Perils of a Merpony: A Ponies after People Tale

by kitten_girl86

June 14th/15th/16th, 2015

Author's Note:

I'm really sorry for the later-than-usual update! I've been busy sewing a brand new medieval gown for myself.

And just a friendly reminder, this is a Canadian writing about part of the USA where I have NEVER traveled to!

(July 14)

11:30 A.M. - Every pony and every creature was still asleep. No one thought to set an alarm. Kathryn & Gary had been consistently the first ponies to rise each morning and they woke the others but even this time, they both slept away the morning.

If her Earth pony connection failed her, normally Raea would have woken her to be let out. But over the previous days, Kathryn had finally broken down and installed a lockable doggy door into the door of the RV. (The lock was so that she could secure it closed for driving.) But she had remembered to unlock it the night before and so when Raea needed to go out, she’d just go and not bother Kathryn at all.

12:10 P.M. – Sarah was the first to finally wake and realize how late it was. She raced around the RV, waking Kathryn, before going out to the Target and waking up Patrick; he, in turn, woke everyone else up.

12:34 P.M. – The pony & creatures served a buffet breakfast to the merponies, which actually included seaweed and other aquatic plants “to test out your merpony-palettes” as Rose May put it. To Kathryn, that meant she had to transform if she wanted to enjoy it and so she did. Denis was right there with a spare wet towel for her tail.

(Kathryn learned very early on that her transformation had no effect whatsoever on any shirts, skirts or jewelry she wore... pants had been the exception; they were shredded off her.)

While they were being served, Mark, Earl & Gary were out at the RV, packing it all up, closing the extensions, double/triple checking all of the straps on the back trailer, checking brake fluid, motor oil, washer fluid, hydraulic fluid, checking for leaks – and in the case of Gary, restocking their fresh produce and removing the bad for compost.

Denis had earlier also added a few cans of wet dog food for Raea and a pile of dry food bags– same exact brand as all the others – with a scribbled note “For Raea, my sister-in-paws” accompanied with a Polaroid photo of the two of them together.

2 P.M. – Brunch over, the three merponies (Kathryn back on her hooves) exited the Target to find the truck rig all sparkling clean and parked out front on the northbound side of drive but facing southbound.

The ‘Ocean Express’ signs had been touched up with new drawings added in; Kathryn saw Mark & Denis on one side, Karen & Susie on the other, the others scattered wherever there was room. The ropes had been checked for fraying and one had clearly been replaced entirely.

Even the tiny tear in the Canadian flag had been meticulously repaired and Kathryn saw the tiny perfect magic-whipped stitches in red that color matched the original.

After a few tears & heart-felt hugs, Kathryn climbed into the driver’s side while Patrick was levitated into back seat and Sarah into passenger. Strangely, Raea climbed into the back and lay with Patrick. Kathryn figured that Raea could sense his sadness at leaving Harbor City.

Kathryn turned on the GPS to see that it had already been programmed to take the I-93 south and then a little west to connect to the I-95 down to New York City. “Four hours and a bit until we reach the Big Apple,” she said loud enough for everyone to hear her.

“If you see any ponies on your way, send them to us,” Rose May said, sniffling a little. Kathryn did not trust her voice with the lump building in her throat. So instead she waved, revved the engine and drove out of the parking lot.

It was not until they reached the Neponset River Reservation turn off where Patrick had drawn one of his first ponies, did the realization that he was leaving his home behind; his home, his friends... his family, both human & new. Sure, he had left notes for his siblings in case they ever returned but that was not the same. (His parents had both dead for at least 9 years.) But as they drove through East Milton and took the turn off for going west, he knew that he was doing the right thing.

“Pass me the tablet please, Sarah? I have something to write about,” he said seriously & a little quietly. Kathryn seemed surprised at his mood but quickly realized that Sarah had been the same way when she had left Farmville. She gave a nod to Sarah, who had hesitated to pass the tablet and a new stylus on a land-yard to each of them. “So we don’t have to keep sharing our spit,” she had joked as she placed the green one around Patrick’s neck, red around her own, and the blue around Kathryn’s neck.

Patrick only nodded, brought up a fresh page and started typing.

---

June 14th, 2015 @ 2:30 PM – leaving Harbor City, I-93 to I-95 ~Patrick

Dear Journal,

When I woke up as a merpony on May 30th, I never expected myself to be traveling the highways to get down to Florida to help two others (somewhat) like me to start a colony of merponies. But here I am, riding in the back of Kathryn’s really nice pickup truck, towing a fancy RV and that towing a flat bed trailer that’s carrying all of our more hazardous stuff.

