heyfreemagic | Wandering the Streets

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Wandering the Streets

[In the aftermath of the events at the tower, Daniel has taken to wandering the streets. Heading in no direction in particular, he is building a map of the streets in his head. However, he does seem to be heading in roughly the direction of the old observatory, though this is likely only by chance.

As he walks, he is unconsciously and unknowingly fiddling with small pieces of machinery, small sparks of light fly harmlessly from the pieces as they bend to his subconscious whim.

Cam is sat, or as close to sitting as a tiny robot centaur can get, in his usual place atop Daniel's shoulder, keeping an eye out for any that might interrupt Daniel walk. Which is surprisingly easy when your head can swivel 360 degrees, as well as the fact that people are steering clear of the odd pair.]

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The Changeling Queen came very close to success, I'm afraid. [Celestia remembers the pain of her own defeat all too well, a shadow seeming to pass over her as the memory does.] But she failed in the end, which is all that matters.

Very true, though the path to victory is also important. I have seen too many good people compromise themselves in the pursuit of victory. [Daniel shudders slightly, recollecting some of the more recent battles with the Filth, and the sacrifices people have made to try to halt it's inexorable advance.]

[Celestia smiles, a pure and genuine expression of happiness.]

She was defeated by love. I do not think you have to worry on that score.

Fair enough. It sounds like your world's magic works in different ways than my own.

[Celestia smiles with warm confidence.] I do not believe friendship or love work differently on any world.

[Daniel frowns a little in confusion.] Okay, it seems I've missed something.Could you elaborate on how she was defeated?

Shining Armor and Princess Cadence combined their strength to cast a spell that banished her, and her changeling army, from Canterlot. Neither of them is magically weak, of course, but they could only cast that spell because of the strength of the love that binds them.

Ah, so it was their bond that allowed them to work together so closely and cast the spell. That makes sense. Thank you for explaining it to me.

[Daniel thinks for a moment] Heh, kinda reminds me of a couple of friends of mine. I doubt they'd be able to do what they do if they weren't so closely bound.

[Celestia favors him with a patient look, waiting. He can't simply say that and not elaborate, after all!]

[Daniel smiles, there's a look of nostalgia in his eyes.] I met them... Maybe eight years ago now? Wow, time does fly. But their situation's always been unique. They're two people in one body you see, but they don't fight and neither personality is dominant. It's more like they orbit each other, balance each other, like the sun and the moon.

[He laughs softly, thinking back.] When I met them, they were arguing. I'd been sent to pick them up from the airport, they'd been assigned to me as a bodyguard by my bosses and I walk into the building to see this man arguing with himself. The argument was about something trivial, but you could easily see how each one carried himself.

Orion, the more agreeable of the two, has eyes like liquid gold, warm and good humoured. He even carries himself like a diplomat, always ready with a calming word or three. Waylander, however, is colder, more standoffish. His eyes are like frosted silver, cold and still. But he is a loyal friend, definitely no doubt about that.

They believe it's their unique situation which gives them the powers they have. They have the ability to teleport, you see? Though from what they've told me, it's more like they step from one plane of existence for another. Only for a moment, but it allows them to travel great distances in a blink. [Daniel is silent for a moment, thinking of Orion and Waylander, who take a step back in his mind to allow another to take the fore, Kara. He smiles, wistfully, but there is loneliness in there too. Daniel misses his friends a great deal.

Cam speaks up from Daniel's shoulder. Their voice deep, almost melodic.] I am sure they are fine Daniel. Those two will look after Kara in our absence.

Teleporting is a rare magic reserved for powerful unicorns, at least on Equestria, so I can certainly say that their situation might indeed be responsible. That must be difficult, sharing a body in that way -- not only on themselves, but on others as well.

[Such a strange tale, and difficult to imagine. Oh, not the base of it, but the subtleties, the repercussions and ramifications...]

For anyone but them, I'd agree with you. They fit so well together, it's uncanny. It's almost like they are parts of the same whole, even though they are both fully formed, complete personalities.

