6 - Sparks
Nyota - Day 115,350
South Jungle - The Island
People often forget that something is supposed to accompany work. Labor needs to come with leisure. If you do nothing but work, your work starts to get bad. Days off are the job performance equivalent of a good night’s sleep.
Or to put it another way: People who work must take the time to relax, to be with their families, to enjoy themselves, read, listen to music, play a sport, reassemble the computer core of a device long since removed from the world from multiple scavenged parts you’ve saved.
Dicking around with machines is both work and play. Frustrating play. But play nonetheless.
Judging by how hard the front edge of my chair was digging into the backs of my thighs I had spent at least five hours on this old project today. I honestly had no real hopes of finishing it anytime soon ether. I’d been working at it off and on for the last twenty years after all. But the roughly cylindrical jumble of crystalline circuitry, optical pathways, and alloy mechanisms was almost as junked as when I’d first picked it up.
That was to be expected. The core had been salvaged from a battlefield and had three ballista bolts lodged inside it. I didn’t exactly have a blueprint, just bits from two other cores to try and puzzle things out with.
If I could fix this part, I could use my Tek Replicator to manufacture the rest of the device, and have a grand old time being awesome! For like, fifteen minutes. I had no idea how I could supply enough power for long term operation, but man those few minutes would rock!
I took a moment to just smile and lean back in my chair, just sort of basking in the comfort my cluttered garage provided. Twilight might have thought this was nothing but piles of junk, but for me, it was a playground.
Though she did have something of a point. It was a little hard to find my workbench sometimes.
That was a bit bad. A lot of my success came from things I made myself. The Engram System was designed in such a way where no one person could learn to make everything. It forced you to depend on others for what you couldn’t do yourself. That way, once you got a taste of the life technology can provide, you would look for others to help you do what you couldn’t on your own.
It forced socialization as a step towards rehabilitation.
But, like with all systems, there were tricks. Ways to exploit it. Camouflage taught me one.
‘This is the only thing I’ll show you, and if any wardens ask, you figured it out yourself, understand? And you’re only getting ONE!’ Oh you silly human. I just needed one.
I’d have worked it out on my own anyways. A few of the smarter inmates did it themselves.
A way to ‘finalize’ a device so when you make the system create it, it can't reabsorb it. It then behaves in the way that thing should, not the way the system makes it work. Meaning I could finalize a stone hatchet, and use it to actually chop wood, not merely strike wood with it until the system’s nanomachines disassembled it and credited my account. Instead, I could actually get real wood.
Or, I could get wood credits, then drop a certain amount of wood units and finalize it to get a sheet of real plywood. Or a bit of angle iron. Or some basic PCBs. Or a real workbench with a set of tools.
The Engram System could do a lot, but I was never the kind of zebra to be happy with a stock machine. Not even as a little filly. I remembered my mom telling me I carved chunks out of my first bed with a sharp bit of rock to make it ‘more awesomerist’.
Here, with the ability to gather raw materials and just ‘boop’ them into existence… Well, if I could program computers or cast an Animate Mechanicus spell, I’d be the king of this ARK.
Assuming I could power the advanced tech… But that was a resource problem! Not a me problem. Their just wasn’t any way I’d found to get a good power supply.
Which is why I was having fun tinkering with this broken computer core. The data storage device was fully intact. All the code was there. I could build my own computer around that from scratch if I really HAD to get her running. Or if I could keep it on indefinitely, like it had originally been.
But I couldn’t. So fixing it became my toy. I’d been here for what, three hundred and sixteen years now? I had every reason to take my time with things like this. When there wasn’t anything important to do at least.
Since Razor was still teaching Twilight how to be a real huntress, and since none of the tribes I’d contacted about passing through their territory to acquire the creatures we’d need to stay here long term had gotten back to me over the last week, I had nothing to really do.
At the end of her training, I’d have to show Twilight how to make the ‘Tek’ items as the uneducated dolts called the advanced systems they could acquire. To do that, she had to know how to slay the dragon. To do that, I needed to be able to supply her with a metric shiteton of ammunition.
Cuz there was no way in tartarus that I was going to give her one of my swords! It takes a lot of work to make one, especially in here. They weren't just something to give to any- Well, maybe as a wedding present.
No! Bad Nye! Don’t think like that. Be professional. You need to supply your trainee with thousands of rounds of ammunition.
To do that, I needed an Ankie and a Dodek.
To get those, we would need to travel across and into territory that other tribes owned. I prefered to ask for safe passage… But if they didn’t reply in three more days, I’d just take Twi out taming and shoot anything that got close and looked threatening. I’d rather it didn’t come to that.
Tribal warfare may not cost you your life, but it will cost you your time, resources, mental health, possibly your home… Best to ask permission first.
I shook my head to clear it and turned back to the battered computer core in front of me. I was supposed to be having fun right now! Not worrying about work things.
Right. Back to repairs. I needed to get this thing to power on. If it couldn’t power on, I couldn’t turn it off and back on again. Because that’s how you fix most computer problems. You turn it off and back on again.
It did wonders for the toaster. Also the teleporter.
Well, maybe. I still don't know if that thing has got all the bugs worked out
Back to the core, for real this time.
Despite having a small power supply connected to the appropriate lines, the system was failing to boot. I could see a few small bits of crystal glowing blue here and there in the core assembly, so power was flowing, just not to everything. The problem with this technology was its insistence on using optical linear power transfer, tracing the ‘power lines’ could be quite impossible at times, leading to a lot of trial and error.
Not a design I would use. Wireless power is all well and good, in a bubble… In a line it was pretty much useless if something rattled loose. But since this technology was designed for use by convicts in a prison of well meaning torments, I couldn’t hold that against the designers.
I reached forwards to gently turn a prism near the boost converter clockwise one degree. Maybe that wasn’t quite aligned with the converter’s receptor. The second I turned it into place my garage door dissolved with the usual twinkling sound, making me jump.
Did I just fry the door somehow?! Oh, gods damn-
“Okay, see you soon!” Twilight called cheerfully from the doorway.
Oh! She and Razor had finished the day’s lessons. Pretty early too. Twilight must have finally finished in Razor’s eyes. Good.
The two of them had started to bond over the week. Well, Razor had definitely come to treat Twilight with the same level of friendship she extended to me. Hardly surprising. She’s simple.
Twilight on the other hand was the one still getting to that point of considering her a true friend. I was glad that first day hadn’t ruined any chance of them getting along.
“Welcome back, lass,” I called from my desk, taking careful note of exactly where I had aimed the prism at with the last adjustment before turning to look at Twilight just in the to see the door shut.
“It’s nice to see you too,” Twilight said, smiling as she took off her helmet.
I had to make her a custom helmet. The Engram system wouldn’t make one which accommodated her horn. It wasn’t anything fancy, just a modified flak helmet. Simple plate steel, pretty medieval.
She’d dyed it a bright purple like the rest of her armor, and gotten me to paint her cutiemark on the breastplate. I never understood the Equestrian obsession with their marks, but at least her starburst made for a pretty cool design.
