open Rediscovering Equestria (G5)

[Plum Blossom]

Plum Blossom's ears perked up listening to Mango describe Zephyr Heights. However, there were a few words that she didn't understand. "Uh, what does eddy mean? And wardens? Why did you stop? And you say that ponies from outside of Zephyr Heights have stumbled in? What usually happens to them?" Plum Blossom asked. She thought that this wind character was quite interesting, blowing ponies towards Zephyr Heights and demanding respect from the pegasi that lived there. 

When Dusty Scrolls asked Mango Eve about the society there, it reminded Plum Blossom of what she saw earlier with Pipp. "Yeah earlier I saw Pipp Petals talking into a small box. She was saying stuff like 'social media' and 'subscribers' and 'live streaming' and 'likes' and 'selfies'. What does that even mean? Why is she talking into a box? Do all ponies in Zephyr Heights do that?" Plum Blossom asked. She thought Pipp was a little crazy talking into a box with all her random mumbo jumbo. 

Plum Blossom turned back to Dusty Scrolls. "The crystals reminded you of magic that you lost? Interesting. But if that made the rest of the ponies depressed, than what's going on with Izzy? Did you know Izzy before all this? I mean, Reality Check knew about her. Say, Reality Check, how would you describe your use of magic to draw? And how would you be good at something that you have never done before? Is it like intuition, or subconscious or something like that?" Plum Blossom asked, turning between the two unicorns.

[Reality Check 627]

After hearing Plum saying about Pipp speaking to a box makes him slightly curious. Ever since he first arrived in Maretime Bay, he couldn't help but notice that the technology here is rather advanced compared to Bridlewood, which is more mystical themed. Now after hearing that, Reality couldn't help but wonder exactly how technologically advanced Zephyr Heights is.

"I... wouldn't say it's very different from using my hooves. The only difference I can think of is that I'm holding my pencil by levitation. Aside from that, I'm just drawing the same way as I did without magic." Reality explained to the best of his ability. "As for how I'm good at it, I think it's like I said. The only difference is that I'm using levitation. Once I got used to it, the rest is pretty easy for me."

"Oh, and as for Izzy, I think a lot of ponies from Bridlewood knew who she is, mostly because of her personality. As for how she's able to stay that way, that's something even I don't know. As far as I know, she's been like that for as long as I've known her."

[Mango Eve]

Mango extended a wing to  brush against the rubble of the former lighthouse - glancing at it sadly. 

In response to the Zephyr-based curiousity she says to Dusty: "Oh I didn't travel to the top all that much.. other than for celebrations... and shopping. I got my first iPone there. It's sparkly and everything at the top.. the air could be a bit stale up in the malls though - I preferred the base of the mountain." Mango turns to Plum, smiling at the cute looking purple earth pony - some ponies were just infectiously cute :3 "An eddy is the best thing ever. It makes your feathers go 'whooosh!'" Mango extends her orange wings to catch the evening breeze. "Wardens are ponies who guard things. Zephyr is full of wardens. Mall wardens. Royal wardens. Temple wardens. It's wardens who used to keep us 'safe' from you earthies and you... uh... hornies." she gestures to Dusty and Reality. "Social media is where pegasi spread their wings. My ma and pa used to talk to each other with their boring old mouths, but now I contact most of my friends on my iPone by taking selfies, pouting and captioning it." Mango whips out a small sleek block, and turns the camera on it to her face, pouts and angles it so that everypony is in the shot - shortly after the snap she hooves a message beneath it 'Hanging out at the Lighthouse with my new earth and unicorn pals!' Even though she has only just posted it, there is already a dinging of replies.

[Dusty Scrolls]

Dusty answered Plum's question: "From what I heard Izzy is really different from the other unicorns. Due to her highly optimistic personality, she never let any bad thoughts about the lack of magic get the better of her."

All the talk about the social media got him interested. "Can you explain to me how that 'iPone' thing works? And is the pouting mandatory when using it?" He asked Mango half-jokingly.

He also wanted to have a comparison with the earth pony technology, so he asked Plum: "What about Maretime Bay, any interesting inventions you have here?"

