Perchance to Dream

by David Silver

21 - Preparing for a Journey

I put my attention on the human world that day. I arranged for movers to come once the date was finalized to haul my things across the country. I told mother my poor niece could move in, but there wouldn't be much there. I had no intention of leaving all my furnishings behind. They had memories, and, darn it, I was keeping them.

Kid was getting a whole house to live in. She could buy her own stuff. I'd leave some behind, mind. I saw no reason to take my bed along, for instance. I could buy a new one cheaper and easier than moving it. I was also leaving a big heavy dresser behind. I did like it, but not that much.

I also started to look around the house I'd be moving into. I found the local stores I'd be heading to. Grocery store, shopping district, movies, all of those things I'd have to wander around and search for if I waited until I was there to check the maps. The house wasn't too badly located between things. There was even a school not too far away, if I had a kid, which I didn't.

None of that exempted me from work, nor did I ask for it to. I was getting things done, forms signed, and research completed. Some of it seemed related to the new branch. None of it, however, hinted at who the new client was. It still had to be something big. Something worth blowing two million on without much reservation.

My work-filled musing was interrupted by a knocking. Kevin poked his head in. "Any word on when we're doing the move? How do you plan to get there?"

"A plane?" I ventured. "I suppose I could drive, but I'm not sure I'm up for that."

He shook his head. "What, gonna give up your car? Look, we can make an adventure out of it." He pulled out his phone and showed it to me. There was a map displayed showing the route from where we were to where we needed to be, with dots along the way. "We can see the sights along the way, have fun with it! We both have a car we'd rather keep. Maybe you can afford to grab another, but I sure as hell can't."

I felt a smile forcing its way out of the corner of my mouth. "You want to make this into a road trip vacation?"

"And why not?" he countered. "Besides, if we rent a trailer, we can handle moving things ourselves at the same time and save money."

I hadn't considered that. "You car is bigger than mine..."

"Right, I'll take the trailer. We get to see some interesting things, and it'll be a test ahead of time to see how well we can get along without murdering each other." He spun the phone back to himself and pressed the screen a few times. My phone buzzed softly in reply. "I sent you the directions. We'll head out together and get to see our new house together. It'll be great, promise."

I found myself smiling all the more. That was more the Kevin I enjoyed being around, positive and cheerful. "Alright, fine. You talked me into it. The moving service wasn't cheap. If we can handle it ourselves, that's a win. And, no, I'm not rich enough I just buy cars for the fun of it."

He looked happy at my agreement. "Alright then! Better get back to work." He left, and, of course, that's when I remembered a reason not to do that.

I didn't want to put all that wear on the car... The cost of having the car shipped would be less than the wear...

But I had already said yes. I frowned in thought, considering the options.

"Something wrong?" It was Twilight.

What did a magic unicorn know about moving? I decided to find out. "I'm moving a considerable distance and just agreed to drive with a friend of mine, but realized afterwards I'd rather have my car shipped than drive it all the way over there and put all those miles on it."

Twilight looked as predictably confused as I expected, but an answer did come from her. "Why not use his car?"

"How did you know they were a he?"

"I had a fifty percent chance of success," said Twilight with a proud expression. "Oh, yes. I assume you're safe? You didn't come home and I suspected you must have woken up. Zecora's taking care of you?"

"She is, about that..." I rolled a hand. "Fifty percent? I saw a lot more mares than stallions when I was there."

"Humans are not ponies," stated Twilight. "From my experience, at least, the ratio seems far closer to even. Was I wrong?"

Well, no... "It varies a little depending on the culture and place, but, basically, yes." I raised a brow and did a quick Google search. "Huh, turns out some cities are just as skewed as what I saw."

Twilight smiled. "We vary just the same. Some places are closer to even than others." She reached out and tapped the screen from the inside. "We are very alike, really."

I wasn't sure I was willing to agree with that. "So what do mares do, with the odds of finding an available stallion being so low, by the numbers?"

Twilight's brows raised together. "Most just don't worry about it, while those that do marry have large families more often than not. Some mares have other mare roommates to keep them company." She rolled a hoof. "I never tried that, myself. I mean, I have five fantastic pony friends, a Number One Assistant, and more responsibilities by the day. I never really worried about it."

Of course, Twilight was a shut-in and didn't worry about relationships much. She must have noticed my expression because she suddenly looked more defensive. I lifted a finger. "Sorry, just distracted with that move and work of late." I pulled up a form I had been working on and resumed the labor of getting it done properly. "But you did inspire an idea about the moving to keep it simple without sharing a car."

"Oh?"

"Instead of renting a trailer, we can rent a whole truck. I can drive that, let U-Haul worry about the wear and tear."

Twilight clearly heard a few words she didn't know. "U-Haul?"

