Feb 8
I woke up stretched out on Aric's chest. It wasn't as comfy as Peggy's had been, but that was okay. It was nice to be sleeping with someone.
He must have felt me moving around, because he cracked open his eyes and then reached up and brushed his hand through my mane, so I leaned down and nuzzled his cheek.
We snuggled for a little bit until I finally stretched out and pushed the covers back. I tried to keep my hooves quiet when I climbed to the floor; I didn't want to wake up Peggy too soon.
It would have been nice to go for a morning trot—Aric might even have wanted to join me—but I didn't want to leave Peggy alone. She'd been so nice to stay with me even if she didn't really want to and was maybe overly concerned about me and Aric, but that was something good friends did, and I loved her for it.
Aric said that he would give us a ride back to campus if we wanted, and he went out and started up Winston. He said that it took her a while to warm up in the morning, and I asked if he wanted me to wake Peggy up and he said that I didn't have to; if Peggy wasn't ready to go once Winston got warm, he'd just turn it off again and it would warm up quicker when she was ready to leave.
Peggy woke up about ten minutes later, and said good morning to both of us, then went off to the bathroom. Aric figured that once she came out, she'd want to go back to campus so that we wouldn't be late for class, and he was right. It was a little strange to be driven back when we’d walked over the night before. But it was quicker, which was nice, so I had time to take a good shower and groom before I went to breakfast.
I felt like I did okay on my test in climate science class. Not great, but I hoped the professor would be a bit lenient, since I understood the concepts but just not all the words used to describe them.
Then in philosophy, we started on John Locke, who already seems to be making more sense than Descartes did. Instead of beginning with nothing, he believed that there was a natural law which was above rulers or religion. I think that's a pretty obvious conclusion—we know that the griffons and the minotaurs and all the other species in Equestria all have come up with remarkably similar laws, even though they don't all have a lot else in common.
He also said that God's laws were only given to certain people, and that makes sense too. Since we ponies weren't kicked out of the garden of Eden, we feel no shame at being naked. I had suspected this was so, but it's nice to see that a smart philosopher saw that, too.
And he said that it was the duty of citizens to replace their government when it isn't serving them any more. We've done that—the Princesses replaced the unicorns when they were trying to extort other ponies, and of course we choose a new pegasus assembly whenever the old one can't do its job. Earth ponies have a similar system, where they vote for a mayor. Unicorns just believe in bloodlines, which is dumb. Just because your dam was a good leader doesn't mean you'll be.
When I was back in our room before dinner, Peggy got up from her desk and sat down on her bed, then told me to sit down next to her. She said it was time for a little girl talk.
She asked me what my intentions were with Aric, and I said that I wasn't really sure yet. I hadn't known him all that long, but so far I liked him and he liked me, so that was a good start.
She asked me if I was sure that I knew what I was getting into. I told her that I knew how it went with stallions, but that humans were different, although from what we'd learned the anatomy was similar. Peggy said that wasn't what she meant at all—she was sure it was possible for us to have sex, she just wasn't sure that I was ready for all the baggage that might come with it.
Then she said that on Earth because there weren't any other sapient species besides humans, it wasn't okay to have sex with anything besides other people. Some places it was illegal, and other places it was frowned upon.
Peggy said that she understood that I wasn't an animal, but that a lot of people would look at it that way, and it might make things difficult for me or Aric. She reminded me of the angry man at Walgreens, and said that there were people who would be just as angry if they found out that I was having sex with Aric, or maybe even angrier; she said it might be hard for me or for him to deal with.
I flattened my ears and told her it sounded like she didn't want me to have any fun, even though she was spending the night with a boy sometimes.
She said that wasn't what she meant, and she just really wasn't good at explaining how conflicted she felt about this.
I told her maybe she was putting the cart before the pony. I wasn't sure where this was going to end up going anyway; I think that Aric likes me but I'm not sure if he likes me that way. I thought that the best thing to do was just to let things take their course and not worry right now about might-bes.
She said she was worried about me getting hurt or getting my heart broken, but that as long as I knew what I wanted and what I was comfortable with, than it probably wasn't any of her business. Then she had me repeat her telephone number until she was sure that I had it memorized, and told me that if I needed her to give her a call no matter what time it was.
I asked her if she was really serious about beating Aric to death with his own dick, and she smiled and said she probably wouldn't, but that she would make him wish she had if he hurt me. Then she rubbed her hand through my mane and nuzzled my cheek.
