4: The Mainland
The alarm Zen had set the previous day jolted him awake. Zen eyed the offending device before shutting it off and groaning from being awake so early. It was necessary and he knew it, but that didn’t mean he enjoyed it very much.
Getting out of bed and switching on a light, he threw on a fresh set of clothes and packed a few extra sets away in a backpack along with some other necessities that were sitting on his night stand. He looked around the room for a moment to see if he was missing anything. He had his wallet and everything else that he usually kept in his pockets. Satisfied that he had not missed anything, he put the pack on and walked out to the kitchen to make some breakfast.
As he left his room he stopped for a moment in front of Rainbow’s room and listened. He could hear a soft but steady rhythm of breathing from inside, and decided that he was going to let her sleep for a short while longer.
Setting the pack on the kitchen counter Zen began to gather some small snacks and packed them away in his pack. He then turned his attention to the matter of breakfast. He wanted to make breakfast for two, but truthfully he was still woefully ignorant of what ponies typically consumed. In fact he wasn’t even sure that he had foodstuffs that would fit into a normal pony diet.
“Well I suppose I could make veggie breakfast burritos…” Zen thought out loud as he rummaged through the contents of his fridge. Deciding that this would be the best course of action, he pulled out what he needed from the fridge and rummaged around for the right tools to cook with. In short order he had several scrambled eggs cooking along in one pan with some ground beef in another. He also began sautéing some chopped onions, potatoes, and thin strips of bell peppers in a third pan. His suite was quickly filled with the various aromas being produced by his work; even more so after he seasoned the beef and vegetables.
It didn’t take him long to finish cooking everything. He set out the food in a buffet-style manner on the kitchen counter along with some shredded cheddar, salsa, and tortilla shells. He was just about done making sure that everything was set when a voice startled him.
“What smells so good?”
Zen jumped slightly and, heart racing slightly, turned to face Rainbow Dash who was grinning at the reaction she had gotten. “Breakfast.” Zen said. “How did you sleep last night?”
“I was out like a light!” Rainbow stretched with a small yawn. “I hadn’t slept that good in forever. I almost didn’t want to get up.”
“Well I’m glad you were able to get a good night’s rest.” Zen said, taking two plates from a cabinet above the counter. “I’ve cooked up stuff for breakfast burritos since I didn’t know what your preference was. Figured I’d let you put whatever you want on it.”
“Sounds good to me! I’m starving!”
Zen handed one of the plates to Rainbow and let her have her pick of food first while he set out two glasses of water. Then he turned his attention to the food and began to make his own, adding a little bit of everything. Feeling especially hungry this morning, he went ahead and made a second and joined Rainbow at the table in the living room.
“How is it?” Zen asked, sitting down across from the mare and digging into his first burrito.
“This is really good!” Rainbow said between enthusiastic bites.
“Glad to hear it.” Zen smiled as he quickly finished the first burrito and moved on to the second.
“You know, I’m still not sure wh-“ Rainbow began to ask, but stopped mid-word at the sight of a suddenly uncertain expression on Zen’s face.
It took Zen a moment to register that Rainbow had spoken. “Hmm?”
Rainbow now had a similarly concerned look. “What’s up dude?”
“Oh, just thinking about something that just occurred to me…” Zen said and took another bite. “But go on, you weren’t sure about…?”
Rainbow blinked; expression unchanging. “I was just saying that I still don’t understand why you’ve been so awesome.”
“Well…” Zen put down what was left of his second burrito and clasped his hands together. “…to put it in short terms, it’s just what I do. I don’t particularly like seeing other people suffer for any reason, so I make it a point to try and help them out as best as I can. It is true, however, that I don’t just invite anyone to stay with me and-“
“So why me?” Rainbow interrupted with an almost accusatory tone hanging about her voice. “What makes me so special?”
Zen sighed. “Remember when I mentioned that I know who you are based on a cartoon?”
