Meet The Mares: Bifröst · 7:04pm Jul 9th, 2023
There’s only so much that can go into a story, especially one with as many characters as 16 has. So I’m opening the floor to asking these characters questions. Post your reply with any questions you have and Bifröst will be happy to answer them (I’ll be editing this blog to add those questions).
Interview subject #17: Bifröst
Source: https://derpibooru.org/images/2047223
Cutie Mark?
Source: https://derpibooru.org/images/2209235
Favorite color?
It is being purple.
Favorite song? Specifically, your favorite song that our audience on Earth might know?
It is being Rainbow In The Dark by Dio.
You were on the very first busload of ponies brought to the consulate the day the portal opened. Is that correct?
That is being correct.
Why did you leave the Mareiott?
I was being tasked by Headmare Starlight to help humankind stop the melting of the icecaps. I am originally being from what Equestria calls the ‘Frozen North’ which is being our equivalent of the Arctic. As a result, I am liking it to be a bit chillier than other ponies, and I do not do the handling of heat very well. If your planet is doing the warming, I am wanting to help do the reversing of the ecological damage.
I was not having much luck with that doing the working at a hotel. Now I’m doing the working at a car wash, doing the jumping on the clouds to be releasing the rain. I am doing the working with the weather in the only way I am being allowed to and doing the learning as best I can. When I’m not doing the working, I’m doing the research. There are being lots of humans doing the looking into climate change as well, so I do the studying of their data.
Do you have a car?
Yes, it is being a 1968 Mercedes-Benz 280SL.
How did you afford that?*
I was being in need of a car to study the effects of emissions on the atmosphere. I was desiring a vintage car to be getting an idea of how much damage has already been done. This qualifies as a compensable expense under the terms of my research grant, so I was being able to get this. I didn’t think I would do the liking of driving, but I am finding that it is being very pleasant. I like to do the taking of my car to shows. I admit, I am being very torn because I know my car is being part of the problem, especially because it is being an older model before catalytic converters were being a thing.
*Author’s note: This is far and away the most expensive car owned by any of our cast members. These are highly desirable cars and their prices reflect that. Furthermore, this is European spec (more than half of these cars were sold in the USA, but we had archaic laws regarding automotive lighting until the mid-1980s, forcing many European & Japanese manufacturers to design their vehicles with one version for the American market and another for the rest of the world; Euro cars are even more desirable as the headlights improve the looks of the car).
However, I came across this at a car show and it was way too good to pass up. I assure you I did a double-take when I saw the B1FROST license plate. So this is her car, and it’s all due to (unintentional?) grant fraud.
Have you learned anything?
Yes. It is being very obvious that automotive emissions have done the contributing to global warming. The problem is that there isn’t being a very good solution. Electric cars do the getting of their charges from the power grid, which is being coal in many parts of the world. Hydrogen is seemingly the best way forward, but the infrastructure isn’t being there. Now that unicorns can be making the fuel easier, it is being hopeful that this will change.
Did you know that UCLA did the building of a hydrogen car in 1972 that did the purifying of the air? It did the emitting of water vapor, which made the air cleaner by driving it. It does the making me very sad to know that fifty years later the technology is still being ignored instead of developed.
Equestria has done the limiting of vehicles to only hydrogen. We are doing the learning from your mistakes.
What Earth languages have you learned?
I have done the learning of English, Dutch, French, Swedish, and Norwegian. English is being mandatory for ponies traveling to Earth since that is the language of the country the portal is being located in. All ponies must do the passing through of the States that are being United.
Relationship status?
I am being single. A lot of ponies are thinking that I am being very annoying, so I did the giving up on finding a special somepony.
What was it like attending the School of Friendship?
I am being asked this question frequently. Yes, the teachers were all being heroes of Equestria, but it was still being school. There were still being tests and grades. There was being learning.
Thanks to Feathermay, I discovered that pony names don’t translate to English quite as well as everyone originally thought. What’s the most direct translation of your name?
