//------------------------------// // Chapter 15 // Story: The Blessing and the Curse // by Equestria Buck Yeah //------------------------------// Matt never had any reason to set foot in an Apple store back on Earth since he generally bought his electronics from the Best Buy that was ten minutes from his home. However, the bright lights, the numerous open laptops, the whispered hum buzzing through the air... Just for a moment, he felt as if he never left. A gentle tap on his leg snapped him out of his euphoric state as he stood just inside the doorway with a subdued grin on his face. Right. He went there for a reason other than to gawk. Besides, the girls would more than likely be doing enough of that on their own in a minute or two while they kept an eye on their pillows. Still, it didn't mean he wasn't allowed to check out the young woman in short shorts bent over several feet ahead looking at some merchandise. A.J. heard Matt's devilish 'Mmm!' and followed his eyes. Even though she was unaware of what humans would consider attractive amongst each other, his smirk gave her a good enough idea. Oh, how she wanted to throttle this temptress just for standing there! Maybe take the shovel she was hauling and– No, no, that wouldn't be right. They're supposed to be keeping as low a profile as they could and beating the tar out of someone would probably send up a few red flags. She'd just have to remember to slap Matt upside his head at some point after they had finally gotten out of this shopping plaza and he had forgotten about stopping at this particular store. A familiar-sounding 'Whoa!' followed by the clacking of keys behind them told him Pinkie – and most likely the others right after – must have gotten her hooves on one of their computers. She probably found one of their slideshows and was taken in by it. The confused murmurs told him they were finally noticed by some of the more vocal disbelievers as did the stares and the jaws that were hanging open. Matt quickly shifted his gaze when the object of his attention finally spotted him and Applejack coming her way and shrieked as she jumped away. No need to weird the girl out on top of scaring the crap out of her. To their left, Matt noticed a wall loaded with various accessories. Normally, he'd have marched past the associate and gone straight for his target, but his unfamiliarity with iPhones left him no choice. Plus, it'd be faster than sitting there hunting and pecking for what he was looking for only for it to turn out to be the wrong one later. Smiling pleasantly, he walked up to Jeff and pulled out his depleted device. "Hey there. I need a car charger and a regular wall charger for this thing." Unfortunately, Jeff didn't take his eyes off Applejack. Her awkward wave 'hello' didn't seem to help matters either. It took nearly all of Matt's effort to keep his smile from evaporating. Here they go again. He gently patted the employee on the shoulder and got his nervous attention. Jeff glanced over the phone and managed to stutter, "Err...y-yeah. Th-they're over here." Sidestepping the pair and keeping his distance, the associate shuffled over, feeling around for the display while continue to stare at the cowgirl. She looked away, growing increasingly uncomfortable, and watched her friends being mesmerized by a little window screen thing. It almost looked like a larger version of the phone. Was probably something similar. Maybe she'd ask about it later if the mood struck her. "Dude, she's not going to bite," Matt grumbled. Grimacing to himself, Jeff pushed past his enough of his anxiousness to search through the products without worrying about the orange creature in front of him. It wasn't really doing anything. "Car charger...car charger..." Suddenly a bit confused, Applejack nudged her tall comrade. He leaned down to meet her. "Matt, we don't exactly have a, uh...car anymore," she whispered. "I've been thinking about that. Just hope my hunch is right." It wasn't long before Jeff approached them, taking one last cursory glance at Applejack again. "N-need anything else today, sir?" "That'll do it, thanks." He pulled out his wallet and readied his card, relieved that everything was going nice and quick. Jeff set the two requested items down on a nearby table and went behind the front counter, pulling out yet another imprint machine and a plastic bag. "Oh, I don't need a bag. I'll just throw them in my backpack." Jeff nodded and left it next to his computer. As he stepped back around and set the credit card machine next to Matt, he was asked, "System's still down, huh?" Sure, Matt already knew the answer, but maybe a bit of small talk would calm the rattled associate's nerves a bit more. He was still obviously, and