They rode past a few slumping houses and over a long bridge across a what Laura took to be a lake. But Chick leaned over and yelled, "That's the Saint John River. We'll be riding next to it all the way to the farm."
Though they were going slower, the wind and engine noise were still quite loud and Laura didn't want to shout herself hoarse just to have a conversation. The road was only two-lanes wide and Chick rode down the middle where there was the least rubbish. They rode past once-beautiful cottages that were fallen into decay. Many with shingles missing, some with roofs caved in, and one or two were just blackened skeletons. Most had filthy cars or pickup trucks rusting in the driveway but she didn't see any people anywhere. Not a single human or pony.
It would have been a depressing trip if not for brief moments of excitement whenever the bike slithered around.
True to his word, Chick kept the bike on the road and rolling steadily forward, though at one point he squashed her as he leaned far off of the motorcycle to get the sidecar's wheel back onto the muddy road. He yelled an apology but Laura couldn't really complain; better to be mildly squished than crashed in a ditch. Even at these low speeds that could be painful or fatal. Riding down the many hills was the worst, as the bike felt like it was going far too quickly and with little control.
That she'd dreamed about falling down a mountain this morning probably didn't help.
Laura was thinking about hollering that she needed another pit stop when…
"We're here!" Chick shouted and pointed to a sign that was a few metres ahead on the left side of the road, it was half overgrown by roadside bushes and grass.
Once they were a little closer, Laura saw that it was a large and very dirty tourism billboard with a photo of the river shore, a cloudy blue sky, blue water, and a white lighthouse. "Oak Point" was written in white brush script with "KIWANIS PARK" below it in a dark-blue block font.
Chick slowed the bike to trotting speed and turned right onto a one-lane dirt track. The trees gave way to cleared fields and they passed by a white house and garage. The curving road continued and through the rain Laura made out a couple of other barns and houses up ahead. Chick turned down the gravel drive which led to the first house and they rode past an abandoned SUV that was missing its windows, had dented panels and was covered in layers of childish graffiti; hearts, words, stick-figure ponies, and flowers. He rode up to the closed garage door, stopped and pulled on the bike's parking brake.
Laura stood up, stretched and yawned while Chick flicked a switch on the handlebar and shut off the motor. The silence was deafening.
He climbed down from the motorcycle while Laura squared off against the bane of her existence — a short hop down to the ground. This time she was resolved to try jumping again, since going ass-backwards had been such an embarrassing failure. As Chick walked stiffly towards the house she psyched herself up, 'Jump higher this time and let my body do what it needs to do. Easy. Right then! Jump!' She bunched her hindquarters, lifted her forelegs and leapt over the sidecar's rail!
With a loud crunching of gravel, she hit the ground, stumbled and recovered.
She'd done it!
Laura cheered, "Bloody brilliant!" She looked up hoping for a little praise from Chick, but he wasn't even looking as he walked up onto the house's porch. She sighed and muttered, "Well, poo. Good job, Laura. I knew you could do it, Laura."
Chick stood up on his hind legs to open the screen door and rapped a hoof on the wooden one behind it. As she walked over to the house, Laura saw that it was in much better nick than any of the houses they'd passed on the way here. It was clean, its roof was intact and the porch looked like it had been painted recently.
She arrived at Chick's side as the door was opened by a very large reddish-brown mare wearing a long, slightly-stained white apron with a frilly blue trim. She grinned and exclaimed, "Chicky! Oh my Lord, you look like something the cat threw up."
The large mare grabbed Chick, wrapping a foreleg over his back. She rubbed a cheek along his as she hugged him, ending up with her head wrapped around over his withers. There was no way Chick could return the hug since he was much smaller, so he reached up to pat a hoof against the mare's shoulder.
"Hello, Mama Bun. May we come in?"
"We?" The big mare — maybe half-again Chick's size — opened her eyes and spotted Laura. "Oh my, yes. Hello, miss!"
Laura had her nose in the air, nostrils flared as she savoured the rich smell of bread baking that poured out of the door in a wave of warm, yeasty air. Blushing she lowered her head, smiled shyly and said, "H-hello, pleased to meet you."
"This is Laura. Laura, this is Cinnamon Bun, the best baker in the world!" Chick grinned as Mrs. Bun stepped back and snorted her amusement while waving for them to come inside.
"Well, welcome back Laura, and come on in. Call me 'Mama Bun', everypony does."
Mama Bun backed into the house to give them room to step inside. There was a roughly woven 'Welcome' mat in the entrance that Chick carefully wiped his dirty hooves on.
"Umm… Welcome back?" Laura asked as she started wiping her hooves.
Mama Bun sat down on her ample haunches in the hall and reached a hoof up to adjust the cream coloured bun her mane was done up in. She smiled and said, "Why yes, you just Returned didn't you?"
"Oh! Yes. Yes, a few weeks ago."
The big mare smiled warmly and said, "Wonderful! I'm going to bake you a welcoming cake then. I can't imagine you've had one yet if you're travelling with this mustang."
Chick snorted as he struggled out of his poncho. "Nopony should have to choke down something baked by me, Mama." He moved to hang the poncho from the same hook on the wall that his helmet dangled from, "But there's no time for cake today. We're just here to trade and get back on the road so we can make Saint John before sunset."
"Oh, that's a shame. Maybe next time."
Laura shrugged out of her rain jacket and had to agree with Mama Bun about it being a shame. She would have loved a slice of chocolate cake! Or vanilla cake. Heck, even carrot cake would be amazing. Hopefully, they could at least trade for a loaf or two to take along since the bread smelled heavenly. It was a good thing her jacket was waterproof because she was drooling a little as she hung it up.
"Come on in then." Mama Bun led them down a short hallway and into a living room where she called, "Kids? It's all right, you can come out now."
Kids?
Laura saw a little, pale-blue pony face peep out from behind a fuzzy, brown couch. Her eyes went wide at the sight of the little one's incredibly cute face, which put Chick's 'plush toy' cuteness to shame. The little foal gasped and squeaked, "Pinkie Pie!" Before bolting out from behind the couch with a scrabbling of hooves on the carpeted floor.
All around the room high-pitched voices called out, "Pinkie Pie?" "Pinkie Pie!" "Pinkie Pie!"
There were suddenly a half dozen little ponies of all colours bounding out from hiding places and congregating around Chick, who laughed and jumped around almost as much as the foals did. He caught a very small, light green filly, sat down and hugged her as an older colt who was red with white patches all over him jumped against Chick's side in a tackle-hug. It was one of the cutest spectacles that Laura had ever seen. One of the littlest foals, who was a paler grey than Laura, excitedly flapped a pair of little wings on his shoulders as he galloped around Chick squeaking, "Pinkie Pie! Pinkie Pie!"
She glanced up at Mama Bun who had sat down on the floor next to her and asked, "What's 'pinkie pie'?"
"Pinkie Pie is a character", Mama Bun said, smiling down at Laura. She was easily two feet taller and seemed massive in comparison to the excited pile of foals that had gathered around Chick. "She's from storybooks that came over from Equestria. A pink mare who loves to throw parties for good little foals and give them balloons, cake and-"
"Candy!" As if on cue, Chick had pulled a plastic bag out from inside of his jacket and held it up high like he was presenting manna from the gods.
This caused the foals to cheer and a laughing Mama Bun called, "Okay, okay! But only one piece each. You'll be having lunch soon."
This rule didn't seem to upset the foals at all as Chick carefully hoofed out one of the little rectangles wrapped in shiny white plastic to each of them. The foals were so incredibly precious that Laura's jangled nerves from the long ride melted away as she watched them unwrap and gobble down the light brown treats. It didn't matter that they were all completely naked since they were just little kids, though Laura couldn't help wondering if very young ponies had to wear diapers.
