Super Bowl Sunday
This morning I made sure that I got up on time. Sleeping in is nice, but then I don't get as much done as I want to, plus I feel sort of sluggish all day.
It was another nice day—although a bit chilly. I took a brief trot around campus to limber up, and then went back to my dorm to get my flight vest.
While I was there, I decided that I'd try one of the cans of anchovies as a pre-flight snack. There was a little ring on the lid that I could pull with my teeth, which was really convenient. Peggy has a can opener, but it isn't very hoof-friendly.
They were just as tasty as I'd hoped they would be, even if they were only fillets. I swallowed them down whole and then used my radio to call the airplane directors and get flight clearance.
I zipped around in the sky for a while, not really doing anything other than stretching my wings. I would have flown for longer, but my light stopped blinking, and I'm not allowed to fly without it unless I stay close to the ground.
I wasn't really disappointed, though. I'd made a couple of nice laps of downtown Kalamazoo, and I kind of took the long way back, just made sure that I stayed low where airplanes weren't allowed to fly.
It's interesting how the perspective changes depending on your altitude. The main part of Kalamazoo is in sort of a depression, with hills around it, and when I'm down low, I can't see very much of it, just some of the tall buildings and smokestacks and of course the college bell tower.
There are other spindly towers that are cell towers and television towers, and I'm supposed to stay away from them because they can put off dangerous radiation. They have lights on them so that they're easy to see.
When I got back to the dorm I took off my flight gear and went to the shower. I didn't have to wait to use it, 'cause there wasn't anyone else awake. Even Peggy was still asleep, and so when I got done in the shower and went back to my room I groomed myself quietly 'cause I didn't want to wake her up.
I spent most of the morning studying—there was a climate science test coming up on Monday, and I was still having trouble remembering the human names for things. Then I helped Peggy a bit with her math. We went to dinner a bit early, so that we'd have time to get over to Aric's for the Super Bowl.
I was happy that she wanted to walk there, 'cause it gave us time to talk about the game. Peggy gave me a brief run-down of how the game is played, and who the two teams playing were. I asked if Kalamazoo had a football team, and she said that the city didn't, but Michigan had one called the Lions. She said that they were the worst team in the NFL.
She told me that the teams that were playing in the Super Bowl were the Carolina Panthers and the Denver Broncos, which were not the same as the Western Michigan Broncos. She hoped that the Broncos would win, because they were her local team back in Colorado.
We were not the first guests to arrive: Keith was already there, along with Christine, Sean, and Donald (who plays Durach with us). I also met his roommate, David, who lives in the basement, and his other roommate Sara, who was really short. She was happy to meet me and petted my mane. He has a third roommate named Douglas, but he was out of town, Aric said.
There was a big television set up in the front room, and a couple of couches facing it. One of the couches was huge, and a hideous gold color; the other was smaller and more threadbare. There was also a chair which he called a Lazy Boy that had silvery patches all over it. Peggy said that was duct tape, and David said that you could fix anything with it. Since that wasn't enough room, there was also a rug and blankets on the floor.
In the next room back were stairs leading to the second floor, and there was also a big table set up with snack food and bubbly soft drinks. The center of the room had a silver barrel of beer sitting in a pool full of ice to keep it cold.
That was my first stop. Aric said it was Bell's Oberon, which I liked. And he had lots of red cups which were called Solo cups, and they were plastic so if you dropped them they wouldn't break.
A bunch more people showed up, and pretty soon there were several conversations going on all at once. It got a little confusing because there were also several men on the TV talking about what the game would be like, and how well the teams had done in the season. It reminded me of listening to the smalltalk in pubs back in Equestria—if mares weren't complaining about stallions, they were talking about sports.
Then it was time for the game to start, and everyone found a spot in the living room. Since there wasn't enough couch space to accommodate everyone, some people had to sit on the floor.
That felt like the most social spot to me, so I joined the group on the floor. It was kind of tricky to move around, since there were cups of beer and plates of snacks that had to be avoided, but we managed.
Aric gave up his seat on the couch to join us on the floor, which was really nice of him, and worked out to my benefit, too. (He'd said that I could sit next to him on the couch, but I didn't want to crowd Sara.)
Peggy sat down next to me, and said that she was going to make sure that there wasn't any hanky-panky, and Aric raised both of his hands up in the air and said that he wasn't doing anything.
By the end of the first quarter, things had kind of settled down. Peggy was happy because the Broncos were winning, and I was happy because I was snuggled between Aric and Peggy. I was resting my head on his leg, and he had his hand on my back.
Everyone got up and stretched out during halftime. Aric said it wasn't really worth watching, because the announcers would recap what we'd just seen, and then there was a concert that probably wouldn't be any good. Sara and Keith got in a good-natured debate on the merits of Beyonce's music, while pretty much everyone else took turns at the bathroom.