Then we talked about past boyfriends and coltfriends, which turned into a kind of funny competition to see who had had the most interesting sexual experience. That turned into a draw; she'd never done it on a cloud, and I'd never tried it in the backseat of a car at the county fair. I told her I could probably bring down a cloud if she ever wanted to try it—it wouldn't be quite the same, though, and I wasn't sure if a cloud could actually support a human, either.
She hugged me and I gave her a little nuzzle on the cheek, and we went off to dinner together.
Later on, Aric came by to pick me up for Durak, and I snuggled up against him while we were driving to the coffee shop, but when we were inside I stayed a little bit away, just in case any of the mean people who would jump to conclusions were in there. He didn't press the issue; I think he was happy that I was there after I'd missed the last session. That actually made me a little sad.
Keith said that if I'd enjoyed the LARP—which I had—that I might be interested in the SCA. He said that it was kind of similar, and that there was a big event coming up and I could go if I wanted to. Then Aric chimed in and said that he was going to go as well. I didn't have any plans for the weekend, so I said I would, and asked if I could invite Peggy if she wanted to go. He said that would be fine.
We played a bit later than usual, because the last game lasted quite some time after the deck ran out. When it was finally over, Keith picked his cards back up, and Aric gave me a ride back to campus. We stayed in his truck and snuggled for a little bit, and then I thought it was probably time to go, and went up to my room.
I still think studying Thomas Hobbes would help to widen her perspectives on human philosophy.
7093034 Lucky bugger...
The Ship is real.
Aric our homeboy fighting for the horsepussy
Just want to see her reaction to Stoicism, give her Meditations!.
This is sounding more and more like it is in the same universe as Celestial Sleeps In, our at least uses the same headcanons. If you are using the same rules, I have to wonder if it will end up being a bigger deal when the concept of herds comes up. For that matter, she should probably talk to Eric about the same issues she discussed with Peggy.
Cool, natural law must be a thing, since to a species that had always loved with other species it practically goes without saying.
The idea that each race in equestria have their own inner way of government in equestria is very interesting
Silver, my image of you as an innocent somehow remains, despite it sounding like you're a little minx.
On human/pony relations, I'm moderately sure I could. Personality has always been more important to me than looks.
SCA? As in Society for Creative Anachronism?
7094115 I have my suspicions that this story is an incarnation of the rumored third story of Celestia Sleeps In that was later cancelled before coming to fruition. If so, I would be very happy to see this gain a word count similar to the first story, and maybe even more. -although I don't want to pressure the author.
On the bright side, there seem to be more stories in this universe by Admiral Biscuit, just not explicitly mentioned as such.
I think I enjoy this universe about as much as the five score universe.
7094223 This is my last warning to everyone, I did not bring that up for the purpose of arguing about creation vs. evolution, I was merely saying I had used a poor example of a scientific controversy, since I think paleontology is more similar to history, but if people keep bringing it up I might not be able to stop myself.
The ship sails. Aric confirmed as horsesmoocher. What a world, I repeat, what a world.
Nice to see that Silver Glow's complexity a bit more. Before it seemed that she was 100% naive and pure. Knowing that she has previous relationship experience just deepens and humanizes her a lot more!
7094198
7094115
I agree with both of you. It makes me wonder when we will find out if it is? I am hoping that we can get another chapter in Onto The Pony Planet soon.
7094106
Presumably they're long past the Greek or Roman Stoics at this point. Kant is probably the closest any modern philosopher comes to someone like Marcus Aurelius or Seneca (if you prefer the Late Stoics).
7094337
yeah, but a man can hope. Well, there is Maquiavel to be seen yet :)
7094066 If her teacher i good, hobbes will be included in the Rousseau's segment, as a comparative.
7094315 Admiral Biscuit said a few time in the comments that it is not the same universe, but he re-used some of his «headcannon».
So Silver kinda sorta know what she is in for, but since it's a foggy path at best, certitudes would be alarming.
Crap, that Trump supporter was just foreshadowing bigger problems, wasn't he?
That's what was on my mind from the very beginning. Here comes the real intercultural minefield. I'm pretty sure it could go much, much worse for Aric than for Silver... just imagine all the good-natured remarks and nicknames.
Which is funny, but then I'm not in his position. Hope he's thick-skinned.
