July 18
I got woken up in the middle of the night by the crash of thunder and I jerked up on the futon just in time to see the whole inside of the apartment light up with a big lightning flash and I jumped out of bed and went to grab my vest.
I had it on and was strapping on my radios and wishing that I was smart enough to keep my camelback filled in case this exact thing happened when Meghan got up and went to the window and told me it was looking pretty bad out there.
Well, I'd thought so, too, which was why I had to go up. It was already too late to ride with Mel—he'd probably tried to call me, and I hadn't answered.
I unlatched the balcony door and a gust of wind blew it all the way open and I heard Meghan say that I was crazy, and maybe I was. But I had a duty, and I wasn't doing it. So I kissed her and told her that I'd be back and that I wasn't going to go too far, but I had to see what was coming, in case people needed to be warned.
I got Mel on the radio and it was really hard to hear him with all the static from the lightning, and he said it was looking pretty wild to the west. I let him know that I was going up in the air and I'd be headed out to the 131 Highway but I didn't think I'd make it much further than that, and he told me to be careful and said that they didn't give out medals for stupidity.
As soon as I got above the trees, the wind really hit me, and I lost some ground as I got altitude. Every time there was a big gust, I got pushed back some, but I mostly made forward progress, although not too quickly. And it was hard to judge where I was, 'cause sometimes the rain was so intense I could barely see the ground below me, and I just had to trust that what I could see on my altimeter when lightning flashed was right, 'cause otherwise I might wind up crashing into a tree or something.
I had just passed over what I think was Howard Street when a nasty gust hit me and forced me down, and I know that I'm not supposed to land on roofs but I didn't really have a choice. It was big and flat and loomed up out of the darkness and I hit kind of hard.
There must have been a couple of inches of standing water on the roof, and even over the pounding of the rain I could hear it gushing out the scuppers.
I didn't stay there too long, just long enough for the wind to die down, and for me to radio an update to Mel, then I took to the air again. The wind had died down some and the rain had slackened, too, and I was able to get up to a thousand feet and call for clearance to go higher.
Well, they said that there wasn't anything else up in the air so I could fly all the way to the cloud bottoms. That was good; I wouldn't have gotten forced down before if I could have had more altitude.
Once the rain slackened some, I could see out a mile or so, and I could see the lightning further than that but it was really hard to judge just how far away it was. It was all around, though, even behind me as far as I could see.
I kept up my patrol until a second heavy thunderstorm came through, which fortunately was somewhat less intense than the first. And I left my station a bit early—Mel called me and told me that it was clearing off in the distance so I might as well go back to bed. And he warned me to be extra careful around trees, because sometimes they got tangled up in power lines. He said if I wanted, I could land in the Meijer parking lot and he'd come and pick me up, which was really nice, but I said now that the rain was letting up I could probably fly home just as quick as he could come and pick me up, 'cause he was ten miles away or so.
Of course, keeping pace with the last thundercloud on my way back home wasn't the smartest thing I've ever done, but I was tired and wanted to get back to bed, and I couldn't really get any wetter.
I took Mel's warning to heart, and I did a circle around my apartment to make sure that there weren't any wires stuck in my tree before I dove under it, and I shook myself off on the balcony as well as I could. And then I almost forgot and landed normally, but at the last moment I remembered and lifted my tail up, and I was glad I had, 'cause I got a pretty big spark off my hind hoof.
Meghan was sound asleep in the papasan chair with the blanket over her. I didn't want to wake her up before I was ready to get in bed so I went to the bathroom and got some towels and wrapped one around my mane and set another on the futon and even though I was really tired I preened my wings, 'cause I knew I'd regret it in the morning. Then I draped the second towel over my back and got up on her lap and that woke her up a little bit. She put her arm on my back and then fell asleep again.
I probably wouldn't have woken up for her alarm, except that she had to get up to get her portable telephone when the alarm went off, 'cause she'd left it in her pants which had just gotten tossed on the floor last night.
Since she was already up, she didn't sit back down in the papasan. She stretched out and asked me how long I was out and I told her maybe a couple of hours—I wasn't exactly sure. And she said that the weather had been really bad for a bit and she hadn't meant to fall asleep, and I said it was okay.
