May 21
At least I had an excuse for being lazy this morning, cause I was up late last night. Plus, Aric was probably sad that I'd fallen right asleep. So I snuggled up against his chest until he woke up, and then I teased him with my wing a little bit more than I should have. After he recovered we tried again.
He didn't have any eggs left, but he still had another bottle of pancake batter and more hash browns. Plus there was oatmeal in the cupboard, and that made for a pretty good breakfast.
While we were eating, he asked me what my plans for the day were, and I said that I was going to go on a nice long flight to start the day, then I had to start on my essay. Plus I still had to write letters back to my sister and Comcast and Discover.
He said that he didn't have anything he had to do, but he'd be smart to start work on his theatre final.
Then I asked him what he was going to do for the summer.
He said that he'd been meaning to tell me; he had gotten a grant to work over the summer at a theater in Lafayette. Then he said that if he'd known I was going to be here that he wouldn't have, but he got the offer last November and he really shouldn't back down now.
I got a little mad that he hadn't told me sooner, especially if he'd known since November, then he got defensive and said that I hadn't bothered to tell him what I was doing for the summer, either, so the lack of communication went both ways.
He was right, of course. But I wasn't thinking straight—I was afraid of spending the whole summer without most of my friends. So I told him that was just 'cause I didn't know, but if I had known I would have told him right away.
Aric went around the table and put his hand on my shoulder and told me that it was okay; Lafayette wasn't all that far and maybe he could come up on weekends or something. But it was a theatre internship, and they were kind of hard to get, and it was close by.
I told him that I was sorry for yelling at him and that it was just unexpected, but after that I didn't want to leave at all, 'cause I knew it wouldn't be too long before he was gone.
So we changed our plans—instead of studying like we ought to, we'd go to the Air Zoo and look at the airplanes there, and he could take a picture of me standing next to one so that I could send it to my sister. And then he said we'd go out into the woods for a late picnic lunch, and just spend all day relaxing.
I said that I ought to fly out to the picnic spot and at least get some exercise today, so that's what we decided to do.
When we got in Winston, I thought about using my airplane radio to talk to Dori and see if she wanted to meet us at the Air Zoo, but I'm not supposed to use my radio for stuff like that, so I didn't.
The Air Zoo is right next to the airport, and there are a couple of airplanes sitting outside. I posed for a picture next to the white one, because it looked faster. Aric told me that it was a passenger jet, while the other one was a fighter jet, but I still thought it looked like the fastest one.
The woman selling tickets was really surprised to see me, and she came around from the desk and used her telephone to take a selfie with me, and then said that I could get in free because I was basically an aircraft. But she still made Aric pay for a ticket.
It was pretty overwhelming in there; the whole place was stuffed full of airplanes and helicopters, and each one had a little display telling us all about it. Plus some of the people who were touring the museum also knew about some of the airplanes that were in there, too, and they were happy to tell us about them, too.
We wound up spending most of the day there, and he took my picture in front of a couple of different airplanes: the Grumman G-73 Mallard, which I liked because it was an airplane that could land on water, and the Douglas C-47 because it was big, and the Lockheed SR-71 which was the fastest airplane in the whole world. Aric said that it could fly faster than the sun, which meant that they could take off at sunset and fly west, and they'd see the sun rise the wrong way and then set behind them.
And we talked to an older man named Tony whose father had flown the Waco CG-4 in the second World War. That was a special airplane, too, because it was a glider, so it had to be towed like a barge behind another airplane, and when they got near their landing site they had to release the tow-rope and there weren't any second chances. You were gonna land, and you'd better hope that if it wasn't on the runway, it was somewhere soft.
He said that in Burma, the gliders brought in equipment and the C-47s brought in men, and it was done before the Japanese even knew that the Americans were there. Then he asked if he could see me fly before we left.
We weren't ready to leave yet, so he gave Aric his telephone number, and we both went our separate ways, and looked at more of the displays. There was a little section about female pilots and astronauts, and there were biographies of the most famous ones, like Amelia Earhart, and Sally Ride who was the first American woman in space.
