No Gods

by Akouma

Chapter 3

The small stack of gems clattered onto Twilight’s desk as the pouch containing them was upended. They were all rough and unworked. Many of them were discolored in places, cracked, or otherwise notably imperfect. They still had applications in tools and magical constructions, but they would never be used in jewelry.

Which, thankfully for somepony on a soldier’s budget, made buying a whole stack of them relatively inexpensive if you knew who to talk to. “Thanks, Fancy,” Twilight said to the stallion who had brought her these new treasures, before levitating over a small bitpurse set aside for the transaction.

Fancy Pants gave one of his brilliant smiles that had helped make him so popular among the Canterlot elite. “Think nothing of it, my dear! And do tell your parents I said hello. In fact, I saw them just the other day, and when I mentioned that you had contacted me about this, your mother requested-”

“I’ll come to see them next time I have leave,” Twilight cut him off. “I’ll probably get at least a few days after I’m out of officer training. Until then, they’ll have to come here or live with the daily letters.”

Fancy Pants looked over Twilight’s shoulder as bits of wire and gemstone were moved around in Twilight’s aura. Whatever she was doing, she wasn’t wasting any time before starting. “I’ll let her know. Pray tell, what did you need all these gems for? And why are you strapping wires to your horn?”

Twilight kept talking as she referenced a chart containing the magical resistances of various gemstones. “See the emerald on my necklace?” The necklace in question floated over so her guest could get a better look at it. Meanwhile, Twilight had found the entry she was looking for. “Only forty-five hundred vortices on an uncut amethyst? Really?” she mumbled.

Fancy Pants examined the necklace, scrutinizing the gem in particular. “It’s lovely. Does this have something to do with the enchantment that makes the inside look like mist?”

“Oh, that’s no enchantment.” A brief spark emanated from somewhere in front of Twilight, and Fancy Pants couldn’t quite see it from where he was standing. As the light faded again, Twilight produced the amethyst she had been attaching wires to a moment ago. The inside of the stone now matched the one on her necklace. “That’s just what happens when enough magic is put through a gem to exceed it’s magical resistance, but not enough to destroy it entirely. Every analysis spell I’ve thrown at my necklace has said the gas doesn’t do anything, but I don’t believe it! It has to do something besides look pretty, right? Some property that ponies haven’t noticed yet?”

As Twilight continued, she turned in her seat to face Fancy Pants as she began to wave her hooves to match the emphases in her speech. “Oh, I wish that there was a Diamond Dog I could talk to about this! They’re so much further ahead of unicorns in terms of what they can do channeling magic through gems. I tried to see if I could get books on it imported when I worked in the bookstore, but all of their big advances are state secrets. I mean, I don’t want to make a death ray or anythi-”

A blue hoof covered her mouth before she could continue. “You seem to be getting a little off track, Twilight. And while this is all well and good, isn’t there something more productive you could be doing? I was under the impression officer training was quite a bit of work.”

Twilight grinned as she went back to her project. “Oh, I already finished the coursework and my physical regimen for the night. I wouldn’t mind getting started on the work for the rest of the week, but a girl needs to have fun sometimes, right?”

“Right... ‘fun,’” Fancy Pants said as another flash of light tortured another gemstone.

As Twilight went to put the new test subject in a pile, her concentration slipped from how many various items she had been handling. The wires, the book, the gem she had just finished pulsing magic through, and the next gem in line all crashed onto her desk.

The gem she had just finished with was the only one that was damaged by such a short fall; its structure having been weakened by its interior turning to vapor. The crack reached all the way to its misty core, and a thick haze surrounded her. Not knowing if the substance was safe to breathe, Twilight tried to use a locator spell to find her fan through the fog. She quickly dismissed the spell when it gave her nothing but mental static. Twilight calmed a little as she realized that she could see through the cloud now. It was still thick in the room, but she could see the room.

Continuing her search without the aid of magic, Twilight saw Fancy Pants trying to open the door with his own telekinesis. She couldn’t figure out what was giving him trouble; it wasn’t locked. It would have to wait until after she’d done something about the gas in her room.