Strangely, Kathryn’s dog, Raea, is in the back here with me instead of up front. I know that if there’s any trouble, she can jump the middle and protect the girls. I'm actually feeling a little vulnerable back here, to be honest.

Oh, we’re just making the change from 93 to 95 now. Kathryn is a natural with this driving thing... she must have had previous experience. LOL

She slows down any time we approach a major off ramp but this time, for a very good reason.

She spotted a pair of ponies walking up the northbound side. They were pulling what looked like an overfilled wagon and both were mares; one an earth pony, but I had never seen the other kind before... kinda bug-like. The earth pony had a flower for a butt tattoo but the other did not. As soon as Kathryn saw them, she stopped the truck, jumped out, and ran over to them. Raea did jump the middle and ran out after her owner.

I watched as Kathryn spoke with them briefly, seeing them nod a few times and then Kathryn point back down the way we came, clearly giving them directions. The two new ponies had a look of relief on their faces as Kathryn hurried to the back of the truck, yanked out something and then took it back to them. It was the partial case of water bottles. Sarah & I watched as the earth pony emptied a first bottle all over her head and then drank the contents of a second; but she did not offer any to her companion. Some more talking was done and a few more bottles were added to their cart before Kathryn & Raea returned with the rest of the bottles.

---

They both jumped back into the truck, Raea climbed back with Patrick while Kathryn placed the water case between her & Sarah on the front seat. She grabbed the radio.

“Harbor City, this is Ocean Express. Come in please Harbor.”

“This is Harbor. Report Ocean.” Hearing Earl’s voice on the radio made Patrick feel a little homesick but not much.

“We found ourselves a pair of good ponies; earth pony and a bug-pony. Like the ones I told Rosie about from back in Farmville. They are 11B turn off on the 95 heading northward. If you could get Geode in a pickup and come get them, you’d save them another day of walking. Over.”

Silence reigned as Earl conversed with Rose May. “Agreed Ocean. Geode is on his way. Tell them to find shade in the mean time. Harbor out.”

Kathryn nodded, and then jumped back out of the truck, telling Raea to stay.

She approached the two ponies; the earth pony, exhausted but the bug staying stock still. “We got friends in the nearby colony. They’re sending a truck to come pick you up. Just say in the shade until he comes, ok?”

The earth pony nodded gratefully. “Thank you so much. We greatly appreciate this,” she said breathlessly. Kathryn turned to the bug-pony with no fear or hesitation. “You’ll help your friend get some rest?” she said.

“Of course,” said the mare in a monotone computer-like voice, before removing the harness and leading her companion to the nearby shade.

When Kathryn was satisfied, she trotted back to the truck, jumped in, closed the door, waved to the ponies and drove off.

About a half hour later, they got a radio back.

“Ocean, this is Jolly Roger. I got me a pair of stowaways and I'm taking them back to port. Thanks again for your help! Safe seas! Jolly Roger out.”

A snorting-like-laugh came from the back seat as Patrick realized that they had kept his pirate call sign for his old red boat of a truck. He also chuckled at Gary’s attempt and failure at the pirate voice.

---

Sometime later... still on the 95 ~Patrick

Manchester Pond should have been named ‘Manchester Lake’ for the size the thing actually is! ‘Pond’ just doesn’t do it justice! Seriously people!!

.... OK, so I'm bored again.... maybe I’ll nap....

---

June 14th, 2015 @ 11:30 PM –THE PLAZA HOTEL

Dear Journal,

We made it to Manhattan in less than 4 hours. We had passed the state line at Providence, Rhode Island but I was the only one to know it as Sarah, Patrick & Raea were all sleeping at the time.

Found in interesting spot for those of Harbor City to make a day trip down for... Providence has a section labeled Jewelry District. Might be worth it for Karen’s health; especially if they find the big gems she needs.

Raea had yawned when we crossed from Rhode Island and into Connecticut but not much else exciting there. Crossed a lot of bridges and even a town called Branford... one letter off from where I started. New Haven had Yale University but I doubted that any pony cared about Ivy League schooling right now.

