April 27
I felt a little better when I woke up on Wednesday morning, but I still had a fever and a really runny nose. I sucked an antihistamine candy and went to the microwave in the little lounge to make hot water for tea. I couldn't remember exactly how long Peggy cooked water for, so I thought I should do it for five minutes and then see how hot it was.
Five minutes was too long, and I was lucky that I just brushed the mug because if I had grabbed it I would have burned myself.
I didn't have a good way to get the cup out of the microwave so I just left it there while I went to the bathroom and when I came back it was cool enough to touch at least.
I sat at my desk and sipped my tea and that helped unstuff my nose but I still didn't feel all that good. Peggy got up and told me that I was going to stay in the room and get better and asked if there was anything that she could get for me. I couldn't think of anything, so she said that she would come back between classes and if I needed anything I could call her, or I could call Mister Salvatore and Miss Cherilyn, and they would come right over.
She said that I should probably stay in our room as much as possible and rest so that I would get better quickly, especially since I was going to Madison this weekend. Then she wrote down on a piece of paper how to use Netflix. Her Netflix name (which was like my airplane call-sign) was Snowboarding_Chick and her password was Sa1omon (she said the underline was because it was the number one not the letter l which looked the same).
Then she had to go and take her shower so she would be ready for class.
I was thinking that I should go to breakfast—it's not good to stop eating just because you feel sick; that can make it worse—and I finished my tea and was brushing my mane in front of the mirror when Peggy came back from her shower and she said that she would bring me breakfast before she went to class.
I'd gotten back in bed before she came back and I was reading poetry when she came back. There was a lot in the new book that I hadn't gotten to yet, and I felt really bad for missing Conrad's class yesterday.
She set the tray on my desk and said that I should eat whatever I thought I could and that she would get me more orange juice, then there was a knock at the door and it was Miss Cherilyn.
She had a plastic shopping bag from Walgreens, and she put it on my desk. She told me that she had brought more antihistamine candies and a bottle of Vernors because that would make me feel better. And Peggy left, 'cause she could see I was being taken care of.
It's so nice how helpful and friendly some people are. She reminded me that there would be a nurse coming to draw my blood and that the nurse could get my vitals or she could do it if I didn't mind, and I told her that I didn't mind, so she put on her little gloves again, and when she was finished she sent a computer mail to the pony doctor who had been on the big pocket telephone.
I spent most of the morning either reading poetry or dozing. It felt kind of rude to not talk to Miss Cherilyn, but when I talked too much my throat got scratchy and then started coughing. I tried a glass of the Vernors and it was bubbly and tingly and made me sneeze but it did make my throat feel better and sometimes medicine isn't supposed to taste good.
I think humans must get sick a lot because I see people drinking Vernors out of little bottles all the time.
I was in bed when the nurse came in but I wasn't asleep so I got up to greet her and she asked me how I was feeling and did the same things that Miss Cherilyn had already done and then did the things that doctors do like listening to my chest and looking in me with the little light and then she took a cotton-stick and got some snot and then stuck me with a needle and got some blood and she said that if I had to pee she wouldn't mind having a sample of that, too. I didn't have to, so she said when she came back it would be really nice if she could get a urine sample, so I told her I would remember.
Then she told me that I shouldn't go to class today and they were going to run some more tests on my blood and my snot and that she would be back in the afternoon and she petted me on the head and said that I had been good and reached into her pocket and pulled out a bone-shaped cookie and then slid it back in and shook my hoof instead.
I ate the rest of breakfast for lunch, and Miss Cherilyn made me another cup of tea and Peggy brought me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich that was wrapped up in a napkin and brushed my mane. Then she went out in the hall and talked with Miss Cherilyn for a little bit, and then she had to go to class again.
I was feeling a little better in the afternoon and I used my computer and Peggy's Netflix to watch a movie. She thought I might like The Little Mermaid, which I did. But I didn't think that Ariel was too smart to give up her fish-tail for a boy; I wouldn't give up my wings for a stallion no matter what. I would never be happy without them, and I don't see how she could be happy out of the sea forever.
I told Miss Cherilyn about the merponies and seaponies and how shy they were, but I'd seen a pod of merponies sunning on a rock once when I was way away from land near some shoals. A lot of the sailors saw them more often and they were always a good sign because wherever they were, there weren't any sea monsters.
She asked if I had ever been to a merpony town and if it was like in the movie, and I said I hadn't because I couldn’t breathe underwater but I had heard of ponies making diving bells and special suits and sometimes visiting them. I told her that the sailors often gave them gifts, and sometimes the merponies helped sailors who were lost at sea.
