Chapter 17: Pacific
- MSNBC -
"- in nearly three weeks. Does this mean it's over or just the lull before the storm? We all saw what happened in Los Angeles and Ft. Lauderdale. Who's to say that wouldn't happen to more of our cities and towns in the near future? Next time it might happen during rush hour in New York, or during a sporting event? We need answers, and the consensus right now is grim: We know nothing. They know nothing."
- FOX -
"- understand how, but just look at it objectively. I think this has happened before. These Equestrians may be alien, but just look at our mythology. We have unicorns, we have pegasus, and there isn't a culture that I know of that doesn't have dragons."
"So is it your opinion that this may be some sort of natural cycle, or just a cosmic coincidence?"
- NBC -
"Protests in the Capitol today, protesting the alien bill that is making the rounds in Congress. The protesters expressed outrage at the proposed measures, shouting slogans such as 'help humans first' and 'deport them all!' Representatives in both parties have expressed concerns about-"
- BBC -
" - have been unable to confirm their authenticity, but there are some reports coming out of the Democratic Republic of the Congo of the loss of an entire harvest to a destructive and growing swarm of insects. There are reports that the DRC has begun a massive campaign of insecticides and bonfires.Though these remain unconfirmed, the speculation is that the government of Congo does not want to alert any aggressive neighbors of potential weakness on an already unstable continent."
- ABC -
"- the unprecedented meeting at the UN this Friday as a possible step towards peace on a peninsula that hasn't been able to take a breath of relief since the Korean War. The Vice President and the Secretary of State have already pledged that they will be attending the summit. Sources also tell us that there is some speculation that the Equestrian Princess Luna, who has been working with Congress and the administration, will also be present and may even address UN leaders. Similar speculation is coming out of Canada, Japan, and Italy according -"
- Salt Lake City, Utah - July 20 - Day 2 - Asher -
Asher was the first one awake. Not by choice, but rather by the incessant, involuntary kicking that Rainbow Dash kept delivering to his foot. Deciding it was useless to try and go back to sleep, he arose and stretched. Everything was quiet and relatively still, everybody and everypony still being asleep.
The morning light was already illuminating the inside of the camper, giving everything a light blue tint. Asher reached into the cupboards and fridge, gathering some frosted flakes and milk, and pouring them together into a plastic bowl to be consumed with the help of a plastic spoon. True blue vacation style.
With the table still in converted bed mode, Asher slipped into the driver's seat to eat his cereal. He brushed the curtains aside for a second to get a good look. The parking lot was still essentially empty, except for employees and a few soccer mom minivans. Oh yeah. Utah.
"Morning."
Asher looked back over his shoulder to see Twilight, who was suffering from a serious case of bed-head.
"Good Mornin'" Asher replied back, slurping another spoonful of flakes. "You're up early."
"Look who's talking," Twilight countered.
"Want some breakfast?" Asher offered.
"Sounds delightful," she answered, stretching her legs. "Oats in milk, huh? That looks kind of interesting."
"And it's frosted with honey," Asher added as he chomped on another spoonful.
Twilight levitated everything at the same time, pouring the cereal with ease and immediately following with milk before even putting the box down. She located another plastic spoon and ambled back over to Asher, taking a seat on the carpet floor. Both bowl and spoon remained levitated as she began to eat.
"Wow, that's good," she said with a smile.
"Does it get tiring when you do that?" Asher asked.
"What?
"Do you get tired when you levitate stuff for a while?" Asher repeated. Twilight thought about it as she continued to eat.
"I guess it depends on what I'm levitating," she finally said. "I suppose I could levitate small things like this indefinitely, but the heavier something is the shorter my stamina would be. But it's something you have to practice. When I was a filly it was a challenge to move a page in a book. That's about where Sweetie Belle is at right now."
Asher nodded as he glanced at his sister and her little friends. It was quite the adorable picture, with Anne wound up tight under a blanket, and around her all three of her companions in various positions. Scootaloo was even draped like a lazy cat over her shoulder. If there was ever an image with the potential to break the internet that was it.
"What's the itinerary for the day?" Twilight asked as she crunched away.
"Well, I'm thinking Salt Lick City right after breakfast, then we'll try to make it north to Boise by dinner, then try to make it to somewhere near Rainbow Falls before it's too late," Asher recited off, mentally calculating the hours. It was going to be a long day.
"What about the fillies?" Twilight asked, motioning with her head to where they slept. Seemingly on cue Apple Bloom snorted in her sleep as all four of them readjusted.
"Dad couldn't find five tickets for anything leaving Salt Lake," Asher shrugged. "Or Boise, or pretty much anywhere nearby. We'll probably just have to have them tag along until we know where we're gonna be. Maybe Sacramento or something."
"Some people are trying to sleep, ya know."
David stirred in the reclined passenger seat, sitting up and shooting both his brother and Twilight a very annoyed glance.
"Most people would know that," David continued as he sat up.
"If I didn't just see you get up, I'd say you woke up on the wrong side of the bed," Asher quipped, earning another irritated glance from his brother and a stifled snort of laughter from Twilight.
"The sun's barely up and you're already annoying," muttered David as he made for the cabinets. Though when he opened the cabinets, the relative quiet of the morning was immediately destroyed as he accidentally pulled a pile of plastic bowls crashing down to the counters, clanging much louder than Asher would have thought possible.
"Argh! Are all humans this loud when they wake up!?" Rainbow Dash opened one eye solely to give the stink-eye to David, who looked supremely flustered that the tables had been so quickly turned on him. That of course led to more snickers from Twilight and Asher, which then earned two scowls from David and Rainbow Dash. "Apparently they are."
"Wha---" Apple Bloom stirred on top of the pile of sleeping cuteness. "Mornin' already?"
"The sun's coming up and the cereal is crunching, so I'd say so," Asher answered, shrugging at Twilight. "Might as well get everyone going. Got a long way to go."
They started driving again by the time the sun was above the east mountains. Salt Lake City was a collection of high rises and suburbs that seemed to be cozily nestled in the mountains, making for a strange collaboration of nature and urban sprawl. Even with the buildings towering around it, the spires of the Mormon temple in the middle seemed to watch over the city like a castle, and to the west the salty lake itself reflected the baby blue sky like a mirror.
It was near the lake where they found their destination, just outside of a small suburb called Magna.
- Salt Lick City, UT - Twilight -
Salt Lick City was a relatively small town nestled in a small valley not far from the massive lake to the west. It was a frontier village noted for being the crossroads of west Equestria and the home of the world's largest ball of yarn.
But it had one major difference that immediately grabbed Twilight's attention. There wasn't a big camp outside the town limits like at Ponyville and under Cloudsdale, but there were plenty of humans walking around. In fact, they were first greeted by a welcoming party of two ponies and two humans, sitting relaxed under a shade tent.
