//------------------------------// // Part 3 (Moriah) - Chapter 2 // Story: Founders of Alexandria // by Starscribe //------------------------------// They didn’t have to wait long for the caravan to appear. It wasn’t all that loud, though Moriah found herself impressed by the resourcefulness she saw even at a distance. Most of the vehicles appeared to be military. As they drew closer, she was able to count a total of four vehicles: one cloth-covered personnel carrier, one covered military cargo truck, one fuel tanker, and one civilian semi towing what looked to be a daisy-chain of three different trailers. What the hell kind of engine was in that thing? Sky, with somewhat reckless friendliness, made her way to the center of the road and plopped herself down there, so that the caravan would be forced to notice them and to stop. When she had spoken with the caravan’s “leader” last night, she had told him they would meet them on their way into Alexandria. She hadn’t hinted they might do it in a small, hobby aircraft. She expected to be both amused and smugly satisfied by the expressions she saw. She wasn’t disappointed. Ponies stared openly as the vehicles approached, though ponies were not the only creatures she saw. The cargo truck brought up the front, and at the wheel… she had no words to describe this creature, had never seen anything like it. Sky did though, and she exclaimed, “Oooh, a diamond dog! I was reading about those the other day.” “Those biceps are insane,” Moriah whispered, as he parked the truck. Air brakes screamed in her ears as the caravan lumbered to a hault. “He must not skip arm day.” Sky nudged her slightly. “That’s not nice… Actually, they use their forepaws to dig burrows, so they get much stronger than their legs. The book said other things about them, but I kinda only skimmed after the first page.” Moriah didn’t get to reply, because at that moment the door opened and the “diamond dog” hopped out. Holy crap was he tall. He probably would’ve been at a height with her before the Event, thickly muscled and covered with dark grey fur. His “paws” clearly had opposable thumbs, though they looked closer even than a great ape’s. Like massive bludgeons more than paws. What sort of damage would it do if he decided to hurt them? He probably could’ve snapped her little ultralight if he wanted. He wore military fatigues, though his strange body deformed them with knees that bent the wrong way and a tail that shouldn’t have been there. He also had a black tee-shirt, with military identifiers Moriah couldn’t read. “You folks must be from Alexandria.” His voice was gravely and strangely deep, his expression wary. Moriah noted a holster prominently on his belt, holding a large pistol. It looked like something had been done to the trigger, but she didn't want him to see her staring at it. “I guess this means we’re going the right way.” Several faces poked out from the back of the cloth-walled personnel carrier, but nobody actually stepped out to talk. Evidently they trusted their leader to handle the situation. Whatever. Moriah moved close enough to reach him. Then, with a supreme effort of balance, she rolled back onto her hind legs and offered him her hoof to shake. “Moriah Strickland.” He looked surprised, but took her hoof and shook it firmly. It didn’t hurt, though she was sure it would’ve if she still had hands. That was a hell of a grip! “You’re Mr. Abrams?” She couldn’t hold the gesture longer than his “handshake” and fell immediately back onto her hooves when it was done. The “diamond dog” looked a little uncomfortable with the name, but he nodded anyway. “I suppose I’ll have to get used to ‘mr.’ sooner or later.” Pause. “We’re going the right way then, I take it. No obstructions on the road? Though I suppose you might not have noticed if you flew all the way here…” “Nothing serious,” she replied, taking another look at their vehicles. “Nothing that would slow down a convoy like yours. Minor debris. If you’d come up from the south instead, it would’ve been clear. But we haven’t traveled north that often past the neighboring towns. We’ll get around to it eventually.” He nodded, directing his attention to Sky, who was at that moment poking her head past Moriah while simultaneously trying to remain unseen behind her. In the second at least, she did not succeed. “Are you Alex Haggard then?” Sky blushed, shaking her head. Her mane cascaded down in front of one of her eyes, and she made no effort to free it. “N-No, Mr. Abrams. I’m just… nopony…” She retreated a pace, staring suddenly at the ground. “That’s Cloudy Skies,” Moriah explained. She had to fight not to roll her eyes while she said it, but she managed. “Alex was called away. She should be back by tomorrow. She’ll miss our celebration tonight I’m afraid… but she’s still eager to meet your group. She’s put me in charge while she’s away.” “Ahh.” He glanced over his shoulder, frowning just slightly. “How long to Alexandria from here?” “About two hours. Lots of little small towns along the way. The highway goes right through it though, so you can’t miss it. Just follow the signs for ‘Paris.’ We’ve painted over the ones in town itself, so you should know when you’re there. Take your first right onto Main Street and follow it until you see the courthouse. If you beat us back there, our ponies should be waiting for you there. I was thinking we would worry about the intricacies of housing and stuff when Alex gets back.” Mainly because she had forgotten to ask what Alex had planned when the HPI came for her. But she wasn’t about to tell him that. Somehow Abrams struck her as the sort of man who didn’t tolerate the slightest sign of weakness or incompetence. “Alright, ma’am. We’ll meet you there. Safe flight.” He didn’t wait for her to answer, just turned around and loped back into the truck. Soon the caravan was passing them, Sky waving timidly and Moriah just standing to watch. She tried to count the ponies, but couldn’t get a good look into the back of the truck. She would say this for the caravan: they sure knew what they were doing. Had she expected different? Maybe a little. Most people would’ve been helpless at the end of the world. She would’ve been, if it hadn’t been for Alex and her group. She could admit that freely now. Was Abrams that same sort of force for these ponies? She looked forward to finding out, even if having so many newcomers to the settlement made her nervous. They had put so much time and energy into Alexandria. If they lost it all again, after what happened in Los Angeles… she wasn’t sure if she would be able to cope. The flight back was unremarkable, except in that she learned Sky could shout for nearly two hours straight without losing her voice. For all she had been nervous during the meeting, she seemed extremely excited. Moriah tried to share her enthusiasm, though privately she had already started forming contingencies. What would they do if the new ponies tried to take over? What would they do if Abrams decided the Equestrian books really belonged to him, and that his group would take them for themselves? If the library became a disputed asset, it was likely to remain that way for all of time. Would the Equestrian princesses be happy if their books were used as pieces in violent political chess? Moriah didn’t care. She would give those “princesses” the bird with both hands to their faces. If she… had hands. Too bad she wouldn’t get the chance. She found herself tuning Sky out for much of the flight, turning over envy in her gut. Maybe if she had been with Alex, she would’ve gotten to go to Equestria too. Even if she couldn’t give the princesses a piece of her mind, it seemed reasonable to her they would at least be able to find the time to fix certain mistakes the spell had made. She couldn’t have her humanity back, but that would’ve been fair, right? Every time she woke up beside Joseph in bed, every time she had to use the bathroom, and every twenty-one days, she found herself wondering why Alex hadn’t asked Equestria’s ruling monarchy to fix her body. They had the power, didn’t they? But in all the memory Moriah had seen, Alex hadn’t bothered to even try. She didn’t understand, fixing the transformation would’ve been her very first request. Had Alex even asked during the secret, second meeting when she had met with all four princesses, instead of just the one called “Luna?” To her never-ending frustration, Alex wouldn’t say. She wouldn’t talk about that second meeting at all, in fact, except to explain that she had formally been entrusted with the guardianship of the books and some made-up title of ambassador for a civilization that might not even be within speaking distance again for thousands of years. As it turned out, they beat the caravan back into town after all. Moriah pushed the ultralight as fast as she dared, while the caravan kept to about 55 miles per hour the entire way in. It meant she could be there to greet them again when they arrived, along with all the other ponies of the colony. She didn’t even have to cajole Joseph to get him away from his computers. She felt much better with him beside her as the big trucks made their way towards the courthouse, though she couldn’t say if it was his large form or the might of his magic she knew he had. He alone wore a weapon, since he alone could hope to draw and fire it with speed or accuracy. Besides, it didn’t seem to make sense to greet new friends armed to the teeth. Beside Joseph sat Sky, much to Moriah’s unease. Was it instinct that made her get so upset so quickly whenever she saw another mare around Joseph, or was she just that needy and disgusting by nature? The Equestrian books hadn’t said anything about it, but she hadn’t read many that weren’t about unicorn magic. Huan sat beside Sky, as though he had appointed himself her guardian while Alex was away. Moriah supposed he might’ve, the dog was far too smart for his own good. Adrian and Riley sat a little apart from everybody else. Adrian still had a splint on one wing, though the other wing was free by his side. Beside him sat Riley, wearing far more clothes than Moriah had ever seen on her. It looked as though she was trying to conceal just how freakish and frightening she looked, with a pair of long pants rolled up by her hooves and a sweatshirt that must be baking her. Even her wings were covered, and the hood was high over her head, with only a slight peak suggesting there was even a horn inside. “Good thinking, kid,” she called, looking past her to Oliver. Getting him to agree to leave the kitchen even for a few minutes had been a fight, though it had been one she eventually won. Take that, Alex, she could be a leader too! “All right, everyone. Let’s be nice and friendly. We want the people who don’t stay to talk about how great visiting was.” Alex’s words, but that didn’t mean Moriah couldn’t own them. “We’re gonna keep our cool, meet our first wave of immigrants. Let’s make sure they want to stay.”