Waiting For The Train
It was a brisk autumn morning in Ponyville when the mane six set out to catch the first train to the Crystal Empire. They had been summoned there by Princess Cadance to help set up for the Empire’s Annual Fall Festival. But aside from the usual business, it was also because they wanted to spend more time with the happy newlywed couple. Spike decided that he wanted to stay in Ponyville and try his claw at taking care of every pony’s pets again, this time with less greedy intentions. He had actually become quite attached to them since the first incident and was looking forward to getting to know his new friends better. Twilight agreed to let him try but only if he would accept his payment after they returned. Spike had agreed to the arrangement, feeling more motivated than ever to do a good job of taking care of every pony’s pets while they were away.
Now the mane six sat at the train station feeling rather bored. They were so early to arrive that there weren’t really too many other ponies around, save an old grandmother mare with blue hair twisted up into a large bun that sat at the top of her head. She appeared to be knitting some kind of clothing item as a younger pony, probably her granddaughter, sat playing with a set of stuffed unicorn dolls a few paces off to her side. The grandmother mare was keeping a good eye on the filly and would glance up from her knitting project every so often to check on what the younger one was up to.
Pinkie Pie looked around at all of her friend’s bored expressions as they sat on the station’s outdoor benches waiting for the train to arrive and let out a long, mournful groan.
“This is so boring. We should play a game or something to pass the time.”
Rarity pulled a scarf out of her saddle bag and used her unicorn magic to wrap it around her neck to fend off some of the autumn breeze.
Then she turned to Pinkie and said, “That doesn’t sound like a bad idea at all, darling. But what kind of game can we play here?”
Pinkie Pie stood up from the bench she was sitting in previously onto her hind legs and rubbed her chin in deep thought.
“Hmmm…that is a good question.”
After a while of thinking of the perfect game to play, an idea suddenly came to her.
She struck a triumphant pose as she said, “We’ll play a word game!”
Applejack, who was sitting on a bench to the far left of Pinkie Pie asked, “And what kind of game is that?’
Pinkie pie got a mischievous grin on her face.
“I’ll show you.”
She walked up to the old pony knitting the random clothing item as her friends behind her kept urging her to turn back. But Pinkie Pie ignored them. She continued to walk towards her target until she got up real close to the old mare and said, “Hi granny. My name Is Pinkie Pie. What’s your name?”
Rainbow Dash slapped her forehead with one of her hooves in the background, but Pinkie didn’t pay her any mind.
The granny smiled up at Pinkie and replied, “Hello there. My name is Granny Knit. And on the floor playing with her stuffed unicorns is my granddaughter, little Fancy Buttons.”
Pinkie smiled at both of them and replied, “It is nice to meet you Granny Knit, and it is also great to meet you too, Fancy Buttons. So um…are you guys waiting for the train?”
Granny Knit continued to knit the clothing item and nodded.
“Yes. My granddaughter and I are both waiting for it, actually. We are taking it to the Crystal Empire to visit the Annual Fall Festival.”
Pinkie Pie let out a gasp.
“No way. My friends and I are ALSO going to the Crystal Empire for the Fall Festival. What a coincidence!”
Granny Knit chucked.
“I suppose it is.”
Pinkie pie paused for a moment, and then a sly grin spread over her face as she said, “So, I noticed you're not wearing any GALOSHES.”
Granny Knit gave Pie a puzzled look before she continued to work on her knitting project.
“Uh, no I'm not. It’s a cold day to be sure, but there hasn’t been any rain yet. So, there’s need for me to wear galoshes.”
Pinkie Pie took a pair of galoshes out of her saddle bag and placed them on her hooves. She got in close to Granny Knit and said, “I'M wearing galoshes.”
Granny Knit blinked a few times in confusion and then returned to her knitting.
“Hm. I see that.”
Pinkie whispered, “GALOSHES,” as she slowly backed away from the old mare.
Granny Knit shrugged as she struggled with a particularly difficult knot in the knitting pattern.
“Uh huh. That’s nice dear.”
Twilight Sparkle had witnessed everything that had taken place and ran over to retrieve her wayward friend.
She put her front hooves over Pinkie Pie’s shoulders, and calmly begun to drag her in a backwards motion as she said, “I’m so sorry Granny Knit. Pinkie Pie is just a little bored so she decided to start something called a word game. I don’t really get it either. But now she is coming back over here with us. We won’t bother you again. Come on, Pinkie Pie.”
