Before I begin I want to thank everyone who replied. First day it was up I got a lot of feedback. I was, honestly, surprised by the amount. It's very encouraging to see.
Here's the next chapter and I hope it's as enjoyable as the last.
----
“Okay Twi, I'll need to do some grocery shopping.” Kyle explained as he sat down on an office chair. Twilight looked at it as he sat down, never having seen one like it. It had a star like base, each point having a wheel on the bottom. The chair itself was designed to swivel about. He sat before a desk with a television-like screen before him, an odd board with letters, numbers and symbols on it, an oval thing on a cord and a grey box with buttons and lights. “But before I go I'll get you set up to do some learning.”
“Okay, but how does these boxes help me?” Twilight asked, scratching an ear with a finger.
“It's called a PC or Personal Computer.” Kyle replied, pushing a button on the underside of the screen. The screen flicked on, showing off a large red, boxy figure with some black object in it's hand. A caption near the right corner declared him as 'Optimus Prime: Autobot Leader'. “The PC can play games, make spreadsheets, documents, play video, music and a few other things. It can also access the Internet.”
“Internet?”
“The information super highway!” Kyle declared as he loaded a program called 'Firefox'. The screen turned to a white one, dominated by a logo that said 'Google'. Kyle typed on the board making a word appear in a box on the screen, 'Wikipedia'. “The internet hosts all sorts of information about, well, everything. And to start you off with you should use Wikipedia. Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia that can be searched for, well, almost any sort of topic you can think of. People, places, things. Mythology, science, technology. History, geography and literature. It'll be a great place to start while I'm gone. Don't you think?” Turning in his seat he took a glance at Twilight.
Kyle flinched. She gazed lustfully at the screen like a hungry man who had fasted for four weeks and had just stumbled over a lobster and steak dinner with all the fixings and a side of fries. Her eyes were glazed over, mouth open slightly as a line of saliva trailed down out of the corner of her mouth.
“Twilight. Please don't drool on my keyboard.”
Kyle rose from the seat, Twilight entering it almost as soon as his weight was off it. A small sound came from her lips which took a moment for Kyle to recognize.
“Ssssssqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqquuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuueeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!”
“Yeah... So... Have fun....”
----
Twilight had officially declared the Internet to be her new favorite thing. It was like a massive, infinite library at her hoovetips!
Err, fingertips.
Wikipedia was so helpful. After a little over two hours she was confident in that she was ready to write down the next report.
x---x
Dear Princess Celestia.
For my first report of Earth I think I'll comment on the human body. Attached is a picture I printed off the 'PC' and 'Internet'. Once I have a better understanding of those two things I'll report on them as well. For now the image off the picture of Wikipedia's Human Body section will have to do.
As you may have noticed humans resemble apes somewhat. From my understanding humans descended from apes that once lived in trees. They usually wear clothes, unlike the pictures attached.
It's important to note that on Earth the weather is controlled by nopony. Because of this climate change, apparently, happens And back when humans were tree dwelling apes the climate changed. The forests they inhabited thinned out more and more until they turned into plains. Forced to come down these apes began to walk upright using their knuckles then, as time when on, without their knuckles. Over time they became tool users and tool makers.
One of the single most important things humans have are their hands. Hands have more grip than hooves, and better grip than a non-Earth Pony mouth grip. They, and their arms, are flexible, strong and dexterous, more so than our forehooves. They use hands for everything; writing, playing, cooking, carrying, everything.
Also humans have feet, which have short stubby digits called toes. My guess is that they were more prehensile back during their ancient days as apes, but since changed to make it easier to walk upright.
Humans have no access to magic, but have much greater technology than our own. I am not sure of the limits of this technology at current, but I know that the quill, vinyl records and candles are considered either outdated or obsolete. Humans also have carriages called 'cars' that don't need to be pulled by anypony, only steered. I'll comment more on technology later.
Compared to Earth Ponies humans seem to be a bit weaker but have equal or greater stamina (Provided a similar level of fitness) and much greater agility. Humans can turn, bend and sidestep far faster and easier than us, most likely due to being bipeds. They can't run as fast, but can sprint if needed. It seems humans have learned to ride certain animals, which I again will comment on in another letter.