After a few more moments of searching, Twilight found her fan. She reached out to telekinetically put it on the table as well as open the her dormitory’s window. As she did so, she realized that it was taking significantly more effort than it should have. It was almost like…

“The smoke is magically resistant like a gemstone!” Twilight yelled, overjoyed to have finally found something notable about the mist. This had the unfortunate side effect of her mouth being open, allowing the smoke into her lungs. It was unpleasant to breathe, but no less so than ordinary smoke from a fire. Extended exposure in an enclosed space might be dangerous, but it didn’t seem so hazardous that she would need to panic if she breathed it. Between the fan and the window, the room was quickly clear again.

Twilight heard Fancy Pants clear his throat from across the room. When she turned to look she saw that he’d brought the collar of his shirt around to cover his face and his eyes were wider than Twilight had ever seen them go before. “W-well Twilight,” he said in a voice trying and failing to hide the fact that he was rattled, “while it’s b-been lovely to see you, I… I think it’s time to get home to Fleur for dinner. Shall I tell her you send your regards?”

Twilight realized just how badly she must have scared him. “I’m so sorry, Fancy! I’m pretty sure the smoke is safe. I’m so, so sorry though!” Fancy Pants continued to wait silently until Twilight answered his question. He was eyeing the door, but Twilight knew it would have been rude to leave without closing the conversation properly.

“Yes. Tell Fleur I said hello. And can I send a letter if I need more gem samples?”

Fancy Pants took a step closer for a brief hug. “By all means. Although if you could wait until after we’ve finished with pleasantries to put me in fear of my life next time, I would appreciate it.” After parting, he chuckled as he regained some of his composure. “And I do hope you’ll be able to accompany your parents to my next garden party.”

“Oh, I would love to,” Twilight lied, “but right now I really need to focus on my training, and I think I’m going to be giving most of my free time to this. In fact, I think I’ll go back to prepping more gems. Always nice to see you though, Fancy.”

“And you as well, Twilight,” Fancy Pants said as he made his way to the door. Her social obligations to a friend of the family completed, Twilight turned back to her project with renewed interest. She finally had test subjects, and an avenue she could pursue. She would stay up all night if that’s what it took to find any remaining mysteries the gems had in store for her.

________________________

Luna walked among the shelves, looking back at her companion every few steps for anything suspicious. Nightingale seemed content to just walk behind Luna, glancing occasionally at the titles of the books and scrolls around her. When they passed in front of a scroll rack, her coat nearly blended in with the parchment. For the first time since they’d entered the library, she spoke.

“Princess, may I ask you something?”

Luna turned stopped and turned around, fixing Nightingale with her gaze. “You may.”

Nightingale didn’t respond immediately. “What made you reconsider my petition?”

“Your persistence, mostly,” Luna admitted. “I still do not believe there is much to be gained from your pursuits, but I am hoping I can prove it to you. Once we have concluded, as I know we will, that there is nothing to be gained here, you will stop using my valuable time with my petitioners. And if it turns out your theories have merit and can be safely controlled, so much the better.”

Nightingale’s ears drooped. “Princess, I know that my ideas might seem… unsavory at first glance. I’m not deaf; I know that ponies say I’m a madmare bent on the destruction of Equestria. And I know that we would be playing with dangerous forces. Unlike most ponies, however, I believe there is no such thing as ‘forces beyond our control.’” Nightingale dropped to her knees before Luna, begging. “Just give me a chance to prove it. Help me prove it. Please.”

“You may rise,” Luna said as she considered Nightingale’s plea. “Explain to me your theory, please. In more detail than simply ‘use dark magic for medical benefit.’ I’m already well aware that there exist healing spells in dark spellbooks. Those that are safe to use have already been added to the catalogue of modern medicine.”

“My theories have nothing to do with direct healing spells. Most of those can only speed the healing process, or heal very minor wounds. You’d need to be almost as powerful as, well, you in order to fix anything major. Not even you can repair defects ponies were born with.”

