//------------------------------//
// 5 - Welcome to the US of A 
// Story: Catch Me 
// by Hazel Mee 
//------------------------------//

Toc-toc-toc.

Chicken Whisker's hoof rapped against the half-open bedroom door and he called, "Laura, are you awake?"

There was a snort and her grey muzzle poked up from under the bedsheets.   She mumbled something that he couldn't understand even with his ears perked up and aimed in her direction.

"Come on, there's tea and muffins", he cajoled in a sing-song tone.

That brought her head and a scruffy brush of orange and red mane the rest of the way out from under the sheets.   "Mmmf…   Tea?"

Chick chuckled at her cute, sleepy expression and turned away from the door.   "Don't get too excited, it's only mint but the muffins are very good."

It was a short walk to the low table in the house's kitchen slash living area.   The small, one-story cottage had just two bedrooms and a bathroom, and the old, comfortable couch had made a much better bed than the damp sleeping roll in a tent that was his usual lot.  He helped himself to his second of the half-dozen muffins that Mama Bun had delivered two hours ago.   Tanisha had scarfed down her share, gulped a mug of tea and then trotted off to get started on her chores.  She seemed determined to be a useful member of this community, despite not having a background in farming.  Exactly the sort of pony they were looking for, even if she wasn't a stallion.  Chick, on the other hoof, had lazed around, slowly nibbled a muffin while studying a map on Tanisha's iPad, planning out their route for today.   He'd waited until the sunrise lighted the cottage's windows before getting Laura up.

She stumbled out of the bedroom wearing her sweater and yawned.  Chick echoed her yawn and rubbed at an itch on his chest, pushing at the black fabric of the T-shirt he'd just put on.   It was dry after hanging over a chair overnight but it was starting to get a little pungent from sweat and road grime.   As she walked over to the table he pulled a black, white and red toque with the word "CANADA" knitted into it off of the teapot.   Sliding his fetlock into the hoof-friendly, modified handle he poured her a steaming mug of mint tea, then moved the small leaf catching sieve onto a saucer before sliding the mug across the table.

She leaned over to inhale the pungent steam before picking the mug up between her hooves to take a long sip.   She'd certainly picked up using hoof-touch very quickly.   He slowly chewed on the last of his muffin while she scooped her first one out of the basket.

"We should make it past the border today… into the U.S., I mean", he said as she bit into the blueberry and hay-filled cake.

Her face lit up with a happy smile, no doubt enjoying Mama Bun's expert baking.  After swallowing she asked, "You know Twinkle?"

He blinked and waggled his ears, confused by the abrupt change in subject.   "Euh, yes I know her."

She blinked her long lashes a few times and asked, "Do you think she could find my ring?"

"Oh…"

He smiled slightly and wasn't sure if this was because of she loved her fiance or if she just wanted her sparkly back, but it didn't matter.   This might be a good opportunity to discuss staying at the farm.   He owed that much to Buttercup… and Laura too really, she could benefit from living here for a while.

"I imagine she knows a Find-It spell or two.   But we have a convoy to catch up to and she must also take care of her foal.   She won't be able to leave the farm for a while."

Laura gazed at her muffin while cutely nibbling on her lower lip.  She sighed and said, "You're right.   I simply can't ask her to abandon little Sunshine or to bring her along when there are wolves out there."

Chick laughed a little, amused by Laura's concern for Sunshine and disregard for his schedule.   "Oh, I think Twinkle can take care of a wolf or three on her own.   If you can wait until spring I'm sure she would help you."

Laura bit into her muffin, making appreciative mmf sounds as she chewed.   Blueberries and honey!   Chick sipped mint tea and regretted that he'd already finished his.

"Mmm… uh, so could you drive me back up here in the spring?"

He shrugged and said, "Sure or you could stay for the winter."

Laura paused with the muffin halfway to her muzzle.   "Stay?"

"Yes, I'm sure these ponies would be happy to have you.   You could start learning an earth pony trade and then have an easier time finding work in Beantown."   He was sure that she'd shoot down that idea but you never knew.

Sure enough, her messy mane fluffed and bobbed as she vigorously shook her head.  "No, no, no!   Please don't abandon me here!   I have to get to-"

"Woah!   Woah, I'm not saying you have to stay", he said while holding up his hooves in a placating manner.   "It's just an option, yes?   You could find your ring and enjoy the best food while learning a trade and how to live as a pony.   Also, while your ride to Beantown is free, if you want to come back in the spring you would need to pay for a ride here and then back again to Beantown.  That would not be cheap."

Laura squinted at him suspiciously.   "And Buttercup would get her promised ride if I stay."

"Yes, though I have made arrangements to take care of that, so don't worry about her."   It would more profitable if she stayed.   He could get Buttercup to town now and then take Laura there next year and claim his bonus.   All the better if she had a trade by then.   But that wasn't the only reason he was asking her to consider it.  Riding with Buttercup would be easier; he'd watched the filly grow up, a little taller and more mature with each visit to their farm.

She was like a niece.

A cute, annoying and sometimes violent niece.

There would be no need to wear an uncomfortable T-shirt or squash what he feared was a growing attraction to Laura.   The last thing he needed was spending days on the road, alone with a pretty mare… especially in such a small tent.   She was doing that sexy lip nibbling thing again as she thought about staying.   Chick shook his head, shifted his eyes to the safety of his mug.

"It…   It would be lovely to have my ring when I see him again.   But no, I really just need to get to Thomas as quick as I can.   Sorry, but I'm afraid you're stuck with me."

"That's fine.  We'll leave once you've finished breakfast then."

Laura hesitated for a moment, gazing at him with a slightly surprised look on her pretty face, before smiling and chomping into her muffin.   She chewed for a few moments and murmured, "Thank you", around a cheekful of cake while squinting her eyes like a happy cat.

He nodded and couldn't help returning her smile before slurping down the dregs of his tea.   So, love beats sparkly.   In a confusing way, he was pleased by her earnest devotion to her stallion and that he would get to spend more time with the sweet, pretty mare.

She excused herself to use the washroom after scarfing down the muffins.   He killed time by cleaning up a little.   The mugs and teapot went into the kitchen sink, he brushed up the crumbs and set the basket down next to the door.   They could take it back over to Mama's place since they were going there anyway.   He was folding up his yellow poncho when Laura came out of the washroom.   She'd managed to tame her mane and tail a little but she still looked dishevelled.   There was no point in suggesting that they both have a proper bath before hitting the road; they'd be wind-blown messes in minutes.

Chick was used to that.   He'd been on scavenging convoys pretty much since the day he'd Returned, and before the Event he'd enjoyed going on Iron Butt rides all over Canada and the U.S.   There was nothing quite like getting up with the sun and putting hundreds of kilometres behind you before stopping in some backwoods to camp.  Eating a quick, re-hydrated dinner while scraping a layer of insect guts off of your helmet, and passing out in a damp sleeping bag knowing you would be doing it all over again in the morning.   He loved it, but Laura was already looking worn, even after a night's rest.   It couldn't be helped — he had a motorcycle, not a tour bus.  She could recover at the Unicorn Castle in Beantown before tracking down this Thomas guy.

"Ready to go?"

Laura clumsily threw her forelegs around his shoulders and squeezed, doing her best as a pony to give him a human-like hug.   His rump hit the floor as he sat down, surprise making his ears painfully shoot upright and then fold back.   She stumbled forward a little and pressed up closer against his chest and neck.   She was warm and smelled of rain, earth and mare.

"Thanks."

He gingerly patted her back through her sweater.   "Euh, y-you're welcome."

She stepped back, smiled and nodded, then turned to struggle with getting the door open.

A bigger tent!   He had to pick up a bigger tent before they camped tonight.

Chick coughed to clear the lump in his throat and said, "Don't forget your jacket."

"Oh!   Right."

