//------------------------------// // To Manehattan Part I // Story: The Electric Medley // by Fandom Trash Snivy //------------------------------// The very next day, Sassaflash and her friends were waiting by the train station so they could go to Manehattan. They were dragging their luggage in their mouths, teeth tightly gripped on the handles of their suitcases. Sassaflash glanced around impatiently, as if she was bored of waiting for the Friendship Express train to come. "It should be here in five more minutes." "Five more minutes?!" Cloud Kicker shouted. "I can't live with that! This will be the very first time I will go to Manehattan, and I'm so excited!" "This is our first time we've been to Manehattan," corrected Medley. "Remember Cloud Kicker," Sassaflash told an impatient Cloud Kicker, "we are a team. We'll wait together." Three minutes passed before the Friendship Express train came into view. Cloud Kicker gasped. "IT'S HERE! IT'S HERE!" The doors of the train opened and the train conductor, All Aboard, stepped out. "All aboard! If you are going to Manehattan, step up on this train and give me your tickets." Sassaflash and her friends walked up single-file to All Aboard and gave him their tickets. Dragging their luggage behind them, they stepped carefully onto the Friendship Express train and placed their luggage on their seats. Sassaflash, Medley, and Dizzy Twister sat in one row of seats near the left side of the train, and Cloud Kicker, Cloudchaser, and Flitter sat in another row of seats near the right side of the train. After everypony else got on the train, All Aboard got back on the train. "To Manehattan we go!" All Aboard started the train, and it slowly started to leave the train station. Many ponies were seen waving their friends and family members goodbye. "Aren't you girls excited?" Sassaflash asked Medley and Dizzy Twister. "I'll say!" replied Dizzy Twister. "I've always wanted to go to Manehattan!" "I second that," Medley agreed. "Whoo-hoo!" shouted Cloud Kicker. "I am totally pumped for this trip!" "Cloud Kicker!" shouted Sassaflash. "We are only here to convince some other ponies that we aren't the thieves of the electric division's machines." "What if they already believe us?" Cloud Kicker asked Sassaflash. "Forget it," she replied. "Cloud Kicker, I just want to rest now. It will be around three to four hours before we reach Manehattan." "You said it," agreed Cloudchaser. Flitter yawned. "Even though it is not getting late, I still didn't have my daily nap yet." She curled up in her seat and began to sleep. Cloudchaser immediately flopped to sleep, with Cloud Kicker following her. "Yeah, it's time for me to sleep too," commented Dizzy Twister. She curled up on her seat, Medley doing the same next to her friend. Sassaflash simply looked out the window of the Friendship Express train. All she saw was a blustery, orange desert. "Looks like we're passing Appaloosa, girls." There was no reply. All of her friends were fast asleep. Sassaflash simply continued to look out the window and look at the beautiful scenery of Equestria. It had been three hours since the Friendship Express train had left the train station in Ponyville. Only Sassaflash was awake among her friends. Sassaflash looked out the window again, and saw.... Manehattan. They had arrived at their destination. The city streets were lined with ponies with fantastic fashions. A few ponies seemed like they were visiting from Canterlot, with their snooty behaviors and their classy outfits. As the Friendship Express train slowed to a stop, Sassaflash crouched down beside a sleeping Medley and whispered: "We're here!" Medley awakened with a jolt. She, in turn, shook Dizzy Twister awake. "Girls, we're here!" shouted a sleepy Dizzy Twister to her friends. Cloud Kicker, Cloudchaser, and Flitter awoke at once. "EEEEEEEEEEEE!" screamed Cloud Kicker. "We're here! We're here!" "Everypony who is visiting Manehattan, get off of the train and enjoy your time here," All Aboard spoke. "Everypony who is going to Ponyville, come on this train and give me your tickets." Sassaflash and her friends gathered their luggage and stepped off the train. As soon as the other passengers stepped off of the Friendship Express, other ponies walked inside. Suddenly, Lyrica walked up to Sassaflash and her friends. "Excuse me young mare, but are you Sassaflash?" "Yes," she answered Lyrica. "I feel so sorry for you," Lyrica told Sassaflash. "That wicked, selfish mare Lightning Dust has accused you and your friends for nothing! She gave me one of those t-shirts, but I rejected it. Canterlot has a strong belief in you, Sassaflash. We are angry at that Lightning Dust that she possibly disrupted next month's Grand Galloping Gala." "Does anypony over here in Manehattan believe us?" asked Medley. "I overheard some ponies talking about you when I was walking near the train station," answered Lyrica. "They seemed to be also upset about Lightning Dust. Therefore, I think that Manehattan also has a strong group of ponies who believe you." "That's great," answered Sassaflash. "So long," concluded Lyrica. She walked away from the train station. Sassaflash and her friends were dragging their luggage on the ground as they started to explore Manehattan's streets. "There's the Statue of Harmony!" pointed out Cloud Kicker. The Statue of Harmony was built to honor the first defeat of Discord many moons ago. Apparently Manehattan believed this was a very important event, which it was anyway. "We're going to check into a hotel soon," Sassaflash informed her friends. "Which hotel exactly?" asked Flitter. "The Four Trees Hotel," answered Sassaflash. Sassaflash and her friends hopped in a taxi cart. "We're heading to the Four Trees Hotel." The young stallion started to pull the cart in the busy, bustling streets of Manehattan. All around them, ponies were seen rejoicing at the sight of Sassaflash and her friends. "We believe that you and your friends are innocent!" Within fifteen minutes, the taxi cart arrived at the Four Trees Hotel. The stallion stopped walking and let Sassaflash and her friends get off of the taxi cart. They