Catch Me

by Hazel Mee

6 - Road Block

Laura lay in front of the fire with her forelegs stretched out and almost touching the rocks that ringed it. Her hooves should have been roasting, but she felt nothing. She gazed through the flames at a man sitting cross-legged on the ground. The silent stranger wore his curly black hair long and he had a bushy beard. He was dressed in heavy work boots, worn jeans, a red checkered shirt, and the black baseball cap crammed over his thick hair had a red 'B' stitched onto the front. His expression was pensive; frowning as he stared into the fire. Without thinking, she stood up and slowly walked towards him and into the flames. They didn't hurt, didn't burn, but were extremely bright.

Laura gasped as her eyelids fluttered open. For a moment she confused the darkness inside her sleeping bag with being blinded by the dream fire.

It was far too warm inside the sleeping bag, which might explain the odd dream. She pawed at the edge of it and flipped it away from her groggy head. The tent was almost as dark as inside the bag but at least it was cooler. She inhaled deeply and as she exhaled she felt the fluttering rumble in her chest of a quiet, involuntary whinny.

Something warm shifted against her back.

Shocked, she instinctively jerked away and felt a bony limb draped over her shoulder wiggle and grasp as the warm weight snugged up against her back again.

Buttercup sleepily mumbled, "Quiddit, sis."

"What?" Laura quietly hissed and tried to crane her head around to look at the filly who was cuddled up against her. It was too dark to see much of anything. She flexed a leg to nudge Buttercup with a shoulder blade. "What the devil are you doing in my bed?"

Laura felt Buttercup's smaller pony body stretch and shiver against her back while she yawned. Her warm, rank breath made Laura's muzzle wrinkle.

"Mmmf… Oh, hi, lady."

"Laura!" she whispered tightly. Honestly, how difficult was it to remember her name? She asked again, "What are you doing in my bed?"

Buttercup wiggled and pushed her hooves against Laura's back, creating a little gap between them in the confines of the sleeping bag. The children's size bag was ample for a single pony but a tight squeeze for two, even if one wasn't fully grown yet. Buttercup was small and a bit skinny, but her gangly legs took up a fair bit of bed space.

She tucked them up against her chest and whispered, "I, uh, sorry… I was cold."

Cold? Laura had the opposite problem! She was far too warm and the cool air felt wonderful against her sweaty forehead. How on earth did Buttercup feel too cold, weren't pegasi supposed to be cold-tolerant so they could fly high up? She seemed to remember reading that in the guide Thomas had left her.

"Fine, you may stay for tonight but in the morning we'll pester Chick to see if he has a spare blanket for you, alright?"

Buttercup's muttered, "N'kay", was not enthusiastic.

Laura could sense that there was something bothering Buttercup but right now she was just too drowsy and too annoyed with her to pursue the matter. She lay her head back down, nuzzled the soft sleeping bag liner into a comfortable shape, closed her eyes, and hoped for a deep, dreamless sleep instead of bizarre dreams.

Buttercup sighed and whispered, "I was lonely, okay?"

"Hmm?"

Lonely? In a tent with two other people?

"I'm used to sharing a bed with my sisters and couldn't get to sleep. Sorry."

Laura lifted her head up again to look at the indistinct lump of filly curled up at her back. "Feeling homesick?"

Buttercup squirmed a bit before finally admitting, "Maybe…"

Laura sighed and shifted her body so that her back was touching Buttercup again. "Well, get some sleep and we'll talk in the morning."

Skinny legs wrapped around Laura's chest and Buttercup nuzzled her ears.

"Thanks. Mmm… you smell nice."

Laura struggled to not shove the overly-affectionate filly away again. Buttercup must be half-asleep and dreaming already to think that her hair smelt of anything but dust and cobwebs.

Laura sighed and closed her eyes.

Chick had better not get any weird ideas if he woke up first and saw them like this.

---

It was Chick who woke her up, shaking her shoulder through the sleeping bag, but fortunately, there was no lonely filly snuggled up against her.

"Morning, sleepy head. Time to get up."

He left the tent and Laura heard sizzling sounds coming from outside, along with breakfast-smells of eggs, onions, and mushrooms frying in butter. Laura's mouth watered as she crawled out of the sleeping bag, yawned, stretched, and spent a moment looking for her cardigan before remembering its sorry state. Bracing herself to step outside naked, Laura's sleep-matted tail tucked down tightly against her rump. Her grey coat shivered as she stepped out into the clean cool air; the sun hadn't yet risen above the surrounding forest, the grass was wet with dew and a light mist, somewhere in the trees a jay screamed at its neighbours.

Laura's overnight 'guest' stood by the fire with a spatula in her mouth, carefully keeping an eye on whatever she was cooking. Buttercup smiled around the spatula's handle, waved with a wing and mumbled, "G'mr'nin'!"

"Good morning."

Chick set out three mismatched mugs and poured mint tea out of a battered aluminium pot.

Divided three ways, the large mushroom and onion omelette was just enough to satisfy three ponies. Once the dishes were cleaned and the fire extinguished, they broke camp and spent a half-hour reorganising Chick's cargo. They moved everything crammed into the sidecar's footwell into Buttercup's hide-away space on the trailer and lined the somewhat-dirty footwell floor with a tarpaulin. The sleeping bags and Buttercup's pillow collection transformed it into a reasonably-comfortable little nest.

"Dibs on the seat!"

Laura chuckled and said, "Alright, but I would like to switch every hour or so." The relative privacy of the footwell would give her a chance to read the pamphlets Buttercup's mother had given her, and she was a bit bored of watching forest whizz past anyway.

While lying in the footwell, Laura's twitching ears could hear Chick's hooves clambering up onto the bike, shoving various ratcheting leavers, the kick-starter made a grinding sound, and after a few gasping chuffs the engine spluttered into life. Its loud, burbling roar was all that Laura could hear, even with her ears folded flat against her skull. The floor shifted and bounced under her, making her inner ear swim, but once they were on the road and at speed it hardly felt like they were moving at all. Good! She didn't want to get motion-sick, not when she had reading to do.

Buttercup stood up on the seat, stuck her head into the blast of wind and half-spread her yellow wings. With a big grin on her muzzle, she shouted, "Whoop! Whoop! Whoop!"

Laura imagined that this was probably the fastest the young mare had ever gone, except perhaps when flying. She'd better keep her wings in or she'd likely be blown right out of the sidecar! Chick shouted something—probably telling Buttercup to sit the hell down—while Laura slipped a hoof under a pillow to search for the pregnancy pamphlet that she'd squirrelled away while lining the 'nest'.

YOUR HEALTHY FOAL.