Even cooler, and cuter in my opinion, was the way Twilight had customized her helmet further. She’d gotten Razor to claw across the faceplate as deeply as she could, leaving obvious silver gouges in the purple dyed steel.
Why? Because ‘Well, fear works on Charlie’s Boys, right? I thought making it look like I’ve survived being attacked by something dangerous would help.’
The Twilight I knew back home would never have done that.
“Oh, hey,” Twilight resumed as she set her helmet on a bit of spare piping which I hadn’t had the heart to tell her wasn’t an ‘artisan coatrack’ but scrap (and cleaned) sewer pipe. “I’ve been meaning to ask why you call me ‘lass’?”
I couldn’t help but smile at the way she phrased her ‘question’.
“Oh? Well I can pencil ye in for an answer sometime next week. Do afternoon's work for you?” I teased. “How did the hunt go?”
“It went well! Razor say’s I’ve learned all that can be taught. The rest has to come from experience,” she answered with a smile. “I took out the Carnosaur that killed me two days ago! That felt good. I’d much rather kill monsters than well, you know, normal animals.
“But seriously, we’re the same age. Isn’t lass for fillies and mares younger than you? Properly speaking it’s for a mare in her thirties or early forties, but I’m actually forty eight. That’s usually not considered a young adult by ponies… Do I look younger than that?”
I tilted my head to the left, stunned as always when ponies brought up their lifespans.
Considering our halfway point on the road to Necropolis for them is a ‘young adult’. Talk about winning the biology lottery.
“Well, ye look about twenty two in terms of a zebra’s lifetime,” I answered.
Twilight’s ears drooped, her eyes widening slightly as a small frown crossed her lips. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that as a sort of boast, or a taunt. I um… I’ve only known one other zebra. I forgot you only live one century.”
I waved a hand dismissively. “Pff, that’s not even an issue Twilight. I’ve got a thicker skin than that. You won't see me getting upset over the way nature made people. I’m just saying, to me, you look pretty young. Not too young, but you look about, oh, three maybe four years younger than me when I got here.
“So I called ye lass, it’s a term of endearment really. A thing friends do.”
Twilight’s smile brightened the garage as relief washed over her. She’d genuinely not wanted to offend me. Another huge improvement over the Twilight I’d known. She’d be upset at you for getting upset over ‘simple facts of reality’.
“Well, now that you know I’m older than that, will you call me.. Um, is it hen?” She asked curiously.
I snickered, shaking my head a few times while giving her a grin. “Not a chance, lass! Ye’re not older than I am,” I teased.
“Well, how old are you?” Twilight asked as she stepped over to a large crate and pulled it out from the junk pile to sit down. “You look… About Rarity’s age. Cutting that in about half like you did to get the equivalent percentage of lifespan… Are you thirty?”
I frowned and shook my head. “No… I- I’ve been here for a very long time, Twilight. Knowing how old I am will just wind up depressing ye. And ye don’t need that today,” I answered, turning back to my project.
I didn’t like to think about it either…
“I want to know,” Twilight said sadly. “But you definitely don’t want to say, so I won't push it. I’m sorry if I made you feel sad.”
“It’s okay,” I said, accepting her apology.
The box scraped against the floor slightly while I flipped the core’s power switch. Twilight must be adjusting her position. I know I’d want to sit and rest after tangling with a carno with just a spear and some fla-
Twilight suddenly pulled me into a tight, comforting hug. It only lasted for a second, but the surprise was enough to make me completely freeze, my heart thumping away at ludicrous speed.
OHMYGODSSHE’SHUGGINGMEANDSHE’SEXACTLYTHESAMEASARCANEMOON’STWILIGHT!
Twilight let go, sitting back down with a clack of metal on wood. “Uh, s-sorry. Normally people like hugs,” she said with a nervous laugh.
“It’s fine!” I squeaked, then immediately coughed into my fist to clear my throat. “Ye just, surprised me. That’s all.”
“Okay, I’ll remember that for next time,” Twilight said cheerfully enough for me to know she was smiling despite my back being turned.
“Next time?” I asked in confusion, turning around.
Twilight nodded. “Mhm! I give all my friends hugs when they need them, and you said you were just surprised. Which means you like hugs, right?” She asked, giving me a silly grin.
“Yes!” I exclaimed, returning her grin, before quickly putting on a more professional face. “Uh, I mean that’s fine. I wouldn’t mind-”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “Nyota… I know you like me. You don’t have to be awkward about it.”
I winced. Was it that obvious? Well… I suppose social skills weren't exactly something I had much time to hone out here.
“Um, well that’s actually not quite true,” I corrected. “I like the way my home dimension's version of ye looked. It’s your appearance that I like, and not really yers, but someone ye’re almost identical too.
“Physical attraction is one thing, perfectly natural. But I don't want to transfer the celebrity crush I had on her, onto ye. I also want to remain professional with our relationship, and not let my feelings for a fictional version of somepony else make me treat you differently from anypony else. Ye deserve the same fair blank slate to start from as anyone.”
Twilight’s grin turned into a serious expression I couldn’t exactly parse. Disappointment? Understanding?
“But you still think I look ‘hot’, right?” She asked in and even voice. “I need to know, for science reasons.”
… Science reasons? Was she serious? It was Twilight Sparkle, she could be serious.
I nodded. “Of course. Your body’s got everything I like in a mare, why wouldn’t I?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.
Wait a minute… ‘You don’t have to be awkward about it.’ My eyes widened as I realized I just might have blown a chance to go on a date!
NOOOOOO!
“I recently lost my husband,” Twilight said sadly, her ears drooping.
Oh… Okay? Where the heck was this conversation going? Away from where I’d thought, but uh… More information would be lovely.
“While I still feel that I love him, I also have a bit of a personal crisis,” she said sadly, staring at the floor. “I um, I sort of spent my entire life under some kind of mental influence spell. I have no idea what decisions I made on my own. I think that I married him of my own free will, but I can’t tell for certain. I mean, I do like stallions, and I do like orange ponies, but… I don’t think I would marry a soldier now.
“Of course, that could just be the two weeks since he passed… Maybe I want to keep away from military members in Flash’s memory. But at the same time, I don’t know if I would have married him. I definitely would have been his friend! I really did like his company.
“So I’ve decided to go on living as if that was my decision, because I was happy with him. Which means I want to respect his memory and wishes. And, believe it or not, this is related to that, but without that evil influence on me… I also like mares. I mean, I did then too, but I kept repressing that part of myself. I’d even punish myself over feelings when I had them.”
I winced, my tail raising slightly in accompaniment. “That’s pretty awful. There’s very few ways ye can mess somepony up for life that are more efficient than making them hate a part of themselves they can't change,” I sighed sadly. “I um, I guess ye’ve been using your time hunting to think? I’m here to listen if you need somepony.”
Twilight nodded twice. “Yes. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. I never though so much of hunting would bit sitting around waiting for signs of game,” she admitted a bit sheepishly. “My point here is… Well, Flash and I knew he was dying for years. He was terminally ill, and refused the two solutions we could find.
