//------------------------------//
// Chapter IV 
// Story: The whacky adventures of Pond Water the Unicorn! 
// by The PatioHeater 
//------------------------------//

Pond Water, the world’s first and only Unicorn without a horn, is now 23. As expected, she grew into one beautiful mare, with her long flowing orangey-brown mane and her orange eyes, her dark murky green coat, so warm and inviting. She gained her cutie mark at the age of 14, on a fishing trip with her Dad, she had managed to catch the elusive Rainbow Shark, not only did this put her family back into money, but also she gained the Golden Swordfish that now shined on her flank.

She looked so peaceful and calm as she slept, bathed in the moonlight that shone through the gap in the curtains.
But this image of serenity didn’t stay, as much as Pond wanted it to. Nightmares tormented her almost every night, flashes of events from her childhood that haunt her, even when she didn’t even know what was happening, even when she didn’t see anything, constantly parading around in her subconscious with the knowledge that Pond would never be rid of them. Images of the ones she loved who then betrayed her, images of those she didn’t recognise, the image of her birth mother leaving her for dead when she was just a foal, drifting out on an endless sea, but never being found by her father who in real life rescued her.
Pond twisted and writhed around, always restless, muttering sounds which became gradually louder as her dreams worsened to the point when they became as long thin shards, gently sliding under her skin and cutting her deep, severing her from the few things that made her happy until the time she woke up.
Her eyes sprang wide open, her nightmares fresh in her mind. Her breaths were short and ragged. Her coat was drenched in the horribly familiar cold sweat. She sat up on the bed and emitted a harrowing, high pitched, ear piercing scream that echoed through the house. 

Mid-scream, something happened which hadn’t happened before. Pond felt a hoof get lodged in her mouth that wasn’t her own. This was accompanied by a familiar yet unusually angry voice.
“Pond. You’re my best friend. I love you. I love you with all my heart, and I will always love you. But please, for the love of Celestia, shut the buck up!”
Pond couldn’t help but laugh, it was so uncharacteristic of her friend to get angry. Her eyes were still streaming with tears but she had stopped screaming, which was pleasant for all.
“Now then. Go back to sleep.”
“Okay. Just give me a minute.” Pond jumped off the bed and felt for Winks who had fallen onto the floor.
“There you are,” she said happily as she picked up her old Unicorn doll and felt the familiar roughness of the patchwork fabric against her cheek as she held it tight. It smelt of the sea, reminding her of her Fisherpony father who loved her and who she loved back, and the countless fishing trips she went on with him which led to her getting her cutie mark.
“Alright, you have your doll, now come back to bed,” her friend’s voice was dreary, as if she was already falling asleep again. Pond climbed back into bed and got into a comfortable position with Winks being squashed into her chest. Her friend instinctively pulled the covers back over the two of them and wrapped her forelegs around Pond. This had become second nature to the two of them. Pond found it hard to sleep on her own, she only ever found it comfortable to have her friend by her side when she slept, to comfort her when the nightmares became too much.

Her friend is Dove Wings, a sunny yellow mare with a two-tone blue stripy mane slicked back loosely and tied into a braid, with some straggly bits escaping and falling in front of her eyes. The two bonded initially by the fact they both were different. Dove Wings was a Pegasus without wings.
They met after a few weeks of Pond leaving Trotland and arriving in Equestria, roughly 5 years ago.





– P –


Pond was due to leave home. She had been in the care of her mother and father for 14 years and no it was time to leave the nest. Pond was sad, sure, almost as much as her parents, although her Dad seemed inconsolable.
They were stood on the harbour as the last boat was readying itself to set sail. The steam furnaces heating up, the steam gradually thickening, the crewmen were polishing the shining bronze hull, prying off the barnacles and other things that clung to the sides. It was a new thing to see, the long haul steamboats were built only a few months ago to explore the deeper seas, only to discover the land of Equestria a few months after the maiden voyage. Although she had heard nothing about it, Pond felt it right to go there and start her own life.

