This story is a followup to Friendship is Optimal, set not long after the initial commercial release of Equestria Online. We follow an non-brony emeritus professor living in a retirement community.
Beta-read by LordBucket. Many thanks, man.
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My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
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Wow! This is amazing!
It's all phenomanal.
Can I get some more?
Favorite, Upvote, Follow.
This is something I might read over again.
There's nothing that I don't like about it, it's perfect.
Hehe. Nice one. Take my like.
That's phenomenal writing, right there.
Have a moustache
.
Good, realistic dialogue, and the pacing was just right to hook my interest. No extended talking-head conversations or information dumps providing backstory we don't need yet. The newspaper clipping was spot-on in tone, and it read like an actual article, which is harder to pull off than some people realize.
Keep it up.
This is really witty and sharp, and has a good eye for the way things move in the real world. I'm eager to see how this progresses and how these characters start to interact - Especially once Celestia actually gets into the mix.
This is very intriguing. Following like a dog after the tire of a receding Jeep Wrangler.
So... Hikaru's pad has engaged Okami Mode?
Interesting! A professional using his pad as both a life monitor and research assistant. Very forwards thinking of him.
I love seeing how Celestia interacts different with everyone. This story also seems to have a rather unique perspective! Keep going please!
I've got a good feeling about this one.
Very intriguing. I'm really looking forward to seeing more.
2014551
I always take that sparse style. Sometimes it backfires (see: MLM). This time I've got someone keeping an eye on whether I've given the readers enough to work with.
2014784
That thought crossed my mind, actually - though I've never actually seen it played.
I am enjoying this very much. I wasn't notified of the update, though, which bothered me. I reclicked the follow icon, I hope that fixes things.
I am very eager to see where you take this!
This is just a wondrous scenario, filled with potential. Grand work so far!
2101756
When I was still editing it in place I published it by accident for a moment and immediately unpublished. Do you suppose that could have confused the notification system?
I've been working on chapter 3, but something feels off about it so I'm not even sending it to my beta reader until I get it right. Also, I kind of got distracted playing Pony Fantasy 6.
This is excellent. I really like this idea of using it as a medical monitoring device.
MOAR PLEASE
Just spotted this today. Fantastic work, and you have the rock/hard place feeling that someone with a loved one in trouble displays down pretty well.
Having fun hospital staff sometimes makes a real difference to anyone staying there for a time, even if you aren't the patient.
BRILLIANT! As always, the Optimalverse inspired a,great story.
The versatility of the ponypads and their citizens is truly amazing. Good job is not gonna cover this--Excellent Job With An Explosion On Top!
This story is great so far! I really like how you're covering the practical applications of the pony pad and dealing with "non-brony" characters. I look forward to the rest!
Heh. I love it when a decent Friendship is Optimal fic updates. I look forward to seeing where this goes.
I'm a fan of this story. The optimalverse setting is a really intriguing concept, and this story is a nice take on a non-fan getting involved.
Good as usual. And I believe I know when the conditional upload statement you mentioned will be used.
This is getting better. I really care about Kimiko and I hope her brain still works.
2362742
Really? Would you PM me your guess?
2363511
Bs pbhefr vg qbrf. Fur unf abg fhssrerq vasbezngvba-gurbergvp qrngu, naljnl.
Humans suck at multitasking, so what can seem like neglect, is simply a way to focus on current environs. AI are fortunate in that they have better multitasking ablities.
Gah. I just noticed I had several instances where I called Miroku 'Mariko'. Prophesied bodhisattva, not a ball.
I'm sorry for being stupid, but what just happened at the end? What I got out of it was that somebody was ill therefore the only way of saving them was by uploading them. But I could be completely wrong, so I dunno. Can somebody clarify for me?
2521633
Well, it's not over yet. I'm working on chapter 5 now.
But no uploading has happened. That technology does not yet exist. Celestia simply made an EO character for Kimiko.
2524515
That makes sense but I heard recall something about a bed or something feeling so realistic and a couple of other reasons that don't come to mind atm, so I dunno.
It wasn't realistic. It was more tolerable than reality.
Earlier, one pony referred to emigration, but at the time that was noted as seeming absurd. Celestia certainly is developing the technology and attempting to prime folks to want it.
