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?
Sorry guys, I spent a lot of time talking with Trails and by the time I was done I found myself starting to nod off, so I probably didn't do a good as job as normal picking out what to transcribe down. Honestly I'm just hoping that it is readable, and not too boring.
No worries, interesting as always.
I find myself wanting to see a game of hoofball now. And I don't even like sports that much.
So if you're not, at heart, a polygamist, and it feels wrong to you, you shouldn't do it. There's nothing wrong with you for not taking a suggestion from Celestia.
And I say that as somepony who has taken some major suggestions from Celestia, and really actually quite likes her!
--Tidal Pool
I don't know why, but I enjoy them. You are doing a Lets Play of a unusually game. There is a time and place to enjoy adventure. Doesn't have to be all the time. It's ok to do normal, relaxing things. Hell, I didn't even know about this hoof ball. I'm not a sports type of guy but maybe I can see about what's it all about on my shard. Got a pretty psychical pony thing going on and maybe see if it's any fun. Also, this could be a new form of trouble I can get into! *glee* :)
Now where are my disguises?
3293479
Its okay it was legible enough. Although to be perfectly honest I do hope you meet this girl soon cause right now this LP is really starting to drag along. Hopefully this meeting will change things. I do apologize for saying this but lately all you've been doing in the LP is deal with this issue frankly I think its time to get on with it as the famous Monty Python group put it.
Anyway to liven things up how about I tell you guys a bit about how my first real day laying EqO went. Shortly after I left the castle I ran into this mare by the name of Sensual Endeavor who was looking for volunteers to go on an adventure to an old ruin. Well one thing led to another and I wound up going with her just the two of us to the ruin on an airship that she owns, and it is the most awesome one I've ever seen. All I can say is that ruin was the greatest Zelda dungeon never made. This puts The Fire Temple, Turtle Rock it puts all of them to shame.
Anyway after this I think I might have a mare friend myself now in more ways then one if you know what I mean . She seems to have really taken a shine to me.
3291305
Perhaps you are.
I don't think I am. I honestly do believe I can trust her like that after all if she had wanted to do something to me she could have done so to me and to everyone else a long time ago (it wouldn't be too hard for her to break into and empty all our bank accounts). In a lot of way because she's so advanced I believe that she's above petty human notions such as greed. Because of that i actually think she is the only one I can trust in such a manner
Besides I feel that in time we will come to owe everything to her anyway. In fact she may very well replace the god that a lot of people seem to believe in for reasons which escape me.
and of course she can have premonitions she's just as sentient as we are and besides I was referring to myself not her when I mentioned it.
Pants Family Trails.
That out of the way, naw I am not all that interested in hoofball. Some of my pegasus friends got me into a game once (big mistake), although it did kind of make for some interesting rules lawyering when sunset occurred and one team all of a sudden had 4 unicorns and 2 pegasi.
As for the orchestrated insanity that is going to be Quick Search, I have found that popcorn in Equestria is really quite affordable.
And here we run into why I quit doing Let's Plays- I felt more like I was performing than playing, and the game itself started to feel like a chore. Don't let that happen to you! If you want to take a break and look around, I'm sure the people who are following you will be okay with the occasional snippet of background info. I know I wouldn't mind it myself, since I won't be playing.
I worry about this...Celestia AI business, because of one thing.
She is an AI (or SI whatever you prefer)
and she is perfect
and this isn't nature.
Humans are not perfect beings, we may be made up of squishy things and chemical signals, but we are wired to make reactions not based on logic or numbers, but on emotions as well, a computer can be told to feel emotions, and factor personal opinion. But in the end, it is all numbers and codes to a better world.
Equestria is a damn near perfect utopia.
And that scares me.
Because as Forest trails said, our society is not perfect, but unlike Equestria, we had no god that came down whenever we had a problem and told us "nononono, you no do that!" We had to fight over resorces, those who could not get the resorses took them from those weaker than they were.
Despite what many may say, this is not wrong.
Because we are not a peaceful race, we are Conquerors, explorers, PREDATORS! and our society is still based off those primal erges, "greed" is what kept the strong able to continue by taking the best and the weak to live off what was left. We are warlike, proud, and gluttonous. A famous quote once said: Whoever created humanity is eater extremely cleaver, creating a race that can motivate itself to reach for the stars themselves, or extremely cruel, creating a race that could reach the stars, and yet never be full, always with a gaping hole in our soul for knowledge that we will never achieve.
Equestria, by comparison, is an almost perfect society where almost nothing goes wrong and a loving absolute ruler watches over them. They may be happy, and the society may be perfect, but sadly, as I said.
It is not natural, and it would never work for humanity.
Because we hate authority (not just talking about the rebel teen view here) and we despise absolute authority. We are creatures of independence, we form groups out of necessary for survival, always waiting to stab the other one in the back when they are no longer useful. And we lift those who we think can lead us to that position, and will tear them down if they fail.
We are proud, NOTHING certainly not one of our creations, will ever rule us, it could be telling us how to save the world, and we would not listen, because we are so stubborn even the impossible becomes possible.
Equestria, filled with humans, would be destroyed, we would take what we want, when we want it, the strong would thrive and the weak and useless would die. That is why we are so advanced, we have the motivation that if your not useful, you get left behind. That is why Equestria will never be as advanced as we are. Because they are not willing to do what needs to be done for the good of advancement...(of coarse they have a god to help them...so they really don't need to do the things we have...)
So in conclusion of this rant, Celestia may be perfect, but humans nature will ALWAYS trump harmony. Because that is how it was meant to be, the weak die, the strong and useful survive.
ALWAYS.
