The Minstrel's Coda
Bonus Chapter: Train to Ponyville
A lone pony was slouched into his seat in an almost empty train car, grasping his acoustic guitar tightly and with saddle bags with a guitar embroidered on each bag sitting next to him in the empty seat. The pony staring out of the window to his right. Seeing the mountains and trees move by as the train chugged along. Staring at the beautiful sight that laid just outside the window, but was interrupted by another pony.
"Excuse me... might if I see your ticket?" Asked a female pony. "I need to check your ticket since we are getting close to Ponyville."
"Oh. Ticket. Give me a moment Ms. Attendant. I am so sorry the sight out there is just so beautiful... it reminds me of home." Responded the lone pony as he sat his guitar down, in the vacant seat next to him where his bags laid. He quickly dug into one of his bags, pulling out a ticket from it and passing it to the attendant. "There you go!"
"Thank you... Mr..." The attendant paused to look down at the ticket. "Meadow Song. Checks out." The attendant stated as she passed the ticket back to the lone pony. "So... Meadow Song where are you from originally that reminds you of such beautiful scenery."
"Hmm?" Meadow Song responded unaware of the question.
"What is it that reminds you of home, looking out there?" The attendant rephrased the question.
"Oh... just its beauty. It reminds me heavily of home." Meadow Song responded.
"So where are you from Meadow Song?" The attendant asked.
"From far away... from across the sea." Meadow Song fibbed.
"Wow. So you're a traveling pony?" The attendant questioned.
"Yes ma'am. It's such a big world out there... I feel like I just need to see it all." Meadow Song responded.
"Don't we all sometimes, its a big world out there, you never know what mysteries and journeys await you out there." The attendant commented.
"It is... just when you feel you've seen it all... you find out you've missed something..." Meadow Song stated as he stared out the window again.
"So why Ponyville?" The attendant asked.
"To be able to see good friend of mine." Meadow Song responded. "I've got something for him that took me a while to acquire, but I'm glad I got it for him."
"Ah a gift? Is it his birthday?"
"Something like that. It's not really new, but I'm sure he'd be glad to have this back."
"Oh I'm sure he will hon." The attendant responded. "I hope you don't mind me bugging you, the train is... pretty empty. Not many ponies to talk to, and everypony else is asleep from boredom."
"Not at all. In fact I like the company." Meadow Song said with a smile. "So how far out are we from Ponyville?"
"Oh... If I had to take a guess. Probably an hour or so away." The attendant answered. "So... how is like across the sea?"
"It's a wonderful place, very difficult to get to, but once you do... beautiful. Beautiful cities, many wonders natural and... pony made." Meadow song fibbed.
"So... what brings you to Equestria?" The attendant asked.
Meadow song pondered the thought of how to answer this question, especially since he had to cover his existence and his past. Naturally the answer came to him after a few moments. "Well by accident, I used to be apart of ship crew that would transport goods from port to port. I was the pony in charge of keeping the other's spirits up." Meadow Song stated tapping his guitar with his front left hoof.
"Ah... so you played guitar for the other sailor ponies you worked with?" The attendant asked.
"Yes ma'am. But one evening as we were returning to our home port, a huge storm brewed up. The ship was lost, we got to the lifeboats but my lifeboat was separated from the others during the storm. I was lost out at sea for what seemed like days, but by miracle I landed somewhere in Horseshoe Bay, just south of Baltimare. But out of it all... I was able to save one thing. My trusty guitar." Meadow Song explained as he looked down from the window to see his guitar.
"Wow... no kidding." The attendant commented. "So do you ever plan to go back?"
"Nah... I don't think I can to be honest. The storms over that sea lane are really bad and I doubt it will clear up anytime. You'd need to get somewhere in the number of a thousand or more pegasi to clear up that storm."
"That's unfortunate. In any case Mr. Meadow Song. It was a pleasure having a small talk with you." The attendant excused herself.
"The pleasure was all mine Ma'am. You're more than welcome to come talk to me anytime you like before we get to Ponyville." Meadow Song assured.
"I might just do that thank you! You enjoy the rest of your trip now Meadow Song."
"I will." Meadow Song responded to turn and face the attendant and smiled. She smiled back and continued her rounds down the train. Meadow Song sighed lightly now knowing that he didn't need to make up lies on the spot to cover up his existence in Equestria.
He proceeded to claim his guitar back from the vacant seat with his front left hoof, grasping it lightly and pulling it toward him to avoid the saddle bags. But his prudence was in vain, as the base of his guitar had slightly tapped the bag that had been ignored previously causing it to knock over and spill its contents on the seat. Suddenly out fell a small cardboard box and a letter that was wrapped up in a red ribbon. "I really should be careful more careful with this, since I'm sure Kiniro will be excited to get these back and read this letter. I really have to thank Shining Armor for all this..." Quickly Meadow Song recovered the contents and placed them back into the saddle bag. "I just can't wait to see that pony's face when he see's what both me and Shining Armor have recovered for him. I know it will definitely cheer him up when ever he's feeling down. It's the least I can do for him since he has done so much for me. Now just get to Ponyville..."
End of Bonus Chapter.