January 10
When I got up in the morning, Peggy wasn't in her bed and it didn't look like it had been slept in at all. Sometimes parties run late—she probably stayed there rather than come all the way home.
I had breakfast with Christine, and then Aric showed up and asked me how I had liked the story. I told him that it was very good and that I had also read Boobs. He got a kind of funny look on his face, and Christine just laughed and accused him of corrupting me.
I don't see how it would corrupt me. I know it's made-up; humans don't really turn into wolves when the moon is full. If they did, somepony would have told me, right?
Since I wasn't sure, I asked, and both Christine and Aric agreed that humans don't turn into wolves, that it's just mythology which is a kind of made-up story.
We were on the topic of made-up stories, and Christine was wearing a shirt that had a picture of a man in a beard holding a light-sword that looked similar to the picture which she had on her Facebook. I asked her about that mythology and she got a little gleam in her eyes and said that I hadn't seen Star Wars and she was going to have to show it to me and if I wasn't doing anything tonight, I could come over to her dorm room and she'd let me watch one of the movies with her.
So I said that was a good idea. I'd learned that humans love watching movies and I was eager to have the opportunity so soon. They had made thousands of them, so I wouldn't get a chance to see them all.
After breakfast, I went trotting around the neighborhood, and when I was good and lathered I rolled around in the snow in a little triangle of land between two roads. The snow there is nice and fairly untouched, and I didn't shake myself off when I was done, 'cause some of the snow would melt and cool me off a little bit.
When I got back to the dorm, I was eager to try out my new mane and tail shampoo, but I had to wait because Ruth was in there and humans don't like sharing showers. Her hair is a pinkish-red right now, and Peggy said that she dyes it different colors, but I didn't see any of those colors at Meijer so she must get them somewhere else.
Ruth came out of the shower with a bundle of clothes in one hand and a basket full of shower supplies in the other. She was wearing a white robe and had her towel knotted around her hair. It must be inconvenient to have to carry around clothes all the time. I'm glad I don't have to worry about that.
Peggy came back when I was sitting on my bed, preening my wings. She looked kind of bedraggled and smelled like smoke and beer and sweaty people. She grabbed up her shower supplies and went into the bathroom.
When she came out, she looked and smelled much better. She put on panties and her lounge pants and a heavy shirt that said 'Old Navy' and then got the basket where she put her clothes after she had worn them and said she was going to go do laundry and wondered if I wanted to come along.
I've never seen laundry done, so I thought it would be fun.
Down in the basement of the dorm is a small room with machines that wash your clothes. There were lots of other clothes in the room, and a few bicycles as well. Peggy said people leave their bikes in the laundry room even though they're not supposed to. And she said that a lot of times they got abandoned there, and at the end of the year, someone would come and take away all the abandoned bicycles and then give them to people who needed a bicycle.
She started the washing machines, and showed me how to add detergent then let me do it on the second one. While they filled with water, she sorted her clothes into two piles, and put one in each machine.
Then she said that we should go back to the room until the clothes were done washing and she could put them in the dryer.
So we spent most of the afternoon relaxing and looking at Facebook (I got more friends!), and we also went back down to the laundry room to put the clothes in the dryer, which is kind of like a tumbling oven, and when we got them out later they were warm and soft.
After dinner I went to Christine's room. She lives in a suite, which has four rooms and its own bathroom and a lounge where people can gather, and I really liked it.
There was a big round chair she called a papasan that I stretched out in, and she sat on a couch. I liked the papasan because it was kind of like a cloud.
It was a really exciting movie. I didn't understand the whole story, but there was a princess who was trying to help her people and an evil Darth who was doing bad things like blowing up planets. Humans can't really blow up planets.
There were a couple of smart machines which Christine said were called robots or droids. One of them was very polite and the other one only talked in little beeps.
It's amazing that humans can make all that stuff up. I think that they're all very lonely because there aren't any other smart creatures on their planet. We don't always get along with our fellow species, but I think Equestria would be very sad without them.
Except for dragons Dragons have their place, too. We wouldn't have good metals for trains and stuff if it weren't for the dragonforges.
She said that there were more movies, and a new one was playing at a movie theater but it wouldn't be for much longer. So we decided that since there were five more movies, we could watch one of them each night, and then go to the movie theater next Saturday night.
I'm a little bit worried about it cutting into my coursework, but I think it's as important to learn about human customs as schoolwork (and besides the sometimes confusing terminology, cloud class Climate Science is really easy).
Aye, there's the rub.
Starting with the fourth Star Wars? Good!
Let her enjoy the really enjoyable stuff!
Yeah, the fact that we're seemingly alone in the universe has made us really fascinated with the idea of other civilisations out there. Whether they are benevolent or malevolent, we love making stories about them.
