The Invisible Mare

by Thunderhalk89

1: Research

Twilight was up late, studying as usual. Textbooks and old tomes, alongside scrolls filled with notes covered her desk and a good portion of the library floor. Owlowiscious was sitting on his perch, ever vigilant and at the ready, should his friend call upon him. Twilight had decided that claiming that she “owned” another conscious living thing seemed wrong, although she was unsure why. Ponies had been keeping pets for thousands of years. Maybe it was just Fluttershy’s views wearing off on her. She quickly pushed those thoughts aside. Philosophy had never been her strong suit: she preferred researching things that could be measured and observed.

No. Over the past few days, she was studying light and its various properties. It had started innocently enough: she had overheard Scootaloo gushing over Rainbow Dash, again, and wanting to know absolutely everything there was to know about the Sonic Rainboom. Rainbow was all too willing to enthrall her number-one-fan and the other two crusaders with her harrowing tale of how she had swooped in at the last second to save Rarity and the Wonderbolts who had made the first attempt at rescuing the flailing unicorn.

Even though it seemed like Rainbow had decided to turn a simple question about how a Sonic Rainboom worked into a fascinating account, which the Crusaders had most definitely heard before, she managed to get most of the science and information behind the Sonic Rainboom correct. Twilight was almost taken aback by that, but then again, ever since Rainbow Dash had admitted to herself and her friends that she loved reading, she had been spending more time in the library. It only made sense that she was bound to find her way out of the Action and Adventure section.

The second event was while visiting Rarity. Being the fashionista that she was, Rarity always seemed to have access to every type of precious stone a pony could imagine. Twilight had gone in asking about getting a scratch buffed out of a lens to one of her many telescopes. She had tried the glass and window store but had found that the glass smith had just left for vacation only minutes prior. As it turned out, polishing a telescope lens was very similar to polishing and carving any gem, or in this case, crystal. Rarity’s fine eye for detail actually found some imperfections in the lens that even Twilight had never noticed before. It seemed that jewels and diamonds were not just supposed to look pretty on an outfit but, depending on the event, as well as the ensemble itself, were supposed to reflect the light in just the right way to give off its beauty without blinding anypony’s eyes.

All these things seemed to add up to one decision: that Twilight needed to brush-up on her studies regarding light. For several days and nights, she studied. She began with the introductory digests to light and prisms before moving onto the more advanced tomes. Over the course of the next few days, she made sure to schedule free time for her friends, to get her mind onto other things. She had figured out that taking a break and coming back with a fresh mind could often lead to a better understanding, or even a new discovery.

“Well, I think that’s enough for tonight,” she managed through a long yawn and stretch. “Goodnight, Owlowiscious.”

“Who.”

Twilight smiled to herself as she headed for the stairs to the library’s upper levels and her bedroom. She noted Owlowiscious flying over to the bookshelves and pulling out one of the Daring Do novels before flying over and setting it onto the reading table.