Peggy came back while we were talking about how annoying seaponies could be. She asked how I was feeling and I said I was better and that I could probably go to class tomorrow and Miss Cherilyn said that I ought to wait for the results from my tests. And just when I was starting to think about dinner the nice nurse showed up again and went through the whole routine again and I even got a cup of my pee for her.
I spent the rest of the evening with Peggy, reading my Bible while she did homework, and then helping her with her math. Peggy told me she had sent a telephone telegram to Aric telling him that I was sick and I thanked her for doing that. She didn't have to.
She said that she had talked to Meghan at dinner and told her, too.
I was kind of surprised that none of them had come over but maybe that wasn't a thing that most humans did. Some predator species like griffons would just abandon a friend who got sick because they were afraid that they might get sick, too. And sometimes that was for the best; when a pegasus got feather flu she had to be isolated until she was better, or else everyone would get it.
I had to get a bunch of shots before I came here; I wonder if Peggy had to get some, too. Maybe that was why she wasn't worried about staying with me but everyone else was.
It was too much to think about, so I just got in bed and lay on my back and stretched out my wings and let my belly cool off until my back was all sweaty, then I rolled over and lay on my stomach and had one more antihistamine mint then I fell asleep.
But... they don't... taste like... candies...
And did that nurse tried to give her a dog's cookie?
Silly nurse, they're Equidae, not Canidae!
I'm surprised too, were they told to let her rest or something?
"Do you have any of those big bottles of cough syrup that come wrapped in brown paper bags? The kind I see people drinking from out on the corner?"
7337493
She has met up with a few ponies recently--the train ride and the trip to the greenhouse.
A lot of the sailors saw them more often and they were always a good sign because wherever they were, there weren't any sea monsters.
Interesting practicality behind the mythology.
Give Silver a light slap to the back of the head for that.
7338261
The last interaction she had with another pony was about two weeks prior, which is probably too long of an incubation period.
Water for 5 minutes in the microwave . . . . . I hope she took the proper precautions. If she didn't she is extremely lucky she didn't have super-heated water explode on her. That would have been awful. I had a friend do that to himself once . . . was not pretty.
I wouldn't be surprised if they were told to stay away. It doesn't seem to be too serious but if it whatever she caught mutates inside her and jumps to others then everyone has a problem. Could you imagine if the common cold picked up magic from a pony?
Missing a "t" there i think.
Used to be a joke that if you tried you could cure a cold in just 2 weeks but if you neglected it, it would last 14 days.
It is the snot heard round the world.
(Her hacking & wheezing)
One folk cure is the mix of rye whiskey & peppermint (also called Tom & Jerry). A friend made me some once but told me that the alcohol evaporated when it was heated. When I asked ’'Then, why heat it?' I was called ungrateful
Also vaporizers & Vaporub + aspirin. Don't suppose Ponies would like chicken soup. Also don't suppose the CDC likes folk cures.
Well to be fair, in the original story that the movie was based off of mermaids didn't have an afterlife, so she also had that motivation.
In my house, it was always 7-Up instead of ginger ale.
7338239
Ah yeah I was guessing that, but I was purposely not wanting it to be that scenario mainly cause that is usually how dogs get their temperature taken. Guess I was right...ugghhhh*shivers*
"Umm...thanks?"
7338184 Neat!
7336774
If anyone ever looks at your search history they're going to need eye bleach.
("what the fuuuuuuck, bronies")
*science oven noises* (http://thehorsewife.tumblr.com/post/118761300890)
"I didn't know it was possible to burn water."
I've burnt the fuck out of my fingers that way. Though in that particular case I managed to forget the water and microwaved an empty cup, so it got skin-meltingly hot very quickly.
Did I mention Peggy is best roommate?
Old habits
Shoo be doo, shoo shoo be doo!
So, uh, on the subject of Aric and Meghan and telling Meghan things that you've already told Aric...
That 'nurse' was a vet, wasn't she?
Gah! Microwaved water for tea? That sounds appalling! Not to mention terribly slow.
I'm glad she's getting better; I've had pneumonia and it's nothing to take lightly. It got so bad I was in a hospital for three days, getting high-powered antibiotics delivered through an IV.
7336588
doubt it. It's a college level book and the course itself is listed as a senior level class at my school
I have a feeling that rolling shutter effect and motion blur will mess up the calculation more than resolution.
centigrade is used more often than gradient is. The only reason I know what a gradian is used for is my dad and a few civil engineering friends.
I'm just wondering where she got some of them. did she get a list of SI prefixes in climate science? Because decameter (the other weird one) isn't used in math, science, engineering or everyday usage (as far as I know). I'm also impressed by her ability to easily adapt to foreign units. I still don't have a feel for SI units.