understandably, very tense. "Yeah. I, uh...I can't even reach my wife, see if it's working at home." The traveling companions shared a knowing glance. "That sucks. Eh, hopefully it won't last too much longer." Jeff took the card and swiped it. "Hopefully not." Handing the plastic currency back to its owner, the employee looked across the store where the other five mares were still playing with the laptops on display. Unsurprisingly, Twilight seemed to have figured out what the mouse did. "Listen, um...wh...wh-what...uh...?" Matt smirked as he signed the receipt. He didn't need to hear the whole question to know what Jeff was getting at. "Too long a story and not enough time, man. Oh, check it out, is there a valet parking lot here?" "Y-yeah, it's in front of Saks. Just head down that way past Sears," he replied, motioning in the direction they were going anyway. "Awesome, thanks. Take it easy, alright?" Matt said, collecting his new belongings and stuffing them in his pack. As he turned to leave, Jeff returned the sentiment, albeit as baffled as he was when the bizarre group entered the store. "Have a good day?" Without missing a beat, Applejack and Matt strutted right past the girls, grabbed their pillows and kept going. "Ready?" he asked them. It took a second for his voice to register as they were still fascinated by all the pretty colors, bells and whistles in front of them. With a hint of disappointment, Twilight eventually came to and said, "Wait, you're done already? But this...I mean..." With a pout, the nerd followed just behind her friends as they left, eventually catching up to Matt outside. "And that's how you do it," he declared. ----- Three stores. Two clothing outlets and a shoe store later and annoyance found its way back as Rainbow Dash decided to dart across the hall. Maybe his irritation wasn't quite as pronounced as their visit to the Barnes and Noble was, and under what used to be normal circumstances for him, Matt might have found himself perusing the wares of a shop such as this one from time to time. Either way, he had hoped the distractions were behind them. If only she hadn't seen the words 'sporting goods'. Cutouts of LeBron James and Peyton Manning greeted the group just inside the store as they chased after the speedster, who had already found a basketball to play with near the back of the place. "Brett, tell me you're seeing this," the fellow employee leaning by the register mumbled. "Uh huh." After weaving past the veritable mountain of shoes on display and through several clothes racks, they managed to catch up with her. The fact that she was floating overhead made the daredevil easy enough to spot. "Christ, Dash, don't run off like that!" Matt snapped. She twirled the ball on the tip of her hoof only for it to fall. "Ah, I was fine! It's not like anypony would be able to catch me anyway if I really wanted to move my flank, y'know." "Except if you ran into a security guard and he decided to shoot at you and got lucky! I know I've told you about some of our weapons before." Rainbow glided to the other side of the store as he lectured her, something else catching her eagle eye. Her peeved friends fell in a few feet behind her and came to a stop as she returned with a white cap with a blue horseshoe on her head. "Yeah, yeah. I haven't seen any security guards yet. How do you know this mall even has them?" "Pretty much every mall does," he growled. "Well, they ain't around here, so what's the problem? Anyway, tell me you like my hat!" "It's lovely. Put it back." With a nasty sneer, Rainbow removed the cap but wasn't ready to let it go just yet. She turned it around and examined the design on the front. "This a team logo?" "Yeah, it's the Indianap–" He paused and rolled his eyes. Of course she'd grab that one. "The Indianapolis Colts. Football team." The NFL logo stared back at him from the side of the cap. He reached for it and turned the hat around for the mare so she could it but still took a second to point it out. "See the ball there?" "Oh yeah! Cool. Check it out, I saw this other one over there too. It was bluish and–" He cut her off, knowing exactly where she was going. "And let me guess. It had a white horse's head on it." "Yeah!" "Sounds like the Broncos." "Hah! Which team's better?" "How would I know? I've been here the last eighteen, nineteen months!" Rainbow facehoofed and restated, "Alright, which was better before you came here then?" Sighing, Matt took a moment to dig out any memories he had of the sport. He was more into college football but was still marginally aware of what went on in the pros. "Um...well, the Colts had a great quarterback, he always threw for, like, a million yards every year. I think the Broncos usually had