Now venturing into the areas of racism, specicism, xenophobia; oh dear. There are people who would beat you up for publicly stating an affinity for animated pastel ponies. Actually being with a real pony, an alien equine life form, a 'horse' (!) is a whole different league, probably not even in the same stadium.
Of course I'm thinking about the absolute worst-case scenario and there will likely be many people who'd be ecstatic about such a development. Add some magical glitter to our existing rainbow banners
7093106 Form is more then just rhymes and tempo. It is also about figure of speech. Silver's poem was very direct.
"....we started on John Locke, who already seems to be making more sense than Descartes did."
Now that's a low bar.
7094337 I'll put in a vote for Marcus Aurelius. A man who knew the difficulties of 'Applied Philosophy' as he held the position of Emperor for almost two decades during a time when the newborn Christian church was just taking off. It covers three bases.
I really like this chapter, especially when Silver called Peggy out for what appears to be a bit of hypocrisy, although the fact that she's treating her like a child is probably something that should be addressed.
However, I find myself thinking back to when this fic first began and the criticism at the time that ti seemed like Silver was wholly unprepared for Earth, as well as being largely cut off from any sort of significant support structure in terms of other ponies or what not. Here, again, I'm reminded of it, largely because Silver seems to be getting herself into a position that might be a problem for all the reasons Peggy tried to address; Someone or somepony probably should sit down and talk to Silver, at least, if this is going to be a concern.
7093606
You're a bit behind on the state of the research. While it is true that we will never know exactly what the first self-replicator was, getting the building blocks to make one is trivial, (seriously, it takes water with some source of CHON+P in it and just about any energy source), and both RNA and PNA[1] form strands spontaneously given the presence of nucleotides. The only step not observed is getting an actual self-replicator, and that's mostly an issue of limited volume and run time, (a few litres over a couple months has nothing on many cubic kilometres over a few hundred million years).
Yes, yes you did. You picked one that is about as controversial as the shape of the Earth or the nature of its motion through space.
[1] PNA uses a peptide chain as a backbone rather than sugars/phosphates. There are known RNA self-replicators that are about 80 bases long, IIRC there is at least one known PNA self-replicator in the 120 base range.
I wonder if this cultural exchange is the first of its kind, and if not, how this problem has been handled before. Mr. Salvatore the Cultural Exchange Liason might appreciate a heads-up for what is about to happen.
I do notice that Valentines is only a week away in the story now and hasn't had a mention. I wonder is Aric has anything planned, Silver would presumably understand the idea given hearts and hooves seems to be more or less the same (although we don't know when in the year it's positioned).
There was a marathon of the new COSMOS recently and just got me thinking that that could be a good exposure for Silver Glow about pre-contact Earth and its views about the possibility of life and what forms it could take. Plus Neil Tyson just has such a soothing voice.
7094573
I wonder if the issue, since we're picking it up through Silver's writing, is that Silver comes across as more innocent in the actual story world than she is. So many of the characters around Silver, like Peggy, see an "innocent, naive pony" where there isn't one.
7094919 the trick is, you don't need to be an "innocent, naive pony" to behave like one. So maybe that's how Silver Glow is doing it?
We humans tend to equate "cute" with "innocent".
Silver Glow is just from a race of cute creatures, not a bunch of sapient equines that just trotted out of the cabbage patch.
7095195
I think people may be confusing the word innocent with ignorant. Silver knows that mean people exist, and she knows that monsters exist. She has knowledge of evil and danger. Her problem is that she's simply not familiar with the warning signs on Earth. Specifically that the most common 'warning sign' of a monster on Earth is that look just like ordinary people.
Because a lot of the time, ordinary people are monsters!
Which probably includes a lot of students Silver shares lectures with. Even apparently nice people who think she's cute and like to talk to her might suddenly remember that words like 'slut' exist if they learn she did something (or believe she did something) that they personally disapprove of. I mean let's be honest. Peggy's not really talking about super-villains is she? Entire communities of regular folks can turn Mr Hyde extremely quickly, and for reasons that are both irrational and unpredictable to outsiders like Silver.
And that may be something she is both ignorant and innocent of.
Considering all the limitations that are placed on International Exchange programs (which is no romance), I am extremely surprised that Silver is allowed to pursue romantic relations with humans. I doubt that she is stupid enough to forget something like that so it clearly wasn't brought up.
I will have to stretch my disbelief in that Silver wasn't told "don't have romantic relationships with humans" but I guess I can hold out hope for Aric getting beat to death with his own dick.