You know what I miss? Vicks vapo-rub.
7336616
Right, confusing.
Do the merponies live where there are no sea monsters or do they actively hunt out sea monster nests and destroy their eggs?
Also
How do we know that seals are not actually merdogs?
Heh. That awkward moment when a vet remembers her patient is sapient. She was doing so well until that pernicious little habit came up. Fortunately, Silver didn't make the connection.
Also, this does make a good point about communicable diseases in pony communities. Quarantines can't be pleasant for anyone involved.
7338325
I do love how neither Applejack nor Megan had any idea what to make of that whole scenario. Even at the end, they're just like, "Well. That happened."
7338307 college aged people are not known for ultra clean cups and plates. No dishwasher so it is all hand cleaned. Doubt you can get a mug hand cleaned enough to let the water become super-heated.
She had one more antihistamine mint and then fell asleep...
Useless trivia time: Antihistamines reduce the body's immune response to foreign substances and tend to have a sedative effect, so unless you're looking for something to help you sleep, they're not good for helping you fight off a cold.
Happily, most decongestants are mild stimulants, so mixing the two helps cancel out the sedative.
<I can't sleep, but least I can breathe freely.)
7339445
It's not hard to clean things by hand, you know. You get the same clenliness, but it just takes longer.
7340116
That makes it even better. Somewhere in the bowels of Fort Meade, someone is reading a list of search terms including:
- Ghillie suits
- .50 caliber rifles
- Geiger counters
- Getting STDs from a horse
- Giving STDs to a horse
And I'm assuming you've done some research on horse shows, weather forecasting, and various locations around the US for the sake of this story.
Now what could that all mean?
7340155
And it goes far beyond just this story. Like, for Quicksilver I had to research mercury poisoning; I've read up on fourth-degree burns and arc burns; historical diving suits; I'm watching a series of lectures on YouTube about nondynamical systems (because I might as well admit that I don't know anything about math beyond basic trig, and I can't remember most of that); I wasn't satisfied with fanon size of stallions [you know what I mean] so I not only researched that, but then did calculations to come up with a more accurate size . . . yeah, I'm sure there's some poor bastard at Fort Meade trying to make sense of it all.
7338227
They kinda do. My mom used to get one kind that really tasted like candy, but I don't think it's made any more.
She did. Force of habit.
Yeah, Peggy told them to stay away until Silver Glow got the all-clear, lest they risk becoming infected.
7338256
drmcgillicuddy.com/media/mentholmint.png.136x342_q85_crop-scale.png
This will cure what ails you.
7338261
I think that would be too long an incubation time: she most likely picked it up during the 5k run.
7338294
A lot of myth has at least some basis in fact.
7338305
She doesn't like the carbonation.
7338306
Yeah; my thought is that she picked it up at the 5k run.
7338307
Odds are that the drinking mug she has isn't smooth enough to allow the water to superheat.
Yeah, Peggy told Meghan and Aric to stay away until they got the all-clear.
Oops; thanks!
7338314
I thought it was only seven days . . . I guess in your neck of the woods colds last twice as long?
Dr. McGillicuddy's Mentholmint will probably cure anything. I can tell you for a fact that it opens your sinuses, and that's before you drink it.
I don't know what the CDC has to say about palliatives, to be honest. I think as long as they're not harmful, they wouldn't be opposed.
7338325
Ah, the seaponies. Always ready to lend a
hooffin when you need it.7340126 Yup. Father Time pulls no punches.
7338378
That raises some interesting questions. I ought to read the original.
7338425
I think that's a Michigan thing. It's got to be Vernors; no other brand of Ginger Ale will do.
7338475
Edited to make it a little more clear who got the cup of pee.
7338536
I assume that by now there's already some FBI agent doing it, and trying like hell to figure out what I'm up to.
Fun fact: I once started a small kitchen fire trying to boil water.
Yeah, microwave ovens can be dangerous. Like the plate is a zillion degrees hot and the food on it is still frozen. How does that happen?
Peggy is the best roommate.
Yup. Most of her clients can't talk to her and are happy to get a doggie treat when the exam is over.
Silly singing buggers. They're not all that smart, but they harmonize really well.
That's still coming. Once she recovers from her illness.
7340198 The ones for children do have something added to make it taste like a candy.
But the regular one just taste bland. Or awfull.
It does sound reasonable to enforce some sort of vague quarantine. But why didn't they call/send a e-mail a texto? Or just told Peggy to tell Silver they wish her well?
