8 - Tricks of the trail
Tricks Just
of the Passing
trail Through
Wind whistled by the canopy as Brian dipped the Swift into a shallow dive. He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, relishing the crisp, cool morning air. The sun was bright overhead, illuminating the fluffy white cloud tops that dotted the sky below him.
He looked out over the scene and smiled. Man, what a great day to fly. Not too windy, but not too quiet, either, and it looks like there will be some strong thermals soon. Great visibility, too, with just enough clouds to keep things interesting. Yeah, this is what it's all about. No politics. No meetings. No unreasonable, conflicting demands. Just me and the wind. Jeb had it right – flying really is the ultimate freedom. A simple, pure function of gravity and aerodynamics. Move the controls – get results. Action and reaction. Play it right, and I can go to the ends of the earth. His eyes glinted mischievously. Or dance with clouds.
With a deft shift of the controls, the Swift pirouetted in the air, heading towards the tall, cylindrical column of fog that had caught his eye. He could've been a cat at an aquarium, watching as his shadow darted up the side until he was racing just behind it across the wide, pillowy top. Nearing the edge, he banked and dipped the nose, guiding the Swift into a gentle corkscrew down and around the side, just barely dipping his inner wingtip into the misty wall, smile never faltering as he watched it carve off swirling little curls of cloud.
Near the bottom he broke off from his orbit, heading to a nearby patch of small clouds, where he darted between the fluffy puffs like a skier in a slalom; he twisted between, over, around, and under, in a convoluted path that soon had him laughing giddily. Rounding one last cloud, he finally ran out of little targets and was confronted instead with another hulking white mass.
With a whoop, he took the cloud head on, plunging into a murky grey nothingness that streaked his canopy with moisture. The light outside flickered as indistinct billows scudded by, but he held his course steady until he finally burst out into the bright sunshine once more.
Now the clouds were mostly above him, and the ground was starting to approach. He frowned at its inconsiderateness, reluctantly turning back towards that first, tall cumulus, hunting for the thermal that fed it.
Gliding beneath the cloud's sunlit edge, he regained a bit of his cheer as he felt the thermal's first telltale signs; the Swift's left wing buoyed up as it found the rising air. He banked into the thermal, tightening his turn as lift surged beneath his wings.
"'Tis true then. Thou dost indeed pilot the craft, and quite skillfully, too."
Surprised, Brian looked over to see Christina casually perched up in front of him on the right wing, legs dangling lazily as she sat looking over at him. Her back was to the rushing air, but she ignored it to smile at him, her midnight hair briefly mesmerizing him as the wind carried it over her shoulder where it danced before her in the breeze like an astral banner.
"Christina! What a pleasant surprise. I didn't know you liked flying as well."
“Oh, we find the open air quite refreshing, though we have not had the opportunity to enjoy it as often as we might like.”
“That’s too bad – there's nothing else like it.”
"Indeed," she said, a little wistfully. "Thou shouldst see it at night."
"I can imagine it'd be beautiful, but I can't go flying at night – it's too dangerous."
"Dangerous?" A refined midnight eyebrow rose. "Thou fearest monsters of the night sky?"
"Uhh, not exactly. More a lack of thermals once the sun goes down, plus not being able to see the terrain, which is kind of important for landing. I'm not instrument certified, and the Swift doesn't have them anyhow."
"Instruments?” she cocked her head, perplexed. “Thou art saying that thy craft of such sophistication hath no mechanisms?"
"Well, it has a few of the basics – altimeter, vertical speed indicator and a compass, but nothing fancy."
"What of this device, then?" she said, holding up a tablet.
"A tablet? Well, I do have one, and you can display maps on it, but it's not really meant for flying."
"Ah, so thou art familiar with its usage, then."
"Uhh, maybe. I can’t be certain, but it looks like the same model I have, and they’re all pretty similar, anyhow."
"Splendid! We are having some problems with it."
He stifled a groan. Ugh. Tech support – what a nightmare. “Well, I might be able to help you with it, but no guarantees. What's it doing?"
“Nothing!” she continued. “Which is the problem. 'Twas behaving in a most fascinating manner, but it ceased to respond not long after we, ah, received it yesterday.”
"I see. What were you doing before it stopped working? Did you drop it?”
She looked scandalized. "No, of course not! We treated it most delicately."
“Right. Well then, what were you doing with it before it crashed? Any particular apps you were running, or unusual behavior beforehand?”
“We were not doing anything unusual. We were, ah, browsing the pictures within when it ceased to function – we were even wielding the proscribed inkless quill.”
"...okay. So when was the last time you charged it?"
"...charge?"
"Yeah, you know, electricity? Did you see any messages pop up with the red battery indicator?”
"Hmm," she said, turning away for a moment before coming back holding an image depicting an entirely too familiar low battery screen. “Like this?” she asked.
