They ended up listening to the ABBA cassette about twenty times or so throughout the night, as the three drove out of the city and out into the countryside, the highways eerily empty and peaceful. Despite their fatigue, Horace and the others drove on and on, pumped up on adrenaline and fear.
When the cassette finally broke from over-exertion, Ian put on the radio and turned it to another news station (the first one having gone silent). The news was, somewhat unsurprisingly, entirely focused on what had been named the "Stop N' Burger Riots", even thought it was readily apparent that what was going on was much, much more than just a bit of civil unrest.
Although the news reports were erratic and somewhat confused at times, it quickly became clear that what had happened to the workers the previous day was now occurring all across the world (wherever Stop N' Burgers were present, to be exact), and that the ponies were being driven to further and further heights of hunger-driven desperation. Stop N' Burgers were being raided and ransacked, the workers driven away and the contents, cooked or uncooked, devoured on the spot. Trucks hijacked and crashed. Warehouses broken into. Office buildings, libraries, construction sites, court houses, parks, zoos, malls, suburbs, farms, and so on--wherever the products of Stop N' Burger could be found, the ponies were there, stealing whatever food they could and destroying everything in their way to acquire it. Although it was made abundantly clear that the police and other groups were attempting to put a stop to it all, the desperation on the voices of the news anchors undermined whatever comfort was to be made in their words.
"Well, crap." Ian said, looking out the window. "We're going to have to become hermits, aren't we?"
"Don't be so melodramatic." Alissa said. "We just need to take a shower--or two, find some new clothing, an we should be good."
"But how can do we do any of that without getting too close to the ponies, then?" said Horace, biting his lip. "They could smell the aroma on us from at least half a mile away!"
"Then we find someplace isolated. Somewhere off the beaten path. Somewhere without a single pony around."
"In other words, somewhere where hermits congregate."
"Shut up, Ian!" Horace said. "Now....look. There are plenty of towns out there where there aren't any Stop N' Burgers, and so we can readily assume there aren't any ponies. We just need to find one, buy a few sets of clean clothes, clean up in a hotel or something, and then we should be good. Easy as pie."
"I dunno." Ian said. "Considering how determined those fatass ponies are to get their fix, I wouldn't be surprised to see them searching out of the way towns for any misplaced sandwiches--the hell?"
Right up ahead, as could be faintly seen in what little light was provided by the lights along the highway, was what appeared to be a massive traffic jam, the lanes of the highway suddenly jammed to the brim with cars.
"Where did these cars come from?" Alissa said. "Why is there a--oh no."
"What is it?" said Horace, looking at the traffic jam. "It was going to happen sooner or later....oh."
As the three drove up closer to the mass of stalled cars cluttering the highway, it quickly became apparent that this traffic jam was anything but ordinary; not only were the cars in question entirely empty of any passengers (and, oddly enough, many of them actually looked to be brand new), but were also, even more strangely, placed on the road in an eerily neat and orderly manner, placed in such a way to completely block all the lanes except for a single path that zigzagged in between all the cars.
However, all of that suddenly became irrelevant when the three saw who was waiting for them amidst the makeshift barricade; two dozen or so earth ponies, all standing guard amidst the open path...and staring straight in the direction of Horace and the others. Even more alarmingly than that, these particular earth ponies were, although certainly enormously fat, were noticeably more athletic looking than the vast majority of the counterpoints, with unmistakable layers of muscle underneath all the flab.
"They set up a barricade." Ian said, looking forward with a look of utter despair on his face. "They set up a barricade to frisk people for their food."
"That's....that's something else." Horace said, sheer shock inhibiting his ability to think concisely. "They must've spent the whole night setting these cars up."
"I think they're starting to notice us." Alissa said. "What should we do?"
Choice 1: Simply drive through the open path as quickly as possible, and hope the ponies are still sane enough not to play chicken with a speeding car.
Choice 2: Drive off-road and get around the barricade all together.
When the cassette finally broke from over-exertion, Ian put on the radio and turned it to another news station (the first one having gone silent). The news was, somewhat unsurprisingly, entirely focused on what had been named the "Stop N' Burger Riots", even thought it was readily apparent that what was going on was much, much more than just a bit of civil unrest.
Although the news reports were erratic and somewhat confused at times, it quickly became clear that what had happened to the workers the previous day was now occurring all across the world (wherever Stop N' Burgers were present, to be exact), and that the ponies were being driven to further and further heights of hunger-driven desperation. Stop N' Burgers were being raided and ransacked, the workers driven away and the contents, cooked or uncooked, devoured on the spot. Trucks hijacked and crashed. Warehouses broken into. Office buildings, libraries, construction sites, court houses, parks, zoos, malls, suburbs, farms, and so on--wherever the products of Stop N' Burger could be found, the ponies were there, stealing whatever food they could and destroying everything in their way to acquire it. Although it was made abundantly clear that the police and other groups were attempting to put a stop to it all, the desperation on the voices of the news anchors undermined whatever comfort was to be made in their words.
"Well, crap." Ian said, looking out the window. "We're going to have to become hermits, aren't we?"
"Don't be so melodramatic." Alissa said. "We just need to take a shower--or two, find some new clothing, an we should be good."
"But how can do we do any of that without getting too close to the ponies, then?" said Horace, biting his lip. "They could smell the aroma on us from at least half a mile away!"
"Then we find someplace isolated. Somewhere off the beaten path. Somewhere without a single pony around."
"In other words, somewhere where hermits congregate."
"Shut up, Ian!" Horace said. "Now....look. There are plenty of towns out there where there aren't any Stop N' Burgers, and so we can readily assume there aren't any ponies. We just need to find one, buy a few sets of clean clothes, clean up in a hotel or something, and then we should be good. Easy as pie."
"I dunno." Ian said. "Considering how determined those fatass ponies are to get their fix, I wouldn't be surprised to see them searching out of the way towns for any misplaced sandwiches--the hell?"
Right up ahead, as could be faintly seen in what little light was provided by the lights along the highway, was what appeared to be a massive traffic jam, the lanes of the highway suddenly jammed to the brim with cars.
"Where did these cars come from?" Alissa said. "Why is there a--oh no."
"What is it?" said Horace, looking at the traffic jam. "It was going to happen sooner or later....oh."
As the three drove up closer to the mass of stalled cars cluttering the highway, it quickly became apparent that this traffic jam was anything but ordinary; not only were the cars in question entirely empty of any passengers (and, oddly enough, many of them actually looked to be brand new), but were also, even more strangely, placed on the road in an eerily neat and orderly manner, placed in such a way to completely block all the lanes except for a single path that zigzagged in between all the cars.
However, all of that suddenly became irrelevant when the three saw who was waiting for them amidst the makeshift barricade; two dozen or so earth ponies, all standing guard amidst the open path...and staring straight in the direction of Horace and the others. Even more alarmingly than that, these particular earth ponies were, although certainly enormously fat, were noticeably more athletic looking than the vast majority of the counterpoints, with unmistakable layers of muscle underneath all the flab.
"They set up a barricade." Ian said, looking forward with a look of utter despair on his face. "They set up a barricade to frisk people for their food."
"That's....that's something else." Horace said, sheer shock inhibiting his ability to think concisely. "They must've spent the whole night setting these cars up."
"I think they're starting to notice us." Alissa said. "What should we do?"
Choice 1: Simply drive through the open path as quickly as possible, and hope the ponies are still sane enough not to play chicken with a speeding car.
Choice 2: Drive off-road and get around the barricade all together.
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April 19
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