The train station in Canterlot, like the city itself, is most times incredibly busy; multitudes of passengers coming and going for most of the day. The railroad system itself was still fairly new, the initial conception for it all being slightly over fifty years old, but none could deny that life would truly be the same without it- even if it was only in the past year that the engine was improved on that the fleet of ponies pulling the whole thing was made unnecessary. The schedule for the trains was so important that it was incredibly rare that most outside interference caused any delays for even one of the lines.
However, Princess Celestia fell outside of “most” and when her request for a temporary clearing of the platform for the Canterlot-Ponyville express, the transit officials couldn’t move any faster.
“Princess, was it necessary for all of this?” Twilight whispered to Celestia.
Celestia turned her eyes to Hal, who was doing the courteous thing and helping move in everypony’s luggage onto their car. “Maybe it wasn’t, but I thought that Hal over there would appreciate less attention than he’s already going to get when you all return home,” she answered. “But it would be best if we do not keep you too long, the guards are going to attract more unwanted interest the longer they are here.”
A small platoon of guards had set up a cordon to keep anypony out until the V.I.P’s were all on the train and the coast was clear, Shining Armor standing a distance away from the train making sure there were no lookie-loos. It wasn’t long before everyone was ready to go; Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Spike, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie & Fluttershy were already aboard the train.
Hal turned his head over to Celestia & Twilight and walked over to them, with Shining Armor following suit. His face a bit uncomfortable, Hal looked into Celestia’s eyes. “Well, I suppose it’s time to go,” he hesitantly said. “I just wanted to say, ‘Thanks for everything’ Princess.”
Celestia beamed and assured the human that it was no problem at all. Hal then turned his attention over to Shining Armor. “Well captain, I want to thank you as well sorry for making things hectic for you,” he addressed the stallion.
Shining Armor gave a short chuckle. “No problem at all. I actually appreciated the break in the monotony of everyday duty, even better that it didn’t involve a crisis-level red alert,” he replied. Hal raised his eyebrow in suspicious curiosity, but decided to let the remark go for the time being. Twilight and Shining Armor gave each other a big hug and promised that they would see each other again soon.
Giving a short look across the platform, Hal turned his attention back to Celestia, “It looks like your sister won’t be coming by to say farewell, Princess.” He put his hands into his jacket pockets and raised his head, closing his eyes. “Well that’s the story of my life,” he sighed, voice heavy with melodrama.
“Actually, Hal,” Celestia began, getting the man’s attention, “Luna is usually nocturnal, so she can better focus her attention on maintaining the night sky and royal duties for the Night Court. Actually, I’m know she’ll be regretful about your departure. She is curious about you… and I would be remiss in saying that I share that curiosity as well.”
Hal waved his hand in dismissal.
“Yeah, I understand. ‘Alien welcomed on your planet, but everyone wants to know about them and space.’ Trust me, I’m no stranger to that at all,” Hal replied matter-of-factly. “It’ll have to wait until we meet again, but I wouldn’t mind talking a bit more about myself.”
Celestia moved her eyes from Hal over to Twilight, smiling brightly as she thought up a great idea. “Perhaps it would not have to wait for that long after all,” the Princess mused aloud. Again, Hal’s eyebrow shot up as the Princess walked over closer to Twilight. “My dear student Twilight and I keep in correspondence by mail; every week or so, she writes letters to me as she continues her studies into the magic of friendship. I propose that you also do the same, Hal Jordan.”
The other eyebrow joined it’s twin, leaving Hal looking slightly more than a little uncomfortable. Celestia’s smile spread a little bit wider at the sight of the awkward human.
“What I am saying is that perhaps Twilight here could help you compose a letter detailing your residence in Ponyville… and if you are comfortable with it, you would also be able to tell us a little bit more about yourself,” she explained. With this suggestion, Twilight caught her teacher’s smile.
“That sounds like an excellent idea, Princess!” the lavender pony exclaimed. She looked over at Hal, who didn’t really look less relaxed about the idea. “What do you think, Mr. Jordan?”
Hal raised his hand and began rubbing the back of his neck, his eyes looking to the right. A few short moments later and he responded, “I suppose that wouldn’t be too bad.” Hoping to escape from the awkward situation, he added, “We should go. We don’t want to keep the others waiting.”
“Yes, that is right. Until we meet again. Twilight. Hal. May you have a safe journey,” Celestia agreed heartily. Shining Armor raised his hoof in salute and turned to go gather his men. Hal and Twilight exchanged a glance and then proceeded to walk over to the their car and entered. Celestia herself joined her captain and they gave the transit authority permission to return to schedule.
With noting else keeping the train in the station, the engine soon began to move. With it’s cars in tow, the train soon cleared the building and began it’s journey to Ponyville at last.
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Hal felt a little uncomfortable as he sat in his seat. The seat was built more for a pony and didn‘t have a backrest, but that wasn’t the problem. Rather, what was affecting him was the conversations his chaperones were having all seemed to involve him; them taking him to some place or meeting some pony or another. He had a rather sinking feeling that for the rest of the day, he’d be strutted around like a dog on a leash.
He still remembered the odd looks his fellow Lanterns received after most of the Corps were depowered and with the few that remained setting up shop on Earth; the last thing he wanted was to become a recurring feature in any tabloids these ponies might have. It was then, as if she could sense his wariness, the lavender pony sitting in the seat in front of him turned around and began to talk to him.