Mine is being an exact translation. Bifröst is being a rainbow bridge that connects worlds. I am thinking that humans have done the coming into contact with the Crystal Empire many centuries ago, before the Empire did the vanishing. Both of our cultures are having record of Bifröst.
Emil: What was the favorite food/drink that you discovered on human-Earth?
Swedish Fish.
Dan: If you found a room mate who also likes it cool, would it bother you if they wanted to snuggle up like in a warm lefse?
I would not be objecting to that. I have done the cuddling of Cozy Glow... and done the living to tell about it. I cannot be thinking of a worse pony to do the snuggling with. So if I can do the cuddling of her, I can do the cuddling of anyone. I am not sure why one would want to do the snuggling inside of a lefse though. You are doing the talking about the flatbread yes?
penguincascadia: Of the two major sources of cheap renewable energy, which is your favorite? Wind or solar?
This is being a tough question. They are both having their advantages and disadvantages, but I am thinking that solar is having fewer drawbacks. Both are having the geographic restrictions, but wind is also doing the taking up of more space for wind turbine farms. Solar panels can be integrated into infrastructure. So I am going to do the picking of solar. Mostly because Feathermay will do the getting on my case about bird strikes otherwise.
Emil: Well, at least it's not surstromming, I guess.
Also, have you seen this comic?
I have heard that there are being some pegasi that eat fish, but I am not being one of them.
The comic is being very cute, and I can be seeing why Rainbow Dash would do the liking of the song also. I will have to do the asking of her if I am ever doing the seeing of her again.
Dan: Do you like Lutefisk and Yams?
Yams are being good, but I am not being a fan of fish.
Me like-y.
Considering some of the properties of pony digestion and emissions, I hope you're not discounting human fusion research. Maybe volunteer to assist researchers at the NIF and sell any surplus to Party City.
If you found a room mate who also likes it cool, would it bother you if they wanted to snuggle up like in a warm lefse? And maybe offered a heart balloon as a sign of affection?
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I have
done the replying and editing intoreplied in the blog post as always. Thank youfor doing theaskingofthe question!"Yes. It is being very obvious that automotive emissions have done the contributing to global warming. The problem is that there isn’t being a very good solution. Electric cars do the getting of their charges from the power grid, which is being coal in many parts of the world. Hydrogen is seemingly the best way forward, but the infrastructure isn’t being there. Now that unicorns can be making the fuel easier, it is being hopeful that this will change."
Unfortunately, it looks like Bifrost got some facts mixed up.
Even with a fossil fuel power grid, electric cars emit less carbon pollution then gas cars because of the efficiencies of central electric generation:
https://www.carbonbrief.org/factcheck-how-electric-vehicles-help-to-tackle-climate-change/
And wind and solar plus energy storage are now cheaper then fossil fuels, so the electric grid is rapidly decarbonizing anyway:
https://www.snexplores.org/article/green-energy-cheaper-than-fossil-fuels-climate
Hydrogen cars are less efficient then electric cars and consume more power:
https://theconversation.com/hydrogen-cars-wont-overtake-electric-vehicles-because-theyre-hampered-by-the-laws-of-science-139899
There's also no natural reserves of hydrogen being exploited, so hydrogen has to be made, which takes more electricity than simply just charging an electric car.
Electric cars are also way ahead on the lowering of costs and adoption curve- there aren't that many hydrogen cars out there, while electric cars are now here in masse and rapidly getting cheaper (China and the UK already have electric car sales up to 25% of the new car market).
Green hydrogen has many uses in other areas, like chemical plants and shipping, which unicorns can help with. But for cars, electric is the way forward.
Actual question: Of the two major sources of cheap renewable energy, which is your favorite? Wind or solar?
Well, at least it's not surstromming, I guess.
Also, have you seen https://www.deviantart.com/bcrich40/art/Improving-Skills-Part-28-470382610 ?
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In the short-term, no amount of any solar and wind farms will help reach any mitigation goals. We need more fission power stations. They're not glamorous, but they're a heck of a lot safer than they were 50 years ago when Fukushima was built.