With a clumsy hoof, she pushed back the cover and saw that the pages were printed sideways, two of the original book's pages per page. Rotating the pamphlet she squinted at the very small letters: "Written by Lilac Melody M.D., Lunar Belle G.Y.N., and Sweet Delivery R.M. Published by the Royal Canterlot Medical Assoc." In smaller text below that was, "Translated by Lonely Day with addl. notes by Warm Hooves OB/GYN." So, as she had suspected, the books were translations of texts brought over from this Equestria place.

She started reading the first page, but it was dry, full of clinical terms and very boring. A medical text rather than the simple guide she'd been hoping for. Laura snorted and hoofed to the last pages to see if there was an index. Yes! P, p, p… Nothing for 'Period'. H, h, h… Nothing for 'Heat' either. What was the medical term? M, m, m…

"Menses", she whispered to herself, reading the word from the index.

It turned out that there was no need to worry about having missed one. Ponies had them once a month for only part of the year; starting in spring and ending in fall. A little knot of worry dissipated as she read the clinical descriptions; it seemed like it would be nowhere near as messy, achy, or inconvenient as it had been when she was a woman. Being turned into a tiny mare had its upsides. Flipping back-and-forth to the index and reading snippets revealed that there were some downsides as well. An eleven to twelve-month long pregnancy for example; she'd already been half-dreading a nine-month-long ordeal. On the other hand… hoof… it seemed like giving birth would be easier, though the accompanying sanitised-of-gore diagram made it clear that C-Sections were a thing in Equestria. Best to give birth in a hospital then, assuming there were any left. They certainly didn't have anything like that at the farm, but they did have plenty of healthy foals.

She'd talked about having children with Thomas. Laura wanted to have at least one daughter, and Thomas had no preferences, aside from wanting to have two—no more and no less. He'd jokingly told her that he wanted to make certain that the population figures remained the same; at least she'd hoped he was joking. Laura sighed and stuffed the pamphlet back under the pillow. She was getting ahead of herself and should be focusing on just finding him again, not worrying about if he'd changed his mind because they'd have to raise little colts and fillies instead of a proper baby.

The engine's constant chugging-rumble suddenly swelled, louder and faster as Chick downshifted. The pillow Laura lay on slid forward in the tarp-lined footwell. Digging her hind hooves in, she crawled on her belly towards the seat where Buttercup sat up, with her hooves braced against the front lip of the sidecar.

Buttercup glanced down as Laura poked her head out of the footwell and answered her unspoken question.

"Fog!"

She scooted over so Laura could get her hooves up on the seat and poke her head out to have a look. Behind them, the road and forest on either side disappeared into swirling grey mist. Turning her head, Laura squinted into the moist wind blast and saw that it was turning into a real pea-souper up ahead. Chick slowed the bike and kicked down another gear while leaning forward over the gas tank to peer at the road.

Laura didn't know much about the weather over here, but a fog this thick in the middle of the morning seemed a bit queer. And smelt a bit queer too. Her nose wrinkled at the sulfurous taint in the cool, damp air. Perhaps there were hot springs nearby?

Buttercup's ears were back and she was looking around with wide eyes. She startled and her wings popped partly open when Laura prodded her gently with a hoof to get her attention.

She was going to ask to switch places since it had been well over an hour, but seeing how spooked the filly was she just asked, "Are you alright?"

"N-no… This-", she waved a hoof at the fog closing in, "-isn't right? The weather feels all wrong for fog." She shivered and tucked her wings back in, twitching them nervously to settle her ruffled feathers.

Feeling unsettled, Laura ducked back inside of the footwell and tried to get comfortable again. At least there was a little less wind noise, though the engine was just as loud, and it was too dark inside the footwell to read now. She sighed, lay all the way down and closed her eyes. With the engine banging away a few inches from her ears she wouldn't be able to nap, but there was nothing else to do.

"Stop!"

Laura's eyes sprang open in time to see a yellow blur as Buttercup leapt out of the sidecar screaming, "Stop! Stop! Stop!"

Chick slammed on the brakes and the pillows slid toward the nose of the sidecar, taking Laura with them even as she struggled to get to her hooves. Her rump slammed into the very nose of the car as the bike slewed left and right while its tires shrieked on the wet road surface. There was a moment of weightlessness and a loud metallic scrape before the bike finally shuddered to a stop. The engine revved painfully loud for a moment before suddenly cutting off.

Laura froze where she was, ears folded flat and eye's wide while her heart pounded in her chest.

From a ways off, Buttercup called, "Chick?! Chick, are you alright?"

A moment later a yellow blur flew past the small slice of grey that Laura could see at the top-end of the sidecar, and Buttercup landed on the motorcycle. Her long blue tail hung down onto the bench seat as Laura heard Chick moan and quietly spit curses in French. The bike shifted again as Buttercup stepped down onto the sidecar, ducked her head inside, and peered at Laura.

"You okay in there?"

She blinked and breathlessly replied, "I-I think so, thank you for asking. What happened?"

Buttercup reached in, extended a helping hoof and said, "We almost drove off a friggin' cliff!"

"What?!"

She waved her hoof impatiently and said, "C'mon. You gotta get outta there."

Laura hooked a hock around Buttercup's and the filly braced herself to haul Laura out from where she'd become wedged into the footwell. After a bit of a struggle with the pillows she got her hooves under herself and scrabbled up the sloped floor, over the seat, and clumsily jumped down onto the damp road. She was stiff-legged but weak and trembling at the same time. It seemed to help if she kept her head down, so she just stood on the gross-feeling tarmac for a few moments, fighting against the shivers that ran down her flanks and legs. She heard Buttercup climb back up onto the bike to help Chick.

"I'm f-fine", he wheezed, "Squashed my damn… ah… Knocked the wind out of me."

"Okaaay. Well, careful gettin' off the bike. It's kinda hanging off a cliff."

"Merde."

Laura glanced to her left and found that the road surface just vanished only a foot away from her hooves! It looked like a concrete bridge segment was missing, leaving a straight edge of metal and rubber gasket with nothing but grey, churning mist where the road should be. She gasped and quickly stumbled away on stiff legs, her clopping hooffalls echoing strangely in the thick fog. She stumbled to the trailer and stopped to catch her breath and gather her wits. There were echoing hoof steps and a groan as Chick climbed down from the motorcycle.

"Is Laura alright?" he asked.

"Yeah. Just real shook up, I think… She's over by the trailer."

Laura's ears twitched as she heard as her travelling companions slowly walked over to the trailer. It sounded like Chick was limping, so Laura shakily picked up her hooves and went to meet them half-way.

They met at the back of the trailer and Chick dropped his baseball bat out of his mouth, catching it with a hoof. He winced and asked, "Are you okay?"

She nodded and her tight jaw muscles made her teeth chatter as she replied, "I-I think so. What happened?"

