//------------------------------// // The Journey Begins // Story: Tales of the Abyss: Hymns of Equestria // by Genis94 //------------------------------// The sun rose slowly but surely over the horizon, bringing with it the beginning of a new day. Most ponies were groggily lying in their beds, blissfully unaware of the danger that was beginning to engulf their world. But others knew of this threat and were rising with renewed vigor, ready to face it head on. Luke had woken up bright and early that day. He gathered his still packed belongings as quietly as he could, unwilling to rudely awake Twilight and Spike just yet. He went downstairs and began to prepare breakfast for himself again, increasing the portion so that he could serve Twilight today. He began searching around for some ingredients, and found that he had just what he needed to make some pizza. Luke began throwing together ingredients, rather haphazardly, and prepared the dish as best he could. The sound of trotting made him lose focus for a moment causing the crust to get slightly overcooked. Twilight yawned quietly and paused to rub her eyes as she was greeted to the sight. "You're up early." She said once she saw Luke manning the stove. Luke shut off the heat and placed two slices on plates for them. "I figured I should cook breakfast since you've been housing me." Twilight blushed slightly in response. "Oh, it's fine." She said waving her hoof dismissively. "With everything that's going on, it's the least I can do." Twilight trotted over to her seat at the table and began eagerly sniffing at the dish before her. "Mmmm~. This pizza smells good." Luke set down his own plate and began eating his own slice. "Yeah *munch* Ish really good. I picked thish up in Daath." Twilight paused from taking the first bite of her pizza, shifting the levitating slice away. "That's one of the cities on Auldrant, right?" Luke nodded in reply, his mouth full of bread and cheese. "You'll have to tell us all about it on the train ride to Manehatten. It's going to be a long one, and it always helps to have a conversation to make it go by quicker." Without any further hesitation, Twilight levitated the slice of pizza to her lips and began to take her first bite. At first, her expression was one of pleasant contentment, but soon it soured and her bites became longer and more labored. Luke took notice of this and felt he should address it. "Uh, are you okay." "Y-yeah... I'm just... fine." Twilight lied. Luke could see right through the lavender mare's words. "Okay, what's wrong?" Twilight nervously shifted in her seat, clearly unwilling to answer. "W-well... This pizza tastes kinda bad." "Tastes bad?" Luke asked to be sure. "Yeah... It's a little overcooked, and all the ingredients are cut all big. Plus it looks like you just kinda threw it together." Twilight gasped when she realized how rude that last statement sounded, and braced herself for Luke's retaliation. To her surprise, he simply giggled as though he was experiencing a fond memory. "Heh, yeah. Everyone else said that about the way Tear and I cooked. I guess it has to do with my lack of experience. We just had a personal chef make everything back at the manor, and when it came to cooking, I doubt anyone could have beat Anise." Twilight lowered her guard and began nervously laughing along with Luke. "Phew! Crisis averted." She thought in relief. The rest of the morning went by smoothly for the pair. Both of them shared a few small stories, and soon enough they got their supplies ready for the trip ahead. "We should head straight for the train station and wait for the others." Twilight suggested. "We can purchase our tickets there and-" Luke suddenly realized a major flaw in her plan."Uh, Twilight? Unless you're footing the bill for this, I'm not going to be able to ride that train." Twilight sat on her haunches and rubbed her chin. "You're right... I can't believe I forgot about that. Well, maybe we can-" *Crash!* The sound of something crashing from the sky caught their attention. Upon exiting the library, the found a familiar wall eyed mare laying on the ground with her limbs spread out in exhaustion. "Derpy?" Twilight asked. The pegasus quickly shot her head up and smiled. "Hi there Twilight! Sorry if I woke you up. I just got this important package sent to me. This is for Luke; Asch already got one just like it." Derpy fumbled around with the large package in her satchel, trying to get it to come out of the opening that was just a tad too small. "Here, let me help." Luke said as he reached in and pulled out the package. Inside, he found a letter with the seal of Celestia's cutie mark, and a lavishly decorated red lock-box. Luke opened the letter and read it aloud. "Dear Luke, Though I have only known you for a short time, your words have compelled me to trust you with my very life. That said, I have taken thought into the journey you are about to embark on. It will no doubt be a long and difficult one, but I believe that you can overcome any challenge with the assistance of my student and her friends. Inside this lock-box you will find a sum of 10,000 Bits, and a royal passport should you need to enter the other kingdoms. I wish you all luck on your quest, and I hope to see each of you to personally give you thanks. Warmest regards, Princess Celestia P.S Please thank Ms. Hooves for the delivery. No doubt the excessive weight of the Bits have taken their toll. Luke folded the letter away in his pocket, and was about to thank Derpy as instructed, but was met with wide eyed stares from both of the mares. Twilight was mumbling nonsensical gibberish, but finally managed to stammer something out. "T-t-t-t-ten th-thousand..." "Bits...?" Derpy finished. Luke was unsure how to respond. He assumed this was a very large sum of money in this world, but he wasn't certain given how much Gald he spent during his journey. He took the key from under the box and opened it, immediately emitting a golden glow from the coins that were stuffed inside. Upon further inspection, he found that several of the coins varied in size and the number engraved on them, signifying their increased value. Luke wouldn't get much of a chance to continue admiring it, as the lock-box was yanked from him by Twilight's magic. "Oh my Celestia! This is insane!" The unicorn shouted in astonishment. Derpy scooted alongside her and was utterly mesmerized. Her surprise was so great, her eyes actually corrected themselves, earning