“Uh, yeah, exactly. That message pretty much tells you everything you need. Just plug it in to the wall for a while, and you should be good to go."
"Splendid! We shall do so henceforth," she said, brightly. "Sadly, our time is running short, so we must take our leave. Enjoy the rest of thy flight." With that, she leaned forwards and dropped away from the wing with a cheerful wave.
Brian waved back, watching her go with mixed feelings. Well, for tech support, that could've been worse. But simply running out of battery? I thought she was a bit savvier than that. Still, I guess it was kind of nice to have a little bit of company up here.
~~~
He was awoken by the warmth of the rising sun on his face and the cheerful chirping of birds, though the sound of the forest coming to life around him soon reminded him of where he was. Ugh. Must’ve had some pretty weird dreams – maybe it’s just as well I can never seem to remember them. It’d be nice to know what was messing up my sleep, though – it’s too damn early to wake up, he thought sourly, keeping his eyes tightly shut. Especially since I'm still here. Maybe this is all the weird dream, and it'll go away if I go back to sleep. ... shoot.
Despite his intent, it seemed his body was keen on waking up. I guess morning ambiance and pointy branches in my bed are more than enough to make up for turning all the alarms off, he thought, still stubbornly clenching his eyes closed to keep the evil light at bay. I would have preferred coffee.
An inarticulate groan came from his side, finally prompting him to pry his eyes open and glance over, his annoyance quickly forgotten as he stared in amazement at the sight of the blue unicorn just starting to rouse. Trixie! She's still here – she didn't run away! The unicorn mare winced as she moved, uttering some noises that, in a human, he would have called ‘not very ladylike.’ And from the sound of it, running isn't really her thing right now, he thought, watching as she slowly rose to her hooves and gingerly stretched.
He could see that she still favored a few spots, but overall he was more reminded of a cat than anything else. Makes sense, given the situation I found her in. These creatures may look equine, but they don’t seem to play by the same rules. Magic, flying, and sapience aside, they seem incredibly flexible – any horse I know of that ended up in that situation would probably have broken a leg or two. I wonder if the duck had anything similar going on. Still, it’s obvious that she didn't get out of it unscathed.
The thought prompted numerous muscles and joints to inform him that they, too, were not particularly pleased with his actions yesterday. Nevertheless, Brian had an incredulous smile on his face as he followed her lead and gingerly sat up. Despite his aches and pains, all the troubles and trials he had overcame and the invisible barriers of misunderstanding and suspicion that still remained, he wasn't alone. It was still a fragile thing, but the warmth of simple companionship was nevertheless quite real.
Trixie’s ears swiveled his way as the branches crackled beneath him, returning his smile when she saw him grinning, though her own expression was still a little nervous. I just hope she'll let me keep traveling with her, he thought, more somberly as his elation gradually faded. She's the first one I've had anything like a normal interaction with, and she didn't act like she was going to kick me out. Maybe if I can stay with her for a bit, I'll finally be able to learn enough about this crazy place to get some clue of what's going on.
Oblivious to his inner monologue, she greeted him with a hesitant, ~Good morning, Brian.~
~Good morning, Trixie,~ he responded, preoccupied.
There was a brief pause as they both registered what he'd just said, then Trixie gave a sharp intake of breath, followed by a rapid-fire verbal barrage. "T'kaa Brrrian frratee valourii ash."
Aww crap. ~Slow,~ he said, latching on to one of the Equish words he remembered discussing the day before, and then repeating, “speak more slowly” in English for good measure.
This seemed to get the point across, as, after a moment, Trixie repeated herself, speaking more slowly and enunciating carefully. “T’kaaa Brrriian frra-tee ~speak~ ashi.”
He nodded thoughtfully, pausing before repeating, ~speak,~ the one Equish word he’d understood, back to her from her speech. She looked surprised, which set him wondering.
Did we cover that yesterday? I'm not sure. I don’t see how else I could know it, though. He went over the phrase again in his head carefully, trying to pick out the words. That last one seems familiar too, somehow.
“Ashi?” he inquired, which prompted Trixie to reply quite verbosely. So much talking, hmm... “Ashi,” he repeated again, this time miming talking. Trixie nodded at his display. Yeah, could be their word for language.
So, something ‘Brian’ something something ‘speak language’. Right. It might have been something like ‘How did I learn to speak Equish,’ I suppose. There’s no way to be sure, though, and those are pretty abstract concepts – hard to get across. For now, it’d be better to focus on the concrete ones, he thought. Still, he said the Equish parts of the phrase he understood, before repeating them in English.
Trixie's ears lay back as she haltingly repeated the English words he'd just rattled off, a note of uncertainty in her voice, despite him nodding approvingly.
