12 - Dinner on the Town
Lyra couldn't keep this a secret for long, and she didn't try. With Darrell knowing, it was inevitable word would spread to the others instantly. What she didn't expect was a card inviting her out to dinner with them all, minus Samantha who remained missing.
To the crazy mare who's working her flank off for us,
You are cordially invited to a dinner with your friends and patients. Dinner will be prepared by Thomas, so bring those carnivorous urges you've been hiding deep inside you all your life.
PS: Just kidding, we'll have veggies there too.
Lyra put the card up on her desk and smiled. She decided that Thomas was 'fixed', though she would see him until he decided he didn't want to come. Having a supporting pony in your corner is always nice, and throwing her 'chicks' from the 'nest' wasn't her style. She slipped from her chair and stretched before trotting out to get to the dinner date. Her good mood souring a little as her thoughts went back to Samantha, hoping the pegasus was alright.
She was not expecting all of them to be there wearing clothes, pants specifically, and T-shirts for their fronts. Even little Lucy had joined in the stunt. Lyra couldn't hold back a snort. "What's going on here?"
Lucy flashed a bright smile. "We're celebrating being human, now that we don't have to fight you about it."
Lyra wasn't sure how to take that. "You all look adorable, but you're ponies. I understand your past, sure, but..."
Steven came up on Lyra and nudged her towards a chair. "But even ponies can wear clothes, seeing as we bought these from a pony. So sit down and relax."
Soon they were all seated around the circular table, except Thomas who came ambling up from the kitchen, also dressed, but he also had an apron on. "Alright, what can I get the lot of ya? Our special today is marinated pheasant in a light apple glaze. It's freakin' delicious."
Lucy shook her head. "I've made peace with being a mostly-vegetarian."
The others seemed to agree with this sentiment but Thomas raised a hoof. "Worry you not. We have specific pony portions for the meat, small enough to not upset delicate little bellies, and it comes with a nice big helping of hay fries and greens to round out the meal."
Darrell smiled a little. "I'm actually in the mood for pasta. You have that right?"
Sam agreed with the idea of pasta. Soon it was settled. Lyra and Lucy tried the pheasant, while Sam and Darrell had spaghetti. Shattered and Steven went with a big green dish.
The chat was idle as they waited for the food.
Lucy reported with a proud grin. "They listened to my idea about the scientific method. Even if I don't remember how to prove water vapor is a thing... at least that got through."
Steven tilted his head. "Water vapor? That's easy." He nudged his glass forward. "Behold the magic, as I conjure water from nothing." He put some ice cubes in it, then poured water into the glass, then sat back.
Lyra tilted her head. "I don't get it. You just poured the water in. Anypony can do that."
Steven pointed. "Look at the outside of the glass very closely."
Lyra leaned in. There was moisture on the outside of the glass, though Steven hadn't spilled any. Lucy began clopping her hooves excitedly. "Oh! How did I forget that demonstration? I'm going to show that one off tomorrow, thanks."
Thomas rejoined the group, and sat at the table. "Don't mind me joining, do ya?" No one objected, and the waiters were soon out to set the food in front of everypony. Thomas grabbed his glass with his magic. "Before we stuff our faces, I'd like to have a toast, to humanity, whatever that means, and to Lyra Heartstrings, who has our back."
Lyra blushed as they drank to her, but then she asked the question that had been nagging her. "So... did any of you plan to go to the human world?"
Thomas snorted. "Pass."
Lucy shook her head. "From what Darrell told me, I'd probably end up as a little girl. At least here there's so much to learn, and to teach. I was looking at it all wrong. I've been given a whole new life, and a world to spend it exploring." Lucy suddenly twitched. "That tickles!" Everyone looked at her curiously as she squirmed and looked down at her flank. "Oh wow..." She had found her cutie mark, which looked like a little desk with a big globe on it.
The conversation broke for congratulations and smiles.
Steven held up his camera. "I guess I had it easy. I already knew what I liked to do. Cameras aren't quite as advanced as I prefer, and I'd kill for some photo editing software and a computer to run it on, but there's a certain charm to these old timey cameras, and you have to use your skill as a photographer a lot more. I don't think it's worth running off to a dollhouse universe of almost-humans."
Sam tapped the counter. "I guess that makes me the odd one out. It sounds fine by me, and I want my fingers back."
