19 - The Scientific Approach
Lyra studied the normal looking brown earth pony and his white mane and tail. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Lyra. Lyra Heartstrings. I apologize for starting with this, but I don't know what that is." She pointed at his flank, where a double-helix strand was displayed, far beyond her knowledge of things. "What does that represent, to you?" Asking about a cutie mark could reveal some facts about her patient.
The Pony chuckled. “Bill Cheminski, but you can call me William... and It’s a DNA helix,” he informed her. “You know, building blocks of life and all that? As for what it represents,” he smiled widely. “That’s even easier, I’m a geneticist.”
Lyra shook her head a little. "You just said a sentence full of words I don't quite understand. I…" She put her notepad aside and grabbed a book with her magic off a shelf, floating over in front of her eyes and flipping open quickly as she searched for something. "Here." She flipped it around and showed a treatise on the elemental fabric of life and how they combine to make any particular living being. "You mean this?"
He examined the book for a moment, frowning slightly. “Basically... this is rather reminiscent of some early Greek works actually, not too far off from the real thing but not exact either.”
Lyra flashed a smile. "I think I know how we can cut ahead a little." She made a scissoring motion with her hooves coming together. "Are you a human? Or rather, were you one before?"
“I am, or was, as it may be,” he said with a smile. “Now I appear to be some species of Equine.” He looked down at his hooves with a rather perplexed look on his face. “Quite odd.”
Lyra nodded a little, looking much more in her element. "A pony, earth pony to be specific. We come in three common varieties, with a few others being rare exceptions." she pointed at herself. "I'm a unicorn, which you can tell by the horn there." She poked it once, and the book she was holding fell to the ground. "Oops." She reached for it to pluck it off the ground.
“Right, unicorns,” he nodded slowly. “You’ll have to forgive if it takes a bit for all of this to sink in, this is all very surreal.”
Lyra reclaimed her book and set it on the desk beside her. "Well, I imagine it would be, but that's OK. This isn't a race, or a contest. I'm here to help you for as long as it takes, as long as you're trying, I'm happy. So, what is a genetiwhat?"
He took a deep breath. “Well let's see... how can I explain this... alright, a geneticist is someone who studies DNA, or Deoxyribonucleic Acid, which, simply put, is the building blocks of all life.” He paused for a moment before continuing. “What a geneticist does is study how DNA works so we can better understand how to control it.”
Lyra scratched behind her head in a failed attempt to comprehend. "You study acid, which makes life? No wonder mothers get so cranky sometimes." She flashed a smile, amused by her own poor attempt at humor. "I'm going to assume this is something that maybe works different where you came from, because I don't quite follow, but… I can safely say that you are a scholar, a scientist, and that mark." she pointed at his cutie mark. "Is what you study. Can you show me one? One of these, uh, acids?"
“Show?” He asked skeptically. “DNA is... microscopic, I’d need a very powerful electron microscope and even then the images would be blurry at best.”
Lyra scrunched her snout before she seemed to have an epiphany. "It's a religion! You can't prove it's there? You take it on faith?"
“Faith, and the fact that humanity has successfully altered it in the past,” he said, smiling coyly. “So there is quite a bit of evidence.”
Lyra tapped her hooves together slowly a moment before she gave a soft 'ah'. "I think I understand, but we're getting off topic. As fascinating as your work is, I really should know more about you." She pointed a hoof at the scientist. "How are you feeling? Becoming a pony can be pretty disorienting. I've been there, uh, as a human that is. No thank you."
“It’s certainly different... really missing my fingers, but it could be worse I suppose,” he chuckled. “At least I’m still a mammal, could’ve ended as some kind of insect or fish.”
Lyra stuck out her tongue a little. "Yuck. I tried a fish once, it was very not-fun. I would not recommend it. You're an earth pony, like I said, those are very strong, and tough, and can develop intense bonds with the ground and the animals that live on it." She shook her head. "But don't let that fool you. I know a lot of very smart earth ponies that don't do a thing with that supposed strength but lift a quill."
“As interesting as that sounds I think I’ll stick with my intelligence,” he chuckled. “I prefer a clean lab and a good book to the great outdoors.”