Mama Bun quietly told her, "The red and white colt is Tiddlywinks, the pegasus is Zonda and the light green filly is Tiddle's little sister, Apple Fritter. The twins are my daughters, Carnation and Trillium." They were pale blue with blond manes, one sporting a red bow and the other a white one. Laura guessed they must be somewhere around six years old, but that was a very wild guess. "And that sweet, little yellow bug, who's drooling all over the carpet I just cleaned yesterday, is my Daisy." She sighed happily, then stood up and walked over to one side of the living room where a large iPad was propped up in front of an unlit fireplace.
The room was furnished like a cosy cottage with a couch, easy chair, low side-tables and plenty of frilly, floral pattern pillows. A large window with its floral curtains thrown wide let in dim, grey light that was supplemented by a half dozen LED 'candles' sitting on the tables.
Mama Bun rapped a hoof tip against the red bricks of the hearth to get everyone's attention and said, "Okay my little colts and fillies, time to get back to your math lesson." There was a chorus of groans, though the little pegasus colt eagerly trotted over and sat down in front of the iPad. As the remaining youngsters reluctantly disengaged from Chick he suddenly lobbed something small at Laura.
Startled, she jerked up a hoof but it bounced off and landed on the carpet. It was one of the wrapped candies that he'd handed… hooved… out. Laura looked up and he winked at her and smiled. She returned the smile and carefully scooped the candy up of off the floor, practising her newfound 'grippy hoof' magic.
Mama Bun got her little students to settle down telling them that, "After lunch, we can watch cartoons and then go help out in the garden."
"SpongeBob!" one of the colts yelled shrilly!
"Ewww, no!" one of the twin fillies moaned and her sister chimed in, "We wanna watch PAW Patrol!"
Laura chuckled as she struggled to get the wrapper off of her candy. They were just like her nephews and their constant squabbles over the telly. The sweet, maple-flavour treat helped a little as her mood sank with the thought that she'd probably never see them again. Not unless Thomas had a way for them to get back to England, and also if they'd Returned already. It struck her that they might already be adults if they'd Returned before her, or that she might be an old nag by the time they came back.
Mama Bun solved the foalish argument. "Ok, ok. We'll watch an episode of SpongeBob and then one of PAW Patrol. But only if you're good and pay attention to your lessons, alright?"
"Yes, Mama", most of the foals said in practised chorus.
"Good!"
With her mouth, she picked up a stylus that was lying next to the iPad and with a few taps it started playing an educational video. Laura saw images of numbers and animated fruit as a woman's voice lectured about basic math concepts. She imagined it was a bit too simple for the older foals and too advanced for the youngest ones but all of them seemed happy enough to watch it.
Mama Bun clomped heavily towards the hall and said, "I'm going to check on lunch. Come with me and I'll call Mistral so you can get the trading done and be on your way."
Chick nodded and hooved over the half-empty bag of candy to her. "Here, for later."
She smiled and tucked it into an apron pocket before leading them deeper into the house to a large kitchen. There was a crudely built wood walkway against the 'L' shaped counter so that a pony could step up and be high enough to use them. There was also a wood crate in front of the oven which Mama Bun stepped up onto, wielding a large spoon in her hoof to stir a huge pot of what smelled like vegetable stew.
There were LED strip lights all along the bottom of the very-overhead cabinets and Laura imagined that they must have a good supply of electricity if they could run an electric oven. She was a bit envious after having spent weeks eating raw greens and having only a wood stove to sometimes enjoy a cup of tea.
"Alright, then. Let me give Mistral a buzz."
From the counter, Mama Bun retrieved a bright yellow, phone-like device with an aerial and for a moment Laura hoped it might be a satellite phone. It was a little difficult to see it from where she was sitting on the floor, looking up at the big mare who awkwardly held it between her forehooves. She pressed a button on the side, producing a crackle of static.
"Hello, Mistral? Are you there?"
Another crackle and a few moments of quiet hissing.
"Mistral?"
There was a long burst of static and then a tinny woman's voice replied, "Hello, Mama station. This is Mistral. Over."
Laura realised it was just an FRS radio and her hopes of making a long distance call to Thomas were dashed again.
"Mistral, I've got Chick here. He wants to get the trading taken care of ay-sap and then hit the road."
"Ok. Yeah, we heard him arrive. I'll grab Buttercup and we'll be there in a few. Over."
Mama Bun pressed the button again and urgently said, "No, no, no! Don't bring Buttercup. There's a-", she glanced at Laura, "-complication. You got that?"
Laura turned to Chick with her brows furrowed and mouthed, 'Complication?' But he just frowned and looked away.
"Shit. … Ok, I'll be there in a minute. Over and out."
Mama Bun put the radio back into its charging cradle on the counter and sighed. Laura walked a couple of steps towards her and asked, "Is there a problem with me being here?"
The big mare shook her head, sighed again and said, "No, you're welcome in our home. It's just Chick was going to take Buttercup, my eldest, to Beantown with him."
"Oh?"
Chick coughed and with his ears back he said, "And there's only two seats on my bike."
"Oh… Bloody hell." This was a bit of a pickle but there was no way she would give up her seat to someone else! Though it sounded like they were assuming that she'd be going and Mama Bun's daughter would have some bad news.
"I can make it up to her, Mama Bun." Chick sat up straight and earnestly said, "Next spring I could leave early and make a straight run to Grand-Sault, then turn right around, come here and take her to Beantown. It'll be expensive but if I can scrounge up some spring trade I should break even. She can probably make the spring convoy to Alexandria or if we miss it she can stay in Beantown and go in the fall."
Mama Bun shook her head, "I don't like the idea of my daughter staying in Beantown. If she misses the spring run would you be able to bring her right back?"
"Look, I have some good friends in Beantown that she could stay with."
Mama Bun snorted and said, "Friends with fangs and antenna? No, you just bring my daughter back."
"Hey! Not all of my friends are changelings and those that are are nice people too."
"People? Ha!"
Following the increasingly heated conversation as it bounced back and forth was starting to make Laura feel dizzy and anxious. She had no idea what they meant by people with fangs and antenna or what 'changelings' were, but arguments always made her feel just awful and she really didn't want to be stuck in the kitchen while they were at it.
Plus she really needed to go.
"Excuse me." They both stopped and looked at her with slightly angry eyes that made her want to flee even more. "Umm… can I use your loo? I mean, your washroom?"
Mama Bun forced a smile onto her muzzle and nodded. "Of course you can. It's just down the hallway there, last door on the left. Have you used a composting toilet before?"
"No." At least she didn't think so.
"It's easy enough. When you lift the lid you'll see there's two holes; number one goes in the front and number two goes in the back. Alright?"
Laura nodded and trotted off down the hall while they went back to arguing. It was a relief when she finally shut the door and her ears came back up again. Ugh. The washroom was pretty standard for a North American house, aside from the flush toilet having been replaced with a plastic one that had a large base. Someone had built a horseshoe-shaped platform around it so that it was easy for a pony to use. A bit awkward but she didn't fear falling into it at least. There was a jug of water and bar of soap at the sink so she took the opportunity to wash her hooves in case they were able to stay for lunch.
Did the habit of washing hooves after using the loo make sense anymore? There was no toilet paper and no way she could use it even if there were. It was a little gross, but no worse than some of the Third World countries she'd visited. It was a shame they didn't have a bidet… though they'd need running water first. She dried her hooves but didn't expect them to stay clean for very long since she had to walk around on them. Was it worth using up the jug of water on a pointless human habit?