Rainbow thought for a moment. “I think…yeah. Why?”
“Are you familiar with why we humans are even on this world to begin with?”
“I don’t think so...”
“I’ll try to make this as simple as possible then. Back on Earth, where we humans are originally from, we had this cartoon series called ‘My Little Pony’…” Zen made note of the reaction he got from Rainbow and continued. “…and the season that I was introduced to was about you and your friends. Eventually, those of us who enjoyed the show and everything about it decided we’d had enough of the world we had lived in, so a group of us somehow made a device that was originally supposed to place us in the same world as Equestria. However, something went wrong and that machine instead opened up a rift to this world, but somehow caused a similar rift in Equestria that lead to here as well, though from what you’ve told me you guys didn’t really have a choice. Come to think of it I’d never thought to ask Sprinter about it…and suddenly I feel somewhat ignorant. But anyways…
“We came to this world looking to start over, to escape what we viewed as a very corrupt world. The hopes that we would live in peace with ponies was originally dashed…pardon the pun…but it seems as though the device did what we had originally wanted, though not quite in the manner that we had intended. Does that answer your question?”
Rainbow was silent for a minute as she processed the information. “I had heard…I had heard that you humans knew of us before, and you had told me that some of you humans had come here with hopes of a better life, but I never in a thousand years would have guessed that your being here involved us!”
“Well it did.” Zen replied and finished off the last of his breakfast. “And please don’t take this the wrong way, but you were one of my favorites.”
Rainbow blushed. “Umm…thanks?”
“Call it bias, but when I saw that you were down on your luck, I felt pretty obligated to try and help you out as best as I could. But this still doesn’t make sense…”
“…what doesn’t?” Rainbow was almost not sure she wanted to know.
“To the best of my knowledge, every last human who came here from Earth was a fan of the cartoon.” Zen answered. “Every one of the main characters had quite a following of fans, including you.” Zen pointed at Rainbow for extra emphasis. “That tells me that there should be a considerable number of people here who would, figuratively speaking of course, die to be your friend. Yet that contradicts what you’ve told me…and along with everything else you’ve said your existence here is a complete mystery to me. This is actually what I was thinking about earlier. I actually have a question to ask now, and it’s one that I want an honest answer for…are you even sure that your friends are here?”
For a split second Rainbow looked as if she was going to respond, but as the possible implications dawned on her a look that can only be described as horrified crept upon her and she silently mouthed ‘Oh Celestia’. A single tear formed in her eye, and Zen sat next to her and pulled her into an embrace. “Even if they aren’t here, Rainbow, you still have me and my friends. I can tell you right now that none of us want you to be alone, especially not me. I’m glad that I met you and that you’ve allowed me to be your friend.”
“And lemme guess, you’re only glad that you met me because I was some favorite on a cartoon, right?” Rainbow, suddenly bitter, tried to push away.
“That’s not it at all!” Zen replied, surprised at the suddenly bitterness and let Rainbow go. She immediately went to the front door and was considering just leaving but waited to hear was Zen had to say. “Yes I’m happy that I was able to discover that someone I originally thought was pure fiction and even more so when I was able to make this individual happy with my generosity. But I had always thought that you were pretty cool, and I liked your attitude, even if you were portrayed as a little full of yourself at times. Nobody’s perfect, and often it’s the flaws that make each of us who we are. I will admit that I’m a little surprised to see that you’ve had such a personality change, but that doesn’t mean I think you’re any less cool; in fact I respect you even more because of it. After meeting you and getting the chance to know you as an individual, I couldn’t live with myself if I had just let you continue to suffer alone, and don’t argue because you were clearly alone and not having a good time. Call me overly friendly, but I do care about you, especially after you put your trust in me like you did. You didn’t really know who I am so you didn’t have too much reason to trust me. I want to try and make sure that you don’t fall back into that depressive state that I found you in because I consider you a friend of mine, and that’s just what I do. If you do however decide to leave, and I’m well aware that this is a lot to take in all at once, I don’t blame you and I wish you the best of luck.”
