//------------------------------//
// 6. Midnight Train to Canterlot 
// Story: Isaac's Storm 
// by EquusStorm 
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Night fell upon Ponyville as Twilight continued to interrogate Isaac. She had gone through many subjects, both very important ones and minor ones. He had faithfully answered them to the best of his ability. Aside from the awkwardness in explaining human anatomy and a few prodding personal questions, things seemed to be going smoothly. Twilight and Isaac were rather comfortable with each other's presence by now, and the hours seemed to fly by.

Isaac had gone over human engineering, science, mathematics (Twilight seemed to enjoy that discussion particularly) , artistry, holidays, religions, architecture, and all sorts of other human world achievements. He had successfully managed to carefully skirt over potentially awkward topics, such as the human diet, war, crimes, and other things that Twilight would probably find unsavory, along with avoiding discussing the show and its fandom any more than necessary. Twilight did try to pull more information out of him, but he seemed to be finally learning how to carefully avoid having to comply with these demands.

Several hours - and scrolls - later, the discussion took a slightly more personal and casual turn, and Isaac found himself regaling the unicorn with tales of his hometown, his family, his hobbies, and his daily routine. Pretty much everything about his life deemed worthy of discussing was covered in full. 

He told her about the time he tried to fly by jumping off the roof when he was in Kindergarten, and the time he sneaked lizards into his mother's sock drawer after she made him eat spinach at dinner. He told her about the day at school when he and a friend tried to get out of school early by pulling the fire alarm and running down the halls screaming "FIRE!" He told her about the subsequent suspension he received as a result of this act. He told her about the Christmas he got a sweater that was several sizes too big, but he wore it anyway. He told her about how his father had just lost interest in being part of the family, and separated from his mother when he was eight. Twilight seemed genuinely touched and saddened by this particular story, as it was hard for Isaac to talk about. He assured her that those wounds were in the past, and he could talk about the situation now without feeling too sad. A bond was definitely forming between the pair as the chat continued well into Luna's gorgeous night.

"Wow. That's a lot of information! Thanks, Isaac - you've given me so much insight into the human world that I'd almost be able to write a book about them!" By the look of the piles and piles of scrolls that had been filled through their little discussion, she basically already had.

"Well hey, it was so great talking with you. It's just amazing to be here, in Equestria, and I'm glad I can help."

"It's getting kind of late, so I'm going to write a letter to the Princess. I think I have more than enough information now to complete my letter, so you can do whatever you'd like until I get that done."

At this moment, both heard a groan coming from downstairs.

"Oh no! I totally forgot that I left Spike in charge of the library! Poor guy, I have to go and relieve him of his duty!" Twilight took off down the stairs.

Isaac laid back flat on the floor and stared at the ceiling above him. He let his mind wander a bit, and the incredible realisation that he was in Equestria blossomed again. I just had a ten-hour chat with Twilight Sparkle. I'm in the bedroom of a pony that I watched on my laptop two days ago. I'm really a human in Equestria. This is absolutely unreal. He also began to notice that he could really use a bath, not to mention something to eat. He'd only eaten bread all day, and was used to gorging himself with junk food from dawn to dusk! But he could wait till Twilight finished her duties downstairs and sent off her letter before asking her for a snack. No way he was getting up to get something to eat - it was late and he was worn out from talking. That's a good enough excuse to make somepony else do something for you, right?

After quite a while of his musings, Twilight returned to her bedroom, a weary Spike in tow. "I hope having this human guy here doesn't mean I have to do all that work EVERY day," the dragon mused aloud.

"Everything is done! Now we'll wait for a reply and see what Celestia wants us to do next."

"Hey Twilight, it's been a while since breakfast. Would you-"

BEEEEERRRRRRRRP! Out of Spike's mouth came a neatly wrapped scroll bearing the royal emblem. "Huh, that's odd," Twilight said in a somewhat confused tone, "I don't see how Celestia would've had time to read the whole thing yet. My letter was about five scrolls long."

Twilight opened the scroll and began reading. "What'd she say?" Isaac asked.

