//------------------------------// // Travel // Story: PonyFall: Onward Valiant Crusaders // by Fullmetal Pony //------------------------------//         “John, what’s going on here?” asked dad. I’d seen dad get mad at multiple things: not taking out the dog, taxes, and work to name a few. It wasn’t a pretty sight. Right now his voice was calm and a bit confused, but I was currently playing out his explosion at finding out I’d been taking care of humanized trans-dimensional ponies. That was an even less-pretty sight.         “I...um...er...” I stumbled with my words.         “They’re my cousins!” Sybil blurted out. She walked over to dad and clasped his hand. It actually took him a second to gather that he was being greeted. “Sorry, guess we haven’t met. I’m Sybil, John’s friend. Jane and I were with John when all this happened and we just wanted to make sure he was okay.”         “Oh...” Not gonna lie, seeing dad really stumped is very disconcerting. It’s one of the few expressions I really don’t see from him that much. His eyebrows shifted really high up and his lower lip sort of hung open. It was as humorous as it was odd-looking. “Well, thank you for helping my son... but why did you bring your cousins?” His eyes went over to the Crusaders, who were still huddled near my bed. “They seem a little young to be coming to a hospital just to see someone they don’t know.”         “Well, we were worried about Jo—” I reached over and grabbed Scootaloo with my cast and noogied her head with my good arm. “Ack!”         Once I was sure Scootaloo would be distracted, I let go and looked back up at my parents. “Ah, they’re just a bunch of crazy kids... I told you about them, right?” I lied.         “I don’t remember,” mom murmured.         I playfully snapped my fingers, fully getting into my act. “Oh that’s right, I didn’t tell you cause...” I shifted around in an uncomfortable manner. “Well...         Dad walked over and his face grew a bit more stressed. “Well what?”         I pushed back the shiver on the back of my neck and continued my tale. “Well, we all went over to Sybil’s house for MLK weekend.” The Crusaders were looking up at me with curious looks while I spun my story. “They had a three day weekend too, so their parents were visiting as well.” I smiled a little. “So we watched some movies and played a few board games with them. They’re actually quite good at Apples to Apples.”         Apple Bloom brightened at the mention of apples. “Well, I mean, I am, but I don’t know about Swee—”                  “Anyway,” I interrupted. “We eventually went playing outside and chucked a frisbee around. Unfortunately, stupid thing got stuck in a tree and, being the tallest one there, I had to get it.” I faked shuddering at the memories. “Climbing trees is not fun in the middle of winter. Must have nearly killed myself five times trying to get it.”         “You what?!” dad yelled, causing the girls to scoot away from him and over to Sybil and Jane. He reached down and clasped hard on my left shoulder.  “John, this couldn’t have be prevented, but that was stupid of you!”         I was legitimately shaking now. “T-that’s why I-I didn’t want to tell you, see?” I craned my neck and glanced over at mom, who seemed a little shocked taking everything in, and gave her a pleading look for help.         But before she could respond, dad loosened his grip and backed off. “You’re smarter than that. Even Rachel knows her limits most of the time.” He stuck his hands in his pockets and walked to the door, but before leaving he turned and looked at mom. “I’ll be in the lobby.”         The room was silent for a few second before Sweetie spoke up. “Is... is he okay?”         “Yeah,” I sighed. “He’s just overprotective. It’s what I get for telling him about you.” And that was just a lie. I shifted my attention back to mom. “Anyway, after that, the girls thought I was some tree-climbing hero or something.” I chuckled a little. “I tell them I’m not, but you know how kids can be. But that aside, probably not best to just call them kids.” I raised my good hand and pointed at Apple Bloom first. “The red-haired one is Alice, the spikey-haired one is Samantha, and the regular brunette is Bella. Girls, say hi to my mom.” The girls all scratched their heads in confusion at the names. Luckily, it clicked for Sweetie first. She nervously walked over and raised a hand up to mom. “Um, hi.” “Oh... uh...” Mom bent down and shook Sweetie’s hand. “Nice to meet you. The other Crusaders walked over and repeated the process. I tried my best to keep a smile without worrying that at any second Sweetie’s horn would pop out of her head or Scootaloo’s wings would burst out of her back. Greetings finished, mom stood back up and focused on me. She walked over and handed me a bag. “I hope we got everything you wanted.”  