July 26
When I woke up, I snuggled against Meghan until her alarm went off. She reached over and turned it off, then kissed my nose and asked me if I was ready to get up yet.
I said that I wasn't, and she said she wasn't either. She scratched my ear and I nuzzled her chin, then I asked her if my ears moved when I was asleep.
She wanted to know why I was asking, and I said 'cause I didn't know.
Meghan said that she wasn't sure, but she thought they did. She said sometimes when I was sleeping on my side, I'd walk in my sleep, which was really cute. I wasn't sure if I believed her—I thought that was something that I would remember doing, but she swore it was true, and she said usually I'd get the blanket tangled in my hooves and push it off the end of the bed and that was what woke her up.
And she said that when I was lying on my stomach and she got up to pee in the middle of the night, I'd pop my wings out which she thought was for balance.
So we agreed that if I was moving my legs in my sleep and I was moving my wings, than my ears must be moving. Meghan said that she'd watch next time I was asleep and she was awake, and let me know for sure.
When the alarm went off a second time, we got up and I went to the bathroom while she put on her robe, then I went to the kitchen to set out breakfast for us.
I brushed her hair when she was done with her shower and after she got dressed we went downstairs for breakfast and she asked me what I was going to do with my day. I said that I was going to fly all morning, because I wanted to fly to Chicago before I left to go out west, and then I was going to see if I could get a camera like the one Gates had loaned me so that I could take pictures of me in flight.
Plus I had to check the bird feeders and read more of the Bible.
Meghan laughed and said that it sounded like I had a busy day planned.
We washed the dishes together, and she went upstairs and got my saddlebags and strapped them on, so that I wouldn't have to do it myself, and then we went out and waited for her friend to show up.
Once she'd left for work, I went home and took off my saddlebags and then I refilled my birdfeeder, 'cause it was nearly empty. That meant that Aric's probably needed attention, too, but rather than fly off right away and fill it, I filled up my camelback and got dressed for flying, so I wouldn't have to come back and do that.
I probably should have called Mister Salvatore and asked if he wanted to drive me to get a GoPro, but I didn't know what time I was going to be back, so I decided that I'd do that later.
Aric's bird feeder was almost empty, too. I went into the garage and got the bag which was pretty empty. I guess the mouse had eaten more than I'd thought he would. They were really tiny; I didn't see how one mouse could have eaten that much. Maybe there was more than one and they took turns at it.
Well, however many there were, they were going to be disappointed, because I emptied the bag in the feeder, so that the birds could enjoy it.
I went back and sat on the garage roof while I called the airplane directors to get clearance. I'd decided that I was going to fly north, all the way to Grand Rapids. I could just follow the 131 Highway up there.
Dori reminded me that Grand Rapids had an airport, too, and I would have to make sure that I had clearance from them before I got too close. So I said that I would, and she told me to be safe and to call in when I was back in Kalamazoo.
I flew almost due north from Aric's house, and when I crossed over the dirt mines, I started angling to the west. I could see the 131 Highway off to my left, and I crossed it just past where there were a bunch of little lakes and it made a jog to the east.
When I had crossed over, it was okay to climb, so I went up to about five thousand feet and used my radio to make sure that other airplanes knew where I was.
It was about a perfect day for flying. The sky was clear and there wasn't much wind at all. I wasn't the only one who thought so, either; I saw a balloon off in the distance, and also saw a few little airplanes going by, and some big ones up high that were making clouds behind them.
A lot of the land under me was farmland, and that got kinda boring sometimes, so it was fun to watch a noteworthy car or truck go by under me and then see how long I could keep my eye on it before it disappeared off in the distance. There was a bright yellow semi-truck that I could see for almost ten minutes before it was gone—semi-trucks were easier to keep an eye on, 'cause they were bigger and didn't go as fast as the cars.