He opened the door while she went to find it.   True to Mistral's wing-bone prediction, the rain had blown out to sea but it was still overcast.   He grabbed the muffin basket's handle in his mouth and once Laura returned they started the short walk to Mama Bun's house.  They were halfway there when Chick noticed the pegasi flying way up high to the east, pushing the grey clouds around so that the sun could dry out the farmland.   He stopped in the middle of the damp road, dropped the basket and said, "Hey, look up."

"Hmm?"   Laura blinked at him and then tipped her head back.   "Oh!"

The distant silhouettes of ponies swooped around in the clouds, slowly compacting a section with their wings, hooves and snaps of their tails.   It almost looked like they were playing and showing off with their swooping around.   They probably were.   After they had compressed a section of cloud down to half its original size they pressed their hooves against its springy surface and began pushing it away.   Long, golden rays of sunshine cascaded down through the opening sky and onto the fields.   After giving Laura a few minutes to enjoy the show, Chick started walking and she soon caught up.

He dropped off the muffin basket on the porch and turned to open the garage.   He lifted the roll-up door up a few centimetres and it suddenly glowed and was slammed shut again, jerking the handle out of his hoof.

"Damn it!   What the hell is going on?"   He waved his stinging hoof in the air while cursing in French.

"Sorry!" Snow Twinkle called from inside the garage.   "Just- just give me a minute.   I'm almost done!"

Laura looked worried as Chick rapped his hoof against the glowing metal door.   "Twinkle?   What are you doing?"

"Ha hah!   It's-  It's a surprise!   H-hold your horses", she laughed breathlessly and his twitching ears heard a socket wrench ratcheting.

"Pfft…"   He squinted his eyes at the still-glowing door and shook his head.   Though he liked Twinkle, he was not okay with her messing around with his Ural.   It was an ugly, cranky pain-in-the-rump that often leaked oil for no good reason, but it was his ride!   There was an inside door to the garage, so he waved a hoof to get Laura's attention and then trotted up onto the porch, yanked open the screen and urgently knocked on the front door.

Chick waited, lips tight in a frown and snorting every few seconds as Laura trotted over holding the rim of the muffin basket between her teeth.   After a few frustrating minutes, the door was finally opened by Mama Bun.

"Good morning, excuse me!"

He tried to gallop past Mama but she was too fast and painfully brought him to a stop by biting his tail and hanging on.   Chick yelped and almost fell, then turned to look over his shoulder when Mama Bun snorted in annoyance.

She spat out his tail and said, "Wipe your hooves!   S'bad enough having to mop up after the foals without ill mannered stallions messing up my floors."

He groaned and did as instructed, wiping his not-actually-that-dirty hooves on the rug while grinding his teeth.

Laura stepped inside, making the small entryway crowded.  She dropped the basket and said, "Good morning.   Thank you very much for the muffins, they were lovely."

While the two mares chatted he scampered across the wood floor, down the hall and tried to open the door to the garage.   The handle was glowing and he couldn't turn it.   Chick banged on the door with a hoof and called, "Twinkle?   Open the door!"

"Just a minute!" she sang while the ratcheting sounds continued.

"Augh!"   He stomped his hooves and snorted loudly.

"Mama?   What's wrong?"   Three of the foals were poking their heads around the corner from the living room, all looking curious and worried about the crazy stallion.

Mama Bun waved a hoof at them and said, "It's nothing, go back to watching your lessons."   She clomped up next to Chick and draped a heavy leg over his withers.   "Calm down, Chicky.   She's nearly finished."

Laura joined them at the stubbornly closed door and asked, "What's going on?"

Something Chick would really like to know as well.

"It's a surprise", Mama Bun said with a wink.

Chick growled in frustration, shrugged off Mama's leg and was going to pound on the door again when it suddenly swung open and he stumbled into the garage.

"Tadah!" Snow Twinkle exclaimed while waving her hooves in the air.  She was dressed in blue coveralls that had smears of dirt and green paint in a few places.   "What do you think?"

His motorcycle had a new addition.

A windscreen made up of three sections of glass; two triangular side pieces and a rectangular pane in the middle that was angled back for streamlining.   They were mounted in a riveted metal frame which had a shiny, new coat of green paint that more-or-less matched the sidecar.   It was pretty obvious that the glass had been scavenged from cars but the metal frame holding them looked custom and reminded him of a WW2 bomber's windows.

"What?  Why?" he spluttered in French.

Twinkle grinned and waved proudly at her work.   "I took measurements the last time you were in town and I've been working on this off-and-on all summer.   I figured, if you're giving our Buttercup a ride she should at least be comfortable, eh?"   She shrugged and waved a hoof at Laura.   "There's no sense in putting it off because you're taking Laura instead.  That'd just be petty."

Laura trotted past him to take a look while he stood there, torn between annoyance at somepony messing with his bike and guilt that Twinkle had done this even though he wasn't taking Buttercup.







"Oh my goodness!"   Laura blinked a few times while taking in the addition to the sidecar.   The windscreen would easily be higher than her head when she sat inside, meaning there would be no more wind or rain in her face.

"Do you like it?"

She wasn't certain if Twinkle had asked her or Chick but a glance at the pink stallion's gobsmacked expression meant that any response was probably up to her.   A quick step and she somewhat clumsily threw her forelegs around Twinkle's shoulders and hugged the mare.  Laura liked hugging and she hadn't had anyone to hug in weeks!   A good hug was worth a ton of kind words.

"It's wonderful, thank you Twinkle", she murmured while Twinkle cheerfully wrapped her legs around Laura's shoulder to return the gesture.

It seemed like pony hugs were always going to be 'A' type hugs, so there was no worry of someone misunderstanding and trying to turn it into an 'I' hug—like creepy uncle Alistair would if given the chance.   She let Twinkle go as the motorcycle's springs creaked behind her.

Chick looked over from where he'd partly climbed up onto the sidecar.   He seemed to have to work at it to force a smile onto his muzzle, but he did it even though his twitching ears made it clear that he was not a happy pony.   "It looks good to me too.   Merci."

Twinkle nodded and said, "You're welcome.   Now, c'mon, you ponies had better hit the road."   She trotted over to the garage door and it quickly slid open while her horn glowed brightly.   "I know you're on a schedule so I topped up the tank and you should be ready to roll."

Chick nodded and went back into the house.   "I'll gear up and we can go."

Mama Bun waved to Laura over and said, "I have something for you too."  She reached into one of the pockets on her apron and held out a couple of pamphlets.

They were made of A4 paper, folded in half and stapled.   The black-and-white cover of one was a stylised diagram of a pregnant mare in a simple cut-away view that showed the curled up foal inside of her.  The title was written in horseshoes, stars and blocky letters that could almost be Russian.   Someone had put a white bar over the title and English words in the box read "YOUR HEALTHY FOAL".   One of Laura's eyebrows shot up in surprise and she clumsily shuffled the pamphlets and saw that the other ones cover had a cutesy cartoon of three fillies — a pegasus, a unicorn and an earth pony — frolicking with a scattering of birds and flowers around them.   The English surtitle slapped over the more fancifully drawn text read "THE MAGIC INSIDE OF YOU: A Filly's Book".

The paper was crisp and smelled slightly of fresh ink.

"Most of it's the same stuff as you probably got back in grade school but there's a few things that are different.   Oh, and-", the big mare retrieved a small wire-bound book from her apron and plopped it on top of the other two, "-this'll help when you find that stallion of yours."

In contrast to the home-printed pamphlets, the spiral-bound book was novel-sized and had a glossy, full-colour cover depicting two unicorns…  No.   Two unicorns with pegasus wings?   One was mostly white and the other mostly blue and both were gazing with sultry expressions at the silhouettes of several ponies that framed the edges of the book.   The original title was very loopy and florid and even the surtitle was in a fancy-script — "Royal Appetites".

"A romance novel?"   Laura looked up and saw that Mama Bun was smirking.

