Chapter Four: Show and Tell. But not simple enough.
"Now then Ms..."
"Cheerilee. My name is Ms. Cheerilee."
"Indeed, now then Ms. Cheerilee, can you help me explain to the class what the meaning of this is?"
She stared at the blackboard with an almost lost gaze, as if contemplating the meaning of the universe itself. Weighing it's every purpose and meaning to evaluate its total worth.
"Honestly, I have no clue." She replied with a tinge of shame. I guess being a teacher and not being able to explain even such a complicated clue to your class is somewhat embarrassing.
Nonetheless I began my short, yet still somewhat confusing explanation. "It means that me and my race's purpose is nothing other than, to be." As expected, I received a series of chatter and confused looks. "In a more basic way, my purpose is only the purpose I choose for myself to follow; or even stray from." This received better reactions.
Now begins the proper introductions, no more definitions. "I may not know my name anymore, but what I do know is everything about my personality and life. I am a fourteen year old human male who used to live in the country of America on a planet called Earth. Our planet was the third from the sun, in a galaxy known to us as the Milky Way. Any questions as of yet? If so, I will require a name along with the question, for future reference." Only a handful of foals raised their hooves, but I was happy to answer whatever possible.
"My name is Pipsqueak, but you can call me Pip! If I may ask, do you have pirates where you come from?" He asked this question with a sincere passion.
"I see you're fascinated with quite the peculiar tyrant, eh? Anyway, your question is somewhat difficult to answer. Yes, and no. Yes, we have pirates in our current day of age, but they are nothing as you would expect. They pirate anything that can bring in profit and if they must, or just for fun, they injure or even kill. A long while ago though, we did have the type of pirates you are thinking of, but they were still harsh and marauding. I am most definitely not attempting to ruin any dream or happiness you have, for this is my world and not yours. Follow your heart and any dream is possible." And with that, he seemed content with my answer but a few specific foals were snickering at my comment. Foolish younger children.
Next up... a prissy looking one, more specifically; one of the ones who was snickering, great. "My name is Diamond Tiara, my daddy is the richest pony in Ponyville! Anyway, I must ask; why are you so ugly?" There goes my nerves, just like that, all it takes is one little bitch to make me snap. Time to rant!
"Well you see my pint-sized-pink-Equine, much like you I was bullied previously in my life which lead to a specific; and in my case, angry social awkwardness that again specifically; made me fear just about no one. But in your case, it made you feel too high and mighty about yourself which took the sacrifice of you stepping upon and over many others, and now you feel of some sort of social hierarchy topper even though you're merely a background character to most."
Anyway I recently had my limbs and jaw torn from my bleeding flesh as a spirit from beyond took them from me and instead made me what I am today. But you haven't seen ugly until you've seen my home world. I won't go into any further details. Oh and please wipe that snooty grin off of your face, for you are fooling most of everybody, but me." I hissed the last words with a passion.
The next question left with confusion. For them, and a little bit of me. "Our names are Snips, and Snails." They said in unison. "What kind of magic can you do?" This made me pause, and stare at them for a moment. "Magic? Ha! Humans don't have magic, we have technology. Something that is only limited by the oh so infinite mind, instead of the users mental and physical capabilities." Short and sweet, just as they like it. Still, this confused them a tad, but they seemed to get over it.
The final question was from the small orange Pegasus who Applebloom introduced to me earlier. "As you already know, my name is Scootaloo. I noticed you don't have any wings but know a lot about weather from when we were talking earlier. How do you fly?" At this point I decided I should probably stop snickering.
"As I stated merely moments ago, us humans have through our years developed what could be considered in this world, advanced technology. Since humans can't naturally fly as you can see, we invented what are called planes. Large metal devices which use solid metal wings with a large surface area to pick up enough lift. On the ends of those wings are ailerons, which are panels which move up and down to make the aircraft roll to either the left or the right, which is used in the turning. On the back of the vehicle is a slightly elevated, and also solid, tail. This tail is an extension of the hull, where the cockpit is located, or the pilots seat for the person driving it. Attached to that tail is a vertical flap much like the ailerons which is called a rudder. Much like on a boat it is used for straight up left and right movement, which is also part of the turning process. There are two horizontal surfaces, much like the ailerons on the wings called elevators. They are smaller, but used for tilting the plane up or down while in the air, and for taking off. To control all of these dynamic surfaces the pilot uses a kind of joystick in the cockpit which will, depending on which way it is pulled, will activate the surfaces to move in a specific direction. The joystick's up and down movement is inverted, which means pulling down will cause the elevators to tilt up and cause the plane to tilt up, and vice-versa. To roll left, they would push the joystick left, which would cause the left aileron to tilt up and the right aileron to tilt down, so that the airflow would be opposite. The left side pushing down while the right side pushes up, which causes the rolling motion. Pushing the joystick left also causes the rudder to turn towards the left. On the inside of the wing are smaller control surfaces called flaps. Simple as that. They are used to monitor a steady direction while cruising. Which is moving through the air at a constant speed and direction. This is mostly used for simple, enjoyable travel. To maneuver the plane in more advanced ways, pilots combine the noted motions of the joystick inside the cockpit. And that, is the genuine basics of an airplane."
The faces in the classroom were that of confusion, astonishment, and boredom. I gotta say, seeing that most of them were simply astonished, I was quite happy with my explanation. "Well then Ms. Cheerilee, I must say that it appears to be time that I take my leave. Thank you for allowing me to stay and speak, and thank you Applebloom for inviting me to meet your class to meet a well enough audience. Good day to you citizens of Ponyville, and have a wonderful evening."
"WAIT!" Screamed Ms. Cheerilee
"Yes?" I replied simply.
"You absolutely must visit the class on a later date. That wouldn't be to much of a bother would it?" She asked in a somewhat nervous voice.
"Absolutely not. I would love to attend upon another day. What you seem to have not noticed by my voice, but I am a child also. A teenager, but still. In the matter I am still considered to be legible to attend classroom activities. So I hope that by missing school and only visiting for speaking purposes, that I am not skipping class." She seemed rather appalled. Though after grasping this new information let out a short chortle.
"Of course it wouldn't be. Judging by your vocabulary and scientific knowledge, it seems as though you would excel in any subject anyway."
"Then it is settled, I shall visit on random dates to share with the children of this town the knowledge of my people. So that one day they may be able to make these technologies, advancements, and experiments a reality in this realm. OH! Before I forget, I shall be waiting outside for recess so that I may explore the physical boundaries of my new limbs. For children, being rather energetic, would be the perfect control for my experiment." And with that I walked out. This is going to be one hell of a ride for both me, and this plane of existence.