This is weird. It usually takes me a while to start picking things up. The only reason I've ever really made progress is sheer stubbornness. She sounds like she's getting pretty frustrated, though – maybe I should try to change the subject.
~No talk,~ he said. ~Food?~
The unicorn pawed the ground unhappily, but nodded. "Yes," she replied, followed by some more incomprehensible muttering, though now fortunately directed towards the food stores.
Breakfast was oranges again, at least for him. Her rummaging had also produced a plate piled high with hay, but fortunately, ‘I can't eat that’ wasn't too hard to convey without sparking another round of linguistic awkwardness. Breakfast did result in another blue-spotted orange running away into the undergrowth, however, which did nothing to improve Trixie’s mood. Still, it was easy enough for Brian to handle orange serving duty, though he was a little dismayed to see how quickly the pile in the bag was dwindling. I’m going to have to find some way to live off the land a bit more, he thought. This isn't sustainable.
After eating, Brian checked his phone again. No signal, of course, but at least the battery seems to be holding up, he thought, before looking over the text message he'd written the night before, and wincing. Okay, so it was late and I was tired. I'll have to do some revising. I should be ready to send some more convincing evidence, too. I wish I'd had the presence of mind to take a few pictures earlier – that floating city, or the cavern with the sea serpent would've been spectacular. Still, there's no time like the present. I hope she doesn't mind.
He waved at the unicorn, beckoning her over when he had her attention. Her ears perked up with interest when she saw him using the phone, and she trotted over quickly. As she arrived, he took a quick picture of the cart and another one of the campfire. She looked a bit askance at the camera clicks, but her eyes widened in surprise when he showed her the images on the screen. He then pointed the camera towards her and mimed taking another picture. ~Yes?~ he asked.
In answer, she danced back, quickly put on her hat and started… is she posing? That's the best description I can think of, at least, he thought. He took her impatient look as she held the posture as consent, snapping several pictures before putting the camera down, despite her look of disappointment. She cheered up quite a bit when she came back over and saw her image, though.
Powering the phone down and standing up, he felt nature calling, and he was reflexively moving towards the campfire to put it out in the traditional manner, when he recalled he had company. Blushing, he made a quick about face, and slunk off to some trees a little ways away. Not exactly glamping, but I can’t really complain, all things considered. I wouldn't mind a shower, though. Or rain shower, as the case may be, he thought, recalling Trixie’s performance the day before.
He came back to see her looking forlornly at a bush. He was guessing this had something to do with the blue dots that now adorned it. It left him a little puzzled, though. The legs on oranges thing I can understand, but if she doesn't like the dots why would she have them as her symbol? Are they involuntary, like brands? Or could she be having image issues? Hmm. Maybe it’d help cheer her up if I did something to show her that I think they’re nice.
With that in mind, Brian stepped over to the bush and broke off a blue-dotted sprig, tucking it over his ear, to where the leaves poked out in front of his face. Trixie froze, her eyes following his movements as she simply stared at him for a couple of moments, before her muzzle started to scrunch up. Uh oh. I hope I didn't inadvertently offend her.
“Snrk.”
He cocked an eyebrow at the sound in confusion, which was enough to set her off.
“Ehehehehe,” she snickered, falling to her rump as she covered her muzzle with a hoof.
Okay, so I guess I do probably look pretty funny, he thought, grinning back.
The mood lifted, and they started seriously breaking camp. Brian helped with the food supplies, before looking forlornly at his own small pile of possessions. Not so much to pack anymore, after my lunch box and first aid kit got stuck in that stupid purple mud in the cave. I didn't need the basket, but I wouldn't mind still having that magazine, either. At least I still have the rest of my stuff. I can only hope I find some more tissues before I run out, though. With a sigh, he bundled his own stuff up and tossed his pack in the cart, then gave Trixie a hand with their makeshift bedrolls.
In short order, the cart was loaded, hooked up, and they hit the trail once more. The path still wound deep in the embrace of the forest, but shafts of bright sunlight lanced through the canopy, and what slices of sky he could see showed the sort of deep blue that heralded another gloriously clear day. That made it even odder when he spotted a couple of those small, low clouds lurking about again. Strange – I wonder if it's more weirdness of the local weather patterns here. There was that cloud city, after all.
He cleared his throat and pointed up at the odd puffs. Trixie looked at them and then back at him, before cocking her head with a puzzled look and thinking for several seconds. “Water?” she finally asked, making falling motions with her hooves as her horn started to glow.
Hmm? Oh. That would've been nice earlier, but no, I wasn't asking about another rain shower. ~No, no,~ he said, waving her away. “It’s not important.”
Trixie looked at him in brief confusion, before shrugging, her horn winking out as she turned away, uninterested. Meanwhile, the clouds seemed to have caught a sudden gust of wind, as they quickly scudded off to the side and away from the road.