The unicorn's eyes widened a bit as she scanned the scroll. "This is odd. She wants us to come to Canterlot immediately."

"It's, like, almost midnight. So are we going out tomorrow or..."

"No, according to this, we need to go right away! Princess Celestia says it's not an extremely urgent situation, but that she needs to discuss some things about humans in person as soon as we can. And, that you need to come along as well."

At first, this was not welcome news to Isaac. He wanted to sleep, not travel. But then again, he hadn't been outside of Twilight's house or the Everfree Forest since he got to Equestria - he'd finally be able to get out and see more of the world he had been in awe of!

"And that might actually work for the better, because we won't run the risk of scaring anypony in Ponyville at this hour... we can get you to the train station before anypony sees you and starts a panic."

"Train station? You mean we're going by train?"

"Well yeah, what did you expect? Did you think I could just zap us there in an instant?"

"You could, couldn't you? After all, you've got a lot of magic skill."

"Hah, well, teleporting the both of us all the way to Canterlot from Ponyville? Not happening. That's not really feasible. We're taking the train."

Oh well, at least he'd get to sit down for a while, maybe catch up on some sleep in the meantime.

"Hey Twilight," he called out as they made their way downstairs, "exactly how long does it take to get to Canterlot from the Ponyville station anyway?" This was not made clear in the show, as some trips to Canterlot seemed a lot longer than others in different episodes.

"Twelve hours, more or less. I'll need to close the library tomorrow, since we'll be gone all day. We might need to pack something to eat along the way. And a blanket, both to hide you with if necessary and to sleep under along the way. And a few books for reading during the trip. And... actually, well, how about this. Spike?"

The dragon brought his palm to his face, and dutifully grabbed a quill and a scroll to begin making a checklist.

"Wow. That's why you're my number one assistant!"

After several minutes of dictating, writing, collecting, checking, packing, double checking, preparing snacks, and triple checking, the two were ready to go. Spike would stay at the library, getting a well-earned night of sleep. 

"Stay here for a second, I'm going out to make sure there's nopony out on the street." Isaac stood by the door, waiting for Twilight to make her surveilance sweep. Moments later, she returned. "All right, we're ready to go. We need to hurry, so follow me to the train station. Don't get distracted by anything - you'll have plenty of chances to explore later."

Isaac followed her out the door, and, for the first time, found himself on the streets of Ponyville. It was a beautiful place even at night, the quaint charm obvious even at this late hour. The sky was clear, and the moon was especially bright - the path was rather well-lit by the glow of Luna's astral entities. Constellations filled the vast expanse, framing the midnight landscape with thousands of little dots - each a distant star. It was so bright out that he could clearly see Sugarcube Corner, the Day Spa, and so many other places he recognised despite the hour. But this beauty came at a price - should anypony be out, that would make him that much more visible. Isaac kept this in mind as he followed Twilight at a brisk pace towards the Ponyville station.

"HEY TWILIGHT! Whatcha doing?"

A familiar, hyperactive voice pierced the calm, and both Isaac and Twilight nearly jumped out of their respective skins. Before Isaac could react, a heavy blanket was thrown onto him with great force and speed, nearly knocking him over.

"Pinkie?! What on earth are you doing out here this late?"

The pink party pony giggled and replied, "Silly, it's not late! It's exactly 12:03, which means it's actually really early! It's a whole new day! Are you out here welcoming the new day too? Huh? It's so pretty out here tonight! There are stars and more stars and the moon is so bright and-"

"Pinkie, please, I'm busy - I'm... uh... delivering a statue to the train station."

"Oooh! A statue! What's it a statue of? Can I see? Can I help? Where is it? Ooh is it under that blanket ovet there? It's pretty tall! Can I-"

"STOP!" Twilight instinctively jumped between Pinkie and the 'statue' and quickly added, "I mean, no, it's a secret. I can't tell anypony about it until I get it, uh, delivered."

