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1 - Laura's Fall10,003 words
2 - Encounter in Welsford6,846 words
3 - Hitting the Road7,947 words
4 - Oak Point Farms12,648 words
5 - Welcome to the US of A12,864 words
6 - Road Block10,705 words
7 - Dragon!7,542 words
8 - Beantown, USA9,731 words
9 - Thomas?9,485 words
10 - Albany7,488 words
11 - NY Canals Lock 124,799 words

7 - Dragon!

Laura's breath caught as the motorcycle plunged into the river and the frothing current tipped it over!

A frantic cry died in her throat as Buttercup and Chick quickly got the machine under control, more-or-less. Mist closed in around them, muting the splash of water, their shouts, and the gurgle of the bike's submerged exhaust.

Letting her breath go in a long sigh, Laura turned away on trembling hooves and walked back to the cart. Her ears twitched to snatches of yells between Chick and Buttercup, but she forced herself to focus on something else. Just standing around worrying about her friends wouldn't help them, and besides, they didn't sound frantic or despairing, just business-like. Getting their job done. She could be business-like as well; there was work that needed to be done on this side of the river, after all.

The trailer's tailgate was down, making it easy for her to place her front hooves inside, crouch a little, and briskly hop inside. It was half empty and she'd need Chick and Buttercup's help to shift the remaining cargo, but she was just after the collection of ropes wedged between two crates. Grasping a coiled pink rope between her hooves, she tried to tug it out.

Her ears twitched.

She heard an odd flapping sound, like someone shaking dust off of a picnic blanket. Overhead.

She glanced up.

The silhouette of a huge, bat-winged shape loomed out of the fog!

Every muscle in Laura's body clenched and she could only stare in horror as the beast dropped, reaching for her with sharp claws!

One of its leathery wings clipped her shoulder and sent her sprawling against the cart's side. Metal creaked as a spidery hand with cyan scales grasped the cart's rail next to her head. The trailer lurched, jerked up suddenly, banging her chin against the floor. Dazed, Laura slid towards the open tailgate as the cart tipped sharply and the remaining plastic tubs, crates, and assorted gear skidding towards her on the slick floor.

Desperately scrabbling her hooves, somehow she managed to cling to the trailer and a scream ripped from her throat as the cargo tumbled towards her. The trailer shifted and levelled a moment before it could crash into her.

Laura's hindquarters dangled over air and she bicycled her legs to try and find something to jam her hooves into. She gulped smoky, sulfurous, air. Her belly heaved with sudden nausea. The scaled belly of the monster swayed and humped just overhead as its powerful wings pumped, hauling them higher. She screamed again and her throat hurt like fire while her head swam. She caught a yellow blur out of the corner of her eye. Buttercup! There was a hollow sounding crack and the dragon let out a pained groan. Laura heard snatches of Chick's voice, shouting her name over the rush of wind battering her ears. A moment later the plucky filly was gone, taking Laura's faint hope of rescue with her.

"Heeeelp!" she screamed, closing her eyes and hunching down against the cart's floor as she felt her hooves losing their grip.

"Noooooo!"

Desperately wishing she still had toes, she flailed her hooves against the tailgate. Her chest scraped on the edge of the cart as her forehooves slipped on the trailer's floor!

Rusty metal punched her in the face and her teeth clacked together with a sharp pain, grazing her tongue. She tumbled out of the trailer, landed on her rump, tipped over backwards, and smacked her head against the ground!

Laura moaned and curled up on her side, pressing her hooves against her head as it painfully throbbed in sync with her racing heart. With her ears folded flat, she barely heard Buttercup's high-pitched yells, though she certainly felt the dragon's deep guttural roars in her chest. She panted through a raw throat and saw a flash of hot-pink against the tall grass as Chick charged into the clearing.

He skidded to a halt next to her, dripping water from his soaked hide and tail. Chick steadied her as she tried to sit up, sending a shiver down her back as cold water splashed from his fetlock.

He looked her over and urgently asked, "Are you alright?"

Despite the terror, shock, and pain, Laura flushed with embarrassment as he inspected her naked body. She pulled her hind legs up and tried to tuck her tail around herself, but it was pinned to the grass beneath her backside.

"Laura!" his hoof slid to her chin and tipped her head up so that their eyes met. "Are you alright?"

"I'm…" The concern in his ruby eyes made her flush even hotter as she wheezed, "I'm f-fine." She was actually far from it, but she managed a wincing smile and his tense expression relaxed.

"I'll fucking kill you!" Buttercup howled from the other side of the trailer.

"Bring it, bitch!" a growling bass voice shouted back.

Chick winced and told Laura, "Stay out of sight."

She nodded but he'd already leapt back into a gallop, his dark-pink hooves sliding on the flattened grass.

Chick wished he more time to reassure Laura, but she seemed more shaken than hurt and Buttercup couldn't deal with the dragon on her own.

He cursed himself for forgetting the baseball bat as he circled around the cart.

"About time!" Buttercup called as she darted past on blurred wings.

