1866 replies and 21 files omitted.
>>159684“And why is that?” He asks
>>159685"Words are ponderous and have to filter their way through one's eyes and then the brain before one can think about them. Music reaches the soul directly, it has a power underestimated by many, yet because of its tendency towards beauty it has been cynically used by only a few."
>>159687“Good. Then if seems like you’ve reached a conclusion it took the philosophers centuries to understand. All that our consciousness receives is experience, pure and simple. Reason, logic, words, forms - all are inventions of our reason, forced onto that which they are unlike. Mere symbols. And our perception? Representations, but not the thing itself.”
He smiles, still somewhat malignly.
“Do you want to continue, or shall I?”
>>159686"Yea I have a Job, I can't really get into what it is i do though. Top Secret"
He Grins
>>159688Nodding, Amber says, "Go on."
>>159689They take his words seriously, both staring at him, as if waiting with bated breath.
>>159691"It's all very, Hush Hush. I can't really say anything about it. I can say, It Does involve helping ponies though."
>>159690"Well, as we've both come to understand, words cannot convey truly new information themselves. Rather, our reason distills a portion of our experience, and matches to that experience a symbol, a word. And that word is conveyed to another, who, with luck, has experienced something similar, and has matched hopefully the same word to a similar enough portion of his experience.
The logical conclusion is that I cannot tell you what is 'true', I can merely tell you my interpretation of my experience, and hope that my symbolic representation of that interpretation allows you to distill your own experiences a bit better.
You will not believe me unless you already know what I am saying to be true. I hope that you have enough experience in such matters that you will, if not believe me, at least understand me.
So though I hate to waste your time with rhetorical questions, they are asked for a reason. So I shall ask: all of those arias and orchestras. Sound, generally. Are there not those who cannot hear sound at all?"
>>159692"Is that where you are getting your money from?" Sorrel asks
Amber has never heard of this line of thinking before and cannot come up with a response other than, "Well, that's…interesting."
"Yes, there are griffons who are sadly deaf and are unable to experience the same."
>>159695"Yes, yes. You hear music that they cannot. And likewise, are there not wide ranges of sound that certain other creatures can hear, that you cannot?"
>>159696"And you're paying for that all by yourself?" Again, Sorrel asks.
Sorrel either can't or doesn't want to sit upright, and instead leans over, and physically grabs onto Solar Night, pressing against him. Tricky sits upright, but she also has a hoof on his other shoulder.
>>159697"Certainly. Bat ponies are capable of hearing much higher pitches, and they say they have their own peculiar form of music."
>>159697"It's Hard Work."
He nods as he sips his whiskey.
>>159698"Yes, good, very good. I think it follows that your view of music, your experience of it, your knowledge of it, is always going to be less than total, as there will always be more out there that you cannot experience and cannot know. Does that sound right?"
>>159699Tricky:
"But uh, what is the work, exactly?" She asks
>>159700"The Dangerous Kind, The Kind I might not walk away from if things go wrong."
>>159700"Perhaps, though music has reached a stage where all discoverable forms have been found, and there is now merely refinement and experimentation with these forms."
>>159702"Perhaps my larger point has been lost." He says. "Knowledge of music and sound is only an example."
>>159701"Oh..." Tricky leans in, and almost whispers,
"Care to tell us any stories?"
>>159703"You are saying it's possible to meaningfully communicate with others only when they have had the same experiences as yourself?"
>>159703He Smiles
"I can tell one or two."
He Whispers
"What do you know about changelings?"
>>159704"Unfortunately that is true, probably, but it isn't where I am going. It's... well, let me say this.
Have you heard of the Cloudbury Interpretation of physics? Probably not. No matter. You see, well, you probably already know that scientists have long considered that the matter that we see is not solid as we see it, but is made up of much smaller particles with much space between them. Recently, based on new evidence, physicists have come to the conclusion that these particles are themselves actually waves. Matter isn't solid at all. It were as if it were made of sound." He says, smiling, and giving Amber a chance to respond."
>>159705Her ears perk up.
"I know a little." She answers
>>159706"Matter? Made of sound? Next you'll be telling me how the ponies are right to worship their 'Tree of Harmony.'"
>>159707His tone and face turns stern and serious
"I've Found and killed a couple of them. If I didn't react quick enough it would have been me they would be talking about taking down. the bastards scared me."