He snorted quietly and glanced between her and Buttercup. "It looks like the bridge collapsed… or somepony blew it up."

Buttercup gasped and asked, "Ambush?" She glanced around, eyes wide and worried.

"Maybe. Hush for a few minutes and listen for anypony, or anything, sneaking up on us."

Chick and Buttercup looked around, ears rotating back and forth like radar dishes to try and catch any suspicious sounds. Laura stood still, with her ears pinned uselessly against her skull. She struggled to make them rise, but was hard pressed not to give in to the animal desire to run! Not that she could manage more than a brisk trot without tangling her legs and falling onto her face. She closed her eyes, sucked in her lower lip, and tried to control her breathing, which had become fast and shallow again. With a mind of their own, her ears quickly flipped up, back down, then up again, twitched and swivelled about. Listening for something sneaking up felt even more terrifying than when they'd been lying flat! A hint of a breeze whispered through the trees on either side of the road and there was a muffled burble of flowing water over where the bridge used to be. The motorcycle's engine tinked as it cooled. But there were no birds chirping, no flying insect whines, nothing moving in the underbrush. No sounds of life aside from Chick's slow, measured breaths, Buttercup's quiet panting, and her own heart throbbing painfully.

Chick's quiet masculine voice seemed shockingly loud. "This is not an ambush, I think."

Laura blinked a few times, let go of her lower lip before her teeth could wear a hole in it, and she slowly let out the breath she'd been holding.

Buttercup quietly asked, "No?"

"No. If it were thieves they should have heard our crash and attacked while we were confused and recovering."

Laura gulped and asked, "What about those sea monsters?"

He shook his head. "I doubt those things would be so far inland. At least I hope not. If it were somepony or something powerful enough to take out the bridge and create this fog, it wouldn't have any trouble with the three of us. But whatever this is, we can't stay here waiting for something to happen." He grabbed his baseball bat in his mouth, wincing as he turned slowly and carefully, with slightly spread hind legs, limped back toward the motorcycle.

Buttercup trailed after him and Laura forced her stiff legs to move so she wouldn't be left behind. Their sharp hoof falls were almost like firecrackers popping in the muffling fog.

Chick put away his bat and crouched low, inspecting the underside of his motorcycle. Its frame rested on the road, the front half well past the edge with the tire slowly spinning in thin air. Laura had no idea how much of a drop it was but they had obviously come very, very close to dying or at least being injured and then likely dying from those injuries. No hospitals, no rescue services, and no way to call for help. Her tail clamped down tight as a cold shudder ran up her spine. Never mind a potential ambush, if they couldn't get moving again they might starve out here in the middle of nowhere!

"Bon! Well, not 'good' but not terrible", Chick muttered and stood up. "The skid plate saved the sump and both rear wheels are on the road, so I might be able to just back her up if I'm very careful."

It was nerve-wracking watching him carefully leaned out onto the hanging front end of the bike to prepare it for starting, the whole thing wobbled on the edge as he kicked through the gears to get it into neutral. The engine started on his first kick at the lever and its grumbling roar throbbed in the moist air. Fearlessly he waved at them to back up and then climbed up onto the precarious seat, leaned over to stomp a couple of leavers between the bike and sidecar, and then slowly cranked the throttle.

The motorcycle and sidecar's tires squealed as they spun against the damp tarmac, even when Buttercup flew over and settled her weight down on the very back of the sidecar. She hung on to the luggage rack and began bouncing up and down, causing the tires to grip and skip, grip and skip. The motorcycle stubbornly refused to move and Laura couldn't think of any way she could help. She kept back out of the way and wished that she still had fingers to cross. After a few minutes of revving, bouncing, and squealing tires, Chick shook his head and killed the engine.

He climbed back down while Buttercup leapt off of the sidecar, swooped out over the river and landed on the road with a clattering of hooves.

Chick loosened and removed his helmet, placing it on the ground near the bike. He grumbled, "There's not enough grip. These dual sport tires probably don't help any." He sighed and waved at the trailer, "I think we need to unhitch the trailer so there's less weight to shift. It will be a pain in the tail, so I hope you can both lend a hoof?"

Buttercup chirped, "Sure! What can I do?"

A longer, frustrated sigh and he shrugged. "I'm not sure… Euhhh… Laura, maybe you can help me haul it once it's unhitched? I can probably do it myself but with two earth ponies it will be much easier and safer."

"Umm… alright."

"Merci, mademoiselle. Okay…" He walked over to the trailer's hitch while Buttercup flew over to the far side of the bike.

Laura wasn't at all sure that she would be able to contribute much in the way of muscle, but hadn't she been wishing there was something she could do only a few moments ago? Tightening her lips in a determined grimace, she hurried after them.

Unhitching seemed overly complex to Laura; just the lever holding the hitch to the ball should have been enough, but there were pins to pull, chains to unhook and an electrical cable to unplug. Chick wrapped his forelegs around the long bar sticking out of the front of the trailer's frame, and with a grunt he stood up on his hind legs, lifting it up and off of the ball. A quick yank sideways and he lowered it to the ground. The motorcycle rose a little on its springs but it didn't suddenly flip off of the end of the bridge as Laura half-feared it might.

"Whew. Alright, I'll get some ropes so we can pull it. Buttercup, can you look around for a couple of stones to use as wheel chocks?" He gestured back the way they had come which was at the bottom of a long slope. "I don't want to risk having it roll away once we pull it up the hill a bit."

"Sir, yes sir!" She saluted with a wing before fluttering off to search beside the road.

Chick unhooked the front edge of the trailer's blue tarp and dug around inside, emerging with a bundle of thick, bright orange mountain climbing rope in his mouth. Laura tagged along as he walked to the back of the trailer which was now a little higher in the air with the angle it was sitting at. He dropped the rope and began uncoiling it with deft moves of his hooves.

"I don't have any proper harnesses so I'll just tie a couple of loops that we can have around our chests. With two of us pulling it shouldn't dig in too much."

Laura nodded and asked, "Can I help? I used to go climbing with Thomas, so I know my way around ropes and knots."

"Oh? Bien, at least one of us will know what they are doing!"

The shared a grin and worked on setting up the makeshift harnesses; threading the rope through the trailer's dirt-encrusted and rusty frame. Laura used timber hitches around the trailer's axle and secured the slack line with a few climbing harness knots to keep the chest loops from squeezing when they pulled. Buttercup returned with a pair of old red bricks by the time everything was ready. Getting into the harnesses involved standing over the loop so it ran beneath their bellies and then lifting the end and draping it around the necks like a necklace. Far from ideal but Chick assured her that it would be enough for a short pull.