[Plum Blossom]

"That pone makes weird noises," Plum Blossom remarked, pointing at Mango's phone. She had never heard of such a thing before. While Maretime Bay had cameras, they didn't look like that or make weird pinging noises. She assumed that it was like some kind of camera, and she would have believed that it was magical, but magic didn't exist until a few hours ago. "Yeah, how does it work?" Plum Blossom asked.

"You have friends in Zephyr Heights? What are they like? Are they nice? What do they think of other species? Can we go meet them sometime?" Plum Blossom asked Mango Eve when she mentioned them.

"Izzy certainly is interesting. I guess I should ask her about herself when I get a chance. I heard she likes to make stuff," Plum Blossom noted.

"Oh, the technology that Maretime Bay has? Well let's see, we have a lot of 'Canterlogic junk' as Sunny over there likes to say. I started questioning their products after the balloon escape thing or something like that caused a pony to end up getting blown out the window. Like seriously dude. What else do we have? Oh yeah, we got cameras. They are thicker than that and they don't have deli bells inside of them though," Plum Blossom said, pointing to Mango's camera, "And if we want to talk to somepony, we use the telephone! We also have the movies and a trolley that goes around town..." Plum Blossom rambled.

[Mango Eve]

Mango gazes briefly at the picture she took - Plum mid snout-open as she cutely yet practically questions, Dusty with a thoughtful look on his peach fur, small colt-horn aquiver with curiosity, Reality engrossed in his notepad... she was pleased with the pic as she was also pleased with these ponies. Of course all the other ponies saw was a brief, but still frustratingly intent, gaze at the strange block. 

Mango's furry ears register their questions despite her focus on the iPone, and once her mind returns to the situation, she raises her eyes from it answers: "Oh this thing? Not sure! For years the best pegasi have worked their feathers off on little things like this that kind of 'think'. When I was in my classes on pony physics, they explained that it used the same stuff that lightning is made of? I wish I could tell you more - I kind of flunked that class. Too dry for me. I'd prefer to see the lightning set free."

Turning from the subject of her iPone, Mango's eyes light up as Plum asks about her friends. "Oh my gosh yes! There's Sable - my bestie - she loves to trot along the Zephyr with me - that's the river near my house. She messaged me already to tell me she and her family are having a *flying* holiday! Actual flying! Like a princess! You'd love her." Mango is about to continue with more friends but gets a sense that the conversation has been on her a little much, so she asks, "And your friends? Have you got any... Blossom pals?" she signals the attempt at a joke with a wink and gives Plum a little tail flap. She extends the look to the colts too - interested in hearing about their unicorn friends. 

[Dusty Scrolls]

"About that trolley," Dusty asks Plum, "I've seen it and I'm wondering how it's powered. In Bridlewood, after the loss of magic, we mostly use animals to power things, but it doesn't seem to be the case here."

Then he proceeds to answer Mango's unspoken question about his unicorn friends. "My friends? I wouldn't say I have close friends in Bridlewood, I just hang out with my classmates from time to time. I guess with all that depressed attitude, we weren't able to create strong bonds between us. I know you all only for several hours, but I already feel I'm closer to you than to anypony from my class."

[Reality Check 627]

Reality couldn't help but cringe at Mango's jokes. Instinctively, he covered his smile with his sketchbook, hoping none of them would notice. At first, he didn't notice her jesture to him since he wasn't looking, but then he heard Dusty talk about his friends, which made him look up. After noticing that Mango was looking at him as well, he put down his sketchbook.

"The only one I considered as a friend back then was Izzy. We hung out with each other a lot, we'd usually do a lot of arts and crafts with each other... Well, mostly Izzy, she tells me about her ideas for what to make and I just sketch them out." Reality explained. "Other than her however, I don't really have any other friends. Most of the time, I'm either drawing on my sketchpad or spending time in the cafe."