"A company that specializes in renting moving supplies, including whole trucks." I pulled up the U-Haul site on another monitor. It was adorable watching Twilight literally walk from one monitor to the other to look at it. She reached out and tapped at the window, trying to make it scroll, but that had little effect. Having mercy, I scrolled it down for her.

"Your economy is clearly advanced," she said in a complimentary tone. "You can rent movers, but entire wagons with such advanced machinery inside too? Hmmm." She turned back to me. "I should stop bothering you for today. Good luck in your work, and see you tonight, alright?"

I waggled a few fingers at her before she popped out of existence. Twilight was a nice pony, and I had a nice workload, which I put my mind back onto fully.

It was around lunchtime that I ran into Kevin again. "Hey, looking forward to it?"

As good a time as any, or so I felt, so I mentioned, "I won't be taking my car. I'll just rent a moving van and drive that. Your car won't have to haul a thing and my car won't get miles on it. I'll have the car shipped over."

He looked surprised a moment, then his smile returned. "Hey, great idea! But if you're doing that, why not get a trailer on it? We can haul my car along and we both save on miles."

That... wasn't a terrible idea. "You're paying the rental cost on that."

He put up his hands. "I figure I'm paying half the total rental cost. We're moving my stuff too, right? If you're willing to get the truck, we'll get a big one and take turns driving."

That seemed fair. I offered a hand. "Sounds like a deal." We shook on it, and the day continued.

When the day was over, I didn't feel like going straight home, so I detoured to this little Italian place I liked. I wondered a moment if I'd find anything quite like it. I supposed I wouldn't. No two places were exactly the same. I smiled a little. "I'll find something just as nice for different specific reasons." I headed inside to where the waiters knew my name and was seated in my favorite place. They knew what I wanted, but I cut them off. I was going to do many new things. I decided it was a fine time to start breaking habits.

"What's today's special?"

The waiter seemed surprised, but he bounced back from it quickly and started running down the specials. They were things I hadn't tried before.

That day seemed like a fine day. I took the second on the list.

It was great.

Author's Note:

A day mostly mired in the mundanity of adult living, I dare say. No drama here.

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Comments

[tsaukpaetra]

How swiftly plans can change, no matter the world.
Road trip, eh? Could be boring,might be fun. Wonder if Twilight will pop in? Hmmm...
Keep going! ;)

[Istaran]

7901488
"Twilight! The windshield is not a suitable surface for you to pop in on!"

[Booster Spice]

Might be called U-Haul, but unless you got Homers own God box up front, there aint no way youre jumping from an auto tin can into a 24 gear manual 18 wheeler.

Could be worse, you could end up with a mover with the name Neutronium Swan.

Its amazing what you can find on DARPA websites.

[terrycloth]

7901689 Every moving van I've rented has been automatic shift. They were a bit clumsy but not any worse than the giant pickup truck I got as a loaner once, really.

[Daremo]

I'd be moving in - I'd be moving into

as predictable confused - as predictably confused

complimenting tone - complimentary tone

You can rent movers, but entire wagons with such advanced machinery inside? - You can rent movers, but also entire wagons with such advanced machinery inside? --or-- You can rent movers, but entire wagons with such advanced machinery inside too?

---

Just a few nibbles in a quiet, character building chapter.

I wonder what Zecora has been up to in pony land...

And good luck getting your out of state car registered unless she and Kevin both own models that meet CA emission stadards for some reason.

[David Silver]

7902647 You made me look it up!

Does This Apply to Someone Moving to California?
If you are moving to California from another state, you may register a new 49-state vehicle if it was first registered by you in your home state, or for military personnel, in the last state of your military service. When applying for vehicle registration in California, you must provide evidence that the vehicle was registered.

She's fine, near as I can see? She's actually far better off having not driven the car across the country, since the number of miles helps determine of if it's 'new' or not.

Kevin, on the other hoof... Poor Kevin.

And then, on a whim, I look further, and find contradicting information, of course. I'll assume the .gov is correct in this legal matter.

And I looked further, yep, they're both probably alright. It seems you're given a pass if you're legit moving in, provided the car was already registered out-of-state where they used to live.

The More You Know!

[Daremo]

7903067

I admit, it's very confusing.

I looked it up before I posted and my first encounter was with the conflicting information. Something about the mileage being under 7500 miles on the odometer and gross vehicle weight.

The good news is that Linda is the perfect pony person to untangle the legal briar patch and get them all sorted with a minimum of hair pulling.

[NightmintHLW]

I found myself smiling all the more. That was more the Kevin I enjoyed being around, positive and cheerful. "Alright, fine. You talked me into it. The moving service wasn't cheap. If we can handle it ourselves, that's a win. And, no, I'm not rich enough I just buy cars for the fun of it."

was that I'm not rich enough I don't just buy cars for the fun of it. or something else