When she poked her head out the door it was quiet again. Laura trotted into the kitchen to find that Chick had left and Mama Bun was busy stirring her pot of delicious smelling stew.
"Oh, hello again, Laura." Mama Bun used her mouth to replace the pot's lid and then she stepped down off of the crate. "I'm sorry if my bickering with Chick upset you, we just have some things we disagree on."
Laura scuffed a hoof on the floor and said, "It's ok. I, uh, guess you're rather upset over your daughter not going to Beantown?"
"Yeah, but it can't be helped. She's been so excited all summer. Going on and on about what she's going to do in Alexandria when she gets away from this boring, little farm." Laura could hear a touch of bitterness in the big mare's voice. She snorted and said, "Don't get me wrong, I love my daughter but she has high expectations about going to a big town. I'm afraid she'll be disappointed or run with a bad herd and find out how dangerous life off the farm is."
Laura was very much reminded of how her own mother would worry needlessly whenever she went away on a trip. "Oh, Mongolia is a terrible place! Full of bandits and communists! What do you want to go to India for? You'll catch malaria and for God's sake don't drink the water!" It would almost be funny if she didn't miss Mum and Dad so much. Ugh. Think about something else.
"Umm… why does your daughter want to go to this Alexandria place?"
The wooden platform creaked a little under Mama Bun's hooves as she stepped up onto it and reached onto the counter for a stack of plastic bowls. "Oh, everypony wants to go to Alexandria. Even I'd love to visit if I weren't so busy with baking, preserving, cleaning, and raising our foals. Alexandria is the hub of civilisation now. But the reason we're sending Buttercup is so she can go to school."
"School?" Laura assumed that everyone here was home educated, given what she'd seen so far.
"They have a huge library of books that come from that Equestria place, so they know everything about how to live as a pony. We have a few books on our iPads." Mama Bun lined up some mismatched trays and began placing bowls onto them as she talked. "But there's a world of difference between reading something in a book and having an experienced teacher. Plus lots of young ponies and Returnees go there so it'd be a good chance for Buttercup to meet somepony special. We could always use more ponies here on the farm."
She turned her head and gave Laura a warm and inviting smile which Laura nervously returned, half expecting the big mare to invite her to stay at the farm. She imagined that if she did choose to stay, join their 'herd', and give up her spot to Buttercup, it would solve all of their problems. But Mama Bun just turned back to her kitchen-work and a pleasant quiet descended as she filled the bowls with soup and then started slicing bread. Laura's nostrils flared on their own and she swallowed a mouthful of saliva.
"Maaamaaa! The mooovie ended!" the red and white patched foal poked his head into the hall to yell.
Mama Bun called back, "Thank you, Tiddlywinks! I'll bring you all your lunch in a moment." She turned to Laura and asked, "Could you lend me a hoof and carry a tray?"
"Oh! I… I can't really carry things", Laura waved her forelegs and said, "I'm not very good with these yet."
Mama Bun chuckled and said, "Oh no, you just stand still for a moment and I'll put a tray on your back. Then just walk it into the living room. Don't worry, we earth ponies are built to carry things on our backs."
It was surprising how easily she balanced the tray of bowls, though she did need to walk slowly and carefully, and she was quite nervous since she couldn't see what she was balancing. The foals seemed to know what they were doing and picked up the bowls and slices of bread as she stood still in the middle of the living room. The bigger foals politely helped the smaller ones and they were all remarkably well behaved as they tucked in.
A few minutes later Chick and a pale grey pegasus mare with a black and blue striped mane and tail came in. The mare walked carefully through the foals and nuzzled the pegasus colt, whose returning nuzzle smeared a streak of stew along her cheek.
"Mistral, this is Laura", said Mama Bun when the pegasus joined them, claiming the last bowl of soup.
She nodded and said, "Hey", before biting off a muzzleful of bread.
Laura swallowed a mouthful of soup — it was mostly kidney beans with carrots, celery, onions, tomato and seasonings — and replied, "Hello".
The bread was dark and very grainy, which old, human Laura would have hated, but now it tasted delicious and her strong pony teeth made short work of it.
No one bothered with spoons, so Laura didn't feel singled out as she dipped her muzzle into her bowl to slurp it up. When in Rome. The only problem was her blasted mane, which kept trying to sneak into the bowl. She was constantly having to brush it aside with a hoof to avoid chewing on it. Perhaps she should ask around and see if anyone had a hairpin or three she could use? Though she wasn't certain how she'd even get them into her mane. How did Mama Bun get hers wrapped up into, well, a bun? Surely, someone had to be helping her?
She was about to ask about it when Mama Bun turned to Mistral and asked, "Trading all squared away hon?"
Mistral nodded and in a slightly raspy voice said, "Uh huh. Chicky paid the usual."
"The usual?" Laura asked, forgetting about mane care tips.
Chick had his mouth full so it was Mistral who answered, "Yeah. We were gonna trade two cases of strawberry wine for him to give one of our fillies a ride, but…" She shrugged, frowned and went back to eating.
Chick swallowed and said, "She also talked me into staying for the night. I hope that's okay with you, Laura."
"We're staying?"
He nodded. "The storm is going to rain-out tonight and tomorrow will be sunny."
"I feel it in my wing bones", Mistral said around a mouth crammed almost full of bread as she showed off her gorgeous wings by flexing them partly open.
Laura had been intrigued by the little foal's wings and Mistral's were beautiful, though they looked far too small to get her off of the ground. Horses were not light or aerodynamic. Then again, Laura had never thought she'd be able to 'feel' with magic hooves before this morning so anything was possible. The guide that Thomas had left her had mentioned that pegasi could manipulate weather, with magic of course, so Mistral probably could accurately predict the weather, somehow. Even if it was still raining tomorrow, she could use the break from huddling down inside a cold and wet sidecar.
Mistral, Chick and Laura cleared away the dishes to the kitchen while Mama Bun cleaned off messy little pony faces with a damp cloth and then set an episode of SpongeBob playing on the iPad. They left her there, surrounded by foals who were either watching the iPad, playing with a huge collection of toys or napping against Mama's side where she lay on the carpet.
Laura winced and smiled when she saw that the twin fillies were playing with Barbie dolls. It must be strange for them, growing up in a world sans humans aside from these distorted representations of a woman. But perhaps they were better off without having to deal with that brand of distorted body-image or with memories of having two legs and hands — they probably had no trouble learning to gallop or use a cup.
She followed Chick and Mistral outside onto the porch. It was brighter and the clouds seemed less oppressive, which Laura took as a good sign that there would be no rain tomorrow.
Chick inhaled deeply, exhaled with a rumbling whinny and said, "Well, I'd better get to work loading the bike and since we're staying I'll give her a bit of TLC." He glanced at Mistral and asked, "Okay if I use your tools?"
The grey pegasus fluffed her wings and nodded. "Yeah, sure. You break it, you replace it." She peered up at the overcast and said, "I'd better get back."
"Hey, would you mind showing Laura the rest of the farm? She's never met a unicorn so maybe you could introduce her to Twinkle?"
Mistral nodded and said, "Sure thing. It's Laura, right?"
"Oh, yes. And I'd love to see more of your farm-", she lied, "-and meet this Twinkle." Which was not a lie. This would be her first chance to meet someone who had become a unicorn like her Thomas. "Just give me a moment to fetch my rain coat."
Laura popped back indoors and hesitated before putting on her jacket. The cardigan plus jacket would probably be too warm. She glanced around to make sure no one was watching and then struggled out of her dirty cardigan. Holding it in her hooves for a moment she sighed over how filthy it had gotten — it was now more brown than red. She stood on her hind legs to get her jacket down and hung the cardi in its place.