"We'll pull it a few metres, just straight ahead." He held up a hoof and said, "It will help if you use the magic I taught you for holding onto a mug. Just grab onto the road, okay?"

"I will try."

Laura frowned and gingerly reached out and got a firm grip on the tarmac, despite how nasty it felt against her hooves. It was a bit like trying to press her fingertips against a swarm of angry hornets. Her skin twitched and her ears flicked back, but she held on and the ugly sensation seemed to fade as she got used to it.

Chick said, "Alright, on one, two, three!"

Laura pressed forward and felt the loop of rope cinch down against the base of her neck. And then her rear hooves slipped out from beneath her! That her front hooves were still stuck to the road was probably the only thing that kept her from falling over.

Chick slapped a hoof against her shoulder and she felt a strange pulling sensation on her skin, almost like a suction cup, as he steadied her.

"What was that?" he said, blinking in surprise. "Oh, excusez-moi. I forgot that you don't already know some things. You can grip with your rear hooves as well and as we pull it along you will need to relax your grip each time you want to lift a hoof. The timing can be a bit tricky until you are used to it." Once she was standing stable again he dropped his helping hoof and said, "Or I can do it by myself."

"N-no, let me try again", Laura gasped and then shook her head.

Buttercup hovered past, clutching the two bricks to her chest.

Laura closed her eyes and focused on her rear hooves, finding it more difficult to reach out and feel the road surface. Touching with fingers was a natural thing to do when she was still human, but with a toe? It felt very queer. After a short struggle, she tried sliding her right hoof against the road, trying to feel the surface with the curious magic touch. There was still that faint, almost burning sensation from standing on tarmac but no… Ah! There it was! She could feel it in her left hoof now as well.

Gripping onto the road with all four hooves she pushed forward against the rope and felt Chick shift forwards as well. There was a quiet 'clop' sound as he took a step. Okay… let go with the right, rear hoof and step forward…

"Crap!"

Laura had grown used to falling into the standard walking gait and had tried lifting her right, front hoof at the correct time but hadn't unstuck it first.

Chick's deep warm voice assured her, "It's okay. Just one hoof at a time is fine, there's no rush."

She snorted and focused on moving the next leg: release, step forward, grab on. The next leg: release, step forward, grab on. The next. The next. Step after step they slowly dragged the trailer forward while its metal hitch bar scraped along the road. She hardly felt the rope pulling tight over her shoulders. It was actually somewhat reminiscent of climbing, with the trailer's weight in place of fighting gravity. Always keeping three limbs on the cliff, reaching forward for the next hold and gripping tightly before moving to the next hold. It wasn't so bad once she thought about it that way. Smiling, she ducked her head low and really started putting her back into it!

"Ok, this is far enough."

But she was just as she was getting into it! Puffing slightly she looked over her shoulder to see how far they'd come; only about five metres. They should have kept going! She could have kept going anyway. Poo.

Buttercup hovered beside the trailer, eyes half closed and a silly smile on her slim, yellow muzzle.

"Buttercup?"

She blinked and looked at Chick. "Huh?"

"Bricks, please."

"R-right! Yes sir, Sir!"

She landed, dropped a brick, kicked it in place behind one of the wheels, then swooped over to the other side and chocked the other one. With the trailer secured they could relax and slip out of the makeshift harnesses.

"Good work, Laura, thank you." Chick smiled, nodded to her and then trotted back towards the motorcycle.

"You're welcome", Laura called after him and sat up to roll her shoulders to loosen them up. Pulling the trailer hadn't been a strain but she felt tense from having to focus so hard on controlling her hooves.

The motorcycle was running again by the time she trotted over to join Buttercup who stood to one side while Chick settled into the saddle yet again. Buttercup fluttered up and landed in her spot on the back of the sidecar. Chick slowly revved the engine higher and for a moment the tires caught, then squealed as they spun. Laura nervously sucked on her lip as both of them began bouncing, quickly getting in sync so that all of their weight compressed the shocks at the same time, forcing the skipping tires against the road. The big bike jerked and skipped away from the drop until the front wheel touched the edge and Chick had to gun the engine to get it up and over the broken lip of the bridge.

He slowly backed the motorcycle up while Laura walked alongside. Chick scowled as he twisted the handlebars left and right. He killed the engine after backing up to the trailer. The reason for his scowl was obvious to Laura; the front tyre was completely flat.

Laura's heart sank but surprisingly Chick just prodded the limp tyre with a hoof, shook his head and chuckled.

"Gonna swap it for the spare?" asked Buttercup as she poked the flat with a hoof.

"If it's a simple puncture I can fix it on the bike", he said. "Hmmm… while I'm doing that, can you scout for somewhere else we can cross?"

Buttercup grinned and spread her wings. "I can do that!"

"Non, wait! There's small point in flying blind."

A few minutes later Chick had retrieved a map from one of the motorcycle's side cases and spread it on the road. Laura and Buttercup gathered around to peer at it as he slid a hoof along one of the motorways which had the odd name of 'The Airline'.

"We're right here", he said, tapping a town called Amherst. "If you go back up the road a ways there's an intersection. Turn left onto-", he squinted at the map, "-Tannery Loop. Heh. It crosses the river north of here and will then bring us back to the highway."

"Got it!" Buttercup chirped, crouched and spread her wings, "I'll be back in a few-"

"Wait!"

She rolled her eyes but obediently tucked her wings back to her sides.

"There's no rush and I don't think it's safe for you to fly in this fog. I'd also like you to follow the road, make sure it's safe to ride, and there are too many things you might crash into while flying so low." Buttercup looked a bit offended but he pressed on, "Plus, I'd like Laura to go with you."

"Awww…"

"Whatever for?" Laura felt a mix of apprehension that Chick wanted her to go into the dark woods, and annoyance that Buttercup didn't want her company.

He glanced between them and said, "Look, it seems safe right here but we don't know what is out there. It's possible this bridge just washed out, but if somepony or something did this…" He gestured towards where the bridge had been. "If trouble finds you, two ponies will have a better chance of dealing with it, or at least one of you can come and get me. Oh, and-", he reached into one of his jacket pockets and pulled out a plastic whistle on a lanyard, "-take this." He held it out to Buttercup and said, "Blow it if you need me."

Buttercup nodded, took it with her wing tips and draped it around her neck. She glanced at Laura and asked, "This work for you?"

She must have noticed how uncertain Laura felt about this plan. Why not just stay together until the tyre was repaired then they could all go and see this other bridge? Then again, Chick was anxious to both leave this possible trap and try to keep to his schedule. And Buttercup had to get to Beantown on time. It was possible Chick just wanted her to go along to keep an eye on Buttercup and keep the impulsive filly from feuding with the local racoons.