She buzzed around the dragon's head like an annoying gnat but couldn't get close enough to repeat her earlier attack over the river. The dragon stood its ground, quickly twisted its sinuous neck to keep a fanged maw aimed and ready to snap her out of the air. A steady stream of black smoke puffed from the blue-scaled lizard's nostrils.

Buttercup yelled, "Come on! Let's get him!"

Chick slowed his headlong gallop as the dragon's fiery gaze locked onto him.

It was skinny, but easily three or four times Chick's mass with a wingspan that dwarfed Buttercup's. One of those handguns in a pony-wearable harness would have been extremely useful right now! He gritted his teeth and charged ahead, hoping to get close enough to grapple or buck with his powerful earth pony legs before the dragon started breathing fire all over the God damn place!

"Woah! Woah!" the dragon yelped and hopped back, holding up the palm of a scimitar-clawed hand in Chick's direction. It grunted as Buttercup took advantage of the distraction to land a solid hoof-strike across its smoking muzzle. Despite being a solid hit, it didn't seem to do much more than annoy it.

Chick changed from a direct charge into the dragon's claws, to circle to the right while Buttercup buzzed away in the other direction. Perhaps if they both kept on the move they could avoid the dragon's breath, closing for quick strikes and maybe-

"I'M FUCKIN' DONE WITH THIS SHIT!" the dragon roared, driving daggers into Chick's ears.

One of his hooves slipped on the grass and he crashed to the ground, legs flailing. His sensitive ears rang painfully as he struggled to get up but he was suddenly pinned by one of the dragon's spidery hands. Chick froze as hot iron-hard fingers squeezed his chest and sharp claws pricked his wet hide.

The dragon shouted at Buttercup, "Back the fuck off, bitch!"

"Let him go!"

"Back. The fuck. Off!" Jets of hot flame and smoke poured out of the dragon's long muzzle with each word.

Chick shouted, "Do as he says!"

They'd lost.

He lay on his side, panting heavily as the dragon's fang-filled and smoking snout lowered down on its sinuous neck, almost to the ground, stopping a few centimetres away from Chick's muzzle. A wash of terror ripped through him, and he spasmed under the powerful hand that pinned him. He'd heard tall-tales in bars and around campfires, about people coming back as predators — gryphons, diamond dogs, and dragons — who had turned cannibal. Killing and eating ponies that had once been fellow human beings. They'd sounded like idiotic horror stories. Until now.

He grimaced and hoped it would be quick, and that the others could make a run for it while the dragon was busy… eating.

The dragon inhaled, a rumbling, crackling sound coming from its chest as the air stoked an inner fire. Its mouth opened and Chick saw a hot glow at the back of its muscular throat as flames licked out around hoof-long sharp fangs.

It said, "I don't-"

A blur of grey hooves crashed into the side of the dragon's head and it yelped, sending a jet of searing flame just over Chick's ears.

The dragon recoiled, letting go of Chick and grabbing its head between its hands. Laura stood on stiff legs next to Chick, looking just as shocked as Chick was that she'd assaulted the dragon.

Shocked, grateful, and slightly aroused.

Buttercup shot down from the sky and crashed hooves-first into the dragon's exposed gut.

A huge blast of fire shot from its mouth!

Chick squeezed his watering eyes to shut out the sudden glare. The image of Laura, silhouetted against the searing hot jet of flames, burned into his mind's eye as he frantically rolled away from the furnace-like heat.

Laura gasped as Chick slipped and fell.

The huge beast struck as fast as a cobra, pinning Chick to the ground as his hooves kicked and flailed at the air. It crouched over his vulnerable body and Laura's despair was swept away by a wave of cold fury. The world blurred and in an instant, she was by his side, the dragon's lowered head in front of her. Laura felt disconnected from herself. There was no fear as it opened its smoking, fanged maw.

Laura reared up and lashed out with her grey hooves, crashing them against its scaly head. It would be easy to crush its skull and teeth like damp chalk.

Horrified, she recoiled, striking a glancing blow.

There was a blinding light as a searing hot wind roared around her, tugging her mane.

Then smoke.

Laura coughed painfully. The foul-smelling, scorching hot air stabbed at her delicate nostrils. Her ears popped with a whine and suddenly she could hear again.

"Die asshole! Mother bucker! Shit! Fuck! Die!" she heard Buttercup screaming, each curse accompanied by a meaty-sounding thwack.

Blinking away tears as a breeze dissipated the haze, Laura caught blurry glimpses of the yellow filly standing on top of the prostrate dragon, punching it with her forehooves.

Chick hugged her, squeezing Laura's shoulders painfully in his strong, pink-furred forelegs. Laura hissed at the sudden pressure on her over-heated skin. It felt like the worst sunburn she'd ever had!

He shouted something in French, his tone joyful but shaky. Cheek pressed against her neck, he squeezed again and said, "I don't believe it! You're alive!"

Buttercup looked up from the dragon and cried, "Oh my stars! You're okay?"

Laura coughed painfully, the lingering smoke clawing at her scream-raw throat, and she croaked, "I- I'm fine."