And also, the entire power grid needs to be refurbished, and battery farms will be just as important as wind and solar farms. Those infamous worn-through power line hooks in California illustrate how run down the current infrastructure is, and the power load is only increasing.
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That you for the questions! I have done the answering of them in the blog.
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This isn't true- wind and solar have gone to 14% of the grid in just a few years:
https://apnews.com/article/renewable-energy-coal-nuclear-climate-change-dd4a0b168fe057f430e37398615155a0
They're also far cheaper than fossil fuels.
Meanwhile, only one nuclear plant has been built in the U.S in the last decade, and nuclear is hugely expensive and slow to build:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-energy-nuclearpower/nuclear-energy-too-slow-too-expensive-to-save-climate-report-idUSKBN1W909J
Even small modular reactors can't save nuclear:
https://cleantechnica.com/2023/03/28/shoveling-money-into-small-modular-nuclear-reactors-wont-make-their-electricity-cheap/
They still turn out to be too expensive. Renewables are the future.
Agreed on the grid and energy storage.
I am Sven,
Sven I am.
Do you like Lutefisk and Yams?
Would you eat them on a trip?
Would you eat them on your ship?
Would you eat them on a raid?
Would you eat them with a maid?
Would you eat them on the field?
Would you eat them off your shield?
Would you eat them served up cold?
Would you eat them if I paid you gold?
"but we had archaic laws regarding automotive lighting until the mid-1980s"
(Is it really that uncommon to think that dropping those laws was a mistake, and that even increasing the allowed options to four (or even to two) may have been going too far?)
"I assure you I did a double-take when I saw the B1FROST license plate."
(Oh, huh, I hadn't even noticed that before. Neat, assuming it wasn't another case of appropriation by a certain political group.)
"and it’s all due to (unintentional?) grant fraud"
(Yeeeah, I was looking at her explanation a bit "Hmm", there. :D)
"Hydrogen is seemingly the best way forward, but the infrastructure isn’t being there."
(...And that really leads me to question the quality of her research. Though I suppose it depends on -- oh, actually, I can just ask that. :D)
What metrics are you using to determine what the best way forward is? You said you considered the best... road vehicle fuel? Vehicle fuel in general? Combustion fuel in general and/or high-capacity electric energy storage system via electrolysis and fuel cells in general? I suppose I'm also unclear on just how you think the hydrogen ought to be used. And as for its production, you seems to be saying that unicorns should become the foundation of Earth's economy (since you state a view that the main problem with (battery? (I'm not sure if you're preferring hydrogen fuel cell or hydrogen combustion power)) electric cars isn't the batteries, or other issues with cars independent of power source, but the source of the electricity (which would apply to an even greater degree to electrolyzed hydrogen produced with the same grid power), then mention unicorns producing hydrogen)?
"A lot of ponies are thinking that I am being very annoying, so I did the giving up on finding a special somepony."
Oh, sorry.
(And thanks for writing this as well!
...Though. To be honest, this blog post now has me wondering if Bifröst is actually a very unreliable narrator. The current most likely possibility, if that's the case, would seem to be her working for the Equestrian government in a long-game plot to take over Earth. Though depending on just how much she was really influenced by Cozy Glow, she might in turn be planning to make more use than her superiors expect of the benefits and promotions success could bring her. Of course, that's assuming her secret agenda isn't more heavily tied up with the mysteries of the Frozen North instead.
...Or, yeah, she might not have one, but the things she had to say about hydrogen fuel were just so suspicious. And then if one starts looking, there's the maybe-not-so-innocent grant fraud, she's from a military family, she spent a lot of time ostensibly alone in the wilderness of the Frozen North, she spent a lot of time hanging out with Cozy Glow, she found a portal to another world as a filly and reported it to a dragon who seemed to be up to some covert stuff probably on behalf of the Equestrian government (but if we look at her as an unreliable narrator, all we know of the details is what she told us and what she told Ploomette years later)...