Humans have spread across the planet, inhabiting nearly everywhere that can support life. This is, in part, to an omnivorous diet. They cannot digest flowers or grass like us, but can eat nuts, grains, vegetables, fruits, berries, dairy, eggs, meats, fish, and insects. Diet varies depending on where the human is located. In some areas insects are a normal part of the diet, in others people would not think of consuming them. Meat, from what I can make out, is very important to the diet of a human. They seem to require proteins to remain healthy. Some humans, called Vegetarians, do not consume meat, using other sources of protein such as nuts and tofu to keep healthy. I'm not sure why, but some of these Vegetarians cut out anything made from animals, namely dairy. I don't know why. Every cow I ever spoke to was proud of how much everypony enjoyed their milk.
Admittedly my information is spotty at the moment, having just arrived still. There is something here about a PETA that I'll need to look into at a later date. For now I'll return to the subject matter.
Humans senses are at similar levels to a ponies, with a slightly dulled sense of smell, but still quite acute. They cannot swivel their ears, however, so they cannot focus their hearing in a direction without turning their head. Their senses of touch, taste and sight are, as far as I can tell, equal to a pony's.
Their hair is similar to our manes, and their fingernails are, more or less, equal to hooftips, just on five fingers than one hoof. They also seem to be as smart as anypony with the same range of emotions and personalities. Kyle, my host, is rather polite.
He says that is stereotypical of 'Canadians'. I'll look into that later.
For now I'll end the report. There is more to learn about the human body, but most of it is in minor differences such as the digestive system.
The advantages humans have over ponies in some areas means that a Transform to Human spell could be very useful to us. I am very much enjoying my human body.
Although I still do not know why they have hair above their sexual organs. There seems to be no reason for it, it's just there.
Maybe I'll figure it out someday.
Signed Your Faithful Student
Twilight Sparkle
x---x
Sighing, Twilight slipped the letter into the folder, just as the door opened. Stretching out her back she stood up and wandered downstairs, walking to the kitchen. “Need a hoof?”
“It's hand.” Kyle replied, setting a number of bags on the counter. “And yeah, let's get this set away. I'll cook lunch in a bit.” Sighing her turned to face her. “You find what you needed online?”
“More or less...” Twilight admitted as she opened a bag, looking at the contents. “I know what I've written only scratched the surface. I could have written more, but felt like most of it wouldn't have helped much at the moment. I'll write more tomorrow. It's... It's been a long day.” She started pulling items out of the bag, setting the items that needed to be kept cool into the fridge, Kyle moving things into the cupboards.
“Yeah, it's not everyday you wake up on another planet.” Kyle sighed, setting some cereal away. “You... You gonna be okay, Twi?”
“Yeah, yeah I will.” Twilight let off a sigh, setting the bread aide. “I'll get home sooner or later. And then I'll... I'll see my friends again and my brother and...” Sighing, she shook her head. “...Heavens, not even a day and I miss them.” She sniffed after a moment, putting milk into the fridge.
She should have been out visiting Rarity and Fluttershy at the spa, relaxing and chatting. And she scheduled in time to visit Applejack and her family...
And she'd miss whatever Pinkie Pie would do to throw off her checklists... She wouldn't see Rainbow Dash's latest daredevil stunt.
As soon as she noticed the tears flowing two arms snaked around her shoulders, pulling her back into Kyle's chest. “You'll see them again, right?”
“Ye-yeah...” Twilight said, nodding once.
“Then relax. You need to focus on getting home.” Her gave her a light squeeze in support. “And I said I'd help. So, you will get home.”
“R-right...” Twilight nodded again, turning as she wiped at her eyes with a hand. “I'll... I'll be okay. I just... Don't worry. … You know, once I didn't have friends....”
“Why's that?” Kyle asked, going back to unload the bags.
“I was... still am really, Princess Celestia's personal student. And, well, I kinda buried myself into my studies...” Twilight watched as Kyle nodded, setting the groceries away. “I... I didn't go to parties other ponies threw, I didn't hang out much I just read and studied and practiced my magic. I wanted to impress her so much I just... shunted away everything that wasn't important.”
“So when did you make you're friends?” Kyle asked, opening the fridge to move more food and drinks into it.
“Well I went to Ponyvillie on an errand when I thought that an ancient evil was about to be unleashed.” Kyle paused to give her a look of disbelief. “Magic, remember?”
“Right, forgot, sorry.”
“Anyway...” Twilight continued, leaning back into the counter. “When I first met them I, well, wanted to just hurry up and move on. I didn't want to waste time on them and, well, after all was said and done... I found out how much I really... needed friends. Not just to deal with the evil thing, just... in general. I... I sometimes forget how much of an outcast I was. By my own choice even. But now... I miss them so much. I know what friendship is now, but I'm apart from all my friends.”