Laura sighed and nodded, "It sounds like a reasonable plan to me. Come on then. Soonest begun, soonest done."

"Merci", Chick said with a warm smile. "I think it will take about an hour to fix the bike, so if you're not back by then-"

Buttercup barked, "You'll leave without us!" and started laughing.

He rolled his eyes. "I'll come and find you. Now, get going, sweetheart."

She stuck her tongue out at him and trotted off. "Don't worry, Laura. I can totally whip any wolves or badgers or whatever we might run into."

That… did not make Laura feel any less anxious.

Reluctantly, she went anyway, quickly catching up to Buttercup before the filly could vanish into the pea-soup fog. A loud creak from the bike made both of them glance back. Chick had opened a boot hatch on the rear of the sidecar, previously hidden beneath the spare tire and small rack of tied-on packages. He hopped up, shoving most of his body into the boot, kicking his hind legs in the air as he rummaged through the contents.

Buttercup slowed and stopped, making Laura pause a well. The pink stallion's tail whipped around and his muscular hind legs kicked, exposing things that Laura really did not need to see. Wrinkling her muzzle she turned away and said, "Come along, let's get this over with."

"Awww…" Buttercup playfully pouted, but after one last glance she caught up and trotted along at Laura's side, a silly smirk on her muzzle.

They'd only been trotted along quietly for a few minutes when Buttercup pranced and said, "Hey! Wanna race there and back?"

"What? No! No, we don't need to rush and… well, this is already as fast as I can go."

Buttercup gasped. "You don't know how to gallop?"

Laura snorted and felt her ears heat up with a blush. "I only learnt how to trot two weeks ago."

"Oooh, right. You ain't been back all that long." Buttercup nodded and after a moment she said, "I could teach you if you want. I taught my kid sisters how and Mama was sooo annoyed. Not like they weren't gonna figure it out on their own anyway."

Laura smiled at the image of Mama Bun chasing after little fillies tearing around inside of her lovely home. No doubt leaving little, muddy hoofprints everywhere. "Perhaps later? Thank you for offering."

"No problem. You'd win anyway if you could gallop."

Laura shook her head and said, "I very much doubt it. I've never excelled in field sports. Though I was quite good at rock climbing, back when I still had hands." She sighed wistfully.

"Well, you're an earth pony now and you guys are spooky fast on your hooves and you got tons of stamina! You could whip past any unicorn or pegasi… any grounded one anyway." She fluffed her wings and snorted in irritation.

That was certainly food for thought. Just being able to sprint away from danger, for example, gigantic racoons, made learning to gallop a critical skill. It might prove to be fun too! When Laura had taken riding classes they had mostly ridden at walks or trots, with a little jumping over beginner's hedges, but one time her pony had been spooked and took off across the field. They hadn't gone far and she'd fallen off when the stupid nag had baulked at the tall boundary fence. It had taken weeks for the bruises to heal and mother had taken her out of class after that. But those few minutes of flat-out gallop while Laura had clung on had been exhilarating!

Her hindquarters suddenly twitched and her legs bounced and tried to push her forward faster than her front legs were ready for. She stumbled but caught herself before falling flat on her muzzle.

Buttercup snickered and said, "Looks like your body's eager to gallop even if you don't know how."

Laura bit her lip and nodded, then focused on matching Buttercup's trot as they made their way up the gentle slope. There wasn't much to see other than bushes next to the road and a few driveways. As they left the river behind it became even more stiflingly quiet. Just their hooves clopping on the road and sometimes a little metallic noise carried from where Chick was working on the motorcycle. They trotted up a long slope, over the crest and found a crossroads a little ways down the other side.

"Is this it?"

Buttercup craned her head around and hesitantly replied, "I… dunno. You see a sign anywhere?"

"No, but it's difficult to see anything in this." Laura shrugged and started walking down what was hopefully the right route. From what she remembered of the map, there was only one four-way intersection in this little town. The lane was much narrower than the motorway, so the trees, bushes, and grass hung much closer, fading in from the thick fog and disappearing behind them. It almost felt like walking down a long, overgrown Tube tunnel.

Buttercup started to whistle quietly and it sounded strangely muffled and echoing.

A shiver ran up Laura's back and she asked, "Could you please not do that?"

"Sorry. It's too quiet and it's kinda freaking me out."

The silence was oppressive. Even their hoof falls were muffled by layers of leaves and grass that carpeted the road surface, slowly turning the itchy tarmac into forest floor. The loudest sounds were their own damp breaths.

"We could talk. Umm… Did you have any more questions about what the world was like?"

Buttercup made a popping noise with her lips and said, "Ok, well I read that people all moved away from their farms to go live in cities."

"Mmmhmm, that is mostly true. I was born in a fairly rural area of England—more-or-less between Swindon and Oxford. But I moved to London, which is the largest city in the country. Was the largest city, I suppose, and one of the most polluted."

"Because of all of the cars, right?"

As luck would have it, they were trotting past a driveway with an absolutely massive pick-up truck parked near the lane. Laura sighed and shook her head. "Yes, there were a lot of cars and lorries in the city. Though they were only partly to blame."

Buttercup's ears twitched and she asked, "What's a 'lawree'?"

"I believe they're called 'trucks' over here."

She snorted and lightly shook her head. "Oh, yeah. They certainly fart out a lot of stinking smoke. You can smell a convoy coming from miles away whenever they stop by the farm to trade for our surplus. So, why would you wanna live like that? All crowded together and breathing crap?"

"I'm not really sure…" Laura sighed and said, "Most people did it for employment, I suppose. And culture. I moved to London for the art galleries, the theatre, the historic ambience. My parents would rather I'd gone to college or university, but I wanted to be out in the world, rather than learning from dry books and lectures."

Buttercup's quietly murmured, "Huh. Me too."

A few minutes of quiet trotting later, Laura's ears twitched to the sound of a river burbling just ahead.

Buttercup hissed and muttered, "Damn."

"What is it?" Laura's ears anxiously flicked around, trying to pick up on any unusual sounds.

"This one's out too."

Looking ahead, all Laura could see was two or three metres of road before the fog closed in completely. "I… can't see anything."

"It's a pegasus thing. I can kinda feel-", Buttercup extended a wing and wiggled the primaries in a vague circle, "-how the fog is moving and it's flowing through a gap up there where the road should be."

A few moments later they arrived at the river's edge. Unlike the first bridge, this one had a short drop to the river and had not been made of segments. The leaf matted tarmac ended with a ragged edge, like a sheet of paper that had been crudely ripped. A metre below their hooves, the earth and stone bank had been churned into a broken, mucky bog. Laura couldn't see the other side, but the river rushed past only a short distance from the bank. There didn't seem to be a way down, and the river looked far too deep and fast to even think about driving the motorcycle and cart into.

