April 21
I woke up a couple of times in the night and checked out the window at the weather. Aric slept through it—I suppose most people would because they're not attuned to it like a pegasus. One time I saw distant flashes of lightning; I don't know what time it was because all Aric's clock does is flash and I asked him about that once but he said since he uses his portable telephone for an alarm, there's no point in setting it. Which makes me wonder why he even has it.
It was raining outside when it was morning and since I woke up first I pulled Aric's window down so that rain wouldn't come inside. He probably ought to have closed it before the rain started.
When I got back into bed he was already waking up, and the first thing he did too was look at the window to see what the weather was. He told me that they were predicting thunderstorms and I said that I knew that.
He said that he liked the rain and I told him that I did too, and then he said that he had a really fun idea so he got dressed and we got into Winston and drove out of town until we were on a dirt road and then he turned off the road and drove through the grass until we got to a little clearing and he turned Winston around and then got out and opened up the tailgate and we went back there and had sex with the rain rattling on the roof and sometimes splashing onto us and thunder rumbling around us and it was almost like being up in the clouds. The only downside was that the back of the truck was metal and it was all greasy and dirty and he said that if he had planned better he would have brought some bedding for the back of the truck because that would have made it a lot nicer.
I told him it was okay. I'd gotten a bit scratched up and there was some dirt ground into my coat but that would wash out.
We sat there in the back of Winston watching the rain come down for a while until he started to shiver from the cold and put his clothes back on. Then when there was a little bit of a break we ran around to the front of the truck and got in the cab and he drove me back to his house.
I wish that I had thought to bring my flight gear in the truck because then I could have taken off from the small clearing where we'd parked, and that would have been an interesting flight. But when I put my things on at his house I was glad I hadn't because the batteries in my light were depleted again and I had to get some new ones from Aric.
I flew around in the rain and went up to the bottoms of the clouds. It had lightened up a lot which was good for me because I wasn't supposed to fly when visibility was bad because airplanes couldn't see me and I couldn't see them. It's funny: a lot of pegasuses don't like getting rained on even if they work the weather, but I didn't mind it at all. To me, coming back home soaked to the skin was a badge of honor, proof that you'd done a good day's work.
And it also make the morning shower feel that much nicer. I probably could have not taken one at all because the rain had washed me off really well, but it didn't feel right to go to class dirty, so I washed off and didn't bother drying myself because it was still raining.
Different people had different ideas about the rain. I saw a bunch of people scurrying around under umbrellas trying to keep from getting wet and some people had hoodies and there were a few people with yellow rainjackets and others just wore their ordinary jackets.
The whole dining hall smelled different because of all the wet things in it which wasn't really a bothersome smell but it was just kind of there. I think it would have been fresher if the windows had been opened, but I guess they didn't want the floors to get wet. They always put up little yellow signs to tell you if it was.
I sat with Cedric and Leon and Trevor and they were as much fun as always. Cedric said that he liked the rain because it made the city smell nicer and cleaner after it rained. He said that a lot of the gangs didn't like being out in the rain, so it was more peaceful, too. Then he told Leon to open the window that was by their table to let some air in.
It was just a bit gusty outside and every now and then a little bit of rain would splash on our table, but it was hardly any and nobody minded it much. Well, I didn't and if Leon did he didn't say anything.
We got to talking about storms and I found out that sometimes in storms the electricity stops working because the wires break which was something I'd never had to worry about before. Leon said that they'd had a storm come through when he was in high school and they'd lost their power for two days and it was really hard to cope and he couldn't understand how people had lived before they had electricity.
I said that it was easy; we just didn't have anything that used it. Besides, how would you get electricity to a cloud? You can't keep lightning in a bottle and let it out when you need it, I don't think. Unless that's how batteries work . . . maybe they have a tiny little lightning bolt that got put inside them and when it wears out the battery doesn't work any more. I wonder if I can take one apart to see what's inside?
I was a little bit nervous on my way to class because I was afraid that Conrad might have us read other poems like the last one but he didn't. He said that he had a good rainy-day poem for us and started reading The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. I couldn't help but wonder if he had done that for me.
It wasn't a happy poem, but then the sea isn't always a happy place. I felt like I was back home as soon as he started reading it and then I thought of the tales that the sailorponies had told of their ships and the ocean and of the strange things they had seen when out at sea like salamander-fire on the upper works or giant rogue waves or strange patches of dead calm in the middle of the ocean. And I could hear their voices as the Ancient Mariner spoke again through the mouths of our class.
I knew that he shouldn't have killed the albatross. They're good-luck birds, everypony knows that.