“Hey...” Kyle spoke softly, setting the last of the food away before walking back up to her. “You got me. You have one friend here. You're not alone and if you're as good as you say you are you'll see them before you know it.”
“Yeah... Yeah, thanks...” Giggling Twilight shook her head. “Sorry, it's just kind of... All hitting me at the moment. Sorry.”
“Don't worry.” Smiling Kyle wrapped an arm around her. “Why don't you get to work on that then? I'll make lunch soon, alright?”
“Y-yeah, sure.” Smiling Twilight started to walk off. “Hmmm, I'll need to make a list of things I need... Maybe start small scale first... Need to do run the theory first, crunch the numbers....”
----
Here's the second chapter. Not much picking up, yet, but Twilight will get out of the house eventually. I just wanted to get her thoughts put down about humans as a baseline to start with for the differences between our world and hers. She'll be focusing on the basics on other aspects of humans, and I am planning her to write longer letters. In addition we'll see her interact with humanity at large.
Fun, hmm?
As always I welcome suggestions for subjects Twilight can talk about, as well as feedback and criticism.
I like the progression.
But, as always, I'm left waiting for the next chapter.
But it's OK, I'm a world champ at the waiting game.
Im enjoying this o:. Please continue :3.
Having turned in a PiE story of my own at about the same time - great galloping Celestia, you don't think this is a trend, do you? - I must note the following:
(1) You've left yourself a lot more room to work than I did, which probably was a wise move. (I wrote mine as narrowly as I could, because I have a tendency to wander off on irrelevant tangents, and the reader's attention is drawn away from the main storyline and away from the story altogether and into places I really wouldn't want them getting into because they might get hurt or get embarrassed or start channeling Pinkie Pie or something.)
(2) I did my story in what might have been a suboptimal manner: I wrote the ending first, than the opening, and then had to figure out how to get from Point A to Point B. This is, again, good for me, probably not so good for anypony else. (I have not posted the ending yet.)
(3) I do like the idea of Twilight continuing to report to the Princess. (Which I did also use, albeit differently).
I wish you well with this tale. It's a tough crowd out there.
Make her learn about world war history and have her watch STARWARS.
another great chapter, . but yes it needs to be longer though lol
greatly enjoyed these chapters cant wait
1032009
Wars was on the list already. STAR WARS wasn't.
Until nao.
Strategy games both video and board and maybe just riddles among other things. And how's about having her discover the "Space Elevator" concept and various other futuristic living concepts online and stuff. That'd be awesome IMO.
Also how's about her play the "Portal" games? Those are fun and I've replayed both the first and second one many times with different settings and such. They are awesome.
Also you're story is awesome as well.
1032318
Let's say I have a vague idea of video games and Koreans. I shall say no more.
First thing: YAY IT'S CANADA!
Second thing: Please let her at least TRY meat!
Third thing: If she likes PETA I'll be one saaaad panda.
Last thing: She. Needs. To. Learn. About. PLANES! God I love planes! I'm scared of them but I REALLY want to try riding in one! She'll have a nerdgasm about every little detail about planes and anything closely related to them.
1032392
I'll claim nothing. But meat will be dealt with eventually.
she might like animal farm, that book makes a metaphor of the soviet unions rise and fall like animals on a farm, im sure she would like it.
1032388
Up up down down left right left right B A start
*boom*
I was expecting twilight to strap herself to the chair and read wikipedia forever.
you know i have always been that weird kid that beleaves in both evolution and the bible I tink evolution is just how god did it. my openion is that all of this had to come from somewhere and the whole big bang theory has to many damn holes in it to be true be evolution not so much . I beleave evolution is the answer to how it was done and god created evolution to insure the survival of his children. but thats just my personal beleaf and I have met quite a few canadian most of them are polite exceot for the french canadians most of those guys are giant a-holes with only a few exceptions.
edit
apparently there is a term for a person like me. I'm apparently a Theistic evolutionist
Is Twi ever going to encounter a brony, or the brony community at large? That could be interesting.
As much as I enjoyed the chapter, it seemed all too short. Still, I enjoyed it, do continue!
1033973
This Earth is one where MLP: FIM doesn't exist.
1034577
Shame. I would've love to see that it did, but the brony fandom just didn't exist. It could have lead to major shenanigans. But then again, it is overused...
