“We’re supposed to be getting that new guy today, right?” I asked after finishing my sausage biscuit. Our crew was sitting in the connex, going over the plans for the day’s work.
“Yeah,” Robbie said, “supposed to be transferring locals from Philadelphia. I think they said his name is Dustin. I’ll probably have him work with you, that way Mike can be ground man for both of you. Keep him busy, you know?”
“Gotcha. Anything in particular I need to hit today or am I just plugging along at the VAV duct?”
“Just keep at that. I’ve got Daniel for the small stuff.”
Daniel spoke up, “Steve and I are still working on flashing for the wall penetrations.”
I checked my watch, huffed out a breath, and stood up. “Well, let’s get going then.”
We had all started gearing up in our fashionable reflective vests and hardhats when a feminine voice drifted in, “Is this the sheet metal workers’ office?”
“Uh huh, you can tell by all the spiral pipe on the racks. What do you ne…?” My voice caught as I turned to look at the… pony. She was a pale greenish gray with motorcycle goggles perched on her dirty blonde mane. And she had wings. I stood there for a few seconds with my mouth hanging open, waiting for my brain to pop back into gear.
She smirked, “First time meeting a pony? Name’s Dust Devil, but most people just call me ‘Dusty’.” Her hooves clip-clopped as she walked up and offered me a hoof, which I shook. She had metal horseshoes that looked like they clipped on instead of using nails.
“Um, yeah, sorry. I hadn’t even seen one of y’all in person before and it doesn’t help that I haven’t had enough caffeine this morning either. I’m James, nice to meet you. So, what do you need?”
“Some plans, materials, and a place to start working.”
“Wait a second,” Robbie interjected. “you’re the new guy? I thought they said it was a guy named Dustin from Philadelphia.”
“I’m the new mare, Dusty, from Fillydelphia, but I can see the confusion. They probably sound the same on the phone. Anyways, let me know what to do so I can get to work. This is my first job on Earth and I want to see how humans do HVAC.”
Robbie looked around like he was expecting someone to yell “gotcha!” but no one did. I was just as shocked, an adorable little alien horse was planning on doing construction work? It’s rare enough to see a human female on a jobsite unless they’re a painter or work in the office but at least they have hands.
Robbie sighed. “Ok, you’ve got to go to safety orientation first, so you can give your tools to Tree Branch since he’s driving the truck.” He paused and gave her another skeptical look, “You do have your own tools right?”
“Of course, I left them on my bike until I knew where to take them.” She turned and walked out of the connex.
We followed as she approached a Suzuki SV650 with beat up leather saddlebags. Before I could offer to help she grabbed the bags with her teeth, tossed them up in the air, and they landed neatly on her back. Usually when horses wear saddlebags, they sit behind the saddle on their rump but for some reason Dusty wore hers up in front of her wings on her shoulders. Are they still called shoulders on a pony? And just how the hell does a pony ride a motorcycle? I tried to stop thinking to avoid the impending headache.
Dusty asked where the truck was, dumped her bags in the bed, and followed Robbie to the GC’s (general contractor’s) trailer.
“What are you guys waiting for?” I asked. “Get in the truck.”
Daniel said, “Take Mike and Steve, I’ll get the second trip. I need to grab some hardware.”
I drove Mike and Steve out to the hangar, told Mike to carry Dusty’s tools over to where we’d be working, and went back for Daniel.
“Do they really expect us to work with a fucking pony?” Daniel asked as he sat down in the truck. I glanced over at him to see him scowling.
“It seems like it. Do you have a problem with that?”
“Yeah. I don’t trust them. They come through a damn portal, invading our world, using freaky magic and shit, and we’re just supposed to accept that they have good intentions? For all we know they’re gathering intel and biding their time to influence or take over our world. When’s the last time you saw a movie with aliens appearing on Earth that were genuinely benevolent?”
I actually couldn’t think of one.
“This is real life, not a fucking movie, dipshit. You really think a bunch of colorful, fluffy ponies are gonna take over the Earth?”
