[MLP:FiM-HiE] Arrow Mision Contact Logs

Hey, if you start referring to yourself in third person and challenging people to duels, I won't complain.

I never did understand why the audience was against her from the start, she was pretty entertaining (now the people she humiliated and their friends after she humiliated them, on the other hand, but there seemed to be negative feeling before that).

I mentioned this in my previous post, but I can't wait to see what happens when the observer sees a spell that technically breaks the laws of nature, such as the Transmorphic spell mentioned on the show. Wait, does transforming something into something else really break any kind of law of nature, or it is just another method involving atom "sculpting", which I've heard can be conceivably done with sufficiently advanced tech?

Atom sculpting, for those who don't know, it like an advanced type of nanotechnology technique. Instead of having robotic nanomachines shifting individual atoms around, you have robots moving sub-atomic particles, creating new forms of matter.

Check out the website Orion's Arm, a hard sci-fi worlbulding project/website to get a sense of what I'm trying to describe here.

Check out their articles on nanotechnology and Magmatter to get a sense of what I mean. I don't think such tech exists yet in this story's timeline, but it's likely the observer might be aware of such concepts and might use them to rationalize what he's seeing.

I wonder how our astronaut will get across to Twilight Sparkle just WHY Earth sent him to take a look at their planet.

"A geocentric system? That goes against everything we know about science! WE MUST KNOW WHY IT'S LIKE THAT!"

I thought the eggheads back on Earth were under the impression that the star was orbitting a black hole until the ship got close enough to get a proper look at the system?

IIRC Nope they thought it at first then they turned the really big telescope on it and spotted Equistria hence the ship."

SJC is correct.

They thought the star was orbiting a black hole at close range. It was only after the TNCRT performed a routine black hole observation that they discovered things weren't quite what they expected.


By the way, I may alter the log. I might increase the rotation of the planet so that the orbital period of the star comes down to more manageable velocities. Anyone want to calculate a new reasonable value?

You could always just invert the Earth-Sun system. Have Equestria's star orbit it every 365.24 days, while Equestria itself rotates every 24 hours.

Well Celestia is supposed to be directly involved with the day-night cycle, which she wouldn't be in such a setup.

One could argue that all she's doing is rotating the planet, and the "moves the sun across the sky" is a dumbed-down explanation/propaganda, though in that case, a) you don't actually need something radically different from a standard setup, b) it leaves Luna doing the more impressive job, c) exposing Celestia as a fraud would not fit this story.

One could do a mixed setup where planet and star orbit each other like in a binary system, and the planet rotates to create the appropriate day cycle. It's a bit of crutch storywise, though. If the day cycle is made by planetary rotation anyway, there is no logical reasion left to have Celestia move the star except to a) have her fulfill her canonical job and b) have a fic story when humanity takes notice of the weird mechanics.

Keeping the original setup and just not taking a closer look at the physics looks actually rather attractive.

I am a big fan of KISS. Don't worry about all the physics involved, just do enough to pass inspection. Highly technical procedures bog down the story anyway, what's making this so good is the character approaches, and the thought going into a GOOD first contact.

Over on FiMFiction, there's a little bit of a spat going on between two commenters about the Ravenstar.

Shira, I think that's the name, doesn't like the design of the XR-2... Thing is, I'm getting the impression he/she thinks I designed the craft and thinks of it as unoriginal. I can't log in from here, but would someone mind making a comment to them that the XR-2 is actually an Add On for Orbiter?

In fact, let them know that the XR2 is one of the most complicated add ons from Altea Aerospace.

http://www.alteaaerospace.com/index.html

I didn't make craft, I just flew it and used it in the story since I know how it behaves. (And in all the screenshots, I actually flew it into the positions detailed in the logs.)

Done, you may now grovel before me for my generosity.

Just did so.

Seconded. Just say that according to telescope observations the system would seem impossible (which it is if Celestia is moving the star), which would be a very good reason to send a ship to check it. Just remember to be vague on the details.

This approach also has the good feature of preserving Celestia's physics-sneering awesomeness.

I took a look at the discution. The person you were refering to is Blacksmith Din. He said that he never said he thought you made it (indeed he did mention Orbiter...in that he didn't know much about it, but still, he knews the ship is from there), but I can understand how you came to that conclusion.

He's spending he's time complaining about the ship in a place that's meant for discussing what you've done. So, it comes off as him thinking you made the ship, since the comments are meant to dicuss your work. Coupled with the fact that you missed his acknowledgement of orbiter, it look like he was talking like it was your design from your perspective.



But enough of that. On the fic itself, let me say that I'm once again amazed by the work you have done. I've know that first contact usually involves math, but I never really understoood how. Thanks to this fic you've made, I understand it's better now. I thank you for for being both entertaining and informative. Also, as someone on FIMfiction asked, are those yellow eyes the protag sees Zercoa's eyes? Or are they the Manticore's. I don't remember if you mentioned if the eye's appeared feline or not.

