Bill and Applejack shared a look, then both quickly hustled down the hall and to the waiting desk. With his longer strides Bill reached first, sitting on the chair, looking around at the equipment in confusion.
“Wow, this stuff looks ancient, like something from Band of Brothers.”
“Hello? Anybody out there? Come on back with me!”
“Here, Bill,” Applejack said, picking up a base microphone hanging off the edge.
“Oh, great.”
Grasping the shaft, he clicked the back switch, keying the mic.
“Hello? Can you hear me?”
“Yes! Finally! I've been trying this thing for a few hours now, thought maybe I was stranded. Is this a mountie?”
“Uh, no, sadly.”
“Oh. Well, do you live nearby then? Got someone nearby to pick me up? I don’t righly know how I wound up in the woods, but no mistaking that’s where I am. There’s a four wheeler down at the base of this watchtower, but it has no go go juice and a tire is flat, so I'm stranded.”
“What should we tell him?” Bill asked Applejack.
The mare shrugged. “The truth?”
Rolling his eyes, Bill keyed the mic again. “Hey, so uh, got some good news, and some bad news.”
“Alright, friend, what’s the bad news first?”
“Well, myself and another here, are also lost. Good news is we just stumbled upon this garage only about a half hour ago, and it’s got electricity and some food stuff.”
“Oh. Well, then surely you can call for help?”
“Did you see a phone, Applejack?”
She looked around the expansive room briefly, then shook her head.
“Sorry, but we can’t seem to find a phone. Are you alone?”
“Yeah, just me. Went to sleep in my rig last night, woke up in a patch of flowers on the ground. Ain’t done nothing like that since my young buck days.”
“Yeah, we woke up in a similar fashion.”
“He said he was in some sort of watch tower?” Applejack asked.
“Oh, right, good call.” Bill keyed the mic, “hey man, you’re up in a tower, right?”
“10-4.”
Applejack raised a brow, but Bill waved her off.
“Okay, can you see what’s around you? Any other buildings? The one we’re in is a sort of tan color, faces away from a mountain in the distance. Has a lot of trees surrounding the backside.”
There was no reply for a good while, almost to the point Bill was going to radio again, but the radio came to life and the man spoke.
“No, no, I don’t see no building. I do see another truck though, probably a mile away. Covered in a tarp from the looks of it, all I can see are the wheels. Wait, yes, I do see a building, the truck is parked near a collapsed barn. I’m currently situated I’d say a mile or two from the base of that there mountain you spoke of.”
Quickly, Applejack rushed over to the other side of the desk, and opened part of the blinds and peered out the window.
“What side of the mountain is the sun goin' down fer ‘im?”
Keying the mic again, “Hey, where is the sun currently, in relation to the mountain?”
“It’s setting just behind the mountain, behind me.”
“Great!” Applejack said. “It’s doin’ tha same here, maybe at a slightly different angle, but I’d bet he’s between us and that mountain.”
Bill had keyed the mic when Applejack started talking. “Did you get all that?”
“Why sure I did. She sure has a pretty voice.”
Applejack stepped down from the window and faced the desk, Bill held the mic up to her and keyed it. “Thank ya, stranger! Ya don't sound too shabby yerself. Say, I’m Applejack, and the man with me here is Bill. What’s yer name?”
“Flint McLintock, but you pretty lady may call me Flint.”
Bill shook his head. “Wow, what a charmer.”
“He’s older, I can tell.”
“Yeah.” Bill keyed the mic, “Say Flint, you mentioned there’s a vehicle at the base of the tower? What kind is it?”
There was another pause.
“I said the lady may call me Flint, to you boy it’s McLintock.”
Applejack whistled. “Real charmer, that one.”
Bill sighed. “Right, whatever. McLintock, do you know what kind of vehicle you have there?”
“It’s one of them old military humvee's.”
One of Bill’s eyebrows raised curiously. “As in, like a U.S. Army Humvee? A Hummer?”
“That’s the one. No markings on it, just painted a dark gray. It was empty inside, looked like whoever drove it up here unloaded all their goods and took up place here in this tower. Not a lot, but food, water, a bolt action hole plugger with a nice spyglass.”
“Hole plugger and spy- oh, he means a scoped rifle,” Bill muttered to himself, then returned to the microphone.
“Alright, that’s cool. We have a little SUV at this garage, so maybe if we can figure out where you are, we can bring a spare wheel and some gas.”
