//------------------------------// // 3 Journeys // Story: The Crusades End // by ColdChimera //------------------------------// Two weeks later The crusaders together with their respective guardians were gathered on the small platform of the Ponyville train station. It was early morning so there was nopony else around, a point the crusaders were quick to point out their breath fogging in the early morning air. “We are here so early because I want to get settled into my accommodations well before I go to the fashion show or perform any of my other tasks in the city.” Rarity explained to her sister and Scootaloo “and this is the only train to leave for Trottingham before midday.” “Besides y’all can sleep on the train if ya’ want” Applejack added looking to Scootaloo who looked dead on her hooves. Just as she finished they heard the whistle of the train, followed soon after by its chugging along the tracks as it rounded the bend into the station. It stopped at the platform in a cloud of steam. As the steam cleared the group saw a pony slouch out of one of the doors and look at them. His body was lean, well muscled and as grey as the tracks the train rode on, his lime green mane was long and appeared to naturally fall so it just covered one side of his face so they could only see one of his light green eyes, he wore the uniform of a conductor. “You lot getting on or what?” he asked looking at them. Rarity nodded and walked up and into the train carriage, with the others following suit. The train’s interior was almost reminiscent of hospitals in how bland it was there was nothing but seats which were a dark shade of blue and had just enough padding to be slightly more comfortable than the floor. Rarity found the most comfy seat about halfway down the carriage and sat there while Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo helped with her luggage, which appeared to be half her boutique. Applejack sat on the other side of the small aisle between the two halves of the carriage so that she would be able to talk to Rarity, Apple Bloom sat on the seat behind her sister and waited for the other crusaders. Scootaloo was the first to rejoin them and quickly found and sat next to Apple Bloom. “You alright Scoots?” Apple Bloom asked looking at her friend “Have you told your pa where we’re goin’?” “I’m fine Apple Bloom” the orange Pegasus snapped “you don’t need to keep checking up on me” “OK ah’m sorry, I’m just concerned that’s all” she said in placating tone “but you didn’t answer my second question” Scootaloo looked at her with a warning in her look “What do you think; I would be unlucky if I saw him more than once a week” “And if you’re lucky?” “I don’t see him at all” “Ah just don’t want the whole town looking for you ‘cause you came with us that’s all” “Don’t worry I left a message” she said after a second, thinking of the sack of bits in her saddlebags. They sat in silence after that until Sweetie Belle climbed into the carriage looking like she had just attempted the iron pony competition. She sat down next to Scootaloo just as the train began to move. Now that they were all together they could begin to plan how they were going to find the crusaders in Trottingham if they were still there and if they weren’t where they had gone. Sweetie suggested they go to the main library in Trottingham to see if there was anything there on them. “You always suggest the library” Scootaloo complained “Actually, that might not be too bad an idea the library is pretty much on the other side of the city to the train station we could look around for the crusaders mark while we walk there” Apple Bloom informed them. “Care to explain how you know this?” Scootaloo asked “The magic of tourism” Apple Bloom responded holding up a tourist brochure “AJ got me it to make sure I didn’t get lost if we got separated.” “Well we won’t need it anyway” “What? Why?” Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom asked looking confused “The conductor” she answered as if that made it clear as crystal “What about him?” the other two asked “You didn’t notice?” she asked incredulous “Notice what?” She leaned in to be sure no one but they could hear “He doesn’t have a Cutie Mark” “How can you tell? He’s wearing a uniform” Apple Bloom asked “As he was getting back on the train behind Rarity it shifted so I could see his flank.” “He moved so quickly I barely noticed him getting back on” Apple Bloom told her “It’s not that surprising that I didn’t notice.” “Pegasi have a natural resistance to cold and their eyes pick up on smaller details at higher speeds than other ponies so we can fly at high speeds and not crash into clouds and birds and things.” Scootaloo explained. “Oh yeah, right” Apple Bloom agreed “why don’t we follow him when we get off the train.” The rest of the journey passed with the three friends chatting excitedly about finding the crusaders and looking as innocent as possible whenever their guardians looked back to check on them. Halfway through the journey an idea hit Scootaloo “Girls, how are we going to get away from Rarity and AJ?” “Rarity is going to a fashion shoot pretty much straight away, we can slip away then.” Sweetie informed her sounding bored, her tone grew concerned “I don’t know about how Apple Bloom will get away though” Apple Bloom thought for a moment, looking out of the window and watching the scenery flashing by. Then the thought struck her “that’s easy, I’ll just tell her I want to go spend time with you two, and look around the city a bit” Scootaloo looked a little sceptical “will that work? You can’t lie to her I tried that before” “Sure it will ah’m not lying” she responded “watch” she turned and leaned over the back of the bench in front so she was next to her sister, “AJ can I go with Sweetie and Scoots and explore a little of the