33nd Honesty, Daybreak Sun
Dear Adventure Journal!,
We rode the underground express today and it was really cool!! It’s not like the train in Ponyville because it’s all gray metal and roundish, not colourful and train-shaped. It doesn’t need ponies to pull it and it runs on eele-tree-city, which Mayor Mare calls “modern magic”. It doesn’t go choo-choo or whee-whoo and there’s no conductor, or even a driver. It just has these police who walk around and make sure nopony steals anything. It was underground and when it runs it makes a really loud whooshing sound around the top where the air vents are, and it makes sounds when it runs on the tracks, like rapparap, rapparap, rapparap. The train wasn’t too crowded but Mayor Mare needed to stand for half the trip. Then I gave my seat to her because she looked tired and so I stood. It was really cool pretending that I was on a ship, because when the train stops and then speeds up again it gets all wobbly, like when the waves come crashing in.
After that we got out and walked some more until both of us were tired, and then we went into another apartment. Mayor Mare talked with the pony at the counter and then we went to our room and rested.
Later on Mayor Mare took me out and we went for a walk, which was really nice! We went to see the big office buildings with the really shiny windows and it was tall, really, really tall, so tall that I couldn’t see the top and neither could Mayor Mare. Then we saw a place called the Greenery. We had to pay to go in but Mayor Mare said it was fine.
The Greenery is a big garden, almost as big as the dragonfire place. From the outside it looks like a giant metal pudding, but it’s all grass and flowerbeds and trees inside. The walls are tilted and there’s rows of shelves with really pretty flowers there of lots of colours. We followed the little brick road and looked at all the different kinds of trees. There were tall ones and short ones and medium ones, and ones with sharp leaves and thin leaves and regular leaves. Some of the leaves were purple and others were orange and red, but most were green.
It was really nice and cool inside the Greenery, and it felt like a completely new place from outside, but the most special thing about it is that the sky in there was blue! Mayor Mare says that there’s special filter machines in the ceiling that cleans the air, so that the plants can live. That’s also why we don’t need to wear our masks in here.
Mayor Mare asked me if she could have a little time to herself. She said she needed to do some thinking so I tole her okay. I was allowed to play by myself and with other foals but I was not to talk to any adults, and I couldn’t leave on my own. The plants here weren’t for eating either, but I didn’t want to eat them anyways because even I know that garden plants are for looking at, not eating.
For a while I went on by myself deeper into the garden. At some places the trees became thick and it was like walking in the forest, which was a little creepy but also pretty cool, like that time in Nightmare Night except I was alone here. I tried to tell the difference between the trees and plants like an explorer's native guide would, but that got boring, so I decided to scout on ahead in search of treasure or interesting things.
I must have walked for hours because the trees started to look like a real forest when I found an old grandmare sitting in a clearing. She had a battered old watering can next to her. She was dark green with a wispy gray mane and tail and a leaf for a cutie mark.
She smiled at me and asked, “What brings you here, child?”
A lot of ponies here call me child. I guess it’s because they don’t know my name. I tole her I was here with a friend who wanted to meditate so I was playing alone.
She then asked me, “Do you like it here?”
I tole her yes, I liked it here a lot.
She asked me, “Do you want to play with my grandchildren?”
I asked her if they knew how to play Sail Ship. She said they didn’t, but I could teach them. I said okay so she called for them. They must have heard very good hearing because when she called for them it was like a whisper, but more windy like wind.
Two smaller green ponies with dark green manes and blank flanks came out. They almost looked like twins but one had a longer mane than the other. I tole them my name and asked for theirs, but they said they didn’t have a name. I laughed and tole them they were being silly because everypony had a name.
“We’re not exactly everypony,” smiled one. She was a filly.
“But we still like to play!” said the other. He was a colt. “What do you wanna play?”