She winked and said, "Oh, it's a bit spicier than romance.   It'll give you ideas for keeping your stallion happy."

"What's that?"

Laura squeaked and quickly hugged the book and pamphlets up against her chest so that Chick wouldn't see them.   "Nothing!"

"Okaaay…"   He adjusted his helmet and trotted over to the motorcycle.   "Come on then, let's get gone."

Laura took a moment to tuck the embarrassing books inside her folded jacket and then, forcing her ears to perk up, she smiled up at Mama Bun.   "Thank you."

I think.

No hugs for you.

"Heh.   You're welcome, Laura."   Mama Bun clapped a big hoof against her shoulder and said, "Have a safe trip now."

Laura stumbled and then three-legged hop-walked to the sidecar, clambered up to carefully drop the jacket into the footwell before taking a seat.   Meanwhile, Chick was going through the motions of kick-starting the bike.   Its roar into life was deafening in the small garage and Laura pressed her hooves over her ears while he scrambled up into the saddle then leaned down between the bike and sidecar to shove a lever or two.   The juddering machine slowly backed out of the garage pushing the trailer behind it, the noise dropped down to a tolerable volume once they were outside.   Chick expertly worked the handlebars to slew the trailer around and line the motorcycle up for a U-turn in the drive.   With another shove of a lever, the bike started to creep forward.

Mama Bun, Snow Twinkle and several of the foals stood in the garage door, waving, and Laura could just make out Tiddley Winks squeaking, "Bye-bye, Pinkie Pie!" over the engine's rumble.

They both waved before he revved up the engine, scattering gravel from the knobby wheels.   At the turn onto the lane they met Tanisha coming the other way, hauling a cart loaded with large water jugs.  She paused to wave and let them pass.   The lane was already starting to dry out, aside from the water-filled potholes that splashed as they slowly rode through them.   Chick turned left once they reached the main road, not stopping to look for traffic.   Laura grabbed at the rim of the sidecar in a panic before she remembered that there was no traffic anymore.

There was one last opportunity to wave as they accelerated down the still somewhat mucky road.   Two of the farm's stallions were out in the field and when they waved Laura braced herself in the sidecar and leaned past Chick so they could see her hoof as she waved back.  He was busy keeping the motorcycle under control and didn't have a hoof free to wave with.   In seconds they were around a curve and trees cut off Laura's view of the farm.   She felt a bit sad about leaving, even if they'd only stayed for a day.   Less than a day.  Mama Bun and Snow Twinkle had been very friendly and helpful, and their large, odd families were all very happy and pleasant folk.  Quite a contrast to the weeks she'd spent alone.   Along with the melancholy, there was a slight twinge of guilt still about poor Buttercup's situation.

With a sigh, Laura settled down into the padded seat and watched the trees and overgrown fields pass by.   The windscreen worked beautifully and kept most of the wind out of her eyes, that and the lack of rain made the trip much more comfortable.

After about half an hour of hills, trees, and breath-taking river views, they crossed a long bridge and passed a rusting blue sign that read "WELCOME.   BIENVENUE.   THE TOWN OF GRAND-BAY WESTFIELD.  EST. 1998".  The sky had half cleared and warm, yellow fall sunshine made Laura feel a bit itchy in her cardigan.   Leaning out a little from behind the windscreen so that the breeze could flow through her mane solved that, though she had to squint and learned the hard way that flying insects came out when it wasn't raining.   Yet another reason to be grateful for Twinkle's thoughtful gift.

Ponies were vegetarians after all.

As they rode up to the intersection where they'd made a pit-stop on the ride to the farm, Chick leaned over and shouted.

"Do you need a stop?!"

"No!   Thank you!"

He nodded and they rode on, through a concrete tunnel under the motorway and up the slip road to go south.   Chick brought the bike to a brake-squeaking stop, fiddled around with a lever and said, "Just switching to one-wheel drive.   The highway is dry and it will save fuel."

Laura nodded, not really caring much about how the motorcycle worked, just that it did.

Chick stomped the bike into gear and accelerated quickly, cut power, another pedal stomp, more loud engine revving, again and again until they were flying down the road at the highest speed they'd achieved so far.   It was very unnerving since she was sitting so low to the road in the sidecar, and she clutched at the sides, holding on while her heart raced.   It vibrated and juddered like an old roller coaster but it actually felt more stable at high-speed compared with slipping and sliding on the side roads.   After a few minutes, Laura relaxed and settled down into the vibrating seat and went back to watching the dark-green pine forests and rocky hills whizz by.

After a quarter hour or so it became a bit boring.   Such vast stretches of wild forest were rare in Britain, but after two weeks of travelling all around Eastern Canada with Thomas, they had become a bit mundane.   She poked at her jacket and wondered if she could sneak out one of the health pamphlets without Chick noticing.   She wasn't that worried — she was a grown woman… mare after all — but they were a tiny bit embarrassing and there was also a chance she could lose one in a gust.

She was still considering it when she noticed that Chick was guiding the bike towards the side of the motorway.   They rode under a gantry and one of the large green signs on it read "Saint John West" pointing to the slip road that they took while Chick slowed the bike and shifted down through the gears.   At the end of the curving road, he ignored the "STOP ARRÊT" sign and turned right at a "T" intersection.   They slowly rode past a few abandoned houses on the left and rows of cars in a grassy parking lot on the right.  Much to Laura's surprise he pulled off into the lot, which turned out to be a car dealership.

Ropes of multicolour plastic streamers hung along the front of "Al's Ultracar"; still a bit shiny as they fluttered in the breeze.   The rows of once-gleaming American tanks, however, were filthy, rusting hulks, surrounded by wind-blown rubbish, leaves and patches of tall grass.   Many had smashed windows and a few were burned, rust-red skeletons, evidence that vandals had passed through at some point.  Chick guided the bike past this slightly depressing spectacle to a garage at the back of the parking area.

While Chick shut the engine off and reached down to pull on the parking brake, Laura yawned and stretched.   "Umm…   Why have we stopped?"

"Fuel.   I cache a couple of cans here when I ride up in the spring.  We won't be stopping long."   He hopped down from the bike, grabbed his aluminium baseball bat and walked towards the garage.   He called back, "Feel free to use the, uh, 'facilities' if you need to.   But don't wander far as this won't take long."

Sensible advice.   She stood up, shook her hind legs to try and relieve her numb-bum and carefully hopped out.

"Hah!"

She grinned and trotted off towards the side of the garage, her confidence perked up by how quickly she'd mastered exiting the sidecar.   

By the time she returned Chick was mostly finished refuelling the bike, just tipping the dregs of an empty can into the tank before dragging it off into the garage.

"I take it that we're not stopping in Saint John?" she asked as he trotted back.

He shook his head and said, "No, the Oak Point farm ponies regularly visit to check for Returnees and to scavenge.   We'll stop again when we reach the U.S. border."   He kick-started the motorcycle and said, "We have to do a little shopping when we get there."

"Shopping?"

"Yes, we need a few things before we camp", he waved a hoof, "Hop in."

A few minutes later they were back on the road and riding past white houses slowly falling into decay with abandoned cars in their driveways.   Laura could smell the salty tang of the ocean in the air but there was no sign of it.   Just trees, houses and overgrown yards.   A short ride and a few turns, they were rolling down a slip road and back onto the motorway.   A motorway.   Judging by the angle of the sun, Laura doubted it was the same one they'd come south on.

Once the bike was up to speed she quickly became bored of the forest and rocky hills again.   Laura pawed at her jacket and pondered how she could go about reading the pamphlets.   Maybe if she…?   Wiggling sideways in the seat she winced and lurched forward to free her tail before working her rump over to rest against the inside panel of the sidecar.   Then she flopped over on her side, curling up and rested her shoulders against the other side of the car.   She dragged her jacket up and propped it against the saddlebags in the footwell and used her grippy finger-tip hoof magic to sort through Mama Bun's gifts.

