They were at a station. To call it a station was, perhaps, a bit generous. It was more of a platform beside the tracks. There was no counter to buy tickets from. There was a single metal bench there, and a sign with lettering noting the prices to board the train. "Standard and deluxe," noted Jon as he read over it.
"Deluxe comes with free meals and drinks. Standard, you're on your own." He considered that. "If it's long enough to need it, gonna guess they still sell it to standard ticketers who are ready to pay during the trip."
Aeorean bobbed his head. "Yup! I usually get a standard, but sometimes I want a drink, so I buy the drink. If we're going a long way, I'll get something small to eat." He held up his hooves close.
Longma scowled at the writing. "These prices are not easy to discern." They were based on how long one planned to be on the train, which meant knowing how far away one was going. "How far away is the one that will pay you?"
Aeorean pointed to the right, northwards. "Gallopingdam is where we need to be." He turned the same hoof to a different sign with a list of cities and their distance. "Here we are. Looks like it'll be 4 silver each for standard."
Longma squinted at it. "It's also four days. You're not going to eat for four days?"
Aeorean shrugged softly. "Cheaper to buy some light snacks than to go for the deluxe ticket."
"Two platinum." She bobbed her head. "And we can eat and drink all we want."
"Each," added Aeorean with a nod. "That's 80 gold total. 16 if we don't do that."
Zecora curled a leg, hoof to chin. "I would normally live off the land. Though to attempt such on a train is likely banned."
Longma inclined her head towards Jon and Zecora. "They're both new to this world. Be a good friend and get us some good tickets." She prodded Aeorean firmly in the side. "Do it for them."
Aeorean squeaked, wings flapping as he bounced away a little. "For you, you mean! You don't fool me, miss!" He huffed and crossed his arms. "This is coming out of the reward."
"Fine by me." Not that Longma had any claim to the reward.
"That's fair," reasoned Jon out loud. "Zecora?"
Zecora inclined her head. "I do not see a need for luxury, but good food and drink will aid in our recovery. My share reduced, before I see it. It still is not there for me to believe it."
Aeorean hopped in place, looking southwards. "Here it comes!" Far down the line, fits of sparks crackled beneath it and to the sides as a great machine moved with an eery quiet, slowing as it came closer. It floated, propelled by... magnetics? Lightning? Electricity was involved, this Jon was certain of. Either way, it came up to a smooth stop, one of its many doors right in front of the platform.
It slid open, revealing a squat man with a big beard.
"Dwarf!" spat out Jon without thinking.
The dwarf descended the steps. "First time seeing one? Ya won't be makin' friends if you go shouting out people's races as a way of greetin'. Now, ya wantin' to get aboard?"
"Excuse him." Longma put out a hoof just to spin it backwards, shoving Jon back along the way. "Hail, good dwarf. We'd like three deluxe tickets and one standard to Gallopingdam."
Aeorean's feathers fluffed suddenly. "Wait, who gets the standard?"
Longma inclined her head. "You, of course. You didn't want to get a deluxe, remember?"
Aeorean threw a hoof high. "Not fair! If you're gonna be living the life, I don't wanna be left out. Four! Make it four deluxe tickets!"
He drew an abacus free, sliding a few beads. "Eight platinum or eighty gold. We don't take silver or copper for tickets that high."
Jon imagined that would be like paying for an airplane ticket entirely in dimes or pennies... "That'd be pretty rude."
"You're telling me?" laughed the dwarf. "It was a blessed day when they made that rule official. Not like it's hard to get yer small coins into something larger if yer plannin' a big purchase." He shook his head with memories of past customer service adventures. "But ya got the look of some people I won't be havin' that trouble with."
"Nope!" Aeorean's wing came down, slapping a bag into the dwarf's ready hands. "Here you go."
He reached in, tinkling through the coins. "Five... seven, eight. There we go." He presented the rest of the bag to be reclaimed. "All paid up. Here you are." He held up a strange machine that produced four shining gold tickets. "The sign there doesn't mention it, but deluxe tickets in a group of three or more gets you a private car for sleeping."
Longma sat up proudly. "Already worth the price."
Jon raised a finger. "Is the private car just for sleeping?"
"If you want a private coach all day long, that's extra. You want that?" He looked ready to tabulate the price.
Aeorean nudged in front of Jon. "He's just curious. We've hit our budget for now, but thanks!"
"Suit yerself. Welcome aboard." He stepped to the side and gestured grandly. "Welcome aboard the Lightning Rail."
Longma pounced up the stairs, bounding over the steps to land on the platform beyond them in a single spring. She was lost to sight immediately, off to explore without hesitation.
Zecora stepped up after her, advancing without fear, but not as quickly. Jon came last. "So did Dwarves build this?"
"Oh, new in Everglow?" asked the dwarf. "Nah, we cannae take all the credit fer it. 'twere a team effort, 'tween the dwarves and our pony allies what made this happen." He gestured at the train in general. "Now get yerself on it. Other people got places to be."