Shattered Stone shook his head at Sam. "Don't be so hasty. You'll be a homeless bum there. Here, they brought us to Lyra and she helped us, but if it's anything like the human world I knew, they won't do that."
Sam scowled, but didn't argue it.
Thomas waved a hoof around. "I have this place! Why would I give that up? I was just a butcher before, now I'm a chef, and it feels great. Just yesterday some griffons came in and they couldn't believe a pony had made their order so well." He thumped his chest. "That's me, the pony that can please a carnivorous beast with his skills."
Lyra saw that Thomas already had a cutie mark, which looked like a fork in a steak on a plate. It was disturbingly carnivorous in symbolism, but it fit him well.
Shattered Stone looked around. "Why am I one of the last to get my mark? I was pretty happy being a pony from the start."
Lyra put a hoof on his shoulder. "It's not a race. You just havn't found what fulfills you to do yet."
Darrell pointed at Lyra. "But yours is a lyre, and here you are not doing that."
Lyra shrugged. "I imagine you ran into Rarity with these clothes?" They nodded. "Her special talent is finding gems. She turned that around and applied it to adding a special touch to clothing, and she hardly ever uses her talent. Sometimes it works out that way, and it's OK. Me? I like to think my lyre is a symbol for being a tool to bring peace to my fellow ponies, and for being a comfort when they need it most."
Lucy giggled. "That's adorable."
Sam chuckled along. "That's a cute way of looking at it."
Steven slipped from his chair and backed away, "Let's get a picture of everyone together. Say hay fries!" With a bright flash, the dinner was captured for future memories.
Lyra was loathe to admit the pheasant was not bad.
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The nice thing about cutie marks is that they can have many layers of symbolism. A lyre must be tuned before it can be played. So too does Lyra adjust those whose minds are striking sour notes.
Also, points to Steven for doing what I would to prove the existence of atmospheric water vapor.
You know the talk of photography and photo editing software made me think, they do have electronics and even beginning computers and video games. It really shouldn't take more then a dozen or so years to get him what he misses most and I'll bet with vast improvements from the additions magic make possible.
Hang on...is this story coming to a close? Say it isn't so, I want this expanded on into all of Equestria.
OK, I really liked this chapter. Seems like now that Lyra's accepted their side of the story, they're actually learning to accept their new circumstances more as well (except for Sam and, maybe, Samantha, though there is a chance she's just working in Cloudesdale, who knows?). Lucy getting her cutie mark was too adorable, not to mention she's gonna be one smart cookie given that, taking her pony and human life together, she'll probably all told end up living well over a century total between both worlds. Very cool that Thomas is getting along so well, also, given the very taboo nature of his special talent for most ponies.
That was nice. It's all coming together very well. There's something to be said for making peace with circumstances that are beyond you anyway - and it's not like any of them have it very bad.
6016385 Actually i would guess well over a century given the lifespans of ponies in the show and comics seems to be multi centennial already (look at granny smith.)
6016385 He wears his fetish with pride, which is how pony society works. If you make your passion into your career, that's just the natural order.
6016402
Oh yeah, and I mean thankfully it's not completely taboo given that there are outlets for his services. It's just obviously a very unusual talent for ponies to have, but hey, they seem cool with it. And heck, we've seen Fluttershy feeding otters fish before, so obviously they understand the concept of certain creatures eating meat.
6016375
I know that electric light bulbs are cannon, but where have video games and computers been consistently shown in Equestria?
6016424 The hearts and hooves day episode, the pony known as Button Mash was playing on an arcade machine (as were several others in the background. img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120219024105/mlp/images/9/95/Gamer_colts_S2E17.png
Albeit this may be a magically operated device the concept is the same in many ways no matter how you go about it. and from the complexity of the devices shown I'd bet they'd take even less time then I first thought, I have long thought the apperent lack of tech in the pony world isn't for lack of knowledge but lack of need to advance heavy industry to get things done in most places. (phones are also a thing as are typewriters.)
6016424 Twilight's lab had pretty close analogues to old 50's style computer equipment back when she was testing Pinkie for Pinkie sense
https://youtu.be/Smoevj91sqQ?t=6m55s
Ignore the commentary, was quickly looking for the scene.
There's also hydroelectric dams and such, which would strange if the energy it produced went no where.
6016424 Consistently shown? They haven't, but an arcade console was shown in "Hearts and Hooves Day." Sadly, we didn't see the screen, so we don't know whether it's closer to Pong or Injustice in terms of sophistication.