Why wouldn't she be?

The dragon groaned and tried to move. Buttercup cracked a hoof on the back of its head and it lay still after a spastic ripple of its long tail.

"Merde", Chick cursed and released Laura from the welcome support of his hug.

He galloped to the trailer and grabbed the rope Laura had been trying to retrieve. She sat down, abruptly feeling rather weak and wobbly. She numbly watched the others quickly hog-tie the unconscious dragon while she tried to catch her breath.

Had she really attacked that enormous beast?

What on earth had she been thinking?!

She snapped out of a daze when Chick pressed a wet and cool aluminium bottle into her hooves. The water smelled a bit odd and tasted faintly of oysters, but she swallowed anyway. It soothed her sore, dry throat and washed the taste of sulphur from her tongue. The diamond rattled in the bottle as she gave it back to him and she was absurdly relieved that she hadn't swallowed the damn thing.

Chick and Buttercup stared at her.

"What?" she croaked and broke down into a fit of painful coughs.

"How did you live through that?" asked Buttercup in an awed tone.

Chick nodded and said, "A dragon's fire is hot enough to melt glass and steel, but even your mane isn't burned. I thought we'd l-lost you for sure!"

Laura shrugged. Perhaps it had breathed just smoke and hot air at her? She didn't really believe that as the blackened grass around her certainly hadn't survived the fiery blast. She remembered her dream from the other night — she'd walked into a fire and hadn't been burned. But that was just a dream. This was probably just another inexplicable 'magic' thing. The kind Chick had warned her about days ago. She didn't know enough about magic to try and figure out what had happened.

"What do-", she coughed and winced. "Do now?" she whispered, trying to take it easy on her throat.

Chick rubbed a hoof on the back of his head and grimaced. "I'd like to leave at once, but I can't just abandon the rest of the cargo."

Laura shook her head and jabbed a hoof at the dragon.

"Fuck him!"

Chick lightly cuffed Buttercup and said, "Language, filly."

Buttercup snorted at him angrily and clearly stated, "Fuck. Him." She waved her hooves overhead and exclaimed, "He tried to kill you guys!"

The dragon groaned and slid his head around to look at them. Laura felt a stab of guilt at the blood oozing between the coils of rope wrapped tightly around his long muzzle. Speaking with difficulty out of the corner of his mouth, he said, "No funny shit, I did not want to get into it with you pones."

Chick frowned and said, "You took Laura hostage and tried to steal my cart."

They were well out of range of the dragon's long neck and twitching tail, but the loops of rope binding its wings didn't look terribly secure to Laura.

The dragon muttered, "You gotta be fucking kidding me." He raised his voice. "I was trying to help your busted asses! I didn't know one of your wives was hiding in the fucking thing."

Chick growled, "We are not married."

"Whatever", the dragon muttered. "You pones are all about that Mormon shit."

Chick squinted and asked, "You said you were trying to help?"

"Shit, yeah. I saw you riding that fucking awesome bike into the river and thought, 'These guys got big balls', a'ight? Figured I'd be neighbourly and help you all out. Like I said, I did not know she was hiding in there, and then you all get dumb tight before I could say shit."

He winced and then winked at Buttercup, "You got a hell of a fucking punch, girl."

Buttercup giggled and preened at his praise. Literally ran her lips over her feathers a couple of times before noticing Chick and Laura staring at her. She blushed, tucked her wings back against her sides and glared at the dragon.

Chick sighed and said, "Alright, well… My name is Chick." He waved a hoof at Buttercup and Laura and introduced them, "This is Buttercup and Laura. We're headed to Beantown."

The dragon snorted another puff of black smoke, making Laura wonder just how well the flammable rope would hold if he decided to breathe fire again.

"Ugh, that place went into the shitter when the bugs moved in."

Bugs? Laura's lip curled at the thought of cockroaches or those bloody awful bed bugs. What sort of place was Chick taking them?

"You don't like them?" asked Chick.

Why would anyone like bugs?

"Shit, no. Those little mindless slaves piss me off. Not their fault I guess, but they're all black and that kinda triggers me, you hear what I'm saying?"

"You do know they are just mindless drones, right?"

"That ain't no better! And I met a couple who turned into people — sort of — so they got it in 'em to be more than they is. Don't stop the whole fucking town from exploiting their black asses now, does it?"

Laura glanced between them and wondered what on earth they were going on about. Insects who turn into people? More magical mumbo-jumbo?

The dragon sighed and shook his head, "Shit, I'm just glad to be outta there. Anyway, you all can call me Deck."

"Deck?" Chick asked.

Deck the dragon nodded and winced. "Mama named me Joe, but everyone calls me Deck on account of I collect cards."

"Okay, Deck. I'm going to untie you and-"

Buttercup yelped, "What?! You're gonna let him go?"

Chick nodded. "Yes, you heard him. This was a misunderstanding, no one wanted to get into a fight."

"You believe that?" Buttercup snorted and pointed a hoof at Deck. "Why'd he steal the bridges then, huh?"