“You never know, that magic they have can do just about anything. What if they have a much bigger population than they let on and come through that portal with an army? We’ve seen their rulers put up a shield that can stop bullets, what can we do against that?
I felt my eyebrows trying to join with my hairline. “Dude, you are so paranoid it’s not even funny. I feel sorry for you if that’s all you can think of instead of the amazing advancements we can make with our technology and their magic.”
“Whatever, I’m gonna keep an eye on her.” He huffed and slammed the door behind him.
I rolled my eyes, “You go right ahead but don’t be a dick about it. That’d be a real good way to get laid off.”
After dropping the bigot off at his side of the hangar, I parked the truck and walked into 'Area B' where Dusty, Mike, and I would be working. Mike had the gang box open and was pulling out tools and setting them on our cart. I grabbed my tool belt , shut the box, and we headed off to start working.
“So, are you racist against ponies too?” I asked Mike.
“What? No! Dude, ponies are cool!” He exclaimed.
I arched an eyebrow. I hadn’t expected him to have a problem with them since he was only a few years younger than me and our generation is pretty open to new things, but I hadn’t expected that level of enthusiasm either. I, personally, thought that the entire idea of a race of sapient creatures so vastly different than us was immensely interesting but I still couldn’t resist needling him about it. I smirked, “Seriously? I’d’ve expected a reaction like that from an eight year old girl.”
“Hey,” he said defensively, “they come here by magic from a place we never knew existed, some can fly, some use magic, and some seem to make plants grow just by touching and talking to them. Not to mention they’re all fluffy and colorful and cute…” He trailed off with his eyes widening, looking at me in horror at what he just let slip.
You learn pretty quick in this line of work to avoid saying things that give people ammunition to use to make fun of you. I smiled evilly to let him know he wouldn’t hear the end of that for a while. “Cute, huh? Like puppies and kittens cute or more like attractive cute?”
He blushed. Wow, I was just trying to mess with him but that was a dead giveaway. “Let’s put a pin in that so we can get to work,” I said, snickering. “But I’m gonna need you to keep it in your pants while you’re on the clock.”
Mike groaned, “Yeah, sure. Just tell me what you need me to do, asshole.”
“Alright, I’m setting the hangers for the square duct. Could you go ahead and knock together some ten foot sections?”
“On it.”
I was almost done with the hangers when Dusty trotted in fuming. “I can’t believe you humans can work with all these horseshit safety rules!” she snapped. I didn’t know ponies cursed. It was a bit jarring coming from something that looked like it should be in a kids’ cartoon. At least it meant I didn’t have to modify my speech around her like I would with most women or non-construction workers.
“What,” I asked, “ponies don’t have to wear hardhats or reflective vests?” She actually did look kind of adorable in hers, especially with her motorcycle goggles on.
“No, we do and I’m fine with that. It’s the rules about safety harnesses and tying off that are so fucking stupid. They said that even though I can fly there are no exceptions to the rules. So I have to wear a harness anytime I go above six feet. It apparently doesn’t matter that I regularly fly a few thousand feet up. I don’t even think I can fly at all if I have a fall arrest system hooked up. The cable would get in the way of my wings while I’m flapping.”
“Yeah,” I said, “OSHA’s a bitch. I can see where the GC is coming from, though. OSHA requires fall arrest equipment and you guys are so new that I doubt anyone there has even considered amending the regulations to address pegasi, so the GC could still get a fine if you got caught not wearing one. They don’t really care about safety as much as they care about covering their own asses.”
She sighed, “Makes sense, but it still pisses me off.”
“And speaking of covering asses, I’m amazed that they didn’t make you wear pants or something. We humans aren’t allowed to wear shorts or tank tops because they’re scared of us getting cut or burned.”
“I managed to convince them that my coat is protection enough and that any more clothing than this vest would make me overheat too easily.”
“Hmph, I wish they’d accept that excuse for my leg hair so I could wear shorts.” I grumbled and then asked “How much do you know about human ductwork?”