a good running game. They were both pretty good if I remember. But, I mean, people got traded all the time. You honestly expect me to tell you who's on the teams now?" She went to answer but shrugged and clammed up pretty quick. Glancing again at the hat in her hooves, she weighed Matt's words and smirked. "Soooo, the Colts had a good air game, huh?" "Mhm. They could score a ridiculous amount of points a lot." "Then that's who I'm rooting for. Sounds like my kind of team!" Quickly getting tired of the banter, Matt pulled the hat away from her and hung it on the end of a nearby clothes rack. "Can we go now? Besides, how are you even supposed to root for a team that's not even from the same planet?" he asked as he turned to leave. "Bah, details." Not to be deterred even as Matt was walking away, Rainbow Dash zipped around overhead and found some footballs for sale in a basket by the front counter. The employees nearly jumped out of their skin as she dove for one and took back to the sky, holding it like her bipedal friend would. "Hey, Applejack! Go long!" The ball flew through the air but nopony bothered to chase after it as it sailed over their heads. Before it got too far out of reach, it paused mid-air, glowing purple, and made its way back to Matt. Almost as a singular unit, the group turned to face her with deadpan looks. "You're no fun." Matt casually lobbed the football back at her and she got the message. For a brief moment, she disappeared behind the clothes, putting her oblong toy back, and returned to them, disappointed but ready to go. ----- After roughly ten minutes of walking, they rounded the corner past the Sears they had spotted on the map earlier. There fortunately hadn't been much for the girls to look at – more clothing stores of various quality, a music store playing an awful pop song, a video game shop that tempted Matt for a moment. The only other things that struck anypony's fancy were a scented candle shop that Rarity wanted to visit and a Frederick's of Hollywood that she wanted to check out to hopefully get a few ideas for a more intimate apparel line back at the boutique. The candles did smell nice, and Matt wouldn't have minded looking around in Frederick's either for other reasons, but they really needed to continue. Besides, Rarity had already led them into a jewelry store and Matt had firmly decided along the way that everybody gets one, including him. Yeah, he stopped for food as well as phone chargers but both were more out of necessity rather than entertainment, he argued. Her pouting wasn't going to work this time. But, as Matt's nose took hold of him back at the food court, Pinkie's suddenly kicked into high gear. She certainly recognized something sweet. Taking wingless flight and confusing the hell out of everyone around them after observing Rainbow Dash flapping next to them, the party girl floated on a breeze into a candy store a few shops in front of them. She might as well have died and gone to heaven. Giddy with excitement, she bounced around from one display to another, utterly lost at where to start. Oh, if she could only try everything! Matt pointed out that quite a bit of what she saw she could easily get back home. While that was true, there was so much more Pinkie could sample here! All the unusual jelly bean flavors, the sour treats, the numerous chocolate things, the hard candies – she was practically drooling a waterfall onto the floor! Yet another argument he wasn't going to win. Maybe he should just stop trying. At least the kids in the establishment seemed to be amused by her hijinks. Their parents, not so much. Slightly embarrassed at her antics, Matt turned away and pretended not to know her. Pinkie Pie stopped mid-bounce next to a bin that caught her eye. The tiny pieces in gold foil looked kind of cute, and she never really saw any treats designed in such a way. Obviously the candy was inside it. So, she reached into the plastic bin and tossed the miniature peanut butter cup into her mouth, masterfully unwrapping it with her tongue. Once it was finally off, she slid the flattened foil out from between her lips and set it on the clear tub. The taste hit and she froze up, her tongue kissed by the new, orgasmic flavor. "Why have I never had this before?!" she shouted to the heavens. "Jesus, Pinkie! Calm down!" "Err...hehe, sorry!" Not satisfied with only one, the party mare scooped out another and undid the wrapper in the same way, this time with Matt watching. "...Pinkie, you're going to make some guy very happy some day," he muttered, not terribly surprised by her tongue's versatility. Honestly, knowing what he knew about her by this point, little she did surprised him anymore. Though the others really didn't