private A Sparkly Situation (1x1 with Catpone Cerberus)

[Props Valroa 26,027]

@Catpone Cerberus

"I'd probably prefer the creepy ones honestly. I just like the idea of not everything being colorful or openly kind. I suppose that just goes to show how truly...different this world is from mine." she said, calmly. 

[Catpone Cerberus 23,426]

@-Buttercup-
"There's plenty of things not colorful or kind, they all just also happen to be very dangerous." "And that's why we prefer to not get involved with them." Equestria was very dangerous place if you didn't know what you were doing, everything from dangerous wild animals to dangerous forms of magic, it was really a miracle ponies managed to stay so safe. "Having been put in a cocoon, drained from my magic, enslaved, mind controlled...along many other things, i like my colorful nice things." there was some humor mixed in, but she also meant it, the excitement of bad things happening got stale when it happened almost weekly.

[Props Valroa 26,027]

@Catpone Cerberus

Sparkly rose an eyebrow at this. "Yeah, that is pretty bad. Well, last I remember before 'coming' here if you will was the rising cost of living, price inflation and incompetent leadership leading us into a spiral towards a recession, when everything is expensive and the quality of life goes down because of it. My species is not good at managing currency, I can tell you that, since every now and then we have random spikes and drops in how much things cost, to the point where it affect's people's abilities to make a living, while nobody does anything to resolve it. I can't say you have that around here, do you?"

[Catpone Cerberus 23,426]

@-Buttercup-
"Not to the extent that we would suffer." "Sure prices of things go up and down depending on availability of materials, the amount of competition and the current demand, but never so high that somepony can't feed themselves, and even if it ever got so bad, there would always be somepony with excess they would give for those in need." "The well-being of an individual depends on the well-being of everypony." that was more literal than one may think, with threats like windigos, it was truly for good of everyone to have everyone doing well "Some even live without really even needing money for anything and they are still perfectly fine." 

[Props Valroa 26,027]

@Catpone Cerberus

"Wish that was the way it was back home. Money is everything. If you don't have money, expect to live and beg on the street and be homeless. While there are people so rich that they own an entire nation's wealth. There are some that do a lot of good things with that, though, like donating and putting their focus towards advancing humanity as a whole - and then there are others who are not so good." she smiled calmly.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,426]

@-Buttercup-
"There has been and is some creatures like that, the griffons for example are generally pretty greedy, even rivaling dragons in that aspect, though they have gotten better with that, at some point in history things went bad for them and they are still suffering from it, their greatest cities looking worse than our poorest villages, though I think the Elements of Harmony helped them to start rebuilding, so they'll rise again eventually." Lunar explained "Then there was the Storm king, he stole the treasures of all he conquered, and shortly put, nobody grieved when he broke into pieces."  

[Props Valroa 26,027]

@Catpone Cerberus

"Can't say I am surprised by that. In some of the areas where I lived near, it was so poor that there were only dirt roads and run down trailers where people lived in. I do hope the ponies around here don't litter and leave garbage in their yards, like some people would do back home. Hmm, what do you want to do now?" she asked, wondering what they could do. 

[Catpone Cerberus 23,426]

@-Buttercup-
Neither mare could really comment on the garbage point, as they weren't really familiar with the poorer villages of Equestria, but with what they did know, they doubted it was a big problem anywhere, party because there wasn't really that much garbage generated in the first place, it was more places like Las Pegasus where trash could become a problem as it was a tourist location.

"I'd say we go with Lunar's suggestion, we'll go meet with Emerald while she gets materials."  

[Props Valroa 26,027]

@Catpone Cerberus

Sparkly agreed and got ready to go. She took a sip from the water cup she had to make sure she wouldn't get thirsty along the way. However if there was a water bottle that was available she would fill that up and take it with her. "Let's go, then." she spoke, ready to go and would follow Frail out the door. She would wish Lunar luck on finding the materials that she needed.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,426]

@-Solstice-
Frail asked Lunar's estimated time spend and if she needed a key so that she could get in Frail's house in case she was there before them, and after small discussion they concluded it to not be necessary. Frail then led the way out and into the city, she didn't know Emerald personally that well, but she knew about where to find him. "I don't know Emerald that well myself so I don't know what he is like, but I trust Lunar's judgement when she says he's trustworthy." 

