//------------------------------// // Hollow, but whole // Story: Shell Shocked // by Featherflutter //------------------------------// His body felt cold. The air conditioning doing its job in the small cabin, keeping the summer heat at bay outside of the train. He shivered a bit, wiping the sleep from his eyes as he took a look at his surroundings. The scene in the window had changed, but the only things that had changed in the cabin was Pipsqueak curled up on the bed, lightly snoring. Various pops and snaps came from his body as he moved around. Once again, he decided to venture out, seeing what his peers are doing. The halls were less foreboding during his second trip, and the walls had less to say. Muffled conversations could be heard from the other cabins, too soft to be reasonably understood. Featherweight thought of going in and saying hi to some of them, but shunned away the thought since he felt awkward being there in the first place. Everypony else thought he wasn’t going up until that day. They are talking about you[/i], He thought, They were fine without you coming. You might be on the trip, but that doesn’t mean they think you have any more worth than when they voted you off. So easily. So quickly. Featherweight’s face hardened as his jaw clenched, an errant twitch in his shoulder. He shook his head, trying to lose his train of thought. He went to pass the last of the cabins before one of the doors slid open, a pony peeking his head out and looking at Featherweight,. “Featherweight! How about you come into our cabin for a moment.” Filthy exclaimed, as he moved out of the way for Featherweight at the door. “O-ok.” Featherweight said, his ears drooped, and his voice soft and shaky. “How are you doing? I hope you’ve been well since I last saw you,” He doesn’t care. “I’ve been fine. Thanks for asking.” Feather said, looking around the cabin, seeing him, Diamond sleeping on the bed, but no Spoiled. His body still trembled from the environment. “They keep these trains cool, don’t they?” Mr. Rich gave him an odd expression before returning to normal, “I suppose so. Though I would much prefer a cool train over a hot train. Celestia knows that would be grueling to sit through.” Featherweight looked out the window again, “Hey do you know what time it is?”r “Oh. Um, yes,” He raised his hoof, inspecting his uselessly elaborate watch. “It’s about a quarter to eight.” “Ah. Ok, thanks,” Featherweight just stood there, trying to avoid eye contact with Mr. Rich, “So is Mrs. Rich grabbing some food?” He finally asked. “Well, no. Actually she had a different arrangement to attend to before we were set to leave, so she won’t be joining us on this trip.” Mr. Rich took the time to look saddened by that admission. “Oh. That sucks. I’m sorry that she had to miss this trip,” Mr. Rich’s eyes widened, “Sorry? There’s nothing for you to be sorry for. But thank you all the same for the sentiment.” The air turned to static, neither pony having anything left to say. “Well, I guess, I’ll be heading back to my cabin. Thanks for the talk, Mr. Rich,” Featherweight said, moving back toward the open doorway. “The pleasure was all mine, young boy. I guess we’ll speak after we get off the train, so until then.” Mr. Rich grinned. Featherweight nodded and left to head back to his cabin, his body still slightly shivering. Once out of sight, Mr. Rich closed the door and sat back down, lowering his head between his hooves. “I know you’re awake, Diamond.” Diamond Tiara stirred from the bed, a solemn look upon her, contrasting her bright pastel pinks and muted purples. “What’s wrong, Daddy?” Filthy kept his head in his hooves, his eyes wide open staring at the floor. He was so thin. He looked like he hadn’t slept at all. He said sorry. He said sorry! After all of that, after what Spoiled put him through, he felt sorry for her. Wait a minute. He sniffed the air, becoming aware of the actual climate. He sat up once again and turned to his daughter, “It’s not that cold in here, is it, Diamond?” “No, not really. It just feels as if it were, well, normal,” Diamond said awkardly, trying to find a way to describe it. “Why?” Filthy closed his eyes, sighing. He was shaking. Why was he shaking if it wasn’t cold? Once again the cabin filled with silence, neither knowing what to say to each other. Neither had the words to bandage the situation. It sat there before them, staring at them, but they could do nothing. Either of them. The silence was finally lifted after a minute or so with Filthy rubbing his eyes with his hooves, “What...What have I done?” ……….. The rest of the trip burned by into the beginning of late afternoon, Featherweight shivering more and more, catching sleep when he could and conversing with Pip about the world’s most pressing problems such as how many birds they had seen as they passed through the foreign landscape. Excitement swelled in both of them as they got closer and closer to their destination, until the train began to decelerate. *bzzzt* Attention all passengers! We will be in Vanhoover within the next five minutes, so please prepare your belongings if this is your stop and have a lovely afternoon in Vanhoover, where ponies prosper by land, air, or sea. *bzzzt* Featherweight and Pipsqueak scrambled to get their stuff, rushing in a flurry to get to one of the exit doors on the train. The train groaned, hissing and squealing as it finally came to a stop, letting out a relieved whistle as it docked at the train station. The chaos of everypony getting off the train and huddling back into a group for roll call was tedious, but quick and Mr. Rich handled the hotel reservations.Before they knew it, everyone was assigned their room. Fillies and colts rushed into their rooms to dump their stuff with their parents and dashed into their friends’ rooms. Since Featherweight and Pip didn’t have parents, they shared a room with each other. Opening their room, Feather gasped at all the luxuries that were stuffed in their room. Coming right from the door on the right was a full kitchen, complete with a fridge, sink and oven. To the middle was a small living room, complete with a couch, table, and Television, with a window to look out at the city life below them, so many stories down. Turning into the bedroom, the two were greeted with massive beds, each one able to fit 5 Featherweights or 12 Pipsqueaks on it all at once. Featherweight sat his bag down, his chest welling up with anticipation as he hovered above the air a bit, right on top of the bed until his wings stopped buzzing and he free fell, legs spread out, waiting to be engulfed by the massive bed. Landing face first, Feather grunted, but rolled around on the soft surface, much to Pipsqueak’s amusement. “Don’t get too comfortable, cause we still have dinner to go to. After that, you can marry the bed for all I care,” Featherweight giggled and sighed, “Alright. Dinner sounds good.” Featherweight then became painfully aware of the hunger that was biting at him from the inside. I haven’t eaten anything. Why didn’t I realize that sooner? I’m starving. Oh well. I’ll worry about that later. As he lay there, Feather turned to look up at the ceiling, staring deep into the magenta void, piecing together exactly where he was right now in life. He smiled, going so far as to laugh a bit at the realization of it all. After the ordeal that has befallen him, Featherweight’s goal was finally achieved. He had made it to Vanhoover.