//------------------------------// // 450 - Reunion Station // Story: Lateral Movement // by Alzrius //------------------------------// “Next stop, Vanhoover!” announced the conductor, squeezing through the press of ponies as he made his way toward the next passenger car. “Next stop, Vanhoover!” “Finally!” groaned Slip ‘n’ Slide, shifting in place as he let the conductor pass. “I didn’t think I was going to make it!” “It’s your own fault,” chuckled Funshine, who unlike his brother was still seated, rather than having to remain standing in the middle of the crowded car. “I told you that you’d lose your seat if you got up, but you didn’t listen.” The comment earned him a sour look from Slip ‘n’ Slide. “Well excuse me for not being able to live on apples for every meal! I’m glad we don’t have to scrounge for food anymore, but that doesn’t mean I can eat the same thing all the time,” he groused. “Besides, you could have saved my seat!” “It’s hard to save a seat when an elderly pony is the one asking to sit down, Slip,” retorted Granola Bar calmly, nodding toward the wrinkled old stallion sitting in what had been Slip ‘n’ Slide’s seat, his snoring undisturbed by the commotion around him. “And we told you that your idea wasn’t a good one. There was no way the ponies in the dining car were going to trade you anything for those apples.” “It was worth a try,” huffed Slip, shifting his weight between his legs in a vain attempt to alleviate his discomfort. “I still can’t believe that so many ponies want to go to Vanhoover,” murmured Hopscotch, glancing around at the packed passenger car. Although the train had been sparsely populated when they’d left Ponyville, more ponies had boarded at each stop, far outnumbering those who’d disembarked, until it had become standing room only now that they’d reached the last leg of the journey. “Don’t they know how bad things are there?” Garden Gate shook her head. “They don’t. Or at least, they don’t know the full extent of it. Remember, Block Party was keeping the truth from getting out. All they know is that the city was flooded, and the recovery was going so badly that the trains stopped going there.” “A lot of them probably had friends and family there, and they’re going to check on them,” added Funshine quietly. The noise of the train and the murmur of dozens of conversations happening all around them gave them a semblance of privacy, despite how crowded the car was. “Or they’re just curious and want to gawk,” snorted Slip ‘n’ Slide. “Or they’re like us,” offered Granola Bar. “Survivors going home.” That comment silenced them all. When the five of them had initially realized that the train was filling up with ponies who were heading to Vanhoover, the possibility that some of them were ponies who’d made it out of the city when the flooding had started had occurred to all of them, accompanied by the hope that they’d run into familiar faces. But depressingly, none of them had recognized any of the new passengers making the journey with them, and conversations that they’d hesitatingly started (not sure if Princess Cadance and Shining Armor had declared them wanted criminals after their escape from Canterlot) hadn’t confirmed anypony to be former residents of Vanhoover on their way back. That didn’t mean that there weren’t any other ponies from Vanhoover on the train, of course. It didn’t even mean that there wasn’t anypony there that they knew. As more and more passengers had filled the cars, it had become harder and harder to move around and talk to anyone. “And besides,” Granola Bar had reminded them yesterday, “if there are any survivors, they’ll probably be in towns closer to Vanhoover, so they won’t board the train until we get closer to the city.” So it was entirely possible that somepony they knew was in a nearby car, separated from them by the crowd. That was just as well, though. After the initial round of disappointment at not finding someone they’d lost, none of them had been able to bring themselves to go looking again. Getting their hopes up only to have them dashed was pointless, especially when it would be easier to search the crowd after they reached the city and everyone disembarked. Something which would happen in a few minutes, Garden realized as she felt the train slowing down. As if hearing the thought, the buzz of overlapping conversations suddenly grew louder, as the ponies surrounding them began to shift and move in sudden agitation. “Whoa!” yelped Funshine, visibly alarmed by what was happening. “What’s going on?!” “I don’t know!” yelped Slip ‘n’ Slide, struggling to keep his balance as he was jostled from all sides. Craning his neck, he peered through the crowd. “I think…I think there’s something outside that everypony’s looking at!” Unlike before, he had to raise his voice to make himself heard, the rush of conversations steadily rising toward a deafening roar now. “Outside?” Hopscotch peered out the window next to their seats, but it was pointless. With the train headed due west, their seats were now facing south, giving her a view of nothing except the river that led to the bay. “What is it?” “Do I look like I’m near a window?” snapped Slip ‘n’ Slide irritably. “See if you can push through the crowd and see what’s got them so upset,” suggested Granola Bar. “It’s only a few feet away.” “I’ll do it,” offered Garden, rising to her hooves as she saw Slip ‘n’ Slide about to tell Granola Bar exactly what he thought of her suggestion. “You can take my seat, Slip.” But the earth stallion shook his head, swallowing his ire with a resigned frown. “Your horn is still healing. I’ll go see what’s pinching everyone’s flank.” With a long-suffering sigh, Slip ‘n’ Slide started to fight his way through the crowd, disappearing into the press of bodies a second later. Funshine couldn’t help but roll his eyes at the exchange. “And that was the guy who thought he’d be able to talk the Element of Generosity into helping us.” “I notice that you never offered him your seat,” pointed out Granola Bar. That was enough to make Funshine blush, giving a guilty grin as he shrugged. Looking over at Garden, he