Then she pet my mane and rubbed my ears and said that the whole weekend had been great and she was really tempted to call in sick today.
I didn't think it was nice to be lying about that, though. So I said that she ought to get showered and ready for work and I'd make breakfast while she was in the shower, and then we'd walk to her apartment together and wait for her ride.
I went in first so that I could pee and then I turned on the water to let it start to warm up, and when I came out she crouched down and kissed me.
Well, it didn't take too long to put water in the electric kettle and start heating it, so once I'd done that I went back and pushed the bathroom door open and sat on the toilet seat and when she came out of the shower I kissed her in the tummy and gave her a towel. Then I hopped off the toilet and went to the kitchen to put the oatmeal in bowls.
She came in with the towel wrapped around her head and took her bowl to the papasan and I followed her out but sat on the floor to eat mine, 'cause I didn't want to drop oatmeal on her by mistake after she'd taken a shower.
When we were done with breakfast, I helped her brush her hair and then while she was getting dressed I packed all her cooking dishes into her bag, and she told me that I didn't have to come to her house with her. But I'd said I would, and I wanted to, so I did.
There were some small branches down on the sidewalk and a lot of leaves, too, which really showed how strong the storm had been. And we had to take a little detour around a big tree branch that had fallen in her neighborhood. It was mostly across a lawn, but the very end of it was over the sidewalk, and it was a good thing that the wires were on the other side of the street or it would have gotten them.
Meghan told me that I could use her room for a nap if I wanted, and I thought that was really nice of her to offer, so I said that I would, so she carried her bag upstairs and then left the door propped open. Before she left for work, she reminded me to lock up on my way out.
Her bed was wider and plusher than mine and I could almost get lost in it.
Since it was already getting kind of warm, I didn't get under the covers; I just streteched out on top of them and pretty soon I dozed off.
I slept for a couple of hours, and when I woke back up I stretched out and went outside, locking up behind me like I was supposed to.
I had a lot to think about on my way back home. I was gonna have to tell Aric that me and Meghan had had sex and I didn't think he'd be mad about it but I couldn't be sure. So I'd send him a computer letter today, 'cause I had to tell him that I was coming to see his play, too.
And I hadn't told Meghan that I was going to Lafayette next weekend. I should have, but it had slipped my mind. I'd call her, though, or maybe stop by tonight. I thought she'd said that it was tonight that she made dinner for her housemates, and I didn't want to interrupt that.
I went by Aric's house to make sure that it was all okay after the storm and I saw that the birdfeeder had fallen down. Luckily, it hadn't broken, but the rope that had held it up had.
So I was trying to figure out what I could use to tie it back up when Angela came out. She said that she'd seen me out the kitchen window and she would have come out sooner but she had to put on pants.
Well, I said that it wouldn't have bothered me if she hadn't worn pants, and she said that it didn't really bother her either but the neighbors might complain.
So we looked around the garage and we found some more rope and then David came out and he wanted to help, too, and between the three of us we managed to get the birdfeeder back up where it belonged.
Most of the seeds had fallen out when it landed, so I refilled it, and then I flew off and sort of roamed aimlessly around town until I started to feel hungry for lunch.
Taco Bell was kind of tempting, but there was lots of food at my apartment, so I went back there and had a piece of leftover casserole and a slice of cake and that was probably a little too rich for lunch.
After I'd cleaned up, I wrote the computer letter to Aric and that took a while 'cause I kept on being unhappy with what I wrote, and had to change it. But I was finally satisfied and so I sent it to him.
I was going to sit on the balcony and read Proverbs but then I thought that the backyard at Aric's house was nicer than mine—it was sunnier and grassier—and I didn't think they'd mind, so I picked up a towel and my Bible and flew over there.
Angela was outside on a blanket, right close to the wall of the garage, so I guess she'd had the same idea. She was lying on her stomach and had her swimming-bra untied and I landed next to her and asked if she minded if I read in the sun for a little while. She said she didn't mind at all.
So I started to read Proverbs, and it began by saying how important wisdom was and how it would teach wisdom. And it said that if you had wisdom you wouldn't do wrong things or be with the wrong people.