get it, the joke wasn't lost on Rarity. "Matt!" "I'm just kidding, jeez!" "But I love making guys and girls happy all the time, silly!" Pinkie said. Matt didn't need to look to know the fashionista was glaring at him expectantly. "I-I'm not touching that one." "Touching what?" "...Never mind." With a shrug, the bouncy mare hopped and hopped to her next target, this time some Twizzlers Minis. They were decent, but she liked the peanut butter cups better. A few bins further down, she spotted the name of the treat in front of her and giggled. "Gummy bears? Does that mean I should bring some home for Gummy? Heehee!" Her attention shifted from one tub to the next to the next. "Ooo, gummy worms, gummy letters... Gummy cherries!" she gasped. "I love cherries!" Curious if they did indeed taste like their namesake, Pinkie tossed a sample down her throat. After a moment, a blissful smile stretched across her face. Soooo good! Matt had been keeping a diligent eye on the hyper pony just in case she started making too much of a mess or having more than one or two pieces. However, as she gobbled down the sugary goodness, he began to remember something about her selected treat. When it all finally came back to him, he had to fight off wincing over what one of the main ingredients of the sweets was. Granted, Applejack and Rainbow Dash had voluntarily chowed down on something not normally incorporated into a pony's diet, but what the gummies contained were typically leftover for the dog after eating a rack of ribs. Mercifully, Pinkie wouldn't have any way to be aware of this. Matt was intent on keeping it that way since she was thoroughly enjoying her sugar rush, but he'd be damned if he was going to spill the beans. Out of sight, out of mind! That didn't mean he was going to let her continue to unknowingly devour something whose contents would horrify her under normal circumstances, though. The zany mare tossed another cherry into the air, intent on catching it in her mouth, when Matt stepped up and caught it instead, forcing laughter as he put it away. "Hah hah! Pinkie, you don't want to fill up on just these! See over here? You've got these, uh...Reese's Pieces, those are really good. Little lumps of peanut butter. Errr...oh, these! Oreo cookie crumbles! Yeah, have some of those." "Oooo, those do look good!" "Mhm! Yeah, just don't go too overboard, okay? You just ate not too long ago. Don't want to be...sick or anything," he said, sliding a sideways glance at Applejack and Rainbow Dash. The speedster glided up to them with a raised eyebrow. "Overboard? With chocolate and candy and stuff? You have met Pinkie Pie, right?" "Yeah, yeah, I know." Matt's face twisted as he watched crumbs and bits fly from Pinkie's lips as she munched away like a starving filly. "Tsk, you're making a mess..." Happy with her fill of cookies and cream, she hopped off to the next delectable delight only for Matt to call it a day for her. "Okay, um...I-I'd say that's enough for now, okay, Pinks?" "But there's seventy-two more tubs that I haven't tried yet!" Perplexed at how she came up with such an odd number, he paused and began to count what they hadn't touched yet. Only three tallies under his belt was enough for him to shake his head, remembering who he was dealing with. "We can't really dawdle too long at these places. You know this." "Aww, okay," the poor mare pouted. With a gentle nudge, Pinkie turned and headed towards her friends. Rainbow sped right past her in the meantime. He awkwardly turned to face the teller across the room. "Err, s-sorry about, um..." He motioned to the littered floor embarrassingly. As they passed by the gummy area, Matt held up for a second, staring at the same temptation that snagged the party girl. Biting his lip and hating himself for it, he reached into the bin and grabbed a couple more cherries, quickly throwing one into his mouth. His eyes scanned over the girls as he slowly, slowly chewed. It felt so wrong. But, damn, did it taste so right. "They're good, huh?" Pinkie giggled, having seen what he did. "Mmm!" he said with a phony smile. "Heh...yeah." ----- It was only a few minutes before Matt was able to see down the hall the fancy white letters that made the Saks Fifth Avenue sign overhead. Jeez, finally! Now as long as the valet parking lot came with the mall... With a sigh of relief, Matt picked up his pace. They'd spent more time in this place than he would have liked. Just as the group was about to pass below the sign, however, Fluttershy came to a stop, glancing at a store a few doors down from the retail giant. When the yellow pegasus didn't appear in the corner of Rarity's eye, she paused as well to look behind her. "Fluttershy?" As Matt and the rest turned around