Until the Phoenix Flies Again

by Iron Quill

A Train to Paradise

Until the Phoenix Fly’s Again

1:A Train To Paradise

When a pony is young, they want to live their life to the fullest. So that when they’re old, they can look back and love what they see.
At least, that’s what they want.

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Iron Quill. I’m a unicorn who’s mostly light brown, except for my mane, which is blond with brown undertones. My muzzle is the same color and for some reason everypony mistakes it for a beard.
I grew up in Fillydelphia, but have been away from it for so long that I no longer have the accent. I’d call myself a poet, but most ponies would disagree. You see, I’ve never published a book. I have never even tried. I’m always afraid somepony will hate my work. My cutie mark, the mark on my flank that represents my destiny, is a quill and scroll crossed, with a sword in the background. It means that I will always stand behind what I write and care about to the bitter end. But since I have never published, or for that matter ever even let a pony read my work, I have never fulfilled my destiny. So for the most part, I travel Equestria, going on adventures and getting odd jobs so I don’t go hungry. Most ponies wouldn’t even remember me, but by Celestia, I remember every one of them.

In my 16 year journey throughout Equestria, I have visited every major city, from Los Pegasus, (it was really tricky getting up there and staying on the clouds for that matter.) to Manehatten, (where I learned that an act of kindness, no matter how small it may seem, could resound volumes later). But there was one city I had not visited, Canterlot.
I may have never been there but I had seen pictures and heard stories: the city on a mountainside with white marble buildings, majestic gardens and everypony was supposed to be rich and beautiful.

Truly a paradise.

I had debated visiting a couple of times but turned away. What would a perfect city want with an imperfect stallion? But after the third time in my life passing it, I figured, why not?

I sold a few of the things I kept with me, little trinkets that were worth more in bits than sentimental value, and purchased a train ticket to Canterlot. I normally would have walked, but this is the capital of Equestria! One does not simply walk into it!
I had never been on a train before, and I was a little nervous. The brightly colored cars, the hiss of the steam engine, all were new to me. But I took a deep breath and lugged my suitcase on board.
The train cars were yellow on the inside for the most part, with white cushioned benches extending into the aisles from the walls.

I chose a bench in the middle of the car, just as the conductor called out “All aboard!” in a loud resonating voice.
I watched, amazed, as the train pulled away from the station with a huff of white smoke, followed by the steady rhythm of the engine.

Across from me, a Pegasus sat down. She was cyan blue with a rainbow colored mane that was a bit choppy. She had a magazine under her left foreleg that she started reading when she sat down.
I started reading the front of her magazine Wonderbolts illustrated when I noticed her looking at me.

“You going to see the show?” she asked motioning her head to the magazine.

“What show?” I asked

She looked at me slack jawed, as if I had grown a second head. “The Wonderbolts exhibition.”

“Never heard of it,” I said. Sure I had heard of the Wonderbolts, the greatest flyers in all of Equestria, but I never really followed sports.

“It’s only the greatest flying show ever!” the Pegasus exclaimed rising out of her seat, “it only comes every four years and tickets are impossible to get!” she smiled proudly and produced a yellow ticket with the Wonderbolts emblem on it, a lightning bolt with a pair of wings attached, printed on it.

“I bought these two years ago, just so I could make it this year,” she looked at her ticket proudly, “The tickets sold out two days later.”

“Wow that’s pretty impressive,” I replied genuinely impressed. “You must really like them.”

“Really like them?” she asked incredulously. “I love them! It’s my dream to be their captain one day.” stars shone in her eyes.

“I don’t doubt it,” I said smiling at her. “Just never give up on it.”
She smiled at me and held out her hoof, “The names Rainbow Dash.”

“Iron Quill,” I replied bumping her extended hoof.

“How come you’ve never heard of the Wonderbolts exhibition?”

“I probably heard of it when I was a colt, but I haven’t really followed sports since then. I travel around a lot you see.”
“Well now you have heard of it. If you’re not going to Canterlot for the show why are you going?”

“I’ve seen everywhere else in Equestria, so I figured it would be a good idea to visit it.”

“Cool. When were you in ponyville?”

“When I was a lot younger, maybe six years ago.”

“That explains why I don’t remember you passing through,” She shrugged and looked out her window, “Oh, hey were almost there!”
I looked out my window, watching as we approached the city. It was built on the side of a purple mountain range, nearly at the peak of the tallest mountain. The white marble glistened in the midday sun.

“I never understood why there are so many tunnels leading to it,” Rainbow said, turning back to her magazine as the train descended into darkness momentarily before the lamps lining the car flashed on from a magic surge.

“Wasn’t it because Canterlot was built on a mine?”
Rainbow shrugged and turned the page of her magazine. “Probably, I’ll ask my friend Twilight when I get home.”