"Homeschool?" I repeated. I guess that made the most sense, given my lack of proper pony knowledge. But how would that work?
"Who would be teaching me? Especially since I can't read Ponish, that'd be a difficult curriculum to build." I asked, raising a brow and flicking my ears off to an angle.
Please say you and not Golden. She makes me feel weird.
"Most likely me." Script responded. "I work at home anyway. Golden does not."
"What do y'all do anyway?"
"Well, Golden is sort of like a crop health inspector. In any other town but Ponyville and Fillydelphia she would not need to be working like that as often, but as both those towns border on the Everfree Forest, there are countless pests or magical conditions that can affect the food and negatively impact ponies. I, on the other hoof, am an author."
"Huh." I replied slowly. "What do you write?"
Script shrugged. "Got a couple Canterlot Best Sellers really recently with the horror genre."
I nodded. "Must help living next to the Everfree then, not only as inspiration, but probably helps sell the horror factor given how close you live to it."
"Smart girl." Script chuckled, ruffling my mane. With a quick laugh, I pulled away.
"Careful, I bite." I warned playfully. The smile disappeared from Script's face.
"Sorry." He apologized. "Should have asked before I touched you. Was that okay?"
"Completely fine." I waved a hoof dismissively. "You're just being a dad. Besides, if I'm laughing, it probably means it was fine, for future reference."
The smile returned to his face. "Ah, noted. Lovely."
"Girls!" Golden shouted from the kitchen. "Come in here, please!"
I suppressed a sigh. I really didn't want to dignify that with a response, but figured it had to do with the education element, so I'd have to cope.
Noi pranced over to the door with a grin and held it open for Script and me, and I, being the usual boss bitch that I am, led the three of us into the kitchen.
Golden was still standing there with Cheerilee, who was busy scribbling some notes on a paper. Noi burst in, making a loud entrance, and enthusiastically greeted Cheerilee.
"Good afternoon Miss Cheerilee!"
Cheerilee dropped her pencil and looked up, smiling when she saw Noi. "Well hello there Noi. Enjoying summer break?"
"Yup!" Noi bounced.
"Ready to come back to school?"
"Absolutely not." Noi straightened up, her enthusiasm instantly gone. Golden and Cheerilee both laughed.
Cheerilee turned to me. "So I've thought about it, and punishing you by sending you back several school years, just because you didn't grow up around ponies is just silly. I'd like to propose a homeschooling alternative, and I can help adapt the curriculum to your unique circumstances. I don't want you to think you're stupid, just-"
"In a unique position." I interjected. "Yeah, no, I agree. That's the most sensible solution."
Cheerilee nodded. "The first big thing should be to read and write Ponish, but before that… Noi, could you please educate Jenny here on our counting system while I go fetch some papers that may help with learning to read?"
Noi gasped and nodded eagerly, grabbing a paper and pencil and running over the living room couch.
I followed her slowly, trying to deal with the sudden realization I was going to have to relearn everything I knew.
"So you never learned math?" Noi asked innocently, watching me make my way onto the couch with all the speed and enthusiasm of a brain dead sloth with four broken legs.
“No, like, it’s not that I never learned math, just... we Kirin use… different characters.” I chose the little white lie.
God, I was about to be taught basic math by somebody half my age. Just kill me now, save me from more embarrassment.
“Oh, okay.” Noi nodded slowly. “In that case, we can go over some numbers and I’ll show you what they mean and the way we write them.”
Noi started off by drawing what looked like the pi symbol without a flattened end on the left side.
“This is zero.”
Next she drew a symbol that just looked like two right triangles squished together.
“This is one.”
Two came in the form of a cartoonish drawing of an inchworm. Three was a circle with a vertical line through it, and four looked just like the infinity symbol.
“So then after that we have this.” Noi smiled as she drew the triangle and then the pi-like symbol.
“That’s five? You re-use symbols that early?” I asked, eyebrows stitching together.
“Five?” Noi arched an eyebrow. “No, I’ve never heard of that, this is ten.”
I felt a shiver go up my spine at that and my ears flattened themselves to my head. That wasn’t good if she didn’t recognize five. That would mean…
I hurriedly grabbed the pencil off the couch, pausing as I tasted blueberries. Huh, flavored erasers. I did my best to write out what fourteen should look like, with my mouth, then drew the symbol for two next to the symbol of zero.
“Is this right?” I asked slowly, already dreading the answer.
