private A Cultural Exchange 1x1 with Randimaxis

[Randimaxis 8,652]

@Illiad Easle

 

 

Dax, though not wholly convinced he hadn't ruined the evening yet, nodded gently.

 

"I just... really don't want there to be anything bad this last night; I wouldn't want to throw a wet blanket on your time here right before we leave.  I guess I'm just..."

 

He sighed, then looked up with a slight grin.

 

"... just being silly.  Look, let's forget about it and just have fun for this last night, huh?"

 

Silver gave him another look, but then she simply shrugged.

 

"I'm just excited I get to experience this - I frankly don't care WHAT we do together!  I'm with two of my favorite stallions in the whole world... and we're about to go meet one of the most incredible mares I've ever known!  How can we NOT have fun!  Oh, I could simply EXPLODE!!!!!"

 

She gave a slight giggle.  "Okay, okay... maybe I won't ACTUALLY explode; more like I'll just burst out with random gigglefits until it happens!"

 

Dax nodded; his mood was still low, but he was putting on a brave face and doing what he felt would make everyone else happy.

[Illiad Easle 3,135]

@@Randimaxis,

 

Illiad rolled his eyes with a good-natured smile, "Dax, you know I know when you aren't really into it. Don't worry about it so much, you'd have to be trying if you were going to ruin tonight, we may have some sad tale to tell, but so far it's seemed to bring us closer together. Now..."

 

His horn lost a bit of its glow as the radio turned back into its typical diamond shape. "Shall we go in then? It seems we're all ready at least." 

[Randimaxis 8,652]

@Illiad Easle

 

 

Silver's smile brightened.  "I am SOOOOOO ready!  Oh, this is going to be so coooooooooool!"

 

She hopped up and down on her hooves a bit, looking a lot like a schoolfilly, then clapped them as she nearly squealed in anticipation.

 

Dax, though a bit less enthusiastic, all the same settled himself in and awaited Illiad's word.

 

"Yeah... ready."

[Illiad Easle 3,135]

@@Randimaxis,

 

Illiad smiled a little wider, "Alright then."

 

Released from his magical grip the diamond floated slowly upward, spinning slightly as it did so until its point rested lightly on the starry ceiling, the light refracting from its faucets adding a new layer to the starfield as it continued to slowly turn.

 

One by one they settled in and were slowly lulled to sleep by the call of Selena's dream room until they each found themselves in their own small lever rooms just as they had the first time.

 

Selena was busy arranging the central room to be even better than the last, with the extra guest she would have a bit more strength to cause changes, so she could get a bit more elaborate than usual. In all the room was still white given colorizing was quite a bit of effort, but there was a comfortable chair or couch for everyone. She sat herself in the smallest of the chairs, given she saw herself as the smallest. She looked the same way she did when Dax first joined, a smallish mare with simple hair, rather than the larger form she had taken during Illiad and Silver's dance in the starfield. TO be honest she liked being small better because Illiad found the appearance rather cute and endearing.

 

Everything set up she sat to wait for the others to join in.

 

Illiad was the first to enter, being the most practiced, and he took his seat without a word, he looked slightly nervous about what he was going to tell them, but he had hope that in the sharing of the knowledge he would find support in his friends for the future.

[Randimaxis 8,652]

@Illiad Easle

 

 

There certainly wasn't any salt on Silver's tail, that was for sure.

 

She came bounding in, all smiles and sunshine.  Again, that strange clockwork gear pattern was written over her entire form, but faintly - yet still as interesting as it had ever been.  She made her way over to where the other two were sitting, and she hugged Selena as she approached.

 

"Oh, SO good to see you!  I missed you, Selena - I'm glad we got a chance to see each other again before Illiad left!"

 

And Dax?  

 

It was another minute before the doors opened again, and Dax crept inside.  He made his way over to where the others were, and after a look around he elected to take a seat on the floor.  He did give Selena a small grin and a wave... but otherwise, he was trying to stay as out-of-the-way as possible.  

 

He fidgeted as he sat there... it looked as if he was waiting for the other horseshoe to drop.

