//------------------------------// // 13. Adscititious // Story: The Mother City // by Quicksear //------------------------------// One problem with going on a pony road trip is that you don’t get any relief drivers. Hard to use a steering wheel or pedals with hooves, you see. And I don’t care how interested Pinkie was in the gear shift, I wasn’t letting her anywhere near it. I bopped her on the nose, “<-Bad Pinkie!->” “<-...Sorry!->” It would also be nice if Applejack could stop having a growling match with the transmission, but so long as I drove like a one-eyed drunk serf high on paralytics (Yeah, I’m not a great driver, sue me...or rather don’t, I didn’t mean it!), that wasn’t about to happen. As I thought that out, I missed a gear change. The gears ground, and Applejack snarled back, something I’ve begun referring to as ‘the Applegrrrrr.’ strangely adorable as it may be, it was just another distraction. I turned back to the three ponies in the rear bed of the truck. “<-Do you girls mind? I’m just trying to have an internal monologue here.->” “<-Uhh...Sorry there, Marc…->” Applejack apologized, but she never stopped staring at the floor beneath her. Okay, so where was I? Right, Pony Road Trip. Andrew wanted to do this from the very beginning if I remember rightly. We’d decided then that staying in Cape Town would be a wiser decision at the time, because we had a base of safety and knew the area. We all know how that line of logic had ended up. We traded that all in for two stolen cop cars and the open road. Romantic an idea as that may seem, I was rapidly becoming disillusioned. I was stiff from hours at the wheel, my hands cramping and my legs dead. The only reason my foot still pressed of the accelerator was because it felt like a lump of lead. Which reminds me, follow the speed limit… There were other problems too, like- “<-Hey Marc, you done yet?->” Rainbow chirped. Sigh. I looked at her in the rearview mirror, “<-Yeah, sure. I should cut down on those anyways. What’s up, RD?->” I noticed her scowl as she sat on the rear most bench in the vehicle, rubbing her one wing tenderly. “<-Uh, I was wondering if we were gonna stop anytime soon? I think I really need Fluttershy to take a look at my wing.->” I slowed down as I looked back with concern. In the heat of the action, we hadn’t really had time to notice if we were all alright. I doubt even RD noticed until the adrenaline had worn off, and then her pride probably didn't let her speak until the pain became untenable. The glow of victory had long since faded: I knew we needed everyone at top shape if we wanted to pull through this. “<-Hey, AJ?->” The orange mare poked her head over the musty leatherette of the front seat and nodded,“<-Yeah, Marc, Ah got ‘er.->” Rainbow Dash grumbled, sure, but she didn’t complain when Applejack nosed her over onto the dull steel floor and began massaging the sprained wing. Pinkie Pie looked about anxiously before settling on climbing up front with me. Rainbow Dash’s slightly disturbing groans were partially muffled from where I was, but not quite enough. I understood Pinkie’s escaping; AJ had it covered, and they needed the space back there. Pinkie cast the odd concerned look back at her friends, but when she turned her pink-furred snout in my direction. I tried not to chuckle at her awkward smirk, “<-Sooo…->” I shifted back up and pulled out onto the highway proper. To our left was the crystal-blue Atlantic Ocean, a heavy salty scent penetrating even the dry dustiness of our truck. A breeze had long since cleared of any sea mists and left us driving along under a glaringly clear sky. To our right rolled plain that couldn't quite decide what colour it wanted to be: dry brown and bright greens mingled in a slightly muddled patchwork right up to the mountains rising in the distance, the verdant spine of the province. Our highway somehow felt like a razor-thin barrier between the ocean and the continent, narrow and constricting, even though it was four lanes wide and empty. Yeah, I’m a bit of a nervous driver. I heard a mild cough beside me. Oh, right, Pinkie. “<-So, Pinks...uhh…->” It was all the invitation she needed. I heard her suck in a great lungful of air as I planted myself firmly in the seat to weather the storm. “<-Thank you.->” I blinked at the road ahead. That was it? Huh, I got off lucky. “<-No Problem Pinks…->” “<-For helping Twilight, I mean.