There was a gentle knocking on the front door.
"Whuzzit… what?" I blinked awake, noticing I had my cheek squished up against the side of Script's ribs. I straightened up and shook my head, hoping my cheeks weren't as red as they felt. What was with this body, falling asleep everywhere? Man, I could have used that skill when I was in my human body.
I moved away just in time as the door swung open, Cheerilee leading Golden in, both wearing saddlebags stuffed with books and loudly laughing.
Golden looked over my way and covered her mouth with a hoof. "Aww dear, did we wake you? I'm sorry."
"Nope. I'm… I was always awake." I responded sleepily. "I don't even sleep ever. And I'm not a dear."
"Of course not, my little ray of sunshine." Golden cooed, walking over and smoothing down what must be horrible bedmane. I instantly pulled away and tried patting down my hair myself.
"Dear, I don't think we need a fireplace anymore." Script joked. "Sunny here is almost as warm as actual fire. Heated up quite a lot as soon as her eyes closed. Give her a long night and I think we can heat the house."
I snuck a look back at his side and saw his fur ruffled from where I had been pressed against him. The little bit of skin I could make out looked more red than the surrounding skin.
I dropped my gaze to the cushion I was sitting on. God, I just wished I could disappear. I kept burning those I actually cared about.
"Ooh, I think you loosened the bad muscle in my back." Script exclaimed, stretching out and swinging his forelegs side to side. I heard a loud crack. "That's much better. Thanks, Gem."
I could feel my face burning hotter.
"It's nice to see you already fitting in, Jenny." Cheerilee opened a book on the couch and turned to smile at me. "I know both of these ponies and I just think they'll make the best foster parents."
"So!" I interrupted quickly. All the affection was making me feel really uncomfortable really quickly. "Uh, you have something you think will help?"
"Of course." Cheerilee nodded, hiding her smile. I'm guessing she picked up on the vibes emitting from me and acted on it. She dropped a paper and pencil in front of me. "So what I'm picking up is that the system of numbers you use is what we call base twenty. Or decimal. Would I be correct in saying that Sunny uses the same system?"
I shook my head. "She has one last number before ten in uh, in decimal."
Cheerilee paused, chewing on her lip as she stared at the spot on the couch next to me. "That sounds like… quatrapental. I'm sure I can find the equations for that."
There were a few moments of silence as Cheerilee riffled through her book, before Script piped up.
"I don't think that will be necessary yet."
He levitated a paper over to me that was full of rows of numbers. There were large gaps in between. It ended at what looked to be forty four. Well, forty four in base five.
"Could you fill in your version of the numbers next to each of our versions of the numbers?" Script asked, his face expressionless.
A minute later, I had one through twenty four written out on the sheet, and an intense distaste for mouth writing, no matter how genius flavoured erasers were.
"Okay, so let's say this…" he pointed at a human number.
"Fourteen." I clarified.
"Plus this…" he continued.
"Four."
"Is what?"
"Eighteen." I replied automatically, staring at Script.
"Is eighteen written down on that?" Script smiled.
I looked back down at the sheet, a realization dawning on me. Eighteen was there, next to two of the numbers that looked like a circle with a line through it. It only took a moment to translate.
"Which for you would be thirty three…" I responded breathlessly.
"So if we were to ask you what twenty four-" he drew his hoof across the number next to fourteen. "-plus four is, it would be what, for us?"
"Thirty three." My voice was nearly a whisper.
I stared up at Script, my eyes wide and mouth hanging open. He had made a… a conversion chart. If I could get a bigger version of this I would only need to convert bases with bigger numbers! And we could even make one for Sunny! This stallion was such a genius I could just kiss him! Of course, this begs the question of why didn’t I just think of that, but… eh.
"Oh my god, you're a genius." I grinned manically at Script. He was instantly my new favorite person. Well, pony, but whatever.
"Oh my what?" Noi asked from the other side of Script. I ignored her.
"That's smart, Written Script." Cheerilee gave a little half smile. "But I would like you to still teach converting bases. It's a reliable equation for higher level mathematics."
Script nodded and gave me a quick wink, and I was suddenly feeling a whole lot more confident in this whole homeschooling thing.
"I also brought along a couple papers that young foreign exchange students can use for the language, but it does break it down to a very basic lev-" Cheerilee continued.
"I already speak it and this is hardly my first time writing a new language." I interrupted. "I just need some time to assign some mnemonics, and spelling shouldn't be too different."
