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#Post#: 2241--------------------------------------------------
Re: Burning the Midnight Oil
By: Gladius Date: April 20, 2014, 10:45 am
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Gladius follows the unicorn as he and Windy are lead through the
library, the guard at the door from earlier being shot a smug
look as Gladius passed by him, the guard wanting to stop and say
something small about how neither he nor Windy should have been
questioned when they arrived but not wanting to slow the trio
down for the sake of some petty gloating.
It doesn't take long for the three ponies to exit the library,
this being done with silence on Gladius' part despite how he'd
actually not yet caught the older ponies name and didn't want to
ask out of worry thst it would somehow trigger a series of
grumps thst would lead to both he and Windy being turned away.
The observatory was a bit of a walk from the library, it being
higher up in one of the castle towers so it could both overlook
the city and see the sky with absolutely no obstruction from
either the mountain the city was built on or any buildings or
other seperate sections of the castle around it. With the
unicorn leading the way though, the ponies had no trouble with
being stopped or questioned as they had earlier.
Inside was, of course, a very large and intricate telescope that
immediately took the attention of anypony who entered, it
staring upwards at the stars bit currently not being in use.
Aside from the eye catching telescope, plenty of other smaller
tools and what not for astronomy, astrology and any other
"astro" things Gladius might not know about were spread across
the room, laid out on top of star charts spread over tables or
set off to the side if they weren't currently needed, which most
of the tools probably weren't at the moment.
The observatory was empty, it appearing as if somepony had been
here recently of Gladius had to guess from how a few things had
been left out, so either they'd just stepped out for a bit or
hadn't bothered to clean up after themselves when they'd
finished their business here.
The unicorn leading the two pegasi inside, being used to the
sight of the room and not wanting to waste his incredibly
precious time, didn't even give much of what was inside a glance
as he trotted directly for the big telescope in the room... then
walked right past it to find a much much smaller telescope more
fit for star gazing hobbyists than ponies who were serious about
studying stars. With his tiny, by comparison, telescope in his
magic, the unicorn redirected himself to the balcony of the room
that overlooked the city, him setting up the telescope there
then taking a seat next to it and looking back at Windy.
"... Well?" He said, jerking his head at the telescope as he
waited for the younger pony to show him his supposed asteroid.
#Post#: 2254--------------------------------------------------
Re: Burning the Midnight Oil
By: Woodwind Date: April 20, 2014, 7:12 pm
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Woodwind walks along a little behind Gladius, his nervousness
starting to overcome his excitement again as the small group
makes their way out of the library. He doesn't look at the guard
as they pass through the door, instead hiding his face behind
his long hair and hurrying through. He stays close to Gladius
for the duration of their trip to the observatory, watching
Gleam as he leads the way and trying to bring his nerves under
control. He knows what he found is real, there is no doubt that
it really is an asteroid. The real problem is if it's a new
asteroid, or if it's been identified before. He's sure the older
pony will be extremely angry if it's not a new discovery, and
will probably just shrug it off even if it is. He sighs, his
gaze turning to the floor for a moment, almost sure he's going
to end up being yelled at, and probably threatened again, no
matter what the outcome is. He finally raises his head again as
they arrive at the observatory, and for a minute at least, his
nerves are forgotten. He walks around the room, examining
everything he comes across, leaving the big telescope for last.
He looks up at it, a small smile on his face. Until Gleam
interrupts, pointing to the much smaller (though still very
nice) telescope he'd set up. Woodwind steps over to it, avoiding
Gleam's gaze as he takes out his notebook and examines the star
chart he'd made. After a second or two, he gets to to work on
the telescope, adjusting it to that it fixes on the tiny
pinpoint of light that he knows to be the asteroid. After
another second to make sure he's got int properly in focus, he
steps back, his nervousness welling up again as he waits for
Gleam to take a look.
#Post#: 2314--------------------------------------------------
Re: Burning the Midnight Oil
By: Gladius Date: April 22, 2014, 5:20 pm
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The unicorn gave a small sigh as he stepped over to use the
telescope for himself, the older pony already kind of beginning
to write this off as a wasted trip and dedicating parts his
brain to thinking up an appropriately inappropriate method of
punishing both pegasi for making him leave the library, the fact
that he'd had no reason not to, of course, not factoring in at
all. Peering into the telescope and finding the speck that was
supposedly an asteroid, the old mage was able to quickly discern
that... It sure was a speck in the sky. There was. No. Doubt.