Then there were a couple of chapters where it said how bad and dangerous it was to sleep with another man's wife, and after that it got to the wisdom of Solomon, and each bit of wisdom was only two lines long so that it was easy to remember.
Then there were thirty sayings of the wise, and then there were more sayings of the wise and more wisdoms of Solomon and it was a whole lot to remember, but I did know that usually if you thought something was unwise, it probably was, and if you thought that maybe something was bad, than it probably was. I think that Proverbs was maybe supposed to be taught to children when they were young and hopefully by the time that they were adults they would have learned it.
Although I knew some ponies who might have benefited from reading Proverbs.
When I finished it, I thought that maybe I did feel a little bit wiser.
So I closed the Bible and thought that there would be some wisdom in just sitting and looking around and letting my mind wander.
Angela had decided to lie on her back and she hadn't bothered to put her swimming bra on, but she had it next to her in case anybody came by I guess. And there were a couple of bold birds that were hopping on the roof and looking at the feeder even though we were there—I think they were trying to decide if either of us wanted to eat them.
Further down towards the ground, there was a row of weeds along the fence that were flowering, and I saw a couple of bees darting from blossom to blossom, and some other bugs flying around, too. A lot of insects like to hide in the hottest parts of the day.
I just sat and watched the wildlife for a bit, while Angela slept. There was a squirrel who really wanted to get at the birdseed, too, but he wasn't brave enough. He'd go partway across the lawn and kind of take a few steps forward, towards us, and then he'd change his mind and run back to a tree and watch from the trunk for a little bit and then try again.
He wasn't ever going to get fat like the squirrels at Kalamazoo College.
Angela sat up and put her swimming bra back on when she heard tires crunching in the driveway—it was one of their new housemates, an older man named Mick, she said. She said that he was consulting on a pipeline project and so he only needed a place to stay for a couple of months, and then he would move on to the next one.
She said that he was pretty quiet, and sometimes was gone for days at a time but he'd paid all his rent upfront in cash which was nice. He'd been gone all weekend, she told me, and he would probably take a shower and spend a little time on his computer then most likely he'd be gone by 5 am tomorrow. She said that was why I hadn't seen him yet.
I hugged her goodbye and then took off, and rather than fly over the house I flew over the driveway. Mick’s truck was really nice and had lots of chrome and big wheels and looked like it had been really expensive.
I ate leftover casserole for dinner and a bowl of timothy and the rest of the daylilies, and then I checked my computer and Aric hadn't sent me a letter back (probably because he was really busy with their final rehearsals) and then I decided I'd take an evening flight around Kalamazoo and then go to bed early.
My vest was still a little damp from last night—I hadn't hung it up like I should have—and my airplane radio didn't work at all, 'cause the batteries had worn out. The display came on dimly, but that was all. So I put its cord in and just went over town, keeping low enough that I didn't have to worry about any airplanes bumping into me.
It was a really nice evening, and off in the distance I could see a hot air balloon and I wondered if it was Captain Green's balloon. If it hadn't been so far away, I would have flown over to find out.
When I got back home, I took a shower and then I sat on the papasan and read Walt Whitman until I got sleepy, and then I put the book away and lay down on my futon.
Really nice to see Silver being all dutiful. It suspect it reminds her of her job back home.
No but he may live longer. College campus squirrels are seriously dumb, way too trusting of people with food in my experience.
Silver runs the main wash cycle, hoping she doesnt have to work the spin cycle.
Micks car reminds me of one of the local guys who did pipework for the council and was just leaving work on th new housing estate opposite me some years ago, when he went over a heavy pothole that wasnt there a few minues before as I watched. Later that nigh he was back with barriers and equipment keys due to the road collapsing through a badly filled culvert backstop washing out, and the other end blocked up causing a back up water hammer, spewing far more than a firehose out of a drain cover at the bottom of the road, flooding several houses.
So far buildings seem to be suprisingly resiliant, with the amount of rain, wind and such, or is that an illusion given the shere number of buildings and spread? I know the local weather machine here has measured ovr 150 mm an hour and 200 mm in a day, with a yearly average of about 1500-2200 mm. For Temperate conditions.,
Well, I'm glad Silver at least told Aric right away, though I'm sure he's not going to take it nearly as well as she hopes. I actually blame Meghan for this more than Silver. Meghan knew the kind of relationship Silver had with Aric, but she let things get to that point anyway. She also doesn't have the same excuse of ignorance that Silver does on the matter.