Aric's house has two; one upstairs and one downstairs. The downstairs one is right off the kitchen, and there is a frosted glass window in it to let light in. A couple of the girls went upstairs, while the rest of us just waited our turn for the downstairs bathroom.
We had more beer and more snacks during the concert, and just talked about stuff, then when it was time for the game to start again, everyone got back in their old places and watched the rest of the game.
Peggy had told me that usually, people get up during the commercials, but they're special in the Super Bowl and so we ought to watch them. There was one for Budweiser which had horses in it (it even said Not Ponies, as if people wouldn't know the difference). There was kind of a hush that fell over everyone; I think they were waiting to see how I'd react to it.
It was kind of weird, but I'd just seen them for a moment, and couldn't really make much judgment on them from that. And it wasn't like I didn't know that there were horses on Earth.
So I said that if they were smarter, they'd be in college drinking Oberon and watching the Super Bowl, and everyone had a good laugh.
By the third quarter, some people were leaving. Keith went home with Christine and Sean and Donald, and Sara went up to her room for the night, and everyone who was left (mostly the people who had come late that I didn't know very well) sort of re-arranged themselves.
The Broncos wound up winning, which made Peggy very happy.
Then the other people started leaving. We moved to the vacant gold couch, and Aric turned off the sound on the television. It was kind of funny watching the people on the screen doing stuff that we couldn't hear.
When Aric got up to use the bathroom again, Peggy said that it was probably time for us to go—it was late, and we both had classes tomorrow. I agreed . . . but I didn't want to. I was enjoying Aric's company too much.
She muttered something under her breath when I said that, and moved over so that she was sitting right next to me on the couch. She asked me if I was sure about what I was doing, and that it wasn't just the beer talking.
I said that I liked him; he was nice and funny and just fun to be with.
She sighed and said that if that was how I felt, that was how I felt. She told me to not do anything that I'd regret, and then told me that she was going to sleep on the couch just to make sure that I'd be all right.
When Aric came back in the room, Peggy looked him right in the eye and told him that if he did anything to hurt me, she was going to rip his dick off and beat him to death with it. Then she reached up under her shirt and pulled her bra out her sleeve, lay down on the smaller couch, and pulled a blanket up over herself.
So Aric and I took the bigger couch for ourselves. We could have gone to his bedroom, I suppose, but I didn't want to leave Peggy alone in the living room.
He stretched out along the couch, and I snuggled up against his chest, then he put his arm around me and we fell asleep like that.
Niiiiiiice!
Siler Glow seems to be happy pony rigth now!
And then Peggy will beat Eric to death with his own dick. :V
I hope she can get that fixed, probably just the batteries.
Really? I wouldn't have thought they would have been powerful enough to actually do anything or is this just something she's heard rather than her actual flight training.
Some things are just constants on all worlds I guess. Although we don't know all that much about pony sports, apart from the pony pull (Write the story! Write it! You know you want to!)
I still can't decide if Silver's feeling are actually romantic or not, or if she knows herself, or if this is just a cultural misunderstanding. If it is it could get very awkward or even heart-breaking. Peggy's being a good chaperone so far, maybe a tad over protective but she seems a good friend.
Looks like this journal will need a Romance tag soon!
I have this mental image of her slurred warning being punctuated with her aggressively, awkwardly doing the secret shirt-on bra removal thing while maintaining a death glare and it makes me chuckle
She's watching you, horsesmoocher
Alao, Silver is champion drinkmeister. It's canon
7090981 hahaha yeah. also kind of sad that just some hugging and snuggeling gets so misinterpreted
7091024 platonic cuddles should be a thing
Some would see Peggy as a cock block, but she is simply making sure Silver's safety is at the forefront. Aric also punctuated the fact that he had no intentions of any shenanigans. I hope this works out for those two and if they have to part ways in the end, it is only because of circumstances outside of their control.
Yeeeeeah, I'm sorry, but when you start threatening to tear off my dick, that's when you and all your friends get to go home.
Bell's Oberon is best Oberon.
7090960 Those towers are like a half a megawatt microwave. It is not ionizing radiation that people are stupidly freaked out on but it will cook you.
Daww.
7091024
I'm inclined to believe that Silver is fairly knowledgeable about the ways of mares and stallions, and understands where things are going.
7091101 Different folks. If someone said that out of the blue, yeah. But if it was a Shovel Talk, nope. That means they care about the person that I may or may not be seeing or about to see.
7091145 really? Huh. Wow. I hadn't thought of that being a thing
7091101
Threats of violence in general are a no no.
7091189 really ? because as of now she has not really catched on to Christine and Sean ?
i wonder if they tell the ponies about this on the exchange program . . . arg i shouldn't read so much clop
but silver glow seems to see human cliques like herds ?
