Chapter 15: Technology is Magic
Twilight waited in her room for Princess Celestia to arrive. The lavender unicorn had already delivered the culprits to her brother the moment she arrived. The entire trip back was a blur, her thoughts filled with what had happened. Soon enough, a knock issued from the door and Twilight called for the visitor to enter. As expected, it was the solar princess.
Celestia entered Twilight's chambers and began, “We need to talk about your encounter in Heart Valley.” She moved a nearby cushion to sit in front of Twilight. “First, I should apologize. Before you disappeared, I was in the habit of calling on you every time a problem came about that I could not see to myself. It seems I fell too easily back into that habit.” She closed her eyes for a moment before she continued, “Severing the horn of the culprit was too extreme, but considering what you just went through I shouldn't have sent you to take care of the issue.”
Twilight shuffled nervously, “That's just it though... I... I wasn't aiming for his horn...”
Celestia looked confused, “What do you mean?”
“Between the time I teleported and the time I cut his horn of... he... lowered his head...” the last part was uttered so quietly, Celestia barely heard it. Slowly, realization washed over the alicorn's face, “I intended to kill him.”
“I see,” Celestia said, almost losing her composure.
“And what's worse is that when I was looking down at him, the only thing that upset me was that I missed,” Twilight said in a near panic, “I didn't even care that he was bleeding, or screaming in pain, or that I took the one thing that makes unicorns unique. I... I... I...” Twilight finally broke down and cried her eyes out. Celestia wasted no time in pulling her student in a full embrace, hooves and wings, “I'm a monster. I was about to kill another pony without a thought.”
“No, Twilight,” Celestia said in a calm motherly tone, “You're not a monster. You reacted the way you were trained. I was the fool for sending you when I knew you had surely been affected by your experiences. Listen Twilight, I've arranged for you to meet with Dr. Shrink. She'll be able to help you cope with everything you've been through.”
Twilight wiped the tears from her eyes and gave her teacher a weak smile, “Thank you, Princess. Um, when am I suppose to see her?”
“In about three days,” Celestia released the unicorn and smiled, “In the meantime, I’ve received a request from the R&D department at Canterlot University. They want to examine some of the technology you've brought. What should I tell them?”
Twilight's smile widened, “I'd love to.”
“Good, I'll let them know to expect you tomorrow. Right now we should all get some sleep.” Celestia stood and left from the room with a quick “goodnight”.
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
It had been a good four years since Twilight had last walked these halls. She trotted through the University with a large suitcase rolling behind her. She chose a few of the more fascinating pieces of tech to show, and was excited to teach somepony about it. She made her way to the door to the research and development department and let herself in. There was nopony in the main room and Twilight didn't want to wander.
“Hello?” Twilight called, “I'm here.”
“We'll be right with you,” came a voice from one of the other rooms.
Twilight set the suitcase beside her as a khaki colored unicorn with a black, braided mane and tail walked in. She gave Twilight a big smile.
“So good to finally meet you Ms. Sparkle,” greeted the scientist, “I'm Dr. Jynx Charm, head of this department. You can just call me Jynx. I must admit, I'm quite excited to see what you've brought.”
“Well, Jynx, you may call me Twilight.” Twilight shook Jynx’s hoof and unzipped the suitcase. “Alliance Tech is quite advanced. They mostly focus in implementing the most functionality in as little of a package as they can. This is perhaps my favorite.” She hovered a data pad out and presented it to the researcher. “This is a data pad. It can access vast amounts of information remotely, via data hubs placed throughout the galaxy. Unfortunately, we're too far out for it to receive a signal. Now when I say vast, I mean enough to make the archives look like a single reference book, abridged.”
Jynx's eyes went wide with shock, “That's... wow,” She examined the piece for a moment, “Would there be a way to receive a signal here?”
“If we get a com hub,” Twilight explained, “But they only give those to Alliance nations.”
“May I?” Jynx asked. Twilight nodded and her fellow unicorn took the device in her own aura and looked around, “Where... where is that useless... ugh. Technia, get your flank out here!”
“I'm busy!” shouted another voice.
“Twilight Sparkle is here with her alien tech!” Jynx called back.
A series of crashes came as a dark, ash gray unicorn with a cinnamon red mane and tail came running out of one of the rooms, “Why the hay didn't you say so?” She looked at the piece of floating tech like Pinkie would a chocolate river.
“Back!” Jynx warded her off with a levitated chair as if she were a lion tamer, “We are not going to take it apart unless Twilight gives us the go-ahead. Am I understood?”
“Oh, fine,” Technia huffed and crossed her forelegs, sitting on her haunches.