Still, I'm guessing you didn't intend three paragraphs on this page to cast her entire character in a drastically different light (unless, of course, you did, and this is another part of the story's mysteries...); I'm interested to see what her answer will be (and/or, if applicable, what you might have to say out of character).
Still, interesting, either way! I enjoyed the way this was going before reading these questions and answers, and if there is a plot... ...Oh, and it also occurs to me that she isn't one of the main sixteen, is she? I wonder if that's relevant...
Anyway, yes, thanks for writing, in general. :))
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I'm going to need to do a lot of research to answer your actual questions addressed to her. However, I want to clarify this now, Bifröst is a little ditzy (and also easily manipulated, another reason Cozy wanted to room with her), but she's not a villain. This isn't The Conversion Bureau, and there's no secret Equestrian plan to takeover Earth. You can trust her narration in the events of her life, but I wouldn't trust her as a scientist. She comes from a society that's not as advanced as we are, and she graduated from The School of Friendship, not a school focused on science. She's only as good as the information she reads, and considering you can get information in whatever flavor you like regarding this topic... that's not helping her. I'm not trying to handwave this, but her fixation on hydrogen is twofold: first, unicorns can create it by breaking down water into its base components, and second, that driving a hydrogen car emits water vapor, which results in the car purifying the air as its being driven. It's not evil, though I admit I love the idea of a unicorn-based economy.
The unintentional grant fraud was specifically because I had to force her owning that car into the story, and because I thought it was humorous. Not malicious on her part at all. That said, she did room with Cozy Glow and I'm sure she picked up some tricks along the way. But remember, Cozy was still in her 'oh golly, I could never do anything awful' persona, and not exactly letting on that she had visions of conquest. Bifröst's opinion on Cozy is complicated. She feels a bit more sympathy than most other ponies, but the betrayal has hit her harder than most as well, since she was caught up in these events and even suspected as an accomplice at first. She's in the 'keep Cozy stone' camp, as are most ponies. Flitterheart is very much in the minority on wanting her released.
Correct, she isn't. She features in my other series of fics, the ones based around the car wash in Pennsylvania. She leaves the Mareiott to go there. That'll be explored a bit in the second act, and then she stops being relevant to the plot. She has, however, dropped some important info about the Frozen North. As for Smokey, yes, he's in the employ of the princesses. He's been around a while (he's actually a G1 character, so he really has been around longer than any of the main cast) and he knows things. For example, he knows what ponies should stay away from because it's dangerous. As implied in the chapter notes, the last time ponies had contact with humans via rainbow bridge Bifröst there was some sacrifice going on.
Don't get me wrong, red herrings are a good thing to have, otherwise the ending would be predictable. At the same time, as a consumer of fiction, I hate anything that comes with absolutely no set up at all (like deus ex machina). When we get to the ending everything will click into place as organically as possible. The story remains very fluid, and I'm not 100% set on the ultimate villain of the piece, so I'm setting up multiple possibilities. But Bifröst isn't one of them. I almost feel like I should adapt the story accordingly, leaving her a mystery once she leaves the Mareiott in Act II. But I think that would be doing the character, and the story as a whole, a disservice. Ultimately, readers need to be able to trust her narration, and that's why I'm responding to this now.
She really does want to help.
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Ahh, okay; thanks for the clarification!
"but I wouldn't trust her as a scientist"
That's the key bit, I think; I'd been assuming that she'd done more and more in depth research than it sounds like she actually has done -- and thus, her coming to that conclusion, when she had an outsider's perspective (and an escape route) that seemed like it ought to have freed her of a lot of biases IRL researchers in the field have to deal with, seemed fishy.
"though I admit I love the idea of a unicorn-based economy"
Heh. Well, glad that came out of this, at least, then. :)
My thinking basically went:
1: Convince Earth to become dependent on hydrogen fuel, changing as little else as possible
2: Since basically the only way to produce enough hydrogen for that is unicorn magic, Earth is now dependent on unicorns
3: Since Equestria will be able to bring to bear enough force to prevent the enslaving of unicorns from being viable on any large scale, unicorns are now the nexus through which a huge amount of Earth's wealth flows
4: That gives them massive control over the people of Earth, and enough of those unicorns will answer to or at least be sympathetic to Equestria that Equestria will basically have control over Earth, within limits
Though presumably pegasus weather control and earth pony farming would also be brought into play.
