May 18
I woke up in the morning to the chapel bells ringing out a tune. I think I was awake before the first bell had even finished.
I'd never heard them ringing on any day except Sunday and Tuesdays when they practiced, and certainly not this early in the morning, and the first thought that came to mind was Poe's iron bells, so I had my muzzle to the window right away to see what was going on.
My first thought was fire. I didn't smell it, but I could have been upwind of it. My first duty whenever a fire was spotted was to tell everypony about it, but I didn't have to do that because the bells were already ringing, so my next duty was to get clouds to help put it out. I glanced up at the sky and from what little I could see through the window, there weren't any, which was bad.
All the commotion woke up Peggy, but she didn't seem too panicked by the bells and that calmed me down a bit—she'd know what to do.
I asked her why they were ringing and what I needed to do, and she told me they were ringing because today was the Day of Gracious Living, which meant that all classes were canceled. She sat up in bed and explained how the tradition had begun in 1974, and it had continued since then. She said that nobody knew what day it was going to be, except that it was always in May.
I told her that it would be a good day to catch up on reading the Bible and getting started on my essay for Anthropology, but she said that I wasn't allowed to do that. The rule was that on the Day of Gracious Living, it was mandatory to abstain from schoolwork.
Then she told me that a lot of people went to the beach at South Haven, and that was what we were going to do today. She said we'd eat breakfast, and then we'd put Sean and Joe and Christine in the car, and we'd go and sit on the beach and that was that.
I probably could have argued with her, but my heart wasn't in it. I wouldn't mind a day at the beach with friends.
Peggy took a quick shower and I didn't bother, since I hadn't done any exercise at all. Then we ate breakfast together and Peggy told everyone else at the table that we were going to the beach and there were no excuses. She said that they had twenty minutes after breakfast to get ready and then she was going to drag them out of their rooms, and I think she would have.
It was kind of funny that the dining hall was more crowded today than it normally was, and everyone was in a cheerful mood. I could see some people had come to breakfast without getting dressed; there were a few people in sleeping clothes and one girl that was even wearing fuzzy teddy-bear slippers.
Peggy made good on her promise, packing up a small bag which she called a day bag. The only thing I really needed to take was a towel, and I didn't need a bag for that; I could just drape it over my back.
We were in Cobalt in eighteen minutes, and she got Sean and Joe first, then picked up Christine. I had to sit in the back, because the car wasn't really designed to have three adults in the back seat but I could fit in ways that humans didn't. Joe sat in the front, and I sat in the middle of the back. I thought Christine and Sean would want to sit next to each other, but they both said it was okay.
We made it to the beach by ten, and the parking lot was already half full. It was a nice, calm day and totally cloudless.
Peggy picked out a spot and we set up our towels. The girls got undressed—they were both wearing swimsuits under their clothes, then Peggy got out a bottle of suntan lotion and she and Christine put it on each other.
I asked if it was okay if I flew out over the water for a bit and they said that was fine. So I trotted down the beach and then when I hit the firmer, wet sand at the shore, I took flight, flying straight out until I reached the end of the jetty. There were a lot of people on it, and a bunch of them pointed to me and waved. One man who was fishing beckoned me over and asked me if I could see where the fish were, and I said I could. So I picked up a little bit more height so I could see through the water better, and I found a school of them, and I pointed down, and he picked up his gear and moved to a new place on the jetty.
There was also a seagull that didn't like me very much. I guess I got too close to what he thought was his, and he came after me, squawking his displeasure, so I spun around and flew at him until he backed off. But I knew that wasn't the end of it; he'd probably try and come at me again if I got too close.
I went around to the other side of the harbor entrance, past the red lighthouse, and there was another beach there but it wasn't as popular. Still, I saw Leon and Cedric and Trevor there (Cedric was really hard to miss). I landed to say 'hi,' and Leon made me swear to tell no one I'd seen them because hood rats didn't go to the beach, and so I asked why they were there, then, and he said he needed to work on his tan.
So I promised I wouldn't tell anyone that they were there, and told them if they changed their minds about not being there, we were over on the other beach.