7576197
...in bed. (Cookies sounds like a hooker's name)
It's my birthday! In story-time, I mean.
"Yeah, I've got... um... pony pox I guess."
"Hang on, isn't that an STD? How on Earth would you get an STD from Equestria? "
"Hang on, why are you telling me this now? You mean you weren't having sex the whole time?"
There is some irony in Silver reading this rigth now...
I can understand that she believes this storm watching job is her "duty" but it is on a volunteer basis IIRC. She doesn't need to risk her life to storm watch. Mel said it best really. She needs to be careful, medals aren't given out for stupidity.
7577081
"Hi Aric! Something amazing happened. I had sex with Meghan, it was great!
I'm coming to visit you in a few days, can't wait to tell you all about it, see you soon!"
The telephone has actually changed morality (in a small way). Before phones, you had to get someone to personally tell the boss you were sick. Now, you just call in & most people who do aren't really sick. (I mention this for the non USA readers)
Folklore says never buy a car made on Friday or Monday because there is a much greater chance it will be a lemon.
There is an old song "Industrial Disease" by Dire Straits that is pretty funny
I'm hoping Aric gets over the heartbreak part quickly, and dives into the potential threesome, soon enough to be comfortable with, seemingly, a beautiful herd relationship. Given that time, I'd hope they both would be in the mindset to genuinely seek comfort from each other, when Silver has to go home this winter... Maybe even visit!
And that is how I ship this 'love triangle".
7577081 7577282 I could be wrong, but I am pretty sure Aric said quite some time ago that he would be cool with Silver and Meghan some added fun together. He does understand pony relationships are a lot more... relaxed than human ones.
Aw, geez, Silver doesn't have more than the barest hint of how badly Aric could take this, This is going to end in tears, isn't it?
7576998 Yeah, we had a joke about that in college that struck a little too close to home:
Q: Do you know what the difference is between a squirrel on campus and a student?
A: A squirrel will occasionally look for traffic before stepping out into the street.
Wow, Silver's like a Superhero. Or an action movie hero.
You know I can't decide if this is an euphemism or not.
7577241
"Cool, you might ask Meghan if she wants to come and see it too?"
Obligatory threesome joke.
7577273 Well 40% of all sick days are taking on a Monday or a Friday.
7577405 Nah, the SG already had a Meghan/Aric crisis early on and Aric told her that he "wouldn't be the one to force humanity's 'morals' on her."
7577282
Silver would almost certainly be down for it, and Aric might, but I don't think Meghan would (especially if she's not into guys, which we don't know of course). She already had enough trouble with Silver's non-exclusivity.
7577051
She's not hoping for anything, there is no spin cycle. For her this is a non issue.
She only even told Aric because they told her she should a long time back.
If she somehow found out Aric was having sex with someone else while he was away she would probably like to meet her and be friends.
7578365
I believe they were referring to the storm, and the reluctance to do "her duty" in a tornado...
Including the pony in the mirror, Silver?
Silver would, though she's (usually) polite enough to let the birds have first crack at it.
it is funny about this chapter being based about a storm as we hade a really bade storm come threw this part of the state last night and as of right now there is still several homes with know power.
the phones are all messed up right now and cell phones are out I am guessing a few towers are down.
yep it was fun last night and I do love having a nice big Detroit 75kw idling in the garage hooked up to a 500 gal tank yep mom and dad threw a fit about it but it is nice to have around.
7577676 "The storm signal, the weather is calling me!"
Greetings Admiral, et. al,
Been lurking for awhile and I must say I am impressed with the scope and breadth of the comments as I am with the story itself. Maybe it's my addiction to ponies but this story is so entwined in my mind that when the flooding in Colorado was happening a few weeks ago I actually thought to myself, "I hope Peggy is alright. (Wait, WHAT?!?)".
AB (may I call you AB?), Keep up the good work. I look forward to the daily updates.
7576240
"...
2. Three sea shells"
Did you just make a "Demolition Man" reference?