Chick had disappeared by the time she'd dressed and walked outside, as had the motorcycle and its cart.
Mistral gave her a lopsided smile and said, "Okay, let's get going. I guess we're hoofing it but it's a short walk."
Laura jumped down the porch steps to the gravel driveway, smiling at her small accomplishment as she glanced into the now open garage door. Chick and the bike were inside and he was shoving at wooden crate across the floor towards the cart. He stopped and waved so Laura waved back before trotting after Mistral.
The other mare didn't seem bothered by the rain which beaded and ran off of her hide, feathers, and mane. She seemed almost waterproof, which Laura realised would be very useful for someone who spent their time flying through clouds. They walked together along the drive and out onto the muddy dirt road, skirting around deep and wide puddles. So much for having clean hooves, but Laura didn't mind as the squishy mud felt nice against the frogs of her hooves. A nice change from the horrible feeling she got from walking on tarmac, anyway.
Mistral gestured with a wing at a barn and house off to the right and said, "That's my house and our chicken coop." She gestured with her left wing. "Down there is Plow, Briny and Rose's place. They have pigs and goats." She wrinkled her muzzle in disgust.
Past the houses, Laura saw a white, three-bladed windmill in the distance, which explained the bountiful supply of electricity she'd noticed in Mama Bun's lovely home. Mistral started trotting so Laura had to as well to keep up — she hoped that the pegasus wouldn't break into a gallop.
"Aaand here's the path to the Richard's Farm. Nopony actually lives there, but it's where we do most of the farming. Everypony's out there today, except for Bun and the foals. Oh-", she gestured again with one of her lovely wings and said, "There's some mobile homes down there near the river. That's where Twinkle and her foal live."
Laura nodded, gazing at Mistral's wing rather than where she was pointing. The mare's feathers were the same light grey as her coat but had a subtle pattern of near white and bluish-grey to them.
Mistral chuckled. "Never seen a pegapus before, huh?"
Laura felt her ears warming up with a blush and she nodded. "No, aside from the cute little colt at Mama Bun's home. I'm very sorry for staring."
Mistral fluffed her wings out and then tucked them up against her sides. "Hey, no problem. We are pretty awesome." She grinned and said, "That foal is my youngest. Zonda. Zzzondaaa! Heh… Come on, let's make tracks."
The path they walked along was quite wide, made of gravel laid down in an arrow straight line between the trees. Laura struggled to keep up with the fast-trotting pegasus.
"Umm… Did you name your son after the car?" she asked between breaths.
"Huh? Oh, sure it's the name of a mind-blowing car, ain't it? But it's actually a type of wind down in Argentina. I think it's Argentina, anyway. I named my kids after winds; Sirocco, Zonda, and I named myself Mistral. Obviously."
"You've been back for a while then?"
Mistral nodded, flicking water off of her long mane. "Yeah, something like seventeen years. You're a newbie, right?"
"Almost a month", Laura admitted.
"Jeez, you're barely a nublet." Mistral laughed as Laura stumbled. "And it hardly shows!"
Laura snorted.
"Heh. Sorry, I'm just pulling your leg." She suddenly halted. When Laura caught up and gave her a quizzical look she said, "No hard feelings, eh? Wanna see something that'll blow your nublet mind?"
Laura blinked a few times before answering, "Umm… yes?"
"Great!" Mistral crouched down, spreading her wings and then took off like a shot.
Literally took off and up into the air, flapping her wings ferociously as she blasted away from Laura, making her orange mane to blow back from her face. The pegasus flew along the path at about half of the height of the trees. Her figure dwindled until she reached the end of the forest a few dozen yards ahead, then she arced up into the air with her wings wide and feathers splayed out, silhouetted against the grey sky. She flipped and rolled in the air and shot back towards Laura with a big grin on her muzzle.
Laura flinched but before they collided, Mistral backwashed hard with her wings and came to a hovering stop in front of her. Laura's long mane was blown back again. She sat down on her haunches and could only gape at the pegasus. Mistral barely flapped her long, grey wings and just hung in the air with seemingly little effort.
"Pretty amazing, eh?"
Laura snapped her mouth shut, blinked and swallowed before nodding. She couldn't help enviously wishing that she'd Returned with a pair of wings! Hell, she could have flown to Beantown by now if she had.
Mistral dropped gracefully to the gravel and chuckled. "Man, I wish I had a camera. You should see your face." Laura blushed as the pegasus waved a wing in a come-hither manner and said, "Let's go. You're gonna have your mind blown again when you meet Twinkiebutt."
They walked out of the forest and over a wooden bridge which made their hoofsteps sound hollow. The narrow stream flowed out of a boggy marsh and joined the broad lake-like Saint John river on their left. Seeing the very stout construction of the bridge Laura realised that this path must have once been a rail route. It stretched on ahead, arrow straight, but Mistral led her away from it and down a short, mud path. It wound past a small shack that smelt absolutely vile! Laura couldn't help wrinkling her nose at the sour, stomach-turning reek that oozed from the building — fish, smoke, spices, cheese, pickles, bacon, yeast, and other less savoury smells blended into a nauseating potpourri.
Mistral noticed her disgust and chuckled. "Yeah, that's Briny Pickles' shack. She does all of our preserving and fermenting."
"Phew! It smells dreadful!"
"Yeah, that'd be the pickled fish. She'll pickle anything; fish, bugs, eggs. Briny makes our cheese, wine, and also smokes meat to make jerky. Anything we catch trying to eat our crops, the waste calves, and any of the barnyard critters that croak end up pickled or smoked." She shrugged her wings as they trotted away from the smelly place. "We gotta feed our dogs and it brings in some extra cash when we trade it. Hey, girls!" She waved a wing at a small herd of cows that were standing under an open shed's corrugated plastic roof, steam rising from their black and white backs.
Laura could swear she saw some of the huge beasts smile at Mistral and that she heard one low, "Helloooo." But that was madness, surely? The guide hadn't mentioned anything about people returning as cows!
They looked healthy enough to Laura's inexpert eyes, and none of them tried to protest that they were really humans trapped in a cow's body. After giving them a long and wary look, Laura followed Mistral past several sheds and a small house that all looked well maintained. Their goal was a large, aluminium sheathed Quonset hut. Several smaller sheds clustered around the large, shiny building and a red tractor was barely visible through the tall grass that was consuming it.
The hut's large double-doors were open. Mistral trotted inside and yelled, "Hey, Twinkiebutt! You in mmmf-?"
Mistral did not look half as surprised as Laura felt when she saw that the pegasus' muzzle was covered and apparently being held closed by a sparkling white force field. No, Mistral just looked vaguely annoyed as a white unicorn with a silvery mane of scruffy, random waves came tip-hooving out of the dim recesses of the hut. She wore an oil-stained, dark blue smock which must have been tailored because it fit her petite, four-legged form snugly.
"Hush, you feather-brained idiot. I just got Sunshine settled down for a nap", she whispered angrily.
"Srruh", Mistral mumbled through her sealed lips.
The glow around the unicorn's horn flickered out at the same time the force field around Mistral's muzzle vanished. Laura was gobsmacked! It was the most blatant, in-her-face display of magic she had ever seen and she was having a difficult time believing her eyes! She wanted Mistral to yell again, just to see her mouth clamped shut.
Mistral rubbed her muzzle with one of her hooves and muttered, "I hate it when you do that."
The unicorn chuckled quietly and said, "Stop being a loudmouth then, hon." She waved her horned head in Laura's direction and asked, "Who's the new filly?"
"Right, uh, this is Laura." She brushed a wing against Laura's chin to close her mouth and said, "Laura, this is Snow Twinkle. She's our mechanic, fabricator, mage-in-residence, etcetera."