“Uh, yeah. It is,” Noi replied equally as slowly, fixing me with a puzzled expression. “Why do you look so confused?”
I let out a groan as the realization hit me, slamming my face into my cushion.
Dammit! Ponies used fucking base five. Because of course this couldn’t just be easy.
This meant it was gonna take forever to learn this math. And when they got to multiplication and division… This was going to be a pain in the ass.
Even in the cartoonish world of ponies, I was bound to be the stupid one.
"I don't understand." Sunny spoke slowly. "They're missing five through eight. Why is that?"
"What about nine?" I asked Sunny. Noi furrowed her brows and cocked her head at me.
"I have never heard of that before you said it earlier." Sunny responded slowly and unsurely.
Great, so ponies used base five and kirin used base nine. Let's just make this as inconvenient as possible for everyone involved, huh? Fuck you, Equestrian math.
"You see, Noi." I began through gritted teeth. "I'm used to having fiv- uh, ten more numbers in my system before reaching ten."
Noi snorted. "That's dumb. How would it make any sense?"
I could do nothing but shake my head. This was a bad start. How hard was learning the language gonna be if I had to learn everything I thought I knew about math in a different base?
Fuck it, time to face the music. I looked over the couch to see Script's horn lit up, a quill tracing quickly over another paper. After a moment he seemed to notice me watching him and looked up.
"Hey Jen, just working on examples of our scripts that we can use to teach you." He smiled.
Oh hell no. Nobody but Maria calls me "Jen".
"Please do not call me Jen." I replied quickly. "And can you tell me about the different scripts?"
Script paused and rubbed his chin. "What about Gem? It's different, but sounds a little similar."
I shrugged. "If you want."
Script smiled and nodded, then made his way over to the couch with three papers held in his magical grasp. He took a seat on the side opposite Noi, who clambered over to see what he had worked on with me.
The first paper he showed me had a six by six square of rather straight, simple characters. Most of them looked like rectangles with different gaps. It reminded me of Hiragana.
"This is earth pony script." He began. "It's always been rather straight since the earth pony tribes initially carved in stone, forever ago. The script has evolved since, but looks very similar."
He pulled out another six by six paper, this one with much more fluid characters. Not too showy, but definitely more graceful than earth pony script.
"This is pegasus script. Theirs has changed the most out of the three. It st-
"Wait…" I interrupted. "Three scripts, right? Are they based on syllables rather than letters?"
"That's right!" Script nodded. "All but these eleven vowels at the top here." He pointed at the first row of six.
Wait, eleven? There's only… oh yeah, base five. Fuck.
"And then there's the unicorn script." He continued, pulling out an unfinished sheet. As I expected, they were the most complex and ornate characters. "There are actually more than a hundred twenty one characters in this script, unlike the other two, as there are many characters that were designed with one specific meaning. Like-"
"Kanji." I whispered out loud, my heart hammering away in my chest and a manic smile forcing itself on my face. Three scripts, one language, even the baseline rules were the same. This was great! I was fluent in Japanese by the time I was eight, and these apparently had the same rules! I could actually do this!
"I can do this." I barked out a short laugh, then still riding that joy, another, longer one. I loved studying languages. The entire process was full of small rewards for every word learned, and seeing somebody from another country and breaking out in their language always got great reactions. I wasn't as good at learning languages as I was at math, but having traveled all around a bunch of different countries I was passable in at least four languages. About to be five, with Ponish. Or maybe four and a half. I was already speaking it and just the writing part was different.
"Uh, Sunny? Or uh, Jenny?"
"Sorry." I shook my head, chasing off the thoughts. "I'm paying attention. What's next?"
I went to draw the unicorn script paper close to me, to start trying to come up with mnemonics for remembering the characters, when Script stopped me with a hoof.
"Easy there slugger, this isn't a whole lesson. This is just an example. Cheerilee is bringing better materials we can use to teach you, remember?"
There was something so paternal, so familiar in the way he called me "slugger" that made me think of my dad. I hadn't seen him in over a year and a half, minus video calls. And now I'd never see him again. I looked up at Script, who was busy filling out the unicorn script sheet more, and couldn't help but feel that same sort of reverence. Sure, he was still kind of a stranger, but there's no doubt he cared and actually wanted to fill the role of a father figure in Sunny's life.
And maybe mine too.