Cheerilee didn't respond for a few moments. Her eyes wide.
"You speak multiple languages?"
"Ya khorosho govoryu pa-russki." I responded with a smirk. "También en otros idiomas."
Four blank stares answered me.
"I… well." Cheerilee answered slowly. "That first section sounded a little similar to the old Griffon language, but I've never heard…"
"How many languages do you speak?" Noi asked from my right.
"Four." I shrugged.
Noi blinked slowly. "You can speak four languages but can't count to ten? You're the weirdest pony I've ever seen."
"I'm also not a pony." I replied dryly.
"Wow." I heard her make a tiny gasp. "Coolest. Sister. Ever."
I pretended not to smile. I think Noi bought it.
"Or coolest tapeworm ever?" Noi scratched at her chin and stared at the ceiling. "I've never met a tapeworm either."
"I…" I deadpanned. "Noi, for the last time, I'm not a tapeworm."
"Are you sure you're not a tapeworm? Did you crawl into her brain?" Noi asked, fire in her eyes.
"If I'm lying may Celestia strike me down." I chuckled.
For a few moments everyone was quiet. I rubbed my good foreleg on my chest, as if shining an apple.
"Well she hasn't struck me down so-"
"Wait, the trip from Canterlot probably takes a while." Noi insisted.
"Are you... Are you serious?"
"Well yeah, it's on a giant mountain miles away, silly." Noi rolled her eyes.
"Can't she teleport?" I retorted.
"Well I dunno. I never met her." Noi responded as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Y'know, not even gonna try with that one.
"So um, what now?" I questioned, turning to Cheerilee.
Cheerilee let out a short laugh. "Well judging from the lack of casual divine intervention, I was going to suggest you and Noi get some sleep while I work on a curriculum with Golden Harvest and Written Script."
"I just… just woke up." My body chose the absolute worst time to yawn. "I can learn some more. C'mon, hit me."
Cheerilee cocked her head to the side and chuckled. "While I love to see a pony enthusiastic to learn, good fillies must get their rest. You got a growing body to support and a broken leg to heal. Plus all those other boo-boos from the timberwolf."
"Timberwolf?!" Noi cut in loudly, crossing her forelegs and pouting. "You told me you were attacked by a manticore!"
Cheerilee looked from Noi to me, an eyebrow raised and a side smile on her face.
"Eh." I shrugged. "The manticore story was cooler. And I guess yo-" another yawn cut me off. Damn, was this kid narcoleptic or something? "Mmm, guess you're right."
I followed Noi slowly as she led me back to our room. She, of course, still had pep in her step.
"Wanna see the comic book I'm making?" Noi asked eagerly. "It's gonna be called 'The Adventures of Phenyx!'"
I shrugged and plopped down on my side, back to the fishtank for light, as Noi pulled a stack of colorful stapled papers towards me.
Noi made her way around to my back and plopped on me, resting her stomach on my side and opening the first page of the comic book.
"Wow, you really are warm." Noi commented. "This is nice."
"Uh…" I struggled to speak. "What are you doing?"
"Laying on you." Noi responded casually, as if I was just asking about the weather. "'Cause you're warm."
"Well yes, I see that. But like… we don't know each other that well." I hesitated.
"We're sisters now." Noi arched an eyebrow at me. "What, is this weird where you're from? I mean I can move if you want, but I don't really want to."
"Kirin do this too." Sunny chipped in. "It's not weird for us. Just be careful you're not squished between two bigger Kirin laying on each other. That can get a bit too warm."
"It is kinda weird." I admitted.
Noi's ears flopped and her vision dropped to the ground. "Oh, okay. Sorry."
Damn guilt tripping kids. It probably wasn't on purpose, but...
"Okay, you can stay." I sighed. Noi's manic smile returned. "Tell me about this comic. What is this main character?"
"She's a faun, you dork." Noi responded sassily. "I'll leave the page open so you can read. Tell me when to turn."
I massaged the side of my muzzle. "Noi, I can't read your language, remember?"
"Aw, nuts." Noi complained. "I forgot. I can just read it to you!”
Oh joy.
“You don’t seem very interested.” Sunny noted. “I can feel it. Do you want me to take over? I’m interested in this faun character and you can get some rest.”
I nodded and a quick dizzy spell later, Sunny was in charge of the body again.