Blue Water held his daughter tight, crying uncontrollably, blurting out some incomprehensible words, which Pond played along with. She was crying too. Clear Water, Pond’s mother, came over and dragged Blue away before returning to Pond to talk.
“Well pond. I guess this is it,” Clear said with her voice trembling with tears.
“Oh Mum. Don’t cry. It’s bad enough Dad crying but I expected nothing else of him.” Pond tried to laugh a bit, but it didn’t do anything.
“What did you expect? You’re my only daughter, of course I'm going to cry. But I’ll try to wait until you’ve boarded.”
She looked shiftily from side to side, making sure her husband wasn’t looking. She took two heavy bags from her saddle bag.
“Here, take these. They should help. But don’t tell your Dad.”
Pond took one of the bags and opened it, inside was a large collection of coins of different values, it was a lot of money. Pond was shocked. “Oh my god. How much is in here?”
“A couple thousand Trotmarcs.”
“Oh no Mum, I can’t accept this.”
“No no, you must. I was always expecting this day would come, so I put some money aside. I just want you to get over there and… you know…”
“Mum, I’ll be fine.”
“I know but… but… oh god, here I go.” She turned away and placed a foreleg in front of her eyes so nopony could see her crying. Pond took this opportunity to place the bags in her already bulging saddle bags.
The horn of the boat sounded. “Oh Mum, I have to go.”
“Okay Pond. I love you.” Clear hugged her tightly, trying to take in as much Pond as possible before it was too late.
“I love you too, Mum.” Pond hugged back, tears now flowing freely.
Blue walked over to his daughter, although his steps were slowed by his crying. He didn’t say a word, all he did was hug her far too tightly for comfort and possibly mutter “I love you”, but Pond couldn’t quite hear.
“I love you, Dad,” Pond said through many tears. This was too much for Blue, he let go of Pond and fell to the floor, sobbing loudly and drawing the attention of many a confused Unicorn. Pond always had a stronger bond with her father, possibly because he was the one who rescued her, but the reason didn’t matter to either of them, it was still hard to have to leave regardless.
The horn sounded again.
“Okay. I really have to go now.” Pond slipped her bags onto her back, tucked her fishing rod under the strap. She gave her Mum and Dad one final kiss each, took one final breath of Trotland air, and headed up the gangplank. She immediately went to the back of the boat so she could wave at her parents when the boat departed.
The boat gave another toot of its horn and started moving. Pond was waving frantically at her parents, only her mother waved back with any emotion, her father was a quivering mess on the floor and so could only just manage to look at his departing daughter and give a small wave. All that was going through his mind was the happiest memories of her, so happy that just thinking of them made him miss her even more. The countless conversations he had with her. The time she finally spoke to him. The fishing trip when she got her cutie mark. But most of all, the thing that made his heart explode whenever he thought of it. The first time his daughter said the four words he had been waiting for her to say since he found her, the first time she said, “I love you, Daddy.”
Pond disappeared into the fog and was headed for Equestria, with a tear in her eye but excitement in her heart for the prospects of this strange new land.


– P –


Pond stepped off the boat a few weeks later. Her hooves touched the soil of Equestria, it felt strange to her, somehow more magical than Trotland. She looked around at the new surroundings, the strong sunshine gave a great sense of warmth and welcoming vibes. 
Pond’s first thought of Equestria: this is… nice, I suppose, but… god that sun’s bright.