Zen waited for a response, but Rainbow simply stood facing the door, totally silent. After a few moments he got up and sat cross-legged next to her by the door. She didn’t look over at him but instead sighed, sat down on her haunches, and lowered her head. “I just don’t know what to do or think anymore…”
Zen placed a hand on her shoulder. “Believe me, I’ve been there.”
“I don’t even know for certain that I believe it all either.”
“I don’t expect you to believe it, only to know about it.”
More silence.
“…do you really think that my friends aren’t here?”
“I hate to say it but it’s a very real possibility. Since it doesn’t sound like you came here by choice, it’s very possible that your friends have not been pulled into this world yet.”
“But what if I never see them again?” Now she did look at him, sounding afraid.
Zen really didn’t want to answer that question in the honest answer he normally would have. It was the last thing that Rainbow Dash needed to hear, and he knew it. So instead he simply smiled and said, “You’ll see them again someday.”
It did little to reassure her, but it did enough to wring a small smile. “Right…well shouldn’t we be going now?”
“Yeah, just let me clean up everything and we can get going.”
Zen quickly put away everything in the kitchen and cast a quick glance out the glass balcony door. He noted that the day had only just begun but that if they stalled much longer then they would be late. He grabbed his bag and, seeing Rainbow had her saddlebags back on, they departed his dwelling and locked the door behind them.
“Since we’re going to be traveling across rather large distances in relatively short time, walking simply won’t do.” Zen mused to himself.
“What do you mean?” Rainbow asked.
“We’re going to need motorized transportation, at least for the four of us humans.” Zen said with a wink. “I can get us a large rental van, courtesy of the condo’s owners, but the process is going to take a little while.”
“Okay.”
They reached the main lobby of the condo and Zen walked up to the clerk behind the front desk, who greeted him.
“Hello Zen, what can I do ya for today?”
“Well I’m going on a bit of a road trip with some friends of mine, so I was wondering if I could rent one of those large vans you guys have.”
“Certainly.” The clerk reached into a drawer and pulled out some paperwork and a set of keys. “Just fill this out and I’ll show you to it.”
“Awesome.” Zen picked up a pen and began to write.
---
At the station, Zan and James were waiting for the others to arrive.
“So James…” Zan started. “Just how bad do you think this could get?”
“It’s hard to say.” James replied. “If it gets big enough it’s very possible that they could completely overtake Alliance. When I had left we were fortunate that all they had really done was stir civil unrest and barricaded themselves somewhere, and I know that should this have happened back home there would have been blood.”
“Yeah, ain’t that the truth.” Zan said with almost a scoff. “So glad I decided to leave. This place is so much better.”
“Haven or Crystal City?”
“Both. Haven is so nice, and the fact that pretty much everyone here more or less wants the same thing…with the one obvious exception of course. But Crystal City is nice especially because everyone is just so chill here.”
“Were you always here?”
“Nope. When I first arrived here I was just outside of Lethean. Spent a few years there trying to get by and enjoying life, but the bigger it grew the less I liked about it. Eventually I decided to pack up and leave for some other place, preferably one less crowded.”
“It’s still a mystery to me how Lethean got so big.”
“Well they do have the largest financial center as well as one of the biggest resorts, and the fact that it also has a port definitely helps. So anyways, I travelled around between towns and thought that maybe Harmony’s Point would be a good place to stay.”
“The capital city?”
“Mhmm. I thought it was pretty nice, being situated not far from those mountains, as short as they are. It reminded me of Colorado in a lot of ways, only not nearly as dry and the city got a lot more rain. I really liked the emphasis on education of history and the sciences that the city has, and the Harmony Bridge is an amazing building to see. Absolutely breathtaking. For a few more years I was pretty happy; I had a steady job that I enjoyed with one of the universities, I had a place that I really liked, and the people and ponies that lived there were alright. It was also a lot cheaper to live there than Lethean. I even met a girl that I thought was pretty cute there.”