“Okay, so…” Noi started. “It all began during a cold winter’s day in the den hidden in the depths of the Everfree…”
“In Noi’s defense, it is much less contrived than I’d expect a story made by somebody her age. And I can easily see living with Script has widened her vocabulary a good bit.” I commented.
“I dunno what contrived means…” Sunny spoke in our head, still in control of the body and crawling into bed. “But I thought it was pretty good!”
Sunny froze, her eyes scanning the sheets below her.
“Uhm… Jenny? I know we’ve had a very… intense week together, but… well, it's just... Back when I had King and Orange and all them... Um... I always told them I loved them even if nobody else loved them or believed in them every night before I went to sleep, and now that I have somebody else here with me... I know we just met, but-”
“And all I've done so far is hurt you and mess things up.” I retorted.
“You just woke. You were confused and lost. I know you were trying your best. I forgive you. Please forgive yourself.” Sunny continued, an unsure tone in her voice.
“Being that kind and forgiving will have people walking all over you, kid.” I replied bluntly, scratching the side of my nose.
“So, okay, no... Uh... Goodnight, Jenny.”
I let out a long sigh. “G’nite, kid."
“Mickey.” I greeted the bartender with a forced smile and quick nod as I slid into my usual seat at the end of the bar. “The usual.”
The old Russian man nodded and turned his back to me, reaching for a long, transparent bottle behind him. A quick pour later, and I was looking at a long, completely clear glass.
I took a long sip and relaxed on my stool as the alcohol ate away at the tension locked in my shoulders and back. Fucking tests were murder on my stress levels. If I needed to spend one more minute studying the bones of the hand I was going to-
“Well if it ain’t the new girl.” Came a silky voice from my right. I choked on my drink as I swung my head to the newcomer. When I saw who it was, I froze in place. Looking back at me was at least six feet of pure, curvy, tan, feminine beauty. She had blonde hair just past her shoulders, with the tips dyed red. Long eyelashes, black eyeshadow, and bright pink lipstick. She was wearing a bright blue t-shirt and skinny jeans. She was the kind of beauty you’d see in magazines, not in seedy bars talking to people like me.
I swallowed and instinctually looked behind me. I don’t know why, I knew it was the wall, but still…
“Nah, cutie, talking to you.” She teased, biting down slightly on her lower lip in a way that made the room feel twenty degrees warmer all of a sudden.
Oh my god. Holy fuck. Was she flirting with me?
“Damn, can’t speak English?” She winked.
I swallowed hard. “Uh, hi.”
She slid into the stool next to me, fluttering her eyelashes at the bartender “Hey Nicholas, can I get something sweet?”
“Konechno.” Mickey responded, turning his back again to mix a drink.
“So new girl, what did you call Nicholas earlier?”
“Oh, um...” God, why did this already feel like an interrogation? The room was hotter than the middle of July and I think my cheeks were on fire. “Mickey. Nicholas is his American name. I was calling him by his native name. Well, my nickname for him. He uh… served with… my dad. In the Marines."
Her eyes flickered to my hair and back. “Yup, figures you were a military brat. You serve yourself?”
Shit, was that an insult or not? Jesus, nobody had ever taught me to talk to girls, much less Amazonian demigods in human form.
“Uh, no. I mean I considered it, but uh…”
“Ah, well in that case, Senior Airman Maria Johnson, at your service.” The goddess did a little bow.
“Uhm, Jenny Böhr.” I responded softly. “Chair Force or Navy?"
There was a moment of quiet where all the color drained from my face as I realized what I just said.
“I mean Air F-”
There was suddenly a finger pressed against my lips. “It’s okay. I’m not gonna take offense to something like that. Yes, Air Force.” She took her time taking her finger off my face and I think my entire face was on fire by this point. “Forgive me, your name sounds German but you look, ah, somewhat asian.”
“My mom was Korean.” I answered quickly.
“Interesting. Tell me, what are you majoring in? I’ve seen you all over campus.” Maria spoke slowly, sweetly. I felt my brain filling up with fog. I’d never seen this lady before, on or off campus.
“Um, nursing. You?”
“Oh, I’m not a student here. I’m just visiting my sister for a few weeks on leave.” She chewed softly on her lower lip in a way that did things to me. Like, I was going to need a towel soon if she didn’t stop. “Are you here for the drinks, or you looking for some female accompaniment tonight?”
My face was definitely on fire now.