I was a store clerk for awhile and even if you speak a foreign language very well it can still bite you. I remember a Frenchman (going by accent) came in asking for "tuzy clay oil". I told him "I've never heard of it". Then, I saw he had a motor cycle and said "Wait a minute. Do you want 2 cycle?"
I still say Silver is going to have problems with He accent. Of course, she has been here for 7 months so not so much anymore. Probably has had more than one confusing encounter with a figure of speech that she took literally.
Probably got warned back on Equestria that when people say that they could kill you, they USUALLY just mean that they are very annoyed. She probably knows some bulls and doesn't see what is so bad about them being in a china shop.
Reading this story makes me miss rain. It has not rained here in California for the last six months. And then it was only a drizzle compared to what it is back east.
7579078
I"m not a huge fan of patte, but besides that they're great. say what you will about imperialism, but the culinary crossover can be amazing.
well, it's magic so it doesn't really matter which one is "likely" and then with quantum manipulation, I don't think one is more likely than the other. Lightening is defined as electrostatic though. There can be similar magic phenomenon, but it wouldn't actually be magic. I also think that magic is magic and the sole difference between earth pony and pegasus magic is purely biological. I was thinking that when they purposefully triggering lightning, they were only allowing some of the charge to flow through. So after the strike the charges are still equal. It's not mutually exclusive to what you said though.
7578558
I think Silver means the birds were trying to decide whether either of them wanted to eat the birds. That's why they were a bit shy.
7579119
There is a Danish curse "Dit Torskehoved!" which means "You bumbling idiot!" but actually translates to "You cod-head!"
That kind of maritime related cursing would actually be fitting for coastal pegasi.
7579149 "The Natural"
7577467
"We have a special senior promotion this week. 1% off for every decade of your age."
"Oh. Oh my. I believe you may owe me... quite a lot of money. "
Well, there's the Darwin Award...
7579057
A Magic interchange, now that is to be appreciated. simpler construction, far less accidents, more compact, cheaper.
Theres a call to redo an awful lot of interchanges the same way, one of teh models involves pairs of 8 lane plus traffic light controlled crossings. Will be needing a stop watch to time the first idiot to try running the red.
7579630
Gah! This is what I get for not reading carefully.
7576982
The only real difference is that here she's usually over land, whereas at home a lot of the time she'd be over the ocean.
7576998
They are. Kalamazoo's tree-rats would take food out of your hand, especially cookies.
7577051
The spin cycle is the one that all weather pegasi hope to avoid.
Dunno how you guys do it, but here flat-roofed buildings usually are designed to hold a few inches of water, in order to help out the stormdrain system. Usually what they do is limit the flow through the downspouts, and then above the 'few inch' mark, they've got big openings to let the extra water out so it doesn't get too deep and collapse the roof.
7577081
He pretty much told her she could, for what that's worth.
7577109
While I probably wouldn't want to do the horizontal tango with a hooker in the first place, if I were somehow tempted, I think the name 'cookies' would be a bit of a turnoff.
7577118
Happy belated (in story-time) and very belated (in real time) birthday!
Have a mercilessly cute Twilight Sparkle.
ih1.redbubble.net/image.203360657.3879/flat,1000x1000,075,f.u1.jpg
Fun fact: I researched STDs that humans can get from horses. There are some.
7577133
In a way, this is one of the most amazing things about doing research on the fly, because I only read Proverbs when Silver Glow got there.
7577236
To play devil's advocate, what about volunteer firefighters?
This is the kind of thing she's spent much of her life doing, back in Equestria, so to her it is really what she was made for, even though sometimes it's nasty and inconvenient.
7577241
7577273
When I worked at Meijer, I called in once because I was having fun times with my girlfriend, and I had an excuse all ready . . . and just when I started to say it, my boss reminded me that we were unionized, and I didn't have to tell him why I wasn't coming in.
7577282
Well, she and Aric have already had some of the discussion about her and Meghan, so it's not coming as a total surprise to him.
Can you put down on a visa application that the reason for your visit is conjugal? Actually, in Equestria that might give you priority.
7577403
He basically said that. He told her that he didn't want to impose human morality on her, and that it was okay for her and Meghan to be together, and he presumably knew that most nights that Silver Glow wasn't with him, she was with Meghan.