So I taught them how to play Sail Ship. I was the captain for a few rounds because they didn’t know how to be captain yet. We went exploring in the deep jungles of Ratmandu for buried treasure, and when we couldn’t find any, tried to make our way back to shore. But along the way we spotted ninjas! Except not really because the ninjas were really good so we couldn’t see them but we tried to anyway. Filly and Colt and I took turns to climb up the trees to look out for them just in case.
After we found the shore, which was really the clearing, I asked them what did they normally play.
“We take care of the Greenery,” said the filly.
“Along with our grandmama,” said the colt.
“We water the plants, keep the grass in check, help the flowers bloom,” said the filly.
“That sounds cool,” I said.
“Kinda,” said the filly, and she was smiling. “But it must be even cooler to be a captain or a sailor!”
I asked them whether they had ever seen the sea before. They tole me they did, once, and that there was a passageway underground which led to the southern ports.
“We found it while digging,” said one of them which I can’t remember who.
They tole me that it was a really cool tunnel and there were cars inside which zoomed at really fast speeds, but their grandmama was very angry when she found out so she banned them from digging into the tunnel ever again, and they were never to go out ever. It was like getting grounded but a lot worse because they didn't even go to school.
“But what are you going to do when you grow up?” I asked.
“Take care of the Greenery,” said the colt.
“It’s all we’ve ever done and ever will do,” said the filly.
I thought that was a little sad. They tole me that they don’t meet much new ponies, and I was the first they had played with in a long long time.
“Will you be our friend?” asked the colt.
“Please?” said the filly. “We have so little of them here.”
I tole them of course, in fact we were comrades because we were in the same crew. Then they began to sing a little song:
Friend of the forest, be blessed today,
may your path be never astray
Hear doth the call of the everlasting green,
and your path, true road, will always be seen
I didn’t know how to sing it so I sang one of Pinkie Pie’s songs instead, but I couldn’t remember all of the words so I mumbled something-something instead. They thought it was really funny but I didn't think so.
Today was a good day because I met new friends, even though I don’t know their names. Miss Twilight likes friendship alot and talks about it almost as much as she talks about magic, and while magic would be cool I think having friends is cooler because you can play with them, and you can do anything when you play if you have imajination.
34th Honesty, Rising Sun
Dear Adventure Journal!,
We’re making really good progress, according to Mayor Mare. Two more days to go and then we reach the port.
We got up, had breakfast and then went on the train again. After hours and hours we got off in a place called Sector 14. The sky is greener and the air is a lot more smokier, but there’s also a lot less ponies on the streets. Instead there’s a lot of very big square cars on the roads. It’s really noisy and sounds like machines everywhere all the time. And there’s no tall thin buildings, just very big ones with the bumpy metal doors that slide up. The roads are also cleaner but I’d rather have dirty roads than dirty air. Mayor Mare made me wear two masks and we have to wear them indoors as well, which is really nasty because now instead of warm it’s super warm, and it makes my nose tingly.
We left the station and I followed Mayor Mare. I asked her where we were going and she said “Forward” but I didn’t hear her the first time because it was so noisy so she had to say it again.
We found a shop and Mayor Mare walked in and asked the shopkeeper something. It was a tuckshop that sold drinks in boxes and lunches in boxes and sandwiches. I tried to listen but it was too noisy with the sound of machines working, so I tried to read their faces instead like a sneaky spy. The shopkeeper seemed really worried and then Mayor Mare seemed really worried. She then paid the shopkeeper some money and took me and said “We have to get out of here”. So even though we were tired we had to go back to the station and get on another train. Mayor Mare bought me some juice but it was icky with pulp in it, but I finished it anyway to be polite.
Mayor Mare tole me that there was a disease going on in Sector 14. I asked her what kind of disease and she said she wasn’t quite sure. It’s a very strange disease that turns your body metal so you end up becoming a robot! But Mayor Mare said it was the bad kind of robot, otherwise it would have been really cool because robots don’t need to eat and are really powerful. But they also rust easily because they’re made of metal so I guess they’re not good sailors. So I guess I’d rather not be a robot.