I hid scooting closer to him under the guise of stretching out and looking closer at what he was writing. I figured that the last thing I needed to worry about was his reaction. It definitely seems he was a little socially deficient. And ultimately, if Cheerilee took the rest of the night to return… well, I was perfectly happy where I was. I let his long-winded explanation on the history of Ponish drift by me as I pressed my head against his side, letting out a long sigh and being the most relaxed I'd felt thus far. At least while sober. I may not be able to read or do complex math yet, but those were still only yet.
Ultimately, my position could be a lot worse.
You know what, this is pretty groovy. Things seem to be looking up.
Also, base nine? How/where did anyone manage to come up with base nine?
Well, Kirin are basically Japanese unicorns.
🔥🔥🔥💥 all this for the sake of unity, this abomination or a number system~
11100401
I just realized. But probably because Kirin have cloved hooves & a horn.. Each 'toe' of the hoof would be akin to our hands. But rather than only using their forelegs they also use their hind legs when counting too. Add the horn/head and you get a possible reason for a base-9 counting system.
Not sure how the fuck it would work, the whole fact that they use base 5 makes sense and is cool but I fucking hate it cause it's making my head hurt thinking about it... I'll stick with base-10 for myself, thank you very much.
11100418
The Mayans used Base-20.
Programmers use Base-2 and Base-16.
Imagine being born with 12 fingers.
Base five and base nine are both terrible bases for practical use. You don't even have halves. No culture should have developed these. Did Discord do this?
https://youtu.be/wXeX_XKSNlc?t=708
11100431
It occurs to me that it would be really difficult to explain a different base to someone who doesn't use base-10 (0-9) as every base would be base-10 in their own point of reference. E.g. to the ponies, they use base-10 (0-4) and the kirin use base-10 (0-8)
-Begin Comment-
I was reading through the comments and lots of people are talking about the number system and I love it.
-End Comment-
Oh. Yeah. Right. I totally forgot how bases work...
But at least I was right with the method.
Might be repeating a few words, here.
Nice worldbuilding, but I couldn't help wondering how that's a desirable feature when it might tempt kids to keep chewing or sucking on them.
repetition
11100471
undoubtbly
11100495
But they are already expected to hold pencils in their mouths, so...
People count base 5 in prison on the wall.
Replace the word insane with silly to get a more authentic interaction between a teacher and a young child.
11100471
Base 5 makes sense, because they don't have fingers. We apparently tried Base 11, but you can imagine how messy that was, so 10 became the standard instead. However, as a lot of nature works on fives, ponies wouldn't run into problems until much later (where the patterns run more on tens).
Base 9 though? Absolutely nothing sensible about that one.
Base 5 for the ponies seems logical until I try to dig too deep into their likely history. Our base of 10 originated because we have 10 fingers. We count 1-9 and the last finger is used to represent the loop into what is the new 0. But they have four whooves. I honestly would have expected them to use base 4. With base 5 their ancestors must have used the head or tail as well, which seems silly. Then again all of this is silly. Its a story about ponies. Who am I to presume their ancestral culture?
11100569 It's time to use base 3.14159... since so much in Pony culture relies on circular logic! Eh? EHHHHH?
I'm interested by the using of such bases, after having watched "A better way to count". I've seen usage of Base 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 10, 16, and 256. Tally marks is arguably base 1 and base 5. And ascii is arguably 256. Plus that is the number of options for a byte, which computer memory seems to be divided into.
But, honestly, the most amusing part of this chapter is the flavored erasers.
reminds me of a scene in "a total eclipse of the fun" by Estee:
"WHY do we use base ten?"
"...i have absolutely no idea."
"oh, good, so it's not just me."
that was Celestia and Luna, but i forget which said which line.
oh, and in that crazy novel "battlefield earth", the Psychlos used base ELEVEN, which is VERY hard to handle!
11100559
But not in a positional numeral system.
This math system would drive me crazy. Interesting chapter though.
Waitaminute, continuity error.
If ponies don't have any numbers higher than 4, how would the nurse understand what 92 proof means?
11100815
...
Uh...
More than likely, even if she wouldn't recognize "ninety", she'd recogize the trouble term of proof after a number, and the implication of a filly drinking overwrote her desire to ask about the number.
Yeah. That sounds right.
Sooo, five or six? Base 5 should have 5 as ten, and 6 as eleven.
Man I cannot imagine having to learn a different number base system. That's got to be the biggest, most obtuse hassle with this pony society.
