Pinkie stood at the window of the cabin, watching the terrain zip past. "The ticket master was right, this is a really fast train."
Applejack was content to lay on her bunk. She could see the hills speed by just fine from it. She tried to lose herself in the rolling hills, if only to keep her mind off worrying about the farm and leaving Big Mac to take care of it alone. She sighed, watching the hills zip by wasn't helping as much as she had hoped. "Ah sure hope Twi told Big Mac we were gonna be gone."
"Oh, I'm sure she, oh look a carriage, oh, it's gone now, I'm sure she did." Pinkie said as she hopped up and down at the window.
Silence filled the compartment again. Pinkie kept staring out the window. She watched the sun lazily drift though the sky, slowly making its way to the horizon as the plains rushed by. She smiled and whispered to herself "Soon Rarity, soon we will be together again."
"Can we talk 'bout something?" Applejack asked as her worries about leaving the farm without warning started to get the best of her. "It's too quiet."
Pinkie looked back at the orange pony. "Sure AJ, what do you want to talk about? OH we could talk about chimmy cherries, or was it cherry chongas." She rubbed her hoof over her chin as she continued standing at the window. "Or maybe it was kumquat chonga."
Applejack groaned. If she was going to stay sane she was going to have to take charge of this conversation. "What was with those things ya were talkin' to outside of Carousel Boutique just before ya got..." She stopped as she saw Pinkie's smile drop into a frown and her hair slightly deflated. Not quite as much as it had been when she was waiting at the boutique, but enough to know that something wasn't right. "Uhh, ya don't have to tell me 'bout it if ya don't want ta," she said, trying to backpedal from whatever was upsetting the pink pony.
Pinkie shook her head and let her front hooves fall back to the floor. She laid down on the seat across from Applejack and sighed. "It's ok AJ, I'm sorry you saw that, but I'll tell you about it. After all, you're helping me find Rarity and I did kinda force you into it without asking. Do you remember the story about how I got my cutie mark?"
Applejack nodded "Yep, ya saw the rainbow from Rainbow Dash's first sonic rainboom and decided ta spread joy and ya threw a party for yer family and got yer cutie mark fer it. Uhh, right?"
Pinkie giggled. "You did remember." Her hair poofed up a bit, making her look more like the normal Pinkie, but she was still visibly upset. "Well that isn't quite how it really happened. I diiid get my cutie mark for throwing my first party but I actually got it after I finished setting up the party, not when my family came." She shifted her legs under her. "My sisters were excited about the party, but my parents weren't. They said it was frivolous. They said parties would only get in the way of work. They wouldn't even let my sisters join my parties. I kept trying to have parties but they would never join them and even my sisters started to say they were 'wastes of time' so I made my own friends that would come to my parties. Rocky, Sir Lintsalot, Mr. Turnip and Madame Le Flour." She rolled over on to her back, letting her hooves poke up in the air then looked up at the sky though the window. The sun shone through, filling the room with light as the bottom of it touched the shallow hills that rolled by. "They started out imaginary. Then they got more and more real and would tell me that I didn't need anypony else besides them. Then I moved to Ponyville." Pinkie turned back over and smiled at Applejack. She looked back to her happy self. "In Ponyville everypony loved my parties so I didn't need my imaginary friends anymore."
Applejack shifted uncomfortably and looked suspiciously at Pinkie. "Yer tellin' me they tell ya to do things? What kinda things?"
"Well mostly they tell me that they're the only friends I need and to forget about other ponies. It used to help when I was alone." Pinkie hopped off her seat and bounced to Applejack's, landing beside the orange mare and hugging her. "But I have real friends now, who love my parties. But when I get really sad, sometimes they come back and try to cheer me up."
Applejack put her leg around Pinkie and held her back. "But why did they come back now? Ah mean ya know we all love ya and we ain't going anywhere."
