June 8th, 2015 @ 5:30 pm, still at Farmville but now parked at community center
Dear Journal,
Today was fairly productive, if I do say so myself. *smug*
I moved the truck rig to the community center parking lot first thing. Eddie had picked out an apartment for himself in the downtown core so he pulled out his wagon, harness and all of his personal belongings from the RV.
Of course, I let him keep the bed sheets he had been using as an impromptu house-warming gift. Also gave him a case of water and a food cooler of mixed produce, plus a bag of cereals, crackers and a jar of peanut butter. “Just to get you on your hooves in a new place,” I had said to him with a hug. He thanked me for the stuff and for bringing him here.
Later on, Joe brought the small bike wheels, smaller training wheels and PVC pipes, corners & cement I had asked for earlier in the day. I had explained to them how I knew some people who built wheel chairs for dogs and cats that have lost the use of their front or back legs. I was going to use the same styles for Sarah’s set of wheels, just on a slightly bigger scale as the largest set of wheels I had seen was for a German Sheppard.
Using a chair to hold her tail up, I had Sarah stand so I could take measurements and figure out where to put the wheels and the back piece that would hold up her tail. Once I got the sizes, I figured out where I wanted to hang the canvas pieces that would support the weight of the tail in two places; cutting out all of the PVC and the canvas, I had to get someone else to sew the hems & install the grommets for the super strong rope weaving, taking a leaf out of the pioneer books I used to read (Little House on the Prairie; beds used to be made by weaving rope under the mattresses for support). Both canvas support platforms were made the same way while I figured out how to attach the wheels so they were easy to replace if necessary. Eddie figured out how to rig the training wheels so they would swivel with Sarah as she walked. And then Amy provided us with some colorfully bright reflective belts for the waist and tail straps with easy to pull safety releases.
Took us a few hours but it was pretty amazing when it was done. A rather large group had gathered in the community center parking lot when word spread that Sarah was ready to try out her new wheels. Except for a bit of chafing on the cross pieces (easily solved by padded canvas taped in place) the wheels worked perfectly! Sarah’s face lit up with joy as she trotted around the parking lot, followed by Amy for safety....
The crowd had cheered and Joe had high-hoofed Kathryn. “Are you sure we can’t convince you to say?” he asked a little wistfully. She merely shook her head. “The whole reason for Sarah’s wheels is so that she can come with me to the ocean,” Kathryn replied.
Suddenly, Sarah made a bee-line for Kathryn and hugged her so tightly, she almost could not breathe. “Oh thank you! Thank you! Thank you, Kathy!! I can’t thank you enough!” she squeed and the audience “D’awww’ed”.
They all ate a simple lunch of PB & J sandwiches and fresh milk at the former church that was now being used as city hall for Farmville. Now that she had wheels, Sarah wanted to USE them! A tour for Sarah around the town, including her former home so she could collect anything else she wanted to take with her, followed.
As they passed by a rural ambulance building, Kathryn walked in curiously. There, in the bay stood a beautiful diesel-powered rescue ambulance, fully stocked for any medical emergency (albeit, human). She already knew that the local hospital was being modified for ponies and this vehicle might be useful.... especially if the ponies of Farmville drove it through nearby towns with the lights & sirens turned on.
Her ears twitched as she heard the garage door opening and saw that Joe had opened it to let the others inside. Kathryn turned to Joe. “What do you think? Put her back in action... could be quite useful,” she said, gesturing towards it.
Joe thought about it for a moment and came to the same ideas as Kathryn. His face lit up and he nodded. “Yes indeed... I think we can make this useful again.”
And that, Journal, is how the rescue team was created! Joe had the ambulance up and running in no time. We all pitched in and got her cleaned up; oil change, washer fluid, new hydraulic fluids, new battery.... the works and then Joe & Raea climbed in as the rest of us marched along side as we escorted it to the hospital’s empty ambulance bay. Many ponies had stopped and cheered us on, almost like a parade! LOL Amy and the medic team at the hospital were enthusiastic at the prospect.
Turns out, Eddie was not just a dam manager but he was a paramedic student at the time of the event so he was immediately taken on by the doctor, nurse & EMT they already had. Eddie can’t drive worth a damn so Joe has offered to teach him. “Well, that’s my next 50 years accounted for... so long as I don’t crash the ambulance,” Eddie joked and everypony laughed with him.
