//------------------------------//
// Chapter 10 
// Story: Luna vs. a Tiny Italian Car 
// by totallynotabrony 
//------------------------------//

August 17, 2015
While we waited for Tirek to turn up again, Luna reluctantly agreed to see the show.  And yeah, it was kind of like Cirque du Soleil with the addition of horses.

Regardless of the species involved, it was a spectacle and I was pleased that Maria and I were at least getting something out of this supposed vacation.

The next morning, Jean bid us goodbye and we left Montreal.

Though I suppose it would have been helpful to know where we were going.

“Do you think Tirek is still going north?” I asked.

Maria consulted the atlas.  “There isn’t a whole lot north of Montreal.  The track so far - from Baltimore to here - has been curving west.  So...maybe Ottawa, maybe as far as Toronto.”

“Back south?” I asked.

“He’s been sticking to population centers,” she noted.  “For whatever reason.”

“And we still don’t know what he’s up to or why he joined the circus.”  I glanced in the rearview mirror.  “Ideas, Luna?  You know him better.”

“Tirek has always desired power,” she said.  “He has done that by taking magic from others.  But here on Earth, there is none that he can use.  Perhaps he is still searching and believes he is more likely to find it among concentrations of humans in cities.”

“So there’s no magic on Earth?” I asked.

“I am not willing to commit to saying no.  However, I have not detected any hints of it.”

There’s something disheartening about hearing that your entire planet is no special snowflake.  Then again, maybe our survival despite a lack of magic was our success.  I like it when I can make myself happy.

“So if he’s looking for magic, does that mean he’s trying the old cities, places where there’s a history and a legend?” I asked.

“That’s a lot of New England, where he’s been,” Maria said.  “Though I think actual England or the rest of Europe would be better.”

“It’d be hard for him and Celestia to get aboard a ship or a plane,” I said.  “Though if he manages it, we’d have a harder time tracking him down.”

“Well, you know people over there, right?” said Maria.

“I do know people everywhere,” I agreed.  “The internet is a wonderful place to communicate.”

Speaking of communication, I heard a pop as a scroll appeared in front of Luna.

She unrolled it, read it, and sighed.  “This may require significant writing to reply with a suitable answer.”

“What does that mean?” I asked.

She glared at me in the mirror.  “I will have to tell a long, complicated story in order to distract from the fact that I have no idea where my sister is.”

There wasn’t enough paper on the scroll, so Maria handed over a notebook with lined paper and a pen.  Luna, not used to ballpoint, took a while to figure out the appropriate pressure.  I heard the paper tear a few times.  Glancing back, I saw a mask of frustration on her face.

When she did manage to get the pen to leave lines on the paper, it was not gracefully.  The swaying of the car on the road and the irregular writing surface of the luggage stacked around her definitely affected her handwriting.  Er, hornwriting.

With growl of frustration, she tossed the pen and notebook away.  “This is impossible.  Stop the car.”

“Do you want to camp here alongside Quebec Route 50 until you finish writing an excessively long letter, or should we find a better place to stop?”

“I would prefer a better way to write.”

I thought for a moment and then nodded.  “I think I know what to do.”