December 23
We were glad that we'd gotten to bed early, 'cause it felt like it was still the middle of the night when Mister Barrow came in our room and woke us up. I knew that the trains liked to go where there wasn't anything interesting at night, but I thought that Toledo was a kinda big city. When we'd driven through it on our way to Punxsutawney, it had seemed pretty big. I was still kind of new to Earth then so maybe I was wrong about that and there wasn't much there. Sometimes you'd think you were one place because of all the signs but they were just telling you how to get where you wanted to go.
Me and Aquamarine gathered up our saddlebags which didn't take too long and we weren't sure if we should call the conductor and have him put our bed away. I thought that if there was anybody getting on in Toledo they'd probably want the bed so it was best to leave it folded down.
Toledo looked pretty big as the train went through it, and right before we got to the station we went over a river which was the Maumee.
The station was a square brick building, and the train didn't wait there too long, 'cause there wasn't anyone else waiting on the platform for the train, so once we got off and all our luggage was on the platform, the train blew its horn and started up again.
I stayed by the tracks until I saw its taillights disappear under the bridge that was just past the station, and then we walked around to the other side where Mister Barrow said there would be a car for us.
Me and Aquamarine both knew which one was for us before Mister Barrow said, 'cause there was a black Suburban with lots of antennas on it. And Mister Barrow used his pocketknife to pry open a little door on the side, and the keys were in there, so he unlocked it and we put our bags inside and got in the back.
We couldn't go until it had warmed up, 'cause there was a little bit of ice on the outside of the windshield, and our breath made the inside of the glass foggy. They had butt-warmers in the front seats but we didn't and it was a little bit uncomfortable sitting on a chilly seat.
Mister Barrow said that the steering wheel was heated, too.
It didn't take too long to warm up, and then we got on the road. Mister Barrow said that the first place we needed to stop was Dunkin' Donuts, 'cause he wanted some coffee and he said that he'd get some for us, too. So instead of getting on the 75 Highway right away, we drove along the 51 Road through town and it was a couple of miles before we found one, and it was one of the few things that was awake at a third after five in the morning.
Their donuts weren't as big as the ones at Sweetwater's Donut Mill, but we were planning on having a real breakfast a little bit later maybe. He said that we'd be in Lansing around breakfast time and there were lots of places to eat there and it would just depend on how we felt.
So after we'd had our morning snack and coffee, we got back in the Suburban and got on the 75 Highway, and then we got back off of it pretty quick to take the 475 Highway. And it was being fixed, so there were lots of barrels to keep you off the broken parts of the road and he said that it was lucky we were getting out of Toledo before rush hour and he didn't think that we'd hit any heavy traffic at all on the way to East Lansing.
I was really happy when we passed the sign for Michigan, and for a while I was looking out the window at all the bare fields and bald trees that were along the road, but after a little while that got boring and it was still pretty dark so I couldn't see all that far, and I turned around on the seat and put my head down in the center. And Aquamarine kind of had the same idea, 'cause she stretched out too and we both fell asleep for a little while.
I woke up again when we got to the 96 Highway, 'cause Mister Barrow suddenly slowed down and rocked us forward in our seats. And it was starting to get light out and we sat back up in our seats. Aquamarine wondered if maybe we could see the sun rising behind us so we both turned around and looked out the back, and Mister Barrow made the little squeegee clean off the back window so that we could see better.
We didn't get to watch the whole sunrise, 'cause there were trees in the way and the road curved around a little bit, but we did see most of it. And it looked like a really beautiful day—there were a few fluffy clouds down pretty low and then some airplanes were leaving cirrus clouds high up in the sky.
It was about half past seven when we got to East Lansing, and when we got on the 127 Highway, Aquamarine got her portable telephone out of her saddlebags and sent a telegram to Cedric to let him know that she was almost back.
Mister Barrow drove us to her apartment and said that we could take a break there and use the bathroom if we had to and then if we wanted we could all go out to breakfast. And Aquamarine asked if Cedric could come with us, and Miss Parker said that he could and she'd even buy his breakfast which I thought was really nice of her.
Aquamarine had a little apartment which she said was called a studio and I liked it better than mine, 'cause it was cozier. There was one big room and a half-wall to the kitchen and then a small bathroom and that was all that there was. She had a futon that was a lot like mine, and it was folded down into a bed, and there were lots of plants all around the room.
She told me that when she went back to Equestria she was giving most of them to Doctor Krelborn, except for the Dumb Cane that Cedric wanted.
There was a really good restaurant that was close, but they didn't open until lunchtime, and we didn't want to wait hours for a real meal. So Mister Barrow said that there was a Denny's and an International House of Pancakes that weren't too far away and said that we could decide which we wanted to go to.
Well, those were both good, and I would like either. Aquamarine said she didn't mind which we went to, so Cedric said that we should go to Denny's because it wasn't as fancy.
When we got there, Mister Barrow parked right by the door and let us out and me and Aquamarine went in first, with Miss Parker right behind us and when we went inside the waiter started to come around the corner of his little stand and he had the same look as the man at the other Denny's that didn't want ponies in the restaurant.
He was about to open his mouth when Cedric came through the door and then the waiter backed up a little bit but me and Aquamarine could both tell that we weren't really welcome here and that was really a let-down after how nice and friendly everybody at Disney World had been.
Cedric glared at the waiter and said that he guessed that if this restaurant didn't serve ponies they probably didn't serve niggers either and we'd go somewhere that we were welcome, and turned around and went right back out the door, and me and Aquamarine trotted along behind him. And Miss Parker didn't come out right away so I turned around and she was holding her badge up in his face and he'd gotten really pale. And then she came back out, and we had to tell Mister Barrow what had happened and he said that he could go in there and straighten them out and Miss Parker told him that she already had, and that we should go get pancakes now.
So we went to the International House of Pancakes and the waitress there was really nice and friendly and brought us all free coffee because she said that we looked like we needed it.
