The stars shone bright, casting deep shadows. The mare in the moon looked almost forlorn as if she knew something bad was beginning to brew. A cool wind blew across the street and settled in my bones. It was going to be winter soon. I hated winter, it never let you get any work done.
Going into town with Apple Bloom didn’t make me feel much better. We were being escorted by the Guard, but it was still dangerous to be out at night. Our hoofsteps echoed silently as we trotted towards Ponyville, the steady beat broken up by Apple Bloom’s limp. She clung to my side closer than a bedbug to a barncat. It felt nice to know she trusted me like that, but it sure didn’t make this any easier. “You can’t keep hanging on to me, Bloom.”
She snorted, drawing away from me and hanging near one of the guards. “I ain’t scared,” she muttered. “I just don’t like the dark is all.”
“Listen to your sister,” one of the guards insisted. “If you’re not scared of the night then you’re a fool. Equestria is dangerous, especially with Nightmare Night drawing near.”
Apple Bloom shivered and drew near me again. I glared at the Guard over her head.
I was dawdling when we got to the train station, and I ain’t too proud to admit it. I ain’t never left Ponyville for longer than a few days since the attack of 986. Back when I was still a filly, an entire mob of monsters managed to get out of the Everfree and rampage all across the town. I ain’t eager to go over what happened, but the long and short of it is that Apple Bloom could have died if I wasn’t there. Which means ever since then, when I’m not keeping an eye on her, I’m having some kind of heart attack. That ain’t good for her or me.
I let my eyes take her in one last time. I wouldn’t be back before Hearth’s Warming, and I was sure I was gonna feel every second of it. She was the very image of a well-behaved filly, which was a little dishonest but I appreciated the effort. Her mane was brushed, her bow was tied nice and tight, and she’d even taken the time to polish her false leg. My smile slipped a little when I looked at it. It was a good replica; it moved exactly like a real one, with fake muscles twitching and shifting with her. Didn't change the fact that it wasn't real.
Apple Bloom turned a little, putting more of her body in between her leg and me. I winced. “I’m sorry, Bloom. Shouldn’t stare.”
“It’s fine,” she said. “I just wish you wouldn’t worry. I’m a big filly now! Zecora’s been teachin’ me tons of stuff!”
I nodded, swallowing a lump that had no business being in my throat. “You mind her while I’m away, ya hear? I need to know ya—” Nope, that ain’t working. Couldn't start crying, this whole thing would turn into a mess.
I turned around and pulled my hat down over my face. After I had a little composure, I risked another look at my filly. “Love Ya.”
“I love ya too.” After glancing around to make sure none of her friends were there to see, she reared up and gave me a hug. “Be careful,” she said.
There were even more ponies than I’d expected in line, and that place was always busy. The Friendship Express Railway Company was enchanted to reach everywhere in the world, no matter what the terrain or distance. Creatures from everywhere traveled on it, from Kirin to Changelings to what’s left of the Pegasi.
Of course, if you leave a door open eventually you get unwanted guests. All around there were bargain-bin crystal balls, candy that lasted forever (ignoring side effects) and other nearly-safe trinkets available for a whole lot more than they were worth. I took a step back to avoid getting trampled by a herd of foals batting around some Icy Firelessworks. “Be careful, will ya?” I shouted after them. “You break one of them things, and they’ll give ya frostbite!”
They didn’t listen, one of them going so far as to flick their tail at me. I snorted in annoyance and trotted forwards in the line, trying not to wince at every pop. “Y'all are sure those things are safe, right?” I asked the pony behind the counter.
The stallion snorted like one of those rich fillies that drinks way to much at parties. His mane was black and his fur was grey, making him look like a pencil sketch brought to life. “My dear madam,” he said genially. I’m pretty sure he’d spent his whole life practicing it, it was so genial. “I can assure you that each and every one of The Friendship Express’s Wonder Emporiums—”
“Y'all can’t just call it a toy shop?” I muttered.
“—Special items is perfectly safe!”
“Uh-huh.” I fixed the stallion with a glare. “I had one of them when I was a filly, and it darn near froze my hoof off.”
He laughed genially, too. “My dear madam,” he said happily, “I can assure you that spellwork has evolved considerably since those days.”
“But the advertisement says ‘It’s the same spell you remember from your foalhood! Like nothing’s changed at all!’”
The stallion froze in place. It took me a moment, but I noticed that he was standing a little too still. His mane and mustache had frozen place with him.
With an odd rustling noise, the stallion lost his color and began to fold down into a flat cartoon. After a few seconds, he was just a small piece of paper. On it was a drawing of the stallion I’d just seen, along with some dialogue next to him. I recognized some of the phrases he’d already used, plus ones alluding to the dangers of bribing a public official and something about not tampering with something, but before I could finish somepony came running up behind me.
“Hey!”