"Well, hello! Don't think I've seen you around before," one of the ponies, a lime-green mare, greeted.
"Wait, you're Princess Twilight Sparkle, right?" a brown stallion pointed out. The other three’s countenances brightened when they realized he was right.
"Oh, wow. You were excellent in your speech a couple weeks back," said one of the humans, an older man with a receding hairline. "You are a very good speaker. I'm John Stanton"
"And I'm Hannah Bardwell. What brings you all here to Salt Lake?" the female human asked.
"Investigation," Twilight answered.
"Ah, to find the answer of our mystery storm I suppose?" the mare said brightly.
"That's right," Twilight affirmed. "We thought it would be easier to search for a solution at the source."
"Can't argue with that," the stallion said. "Name's Mountain Cap, and if there's anything we can do to help, just ask."
"Perhaps somepony to show us around," Twilight asked, to which the mare jumped up.
"I can help with that!" she said. "My name's Blue Deseret, but just Dezzie works."
Twilight and her friends thanked them and followed Dezzie into town. The town, much like the nearby human metropolis, was set in a grid pattern, with a broad main street crossing the middle. The town's market place lined this street, and was the beating heart of the settlement. Ponies and humans could be seen all the way up and down the street, interacting with each other like it was just any other day. It was almost strange how natural they were acting with each other.
"How do y’all do the selling 'round here?" Applejack asked as they passed a stand where a human couple was making a purchase from a smiling, yellow unicorn.
"Well, we were told early on that our gold bits were really valuable, and a message from Princess Luna warned us not to sell ourselves short as it were," Dezzie explained cheerfully. "But we really needed supplies to keep up our living, so we struck a deal. It's a simple trade system, kind of like that trade fair in Rainbow Falls. And if there's ever a dispute, then our little committee back there make a decision."
"Sounds like y’all figured yourselves out quickly," Asher said, impressed.
"Faster than we did," David muttered, teasing at his brother. "We spent the first three days trying to hide it from everyone."
"Really? Huh." Dezzie seemed surprised by the brother's banter, but didn't press for any answers.
"So, Dezzie, I suppose first thing's first," Twilight started. "Is there anything unusual about the town?"
"You mean besides ending up in another world?" laughed Blue Deseret. "Well, there actually isn't much different."
- Rarity -
Memories of the little adventure that had swung herself and Applejack through this town came back to Rarity. They hadn't spent long here that time and they wouldn't this time either. As far as she understood, it was going to be another long day of traveling. And now she had her sister to watch out for.
"Sweetie Belle, please calm down," Rarity chided as Sweetie and her friends quite literally ran circles around here. "You're not supposed to be on this trip in the first place. Honestly, if mother and father were here, they'd have a fit."
Much like the one I'm sure Anne's parents are having right now, Rarity thought. Actually, no. Her parents were rather laid back and had somewhat spoiled Rarity and Sweetie. The Burgesses may not fit the picture of wealthy sophistication, but Rarity had engaged in enough conversations with Mrs. Burgess to know they took a vested interest in their children's lives. Anne was not going to get off very easily. It was probably why the little girl was enjoying every last minute, well aware of the riot act she would be read upon her return home.
Twilight was fully entrenched in conversation with the very friendly Dezzie, who was all too happy to give as many details as she could remember. Asher stood over the pair, listening in carefully to every detail. But the meticulous exchange soon either lost or simply bored the other members of the party, and they soon began wandering the market.
With the fillies orbiting around Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy had wordlessly volunteered to help keep a lid on their energy, while David ambled off with Rainbow Dash and Applejack flanking him.
"Oooh! Oh! Let's find a candy store! Or a cake store! Do you think there's a candy cake store? That would be delicious!" Pinkie Pie rambled as she bounced along.
"Yeah!" the girls cheered. While Rarity didn't think it was a good idea, considering the relatively small space they were all going to be confined to for most of the day, she didn't have time to object, as Pinkie Pie and the girls sped off before either she or Fluttershy could do anything about it.
"There they go," Fluttershy sighed.
"I never could quite get them to listen to me," Rarity complained as she watched them disappear around a corner.
"It's okay, fillies will be fillies," Fluttershy assured her. "I remember Rainbow Dash got into a lot of trouble in school back in Cloudsdale."
"She still gets into trouble sometimes," Rarity laughed.
"Hey Rarity!"
Rainbow Dash was flying towards her, just barely ahead of David and Applejack.
"What is it?"
"What kind of gem is this? Is it real?" David asked, holding out the stone in question. Rarity took a single glance at it and knew exactly what it was.
"It's a ruby," she answered definitively. "A nice one as well."
"See? I told you," said Rainbow Dash smugly.
"A ruby?" David said. "What are the odds of that?"
"Well, where there's one there's bound to be more," Rarity said casually.
"Seriously?" David was incredulous.
"And that's what I told ya, Dave," Applejack said, Rainbow Dash giving her a hoof bump for their double victory.
"I can find more if you like," Rarity said. She concentrated and cast her gem finding spell. The familiar pull of the gems started popping up all around her, including one patch nearby. "There's one just over here."
David walked over to where she was, wearing a skeptical expression as he started to kick the dirt away with his shoes, before grabbing a nearby stick and started hacking into the ground. Indeed, just below the surface, was a collection of gems.
"Whoa! Hey!" David started scraping out as many as he could with his fingers, brushing off the dust. "I didn't even know rubies could form so close to the surface, the dirt is just so loose here."
Before Rarity could begin to explain that most gems actually formed with natural magical assistance, David turned back and jogged towards his brother, saying, "Hey Ash! Check it out!"
"Whoa." Asher looked dumbfounded. "That'll cover a semester or two."
"Did you just pick all those up from one spot?" Twilight asked as Rarity trotted up.
"Yes, but it's not the only pocket I could sense," Rarity said.
"Hmm. That's sorta strange," Twilight said.
"I'll say," Asher said. "What are the odds of finding so many gems in one spot?"
"No, that's not it darling," Rarity corrected. "It's that most of them are rubies. Gem pockets are usually much more diverse."
"Do you think this might be a clue?" Asher suggested, his eyes brightening. Twilight held her hoof to her chin, thinking.
"Maybe," Twilight said. "Gems often have a strong connection to magic, though I'm not sure how it would connect to our dilemma. I'd have to also do some research on geological magic."
"We should probably at least keep an eye out for it when we get to the other towns," Asher said, as he held up the rubies with the same wonder of a foal seeing something for the first time.
"I could use my gem finding spell for that," Rarity offered. "Though if somepony wants to dig them up they'll have to do it themselves. I'd rather not chip my hooves."
"That would be perfect, Rarity, thank you," Twilight said. "The more data we gather, the closer we get to home."