This time I did genuinely smile. The bag could have only come from the Japanese market up north that I hardly ever got to go to. “You know me too well.” “Well, I am your mother,” mom playfully responded. “I got tons of snacks for the car. Anything to make you comfortable.” At this point, I noticed that snickering behind mom and saw everyone else was trying to hold back laughing, especially the Crusaders. I shot them a false disdainful look. “Oh yeah, laugh it up while the sick man is down.” I reclined back on the bed and sighed, “Frickin’ girls.” Mom turned to look at them and then back at me. “Oh don’t mind them... if you want me to go that’s fine too though. I know how girls can be at that age.” She leaned a little closer. “You got an eye on either of the older ones?” “Mom!” I yelled, face a little red now. “Not in a hos—” I then proceeded to pretty much cough up a lung. When the coughing fit died down, mom looked as pale as a sheet. “See? That’s why you don’t say those things.” Unfortunately, that was enough to start her waterworks. “Oh lord,” I sighed. “It’s just a coughing fit. I’ve already had enough people today acting like it’s my wake. At least save it until my friends are gone.” She sniffled a little in response. I turned my head over at everyone else. “Looks like it’s ‘family bonding time.’ Thanks for coming though. I’ll call ya’ll later, okay?” They all started to turn to the door and as they did an idea struck me. I reached into the bag and looked through it’s contents. I smiled at the inclusion of mochi, rice I could make later, seasonings, and some pocky. However, I noticed one of the boxes was strawberry flavored: bad news for me, good news for the Crusaders. “Hey girls.” The Crusaders turned their heads and asked, “Yes?” “Catch.” I chucked the strawberry pocky at them. I nearly had a full on panic attack when when I caught a glimpse of a spark on Sweetie’s head. The pocky stopped mid-air for a split second before skidding to the ground at the Crusaders’ feet. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom nervously looked at Sweetie whose mouth was gaping open. “Oh!” I cried out. “Sorry, guess throwing that must have been a bit of a shock.” I clenched and unclenched my fist. “And I can’t even throw it at full strength.” I let out a very nervous chuckle. “Well... um... that should still be okay. Hope I didn’t break any of them.” Apple Bloom slowly knelt down and picked up the box. “T-thanks John.” Sybil put a hand on Scootaloo and Sweetie’s backs while Jane did the same to Apple Bloom. Jane gave me a tiny smile and said, “Well, we’ll be off. Hope you get better soon.” With that, the Crusaders were ushered out of the room. Right as the door closed, I could have sworn I heard a little girl shout something about about awesomeness. I shuddered. “You... you have some odd friends,” mom commented. “Heh,” I awkwardly croaked, “haven’t I always?” ~~~         “I think that gave me grey hairs,” Sybil said over the phone.         “No crap,” I replied. I braced myself against some railing and looked outside. The sun had fully disappeared below the horizon and the moon was steadily inching higher into the sky. However, the light from the city still lit up everything. I could even make out my school’s clocktower. “Did Sweetie do that on purpose?”         “No,” Sybil replied, her voice a little shakier now. “She just freaked out because you threw that stupid candy at them.”         “I couldn’t have known that would happen!” I took a breath and recomposed myself. “We’ll just need to be careful and not do anything that will startle any of them. How are they anyway?”         “Asleep right now,” Sybil sighed, her tension leaving her as well. “Wouldn’t stop talking about magic all the way back to my home though. I’m just glad Scootaloo didn’t try to get her wings working.”         I thought back to the multiple scrapes she’d incurred over the past few days. “She should be fine. She may put on a brave face, but things have been rough for her.”         “I suppose. So, can you give me a breakdown on what the plan is?”         “I’m leaving the hospital at seven thirty tomorrow morning. Unless we stop for breakfast or something it’s just gonna be a straight ride on the I-10 until Fort Stockton. My parents never do the drive home in one run. We’ll be there for the night. I get the feeling you’ll want a break from the Crusaders as well.”         “Sounds fair.”         “Saturday will just be a drive right back to my home. My dad will probably go back to his office for a bit and my mom will have to pick up my sister.” Not that she’s ever at the house anyways, I thought with a smile. “When they’re both gone that’ll be when you drop off the girls.”         “You’re sure this’ll be safe?” Sybil asked, concern lacing her voice.         “My guest house has everything the girls need: fridge, stove, bathroom with a shower, and a large bed. It’ll be fine, it’s actually an improvement over what we were doing in the dorm. You have to at least admit that. The most dangerous part will be waiting for their passports to arrive.”         “You sent your address to the guy with Fluttershy and Pinkie?”         “Right before I called you actually.”         “So your parents really don’t suspect anything?”         I frowned and took a breath. “As much as I hate to say it, using my injuries puts their concerns back on me. They could care less about your ‘cousins.’ Nice save by the way.”         “One of us had to say something or this would’ve become a mess again.” Sybil very audibly and playfully sighed. “Let’s not repeat that.”         “Heh, we try our best...” I glanced down out my cast. Guess I’m not trying very hard right now. “So you’re good on everything for the trip?”         “I should be. I’ve got my car loaded up with enough DVDs, music, and some old coloring books to keep them busy.”         “Good. Don’t hesitate to call me for anything. Just remember to stay a few miles behind us.” I braced myself against the rail as a fit of dizziness came over me. I pushed harder against the rail to make sure I didn’t fall over. “Ugh, darn painkillers are kicking in. Sybil, I’m gonna go now if there’s nothing else to talk about.”         “Okay.”         “I’ll give Jane a call tomorrow. Stay safe.” I then clicked my off button and ended the called. I slowly turned around and looked back at my bed. It seemed very very far away now. “Okay, gonna do this without breaking my other arm.” ~~~         By the time I finished the breakfast tacos my parents had bought before picking me up from the hospital, most of the San Antonio had given way to the nature, which was progressively getting more and more uniform and empty. The hills around the city were giving way to vast plains of desert.         It’s also the most boring drive possibly imaginable. My parents asking every five minutes if I was okay didn’t help. I wiped my face with a napkin just as mom asked the question again. “You’re sure you’re feeling fi—”         “Yes!” I complained. Raising my voice caused my side to sting a little. I tenderly brought my good hand over to it and massaged it. “Or I would be if you both stopped asking.”         I sighed and pulled out my prescription bottle. The doctors said I had to take the painkillers with dinner and breakfast. I popped off the cap and put one of the pills on my palm. I turned my attention away from it and back to my parents. “Taking my meds now.”         I swallowed the pill with a swig of water and then reached down to grab my laptop and headphones. “I’m also watching a movie.”         “Okay,” mom replied. Dad said nothing. He had already pulled out his Ipad. I knew he wouldn’t be a problem now. His work mode was legendary.         I sat back and loaded up Pineapple Express. However, my eyes kept wandering up to the wireless icon. I knew the Crusaders had a computer on them, but it was useless for communications in the desert. I resigned myself to watching Seth Rogen’s antics. ~~~         I was awoken by a buzzing in my pocket. I blearily opened my eyes and then quickly realized my phone was going off. Senses returning to me, I reached into my pocket and answered my phone. “Hello?”         Sybil’s voice greeted me. “Hey John, it’s me.”         “Hey,” I replied.         “Who are you talking to?” asked mom.         “Sybil,” I answered honestly. Mom didn’t take her eyes away from the road, but I saw her form twitch, but she resisted turning towards me. “Probably just checking up on me.” I then turned my attention back to the phone call. “What’s up?”         “We’re just stopping to use a bathroom at a gas stop... for the third time,” Sybil moaned. “I swear these kids have never gone a trip before.”         “Eh, what can you do?” I replied, keeping my answers vague enough to not elicit attention.                  “I guess. You at the hotel yet?” Sybil asked.         “I’m not...” My eyes went wide when I noticed that just a few miles in front of me were the only signs of civilization save for the road: a few houses and fast food joints that were dwarfed by a small collection of hotels that jutted out of the desert. Fort Stockton hadn’t changed much. “Geez, wish I had these meds when I traveled. I’ve been out for most of the ride and it looks like we’re just a few minutes away.”         “Are you okay now?” There was a bit of concern in Sybil’s voice now.         “Yeah, no problem,” I replied. “Just kinda amazed how far we’ve gotten already. I glanced over at the car’s clock and saw that it was close to one PM. “We’ll be checking into the hotel and then grabbing lunch nearby. There’s not too many options in this town.”         “Got it.” Sybil shuffled something around on the other end of the line. “This place has a Burger King built into it. I’ll just grab some stuff here.”         “Oh... ok—” My eyes went wide as dinner plates. “Sybil! Everything there is... is...” Dad was giving me an odd look. I took a breath and calmed myself. “Sybil, you’re still recovering from everything that happened. That could really upset you.”         “Oh...Oh,” Sybil said, realization upon her breath. “Look, every place we’ll go to on this trip will have that same issue. We were gonna have to face this issue eventually. Might as well get it done now.”         I pressed my cast against my head. “Okay, look, just wait until I’m at my hotel and then we’ll talk this out. Got it?”         “Yeah.” As soon as Sybil finished talking, I clicked off my phone.         “What was that about?” asked dad.         “Sybil’s just a little shaken up by everything,” I partially lied. “It... well, it’s kinda personal, so when we get to the hotel is it okay if I just go off and talk to her alone?”         “Oh yeah... sure,” mom mumbled.         Dad turned around and gave me the sympathetic look he usually reserved for our dogs. “Anything else you need?”         “No, I’m good. I might want walk a bit around the hotel later. I’m a little sore from being on a bed for two days.” I extended out my left knee and produced a crack to emphasize the point.         “Just don’t overexert yourself,” Dad cautioned.         I chuckled. “Well, you can at least unpack while I’m on the phone.” ~~~         As soon as we pulled into the hotel, I pushed myself out of the car and away from my parents. I stretched a little to get rid of the stiffness in my muscles and then pulled out my phone. I gave mom a confident look and a fake smile. “This won’t take long.” She nodded in response while dad just moved to the trunk and started unloading suitcases. I walked past the parking lot and around the hotel until I came to the dinky little pool they had in the back. Save for an elderly couple who looked fast asleep, it was completely empty. This’ll probably be the safest place. I pulled out my phone and called Sybil’s number. I didn’t even get past the first ring before she picked up. “Okay John, what do you want me to do?” “Put me on speaker and hand me over to the girls.” There was some shuffling on the other end of the line and the sound of the phone clanking against metal. Then, Apple Bloom’s voice came in from the other side. “Hi John. Can ya tell us why Ms. Sybil ain’t letting us get food?” “Yeah, we’re hungry,” Scootaloo complained. I sighed and braced myself for the conversation. “Well, first off, how’s the car ride going?” “It’s really fun,” Sweetie happily replied. “I’ve never gone on a big trip before. This whole place is really big!” “Way bigger than I thought anything could ever be,” Scootaloo commented. “And you’re not bored?” I asked. “Nuh-uh,” said Apple Bloom, no doubt shaking her head back and forth. “That story about the big fuzzy neighbor critter was really fun. Oh hey, we should show that to Fluttershy. I’m sure she’d love it.” That produced a few chuckles out of me. “I think she’d like any Miyazaki movie.” Well, except Mononoke... that might traumatize her. “Everything else going okay?” Scootaloo came to the forefront of the conversation with an excited tone. “Yeah, after we finished that story, Ms. Sybil put on some awesome music with this weird box thing.” “Ipod,” I corrected. “But it doesn’t look like a pea pod at all,” said Sweetie, her voice holding notes of confusion. “Don’t worry about it, just think of it as a...” I scratched the back of my head with my cast to try and figure out how to describe it. “Like a record holder.” Apple Bloom’s voice returned in awe. “But we musta listened to a whole bunch of records! How does that tiny thing hold that much stuff?” “It’s not like there are actual records,” Sybil answered. “It’s all electronic.” “This whole place is crazy,” Scootaloo sighed. “Anyway, can we eat something now. Please?” Okay, Sybil was right, this was gonna happen eventually. I just need to explain and I’m sure they’ll understand. “Girls, there’s something you need to know about humans.” “What is it?” asked Sweetie. I took a deep nervous breath. “Aside from how we look, there’s a major difference between humans and ponies. We... we’re omnivores.” “Omni-what?” asked Scootaloo. “You probably haven’t noticed but look at each other’s teeth.” I paused a moment to let them do just that. “See the sharper teeth?” “Whoa,” said Scootaloo. “Are... are those fangs?” I flinched a little at Scootaloo catching onto where I was going a little early. “No... they’re called canines. See, human teeth are designed to eat both plants and... other things.” “W-what sorts of other things?” Sweetie quivered. “Like ice cream?” Apple Bloom nervously asked. I took some more breaths and felt my heart rate getting faster.