Positive woke up the next day, it was Monday. He immediately turned over and stuffed his face into his pillow, groaning as he dragged himself out of bed, falling with a hard thump onto the floor.
Getting back up he simply put on his suit, skipping the rest of his usual morning rituals, leaving the house looking quite disheveled as a result.
Trotting into town he entered the small shop from before, buying himself two sodas, an extra helping of sweets, and a dandelion and rose bud sandwich to make up for his lost breakfast. Taking and eating most of it to his usual seat as he waited for his train.
“I didn’t get where I am today by drinking coffee and eating doughnuts served up to me by a monkey.” He said to himself, repeating his boss’ usual catchphrase in a joking manner, although there was no humour in it for him.
Getting on the train he immediately began to hear a light strumming sound. It clearly came from some kind of musical instrument but the sound was not at all melodious or musical in nature.
Trotting down to his usual seat he was surprised to see another non-pony creature on the train, although this time fully sapient with a dapper little vest covering his chest and midsection. Sitting there was a tall slender anthropomorphic cat, his fur not too differently coloured than Mephisto’s had been.
Said cat was busily strumming away at a small wooden lyre he held in his paw, presumably trying to tune it properly.
He felt the compulsion to rub his eyes at this to clear away any hallucination he might be having, but didn’t want to appear rude, so he simply trotted on, taking his usual seat.
Getting comfortable he sat there patiently waiting at first until slowly as stop after stop passed by with no movement from his new feline friend his patience began to wain. He had passed right by his work a few stops ago by now, at which he had almost left his seat if for nothing else than habit. He was starting to feel restless, and as yet there was no sign of change from the dapperly dressed cat.
He had however been given a good opportunity to see what life was like beyond his work, which he had taken up quite eagerly, taking his time to excitedly peer out the window every now and again at the new and yet undiscovered landscape.
He sat there for a good few hours, having long ago finished his second soda and the rest of his sweets while idly mulling over all the possibilities of who this strange cat could be, or diving too intensely into the equally intriguing possibilities of the new surrounding his train was hastily speeding by.
He made sure to press his muzzle right up against the carriage’s window whenever they approached a station so that he might be able to take in as much information from it as possible. Eventually he had even gotten bold enough to leave the train for a few minutes to have a better look around before frantically scrambling back aboard as the train’s whistle sounded its departure.
He noticed that the train began to empty the further it went down the track until there was rarely another soul aboard but him and this strange lyre playing cat. The more the train emptied the bolder his friend seemed to get with his instrument, eventually switching from tuning to outright playing it.
His lyre was calm and methodic, tranquil and melodious. It’s tune sweet, yet demanding of one while attention without being one bit ostentatious or catchy.
He found it to be the perfect backdrop to the equally tranquil surroundings out his window and his idly pondering mind. While before he had occasionally gotten up just to impatiently stretch his hooves and stroll around the carriage, when the lyre began to become a near constant presence he found himself more than content to just sit back and relax as the train took him wherever it might go.
He had thought of going back as his journey began to approach the afternoon, several long hours having passed with no sign of any end in sight, but he knew that he couldn’t have ever forgiven himself if he did. Work was definitely gone for the day and for all he knew his companion could get off at the very next stop after the one he had decided to backtrack from. It was a snuck cost fallacy, and the hole only got bigger.
The train continued on to the forty third, or rather the last stop, it now being well into the afternoon, but for the moment still fully light out.
He felt some disappointment as the train came to a silent stop and along with so did the lyre, but any such feeling soon passed as he rose from his hooves in tune with the cat, silently departing to their station.
The station they had gotten off onto is impossible to describe, as there was none. They stood on little more than a white concrete platform with no building or even sign post, the landscape looking wild and rugged with no sign of cultivation in sight.
They simply stood there for a few peaceful moments as the train sped off. “Heading for the pony settlement?” The cat simply asked turning towards him.
Positive peered back up at him, shocked to hear the cat actually speak despite his obvious intelligence. “I’m sorry?” He simply asked.
“The small mining town? I assumed that since you are a pony you might be heading there. There aren’t many other places for one to go in such a remote place.” The cat explained.
“In that case, if I may ask, where would you be heading?” Positive asked.
“Me, to another small village a little off from the one I just mentioned, only populated by my own people, and far more settled in age.” The cat said, pointing one paw to two large mountains far off in the distance, one maybe a third higher the other, but neither much more than 4,000 hooves/feet.
“I take it from your ignorance that you don’t know exactly where you’re going?” The cat continued.
“No, to be perfectly honest. I had just always wondered where the line ended, having taken the train for so many years.” Positive honestly explained.
“And I was the impetus for you finally fulfilling this curiosity?” The cat accurately guessed with a knowing little smirk on his face.
The stallion simply blushed back. “It may have been.”
“And I suppose you’ll be coming with me then? Least you wait here overnight for the next train.” The cat asked, his friendly little smirk only widening at his suggestion.
“If you wouldn’t mind? Although it’s hard to believe that the nearest settlement is really as far as those mountains way off in the distance.” Positive responded.
“They aren’t half as far as they seem, besides there’s a well trodden, in rundown, stone path that leads directly to our hometown. We should be there before it gets too dark.” The cat replied.
“So a few hours?” Positive simply asked.