“How did you…” Was I that obvious? Oh god, what was going on?
She let out a chuckle, scanning my outfit. “Really? A messy bun and a flannel. Your outfit screams ‘lesbian’.”
I blinked hard. “That’s a thing?”
She rolled her eyes and smiled. “Yes, Jen. So, am I barking up the wrong tree?”
There was no way. Storytale things like these didn’t happen to me. I was a nerd with anger issues and glasses, not some… princess.
“What’s the catch?” I asked bluntly.
Maria closed her eyes and smiled, savoring the moment. “Oh, I do so love it when girls know I’m playing with them. Tell you what, we play a little game. I win a drinking contest, you pay for my drinks the rest of the night. You win, I pay for yours. And maybe if things go well… who knows?”
Oh, now it was definitely going my way. Thank you, Lady Luck.
“Tell you what, if I win…” I grinned. “I get your number, instead.”
Maria let out a slow, sultry laugh. “Oh honey, you got yourself a deal.”
“Mickey, desyat' ryumok vodki, pozhaluysta.” I gave the bartender a quick wink. He responded with a sly smile.
“You speak Russian?” Maria’s sure grin faltered.
“Oh honey, you should have found out a bit more about me before you challenged me to a drinking challenge.” I winked. “This is my bar.”
Interesting bit at the end there.
*Quick trip to Google Translate*
Lmao
(Also there’s not supposed to be a space after an ellipsis (…), since it’s not actually three periods, but it’s own symbol.
11131750
Okay first off, I have no idea what you're talking about with Arson and TikTok. I don't partake in that garbage.
Second, sure, I don't 100% get it, but I have had a good friend with it, and another good friend who's worked with individuals diagnosed by a mental health professional to have it. We're not talking self diagnosis. What I've heard is that whole yes, strictly speaking an alter is a fragment of a psyche and personality, everyone with it treats them like people. My friend who had it referred to his one alter as "his little sister", not just him being cutesy.
And no shit alters aren't people from other worlds. That's basic logic. This is also a fanfiction site.
As for trauma with Sunny? You mean a fire elemental and child terrified of fire, getting angry, conflict, and that was 100% okay with Jenny, a brand new alter with no worldly experience taking over her life aren't signs? Yes, that's not everything, but the focus of the story hasn't delved into Sunny's past much yet, as you've noticed.
And yes I realize just some parent dying isn't enough to have DiD pop up. A parent dying of sickness or old age or whatever is sad, but not traumatizing enough. However, I never said how she died. Maybe it was in a traumatic experience. Maybe it was referenced during the breakdown/flashback sequence in Zenith? Maybe once Jenny and Sunny cement their position in their new life they can force more of their own stories from each other?
But if you aren't going to keep reading I understand. I'm not meaning to put up a bad stereotype of a mental illness, and I get you leaving. Thank you for reading and commenting up to this period, and I hope you can find a new story that meets your standards.
11131913
I've learned there's four accepted versions of ellipses.
This... version
This...version
This. . . version
And
This. . .version.
The last two look terrible. The first one looks the best, so that's what I use.
Of course maybe I learned wrong and have been writing it wrong my whole life. Who knows?
Nice
Interesting. Dream, or flashback? Seemed a bit too defined for a dream...
Noi is cute. She'll be a great assimilation guide.
Everypony needs their daily allocation of snuggles! Don't be afraid of the hugs, it's actually a critical aspect of not just mental, but physical developement in a foal!
aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh i see that spýro reference :3
Heh. Jenny’s getting a loving household whether she likes it or not. And a very adaptable teacher. Now if she could just recognize that this is a culture far more inclined to reward forgiveness rather than exploit it. Especially self-forgiveness…
Aww, snuggly Jenny.
I like Sunny taking over at night to chill with Noi. She needs to come out a little bit more so Noi can interact with a sister closer to her own age.
11132098
Bah, I was hoping I'd be the first one to catch Elora's quote.
Honestly, I think that's my favorite line in the entire Spyro franchise.
11132098
where!?
11132310
Interesting, good chapter
According to Google translate, Mickey means bowl.
11132601
"Mickey" is based off a Russian friend of mine named Mykola. That is basically the Russian version of Nicolas
He also translated the Russian.
11132611
Either way, I am now picturing him with a bowl cut (even though he will likely never be brought up again)
11132611
Judging by that name, your friend is a Russian speaking Ukrainian.