[Illiad Easle 3,135]

@@Randimaxis,

 

Selena sighed as she saw Dax trying to stay out of the way. She quickly ghosted over to be sitting beside him. " Look, we all know you're bothered, you're disappointed in yourself that you brought up something that makes Illiad uncomfortable, but in the end, it's made Illiad decide to actually talk about it for once instead of just letting it fester within himself. He hasn't even really discussed it with me, and that scares me. I'm glad you brought it up because I think it will help him overcome his issues."

 

Illiad kept looking over at Dax, a look of sadness on his face at what he could feel, yet a slight bit of disappointment that Dax could tell was directed inward, Illiad was disappointed that he had failed to cheer up his friend. He kept his distance, knowing that Dax would talk when he wanted to.

 

Selena's chair was replaced by a projector screen, after which she nodded over at Illiad who sighed. "Alright, I'd like to just get this out of the way before it looming over my head can get me to ruin this night for the rest of you. It's been bothering me since I saw the designs, but..."

 

He sighed and shook his head. "I don't want to burden you guys with it too if you don't want to. If there's one thing I'd hate it would be to be a burden on anyone else."

[Randimaxis 8,652]

@Illiad Easle

 

 

Silver gave a sympathetic grin.

 

"Illiad... if this is an issue, then you really should talk it out.  Trust me," she smiled at Selena, "letting things fester can be bad - and bad can ALWAYS be worse, right?"

 

Undoubtedly, she was thinking of the little talk she'd had with Selena after she'd seen her own war machine designs... she'd thought herself a monster then.

 

"It'll be so much better just to get it out, Illiad... besides, we're your friends; maybe we could help you come up with something against this?  You'll never know unless you tell us."

 

Dax gave a small sigh.

 

"Illiad... I wouldn't have asked if I wasn't concerned.  You looked like you'd seen a ghost.  And if it worries you, then it worries me, too.  I didn't mean to cause any problems... I'm just worried for you."

[Illiad Easle 3,135]

@@Randimaxis,

 

Illiad's mood seemed to improve at their words, "Alright then, I'll show you first, then tell you what I know."

 

The projector screen lit up as Illiad closed his eyes, a picture came into focus as the sound of wind could be heard. The picture seemed to be the view out of someone's eyes. It was a rather impressive facility, or rather what once was an impressive facility. The sand around the facility was littered with craters that seemed to glow with a sickly purple color, the walls were damaged and completely collapsed in places allowing them to see into the small, dried out oasis at the center of the facility.

 

Suddenly a deep rumble was heard as the picture shook, or rather the image within the picture shook, more pieces of the facility fell inward as a large section of the floor of the dried out oasis fell down, revealing a structure that had been built beneath the oasis, the interior of which seemed coated with the same sickly purple glow as the craters. Out of the hole climbed a damaged mechanical pony, sparks flying off it as it moved. It didn't look very much like Silver's designs at all, except for the eyes.

 

The cold dark eyes that looked directly at the viewer, staring emotionlessly as bits of dried blood flaked off in the wind.

 

Then the scene suddenly changed, the picture depicted a view from atop a hill of dead grass near what seemed to be Ponyville after Discord had shuffled the locations, Canterlot Castle, for instance, was much closer than it used to be. The mechanical pony could be seen with wings, attacking a rag-tag outpost of ponies all while a low sound seemed to permeate everything.

 

Return Baseplate to Colonel PANIC or be Destroyed.

 

All the while the eyes continued staring, emotionlessly as they knocked a pegasus from the sky, smashed the horn of a unicorn and broke the leg of an earth pony.

 

Return Baseplate to Colonel PANIC or be Destroyed.

 

Any magical damage the ponies tried to inflict seemed to splash harmlessly off of it while physical damage didn't seem to last long before it was hardly noticeable.

 

Return Baseplate to Colonel PANIC or be Destroyed.

 

Eventually, they did enough damage and it left, but the ponies were too tired to pursue or do much more than prepare their defenses and hope that it wouldn't be back tomorrow.

 

Return Baseplate to Colonel PANIC or be Destroyed.

 

Then a second rumble was heard, only this one came from the sky. A large cloud city moved into view, pristine above the damaged landscape below. A pony with mechanical wings came down and did battle with the fully mechanical pony. The sound stopped as they fought until the winged one was the only one standing of the two.