“So why’d you leave?”
“Honestly? I just got bored. As nice as Harmony’s Point is, life there is pretty dull on the daily basis. I just needed a little bit more excitement, so after moving around some more I came across this place. It has everything that I wanted, and enough stuff happens here to keep it interesting, plus I was able to meet up with Zen again, and Zen’s awesome.”
“Yeah, Zen is pretty awesome.”
“Hey Kevin.” Zan said. “When did you get here?”
“A few minutes ago.” Kevin said. “Telling life stories?”
“Sorta. Just kinda talking about how I ended up here in Crystal City.”
“Oh, cool. You guys probably don’t want to hear about how I got here…”
“Why not?” James asked.
“Because it’s boring.” Kevin replied, setting his backpack down on the concrete.
“Can’t be that bad, can it?” Zan.
“Trust me, it’s pretty boring.” Kevin.
“If you say so.” James.
“I do say so.” Kevin again. He looks around for a moment. “We’re waiting on Zen, right?”
“Yeah.” Zan replied, also looking around. “We’re still a little bit early but usually he’s the first to show up to any sort of gathering.”
“Zen likes being early for some reason.” James shrugged. “I wonder what’s keeping him.”
“Speaking of Zen, freaking Rainbow Dash.” Zan said.
“Yeah, what’s up with that?” Kevin said.
“I’m honestly not really that sure.” James replied with a shrug. “Just like he said, he and I went into that arcade back at the mall and got separated. Sometime between us splitting and getting food he bumped into her somehow and managed to convince her to tag along. How he does that I’ll never know…”
“Heh, if we were still back on Earth I’d almost say his friendliness would get him into trouble.” Zan said.
“Oh come now, you know he’s smart.” Kevin said in defense of their friend. “Zen knows when to be friendly and when to keep to himself.”
“I wasn’t trying to say that he’s not smart!” Zan got defensive. “The dude’s got a heart of gold; can’t fault him for trying to be nice to people when he thinks they could use it, and apparently he thought Dash could use some friendship.”
“Apparently she needed it.” James said. “Just judging by the expression she was wearing when I found them outside the arcade, she’d been in some real bad spots before.”
“I wonder where she went after we all left…” Kevin wondered.
“Hard to say.” Zan said. “I know that pegasi can’t alter weather and clouds here like they could back in Equestria, so she’d be more or less grounded, so to speak.”
“That must suck.” James said sounding genuinely surprised to hear this. “To have the ability to alter weather back home then arrive here and suddenly not have that ability must be…unnerving, at best.”
“I bet…” Kevin kicked at the concrete.
The conversation died at that point, each taking to glancing around for their friend and occasionally watching the people and ponies move about during the morning commute. The sun had now risen fully above the horizon; the towers along the beachfront cast long shadows over the blue water.
Several more minutes of silence passed. “I wonder when Zen’s gonna get here.” James wondered out loud.
“That might be him there.” Kevin pointed at a large white passenger van that had just pulled into the adjacent parking lot. James and Zan both turned to look as the van pulled beside them.
---
“Well this is…new.” Rainbow Dash commented as she situated herself on a row of seats in the passenger van Zen had rented.
“If it makes you too uncomfortable you can always follow us in the skies.” Zen suggested as he pulled out of the parking garage and onto the street.
“It’s not that. I’ve just never seen anything quite like this before.” Dash replied. “The closest thing we had to these…cars was the train that ran from Ponyville to Canterlot. Sure we had carriages and stuff, but you don’t use ponies or humans to pull these things.”
“Well we could but it’d hardly be practical.” Zen grinned slightly at the thought of people trying to pull multi-ton vehicles filled with more people. He looked both ways up the main road before pulling out and getting up to speed. “Besides, driving is way too much fun.”