7577405
Aric has known about Silver Glow and Meghan's budding relationship for a long time. And--speaking from personal experience--when you know in advance, it's a lot different from when you find out later.
7577495
7577676
I think acton movie hero.
ghk.h-cdn.co/assets/cm/15/11/54ff1e8094a77-chefs-choice-glass-0110-s3.jpg
(it's not euphemism)
7577745
Aric would probably try and be a little bit more subtle . . .
7577806
7578029
I can't remember the last time I took a sick day. It's been at least five years.
7578061
Yes, he did.
7578123
Or maybe Aric's not into girls (but ponies are okay), or Silver Glow doesn't think it's fair to try and spread the love (so to speak) with two people at once . . . things get tricky in threesomes.
7578558
Perhaps so. Perhaps so.
She meant that the birds might have thought that she or Angela wanted to eat a bird. Birds are suspicious like that, for good reason.
Except turkey buzzards. They know damn well nobody's going to try and eat them.
7578723
One of the storm chapters was written the same day a bad thunderstorm came through town (it was a little while back). Largely coincidence; I'm basing the weather off the story on what the weather really was doing.
A few decades ago, there was a bad ice storm somewhere in Canada, and one town got their power from a locomotive that they deliberately derailed, then drove down the street to where they could power some of the downtown. When you're driving a locomotive down the road, that's when you're really serious.
haya.qc.ca/gif/gen3502.gif
7578764
At least it's a nice, obvious signal. Nothing subtle about a torrential downpour and 50 mph wind gusts in a thunderstorm.
7579089
Thank you! The comment section is the best. I love having discussions about things in the story, or perhaps things that are not in the story, or just random philosophizing.
Isn't that weird how that happens? If I went to Kalamazoo right now, I would expect to see Silver Glow flying around, or maybe sitting out on her balcony. . . .
I did.
And I'm sure you noticed what SIlver Glow's favorite fast food restaurant is.
7579305
My favorite bad language story comes from Clive Cussler--one time when he was in France, someeone came up to him and started talking in French, and Clive said "Vous ne parlez pas francais." (Which translates to "You don't speak French.")
She probably has some trouble, but not too much. Months of being on Earth have surely gotten her speaking pretty good English.
Mythbusters tested the bull in a china shop, and it turns out (perhaps not surprisingly) that bulls don't randomly crash into things. So, just like in Equestria, a bull could just be there, looking for a new set of formal dinnerware, and not break a single thing.
7579336
One thing we rarely lack in Michigan is rain. We get dry years, but not droughts, as far as I know.
7579594
Why couldn't it be magistatic, though?
I like to put magic on the electromagnetic spectrum, just because I know enough electrical theory to make it plausible and consistent (well, plausible so long as you don't start thinking about it too hard ).
If you were triggering the lightning before it would have occurred naturally, and perhaps using some pegasus magic to help it along, then it's possible that you'd preemtively be sending it down before it built up its full potential, which could also be how lightning strikes are mitigated in Equestria.
7579685
I really need to do some research on odd/funny insults.
I was just thinking earlier today when I passed a dairy farm, something along the lines of 'you have udders like a cow' might be an insult to a pony.
7579725
Ah. I don't think I've ever seen it.
7579727
"No, I don't have a birth certificate. Writing hadn't been invented when I was born. I've got a statue, though--does that count as an ID? I could have some of my guards drag it over so you can inspect the plaque on the plinth."
7579759
Very true. And you don't even have to die to get one, just remove yourself from the gene pool.
7579856
You know, you guys have traffic circles to help traffic flow efficiently, without stopping. We put them in in order to confuse people and slow them down.
It looks like SG thinks that sound travels faster than light...
7641448
True, as worded it does sound like that. However, she knows that the thunder she saw was from one lightning and the next flash she saw was from another.
Considering those don't really bother being much unless they've foaled recently, yeah maybe.
11056376
And I don’t really see ponies having the attitude of bigger = better for udders. Maybe in some niche occupations, like a professional nursemare.
This is my exact sentiment about adults and the morals in My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. Especially those hooked on so-called reality shows.
🎵Faaaaat Squirrel
Where goin' with that
nut in your paws?🎵