 

With that the image and sound stopped, the screen went away to leave Illiad standing in front of everyone. "That was a vision I had not long after the changeling invasion. Both Luna and Celestia had similar dreams though when they tried to take action they just had a worse vision. When the visions began it was a coup led by one Colonel Panic, Celestia then removed all the guards with the last name of Panic from the guard. Then Luna had the vision of a griffon invasion by Colonel Panic, cities burned to the ground in his wake. After intense discussions with the griffon province he would have come from, her visions stopped, and mine began. From what I've gathered each time the vision is canceled it pushes the date further back as well as increase the casualties, thus I fear to try and stop this, lest it bring about the end of the world. Yet, this vision shows Colonel defeated, thus if I were to stop it I may prevent the only chance of a good ending from it."

 

He sat down and sighed, "It really is hard to know that such a bad thing is coming, but being unable to do anything about it for fear that it could make it all even worse."

Edited September 21, 2016 by Illiad Easle

[Randimaxis 8,652]

@Illiad Easle

 

 

Silver and Dax both had very interesting reactions to this.

 

"Hmmmmm... well, even if you won't stop it because it's the most likely ending available for a mark in the 'win' column, it hardly means we get to sit idly by and do nothing to prepare for it, right?  I mean, since we know what's coming, perhaps I can act where YOU can't?  I won't stop him, per se... but I can minimize civilian casualties by preparing evacuation plans and hidey-holes for ponies to use during his attacks, right?"

 

Silver began to pace, and as she thought and spoke, those gear-like glowing designs on her began to visibly turn faster, adding a deeper visual expression of her own wheels turning.

 

"This way, I wouldn't be changing the future to stop his actions; I'd be lessening the aftermath of his choices.  Wouldn't that work, Illiad?  Selena?"

 

"But... why?"

 

Dax looked as though he was about to cry.

 

"Why did it come to that?  Did you see those eyes?  What sort of harrowing, horrific thing could he have seen or done to cause him to do such things?  Why would he do that?"

 

He looked between the three of them, each in turn, with a look of sympathy so great, it almost hurt Illiad.

 

"What could have caused such a magnificent machine such as him to feel a need to cause such destruction, Illiad?  Why?"

 

He actually felt genuinely bad for the construct - truly, sincerely sorry for him.

[Illiad Easle 3,135]

@@Randimaxis,

 

Illiad looked unsure, then sad, "That's the scariest part now, isn't it? We have no idea why it's doing what it's doing. And at the same time, I don't want to know, because if I knew why I might try and stop it, and end up making it worse. For instance, I could try and ensure that this Baseplate was never taken from it, but would that help anything? Could that even be prevented? Maybe, maybe not."

 

A slight smile came to his face, "I'm glad, though, that I have you guys here to share in the burden. And I think your idea is a great one Silver, ways to keep the defenders safe when the attack comes. I think it would do quite a bit of good if implemented correctly."

 

He shrugged, "But enough about that now, there's nothing we can do about it here so there's no sense in worrying about it now. Let's do something fun okay?"

[Randimaxis 8,652]

@Illiad Easle

 

 

Silver nodded, plenty pleased to be changing the subject at hoof.  Dax also nodded, and even attempted a smile... but as an Empathic, Illiad could tell the thought was still gnawing at him.  He was willing to let it go, but Illiad got the impression that this conversation was only on pause for now.

 

"Oh, something fun, yes!  And we had wanted to do something YOU wanted to do, Selena!  You said something about building things, or something like that?  Honestly, Dax was right - you really deserve to have somepony ask YOU what you'd like to do, at least once in a while!"

 

Dax, pulling himself into the situation, tried on a smile.  It wasn't a bad fit.

 

"Yeah.  It'd only be fair, after all.  You've done so much for us - it's the very least we could do for you in return.  Besides, that's one of the things friends do for each other - they concern themselves with making sure you're included."

 

Both of them smiling at Selena, waiting for her decision.