“I'll have to think about it, but I'll probably let you have this one,” Twilight told the pair, “It doesn't work out here anyway.”
Twilight rummaged through the things she brought, placing everything on two tables.
“Okay, the items on this table you can have,” Twilight pointed to one with a few trinkets and devices, “Everything on this table over here is mine,” She indicated a second table, “But I’ll give a detailed explanation on their function.”
“I must admit, what I'm most interested in is that,” Jynx said, indicating the prosthetic, “You see, my younger sister is a pegasus, but she lost her wings in an accident. I've been trying to find a way to make wings for her, but...”
“Say no more,” Twilight stopped the khaki unicorn, “I'll show you. Uh... is she alright?”
Twilight was looking rather nervous as the gray unicorn stared at the leg with a manic look. Twilight knew that look all too well. It was the same look she herself had when they discovered a new work by Star Swirl the Bearded. This mare really liked technology.
“No,” Jynx sternly told Technia. She looked at Twilight apologetically, “She’s weird, but she's a good friend. Techy, sit! Stay!”
The cinnamon maned pony glared at her co-worker but complied.
Twilight sat down and removed the limb, “Okay, the most important and advanced part to this is actually embedded in my body. Look here,” Twilight wrapped her stump in a lavender glow and a close up image appeared beside her, “Do you see those silver lines webbed across my skin? Those are woven directly into my nervous system. It's an excruciating process and anesthetics would interfere and lead to improper integration. It was the worst pain I've ever felt. I'd rather screw a cactus than go through that again.”
The other two mare's looked at her with wide eyes.
“Well,” Jynx cleared her throat, “That sounds rather painful indeed.” She levitated a notebook and began scribbling notes, “Can you tell me about the process?”
“Okay, but it's going to take quite a while, so get comfortable. Might as well give it a full upkeep while I’m at it,” Twilight pulled her maintenance kit out (she planned on showing them that anyway) and began disassembling the leg, explaining the inner workings as she went.
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
After a very long and very technical explanation of the technology she had brought with her, Twilight packed up her property, while Jynx and Technia filed away the tech they were given.
“Now, ladies,” Twilight gave a sly smile, “If you'll follow me...”
Twilight led the two researchers out of the university halls. Despite the barrage of questions about what they were doing, Twilight walked in silence. Eventually, they came to an open area that ended in the shear drop of a cliff. Rainbow Dash was sitting beside a table with a quill and a small stack of paper, scribbling away.
“Hey, Dash,” Twilight greeted her friend, “Are you writing another book?”
The pegasus quickly took up the paper and shoved it in her saddlebag, “I don't know what you're talking about. I'm just sitting here being awesome, waiting for you.”
“Sure,” Twilight laughed, “When can I expect to read it?”
“Hopefully by Hearths Warming,” Rainbow said with a smirk.
“Thanks for keeping an eye on my equipment,” Twilight thanked her friend, “I'll teach you how to use them later.”
“Awesome, can't wait. You kids have fun playing with Twilie's new toys,” the speedster teased as she flew off toward the distant sky.
“Okay!” Twilight said as she rubbed her hooves together in excitement, “This portion of Show and Tell is all about a few of the tools I used to kill my enemies as quickly and efficiently as possible. Yes, I said “kill”. That's what I did and these are the tools I used to do it.”
“Well, I'm not a fan of killing, but I wasn't in your situation, so I won't comment on the morality of it.” Jynx dismissed Twilight's declaration with a wave.
“And all I care about is the tech.” Technia added.
“Alrighty then!” Twilight exclaimed, happy that she wasn’t being judged for once, “On with the demonstration. First up is the M443-1911.” She drew her pistol from her holster with her magic, “A custom miniature mass driver weapon made to resemble an M-1911; a weapon over a thousand years old that changed the way firearms were made. This one also has arcanium inlays to allow spell channeling. With this bad boy I can wrap rounds in a magical cocoon and penetrate shields as if they weren't there. I can also enchant it to stun or knock out my target instead of killing if need be.” Another option I could have used against that stallion but didn't.
“Are you alright?” Jynx asked, noticing Twilight's darkening mood.
“Yeah,” Twilight reassured the other two unicorns, “Just thinking. Anyway, this thing functions by charging a small Tungsten pellet and propelling it at hypersonic speeds using magnetic force.”
Twilight aimed the weapon at a stone slab about twenty feet away and opened fire, unleashing a barrage of ten rounds. The stone crumbled under the assault. Jynx was furiously scribbling away in her notebook.
