mylittlejamjar | [Visual] -5th Shadow-

Hey Equestria...I got a question for you, mostly this is for the other outlanders like myself, but...anyone is free to weigh in here. I'd like the input.

How many of you use friendship, or similar bonds, as a source of strength for yourselves back home?

Some pretense to that...where I come from there are creatures called Digimon. I myself am half-digimon. Long story to that, but I won't bore you with the details right now. A digimon is a creature born of digital data, they are however highly receptive to emotions and can grow stronger as they grow closer to others, becoming stronger and stronger as those bonds mature and grow.

Emotions from those that we make friend with rub off on us, we can become stronger, or weaker because of it, or we can become too strong that we can't control ourselves.

[He rubs at his cheek with a hoof and sighs deeply.]

Not only digimon have exhibited this trait, though. There is another being called a Net Navi where I'm from, another digital life-form, this one artificially created by humans. There's an entire battle tournament surrounding them even. A Navi and their NetOp, when they have a strong enough bond, can create powerful combinations with battle chips. They can even fuse together, share the core of their beings with another, the NetNavi’s can even form friendships of their own that unlock hidden potentials...

[ He holds a hoof over his chest reflexively, almost like he was reassuring himself about something...]

The core of my question is how many of you have something similar back home? An undertone to that is how many of us have forgotten about that? That we've taken it for granted or just forgotten our own basics? This place works on its own rules. Just like those of NetNavis, or Digimon...working together, believing in one another...we’ve heard it a lot lately, and seen that here, it’s its own force to be reckoned with. Friendship. We’re all in this together, and if we're going to-

[He stops short and scoffs softly to himself.]

Sorry. Getting off track...Anyways...just something I’ve been thinking about lately. If anyone would rather speak with me in person or private, you’re always welcome to call on me at the commune or approach me while I’m on duty in the Night Market.

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[A switch in the pony's demeanor, show's he looks far more tired than he may have been letting on.]

Hey, Dante...Vergil...I may I need your guys help with something. I dunno if you can, but I'd rather it be the two of you than others. I'd uh...rather speak somewhere off scroll, about it though. If you can, meet me at the Decanter.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Yeah, two younger brothers, both with powers of their own.

...Although we just realized Jack-Jack had powers recently.

Nice! A family of heroes, huh? When they manifest young can be a bit troublesome...

My kids are like me, though they show a lot more of the...physical traits associated with digimon...one son can actively change forms, the other seems to have a knack for plants, and my daughter...well I think she inherited a lot of my genes.

I worry about them though. They just entered public school.

Oh yeah...Being in school while having to hide your powers isn't always easy.

[She definitely knows.]

...hide?

[He tilts his head.]

Well...we don't necessarily hide our powers...generally speaking. Telling them to do that would...be stifling I think. Plus for Serena...it's hard to hide horns, tail, wings and claws.

...Really? So is the school just okay with all the...strangeness?

We have powers...but that doesn't mean they don't deserve as much normalcy as possible.

[He frowns a little.]

That aside...it was surprisingly easy. When you have the children of heroes in your school, it makes you look good...true some of the parents were nervous...PTA meetings can be a bit....tense....

[Someone once called his children freaks...Crmsn was only happy to straighten that out.]

Thanks to my own powers I always can keep an eye on my children thankfully...more for their protection than anything. Someone did think they could get away with kidnapping them once...didn't end well for them though.

I bet not.

[If it ended up like when someone tried to kidnap her brother.]

Still...that's pretty cool that they get to be themselves...

[Her tone is a bit wistful.]

[She wouldn't be far off the mark. Only less hubris more...pissing off Dad 3. You don't want to piss off Dad 3. He notices the tone shift and smiles at her a little softer.]

Well...they do, but so long as they don't abuse their powers. There's the social stigma too...

[There are other things he worries about, but that's not something for here really.]

When they're older we'll give them some proper training and help them understand and hopefully learn that they shouldn't rely on their powers for everything...as much fun as it can be.

[he laughs a little.]

Yeah...but it must be nice not having to hide them all the time.

...hiding what we are is hard. Being what we are is hard, some might say harder.

I'm sure your parents are just looking out for your best interests. They want you to be happy, and I know it can seem like they're unfair sometimes......I'm sure you know that though. You seem a very smart girl.

Yeah, I know...it wasn't really their fault, either...They were hiding as much as we were.

[Except maybe her dad, but that's a different story.]

[Dad's are notoriously bad at hiding those things.]

Well! All hiding aside...we can be a bit more liberal with ourselves here right?

That bein' sad...Super powers...mine was some slight super strength and a manipulation over shadows. What's yours?

[She smiled at that.] Yeah.

[Even with the strangeness of being ponies, she had to admit she enjoyed the freedom of being able to use her powers without anyone freaking out.

And she can see now why it was hard for her dad to hide them.]

Uh...force field generation and invisibility.

Whoa, nice. There's a lot you can do with those I bet.

[He chuckles lookin' at her a little slyly.]

You ever think of using them at school?

Err... [That's something of an embarrassed smile.] I...have, actually...

[Don't tell her parents.]

A-At least the invisibility...it's pretty good for hiding when I didn't want to be noticed. I didn't use it too often, though, because then people get weirded out by floating clothes...

[He laughs brightly.]

I can see what you mean. Guessing your invisibility is pretty self based huh? Seems to be the MO for those usually.

[He won't he promises.]

It's an interesting power though. One of those "if you were..." kind of powers...

Yeah, pretty much. The supersuit I have now is really the only set of clothes I have that turns invisible when I do.

Oh? Guessing it was something that was made specifically for you with your powers in mind then? That's pretty cool.

[Note to self create something similar when you get home.]

Gonna guess it's not the kind of thing you wear around school though.

Yeah. Apparently an old friend of my parents makes suits for Supers. So she's got all kind of equipment to simulate powers.

[Or something like that.]

No not really...at least not that people can see it.

[She's getting better about hiding her suit under her normal clothes, though.]

Whoa, nice. Talk about cornering a market. Bet she could really make a living off of that too.

[Mind he means that as a businessman.]

Just so long as you keep it that way, huh?

[There's a slight wink there.]

Parents wouldn't be too keen on the idea of you gettin' found out I'd imagine.

Nah, I think she gets most of her money designing for fashion shows. The Super suits thing seems to be...more of a hobby.

Pretty much. It's starting to get better as far as Supers getting to use their powers...but you can't have a secret identity if everyone knows who you are.

Ah, a woman with a plan. S'kinda what I do too. Build cybernetics for medical use, but like to build robots bionic bodies on the side as a hobby.

It really sounds like Supers had it rough where you're from.

Mm...you could say that. Even before I was born, Supers had to be in hiding and pretending to be normal because we weren't allowed to use our powers.

Edited 2014-10-29 09:55 (UTC)

[Visual] -5th Shadow-

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