“Yes, although emphasis on a few. It’s a pleasant walk, or trot in your case, I assure you.” The cat said, trying to reassure him.
“In that case I must thank you again, and apologise for any hesitation I may have shown on my part.” Positive said, not wanting to offset his new friend by his repeated questioning.
“Please don’t concern yourself with a thing like that. You’re naturally a bit lost, speak frankly and comfortably on how you feel. There’s a small stream about an hour’s distance from here, we can refresh there and finish the last hour or so towards the base of the mountain.” He said, continuing to reassure his new friend.
The two continued on from there in intermittent silence mixed with occasional lapses of light conversation and lyre playing until they eventually reached the stream.
Arriving at the half way point both sat down to rest. Positive watched as his friend filled up a small flask before emptying it a few times into his mouth. He simply took a few tentative licks at the water to test it it’s freshness before thoroughly quenching his first.
They briskly continued forth from there, arriving at the base of the smaller mountain almost exactly an hour later. The sun was still up, and it was still as light as it had ever been, but it had clearly reached it’s peak and was now starting to make it’s slow descent.
“How far up?” Positive simply asked as they both stood before a conveniently flat incline that seemed to wrap around the mountain.
“One and a half, maybe two hours to the summit. It would normally take longer, but the majority of our journey will be no more labour some than a simple walk up a nice hill.” The cat explained, walking on ahead of him.
And so he was right, after little more than an hour they came to a divide, to the left of which apparently lay the pony settlement, and to the right the cat’s. Continuing up the right path they soon arrived at a series of large sturdy clear wood walls strengthened by a simple series of iron bars that ran around the whole thing. The sun was fast setting, but there was still quite a bit of light out.
Positive watched as the cat approached the fence before nonchalantly pushing the gate open with his two paws as if he was entering his own home, which apparently despite the fortifications saw no need for a guard or even a lock.
Trotting through the gate he was greeted by the sight of many small one story wooden houses, almost all of which lay rather open with glassless windows as wide as walls despite their altitude.
He also made note that it was unusually hot, the heat seeming the increase the higher they had climbed. And as for the town itself everything in it from the buildings to common household goods while a bit primitive were beautifully paw-crafted and each had their own distinctive unique feel, while still adhering to the same general cultural style, much like the cottages in the small town that he had visited the prior week.
Trotting through the village he did notice that he turned quite a few heads, now that he was one out of place. But regardless, the ease of his companion put any cautious eyes to rest and they were not disturbed for the remainder of their journey through the small village.
Reaching the house they both walked through the wide open sliding doors coming into a nice little communal area right in the centre of the house on which lay a simple paw-woven straw mat.
The stallion noted the lack of prudence his friend seemed to have in entering the house, doing so as if it were his own, and while he was clearly familiar with his occupants from the general atmosphere and makeup of the town he imagined that anyone may enter another’s house in just a this manner and cause no great disturbance.
It wasn’t too long until they were greeted be three other cats, two males and one female. After some brief and very cordial introductions and hoof/paw shakes each settled down in their rightful place, the three cats and himself forming a small semi-circle around the centre of the home where the handsomely dressed young cat brought out his lyre and began playing his tune.
It didn’t take long until a small crowd of other assorted cats, young and old, from all corners of the small mountain top village had in it themselves into the house, taking a seat in their little semi-circle to listen the sweet melodious humming of the music.
This continued for some indeterminate amount of time, with dozens of different songs having been played, some more tranquil and calm, others equally upbeat and lively.
Shortly after the lyre playing the other guests left, with only Positive, his cat companion, and the original occupants of the house remaining. It was now dark, so they all settled down to a simple meal before bed.
Their meal consisted of some kind of red meat that Positive was told to be mountain goat, learning that the cats got most of their food from hunting on and around the mountain, as well as a very small garden that grew the community’s crops. Being very small and homely it did not take a lot to sustain the entire community.
For his part Positive had some simple vegetables. Not the most pleasing of meals, but something to fill his stomach, which he was grateful for.
He had also learned that while their was a small pony community the cats could have traded with they preferred to stay entirely self sufficient, as they had done for generations before the arrival of any ponyfolk. Apparently even his companion’s lyre was paw-crafted.
Other than that and some general idle talk he had learned over dinner that the taller of the two mountains was not in fact a mountain, but a full blown active volcano, which explained the heat of the surrounding area and mountain top.
His guests had all shared a good laugh at his expense regarding his very confused and fearful expression at having been told this.
They then went on to explain that many generations ago they lived in a far larger town alongside a series of smaller villages around the base of their current mountain. When the volcano had erupted the vast majority of the town’s inhabitants had tried to run away, all being swept up in the lava and turned to charred rock.
A very small minority however had decided to head for the smaller mountain, believing that if they could get high enough the lava would simply run down its sides and away from them. This minority were the ancestors of all that lived in the village today.
He then learned something of the pony town, being told that they had only been there for two years, and that the place where they lived and did most of their was a large plateau of rock that connected both the volcano and smaller mountain and was therefore extremely dangerous in case of an eruption, to which he was assured that despite repeated warnings the stubborn ponies were too determined to get their gems over all else.
Soon after dinner everyone left for bed. Positive slept on a simple couch with a massive grin on his face, the heat of the nearby volcano seeping into his very muscles as he lay down, proving to be quite the comforting blanket.