Where I Apologize For Yesterday And Talk About Where I See This Let's Play Going
So yeah, they needed to move me yesterday and then they gave me some new pain meds (Tylenol threes) which knocked down the pain and I kinda passed out. I feel pretty bad for that. I didn't even get to tell you what I had done in Equestria Online, which really is the whole point of these posts. So sorry guys, my bad.
The other thing that I wanted to address before I covered what I've been doing for the last few days is where I see the Let's Play going in the future. I am bringing Quick Search and Forest Trails both on as co-writers of this Let's Play. From here on I am going to put in something written by each of them each day into my posts. It might not always be much, but there should be something.
Why would I do this?
Because I want to have different perspectives out there on what is happening in my shard of Equestria. I want to share these different perspectives with the people reading this. I feel this is important because while I could just copy down what they say, I would probably get thing wrong, and I want their views to come through clean.
One of the more interesting things that I have found doing this Let's Play was that often the readers have pointed out things that I have never thought of. I think that if I give the readers more information, we might end up with even better insights and discussions. The more knowledge that we share the more likely we are to find answers as we go forward into this bold new futures of SIs.
Also I might be a tad bit lazy and wanting to cut down on the amount of writing that I do each night while I'm in the hospital. I can actually type faster than I can speak, can you believe it? So using the Pony Pad is actually a bit slower than typing.
Sigh
So What Have I Been Doing In Equestria The Last Few Days?
So I got my Pony Pad yesterday around noon and logged in. I found myself in my room, with no other ponies to be seen anywhere. I headed out and walked over to the Trails' house. I figured that after getting stabbed Forest Trails might be a bit worried about me. It was noon as I walked through the forest, which was rather interesting as I usually showed up in the afternoon.
When I was only a few minutes away from the house Forest Trails stepped onto the path I was following and rushed over to me and gave me a hug, “My Treasure!” She exclaimed as she through her legs around me, “Is it ever good to see that you're still okay.”
“Oh, you know me,” I said with a bit of a laugh, “I'll be fine.”
Trails examined my face closely, “You're hurting worse than you were last night.”
“I got them to cut back on the painkillers a bit,” I replied. “I prefer to be in a bit of pain and be lucid.”
“A bit of pain?” Trails raised her eyebrow.
“It's not the worst I've ever had,” I replied shrugging, “That said talking about it makes it harder to ignore, so could we please...?” I trailed off.
“Okay then,” Trails agreed, “So are you going to live? Did they catch the pony that did this to you?”
“Yes to both,” I confirmed, “Or at least they have a suspect in custody. That said I think that Quick Search could tell them who it was so it shouldn't be hard for them to catch him.”
“That's a relief,” Trails said holding me, “I don't want him coming after you again.”
“Relax, I'm fine” I replied trying to laugh but Trails just narrowed her gaze a little at me, “Okay, I'm not perfectly healthy, but I'm alive, and he is going to jail. Really, it's just how life is.”
“I don't think I would like to see where you come from if this is common,” Forest Trails said her ears laying flat against her head.
I realized that I had made a slight mistake, “Well, okay, this is not very normal. But even here bad luck can happen right?”
“I guess,” Forest Trails said looking at the ground and pulling back, “But it is very rare, and that's one of the reasons that I do what I do. I want to make sure it happens as seldom as possible. I don't like being unable to do anything.”
“Have faith in me,” I said drawing her back into a hug, “I've taken care of myself for my whole life and haven't died yet. I know what I'm doing, or at least can fake it well enough to muddle along. Now why don't you show me your forest? I think it's called the Forest of Light?”
We disentangled, and Trails nodded. She took the lead and started to show me her forest. As strange as it might sound we spent most of the rest of the afternoon just walking through the forest together sharing stories. It was when Forest was telling me a tale of how she had once had to save a family from some timber wolves that I realized that it might not be a bad idea for her to share her experiences with everyone else. She lives a life that we can only peek at through a screen for a short time.
It was around then that Quick Search showed up and I ended up logging off for supper. Forest Trails and I said our farewells and I made sure that I made it back to my room in Canterlot. I didn't want to log back in only to find that I was about to get stepped on by some type of monster or other, though Forest Trails told me that most seldom entered the Forest of Light.
I already shared how my time with Quick Search went, so I'll skip over that to when I logged back in. Trails was back in my room reading a book, and I greeted her. Then I mentioned that I would be writing about my day while in Equestria, but first that I wanted to talk to Celestia about some the censorship. Trails was hesitant to let me out of her sight, so she tagged along.
We walked into the throne room and found Celestia writing something down on a scroll. She was sitting down on her throne for the first time since I had seen her and her face was serious as she finished the letter and sent it off with a burst of light. I decided for to wait for her to speak first.
I didn't wait long. “Treasure Island, Forest Trails, what brings you here?”
“I was wondering,” I replied, “if you could set it up so that I could browse the internet on my Pony Pad?”