“That's remarkable,” Jynx mused, “Using magnetics as a means to propel a tiny projectile with lethal force. I never would have thought about that. What else could this be used for? Transportation? Delivery of goods to distant locations? Parcel delivery? The applications could potentially be incredible.”
“If you like that one, you'll love this,” Twilight pulled a larger weapon off the table, “This is the M-66 primary assault rifle. It works the same way but with one minor difference.” Twilight pointed the weapon at a second, larger stone slab and opened fire. A veritable river of death flowed from the thing, reducing the stone to rubble, “As you can see, the increased rate of fire means more destructive capabilities. Unlike my pistol, this doesn't have the spell channels.” Twilight replaced the weapon on the table, “Next up, explosive devices. Pay attention to this cause I can only demonstrate once.”
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
Celestia watched from her balcony as her student showed her weapons to the two scientists. With her eyesight, she could see everything going on. The flutter of wings brought the solar princess' attention beside her.
“Good afternoon, sister,” Celestia greeted her sibling.
“I'm concerned, Tia,” Luna got straight to the point, “We've seen ponies who suffer from dark memories. Twilight is hurting. She tries to hide it behind a mask of sarcasm and humor, but we both know that won't last. I fear she may hurt herself or somepony else.”
“I understand and share your concern,” Celestia replied, “I've contacted a professional. She will arrive here late tomorrow night.”
“There's something else troubling you, isn't there?” It was more a statement then a question.
“Yes,” Celestia walked back into her chambers as Luna followed, “She's not telling us something, something important.” Celestia took a seat on a cushion and levitated another from her closet for her sister.
“Are you sure?” Luna asked, taking the offered seat, “Perhaps she just doesn't want to 'spoil the ending'.”
Celestia shook her head, “No, I know her too well. She's still the same pony I grew to love as if she were my own daughter. She may have a few bad habits, and a new love for her strange, crude humor, but I know her too well.”
“You don't suppose it's something dangerous do you?” Luna had a tinge of nervousness in her voice.
“There would have to be a good reason for her withhold something that could cause harm,” Celestia's expression was a contemplative one, “I have the feeling Twilight's experiences are going to change Equestria. Whether the change is for good or ill... we'll just have to wait and see.”
Stats
Page generated in 0.046 seconds
Total duration
1,135 users online
2,214,695 hits today, 2,814,898 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.®
Yay! Update! Awesomesauce!
Is it me or does this look like a good introduction to Fallout: Equestria?
Noice noice
Yay :D
1871235 It does do that huh.
I myself am now wondering what is going to happen next.
Twilight brings war and death to her world
Well I'm betting on the Alliance showing up any day now to visit their new world...
Okay, Twi is even more scary now that you told us what really was supposed to happen in the forest...
Makes me consider whether I want to read more or not... seriously, that's something you managed to do to me here...
By all means, KEEP IT UP!
Oh, and any plans for WINIPG? (Want It Need It Plasma Grenade?) Or without P?
And yeah, The Alliance needs Avol... and they are coming... or something like that.
Ah yes, self doubt. Every warrior (from what I've been told, POGs generally don't go through this) has to go through that at least once in their service. If I was there, I would have told her that she made the right call in a situation where you didn't have time to think, and if anything, she saved his life. If I was there, I would have ended it with a bullet to his head. Better he gets to live, even if maimed, and have a chance at redemption than to die and be damned for his one bad decision.
Or a Dratali splitting group shows up to exact revenge on Twi for foiling their plans / killing their cult.
1871235 Oh god, just realised that. You are completely right.
So when is Twi gonna inform the Princesses about impending contact with the alliance races?
1871452
Totally think this is going to happen, no society can stay isolated and grow, we just have to hope that the bad that usually comes with the good isn't TOO bad.
I have to say, I find it odd that the princess is just letting the tech that tsparks brought back go out the door without restriction. I would think that with such a peaceful society that she would try and hold back the lethal stuff or at least make it non-lethal.
Okay, dude, I'll just say it...
YOU FUCKING CALLED IT!!!!!!!!
Rainbow Dash IS ACTUALLY writing her own fanfic! (Or in her case, a novel.)
Nott just on this, but now, she's even said so on the SHOW!
Perhaps the war isn't going well and the Alliance sent Twilight to Avol So'z she could recruit everypony/one by telling them her story of the Alliance so they'll want to join.
Two things!
Firstly:
There are other guns! Why do people treat the M1911 like the only handgun in existence?!
Secondly:
Tungsten is not magnetic...
Also, I believe the term you're looking for is Gauss gun (Gaussian gun if you want to sound fancy).