“I know you use technology instead of magic to heat and cool the air and also to make it flow. I don’t know how that works, but it seems that most of your methods of building and connecting duct are similar to ours. We use a similar flange and bolt hookup to this one,” she pointed to a pile of TDF duct, then to a pile of S and Drive duct “and the exact same slip connections as those.”
“Well,” I said, “that makes things a lot simpler. Although, and I’m not sure how to say it delicately so don’t get offended, how do you use tools without hands?
“Like this.” She looked at the duct Mike was working on, slid it together, picked up a drive cleat with one wing (just like it was a hand), lined it up, and knocked it into place with a few solid whacks of her horseshoe. Once it was seated, she again used her hoof to hammer the ends around the edges of the duct. “And I can use snips and a drill just as easily. For construction work, I’m like a human but with four arms.”
“I sure as hell hope more of you don’t come over to our world to do construction work, because I’m not sure we can compete with that. Get your harness on and hop up in the lift with me. We’ll hang the duct as Mike hands it to us.”
As we worked, we chatted about the difference between Earth and Equestria. They had a much lower population than us and that resulted in a small town atmosphere in all but the very biggest cities. Dusty was amazed by our technology, but I was just as amazed by all they managed to do without it. They made their weather in factories and then pushed it to wherever they needed it. Their rulers were damn near gods that literally raised the sun and moon and Dusty was fascinated by smartphones?! We eventually circled back to the topic of work and how our worlds handled HVAC.
“Wait, so y’all’s air conditioning is literally captured mini tornadoes and clouds in a box?!” I was holding the duct in place while she screwed the hangers to it.
“Uh huh, and they both last about a month so we have a servicepony that makes rounds to refill them. Kind of like a milkmare. The tornado comes in a metal box so you have to open an access panel and swap the boxes out, but the cloud comes in a bottle and you just have to pour it into the cloud bank reservoir. Then the tornado blows air through the duct and it gets cooled off as it passes through the cloud.”
“What about heating?”
“Fireplaces. So how do humans manage to heat and cool the air?”
“It’s a bit more complicated than your system. Mike, I need the next piece.” He handed us a section with an elbow, straight piece, and a square to round. “On a basic level, we use a liquid refrigerant that travels through pipes, absorbing heat from the air in one place and releasing it in another. You lined up?” I asked as I held up the duct.
“Yep.” she ran bolts through the holes in the corners of the flange and tightened them up while I attached the hangers. She looked thoughtful, “I need to take a class on that. At some point ponies are going to start adopting human tech and if I have enough knowledge in human HVAC, then I’ll be able to advance pretty quickly back home. The whole reason I came to Earth was to expand on what I knew and see if anything you guys do would work for us. I’ve got a foremare job waiting for me when I get back and with this experience I’ll be able to work my way up or maybe even start my own company.”
“Wow, ambitious much?”
She stuck her tongue out.
“Hey, Tree Branch,” Mike called, “it’s 11:30 and I’m hungry.”
“Me too, let’s take break.” I climbed out of the lift, shucked off my harness, and grabbed my lunch bag.
While I was building my sandwich Dusty asked, “Didn’t you say your name was James this morning?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Mike called you 'Tree Branch' and I was wondering why. It sounds like an Equestrian name.”
“Oh that,” I said. It wasn’t that I had anything against the name itself; I just preferred my actual name. “One of the pipefitters started calling me that because of my tattoo and it kind of stuck.” I held up my right forearm so she could see the sleeve of trees all the way around it.
“That’s funny because most ponies’ names end up having some sort of relation to their cutie marks too.”
“A ‘cutie mark’?” I asked. “Is that what y’all call your ass tattoos?”
“Yep,” she turned around and pulled her vest up with her wing to uncover her hip and the three cartoon tornadoes on it. Mike blushed again and choked on his Dr. Pepper. I suppressed a grin and smacked him on the back (hard) a few times while Dusty looked on curiously. “We get them when we discover what our special talent is. Mine symbolizes my talent for creating and controlling wind. I can make little twisters that move exactly the way I want them to.”
I couldn’t help it, I cracked up. Dusty glared at me, “Are you laughing at me?”