“To be fair one was necromancy, and the other was consciousness transfer into an android. He had a phobia towards moving his mind like that. He was also kind of an older stallion. He was two-fourty when we married three years ago… So um, we only had a few decades together even if he was healthy.
“He really did love me. So much that he spent his last few years trying to get me to agree to date different ponies. He always put my feelings first… Except there. I kept telling him no. But he insisted. He kept saying that he knew I’d get sick without a loved one to fall back on when he died.
“I thought he was being silly, saying nonsense because he was sick. But now that I’ve thought about it, I think he was onto something real. Did your Twilight ever have a full blown panic attack and then mind control all of Ponyville… Umm… W-well because she thought her homework was late?” Twilight asked, stammering through the most awkward grin imaginable.
I nodded, hoping the nod looked understanding and comforting.
“Ours did… Also Canterlot. And Whitewood. Those cities were in range too,” I replied, doing my best to keep my face neutral despite wanting to laugh at her embarrassed expression.
It was such a funny scrunch face that, well, I wanted to laugh despite the nature of the topic at hand.
Twilight blushed lightly. “Thank goodness I didn’t make my want-it-need-it spell an area of effect! Coinflip results must be reversed between our dimensions,” she giggled nervously. “My point is, I used to do lots of things like that. I have a few mental issues. Nothing too major. Not anymore. But before I starting dating Flash, I had episodes like that a LOT.
“Once I wound up monitoring all of Ponyville's activity on an individual basis having been convinced some horrible disaster was coming. Another time I- I think you get the idea.
“All of those things occurred after I had real friends for the first time in my life. And I noticed that I was having less episodes after making those friends. At the time, I thought it was just the usual therapy statement of ‘good friends can help you through a lot of things’. But now that I think about it, after I started dating Flash the major panic episodes completely stopped.”
I nodded slowly. “Ye think that being loved was the ‘drug’ ye needed?” I asked mostly to keep the conversation going.
I mean, what else could she be saying with this? She had changeling ancestry and just didn’t know? I grew up in Zebrica, we have changebugs everywhere. Openly. I knew exactly what happened to a starving bug.
“No,” Twilight disagreed. “It would be more accurate to say it’s the vitamin I needed.”
I nodded. That was definitely more apt.
“See… It turns out that I’m adopted,” she continued, standing up as she resumed talking. “The person who told me was a liar, but Celestia later confirmed that for me, as did my parents. My biological parents were said to be Starswirl the Bearded and Clover the Clever.”
“OH!” I exclaimed, jumping up in a mixture of surprise and urgency. “There’s a group of beastfolk at the Hidden Lake, stranded for the last three years! We can take ye to them and if that’s true I am damn certain ye can see them an-”
Twilight’s ears perked. “I would love to do that! But um, not until you’re completely sure I can travel around the island myself. I may REALLY want to meet them and confirm they are my parents for certain, but this island is very very dangerous, and you said they are on an even MORE dangerous ARK.”
I nodded. “Yeah, that’s true. But at least we have a long term goal now,” I said, sitting back down, my head swimming with ideas.
If she was the Wizard’s daughter, maybe I could be accepted in as her friend. With a wizard to help power enchantments I could start making techno arcane machines and really start helping people here.
Maybe her dad could enchant my pants to be warmer in the cold, and cooler in the heat.
“As I was saying,” Twilight resumed loudly, snapping me out of my thoughts. “If they are my parents, which the evidence suggests they are, especially since Celestia told me multiple times that my aura reminds her of Clover’s, well… Clover is not actually a unicorn. She’s in fact a changeling. I know that for certain, I have her spellbook and her journal. I’m also friends with one of her decend-”
Twilight stopped speaking for a moment, trailing off before blinking three times. “Woah… This makes me Jade's great great great aunt, or something. Uh, that’s… A topic for another person later... But uh, more importantly, as Starswirl is a pony, that makes me a changeling hybrid.
“Now, it’s really clear that I can’t shapechange. If I could, I’d know by now. I learned transformation magic after all. I also appear completely mammalian, specifically equine on the outside. That IS possible for a hybrid, I helped write the book on Changeling biology and psychology after the Canterlot invasion.
“Which is how I know that no matter how close to a full blood pony a hybrid is, they all still have to eat love as part of their diet in addition to solid foods, and can channel emotional energy to bolster their magic, just like a changeling can.
“I have always been pretty great at magic, but after making friends with Dash, Rarity, Pinkie- With all of them. Well, that’s when I noticed a significant improvement in my power. I never questioned it because as the saying goes, ‘Friendship is Magic’ but the slight boost a unicorn receives from being amongst friends is less than what I was getting, on reflection.
“I noticed another significant boost when I started dating Flash. That one I attributed to finally starting to mature into a full Alicorn-”
I sputtered, almost falling out my my chair. “Ye’re an alicorn!? But, no wings!” I said stupidly.
Also if she were part changeling then that meant as an Alicorn she was one step CLOSER to what the whole alicorn transformation was designed to achieve.
Twilight blushed and nodded. “Yes. I think they got rid of my physical wings so armor would fit me. I still have them, I can feel my flight magic if I try hard. It’s just the flesh that’s gone. The spirit and magic remains. I could probably fly without the dampening field blocking energy.”
“Our… Our Twilight became a princess but um, she’s just a unicorn,” I explained, hoping to make my outburst less dumb.
Twilight nodded again. “I um, I’ve been kind rambling incoherently,” she apologised with a quick embarrassed frown. “Let me just sum this whole thing up.
“I think that Flash somehow found out that I’m part changeling. He probably thought I was a full blooded, um, I mean hemolymphed changeling. He knows I had a very hard time handling ‘drama’ and likely never said anything because he didn’t care. Until he began to worry about dying.
“That’s why he kept trying to make me find a lover before he died. He didn’t want me to starve and knew I’d be too upset to look for somepony right away. And under normal circumstances, I would be very depressed right now. But these are not normal circumstances.
“Changelings can digest friendship, but not very well. They need romantic or physical love to be completely healthy. Flash knew that. He helped train guards to spot changeling infiltrators after the invasion.
“Based on how I behaved before we dated… The data’s pretty consistent with the effects of lacking an important bit of your diet. Getting panicky, blowing small things out of proportion… I hypothesize that a lack of love lead to improper brain activity which exacerbated my mental issues into the extreme.
“Which means that in order for me to be healthy, I need to eat a properly balanced diet. I never could before, because I had no idea I might need emotional energy. But Flash did, somehow. And he clearly wanted me to not go hungry when he passed on. I’m going to honor his wishes, and do my best to fall in love again as soon as I can.”
Twilight turned to face me, looking into my eyes with extreme seriousness. Oh! Oh no, this wasn’t good. I wasn’t sure that I liked HER!
“While I must admit that I like humanoids, a thing I discovered the last time I was in the Mirror World, I don’t have any feelings of love for you. But, I do like you as a person and well, I’ve been with Razor this whole time. So I haven’t gotten to know you well yet.