About it.
Gleam knew a lot - entire tomes worth of information on many
subjects were memorized and archived into that aged brain of his
- but he did not, in fact, have the entirety of the night sky
and every individual star, planet and floating rock that
inhabited it locked down in his head. So, as was to be expected
by anypony who knew anything about this kind of thing, Gladius
not being one of these ponies and being a bit annoyed when he
heard what Gleam said next, what the old pony said shouldn't
have been a surprise.
"This'll take me a minute," the unicorn informed them,
Woodwind's journal being floated away from him without any
attempt at gaining his permission as Gleam took it over to one
of the nearby, and recently used, tables to try his luck at
finding a relevant star chart for his current needs.
Gladius, having hoped this would be a quick revelation for the
unicorn that would be easy to follow up with gloating and
laughs, rolled his eyes before walking over to Windy and the
telescope he had just used. "So," he began to try and speed up
the wait, Gleam muttering something behind them as he searched
for what he needed, "What do you think of the observatory? I'm
assuming you like it from how you looked when we walked in."
#Post#: 2337--------------------------------------------------
Re: Burning the Midnight Oil
By: Woodwind Date: April 23, 2014, 4:02 pm
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Woodwind watches Gleam nervously for a several moments, half
expecting the unicorn to just know at a glance whether the
asteroid had been discovered before or not. When it turns out he
can't in fact identify it immediately, Woodwind turns his
attention back to the observatory. He wonders just how many
discoveries have been made here. He'd bet it's a lot. He looks
back over at Gleam, now wondering if any of them had been made
by the old unicorn. Maybe he'd ask, if he didn't chew them out.
He looks over at Gladius, putting on a small smile, though he
was still quite nervous. 'It's awesome.' He taps, looking up at
the big telescope again. 'I wish I could have a chance to use
it.' He lets out a small sigh before turning his attention back
to Gladius. 'What do you think of it? Have you ever been up here
before?'
#Post#: 2349--------------------------------------------------
Re: Burning the Midnight Oil
By: Gladius Date: April 24, 2014, 3:22 pm
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"Hey, maybe you will once we clear this whole thing up? I think
you'd deserve at least that for your discovery." Gladius said
with a smile. "Um... I think a couple times? I don't recall ever
having actually come inside, but I do remember either es orting
or meeting pokies outside the doors. I could just be wrong
though. Since I'm here in the castle a lot for my job the rooms
around here sometimes blend together a bit. Eventually it just
all starts to look 'normal' or 'the same', you know?" Gladius
glanced around the room, him recognizing that it was indeed
impressive - as any room in the castle should be - but not
entirely hyped about it as such places were simply common here.
He gave a small chuckle as he had all of this remind him of the
first time he'd seen the throne room to the castle. His jaw had
dropped at the sight of it. It was such an amazing thing to
see... the first time. Now, after having given his fair share of
shifts guarding the dang place, he sometimes fantasized about
the whole place collapsing in a sudden earthquake, just cause
then he'd have an excuse not to have to stare at it any more.
Eh, well, such was his job so what was he gonna do?
A clearing of a throat brought Gladius' attention back over to
the unicorn in the room, the long having apparently turned back
to face them while he'd lost himself in thought.
"Initials and date of birth?" Gleam asked Windy with no
explanation.
"Uh....what for?" Gladius asked out of curiosity, not even
earning a glance from the older pony when he received a
response.
"Because there are too many asteroids out there to give actual
names so we just label them with a jumble of letters and numbers
to be done with it." Gleam both answered and confirmed Windy's
claim all at once, "You can, of course, name it whatever you
want if that's not 'cool' enough for you, but try not to give it
some silly name. 'The Ultimate Planet Cracker' or 'Devastatingly
Amazing Rock of the Stars' are dumb names and won't make anyone
think your 'hip' or whatever."
#Post#: 2351--------------------------------------------------
Re: Burning the Midnight Oil
By: Luna Date: April 24, 2014, 6:50 pm
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A chuckle comes from the doorway. "Besides, most of those names
are taken by myself. Unofficially, of course." In strides the
Princess of the night, mane sparkling and flowing behind her.
