The three ponies & one griffin stood at the front entrance of U1 not saying a word. The light ocean breeze blew the tuft feathers on Griz's head; Jazz's wings ruffled in a slight irritation; Dr Jamie's tail twitched ever so much as his back left hoof shuffled position. Finally, Kathryn blinked and the spell broke as Sarah & Annie's voices broke the silence.
"I asked to stay in Kathryn's RV at least for tonight. I'd like to go see the Circle tomorrow!" Annie said excitedly as she kept pace with Sarah, who carried two of Annie's new bags of clothes in her mouth. Very quickly, those standing at the entrance rearranged their faces to graciously welcome the new pony. Annie was clearly in awe of Griz but the filly warmed up to the strange creature quite quickly and they chatted as Griz led her inside. Patrick paused briefly at the entrance, sparing Jazz a look as he carried more bags of stuff inside; Jazz simply said, "Once Annie is put to bed, we'll talk."
***
Sarah & Kathryn put together a late pasta supper for everyone while Annie watched in wonder at Sarah's magic. "I wish I had been given a horn," Annie said. Kathryn didn't know what to say but Sarah sure did. "But Annie, if you had been a horn, you'd have to go into the farm's barn and empty out the poo pools every day!" The look on Annie's face made both mares laugh. Griz & Jazz had disappeared into Griz's room some time ago; Patrick and Dr Jamie were looking through all of the supplies they had scavenged on the way back.
Dinner was relatively uneventful besides the making room for Annie on the merponies' side of the table; they had to use a small wooden crate so she could be at level with the table. Kathryn & Dr Jamie were talking to Annie about the kind of inert magic she possessed as an earth-mer. She, in turn, asked about the flank marks and they told her what they knew about "cutie marks". Sarah speculated that maybe Annie's would have to do with sea plants; Kathryn determined that Annie was too young to be worrying about it for now.
After the meal, Griz & Jazz took over at clearing the table and washing dishes so Kathryn could put Annie to bed, Raea following quietly behind. As soon as they got into the RV, Kathryn instructed Annie to remove her dress and stand perfectly still so she could take some measurements for Annie's new set of wheels. After having made two sets already, Kathryn had this down to a science and it didn't take long to get all she needed, telling Annie to get ready for bed. The filly pulled out a toothbrush from her duffle bag and proceeded to use a chair to climb up onto the sink's counter and brush her teeth. Kathryn stood stunned for a moment, guiltily failing to remember the last time she brushed her own teeth! Annie didn't seem to notice Kathryn's hesitation as she finished and placed her toothbrush into a nearby cup. Finally snapping herself, Kathryn retrieved a fresh water bottle from the mini fridge and left it on the floor.
As Annie made herself comfortable in another small inflatable dingy, half full of sea water set up in the old room Eddie had once occupied, Raea jumped up onto the side bench at Annie's head. "Raea will stay with you and keep you safe. I won't be long until I come to bed too. Get some sleep; lots to do tomorrow," Kathryn said as she carefully removed Annie's mane bow and patted her head. The little filly, completely exhausted of the day's excitement, quickly fell asleep with her head partially underwater and breathing bubbles.
Kathryn returned to U1 alone carrying the measurements in her mouth, fully intending to have Annie's wheels ready for her in the morning. She had set up one of the smaller offices for this kind of work; an office with the biggest set of windows and a pair of fans facing out for ventilation. Sarah followed her into the office to lend her a horn of magic but none of the others tried to stop her or speak with her. They knew what Kathryn had in mind and knew how stubborn she could be.
***
A couple hours of work later, Sarah & Kathryn had finished Annie's new set of wheels and had left them in the room with the fans blowing to remove the stink of the PVC cement from both the room & the rig.
Quietly walking out into the common room, Jazz invited them over to the couch with a gesture of her fore leg. "You all seem like someone died," Kathryn said, trying to remove the tension with a bad joke. "That's just it, Kathy.... we almost did," came the reply from Dr Jamie.
Griz shook her head gently, the gold compass around her neck swinging with the movement. "Let's start at the beginning. Shortly after you & Patrick left to get Annie, Dr Jamie was playing around with one of your satellite radio phones." They all looked to Dr Jamie who nodded. "I was bored so I started randomly dialing old phone numbers of family members around the country. Then, on a hunch, I dialed for the operator... and I got an answer! A pony named Joseph spoke with me. And he told me an abridged version of the explanation that he got from another pony in his group who got the answers: An alien race saw magic was coming, and that it would've killed all the humans on earth, so they made a spell that saved everyone by changing them into aliens like them. And there's absolutely no going back. But they also sent everyone forward in time, so far that most people will probably never live to meet up with their relatives. They gave us lots of books and artifacts on how to use your magic you can read if you send someone to Paris, Illinois. "
The room went silent so Kathryn & Patrick could process what was being told.
Crickets could be heard from outside the open windows.
The battery powered clock from Kathryn's parent's home continued to click in the kitchen.
Finally, Kathryn spoke. "Who's going to Paris, Illinois?"
"I am," said Griz. "I'm already packed and I will be leaving tomorrow."
"So be it," whispered Kathryn as she slumped down to the floor from her sitting position and silently cried into her fore arms, for the loss of humanity and her family.