7094919
I think its probably a bit of a double whammy with the fact that ponies, almost by definition, look cute. Assuming this story's ponies are so different from what we see in the show, its perhaps natural the humans are going to find them 'cute' or 'adorable' and make the erroneous assumption that because they're this things they must be 'innocent' or 'naive' about things like sex.
The other problem, as you mention, is that Silver sometimes acts profoundly innocent. Largely, I think the problem is that she appears to come from a world that I don't think would be wrong to characterize as 'wholly' scientific. There's simply no room for belief, including things like philosophy. For Silver, magic isn't 'magic' like we use it, its just a fact of everyday life--just like how Celestia and Luna existing and Doing Things is a fact. Which appears to be why she's just assuming instinctively that the Bible is a completely true recounting of what happened; for her, there's no question someone like Celestia might exist. Yet, for most people, this is a profoundly naive point of view, even among believers in religion. If you get two people of different religions in the same room, both are probably going to think of the other as being wrong, and I'm not sure Silver Glow really grasps that possibility. It would be absurd, in her mind, for their to be any disagreement over something like this.
7095446 Ok.
7095446 firstly macaroni and cheese is holy and should be kept inviolate. The only think I've ever added to mine was vodka.
It was a mistake.
Secondly: I think ponies would love a system like World of Darkness with a little less despair. The storyteller thing! It's way more focused on interaction and role play. I mean yeah my gunslinging vampire priest with his copy of the necronomicon fought by becoming an Eldritch nightmare of darkness and teeth but mostly I was talking and bluffing and plotting
7095421
And Artemis isn't even the only Bridge simulator anymore.
As for a room with a projector? Well if they have a movie room set up they'd already have one (much cheaper to get a projector than a massive TV screen) otherwise, you can either get them for a couple hundred dollars online or even make your own. (I recommend looking into it either way. If nothing else then because who doesn't want to play games on a wall sized screen.)
7095525 Ok!
7095411
i wonder what their reactions would be to the revelation that, Yes, Celestia and Luna are real, they realy can do all that stuff, but the humans can't prove anything on their side?
Silver: "well why don;t they just go and ask him"
Someone: " it doesn't work that way"
Silver: "well why not? we can just go and ask Celestia and Luna about stuff, surely God wouldn't mind"
7095525
Well yes but I long ago abandoned hope for humanity to get over our desire to control the actions of everyone around us.
7095654 So we actually do have a chance to win the Superbowl?
Good for you Silver Glow. Build a strong friendship and grow from there.
Ah this is an important subject Peggy approached. It is true, there may be some indications that Silver may be getting more than she bargained for when it comes to her possible relationship with Aric. I still hope for the best for these two and hope they can persevere through the trials that they are likely to soon face.
"Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!"
-Admiral David Farragut during the Battle of Mobile Bay
7095755 Ok, thanks for explaining that. Silver was talking like everyone in Equestria knows advanced weather theory, but I get the feeling she doesn't really know as much as she thinks she does about the lives of non-Pegasi.
7095525 I've always thought of them as different races. While they are all ponies, they have very different physical characteristics, more so than human races imo. They call themselves tribes in the show, but really it's a one tribe per race sort of thing from what's been shown.
I still wish she'd get over it though. I think it's bothering me more than it should since I identify as unicorn. (I feel weird now. )
7095525
I don't know, person only refers to human beings largely by default, as soon as other intelligent creatures are encountered I don't see any reason why it couldn't be interpreted as now also referring to these other intelligent species. They're probably waiting for a Supreme Court decision.
7095693
Yes, but it is the norm and a very strong norm at that. Anyone not conforming to it will have a hard time in life. That part of my post was only intended to add a second reason people to wear clothes at all times, not as a pronouncement of some universal truth about body coverings. I apologize for the poor wording on my part.
"When in Rome do as the Romans do." I think that it would behoove the ponies to try to conform themselves to certain aspects of human culture. It is generally considered to be a best practice when living abroad to try to fit yourself in as much as possible into the local culture, or at least show some sensitivity towards their norms. I think that wearing clothing would be a relatively easy way for the ponies to do this by wearing clothes.
Furthermore, there is a difference between legal compulsion and cultural expectations. While it would not be illegal it would be considered gauche to wear a worn out t-shirt and ratty jeans to a job interview. Someone who did so would not be violating any law but they would be violating cultural norms. In the same way while it might not be illegal for a pony to go around nude in humanland it would be counter to human cultural norms.