No.   Not the book.   She shoved it deeper into the folds of her jacket.   That would have to wait for some alone-time… if ever.   She decided to start with the filly's book and with a wiggle she settled down for some prepubescent re-education.

The pamphlet started at page thirty-two, so it wasn't the whole book, just a chapter.   It was written in storybook form with cutesy cartoon illustrations and it starred three fillies; Corn Row the earth pony, Spell Chime the unicorn, and Cloud Dipper the pegasus.  They chatted about their new cutie marks as they walked through a town called "Fillydelphia".

Laura put that silly name down to the translator being cute.

She vaguely remembered Wolf Kick slash Buttercup saying that she'd earned her cutie mark by beating up a wolf.   So why had she been reborn with a gem-flower thing on her bum instead of having to do something special to get it?   Annoyingly the book didn't go into any more detail about cutie marks; just that the fillies were excited to finally have theirs.

They trotted along, waving hello to Corn Row's sire, dam and her older brother who were working in a field of corn.   Of course, it was corn.   Then Cloud Dipper's dam and mom swooped past them, herding songbirds…

Laura re-read that part.   Herding songbirds?   Was that actually a job in Equestria or just part of the story's cute fantasy?   The illustration showed two female pegasi and a flock of birds flying over the fillies, with Corn Row's family in the background behind a log fence.

They ended up at Spell Chime's house where they greeted her sire, dam and mom.   Okaaay, so, either the unusual families that Laura had seen at Oak Point farm were also popular in Equestria or the author had crammed three socially acceptable examples — one for each filly — into a very short story.

The fillies headed upstairs to Chime's room and that's where the somewhat useful information really started.   Mostly it was the same sorts of thing that Laura had learned from this sort of book when she was a girl.   They talked about how their bodies and feelings were changing, about what was normal and what was just silly rumour, shared body care and beauty tips.   Pimples, teat development, embarrassing tail flagging when in heat…   That was probably pony periods?   Laura hadn't had one since she'd Returned, which was a bit unusual, alarming even.   Maybe the pamphlet on pregnancy would have more useful info as this one just affirmed that it was normal that Spell Chime hadn't had her first one yet.   Every filly was different and special and beautiful and that was okay.

On the last page, they were talking about clothing, which they used as accessories rather than necessities, while dressing up to go meet colts and buy cupcakes.   It cut off mid-paragraph and that was the end of the section that Mama had printed.

Laura hmmf'd and tucked the pamphlet back into her jacket.   It wasn't all that helpful and raised more questions than it gave answers.   She wiggled around to sit up and Chick glanced at her then nodded his muzzle to point to the side of the road, urging her to take a look.

The forest was gone!   No, not gone.   Burned.   Some black tree trunks still stood up against the partly-cloudy sky and judging by the dense brush growing up around them it must have happened years ago.  There was a hint of smoky odour but that could just have been from the motorcycle's engine.   They rode through the destruction and new growth for another ten or fifteen minutes while Laura looked around and saw that the forest all around them, for as far as she could see from the low-slung sidecar, had burned.

Chick began slowing down, kicking the bike into lower gears.   As the noisy wind dropped Laura leaned over to poke his cutie mark with a hoof and ask, "What are we slowing down for?!"

"You'll see in a moment!"

They rounded a curve in the highway and it passed through a cut in the top of a broad hill.   Crumpled up against one of the two-story high cliffs of grey rock were the remains of a lorry.   As they rode closer the highway became rougher and buckled, then completely disintegrated to scorched gravel as they drew near the wreckage.  Chick kicked down another gear as the bike wobbled on the shifting surface.

Laura pressed a hoof to her muzzle and her ears folded back.   This was what started the fire and with no firemen to contain it, it must have burned for days!   There was very little left of the lorry's cab, which was half crumpled against the rocks.   The two tankers it had been pulling had flipped on their sides and were nothing but rusty, twisted frames and axles with only a few scraps of the curved tanks remaining.   The cliff and ground around the wreck were scorched black and nothing grew there.

"What happened?"

Chick struggled with the handlebars for a moment and said, "When everypony vanished, if they were in a moving vehicle it went with them somehow.   So this guy-", he quickly waved a hoof at the lorry, "-he came back with his truck and crashed.   Pouf!   Fire everywhere."

Laura swallowed, rethinking her wish that she and Thomas had been driving to Saint John when the Event had happened.   "Did they survive?"

He glanced at her and by the look in his eyes, she knew he was going to say "No".   Had he seen the remains?

"I don't think so but who knows?   Maybe", he lied.

A few moments later they cleared the worst of the road's destruction and Chick started to accelerate.

Laura turned away from the dismal wreckage and her voice cracked a little when she asked, "How much further?!"   Better to ask now before the wind made it too difficult to talk.

"Not long, a quarter hour or so!"

"Okay, thank you."

She settled back into her seat as a heavy, black weight sank into her heart.   That poor lorry driver.   They'd never had a chance.   She sniffled and rubbed her muzzle while staring at the scorched forest.  It wasn't long before the blackened skeletons gave way to a healthy forest again, a sight that helped perk up her mood a little.   She saw some short mountains in the distance but the trees obscured most of the view.

Arrival at the border was a bit underwhelming.   They were riding past a few silent factories with dormant smokestacks when the motorway split into two.   In between there was a parking lot and large customs building decorated with the Canadian flag.   Then onto a short bridge and halfway across Chick cheerfully yelled, "Welcome to America!   Get your passport ready and prepare to be strip searched."

She'd left her passport behind in the rotting shell of the caravan!  Before she could get a good worry going she heard him laughing.   Oh.  Ha hah.   Very droll.   She snorted, shook her head and smiled a little.

He slowed the bike when they reached the American customs but only to squeeze past a line of cars and trucks that were patiently waiting at one of the inspection gates.   A row of empty flagpoles made cheerful clinking sounds as their ropes tapped against them in the breeze.   They didn't stop and rolled through one of the half-dozen gates which had the drop bar broken off.   From there it was a short ride to a roundabout, the first one she could recall seeing over here, and then left, past yet more empty houses with the remains of cars in their driveways.

Chick kept the motorcycle slow and said, "We're looking for South Street.   Let me know if you see it, eh?"

A few minutes later they were passing through a strange three-road intersection when she spotted a tiny blue sign.   "There!"   She pointed a hoof but they were almost past it as Chick hit the brakes and she slid forward into the mound of saddlebags.

"What?   Where?   I didn't see-"

Laura sat back and pointed down the road.   "That's it.   I saw a sign, that's South Street."   She expected him to argue, as most men do when a woman tries to give directions, but to his credit he just nodded and awkwardly manoeuvred the motorcycle around a central reservation and revved the engine.   They were now on the wrong side of the road but that probably didn't matter.

They almost missed the entrance to their destination because of the dense forest but Chick spotted it just in time and pulled into the driveway of a Walmart.   They rode across a vast plain of empty parking spaces to the loading docks on one side of the building and squeaked to a halt.

With a quick flick of a red switch on the handlebars, Chick killed the engine and said, "We won't be-"   A sudden, loud noise like someone beating a drum came from the trailer and the motorcycle bounced slightly as something scrambled out.   Chick's head whipped around as he tracked something… someone galloping toward the forest next to the store.

Laura stood up in the sidecar in time to see a yellow blur with a long, blue tail disappear into the bushes.

"Tabarnak!  Buttercup!"

The filly hollered back, "Hang on!"

Laura just stared, stunned, but Chick was instantly furious!   He scrambled down from the motorcycle, yelling and spitting French curses that sounded quite foul.

Rising up on her hind legs, Laura set her fore hooves on the warm sheepskin that covered the bike's saddle.   This let her stand up a little higher to peer into the forest, though she couldn't make out Buttercup through the underbrush.

"I don't speak French and I'm kinda busy here!"   Her not-very-quiet moan of relief made it pretty clear what business she was taking care of.

