The usual quiet of Holly Shades was soon lost to the rour of the friendship express as it rode through. Inside a train car, Turner was studying the map in the book while Quill scribbled excitedly in her notebook.
"Turner, what about this?"
Quill asked, as Turner lifted his nose from the book in mock interest.
"What about two ponies rebelling against the ways of a shadow king, and their home was an abandoned train car in the Frozen North."
she said, explaining the fifth book plot she thought of on the train ride alone.
Time Turner simply rolled his eyes and pointed to a shape on the map.
"It says here that we can find the third chosen one in Manehattan, so not only will we find her, we might be able to do research on Wisteria the Wise at the museam of history."
he explained bluntly.
"Nice!"
Quill answered, tapping her hoof on the floor in excitement. Just then, a pony slammed the door open, catching Quill's extended wing in the process.
"Ouch!"
she moaned, rubbing her sore wing in pain.
"Are you alright?"
Turner asked in concern.
"I'll be fine, it's not like I can fly with it anyway."
she answered depressingly. Quill then got up from their car and walked to the dining car, hoping to drown her sorrow in chocolate cherry milkshake (her favorite drink.) Turner got up to follow her, but stopped himself.
He knew Quill's flying disability was a tricky topic to discuss, and he also knew that she would feel better after a bit of alone time. He learned an awful lot about her during their friendship, and she didn't know that her best friend had once done the worst thing of his life. Turner pushed it out of his mind. He felt his eyes grow heavy, signaling his lack of sleep. He sighed in defeat of his plan to stay up and walked to the sleeping car with the book clenched between his teeth.
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Quill tossed and turned in her small bed on the train, cursing herself for drinking six milkshakes in a row before bed. She squeezed her eyes tight as her mind went blank, signaling the beginning of a dream.
Quill found herself in a library, very ancient by the looks of it. The sound of a door creaked behind her, causing a cold draft to blow across her face. A lavender unicorn walked into the room with a worried look on her face. Quill rushed to get out of the way of the pony's long strides, but to her surprise, the distracted unicorn walked through her as if she were a cloud.
Quill frantically checked her pulse and felt her skin, only to assure herself that she wasn't a ghost. She looked at the unicorn with interest as the pony sat at a desk. The unicorn had a long, waved violet colored mane that framed her lavender face. Her eyes were a light green, like the leaf of a carnation. The unicorn wore a simple patchwork shirt with a hood, but her cutie mark took center stage. It consisted of a book wrapped in vines covered in purple flowers. Wisteria blossoms.
Quill felt her heart stop. The unicorn in front of her was none other than Wisteria the Wise.
"But she's been gone for over three-hundred years, I can't see her unless i'm seeing..." the truth dawned on her as she finished her sentence.
"...the past."
Quill watched Wisteria in wonderment as she pulled random books off the shelves with lime-colored magic. Wisteria then pulled a quill and hard-cover journal out of the sack tied around her waist, and opened the journal to a blank page. Quill peered over her shoulder and watched as the ancient unicorn filled the pages with knowledge way beyond her own. Poison joke, wild phoenix migration patterns, ten ways to outsmart a diamond dog, and even how to talk to an ursa major! This pony had it all!
Quill, facinated by the unicorn's wisdom, watched as Wisteria checked her work for spelling errors. She was almost done when the door slammed open, with a green haired pony entering. The white unicorn with a cloak and shimmering clover cutie mark could be none other than Wisteria's mentor Clover the Clever.
"Wisteria! You must come at once!"
Clover cried, breathing frantically.
"What is it my teacher? What has caused you such distress?"
Wisteria asked, a hint of concern in her smooth, sweet voice.
"It's the weather! It's raining...well...CHOCOLATE!"
Clover exclaimed.
"Chocolate? What about the pegasai? Aren't they doing something?"
Wisteria asked.
"They can't, their wings have vanished! The unicorns haven't been affected yet, so there's hope! Will you help?"
Clover asked. Wisteria quickly put her journal and quill back into her bag.
"I'll defend our new home to the end my teacher, you have my word."
With that, the two unicorns ran out of the library. As Quill rushed to follow them, a voice whispered in her ear, it said
"Follow you destiny!"
Quill then awoke in a cold sweat, panting heavily.
"Oh Quill! You're awake!"
Turner said from his perch near the window. Quill lifted herself clumsily from her bed and plopped her fedora on her head, not bothering to comb her mane.
"Are we there yet?"
she asked.
"Quill! I told you we'll get there when we get..."
then the loudspeaker announced
"WELCOME TO GOLD STAR TRAIN STATION!"
interupting Turner's words.
"Well, guess we're here then!"
Quill said gleefully, as she looked out the window at the city of Manehattan. Their journey has finally begun!
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