Rarity beamed a little, glad that she would be of some use on their quest. Her satisfaction was doomed to be short lived however, as Pinkie Pie came streaking around the corner, with Sweetie Belle and friends right behind her.
"If anypony asks, we weren't seeing how much sugar could fit into a cotton candy maker!" the pink blur hollered as it sped by. Rarity first heaved a sigh.
"Oh for the love of... Sweetie Belle!"
- Rainbow Dash -
It wasn't long before they were traveling northbound, though there was a small delay as they figured out how to compensate a candy store owner for a totaled cotton candy mixer. The gems they had dug up came in handy at that point. Ha, I used that new word.
David was taking a turn driving, while also having a conversation with Rarity which, Rainbow gathered, was about essentially how crazy fashions had been for a while. Asher was taking advantage of his break by reading Daring Do and the Sapphire Statue on the couch. As per his request Rainbow had brought the entire series with her so that he could finally read it. He seemed to be enjoying it so far.
Twilight was also on the couch, hooves curled underneath as she poured into a novel of her own: Harry Potter and the something or other, which apparently was some sort of story involving a crazy version of magic where humans used magic, but only with wands. Not something Rainbow Dash was particularly interested in but certainly up Twilight's alley. Every once in a while she would pipe up with some statement like, "I wonder how they would use the phoenix feather to channel magic" and "I've met Cerberus before. Had to run him all the way back to Tartarus."
Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash and most of the others were playing a rather competitive board game, Settlers of Catan. As Anne had explained the rules, Rainbow initially shunned the idea, but within the first twenty minutes had been drawn in.
"Anypony got any Ore? I'll give you two Bricks for it!" Rainbow Dash pleaded, looking around the table.
"Sorry, sugarcube. Nothin' doin' there," Applejack said. From the way she smirked, the farm pony probably had the card Rainbow Dash wanted but she wasn't budging if she did. Applejack had three cities already and looked like she was getting ready to build a fourth. She and Anne had been winning just about the whole game, while Rainbow Dash had struggled to score any points at all.
Rainbow Dash stared at her own cards, which was a somewhat useless stockpile of lumber and wheat cards, before sighing and passing off her turn to Fluttershy. All Dash had managed to do was to build a few settlements, but Pinkie Pie had built a practical wall of roads that made expanding impossible.
"I can't decide if I love or hate this game," Rainbow Dash deadpanned.
"That's how everyone feels about it, and it never changes," David piped in from the driver's seat. "Hey look, we're crossing the Idaho border."
"Ah Idaho, land of lakes, rivers, and a few billion potatoes," added Asher as he flipped the page on his book.
"Ooh, Potatoes," Pinkie Pie said with a hint of salivation.
"Guess that means we're only a few more hours from dinner," Asher continued.
"You did call ahead, right?" David questioned.
"Of course I did," Asher answered curtly.
"Rainbow, you wanna give me some Wood? Please? I'll trade you some Sheep!" Scootaloo pleaded, regaining the pegasus' attention for a moment. As poorly as Rainbow Dash had been playing, Scootaloo and the joint efforts of the Crusaders were proving to be fruitless, so Rainbow Dash went ahead and traded. The only one doing worse than them was Fluttershy, who had practically nothing because she just traded whenever anypony asked, and she gave generously. Games were not really her thing.
"Welp, y’all gave it a good run, but..." Applejack laid down some cards and flipped over a couple more. "I think I win this time."
"What?" Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo harmonized their disbelief as Anne leaned over and counted under her breath.
"Oh, yep. She did," the human girl confirmed, to which Applejack responded by leaning back with a satisfied grin.
Rainbow Dash groaned as she tossed her cards in frustration. She really hated losing, even if it was just a board game she had quite literally never even heard of it until perhaps an hour before. It was a long trip, however, and a rematch was sure to be in order.
"How 'bout we put a movie on or something?" somebody suggested.
"Yeah!" Anne and the Crusaders cheered in unison and Rainbow shared their enthusiasm. That would sure make the time go by quickly, though with the fillies present, Asher and Rarity insisted that they choose something more kid friendly from the motley collection they had stuffed into one of the cupboards. They ultimately ended up choosing one of the cartoons, this one called Mulan.
At first Rainbow was skeptical about the story as it started out pretty sappy, so for much of the first act Rainbow half-listened as she watched the Idaho countryside fly by. But soon, a giant war, a quick-talking dragon ("Could you imagine Spike talking like that?"), joining the army, and a hilarious bit about her trying to act like a man managed to regain Dash's attention, and the epic story managed to help eat away the hours.
It was a good thing that, once the show ended, they were apparently near their dinner destination, because Rainbow's wasn't the only belly that was audibly complaining.
"Are we there yet?" Anne complained. (This had been a repeated question for nearly an hour)
"Hey, you're the ones that stowed away. No complaining," snapped Asher, who had taken over the driving when they stopped for fuel in a little town called Mountain Home a little ways back. "We're almost there, see? There's a sign for Boise."
According to the Burgesses, Boise was the largest city in all of the state of Idaho. With that kind of info, Rainbow had expected it to look more like Denver, with towering buildings and the like. In that department the city was an utter disappointment. In fact, Rainbow was positive that even that city near Ponyville was larger. But it was where she would finally get dinner so she wasn't complaining.
Soon, Rainbow Dash and the rest of the gang were glued to the windows as they pulled into a neighborhood that was unlike any she had ever seen. The houses looked essentially all the same, like someone had drawn up the plans for a single house and used them for every single one. A little lazy, but efficient to be sure.
They stopped in front of one of these houses, how Asher told one apart from another being a total mystery to Dash, and all he said before he opened the door was, "Hold on a sec, let me make sure they're home."
They watched as he jogged across the lawn and straight to the door, knocking on it with curled hand and waiting for them to answer. The seconds dragged on, leading Rainbow to worry that maybe their dinner was in jeopardy of not happening.
"So, who lives h-"
"BLARGH!!"
A hideous creature suddenly jumped out in front of the open door of the RV with long hair and wrinkled, gray skin just laughing maniacally, a laugh that was drowned out by the prolonged screams of everyone on board. Rainbow Dash's heart beat like a bad drummer on a sugar rush as she gripped Applejack in a death hug, who didn't notice because she was too busy shaking and returning the fear induced hug around Rainbow's neck.
"Ugh, now that was a good one Uncle Matt," David said as he let out a shaky sigh and a laugh.
"Uncle?" Twilight exclaimed with a horrified tone. Rainbow relaxed her grip as she looked to David and then back to the creature just in time to see it pull off the scary mask to reveal a grinning, mustachioed human.
"Are you ever not gonna fall for that?" Uncle Matt said to the stunned group. Silence pervaded for yet a couple more seconds.
"Oh, I like him," Pinkie Pie declared.