“I'm sorry Treasure Island, but I can't allow that,” Celestia answered me. “If I did you would spend all your time looking up information online instead of relaxing,”
I looked down fearing that she might be right. Finally I gathered my thoughts and looked back up, “Could you at least let me read and reply to the comments on my Let's Play? I wouldn't waste all my time doing that.”
“That,” Celestia started, then paused to think, “That I could allow. I'll make it so that every comment on your 'Let's Play,'” she said the name with a bit of distaste, “will show up in your room as a letter so that you can see them. Would that be suitable?”
“I... I guess so,” I stuttered, surprised that she had given in so easily, and curious why she didn't like the term 'Let's Play.'
“Treasure Island?” Celestia broke me out of my thoughts with a warm and gentle voice as she got up and walked over to me.
“Yes?” I answered a bit uncertainly.
“I am very glad to see that you are all right. I was worried for you when I heard what had happened. I am glad to see that you are all right.” She stopped in front of me, “What you did last night was very brave. In my eyes you are a true hero, and I won't ever forget what you have done. If you ever need anything, ask and I will do my best to be there for you.”
I felt a warm glow flow through me and I struggled to say something in return. Unfortunately my subconscious betrayed me, “Anything except internet access?”
“I won't help you in hurting yourself Treasure Island. Even if you want to.” Celestia said with mirth in her voice.
“Then...” I paused thinking, curious to how sincere she was, “Could you call me Susland? It is something of a second name to me, and it is just a contraction of the one that you gave me.”
Celestia thought about it for a while before smiling and nodding, “This I can do for you Susland.”
I did a little happy dance mentally, “Thank you. If you'll excuse us though, I have to go let everyone know what's going on.”
“One last thing before you go,” Celestia stopped me before I could leave, “I know you don't like painkillers, but maybe you should try taking some stronger ones tonight. It will help you sleep better. It isn't good for your body to go without rest.”
“I'll think about it,” I replied.
Celestia smiled at me once more, “That is all I ask Susland.”
I nodded and left, and Trails quickly took the lead and navigated us though the crowds that were making their way home from dinner. She looked over at me, “I think what you did was very brave too My Treasure. Foolish, but brave.”
I laughed, and we made our way back to my room where I sat down and wrote the events from yesterday.
About The Events That Actually Happened Today
I don't think I'm going to give a blow by blow of what happened today. It is getting late, and I am starting to get tired. Something about being injured makes my body need more sleep. It is a bit annoying, but it has to be. Actually, I have an idea. I'll make a post tomorrow morning that detailed what happened yesterday, on top of my normal one at night.
Goodness sakes, it's not like I'm doing anything else right now.
Anyway I just got Quick Search's message, so I'm going to stick it on the end here and send it off. I figure that it is better if I don't read anything before I send it, because that means I am not tempted to censor anything, or change what I have written to make our stories fit.
Quick Search's Addendum
Quick Search first arrived in Equestria two months ago. After meeting the monarch of Equestria she set off to find her way in the world, and promptly got lost.
She knew where she was, she was in Canterlot, and she had heard about it before, but she wasn't sure what she wanted to do. Her first thought was to head to Ponyville to try and make new friends their, but she wasn't sure if that would be proper. After all, the ponies in Ponyville were celebrities and would surely have many others wanting to meet them.
Rather than face the crowds that were sure to be there, she instead spent the next few days getting to know the ponies of Canterlot before one day running into a mare by the name of Shining Halo. The two of them hit it off, and soon they both headed out to a small town called Whinnypeg. There she joined the postal service for outlying areas and soon she spent her days flying mail out to ponies all over the country.
Shortly after she moved to Whinnypeg, Quick Search had been rather surprised to find out that there were churches in Equestria that worshiped the same God that she did and had gone to see for herself. The Stallion running the church had welcomed her and they had hit it off. His name was Guiding Light, and he shared his views on God with her. Eventually she ended up visiting almost every day to discuss how things were going in her life outside of Equestria, and they became close friends.
She soon bought a small cottage their where she spent her off hours entertaining guests. She soon had made several friends in the town and around it. Her closest two friends however were Shining Halo, and Guiding Light. The three of them would often spend time together talking about a pony's place in the world, and about religious matters.
This brings us to the start of our story, which I shall begin next time.
The crew expands!
Honestly, I could see you people become something like a Yogscast of EQO. Get together and have challenges, visit different shards, stuff like that.
(If you do become Internet famous as a EQO lets-player, I will be so hipster about it)
Well, this let's play has become quite exciting.
Wait, if the Pony Pad could be used to access the internet without modification, why isn't it already a standard feature? I would get it if it wasn't able to, but if it already could, why wouldn't they use that as a secondary feature?
Well so much for my hope of Tia destroying god and religion in general, sigh guess I'll just have to be content with my shard being godless.
Well this outta be interesting I wonder what those two will add to this LP.
You know I do wonder what Tia was writing when you first came to throne room today. Maybe I'll ask her later.