[Illiad Easle 3,135]

@@Randimaxis, 

 

Selena and Illiad both smiled, "I did say something about a contest of imagination, didn't I? Well, I for one think that would be pretty fun, especially if you guys can come up with really fun things!" She nodded and a set of three doors appeared on the back wall, almost mirroring the ones they had all come in from. Through the doors they could see a big empty room, but already they seemed to shift with their individual wonder. "Go on in! I've made it so it is easier to influence the rooms in their so it won't take nearly as much effort to make things in there as it would in here. Not to say that it's particularly difficult to change things in here, just that it is very easy to change things in there. I even made separate rooms so you guys wouldn't be distracted by each other and so you can save your wonderment for when we show off to each other."

 

She sat on her chair and tapped her hooves together in a giddy gesture, " Oooh! I can't wait to see what cool stuff you guys all come up with!"

 

With that Illiad entered the room closest to him and already it was changing around him, a desk and a chair appeared when he moved to sit and already designs and ideas were manifesting themselves before him.

[Randimaxis 8,652]

@Illiad Easle

 

 

Silver clapped her hooves, and made her way promptly into her room as well.  As soon as she got there, she looked around and grew a thoughtful moue.

 

"Hmmmmm... I'll need to plan this out..."

 

She concentrated for a moment on what she wanted to see... what she wanted to feel... and sure enough, a dry erase board formed up out of the floor, along with a blue marker.  Levitating the marker into the air and removing its cap with her magic, she smiled broadly.

 

"THERE WE GO!  Now... let's get to work!"

 

Dax, meanwhile, was left alone with Selena for a minute, and he took that minute to look over at her and ask her a question.

 

"Selena?  Uhm, I wanna play this game and all, and I will, yeah... but... first, I gotta know something.  Illiad says that he's afraid to try to change anything else, or it might end up even worse than before, but... I can't help but feel like he's... well, just scared.  Do you think maybe there's another way that he just doesn't see yet... and do you think it might be up to someone else to help him see that?  Maybe THAT'S why we found each other?"

 

Dax was so concerned about Illiad that Selena didn't need to be Empathic to feel it.

[Illiad Easle 3,135]

@@Randimaxis,

 

Selena looked a little bit down, "Dax... In truth, I think Illiad's more afraid that it's something he won't be allowed to change, rather than won't be able to change. As the balance, he has to allow and sometimes cause bad things to happen just as Luna did. In a way, I suppose you could say he is scared, not about what it might do, but about what he might have to do to cause it. What I think he needs is someone he feels he can talk to, someone he can trust to be told about this sort of thing and not judge him for it. And I'd like to think he's found exactly that in you and Silver. However, he's too kind for his own good, if he sees that talking to you about this sort of thing troubles you, he'll stop to spare your feelings."

 

She smiled caringly at Dax, " You've done a phenomenal job already getting him to open up about what troubles him, now you need to go out there and assure him that he can confide in you without it troubling you. So go and have fun, keep being the amazing friend you've been." 

[Randimaxis 8,652]

@Illiad Easle

 

 

Dax looked thoughtful for a moment.

 

"Yeah.  I... I guess I get it.  Someone to vent to who won't hate him for what he might have to do.  Yeah."

 

Dax's mood lightened.

 

"I can do that, sure.  Everypony needs someone like that... and I'd be more than willing to do so.  I... might not be able to help feeling bad about some things, but that doesn't mean I want him to stop talking.  Okay, I'll..."

 

He smiled.  "I'll do my very best for him, Selena... thank you."

 

He turned and made for his own doorway... then paused, right outside of it.

 

"If it's all the same, though... I'm still gonna try to figure out how to help.  I might not come up with anything... but what kind of friend would I be if I didn't try, right?"

 

With that, he entered the room.  Looking around, he thought back to what Selena had said about these rooms...

 

 

 

I've made it so it is easier to influence the rooms in their so it won't take nearly as much effort to make things in there as it would in here. Not to say that it's particularly difficult to change things in here, just that it is very easy to change things in there.

 

Influence... with my imagination... changing things...

 

He closed his eyes, and the room responded.

 

=================================================

 

 From a dreamworld perspective, Silver's room was pouring out energy.

 

The energy of creation and imagination almost seemed to want to burst through the door and yell surprise; the sheer output of creative force that was blasting away in Silver's room was almost a force unto itself.  There were sounds of hammers, drills, rivet guns, bangs, clangs and all sorts of other noise that was whooping up a pure racket.  Whatever Silver was creating in there, she was certainly going all-out in the construction phase!