Laura couldn't help it.   She tried to fight it, to squish it down inside, but that only made it even louder when she burst out laughing.   Chick stomped his hooves and yanked off his helmet.   It looked like he might throw it at the ground and he was apocalyptically angry.   Normally that would scare Laura but she couldn't stop laughing.

Chick turned to glare at her and she pressed a hoof over her muzzle but seeing such a grouchy expression on his very pink, cute pony face just made her splutter and start laughing again.   Though not quite as loudly as that first outburst.

With exaggerated care he placed his helmet on the ground next to the bike and turned around as Buttercup emerged from the forest.  She paused for a moment to wipe one of her hind hooves against the grass before trotting over to them.

"Hi, Chick!   Hi, uh…"

"Laura", both Chick and Laura said.

"Right.   Hi, Laura."

Chick snorted and asked, "What are you doing here, Buttercup?"

"Wolf Kick", blurted Laura.

Buttercup's muzzle wrinkled in disgust.   "Nope!   That was lame."

Laura had to agree, but most of the Equestrian-style names she'd heard so far sounded a bit daft.   "Buttercup then?" she asked.

Buttercup grimaced and nodded slightly, "Yeah, I guess."

Chick huffed, glared at her and asked again, "What are you doing here?"

She fluffed her wings, sat up on her hindquarters and tapped her hooves together.   After a moment she sheepishly looked away and whined, "Weeell…   I kinda sorta talked Aunt Twinkie into helping me stow away."

"Twinkle.   Of course", Chick grumped.   "Do your parents know about this?"

Buttercup grinned a little and said, "They do by now.   But it's frosty, they were gonna send me with you anyway, right?"

Chick just glared at her.

"Aww… c'mon.   We're just killin' two birds with one stone, right?  It's efficient!   You like that, don't you?   I get to Beantown-", she gestured with a wing at Laura, "-she gets to Beantown, you get to Beantown.   Everypony's happy."

He sighed and rubbed a hoof across his face while muttering something in French that Laura couldn't make out but that sounded rather self-pitying.   He looked up at Buttercup and said, "No, I am not happy.   I don't know how you squeezed onto my trailer but it's too dangerous for you to ride back there.   How did you even fit?"

"It's okay, we set up a bed n stuff.   It's kinda cramped but-"

"You what?!"

Chick stomped off toward the trailer with Buttercup trailing after him, her wings fluttering anxiously.   Laura carefully hopped down from the sidecar and trotted back there as well.   Chick tugged a tie-down free and then lifted the blue tarp out of the way.   It was kind of ingenious how Twinkle had set it up; a few planks had been laid over boxes on either side of the trailer to create a hollow in the middle and then other plastic boxes and trash bags had been piled on top.   Though she'd never seen the contents of the trailer before, Laura guessed that Twinkle must have tried to keep the profile of the load the same.   The hide-away had some pillows and a set of saddlebags stuffed into it, leaving just enough room for a small pony to curl up.

"Buttercup?"

"Yes, Chick?"

"Where are my cases of wine and crate of smoked muskie?" Chick asked with forced calm.

Buttercup kicked a hoof against the parking lot surface and muttered, "Back at the farm, duh."

Chick angrily snapped the tarp back down and turned to yell at the filly, which made Laura want to both restrain him and run away.  Torn between fight-and-flight she just stood there with her ears pinned back while Buttercup crouched and spread her wings.

Fortunately, he got a grip on himself.   After a heavy breath and a snort he growled, "Look, I understand, though Twinkle should have known better."   He jabbed a hoof at the cart.   "But now…   Now I have orders I can't fill.   Sure we'll all get to Beantown but I'll have nothing to sell when I get there!"   His voice grew louder, creeping up into a yell, "I've already paid your family for the wine and fish!   I'll lose money on this trip!"   He lapsed into French for a few moments before falling silent while rubbing a hoof against his forehead.

Buttercup whined, "I'm sorry."

Laura pushed through her anxiety to take a few steps forward and rest a hoof on Chick's leather-jacketed shoulder while he panted after his outburst.   It served him right for trying to sneak in and out of the farm without really thinking about Buttercup's feelings.  Small wonder that she'd taken matters into her own… hooves.   He was overreacting to losing a little profit and yelling certainly wouldn't sort anything out.   Still, this was partly her fault even though she'd had no real choice in the matter.

"I'm sorry as well.   If I hadn't insisted on taking Buttercup's place this wouldn't have happened."   She patted Chick's shoulder while Buttercup gave her a hopeful look.   "So, what are we going to do now?   Are we going to take her home?"

Buttercup squeaked, "No!"

"I can't."   Chick shook his head and waved a hoof at Buttercup, "We're already well behind the convoy and if she is coming with us then we don't have much time before the fall trip to Alexandria leaves.  Three, maybe four days.   I have some stuff here that needs to go there as well-", he frowned at Buttercup, "-so long as you didn't remove those boxes."

She rapidly shook her head and said, "Nope, nope, just the wine and… oh yeah!"   Buttercup ducked under the trailer's tarp and hauled out a small set of black-and-white cowhide saddlebags, dropping them onto the cracked tarmac.   After nosing around in them for a moment she pulled out a plastic resealable bag and held it out to Chick, gripping it with the feathers at the tip of her wing.

Laura blinked in surprise.   This must be some kind of pegasus magic similar to what she and Chick could do with their hooves.   Feathers instead of fingers.   It seemed like pegasi and unicorns both had a leg-up on earth ponies; flight and easily being able to hold things?  And what did earth ponies have?   Growing food.   Wonderful…

Inside the bag were a couple of small gemstones and a plain gold band.   "Aunt Twinkie said to give you this, to make up for the wine and stuff.   She's gonna hang onto it for you and you can pick 'em up in the spring."

Chick reached out to take the bag and glanced at the contents.  "Good, well, thank you.   This helps."   He tucked it into a jacket pocket while Buttercup nodded and held up another peace-offering in her feathers.

"Want an apple?   I'm starving 'cause I had to skip breakfast so I wouldn't explode on the ride here."

Laura was hungry as well, it must be past noon and the delicious muffins were a distant memory.   So they sat together for a few minutes on the icky-feeling parking lot and munched on Honeycrisp apples that came from a wild orchard near the Oak Point farms.  Laura was a little bothered when both of them ate the cores and when she was going to throw hers away Buttercup snatched it and scarfed it down.

Chick chuckled at her disgusted expression and said, "We're ponies now, Laura.   You'll get used to it.   Now, I'm going to go into the store and look for a tent because the one I have is too small for all of us.   You wait here and-"

"I wanna come!" Buttercup yelped, spraying a little apple juice.  "There might be wolves and badgers and stuff.   I can watch your back!"  She crammed the last chunk of apple core into her mouth and chomped on it.

"No, there'll be nothing like that.   It will just be spiders and mice."   Despite his confident words he trotted around to the side of his motorcycle and pulled his aluminium baseball bat out of its holster.

Buttercup trotted after him, flapping her wings.   "Hey!   What's that for then?   I'm totally coming too and you can't stop me!"

He dropped the bat from his mouth, caught it with a hoof and said, "This is for just in case."

"Actually, I'd like to come along as well", Laura piped up.   She could look for a new cardigan, though she'd keep this one and have it washed.   It was her last connection to old-Laura after all and she wanted to wear it when she reunited with Thomas.

Chick sighed and said, "Okay, fine.   Buttercup, you stay with her and fight off any packs of rabid mice, alright?   I'll find a tent and we'll meet back here in half an hour."

Buttercup saluted with a hoof and barked, "Sir, yes sir!"

Laura giggled behind a hoof and wondered if the filly had been spending time with Master Corporal Snodgrass.