The Trotland Unicorns had been bringing supplies from their small island to start up their own city, they had already built many a simple building in the few months of being there with the materials available, they even had decent plumbing.
They wanted to claim this land as their own, but little did they know that it was occupied already. But this was brought to their attention a little after Pond disembarked, when two very tall Unicorns approached her, one white and the other dark blue, both with wings. They drew a lot of attention, they were very unusual yet wonderfully regal.
The tall white one stepped in front of Pond, leaving the blue one walking around and investigating these new Unicorns, suspiciously eyeing up the strange materials and making the Unicorns very nervous, growling childishly at them and laughing as they recoiled slightly.
“Hello. Welcome to the land of Equestria. I am Princess Celestia,” her voice was loud yet so majestic and kind. Pond stared at her, scared stiff. “Please, don’t be afraid. We are the leaders of this land and we wish to make a strong bond between our nations.”
“I'm sorry?” was all Pond could manage to say.
“We have been keeping an eye on your new settlement here, and we wanted to come and make an appearance.”
“I don’t think I'm the Unicorn you want to see. I'm just a simple Fisherpony wanting an adventure.”
“Oh… well I hope Equestria is all that you want it to be.”
“Thank you.” With this, Celestia trotted off with such splendour that Pond couldn’t help but watch. She went off to the next Unicorn that looked vaguely important and spoke the same rehearsed words that she said to Pond.
“You’re not a Unicorn.” Pond span round and saw the menacing sight of the dark blue winged Unicorn staring at her.
“I am,” Pond said defensively. “And besides, neither are you.”
“No, I'm better.” She stood on her hind legs and spread her wings. “I am an Alicorn,” she said proudly.
“A what?”
“An Alicorn. I’m a winged Unicorn basically, except much more magical.” She was being annoyingly arrogant.
“Well, good for you. But I am a Unicorn, I just don’t have a horn.”
“Oh, well I'm sorry about that. I'm Princess Luna, by the way.” She offered her hoof, which Pond took and shook. 
“I'm Pond Water.”
“Funny name. That Celestia is my big sister, just to let you know. Don’t get her angry or you’ll be sent to the moooooooooooon!” Luna laughed and trotted off after her sister.
“What?” Pond stared at the disappearing Luna with great confusion. Pond shook this off and headed for her accommodation for the night.

– P –


Pond emptied her bags onto the small bed she rented. There were many things in them: the money her mother gave her, an instant Ponyroid camera, a few jumpers and other warm things, her diary, some random little things from her childhood that made her happy, and, most importantly to her, Winks. She next took her fishing rod and checked it vigorously, making sure that the line wasn’t damaged in any way, sharpening the hook, and finally checking the rod for signs of fatigue. Once she finished, she placed it gently beside the rest of her things.
Pond had now checked all her stuff and carefully packed it back in, making sure that nothing got crushed and also making sure Winks had his head poking out so he could see. Pond was now ready to set off on an adventure.
She looked at her packed belongings with a satisfied smile on her lips.
“Right… now what?”


– P –


Pond had woken up in the morning, at an incredibly early hour, the sun had barely risen above the horizon. But this was the time she deemed appropriate to go and explore this new world.
She woke grudgingly, already regretting the early alarm she set. She rolled out of bed, grabbing Winks in her mouth as she did so she could place him back in her bags. She carefully did so, ensuring Winks could see. After that, she went to make some breakfast, something simple, only a big bowl of porridge, she felt she would need the energy.
Next on her agenda was a hot shower. She stood under the water, just letting it pour over her body, taking in the warmth to wake her up, she wasn’t particularly bothered about cleaning herself at this point but she still did, her mind wouldn’t allow her not to.

An hour after waking up, as the sun was climbing its slow ascent into the sky, Pond was almost ready. She slid the strap of her bags over her back after giving them one final check, she then took her fishing rod and tucked that under the strap. She took her fishing hat, which she discovered suited her quite well, and placed it on top of her head. She walked outside into the brisk morning air, taking a deep breath to feel its refreshing coolness in her body, she stretched her legs to prepare for the inevitably long walk. She looked back at the sea and the large bronze boat that sat in the harbour. She waved at them, saying goodbye to her home across the sea. She turned and sighed deeply. She placed her first hoof down, and her journey had begun.


