Chapter 9
“We find this very strange.” Luna declared as she looked around the sidewalk, people walking along it, avoiding me and the princess.
I had not quite realized how small I had become before now, everything in Equestria is to scale and I had not really seen any trees yet for scale.
My head barely reached to the waist of a human.
Luna, of course, was a bit taller.
Looking around, I shook my head, “Seem accurate enough to me.” I said, “But I'm surprised the dream is this clear. I would have expected the faces to be blurry at least.”
“It is Our presence that enhances the dream imagery.” Luna explained and sat down, watching people walk by, “These creatures... they are of your species?”
I nodded, “They are humans, yeah.” and joined her, sitting down on the warm sidewalk, “I'm surprised I'm not in human form here.”
Luna shifted her wings, “The mind takes the form of the body. Usually. If you focus, you might be able to change back in your dream.”
Frowning at that, I shrugged. That would be nice, but honestly, I was not really feeling up to experimenting like that right now.
Besides, I had the feeling that if I did, it would make waking up feel a lot worse than it already would.
“...Do your people always move like that?” Luna asked curiously, “It is unfamiliar.”
Huh?
“How do you mean, Princess?” I asked her with a flick of my ear.
“The way they walk.” she clarified, “It's almost like they are... constantly falling. They kind of flow... We have observed other bipedal species, such as dragons, but they move differently. And they do not move their upper appendages like that.”
Raising my eyebrows, I turned back to the people walking past.
“Seems right to me.” I finally said, “That is essentially how humans walk. Tip over forward and catch ourselves with the other foot. A kind of pendulum motion.”
“It is a fascinating thing to observe.“ Luna observed and turned her eyes at the street and the cars moving past, “What powers those carriages? Some sort of steam locomotion? Like the trains? There are so many of them.”
I grinned at that. That was something I could explain! Well, somewhat, I was not exactly a gearhead.
“Well... no.” I admitted before getting up, padding over to the closest parked car. A application of will popped the hood open and I lifted it with my telekinesis to reveal the engine as Luna joined me to peer into the heart of the machine, “Essentially, it is powered by a lot of very small explosions. The explosions make the air expand, pushing the pistons down... just like in a steam engine for a train, which drives the car.”
The Princess looked skeptical, “...Explosions? We hear no explosions.”
I shrugged, “Like I said, very small ones and very fast ones. You hear the engines of the cars, the rumbling sound? That's it.”
“How do you cause these explosions?”
“Mainly through refined oil.” I explained and dropped back onto all four, “There are other fuels, such as some alcohols, but oil based is the most common one.”
Luna looked thoughtful, “Would it be possible to recreate one of these in Equestria?”
I shrugged, “Most likely if you can make steam trains. I have already told your researchers most of what I know about it, at least what little I remember. But quite frankly, I have not seen that you have much use for it. But what do I know, I'm not a expert.”
“More so than Us in this case..” Luna said and dropped down from the car before she looked up at the skyscrapers far above, “This architecture is odd. So much glass and steel. No green.”
“This is a spot I knew would contrast with Canterlot. Which is why I picked it.” I admitted and then closed my eyes and focused and then I opened them again, we are in Stockholm instead. Roads flanked by rows of trees, patches of grass where there was room.
The air smelled cleaner and there were fewer cars.
“This is another city.” I explained, “One that is quite a bit nicer as well.”
At least when it came to environments.
Luna nodded and looked around, “This is nicer. But even so, the architecture is... alien. The proportions are strange, the doors too tall, the stairs different.”
“Well, Princess... tall bipeds require different arrangements than small quadrupeds.” I said with a shrug, “It make sense the buildings would have different dimensions. I noticed the same in Canterlot, but without a fixed scale to compare to, it was difficult to decide for certain.”
The Princess slowly nodded, scraping her right silver clad hood against the sidewalk, “You are quite correct.” before she eyed me, “Are We right in assuming you have a thorough education beyond your training for your chosen profession?”
I grinned at that, “Somewhat. But mostly I'm just a science fiction nerd. This is hardly the first time I've run into these concepts, they existed in quite a few of stories I have read or seen.”
She looked amused for a second before she nodded, “We understand.” before she swayed her tail, sitting down, “What else can you show Us other than your cities?”
I considered that for a moment. With her keeping my dream steady and clear, I could see hom... No. No, I couldn't do that.
I would not be able to handle that. Not right now.
Instead, I was quiet for a long moment as I tried to think of something. What to show her? A movie? She did like Star Wars, I could show her the original, or maybe Star Trek, assuming my subconscious contained enough detail... which it seemed to.
Finally I smiled, “I know what to show you.” and then closed my eyes and focused for a moment. When I opened my eyes again, we were in a crowd of people that towered above us.
“Where are we?” Luna asked as she looked around, equally unable to see past the crowd as I. I grinned and focused again.
Go away!
The crowd dissipated a second before a Supermarine Spitfire roared past above, my ears perking up at the amazingly sexy sound of the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine.
“Here for this.”
Luna took a step back, her eyes tracking the plane, “Some sort of flying machine? Like the carriage from before?”
“A airshow I once saw when I was young.” I answered with a smile as a SAAB Draken joined in, flying much higher.
XXXXXXXXXX
Day 83.
HOLY CRAP LUNA WAS IN MY DEAM! THE REAL LUNA!
Page
AN// A bucket of thanks to Firethorn for betaing this section.
Stats
Page generated in 0.074 seconds
Total duration
964 users online
132,695 hits today, 2,314,256 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
So, now we're in The Matrix. "Your appearance now is what we call 'residual self image.' It is the mental projection of your digital self."
6421335 red or blue pill? Choose.
6756835 Why not both?
6794901
Why not take none?
Answer: the matrix will most likely crash
6794901 Both pills?
relevant XKCD: https://xkcd.com/566/
Do I detect a hint of Xenophilia in there?
Do keep in mind that our vehicles tend to be "quiet" because the engine exhaust flows through a very effective muffling system. If you've never heard an unmuffled engine when someone gives it the gas, this is quite understandable. If you have, the idea that it is powered by small explosions is suddenly so self evident.
There's a reason they hand out earplugs at the door to monster truck events.
6794901
Presumably one would wake up outside the matrix without remembering how they got there. Combining a memory erase with something that removes one from the matrix is just a way to confuse yourself. Also give one a reputation from it. At least that is from my limited and prehaps not entirely accurate understanding of matrix.
6818378
In which case you now know the matrix is false but cannot get out. I suspose if you do not want to forget or give up your cushy life it is a good choice.
Stockholm, Sweden? Or Stockholm, WI?
If it's the latter, then "Howdy, neighbor!"
8599516
Or maybe Stockholm, syndrome?
It's always weird to realize how many names over the pond are the same as in the Old World.
Lawl. Dis boi freakin bout dream walkin.
8014340
oh, that reminded me of the old novel "first Lensman" by E.E. "doc" Smith: there's a chapter where the hero visits an alien planet, and the aliens have NO EARS, so their cars are EXTREMELY noisy!
Luna will have quite the material for talking to Celestia
Iä! Iä! Luna fhtagn!
Hubba! Hubba! Love me some Spitfires!
Hello passing through with some more things I found while enjoying the read for the first time.
This one felt very awkward, this is just my reinterpretation of a way to rewrite it a little.
...had not thought of that, and now it bugs me
The fun has been doubled
10868115
Read Xenophilia then - I think it's somewhere in the extended stories. Specifically, Lyra's musings on human locomotion. :D
DREAM
Page meet his dream mare
👍