"Right." He ascended after his friends. "Where'd they go..." Ah ha. He spotted the back end of Aeorean trotting down the hallway, Zecora past him. He moved to catch up with them, just to wobble suddenly. The train had resumed motion, throwing off his balance with the given momentum. Still, easier than riding a dragon at least!
Zecora's nose was held high, part of the reason she was so visible even with a pegasus in the way. She was following her nose, finding the dining car up ahead with a smile. "These allow us to be here?" She held up a ticket, stuck to the end of her hoof through unknown forces.
Aeorean bobbed his head. "Anyone can be here, but other people gotta pay for what they ask for. This ticket lets us eat our fill." He inclined his head. "Oh, no to go boxes or anything. You eat it, drink it, or leave it."
"That is fair." Zecora hopped up onto a cushion that was in front of a low table, her tail curling down along the edge of that cushion. "Quite comfortable to compare."
Had he missed a rhyme? He smirked at the thought. A gross injustice, and one he was already over. "Hey you two."
Aeorean waved a wing at Jon eagerly. "Hey! We're gonna get a bite."
"Sounds great." He sank down on an available cushion. It was clearly more made for ponies to perch on, but he could fold his legs just so and it worked fine enough. "Are there waiters?" He didn't see one, just a bartender.
Longma's voice rose from a few tables over, "Just shout what you want, and wave your ticket."
"You don't have to shout," noted the pony bartended with a smirk. "I have good hearing, promise. What'll it be?"
Aeorean clopped his hooves. "Rainbow Greens on a bed of rice and almond sprinkles if you have them!" A big smile was on his face. "One of my favorites."
"Colorful mess with gravel on snow," repeated the pony as if that were exactly what was requested. "On it." Cooking noises began to rise. "What do your friends want?"
Zecora looked to Jon with a little wave of her hooves. It was on him. "Do you have just vegetarian options?"
The pony laughed at the idea. "This is a dwarf and pony show. Dwarves like meat, and some ponies do too. I'd be a bad cook for this job if I only did veggies. You feeling carnivorous today? Promise not to nip me and I'll make up something to sate that predatorial hunger of yours." New sizzling joined the mix, clearly something decided on without Jon's further input.
"That sounds... kinda great," Jon admitted with a shrug. "Can't wait to find out what it is."
Zecora inclined her head. "I admit, I am a little unsure. What do you suggest, a step up from the pasture?"
"Living simple? I'll make up a nice salad like your friend's getting." Soon enough, three plates slid out onto the counter. "Order up!"
But there was not a single person to get said order and bring it to them. "I got it." He had hands. Using them seemed polite. Jon hustled up to the bar, grabbing all three plates with a bit of balancing effort. The scent of his own meal reached his nose. That wasn't beef, or chicken... What was it? It was good, whatever it was. He wanted to eat it! He slid down each salad before their owner, one topped with almonds, the other not, making it easy to tell them apart. "Here you go."
Zecora's attention was more on Jon's plate than her own as it came in for a landing. Jon grabbed a fork and a knife and got to slicing off a portion of that meat. It cut so easily! It was tender and juicy on the inside. A perfectly prepared steak with sear marks on the outside.
Aeorean nudged against Zecora lightly. "Never saw someone eat meat before?"
Zecora raised a brow slightly. "It is not a thing I normally see. An herbivore is what you can call me."
Aeorean was not shy about eating. He leaned in and began to chomp like, well, he was a horse with a treat in front and he ate with all the zeal one would expect.
Jon's noise of approval startled Zecora. Clearly the meat was quite favorable to him the way he chewed slowly, eyes half closed in the simple joy of consumption. "Wow, that guy's really good at what he does."
"Thanks. Just lemme know if you want something to wash it down." The pony saluted before returning to other duties with a musical whistle.
Zecora inclined her head. "My curiosity will be my end. What animal graces us, that he would send?"
Aeorean's nose twitched softly. "Is..." He leaned over the top of the table closer to the meat, eyeing and sniffing at it. "Is... that?"
"It is." The pony smirked at Aeorean from across the way. "Good nose."
Jon was becoming curious too. "Whatever it is, it's delicious, but I have to know, what is it?"
Aeorean sat up straight. "Well, imagine... Well, do you know what a cockatrice is?"
"No?" He was new to D&D. The name of that beast did not--"Wait, the chicken?!"
"That one." Aeorean bobbed his head. "Turns people to stone?"
Zecora cringed. "Well, the loss of one of those... Nicer creatures to avoid, easy to propose."
Jon sliced off another bit. Cursed stone chicken or not, it was still damned tasty. "Must be hard to farm."
"Incredibly," agreed the pony. "I only get a batch like once a year, so enjoy that!"
Longma tapped the table in front of her. "And you didn't tell me about it?!"
"You didn't ask." The bartender/chef shrugged at Longma. "Is that a request for a slice?"
Turned out, she wasn't the only to raise interest in having some of what Jon was so clearly enjoying. Some of them had to pay upfront, not having a deluxe ticket. It was far from cheap.
But he was soon out of it for the year.