Ever thought about what it would mean, being stuck in Equestria? I mean, REALLY thought about it? I thought I had, but hypothetical imaginings for one's entertainment are a far cry from the real thing. Don't get me wrong, this place is even better than I thought it would be, monthly world-threatening incidents notwithstanding, but I miss my home. I miss my family. I've built a pretty great life for myself over the past year, but ever since I flashed into existence here, I've held on to the hope that one day I'd be able to return to the loved ones I left behind. Or at least I did, right up until a few days ago.
They've been trying for nearly ten months to refine the spell that can send me home into something a bit less. . . lethal. Now they're telling me they've done all they can. I can try, but I could end up anywhere on Earth, going any direction at any speed. In other words, the odds that I'll survive the trip home are pretty much non-existent.
What the hell am I supposed to do now?
Well, there's only thing I can think of. I may not be able to make it back, but if I send enough of them, maybe a message can, and if I can't see my family again, maybe I can at least say goodbye. . .
this is a really nice read. It's pretty impressive how you managed to build so much world in only one chapter.
I have also wondered how I would feel if I was stuck in equestria. I guess i would respond in a similar way. Happy but sad for the people I left behind. I wouldn't willingly leave my family for equestria, but if it was beyond my control I would make the best of it. Anyways, great story. Favorite and liked :D
I have pondered this question as you have a few years back you sir have written almost exactly the way I would have its sad really that some people do not grasp the full weight of being stuck in equestria and everyone reacts to it differently. This was a good read for such a short story you earned the "Like"
4016969 Thank you
4017345 , 4019276
The question of 'would it be worth it?' has always been an interesting one to me. Is a chance to explore, and perhaps even make your mark on, a world that no one else have ever seen worth losing everything but the person that you are? And, just as interesting, what does your answer make you?
In any case, thank you for reading!
You know, whenever I daydream about being whisked away to some far away place my favorite means of sending a message home has always been a message in a bottle. It's just such a beautiful thing.
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already lost my interest. the meat thing needs to go. I'm sorry but its as cliche as cliche can get.
It isn't a fracking taboo at all. Gryphons eat it, and did no one see fluttershy practically kill two fish to feed one of her animals? Yeah, cuz that's taboo!
People don't understand that the ponies understand the concept of animals eating meat >.>
The animals there are just a little more sentient.
4022412
You may have stopped reading before you got there, but I draw a distinction in there between fish and 'meat'. In a world where cows can talk and rabbits can communicate via charades, I'm pretty sure meat eating would be, at best, highly frowned upon. The ponies would obviously understand the concept eating meat, but understanding does not mean approval or comfort with the fact. As far as gryphons go, we've seen one eating an apple, some party candies, and that's it. While it seems like WAY too much of a stretch to think that they wouldn't eat meat at all, we've never seen it done in the presence of ponies (or at least not while in a predominately pony town).
If the meat taboo is cliche, that's because it makes sense and thus is used a lot.
Even so, thank you for giving me feedback. I may not agree with it, but I still appreciate that you took the time to give me some.
...I...HATE....human to equestria fics...
So congrats...your the first to defy that fact!
4022482
Yeah except for the fact that meat eating isn't frowned upon >.>
You see it in the show once or twice.
I also did read up to that part and a little further. I do not agree with that whole "Eating meat is taboo" trope.
It doesn't even make sense either because if Rainbow Dash has known Gilda her entire life, she must have witnessed the griffon eat meat on a daily basis.
So this must mean that ponies know that many of the creatures among them are carnivorous and have witnessed them eat meat on a regular basis. They live in a world where dragon's exist, and there's bears, wolves, etc. So ponies absolutely know that in nature, there are carnivores out there. If they saw a human eat meat, I will agree that might be taken aback by it because that there's so many other things for them to worry about. They don't want to worry about another animal that would try to eat them if they could, but if properly explained that humans are omnivores and that eating certain animals is highly frowned upon here in our world, then you got something going. However, this story just doesn't really it justice for me, and just sticks with "Eating meat = bad bad bad BAD BAD BAD." So that must mean all the ponies have NOT witnessed bears, dragons, or any other carnivores in their world.