– P –


It was about two hours after leaving the small settlement before she came across anything. She had to cross a large green expanse with nothing of interest whatsoever, only the small incline Pond had to climb up broke the mundanity. The thing she found first was a river, only a small stream, about 10 metres across. There was also a small woodland on the opposite bank, it was very thin, you could have see straight through it if it weren’t for the curvature of the planet.
Pond decided to have a break there, the shining sun made it quite picturesque. She wasn’t used to this level of light, Trotland rarely saw any sun, even in the middle of Summer. Pond sat on the bank and slid her bags off, sighing with relief as the weight was removed from her back, she hadn’t realised how heavy they were.
She washed her hooves in the crisp, clear water, splashing some in her face to refresh her. She was thirsty, so she stooped down and took a sip to start with to make sure it was safe to drink, she then started to take big gulps. It was surprisingly refreshing and somehow really tasty, more so than normal water.
She stood back from the water’s edge and laid on the grass, the soft grass almost felt like a bed. She rolled onto her back and bathed in the sun, closing her eyes to feel its full magical warmth.
Ten minutes later Pond decided that that was enough lounging around and so rolled back onto her stomach, propping herself up on her front hooves. She looked at the river, it got quite deep in the middle, so Pond decided she would check out the fish of this land.
She prepared her rod, changing the hook for one that wouldn’t hurt the fish at all, she had no intention of keeping any she caught. She rested the rod on her shoulder as she waded into the river up to her ankles. She took the rod in her capable hooves and cast the line expertly into the water. And now she played the waiting game.
Not long after casting out the hook she felt a tug. She reeled in the catch with practised ease. On the hook was a small bulbous fish, a very ugly little thing but oddly appealing. Pond chuckled at it, took the camera from her bag to take a picture of it, and threw it back into the water afterwards. Pond cast the line out again.
It was a little bit longer this time but she felt another tug on the line, a much sharper on this time. She pulled hard on the rod, it was a strong fish, it struggled valiantly against Pond but her skills at fishing were no match for it. She reeled the fish in. she hadn’t seen anything like that before, it was a shiny sort of eel, about the length of her, with a happy expression on its face. She took a picture of it and threw it back. After swimming confusedly in circles for a moment it got its bearings straight and swam away, glistening in the sun. Pond threw the line out again.

Half an hour later and Pond decided that that was enough. She caught seven different fish, each interesting in their own strange way. She scooped the pictures up into her hoof and put them in a small tin in her bag, accompanying the few others she took of the beginning of her adventure. She packed her rod up, tucking it under the strap of her bags after she put them on. She couldn’t see a bridge so she decided she would wade across it. It wasn’t too deep, there was a point in the middle where she couldn’t touch the floor and had to swim a little bit, but she had no trouble crossing. She made it up the other bank, stopping at the water’s edge to shake the water off, and then she walked into the shadows of the trees, trotted happily through them, humming a happy tune as she marvelled at their size and beauty.

It was a very boring walk. Yes, it was lovely and all but it was six hours of walking in the same, unchanging surroundings. Pond made it out the other end just as the sun started going down, the sky darkening into a red-orange hue. All that met Pond’s gaze was another huge expanse of land, baron of anything interesting. Pond sighed and continued walking.