"Well, that's lousy." Buttercup snorted and punted a fragment of tarmac into the river.

"What do you think did this? Perhaps a flood?"

"I dunno, don't your earth pony senses tell you anything?"

"Earth pony senses?"

Focusing on her hooves, Laura didn't feel anything at all. Not even the usual grotesque sensation of standing on tarmac, though that was no surprise since it was mostly covered with a thick layer of rotting vegetation.

"Didn't Chick tell you about those? Well, my papa can, like, dig his hooves into the dirt and tell what'll grow well in it or what he has to do to make it healthy. Or he can feel up some corn or tree and it'll tell him if it's healthy or what's making it sick." She grinned and boasted, "He can even make it grow faster and go into bloom out of season!"

"I don't-"

"Sure you can! Come on." Buttercup waved a hoof and trotted toward the side of the road with Laura trailing behind her.

The filly pointed at a thick-trunked deciduous tree growing on the bank that was leaning badly with half of its roots ripped up out of the ground. "Just rub your hooves on its bark and maybe it'll tell you what happened to it."

"I c-can see what happened to it!" Laura pointed a shaking hoof at three widely spaced but parallel tears running across the bark. It looked like a gigantic cat had slashed the tree, uprooting it in the process.

Buttercup's yellow wings popped half-open as she crouched and gazed up at the monstrous wound on the tree. After a moment she quietly murmured, "We should get out of here."

"Yes", Laura squeaked through a tight throat.

They turned tail and fled! The quiet thumps of their hooves on the compost layered road goaded Laura into the fastest trot she could manage, as she imagined some great beast falling on them! The uneven blanket of leaves, fallen branches and random patches of grass made her stumble frequently. Buttercup's warm, feathery side pressing up against hers didn't help her balance either, but it was comforting in an odd way. Their flight back to the intersection passed in a frantic blur and Buttercup stumbled to a halt and stood for a while with her head down, wings extended, panting and sweating. Though Laura was breathing deeply she had barely worked up a sweat and her legs twitched with the need to run back to Chick and safety. Hopefully, the motorcycle was actually a safe place! At the very least it would be the swiftest way to flee if Chick had finished repairing it. She nervously pranced and jiggled in place, pulping the mat of damp leaves under her hooves.

"Ha! Aheh heh…" Buttercup grinned at her while breathing heavily through her nose.

She cocked an eyebrow at Buttercup and asked, "What?"

Buttercup waved a hoof and panted, "You're n-not even breathing h-hard. See! I told you e-earth ponies were built f-for this. Whew!"

Still panting, she walked across the motorway and Laura followed, wincing at the loud clatter of their hooves on the bare tarmac. After cresting the hill, Laura's ears twitched as she heard a repeating hiss and mechanical creaking ahead of them. She glanced at Buttercup who just shrugged mid-trot and said, "S'probably just Chick."

They followed the grassy edge of the road, to muffle their hoofsteps, cautiously trotting towards the noise. Laura spotted the lumpy silhouette of the loaded trailer looming through the fog and a few minutes later they found Chick by the motorcycle's front-end, crouching over a foot pump and working its pedal with both forehooves. He stopped as they trotted up.

"Welcome back." He glanced back and forth between them, frowned and asked, "What's wrong?"

Buttercup tried to catch her breath, with her wings hanging half open and drooping. Laura grimaced and delivered the bad news. "The other bridge is also gone. It looks like something…", she shivered and her voice quavered, "Something very large took it."

"Something took it? You saw it?"

"No, thank God. But the bridge was completely gone and there were claw marks on a tree."

Buttercup panted, "Huuuge c-claw marks", and held up her forehooves, spread to roughly the width of the marks they had seen on the tree.

His mouth fell open in disbelief and he muttered, "Sacrament! I don't believe it!"

"What? Do you know what it is?"

Chick grimaced and said, "I don't know for certain… But, it might be a dragon. That's the only creature so large that I can think of."

"Coool!" Buttercup breathed, blinking her huge eyes and grinning.

Laura didn't feel any of the filly's awe. Sure, the guide Thomas had left had mentioned people returning as dragons, but really…? Dragons? She'd seen the missing bridge, the claw marks, and the fog did smell a little of brimstone. Whatever it was, dragon or something else, it made her skin crawl. It was out there, somewhere, perhaps watching them right now!

Chick seemed to feel the same way judging by his nervously twitching ears. He turned back to the tyre pump and said, "I'm almost finished here. Go have a drink; the water bottle is in my saddlebags on the trailer."

Water sounded like a great idea, after that frantic trot back. Once Buttercup had a few swallows, Laura almost finished the rattling metal bottle off. When she offered it to Chick as he loaded the air pump into the trailer he just shook his head, "Finish it."

It took several tries to kick-start the motorcycle's cooled engine, which played merry hell with Laura's frayed nerves. Chick backed the rumbling machine up while Buttercup and Laura held up the trailer's tongue and dropped it down over the ball hitch. He hooked up the chains and electrics, then gave the trailer one last inspection before waving for them to mount up. Cranking the handlebars hard-left he performed a U-turn and they slowly rode through the thick fog, heading back the way they had come.

Buttercup asked, "Where'r we headed?"

"South!" Chick called over the engine's puttering rumble, "There's another bridge. If that's out… Well… We'll find a way, don't worry."

Laura tugged and pushed one of the pillows in the sidecar into a comfortable position, draping her forelegs over it and laying her head down. She could have insisted on switching places with Buttercup, but she felt emotionally drained and a short lie-down gave her the chance to relax her tense muscles. Besides, in this fog, relying on Buttercup's pegasus senses might be the only thing keeping them from another disastrous crash. She felt the motorcycle ride over the top of the slope and then slow, before turning right at the intersection where she and Buttercup had turned left. By the unsettled bouncing and wobble of the suspension, it felt like they were riding over drifts of leaves and dirt. They were on a small B road again.

After a quarter of an hour, they slowed and came to a halt.

Laura crawled up out of the footwell as Buttercup jumped out in a flutter of feathers. Chick sighed heavily as he took off his helmet and set it atop the gas tank. The fog was not as thick here and Laura could see for a few metres when she looked over her shoulder and through the windscreen, she saw what had made Chick sigh.

There was no bridge.

Chick scrambled down from the motorcycle and a few minutes later Laura joined him and Buttercup at the edge of the river, and the now familiar sight of where the road had been torn away. The span of bridge was completely gone and she imagined Smaug from the Hobbit movies, swooping down to snatch it up and fly away with it. She could just make out a row of concrete piers, still standing in the middle of the river. Chick sighed again and rubbed a hoof over his head, pulling a few strands loose from his ponytail. She was a little surprised that he wasn't cursing in French.