“No, no.” I gasped, trying to catch my breath. “It’s just that I have that talent too. I can create lots of wind and all I have to do is eat a couple burritos.”
She facepalmed with her wing (or would that be facewinged?) then smacked me upside the head with it, knocking my hardhat across the room. “Ha ha ha, very mature. So humans call their cutie marks ‘tattoos’? What do yours mean? I’d heard that humans don’t get them since they don’t have magic but you have two.”
“Ours aren’t magical. People sometimes get them for deep, personal reasons but some just get them because they look cool. They’re just made of ink that’s injected underneath the skin. I got the trees because I like the way it looks, but I got the pawprint because I love my dog. It’s an exact replica of his paw.”
“Huh, maybe I could get one and be the first pony with a tattoo. Though if it’s only on the skin my coat would probably cover it up. What about you Mike?”
He looked up from his food with wide eyes at being addressed by the pony. “What‽ Oh, uh, no I don’t have any.” He looked back down and stuffed some chips in his mouth.
Dusty looked a bit taken aback by his reaction. “Did I say something wrong? Is it impolite to ask people if they have tattoos if they aren’t visible?”
I smirked, “No, you’re fine. Mike is just being a bit shy which is odd because he normally won’t shut up. You know, if I didn’t know better I’d say that he’s acting like someone would around someone they thought was cute but was afraid to talk to them.”
Mike’s head shot up and he glared at me with panic and rage in his eyes.
“That’d be a shame,” Dusty said contemplatively, “because it’s possible that in that scenario the answer would be yes if the person had the courage to say something.”
My jaw dropped. Mike looked like someone had caught him in the head with a baseball bat. “What?” he sputtered.
“I don’t know anything about human nightlife or what you do for fun around here. Seems to me like going on a date would be a pretty good way to find out. Not to mention that I kind of like to experiment.” She fluttered her eyelashes.
That had me blushing. “I’m going to go find a bathroom and leave you two to talk.” I announced as I exited the room and the conversation.
When I got back they were chatting about Equestria as if nothing had happened.
“…works for the weather factory making snowflakes and Mom is a Cloudsdale police officer. I found my special talent one day when Dad let me come to work with him and gave me a tour. What about your parents?”
“Mom’s a teacher and Dad drives UPS delivery trucks.” Mike said. “Mom wanted me to go to college, but I like working with my hands so they suggested I try to join a trade that provides its own schooling.”
“Alright, let’s get back to work, you weirdo lovebirds.” I called. Mike blushed again and Dusty chucked a half empty water bottle at my head.
We spent the rest of the day working and learning more about each other’s worlds. I was starting to think that I may need to visit Equestria. For someone who isn’t a fan of crowds but likes to see new things it seemed like the place to be. Dusty was pretty cool too and I was actually looking forward to work tomorrow to be able to talk some more.
I guessed Mike wouldn’t have to wait that long though.
The conversations seem to have moved fast. I like the world building and shit-shooting. If you can explore the character's motivations and feelings a little more without breaking the narrative, you can make the dialog heavy bits extra solid.
Following to see where this goes. 👍
The interactions with the characters were a lot of fun. The romantic tones were funny, and thie nuance of the HVAC stuff feels based in reality.
I quite enjoyed this for what it was, hope to see more!
The real world references combined with the casual conversation between the characters gave a sense of immersion.
If this is your first piece of creative writing since school, I say you have talent.
The prose is a bit floaty, or rapid. To give an example, I would've added 2 commas to the first paragraph to break it apart:
That, and other errata, e.g.
I dislike the use of colloquialisms (Um, Ok, most contractions), but I doubt pedantic criticism will help, especially given the A/N.
Another thing I noticed: the gulf in quality between these two instances of dialogue.
Daniel & James:
The background—and for that matter, even the corporeality of the characters themselves—ceases to exist throughout the dialogue. Talking head syndrome.
In stark contrast, the rest of the fic's dialogue is executed seamlessly, with description interweaved with speech. To give an inverse (good) example,
Mike, James & Dusty:
As for the author's notes, I didn't really notice the dialect—or at least, I fail to differentiate the quirks in accent with actual errors in writing.