city?” “No, you can go with the others but you can’t go anywhere without me or Rarity.” “WHAT, why?” she asked shocked “I trust you Apple Bloom but Trottingham is a big city and it’s real easy to get lost, I don’t want to lose you” “But we only want to go to the library, and I’ll take the map you gave me, and I promise we’ll stay on the main roads. “No Apple Bloom, you and your friends can’t go anywhere without me or Rarity” Applejack said sternly her eyes warning Apple Bloom that any more argument would result in the removal of even that privilege. “Fine, but you said I can go with Scoots and Sweetie right?” she asked with an almost pleading tone “Sure, but only with Rarity or in the hotel room.” Apple Bloom sat back on her chair and stared out the window obviously upset. Sweetie leaning around Scootaloo placed her hoof on Apple Blooms shoulder and whispered “don’t worry your still coming with us and we can escape when Rarity leaves” “Yeah, I guess” she sighed still looking out the window not really seeing anything. The rest of the journey passed with quite chatter between Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, with Apple Bloom eventually coming out of her sulky mood and joining back in. When they reached the station the stallion that had met them in Ponyville came back into the carriage and shouted “TROTTINGHAM STATION END OF THE LINE” unnecessarily as they were the only ones in that car, indeed from what they saw the only ones on the train. They got up Rarity the first to leave with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo to collect her bags. She thanked the conductor who ignored her and disembarked. “Look Apple Bloom, ah know ya wanted to come because you wanted to explore but this place can be dangerous if you lose track of where ya are. It’s really big and not even a map can always help you find your way.” Apple Bloom looked a little crestfallen “It’s OK Applejack I know your only lookin’ out for me” “I’m glad you understand, now let’s get off this train so I can deliver these apples and you can go with your friends.” Applejack said smiling at her sister. Apple Bloom just hugged her sister and ran off the train; Applejack shook her head and followed her. As the group stepped out of the train station they were greeted by an awe inspiring sight, at least for the three fillies that had only ever seen Ponyville and Canterlot before. They saw mountains of concrete that spread for miles in every direction carriages containing wealthy ponies pulled by other ponies. When Scootaloo asked what the mountains with lights were for Rarity laughed softly and told her they were called skyscrapers “Ponies live in them, instead of spreading out anymore the ponies who built this city decided to built up” she informed them “It saves space” “Cool” Scootaloo said eyes the size of dinner plates, there was just so much to see. Apple bloom moved to stand next to the other crusaders and reminded them to be sure they remembered the place they were and look for the conductor to see where he went, while this was going on Rarity bid farewell to Applejack and arranged to meet her later to catch up, she then told Scootaloo and Sweetie to stay close to her and started to walk towards her hotel. Rarity led them through a market like the one in Ponyville but much larger, everypony was shouting trying to catch the attention of the shoppers, the stalls had so much on them and were placed so randomly it was hard to find a path through. When they had finally jostled their way through they found themselves facing a skyscraper similar to the ones they had seen when they arrived, what made this one different was they sign on the front that read ‘Dormir Poney’ lit up in gold on a red background. “This is the hotel we’ll be staying in” Rarity in formed them. When they entered they were greeted with a spacious foyer lined with pillars, there were large chairs set off to the right that looked like they each had more padding than all the chairs in the train they had just ridden on put together. The lighting was provided by a few chandeliers spaced to light the room evenly. The counter at the other end of the room was marble, polished to the point it was hard to tell what it was made of through all the light reflecting off it. The stallion behind the counter was well groomed, his golden hair expertly quaffed. He wore a white shirt under a red jacket. Rarity wondered if he was picked for the colours of his mane and coat as they were both gold. “How may I be of service madam?” he asked his accent reminding Rarity somewhat of Jetset the pony she met while staying in the castle in Canterlot. “I have a reservation, under Rarity” she answered watching as he looked through a book behind the counter. “Ah yes, Room number 203. Would you like somepony to take your bags up for you?” “Yes please” “Your key ma’am” he said before handing her a small key with 203 stamped in gold on the red fob. “Thank you, have a good day” she replied “To you as well ma’am” he responded smiling Rarity turned around to see the crusaders huddled together and whispering. She walked over to them, Sweetie saw her coming and they all turned around quickly to form a line and look as innocent as possible, small halo’s of light actually seemed to form around their heads. “We’re all sorted, we will be staying in room 203” she told them “let’s go and get settled shall we?” and with that she turned and made for a pair of double doors to the right of the reception desk, the crusaders hurrying to keep up. Rarity pressed a button to the left of the doors that had an arrow pointing up on it, after a few seconds the doors opened to show a small room, just big enough to fit 5 ponies if they really squashed together. Rarity stepped in, the crusaders cautiously followed her when they were all in Rarity pressed