“Odds of havin’ a spare wheel for that there machine are slim, son.”
Applejack smiled. “He don’t know about this place.”
“Yeah, and I’m not gonna try to explain it either.” He keyed the mic. “Don’t worry about that. Listen, we’re both tired and need to get cleaned up, investigate a few more things, will you be okay for a while?”
“Son, I’ve spent the last twenty years livin’ out of my big rig, I’ll manage. I’m just grateful that there’s some other folk around, and I aint alone.”
“Yeah, same here.” Bill released the trigger, “Say, he sounds like a human to me, unless you ponies have big rigs?”
Applejack shook her head. “Nope, unless that's a euphemism, don’t even know what that is.”
“A euphemism for wha- wait, don’t answer that. Alright then, how about the rifle he described?”
Again, she shook her head.
“Okay.” Bill keyed the mic. “Say, McLintock, just to be on the safe side, I gotta tell ya something, and it’s gonna sound weird, but you gotta trust both of us on this, alright?”
“Sure, ain’t heard no reason to not trust ya yet.”
“Great. So, if you happen to see another person, obviously handle it how you see fit, but they’re probably lost like us.”
“I’d figure as such.”
“However,” at this Bill looked at Applejack, staring her up and down, “if you see something… more equine like, but shorter, possibly brightly colored, maybe with a horn on its head or wings…” he paused, releasing the mic. “Where are the wings on ponies?”
“Their back’s”
“Right,” he keyed the mic again, “on their backs, don’t shoot. They might also be lost, like us.”
There was absolute silence for several long minutes as Applejack and Bill shared looks.
“McLintock?”
“I heard ya son, just tryin’ ta figure out what kind of sauce you might be on.”
Bill slapped his forehead, but after a poke from Applejack, he handed her the mic. She grasped it in both hooves, using one to press in the switch.
“Flint, I know it sounds weird to ya, but he’s serious. I’m not one of you humans, I’m a pony. We’ve found some weird things in this here building, and we think maybe there is another one of my kind out there.”
“Are ya sure?”
Applejack looked at Bill, who shrugged.
“We don’t know, no. But from what we’re seein’, I’d bet my right hind leg on it, and trust me, fer a farm mare like myself, that’s a high stake to lay down.”
There was more silence.
Suddenly, laughter came over the speaker. With a voice like yours, I can’t find reason to think yer lying. Besides, found a few interestin’ things up in this tower, too. Couldn’t rightly explain them, but if you’re really a four legged pony talkin’ to me, then this might make some sense.”
Applejack smiled. “Well when we get ta meet, then you’ll understand even more.”
“I can’t wait to, ma’am. I’ll leave this here chatter box on in case either of ya need me, or I need ya’ll in a hurry.”
“Sounds good, Flint. Talk to you, and hopefully see you, soon.”
“Likewise, little lady. Son, take care of that there lady. She’s got too pretty of a voice to let harm come to her.”
Bill took the mic. “Yeah, okay old man.”
Applejack snickered, but no more replies came from the radio, so Bill placed the mic down on the desk.
“Well, that now makes three,” Bill sighed, leaning back in the chair, making it groan. “So now where is number four?”
"Won't know till we find 'em, or they find us."
Bill nodded, then righted himself in the chair. “Or if there even is.”
She wanted to add more, but instead another thought came to her mind, and voiced it instead.
"Were it just me, or did he talk kinda funny?" Applejack asked.
"Yeah, pretty sure he is a truck driver."
"I know what a truck is, parts of our farm equipment got ‘em, but a driver?"
Bill shook his head. "I think you got the wrong impression. For us, a truck is like that SUV, but more slated for utility. They can be as small as that out there, to as large as a small house."
Applejack's eyes went wide. "Woah."
"Yeah,” he responded, then happened to look down at his grimy shirt, “So, I don't know about you, but I'm dirty."
The mare looked at her own mud stained coat. "Yeah, I look like a pig fresh out of his muck hole."
"Yup. A nice hot shower sounds good."
"Or a cool bath."
"Then maybe see if there are any clean clothes around."
"I'd like to find some hair bands, my mane and tail got a mind of 're own when not bound."
"Gonna need to find some shoes, or boots, if we are gonna go looking for this guy later on."
"I'd love to find a hat. I feel naked."
"You are naked, which is another topic for another time."
Both broke out into righteous laughter. Slowly, they began to calm down, then look at each other.
Then Bill glanced down the hall.
So did Applejack.