I didn't eat too much, 'cause I'd been thinking about flying back to Kalamazoo. Mister Barrow had said that he'd drive me there, but I hadn't been able to spend much time flying and it was a really pretty day and I thought it would be fun. I was eager to see Aric and Meghan, so that was the one disadvantage to flying myself, 'cause it would take a lot longer to get there than to ride with Mister Barrow, but I think I'd be restless all day if I didn't spend some time flying.
We took our time eating and talking, and by the time we were done with breakfast I knew that I needed to fly, so I told Mister Barrow and asked if he could give all the gifts I'd bought to Mister Salvatore so that I didn't have to carry them back with me, too, and he said that he would.
We all drove back to Aquamarine's apartment first, and I filled up my camelback and put on my flight gear and then I went outside and I had to decide if I wanted to follow the train tracks or the highways to get to Kalamazoo. I thought that the train tracks would probably be a more direct route, and they ran pretty close to her apartment.
I had to tell the Lansing Airport where I was going to be flying, so I called their airplane directors and it took them a minute to give me permission, but they did, and so then I hugged everyone goodbye and nuzzled Aquamarine and everyone went down to the parking lot to watch me take off.
I followed the tracks that ran beside her apartment to the west and it turned out that those were the wrong tracks. Luckily, they passed really close to the Amtrak station and I recognized it and I could see that the platform was arranged for the other set of tracks, so I turned and followed them instead.
The tracks went past another train station and then followed a river, and they went alongside a factory with steam-making towers and tall chimneys. Then they went past a lot of factories and a cluster of buildings that looked kind of like a college campus before they got out of the city for good. And I'd just passed by a big lake when a train carrying stacked boxes went by underneath me, and it was so long I'd crossed two roads before the end went by underneath me. If it had been going slower I could have landed on it and ridden it back to Kalamazoo, but that wasn't a very good idea, 'cause I'd get hurt.
The tracks went along fallow fields mostly and passed through a lot of little towns. I'd gotten permission to fly up to ten thousand feet if I wanted to but I had decided to stay at about seven thousand, 'cause that's where the few puffy little clouds were, and every now and then one of them would drift across my path and I'd fly around it or land on top of it and ride it a little bit before moving on.
Every now and then I'd announce to the other airplanes where I was, even though there weren't any of them that were too close to me. And when I got close to Battle Creek, I had to tell the airplane directors there that I was flying into their airspace and they wanted me to go lower, or go south around them.
I thought it would be easier and faster to descend and keep going straight, so I started gliding down. I kind of needed a rest anyways; I probably should have thought about how far it was before deciding I was going to fly the whole way. It wouldn't be my longest flight, but after more than a week of not doing any distance flying, my wings were getting tired and I still had a ways to go.
I was still descending when another train went by, this one going to the east, and then I was just passing by the cereal factories when another westbound train went under me. He was going slower, and I kept up with him almost all the way to the airport.
I paid close attention to my radio as I got close to their runways, 'cause I didn't want to be flying across the end of them as a big airplane went overhead. And I dove down a little bit lower, too, to give myself more clearance, although that was kind of risky 'cause if I got hit with an airplane's wake, I'd have less altitude to recover in.
Luckily for me, there weren't any airplanes taking off and I climbed back up a little bit as I got close to Fort Custer.
By the time I got to the dam, I was getting pretty tired and I started to get tempted to land and call Aric to come and pick me up. The sky had clouded over almost completely, although I could still see some clear spots off to the east, but they wouldn't be clear for long.
I didn't want to admit defeat, though, so I told the Kalamazoo airplane directors where I was and kept going through town, and when the tracks curved away from Stadium Road, I stopped following them 'cause it was gonna be more direct to follow the road.
I could smell Sweetwater's Donut Mill a little bit before I got to it, and that gave me the last bit of energy that I needed to get to my apartment. The lights on the balcony were on so I knew exactly where to land, and when I did I flopped right down into the snowdrift and let it cool me off some.
Meghan saw me land and she came right over and opened up the door for me and let me in, but I stayed outside for a little bit longer in the snow, and she just crouched down in the entrance and petted my mane. She said that Aric was at Meijer buying food and that he'd be back pretty soon.
I rolled over on my back and stretched out my wings and made a snow-pegasus and then I got back to my hooves and shook off some of the snow and went inside, and Meghan wanted to brush it off but I was still pretty hot and wanted it to melt, 'cause that would cool me down some more.
I got some water to drink, 'cause my camelback was empty and I was pretty thirsty. And then the two of us sat together on the futon, and I had to sit on a towel 'cause I was dripping as the snow melted and ran through my coat.
Aric got back after about an hour and he brought in a bunch of bags of food and he had stopped at Petco and gotten me some more hay, too, so I had some of that for a snack, and then I thought that I ought to take a shower, 'cause I was pretty lathered from the flight and I hadn't taken one today. And Aric and Meghan said that they'd join me, and so the three of us got in the shower together and they both washed me before washing themselves and it felt really good to have their hands going through my coat and mane and tail and that was one thing that I was really going to miss when I was back in Equestria.
Once I'd gotten washed, we all kinda got distracted by each other and then I had to get washed again but it had been worth it, and the apartment had lots of hot water.
Meghan and Aric dried off and then they dried me off and wrapped me up in towels and we all sat together on the couch, and I told them about the trip to Florida and all the things I'd seen and how Gusty wanted to get everyone's autograph and I told them that there were ponies working at Epcot and how I'd seen the rocket launch and gotten to hold a baby alligator and made new friends on the beach. And then we got to talking about Christmas, and Aric said that his parents were kind of conservative and might not like me especially if they knew that we were having sex and so he and Meghan had been thinking about it and they thought that it might be best if I went with Meghan to celebrate Christmas with her and her family, and then he said that when he got back from his parent's house we could have our own little Christmas celebration together.
I was a little disappointed in that because I thought it would have been fun for all of us to be together but I guess it wouldn't be fun at all if his parents didn't want me there.