Twinkle held out a hoof and said, "Pleased to meet you, Laura. You just Returned?"
"Umm…", she said intelligently before lifting a hoof to tap against Twinkle's. "Y-yes, about a month ago."
"Well, welcome back then." Twinkle smiled and true to her name, her pale blue eyes twinkled happily. Laura had the impression that the small unicorn was both very intelligent and very wise — perhaps it was the Einstein hair-do?
"Thank you."
"Chick's here. Laura rode in with him." Mistral made this odd chuffing sound at the back of her throat.
Twinkle's eyebrows rose in surprise and she said, "He is?" Her eyes flicked in Laura's direction and she frowned slightly. "Oh dear… Has anyone told Buttercup yet?"
Mistral snorted and shook her head. "Heck, no! I'll let Mama deal with that. Anyway, I'd better scat 'cause the others'll be wondering where I got to." She fluffed her wings and told Laura, "Feel free to wander 'round the farm if you want. There's no wolves or anything so long as you don't go off into the forest."
She turned, crouched down onto her haunches and spread her wings. Laura quickly stepped back as the pegasus mare launched herself into the sky again, then stood and watched for the few seconds it took the graceful pegasus to fly out of sight. If meeting Chick and then the little foals had been something out of a children's book, watching a pegasus fly against a backdrop of storm clouds was straight off of a fantasy novel's cover.
Twinkle coughed to get her attention and said, "Would you like to stay and watch while I work? Returnees always seem to enjoy a little magical razzle-dazzle."
"Oh, umm… If I wouldn't be imposing?"
"Wouldn't offer if it was a problem. Just be quiet, eh?"
Twinkle waved a beckoning hoof and led Laura into Quonset hut. The interior was dimly lit with a few smoky oil lamps which hung from hooks on the roof. The building contained several large pieces of farm machinery that all looked old but well maintained. Large, red-painted metal frames on tyres that supported rows of worn but shiny metal disks; long rows of curved metal hooks and stout chopping blades; a wide and narrow box on wheels with oddly articulated arms, frozen in a wave of motion. All seemed designed to violently work the earth and harvest its produce. Along the walls of the hut hung a row of leather and chain harnesses that would fit on a little pony, though Laura had a difficult time believing that ponies were capable of hauling these huge machines around.
A brown and white patched mutt waited near the back of the building, standing guard next to a baby bassinet with a pale blue blanket tucked into it. The dog's tail wagged happily as Twinkle quietly walked up and ran a forehoof over its head and scratched behind the fluffy ears.
"This is Laika, my faithful side-kick. Laika, this is Laura." The dog was almost as large as the petite unicorn.
Laura's family had always kept dogs, so she calmly stepped forward and held out one of her hooves for the dog to sniff. "Hello, Laika. Aren't you a beautiful girl?"
Laika seemed happy enough after a few sniffs and her tongue lolled out in a canine grin. Her warm doggy breath was foul and she reeked of wet, rarely-bathed canine.
Twinkle's horn glowed as she gently pushed at the blanket in the bassinet to expose a tiny, bright yellow face. Twinkle's quiet voice cooed, "And this is my little Sunshine."
Laura's interest in the magical glow melted into a warm, gooey feeling of love as she gazed at the sleeping infant. How could anything be so pretty and sweet? Sunshine's fuzzy coat looked so very soft, like velvet, and her long eyelashes fluttered a little as she slept. The curls of her mane were pastel orange, unlike Laura's blazingly bright, high-vis mane, and poking out of the curls was a very stubby unicorn horn.
Laura quietly breathed, "Ohhh… She's so beautiful. How old is she?"
"Almost two weeks now." Twinkle hummed quietly and the glow of her magic tucked the blanket back in around her daughter. "She's started walking already, though it tires her right out. Poor little thing." She stepped back and said, "Well, I'd better get some work done before she wakes up and wants feeding again. Come on."
Both Laura and Laika followed Twinkle as she quietly walked back towards the front of the building, eventually stopping next to a panel on the side of one of the farming machines. She levitated up a screwdriver, grinned and had it hover in a circle around Laura's head before using it on the machine. Two of the screws holding a flat panel were already removed and she made short work of the remaining dozen while Laura watched. It was utterly fascinating seeing the unicorn's glowing magic work the screwdriver and then split into two blobs to hold the screwdriver and levitate each dirty screw as it came out. Twinkle quietly set each one with its mates in a pan on the concrete floor. Laura gasped when the entire panel glowed and popped off with a hollow thunk.
Twinkle chuckled as she laid the panel off to one side. "This is pretty basic magic, Laura. Just a little telekinesis, but it's very useful since we ponies don't have any hands. It's one of the reasons I'm the farm's mechanic… that and I used to work in a hardware store so I know my way around a wrench."
She squinted and stuck the tip of her tongue out of the corner of her muzzle while a sparkling blob of magic reached into the exposed gearbox and probed around.
"What are you doing now?"
"Oh, just feeling around. Magic's great for not getting grease all over your hooves." She chuckled and then quietly cursed, "Shit. Laika?" The dog's ears perked up as Twinkle spoke to her, "Fetch me the fourteen-millimetre box wrench, please."
Laura would swear that the dog nodded before trotting off, her claws clicking quietly on the floor.
Twinkle whispered, "I could just magic it up but she likes being useful."
Laura nodded looked in the direction that Laika had disappeared. There were sounds of a latch being worked, a drawer opening and then metallic rummaging.
"So. Tell me about yourself. You sound British and you said you came back a month ago?"
For the next hour or so Laura told Twinkle the story of her Return, starting with the vacation to Canada. Thomas' proposal in romantic Montreal. His incredible effort to rescue her. Losing her ring. The weeks of solitude and survival in Welsford. And finishing with meeting Chick and the stormy ride to Oak Point Farms. Twinkle laboured on the farm equipment, somehow keeping the metallic noises from getting loud enough to disturb her child.
"Sounds like your fiance went to a lot of trouble to keep you safe. He must really love you."
"Yes, and I miss him terribly! I hope he's alright." And that he hasn't met someone else. She couldn't keep a note of worry out of her voice.
Twinkle hummed and said, "Listen, filly, it's a damn miracle you came back so soon after he did. You could've come back hundreds even thousands of years from now. So don't let anything put you off, 'cause you were plainly meant to be together." She levitated a few sheets of filthy cardboard underneath the machine to catch oil drips.
As Twinkle worked she told Laura her own somewhat sad life-story. Before the Event, she was called 'Abigail Ainsworth' and had lived in a city called Oshawa, near Toronto — which she pronounced "T'ronna." She'd married and had a son, raised him and watched him start his own family, only for them to be killed in a car accident.
"It was a massive pile-up caused by idiots not slowing down in a white-out." The little unicorn snorted quietly and said, "I'm glad there's no cars left running. Anyway, after that we couldn't stay in Oshawa anymore, too many sad memories, so we moved out here to retire." She waved a greasy wrench in the air and said, "My Gerry has… had relatives out this way. We bought a lovely cottage outside of Saint John and lived comfortably for a few years until we lost our investments in Oh-Eight. After that, we struggled to get by until the Event happened. I woke up like this about four years ago and the ponies here found me and took me in."
A rag drifted over, wrapped in her magic and she started to wipe the wrench clean. "I've lived here ever since and now-and-then one of us will drop by our cottage to see if my husband has come back. I'll wait here until he Returns… however long it takes. A love like that isn't something you walk away from, eh? So I'm sure your Thomas is waiting for you too." She smiled and gave the wrench to Laika, who trotted off with her head held high and tail wagging, no doubt getting slobber on it.