Huh. Well, I guess if she doesn't see anything odd, those clouds probably aren't too dangerous. Still pretty weird, though.
They soon resumed their language practice, starting from where they had left off at breakfast. While Trixie’s grasp of vocabulary remained sharp, Brian’s unusual linguistic competence had also persisted; indeed, he became even more befuddled trying to remember where he had picked up some of the words. Seriously, flying? When did we discuss that?
Eventually they both got a bit fatigued, though, and lapsed into silence. Brian found his mind wandering back to the text messages and his phone. I really need to find some way to get it recharged, and soon. I hate to leave range of whatever signal I seem to be getting, but signal does me no good if the battery is dead. Good thing I've got a universal charger – so long as I can somehow get an appropriate input voltage, I should be okay. I haven’t really seen anything electrical so far, but everything I've encountered so far has been either fresh from plummeting out of the sky or abandoned for decades, so that’s not much to go by. Hopefully, if they do have some electrical know-how, they’ll also have enough equipment for me to somehow figure out how to generate the correct voltage to charge it. Oh well. There’s not much I can do about it for now, he thought, pushing the matter to the back of his mind and refocusing on the trail.
It wasn't all that hard; the forest was a living presence around him, its warm air filled with the hum of insects and rustle of leaves. Birds flitted among the trees, and he caught the occasional glimpse of small woodland creatures darting through the undergrowth. I don’t know if I've ever seen anywhere so vibrant. These plants are all incredibly lush, and there are animals out and about everywhere. It’d be a picture perfect summer day, if it wasn't for some of the out-of-place critters or those crazy little clouds reminding me of how alien it all is. Do their seasons even work the same way? If they can push around clouds, what else can they do? At any rate, with the way the sun is beating down, it feels like today’ll be a scorcher.
The two of them ignored the building heat as they conversed off and on, slowly but surely building vocabulary and the occasional bit of grammar. During the lulls, he found the creak of the wagon and clip-clop of his companion’s hooves strangely comforting, and he had a brief sense of odd nostalgia. It’s as if I was in a bygone era. It may take a lot longer to get somewhere, but somehow the experience seems a bit more authentic than rushing through in a car. If I didn't have this recharge thing hanging over me, I could almost enjoy the pace.
The road continued onward until it joined another, this one graveled and slightly wider. They broke for lunch at the crossroads, and Brian luxuriated in the cool shade under the trees. The meal consisted of another round of oatcakes and some water, but he found it still quite satisfying, and all too soon it was time to head out again.
Trixie led them onto the right hand branch of the new trail, which Brian examined as they stepped out on it. It’s definitely more heavily traveled, he observed. Judging by the sun, it looks like this heads generally southwest. Other than that, though, there wasn't much of interest, and he soon fell into the same routine of walking and chatting with Trixie as during the morning.
All was peaceful for a few hours, until he spotted motion on the road coming towards them – three figures plus a cart. As they approached, he was able to make out a little more detail. The three were all normal-type ponies, the leader a light blue, with a heavy build and keen eyes that regarded the two of them levelly. Right behind it walked a yellow one, not quite as stocky, but still strong enough to pull the wagon without any sign of strain. Said wagon was a large, wooden, four-wheeled affair with tall sides, a tarp pulled over the top, and flanked by the third pony, a slightly more petite teal-coated individual. Looking further, he realized that there was actually a fourth pony bringing up the rear – this one a dark grey unicorn. The pony pulling the wagon and the one alongside both had a brands that showed farm tools, but he couldn't make out the others, as they were obscured by bulky saddle bags.
The road wasn’t quite wide enough for both wagons to pass, but fortunately the shoulder was firm earth, so Brian and Trixie were able to pull off to the side once more as the travelers neared.
Trixie kept her head up and exchanged greetings with the newcomers, though they seemed somewhat nervous and barely broke stride as they responded.
As the wagon passed by, he saw the cloth move and two small heads poked out from beneath folds in the cloth, eyes wide as saucers. As soon as they saw they'd been spotted, though, they ducked back down inside with a squeak.
Their reaction was like a stab to the gut, but any impulse to try and ease their fears was quickly squashed as the pony walking between him and the cart reacted as well – glancing at the cart, before flattening its ears as it looked back at him. The other three tensed up also, and he thought he saw a subtle glow edging the unicorn's horn.
Okay, okay, I get the hint, he thought, looking away and edging a little further away before he upset the travelers any further. I’ll just make myself scarce. This isn't exactly such a wide road, though.
Fortunately, the group was already most of the way past, and they relaxed as soon as they had put a little bit of distance between them. Brian sighed as he watched the canvas top sprout the pair of little heads once more as the group disappeared down the trail. Well, that encounter sucked. I hope it's the exception, and not the rule. At least nothing blew up.
A sound beside him made him look up, and he saw Trixie regarding him sympathetically.