Chick rolled his eyes and rooted around in one of the motorcycle's metal cases for an LED torch with head straps.   Laura blinked and nodded.  That was a good idea, as there wouldn't be any lights on in the shop after all.   She trotted over to the sidecar and dug out her own head torch and tugged it over her ears.   Hopefully, the batteries were still okay — perhaps they should look for some in the shop?  How many years would batteries last, sitting on a shelf?

They walked over to the loading docks where one of the doors had plainly been broken open and then secured with a bit of rope.   Once it was untied, Chick shoved it open on squeaky hinges and switched on his torch.   Laura fumbled with hers until she remembered to use her hoof's magic to feel for and press the little rubber button.

"Follow me through the office and we'll split up in the store."   He walked slowly into the darkness, waving his lamp around, with Buttercup and then Laura following behind.

Their hoofsteps echoed inside a large loading dock, where plastic-wrapped pallets of boxes lay scattered around in disarray.   Some of them were torn open and surrounded by empty packages, signs of a previous visitor.   Spider webbing and dust covered everything in a thin film that Laura had no desire to disturb, and the air was still and musty smelling.   There was a little washed-out light from the open door behind them but without the torches they would have been stumbling around in the dark.

Chick led them into a corridor that had a few office doors.   He stopped several times to wave his baseball bat and clear away webs that stretched between the walls.   They crept past a cork board of yellowed memos and a calendar that was open on "MAY - 2015".   At the end of the hall was another door that had been kicked open, with splintered hoofprints on it, that led into the store's main hall.  There was a little more light thanks to the store's front wall of windows but they'd come out near the back of the store and it was very dim.   And rank.  There was still a strong odour of mould but now it had an unpleasant sour note added that vaguely reminded Laura of salad or fruit rotting in the bottom drawer of a fridge.   Their hooves clattered loudly on the tile floor until Chick brought them to a halt.   Laura's ears twitched around, trying to focus on a symphony of loud splats caused by water dripping from the roof far overhead.

"Okay, I'll be over there", Chick pointed with his cobwebby baseball bat, "Shout if you need me."

After he trotted off, Laura sighed and turned to Buttercup and asked, "What would you like to look for?"

"Comics!"   She grinned and turned to trot away between displays of men's clothing, "They should be over this way if the store's like the one in Saint John."

Laura followed the filly's happily wagging tail, keeping her head up so that the torch would throw its light far in front of them.   She glanced at the tall racks of clothing that they walked past and sighed unhappily.   There was no point in looking for a new cardi in this mess.   Everything was covered in dust, spiders, mould and who knew what else.   Hopefully, Chick would have better luck with the tent.

They found long magazine racks where Buttercup said they would be and fortunately none of the dripping or shallow puddles had soaked the area.   Though the comics and magazines had suffered a bit, they were mostly intact with just humidity rippled pages and a musty smell.   And spider webs, of course.   The shelf of comics faced the entrance of the store and there was just enough light for Buttercup to see by, which meant Laura was free to use her torch.   She idly poked around with fashion magazines that were two decades and a change in species behind the times.   Laura wasn't a fashion maven by any means, she favoured simple, cute and comfortable outfits, but unfortunately the Arts magazines were on an upper shelf and she couldn't reach them.

There was a muffled thump from the other end of the store where Chick had gone, like something soft and heavy being dropped on the floor.   Laura's ears twitched but there was nothing more aside from the constant drip, drip, drip of water.   She tucked TeenVOGUE neatly back onto the shelf and then walked towards the end of the aisle, curious about what he was doing.

"Merde!"

There was a loud crash of metal shelves and Laura froze, standing halfway in the aisle with her ears flat and her eyes wide open.  There was a deep, guttural growl that made her hair stand on end!  It sounded like a big-cat was loose in the shop!   There were scurrying sounds followed by more French curses and metallic crashing.   Laura opened her mouth to call out when she spotted something large running in a weird, humping lope down the aisle towards her, something brown and furry.   It's high-pitched chitters and brightly glowing eyes sent a chill up her spine and her hooves slipped on the smooth tile as she tried to frantically back up into the magazine aisle.

The animal didn't take any notice of her but as it loped past Buttercup screamed loudly and shot past Laura as she slipped and crashed into the magazine rack.   The little mare was a bloodthirsty blur as she lashed out with one of her hind legs and kicked the creature hard, sending it flying under a bin-table of five-dollar DVDs.

Buttercup landed on the floor, head down and glaring under the table while Laura sprawled out on the floor behind her.   There was a bestial squeal, a scrabbling of claws and more chittering as the creature fled.   Buttercup snorted loudly and stomped her hooves, just to make sure.

"Laura?   Buttercup?   Are you okay down there?"

Buttercup threw her head back and called out in a high-pitched voice, "Yeaaah!   Just a raccoon."

With a gasp, Laura flailed her hooves and struggled to get up.   Just a raccoon?!   That thing was gigantic!   Had the Event done something to them as well?

Her head swam as Buttercup turned around and held out a hoof.  "Y'alright?"

"Y-yes."

She took the filly's hoof, struggled to get her own under herself and then leaned against the magazine rack while she caught her breath.   Her right bum cheek felt a little sore but she was more frightened than hurt.

Buttercup grinned at her in the torch-light, bounced and said, "Pretty cool, right?   Did you see when I kicked it?"

"Yes, I… umm…"   Laura couldn't help smiling at the delight on Buttercup's face.   She blew a loose strand of orange mane off of her face and said, "Thank you for saving me."

"You're welcome!"

Buttercup pranced back over to the comic books, sat down and went back to sorting through them as if nothing had happened.

Laura swallowed, panned her torch around and nervously asked, "You don't suppose there are more of them in here, do you?"

"I dunno.   Maybe?"   Buttercup sounded hopeful as she tossed another comic into the discard pile.

A few minutes later there was another muffled thump from where Chick was and then the sound of something heavy being dragged.   Laura turned and saw Chick's silhouette against the shop window as he backed out of a distant aisle dragging a long sack with his teeth.  He stopped to get a better grip on it and began dragging it towards them.   Laura angled her head so that the torch's light wouldn't be in his eyes.   It only took a few minutes before he arrived and spat out the drawstring from a large, blue sack that was no doubt stuffed full of tent.

"Hi."

"Hi, Laura.   Are you both alright?   It didn't bite you or anything?"  He panned his torch between Laura and Buttercup, brows furrowed in concern.

"No, we're fine."   Aside from being terrified and fed up with filthy stores full of monsters.

Buttercup hopped up onto her hooves and said, "I kicked its ass, Chick!   You should've seen it!"   She grinned and bounced a little while flaring her wings.   "It was going for Laura but I jumped out, ambushed it and POW, I bucked it off of her and it ran the fuck awa-"

"Hey!   Hey, no swearing."   Chick growled and shook a hoof at her.  "I promised Mama that when you ride with me I'd look after you like she would.   So no swearing."

"You swear all the time!"

He chuckled and said, "True, but I swear in French and that makes it classy.   So, you're both okay then?  Nothing we need a first aid kit for?"

Laura was going to say that she was fine again but Buttercup pointed at her and said, "I'm great but she fell over."

"Oh?"

Embarrassed, Laura waved a hoof and protested, "Yes, but no harm done."

Chick looked her over again, nodded and said, "Okay.   I found us a tent so if you're finished in here then let's go, eh?"

While he picked up the drawstring of the tent in his mouth, Laura had a last look around at the filthy stock and sighed.   There was nothing in here she even wanted to touch, let alone wear, so she was stuck with the same old cardigan.   Maybe she could wash it in a creek or something when they stopped for the evening.   She followed behind Chick and Buttercup as they retraced their route to the loading bays, swinging her torch around and keeping her ears up in case the raccoon wanted an encore.

Her nostrils flared as she walked outside, drinking in the fresh pine and ocean-scented air.

After Chick carefully secured the door he dragged the tent over to the motorcycle.  His muscular, horse-like body making light work of it, despite the tent being large and heavy looking.   He dropped it near the sidecar and then called to Buttercup, who was stuffing her saddlebags into the trailer.

