Meijer
After lunch, Christine followed us back to the parking lot where Peggy keeps her car, which I have not seen before. It was called Cobalt, and it was smaller and sleeker than Sienna.
I wanted to get a close look at it, because I never got a chance to get a good look at Econoline or Sienna. It has rubber tires and black wheels with shiny discs behind them that Peggy said were the brakes. She said that it had shiny wheels like Sienna that it wore in the summertime but right now it had winter tires on it so it wouldn't slip in the snow.
She said it was considered an economy car—all vehicles which are small are called cars. The parking lot is full of them, and a lot of them look like their owners have abandoned them. They're just covered in snow, like a hibernating animal.
It only had two doors, so it was difficult to get into. Christine said that she would sit in the back, and squeezed herself behind the seat, then let me get in.
This seat was not made for a pony. Peggy helped me adjust it into a sorta comfortable position and put on the seat belt, then she went around and got the car started. I didn't like the seat belt too much because it just tangled around me and I didn't think it was doing anything and Peggy agreed, but she said that I should have it on today and then she'd think about whether I really needed to wear it.
It has a built-in record player that started playing as soon as Peggy turned the key. She asked if the music was all right, and I told her that I had never heard it before. She said it was a singer named Adele.
It took a little while to warm up. She said that she couldn't go until the windshield was clear of fog, but I didn't see any fog at all, only condensation on the glass.
The main street that runs up campus is made out of bricks, and it is very bumpy. Peggy said that they were always fixing it throughout the spring and summer, and I wanted to know why they didn't just replace it with a new street if it was always in need of repair.
Christine said that it was part of the character of the campus, and it also helped keep people driving more slowly.
We drove for maybe ten minutes, first through the downtown, then up a big hill and past a whole bunch of houses. Then we got to businesses on both sides of the road, and finally turned into a big parking lot in front of a huge store that said Meijer on the front in big letters.
Halfway to the store, I started to wonder how we were going to find the car again. Peggy said it wasn't a problem, because she could click a button and it would flash its lights and honk its horn, and she demonstrated it for me.
When we got inside . . .
I can't even properly describe it.
It was like a whole city had been turned into a market, and then a roof had been put over the whole thing. There were shelves as far as the eye could see, and they were completely loaded with things. On one side was fresh food, and on the other there was a counter with jewelry and a big aisle leading to the back that had more shelves in the center. Big signs hung from the ceiling to tell you where things were because otherwise you could have gotten lost.
There was so much to take in and so many smells and sounds that I stood there trembling like a scared filly, until Christine finally reached out and touched my shoulder.
I knew I would be okay if I stayed close to them.
The floor was slippery, and I had to be careful of my footing. I wanted to look at all the fresh food they had: normally, the markets only have winter crops and late fall crops available, along with not-so-fresh pasture grasses. Earth ponies can keep food good for a long time, but not forever. My granddam said that sometimes when she was a filly they'd run short in the wintertime and had to scratch through the snow to find enough to eat and it was those years that her mother and father argued about why they hadn't wintered further south.
Christine and Peggy had a wheeled basket that was called a shopping cart, and they went through the food and bought some beer and wine and they asked me if there was any kind that I wanted so I stuck my hooves over the edge of the open icebox so I could see what they had.
All the different beer had names, and I didn't know what any of it was, until I found some Oberon. Then they got some snack food—all of it had names, too. Doritos and Little Debbies and Entemans. The Doritos came in a shiny bag, while the others were in rectangular boxes like a bakery box.
We had to go all the way to the back of the store to get to the shampoo, and they agreed that instead of walking down the main pathway, we could go through the clothing area because it had carpet that gave me better footing.
There were so many clothes. Any tailor I know couldn't make this many in her whole lifetime. I asked Peggy where they all came from, and she said that there were mostly made in foreign countries.
We got back to the beauty supplies, and there was a whole aisle devoted to shampoo that was all different colors and smells. I know a lot of mares are vain, but humans only have hair on their heads and a few other places, so I wasn't sure why they'd be so interested in such a variety. Plus they had shelves of hair dyes, but they were mostly plain colors like brown and black and blonde.
There wasn't any pony to help me choose. Back in Equestria, a spa pony would bring samples and let you sniff them and try them out, and recommend what would work best for your manestyle and coat, but there wasn't anypersonbody here to help.
I looked up and down the shelves trying to find something that would be appealing to me and then I found a bottle called Mane and Tail Shampoo, and it was even on the bottom shelf where it would be easy for a pony to reach, so that's what I got.
It seemed like a lot of store to have just bought those few things. Christine said that normally they'd get more, but since they had just come back from their homes, neither of them really needed much.
There were lots of little stands where you could buy your purchases which probably makes the market more efficient. Peggy put the things we were buying on a little belt that drove them along to the salesperson (for the human version of things you usually change pony to person). She passed them by a device that Christine said was a bar code reader, and a computer tallied up all the items.