A heartbeat, then two, and both jumped into action, making for the only bathroom as fast as they could.
—-------
The bathroom door opened, Bill, naked except for a white towel around his waist, looked around the room briefly, before spotting Applejack sitting on the floor, pouting, forelegs crossed over her chest.
“I know I joked about it earlier, but I’m glad to know a pony pouting is, indeed, adorable.”
She glowered at him. “Yer just lucky I didn’ have my lasso.”
Another reason she missed her hat so desperately.
“Or maybe it’s because I actually work out twice a week and am not an easy pushover. Anyway, the bathroom's all yours. I found some towels under the sink, and there’s something else I think you’ll be happy to see.”
With that, he left her bathroom door open, walking back into his room. She heard his bathroom door close with a gentle click.
“Stupid human, don’t he know any manners? Like, ladies first, or anythin’?”
Still grumbling to herself, Applejack stood up, then trotted into the still steamy bathroom. This time, she was able to actually study it closer than her initial exploration of the doors themselves.
Unlike the bland, tan walls of both rooms, the bathroom was actually pink. Not bright like Pinkie’s coat, but if her bubbly friend had been left in the sun for years and began to fade. The tiles were the same, with white squares mixed in to throw off the constant flood of pink.
Even the plumbing was pink, which caused a chill to run down the mare’s spine. The sink counter, which sported two pink sinks, was a dull bleached stained wood with four doors, and the counter top was white. Above the sinks was a currently steamed up large mirror that went from wall to wall, and almost up to the ceiling, leaving only a small gap for 4 hanging light fixtures to come out and hang there brightening the room.
The opposite wall housed a walk in shower, a cheap curtain rod and vinyl curtain, the only thing separating it from the rest of the bathroom. No tub, she was sad to see, but she could do with a shower.
Off to the side was a pink toilet, the seat left up.
Applejack’s brow twitched for some reason, but she let it go for now.
First thing was first, she walked over and locked Bill’s door from her side. Not that she expected anything untoward from him; it was more out of reflex. Having two other siblings in her home, if that door was ever unlocked, it was sure as all else they’d be in there while she was trying to bathe, or use the potty.
Next, she opened the first cabinet door, revealing multiple toiletries, but no towels, so she grabbed a shampoo bottle at random (they were all in that weird language, but this bottle had a picture of flowing hair on a human’s head). Next door had the towels, but Bill hinted there was something else in there, so upon opening the third door, she grinned.
There was a multicolored package of elastic hair ties. She was more apt to using actual ribbon ties, but these would do nicely in controlling her wild and unruly hair, with the added bonus of making her tail once again a usable limb.
Tearing open the bag, she grabbed two matching red ones, placed them on the sink, and replaced the package. Closing the door, she grabbed two clean towels, placing them similarly, and also closed that door.
Next would be the tricky part. As she entered the shower area she noticed the hot and cold knobs were set up higher than her head, but thankfully someone (or somepony, she assured herself) had brought in a small wooden stool, just the right height to get her to reach them with her hoof.
She turned on the hot water first, allowing it to fall beside her, feeling the splatterings touch her fur. It was quick to heat, so she then turned the cold water knob a quarter of a turn at a time, until she found what felt just right (three quarter turns, as it so happened).
Then, she stepped under the cascade of water, allowing it to soak into her fur and touch her skin.
Oh, Celestia’s sun loving cheeks, does this feel good.
While she hadn’t done much work as if she’d been on the farm, all of the mental stress that had been piling on had worn her out just as much. So much so, that she simply stood there, letting the water hit her, rinsing away the grime and stress. She didn’t move, only breathing in and out.
Three gentle knocks echoed in the bathroom.
“Hey, are you okay in there?” Bill asked, but not waiting for an answer continued, “I found some clothes in that bullshit inventory place, as well as an old ass washing machine. Damn thing has that roller thingie on top.”
“Ya mean a wringer?” Applejack called out over the splashing water.
“Yeah, that thing. Crazy. No dryer, so we’ll probably be hanging our clothes.”
“Fine by me.” No clothes, silly.
“Of course it is. Anyway, I’ll leave you alone.”
Silence once again, save for the water, but it at least was calming, soothing. Mixed with the heat and steam around her she could have fallen asleep standing up.
She violently shook her head, grabbed the bottle of shampoo, dumped a generous amount along her back, and using her hooves she began scrubbing. Without a long handled loofah, or another pony to help, this was going to take a while.