//------------------------------// // Chapter 8: The Train // Story: To Earn One's Wings // by HollowPony //------------------------------// To Earn One’s Wings Chapter 8: The Train The moon hung high in the sky as Thunderbolt and Aurum stepped into the Canterlot train station. The station was a gigantic complex made almost entirely out of glass. The marble floor was decorated with images of the sun and moon along with a mosaic of Celestia herself. To the right of the entrance was a notice board.  “Where’s Char?” Aurum asked as she shifted a large saddlebag on her side. “He said he’d meet us here.” Thunderbolt looked around the station. It was nearly deserted. Some straggles last stragglers milling around, waiting for the last trains to come into or leave the station. From the corner of his eye, Thunderbolt saw a duo of guards escorting a pony in rags in the direction of the train station’s entrance. When they got close he overheard them offering to take him to a nearby homeless shelter. One of them glanced at Thunderbolt and narrowed his eyes. Thunderbolt nodded in greeting. The pony in rags coughed and the guards had to keep him from falling over. Something poked Thunderbolt in the side. He turned and saw Aurum pointing at something. Following her hoof, he saw that she was pointing at the noticeboard.  The noticeboard itself was nothing noteworthy. A plain black notice board with various notices pinned on it: A charity asking for donations, a notice about a missing cat, a mare was advertising her tailor business. One pony was even offering fortune-telling and exorcism services. But that wasn’t what caught Thunderbolt’s eye. What caught his eye was a poster with a silver-eyed stallion. With beige fur and a close-cropped brown mane, the stallion was uncannily similar to Thunderbolt. The picture’s caption confirmed it.  WANTED: Thunderbolt Stormbringer  CHARGE: First-degree murder The suspect is to be considered armed and dangerous. DO NOT APPROACH. Any information is to be sent to Lieutenant Notebook of the Royal Guard.  Thunderbolt yanked the poster from the noticeboard. He swore in disapproval before pulling his hood down to cover more of his face.  “What now?” Aurum asked. “I’m not sure.” Thunderbolt started folding the poster. “I didn’t expect the Guard to put up a call for information this quickly. We’ll have to tread lightly.”  “I’m just surprised that they didn’t offer a reward,” a growling voice lazily opined. Glancing upwards Thunderbolt saw a black lizard laying on the noticeboard like a lazy scally cat.  “Char?” “Who else?” The dragon stretched himself and jumped from the noticeboard into Thunderbolt’s head. “Let’s go. Before that train leaves without us.” “Wouldn’t it be better to hide in my saddlebag? A dragon would attract attention.” Char snorted. “I might yield to the force that compels me to cooperate with you ponies, but I will not lower myself to the level of a pet that needs to be carried around by its owner.” Thunderbolt shrugged. “Suit yourself. Rosie, do you see where the Ponyville train platform is?” “I’m not sure,” Aurum mumbled through a yawn. She pointed to a giant rectangular crystal suspended over the train tracks. On it, the names of cities appeared next to a series of numbers. “The Manehattan station has something like that shows when all of the trains are coming and going. Maybe we could look there.”  Thunderbolt narrowed his eyes at the crystal. He found the entry for the Ponyville third from the bottom. The train was on the second platform, departure in five minutes.  “The train leaves in five minutes.” Thunderbolt started pulling Aurum along. “Let’s get moving.” The train was almost empty. In the first car, a family of earth ponies sat in the corner. Across from them was a single unicorn filly looking out the window. From the corner of her eyes, she saw the unusual form of Char perched on Thunderbolt’s head. Her head spun in his direction with an excited gasp. Her gasp attracted the attention of the earth Pony family. They noticed Char’s presence and reacted with a mix of excitement and nerves. The earth pony foals made excited shouts before being quieted by their mother, who was casting nervous glances at the dragon. Their father glared at him warily. “Let’s try the next car,” Thunderbolt whispered. While they were walking through the car a unicorn stallion stepped through the door on the front end of the train. He looked at the group approaching him and stepped into the booth with the unicorn foal. He pushed the foal behind him when the group passed him and she tried to get an even closer look. His eyes narrowed in suspicion when they met Char’s emerald eyes. Char snorted and stepped into the next car. This car was empty save for a greying pegasus stallion asleep on the far side. “This one is fine,” Char growled. He hopped off of Thunderbolt’s head, onto the back of the nearest velvet lined bench, scurried down the side and made himself at home on the seat. He looked like a cat sitting on the edge of a sofa. A scaly, fire breathing cat.  “This is so exciting,” Aurum gushed as she sat down on the bench next to the window and stowed her bag under the seat. Thunderbolt sat down next to her. “It’s like we’re in one of those spy novels.” “Except we’re not in a novel, are we?” Char growled. “Not only the fate of your nation but your very life may depend on our success. Treat this task with the seriousness it demands.”   “Oi, what’s biting you, Scales?”  “Since you’re asking, I’ll start with that nickname.” Char snorted. “What in God’s name possessed you to give me a nickname? And, more importantly, do you even have a plan?” “No. I need more information first. Hopefully, Celestia’s contact will be able to provide some.”  “Brilliant,” Char snorted. “We have no plan and must escort an airhead with no combat experience.”  “Hey, I’m not that bad,” Aurum protested her designation as an airhead.  Char sighed. “I suppose that I was fated to die someday. I just wish that it was on the battlefield surrounded by comrades.” Thunderbolt rolled his eyes. “No need to be that fatalistic. We’ll figure something out.” Thunderbolt looked down the aisle. “We have to,” he mumbled.  The train screeched around them as it pulled out of the station. Thunderbolt glanced out the window. The shining beacon of light that was Canterlot grew small in the distance like a lighthouse to a ship sailing off into the open ocean. He blankly stared at the mountainside city as his thoughts started drifting. ‘Char’s right, I don’t have a plan. I don’t have any idea of where to start looking for The Sage. I’ll figure something out. I always do. But... Surviving by the skin of my teeth isn’t going to cut it this time. My life isn’t the only one at stake. I'll just have to keep it in mind as things progress. But still, there's that voice that told me to protect Rosie... what the hell is it? Who does it belo-’ Stabbing pain in Thunderbolt’s side interrupted his thoughts. His head swivelled in the direction of the pain. He saw Aurum pointing at something behind him. Behind him was an aquamarine unicorn mare wide smile on her face. A small briefcase floated behind her. The mare’s pale cyan mane bobbed happily up and down as she seemed to bounce to a beat only she could hear. Thunderbolt raised an eyebrow and inspected her head to hoof. He saw a picture of a lyre on her flank, but nothing else of note. “Hi,” the mare excitedly greeted him. Her entire body seemed to move as she waved her hoof above her head, despite standing right in front of the group. Thunderbolt nodded back in greeting. “You wouldn’t happen to have a free seat for me?” she twittered on, either ignoring or not noticing the muted response to her greeting. She glanced at the free seat next to the window and her smile seemed to grow wider.  “Of course,” Aurum answered before Thunderbolt could send her away. “Char, could you scooch over to make space for her?” she asked the dragon as politely as she could. Char narrowed his eyes at her. “You don’t need to do that,” the mare said and deposited her briefcase on the empty seat beside. She started squeezing past Thunderbolt and Char to the seat next to the window. The dragon and pony leaned back as far as they could to let her past.  “My name’s Lyra,” the mare said once she sat down. “Lyra Heartstrings.” “Char,” came a growl from next to her. “Aurum,” the pegasus said with a yawn.  “Thunderbolt,” the winged unicorn said. “Why sit with us, Lyra?” he asked suspiciously. She pointed at the next car over. “There’s no one else in there. So I thought that I might come up to look for some company and I found you,” she said with a bright smile.  “I see,” Thunderbolt said quietly. An awkward silence grew among the group. The train rumbled rhythmically around them. Aurum gave a final yawn and her head drooped in slumber. After a moment her head fell onto Thunderbolt’s shoulder. Privately he thought that her soft snores were adorable and he even blushed when he heard Lyra’s giggling. He pulled his hood over his head to hide his blush. His ear twitched as he heard Char’s bemused snort. He peeked from under the hood to see the corner of Char’s mouth curling upwards in a bemused sneer.  “So you can laugh,” Thunderbolt mocked. Glancing at Lyra he noticed that she kept glancing at Char. Another bout of silence grew after that. “Soooo…” Lyra broke the silence. “What’re you guys planning to do in Ponyville?” “Visiting a friend,” Thunderbolt answered. “Work,” Char growled curtly at the same time.  “What sort of work?” Lyra asked with shining eyes, clearly more interested in the dragon than Thunderbolt. Char gave his lips a nervous lick. He glanced at Thunderbolt. He knew that he couldn’t tell her about the mission that Celestia gave them. He had assumed that once he said that he was just working that the conversation would stop there. “W-w-ell,” he stammered while wracking his brain for plausible jobs a dragon could do in a land of ponies.  “He’s conducting a geological survey for some company in Canterlot,” Thunderbolt saved him. “You know how dragons and gems are. Always gathering them up into their hoards. A friend of mine calls them the magpies of the reptile world.” “I’d love to meet that friend,” Char whispered in a threatening growl.  “Wow,” Lyra exclaimed. “Dragons sure are amazing,” she stared at Char with amazement in her eyes.  “If you want to say something spit it out,” he growled.  “Can I-,” the mare started, her cheeks darkening in a slight blush. “Can I touch your scales?” “What?” Char reacted in confusion. “Why would you want to do that?” “I-I-I’ve never felt dragon scales before,” she stammered. “I was wondering how they felt.” “Perhaps I should get you two a private car,” Thunderbolt suggested with a chuckle.  Char glared at him with narrowed eyes. Lyra’s face turned bright red. “I don’t mean it like that,” Lyra protested. “It’s purely academic.” “Academic?” Thunderbolt asked doubtfully. “Are you some sort of professor?” “No, I’m a musician,” she admitted. “But I’m really just curious about non-ponies. Honest. Nothing more.” “Sure, Miss Heartstrings,” Thunderbolt chuckled with a knowing smile as he brushed off her protest. “Good luck, Scales,” he said as he closed his eyes and let the train rock him to sleep. The last thing he heard was Char protesting the curious musician’s request. Thunderbolt found himself in a clearing in the middle of a forest. A thick fog covered the floor of the forest, stopping at the treeline. It coiled and curled around tree trunks. Shapes shifted and stirred just beyond the treeline. Thunderbolt’s ear twitched as he heard a voice swear behind him. He whipped around, horn aglow. Behind him, on a black and white checkered blanket was Aurum. At least it looked like her. Something kept gnawing at the back of his mind. A feeling of wrongness; that something was not as it seemed. Something seemed to lurk in the corner of his eye, just out of sight, always disappearing when he turned to look at it. Shaking his head he approached Aurum. She was holding a hoof to her mouth while another was holding a steaming cup. Her eyes shot up and met Thunderbolt’s. She smiled and beckoned him over with a friendly wave. He hesitated. That gnawing feeling just wouldn’t go away. He shook his head again and Thunderbolt sat down on the blanket. Aurum gave him a steaming cup from a thermos lying next to her. Inside the cup was black tea. Thunderbolt swirled the rust-red liquid in his cup and took a sip. He licked his lips and looked at the Aurum, who was humming a tune Thunderbolt was unfamiliar with.  “So, tell me,” he asked, shifting his eyes from the pegasus mare to the treeline, where the shifting shapes and stirring shadows seemed to be getting closer. “What are you doing here, Rosie?” “Doing where?” Aurum asked back, a look of peace on her face.  “Don’t be coy,” Thunderbolt answered. “A clearing in the middle of a misty forest is hardly the place for a city mare like you.” “A forest?” Aurum asked, her eyes widening. “I admit,” Thunderbolt said with a sly smile on his face. “I can see why you’d come here. It’s a pretty place, but a forest that seems to be filled with monsters makes the trip… less than appealing.” “We’re in a forest?”  Aurum asked again, her breathing shallow. Thunderbolt raised an eyebrow.  “Rosie?” Thunderbolt stood up “What’s going on?” “Get away from me!”Aurum yelled as she backed away from him, her eyes darting around like a gecko on a hotplate. It was like she was seeing the shapes in the treeline for the first time. Thunderbolt frowned. He saw genuine fear in those eyes.  “Rosie, what is going on?”  Aurum didn’t answer him. Thunderbolt opened his mouth when a shadowy figure in the shape of a wolf peeled from the treeline behind Aurum. It started bounding toward her, a snarl coming from its shadowy throat. Fog coiled around its legs spread out into the clearing the further he got from the treeline. Thunderbolt lit his horn and shot a beam of raw magic at it. The beam went straight through the shadow wolf. It stopped and turned its eyeless head in Thunderbolt’s direction.  “Run!” Thunderbolt yelled at Aurum. She seemed paralysed. He shot at the shadow wolf again. Another shadow peeled itself from the treeline, a shadowy chimaera. Both started advancing at them again. Thunderbolt took Aurum by the shoulders and started shaking her.  “We can’t stay here!” he yelled at her. “Those things seem immune to magic and we don’t have time to find out how to kill them.” Aurum just stared at him blankly. The shadow wolf was getting closer. A shadow chimaera rushed into the clearing and a shadow pony was not far behind it.  “Look, I don’t know what’s going on but we can’t stay here,” Thunderbolt tried to explain quickly. “I don’t know how to fight these things and I definitely can’t figure it out while you stand here like a lemon, so I’m begging you, for the love of God, RUN!” This seemed to have put life into Aurum. She started running in the opposite direction of the approaching shadows. She shot into the treeline, the fog and shaped parting before her. Thunderbolt took off after her. He caught up to her quickly.  “What’s going on?” “I’m dreaming. I think. I’ve had this nightmare every time I fall asleep the last few days” Aurum shook her head. “I’m just confused. It’s never helped me escape the clearing before.” “I don’t think that your nightmares are doing you any favours. It's possible that we’re sharing a dream. Don't ask me how. Just keep moving. I don’t know what happens if we die while sharing a dream, but whatever happens, I doubt that it’s pleasant.” “Are you sure we won’t just wake up?” Aurum asked him as they ran. She glanced back.  “We might,” Thunderbolt answered, looking back as well. The shadows were chasing after them. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw shadows on either side of them. “I don’t want to test it if I don’t have to, though, so keep running.” Thunderbolt pushed Aurum to the side as a shadowy claw shot from the fog. Thunderbolt felt the wind on his side as he narrowly avoided it. Looking forward again he saw a mountain looming up before them, a gaping cave right in front of them like the mountain’s yawning mouth. He saw Aurum’s step falter as they got closer and closer to the cave. His felt himself hesitate as they grew closer as well. The inky blackness of the cave was no more inviting than the fog and shadows of the forest. Then he slammed into the ground. He glanced back. A thick shadow was coiled around one of his hind hooves. It started to drag him into the fog. He looked forward and saw that Aurum had turned around and was coming back.  “No!” he cried, trying to stop her. “Keep moving!” Then a shadow flew out of the mouth of the cave, caught her around the throat and yanked her inside like a frog that caught a fly. He screamed her name as the shadow around his leg tugged and pulled him in the opposite direction. “Can I draw your picture?” Lyra asked, her eyes shining with excitement.  “Excuse me?” Char asked back. He frowned. She had interrupted him while he was in the middle of explaining how dragons dealt with lice and ticks, usually by taking a dip in a coolish pool of lave, when she had changed the subject with her question. “Can I draw a picture of you?” she repeated, her eyes still shining. Char raised a questioning eyebrow. Then he looked forward and saw Thunderbolt and Aurum’s sleeping forms. Thunderbolt’s head had drooped to the side and was resting on Aurum’s. Her head was still laying on his shoulder. Char’s scowl softened into a nostalgic smile. The sight reminded him of his son snuggling up to his mate. “I’ve already been too lenient in allowing your pestering requests up until now. If you want something to draw, draw them,” he growled and nodded his head in his companion’s direction.  Lyra looked in their direction.  “Aww,” she cooed. “They look like a couple,” she squealed with delight as she set aside a notepad and plucked a sketchpad from her briefcase. Char grinned at her delight. She reminded him of a hatchling whose wings have just grown in. The rattling of the train mixed with the scratching of a quill on paper as he replayed sweet memories in his head.  “They look like they’re having nightmares,” Lyra broke into his thoughts. Char looked at the ponies. The serene faces of the sleeping ponies had morphed into troubled grimaces. Aurum even let a frightened whimper slip from her lips. As they watched she threw her hooves around Thunderbolt and squeezed closer to him as if he was a buoy and she a drowning mare.  “So it seems,” he growled in agreement.  “Should we wake them?” she asked. “No,” Char growled with finality. “I don’t think that would be wise.” “But they are having nightmares,” Lyra argued. “Yes,” he agreed. “And if we wake them we will rob them of what the nightmare had to show them.” “What do you mean?” “The dragon sages have maintained that your dreams show you your path. You pony head doctors have said something similar. I’ve heard them say that dreams reflect a creature’s desires and fears. Let them sleep and see what they must see. Let them learn.” “I guess,” Lyra said in defeat. The lone sound of the rattling train filled the silence in the train car. Char glanced at her. She was staring at Thunderbolt and Aurum. Concern flooded from her eyes. Her quill and sketchpad lay abandoned on the side of her seat. The picture of the sleeping ponies was almost finished, she just needed to add the faces. Char sighed.  “You said that you wanted to draw a picture of me,” he growled at her. She whipped her head in his direction. “Yes, why do you ask?” she asked distractedly.  “You staring at them like that is not going to help them,” the dragon growled. “So I thought that I might distract you by granting your earlier request.” Lyra picked up her sketchpad and quill. A sparkle of her earlier excitement had returned to her. “Could you please hold still?” she ordered Char and flipped over to the next page. Thunderbolt found himself on his stomach, strapped to a cold operating table. He noticed that his wings were gone. He started struggling against the straps. Despite the fact that he knew that this was a dream he felt that he needed to get out of here. Suddenly a white-hot spear of pain lanced into his side, where his wings were supposed to be. He suppressed a groan of pain through gritted teeth. ‘I thought that this was a dream,’ he thought, his mind panicking. ‘Don’t dreams end when you get hurt?’ He glanced back. He saw a shape shuffling and shifting next to him. It seemed to hold whatever was lodged in Thunderbolt’s side. As he watched the shape’s form solidified. It took the shape of a pony, its fur white and covered in a golden barding. Circular bits of metal was lodged in its eyes. Small streams of blood dripped from what was left of the sockets. The eyeless sockets stared at him. The shape twisted whatever was in Thunderbolt’s side. “You left us!” it hissed in a low gravelly voice.  “You were dead when I found you,” Thunderbolt hissed back through a grunt of pain.  Another spear of pain lanced into his other side. Thunderbolt whipped his head around and saw another shifting, shuffling shaped holding onto whatever was lodged into his side. It moulded itself into another pony, its fur white and covered in the same golden barding as his counterpart on Thunderbolt’s other side. However, instead of standing on four regular pony legs, he was perched on six long, carapaced spider legs that kept skittering and fidgeting. His eyes, as blue as chips of ice and just as cold, bore into Thunderbolt’s soul. “You released him!” it hissed in a voice as black as death.  “You left us!” his counterpart on Thunderbolt repeated.  The two ponies, as much as they could be called that, twisted the things in Thunderbolt’s sides. He grunted in pain.  “How was I supposed to know what he’d do?” he said through gritted teeth.  “But you gave him the opportunity,” a lilting female voice said from his front. Thunderbolt whipped his head forward. His eyes widened. He saw a mare approaching him. Her legs were long and slender. Her silky black mane and tail hung limply around her body. Her mane was parted by a horn coated in blood. A small, thin stream ran down her face, between her dead, green eyes, split in two when it reached her snout. In her throat was a ragged hole that periodically spurted blood.  “Captain,” Thunderbolt breathed. The ponies twisted the things in his side again, earning another grunt of pain.  “All for a pair of wings,” she continued. A pint of blood spurted from her neck and hit Thunderbolt in his face.  “I didn’t mean for this,” he protested, blood dripping from his lips onto his tongue. The metallic taste of blood filled his mouth.  ‘What sort of dream is this?’ he wondered. ‘Not even nightmares get this vivid.’ “You caused this,” was her only response. She stopped in front of Thunderbolt. The ragged hole in her neck was at Thunderbolt’s eye level. He lifted his eyes, looking both away from the hole and into the Captain’s lifeless eyes. She lowered her head to Thunderbolt’s eye level. She opened her mouth and breathed in. Thunderbolt screamed as pain wracked his body. It felt as if his soul was being pulled through his nostrils. The ponies to his sides kept twisting whatever they held and repeating their phrases of “You released him” and “You left us”. Thunderbolt looked forward and could only see a swirling blackness at the back of the Captain’s throat. For a moment the image shifted. A roiling mass of flesh and tentacles. A gaping maw with its sides lined with teeth. Some part of his mind said that it looked like a leech. Then the image was gone, replaced with the Captain sucking in air like her lungs were a vacuum desperate to be filled. Some part of Thunderbolt’s mind told him that this was the end. He would die here and now, trapped in a hellish nightmare. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see a skeletal pony covered in a tattered black robe. Then a white light filled the room and the last thing Thunderbolt heard was a booming command that rang “BEGONE!” Thunderbolt screamed as he woke. The sound tore from his throat like steam from a burst pipe. Then the scream was cut off when he noticed something curled around his torso. It tightened and squeezed like a particularly eager vice. Thunderbolt felt that the thing was attached to something heavy. He twisted and turned and kicked out at it. The first kick glanced off its side. Thunderbolt vaguely felt fur underneath his hoof. The second kick was dead on and made the thing loosen its grip. The third dislodged the thing and Thunderbolt leapt from the train seat and into the path. He lit his horn with a silver-blue glow and lightning arced around it. He could hear a high pitched scream accompanied by a low growl, but this was far off, almost inaudible through the haze of adrenalin coursing through his veins. He threw his head forward. The lightning gathered at the tip of his horn. Then it sparked weakly and dissipated. Thunderbolt’s heart stopped pounding in his ears. His breathing became deeper and less erratic. His ear twitched as a fearful whimper reached it. His head whipped toward the sound. Lyra’s fearful eyes peeked over Char’s extended wing. The dragon had grown in size, at least as big as a pony now. He had turned his body in Thunderbolt’s direction. His leathery wings covered both Lyra and Aurum behind him. He glared at the winged unicorn.  Char’s shoulders tensed up. His breathing slowed. His emerald eyes narrowed. His lips drew back revealing a threatening set of yellow fangs. He looked like a lion getting ready to pounce.  Thunderbolt, in turn, looked every bit like prey. His eyes were wide with shock. His breathing was still shallow, though it was getting deeper and more consistent with each passing moment. His hoof was on his chest. He could feel his heartbeat slowing down. His silver-blue eyes met Char’s.  “Are you done?” the dragon growled. Thunderbolt flinched. His words were harsh, but with an undertone of care, like a schoolmaster scolding a misbehaving student.  “Yeah. Yeah, I think I am,” Thunderbolt said, his voice unfocused.  Almost if he didn’t properly hear the question. Char retracted his wings and started to gingerly touch Aurum’s body.  “Is she ok?” Thunderbolt asked as he retook his seat. Char cast a wary glance at him before continuing to look Aurum over. Out of the corner of his eye, Thunderbolt could see the greying pegasus at the back of the car glare at him. Thunderbolt flashed the stallion an apologetic smile. “I’m no expert on pony physiology, but nothing seems broken,” Char answered.  “Thank God,” Thunderbolt sighed.  “Indeed,” Char nodded in agreement.  “Sorry about that, Miss Heartstrings,” Thunderbolt said to Lyra.  “That must have been one heck of a nightmare,” Lyra remarked with a nervous laugh. “Yeah,” Thunderbolt chuckled in nervous agreement. “What was the dream about?” she asked. “If you don’t mind, miss, I’d prefer not to talk about it.”   “Oh.”  They grew silent. Thunderbolt stared out of the window. He could vaguely make out trees going by in the midnight gloom. On the horizon, he saw a faint glow of light. Ponyville, he assumed. Some part of his mind wondered why a small town in a land full of ponies was named “Ponyville”, but it was drowned out by the part that wanted to examine his dream. He didn’t really want to. The dream dredged up bad memories. Memories he didn’t want to remember. So he suppressed that part and just stared out the window, not really thinking anything. He idly noted things his senses picked up. The outline of a castle silhouetted by a mountain in the distance, a faint smell of smoke accompanied by the sound of boiling water, the scribbling of Lyra’s quill scratching against the paper.  A high pitched scream from right in front of him brought Thunderbolt’s thoughts back to the train. Aurum bolted up into his field of view. Her eyes were wide with panic and her breathing was shallow and erratic. Then Aurum’s eyes met Thunderbolt’s. He noticed that her pupils had grown so large that her irises were barely visible.  “Rosie. Take deep breaths. You’re safe. You’re fine.” She tried to breathe as deeply as she can, her eyes focused squarely on Thunderbolt. Slowly her breathing became deeper and deeper. She started looking around her. Across from her Lyra had a concerned look on her face.  “What did you dream about?” Lyra asked gently. A rush of word flooded from Aurum’s mouth. Thunderbolt could only make out the words ‘wood’, ‘mine’, ‘father’ and his own name. “Stop,” Char growled. “Gather your thoughts. Then speak.” Aurum closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Then she opened her mouth to speak, but her voice was drowned out by the high pitched squeal of the train pulling into the station. Thunderbolt looked out of the train window. They had pulled into a small, pink train station. It was nearly abandoned. Only a pair of ponies were on the platform. A red earth pony stallion with a close-cropped black mane stood next to a beige earth pony mare. Her mane was a dark blue with a bright pink streak going right through the middle.  “Hey, look,” Lyra exclaimed, pointing her hoof at the couple. “There’s Bon Bon and Onyx!” She stuffed her quill and sketchpad into her briefcase, excitedly climbed over Char and hopped up and down in the aisle. “Come on, Bon Bon makes the best sweets and Onyx’s stories always has me at the edge of my seat. I just have to introduce you!”