April 29
When I woke up the first thing that came to mind was Meghan walking back to her dorm and I was still thinking that I should have followed her and not sat on the bench like a useless lump. And I didn't take the same joy in flying that I usually would have, because she was still on my mind and I was kind of mad at Peggy and Christine for making me tell her because I thought that she was happier not knowing.
But then I thought that it was probably best to have told her because if she was upset now she would have been really mad if she had found out from someone else.
I was just taking off my flight gear when Peggy came in and I told her while she was getting dressed about how our conversation had gone and she told me that I was better off having told her and then she said that if Meghan really liked me she would forgive me but maybe it would take her a little bit of time and I hoped that was true. Even if we couldn't sleep together or take showers together anymore I still liked her.
Then when I was in the shower I decided that either this would destroy our relationship or else it would grow back stronger than it had been before, and I really hoped it would be stronger.
The nurse was waiting outside our room when I got out of the shower and I'd kind of forgotten that she was coming over to examine me again. I told her that I felt pretty good today; I was still a bit stuffy but not too much and I didn't have a fever any more. I was sort of grooming myself while she talked and I tugged out a couple more loose feathers and she wanted to look at one so I gave her the biggest one. She was a little worried that maybe I was losing them because I was sick, so I told her that I was just moulting and that had started right about the same time as I hit my first estrus and it would be over by the time the next one was done although there would probably be a few stragglers that came out late just to prove me wrong.
I went to breakfast after she was done and I was a bit later than usual and maybe a bit grumpy because of how things had gone last night but everyone was so happy and cheerful that helped to make me in a good mood at least until breakfast was over.
Then I got sort of gloomy again in math class and didn't pay as much attention as I ought to have and when class was over and I realized that I didn't have any idea what we'd learned I felt really bad.
So I told myself that I needed to focus in Anthropology and I sort of did, but it didn't help that she was talking about sex which made me think about Aric especially since I was back in estrus and I hadn't gotten any since Sunday. And this weekend I wasn't gonna, either, since we were supposed to leave for Madison tonight, after Aquamarine got here.
Well I was going to be restless and antsy the whole time I was there I was sure so when class was over I stuck my notebook in my saddlebags and went right over to Aric's house in the hopes that he was there and he was out in the driveway working on Winston. He had the hood open but he was on his back on the floor in front of the seat and so I flew in and sat on the seat and asked him what he was doing and he said that he was putting in a new CB radio which was like my airplane radio but talked to trucks instead.
I asked if I could help and he said that he didn't think hooves would be very good at wiring, and I said he was probably right. Then he wanted to know why I had come over so early and I told him that I was going to Madison after dinner tonight to see a play and I missed him because I hadn't seen him since Sunday and he said that he missed me too and reached up and ran his hand along my hind leg and asked what time it was and I said that I didn't know exactly but I knew what time I had left class, and he said that maybe he would wait to finish the wiring until later because the radio wasn't going to go anywhere.
So he slid out from under the dashboard and closed the door and the hood and we went up to his bedroom and spent more time than I had planned to, so I didn't get to eat dinner at all but that was all right. Probably if I asked nicely I could get Mister Salvatore to stop at Taco Bell.
I got back to my dorm room before Aquamarine arrived, but not by too much. I had just finished packing my saddlebags—which I should have done sooner—when she and Mister Barrow and Miss Parker all arrived together and Peggy was really excited to meet Aquamarine.
We all went down to the lounge to wait for Mister Salvatore and Miss Cherilyn, 'cause it was pretty crowded with all of us together in the room.
Aquamarine was really happy to see Peggy again and they both got to talking right away. And Miss Parker said that she'd heard that I'd been sick and I told her I was better now; the nurse had said so.
It wasn't too long after that that Mister Barrow's pocket telephone rang and he looked at it and said that Mister Salvatore and Miss Cherilyn were ready for us, and we all walked down to the back parking lot where their van was right by the door and got inside and Miss Parker told us to have a good trip and to say hi to Gusty and Cayenne and we promised we would, and then she closed the sliding door and we started off on our trip.
It had been a lot nicer to go by train because it was roomier and we could walk around but Sienna was nice enough.
We stopped at every rest area so that we could stretch our legs, and I also got them to drive through a Taco Bell so I could have dinner. And when we were in Michigan it was nice and scenic along the highway but once we got to Indiana it started to get more built-up, and even though we weren't taking the same path as the train had I was pretty sure that I would see mostly the same things, and I was right.