"Well, this sucks", said Buttercup, "What'r we gonna do now?"

Chick snorted quietly and ambled over to the side of the road. He stood up, bracing his forehooves on the rusty crash-guard railing and peered over it, looking down at the river bank. He shook his head and then trotted over to the right side of the road. After peering through the fog for a moment he barked a laugh.

He turned and waved them over. "Look, there's an animal trail going into the river down there. If deer cross here then we probably can as well."

Laura stood up next to him and looked down a two or three-metre slope which was covered in brush and small trees. She spied a narrow trail which led from the forest up to the river's edge.

Chick asked, "Buttercup, can you fly over and see if there's a trail on the other side?"

She nodded and jumped off the edge of the road, swooped low over the river and vanished into the swirling fog.

---

Chick frowned as he watched Buttercup's yellow rump disappear into the fog. Hopefully, the giddy little filly wouldn't find anything to get into trouble over.

He yanked the tie out of his ponytail and spent a few minutes combing the loose hairs back into place before tying it off. His ears twitched as Laura let out a shaky sigh.

He pasted on a reassuring smile and said, "Try not to worry. We'll get over this river, just not with our hooves dry."

She nodded, her eyes still downcast as she did that stiff-upper-lip thing that the British are famous for. His reassuring smile turned into a genuine one as a warm feeling spread in his chest; it felt nice that he could set her mind at ease, though truthfully it was going to take hard work and luck to get out of this — and good luck seemed scarce today.

"What if that dragon finds us?" she asked in a quiet voice.

"Well… I don't think you need worry about that." He walked over to the Ural and stepped on the motorcycle's kick-starting lever. He rammed it down, causing the engine to cough into life. "We're not exactly quiet! I figure, either they're not nearby or they don't care about us little ponies riding through their territory." He didn't add that it might not be a dragon, as that could just increase the poor mare's nervousness.

"Wouldn't they have once been human? I would think that they might have some care towards their once fellow people."

He gestured to where the bridge used to be and couldn't keep a little bitterness out of his voice. "It looks like their priorities have changed if they tear up bridges for laughs."

Buttercup shot out of the fog and landed with a strong backwash from her wings. She tucked them against her barrel and announced, "Yep! There's a trail on the other side, kinda goes up a gravel ramp and into a clearing next to the road. It's kinda overgrown with grass but I think it used to be a parking lot or something."

"Maybe it was a boat ramp?" Chick nodded and gestured at the sidecar, "Well, hop aboard ladies and we'll find a way down to the river."

There was a gap in the trees a few metres down the road, thickly overgrown with grass and weeds, but only saplings had taken route in what had once been a dirt road to the river's edge. The Ural struggled a bit, but in first gear with two-wheel drive engaged, it bulled on through. Chick grimaced as he killed the engine and climbed down from the saddle; there would be a metric shit-tonne of grass to dig out of the bike's drivetrain.

"Aww! Why'd you stop?" whined Buttercup, bouncing a little on the cushioned seat in the sidecar and making the shocks squeak.

"I need to walk across first."

Chick unbuckled his helmet with a well-practised tug and set it on the motorcycle's gas tank. "Once I know the best route, I have to do some work on the bike to make it more waterproof." He shrugged out of his leather jacket and threw it over the motorcycle's saddle. Buttercup and Laura's expressions fell as he continued listing the work ahead of them, "Then we unhitch the cart and I'll ride across. We'll have to unload everything from the cart, taking it over a bit at a time, then haul the cart over, reload it, de-waterproof the bike, and then hitch up the trailer."

"Whaaat?!" cried Buttercup. "That'll take forever!"

Chick chuckled and said, "There is no rush. We'll be camping here tonight."

"But the dragon-", started Laura but Chick cut off her worried question.

"Is ignoring us or not here. I'm more worried about losing the cargo or breaking the bike. Or one of us getting hurt. I'm eager to catch up with the convoy and get to Beantown, but it's just not worth the risk." He stepped into the river, grimacing at the fetid squelch as his hoof sank up to the hock in muck. "I'll be back in a bit. Buttercup, can you fly along with me in case something happens? Laura… just stay here and keep an eye on things, okay?"

The pretty mare made an annoyed face as she waved a mosquito away from her ears, but nodded.

The water was cold and he winced as it washed around his belly, then up his sides as he slowly walked towards the middle of the river, carefully placing his hooves amongst the round rocks in its bed. The chill actually felt rather nice on his bruised groin, but fortunately, the water didn't rise high enough that it forced him to swim. He had to angle himself upstream to keep on a straight course to the other side, but the water was shallow enough that it shouldn't be a problem for the Ural. It was cranky and wore out its parts twice as fast as any other bike Chick had owned, but it was designed to deal with Russia's wilderness. This shouldn't be a problem. Knock on wood.

"You're almost there!" called Buttercup from where she hovered nearby.

Panting and dripping water and muck, Chick walked up the gravel ramp she had found. Buttercup landed in a well-trod gap in the grass that lined the river bank.

"I guess this is where the deer come through?" she asked.

Chick sniffed the air and could just make out a musky odour mixed into the clean scents of the forest and river. He nodded and said, "Yes. Mmm… we'd better check each other for ticks when we make camp."

"Ticks!?"

Buttercup leapt off of the bank and shot up into the air.

He couldn't help chuckling at her, before turning to make the wet slog back to the other bank. While their pony bodies seemed immune to things like Lyme's disease, it was still pretty annoying to have bugs feeding on you. He hoped that Laura wouldn't freak out too much about having to groom one another; at least that was one good thing about Buttercup stowing away. A stallion and mare grooming one another was a bit too intimate for his own comfort, let alone the nervous mare's. Though it was encouraging that she'd moved on from constantly wearing that filthy sweater.

Chick's eyebrows rose as he tromped through the muddy shallows and found Laura sitting on her haunches in the river.

"Euh… What are you doing?"

She grimaced and clumsily raised a sopping wet mass out of the water. "Trying to get this bloody thing clean."

If his hooves weren't covered in mud, Chick would have slapped himself in the side of the head with one of them. Instead, he chuckled at her annoyed expression and said, "Well, leave it for now, I need your help to get ready for the crossing."

"Do you have a towel?" she asked, following him out of the water with the dripping bundle of knitted fabric tucked up against her chest with one hoof.

"There's no point in getting dry yet, I need somepony to ride in the sidecar when I cross, and you'll have to haul the cart over with me if you don't mind. Here, let me help you with that." Chick sat next to the sidecar and held out his hooves.

Laura reluctantly handed him her sweater and he temporarily spread it out on the hood of the sidecar. It drizzled water onto the flattened grass and looked utterly ruined, but perhaps a little less dirty.