 

It was as if the power of a small sun going nova was evidencing itself in there, and Silver was the one to raise and lower it - and it was apparently High Noon in Silvestria!  It was simply amazing, the amount of power she was putting into this project.

 

By way of comparison, Dax's door was oddly quiet... but if energy could be measured, the level of output that single room was giving off blew Silver's room away.

[Illiad Easle 3,135]

@@Randimaxis,

 

Illiad's room, by comparison, was quiet. The energy normal and altogether ordinary, he had quite a bit of practice in regulating his mental energy output so as to not burn himself out in the room as that led to quite a rough morning. He sat at the desk and drew, and as he drew his ideas slowly faded into existence, and out again as he revised, not making anything permanent until he was sure about it. A slight smile was on his face as he worked, This is going to be great.

 

Selena simply smiled at Dax's words before he left to start his own creation, then leaned back in her seat. She pulled a book out of the collective subconscious that supported the dream, reading for herself one of the books that either Dax or Silver had read that Illiad had not. It was a good way for her to pass the time and to keep her from peeking in on what they were building so it would be a surprise to her as well.

[Randimaxis 8,652]

@Illiad Easle

 

 

Silver's mental collection of novels was actually not quite as large as Selena would have thought... but the novels contained within were an eclectic mix: a few short stories, some engineering manuals, a single epic science fiction novel, an etiquette book, three saucy romance books, and fifteen different schoolbooks.  The number of books she had ever read in her life didn't even reach triple digits.

 

However, there was a PLETHORA of blueprints and designs stored away - and there were some truly magnificent ideas there.  Things that could change history.  Things that defied explanation.  Things that could alter the course of Equinekind forever.  Yet, through these things, it became obvious that, as rapidly as these things passed through her brain, it would still be quite some time before any of the most powerful ones would even be realized... and some would never be built.  COULD never be built.  But there they were, all the same, up for Selena's perusal.

 

Dax?

 

The size of the mental library lurking within the mind of the middle Blackwater child was astounding; he'd voraciously read anything he could get his hooves on, from classic memoirs and history papers, to magic tomes and scrolls, to science and fantasy and horror and drama and all SORTS of books filled the shelves of what seemed like an almost endless library.

 

Dax had spent so much time alone as a colt, he'd practically devoured any and everything readable he came across.  In a way, it was somewhat sad... but in another, it was quite impressive.

 

But the STARS...

 

There were diagrams, charts, navigational observations, missives, diary entries from famous astronomers, entire tomes by ponies no one had ever heard of, almanacs... everything on the subject of the stars that had ever passed even remotely close to Dax had been absorbed, his greedy little mind taking it all in as if it were water into a sponge.

 

Daxter Blackwater held as much knowledge of the stars as any pony had ever known; no wonder he'd been so accurate with the mural on his room's ceiling - he'd known by heart where every star went, every comet swooshed, and every galaxy called home.  It was astounding... especially seeing as he'd never even attended any outside institution of learning for all this knowledge.

[Illiad Easle 3,135]

@@Randimaxis,

 

Selena gave a low whistle, to anyone in the room with her it would seem she was doing nothing, however, she was quickly filing away copies of everything interesting she could find so she could sort through it later. The blueprints would certainly help in making bad things happen while also minimizing casualties, so she started there, carefully sorting them by brief inspection before placing them away in her own mental library, then she moved on to Dax. Most of the historical books she knew a bit better, so only a few were copied over, but many of the more recently published books intrigued her, she copied them over with a note to read them first. She, for the most part, ignored the star stuff given how much they changed and how much she knew as a first-hoof experience.

 

Once she had a few hundred books and charts in her read later list she stopped, this would last her a good few years if she were particularly bored. But with that she decided to check up on their progress.

 

She shook her head as her focus returned to the dream room, a low tone echoed in the three rooms similar to a bell, by an exertion of will motion was stopped in the rooms so they could hear her without distraction. "Alright guys, I'll give you a few more minutes to work, so finish up quick and come back out here so I know you're ready to show off what you've built."

