//------------------------------// // Day 3885 // Story: Stations // by Mint Essence //------------------------------// Waking up again Positive rolled over in bed to see that as before he had gotten up at 6:00am. After his previous venture to the cove his boss had added up all of his lost work time for that day, demanding that he continue to come in eleven minutes early up until the point when he had paid that off as well. ‘I didn’t get where I am today by following old ladies smelling of decapitated fish heads.’ He thought, repeating his boss’ words to himself. Seeing that he had once again woken up at his usual time, and would therefore be late, or rather on time for work, failing to meet his eleven minute quota, the stallion got out of bed with a quite smirk on his face. It was mad, and he knew it, but he hadn’t intended to get up 6:00am, although now that he had he couldn’t help but fantasise about the possibility of continuing his little journey of whimsy from the previous week, he just wondered who or what might prompt it this time around. Continuing ahead with his morning routine he rushed to get out of the house, briskly trotting back into town. He felt such an exhilarating rush, which was only doubled by the anxiety and anticipation of what he was about to do. There was a certain giddiness almost more so from the sheer irresponsibility of his actions than the thing itself. Arriving in town he decided to repeat his ritual from the previous week, entering the same shop, simply lingering around it for a little while before he bought himself another bag of sweets and a different soda. Trotting back into the train station he made a beeline for the right wall, reading over some of the old tattered maps and other general information printed on the wall. There were forty three stations in all on this line, taking a total of thirteen and a half hours to complete the whole run, although several stops cut off completely into separate lines. His station was the fourteenth, his work was the nineteenth, and what he assumed to be the stop he had gotten off at with the old mare was the seventeenth, being named Baker’s Retreat Station, which however was hastily scribbled over by some vandal to be rename to Crustacean Station, presumably after the various crustaceous little creatures down by the cove. His own station was simply called Norbitcolt Station, that of his work ironically being called Paradise Lane Station. Turning back around he hoofed over his ticket for inspection before once again arriving on the train in just the nick of time. He went to go sit at his usual seat until he a saw a scruffy half grey half ginger tabby cat calmly strutting along the train’s carriage. The cat had just one ball and had frequented the train for the past few months or so now, although he had no idea where the furry little things journey began, getting on at roughly the same time, but never being quite as exact as any of the train’s pony passengers. Letting his eyes linger on the cat he decided to forego his normal seat, once again being curiously watched by his usual three silent companies as he wandered off in pursuit of the little tabby cat. Following the cat up the length of the carriage he watched as it took the very end seat closest to the left, getting comfortable as it began to peer out of the window. Positive took his seat opposite from the cat, also at the furthest most left side of the train, as he too peered out of the window, looking on contemplatively at the small river of pebbles that immediately surrounded the rails of the track, each fading into little specks of dust in his vision as the train’s engine started up and they soon sped off past them. The train didn’t travel far, going on for a single stop before it pulled into the station, prompting the little tabby cat to stand fully erect as he arched his back out and stretched both of his sets of paws. Hopping down from his seat he casually walked off the train alongside its other departing passengers, off which Positive was only one. The station they had gotten off at directly faced a town much like his own, only far more populous and industrialised, with long narrow streets and looming magical street lights scattered all throughout in a neat systematic order. The building loomed at least twice as tall as those of his humble town, and one could both see and hear many dozens of busy workshops and small factories not too far off in the distance. Continuing to follow the cat he took him up a main street or two past many of the town’s busy restaurants, cafes, and a few other somewhat frivolous business such as a humble little coffee shop and purveyor of fine fabrics. Finally leaving the noisy streets the little tabby ran off into a narrow alleyway, which was noticeably dark despite it being little over an hour past lux prima, or first light. Positive rushed to follow him, his heart quickening as he believed the cat to be lost. Turning the corner however he found the cat perched up on a tall skip bin from one of the more prominent restaurants, clawing away at a little metal lock ensuring the contents safety from pests such as himself. He then watched as the cat climbed from bin to bin trying to claw each