It would have been really useful to have a map that I could put on my foreleg, so that I'd know where I was. I'd kinda memorized my route (and since I was following the 131 Highway, it was hard to get lost), but after I'd been flying a while, I started to wonder just how close to Grand Rapids I was getting. I had an idea where the airport was—it was east of the 131 Highway, off the 6 Highway.
There weren't any big towns, so when I saw Grand Rapids, I figured that I'd know, and then I'd tell the airplane directors in Grand Rapids where I was.
I saw the big lake where I'd first tried out my radio with Mel; that was on my right, a few miles away from the highway. And I thought I saw the building where we'd eaten, the one that had the small dirt pit next to it. I hadn't seen it from the air, so I wasn't sure if it was the same place. There was a big metal pavilion next to it now, and lots of machines around the metal pavilion.
By the time I got past the next curve in the 131 Highway, I could see Grand Rapids off in the distance, so I called their airport and told them where I was, so that they'd know.
They thanked me for advising them, and they said that I would have to descend below 2000 feet when I got to Moline. I wasn't exactly sure where that was, and they said that I would see the 131 Highway make jog to the west, and Moline was near the end of that jog, on the east side of the highway, and on the west side there was another town called Dorr.
Well, I was pretty much over that right now, and I was way too high, so I told them that I was going to circle back and descend, and they said that I could, so I made a big descending loop and when I came out of it I'd picked up some speed and was at 1500 feet, which was plenty safe enough.
I told them that I was now under 2000 feet and continuing north, and I said that I was going to turn around when I got to the 6 Highway, and they said that was okay.
It wasn't much further before there was city under me, and it stretched out in front of me as far as I could see, and I followed the 131 Highway all the way to a big intersection with roads and bridges going off every which way. I could see on the big green signs below me that this was the 6 Highway, which was where I was going to turn around, and I decided just for fun I was going to take the path that a car would if it wanted to turn around in the intersection.
I think I went the wrong way around one of the loopy ramps, but since I wasn't on the ground it didn't really matter, and I did end up going back south.
I called the airplane directors again and said that I was now headed south, and following the 131 Highway, and they asked me if I could give them an estimated airspeed.
Well, I wasn't sure, but I didn't think I was going faster than 20 miles per hour. I could have sped up, but then I might get tired before I got back to Kalamazoo. Everypony knows that you don't fly as fast as you can when you're going long distances.
When I got back to Moline, I got permission to climb again, and I took a couple of miles to get back up to 5000 feet.
I was really happy when I finally saw Kalamazoo off in the distance, and I could start gliding for longer stretches, 'cause I didn't have to worry about keeping altitude as much any more. I called Dori and told her that I was back, and said that I'd just passed D Ave and was descending, and asked if I could cut the corner from there to Kalamazoo College (I couldn't quite see the bell tower yet, but I could see the dirt mines, and I knew the area well enough to know where the bell tower was). She said I could.
I still had to fly some; I wasn't good enough at really stretching a glide to get all the way there, especially with the wind blowing out of the southwest.
By the time I changed my course enough to land at my apartment, I was exhausted. My wings muscles were sore, my coat was soaked, and my blinking light had quit completely, but I still felt pretty good, 'cause I'd just finished a seventy mile flight without stopping. That was almost enough to get to Chicago. A little bit more practice, and I'd be able to do it.
I stripped off all my flight gear and put my blinking light on my desk so I'd remember to put new batteries in it. I instantly felt cooler when I took off my vest—I don't understand why humans want to exercise with clothes on. If sweat doesn't evaporate, it doesn't cool you off, and it can't evaporate like it should when it's held in with clothing.
I stayed in the shower until the water turned cold, and then I turned it off and shook myself off and rather than dry myself, I took my towel and put it on the balcony and took a little nap under the tree.
Apparently, the birds decided that when I was sleeping, it was okay to get food, and that it was okay to peck fallen seeds out of my mane, 'cause I woke up with a robin digging through my mane and then he had the nerve to chirp at me when I jerked my head up and scared him off.