 

Illiad looked up at the tone and shrugged as he looked back down at what he had drawn up, then over into what it had built and smiled. He rolled up the paper as the construct took on a more real texture, starting to take a few steps into it. He closed his eyes as he felt the wind start to blow cool and soft. "Yes I think this will do nicely."

 

With that he made his way back into the main room.

[Randimaxis 8,652]

@Illiad Easle

 

 

After a bit, Silver came out of hers, smiling sweetly and practically skipping.  "Oh, I can't WAIT for you to see what I did!  It's gonna be SO much fun!"

 

It was a few moments more, but before Selena could give another request to hurry up, his door opened.  Dax came out, shyly closed the door behind himself, and walked over to meet the others.

 

"Okay, uhm... I'm done."

 

Though he looked somewhat shy about everything, his emotions betrayed his excitement.

 

"Oh!  Illiad!  I want to see what YOU did first, okay?  Can we?"

 

Dax just smiled.

[Illiad Easle 3,135]

@@Randimaxis,

 

Illiad's smile grew, "Alright then, I can go first if you guys want." He led the group over to his door and opened it whilst gesturing them all inside. Within they could see a simple sandstone and marble house. From the front, they could see that the foundation was made of large marble slabs that extended out the front to become a porch. Nine marble pillars extended from the foundation to support a second floor made of a thinner slab of marble that also extended past the front to cover the porch and provide a railed balcony accessible from a set of double glass doors on the second floor. The pillars sat four at the corners of the building, as well as four along the front of the porch. The walls of the structure were made of sandstone with two glass windows on either side of the front door.

 

"Tada! It's my house! I know it isn't really that creative, and I did make a creative thing to show you, but I thought that this would be the perfect opportunity to show you guys what my house looks like both before Dax sees it himself and since it could be some time before Silver could see it. Selena can attest to the fact that I didn't embellish it for this demonstration."

 

She nodded, "While it is a bit cleaner than usual, likely to save on effort, it is a faithful recreation of his house. At least from what I can see out here."

 

He smiled some more as he made his way up the small step to the patio and up to the door he opened, "Come on! I want to show you the inside!"

 

Inside the house demonstrated the rather utilitarian use of the available space. The house was not very wide, to begin with, but despite that it still felt fairly roomy within. In the center of the house, the ninth pillar stood at the corner of two interior walls forming a room in the back left corner of the house. On the left wall headed towards the back was a set of cantilevered marble stairs leading to the second floor, as well as a couch against the interior wall, thus facing the left window, and a box in the same shape Selena had taken to talk to them before the dream. In the back right, was another door as well as a desk similar to the one Illiad had used to build this dream. In the front right corner was a simple kitchen with a cold box, stove, sink, and cuppords.

 

"So this front left corner is my sitting room where my friends and I hang out on occasion, the back left is storage and where I hang my paintings to dry, the back right is my work area, and is typically much busier, and the front right is my little kitchen."

 

With that he practically dragged the others up the stairs, at the top of the stairs were two doors, one in line with the stairs, and one to the right, he moved through the door on the right to reveal a bedroom, the bed sitting in the back right corner along with a side table that had a smaller version of the radio downstairs on it. In the back left corner was a small room with a closed door. On the front side of the room were the same double glass doors they saw from outside as well as a small closet area. This room was by far the biggest single room in the house.

 

"And this is my bedroom. So, what do you guys think of my house?"

[Randimaxis 8,652]

@Illiad Easle

 

 

Silver gasped in delight.  "Oh, neat!  It's such an efficient little place!  So cozy!"

 

She took her time, looking over details and enjoying the structure itself.  She kept looking all over, taking it all in as she did.

 

Dax was also quite fascinated.  He kept peeking around corners and checking out the layout.

 

"Illiad... your house is so... so... NIFTY!  Wow!  You put such good use to all this space, and not an inch of it wasted!  How cool is it that ALL of this is yours and ONLY yours!  Oh, this is so COOL!"

 

Dax ran back downstairs to gander over the rooms again; even though he lived in a huge manse, Dax seemed so excited for the fact that, even given the comparatively small amount of space presented, it all belonged to one pony.  It spoke a bit about how Dax wasn't spoiled or inclined to brag - he seemed just as proud of the small home as Illiad himself was.

