The basement door closed up and the lock clicked. Spike smiled. With her locked up in the basement to do research, this was a perfect opportunity to head out into Ponyville without "Twilight" catching him in the act. He left the main room of the library and out into the streets, where he sauntered to the outskirts of town.
He felt pretty good about his chances, this time. The pegasus he wanted to speak with was unlikely to fall for the imposter's vile tricks. The faker was up to something sinister, and there was one former supermodel who hated (okay, greatly disliked) sinister, evil, negatively-connotative-word things.
He approached the cottage's door and prepared to knock, but the door swung open moments before he could follow through. Rainbow Dash stood in the doorway with her head turned to the pony inside. "Have a good one, Fluttershy! See ya tonight!"
"Bye, Rainbow Dash!" The quiet mare called back.
Rainbow turned on woozy hooves, which Spike wouldn't have expected from the agile athlete. Rainbow finally noticed the dragon and stared at him with slightly widened eyes. She clearly wasn't prepared to see him. "Uh, hey Spike! Gotta... go to work now. Uh... see ya!" Rainbow uneasily walked past Spike and flapped into the air with a wavy path. For some reason, Rainbow was having trouble flying straight. That much was confirmed when Rainbow's irregular flight pattern made her smack face-first into a flag pole.
As curious a sight as that was, Spike paid it no further heed. He was here to speak with the other, softer spoken pegasus. Fluttershy walked next to the door and smiled warmly down at Spike. "Hello Spike. Would you like to come in?"
"Sure, thanks!" Spike graciously replied. He walked in past Fluttershy, who closed the door and joined Spike in sitting around her living room.
"How have you been doing, Spike?" Fluttershy asked, beginning a conversation.
"Pretty good, I guess. How about you? Did that CMC sleepover give you any trouble?"
"Oh my, no. The girls were perfect angels, and Twilight helped so much!"
Crap, that didn't bode well for Spike's plan. Perhaps he could still manage, though it now seemed like a long shot. "How exactly did Twilight help, anyway? She didn't really talk about it when she got back."
Fluttershy smiled when she thought back to the events. "She was so nice. She brought food and games for us all to play together; we had so much fun!"
Oh yeah, definitely a long shot. Spike just hoped that a long shot didn't mean impossible. "That's good, but did anything strange happen with Twilight?"
"Do you mean the cockatrice? Oh no, is Twilight alright?" Fluttershy asked with increasing worry.
Spike didn't really know how to answer that. He honestly didn't know if Twilight was fine, but he knew the pony they spoke of wasn't really Twilight. "She's fine." He decided. "But doesn't her behavior strike you as a little odd?"
Fluttershy settled back into her seat with confusion. "Odd? No, she's been the same Twilight that she always was."
Spike knew that was wrong, but politely kept that sentiment to himself. "Hmm, and what if I told you that she was acting strange?"
Spike's latest query did little to aid Fluttershy's growing curiosity. "If Twilight is okay, then how is her behavior strange?"
"How long do you think Twilight had anger-management problems?" Spike asked.
Fluttershy gave it some thought. "Goodness, I don't know. I know that she's been very... irritable since I met her."
"Would you say she was violently irritable?"
"Well, she did yell at some fog..."
When the heck was this? Spike was sure seeing Twilight getting angry at fog would have been sure-fire proof of his claims. "And what if I told you that she wasn't always like that?"
"Do you mean she was more calm before she came to Ponyville?"
"Yeah. About the only thing that got her worked up was an assignment from the princess, and even then she was never violent. But now she's been getting into fights all over the place! It doesn't make any sense."
"Well, in her defense, she's been through a few things that have really agitated her."
"Twilight has been really agitated before, but never this bad." Spike said in denial. "She often got rant-y when she found scribbles in books she borrowed and she's never been in somepony's face about it." Spike looked up in thought. "Actually, Twilight has gotten a lot more casual about books lately. Just another thing that's weird about her."
"So are you worried about her new found aggression?" Fluttershy asked.
"Yeah, but that's not the half of it. Twilight has always been very knowledgeable and passionate about magic, but for a while, she hated magic more than I've seen her upset over anything. Adding to that is all these weird slip-ups she makes. You know she's called herself a boy a few times?"
Fluttershy shrank back nervously. "Um, so Twilight has been having gender issues?"
Spike raised a claw to object, but lowered it. "Actually, no. I think she knows exactly what gender she is. It's not just gender, though. Have you ever noticed how she never says 'everypony' or 'anypony'?" Fluttershy nodded. "And have you seen her spending a lot more time in her 'human' form?"
