Letters From a Friend

by moviemaster8510

Moon 3063, Day 26

Toby,

That would actually be wonderful! In fact, I can lend you a couple of Equestrian history books of my own! I’m almost done with Nightmares and Dreamscapes now, and if there are works by this author that require a more experienced knowledge of your world (especially if they’re his opuses), I’d be more than happy to do a little extra legwork!

Not to be pushy, but if you could send me those before you go to bed tonight, that would be great. Looking forward to learning more!

Twilight

________________________________________________

Hey Toby,

Thanks a whole bunch for the comics, they look really cool! Also, thanks in advance for the library trip tomorrow! I’ll try not to be too picky, but I’m not into that mushy stuff like Twilight is. Perhaps something like Power Ponies? But in not-book form?

Actually, sorry, I’m sure I’ll like whatever you get me! Thanks again, bud!

Spike

Comments

[Viper Pit]

the fastest way to a dragons heart is greed

[link4]

lol fastest way to spikes heart in general is comics. a true bro

[cosmic flash]

He should send Spike the Lord of the RIngs.

[Spider-Mane Noir]

9127085
Maybe The Hobbit would be more appropriate for him to start with

[Allsmiles]

(Heh... I think that Twilight's going to be a bit... depressed at what even a cursory view of human history says we get up to with each other... she's the Princess of Friendship, and Friendship between humans on a macro scale, which is what history tends to record, is sorely lacking...

I'll be interested to see what Toby makes of the Equestrian history though. Should be interesting.)

[zxzxzxzxzx24]

Mmm. Perhaps awed by the sheer scope of human history as well.

[Love Moth]

I'm waiting till they discuss currency. That'll have some interesting outcomes.

[The Dark Knight]

I wonder if they'll try to mail themselves

[zakueins]

9128010
We don't know where the sequence works-does the letter go from the mailbox to the holding station, to a specific shipping point, then to Equestria, then back again?

Is the transit itself safe? Books and paper may not be harmed, but there could be any sorts of hazards that could present a dangerous risk during travel. Is Equestria itself safe? Cross-biological contamination isn't a joke on Earth (just google "Australian Rabbits" for that) and cross-dimensional travel may present other hazards.

The problem is, to check on these kinds of things will require adult supervision (as this is not the '50s or '60s, where a smart enough kid could kit-bash a pressurized mouse cage to test for this kind of thing).

Which would be amusing in and of itself...

[moviemaster8510]

9128020 One of Twilight’s earlier letters says that her letter was taken and Toby’s was put in its place before the mail-pony could retrieve her mail for that day. My implication is that once it enters the mailbox, it eventually goes into the mailbox on the other world.

[zakueins]

9128030
First of all, thank you for your response.

Second, question-when they're sending off letters to each other, are they using their respective addresses (i.e. Toby is using one to a location and person on Earth, Twilight is using one to a location and pony on Equestria) or are they using addresses now that are for the receiver (i.e. Toby is using Twilight and Spike's address on Equestria and Twilight is using Toby's address on Earth)?

Either way, we can start to science the (YAY!) out of this.

[moviemaster8510]

9128065 While this one hasn’t been explicitly (or even implicitly) explained, my intention was that once they were in on what was happening, they just stopped using addresses entirely, as they know that both of their mailboxes would send each other their letters.

[zakueins]

9128075
Damn.

There's a science experiment we can do if we were still using addressed letters, involving twenty-two post cards (and post card stamps) and Google Maps. Mostly because I want to science the (YAY!) out of this, and figure out what the sequence is.

(I was the sort of kid that would disassemble everything-and put it back together again in working order-to figure out how it works.)

The experiment is this-
1)You get twenty-two post cards. Each one is numbered on the back 1 through 22, has Twilight Sparkle's home address, Toby's return address, and stamped. There's also a note on each card, saying "if you're not Twilight Sparkle, please e-mail me at (insert email address here, use a burner e-mail address from Yahoo or such) with a photo of the post card and the number. Thank you!"
2)You need to find two mail boxes and the mail holding station in the area that the mail boxes service. There's a handy sticker on the mail boxes that say where they go. Put the locations of the mail boxes and the holding station on a custom map in Google Maps. A rough guess would say that there are about three or so holding stations in your area for a zip code, so go through about three zip codes that you can reach in one day on a bike or public transit.
3)On Sunday, put post card #1 in the usual spot to go to Twilight Sparkle. Post cards#2-22 go to the mail boxes and the holding stations. Make sure to keep a log of which card goes where and put it on your Google Map.
4)As soon as Twilight Sparkle gets a card, she sends the card back in a letter.
4a)If you get a card back by any means or by return mail, note from where it was sent.
5)Any cards you get back from Twilight Sparkle, you check the postmark for information. Does it have a post mark? What day was it stamped? How long did it take to come back and forth?

This allows you to figure out-
1)Is it just this mailbox or is there a process where things go from here to there?
2)How long the transit time is.
3)How does the chain work, if there is a chain? Does it only work through one holding station, or the main holding area for your area?

With those facts, you can begin future experiments.

[Drazhan]

I bet they would flip if he sent them one of those portable DVD players. Could only watch one movie really on a charge but they could send it back with the DVD to be charged up. More than likely Twilight would take it apart or rig the poor device to some Frankenstein setup for power.

Crap, now all I have in my head is them being awed by the Back to the Future trilogy.

[Dapper Mutt]

I'd send them Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Bending seems a lot like magic so to them it'd be more like a fiction drama set in about the same time as them. Although they have airships in the later seasons after the half crazy guy designed them in one of the Air Temples

[Genesis1212]

Yeah choosing something for spike might be a little difficult.

[6-D Pegasus]

Yeeeesh not sure how Twilight will feel about our erm... just our last 100 years of history..