He plastered on a fake smile, and her eyebrow quirked knowingly, before she nodded and led him out on the road once more.
As the afternoon wore on, the road seemed endless as it shimmered in the unrelenting sun. He was a little jealous of Trixie’s hat – the sweat beading his head didn't make it any easier to focus on their linguistic studies. There was little else to do, though, and Trixie didn't seem to be in a particular hurry to get to wherever their destination was.
At least she’s calling frequent stops, even if it’s slowing us down. I wonder if it’s for my sake? She always seems to cast magic whenever we stop, though. I wonder if something really is wrong? She never seems to be happy with it. He regarded the latest blue-spotted specimen, snorting softly. If someone was trying to follow us, they'd have an easy time of it. All they'd have to do is follow the trail of blue-spotted foliage.
They ended up stopping early for the day, when the road ran up next to a stream in the late afternoon. Brian’s eyes lit up at the sight; the prospect of cool water exerted an almost physical attraction after the day’s hot slog. Camp went up quickly, with both wood and boughs for bedding readily available.
Trixie started putting out supplies, indicating some bread and asking, “food?" Brian thought for a moment, before nodding and pointing at the sun, then shifting his arm to indicate a slightly lower point along and saying, “time.” Trixie thought for a few seconds, before nodding in return. “Time,” she echoed, smiling, before saying, ~Time.~
~Time,~ he repeated after her, once more feeling a little stunned. What the heck?! That word seems familiar too! … Whatever. Nice, cool stream first, worrying about words later, he thought, emptying his pockets of stuff and turning to go pick his way down the tumbled rocks to the waters swirling below. The stream was small, maybe only two meters across, and looked fairly shallow. The water was clear, but not too swift, and the banks were lined with vegetation.
He saw a few small fish leaping in the deeper part of the stream, and the sight gave him pause. I wonder if I could catch one? I don't have anything suitable in my gear, but I might be able to improvise something out of the stuff in the cart. Of course, Trixie might not like that – I doubt meat is part of their diet, so using her stuff to kill something might be... The thought made him wince; he didn't want to risk offending his only friend among the ponies. It's not like I can't go without protein for a while. Better to keep my eyes open for a while first, and if I do find somewhere that sells fishing gear, then that probably means that eating fish isn't taboo.
No fish for tonight, though, he thought, reluctantly tearing his eyes off the leaping forms and moving to strip off his grubby clothes. He waded into the stream carefully – the water was deeper than it looked, but still only came up to his stomach. He got his clothes one by one, taking a few minutes to scrub each one against the gravel and rinse them thoroughly in the current, before putting them on a large, flat rock on the bank to dry.
After finishing up, he sat back and lounged in the current, but it was only a few minutes before he heard a noise and looked up to see Trixie picking her way down the bank. She looked a little hesitant, but relaxed when Brian waved at her cheerfully.
“Come on in, the water’s fine!”
Her ears perked up and she trotted down to the water, barely breaking her stride when she entered the creek with a splash. She paddled around for a bit, before finding her own little backwater to lounge in. Brian relaxed once more, content to lay back and listen to the birds, watching as the wind rustled the leaves and pushed another of those little clouds by. Finally he’d had enough, but now he faced a bit of a dilemma. Trixie may have simply trotted into the water, but she hadn't been wearing her hat or cape.
I guess it's simpler to go swimming when you never have to worry about clothes. I don't have that luxury, though, and if I wait too much longer, I won't have enough sun to dry quickly, he thought, wincing as he imagined the charades to try and convey the concept of body shyness. That'd be more embarrassing than anything else. And it's not as if I'm as uptight about it as I was before I moved to Europe. The way the Germans run around sometimes... Anyhow, considering the general lack of clothes around here, it'd be weird if they got upset about accidentally catching an eyeful.
He had a feeling that Trixie was giving him an odd look as he awkwardly shuffled out of the water, but he couldn't be certain, as he made sure he was facing away from her the whole time. His shirt made for a makeshift towel, leaving him a bit damp, but still feeling much better than before.
He gave his shirt another rinse and set it out to dry, before looking around the area a bit. After a moment, one of the plants in the stream registered, and he grinned. Sweet! Watercress! I’m in luck today. He hunted around some more and soon spotted a few wild onions as well. By the time he finally made his way back to camp, Trixie had already returned, and was laying out her own set of ingredients.
Trixie offered him a jar, and Brian happily accepted a daub of what turned out to be hot sauce, but politely declined some of the flowers she was putting it on. In return, he shared some of the watercress and onions, though she was only interested in the watercress.
After that, they talked a bit more as the light gradually faded. Trixie was happy to light the fire again, and Brian sat back to watch another full moon climb above the treetops. Soon enough, their conversation had ebbed as the fire had died down to embers, and the call of the bedrolls became irresistible. As he lay down, a quiet voice rose above the murmur of the resting forest.