And I was a little bit offended that he hadn't told his parents about us, but then my sister had never told me about the blacksmith so I guess sometimes you wanted to keep some things private especially if you thought your friends and family might not understand. I think that usually your best friends would but maybe sometimes it was best to not really put that to the test. I knew a few ponies who had gotten kicked off their cloud 'cause they'd done something that their family didn't like, although they usually got forgiven a few days later and they knew not to do that again. So I guess if he hadn't told them yet maybe Christmas wasn't the best time.
We spent most of the afternoon snuggling on the couch and Aric said that maybe we should get up and get dressed and do something but me and Meghan didn't feel like it. She said that it was good to have a lazy Saturday together and he said that it was Friday and she said that that was close enough. And then she said that if we did want to do something she'd have to get dressed and then he'd miss out on watching us cook dinner naked and he thought that that was a good reason to be lazy on the couch.
Once my coat was dry, Meghan unwrapped me from the towel and I sat up on top of the blanket, too, and stretched out my wings so that she could preen them for me and when she was doing the second one Aric said that we should get my GoPro and make a movie of her preening me and she said that if we were going to do that she ought to put clothes on and he said that she'd get zillions more views if she didn't. And she crossed her arms and said that she didn't know how she felt about having her boobs on the internet and anyways it was probably against YouTube's rules anyways.
I told her that I liked them and nuzzled her breast.
When she was done preening me, we got up and went into the kitchen and started getting dinner ready, and Aric came in too but just leaned against the counter and waited for instructions, 'cause he said that he knew that if he got in the way of two women making dinner he'd wind up either banished or castrated and Meghan said that it was good that he knew his place.
She said that we were going to make a fake meatloaf, 'cause she'd found a recipe on the internet and it sounded like a good meal to have, and we were also going to have mashed potatoes and asparagus and it was all pretty complicated to make and there was a lot that I couldn't do, but she let me chop up the potatoes and measure out all the ingredients for the not-meatloaf and mix them together and then she formed it into a loaf and put it in the oven, and while it was cooking the potatoes were ready to be mashed so I got to do that, too.
Aric went out in the living room to take the mattress off the futon and set it on the floor, so that we could use the futon as a table, and we had a little bit of time to relax because it took the meatloaf a while to be ready, so me and Meghan sat in the futon and watched the snow falling outside while Aric sulked 'cause the futon wasn't big enough for three.
Once the not-meatloaf was cooked we had to wait a little bit for it to cool down and I wanted to put it out in the snow so we could eat it sooner but Meghan said that that might shatter the cooking dish and then we wouldn't be able to eat it at all because it would be full of glass. It was hard to be patient, though, 'cause I was really hungry. I'd used up a lot of energy on my flight back to Kalamazoo and hadn't eaten enough afterwards.
So when it did come time to eat, I had more than I should have, and after dinner we cleaned up and sat on the futon mattress and watched a movie on Meghan's computer because Aric had returned the big television while I was on vacation. It was called Braveheart, and I fell asleep, 'cause my belly was full and I was warm and I had Meghan on one side of me and Aric on the other, and Meghan was scratching behind my ears and Aric was rubbing the base of my neck and down my back and that was too much for me.
I didn't stay asleep for too long, 'cause they started moving around and that woke me back up and the computer was dark so I thought that I'd slept through the whole movie but Meghan said that they'd stopped watching it and had just been talking and they were wondering if I was going to wake up again or stay asleep. And I said that I was awake now so we could try watching the movie again and Aric said that we could but it might be more fun to just snuggle and I couldn't disagree with that. So I leaned over and kissed him and then I kissed Meghan, too, and they started petting me again and I kissed them and teased them with my wing, and pretty soon we were all fighting over who got to be in the middle and I pinned Meghan down and started kissing my way down her stomach and that made her stop fighting for dominance.
Afterward, we just stayed sort of in a pile for a little while until it got uncomfortable, and then I let Meghan be in the middle, 'cause I was a little bit too hot again. So I pushed the covers off my back and put my head down on her breast and nestled my head up against her chin, and Aric reached across her so that he could rest his hand on my forelock.
Denny's just got rekt by the FBI.
When you're on school break, every day is a Saturday.
Pony cooks never cut their fingers.
Is it bad that I wish there was a Cadence Exception for Earth immigrants?
"Clearly, there's True Love going on here, so why tear it asunder by leaving half of it on the wrong side of the portal?"
You wouldn't have many sham marriages for citizenship with THAT kind of vetting.
Wow, the Denny's guy didn't even say anything yet. That must've been some look.
Of course, it's funny that the scariest person for the Denny's guy was Miss Parker and NOT the enormous Black man- as a defensive tackle, Cedric must be what, 6'3 and 280 at the very least?
If I was the Denny's guy I'd have just said "Company policy. No shoes, no shirt, no service" Of course
1 Aquamarine is wearing shoes
2 Policy doesn't say a word about "No pants"
The "No shoes" thing is the Board of Health (AFAIK) & there is also legal liability if you step on something.
Of course, I'd have served them because these days the company would probably get sued (& because I'm not a bigoted jerk). It's also likely that waiter is going to get fired.
There's always that one jerk.
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Eh, Kalamazoo is DIII. The current roster of D-linemen appears to be mostly 6-0 to 6-3 and 200-245 lbs. Literally FBS safety size, some of them.
That's not to say Cedric isn't plenty intimidating at life 240 or something.
Mister Salvatore would be so sad that he wasn't there to see that. He'd have LOVED to deal with that.
Miss Parker couldve offered to take the guy out backfor his free cupcake, Mr Salvatore wouldve taken the guy out back, and Silver wouldve Still heard him shouting.
Its been so long since shes been airborn and in company, that my first thought at the title of the chapter was, trains out of action again, maybe theres an accident or extensive roadworks, traffic, so Mr Salvatore gets an upgrade from a DEA Suburban, to a Bell Jetranger, or get real lucky and get a lift with a slightly diverted return to area Bell 222.