->” Maybe not so lucky…”<-Yeah, sure thing…->” “And me when I was sad, that helped a lot.->” My eye twitched. “<-Pinkie…->” The air came back out; “And Applejack when she was hatless, you gave her yours, then got hers back and then lost yours again! And I know you haven’t had a lot of time in between being chased by the meanie-weanie uncle of yours and those scary-pants police, but you didn’t stop helping us! Twilight thought you might few times but you never did, even after you lost all your stuff and then your bus and your everything, but you still stopped to show Fluttershy all the birds and braid Applejacks hair which looks really nice still by the way…->” “<-Thank ya kindly Pinkie!->” “<-And then you took us out on a trip around the city and that was extra nice and exciting, and you even gave Dashie a hat that made her look absolutely adorable…->” “<-Hey!->” I heard a clacking sound of hoof-on-skull, “<-Simmer down, Betsy!->” “<-My name isn’t…->” “<-Ah said simmer down!->” Meanwhile, Pinkie continued unabated; “And then you got us food and showed Twilight that big scary place with weirdo magic and then you nearly got shot but you got us out and then helped Sarah and us and then helped us bake cupcakes and here you are I hope it still tastes good.->” You have got to be kidding me… I stared at Pinkie’s hoof incredulously, surprised and slightly affronted at what was there. I’d hoped that her Cloud Storage of material goods had just been one of the show’s quirks. Yet there was a cupcake, lo. “<-Pinkie,->” I rumbled slowly, “<-If that thing came out of your mane, I’m not going to eat it.->” “” She grumphed. She pulled aside a hoof-full of her mane and exposed a pink-shaded slim bag-thing somehow clipped therein. You know, that suddenly clarified a lot of things. Ingenious it may be, the logic of it was a slight let-down, not to mention I’d seen the thing before. They’d been in with the scarves, hats and other paraphernalia in the bag that had started this whole business. Also, I now looked like an ass in front of one of my favorite cartoon characters. Yeah, I can say that with a totally straight face nowadays… “<-Sorry Pinks, those slipped my mind. And yeah, I’d love one.->” Now I’m sure you’re all waiting for some fantastical analogy for how much better than mortal food Pinkie’s cupcake is, something to the tune of ‘culinary nirvana’ or some such, but I’m afraid there’s sadly something in the way of this: I’m not really a fan of “Suh-suh-suhWEET!!” I blearily tried to pull over as the vast, otherworldly quantities of sugar coursed through my body until it reached saturation point. I had this strange image of falling into a fathomless vat of molasses for all eternity before the effects wore off, and I found myself clinging to the steering wheel like a life preserver, gasping against the ebbing tide of sugar my system was trying to handle. I was dimly aware of the truck coasting along the highway, and a hoof rapidly patting on my back, a shrill voice questioning, “<-Hey, Marc? A-are you okay?->” “<-Y-yeah…->”, I coughed, “<-I-It was just a little sweet for my...my tastes.->” Pinkie’s expression twisted through confusion, hurt, denial and disappointment. “<-Oh,->” she muttered, “<-That’s okay, too.->” She looked mournfully at the cupcake, and I felt my heart flutter as the truck ground to a halt. “<-Hey, it’s more for me right?->” I nodded with a benign smile that Pinkie copied as she sniffed the cupcake before...well, she inhaled it more than anything else. What really surprised me was how quickly it reappeared, thankfully aimed precisely out the window, accompanied by Pinkie’s mildly painful-sounding nicker. “<-Oh wow, you were right Marc, *cough*, way too much sugar in there.->” The engine cut out. Rainbow Dash and Applejack stopped bickering. Even the sea calmed as Applejack’s voice whispered, “<-She said what now?->” I suddenly felt the familiar pressure somewhere in my head. It felt unsettled, unsure, and maybe a little scared; “<-Marc, I just got the weirdest feeling…->” <-I know Twi, I know, me too. Why don’t you guys pull over at a roadstop and we’ll meet you there?->” “<-...okay.->” Pinkie meanwhile was looking around confusedly. “<-Hey, why’d everypony go so quiet?