Lyra pointed at her patient. "Good! You buck that stereotype right in the chin. So, besides not having fingers, what's been a pain in the flank about life right now? How can I help you?"
“Well let's see, I blew myself up in the lab and woke up as a pony on another planet, which makes no sense as I don’t even study physics but I’ll ignore that for now,” he tapped his chin. “Is there anywhere I could go to learn a bit more about this place? Maybe a library or something?”
Lyra frowned. "Would you believe me if I told you it kinda blew up? Our librarian recovered most of the books though, so I'll see if you can't visit them in her castle. Big, made of crystal, just north side of town." She pointed in the direction of Twilight's castle. "She's a real nerd, and wears the title with pride. You two might get along great."
“Huzzah! A fellow scholar!” He pumped a hoof in the air in excitement. “I can’t wait to meet her, most of the ponies I’ve talked to have looked at me like I was crazy.”
Lyra leaned forward. "Have I? You're not crazy, at least, not really… I mean, I guess technically? Your perception is not ours, which makes one of us crazy, but you have extenuating circumstances, so I'm giving you a bye on that." She flashed a bright smile. "The fact that you're eager to learn about your new world is much more important. But I'm curious how you'll follow your mark if you can't, uh, see what you work with without whatever human magic you were using."
“I’ll figure it out,’ he said with a shrug. “I know a bit of engineering, and until I know what kind of technology you ponies have, then I can’t be sure that I’m up a creek without a paddle anyway.”
Lyra nodded with a smile. "I have to say, your attitude is just… amazing." The smile melted a little. "You're not holding it in, are you? It's OK to be a little lost at first. You aren't less of a great pony for being a little scared."
“I’m just a very go with the flow kind of person I suppose,” he said, grinning. “And the only thing to fear is the unknown... and while I know literally nothing about this place I at least know you ponies are civilized and kind enough not to throw someone claiming to be an alien from another planet into a psychiatric hospital, so hey, that’s one better than what I was expecting.”
Lyra shook her head. "We have one of those, but we save that for ponies that bark instead of talk or something equally as difficult to work with. You have some unusual ideas, but you're talking, and not hurting anypony around." She pulled out a picture of a house and showed it. "This is where the group lives, other ponies like you, who were human, but now are not. We have a weekly group meeting to get to know one another and support each other. Attending the first is mandatory. That's OK?"
He nodded. “Sure, I’ll be there, might be nice to meet some folks in the same situation.”
Lyra slipped from her chair and approached, offering a hoof. "I think you'll get along just fine. Welcome to Equestria."
He smiled and shook her hoof. “Thank you... I’m certain this will be quite an interesting experience.”
Lyra pressed her hoof against his, shaking lightly before demonstrating a hoof-bump to be helpful. "Both are considered polite, be ready for either. Have a good evening." She gave directions to the house, not that far away from the office. "They always have dinner cooking by now, so you're good to go."
He smiled. “Thanks for your help Ms. Heartstrings, I must say this is one of the more pleasant therapy sessions I’ve had.”
Lyra moved for the door, opening it with her magic. "I'm here as a friend first. I want to help you be all the pony you can be, and to be happy. If you have any questions, or something bothers you, you come here and let me know."
He smiled as he trotted out the door. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
Stats
Page generated in 0.034 seconds
Total duration
967 users online
1,318,617 hits today, 2,244,100 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
How could you? You have a scientist named Bill but his last name isn't Nye? You disappoint me.
...Readers are being allowed to join in the shenanigans?
Hm. So I guess this makes it official: Equestria is the afterlife, and I get turned into a pony, too? Sign me up for this reality!
So some reason I give him a slightly scratchy voice of a 70 year old scholar. Talks with wisdom behind his words... How old is he supposed to be?
6026739 Equestria would not be able to handle the Power that is Bill Nye, If He described how science works in our world, Equestria would change to fit it exactly.
6026739 Trial; I accuse the author of shenanigans.
without
Also, yeah, he's up shit's creek without a paddle being a geneticist in Equestria.
(Either that or he's attached to another object by an incline plane wrapped helically around an axis.)
