//------------------------------// // An Evening // Story: Friendship is Optimal: Spiraling Upwards // by pjabrony //------------------------------// When I got back, I expected to pick up where I left off, but the game tracked time the same way real life did, so the sun was down in both. That wasn’t entirely new to me, but I thought it was a cool feature. I dragged my pony to keep heading for the station. “Oh, so you’re awake again?” Hoof Dame was still in range and talking to Little. “Huh?” I said, “Is this some kind of greeting?” “You tell me. You just stood there for over an hour and didn’t respond to anything I said.” Really, game? I stay logged in when I shut off the power? Was there even a way to log out? I thought of something else. “Does that mean I missed the train?” “No, the tickets are good for a ride at any time. Though at this point I’m thinking of sending somepony with you to make sure you make it.” OK, this would be how I got a companion to guide me through, I figured. “Thanks, I’d appreciate it. Can you come with?” “What? No, I wasn’t serious. You’re a grown mare, you can get where you’re going.” “Oh, all right. I’ll do my best.” Unbidden, my pony waved her hoof and turned away. I finger-dragged her out of the castle and along the road. I was starting to appreciate the immersion level that was present. I realized that, since the first selection screen, there had been nothing extraneous on the screen. No heads-up display, no point total, no pop-ups when I received an item. In audio, the only sound effects were from things that actually happened, and there was no background music. Or rather, there was, but it came from a troubadour busking on the sidewalk. Several ponies were gathered around listening, but I didn’t want to stop. In the first place, I was eager to get to the train, and in the second I didn’t have any in-game currency to pay, if it was required. The music rose and faded as Little walked by. The other impressive piece of verisimilitude was that there were no scene transitions. The door to the castle and to the train station weren’t portals that brought up a loading screen and then a new area. They moved just as frames within one scene did. The “camera” had to move in or out rapidly sometimes, but that I was used to from MMOs. I reached the Friendship Express and moved Little in. The familiar three-windowed cars were there, and there were plenty of seats. Little was the only one on though. As the train pulled out there was still no music, but the sound of the wheels was a percussion solo that was still pleasant. I zoomed in on the window and watched the scenery go by. I, whose attention span was so short that I couldn’t go a minute on a real train without pulling out my phone, looked out that window for ten minutes straight, just relaxing. I probably would have kept on going, but I heard a voice behind me. “Hi there.” I zoomed out and Little turned her head to see the new arrival. It was a lily-white pegasus pony with blue ribbons in her mane and tail. She was wearing a blue cap as well. “Hi. Hang on, I’ve got it.” I pointed at the back of Little’s mane, and she floated the ticket out to the pegasus. “Huh? I’m not the conductor.” She looked up at her cap. “Oh, sorry. Yeah, I guess they look similar. I was just wondering if I can use the luggage rack.” I zoomed out further and saw that indeed, the only place for luggage in the car was above Little’s head. There was no reason for me to notice it since I had nothing to put there. I didn’t know how to get her out of the way, but I said, “Sure, go ahead.” The game knew what to do, as Little shrunk back and the pegasus lifted her bags into the rack. “Thanks. Mind if I sit down?” “Go ahead.” I was still wondering if this was an NPC or another player, but the only way to ask was by voice, and the game censored anything that wasn’t in character. She held out a hoof toward Little. “My name’s Moon. Moon Sailor.” “Really? That’s cool. Like the show, only reversed.” “Huh?” “There was this cartoon, back—never mind. It’s a cool name. My name’s Little Lovehorn.” “Now that’s an awesome name. Because your horn’s actually big. So it’s like a Robin Hood thing.” I still wasn’t overly enamored with the name, but I was stuck with it. “Are you going to Manehattan as well?” “Yeah,” Moon said, “back home to the Big Apple. Just finished another delivery.” “You work for the post office?” “Those chumps?! Didn’t you see my cap? I’m with CelEx.” Before I could respond, Little tilted her head like she was confused. How cute. “Celestial Express?” said Moon. “I shouldn’t speak ill of the Equestrian Postal Service, they’re fine for what they are. But CelEx has never missed a delivery deadline, not in the entire history of Equestria!” She puffed out her chest. “Wow.” “That’s right. It’s pretty expensive though, hiring a private courier like me. And they send me home in style. Taking the train is nicer than flying myself. So you live in Manehattan too?” “Apparently. Princess Celestia told me to go there.” I was getting into the whole conversation. For the first time, I stopped trying to explore the game and started treating another pony as a friend. “She didn’t give you an address or anything?” “No. I figured there’d be somepony else there waiting for me.” “Hmm.” We continued to chat and she asked me about things I liked. It was the kind of talk that new friends had, where you have semi-rehearsed answers to common questions. Even though the game stopped you from breaking character, it was permitted to talk about non-pony things like books and movies. Moon Sailor hadn’t heard of the anime she was named after, so I talked a little about that. She told me about books she’d read and offered to lend me some. After a while, the pony who was the ticket-taker came in and I repeated my action. Moon took her ticket from a little wallet she had hidden behind her mane. “Hey, listen,” Moon said. “There’s a vacant apartment next to mine. How about instead of you finding the pony Princess Celestia sent you to, you come and live there?” My suspension of disbelief broke. I realized that this was the game’s way of putting me into housing. Heck, there probably was no pony for me to see in Manehattan. This chance meeting was carefully