[Plum Blossom]

"Lightning? In that? Wow that sounds dangerous. Are you sure it isn't going to explode or something?" Plum Blossom questioned. She stared at the phone suspiciously and backed up a bit from it. It felt like Mango trying to explain what a phone was only made her more confused. Now, she thought it was a half camera half telephone with a deli bell and some lightning inside.

"Let's see, I have a two friends from school, like Sugar Belle and Toodleroll.  For some reason, even though all three of us have already gotten our cutie marks, Toodleroll is obsessed with the idea of being 'Cutie Mark Crusaders' and trying everything like we are still searching for them. She even suggested the idea of building a treehouse somewhere on the Plum farm and forming a secret society! And then there was the time she suggested that we try and get our cutie marks in rollerblading. Sugar Belle and I ended up crashing into Sunny," Plum Blossom rambled, reminiscing about all the fun things they did last week. "You know, sometimes Toodleroll is pretty crazy, but she has some fun ideas."

"Oh, the trolley is powered by something called electricity," Plum Blossom said. "Yeah, we use electricity to power things instead of lightning or whatever. Like how would you use lightning to power things? Most ludicrous thing I have ever heard..."

[Mango Eve]

Mango looks a little sad at Dusty's answer and is about to respond when Reality mentions Izzy, who she knew, appreciating the artsy connection. She is curious about one thing, however, "Weren't all you unicorns sorta.. sleepy? I think I remember Pipp streaming something about that?"  she asks the green unicorn colt, ears forward curiously.

In response to Plum's question about the device Mango will giggle, "It's not like sky-lightning it stays... um... inside? Honestly, I am the worst pony to ask - it's useful though." When Plum later mentions electricity Mango blushes, remembering the word from her Physics teachers. She knew she should have paid attention in that class!  

In relation to the question about friends, Mango smiles at Plum's friend Toodleroll who reminds her a great deal of Sable. "She sounds loads of fun!" Mango says genuinely, and smiles, her ears relaxing at a perky vertical, Will we get to meet her?"

 

[Dusty Scrolls]

Dusty continued the discussion about what powers the trolley and Mango's phone. "Electricity? You mean the thing that happens when you rub amber with cloth? For what I know, lightning is the same thing, but on a much larger scale... I didn't know electricity could be used to power things, I must learn everything about it!"

Then he noticed something unusual in what Plum said. "Sugar Belle... I think I heard that before, isn't it the name of one of the famous unicorns of old times? And 'Cutie Mark Crusaders' sounds familiar too... Anyway, I really want to meet all your friends! Yours too, Mango."

He answered Mango: "Yeah, we were kind of sleepy, except Izzy of course. I hope it will change now when we have magic."

[Reality Check 627]

As Reality was listening, he was a smiling a little as he was hearing about the activities Plum and her friends did. "Sound like you've got some good friends with you." Reality commented. Though when Plum explained that the trolley was powered by electricity, a question came into mind. "Wait, isn't electricity normally dangerous? How do you use that to power devices without getting shocked?"

Reality then faced Mango, regarding her question about unicorns bring sleepy. "Yeah, a lot of unicorns at the time are kind of lethargic is some form. There are a few exceptions, Izzy especially. Though I think it's safe to say it'll begin change overtime, now that we have magic that is."

[Plum Blossom]

Despite Mango further trying to explain how her phone worked, Plum Blossom was still suspicious of it and how it could contain lightning in there. She made sure to keep her distance, unaware of the fact that the phone was also powered by electricity. "Well if you want to find out about electricity, you should ask the engineers at Canterlogic. They know more than me and not everything they make is 'Junk'. Electricity is used for a lot of things, such as for heating, cooling, the lights... Apparently, if you wrap the wires carrying the electricity with something that's not a metal, you can touch the wire and not get shocked," Plum Blossom rambled.

When the unicorns talked about how Bridlewood was very sleepy, Plum Blossom was intrigued. "I heard from Sunny that unicorns used to be very powerful. I wonder how they will change with magic returning," Plum Blossom pondered.

Plum Blossom perked up when the others mentioned her friends. "Oh, we can meet them all tomorrow morning. Talking about that, I think I should let my parents know that I have friends over," Plum Blossom said before darting out of the room. She soon came back with two other mares. One of them was carrying four sleeping bags.