Well, At least the basics of base 5 are easy to learn...
mackichan.com/techtalk/451__4.png
Though, sadly this also means some of our methods of multiplication no longer work...
"Tapeworms live in the intestines. I'm a Naegleria fowleri," said the horrifying parasite.
11131993 Having a parent eaten out from the inside by a tentacle monster is pretty traumatizing. That would probably do the trick, especially if the tentacle monster sprouted a head that started talking like Peewee Herman and asked the kid if he wanted to visit its playhouse.
11134320
Well, I did not know that was a thing.
And yes, Noi does not understand parasites as well as she thinks.
Or the whole Jenny situation as well as she thinks.
11134323
I feel like that would definitely qualify as "traumatizing".
11132611
Russian version of Nicolas is Nikolay (stress on "a"). Kolya (stress on "o") in short. Kolyan (stress on "a") for friends. Mykola is Ukrainian name (though we almost all speak one language).
Also Russian response "da" means simple flat "yes". If he would respond with something like "of course!" he would say "konechno!" (stress on "e") or something.
About numbers - how would she describe metric system or she don't use it herself?
x*20^y heh.
11136982
The name may be Ukrainian, but he is Bylorussian by birth (however you spell that).
Thanks for the tip about his response.
Metric? Horses don't use metric or imperial, I'm thinking. Instead of feet they use hooves, which is obviously not twelve inches. Instead of yards, maybe carriages? We'll see.
It occurs to me the ponies have no good reason for refusing to fix them that doesn't endorse harming them in some manner. If Jenny isn't real, then they're refusing to treat a mentally ill person who wants to be cured. If Jenny IS real, they're condemning a foal to spend the rest of its life possessed by a full grown adult as well as forcing said adult to be regressed into a child of a different species.
11137386
That sounds like a nightmare! Also love the story thus far, really enjoying it and hope to see more of it soon, I'm really getting into it.
11137386
I was going to say rod, but then realized that it WAS historical name of a unit of length roughly related to yard (which literally means "stick"). Carriage sound mouthful and would appear to be a unit too large.
One could take roman units and translate them to english, there is logic in that (replacing a foot with a hoof, obviously). That would make a unit close to yard be a "pace" - five foots, er, hooves. that some roman units used 5 as a magnitude allows create a parralel.
11136982
Mykola (Mykolai) is a Eastern Ortodox Church's canon name, consequently it can be in use in Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, etc. Yeah, it is rare to find people with some canon names in metropolian cities here and it would sound exotic, but at countryside?
11131993
I think one of the misconceptions here is that DID has highly specific connotations with respect to other forms of plurality. Specifically, in DID, internal communication as described isn’t possible: However, you do give a very accurate portrayal of a different dissociative disorder, or just ‘plurality’, which isn’t necessarily diagnosed as a disorder because it’s not necessarily ‘disorderly’, which has criteria it must meet. Mental health is complicated, and everybody has a different experience with it, so when one depiction doesn’t match all experiences, it can cause people to call it out as inaccurate.
I think you did a good job at portraying one form of plurality :) I know several people who experience something very similar to this.
11149943
I wasn't being serious about the carriage thing but you have some good recommendations here. Thanks! I'll do some brainstorming and we'll see what we get.
11150537
Ah. The one individual I knew with DiD I guess didn't have the best communication with me. I do know several plural systems and that might be why it sounds more like that. Oops.
Oh well, I'll explain it away with "magic".
11150537
It's called neurodiversity. In this case though it is caused by some possibly magical phenomenon as far as we can tell.
Oh wow this is good. Got to the current chapter way to fast.
11131993
You realize it isn't sad enough to have D.I.D pop up? OH MY FUCKING GOD. D.I.D can only form when you are under the age of 12. How old is whatever her name is? Also, this says you didn't even plan this out. You say she got D.I.D from her mother dying, but then you don't know how her mother died. You say you have friends with D.I.D, when this entire thing is a stereotype. Holyyyyyy shittttttt. Did you even plan this out? This story is an absolute shitshow.
11151406
Hold on, why're we talking about neurodiversity right now? When did we get to this point? I hope you aren't referring to whatever the girl's name was with 'D.I.D'. I'm autistic, that'd be embarrassing.