This is interesting dude, a fresh calm g story where the date if anything is on the line, a social story, I'm following and waiting for more :D.
This a good.
Id hate to be on the metal end of HVAC. I had enough fun at University trying to design the stuff according to flow rules, then realising I had to redo it all to get the thing to actually fit given location, materials and workers.
Really anoying when you go to all the trouble of designing a balanced system for that building and that climate, then some idiot goes in the boiler room and turns the heat to full because they wanted their office shag carpet to cover that unsighly vent in the corner and hide the radiators behind book cases etc.
I do HVAC work myself and it was interesting to see a story and a pony invoking this trade. I haven't done much duct work but I'm familiar with the process and the tools. I've run a lot of copper tubing and iron pipe, though and have often wished there was a Pegasus working with me (or that I was one!) so that I could get up higher without a lift. I had to laugh at the passage about the safety harness. That would be a pain in the ass for a flying pony!
The banter between the co workers was very believable. You brought to light how some people would be prejudiced and some would treat ponies as just another person. And the first person who acted romantically interested in a pony would definitely get teased, but then don't folks do that to each other?!
I liked that you added the story notes, too. They can really help people understand elements of the story.
I think you did a great job introducing your characters and the setting where they first meet. Your writing is solid and I know will become more fluid as you write more. And I certainly hope you continue this story. It's great! I think I've found a new favorite pony!
If this wasn't your first try at voluntary storywriting I would say it was good, but seeing as this is your first try at this it is phenomenal. I hope to read more of your storys in the future.
9946308
I will go ahead and add those commas. I often feel like I use too many commas when texting or commenting online and tried to dial it back a bit. Good to see that someone else thinks the way I wanted to write it originally worked better.
This one I'm not sure which way I prefer it. I think it works with or without the "were". Without it, "they clipped on" refers to the shoes doing the attaching; with it, "they were clipped on" refers to someone having clipped them on. I really don't know if it matters and I'll leave it unless you or someone else thinks I'm just being stupid.
Regarding the dialogue, I wanted to add more into that first example but it's a quick conversation while driving, one of those things that takes more time to read than to actually happen, and couldn't figure out any way to do so without feeling like it was dragging on. I will continue to think on it and will update it if I can think of a good way to do so.
On the colloquialisms vs writing errors, I'm sure a lot of people would consider an Oklahoma dialect to be 40% errors. Imagine a Texas drawl but sped up and with half a mouthful of mashed potatoes and then imagine that the person speaking like that doesn't concern themselves much with proper grammatical structure or with finishing words completely. Though that is a bit of an extreme example.
And sorry if it isn't to your taste, but I like it when verbal pauses are included in dialogue. It feels a bit more rounded and lifelike to me.
Thanks for the input.
9946584
Oh no, you're one of the office guys. You're not allowed to read this and I'm banning you. /s
At least you caught it. I've installed duct that bottomed out below the grid ceiling because the engineer needed to offset under a beam and didn't check the ceiling height. We had to wait til the ceiling was in for the change order to go through and then tear out the old offsets to replace them with transitions that flattened the duct out.
Great job, can't wait to see a possible chapter 2.
9946679
Im old enough that when at University, I asked my tutor what I needed to do the transition from an annular duct to a circular duct correctly, he looked at me as if Id just sacrificed a chicken on his desk. Mainly because it was such a black art, the sacrifice occured in sanctified laboratories. Best exampl I could think of was that proper fan blades were these weird wavey shapes. 30 years later, they can finally manufacture them. Pity really, Hubless are more efficint.
So...
Pony A/C is "battery" powered swamp coolers without plumbing.
I can dig it.
Do all Oklahomans have shitty taste in movies? I can think of 4 benevolent Alien movies without even trying. (Reminder that the The Day the Earth Stood Still remake was shit. Not as bad as the travesty that was The 47 Ronin, though. Nice that Keanu is made a big comeback, but never forget)
I wonder if the No Man's Sky devs are fans of Contact. (The book was way better)
It'll really suck if Morgan Freeman passes before Rendezvous with Rama gets made. He's pushed so hard for it.