- Asher -
Uncle Matt and Aunt Becky were another branch of the Burgess family, and in some ways it showed. Matt looked very similar to his brother Andrew, with the same facial features even if he did hide some of it under a dark mustache. He was also easily as playful if not more so than Asher's Dad, and sure loved to prank others. Becky was a smaller woman who pretty much fit the perfect description of a housewife. She even had a habit of wearing an apron when she prepared meals for her family, which was often as they had a family of seven rambunctious kids.
The arrival of nine equestrians plus three cousins would have been perceived as a burden by just about anyone else, but when Asher had called saying they planned to drive through Boise, they insisted on providing a meal for the whole crew. And since Becky was a vegetarian anyway, she had a lot of practice cooking such meals and making it taste good to notorious carnivores like Matt and the rest of the Burgess clan.
Like the mouth-watering veggie stir fry that Asher was in the process of devouring, a bevy of lively conversations filled the packed dining room. Anne, the fillies, and the three youngest cousins were set up at small table in an adjacent room, and though they were probably raising cane in there on their own it appeared to be of no concern to Asher's Aunt and Uncle.
"So you run an entire apple orchard by yourselves?" Uncle Matt asked through a cheek-full.
"Yessir, jus' me, my sister, my brother, and Granny," Applejack answered, also through a cheek-full.
"That ought to take a lot of time and a lot of work," Matt said with a little whistle. He would know about running a business. He was an entrepreneur that seemed to change businesses every few months, searching for the big break. "And I hear you run some sort of custom dress store?"
"That's correct, the Carousel Boutique," Rarity replied brightly. She was taking a much more polite approach to her meal despite the relative chaos around her, levitating a fork and taking small bites one at a time.
As Matt had a friendly conversation with those two about the differences between running a business in Equestria and America, Asher's cousins were busy having a rambling, nearly impossible to follow conversation with Pinkie Pie, while Fluttershy mostly just watched quietly. Asher didn't bother listening in to that one, because every time he did he just got a little lost and more than a little confused ("Oatmeal, are you crazy!?").
"So, you've still got a long way to go then," Aunt Becky said, bring Asher back to the other conversation. His Aunt, David, and Twilight were talking about the trip, everything from finding out Anne had stowed away to some of their findings.
"Uh-huh. We've only visited two sites so far, but we think we may have some good leads to work with already," Twilight answered optimistically. Asher could hardly call them good leads: a handful of shiny stones and a directional flow in some sort of expanding magic field, but since he too preferred optimism he didn't voice that view.
"I'm sure you'll figure it out in no time," Becky said sweetly. "Enjoying the food?"
"Oh yes, very much," Twilight nodded happily as she levitated the last forkful of food off her plate.
"I suppose y’all better get moving," Uncle Matt said, leaning back in his chair. Asher took a look at the time on the microwave clock to find that, sure enough, time had gotten away from them. Outside, the shadows were getting long.
Grudging agreement went around the table and everybody and pony began standing up (or clambering down) out of their chairs. Asher peeked around the corner and informed the kids, relieved that they hadn't destroyed the room. Completely.
"If you are still around when the next family gathering comes around, you'll all have to join us," Uncle Matt said as the troupe finally made it outside. "We pack it on down to Andrew's every Thanksgiving."
"That sounds mighty nice," Applejack said, everyone else giving their agreement.
"If you're still here, we'll have to do that thing Pinkie!" one cousin said as they boarded once again.
"You know it!" Pinkie Pie answered back. Asher wasn't sure he wanted to know what that meant.
Counting heads to make sure they hadn't lost anyone nor gained any new passengers, they were soon back on their way towards Washington. Soon the rugged, dry mountains of Idaho started giving way to the green forests of Oregon as the sun began to finally set on another day. Asher switched driving duty with David when they stopped for gas near the Washington line, in a town called Hermiston. He, along with half the passengers, drifted off to sleep with the assistance of a radio station playing a Johnny Cash marathon.
- Stehekin, WA - Pinkie Pie - July 21 - Day 3 -
"Cannonpony!"
Pinkie Pie curled her body into maximum splash position as she leaped into the water of Lake Chelan, delivering what was sure to be quite the cascade of water onto the nearby swimmers. Pinkie resurfaced with a giggle as she enjoyed the cool, refreshing water. It was still morning, but the summer sun was already beating down. Plus it was extra nice to stretch their muscles like that after two straight days on the road. All the pent up energy had Pinkie feeling like she could swim all the way to Las Pegasus.
Actually, she probably could.
"Pinkie, heads up!"
Pinkie looked up to see Applejack descending in a cannonball of her own, landing with a spectacular splash just a few lengths from Pinkie Pie. Pinkie let the water envelop her as she turned and swam back towards the shore. She resurfaced in the shallows, where Asher stood with the water up to his knees.
"Hi Pinkie," Asher laughed. "You both put my cannonballs to shame and you're half my size."
"Practice makes perfect," said Pinkie smiling.
"Hey Pinkie! Watch this!"
She turned her attention a few paces down the shore. Anne and all the crusaders all stood upon a large rock they had been using as a springboard into the lake. All four rocked back a step and then jumped in unison with harmonized screams into the water.
"This was a good idea," Asher said as he stretched and glanced back in the direction of Rainbow Falls.
"I hope Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy don't take too long so that they can have some fun too," Pinkie Pie said, suddenly concerned that they would feel left out once they returned. There was no road that led to the elevated town, and if they were to stick to schedule (which would make Twilight very happy) then they needed to save time.
So Rarity gave Twilight a refresher on the gem finding spell and she, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy took off. Finding nothing to do and dying to get out and stretch, those left behind decided to trek down some back trails to a secluded, rocky beach on the lake.
"They'll be fine," Applejack assured from the shore. "I'm thinking Rarity wouldn't wanna get her mane wet anyways."
"You're probably right!" Pinkie agreed before diving under the surface. The lake wasn't especially clear, but that didn't stop her from whipping out her goggles and imitating a big fish she saw swimming by her as it attempted to get away from the Crusaders swimming after it.
When she surfaced again she flipped over and started a lazy backstroke. As she did so, and to her delight, she noticed the three ponies flying towards them and coming to a more-graceful-than-usual landing just in front of the treeline.
"Come on girls! The water's great!" Pinkie called out, paddling back in..
"Find anything interesting?" Asher asked as he trudged slowly out of the water behind her.
"There was a really big funny fish with whiskers," Pinkie Pie reported happily.
"I think he was talking to Twilight darling," Rarity said from her napping spot on a beach towel. Oh.
"Well, I did find more gems and I guess there were more Emeralds than any other type of gem, but there isn't enough data yet to know if there really is a connection," Twilight explained.
Makes sense, thought Pinkie. That's like trying to decide what the best kind of cake is after only trying two. We need to seek a larger sample size, and the more slices we have the more we know.
