Re: Lost and found again

[Syron]

Till next time then. And please tell Scintillance that he's free to visit if he needs us, Shade said, and pulled her hood up as they left. Since she was the light source now, she didn't cast her shadow spell though. This was the last time we split up. Learned the hard way, she said quietly as she walked besides Scrapper.

[Scrapper]

"So it was you then? The one I was old about who killed off a Griffon guard near their own HQ" He said back, trying not to sound angry about it. Mainly because he had no reason too be, Shade was here. And she was okay.

[Silvern Gleam]

Sil looked after the two until they were out of range and thought about the whole matter. She was still a little uncomfortable with the thought that she now had an assassin as her customers, but the rude behavior she had shown had been mostly caused by distress and targeted and Scintillance. Who seemed to trust her anyway. It would probably be alright.

And then there was that spell... The theory that Scrapper was subconsciously fighting the spell was highly plausible, even though he wasn't a unicorn. The horn was a powerful connection to the outside world, but when it came to the magic inside the own body, it didn't really matter if you were a unicorn or not. But this path also brought the problem to determine what was the spell's doing, and what was Scrapper's. If Sil remembered right, blocking memories of a certain time could very likely be a defense against the spell. Mind magic is weird. With a second thought Sil corrected it to "Magic is weird". Explainable, but most definitely weird. Driving back a spell with a kiss, really...

Finally Sil stood up and began her day of confusing Scintillance. Done with the first chapter by now? she asked as she stepped into the library.

[Syron]

Yes, I did that. I only wanted to see if I can pick up anything interesting, but then I... I picked up a conversation about what... happened with Apollo, Shade answered, and though her face wasn't clearly visible under the hood, she didn't make much of an effort in keeping her once again upwelling emotions out of her voice. Did you hear anything more?

[Scrapper]

"You left a message written in blood, you got a new reputation around here now and... thats about it. Hey, don't worry about it Las. I can't pretend to know how it must feel, but I can tell it isn't a nice thing." He said comfortingly, "Hell, maybe I'll actually get rid of my problem."

[Syron]

Hopefully. That would mean that at least one of us has no mental problems anymore. But how high were the chances. This Silvern Gleam didn't sound all that confident on the matter. And it would be painful for Scrapper. Also, she didn't know this mare, and she was going to mess with Scrapper's head. Shade didn't like that either, but even though it was only a chance, Scrapper apparently was willing to try it. Shade wouldn't be the one to argue with that.
Mind the shadows, Blackwing, she eventually said. That was the message. And there's no chance my shadow spell went unnoticed. He knows what to look for now. And apparently there were also some rumors. A reputation was the last thing Shade needed, and as soon as Scanion was out of the way, the rumors would probably explode. If it hadn't already happened till then.

[Scrapper]

"Nice way to get the message across, last time I seen something like that done was back in Dodge Junction. Or whats left of that place." he was thinking about what he'll have to go through to try for a cure. Pain most likely, was he willing? Yes, he friggin' was. He'd even go back tomorrow to try. He couldn't lie to himself, the thought of having it gone was great.

[Lance]

Scintillance was sitting... rather awkwardly. his back on the floor, his flank "sitting" on the wall, his front hooves behind his head in a "cushioning" position, and his book floating above his head in levitation. hearing Silvern's voice, He didn't move much, but turned his head to look at here, upside down from the floor.

"hmm? oh, no, but almost there. Pretty interesting, knowing that nothing actually physically exists." Lance finally shifted his position to properly stand up on his hooves. "though I have to say that the idea is almost... well, very hard to believe. disregarding the world we know like that... I'd much rather say that it's like we have the magical world, and then the actual physical world, because once we go and say this, where would 'antimagic' fit in, or how exactly would an object with next-to-no magic about it... exist as it does? Or, I guess those might be covered later on."

Lance then turned the book to the cover, to the name of the author. "And... Silverstone... he was your last apprentice thingy, right?"

[Silvern Gleam]

Sil's demeanor was suddenly glum. Yes, her former assistant had written the book, she had avoided thinking of him too much. He was much more than that, Sil said after a short pause, and that was everything she said on the matter. Instead she focused on answering Lance' thoughts on the theory. Next-to-no magic doesn't hurt this theory. As long as there is some magic, the physical object could be an interpretation of that magic. The trouble comes with no magic at all.