Deck laughed and said, "I didn't steal no fucking bridges. Do I look strong enough to steal a fucking bridge to you? Shit, just flying that cart over here nearly killed me!"

Laura asked him, "Do you-" She coughed and winced. God but her voice sounded terrible and it was agony to speak — perhaps she should just stay quiet for a while? The others were waiting for her to finish the question so she forced it out, "-know who?"

"I uh…" Deck's eyes shifted left and right, obviously not eager to share what he knew. He sighed and admitted, "It was Naga."

"Naga?" asked Buttercup.

"Yeah, that bitch is crazy. Takes whatever the hell she wants and doesn't give a shit about anyone who ain't no dragon."

Chick asked, "She is a dragon?"

Deck shook his head and winced. "Not like me. She's a sea serpent. For real, she's the biggest fucking snake I ever seen, so she's, like, the boss, a'ight? No one tells her what to do. She grabbed those bridges up, used 'em to make a lake so she'd have somewhere to hibernate." He chuckled and intoned, "Winter is coming."

Startled to hear Eddard Stark's famous catchphrase coming from a dragon's mouth, Laura giggled for a moment, making her throat hurt terribly. She whimpered and rubbed her throat with a hoof.

"Heh heh, she gets it." Deck smiled and nodded at Laura, "Yo, you just came back, right? Shiiit, when Little Finger kicked that bitch through the Moon Door I just about shat myself cheering!"

"Y-yes", she croaked while her eyes watered.

Buttercup looked back and forth between them and whined, "I don't get it."

"Oooh, yes. I remember", said Chick. "It's been ages since I've watched Game of Thrones. Shame that they'll never finish it, though maybe the author will peck out the remaining books on a typewriter when he Returns." His grin fell and he asked, "This Naga… She made this fog?"

"Yeah, she's lying at the bottom of her lake, bubbling away like a fucking coffee pot."

"Okay, well, with her I have problems. But if I untie you, we will call a truce?"

Deck nodded and said, "Truce."

Chick looked over at Buttercup and Laura, and asked, "Does that sound reasonable to you, ladies?"

Buttercup grimaced at the dragon, while uncomfortably ruffling her wings. After a moment she grudgingly agreed, "I guess. We can just leave him tied up."

Laura merely smiled and nodded, not wanting to strain her throat.

Honestly, she felt just terrible for assaulting the poor beast… For assaulting Deck. Now that they were talking instead of fighting, he seemed like a charming and harmless fellow. If a bit of a nerd. She wasn't certain if it was a real possibility or just her imagination, but she shuddered at the memory of his inexplicably fragile skull beneath her hooves. The whole incident was just horrid in every way and the sooner they could put it behind them, the better.

She stepped back as Chick and Buttercup untied him.

Deck's head swung her way on his long neck after his muzzle was freed. He licked his chops with a slightly forked tongue and said, "Yo, lady, sorry for scaring you like that."

This close up, Laura's sensitive nose was swamped with a dry, musky odour and the metallic tang of blood. It made the fur along her spine prickle and her tummy churned, but despite the urge to bolt from those predatory fangs, she winced and gestured at his bruised cheek.

"S-sorry", she whispered.

Deck winked and rumbled, "Don't sweat it, we good."

Once he was freed, Deck rubbed his wrists while flexing his broad wings. The right one had a couple of small holes through the skin that stretched between the finger-like bones. But they looked like old injuries to Laura, long-since healed with rims of puckered scar tissue.

"Before you go", Chick said while coiling up the rope, "You said you collect cards? As in, duelling card games?"

"Yeah, Magic the Gathering, Warhammer… Heck, I even got three binders of Yu-Gi-Oh! Why?"

"Ah, would you be interested in a trade? I have a retail box of Magic cards."

"Shit, yeah! What kinda trade we talking about?"

Chick chuckled at Deck's wide-eyed eagerness and lashing tail and gestured with a hoof to the other side of the river. "I'll trade you some card packs if you'll help carry the rest of the cargo over."

"A'ight! You got a deal, little pone." Deck spread his wide wings and leapt into the air with a burst of wind that set the fog swirling.

Chick pushed a loose strand of his pink mane out of his face and yelled after the dragon, "Two packs!"

Deck whirled around, hovered and shouted, "What?! Fuck that! Five!"

Chick snorted a laugh and counter offered, "Three!"

"Four!"

"Three, and Buttercup will help you!"

"What?" cried Buttercup.

Deck thought about it for a few moments before shouting back, "Deal!" He flapped heavily towards the other side of the river.

Satisfied, Chick turned and asked Buttercup, "Would you mind helping him? And keeping an eye on him?"

"Hmmm… I dunno. Not like I'm getting any cards out of this, or am I?" She grinned wickedly and waggled her eyebrows.

Unimpressed, Chick snorted and said, "Says the filly who stowed away in my cart. Stole my pickled fish. Cost me profit. Cost me-"

"Alright, alright! I'm going." She opened her wings and muttered, "Who pissed on your cloud?"

