//------------------------------// // Chapter 59: Riverview // Story: Pandemic: What you are Meant to Be // by Halira //------------------------------// The drive to Riverview took a while. After getting off the interstate they had to take a lot of old back roads to reach the place. The family glued themselves to the windows as they got their first look at their new home. Eventually they saw the sign saying Welcome to Riverview which had metal set of number panels marked Population:120. The population count had a fourth metal panel for digits that sat blank and looked more worn than the other three panels. Someone had attached a bright poster under the metal panels saying More coming soon! with a smiling sun drawn on it. Remedy appreciated the enthusiasm for the coming ponies. However, between being a night pony, and the ongoing shadow of Sunset Shimmer's legacy, the sun seemed a much less welcoming image. It was not the maker of this poster's fault though; whoever that happened to be was just trying to be welcoming. Perhaps she would suggest to the maker if she met them to add a smiling moon. The night ponies would feel welcome seeing that. As they rolled into the town they saw a large host of older houses right away with faded paint and overgrown yards. For sale signs dotted most of them, and many of the signs were faded with age. There were a few houses that had fresher for sale signs and looked like they had very recently gotten attention paid to their yards. The first human they saw was actually trying to give a fresh paint job to one of the vacant houses for sale. He paused in his task and waved as the camper drove by. There were of course houses that were clearly still occupied. Well maintained buildings with gardens, patio furniture and various knick-knacks across their porches. These often had US flags proudly displayed, and on occasion would be flanked by the old Confederate battle flag-something not uncommon in the south. Cars could be seen sitting in driveways, and a larger number of pickup trucks. One pair of houses that were clearly both occupied seemed to have a bit of a rivalry going; as one house brazenly displayed flags and memorabilia of the University of South Carolina Gamecocks, while the neighboring house did in equal measure displayed the same types of things for the Clemson Tigers. "Boo Cocks! Go Tigers!" Both Roger and Wild shouted in unison, with the two breaking out into laughter right after as the rest of the family rolled their eyes. "Go Cocks! Go! Fight! Win! Kick ass!" Rosetta shouted right after with a grin. "Heresy! I think I must disown my daughter!" Roger yelled back playfully. "I thought Rosetta was a lesbian now," Jose said with complete innocence. "Jose!" Jean scolded as the twins broke into laughter and the three ponies did their best to contain their own snickers. Remedy smiled. Playful family banter like this was not unheard of between her parents and her growing up, but it seemed far more common with Rosetta's family, and it was something she enjoyed. They drove into what looked like the commercial district. Here too sat many vacant shops with for sale signs and for lease signs everywhere. Most of which looked like they had not been occupied in a very long time. The architecture was like stepping back in time to something out of the 1950s. With brick buildings built close together, with vacant large storefront windows. On the brick old murals and names of shops, faded so much that they were nearly impossible to make out were present. A few could be made out though; Remedy made out Woolworths on one larger building, Revco on another, and Al's Auto Shop on window of yet another. An older abandoned gas station also clearly had a turtle on its rusted metal sign, something she thought might be a very old Shell logo. This was truly a place that seemed the remnant of a lost time half a century before or more. The town itself was effectively a museum, and not one by choice. As they drove deeper into the business district they came upon shops that were still occupied. They were all huddled together in one area as if banding together against the encroachment of vacancy beyond. There was a corner store, a gas station, a small bank, a fishing and tackle shop, a pair of restaurants, a small post office, and what looked like the town hall, along with a few harder to determine businesses. Here is where they finally started seeing more humans. The humans in turn immediately all took note of the non local camper coming down the street, and stared as Roger pulled it into a public parking lot. "Time to meet the locals and get some lunch," Roger said as he switched the engine off. The twins excitedly rushed the camper door to be the first ones out. "Boys! Don't take off once you get outside, we stick together. Got it?" Jean shouted at them. "Yes, Mama!" The twins shouted in unison as they all but tumbled out the camper door together. "Time to face our future human neighbors," Rosetta said as she got to her hooves and did a quick flap of her wings to loosen them up. "There's supposed to be one pony