"The unintentional grant fraud was specifically because I had to force her owning that car into the story, and because I thought it was humorous. Not malicious on her part at all."
Oh, yeah, and I think that's basically how I interpreted it before I got to and started thinking about the hydrogen stuff.
"But remember, Cozy was still in her 'oh golly, I could never do anything awful' persona, and not exactly letting on that she had visions of conquest."
Right, if we take Bifröst's account of her when they were alone as reliable -- which I now don't think there's a particular reason not to, even absent your specific word that it is, just from your word that her science is shallower than I'd thought.
"She features in my other series of fics, the ones based around the car wash in Pennsylvania."
Ah, I think I still have those on a hopefully-get-to-at-some-point list, sorry.
"and that's why I'm responding to this now."
And thanks again for clearing it up. :)
"She really does want to help."
...Though, wow, I feel sorry for her. These answers are set after she's already left the hotel, and her research on her main project does... not seem to be going well.
Hopefully she can have a good life anyway.
"I'm going to need to do a lot of research to answer your actual questions addressed to her."
Oh, and if applicable, sorry?
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The moment someone starts jumping into anything, they'll develop biases. Her own bias is towards the fuel unicorns can make. Because ponies are here as friends, and friends help each other out. Remember, her degree is in friendship.
That's a nefarious plan, yet completely logical and feasible. This is the kind of long game I'd expect from either Cozy Glow or Starlight. It's low on action and high on economics, which means it might actually stand a chance of working. Starlight's one of our potential villains, and she's the one who recommended Bifröst (and Honeybuzz) go to Earth. So even if Bifröst isn't malicious, she may still be a pawn in a game of interdimensional chess.
We see shades of this in Sunny Rays' chapter. Had I stuck with my original vision for that character, that's what she would've focused on and would've been disappointed to discover various treaties currently make it impossible for her to bring that line of work here to Earth. Weather wrangling runs in her blood though and she's just as good at smashing clouds as she is at singing.
If you'd prefer, you may instead think of it as a kickback from the hydrogen people.
"We can't pay you, but here's a car that's for sale well under market value and you should buy it."
I still prefer the 'she's clueless and Equestria has no point of reference for what old cars cost, so it's approved' angle because it's funnier, so that will remain the canon explanation.
The good news about that is those are all much, much shorter stories. The bad news is I think that series is up to a dozen entries. Total words for that whole series: 53,797. Unlike this story, all of those can still be binged in an afternoon.
This demonstrates several of the problems of replying to things in character. I don't want anyone taking her technobabble as scientifically accurate, but I also don't want it to be so outlandish that it's completely unbelievable, either. Her being biased is fine, though to be fair to her, adding unicorns & magic into the equation would change some of the variables. Which is another reason not to take anything she says as viable. Her set of variables is different than real life's.
I also, really, sincerely hope people aren't coming here to get their facts on alternative fuels and climate change.
Her main goal is reversing climate change, or at the very least, that's what she was tasked with by Starlight Glimmer. It's why she switches jobs; at the car wash, she's working directly with Earth's weather. There's some small-scale climate manipulation going on as the car wash works by having pegasi jumping on clouds, releasing rain that washes the cars.
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"The moment someone starts jumping into anything, they'll develop biases. Her own bias is towards the fuel unicorns can make. Because ponies are here as friends, and friends help each other out. Remember, her degree is in friendship."
Ahh, not only does that make sense, thanks, but I'm guessing that's also why her answer focused on production rather than on on-vehicle storage and to-vehicle transfer regarding advantages of hydrogen over modern battery electric cars?
(I'd also guess hydrogen cars are safer in terms of fire risk, but I don't recall if I've actually read that somewhere as a backed-up thing or just think it makes sense assuming my knowledge of the principles involved is adequate.)