When I landed, Christine was lying on her stomach with the back of her swimming bra untied, and Peggy was right next to her but on her back. Sean was reading something on his pocket telephone, and Joe was sketching the lighthouse in his notebook.
They'd left my towel between them, so I landed right on it and stretched out and dozed in the sun for a bit.
I woke up when I felt Peggy moving around next to me, and when I stuck my head up she was re-tying Christine's swimming bra. I asked her why it had been untied, and Christine said it was to avoid tan lines.
Then I said that she was still going to have them on her breasts and she told me that couldn't be helped unless she took it off, so I asked her why she didn't.
She told me it was illegal for her to do that, and I said it didn't seem fair that the boys could not wear tops but that she had to.
Sean said that I probably knew how sharks were drawn to blood in the water, and I said that I did. He said that when women go topless, it's the same effect on men, that they cease to be rational.
Christine told him that he'd ceased to be rational as soon as he'd opened his mouth, and he responded by grabbing at her breast. She swatted his hand away, and Peggy rolled her eyes. Joe pretended to ignore us.
In the afternoon, some students set up a volleyball net and people took turns playing games. Peggy and I played a couple of times. She was pretty good at it, and I wasn't at all. I had better control if I hit the ball with my head, but after a while that started to hurt. But it was still lots of fun.
After we were done playing I went down to the waterfront and started to dig at the wet sand, and Peggy asked me what I was doing, and I said that there were sand crabs that liked to hide in sand and they were a good snack, but I wasn't finding any of them, and she told me that she didn't think that there were any of those in Michigan.
I dug at the sand a little bit more, but I think she was right. I hadn't found any at all, and usually they were so plentiful that it didn't take more than one or two hoof-scuffs before you had one.
When we were walking back to our blankets, she said it was always a little bit weird to see me eating meat, and even weirder to think of me trying to catch it.
We hung out for a little while longer, then everyone got back in Cobalt and we went looking for a place to have dinner. We finally settled on the Big Boy, since it was a decent restaurant, and not too far out of the way. There were a lot more choices in Kalamazoo, but nobody wanted to wait that long for food.
Sean was complaining about how his back and shoulders had gotten sunburned. Christine reminded him that was because he had been too stubborn to put on any suntan lotion. Peggy had some bright red marks on her arms, too, but that was from playing volleyball, not from a sunburn.
They had a pretty good salad bar, which all of us girls got, while the boys wanted to get hamburgers. Then for dessert I ordered a vanilla milkshake and shared it with Peggy.
I hadn’t noticed on the way to South Haven, but there was a big orange car parked along the side of the road on top of a hill, and there was a sign next to it that said Gene the Pumpkin Man. Peggy promised that we would go out there next fall.
She dropped everyone off at their dorms, and then we went back to ours. Peggy put on her lounging clothes and I went outside to brush the rest of the sand out of my coat, then decided that I would go to Aric’s a little bit early.
I flew over to Aric’s house and he was in the driveway with his feet sticking out from underneath the not-Winston truck. I stuck my head underneath and he didn’t notice me right away; he was holding a light in his mouth and had both hands up on top of something and a pile of tools on top of his chest.
He reached down and dropped the tool he was holding on his chest and felt around until he felt a different one and it disappeared up where his hands were. And then he happened to look and notice me.
He was putting in a starter--it was one of the things that the not-Winston truck needed--and said that he was almost done; once he got the two big bolts in he could leave it like that and finish up in the morning.
I told him that I didn’t mind how long it took him, but I guess he didn’t want to make me wait, because before too long he started pushing tools out from under the truck and then he came out, too. I leaned down and kissed him before he could stand up.
He had to take a shower and get all the grease off his hands before we could do anything else, so he went off and did that while I sat in the backyard watching the birds. One of them landed on my back while he was waiting his turn.
Aric opened his bedroom window when he was done in the shower, and the squeak of wood on wood scared the birds away and got my attention. When he’d turned away (and since the birds were gone for now) I shook some more sunflower seeds out of the birdfeeder then flew into his bedroom and took his towel off.