"Oh I know that." The pink pony said as she squeezed harder. "And I know that Rarity loves me but I was being a silly Pinkie but I couldn't get it into my head. So I got so sad that they came back and tried to convince me she was never coming back. I knew it was silly but I didn't know how to stop myself from thinking it. I think it would have gotten worse if you didn't come there and stay with me during the day and invited me to dinner each night. Thank you soooooo much for doing that." She smiled and squeezed Applejack.
Applejack tried to push Pinkie off of her. "It was no problem sugar cube, but can ya let go, it's gettin' hard to breathe."
Pinkie finally released her grip on the orange pony. "Hehehehehaha *snort* Sorry Applejack, sometimes I forget about the strength of my Pinkie hugs."
A knock on the door caused both ponies to jump, a voice called out from the hall. "Dining cart."
"Ah could use something to eat, how 'bout you?" Applejack asked as she trotted to the door and slid it open revealing a dark orange earth pony mare with light pink mane.
"I hope you two are enjoying your trip. We have complementary fresh daisy sandwiches for dinner tonight, would you like one?" the mare asked with a smile.
Applejack smiled back at the mare. "Ah would love one, haven't had a bite to eat all day."
Pinkie bounced up beside Applejack. "Oh me too me too, my Pinkie tummy was empty. Are there any cupcakes for dessert?"
"Sorry hon, this is all we have."
"Aww, well at least we get a sandwich, thanks for bringing them to us." Pinkie said as the mare produced two daisy sandwiches from the cart. Pinkie and Applejack each took one in a hoof and sat back down on their bunks.
"I hope you two enjoy the sandwiches and have a goodnight." The mare said as she closed the door to their room.
Applejack settled onto her bunk and started on her sandwich. Pinkie just tossed hers into the air and swallowed it in one gulp while the room darkened as the sun sank below the hills. Applejack looked out the window just as the last rays of sunlight shone from between the hills. She looked back at Pinkie but the pink pony was already snoring away on her bunk. "Ah guess it has been a long day hasn't it? Gnight sugar cube," she whispered as she finished her sandwich and drifted off to sleep.
----------------
A sudden lurch of the train caused Pinkie to wake up and for the first time in over a week she awoke with a smile on her face. Her mind was no longer telling her to worry about Rarity loving her. She also had a path to follow to find her love and could almost feel herself getting closer to Rarity. And that made all the difference in the world.
She looked around the room. It felt like late morning but it was still dark. She hopped off her bunk and pressed her nose to the window. When she looked up all she could see was a thick canopy of leaves suspended from enormous trees that surrounded the town. Only a few errant rays of light reached the ground. The train had stopped moving and she could see a few small houses, not unlike the cottages in Ponyville. A couple of ponies were already moving up to the train, probably to begin unloading the cargo from the rear cars.
Pinkie looked over at the bunk on the other side of the car and found Applejack laying on her back snoozing away with her hat covering her face. She hopped off her bunk and went to the orange mare then lightly poked her side with her hoof. Applejack shifted to her side and her hat fell off her face and onto the floor. "Not now Applebloom, the sun ain't even up yet." She said as she covered her eyes with her hoof.
Pinkie giggled and was about to poke her again when a loud whistle sounded causing both mares to jump into the air and land in a heap on the floor next to Applejack's hat. "What in tarnation was that!?" Applejack asked as she looked around trying to get her bearings.
Before Pinkie could answer a yell came from the hallway. "CANTERLOT EXPRESS TO BACKWOODS GLENN NOW ARRIVED!"
Applejack grunted and got to her hooves. "Well that explains that. Seems like the train got here purdy early though."
Pinkie took Applejack's hat in her mouth and placed it on the other pony's head. "Hehehehehe look out the window."
Applejack raised her eyebrow then turned to the window and her mouth hung open. "whewee, I ain't never seen trees this big before. Ol' Bloomberg would be getting mighty jealous here." She looked back to Pinkie. "Well we're here, so what now Pinkie?"
"Well, first we need to find out which direction Prancington is, then we either need to get a carriage or take the balloon there."
"Ah'm out of bits so ah reckon its gonna be tha balloon."