Granny Knit and Fancy Buttons gave a short wave as Twilight dragged Pinkie Pie back to the other end of the train station.
When Pinkie Pie was back with her friends she smiled at each of them and said, “See? That is how the word game works. Well that is how it starts anyway. It would have gotten more involved later on if Twilight hadn’t dragged me off like that. Anyway, now we can start the game.”
Fluttershy hopped off of the bench she was sitting on and scratched her head in confusion.
“I…I still don’t understand. What do we do now?”
Pinkie Pie wrapped one of her hooves around Fluttershy’s shoulder and said, “Don’t you worry your pretty little head. I’ll show you how it’s done.”
Then she walked over to where Applejack was sitting and asked, “So Applejack, did'ja read the paper today?”
Applejack raised one of her eyebrows.
“Uh, no, I haven't had a chance.”
Pinkie Pie grabbed a nearby paper with a picture of the Tangerine family on it.
She held it up to Applejack’s face and asked, “Did you read the thing about the TANGERINES?”
Applejack shook her head.
“No. Didn’t I just tell ya that I haven’t read today’s paper yet?”
Pinkie Pie rolled up the newspaper, stuck it in her saddlebag, and then said, “Well the article was saying that the Tangerine family will make a juice from the oranges.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“Do you know what that's called?”
“Uh, no, uh, I don't.”
Pinkie Pie got in real close to Applejack and said, “ORANGE JUICE.”
Applejack backed away a few inches, feeling a little uncomfortable.
“Oh, right.”
Pinkie Pie backed away slowly from Applejack, whispering, “Orange Juice” as she went.
“Yeah, orange juice.”
Applejack smiled uncomfortably, trying not to let on that she didn’t quite get the joke.
“That's what it's called,” Pinkie Pie reminded her, as she sat beside her on the bench.
Applejack nodded.
“Uh huh.”
“ORANGE JUICE,” she shouted, making everyone around her wince a bit.
The grandmother and her granddaughter didn’t seem to notice though, and went on knitting and playing with stuffed toys respectively.
Applejack simply muttered, “Right.”
“The Tangerine family makes the ORANGE JUICE.”
“Uh huh.”
“And the ORANGES will come from different kinds of trees, you know?”
“Oh, yeah?”
“Sometimes they will come from a MANDARIN TREE.
“Uh huh.”
“MANDARIN!”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
Pinkie Pie decided to continue the game with another player so she scooted off of the bench and trotted away from Applejack. She kept moving forward until she was standing next to Twilight Sparkle. Twilight had been listening to the conversation between Pinkie and the other ponies for a while now but was still admittedly confused to just exactly what was going on.
Pinkie Pie nudged Twilight and said, “Heh heh. They don't wear galoshes.”
Twilight Sparkle tried to think about what part of the conversation Pinkie Pie was talking about but drew a complete blank. So she asked, “Who the, the Tangerine Family?”
Pinkie Pie let out a short laugh and then said, “NOOOOOOO silly. The ORANGE TREES!”
Twilight nodded.
“Oh no. That's right, they don't.”
Pinkie Pie stood up on her hind legs and shouted, “They wear Tree Nets!”
“Uh huh.”
“TREE NETS!”
“That's right; tree nets. Tree nets help protect different kind of trees from the elements. I learned all about it in my giant encyclopedia of gardening.”
Pinkie Pie nodded and added one last dramatic, “TREEEEEE NETTTTSSSS” for good measure.
Twilight laughed nervously and said, “Yeah...tree nets.”
“Say it again.”
“Tree nets?”
“That’s right. Now say it LOUDER.”
“TREE NETS!”
“Um hmm...feels good eh?”
“Actually, yeah. It’s is a good one. I didn't want to say it but uhh....I like it...”
Pinkie slapped Twilight on the back playfully and said, “Say say say GALOSHES.”
Twilight got a goofy grin on her face and said, “Galoshes!”
Pinkie smiled.
“Heh heh...it's good, eh?”
“Yeah, it's good.”
“Galoshes!” Pinkie bellowed.
“Galoshes!” Twilight proclaimed.
“Treeeeeee Neeeettt!” Pinkie yelled.
“Treeee Netttt!” Twilight followed after.