Oh the agony of a bad sunburn. I've heard lemon juice takes the heat out of a sunburn. Could be an old wives tale.
Think you meant once.
Nice chapter. You are supposed to be enjoying the convention though, not writing during it.
The fisherman should have at least given her a fish for helping him out!
I think you need to add "I" after "and"
For a moment I tought he was going to talk about people debating about gender rigths...
7399751 I doubt it would work. And after some quick search on wiki to see if it is used in some skin lotion, it appear Lemon increase the sensibility to the sun light...
7399777 Yeah I would have thought during Bronycon he would have put writing on hold. But every evening he still cranked out new chapters despite being at the convention.
Day of Gracious Living...huh, never heard of it until now...ah well the more you know!
7399840 Didn't he said he made a buffer just so we could have chapter while he is there?
7399844 Ah if he did, I never caught that then.
Silver Glow has now learned that no one wants to sit in the middle of the back seat.
7399812 He probably didn't think she ate fish. It's the same misconception every other human she meets seems to have.
“Hey, you sass that hoopy Silver Glow? There's a frood who really knows where her towel is."
I do hope that Silver can introduce Arid to Meghan and maybe get into a group relationship. It's pretty obvious Silver and Meghan still want it, even if theyre trying not to show it for social reasons.
7399751
Having recently gotten a bad sunburn and tried a bunch of things, lemon juice is the last thing you want to use after lotions with fragrances.
As to Silver's age, she was probably born before the pilot but too young to remember. I was in grade school when JFK was assassinated & I remember. So does pretty much everyone my age or older. But, my best friend in high school is 2 years younger than me & he can't recall it.
As to the Tower of Babel. How big was it compared to modern sky scrapers? (I'm too shiftless & inept to look it up). Also, languages in EQ. There seem to be more than one. (Cows have an accent & there's Fancy French)) On the other hand, all the Griffons in Griffonstone seemed to speak Pony. Maybe there's a natural law, all intelligent critters speak Pony. Maybe it was a Hell of a shock to them to encounter an intelligent race that couldn't. I mean, even Dragons & Diamond Dogs can.
It seems like Gusty being in that play is a big enough deal that there might be some visitors from EQUESTRIA . Her family if they could afford it & maybe some friends. (How expensive is the trip? We talking 1st class plane ticket, ocean cruise, or That Ain't a Price, That's a Phone Number.)
I have to agree with Peggy, the idea of Silver not only eating meat, but pursuing it is a bit weird. Yet also so cute!
*scraping sand noises*
"Hey, Silver, what're you doing over there?"
"Hunting." *she pounces and viciously tears a crab asunder with her mouth*
Horrifyingly adorable, right?
And now I'm wishing there was a story like this but with a changeling protagonist. I'm very curious what they would be like in a very mundane situation like this.
7399840
7399777
He did. I think it was Friday at Bronycon that he showed me he had 4 or 5 chapters on standby, with 3 ready to go and the others in need of only a little work.
Ah, should've figured she's read more stuff off-screen.
I think you mean upwind, or the fire could've been downwind of her? Because if she were downwind of a fire she'd definitely smell it.
Come on Silver, you're down with robbing birdfeeders but you're just going to take that crap from some annoying seagull? Show it who's boss.
Last time I went to the beach, I slathered myself with SPF-50 sunscreen, because I am the whitest white boy you will ever meet. The only spot I missed was the top of my right foot.
Sean is an idiot, is what I'm saying. Christine totally should've punched him in his sunburned shoulder.
7400060 You might enjoy The Changeling of the Guard. There are no humans involved, but it's an excellent fish-out-of-water story.
7400389
That's already on my "READITNOWNOWNOW" list. But in Changeling of the Guard the changeling himself is just getting established, so it's not quite the same - Silver Glow is pretty well-established, she's just getting caught in the specifics.
Also, humans. (What're Silver Glow's thoughts on changelings? Humanity's?)
Interesting. My alma mater has a similar tradition, Mountain Day. Only difference being it's in October and always a Friday.
man, my school basically has no traditions. At least on this scale.
