//------------------------------// // Chapter 10: Train Ride to Canterlot // Story: The Elements in Harmony // by No One and Nobody //------------------------------// Chapter 10: Train Ride to Canterlot While Twilight got tickets for everybody and everypony Thomas just stood there holding the supplies and watching the ponies going about their daily business. Then he noticed one pony in particular coming towards them. She wasn't moving particularly fast, but Thomas recognized that tread easily. HELLO MAUD "Hello Tom," she said, stopping and looking up at him, "Heard about this big adventure you're going on." HOW? "Pinkie sent me a letter," she said holding up a folded piece of paper. Thomas had no idea how Pinkie had managed to sent a letter so quickly, but then again it was Pinkie so... "Mind if I come?" YOU WANT ADVENTURE? "To be honest I was already heading out that way to finish some of my rock studies. But I figure no one probably understands rocks like you, so I was wondering if maybe I could get some help when you're not busy fighting this monster." OK. TWILIGHT'S BUYING TICKETS. "I'll get my own," she said, walking off. "Seriously man?!" said Michael from the lamp, "You're a human, you've only been here maybe a day or two, you're not even organic and you're already hit- Thomas put his finger into he flame and interrupted, She's really into rocks. I haven't done anything. She's just being friendly. Oh yeah, sure. I believe you... returned Michael in an obnoxiously sarcastic voice. I know what you mean, and if it was anyone else I might be inclined to agree with you. But this is Maud Pie we're talking about, from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. I'm pretty sure she's really just trying to be friendly. Seriously dude how do you stand watching all this garbage? asked Michael. Couple years ago this guy I knew, actually my only friend at the time, told me about this show he was watching. In all honesty I pretty much felt the same way as you for the first couple weeks. How could anyone stand something so... childish? But then... I don't know. Something changed. I started really liking it. I'm perfectly fine if you don't get it or enjoy it. To each their own, right? But I think your sister's right. You can't judge a book by it's cover (or a TV show either, for that matter). I'd still keep an eye on that one though. said Michael, I'm positive she's hitting on you. I'll keep that in mind. However it's not really in her character. What's her character? Thomas thought about that for a second then said, In the show she was portrayed as somepony who didn't react the same way as the mane six. However in the end the episode demonstrated she still felt for her sister Pinkie the way her friends did, if not more. The moral, just because someone acts different doesn't mean they are bad or evil or something. At least that's what I got out of it. Wait! She's that pink one's sister?! said Michael, stunned, How? Well Pinkie did grow up on a rock farm even though she now- A what farm?! Rock. Her parents are rock farmers. Michael didn't say a word for a second. He just sat there his flame gently swaying back and forth. O...K...... If you're getting tired about talking about ponies we could always go over what we know about this monster, said Thomas. What? Well I know I don't really like pushy people, and I never want to be seen as one so... We can drop the whole pony thing for now and talk about what we're going up against. Fine... Big monster. We find it. I torch it. We go home. said Michael, matter-of-factly. What makes you think it's big? Huh? Thomas, excited to nerd out a little, raised one hand and continued, Big monsters happened in all the old movies: Godzilla, Transformers, War of the World. Newer cartoons have all kinds of monsters. Zecorra never really described it's size or actual species. It could be anything from a parasitic organism to some sort of epidemic, magical creature or mystical curse. But in her fourth line she calls it a creature, said Michael, So I don't think it's any type of micro-organism. You've got a point. Still organisms don't have the same biology here as back home so we can't define 'creature' to be some sort of multi-cellular creature similar to us. It could have an anatomy composed entirely out of magical energy. That would explain why it feeds off of magic. You mean like a living spell of some sort? asked Michael, intrigued, How would we fight something like that? No idea. I'm more worried about the last few lines, said Lucas, interrupting, The ones that describe the end of the battle and our fates. Zecorra