Might explain this site...
Not yet we can't, give us time.
Yeah this is fairly accurate. I think part of the problem is that we're sick of each other as well.
Also true. For all the speculative fiction about aliens and other sentient life forms out there I think the reality would be less than perfect. We can't even get along with each other very well, the odds of us being able to coexist with other species doesn't seem very likely. I'd bet money that we would have tried to destroy any other intelligent inhabitants of earth long ago (or they would have done the same to us).
I remember the original Star Wars. 1977. I was 6.
When I saw Star Wars in the title the opening music started playing in my head.
I think it might be even more important to watch movies than to do course work in this scenario. What is Silver Glow here to do other than learn about human culture and how to get along with us?
Why doesn't this story also have a comedy tag. There certainly are enough funny parts of it to warrant one.
"Forever alone."
-Humanity
Star Wars is dead, thanks to Disney.
She should have showed her The Three Villains of the Hidden Fortress.
Interesting. Though, pretty sure the dragons aren't as on peaceful enough terms to have dragonforges. ...though, they'd likely be pretty good at such a task.
7005888
Ain't that the truth...
I kind of want to her run across the concept of Epileptic Trees with the theory about Jar Jar being the Sith Behind the Throne. But that's because I'm a terrible person
7005891
I actually posed that question to a forum, since while I am old enough to have watched one of the original movies in the theatre, younger people might have a different sense of the franchise. The majority of them suggested watching them in the order they were released.
7005891 Then pass her the really good stuff. Heir to the Empire, Rogue Squadron, Jedi Search, Survivor's Quest, so many others. Courtship of Princess Leia, Truce at Bakura, I, Jedi. Get her in good with Zahn, Stackpole, and Allston. Then put the prequel trilogy up next to Darksaber and debate which one is more painful. (The correct answer is the prequels).
7005902
It's an interesting question whether tales of fantastic beings would come about if there really were fantastic beings. Would the ponies invent a rich mythology of fantastic creatures, or is their own biodiversity so great that there's no reason to?
7005932
Of course, we can demote planets.
media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/c1/86/26/c18626c19185104d2b78c7bd7e088686.jpg
Or maybe that would be the thing that finally brought us all together.
Didn't our ancestors more or less wipe out the Neanderthals? I might be misremembering that.
7005941
Well, you've got six years on me.
The first one I saw in the theatre was Return of the Jedi.
7005959
College is about many things, and so are foreign exchange programs. I know I learned a lot of stuff in college that had nothing whatsoever to do with my actual classes. But at the end of the day, I also came away with a degree.
Learn about human philosophy and history and poetry and maybe some other stuff. Discover the wonders of the FAA, learn about computers and electronics and other things that ponies don't have, and make a value judgement on what lessons she's learned in the USA that ought to be implemented in Equestria, and what innovations ought to be guarded against.
One of the things I learned in my time abroad is that traffic circles are more efficient than normal intersections, but one of the things stopping their widespread adaptation in the US is nobody over here can figure out how they're supposed to work.
7005961
It's not supposed to be thought of as a comedy. I suppose I can put that to the readers at large, and if a majority think it ought to have one, I'll add it.
7006062
Why not? Given their size, they'd have no trouble snacking on ponies if they wanted to, so there must be some kind of peace treaty.
I think it's reasonable that the elder dragons give the ponies raw ores, and the ponies in return give them gems to eat.
7006207 From what we've seen, the dragons(with the exception of a few shown in comics) are nearly all mostly wild, preferring lives on their own and whatnot.
Now, a peace treaty? That I can agree with. But, though they certainly have the capacity to be good at forge making and the like, all we've seen points to the fact that the idea to them just doesn't interest them. Heck, WHY would the dragons even forge metals when their scales can already survive lava? Sure, they have the CAPACITY to be great at making metals and ores, but there's no reason for them to delve into that potential role.
7006223
I would imagine Equestria pays pretty well. In gems.
You can't turn metal into gems, so what are the dragons going to do with it? Seems like a pretty good trade.
7006254 Heh. Like I said. Could they make such? Yes. Would they? They would have had no reason to LEARN how to forge metals. And if they had no reason to learn, then they wouldn't be famed for metal working, and in turn, there's no reason to pay them in gems to make metals. Simple common sense if you think about it.
...though paying them in gems likely occurred early on, in order to get them to not attack. I'm guessing they found another way to get their elders to make a peace treaty though. Possibly some sort of respect thing, since we've seen that dragons respect strength and toughness, etc.
7006262
You are assuming that no single dragon in the history of ever, decided to try using his fire for something new.