Off in the distance we could see the Chicago skyscratchers and they were all lighted up for the night and very pretty. But I didn't like the road so much; we had to keep on stopping to give money to the road guards so that we could keep on traveling and there were so many cars that it was dizzying trying to keep track of them all. I don't know how Mister Salvatore could do it; he even was able to talk to us while maneuvering among them all.
It took a couple of hours until we were all the way out of it and back into the countryside, which was now very dark and pretty soon it was hard to stay awake so I stretched out on the seat and fell asleep until I felt Sienna's motion start to change, and I saw we were in a city again and it was Madison.
We were going to have to stay in a hotel because Gusty's dorm room wasn't big enough for all of us, and Mister Salvatore got two rooms—one for us ponies and one for him and Miss Cherilyn and I said that it would be cheaper if we shared; we were only going to use one bed and they could have the other.
Miss Cherilyn said that there were rules about fraternization and I didn't know what that was but guessed it was another dumb human rule about sleeping with people.
Our two rooms were right next to each other and there was even a door between them that we could use if we wanted to and Mister Salvatore told us if we needed anything to just knock on that door or call their room but right now he was tired from all the driving and wanted to go to sleep, and me and Aquamarine were pretty tired, too, so we snuggled up together in bed.
New chapter already? I can't keep up!
I wonder if the route they drove took them through LaCrosse Wisconsin? Or even the Coulee region? Oh oh, ice caves along the Mississippi river.
I was about to type something really mean about the I-80/90 toll road, but then I remembered that the Florida Turnpike is way worse.
So first Miss Parker told them to have a good trip and ask them to say hi for her to Cayenne and Gusty.
Then she end up doing the trip with them?
I suppose one of the Miss Parker is really miss Cherilyn, but wich one?
So if I am following properly what Silver said so far, ponies have about two or three estrus per season?
I do hope she is going to take the time to see her teacher about catching up with what she missed. She could use class about human relation to sex.
The one thing humans have an abundance of is dumb rules about sleeping with people.
Okay, I saw a long time ago where Mr Barrow and Miss Parker's names came from... are Mr Salvatore and Miss Cherilyn named after R.A. Salvatore and C. J. Cherryh?
7342185
The best/worst part is how the rules are actually about relationships but people just assume that sharing a bed automatically means boinking is gonna go down.
Sensei Wu Wei
The VA literally invented red tape. During the War Between the States there were over 1 million troops. After the war there was 1 office in Washington DC to handle all public business. You needed to talk to someone, you had to go there & wait. Even if you were from California (over 3,000 miles away). The files were bound in red tape & that is where the expression came from.
7342128
LaCrosse and the ice caves are in the Western part of Wisconsin, although the ice caves are near Lake Superior. They came from the Eastern part. Now if they had gone through Minnesota they could have.
7342104 one per day buddy.
so i have everyday something to look forward to after work.
bookwormy ponys with access to wikipedia and a searchengine would be so busy all the time.
7342185 so true ...
Is someone else there besides Aric and Silver?
Well, if you're already sharing a room without... "fraternization", sharing a bed without fraternization wouldn't be that much of a change unless it's a very small bed. Plus you'd have the ponies as chaperones.
... unless that was the point of the separate room.
Poor Meghan and Aric. Ponies gonna pony.
I'm going to have to disagree with Silver on the hash browns. McLatkes are delicious.
Poor Meghan. She has a lot to think about. She, Silver, and Arin should probably sit down and figure out something together.
On the bright side, road trip! I have to wonder if Taco Bell is going to use Silver's patronage in some way. "Taco Bell: Pony Approved."
Of course she is happier not knowing. But as Silver later acknowledges it is better this way. Even if there was a 100% chance that Meghan would never find out about Aric she deserves to have the truth from Silver.
7342444 Silver would be the worst/best "chaperone".
7341802
Well human's don't work that way, but maybe ponies do.
7342655
"Wait, I'm supposed to be making sure they don't have sex? Human rules are so weird."
Gasp, almost forcing the poor filly to not have sex for a whole week, how ever would she survive?
None of the other ponies seemed to have quite so high a sex drive, I wonder if it's a Pegasus thing, or a Silver thing.
7342180
Horses go into heat for about a week every three weeks during the summer months. Presumably that's the case here.
Ah, now Silver begins to understand why she should have told Megan.