planned. The friend I made wasn’t just random. “That sounds nice.” “It’s a little expensive, a thousand bits a month.” “Oh. I thought the housing was free.” “There is free housing, and it’s just as good, but I’m in a nice location.” I supposed location was something that was always going to be a scarce resource. Or was it? The game could always program in more beach-front property. Perhaps it was a way to take bits out of the in-game economy. “I don’t have any money as of yet,” I had Little say. “Can I earn some before I go in?” “No, it doesn’t work that way. My landlord will want payment up front. Are you sure you don’t have any money? Check your wallet.” “I haven’t got one.” “Everypony’s got a wallet. Here, let me see.” She reached her hoof around Little’s mane and pulled out a small coin purse just like hers. She bounced it up and down, making a jingle sound, then snapped it open. “Wow, mare, you’re loaded! There must be ten thousand bits in here!” I caught on. That must be starter money that the game gives everypony. I said as much. “Free bits? I don’t think so. At least, nopony told me about any.” “Well, is ten thousand a lot?” “I’ll make that much for this trip, maybe,” Moon said, “but like I said, I’m a high-end courier. Still, it’s a decent capital to start on, even in Manehattan.” “But where did it come from if it’s not given out?” “Don’t know. Have you done anything nice for anypony?” I reviewed my progress through the game thus far. Nothing seemed to stand out as money-earning. “Not since I got here,” I said. “How about before you got here?” “What do you mean?” “Well, what do you do when you’re not earning dollars that might earn you bits?” I ran through the list. Play video games, watch TV, and so on. “Well, that wouldn’t do it. Any hobbies?” “Just my fan fiction.” Moon’s face had a newfound respect. “You write? And ponies read it?” “No ponies, but other humans,” I tried to say. The game corrected me into “Well, I write about ponies.” “I bet that’s it. If ponies like your stories, you’ll get bits for them.” “What?!” That probably wasn’t the reaction the game was expecting, so Moon said nothing and it felt like the train slowed a little. Of course, it’s a natural reaction for anyone to wait for more after an outburst, and the train could have been going around a curve. “Is something wrong?” she said. “I’ll say there is!” “You need to talk to Princess Celestia about it?” “Can I?” “We can always talk to Princess Celestia when we need to.” She said it like a law of nature. “There’s a communication station at the end of the car.” I dragged Little off her seat and to the end where Moon pointed. There was a button shaped like the sun. I tapped it and Little’s hoof reached out and touched it. She disappeared in a puff of smoke, then the whole scene was covered in the same colored haze. When it faded, Little was back in Celestia’s chamber at Canterlot Castle. “Is there a problem, child?” she said. “I’ll say. Do I have bits because of my writing?” “You do. It has made many happy.” “But I never meant to charge for it! I don’t write for money, not even in-game currency.” I wasn’t censored this time. The game had more tolerance when talking to Celestia. “In the first place, no fan fiction author does. But even if they did, I wouldn’t. People liking my stories is its own reward.” “I believe I can clear your confusion,” Celestia said. I wasn’t confused, I was angry! “Nopony has paid for those stories. Those bits come from me, directly. I made them out of nothing. I have an unlimited supply, so no finite resource has been consumed. And I did it as a show of appreciation. When somepony else is happy because of something you have done, I know, and I show my gratitude. In gold. “You must understand that Equestrian money has a different purpose from any other kind. All bits go through me. Even if you pass a pony a bit at a store, you giving up the bit and he or she receiving the bit are two separate events. They cannot happen without my volition. Sometimes I will have one pony receive bits from another, even though the other pony does not give them up. Such as your case. Other times I will allow somepony to pay bits, even though no other pony receives them. For example, if you decide to go on a shopping spree, part of the enjoyment is tossing the bits around. That is one reason why there are no checks, credit cards, electronic funds, or even paper money in Equestria. All money is in gold coins, so that ponies have a greater connection to their money.” “I guess. But I still don’t feel right, spending money I’ve earned for doing something I like doing.” “Then don’t spend those,” Celestia said, smiling. “Spend other bits. In the same way, the bits you earn and the bits you spend are separate entities. Earning money is something that many ponies value, so it is here in Equestria. Spending money is also something that ponies value, so that is here too. But I have seen no reason why the latter should be restricted by the former. So that constraint does not exist in Equestria.” “Then it’s OK for me to take that apartment?” “It is.” I felt better. I thought that part of it was simply the timbre of Celestia’s voice. It had an instant calming and soothing effect. It was hard to stay mad listening to it. But even beyond that, her explanation made a kind of sense, even if I couldn’t remember all the rationale. “Oh, no! I left the train! That means that Moon is going there on her own. I didn’t even get her address. Am I going to have to buy another ticket?” “No, my little pony. I will send you back.” Another puff of smoke and the scene switched back to the train. Moon was still in her seat and Little was still at the symbol. I dragged her back. “Did Celestia fix everything?” Moon asked. “I think she did.” “She always does.” We went back to chatting. “How long is this train ride, anyway?” I asked. “Canterlot to Manehattan? About ten hours. I usually sleep through it if I’m taking this train.” The game was real-time, I remembered. But it was giving me a way out. If I wanted to log off to sleep, I could pick up again in the morning and we’d wake up together. On the other hand, it was Saturday night. I didn’t have work in the morning. “So tell me more about that cool thing with the. . . “