Nightingale turned to the books on the shelf beside her. They weren’t in the restricted wings yet, so there was very little pertaining to her theories here. There was one on basic demonology, though. She opened it to check its contents, then flipped to the page beginning the chapter on possession. “Now, historically speaking, fixing these things is the most common type of offer from dark entities looking for a vessel. Most ponies that play host to a demon or the like find their bodies in better shape than they’ve ever been before.”

Luna couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “You can’t be serious! These entities take over your body in exchange, or take your soul to Tartarus. You are worse off than before when you indulge these kinds of offers. Even ponies who are exorcised and recover suffer from mental disorders for most of their lives afterwards.” Luna seized the book in her telekinesis, shoving it roughly back into its place on the shelf.

Nightingale smiled as she returned to the spines of the books to her right.. “I’m aware of all this, Princess. I’m not going to just start shoving demons into ponies. My theory is that if a pony does this in a safe environment, they can be exorcised immediately following their healing. I just need to craft a sufficiently strong spell that wards against mental invasion to avoid the ramifications of having a demon inside the patient’s head. Creating that spell would be the focus of this project.”

“Did you even need access to the restricted section for such research?” Luna asked as she began walking towards the sections regarding mind magic, Nightingale in tow. “While there are spells regarding mental protection in there, they have mostly been transcribed and deemed safe for the general public. Having some findings regarding this spell may have helped my initial reception of your presentations.”

Nightingale pondered this for a moment as she walked. “I hadn’t thought of that, no. On the other hoof, I can’t make much progress on a spell specifically designed to repel the mental influences of demons without knowing what exactly a demon does in a pony’s head. While I could start by researching particularly strong mind-defending spells, I still have no idea if it would interact in any way with possession.”

At this point, Luna still wasn’t sure whether or not to force Nightingale to discontinue the project. Certainly, it was dangerous, but setting up failsafes for the research seemed to be a straightforward endeavor. Proper containment rituals were simple enough, and doubly so when one knew they were needed before that containment was required. Exorcising the victims of failed tests was also easy, albeit somewhat risky. As long as the test subjects were well-informed volunteers, she didn’t see anything wrong with potential damages. Really, the situation wasn’t all that different from more conventional medical research.

In addition, it would be a chance to help with a major breakthrough, she thought. Another scholarly achievement may remind ponies that there are still areas in which I outshine my sister.

“Very well, Nightingale. This project, strange though it is, may have merit. Moreover, I wish to aid and oversee your work myself. We shall begin in earnest tomorrow morning, immediately after the Night Court closes.”

________________________

Her research for the night was finally done. Twilight stacked the additional reference material she had borrowed from the academy’s library off to one side of her desk. Once everything was organized again, she went over her notes from the evening’s experiments.

12th day of Summer, 1174 Harmony Era
The gem delivery from Fancy Pants just arrived. Accidentally broke one amethyst after treating it, creating a cloud of smoke in the room. Smoke appears to have magical resistance properties similar to the gemstones it is made of. Further testing required.



several hours later, no negative effects noticed from breathing in gem smoke medical officer confirms there is nothing wrong in or around my lungs going to be wearing safety gear going forward anyway should have worn some to start got too eager to begin testing

created 17 samples excluding one that broke, current of 1000 vortices over their maximum resistance. Will try lower/higher current samples in next batch.

ran magical pulse through glass box containing smoke into waiting vortometer. Smoke’s resistances below (adjusted +129 vortices for known resistance of glass):
-quartz 2893 vortices average among 4 samples (uncut quartz stones average a resistance of 5810)
-amethyst 2237 vortices average among 2 samples (uncut amethyst stones average a resistance of 4500)
-carnelian 5964 vortices average among 3 samples (uncut carnelian stones average a resistance of 12000)
-garnet 3877 vortices average among 4 samples (uncut garnet stones average a resistance of 7801)

further testing required because of such a small sample size but pattern appears to be just under half of the initial stone’s resistance is retained after the change in state

cracked one of each stone immediately in front of muzzle to test how long it takes for the smoke to dissipate enough that a pony can see through it heavier stones appear to take slightly longer but average was close to 3 seconds

after this point smoke is still present but can be seen through without notable difficulty
as a result the gems are nearly useless as smoke bombs