Fluttershy visibly relaxed. "I have noticed, and I'm happy for her."
Spike tilted his head in confusion. "You're not concerned at all?"
"Not really. Twilight is a smart pony, and I'm sure she knows what she's doing."
"But what if I told you Twilight wasn't really a pony?"
"Then I would still love her for who she is." Fluttershy answered sweetly.
Spike blanched in fear. He was counting on Fluttershy's fear of monsters to win her over. With that advantage gone, he needed a new tactic. "And what if I told you that Twilight has changed?"
"Oh, I've noticed that."
"You have?" Spike asked hopefully.
"Yes I have; Twilight has gotten a lot less intimidating and a lot more caring since I first met her." Fluttershy thought back to the Summer Sun Celebration and their encounter with the mountain dwelling dragon. "She's actually improved a lot since then."
Spike silently sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He knew where this was going; he could recognize a pattern. Fluttershy was a dead-end, which means that the imposter must have already persuaded her. "Okay, I just wanted to see if you noticed."
Fluttershy smiled proudly. "It's so nice of you to look out for Twilight like this. I'm sure she'd really appreciate you checking to see how her friends like her."
Yeah, that's what it was. Spike the dragon, just walkin' around and making sure that Twilight was fine. The problem with that was he didn't know where Twilight was, and the only method he had of getting help was being undermined at every turn. This clone was digging its horrid claws into Ponyville and was expanding its influence on its ponies every day. Spike could only hope that where ever Twilight was, she could hold out long enough for him to find somepony, anypony to help.
I was in the library basement all alone. It was just me, snacks, fizzy drinks, and a big load of divination textbooks for a wild night of study and practice. I left Spike with a few gemstones and told him that he was in charge for a bit, so I was going to have few interruptions as I worked on my project. It has been far too long since I made any progress towards finding Twilight, but tonight was going to change that. I resolved to find her by the break of dawn.
Now, that didn't necessarily mean I could fix everything over night. I would only be able to discern her location; bringing her back was another set of skills entirely. Discussions of conjuration could wait, for I had divinations to master.
I arranged my workspace with my magic. Workout benches and weights clattered across the room from the desk I recently moved into the depths. I sat in a comfortable swivel chair, laid out my research materials and snacks, and got to work.
A ball of light hovered above my reading form, perfectly illuminating every page I read, highlighting every swig of soda I took. I wish I could say that I breezed through each and every chapter I read, but that would be a vast over-simplification of what actually happened.
Each school of spells was like a different language when you got to the advanced stuff. Each school had its own alphabet of dweomers, a different grammatical structure, and unique methods of use. Since I was a transmutation specialist, that made transmutation the closest I had to an arcane version of English. The trouble here was that I was trying to learn a version of Latin that could allow me to see through space and time. Yeah, it doesn't sound that easy, does it?
The fortunate part of all this was that magic was magic, and the general principles of learning applied to every school. It was a only a matter of time and effort before I got the general idea of what I needed to do and start experimenting. I already lost track of time by that point since I didn't bring a clock with me, but the missing liter of soda told me it was at least a few hours. I guessed it was midnight.
I jury-rigged an experimental spell based off of a life-force detection spell and spliced in a few sequences to modify its effects to find specific people. That took about an hour or so. If I made it right, it would detect specific individuals by their spiritual essence, meaning the detection would find souls. With the spell written down and ready for casting, I decided upon my course of action. Like any good experiment, I needed an easy target for a control. I charged up the spell with Spike in mind.
The unleashed spell pulsed outwards in every direction. There was a pause where everything felt still for a brief moment, and then I felt an intangible force tug directly above me. Perfect, my spell functioned well. Just to be sure, I cast it again to find Pinkie Pie. Another pulse and another tug confirmed that my spell was in working order.
Next, I wanted to test for range. It was likely the real Twilight was on my world, and I had no idea how far away that would be. I decided to focus on someone a bit more familiar to me and an easier target for the spell: my former manager at the Wally Cart Supermarket. I unleashed the spell, and awaited its response.
Nothing.
That wasn't too much of a surprise, as I figured range would be the biggest issue. I rewrote the spell to include a few more range-enhancing sequences. They made the spell a bit harder to cast, but made long-range use more viable. I tested it again, and got a response. I felt the stronger tug of that fat bastard all the way from my basement study in Equestria, and for once, it didn't have to do with his own gravitational pull. Ha!