So Rainbow’s got him hooked onto that series now, she thought to herself as she headed to bed.

~~~

She would rather have not taken a break from her studies, but she knew she needed to avoid burning herself out, as she was frequent to do. She had met Rarity and Rainbow Dash outside one of their favorite cafés. While Rarity preferred it for the “exquisite imported teas”, Rainbow liked the hot chocolate; although, she was careful not to let Pinkie know that she preferred it to Sugarcube Corner’s version. Twilight still could not help but feel like she was closing in on something: she just wished she knew what that something was.

“You must have given it at least some thought?” Rarity had brought up that subject again. She really could not leave her alone about it could she. “I mean even Rainbow has given it some thought; and you know how she only ever seems to be thinking about the Wonderbolts.” she added.

Rainbow began nodding before pausing, and then glaring at the white unicorn, “Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?”

Rarity looked taken aback, “Why I didn’t mean anything by it. I was simply trying to make the point that even though you only seem to express interest in joining the Wonderbolts, you have given thought to other professions.”

“But, I like working in the library; it gives me quick access to all the information I need for my research,” Twilight began to protest, “Why would I give that up?”

“We aren’t asking you to gi-,” Rarity began, before the sky-blue pegasus interrupted her.

“It’s pretend! What would you do if you weren’t the… the,” Rainbow paused a moment trying to think of what Twilight’s job title was, “the pony who ran the library?” she finished.

“The word you were looking for was ‘librarian’,” Rarity corrected, “And it’s rude to interrupt,” Rarity turned to face Twilight again, “So? Out of every option in Ponyville, what would you do?”

Twilight thought a moment, looking around at all the sights, trying to picture herself in place of any of the other ponies in town. “I suppose,” she began, still deep in her thoughts, “I think I might like government work,” she concluded, though sounding hesitant.

She had been the Princess’s personal student for most of her life and had gotten accustomed to how Equestria was run. If she remembered her lessons on various types of governments, Equestria was considered a Republic. Ponyville was relatively small so it only needed a mayor, who would also act as the town’s representative to Canterlot, should they need to request anything from the Princesses. Larger towns and cities might have an elected council alongside a designated representative. The more she thought about it, the more she liked the idea of maybe running for mayor someday.

“I hope you aren’t planning on running against me next term,”

Twilight nearly jumped out of her seat. “Oh, hello Mayor,” she began, still flustered, and just a bit red in the face, “No, I don’t think I’ll be trying to take your place anytime soon, if at all. It’s just…” she looked toward her friends for some help.

“We were merely discussing alternative occupations,” Rarity added, saving Twilight, “simply speculations, I assure you.”

“Well that’s great to hear!” the mayor seemed chipper than usual; but not unusually chipper, “you know when I was a foal I always wanted to be a rodeo clown.”

“That explains why you went into politics... and every Nightmare Night costume you wear,” Rainbow muttered under her breath.

Mayor Mare glanced at her for a moment; sure, that she had heard the pegasus say something, but quickly dropped the thought before turning back to the two unicorns.

~~~

After saying their farewells, the three friends each went back to their factual occupation; although Twilight was almost positive that Rainbow Dash had just sped off to take a nap, rather than weather patrol. As she approached the library, thoughts of what she would do if she was elected, bubbled in the cog-works of her mind, alongside her current research of course. She quickly shook her head in an attempt to bring her study of light back to the forefront. It was an interesting thing: light. It seemed to have the properties of both a particle and a wave. Could it be both or something else entirely? Moreover, what about the refractive index of various objects?

The refractive index! That was it! That is what had been on the back of her mind for so long. She hated that feeling of having the right word on the tip of her tong, yet not being able to say it. Water was transparent in small quantities, yet opaque in larger amounts. And what of rainbows? The liquid at the Rainbow Factory was very opaque, yet when spread out into the sky the substance became almost transparent; even more so if you could find a naturally occurring rainbow, or use a prism to split pure light.

She would need to research even more now. What about the celestial beasts like the Ursa Minor? You could see through it. Those daring enough had found that they had the various organs and systems that most creatures had: circulatory, respiratory, and the like. These systems were just invisible.

Invisible.

The word seemed alien, almost impossible to comprehend.

“Invisible.” She said it just loud enough that only she could hear it.

As soon as she entered the library, she began gathering her notes and books; anything that she had used in her research on light over the past week was brought down into her lab in the library’s basement.

“Invisible.” she tasted every syllable, every letter of the word. Excitement and adrenaline began to flow through her veins. She quickly recalled the basics of her anatomy and imagined her adrenal glands releasing Epinephrine, forcing her body into the “fight-or-flight response”.

She knew of various illusion spells that would cause a pony’s coat to blend in with its surroundings, like what most ponies thought chameleons did. She chuckled to herself, remembering when she had tried to explain to Pinkie Pie that they mainly changed color to express emotions, and that Cephalopods were the true masters of disguise.

Great, now she was thinking about semi-transparent sea creatures. Why would she think of that? Octopi and squid were not related to jellyfish. They were not even medusa shaped. She shook her head again.