Laura glanced at the bassinet where little Sunshine was still sleeping and felt a bit guilty for doing so. It wasn't like she wanted to accuse this friendly lady of being unfaithful but…
"Hey, I said I was waiting not that I was dead." Twinkle chuckled and said, "I came back young and healthy again. I was a sick old woman with no grandkids, just waiting to die, and now I'm a young mare living in a hippie commune." She waved a hoof at the bassinet. "It's a miracle that I can bring life into the world again. I still love my Gerry and I'll be waiting to welcome him back… or my foals and grandfoals will be. Whatever happens at least a little piece of me will be waiting for him."
Laura forced a smile and said, "I… I understand." When the wise young-again unicorn put it like that her choice did sound rather more romantic and pragmatic than selfish.
A high-pitched cry came from the bassinet and the blankets flapped as little Sunshine struggled against them.
"Oop. Somepony's hungry again or needs her diaper changed." As she trotted off, Twinkle called over her shoulder, "Why don't you go for a walk around the farm? We can chat some more over dinner if you want."
"I'd like that, thank you."
Feeling unsettled, Laura paused at the wide doorway and flipped the hood of her jacket up. She really didn't feel up to exploring the farm or meeting any more ponies. No, what she needed was a little quiet time to think. She spied a dirt track that seemed to go towards the river and away from the fields and buildings. Unfortunately, it didn't go very far and she had to trot across a somewhat muddy field of stubble to reach the river edge. She pushed through a row of wild shrubs and trees and found a beach of round, pale stones which she crossed to reach the river's edge.
For a river, it was a very big one! It was so wide she could barely make out the flat grey outline of the shore on the other side, through the obscuring rain and mist. Laura stood for a while and listening to the small waves lapping at the stone beach, the rain pattering on her hood, and the chirps and caws of birds. She slowly walked along the beach for a while, heading back in the direction she'd come with Mistral. The wet stones shifted and crunched under her hooves. She found a half-buried log and sat down, even though it was wet — everything was wet, including her rump, so it didn't really matter.
She closed her eyes and listened for a while longer. Then focused on the smells. The damp air mostly smelt of green, growing things but also a little of fish, a slight tang of the ocean. Laura opened her eyes and gazed at the distant shore again, imagining that the Atlantic lay beyond it and beyond that, hundreds of miles away, was home.
Laura wondered what the ponies there were up to. Did they have a pony Parliament? Had the queen Returned and been chased around Buckingham Palace by feral corgis? She'd have become a young mare like Snow Twinkle, and Prince Charles would never, ever be crowned pony king. Poor sod. She avoided thinking about her family as she'd already spent far too many mopey hours worrying about them when she was stuck in Welsford.
They were far away and she was alone here, chasing after the dream of her Thomas. Well, not really alone anymore. Except for right now, but this was a solitude of her own doing.
lonely mare sitting
river flowing blind to care
grey stone under hoof
Pfft. Not one of her best efforts but then none of her poetry had ever been spectacular. She sat for a while, composing bad haiku and enjoying the peaceful shore.
The quiet moment was broken by the sound of a dog barking nearby. Laura looked up as Laika came barrelling out of the bushes and ran along the beach towards her. She stood up and said, "Hello, Laika. Did you come to fetch me?"
Laika barked once, spun around in a circle and started trotting back towards the bushes, looking over her shoulder to make sure that Laura was following. She led her across the field and back to the road in front of the Quonset hut where a group of ponies had gathered in front of its now closed doors.
She recognised Twinkle but the others were all new faces. There was a stallion with the group and he was gigantic! A big slab of brown fur who seemed very horse-like except for his bright green mane and tail and he wore a hat that dripped water from its wide brim. Other than the straw hat and a layer of dirt he was naked. There were two mares — one rose-red and one dark green, both with blond manes — who were wearing nothing more than hats as well. Nothing fancy, just simple work-hats designed to keep the rain off of their faces. The last mare was covered by a military-green poncho and she wore a beige baseball cap with a Canadian flag stitched to the front. Her fur was a vibrant purple and her blue and green striped mane was pulled back into a ponytail. She was smaller than the other mares but slightly taller than Twinkle.
They clustered together, chatting and bumping up against one another. Physical affection seemed to be the rule as pony nuzzled pony, heads were draped over shoulders in something like a hug, damp tails were flogged gently against other pony's sides. If it weren't for their laughter and conversation, Laura might have imagined they were simple horses gathered together in a cosy social group. Well, aside from their small size, big eyes, bright colours and clothing.
Ok, so, they were nothing like ordinary horses.
Twinkle had stripped out of her coveralls and held an umbrella over her head and Sunshine's bassinet. The unicorn's pretty, sparkling magic glowed around their handles and her horn.
"Laika! You found her, good girl!" she laughed as the dog bounded around her, tail wagging furiously. "Hi, Laura. We're all heading home for dinner and I didn't want you getting left behind."
"Thank you, and, um, hello everyone." Laura forced a smile and waved a hoof at this new herd of ponies she hadn't met before. She was still feeling a bit overwhelmed and already missed sitting quietly by the river but it was starting to get dark and if lunch was any indication, dinner here would be a delicious change from a diet of grass salad.
"Hello." "Welcome back." A few of them just nodded and smiled, so at least they were a friendly bunch if a bit muddy from a day of labouring in the rain-soaked fields.
Twinkle chuckled and said, "Let's get gone and we can do introductions over dinner, eh?"
Laura sighed quietly with relief as everyone nodded and turned to walk towards the trail back, which gave her an unfortunate view of their backsides. She looked away and nibbled on her lower lip but really it was just horse rumps, right? She'd helped groom horses from head to tail and this was nothing that she hadn't seen before.
She sighed and focused her eyes on the ground, trotting next to Twinkle who also trailed behind the herd. Twinkle nodded to her but otherwise seemed content to just walk along in silence while the others chatted.
One of the mares called out, "Hey, Butterball! Time to go!"
"Butterball?"
Twinkle laughed. "His name is actually Butter Bob. He takes care of the cows and dairy production."
A yellow stallion wearing a Stetson hat over his dark blue mane came trotting out of the open cowshed. The only other clothing he wore was a red and white patterned scrap of fabric tied around his neck.
"See y'all tomorrow, ladies an' gentlebull", he drawled while latching the corral's gate. He trotted over to join the herd of ponies while a large Alsatian slipped underneath the lowest rail of the wood fence. Laika trotted over and after a few moments of mutual tail wagging, she sprinted away with the Alsatian in hot pursuit.
"I'm sure you met his wife when you arrived; Mama Bun?" Twinkle smiled and said, "He's also Sunshine's father. Excuse me." Laura watched her canter off to meet him and despite her feelings about Twinkle's strangely selfless infidelity, she couldn't help smiling at how they both happily cooed over the floating bassinet.
A blue mare with a curly pink and white mane was waiting to join the group as they passed the pickling shed. Laura hung back further and further behind the happily chatting group as they walked along the crushed gravel path. Now and then one would glance behind to check on her and she would smile and nod.
While they were passing through the forest she felt a sudden gust of air and was startled when a pegasus landed on the path beside her. She was a pale yellow mare with a two-tone striped blue mane and just barely an adult judging by her slightly gangly figure.
She glared at Laura and in a high-pitched, melodious voice she asked, "Who are you?"
It took Laura a moment to recover from being startled. She tentatively said, "I… I'm Laura. Umm… and you are?"
"Wolf Kick", she squinted and asked, "You riding with Chick?"
From up ahead, Butter Bob called back, "Hey! Hey, you be nice now!"
"I am bein' nice!" the yellow pegasus yelled back and then turned her intense gaze back on Laura and asked, "So, are you?"