How sweet! For your first story you've done rather well for yourself, everyone comes through clearly and the descriptions are evocative. Looking forward to your next installment!
So pony A/C is serviced sort of like an icebox, in that it uses consumables delivered by a specific service (much like how ice was delivered for iceboxes), and operates on similar principles as a swamp cooler. (Though in more humid climates, it may even *be* filled with tornadoes and ice instead, since IIRC swamp coolers don't work so great when it's too humid to evaporate the water properly.)
(And don't think that I missed that interrobang that you snuck in there at one point, either... )
Definitely a solid start, well above a lot of the experienced writers on the platform. 100% following where it goes from here!
Well, it's good, keep it up an i will keep reading
Jesus, no wonder I didn't notice anything off...got a fellow Okie here, lol. In any case, really liked what you have going here, always game to see these chill atmospheric world blending SoL fics!
I see a pony on Earth story I click like. Nice start for this story. I really like when people explore how a pony would be on Earth instead of the usually HiE
Ooohh.... this is neat. Can I have some more, please?
Ain't that the truth. In this case actually dangerous... putting a harness on a pegasus might lead to injuries in a situation where she instinctively flaps her wings but is partly restrained.
Love this. Yeah, dear Equestria. Where it's the mares that make the first move. Which, in this setting among builders, is a delicious role reversal. Also, take that you background bigot from the beginning.
So yes, please write more. I already care about these three.
9947834
I haven't decided yet whether or not I'll mention it in the story, but just so you know the job site that I am loosely basing this on is one of the new hangers at Tinker. So I may end up with real location references around here.
9948065
You'll probably have to keep Dusty off of Tinker. I don't think you can do contract work legally at a secure Federal facility without permanent residency at the minimum.
9948119
We aren't technically on base yet. There's no gate so they just move the fence to swallow each building as it's finished.
I'm pretty sure some of the sheetrockers don't have permanent residency either.
There is going to be a scene though where she's bitching about not being able to fly to work because it's in restricted airspace. That's why she has the motorcycle.
I would love to see where this story goes if you feel motivated enough to continue it
I would imagine each pony race would have their own construction idiosyncrasies.
9948065
Neat! I'll have to keep my eyes peeled, then. In any case, great work so far!
Very good stuff, I hope you will continue the story. This is as solid as the Admiral's work IMO. Unfortunately I have no input of value.
I believe the proper term is OSHA.
This is solid work. Not too much faffing about, just a clear line straight to the interesting stuff and good work with the dialogue. For your first work, this is very impressive. You have the potential for professional authorship.
If nine years of this fandom have taught me anything, it's that the only reason ponies would invade Earth is to secure access to an endless supply of ear scritches, tummy rubs, and HMD. And I, as ever, stand ready to welcome our new, fuzzy overlords.
9948971
Son of a... How did I do that?
i.imgur.com/p4VJHkd.png
But seriously, thanks.
9949023
I think a dark, gritty story where Equestria invades to exterminate the virus that is humanity before it can come for them could be pretty cool.
She may not be human, but by God she had better pull a 500 micron vacuum on the copper lineset. Fucking builders piss me off when I have to replace a burnt-out compressor on a 1-year old system because they wanted to be lazy.
This is fenominal for a first story!
you got talent kid.
Just remember, always write for yourself.
never let the overwhelming pressure of giving people what they want crush your spirit!
9949080
Go for it. You'll make all the other middle school zoomers seethe with jealousy at the daring intensity of your edge. For myself, I prefer my pone intake to be comedic and sweet. The show was, for all intents and purposes, a fairytale-- Disney, not Grimm's-- and so trying to use it to advance negativity in place of love and tolerance just doesn't do anything for me anymore.
9946308
Please be more specific than "floaty" if you want to be constructive. Critique doesn't help if it's vague, or if the writer being critiqued is unfamiliar with the principles that you mention. I won't offer advice for prose, as I am not the most prosaic writer, myself. It would be more helpful to point out why those commas are necessary.
