//------------------------------// // Chapter 10 // Story: The Crossover Chronicles: Adventures in Equestria // by Cool_Quick //------------------------------// Chapter 3 A Not-So-Normal Train Ride (Toon Link) We all arrived at the train station bound for Canterlot just in time. Fluttershy had forgotten to tell Rarity that the Gala was in Canterlot until the last instant. This in turn, sparked last minute panic. Everyone had rushed to the train station in a mad frenzy. Wario was the maddest, especially since he wasn’t a huge fan of running. The whole time we ran, he gasped, complained, and farted. By the time we all reached the train station, we were soaked with sweat, but relieved, as we were barely able to get last minute tickets on the final three cars. The conductor wasn’t expecting to seat around 30 people, and that look on his face was worth $1,000. Now all of us were sitting inside the car, trying to cool off. I had actually managed to bring a small, battery powered fan, which was in my bag when I got teleported here in this bizarre land, and clipped it onto a window. As it blew, Pinkie Pie stood in front of it, talking into it and laughing at how strange her voice sounded. Of course, she was blocking any extra air from reaching anyone else, and after some complaints from a few people, she finally sat down, but continued to cast curious glances on the strange object. I smiled to myself, thinking how much of a cuteness overload I was getting from these ponies. Rainbow Dash was lounging on one of the seats, taking up almost the entire thing. Every so often she would sigh, and mutter something about the Wonderbolts and making an awesome Sonic Rainboom. I had no idea what either of those were, but decided disturbing her was a bad idea. Fluttershy was sitting next to Luigi in the seat next to Rainbow Dash (who I’m starting to call R.D. I love abbreviating things). She seemed calm enough, but every time the train lurched, she would let out a little squeak, and dive under the seat. Then, Luigi would comfort her and she would gradually resume her spot, flushing the same color as her mane. And I thought girls I had seen in Hyrule were scared of everything. Jack was reading one of the interesting magazines he had found on a nearby table. Since we wouldn’t reach Canterlot for an hour and a half, around 12:45, I guess he figured he had to find something to do. Rarity was beside him, looking uncomfortable, and giving the OMG he’s so handsome look I’ve seen so many times before. Occasionally she would brush her mane out of her eyes or something like that to get his attention. But Jack was so engrossed in his reading that he didn’t even notice. He had a talent of being able to focus on one thing, and completely turn off to anything else. Ness was piddling on his yo-yo, almost automatically. Pinkie Pie was watching him, looking like she wanted to try it. Finally, she asked Ness if she could try. He relented and she tried to swing the yo-yo in her mouth. The end result was the yo-yo flying across the room, and bouncing every which direction. It finally came to a stop after almost hitting someone like 200 times. Afterwards, Pinkie just decided to go back to staring out the window. It was a funny scene, but what was even funnier was that Rainbow didn’t even stir. What a deep sleeper. The fillies were clopping all around the train, occasionally looking over Jack’s shoulder to read his magazine (not that he noticed). Most of their time was spent playing what the rest of the crew assumed was either Poker or Go Fish. Where they had gotten their card deck from, nobody knew. The train was perfectly serene, other than what was mentioned above and the occasional fart (guess who?). Everyone was actually quiet, even Pinkie, which was unusual. Rainbow Dash was napping now, snoring softly, while Luigi and Mario both had their hats over their eyes, snoozing in a scene of perfect contentment. Lucario and Pikachu simply sat in their seats near the door, their eyes closed. I, however, could not nap. I was thinking about what had happened over the past 24 hours. In that time, I had watched Professor E. Gadd do experiments, got teleported with my friends into Equestria, met a unicorn named Rarity, and a dragon named Spike (which was actually the name of Marth’s dog), looked for and found my other friends, met a guy named Jack, had a huge feast with a pony named Applejack, slept in Applejack’s house, made suits with Rarity and my friends, and we were now on a train bound for a place named after a horse pun. I was thinking that these were the strangest 24 hours of my life. If only I knew what was to come. I sighed and looked around the car at the smashers, ponies, and then… Jack. I thought that Jack was nice, but I found myself wondering about his mental state. And then the ponies. I thought about how 24 hours ago I never would have thought I’d end up in a land of colorful talking ponies. And yet, here I was. Strange? You bet. What was also strange was what I thought was a distant crashing sound earlier that morning. I didn’t know what it was, but I hoped I’d just imagined it. The superheroes were in the car behind ours, and got loud occasionally. Thankfully, the wall was pretty thick, and the most you’d hear was a mumble. I just hoped they wouldn’t start bashing each other. Percy Jackson seemed pretty cool, but also sad and powerful. I wondered what his life was like. Edward Nigma was the same. He didn’t have the power department, but he was sad. I could tell both Percy and Ed had experienced trauma in their life, and wanted to forget it. But, the one who seemed to have the most problems was Jack. He had told us that his father had been abusive. Jack had only been a child then, and childhood trauma could lead to all sorts of psychological issues. It made me question something. How stable was Jack? The train whistle