Sigh, so close. the Tennesee Museum of Aviation closed in 2015.
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ed/Full-size_replica_of_the_Airwolf.JPG/800px-Full-size_replica_of_the_Airwolf.JPG
They're going to Meghan's house! Yay!
So, after two Denny's in a row who don't like Ponies, I looked up their wiki page, thinking I'd find a famous bigotted owner or something. A couple of lawsuit for discrimination in the early to mid 90'ies.
Huh. You learn every day it seems.
¡Denny's! ¡Proof that the good old days were not good for women, minorities, and people of nonchristian religions or no religion! As a sidenote, Trump promises to bring back the good old days.
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Apostrophes are for indicating missing letters in contractions and possession. You can just write the 1990s or '90s (the apostrophe indicates that this is a contraction, not dates back almost 2 thousand years ago). You do not need to add "ie" as in '90ies because readers get '90s
Time losses all meaning over vacations.
7977846 Yeah. That does mean it's harder for refugees to get out of the nation they're in. I can understand that being a frustration from this.:\ Legal methods of coming into a nation are, from what I've heard, quite slow unfortunately.-_-'
a good chapter I must say.
and my personal option of Denny's cant stand the places the food is sub standard and the few I have been in and always bean dirty.
Wha? A key-box that anyone with a pocket-knife can access. Am I missing some important detail?
7977922 It is a fringe minority in society, I'll give you that. My problem is that this fringe minority has a lot of power, both economically, vocally, and politically. And I think that's a bad example. Michael Moore is a weasel, but he's not the worst example and David Duke doesn't have any real political power. Political extremes for me would be Justin Trudeau and... ISIS? Honestly, I'm sympathizing more with Right\Conservative voices every day than I was with the Left 5-ish years ago. The most extreme non-violent "Right wing" person I can think of is David Spencer, and he's not as bad as the Left-wing "Anti-Fascists" who sucker punched him at the Inauguration. It's like all the tables have flipped around.
Edit: If you're downvoting, say something. At least so I can tell how many Progressives there are on this site.
Silver Glow's Paradise.
7978405 Hardware engineering. How I wanted to learn thee. Now if only I can thoroughly understand Ohm's Law and the idea of how a machine could pull at Amp's from a transformer without the machine catching on fire.
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Canada, Equestria..... split the difference and move to the Crystal Empire.
7978487 I'm basing the "total war" off that alternate history where Sombra was never stopped and Equestria is slowly losing to him, even as it engages in total war. Equines on both sides (though if you listen to the comics, Sombra is an
Umbruminstead) I have read some of the blog you linked to on herd vs. pack dynamics, though I don't know how relevant it is in modern context of large groups. Pack-societies (like humanity) treat internal combat differently, but they absolutely go total war just as much as a herd society would against an external foe, that's similar to hunting. You don't make a show of force against something you're trying to eat, you efficiently crush its ability to stop you from eating it while taking as little risk and using as little resources as possible.The flip side of herd groups like equines is that while they are directly led and united against a foe they can attack (especially in greater numbers), most members of the herd won't risk themselves in smaller groups. It's why you can see herds of buffalo or gazelle try and trample predators, but if that same predator startles them or starts a stampede, they all flee and leave the slowest to be picked off.
Equestria actually fits this model. The guard on their own are fairly useless and rairly lead attacks, they mostly seem able to attack only when directly led from the front by a strong alpha female. It seems to explain why the Princesses either deal with smaller threats on their own, or lead from the front in attacking larger threats, but aren't really able to delegate to smaller groups of guards.
7978442 Well, I might go to US when they don't have a protest over nothing every freaking week.
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From where I'm sitting, electrical engineering is deep magic and transistors are a black art. I'm definitely not a hardware engineer. I do have a passing familiarity with more abstract stuff like Boolean algebra.
No offense meant - just that that is how she came across to me whenever she's with those two.
In any case, I really enjoyed the Disney vacation segment. I do kinda wish she had time to see some Blackhawks (or whatever team you prefer) hockey, but I don't think that's her interest, right?
7978374 Justin Trudeau as an extremist?
Man, I wish I knew what you are smoking, it sounds very good!
The guy is just another corrupt politician from the Canadian Liberal Party, they are always somewhere beetween the Center and the right, depending of what will get them the most vote.
We all can agree on something, Silver Glow certainly has a hard and difficult life....
Finally I take time to leave a comment again! I've been reading silver journals every day but haven't let comments in a while, :P
I'm a little surprised that Silver mentioned so lighty her encounter with Cedric, he was one of his friends for this intense year an she's probably not gonna see him again in his life, one would have expected than seeing him again would be a destacable encounter, yet in the writing of the journal, we barely noticed when Cedric appears and it's equally absent in the goodbay.
Which kinda leave me on something I've been thinking about the last entries, I have the impression (and I may be wrong) that the entries from a while have had some climate problems, I think is related that this always was supposed to be a light and warm story, with little (and then no so little) daily chapters telling nice, cute and fun slice of life episodes; and the journal allways rolled good without any need of a "bigger plot", but the thing is, inevitably, you did put a "conflict" on this story: time, and as such, there is a inherently "dramatic" nature in this journal. If this would have been the journal of a pony that moved to live in the eart it may have been 100% slice of life, with no neccesary "progression story" whatsoever.
But you choose a limited amount of time, and at so, there is a "story progression", being that that it all ends. That the whole trip ends, and Silver will be back to Equestria, and because politics or bureacreacy she may not be able to put a step on the earth on years (maybe decades) and so, the costumes and technology she got used, the friends she met, the lovers she had, are gonna be all lost.
