Friendship Is Optimal: Changing Tides

by Boopy Doopy

Good Grief

The ocean was strange to be in as a pony, but swimming wasn't all that difficult. It was just a matter of Candle Light kicking her legs in the right way to get her to move forward. Not to mention, the water was perfect in spite of the overcast sky. Misty Rose might have been content to stay in the sand, but Candle Light was seizing the opportunity to take it all in. Warm, salty water without the sun's glare in her eyes was perfect.

She didn't swim out too far– not today anyway. She didn't have goggles, but a quick check when she opened her eyes underwater showed starfishes and seaweed. Presumably other interesting things lurked beyond her, farther out from the beach and deeper in the ocean. Snorkeling or scuba diving would be fun to do if she could.

It was about a couple of hours before the mare came out of the water, her body dripping wet as she made her way back up the beach. Misty giggled at the sight of the mare as Candle Light shook her mane, and the unicorn smiled back. So far, dying and being reincarnated into a pony seemed like a great turn of events, if Celestia really meant everything she said before. She wondered what other things there would be to do in this town in the future.

"Are you ready to get some dinner, Candle?" Misty Rose asked. "Because let me tell you, I'm starving."

“That sounds fine to me,” the unicorn agreed as she stood in place and breathed deeply from the exercise. “Something savory and salty sounds like it’d be tasty. I can still cook for you if you want, even if it’s at your house. I’d like to think I’m a pretty good chef myself.”

“I wouldn’t be opposed to that,” Misty smiled, then tilted her head to look over Candle Light’s shoulder. “You said you had a filly, right?” she started, pointing a hoof behind her. “Is that one yours? She looks like she’s coming up this way.”

Candle Light turned around, and sure enough, a young looking filly was trotting up towards them. She was an orange one, with a dark blue mane and emerald green eyes, just like her. She didn’t know how, but Candle Light judged her to be around five or six years old, considering her small stature and small unicorn horn. It reminded her of her daughter, Olivia, but there was absolutely no way to know if this was her. She felt her cheeks becoming red anyway as she subtly crossed her hind legs and tucked her tail in a bit.

“Have you seen my Dad?” the filly asked innocently, Candle Light knowing by just voice inflection alone that this was her daughter. She didn’t sound any different, but even if she did, she would definitely know it was her.

“Princess Celestia said he would be here, but I don’t know what he looks like. I’m building a clubhouse for him over there.” She pointed a hoof behind her to a small, wooden, semi built structure in the sand.

The mare's cheeks had become almost blood red from the pink they were supposed to be, but she still managed to send out a grin. "Are you trying to give me a super late father's day present?" Candle Light asked lightheartedly. "Because that sounds like the kind of thing only my wonderful little princess Olivia would do for me."

"Daddy!" The filly wrapped her hooves around the mare, a hug Candle Light returned with a small pat on her back. Then the girl pulled back and laughed softly as she took her in.

"Hehe, I didn't know you were a girl, Dad," she said. "You look pretty!”

Candle Light only became more and more embarrassed, but didn’t mention it much beyond simplistically explaining that she would be a stallion later before her daughter showed off the clubhouse she was making. It was nice to hear from her, although it was strange seeing Olivia as a pony. Not too bad though when she remembered that she was probably on the couch in the living room looking at her PonyPad. The unicorn sounded just like her little girl, too.

She looked at the little building the filly made, talking to her daughter the whole time, outside of a quick wave to the sky that she assumed her eldest daughter, Daphne, could see her through. It made her wonder when she’d see her other kids, as well as her wife, but she didn’t ask about that just yet. She knew if she could see Olivia, it wouldn’t be any trouble for her to meet with them, too.

She took the small unicorn to her new house to show her it, Misty Rose smiling at the scene and following a few yards behind the two. “Are you being good for your mother while I’m away, Livvy?” Candle Light asked. “How are your sisters and your brother?”

“I am, and they’re good,” the filly said as the mare watched her light up her horn to lift things around her in the home and put them in place. What kind of magic was that? Could she do that, too? There was going to be a lot to learn about being a pony, it seemed.

“We had macaroni and peas for dinner today,” she said, “because Mom doesn’t cook as good as you. And Liana said she wanted to see you, too, but she just stayed in her room and watched TV after dinner. And Daffie slept all day, but she does that a lot now.” A pause came, then she exclaimed, “Oh! My pony name is Warm Spell! What’s your pony name, so I can tell everyone?”

“My pony name is ‘Dad’, just like my Earth name,” the mare joked lightly, earning a giggle from her daughter. “But Celestia named me Candle Light. I guess that means I should call you ‘Spelly’ then, Livvy?”

