//------------------------------// // Relaxing With Trails // Story: Let's Play: Equestria Online! // by Jakinbandw //------------------------------// Replying To Comments Once Again, For Real This Time! So one of the things that I have noticed is that I have gotten away from replying to notable comments up here. I'm going to take a few moments to rectify that because I am sure there are some people who are skipping the comments. Since there is some really though provoking questions and thoughts in them I want to make an official reply. silvadel and Third Eye both don't believe that this will work out. They suggest that I will grow to love one more and then neglect the other, or end up causing jealousy. I want to say I completely share this fear. I worry about messing this up and hurting one or the other. I don't want to hurt people, and matters of the heart can cause some of the most devastation in a life. That said I also think that if it worked, it could be a really nice thing. I have always viewed relationships as two people standing together, alone against the world. The thought of three, or even four sharing that close bond and working together and sharing love is something of a sirens call to me. I strongly suspect that such a bond is impossible to form, but on the other hand Celestia is telling me to go for it, and I believe that she is smarter than I am and has no nothing to gain from lying to me about this. book_burner wondered about my friends on Earth, and if I hug them or not. The answer is that I only have two or three friends here on Earth, and that I don't hug them. This is partially due to my upbringing, and partially due to the fact that my mental state shifts a bit when I hug someone and I start to feel attracted to them. Unless they are family. This is primary a mental thing, but it still means that I avoid hugging anyone who is not family and who I am not in a relationship with. I would also like to point out that my apartment does not allow animals, so even though I love cats I am not allowed to have one. Despite all this however it has been over a year since my last relationship, so it's not like I desperately need physical contact either. Can survive quite well without hugs thank you very much. It's all about being able to distract yourself when you feel lonely. Anytime I feel like I need human contact, I can bring up a good book and sit and read till the feeling passes. This does make me wonder if Celestia is right about me breaking up with Trails for lack of contact. Couldn't I just use my current methods that I use right now? Wouldn't that work? I have to wonder how well Celestia really knows me. All I can do is hope that she is right, and that this won't explode. Where Absolutely Nothing Of Interest Happens At All So I logged in and saw Forest Trails lying on my bed and reading a book. We exchanged hugs and spent a few minutes talking about our respective days. I found out that Forest Trails had saved a lost filly from falling over a cliff and she was feeling pretty good about that. I told Forest about how I had heard rumours that a prospecting job might come up soon. After a while of talking I finally glanced at Trails, “Come on, we have to go do something.” “Why, don't you enjoy just sitting here with me?” Forest asked with a raised eyebrow, though her twinkling eyes let me know she was joking. “Oh, I am,” I agreed getting up off the bed, “But if we just sit here all night I'll have nothing to share with everyone else tonight. This means that we need to find something to do.” “Don't worry about those guys,” Trails waved off my worries, “I'm sure they can live without hearing about drama in your life for one night.” I shrugged, “I don't doubt that they could, but I enjoy telling them interesting stories about what I see and do here.” “Make something up,” Forest Trails suggested, stretching out. “What? No!” I said shocked, “That would be dishonest!” “And it would mean a full evening where we could just spend time together,” Forest Trails examined me closely. I looked down, “That would be nice, I admit. It's just I don't want to let them down.” “Hmm,” Forest Trails concentrated in thought for a moment before brightening up, “How about this; you tell them that you just wanted to spend time with me, and instead write about something they don't know about Equestria?” “That...” I trailed off, “Yeah, that could work.” I had an idea and grinned, “I even know exactly what I want to talk about too. No one has asked about it, but this will give me an excuse to talk about it.” Forest Trails grinned, “Excellent, now come back here. I believe I was telling you how romantic it is to be have a candlelight dinner in the middle of the Everfree Forest.” “Yeah, no,” I disagreed, “I believe I was pointing out how dangerous that would be.” We ended up just lying together talking. Nothing that I think was particularly interesting came up, we mostly just shared stories of growing up. For instance I found out that Forest Trails had a strange fondness for giant spiders and would often sneak off to try to find one and pet it when she was a young filly. Just a little bit strange honestly. Just a bit. I told her about how my first job prospecting had gone. We