"Hi, I'm Pluot Plum, Plum Blossom's older sister," the one carrying all of the sleeping bags said. "Here, you can all sleep on these. Breakfast is at 8:30 tomorrow morning," she explained before leaving.

"And I'm Mirabelle Plum, Plum Blossom's mom. You made friends with the other species already? Wow, that's impressive. Here are your plushies. I was washing them for you," Mirabelle Plum said, handing Plum Blossom her Princess Twilight and Spike plushies. Now it looks like one of you is already asleep, so the rest of you should go to sleep soon too. Goodnight Blossom."

"Yeah I'm tired, let's go to sleep and continue talking in the morning," Plum Blossom said with a yawn. She got in bed, snuggled up under the covers, and cuddled her plushies as Mirabelle Plum turned off the lights.

Edited March 31, 2022 by Ocean Wavedream

[Mango Eve]

Mango assumes that Plum understands her iPone, and tries as best she can to answer Dusty - she imagines that cloth and amber must be something unrelated and suggests that maybe her iPone is powered by a 'different type' of lightning. She smiles when he mentions meeting her friends, and she says that of course he and the others must visit her home in Zephyr heights and meet Sable and her other friends.

She is intrigued by Reality Check's answer, wondering about the source of the sleepiness and Izzy being different - she also wondered if it was related to her inability to fly. She conveys some of this wonder, although she doesn't want to load down the green unicorn with too many questions, and expresses the hope to visit Bridlewood :3 She is similarly intrigued by the mention of Sugar Belle and the ponies of ancient Equestria, although the names are not familiar to her.

Mango, being well brought up, politely welcomes the older pony and Plum's mom, but when it comes to sleep she will be too excited to cuddle up under the blankets with the grey pot-belly teddy she takes everywhere, called Winnifred. After lights out for a while she will hiss, "Pssst! Anypony still awake?"

[Dusty Scrolls]

"Good evening. I'm Dusty Scrolls, nice to meet you," Dusty said to Plum's sister and mother in a sleepy voice.

He slipped into the sleeping bag. He left all his plushies at home, but he didn't really need them here. He wasn't the kind of pony that would fall asleep immediately though, so he started thinking about electricity flowing in wires. He didn't know how it could work, there was so much to learn...

His thoughts got interrupted by Mango's hissing. "I am, what's up?" He asked quietly.

Edited April 4, 2022 by PawelS

[Reality Check 627]

Hearing Plum's answer to his question as well as the other uses of electricity, he just nodded slightly in understanding, hoping not to interrupt her too much. Reality is starting to feel a bit sleepy as Plum went on. After Plum's family members brought sleeping bags, Reality simply looked at them tiredly and waved at them as he got and slipped into his sleeping bag. As he did, he took off his own hat and hugged it in his chest, placing his hoof over it before falling asleep.

Barely able to hear the hissing, Reality cracked one of his eyes open to see what was going on. It was a bit blurry and dark, so he could slightly make out what's going on in front of him.

[Plum Blossom]

Plum had been making sleeping noises up until then, but when she heard Mango whisper, her eyes flew open. "What? I'm still awake," Plum Blossom said, shifting around in her bed to face Mango Eve and rubbing her eyes sleepily. "But could we talk about it in the morning? I'm tired."

Plum Blossom wondered what Mango wanted to talk about that was so important that it couldn't wait until morning. It appeared that the others hadn't immediately fallen asleep either because they also replied to Mango.

[Plum Blossom]

Plum Blossom wasn't exactly sure what happened next because she could feel her eyelids struggle to stay open. "I don't know about you, but I'm tired and I'm going to sleep," Plum Blossom yawned. She got back into a comfortable position under the covers and cuddled her Twilight plushie as she fell asleep. She couldn't remember if Mango Eve said anything after that.