too, he managed to hear what no doubt was on the timid mare's mind – a loud, high-pitched yipping and barking. Surely enough, she was staring at a nearby pet store, particularly the display next to the window where a handful of puppies were playing and pawing at the window. Interesting. The mall he used to be dragged to never had one, if he recalled right – not even when he was a kid. Meh, whatever. Didn't mean other places couldn't have them. Once the initial surprise settled, Fluttershy blinked and gazed back at the group. "Oh. I-I'm sorry. We do need to keep going." Hiding behind her mane, she crept up and waited patiently for Matt to continue leading them. But, he was still watching the furballs and smirking as they romped. "Alright, go ahead." Her ears twitched and she looked up in surprise. When he didn't see her flying or galloping away, he cocked his head to the side to see her still standing there gawking at him. "Go ahead. Everybody gets one, remember? That can be your one." A dainty pair of hooves were suddenly wrapped around his head. He patted her back with his free hand and she was off, flying gracefully for a few feet before deciding on sprinting away. She practically knocked an unsuspecting woman to the floor as she rounded the corner inside toward the display up front. Taking to the air, Fluttershy scooped up one of the puppies, smiling almost as widely as Pinkie Pie typically does. "Oooh, aren't you just the cutest little thing?! Yes, you are!" "Mommy, mommy, I want that one!" a small nearby child cried out while her mother tickled a kitten in its play area. "You see one you li–oh my God!" As the mom pulled her little girl away from the distracted Fluttershy, the scrawny teenager behind the counter spotted Matt and the rest of the girls as they walked in, barely able to take his eyes off the yellow mare as she nuzzled the tiny beagle. "Uh...s-sir, you're supposed to have your pets on a leash when–" "Pets?!" Rainbow growled, getting right in his face. "Buh!" "Rainbow Dash, he doesn't know," Applejack groaned. Eh, she did have a point. The high-flyer narrowed her eyes at the clerk and pointed threateningly at him before flying off. She wasn't having any of his crap! The mares spread out, heading for their animal of choice. Rainbow zipped over to squawking and chirping in the back with Twilight following on the ground behind her while Rarity went to look at the kittens in their exhibit, lifting one out with her magic and snuggling with it. Matt and Applejack stepped around the cooing pegasus and stuck their arm and forelimb in the display, almost instantly attacked by several tongues and tiny sets of teeth. A couple furry companions jumped to their hind legs and leaned on the glass, begging for more direct attention. Matt picked one up, a golden retriever pup, and offered the little yellow ball of energy to the little pink ball of energy hopping excitedly beside them. She took it in her hooves with a squeal. Plopping onto her rump, the dog licked and licked her face, its tongue tickling. Once it stopped for a moment, she set him on the floor and hopped to her hooves, leaning forward and barking at the playful puppy. More slobbery kisses were her reward. Her laughter only got louder when she rolled over onto her back and the pooch tried climbing onto her chest, growling and playfully nipping at her forelegs. Matt returned to Applejack's side and went back to his new four-legged friends, scratching at ears and tickling tummies. Okay, this stop wasn't a bad one. "Winona's gonna be piiiiissed," he joked, getting a laugh out of the cowgirl. ----- Though they lingered longer than Matt would have initially liked in the pet store, playing with the animals made the experience quite a bit better than a few of the prior places they visited. Either way, he felt like kicking himself for all the ultimately wasted time. Once they left the pet store, he had looked overhead through the skylights and there was nothing but darkness. Either the sun was already down or it was far too low in the sky for them to see any of its precious light. If the moon was going to be the only thing helping them see, it had better be nice and clear out. It was simple enough navigating through Saks thanks to the signs overhead showing them the way out. He was quickly getting tired of looking at clothes, clothes and more clothes. At least the perfume and make-up counters were a little different among the monotony. Finally nearing the exit, many yards ahead, they heard the carrying on of what sounded like a crowd of people. Uh oh. Checking their surroundings, Matt nudged them into hiding between some clothes racks and listened for any clues as to what was going on. "Why won't you let us go