“It’s probably not the best idea to just jump on the first pony you meet… But I want to give you a chance. I’m not saying I will make myself like you, I just want you to know that I would like you to be as affectionate towards me as you want. For two reasons.”
Oh! Oh, thank goodness! She just wanted things to be open to possibilities. Good.
“W-what are those reasons?” I asked, feeling my cheeks burning as I blushed exceptionally visibly.
I was pretty certain I knew one. Every bug’s gotta eat.
Twilight scratched the back of her head in embarrassment. “Um, well, the day before you let me live here I realized I’d had a full on freak out, even hearing and sometimes seeing Flash talking to me about the stuff I was doing. I haven't been near him for over three weeks now. I can’t possibly have much love left in my… Um… Love digstation organ. I would like to see if I can notice any improvements with affection given to me. That will help confirm my hypothesis of this whole ‘hybrid’ angle.
“Second, we could be trapped here for years. I don’t think I’ll want to leave you after training. Especially since Razor and I are becoming friends. If we’re going to be together for a long time, it’s best we allow our relationship to go where it will. Right?”
I felt like my brain was locked up trying to decide whether this was a jackpot, or something bad.
I nodded in agreement. “I absolutely agree. I would love a proper marefriend, or coltfriend. But you should NEVER force those sorts of relationships. That’s just bad for everyone… But um, if you think you actually need love to be healthy, I wouldn’t mind hugs, or occasional fun.”
Twilight blushed, and smiled awkwardly. “Uh, I didn’t mean like, casual sex. Just maybe we cuddle up and read or something. Start small. Don't do things that would force us into a relationship just based on us being the only two ponies in the area… Well, unless the Beastfolk are ponies.”
I shook my head, realizing I hadn’t ever told Twilight what they were. “No. They are dinos Clover mutated into a humanoid form so Starswirl could somehow use recovered implants to get them into the system.”
“Oh…” Twilight said sadly, her ears drooping with disappointment as she looked down at the floor.
That was not okay. I had to cheer her up.
I crossed my arms over my chest, enjoying the feel of my bare fur. “Gotta say, lass, that’s the most rambling and awkward way anyling has ever asked me for lunch,” I said with a grin.
“Did that happen to you often?” Twilight asked curiously, blinking a tear out of her eye with her head at an angle which hinted she didn’t want me to see that happen.
I snickered. “I’m a Zebra. From Zebrica. We’ve had changelings living openly as citizens with us for centuries,” I reminded. “I’ve probably hugged more bugs than zebras, or ponies. I don’t mind feeding one more.”
Twilight giggled, her good mood returning. “That’s right, you did! Hehe… Oh, um... You just referred to me as a changeling… That’s not going to be a thing, is it?” she asked worriedly.
I shook my head slowly, instantly understanding. “Nope. I’m a halfblood too, Twilight. Ye grew up with ponies, and think of yourself as one. I grew up with zebras, and think of myself as one. Besides, you don't act like a changeling.
“I mean, you’ve got the friendliness down, but if you had been raised by changelings you’d have started flirting with me by now. Well, assuming you liked how my emotions tasted.”
Twilight blinked twice, her tail swishing behind her. “Um, I beg your pardon?” She asked.
I flashed her a smile. “Well, um… Maybe ye do,” I said with a shrug. “How about you clarify something for me. Were you flirting with me just now?”
Twilight immediately shook her head. “No! I just wanted your help,” she exclaimed urgently. “First in trying to see if I function better with affection directed towards me. Since I knew you already liked me in at least one respect, I believed that would be a good idea.
“Second, well, your house carries sound well. I know how hard of a time you’ve had trying to keep yourself ‘professional’ arround me. You’re walking on eggshells. That’s not going to make you a very good teacher, I wanted to find a way to make you able to relax around me. All I could think of was to tell you it’s okay if you like me. That maybe we can build something here.
“But, that felt wrong to me. Until I sorted out everything while hunting. Flash wanted me to find another lover, I may actually NEED one to not get sick, and there’s nothing about you that puts me off possibly dating you one day.”
I nodded, now finally understanding exactly what she wanted from me. Just to triple check…
“Right, so, ye want the occasional hug and just hanging out from someone who kind of likes ye for reasons of science, and ye want me to know you’re open to having a relationship if at some future point we feel that’s a good idea?” I asked once more.
“That’s it. Um… Wow… I um, I guess it was a bit hard to put that into succinct words before now. Heh,” Twilight said as she scratched the back of her head awkwardly while giving me a sheepish smile.
My brain finally made it’s decision. This was definitely a jackpot.
“Ye’re telling me! That was one heck of a ramble there, Twi,” I said with a smile before nodding thoughtfully. “Tell ye what. We’re taking tomorrow off. Do whatever you like. All work and no play dulls the craft zebra's knife.
“Once it’s back to work, we’ll find ye a mount, and a guard critter. That will be a nice day’s work. And ye’ll be needing a mount for the day or so after that. We’ll have to go to the volcano, or Herbivore Island to pick up some critters we need. For one of those things, ye’ll need a fast mount.”
“And the other?” Twilight asked curiously.
“We’ll need a boat, several steel wall segments, good armor, and some energy brews,” I replied. “Herbivore Island is owned by the Megalodons. Coastal raiders. Fancy themselves pirates. They’ve got pretty good auto turret coverage of the whole coast. I’ll have to build a specialized boat for taming in.”
I turned back to my desk, hands once more pressing the power button. The device hummed slightly louder this time, but no new sections illuminated. Perhaps I was missing a lense, or a prism?
I stepped back to examine the core from a distance. Sometimes it’s easier to spot a missing piece from a small ways away. The pattern of the machine is often easy to see as a whole, but difficult to see in parts.
“Sooo what’s this?” Twilight asked curiously as she walked over to my desk.
“An old computer core I salvaged a long time ago,” I answered, biting my lip in concentration. “I work on it from time to time. Never been able to get it to power on, but I’ve never really made a serious go of it.”
“Why not?” Twilight asked, clearly trying to keep the conversation going.
Ah, I see. She wanted to try having a good time to see if that would be enough for her changeling side to be happy. Well, I never was one to let a bug go hungry.
“Because I can’t power it for more than fifteen minutes, if I rebuilt the machine it goes for. It’s a hobby, a thing to pass the time. I used to draw, but I got bored of that after the first century,” I explained, instantly wincing as I mentioned the fact that I’d been here for hundreds of years.
At least I didn’t age…
“Really? I’ve always liked art! What did you draw?” Twilight asked with a happy smile, completely ignoring my mention of time.
Just like she had promised. Oh my gods! She actually kept her promises and had concern for my wellbeing. That… That was something I hadn’t experienced in… Wow. Not even my tribemates cared that much about me.
Blinking the stunned surprise out of my eyes, I gave her the answer. “Remember how I said I liked to travel? Well that’s because I have a love of other cultures. I discovered manga in high school and fell in love with the artform. I would draw my own stories… They were never any good. I’m not a storyteller. But the art was okay.