1038990
Yeah, pretty much.
lol PETA... I cant wait till she learns that farm animals are raised and slaughtered by the billions to feed us. And we ride horses.
1039325 thats gana SUCK O_O
Slight issue with description of humanity when compared to earth ponies. Going by what we see in the show, humans don't really even come close to having a equal level of strengh or stamina to your average earth pony; heck even by unicorn standards we're not that particularly impressive. Also Equestria!Ponies seem to have the same general level of agility that humans do.
Outside of that however, interesting chapter.
1066395
Remember, at this point she doesn't have another pony to compare to for strength, and only herself and Kyle as humans. Kyle, while fit, is not an athlete, so she's going by what she's read and experienced thus far.
As for stamina I do need to argue that, being as the original means humans hunted was to just chase things into exhaustion. A fit human can jog for quite a distance if need be, provided fitness level.
Agility, again I need to argue in favor of us. I'm not saying that Equestrian ponies aren't agile, but being bipeds we can maneuver a lot better.
Overall though, I do see where you are coming from. We are more or less comparing a real species (Humans) and a fictional one (Equestrian Ponies). Without, say Lauren Faust coming out and giving us exact stats we just have to guesstimate.
1073709
More like 'when I can'. This is being done in my spare time, as all fics are, but I plan to get them us as soon as I can.
Time and imagination being willing.
1076348
Even without any earth ponies to compare too, Twilight shouldn't have that difficult of a time comparing strength between the two races. She's seen what Applejack and other earth ponies can do, and can easily find out what the human limits are.
The issue is that we see earth ponies doing things that would leave a healthy human kneeling from exhaustion (if not causing a heart-attack) without seeming heavily effected. They're pretty much the 'Captain America-lites" of Equestrians thanks to how their magic apparently works.
Also just because Equestrians are equine doesn't mean that they're limited to what we'd consider real world limitations; especially given all the massive differences between them and what you can find on Earth. Possibly either do to built massively different then just about anything that you can find on Earth once you get past their appearance, or magic letting them cheat what should be biologically possible.
Heck, given the wildlife and even some of planetlife we've seen in the cartoon, Equestria could probably be considered a deathworld which could explain some of the oddities of their evolutionary paths. :p
For real world based creature you'd be right, but the Equestrainal body structure seems to be incredibly flexible (and I really want to know what their bones would have to be made out of for that to be possible) and they seem to have all the same average level as human despite their shape. Humans have some advantage do to being bipeds but not nearly as much as what you'd have in a hard science reality.
I might be over reacting a bit, but a lot of stories that I've noticed seem to ignore just how different biologically speaking most Equestrian life is in comparison to Earth based life and the fact that their magic is supposed to be boosting their stats as well. Equestrian!ponies outside of their physical appearnce (to a degree) really aren't that similar to real world ponies.
1077517
I'll admit, you have valid points. But overall I think I'll stick to my guns on this one, and leave it as is.
Not that I think you're wrong or anything, however part of the reasoning behind this is a sort of balance. I don't want to let it seem that humans are physically inferior to the ponies, just with different strengths and skills.
Maybe later I can find a way to even it out better or something. I dunno.
1077787
Gottcha.
I'll admit that I tend to get somewhat overly critical at times of the 'ponies meet humans' scenario given how often they seem to turn into either
White ManHumanity's Burden or HFY. Anyway here's to hoping for the next chapter.Ohh yah, along with video games, space exploration will blow her fraking mind to DA MOOOOON!
Can't wait to see that
Keep up the good characterization and work my friend!
~With regards, the Current Student of the Second True Magic.
Poor girl, stuck in the wilds of Canada, so far from civilization.
I like this story. You've got plenty of info and you aren't rushing it. But Wikipedia, really? Do you want Twilight to have bad info or is this to teach her not to believe everything on the internet?
I DEMAND SHIPPING!
1034577 What about the older gens? Hasbro would likely still have a MLP in a general sense just FIM never was made meaning there's many humans who are 20% less cool.
Humans can turn, bend and sidestep far faster and easier than us, most likely due to being bipeds.
Also, do make note of the fact of human's incredible ability to run distances. Quadruped animals, such as ponies, do not possess this feat. While they can run faster short distance, early humans would run after animals such as deer and horses until they could no longer run, had a head stroke, or something similar.
1645800 I am aware.
However, do note, we are comparing humans to Equestrian ponies, not plain normal ponies.