The moon had risen into the sky, it was huge. Stars surrounded it, casting their light onto the world. Pond had come to the top of a hill, where she could see all around her. The land was lit up in a brilliant blue light, she had never seen such a beautiful night, Trotland was always far too cloudy to let the moonlight through to such an extent.
Pond saw something irregular about the landscape, a bump in the land. She strained her eyes and managed to make out the shapes of buildings. Her eyes widened with delight, she was beginning to think she wouldn’t find another building until she walked around the world back to Trotland. She galloped towards it, closing in on it she could make out a few dim lights and some things flying around.
She made it there after not long at all, there were three buildings in total: a hotel, a shop and a train station. Pond looked around, puzzled as to why there would be three random buildings in the middle of nowhere. She heard a heavy thud behind her, she was scared to do it but she turned around. Behind her stood a large hornless and winged Unicorn, dark brown in colour and wearing a squashed hat. “Hey there Missy. Welcome to The Middle of Nowhere, one of the most pointful places on this plain.”
“What the hay are you?!” Pond shouted, slightly scared and confused.
“That’s a bit rude now then isn’t it?”
“I'm sorry but I haven’t seen any creature like you. I mean with wings like yours,” Pond said, feeling embarrassed by her previous outburst.
“What? Ya mean a Pegasus?” The Pegasus looked at Pond’s blank expression, and sighed. “Well, they’re three different types of Ponies. Unicorns, Pegasus and Earth Ponies. Unicorns have horns, Pegasus have wings and Earth Ponies have neither.”
“Oh. I thought there were just Unicorns,” Pond sounded enlightened.
“But you’re an Earth Pony, aren’t ya?”
“No, I'm a Unicorn without a horn.”
“Strange… oh well. Welcome to this little hamlet that we call ‘Lost’. Basically, if you find yourself lost, come here, eat, sleep, and then take a train back to Hooflyn. You can get anywhere from there.”
“That’s a good idea.”
Pond’s stomach rumbled violently, “God I'm hungry. Where can I get some food?”
The Pegasus was about to question just what ‘god’ was but decided against it.
“Err, the shop has a restaurant inside. It’s not the best but it hits the spot.” He pointed his hoof in the direction of one of the buildings.
“Thanks!” Pond headed towards the building. Everything was lit up better as she went further into the small hamlet of Lost. The three buildings were arranged around a central statue depicting a Pegasus sheltering a thing that Pond now knew to be an Earth Pony under its wing.
Lost was very quiet, only a small murmur of voices could be heard coming from the various buildings. A train was at the station but its next departure won’t be until the morning. It wasn’t a very imaginative place, the buildings were simply called The Shop, The Hotel and The Station.
Pond headed into The Shop, inside was a simple shop stocked with simple foods, survival equipment like tents and fire kits, and maps, Pond thought she should buy one later after getting some food. She followed the smell to the restaurant. It was like a diner, she saw big plates piled high with food, it wasn’t fine dining but it certainly looked delicious. Pond read the menu that was displayed on the wall, she was starving so chose “The Big Fry-up”. She walked up to the counter.
“Um, hi. Can I have the big fry-up please?”
“Certainly.” The Earth Pony cashier behind the counter scribbled down the order and then handed it through the window into the kitchen. “Okay, that will be 2 Bits.”
Pond was nervous, she didn’t know how much a Bit was, so she reached for a little purse filled with some spare change, took 2 Trotmarcs and placed them on the counter with a smile, hoping that Bit was just slang for Trotmarc.
The cashier looked at the unfamiliar coins in front of him.
“What this?” he said with a hint of annoyance, as if he thought this was some kind of joke.
Pond froze, she could feel her heart pound in her ears. “Err, i-its 2 Trotmarcs?” she was terrified of what the cashier would do next, thinking that she would be kicked out.
“What’s a Trotmarc?”
Pond gulped nervously. “I come from Trotland.” This was all she could think of saying.
“Never heard of it.”
“It’s out in The Mare, an island a few weeks sailing away.”
The cashier considered her words for a second. “Right. But I'm sorry, we don’t accept this currency,” he sounded very apologetic as he slid the coins back over to her.
Pond could have cried. Not only was she starving, but this meant that the money her mother had been saving for all those years was useless.
“Oh… okay,” she whispered as she turned around to head out of the shop.
The cashier watched her for a brief second before saying something. “Hang on a minute. Come back here,” he said in a soft friendly voice. Pond walked slowly back over to him.
“Look, I can see you’re hungry, so have this on me.”
Pond perked up, her eyes suddenly no longer on the brink of tears. “What? Really?”
“Yeah, why not? Here we cater for those who get lost, so we have to think of those who have no money. It’s no trouble at all.” He smiled at her.
“Thanks!” Pond shouted as she placed her front hooves on the counter and jumped up to gave the cashier a small kiss, just because she was so happy. Both of them shrank back, blushing bright red. “Sorry…” she said sheepishly.
“Err… no it’s okay. Um, thanks…” he smiled awkwardly. “W-what drink do you want with your food?” The cashier was glad to move the conversation on.
“Can I have a cup of tea? Milk and 4 sugars?” she asked quietly.
“Sure. Go and have a seat and I’ll bring your food when it’s ready,” the cashier smiled, still blushing slightly.
“Thanks.”
Pond turned and trotted away to an empty table, and moments later her cup of tea arrived, it was a huge mug, steaming hot and perfectly sweet. She took a big gulp from it, the heat warming her all over. It wasn’t long before her food arrived, a huge plate of fried eggs, beans, hash browns grilled tomatoes and fried bread. She doused it in brown sauce and tucked in, the cutlery was designed for non-magic Ponies so Pond had never found it easier to eat. And it was as good as it looked as well, she dared not think out of fear that she’d hear it but it was probably better than what her mum could do.