->” About ten minutes later we pulled up to a rest stop along the atlantic seaboard. The only thing marking the spot was a slightly wider verge on the side of the road, as if the tar-layer driver had just fallen asleep for a moment and swerved over there. Of course if that was the case then that tar layer had also managed to spit out two sets of concrete benches and a small tree onto the side of the road...this got away from me a little. Anyway It was beside these benches that a slightly scuffed patrol car was parked, and peeking above it were four faces I was glad to see. Pulling over, I made sure our truck completed a v-formation, screening the ponies between the cars and the sea. I wasn’t terribly surprised when I walked around the front of the car to see Twilight and Rarity looking both Applejack and Pinkie Pie over while Rainbow Dash made uncomplimentary noises under Fluttershy’s sympathetic hooves. Okaaayy, I avoided that. More important was Andrew rabidly waving to me from his perch on a bench by the runty tree in the sand. He seemed happier than he did this morning, which was good. And so I strolled casually over to him, waving, “Heya mate, good to stretch your legs, huh?” And then I got hit in the face with a sandwich. Okay, that was weird. I sighed and caught the bread as it fell, barely spilling any of the diced lettuce and cheese as I did. I looked at the store-bought meal and then at Andrew with a raised eyebrow. I took a bite of the sandwich and mumbled, “And that was for?” “Falling behind all the time!” Andrew threw his hands in the air before pointing at the sandwich I was making inroads upon as if it were a snake, “I got so bored that we even pulled off the highway entirely and stopped in this little town for lunch and bought those sandwiches without you ever even noticing. Damn dude, we’re going slow!” “Well…” I chuckled abashedly, “You know I’m not much of a driver, but I’m staying in the right lane this time, right?” Andrew grumbled dismally into his paper cup of cheap as another voice jumped into our conversation. “Well, it’s not like we know where we’re really going at this point anyway, is it?” Andrew choked on his coffee as I spun about to face the voice, brandishing my sandwich, “Whoa Twilight, no sneaky! Not cool!” Twilight’s smirk was at once disarming and slightly annoying. “Well sorry if you get indigestion. But we do need to figure out what we’re going to do now, right? I mean, we’ve run far enough; now we need to know where we’re going.” I blinked at her. “Fair ‘nuff.” I turned and sat on the bench across from Andrew, leaving Twilight to sit at the end of the table on a tuft of (rare) grass. I laid my sandwich down solemnly and knitted my fingers. “Shall we commence?” Andrew glowered and Twi rolled her eyes, but she said, “Come on, be serious. I’m getting a little nervous here: just where are we exactly?” I jumped up and stood one foot on the bench, the other on the table, holding a hand to my forehead as I scanned the full horizon, “A’ter much consideration, Cap’n,” I growled in a brogue, “Ah c’n sae Ah rally ‘ave no’ a wee idea!” Andrew leaned towards Twilight, saying in a stage whisper, “Forgive him, he gets like this if the crazy is bottled up too long.” Twilight nodded, watching me, “I completely understand.” With a snort of laughter I dropped back into my seat, “Heh, I can see that. But seriously, I have no idea where we are, other than somewhere up the west coast, three hours out from Cape Town.” “Two hours, mate,” Andrew cut in, “You spent the rest stuck between third and fourth.” “Enough ragging on my driving, okay?” I groused, “Just get to the mapspeak ya git.” Andrew and Twilight both had a chuckle at my expense before Andrew got his act together and spat out some info, “Yzerfontein is about a half-hour ahead of us, Darling to the east. I guestimating we’re an hour and a half to two hours south of Langabaan right now.” That certain piece of info jumped out in my head, “Hey, we’re close to Mykonos!” Twilight looked a little confused, but Andrew looked…well, he looked blank. “Yep, he’s lost ‘em. Someone fetch a straightjacket.” “Wait…” Twilight waved wings and hooves in the air, “What’s going on?!” “Marc thinks we’re in Greece.” Andrew added. The other ponies were gathering around the scene now; Rainbow Dash, wing still looking a little stiff but much better, jumped up with Pinkie Pie on Andrew’s bench, leaving Rarity and Applejack looking somewhat awkward as