//------------------------------// // Train Ride to Canterlot // Story: My Little Final Destination // by Pyrotechnic //------------------------------// “Spike, is everything ready for our trip to Canterlot?” The librarian searched frantically for last-minute items while Spike double and triple-checked the list. “You’re all set, Twilight. I checked four times and you have everything.” He huffed, and his demeanor dropped slightly. “I wish I could go with you, Twilight. I really don’t get to hang out with you guys all that often.” Twilight smiled sadly down at her number-one assistant and nuzzled him comfortingly. “I know Spike, but somepony--er, dragon--has to watch the library.” Spike sighed, but didn’t respond further. “I will make it up to you when I get back from my trip. I just can’t risk the library being left unoccupied for long.” Spike sighed long and hard. It was always the same with Twilight. She always needed the library watched and that always left him as the one to do it. “I will be okay Twilight, I just wish I can spend time with you girls more.” With the list out of the way, Twilight gathered the nearby bags in her magical grip and headed toward the library entrance. Before she could even think of magicing open the door, it swung open violently, and the intruder slammed right into the startled unicorn. “Hiya, Twilight! Are you excited about this trip? I betcha you are! You wouldn’t be, Twilight if you weren’t excited about seeing the Princess! This is going to be so much fun and the party at the palace will be absolutely spectacular!” Pinkie’s rapid-fire speech never failed to stun Twilight. She slammed a hoof into Pinkie’s mouth before her friend talked her ear off. “Pinkie, we are supposed to to meet near the train station. I planned it all out and we must follow the list.” Pinkie giggled slightly as she got off Twilight. “Oh, silly Twilight, you can’t plan out every single aspect of life! You have to ride out what is thrown at you without batting an eye. Makes everything more interesting that way.” Once Twilight was properly on all fours again, she sighed and slowly shook her head. Pinkie, despite a random personality, was chock-full of hidden wisdom that never failed to baffle the studious librarian. “Besides, Twilight, I just wanted to surprise you! But, I will meet you at the train station. You should be joined soon by another pony anyway, so I will just leave you to it.” Pinkie hopped out of the library, still giggling to herself. Twilight stared after her hyperactive friend in disbelief. What exactly was that supposed to mean? She saw nopony nearby except for a currently-dusting Spike. Right as this thought passed through the unicorn’s mind, there was a loud yell, a frantic motion of flapping wings, and Twilight felt something heavy land on top of her, sending her to the ground for the second time today. “Oof! Whoa, Twilight! Sorry about that. It seems that I didn’t plan the landing right.” Of course, Dash was the only other pegasus that she knew to occasionally miscalculate some aspect of her flight path. Twilight groaned as Dash struggled to her hooves. Dash grinned sheepishly as the unicorn fixed a slight glare on her while the pegasus helped her friend up. Spike’s laughter greeted the stunned duo. “At least I made a fantastic entrance.” Dash attempted a grin, but Twilight wasn’t amused. Dash sighed. “Look, I’m sorry, Twilight. What more do you want from me?” Twilight didn’t say anything for a while, making her friend squirm a little in anxiety. After a few minutes of silence, Twilight decided to not toy with her friend further. “It’s alright, Dash. It’s just because I have already been jumped by Pinkie, and not long after she left you landed on me. I guess I am just a little sore after all that.” Dash perked up considerably after that. Once Twilight made sure nothing too horrible befell her bags, the two walked out of the library together. “So Twilight, are we still on for sharing the same compartment?” Dash was digging a forehoof into the ground, nervous, yet hopeful. About a week before Twilight got the summons for relaxation at the Princess’s castle, Dash had requested a reading-buddy schedule for the two of them. She had sworn Twilight to secrecy, worried that she was turning into the next Twilight. She had already accepted the fact that she loved Daring Do. She didn’t want anypony to know that she liked reading at Twilight’s library or that they had a ritual (despite it being only a week old) going. Twilight smirked at Dash’s enthusiasm. “Yes, I managed to convince the others that I needed time to study. Just ‘show up’ later during the train ride.” Dash’s high-pitched squeal this provoked was well worth it in Twilight’s opinion. She would never have guessed that Dash would take to Daring Do. She had given her so much trouble over anything to do with reading, and the fact that she was becoming a “egghead” made things all the more sweeter. “If you tell anypony that I did that...” Rainbow Dash shook her head and glared at Twilight for a second. “I love hanging out with you, but I am still getting used to books, and I don’t feel comfortable letting anypony know yet.” Dash had looked around nervously, worried that somepony would jump out of a bush or appear out of nowhere--probably Pinkie Pie. Thankfully, no