“Yeah? D’you think it’s as much fun as flying? Actually…” Dash rubbed her chin as she contemplated something. “…have you ever even flown before?”
Zen laughed a bit. “I’ve flown several times.” He noted the confused look on the mare’s face. “Back on Earth we have large machines called planes and helicopters. Helicopters use overhead propellers and a tail rotor to maintain flight while planes use either wing propellers or jet engines to fly. I can say with certainty that the most enjoyable air ride I’ve ever been on was when I rode in a Robinson helicopter, though flying in a massive passenger jet across the country was pretty fun too. However, I personally think that nothing quite beats being behind the wheel of a car. Just something about being in control of a transportation machine is enjoyable to me, whether that machine is sporty or utility-oriented, powerful or a total beater.
“That being said, driving is an insane responsibility. You could get yourself or other people killed. Back on Earth most places required you to go through so many hours of practice and have practice sessions with licensed instructors before you could even get your license. That’s not quite the same here, and personally I think the process here could use some improvement, but that’s neither here nor there. I was actually really scared to learn how to drive…I’d seen too many terrible accidents and people die because of it.” Zen slowed and turned to the right into a parking lot.
“And yet you seem to really like it.” Dash observed. “How’d you get over your fears?”
“Simple.” Zen replied, pulling to a stop next to a group of people. “Lots of practice.” He killed the engine and stepped out of the vehicle. “Sup guys, ready to go?”
“Morning Zen.” Kevin replied.
“Yup, I think we’re all ready to go.” Zan said. James nodded in turn. “Also, shotgun!” Zan added quickly.
“Alright then, let’s get going.” Zenith got back into the driver’s seat and unlocked the other doors before turning the engine back on.
Zan climbed into the front passenger seat as Kevin and James found seats in the back. “Oh hey Rainbow.” Zan said. “You coming along too?”
“You bet I am.” Rainbow said, scooting closer to one side of the row to make more room, though Kevin and James took the very back row of seats anyways.
“Dash could really use some new friends so I let her stay at my place last night and invited her along.” Zen explained. “I told her she was more than welcome to hang out with us.”
“Like any of us would have it any other way!” Zan said, holding out a fist to Rainbow Dash, who bumped it with a hoof. “Glad you’re coming with us.”
“Believe me; I’m happy to be joining you guys.” Rainbow Dash beamed back at Zan.
“Well if there’s no objections, shall we be off?” Zen asked, and after not receiving any objections, “Alright then, let’s go!”
Zen put the van in drive and pulled out into the main road again, this time heading the other direction. This morning was devoid of any heavy traffic so far, and Zen was very grateful for it. He may love driving to no end but having to deal with congested streets and people who don’t know what they’re doing definitely is not fun in his books. It didn’t take them too long to leave the city proper and then reach the bridge connecting the island to the main land.
As they began to cross the bridge, Zen couldn’t help but glance out over the water. The early morning sun created a majestic sparking glare off the water just below the horizon. Everything looked pure, untouched by any sort of evil or madness that Zen or his human companions might have known back on Earth. It was also a sight that Zen appreciated to no end; after having at a young age moved to and grown up in a mountainous region bordered by deserts and plains, he had resented the fact that he had never been given the chance to see the ocean that he was born next to. To Zen, the sight before him was more beautiful than waking up to pink-hued mountains in the morning. Before returning his gaze to the road ahead of him, Zen noted Zan also looking out towards the sunrise.
“Sure is a sight to see, isn’t it Zan?” Zen asked.
“Definitely different than what we’re used to back home.” Zan replied, not taking his eyes off the sunrise. “Never get tired of seeing this.”
“Me neither.”