That's ineviably dramatic, in the more "storytelling" sense of the term. I think this is noticeable, but in the intention of maintaining the warm and fun climate for what the story aimed, you have been kind of avoiding this giving it as little space as possible (the most emotional moment so far was the goodbay to penny) or smartly taking advantage of Silver personality to minimize it, but I think there is moments in which it kinda feel strange, and the most noticeable aspect of this is Silver parners:
I may have missing something but I found really hard to believe that neither Silver, Aric, and specially Meghan (who always seemed more of the kind of streesing herself and think things trhoug) haven't addressed or even mentioned the fact that Silver is gonna be leaving in couple of days and their relationship (or at least the physical part of their relationship) it's gonna end.
Even the most care-free university partners, would have several or at least one conversation about what that's mean and how are they feeling and what comes next ("I'm going to write you""I'm gonna make my hardest to finish my studies and go to work on the Equstria human embassy", etc). Damn, they even had those deep conversation when they had to decide how they were gonna date the tree at the same time. It's understandable that Silver doesn't like to "think about it", but staying a couple of days away of leaving the planet, it seems really strange this tottal silence about it, even more when we even see Silver getting "kinda offended" because Aric didn't mentioned their relationship to his parents. If I was a psicologist I would say that Silver is in denial :P
Anyway, just a opinion on something that have been makin me break my suspension of disbelief a little on the latest journals, I still found them highly enjoyable as, (and for the nature of what I'm mentioning) they are still all nice, fun and cute, really well written slice of life PoE chapters, and as always, I love your work.
PD: Also, I don't know why but I tried to change that big wall of text so it was more spaced but for some reason I couldn't make it less than pretty much one big paragraph XD
7978374 You believe, that given a choice between someone who advocates genocide and ethnic cleansing in the name of racial purity on one hand, and someone else who believes advocating genocide and ethnic cleansing in the name of racial purity is unacceptable in our society, that the latter person is more evil than the former?
You have a most peculiar set of values.
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7978374
Also I strongly agree with Kris Overstreet but I also strongly think that a a fimfiction story comment section it's not the place to have this kind of discussions when they have little to do with the story itself, being so many groups and forums even in this same page for that :P.
For my part, I wantd to say that I made the little fun trip of going back to read some of the first journals and it's really fun to see how "new" all in earth was for Silver compared to how used she is to things now. Also how Silver entires used to have a more "realistic journal" style, with scratched words and more reflexions on the moment of writing. This is gonna be a really fun story to read again once is finished.
7978902 Because the later doesn't have a full radicalized army who's going out and actively warring and beheading people in the name of purity. You can still defeat someone like him using words, mockery, and ideas with the public.
It also says something about you if the first thought you go to is that I only have those 2 options exclusively and in that narrow of a range. I don't have any love for the man, but I rather would not let someone like him be sucker punched in a public square. That would only make him and his fans feel justified in keep pushing.
7978802 Extreme by my standards. Michael Moore is a stooge. Justin however is a very far Left Progressive type of guy who seems to be steeped in identity politics, Feminism, and political correctness. He seems to be like Hillary Clinton without the hundreds of pre-election scandals. The only people I see who are more extreme than him are the Antifa/Communists. A bit hyperbolic, but these are the ones that I thought up right now.
7978362
Moonshots seem to be dependent upon the Elements of Harmony, now safely ensconced in a tree.
Twilight still possesses the Element of I Don't Have The Patience For This, though.
7978956 If a guy like Trudeau is your definition of "left" and "extreme", you are living in a very scary world. I mean, with the huge number of people all over the world having similar politics or even more to the left, you've got at the very least half the world as extreme leftist...
So yeah, don't worry. He is not from the left, at all.
And if he happen to be extremly something, it is corrupted and/or demagogue. Or maybe extremly centrist on a bad day.
That saddens me a bit. As for me all I care about is the my children are happy and loved.
1st Equestrian Preening service with happy ends ? so many bits to make !
7978374 Don't pretend like you aren't an outspoken Neo-nazi.
What a jerk.
Pony burrito.
7978956 You parsed that wrong. Kris was saying 'I find it strange you believe Trudeau is more extreme than Spencer' in short-form given the value sets each advocates.
There are extreme leftists out there, but most of the leftists are pretty willing to listen when you sit down and talk with them to their face; I've done a ton of that, and while there are those whose views don't change at all, most tend to be young college-age sorts who are very very passionate and angry about things like societal inequality and the overall failure of society to be moving to meaningfully address that.
Then the internet turns it up to 11 because the net is shitty for constructive debate.
As for this 'Antifa' demon I keep seeing conjured up - yes, there are extremist protestors out there, but when you consider millions of people worldwide are protesting and the vast majority are peaceful demonstrations? It's cherrypicking the worst of the worst here and demonizing the entire political left with them, in an effort to delegitimize all those who are demonstrating without violence.
But, then again, Moloch rules the media these days and so the most sensationalist bullshit always rises to the top on both sides.
7976910
Yes, they did.
Exactly!
7976921
That's true--and it would take an impressive mistake to cut through a hoof.
7976975
Maybe that's something that they're working on.
Yeah, no kidding. Add in Luna's dreamwalking ability, and Equestria might have the kind of 'extreme vetting' that earth politicians can only dream of.
7976982
The kind of look that says "I'm about half a second from seeing if I can throw you through a wall.
As intimidating as Cedric is, the shiny badge that Miss Parker has is even scarier, especially since it's the FBI who investigates hate crimes and discrimination complaints. He just lost his job, and he knows it.
7977019
Also, there's presumably a pony-exception.
That's a rule that ponies probably don't have; however, I bet that all of them kick hoof-hazards out of the way when they find them, just to be good neighbors.
Oh, the man's remaining career at Denny's can be measured in seconds. Since it's the FBI who investigates discrimination, and there was conveniently a FBI agent right there who saw the whole thing . . . if Miss Parker is feeling charitable, she'll handle it personally in the afternoon; if she isn't, she'll tell Mister Salvatore and let him have some fun.
Not being a bigoted jerk is a good philosophy in life. It's something that my co-worker needs to learn.
7977147
There is.
7977367
Even so, Cedric could be on the large size of the roster, since he's not actually a real player.