There was also a little flight simulator that Aric insisted that I try. When we got there, though, I didn't like it right away because it closed all around you like a clam, and I thought it would be scary inside. Anyway, you had to be four feet tall to use it, and I wasn't.
He said if I stood on my hind hooves I probably was.
I stuck my tongue out at him and told him if he wanted to try the box, he could, so he got inside and the lid closed on him and the whole thing sort of shook around for a little bit and then he got out and said that it was a lot of fun.
We spent a little bit of time in the museum store. There were some postcards that I bought, and a book about female pilots which looked interesting. And we also bought a bag of astronaut ice cream. Aric wanted to know how I knew about it, so I told him about how we'd had it at the museum in Seattle.
It probably wasn't the best thing to eat on an empty stomach, but we did anyway. Then Aric called Tony and said that we were getting ready to leave, and we waited around the entrance for him to show up.
I probably wasn't supposed to fly this close to the airport, but I knew that if I stayed below the light poles in the parking lot it would be okay, so I flew a couple laps around the parking lot and then glided around the final time. I don't think his father would have been impressed; if it wasn't for the hot air coming up off the parking lot, I wouldn't have made it at all. But he was impressed, and said that I was the most wonderful thing he'd seen all day.
I was pretty hungry when we left, so we stopped at Taco Bell for a snack, and then Aric said that if I still wanted to have a picnic, we could. I wanted to, so he said that if I wanted to get my flying in, too, we could meet in the little clearing where we'd been in the rain. He showed it to me on the map, in case I didn't remember how to get there, and reminded me that with all the tree cover it would be hard to see.
I told him that if he put a big P for pegasus on Winston it would be a lot easier to find.
He said that I could call him on his pocket telephone if I got lost, and I could just land at any crossroads and read the sign and he'd know where I was. Then he helped me into my flight gear and we kissed and then I got permission to fly, and I took off.
It really wasn't that hard to find. The roads were pretty regular, and so even when they were covered by trees, it was pretty obvious where they were. I hadn't seen it marked on the map, but the clearing was really close to the field with all the irrigation ditches that I'd seen on the Kal Haven trail.
I didn't find the right clearing right away, though. There were a couple of them, and I passed two that didn't have Winston before I found the third. And it made me laugh; Aric had painted a bit white P in the back of Winston, and it was still wet, which I found out when I landed on it.
He was still in the truck, so I tapped at the back window and he slid it open and I kissed him, then touched a bit of wet paint to his forehead.
Aric had the tailgate lowered, and we sat there and ate sandwiches and each drank a beer and then just sat together and talked until it started to get dark, then we decided to do a little bit of driving.
That little bit turned into a lot. I lost track of where we were before too long, because he was taking all back roads, and some of them were pretty twisty. Most of the time I couldn't see the moon because it was behind trees, but I managed to get myself somewhat re-oriented when he went by the railroad tracks, because I'd been there before.
We followed them all the way to Battle Creek, and then he drove down a road that overlooked the airport, and it was really pretty with all the lights marking the runways and taxiways. The different colors tell the pilots where they need to go and where they shouldn't go.
While we were sitting there, he pointed off in the distance and I saw a set of airplane spotlights, and pretty soon it came over us and landed.
On our way back home, we had to wait for a train that was going towards Kalamazoo, and once it had gone all the way by, Aric sped up until he was even with the locomotives, and then kept pace with it all the way back to Kalamazoo. We fell behind a couple of times, when we had to go through towns where we had to slow down and it didn't, and he had to get ahead so he could cross the tracks in Galesburg. We cut it pretty close; the warning lights started flashing right as we bounced across the rails.
When we got to Comstock, we had to give up the chase, because there was another crossing coming up but the road had a slow speed limit, and Aric said he didn't feel like getting a speeding ticket by running through town at sixty. I didn't mind; it had been fun and it was okay that it was over now.