I love how she loves taco bell.... It's not like it's real meat, right?
Wait... Does she suffer less from taco bell than a human?
WITCH!
7342805 Probably largely a habit thing. She wasn't super sad going without until she got together with Aric, but she's gotten into the habit of having plenty and she's in heat, so it's not surprising.
7342965 I'm not going to go back and look, but the last time it came up, I think she got a bean burrito.
7343456 I haven't had taco bell in... at least 10 years so I don't know if that's any easier on a body.
7343464 Probably not, but it's even less likely to be meat than other Taco Bell stuff.
7343818
I care not for concession, simply that if it's referenced by our dear Silver, then more modern kids will know it.
And my phone, nor my brain, recalls the name but the idea is implied.
Another good ol road trip. That reminds me of the drive from NM to MI.
7342229 That was my guess.
7344051 Yes I remember, and Equestria kept producing all these weapon of mass persuasion and the United States were forced to invade for great justice.
Too bad somepony had setted them the emotional bomb.
Thank for that little nod.
I figured it was something like this, I might not really look the part online, but IRL I am often the Trevor of the group. Here, but only in the background, if you pay attention.
7342104
Yup! My current publishing schedule is about 7am EST M-F, and around 11:30 PM Saturday and Sunday.
7342128
They probably would have gone I-94 all the way through, which I think misses all of those places.
7342143
Haven't been on the Florida Turnpike in long enough that I don't remember it. But the shitty thing about the toll roads through Chicago is that the tollbooths are right in the middle of the interstate, versus say the Ohio Turnpike where you just get a ticket when you get on the road and only have to pay when you get back off.
7342180
It was supposed to be Miss Cherilyn and Mister Salvatore on the trip with them. Which I have now corrected.
Aric had a sudden unexpected sex change.
More than that. One every 21 days, from late March until sometime in September.
She's doing what the college called 'independent study' on the subject
7342185
I know, right?
7342229 7344069
Nope. Good guess, but no. Think famous couples (real or fictional) . . . and this applies to all of the helpers.
7342259
Yeah, which is why it's really awkward to share a bed with another guy. Trust me.
7342280
I dunno if I would make that bold a claim. Government does two things well: throw wave after wave of their own men at it, or sink it in a morass of bureaucracy. it's anybody's guess which it's gonna be.
7342379
Twilight finds Google: who breaks first?
7342444
No; the author just gave Aric a sudden unexpected sex change.
Silver Glow would be the worst chaperone ever. Just sayin'.
That they do.
7342489
You can have my share, now and forevermore.
If Twilight was involved in this hypothetical threesome, the first thing to work out would be the schedule. Lucky pegasuses don't think that way.
They ought to. She'd be such a great mascot.
7342536
Yes; although in the short term it's often painful.
7342655
Yes, she would.
7342788
Trees do, though. And trees are kind of like ponies.
7342804
"I thought I was supposed to give helpful suggestions."
7342805
img10.deviantart.net/5707/i/2015/257/2/8/cayenne_happy_by_camanalli-d99ighf.png
7342819
Yup, once every 21 days or so from late March/early April until late September/early October.
7342928
She does.
7342965
The real question isn't whether she suffers; it's whether everyone around her does.
7343153
Yeah, it's hard to miss something you don't have, but when you do have it it's all you can think about.
7343456
You are correct. They also have a potato thing of some sort, and you can order some of their other food meatless (like the Mexican pizza).
7344044
Another good ol road trip. That reminds me of the drive from NM to MI.
I've done that drive! Lansing to Albuquerque and back again.
7344088
Never let it be said that I don't pay attention to my readers.
7344209
img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120326153633/mlp/images/4/48/Fluttertree_S2E22.png
7343929
Fair point.
"...we had to keep on stopping to give money to the road guards so that we could keep on traveling ..." Quick comment here: If they're State Department, they would be authorized to use their Federal Travel Card to purchase an I-Pass, which if it matches the K-Tag we have here, you just drive into the admin office, produce your credit card, and walk out a minute later with a widget you can stick on the dashboard and take the EZ-Pass lanes without even slowing down much. (It falls under Travel and Tolls)
7344158 Didn't she say a few chapter ago that her molting would end with her last estrus?
7344209 I wonder if it is a Cayenne thing or a unicorn thing...
Wait a minute...
I'm seeing a pattern here.....
7344306
No; her next estrus, which will be in late May.