~Good night, Brian.~
Only the moon saw him smile as he replied. ~Good night, Trixie.~
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Hey, happy new year! It's good to see this updating, and the twist of Luna inadvertently passing on knowledge of Equish by talking to him in his dreams is an interesting one.
Looking forward to more.
Welcome back for another year, dude
Oh dear, hostile reactions from passersby. Like Brian said, I hope it's not really the norm where he and Trixie are heading.
My gripe about this chapter, is that nothing really goes on in it. I mean yeah, Luna interrogates him in his dreams, and they go swimming, but it feels like just so much filler to me.
I mean, mechanically and grammatically there was nothing wrong with it, it doesnt repeat words, it doesnt act terribly OOC...
But as I read it, I could feel my eyes sliding across the words, looking for something to grab my interest.
Hmm... maybe magic is having a beneficial effect with Brian's language lessons. After all, being able to talk to a friend is big factor in harmonius relations.
Welcome back!
Good to see him taking to the Equish language with gusto! I suppose you could say, learning a new language is a breeze for him!
followingthenerd.com/site/wp-content/uploads/the-walking-dead-season-1-dont-open-dead-inside1.jpg
Luna comes, and luna goes?
looking a bit, flighty, there.
Calling it: Luna & Co. wind up zapping the hell out of the tablet and ruining it in an attempt to recharge the battery.
Awesome story! One little thing, though; I'd like to see some things from Luna, Twi and co.'s POV as they try to puzzle him out. This chapter felt a bit filler-y.
I sure do love this story, but I do wish it updated more frequently. However, if this is the length of time necessary for quality, then I am willing to wait.
Well, that was fun. I wonder if this is gonna be a 2 update or 3 update year?
That said, while it is a tad fillery, it does do some worldbuilding, and Luna language osmosis is definitely plot advancement, even if it's only a little bit.
Again with the mind rape, forgot why i thumbed this down before and quickly learned why.
5501471 My first thought as well.... After Luna attempting to push it into a wall in order to "plug it in there"
Most problems with technology seems to come from not plugging it in.
Hmm, another interesting chapter. As others have said before me, it did seem like a bit of a filler chapter... and it would be nice to have some indication of where in the hell those two are going. I assume we'll find out soon enough.
5502103
You use those words but I am sure that you don't know what they mean.
I'm going to postulate that this is an example of Chekhov's gun, and might be talked about later.
I hope I'm right.
5501188
You are right that nothing of quite intensive really happened in this chapter however, not all chapters in a story must be eventful, if anything it set a leisurely and peaceful atmosphere for Brian's journey with Trixie so far. I feel it's meant to give us some insight as to what is going on between the two currently, while simultaneously building a rapport with Trixie, as well as to minutely set the stage for more interesting events to take place.
However this is all opinion, and you are entitled to yours as I am entitled to mine.
So the Ponies are just keeping watch on their strange visitor as they try to puzzle him out? And I suppose Trixie has been instructed to avoid Towns & other settlements as they travel together.
That's sensible, but I must admit that it stirs my contraian (is that the word?) Impulses. I don't like being spied on, & I rather childishly want Brian to slip through their surveillance, even though doing so would be mighty suspicious.
No, the current course is probably best, though in that same childish way I'm kinda hoping that Brian's growing language skills will be what finally pops the Ponies little surveillance bubble.
5501098
Thanks for the kind words - I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter
5501131
Thanks as well! As for reactions, I figure that ponies will very just like people.
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I realize the chapter wasn't as eventful as some of the others, and was a bit afraid it might come off as filler-y. Ah well, I appreciate you sharing your feedback, and will do my best to keep it moving along.
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5501426
I can see the two of you dropped in just to cause trouble, and not chute the breeze like most.
5501229
Interesting speculation!
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5501677
Glad you enjoyed the chapter, and I'll try to push the updates towards the upper end of the frequency range.
5502406
Equestria and technology is always an interesting mix.
5502103
Sorry it hit on a sore spot for you, but I appreciate you at least owning your dislike.
5503124 Oh...
Interesting...
5502902
Which is fine, but a chapter does need to keep things moving along. Dont waste your words.
5503106 It's not the actual mind rapeing that gets me, it's that you wright it in a otherwise light humored comedy. It's like eating a chocolate bunny and finding out it's full of spiders. What worries me the most is that when he finds out they were interrogating him with out his knowing, he is going to be all "i forgive you lets be friends" within seconds.
5502688 They are going into his dreams with out his consent. Sure he doesn't know they are. But if i went into your room every night and put my penis in your mouth with out you knowing, would that not be rape?
Huh. Accidental language lessons. Who says tech support is a thankless job?
Not much to say about this chapter. Still, hostile passersby being the worst thing Brian has to worry about is probably a nice change of pace for him. Looking forward to more.
