As I boarded the passenger car, I was still cautious about my surroundings. With everything that has happened so far, I couldn't afford to let my guard down.
The inside was different than any passenger car I have ever been in. There were individual chairs at assigned tables. Plus, in the back, there was a little bar. Well dressed waiters and waitresses attended to the passengers. As I looked at the passengers, I became self-conscious with how I looked. Everypony, but me, was dressed sophisticated; with jewelry and cleaner clothing.
The other ponies were appalled at how I looked. I wanted to shout, "What are you all looking at?" But for obvious reasons, I didn't want to risk getting thrown off the train. Annoyed, I was biting my lower lip as I tried finding a seat.
There were a few available seats, but it was the ponies at the table I wasn't comfortable with. I felt it was pointless to continue. Giving up, I walked back to the entrance/exit to sit outside for the rest of the journey.
"Excuse me! You with the hood on!"
I heard a male voice calling out. Seeing that I was the only pony wearing a hood, I had assumed that whoever called out was talking about me. I turned around and searched for the source of the call. To the back of the car, where the bar was, a hoof was waving in the air. There was an older, white earth pony, well groomed grey mane sitting at the bar. When I spotted him, he nodded his head and motioned me to come over. I was confused and suspicious of this, but I slowly walked toward him.
"That's it. Come on over here. I won't bite."
The thought had occurred to me that he might have been drunk, but he seemed harmless. The first thing I looked at was his eyes. Normally, if somepony was drunk, I think I would have spotted darker red veins. However, his eyes were milk white. Next to him, there was half a glass of what I assumed was red wine.
He then patted on the chair next to him, "Take a seat. Let me buy you a drink."
I raised an eyebrow at his offer. On the outside, he seemed like any of these other ponies. However, he might have something in mind. Not all of these high class ponies made their wealth honestly. Then again, his offer was better than anything else at this point. Cautious, I took the seat.
"Now, what kind of drink you want? You can order whatever you'd like." he asked.
"Uh... I'll take uh... Moscato," I replied.
"Moscato? You're a sweet tooth huh? Well I won't judge." He turned his attention to the bartender, "Excuse me, get me one glass of your best Moscato for this young gentlecolt here." The bartender looked at me and then gave a nod to the old unicorn. "Now allow me to introduce myself. I am Silver Ingot. I am pretty sure you can guess how I made my wealth. What's your name?"
I wasn't really sure if I wanted to answer him. Although it was rude of me, I lowered my head in hope he thought I was too shy to answer.
"Aww horse feathers. I suppose you are one of the quiet types huh? I can respect that, but I was hoping you would be somepony to talk to with exciting stories to tell. Guess I was wrong. Oh but don't you worry none. You will still get your drink, but where does that leave me for the rest of this trip?"
The way he put that made me feel slightly guilty. He was definitely not like these other ponies. For starters, he was actually attempting to talk to me. Second, he is very outgoing and talks casually. It was as if the "Rules of Etiquette" didn't apply to him. Did he not care of his image in front of these other ponies?
As I tried figuring him out, the bartender placed the drink next to me. Silver then placed the bits on the counter top. As I was about to take the drink, a magical aura took hold of the glass and was levitated away from me. It turned out it was Silver and he did not hesitate to take the first sip of what I thought was mine. He then placed the glass of wine next to me and said, "Look, if you are not going to tell me your name, then the least you can do is let me have a taste of the wine I paid for. By the way, I take back what I said. That Moscato was a good choice. I hope you enjoy it."
Although many would say that this was considered bad behavior, I found myself relieved by this pony's actions. For the first time throughout this journey, I kind of felt comfortable. "My name is Titanium."
He gasped, "You can talk? Geez that scared me. You shouldn't do that when somepony is drinking. Titanium huh? I like it. A really strong name. It's a good name to have. It certainly makes up for the weak drinks you would be ordering." Having said that, he then took a large gulp of his own wine. "So Titanium, what is your story? I saw you traveling with us from Canterlot. When we got to the station, you separated from us. And yet, here you are again. Why is that?"
I looked around the car again and looked at the ponies. I don't know how I didn't recognize them, but these were the exact same ponies that I traveled with from Canterlot. Fortunately, I already had a story in mind to tell him, "Well you see, I had small wagon and I couldn't afford guards. So I felt safer traveling with a larger caravan."