“Orange, orange, orange, orange...”
“Mandarin ORANGE!”
“Orange...TREEEEE NETTTT!”
Around that time, Fluttershy walked up to Twilight and Pinkie and said, “Uh, excuse me.”
Twilight cleared her throat and met her friend’s eyes as she asked, “Yes Fluttershy?”
Fluttershy kicked at the ground for a few moments, and then said, “Oh, sorry, um....I didn't mean to interrupt whatever you two were doing there...”
Pinkie Pie winked at Fluttershy and said, “Oh nah...it's OK!”
Fluttershy gave a weak smile to her friends.
“Uh, ok. But um, the thing is, I still don’t understand how to play this game. So if you could teach me how to play I would be ever so grateful.”
Twilight nodded.
“Uh yeah, no problem. Pinkie Pie should be able to teach you.”
Pinkie smiled.
“That’s right! It’s easy once you get the hang of it. We will start the game again now.”
Fluttershy squinted her eyes and gave a soft, “Yay.”
Pinkie winked at her and then walked to stand between both her and Twilight, making it a three player round.
After somewhat of a pause, Pinkie Pie nudged Fluttershy and pointed at the elderly pony at the other side of the train station.
“Hey Fluttershy?”
“Yes?”
“PPPPSSSSSSSSSSSSTTTTTTT!”
“Yeah?”
“Look over there.”
Fluttershy’s eyes followed in the direction that Pinkie pie was pointing.
“At the other end of the train station?”
“Yeah, yeah yeah.”
Fluttershy nodded.
“Um-huh.”
“See that GRANNY?”
“Yes.”
“What kind of a hairstyle does she have?”
Fluttershy examined the granny mare’s hairstyle for a bit and then said, “Uh, that looks like a bun.”
“YES. A BUN!”
“Yes, a bun,” Fluttershy said, giggling a bit about the way Pinkie pronounced the word. She was finally starting to catch on to the game a bit.
At this point, Rainbow Dash had caught on to how things worked and flew over to join in on the fun.
“Uh, actually, I...I couldn't help noticing that myself, it's sort-of what you might call a, a bulbous bun.”
Pinkie grinned.
“Yes, a bulbous bun.”
“BULBOUS BUN!” Twilight shouted
“Buns,” Fluttershy chimed in, giggly a bit afterwards.
“ORANGES!” Rainbow Dash bellowed.
“TREE NETS!” Yelled Pinkie Pie.
Rarity finally had caught onto what every pony was doing so she hopped off of her bench, walked over to where the group of friends had gathered and added, “Heh heh. Mandarin!”
“Bulbous bun,” said fluttershy, nodding.
“Mandarins. Mandarins. heh heh.” Rainbow Dash blurted before breaking in to a chortle.
Applejack smiled as she finally understood what was going on and piped in, “VANILLA CREAM PIE!”
The other group members said, “Ooooooohhhhhhhhh. That’s a good one,” more or less in unison.
Just then, a strange song resembling the tune of 'Bulbous Bouffant' by a comedy troop Twilight recognized from the human world called The Vestibules started up in the distance.
The mane six looked around, trying to figure out where it was coming from as Pinkie Pie pulled a tape recorder out of her saddle bag and placed it in front of her.
“What...is that for?” Asked Twilight, examining the tape player as it played the odd tune.
“It’s a nice tune to shout our words too. Let’s make a SONG!”
“Yes, a SOONNGGG,” Piped in Rainbow Dash.
“A SONGGG!” Shouted Rarity in a funny voice.
The mane exchanged words of agreement and then began to shout out words to the music beat one by one.
The music kept a steady beat as the mane six bobbed up and down and shouted out all of the funny words they could think of off of the top of their heads.
Applejack: Vanilla Cream pie.
Rarity: Glamourous!
Rainbow Dash: Bulbous bun.
Applejack: Vanilla Cream pie.
Rarity: Glamorous.
Rainbow Dash: Bulbous bun.
Applejack: Vanilla Cream Pie.
Rarity: Glamorous.
Rainbow Dash: Bulbous bun.
Applejack: Vanilla Cream Pie.
Rarity: Glamorous.
Rainbow Dash: Bulbous bun.
Fluttershy: Tree net.
Applejack: Vanilla Cream Pie.
Rarity: Mandarin. Glamorous. Mandarin.
