Relaxing at the Dam

Icarus was thinking.

Fishing was great for that, Really. You just Sat down, Put Your Pole in the water, and thought. If you Caught something, You end up putting it back, Simple as that.

So, With a Line in the water, Icarus Sat and pondered.

Splash.

A pause, then...

splik-splik-splik-splash.

Intel walked along the bank, eyes focusing on the water in concentration.

splik-splik-splash.

Intel stopped his experiments to look up at the sky. Doing so, he spotted a familiar face.

"Hey, there!"

Icarus looked up From his thoughts with a smile. "W-Well, Hey! D-Doing a little b-better, I-I see!" He said, waving.

Intel levitated another stone. "Yes, yes, I'm alright today. Hopefully I'll be able to sleep in my own bed for once!"

Now did this work again...

Enchanting the pebble, Intel threw it across the water, where it skimmed. But the enchantment caused the pebble to slightly deviate its direction when it hit the water, causing the skimming stone to travel in a circle, back to...

splash

"Oh, darn it."

Icarus watched, interested. "W-Whatcha doin'?"

"Skimming stones," Intel muttered, "Or rather trying to get both the enchantment and the throw right, so that the stone would skim in a circle back to the bank."

He then looked up at the sky again, where some pegasi were moving clouds.

"But most of all, I'm waiting for it to rain."

Icarus blinked. "R-Rain?" Icarus then looked up. "... Huh. S-So it is..." Icarus said, starting to reel in his line. "T-Take t-the week o-off... I-I'll b-bring you y-your cut t-to make sure you r-relax."

"What? No! I need to work, my mind cannot lie idle."

Intel looked at the dam. "That's why I'm here, really, to check out the dam, and also to think on the AME."

He levitated another pebble and threw it. It was a bad throw.

splash.

Icarus nodded, Sighing. "I-I'm n-not telling you t-to N-Not t-to think... J-Just... R-Relax a l-little t-too, o-okay?" He said, putting the pole and the other fishing gear in a saddle bag.

Intel looked at Icarus strangely. "Wait were you fishing? Here?"

He looked at the dam, then at Icarus. At the dam. At Icarus. Then at the stream.

"There's fish? Here?"

Icarus nods. "E-Eeyup. Lots o-of fish... I-It's a-almost f-famous f-for fishercolts..." He said, Smiling warmly.

"So, you're a fisher and a flyer..." Intel muttered, glaring at the stream.

"I can't see anything. Are you sure? I thought fish didn't swim around dams."

Icarus nodded. " T-There's s-some fish h-here... N-Not a w-whole lot, b-but a l-lot of n-nutrients m-make this g-great f-for huge f-fish." He said, smiling.

"So, is there some kind of giant mythical monster fish around here?" Intel joked, levitating and enchanting another pebble. He threw it.

Splik-splik-splik-splik...

Intel didn't really get the whole 'zen' behind fishing. If you were going to just sit around thinking all day, why bring in the unnescessary fish into things?

...splik-splik-splik-splik...

At least with Intel's stone skipping, there was some challenge to do, and with a little magic...

...splik-splik-splik-splik- "Gotcha." Intel smiled as he caught the stone with his hoof.

...you could do something amazing.

The enchanted stone hit the water a total of 27 times, its enchantment making it travel in a complete circle back to Intel.

Iccy gave a smile and clapped when Intel made the circle. "T-That w-was cool! I-I could n-never get t-them t-to skip..."

"It's all about the angle, so I've been told," Intel said, "20 degrees, or something like that. Skipping stones in a circle is actually a good way to practice telekinesis, and enchanting the pebble is a good way to practice, well, enchantment. I was just making sure I still got it, after..."

Intel paused. "Well, I won't be drinking again anytime soon, at least."

Icarus nodded, sighing. "T-That's t-true..."

"So, how's..." A single drop fell onto Intel's horn. It was followed by a steady increase of droplets, a lot of which made droplets in the river forming many patterns. Intel sighed.

"...how are the others? How's Shala? Is she alright, despite my stupidity?"

Icarus nodded, frowning slightly. "S-Something s-seems t-to be b-bothering her... b-but only s-she c-can d-decide t-to s-share it." He said, nodding. "A-And E-Everypony d-does s-stupid t-things..." He added, smiling. "L-Like s-stand out i-in the rain. W-Who are w-we, s-some E-Emo C-Colt-band?" He joked, heading to town.

"Yeah, no." Intel laughed. So the mechanic had a sense of humour. Throwing the pebble in the river (splash), he also started to head to town.

Water flows through the turbines, causing the cold iron to move in the conventional magic field, creating 'tame lightning' or electrical energy. Not very efficient at all, and requires a river. Cold iron, though, that might be useful. Pity that the rain... Wait.

"Icarus, you said that atmosphere magic was primarily to do with clouds and stuff like that, right?"

Icarus nods. "M-More along t-the lines of m-making c-clouds f-feel s-solid, w-which c-can be done b-by m-magic on a p-pony, y-yes."

The gears in Intel's head started turning as he formulated. "I saw a strange rainbow-maned pony flying about with a cloud, making it rain or strike lightning. Does that come under the heading of atmosphere magic, or is it something else entirely?"

Icarus nods. "I-If a p-pegasus does it, It p-probably does f-fall under it." He said, nodding.

"...And ponies can be enchanted to fly, or walk on clouds..." Intel muttered, a smile creeping across his face, "And what are clouds made mostly out of? Water. Yet they can also form lightning, the same result as cold iron moving in a unicorn magic field. What makes lightning clouds different to normal rain clouds?"

He was definitely going to the library after this.

Icarus nodded, thinking. "Y-You're o-on to s-something h-here..." He stated, grinning.