The Five-Mile Dream
The Pony of the Mackinac Bridge
By Penguifyer
“Lights out again, south tower, east side.”
“Godammit, I just replaced it last week!” I shouted, grabbing the keys to my maintenance truck.
“It is winter. We closed the bridge yesterday due to falling ice,” Stan shot back.
“Yeah, but ice doesn’t fall on the top of the tower.”
“Just saying, last night was the first big storm of the season. Check the wiring while you’re at it. Something’s fishy about this.”
I waved him off, stomping outside the Bridge Authority building and hopping into my truck.
It didn’t take long to cool down though. Every time I merged onto I-75 and passed the southbound tollbooth, the sight of the Mackinac Bridge, five miles long and a total suspension span of 8000 feet, took my breath away. It was hard to be angry anyway; I was going to the top of the south tower.
After passing underneath the north tower and crossing the main span of the bridge, I turned on the hazard lights of my truck, pulled over by the base of the south tower, and blocked off the right lane of the highway with traffic cones, likely pissing off many drivers. With all precautions in place, I opened the hatch to the interior of the tower and wiggled inside. Thankfully, the Mackinac Bridge was built recently enough to include a working elevator, as cramped as it may be (sticking three people in there is a tight experience, let alone four). It only went up to within 40 feet of the top of the 552-foot tower, but it beat climbing through child-sized holes all the way to the top.
After a cramped elevator ride, shimmying through the steel cells, and squeezing up the final stretch, I opened the top hatch and crawled out onto the top of the tower. The view spanned for miles over the two great lakes and relatively flat Michigan terrain. I shook my head, reminding myself I had a job to do. Walking over to the east side of the tower, I stepped up onto a platform and opened up the red light fixture.
“Damn thing’s gone!” I murmured to myself, looking at the empty fixture. Confused, I screwed in the new bulb as a chilling wind blew by. Already cold from the wind, I slipped back through the hatch and into the tower.
I stood still and took a breather. Even the air inside the tower numbed my lungs. I relaxed by taking a deep breath. A shuffling noise echoed throughout the halls.
I froze. The tower constantly echoed with screeches of cars passing over the metal grid roads, but this sounded light and nearby.
Shifting off the ladder, I peeked into the cell to my side. A few juniper needles lined the floor.
Another shuffle echoed, causing me to turn my head towards the next cell. I crept over to it and peeked inside. More needles along with a small branch.
There was no way an animal could’ve crawled in and carried foliage inside. Something was real fishy here.
I continued on and peered into the last cell. A curled up pony with dirty white fur and a light brown mane laid on a bed of juniper and white pine branches. Recalling online articles about the new land Equestria, the pony’s smaller muzzle and rounder body implied she was female. On her barrel rested a folded up wing.
“Pegasus?” I muttered, trying to remember what a pony with wings was called.
“Huh?” The pony opened her eyes and lifted her head, ears perking straight up. Her high pitched voice confirmed my suspicion.
My job didn’t prepare me for this.
“EEEEEEK!” she screamed, jumping out of her bed. She grabbed a stick beside her and pointed it at me.
“Whoa, whoa! I’m not going to hurt you,” I assured, holding my hands up.
She poked the stick at me, shivering with fear.
I pointed to a patch on my work vest. “I’m just with bridge maintenance. I don’t bite.”
She didn’t move, holding the stick at me. To her side sat the light bulb, resting on the foliage.
“I was sent up here to change a bulb that went out last night,” I continued, glancing at the bulb. “I guess it’s right there.” Stepping into the cell, I crouched and approached her.
Slowing down her breathing, she dropped the stick and sat down. “I’m-I’m sorry.” Hearing her speak caught me off guard even though I knew ponies could.
“It’s okay,” I reassured, sitting down in front of her.
“It’s just,” she spoke up. “I’ve had a rough week. I knew stealing that light was a bad idea.”
I grabbed it and shoved it in my vest. “And I’ve stolen it back. Come on, let's get you out of here.”
I guided her through the steel cells and down to the elevator. Her smaller body allowed her to easily slip through the cut-outs separating the cells, except for her head which struggled to fit through the floor holes.