"Ah I see. You're a real sneak aren't you? Well, I can't argue with the profit you would be making. That still doesn't explain why you split up from us."
Okay, the story I told him was in case I was asked during the trip to the station. Beyond that, I had no story in mind. "Well... It was to uh..."
"Okay okay. Say no more, there is no shame in being cheap. You tried to avoid paying for the freight shipment right? Taking the civilian transport would have saved you more bits. So what went wrong?"
Normally I would be annoyed at ponies who finished my sentences. In this case, I was grateful, "Well uh, there were no more civilian transports to Ponyville. So I was forced to get on the freight train."
"Ah. Tough luck there. That must have put a serious dent in your profits. Well, you can't let that get you down. You need to spend money to make money. Am I right?" He then lifted his glass and motioned to me for a toast, "To making money."
I then lifted my glass, "To making money." Our glasses clinked and we had our drink.
He was the first to put his glass back down, "So tell me, what business are you in?"
I nearly choked on my drink from the question. I coughed to clear my throat before speaking, "Well you see, I just started my own business. I'm trying in the manufacturing industry; specifically silk weaving. I'm starting off small and hope to grow from here."
"That is certainly a good mind set. Work with what you have. From here, all you can do is go up. I like the way you think. Now, let me give you some business advice."
After he said that, the train had finally started to move. I then realized that this was going to be a long ride. I called the bartender, "Excuse me. Another please."
"Hey," my attention back to Silver, "I am only paying for that one drink."
***
I wasn't sure how much time had passed. Although, I kind of knew I was having more fun than I should have after the fifth glass. Or at least I thought it was the fifth glass.
"The nerve of that guy," said Silver.
"I know right? Despite all the work I do, I still get little to no respect."
"Well you know what, if what you say is true, then you are a hard working colt. I could use a young lad like yourself working for me. Why don't you quit and work for me?" he asked.
"You mean that?"
"Sure! You seem like an interesting sort. I knew you were different from the rest of these bigots the moment you stepped in."
I raised an eyebrow, "You did? What made you think that?"
He chuckled, "Well for one thing, none of these ponies would be caught dead in what you are wearing. Second, it was also the way you walked."
"The way I walked?"
"When you work in this business as long as I have, you begin to notice that little things can say a lot about somepony. Many ponies I have worked with walk with their heads held high. The higher their head, the more ponies they look down upon. They walk with what they consider 'elegance,' but I call that 'arrogance.' You walked with your head low and it has been a while since I saw a pony like that. It might be from the way you were raised or because you didn't start rich... But you are a breath of fresh air."
I really didn't know what to say to him. Before I could say anything, one of the staff members came up to me. "Excuse me sir, are you by chance Titanium? You own that little wagon with the cloth?"
"Umm, yes. Is something wrong?" I asked.
"I'm sorry sir, but we are so busy that we didn't have a chance to tell you."
"Tell me what?" I asked confused.
"We meant to deliver a message to you before we left. The freight car was full and we couldn't move your wagon on board. We had it moved to the refrigerated cart instead."
He was still talking, but everything went silent the moment he said that. I was still in a daze from the wine, but I heard exactly what he said. Without thinking, I lunged at the pony; causing him to fall on his back and I stood above him. "What do you mean it is in the refrigerated car?" I asked with a deep and angry tone a voice.
The pony tried to cover his face with his forelegs. He struggled to speak, "W-we thought you wouldn't mind. Since th-the wagon had c-cloth. We ap-p-ologize for-."
I was so furious that I had no interest in his apologies. I had to admit, I was so angry that I wanted to bash his muzzle in. "How could you just assume huh? Maybe there was something UNDER the cloth, something that can't be in the cold, something VERY important to me. Did you ever think of that!?!"
Suddenly, a magical aura surrounded me and I was levitated off the ground. I was unable to move as the staff member got back on his hooves and ran. From the corner of my eye, I spotted a unicorn guard. "I would say you had enough for tonight. Why don't we get some fresh air?" I couldn't scream or speak as he walked me out of the cart. "Sorry everypony," he shouted, "I will handle this matter personally. Please enjoy yourselves and return to what you were doing." As I was being escorted out of the cart, I couldn't help but notice the look of disapproval from Silver.