I tasted success already. With the spell calibrated to find Twilight no matter where she was, I cast it again, and eagerly awaited its response.
And I waited.
I paled. The spell wasn't working. Goddammit, the spell wasn't working! I cast it again.
Nothing.
I charged my horn to a greater degree, and let loose a more powerful burst.
Nothing still.
I looked all around above me, as if I could see where the spell was supposed to go. I wasn't finding her. But that couldn't be; I cast the spell correctly three times! I should have found her by now! What was the problem? Why couldn't my spell find Twilight? It should have found her soul somewhere!
Was she...?
No, she couldn't be. I shook my head with shaky breath, refusing to accept that possibility. Twilight had to be out there somewhere. I refused to believe that all my work was for nothing. I would find her; I just needed a better spell.
I scoured my books for the best spell they had, and so I found the Scrying spell. I pulled a hand mirror out of a desk drawer and committed the spell to short-term memory for immediate casting. I cast it quickly, using it to test its abilities and spy on my manager. I saw him trimming his nasty mustache in my mirror. I canceled the spell. Jokes about seeing traumatizing imagery could wait until I set myself at ease. I looked over the spell again, and recast into the mirror.
The image swirled and settled to reveal myself, staring intently into the mirror. I glared interrogatively. This raised more questions than answers. I tried casting it again, this time on someone I knew was d... dead. The image on the mirror swirled into a matte black.
For the first time in some time, I breathed with relief. It was good to see that Twilight is possibly not dead, but in a strange location. I cast the spell to find her again, and it brought up the image of myself once again.
The first spell I used couldn't detect Twilight for some reason, even though it should have adequate range to do so. The Scrying spell clearly shows myself, but the reason wasn't because of death. There was a glaring inconsistency here, but what was it? I examined my notes on the spell I crafted earlier. It stated that it pulsed outwards to find nearby life signatures of a specific designation. Reading over the notes for Scrying, it stated that it revealed the location of a specific creature within a reflective surface.
I compared and contrasted each extensively, intent on making zero mistakes. I had to be sure my assumption was correct. There was one phrase in my notes on the first spell that caught my attention: "pulses outwards". It was a curious addition, and it raised a possibility that I couldn't ignore. I prepared to cast the spell again.
Before, I focused my energies outward to find Twilight's body, but this time, I focused within myself. The energies flowed through my body, and I awaited the results.
I felt something shudder in my chest, below the heart and above the stomach.
I smiled with renewed hope. I found her. She was closer than I expected, but I've done it! This was a major step to restoring things to their natural order. I felt that I could restore Twilight to her rightful place soon.
I frowned with another thought. It was a strange thought, but it irked me all the same. I pulled up the page to the life detection spell and case it inwards with its unmodified sequences. Again, it picked up Twilight's life signature.
The life detection spell, before I modified to to find specific people, would indicate where everyone within its radius was located. The question that nagged on my mind was why there was only one signature; shouldn't I find two, one for both me and Twilight?
I pondered this for a while. What did that imply? Surely it didn't mean that I was Twilight all along. It was an absurd proposition. I knew who I was, for I had all my memories of other humans. I was human man, not a mare.
I shook my head of the thoughts. I'm sure it would be fine. It was just a matter of restoring Twilight to her body. I doubted that would be difficult.
Ouch. Talk about damning someone with faint praise.
Twilight is suppressed in the body isn't she?
Well. This sucks.
Honestly, I was kind of expecting him to search for his Human self to see if they switched bodies as well. Maybe it would turn up with Twilight in a human body.
Honestly? I saw that coming.
I'll go w kztx17 Twilight is in her own head, a suppressed personality. Same thing happened w Thor once. Big question is "What's happening w the original body w nobody home?"
Well that raises more questions than it answers.
Or is it that he should have been looking for his old body?
Well, this chapter has disturbing implications doesn't it.
6319731 I'm of the same mind.
Spike, get Cadance or Shining, you will get nowhere with Ponyville.
Well that just raises more questions.
He didn't think that it searches for the body. He didn't search for himself.
Progress!
6319788 w w w w
Maybe they merged?
She probably just got overwhelmed by the random invasion of an alien mind and fell into a coma of some sort. Proabably has to do with the difference of mental processes that knocked her out of the head game. Either that or the MC is pregnant with Twilight... while being Twilight. Somehow.
Another enjoyable chapter. Good job.