Aren't sand crabs seasonal? Because in my experience going to Santa Monica Beach, they aren't always there. When they are there, though, it's just like she says. Every handful of sand bound to have a bunch of them.
What you look for is the wet sand that the surf is washing over to produce a bunch of bubbles every time the water recedes.
This reminds me (indirectly) of a seafood product I had just the other day that had me thinking of Silver. King Salmon Jerky from Trader Joe's. I had some, thought it was tasty, if a bit on the salty side, then thought about how she likes anchovies, and concluded she would probably like the salmon jerky too.
Unfortunately, the nearest Trader Joe's to her is about 50 miles away.(Unlike here in California where there's at least one in every city; I have 16 of them as close or closer, closest is just three miles away)
Fortunately, other places carry a similar product...
I never use sunscreen - I'm naturally tanned-colored as is, if I spend all day in the sun I just get slightly more tanner!
Though, I probably should because of like, sun cancer and stuff
7401713
I suppose that's one way of looking at it.
7401713
yeah that's true, but with my school there's a lot of slack with GE stuff, major stuff is a lot more specific. Even to the point where certain exhange schools are known for certain things (ex, my schools exchange program in spain is renewable energy)
yeah that's true, still it's not really something I'm interested in.
well, imaginary might not be the best word. And this is the physics, not the math. Although the entire idea of imaginary numbers is weird.
not really an engines person (or a hydraulics person) but i'd assume that it behaves like every other system on startup. The starter motor runs all the components until the engine is running.
yeah i guess. I'm just used to seeing hydraulics used for heavy lifting
7401836 Just a friendly little cat.
When she said they were going to the beach, I thought she was gonna fly across lake Michigan like she talked about. That's still on the list, right?
7399751
Having had both bad sunburns and scalding burns, I can say that the latter is worse.
I've never tried the lemon juice, but it seems to me to fall into the same category as hitting yourself in the nuts to lessen the pain from a stubbed toe. The lemon juice probably does take the heat out . . . and replaces it with a new kind of pain.
7399777
I did; thank you!
I wrote the chapters beforehand like a smart pony. So my secret was to set an alarm for 7:00, wake up enough to hit the 'publish' button, then fall back asleep for a couple more hours.
7399812
He should have. He probably didn't think that pegasi ate them, though.
7399832
Correction made; thank you!
Nope, just that urge to touch boobs.
I expect it would be painful as hell. Next time I have an open cut, I'll try it. Wouldn't be the worst thing I've gotten in an open wound.
7399840
I wrote all those chapters over the 4th of July weekend, 'cause I knew I wouldn't have time at Bronycon. And one of them got written at a hotel in Bedford, PA.
Yeah, it's a great K-College tradition!
7399844
I can't remember if I said that or not, but I did do it.
7399910
She's not totally opposed, as long as it's friends on either side. But better if she can stretch out on laps.
7399919
Yeah, most people wouldn't think of equines eating fish (even though some do). Plus what fisherman wants to share his catch?
7399921
7399993
Aric and Meghan do both know each other; they're in bell choir together. As for group relationships . . . that's a hard step for a lot of humans.
7399995
The first American Tragedy I remember is the Challenger; the principle called a special assembly to explain it to us. I can't remember what grade I was in offhand, but the school I was at only had 3rd through 5th grade.
From a literalist perspective, it couldn't have been taller than the pyramids, which was 481 feet high. Barring a miracle, the technology and manpower to build a taller structure simply didn't exist back then.
I would assume dozens if not hundreds. But probably most speak Equestrian, just like English and probably Chinese are the most spoken languages on Earth.
Probably the showing at Madison would be too quick for any Equestrian visitors . . . but there's enough lead time for visitors to Stratford, ON. Pricewise, likely between ocean cruise and phone number, but certain ponies might get a discount (like Gusty's family).
7400060
Everything a pony does is cute. That's a fact.
Can confirm; I was there when this happened.
7400158
Yeah, oops. Correction made.