I wouldn't mess with him.
And if things did somehow get physical, can you imagine what the combo of Cedric and Aquamarine could do?
7977388
It's the kind of thing he dreams of.
7977490
Miss Parker ought to let Mister Salvatore handle it, as a Christmas present for him. He'd be so happy.
You know, Silver never did get to ride in a helicopter, did she?
7977505
7977526
They had a bit of a bad reputation when I was in college, but I think that they probably got over it. Mostly. Although Denny's aren't exactly known for their modernity. The thing is, some of the restaurants don't exactly attract the best and brightest, you know?
Learning is good
7977560
Yeah, exactly. The good old days were only good if you were a white middle class (or better) man. Otherwise, they weren't as good.
7977751
That's one of the reasons they're great. Not working is another reason why they're great.
7977882
The frustrating thing is with all this talk of 'dangerous refugees,' there is a long, and slow, vetting process in place. I think on average for refugees it's like two years--in part because generally records are difficult to access, if they even exist any more. If you're fleeing a war, you don't take time to apply for a passport first, you just go and hope like hell that later on you can sort things out.
7978036
I've always thought that Denny's were a decent late-night option, but they're certainly not anything particularly memorable. And I'd rather have Waffle House, although as far as I know, there aren't any of those in Michigan.
7978180
They're under the gas door. So you'd really have to know that they were there in order to steal the truck.
7978374
Yeah, although they don't have as much power as they think that they do. If more people were to vote, or if people in general paid more attention to the issues and candidates, rather than relying on MSM or even worse articles on Facebook, we might have a different situation. Especially when it comes to down-ballot voting, where people often seem happy to just vote for the party of their choice no matter what that person's done . . . a lot of people probably don't even know who their representatives are, to be honest.
It was the best I could think of. But my point was that most people are more moderate than the nutters on the fringe, it's just that it's no fun to interview moderates. I got interviewed once about whether our shop would discriminate against gays or non-Christians, and they didn't publish the interview because I said I wouldn't; as long as people wanted to pay for our service, why should I care if they believe in God or who they have sex with?
I always regret not learning more programming, even though that's not really a career I want. Just seems like a skill that could be useful.
7978459
7978560
I think that the big difference that's mentioned in the blogs is that instead of a bunch of sabre rattling before a war, there's one warning, and if that doesn't discourage the enemy, it's total warfare until the other side is utterly defeated. Like, to use a more modern example, it goes from a minor raid to nuclear; there is no intermediate step. And given the speciesism that we often see in the show, I'm not sure that the ponies would be remorseful about enemy civilian casualties.
It's hard to say for sure, because they do tend to win fights with friendship, at least as we see in the series, but it's certainly possible that in the past the ponies have wiped entire civilizations off the map, and that's why they're on top and nobody really seems too inclined to challenge that.
I think--or hope, at least--that humans recognize that other humans are people just like them, with their own hopes and desires and so forth, and that makes us less willing to go overboard in a war.
Now, in a pony vs. pony fight, I don't know. I'm not current on the comic canon, so I can't really theorize on Sombra being an Umbrum, but I think that in the absence of clear leadership, they'd devolve to tribalism pretty quickly, especially if things are going really badly for them. As long as Celestia stays in power, though, I think that they'd fight to the last pony.
Yeah, and we seem to see this in the show, as well. Their first instinct seems to be to run away from the fight, at least until they have clear leadership, in which case they tend to do what they're told.
The Royal Guard itself may be more ceremonial than functional, at least the ones that we see at the castle. But I agree with you; they tend to be disorganized and not very effective until they're given leadership by an alpha mare and then they can be quite effective. And this goes beyond the guard as well; in Ponyville the general theme seems to be 'panic until Twilight tells us what to do, then do that and win.'
7978584
You'll be waiting a long time, I'm afraid.
7978743
None taken! She's living life to the fullest, both in and out of the bedroom.
Yeah, she's not really a hockey fan. I guess if she knew someone who played it, she might want to watch, but she's not too interested in seeing a bunch of strangers playing a sport she doesn't know.
7978802
To me, down here in the US, he seems like a pretty cool guy, and better than your last PM. Although I'll admit, I don't keep track of your politics very well.
7978840
He's got to spend his remaining time with Aquamarine, and Silver Glow knows it. And she kind of said her goodbye to him when he left for winter break, so maybe she feels that she shouldn't drag it out longer.
All of them are trying not to think about it too much, especially right before Christmas, when they're supposed to be happy and having fun, not dwelling on the future. And Silver, in many ways, is a 'live for today' pony. She's got her dreams and wants, yes, but in other aspects of her life she often doesn't really think too far ahead if she can help it.
Part of that might be because of her uncertain life on the coast--any feral storm she works might be her last, and she's well aware of that. She's undoubtedly known weatherponies (and sailorponies for that matter) who have gone out to sea and never returned, but she can't let that stop her from fighting the storms anyways, because somepony's got to do it.
Yeah, she is in denial a bit. She hasn't quite wrapped her head around going back. Plus, she just got back from vacation, and is having happy time with Aric and Meghan today, before they have to split up again for a couple of days for Christmas.
7978960
That's true. But if Twilight could re-engineer the mirror portal, she might be able to replicate the moon-banishment spell, as well. Possibly using the tree as a focus.
That's a good one to have.
7979779
And I think that as a young adult, Aric might be underestimating his parents.
Certainly, I thought that mine were more conservative than they really are, and I thought that the fact that my brother was marrying an Indian might cause some friction in the family, but in fact that didn't faze them at all. My dad even performed one of the weddings (they wound up having three ceremonies in total, which means that they're extra married).
7980373
"Pony snuggler" and "wing preener" are probably legitimate jobs in Equestria, and Meghan is well-qualified. Although to be honest, if she had to work emptying outhouses and digging wells to get to Equestria, she'd bring a shovel to the transport center.
7990258
At least he got his immediate comeuppance.
burrito-pony is happy pony.