resident here already, though I forgot what type. So it isn't like these humans have never seen ponies at all in person. Still probably their first exposure to night ponies though," Remedy said as she joined her lover. Wild Growth was peaking out the back window of the camper at the score of curious onlookers. She seemed to be developing a sudden case of shyness as she looked at all the humans staring at the camper. "Come on Wild, time to come see the town. You aren't going to find any houses hiding in the back of this camper," Rosetta called to her sister. "I know, it's just that its a bunch of unfamiliar humans and no ponies. It feels a little intimidating," Wild said as she pulled herself from the window. "These humans want us here, just remember that," Remedy said reassuringly. The ponies filed out of the camper last behind all the human members of the family. Immediately on exit Remedy's ears picked up the sounds of excited gasps and chatter from the humans across the way. She turned towards them and gave her best smile and waved a forehoof at them. She was happy to see a number of humans wave back with smiles on their faces. Almost as soon as they were all put of the camper they were greeted by the surprise of a small bus pulling into the parking lot with them, which caused more excited chatter from the humans. After it pulled into park and shut its engine off the door opened and six more ponies filed out of that bus as well. Most Remedy didn't know the names of, but she recognized Number Crunch and Amber. Amber and most of the others were looking around excitedly while Number Crunch adjusted with her magic a backpack that she was wearing. The other mares seemed to have all brought purses around their necks, and even the stallions had less feminine looking purses with them as well. A human Remedy recognized as one of the soldiers exited out behind them wearing his civilian clothes. "We'll get some food and mingle with the locals for a bit before we get to business. I'll cover all costs with the cards I gave you and you can be free with making purchases...within reason. You're carrying anything back that you buy. After two I'll be in town hall and then onto my tasks, so make sure any shopping you do is done before then because you have work to do as well. Got it?" Number Crunch instructed loudly to the ponies with her. "Got it, Crunchy!" Amber said gleefully. This elicited an eye-roll from the unicorn mare. Amber immediately headed over to the family and gave them all a big smile. "Hiya Phobia, Rosetta, Wild Growth, and human friends; mind if I tag along with y'all for a bit? Crunchy is kind of a stick in the mud," Amber asked with a near imperceptible flick of her tail at the unicorn. "I can hear you, Amber," Number Crunch called over. "Oh! I was talking about Robert over there. Trying to sell him on the name Crunchy," Amber said as she pointed a wing at an orange pegasus stallion who looked completely befuddled at the suggestion. Number Crunch just glared at the amber colored pegasus before shaking her head and going back to readjusting her backpack. The three ponies looked at each other and gave a collective shrug. Remedy almost suspected Tonya was spying on them since Amber was more or less Tonya's primary go to pony when she needed to delegate tasks. The only thing was there wasn't much to spy on so the idea was silly. They all turned to Roger and Jean to confirm they were alright with Amber's company. "Sure, you're welcome to tag along. Amber? Was it?" Roger asked. "Yep, just Amber. I got kind of lucky with the fur color so no pressure to change my name yet. Still need to get a cutie mark anyway," Amber said as she displayed her blank flank briefly. "No need to rush that though. I just want to enjoy myself and when it happens it happens. Whenever it does I'll think of some appropriate pony name." "We've seen you around. You seem to be a very busy pony," Jean said. "Yeah, Tonya's a real slave driver, so she keeps me busy. It's not so bad, she at least has a good sense of humor, and appreciates my sense of humor. Plus I get to feel moderately important, like an assistant manager or something. I've had way worse jobs," Amber said with a smile and a shrug. "Well, nice to meet you, Amber. I'm Jean and this is my husband Roger. These are our sons Miguel and Jose, and it seems you know our daughters and Remedy," Jean said with a smile. "Pleased to meet y'all too. So ready to go eat?" Amber asked as she looked across the street. "Yeah, can we hurry up," Jose whined. "Jose, if you don't stop being so annoying I'm going to sprout a tree up right under you and leave you stuck on top of it. Just watch me do it if you think I'm bluffing," Wild shushed her brother. "Please don't threaten your brothers, Wild. You're supposed to be the responsible adult, don't stoop down to their level," Roger chided. He then turned towards the street. "Come on, all the others went in that one restaurant, so it's going to be a bit crowded if we go in there too. We'll head over to the other one so we don't completely crowd out the locals."