Neither of us spoke in the elevator. Her exhausted eyes spoke for themselves.
Once we reached the road, I helped her into the truck before collecting the road cones and hopping in myself.
Turning the heat up, I broke the silence. “So, how’d you get in?”
She directed the vent toward herself and stared out the window. “In what?”
“The tower. We’re used to birds nesting in the crevices and steel girders underneath, but they rarely get inside the tower.”
“Well, the hatch on top wasn’t locked.”
“True,” I replied, moving on to what I actually wanted to know. “Why the tower?”
“It’s been a long week.”
“That’s not an answer.”
She sighed. “It was the only safe place I could find.”
“How come?”
“When I was north of the bridge—”
“In the U.P., you mean?” I corrected
She paused. “What?”
“Upper Peninsula.”
“Yeah, whatever. I found a rundown shack and camped out in it until a group of wolves booted me out.”
“Ouch,” I interjected.
“So I went south and found a similar rundown house.”
“There are no wolves in L.P., from my understanding.”
“Bears,” she mumbled.
“Damn,” I chuckled. “You can’t catch a break.”
She continued. “When I found the hatch on top of the tower, I knew it’d at least be safe. So I made a bed and stole the bulb, using it for heat since building a fire would’ve suffocated me.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t camp out on one of the nearby islands.”
“With the lakes frozen over, they’re not safe either. The only safe one makes me uncomfortable.”
“Oh, Mackinac Island?” I asked. Giving it a little thought, the island banned motor vehicles a while ago. Instead, your Amazon Prime package got dropped off by an Amazon delivery horse-drawn carriage. “That makes sense,” I giggled.
A couple of silent minutes later, we arrived back at the Bridge Authority building. After bringing her inside, I led her to a sofa in our lobby and handed her a blanket we had lying around.
“Coffee, tea, hot chocolate?” I asked.
“Do you have any chamomile?”
“Sure do,” I consoled, noticing her tighten the blanket around herself. I walked over to our coffee station and prepared her tea. It was definitely a coffee morning for me.
Returning to the sofa, I handed her the tea. She grabbed with both of her hooves as I sat down next to her. “Do you mind if I ask one last question?”
She took a sip of her tea. “Fine. I don’t have anything better to do.”
“What brings a pony like you this far north into Michigan?”
She stared at her tea for a second. Taking a deep breath, she set it down on the coffee table and looked away from me. “Last summer, I decided to travel across the U.S. for a year. I’d been saving up money for it for a while before then, but I finally bucked up, got my passport, and bought the ticket.”
“Did you like what you see?” I interjected. “Sorry for the extra question.”
“I did, honestly. I know it probably is the same with our world and you guys, but to us, your world is like a fairytale.”
“Really?”
“Take that bridge… what is it called again?”
I chuckled. “Mackinac Bridge.”
“Yeah, why does it exist? The city on the south side doesn’t even have a thousand residents and the city north of it has like twice that, which still isn’t much.”
“It exists because when it didn’t, traffic backed up for sixteen miles. Come on, where are you from?”
“A place called Cloudsdale. And yes, it’s a city in the clouds.”
“How do you compare to something like that?”
“By building a five-mile bridge. No pony would ever think to build something like that.”
We sat silently for a moment. I couldn’t challenge her.
She continued. “By late fall, I was traveling up the west coast of the state, sightseeing the trees and whatever. When I got to Traverse City, my friend I was traveling with told me she was stranded in the next town south. Being the pegasus I am, I flew there on a moment's notice. When I got there, I couldn’t find her. And when I flew back, all of my stuff was gone. Passport, money, all of it was gone. I flew all over the area trying to find her but never did.
“When the snow came, I looked for someplace I could at least camp out at until I made a plan. A week of bears, wolves, and freezing temperatures later, I heard about the storm and decided the tower was my last option.”
“Did you ever ask anyone for help?”
“I don’t know. It’s one thing to be stuck in your hometown; it’s completely different being in a whole new world. I mean, some of the humans I saw on the street thought I was an animal.”
“To be fair, I only know about you ponies through internet articles.”
“I get it,” she scoffed back. “I guess I’m just desperate, hiding in a bridge and all that. It’s pretty pitiful for a weather pony like me.”