He brought me back to his house and we sat on the couch and watched the end of a movie called The City of Lost Children with David and Angela. It was in French, but there were English words on the bottom so that we would know what the people were saying.
It was very strange. The town was a nightmare of a seaside town, and I was really confused about what was going on. He said it would make a lot more sense if I saw it from the very beginning, and I thought he was probably right.
Still, there was some stuff that was pretty familiar, like the big wooden wharfs and the diving suit that 'the Original' wore.
We had a couple of beers and just snuggled on the couch (that's what David and Angela were doing, too), and when it was over Aric told them how much fun we'd had at the Air Zoo, and showed them the pictures he'd taken of me.
Then we went upstairs and went to bed. It was a nice night outside, so Aric opened both of his windows and we had a little bit of a breeze.
7407929
To quote Wikipedia:
"Although by its dictionary and anatomical definitions, the term vagina refers exclusively to the specific internal structure, it is colloquially used to refer to the vulva or to both the vagina and vulva."
But, to be technically correct, they should have said 'vulva' (and presumably 'anus' as well, since odds are if you see one you're seeing the other). If her labia were gaping open, they'd see her vestibule, but probably still not her actual vagina, 'cause that's a ways further in.
a good chapter I like it.
some ware in all my crap (if it did not get thrown away with this divorce) I have a photo of me standing under a SR 71 I can say that plan looks fast standing still.
Haven't seen that movie, but what little description you gave makes me think of Bioshock. That'd probably be a straight-up horror game for a pegasus, buried under a mile of water.
...Now I have this amusing thought that there's a series of reaction videos from another exchange student hitting special spots in certain games or playing things like Amnesia. Button Mash would probably sign up for the program for just that reason
Well, we use a big H for helicopter landing pads... but wait. Doesn't that mean Aric would have to paint a big O for "ornithopter"?
Aric's been helping Silver find the big O for a while now anyway. Hurr hurr.
7408337
Is this in continuity with Pony Planet, several years on?
Although I have yet to see an actual SR-71 in person, I have sat in a genuine SR-71 training simulator. Rather a snug fit for a 6' 2" person.
The City of Lost Children is an awesome film. I was blown away by it in the cinema. It has been far too many years since I've seen it...
You know, I bet the Air Zoo, unlike most zoos, has absolutely no rules against feeding the exhibits. Go and look cute and see if you can score some sunflower seeds from the visitors, Silver.
A flying pony is only the most wonderful thing he's seen today? He must have seen something truly spectacular the day before.
Sorry, Silver. That's what summer looks like :/
Still really enjoying this story. I also have a small request. Can you have Silver's reaction to the Man in the Glass? It is one of my favorite poems and I would love to see what you/Silver think of it within the context of this story.
It's really called the "Air Zoo", I actually didn't expect that instead thinking it was one of her names for something. Cool to know.
City of Lost Children is good, she also might like Amelie if they are watching french films.
I wonder... could get they an equstrian film with English subtitles? I could also see Hollywood trying to do a live action Daring Do movie, which could be interesting.
7407445
we have some, but they aren't as big or intrusive as yours. They tend to be more along the line of do this before you graduate than an annual thing. After some reflection there are some I remember. There's a bubblegum alley downtown so you add your mark to that. There's a hike to a couple landmarks. People have also built a large letter into a hill that overlooks the school. It often gets repainted and it's used to spell out messages (although neither of these things have happened while I was here) and you also hike out to that. Finally there's a 6 a.m. bar crawl with your family on graduation day.
I don't know how long it'd take to generate enough oil pressure although liquids are fairly incompressible (again, not a hydraulics guy)
both mechanical systems and electro-mechancal systems have their advantages
Nice to see it's not all perfect in the Silver/Alric relationship. They still mess up a bit like other couples. Although I'm with her on this one, if he's known he was going to be away for the summer since November he could have mentioned it somewhen.
7408362 The movie takes place above water in the sea side town, but the general atmosphere is a bit like Bioshock. I'd recommend it.