"I'm pretty sure that was you", he called after her with a laugh. "Though it was my cart!"

Laura rolled her eyes as she walked over to the abandoned water bottle, sat and carefully unscrewed the cap. She almost spat water when she lowered the bottle and found Chick staring at her, his nose so close she could feel the warmth of his breath against her seared-sensitive skin.

"You have a little scrape on your chin. Wait here." He trotted over to the trailer and started rummaging around in the tumbled pile of boxes.

Laura set the bottle down and gingerly touched a hoof to her chin. It did indeed sting a little, though nothing compared with her poor throat. There was now a smear of blood on her hoof. Ugh.

Chick returned with the first aid kit and dabbed a pad of cloth soaked in alcohol on the cut. That only made it sting even more! Eyes watering, nose running from the burn of alcohol, Laura felt properly miserable. Chick tenderly brushed a styptic pencil against the cut while cupping her cheek with his other hoof. It was a rather intimate gesture and Laura felt her face and ears heating up with a blush.

She must look hideous!

Fat tears welled up in her eyes and trickled down her cheeks.

"Oh, non, non, non", Chick murmured something in French. She understood the words for 'sad' and possibly 'pathetic', which certainly described how she felt!

He pulled her into a gentle hug, lifting her forehooves off of the ground as he tucked her up against his warm chest. She rested her head against his shoulder and, after a moment, lifted her limp, dangling legs and returned his hug as she sniffled and hot tears trickled down her cheeks. He gently rubbed her back, which was soothing but also sparked a twinge of guilt. While their pony-shaped bodies didn't fit as snugly as the last time she'd cuddled with Thomas, Chick certainly felt and smelled quite masculine. She'd always been a physical kind of girl, preferring a hug or a kiss over trying to tell someone how she felt, and she needed this hug. Her tense muscles quivered as they relaxed. She sniffled and swallowed the guilt with a load of mucous, and let out a shaky sigh as the whoosh and snap of wings announced Deck and Buttercup's return.

Blinking tears from her eyes, Laura gently pushed Chick away and watched as they landed near the trailer with the first load of crates and bags.

Buttercup trotted over while Deck leapt back into the air. She pressed a hoof against Laura's shoulder and asked, "Hey, you okay?"

Laura nodded and wiped her eyes with a curled fetlock. She squeaked a little as Buttercup suddenly hugged her; the slender pegasus' legs were very strong! Laura inhaled deeply and returned the hug, which felt nice enough even though Buttercup lacked Chick's muscular bulk and comfortingly masculine scent. At least this hug didn't come with any feelings of guilt or regret.

Buttercup patted Laura's back and asked, "You going to be okay?"

Laura nodded.

"You're sure?" The filly stepped back and gazed into Laura's eyes.

Laura nodded again and forced a shaky smile.

Buttercup nodded back and spread her wings. "A'ight. Back in a bit."

She took off and called to Deck to wait up as she flew after him. Chick zipped the first aid kit closed, grabbed the handle in his mouth and carried it over to the trailer. He looked a little out-of-sorts when he returned, with his ears laying half-flat and looking anywhere but at Laura.

After an awkward moment Laura said, or tried to say, "H-how did-", she swallowed painfully, "-crossing go?"

Chick perked up a little. "It went fine. My bike is- Tabarnak!"

Laura blinked in surprise as he suddenly charged off into the forest! Heart pounding, she leapt to her hooves and stared after him while her ears pricked and rotated to catch any threatening sounds. There was just the river's burble, the fog-muted flapping of wings, and the rumble of a motorcycle engine, which revved up for a moment before cutting off.

A few minutes later, Chick emerged from the brush and grass, shaking his head and chuckling to himself. He trotted over and apologised, "Désolé… Sorry about that. I forgot to kill the engine in all the rush."

She nodded, a gesture she was no doubt going to be doing a lot until her throat recovered. Chick patted her shoulder and walked to the trailer. He jumped up on to the bed and began roughly organising the cargo; shoving it back to where it had slid from and re-stacking it. With two fliers shuttling back and forth it didn't take long for the remaining boxes, crates, and a small barrel to pile up. Buttercup brought over Laura's sweater, holding the filthy wet thing out at leg's length. Laura thank her with a nod and a smile, then sighed at the state of it before tossing it carelessly into the trailer. The garment's only hope was that they had a good cleaners in Beantown.

Deck panted, "Okay, time to pay up, Pinkie."

"It's Chick", he grimaced at the nickname.

Laura barely held back a giggle at the memory of those adorable foals prancing around him while chanting 'Pinkie Pie'. It was no less amusing coming from a big beast like Deck though she could see why Chick might not agree. He hunted through the pile of boxes, dragged one out of the pile with his teeth and muscular neck, and unlatched its sealed lid. He removed several hard drives in silvery bags, and a stack of official-looking letters with 'Nouvelle Acadie' stamped on them in a big, blue font. Underneath them was a long green mylar-wrapped box which he dragged out onto the grass.

Deck stuck his long neck over Chick's shoulder and gasped, "Shiiit, you found a mint Conspiracy box?"