When we were discussing the poem I told the class about some of the old ship captains I'd known, the ponies whose coats had been bleached by the sun and the salt, and who still had a bit of a sway to their walk because they weren't used to solid ground underhoof. And some of them went out every single day on their little fishing boats and every now and then they didn't come back and we'd put on extra patrols in the hopes of spotting a raft or wreckage or anything, but we usually didn't.
It would be the talk of town for a couple of days after that, and it always nagged at some ponies' minds that nopony would ever know what had happened.
After class was over I sat on the porch in front of Hicks and watched the rain and thought about home. I missed the ocean.
I must have been really gathering clouds, 'cause I didn't even notice when Meghan sat down next to me and put her hand on my back and asked me what I was looking at. I told her that I was thinking of my old village and she said that she'd like to visit it sometime and then she asked if I was going to come in for dinner.
I hadn't realized that it was dinnertime. Of course, when she said something my stomach grumbled at me.
After dinner I told her I would come over later because I had something for her. And then I went off to meet with Liz.
We talked about Saul and David for a bit, and then I asked her about marriage and how I thought that if it wound up with people killing other people it wasn't a very good idea. She said that the general idea of modern marriage was that two people were making a promise to each other to stay together and to stay faithful. Then I said that David had had many wives, the Bible said so, and she said that was true, and if I didn't mind she would give a brief history of marriage and marriage equality and a history lesson all in one, and then we could go back and pick it apart.
Well, it seemed like there were all sorts of rules and exceptions and ideas had changed over time and until recently a marriage was supposed to be between only one man and one woman but then the Supreme Court had decided that same-sex marriage was okay too but a lot of people were really mad about that and some of them had resorted to dirty tricks to prevent marriages.
I said that I thought it was better to not have marriage and she said that it had been important to track bloodlines. I told her that I knew who my mother was and my granddam, too, and what more did I need to know? Plus there was my sister and I had aunts too and a bunch of cousins and an uncle who was down south somewhere.
She wanted to know how we raised our foals with only one parent who was working, and I said that older sisters would look out for younger sisters and there were aunts and cousins and friends and everypony just looked out for everyone's foals and she said that there was a saying on Earth that it takes a village to raise a child and that we were putting that into practice. So I guess Earth people knew that, too.
I asked if you had to get married on Earth, and she said that you didn't. A lot of people did because of their beliefs but not everyone did. And she said these days a lot of people were waiting until they were older and had established their careers before they got married.
So I was glad that we'd had our conversation and went back to my room and asked Peggy if she was thinking about marrying her boyfriend once she had established her career and she laughed and said probably not; she didn't think he was good husband material but he was fun for now. She said she was still young and didn't want to think about getting tied down yet and I said that was the right attitude and I held out my hoof and she bumped it with her hand.
I went over to Meghan's room and gave her the dreamcatcher I'd made and she thought it was really pretty and Amy did too, and they had to call over Lisa and Becky who really liked it, too. Meghan wanted to know if we had them in Equestria, and I said that we didn't, but that I had seen one in a store in Chicago and that was where I had gotten the idea to make one.
We sat and talked for a little bit; we had to be quiet because Amy was still doing homework although she probably couldn't hear us because she was listening to music. And then I asked if I could stay and Meghan asked if we could go to my room instead or was Peggy there?
I said that she was, and Meghan got all thoughtful and said that maybe it would be best if we didn't tonight and my ears fell and she looked over at Amy and chewed on her lip and said that she'd changed her mind I could stay but she was going to have to wear her sleeping clothes.
So she went into the bathroom to get dressed and I got up in bed and when she came out she got in bed and we snuggled up together with me next to the wall.
Waiting for the boot to fall is killing me.
Do pegasi really not do marriage in your world? Because Fluttershy's parents seem to provide a canon example...
Maybe it's a coastal Pegasai thing.
I find her antipathy to marriage as foreign as she would find my opposite feeling.
It's interesting that not only are there the same birds on both worlds but they have the same fables about them as well.
7318291
There's certainly enough room in Equestria for culture to be more complicated than just the three tribes. The Shy family could be a little unusual following more unicorn traditions for some reason, certainly Fluttershy's lifestyle is hardly that of a standard Pegasus.
I do love a good storm it is vary peaceful.
I keep hopeing that something 'magical' will happen with the dream catchers, being made with her feathers and magic not being native to earth. Something like it triggering a shared dream sequence.
Could be a way for some of the outstanding plot point's to come together.
yesterday my sister and i talked about the same topic ... not in the same way ...
but *shrug* it gives a lot to think about
From experience I know that the best way to handle rain is to strip as far as possible & treat it like a shower but people get annoyed if you are that sensible.