they both climbed up beside me on mine. I was sad for a moment, remembering Andrew couldn’t talk to them. He and AJ would have a blast talking farming. Except Andrew is in the lamb and beef business…maybe not such a good idea…Luckily though, The four were rather looking expectantly at Fluttershy at the other end of the table as she started telling a tale involving an otter and a pesky hummingbird, leaving Twi, Andrew and myself to the organization side of things. I returned to the conversation to hear Andrew’s next words, “There is no chance in hell of us being anywhere near the island of Mykonos, dude.” “Not greek Mykonos,” I huffed, “Club Mykonos, here on the west coast! My mother has shares in a housing estate there.” Andrew and Twilight perked up considerably. Twilight leaded forward, asking, “So…you’re saying there’s a place for us to stay nearby?” Oh wow…Now I’d fucked up… “Aheh,” I shuffled away from impending wrath, “I just said my mother had shares, just little ones! And after all, the place isn’t…well, built yet, they hadn’t even started last time we visited the place last year. So no, nowhere to stay.” Andrew looked mildly disappointed, and I couldn’t see Twilight’s face because she’d whacked a hoof into it in exasperation. “Well then why are you telling us?!” Andrew, though, recognized the look on my face from experience, and reacted appropriately; “Noooooooooooononono NO! Whatever you’re thinking, no. No more of your plans! I want to LIIIIIVE!!” …I’m not the only one who can be a bit over-dramatic. With a carefully practiced reasonable voice, I said, “Hey, all I was thinking is that a fancy-pants place like Club Mykonos always has a fancy overseas security force, right? The kind that’s really hard to buy off.” Andrew glared suspiciously. Twilight though, looked enthused, “Hmm…that doesn’t sound like too bad an idea…” “They never do til we actually try them.” Andrew spat. Twilight overrode him, “But we do need more of a plan than hoping for sanctuary. This world of yours does not seem quite that kind.” “Quite right,” I continued in the same tone, “But with a little Twilight magic flashy bang-pop-whizz, we’ll be in there in no time at all!” Twilight’s ears flicked at that, “Um, I don’t think that’s going to work.” She looked down and placed a hoof on the table, “I used up a lot of my reserves in the escape and…well, up there on the mountain, I felt like there was real native magic. It wasn’t massive, but it helped a lot. I haven’t felt another source of energy like that since.” “So we go east, then,” Andrew pointed at the mountains high in the distance, “If mountains equals magic, then I’m all for it.” “The bones of the earth breaking its own skin, pushing the veins of the Mother to within our grasp,” I muttered. Both Twi and Andrew stared at me, shocked, “Or to within Twilight’s at least. But you guys have forgotten one thing,” Time for the finisher… “Just off the west coast is the continental shelf, the oldest, cleanest current in the south atlantic, and, of course, Club Mykonos is right on top of one of the biggest marine conservancies on this side of the continent.” I grinned, “The Mountains may be the bones of the earth, but the ocean currents are its lifeblood. If’ there’s going to be power, it will be there.” Andrew looked like he was about to argue. “…not to mention ponies on jet skis would be literally the best thing ever.” Andrew shut up. Twilight looked thoughtful. “Well…ponies know next to nothing about the mechanics of oceans. Most are scared of any deep water, let alone the sea. But it does make sense; most of the world is under the water, why not most of the magic?” “Exactly!” I crowed, “And jet skis!” “What’s a jet ski?” Twilight finally asked. “A small and very fast boat built like a motorcycle and just as liable to fall over.” Andrew explained. Twilight suddenly looked a lot less interested. “…Lets focus on finding some magic to tap into.” By the time we finished, Applejack was nudging me in the ribs, “<-So what exactly are ya’ll talkin’ ‘bout up there?->” “AJ scared of deep water?” I shot to Twi, to which she nodded. I turned back to Applejack. “<-We’re talking about going out to the ocean. The deep, deeeep ocean, no land in sight, not for miles. Yup, ocean. Deep ocean.