//------------------------------//
// Chapter 12 REVISED 
// Story: A Journey Unthought Of 
// by Hustlin Tom 
//------------------------------//

The next few days passed by quickly, with only a few small events of note that occurred.  I tried my first Equestrian Apple Pie, and it was incredible!  I helped Bon Bon out with the actual baking part just for the experience; I really think she was appreciative of it too.  I went to the library and checked out a few books: one or two books of fiction for the entertainment value, but mostly history and geography.  While it was a slog to get through them I had time and motivation: I didn't know how long I was going to be here, and knowing a little more about the surrounding land couldn't hurt!  Fluttershy at last pronounced me cured of the blasted cough that had stuck with me for so long as well.  It was hard to believe at the time but I had lived in this place, with all the strangeness that came with it, for almost two weeks.  Two weeks!  It felt more like it had been months with the learning curve that I had come through.

In time the First Equestrian Orchestra event loomed ahead, and Lyra's excitement grew by the day.  As she packed and prepared herself she replied back to Bon Bon in the living room, "Yes; I absolutely insist that the both of you are coming!  I get one special guest, and with the other being invisible I get to bring a second one too!"  

Bon Bon gave a small sigh and looked at me, "There's no point in arguing with her I suppose."  

"Oh come Bon Bon," I exclaimed with a small smile and playful shove that slightly startled her, "I'm sure we can make this work.  What's the worst that can happen?"  

"When you're a realist, plenty," she replied.  Lyra came back into the living room to sit down with us, and Bon Bon shook her head a little as she put her hoof to it, "Are you really sure this is the best idea?  Getting Adam around Ponyville unseen is hard enough, but now you want to try the same trick in not just a huge, bustling city, but the capitol of Equestria?  There's guards everywhere!  How do you think they'd take him appearing out of nowhere if he loses his invisibility all of a sudden?"  

"That's not gonna be a problem," Lyra said with a wave of her hoof, "Canterlot's my hometown: I know all the alleyways, back entrances, and hidden streets.  We can go by those and only have to deal with about the same amount of ponies as we usually do here."  

"There's still the issue of getting him there undiscovered too," Bon Bon fired back, "You can't just walk there, which leaves you two options: by carriage or train."  

"Oh," I declared softly before speaking up, "And without a lot of effort taking the train isn't really a good one.  With it being so small I'm bound to be bumped into."  I looked back over to Lyra, "I want to come and support you Lyra, but this sounds like it'll be riskier than we initially thought."

She bit her lip a little and clicked her hooves together as she thought about what to do, "I suppose carriage is our only option then.  We have enough time that we can allow ourselves to take the scenic route."

"You'll end up paying a premium for this," Bon Bon said, leaning forward to ensure Lyra looked her in the eyes, "You do know that, right?  It's three days versus a half of one by rail."

"I know," she said with a small hiss as she thought about the hit her bit purse was going to take, "but having you two there matters more."

Bon Bon nodded her head a little, then slouched back into her seat, another sigh escaping her mouth.

I smirked a little and pointed at her as I looked in her direction, "If you keep doing too many of those you'll throw out your back."

Lyra chuckled a little to herself, while Bon Bon looked at me unamused, "You know you can shut it at any time, Red Face."  

Lyra began laughing harder, while I too began to not find things funny: not at all.





The ride to Canterlot for the most part went fairly smoothly, which given our collective nervousness was both a surprise and a relief.  For the most part I rode on the back of the carriage, hanging on to the other bits of luggage as best as I could for both balance and protection from wandering eyes.  It was riskier being inside the carriage, seeing as it wasn't designed for someone my size, so I only rode there during the one time there were morning showers on the second day.  That was another strange aspect to get used to: weather on a schedule, and a near perfectly accurate one too.  We entered the bounds of Canterlot during the late afternoon, the blazing orange sun sinking into the west.  Great plastered spires jutted into the sky like arrows, waiting to be shot towards the open horizon.  Their normal white hue mingled with the dying sunlight, producing a wondrous color.  It reminded of the many patches of California Poppies that used to grow on the outer edges of a town I'd stay in for a few months.

Canterlot was the current capitol of Equestria, and had been so for nearly nine hundred years.  While it did not have the biggest population it did have the honor of being the first planned city of the country.  For Lyra it was obviously nothing new, but for Bon Bon and I our first visit gave us a small shock, me moreso than her: the city was split between three terraces, each an enormous disk fused with the very face of the mountain.  I can't imagine the scale of each, but suffice it to say they were massive.  The lower terrace was primarily the financial district: local and regional trade took place here, as well as some measure of manufacture.  Tourism did occur here, but it mostly took place in the middle terrace.  Entertainment, services, and the majority of the residential areas of the city were found here.  That was where our hotel ended up being, but the musical event would take place in the upper terrace.  Culture, international trade and travel, homes and offices of government officials: all of them were up there, but the crown jewel of the city was Canterlot Castle.  It sat atop the mountain as a shining beacon of ancient Equestrian accomplishment; a literal city on a hill.  From its high towers one could see practically all of Equestria at a glance, and within its walls lived the two icons of the land: the Royal Sisters, Princesses Celestia and Luna.

The light had all but disappeared from the horizon as our carriage rolled into the Grand Canterlot Hotel.  Before we had even come to a full stop I was already getting ready to delicately leave the back without being noticed.  The two stallions pulling the coach halted just so that the doors to the hotel were directly in front of carriage one.  Just after the coachponies had removed their saddles to retrieve the luggage I stepped off.  For all my carefulness the coach did shift somewhat.  The two ponies came around towards the back with an increased pace, but I was able to step out of their way without them touching me.  Lyra and Bon Bon had already stepped down onto the cobblestone street, but they also noticed the concerned looks on the stallions' faces.  

