witchesreign | 4. [Action]

[Out in the Quad on this particular morning, there's a small scaffold poking out of an open patch of grass. The grass was there yesterday. The scaffolding wasn't. Neither are likely to be the first thing a passerby would notice, though - that would probably be the rocket. You know, the one that just shot fifty feet straight up into the air.

It's not long before the little canister sputters out, drops, bounces off the metal frame below and rolls to a halt on the ground, some distance away from the guy who launched it. He looks less than impressed by its performance, although for a minute or two it's hard to tell in between all the violent coughing. Maybe a filter mask would work better than his jacket sleeve...

Anyway, all he can do for now is wait for the canister to cool down, and waiting isn't his favourite way to pass the time. He'd probably welcome a distraction. If the noise or the rocket itself happened to interrupt anybody's day, he's... slightly sorry... but what he doesn't know about can't weigh on his conscience, right?]

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[When he looks back up, it's actually with a slight smile.] Sorry for what? It's not tragic, it's just a fact. If you need to apologise for that, you might as well apologise for... I don't know, thermodynamics. Or equivalent exchange, or gravity.

But you don't honestly believe that nothing ever works out for you, do you? There's no way that could be right.

[Oh wow, idealism. Give him some credit, he's trying not to laugh.] Must be fun being a pony, huh? The rest of us can't just sit back and wait for magic or miracles to solve every little problem. [And he side-eyes her.] Hell, with something like that, what would you people even need engineers for?

Don't get me wrong, life is full of setbacks like this one. And when they happen, I don't just wait for a solution, I do something about it. Magic, and certainly not my magic, isn't the all-powerful force I've heard humans make it out to be. There's still a lot that I don't know about it, and I've studied it more or less my entire life.

I'm... sorry that more often than not things haven't worked out for you.

And we need engineers for probably the same reason humans do. Imbuing an object with magic is difficult, and usually requires a specialist; it's better to make sure that things hold without it in the first place. And there's a whole two-thirds of the population that can't use it.

As for miracles, they don't exist.

Who says it's gotta be all-powerful to fix everything? All it has to do is break the rules, even once. That's the definition of magic, isn't it? I mean, when people aren't just slapping the label on every science they don't understand. [Totally not bitter.] If you think you know how to break the rules and still have the same setbacks as everyone else, you're either not creative enough or plain wrong.

[He yawns and scratches the back of his head.]

Anyway, I told you, don't be sorry. Save it for someone it'll help.

Magic has its own rules, actually. It is, in its own way, a science that just happens to be unfortunately named "magic". Well, unfortunately here, at least.

Its own rules that don't go against any natural laws but somehow still allow magical flying horses? Yeah, I'd like to see those.

It works like that mostly because the laws of magic and the laws of nature are in harmony with each other, and have been since before the formation of Equestria. There isn't a lot that can disrupt that balance.

What laws? So there's a world working from some set of consistent rules which let you build that flying pony without it collapsing under its own weight, and it's habitable? Kind of hard to believe. And if they're not consistent, what's the point?

Yes, there is!

And if they stop being consistent, it means that Discord has returned. I don't think either of us have to worry about that now, though.

Saying they're consistent, you just can't tell me what they are... Sure, that sounds scientific. But what do I care, anyway?

[He crouches down next to the rocket and tests its surface with the back of his left hand. It's only slightly warm by now.]

Heh, look at this thing. Can't even tell whether modifying it or scrapping it and starting over would be a bigger waste of time.

Of course I could tell you what they are, but I don't think now is the time for that. [read: i have yet to actually come up with headcanon for that.]

Hmm... it definitely looks salvageable, but we should probably open it up. It might be more damaged on the inside.

Edited 2012-06-16 21:08 (UTC)

"We"? You want the credit for this piece of junk so badly? [He grins.

She's right, though. Still crouching, he claps his hands together and presses them to the body of the rocket. It glows bluish-white and crackles for a moment before cleanly splitting lengthways in two. Underneath is... well, it recognisably used to be the inside of a rocket, at least.

He props one of the halves up to show it to Twilight.] See that? Just like I thought. The theory's fine.

Well, no, it your idea...

I don't think I ever got your name, actually.

[He's pulled a small notebook out of somewhere and started flicking through it. Without looking up:] It's Edward. What about you?

Twilight Sparkle. It's nice to meet you, Edward.

From what you were saying earlier, I presume you've met Rainbow Dash.

Had a few classes with her, yeah. Why? She a friend of yours or something?

She is, actually! She was surprised to see I was here. Not that I wasn't surprised to see her here, too... becuase I was.

Edited 2012-06-17 00:18 (UTC)

[Still apparently buried in his notebook, but he looks pained for a moment.] Yeah... I guess that's a pretty big coincidence. If this Time Compression crap is random, anyway.

We do seem to be getting a lot of these "trolls" lately. It almost seems to act more like an intelligence than a force.

Edited 2012-06-17 03:04 (UTC)

[Now he's comparing one of the diagrams in his notes to the rocket sitting in front of him.] Trolls, really? Tch. [He pulls a face.] Next someone's gonna tell me God himself is a janitor here, and it won't even be a surprise.

Who?

[Very long stare.]

Yeah, you ponies really do have it better than everyone else. [Back to work, or at least the appearance of work.] You're not missing anything - he's nobody important. Miracles don't exist, after all.

Then why would be surprised if he turned up here?

Hey, I said I wouldn't be surprised. Worried, maybe a little. We're not on great terms.

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marearcana - 2012-06-17 18:49 (UTC) - Expand

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