7990822
And it doesn't help that sites like Facebook become echo chambers, polarizing things even further.
8035470
Both being and having.
Matches well with what we've seen, and meshes really well with a great fanfic that I love it's portrayal of Equestrians. It was a Mass Effect crossover, where Equestrian's were one of the great societies that had been purged by the Reapers over the cycles. And one of the most badass ones who gave the Reapers the hardest fight they'd had yet or since. (If you've played Mass Effect, the Klendragon Rift and the dead Reaper from that shot were both their doing, and backtracking the shot led to Cerberus discovering a long hidden colony of them, the ponies we know from the show.) It's made clear, and reinforced many times that SOP on encountering an unknown entity was.
1. Offer Friendship
2. If friendship refused or hostility detected, offer one warning.
3. If hostility persists or overt threatening actions taken, respond with all available force.
4. If target survives, offer friendship again.
Granted them being able to take on the Reapers so well was less that mindset, and more just them having some insane tech, because they actually developed their own stuff, rather then having reversed engineered the Mass Relays like everyone else did. And they also kept the center of their civilization in their own territory rather then using the Citadel. So they weren't taken out by the sucker punch as the Reapers arrived, and had tech the Reapers weren't ready for. They were actually beating the Reapers in direct conflicts, but ended up losing because their open, trusting, herd based society made Indoctrination an even more potent weapon then ever.
As to Equestria losing the Sombra War, going by the 'fighting' we see being done, I think a good part of why it was going so bad for them was they were facing an army of mind controlled slaves and they knew it, so they were pulling their punches.
Other fic provided headcanon (This one one of the Dresden File ones) the Guard seem useless cause most times they are dealing with threats way above their weight class, and their SOP in situations like that is to let the Princesses/Mane 6 deal with it and try to keep civilians out of the crossfire.
Which doesn't help much on those times when Twilight is he one causing the issue.
Yup, it's pretty much the place you go when you have no other good option, or are too tired/drunk/stoned to care. Or you are with a group that just got done with some LARPing and want to go there in costume just to mess with people by being there.
I have a feeling some restaurant is going to be getting a holiday visit from the Health inspector.
No, but you can find out what it's like to have your balls kicked through your pelvis the moment you tried.
While looking so pathetic on paper that no one takes it seriously. "Your vetting for the marriage Visa is just have them talk to the pink princess for five minutes, that's it?"
I can see a monthly or so thing where all the perspective humans wanting to come live with their pon waifu all get lined up and Cadance walks past them. "Yes. Yes. Yes. No. Really? No. Yes. Ohhh hello there, you two, stick around after we're done I think you need a more private interview. Yes. Yes. No..."
In Toledo, no not much there at all.
So cuuuuute, being all nice and helpful and practical. Someone might want to sleep and need the bed, better leave it down.
She never really paid attention to what that door is used for when feeding a car gas, has she.
Being far more uncomfortable sitting on a cold seat #ponyproblems. Also notes for future Pony Edicts, all cars must have tushy warmers in all seats!
Still with the cute time fractions, and yeah Dunkin Donuts is always ready for a quick bit of snack time and coffee needs.
Snuggly back seat ponies, so adorable!
Good servant, make ponies happy and clean off the window so they can enjoy the view.
"Pony Waifu is near, prepare to come please her human pleasure slave!"
Of course he can come eat with all you, all serve the whims of the Pony!
She might have a nicer apartment, but does it have a balcony?
Of course Plant Pony's place is full of plants.
Yeah, Denny's is about the least 'fancy' place to eat short of some rundown, middle of nowhere 'diner' that doesn't seem to have had a health inspector come by in a few decades.
What is it with Denny's employees and not liking having jobs? I mean, they do work at Denny's so, doubt they are all that happy about it, but still.
And the asshole killed their happyness buzz from Disney world, yeah you gonna suffer prick.
The only appropriate response to Cedric's intervention.
The guy is having his worst day ever, and he has no one to blame but himself. And he has no idea how lucky he is Mr Salvatore wasn't here.
"Well, his life is ruined, let's go get some pancakes." Good idea.
See, most humans love ponies and are nice and helpful and good, don't let a few assholes get you down.
This human no spent enough time around birdy pone to understand how birdy pone just gotta fly. But flappy pone gotta flap.
Pegasus One has lift off! Not quite as exciting to watch as a rocket, but cuter.
Pony learns quick from ouchies, no try to hijack a train to get a free ride.
D'awwwwww, play with cloud fun time!
Stubborn flying pone no give up on getting where she wants to go!
Slaves have to keep beacon lit for Mistress to find.
Pony... flopping in snow... to cool off.... HHHRRRRRGGGGGG!!!!!!!
Meghan's training to always make sure Mistress is perfectly groomed is at war with practical weatherpony wanting to stay cool
Even stopping by the pet store to get her some snacks, she has her slaves so well trained.
Soon all ponies shall have human slaves to get them things and pet then and praise them.
That... would be some holiday conversation starter. "Mom, dad, I'm fucking a pony."
But YAY! Going with better choice for slave time slave!
Well, it wouldn't be fun for you, but I'm sure it could be quite amusing to watch the meltdown. Still better to go with Meghan.
"Kicked off their cloud." nice phrasing.
Ponies, just, Ponies. So good and cute and forgiving, hurry and bring forth our new Overlords!
Celestia forbid you miss seeing them cook diner naked.
So good to have human servants to tend to your every need.
So many missed movie chances, Meghan could have had a whole series training future pony servants how to care for their future mistress and master.
Preening Porn, It'll never catch on.
See, that's why you upload it to PornTube instead, get way more views too.
Yes, make sure male slave knows his place, female slave is first slave!
Fake, meatloaf.... just call it a veggieloaf.
See, Female slave gets preferential snuggle time.
Practical Pony Tips: If food is to hot to eat and you are hungry, just shove it into a snowbank.
Happy pony place, full belly, warm snuggle buddies on either side, is good to be a pony.