She wears her usual regalia, silver shoes with her moon crest
around her neck. She's flanked by a pair of the Night Guard.
They stop just inside, taking up positions on either side of the
door to stare forward, stern and stonefaced, unmoving.
Once inside, Luna makes a beeline for the large telescope,
taking time to nod to the other occupants as she goes. "Good
evening, Gleam. At your ease, guard. And yourself, citizen,"
she says on her way. "Please pardon me, all, I'll be but a
moment." Ah, these cursed meetings. She'd had something to
write down since she left, and if she doesn't get it down soon,
it'll be gone, just like that! She may remember it later, but
she could never be sure of it. Honestly, how does Tia sit
through all of those ghastly proceedings? There are far more
during the day than at night, but they still wear at her
patience. A quill and book lying on a desk nearby rise up,
caught in the glow of her magic, and just as she puts the end to
the page...
Her mind goes blank.
Confound it! A look of frustration finds its way onto her face.
"Zounds and sassafrass," she mutters under her breath before
peering into the telescope once more.
#Post#: 2385--------------------------------------------------
Re: Burning the Midnight Oil
By: Woodwind Date: April 25, 2014, 4:56 pm
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Woodwind looks up at the big telescope again, wishing it really
would work that way. Of course all he'd spotted was a small
asteroid, definitely not anything significant enough for much of
a reward. He gives a slight nod, looking back at Gladius. He's
not really surprised the guard seems less impressed with the
observatory, already having shown he wasn't especially
interested in astronomy. He continues to look around the room as
Gladius falls silent, until Gleam clears his throat and asks for
his initials and date of birth. It takes Woodwind a second for
the question to properly register, and then the pegasus' face
breaks into a wide grin and his previous nerves instantly
disappear. He'd discovered an asteroid! As quick as he can,
Woodwind goes to his notebook and writes 'WW1120', barely paying
attention to what Gleam's saying about the name. The new voice
gets his attention though, and he turns around an instantly bows
when he sees Luna standing in the doorway. He's not sure just
how long he should stay that way, not daring to look up in case
he somehow offends the princess of the night. Would she get mad
at him for no showing the proper respect? Was he bowing too
long? Would she get upset if he did? He silents frets for
several more moments before Luna tells him to be at ease, and he
slowly comes out of his bow. It's really Princess Luna! He can't
help but stare as she walks over to the big telescope. He'd only
ever seen Celestia from a distance before, and now he was in the
same room as Luna! After a moment he realizes he's staring, and
tears his gaze away from her to look over at Gleam and Gladius,
who are obviously much more used to being in the presence of a
princess. A slight blush of embarrassment colors his cheeks, and
he hunches over slightly, carefully keeping his eyes off the
princess in case he seems rude.
#Post#: 2441--------------------------------------------------
Re: Burning the Midnight Oil
By: Gladius Date: April 29, 2014, 9:42 am
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"Princess!" Gladius immediately acknowledged, snapping to
attention and giving a salute that stayed strong until he was
given permission to drop it, though he remained rather
disciplined in how he was standing when in her presence despite
her urging to be at ease. If it had been Princess Celestia then
he may have taken her words as a pleasant order, but Gladius
still wasn't used to Princess Luna, the younger - heh - of the
two royal sisters being a pony he hadn't had much opportunity to
interact with himself since shed returned only around a year
ago. He'd been in her presence before, of course, but his duties
normally revolved around the day shift which severely limited
his chances of being around the night princess herself. He of
course had no problem with her, it was just that spending his
entire career serving one princess made the transition of now
having to show the same level of respect he had to Princess
Celestia feel a bit... awkward. Mostly because he wasn't always
sure if he was doing it right. All that loud yelling when shed
first returned didn't really help when it came to first
impressions either... Also, he almost gave an "oooooh" when the
Princess unknowingly did him a favor by mentioning the older
pony's name, Gladius having still been a bit unsure about it.
"Evening, Princess," was Gleam's much less awkward and far more
casual response, the older pony treating the presence of the
royal pony as if she was just another night owl looking to
prolong his absence from his alchemical experiments, a roll of
his eyes being quite obvious when she claimed the silly names
he'd listed off as being hers. Unlike Gladius, Gleam had adapted
very quickly to the new princess when shed returned, though his
reasoning behind it was simply that he was too darn old for it
to warrant worry.