Not paying any attention, the GPS actually took us into the heart of Manhattan. The ponies were all still asleep so I made an executive decision to bunk down in the most expensive, impressive hotel I could think of... THE Plaza Hotel at Central Park! Of course, I parked the truck out front of the main entrance like a boss. :P

The place is too beautiful for words and so I'm not even gonna try.

Patrick & Sarah took the most elegant wheelchair accessible rooms on ground level while I went exploring the higher levels with Raea. The scenic views from some of the higher levels were sheer beauty. But I was stupid and didn’t take the tablet with me to take photos for the others. :/ Oops!

Before it got too dark, we disconnected the RV hitch and drove just the truck down to One World Trade Center. Perhaps it was to honor those who were lost; perhaps it was help us see that even though humanity had experienced a disaster, we rose up from it and made it beautiful again. I think that we were meant to do that again here, now.

After that, we went down to the fashion district; Sarah & I got some more really cute (and expensive!) over tops to wear while on land. And then, for the heck of it, the four of us went for a swim in the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir of Central Park! It was cleaner than I expected but a very nice respite before heading back to the hotel.

Surprisingly, as we drove back to the Plaza, we did not see another pony! You’d think a place like Manhattan would have at least five of them, right? Patrick thinks that they would not have stayed in the city. “Probably set up shop in a more rural town where resources like farm land is far easier to come by,” he said logically as the four of us ate a late dinner in the posh dining hall. (Yeah, that was another TWO ‘No Dogs Allowed’ signs that we Frisbee’d to Raea on the street out front before letting her bury them in the park. LOL)

Oh yeah, and the RV had not been broken into while we were gone. So if any ponies HAD been there, they didn’t see us as hostile or useful. “Perhaps our tails scared them off,” Sarah had suggested in a small voice.

We could only speculate as we went back to the huge three-bed rooms’ suite on the ground level that we laid claim to for ourselves.

And strangely, despite all of the sleeping that the other two have done while getting here, they were the first to ‘hit the hay’, so the new saying goes. I’ll be joining them shortly... and I have a REASON to be tired! LOL -Kathryn

June 15th, 2015 @ 10:45 PM – White House Guest wing, Washington DC

Dear Journal,

(I'm trying out a new color of text because I'm starting to think that the light pink would be too hard to read.)

Kathy was so tired when we got back; she crashed on my couch instead of going to find her own room this time. I don’t really mind... she HAS been doing all of the driving for us!

So yeah, we started out at decent time in the morning, despite not wanting to leave THE Plaza Hotel. Breakfast in that dining hall again, I certainly felt like a princess... of course, that might have been the bridal tiara I had acquired while out ‘shopping’ yesterday. ;)

As we crossed the state line while going through the Lincoln Tunnel, we were all awake to do the ‘wave’.

And yes; this time, Patrick & I stayed awake while driving. We were on the I-295 when we spotted an earth pony trying to hang a sign for a colony just outside Philadelphia. He and two others had set up a colony at the Ramblewood Country Club, trucking in supplies from outlying areas and the city when needed. They even kept the name but now it was just simply ‘Ramble Wood’.

We were invited to join them for lunch and accepted. The club came with three individual pools: deep for diving, medium lane for racing and a smaller wave. Of course the three of us bolted for the wave pool! LOL

Lunch was provided underneath the tent pavilion and we all enjoyed. Kathy insisted on sharing some of our supplies and so she had brought out some of the cob corn to grill on the outside BBQ.

The whole visit only lasted about 3 hours. I remember the earth pony stallion from the road, a stallion pegasus and a unicorn mare. They were really friendly but I can’t recall their names.... but two of them had come from Manhattan so that explained the empty city.

Patrick says the pegasus’s name was Mike but that’s all he can remember too, mainly because they exchanged preening tips for their wings.

We crossed another state line at a massive bridge, spanning the Delaware River... so yup! Chalk up another merpony ‘wave’ for our journey!

The 295 turned back into the 95 and Patrick had wondered why we had not just stayed on the 95 the whole time. “Then we never would have stopped at New York City, stayed at THE Plaza Hotel and never have learned about Rumble Wood. It was totally worth the detour,” Kathy said firmly.

Was not long before we crossed the Delaware/Maryland state line and yet another ‘wave’. I've begun to wonder if we’ll ever get tired of doing those at state lines.

We crossed another massive bridge at the Susquehanna River... God, I love the names of these rivers! I really hope we keep them in the future! LOL

We found another highway rest stop after that so Kathy pulled in, filled the truck & tank before putting in the fuel stabilizer, leaving a pre-made sticker on the pumps letting any future pony know when the stuff had been added and how much (each sticker had space to write that in; my magic writing is better than her mouth writing). The restaurant had nothing useful but the mini store did have water, iced tea, juices and trail mix.