Getting the trailer unhitched required all three of them; lifting the tongue and shoving to get its wheels to turn a little on the soggy ground. He asked Laura and Buttercup to begin unloading while he scrambled into the sidecar's trunk for the things he needed to waterproof the bike. He temporarily plugged breather holes on the transmission and the transfer-box for the sidecar's wheel, then taped a home-made snorkle around the intake. Hopping into the sidecar he gathered the pillows and sleeping bags, bundling them up so they could be carried over separately and not get soaked during the crossing.

"Heh! Merci, Mama Bun", he chuckled when he found several pamphlets and a familiar novel with a pair of alicorn princesses on the cover. He carefully tucked them into Laura's sleeping bag before rolling it up. He walked to the back of the cart and set the bags and pillows down next to the growing pile of his trade goods.

Laura and Buttercup were wrestling with one of the sealed plastic boxes on the cart when he interrupted them.

"Ladies, I am ready to take the bike over."

Buttercup dropped her end of the box with a thump and asked, "Can I come?"

"Yes, please. I need one of you to help balance the bike. Laura, can you stay here and keep an eye on everything?" He was a little relieved that Buttercup had volunteered, as he felt a little guilty about always asking Laura to just cool her hocks. She was still learning how to be a pony and thus the most vulnerable of their little group. He doubted she even knew how to swim as a pony! At least Buttercup could fly away if something went terribly wrong.

Laura gently set her side of the heavy box down and said, "Alright, shall I start setting up the rope harnesses again?"

"That is a great idea! Yes, please. Tie them to the back of the cart like last time. We'll have to turn it around before taking it over."

Chick worried about how she would handle hauling the cart through the river, but there was no denying he would need her help. Using hoof-grip wouldn't work very well on the river's silt-and-stone bed, but having two ponies anchoring the cart would make it safer—so long as they took their time and nopony panicked.

He transferred Laura's damp sweater and his jacket to the cargo pile and then kick started the Ural. The helmet went back on his head while Buttercup got settled into the sidecar.

"Be careful", Laura told them before backing away from the rumbling motorcycle.

"No! Go fast!" Buttercup grinned and bounced eagerly, causing the bike's shocks to squeak.

He returned the eager filly's grin as he climbed up into the saddle. "I shall do both!" He kicked the bike into first gear, revved the engine and eased up on the clutch lever. This wasn't his first river crossing, but they were always a bit hairy.

The engine's roar became a wet gurgle as the motorcycle dove into the water, throwing up a brown spray as the wheels churned up the water and mud. The sidecar started to float up, tipping the bike, until Buttercup leaned out to help force it down. Chick leaned over too and carefully aimed the handlebars so that the big bike was at an angle as the river's current tried to drag it off course. Water surged up around Chick's hind legs and splashed against his face and chest, while it mostly ran straight off of Buttercup's waterproof hide and wings. She had them spread wide for balance as the bike bucked and surged beneath them.

"Holy shit! Look!" Buttercup yelled over the roar of the water.

Risking a glance in the direction of her pointing hoof, Chick saw something crouching atop the concrete support pillars in the middle of the river. Something dark red, about the size of a hatchback, with a long skinny neck and bat-like wings.

"Merde!"

His already racing heart surged with fear!

They were easy targets if that bastard dragon came at them now!

Ramming a hoof down on the throttle lever he grimaced as the bike bucked under them, almost throwing Buttercup out of the sidecar. Agonisingly long minutes later, the gamble paid off as the tires found purchase on the gravel ramp and they shot up out of the river and bumped up onto the grassy bank.

That's when he heard Laura's terrified scream.

Chick kicked the motorcycle into neutral and leapt out of the saddle before it had stopped moving. He slipped and stumbled on the mashed flat grass, almost falling on his muzzle, and dashed into the river as Laura screamed again.

"Laura!" he roared before skidding to a startled halt in the shallows.

Emerging from the fog, the dragon's wings whoomped as they stroked down. Its claws clutched hold of the cart's rails and loops of rope dangled down from it and into the river. Laura's heartrending screams were coming from the cart!

A furious yellow blur shot past Chick and slammed into the huge lizard's horned head.

"Drop it, fucker!"

The dragon's wings hesitated as it shook its head and let out a deep, throaty groan.

Chick yelled, "Buttercup! No! Get away from it!"

"What?!"

"Get down here!" he thundered.

Buttercup zipped away from the labouring beast and hovered over the water near Chick. "What the buck? You want it to get away?!"

He snorted and shook his head, "Non, I don't want it dropping the cart and Laura into the river! Just follow it for now."

Buttercup nodded and shot after the slow moving dragon, who seemed to be barely large enough to carry the cart. Chick couldn't imagine it making off with the sections of bridge that were missing. So there must be another one somewhere nearby or several of them!

He turned and galloped up the river bank and followed the deer path, as the dragon flew in that direction with Buttercup darting after it.

Author's Note:

I Pinkie Promised myself I'd stop working on my other stories and get this chapter written and published this weekend.

I did it!

Please PM me if you spot any errors. Merci.

Now with a hoofful of edits courtesy of Cross Lament.

Now with even more edits courtesy of Dances With Unicorns.

Comments

[SolangeEggbert]

Well, that was unexpected.
Thanks!
I guess now angsty teen dragons could have been born post event.

[Cross Lament]

Pictured, Laura learning the grippy-hoofy walk:

media.giphy.com/media/Cki0n5fW6L0cM/giphy.gif

[Hazel Mee]

9123355
8D That's perfect!

(Poor kitty... That smirking monkey has earned a few revenge bites. :3 )

[Hazel Mee]

9120805
Oh, I'm sure a few could have hatched by now. (Assuming there are conveniently available over-powered, magic surging fillies around to pop them out of their shell. )

[Dances With Unicorns]

Buttercup glanced down a Laura poked her head out of the footwell and answered her unspoken question.

Buttercup glanced down as Laura poked her head out of the footwell and answered her unspoken question.

[Dances With Unicorns]

After a bit of a struggle with the pillows she got her hooves under herself and scrabbled up the sloped floor, over the seat, and clumsily she jumped down the damp road.

After a bit of a struggle with the pillows she got her hooves under herself and scrabbled up the sloped floor, over the seat, and clumsily she jumped down onto the damp road.

[ferret]

9132527

I know, I just wish we could communicate to the Mama Buns out there how much safer it is to teach people stuff, instead of keeping them ignorant and vulnerable. I like when they call it "self defense training" because that alleviates a lot of the fears associated with combat. Nothing that can be done to alleviate the fears of letting her daughter move to Alexandria though! "Oh honey, why do you gotta go out there and take a dangerous, life-threatening job as a file clerk in Alexandria? Can't you just pick a nice husband and settle down on the farm?"