Either make the pellet steel, or just refer to it as "a small metal pellet" or something.
P.S.
Love the story though.
Keep up the good work.
1871483>>1871491 This is why Celestia had her show her R&D team.
1871493 I haven't seen the new episode yet. That's cool though.
1871512 That's why it's charged. When charged, just about anything can be affected by magnetics.
1871530
I'll give you that, but it just seems a little more intuitive to use something that's already magnetic.
Still, I suppose that works too.
1871452 Glad I wasn't the only one to piece that together.
1871235 I don't see it.
1871633 Twilight just inspired a technological revolution. If you don't see it, look harder.
1871686 I understand the tech rev. but how it relates to F:E eludes me.
Admittedly, I have my own idea for a fanfic how the Equestrians had such a rapid tech raise in that one, but I don't think this story would be good for an F:E opening.
1871686>>1871692 Where I'm planning on going with this, it won't even be close to F:E.
1871724 Nope. I like putting characters from my stores in the next one. For example, Midnight Star is the main character in my Dawn Shield series, and I put him in Chaotic Harmony. Jynx was in Chaotic Harmony and I put her in this. My next story is going to have a character from this in it. See the pattern
Congratulations, you are one of the few incomplete stories that has got me hooked within the first few paragraphs. Good writing, and keep on doing it!
Awesome!
So, Jynx is back? Me gusta!
I have a feeling that the psicologist will be the one needing help after Twilight starts talking with her
Hum... I can guess that the Alliance is coming to Equestria.
I'm not sure the R&D ponies realize what happens when you use a railgun to ship goods. Acceleration forces tend to squish and liquefy stuff when you apply dozens to hundreds of G's on something. While this might not harm water and a squished bushel of apples is no great loss, a liquefied pony will just ruin your whole day. On the other hand, turning the steam locomotive into a mag-lev would certainly speed it up, And Twilight's own dabbling in technomagic, that is a synergistic combination of tech and magic, turned her pistol into quite a deadly weapon. There's no telling how far the ponies can push tech with liberal applications of magic.
1872063 Not true. What do you think the bullet train is
.
1872067
A bullet train is just a title, it can be applied to both mag-lev and wheeled types that go very fast (+150mph for wheeled types and twice that for mag-lev). But neither are railguns which is meant to propel an object as fast as it can at the target as opposed to a mag-lev train's much more sedate acceleration and top speed.
1872263 No it's not a rail gun, but it follows the same principle. It uses magnets to propel an object at high speeds.
1871235
If the story were modified very much so.
Twilight kicking ass 24/7, I'm wondering if the Alliance want to acquire Sun creation tech from Celestia along with a forward post for eventual Alliance expansion in Avol's part of the galaxy.
Very, very good. And you handled the psychological aspects quite well, if I may say so....
BUT COMEON. A 1911? Who was the designer of that pistol? Big Boss?
gotgame.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/metal-gear-solid-peace-walker-big-boss-artwork.jpg
Or the Duke? (Ok, it is not golden, but comeon).
And the Assault Rifle looks like an M16, right? Other than these very minor details, great new chapter.
And why am I not surprised that Rainbow wants to learn how to use Twis weaponry..... Reminds me actually on another Story (but the soldier pony here was Luna herself)
Thia Technia though has something like a mad scientist attitude....... An equestrian, female Version of Doc Emmet Brown? (Without the timetravel thing, we allready know that there are spells for that in the Starswell the bearded wing, right? )
*sees this updated* MUST. DROP. EVERYTHING.
This is deinately in my top 5 favorite fics.
I must say I'm looking forward to delving into the mind of Badflank Sparkle.
1872263
Well it actually depends on the strength of the magnetic field and the weight of the thing you want to move.
The problem with mass Driver weaponry is that these bad boys require both, ammo and Energy cells to work properly. (You need the cells for the magnets). A laser weapon would require only the cells, a classic pistol like the said 1911 uses ammo with chemical propellants. (I personally would prefer a weapon like the G11. Caseless ammo has some advantages, first and foremost you won't need an ejection method for the spent bullets, reducing chances for jams). The new metal storm weaponry uses electrical means to fire the bullets. But this tech has also some flaws. An electrical charge could fire the weapon without you wanting to do so.
But on topic. Twilight has to have two ammo types with her, with a mass driver. That isn't exactly resource friendly.
