January 1 [First Day on Earth]
December 32
January 1
Earth is so big! We went to the transport building and then went through the portal and on the other side we had to do all kinds of paperwork and inspections and stuff. It was pretty intense and sometimes kind of boring.
There were ponies that helped with a lot of the process, but also some humans in offices. I didn't think they were that tall until the stallion man in one of the interview rooms got up from his desk. It made me kind of nervous.
I heard that one of the girls broke down.
We'd gone through most of the stuff earlier, so it didn't take too long. But I was getting impatient, 'cause here I was in a new world and all I was getting to see was the inside of a building with ugly brick walls. Not even any flowers to brighten it up or make it smell nicer.
There was a fake tree in one of the offices. I'm no Earth Pony, but I could keep a miniature tree alive.
When we finally got done with all of that, we had a light lunch in their cafeteria. I was assigned to a pair of humans, a mare woman and man. It's hard to remember human terms! They're going to travel with me until I get to the school, because we have to go on an airplane since there aren't any portals near the school where I'm going.
The ma woman is called Cherilyn, and the man is named Salvatore. I think they have second names, because one of the other humans called the woman Miss Sarkisian once. I didn't ask; we'd been told it was impolite to address humans by any name other than what they'd introduced themselves as, or you could add a 'Miss' or 'Mister' to be respectful.
They were very helpful. They helped me carry my bags outside—outside!—to a weird metal wagon they called a 'van.' Aquamarine joined me, 'cause we're going to almost the same place. There were a lot of vans in a little concrete yard behind the building, and other types of vehicles as well.
I didn't know that all the different kinds of vehicles had names. They all had cutie marks on their fronts and backs, and a little badge that told you what they were named. Ours was “Econoline.”
They helped me fasten myself into the seat. There were a couple of special seats for ponies in the van, and belts to hold us in place. All our luggage got loaded into the back, and then a man started up the van and drove it out of the courtyard.
We went along a winding road for a little bit, and then got to a bigger road with more vehicles on it. I thought that I'd be bored with the trip, but there was just so much to take in! Like, the roads had signs on them so that you'd know where you were, and there were other, bigger signs that pointed to restaurants and stuff. I even saw a Taco Bell: it looked just like the ones I'd seen in pictures.
I didn't really get a look at the airplane station until we'd finally arrived. The driver stopped Econoline in front of a long glass wall with glass doors in it. Miss Cherilyn and Mister Salvatore helped me with my bags, and Aquamarine's two humans helped her with hers. Then we went inside.
We went through a special area that was fenced-off from where all the people were. I was getting kind of nervous seeing that many of them around, and I could tell that Aquamarine was as well.
There was a lot more boring stuff we had to do before we were allowed to get on the airplane.
I didn't like it from the moment I set hoof in it. The windows were tiny, and it smelled funny, and then when it flew. . . .
The less said about that the better. Miss Chestnut said that we should make notes on our experiences, what we liked and what we didn't, and so that the next ponies who come will have a better time. No airplanes! It was like an out-of-control train that made my ears hurt. If it hadn't been for Aquamarine and Miss Cherilyn and Mister Salvatore, I think I would have been galloping up and down the aisle in panic.
By the end of it, my wings were sore.
The airplane station on the other end was just as big and confusing as the first one had been. We got our bags and then went outside where there was another van waiting for us. This one was smaller and rounder and named Sienna.
It took us to Aquamarine's school first. It took a while before we were away from all the buildings around the airplane station; maybe an hour. Then we'd drive through places with small forests or big open fields, and occasionally there would be a road that led to a town.
Her school was like a city, it was so big. We nuzzled each other and promised to keep in touch once we knew what our addresses were, and then she was swallowed up in all the people.
We went back to the highway—that's what Mister Salvatore said it was called—and drove for over an hour until we got to my school. I guess we're farther apart than it looked on the map.
I tried to make sense of all the things we were passing, but it just blurred together. I was totally disoriented by all the traveling; it was hard to imagine that only a day ago, I'd been saying goodbye to my family at the train station.
I perked back up once we got off the highway, though. Highways are for going long distances between places, and they don't go through towns like other roads. We sort of surged forward a bit at a time, frequently stopping for signals. Like trains, vehicles have to be told when it's safe to go.
My school is smaller than Aquamarine's. It's sort of at the top of a hill, but there are so many trees that it will be hard to see the city when they've leafed out.
Mister Salvatore and Miss Cherilyn had a packet of stuff that I'd need, like a plastic key with my picture on it which I needed in order to get things, as well as a normal key for my room.
They showed me how to use the telephone and left a little card with their telephone numbers on them, in case I needed to call them.
There was a note on my bed from my new roommate. She said that she was looking forward to meeting me when she got back from break.
I hadn't thought I'd write this much! But there was so much new stuff to see; I hardly covered any of it. I'm looking forward to meeting my new roommate. But now I'm going to get some sleep. Tomorrow's going to be a busy day.
Human toilets are weird.
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This looks like it's going to be fun. I look forward to seeing what you do with it.
6973536
Thank you!
Please tell me you didn't mean that...
I may have to hate you if you put some version of Sarkeesian in a story.