I mean, come on, the Timber Wolves are carnivores, and that is something to fear more than a human eating meat on occasion.
I'm not saying your fic is bad because of it, but it is off-putting to me. The whole "Eating meat is taboo" cliche is greatly frowned upon in the fandom. Even HiE fics in general aren't really all that popular if you really think about it. I'm doing one too, but also doing my best to avoid tropes like these. First chapter of it isn't out yet, but it will be soon. Anyway, have fun with your future works. I might give some of your other works a read if I find the time and patience. Cause school, work, and birthday planning going on all week. So I barely have time for myself at this point.
4023841
Could you cite where it happens in the show? I don't recall seeing it there, unless you're talking about Fluttershy's animals, which aren't viewed as being equal to ponies in pony society.
Bears, wolves, manticores, timberwolves, hydras, and dragons (with the exception of Spike, who was raised by ponies from birth) are not members of society in Equestria. The former are essentially dangerous wildlife who either don't know better, can't overcome their own savage instincts, or can't survive without meat. Dragons, on the other hand, have their own civilization that appears to be almost completely separate from pony civilization, as evidenced by how little Twilight seemed to know about them.
Knowing about carnivorous creatures is not the same as accepting them as members of society. The creatures I named (apart from dragons) appear significantly less sentient than ponies, and thus are not held up to the same standards as those who DO demonstrate the same level of intelligence (such as humans), which brings us to Gilda.
In Gryphon the Brush Off, we see that gryphons ARE considered members of society in equal status as ponies. However, we also observe several things about gryphons that are worthy of noting.
1) Rarity described gryphons as "so rare", so although they aren't barred from Equestria, their aren't many of them, and so ponies that have direct exposure to gryphons and their carnivorous tendencies (and thus are used to it) would also be uncommon.
2) We see in the episode that gryphons can and do eat things besides meat, which would make sense in a society that frowns upon doing so. While I'm sure that the ponies know she eats meat, I think there would be a problem if she did so in front of them, so she sticks to apples and vanilla lemon drops. It's a line that even Gilda, a remarkably callous individual, didn't cross.
3) Rainbow Dash undoubtedly does acknowledge that Gilda eats meat, but what of it? Rainbow Dash is one pony, and a cavalier one at that, and the two have known each other for years, giving RD plenty of time to get used to Gilda's meat requirement. It's also worth noting that the two spend the vast majority of their time in the episode off on their own, where Gilda's need to eat meat wouldn't bother ponies who weren't used to it.
It all comes back to the same thing: Acknowledging that their are beings, fully sentient or otherwise, that kill and eat meat, is not the same as being comfortable with it. The fact that gryphons are accepted in Equestria does not mean that their consumption of meat is considered socially acceptable. The scarcity of gryphons in Equestria and the fact that Gilda is never seen eating meat in front of the ponies both support that.
On a related note, gryphons are a fairly known quantity whereas humans aren't known at all. Example: An alien appears that is just as smart as you, and you find out that it eats things that to you are sentient or at least very close (cows, pigs, etc), but can survive by eating things that are not sentient(fish). Would you find it acceptable if it kept eating those sentient or even nearly sentient (having a personality) beings, even though it doesn't need to?
The final thing I'd like to address is your claim that the meat taboo is a cliche frowned upon by the fandom. Can you tell me where you got that information so I can examine it too? I ask because that hasn't been my experience at all. Any decent HiE fic I've read addresses that issue, at least in passing, so I don't see how it's "frowned upon by the fandom" when it's so prolific. As for it being cliche, I addressed that in my last comment: it's constantly used because it makes logical sense.
I know that HiE fics aren't popular, but I didn't really write this for attention. I DID post in on this site for attention, as does anyone who submits a story here (unless they've been commissioned to write or something of that nature), but I initially wrote it because it was a fun way to explore how I would react to a difficult imagined scenario.
