The song starts off softly as a violin and piano accompany each other in a slow crescendo, matching the steady incline the train is reaching.
As you’re rising, you take notice that the rails go up, but there’s no support under them, as if you and the train are virtually weightless. Two other trains from who knows where, one to your left and one to your right are rising up as well and soon are right beside you, chugging along at the exact same pace. Through the closest window, you can see the fellow passengers sharing the same sense of apprehension you were.
A faint echo is heard from the other two trains that matches your train, giving off a harmonious resonance. You were rising above the clouds now and the chords get lighter and lighter.
The grinding of gears softly pierces the song’s melody as the roof tops above you split themselves from the middle, creating a small gap line in the ceiling. They open completely, giving you a complete view of the sky. Just as you were about to marvel, they keep opening, taking the walls with them. The trains beside you do the exact same thing and the three locomotives soon attach to one another. The once-roof latches with the others and they rid themselves of their parabolic shape and create a flat surface.
Your wooden chair collapses and the materials it was made of move with a mind of their own, creating a wooden stage beneath you. Your flowers are dropped into a hidden compartment along with your luggage. You chose the least populated car to maximize your chances of them not being squished by other passenger’s things and you bless your own foresight. You’re now standing on a gigantic wooden platform in the middle of the air, chugging along through the sky.
A bell rings three times at a low tempo and despite the train no longer existing, the conductor’s voice takes over the song.
“♪Why hello, my little people, are we here for a riiiide? You are, I know, and who makes it I will deciiiiide! This is a game of matching me, something you best learn soon. Because if you fail you’re off the rail and you will go KA BOOM!♪”
Gigantic explosions sound off from beneath you and some of the fire manages to appear above the platform, filling the air with the smell of ash for a brief moment.
“♪So, Train A to Seaburg, are we ready to start the soooong?♪”
The ponies there stand in a straight line. “♪Of coooourse!♪”
“♪Train B to New Canterlot, are we ready to start the soooong?♪”
You take a deep breath as you stand in a perpendicular line to them. “♪You better believe it!♪” You almost went flat there… better be more careful.
“♪Train C to Hope Town?♪”
They stand in a straight line like Train A, making a rigid U shape. “♪Let’s get started!♪”
The conductor laughs manically and the very cackles excite the clouds below. All orchestral music ceases and the electric guitar takes its place with the start of one long chord.
“Very well, we shall now start song one of three: Pleading to Celestia”. The train ride starting off with soul music? This won’t be good.
There are three taps of a conductor’s wand against a wooden podium. The conductor coughs and says to begin.
Under a great big sky Under a great big sky
Oooooh
A cloud was a drift A cloud was a drift
Oooooh
And who was it And who was it (and who was it?)
Ahhhh
But our god of mischief But our god of mischief
O Sent to us from greyest stone O
O For years he was left alone O
O But one day under stupidity O
O A goddess of superfluity O
H Let him roam once again H
Dun... dun... dun dun dun dun!
All together now!
Once a folly, he had found
A thing called friendship
But when it bit the dust
He had enough of it
Cast the four princesses out
Like drunken men with empty stout
Never to be seen again
And now his rule is her only siiin
And we his people, prayed for salvation
From surely what was to be
our dev-asta-tion
But the goddess did not once return
Despite our pleas and daily yearns
And eventually we found
Our chaos god was here to stick around.
On one solemn day, in the year 2083 On one solemn day, in the year 2083
Oooooh
He met one crying little filly He met one crying little filly
Oooooh
She looked like a friend he once had She looked like a friend he once had
Oooooh
And for some reason he felt bad And for some reason he felt bad
Enough to make chaos sad?
Enough to make surfboarding not rad.
Dang!
She asked him why he was so mean She asked him why he was so mean
To take away the lands once green To take away the lands once green
And to her he said And to her he said
Solo singer...
“My child, chaos is freedom
A populace governed by order is treason
Power manifests where it can be supplied
So to the entire world I have denied
I know it sounds contrived, but this is for the best
Because now everyone is on the same footing
You can lay your head to rest.
Before my time of reign,
Ponies were discriminant
Fearing other races and each other was unfortunately imminent
But think of your friends, the changeling and the dragon
No pony in that time would dare to bandwagon… that.”
Once a folly, he had found (Oh he had found!)
A thing called friendship (Yes sir!)
But when it bit the dust
He had enough of it ('Nuff of that bit!)
He cast the four princesses out (Amen!)
Like drunken men with empty stout (Outta here!)
Never to be seen again (Bye girls!)
And now his rule is her only siiin
And we his people, prayed for salvation (Oh how'e prayed!)
From surely what was to be our devastation (De-heh-vesta-shuun!)
And from that day the child would preach (She did preach!)
That chaos wasn’t so hard to breach (Man she breach!)
She spread the lessons to the praying (And did she pray!)
And the audiences she seemed to be swaying (My mind is sway!)
And no more ponies were graying! (Hoo hoo yeah!)
All together now
The people began to adjust
And survival became our must
And adventure was daily lust
Tempo slows
And from that day, no longer did we pray
To a goddess of light, or her sister of night
For friendships were formed in the darkest of lands
And we stood together with hooves in our hands.