He needs to scurry for his life force, not Twilight's. Because if he is using Twilight's magic, then it stands to reason he is using her lifeforce. Twilight is most likely in his body.
6320302
Yeah the dude is only using Life detection
emphasis on Life
a single body has a single life, not counting multi souls and Gods
he should be looking for the soul
much trickier but may reveal more
You'd think it would occur to him to double check that by trying to find himself. Just to make sure.
And the thermonuclear freakout to follow when he finds out that, no, 'he' wasn't who he thought he was will be glorious.
Hmmmmm, maybe Twilight is trapped in her own head. Could be awake or asleep this entire time.
But the plot thickens... Not a Celestia eating cake joke.
Well of course the spell would point towards him he is Twilight because he's in Twilight's body the only thing that's been displaced is the human and Twilight's minds
6320042
If they had merged, she should have Twilight Sparkle memories or at least part of her personality.
If the real Twilight is trapped inside her, I can't help but to think Discord and a bet or dare are involved.
Also there is the fact that she has Twilight's body, only her soul is different, hence why she is good at transmutation not conjuration.
Is fun how she keps acting more and more like Twilight, only that she does remember to eat and drink, and sleep.
Also save for the compulsive lying, the way she acts could be thought as that of a young female moving out on her own and no longer being so pressured to act tge way her parents and teachers want.
We are have to remember that the mane six are young adults for ponies but are teens by human standards.
Also the situations Twilight has to live in Ponyville would stress anyone.
I don't understand why he wouldn't try to find himself as a control. Just because you know where you are doesn't mean you should discount scientific method.
nnnnnnoooooooooooo
Well i don´t really mind it anymore, i just had prefered it otherwise, but till now i don´t know what happens next.
Really nice, i just fear what it could mean for him, otherwise the story is pretty good.
Somehow it would be bad if he wouldn´t be able to cast Magic anymore, after he maybe is a Human again, but in Equestria. I would hate it if i learned something awesome like that, and suddenly aren´t able to do it anymore.
Maybe if he should give Twilight her Body back, he suddenly get´s the body of a very powerfull Changeling (not Chrysalis), because of his transmutation spell power, or he is a Human with Magic, that would be okay for me too.
6320835 actually i was suprised, that he didn´t searched for his Human body, i mean maybe they traded the body, at least that was what i thought first.
Spike is an idiot. Why hasn't he written to Twilight's parents yet?
6321374 Yeah, he should write to Celestia telling her Twilight is stressed and a surprise visit from Shining (and her parents) would do her good.
6321184
well maybe he's thinking that if he searches for his own body the spell would point towards himself
but in fact the opposite is true
he searches Twilight it points towards him
if he searches him it might point towards Twilight
Yeah, his spell is clearly looking for the bodies rather that than the minds so of course it is showing him Twilight's body which he is in rather than showing him his body with Twilight in it.
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6322679
Okay, the committee has spoken; I've just written a plot hole. Oh well, at least I got my magic pen!
Magic pen edit: added a few more details about the divinations. I've now explicitly stated that the first spell searches for souls, not bodies.
6320971
That's a good point, but while i don't quite think that discord would have done that.
Maybe if discord would do something like this, he would do it a bit later in the series,
to create more of a 'chaosy' feeling,
6322703
Maybe you could turn this plot hole into a plot twist?
6322736 Oh don't worry, I got something planned.
6322739
Oh behave
6322730
Unless the bet included altering Twilight's mind in the past.
6319872 Eventually, Spike convinces someone, they confront her and turns out he's left already and now Twilight is being interrogated :D
I know that our protagonist is a good guy and wants to give Twilight her body back, but that might not be such a good idea. See, protagonist here already took Twilight's place as the Element of Magic. It was him that discovered the elements and brought the girls together to defeat Nightmare Moon, not Twilight. Thus, if Equestria is gonna survive Discord's escape, than it will be in Equestria's best interests that protagonist stays as Twilight. I'm sure that if Celestia realized the situation, she would hopefully (and begrudgingly) agree. Course she's probably not going to because protagonist has trust issues. Honestly, if he just came clean with his secret to at least Spike he could probably eliminate quite a bit of headache.
Still holding out for Twiliclone being an alternate personality of the real Twilight
As several people have pointed out, the spell is pointing to Twilight's body NOT her mind (or soul, if you prefer). Typical rookie mistake.