I love that the language barrier is actually an issue in this story. So many stories start off with a language barrier, but it's often handwaved away a few chapters into the story. It's very enjoyable and I'm always happy to see this story update.
Love the story, and I'm glad to see it get updated! Here's to many more updates in the future.
5503468
I agree! I've always enjoyed studying languages, so seeing language boundaries be a struggle is always intriguing to me. He's sort of already written an out for himself since magic can clearly help expedite the language-learning process, but still, it's cool to watch him and Trixie work on it together.
5503240
Here's the reason why everyone's up at arms. Mind rape, by the very nature of the word, necessitates the forceful invasion and tampering of people's minds. (IIRC, the term comes from a scene in Neon Genesis Evangelion where Asuka's brain is invaded by an Angel and basically melted.) Luna is a Dreamwalker; it's her job to visit people's minds and interact with their dreams. It'd be remiss of her not to visit Brian's dreams. Yes, she did use her ability to help with learning how to use the tablet, but again, it's sort of in her job description to use material in dreams to better the universe. But really, she didn't do anything harmful or invade his privacy unduly. That's why your rape example or your chocolate bunny example don't make any sense. It's not rape because 1) she didn't hurt him, and 2) dreams are her domain. When you're a deity, I think privacy rules get a little wonky. It's not off-tone like spiders in chocolate because this is a well-established thing in the canon that Luna does. She visits people's dreams. If you have a problem with that, take it up with "Sleepless in Ponyville" and "For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils," not our author.
EDIT: Okay, so the scene in Chapter 6 is probably more... morally gray, but still.
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Don't you think you're overreacting? Like, a lot?
Don't get me wrong, seeing mind rape in a story is a huge pet peeve for me, especially when the author/story doesn't seem to get why it's wrong, but what's going on here is hardly something that could be called mind rape. Is it wrong for them to go into his dreams? Well, consider the context before answering. A new creature never before seen on their world shows up out of nowhere, completely destroys an entire city, and seemingly kidnaps two kids. I don't know about you, but the fact they went through the trouble of setting up a scenario where they could talk to him and sort things out in a peaceful manner instead of instantly jumping the gun and attacking him means that they are showing Godlike restraint.
And really, why wouldn't they talk to him in his dreams? It's been shown that the language barrier doesn't exist in dreams (for some reason), so that's pretty much the only way they are even able to talk to him. And what have they used this ability for? Not to mess with his memories, not to hurt him either physically or mentally, but to try and understand him to see if he was as dangerous as they initially thought (considering the whole, you know, destroying a city thing). That's as far as mind rape as you could probably get. If anything, they're using his dreams as an interpreter.
5503754 when Luna visits dreams in the shows she makes it clear that she is an outside entity, I am just miffed that if she has a way to communicate and already knows a lot about him enough to make dreams and characters that don't seam too out of place why not introduce herself and have a pleasant conversation? if i found out someone was milling around my dreams without me knowing, i'd turn suicidal.
5503872 in this case they could be honest with him though instead of playing him for a fool and breaking his privacy and dignity even more by going through his data on the tablet.
in their initial conversation they found out that he wasnt there to hurt anybody. so instead of treating him like a person and giving him the respect to at least explain on his own terms, they use his ignorance of lunas abilities shamelessly to get every little drop out of him, even the stuff they DONT need to know.
he is ONE guy. they already know from his thoughts that he didnt do anything out of malice. and yet they refuse to play it straight with him. one of the last sanctuaries of a Person is their MIND. Nobody has the right to see what is ur own thoughts. These things are just for u.
think about it. There is a reason why ONLY evil dictatorships in political thrillers or even horror stories even amuse the idea of mind reading.
5503249
I'd say a more apt analogy would be bugging someone's house. It's a violation of the expectation of privacy...but governments do that.
5504228
Let's bear in mind here that his intentions aside, the humans of his world are on the verge of discovering a means for interdimensional travel. He is not the one who would decide how to use it when they figure it out. That call will be made by government heads who seem unlikely to be more scrupulous than the princesses about gathering intelligence.
5503468 I can only think of two other fanfics that has a language barrier that is overcome: A Voice Among the Strangers and Misunderstandings.
5504228
Umm... Because if the good guys could read minds problems and thus story tension wouldn't exist? How long would a Who Dun It murder mystery last if the police could tell who was and was not lying?
That aside... Most authors not being creative enough to think of it. Most who do assume it must be impossible. Those who think otherwise assume it must be painful. And unfortunately lot of readers will react badly when presented with a society different from their own, and especialy if it is in any way implied that other society is in any way better and/or more functional than theirs is.
I've read plenty of stories with mind reading to some extent ot another being used by the good guys. Ghost In The Shell being a prime example. Maybe you need to broaden your reading list.