"Oui", Chick said with a sad sigh. He slid the blade out on a box-cutter that he'd retrieved from his tools while the fliers were working. "I hope you realise how much profit I'm losing by opening this? My customer in Beantown would pay much more for a mint box, you know."

Deck laughed and asked, "You mean Deuce of Diamonds? Shiiit, that bitch was still trying to win his Mox Sapphire back when we bounced."

Knife in mouth, Chick carefully cut away the transparent plastic, opened the cardboard box's lid, and stepped out of Deck's way. The dragon dithered for a while but finally selected three of the shiny mylar-wrapped card packs — which ironically featured a dragon on the packaging. The foul-mouthed, heavily armed lizard pouted his thin lips when Chick pressed the lid closed.

"Well", Deck said while spreading his wings. "It's been real, but I gotta drop these off at the cave. It's my turn to hunt and those deer are getting to be a bitch to find."

"Your turn to hunt? There are more dragons in your group?" asked Chick.

Deck looked a little nervous, clutching at the card packs and squinting at Chick for a moment. "Well… Yeah, we're crashing here for winter and gonna fly to Iceland." He grinned and said, "It's got volcanoes and Naga said dragons can fucking swim in that shit! For real? I can't fucking wait! My ass has been freezing since the day I got back."

"Iceland?" Laura whispered. "You-", she coughed a couple of time and croaked, "-so far?"

The dragon flexed his large bat-like wings and winked at her. "These ain't just decorations. I'd rather haul my ass to Hawaii, but Iceland's closer. Plus we gonna meet a bunch of Euro dragons there and Naga's hoping to hook up with this sea serpent dude she talked with on the phone. Sounds like a fag to me, but there ain't no Tinder for dragons so I guess she gotta try."

Laura bit her lip for a moment and then blurted out, "Letter?"

"Letter?"

She swallowed the lump in her throat and whispered, "For my family. In England."

Deck squinted at her and grumbled, "I ain't no postman, lady. But, maybe we could make a deal?" He cocked his head in Chick's direction.

Laura fixed the poor stallion with a pleading stare and hoped that her sad puppy-dog eyes look still worked. It should, she was even cuter as a tiny horse and, dirty and bruised, she truly was rather sad and pathetic.

Chick sighed loudly while scrubbing a hoof through his scruffy pink mane. He muttered something about 'Dieu' and grudgingly said, "Fine, fine." He held up a hoof. "One pack."

"Two!"

Chick grimaced and simply countered with, "One pack, and you have to tell her why you won't do it."

Laura turned her sad, pleading eyes on poor Deck.

He didn't stand a chance.

"A'ight, a'ight. Get out them cards, Pinkie."

Laura's delighted squeak and quick hug seemed to brighten Chick's mood. She tried to hug Deck but it was a little too awkward since she only came up to his belly, so she settled for giving him a quick nuzzle. He was very warm.

While Chick went to fetch the box of cards, Laura dug around in her Dora the Explorer saddlebags for a notebook and pencil. It took quite some time to write the brief letter, during which the others reloaded the trailer, with Deck helpfully pitching in while he waited. Laura tried using hoof-grip to hold the pencil, but her feet felt very sore and tired. She had to settle for holding the pencil in her mouth, scrawling each letter one at a time as she couldn't see the paper as she wrote. The letter ended up looking like a five-year-old had written it in scrawling block letters that ran over one another.

~~Dea~~ DEAR, MUM & DAD.

I AM STILL IN ~~CANA~~ AMERICA WITH THOMAS.
I CAN'T COME HOME FOR OBVIOUS REASONS,
BUT I HOPE THIS LETTER FINDS YOU WELL.
I HOPE IT FINDS YOU AT ALL! PLEASE TAKE
CARE AND KNOW THAT I LOVE YOU AND MISS
YOU.

YOUR DAUGHTER, LAURA LEANORA SMITH.

Writing out her full name should help convince them that letter was truly from her. She waved Buttercup over as Chick noisily rode the motorcycle out of the undergrowth. The filly cocked an ear and Laura asked, "Date?"

"Umm…" Buttercup's muzzle wrinkled cutely as she thought, "I know it's September and I think Mama said it'd been twenty-three years since the Event."

SEPT, 2038

There. She really wished that Thomas had thought to date his letter.

XXXOOO

PS. I AM A GREY EARTH PONY NOW, WITH ORANGE
HAIR. ORANGE HAIR!
PPS. GIVE SIS AND THE BOYS A HUG FROM ME.

Laura was under no illusion that all of her family members could have Returned at the same time, but it would have felt wrong and a bit depressing to end her letter any other way. Who knows — with any luck they may have all been travelling together when it happened. Not likely, but it was something worth hoping for.

Cursing quietly under her breath, she crudely folded the torn-out page with her clumsy hooves and mouth-printed her parent's address on the outside. By the time she was finished, the trailer was packed and hitched up to the motorcycle. A short ride up an overgrown gravel track and they would be back on the highway.