said that this task would be 'our last' doesn't that sound ominous to you? I just took that to mean our last in this world. I figure when we're done here we get sent home, said Thomas, Besides she went on to say none of us will die, didn't she? She said 'death shall not come.' She never said who death wouldn't come too, said Lucas, What if she just means none of the ponies will die? It seems pretty general to me, said Michael, I figure it means nobody's going to die and then we just get the heck out of here. While the boys were busy talking, Mira was following Twilight and AJ to get the tickets. "Is that, uh... Thing, getting on the train?" asked the station pony, looking at Thomas. "He certainly is darling," said Rarity in a somewhat miffed tone, "And his name is Thomas." "I don't have anything against him," he said, "It's just that something of that size might upset the balance of the train car." "Oh," said Rarity, "I didn't think of that." "It'll be fine," said Twilight, "He can have a car all to himself, somewhere in the middle." "And so he doesn't get lonely I'll join him," said Maud, walking over. "Oh hello Maud," said Twilight, "I didn't know you were headed to Canterlot." "I'm actually headed to Rambling Rock Ridge," said Maud, "But since I'm headed in that direction, I thought I'd join you." "Oh?" said Rarity, raising an eyebrow and the corners of her lips at Maud, "How... kind of you. I'm sure Thomas will enjoy your company." Twilight rolled her eyes and thanked the pony for their tickets. "Let's get moving," she said to Thomas and his friends. As they boarded the train Thomas handed Lucas and Michael to Twilight and her friends while he and Maud stepped into another car. He could just make out Michael say, "Told ya. Watch your back! It's a kid's television show not a shipfic he thought to himself, Right? Michael sat/stood/lay... Oh forget it. He was in the lamp on the top of one of the seats, waiting for the train to start. As he sat there he suddenly realized that the train felt like an ordinary train preparing to depart. Sure everything was ridiculously frilly and girly but the train still had that kind of quiet private feel of trains back home. Twilight came back into the car and sat down saying, "Tom's situated. It took a little time, getting into the car. But once he got past those steps he was fine." "How is he fitting in there?" asked Rainbow. "He kind of spread himself out," said Twilight, vaguely. "Oh," said Rainbow, trying to envision Thomas sprawled in the floor of the car. How are you doing? asked Mira, touching her mind to Michael's. I just want to get this over with so we can go home, said Michael, By the way. Promise you won't tell anybody at home about this? Who'd believe us? Good point. Twilight came over and sat down on the chair next to Michael. "Mira, are you around here?" she asked. "I'm right here," said Mira, brushing up against Twilight's right wing. "Oh, I was thinking we should discuss what we're going to do when we get to Horseshoe Bay." Mira nodded, then remembered Twilight couldn't see her and said, "Got it. But first we should talk about the evacuation of nearby towns and getting everypony to safety." "We'll go over that with the Princess but you're right we should probably review procedure." Somebody get me out of here, said Michael to himself. He felt somebody grab the lamp and move it to another seat. It was that marshmallow pony with the stupid purple hair and dumb fashion stuff. "I figured we could talk," she said, putting Michael down on the seat next to her, "Twilight's nice but she can have a tendency to go on." Michael didn't say anything. "I take it, since you're a stallion, you're not into fashion. Have you read any good books lately?" "I'm not a pony. I'm..." Michael thought about it for a second and then said, "Something else." "Oh, yes Mira and Thomas both don't seem too forward with their species but you are a young man, aren't you?" "I'm not that young," said Michael, angrily. "Oh? Well just how youn- er old are you?" she asked, trying to reel him into a conversation. "Old enough to know I don't have to talk to you," said Michael and returned to his silence. Rarity was positive that beneath his cold (relatively speaking) exterior Michael was actually a nice guy. She just had to figure out how to get him to open up. Maybe he'll open up about family, she thought to herself. "So is Mira you're only sibling?" she asked. "Uh-huh," grunted Michael. "She seems like a wonderful sister." "Uh-huh." "Are your parents kind pon- I mean excellent caregiv- I mean, Um... are they nice?" "Uh-huh." Rarity was