James and Kevin held a conversation in the back of the van while Rainbow Dash had elected to take a quick nap. Zen and Zan both fell quiet though, and the only noise that Zen wanted to focus on was the familiar sound of tires on the concrete road. That noise was quickly joined by the sound of air coming out of the ventilation system as Zan turned the A/C on. Despite the early morning hours the temperature was still fairly warm and the van was getting stuffy.
Zen rested an elbow in the corner of the side window and door frame and the other elbow on a leg, keeping only a loose grip on the wheel. The bridge was fairly straight and they were the only ones on it, so he was in no danger of losing control or running into anyone else.
“You know what’s funny?” Zen asked.
“What’s that?” Zan replied.
“Crystal City seems so isolated, but when you think about it the mainland is only about nine miles away with the first town only another two or three further.”
“Yeah it’s really not.” Zan agreed. “I guess it’s just the stigma of living on an island that makes it seem so far away from everything.”
“Mhmm.” Zen made mental note of the sign that read ‘Junction Park: 6’. That meant that they were just over halfway there already. With only another mile or so to go before reaching the mainland, Zen cast one more glance towards the sunrise. The sun itself was already above the horizon, with the sparkling glare off the water even bigger than what it was earlier. It soon vanished from view behind an outcropping of rock and vegetation further along the coast.
The vehicle suddenly began to emit a series of beeps. Curious, Zen cast his gaze across the instrument cluster and quickly found the offending mechanism behind the noise.
“What was that all about?” Rainbow asked with a yawn.
“My apologies if that woke you up.” Zen responded. “Apparently whoever services these vehicles neglected to give this thing a recharge and I somehow didn’t notice.”
“Figures.” Zan said with slight contempt.
“Oh well. Looks like there’s a fuel station just up ahead, so we can fuel up there and stretch a little bit, maybe pick up some food for the road or something. Besides, I need to look a map really quick.”
“Alright then.” Zan turned his attention to the passing coastal scenery, which could be described as very dense assortment of coniferous flora that was a very healthy green year-round. Trees and shrubbery were cut back from the pavement by about ten feet, but what was left alone was not unlike a wall of green.
“So Zen, what does power these machines?” Rainbow asked.
“Back on Earth most cars ran on either pure electricity or gasoline.” Zen responded, moving the van onto the off ramp and decelerating to a stop at the intersection before moving into the fuel station’s lot. “Once we re-developed the technology for powerful enough motors and batteries, we decided that all commercially sold vehicles should be run on pure electricity gathered from wind, solar, or aquatic current power plants. Some have built motors that run on bio-fuel made from plant life for the more ‘natural’ feeling that some people like, but this car is purely electric and very quiet too. That ‘revving’ noise you might have noticed earlier was totally fake, being produced only by the van’s sound system, and can actually be shut off at will.”
“Huh. That’s pretty cool…I guess?” Her tone suggested she didn’t really fully understand what Zen had just told her.
Zen just laughed a bit. “Sorry I tend to get slightly carried away when asked about vehicles. In short this van runs totally on electricity, but there are other methods.”
“Oh.”
“We like to think that we’re trying to avoid making the same mistakes that previous generations made back on Earth.” Kevin added.
“We certainly don’t want to mess up the chance we’ve been given to start over as a society.” James said as Zen parked next to a plug-in station.
“Alright guys, this shouldn’t take too terribly long…” Zen climbed out of the van and began to pay for a full battery recharge.
Zan walked inside the station while Kevin and James simply stayed by the van.
Rainbow Dash climbed out of the van moments later and flexed her wings. “Ah, that feels better.”
“Why don’t you just follow us in the air?” Kevin asked, curious.
“You know, I’ve never actually spent that much time around humans until I met you guys, and I’m discovering that I really enjoy listening to you guys talk and swap stories about your lives back on Earth.” Rainbow replied. “Maybe once we get to where we’re going I’ll go for a flight but for now I’m just enjoying some company, even if it means being grounded for a little while.”