blew, startling my thoughts, and making everyone jump. How had an hour and a half gone by so fast? No one jumped farther than Fluttershy, who flew into the ceiling and stuck there like a pony Spider-Man. It took R.D. (see I’m still doing it) and Applejack (A.J.) both to get her down. Luigi got a second place though. He leaped out of his seat and fell ungracefully onto the floor, saying something like “Sure I’ll take more cookies, Grandma,” before finally snapping back to reality. Jack got a good reaction. He jumped a bit, which caused the magazine in his hands to go flying. It hit the fan and blew off, hitting R.D. in the face as she landed from getting Fluttershy off the ceiling. R.D., startled, pawed at the magazine with her hoof, and ended up running into Luigi, who was just getting off the train. Luigi lost his balance and tumbled out of the train, landing with a thud on the platform. I deal with that daily. When you’re fighting him, you never know what funny thing you’ll see. Grumbling, he looked up to see a night colored alicorn standing in front of him, humor in its eyes. Its mane seemed to have stars in it. There was a collective gasp behind Luigi. All of the ponies and Spike came up to the alicorn and bowed. The rest of us, as well as Jack, just stood, looking awkward. The door to the second car opened. Out came the superheroes, Percy, and Ed. Peter and Stark were still arguing. Peter’s mask had finally come off, and he was wearing regular clothes. All the other heroes were as well. Peter was no more than a senior in high school from what I could see. “I still think Canterlot is a priceless name,” Peter said, giggling. “These horse puns are gonna kill me!” “They’ll kill me too,” Stark said. “Because those names are so unoriginal. I mean seriously, comparing it to Camelot,” he gestured to the entire town, “it looks like a ponified version of King Arthur.” “If you were a pony,” Peter said. “You’d have a funny name.” Seeing Stark’s blank expression, he grinned. “Tony the Pony.” “Seriously?” Stark exclaimed, rolling his eyes. “We dealt with this the whole trip,” Percy said, looking partly amused, partly irritated. “They’re like an old married couple,” Ed stated. Then he caught sight of the bowing ponies and stopped. “Wait, what’s going on?” “Would you be quiet, Eddie Mashed potato?” Rainbow Dash snapped. Ed’s face darkened, and suddenly, he was in front of her. “Do… not… call… me… names.” He looked so insane at that moment that Rainbow actually trembled. Then, Ed shook his head, and apologized, looking a little sick. He sat on a bench nearby, Rainbow staring after him with a shocked look on her face. Stark and Peter kept bickering, not noticing anything. Percy came in between them. “Would you stop arguing for five minutes? We appear to be in the presence of someone important.” Peter looked at Luna blankly. “Looks like a pony.” Tony gave him a shocked look. “Really?! Do tell.” Finally, I walked in between them. “Girls, break it up. I know you like your arguments, but Percy is right. Why don’t you actually see who this pony is?” At that moment, Twilight noticed that we weren’t bowing. “Come on, show respect for Princess Luna!” “Princess?!” Luigi gasped, a little embarrassed. “My lady.” He tried to make a graceful bow, but just fell over again. Wario farted respectfully. Luna smiled. “I know that they are not from this realm. Thereby, they have no need to bow.” Luigi got up. “Perhaps I could have been told that before I embarrassed myself?” The princess laughed. “I do apologize, Luigi. It seems that that slipped my mind.” “It’s all ri… wait, how do you know my name?” “I know all of your names, because Celestia told me. How she knows, only she knows.” “Ah,” Luigi said, giving the same kind of expression as me, which was “huh?” Still, I guess he figured since he was talking to royalty, he might as well be civil. Jack came up and kissed Luna’s hoof, kneeling down. “It is an honor to meet you.” Luna blushed slightly, amazed at how Jack knew how to treat royalty so flawlessly. I was amazed myself, seeing as how Jack had seemed so awkward before. “And I have heard about you too, Jack. Is all well at home?” Jack grimaced. “I’m not entirely sure. I hope so.” He glanced at the ground as if looking for some sign.Rarity came over and put a hoof on his shoulder. “We hope so as well,” she said gently. Wario farted loudly, startling everyone. “Okay, enough goo-goo eyes. Let’s go to this thing-a ma-gig already, before I go nuts.” He made a rude gesture and started walking out of the station. Fluttershy finally snapped. She flew in front of Wario, her voice still soft but deadly. “How dare you be rude to the princess.” Wario farted and shrugged. Fluttershy glared at Wario, power flowing through her gaze. Wario started to cower under the force of her gaze. I was thinking you go girl. “Will you be nice now?” Fluttershy asked, still staring. “Fine,” Wario squeaked, and Fluttershy released him from her gaze. “I guess I’ve just seen the Stare in action,” Luigi remarked as he watched the events unfold. When Fluttershy came back over, he said in awe, “Remind me not to get on your bad side.” She smiled, and nuzzled him. I had my mouth open in a very uncool look. “Wow, I wish I could do that,” I said, holding up my hand for a high five. Fluttershy looked at me blankly. Luigi interpreted for her. “He wants you to slap his hand. It’s something people do when excited.” “Oh, I wouldn’t want to hurt him!” Fluttershy said in shock. “It won’t hurt me,” I said. “Go ahead.” Fluttershy tentatively reached out a hoof, and barely brushed my hand. “Harder,” I said. Fluttershy gave it a nice big tap. Seeing my grimace, she asked, “Too hard?” Not nearly hard enough, I was thinking. But I smiled and said, “Eh, you’ll learn.” “Shall we go, then?” Jack asked Luna in a much more polite tone. “Of course,” Luna said. “Follow me.”