"Hee hee, cake," Pinkie snickered to herself. Cake always made her laugh. With silly, colored, mouth-wateringly delicious icing and happy messages, there was little that could put her in a better mood. Oh wait, they're still talking.
"We talked with Rapidfire and Midnight Strike again, as well as the mayor," Twilight continued. "So far the only thing that stands out with any story we get is that all of them are essentially the same. Black clouds, lightning, entire town picked up like it's a model and just put down here."
"I'm guessing you took all the thorough notes you could again?" Asher asked, phrasing it more like a statement of fact then a question. Pinkie nodded to herself. Twilight had always been overly thorough, but to her credit she rarely actually missed anything when she put her mind to it.
"Of course," Twilight said. "Are we ready to go?"
"eeeeeEEEYYEEEAHH!"
A familiar rebel yell and a resounding splash made Pinkie Pie turn around, just in time to be hit by a rogue wave. She gleefully rolled with the water, catching a glimpse under the water of rainbow hair. Oh, Dashie, you got me! The impromptu tsunami washed her up onto the gravel shore, depositing her on her back, in between the stunned and dripping wet Rarity and Twilight.
"RAINBOW DASH!" they both cursed at once, as Pinkie and the rest of her now sopping wet compadres sank into stitches of laughter.
- Phoebe - Reno, NV -
Phoebe woke up late with a jolt, but after the initial heart attack she remembered she had switched her shift to the evening, meaning she was safe. She took a deep breath and rolled off the bed with all the gusto of a drugged sloth, stretching as she walked out her bedroom and down the quiet hallway.
She made a quick pitstop in the restroom before deciding she'd stay in her pj's for as long as the day allowed, turning away from her room and descending the stairs. Despite her tired body, she actually felt pretty good, even though for some reason she felt like she was forgetting something.
"Ah! Good Morning friend!"
Oh yeah. That.
Phoebe stopped at the third step from the bottom to behold what had become of what had once been her front room. Now it resembled something out of Hogwarts. Discord laid relaxing on the couch, which was now purple with orange polka dots and floating a couple inches off the ground. The TV was still mounted but now upside down. She ducked as a couple of books flew past her, flapping their pages like birds (and appropriately the books were To Kill a Mockingbird and Mockingjay).
"I hope you don't mind, Phobo, it reminds me of home," said Discord with a hardly-concealed, mischievous grin.
"Nope," she replied, ignoring his intentional mis-pronouncement of her name.
Phoebe walked into the room calmly, avoiding the coffee table as it barked at her. "You seem to be feeling better."
"Indeed my recovery is almost there," Discord said happily, snapping his fingers and producing a bag of popcorn out of nowhere. "I should be back to my old self with only a bit more rest."
"Well that's good," Phoebe said. At least then she wouldn't have to worry about caring for him all that much. For a powerful magical creature, he sure could be needy. She also got the sense that he was feeling even better than he was letting on, like a kid who had been sick but wanted to stay home an extra day from school.
"Be careful in the kitchen. The brooms get a little testy when you mess up the nice clean floor," Discord said nonchalantly.
From Hogwarts to the Sorcerer's Apprentice. Actually, she could deal with this.
- Twilight - Portland, OR -
"Not gonna lie, these cities look a lot alike," Applejack noted as they passed through the metropolis. Twilight glanced out at the towering buildings, which only lacked shadows because of the overcast skies blocking the sun entirely. She had to agree. With the occasional exception like the Space Needle back in Seattle most of the architecture was very similar. Between Portland and Seattle the sky had even been the same. They had already traveled through several spells of rain since they departed Stehekin ("It's total chaos! How would you even know where the rain's already been?" Rainbow Dash had complained, forgetting for a moment that the humans had no control over their weather) and it seemed like the sky was threatening again. It was no wonder this part of the country was just so green. Like greener-than-Sweet-Apple-Acres-after-a-summer-rain green.
The mountains had been impressive in their own right, towering above the winding roads. Though her heart jumped a little bit when she realized it was a range of volcanoes they were driving through, unlike the jagged Rockies that Ponyville rested at the foot of. That realization had come when they passed by one that was clearly missing nearly half of it's height to a gigantic crater, a crater visible even from a distance. Apparently, Mr. Burgess had been in a nearby state when that particular mountain exploded, and the ashfall had made it all the way to where he had been living.
"Yeah, but the people don't look the same!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, pointing out the window. "Look at that one! He must have reeeeeeaaally bad eyesight if he needs glasses that big."
"I'm not even sure those glasses are real," David remarked from the driver's seat as they passed by slowly, the traffic slowing them down on the busy street.
"Interesting fashion choice," Rarity added observationally. "It seems the style here is very, er... unique?"
"I would say 'egghead,' but unique works too," Rainbow Dash joked as they stared at a group of women wearing clothes that even Twilight knew were mismatched. But strangely it kinda worked even as it didn't. Since when does that make sense?
Twilight chuckled at the quip as she turned back to pouring over her extensive notes. Every last thing that could even possibly relate to magic had been noted at each and every site they had visited. So far, the only things that were unusual at all was the magic field moving, whereas it had been relatively stagnant in Equestria. But the only correlation the first three had shared was broken by Rainbow Falls. The field was flowing Southeast and not even close to at the same rate as the others. She would keep measuring it because it was still an anomaly, but she felt like they had taken a couple of steps backwards on that one.
There were some things that at least were consistent from her findings in Ponyville. For one, plants appeared to be growing slower, and ponies in Salt Lick and Rainbow Falls told her the same thing. Plants were strongly connected to Earth Pony magic so that might be something to keep searching for. Something also bothered her about the lightning. Lightning was primarily used as a cohesion and energy agent for weather ponies, which allowed them to build sustained storms and transport them over long distances. But lightning had never been used in transportation spells, nor was usually even safe to work with. Pegasi had some resistance to it but as a whole lightning was very dangerous, a fact that Asher confirmed as being true in their world as well.
So how did the spell harness such a dangerous, natural element, make it harmless, and then utilize it on such a widespread scale?
"Twilight!" A pair of snapping fingers drew her out of her thoughts. She involuntarily flinched, half expecting some chaotic magic to happen before she remembered that Discord wasn't there. Twilight blinked and looked up at Asher, who was standing by trying to get her attention.
"Sorry, I was thinking," she apologized, wondering how long he'd been trying to get her attention.
"No kidding, you give new meaning to the 'Twilight Zone,'" he joked, though she didn't get it. "We're gonna stop for lunch. Portland's famous for its food carts and I don't think Pinkie Pie would ever forgive us if we drove by one more ice cream truck."
Twilight chuckled when she noticed the pink pony salivating as she stared out the windows, her face pressed against them like an anxious puppy.
"Sounds good to me," she said. She decided to throw a joke of her own. "You think they have daisy sandwiches anywhere?"
"In Portland? I'd say 50-50 shot," Asher answered, and it only took a moment for Twilight to realize he was kinda being serious.
