The First Second of Eternity
This is the culmination of an idea that was bouncing around in my head for months before the wonderfully talented http://www.furaffinity.net/user/anthonyavon brought it to life. [B]Please go watch him, he's a great artist and a great guy![/B] And fave the original at http://www.furaffinity.net/view/22781401/
This idea is based on the short little story about the Shepherd's Boy by the Brothers Grimm, which I was first exposed to in my favorite episode of Doctor Who:
[I]"There’s this emperor, and he asks the shepherd’s boy, 'How many seconds in eternity?' And the shepherd’s boy says, ‘There’s this mountain of pure diamond. It takes an hour to climb it, and an hour to go around it. And every hundred years a little bird comes and sharpens its beak on the diamond mountain. And when the entire mountain is chiseled away, the first second of eternity will have passed!’
You may think that’s a hell of a long time. Personally, I think that’s a hell of a bird."[/I]
When I came across another reference in [I]Good Omens[/I] where Aziraphale and Crowley, a drunk angel and demon, talk about this diamond mountain, I knew I wanted to do something with the idea:
[I]“I mean, d'you know what eternity is? There's this big mountain, see, a mile high, at the end of the universe, and once every thousand years there's this little bird-"
"What little bird?" said Aziraphale suspiciously.
"This little bird I'm talking about. And every thousand years-"
"The same bird every thousand years?"
Crowley hesitated. "Yeah," he said.
"Bloody ancient bird, then."
"Okay. And every thousand years this bird flies-"
"-limps-"
"-flies all the way to this mountain and sharpens its beak-"
"Hold on. You can't do that. Between here and the end of the universe there's loads of-" The angel waved a hand expansively, if a little unsteadily. "Loads of buggerall, dear boy."
"But it gets there anyway," Crowley persevered.
"How?"
"It doesn't matter!"
"It could use a space ship," said the angel.
Crowley subsided a bit. "Yeah," he said. "If you like. Anyway, this bird-"
"Only it is the end of the universe we're talking about," said Aziraphale. "So it'd have to be one of those space ships where your descendants are the ones who get out at the other end. You have to tell your descendants, you say, When you get to the Mountain, you've got to-" He hesitated. "What have
they got to do?"
"Sharpen its beak on the mountain," said Crowley. "And then it flies back-"
"-in the space ship-"
"And after a thousand years it goes and does it all again," said Crowley quickly.
There was a moment of drunken silence.
"Seems a lot of effort just to sharpen a beak," mused Aziraphale.
"Listen," said Crowley urgently, "the point is that when the bird has worn the mountain down to nothing, right, then-"
Aziraphale opened his mouth. Crowley just knew he was going to make some point about the relative hardness of birds' beaks and granite mountains, and plunged on quickly.
"-then you still won't have finished watching The Sound of Music."
Aziraphale froze.
"And you'll enjoy it," Crowley said relentlessly. "You really will."
"My dear boy-"
"You won't have a choice."
"Listen-"
"Heaven has no taste."
"Now-"
"And not one single sushi restaurant."
A look of pain crossed the angel's suddenly very serious face.”[/I]
So there's my time mage dragon wearing away a diamond mountain!
[I]"This is the final test to show your mastery of temporal manipulation. This diamond mountain - you must wear it away into dust. The test is two-fold, a challenge of magical prowess and skill. One, you must have the raw strength of mind to fast forward the billions of years necessary to weather away the mountain, and then reverse it for the next mage to prove his mettle. Two, you must maintain the target of the mountain and keep the spell localized between you and the diamond. If your bubble of temporal alteration expands too far, you risk experiencing first-hand the end of the world, the supernova of the local sun, or if you lose control billions of years in, the collision of planets and galaxies."[/I] - Cel, on the Test of Eternity
This idea is based on the short little story about the Shepherd's Boy by the Brothers Grimm, which I was first exposed to in my favorite episode of Doctor Who:
[I]"There’s this emperor, and he asks the shepherd’s boy, 'How many seconds in eternity?' And the shepherd’s boy says, ‘There’s this mountain of pure diamond. It takes an hour to climb it, and an hour to go around it. And every hundred years a little bird comes and sharpens its beak on the diamond mountain. And when the entire mountain is chiseled away, the first second of eternity will have passed!’
You may think that’s a hell of a long time. Personally, I think that’s a hell of a bird."[/I]
When I came across another reference in [I]Good Omens[/I] where Aziraphale and Crowley, a drunk angel and demon, talk about this diamond mountain, I knew I wanted to do something with the idea:
[I]“I mean, d'you know what eternity is? There's this big mountain, see, a mile high, at the end of the universe, and once every thousand years there's this little bird-"
"What little bird?" said Aziraphale suspiciously.
"This little bird I'm talking about. And every thousand years-"
"The same bird every thousand years?"
Crowley hesitated. "Yeah," he said.
"Bloody ancient bird, then."
"Okay. And every thousand years this bird flies-"
"-limps-"
"-flies all the way to this mountain and sharpens its beak-"
"Hold on. You can't do that. Between here and the end of the universe there's loads of-" The angel waved a hand expansively, if a little unsteadily. "Loads of buggerall, dear boy."
"But it gets there anyway," Crowley persevered.
"How?"
"It doesn't matter!"
"It could use a space ship," said the angel.
Crowley subsided a bit. "Yeah," he said. "If you like. Anyway, this bird-"
"Only it is the end of the universe we're talking about," said Aziraphale. "So it'd have to be one of those space ships where your descendants are the ones who get out at the other end. You have to tell your descendants, you say, When you get to the Mountain, you've got to-" He hesitated. "What have
they got to do?"
"Sharpen its beak on the mountain," said Crowley. "And then it flies back-"
"-in the space ship-"
"And after a thousand years it goes and does it all again," said Crowley quickly.
There was a moment of drunken silence.
"Seems a lot of effort just to sharpen a beak," mused Aziraphale.
"Listen," said Crowley urgently, "the point is that when the bird has worn the mountain down to nothing, right, then-"
Aziraphale opened his mouth. Crowley just knew he was going to make some point about the relative hardness of birds' beaks and granite mountains, and plunged on quickly.
"-then you still won't have finished watching The Sound of Music."
Aziraphale froze.
"And you'll enjoy it," Crowley said relentlessly. "You really will."
"My dear boy-"
"You won't have a choice."
"Listen-"
"Heaven has no taste."
"Now-"
"And not one single sushi restaurant."
A look of pain crossed the angel's suddenly very serious face.”[/I]
So there's my time mage dragon wearing away a diamond mountain!
[I]"This is the final test to show your mastery of temporal manipulation. This diamond mountain - you must wear it away into dust. The test is two-fold, a challenge of magical prowess and skill. One, you must have the raw strength of mind to fast forward the billions of years necessary to weather away the mountain, and then reverse it for the next mage to prove his mettle. Two, you must maintain the target of the mountain and keep the spell localized between you and the diamond. If your bubble of temporal alteration expands too far, you risk experiencing first-hand the end of the world, the supernova of the local sun, or if you lose control billions of years in, the collision of planets and galaxies."[/I] - Cel, on the Test of Eternity
8 years ago
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