“Huh, well I think I speak for all of us when I say that we’re glad to have you as company.” James said, pulling out a set of headphones from his pack and plugging them into a device before setting them over his ears. Kevin then decided went off to explore the station with Zan, and Zen had his face buried in a map.
“What are you listening to?” Rainbow asked James as he scrolled through a music library.
“Oh just some mixes I came up with during my spare time.” James replied, leaning against the van.
“Cool, so you’re like a DJ then?”
“Being a DJ is something I enjoy doing.”
“That’s pretty cool. Kinda like that one pony that was playing the music at that royal wedding we had.”
“Who, Vinyl?”
Rainbow shrugged. “I never learned her name.”
“White coat, electric blue hair, huge goggles, and a musical note for a cutie mark?”
“That’s the one.”
“Yup. Back on Earth we simply called her Vinyl Scratch or DJ Pon-3, as she was never given a name in the cartoon.”
Rainbow gave a discomforting look at the mention of the cartoon. “Sorry.” James quickly apologized. “I can’t really imagine how I would feel if someone from another world told me they knew about me from a cartoon show or something.”
“It’s okay; it’s just something that I should be used to by now.” Rainbow replied.
“Let me let you in on a little secret of mine.” James said. “I’m actually not this talkative or friendly with people. I’ve had some bad friendships in the past that have caused me to generally distrust people I know, but unfortunately the position I’m in requires me to do plenty of talking, so I do apologize if I happen to make a remark that makes you feel uncomfortable. I’m just not really used to having many friends.”
“Sounds kinda like Twilight in a way.” Rainbow mused as she glanced back at Zen, his face still buried in the map. She trotted over to him and attempted to get a look in at the map as well. “So what’s the plan?” She asked him.
“Well it looks like Junction Park is in a large clearing off the highway just after this interchange here.” Zen lowered the map so Rainbow could see and pointed at the interchange he was talking about.
The map itself showed the known geography for Haven; there was still much to explore in this world so only a small portion was shown. Crystal City was located on the eastern side of Crystal Island, which had been named after the crystal clear waters that surrounded the island, and the island was located in the northeastern part of the known world. The main highway that connected the island to the mainland ran south a few miles before splitting in an east to west fashion just beyond the town of Junction Park. The highway travelled east not far from the coast until both curved south. There the highway turned back inwards a little bit until it reached Alliance, where it ended. To the west the highway gradually made its way southward before leveling out some distance before the capital of Harmony’s Point, which it bisected. After that the highway split off again; one stretch headed north along the coast again, passing through a few smaller towns before dead-ending in Lethean, the northernmost and largest city. The other stretch continued in a westward direction and eventually split off into smaller roads that dead-ended in various towns and cities.
“So it’s not much farther then?” Rainbow asked.
“Maybe another five minutes on the highway. Once we get there we’ll pull into town and locate Colton, which shouldn’t be too terribly difficult since Junction Park is relatively small.” Zen quickly checked his watch and noted the time. “After that we’ll decide what we’ll do from there.”
“Sounds good.” Rainbow grinned. “Should give me enough time to go on a quick flight.”
“You’ll have plenty of time for that.” Zen folded the map up and set it a pocket in the driver’s side door. He walked back around to check the progress of the charging when Zan called out from the store.
“Hey guys, look who we found!”
Zen, Rainbow, and James all looked up to see Zan standing next to two ponies, a unicorn and an oddly familiar pegasus.
“Wait, Sprinter is that you?” Zen called back.
“Yeah man, didn’t expect to see you out this way.” Sprinter replied and walked up to him. “See you’ve made a new friend here.”
Zen nodded. “Sprinter, this is Rainbow Dash.”
“Hello.” Rainbow greeted Sprinter.
“Rainbow Dash…that name sounds slightly familiar.” Sprinter concentrated for a moment. “Wait a sec, you won that Young Fliers Competition back in Equestria didn’t you?”
“Yeah, yeah I did.” Rainbow seemed surprised. “You actually know who I am?”