"Hey, Buttercup."

"Yeah?"

Laura reached up to her head to fumble with the switch for her head-torch.

"Come here for a moment."

Chick half-climbed into the sidecar to dig around in his saddlebag while Buttercup trotted over.

"Yeah?   What?"

He climbed down with a bristle hairbrush in his mouth, spat it out into his hoof and handed it to the patiently waiting filly.   "Here.  I'm going to secure the tent while you brush Laura off."

"Brush me off?"   Laura turned to look at her right side where she'd landed on the floor and saw that she and her cardigan were caked in a layer of grey dust, spiderwebs and beetle corpses.   She shrieked and sidled sideways, dancing a little on her hooves.   "Oh my God!  Oh my God!"

Buttercup giggled.   "Hold still, I'll get it off."

Laura's skin crawled and she trembled as she was enthusiastically, but not gently, brushed clean by Buttercup.   Every few strokes she waved a wing to blow the horrid cloud of dust and insect parts away.  Meanwhile, Chick struggled to get the big, blue tent bag secured to the motorcycle.   He shoved it up across the back of the sidecar and the motorcycle's rear mudguard and then lashed it in place with some elastic cord.

He walked over and asked, "Are you ready?   I want to get out of here and away from the ocean before nightfall.   It's not much further to a safe campsite."

"All done!"   Buttercup handed him the filthy brush and sneezed loudly.

Laura certainly didn't feel clean but she said, "Thank you", anyway.

Chick looked at the filthy brush and wrinkled his muzzle.   "Eugh…  Should have grabbed another one while we were in the store.   Oh well, it will wash out."   He tucked the handle into a jacket pocket and said, "Okay, everypony mount up."

He walked to the back of the trailer with Buttercup while Laura shuddered and gave herself a little shake that knocked some more dust loose.   Adjusting the grotty cardigan on her back she walked to the sidecar while feeling itchy and twitchy all over.   Once Buttercup was settled in the trailer Chick went through the kick-start dance and then climbed up onto the saddle.   Laura sat quietly while he fiddled with the levers and got the bike moving.   She was feeling a bit queasy from the dirt that felt embedded in her furry coat and jittery from the shock they'd had in the store.   A cup of tea, a biscuit, and an hour or two in front of the telly would have been lovely right now.   After a long bath of course.   She wished they hadn't stopped.   That she hadn't bothered going inside.   It felt like all the cheerfulness she'd gained from visiting the Oak Point farm was gone.

She settled down into the seat as they crossed the parking lot and she hoped that wherever they were camping tonight would be less depressing than this ghost town.







"It used to be what?"

"A fireworks store."   He shut the engine off and cheerfully said, "Animals avoid it.  I guess they don't like the smell or something."

Laura sighed.   Their camping spot was not exactly beautiful but at least the mix of pine and pale birch trees that surrounded the gravel parking lot hadn't burned when the store went up.   There wasn't much left of the large shack — a concrete foundation with a few blackened boards, and warped and rusting metal roof panels scattered around the gravel parking area.  Which was being colonised by scrub grass.

Chick started untying the tent after sending Buttercup into the woods to look for firewood.   Laura watched the small, yellow pegasus flutter about between the trees, diving down now and then to scoop up fallen branches to fly over to their campsite.   She walked over to where Chick was struggling with one of the elastic cords and asked, "Is there anything I can do?"

Not that she had any experience with camping.   Sure, she had stayed in a yurt once but other than travelling in the caravan with Thomas her experience with 'roughing it' was pretty limited.   He let go of the cord so that he could talk and grunted in annoyance at it as it snapped back against the tent bag.

He glanced at her and said, "Ehm, actually I was thinking maybe you'd like to get cleaned up?"

"Oh?"   Her ears perked up and she hopefully asked, "Is there a stream nearby?"

"No.   Well, there is but you'd have to wade through a marsh to get to it."   He hopped down from the bike and led her to the trailer where, after a bit of rooting around under the tarp, he dragged a plastic Jerry can with a spout to the edge.   He jumped down and said, "I have a washcloth you can use.   It's not drinking water but you could at least get clean, eh?"

"Yes, thank you."   It was not the steamy shower that she craved or a tub of scented bubbles to sink into, but she could make do.

While the others set up the tent, chopped wood, and got a fire going, Laura hid behind the trailer's bulk and undressed.   She draped her cardigan over the trailer's side and got to work on her filthy hide; soaking the cloth, wiping down, rinse, repeat.   It was awkward, twisting and turning to try and wipe off her sides, back and various too-many legs but the grippy-hoof that Chick had taught her helped.   The cloth still managed to get away from her and land in the dirt once or twice.   Washing like this was a strangely intimate thing to do out in the open.   It was almost a shame that it wasn't still raining as that would have made it easier.   The breeze was a bit chilly on her damp skin but not unbearably so.   She found Chick's hairbrush and gave it a thorough rinsing before working it through her mane and tail, cleaning out the last of the spider webs.  Her garish mane was at least made of thicker hair than when she was human, so there were fewer tangles to tug out.

It took over half of the water jug but she finally felt reasonably clean when she was done.   The cloth was a bit grey despite soaking and wringing it out several times.   She draped it over the edge of the trailer and with a sour grimace she inspected her filthy cardigan.   There was no way to wash it and the thought of putting it on made her skin crawl.

Laura sighed and muttered, "When in Rome", before stepping out from behind the trailer and slowly walking over to the campsite.

They'd set it up between the demolished shack and the road on a flat area of earth that was overgrown with tall grass and weeds.   Chick and Buttercup had trampled down a swath of it to expose a ring of stones where he had just started a campfire.   His saddlebags with the pots and pans were sitting off to one side and when she saw them her tummy grumbled.

"Hey, lady!" chirped Buttercup, "You finished over there?"

"Umm… it's 'Laura' and yes."

"Great!"   Buttercup leapt up into the air and quickly flew over to the back of the trailer.

Chick sat up from where he'd been blowing into the bottom of a smoking pyramid of wood and gazed at her.   The weight of his eyes made her flush and her tail twitched and tucked down tighter against her rump.   His nostrils flared and he blinked, seemed to realise that he'd been staring and quickly went back to tending the fire.

"You look good… cleaner."

Her ears flicked down and then back up again and she nodded.   "I feel better, thank you.   I'm afraid I used up quite a lot of your water."

"Bienvenue.   Uh… I mean, no problem."

She chuckled nervously and sidled around to the windward side of the fire and sat on the flattened grass.   "I do know a little French."

"You do?"   He carefully placed another slightly damp branch in the flames and gave her a curious look.

"Yes.   Thomas and I stayed in Quebec City — that's where he proposed — and I've done the Grand Tour.  Spain, France, Italy.   I've picked up a few words.   Enough to order thé au lait et un croissant or to ask where the toilettes pour femmes are."   Her pronunciation was stilted, not at all like how the words rolled fluidly off of his tongue.

He chuckled and quietly said, "C'est bon."

Buttercup buzzed past clutching her pillows from the trailer and dove into the tent.   A few seconds later she zipped by again, heading back to the trailer.

Laura looked up at the clouds that were turning an orange-pink as the sun set.   The sky was mostly clear now and they should have a wonderful view of the stars once they came out.   That was one of the things that had struck her after she'd returned.   The night skies were so much brighter and clearer.   Crickets and frogs sang in the forest while the fire snapped and made fluttering sounds as the flames spread and took hold.

Buttercup trotted up to the fire and dumped her black-and-white saddlebags on the grass.   "Okay, I'm ready."

"Oh?"

"She's making us dinner tonight."   Chick stood up and unhooked a pot from his saddlebags, passing it to Buttercup who started digging around in her own bags.   He also produced a knife, plate, some bowls, and his aluminium bottle of magically sterile water.

"Oh, well thank you, Buttercup.   What are we having?"