Fighting seagulls is a fool's game. For every one you scare off, two more appear.
Leon wouldn't be Leon without his tan.
7400363
I almost never wear the stuff, because I tan nicely and rarely burn.
The times I have were both memorable and agonizing. Second-degree sunburns (yes, that's a thing) suck even more than the normal ones.
She should have. Just for the laughs.
7400417
Silver Glow would hate changelings. Humans probably don't fully understand how they could exist, so don't view them as a potential threat. Imagine how difficult it must be for a human teacher to convince her students that there is a very real chance you could get eaten by a Hydra in Equestria.
7400444
Really, all colleges ought to have a tradition like that. (And in a way, it made up for the fact that K never had snow days, because the bulk of students lived on campus, and therefore could wade through a foot of snow to get to class.)
7400517
That's disappointing. Your homework is to figure out what the biggest tradition they do have is.
7400576
They might be. When I was Assateague Island last week, they were there (that's how I got the idea of them; Michigan doesn't have any), but I could see how they might not be there in the winter.
That would be something she'd probably like. I bet there are other places than Trader Joe's to get it. Someplace like Whole Foods, maybe, or a store that specializes in jerky (there's a store a reasonable distance from my house called The Jerky Hut, although I've never been inside).
7400729
Fun fact: horses can get sunburned and can also get skin cancer.
7401721
Running around naked in public is part of the college experience, or ought to be.
7402120
K was like that, too. There were classes that couldn't count for a major, but were okay for GE requirements.
Well, what I meant was that until it's got oil pressure, the intake valves don't work (although further comments indicate I may have misunderstood how the system works). Things like that--systems which had to 'get ready'--have always been the bane of automakers. IIRC, one of GM's earlier distributorless ignition systems got a lot of complaints, because the engine needed a couple of revolutions before the PCM even knew where cylinder 1 TDC was, and it couldn't start spark or fuel before it knew that, so you had kinda long crank times.
I would imagine that the automakers would prefer not to use them, because it's simpler to do it electronically. But there's still a lot of stuff where they have to.
7402471
Yup
7405965
Yeah, flying across the lake is still on the list. She's probably going to need some special permission for that, though, since if she's going to Chicago, she'll be getting pretty close to O'Hare's airspace. Also, there's literally nowhere to land once she starts the trip.
7407459
Wish it was part of mine
Alas, it was not meant to be!
8083210
If you're still in college, it's not too late.
9984760
That, and what I meant is that it's not only a good way to begin telling the stories, but also just to remember them more clearly.
7407415
English is not the most spoken one by number of native speakers (Chinese and even Spanish have more). But it could probably be the same in Equestria's world, that the ponies had the most global influence.
10026416
I’m sure it’s not the largest native language, but there are a lot of people who can speak it as a second language. Babbel says English’s third as a native language (after Mandarin and Spanish); Fluentin3months says Mandarin, English, Hindustani, Spanish, and Arabic in that order for top 5. I suppose the moral would be that learning English, Mandarin, Hindustani, and/or Spanish would give you the broadest access to the largest group of people.
I also agree that due to the ponies’ influence in their world, most educated sapient creatures would want to learn their language. I’d imagine that there are multiple languages in Equestria, both different regional pony languages--French (i.e., “Fancy”) for example--and also different languages that different species speak.
That’s a fair point, which I hadn’t considered. I guess I mostly tend to remember the less touristy stuff, but maybe that’s just because that’s more what we liked to visit.
Fun fact: The highest court in the land is only supposed to care about the Constitution, and the First Amendment is right there. There are some states where this has happened. (I think we've talked about this before, but it'll never stop being funny that only some places have noticed that the law against female toplessness is unconstitutional)
11007176
Yeah, the constitution doesn’t prohibit it, although AFAIK it doesn’t require anybody to wear any clothes. Some states go more for the anti-discrimination laws/equal protection clause, basically saying that you can’t let men go around without shirts if it’s illegal for women--either everyone has to cover up, or no one does. I think that’s how it played out in New York.
There’s a huge hodge-podge of laws on the state and local levels, honestly.