6026911 The first typo I can blame on my collab author, yay!
6026926 Woohoo!
exultant work good job to all.
Harts Fire
don't need the "e"
might want to consider rewording completely or changing "a pony" to "anypony"
Poor Lucy. Science knowledge was her one ace in the hole and she's just become hopelessly outclassed.
6027430
Incorrect. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bye_%28sports%29
6027430 Fixed!
6027465 Thank you for correcting me! I shall keep that in mind for next time. What about the second suggestion?
The next one appears and the first words out of his mouth...
"Um, I've been turned into a cow. Can I go home?"
Wow. Between that half-assed "lab accident" explanation and the baffling non sequitur about physicists (or something??), I think I actually have less of an idea what the fuck he's talking about than I would if he'd said absolutely nothing at all.
That earth pony scholar Lyra once knew. I don't suppose his name was Single Stone?
So humans who show up can be something other than a pony? I assumed from the title that they would all be ponies. But what if some human showed up as a less than desirable creature, such as a diamond dog, or even a changeling?
I know there's only a "pony" in the title, but will we see some other races?
That could just be me, but this line gives hint's it's not out of possibility.
I'd love to see someone turned Diamond Dog.
*clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap*
waiting... waiting, waiti-waiti-waiti waiting, waiting...
6028145 Seeing your name and picture... yes, probably. Though I would love to be a ninetailed fox or my hybrid (wolf-hybrid with bunch of others) OC. My Mary Sue, if you would call it like that. And if one would go to Equestria, one would hope to be a Mary Sue then, wouldn't one?
6028452 no, not really. Where's excitement in that?
Diamond Dog jeweler. That would be hilariously stereotypical and surprising at the same time.
6028467 Well, you usually get roped into adventure after arriving in Equestria... and I would prefer the nine-tailed fox. Because it is awesome, but Gray Fox would be okay too. And I would find some funny job then, maybe mass-stealing burglar...
6028145 The question would be why a diamond dog gets referred to Lyra. If you get past that part, you're in, and Lyra gets to deal with an odd new patient.
Why didn't he just do the strawberry experiment to show her DNA?
6028533 Because some ponies were weirded out by eloquent, full on gentlemen Diamond Dog, and when he decided to open jewelery store, this toppled the scale of weirdness and someone shouted (but not in hateful way) at him "that's not how Diamond Dog should act", and he replied "I'm not some mutt, I'm a human, and I'm an artisan"?
So all in all, he don't think he needs a shrink (he might be wrong), but everyone else think he does.
How's that?
6028613 Sure, works even better if he opened his shop in Ponyville. He wouldn't even need to stay in the once-human house.
6024617
I am the one who should be apologising. I am sorry if sounded aggressive or rude, I was simply trying to express an opinion and point out some details,, however I think I did a very poor job of it. Your story is very well written and I was simply trying to point out some details I thought you seemed to have missed, not known or disregarded entirely, however I can see upon your explanation why you would do so as a realistic identity crisis could potentially be a dark subject, and you have this as a fairly light story. I am sorry I didn't think of that before, I made an assumption and as a result of it acted horribly. Please forgive me for my comment, I meant no offence or insult.
6028660 I'm pretty hard to get riled up for more than a few seconds at a time. I forgot we even had this conversation, which is to say, completely forgiven, and glad you're enjoying the story.
I'm with William. How does a genetics lab explode?
In any case, yay for science pony, too distracted by all of the neat things to analyze to bother with the whole existential crisis thing.
6026904
I call not-Bill-Nye to the witness stand.
6028624 just make him a gentleman and professional, not a snob
So, uh....
Are you taking requests for people-ponies for this story?
6026739
6026859
Dang, I didn't realize Lyra could be so mean. Not favorite pony anymore.It should be can, right? Unless I'm missing out on something?
6034305 Just a turn of speech.
6100917 I'm working with folks characters directly, but solid idea there.
Well, let's see[...]
into a psychiatric hospital, [comma] so hey
6899014 Fixed!
6899014 Fixed, take 2.
6900757 Yay! :D Thanks for being so swift! :)
Great story so far! I'm not even in the middle of it, though...