Roadmaster

Chapter Three: Shovin' Off

Derpy awoke on friday to a knock on her door. She flung it open grogilly to reveal none other than the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Twist, and Pinkie Pie, all wearing hiking backpacks!

"Are you ready?" Pinkie Pie asked excitedly, bouncing up and down.

"What do you mean?" Derpy replied warily.

"Dinky said we could come!" Twist elaborated, spitting all over her as she spoke, "we packed ourselves, and we're ready to go!"

"Dinky!" Derpy called, "get over here!"

Dinky trotted over, a guilty look on her face.

"Dinky, is what they're saying true?"

The young unicorn nodded. "I thought it would be fun to have some friends come along," she explained, "please let them come! They even packed their own food!"

"Well," the cross-eyed pegasus sighed, "alright, they can come." She turned to the five arrivals. "Do you have your own tents loaded on the car?"

The five tag-alongs nodded.

"Alright then!" she continued in a more upbeat tone, "let me have some coffee and freshen up, and we'll be all set!"

Meanwhile, in Mustang Canyon, a different kind of journey was beginning. A stallion, covered in automotive grease, and wearing a torn suit stood on the side of the road, waiting for a car to flag down. He glanced briefly at his own car, which was at the bottom of the canyon, destroyed, and looked back to the highway. Finally, he spotted an ancient-looking Ford Model A sputtering along the highway.

"Hey, HEY!" he yelled, flailing his hooves to get the attention of the car, "I NEED A RIDE!"

The Model A stopped, and, tired, hungry and wet, the stallion got in.

"So, stranger," the old mare driving asked in a friendly manner, "Where ya headin'?"

"Ponyville."

"Oh, really? What's your name?"

"Fleetwood, Fleetwood Brougham."

"Alright, everypony!" Derpy called, trotting to the Buick, "All aboard for Camp Wanahoova!" She turned the key, and they were off, rumbling down the boulevard. The car began to pick up speed as they entered the freeway, and Dinky came up with an idea.

"Let's sing a roadtrip song!" she suggested, "Every roadtrip needs a song!"

"NO SONG."

Soon, they got off the freeway at the Bueller Interchange, and continued down Mill Road. They were all talking about what they would do when they got there, when Pinkie suddenly interrupted their daydreaming.

"Hey, somebody's standing on the side of the road!"

It was true. On the side of the road lay a tan pony with a brown mane, holding a sign that read "Provo", standing next to a stricken red Plymouth, it's radiator steaming, bright paint gleaming in the sunlight.

Derpy thought that this guy couldn't be that dangerous, so she pulled over next to where he stood, and let him in the car.

"Oh, thanks," he panted, hot from the weather, "I thought nopony was gonna stop! My name's Wilcox, by the way."

"Well, hello, Wilcox!" Derpy greeted cheerfully, "My name's Derpy, Derpy Hooves. Where are you headed?"

"Provo, Utah, ma'am."

"On the HUMAN side of the border?"

"That's the one!"

Pinkie and the kids seemed to be very shocked at the idea of being around so many humans.

"B-b-but," Twist sputtered, spitting again, "aren't you SCARED?"

Wilcox laughed. "Oh, no, not really, I'm just going there to pick up some parts for Christine."

Derpy was puzzled. "Who's Christine?" she asked curiously.

Wilcox pointed at the red Plymouth Fury that was dissapearing into the prairiebehind them. "That car, that's Christine. I hate to leave her out in the country,where someone could steal her, oh, that would be the DEATH of me!"

After the elaboration, everypony was stunned. This pony would go through the scorching desert, over the border, and even interact with their savage human neighbors, just for some car parts he could easily find at a local service station(Yes, in my world, there are still full-service gas stations!)!

Finally, Pinkie spoke up.

"We picked up a weirdo."

****

The landscape became lusher as they neared Plywood Mill number 2, where, for generations, the Brougham Family's traditional Le Trajet de'Lamour, or "The Journey of Love", would begin, and, unbeknownst to Derpy, this mill was one of the last places Fleetwood was seen. Everyone marvelled at the search that was going on, police cars lined the ridge by the mill, and ponies walked around, looking for something.

After the plywood mill came the redwoods, towering redwoods that had been very prestigious in the logging community, but Camp Wanahoova and the surrounding land was a national forest, untouched by the greed of the lumber industry. Soon, they neared a sign, a huge sign made of wood that read, "Welcome to Camp Wanahoova". As the travellers past under it, Derpy uttered two words:

"We're here!"