“So, um.. Hal,” Twilight addressed, “is there anything you would like to do after we pull into Ponyville?”
Hal shrugged and curtly relied, “Get settled in, relax, maybe do some cleaning. Then turn in early. You did say I’d be living in your basement, I doubt you use it very much.”
“Aww, but that sounds so boring Hally!” Pinkie exclaimed, bouncing on her seat, “It’ll take me a day or so to get everything ready for the super special awesome party I’ve got planned for you, but that doesn’t mean that you should be a Gloomy Gus and stay home. I’m sure everypony would like to meet you now that they know you’re coming with us!”
The word ‘party’ sent a shiver down Hal’s spine and he audibly shuddered; he knew it wasn’t really fair, but he could only image what kind of shenanigans the hyperactive pink pony would get into if she got into sugar… or booze if it was THAT kind of party.
“Ahh… It’s… fine ma‘am,” Hal replied to Pinkie, putting his hands up defensively, “You don’t have to go through all that trouble on my account.” When he was finished, he heard chuckling coming from behind him. Turning his head, Hal saw that it was Rainbow Dash doing the laughing.
“Hey bud, you might as well give up. Telling her not to throw a party is like telling me not to be awesome: it’s just not going to happen,” the cocky pegasus boasted. Applejack, who was sitting next to Dash rolled her eyes.
Rarity, who was sitting in the seat adjacent to Twilight, then added her own two cents into the conversation. “While I can certainly understand the need to unwind after such a long journey, I too must admit that you could better spend your time than just merely staying home,” the white unicorn spoke with a flair. “To be honest, I would suggest that you come over to my Boutique. I am, by trade, one of Ponyville’s best designers and seamstresses and I would like the challenge of creating a few outfits made for a body shape similar to yourself. And you would get some more… variety in your wardrobe, darling.”
Hal thought about it and, deciding to not look a gift horse in the mouth (so to speak), replied, “That… actually sounds like a great idea. I might take you up on that.” Rarity beamed and, using her magic, pulled out a notebook and pencil and began to jot down some design ideas onto it’s pages.
Hal had scarcely turned his head when he came face to face with the pink party pony, who had seemingly teleported from her seat to the space next to him. Hal gave a slight recoil in surprise before Pinkie put her hoof around his neck and brought his head close to hers.
“Come ooonnnn, Hally! You haven’t partied until you’ve been to one of my parties! Just think,” Pinkie outstretched her other foreleg to indicate some imaginary sight, “Cake. Cake everywhere!” Hal’s face was in a grimace, it was worse than he had thought.
‘Best to let her down gently,’ he thought to himself. ‘Time to see if I can weasel out of this, Hal Jordan-style.’ Hal gently removed Pinkie’s hoof from his neck and cleared his voice, “Oh, I don’t have any doubts that your party would be ‘super special awesome’, it’s just that…” Hal let his voice trail off, now aware that the six ponies and Spike were starting at him intently.
“Just what?” Pinkie asked, her eyes big and her bottom lip quivering.
Keeping his poker-face on, Hal sighed and did his best to look ‘embarrassed’. “It’s just that… I’m terrible at remembering names when I meet so many people… ponies in this case. I just don’t want to offend anyone by misremembering their name,” he finished. Technically, it was half-true: he didn’t have any doubt that he wouldn’t be able to remember the name of EVERY single pony in town, but he wasn’t worried about any offence.
Speaking up for the first time in a while, Fluttershy poked her head between Rainbow Dash and Applejack and asked, “Oh, I’m sorry to hear that Mr. Jordan… Umm.. Do you remember our names?” The timid pony then lowered her head, “Sorry, that is if you want to answer…,” she trailed off.
Hal froze in place, the question had truly caught him off-guard. He remembered a few names, like Twilight’s and Applejack’s if only because of Celestia and the orange pony’s cutie mark respectively, but for the past two days, he’d kinda zoned out on most of their conversations. Cursing fickle fate yet again, he internally debated if it would be better to tell the truth and come off like a jerk who prioritized some above others or if it was time for some more Hal Jordan-style: bluff his way out and hope for the best.
“Umm… of course I know… I think. Let’s see…,” Hal started. Pointing at each pony as he called their names, he covered the six ponies and dragon, “Skittles, Shrinking Violet, Calamity Jane, Surprise Party, Bowtie, Purple Guy and Dragon Bro?”
The atmosphere in the train car was heavy with silent tension. With not much surprise, Hal had succeeded in getting most of the his fellow passengers annoyed at him; the six ponies all had some degree of a frown on their face, with Twilight’s being the biggest. Hal, internally desperate to play off his faux pas, gave his best ‘Pobody’s Nerfect’ face and shrugged. Fluttershy merely lowered her head and mumbled yet another apology as she slunk back into her seat.
Only Spike seemed to like his nickname. “Dragon Bro, huh?” the young dragon said to himself, rubbing his clawed hand under his chin. “I like the sound of that!” Twilight shot her assistant a glare and sighed.
“Well, we have plenty of time to help you out with your… name association problem before arrive at the station. Thankfully, I have a book about some social interactions that I brought with me,” the purple unicorn began, levitating a book out of her own bag and holding it out in front of her. “Ahem, let’s begin with the introduction of the parties involved…”
As everyone reintroduced themselves to the human and Twilight continued her lecture, Hal only had one thought after committing each name to memory, ‘Nice one, Hal. Way to make these girls feel like crap. You stupid jerk.’
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