[Props Valroa 26,027]

@Catpone Cerberus

Sparkly follows Frail along into the city. As they walked about the place she kept her eyes peeled and constantly looking throughout the area with unbridled curiosity. It was very interesting for her to be about a city like this, all the colorful ponies and unfamiliar sights were not something to forget. "Well, we'll go ahead and see. This city sure is beautiful, I like it here." Sparkly smiled, the sun glinting in her eyes somewhat. 

[Catpone Cerberus 23,426]

@-Solstice-
"I guess it is." Frail responded, sounding almost like she just realized it "You don't really pay attention to it when you see it every day, but it indeed is pretty...well, pretty." one got used to everything, but it being mentioned out loud, Canterlot indeed was quite special, since it was lot nicer looking than many other cities.

[Props Valroa 26,027]

@Catpone Cerberus

Sparkly nodded and looked into Frail's eyes. She definitely liked looking into Frail's eyes and just smiled innocently. "Pretty pretty - indeed. Look at all the colorful ponies. There isn't anything like that back home besides maybe like, marshmallows. Thinking about it, ponies do kind of look like marshmallows." she spoke to her calmly, as they walked. 

[Catpone Cerberus 23,426]

@-Solstice-
"Can't say I have heard the comparison before." Frail said humorously "Does your kind usually like to look into others' eyes?" she then asked suddenly, with her usual friendly way "Don't take it in a wrong way, it's just something I've noticed about you." she had been ignoring it, but she could tell when Sparkly looked at her and or Lunar, and while yes, ponies did meet eyes when talking, there was a notable difference 

[Props Valroa 26,027]

@Catpone Cerberus

"Well I mean, I don't see why we wouldn't. It's probably just more of a thing with me since you all are so different from what I am used to. It is so fascinating and I really like how colorful you and Lunar are, and all the other ponies." she chuckled, seemingly fascinated by that.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,426]

@-Solstice-
"It's kinda funny since Lunar and I are the least colorful ones from our friends." Frail remarked, they both were a bit unusual in color when compared to other ponies, but they weren't what she saw as very colorful, especially when compared to their friends.

The travel wasn't long, and soon enough they would arrive in front of a small shop, it was named Emerald's things, and from the window there was visible all kind of things, toys, small appliances, objects with single gimmicks, mainly physics based, and other thingamajigs and apparatuses, the one thing common with all of them being that they were all relatively small, nothing bigger than something like a microwave.

[Props Valroa 26,027]

@Catpone Cerberus

Sparkly walks up to the door of the shop after looking around at what the shop had to offer them here. It was pretty interesting to look at, all the knick nacks and all of that. Whoever Emerald was, perhaps she'd get along with him, she hoped that she would. "Well, what do you say? Let's head on in." she said, and would lead the way into the shop. 

[Catpone Cerberus 23,426]

@-Solstice-
Unlike in other stores here, there wasn't a bell on top of the door, instead there was a small box that let out a short musical melody when the door was opened. "One moment!" shouted a male voice from what one could assume to be the backroom, it was a young voice, notably higher in pitch than Smithy's, if Sparkly remembered his voice. It took a moment, but soon enough hoof steps was heard, and a young stallion appeared from a door not far from them, age wise he looked adult but younger than Frail and Lunar, he was...surprise surprise, emerald green in color, his eyes matching his coat, with blue, messy mane and tail, though that most likely wasn't what would get Sparkly's attention. 

On his body, there was lot of metal, a metal suit of some sort, covering his whole torso, leaving only his head, tail and legs visible. From that suit, six metal tentacle like appendages were coming out, in ends of which there were everything from claws for grabbing to some tools. 