20 minutes later they had pulled over in front of one such food cart, which for convenience had been located right next to a squat looking man with a small ice cream stand. Asher and David stood outside, the former reading off lengthy list of what everyone wanted for their lunch to the attendant, while the latter was in line to get the precious desert. It was a sub sandwich place simply called the Sandwich Bar, which must have had a great reputation because there was quite the crowd waiting.
It felt weird being so close to so many people without any of them knowing. People didn't vary all that much when it came to color, essentially all she had seen ranging from a creamy white to a dark brown, and there sure weren't any differences as vast as Equestrians had with wings and horns and whatnot. But yet, when you took a second to look, each one had quite the stark individuality. It was quite the fascination to try and pick out the families as they mixed together, whether it was by the way their eyes were shaped, or the one family on the corner that had a light skinned woman and a dark skinned man standing with a young child who looked like the perfect mash-up of both. Twilight thought it was kind of like snowflakes, how at a glance they all looked so similar but given inspection were all pretty different. There were some teachers Twilight knew from her school days who probably could have sat there all day just observing them.
"Uh oh, looks like Dave's having trouble carryin' all that ice cream," Applejack said, motioning to the human struggling to balance his load.
"I'll help!" Pinkie Pie suddenly offered, and in a flash she had motored down the steps, onto the street, and had begun helping to balance the creamy confections. Everything seemed to just stand still, the appearance of a bright pink pony on the decidedly human scene just too much to take in at a glance for the small crowd. The two brothers looked even more shocked than the people on the sidewalk, both comically frozen with arms full of food.
"What?" Pinkie Pie asked innocently, which Twilight could hear clear as day through the gawking silence.
"Um....." Asher hesitated for a second. "Nothing, let's get this back in the camper."
"Okay!" Pinkie responded happily, relieving David of some of his ice cream by balancing on her back legs and using her front ones like arms. The people watched like it was simply the most incredible thing they had ever seen, many of them pulling out devices that flashed like cameras, capturing pictures. That probably means everypony in Eqe- the country will see this in no time.
"Thanks! Keep the change as a tip!" Asher said to the vendors as he backed onto the bus. People peered curiously through the door, and yet others she was sure probably saw them watching through the windows. It was...
"That was hilarious!" David burst out laughing as he spread out the ice cream treats on the table, and was having trouble talking through his guffaws. "Their... Ha he... faces.... snooort...were... priceless!"
"Wait! Wait!"
Somebody was leaning into the door, trying to get their attention. Asher nearly dropped their lunch when he spun around towards the source. Twilight slid off the seat and walked to the door to see a rail thin but quite tall human with wavy black hair and a face full of freckles. He stared at Twilight with fixation for a second before blinking himself out of it and continuing.
"Wha- Where are you going? What are you doing?" he asked.
"Who's asking?" Asher asked tentatively.
"Ah- uh- I- I just write a blog," he stammered, still distracted by Twilight and the others who were craning to get a look.
"I'm just escorting them to do some research," Asher said succinctly.
"Oh neat, my readers will be glad to hear someone's doing something," the man said, sounding just like a reporter who had found the big scoop.
"Anyways sir, we have a schedule and we'd like to beat the traffic," Asher said, making a motion with his hand like it was a brush.
"Right, sorry, thanks," the man said in rapid succession as he backed off the steps. "Good luck."
Asher closed the door quickly, and as soon as it was, David started the engine and pulled away. Twilight watched as the group of pedestrians spilled a little onto the street, all of them trying to get one last look.
"Okay then! Who wants lunch?" Asher asked.
- Los Angeles, CA -
Cole had come to this city like a lot of people did, to seek fame and fortune in film. So far? It was going.... okay. He'd found work, which was better than a lot of people could say, and he did enjoy what he was doing. But to say that his goals were still out of reach at the time was a bit of an understatement. A pile of scripts occupied his desk at home, all of them his and most of them rejected.
Nothing like a cosmic disaster to change the luck around. Cole hadn't really been one for documentaries, but who knows what he could use the footage for? Most creativity is born out of randomness anyway. So there he was, camera on his shoulder trying to take in all the sights and sounds that he could. This had been his task for the last week and a half, and he had hundreds of hours of video to prove it.
But... not much to actually work with. Most of it could probably be sold as B-roll or something, but things were so tense that actually talking to one of the ponies, or really anybody, had been like pulling teeth. It was hard to blame them even though he wanted to. North Los Angeles was a total wreck all the way to West Hollywood. Pasadena, Glendale, and Arcadia had become nearly impassable, the roads being so messed up he had to walk three miles to get where he was.
So, there he stood, once again recording just about anything and everything. A guy sweeping the sidewalk in front of one of the frankenstein'd buildings, a pony trudging along with a young one on its back because it had been complaining the ground was too hard to walk on, all the while throwing anxious glances at each and every human she saw.
You know what? That's it, Cole finally thought, flicking the camera off and hoisting it off his shoulder. He had more than enough, and he could just hand it in to his boss, and figuring out what to do with it could be her problem.
"Excuse me?"
"What?" Cole responded harshly, spinning around. He was not in the helpful mood. But when he did turn, he was momentarily surprised to see nobody behind him. At eye level that is. Two Equestrians stood before him, one greenish with short, red hair and tail and glasses, the other blue with bright green hair that would make grass jealous and wearing what Cole could only equate to a red summer dress. Cole was at a loss for words. After a couple weeks of people and ponies alike avoiding him, he was completely unprepared to be talked to.
The ponies were not so confounded. "Is that a camera?" the spectacled one asked in a very straightforward, almost businesslike tone, adjusting her glasses a bit out of habit.
"Uh...er yeah, yes it is," Cole stammered, lifting it back up to his shoulder.
"Oh wow!" the blue companion chimed. "It's so mobile and, oh Can, just think of the different shots you could do without a stand! Where do you keep all the film?"
Cole slowly processed what they were saying. "Wait, you mean you... Equestrians have film too?"
"Of course," 'Can' answered matter-of-factly. "Applewood is the movie capital of Equestria."
"But our equipment must be ages behind yours!" the other said. "It'd have to be if you can fit a film reel inside that thing."
"Actually, it's digital now, we haven't used film in years," Cole corrected automatically. They had quite obviously never even heard that word before, both tilting their heads in the same way. "Uh, it's a... data storage...machine that can store stuff like movies." The wheels were slowly starting to turn in his head even as they continued to talk.
"I'm Film Reel by the way, and this is my sister Film Can," the blue one continued.
"Cole," the human replied. "Nice to meet you."
"You too! Thanks for letting us interrupt your work, we'll let you get back to it" Film Reel said. They started to walk away, and Cole almost let them get away before that opportunistic side of his brain finally kicked the rest of him into gear.