So is it going to be one entry = one subject?
Love this type of story. The pony immigrant/exchange student to the human world type story is my fave type of POE story and being from the pony's perspective makes it even better. Can't wait to see how this goes.
So which university is she attending? One in Michigan?
6973572
It's not who you think it is (probably)
6973577
Yes; after the first few chapters that's the goal.
6973603
Thank you! It's going to be a fun ride, I hope.
6973621
Yup, it's in Michigan.
6973633 Sounds interesting.
And considering how good your work usually is, I have no doubt the concept can keep it's promises.
I hope silver doesn't get to homesick, it must be hard being the only pony around for miles, you'd think it might be easier on them to have a few in the same place to help them deal with the culture shock.
Shame she didn't like planes although at least as a pegasus she could get out if she wanted (not that great an idea for the rest of the passengers though)
How about a companion piece with the human coming over to equestrian staying with her family.
6973644
I hope so
6973665
I thought about that, but that changes the dynamic a bit, at least in my mind. She's had the introductory courses, and of course she can always call
Aquamarine or any of the other ponies.
That sort of came as a surprise to me as well, but in retrospect I thought it was pretty obvious. All her flight instincts would be trying to 'control' the airplane she's on, plus she'd be disoriented by lack of airflow over her body and so on.
See, this is the kind of thing I mentioned in a blog post once (I think). I was thinking how much she'd like flying in an airplane, and then I realized that instead it would be pure torture for a pegasus.
Hmm, that's a possibility. I'll consider it.
Nice chapters. A good tide-me-over till the next Onto The Pony Planet.^^ Nice to see the different viewpoint. XD
I'm looking forward to more of this.
Pegasus on a plane? The next Samual L. Jackson blockbuster.
6973869
I'd expect culture shock to hit at some point. Same language might help for that, but from experience being in something that alien? Eventually you have a moment where it all goes topsy turvy.
6973869
One thought I had is that traveling in a pressurized cabin could, potentially, make a pegasus airsick. It depends if they can sense altitude. If they do, then once the cabin reaches 8,000' and they look out the window, their inner ear will be telling them they're staying at a constant altitude, while their eyes tell them they're rapidly ascending.
What, no problems going through TSA with steel horseshoes?
I love the idea of cars having cutie marks.
That was wierd. I had a boss named Sarkis Kazarian.
For ideas, there is athletic departments. Track and field would be interesting to participate in. Football tryouts would be interesting but flying would quickly have silver banned. Rifle shooting club might be interesting to talk about.
The obligatory humans eat meat! observation in the cafeteria.
Silver could probably teach meteorology class.
I do not think that a liberal arts major would entice a pony to goto another world to study but the sciences or engineering degrees would. However History or art classes would interest a pony.
Have Silver buzz the dean's office.
The Sci-fi club would be a hoot. Go LARPing.
Just my ramblings.
I like how the journal style flows. It's charmingly personal.
I wonder when she'll notice that a lot of cars have the same cutie mark, name, and coat colour. Will she think it's weird? Speaking of which, I'll bet a pegasus would like riding in a convertible.
She saw a Taco Bell. But does she know what's in those tacos? That might be a bit of a shock.
The plane station was apparently unremarkable? I'm surprised the TSA didn't give her a hard time (you know they would). Or maybe it was just eclipsed by the awfulness of her trip through the stratosphere. Too bad she's not in Japan; the shinkansen might be easier for her to deal with.
Human toilets are weird.
6973880
There's a side story coming soon; announced it a blog post back (yeah, double posted blog posts today). Then the next chapter of OPP.
6974145 Excellent.:D
6974011
Yeah, agreed. That's totally gonna happen. Doesn't matter how fluent you are in the language, or how much pre-trip prep work you did, there's the moment when it hits.
6974027
Good possibility of it. Just like normal motion-sickness. A lot of cues to a normally-flying creature would be messed up.
I wonder if anybody has experimented with birds?
6974110
I would think that they'd get special treatment. Besides, we all learned from Pinkie Pie vs. the TSA was a poor idea it is to let a pony go through normal security procedures.
6974130
Sure, lots of sports are a possibility. There are rules questions; she might not be able to compete in any sport, but could possibly do exhibition matches. Once there are enough ponies, I suppose that they could participate in some sports.
I think Track and Field would be the most popular sport.
That would have been covered in the pre-Earth orientation. Probably many times, just to make sure that it sunk in. But, hearing about it and seeing it for yourself are two different things. . . .
Yeah. Of course, getting used to the human terminology might take a bit of doing. Going forward a few decades, it's hard to imagine that any weather forecast would be considered 'good' if there wasn't a pegasus making it.
Depends. The college I went to had a very high rate of foreign study, despite being a liberal arts college. Obviously, a different country isn't a different world, but even theatre majors often went abroad. For some people, that was one of the reasons to attend the college.
LARPing with a pony would be awesome. Or SCA--you could have a lot of fun with that.
Plus, I'd totally want to take her to a horse show. Actually, Aquamarine is at a school which often has horse shows.
6974142
Thank you!