Though, didn't the same people who made that movie also make Amalie? I'm pretty sure some of the same actors were in both.
7408905
With Harrison Ford ?
no one teached Sliver that red makes things faster ? (she could try with underwear and aric !)
i hope she starts soon with the WW1 book and learns about the history of human flight ... and how we colored our airplanes over the time :-P
Now I feel the need to visit the Kzoo Air Zoo!
Air zoo? Didn't know it was called that. I think the one in Ottawa was called museum of aeronotism or something...
Still, I have good memories of it.
I really liked the realism of Aric à n d Silver's relationship. Kudos!
I wonder why Aric didn't say anything when Silver talked about sending letters to Comcast and Discover. I just throw junk mail out and I thought Aric might've told her that she didn't have to respond to them.
Also, Silver definitely hears people talking about emails and cell phones. Does she just call them pocket telephones and no one says how that's not its actual name?
7409881
I remember reading a story with Twilight in the human world, and she knew that keyboards were called keyboards but she wanted to call them buttonboards because she thought that was a more descriptive name for them.
Or it might just be that it's easier for Silver to remember all this newfangled technological stuff if she relates it to things she knows from Equestria.
I'm a little surprised Silver Glow didn't ask about WWII what with the perfect opening there and all.
We cut it pretty close; the warning lights started flashing right as we bounced across the rails.
That's incredibly stupid. Train engineers involved in that kind of accident retire. Trust me the wreckage is pure unadulterated nightmare fuel.
Air museums are some of my favorite places. I've spent hours upon hours at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Museum with my dad, just wandering. And I live pretty close to the Bradley Air Museum in Connecticut. I could spend hours just sitting in front of Ansen Johnson's racing P-51, soaking in the history.
7408358
I have gotten to touch the last remaining XB70 Valkyrie. Same story, it looks as absurdly fast as it is.
7409200
There were also people related to them who were in/made Micmacs, a heist comedy about... Errr... Homeless veterans or something? Homeless people not getting a fair shake, anyhow. It was quite funny though.
7412218
To be fair, the lights only started flashing as they were already crossing. It's not as though they were blatantly ignoring a warning signal or going around the gates, which you should never do.
The Air Zoo is right next to the airport, and there are a couple of airplanes sitting outside. I posed for a picture next to the white one, because it looked faster. Aric told me that it was a passenger jet, while the other one was a fighter jet, but I still thought it looked like the fastest one.
It's big, and it's white... Just like a certain Princess. Of course it has to be fast! <Oh yes, indeed!)
Wow.
[youtube=ZScVFtKa-f8]
7410838 Damn, ninja'd.
7408358
I've never seen the actual plane (although the SR-71 is at the Air Zoo right now, so maybe I ought to get off my lazy butt and go see it). But yeah, in pictures it looks damned fast, too.
7408362
Set-wise, it's similar to Dark City, if you've seen that one. It's a very strange movie. Almost everything in it is a little bit too tall and narrow, and it has a very steampunk-y, Rube Goldberg feel to it. Well worth the watch.
Oh, man, that would be great.
7408433
"P" is close enough.
Yes, he has.
7408435
Not exactly. I decided not to hold myself 100% to the worldbuilding in that story . . . but it's very much a spiritual successor.
7408458
Sweet!
Yeah, a lot of airplanes aren't exactly big on the inside. My brother's plane is a snug fit for me (I've never been in it in the air, either, just on the ground). I think if you want to be a fighter pilot, you don't want to be too tall.
7409017
I wonder if the campus size has something to do with that? Kalamazoo College normally had about 900-1000 students on campus in any given quarter, and maybe total enrollment of about 1400 (tops). It was a very different feel from big state colleges.
True, and you've got to use the right one for the task.
Speaking as a mechanic, lack of maintenance does in a lot of hydraulic systems; that's less of a problem with electrical systems, since there normally isn't any maintenance to them--they work until they don't, then you replace the failed part.