I told him that I wasn't the bird feeder, and he should get his seeds from somewhere else.
I was mostly dry, and my wings had stiffened up a little bit when I slept, so I shook them out and went back inside. I was starving, 'cause I'd flown through lunch, so I had a big plate of clover hay, and then I called Mister Salvatore.
He said that he'd take me shopping and that we could go today or tomorrow, whichever I preferred.
Well, I thought that today was a good day, so he said that he'd come by after dinner, and I said that I was worried that the stores might close, and he said that they were open late, so we'd have plenty of time.
So I sat on my futon and preened out my wings, and once I'd done that I got my Bible and went back out on the balcony to read it.
Isaiah started off by saying that God was mad because His people had forsaken him, and He was going to take things away from all the people who were bad and lead them to ruin. But for those who were good, he was going to make them holy and protect them with smoke and fire above Jerusalem.
And then God came and told Isaiah to be his messenger, and Isaiah said that he was unclean, so an angel touched a hot coal to his mouth and cleansed him with it, and then God told Isaiah to tell His message until everything in the land was forsaken.
Isaiah had sex with a prophetess and she gave birth to a son named Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz, and then God told him that a flood was coming, and I was curious what was going to happen next but I saw Sienna turning into the driveway, so I put away my Bible and brought my towel inside and went downstairs.
I asked Mister Salvatore to stop at Taco Bell, 'cause I hadn't eaten dinner yet, and he said that we could go after we'd done our shopping, to minimize the chances of being stuck in a van with a farting pony.
We went to a store called Best Buy first, and it was filled with all sorts of amazing human gadgets. I kept getting distracted by the movies on the big flat televisions, and there was one that you could stand in front of and wear special glasses and see the picture in three dimensions. I'd never seen anything like that before, so Miss Cherilyn held the glasses in front of my eyes (they weren't really made for ponies) and all of a sudden everything seemed to pop out of the television until it was right in front of me, and I stepped backwards in surprise and then the picture on the television was all blurry.
That was pretty amazing magic, I thought.
Mister Salvatore said that I might really like the Oculus Rift, and Miss Cherilyn said that she didn't think that was a good idea at all, and he said it probably wasn't, but it might be funny to see, and asked her if she remembered what happened when one of the field agents brought his in, and she said that she did remember because that was the day that the break room table got broken when Agent Marshall had tripped over it.
Mister Salvatore said that had been a great day.
Then they took me over to the camera department, and we found a GoPro camera and a set of straps that were called a chest mount. Mister Salvatore persuaded the salesman to take it out of the box so I could try it on, and Miss Cherilyn helped me put it on and adjust it.
Well, I was glad we did, 'cause it would only fit with the camera under my belly, and the straps were pretty awkward, too. It wasn't something I was going to be able to put on and take off by myself.
The salesman suggested a wrist mount, which would go around my foreleg, but with the radios and altimeter I'd normally be wearing, I didn't see how there would be room for it at all. I guess I could put it on a hind leg, but then all you'd see most of the time was my forelegs, and that wouldn't be too interesting.
We tried a head mount next and that worked okay, I could pull it on by myself; the only thing I was worried about was it flying off and the salesman said that it wouldn't.
I wasn't sure that I believed him. I thought it would be okay for normal flying, but I don't think that the salesman has ever flown in a thunderstorm.
So I decided that I would see if the makers could build me a chest harness that would put the camera right at my brisket, that I could put on and take off by myself.
There was a Taco Bell that was between us and Meijer, so Mister Salvatore stopped there and told me that he'd better not regret it, and I said that he wouldn't.
Then we went around Meijer and I got two big bags of birdseed and also some more shampoo and soap, which I could have gotten on my own but since we were already here, it would save me a trip.
Mister Salvatore carried the birdseed up to my apartment, and Miss Cherilyn carried the other bags, and he asked me why there were haybales in the bedroom, and I said that I'd gotten a great deal on them at the farmer's market.