He shows off one of his bullet scars
He sips his whiskey
>>159708"Ha! No. No not at all. Most likely you've heard of the other famous physics theory of our time. That of Noble Stone, that time and space are not really distinct, but are integrally related. Indeed, he comes to the conclusion that time doesn't exist in the way we experience it. But rather, everything that has every been, and everything that will ever be, is as real as the present."
>>159709Both mares move off of him, and move their heads around to look at the scars, clearly surprised.
"How?" Tricky asks
>>159710"How what? How did it feel to get shot by one? Not Great."
He grimaces
>>159711"No no. Well, yes. I mean.. how did you find and kill them?" Tricky asks.
Sorrel:
"Really? Are you sure?"
Sorrel moves in so close to look at the wound left behind by that police officer Changeling that she almost falls onto Dark Star.
>>159712"There's a trick to finding them, Not sure if i can say what it is or not."
He Says to Sorrel
"Yea its quite the wound ,almost did me in."
>>159713Tricky tilts her head
"But you've... killed them?"
Sorrel rests her forelegs on Dark Star's lap, as this is necessary for her to maintain balance.
"Wow. How long ago was this?" She says
>>159714"Yea, It was them or Me. You shouldn't be afraid, I made sure it couldn't hurt anypony else."
To Sorrel
"A week or less."
>>159715Sorrel:
“Good. Fuck the Changelings.”
Tricky says meekly:
“They are living creatures…”
Sorrel is still leaning over into Dark Star’s lap
>>159716To Tricky
"So are we. They are Predators."
To Sorrel
"What do you think of them?"
>>159717“Well, I’m sure we are to plants.” Tricky says. “It just seems a bit, I don’t know….”
>>159717Sorrel looks up towards Dark Star. She has orange eyes.
“They should get away from our home.” She says
>>159718"I Don't Take Joy in it, Tricky. It's a Dangerous Job. But Somepony has to protect everypony."
To Sorrel
"I Agree, if they weren't here there wouldn't be any problem."
>>159719Tricky nods, and she has a more solemn expression on her face
“I see…”
Sorrel moves forward, and presses her muzzle into Dark Star’s belly.
>>159720He flinches slightly from her pressing her muzzle into his stomach
"Hey whats going on down there?"
He says in a surprised tone
>>159710"That is quite interesting. Sadly I cannot wrap my head around that quite the same as I can a sheet of music."
>>159721"Huh?" Sorrel starts to get up. She has to physically press against Dark Star to sit back up.
"She likes the drinks." Tricky says. "And your fur."
>>159723He Laughs
"Yea, Drinks are good. She just caught me a little off guard."
"Yea my fur is pretty nice."
>>159722"That's alright. All you really need to understand is that The physicists have come to the conclusion that the world as it really is, is not as it appears to us.
But really, why would the scientists have the best answers. Everything they know is based off of the five senses of perception. But you know just as well as I that our senses do not tell us the full story. We cannot see nor hear everything there is to see. Did you know that Changelings can smell magic, and see emotions? There could be entire realms of form and matter that are invisible to us, as we could never experience it. All of this could be unknown to the physicist."
>>159724"It's not bad." Tricky looks at his shoulder, and begins to rub it.
"Solar... I hope you wouldn't mind if I..." She looks into his eyes, and smiles
"Got another drink?"
Sorrel, meanwhile, starts to lean again against him, and starts to rub her right hoof along his lower chest.
>>159725"Fascinating…." Amber is still trying to digest what the professor has said, and can't quite formulate a response.
>>159726"Of Course."
"Mr.Glass Keep the Alcohol flowing."
>>159727“Scientists are only just now coming around to what the philosophers knew 200 hundred years ago, and what the ancient mystics knew for far longer: that there is no such thing as fork and space in the way in which we naively understand them. That time and distance are, to put it inelegantly, mere constructs of the mind.”
>>159728Sorrel jumps up and off of Dark Star, looking over fur a glass of alcohol. Tricky grabs her glass, and takes another drink.
“You help ponies?” Tricky asks
>>159729"It's my Calling in life. Yea."
>>159730“Well… maybe it’s rude to ask… you’ve been so nice to us already…”
>>159731He Raises an eyebrow
"Is there something you need help with?"
>>159732“Well…” she looks down, but places both hooves on Dark Star’s shoulders.
“My friend and I… could use a place to stay. At least for the night.”
>>159733"Yea I can do that. It's not safe for two mares to not have a roof over there heads for the night."