Deck waved with one clawed hand while tightly gripping Laura's precious letter and his packs of cards in the other. "Say 'yo' to Duce when you see him. Have yourselves a safe ride, pones."

"Have fun in Volcanoland!" chirped Buttercup.

Chick wished him, "Safe travels."

Laura just waved as Deck flapped away into the thick fog, and hoped that he and her letter would make it safely to Iceland and then on to home.

"Right", Chick said, turning to Buttercup and Laura. "Tick inspection time."

Laura gasped, "What?!"

Laura's fur felt matted and itchy, like a filthy wool blanket that she couldn't throw off in disgust. Even though she'd waded in the river's shallows and been brushed from ears to hooves, she was not clean by any stretch of the imagination!

Having to spend an hour searching for ticks hadn't helped at all.

Brushing Buttercup and combing her blue mane and tail had been very much like grooming classes at the stable — only with the 'horse' giving her beauty tips. It had been like a trip to a queer outdoor salon. Ugh. What Laura wouldn't give for a bubbly, hot bath to sink into right now! And a nice cuppa. And some petit fours to nibble on. Buttercup had returned the favour and then they'd both given Chick a going over, with Laura sticking to his front-end, thank you very much. It had still been extremely awkward.

She sighed soulfully and shifted on the thinly cushioned sidecar's bench seat. Her hooves felt weirdly achy and tired, like muscles that had been worked too hard.

"Nearly there!" shouted Chick over the motorcycle's engine and roar of the wind.

Laura smiled slightly while gazing down the highway to where the last rays were lighting up the scattered clouds a lovely crimson. It would be a relief to finally stop after so many monotonous hours of watching forests slowly roll past on either side. There had been a brief respite when they passed through a town called Bangor, over a highway bridge that was merely crumbling rather than missing.

A furry yellow face popped up from inside of the sidecar. Buttercup almost bumped her muzzle against Laura's and loudly asked, "What'd he say?"

Laura snorted in surprise and flopped over sideways across the seat, squeezing her embarrassingly naked thighs together.

"We-" She coughed to clear the thick feeling in her throat and rasped, "We're almost there."

Chick flicked the headlamps on as he steered the motorcycle down a slip road while kicking it down through the gears to slow them. A large green sign glowed with the words 'Newport, Skowhegan' and an arrow pointing down the ramp. Another sign read 'FOOD, Dunkin' Donuts, Burger King, McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Tim Hortons'. The colourful logos made Laura's tummy rumble as dreams of greasy burgers and pizza tumbled through her head. Buttercup squeezed half-way up onto the seat next to her and peered through the growing gloom as they rode through the main street of this small, unremarkable town. Unlit signs with once bright logos loomed in front of dark, squat buildings.

Chick seemed to know where he was going, turning right at a building with a bare flagpole and riding slowly down one of the town's side streets. The motorcycle sagged and wobbled through water-filled potholes that littered a broad parking lot. They squeaked to a stop in front of a steel-roofed building that looked like it had been armoured against a storm, with wood panels over most of the windows. One by the door had a steel grate and mesh instead. In the fading light, she could just make out several other similar outbuildings clustered around a much larger warehouse, several metres away across the rotting parking lot. A massive American "eighteen-wheeler" was permanently parked nearby, slowly rusting away atop its flat tires.

Chick killed the engine but left the headlamps on.

Buttercup tucked her wings tight to her slender body and squeezed past Laura like an impatient cat. She hopped out of the sidecar and stretched her wings wide while yawning hugely.

"Where are we?" she called to Chick as Laura hid her own yawn behind a hoof.

He set his helmet on the gas tank and climbed down to the tarmac. "This is a rest spot for the convoy. They've been and gone already, but we'll catch up tomorrow."

Laura felt pins-and-needles in her tail and bum as they slowly walked up to the building together. Chick dug around in his leather jacket and tugged out a keyring and fitted one of the many keys into a large padlock on the door. The door's metal surface was painted a pale hospital-room green, with several riveted metal patches, and a crater made of tiny little dents.

Chick noticed what she was looking at and told her, "Shotgun", while he fitted one of the keys into the door's sturdy lock. "We have had looters try to break in a few times."

The door creaked quietly as he pushed it open and strode inside. A moment later several small bright pinpricks of light burst on, though they only dimly lit the hallway. Laura followed Buttercup inside, noticing that there were three foot high piles of sandbags on either side of the door. The building was well maintained, with none of the dirt, cobwebs, or animal droppings that Laura had grown used to seeing inside abandoned-looking buildings.

"Hah!" Chick grinned while reading a note pinned to one of the walls. He said, "We missed the convoy by two days. But Gavi wrote that he will wait another day or two for us to catch up at the distillery."

"Distilla-what?" asked Buttercup while peering over his shoulder at the note.

"Gavi?" rasped Laura at the same time.

He glanced between them, smiled and said, "The distillery is where they brew up our fuel. Gavi is a friend. He's saved my aaa… rump when I Returned in the middle of a Montreal winter." He waved them inside and said, "Come on, there should be dried fruit, nuts, and other stuff to eat. And we don't have to sleep under fabric tonight!"