“During the first…era of my being stranded here, I redrew a few of my favorite manga series. I may not be able to tell a good story, but I sure as heck can remember them! I got pretty good by the end, and had even worked out a way to make colored inks. After redrawing the entire library I’d made to be in color and of good quality… Eh, I got bored.
“Now I just tinker with silly inventions in my spare time. Or I hunt Dillos. I rather like them, very tasty.”
Twilight’s ears perked. “Huh, I didn’t know zebras could eat meat… Why Dillos? I mean, you'd think that since they spit that septic stuff at you that you shouldn’t eat one,” she mused.
My ears drooped slightly. “Uh, well… Zebras are pure herbivores. I couldn’t eat meat before I got here. Remember how I said I took a bad portal?”
Twilight nodded.
“Not all of me made it through that portal. Which is why I didn’t have this body until last week,” I continued, reaching down to adjust a few more lenses on the core. “Camoflauge, aka Red, is my friend no matter what because he saved my life. But he did it kinda poorly. In short, I’m an omnivore now, and I can digest just about anything organic.
“He had to make a LOT of guesses about my biology before being told that only humans could be allowed to use the system and twisting my outsides to look human. Old me couldn’t have eaten one of those things. Current me can, and likes the flavor.”
No need to mention he’d fixed my digestive tract by patching in bits of nanomachines designed for the ARK’s various creatures...
“Oh, okay!” Twilight said with a nod. “And by the way, this core’s power supply is this thing over here, right?”
Twilight pointed to the pale green crystal and metal powercell laying on the worktable, almost bumping the fiber optic cable which connected it to the core with her finger.
I nodded.
“And is this silvery crystal the main part of it?” Twilight asked pointing to the CPU’s ten sized crystal held within it’s fine spider web like mesh at the core’s center.
“Yeah, it is. Why? Do you see something wrong?” I asked hopefully.
“I think I do… I’m assuming that it’s powered like an enchanted item, since the ‘mana gem’ is just held on with some cord and there’s no wires. If that’s true, then the part which takes in mana on the center bit has to be broken,” Twilight stated quite certainly.
“That would be true if this ran on mana, but this runs on microwave energy. It’s not a design I would use… All power is transmitted via masers and redirected in beams around the core. That’s what all the lenses and prisms are for,” I explained, reaching for a laser pointer and shining it into one of the prisms to make the beam bounce around the core, showing Twilight the pathways.
She raised an eyebrow. “That… That seems like a bad idea. One good jolt could knock a lense out of alignment and shut the whole device down,” she rightfully exclaimed.
I nodded twice. “Mhm. But it was meant to be used by convicts in a prison. It’s supposed to be easily disabled.”
“True,” Twilight agreed. “But if that’s the case have you tried cleaning all of the receivers?”
I nodded once more. “Aye.”
“Stupid question, sorry,” Twilight said with a blush.
“Any particular reason yer interested in this old hunk of junk?” I asked Twilight curiously as I bent over to try and reach one of the harder to access lense assemblies. Maybe it needed a slight tweak. After all it was the one in the line just before the central node.
“I’m sorry… Am I bothering you?” Twilight asked sadly. “ I um, I could go practice my spells or something.”
I looked up immediately, eyes wide. “What? No! I’m just… You’re a wizard, right? You guys usually prefer to bypass tools and go right to just bending the universe to your will.”
Twilight tilted her head then nodded in sudden understanding. “Oh! Why would a wizard be interested in machines? Well… I guess I like the other approach to problem solving. It’s sort of neat to see someone build a physical object which mimics a spell matrix. I was never any good at enchanting, I can do the math for magic, and I can keep a spell matrix in my head forever, but I can’t actually arrange bits and bobs into what you could arguably call a physical manifestation of a magic spell.”
“That’s actually why I studied enchanting,” I agreed with a short nod before turning back to my project. “I like seeing the other path of nature too.”
It was neat we had something in common.
“What do you mean, the other path of nature?” Twilight asked with that same odd inflection everypony asked that question with.
“Oh, well, personally, I don’t see a real difference between magic and machinery,” I said, providing Twilight with a snippet of my personal philosophy. “Sure, there’s the whole, one needs a tool the other doesn't aspect… But that’s it. The differences are cosmetic, surface level. When ye get down to it: A wizard is a person who studies the natural world in order to apply the knowledge they gain to affect the universe. An engineer is a person who studies the natural world to apply the knowledge they gain to affect the universe.
“Using ancient arcane formulas, a wizard calls forth light using a complex mental construct to illuminate her bedroom. Using ancient equations discovered by great thinkers of the past, an engineer constructs a device from bits of nature to summon light from them. It’s not really different.”
“Right, that I understand,” Twilight agreed slowly. “But how’s it natural? Magic’s workings and technological achievements are things sapient beings discovered through scientific endeavors. It’s hardly just a part of the natural world that always existed. We didn’t know how to create a force shield by instinct.
“And wait, don't you have a special talent for talking to animals? How could you-”
“See technology as natural?” I asked with a grin as I looked back up at Twilight.
“Yeah!” She agreed with a firm nod.
“Because I can talk with animals,” I answered. Noticing Twilight’s confused head tilt, I decided to explain in full. “They don’t really talk. They have thoughts, desires, and fears. But aside from pets your nation passively enhances with magic, very few of them have thoughts more complex than ‘Mating good’, ‘need food’, ‘scary thing nearby’. Animals do what nature dictates.
“Are we not also animals? I think most people would agree that sapient creatures are animals, just more advanced than the average ones. But even if they don’t, how are we not also a part of nature? Isn’t nature defined as ‘the phenomena of the physical world collectively’?
“Are we some how not a part of the physical world? I don't think any sane person would say we are not a part of the physical world. As such, we are natural things. We do what our nature tells us to do. We create to fill our needs, much like bees, beavers, birds, and ants. Only with more complex creations because we are more complex beings. That’s the natural thing for us to do.”
I reached over to my worktable and picked up a screw driver, holding it up for Twilight to see.
“This is no less natural than a rock, a termite mound, or a gopher’s tunnel, or a spider’s web,” I insisted. “Well, at least, that’s how I see it.”
Twilight paused, taking a moment or two before frowning thoughtfully. “That’s actually sort of profound. I’m not sure I agree. I think the degree of control sapient creatures possess over their environment warrants a category of their own apart from ‘natural’. If only because I’m personally friends with many people who can make it rain if they want it to rain,” she disagreed. “But I do see your point.”
I nodded respectfully. “Aye, and that’s a perfectly valid position to hold, Twilight. It simply depends on how you personally define the idea of ‘natural’. But let's not get caught up in philosophical musing. There’s more productive ways to spend our time,” I said with a smile, turning back once more to my proj-
“Though you did make me think just now,” Twilight remarked.
“Oh?” I asked, deciding not to look up but to keep tinkering.