got off on 54 Neigh Street, the street on which the hotel was located. Sassaflash and her friends stepped inside, with their luggage handles in their mouths, dragging their suitcases behind them. A bellhop pony was behind the front desk as Sassaflash and her friends entered the hotel. "Hello," he greeted them with a smile, "what may I help you with?" "We are staying here for one night," answered Sassaflash. "That would be seventy bits to cover all of you," the bellhop pony told them. He handed Sassaflash a room key. "Your room is room 23 on the second floor. To get to your room, you'll have to get on our new and improved dumbwaiter." The bellhop pony pointed to the dumbwaiter that was across the room. "So, you're leaving tomorrow morning?" "Yes," answered Sassaflash, "at ten o'clock." "Enjoy your stay," the bellhop pony spoke. Sassaflash and her friends walked across the main lobby and got inside the dumbwaiter with their luggage. She held the robe between her hooves and began to hoist it up. A few minutes later, the dumbwaiter was on the second floor. Sassaflash and her friends climbed outside and walked to find room 23. A few rooms down, near a window on the side of the hotel, was room 23. Sassaflash grabbed the room key and unlocked the door. She and her friends walked inside their hotel room with their luggage. "Wow," exclaimed Medley, "the hotels here are really posh!" "Make sure not to mess up everything," warned Sassaflash. "We are in Manehattan, not Ponyville. We want to impress the employees here." Suddenly, everypony's stomach's growled at once. "Where should we eat?" asked Dizzy Twister. "Maybe Down To Earth took flight in other areas of Equestria!" Cloudchaser exclaimed. "We could see if there is a café here." "It's worth a try," spoke Flitter. Sassaflash and her friends left their luggage inside their room. She grabbed the key to their room and put it in her saddlebag. They exited room 23 and got inside the dumbwaiter. A few minutes later, Sassaflash and her friends were back in the main lobby. "Going somewhere for lunch?" the bellhop pony asked. "Yes," Sassaflash told him. "Okay. You six have a nice meal!" Sassaflash and her friends exited the Four Trees Hotel and started across 54 Neigh Street. After six minutes of walking, something caught Cloudchaser's eye. She gasped. "C-could it be..." It was another Down To Earth café, like the one in Ponyville, except this particular café in Manehattan was larger. "Well, it's not like this stomach can feed itself! Let's head in there!" Sassaflash and her friends entered the Down To Earth café. Another pony hostess stood at the desk. "Greetings! Hey, aren't you Sassaflash?" "Yes," Sassaflash replied. "So, six ponies?" the hostess asked. "You'll be going to table eleven. Follow me." Sassaflash and her five friends followed the hostess mare to table eleven. They sat down at the table. They ordered their food, and the hostess pony galloped to the kitchen once she got the orders from them. "I'm excited to see the rest of Manehattan!" Cloud Kicker spoke excitedly. "I've- I mean, we've never been here! It's pretty huge, which means we can explore so much!" "Yup," agreed Dizzy Twister, "so much to explore." "I love this place so much!" Cloudchaser commented. "I'm glad they took my advice! Maybe I can work at the Down To Earth café back in Ponyville on the days that I am off from the Cloudsdale Weather Factory." "Well," Sassaflash replied, "you won't be getting back to work if we don't convince enough ponies that we are innocent!" "We might already have enough support," Flitter commented. "You never know." Apparently a few minutes had already passed. The hostess mare came out with the food at table eleven. "Here's your food. Be careful, the coffee is very hot! I've also heard a lot of ponies from different tables talking about you. I think that nopony in Manehattan believes that liar Lightning Dust anymore! Good luck!" The hostess mare dashed off to go to another table. Sassaflash smiled at her success. "Looks like we really are going to convince a lot of ponies after all." "I say that we just stay in Ponyville for the rest of the month after we leave Manehattan tomorrow," suggested Medley. "I think that we should just eat our food right now!" spoke Dizzy Twister. Cloudchaser and Flitter sipped their coffee and ate their salad. Dizzy Twister, Cloud Kicker, and Medley sipped their hay soda and ate their breadsticks. Sassaflash sipped her apple juice and ate her salad and breadsticks. After they finished eating their food, the hostess pony came by their table again. "Finished yet?" "Yes," answered Sassaflash. "I'll get your bill," the hostess pony told Sassaflash. She sped off, and came back with the bill for table eleven. Sassaflash glanced at the bill for the meal. "Hmm," she softly spoke, "76 bits. Not bad." Sassaflash placed her hard-earned bits on the bill. The hostess pony collected the bill and spoke kindheartedly: "So long! Hope you six enjoyed your meal!" It was seven o'clock p.m, and Sassaflash and her friends were back in their hotel room. "What a fantastic day!" shouted Cloud Kicker. "We got to go inside the Statue Of Harmony!" "Yup," Medley spoke to herself, "we got to go." "I say we go to bed!" Dizzy Twister added. Sassaflash yawned. "Yup. We're going back to Ponyville tomorrow, so we have to get plenty of rest." "But there's no rush," Cloud Kicker commented, "right, Sassaflash?" "Yeah," Sassaflash responded. "We'll just get breakfast at my house tomorrow." "I think it would be more like brunch," commented Flitter. "I agree with Dizzy Twister," Cloudchaser spoke. "Let's get to bed!" Sassaflash, Medley, and Dizzy Twister pulled up the sheets of the first bed in the room to sleep in. Cloud Kicker, Cloudchaser, and Flitter pulled up the sheets of the second bed to sleep in. Sassaflash turned off the lights in the room before she climbed into the bed. Medley and Dizzy Twister followed her into the same bed. Cloud Kicker, Cloudchaser, and Flitter climbed into the second bed. "Good night!" spoke Sassaflash. "Good night!" replied her friends. Sassaflash and her friends immediately fell asleep.