“Uh huh, but you can call me Livvy, too, Dad,” she explained. “I’ve never been to this town before, but I’m gonna live with you, and my secret clubhouse is gonna be on the beach, and only we can play in.”

Candle Lights’s smile widened as she heard it. Her daughter was acting just as nice and kind as she always did, and it made her heart flutter even now when she was a pony. She almost hoped she would never grow up, because she was just too precious.

Would Candle Light even get to see her grow up from inside a computer?

“But I gotta go to bed now,” she finished, interrupting the thought. “Mom says you gave us lots of money, and we have to go shopping tomorrow, and sign up for school on Tuesday. I’m gonna be in first grade!”

“I know that, silly Livvy. Tell your mother and Stevie and Liana and Daffie that I love them, alright?” she instructed before giving the filly a hug. “I love you lots.”

“I love you, Daddy,” she replied, same as she always did, before the filly waved a hoof. “Bye! See you later!” Then her horn lit up and she disappeared.

“How was she able to do that?” Candle Light asked Misty, although she didn’t turn around. She instead blinked ahead at the stop her daughter– well, her avatar, anyway– had just been.

“You mean teleportation?” the mare replied as she stood close to Candle Light again. “I bet lots of unicorns can do that with enough practice. It just takes a little bit of magic. Your filly must be really good at magic though. You said she was six? I bet she’s really something if she can do magic so young.”

“I guess that means I’ll have to ask her for advice on what to do then,” Candle Light smiled. Misty Rose laughed at that.

“I’m sure you will. Foals always seem to be brighter than us old ponies, especially your little filly. She seems absolutely precious. Reminds me of my own kids when they were young.”

“Yeah…”

She blinked again, and sniffled, and suddenly, before she knew it, her tears were hitting the ground as she scrunched her face up. She was still facing away from Misty Rose, but closed her eyes and turned her head further regardless. The mare responded by casually wrapping a hoof around her shoulder and pulling her in lightly.

"I think I know how you're feeling," she said. Not softly, but her voice was still sweet and comforting anyway. "Missing your family, aren't you?"

"I am," Candle Light admitted, quickly wiping her eyes with a hoof as she took a breath. "I know it’s only been a day, but I don't know if I've ever gone so long without seeing my wife and kids." Sure, Olivia talked to her, but that was it. It wasn't her daughter. It was just a character Olivia spoke through.

"Well I'm positive with a house as big as you have," Misty Rose continued, "your family will move in with you before you know it. No way can you let all that space go to waste. You said Princess Celestia gave it to you? I don’t know much about the Outer Realm, but I do know Princess Celestia would never let anypony be unhappy. You can put your bits on that.”

“Yeah, maybe,” the unicorn nodded, wiping her eyes again. She didn’t know if she hoped so quite yet, but after just a few hours, she was leaning in that direction. In just a few hours– well, the one’s she’d been awake for anyway– the world she now inhabited was proving itself to be ten times the place Earth was, in both big and small ways. She got an enormous house by the ocean for free, had neighbors who had no trouble buying things for her, was told it didn’t matter if she got a job or not, and could probably do magic in real life. The only thing that was missing was her family.

How much was her life insurance policy again? Depending on how much it cost, she bet they could all follow after her without much trouble.

But those weren’t thoughts for now. There was a lot for Candle Light to see and do before she started thinking about saying something like that to her family. After all, she might have been in a computer, but as far as she understood, it was still death, was it not?

She took another breath to gather herself, blinking away any remaining wetness. “You were talking about dinner before, right?” she started again. “I could go for something. What kind of food do ponies here eat anyway?”

It was a question she soon found the answer to. The sky had begun to change to a subtle orange tint as the sun remained behind the clouds when the two walked down to Misty’s home. The building was comparatively smaller, the entire house resting on one level and offering only three bedrooms. Quaint was the best way to describe it. The home was painted with soft yellow walls and was lit dimly as a fireplace burned despite proximity to the beach. It seemed like it’d be the mare style in just the short time Candle Light had known her, she thought.

She met the earth pony’s husband and her children, greeting them politely and introducing herself while she showed Misty the meal she was going to cook for them. It was strange how normal they all seemed despite her family almost certainly being entirely AI ponies. Her husband chatted her up a bit and her kids were slightly disinterested but looked at Candle Light curiously, just like the unicorn would’ve expected from humans she met. Coincidentally, they were all Earth ponies.

No meat presented itself as Candle Light rummaged through her new friend’s kitchen, but there were still things like eggs and cheese and milk and such. She could imagine why, although didn’t remember if the mare looked uncomfortable when she bought some meat products from the store for her. Still, the unicorn made a mental note that a more pescatarian or vegetarian diet might be in order. Thankfully, she didn’t see anything like hay or grass for food either here or when they went shopping.