There's never been an object I wasn't able to sense, nor have there been objects I couldn't differentiate from each other, no two objects that had exactly the same magical signature. It isn't proven, but I find it highly plausible that there's no such thing as "no magic". If you should ever manage to create an object that contains no bit of magic or that has the same signature as something else, you've successfully proven him wrong. He tried that for some time, but he gave up when he regularly erased the objects in question from existence. They simply disappeared when he tried to drain the magic. No proof for his theory, but a large hint.

[Lance]

Lance noticed that he hit a bad topic, and made a mental note not to mention Silvers' name again. Nopony had to suffer from their past, and he's seen too many ponies like that already. Himself included, thoguh it pained him more that he wasn't affected as much, than it did to know the past.

"Draining magic to the point of non-existance..? I'm going to want to see that, eventually. I mean, that's still pretty hard to believe... and now you're telling me that it's possible to pretty much 'erase' any object? snuff out the magic and it's gone?"

[Silvern Gleam]

Silvern smiled slightly at Scintillance' disbelief. Admittedly, it was pretty crazy, to remove every trace of an object entirely. Yes, apparently it is possible to literally erase an object from existence, but the test objects were crystals especially grown for the experiment, and it was in an isolation room much better than my current one. I don't think he could have done it with a random pebble from the street. The details of the experiment come in a later chapter, but I only wanted to introduce you to the idea for now. With that, she was at the question she had aimed to ask: Do you think there's anything not possible with magic?

[Lance]

Lance chuckled, "I think it was only yesterday that I said magic couldn't be created or destroyed, only changed from one form to another. Or, are you looking for a different answer?"

[Silvern Gleam]

No, that's not what I was hoping for, but you're completely right. With magic you still can't create or destroy magic, Sil said noddingly. But look at the physical world. Is there any manipulation of the natural laws you deem not possible?

[Lance]

"Figured that was too easy..." Scintillance sighed, and tapped a hoof to his chin again. "well, I... I'm not sure... gravity... nah, even I defy gravity... becoming an alicorn? no, I've got a bad feeling about that one... artificial friendship? bah, I give up..."

[Silvern Gleam]

Artificial friendship, that's a good one. Would require some complicated mind magic, but it's most likely possible. We can't say anything for sure, so far nothing in the non-magical world has been proven to be impossible to achieve with magic, nor has it been proven that everything can be done with magic. However, we can definitely say that most things are possible, and usually it's safe to assume that whatever you come up with is somehow achievable Sil took a moderately sized ruby from a shelf as she continued. This possibility to do everything with magic comes with the complexity of spellcasting you already experienced the last two days. With enough knowledge of how magical structures affect the physical world you're not bound to a set of prepared spells anymore but you can create a spell specifically for your current objective while casting it. I would give you a book to read on the topic, but unfortunately I don't have a printed version, and I want to change that. So, we'll kill two birds with one stone: I'll read it to you, you write it down and meanwhile learn the content. She produced a stack of blank paper as well as a quill and ink from another shelf. Uhm, you do have a readable writing, right?

[Lance]

Scintillance smirked "Silve, I might not have the golden hoof of calligraphy, but I'm pretty sure most ponies could read my words. At the very least, I know I can." Scintillance pulled out some paper and a pencil from Luna-knows-where, and realized, "wait if you don't have the book, do you have it... memorized!?" that was when he finally noticed the ruby. "oh yeah! magical imprints spell! almost forgot about that. Silve, I'm gonna want you to teach me that trick, it's bound to come in handy." Scintillance then prepared himself for whatever words come next.

[Silvern Gleam]

I would, if I could, Silvern said, slowly shaking her head. It's an ability I have thanks to magic sight, and I've never met a unicorn who's magic perception was strong enough to even notice those inscriptions. They were simply to small. She sat down, and began dictating the book. Title: Fundamental Magical Interference Patterns. By Silvern Gleam and Silverstone. Sorry if I get a little moody during this.