7344209
7344196
After an uninterrupted seventy-nine hour study session, Twilight falls asleep on her keyboard and accidentally starts a Google search for "vmgbngggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg" (with about a hundred times as many g's on the end)
7344158
Aren't independent studies at least somewhat directed? I suppose that makes Peggy her study coordinator (or whatever they're called). Though I think if Silver wants a more comprehensive experience, she should probably request the football table in Peggy's place - I think they would would come up with a broader range of trials for Silver.
7342489
That is a good idea:
It will win over independents, 3rd partiers, and Democrats. Republicans will not like it, but they already want to build walls around all of the Taco-Bells anyway.
7344371
orig13.deviantart.net/637d/f/2012/084/d/b/fluttertree_by_moonbrony-d4twz73.png
7344517
How many people actually google searched that, just to see what came up?
7345387
Eh, depends on the college. I got away with writing a novel, and once FimFic goes genfic, y'all will get to see it.
7464160
And make Mexico pay for those walls.
7477271
ultraimg.com/images/2016/12/01/Vkuo.png
7342280
7344196
You'd be amazed to know that the Government actually listened to all the complaints. So after all these years and in the interest to being more efficient with their time and money, the Government now just does both!
7762156
Yeah, that's pretty much the same result that I got.
7851521
Actually, that doesn't surprise me. So they've got an army of people who read the complaints, and then another army of people to come up with a way to address them all, and then a few more people to present the plan to Congress, and by then they don't have any money to actually carry out the improvements that they decided upon.
It reminds me of the poor bastards at the post office.
"You need to make a profit."
"Okay, we can raise the price on stamps."
"No, you can't do that."
"Oh. Well, we can stop Saturday delivery."
"No, you can't do that either."
"Well, we could close post offices in rural areas."
"Oh, no, you can't do that either."
<repeat ad nauseum>
7851521
When I said that "the VA invented red tape" I meant the name, not the item. THAT probably dates back to the invention of writing. Post Civil War, their files were bound in red tape, hence the name.
Silver, you are awesome in many many ways, but this irrational hatred of the glory that is the hash-brown is mystifying on so many levels. Now yeah, you get one of the dried out, bland, cardboard tasting ones, blech, but get a fresh, greasy, delicious cake of fried potato and. ohhhh so good!
Also, adorable excited pony is adorable and excited, and about going to school of all things.. enough to forgot her saddlebag at first. Truly the mind of the pony is beyond human understanding.
And for all her cultural naivete, it's great seeing her verbally own someone at times. She might not be the most curious pony ever, and she tends to take thing far, far too literally, but she is by no means a dumb pony in any fashion.
Silver, humans don't really do the physical touchiness of ponies, especially when someone has just been sick. And likely Peggy has keptthem up to date on what's going on, so low need to be curious.
We keep saying Peggy is best roommate, but look at just how awesome she is. Silver has been able to Pony her way into getting people to go along with nearly anything she wants, but Silver will do whatever Peggy tells her to.
Again, while going over the need to talk to Meghan, so few people seem to ever remember that Silver comes from a vastly different culture with massively different ideas about physical contact and what constitutes 'intimacy'. Also obligatory gripe about the prep course not saying anything about this at all.
Then the big talk, this didn't go as well as I hoped, but better then I feared. Biggest thing seemed more Meghan kicking herself for not having made a move sooner. And also still not getting you need to be very, very direct and clear with the pony. Her vague 'love men and women the same' bit... Even IF Silver gets the 'love' meaning 'fuck' idea, of course she's gonna say no... one your dealing with an innie and the other an outie, totally changes how things work. This is mostly on Meghan really needing to not be sorry about herself and just be direct with the pony. Still, this does lead to better things later, so YAY!
Even if it really hits Silver hard, all the worse because it's something she knows isn't going right, but she osn't sure what to do about, it's outside her usual good/bad outlook and dealing with nuances and rules she only partially understands. So, combine with getting over being sick, yeah she's going to be out of it.
Still, she bounces back, and even learns she can harness her Pony Powers to get humans to take her where she wishes to go, like Taco Bell.
I know he brings this up earlier, but given how much they'd be traveling anyway, really surprised they didn't already have government account linked EZ Passes already.... Also, just, love Silver seeing the Toll Booth operators as 'Road Guards'.
Now, everyone is saying they would have ponies as chaperones, for all that would help, but why not the other option? Just one human and one pony per bed? Nothing could possibly go wrong then............