I am also very surprised that nobody told Silver about that isolation procedure. If it is official that is. If it is just Peggy being prudent, then I guess she would be the kind to hide this to not depress Silver.
7338784
Yes she was.
7338866
Depending on your microwave, it only takes a minute and a half to two minutes to heat up a cup enough to make tea.
7338882
That sucks, dude. I've had strep kind of bad a couple of times but so far managed to miss out on the hospitalization (although one time I was probably only a day away from needing IV fluids).
7338919
Oh well. Yeah, that'd go right over my head.
Good point.
She would have seen the table.
s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/ca/a6/87/caa6877a04f994cd6b4ad178f37e2f28.jpg
The table, of course, doesn't tell you if anybody actually uses those prefixes.
I mix and match at work all the time, because a lot of stuff is in metric, but other things aren't. So it's kind of second-nature to go back and forth on units. Heck, even some things from the manufacturer are both: tire sizes are like this: P225/60R16. The 225 is millimeters, and the 16 is inches (the 60 is a percent).
7338953
That's still around, isn't it?
What I miss is mercurochrome. Stings like the devil and makes your injury orange, which is how you knew it was fighting off the bacteria and stuff.
7340276 Not to disapoint you, but they probably found your fic and realised you were just doing research for your stories.
But the mental imagery of the secret services trying to prove a brony conspiration is still funny.
7340318 Good old mercurochrome, that's ,'monkey blood' down south. Geez last time I saw that was junior high.
7339157
Probably both. I would think that they would prefer to settle where there were no sea monsters, and then after they had settled they would deal with sea monsters harshly.
Seals are merdogs.
7339403
Habits can get you into trouble, but luckily Silver Glow doesn't recognize a dog biscuit when she sees one.
No, it would be horrible, probably most so for the pegasi.
I don't know what to make of it. Seaponies are weird.
7339445
I do remember that from my college days. Wipe off a spoon, and that's good enough.
7339513
Although I would think that the sleep might help your body recover, and for me anyway the worst part of a cold is the stuffy nose. Everything else I can deal with.
You was robbed Silv! Them things are good.
When I was a kid I ate dog biscuits all the time, there's nothing wrong with them.
Wait, why are you looking at me like that?
7338548
Oh, I don't know, Sweetie Belle could probably do it.
EDIT: Dog biscuits actually have quite an interesting history, for admittedly middling values of 'interesting'.
7340257
It's kind of depressing sometimes. But I suppose it can't be helped.
7340280
Y'know, I don't mind the taste at all. Maybe part of it is because it's routine to take them during weekend gigs so I can keep my voice through the whole thing.
This is the semi-official 'we don't think this is bad, but let's try to limit the number of people she's in close contact with' response. The next steps up are actual quarantine for Silver Glow (and if they had thought that was needed, nobody would have been leaving the medical facility in Ann Arbor) and campus-wide observations and quarantine.
I'm going to assume that they somehow overlooked that. Like, maybe they saw the FimFic links but nobody ever read the stories, so they didn't make the connection.
7340337
I looked it up once because my grandma swore by it and I hadn't seen it in a while. It looks like it fell by the wayside in the 90s due to the mercury content (and the fact that it apparently didn't have any particularly unique curative properties).
7340318
An electric kettle is still a lot quicker, but I guess that's better than five minutes waiting for it like Silver tried. I'd be more concerned about controlling the temperature though. If the water's not quite boiling, you get crappy tasteless tea.
7340318
I do as well. Or more accurately gladly use one and then grudgingly use the other only when I have to (which is a lot more than I'd like). Most of my metric work is on paper (all our shop stuff is imperial) so if you hand me a stick, I'm going to have trouble estimating the length in millimeters as an example. It makes sense that she'd be given a list of prefixes and her climate science class would most likely be in metric, but everything around her would be in imperial so I'd expect her to try centi-feet instead of fractions of inches or something similar.
7340251
Still, she deserves it... its Vernors.
7340143 Oh, I already figured that by the fact she doesn't usually wear clothes, I was merely thinking just in terms of story writing. Maybe if I were a pony I'd have a different point of view on the subject.
Nonetheless, still made for a very entertaining entry. 'nuff said.
Well, somebody needs to change their password.
7338443
Yes, it is; in front of the Fine Arts building, and it's often called by students "Crabs fucking."
7338477
I suppose that's one possibility. I'm leaving it open to the reader . . . but I prefer to think it was a near miss.
Not using serifed font for usernames and passwords?
That's just asking for annoyance.
7338307
You ever try superheating distilled water, then dropping a pinch of salt in? (from a safe distance, of course)