"Is everything alright," Lyra asked, a small trail of nervousness entering her voice.  

"I think so, Ma'am," one stallion replied, "Thought we might have done something to the luggage when we stopped.  Everything looks in order though!"  

Lyra then went about paying the two coachponies for their service, a small breath of relief escaping her lips.  The second stallion helped Bon Bon unload their things off the carriage and away from both hoof traffic and regular traffic.  I waited off to the side, leaning against one of the foyer supports.  

"Bon Bon," Lyra called out as she turned away from the first coachpony, "Can you manage to get everything inside?  I just need a minute to...reacclimate.  To being home again." 

Bon Bon nodded as she tossed another bag on her back, "Sure thing, Lyra."  

The coachponies, now paid, got back in their saddles and pulled their carriage away, giving us precious seconds alone to talk.  I whistle softly, lifted my shroud up enough to reveal my foot, and tapped my shoe.  Lyra immediately locked in where I was and nonchalantly scooted towards my direction.  

"There's an emergency door down the alley to the right of us," she whispered, "If I'm not there for you in five minutes you're going to have to climb.  Look for Bon Bon's or my face if it comes to that."  

"Got it," I replied, "I'm moving."  

Lyra moved back just enough to be out of my way, and she gently trotted into the hotel.  I peeked my head around the corner to the alleyway.  Apart from trash cans and the odd puddle it was completely empty.  Perfect, I thought, No one to spot me if things get complicated.  I jogged down the alley, my shroud lifting up a little behind me as I went, until I spotted the red door I was looking for.  I stood just out of the doorway and waited.  It wasn't long before somepony came out.  I was about to call out to Lyra, but I stopped myself in time.  A unicorn buspony exited.  His horn lit up with a pink light, and he reached for a nearby brick with his magic.  He then propped the door open with it.  A small packet floated up out of his uniform, which with some small amount of shock I realized were cigarettes.  Actual, regular old cigarettes.  Putting one in his mouth, he replaced his carton back in his pocket, focused his magic again, and the end of his cigarette lit up with pink fire.  He puffed at it expertly before he let it float out of his mouth, and he exhaled a cloud of smoke.  I made for the door, opening it just enough to pass through the crack.  I had to be fast, mainly because I couldn't stop myself from giggling.  The buspony turned around, the air his smoke fell through disturbed by some invisible movement, and looked around for the laughing invisible specter.  "This town gets weirder by the day," he mumbled.  "You don't know the half of it," I whispered more to myself than anyone, then mouthed to myself, "A unicorn smoking cigarettes: the most normal thing I've seen in weeks."

I met Lyra on the stairs.  She and I almost collided between first and second floor if I hadn’t popped my head up out of my shroud.  She instantly saw my floating head, stopped, and motioned for me to follow her.  Replacing my sheet over me like a hoodie top, she led me back up towards our room: Suite 312.  Lyra had a little chuckle all her own as we knocked on the door.  

"What's funny for you," I whispered.  

"Give it a minute," she said with a broad grin as she looked up in my direction. 

Bon Bon opened the door almost violently, her face flush with embarrassment and a spark of anger.  "Get in here," she said in a hushed tone, then looked both ways in some vain hope of seeing a shimmer of me, "Both of you!"  

"Why, Yes Ma'am," I said said in a mocking tone as I passed into the room, before I returned to a normal voice as I took off my shroud, "What crawled up your tailpipe?"  

Bon Bon looked up to me with a near death glare, "Lyra didn't warn me about her plan for getting us a cheaper shared room," and then she turned to look at the unicorn, "I was going to pay for my own, and would have been quite happy to!"   

"But now you don't have to worry about that, 'Sweetie,'" she said with a mischievous tone.  

If the wording wasn't enough the inflection was.  My eyes widened, and a smile grew on my face as I point from Lyra to Bon Bon, "So you-"  

"You could have said we were cousins," Bon Bon snapped, "Nopony would have batted an eye at that, but NOOOO!  You had to go and make a scene!  Now everypony will think we're together when we're just friends!"  

"Cousins almost sounds worse," I said with a snigger.  

"AH," Bon Bon exclaimed to silence me, an outstretched hoof pointed at me, "Ah!  No!  Zip it!"  

"Oh, it's okay 'Sweetie Drops'," Lyra said playfully as she stepped a little closer to her, "In the privacy of our own room we can be who we really are."  She then booped Bon Bon's nose with her hoof, "Which is just friends."  

"UUUUUUUUGH," Bon Bon groaned from the bottoms of her hooves, while Lyra retreated with a giggle.  "For that you are going to get out of my mane," she said grumpily as she went over to the newspaper rack, swiped the latest one up, and sat down next to a lamp near the single bed, "If you are not out that door in five minutes I'm going to beat you out of here with a broom!"  

"Horror of horrors," I said in my mocking tone once again, "not the broom!"  

"You too," she gestured at me, "Either to keep her in line or give her a reason to stay out; I don't care which!"  

"I'll show you the nightlife around here, Adam," Lyra said as she almost skipped towards the door with playful energy, "I bet you'll love the sights I've got in store for you!"  

Though a little disappointed for having to put up with annoying invisibility, I couldn't wait to see something new with her, "Oh, why not.  The night is still young!"