As for them causing problems for others, their line of work generally involves that sort of thing anyway, and they're never much for making that many friends outside the ones they have.

Where does one begin and the other end, though? Perhaps as separate people they would be more inclined towards friendship and less to trouble.

Not that I am judging them, mind. Merely speculating. It's quite the situation to consider.

Maybe, but they don't express any desire to be separate, and I doubt they'd really be them if they were. [Daniel is being deliberately cagey about Orion and Waylander's true occupation. It is true that they work as Daniel's bodyguard when they're in London, or traveling with Daniel, but they do find a lot of work as an assassin as well.]

And they're certainly well within their rights to feel that way. [Celestia has noted his coyness but has no intention to pry. She's out of her element anyway, and only chasing this thought due to curiosity. ]

[Daniel gives a small laugh.] Besides, as far as weird people go in my world, Orion and Waylander are almost normal. You end up meeting all sorts of really weird people in my line of work, from fairies and the occasional vampire to one memorable incident where I was asked to make a computer system for a ghost.

A computer system?

[Of everything he'd just said, that and that alone confuses her.]

[Daniel is a little puzzled that that's what she gets confused about, but he tries to explain anyway.] A computer system is a machine primarily used to store information, such as text, schematics or other things. They can also be used to communicate over long distances if you've got a connection between them, kinda like our eyepieces. Though now that I think about it, these probably run off some sort of magic. Computers are generally powered by electricity, though I have seen some powered by other means. The computer I built for that ghost needed an alternate power supply as well, because all the time it spent being incorporeal kind of made connecting it to a powerpoint somewhat inconvenient.

Ah, so it is much like a magical scroll, save... not magic. [That is both correct and completely wrong, but if the understanding serves, it will do, right?] And so then you ended up creating a magical version of a computer?

Sorta, yeah. That's about right. [She's close enough, so Daniel's willing to let the confusion slide for the sake of the conversation.] And yeah, I did. The difficult part was making it so it was both incorporeal and corporeal at the same time. That way, the ghost could interact with it while it could also interact with other computers at the same time.

That seems like something easily handled by a simple enchantment. I take it such enchantments are not so simple by comparison, then? [Of course, by Celestia's terms, many enchantments are simple that might not be considered so by others.]

Maybe in your world, yeah. The magic in my world likely works in a completely different way to the magic in yours.

[Daniel believes two things when it comes to magic in general:

The first; That magic behaves differently in different worlds because it's a force capable of literally breaking the rules of reality and is thus allowed to be a fickle piece of shit.

And second; That magic, despite working in ridiculously different ways between different worlds, Always has a flair for the dramatic because, once again, it's a force capable of breaking the rules of reality and is therefore allowed to be a fickle piece of shit.

Also, the waiter finally comes by to take their orders. Daniel orders a fairly simple salad and a coffee.]

Not the deep magics, certainly, but -- well, I imagine it must, considering you humans seem to lack any physical means to channel magical energy.

[In other words, no horns.]

[Oh hey, food! After a brief confusion in which Celestia establishes that hay burgers are not on the menu, she just switches straight to a salad too, with some bemusement.]

As far as I can tell, that also changes depending on the world. In my world, everything's starting to go downhill for pretty much everyone because basically anyone with the will to learn and the desire for power is capable of learning magic to some degree. Some very stupid people did something extraordinarily stupid and let something loose that the organization I belong to, as well as a few others, have been trying to fight for the last few years. Unsuccessfully.

I'll admit, the use of foci is common in the less skilled, but I do know quite a few people who can channel magic through themselves. Granted, only about half of them are even remotely human anymore, but hey, what can you do. Magic, at least in my world, has a way of changing a person. [Daniel shrugs, as if it's perfectly normal for such weird shit to happen. (Which to him, it is, but oh well.)]

So humans... require no anatomy to channel magic, but simply possess the capability naturally?

[Oh yes, she can SEE how that would lead to trouble. Rather than being surrounded with positive examples while your power develops along with your maturity and experience, you simply come across it at any point you desire...]

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