open. He also noticed that not everyone had a lock, and almost went over to help the strange little cat out before deciding against it from fear of scaring him away or attracting unwanted attention to himself. The cat tried a few more bins, it’s meows becoming all the louder with each successive failure until it finally gave off, leaping far off the last one before it quickly scurried off, prompting Positive to get back to his hooves as he once again ran after it. Following the cat it took him down a few other alleyways, keeping well off from bins this time as it seemed to stride down each with clear purpose. It wasn’t too long after that they appeared in a large open space, far less built up than the more sophisticated parts of town and even more so rustic, but not quite so humble. The scene before him was an absolute flurry of noise, colours, and smells. Countless small makeshift stands and stalls lay messily strewn about selling everything from small hoofmade arts and crafts pieces, antiques, food and drink, or otherwise trying to put on some show or form of entertainment for the crowd of ponies in the form of simple buskers or mock theatres. It was a veritable bazaar. Ponies from all ages, as old as 80, or as young as 8 made up the large chattering crowd, with equally diverse age groups running the stalls themselves, trying to haggle their customers or audience out of an extra bit or two. Positive watched as the shabby little cat leapt up onto one of the stalls, expertly snaking his way along before pouncing stall to stall, completely oblivious to any of the passerbys or stall owner as he slunk around just out of their vision, his own vision seeming intently focused on every pony in sight as he pulled his tail right back to the side of his body like a fluffy little whip. Continuing to follow the cat they both stopped as they neared a certain section of the bazaar that seemed to specialise in all sorts of candies and other confectionery goods. Positive watched as the cat leered over the stall it was currently perched on at a large spinning clump candy floss, ready to pounce, as it did. The commotion was violent and instantaneous, with all sorts of hollering and clattering of hooves and instruments aimed at the scruffy little thief coming from behind the sickly sweet smelling stall. The cat managed to make off with a very large lump indeed, so big that it must have easily equaled its own body mass and then some, he had however very wisely sunk his sharp little teeth in close to the bottom of the fluffy pink cloud, ensuring that it stayed clear off the ground. Seeing that the cat was clearly going to make a speedy retreat Positive sped off behind it, being hotly pursued by the owner of the stall and two of her lackeys. “Hey get back her with your dammed cat! Do you have any idea how much you owe me buddy, cause I’ve been counting? This is the fourteenth time your little mange ball’s terrorised my stall, and so help me I’ll shove my hoof so far up your.........” The mare shouted, her voice getting quieter by the second as they both crashed off through the stalls, riling up countless other ponies before they eventually reached a large chain linked fence. Looking behind him Positive saw that the mare from the candy floss stall was still in full pursuit, slowed down quite a bit as she tried to more civilly skirt and negotiate her way around the large swarming crowd, rather than simply crashing through it. Watching the cat for some guidance he saw that it simply slipped under a small under a jagged little hole in the bottom corner of the metal fence. Terrified it didn’t take too long for the stallion to realise that he’d have to somehow do the same or face the wrath of the mare behind him, mane equally as fluffy and pink as her produce, her face the very opposite of sweet or sugary. Digging his hooves into the hard stone underneath himself Positive shot off in a mad dash, flying through the small jagged hole in fence with a loud yelp of pain, thoroughly dishevelling his mane and scratching up his coat. He was sure that much of his back and flanks had been bloodied, but from what he could feel it was thankfully nothing too serious, just a few bad scratches. Not bothering to look back behind himself Positive simply made a mad dash around a corner of the alley, scampering away like a wounded animal. Reaching the corner he immediately stopped on his hooves as he looked back down at the small grey tabby in front of him, peering up into his eyes as if with some deep subtle intellect unknowable by ponykind. The cat looked up at him with a long flowing pink cotton candy beard, as if he was a wise sage ready to dispense his wisdom. Positive listened in intently. The cat simply said “Blahem!” because he was a cat, not a wise sage. The cat then turned tail before scampering off further into the alley, leading Positive along in its wisdom for another good five minutes or so until they eventually reached a large wide derelict looking building, which like the fence had a roughly foal sized hole of broken glass in one of its lower windows. Pressing his back right into the window frame the cat easily snuck through inside, his cotton candy beard still firmly stuck to his