"Ooh! I love secrets! I can keep secrets really really well! Tell me please? I won't tell anypony, cross my heart and hope to fl-"

"No. You'll have to wait. I'll tell you about it later, okay? For now, though, I need to get going, so, um, go back to welcoming the new day. It IS pretty nice out here."

"Okie doike lokie! La la la~" The bubbly mare hopped off into the distance, almost as if the previous confrontation had never happened. Somepony really needs to get that girl on some medication... or at least get her to lower her daily sugar intake.

Or not. She's doing fine as she is.

"That was a close one, Isaac." Twilight looked around for any other ponies, and, seeing no signs of activity besides herself and her 'statue', lifted the blanket, neatly folding it and putting it back in her saddlebag.

"You know, I DO want to meet some of the other ponies one of these days." Isaac goaded jokingly.

"You will, but we've gotta figure out a way of introducing you without causing chaos."

The Ponyville station wasn't far off, and if it were daytime, it would be easily visible from the second story of the library. Ponyville is a small town. The two reached the ticket booth in short order. The problem now was, it was probably going to be necessary to reveal Isaac to the railroad employees, as there was no way she was going to be able to sneak a 'statue' so large onto the train, even at this quiet hour.

"I have a royal order to deliver somepon... someone to Canterlot." Twilight tried her best to prepare the stallion at the station entrance for the sight of the strange creature she had with her, if need be. Isaac was standing back a ways at the entrance to an alley, where he'd be less likely to be seen.

"All righty, so then that'll be two tickets to Canterlot, on the 12:30 train?"

"Yes sir." She paid for the tickets, and pulled out the blanket again. "Let me go get our guest."

"Do I really have to walk with this thing over my head?" Twilight threw the sheet over Isaac once more and prodded him into following her back to the station.

"I don't want to have to reveal you if I don't have to. Then again, I don't think the railroad operators are going to mind that much. But we have twenty minutes until the train leaves."

"I'm not gonna stay under this thing for twenty minutes!"

"Ugh, fine." A purple aura pulled the blanket off and back into her saddlebag... not as neatly this time.

The two made the short walk to the train station. "Leave the talking to me, Isaac. I think I can get us through this without many problems. I hope."

"Well what a strange... guest?" The operator at the booth was clearly not expecting such a creature.

"He's a human. Don't worry, he's harmless, and I have orders to take him to Canterlot."

"Hmm... interesting. Nice to meet you, um, human!"

"Isaac. My name's Isaac, Isaac the Earth human. Thanks sir!" Isaac bowed and followed Twilight into the passenger car.

"Well that went much better than expected." Twilight shrugged.

"And you said I had to stay inside all day so that no on-nopony would panic," Isaac retorted, "when I coulda been out here exploring all day!"

Both smiled. Looks like the worst was over. But first, a long train ride. And a snack. He STILL hadn't eaten since the morning!

"Hey Twilight, since we're on the train now, can I have a snack? I'm starved!"

"Oh dear! I'm sorry. I got so caught up in research that I forgot to make lunch, or dinner! Silly me!" She pulled out and opened the snack bag. "We have grass, two daisy sandwiches, some hay bites... what would you like?"

"Erm... on second thought, I think I'll just sleep on the way there."

Before too long, the door to the passenger car was slid shut, and the locomotive roared to life. It was time to depart. Isaac stretched out on the seat - as much as he could in a pony-sized seat, at least - and wrapped himself in the blanket, content to take a nap for at least part of the journey. The train soon began to move, and the long journey to Canterlot was underway.

Isaac looked across to Twilight, who was still feverishly taking notes for some reason or another. He then glanced out the window, seeing bits of scenery here and there amidst the shades of night that covered the land. Anything to get sleepy, he thought to himself. Tired from the interrogation earlier, yet still very hungry, he slowly started to drift off into sleep. The rhythmic chugging of the locomotive and the gentle whine of the wheels on the track helped lull him into a deep sleep.

...

When Isaac awoke, the sun was beginning to rise. Celestia went about her sun-raising duties whilst awaiting the arrival of Isaac and Twilight. He marveled at the spectacle, the controlling of the day cycle by magic and the two sisters. If only things were that magical back on Earth.