If I kept looking up I’d never get any work done. Twilight was something of a geek. I’m certain she understood that two people could converse while doing things.
“Magic and technology are very similar, fundamentally speaking, and this device is closer to magic than the technology I’m familiar with, practically speaking” Twilight stated her eyes lighting up in realization. “Since it works using directed energy to form pathways, it’s almost literally a spell matrix! If you explain to me what this is supposed to do, part by part, I think I could actually help you fix it.
“Would you like to give it a try?”
I nodded eagerly, a smile spreading across my face at light speed. “Aye, I’d love that! It's been far too long since I had a lab partner,” I agreed stepping aside to give Twilight room at the table. “Right, now this here is the power supply. It’s a chunk of E-One-Fifteen in a containment housing being stimulated by a small laser. The way it functions specifically…”
Sky Trigger - 3rd of Fasut, 17 EoH
SkyLabs, ██████████ - Phoenix Sovereign Territory Zone
My fifty sixth birthday was coming up, and I just got the most wonderful early present. After months of setbacks, we finally got the prototype scanner constructed, installed, and for the first time since Twilight left, we had taken a solid step towards getting her back.
Arguably the best birthday present since Pinkie got me that enchanted soda can sleeve which worked as a prefect thermos.
It was pink. Just like my special somepony.
But of course, it wouldn’t be Operation Lavender without some major setback for every half-step forwards… First Ayna had almost sucked herself into the book trying to find a safe way to handle it. Then Derpy had nearly wiped the energy signature from the over engineered clipboard while copying it so we knew what to look for.
Then I hadn’t been able to work out how to interface Ay’s copy of the book’s portal with a scanner for a month. Only to then underestimated how much feedback the first scanner’s gate mechanism needed causing it to melt. And now…
I took a deep breath and looked Derpy squarely in her eyes. They were both focused on one spot at the moment, letting me take full advantage of this rare opportunity to give her my best ‘please also have good news’ pleading stare.
She looked down at the floor, pawing the burnished steel with her left hoof. “I-I’m sorry… But I can’t change reality,” she said, ears at full droop.
“You know your homeworld’s wierd magic! I’m pretty certain you could,” I countered, half irritable at the situation, half hopeful.
It turned out Derpy was a far more complex ‘pony’ than she pretended to be. While I fully understood wanting to live a normal life after a lifetime of adventure, she had access to all kinds of magic and technology from six different universes thanks to somehow getting lost so hard as a foal, that she wound up in another reality altogether. Then spent her adult life looking for home.
“I’m not a wizard, I only know what instinct ‘taught’ me,” she said apologetically. “I don’t know anything about- Um, well I have no idea what the problem is.”
I nodded. “I know! I know… It’s just this has been far, far harder that I feel it should be. I’d swear it was sabotage if we weren't working on my lab and only seven people in the world even know where it is! Let alone can come inside,” I grumbled, trying to ignore the urge to punch something.
Derpy frowned and gave me a quick hug. “Did that help?” She asked hopefully.
It did. The monster Earth Pony level hug popped my back perfectly. My frustration made me forget that she wasn’t normal pegasus, what with having been raised by a dragoness and all.
I hated when stuff just wouldn’t work. “Right… How did the scanner break?” I asked, wanting to push forward on take three.
Derpy’s ears perked. “Oh no! The scanner’s fine this time!” She exclaimed encouragingly. “Ay and I know it’s a physics problem, we just don’t know what it is… You’ll need to see it. I hate the ‘come see this’ cliche but uh, I don’t know how to describe the problem.”
Well… Shit.
I nodded and stood up from my desk with a sigh, the chair squeaking on the floor. “Alright, to the lab.”
The two of us trotted down the short neon lit hallway to the recently constructed Dimensional Interchange Laboratory. I’d tried to come up with an acronym for the lab which better suited this project, like ‘dick’, ‘painintheflank’, or ‘keith’. But that just wasn’t going to happen.
The twin steel security doors hissed open as Derpy approached the lab, the system’s computers detecting her, recognising her, and allowing her inside the large white tiled room. Everything about the testing room was white tile. Walls. Floor. Ceiling.
It wasn’t aesthetic either. We’d only been able to get the portal and scanner integrated in a room which doubled as a signal reflector with a highly specific refractive index. Only that off-white would do.
I’d constructed a dimensional gate before. It had not been nearly this hard. Something had to be wrong with the physics of our destination multiverse. Or I was missing something basic about this entire process…
Maybe I needed to take a break and see if it came to me in the shower just before Pinkie wanted to go out to dinner. You know, like it usually did. She and I exploited the heck out of that.
The scanner and portal matrix sat in the center of the room looking much like a fire blackened iron tarantula with a cheezy sci-fi comic’s tank turret resting on it’s back aimed at a small one meter diameter ring held up with its center at a pony’s head height.
To my delight, the portal was active! Shimmering nearly completely transparent blue-green energy forming an almost solid, almost liquid, membrane hung within the gateway. My sister stood next to the portal, a simple blue porcelain mixing bowl full of apples held in front of her in her magic’s emerald green grip.
“Okay, sis. What’s the problem?” I asked, now completely confused. “The portals open, the scanner looks fine… Are we not able to read the energy signatures of the apples as they leave?”
Why apples? First collection of similarly massed objects we’d found this morning. The replicator was stuck making grape smoothies no matter what you told it to do, for some reason. I’d been about to go fix that.
Ay shook her head slowly. “This… This is going to SUCK to fix. Watch,” she instructed as she took an apple from the bowl and tossed it into the portal.
The apple flew through the air, and struck the portal’s surface. It began to pass through like it should, when suddenly different parts of the apple began to move at different speeds, ripping it to pieces.
Some shot off like a bullet. Some kept going the previous speed. Some suddenly seemed to pass through molasses. Others still seemed to stop entirely.
There was no discernable pattern to which randomly sized and located chunk of apple moved at which speed. Some of the super fast moving bits hit the back of a frozen bit and squished into nothingness or exploded... The distribution of effects looked completely random.
As the apple's overall trajectory appeared to be unchanged, there was only one explanation.
“The universe's time isn’t even remotely in phase with ours… It’s not safe to cross and there’s no way the data came back in a useable state, is there?” I asked.
Ay shook her head no. “We don’t even GET data back,” she informed angrily. “We have to solve this problem before we can even start looking for the same energy signature the stuff they sent back has.”
“Great,” I sighed wearily. “Well… It will take a while, but we can calibrate the portal to compensate for this effect. Then we can try to find a pattern to the energy signatures and hopefully use that to locate Twilight’s unive-”
“Oh, no, it’s WAY worse than that,” Derpy said with a wince. “Ayna? Throw some more apples.”
Ay tossed two more apples into the portal. Each one broke up in the exact same way the first had. Same parts, same time dilations.
“Um… The pattern is consistent. That’s GOOD,” I pointed out, raising an eyebrow.
Derpy walked over and worked the portal’s controls for a moment, the portal flickering as she changed it’s destination to another random universe in that multiverse’s near infinite expanse.
