First demonstration of the reharmonization effect in an chaos-derived spatial contraction field, inside of an atmosphere.
For submission to the Defensive Equipment Research Program Association, aka, DERPA.
These are the documented shenanigans four engineering students got up to that ended up leading to a large number of submissions to DERPA, revealed through a Freedom of Information Act request. The Equestrian Communications Commission were not pleased with the foul language contained within and actively intervened to hinder the release of this information.
Chapters (7)
Ooh, drill press, I like that idea... Though I'm not sure where I'd put one... Maybe if I put some shelving in the one semi-open corner left (between my drafting table (with Vemco V-Track) and a wall one direction and between the desk holding my 58" HDTV (that I mostly use as a computer monitor) and the wall in the other direction)... Perhaps that would clear off the dresser... Though by that point I might as well put in a mini-mill, much more versatile. (Then again, if I had a Bridgeport mill, and enough room for one, and a way to power it (these rooms don't come with 3-phase as far as I know), and a way to get it up to the 4th floor... Yeah, I'd probably try to find a way to wedge that in someplace too. And maybe install a ProtoTRAK EMX or SMX retrofit kit on it, too... )
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You sir, an interesting character. I'm afraid that I'd be more like Quantum here, going over to a friend who owns a drill press. I've got at least two places I can get access to them. Though I do own a power drill, and a power drywall screwdriver... So if I'm in need of a drill press, I'm probably working on something a lot more precise than normal, and hopefully had wits about me enough to ask for help.
A CNC Mill would be rather nice, though. Hmm.
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Oh! I've seen some kits out there to convert a Harbor Freight mini mill into a CNC model... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bE8H03_XoKE http://makezine.com/projects/cnc-mini-mill-conversion-kit-hardware/ (Though I'd probably get some of those handwheels where the handle can be folded in for CNC mode so that I could still run it manually though, rather than removing the handwheels entirely like most of the CNC conversions do.)
Though to be fair, a vertical mill can do basically anything a drill press can (and usually more accurately as well), but trying to add X/Y axes to a drill press is a bad idea because the bearings in those aren't meant to be side loaded and will fail pretty badly. (A mill can also manage a decent number of lathe tasks if you get creative about it.)
(looks title, then at character tags) So... Derpy isn't going to appear in this story?
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Unless I can figure out a way to rope Ms. Derpy Hooves in... I'm afraid not. This is just a story of a few students, doing somethings that are potentially very dumb, and inside of a really silly universe I have somehow built in my mind and need to get it out of. I could probably even have made it without the ponies and griffins and changelings and such... But it's just so cute with them. And I need to get it outside of my head.
Smells like an old idea of mine, The D.R.P.(Dark Rainbow Project).
Yes. Aerospike for the win!
You mean one of their flight suit tests didn't involve crashing a stolen statue into something with the suit?? What sort of rocket suit development is this?!?
Huh, I slide up my glasses to work with small details on things too... Occasionally with electronics, often with drafting.
Is Twefy 'fi Oson's full name 25501?
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BINGO! I encoded the numerals as a near-enough sounding name. Ponies get descriptive names, Gryphons have their classical names, but changelings? Either it'd be something like that, or I would have to find a book on entomology.
7634847 Well, we have canon evidence that changeling names may be insect related. Chrysalis and Thorax. Though since one is a Queen and the other is atypical for a changeling, they may both be exceptions. Thorax may have taken a personal name as a way to distance himself from regular changelings, and Chrysalis may have that as her reign name to identify her from any other queens. (though if you accept the IDW Fiendship is Magic comic, there are no other hives and Chrysalis has been Queen since the race was spawned.)
Also, if Thorax had wanted a human sounding name, would he be called Chester?
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But I really don't want to review entomology right now... The "Choose your name!" trick seems like a good enough excuse. It would have it's consequences, though. It might be difficult to participate in, say, "Oson's day", or "Ellen's Day", or so forth, where all the changelings with the same last two digits get together to have some cake and a good chat. Perhaps even some dancing.
The last "Svento" party was pretty off the hook. The "Sventre" are planning to show them up this year.
Edit: just noticed the name "Chester" was a joke based on "Thorax". Well played.
The Agency has rated this invention 3 Derpy butts out of 5. Points docked for insufficient collateral damage and knowing what went wrong
Guys. I think I just found Quantum's theme song:
Ahh, he said it!
Also, I request a spinoff about the megazord changeling cheer squad.
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Ha, it was actually more inspired by this...
I don't know if I can do that, but I'll think about it... Till then, just imagine a changeling cheerleading squad fighting off quezacotls.
All. My. Want.
Overall, I found this story dense, meandering, and a quite accurate representation of college. Would read again.
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I'm really glad to hear that it sounds an awful lot like college. My own life got a lot weirder after going to college - I guess I'm still there, I'm not a very good student - but if we had access to strange magic like this, you damn well know we would've got up to shenanigans.
Like, I emptied our house with capsaicin by cooking peppers wrong, I melted a coffee pot, we melted part of a ceramic plate in a microwave oven, we built a snow statue that made the school eliminate it's site in favor of a rock garden it was so ugly, we have found so many wonderful bits of technology and so forth in the dumpsters - bloody hell, I found a five minute VHS tape about 'FAA large bird impact test', and we still get chuckles watching it. I've help build trebuchets and I've given my dead fish viking/pizza-box-tower funerals.
Then get in touch with the right professors, and you get access to liquid nitrogen at like, .7$/L. Bloody. Hell. And then there's the college radio station, where they let any bewildered freshman on the air. Gracious mine, that's how I found some of the most amazing weird stuff I like - I really lucked out with finding Ayreon, and the Protomen.
Oh gods above and below, don't even start with what we've tried with "What can we roll down the street in this parade?" That parade didn't even have floats till we pirated it two years in a row. Literally. We dressed up as pirates and jumped in somewhere.
I can't say this story was at all inspired by real-life events, because of magic and chaos and ponies. BUT, if I were in this world, it'd probably play out like this.
You know - if these guys didn't get a job with the Equestrian Government, they could get one with either Aperture Science or Veridian Dynamics...
You need to have a proofreader help you with this; what you have here is wonderful, I'm enjoying it a lot, but when I see things like "probable" when you mean "probably" just brings the thing downs bit...
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Oh dear goodness, yes. I need an editor something awful, and I've had that very typo pointed out in other things I've written because I didn't even realize I was doing it. I'd be happy to go back and fix it sometime soon.