I put my hand on her back. “To be honest, I don’t think it was a bad choice. I’ve seen skyscrapers and monuments all over the country, and those things are interesting and all, but those skyscrapers are there for business and monuments don’t do much apart from being there. That doesn’t stop me from appreciating them, but it is a caveat in the back of my mind.”
I set my coffee on the table too. “What I love about this bridge is that it’s the thing that unifies this state. Without it, there’s an awkward separation between the two peninsulas and those in the U.P. wouldn't be able to access the government or colleges in the rest of the state. It’s a superstructure made purely for the state as a whole, and I love being someone who keeps it open.
“I guess it’s fitting you’d take shelter in it. Although I’ve never thought of it as a shelter, I do think it’s for people like you who are desperate and want another chance.”
She rubbed her eyes. “Sorry, I’m about to pass out.”
“I never caught your name.”
She looked at me and smiled. “Winter Breeze.”
“Jack,” I smiled back. “You can sleep there all you want. I still got a day's work ahead of me.”
“I still don’t know what I’m gonna do tonight,” she noted.
“You can crash at my place if you want.”
She nodded before falling over and pulling the blanket around herself. I walked back over to Stan and sat next to him.
“You actually gonna take her home?” he prodded.
“You act like you wouldn’t let me stay at your place if I needed help.”
“True,” he smirked, turning around his chair.
I reclined in my chair and waited for the next call to come in. “Damn bridge never ceases to amaze me.”
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Dude, this is great! Have you actually been up in the towers? I got curious and found out that they sell a certain number of tower climbing permits per year (I assume with appropriate supervision).
Suspension bridge towers are great hangouts for pegasi. Either as a temporary, monster-free home, or just a place to sit and eat dinner and watch the boats go by. And I love the little detail of her making a nest out of juniper and white pine branches.
Winter Breeze could totally get a job as a bridge painter or a tower lightbulb changer, although maybe Jack would be smart to not suggest the former to her--he might wind up out of a job
She should have made her nest in the tower of the Waugoshance lighthouse; nobody would bother her there all winter long.
10351774
No, I imagine that she wants to return to Equestria as fast as possible. And I don't see the Equestrian government as one to abandon its citizens.
Well, lost passport, you need to apply at the EQ embassy (or consulate, if they're not important enough for an embassy).
Missing person, police report
10351774
Sadly, I’ve not been up the tower. However, there are some videos on youtube like this one which show the whole journey up to the top. There’s also the Dirty Jobs episode where Mike Rowe both goes to the bottom of the tower and changes a light bulb which I also used as references. Considering the severity of northern Michigan winters and how overbuilt the bridge is, I couldn’t think of a better place to camp out.
I have an idea for a bonus chapter, although I’m not sure when I’ll get around to it.
10351832
I somehow missed the Dirty Jobs episode with the Mackinac Bridge . . . I did see one where he and some of his camera crew were climbing into the boiler of a ship, and they were lamenting the fact that many modern Americans couldn’t fit through the tiny access holes on older ships (and I presume bridges and other old construction).
I dunno if a bridge tower would be my first choice for a place to camp out; on the other hand, a pegasus is going to want to pick something tall and safe from ground-based creatures like wolves and bears, and aside from that wind turbine in Mackinaw City or maybe a radio broadcast tower, she’s not going to find much else that fits the bill.
I look forward to a bonus chapter when it arrives
This is a wonderful short story.
It has everything a good story could want:
Endearing characters.
A perilous situation.
And a wonderful description of the setting. (I am somewhat impartial because I've always wanted to go to the Upper Peninsula).
8/10.
I saw the title and had to read. Just had to. I was born on the other side of that bridge, in Marquette, and rarely ever get to head back to m' birthplace. Funny thing, I could see this happening had there been contact with Equestria. I miss da U.P....
Good story, nothing overdone, and about something near and dear to m' heart. Have a fav; only the fifth I've doled out.
Ah the bridge, haven't seen it in years but still remember it being amazing. As a Michigander, it's always nice to see stories that take place in the mitten state.