Tempo slows further, a few singers step away
Eveeentually over time
We all learned this sacred rhyme
Only three singers remain
“For we to survive, we must stand side by side,
And what truly counts is no longer hidden in the inside.”
The song echoes into the distance and the conductor claps once more. “Very nice work, I’m pleased. No trains will fall this round. Now then, onto song two: The meaning of friendship. Train B, this song is exclusively yours since you did the worst last round. Get ready!”
I used to know what friendship was.
Because…
I had a friend.
And we’d play what seemed like forever
And ever and ever
And it would never end.
But the fact of the matter is
Friendship… kind of sucks.
And here are the reasons
So sit like good little ducks.
Ooooh
Friendship means you need to share your heart
And act like you give a dang
And people aren’t always who you thought
And fights always end with a bang
Oh friends can be mean
And manipulative and cruel
And when they pass away
We only dedicate one day
Oh Friendship means you have to accept what they are
And be honest with them- and yourself too
Which teaches you false things about business and managing
All your taxes and your art!
Oh friendship means you have to sacrifice your life
Just in case your best bud
Forgot to do his math homework last night!
Oh friendship means you have to play it cool
With people you don’t really “get”
The kind of people who are rude and annoying
And listen to stuff you don’t “get”.
You can always choose to ignore them
But then you look like a jerk
Oh no one is going to hire someone
With that kind of resume for work!
(buh dah dum dum da dum dum de dum dum da dum dum dudud)
I used to know what friendship was
Because…
I had a friend.
And we’d play what seemed like forever
And ever and ever
And it would never end.
But the fact of the matter is
Friendship… kind of sucks.
And here are the reasons
So sit like good little ducks.
Friendship will poison your mind to make you she is fine
When she lies right to your face
Friendship will make it seem like it was all a dream
When the nightmare really arrives
It disillusions you to people, and makes you lose what you understand!
So have friendships sparingly, as walk across Discord’s land.
And let’s be honest…
Friendship can be fun.
It’s like using a power tool the right way
To get the whole job done.
Friendship is great, like finding a whole ten bucks
But never say we didn’t warn you…
That friendship really sucks!
“Wonderful, wonderful,” the conductor says with unbridled enthusiasm. You hadn’t noticed, but clouds had gathered from around and were now watching from the side lines and thunderclapping to your performance. “Now then, it’s time for the grand finale, a Free for All between the three trains.”
You shake your head in disbelief. A Free for All? How was that going to work? You had never heard of this kind of event on a train before. Was this something Discord had added recently?
“This activity shall work as such: each train shall send one contender to freely sing and battle against the opponents. Only two trains get to go to their destination, the losing train… you know. Your entire train ride is on his or her shoulders so pick carefully. Oh, and you have ten seconds to choose.”
Everybody in your line scrambles into one blob of people and huddle aroundone another. Ponies are pointing at ponies about who should sing, rapidly throwing accusations at one another. Thankfully, not one was thrown your was as the ponies knew about your occasional flat singing during the first song. Singing wasn’t your forte so you’re just happy knowing you had a chance at making it to New Canterlot on someone else’s vocals. Going KA BOOM was not on your agenda.
Meander gently pushes you aside to get to the center of the circle. “I’ll go, I ride trains all the time and I’m familiar with how this game works. In the eleven times I’ve done this, I only lost once and that was to Chingling.” His voice is confident and profound, it’s obvious to you he’s not making it up. It was certainly a difference in how he acted before.
You had once heard of Chingling, a minotaur with the voice of a rockstar, but as to how famous he was you weren’t sure.
Your team nods in unison, your fate was riding on Meander the traveler. He looks at you specifically and says, “don’t worry man, I’ll make sure you get those flowers there on time.”
He walks to the center and the clouds block out the sunlight except for one small ring above. He steps into it and the crowd disappears in the darkness, leaving only those two. You can hear them greeting one another and wishing them the best. Meander appears to say something witty, but you don’t catch it. It makes the other two laugh and give an aggressive, but not overly aggressive, retort. Fun is fun, but they mean business.
To the left of your new-found travel companion is a ash grey pegasus with a short, but drooping purple mane and to the right is a blue unicorn with a green mane. The unicorn is also wearing shades and has a small stubble on his chin.
And... you don’t get to hear much. The conductor puts a conic spell around the three of them, disallowing outside sound, perhaps to judge the three completely fairly.. From the looks of it, the word battle is intense. All you see is Train A dropping out early in the game and then the two face each other. They shake each other’s hooves and return to their respective train lines.
You really do wonder what happened that day and what they sung about.
The trains dislodge their floors from one another and they fold back together like a paper craft. You’re popped back into your seat as the wood moves back to its original form. You check under the seat and see the flowers are still in excellent condition. You pull out a water bottle from your travel bag and gently pour some on them just to make sure.
“See, told you,” Meander rightfully boasts while propped up on his seat.
“Good work, I appreciate it.”
“Yeah, but I feel s- BOOM- I feel sorry for that train.”
“Same. I always hated the feeling of exploding, it’s such a hassle to pull yourself back together.”
“Amen brother. I had to walk on three legs for a whole day…”
And your afternoon continues on like that as you two share chaotic stories over the long train ride…