6016439
6016459
I don't count something as being part of Equestria if we only see it for like, 3 seconds or less in the span of one shot. The arcade cabinet in that episode was just a visual signal to the audience, and cannot be used in Equestrian worldbuilding. On the other hand, if some technology is shown consistently throughout the series (such as electric light bulbs) or is a major part of the plot of a particular episode (like the scanner Twilight was using in "Feeling Pinkie Keen") then it can be used in the worldbuilding of the setting.
6016470
I don't know. Ponies don't seem to have the concept of mass production. I bet every single thing is hoof made and customized. Perhaps they have some idea of replaceable standardized parts, but that may be as far as it goes.
As such, I think any computer or arcade cabinet is probably as sophisticated as garage built computers. Definitely no mainframes. And it might be programmed with magic, such as a variant on the Come To Life spell.
Whose to say all the so-called electric power generating things like the dam doesn't generate a magical feed instead?
6016470 If you do that you may as well discount every macguffin or plot device shown in the show at any time, because they serve the same end goal something to move the story along or push something in the world that's odd into our understanding as for that button mash has reappeared in the comics I do believe wearing a game controller cutie mark.
6016506 This actually makes sense and fits almost perfectly with the idea of cutie marks and talents the ponies have actually.
6016506
I wasn't saying anything about what made the video game cabinet run. The point of my previous comment was to help outline what can and cannot be used for world building. If technology, or technomancy similar to the arcade cabinet was used consistently through the show, then I would re-think my position. It doesn't matter whether or not something was mass produced, if a method to create it exists, then anypony can use that method to create something similar, and we would be seeing all sorts of devices that looked high tech throughout the show.
Daww... that was sweet! And a cutie mark!
Forgot that thumbs-up, here you go.
6016528 not assuredly when we see a large city full of buildings and electric lights and all of these things and yet we don't see that in other cities or even canterlot. It seems to me ponies only build to the point they need in any place. after all they already have many of the technologies we'd consider needed to make a Utopian society why would they need to over build and ruin their world?
6016521
I think you misunderstood me. If something is needed to move the plot along in an episode then it is part of the setting of Equestria, and you don't discount it. Things that are to be discounted are things that only appear: a- inconsistently, b- do not have any relevance to the plot of the episode, and c- only act as visual signals to the audience to invoke a desired feeling about something.
In the hearts and hooves day episode, the purpose of the video game cabinet was to invoke the feeling of youth for Button Mash. After that, we never see it again throughout the rest of the series, and it wasn't a driver if the plot of the episode, which, if you recall, was about the CMC keeping Big Mac and Cherilee apart until the love poison wore off. So the cabinet fulfills all 3 criteria, and can be discounted from the overall setting of Equestria.
As for what happened in the comics, I honestly don't know them, since I've personally never read the comics. According to the editor of them, the show's plan is not altered to fit the timeline of the comics if an inconsistency between them comes up in development, so I consider the comics as their own timeline, even if they were made by the same people as the show.
6016545
Don't confuse advanced architecture with high tech gadgets. Even as far back as 1920, while the concept of a computer was something to be laughed at, New York City was still quite impressive in size and architectural design.
6016528
Not anypony. Cutie marks are a huge, huge thing. They way they emphasize specialization rather early on in their education is probably one of the major contributing reasons to the slow magitechnical progress of Equestria. There isn't a race on building on each others work out of fear of being left irrelevant, or even hints on sponsored research grants based on performance.
Imagine a pony Nicholas Tesla; he'd do very well, but there would be few ponies who would be able to build on his work or take his ideas for their own. His entire time would be split doing custom commissions in constructing devices and doing original research, that'd probably end up in the Canterlot restricted section.
Twilight Sparkle studies with great intensity and builds on Starswirl the Bearded's work. And he lived how many years ago?
I think while this story is going in a nice, sweet direction, it doesn't mean it's ending. After all, there are still many questions left unanswered, as well as still more acclimating to do.
Thomas seems to be the only one of them with a job after all, and the mirror world, while not ideal, probably contains a lot of information that would be useful to ponies, and they now have a bunch of potential
spiesagents who not only can blend in perfectly (minus the obvious differences like Poogle or the world's history), bit also have a good idea what to look for as well, and no running into their counterparts risk. In theory.6016587
It sounds like you're grasping at straws now.
