity stepped on the rib, I just assumed it was a pony's. I also assumed it was a bombing or warzone instead of a forest fire, so my whole brain just went "Oh, what shit has gone down this time?!?"
I love your interpretation of Derpy, it's a wonderful way to see her.
Wow I actualy understood all of that!
70767
And thus Ditzy Doo (Derpy) should be a teacher!
Seriously
Derpy Hooves just invented evolution! Congratulations Derpy, you are now second only to Aristotle! (and thats only cause he invented lots of other stuff as well!)
This is now my favorite characterization of Derpy ever. You are a great author, if sometimes rather confusing.
Derpy, the smartest pony to ever live, shes so smart everyone thinks shes dumb :D derpy is now third fav pony
VERY nicely done. And I actualy mean the whole conversation with Derpy, not just the physics.
Genius Ditz Derpy is best Derpy.
Strangely enough Ditzy's thought process was kind of like mine... I know what I mean but have trouble explaining it in other people's terms. Whenever I explain something I explain wrong, but know exactly what I mean and my idea is right, yet it's not expressed properly. Kind of like how I am talking now is not explaining what I mean exactly(Or maybe it's because I just took a sleep aid an hour ago and can barly think straight right now.)