He made me promise not to buy more until I was almost out, and I said I wouldn't. I thought that those would probably last me through the end of August, and then I'd just get one more, and for school I could buy the smaller boxes (even though they were more expensive) because I didn't think that Peggy would want haybales in the dorm room.
And then he said that we'd be leaving the Friday after next for Stratford, and we'd pick up Aquamarine in Lansing. He said that we were going to drive the whole way, 'cause the train didn't go there.
I asked if Cayenne was coming, too, and he said that she was flying in to Detroit, and that Mister Barrow and Miss Parker would be picking her up, and we'd meet her in Stratford.
I thanked them for going shopping with me, and he said that he was glad that it had been pretty uneventful.
After I put the shampoo and soap in the bathroom, I sat in the papasan and read the instructions for my GoPro, changed the batteries in my blinking light, and then I went to bed a little bit early, 'cause I was pretty tired from the long flight today.
I'm no Bible expert, but I think it's Isaiah, not Isiah.
Gosh darn adorable. I love her interactions with animals. I mean I talk to them too, but she personifies them as opposed to me just talking to them so they know I'm there and don't... Well my talking to skunks has kept me from being sprayed unlike coworkers.
Huh.... She can't fly into Canada? Sure Detroit is like right on the border, but even with a connecting flight she should be able to fly much closer.
Also will they be picking up RCMP escorts? Oh god, I hope so. Dress uniforms too!
Because day to day uniforms are nice and all
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But nothing makes the impression like the Dress Uniform.
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Especially the riding pants. (and the regulation mustache on the guy in the second row.)
The choices for high profile guests like that would be Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) or the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) I think her security would be taken too seriously for just security.
Most likely Mountie or OPP depending on if it's being taken very seriously or not. CSIS is seriously hardcore and fairly secretive and I believe they only act as protection for the Prime Minister. The Governor General has RCMP protection, I've met them a few times.
Always useful to be able to follow a single major road between two destinations, except for those parts where a councilman decided the section in the middle of town could do with reordering and refurbishment and the road dissapears for a while and reappears somewhere totally different.
At least Silver didnt do the Pitts/Wonderbolt special of on realising she neeeds to lose 3000 feet quickly, she Peregrine and Drop Bears it.
Agent Marshall. Is he the guy that when placed in a line up with Bulk Biceps and Braeburns Blocker, people miss him because they dont expect him to be All Johnson?
Having the same names for towns in various places can really get confusing. Pity also Silver cant fly the best, I think she went round the Smithsonion? Be intresting to see whats going through Chicago OHare, With 747s being so common and A380s starting on the routes.
Has Silver been to Seatle? Apparently the Museum Of Flight there has an active runway, and parking spaces for 5 light aircraft, first come, first served. Somehow I suspect Silver wont have problems parking. Seattle Museum Of Flight
So many places to explore, so little time.
In Chicago, will Silver get into trouble by accidentally following what I thought were disused rail lines through the tunnel and end up in Canada without a visa? Or am I getting it confused with Detriot?
Oh good greif. I finally got round to looking at Chicago using Google Satelite. Poor Silver is going to go absolutely spare. She needs the height to see where to go but the airport theres going to really mess her up, though 90, 94 etc are really useful, and at the least she can always fly east to the shore then work back from there.
Hope she likes the farm animals at the zoo.
But then again, she kinda is, isn't she?
I was thinking Silver could use a GPS, but where would it go? A rear leg, but it's better if you can have them where you can see.
When Moses led the Jews from Egypt to the Promised Land it took him 40 years to go about 400 miles. In 2 years time Sacajawea led the Lewis and Clark expedition from Washington DC to the Pacific and back in 2 years (2000 miles each)
Q How come?
A Because being a woman she stopped and asked for directions
Well, now you have no choice: you need to write the side story with the helpers.