My initial point was that the video game cabinet fits all the criteria for something that can be excluded from the Equestrian setting, and have it still be the Equestrian setting.
If an author wants to include something like the video game cabinet as part of the setting of their story, then that's fine, but it's impossible to do so without venturing into pure headcannon territory. If they want to intentionally make the Equestria different than how it's portrayed, then they can slap a big ol' 'Alternate Universe' tag on their story and get away with pretty much anything.
6016611 Do they want what the humans are offering, would be the next obvious question I think? It's not like Equestria is doing poorly.
6016560 It's the same thing if you are going to discount something from the show based on a preference then you might as well nt count anything that doesn't agree with you in it anyway. Evidence is evidence until something activly says 'no this doesn't exsist in cannon.' and the fact is they have shown up as have other things that point to a fairly high level of tech even if it is regulated to hobbyists still. Which is where gaming and computers were until very recently all together in our world.
the kind of chapter that just makes you smile.
Harts Fire
6016644
It's illogical to take everything you see in the show at face value as being part of Equestria. If you took everything shown at face value, then the Pinkie Sense would have been the least of Twilight's troubles. She would have already been trying to learn how Pinkie can fit into impossibly small spaces, or pop out of random areas long before she even knew the Pinkie Sense even existed.
You've done a good job with this story, but it remains absolutely horrifying to me. Not that I'm going to stop reading it though; I must at least see it to the end.
6016680 So you are dismissing something that is shown commonly and has been used to advance the plot of the show. Isn't that exactly what I said you might as well do if you go dismissing things that have shown up? positive evidence of something is always stronger then negative evidence this is how science works for all you know that power is far more common then predicting the future is so isn't something she has to even bother with.
6016817
I don't recall when Pinkie Pie's cartoon physics (or lack thereof) were used to advance the plot. Perhaps you had a particular episode in mind that can back up your claim?
6016863 pretty much this but it has also been used when they need her to come up suddenly without much prior warning and also in this seasos priemer when she skips over parts of the distance from the cliff face down towards the town and a number of other times she's pulled similar effects then there is also Cheese sandwich and even Party favor showing more of them after getting his cutie mark back.
i haven´t read this yet, but i take a wild guess, Lyra is actually a Human turned Pony, but they try to make her believe she is a Pony, what the others really believe could that be right? I mean i just think that because of the Human Tag
6016911 Almost the complete opposite man. Read it, is worth the time it takes.
6016911 Almost the complete opposite.
6016931
6016971 Well....i am interessted in that therapy theme of the story, so i guess i read a few chapters, and see how much i like it.
I just noticed he had written that Lyra is the doctor, and not the patient, that alone has to mean, that i was completely wrong with my idea
6016884
None of those really advance the plot, though. She may have been all over that cliff but it didn't allow her to get down where the others couldn't. If her tendency to teleport was actually a thing she could do she probably could have escaped the brainwashing room, or at least escaped before losing her cutie mark. Any time an episode could be resolved by Pinkie appearing out of nowhere or grabbing an item they need out of her mane, she can't do it. And none of her friends even suggest it, either. The closest I can remember her getting to changing the course of the story would be either Green Isn't Your Colour or the first Equestria Girls. In the movie she mostly just cuts down on Twilight having to explain things the audience already knows, and in GIYC she might have just been a weirder version of the shoulder angel/devil, representing the side of Twilight that took Pinkie's warning seriously.
Don't get me wrong, I don't mind a fanfic that gives Pinkie weird abilities or makes her fundamentally different from other ponies, I'm just saying that her many animation gags have never actually held any significance to the plot in the show itself.
6016528 You do see lots of devices that require high tech in the show. Examples include but are not limited to:
Cordless microphones (twice), digital watch, arcade machine, lasers, x-rays, portable stereo, automatic printing press, synchronized/timed lights (many times), night-vision goggles, centrifugal blower, plastic helmets, hydro-electric power and all of that equipment in Twilight's basement. Many of those devices require miniature transistors to function, indicating a level of technology similar to our own.
6016439 Wait... phones? where did you see phones?
6017232
It's a fallacy to immediately assume that there is a direct connection between similarly shaped devices that have similar functionality and technology level such as transistors.
Magic exists, and it's significantly easier to explain the wildly varied tech levels of the show with "it's run by magic" than to assume they have the knowledge and industry to make the same nonmagical device we have.