It's kind of funny how so many human hangups are rooted in religion (or at least religion is the justification they point to), but in this case, and at least with respect to Christianity, the ponies can just shrug, play it completely straight, and still short-circuit so much of theology. Hell, she already did it with the issue of wearing clothes. 'well, we didn't have original sin, so that doesn't apply to us.'
Peggy is best human.
Not that I am totally against Aric and Silver having a relationship, but she's being a good friend and I'm not sure Silver quite gets what Peggy means. Heck, I'm not even 100% sure Aric does!
You sure the Cleveland Browns aren't worse?
7090960
The broadcast and long-range microwave relay towers do hit dangerous energy levels. The cel towers are safe but it's easier to just say "don't get close to any of them."
7091200 I suspect it doesn't come up much because the cells are up high where nobody other than a pegasus is likely to get irradiated. And the guys who do maintenance on them know to be careful. Wonder how many birds get cooked by microwaves, though?
A quick Google suggests that more die from physical impacts and that almost a billion birds die from running into windows. That seems high...
7091376 Also in general the companies owning said towers would rather people stay away from them, a flying pegasus roosting on one would probably not be appreciated.
7091205 I'm fairly certain she knew exactly what was going on between those two--she just sees sex as more of a stress release and not on the same level as humans might.
I mean, its fairly clear, from prior chapters, that Silver isn't a virgin, and from the sounds of it she's had a largeish number of sexual partners, probably moreso than her human cohorts at the university.
7091205
She knows, she's just neither nosey or a gossip and operates under the philosophy that what two consenting adults do in private is no one else's business.
Still, I'm sure she would enjoy talking about their love lives with her friends if they bring it up, but I don't think humans are comfortable talking about sex around her (or in general, really).
7091264
She probably doesn't understand the roundabout way humans go around the issue, but I don't think she's got any doubts about her own intentions, whatever those may end up being.
7091316
That's why you don't understand the issue. Go talk to the biology teachers about what can happen when teaching about evolution.
The questions aren't aimed at improving the student's understanding of the material, they are all too often the rote recitation of 'questions' from liars like Ken Ham, (in biology), or Tony Watt, (in climatology), that are intended to disrupt the class.
Had to check that ad "NOT PONIES"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rF711XAtrVg
Vermin Supreme will have a word with you...
I do love how love polyhedra are forming around Silver without her awareness. At least, it doesn't seem like she knows about it. And really, it's not like the human body is going to be especially attractive to her.
And yeah, that was a rather disappointing Super Bowl.
7091606 I like how everyone checked with their token horse friend to see if it was OK to laugh.
I think what's throwing me off with this story is that Silver Glow is using her journal as a log of her activity, not as a confidant. We learn the same things we could read off her face if we walked with her through the day, but we're not privy to the deep, powerful movements of her heart--if indeed her heart has deep and powerful movements, which I'm beginning to think she does not. She may not be a very passionate person. (If that's the case, watch her describe sex with a human as "nice".)
7091673
I think that's an interesting argument; I know AB started this in order to get into the groove of writing once per day, but I honestly really like the story--its just that, at times, one wonders how it would be if it was told in a more typical narrative.
7091606
Somewhere in Equestria, Troubleshoes sneezed as that commerical played.
7091231
That's a very interesting point. Among the various definitions of "sin" are "rebellion against God", "transgression against God's law", and "anything that pushes one away from God"--but you can't rebel against God if God never invited you into a relationship, and you can't break a law that doesn't apply to you. What I wouldn't give to be a fly on the wall at the theological convention nearest Silver Glow!
7091788
I like the story too! I'm really enjoying the all the little incompatibilities Silver Glow keeps finding between our world and hers. And the emotional side of the story is good too--good enough that I wish there were more of it.
7091625
I agree that we don't really know what Silver wants, maybe she really just wants to cuddle and her standard for what constitutes a platonic hug is certainly much more physical than it is for a human, but we'll find out eventually one way or the other, I'm ok with whatever happens.
What I don't agree with is that she's clueless about sex and what kind of behaviour leads to it, or that she's somehow oblivious that the humans she hangs out with do it all the time, which is what some comments suggest.
7091881 I'm okay with this.
"What do we want?" "Cuddles!
"How do we get them?" "By being the nicest pony we can!"
7092097
The primary purpose of wearing clothing isn't to cover up sexual characteristics, if that were true people could get away with wearing speedos and bikinis all the time.
Clothing is a cultural norm, people wear cloths because that is what is expected of them and social interaction would be more difficult if they didn't. Why wouldn't those same expectations extend to our fellow sapient species? It would also demonstrate respect for the culture the pony finds themselves in on earth and probably make it easier for them to fit in.