On the train I got bored and sleepy so I slept. Mayor Mare let me lean on her but I didn’t want to because that’s icky. I’m older now and captains don’t lean on anypony. I leaned on the rail instead and pretended it was a mast.
When we stopped it was evening. Before we could get off though, police ponies came into the train with big yellow cans saddled on their backs and they were holding this spray thing. So they sprayed everypony and everything and then they let us get off. I made sure to close my eyes. It didn’t smell so that was okay.
Luckily we found a place to stay before it got dark! Mayor Mare was really relieved. She went down and bought dinner back and we ate and then played cards. I won half of the games again but Mayor Mare was in a better mood than before. That’s good.
Before we slept Mayor Mare asked me if I prayed. Mummy taught me a prayer to say before I sleep but I haven’t been saying it much. I tole her that and Mayor Mare said it wouldn’t hurt anyways to say a prayer for the shopkeeper. She also said I had a better chance of being heard, but I don’t think so because I’m rusty. Mayor Mare laughed and said “Better you than her”, whatever that means. She then said that was a distasteful joke and apologized though I don't know why. But I do hope she’s okay. The shopkeeper really did look thin and really stressed, like Mummy sometimes and she coughs every now and then. I wonder if she has foals.
The robot thing gives me an idea. When I get back I’ll invent a new game called Robot Pirates and it’ll be really tricky because the robots are stronger than the sailors, and the only way for the sailors to defeat them is to jump off the ship. And it’s tricky because nopony will think of that because sailors wouldn’t jump ship unless it was the last resort, and the captain can never jump ship. So he has to decide whether to be a good captain or a living one. But he has to because even if all his crew jumps, the robots won’t follow them as long as there’s one survivor. So not only the captain but every sailor must choose to jump to make it work. And there’s sharks in the water so if the sailors wait too long then they’ll get eaten too.
35th H.ty, L. Sun
D. AJ!,
I’m running out of paper so I have to make it short. But that’s okay because nothing much happened today even though we’re really really near the port now! I can’t help but feel really excited. I haven’t seen the sea in so long and it’ll be super duper awesome to go sailing again with proper captains and sailors! And I might even get my cutie mark! I’m getting really nervous and I can’t really sleep because tomorrow’s the day.
We didn’t do much today. We just woke up, ate then went to the station, then rode the train again. We went for the long haul again. It was almost boring on the train but then some kids came aboard and so we played together. it was kinda cool. They played Last One Standing which is basically you standing in the train without holding on to anything. Some of the kids were really good at it.
We’re staying in a hotel now! Mayor Mare says we can afford to be fancy for our last night so after we got our room we checked out the hotel. It was really pretty with warm carpets and air conditioning and ceilings with pictures on them and we don't need to wear our masks at all! There were a lot of potted plants too. Then we ordered room service which is they bring food up to your room so you don’t have to go down and that was pretty cool. Then I went swimming in the pool to practice in case for tomorrow.
Mayor Mare went out after dinner to walk a bit and she’s not back yet and I’m supposed to sleep before she does because tomorrow will be a long day. But I couldn’t so I went out for a walk (but still inside the hotel) and I made a new friend! She’s called Liesel and she was nice enough to tell me how it was spelled because it’s foreign. She speaks funny and she keeps calling herself a lady. She sure dresses nicely. She’s a unicorn but she wears a big hat that covers her horn. She says it’s fashion. I wanted to play Chase but she said that ladies don’t run so we played Escort instead. I had to bow to her and offer her my leg and do this and do that and call her “My Lady”. It wasn’t very fun.
I asked her if we could play Sail Ship and she tole me that ladies didn't sail, but she was wrong because Apple Bloom and Cherry Pip and other girl ponies do sail. Then she said they weren't ladies if they did, but that was just silly so I walked away. I think she felt bad because she tried to tell me to stay but I didn't. Serves her right for being mean and silly.
It’s getting really late and I gotta go to bed now. I don’t want to miss out on one single bit of tomorrow!