It's also been stated by the creators that that is their position whenever they need to pull in tech for a storyline plot or gag. Magic run device that appears similar to an Earth device for little children in the audience to understand, even if the tech has magical auras around it (like Tank's propeller).
6017320 The magic-only explanation doesn't make sense. Why would they build a dam with a power station when every pony in the country is a magical battery? The dam would be useless unless they also needed electricity, so they must be using electricity for something. They also have a steam-powered train instead of enchanting the cars to move by themselves.
6016636
Grasping at straws?
but that's a seriously position I'm taking.
I really think cutie marks and destiny is the major reason for the slow magitechnical progress of the society. Ultimately it promotes hobbyists who are extremely comprehend and productive in an area, but lack of industries since how many kids would find their cutie marks in advanced concepts compared to Earth where a new and productive industry pulls in lots of people trying to ride the bandwagon?
6016639
Well by Lucy alone, the answer is yes, for scientific concepts at any rate. Assuming magic plays an important role in everything, almost every industry would be better off developed from scratch anyway. But the concepts behind them would be useful in at least knowing where to direct magical research.
History would also be useful, as would advanced mathematical concepts and disciplines because that is universal. Maybe some philosophy too, and medicine concepts even if they develop their own treatments using magic instead of imprecise drugs and surgery.
In short, there is a lot to learn and go over even if they use none of the tech and manufacturing advances, even if it results in some dead end research. There is always value in knowing various theories used for prediction in one situation can't be used in another (like in the presence of magic).
Even if a transistor is never created. Learning programming concepts, algorithms, and practices would be useful for magical automation.
Not that I'm suggesting the story must follow that path, it just surprises me when someone take the position that it would not be useful to at least look at. And a few humans do not an industry make.
6017340
Dam might produce a magical feed instead of an electric current, used to replenish the equivalent of magical batteries (crystals?). Turbines with rotating magical crystals instead of magnets and copper wires.
Many devices might have a constant magical drain that would be inconvenient to power off yourself for longer than a few minutes. Assuming Pegasi and Earth Ponies can power anything magical.
Steam engines is how the water is heated: coal or magic? Notice no coal cars.
6017458
Coal. They show the boiler being fed in one episode.
The thing is, Equestrian magic is visible, as Tank's apparatus demonstrates. Unicorns glow, pegasi leave visible trails, and earth ponies...get cutie marks (that's really all they've got, isn't it?). The magical devices are blatantly magic. If you can't see it, it isn't there.
Whew, well, that was like the recent Discord episode. So much content stuffed into just one chapter. Cutie mark appearing on a now pony human right before their eyes. Awesome. Well done. And to me at least, Lyra is staying true to herself in that she wants the same thing that she always wanted from the start, and that was for her patients to be happy and well adjusted to the pony way of life. This remained true even after she came to terms with the idea that they really did used to be human. Speaking of which, it showed the best of their human qualities that they wanted to show Lyra how much they appreciated all that she has been trying to do for them, instead of going the 'I told you so' route. Well done.
On another note, the conversations in the comments about Equestrian technology are getting good. To throw my two cents in, I bring to mind episode 41 'The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000'. Clearly the Flim Flam brothers are using a technologically advanced machine. BUT just as clearly, it's power source is magic. This is mentioned in both the episode, and the written transcript:
Flam: "And, we'll throw in the magic to power the machine for free."
So, with that bit of canon in mind, it could easily be explained how Button Mash has video games to play with, and all the other higher tech goodies that the ponies show off in the show. Unicorns obviously have found a way to use 'magic' in a way parallel to how we use 'electricity'.
Actually, that seems like it would be the case in most of Equestria too. I mean, look at any city except Ponyville or Apploosa and tell me if you like the citicens and would like to like to live there.
Also, if you arrived somewhere on earth with a very good quality of life, like Switzerland, and landed in a good part of it, you'd probably feel like you were being treated pretty nicely too.
That's not really a comment on the fics quality or anything. It makes sense that someone that's not from one of the better parts of the world would think that.
Looking back, I also like the way Lyra slowly accepted the humans' tales, but, next time you write something so cognitive, I think you might want to show more of Lyra's thoughts on the matters.
6017390
That sounds surprisingly a lot like Dwemer technology there... machines run off of magic. Still a cool concept...
gonna need to stop you right there.
continue
This story keeps getting better and better the more I read.
6016375 What if they buy some from that human world?