Buttercup waved a hoof at a potato, two carrots, an onion and a plastic Tupperware container with something greenish in it.   She grinned and said, "Silage stew.   My mama taught me how to cook so I'm gonna make sure we have something good to eat, not whatever Chicky was gonna throw together."   Chick snorted at that but she ignored him and assured them, "Silage stew looks kinda gross but it's great.   Really!"

With nothing else to do Laura lay down on the cooling ground, tucked her hooves under her chest and stared into the fire while they fixed dinner.   The filly chopped vegetables for the pot while Chick tended the fire, first working it down to a bed of flaming coals, then throwing a few more branches on, and setting up a metal trivet over it.  Buttercup pried open the Tupperware and Laura's nose was assaulted by the reek of something sour and fermented.   She tipped a lump of something that looked like soggy lawn clippings onto the vegetables and then poured in water from Chick's bottle.

Laura fanned her muzzle with a hoof and gasped, "What on earth is that?"

"Sour silage!" came Buttercup's cheerful reply.

"Yes, but, what is it?"

Chick bit the pot handle and slid it onto the fire.

"It's grass and stuff", Buttercup said and grabbed salt and pepper shakers, one in each wing-tip.  She liberally shook them over the pot.   "You heap it up and let it sit for a while.  There's a few ways to do it, and the sour silage kind tastes like pickles if you do it right."

Laura felt her stomach twist at the thought.   So it really was lawn clippings.   Compost.   Maybe she'd skip dinner tonight.

Chick laughed at the look on her face and said, "Wait until you taste it.   It really is delicious and, like those apple cores, it's good for us ponies.   You'll see."

She wrinkled her nose and muttered, "Well… alright."   She'd certainly eaten some queer things when she travelled, so she'd try to keep an open mind about it.

"Hey, Laura?"   Buttercup dropped her stirring spoon onto the plate and asked, "Why do you have a funny accent?"

"I'm from England."

"Really?   That's an island on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, right?"

"Yes, it is.   My fiance and I were on a vacation here in Canada when…"   Laura shrugged and felt her ears move on their own to echo it.

"Oh, okay.   Sorry."   Buttercup stood up to give the pot a stir.

"Sorry?   There's nothing for you to be sorry about."   Much as she was disgusted by the ingredients, the smell coming from the pot was making her mouth water.

Buttercup sat down again and said, "S'just, you seemed kinda sad.  Whenever I ask somepony about what it was like before they're either sad or too happy, like, fake happy.   Mama said to not pester anypony about it, but I've always wondered about stuff.   Like, what was it like living in cities full of billions of people or what did pepperoni taste like?"

Laura glanced at Chick, but he seemed quite happy to zone out and stare into the fire while they chatted.   He looked tired.

"Well…   I'm not upset if you want to talk about it.   Living in a big city is ironically rather lonely since when you crowd people together like that they do their best to ignore one another.   And pepperoni mostly just tastes like salt, garlic and fennel."   She paused while Buttercup nodded, but she didn't seem to have any more questions at the moment.   Laura went on, "I am sad that I probably won't see my home or my family again but my fiance is in Beantown and that gives me hope.  Something to look forward to."

"Yeah, Aunt Twinkie told me.   Guess that's why you're in a rush to get there?   I'd be pretty eager if I had a hot stud waiting to give me a pony ride!"   Buttercup snickered and waggled her ears in much the same way someone might raise and lower their eyebrows in a suggestive way.

Laura blushed and snorted slightly in surprise.   Buttercup seemed like an impish urchin, with her small size and comic books, but how old was she?   Teenage?   Old enough to make saucy comments like that, and Mama Bun was fine with sending her on a long journey, so she must be considered a responsible adult.

Sort of responsible anyway.

"Well, ah, you're certainly eager to get to Beantown as well.  You'll be going on to Alexandria after that, right?"

"Yeah, to learn cloud punching."

"What?"

"Weather manipulation.   Back home we only do the basic stuff that Mistral taught me.   Things she learned from one of the books.   For more advanced stuff I need somepony to show me the right way to do it, watch me and tell me what I'm doing wrong, and also how to coordinate a bigger team."   She stood up to stir and said, "That's what my folks want me to learn and bring back to the farm but I also wanna take combat training."

Combat training?   Laura winced and fought to keep a pleasant smile on her face.   Although it made sense that the petite pegasus would be interested in that sort of thing, given how she had reacted to the raccoon, and if her story about how she'd earned her cutie mark was true.

"They teach that in Alexandria?"

Buttercup nodded and stirred the greenish stew, pressing a chunk of potato against the side of the pot to see if it was done.   "Yup.   I figure since it's the biggest town, Alexandria has gotta have an army or at least guards.   I'm sure somepony there does combat training so I'm signing up for that too.   Mama would ground me if she found out, but we gotta be ready if somepony attacks the farm."  She clucked her tongue and said, "I also wanna meet other ponies, hang out, go on dates, y'know?"

She slurped a little soup off of the spoon and nodded.   "Ok, it's ready!"

Mama Bun probably had her fingers… hooves… crossed, hoping that her daughter would find a husband.   Laura's mum had been delighted to meet Thomas and had quickly gone from 'find someone nice' to 'give me grandkids', even before he'd proposed!   She sniffled and shook her head.   It would be grandfoals now, if she ever saw mum again.

Chick dragged the pot off of the fire and served up three bowls of steaming stew along with chunks torn off of a loaf of bread.   There was no table and no utensils, so she followed their lead and placed her bowl on the ground so she could dip the bread and lean down to eat the sour stew.   The root vegetables were still crunchy and could have done with another half-hour on the boil but she was surprised at how flavourful it was.   It reminded her of a sweet-and-sour dish she'd had in India, only much less spicy and sweet.   The grass was a bit chewy but her strong, flat teeth made short work of it.   She passed on seconds and star gazed while Chick and Buttercup polished it off.

Buttercup sprawled on her back in the grass waved a hoof in the air and announced, "I cooked, so you guys have to clean!"   After which she burped loudly.

Giggling, Laura said, "That's fair."

She gathered up the knife, spoon and the pot to carry over to the trailer, while Chick piled the plate and bowls into a stack.   He balanced them on one hoof while doing a three-legged walk, a bit like a waiter.

He gave them to Laura after she'd rinsed the pot.  He yawned and mumbled, "We should get some sleep."

Laura yawned, hiding her mouth behind a crooked foreleg and then went back to rinsing off the bowls.   "Should someone stay up and keep watch?"   There could be more gigantic raccoons, wolves or other animals lurking in the dark woods.

He shook his head and started walking back to the tent.   "No, as I said, animals avoid this place and we're far enough from the ocean that it's safe."

"What is it about the ocean, anyway?"

He blinked and looked at her in confusion, "Hmm?"

"You've said a few times that it's bad to be near water… near the ocean."

"Oh, well…"   He seemed reluctant to discuss it but sighed and went on, "There are things that live in the ocean."

"Things?   Like mermaids?"   She'd seen enough crazy magic in the last few days that it wouldn't have surprised her if he said 'yes'.

"No.   Terrible things," he grumbled before gently prodding Buttercup with a hoof.   "Come on sleepy head, grab your saddlebags and get into the tent before you doze off."

She grunted and rolled over onto her belly before whining, "What did you call me?"

"'Sleepy head'.   Come on or no bedtime story for you."

They shambled into the tent and Chick zipped the door closed before struggling out of his jacket and flopping down onto his sleeping bag.   The saddlebags ended up in the middle of the large dome tent, with the mares on the left side and Chick on the right.   Laura was grateful that one of them had laid out her little sleeping bag and she slipped inside to curl up.   The trampled down grass beneath the tent was not a soft mattress but that was not going to keep her awake.

"Hey, what about my story?" Buttercup sleepily complained from where she lay on her pillows.

Chick snorted.   "Go to sleep."

"Aww."