By the time that all of this had happened, it was getting late so Sarah & I decided to stay one more night before heading east. I had let Amy go through all of my produce, deciding what was still good to take, to eat that night and what was only good for a composter. The five watermelons & three cantaloupes I had in one cooler weren’t going to last much longer so we all dug in with spoons and just shared.
And before I forgot, I made sure to set up one of my spare ham radios, a walkie talkie & a satellite phone for Farmville in the old church so we could stay in touch for as long as possible.... let them know if we found any ponies on our way, heading east.
June 9th, 2015 @ 10:30 am, leaving Farmville ~written by Sarah
Dear Journal,
Kathryn said it was ok for me to write in this file so here I go!
My name is Sarah, and I'm a unicorn merpony.... but I'm sure Kathy has already written all about that by now.
It feels really weird to be leaving my home town. Oh, sure I've traveled from time to time but this time, I'm not coming back. Kathy helped me to feel better by leaving notes for my dad if he ever returned. Mom’s been dead a couple of years now and I don’t expect this thing to have brought her back too. I did make sure to leave some flowers at her grave before we left though. The wheels that Kathy made for me are really great!
Before we left, the group of town fillies and colts, including little David from the party the other night, gave us a pair of big signs to hang on the sides of the RV. The signs are huge enough to stretch the whole length and it reads “Ocean Express” on each piece. Clearly the big words were done by adults but the hoof-drawings of the sun, clouds, houses, ponies, merponies and waves were done by the children.
When Kathy got up and asked what this was all about, Amy stepped forward. “It’s your call sign on the radio, silly! We will simply be ‘Farmville’ but you guys needed a cool moniker so the children came up with ‘Ocean Express’ to help you attract more merponies,” she explained.
Kathy could not hold back any longer at that point. She burst out laughing; so much so, tears rolled down her face.
When she finally got her composure, she knelt down to the fillies & colts and hugged them all. “I absolutely love it, you guys. Thank you so very much!”
The kids all laughed and cheered as Eddie used his newly found & practiced levitation skills to set the banners up on the RV’s sides.
Suddenly Kathy stopped and looked up to Amy. “So if the town is ‘Farmville’ and my truck is ‘Ocean Express’, what is the ambulance going to be?” Silence reigned in the moment the ponies recognized the question.
Of course, it was little David who spoke up first. “It’s a rescue ambulance, right? So why not ‘Rescue 1’?” I had watched Kathy blink twice before her face lit up in a smile. She scooped up the colt like only a super strong earth pony could and spun him around. He laughed in delight as others smiled & nodded agreement. “You are such a brilliant child, David! I knew there was a reason why I rescued you,” Kathy joked before setting him down.
I watched astonished as she pulled the silk-flower wreath out of her mane and placed it on her head. When she saw my look, she simply shrugged. “Something I picked up from Amy,” she said as the fillies & colts all giggled in delight.
The children gave us one last big hug before we walked to our sides of the truck. Eddie had gently lifted me into the passenger seat & carefully tucked my wheels into a spot; perfectly tetris-ed so that it would not get damaged, while Kathy got into driver and flipped on the radio. “Testing, testing. Please come in Farmville. This is Ocean Express. Over.” We could all hear the hoof-held radio that Amy had worn on a work belt and made her spook. Everypony laughed at her embarrassment as she answered. “Ocean Express, this is Farmville. You are clear to launch. Over and out.”
Eddie exploded in laughter as Kathy rolled her eyes and shut her door; his laughter becoming a little infectious. Revving the engine, ponies all moved out of the way, waving good-bye to us as she slowly pulled out of the parking lot and sped up as we rejoined the Interstate 90.
I feel excited to see how the world has changed with humans as ponies... even if some of us ponies are meant for the ocean. :P ~Sarah
The monotony of the empty highway was starting to rub Kathryn the wrong way. Sarah had already curled up with Raea on the seat & fell asleep some time ago. Despite the sleeping in, Kathryn felt like she was going to nod off on the road.
The irony was... they had just passed a sign that read “Fatigue kills; pull over if tired.”