“Okay girls, I just want you to promise not to scream, can you do that?” “Y-yeah,” they all slowly replied. “Okay, well... humans kinda like to eat meat.” I pulled my phone away from my head expecting screams, but only got gasps. That wasn’t much of an improvement. “S-so you’re kinda like Princess Luna when she was Nightmare Moon?” Sweetie quivered. “What? No,” I hastily replied. “It’s just that’s how humans are.” “But how can you eat other animals?” Scootaloo demanded. “Humans have always done it,” I tried to explain. “Look, I’m not asking you to eat it. I just don’t want you to be shocked by it is all.” There was a moment of silence between us before Apple Bloom spoke up. “Is that why ya jumped onto our dinner a few nights ago?” I shuddered at the memory of getting covered in food and then kicked out of the restaurant. “Yeah, I probably should’ve just told you then.” “So you got kicked out and messy just so we wouldn’t eat animals?” asked Scootaloo. “Yes,” I sighed. This produced a fit of giggling on the other end of the line. “That is pretty silly,” said Sweetie through her laughter. She then paused for a moment and sniffled a little. “It reminds me a little of this time my sister got really dirty just so I wouldn’t be mad at her anymore.” Apple Bloom’s voice entered the call, but it wasn’t directed at the phone. “Sweetie, it’s okay. Although you’re right, it reminds me of ma sister rastlin pigs...” She turned her attention back to the phone. “Ya don’t eat pigs do ya? I mean, ya just use ‘em for finding truffles, right?” I scratched my head with my cast again. “Well, we do use them for that too, but some people do eat them.” “Okay,” Apple Bloom replied less energetically. “I just want to know one thing then. Ya... ya don’t eat ponies, do ya?” I smiled at such a simple question. “Nope. I don’t and I don’t think anyone does.” All the girls exhaled deeply in relief. “I guess that makes it a little better.” “Now that I think about it, it’s not that bad,” said Sweetie. “I mean, Fluttershy takes care of all sort of animals like that. I think I’ve even seen Opal eat a few mice.” “That doesn’t surprise me,” droned Scootaloo. “Your cat is crazy.” “Hey!” Sweetie shouted back. “She’s nice... I think... I mean, Rarity likes her.” Sweetie paused for a moment. “Yeah, I don’t like her either.” The other Crusaders chuckled at this. I smiled too, glad that I hadn’t traumatized them. “So that’s the deal. On the road, you’re gonna see people eating meat, mostly things called burgers. You don’t have to eat it and I’ll try not to eat it in front of you either. I’m not holding Sybil to anything though.” “I think I can go a few more days without a proper meal,” replied Sybil. I shifted my left shoulder around since it was getting a little sore. “Heh, okay, well glad that all got cleared up. I’m gonna go grab some lunch with my parents. They’re being a bit clingy.” “Well ya were in the hospital,” Apple Bloom postulated. “I’d be really sad if ma family wasn’t worried about me and I was hurt.” “Same here,” said Sweetie. “Yup,” exclaimed Scootaloo. I shrugged. “Alright alright, thanks girls. Ya’ll have a good lunch. Sybil, we’ll be at the Holiday Inn here if you need me for anything. I’ll give you a call later so we can all meet up and maybe grab an early dinner somewhere.” “Okay, see ya then,” Sybil replied. “Bye John,” said all the Crusaders. I shoved my phone back into my pocket, looked up at the sky, and let out the stress I’d been holding in. My shoulders slumped and I sighed, “That could have been much worse.” Geez, wonder how Doug handled telling Fluttershy. Call complete, I made my way back to the front of the hotel. Mom was still waiting by the car, which was now a little less cluttered. “Is your friend okay?” “Yeah, I told her everything was fine and that she could go see Jane if anything else came up.” Hmm, after lunch I should give her a call. “Dad already checked in?” “Yeah, he’s just unloading upstairs.” Mom flashed me a grin. “We got a nice view.” “Of what? The desert?” I playfully swatted my good arm around. “If we’re all unpacked lets get some lunch.” ~~~ Thank god they have an Ihop and not a Denny’s. I rubbed my stomach and looked over to the I-10, which extended off into the horizon. Then I turned my attention back to walking to the hotel and my parents. “Pretty good for an Ihop.” “Don’t worry, we’ll get you some proper food when we’re back home,” said mom. “Yeah, may not be too bad, but it’s not the healthiest stuff around.” I stopped before the automatic doors to the hotel could open. “I think I’ll take that walk now.” “Do you want us t—” “No,” I cut her off mid-sentence. “Hovering over my shoulder isn’t helping anyone. It’s annoying me and stressing you out. We just need some alone time, okay?” They were both silent for a moment before dad spoke up. “Don’t wander too far or be gone too long.” “Thank you,” I replied before turning around. I slumped my shoulders for effect and didn’t look back. “I just need some time by myself.” I didn’t need to fake sounding disgusted with myself. “Stay safe,” mom murmured. I raised up my good hand and waved at them. “I will be. Not that much out here that can hurt me.” ~~~         “This place reminds me of Appleloosa,” said Apple Bloom.         