So far, getting to the train station hasn't been that difficult. I mean, other then the fact that the ponies here still don't know that Thorax and myself are here, forcing me to hide in the wagon that has all of our supplies for the mission in it, it hasn't been bad at all.
And speaking of which, i'm still in here, under all of this shit we decided to bring with us. I hope the station is close, because my legs are falling asleep.
At least it's not dark under here... okay, there's some light peaking in from the cracks above me, so scratch what I just said. It's dark, but not pitch black.
"David, you okay under there?" I hear Shining's muffled voice from outside.
"Please tell me we're there, I need to move."
"Yeah. We're here. Just wait a little while we get some of this stuff off of you."
"There's nobody around to see me?"
"Besides Thorax, Cadence, and all of our guards, no."
"In that case, hurry up and get this shit off of me."
"Okay, give us a second."
For the next few minutes, I feel the weight on top of me slowly get lighter and lighter as the gear is removed and placed on the ground beside the wagon. Before long, one of the guards lifts what I'm assuming is a tent off of my face.
Now I can breath normally again. Nice.
After a few more minutes, my body and some space around me is free, giving me enough room to stand. After readjusting my hat, I hop off of the wagon and head toward the train, returning a wave that Cadence gives me as I pass her. She suggested that once we get here, for me to get on the train right away. That way, if some random pony came around for whatever reason, they wouldn't see me and flip shit. She gave the same suggestion to Thorax as well, so Thorax must be already on the train.
My thoughts are correct when I enter the train and round the corner.
I see Thorax sitting down on the other side of the train compartment. He doesn't look up, and doesn't even react. He probably didn't hear me come in.
I start walking over to him. As I get closer, I can see that Thorax is deep in thought. His face having worry written clear as day all over it.
"You okay buddy?"
He jumps a little at my voice and quickly looks up at me. He forces a smile as he responds. "H-hey David."
"You looked lost in your head. What's on your mind?"
"N-nothing. I'm fine. Perfectly fine."
"Thorax, don't bullshit me. I saw your face. What're you thinking about?" I ask, sitting next to him.
'This seat is too small.'
"I... was thinking about the trip."
"And what about the trip?"
"...I don't know if I want to do this anymore. When we were with each other that first month, we almost died. A lot of times. Maybe I should just stay here at the Empire." Thorax said as he made a move to stand up. I quickly stopped him.
"Thorax, come on. We need you. If there is even a chance of finding other changelings, you being there could save us a lot of trouble."
"I don't know..."
"There's over ten guards coming with us, including Shining. If something does happen, we'll all be there to fight whatever we run into. You'll be fine."
"... okay." Thorax got back in his seat. "I still don't feel good about this whole thing."
"You don't have to feel good. Hell, I don't feel that great about this."
"Then why are you going?"
"Because I know it's the right thing to do. It can save Shining and the other guards some trouble if we do get in some trouble. You being there might be the only thing that keeps a changeling, assuming we find one, from attacking us out of panic."
Thorax remained quiet.
"Look, just think about it, okay? If we get there, and you're still having second thoughts about all of this, you can stay with the train. Nobody is going to force you to go." He still doesn't respond, but he does nod his head a little, showing that he did hear me.
Around this time, all the guards pile on the train, sitting around us. Shining soon followed in behind them. "You guys ready?"
I spare a quick look at Thorax, before turning back to address him. "Yeah, we're good."
"Glad to hear it." He says as he takes a seat across from us.
The train lets out a loud whistle as it jerks forward.
We were off to a place I hopped to never return to, but despite that, I know I'm doing the right thing.
The train ride was uneventful, thankfully. Just some chit-chat here and there.
The only downside to this trip, was that the train ride was hours long. Just sitting here in the same seat for... around 4 or 5 hours, I think.
We couldn't ride all the way to the station in Ponyville, for reasons clear as day, we stopped around 15 minutes from the town. This way, we could get off without anyone seeing us, or me/Thorax, and we could set up camp here, just outside the forest, before going in the next day.
The guards around me are setting up the camp just inside the forest. I'm, on the other hand, instead of helping like I should be doing, I'm sitting here on a box ab-site mindfully running my fingers along the scar on my right hand. For the people who have zero clue how the scar got there, I got this scar from the day Shining Amour came about 2 inches from killing me.
Considering with what happened to him at the wedding (He filled me in) I'm amazed he even let Thorax stay in the Empire, much less me after I shot him in the leg.
Speaking of Shining, I spot him out of the corner of my eye. He's waving me over, probably a clue that I should start helping.