The following first chapter was an overview over the topic: It was relatively common knowledge, especially among unicorns, that spells are magical structures that have some effect on the physical world, but determining the effect from the signature or expressing a signature in a formula was often difficult, sometimes impossible, as was the creation of new spells for a specific purpose, because the rules behind magic's influence on the physical world were only vaguely known, and still are. Research in the area had been slow, mostly because the usual detail of a unicorn's magic perception was simply not sufficient. Silvern Gleam didn't have that problem, she was able to truly watch the whole thing from the magical side, while her assistant and co-author observed the physical world. However, even Silvern had her limits, and while the content of the book closed large holes of knowledge (well, it if had ever been published...), there were still enough mysteries yet to discover.

As already announced, Silvern did become moody at some parts of the chapter, and Scintillance might notice that while her eyes didn't do their job, they still were able to get wet, but Silvern mostly tried to hide it.

[Lance]

Scintillance wrote the content down as asked, but he definitely noticed Silvern's distress. he put the paper and pencil down, trotted closer to her and put a hoof to her shoulder "Silve... this is killing you, and I don't need any magic sight to see it. If you need a break, or need to vent, just ask."

[Silvern Gleam]

With Scintillance becoming her assistant, Sil had thought she could finally get the book into print. That it would inevitably bring up a lot of memories of Silverstone, she hadn't thought about that. At least she hadn't expected to be this bad. She had managed to keep her voice steady, but had also already known that Lance would have another way to know how she was feeling. She closed her eyes, which she could have done earlier to hide the tears a bit, and answered silently. You know, that's the one thing I really envy you seeing ponies for. I wouldn't notice you frowning, smiling or crying if you don't make it audible. Often emotions are simply lost to me. If I concentrate on it hard enough I can roughly determine the expression, but it always seems so easy for others. The hope that talking about something else would help to dismiss the thoughts of Silverstone, but if it did, this wasn't the right topic. I think you're right, let's take a break, she said and left the library, motioning Lance to follow. She walked through her bedroom at the end of the tunnel and from there into what served as food storage and kitchen. The day before she has gotten her hooves on some tea, and now was a good time for that.

[Lance]

Lance followed Silvern through the tunnels, speaking on the way, "It isn't that bad, Silve. Just because a pony can tell another's emotions, it doesn't mean they all give a bother to do so. I've seen a lot of ponies ignorant of each others' requests, acting selfishly. or in different cases, some would've have used other pony's emotion and played them like a violin, only roughly, hoping the strings would break. and if I'm too cryptic there, I'm saying they're mean. throwing insults that would specifically hurt.

What I'm trying to say, Silvern, is that it's better to envy something you do not have and to have decent reasons as to why you want it, than to have it, and then disregard or abuse it." but really, Scintillance was tap-dancing on thin ice; he had no idea what he was saying, but he was hoping he was satying something helpful.

[Silvern Gleam]

Silvern needed a moment to understand what Scintillance had just rattled off, giving her guess as she pulled a small bag from a shelf. I think you just told me at at least I wouldn't misuse it. Thanks I suppose, but I'm not sure if that helps me anything. She gave the bag's content a short sniff to convince herself that it was the tea, and proceeded with brewing it. Having something to do calmed her down well enough, but she still sounded melancholic. Silvy always tried to convince me that I don't need it, that I get enough from how ponies talk and act. At that time I spent almost all of my free time on studying mind magic to find a way to read emotions from a pony's signature. Eventually a waste of time, and I suppose he was right, I do get a lot from how a pony talks and acts. Your friend Scrapper tried to hide that he knows you, but his lies simply didn't add up, every new sentence contained a new small mistake, but I'm used to other ponies completely ignoring the small hints.

[Lance]

Scintillance was partially bothered, now knowing that Scrapper didn't want to be know as relatable to him. something he'd want to check with Scrapper later, but nevermind that. "So yeah, you don't need no eyes for emotion! Just those two ears of yours, and your good old intelligent self! But I guess "Silvy" did a much better job explaining that than I did, huh?" Lance gave a short chuckle.