7006274 That much is true. In the comics, there's a small group of city folk dragons. However, from what we've seen, the common majority of dragons are wild. So, the concept of common dragonforges is still unlikely.
....now, there being a few rare, renowned skill dragon forgers... that's a potential possibility, since a minority of dragons could explore venues different than the common majority. Though even then, likely not enough for dragonforges to be commonplace, especially since that'd be just one of countless potential venues they could look into for working.
7006186 It is kind of a bummer though. Everything I listened to during high school is now on the oldies radio station.
7006184
Earth was not a mono-sapience planet; we shared it with other hominids. Homo sapiens wiped out the Neanderthals and the Hobbits.
7005987
I took the opportunity to tour the ATC facility in Springfield, Missouri once. The Class C facility was radar-equipped, and the controller pointed out some areas where the radar was told to ignore returns, because it would pick up traffic on the interstate, which would cause confusion with intermittent returns.
Every blip on the radar had a primary return, which was the reflection of the radar off the aircraft, and the secondary return, which was from the transponder. You could see that they were very close together, but still distinct. One thing I'm less sure about (since it's been a while) is that she also said that there were settings to ignore returns below a certain airspeed, as flocks of birds could show up.
Taken together, I think it's possible for an ATC radar to pick up something like a Pegasus, but with settings adjustments that will increase spurious signals. The FAA might want to know when there are pegasi around so they can make these adjustments where necessary, instead of nationwide.
I like the part where she has to curb her racism against dragons.
7006179 My guess is yes, they would invent their version of fictional creatures and magical spells. To a human observer, Equestrian fantasy and sci fi would look very similar to historical fiction.
Same thing in the reverse, I feel like aliens who learned and studied our fantasy and sci fi before learning too much about Earth would scoff at the notion that there exist such things as Google Glasses and the Platypus.
7005941 It makes me sad that Silver probably was shown the mucked up revamped New Hope instead of the original theatrical release.
7006338 Eh, we apparently interbred with the Neanderthals and Denisovians. And is there enough evidence of Homo floresiensis to justify an extermination thesis? They might have just died out like the Easter Islanders. Also, they may have been closer to chimps than more advanced hominids, hard to make extrapolations from a handful of bones. At least with the Denisovians, we have advanced grave goods and so forth.
7006184
It seems more probable that we copulated them into oblivion. There was probably some warfare but genetic evidence seem to suggest w got also quite biblical with 'em.
7006184
As others have stated the answer is yes, maybe. Figuring out exactly what happened when man met neanderthal is difficult considering how long ago it was but we have a few pretty good theories.
Some argue it was as the result of warfare. Europe wasn't such an easy place to live in back then and competition over resources (hunting and fishing grounds) was likely very fierce, the threat of starvation is a very good motivator. But there is evidence of interbreeding between neanderthals. I'm not an expert but there is some talk of discrepancies in our skulls which could be explained by such interbreeding. Others argue that the initial conflict between the two species introduced neanderthals to diseases to which that had no prior conflict, picture what happened to the Native Americans after contact with Europeans. It may have been that homo-sapiens were/are just better than Neanderthals, possessing small anatomical, societal and intellectual advantages, allowing us to out-breed and eventually replace the Neanderthal. Both species were competing for the same resources, whichever one is superior will replace the other over a long period of time.
I'd I had to guess I would say it was a combination of these things which diminished the Neanderthal population to such an extent that they were unable to survive a significant environmental shock. There is evidence of climate change in the period in which the Neanderthal vanished. Regardless we're here and they aren't, so we may have had something to do with it.
It was my head cannon that Dragons were the steel makers of Equestria.
The rail system must have cost a fortune in gems, good thing they're plentiful.
7006676
(1) We didn't interbreed with Neanderthals that much; just a bit. Scientists agree.
(2) Hobbits died out in the areas now inhabited by Pacific Islanders. Obviously they didn't die out because their environment became naturally inhospitable.
(3) Even if Hobbits weren't as smart as us (no way to tell), they're certainly closer to us than current great apes.
I wonder what she'll think of Jar Jar.
7006200
If I recall correctly there is much higher rate of accidents in traffic circles than at conventional intersections. There are a lot where I live and they do make things more messy and confusing.
7006169 And being deprived of the "I am your father" revelation?
7006535 Try checking New Zealand for hobbit holes.
7006262
Maybe they learnt to forge metals so that they've got a substance that, if you heat it up a bit, makes great clay for the children to play with. And helps them practice their fire too, because if they want to keep sculpting with it, they need to keep it hot (but not TOO hot, so it teaches control, too).
7006200
If you're not in the circle, you yield to anyone who is. It's simple, straightforward, and more to the point, it's on the tes for the dirver's license in my part of the world.