Applejack pushed open the door to their cabin just as the dark orange earth pony from the night before trotted up with the food cart. "Good afternoon you two, I hope you had a pleasant trip, would you like some lunch before you depart? I even managed to get some cupcakes for you." She said with a smile as she looked at Pinkie.
"Ooooh, that sounds yummy." Said Pinkie as she bounced over to the mare and took a cupcake from the top of the cart and ate it in a single bite.
"Wow hon, you must have been hungry." The mare turned to Applejack. "Would you like a cupcake, we also have sandwiches still."
"Ah'll just take a sandwich. Wait, ya said it was afternoon?"
The mare gave a daisy sandwich to Applejack. "Oh yes, just before noon in fact. I hope you both enjoy your stay in Backwoods Glenn." She said as she left them.
Applejack grumbled as she ate her sandwich. "Ah can't believe ah missed sun up, ah always wake up with the sun."
Pinkie giggled. "It's the fault of those silly trees, they grow so tall that they keep Miss Sunshine from saying 'hello'."
"Well ah'm glad to see you back to feeling like yourself again. I reckon we ought a go take a look around town."
Pinkie bounced next to her. "Ohh, I hope Rarity is here, maybe she just got back and is waiting to board the train." She suddenly froze in midair then dropped to the ground. "I wish we asked the ticket master when the last train left from here to Canterlot maybe Rarity has been waiting a long time for this train ohhhhh I hope she's here, c'mon Applejack!"
With that, Pinkie raced out of the room and down the hallway and out of the train. Applejack galloped after the pink blur. Pinkie was standing just outside of the train as Applejack reached her. The town was not unlike Ponyville, a number of humble thatch roofed cottages could be seen from the train station which was small but looked to be under construction. From first glance it looked to Applejack like they were adding another wing to the train station. As she looked around more she could see evidence of construction all around the town. New shops being constructed, large tents that appeared to house worker ponies, and smaller cargo trains being pulled by pony teams down the tracks beyond where the express train had stopped.
"Whew wee, looks like they are building a city here." Applejack said as her head turned this way and that, trying to take in all the sights and sounds of the new town.
Pinkie Pie kicked a pebble on the ground with her front hoof. "But I don't see Rarity anywhere." She trotted down the length of the train, past the passenger cars to where the cargo was being held and poked her head under the tarp that kept the cargo safe from the elements.
"What are you doin' in there?" A gruff voice interrupted her.
Pinkie leapt back in surprise and ended up on top of a yellow earth pony stallion. "Heheheheh, Hi. My hot air balloon is in there so I'm getting it." Pinkie smiled as she finished and hopped off of the stallion's back.
He grunted. "Well ok, just watch out, there is a lot of construction equipment in there."
The stallion trotted off and Pinkie stuck her head back under the tarp. Applejack grabbed Pinkies tail in her mouth and pulled her back out from under the tarp. "How bout we leave the balloon here and see if Rarity is waiting fer us first?"
"Oooooohhhhhh, good idea Applejack. Oohoohooh, we should see when this train leaves again for Canterlot, maybe she has tickets for it."
"Good thinking there Pinkie." Applejack pointed her hoof at a small window on the side of the train station. "Ah think that's the ticket master, let's ask."
The two mares walked up to the window. A light brown earth pony colt was inside the booth. He had his head resting on his fore hooves as he lazily started out the window at nothing in particular with half lidded eyes.
Applejack tapped on the glass. "Howdy." She said as the stallion blinked and his eyes focused on her. "We were wonderin' when this train was set to leave for Canterlot?"
The colt blinked a few more times than glanced around the room. "Uhhhh hi uhh." He ducked down behind the counter then came back up with a piece of paper. "Uhhh this train goes back to Canterlot uhhh tomorrow at noon."
"That seems a long layover. This the only stop?"
"Uhhhh yeah, for now it transports cargo, workers and a few passengers here. Then it takes any passengers back to Canterlot. Usually it takes awhile to unload and load the train."
