Replying To Private Messages And Discussing The Comments
So, one of the things that I have tried to do with this Let's Play is involve the people in the comments. Every good Let's Play does this, and I have done my best. Now, I haven't been perfect. Some people wanted to meet up and I wasn't able to make time to meet them. Other times I ignored some suggestions when I learned new things in the game that rendered the usefulness of their advice moot.
However, let it not be said that I can't listen. When I said I was confused after last session, I got a flood of comments saying that I was being blind to the fact that Forest Trails had a crush on me. Of course, this opened the door to a lot of other questions, such as, "Who would get a crush on someone who is playing an MMO?" and, "If Forest Trails is an AI, why would an AI be programmed to love?"
All the reactions to such thoughts ended up either being creepy or having creepy connotations. However, it made me think. Is programming an AI to love someone a form of slavery? If Celestia, the only SI (Sentient Intelligence) that we have confirmed at this point, were programmed to love someone, would that be a just thing to do? Is it right to make a thinking creature, give it the ability to love and then give it no choice in who it loves?
As a follow up to that question, is it truly any worse than how nature handles imprinting and the like? Love is needed for life to continue. Parents need to love their children, and if SI's start becoming more and more common in positions of control and administration, then wouldn't it be better if they loved us? Wouldn't that make the world a safer place for us, in a similar way to a mother loving her child means the child has a better chance of growing up?
Sorry for all this. I didn't get much sleep last night, and so my mind is very unfocussed right now.
In other news, Perfectionist sent me a short PM before I started playing that I will quote below:
Maybe if you knew more about Forest Trails history, you could figure out what she expects from you.
This, of course, made me wonder why I hadn't considered this. It would be an easy way to tell if someone was a player or an SI. Well, unless they were a very good Roleplayer that wanted to troll, I guess. Would that be common? Either way, I don't think that Forest Trails would troll me like that. She doesn't seem like the type.
Where We Talk To Ponies About Things Ponies Weren't Meant To Know
I logged in and looked around for Forest Trails. I spotted her sitting at a table, drinking some tea. I walked over and sat down across the small table from her. We exchanged greetings and then just sat in silence for a few moments. A waiter came by, but I sent him away. A week of playing this game, and I still don't have any bits.
“So,” I said, finally breaking the silence. “I've been thinking.”
“Oh?” Forest Trails said.
“About our talk last time, the one where you said I was dense.” I glanced out over the street where ponies were going about their business. “You are probably right. However, remember when I said I was telling someponies tales of our adventures?” Forest Trails nodded. “Well, they told me that our situation strongly resembles a story centered around a mare (girl) with a crush and a clueless stallion (guy).”
I turned back to her and found her examining the flagstones of the street fairly intently, “Oh?” she repeated herself in a fairly quiet voice.
“They suggested other possibilities too,” I continued on. “Such as that you had found something in that book of yours about Rocs that could have made it so that you didn't want to see me. Or possibly that someone that had heard our story was harassing you.”
She slowly shook her head, “You must think I'm pretty silly, huh.” Her voice was quiet and faint. “I don't know what you want me to say. I can tell you that no one was harassing me and that I didn't run into anything strange in that book about raising Rocs. I actually haven't looked inside yet.”
“No. Of course not!” I said with a lot of force causing some of the nearby ponies to turn and look at me. I lowered my voice, “I was just not expecting it. I always felt that romance should grow out of knowing anther person and shouldn't be rushed into. I wasn't even thinking romance when I showed up here (started playing the game).”
“I understand,” she said as she started to get up to leave. She had a sad, self mocking smile on her face. “I should probably go back to hanging out with the trees and let you find go explore without having to deal with a crushing filly.” She gave a little laugh, “I guess when a forest falls in love, no one notices even if there are ponies around.”
I reached out and stopped her, “Wait, I don't think you do understand me. I might be oblivious to romance, but I really do enjoy your company and would love to get to know you more. I've thought long and hard about it, and I feel that maybe things could work out between us.”
Forest Trails stared at me for a long moment before jumping at me and hugging me for all she was worth. I could see a few tears run down her eyes as she mumbled, “Thank you,” and, “Sorry,” several times.
After a while she pulled herself together, and, blushing, got back into her seat and took a long drink from her tea cup. I meanwhile hopped that this wouldn't be a mistake. I didn't want to hurt her, and was honest about trying, but I did want a family one day, and if she lived far away it would be hard to make happen. Also, what if she was actually a guy? I don't swing that way, and I don't think I could make that type of a relationship work.
I let her compose herself before speaking again, “Maybe we should talk about our backgrounds and where we come from. It would give us a better understanding of where we are.”
“That sounds fair, would you like to go first?” She asked me in a much more composed tone than she had used earlier.
I thought about it, “I'm actually kind of curious about you, honestly.”
Forest Trails gave a nervous laugh, “Right! Well, I am an only foal. I grew up in the forest north of Canterlot and my family has always been guides for those going into the woods and I kinda ended up carrying on the family tradition. I was actually out on a patrol of the woods to make sure noone was lost when I ran into you.” She smirked at the memory, “Or rather, watched you run into the side of a cliff.”
“Wait,” I asked, suddenly curious, “Are you a native of Equestria? Not a visitor like me?”
“Well, yes,” she said. “Never actually ran into another visitor before you. We all know about them of course, but you were the first one I met.” She gave a little laugh, “I admit, I always wanted to meet a visitor since I was a little filly.”
“Oh?” I asked, my mind trying to shift gear.
“Don't get the wrong idea, that's not the reason I like you,” she said hurriedly, probably having gotten the wrong impression from my silence. “I like you because you're fun to be with and because you put up with all my teasing. You're also easy on the eyes, as they say.”
I watched her blushing and tried to think of what to say, “Um... so... err... I don't exactly know how to say this, but do you know that you're... ” I paused, trying to think of how to say what I wanted to say before giving up. “an AI?” I expected the game to censor me, but it didn't, which caught me off guard.
She looked at me confused, “Well, yeah. Of course I do.”
“Oh,” I said, my voice definitely not cracking. “I'll be over here picking up pieces of my mind.”
“You don't hate me now, do you?” asked Forest Trails worriedly.
“No,” I said quickly before she could get the wrong idea. “I just didn't expect you to be so open about it, or for you to know at all, I guess.”
“That wouldn't make any sense,” Trails said, “How could you live not knowing what you are?”
“I— well— err...” I stammered, “I dunno.” I pulled a bit of thought back together, “You do realize, then, that the history you just told me can't be true, right?”
“And why can't it?” Forest Trails looked affronted.
“Well, because we've only been visiting Equestria for about a year (the game's only been out for about a year).”
Forest Trails shook her head, “Maybe out where you live, but time flows differently in here.”
I realized that I had a headache from trying to figure everything out. “Look, I've had a long day, how about we talk about something easier on the brain. Do you still have that book on Rocs from yesterday?”
“I sure do,” She replied, fetching it.
“Then let's figure out how to hatch this egg and raise young Jim Hawkings,” I said.
“Jim Hawkings?” She questioned.
“That's going to be his name," I answered.
We spent the rest of the time reading over the book. I'll talk about what it said tomorrow, because tonight I'm still trying to wrap my head around what Trails said.
A Place Where Coherent Thought Can Not Be Found
No fancy close up tonight, either. I didn't get much sleep last night, and on top of that I have a headache trying to piece together my thoughts about Trails. I'm not sure how I feel yet, and I think I'll need a clear mind to figure out what all this means. Feel free to speculate below, or to point out things that I might be missing. I'll read them in the morning when I am more awake.