outside?!" "We can't be expected to stay here! What's the idea?!" "I have to get home to my family!" "Listen, we've been over this! Until we figure out what's going on, we've been instructed not to let anyone out of the building!" "This is for your own safety! Now step back!" "Hey Rainbow, you wanted to know where the security guards were? I think we found some of them," Matt said. "What are we going to do? They're not going to let us out," Fluttershy wondered. "How about we go up there and Twilight teleports us outside?" A.J. suggested. "Ehhh, if they turn around and see us, they'll just come after us, probably guns a-blazin'." Matt cocked an eyebrow. "Wait, you can send things away too, right?" "Yeah, why?" "What does that take?" With a tap of her chin, Twilight answered, "Just need to think of a place I know how to get to and then just...focus, really." "You remember how to get to the car we crashed in?" "Err, yeah. You want me to send them there?" "Only as a last resort. I'll snap my fingers if it comes to that, then you get rid of them. Hopefully they'll be like, 'hey, something weird is going on outside and then there are these weird...well, you guys...in front of us. Maybe there's a connection and we should let them through!', but I doubt that'll happen," he explained. "What do you mean 'weird'?" Rainbow asked, a bit peeved at Matt's choice of words. "Let's face it, darling, we're not exactly a normal sight to these people," Rarity replied. "Why don't you think they'd see things like that anyway?" "Eh, most cops aren't exactly hired for their brains." "Now, what happens when we get outside?" Twilight queried. "Well, assuming the parking lot came with this place, that one guy said this is where the valet is supposed to be. If that's true, we'll probably see a stand with a bunch of keys in a box or something. There'll probably be an SUV somewhere, we find its key and get the hell out of here. But we've gotta be quick about it." "Why's that, shug?" "Once those guards figure out what the hell happened, they'll probably radio for help and send some more of their friends our way in a hurry." "Sounds like this is gonna be real fun then," Applejack remarked. Matt nodded and took a breath. Showtime! "Yep. Alright, let's go. No one make any sudden moves, and stay behind me." With the escape plan set, they pressed on and snuck up behind the angry crowd without incident. All the furious words being thrown around were enough to keep their attention away from the group. Now how to actually get past them...? Speaking up probably wasn't going to work since everyone was getting loud and belligerent after however long they'd been standing there. Ah! A simple tap on the shoulder. It's always the easy things. The woman whose attention Matt got shrieked when she turned her head, nearly falling over into those in front of her in an effort to get away. Others next to her jumped when she let out her yell and looked behind them to see what was going on only to back off as well. The chain reaction was set. "Excuse us, we'd like to get through," Matt said, smiling facetiously. "'Scuse us... Pardon us... Sorry... Comin' through." Little by little, the crowd died down as the unusual visitors were seen and a wide berth was given to them. Once the ten or so guards spotted them and the initial surprise wore off, they took a defensive position, reaching for their weapons. Matt quickly scanned where their hands were, and they weren't holding their guns. Probably going after pepper spray or tasers or something. Still, no need to antagonize them. "Hey there, we need to get through," he pleaded. "The heck are those things?!" "Watch it, guys!" One of the middle guards offered his hand out to Matt. "S-sir, come with me! We'll get you away from those...things!" Wow, it didn't take them long to insult his intelligence. "They're with me, you idiot." Ugh, so much for not antagonizing. "Look, we need to get out of here. Are you going to let us out or not?" "Sir, something weird is going on outside–" "Oh yeah, and things are completely normal in here. Right." "We don't know what's going on and until we figure it all out, nobody is allowed to leave these premises! We don't know what's out there! Now step back and keep those things of yours away!" one of the younger guards hollered. "Is it wrong of me to want to go up there and knock those fools' lights out?" Applejack growled under her breath. "We do know what's out there and what's happening. That's why we need to go. Now," Matt snarled, quickly losing himself to the anger he had managed to keep subverted for so, so long. "Sir, this is your last warning!" he heard as the line of guards started pulling out weapons. "Oh, we don't have time for this shit." He