->” AJ probably would have punched me if she could get her hooves to move. I kinda figured: Earth Ponies have a connection to the Earth, not large bodies of definitely-not-earth. The others though, didn’t seem to mind. Rarity almost instantly brightened. “Oh, how wonderful! I hear the seaside is wonderful this time of year!-> “<-Late Autumn?->” Twilight snarked. Rarity was already off describing seashells and how she’d never trotted in the surf, while Fluttershy clapped her hooves and squee’d about ‘all the little ocean critters’ and Rainbow Dash bragged about chasing the surf into rainbows. Pinkie was going on about beach parties and pirates, a train of logic I found wonderful and slightly terrifying. Applejack just stared at the table and cursed in unbecoming ponyspeak. Andrew was grousing about logistical difficulties, which made no sense, while Twilight and I got to the actually important business: The Plan. “Right, so where are we gonna stay?” Twi asked, leaning towards me. “Houseboat.” I muttered, “Club Mykonos is a greek-themed holiday resort, so even if we could get into a proper chalet there, we’d be stuck in narrow winding pathways if we had to run away. The houseboats on the other hand are right in the harbor, in the open, with plenty of room either side, if I remember correctly. We can just cut and run out the harbor too. Calling a fog then would hide us completely!” “And how would we get onto one of those?” Twilight prompted, still looking dubious. “Houseboats are privately owned and seasonally used. Right now it’s out of season. All of them will be empty. And we’re in cop cars, so we’ll be allowed to drive onto the wharf, which overlooks the houseboats directly. We just need to drop onto the emptiest looking one and stay quiet enough not to be noticed.” Andrew grimaced and crossed his arms. “This plan makes real actual honest to god sense. Someone’s going to end up shot.” The water washes back, and I'm standing under the light, the shout and the crack that drops me to the bare sand in gasping pain. The world swirls, and suddenly, I'm watching the wet bedraggled figure bent low over the lit white sand, the water pulled back from him to reveal a growing pool of an even darker liquid. And then the world goes white. What…what made me remember that, now of all times? That stupid dream had been painfully niggling at the back of my head since it had spawned itself. Now that bugger wouldn’t leave me alone. I shook it off and shot right back at Andrew, “Well, at least I came up with a plan to get us out of this mess, Mr I-want-a-scenic-drive-at-the-worst-possible-time!” “Well…” Andrew’s tone dropped suddenly. I realized too late how guilty he must have felt about nearly getting us all caught. “I just thought having a recognizable vehicle like that was a bad idea. I had this stupid dream about us being caught in it, and then I nearly made that happen trying to stop it. I’m sorry, okay?” Did he just say…? “You had a dream?” Twilight asked, low. Andrew sort-of maybe partially slightly nodded in assent, and Twilight sucked in a breath before saying, “So did I.” Weirdness level...only slightly higher than normal, actually, but still weird. “I dreamed we were surrounded by smoke and flashing lights all around, running through a forest.” She whispered, “Only after I raised the fog and saw the police cars did I think there might be a connection between the two. I thought I was just being paranoid.” She turned to me expectantly, “You didn’t have a dream too, did you?” I blinked at her. The black water sloughs back and forth in agitation as beams of light crawl down like an illuminating curtain to halt just above my head, setting the air ablaze while the water turns black as pitch. I blinked again. “Not in the slightest, Twilight. You guys must just have nerves. C’mon, we need to get moving.” I felt Twilight in my head, not digging around, just aware. Her expression shifted slightly, “Marc, are you-” I stood up quickly, dusting myself off and thinking different thoughts. “Perfectly fine! Do you guys want to get there late? Cuz with my driving we’ll get there at midnight at this rate. <-Let’s go everypony!->” Twilight didn’t buy it. Neither did Andrew. The rest of them didn’t even know what we were talking about and they looked dubious. But as we piled into our cars and set off down the road, I my conviction held. Prophetic dreams were fantasy; we did not need any more of that right now. I’d keep an eye out all the same.