 

Silver looked over the bedroom again.

 

"This is so very perfect for a single pony... or maybe, a couple?"  He smile went wide, and here eyelids lowered to a sultry level.  "TWO ponies here, well... they'd have to spend a LOT of time being rather close to each other, wouldn't they?"

 

To illustrate, she slid close to the stallion and nuzzled him gently, letting go a soft little sigh of contentment.  Her eyes turned up to look at him as she nestled in closely.

 

"Oh, Illiad... maybe one day, you and I could-"

 

"Is this what it looks like outside?"

 

Silver smiled, stood up once again and looked at Illiad.

 

"Should we go see what Dax found now?"

 

What Dax found, when they reached him, was a window.  He was staring out of it, looking at...

 

(You'll have to fill that part in; you didn't specify the surroundings.)

[Illiad Easle 3,135]

@@Randimaxis,

 

Given all but one of the windows of his house faced the front, and the front faced the door they had entered the room from, there was only one window that would see anything other than the whiteness surrounding the door. Illiad gave one last nuzzle with some whispered words, "Maybe some day."

 

He moved to where Dax would be standing, the small window on the back wall by his bed. "I would hardly get so see something so interesting as that from my window every evening, it's usually just a view of the back side of the row of houses behind mine. But if we proceed out the back door of this version of my house, I'll get to show you that other thing I've made up close."

 

What they could see from the window seemed to be a very abstract piece of architecture, something of a maze of stairs winding in and out of each other with no real regard for up as a direction. Upon which a number of slinkies seemed to be making their way around the sculpture.

 

As he led them up close there was, as it seemed, a way to enter the odd construction in the form of the stairs ending at the ground. "This... is something I came up with as an example of what can be accomplished here in the dream room. An item that is impossible in reality for a number of reasons, primarily being the lack of regard for safety as well as gravity, in addition to completely defying conventional laws of spacial relativity in that we could have two parallel lines meet up at even a perpendicular angle. It is a very weird place on those stairs which is why it is meant mostly as a thought experiment and that I have yet to get a slinky back from it and they tend to change color at some point."

 

Now that he mentioned it some of the slinkies were rather odd colors, and shapes.

[Randimaxis 8,652]

@Illiad Easle

 

 

The other two ponies viewing this impossibility both made observations.

 

"Well... perspectively speaking, it would seem to mean that, at some point, there's a place or part in your design that isn't as well-defined, so the random changes to slinkies you're seeing possibly stems from an abstract portion of this design that changes the structure in minute ways, so that-"

 

"Can we climb it?"

 

Dax looked raptly at the impossibility.  "I mean, is it safe to climb?  Is it even POSSIBLE to climb?"  He kept walking back and forth, looking at it from a number of different angles.

 

Silver gave a slight chuckle.  "That's Dax - show him something impossible, and he'll want to DO something impossible with it!"

 

Dax gave a sheepish grin at that, but his eyes remained on the fascinating structure and the various coils of metal falling repeatedly in every direction.

 

"Illiad, this is... well, it's certainly something I've never thought of before!  But seeing this DOES make me want to show you what I made even more!"

 

Still, regardless of her words, her eyes also stayed glued to the weirdness before her.

[Illiad Easle 3,135]

@@Randimaxis,

 

Illiad smiled, glad he was able to impress or at the very least amaze Silver with what he had created, "Well I can't wait to see what you two have come up with. Though Dax I would definitely advise against entering the thing until it can be confirmed safe. Wouldn't want you getting stuck in there after all."

 

Selena nodded, "While difficult, you can still injure yourself pretty badly here in the dream world, just the damage is mental rather than physical."

 

She turned towards Silver, "I for one would love to see what you've built now if you're ready to show it off."

[Randimaxis 8,652]

@Illiad Easle

 

 

Silver clapped her hooves and trotted toward the way out, eager to make her display... but Dax lingered a bit, still looking over the house as if he'd never seen one before.  It was as if he were committing it to memory, for when he was ACTUALLY going to be there - plus, it afforded another look at the fantastic sight in the back.

 

Satisfied, Dax made his way over as well.  He was smiling; a good sign.