It wasn’t anything too fancy she cooked for her new neighbors; simple pasta with alfredo sauce with a side of roasted zucchini was what she served, figuring horses would probably like something like this. They seemed to, their happy faces as they enjoyed her cooking making the meal just that much better. She grinned widely as the compliments were sent her way.

The conversation was casual and friendly, the ponies explaining to her a bit about the town they lived in. Things like who the important ponies were and what schools they had and how they should throw a housewarming party for her and whatnot. Then Misty and her husband sat with her in their living room while they got to know each other better and talked about each other’s families until the sun went down.

A hug was what she offered to her new friend before she finally walked back up the street to the house she received from Celestia. The day had felt completely endless. How long ago was it when she’d woken up in Celestia’s castle? Centuries? No, it had only been a few hours, hours that had been packed with so much new information and many new experiences. She took a breath as she stood in her empty house and let the day’s events settle over her.

“Good grief, this is all so overwhelming,” Candle Light whispered to herself as she headed into the closest bedroom to sit down. “Is this all even real?” She still wasn’t convinced, but maybe if she was a still pony tomorrow, she’d be more so. Her hooves shook slightly, and she closed her eyes to settle down. This day seemed so unreal in hindsight.

Another breath was what she took before she lay down in the silent, empty house to go to sleep. It seemed nice here in Equestria.

Comments

[justheretoreadstories]

The day had felt completely endless. How long ago was it when she’d woken up in Celestia’s castle? Centuries? No, it had only been a few hours, hours that had been packed with so much new information and many new experiences.

I wonder if time is being manipulated on her shard.

[Chatoyance]

11694703
There is another possibility; a fresh new mind in a fresh new body in a fresh new world.
As we age - trust me on this - time feels like it goes faster. In childhood, I remember summer lasting for what felt like a year, those three months feeling as if they lasted so very, very long. Every day seemed to last for a week.

At 63, a day feels like it is over in but a sixth of what it felt like in childhood, and a year feels like what the three months of summer felt like.

The explanation, according to my research, is that life is mostly routine. The older you get, the fewer new experiences we have. New experiences are treated very differently by the brain than ordinary or usual experiences. When we are children, everything is still relatively new - even routine things. This is not so in later life. In childhood, we a year may be a full 10th of our entire lifespan! In our sixties, a year is one sixtieth of our life span. A tiny fraction. By comparison alone, it seems very short.

But there is more - Candle is in a fresh, young new body, with - presumably, because it would be logical - a fresh new virtual brain. That would put her in 'early learning mode' - in childhood, we absorb information far more eagerly than as we age. Renewed, if Celestia is following human physiology (cannot change anything without permission) she would be required to imitate accurately a renewed human brain with all that implies. New human brains are plastic and learn easily and absorb information in a special way, if Celestia follows the rules, the newly emigrated would have to have this quality of youth as well. So, time would seem strangely timeless, just as in our childhoods.

And we get this without any temporal manipulation whatsoever!

_________________________________

I am waiting for the moment when Candle Light is faced with the realization that she cannot bear to go back to a male body. There are a lot of things that could be done with this; some involving how such a virtual world could be run, and some involving how humans adapt - or don't, and some involving both aspects. There is tons of potential story and drama in all of it, and that is an eager expectation for me.

[Walabio]

I see trouble on the horizon with CandleLight wanting to convince her family to move to Equestria; her wife might consider that suicide. If I would be she, I would not even bring it up; Equestria is so much better than Earth that her family will almost certainly decide to emigrate to Equestria.

[Walabio]

11695105

> "The explanation, according to my research, is that life is mostly routine. The older you get, the fewer new experiences we have. New experiences are treated very differently by the brain than ordinary or usual experiences. When we are children, everything is still relatively new - even routine things. This is not so in later life. In childhood, we a year may be a full 10th of our entire lifespan! In our sixties, a year is one sixtieth of our life span. A tiny fraction. By comparison alone, it seems very short."

That reminds me about a story I read on this site about 5 years ago. It had a stallion with a neurological condition adopt a filly. Basically, if he did something previously, he could neither tell when he 1stly did it, lastly did it, nor how many times he did it. He explained this to his soon-to-be daughter. She responded that she supposed that he could not tell how many times that he already saw her. He replied that because this is not familiar to him, he can tell that this is the 1st time, but tomorrow, he will not know whether he just adopted her or whether he adopted her years ago.

¡Think about all of the memory compressing similar events saves (given that this compression-technique is lossy, it leads to inaccuracies, sometimes, but thus is life)!