Lyra or Ditzy/Derpy, perhaps?

It's just Zecora keeping an eye out on the strange (and noisy) creature wandering around.

Ah, so they are Zecora's eyes. I had originally wrote them off as the manticores eyes. When logs mentioned how the eyes retereded back in the forest every time the protag put his hand on his firearm, I thought it was the manticore recoiling in fear of the device.

Speaking of which, is Zecora the reason Twilight knew about the protag's injury? Since Zecora is the one who recoils at the sight of the gun at his side, she'd of had to seen it in action.

If the yellow eyes belonged to Zecora, then I believe the presence he kept feeling (and got a few glimpses of) that watched him from orbit, the forest, and his new spot outside of town is Luna.

I wonder what creative nickname(s) the ponies give their new friend since he has some very funny ones that he has given them to refer to them as.

Just saw the lastest chapter up on FimFiction Admiral, and I'm really enjoying the way who are handling the language barrier. I notice how who're making Twilight a key player into establishing a dialogue between the Observer and the denizens of Equestria, similar to how Twilight told Celestia about everyone else's lessons in friendship, because she was the only one in Ponyville with a direct line to the princess. I wonder if RD or AJ will be able to communicate with the human anytime soon. Yes, Twilight could tutor them in their free time and yes, just because thy're both athletic doesn't make them book dumb, but I can see them lacking the drive to learn an alien language within months, let alone years.

Still, it will be interesting if everypony comes over to the Raven at the same time. God knows what Rarity will do to the guy's living quarters if she decides to play interior decorator. Loved the scene with her making the guy a new outfit, by the way. That idea has become a huge cliche in HiE stories, but you made it entertainingly fresh to read somehow.

This fic is reminding me more and more of a sci-fi version of Gulliver's Travels (without the satirical subtext, of course ) And since Gulliver's Travels is one of my favorite books, that is high praise indeed. Heck, if think about it, there are a surprising number of similarities between the Houyhnhmns and Equestrians!

Just got around to reading the latest two chapters. Minor nitpick, but I really don't see unicorn magic being translated as "magic". Unless she came across particularly easy to understand fantasy novels with similar magic or something. Because otherwise a) the word is unlikely to appear, b) if it does it's as something definitionaly supernatural.

I don't necessarily agree with schpeelah's nitpick, but @Tigerclaw, if you do change it, note that Randy used telekinesis/TK several times in his logs, which Twilight presumably read, so it would be obvious for her to use that.

Eh, Rarity doing the cothes thing is less like a Cliche' and more like a Standard Operating Procedure for her. I would be more worried if she DIDN'T want to make something for the new alien friend.

Besides, think about her reaction to that flight suit.

"Oh. My. STARS! THAT, is the most TACKY thing I have EVER seen on ANY creature, Pony or no. I mean look at this. BRIGHT! ORANGE! Top to bottom. It's completely inapropriet for any season but fall and just SCREAMS immaturity and deprivation. Who in their right mind would wear such a thing and expect to be taken seriously? He looks like a giant walking pumpkin! I don't care if he IS a strange alien creature, we're going to march right on down to the boutique and fix this... this... THING!"

*Cue tug with magic*

Now I wondering about her reaction to the EVA suit...

True, the ponies tend to stick to their special talents in HiE stories. I think, having read quite a few HiE fics, that I've mapped out a few of the most overused cliches:

1) If the human is injured or finds themselves lost in the Everfree forest, the first pony they meet will be Fluttershy, who will be the first to approach them and introduce them to the rest of Ponyville.

2) If not Fluttershy, Twilight will be the first to approach the human OC.

3) Rarity will become fascinated by the human's clothes and/or offer to make them an entirely new ensemble.

4) Pinkie Pie throws a party

5) Rainbow Dash doesn't trust the human OC at first.

One of the most surreal scenes I have ever read in a MLP fic is when Pinkie throws a party for Rorscach of all people, and damn if it's not the funniest thing ever.

You've managed to circumvent most HiE fic cliches while adding a lot of realism to the "sub-genre's" premise. Okay, question for you Admiral:

Does the Observer hear "horse-like" noises when the Equestrians speak? I mean, when Equestrians talk do they speak in a sequence of whinnys, snorts and grunts? We do hear the ponies in the show make real horse noises all the time, mostly for rule of funny purposes. Or is the Observer hearing something similar to a foreign earth language?

There are only three HiE fics I can think of where the lack of a language barrier is lampshaded or adressed at all. This fic is one of them, obviously. The other two are Article 2 by Muppetz and What Seperates by Zurock.

It'd be interesting to see if someone deliberately subverted the pattern while still ensuring everyone stays IC.

Links? Though I've heard mixed things about the latter.

I also recall a random fic in which a soldier from Afghanistan ends up in Equestria that also featured the language gap.