When it was my turn, I had to show her my passport before she could sell me beer. She got a kind of funny look on her face because she couldn't read it at all, and she had to call over another man and they decided it was okay. She apologized but said that there were rules about who could buy beer.
I used my plastic card which is like my student badge but instead of having my picture on it it has a silver eagle. There was a pen on a string that you had to use to sign your name, and the salesperson gave me a dirty look when I held it in my mouth to sign my name.
Peggy pushed the cart in the parking lot and when she got close to where Cobalt was she pushed the button again and it honked and I turned my ears in that direction and I knew about where it was.
Her little control could also make Cobalt unlatch its trunk, and she put everything in that while me and Christine were getting in Cobalt.
When we got back to the dorm, Peggy said that she was going to take a nap because she wanted to go to a party later, and asked if I wanted to go, too.
I probably should have said yes, but I was still stressed out from Meijer, so I said that I would rather read some more and then go to bed early unless it was very rude to turn down the invitation. She said it was fine if I didn't want to.
Aric will probably want his book back by Monday, so if I am going to read more of it, I should do it now. There are two stories that look particularly interesting; one is called Bears Discover Fire, and the other is called Boobs (which is another name for breasts).
WOOT, double feature!
7002850 One word. Pancakes.
Best store
lol To the end of it. But, wouldn't ponies not know the term for 'breasts'? Pretty sure 'breasts' are the human term, and teets or something would be the term used in this scenario.
caught up!
7003086
Correction made, thank you!
Catching up 'cause I missed yesterday due to auditions for The Crucible.
7003156
It is. I actually used to work at the Westnedge Meijer in Kalamazoo.
7003158
She already corrected herself in an earlier chapter.
7003217 Oh. right.
7003210 Just make sure that double features happen on the same day in-universe, or I'll have to sic Pinkie Pie on you!
7003243
Fear not, it did.
7003249 This time. Who knows if you might slip up in the future.
Every single chapter I'm afraid Silver Glow is going to decide she's had enough and just bug back to Equestria.
I'm betting Boobs will do it.
7003263
Have you read Boobs? It's a delightful story about a girl hitting puberty and all that entails. Also she turns into a werewolf and devours a kid in class she doesn't like. Also it's legit in the same book as Enter a Soldier. I can't make this stuff up.
7003293 Yes, but Biscuit's answer seems to imply that old wives are entirely separate from almanacs as sources of knowledge, not to mention that old ladies are not the sort to compile almanacs. They just proclaim that their thumbs are itchy and that that means a hurricane off the coast of Texas.
7003275 ...what book is this?
7003263
I am surprised to find you here!
And yes, I too am expecting the tension to keep ratcheting up, particularly after her tension at the big box store.
7003318
The New Hugo Winners volume 3. Published in 94.
7003210 Oh, I was in the Crucible back in the day! I played Danforth. It was a fun time.
Very nice chapter as always. In particular...
...Aww.
7003275
I prefer to read Boobs as a metaphor for growing up. You know, girl hits puberty and becomes a psychopathic murderer, not an actual werewolf.
Stories about werewolves are stories about people.
Fucking finally. That should've happened way earlier in the story!
Although set in an alternative universe does this story take place in a specific year? That weekends seem to match up with this year so I guess it's 2016, In that case will there be anything relating to events of the year for example if she goes to the cinema will it be a current movie (I'm imagine that an action movie could be rather overwhelming for silver with her more sensitive ears) or anything about the upcoming US presidential election and the events leading up to it? (I don't think we've seen all that much about the pony political situation, obviously the princess is not voted for but other leaders might be, or they might be hereditary or appointed by ability.)
Should be either 'jewellery' if you're from the UK or the Commonwealth, or 'jewelry' in you're from the US.
Just put me down as undecided, every Meijer's terrible.
7002991
Wait, there's actually a story where Socrates and Pizarro team up?
What color is her passport?
I suppose for Silver, this was a... Meijer shock.
I am so sorry.
But yeah, the fruits of a global supply chain are going to be overwhelming for someone who comes from a culture where the economy is still at the turn of the twentieth century (give or take.)
7003777
I don't recall ever seeing one in canon, but luckily Hasbro hasn't let me down.
hasbro.com/common/assets/html5/MyLittlePony/Explore-Equestria/img/passportBtn.png
7003922 Except that the show consistently uses the word pegasi when describing the plural form of pegasus.
7003293
The intent is that the farmers have an almanac, while the old wives just say stuff without having an almanac.
7003299
Yes, that is what I meant to imply. You said it better than I did, though.
7003323
Wait until she goes to a restaurant off-campus. They've got a lower tolerance for weirdness.
7003660
Correction made, thank you!
7003384
I'm going to be Hale, it looks like.
7003766
Yeah, it's called Enter a Soldier. Later: Enter Another by Robert Silverberg. Published in 89 or 90. Well worth the read.
7003834
That's not how it's pronounced.
Just the fresh food is amazing. That's really the most amazing part of it A shirt from Bangladesh can take its sweet time getting here, but you've got a pretty short shelf life on a fresh strawberry.