"Oh, well that makes sense, thank you kindly." Applejack said as she tipped her hat to the ticket master and turned to leave.
"Wait Applejack, maybe he knows if Rarity will be here." Pinkie hopped up to the ticket window and pressed her nose up against the glass. "Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie, I was wondering if you knew if a pony named Rarity had a ticket for the train ride back, or if you saw her take an earlier train back to Canterlot. You'd know her if you saw her. She's a beauuuuutiful unicorn with a gleaming white coat and a royal purple mane and tail done up in curls." As Pinkie described Rarity she gazed into the sky and began to giggle then fell onto her back, wrapped her forelegs around herself and rolled back and forth as she smiled to herself. The ticket master opened the window and poked his head out while Applejack leaned over and they both stared at Pinkie as she rolled around. "And when you look into her sky blue eyes you can see the promise of a sunny day, filled with laughter and joy. Pools so deep you could lose yourself in them and would never want to find your way out. Mystery, love, passion and adventure all rolled up..."
Applejack poked the pink pony with her hoof and cleared her throat. The small crowd of ponies, who had stopped to listen, shuffled uncomfortably, a few of them blushing as they went back to what they were doing.
"OH!" Pinkie hopped back up to her hooves and grinned. "Hehehe, sorry, thinking about Rarity makes me feel all warm and fuzzy in my tummy. So do you know if she's been here before or if she will be on this train?"
"Errr ok." The ticket master pulled his head back into the ticket booth. "Uhhh, I didn't see anypony like that on the last train that left." He looked down at the ledger book and started flipping though the pages with the tip of his hoof. "uhhhhhhhhh there is a ticket reserved for a Rarity for the last train that left a few days ago buuuuut it was pushed back to this train. The reservation says they should arrive before it leaves but to hold it in case they are late. Uhhhhh." When he looked up he could see the pink pony grinning widely at him and it made him nervous.
The ticket master ducked back into his booth as Pinkie leaned though the window. "So, do you know when the caravan is gonna get here?" she asked, her grin widening.
A single hoof extended from the depths of the ticket booth past Pinkie's head and it pointed to a donkey standing next to a building across from the train station a sign on the front of it said 'Caravans and Freight'. "The donkey in charge of the carriages is over there" he stammered.
"Yay, thank you for your help." Pinkie pulled her head back, grabbed Applejack and galloped over to the donkey the ticket master had pointed to.
The two mares skidded to a halt in front of a brown donkey. "Hiya Mister Wagon Donkey Guy. Can you tell us when the next caravan from Prancington will get here?" Pinkie said with a smile.
The donkey looked at the two mares. "Mister Wagon Donkey Guy. I remember when it was Wagon Master, or Sir Spokes, or even Wagoneer. Now it's just 'Mister Wagon Donkey Guy'. I tell ya, ever since that train started coming I get no respect, no respect at all."
Pinkie gave the stallion a sad smile. "I'm sorry, it's just that my special somepony is on the next caravan and I'm really excited to see her again. Oh, I know, I could throw you a party, a party for being the best Wagon Donkey in the whoooole world."
The Wagon Donkey gave Pinkie a smile. "Thanks for offering kid but I don't need a party. Anyway, the next caravan should be arriving tomorrow morning. There are a few hotels you could stay..." The donkey twitched his ears and looked at the dirt road leading to the town. "Huh, it sounds like they are coming around the bend now." Almost as soon as he had said it, two wagons came into view, being pulled by stallions who were galloping at full speed towards the town. "They certainly seem to be in a rush and I only see two wagons. There are supposed to be four." The donkey said as he cantered to the road to meet them.
Pinkie and Applejack followed the donkey. "They sure are movin quick, almost looks like they are runnin' from somethin'." Applejack said as the wagons approached. The front wagon was a simple wood wagon with a blue blanket stretched over it being pulled by a team of two stallions; the second was a passenger carriage with a full team of four pulling it.