“Stay focused Twilight,” she began talking aloud, in hopes that it would keep her on track, “If something like an Ursa can be transparent, then why not a pony.” By now, most of her notes were spread out on her various desks and workstations and she had begun writing notes and equations onto one of her blackboards.

She was not just looking at light now, or a simple illusion spell to give the appearance of invisibility: she wanted the real thing.

“Just think of the possibilities,” she continued to think aloud. She would not have to worry about being heard down here. Even so, Spike was helping Rarity hunt for gems today, and Owlowiscious was sleeping in a nest he had built for himself in the darkest part of the library’s branches outside. “The Royal guard could watch for suspicious activity without having to worry as much about stealth,” she paused remembering her own attempt at breaking into the Royal Archives, and how nopony seemed to care, “It could be used to hide important documents, or treasures,” she finally added.

Her list seemed short, but that was fine. She would let others figure out what to do with her discovery. She would be way to busy accepting praise from Princess Celestia for such a great discovery. She was flipping through her notes and books even more ferociously. She was sure that her discovery would make her just as memorable as Star Swirl the Bearded. Maybe she would be given own section in the Royal Archives.

Comments

[Adam Jensen]

“Just think of the possibilities”

Huh, thats exactly what I said when I discovered my invisibility augmentation.

Sorry, back to the story, keep up the good work, that quote also applies to this story too so be creative in what you might think twlight would do. Mainly have fun with this and you might go far.

P.s: needs funny moments in later chapters

[Pax]

I'm keeping an eye on you.

[GorillaJab]

"I'm the invisible man,
I'm the invisible man,
Incredible how you can
see right through me!"

Freddy Mercury would be proud.

[Nonagon]

... "lose" one's mind.

[xara]

Just thought I'd randomly leave a bunch of feedback. I don't claim to be great or perfect or anything, and I'm tossing out a thumbs-up for putting up with this, so don't be offended!

1. "Loose" adaptation is right, but "loosing" and "loose your mind" should be "losing" and "lose your mind"
2. Twilight was up late, as usual, studying, as was also usual for her. Having "usual" in here twice is a bit repetitive; rephrasing it to something like "Twilight was in her library, studying dusty old tomes late into the night as was usual for a student like her" or anything to give a different emphasis to it would be helpful
3. she was unsure as to why. The "as to" is needless filler. "She was unsure why" rolls out a little sharper
4. Needless to say, it was not thoughts of owning pets that were filling her mind on this particular night. But you were just writing about how she was thinking about ownership. I get what you're aiming for; maybe you meant something like "Shrugging those thoughts aside, she turned her mind towards her most recent research. --- blah blah lights etc."
5. her number one fan and her two friends - In the first her, you're referencing Dash, but in the second one, you're referencing Scoots. Needs rephrasing to be clearer.
6. I like your implication that Dash moved from adventure books to reading science ones
7. buffeted - I think you mean buffed, although I feel like there's a closer technical term for it. Buffeted is to violently strike!
8. I like your idea that Rarity + Gems would = Good with lenses
9. All these things seemed to add up to one thing - add up to one conclusion
10. And so, that’s what she continued to do for several days and nights - Don't start with and! "For several days and nights, Twilight threw the full force of her studious mind into learning the properties of light" etc. etc.

G'luck, and may the thumbs be ever in your favor

[Dusty Sage]

This, as my favorite unicorn might have said, is relevant to my interests. (More than I perhaps ought to admit, in fact.) If there are to be mysterious hoofprints in the snow, I will happily follow.

[Thunderhalk89]

2005080
Thanks for the Feedback. I'll look into fixing some of those things when I have more time later today.

2005015
I'll try my best. I do not have that much experience with writing comedy, but I have some ideas on who you might call to track down something invisible and what that might lead to

2005030
Wow! haven't heard that song in ages. Now I have the beginnings of a playlist to get me motivated.

[GorillaJab]

2007824

I'd say you just had a miniature "Breakthru"

Queen never fails to get someone up and goin'

[Adam Jensen]

2007824

Who you gona call? GhostBusters! XD

[Jake Witt]

I want my library next to Starswirl's library!