Half an hour later and with a full stomach, Pond had finished her food, impressed with herself that she managed to eat the whole thing. The cashier came over.
“I can see you enjoyed that,” he smiled.
“Yes, thanks. It was just what I needed.” She exhaustedly reached for a napkin to wipe the remnants of food form her face.
“I'm glad to hear that. And you should probably know, there are no trains until the morning, so you will have to stay in this Celestia-forsaken place for the night.”
“Oh,” Pond said quietly, she knew she couldn’t afford it.
“I know what you’re thinking, but don’t worry. The Hotel has a free section, it’s not private, sort of like a large dormitory, but it’s free and has a hot shower for everypony. It could be better but it could definitely be a lot worse.”
“Oh, that’s good. I was afraid I would have to sleep outside,” Pond said with an awkward laugh.
“Nah, we wouldn’t still be here if we made Ponies sleep outside in the cold.”
“I guess not. What time is it?”
The cashier looked at his watch. “It’s almost 11:30pm. First train is at 9:00. Takes you straight to Hooflyn.”
“Okay, I guess I should probably get some sleep.” Pond thought for a second about how she was going to get on the train without paying.
“And don’t worry. The train is free.”
“Really?” Pond asked doubtfully.
“Yeah, it’s a volunteer thing.”
“Oh, alright… cool! Well I'm going to go to bed now. I’ll see you later.” Pond stood from the chair and headed slowly for the exit, she felt too full to go too quickly.
“Have a good night, Miss.”
“And you!” Pond called back over her shoulder. The cashier watched her leave, making sure she left alright, before clearing the emptying tables.

The free section of The Hotel was nothing special, just like the cashier said. It was a large, long room with about 50 beds lining the walls. She had been warned by the receptionist that they were quite full and that she may have to share a bed with somepony, and unfortunately she did.
Pond found her allocated bed, they were all numbered, and she placed her bags down by the side and sat on the bed, sighing with relief. She looked around at the other Ponies in their beds, some were managing to sleep despite the noise, others were talking amongst themselves about where they had come from and where they were going. Pond was miles away when she heard a quiet voice of a colt.
“H-hi.  Err, w-why are you in my bed?”
“Huh?” Pond snapped back to reality and saw a dark red colt with an even darker red mane. “Oh. Sorry but I was told I had to share with someone and they put me with you. They’re overbooked or something. I hope you don’t mind.” Pond smiled awkwardly.
“N-no, not at all. I'm Red, that’s what my friends call me anyway.”
“I'm Pond. Pleased to meetcha!” Pond offered him her hoof, which he happily shook.
Red looked down at Pond’s bags, but in particular at her fishing rod. “What’s that?” he nodded his head towards the mysterious stick.
Pond looked down at her trusty rod,.“That? That’s my fishing rod!” she beamed proudly.
“What’s one of those?”
Pond gave him a puzzled look. “A fishing rod. You know, something you use to catch fish.”
“Why would you want to catch fish?”
“To make money.”
“What?” Red looked confused, not being able to think how fish could link to money.
“I sell them. And for a lot of money.”
“Why would someone pay a lot of money for just a fish?”
“How should I know? I just sell them, what people do with them is their own business, not mine.”
“I see…” Red wasn’t buying it, but he decided not to question further. The receptionist came in at this point and announced that lights would be turned off in ten minutes, this was met by very little protest. People retreated to their beds and prepared to sleep. Pond and Red got into bed next to each other, the awkwardness reaching near unbearable levels.


– P –


Red was a very shy sleeper, he barely moved an inch… for a while.
Pond had been sleeping peacefully for hours, her dreams remaining relatively uneventful thankfully. It was very early in the morning when Pond felt a disturbance and woke up slightly. The bed started rocking slightly as Red rolled over and lay closer to Pond, making her nervous, but she was too tired to do anything. She could feel his stomach edging closer and closer to her back, and then something she didn’t expect to feel at all. Red placed his front hooves on either side of her head, and squeezed gently. He also wrapped Pond’s tail around one of his hind legs and pulled on it slightly. He did all this without waking up. Pond would have thrown him off but, along with the weariness, she found it oddly soothing, like it somehow shut her mind off. And the pulling sensation on her tail was pleasant as well. She hadn’t had such a good night’s sleep in years.