Isaac also realised something else. Twilight had said that the trip to Canterlot usually took twelve hours. If it was just sunrise, that meant that there were still several hours to go before they would arrive in Canterlot. He groaned, and the groan was helped along nicely by his growling stomach. At this point, he mused, I'll eat anything. Noting Twilight was finally sound asleep, he carefully stood up and made his way over to her saddlebag. In rummaging through it by a desperate attempt to find anything edible, he noticed the purple pony beside him was beginning to stir.

"Hmmmmgh. Spike don't pull the... covers... it's too early to be... -yawn- morning... and stuff..." She shook her head a bit and yawned once more, adjusting her eyes to the morning light. She then noticed Isaac going through her bag. Now fully awake, she inquired, "Hey, what are you doing going through my saddlebag?"

"Oh, sorry. I was just so hungry I'm just looking for anything to eat..."

"Ah, my bad. Here, let me find something for you." With that, she levitated the bag with the daisy sandwiches out into view. "I made two, one for each of us. We should definitely eat." She passed a sandwich over to him.

"Ehh, thank you!" Isaac feigned interest, but then decided that it was better than nothing, and, hopefully, edible for humans. The first bite made him doubt that.

"Well, how is it?"

"It's, erm, delicious! I love it!" The awful taste of flower petals was thankfully partially alleviated by the bread, but it was still rather unappealing. But he would persevere. At least till Twilight wasn't looking, he would. Seizing a chance, he quickly stuffed the petals into his pocket and ate just the bread. 

The next four hours were filled with occasional snippets of conversation, a couple of naps, and Twilight reading an entire book. Finally, after a long journey, Canterlot was in sight. It had been visible on its spectacular cliffside location throughout multiple portions of the rail line, of course, but now it was clear that arrival was minutes away. After passing the guard station, the train was officially within Canterlot city limits. Isaac was awed by the amazing architecture and stunning beauty of the high-society metropolis, with its massive spiraling towers and spectacular views of all Equestria. He had never seen such a wondrous place in all his life. Canterlot was pretty cool to look at on the TV screen during episodes, but in person it was another thing entirely. He was almost sad to reach the Canterlot station, as then he would have to head straight for the castle before getting to see any more of the scenery.

As the train reached its destination, Twilight realised that she would have to find a way to prevent panic in getting Isaac off the train and to the station. "Isaac, we're going to have to get to the castle without causing panic, and unfortunately the streets of Canterlot are pretty busy, to say the least."

"So then what do we do? Do I have to be a statue delivery again?"

"No," Twilight chuckled, "but it would be a good idea to let me handle it again, to be on the safe side.

Isaac remembered the time when Twilight handled things in Lesson Zero and It's About Time, among others. But hey, she's been handling things pretty well this time around, so let's let her take care of the situation.

"Okay. This might not be the best idea ever, but here's what we're gonna do..."

Isaac was taken aback. Her solution was unexpected. They were gonna go Leeroy Jenkins style. No frills, no blanket, no sneaking. Right into the populace, in the hopes that the Canterlot natives wouldn't panic. All kinds of creatures had showed up in Canterlot before, after all, so maybe he'd not be so out of place. Unfortunately, many of these other creatures had turned out to be villains. Well, it's now or never. Here goes nothing...

The two walked out into the street.

Much to his surprise, Twilight's ambitious plan worked, for the most part. On the way to the castle - a short little jaunt from the station - he noticed several curious stares, a few fearful glances, and several ponies re-routing their walk around the two, staring intently. A few ponies seemed somewhat concerned, yes, but nopony was panicking. He could hear fragments of hushed conversations amidst those gathered.

"... that creature beside Twilight? It's..."

"... beside the purple unicorn! I say, I've never seen quite..."

"... run? That creature is twice as tall as..."

Soon, the odd couple were in front of the gates to Canterlot Castle. Isaac's jaw hung agape at the incredible sight.

"It's quite a sight isn't it?" Twilight beamed. "Come on, let's head inside."