I took a step to the side as a colt just a few years younger than I came sliding to a stop in front of me. He was a Unicorn, with a Mark for drawing on his flank. “Friendship Express… is not responsible… for anything a—”
“Yeah, yeah, sorry for breaking your talkin’ golem.” I glared at him. “Were you supposed to have an actual pony doin’ this, or were you just feeling lazy?”
The colt flinched, and I couldn’t help but feel bad. it was probably his first job. “The Friendship Express is always looking for new ways to help customers, and using magical constructs is a logical route to take,” he said as he picked up the sheet of paper. He delicately placed it in his pocket, making sure not to look me in the eye. “Having artificial creations do menial tasks for free helps with expenditures. We're testing to see how much of the train can be run automatically.”
“I’m sure that’ll trickle back down to customers instead a' management,” I said. “Now, how’s about I buy my ticket before I freeze to death?”
He nodded. Reaching behind the counter, he pulled out a large binder and a stamp. “What’ll it be?”
“Overnight to Rainbow Falls,” I said, “one way. I ain’t gonna be back for a few months.”
He nodded, levitating the stamp with a little bit too much force. “Please lift your hoof. This stamp is good as far as the Rainbow Falls train station, after which it will psychically compel you to leave the train as safely and quickly as possible. If you for some reason need to stay longer, ask one of the porters for an extension. Do you understand and agree with these conditions?”
I nodded brusquely, stretching my hoof out. “Just get it over with.”
The ink felt warm against my fur, probably because it was so cold out anyway. The ink writhed in twisting shapes, eventually resolving themselves in the shape of an hourglass. The black and white image glowed a little under the moon’s light, and I shivered. “Thanks,” I said, maybe a little less politely than I ought’ve, and left.
The rest of the night wasn’t anything special, just getting settled in. The train was either gorgeous or terrible, and I couldn’t settle on which. Most of the cars had been grown into shape by Earth Ponies, and the way it all sort of flowed together was incredible. The paintings on the walls were different moments in time, not just flat pictures of things but everything that happened in one place. I spent ages staring at the Creation of Magic, wishing there were more stories about it. The Royal Sisters looked so young in that picture. Everypony talks about the feeling you get, seeing magic explode as they bring life, but nopony ever talks about how scared they look. I wish they’d lived longer. Seems like they deserved to.
Still, there’re little things that you couldn’t ignore once you noticed them. Like how each car was enchanted to have just enough room for everypony, so it was always bigger than it looked. If you stared at the corners too long you’d notice that they weren’t as far away as the table in front of them was, and then you wouldn’t be able to notice anything else for the whole trip. The sound was all wrong too; just listening to the room you could tell that it was supposed to be about half as big as it was. There were more of those porters/golem things like there was serving tickets outside, and half a dozen of the exact same pony walking around was just weird.
I kept my eyes on the floor and navigated to my room as best as I was able. Settling in barely took any time at all, so it surprised me when I looked out and realized we’d already left Ponyville behind. The Friendship Express was a magical railway, so it passed through a lot of places that weren’t strictly between the place you left and the place you were going. You could see any kind of magic riding them rails, and there was new and bizarre scenery each time you traveled.
Ponyville was right next to the capital, so we got weird stuff. There was a street that never showed up on any maps where you could buy all manner of ‘legal-adjacent’ items. The pond was much too deep, and somehow had a squid that everypony just didn’t question. The Everfree Forest kept existing at us.
Even with all of that, I didn’t expect to be traveling across the bottom of the ocean.
It was so big, I could scarcely take it all in. Far off in the distance, I could almost make out a group of whales, slowly swimming above us and casting deep shadows on the ocean floor. There were so many colors, red and orange and yellow on things that grew and shifted even at night. Fish darted to and fro, doing whatever it was that fish did. One of them swam next to the window, keeping pace with the train.
I chuckled. “Apple Bloom would love you.”
With no small manner of reluctance, I set aside the view and got to work. I pulled out the papers Big Mac had sent with me and frowned. I never had a problem balancing accounts, but it wasn’t my idea of fun. I liked to be outside, getting something real done. But ever since I got my Mark for saving Apple Bloom, I was stuck inside minding the young ‘uns. Once in a while, I had to help shoo off a monster that got over the walls, but mostly I was stuck cooking and washing and so forth.
I wasn’t fool enough to wish for dangerous things to hurt people. This was Equestria, and once in a while, a wish came true. But I longed to be doing something that mattered. Even if it meant doing math and talking business.
I studied them sheets for hours before I checked outside again. It was dark, staggeringly so. We were up on the far side of the mountains now, away from the moon. The lights on the train lit up the immediate area, but anything more than a few hoofwidths away was hidden behind layers of shadow. I didn’t know shadows could have layers before I saw them mountains for the first time.
I shivered and went back to work. If I’d have known how much my life would change by tomorrow, I’d have gotten some more sleep.