This is still in the events of season 1, so even if he was watching the show, he wouldn't know about the Mirror Pool (from Too Many Pinkies) But, Pinkie knows of it & they could get an extra body if someone thinks of it.
As to them being scared of Zecora, these guys were terrorized by a bunny Stampede (Apple Buck Season Although, if all bunnies are like Angel Bunny, I can sympathize)
Some one asked why Spike didn't ask her parents about Twilight's behavior. She has been living at Celestia's school & they might not be real familiar w her behavior. I'd talk to Cadance & Shining Armor. Plus, point out that Twilight is midteens (assuming about 10 years after events in Cutie Mark Chronicles, when she applied for school (& was thus 5 or 6)) & this sort of behavior shift is normal
6324589 When you see a muscular African American male with baggy pants in the ghetto, would you assume he's a thug? Just because someone has an intimidating appearance and wears clothing usually attributed to villainy doesn't mean they are villains, which is the entire point of the Bridle Gossip episode. Yes, all this preachy crap about judging people based on appearance was actually in the show, all I did was include a character who could recognize this behavior as wrong.
He doesn't see the diarchs of Equestria as monsters, but he does recognize that they are likely the ones who will deal punishment to him when he gets caught. They might not kill him, but death is not the only consequence of getting caught. He explains that much in one of the earlier chapters, that he fears the punishments not matter what they entail, so he tries to stay hidden while he trains in secret. He's not just sitting around hoping that things will work out; I'm just not writing scene after scene of him expanding his arcane abilities because that would be boring and tedious to read.
If you can't stand waiting through this story until the reveal, then I'm afraid you aren't going to like the rest of it. I still have a long way to go before we're through, and most of that time will be in the dark.
6325744
Literally every single "non-pony outsider comes to town" character featured in the show is either ganged up on at their and disliked just because or gets blamed for whatever stupidity the cast brought on themselves yet again - and eventuall "encouraged" to leave and never comes back, unless the characters actively go look for them. Gee, I wonder if there may be a trend there?
Yes, because all of zero of the actual villains of the show actually end up doing that, it makes perfect sense to spend two years worth of ultrahick paranoia literally coming up with catchy songs about how the foreigner in the weird outfit is a cannibal, evil witch and awful dancer.
Before I reply, I do want to say that Spike's actions seem a bit confusing. There are so many things he could be saying to convince others, but he's not mentioning it. Sometimes he'll even think about something he could tell someone that would cause a great deal of suspicion, but then he never follows through. Quite frankly, I'm surprised that after months of being in Equestria the main character hasn't been found out.
6325744
See, this is the issue I have when people bring in Zecora and have the main character go on about how rude and judgmental the ponies are, despite the very good reasons they have for being that way.
Your hypothetical situation doesn't actually fit, either. Maybe I'd be a bit anxious, but I would have a general idea of what to expect so I wouldn't be too worried. But that's not the case here. A hypothetical situation that fits would be to imagine yourself encountering a cloaked figure with unnervingly glowing yellow eyes (seriously, why in the world would Zecora go out like that?). The place this figure lives in, and where they came from, happens to be a place that goes against everything people know of the world. Nature and life is seemingly backwards, and the place literally has monsters that will try to kill you. If you're familiar with Lovecraft, it's basically as though someone is walking (and lives!) in R'lyeh.
If none of that context was present, then the ponies being judgmental would be inexcusable. The fact that the context does exist and Zecora does walk out of her home in the freaking Everfree Forest with glowing eyes means that their worry and fear, while bad because it is judgmental, is entirely understandable.
That's understandable.
Also, I honestly wouldn't mind everyone being in the dark if it wasn't being dangled over the reader constantly. They keep coming so close to discovering the secret, and the guy was literally moments away from telling the others, yet every single time something gets in the way. And so far, it never makes sense. I'll keep reading because I do enjoy it, but I'm guessing it'll eventually become overwhelming and I'll just stop from frustration. I love build up, but too much build up is just as bad and annoying as too little build up. Especially if you're saying it's going to be a long time despite the fact that he's already previously decided to tell them before being stopped. That makes me worried that the scenario is just going to repeat itself several more times.
6322962
And then they will need the former human Twilight to save the day.
I love it! More please!
6326778
Your hypothetical scenario is just describing what happened in the chapter. That's not a hypothetical, that's literally what is happening. Besides, if we in the real world saw a man with glowing yellow eyes, of course we would be scared; as far as we know, magic doesn't exist. For all the ponies knew about Zecora, she could've been be an introverted badass who knows a few illusions.