Neither of that was required because just as they were crossing over a river’s bridge, a large shape jumped the guard rail on the far side and started waving down the truck.
Kathryn snapped awake as she saw it was a zebra pony, frantically waving for help and clearly sodden wet. “Wake up!” she screamed to her passengers as she hit the brakes slowly and brought the thing to a stop on the shoulder, the back trailer just in line with the new pony.
Kathryn practically bucked the door open as she bolted for the guard rail, Raea on her heels. Sarah could not help much as she propped herself up on the open window frame. “What’s going on?” she demanded groggily but Kathryn ignored her.
The zebra ran to meet Kathryn at the back of the trailer and lead her over the railing. “OH thank God you stopped! Please help me! We were driving the back roads, trying to find others like us but the rigging we used on the car came apart and we crashed. My friend is still trapped inside!” cried the zebra; clearly a male & newly returned judging by the over-sized clothes he still wore. “I don’t think she can swim either,” he added uncertainly.
They dashed through the broken underbrush and found the tire tracks going down the embankment and into the river. Kathryn could barely see the back window anymore but she recognized the car as a Prius. “Who the buck drives a Prius off roading??” she exclaimed in his face.
Without a second thought, Kathryn took control of her magic and leaped into the river next to the car, transforming herself in an instant. Raea had the common sense to stay on the shore with the pony, as she’d only get in her friend’s way. Instead, she placed her paw on the pony’s arm in a calming pony-like gesture. Strangely enough, it did calm him a little.
Kathryn swam in the cold, murky water, trying to find the car. Thankfully, it was white and so it stood out like a sore thumb. She managed to get to the front door and popped the handle easily. Frustratingly, the female was not the passenger; she was the driver. *He could have told me that and saved me time,* she muttered out loud as she kicked for the other side and popped the driver side. The female was an Earth pony and she was unconscious. Kathryn yanked the seat belt loose and dragged her clear of the car. Kathryn knew from her life-guarding that breathing in now would only make things worse so she simply grabbed her from behind, like the colt in the pool, and swam her to the shore. The zebra helped to drag her onto the bank; Kathryn didn’t even bother to change back as she dragged herself up to the female and began CPR.
A moment or two later, the earth pony spat out a good mouthful of water and started hacking. “OH thanks be to God, Sherry! You’re ok!” the male began to litany over and over.
“Spencer, calm the fuck down!” the earth pony managed to cough out. The zebra called Spencer immediately stopped and sat on his haunches. It was only then that Kathryn noticed that Spencer wore a wooden beaded cross around his neck while Sherry had some kind of wine glass on her flank but Spencer’s stripes were too confusing to tell if he had a mark. By then, she also realized that she had not changed back to land pony & worked at remedying that. When Kathryn saw their looks of surprise, she simply shrugged. “It’s my gift,” she said and that seemed to satisfy them.
Together, Kathryn & Spencer got Sherry up on her hooves and back to the pickup truck where Sarah had managed to get her wheels out of the back and herself strapped in. Kathryn forestalled their questions before they could ask. “That’s Sarah; she can’t turn like me,” she said in a monotone that stopped the other two from speaking & they both nodded instead.
Sarah had set up the spare cot bed from the RV and had Sherry lay on it and wrap her in a blanket while Kathryn checked her vitals. When Kathryn seemed satisfied, she went to the truck’s cab and grabbed the radio mouth piece.
“Farmville, come in Farmville. This is Ocean Express. Please come in Farmville. Over.” She spoke calmly and clearly enough to hide the adrenaline rush that she felt.
The radio static reigned for a moment before she heard Amy’s voice on the other end.
“Ocean Express, this is Farmville. We hear you loud and clear. How’s the road trip so far? Over.”
Kathryn shook her head, not realizing that it was pointless to anyone on the other end.
“Farmville, this is a 911! We found a car of two ponies crashed into a river. Both are rescued and safe but the car is a lost cause. They need transport back to you. We are at Flint Creek (1) on the 90. We will wait for you. Over.”
Kathryn caught the tail end of a string of curses before Amy’s voice came back on. “Yes, Ocean Express. We have rescue ambulance standing by. Joe and Eddie are on their way. Radio back when they arrive. Over.”