7092725
She'll become fixated on the unicorns and all she'll ever want to talk about from the Bible is their role in it and how they manipulate humanity with their freaky magic by performing all the miracles and stuff.
It explains everything.
7092985 sorry, i phrased my coment really, really poorly. I meant that she needs the inherent beauty with stuff like the weather.
I know someone named Sara who spells their name without the h at the end.
I was sure that was uncommon. Maybe it's a regional thing. She also lived with a Donald for a while.
although it's now my headcanon that those two are named after some people you know in real life. Possibly the same ones I know.
Not the Browns?
7093186 True. Sometimes the simple implication can be more powerful than the definite existence of the subject.
7091376 It's mainly just to simplify the rules. There are many bands of frequencies used in telecommunications, and above the VHF region they start to become a meaningful hazard even at moderate power levels. The real danger would be around high-powered microwave-band RADAR stations, but it's safest to lump everything into "Electromagnetic radiation is unsafe--stay away."
Now recall that Wifi hotspots in the US are mainly 2.4 and 5.0 GHz, in the microwave region, but at very low power. There's a reason you don't want to run illegal power levels to increase your Wifi coverage.
(Ex-broadcast engineer, holder of a General Radiotelephone Operator's License with ship's RADAR endorsement.)
7093266
no for certain that's browns everyone knows that. Especially with Johnny Flameout...Johnny Douchbag...Johnny cokemanizel....I'd like to also point out I'm an Texas Aggie and hated that prick and had a class with him. Rich oil money brat. Also he'll make a great arena QB with all the other wife beaters.
In other news I belive mr agent man will want to talk with aric and silver about interspecies dating. Because I grauntee that is covered somewhere in the rules for foreign exchange students.
When I went to Italy for a year there was a HUGE section the the rules about that.
7093271
Even allowing for that (and trust me, I could go on and on about the differences between modern microevolution and the theoretical macroevolution) it still wouldn't explain abiogenesis, or how the first living cell came to be. Even if we could somehow prove that a puddle of inorganic matter could become a living organism, we'd have no way of proving that's what actually happened.
Unless we get time travel. By the way, what would happen if we tried to make a time machine go back before the beginning of time?
7093078 I figured Applejack would know a fair amount about the weather, that's why I said non-farmer earth ponies. Think Hoity Toity or Coco Pommel.
Ah, religious people.
I can see it now. Humans don't believe Celestia raises the sun every day. She invites some to watch. She says "Let there be light!" & the next thing you know, they're screaming "BLASPHEMY!" & sending her the large economy size Anthrax sampler.
Seriously, every religion I'm familiar with has aspects that strike an outsider as weird/ridiculous. For Christians, creation in Genesis, Noah's Arc, & the bit where Christians get sucked into heaven before the day of judgement (right now, ICR the name of that). There is a reason it's The Credo (I believe) & not The Creo (I understand).
There have been some threads on pony religion over in Ponyverse. ICR which episode, but Scootaloo did blast through a funeral in one of them. This shows the ponies have something, but Hasbro hasn't touched on it. (& for obvious reasons I'd bet the rent money they never will). Then again, in a couple of episodes they mention Tartarus, so ponies may have more knowledge of the afterlife than people do.
Peggy hasn't outright said anything about Silver Glow and Aric beginning a relationship. And Silver Glow hasn't said anything outright either. At this point a romantic relationship cannot be implied or inferred. On the other hand though there is definitely a strong friendship building.
7093354
And those of us who actually understand the topic could go on and on about how that just refers to to changes within species and the creation of new species, (or higher orders), both of which have been directly observed[1].
Or we could let someone else do it for us: Macroevolution FAQ
Well, given that abiogenesis is a different, (if closely related), field of study from evolutionary biology....
Well, that depend on what "the beginning of time" means. Of course, none of the types of time machine that seem to be permitted under our current understanding of physics[2] could get there, as they all share the restriction of "cannot be used to reach a time before their creation."
[1] Not that the distinction between "observational science" and "historical science" that Ken Ham came up with has any basis in reality. "We should find this kind of fossil in this area in this geological layer," is a testable prediction.
[2] Don't go asking for someone to build one, their building instructions include things like: "Take two black holes and get them orbiting each other at with an orbital velocity of at least 0.99c."
7093354
We'd probably end up somehow causing the Big Bang.
7093504 You know, I ignored that point about evolution specifically to avoid this type of argument.
You're right about abiogenesis being unrelated question to evolution, but my point still stands that, at its core, it is not a truly scientific question. It is literally easier to gather data about the beginning of the universe than it is about the first life, and even if we could prove that a single cell formed in primordial ooze, we'd STILL argue about whether that counted as a miracle. What I'm getting at is . . . I chose a poor example of a scientific controversy.