As the caravan moved into the town it slowed down. The stallions pulling the wagons all collapsed as they tried to catch their breaths. "HEY GET SOME WATER AND FEED OVER HERE!" The donkey yelled. As Applejack and Pinkie walk closer to the blanket covered wagon, they saw a bit of movement coming from within.
Applejack poked one of the shaking lumps. "AHHHH DONT EAT ME!" Applejack jumped back and the blanket was thrown off revealing a group of frightened ponies. As soon as they realized they were in a town they all jumped out of the wagon and scattered.
Pinkie Pie and Applejack looked at each other "Ah wonder what that was all about."
A unicorn came running out of the Caravan and Freight building. She was levitating two barrels beside her, one had water sloshing out of it. "Here you go Spokes." She said to the donkey.
The donkey balanced the barrel containing the water on his back and moved quickly over to one of the stallions pulling the front wagon. He let water flow out of a spigot in the barrel to the stallion's lips. He drank slowly at first then started to take huge gulps of water before he pushed the barrel away. The donkey moved it to the other stallion who had been pulling the wagon. "What happened here Warm Up? Why were you all going flat out?"
The stallion was still trying to catch his breath as more ponies from the town arrived to see what the commotion was. "Hy... Hydra's attacked us. Two of 'em."
"TWO HYDRAS!" The donkey exclaimed. "I've never even heard of hydras being in these woods. Are they still chasing you? What happened?"
He tried to stand up but couldn't quite make it to his legs so he laid back onto the ground. "I think we managed to lose them. They attacked when we were camped near Rainbow Mesa and destroyed two of the wagons. We have injured in the carriage."
One of the ponies from the growing crowed spoke up. "I'm doctor Golden Hour, I'll go take a look." Applejack stayed with the donkey while Pinkie Pie followed the yellow pegasus mare who had just spoken.
Golden Hour came to the side of the carriage and noticed Pinkie beside her. "Are you here to help?" she asked.
"I'm looking for my special somepony. She's supposed to be on this caravan, but if there is anything I can do to help I will." Pinkie hopped back just as the door to the carriage swung open and a couple earth ponies staggered out.
"Oh thank Celestia, we're back in Backwoods Glenn." One of them said as she leaned against the side of the carriage.
Pinkie and Golden Hour poked their heads into the carriage, a scent of sweat and fear filled their noses, topped with an odd metallic tinge. Pinkie could see a white mare sitting in the back wearing a large hat that covered her face. She had to force herself not to leap up and hug her, which was made easier by the sight of two stallions laying bandaged on the floor and several mares with bandages around them sitting on the seats between her and the white pony.
Golden Hour was about to call for a stretcher when two stallions galloped up beside her with several across their backs. "Good timing you two, it looks like we have four or five injured ponies here, let's get them loaded and to the hospital."
Pinkie helped the stallions and Golden Hour lift up the first injured stallion. He had a bandage wrapped around his torso, there was a large dull red spot along his side. Pinkie gulped and glanced back at the white pony, it looked like she was sleeping. She went back to focusing on helping load the next injured stallion onto a stretcher.
"Ok, who here can walk and who needs a stretcher?" Golden Hour called into the carriage.
A lime green mare with her rear leg bandaged said "I can't walk well, I could use one, but I think everypony else is well enough to walk." There were nods and murmurs of agreement from the rest of the ponies. They carefully loaded the mare onto the last stretcher then the two stallions balanced the stretchers between them and carried the injured ponies away. Golden Hour and Pinkie Pie helped the remaining injured ponies who could walk out of the carriage, followed by a number of uninjured ponies.
The last pony still in the carriage was the white one. Pinkie hopped up into the carriage and poked the pony in the flank. "Rarity?" she asked. At a closer look she noticed that instead of Rarity's three diamonds, the pony's cutie mark was a scroll with a quill laying on it. Pinkie stood there for a long moment, just looking at the pony's cutie mark. She wasn't Rarity but she had Rarity's hat, the hat Rarity wore the day she left. Pinkie grabbed the pony with her hooves and shook her. "Wake up! Where is Rarity?" Pinkie yelled as the panic began to course though her.