face. Anxiously looking around behind Positive let out a loud sigh before turning back to the window, promptly smashing what was left of the glass with his hoof, making sure that he didn’t get any on himself. He had now went from skipping work to breaking and entering, but he wasn’t about to just let this wild cat chase end here. Sneaking inside now that the hole was much larger Positive looked around for the cat. Unfortunately for him he found nothing but a large dark derelict hallway, with a few overturned chairs and random derbies scattered around. He did however hear a small meow coming from somewhere overhead. Looking up he saw simple blue painted roof, so he continued down the hallway until he found broken in door lying between a small stairwell and doorway. Climbing over the door he briskly trotted up the stairs until upon turning one corner he found another door, broken and barely hanging on its hinges. Deciding that the noise must have come from this floor and not further up he turned around and kicked out his two hind hooves. Stepping through the new door sized hole Positive almost rubbed his eyes with his forehooves in sheer bewilderment at what he saw. There before him stood, sat, or lay dozens upon dozens of cats, alongside long rows of heavy duty sewing machines and little boxes full of fabrics, wools, and other soft materials that many of the cats had climbed into. Cautiously stepping around the cats, who had all fixed their eyes on him, Positive went around the large room, trying to see if he could find his particular little tabby. It didn’t take long until he found a small box neatly tucked away in the corner stuffed full of what almost seemed like purposely placed bedding in the form of silky soft blue fabric. In said box he found his cat, fluffy pink beard and all, with four cute little kittens all gathered around him, nibbling and licking away at their daddies beard while a large snow white female cat lay tucked away in the corner. The cat simply calmly looked up at him as his little kittens like away at him. He found that the box itself had a large hoof drawn, but sloppily done, sign attached to the front of it, simply reading as “Mephisto”. He imagined that this must be the name of the company or fabric type, but he noted that only this box alone was marked. Continuing to trot around he idly tried to work some of the sewing machines, finding that while most of them broken or needed serious repairs, but their was a slim minority that to his eyes at least seemed fully operational, having startled many of the cat around him as he flipped one switch only to hear a loud buzzing come to life as the machine starting sewing away at thin air. It was between two such machines however that he found something truly interesting. Coming across another box much like the rest at first glance, suspiciously well bedded with a lazy little kitty inside, he reached down with his hoof to pet the small ginger cat, only for it to quickly pounce out of it’s bed and sprint off amongst its brethren. Searching through the box he didn’t find simple bundles of wool or sheeted fabric, no he found tiny little piles of kitty clothes, all in bright cheerful colours, with many being a veritable collage of all sorts stitched together. All were clearly machine done, but for the most part looked like the work of a young foal, not to say that they weren’t pretty, which they clearly were in a charmingly cute way. Picking up a tiny little hat from the box he was immediately startled as he heard many loud and successive banging sounds coming from bellow him, just around about the entrance he had come in. Panicking the stallion ran for a larger box, shooing the little family of cats that he had found inside away before diving right into it and throwing some hastily gathered bits of fabric over his head to conceal himself. He simply lay there as the banging continued, increasing in frequency and sound as it neared him, until he could hear the distinct laughter and shouting of foals. Perking his ears up he nonetheless remained in the box, listening. No sooner had he heard the loud trampling of little hoof steps running across the door he had broken down had a mad scurrying started, as any cat previously awake it asleep immediately leapt to attention, greedily pushing their way through the large herd so that they might be the first to greet their dens new arrivals. Positive tentatively poked his head out from his box, peering over at the herd of cats that swarmed around the small hoofful of fillies and colts handing them out little scraps of food, while others playfully teased them with toys. He also noticed that they seemed particularly interested in his cotton candy bearded cat, with many of the other cats also gathering around to get a good lick at him. “Hey, I think one’s stuck over there or something.” One colt simply said, pointing his hoof towards Positive. Realising that the young colt must have seen the glint from his eyes Positive realised that there was no good in hiding, so he simply climbed right out of the box, revealing himself to the small crowd of foals. “Wow, how did you get here!” One of the foals exclaimed as they all looked up at him in bewilderment, the