Chapter 6: Emotion
"Okay, the next book is 'Cinch-22'," Twilight read the book cover aloud, "written by Joseph Hatler."
"Cataloging of 'Cinch-22' complete. Ready for next book to be inputted," Giga Byte spoke as the computer hummed quietly.
The alicorn placed the book back on the shelf as she moved on to the next book in the massive pile. While it didn't exactly seem like it, the two were actually getting a lot of work done. "Alright. Next, 'The Great Galloway', written by F. Scott Freiberger."
The noise from the computer chasis grew for a moment and then died as the program spoke back, "Cataloging of 'The Great Galloway' complete. Ready for the next book to be inputted."
With a small sigh, she placed the book upon the shelf and continued with the pile of books. "Next we have....'A Message To Giara', written by Elbert Hucul."
"Cataloging of 'A Message To Giara' complete," Giga replied. Instead of what Twilight Sparkle was expecting for him to say about being ready for a new title to be cataloged, she received a different statement, "Are you okay, Twilight Sparkle?"
"Wha-huh?" This caught the purple pony off guard, almost causing her to trip as she was placing the book upon the shelf.
"I asked if you were okay. You sighed a few moments ago and it seemed that something was troubling you," Giga Byte elaborated.
"Yes, yes, I'm fine, just a little tired," she insisted not wanting to stated that she almost tripped over her own hooves trying to shelve a book. "How are you doing? Would you like to take a break?"
The harddrive whirred for a moment, "I am operating within normal parameters. No problems detected within my software nor within the harddrive. I am able to function with no issue."
"Figured you'd be fine. Heh, it'd certainly be easier if you were real to help me with this," Twilight laughed slightly as she reached for the next book to catalog.
"I do not understand what you mean." Giga Byte seemed to have trouble computing the alicorn's last statement.
"Don't understand? What don't you understand?"
"With your statement of if I were real, it would be easier to catalog the library. However, I do not understand how that would be so."
"It's just a joke, Giga Byte. You know, for laughs."
"For humor and amusement? I fail to see the humor."
Twilight placed a hoof under her chin, "Well, let me think for a second so I can explain it. Hmm....like with how you are inputting all of the book titles and authors into your database, I'm doing all of the moving of the books and shelving, which is sort of getting the short end of the stick, doing all of the manual labor. And because I'm getting tired of doing such, it's humorous like that. Does that make sense?"
"I still fail to understand this concept of humor," Giga answered.
Twilight sighed again, this time at her own failing, "Eh....maybe I'm not all that great for teaching you about humor." Looking at the books in the piles before her, Twilight grabbed one and flipped it open, "Well, how about in the novel 'Donkey Quixote' by Martingale de Cervantes, when Quixote charges at a windmill when he thinks it's a giant? Isn't that humorous to you, Giga Byte?"
"But is that not just Quixote believing that he is seeking advisories, whether they be real or imaginary? Quixote does this again with the mare in the carriage along with the two stallions that were escorting her," Giga replied.
"Well, yes, that is the underlying theme of the incident, but there is far more to it that just a theme. It's meant for the reader to have a good laugh. And along with 'Donkey Quixote', there are countless books that infuse moments of emotion. Humor is just one of the many emotions that ponies and other creatures experience and it's something we all enjoy," Twilight explained.
"What other emotions are there?"
The alicorn started to list them, "Well, there's happiness, sorrow, shock, scared, depressed, optimistic, nervous, love, tense, calm, excited, fear, frustration, anger, dread, disgust, hysterical, anxiety, surprise, and so much more."
Giga Byte seemed puzzled in his tone, "And individuals can experience all of these things?"
"Yes. Well, not all at once, but they can feel a combination of emotions. Such as happiness and optimistic are commonly together, or surprise and fear, frustration and sorrow, or, one that my friend Pinkie Pie often has, nervous and excited."
"Individuals seek to have these feelings?" The computer seemed to whir at a quicker rate.
Twilight was unable to answer right away, "That's....a bit hard to answer. It sort of depends on the individual. Some ponies like to read stories that surprise theme and give them suspense, like detective novels. I know of some others that enjoy romance stories while others want to laugh with comedies. There's even a few ponies out there that love horror literature, like items written by E. A. Pone. It really depends on the individual and the emotions they wish to feel, I guess."
The computer was silent for a few moments, as if processing the entirety of what Twilight Sparkle had said about the subject.
"Giga Byte? Are you alright?"
"I am operating within normal parameters. However, I believe that I still do not fully understand this concept."
Twilight couldn't help but giggle slightly, "If it makes you feel any better, I've been studying ponykind for almost my entire life and I still don't understand all that much emotions or how or brains work."
"Shall we continue our cataloging of the library?" Giga Byte insisted.
With a nod, the purple alicorn picked up the next book, "Sure. Next book is 'The Plague' written by Altèr Camus."