"Wait! Wait!" he cried, bounding after them, both turning in surprise. "You say you're filmmakers right?"
Both nodded.
"Well, I'm one myself and I was wondering if you would like to partner with me on a project," he said. Double surprise. "I can supply all the equipment!"
Still speechless, the two sisters exchanged a long glance. Cole's heart sank a little.
"Are you kidding?" Film Reel began. "We'd LOVE TO!"
"But what script should we use?" posed Film Can thoughtfully. "None of your scripts include...er, what are you called again?"
"Humans."
"Right. That, humans," she finished, adjusting her glasses again.
"Well, then let's write a new one," Film Reel responded, her golden eyes dancing with excitement at the very thought. She turned to Cole, "We can write one together!"
"Wouldn't have it any other way," Cole answered, possibilities and accolades already floating through his vision. "How about you follow me to my office, I can show you around and we can get started."
- Fluttershy -
Fluttershy glided over the treetops, cruising along at her usual pace at around the top speed of a butterfly. While she didn't have quite the propensity for it that Rainbow Dash had, she did actually enjoy flying. Despite her fears and her happy contentment living on the solid earth, she was happy to be a pegasus.
Though it was a bit frightening she didn't know where she was. She couldn't see any of her friends anywhere either, which also added a bit to the rising anxiety. But at least wherever she was, it was beautiful. Sprawling forests and meadows intermingled with rocky hills, rivers, and a shining lake. Below she could see animals happily going about their lives.
This calmed Fluttershy down. Animals always seemed to know if something was wrong long before ponies did, and if they were happy then everything was probably alright.
She spied a small group of little bunnies frolicking in a meadow, and happily unable to resist she descended and landed in a warm meadow filled with flowing grass and flowers in bloom. With her warm smile and quiet words the animals were quickly disarmed of their apprehension, and began hopping around her and chattering animatedly.
But the anxiety began rising again. Fluttershy didn't understand it. For her, this was a veritable paradise! Why in Equestria would she feel apprehensive?
Her question went unanswered, but instead she got a strange urge. She had no idea where she was, having never seen it before in all her life. But yet, something deep inside her was telling her to remember it.
Remember it? It was all so confusing. Was this some old repressed memory? No. That wasn't it. She needed to remember this place. It was important, no, desperately paramount that she remember this place.
Fluttershy took off again (apologizing to the disappointed animals as she did) and started looking. There had to be some way to tell where she was. Some marker. Some sign.
A sign! Fluttershy swooped back down. Next to a road was a wooden sign, though she came upon the back side of it. She landed by the roadside and --
- Fluttershy - Modesto, CA -
"Eee-umph!" Fluttershy squeaked in surprise as she was lifted off the bed and deposited with a thump onto the floor.
"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry Fluttershy are you okay!?" Twilight leaned over the edge of the bed and was looking down at her wide-eyed. "I forgot it was an air mattress and I was just so tired and I flopped down---"
"I'm okay," Fluttershy assured quietly as she stood up. She wasn't injured, though internally she mused how it happened the very night she had switched sleeping places with Applejack. Rarity, who was daintily snoring in the middle of the bed, slept on undisturbed. "Don't worry, Twilight. Have you been up studying again?"
"Ugh. Yes," Twilight groaned, plodding carefully back over Rarity and peeling back the covers. This time, she slipped in carefully as Fluttershy did the same. Her strange dream barely crossed her mind before slipping back into a deep sleep.
- End Day 3 - Modesto, CA -
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So in other words, this is the premise of TCB but without the "ponies are evil" message.
Nice chapter. I never did consider that Equestrian's wouldn't have something as common to our breakfast as cereal. Makes sense considering milk comes from sapient cows. Would be a much rarer commodity, less likely to be a common breakfast thing.
5926676 Or the 'Humans are evil/worthless/hopeless', or 'magic is toxic.
5926676 What's TCB?
Oh FUCK the Parasprites. Here's hoping the Twitterbugs were purely a construct of Applebloom's imagination...
With a hoof? Ouch.
I'm calling it now; the magical equivelent of a Starquake.
… ruh roh.
To an outsider, this would seem totally disconnected. Scary how she does that.
Yet...
Hmm, interesting new development.
5926729 "The Conversion Bureau", notorious after the setting was hijacked by user "Chatoyance" to carry [no adequate pronoun found] completely bonkers... can you even call it an ideology? At this point I'm just going to say that Chatoyance is an Eldritch Abomination and that its thoughts are completely incomprehensible to anything born of this earth.
5926760 Ah.
Three mentions. All less than great reviews. Maybe I should go read it and add it to the "don't do this" category.
I know this will be a stupid question, but is Appaloosa still in Equestria or is it in the human world?
When will Princess Celestia and Canterlot appear on Earth?
5926729 TCB is an unfinished story about Equestria appearing on Earth, and its magic spreading outwards. Magic kills humans, so ponies invented a serum to turn humans into ponies.
Chatoyance 'hijacked' it with a lot of misanthropic bullshit. Few months passed with other misanthropes following up.
Then the Humans are Superior crowd took it up about the same stuff, but in the exact opposite direction. Nowadays most users seem to have come to their senses and realized the entire concept, done straight, backwards or upside down, is ridiculous.
Spotted a couple errors.
things
her
Cain
bringing
5926780 Currently, Equestria, (Though should it come through, I was thinking about either the Black Hills or somewhere in Arizona or New Mexico for it's location. That's partly why I didn't bring it through before, because I couldn't figure out the best place for it.)
Brother.
I don't get the impression.
I KNOW SHE IS INSANELY BRILLIANT!
SHE CALCULATES LIKE A BOSS ON THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT AND WARP HOLE DIMENSIONS TO MANIPULATE MAGIC TO BREAK THE FOURTH WALL!
This makes me wonder what became of Sunset Shimmer and the Sirens
.... and with the next chapter, if it's hot for humans, I can only imagine for ponies with their fur.
5926729
If you don't know, DON'T ASK.
Parasprites in the Congo, that is not good at all, I've lost count of how many rebel factions are hiding out in various portions of that Jungle, the Parasprites will destroy any Balance of Power they had and start a massive free for all in violence to claim what food is left...
An update?! Finally!
I love the way you portrayed my characters, Film Reel and Film Can. As far as the whole trip is going I look forward to what Twilight finds out.
5926850 God forbid Ponies/Griffons/Changelings or anything from Equestria slend up in North Korea, Iran, Russia, China and Syria/Iraq!
Speaking of which, I don't remember everything, is religion going to be brought up in this story? How humans, particularly Republicans and ISIS, would react to them? I would like to see the Mane Six interact with a Catholic priest!
Couldn't companies force Equestrians to work? Pay them below the minimum wage or not at all?
