"Well what did you expect? A welcoming party with puppies and kittens?" "Yes, that would be rather nice actually."
It had taken Pastel quite a while to get Pixel to cease his head-on assault on Daring Do, but when she did, she actually got quite a good conversation out of him. It seemed he was more of a drama queen than anything. "I mean, I'm going up against the ponies that took down Celestia and Luna. Freakin' Celestia and Luna! I think that I'm at least entitled to some TLC. Maybe some combat training? I don't know." Pastel smiled at him.
"I know what you mean. Throwing us right into the action isn't exactly the best plan ever." Pixel nodded. Talking with Pastel had helped take his mind off his impending doom, if only for a while.
There was an awkward silence. Pastel scrunched up her face while Pix started quietly whistling tunelessly. Several seconds passed where the only sounds were the upcoming Galloping Gorge and the snoring bat… thing.
"Conversation over?" Pixel asked quickly. "Conversation over." Pastel repeated. Pixel sat there, not exactly sure what to do. Then it occurred to him that it was probably about time to go back to his seat. "Oh! Uh, so I just… Okay." He stumbled out of the booth and back into his own, mumbling under his breath.
Pastel watched her new friend as he sat down on the edge of his seat facing the isle, and promptly fell backwards onto his seat. She heard him chuckle and the sound of wings extending as he began to preen himself. She smiled and got back to her drawing.
Pastel set down her pad and yawned, slumping over the table in front of her. Glancing out the window of the moving train carriage, she saw the same yellow-orange landscape of the galloping gorge, the trees now orange and wilting in the never-ending onslaught of solar radiation, slowly cooking where they stood in the midsummer heat.
Pastel was struggling to keep her eyes open, and quickly glanced at the small clock above the door to the other carriages.
She straightened up instantly, staring at the thin black clock hands, taunting her.
It was two in the morning.
Pastel groaned loudly. It had already been a week since the sun stopped in its tracks, but her body clock still hadn't quite adjusted. Safe to say it was driving her crazy. Well, crazier.
She rolled over and groaned again, purposely rolling off her seat and on to the floor. She hopped back up to her hooves and set towards the door at the end of her carriage. She decided that, even if it was a little late, she was still going to at least get a few hours of sleep in before they reached Ponyville.
Opening the door, she was hit with a rush of hot wind. Startled, she slammed the door closed, a little surprised. She gathered her breath and opened the door. Now more prepared for the rush of air, it actually felt kinda nice. The warm air coupled with the white noise of the passing landscape was almost therapeutic. But, of course, she couldn't stay there forever. She hopped over the gap in the two train cars, closing the door behind her as she did.
Opening the door to the adjacent car, she felt a pair of eyes watching her. She closed the door behind her, the car filling with an overpowering silence. The curtains were drawn back, shielding the carriage from the sunlight outside, casting the entire space in a comfortable gloom. She made out a few bunk beds lining the walls, a few seemingly occupied.
Turning, she saw who had been watching her. A pair of light blue eyes pierced the gloom, staring at her expectantly. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness after being bathed in bright sunlight for so long, she started to make out a dark grey earth stallion with a short, yellow orange mane.
She chuckled softly and stared back. The stallion smiled. "You play?" he said quietly, as to not wake the other sleeping ponies in the carriage. It was then that Pastel noticed a dark green bass guitar resting in his hooves. "Huh? Oh, uh, no. Sorry." She fumbled her words. "Could you give me a little performance?"
He chuckled and started strumming a low tune. It turned out to be short lived though, because soon enough a pillow hit him smack bang in the muzzle. The stallion let out a startled whinny before glaring over to the top bunk across from his. In it, a lump moved beneath the covers. "Shut up." it murmured quietly before rolling over to face the wall.
"Guess that's out of the question then." the stallion sighed quietly as not to disturb the other pony further. "I'm Black Bass." He introduced himself. "Like the instrument, not the fish." Pastel giggled. She noticed the lighter grey bass clef on his flank. She smiled. "Pastel Paints." They brohoofed.
"Sooooooo…" Pastel began. "You on this crazy element mission too?" Bass nodded. "Yeah." he said quietly, a hint of disgust in his tone. Pastel decided to drop the subject, moving on to the next obvious topic.
"Who's that?" she asked, waving up to the occupied bunk opposite them. "Hmm? Oh, right, them." Bass twiddled his hooves. "I think her name's Ember. Not too sure on that front though." "Hey." the lump waved, turning to face them. Like Pastel and Bass, she too was an Earth pony. Red-brown coat and a short, dark blue mane framing light grey eyes. She turned to speak. "Now, I appreciate the fact that you two are getting to know eachother," Her face slipped from neutral to annoyed in less than a second. "but could you two shut the buck up!? Some of us are trying to sleep here!" She turned back over to face the wall with a humph.
The carriage was quiet for a bit, both ponies still knee deep in awkward silence. Pastel made to speak, but she couldn't think of anything to say. Instead, she simply nodded and trotted off to the back of the carriage, picking the bunk across from a snoring Sunlight.
She rustled under the covers and closed her eyes, trying not to think about what lay ahead for her and these ponies.
Pixel stared at the ceiling, almost afraid of what might happen if he fell back into unconsciousness. Would he go back to that freakish wasteland that was the wasted Ponyville? Something worse? Or would he be granted the privilege of an uneventful and dreamless sleep? Pixel knew that he was doing nothing but stalling for time, delaying the inevitable. Everypony needed sleep.
Eventually, he just decided to succumb to the demons inside him and try his luck. Maybe he would have the most retched nightmares he had ever had, but then again, what was the worst that could happen?
Pixel closed his eyes slowly, almost carefully, as if maybe this would ward off any bad dreams. Soon enough, the time, coupled with the emotional exhaustion of the past few hours started taking their toll, pulling him into the land of blissful unconsciousness.
No dreams were had that night.