at a loss. She didn't know what else to talk about. As the train started forwards, she opened her mouth one more time, trying to think of something to say. However she was interrupted by Rainbow doing a back-flip out of her seat and catching a cupcake Pinkie had thrown, in her mouth. Rarity looked down to see the flame in the lamp leaning towards the side as if trying to see Rainbow's landing. She picked up the lamp and set it down on the top of the seat in front of her so he could get an unobstructed view of Rainbow and Pinkie's antics. He definitely seemed more their type anyway. Thomas had had a little trouble with the steps to get onto the train. But after he had gotten past without breaking them, things got much easier. The way the seating was arranged it was much easier for him to maneuver than it would have been on a human train. He sat down in the middle of the car and let his lower portion separate so that he could fit in the isle. Maud came in and sat down in a seat behind him. He turned his mental focus and now she was sitting in front of him. For as worried as he had been she didn't seem to have anything in mind, romantic or otherwise. She just sat there, staring out the window. The train jerked forwards and a rock from his right foot rolled across the floor to rest next to her. Maud looked down at it and then back at Thomas. Her calm, almost bored gaze, didn't give him any idea what she might be thinking. She dug into her pocket and pulled out something. Now that they were on a moving train Thomas had even more trouble seeing than before, but he was pretty sure that it was Boulder. "Do you want to hold Boulder?" she asked, nonchalantly. Thomas gave what he hoped looked like a shrug and held out his left hand. As Maud set Boulder in it Thomas felt his curiosity pique. Boulder didn't feel like most rocks. There was more... Thomas didn't know what to call it. Rock energy. Stone Chi. The life force of intrinsically dead objects. Whatever it was, Boulder had a lot more of it than most rocks did. "Can you feel it?" asked Maud, still staring calmly at Thomas, "Most ponies just think of rocks as rocks. But when I first met Boulder I knew there was more to them." Thomas nodded, then grabbed his chalkboard. CAN FEEL SOMETHING. DON'T KNOW WHAT THOUGH. "Me neither. But I figured maybe you could tell me something I don't know." Thomas wrapped Boulder in both his hand and held it to his chest listening closely. He could almost make out a quiet whisper. Like the voice you hear in your head in movies when nobody's around and things are getting creepy. Except that this voice was incredibly peaceful and calm. It was almost like someone a million miles away was singing quietly to themselves and didn't care if anybody was listening or not. Thomas couldn't make out the words but it was a song of stability, patience and strength. I can't really hear it, or make out what it's even about. But if I had to call it something, I'd call it the song of the earth, he thought. Thomas held out his hand towards Maud and, when she came over, held Boulder to her ear. "I can't hear anything," said Maud, guessing what Thomas was trying to tell her. Thomas held her head in his left hand and put the side of his head (where his ears used to be) right next to Maud so that Boulder was between them. They sat there for awhile until Maud's left ear perked up. "I can hear something," she said, a touch of excitement in her voice, "Not sure what. But it's definitely something." Thomas nodded and pointed at Boulder in his hand. "I knew asking a rock for help was a good idea," said Maud. A couple of days ago Thomas would have probably taken offense at that. However at this point, and coming from Maud, it almost felt like a compliment. He had begun to think of rocks and stone less as objects and more as peaceful creatures quietly living out their lives like any other animal. For the next hour or so, Thomas and Maud talked extensively on geology and rock farming. I never knew the study of the earth could be so... interesting, thought Thomas to himself, Plus I bet I'm one of the few Bronies who now actually understands what it is rock farmers actually do. Who'd a thought that they actually- Thomas's inner monologue was interrupted by Pinkie running into the car, darting around a few times yelling "IT'S COMING! IT'S COMING!", and finally running out of the car. Thomas held up his chalkboard. WE'VE ARRIVED? Pinkie popped the door open and said, "Not Canderlot silly... the next chapter. Bye." With that she winked, slammed the door, and left two very confused characters staring at each other.