5504202 I can understand the wish for Luna to be more up front and honest about this but it's still far from rape. A better analogy than the previous one might be if a person went into your room without your permission and looked through some of your stuff without rearranging or taking anything. I do kind of worry that you would want to kill yourself if you believed someone had taken a look into your mind though.
5506628 If someone was in my house in the middle of the night rifling through my stuff, i would shoot them.
I want to express my gratitude to the author. This story is a delight. I am impatient of course, never enough of the things I enjoy. For the others, a lull before a potential storm should be enjoyed for what it is. Establishing things like background and mood does take time and space. Please allow the author to set the stage so that "future action" might have depth and weight.
I love how casual Luna is about the tablet. Hop in, ask about things and just smile and hop back out. I guess she knows enough about electricity to be confident.
Now I'm wondering what they're doing with that incredibly complex bit of technology.
Maybe nothing too exciting happens, but plenty is set up for later. Luna (accidentally or not) teaching our poor human the native language, passing on instructions on electronic device recharging (it would be funny if thanks to the dream conversation there's a recharging solution available for his phone just as soon as he gets anywhere important), even the day of traveling with Trixie isn't meaningless.
Enjoyable chapter. I wonder if the friendship with Trixie is the cause of Brian's swift and easy grasp of equish. After all, friendship IS magic in Equestria... It would make sense to me that friendship magic would make interactions easier to facilitate more friendship.
Edit: upon reading the comments, I find I am echoing The Rogue Wolf. In an effort to add something to the conversation, I'll add that I really liked the subtle-ish implications that Brian is being followed: suspicious clouds and Trixie leaving clear markings. I wonder if I missed any other signs. Maybe I'll have to reread the chapter!
5509170 While that's interesting, I think it's more likely coming from Luna's dream invasions, think about this line.
What did Luna ask that he enjoyed doing? That's right: flying. I think her visits are leaving a "imprint" effect on him, slowly passing the language through the thought connection.
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5504228
It is not even close to mind rape. nor to digging around your room without taking anything or moving it. the best analogy i can come up with is visiting someone in a game like Second Life.
seriously.
Second Life is almost a lucid dream. With minimal effort, you can build stuff that is completely unrealistic. Virtual dreamscapes, as much a product of your imagination as any real dreamscape. If you are good at picking names, you can completely divorce your experience from anyone who knows you irl. or at least, from anyone who isnt trying to find you. But if anyone is looking for you, they can find you, and talk with you, for months. Without you ever suspecting they had any intent aside from befriending you.
Weird? sure. an invasion of your privacy? yeah, probably. Mind rape? no.
just like the dreamscapes shown in this story, Second life does not give access to thoughts or memories. Emotions, the dreamscape might give hints of, in the weather or something.
the dreamscape is not root access to the brain. it is more of a shared experience. they will only know what he tells them. sure, it might be a little disingenuous to not introduce themselves properly, but that is not mind rape.
they do have a memory viewing spell, however, it does not appear to have been used on him. it probably requires the subject's cooperation
Both for his linguistic benefit and reputation, I sure hope Luna keeps knocking.
This is something I see rarely and appreciate - having Equish being different from English and, most importantly not handwaving it away with magic!
I love stories like this. Good character development, a language barrier that's presented believably, and the ponies aren't a bunch of chronic-paranoid nutbars around the funny looking ape. Hopefully the ponies aren't complete tight asses about those that eat meat if they're full vegans, gods I hate that trope.
Also, another point in your favor, Brian isn't a whiny depressive cookie cutout and or trying to get into the ponies (Trixie's currently) figurative pants, or vice versa. So kudos on an intelligent HiE story, so few of those on here. Keep up the excellent work.
To this point I'd expect Brian to be pretty pissed once he figured out what Luna was doing. Rummaging around in the mind without permission...
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Finally, someone here with logical reasoning and a damn good analogy of Luna's dream walking powers. That said, I'm certain the alicorns could delve directly into his memories with a spell, assuming it's not an already established immoral activity that no alicorn would do unless the circumstances were most dire and life-threatening. Most fiction settings jive with this line of thought when the subject comes up in the story itself.
As for the travelling ponies being rather skittish, some are not like Lyra/Twilight and eager to learn all about everything, including the really bizarre stuff. I suppose if you swapped out ponies for humans and then replaced the original human with an alien standing twelve feet tall that looked like a feline-taur, you might get the same reactions.
I still wonder why Trixie hasn't made her way to Ponyville. From what I know, they are the only ones with the cure to poison-joke. I say this because her magic keeps going haywire and putting blue spots on things. (It's been a very long time since I last read any of this story so maybe I'm just remembering it wrong)
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Late comment, but we know they aren't vegans through the show. Though I would expect most vegetarians to still be at least uncomfortable around a sapient omnivore.
nice little bonding moment.