The downside to camping inside was that they couldn't have a fire, but Chick broke out a small alcohol-fuelled stove and set a pot of water to boil. The former employee's lounge slash kitchen had a couple of worn couches and a low coffee table, which they used to make a simple 'dinner' of dehydrated food stored at the rest spot.

Laura gave Chick a warm, grateful smile when he handed her a steaming mug of mint tea with a generous dollop of honey stirred into it.

"For your poor throat."

She set the mug down and impulsively pulled him into a half-hug. His ears flicked as she whispered, "Thank you."

Not just for the tea. She'd heard him yelling her name when Deck had almost flown away with her, and though he'd ultimately fallen during their little scuffle, his heart had certainly been in the right place. Well… Some of his fight must have been for his valuable trade goods, but she couldn't help feeling a little warm inside, thinking that he'd also been concerned for her and Buttercup.

Buttercup wolfed down her bowl of dried apple, apricots, and nuts, and stumbled off towards the small office where they'd dropped off their sleeping bags and pillows.

"G'nite."

Laura waved a hoof while slowly sipping her sweet tea. She was exhausted and would follow the filly to Slumberland as soon as she finished it. Chick grabbed a notebook and pencil off of a shelf and trotted over to the table. After flipping through a few pages which were already full of writing, he scooped up the pencil and began writing… something. A report of their journey? Notes about Oak Point farm? Laura was too exhausted to scrape together enough curiosity to ask. He was still at it as Laura finished her tea and got up to retire as well.

"Good night", she whispered.

He paused and smiled charmingly. "Good night, Laura. Sweet dreams."

Shuffling to the bedroom office, she yawned hugely and felt a little uncouth for not covering her mouth. It was impossible to walk and be polite at the same time. Rounding the corner she saw Buttercup, sitting up on her sleeping bag with a certain lurid book in her hooves!

"No, no, no!" Laura rasped and quickly trotted toward the filly. "That's not-" A hoof caught on the edge of the sleeping bag and she stumbled, flopping onto her chest and skidding to a halt at Buttercup's hooves.

"Woah! Are you okay?"

Laura snorted and struggled to get up. "You shouldn't be reading that!" she urgently rasped.

"What? This?" Buttercup giggled and held the book away as Laura tried to reach for it. "S'alright, I read it years ago when Mama left it out. I really like chapter fourteen, when the princesses have a competition to see who can-"

"Just… Please put it away before Chick sees it!" Laura croaked, wincing as her throat burned.

Buttercup rolled her eyes and told her, "I'm pretty sure he's read it too, y'know."

Laura rather doubted that he'd be interested in a smutty romance novel, but that was beside the point! She sat up on her haunches and waved her hooves in a frantically pleading manner. "Please put it away? I don't want him thinking…" How to put this?

"That we like sex?"

Laura groaned in a long-suffering way as Buttercup snickered at her embarrassment. Giving in, she flopped down onto the sleeping bag and pulled one of Buttercup's pillows over her head.

"Fiiine. Look, I'm putting it away."

A moment later Buttercup lay down against Laura's back and she felt one of the pegasus' warm wings drape over her back.

"Sorry. I'm just teasing."

Laura grunted and shifted her tired hooves into a more comfortable position.

Buttercup muttered, "I don't think he swings that way anyway."

"What?" Laura poked her face out from under the pillow.

Shrugging, Buttercup said, "Well, I've seen Rose, Mistral, and even Twinkle makin' moves on him, but I don't think he's ever taken anypony up on having a tumble."

Laura sighed through her nose and whispered, "Perhaps he's married?"

"Nah, he's single. Kinda surprising too since he's a hot stud and they're a lotta lonely mares out there. I heard my folks plotting how to try and get him to marry into one of the herds, they're still hoping he might someday. Heck, if I wasn't going to Alexandria I'd probably try to jump him, even if he is kind of like a weird uncle."

Laura hesitated and then whispered, "You really find him attractive?"

"Yeah, of course. Like you don't?"

Maybe a little? He certainly had a dreamy voice, gave nice hugs, and had a pleasingly masculine odour. Laura shook her head and whispered, "No, not at all. He's more like a cute plush toy than handsome. Not just him, all of you are like cute toys. All of us. Except for Deck, I suppose." A yawn cut off her sleepy rambling.

Buttercup chuckled and gently poked Laura with a hoof. "Well, you'd better start finding ponies sexy if you wanna knock hooves with that fiance of yours."

Laura's sighed quietly and closed her eyes. Buttercup's lurid advice echoed her own fears about what might happen when she arrived in Beantown.

Author's Note:

I've given all of the previous chapters an editing pass, though nothing which affects the plot or character interactions. Just fixing up some of the language... literally. Conflicting views very helpfully pointed out that my memories of French classes in high school + Google searches are inadequate for writing Chick's Quebecois dialog. Ugh. I've trimmed it back, though I'm a little disappointed that most of his French will be limited to curse words now.

C'est la vie.