The wide grin shining on Woodwind and his string excitment had
bounced off of the cold carapace that was Gleam's lack of
empathy like a bee-bee pellet against a brick wall. He levitated
the notebook up close enough to himself to be able to read it as
he walked back towards the tables he'd been near moments ago,
this fun discovery for the young pegasus who'd made it being
much less interesting to the older pony, though he was at least
a little... well... not "glad" really, but... less annoyed now
that it had been proven that this hadn't been a complete waste
of his time.
The muttering and apparent frustration from the princess in the
room earned a slightly raised eyebrow from Gleam that could be
glimpsed from his brief glance back towards the alicorn before
he about making the appropriate notes and marking required for
recording the existence of the new "WW1120" asteroid.
"Problem, Princess? Did that Ferret character smear ink on the
eyepiece, or put a sticker of a falling asteroid on the lens
again?" Theold unicorn asked while Gladius, again noticing how
Windy was at the moment, gently bumped his should against the
other stallion's to get his attention and again tried to urge
him to relax. As far as Gladius knew, Princess Luna was
relatively friendly towards civilians after a certain...
incident involving intimidating a small town taught her a few
things. Wasn't there himself, but, you know.
#Post#: 2446--------------------------------------------------
Re: Burning the Midnight Oil
By: Luna Date: April 29, 2014, 1:10 pm
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"Nay, Gleam," Luna responds, making a minute adjustment to the
settings on the telescope. "Or not within the time since we
were previously here. We mer- I merely held an intention to
make note of something and held it within my memory for the
extent of the weekly hearing," she motions to the book, quill
still set against the page in anticipation or irritation, one of
the two, "only to have it flee our mind the instant we put our
pen to the page. It doth make us wonder if-" She stops
speaking and a slow smile replaces her defeated scowl as she
adjust the eyepiece again. "Of course, 'twas that! How could
that pass our mind?" The pen moves furiously against the page
for a couple of seconds before a heavily bookmarked book rises
from a nearby desk and flips open. She peers at it, then into
the lens again before the pen makes a few more marks.
"Equestria is in for a treat," she says, walking from the
stargazing instrument over to the desk, shuffling papers and
reorganizing. "In a week's time, a beautiful meteor shower
shall grace the skies. There will be some rather large ones,
though none we believe to threaten an impact, merely of
sufficient size to grant us a marvelous show. And," Luna
continues, turning towards the other three, "we he- I hear a
young astronomy enthusiast has discovered a new asteroid."
Didn't she tell him to be at ease? Maybe he mistook her meaning
earlier. "Please, child, do not fear thy prin- your princess."
Ugh, this newfangled way of speaking trips her up every time.
How long would it take for her to learn it? "'Twould please us
t- me to see your discovery, if I may."
#Post#: 2463--------------------------------------------------
Re: Burning the Midnight Oil
By: Woodwind Date: April 30, 2014, 2:31 pm
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Woodwind's eyes quickly latch onto the older pony when he takes
his notebook again, glad for something to focus on rather than
looking anxiously around the room. At least the thought of the
asteroid he'd discovered helped soothe his nerves a bit, the
pegasus very proud of himself despite his continuing distress.
He hadn't heard the princess' greeting the older unicorn the
first time, but he catches it when she addresses him now, and he
can't help but look over at her when she starts talking about
the meteor shower. A small smile manages to form on his face at
that news, the light brown pegasus having always loved watching
those, and from the sound of it this one would be especially
spectacular. Maybe he could get Star to join him this time,
though his sister usually didn't like staying up so late. He
could probably convince mom and Clair to come watch too, though
someponies would have to take turns sharing their sight with the
younger pony... He's brought out of these thoughts by Gladius
nudging his shoulder, and he gives the guard a weak smile. This
quickly vanishes when Luna addresses him directly, and he
shrinks down some more under her gaze. He does try to relax at
her request, taking a few deep breaths and forcing himself to
straighten up, though it only partially helps his nerves. He
nods several times when she asks to see the asteroid he'd found,
and as he rises to his hooves there's a slight shake to his
legs. He hurries over to the smaller telescope, his own in it's
case being left on the floor by Gladius. As quick as he can
manage, he looks through the telescope and makes sure the
asteroid is properly in focus, before stepping back to let Luna
look.
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