 

Silver was almost hopping up and down as Illiad and Dax came over to her door.  She opened it and leapt inside, whinnygiggles abounding.  Dax chuckled a bit himself; it was so cute to see her this excited.

 

Inside the large, blank room was... well... it was...

 

It stood about seven stories tall, and had all sorts of tubes, pipes, coils, levers... but it was completely unidentifiable as anything Illiad had ever seen before.  Perhaps Dax had seen something like this, but-

 

"Uhm... what IS it?"

 

Okay, scratch that.

 

Silver gave another giggle, and stepped lightly over to an area covered by a tarp.  Her horn glowed, and the cover was whisked away to reveal... what looked like a large hamster ball.  It was made of smooth, flexible-looking metal, and it had what looked to be a soft, personally tailored cushion in the middle, suspended by hinges and wires.  

 

Beneath it was a steel platform, and next to that was a simple lever with a plastic daisy for a handle topper.  

 

"So... who wants to be FIRST!?"

 

Her smile went all the way across her muzzle; it looked both overjoyed and a tad manic.

 

"Come on, come on!  Who's first?"

 

Dax looked at Illiad, then turned to the unicorn mare.  "I... guess I... c-could?"

 

Silver laughed.  "Oh, you'll be perfectly fine, Daxie!  Just climb inside that ball there, and sit on the seat; don't worry about belts, it's perfectly secure!"

 

The Blackwater looked around himself dubiously as he wriggled his way into the sphere.  "Perfectly secure?  Well, what do I do no-"

 

"ENJOY!"

 

She slammed down the lever, and the platform underneath the ball SPRANG straight up, disappearing into a tube above it.  As Illiad watched, he began to see what was happening...

 

The ball shot through the tube, rolling down through it as Illiad heard Dax screaming in pure terror.  Little slotted windows in the tube allowed him to see where the ball was, and from what he could tell, Dax was still perfectly upright and contained.  At a bend, the side of the tube suddenly popped open, and the ball whooshed out of it!  

 

It flew across a part of the huge machine, only to be caught in a net which dropped the ball into another tube, this one a spiral.  As it twisted around and around, Illiad began to hear Dax's screams of fear beginning to turn to whoops of excitement.  Whirling out of the tube below, it then shuffled sideways into a steel trench, which carried it along rails that made the ball roll faster, even performing a loop-the-loop before simply flying of a ramp into the air.

 

Perfectly aligned with the rails on the other side of the gap, it then magnetically latched onto a panel that began to lift the ball up, up, up... until, close to eight stories up, it suddenly dropped again - but a pair of rails popped out of a side tube, caught the ball, and brought it back into the adjoining tunnel.

 

It was obvious now... Silver had made one heckuva roller coaster!

 

The sphere kept zipping, rolling, and flying around the entire contraption as the two watched.  Dax sounded as if he were having the time of his life inside.  Silver, meanwhile, turned to Illiad and leaned on him, giving him a nuzzle as she did.

 

"When I was a filly, my parents took me to a fair once... and I fell in absolute LOVE with the roller coaster there!  It was great to feel all that momentum, the wind in my mane, the thrill... oh, it was wonderful!  It was also one of the things that really got me interested in mechanical work.  So... this, Illiad, is my homage to roller coasters!  It's not an impossibility like your backyard display, but I DID dampen the physics inside the ball - so you don't get thrown all over the place."

 

The ball suddenly popped out of a hatch in the ground flew RIGHT past Illiad and Silver, and landed with a sharp >CLANG!< back on the platform it started from.  Dax sat there, his eyes huge and his pupils tiny.  He sat there for a moment, breathing hard.  Then he turned his eyes onto Silver Studs.

 

"That... was... AWESOME!!!!!"

 

Silver laughed as Dax climbed out and made his way over to them.  His mane was a tad wilder than usual, but he was otherwise unharmed.

 

"Illiad!  Oh my Luna it was SO AMAZING!  Once I realized I wasn't gonna fly out of that thing, it was SO much fun!  You've GOT to try it!  You've just gotta!"

 

Silver smiled at the Trojan.  "Well?  You're free to say no, but... well, I wanted to ride with you if you said yes."

 

The smile Silver was giving him took a bit of a saucy twist, and her eyes went half-lidded.