11131993
OH AND did I mention, STOP TAKING INFORMATION FROM OTHER PEOPLE AND DO MORE RESEARCH! Having friends with it is surely not enough to make an entire character with a story arch revolving around the fact that she has D.I.D. Please, if you ever write characters with some sort of disability, illness, or disorder, do some more research instead of claiming you "have friends with it". That is not enough, and it surely does not excuse this terrible character writing. It's giving "I have (insert) friends so I can't be (bad thing to insert)".
Edit : By the way, don't take this as just a mindless hate comment. I'm telling you that you're misrepresenting a group of people with a mental illness by using damaging/harmful stereotypes, that even if they seem to not be that bad, they are that bad. Literally just pay attention to what I'm telling you.
11153719
I meant , what is not considered a disorder in that area belongs to the realm of neurodiversity. There are references of plurality cases which weren't disorders.
Thing is character here is currently unsure whether she expiriences either variant, or she is actually is in body of another quantum leap-style. She might be right but then we are breaking fourth wall here, equating the author to their character because story is written in first person. It's SHE-character who operates under wrong (and popular concept) of disorder.
You should try to relax and take stories (and comments) with grain of salt. Note, with this format of publishing authors try reassure themselves through interaction with readers, it's better not be too zealous about thungs here.
11153724
There is absolutely nothing wrong with your opinion. If you believe that any representation of a real-life condition or disorder should be met with the utmost research to avoid propagation of negative stereotype or misinformation, then that's a perfectly valid viewpoint. Admirable, even.
However, positing your views with things like "this story is a terrible stereotype", or "X character is badly written", or "the author clearly doesn't know what he's talking about" is not really helpful at all. It's needlessly antagonistic. It's fine to be passionate about something, but not at the expense of a perfect stranger writing a fanfiction you happen to be reading.
In regards to the story itself; we don't even have all the details yet about the characters or circumstances involved. It would be difficult to say things like "this is this" or "that's not how the character would act" at this point. And yes, while real world conditions do tend to work in particular ways, making certain story elements "innaccurate", the addition of fantastical elements such as apparent dimension travel would further muddy things in that regard.
An example could be made about a great many "magical amnesia" or "dreamwalking" fanfics which can play a bit fast and loose with how memories or dreams actually work. It doesn't make them bad stories, and the authors are not being malicious. If it happens to be a hot button issue for a particular reader, though, they are free to leave a polite comment about, leave a dislike if they feel so inclined, and move on to another story.
11153948
Reasonable.👍
11153718
First, people don't get DID from being "really sad", it happens as a result of trauma. Sunny is still under 12 now, so she was younger than that when her mother died, that's how linear time works.
Second, Jenny self-diagnosed with DID and the psychiatrist basically said "yeah that's nice but that's not how DID works."
Have you actually read the story?
Burned through this at work and couldn't stop, interesting version of this type of fic. (Also...tapeworm? )
Just found this and binged. Very good so far, looking forward to more.
11132846
always love number stuff
thx for contributing the thing i learned today
11175697
Thanks for the comment. It got me thinking on how this story's multiplication could work. I personally think that it would be most likely a 'lattice' style because, [since they use base 5, where reaching '5' is the same as reaching '10'] they would still have their ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, etcetera...
I really think that the Lattice multiplication method would work with their math!
Lattice Multiplication:
Huh, it's an interesting coincidence. There was a girl who went to my previous school with the name of "Jen." She was also lesbian and I think she spoke a bit of Russian. But that's an irrelevant bit of coincidence.
I guess I'm back to reading this, it's been a while since I last touched it. After the last chapter, I looked up the Trinary numeric system (base 3), there was also reference to a few other base systems in that article. And then I was thinking about whether the pony numeric notation could be numeric or non-numeric. Not sure if that's an actual description of it, but numbers can be denoted in different ways. I think it's numeric in this story. Numeric with 0,1,2,3,4,10 etc. But then also non-numeric like with Roman Numerals which have a few letters that each represent a value which adds/subtracts their way to the desired result. CDLXVII = 500-100+50+10+5+1+1 = 467. I like that all the ponies have different writing systems (although this has been used a bit in a few other stories) and that there's also difference in numeric systems across wider species range (pony and kirin).
Jenny seemed quite trepidatious about having to relearn reading/writing at first, until she saw unicorn script, and then suddenly she's
bilingualmulti-ligual and quite excited to begin. But then, I haven't read this story in a while and cannot tell if that's a new detail or not.I'm back and enjoying the story, I don't think I'm going to stop reading part way through again.