She'll probably figure out branding before too long. My headcanon is that craftsponies do the same thing, and put their cutie mark on their work (Rarity puts three diamonds on her outfits, for example).
Or an open cockpit airplane . . . well, that would be better than being in an enclosed one. Yeah, I think they'd rather have the wind in their mane.
She'd know that some of them had 'meat' in them, yes. That would be a major thing to omit in the orientation classes.
I already wrote one story along those lines (Pinkie Pie vs. the TSA). I think that they'd have special processes in place for the ponies, especially when they've first come to Earth.
Yeah, she'd probably like a train better. Although I can't help but think she'd still be often trying to use her wings for balance.
6974009
I'd watch the hell out of that.
Related: just recently one of my friends posted a meme on Facebook. "Take the last book you read and add 'with a Chainsaw' to it. My result: The Horse with a Chainsaw. I'd read the hell out of that book.
I'd guess the security involved in transferring pony students to Earth (Apparently US) schools was enough to make the usual TSA experience unnecessary. It probably wouldn't have been too strange had they been put on chartered private aircraft instead of public carriers, but the story ...seemed to me to indicate the familiar flying aluminum cattle-cars that we call airliners.
She has my sympathy already, based on that alone.
TMI time: If ponies' diets resemble that of Earth's equines, they'll need to eat large quantities of high-fiber foods--with a result that could well overwhelm a human-designed toilet.
I'm kind of surprised they'd break up ponies into such small groups.
I keep reading that woman's name as Miss Cheerilee.
What would an Equestrian passport look like? It would probably have a picture of their cutie mark in it in addition to the portrait.
She should attend a philosophy class.
6974256
They flew commercial (first class), but they went through a special, VIP screening. Just to avoid problems.
We know from canon that pony diets are a bit different than IRL horse diets. Also, I can say from personal experience that there are types of toilets designed to flush anything. Some of the residents I work with on the weekends put that to the test. in the homes where they know that's an issue, they have the special toilets, and I haven't had to plunge one of them yet. Luckily.
6974423
The premise is that Earth/Equestria contact has been around for a while.
6974480
If memory serves, isn't that what they make gin out of?
He's a BG pony, in case you were curious. I think he's from the comics.
She and the guy are a well-known duo, but I didn't use their commonly-known names.
I can tell you for certainty it wouldn't be laminated. Only the Ovis embassy does that. Yeah, it would have a picture or drawing of their cutie mark in it.
That's a possibility. I'm channeling (among other things) my college days, and I attended a philosophy class. Hell, for the sake of realism, I could probably find the notebook from that class. I'm enough of a pack rat I probably still have it.
6974423
Fancy seeing you here, Cinna
I think to some degree there's two conflicting ideas here: earth/equestria contact is well established, yet the two are still extremely culturally isolated. These are a bit at odds, but it could easily be explained away by something as simple as "the princesses (and probably some other ambassador ponies- I doubt that we wouldn't know if Silver Glow had been having lessons with the princesses) have had a lot of human contact, so humans are trusted to some degree, but this is an early stage of a civilian exchange program.
6974723
Seems pretty interesting so far, I'll definitely be keeping tabs on it. Nice work! A minor nitpick I have, although it's more for if you do this style story in the future: as a courtesy to those of us with slower internet connections and/or who read on mobile sometimes, I'd recommend throwing a weeks worth of journal entries in per chapter; it can be a little annoying to load an entire page just for one more sentence sometimes. However, since this is already underway and everything, this is just a kind of "if you do something like this again in the future" style feedback.
Sorry for kind of rambling, but it's 7 am and I've only had one cup of coffee hehe. I don't quite have my thoughts together yet
6975563
Well, the idea is along the concept of foreign study, so while there is some established cross-contact, it's not an everyday thing for everypony. I would be interested in hearing from readers who have spent long periods of time abroad.
Plus, the whole species difference thing.
In the future, there probably won't be any single-sentence chapters. I'm planning on doing one chapter a day and focusing on one thing once she's got herself established.
Yes. Yes they are, at least in this part of the world. And of course, that made me think about the notorious Squatty Potty.
6975832
Which in turn made me think of unicorns and soft-serve ice cream.
6977165
Your avatar has the perfect expression to mirror my own at the thought of the Squatty Potty, unicorns, and icecream in one place...
6977221
My avatar very deliberately has a look of, shall we say, apprehension.
He's seen things.
I'm ok with this. Also, on the topic of cars, I was just sent THIS.
Whether it was or not, I consider this an homage.
I understood this only after reading it twice. Should be: "like a plastic key that had my picture on it" or "like a plastic key for things (that had my picture on it)"
888 Views. I see traces of Game Guy. (I don't know whether or not I'm right.)
Correction. Western seat-toilets are weird. Eastern ground-toilets are basically what you have back home.
6973869
While this is true, her ears shouldn't hurt. Pegasi should be used to rapid changes in altitude and air pressure.
6982266
It is probably the sound hurting her ears.
I love this part.
6973572 Sarkeesian...*Urge to kill rises*
7277467
I don't know who Sarkeesian is. Anyhow, Miss Cherilyn isn't a reference to her.
7277627 Be glad you don't -_-
7283432
The Canadian feminazi?