For medical reasons it can be important to know both parents history. Odds of cancer, heart disease, etc
7318380 I thought the only plot here was the one Silver's giving Aric.
I like going to sleep with the sound of a nearby thunderstorm.
Oh, nice one, Aric.
She needs to learn about EPIRBs.
NOOOOO! So close! Silver, it's not just married couple's who are expected to be faithful!
7318380 I could see that happening if it was Luna's feathers...otherwise, I don't think Pegasus feathers have any magical properties.
7318262
Eh, why obsess over one small aspect of a good story?
Storms are as fun as you make them. On a camp-out, I chose a better place for my tent than some of my friends did. I got to enjoy the storm whipping my strong shock-corded tent back and forth the small amount the elastic allowed, dumping the wind without damage ...and they got flooded out and ended up spending the night in the car.
Warning: Your pony is low on battery power. Please recharge your pony.
Gusty? Wait, where did she come from?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLMrPtzsgGs
ohmigosohmigoshohmigosh
Do Kublah Khan too, Coleridge is cool!
Ah wretch! said they, the bird to slay,
That made the breeze to blow!
I'm sure the Equestrian sea has more perils than just storms, considering all the stuff that lurks in the Everfree forest.
Aw. No nude cuddling then?
7318263
It probably varies. Silver's mother seemingly doesn't think much of it (iirc Silver was conceived in a one-night-stand at a weather conference?), but that doesn't represent all pegasi.
7318263
We only just this season saw any evidence of Pegasai families.
(RD's dad in a flashback, Flutter's Mom, Dad and Brother.)
I also assumed it was some kind of communal society.
(In the FimFic 'The Many Secret Orgins of Scootaloo', everyone in Ponyville has their own theory, much to the chagrin of Twilight Sparkle.)(With Lyra's being the least likely.))
[Wait a minute.... In one episode there was a Pegasus dad with his daughter needing something from Somepony. She was really zipping around!]
7318888 She totally could (that's another headcanon idea I have too), but I usually figure that it was passed on to AJ and Big Mac's parents, and then it reverted to her when they died until their kids were old enough to own it themselves.
She probably does have more kids... either that, or she has/had a lot of brothers and sisters.
And as usual, Trevor said nothing and we all forgot he was even here at some point.
Something seems to be missing beetween "when" and "put".
7319015
Because I love conflict. Suspense is a good form of entertainment is it not? Seeing how Silver and her paramours will react when it all comes out will be glorious. It's like a soap opera only with ponies!
Besides due to the Slice of Life nature of this story there isn't really much to obsess on a day to day nature. We what she did for the day and then its done. When it comes to her romantic relationships it is something constant and is always looming in the background. I would argue it isn't a small aspect of the story and it will likely end up being one of Silver's most important lessons when it comes to interacting with humans, regardless of how it turns out..
Personally I love the rain, which sucks because I pretty much live in a desert.
hmm, I actually read the rime of the ancient mariner. Don't remember much about it though, it's been a while.
7318265
To deplete the alcohol dehydrogenase, I guess?
That sounds like it could still leave you with ethanol poisoning, but I suppose that's somewhat less lethal than the alternatives.
I see Silver has never been to the Cloudsdale weather factory.
Also, I really hope she just asks someone or looks it up rather than trying to open a battery. Especially if she tries to do it with her mouth.
Yeah, fell behind a little, but I'm glad I caught up, especially for this chapter, where Silver's in her element.
We'll she's not wrong, just that the lightning is also suspended in a acid solution... Which is why you don't open them up.
7318262
Your wait is almost over.
7318263
The ones Silver Glow knows don't. But I think in general Equestria is a huge mismash of traditions so there's no hard and fast rule by tribe about anything.
7318291
It's true; and her worldview is a lot different than it would be if she had grown up somewhere else.
7318296
That's the interesting thing about mixing people (or ponies) with different cultural views.
7318314
Potentially they aren't actually the same bird but they're in a similar ecological niche, and that's the closest translation that they have.
That's what I think has happened over the years of unification. Traditions have been blurred, and what's normal in one place is totally different in another, largely based on how well the three tribes get along with each other.
7318356
I agree. Driving in thunderstorms at night is a lot of fun, too.
7318380
Hmm, that's an interesting idea.
7318438
It's funny because there's someone on each side of my family who's really interested in geneology, so even though I don't keep track of that stuff all that well my parents have books on it--on my dad's side, one of the books goes back to the 1650s, and that's just the part where they trace the Shipleys in the colonies/America.
7318482
Luckily Silver Glow can get away with playing in the rain naked.
Very true. But if you haven't got the data, you have to do the best you can (and there are certainly people on Earth who don't know their fathers).
7318530
;rainbowlaugh:
7318627
I like going to sleep with the sound of a nearby thunderstorm.