Wouldn't terrorist and criminal organizations attempt to kidnap Equestrians for ransom? Would it be included in the story? Mexican Cartel KNOWS how much money they could get by ransoming off the Mane Six!
Will you show fights between humans and Equestrians? Don't let the Equestrians win unless they have superior numbers, like 30 to 1. Equestrians are seen as weak!
LA is a violent place. Would the Mane Six experience studlff there like police brutality, racism, gangs, drugs and other horrible things?
Daring Do vs Kony or the Lord's Resistance Army?
Facebook and Twitter?
Assassinations on the Mabe Six or other important characters?
5926676
5926725
Humans are always superior. A quote in Fallot explains why.
...Heh. When I read WHERE Fluttershy ended I imagined her meeting a nice, friendly girl named Susan... all sixty feet of her.
I'm still waiting for you too introduce celestia, considering she must be an emotional wreck right about now, watching everything she ever loved be torn away from her.
Hurray for updates! I loved the new chapter!
Nice new chapter. I found it enjoyable how you portrayed the Salt Lake temple standing like a castle over the ponies city. Really nice flow of things and how you move the story along.
I hope you can do a segment of towns like Sacramento or Mirada. That would be nice to see.
Look forward to more.
Sorry. This broke the suspension of disbelief for me.
FOX stating an actually quite plausible theory.
mmmmh a connection between magic and gems...great idea :) i'd say.
by the way, so Discord read hunger games, interesting idea too...I like the reference :)
Can't wait for the next chapters.
Ps i'm glad you managed to pass trough that rough time.
Pps Yeah there is a theory that Pinkie pie is actually as brilliant as Twilight only that she can't focus her intelligence and so she seems a crazy partypony and personally i really agree with that theory :D
5926817 Other side of the spectrum is one of the better ones I've stumbled across, because xenolestia being a thing has an actual, tangible reason behind it that doesn't make her OOC.
5926817 How is it hijacking if the original creator leaves his creation up for grabs? Also, using quotes is not explaining enough to give readers the context why it is in quotes in the first place.
Btw, bashing Chatoyance is an old hat. Like her stories or don't, but leave her alone. Enough damage has been done to and by all involved.
5927438
Law of averages. It has to happen every now and then.
5927618 True, true. Monkeys with typewriters and all that.
5926855 She's doesn't even eat badly. She *needs* all that sugar to keep her brain running at full capacity.
5926778 there is one good one.
Other side of the spectrum is one of the best fanfics I've read, period.
5927635 you know, all the whiny smelly hippies who complain that Fox News isn't accurate never seem to have any EXAMPLES....
5927717 Have fun.
Love it the road trip is defiantly finding clues now can the team connect all the dots.
Pinkie is secretly brilliant that is a easy answer of sure she is.
I will be watching for the next chapter.
Harts Fire
5927438 If you wouldn't mind helping a fledgling author out: What broke it for you?
5927900 Oh! No, no. It was merely a joke about the credibility of FOX News so don't you worry.
5927918 Ooooooooh (This would be a great place for the "Whew!" emoticon I talked about)
5927717 I have three, first one is a bit weak on facts, but Fox News was for some reason covering an interview with a bunch of Swedish 5-year-olds on the subject 'who is God?' Sweden isn't that big on religion but most of the kids gave an okay description on who God was (from a kids view at least).
The problem here? Fox News subtitles made it seem like they didn't know the differens between God and a sack of potatoes. (I may not give a crap about religion per see, but this is just insulting.)
Second is another Swedish one, this one is about a demonstration that was going on in Malmö, it was somewhat big, but very calm, the people demostrating where even listening to the police in a calm and collected manner when asked to move the demonstration back to the park it originated from.
What did Fox News say? that it was violent, cars on fire, a bit of looting and the police had to use tear-gas (the footage didn't show ANY of what they said was going on).
Third one is from Norway, I don't know the full extent of this, but apparently some crazy guy killed a bunch of people in what he claimed was a 'Christian crusade'.
When Fox News was having one of those 'discussion debates' or whatever they are when they talk about what happened with those on site the Fox News guy kept time and time again saying that it was NOT an Christian crusade, even though the police report said that that was what the murderer had claimed it was.
I can't garanti this is 100% correct since I only watch the news sporaticly, but pretty much 9 out of 10 times when I do look into it and compare Fox News coverage with a few other news networks they tend to get the facts wrong, sometimes rediculusly so.
Love those little bits of random people. A good break from just humans and ponies we know.
just remeber to take a left turn at albecurque
5927654 Nope. The sugar is like super hyper focus pills for her!
5926855 There's an episode of Pinky & The Brain where we're actually given a peek into Pinky's thought processes. It turns out that he thinks amazingly quickly and cogently... but his train of thought tends to speed past the station and enter lands unknown, so by the time he speaks, he's gone way past his actual answer and is just sort of letting his current musings roll out of his mouth.
Our Pinkie is like that in a lot of aspects, I think. Not completely random, certainly not stupid- just thinking at a different speed.
5928146 Every state west of the Mississippi (except LA and ND), plus FL
5927263 When it comes to religion, I've thus far avoided it because I'm not sure how to bring it up and bring it up tactfully. I myself am very religious (LDS) but I don't want to randomly alienate those who are not religious by saying something stupid. This is also why thus far I've avoided especially touchy political points altogether.
But since religion is such a big part of our culture contact will be unavoidable. Guess I'm just postponing it until I figure out the best way.
Now when it comes to terrorists and cartels.... yeah, that could get just a bit interesting. So far I've just had Daring Do more or less accidentally foil some Central American gangs but that's about it. But again, those are everywhere so contact is probably inevitable.
And Human - Equestrian fighting? Way ahead of ya. And it does make an interesting balance. The ponies are small but some of them have been shown to have incredible strength. Humans are at least twice their size and they're no pushovers themselves in the strength department, not to mention their opposable digits that are certainly more suitable for grappling.
Oh what did I get myself into with this story? Wanna show both a small scale friendship and the large scale consequences. Balancing them together has been the interesting part.
5929394 Can you show me the clip?
That happens to me a lot!
5929394 Pinky, Pinkie and Deadpool. God help Spiderman should they decide to do a sleepover!
5929512 Ponies are WAY BEHIND when it comes to Tech and War. It would be worst than Gate Thus the JSDF fought there!
NK and Iran could easily take almost everything that comes out of Equestria!
How would Discord react to Gang Violence? Mane Six?
I'm just wondering if were ever going to see a major threat face our heroes.
5929966 Patience my good friend. In the description of the story I promised that the very survival of both worlds would be at stake.
And I intend to deliver....
i1366.photobucket.com/albums/r780/drewbaker4/MyOCmustache_zpsd437239a.jpg
As a Catan player, I am obligated to say: "No one wants your god damn sheep!"
With two ponies entering the human movie scene I wonder if that means that Hollywood will import some films from Applewood or remake them.