"Good day and welcome, I'm Emerald Tinker and here you can find many things you didn't know you wanted." he quickly looked through the two visitors "Oh hi Frail, didn't expect to see you in my shop." "Neither did I, Lunar figured you'd like to meet Sparkly." Frail gestured to Sparkly, and Emerald offered one of his metal claws for a shake "It's nice to meet you, Sparkly." 

[Props Valroa 26,027]

@Catpone Cerberus

Sparkly looks to Emerald curiously, finding the display of his technology to be quite interesting. Even in her world she hadn't seen something like that in person and would graciously shake the metal claw that he offered her. "I heard that you are an inventor of sorts. I won't beat around the bush, I am not from this world. Let me show you some things, you may find interesting." she spoke and pulled the drawings she made out of her saddlebags and showed it to Emerald, wondering what he would think of it. "I can answer any questions you like about these to the best of my ability, but, I look forward to looking around your shop as well." she smiled calmly.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,426]

@-Solstice-
"Let's go to better light." Emerald said, leading Sparkly to the counter, there was a light right above it, making it one of the best lit areas in the shop that was visible, it was also a table, so it was easier to do everything. He studied the drawings for some moments, focusing on the ones with technology, and for now ignoring the ones with Earth and humans "Can't say I understand these fully, but I think I get the idea of how they work, we have similar things, though they work differently." he let out a thoughtful hmm, "So you're from different world too, and it's clearly a different place than my previous visitor because these things look totally different and somehow less advanced." "At least you didn't tell me these were designed by me, that was a weird thing to learn." "What do these use for fuel?" 

[Props Valroa 26,027]

@Catpone Cerberus

"Hydrocarbon combustion engines. Most use gasoline, others use diesel. We have some electric and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles but those are largely too expensive for common use." she said to him, a bit at a loss for words how casual he was at his comments about her being from a different world. "Although for rockets, from what I know, they use liquid oxygen and hydrogen, or methane. I do not know entirely how all of that works, though, I only have vague ideas on that." 

[Catpone Cerberus 23,426]

@-Solstice-
"I don't know what gasoline or diesel are, but that doesn't matter, since it's unlikely I would be able to get my hooves on them anyway, just wanted to know if it is something I know." Emerald said thoughtfully, he didn't react much to Sparkly being from different world because one, he was lot more interested in the technology rather than dimensional travel, and second, like Lunar and now he had stated, Sparkly wasn't the first pony he had met from different world. "I do know how combustion engines work, I've even made a prototype of sorts, but that didn't lead anywhere because there's several more efficient ways to get the same result, I've also yet to find a fuel that's easy to get and doesn't destroy anypony's health, or nature." "The few engines we use, are steam engines, used mainly in trains and some airships." "I've also made few small, firework sized rockets with various ways to launch them, but that's pointless fun for now since I have no way to track them beyond certain distance." the way he spoke made clear he was passionate about what he did.

Edited June 13, 2022 by Catpone Cerberus

[Props Valroa 26,027]

@Catpone Cerberus

"Well, gasoline and diesel destroy health, really. Emits exhaust that does enviromental damage. They are made out of decayed plant material crushed underneath of the planet's crust for millions of years to create complex hydrocarbons that are good for combustion engines. As for the types of batteries we use, well, lithium Ion is the better type. Lead Acid is another type, I am sure there are others...one untested technology I know of involves using diamonds as batteries." she added. "Well, for trains, we can use magnetic levitation to make them go hundreds of miles per hour, too. But that is expensive."

[Catpone Cerberus 23,426]

@-Solstice-
"I think I understood all of that, though none of that is reproducible here in the current day, if ever, some of the materials are hard to get and are harmful, and with some things they would be just ineffective, like your batteries, it's easier to just store magic and turn that into energy." Emerald stated thoughtfully, he wasn't trying to put down Sparkly in any way, rather, he was more thinking out as his mind processed the information, he was a inventor after all, his first thought about everything was 'could I use that' "Though I must state that I'm not really a vehicle pony myself in the first place, as I'm more focused on making lives of ponies better on individual level. Not saying I'm not interested of course, new ideas come from the weirdest places." 

Frail had at this point tuned out and kinda just lingered around, this was so far from being her thing that she didn't really listen.