It might have been the way the young mare was half flaring her wings in a dramatic display or the half-mad look in her eyes, but Laura felt quite intimidated by the smaller pony. The whole situation reminded her of being bullied at school. She coughed and said, "I… um, yes, I-"
Wolf Kick snorted loudly and yelped, "I knew it!"
The group of ponies ahead of them had stopped and were all looking their way. Butter Bob walked towards them and in a warning tone he said, "Buttercuuup…"
"Fuck you!" she yelled in Laura's face and then shot up into the air with a powerful flap of her wings.
Laura held a hoof over her eyes as bits of wet gravel and mud spattered her.
The stallion yelled up at the pegasus as she flew away, "Get down here an' apologise!"
"Fuck you, Dad!"
He groaned, a deep rumbling sound in his chest and turned to Laura. "Ah'm very sorry, miss. Mah daughter is a real hoofful sometimes." The Stetson-wearing cowpony's southern drawl would have been faintly amusing if Laura weren't shell-shocked from being yelled at.
A concerned looking Snow Twinkle trotted over and little Sunshine gazed up at Laura with wide, confused eyes.
"I'm fine." She inhaled, exhaled, forced her ears to perk up a little and gave them a tight smile, "I'm fine, really. Please, let's just carry on."
As they began walking again the group of ponies up ahead gossipped in hushed whispers and Butter Bob grumbled, "Ah've half a mind to ground her for a week. Like, proper grounded! No flyin'."
"Oh, no. Please don't don't do that. She must be terribly upset that I've taken her place for the trip to… to Beantown. Being punished would only make things worse." And the last thing Laura needed was for an even more upset pegasus confronting her, besides she already felt quite guilty enough as it was.
Butter Bob snorted and said, "You ain't wrong. Don't seem to matter what ah do to try and rein Buttercup in. She's a pegasus all right… impulsive, wild and mouthy."
Twinkle laughed and said, "That's tribalist, Bob. She's just a teenager, all hormones and emotions with no experience to temper it."
"Well, ah'm gonna have words with her anyway. She's gotta apologise at the very least an' ah got no say in what mah wife's gonna do 'bout this."
Based on her impression of Mama Bun, Laura imagined that she would be caring and reasonable. She obviously loved all of the foals. How did an earth pony couple have a pegasus daughter anyway? Adoption? Infidelity? Magic? What kind of children would she and Thomas have, since he was apparently a unicorn now? She shook her head and snorted away the thought, which was very much putting the cart before the horse. She had to get to Thomas first.
Most of the herd went off up the lane towards Furrowed Plow's home while Laura and Butter Bob split off to go to his place. She wanted to check up on how Chick was getting on with the work on his motorcycle, and found him out in the muddy garden patch next to the house. He had a plastic shopping basket half-filled with carrots, potatoes and cabbage — all of the vegetables with impressively large and healthy looking.
"Hello, Laura. Did you enjoy your day on the farm?" He rubbed his hooves together to scrub mud off of them and Laura could tell he was upset about something from his limp ears and slouching posture.
"Yes, umm… mostly."
Both of their ears swivelled at the sound of shouts coming from Mama Bun's house. Butter Bob had gone inside and Laura guiltily imagined the family argument taking place.
Chick groaned and said, "Poor Buttercup… or Wolf Kick I think she's calling herself today. She gave me an earful just before you arrived."
"She yelled at me."
"Merde."
"You should have told me about her." Laura frowned and his ears twitched and he looked away from her.
"I, ah, was hoping we'd be out of here before it was a problem."
"Before she found out and blew up."
He kicked at a clod of dirt and sighed.
Laura's opinion of Chick sank a little. Initially, he seemed like a helpful, trustworthy sort and Laura was very grateful that he had rescued her. But trying to ditch that young pony while keeping her in the dark? That was childish, selfish, and plain rude.
He gave her a bashful look with those ruby gemstone eyes while he lightly kicked at the basket of vegetables and muttered, "I wonder if it's safe to take these in yet?"
Even if she was annoyed with him, she sympathised with his desire to avoid walking in on an argument. Especially one that they'd inadvertently caused. At least it was a brief argument as it sounded like things had quieted down inside. A moment later the door opened and Mama Bun came out with a certain yellow pegasus trailing at her heels as she walked out to the vegetable patch. Buttercup looked very subdued with her head and ears down and her very long tail dragging in the wet dirt and grass.
Mama Bun cleared her throat and announced, "My daughter has something she needs to stay to you."
The young pegasus glanced at them, huffed and mumbled, "I'm sorry."
She didn't sound very sincere but it was evidently good enough for Chick, who reached out a slightly dirty hoof to ruffle Buttercup's mane. "I know you didn't mean it, squirt."
Pricked by a British sense of fairness Laura stepped forward and said, "I'm sorry as well, for taking your seat on Chick's motorcycle. I understand and sympathise with your frustration." A bit formal but never mind.
"Uh… okay." Buttercup looked puzzled. Perhaps she wasn't used to people apologising for giving her reason to yell at them.
Mama Bun nodded and said, "Great! Now, let's head over to the Plow's for dinner."
Once the basket of veg was taken inside the entire Mama Bun clan trouped over to the Plow's home, some of them carrying covered platters of food on their backs. The house was a wide building with a few trees around the front and out back was a large field with pyramids of drying wheat scattered around. Near the house were several short stone walls and pens, and judging by the unmistakable odour, several pigs and goats lived there. Fortunately, the wind blew the smell away from the house.
Once inside Laura was given a whirlwind introduction to every pony that lived on the farm.
The homeowners were Furrowed Plow who was the big, brown stallion with dark green mane, and his wives Briny Pickles and Rose Blossom. Briny had blue fur and curly mane of pale pink with thin, white stripes running through it. Her mane was still damp from bathing but she still smelled faintly of rotten fish. Rose's red fur was likely the inspiration for her name and she had a lovely blond mane and tail hair, brushed until it glowed. She wore a pearl necklace and pearl earrings. Their eldest daughter was fully grown and almost as large as her father, larger than either of her mothers. She was dark green and had Rose's blond mane, but kept it cropped short. Laura had already met their other two children; Tiddlywinks and Apple Fritter.
She had also already met Butter Bob, Mama Bun and their three children; the still grumpy Buttercup slash Wolf Kick, the Carnation and Trillium twins, and little Daisy.
Mistral was there with her husband, Warm Front, who was also a pegasus. He had a tangerine coloured coat, short red hair and was very curt with his greeting. Sirocco was their eldest and was an adult mare with a blue coat and her father's red mane, she seemed to have inherited her father's brevity as well. Though with Sirocco it seemed to be more out of shyness than borderline rudeness. Zonda was a happy little colt, galloping and fluttering around and between everyone's legs. Including Laura who at one point felt feathers brushing against her chest and, looking down, she saw his curious eyes peering up at her from between her front legs.
Snow Twinkle used her magic touch to guide baby Sunshine as the tiny, yellow pony wobbled around aimlessly on her quivering legs. Carnation and Trillium were sort of helping, though Laura thought that they were mostly just adding themselves to a little herd that Twinkle had to keep a watchful eye on.
Finally, there was a recent Returnee named Tanisha, who had a deep purple coat and blue and green hair. She still wore her Canadian flag baseball cap along with a black and red striped flannel shirt that had had the sleeves cut short. Tanisha seemed eager to chat, so they briefly exchanging Return stories while the other ponies went about setting the table. Master Corporal Tanisha Snodgrass had been on training manoeuvres when it happened to her. She'd started walking south, as Laura had been tempted to do, effectively going AWOL from an army that no longer existed in any meaningful way. On a lonely gravel road she'd met a convoy of trucks, hitched a ride, and ended up at the farm.