Rainbow Dash: Bulbous bun.
Applejack: Friendly Bear. Vanilla Cream Pie.
Rarity: Mandarin. Glamorous. Mandarin.
Rainbow Dash: Bulbous bun.
Applejack: Friendly Bear. Vanilla Cream Pie.
Twilight Sparkle: Magical.
Rarity: Glamorous.
Pinkie Pie: Cupcakes.
Rainbow Dash: Bulbous bun.
Applejack: Friendly Bear. Vanilla Cream Pie.
Twilight Sparkle: Magical.
Rarity: Glamorous.
Pinkie Pie: Cupcakes.
Rainbow Dash: Bulbous bun.
Applejack: Friendly Bear. Vanilla Cream Pie.
Fluttershy: Oranges.
Twilight Sparkle: Magical.
Rarity: Glamorous.
Pinkie Pie: Cupcakes.
Twilight Sparkle: Plan.
Fluttershy: Tarantula.
Applejack: Vanilla Cream Pie.
Twilight Sparkle: Magical.
Rarity: Glamorous.
Pinkie Pie: Cupcakes.
Twilight Sparkle: Plan.
Applejack: Friendly Bear. Vanilla Cream Pie.
Fluttershy: Oranges.
Twilight Sparkle: Magical.
Rarity: Glamorous.
Rainbow Dash: Bulbous Bun.
Twilight Sparkle: Plan.
Fluttershy: Bunny. Oranges.
Twilight Sparkle: Magical.
Rarity: Glamorous.
Pinkie Pie: Cupcakes.
Rainbow Dash: Bulbous bun.
Twilight Sparkle: Plan.
Fluttershy: Friendly Bear.
Applejack: Vanilla Cream Pie.
Twilight Sparkle: Magical.
Rarity: Oranges. Glamorous.
Fluttershy: Rhinoceros.
Rarity: Glamorous.
Pinkie Pie: Cupcakes.
Rainbow Dash: Bulbous bun.
Twilight Sparkle: Plan.
Fluttershy: Friendly Bear.
Applejack: Vanilla Cream Pie.
Twilight Sparkle: Magical.
Rarity: Oranges. Glamorous.
Fluttershy: Butterfly.
Rarity: Glamorous.
Pinkie Pie: Cupcakes.
Rainbow Dash: Bulbous bun.
Twilight Sparkle: Plan.
Fluttershy: Friendly Bear.
Applejack: Vanilla Cream Pie.
Twilight Sparkle: Magical.
Rarity: Oranges. Glamorous.
Fluttershy: Pretty spotted leopard.
Rarity: Glamorous.
Pinkie Pie: Cupcakes.
Rainbow Dash: Bulbous bun.
Twilight Sparkle: Plan.
Fluttershy: Friendly Bear.
Applejack: Vanilla Cream Pie.
Twilight Sparkle: Magical.
Rarity: Oranges. Glamorous.
Fluttershy: Parrot.
Rarity: Glamorous.
Pinkie Pie: Cupcakes.
Rainbow Dash: Bulbous bun.
Twilight Sparkle: Plan.
Fluttershy: Friendly Bear.
Applejack: Vanilla Cream Pie.
Twilight Sparkle: Magical.
Rarity: Oranges. Glamorous.
Twilight Sparkle: TRAIN!
The mane six stopped their word song when then saw the train lurching towards the station in the distance.
“Ah, here comes the train,” said Rarity, sounding a bit disappointed.
“Oh, yeah,” piped in Fluttershy, also looking a bit disappointed that they couldn’t finish their song.
“That’s good,” said Applejack, starting to gather up all of her things in preparation to board the train.
So the train pulled into the station and the mane six got on board carrying their luggage. The granny mare and her granddaughter followed close behind varying their own belongings on their backs or in saddlebags they each wore at their sides. Once every pony had found their seats, the train sped off toward the Crystal Empire. It carried every pony toward their final destination, including a few passengers that had been picked up at the royal city of Canterlot.
After the mane six had tucked away their luggage in the train storage compartments above, they found themselves a little bored again. They each let out a sigh as they sat in their passenger seats watching the landscape outside of the train windows get up close to the train and then speed quickly by. However they each got a mischievous grin when they watched Pinkie Pie walk over to a young stallion and ask him if he had read the morning paper. For at that very moment they knew that another round of the word game had just begun.