Periodic Ponies

by Indigo Steel

Copper

“Ready, Spike?” Twilight asked.

Spike flipped a switch on a strange device that hummed and crackled ever so slightly, the memory crystal within glowing. He also held quill and parchment, prepared to write. “Ready!”

With a nod, Twilight turned her attention to several items spread out on a table...items from the human world. She looked over the items...books (naturally), a mechanical pencil, a pair of shoes, a GI Joe action figure…

Her eyes stopped on a simple penny, and she gave a quick nod. “We’ll start with this item.” Spike began scratching quill to parchment to write down the proper headings to indicate the first item of study, the memory crystal device still recording every sight and sound. Twilight opened a few of the human books, giving them a quick glance before turning her attention to the item of study...

Levitating the coin in her magic aura, the studious alicorn princess set it against a wooden ruler, then rotated it slowly over and over. She moved it close to sniff at it, before finally speaking: “Item is referred to as a ‘penny.’ It is a metal disc approximately nineteen millimeters in diameter and one and a half millimeters in thickness. Color and scent indicates the metal it’s made from as being copper; this fact is supported by human reference sources to be cited at the end of written records.”

Twilight levitated a magnifying glass up to the coin, studying it intently as she continued, “This ‘penny' is a coin representing the lowest monetary value of the nation of the human world named ‘America;’ that value being referred to as a ‘cent.’” Much like our own coins, there appear to be multiple numbers, words, and pictures upon it. The words indicate the penny's value, the realm that it represents, the word ‘liberty,’ the phrase ‘In God we trust,’ an apparent socio-religious statement regarding faith in a higher deity; and the phrase ‘E pluribus unum,’ a language that we also coincidentally share with the humans. The translation to our common tongue is ‘out of many, one.’” This is a significant reference to a core ideal of America; people of multiple cultures and creeds unified to help both one another and their nation.”

“Friendship is magic?” Spike asked with a smile and a wink.

Twilight giggled and nodded. “Precisely!”

Turning her attention back to the penny, the Princess of Friendship continued, “I also see the letter ‘P' which, according to reference material, indicates the location of the mint that produced it; the P stands for ‘Pennsylvania,’ one of the many smaller ‘state’s’ that make up the whole of America; more on this subject in later recordings regarding America’s government, known as a ‘constitutional democratic republic.’”

Twilight took another look at the opened human books and continued, “The pictures depicted on the coin include a profile of what appears to be a human male and a structure with multiple columns. Reference materials indicate that these two images are related, with the male human being a revered human leader of America, called a ‘President.’ The name of this leader is ‘Abraham Lincoln;’ more on this subject in later recordings about significant figures in human history. The building represented is a memorial built in Abraham Lincoln's honor, named thusly after him.”

With a satisfied smile, Twilight put down the miniature copper depiction of humanity.