The Sparkle Letters

Dear Princess Celestia,

I apologize for the delay between the previous letter and this one; I had many things to unpack, mentally speaking. I also had to find a way to get this letter to Spike--some of the crystals that I require for a return trip are not...present. They should be available via magic, but it will take time. For now, I have worked out a simple teleportation spell that will suffice for inanimate objects.

But, I'm getting off topic. After the previous letter, Barack and I sat down to dinner, and I made yet another startling discovery. Barack eats meat. In fact, he eats steak. I nearly fainted at the sight of it.

After he stopped me from falling out of my chair--human chairs are unusually large, as are humans--I asked him who he had slaughtered, how many. It took some time for him to explain the things I had not understood previously. You see, humans are the only species in their world which communicates. To their knowledge, cows--and horses--and all other animals--are completely mindless. What is--to me--a horrible crime, is to him merely the course of life. I immediately asked him if I could see a cow, and he replied that he knew of no convenient way to find one; they were kept far away from cities, in expansive pastures, to be fed until...

I apologize. It must be very hard to read this. I struggle to understand it even now. Barack says that he understands how hard it is to understand this--and he apologized, and said that he should not have eaten something that would upset me. He does not mean any harm to me. Perhaps I am overreacting? I feel so very confused. Barack says that there are some famous humans who may be able to help me.

Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.

Dear Princess Celestia,

I slept poorly. But, upon waking, I found that Barack had made pancakes. I put my past experiences behind me, and prepared myself to learn about a famous human named "Descartes". His name sounds oddly similar to the pony known as Haycart; I wonder if there are other coincidences like this one.

At least Descartes is easy to understand. He sought to work out a way of...well, working everything out. He was most famous for saying "I think, therefore I am"--that he could prove his own existence, because if he's going to doubt his own existence, then something must be doing the doubting. A brilliant leap of logic.

Descartes believed that good and evil can be proven, that they are like a mathematical equation or a scientific law. So, Barack said, we must be able to reason out whether it is good or evil for him to eat meat. He then laid out his case: he had it on good authority that cows in his world do not think or talk; he therefore concluded that to kill one is not murder, for murder is a crime committed against a thinking being. I have to admit, it makes a certain kind of sense. At first, I was reluctant, but Barack pointed out that it's only natural for me to assume my own morals are better than his. I had never considered the possibility that our morals are just wrong, even if only in another world.

I will be seeking out more information later. For one thing, there are images of Descartes with references to giving one the "D". I have to ask Barack what this means.

Until then, your humble student Twilight Sparkle.