pink disasters decided to show up, and Dash allowed herself to relax. Soon, the train station appeared in the distance, and gathered in front of the ticket area was a small entourage. It seemed that most of Ponyville gathered in front of the ticket booth to wave them off. Twilight tilted her head in confusion. Why was everypony waving them off now when this wasn’t the first time they were going to Canterlot? Was this some kind of extended vacation that Celestia had failed to mention in the letter? “What is everypony doing? Are they really going to wish us off even though this is only going to be a week-long trip?” Dash asked. Pinkie could be seen bouncing around and waving at the various ponies that caught her eye. Twilight frowned in thought. Big Mac turned up to wave his sister off, young Apple Bloom perched on his back. Various familiar faces popped into Twilight’s vision and she smiled when she realized once again the overall friendliness of Ponyville. One mare in the crowd, however, Twilight did not know. The mare was looking directly at Twilight with a blank stare. Her mane was red with black streaks. The rest of her fur was green. The mare’s eyes were what made her stand out more in Twilight’s mind. One eye was green, while the other was a dark red color that held Twilight’s own. She heard Rainbow gasp. “Twilight, who is that mare? She isn’t a pony I know, and she’s kinda freaking me out.” So, she wasn’t the only one who noticed her. That was good, as hallucinations weren’t something Twilight wanted to experience right now. She noticed that nopony seemed to pay the mysterious pony any mind, which was a slight cause for concern. “I don’t know, Dash, but she doesn’t seem to be hurting anypony, so maybe we should just ignore her.” Dash nodded, seeming to cheer up. “Come on, Twilight, we have to hurry! They are all waiting on us!” Dash spread her wings and took off into the air, performing a few last-minute aerial tricks. Twilight sighed, realizing that she was now alone with her thoughts. It didn’t last long as she felt herself grabbed by energetic hooves and spun merrily through the air. “Glad you could make it, Twilight! I was so worried that you wouldn’t show up, even though I just left you five minutes ago.” Pinkie seemed oblivious to Twilight’s screams. She really hoped the jarring motion wouldn’t cause her to donate her lunch to Pinkie in a bad way. As if sensing her victim’s plight, Pinkie gave one final giggle and set Twilight back onto the wonderful ground. Twilight’s hooves wobbled like jelly, and she twitched horribly for a few moments before recovering. Once she was stable, Twilight asked, “Why is everypony here, Pinkie? All we are doing is spending a week at the castle for rest and relaxation. This isn’t the first time we have done so.” Twilight frowned in annoyance as Pinkie giggled. “I wanted us to leave with style, so I called around town and arranged a little farewell party! I brought Spike here after you left, and everypony is waiting for you.” “How did you arrive at the library after I left it? You were already gone way before I left. I would have seen you.” Pinkie giggled and leaned her muzzle close to Twilight, slightly startling the unicorn. “Trade secret, Twilight! If I told you, it would ruin the surprise of finding out one day on your own.” Twilight groaned in frustration. “That makes no sense, Pinkie. I would have seen you. I know I would have. You couldn’t have possibly made that trip.” Pinkie replied with a smile, “That is my little secret, Twilight. Now, let’s go already!” Twilight felt herself rushed violently forward. Blurs of color whipped by the startled librarian’s nose and she felt her stomach turn violently the longer she kept her eyes open. The poor unicorn resigned herself to further mystery regarding her pink friend. Once Pinkie slowed down enough, she turned to the area where she saw the mysterious mare earlier expecting to see her odd gaze. Nopony matching that description. How odd, she must have wandered off when she wasn’t looking. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ “Will ya be alright, sis? It’s gonna be a week, after all, an’ ya won’t be apple buckin’ durin’ that time.” “‘Course Ah will, Big Mac! Ain’t the first time we went on vacation far from Ponyville. Not quite sure why Pinkie decided ta gather everypony ta see us off, but it’s still a nice gesture.” “Will ya get somethin’ from Canterlot fer me?” “We’ll see, Apple Bloom. It all depends on how busy Ah am.” +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ “Are you sure I can’t come with you, Rarity? I won’t wander off.” “You know perfectly well that I can’t have you off gallivanting with your friends in a big, scary city with little supervision. Remember what happened when mom and dad took us to Colt Disney World?” “Rarity, I apologized for that! Besides it livened up that worker’s life considerably. He looked dead on his hooves.” “Such a gruesome metaphor! Please don’t ever use it again. Besides, your friends aren’t coming with us. It will only be for a week, and Cheerilee won’t take kindly if we took you away from school just to take a vacation.” “Fine, but I better be getting something. I really wanted to see the castle.” “Maybe next year, dear.” +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ “It wouldn’t be that exciting on the train, squirt! We will be sitting in a boring, hard seat for hours on end. If I can barely handle it, you wouldn’t be able to, either.” “I can do anything as long as it is with you. Please, just take me along!” “I was hoping to re-- I mean, take a nap. You would just be staring at me sleep for nine hours. That isn’t very fun.” “That wouldn’t be much of a problem.” “What was that, Scoots?” “Nothing! Nothing. But, I wish you could take me with you anyway. Life just isn’t as much fun without you in it.” “Hey, Scoots, when I get back, how about I take you to Las Pegasus? Yeah, I know you are a bit underage, but since when has something like that stopped me? We can hit the sites, go to an amusement park, or just hang out. You and me will have a blast and I won’t take anypony else. Will that settle things between us?” “You really mean it?” “Hell yeah! I mean, hay yeah, I do! If I take you, I won’t have to worry about sitting in the back row for a roller coaster. You aren’t scared of the front row, are you?” “Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, Dash you are single-hoofedly the greatest pegasus ever!! Are you kidding? Being in the front is the only way to go!” “That’s the spirit, squirt! It’s settled. When I get back, I will take you to Las Pegasus.” +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ “Are you sure you will be alright, Angel? I won’t be there for quite some time.” “It’s just that I will be gone for a whole week, and I don’t want you to be lonely.” “Can you take care of all the animals for me?” “You will?” “Oh, Angel, I knew I could count on you.!” “Quit squirming, Angel. It’s only a hug. Hugs are good.” “Make sure Fluffy has plenty of food. He also likes his music, so be sure to play for him.” “Alright, Angel, I will get going. Just know that I will be back within a week.” “Yes, I will pick something out for you.” +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ “Now be sure to turn the bookshelves ever so slightly to the right so that way dust doesn’t get a chance to settle.” “I know Twilight, it’s on checklist number 140.” “Be sure to keep an inventory of any books that are checked out.” “Gotcha!” “Refer to checklist number 230 for information on how the self-checkout system works.” “Twilight!” “Refer to the checklist of things to check on the checklist while I am gone.” “Twilight, I know this already! I have been doing this for a while. Don’t worry!” “I know Spike, but it’s on checklist number 340. See? ‘Give Spike a hard time about the checklist.’” “Oh Twilight, I will be fine.” “I hope so Spike, I hope so.” +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Finally, after saying her farewells, Twilight turned around and addressed her friends. “I would like to get started on some last-minute studying.” Rarity gave her an odd look, not noticing the smirks coming from Rainbow Dash and Applejack. “Darling, this is supposed to be a vacation. What could the princess possibly expect from this?” “I am well aware of that, Rarity, but I can’t possibly allow any moment to waste. Besides, you are more than welcome to join me. We can make study cards.” Rarity backed off slightly, looking nervous. “I’m alright. Maybe some other time.” She turned and noticed Fluttershy next to her. “Want to come over to my compartment? We rarely have a chance to just chat as it is. I was meaning to ask your opinion on something.” “Oh, yes, that sounds lovely, Rarity.” The two trotted off, leaving the four of them standing there. Applejack, after some consideration, decided to explore the train, taking Pinkie with her. Or, rather, the pink party pony decided to follow her. This left Twilight and Dash alone. “Do I have to really go back to my compartment, Twilight? We are alone and I really want to read Daring Do with you. Plus, Daring Do had to escape from the Pyramid of Doom and she was getting the snot kicked out her last I checked!” Dash, despite her enthusiastic response, was still glancing nervously around, as if concerned over witnesses seeing her with Twilight. Twilight smirked. “Gee Dash, I don’t know. The deal was you had to just ‘meet up’ with me. You’re willing to bypass your own plan, just to see how Daring escapes?” Dash glared at her fellow reading buddy while Twilight had a strong case of the giggles. “Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, chucklehead. You’re hysterical.” As the two walked down the path, they noticed the mysterious mare from earlier walk by them. Twilight stopped in her tracks along with Dash. “Excuse me! I have someplace I have to be.” The mare smiled at the two dumbstruck mares. “Oh, don’t worry, Miss Sparkle and Miss Dash, I will be seeing you very soon. Now, I just have some prior business to attend to, and I will be with you shortly.” “Hey, wait just a minute, how do you know our names?” Dash was crouching forward slightly as if preparing to attack. “Cute, but I am very busy. See you soon!” The mare turned a corner and was lost from sight. For some odd reason, Twilight shivered and continued to stare after the mysterious mare. Was it some kind of joke that she knew their names? Did she know that mare? “Hey Dash?” “Y-Yeah Twilight? “How about we just head to our compartments? “That sounds fantastic, Twilight! Lead the way!”