She let out a big sigh of relief. She KNEW helping them get that vehicle up and running was a good idea.
“Thank you Farmville. We await Rescue 1’s arrival. Over and out.” She let the radio piece drop on its cord before hurrying back to the cot, where Sherry still recovered.
Kathryn made eye contact with Sarah. “Rescue 1 is on the way. We wait here for their arrival,” she said. Sarah nodded seriously as she gave Sherry some arrowroot biscuits. “We might as well break out a lunch for all of us then,” Kathryn added as she went to the RV.
They ate a simple salad of lettuce, carrots, celery, diced tomatoes, and radishes with a light oil dressing along side of some cucumber sandwiches, washed down with more of Amy’s fresh squeezed apple juice.
Spencer offered to help Sarah with the dishes while Kathryn had Sherry lay back down so she could do a secondary check. Spencer & Sarah exchanged their experiences about the odd-pony-out while Sherry rested and Kathryn wrote in her journal.
My flank mark ability came into play again... I saved an earth pony from drowning in a river when her Prius went into it. Her traveling companion was a zebra! Honest to goodness ZEBRA!! If that just don’t beat all...
He’s talking with Sarah about her experiences of being the odd-pony-out while Sherry's resting. We’re waiting for Rescue 1 to arrive from Farmville so the new ponies can find help there... I still can't help thinking of little David every time I say or hear 'Rescue 1'. LOL
A couple hours later, Rescue 1 drove up blaring the sirens and lights flashing despite their lack of need. Kathryn simply smirked at Eddie’s excited expression as he jumped down from the passenger seat. Sarah came forward and gave Joe a hoof bump before turning their attention to Spencer & Sherry, whom Kathryn introduced.
“I'm sure Kathryn & Sarah want to get back on the road so why don’t we load up you folks in Rescue 1 and we'll get you back to Farmville,” Joe suggested after Kathryn eyed him and then the position of the sun.
“Everything we had is now at the bottom of the river so yeah, I guess we’re ready to go,” said Sherry. “Let’s just thank the Lord that we’re both still here,” said Spencer as he helped Sherry to her hooves and slowly walked her to the vehicle. Joe raised an eyebrow to Kathryn, who shrugged. “He’s one of those religious nuts... keep an eye on him and don’t show him the church unless you’re prepared to watch him faint.”
Joe simply nodded and followed the pair.
Eddie approached Kathryn. “Fancy seeing you again so soon,” he joked. Kathryn, being slightly taller, grabbed the unicorn and gave him a noogie. “Get going you... or you’ll be walking back,” she said, pointing to the ambulance as Joe turned the vehicle around. Eddie gave one final solute before racing off to jump into the back open door. He gave one final wave as Joe revved the engine and took off.
Kathryn & Sarah returned the wave and Raea chased the ambulance for a short distance, barking happily.
Back on the road after that bout of excitement, Kathryn felt really good at the rescue. Sarah poked her in the flank and pointed to the mark that had glowed a little at her thoughts. They simply shared a smile as the truck gathered up speed, leaving the poor Prius roof-deep in the water ( and good riddance! wrote Kathryn later in her journal).
Later that night, they arrived at the Holiday Inn, Syracuse-Liverpool-Exit 37. They went inside, the doors already broken, and Kathryn bucked open the first doors she came to on the main level, looking for rooms (as the elevators no longer worked for Sarah’s wheels to go up to the penthouse). Kathryn made sure that one of the rooms was wheelchair accessible for Sarah while her’s was just a normal single (KING sized bed) suite. Using the genny, they got the indoor pool filters & water running again and so they took the opportunity to have a relaxing swim after washing off the sweat & grime from the traveling in a shower. They thoroughly enjoyed having the pool to themselves!
They found the kitchen area spotless despite being such a while since the event. Kathryn was shocked to find that the deep fryer oil had not spoiled inside the fryer. It was too far gone for her to use in as bio-fuel but it was still ok enough to empty out the fryer and refill with fresh oil. That night, they were treated to huge plates-full of deep fried French fries, slathered in ketchup, for the first time in a long while!
Kathryn re-rigged the genny to run a few lights in each of their rooms and the neon sign out front, in case any ponies were in the area, before taking time to write in her journal and going to bed. (2)