11100875
I've studied programming enough to be familiar with the basic principles of dealing with different base number systems, but dealing with a whole new system for all my mathematical needs would still be quite the undertaking.
Well, the math itself should be the asme, it's just a different representation of numbers. Kind of like a new script for a spoken language.
So, for someone who supposedly likes both math and languages, I fail to see a problem adjusting.
11100872
Good catch. Thanks!
11101003
But she's gonna have to change completely how she thinks of it. She has to break down and count every time she wants to do addition or multiplication or anything. Unless she makes a conversion sheet or something.
11101006
Still I don't think there are fundamental changes, just getting used to it.
Getting used to base 5 is not even that difficult, since it is exactly half 10.
In Chapter 3 - Refuge?:
The doctor gave off a small chuckle. "I'm gonna say probably another ninety years at least. Could be well over a hundred and thirty if you're healthy."
If the number system is base 5, what is a kirin's life expectancy in base 10? Also are years the same length?
Otherwise, great story! I've enjoyed it a lot so far!
11101042
It's not that simple. It's not just half. 30 in base five isn't 15. It's 110. Take Luna's 1000 year punishment. If we assume that 1000 is in base five, do you know what it equates to in base ten? 130. With bigger numbers it's definitely gonna have an effect on her.
11101082
Years are slightly shorter. I'd give them 300 days even (in base ten). In base five, that 130 year thing the doctor was joking about was... well, a joke. That's about 40 years in base ten, and was a joke since Kirin live ridicuously long lives. Sunny will go more in depth about Kirin specifics in the future, though.
I wonder how they came up with base 5. Guess 4 numbers for 4 hooves and then they decided to throw zero in the mix. On the other hand we have 10 fingers and use them for basic counting and yet end up with base 10 instead of 11. So, why ponies end up with base 5? Have they used tail for counting somehow?
11101042
That's still uncomfortable mental gymnastic until you actually learn to think in a different base. That's same as learning different language. You can't properly use it until you learn to formulate your thoughts in it. If you translate back and forth in your head you are doing it wrong.
this hoers write is acceptable. please proceed.
I recently read a fic where Ponies used base 6.. and pips.
11101150
1000(5) is 125, not 130 ;)
Doing coversion by multiplying by 1, 5, 25, 125, ... yields pretty round numbers to easily sum up later.
Going with halves, you'll need to mul/div each digit by 1, 2, 4, ... for conversion. Seems harder.
Anyway, 5 (and any other prime number at that) is a bad choice for base
And for any pony tasks you shouldn't go 5 to 10 for calc, to 5 for result. Just do it in 5
11101234
That just goes to show how different everything is. At simple level math, its just a simple conversion, but what if you want to know how full something is? How do percents translate? What's the sum of the Interior angles to a triangle according to ponies?
The higher level and more abstract you get, the more mental gymnastics you have to do to keep this conversion in mind.
Good chapter!
11100865
pbs.twimg.com/media/FBa5mdxWUAUd9zO.jpg
Also:
qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-c9468c7f3d7bcef7b0f2d0fdf83328d4
A nice little world-building chapter. Sometimes, I fear such things going a bit off the rails and diving unnecessarily into minutiae, but it serves a good narrative purpose to keep Jenny separated from school while she gets the help she needs. A side note: it makes me worry a little about Sunny's education. Hopefully there's a bit of knowledge bleed-through from Jenny for the subjects she'll be well-versed in already.
11101237
Percent is probably 1/25 th (0.01).
Sum of angles is even easier - π rad :)
The more you do this gymnastics, the easier it'll be.
The more abstract you go, the less likely it'll be actuall numbers
Interesting interesting indeed. I will wait for more
11100693
elven, or eleven?
Y'know. That actually makes sense why ponies would use a Base 5 number system. Four hooves plus the head.
But Kirin's using a base 9 system? It makes sense, but even attempting to do such math make my brain hurt. Then again. I'm also use to a base 10 system. I'm sure if I grew up learning base 9, it would make so much sense
11101556
OOPS! i meant eleven.
Yes
I suppose you could also ask why we use 60 seconds to a minute, 60 minutes to an hour, and 24 hours for a day. Blame the Babylonians who used a sexagesimal (counting in 60s) system for mathematics and astronomy-- the Greeks did us the favor of 24 hours.
No. Nooooo! Not five! We're dying! It's six (or twelve)! Both hooves divided into three positions.
Well at least she's enthusiastic about unicorn script.