had ended up in the Rockies during the wettest year on record. Forty four days of rain with no sign of the sun. It was a terrible job but it made me able to look at any situation since and say that I had seen worse. It got me through some jobs where the conditions were atrocious. Finally the conversation came back around to Quick Search. Forest Trails looked at me and asked if I had visited her yet. “No, not yet. I probably will wait till the next meeting of the Writers Guild before I talk with her,” I replied. Forest Trails gave me a look that spoke volumes on what she thought of that plan, “So you're procrastinating?” “What? No!” I said, defending myself, “There just isn't any good chance to go visit her before then.” “Treasure Island,” Trails said as if explaining to a foal, “Shining Halo went and told Quick Search that she had found a good Stallion for her to meet and date. She went off and did that yesterday. Right now Quick search is waiting for you to get in touch with her, and wondering why you aren't. Do you want to be that kind of stallion?” “No!” I asserted, “Of course not! But I don't know her number, or her last name, so there is no easy way for me to contact her before then.” “Really..?” Forest Trails asked skeptically. “Yes!” I confirmed. “Hmm...” she hummed as she stared at me searchingly, “Well, I suppose that I'll just have to find a way around that.” “Oh?” I asked, suddenly feeling worried. Forest Trails nodded, “Yeah, I'll talk to Shining Halo and get her to meet you tomorrow out at the Laissez–Faire.” “The what now?” I asked confused. “The restaurant where we usually eat,” Forest Trails clarified. “Oh,” I said feeling nervous but a bit excited too, “If you think it won't cause too many problems.” “It will cause fewer than if I let you procrastinate,” Trails pointed out. I sighed and agreed. Our conversation turned to other things again. That said I still felt butterflies in my stomach at the thought of going on a date with a human girl. It made me wonder if there was something wrong with me. I hadn't felt so worried over dating Trails. It had just happened and not too much had changed between us. Eventually Forest and I ended up in a comfortable silence as she was looking for a spot in her her book to show me, so I set the pad by the computer and started typing this up. Why Do I Use So Many Words When Only One Is Needed For These Headers? So I want to spend some time talking about hoof ball tonight. I figure that there are a lot of different variations between the different shards, but I find the one in my shard rather interesting and want to tell people about it. The first thing about it is that it is a tiny bit like American football. The game is divided into plays, and each team sets up before them. Each play starts when the ball leaves it's starting point on the field, and each play ends when the pony holding the ball is either restrained, or is tackled to the turf. On the other hand that is where the relationship with American football ends. Each team is made up of three unicorns, three pegasi and three earth ponies. The pegasi are allowed to fly, and the unicorns are allowed to use magic. The goal of the game is to hold onto the ball for as long as possible, and after each play, possession of the ball switches. The rules that make it hard to hold onto the ball are as follows; you are only allowed to move the ball backwards once per play. Furthermore this one time must be a toss and cannot be controlled with magic. This means that someone like twilight can't take the ball and float it backwards slowly. The second rule is that you are only allowed to hold onto the ball for nine seconds before you have to pass it to another pony of a different race. This means that pegasi have to stay close enough to the ground to pass it back to the unicorns or the earth ponies. An addendum to this rule is that you can't pass it back and forth between any two races more than twice each way. This means that for a good play all three races have to touch the ball. The third major rule is that if the ball is intercepted by the other team, the team that intercepted it gains nine seconds of time, and the play ends. From what I heard this actually happens quite a bit. The final major rule is that you can't go more than fifty yards forward. After you pass the fifty yard line from where the ball was scrimmaged the play is over and the team that crossed the line is docked a full nine seconds. This makes for some interesting play if a team finds itself next to the line. Those are the major rules, though there are minor ones, like the ball can go back if it is just the pony switching how they hold the ball, though this exemption does not apply to the unicorns. The unicorns however have the unique option of being able to restrain a pony with their magic. If they can hold a pony still with their magic for three seconds, the play ends. All in all it is a fairly simple set of rules. The real cool things to watch are how the teams use the different rules to hold on to the ball. That said I haven't actually gotten to see a game yet. I've only heard the rules described to me by Winding Trails. I'm going to have to go see a game and tell you guys about it aren't I?