Going through Baltimore (strange urge to call it ‘Baltimare’ for some reason), we saw pony-made signs directing survivors to travel to town of “West Friendship”. Yeah! No lie! The GPS even shows it on the map! It’s an actual place! And now I guess that ponies have set up a shop there. But we did not detour; we were so close to Washington DC.

And of course... we HAD to stay in the guest wing of the White House!

Yeah, we wanted to do the tourist thing but first, Kathy had found a huge solar panel installation on the roof of one of the White House employee (?) buildings, in the back near the basketball court. She insisted that we disconnect it and load it into the RV’s under-carriage storage for bringing it with us.

It was A LOT of solar panels! We ran out of space before we even got half of them. Kathy hated to leave them behind but she knew they would not survive the journey in the flatbed.

So THEN she allowed us to do the tourist thing with the ‘shopping’ and seeing at least two of the Smithsonian museums before seeing the Capitol building and Library of Congress. She didn't seem all that excited but I had to keep reminding myself that she's originally Canadian.

As it was getting late, we headed back to the White House, took a dip in the swimming pool; then we made dinner and ate it in the Oval Office, sitting on the couches!

We could not bring ourselves to sleep in President Obama’s bedroom, so we took the guest rooms instead; thankfully all on one level!

And like I said before, Kathy crashed out on my room’s plushy couch before she could go find her own room. I simply draped a blanket over her form and just let her sleep. –Sarah

June 16th, 2015 @ 7 pm – Charleston Naval Complex, North Charleston, South Carolina, USA

Dear Journal,

Today is our last full day on the road. Sadly, I don’t have much to report on this leg of the journey. We left the White House around 11 AM after breakfast – and Sarah insisting we leave a note in the president’s bed room, telling him of what’s happened – and then heading out on the I-95 S.

Everyone stayed awake again going though Richmond and Petersburg, Virginia; another ‘wave’ passing the Virginia/North Carolina line; uneventful passing Rocky Mount and Fayetteville, NC; ‘wave’ again at North/South Carolina line and then we found refuge at the Charleston Naval Complex where a single pair of ponies had set up shop.

Nathan (unicorn stallion; former soldier at the base) and Matthew (earth pony stallion; farmer from outlying area) had laid claim to most of the one building with its roof already covered in solar panels. We were invited to share said building and although Sarah & Patrick accepted, Raea & I have decided to stay in the RV. I didn’t even bother to open anything, in case we had to leave for whatever reason.

A plot of grass land nearby had already been tilled and turned into a field of crops. Nothing we had not already seen before.

The stallions had not even given any thought to a name for their colony.....

---

Kathryn, completely exhausted from the long drive, fell fast asleep before she could even finish her entry.

Comments

[Starscribe]

And I'm current, yay!

My one thing I noticed in this chapter is Patrick's journal sections. I've seen a few stories where characters all write in the same journal, so that didn't confuse me that much, but one thing I've noticed is they all kinda have the same "voice" when they do it. What do I mean by this? I mean that the goal is for us to be able to tell which character is writing even without the color (but don't take it away it's quite helpful). Patric wrote in the journal this chapter, but he had the same propensity to use frequent excamation points and chatsymbols (LOL, ect) as both of the girls do.

This is a really tricky thing to master, one of those things that takes much practice. I point it out as my way of hoping you'll keep it in mind. Try to make every character's first person sound unique somehow. It's very hard-- the reason I didn't have any sort of shared journals in my stories. It's hard to keep it all straight.

I like that, even though you don't know these locations, you're taking the time to do the research about them. It feels like you at least read up on all the places you mention, even if you haven't been to them.

These ponies are really lucky (and on top of things) when it comes to setting up colonies. Everywhere they go they seem to find one (almost). That's pretty lucky. I like how each one they run into is unique. That helps grant the story a versimilitude of realism, a suspention of disbelief that isn't easy to achieve for many writers (including myself sometimes). This really is a story about the people and in that sense it's doing a great job.

And the white house. I'm sure Washington will turn into something eventually, but I didn't write about it, so I don't know what.

And the trip is almost over. There are stories about a trip that started a year ago that aren't done, and you're almost done in a few weeks. Not bad at all.