10 Days, 3 Adventures - Part 2 - "Manehattan Crime Story"

by TP Night

Chapter 3 - The Journey Begins

Rarity and Sweetie Belle were just done with their breakfast and walked out the door.

“So, I’ll be dropping you off at the farm, and then I’ll go to the station.”

“Wohoo!” Sweetie cheered and bounced a few times as they walked.

“You know, sometimes you remind me of Pinkie with that bouncing you do
when you get excited.”

“Maybe I should dye my mane pink?” Sweetie said jokingly.

“Maybe I should let you.” Rarity replied with a smirk.

After a short walk, they saw Applejack, Applebloom and Scootaloo walking down the
street. “Oh look, Sweetie. Applejack. Perfect, I can just drop you with her right away
and save some time.
As they walked up, Applejack noticed them.

“Good morning, Rarity.” Applejack said with a smile.

“Oh, same to you Applejack. What are you guys up to?”

“Visiting Twilight. Winona found some kind of orb yesterday, and we’re gonna ask
Twi to take a look, see if it’s some magical artifact or not.”

“Ah, I see..”

“And what about you? Today’s the day you and Pinkie were leaving for
Manehattan, right?”

Rarity smiled widely.

“Ooh, yes, I can barely wait! The Annual Mid-summer fashion show is in a couple of days,
and I have a ticket and a backstage pass to meet some of the
designers after the show and discuss their designs!”

Scootaloo looked slightly confused.

“...so why is Pinkie Pie going? She’s not in to fashion, is she?”

“No, darling,” Rarity responded. “However, she IS in to baking,
and during the same weekend there is also some cake competition event which SHE has tickets to,
so we thought we’d share a hotel room since we’re both going there.
Plus we get a chance to get to know each other a bit more, we’ve rarely spent any time
only the two of us.”

Sweetie Belle smiled at her two friends.

“Which means I get to stay at the Orchard with you, Applebloom!
At least three nights, maybe four!”

Scootaloos smiled. “Applejack, is it okay if I stay over too?! We can make it a Crusader Sleepover!”

Applejack thought for a few seconds.
“Hmm, sure, that’s okay with me as long as you all behave.”

“We will!” They all said together.

“We promise!” Sweete Belle added.

Applejack smiled. “Well, it’s settled then. We’ll go to Twi now and take care of this orb thing,
and after that you three can stay at the orchard until Rarity gets home.”

“YAY! Cutiemark Crusaders Sleepover Party!” They all yelled.

Sweetie Belle followed Applejack and the others, while Rarity took a turn to the left
and started her walk to the train station instead. She arrived fifteen minutes early,
so she decided to simply sit down and wait for Pinkie, and the train.
A few minutes later she saw Pinkie come bouncing, and when she noticed Rarity
she started waving and yelled, “Hi Rarity!”

* * *

Pinkie bounced down the stair, and was met by Mr. Cake cleaning off the tables
just before opening the café for the day.

“Morning, Mr. Cake!”

“Good morning, Pinkie. You seem more like yourself this morning.
Sleep better than yesterday?”

“Not really, but today I go to Manehattan! I’m so nervocited, I can barely
sit still!”

“You rarely can.” Mr. Cake smiled.

“You’re sure you can take care of the place without me?” Pinkie asked.

“Don’t worry about that. We managed fine before we hired you,
and I’m sure we’ll manage just fine for a few days without you know.
We’ve arranged for a babysitter for the twins so Mrs. Cake can take your part
of the work until you get back.”

“Okey dokey! And Gummy I already sent away to a Pet daycare together with Opal,
Tank, and Angel, and all the other critters.”

“Is it Fluttershys place? I thought she was going away too...”

“She is. But a friend of hers has a pet center, so we’re all dropping our pets there
while we’re gone, since Twily and AJ are too busy with all their work!”

“I see. Anyway, you better get going now Pinkie, otherwise you’ll have to run.”

“Byeee!” Pinkie said as she jumped out the door and bounced away.

She made her way to the station, where she saw Rarity sitting on a bench.
She waved her hoof and yelled, “Hi Rarity!”
Rarity waved back, and when Pinkie came closer she replied, “Ah, good morning Pinkie.
Ready for our trip I hope?”

“Of course! It’s gonna be so much fun! I’m taking you to a very nice café I know of,
You’ll love it! It’s a classy place, just like YOU like, and they have a lot of teas and
sweets and cakes and stuff that I like, so it’s the perfect combination of things
we both like!”

“Well, that does sound nice actually.. And we’ll arrive in the afternoon, so it should still
be open when we get there.. How about some afternoon tea at that place after we’ve
gotten our luggage to the hotel and checked in?” Rarity smiled.

“Okey dokey, good plan!”

“I’m really happy we decided to have the luggage sent to the station
and pre-packed, so we did not have to drag all those bags ourselves.”

“Yeah, that was really smart!”

“That delivery pony though.. A bit on the bulky side, wouldn’t you say?”

“His name is Bulk Biceps!” Pinkie smiled.

“...of course it is.” Rarity smiled and facehoofed.

“Yeah! He’s also a massage therapist at Aloe and Lotus’ place!”

“Really? I have never seen him there. Must be new I suppose.”

“No, but he only does those really intense massages, and you usually don’t
get that.”

“Well, that explains that. In any case, the train should be here any moment.”

“Want a candy?” Pinkie asked as she pulled the bag of rock candies out and took one
herself. She held the bag out toward Rarity.

“You know what, I think I actually will have one. I rarely eat candy,
but this is a special occasion after all.. Let’s see, what flavors are all these?
There’s so many colors, and I assume they all have different flavor.”

“They do! What would you like?”

“Well, something plain and simple I think. Maybe strawberry or something.”

Pinkie shook the bag a bit to mix the rocks around, looking for the strawberry ones.
“Found one!” she said triumphantly, and held up a clear-red piece of candy.

Rarity took it and smiled. “Mmm, these are actually quite good. Did you make these,
or buy them at Bon Bons?”

“Bon Bons.” Pinkie replied as she looked in the bag, searching for a specific piece.

After a few more minutes, a train pulled up and came to a complete stop.
Ponies and a griffon all disembarked, and after the train was empty,
ponies started boarding from the station.
Rarity asked one of the conductors, “Excuse me.. Is this the train to Manehattan?”
The old stallion nodded politely. “It is indeed, miss. If you’re going, you better board
now, we leave in ten minutes.”

“Very well, thanks.” Rarity smiled and turned around to Pinkie.

“This is our train, Pinkie. Get your candy back in the saddlebag and let’s go.”

Pinkie did as told, and bounced on board the train. They walked through the carts,
and Rarity found their box. “This is ours. I booked a box so we would get some privacy
and calm during the trip - plus, the seats are more comfortable in the boxes.”

“Good thinking, Rarity!”

Ten minutes later, they heard the conductor yell, “AAAAALL ABOOOOOAAAARD,
TRAIN FOR MANEHATTAN LEAVES IN ONE MINUTE! I REPEAT,
TRAIN, FOR, MANEHATTAN, LEAVES, IN, ONE, MINUTE!!!”

They felt a small shake, and heard the steam engine whistling loudly.
The train started slow, but steadily gained speed. “And thus, our journey begins...”
Rarity mused to herself. Pinkie was looking out the window, waving.
“Bye byeee, Ponyville!”