large herd or forty or fifty or so cats gathering close behind them. “Um, I followed a cat.” He said hesitantly, looking on at the strange sight before him. “Which one?” The foal simply asked. “I don’t know.” He said honestly before scanning the herd. “Wait, that one, yeah, that’s definitely the cat I followed.” He continued, now pointing towards the same gingerish grey cat that he had followed from the train. “Mephisto! You know Mephisto?” Another foal very excitedly exclaimed. “Mephisto?” He simply asked. “Yeah, Mephisto, he’s like the main cat. Runs the cafe and sells poni, I mean, cats tea and food!” The first little colt who had first seen him tried to explain. “This mangey little cat owns a cafe?” Positive joked, smirking to himself. “Yeah, and he’s not a mangey, he’s a little cutie. It’s not his fault that all those mean adults bully him just for having a little snack on their yummy sweets.” A little filly responded in a very annoyed tone, scooping Mephisto up in her hooves as if he were a pet as she floated over a healthily sized bon bon in tenuous magical aura for him to nibble on. “Sorry.” Positive replied, not wanting to upset the group, least he be thrown out of their little clubhouse. Although some of that did rather funnily explain their little incident from earlier. “But seriously, what do you mean by a cafe? Like an imaginary cafe?” He curiously asked. “No, you haven’t seen it? It’s just over there. The Cat Cafe.” The little filly explained, pointing towards the far left side of the large room which Positive had yet to explore. Running over with a few of the other foals she hit a large switch which lit up several lights all around that side of the room, revealing a large makeshift stage crafted out of long wooden planks hastily hammered together on top of which sat a small stall much like the hoofcrafted theatres of the bazaar with a large colourful banner overhead simply reading as “Cat Cafe”. “We’re just practicing right now until we can take them into the market, but they’ve gotten really good.” She continued to explain as she took Mephisto back up in her hooves, many of the foals gathering around the stage with the cats who were clearly only interested in food, often pawing or simple meowing to the foals, to their great delight. Sitting in front of the stage Positive sat down for what looked like it was going to be an involuntary demonstration of their little mock cat theatre. He watched as a single colt scampered up with the small box of cat clothing, diligently laying it in front of the stage as every foal took their favourite cat up in their hooves, dressing them up in whatever colourful piece of clothing just so happened to catch their eye. Positive couldn’t help but smirk as the little filly fit Mephisto into a dark black suit with a little tie, just like his own. Getting everything else set up the fillies and colts all took their respective places with their furry little felines. Suddenly one of the lights turned, shining directly on the cafe stall as Mephisto’s shaggy little face popped up, pink beard and all, although it had been greatly reduced in size from its former glory. The cat continued to rise until his fluffy belly was exposed from which a pair of cute little hooves could be seen holding him up at either side. He continued to watch as another foal came onto the stage holding his own cat. Trotting up to the stall the foal held the two cats face to face and simply asked. “May I have some earl grey tea and a little tea cake please.” In a high pitch voice that Positive supposed was meant to imitate what a cat might sound like if it could speak. “Yes, you most certainly can.” The filly under the stall said, moving her cat in an animated and lively manner as she reached up to hoof over a small sweet to the other cat. Said cat then took a long lick at Mephisto’s candy floss beard, lightly meowing as the colt gestured him over to give something to the other cat, their paws lightly touching. “Here you go.” The colt said as the two cats’ paws touched. “That was really yummy.” “Thank you very much.” The filly from behind the stall responded, somehow making a dinging like register sound. He watched as yet another foal trotted up to the stall, once again with their cat in tow. “A rose petal sandwich, a chocolate doughnut, and some coffee please.” The foal simply asked, waving his cat around in front of the stall. “Here you go.” The little filly responded, hoofing her cat over a few sweets before it like it’s predecessor took a long lick at Mephisto’s fluffy beard, meowing. This continued for some while, each of the many foals coming up so that their respective cat could receive its tasty reward. Finishing up each foal and their cat gathered on the front of the stage, making their cats’ take a quick bow as the stage’s lights turned back off. Positive simply stomped his hooves on the floor in approval, loudly applauding their lovely, if eccentric, little show. Shortly after this Positive let them all be, sneaking out the way he came in before searching his way back to the train station, intentionally avoiding the bazaar. He had however gotten a few sweets from the foals, and a decent sized bit of candy floss from Mephisto.