Yes, the Everfree Forest is a dangerous place, but so is the ghetto. Zecora wears a cloak, my hypothetical man wears street clothes. They both wear scary outfits (for the context, right?) and they both live in dangerous places, but the difference here is that there exists evidence that some men kill other men in the ghetto. Zecora, on the other hand, was explicitly mentioned as having done nothing wrong. If it was wrong to judge a man in the ghetto, then it is equally wrong to do so with the zebra in the forest.
My hypothetical situation fits perfectly, because Zecora's episode in the show was allegorical to racism, and I just drew the parallel to it.
So under your "context", it's logical to assume the next man I see in the ghetto will surely draw a gun on me and demand my wallet, just as it is contextually logical to assume that Zecora was a magic cannibal.
Do you remember the moral lesson from Bridle Gossip? I do.
The ponies made a hasty and irrational judgement based on superficial appearance, which was explicitly stated as wrong in the show itself. As I said before, all I did was add a character who already understood this lesson.
As for how he sees that as an issue for his own secrets, Zecora didn't do anything wrong, but Twiliclone did. He's been hiding for too long by this point, and this has scared him into keeping quiet. After all, if Zecora was judged harshly when she didn't even deserve it, then what chance does the lying body-snatcher have?
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Maybe I'm just not being clear enough. In this situation, Zecora doesn't matter. They don't know a thing about her, so all they have to really go by is where she comes from, and what they see her doing. You keep using a ghetto as a comparison (which seems the go to comparison for most people), but it still doesn't fit. Yes, there is some evidence that some people in a ghetto can be bad. None of it, however, is outside our understanding. The difference between a ghetto and the Everfree Forest is that the Everfree Forest is a twisted place where the laws of nature are seemingly backwards and is literally filled with monsters that will try to kill you on sight.
That's the difference. In a ghetto, things are still rational. You can be fairly certain that not everyone dressed in ragged clothes is going to kill you for no reason. You know that reality as you know will continue to be the same in the ghetto. For the ponies, they see this cloaked figure coming out of a place where you can be certain practically everything is going to try to kill you. You can't be certain that reality is the same, because it's already clear that the way nature works is utterly different in that place. You know that someone cloaked with glowing eyes screams suspicious, especially with how they came out of a place filled with monsters.
Seriously, this is the problem I have. The main character might understand the general moral behind Bridle Gossip, but he does not understand that this isn't just a simple case of being afraid of a stranger walking down the sidewalk while you're in the ghetto. This is ponies being afraid of a stranger with ominous freaking glowing eyes coming out of a place where nature is completely backwards and which is filled with monsters that will happily murder you if they get the chance. I'm sorry, but if someone's first thought in that kind of situation is, "Oh? A stranger from one of the most deadly, mysterious places in the country? Hah! I obviously have no reason to let nerves get the best of me and will go say hi," then that's not being morally superior. That's just being foolish.
So, to finish this off, I just want to say once more that you can't really compare an ordinary stranger from a place that *might* be dangerous but is otherwise familiar to something unknown from a place that *is* dangerous *and* is completely unnatural. I get why you keep using the ghetto example. Really, I do. If this setting was a non-magic setting or otherwise similar to our world, then you'd have a great point. But it's not, and that's the problem.
Well, thanks to your story, I've been thinking about how types of magic connect to related schools of science. For instance, mathematics is related to divination, mixology/chemistry is related to transmutation, law, hypnosis, politics, mind and crowd control are related to abjuration etc. I know I'm probably reaching with the last one, but I'd like to hear your opinion of my idea because I'm quite interested...otherwise I wouldn't be pondering it. Plus, I'm working on a crossover that takes place in a scientifically advanced community TL9+H21k. I know any science sufficiently advanced is magic, and ancient tech is ancient, so I just wanted to know your take on what schools of magic are represented by which application of science.
6330919
Chemistry I can see, but where's the connection to cocktail mixing?
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you didn't have to change it I was not complaining
you could have turned it to a twist or something
now I feel really bad now
6333336
Twilight told Spike she was an alcoholic in the story to explain away his/her change in personality and behavior. Mixology and Gastronomy are laymen schools of chemistry in much the same way someone with an MCSE certification is a working class engineer. I'm sure it takes as much skill to be a soda jerk as it does to be a pharmacist, but one is a professional with a defined set of standards and a code of honor, the other need only maintain existing standards and provide things honestly in the sight of the customer.