– P –


Pond woke up at half seven, wanting to get in the shower before anypony else. But she wasn’t the only Pony to think this as there was a queue of about twenty Ponies in front of her. It wasn’t long, however, until she got into one, there were eight of them, all of which were sparkling clean and flowing with hot water. Pond only had a quick shower, quite a queue had formed behind so she only spent five minutes in there, far shorter than she would have liked it to be.
Also, much to her delight, all those staying in the free section were offered a complimentary breakfast. It was only cereal and a slice of buttered toast but that’s all she needed.

Next up was the train. Pond was confused. For some reason the train wasn’t steam or magic powered, but instead it was pulled by twenty strong colts, all harnessed to the engine tightly. This raised another question as to why they needed the engine in the first place. Pond decided not to ask because if they used horsepower they probably wouldn’t know of steam engines, she thought. She boarded the train and found a seat. It was surprisingly spacious, she had an entire seat with a table to herself so she could lay down comfortably. Countless other Ponies walked further along the train, it was unbelievably big, roughly 15 carriages long, plenty of room for everypony with some to spare. Pond was later joined by Red, who sat opposite the table from her.
They sat in silence for a second, only exchanging awkward but friendly gestures as Red sat down. Red was the first to break it.
“Sorry about last night by the way,” He said nervously. “I sometimes get a bit touchy-feely in my sleep, probably should have mentioned that…”
“Nah, it’s fine. Actually I found it quite… comfortable, I guess.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“But I was crushing your head!”
“Not really, more like squeezing lightly. Trust me, I found it comfortable.”
“Okay…” Red gave Pond a curious look, but then shook this off. “Have you ever been to Hooflyn before?”
“Nope.”
“Well, don’t get your hopes up, that’s all I can say. Quite a dingy looking city, and can be dangerous if you go to the bad parts.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Hey, if you want to, you can stick with me. I come from there so I can show you the trick to surviving it.”
“Yeah, that’s sounds good.” This was the last that either of them said for a long while.
The eight hours of train journey just crawled by.


– P –


Hooflyn. A horrible city. At first glance from the train station it didn’t seem that bad, just like any other city. But then you got further in. The foul stench in the air was the first thing to hit you, the smell of pollution and depression. There was also a huge amount of Ponies living there, all of the three different types, there was also a quite a few Griffons there as well, and that took some explaining to Pond, who hadn’t seen a lion or an eagle before let alone the offspring of the two. There were far too many Ponies for comfort. The noise as well, just a constant wail of sirens and shouting filled in the gaps that weren’t filled with the hustle and bustle of city life. It wasn’t very polite either, Pond was used to the polite Ponies of Mareton-on-Sea where she grew up, passing you and saying “hello”, but here you were lucky if you didn’t get barged into the street.
“Keep close kid,” Red whispered to her as they disembarked.
“Where are we going?”
“I know a little place. Come on, keep up.” He said as he picked up speed and headed into the mass of Ponies.
Pond followed him obediently, making sure not to leave his side. She was attracting many strange looks, at first she thought it was because of her being a Unicorn without a horn, but then she realised they were staring at her fishing rod. Must have looked a bit like a weapon to them, with its small hook and coil of wire.

Red took her down many roads and alleys, somehow the city became better, somehow filled with a special character which was starting to grow on Pond. He led her to a large building, it had a red sign above the door that stretched across the front which said “Red Lounge” and had a picture of a Pegasus mare laying down on a platform to one side of the words. It was very professional looking, it was clearly a classy place, the sign had been done in bright, elegant, neon lights but they weren’t on at the moment.
Red paused on the opposite side of the road and pointed a hoof at it. “Welcome to my club,” Red said proudly.
“You own a club?” pond was shocked, he didn’t seem the club type.
“You don’t need to sound so surprised. Come on, I’ll buy you a drink. On the house, of course.” Red trotted across the street, with Pond following closely. He held the door open for her, smiling politely which, if she was honest, seemed suspicious.
Pond walked in and was bathed in a wonderful warmth and a glorious smell, a combination of magnificent perfumes and sweet drinks. She scanned the club, it seemed quite nice, it had a bit of a seedy atmosphere to it but there was nothing bad about it, it had a lot of character. The patrons seemed rather friendly, they were just talking about uninteresting business things. A few dressed-up and makeup wearing mares of various types were serving them drinks with smiles on their faces. They seemed to be enjoying themselves.

The club even had a stage with a catwalk.