Pony Shore

by GoldenState3

Baltimore, Manhattan, and Philadelphia

The visit with the President and his daughter had been the most terrifying bit of Fluttershy's life, but then again, she told herself that so much that it had lost all meaning. The were back in the Human carriage now, and Amanda was driving them down a street. Fluttershy had figured out that she could comfortably fit on the flat area behind the rear seats. That was she was relatively stable, and also able to see where she was going. They passed a giant domed white building, and turned onto another street. They were heading towards another massive white building. They turned into a building, and between two other carriages. There was a sign looming overhead that said "Rental Return."

They headed into a building, and Fluttershy instantly wanted to hide under something. She doubted that hiding under something would work though, the last time she tried it, Amanda just grabbed her and dragged along, till Flutteshy stopped trying to fight. They were in a vast structure with a curved ceiling high overhead. There were humans everywhere, there had to be more Humans in this room than there were ponies in Canterlot.

She took a few steps and found a table to hide under. Amanda sighed, before moving off. Fluttershy thought that she was safe, till Amanda returned with a small cart. She put Fluttershy on the cart, and fastened an elastic rope over her. Fluttershy could barely move, as she scrunched her eyes closed as Amanda pushed her through the massive crowds. A few minutes later, they stopped moving. Fluttershy opened her eyes.

They were in a smaller but still vast area. There were fewer humans, but there were still more than all of the ponies Ponyville. Most of them were flowing by in waves, through a gap into an unseen area beyond. They were in a line, waiting to get access to a counter. The line was flowing regularly, as they're were a large number of humans working behind the counter. It only took a few minutes for them to reach the counter.

Fluttershy stared up at the counter. All she could see was hundreds of pieces of bubblegum, adhered to a material that looked like an unnatural version of wood. She could hear the conversation though.

"Two first class tickets on the Acela to Boston Back Bay." Amanda said.

"You mean the Rainbow Dash Express, now twenty percent faster between Baltimare and Fillydelphia?" The Human behind the counter asked.

"Look whatever." Amanda said. "I just want the tickets."

Soon enough they were moving again. They entered the stream of humans that was flowing through the gap. They emerged into a vast space, with a red tile floor and a metal ceiling high overhead. There were banners everywhere, all advertising the Rainbow Dash express, and its recent speed increase. But no, it wasn't between Baltimare and Fillydelphia, it was between Baltimore and Philadelphia. Fluttershy felt instantly homesick.

This was the worst day of Vinyl Scratch's life. She had to sit like a Human, no matter how uncomfortable it was. She was surrounded by Humans, and the Human next to her was fat. He'd taken it upon himself to encroach upon the bit of the seat that her body wasn't occupying. This prevented her from ever trying to curl up. She'd been on the human bus for the last two hours, and they were winding their way north through lines of Human carriages.

She spent the next two hours in pure agony. It was dark out now, and she was starting to get depressed. She'd spent the last four hours staring at lines of carriages, and that strange road material that Humans seemed to love so much. She made one last futile glance out the window, before she deciding if she was going to hate this world for all eternity.

Hello, what was that. Actually, she wasn't quite sure. It looked a massive cluster of buildings, rising high above the ground and bathed in light. That couldn't be real could it? It had to be some illusion. There was no way anything could build something so totally awesome. Oh dear, she was so excited that she was sounding like the annoying blue Pegasus now.

She grabbed fatso's sleeve with her mouth.

"What is that?" She asked pointing at the thing on the horizon.

Fatso looked at her like she was an idiot before replying.

"That's Manhattan." He said.

"You mean there's a Manehattan here too." She asked.

"What's Manehattan?" Fatso replied. "You making fun of how I talk you... horse."

Actually, Manhattan made sense. That was assuming that you could abbreviate Human to man. That would make loads more sense than Humans calling their town Manehattan.

Fatso looked angry, and he was desperately trying to wipe off his sleeve. He expanded further into her seat. She spent the rest of the trip glaring at him in absolute fury.

Finally, they reached their destination. She'd lost track of the glorious sight of the city, after they pulled into some tunnel. Now they were driving through some dank city, that looked horribly run down. She got off the bus, not sure where she was. The only thing she was sure of was where she wanted to be.

"Hey Vinyl Scratch!" A voice in the crowd of Humans called out.

She turned around, expecting to see a pony. But she didn't see anypony. Just Humans. In fact, there was a Human approaching her right now. She ducked out of his way, not eager to have another Human walk over her.

"Hey Vinyl Scratch! You're the best pony!" The Human said.

"You've heard of me..." she stammered.

Fluttershy relaxed on a table, watching as the lights that marked the Human cities and towns stream by. They been on the train for the last hour, and they were heading north, faster than Fluttershy had ever moved before. She felt a tap on her shoulder. A man in a white shirt, blue vest and blue pants, and a rainbow wig was standing over them.

"He wants to know what you want for dinner." Amanda said.

"I'll have a daffodil sandwich, please. That is, if it isn't too much trouble." Fluttershy said.

"We don't have daffodil sandwiches. Would a ham sandwich be okay?" The man asked.

"She's a vegetarian." Amanda said.

"Oh, uhm then I guess she'll want the salad then. That's the vegetarian option for tonight." The man replied.

"You eat flowers?" Amanda asked.

"Oh, yes, all the time. I love daffodils." Fluttershy said.

"Hey, I like flowers too, but I'm not about to eat them." Amanda replied.

"They're very tasty." Fluttershy said.

"So like how do you eat? Do you just stick you head in, and eat or do you use a knife and fork?" Amanda asked.

"Some Unicorns use a knife and fork, and some earth ponies and Pegasi do as well, but most of us don't bother, that is assuming that we don't have someone like the princesses watching." Fluttershy said.

Vinyl Scratch was having the time of her life. The human, his name was Steve that she was with had one of the magic Human carriages, and he had taken her all over Manhattan. She was standing somewhere named Times Square, and it was the most incredible place in her life. Humans flowed by in all directions, as giant magic signs covered the buildings. There wasn't anything like this in Equestria, not even close. There wasn't even anything in Equestria that even suggested that something like this could possibly exist.

She'd spent the last hour just walking around with Steve, soaking it all in. Now, she was face to face with a giant clock on a building. It was seven o'clock.

"Buck!" She shouted. "I should have been on a bus ninety minutes ago!"

"Uh, so where are you going?" Steve asked.

"Boston. I have to be at the Boston Grand Hotel, Back Bay by ten pm!" Vinyl shouted.

"Uh, I guess I can take you, that's assuming you wanted to still hang out with a nobody like me?" Steve asked.

"Hey, you said I was cooler than Twilight Sparkle! That's good enough for me!" Vinyl Scratch said.

"Uhm, like how far is it to Boston?" Vinyl Scratch asked.

"Four hours, give or take." Steve said.

This wasn't going to be good.

Fluttershy had arrived wherever Boston was. Amanda grabbed her, and they ran a few blocks to some tall building. The inside of the building was fancy, with a marble floor, and ancient looking wood paneling on the walls. Amanda was carrying her through corridors, till they went through a door marked staff only. After winding through a labyrinth of dark corridors with a horrible lime green color, they ended up in an area behind a curtain. There were Ponies here, and Humans too.

Fluttershy studied the ponies first. There was some somewhat familiar white Unicorn with a blonde mane, a very familiar looking Blue Unicorn with a lighter blue mane. Oh no!

"Trixie!" Fluttershy shouted!

Fluttershy dove for cover.

Comments

[Stinger]

I have to say, when I first laid eyes on the description for this, I cringed. BUT, I am enjoying it so far. I'll be looking forward to more of this