7409074
Yup; they've both got their problems. Plus it's a tricky relationship anyway, since they both know she's going back to Equestria at the end of the school year.
7409200
Yes, it was the same people.
7409320
But you normally don't want the guy to go faster.
I like the fact that in WW2 when we had air superiority, we didn't even bother painting the planes anymore.
7409509
Do it!
7409844
I always thought that was a particularly clever name.
Thanks!
7409881
Maybe he's just struck by how adorable it is that Silver Glow is writing replies to junk mail.
She's gotten in the habit of calling them that in her journal and isn't likely to change unless someone forces her to. Trust me, that happens when you write. I still double-space after periods, and I'd have to think to slow down and look, but I probably still spell -ize words the British way, like realise. Not sure where I picked up the habit, but I've done it that way for over twenty years, and Word and gDocs have been faithfully autcorrecting them for me (so I never had to make the investment of unlearning that particular muscle memory).
7410279
I think it was Merlos' A Twilight Landing where she did that. Also she often forgot to put on clothes, which I thought was a nice, realistic touch.
Yes, it is. Ponies don't really have a concept of e-mail or texting.
7410445
Yeah, maybe she should have asked a few questions there.
7410838
Can you imagine flying in a plane so fast that its missile defense is outrun the missile?
7412218
Started flashing, that's the key. Cutting around the gates or past a signal that's already flashing is dumb; being in the crossing when they start is not.
I got to tow a car that gut stuck on the tracks once. The cops told me that Amtrak had been notified and was going to stop, but I said that when I heard the train, I was unhooking my equipment from the car and would wait until I saw it stop with my own eyes. I'm not sure what would happen to a wrecker that was hooked to a car that was hit by a train, and I really didn't want to find out. As it happened, the Amtrak train did stop, and the engineer probably had a nice front-row seat to me winching the car off the rails.
7414494
That one is one of the best I've been to. I like that in the one hanger, you can see the B-36 from everywhere.
It looks like a pencil stuck on a paper airplane. And yeah, the whole design says "I'm ugly, but I'm really quick."
Yeah, going around crossing gates is incredibly dumb.
7415536
I wonder if Princess Celestia can fly faster than Rainbow Dash?
7415899
Wow.
vfp62.com/IMAGES_9/SR71_record.jpg
I have a soft spot for the SR 71 Blackbird.
9306158
Corrections made; thank you!
I suspect she's a bit past her prime at this point, but those old mare's tales had to come from somewhere.
11009778
And she can cheat using magic.
Probably she doesn’t competitively fly anymore because a sonic sunboom isn’t as great as it sounds, unless you’re down with everything being on fire.
derpicdn.net/img/2019/8/16/2119184/large.png
(never thought I’d have another reason to post that image )
I just had a thought. Wouldn't pegasus culture value signs that could be read from the air? What if pegasus language had letters that were largely symmetrical, and had punctuation to tell you where the start of a line is, so that it can be read from any orientation?
11683683
It would depend on how much they cared about things on the ground, honestly. Or how much the ponies on the ground wanted to attract (or repel) pegasi. I would think post-unification, some ponies would want to attract pegasi and might paint signs on their roof or signs on the ground for them--
--but that leads me to another point; I would think in an older small-town world, as Equestria seems to be, you'd have a lot of places where there was no need, 'cause all the locals know where the thing is, and the out-of-towners can ask if they need to find it. As an example, a lot of older rural people especially give directions by landmarks rather than road names, and more than once I've encountered a local who includes in their directions where something used to be.
My own headcanon suggests that pegasi picked up writing from one of the other tribes and just used the system that was presented to them rather than coming up with something on their own. (Bonus, I think that the pegasi invented complex math and then the unicorns picked it up, symbols and all, from them).
I don't know if there's be a huge advantage to having symmetrical letters; if you're writing out words you'd have to start from the beginning to read it, and it'd be easier to identify you were reading upside down if the letters weren't symmetrical IMHO.