After making Iron Will promise, under penalty of beating him to within an inch death, to never extort another person again and getting proper directions to Trottingham, I set off again. He hadn’t been lying about how fast I could get there. Within two hours I could see the city’s massive wall; it reminded me of something…how did that song go again? Oh yeah...
I dig my hole you build a wall
I dig my hole you build a wall
One day that wall is gonna fall
Gon' build that city on a hill
Gon' build that city on a hill
Someday those tears are gonna spill
So build that wall and build it strong cause
We'll be there before too long
Gon' build that wall up to the sky
Gon' build that wall up to the sky
Someday your bird is gonna fly
Gon' build that wall until it's done
Gon' build that wall until it's done
But now you've got nowhere to run
So build that wall and build it strong cause
We'll be there before too long
Zia’s song, hopefully no one had made threats to this city. I stopped when I reached the wall, it was a truly awe inspiring sight. By pony standards I was a giant, but my height was dwarfed twice over by the walls. If I needed to I could jump over it with ease, I just had to hope it never came to that. Just from looking at the walls I could tell that the city had been built to be keep the people safe, after all walls are usually built to keep something out.
If Bridle Gossip was anything to go by the inhabitants of the city would react very badly to a giant armored talking rabbit. I set my backpack on the ground, according to our agreement I should be able to turn into Lopmon and back into Antylamon at will, so it should be as simple as making the decision to digivolve into Lopmon. I saw white and felt my body tingling when my sight cleared I was staring over the top of my backpack and I felt distinctly flushed. That answers another question, which I would likely explore at a later time.
My giant brown pink tipped ears were surprisingly easy to move, lift left, and point it straight up, do the same with the right, now down. The grass between my pink furred toes felt cool and crisp in the afternoon warmth. Now I was faced with the problem of what to do with my backpack. I could leave it there but something could happen to. In the end I wrapped it in my three foot ears and carried it on my head.
It took me almost thirty minutes to find the gate where a rather bored looking guard sat perusing a magazine in a kiosk just inside the wall marked “Information and Tourism”. He was a unicorn guard who had yellow fur, purple mane and tail, and wore a faded green beret and a pocketed khaki shirt with The Marshals stitched in black on the sleeves. Poor guy must have been out here for hours, and if Equestria’s population was only in the low millions he probably had very little to do when on duty. Without even looking up he floated out a book, quill and ink.
“Caravan, citizen, pilgrim, or…?”
“Courier.” I replied
“Just need something for the log book, keeping tabs on traffic through the gate…although mostly just in, not out these days.” He said
“Has there been a lot of gate traffic today then?”
“No, it’s slowed down for now. The Dragon Migration is taking place this year so some people are moving to safety now, rather than wait and run the risk of being attacked.”
“Did you just say some people and not someponies?”
“I did,” he nodded “We get creatures of all kinds when disasters happen. The main fields just inside the walls have plenty of space for temporary housing in emergency situations. As a result of our location disasters are more common than you might think, freak storms from the Everfree, volcanic and seismic events from the wastes, stuff like that.”
“Oh, how”
“Often?” he finished my question“Between six and ten times a year. Now here is your complimentary tourism guide and map of the city and the surrounding area as well as a list of all major city and national laws. Please enjoy your time in the city of Trottingham.”
I took the levitated brochures in my pink furred hand paws as I thanked him and took my first steps into the city. I was greeted by the sight of a massive lush field and in the distance I could see shapes I recognized as canvas tents. It took me ten minutes to reach the evacuees’ bustling tent village. There were ponies everywhere I looked; Unicorn, Pegasi, and Earth Ponies walking or flying around talking to one another. Booths and tables had been set up somewhere to form a sort of impromptu marketplace, I could hear it but I couldn’t see it. At all of two feet tall I was shorter than the average foal and had to be careful not to get stepped on by the adults who where crossing the main road. Those who did see me swerved to avoid my path and avoided my gaze.
I knew they had never seen a Digimon before, but aren’t ponies supposed to be nice to everyone? On a few occasions somepony bumped into me and didn’t even bother to apologize before walking away. As I stood there in the midst of the hustle and bustle outside the city proper I started to think that maybe I had made a mistake in thinking Equestria was a paradise.
Just like with Bastion, in Trottingham things are not always what they seem.