In conclusion ponies should wear pants.
7095693 there might be, but i'm an engineering student and the official position of engineering students is why the fuck am i taking this piece of crap class.
7095446
It's not that. The slang was explained to her, but her reaction wasn't newfound enlightenment. No, it was to call the slang stupid because the non-slang meaning wasn't applicable. That's not a translation issue. It seems to be a thought process issue, and one that makes her seem... "simple." (IE, tangentially reenforcing the idea that she's innocent.)
Unless it was intentional and she was making a joke in her own journal. But why...?
I wonder what Aric is thinking here? Does he really like Silver for herself or is he just interested in some alien action?
7094919
7095195
7095298
Credit where credit is due: 7095323 and 7095411 both have good points that influenced my thinking on this post.
Actually, Silver is naive and innocent, just not in the way that a human would be, and thus not in the way a human would expect. And this could be a big problem.
Silver Glow is a pony, and is therefore cute. And most people won't see her as "cute like that guy/girl that was flirting with me the other day," but "cute like my favorite stuffed animal from when I was a kid." Stuffed animals, and ponies, are cute because they have disproportionately big heads, and disproportionately big eyes, like small children.
Throw in something like Silver not getting the humor in adding "in bed" to the end of the fortune from her fortune cookie, (or any of a dozen similar incidents that may have happened but didn't leave enough of an impression on Silver to make it into her journal) and a lot of people will assume she is sexually inexperienced and childish and innocent and naive.
Then, later, she makes comments that show she is sexually experienced ("Why is my vagina called junk when it works just fine?"), and people, especially the kind of intelligent, thoughtful people she's sharing her college experience with, will think "Oops, I made a mistake due to cultural misunderstandings. She isn't childish, or innocent or naive." They then continue to the fairly obvious corollary: "She understands the consequences of sex."
Not quite. She understands the consequences of sex with another pony, and probably the consequences of sex with a donkey or a cow or sheep or other species from her home world. She doesn't understand the consequences of sex with a human, because she doesn't understand the full range of human nature. She didn't grow up on a playground where children hit and kick and bite each other on a regular basis to get the best toys. She didn't see her classmates in high school beat up or humiliate everyone they thought was an easy target. She didn't see news reports of someone being dragged behind a pickup truck and left hanging from a fence to die because someone else didn't like his sexual orientation. She may have read in textbooks that the Nazis killed six million people because they had funny names and funny noses and thus made convenient scapegoats, but she almost certainly hasn't internalized it.
The biggest positive I see in the event that she's attacked is that she'll probably either panic and fly away, or panic and leave a well-deserved hoof print on somebody's liver.
7094066
Or Calvin and Hobbes.
7094115
It isn't the same, but there are a lot of similarities. I guess the main bullet point would be don't assume because it's true in the Pony Planet 'verse that it is here too.
You know, actual contact with an alien species (be them ponies or whatever) would certainly settle some philosophical debates.
7094143
Seems like they would. We know from canon that in Ponyville, they wrap up winter the Earth Pony way, even though they have unicorns who could do it the unicorn way. I feel that even after unification, the three tribes might have kept doing as many things as they could their own ways, and I also think that the pegasi are the least likely to have assimilated, given that they theoretically could never put their hooves on solid ground.
7094147
Only a little bit.
I think I could, too, but I don't think it's possible to know for sure until the moment, y'know? And then I don't know what sort of mental crisis there'd be after, either.
7096035
The Hub must have been playing episodes with a different Diamond Tiara for you than it did for me.
7094194
Yup.
7094198
The third story hasn't been cancelled; I just haven't gotten there yet. Gotta finish the second story first.
Well, if in theory I manage a daily update for a year, and write an average of 1200 words/day, it will.
There is actually a bookshelf with all the stories explicitly in the OPP-verse.
7094259
To get one more hit on a dead horse (), you are right that it's a subject which is debated.
7094260
I'm tempted to tweak your nose by titling the next chapter "the ship founders."
7094271
7094315
Me, too.
7094388
Foggy path is the best way to describe what she's in for. Good thing Silver Glow knows a thing or two about fog.
7094406
Not everyone is going to react like that, but I think it's fair to say that there are people these days who are prejudiced against two humans loving each other because of race, gender, nationality, religion, or whatever . . . to any of those people, different species might very well top the list of triggers.