The pony woke up with a start and the hat fell off of her head, revealing a long orange mane. "What? Where? Are we back in Backwoods Glenn?" Then she noticed the pink pony glaring at her and shrunk back.
"Wheres Rarity? The pony who gave you that hat, where is she!?" Pinkie demanded as she stared daggers at the white pony.
"I.. I... I don't know, she wasn't in the other wagon?" The pony said as she huddled in the corner, away from the angry pink pony.
Pinkie gave a frustrated yell and jumped out of the carriage and looked at the other ponies who had exited it. "Where is Rarity? White unicorn with purple mane and tail. Where is she?" She glared from pony to pony.
"She wasn't on the other wagon?"
"I haven't seen her since we were attacked."
"I thought I saw her running from one of the hydras into the forest."
"I don't think I ever saw her."
"Isn't she in the carriage?"
"No, that pony has an orange mane."
"Do you think the hydras got her?"
Everypony went silent after that was said. The idea hung in the air like a dark cloud and Pinkie fought back tears. She turned and galloped back to Applejack and the donkey. The stallion who the donkey had called Warm Up was on his hooves now.
"RARITY ISN'T IN THE CARRIAGE!" Pinkie yelled at Applejack. "We have to go find her!" She turned to the stallion. "You said you were attacked when you were camped at Rainbow Mesa right, where is that?"
He gave her a stunned look then stammered out. "W... Well you just follow the road and you should get there in two days time if you're canter-" He stopped when he saw Pinkie shaking her head.
"Nononononono. Which direction is Rainbow Mesa, just point it out."
The donkey put his hoof on her withers. "Easy there kid." He started to say when she pushed him off.
"I don't have TIME! My special somepony is out there and I have to find her. Now which direction is Rainbow Mesa... can I see it from the air?"
The donkey and stallion looked at each other and they both pointed different directions then corrected themselves and still pointed different directions. The donkey gave Pinkie an apologetic look. "Sorry kid, the road has a bunch of twists and turns in it. It's hard to know just which direction it is but you should have no problem seeing it from the air."
Pinkie Pie grabbed Applejack, flinging the orange pony onto her back. "ThanksforyourhelpBYE." She yelled at them as she galloped back to the train. She skidded to a stop beside the cargo car, dumping Applejack onto the ground then she dove underneath the tarp again. Applejack just managed to stand up as Pinkie reappeared from under the tarp, pulling the basket with her. She dove into the basket and pulled out the balloon, quickly spreading it out then hitting the burner and quickly filling it up.
Applejack quickly decided it was best to just get in the basket, rather than be thrown in. "So whats going on sugarcube?" She asked as she rested her front legs on the side of the basket.
"Rarity wasn't with the caravan and the last time anypony saw her and she was running from a hydra and we have to go save her." Suddenly Pinkie jumped out of the basket and dove back under the tarp. She quickly re-emerged, pulling a large industrial fan behind her. "I hope no pony misses this, but we have to move fast." She reached up and knocked off Applejack's hat.
"Hey what are ya doing that fer?"
Ignoring her, Pinkie pulled a long rope from the hat and quickly wrapped it around the fan then around the basket. Once she was certain the fan would hold, she gave Applejack back her hat and hopped into the basket. Firing the burner again the balloon began to lift off the ground.
"If ya had just asked, Ah would'da just given ya mah rope." Said Applejack as she replaced her hat on her head.
Pinkie Pie watched as the balloon ascended, the tall trees finally giving way to open skies. Gigantic trees stretched across the land as Celestia's sun remained high over head. In the distance she could see a plateau poking out from the green of the forest. She turned on the fan and the balloon began its journey towards the plateau. "Sorry Applejack, I'm a bit of a panicky Pinkie at the moment. Somewhere out there Rarity is lost and alone and we have to find her."
Applejack put her leg around Pinkie's neck and Pinkie leaned against her, trying to clear her mind of the unpleasant thought that they were already too late.