Another fun chapter, though there were two things I noticed.
One, she mentioned checking out the fresh foods and then doesn't (or if she did, she doesn't comment on it).
I'm also surprised at the complete lack of attention. I get the impression that ponies are not all that common, so I'd expect some stares, covert or otherwise (especially from little kids).
Still, those are basically just nits.
7003985 I can see that. The FDA has rules about fur bearing animals being let into restaurants. The only exception is from the ADA that lets in disability dogs and "comfort animals". Man do i hate most comfort animals. Most of the people would not be required to bring the animals to Everywhere they go. They are not trained in their behavior or obedience. And to top it off, the proprietors are legally banned from asking for any form of proof that the animal is legit. So of course there are more abusers than people the really do need it. This of course only applies to "comfort animals", disability animals are extremely well behaved.
Just thinking about hair dyes and influence from equestrians. In the future, as more and more ponies cross over to Earth and humans to Equestria, I think that the unnatural colors would become a lot more popular. Also time to buy into the Mane and Tail company's stock. I know I use it since it has been tested to be good for animals and I wash my cat with it every now and then.
From the context, I believe that Meijer is the same as Costco or Sam's Club but can anyone confirm that? We don't have that store down in Texas.
7003923
It's hot pink and everything I could possibly hope for.
7004000
That looks like such a cool story.
7003989 Not a problem! Excellent yarn, by the way.
7004113
Peggy and Christine weren't interested in the fresh food, and Silver Glow didn't want to go off on her own because she was scared.
I guess I forgot to put that in the text.
This time around she got lucky, and nobody approached her. She didn't notice the sideways looks she was getting from everyone, because she was so busy trying to process all the stuff on the shelves.
7004166
Yup, another case of a problem with ponies. Silver Glow doesn't fit the definition of a 'comfort animal,' nor would she claim to be one. But discrimination laws might prevent her from being served, or it might be a case-by-case basis. Certainly some stores would be more likely to allow her than others.
That, and cutie mark tattoos might suddenly become popular.
Talk about a company that's perfectly positioned for the emerging Equestrian market. :raionbowlaugh:
It's more like WalMart or K-Mart or a Super Target: your general 'everything' store. It's not a bulk, warehouse-type store like Sam's Club or Costco.
It's a Michigan-based chain; I believe they now have stores in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Kentucky.
7003652
Yes, you are correct--it's this year.
Not everything is going to match up, though. If I had been really planning ahead, I would have started the story on Jan 1 of this year, and then I could have easily matched up some current events. So some stuff like weather is going to be somewhat inaccurate, because I don't feel like putting so much effort into the story that I get Kalamazoo's weather reports for the entire year.
Yup. The Adele song, for example, was in the top 40 on that date (I looked it up). If she does go to any movies, they'll be movies that were playing in the theatres at that time, and there will be stuff about the presidential election and probably the Flint water crisis, since that's such big news in Michigan.
7003992 Neat! Congrats on the part!
7004374
Thanks!
It's not 100% for sure, because we're still looking for four male actors, so it's possible that someone might show up who could do the part better than me, but I'll certainly have some role.
Something that hasn't been mentioned yet is how different the Equestrian educational system is to the US one, if it is. Silver seems to be used to the same educational system apart from maybe the size (I would guess a smaller proportion of ponies go on to this level of education and they probably have a smaller population to start off with), but how close are the systems really? Will she be surprised that there are exams? Think she should have more? Think she should have one to one time with her teachers? She expected a practical for the metrology course which of course is not happening, are there any assumptions she has?
Plus in this world how much cross over between ponies and humans are there? Facebook apparently had a 'pony' setting and the 'incident' in France had an effect on Pegasus relations so the two worlds are not entirely separate has anything gone the other way? What changes have occurred in Equestria with human technology and culture. Will Silver's friends be surprised that she already knows of a human band and wants to go see a gig?
7003028
7002980
I would be inclined to think like you, and yet there is also counter-exemple avaible. Stallions are shown with position of influence and/or power too. Breaburn is the first exemple comming to mind, a couple of deleguates at the Equestria Games, every single pony in law inforcement and so on. If I am not mistaken, all the doctor are Stallion while the mare working at the hospital are nurses.
And of course THE most famous mage is a stallion.
In addition to that, the founding value of Equestria was harmony, with a certain notion of equity beetween pony.
With all this, I think it is not entirely impossible that Equestria is less matriarcal then our society is patriarcal.
7004272 She could always declare herself to be her own 'comfort animal.' And thus did ponies discover Wal-Mart. I never knew or even suspected there was a product called 'Mane and Tail shampoo and conditioner' that people used. The things you learn from ponies.
7005105
That's the same legal niche as the tree that owns itself. I like that line of reasoning.
7003970 Wasn't there an almanac written by an old wifey type in the Discworld universe? For the life of me I can't find it through Google.
7003766 You'll find it in any of the following collections. Though as Admiral Biscuit pointed out, the book used in the story is this one, so if you want to read all three stories mentioned that would be the one to get.