another button this one with a small 7 on it and the doors closed. The crusaders were surprised when they felt a slight pressure pressing them down. A few more seconds later and the doors opened with a small ‘ding’ and they were shocked to see they were no longer in the reception of the hotel. Rarity stepped out looking to a sign on the wall at the other end of the corridor they found themselves in, it was shaped like a pair of arrows one pointed left that read ‘Rooms 225 – 250’. And the other pointed right with ‘Rooms 200 – 224’ inscribed on its face. Rarity walked right the crusaders keeping pace. She looked at the room numbers as she passed them; stopping at the third she turned the key in the lock and walked inside. “Come on girls” she called from inside “you need to get settled in” The crusaders walked in to see a spacious room with three beds, there was a doorway in the far right corner that led to the bathroom. The room they were in was well decorated a painting of a pony wearing a green shirt and hat with a longbow and a quiver of arrows on his back. Rarity was sat on the bed nearest the door “Well, how do you like the room?” “It’s really nice.” Sweetie Belle answered “but how will we get settled in if our luggage is still in the reception?” just as she finished asking the question there was a knock at the door, which was enveloped in a light blue glow as Rarity opened it with her magic. “Your luggage ma’am” said a light blue unicorn stallion “Just leave it by the door, thank you” Rarity answered levitating two bits to him as her bags were levitated into the room surrounded by a darker blue aura. “Have a nice day ma’am” the stallion said as he shut the door and walked back down the corridor. “That’s how Sweetie” Rarity said looking at her sister, who was busy digging through the pile of luggage to find her saddle bags. After a few minutes of finding and unpacking some of Rarity’s belongings, and finding Scootaloo’s saddlebag, Rarity decided to go and get ready for the fashion show. She asked the crusaders if they wanted to come with her but they all declined, she shrugged and walked out the door closing it behind her, the crusaders thought they would easily be able to escape then they heard the click of the lock. They waited to hear Rarity’s hoofsteps recede down the hallway then Sweetie Belle cried “Now what are we going to do?” “We could climb out the window” Apple Bloom suggested “Too high up” Scootaloo responded matter-of-factly “I got this” she walked towards the door and pulled a hair pin from her saddle bags then stood on her hind legs with her forehooves against the door and fiddled with the lock. A few seconds later the lock clicked and she got back onto all fours, put the hair clip back in her bags and pushed the door open. “How did you do that? How did you know how to do that?” Sweetie Belle asked incredulous “Sometimes my dad locks me out of the house by accident.” Scootaloo replied not looking and the unicorn. “Well we’re free to wander now, how long you think before your sister comes back?” Apple Bloom asked, quickly changing the subject. “A few hours, probably late this afternoon maybe not until this evening” The unicorn filly answered. “Let’s go then, but we’ll have to be careful I don’t want anyone seeing us and I don’t want to get lost here.” Apple Bloom said taking the lead out of the door. They snuck out the door and down the hallway to the magic room and pressed the button with a down arrow, the doors opened and they stepped in. Scootaloo looked at the buttons inside the doors and saw the one at the bottom with a large G printed on it; she pressed it thinking they were on the lowest floor when they entered, the doors closed. This time they felt a slight sensation pushing them up. When the doors opened they were in the reception area again. The three fillies quickly and quietly walked across the reception floor expecting at any second to hear the voice of the receptionist calling them. They reached the door without incident walked outside and at the end of the street they saw Rarity just as she disappeared into the market they had passed through. They breathed a collective sigh of relief that she hadn’t looked back and seen them; they hurried along the road back towards the train station. “We can’t go through the market Rarity might see us” Apple Bloom moaned as they neared it. “This way” Scootaloo commanded turning and sprinting right down a road before they reached the market. “Scootaloo!” Sweetie Belle panted as she ran to keep up “Where…are you…going?” “I saw something” she said over her shoulder, still running her wings kicking in giving her a small boost. They followed her as she zipped through allies and across busy roads almost getting run over several times by carriages the pony’s pulling them shouting angrily after the three. “What did you see?” asked Apple Bloom when Scootaloo stopped suddenly to avoid being hit by a carriage. “The conductor, I saw him running this way” she explained taking off again as soon as she could, speeding across the road and down another alley the others trailing her. She flew down alleys turning this way and that so fast it was difficult for the little unicorn and earth pony to keep up. All of a sudden the alleys they had been running through opened up into a sort of courtyard area bordered by buildings on all sides small alleys leading off deeper into the city. There was no sign of the grey and green train conductor. As they realised this Sweetie Belle realised something else. “I have no idea where we are” she said on the verge of tears “we’re lost” she started panicking slightly as she tried to remember all the turns they took to get where they were. As her friends tried to do the same they came to the same conclusion and started to worry that they would never find a way home.