snapped his fingers and a few seconds later, the men began to glow purple. Before they could register what was going on, they vanished into thin air, sending the crowd into a brief panic. "...Assholes." Shaking his head in disgust, he stepped up to the automatic door, but nothing happened. It should be working. He dropped the pillows and tried prying the door open, but to no avail. Great. They must have locked it. With a sneer across his face, he stepped up to Applejack and unwrapped the shovel from its make-shift holster, swung around and smashed the glass into a thousand pieces. "Err, you know I could have just popped us outside, right?" Twilight asked. "Yeah, but I needed to hit something after all that bullshit." "But now there's glass all over the place." Using the garden tool, he scraped what he could to the side, making a narrow but useable path. "There you go. Come on, we gotta move. Just be careful." Once the girls trotted and flew outside, he turned and gave the crowd one last threatening glare, daring anyone to follow them with a wave of the shovel. Good. Didn't look like there was going to be any trouble. Squinting, he snatched their pillows and chased after the ponies. "Look, over there," Matt said, pointing to the valet stand. Sure enough, it – and a fair portion of the lot, from what he could see under the functioning street lights – made the trip to Equestria. He skimmed through the cars and spotted a rather large SUV of some kind. "Rainbow, you see that white one there?" "Yeah, you want me to go check it out?" "Yeah, there should be a logo or a word or something above the plate in the middle." "On it!" As she raced away, they approached the large, black metal box that contained the keys but found it locked. "Goddammit, the valet guy probably has the key for this thing. Shit! Twilight, you think you can cut through this without slicing all the way through it?" "Yeah, that shouldn't be a problem." "Okay, good." Focusing a beam of magic like a welding torch, Twilight was only a few inches into her task when Rainbow returned. "It said 'Hummer' on the back. That what you wanted?" "That's a Hummer? Oh, nice. Nice and roomy." After only about a minute, the last of the lock was cut loose and Twilight swung the door open. Inside had to have been nearly a hundred keys. "Ugh! You gotta be kidding me!" Matt snarled, dropping the shovel and bag to the ground. "Okay, okay, um...keep an eye out for any guards or whatever. I gotta look through this." Most of the selection had familiar logos carved into their plastic heads but none of them seemed to reveal themselves as the target he was searching for. Anything that looked like an 'H' he recognized as Hyundai and Honda. He started to panic until about three-quarters through, he spotted another 'H' that didn't look like the others. Clumsily peeling it off its hook, he swiveled the key so the light struck it right, revealing a '2' next to it. This had to be it! Of course it needed to have an alarm clicker. Couldn't be that easy, could it? "Rainbow, go see if this is it. See that button with the open lock? Click on that and see if the thing's lights flash." "You got it!" With the key in hoof, she was off again. When the speedster zipped away, Matt checked back toward the Saks. People seemed to be slowly, cautiously filing out the door, no doubt curious about what the guards were going on about. Thankfully, there wasn't much other than the moonlight illuminating the landscape and they couldn't see past the parking lot lamp posts. "Um, Matt? I think we may have a problem!" Fluttershy cried, pointing to the side. In the distance, he could see several narrow lights swinging back and forth. "Ah shit, here they come!" "Matt!" Rainbow hollered from the car. "It worked!" "Oh, thank God." Quickly grabbing their supplies, he commanded, "Twilight, get us out of here!" The group gathered in close while the librarian's horn glowed brightly. A second later, they popped up beside their new ride though Matt didn't enjoy the trip; the few teleportations he ever took always left him dizzy for a moment. He'd never get used to them! Once his head stopped spinning, he took the key from Rainbow and opened the tailgate, tossing the pillows, his backpack and the shovel in. "Wow, this thing's massive!" Pinkie blurted. "Hell yeah, it is. Toss your bags in quick! We gotta go!" The unicorns grabbed everypony's saddlebags for them and simply flung them inside. Fluttershy, Rainbow and Pinkie dove in through the back right after, taking their original seats. Matt slammed the tailgate closed and hurried to the passenger side where he opened the doors for Twilight and Rarity and lastly for Applejack up front. All set finally! He sprinted around the