tried to change the subject. “So what do you think’s going on?” The question was idle. Her answer, however, was anything but. “I don’t know, but I’m sure it has something to do with Lex and the princesses.” No one said anything to that, and the four of them sat there in silence until Slip ‘n’ Slide made his way back to them almost a minute later. “I’d like to point out,” he grunted as he emerged from the wall of ponies, “that we could have just waited until we got there to see what all the commotion was about.” “Did you find out what’s going on?” asked Garden, ignoring his griping. “Yeah.” Slip glanced back at the crowd for a moment, and when he turned to look at her again, his expression had changed from one of aggravation to one of concern. “The train station has been destroyed.” “Okay, so, now what?” Huddled with her friends on the platform – the only part of the train station that was still intact – Garden didn’t answer Funshine’s question, instead staring at the wreckage of what had been, just over a week ago, the camp’s only permanent structure. Now it was a collection of stones, broken beams, and twisted metal, a situation that she felt certain had to be the result of a battle. It wasn’t a good sign, she knew. That there had been some sort of altercation between Lex and the Royal Sisters had been something she’d figured out before they’d left Ponyville. There had simply been too many clues to ignore. Princesses Celestia and Luna leaving Canterlot in the care of Princess Cadance and her husband. Luna’s negative reaction in her dream to Garden’s telling her about Lex’s use of curses. The way the sun had suddenly fallen out of the sky for a few minutes several days ago. Soft Mane and Spike reading Twilight’s letter out loud, confirming that something terrible had happened to Princess Luna and that Lex was responsible. It all added up to a single conclusion, which was that the elder alicorns had journeyed to Vanhoover to meet with – or confront – Lex, and that a fight had broken out. And now, here was the train station, razed to the ground…quite possibly with Lex under it. The thought made Garden’s stomach clench with worry. It had taken her some time to figure out, but she’d eventually realized how much she’d come to admire the stallion who had saved not only her life, but given her back her self-respect. As moving as it had been to receive forgiveness from Comfy Cozy and Pillowcase, it had been Lex Legis who had forced her to confront what a monster she’d become, and in doing so go through the painful process of reclaiming the best part of herself. It was because of him that she was Garden Gate again, instead of still being Fencer. But while the sun setting in the afternoon and Twilight’s letter made it seem like the princesses had come away from their fight with serious wounds, that still meant that they’d come back from it. There hadn’t been any such indications for Lex, and now, staring at the ruins of the station, Garden found herself contemplating the worst. Not again, she thought numbly. First my dad. Then Turbo. Not Lex too. “Garden?” Shaking her head at Hopscotch’s calling her name, Garden pulled herself together. “Now we find out what happened here,” she answered at last. All around them, ponies were still pouring out of the train, talking and mingling with each other and the camp ponies that had come to greet them. “Something like this should have been a huge spectacle. Everypony here should have seen it, which means that it shouldn’t be hard to find out if Lex is still alive.” “Excuse me,” came a new voice, causing the group to turn in place. The newcomer was a rather pretty pegasus mare, dressed in a rather provocative maid uniform that showed off the feather duster cutie mark on her flank. Rather than speaking to them, however, she was flying a few feet above the crowd, looking every which way as she tried to flag down ponies at random. “E-excuse me!” she called again, only to be ignored as everypony milled about. “Excuse me!” “We should talk to her,” announced Slip ‘n’ Slide, his eyes firmly on the maid’s flank. “We should definitely talk to her,” nodded Funshine, his gaze locked on the same place. Snorting in amusement at the pair’s reaction, Garden’s horn lit up, a matching aura appearing around one of the frills on the maid’s uniform before it gave a light tug in their direction. Following the sensation, she glanced over at them in time to see Garden raise a hoof and beckon her over. A grateful smile crossed her face as she flapped her wings and touched down next to them. “Thank you, I didn’t think anypony was listening to me,” she panted, her voice filled with relief. “My name’s Feather Duster, and I’m looking for a mare named Granola Bar who might have been on this train. Do you know her?” The question caught everyone off-guard. Garden had been planning on asking her if she knew what had happened to the station and if Lex Legis was alright, but now all she could do was look over at her friend, who was wide-eyed at her name being mentioned by a total stranger. “Me?” asked Granola Bar after a moment. “You’re looking for me?” Feather Duster’s eyes widened as well. “You’re Granola Bar?!” The corners of her lips turned up. “This is wonderful! Miss Bank left word with Trotsworth that you and your friends are invited to stay at her manor, and he told the rest of the staff to be on the lookout for you if you showed up!” “Wait, hold on a second.” Granola Bar’s eyebrows rose as she put the pieces together. “Miss Bank…you mean Piggy’s mom?!” Feather Duster nodded, as though that were the most obvious thing in the world. “Yes, she-” “BABE!” Before she could say anything else, Feather Duster was suddenly scooped up by a passing pegasus stallion and held aloft in a crushing hug. “I knew you’d be okay!” laughed the stallion, having white fur and a chestnut-brown mane and tail. His cutie mark was an exclamation point with a hoofball for the dot. For her part, Feather Duster could only stare in shock at the pony embracing her, eyes wide and mouth open. Finally, she got herself under control enough to utter a single word. “Tryout?!”