1641835 Wiki is hit or miss, I will agree, but it is a starting point.
1643547 I am going with still no, based on the fact I haven't really watched the older gens.
If you're still taking suggestions, I think just for some funny moments Twilight could in the pursuit of knowledge try and test out various.....ways to attract a male. For science of course, and it would just be funny to see how Kyle reacts especially if she tries using things she saw from say.....porn. Don't need to get into it, keep it the rating you want it to be but would still be hilarious.
Another subject I think Twilight should ask is things like, dinosaurs and the life before and after them. All the thousands of different spiritual beliefs of humanity maybe*though I'm sort of more into leave that in the dark mostly* WW I and II and the events of those, so she could get a real good and perhaps horrified look at just what human beings can do*though don't have to if you don't want to*
And my personal favorite. Our comedians :) from George Carlin to Lewis Black and all the others have her find some info like youtube vids of their acts and such. Would be funny :) You also got more science stuffs that would blow her brain like genetics, space travel, CLONING. and others. Humans have made so much, I think Twilights gonna feel inadequate intellectually when she sees some of the stuff XP
easilyBest PiE
1686764 Wow. Not sure I'd go that far, but thanks.
Personally I would have sent her to Encyclopedia Britannica rather than Wiki xD But that's a personal choice.
I really like the way this is going, and I can't wait to see more.
However, I see one thing that could prove disastrous if something is played a certain way.
Now I don't know if you've addressed this subject in a future chapter yet, but please, please, Please for the love of The Royal Sisters, do Not glamorize or sanction PETA.
Sorry, couldn't help myself.
And don't put her on Wrongipedia!!
700th like
Wait till she finds out about YouTube!
.
……..............……_,,,—-,……………………………………..............….......…___,,,~~-.
…………….._,-~’¯ ; ; ; ; ;’\,—-,…………………................………... ,~~~” . . .. ..,-~'
………,_,-~’¯; ; ; ;,-’¯¯¯” ‘._~’\,|,………........................….... ,-~'. . . . . . ,–~”’
…… ‘¯¯; ; ; ; ; ;_. ,/’ . ..¯ (-) . ‘|………..............…..,-~~~~~’¯ . . ¯¯\, \ \ ‘\
……¯¯,-~*_ . /’ . ‘\| . . . . .¯. .’\………....…......_,-~' ; ; ; ; *’¯ . ¯¯¯’~ | | | .|
………..¯¯–, .’\, . . . . . . ,–~-,’ ‘|……........._,-~ ; ; ; *’¯ ;;;;;;;;| | . . . .| | | .|
……………..”\,-’¯”|, . . .,/’ ¯¯’-/’/......._,-~ ; ; ; ’¯¯; ; ;;;;;;;;; ‘| .’| . . . . . . /
……………….| . . ‘\, . . ‘\,===|/’...__,- ; ; ~–,_,/’‘.........., —,_,,—~”’¯```
…………...._/’____ ”’`~-,,,–~”’¯¯ ; ; ; ; ’, .’~-,,-~”~—~””
…........../;;|’ : ,/’;;-~’ ¯¯¯ ;;;;”\, ; ; ;;;;;;;;_~~~~~'"'
….,-~~`|;;| :,/’;;,~’ |;;;;;;;;; ; ‘\;;;;; ; ;;,/’
….|;|;;;;|;;| /’,~’;;;;|’;;;;;;;;;;;;;;”~-~”¯/
../|;|;;;;;\;||/’;;;;;;;|’;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;; ;/’ OBJECTION! Canadian's don't have pools it's too cold!
,/’|;’|;;;;;;,|’;;;;;;;;;|’;;;;;;;;;;;;; ;;; ;,/’
.;;;|;|;;;;,|’;;;;;;;;;;|’;;;;;;;;;;; ; ; ; ;,/’
.;;;|;|;;;;|;;;;;;;;;;;|;;;;;;;;; ; ; ; ; ; ,/’
/”| |;;;;|;;;;;;;;;;;;|;;;;;;;; ; ; ; ; ; ; ‘|
...| |;;;;|;;;;;;;;;;;;|;;;;;;;;; ; ; ; ; ; ;’\
2915972
I have some Canadian friends, and a few actually do have pools. Indoors
2915972 I'm stereotypical, and I find this Canadian
"Magic bitch, I don't gotta explain shit!"
2915972
... why is he a Cyclops?
2915972 What happened to your eyes Mr.Write?