After introductions, they moved into the dining room and everyone sat on cushions around a long dining table. It had obviously had its legs cut short to suit pony proportions.
Plow and his wives sat at the head of the table while Laura and Chick were seated at the 'place of honour' at the other end. It was quite a loud, boisterous meal that reminded Laura more of visiting a crowded restaurant than a cosy dinner at home. At least everyone — save Buttercup — was happy and having a good time. It was a very friendly and jovial atmosphere of family and friends coming together for a special feast.
Laura sat back and just absorbed the conversation rather than participating. Mostly they talked about how the harvest and planting were going. About the weather. Chick contributed news from Grand-Sault and various farms and towns around Nouvelle Acadie. He'd brought letters from ponies who had once lived on the farm but had moved away to other farms or to Grand-Sault. Laura gathered that the Oak Point Farms were not part of N.A., but a non-aligned farmstead. They didn't pay tithe to anypony, but as a result were responsible for their own security.
Warm Front made a point of telling her that they were armed and had 'dealt' with raiders a few times in the past. That put a damper on the table until Buttercup slash Wolf Kick told a story, which apparently everyone else was tired of hearing, about the time she had taken on and beaten up a wolf, earning her cutie mark. It was the first time Laura had seen the young pegasus happy and excited, which was a good change of mood so she just smiled and nodded her way through the too-graphic and violent story. That and she'd spent weeks being afraid of the hairy buggers so it was nice to hear about one being put in its place.
The food was delicious and varied as each family contributed to the potluck spread. Mushroom and chestnut quiche, onion soup, broccoli soup, fresh bread and butter, roast pumpkin, mashed potatoes with mushroom gravy, and more. There was salad of course but made with actual lettuce, carrots and cucumber rather than just grass, though there was a 'hay' salad as well. Laura gave that a pass. There was milk and apple juice for the youngsters, and strawberry wine for the adult ponies. Surprisingly, it wasn't a sweet dessert wine and it had quite a kick! After the first gulp, Laura carefully kept herself to infrequent sips, though Chick filled his glass several times and his laughter grew louder and louder with each one. Though he made Laura wince a few times, and fold her ears back against the din, she was relieved to see everyone relaxed and happy after the tense arguments and anger earlier.
Dessert was a 'welcome back' blueberry cheesecake that Mama Bun had somehow found time to make while Laura was wandering around the farm. The base was obviously not the traditional Graham crackers and Mama Bun explained that she made it from roasted acorns, cornmeal, chopped hay, and honey.
Laura's equine taste buds found her improvised recipe scrumptious and she felt a little guilty that Buttercup wasn't allowed to have any.
After dinner, everyone crowded into the living room where a modest-sized television was set up to display video files played from a laptop. Laura was amazed that they had the equipment and electricity to expend on such a luxury.
Butter Bob proudly told her, "We paid fer technicians from Grand Falls t'upgrade our solar panels with a windmill an' we're makin' plans fer a water treatment plant so's the houses'll have running water again." He chuckled and said, "No need t'live like primitives with all this technology just layin' around now, is there?"
"Okay, what does everypony want to watch?" Mistral asked as she plugged a small external hard drive into the laptop. "Chick brought us the latest seasons of Trois tribus and Le prix d'Amour…"
"Can you please watch your soaps when I'm not around?" asked Furrowed Plow as he settled down onto the couch. "How about Shakespeare? They should have filmed Henry the Sixth Part One this year and at least that'll be in English."
Several ponies groaned at his suggestion, with the younger ones being especially loud.
Mistral tapped at the laptop's keyboard with her feathers and said, "You call that English? What else did you bring us, Chick?"
Chick settled down next to one of the arms on the couch and said, "Well, there's a dozen episodes of The Nouvelle Acadie Journal, a hoofful of new educational shows and a few pre-Event TV series and movies. I think I saw The Hobbit, Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones on the file list."
"What about toooons?" asked Tiddlywinks.
Chick barked a laugh and nodded. "Oui, yes, there are some cartoons for you little-ones as well." He patted an open space on the couch between him and Rose Blossom and gestured for Laura to join them. The couch was already a bit crowded with Furrowed, his wives and little Apple Fritter all cuddled up in a nuzzly pile at one end and Chick at the other. But there was enough of a gap for Laura to hop up and lay down without bumping rumps with anyone… at least until Tiddlywinks clambered up and wedged himself between Laura and Chick.
Mama Bun spoke up, "We can watch the new cartoons tomorrow, after class. Let's have something for adults."
The young colt wiggled and struggled to get into a good position to watch the television, accidentally hoofing Laura in the belly. "Oof!" Yes, it was just like when she visited her nephews.
Mistral switched on the television and said, "Why don't we let our guests decide?"
Chick shrugged. "It makes no difference to me, I've already watched them."
"Umm…" Laura wiggled sideways to give Tiddlywinks some room and said, "I've always been fond of The Bard, so, Henry the Sixth was it?" She ended up pressed between the wiggly colt and Rose's warm flank.
There were a few groans, but everyone settled down while Mistral cued up the video file. Mr. Plow chuckled and said, "I can't wait until they do Richard the Third."
Laura cocked a curious eyebrow and asked, "Why?"
He grinned shyly and said, "'A horse, a horse! My kingdom for a horse!' That will be very surreal, don't you think?"
Laura giggle-snorted while the opening credits to Théâtre du Chemin Madawaska's presentation of Henry VI played.
The movie's opening scene was a long shot of a stage with the camera looking over rows of darkened seats and silhouettes of pointy pony ears as the curtains were pulled back. On stage were several pony actors dressed in medieval-inspired costumes, gathered for the funeral of King Henry the Fifth.
There was a closer shot as the pony taking off the Duke of Bedford declared, "Hung be the heavens with black, yield day to night!"
Laura smirked as she watched the play unfold. For an amateur theatrical production, it was passable and the camera-work and editing were very well done. But it was bizarre watching little horses putting on a Shakespeare play even without the famous line from Richard the Third. It was like something from Pixar or perhaps an anime, given how serious the subject matter was. After a half-hour, she needed to visit the loo so she squirmed her way off of the couch and tip-hooved around various ponies who lay on the floor. Some of the younger foals had already fallen asleep and it was very sweet how they had cuddled up against one of their parents or siblings.
The hallway was lit with a few strategically placed LED lights but was still quite dim and Laura almost literally ran into Twinkle and Buttercup slash Wolf Kick. They broke off their quiet conversation as she stumbled into them.
"Oh, excuse me. Just need to use the washroom." Laura winced, half-expecting the volatile pegasus to start shouting again.
But she just stepped aside and waved Laura past. "No worries. Umm… I really am sorry for yelling at you. No hard feelings?" This time she really did sound earnest in her apology.
"No, none at all."
"Great!"
The toilet was another one of those odd composting ones, which had a slightly pooey scent but not too terrible. Much nicer than an outhouse at least. When she emerged both Twinkle and Buttercup were gone.
Laura could barely keep her eyes open by the time the play ended. Chick had to be roused from a slightly snorey slumber so that they could properly retire for the night. There was a small 'guesthouse' next door that they would be sharing with Tanisha. Chick was stuck with sleeping on a couch again but he didn't seem to mind and Laura hoped he wouldn't wake up with a hangover. Having a driver who was sore and sick would be dangerous after all. The bed in Laura's room was intended for a child but it could have fit two or three ponies. She curled the sheets back, hopped up and walked in three circles before lying down and pulling the sheets up.
As she fell asleep Laura wondered if she should use her pearls to pay for room and board before they left in the morning.