Heh, she may be a caring Mistress, but do not forget who is in charge slaves. Now please your Mistress!
9449311
Yes.
There’s another Mass Effect crossover (I think) called Why Nobody Messes with Celestia, where she slags a ship with solar plasma. Also melts her golden jewelry.
I do think that that’s part of why ponies are on top of the heap in Equestria. Now that the three tribes (or more) all live in unity, they can bring every single one of their talents to bear, and seriously wreck anyone who gets in their way. And more importantly, they’re willing to do it if that’s what has to be done.
I think that would be the one problem with a herd mindset, although loyalty is an important part of the ponies, so I don’t know if they’d necessarily turn on Princess Celestia very easily, no matter how much indoctrination there was. At least that’s my thought on it. Haven’t read the story, so I don’t know how the author handled it.
Yeah, I think that would be the kind of thing where they’d rather take the head off the monster (so to speak) rather than kill a bunch of ponies who were fighting under duress/mind control. I think they would, if there was no other option, but I think that would be their very last choice.
I think if they weren’t ponies, they wouldn’t hesitate at all to kill them.
Well, that’s another possibility. IRL, you wouldn’t put the Secret Service into a combat zone, for example. There is a good chance that like you suggest, the Royal Guard that we see at the castle are meant to provide order, protect civilians, and just look good at their posts. They’re almost certainly not meant to be frontline soldiers.
That’s true; that’s the downside of putting too much faith in one pony.
I’ve gone to Denny’s in medieval garb a time or two.
Oh, it’s worse than that. It legit is the FBI who investigates discrimination cases, and Denny’s has been sued before for various types of discrimination. Sending in the Health Inspector might actually be the kinder thing that Miss Parker could do.
In all honesty, between Cedric’s linebacker skills, and Aquamarine’s kicking ability, that guy wouldn’t last a second.
Yeah, exactly. And it would be so effective. And for anybody who experienced it, probably the longest five minutes of their life.
Likewise, some other requests probably go straight to a particular pony princess, they conduct a short interview, and done. Probably there would be ponies earlier in the process who have related skills that do an initial interview, and then forward the best candidates.
There’s some big export grain elevator that was always a nice landmark when we went south. Also if you stay on 75 going southbound, there’s a green barn with Lyra’s cutie mark on it.
Ponies are always thinking ahead. Why they’ll be such great overlords.
She has not. She’s probably seen it open, looking in the mirror, but never really examined it.
I wonder if it’s worse for humans than ponies, or if it’s about the same? And for ponies, would it be worse for mares or stallions? I’d be stallions, since they’ve got floppier bits, and they probably don’t like to sit on their tails.
Silver Glow does time fractions the best.
Dunkin Donuts isn’t great, IMHO, but it’s one of those places where when you need a quick pick-me-up, you can always depend on it.
I’d probably like it more if I liked donuts more. :P
There’s never not a reason for ponies to snuggle together when the opportunity presents itself.
“Mister Barrow, we can’t see. Fix it!”
He’s probably ready and waiting for her arrival.
Exactly. And who would tell him no?
Probably not. Although her summer apartment did, IIRC.
Well, yeah, she wouldn’t be much of a plant pony if it wasn’t.
Some of those rundown places serve really good food. Others give you food poisoning. And you never know which it’s gonna be until you try the food.
They probably don’t hire the best of the best, plus Denny’s has a history of that type of thing.
He should be happy that Mr. Salvatore wasn’t there. He probably would have arrested the guy, just on principle.
As they say, it couldn’t have happened to someone more deserving.
The helpers know how to make ponies happy again after a bit of unpleasantness: tasty food!
And best of all, most of those assholes get exactly what they deserve.
Birdy pone gotta bird.
And honestly a bit more epic. At least, I think so.
She’s smart enough that usually she’s only got to learn one painful lesson to know not to repeat it.
Out of practice from all the fun at Disney World, now it’s Silver Time and she’ll play with clouds if she wants to.
Boundless determination in the air. She’ll make it to her destination, she won’t give up and demand a ride the rest of the way home.
They’d reasonably assume she’d fly back in. They’re well-trained.
Cooling down takes priority over having a nicely-groomed coat.
She does.
I think most of them would like that. I could see a few who wouldn’t--Applejack probably wouldn’t want that, for instance--but most of them would quickly learn to accept the benefits.
That would certainly liven up the holidays, make it a memorable Christmas.
They have made a wise choice.
Film it all with the GoPro, rack up a few million more views.
Pegasus families, where “get off my cloud” has actual literal meaning.
That’s one of the perks of being in the relationship for Aric.
She’s going to be so lost without them for a while. She’ll have forgotten how to do all sorts of things on her own.
She really could. That would actually be a great YouTube channel, honestly.
I’m just mad that I didn’t think of that before Categorical Grant did.
I’m not sure how ad revenue works there. I’d assume that there is some.
I wonder if they have more mundane stuff like that?
<checks>
Yes, they do.
As it should be.
It’s more of TVP loaf or oat-loaf, depending on the recipe.
Because she’s got boobs, and boobs are perfect pillows.
It is a reasonably good way to cool it down. Hopefully no birdies come by and think it’s food for them.
Pure pony bliss right there.
That’s right! They must please her.
Coming back to this chapter, the use of the slur is quite a moment. It's... momentarily shocking for Silver to use it but, of course, she doesn't have any baggage or past with the word. It's just something her good friend said which she faithfully recorded. The spare, factual retelling makes it an unexpected hammer in the middle of the sentence, and it really highlights... hm... like, the everyday, banal sliminess of petty racists. It's a fact that Silver relays--nothing earth-shattering. How sad is that? My god.
8035286
Grapple and buck combo. A brutal and unpleasant way to have your pelvis reduced to gravel.
Every time I've been to IHOP has been a delight, and the food is always amazing.
Every time I've been to Denny's, I've gotten the trots.
Fuck Denny's. Eat IHOP.