There's a small road bridge in my home city of Brisbane that has apartments built into the two towers. The Walter Taylor bridge in Indooroopilly, Brisbane is the only inhabitable bridge in the southern hemisphere. I don't think they're occupied now, but I know at least the northern tower had people living in it late last century. I think they were originally for gatekeepers who charged tolls from vehicles and horse-drawn vehicles after it was opened.
The Walter Taylor Bridge Tour
Life Inside The Bridge
This has some information...
The Mackinac is a giving bridge, it seems!
Great fluff! You breathed a lot of life into this bridge, and it really shows; that was the pony of the Mackinac Bridge, after all. You did fantastic with the dialogue, but again, I have to stress that your connection of the bridge to a pony bridged over from another world was wonderful. Good characterization, and better winds to Winter Breeze in her future!
Yeah, I like it. I’m happy.
Wait, its pronounced "Mackinaw?" Well that explains a few things.
This is a great vignette; it feels like it was pulled right out of the middle of a chapter of a bigger story, but now I want to experience that bigger story.
...Wait, so is the pronunciation "Mackinaw" or "Mawkinaw"?
(And thanks for writing. :))
10352801
The first one, MACK-in-aw
The audio here is correct: https://www.howtopronounce.com/mackinac
Source: I'm from Michigan
10352827
Ah, thanks! :D
This was a wonderful story! I haven't been to the U.P. in many years but the bridge and the island are beautiful, each in there own ways.
The idea of Winter Breeze traveling around the country is interesting and would make a neat story by itself, I think. It was also good to see Jacks compassion and concern for another creature. I really enjoy characters getting to know one another and this story did that perfectly.
Looking forward to a sequel!
"The trees and whatever" is a very accurate description of the west coast.
Read because it's Michigan, favorited because it's good writing. Nice job.
I grew up in MI, but only got to the UP once on a field trip. Always thought the bridge was pretty neat. Maybe some day I’ll get to swing back by it again.
Very cute story, and nice interaction between The two.
tbf, there used to be quite a lot more people there when northern MI was the tip of the nuclear spear. My dad worked up there when they were tearing down a lot of the old airbases, the place must have had hundreds of bombers stationed there in the 50s
This was cute. Thanks a lot for writing it.
Mackinaw/c Bridge gave me some serious anxiety first time I drove over it, though.
You know, I get that it's a big part of the story and I'm glad people are proud of the history and relevance to them and all... but it still feels a little weird that so many comments here are mostly about the bridge itself and not the pony and human the story are about.
Ah well, cute little slice that I certainly wouldn't mind seeing more of. Kudos.
HI My family and i cross that bridge like 3 times a year just to get away from the stress down in the LP and it makes me happy seeing that you wrote a nice FIC around it keep up the awesome work!
I think I made your avatar in Oblivion once.
Very cool!
This was a good slice of life world building story! No wonder Admiral Biscuit liked it. Glad it I read it!
Tried to be cute, ended up pointless
Are pony artifacts very popular on earth?
Maybe her passport and missing effects will turn up on ebay.
Ah yes, I am quite familiar with this bridge.
10354733
Funny thing is, that’s the risk I run when I write these 24-hour fics. It’s part of the reason why I want to add a bonus chapter, even though I’m still pretty happy with how this turned out. I do it because when I was a perfectionist, I spent three years working on the same story that I never published. It took a lot of failure and stagnation for me to realize that a published story is infinitely better than an unpublished story, no matter how bad it is.
Be happy you didn't encounter an batpony instead.
Your eardrums might not have survived.
Time to file an missing pony report.
Anyway, good story!
I enjoyed reading it.
I liked that story as it is. While a little bonus chapter might be nice, the open end leaves room for one's own imagination.
Yep, good one to get my cute fix for todat. Nice story, but kind of worried about the pegasus’ friend.
I think that this is a great story. It's also funny because I live in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and also being over 100 miles away from the Mackinac Bridge. It's not everyday you hear about something that's in your state on a website like this. Overall, this is actually a great story!
Is this for real?!
11877383
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/mDX2uSKXEb0
11877401
Oh snap!
Yeah, I can see why Winter Breeze would be uncomfortable or creeped out by the islanders.