Plum Blossom woke up to the sun shining through her window and the smell of pancakes being made in the kitchen. "Well yesterday night certainly was quite the night," Plum Blossom yawned as she stretched in bed, getting the early morning sleepiness out of her. "So, is anypony else awake yet? I don't know about you but I'm starving!" Plum Blossom said. She looked around to see if anypony else had woken up yet, and if they hadn't, she would poke them gently and see how they reacted. It appeared that Sunny Starscout was still asleep, because she didn't react to Plum Blossom's poking.

[Dusty Scrolls]

Dusty was awake, but he wasn't hungry yet and wanted to stay in the sleeping bag for a little longer. So he pretended to be still asleep, keeping his eyes closed and trying not to react to Plum's poking.

[Reality Check 627]

Reality woke up from Plum's poking and sunshine, with his hat still on his chest. As soon as he opened his eyes, the first thing that hit him was the smell of pancakes from the kitchen. The smell managed to snap him out of his unconscious state, though he's still groggy since he's not used to waking up early in the morning. "Mmmmh... hey Plum." He said tiredly, stretching his body inside the sleeping bag.

Soon enough, Reality got out of his sleeping bag and sat up, rubbing his eyes with his hooves. He still had his hat in front of him, but he's feeling too lazy to put it on. "Uh... might I ask what time is it...?" Reality questioned.

[Plum Blossom]

Plum Blossom would poke Dusty Scrolls and Mango Eve some more before giving up and turning to Reality Check. "Oh, what time is it?" Plum Blossom asked as she glanced at the digital clock on her bed stand. "It's 8:30 right now. Normally, my parents and older sister would make me wake up early but it's school break right now. Also, my parents said that their parents used to have to get up really early in the morning because 'technology' didn't exist back then. But now, because of 'technology', everypony gets to sleep in," Plum Blossom explained. She got out of bed and started straightening out the sheets, making sure to put her large princess Twilight plushie on her pillow where it wouldn't fall off. 

[Reality Check 627]

Reality just grumbles a bit as he stood up from his position. Using his magic, he quickly rolled and zipped the sleeping bag and threw his hat on his head. "Well, technology didn't exactly exist back in Bridlewood either, though even without it, I'm not used to waking up early in the morning." He said. "If anything, sometimes I just feel compelled to sleep in after staying overnight drawing for other ponies."

Reality blew his bangs aside as he left the room, though not before asking Plum before he left. "Oh and is there a place I can wash my face?"

[Dusty Scrolls]

Dusty was lying in the sleeping bag some more, thinking about all the unexpected and wonderful things that happened yesterday, and about his new friends. Finally he decided that it's time to get up. Plum and Reality were talking in the bedroom.

"Good morning! What's that smell?" He asked with a yawn. He didn't realize what it was yet.

[Plum Blossom]

"You draw for other ponies? I didn't realize that. The unicorns like your art? I thought they were all depressed and everything," Plum Blossom rambled to Reality Check. "And yeah, I thought about staying up late one night but it's 'overrated' as my sister says, whatever that means. Like if she doesn't get enough sleep, she will act really cranky before her morning cup of tea. The bathroom is the next door to the right. Wait, you know how to use toilets right? Because my classmates said that if you show a unicorn a toilet, they will break it."

"Oh my mother is making pancakes. You better get your sleepy head down there soon because once my sister gets down there, she will eat them all," Plum Blossom teased. Plum Blossom took a quick glance in the mirror and once she finished tying the bow in her hair, she opened the bedroom door. "Well I'm heading down to breakfast now. I don't know about Sunny Starscout though," Plum Blossom giggled as Sunny was still sleeping in her sleeping bag.

[Reality Check 627]

"It's called commissions. It's essentially what I do to make a living, though it'd call it more of a hobby honestly." Reality responded. "You're not exactly wrong. If anything, some ponies sorta come to me if they wanna something drawn. Sometimes it's for a memorable moment or they just want something to hang on their wall."

As soon as he heard he comment about breaking toilets, his ears and expression drooped in un-amusement. "I'm not even gonna asking." He commented before leaving for the bathroom. He followed Plum's directions and found the place he was looking for. Reality hanged his hat on one of the racks as he turned on the sink and washed his face. It didn't take long for him to feel more awake after feeling water splash on his face.