((Really, as far as I'm aware, at least absent magical unicorns, the one thing she lists as an advantage over modern battery electric vehicles, the energy used to produce the fuel/stored charge, is actually one of the areas where hydrogen cars are at their most disadvantaged compared to battery electric cars.))
"That's a nefarious plan, yet completely logical and feasible. This is the kind of long game I'd expect from either Cozy Glow or Starlight. It's low on action and high on economics, which means it might actually stand a chance of working."
Hah, thanks, I think? :D
"Starlight's one of our potential villains, and she's the one who recommended Bifröst (and Honeybuzz) go to Earth. So even if Bifröst isn't malicious, she may still be a pawn in a game of interdimensional chess."
Oh, interesting.
"We see shades of this in Sunny Rays' chapter. Had I stuck with my original vision for that character, that's what she would've focused on and would've been disappointed to discover various treaties currently make it impossible for her to bring that line of work here to Earth. Weather wrangling runs in her blood though and she's just as good at smashing clouds as she is at singing."
Ah, I'm not remembering that at the moment, sorry.
...Ah, though it looks like her chapter was posted in February of last year, so it's not just me being tired at present. Still, as said, sorry.
"If you'd prefer, you may instead think of it as a kickback from the hydrogen people.
"We can't pay you, but here's a car that's for sale well under market value and you should buy it."
I still prefer the 'she's clueless and Equestria has no point of reference for what old cars cost, so it's approved' angle because it's funnier, so that will remain the canon explanation."
Hah, no, no, it's fine. :D
I've not problem with the canon explanation -- I was just suspicious of it in a context that turned out to be a misunderstanding.
"The good news about that is those are all much, much shorter stories. The bad news is I think that series is up to a dozen entries. Total words for that whole series: 53,797. Unlike this story, all of those can still be binged in an afternoon."
...Maybe I don't have all of those on a list. Or I just lost track of how many there were. Oh well. Sigh; sorry.
"This demonstrates several of the problems of replying to things in character. I don't want anyone taking her technobabble as scientifically accurate, but I also don't want it to be so outlandish that it's completely unbelievable, either."
And I was, IIRC, simultaneously expecting that it was supposed to be scientifically accurate and finding it perhaps not quite that outlandish but a significant way in that direction -- which led to the conclusion that I was missing something, which led to looking for explanations that could fit, and, well, see previous comments here. :)
"Her being biased is fine, though to be fair to her, adding unicorns & magic into the equation would change some of the variables. Which is another reason not to take anything she says as viable. Her set of variables is different than real life's."
Sure, but what she said seemed so out there to me, with the model I had of her at the time, that that didn't matter.
"I also, really, sincerely hope people aren't coming here to get their facts on alternative fuels and climate change."
I mean, she's supposed to be Equestria's foremost expert on both subjects on Earth, right, officially supported by their government to study the matter? Why shouldn't we take her as an authoritative source? :D
"Her main goal is reversing climate change, or at the very least, that's what she was tasked with by Starlight Glimmer. It's why she switches jobs; at the car wash, she's working directly with Earth's weather. There's some small-scale climate manipulation going on as the car wash works by having pegasi jumping on clouds, releasing rain that washes the cars."
Interesting; thanks.
(By the way, in case you weren't aware, Aging Wheels actually did a video on a hydrogen car recently: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtZQLUtckS4)
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You're welcome!
Consider that the below exchange between Ploomette and Plumsweet is canon:
“If you want to stay in television, I can help you with that. There are several networks interested in hiring ponies. How’s your acting?”
“Nonexistent.”
“In that case, ESPN 8: The Ocho is looking for a pony to cover sporting events for the network. They televise a variety of lesser-known sports, and they’ve recently added buckball to the mix.”
“So I’d just be covering buckball games?”
“Not exactly. You’d also be covering dodgeball, sumo wrestling, monster truck racing, karate tournaments, roller derby, steeplechasing, javelin throwing, and everything else the network telecasts.”