Then Ayna tossed another apple. And the apple was ripped apart by the micro time dilation differences in a different way than the last three.
“Oh. Oh, FUCK, me!” I groaned, rubbing my temples with my hooves.
Time between our universe was somehow so out of phase that the portal somehow caused different time dilations in a random pattern of roughly centimeter sized ‘blobs’ of space. WIth a DIFFERENT amount of asynchronous phazing for each universe in that branch...
“Is it different for EVERY universe in this entire goddamn multiverse?” I asked just to get the confirmation.
“Looks like it…” Ayna sighed. “I’m pretty sure we’ll work out a pattern eventually and be able to program an algorithm to negate this effect, but until then… We need to work out some kind of time dilation ‘bridge’ and manually calibrate it for each universe we want to get data from.”
“This is going to take, forever!” I groaned, shoking my head slowly. “We’re talking a week per calibration in all likelihood… And Luna knows how many data points we’ll need before we can work out the right algorithm to get it to work on its own.”
“Yep,” Ay and Derpy agreed in unison.
“Is there any trick you can do with books, Derpy?” I asked, just to cover our bases.
She shook her head. “No.. Sorry. When we start learning things about whatever’s on the other side I can try to make a Descriptive Book for that universe but… That’s an art, not a science.”
I nodded twice. “RIght, just checking… Ayna, is there any chance there’s an error with your recreation of the book’s portal?”
Ayna paused, rubbing her chin with one hoof thoughtfully. “I don’t think so, but I’ll go back through my work to be certain. That said, I’m fairly certain I’ve made an exact duplicate of the portal,” she decided after some thought. “I think you called it. Different time dilation between our universes, with a weird offset. It’s a physics interaction issue, not a tech or arcana issue.”
“But we know Twilight was banished there, and stuff came here from there,” Derpy pointed out. “Which means it should be traversable.”
Ayna nodded. “Yeah… Which is why I think I could have messed up. I don’t think I did. I think the one way nature of the original portal allows it to bypass this issue. But like I said, I’ll check,” she promised.
“And in the meantime, Derpy, you and I are going to gather data on this bullshit so I have a way to throw together some kind of workaround,” I grumbled bitterly. “Okay. So, who’s going to be the one to tell Celestia? One-two-three-not-it!”
“Not-it!” Derpy blurted a half second before Ay managed to say:
“No- Ah dang it…” She grumbled looking down at the floor.
“Derpy, while Ay does that, you keep tossing apples. I’m going to take notes. We’re working this thing out right now. Let’s not waste time,” I ordered.
Twilight had been stranded three months too long already. I was NOT going to make her wait any longer than necessary. Nor was I going to abandon her because helping her seemed impossible.
Pinkie would never forgive me if I just abandoned Twilight, and even if she would, Twilight was my friend too. I would figure this out.
Solving problems. It’s what Triggers do.
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8111278 I wish I could read that Discord log XD
Also ARK is typically priced at 30 USD, 27.96 Euros. It's an indy game. So it's kinda cheep for what it is. Could easily be a full retail price game.
Way to go, Twilight. Break it down.
Good throwback to that running joke (or bit of teasing) you've got going on, Meep.
8112394 Yeah, the reactions were in vocal, i did write my explanations down because i need to organise my ramblings. X)
But yeah, reactions were priceless, and in French. I'm french, have french friends... so yeah. XD
Also, i've seen the prices for Ark, actually. I looked. I'm just really stingy with my money... And paradoxically, when i buy a game, i try to buy all the content related DLCs with it. I know there's only one for the moment, the two other DLCs being free but yeah. I've seen the 20 more euros to pay.
And also, right now ? I rechecked the steam page, and damn, i didn't notice the reviews... It looks like a nerf is heavily contested, but still, it scared me a bit. I know i must not base my opinion on the reviews only and make my own opinion on the game, but yeah, got scared by the wall of red for the moment.
Moving on to... the chapter !
So, well my questions about Twilight's buggy heritage are beginning to be answered, even if she's not sure, but she got some hypothesis, now it's time to do some science.
But still, even if her hypothesis is true and she need to feed on love to be mentally stable, and that's her main 'buggy trait', i ask myself : does she have a buggy trait that activate only if she's conscious of her heritage ? A thing that could activate during this adventure ? I dunno, but heh, let's find out in future chapters !
On Equestria side, well Sky and co are discovering a new way to make applesauce.
More seriously, even if it's a setback well, each setback indicate they are closer to get her back. Even if the fluctuations indicate there's gonna be a serious time difference. I feel like the number of days spent 'in game' for twilight will get really high. Maybe not as high than Nyota's or Starswirl and Clover buuuuut yeah.
Also, 3 things i'm asking myself :
1- what is becoming of Alter ? Did she went back to the DC universe, is she staying in Equestria in the moment ?
2- What the flying fuck will happen when (not if. WHEN.) the equestrians will get out of the ARK ? No, because Swirly did effectively UPLIFTED ENTIRE SPECIES AND CONSTRUCTED AN ENTIRE CIVILIZATION WITH THEM ! Will the Beastfolks will stay alone in the 'game' ? Will an Equestrian will stay with them ? Will the Equestrian will be able to make them go back to Equus (ANTHRO DINO CIVILIZATION, FUCK YEAH [i can imagine so much the emeralds nerdgasming with the Dinotopia scenario... XD]) ?
3- Who will become the next God of Life ? The God of Death, will be created by Faust, but raised in Equus. (Unless Dusk get her mantle back, but that would imply Faust accept the actual Dusk as her daughter, and we don't know what it would do to her objectives...) The God of Life ? Since it will be an uplifting of a Mortal... I initially thought it would have been a good chance that Lily would be the one (personal impressions, but once again, chances are Lily get into Dusk's Friendship Squad [when are we going back to this particular arc ?], dunno if theses two elements are contradictory, since normally the Uplifted would retain it's Free Will.), but now, hearing since the beginning of this story about what Swirly did ? Yeah.
I know, i know, i need to continue to read when chapters will be published to discover that, but i need to note my thoughts and rambling and interrogations somewhere...
And i'm so happy to finally being able to comment (almost) in Live now !
8112554
I know that feel. I only have a copy because I got it as a gift 2 years ago and never played it after 8 hours of solid dying... But I was told it had been balanced a few months ago and wasn't WAY too hard anymore. And it was!
Let me dispell that entirly by translating those reviews for you...
"HOW DARE YOU MAKE FLIERS NO LONGER IMPOSSIBLE TO TARGET FIGHTER-BOMBERS THAT CAN STAY ALOFT FOREVER! NOW PEOPLE WITHOUT FLIERS CAN FIGHT BACK! WE CANT JUST BUILD A WARSHIP AROUND A QUETZAL AND RAIN RPGS DOWN ON NOOBIES'S BACES, OR BRING A WYVREN OVER FROM THE DLC MAP TO A VINILA MAP WHERE THEY DON'T SPWN, MAKING STARTING THE GAME ON ANY OFFICIAL SERVEE IMPOSSIBLE BECAUSE WE ARE SAD TROLLS WHO ONLY GET ERECTIONS FROM RUINING OTHERS GOOD TIMES!"