7007309 Considering what we've seen of them, dragons are mostly about hording and proving whom is stronger and tougher, not crafting and creation. Or at least, the majority of them.
Now, the city dragons shown in a small section of the comics? That's a possible idea that would fit, but there's not many of those. And even then, those shown didn't seem the blacksmithing types. Is it possible what you said? Yes. Is it likely it happens enough time for dragonforges to be commonly acknowledged? Not really. It'd have to be a few rare specialists at most. Sure, dragons have the potential to be expert metalworkers, but it's simply not in their culture to lead into such a field. It'd have to be a VERY limited minority that does so. ...Though such a minority would be incredibly skilled at what they do.
7006200 By 'traffic circle', I presume you mean a roundabout? They're easy once you get the basic idea. Follow the road markings to figure out which lane you're meant to be in, and indicate either left, right, or not at all based on whether you're taking the first, last, or middle exit respectively. When you reach the roundabout, you stop and yield to whoever is to your right. If the way is clear, drive around the roundabout, sticking to your lane, and then indicate left as you exit. Easy. Of course, no one ever indicates correctly on a roundabout, so maybe not as easy. But in theory, it's very simple.
7003052
Muwah ha ha...
NEWSFLASH!! Griffons confirmed for eating dead ponies! Rumor has it that they also make ponies dead in order to eat them! Local leaders have already begun passing out pitchforks and torches.
Hmm. It's an interesting ethical dilemma: Do you admit that the prequels exist, or do you lie and risk the pony finding out for herself?
7006200
Speaking as someone who lives in New Jersey and who has to negotiate a traffic circle to get to the train station, I can confirm that this is entirely the case. There are few things more terrifying than a car with out-of-state plates trying to figure out what to do on one.
7008125 Greetings fellow Jersian! They got rid of that suicide circle at the intersection of rt 70 and 73 a couple years back.
Still have the ones on 70's intersections with 206 and 72, but the traffic volume is much lower and its mostly local traffic. Except in summer. THEN out-of-state people are drifting around in a confused daze.
*Alondro just grins... just grins...*
"It's just that... well... it's disquieting that we have to offer them our firstborn as a sacrifice lest they burninate our thatch-roofed huts."
7006200 7007309 7008125
I wouldn't say it's because no-one can figure out how roundabouts are supposed to work per se - they are on US licensing tests, after all. Thing is, much of the US road system was originally designed for non-roundabout traffic, and merely replacing all the intersections with roundabouts would make travel horrifically inefficient; as you might imagine, no one's quite enamored enough of roundabouts to want to redo a city's entire roadplan just to make them actually function well.
You can only really get away with a find-replace in low-traffic areas like residential neighborhoods, which probably has a lot to do with why so far roundabouts mostly end up in residential neighborhoods. So a lot of people have trouble dealing with busy roundabouts, since they don't encounter them often and hence haven't had the chance to get used to them.
7007532
Naturally, the fact that signalling customs tend to vary from place to place serves to make things even more intuitive!
More seriously, don't forget to account for which side of the street people are driving on! That description looks like it's intended for left-oriented traffic, and seems like a good way to have a bad day in places which drive on the right.
7007187
Total accident rates vary quite a bit depending on traffic and pedestrian flow, and can potentially end up much higher or much lower than using a different type of intersection in the same location. Accident severity, on the other hand, is likely to be lower, since the most dangerous types tend to be more logistically-challenging to achieve in a roundabout.
7008282 Well, yeah. I do live in Ireland. We drive on the left. There's also roundabouts everywhere. I guess I didn't consider that Americans (and most other countries) drive on the right. Would a roundabout over there just be a matter of reversing everything? Hmm...
7008338
Pretty much. Symmetry-breaking factors might be possible, but I can't think of any right now, and if you read about traffic engineering basically all the examples include something to the effect of "example assumes driving on [side]; for driving on [other side], mirror the image".
7006360
I'm pretty sure military radar would pick up a pegasus, as long as the programming was right (I believe it can also pick up birds, which is why they often have settings about what to ignore [and why some stealth aircraft exploit those gaps]).
The problem with tuning to it pick up a pegasus is that you'll also be picking up other large birds, potentially some highway traffic (depending on the radar's line of sight) and so forth.
Besides the possibility of her carrying a transponder, she could also carry a radar target enhancer, like some sailboats do (and possibly some other power vessels). I'm unsure if there are any small, cheap transponders which would be suitable, though. Possibly something the size of an ELT would work?
7006451
Ponies are very racist. We've seen plenty of examples of that in canon. It seems to vary by pony (possibly educational level has something to do with it, as well).
I keep meaning to write a blog post about that.