(At least as far as I know about these types of weapons. If shirotora wants to use other possibilities for the mass drivers, so be it. It is his story after all. But since I play Battletech myself and have some knowledge of the WH40K universe as well, maybe I'm too focused on these universes when it comes to analyse such weapons. Sorry for that
1872491 It's only made to look like a 1911 for a reason that will be made clear latter. As for power source and ammunition. They have a powerful built in power source that lasts for an extremely long time and the ammo is, as stated, pellets and thus small and easy to carry a lot of them and in a pinch could even be replaced with other materials. I'll go into more detail about it later.
...i am beginning to lose interest in this story for unknown reasons.
1872573
Thanks. That will be nice to know. Yes, I'm curious here.
Hey, don't worry about me. I know that the 1911 is still a very solid and also quite loved gun. Ok, I'm German, we have nothing similar here, but I know that this thing is still prefered by some Army people over your current official sidearm. (A Beretta If I recall correctly, right? )
As for the Mass Drivers. Built in powersource? Hmm. Interesting, but it takes quite a lot of energy to drive magnets for this use, so the exakt type of energy system would be nice to know. You know, Fusion powered, solar powered etc. You said the axes main weapons are Particle cannons, right?
I have only one complaint regarding Technia: Why did Jynx not have a whip to go with the chair?
1872165 You're welcome.
1872422 You can say that the mad scientist part applies. Just be careful on Wednesdays. There's at least one explosion around her on Wednesdays. No explosion, and she feels down for a while.
1872794 Technia blew her whip up last Wednesday
Good chapter. I expected some phycological issues to come up eventually. I have to disagree with Celestia though, what Twilight did was far from extreme. I know that Equestria is a relatively peaceful place, but you can't afford to be gentle with murderers. Especially ones that believe they have the right to kill the ones they are killing. Even with the revelation that she was aiming to kill, that would still have been appropriate considering he was less than a second away from killing a innocent civilian. I'm not saying that because he necessarily deserved it, which he did, but because that would be the only sure way to guarantee the survival of the hostage. The unicorn was dead set on killing that changeling, so the only options she really had were killing him or quickly and completely incapacitating him. All in all, he got out lucky.
1873177 That's where opinions conflict, though. I agree with your perspective on the situation, but I don't see Celestia agreeing with us.
1873272
You also said that she carries a dagger on her for protection, which would indicate that she understands that sometimes deadly force is necessary to protect her or another's life.
1871512
Magnetic weapons referred to as "gauss gun/rifle/cannon" typically use a series of magnetic coils to propel the object. The general term is "coil gun."
Then there are the magnetic weapons that use magnetized rails, the ever popular rail guns.
Just due to the mechanics at work, rail guns are more powerful than the coil guns if both had the same barrel length and used the same amount of power. Both are prohibitively expensive power wise and pretty much require stupidly huge capacitor banks to fire with any regularity which is why I bust out laughing at Twilight's rail gun being a handgun. Magic is the only way that thing would ever work at that size and considering it's apparently common tech.
1871491
Fun fact: Humans came up with the commercial uses first. Mag-lev trains are far more common than rail guns.
1871530 you could go the Halo route where the rounds have a tungsten core with a ferrous outside or vice versa
Interesting chapter and I'm glad Twilight got called on her excessive use of force...then it's promptly let down by the fact there's no punitive action, just the psychiatric therapy. I mean what the actual fuck, man?! She admits she tried to kill him and all that happens to her is therapy. Just....what?! At least something needs to happen to her aside from therapy if only to show that even Twilight can't get away with stunts like that to her subjects.
RD didn't seem at all phased by Twilight's violence which is a bit OOC. I'm pretty sure any decent friend would ask about that and I'm hoping you aren't going to gloss over that.'
One thing I have to say is don't make it to where the ponies can instantly reproduce the technology that the Alliance so very oddly trusted to a species they don't even know very well. Heck even complete understanding about how the examples of technology work is going too far. Twilight is very smart yes, but writers need to stop the borderline omniscience she somehow obtains through simple studying. Not even she should be able to get to the how weapons, fusions engines and whatever work if only because that would likely be classified.
That's about it for me. I hope you reveal just what the hell the Alliance is doing at the moment and just what this potential ground breaking secret Twilight is keeping from Celestia. I'm just praying it isn't something daft like the Alliance is coming to Equestria right behind Twilight and she just hasn't gotten around to telling her leader that the intergalactic alliance is of intelligent alien species is about to come knocking and possibly recruiting for their war. That's something Twilight would need to tell her as fast as possible and shouldn't serve as the big twist as it would very obvious and it would be beyond stupid to hold of on mentioning that.
1872824 Did she lace the whip with delayed explosion?
So this is the way the world ends...with Ponies learning about explosives XD
I like this chapter. What techno junk that was described was "so awesome".
Need tech ideas? I know a thing or 2...