has applications against magic-using opponents any spell trying to penetrate the cloud requires a significant expenditure of additional energy that some unicorns (and other magical creatures) can’t even channel enough to overcome the resistance on any level more realistic threats would become tired very quickly unless they had access to vast quantities of energy

cloud also scrambles all magical communication going through it all spells i was capable of casting that provide information on area or object came back as static when used on or within the smoke

all such spells turn up empty space where the smoke is when used on an area wider than the area the smoke covers

non-unicorns might have trouble cracking gem if this is going to be used i need a delivery system gem too hard to reliably crack without magic got lucky it landed on hard surface first time



referenced book on common military equipment
most smoke bombs are airtight pots with smoke mixture inside kept in enchanted box to keep from breaking in field could replicate for practical application by cracking gem inside one then quickly sealing will attempt at later date once more i have more samples and more research into this project

As Twilight put down the sheet of barely legible scribbles, she couldn’t help but sigh. “Proofreading this is going to be awful,” she mumbled as she grabbed her red ink.

Author's Note:

And so we have chapter 3, in which things get science-y. All complaints about the inaccuracy of scientific methods employed by my characters will be read, considered, then most likely not acted on. (I'm sure my friends that work in chemical labs would be slapping me silly if they read this.)

As always, special thanks to my friends and prereaders, Kwakerjak, [ur;=http://www.fimfiction.net/user/Blackbelt]Blackbelt, Themaskedferret, and Caliaponia. They're the best. Go read them. Or you don't get any dessert. I even made their names all green and stuff so you know which bits to click.

Comments

[devas]

Instructions unclear, tried clicking green names, got dick stuck in the ceiling fan

[Tetrominon]

Nightingale's asking for uranium so she can try and build a breeder reactor out of coffee cans and string. She's never done it before, or even tried, or has any real idea of how to start, but hey, if it works, it'd be super-neato! Did Luna's brain get replaced with an olive loaf sometime between chapters or why the hell isn't she seeing the multitude of gaping, apocalypse-shaped holes in this idea?

[djthomp]

Wild guess regarding Twilight's gemstone research, in this 'verse she's going to actually make the Elements.

Luna is planning on assisting with research into the possible benefits of demonic possession. What could possibly go wrong?

[Blue_Paladin42]

Ingenious, is our little Sparkle.

There's always gotta be that one scientist/doctor who has to be "That Guy", doesn't there?

[SIGAWESOME]

5044988

Instructions unclear, tried clicking green names, got dick stuck in the ceiling fan

BUG #5_044_988
STATUS: Closed
REASON: Could not reproduce. Configuration not available in test environment.

5045761

Did Luna's brain get replaced with an olive loaf sometime between chapters or why the hell isn't she seeing the multitude of gaping, apocalypse-shaped holes in this idea?

I am pretty sure this is how companies like Umbrella Corporation get started.
Maybe she is already possessed?

5046657

Luna is planning on assisting with research into the possible benefits of demonic possession. What could possibly go wrong?

We wonders. Aye, we wonders...

My money is on them finding some "Private Gomer Pyle"-like wash-out loser from the Royal Guard by the name of Sunset Shimmer as their first volunteer...

[Akouma]

5058166
While the idea of Sunset Shimmer being their test subject is amusing, she in this world is a guard captain with many accolades and a reputation for being a complete bitch. No washing out for her.

[yobbin2000]

I liked how Twilight's notes started off quite formal and then quickly lost punctuation and capitalisation.

Creating an Anti-Magic field by accident not bad Twilight. While the magic resistance element looks like it could be trivially overcome by someone for example Celestia's level of power just by pumping more energy into the spells. The blocking communications/anti scrying element feels like it will be very useful.
Do ponies already have an efficient or portable way to block scrying or it this a truly innovative thing Twilight has come up with?

non-unicorns might have trouble cracking gem if this is going to be used i need a delivery system gem too hard to reliably crack without magic got lucky it landed on hard surface first time

Wouldn't think difficulty of cracking would be an issue if it breaks open just by being dropped. I would think the issue would be the opposite, if you are going to field deploy the gems you don't want to have them accidental activate when whoever is carrying them needs to dive for cover.