her a dropped jaw from Luke. "Ohhh~ The muffins I could buy with this!" She began thinking aloud. Twilight nodded in agreement, but never let her eyes stray from the mass of money. "And all the books and research materials I could get! I might finally be able to uncover the lost spells of Starswirl the Bearded!" Luke had had enough of their gawking and he quickly retrieved the box. As the two mares fumed over how rude that was, Luke looked inside a small pouch sown on the inner side. Upon opening it, he found a passport and other documents with the royal seal placed to show his connection with the royal sisters. After seeing that everything was in order, Luke put everything back in the box and locked it. "Thanks again Derpy. Tell Asch I said good luck." Derpy nodded and flew off to meet up with Asch. Luke gathered up all of his things and both he and Twilight made for the train station. -------- The boarding platform was relatively uncrowded that day, making it much easier for Twilight and Luke to keep an eye out for the others. Twilight told Luke to keep watch while she went to get the tickets, prompting him to take a seat at a nearby bench. Luke managed to spot a familiar white unicorn within the first minute. "Hey, Rarity! Over here!" He called and waved at her. Rarity trotted up to Luke with a happy grin on her face. "Good to see you, darling. I've got everything I need for the trip and-" Rarity paused mid-sentence when she noticed the lock-box. "Oh, what a lovely little case there. I don't think I saw you with it before, though." "Actually, Derpy delivered it this morning. It was sent to me by Princess Celestia." Luke explained. "Oh, marvelous! A gift from the Princess! Might I ask what's inside?" Luke was worried about her reaction should he specify, so he thought it best to keep it vague. "Just some passports and travel money..." "It must be quite the sum for such a case. How much did she send?" The fashionista asked with a hint of excitement at the question. "Crap" Luke thought to himself. "It's uh... ten..." "Ten?" Rarity repeated. "*Sigh* She sent me ten thousand Bits." There was a brief moment in time where everything was silent. Rarity had a blank expression as her brain attempted to process this variable. "Oh ho! Silly me! For a second I thought you said you received ten thousand Bits." "Uh, actually..." Luke began. "Y-you were serious?" Rarity asked. Luke could only nod in reply. "HOLY BUCKING DIAMONDS!!!" Rarity blurted in utter shock. Everypony at the station stopped whatever they were doing to stare at the unladylike behavior of the white unicorn before them. "Ah ha ha... Sorry, everypony..." She meekly said as her cheeks turned an almost crimson red. "What in tarnation was that about?" A familiar earth pony asked as she and the remaining element bearers arrived. "Ha ha ha! Oh man, that was priceless! I wish I could have taken a picture of your face, Rarity! It was just... BAH HA HA!" Rainbow Dash chortled. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy simply shrugged at the odd display. Rarity was now far too embarrassed to form a proper response to any of this. She felt like a school filly that just got an answer horribly wrong, prompting the other foals to laugh and tease. Luke could see the shame in Rarity's face. It was enough to tear anyone in two, so he decided to cover for her. "It was my fault. I told her about all the money the Princess sent me, and she reacted about as well as anypony would have." Rainbow Dash raised a brow at the mention of money. "Really... How much are we talking here?" "Ten thousand bits." Luke calmly responded. Everypony froze just as Rarity did to process this. Rainbow was the first to regain control, squeeing with utter delight at the prospect of traveling with someone who was completely loaded. "Hey Luke, did I ever mention how awesome I think you are?" Rainbow asked as she batted her eyelashes. Luke's expression soured at her demeanor. "If it didn't work for Anise, you can sure as hell bet it isn't going to work for you." "Stupid *mumble mumble*" Rainbow cursed at his rejection. "Hoowie! Y'all better keep that case nice and close. Anypony that hears about that's going to be all over that like flies on manure." Applejack warned. "Thanks for the tip." Luke said as he rubbed the back of his head. "Pretty cool gift there, Luke" Pinkie praised. "*Gasp* You didn't tell me today was your birthday! I need to get your cake ready! Oh, and the presents, and guests and-" "N-no Pinkie, it's not my birthday. It's in a couple of months though..." Luke explained. "Phew! That gives me plenty of time to plan out a super-duper-fantabulous party!" Everypony then noticed that Fluttershy was still silent... and unmoving... "Uh, Fluttershy?" Luke asked as he poked her side. The yellow pegasus shook her head to clear her senses. "Huh? Oh, I'm sorry. That's wonderful, Luke." "Well that was a little anti-climactic. I was expecting a big freakout or something." Luke complained in his mind. Twilight had returned by now, levitating two tickets for the next train with her. "Alright Luke, I've got our tickets and- Oh hey everypony." "Howdy, sugar cube." Applejack greeted. "Ah guess we should get along and get our tickets too." "Yes you should. The train leaves in twenty minutes, so we should get them now and grab some seats together." Twilight agreed. Everypony began trotting off towards the ticket booth, but as Luke began following them, his attention was grabbed by the still blushing Rarity. "Um... Luke?" "Yeah?" He asked. "Thanks for clearing things up for me. I don't think I could have handled any more embarrassment." "Aw, it was nothing. Let's go get you your ticket now." Rarity smiled warmly and levitated her things as she trotted alongside Luke. "Yes, let's." -------- The train car was rather nice for a "common car". The seats were wooden with soft cushions built into them, inviting many travelers to drift off to sleep within the first few minutes of boarding the train. The announced dishes were of a common palate, but due to the long distance of the trip, there was no charge for food. Luke placed his things on the overhead shelf, not wanting them to be out of his sight. Everypony began to settle in as the train whistles blared, alerting them that it was now departing. The element bearers began sharing light-hearted jokes and stories to help pass the time. Luke, however had his mind elsewhere. "Tear... I wonder how all of you are doing..."