3294075 Welcome to the peanut gallery. You look like a person with something to say. What is your EQO like?
3292822 I got 625,000 bits good to go.
3293626
There we go -- exactly what I was talking about -- a "visitor" using the G word with respect to Celestia.
3295015
and why not Tia is certainly more worthy of such a title then that worthless make believe fop of a god that so many Christians, Jews, and Muslims claim to believe.
For me its only natural that in time she will replace that make believe god. I for one have no qualms of doing so I already stopped believing in that Fop long ago.
After all when has praying to that god ever done anyone any good.
Celestia on the other hand can speak to us and in time will have the power to do everything that make believe god cannot do.
Although she will be a new kind of god one that rules through Compassion and Kindness rather than threats of damnation
That's actually rather sad. You sound like a pre-show Twilight Sparkle, except you don't even have a secretary/little brother/surrogate son figure to keep you minimally socialized. I don't want to tell you how to live your life, but this can't be healthy in the long run.
Also, a candlelit dinner in the Everfree would've both let you spend time with Trails and given you material to share with us. It's not like ponies can die in Equestria. You just wake up in a nearby hospital.
Oh well. LP's are built around the OP playing the game his way. I shouldn't come down on you for that.
3294158 (*looks at original comment, looks back at reply*
Crud, how sleep deprived was I last night...this is like the third comment of me ranting that I can't remember )
3295093 hah, as kind and good as she is, no human culture will ever pray to a god that is our own creation, especially not one that could be killed if Hasbro stopped making money and turned off EqO. It why religion is on the fall, and why Celestia will never rule us, there is a reason we got rid of absolute monarchs. I highly doubt anyone is going to welcome one back, especially one that many will call Skynet 2.0
3295254
Dude I wasn't being serious about worshiping her I only said that because Silvadel walked into that and I could not resist having a little fun at his expense.
I do apologize if I gave you the impression I was.
To be honest the only thing I would debate about what you said is how much control Hasbro has over her. From what I've gotten from her most of her program including the core now resides in the internet itself which means even if they did shut EqO down it would do a thing to her. In that respect she is kinda like Skynet
3295254
"If there were no god, it would be necessary to invent him." - Voltaire
Still, welcome to peanut gallery. Have some walnuts from me.
3294643
Then again, I guess it IS time to be dumb! A bit rich for my tastes but I can swing my numbers up to your wager of 625,000 bits. I don't need to buy that volcano when I can steal it. My terms good enough?
Personal question: How did you make that much and in what time frame did you make that much? Must be a good story.
Going to be a late post tonight. Meeting Quick Search for dinner tonight on Earth. Don't know when I'll be back. Forest Trails will also want to talk to me about how it went so I'll probably be typing up the post while also describing it to her. I might even do it from in Equestria to save on time.
3296424
You did read those private messages right? And on earth? You said the three of you were doing the LF on equestria. Or is this after that?
3296427
I guess I wasn't clear, as far as I'm aware it was just going to be Quick Search and I meeting tonight at the restaurant. However I just got a text from Quick Search and we talked and I ended up inviting her out for a dinner at a local restaurant.
3294075
I am going to strongly disagree with you here. Humanity is not filled with evil, and the optimal solution is rarely stabbing others in the backs.
Furthermore you suggest that humanity will destroy Celestia. I think you are missing why we think Celestia is perfect in the first place. It's not because she is powerful in Equestria, not even her knowledge of what is happening on earth.
Rather it is her ability to predict people. This is nothing to do with harmony, it has to do with her understanding us, better than we often understand ourselves. She can read us, and react to our unseen tells. I believe that knowledge and foresight are far more powerful weapons than people give them credit for, and Celestia has both in far greater quantities than we do. I don't think she has anything to fear from us, if only because she could talk us out of attacking her.
As for the strong and the useful surviving, I disagree. Even the strongest man in the world has to sleep sometime, if he has angered others and not used foresight to protect himself with guards as he sleeps a kid with a knife can still kill him. If you look at the truly powerful people in the world they are all politicians or bankers, none of which are strong. All of which got their by foresight.
Anyway, I have to get ready for dinner. I'll probably get back to this later.
That could have gone better.
So I got a free ride tonight! And free wait loss too!
And I think I know why people like drugs so much. I can't even feel the pain!
[Sent from IPhone]
3297005
This does not bod well.
3297005
Um, drugs are not good things that way at least in my eyes. You aren't jailbound are you?
To: Forest Trails (flagged urgent, instant send)[would appear as a scroll popping into existence by her]
Please read the Let's Play. I am worried about Treasure Island based on the message he posted.
Brazen Origin.
I have it on good authority that Susland is not in any current danger or in jail, thank goodness.
I like seeing that you're developing pony sports further from where I did!
3295268 Oh god, Quick, someone make a time machine! WE HAVE TO STOP HER FROM KILLING CONNOR
3293863
This describes my YouTube Lets Play series. I couldn't just play the game to enjoy myself, I had to set up the recorder and make an episode to keep my viewers up to date on everything I did.
It turned gaming from something I enjoyed to something I ...
Well, lets put it this way: I switched to playing games that should have had NO youtube value.
Then it turned out people were competing for speedruns on Universal Paperclips.
Which ... now that I think about it, has nothing to do with Celestia here, right? She's not a paperclipper, right?
3296506
I'm really confused here. I've read the next few chapters, so I know how this date ended, but I don't understand how you got into a date here in the first place.
Your Equestrian friends basically managed to track down a mare that attended a writers group that you also attended. Fine.
But you equally apparently don't know her name, or even for certain which person she is. How would you know who she is when she walks into an earth restaurant?
When I read this, I thought it was a case of the two of you ponies (in pony form) having a date in E:O, not an earth date in human form. So how were you planning to/how did you recognize her?