//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 // Story: Ponymunity // by ShortHilt //------------------------------// The train to Ponymunity was mostly barren. A grey unicorn with a light blue mane was occupying his time by reading his newspaper. He particularly liked the comics, but unfortunately he was almost through with them. Stops at every town along the way made the journey all the more lonely. "Looks like I'm the only one moving in today," he muttered to himself. Appaloosa was around the corner. For the first time the whole journey, as the train slowed to a stop, a pony boarded. His coat was bright red and his mane flared up with a similar red color and a lighter red in the front. His tail was reminiscent of a piece of bacon in its pattern. He cleared his throat and sat quite a distance away from the gray stallion. "Heading to Ponymunity too, huh?" the grey unicorn smiled at his new train-mate. "You betcha!" he grinned, patting the suitcase next to him, "I've been waiting my whole life to get out there and live in a town where no one knows me." "From Appaloosa then? Yeah, living in small towns really gets boring I bet. I'm from Canterlot, myself." "Wha-uh, no, I'm not from Appaloosa. I'm from Manehattan. I was just on a, uh...business trip and decided just to...y'know, take the bare essentials and not go back home," the red earth pony was visibly nervous. The grey unicorn lifted his eyebrow. Something about that didn't make sense. He brushed it off, "Name's Rolling Thunder." "Pepper Blaze..." The rest of the trip was silent. Pepper Blaze shifted awkwardly in his seat. He knew Rolling Thunder picked up on his fib. ------------ Short Hilt sat eagerly at the train station. She had been waiting since the sun rose and bags of sleeplessness hung on her face. She sighed every few minutes as if in a trance. She couldn't take her eyes off the track. What sort of founder would she be if she didn't greet her first trainload of guests?! Each minute that went by, however, began to drain on her. Would anypony even be coming today? Her stomach growled, but she ignored it. ------------- Several hours passed and Short Hilt was asleep at the platform. The loud horn of the train jolted her awake. Her face lit up in excitement and she bounced up and down. She flitted into the air and with a huge grin on her face, she began practicing what she would say to her new residents, "I'd like to welcome you all to Ponymunity! Yeah, that's it, got it! I'm the founder, Short Hilt. I'll show you to the--" she gasped as the train rolled up. She inhaled sharply and prepared to let out her speech. She stopped mid-sentence when she saw only two ponies, "A-oh...only two?" she drooped and slowly descended. While she was happy to have at least somepony show up, she was certainly expecting more. "Short Hilt?" Rolling Thunder smiled. "Thunder??" She beamed. "Wow, I didn't know you were the pony behind this! That's awesome!" "Yeah, I finally got up the funds to start this place up! I'm so glad you could make it, I was going to die of boredom!" She looked over at Pepper Blaze, "And who's this?" "Pepper Blaze," he introduced himself, "Thank you for the opportunity for me to start off on my own. I hope I'm not being too pushy but I'd like to see where I'll be living." Short Hilt flew up, "Sure thing! I'll give you guys the tour!"