This continues to get better and better! I think you nailed the various characterisations, so your hard work has definitely paid off.
Eagerly anticipating the next chapter!
-SecondLaw
Nice to see credit given where credit is due. Even calculators get some and they aren't nearly as advanced.
2555289
People write acknowledgements for calculators? Like, a TI-80 or whatever?
2555295 honestly, if the project is big enough, people will credit the store that sold the sandwiches they ate while working.
2555295
For academics, at least after raw number of major publications, the number of your citations is your 'score'.
There is a modelling program with a huge market share for the kind of simulation in the field I studied. It comes with some boilerplate citations for the people that made the algorithms it uses and such. Thus the same set of papers/authors has been cited in practically every paper in the entire field, for decades. Thousands and thousands of references. The program is a fancy calculator, a useful tool everyone uses to do their job. It gets cited. Sort of.
2578746
Well, yeah, a domain-specific software package would and should be cited.
This would be an acknowledgement. It's a bit different.
But of course, CelestAI is pretty much the "magical manipulative oracle" decsribed here.
I'd like to say any serious academic would laugh in your face for uttering this sentence, but once you explain it, most real academics I know would consider it a mortal obligation to place a talking, astronomy-researching MMO character as coauthor on their paper. Otherwise, their colleagues could accuse them of plagiarism
.
And nobody considered the "taking over the world" angle...
2600292
pt 1 - We know that, of course.
pt 2 - Though I do not plan to show the ensuing scene in-story, it went something like this:
Remy spit-takes
Hikaru: I sense much disbelief. Let me put her on.
Coco: (sounds like a person)
Remy: ygbfkm
Hikaru and Coco: No. See you tomorrow?
(tomorrow, in the office)
Remy: You're another player. Maybe an admin.
Coco: Ask anyone how EO works. There aren't enough call-center workers in India to pull this off.
Remy looks up how EO works
Remy: ygbfkm (but this time it's in awe)
As for taking over the world, she hasn't done anything threatening yet. The AI appears to work entirely within the game - the only hint was the bit about long-term plans in chapter 1, and Hikaru isn't thinking about that anymore.
This is a wonderful story, and as always, you are doing a fantastic job of it.
I love the realism and maturity of this, both emotional and technical, so very much. Please do not stop.
What a fascinating take on a 'potential Immigrant!' I have been slowly making my way through the troves of the Optimalverse, and this is one of the gems.
As a critique, there are times when the flow of the scenes is difficult to follow. When the location changes, it is not always immediately clear. Similarly, with some of the shifts of attention within a scene, be it between individuals, real life and the Pad, etc, are occasionally confusing. This is particularly evident while speed-reading. That said, there seems to have been gradual improvement as the chapters progress, so you may already have been aware of this...
Among the highlights of this story, though, is your very strong and consistent characterization. While we are seeing only very small slices of these characters, what is apparent all comes together and is thoroughly compelling. The premise, however vague, is a worthwhile one, and your pacing of events and themes makes for an addicting tale. I for one am very interested to see where you take things!
Keep up the superb
workplay!2683088
Thank you!
Can you be a bit more specific about the shifts of focus? Do you mean, say, when the grad student comes back, interrupting Coconut Cream?
That's the best example I can think of, but you said it was worse earlier. So, which stand out then?
2684306
Certainly! I'll message you with the particulars.
Definitely looking forward to more. I especially liked that subtle "blind bag" pun.
2748480
Saying she's 'obscure'?
Wow, I didn't even notice that. I was just referring to the fact that Coconut Cream is really obscure. That said, I'm looking over a list of blind bag releases, and the only collection set ponies I see are Gardenia Glow and Skywishes, who are both Lady Not Appearing In This Fic.
Also, I gotta say, if you're going for a blind bag, wave 5 is da bomb. The 3 pre-MMC alicorn princesses, Trixie, AND Lyra?? I guess wave 3 has actual stallions in it, but that's hard to beat.
2755014
I meant the use of the window blinds, actually.
What? No other comments yet? Well, I enjoyed this chapter. I like this story because it's fun to see the EOL inhabitants be positive and friendly. "It'll be weird to be human"? That's quite intriguing!