I raised an eyebrow at this. “Wait, you went?”         Apple Bloom pouted and crossed her arms. “Na, I’ve just seen pictures. I really wanna see Cousin Braeburn again. He always pulled off these really neat tricks... I hope he’s okay.”         All of us were sitting at a small collection of benches that were pretty much in the middle of nowhere. It was just the benches, the road, and a small brittle tree. I looked out to the road for a second before looking back at Apple Bloom. “I’m sure he’s fine. You’ve made it this far after all.”         “I guess,” she replied.         “So what do we do now?” asked Scootaloo. “This place seems kinda boring.”         “It is,” I droned. “We’ve just go to stay here for the night. I’d offer my room, but my parents’ room is connected to it. No matter what, five people in a room would draw attention.”         “It’s fine,” Sybil sighed. “We looked around while you were finishing up your lunch and found a cheap place to stay.”         “Okay, good,” I replied. “Sorry girls, there’s not much to do in this town, so today is gonna be a little slow.” An idea then struck me. “How about we give Jane a call?”         “Sure,” Sweetie beamed. “She said she had to go up to an Austin. What is that anyway?”         I chuckled a little. “A city.”         “Weird name for a city,” said Scootaloo.         “Would you prefer ‘Humanville’?” I joked.         “Where’s that?” asked Apple Bloom. “It sounds neat place.” That made me chuckle even more. “What’s so funny?”         I waved my good hand in front of her. “Nothing, nothing.” I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone. “But lets get going on calling her. At the very least it’ll kill a little time.”         I swept over to Jane’s number and switched the phone to speaker mode while it was ringing. After a couple of rings, Jane picked up. “John? What’s up?”         “Eh, nothing much, we ju—”         “Hi Ms. Jane!” All the Crusaders shouted, causing both me and Sybil to nearly lose our balance.         “Ya’ll really need to work on your volumes,” Sybil grumbled.         “Sorry,” Sweetie sheepishly replied. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo looked apologetic as well but said nothing.         “Um...” Jane paused for a moment. “Well, good to see the Crusaders in higher spirits again.”         “Yeah,” I sighed. “They’re taking the car ride pretty well.” I looked over to them. “Right?”         “Uh-huh!” They all happily replied.         “Good to hear...” Jane’s voice seemed to slump. “Glad ya’ll at least got out.”         I eyed my phone and bent a little closer to it. “What do you mean?”         Jane gave a very audible sigh on the other side of the line. “On top of all the stuff at our school, Austin’s now a mess too. Something about a kidnapping.”         “It wasn’t Discord was it?” Apple Bloom shuddered         “No,” Jane replied. “Just a regular guy apparently. They blocked off a ton of streets and my parents are keeping me in lockdown.”         “Bummer,” said Sybil.         My phone then started vibrating around the table I’d placed it on. Dad’s number was emblazoned over Jane’s call. I reached forward, tapped of the speaker function off, and brought it up to my ear. “Sorry Jane, gotta go. My parents are calling.”         “Okay, stay safe.”         With that, I moved my phone over to the front of my face, clicked around, and brought it back to my ear again. “Yes?”         Dad’s voice came through the phone. “So we just heard about this thing in Austin an—”         “Yes,” I droned, “Jane was telling me about it before you called.” I heaved my shoulders forward and slumped my posture. “I’m sure the crazy man will drive all the way out here just to get me.”         “Now John, we’re ju—”         “I know. You’re ‘just worried about my safety.’ Don’t worry, I’m already on my way back. See ya at the hotel.” Before dad could respond, my thumb swiftly ended the call. After I put my phone away, I looked back on the Crusaders and Sybil. “Well, looks like my parents are gonna be even more paranoid now. Best be heading back. Sybil, I’ll call you when we’re heading out tomorrow.” Sybil nodded. “Got it.” My focus then went to the Crusaders. “Girls, we’ve got one more day of driving ahead, so get some rest tonight. Tomorrow, we’ll get you settled in at my place.” “Okay!” They all replied. I gave them a friendly wave and then turned around. Despite the warmth of the desert, I shuddered at the thought of my parents being even more worried. It was gonna be a long night.