Something I wish I'd thought of way back when.
there should be a space after the comma.
7318793
In case she crashlands somewhere in the wilderness, or if she volunteers as part of the pegasus rescue brigade?
7318905
If only Silver Glow had asked Liz the right questions. . . .
(also it's funny that I'm commenting somewhat after the fact and you already know what happens in the next chapter)
7318935
I'm sort of torn on that. In Equestria, they probably don't have any particularly magical properties, but on Earth? Maybe.
7319015
Some of my best memories of camping are the storms and storm-related disasters, of which there were many. My Boy Scout troop gave out beads after each campout which were color coded based on how things had gone. There was the black bead which was given out after a campout turned into a disaster . . . even the campout which ended in me going to the hospital for surgery to put together the shattered remains of a finger didn't deserve a black bead.
7319086
Canterlot
Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaybe.
And I had done a foolish thing
And It would work 'em woe
For all averred I'd killed the bird
Which made the breeze to blow.
That's one of the few poems I can quote various parts of by memory.
Oh yeah, they totally do.
Not this time around, sorry.
Basically, yeah. She was.
7319258
I don't think that married pegasus couples are non-existant, but I don't think they're all that common. In Silver Glow's part of the world, there aren't any--but she hardly lives in a bustling metropolis.
7319504
I will address that in the next chapter with Trevor.
Oops! Fixed.
7320576
I am disappointed that so far this year we haven't had a good thunderstorm. I was hoping that would change today, but it broke up before it got to us.
7320961
Yeah, that's exactly why. The same enzyme (?) deals with all three, so you're basically diluting it and preventing it from turning the methanol or ethelyine glycol into somthing really nasty (IIRC, one of the intermediate steps in methanol metabolism is formic acid, which is bad).
7321088
Forgot about that scene.
She's really more concerned with breaking up storms than mundane weather production. She knows the basics, but she probably has never visited the lightning room. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
What's the worst that could happen if she opens a battery with her mouth?
7321380
Somewhat related: we can catch light now.
7323805
Correction made; thank you!
I'm not entirely sure I buy how unaware Silver is about marriage; after all, she refers to things in the regular MLP universe and one of the major events in the series is the wedding between Cadance and Shining Armor. And several other ponies in Equestria have parents. I know you've mentioned that maybe it doesn't apply much in Silver's part of the world, but just the same, she doesn't seem so out of it as to be unaware of how common the practice is.
Not really a complain or criticism, though. I like the idea of pony social structure being similar to how horses socialize in real life (it makes it seem more exotic), but that does run a bit against canon, which hadn't been much of an issue until now. Oh well.
Pegasus saying or typo on part of the author?
I guess we'll never know! :D
Actually, if you check at 3:14, keeping lightning in bottles and jars is canon.
Nice Game of Thrones reference, too, btw
7375616
She's not unaware of it being a thing that exists, just that as far as she'd concerned there's no point to it. To her mind, it's more of a unicorn/royalty thing, and not something that a sensible pony would do. After all, being married doesn't make you more in love or more faithful than not being married, and you can have a foal whether you're married or not.
7760003
Pegasus saying. It's not like they'd be gathering wool, y'know. Unless they were making clouds out of wool, and that's just silly.
7848615
Good call. I'm not sure you could let it out in a controlled manner, though, so we'll say that that's what Silver Glow meant.
(I wonder what they keep lightning in jars for, anyway? I'd have to guess it's to seed thunderstorms, but maybe they do use them to power the machines in the weather factory or something.)
7851504
Thank you... you just made my day... my GF keeps not responding when I mention marriage... and what you said made me realize that it doesn't mean that she doesn't love me. Love is a sacred bond, and people say that marriage is, but it's not the same thing as true love. I'm rambling at this point, so I think I'll shut up now. I'm thinking about love and what it means to me... and what the people I love mean to me. And it's the best feeling on earth... and what better thing is there to think about than the best feeling on earth?
Stay fly, my friend... Sky out!
8248102
.
Yeah, some people have hangups about the institution of marriage, or all the trappings. Heck, my boss has been with the same woman for at least 15 years, maybe more. They've got a kid together, they live together . . . but they're not married, and I'm not sure they'll ever get married.
There's nothing better to ramble about.
Silvy's joke during her heat and Aric initially thinking she was for real just clicked. She's a ridiculously randy pony.
9234983
She’s young and likes sex and even better for her, she can’t get pregnant from a human, so yeah. She’s not Cayenne levels of slutty, of course (not many ponies are). Plus, she hasn’t got all the human inhibitions that go with getting some.
We all know someone like this.
11306938
<goes and programs clock on stove>