Thanks again for the feedback, I enjoy stretching the old debate muscles from time to time. I also look forward to reading your own HiE story, especially since I'm curious as to how you address the meat issue. It's one of the reasons I like this site, there are so many different takes on so many different things! Best of luck finding some time for it, I know how life can make that difficult.
Take care!
4023052 Wow. . . I'm flattered
Thank you so much!
4026826
I would find it perfectly fine as it is a part of nature. In the show fluttershy does kill two fish:
i.imgur.com/guYtO.jpg
There it is! So obviously ponies have witnessed this sort of thing. Yes I can understand the ponies finding it off putting, but there is a level of tolerance that needs to be addressed. There also needs to be a level of acceptance that meat eaters are meat eaters. Look at spike, he's a dragon. He COULD eat meat if he wanted to. We don't see it because Hasbro likes to keep things kid friendly (kind of threw that out the window with Simple Ways with AJ and her bedroom eyes after she bit down into that apple.)
I also might not address the meat issue at all or maybe very subtly in my fic. Right now he is running around in pony form (He is a mage, and drinks a special potion to turn into a pony temporarily) and taking notes on the world before him. It's been three years since he's been in Equestria as well, but none of the ponies know what his name is exactly. Neither do they know where he came from. He's a bit of a shut in right now, but he'll come out of his shell at some point.
Also, if you want to look at it, just pm me and I'll give you a link to the gdoc.
4027701 Once again, OF COURSE ponies are aware that there are meat eaters, and that not all of them are dangerous. Those, however, are ferrets, which, like the bear we often see, do not have the same level of sentience that ponies and humans do, and thus are not judged by the same standards.
Also, once again, I drew a distinction in the story between fish and "meat", meat referring to creatures that are capable of exhibiting a personality. The ponies are okay with things eating fish. They are not so okay with the fact that I (since it IS a letter from me) have eaten (and enjoyed) beef, pork, chicken, etc. They know that I'm just as sentient as they are, and the fact that I am both fully sentient and have eaten those creatures, who, in THIS world are at least semi-sentient, is a hot button. That's not to say I'm not accepted, because I am. I just can't eat meat that isn't fish because they won't tolerate it from a fully sentient creature that can survive on just eating fish.
Am I making sense here? I only ask because I feel like I keep having to repeat the same points.
That sounds interesting. Did he end up in Equestria on purpose, or through some bizarre magical accident? (Obviously you don't have to tell if it'll ruin the story, just interested)
4027747
Well he actually opened a portal to Equestria himself. The only thing my OC wanted to do was get away from some bad people that were after him.
I do plan on explaining later more of his back story. Right now it is chapter one, and I kind of want to get down the gist of what he has been doing for the few years he's been there.
Addressing our little debate: I also just kind of like mess with people about this, but I am quite a bit annoyed myself. I don't like repeating myself either, but I tend to find more issues with some of these tropes and cliches each time they're used. It irks me that nobody really touches upon them to make it their own thing. They just tend to leave it as is.
4027752 I suppose I can see where you're coming from. The meat taboo is quite commonly used as a method of creating conflict. However, I don't think the reason is that people are just lazy so much as that it just makes sense. Even when subjected to scrutiny, the conflict is a logically sound one.
That sounds like an interesting read. I look forward to hearing his notes on Equestria, should we ever get to see them.
4027776
Well, I just gotta hit 5k words before editing it entirely, and saying "YES I'M FREAKING DONE!"
4027802 Bahaha, nice! Give it hell!
4027815
:P
Is it Dave Bonow?
4980098 No, but a massive thanks to you for being the first to guess!
This somehow feels right; real letter from a real person.
)
Very nice.
I can relate to most of it (also the Luna part
Thanks for sharing.
5492473 That's what I was hoping for. I'm glad you enjoyed it. Thank you for the comment, and the fave.
You can has review!