We need to see gems like this.
And the best is you can keep exploring cultural differences with it.
7599002 Having a friend that wan't to be in the GRC's anti terrosit team, I' ve learned that CSIC mostly stick to inteligence. They wouldn't handle direct protection.
Anyway, with all the agreement beetween Canada and USA, I think that a visiting pony is very likely to keep the same helper when passing the border. It is afterall less an escort/law enforcement thing but rather an integration thingy.
How'd Silver end up with seeds in her mane? Has she been raiding the feeder in her sleep?
That sounds like a form of torture in violation of the Geneva Conventions. I wonder if Mister Salvatore is considering inflicting it on the next pervert who looks at Silver funny...
Especially if she gets into horror gaming. She could be the pony Markiplier!
7599002 The handlers probably want to be there when she crosses the border just in case something is needed (or it might be required depending on the VISA).
Silver needs a smartwatch! I've never used one--haven't seen the need--but they'd be perfect for her! They can run Google Maps with the "you are here" dot and everything.
I really wanna see Silver Glow go to a big airport and follow plane protocols. I'm not sure what that involves. I'm just imagining the confusion when they try to figure out if they should let her 'taxi' like a plane or if she needs to land at a helipad or what.
Someone make that pony a Heads up Display.
Is there something like a Tom Tom that works for planes she could have so there's a nice voice telling her where to go?
7599620
I work at CLT airport. We had a "What do you do if a Pegasus wanted to land at our airfield then board a international fight?" as a thought exercise a few months ago. It was decided she would radio the tower then if they have a Helipad pad clear land on that or get told to land on a runway then trot to her assigned gate/terminal. We would then escort her into the terminal, have security check her saddlebags then board her on her flight. You should have seen some of the FAA and TSA officials trying to figure out the whole board one flying thing on another one. I swore their head where going to pop. That wasn't even the weirdest thought exercise I've seen them come up with. That honor goes to "What do you do if a boat plane needs to land for a medical emergency but losses all radio contact?" Tower Control finally just said to send a bunch of guys up to flag signal it to land in Lack Norman form another plane.
She's in an apartment, so that would be what, a minute and a half, maybe two?
Hmm. Some sort of wristband that could store her phone? Of course, someone would have to show Silver how to work the GPS. Or a smartwatch, as DawnPaladin noted. Though, as Silver noted, her forelegs are pretty crowded as it is...
In any case, it is fun to see Silver build up her endurance as she works towards the Chicago flight. Mostly because it's nice to see her have any kind of long-term goal. Living in the moment is all well and good, but it's nice to see she can break out of that mentality when she needs to.
Also, I enjoy Agent Salvatore's sense of humor more than I probably should.
7599650
i had the same idea while reading this chapter ...
a whole HUD helmet for little silver ... or at least something like AR glasses
By the time Silver returns home to Equestria, she's probably going to be one of the strongest fliers in the neighborhood. After all, just think about all the weight training she's been doing while flying! She's carrying a radio, a vest, flashing lights, a weather radio for storm duty, a camel back full of water... Soon she'll be adding a Go Pro camera and possibly a GPS...
By the time she goes home, I'm picturing a big pile of geer with nothing but a muzzle and two wings sticking out.
When she suddenly goes back to flying au naturale, she'll take off like a bullet.
If SG takes off from the shore of Lake Michigan at the point that's directly west of Kalamazoo and flies direct to Chicago that's 72.67 miles so she's pretty much there. She just needs to practice it more.
7599293 As a homage to the buddy cop movies of the 1980s, wouldn't it be funny if playing nursemaid to visiting aliens is seen as a punishment in the various law enforcement agencies.
Mr. Salvatore did something to tick off his superiors and now he and a rookie officer have to rein in the rambunctious pony people.
7599768 You must've had had a lot of fun with that!
7600446
A story set in this universe, from their perspective, would be great. Maybe we can at least get a one-shot at some point...
I believe my guess a few chapters back was 15mph. Whoo!
The more I see of Mr. Salvatore the more I like him. "Yes it's a stupid idea, but those are the best ones!"
7599371
The bird feeder is directly above the balcony. So any stray seeds that fell out of the feeder landed on a napping pony.
7599620 She mentioned at some point that she's supposed to land on the big H (can't remember if she said Helipad or not) if she ever goes to an airport.
7599786 She has enough water to take a normal shower. But if she wastes any time it goes cold. So yeah.
if she can squease in her phone ontoher foreleg with all of her radios (probably no more room for that), it can display maps.
Finally done catching up.
Reading this is a slog.
A very well written slog.
Blugh, 54 feed notifications.
At least i can return to reading Austreaoh with this duty complete.
Anyone else who wants to marathon this story: DON'T.
The most draining experience.
Literary devices everywhere, nearly purposeless yet crammed without spacing, like a hoarder's shed full of masterpiece figurines interlocked like stone lego kama sutra tetris in literary form.
be be
Aw
Wait, did Cayenne become an alicorn? LAAAAARRSSOOOO---
oh right, airplanes
7600057
Also add in the effect of being back in Equestria, where she struggles less with drawing on her flight magic. When she gets back, she'll leave even RD in the dust.
Edit: Except that this story is set some 15-20(?) years after Twilight grew wings, so Dashie would probably be past the world-record breaking age anyway.
...I didn't see how one mouse could have eaten that much. ...
One mouse, nine mice, 65 mice... How did the whole house get full of mice?
"I asked Mister Salvatore to stop at Taco Bell, 'cause I hadn't eaten dinner yet, and he said that we could go after we'd done our shopping, to minimize the chances of being stuck in a van with a farting pony."
Smart man.
I admit I'm horrible with time, but hadn't the HTC Vive already been introduced by this time?
Seeing Silver with an Oculus Rift on would be funny. The smart thing to do would be to have her sit down and not have anything near her in case she flays her wings out. Otherwise she would probably enjoy it.
Oh my god, that's adorable!
7598994
I think you're right. Oops.
7599002
She could probably fly direct to London, ON; however, it would be less convenient for security and screening purposes, which is why they're planning to drive across the border. Plus that's more convenient for the handlers.
They might get a couple of them, just to keep an eye out and make sure that there aren't any problems. But they're not rare enough or special enough to warrant the full diplomatic treatment, unfortunately.
7599146
That dive is a hell of a move--up to 240 mph, or 350 feet/second.
Yes, it does. Indiana's really bad for it; aside from Indianapolis, I don't think that they came up with a single other city name on their own. Maybe Kokomo.
She has been, but she only visited the Space Needle and a couple of museums downtown.
You're mixing up the two. Chicago does have an abandoned underground railroad system, but it doesn't connect to Canada. If it did, it would be longer than even the Gottard Base Tunnel by a lot.
Detroit has tunnels that connect to Canada, although as far as I know they're all active. I can't remember if it's got a rail tunnel; I know that Port Huron does, and not that long ago, Port Huron's was enlarged so modern trains could fit through it.
If she tries to land at O'Hare, the tower controllers would want to murder her. They're one of the busiest airports in the US.
She could have landed at Meigs field, except that Mayor Daley decided to bulldoze it one night without notifying the FAA or anyone who had airplanes parked there.
7599211
Yes, she kind of is the bird feeder. But they're still not supposed to peck the seed out of her mane.
7599241
It's not a bad idea. If she got a remote mic for her ham radio, she could put that on a hind leg. And some GPS' have altitude, I'm sure. I think some small planes use handheld GPS units for navigation (ultralights and stuff).
It's probably true, though.
7599293
Yeah, part of their function is to be familiar and comforting if need be, and while I'm sure that the Mounties could do a good job, none of the ponies know them.
7599371
Some of the small chirpy birds are really careless when they eat, and drop seeds everywhere.
That's an idea. That probably is against the Geneva Convention.
I don't think that most ponies would like the horror genre, to be honest. Although there's probably some. . . .
7599439
There's lots of paperwork, and if any issues do arise, better that they're with familiar handlers. Although I think that they will have Canadian backup, as well, since the American handlers won't have any jurisdiction in Canada, obviously.
7599568
That's not a bad idea, honestly. Using a smartwatch with hooves is kinda problematic, though.
7599620
She's already been told that she's suppose to land on a helipad if the airport has one. Although if she was coming into an unfamiliar airport, the tower would no doubt have to look up the procedure for landing a pegasus. The good news is that her airspeed's so low that they'd have plenty of time to figure it out.
7599650
IIRC, some pilots use handheld GPS units (in ultralights and the like), so that's doable, but I'm not sure if the handheld units have software to handle an airplane. I have to imagine that the Tom Tom would constantly be recalculating her route, unless she's flying directly over a highway.
7599786
Every one I've ever been in has given me about ten minutes of hot water or more . . . even the crappy ones.
7611055
Well, I want to see it even more now. There's got to be some excuse for her to do it...
7599768
Man, that's some interesting training you've got going on.
Would she ride in the passenger compartment, or in the stable-pods that some airports use for transporting horses? Or would that depend on how big she was?
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As weird as that sounds, it's good to think of things like that beforehand, rather than be stuck trying to come up with a solution on the fly. I've done some police training exercises, alternating between being an innocent bystander or a bad guy, and we tried to get the cops to mess up, so that it could be talked over afterwards and they'd make the right decisions out in the real world. (One of the best things I overheard the instructor say was "Start shooting civilians and see what he does.")
7599815
Yeah, she's starting to run out of room for more instruments. A smartwatch might work, although I'm not sure that she could actually work it. She could also get a remote mic for her ham radio, and relocate the radio itself to a hind leg.
It takes a special kind of person to be a pony's helper. Just imagine the poor bastards who are dealing with Cayenne and her shenanigans.
7599883
Google Glass, maybe?
7600057
I know, right? Not counting the aerodynamic penalties, she's probably carrying twenty pounds of gear or more.
You ain't kidding. This is the kind of training regime that Rainbow Dash could use to build endurance.
Actually, here's something to think about--if Derpy starts out every day with saddlebags stuffed full of mail, how much weight is she carrying, day in and day out?
7600235
Yup, she's almost got the distance. She wants to add a nice safety buffer to it before she tries, in case she encounters headwinds that make her flight more difficult, because in her mind it will be a failure if she has to land.
7600446
Oh, man, that would be an interesting twist.
I actually heard on the police radio once two departments having a fight about who had to respond to a traffic accident. The debate was because the accident was on one side of the city line, but the cars had ended up on the other side of it.
7600569
Maybe you shall.
7600778
Yeah, I think that her best speed for distance would probably be an airspeed of 15-20 mph; obviously, depending on the wind, her groundspeed might be much better or much worse.
7601406
It's maybe doable, but pretty marginal.
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I think that going forward, her best bet might be to shift her ham radio to a hind leg and use a corded mic on it, since she doesn't have to change frequencies on that radio--that would open up enough room for a GPS of some sort.
7601674
Someone said a few chapters back (like a hundred) that it was like eating popcorn. You keep saying just one more, and then all of a sudden it's a day or two later and you're like 'what the hell just happened.'
I marathoned Project: Sunflower, and I don't think that's half as long as this is. And we've still got five more months to go!
I ought to put that in the description.
Silvers sleep movements sound like the most adorable thing ever! Though the hooves might be a tad uncomfortable if their facing towards her human :)
7601684
Correction made; thank you!
Sure, it sounds cute, but imagine having that little beak pecking at your scalp.
2.bp.blogspot.com/-_fW0Ut0Odjo/V2aNBW5xpjI/AAAAAAACmCY/MUIU02PO0DAETvLWIGKkW9FQIxUyGYfvwCLcB/s1600/index.jpg
You're an alicorn and you're an alicorn and everypony becomes an alicorn.
Maybe RD is (in story-time) past the record-breaking days, but I bet she's still damn fast. Cliff Young, at the tender age of 61, won a 544 mile ultra-marathon.
And he beat the previous record by two days.
7602367
It has already been established that Silver Glow does not understand mice.
Mister Salvatore has experienced it once, after Chinese food, and he never wants to experience it again.
7602438
Oh, probably. I'm so behind on what current tech is. But the last time I was in Best Buy, they had a Rift demo station.
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Yeah, the last thing you'd want is for her to panic and try flying with it on. Although that would be hilarious, assuming that nobody got badly injured.
I remember when I was a kid, watching a movie on water at the hemispherical IMAX theater at the Detroit Science Center, and when the helicopter flew over a waterfall, I grabbed on to my armrests and was sure I was falling.
7608624
It's like the horse was actually there, sniffing me!
So I greeted it back, but then remembered that it wasn't real 'cause I couldn't smell it. I don't think any horses smell like computers and computer accessories, except maybe Twilight Sparkle.
Great... Now I'm picturing Silver walking around her apartment while playing Oculus Rift...
Brisket is a cut of meat. The term you should be using is "breast", or "pectorals" if you're referring to the muscles.
I'd be seriously disturbed if a pony actually used "brisket" when referring to themselves.
Yeah, I think I agree with Silver here. I don't think that salesman's ever been flying in a thunderstorm, either.
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Just wait until they invent smell-o-vision.
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Or flying around, as the case may be. That's the one real danger in putting VR gear on a pegasus.
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He's really missing out, too. Silver Glow ought to send him the GoPro videos of her flying in thunderstorms.
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But the cut of meat is named after the part of the animal it comes from. "The breast of an animal, or that part of the breast that lies next to the ribe; in a horse, the fore-art of the neck at the shoulder down to the fore-legs." The Library of Universal Knowledge, (c)1956. More recently, Merriam-Webster says "the breast or lower chest of a quadruped animal; also : a cut of beef from the brisket."
7611139 the wind aloft is almost always over 15mph.
Http://earth.nullschool.net/
The 850hpa level is about 5000ft, 700 is 10000.
At the least, most of the time, her flight is going to be significantly impacted by the wind to the point she just can't fly many days.
In wind, she may have real difficulty landing as even flying into the wind at 40mph, a 50mph wind presents real problems.
Likely have to dive and hit the ground stationary.
One of my favourite stories, thanks!
7648323
My thought is that the 15mph average groundspeed she has takes into account normal winds at her altitude. Mostly because I didn't think to research them like I ought to have.
That having been said, I've seen birds going backwards on really windy days.
Mister Salvatore wins Best Human in this chapter.
*squint*
I'm just going to chalk this up to her not being able to fly as fast or as well due to a difference in Earth's physics or magic being different rather than get into a headcanon argument.
I've always seen average pegairspeed as a couple hundred knots.
9253864
She can’t fly as well on Earth. There are occasional mentions of that here and there in the story that it’s harder for her, although after a while she kind of gets used to it and thinks of it as normal.
Interestingly, if you read through the comments, there was some discussion of pegasi training on Earth, since it’s a reduced-magic area, and then having better skills when they get back to Equestria. Similar to how I’ve heard some atheletes train at higher altitudes so later on when they’ve got to perform at their absolute best, they’re doing so at a place where there’s more oxygen available to them.
To me, that seems awfully high. I’d personally go with a more reasonable number based on IRL birds. Which--mind you, can be faster than you’d think: never mind some of the raptor’s top speed while diving, Canada Geese fly at 40-70mph (depending on wind speed) when migrating.