vehicle and jumped in behind the wheel, jamming the key in the ignition and starting the monster up. "Matt, our belts!" A.J. suggested. "No time!" The Hummer swung hard and fast out of its parking spot, screeched to a halt and made a break for it. Matt adjusted his rear view mirror and saw the flashlights arriving at the stand as well as a man running after them swinging his arms for several yards before giving up. "Well, looks like we figured out who this thing belongs to," he quipped as they sped away. ----- Once they were out of sight from the mall and were sure they were heading in the right direction, Matt slowed up and they sighed collectively with relief. Confusing them for a moment, Matt came to a stop and stepped out, heading toward the back and popping it up. He was after his backpack, specifically what he threw in there earlier that day – the car charger for his phone. He tore it from its plastic and paper holster with a smirk and flung the debris back inside, shut the back and slid the now-dead phone from his pocket. Though he never had one of his own, he had charged phones for his friends in their cars back home before, so he was familiar enough with them. Sitting back down behind the wheel, he set the charger in the cigarette lighter's slot and plugged the iPhone in. The device chirped, letting him know the connection was made. They carefully continued under the cover of darkness for a few more miles until they found a few trees they could hide among – as well as a Hummer could anyway. The group hopped out of the car to stretch their legs, but Matt let the car run for a little while so the phone could charge. The night had already started to get a little cold. A fire would be nice before they decided to turn in. Rainbow and Fluttershy volunteered to search the trees for some decent branches to burn while Twilight grabbed the shovel and dug a shallow pit several feet away. The librarian offered to get the fire going too. They didn't exactly have any strong string that would help them rub a couple sticks together the way Applejack had done before. Most of the twenty minutes following the birth of the warm glow they sat around, talking about their wild experience earlier, Matt sat in relative silence. Aside from answering an occasional question or two about the mall, Matt was decidedly distracted. Ever since Twilight helped him remember the numbers that were on the list in his pocket, he was hoping to get a hold of someone. He had yet to try them again that day, but considering that the phone had died on their way, he didn't have much choice. In a strange way, what happened to them couldn't have been more fortunate. The car was still purring and the phone still charging. It had to have some life by now. Hopefully a signal would be able to get through – if it was going to reach anyone at all, that is. With a grunt, he got to his feet. "I'll be right back." He reached into the Hummer and killed the engine. No sense in wasting gas. He wasn't exactly sure how much was left since he had been sitting there burning it for the last twenty minutes, but he'd worry about that later. The thing probably had a large tank, so traveling a hundred miles probably wouldn't be terribly difficult. He sighed nervously as he pulled the folded sheet of paper from his pocket and took the phone in his hand. With a quick glance over his shoulder, he quietly walked several feet away from the girls, the crisp grass crunching under his shoes. The phone came to life with a touch – 37%. Not bad! He read the first number on the list and punched it in, hoping beyond hope that he'd make a connection somehow. That wouldn't be enough, however. The speaker beeped in his ear three times, over and over. Maybe the next one? A cold wind blew that sent a shiver down his body as he dialed only to hear the same whistling again. The third and the fourth on the list met him with the same fate. Only two numbers left. The first of the final two he looked at longingly. With every attempt, he was becoming more and more disheartened. Upon punching the digits in, there was a strange pause. It hadn't done that with the previous four. Suddenly, the other end began to ring. His eyes lit up in shock and his heart began to race. After several rings, a long lost voice answered on the other side, "H-h-hello?!" He tried to answer, his jaw hanging open, and the words very nearly escaped him. "Hello?! Who's there? Wh-who is this?" the woman tried again. "...Rachel?" The silence was deafening. For a moment, he worried that it was someone else. But the voice was still unmistakable to him. "...Who is this?" "Rachel, it's me... It's Matt." The line went quiet again until he heard the sound of their phone falling to the floor.