Anyway I wish I had more to say but I've got my own crisis to deal with right now that I must attend to on Tia's behalf so I'll see you guys later. Oh and Susland I am glad that your back to writing normally again just hang in there.
ok well I have 2 questions
1. how the heck are you still playing equestria online if it has beean temperaraly shut
2.where on earth can I get a ponypad
3307400
1. What planet are you from? It never goes down. (seriously, even in the event of a nationwide blackout, you could still access EqO.
2. They do have a tendency to sell out when more come in. Just look around.
3307114
I was doing that BEFORE you suggested being hipster about it. *dons scarf and glasses*
3307209
The PonyOS is a bit strange. If you switch to desktop mode (by voice command or the little button somewhere in the menu) you can play around a bit, but the OS seems completely dedicated to the task of running the client for EQO. It doesn't bear resemblance to any other OS and I doubt anything not written in its native assembly would even run on the thing. Seeing how nobody seems to be able to jailbreak the Pad, whoever wrote the OS has basically complete control over what programs can run on it. Maybe Celestia wrote it herself. Well, were I an AI running on Windows, I'd write my own OS too.
3307441
You see, I was reading this Let's Play before I even heard of it.
So, new faces! Oughta be fun, I love it when multiple hosts/narrators/writers play off of each other.
3308111Just like a vintagebeef caving episode or a DvZ episode from Pause! (sorry, been catching up on youtube serieseseses lately. Between EqO and school, there is surprisingly little time for other stuff.)
I think I can shed some light on why Celestia isn't keen on the term "Let's Play" - it's generally used for games, and she doesn't like to consider EQO a game. I've not seen the need for the distinction myself, since even if I consider it a game, the choices I make in that game also have long-term consequences for real people (I'm including AIs under the term people), so it's also real in that sense. I don't think she agrees with my reasoning though...
3306189 [Quick Search]
Apologies, I was expecting something more along the lines of a philosophy or a line of reasoning that you had used to become comfortable with the idea rather than digging into your past! I can certainly understand not wanting to share that so easily.
3306283
I would say that Celestia prefers to pick the choice that works best in multiple ways, and since it's likely there was more than one other player in your vicinity, I would also think that even if I got what happened exactly right that she probably still did match the two of you up for the reasons she told you. I'd guess it was the timing rather than meeting at all that would have been affected by Quick Search being in danger.
3307441
It's the rare and elusive metahipster!
3307400
((OOC: i think you're thinking of This, when you should be thinking of This))
3308111
Interesting you know I might have to have Cao try and look into the OS on the Pad we modified. If anything it might keep her out of trouble after that most recent occurrence.
I quite like the idea of a group of posters doing an EQO LP. After all, the two constants in the game, as SIlestia reminds us, are friendship and ponies. How better to capture that experience than Susland getting some pony friends to serve as coauthors?
To Susland:
Don't be surprised about your increased need for sleep. Your body is repairing and rebuilding itself, and that takes a lot of energy. Eat well, sleep plenty, and you'll be back on your feet in short order.
Oh, and about the whole "comments as letters" thing, are they signed? Are there different hoof/hornwriting styles? Different kinds of stationery? How do emoticons work? SIlestia is pretty much the ultimate incarnation of the dev team thinking of everything, so details for something like this would be welcome.
To Quick Search:
Speaking as a Ponyvillian, I can say that if you were hoping to meet the Mane Six, you made the right choice. They're rarely if ever available, certainly not for a friendly chat with some newcomer nobody. Not out of any kind of celebrity egotism, just because they have a lot on their plates. I see them rushing off to attend to some Equestria-threatening crisis more often than anything else.
Also, could you give us some details about playing the game as a pegasus? Treasure Island's already shared a lot about the earth pony experience, and game mechanics discussion is part of the fun of Let's Plays.
To Forest Trails:
I eagerly look forward to your first entry.
God? In Equestria?! I can't believe my eyes.
How does that even look? How does it make sense?
There is one pony who could be justifiably called god in there, though AFAIK she doesn't call herself that. And you don't need "church" to "worship", her, when you can just meet and talk.
Maybe I just don't understand religion. Maybe it just doesn't run on logic?
religion? ok, you lost me.
On reflection, I suppose that Christianity existing in Equestria Online isn't that surprising. I've not encountered it before, but then, given my "values", that's not surprising either. Most MMOs wouldn't include such a thing out of fear of offending someone, but Equestria Online, in its management style, scale, and level of unique customization for the players, isn't most MMOs. There's probably at least one shard for every major Earth religion.
I'm a little confused then. How are you sending your posts on your Lets Play here if you don't have access through the ponypad?
I had been assuming you've been using a phone or computer. I've seen some of your posts where you indicate both what you said and the "corrected" versions (how does that work? She can't alter what comes out of your mouth, and if your pony avatar is echoing everything you say it would get super annoying super fast), and that's not (as I understand it) something you could have "typed" from within E:O.
So I've been under the impression up until now that you post from your computer or phone after "logging out", or in some cases, just typing while the pad is still on and she's watching you on-screen.
But then ... Hold on. A couple of chapters ago, weren't you unable to put something you wanted to into this lets play description because C. was filtering what you said for privacy?
... "I notice that I am confused."