[Silvern Gleam]

He was good at explaining things, there was nothing he couldn't fit into words. Though he also was a bit on the dry side, Silvern said with a sad chuckle. Everypony has other qualities I suppose. She enjoyed the aroma of the tea while she waited for it to be ready, when Lance' friends came to mind again. By the way, your friends left a message: You're free to visit if you need them. Seems to be a pretty difficult friendship.

[Lance]

"Difficult? well... I guess that's... true. Shade and I go way back... back when we were just foals..." Scintillance didn't touch the tea, and rather just stared at it, with a solemn gaze. "Even back then she didn't like me very much. these days, I think I still tick her off, but I think the only reason we're still... sort-of friends is  of the old days. The thing keeping us together, I think is the same pony... then, because she was... certainly more than just a friend. To both of us. Now, because we still respect her memory..." Scintillance went quiet, after that, thinking about Skylight. he wasn't there  to see her murder, but the weight it bore on him was heavy nonetheless.

[Silvern Gleam]

Shade... so that was the name of the unicorn mare. The information was registered, but simply filed away. Lance' explanation about their friendship was familiar to Sil, a dear one lost to the war. Tears welled up again, not only because of her first assistant, but because of everything the griffons had taken from ponykind. There probably wasn't a single equine soul in Equestria that didn't have to endure heavy losses. She filled two mugs with the finished brew, giving one of them to Lance. I don't know about you, but I usually calm down with some tea.

[Lance]

Scintillance took the cup of tea, and noticed tears in Silvern's eyes once more. his hoof lifted, but hesitated before finally resting on Silvern's shoulder "now now, I'm the one talking about my the dead friend and dying friendships here, those tears should be my own... or is it really that sad a sap story?" he offered a slight chuckle, hoping to lighten the mood.

[Silvern Gleam]

Scintillance' efforts didn't help. Silvern's tears stayed, and she was losing herself more and more to her emotions. It's a story happening way too often., she said, her drink already forgotten. She'd have started pacing around, but there wasn't enough space to do that. It had been some time since her last emotional outbreak, and the frustration that had piled up seemed to want out now. She didn't even try to hold back, tears or anything else. I know I'm well off, but I'm sick of this occupation. Every few days I hear of another tragedy, another loss, another cruelty, all caused by the griffons. Every time I go out there are weak and sick ponies lying in the tunnels, and even though I'm probably one of the richest ponies in the Undermarket I would only have the resources to truly help a few of them. And we still have to fear every day that the griffons find this crap-hole and kill or enslave every single one of us.
Silvern was visibly trembling, but her last words didn't share the volume she had built up so far. I need Equestria back. If the rebellion hadn't popped up, I don't know if I would have waited much longer.

[Lance]

This was a story he knew all too well; being better off than most other Equestrians in the situation given... He always felt like he didn't suffer enough; that he wasn't truly a part of the tragedy that fell over his home... their home. He was going to push things back into place, make everything better, bit by bit, for everypony... but the current matter at hoof, is Silvern. He hugged her, as he was pretty sure she needed that. "Now, Silvern, don't talk like that! The rebellion came up, and you've no longer to wait! Equestria is coming back, for you, for the ponies in the tunnels, for all of us... there's string being pulled all the time, and the Rebellion's only one of the visible ones, know that there's secret strings as well. you simply haven't known about them, but things are changing and happening all the time, with or without us knowing about them. Now things are starting to surface, the rebellion among them, but it's not the first. but it is your chance to lend a hoof to the cause, and know that I'll be right beside you..." he loosened his grip slightly, not quite sure what he was doing.

[Silvern Gleam]

Silvern was taken by surprise when she felt Scintillance' legs wrap around her, but she didn't resist. It was what she needed. He was right, the rebellion brought back hope, but for now it was only a faint light at the horizon. Silvern would do everything to make it rise and drive the darkness away, but the ponies of Manehatten might as well burn themselves in the process. There was too much uncertainty, and even if the rebellion was to succeed, the victory would be paid with death. Good ponies would die, leaving behind others to suffer from the loss. Things were still far from looking better. Still, the hope and comfort provided by the young rebellion and Scintillance was helping to calm her down a bit. Thanks, Lance, she said with a weak smile and tried to wipe her tears away, but her eyes stayed moist.

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