If you watch the ARK YouTubers, most people are happy with the nerf. Especially me! My only complaint is that the nerf got rid of an easy way to mine metal via making the Quetz WAY slower, but that's a fair trade for 'alpha tribes can no longer just go London BLitz on your base until you get too frustrated to keep playing.'
As for your questions, since they may not be answered promptly in story...
Dawn's "I curse you" was a real curse. She can't go back to the DCU. Shes' currently staying with Dash and AJ, (along with Megan) whoa re housing her (and Megan) as a thank you for helping save everyone.
This is being debated in the ARK's owner's boardroom, and in political centers across the Republic right now. But of course, the whims of politicans are most likly no match for one bearded dude with a stupid hat...
Now that is a story for another day.
I initially thought it would have been a good chance that Lily would be the one (personal impressions, but once again, chances are Lily get into Dusk's Friendship Squad
You're in it now. Remember how Star and Clover were involved in that? How they were also in the same other plane Dusk wound up in after her death? Dusk was told to take her time. She's 8 times older than the universe. For her 'take your time' means "Get it done in the next few billion years." Somethign needs to galvanize her into action...
End bug hunger, feed all bugs. It's current year reeeeee.
Uhhhh. . . Ding?
A thought occurs. That attempt at communication that came back after Twi left came back awful fast. And according to the portal there is a major and weird time dilation.
Twi is gonna be there for a long time from her perspective. Shit.
8112584 Thanks for assuaging my fears. It's what it seemed to me, just PK's whining, but it made me fear. Maybe on a Daily/Weekly/Seasonal Sale i'll buy it...
(Okay, the Wywern transfer not possible anymore (wait, is it impossible or are they are just Nerfed enough to be fightable on Vanilla Island ?), i'm a bit sad about it, because when i've seen this feature my 'Dwagooon ! oWo' reaction triggered, hard. I'm a bit of a dragon fanatic... and even if Wywerns are technically not dragons, close enough to trigger the reaction. XD But i understand. I would have used it to help newbies (once i'm not one myself), but yeah, i can understand that assholes can't help but abuse of the good things...
Also, during your copy paste session for question 3, you forgot to erase part of my ramblings... XD
There's your answer, then part of my ramblings that are outside of a quotation box...
EDIT : Yay, i didn't look correctly but now i've seen that i can DL the game via Steam Familly Sharing, he even has the Desert DLC ! Thing is... the free DLC don't appear, maybe a glitch, dunno until i DL.
Then it got Operation Lavender. I see the Download Size. And i weep. 62 Giga Bytes ?! HOLY FUCK !
8112635
Yeah. PvP and raids are part of the fun... But there are PKer assholes who clog the official servers. Best to play on an unofficial server or a private one. Cuz they have active mods and will kick people who are ruining everyone's fun.
The Wyverns are still the undisputed kings of the sky. It's just that they no longer can hover in front of a literal wall of auto-turrets 20 meters long by 10 meters high and be like 'meh'. They can still be brought anywhere, but to counter a Wyvern, you no longer need one yourself.
A rocket launcher can work now too. Wyvern riders need to learn to dogfight a bit, but still outclass everything. Just as the game intended. They are no longer basically invulnerable unless you have another one to fight it with.
Amazingly, Studio Wildcard won't punish everyone for problems with their game balance. They've removed very very little of what they've added. Normally they just rebalance something if there's an issue.
8112590 Go watch the Star Trek Voyager episode "In the blink of an eye" or "Gravity", its those sort of situations.
Kinda had forgotten how deep Dawn's influence had been on Twi. She seems to be dealing well with it, however. Accepting that she needs 'The Hugs' as noms is a crucial step for her to get freaky like her brother
What? You can't mean to tell me she'll stay some hundred years in a weird server game Dino island and not get creative!
You know, I kind of wonder if anyone in this version of Ark has cobbled together proper AA guns (ie. 20 mm Oerlikon autocannon, 40 mm Bofors autocannon, etc.) for fighting flying creatures. Either that or recreating something like the the M45 Quadmount (aka the Krautmower) (ie. 4 heavy machine guns in a mechanically trained mounting).
8112590
Someone isn't paying attention to the dates. Lets pull up the calander, shall we?
Lets see, Twilight got sucked in on the 23rd of Megan, and the current date is the 3rd of Faust. 25 days a month leaves that at 80 Equestrian days.
Now, for Nyota, lets look at the difference between when she first appears on Twilight's day one and her current day. Day 115,342 - 115,350. That is 8 days in the ark.
With that we come out in a nice neat ratio. 10 days in Equestria is 1 day in the ark. For everyone she has been gone 3 months and 1 week. For her it has been 1 week and 3 days.
8113369
Oh.
Well shit.
8113385 Now you sound like me.
8112824 It's literally impossible to not get a little weird after living on a remote island for a long time. Just look at Japan! So lovably weird.
8113032 Yes, a few things like that do exist. After all, it's not a videogame and there's a way to make tools you need. Thing is, not everyone puts in tha level of work. The Engrams make most people lazy.
8113609 but then she won't stay there time enough to get properly
freakycuddly with Nyota!!8113680 don't forget the bombs, those did help!
8113682
See, now that you've said that, I'm half hoping that two of the tribes on the Beastfolk's ARK have a WWII Axis and Allies feel to them, replete with cobbled together M4 Shermans and Panzer IVs. Or at the very least some improvised armored vehicles of some sort.
8113941 Most of the Center's area is open ocean. Boats are very usefull there.
8113926
She's already been there 18 minutes. Scientifically speaking once two parties recognise a mutual attraction that's all it takes for them to decide to have sex.
No but seriously, give thema few weeks of getting to know one another, Twilight confirming her changeling heratage, some victory mead, and then flip a coin.
8114345
... So, United States Navy versus Imperial Japanese Navy?
This computer repair problem feels like something Twilight might be able to help with it. Just as a second pair of eyes at the very least, and maybe some technical analysis too.
Interesting. It hadn't occurred to me yet, but this Twilight being the daughter of this Clover definitely has some interesting implications, and potential ramifications from there. The whole bit about her needing friendship and affection and love fits nicely even with canon Twilight. Good guy Flash too, trying to take care of his wife even after she becomes his widow. I'm still holding out a little hope for a ghost Flash or windigo Flash, or something like that, but what we have so far for him kind of nicely rounds out his character and gives him a decent send-off.
I've had similar thoughts in the past about the concepts of natural and man-made. At the very least in my opinion the latter is a subset of the former.
Haha yep, I had a feeling that Twilight would get involved.
Man, this portal problem is definitely a non-trivial reverse engineering project.
8113680 HECK look at the Galapagos islands they have all sorts of animal and plants found NO WHERE else
8115554 Well, my setting don't have ghosts... But windigo could be done. Depends on how you want to count 'eaten'.
For Twilight: