Chapter 7: Chicago
The next week passed uneventfully. Well, as much as possible, anyway. Occasionally I would say something stupid or Rainbow would act bitchy. I occasionally wanted to wring her neck, and she probably wanted to stomp me into the floor sometimes.
We managed to get through it, though. I hated to think that being “Facebook official” made us better friends, but for whatever reason we seemed to have turned a corner and things were steadily getting better.
One day Rainbow came back to the room with a black baseball cap and a red shirt. She laid them on the bed and announced, “I got a job.”
I glanced at the shirt, reading the printing on it. “Jimmy John’s Sandwich Delivery?”
Rainbow shrugged. “They said they needed things to be delivered fast. I’m good at that.”
“How are you supposed to wear a shirt?” I asked.
“It doesn’t fit well,” she admitted. “It’s part of the uniform, though. I’ll be glad to have some spending money.”
I wanted to ask what she needed money for, but decided that if Rainbow thought I should know, she would tell me. I had had enough of asking her personal questions, thank you very much.
Rainbow sat down at her desk. A few days before, she had taped a picture of a blue and yellow jet on the wall above her. I may be ignorant of the military, but I recognized it as a Blue Angels plane. It clashed cheerfully with my pictures of cute animals.
“Can I talk to you about something?” Rainbow asked. “I have to go to the Equestrian Consulate in Chicago to do some paperwork. I’m pretty sure they won’t let me fly in that airspace. Do you know how I can get there?”
“When are you going?” I asked.
“Monday,” she answered.
I frowned. “That’s Labor Day. Will they be open?”
“Why wouldn’t they be?” said Rainbow. “We don’t celebrate human holidays.”
“Fair point,” I said. “Probably the easiest, cheapest way to get there would be the train.”
“How do we get tickets?” asked the pony.
“We?” I said.
“Um, yeah,” said Rainbow sheepishly. “I was kind of hoping you could come along. I’m not very good with directions in the city.”
“Well…I don’t have anything else to do on Labor Day,” I admitted. “I don’t know where to get train tickets, though. Fortunately, I know who to ask.”
Carol’s boyfriend was in the Railroad Club. It seemed like a weird thing to have a club for, but I figured it was a good place to start. Through a series of text messages, I asked Carol, who asked her boyfriend, who replied to her, who replied to me. Or something like that. Anyway, I got what I wanted.
At my direction, Rainbow searched Amtrak.com for tickets. “Do I count as an adult?” she asked.
“How old are you?” Looking over her shoulder, I saw that there were different rates for child, adult, and senior.
“Twenty-one,” she responded. I hadn’t realized Rainbow was actually older than I was. My birthday wasn’t for a few more weeks.
“Yeah, you should get an adult ticket,” I told her.
We came to the payment screen. “Credit card?” said Rainbow. “How am I supposed to swipe it in this computer?”
Surprised, I said, “I didn’t know you even had a card.”
“It’s a little confusing,” she admitted. “But it’s what all the places here on Earth want.”
With a little help, Rainbow managed to get her card numbers entered into the website. I made a mental note to give her another lecture on protection from identity theft.
A few days later, my roommate and I were standing on the platform at the train station. It had been a long walk to get there from campus. Several other people waited at the station with us.
I’d ridden the train once or twice before, but it had never been so crowded. I figured it was probably because of Labor Day vacation. It took a little searching, but Rainbow and I found seats together.
“This is…nice,” said the pegasus. She lounged on her back with her wings tucked to her sides to keep them from being pinned. Her rear legs stretched out to the footrest.
I barely stopped myself from giggling. “You look…comfortable.”
“We’re both lying, aren’t we?” she said.
I nodded and we cracked up laughing. A couple of other passengers looked at us, more curious than annoyed. I wondered what it was like to be in Rainbow’s position, always stared at.
In about two hours, the train pulled into the Chicago station. We made our way outside. The cluster of tall buildings looked like a glass and steel canyon. There were not many structures at college taller than half a dozen stories, and even I was awed.
With a street map printed from the internet, the two of us found our way towards the consulate building. The university may have had a population of tens of thousands, but it was tiny compared to a really big city. On top of that, the people weren’t primarily students.
“Hey pony!” called a street vendor. “I’ve got Canterlot oats here. Real cheap.”
Rainbow politely declined. A few blocks later, I saw a little girl point at the pegasus and asked her mother if the circus was in town. She begged for a pony ride. Rainbow’s ears were turned in that direction to listen, and it was clear from the look on her face that she didn’t like the idea of anyone on her back.
“At least she didn’t call you cute,” I said. Rainbow rolled her eyes and we kept walking.
I wasn’t sure what an Equestrian government office looked like. As it turned out, it was a rented space in a regular building. I had almost been hoping for something exotic. At least the inside was decorated in pony style, which to my eyes looked a century or two out of date. The rental agreement probably didn’t let them replace the carpet or paint the walls, however.
A youngish looking man was sitting behind a desk near the door. I’m not sure if I was more surprised to see a person working there, or to see that the nameplate on his desk read “Strawberry Fields.”
Mr. Fields directed Rainbow down the hall to where her paperwork needed to be filed. I stood awkwardly beside his desk for a few moments.
“So, how do you get a job like this?” I asked.
He held up his hands. “I can type.” He saw me looking at his nameplate and chuckled. “I bet you’re wondering about the name, too.”
“I’m curious,” I admitted.
“Well, I also handle the phones. If you call the Equestrian Consulate, you expect someone who sounds like they could be a pony to answer,” he explained. “To put it simply, it’s actually less confusing if I answer the phone, ‘Hello, I’m Strawberry Fields, how can I help you?’ than it would be if I said, ‘Hi, I’m Tyler’.”
In a strange way, that made sense. While I waited for Rainbow to get done with her paperwork, I watched Mr. Fields work. I wondered if he’d actually changed his name, or just used the nickname around the office.
I went out for a smoke. It gave me a little time to ponder what I would call myself if I had to change my name to be more pony-esque. I didn’t manage to come up with anything, and went back inside a few minutes later.
Rainbow had apparently finished up shortly after I went out. She was waiting impatiently when I walked into the office. She had a file of paperwork with her.
“We need to find a post office,” she said. “This stuff needs to be mailed to the USCIS a certain way, and they can’t do that here.”
Strawberry Fields helpfully pointed us in the right direction. I didn’t have much experience with post offices, especially not one as large as the building we walked into near the consulate. Several walls were covered in mailboxes available for rent. The décor largely consisted of red, white, and blue stripes. People stood in long lines waiting for tellers at individual windows.
“This doesn’t look very efficient,” muttered Rainbow.
I shrugged. “There are a few things they do well.”
“Like what?” she asked.
I pointed to a sign. “Look at this. For forty-five cents, you can send a letter to any place in the United States. A dollar-five will send it anywhere in the universe.”
“They deliver mail to the moon?” asked Rainbow dryly.
“I’m sure the fine print has something to say about that,” I laughed.
We made it to the front of the line and Rainbow got her special postage. After that, it was time for lunch. As we exited the building, I pulled up a list of vegetarian restaurants on my phone and told Rainbow about them.
She looked at the phone curiously. “You can get internet on that, too?”
“That’s right.” I showed her the familiar Google page.
“It’s interesting,” she said. “I’m not sure how I would use one, though.”
I figured she meant the problem with hooves. “Some phones can recognize your voice and do what you tell them.” I thought the mental image of Rainbow with an iPhone trying to talk to Siri was hilarious.
At the restaurant, we sat down and a waiter approached. I ordered the special of the day, a veggie burger with fries.
“It’s not real meat,” I told Rainbow. “Try it, you might like it.”
She looked at me skeptically. “It’s the thought that counts.” She ordered some kind of grain sandwich.
I tried to see meat from a pony’s perspective, but failed. It’s hard to force yourself to be repulsed by something you like. The best I could do was resolve to be more careful what I ate in front of Rainbow.
After lunch, I pointed out that we had a few hours until the returning train departed.
“What is there to do around here?” asked Rainbow.
I consulted my phone. “Um, art museums. A children’s museum. An aquarium. A football stadium.”
“I don’t understand football,” said Rainbow.
“I think it’s a guy thing,” I told her. I scrolled through the list of attractions. “How about this? The Willis Tower is really tall and has a place where you can see the whole city.”
With no other ideas, we found our way there and rode the elevator to the top. One hundred three floors above Chicago, the view was breathtaking, if a little scary.
“We’re up here high enough that you can see the curvature of the horizon,” said Rainbow pointing a hoof towards the blue waters of Lake Michigan. “It’s sunny with not very many clouds, and only a little breeze. It would be a great day for flying.”
I still didn’t like airplanes, or heights in general, but I could see what she was talking about. I thought Rainbow sounded a little sad, not being able to take advantage of the weather due to air traffic laws over the city.
"I'm saving up for flight lessons," she said.
"Airplane flying lessons?" I asked.
Rainbow nodded. "I have to start somewhere."
Well, that explained why she needed a job. Flying lessons didn't sound cheap.
We explored Chicago a little more until it was time to go. The sun was beginning to set as the train pulled out of the station.
I didn’t think Rainbow looked especially tired, but she closed her eyes and was soon asleep. A couple miles down the track, the train’s gentle side-to-side swaying had slowly jostled her head over onto my shoulder.
I looked down at her in the dim light of the train car. It was a good thing she was snoozing, because otherwise I don’t think I could have resisted telling her how cute she looked.
Hmmm, yeah, I don't really get American Football, either; it seems like just a namby-pamby copy of Rugby that borrowed a name off the real version of Football.
>>Doctor Whooves
Amen
742585
As a European I never had a chance to see a real game, because no one plays it here, but I have seen a lot of it in movies. I have hence decided that since all American Football games I have seen have been fictional, it is a made-up sport. Like Quidditch.
742585
think of rugby, but every player wearing spartan armor and still getting fouled for the smallest things.
and what can you do to get a foul in rugby?
742585
Don't worry, I'm an American and I don't understand our football.
"It's considered manly to wear tight pants, and jump around all over other guys trying to grab a ball? Seems legit. . ."
Gah! It's the Sears Tower! I don't care that someone else bought it and renamed it. It will always be the Sears Tower.
And American Football isn't that hard to understand.
742858 dude quidich is real... It's in universal studios park... I think
742981 when a rook forms (the ball goes to ground) and a player enters from the side, also takling the neck of a person... Hope that helps
And I agree that American football is a copied version of rugby and a stolen name with American in front
Meh. I don't get what's the big deal with any kind of sports either.
Sports are for nerds.
744047
Jocks really are nerds, just over a different subject.
As a jock, I should know.
And yeah, football is kinda dumb. It's not nearly as awesome as baseball.
I swear that Rugby is just a way to keep the most violent of citizens out of prison.
...Um why does Dash need to learn how to fly a plane? She can already pull Mach 1/~1300 FPS/ ~886 MPH, which is faster than any propeller plane can go and faster than likely any non-military aircraft can go. Hell the Blue Angels don't even break the sound barrier in their performances (very often at least). It's not like she's going to by flying an F-22 shooting missiles and mini guns at North Korean aircraft in World War III.
744530 Oh, it gets better than that. Analyzing the angle of the mach cone at the instant before Dash went sonic rainboom reveals that she was going approximately mach-5, and then even faster afterwards.
744764
Yes but that's in real life, in the MLP universe she's going Mach 1. And technically if their atmosphere is different from ours then it could be possible that their version of Mach 1 is achieved at our version of Mach 5 and that the cone may be created before the sound barrier is broken. However that would play havoc with them coming to our atmosphere...
742858
Its a real sport (take it from an American). But not all of us enjoy it, or play it.
Just found this and am reading through it. Great story so far. One minor nitpick with this here Chapter 7. You established that they went to the Equestrian Consulate on Labor Day, but then you had them proceed directly to the US Post Office, where people were "standing in line, waiting for tellers" - but this was Labor Day. The post office would have been closed. They couldn't have mailed Rainbow's papers until the next day. A little thing, but it just jumped out at me.
"How about this? The Willis Tower is really tall and..."
Dammit, man. I don't care what people say, it's still the Sears tower to me.
I'm a born American and i don't get why it's called football either.
Soccer IS real football.
Football Americana in some countries.
744347 For the prison thing, it's a common misconception. Picture this: You know how professional footballers (the non-american version) get really pissy with each other and fall out all the time over matches? In rugby it's mostly completely different In fact, i've heard of teams that have had really heated and 'active' matches, that have then gone and bought each other drinks afterwords :P I don't play rugby myself, but i know a few people who are into it and such
SEARS TOWER not willis oh the one time i went there was not fun i dont like elevators or heights but my cousin who i hadnt seen for 10 years came to town and wanted to go to the top..i couldn't even go near the windows
742585 I have some (read: just a bit more than none) understanding of American Football. The one thing I don't understand about it and sports in general is the popularity and importance. I say that a highly renown radio talk show host's show (like The Savage Nation) about critical politics should take priority over sports. Sadly, the people in charge seem to think otherwise.
748434
I am not happy with the lack of understanding of politics ether.
However I do like what my past preacher said about football "it is 1000 people that needs exercise that watching 20 that need rest."
742585 As an American guy, I don't get it either.
742585 im American and i agree, there is way to much padding and not enough broken bones. I WANT TO SEE SOME BODY PARTS!!
Let Me Take You Down Cause Im Going To Strawberry Fields .Nothing is Real and Nothing to Get hung About.Stawberry Fields Forever
(Did you get you Should Play The That Song When you saw his name )
750741>>750118>>748434>>747971>>744347>>742981>>742585
Ok, the Australian version is called Rugby, though there are many types of such said sport, it's mainly about getting a ball to the other side on the freild without breaking any bones and the having a Beer at the end of the game, BEST GAME EVER.
Also, no armour is worn like those American football players, you know, like a real man.
> I hated to think that being “Facebook official” made us better friends, but for whatever reason we seemed to have turned a corner and things were steadily getting better.
Then maybe you should think that being better friends made you Facebook official?
Strawberry Fields is amusing and interesting at the same time. Nice work making the interactions between Equestria and Earth more fleshed out. Also it's good to see our protagonists getting along more.
742585 well you see, you've got one mountain of flesh trying to get past another mountain of flesh to get to the little guy and go "tell me about the rabbits"
Yeah I live in Chicago, great story
It's the Sears Tower, not the Willis Tower. I was in Chicago last week, and while we were waiting to cross the street to get to the tower, we met a couple friends arguing over it, and among the two of them and 6 of us, the decision was 5-1 Sears Tower.
744530 You clearly have not read the series. Otherwise, you'd know.
754508
...The series? What series?
>Jimmy John's
images.starcraftmazter.net/4chan/for_forums/kill_you_last.jpg
Willis Tower? Ughh, I see you're not from anywhere near Chicago. Otherwise you'd know better than to call it by that abhorrent name.
742585 ok, here's the deal: you try to murder the guy with the ball by ramming into him and take said ball to one end of the field so you can score six points then you kick it through the prongs for an extra point.
754561 The rest of TNaB's Battleships are Magic series, which this is the most recent part of(in release order. The one that explains this story happens over a longer period of time chronologically and spans from before this one to after it).
757203
Oh.
744530 Actually she can suposedly reach speeds almost twice mach five in a sonic rainboom event
Ending. Lmfao
743226
Yep, football's a weird sport. And they call rowers gay for wearing spandex...
i know ha
742585 Just thought I'd join the bandwagon since everybody else seems to be replying to you...
Nice Beatles reference. Poor Rainbow, not being free to fly... I hope that gets fixed.
742585
Australian football is better
wait a second just wair a second they had Iphones in the 90s! Why did no one tell me about this?
742585 Which was called Soccer originally. That's why we Americans cal it Soccer. For "Assocciation Football".
1749384 why not just football. makes more sense. call american football something like pasby
742585
And, upon saying that, everybody got REALLY pissed.
I think. The number of replies suggest that. tl;dr
If it's Labor Day wouldn't the post office be closed, or was it on the Saturday before Labor Day? Shouldn't Rainbow tell her that in Equestria most animals can talk. That would get me to understand why she doesn't like meat.
756403
I know, I'm no Chicago local (though I wish I was) but even I know that it is called the Sears Tower- well, it should be, anyway. Unless you Chicago people have another name for it that the rest of the nation has never heard of.