The most important uses of commas in punctuation, in order of priority, are as follows:
1. Separation of parts in a complex sentence.
2. Separation of parts of a list.
3. Pure punctuation; i.e., after "X said" and at the end of dialogue when correct.
The most important use of commas in dialogue, purely for dialogue clarity, is to indicate a verbal pause, even if it may not be technically perfect.
The most terrible use of a comma is known as a comma splice.
Wrong example: This is when you have two distinct and complete thoughts separated only by a comma, they should be separated by a semicolon or period.
Right example: This is when you have two distinct and complete thoughts separated only by a comma; they should be separated by a semicolon or a period.
A semicolon is best when the second part is directly related to or a followup of the first part.
9949177
You should take a gander at Days of Wasp and Spider.
9948807
"Laws of physics? See, there's your problem. If you call it a law, then you think there's something all horrible about mashing things up and spitting 'em out how you want 'em."
For someone who claims to be really our of practice, I'd say you did really well! I really liked the level of world building that you included in this, never considered the implication of weather control for HVAC systems till today! The character's all felt pretty real, and giving each other shit as they worked seemed pretty genuine. Can't wait to see where you take things from here, keep up the good work!
9949218
Man, I read that back when it first came out and have been trying to remember the name of it ever since. It's one of those stories that I keep finding and losing over and over again. Thanks for the reminder. Fingers crossed, let's hope it takes this time.
9946715
Almost every time I run across one of your comments, I find something else to look up. You seem to know a little about everything.
9949654
I only realised something after. If theyre using ice and tornadoes for HVAC, because it can be Open Cycle, as in Lord Kelvins origional Steam Engine powered Heat Pump, that is more efficient because theres one less heat exchanger for boundary layer insulation to reduce the power transfer. The tornado, related to an idea Ive seen thats effectively Rifled Tube Exchanger, gives rise to an effect I dont know the correct name for, but Rolls Royce used on the Pegasus engine on the Harrier aircraft, that of what is effectively Centripetal Lapse Rate Exchange. You spin a cylinder axially at high speed, and the air within it acts as if its under very high gravity, so the cold air sinks to the rim, and the hot air rises to the axis. Theoretically, its efficiency approaches the best Ive ever seen, that of a Low Pressure Fountain and Water Jet Condenser OTEC power unit, which is 95% of Theoretical Carnot Limit. Or COP 20:1. For every kilowatt electrical power into the motor, up to 20 kilowatts heat output. Or, heat a house with a Dyson vacuum cleaner. Then you have noise, vibration, all the fun real world stuff.
I used to know a lot of little stuff, but I know Ive forgotton an awful lot of that over the years. Havent been keeping up on my rereading updates on the old stuff or taking new stuff in as much. Put me in place, and I break, because Im missing the critical bits of being able to be sucessful at anything.
Great story, straight to the Quack Oneshots for now; Moving it to my Rastreadorks one in case MOAR is given.
9946672
If I might offer my own Suggestion:
I tried to use "clip-ons", but Grammarly kept marking it as a wrong usage, and I offered this because I heard my horde of sisters whined a lot on how the clip-ons hair accessories kept falling on them (yes, they used the word/phrase clip-ons to describe them, even if our primary language is Spanish) back in the day.
Of course, I might be totally, utterly and completely HORSESHOED, but that's for the Grammar Officials and Government of Germany of the 1930s-1940s to decide.
Cute little story. I hope you get around to writing more. Tossing this in my taking list just incase.
No constructive criticism, but I like it, and I look forward to more. Ponies on Earth / HiE in more mundane fashion tends to catch my interest more than the fantastical ones.
Say, this is pretty good!
Not sure what to say here. Enjoyed it, tracked, and upvoted.
From semi truck drivers to car repair shops loving me these one off ponies on earth stories.
I do wonder though. In your universe where dose a pony back come up to on say a six foot tall human?
I really have to wonder how most conspiracy theorists survive. I’d think the stress alone would kill someone off pretty quick.
9951440
Spite perhaps?