“I don’t know the rules to buckball, and I’ve never even heard of the rest of those sports.”
“Aside from your friend who’s going home, you’re the only pony who’s been in front of a camera for a television program. That makes you the closest thing to ‘experienced’ as they’re going to get.”
“They’d be better off with somepony who’s played buckball in the past.” She shook her head and I realized there were no former Equestrian athletes on Earth. “I don’t really care if I stay in show business or not, but I guess I could give it a try?”
She smiled and promised to make the necessary arrangements.
Though now that you've said that, I have a vision of certain fake news channels interviewing her, and the caption on the screen under her is:
Bifröst
Scientist
...She could have a career spreading misinformation without ever knowing she was doing so. That's actually a scary thought.
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"Consider that the below exchange between Ploomette and Plumsweet is canon:"
Hah, point. :D
"I'm the single most knowledgeable Equestrian on Earth about this topic!"
"So you know it really well?"
"No, I'm just the only Equestrian on Earth who knows much of anything about it."
"...She could have a career spreading misinformation without ever knowing she was doing so. That's actually a scary thought."
...Oof. Oof, yeah, that makes all too much sense.
Poor Bifröst; hopefully things don't go that way for her.
...And now that I'm thinking along those lines, this universe totally has a bunch of conspiracy theorists claiming that the ponies are in league with the lizard people (or, sigh, just the Jews, because someone always seems to bring antisemitism to the table), doesn't it? Well, this conversation's gone depressing places. Sorry.
Well, we already knew our heroes were going to have more troubles to face, and we're not even done with Act 1 yet.
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We've seen some racism in this story already, but not against any human races (I won't write that, and if I ever do it's unintentional and I'll apologize profusely for it; my intent is never to offend anyone), but pony on pony racism. Considering Cozy Glow is a supporting character, that was bound to come up.
But there are definitely people on Earth who hate the ponies, and we'll see some examples of that as the story continues.
Here's a snippet from Snowcatcher's interview:
My worst moment was getting stuck with an anti-pony bigot. He specifically stayed at our hotel to make all of us uncomfortable. You probably know the type: ‘go back where you came from’ anti-immigration, hatred-spewing nut. I wasn’t going to let any of my coworkers deal with him, so I took him on as a ‘guest’ (‘freeloader’ would be more accurate; he never paid us). Most of them were scared of him, Ploomette stayed at the consulate because she deemed him a security risk, and Starbeam probably would’ve just made him disappear in the Pine Barrens. Starbeam’s not very good with the whole concept of ‘customer service’ with regular guests, let alone difficult ones. I was a bit more creative in getting rid of him. I trotted around town with his lifted, diesel-stacked pickup levitated in my aura. With him in it. I put the truck down on an interstate on-ramp and he didn’t come back.
We may see some things like this in Act II. I'm not trying to make this story a social commentary, though racism/sexism/antisemitism/etc. is certainly a thing in this world.
This is true. Admittedly, the topics addressed in story get heavy at times. Just because it's slice of life doesn't mean it's always light & fluffy. But overall, this is meant to be a light piece with comedic undertones. We've got an 'E' rating to adhere to. If you don't mind a few spoilers, remind me at Ciderfest to bounce a few potential ideas off you for Acts II & III.
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"Admittedly, the topics addressed in story get heavy at times. Just because it's slice of life doesn't mean it's always light & fluffy."
Life isn't always light and fluffy, either.
(Which seemed to fit as a reply to the quote and the rest of the comment above it.)
"But overall, this is meant to be a light piece with comedic undertones. We've got an 'E' rating to adhere to."
And I think it's been going well. :)
"If you don't mind a few spoilers, remind me at Ciderfest to bounce a few potential ideas off you for Acts II & III."
Well, I don't think a few spoilers would be too high a price to pay for helping out with the story such and what sounds like an interesting conversation -- but whether I remember now from then might be more in doubt. :D
Still, we'll see. :)
Only a bit more than three months, now!