“Well, I wouldn’t say that, just that I know your name and something you accomplished.” Sprinter replied. “Why?”
“Well it’s just that nobody here seems to know who I am aside from these guys.” Rainbow gestured at Zen and company. “I’ve only saved Equestria twice and was the first to perform a Sonic Rainboom in years.”
“Huh.” Sprinter blinked. “I hadn’t heard any of that before.”
“Doesn’t even ring a bell?”
“Nope.”
“Darn…oh well.”
“So Sprinter, what’re you doing out there?” Zen asked his friend.
“Not long after I last saw you yesterday that unicorn back there, Solstice, approached me and said I was needed for some kind of project in Alliance. Sounded like riot control to me from what I was told.”
“No kidding?” Zen laughed. “That’s exactly what we’re out here for. That friend of mine that found you had been looking for me to tell me that exact same thing.”
“That’s pretty funny…well Solstice and I were just heading out to Lethean. He says he knows people out there that can help.”
“What do you guys plan to do?”
“Dunno. We haven’t really talked about that yet, but I think he plans to try and convince these screwballs to pack up and find their own little corner to trash.”
“Not a bad idea.” The charging was now complete so Zen unplugged the charger from the van and put it up. “Well we’re about ready to take off. We were going to find one of our friends in Junction Park before doing anything else.”
“Alright well we won’t keep you guys.” Sprinter turned to walk back to his companion. “Take care Zen and nice meeting you Dash!”
“Nice to meet you too!” Rainbow replied.
“See you around.” Zen finished the transaction and called out to his companions. “Alright guys, whenever you’re ready we can head out!”
“Sure thing!” Zan replied and went back inside to find Kevin. James climbed back into the back of the van and Rainbow settled back into the spot she had previously occupied. Zen got back behind the wheel and watched as Sprinter took off with Solstice, who was using magic to fly.
A minute later Zan and Kevin were both back in the van. “Okay, so I got some sodas for everyone and some large bags of chips we can all share.” Kevin said, placing a large paper bag on the floor of the van and closing the side door.
“Could you pass me up a soda?” Zen asked, and Kevin tossed him a bottle. Zen opened it and took a long drink before putting the cap back on and setting it in a drink holder. “Alright then, let’s get going.”
Zen turned the van on and buckled up before putting it in drive and getting back on the highway. Zan had started to chat with Kevin and Rainbow had taken to staring out the side window while James continued to listen to his music. Only a few minutes had passed before they came across a very large clearing in the forest and they could see the town of Junction Park in the middle. It reminded Zen of the many towns he would pass in the state of Kansas where the only notable feature of each town was the large water tower. They passed a large decorative sign that read “Welcome to Junction Park” which was quickly followed by an off ramp that Zen took to get into town.
“Okay, now that we’re here how are we going to find him?” Zan asked.
“We’ll just have to split up.” Zen answered. “I’ll explore the middle of town; you guys do what you want. There’s a Dan’s Grille just up ahead that we can meet up at for lunch at noon. Sound good?”
Zen’s companions agreed and Zen began to look for a place to park. He found an open spot in front of a large brick building and killed the motor.
“See you guys later!” Zan hopped out and started heading up one street. Kevin chose another direction and began to walk that way, while James took a third and headed out.
“Looks like you’ve got a few hours if you wanted to go for a flight.” Zen said to Rainbow as she climbed out of the van.
“Cool, catch you later!” Rainbow said and took off. Zen watched her vanish into the sky and surveyed his immediate surroundings. The town was mostly devoid of pedestrians, and the only other individuals he could spy were a pair of earth ponies working to fix a pothole in an alley across the street. He turned his attention to the structure he had parked in front of. There were no noticeable signs on the exterior and the windows were covered in various posters and fliers, but he did spy a blue sign on the door that read ‘Open’. ‘Well this place is as good as any to start…’ he thought to himself and walked up to the front door.