Getting Tough

by Manaphy

All Aboard

Misty Fly found herself hovering in the sky. The world on the bright green fields below her looked as though they were merely toys that made a diorama. A warm breeze ran across her face, her mane flowing in accordance to the wind's dance. There was not a single cloud in sight and the sky around Misty was a light blue with the bright yellow sun hanging overhead. The simplicity of the natural world around her still provided that tingling feeling that caused her to smile.

Misty took a deep breath, but before she could move, she felt a slight tap on her shoulder. Turning around, she saw Fleetfoot, of all ponies, dressed up in the Wonderbolts uniform and glowing under the sunlight. Misty's jaw dropped slightly and she rubbed her eyes, noticing that she too was wearing the tight, blue uniform over her body.

"Can you believe it?" asked Fleetfoot in a chipper tone. "We're Wonderbolts! This is going to be so awesome!"

"It is awesome," said Misty as a matter of fact. She paused for a moment as a heartwarming feeling grew inside of her. Her lips formed a wide smile. "What's the first thing we're going to do?"

Fleetfoot giggled for a bit. She flew next to Misty and patted her on the back, the gentle taps dissipating some of the leftover nerves bundled up inside her. "We're going to do all sorts of cool stunts. Cap—"

Before Fleetfoot could finish her sentence, Misty's ears picked up a honk that caused her to cringe and cover her ears. The honk returned once again, only this time it was louder than before. Then the third honk happened, and Misty suddenly found herself covered in a white blanket, reclining on her small bed in her ever familiar hotel room. Was she dreaming? More importantly, who was crazy enough to be honking a loud horn when her room was still shrouded in darkness?

"Wake up, Misty Fly!" a familiar voice shouted. "Iron Will needs you outside this instant!"

Misty was far from surprised, but she groaned loudly nevertheless. She rolled off of her bed and rubbed her eyes, staring at the clock with bloodshot eyes. The time read 2:15 A.M. Such a time was disgustingly early for anypony, so was this another one of Iron Will's ridiculous tests?

Letting out a deep sigh before stretching her muscles, Misty slowly stumbled towards the front door and opened it. On the other side was Iron Will, holding a horn in one hand and four tickets in the other. Next to him were Bulk Biceps and Amethyst Star, both of whom stood still with bags under their half-open eyes.

"I-Iron Will, what in the world is so important that you had to wake me at two in the morning?" asked Misty in an elongated tone. She let out a loud yawn and stretched her body again, the tension in her muscles finally loosening. "Have you lost your mind?"

"Iron Will realized that Canterlot is a stupid place," said Iron Will with a wide grin. "The four of us are going to be taking a train to some small town called Ponyville. Iron Will heard that there's all sorts of things that can boost assertiveness!" Iron Will flexed his arms and struck a pose, showing off the tickets as though they were a prize.

"That's great and all," said Amethyst, "but why did you have to wake us up so early?"

"Because the train leaves at three in the morning," Iron Will said as he showed off the tickets to the three ponies. Sure enough, the tickets were clearly printed with the words Departure: 3:00 A.M.

Amethyst planted her own hoof to her face and groaned. "Seriously? That's the best you could do?"

"You're getting more assertive already, Amethyst Star." Iron Will cracked another smile and patted Amethyst on the back. Amethyst flinched each time Iron Will's palm connected with her.

"I think it's more to do with the fact you woke us up well before the sun rises."

"It's only a small technicality." Iron Will flexed his muscles again. "Come on, let's get going!"

Misty left her apartment and followed Iron Will out of Hotel Travertine and onto the empty roads of Canterlot. The world around her became pitch black for a brief moment, but when Iron Will took out a lantern from his sack and lit it, she winced briefly as the world suddenly became visible once more.

Not a single soul could be seen as the four traveled towards the train station. Misty's ears could only pick up three things as she followed Iron Will, which included the hooting of the owls that rested on the lampposts, the chirping of the crickets, and the out of tune whistling that left Iron Will's lips. Misty, as did her two friends, frowned the entire way to the train station.

Much to their relief, the train station was now in their sights, a sign designating it as such shone brightly in neon lights. The four stepped onto the wooden platform, which was higher than Misty was anticipating. She could have sworn that Bulk Biceps almost tripped and fell. Misty then pressed her weight against a nearby wall as her ears listened in on Iron Will's conversation with the pony inside the ticket booth. The conversation was typical for Iron Will in that it was unnecessarily loud, but all she could do was form an expressionless face as she waited for him to finish up.

"Hopefully the train has a bed or something like it," Misty told herself as she tapped her hoof against the floor.

Misty leaned slightly closer to where Iron Will was. Her ears picked up his voice clearly, and based on his sharp tone, things seemed to be going exactly as she thought it would.

"You won't give me a discount?" Iron Will asked in an accusing tone. He raised his arms up in the air and waved them wildly like a fanatic at a sporting event. "I've rode on these trains so often that I should get some sort of discount."

"I'm sorry," said the pony in the ticket booth, whose voice somehow managed to remain cool and collected, "but we don't do discounts here. Pay the fee, or you're going to miss the train."

"Fine then, here's twenty bits." Iron Will took out twenty bits and paid the fee. His lips moved a bit, but no audible words came out. A few seconds later, the door leading to the boarding platform opened.

"Maybe he hasn't learned his lesson," Misty said to herself. "Should I quit?" Misty covered her lips with her hooves and her eyes widened. She couldn't quit now. It was too early to be thinking about that, so why did her vocal cords emit that? Her chest tightened and her head throbbed. Everything around her became slightly blurry and she then took a few deep breaths, each breath loosening her chest and healing her mind bit by bit until her body and soul returned to a state of balance.

Misty looked at the front of the train from where she was and watched the puffs of steam rise up into the air and dissipate after reaching a certain height. She then looked around the rest of the boarding platform, which was a simple wooden plank with a wall rising up behind her. Lamps carefully placed along the wall provided a dim light just bright enough for her to make out some of the smaller details, such as the numbers and inscriptions on the train carts.

Misty let Bulk and Amethyst enter before her, both of them nodding at her with smiles as they trotted inside the cart. Finally entering the train cart, Misty's hooves admired the soft, green carpet beneath her and the smooth green seats looked comfortable as far as her eyes could tell. At least she could confidently say that the seating would be better than the chairs at Cafe Canterlot.

Looking up at the roof of the cart, Misty found soft beds above the seats with a ladder that could be pulled down to allow for easy access. There appeared to be two beds above every row of seats. Without hesitating, she pulled down a ladder, knocking the floor with a soft thud, and climbed into one of the beds. She tugged the ladder back up and wrapped herself in the thick, green blankets. The blankets were warm, but it was a nice warmness that formed a faint smile on her face. Looking around for a brief moment, Misty could see Amethyst and Bulk in the beds next to her, both smiling and as neatly tucked in as she was.

"Attention passengers," a voice on the loudspeaker said. "We will depart for Ponyville in about one minute."

Exactly a minute later, Misty felt the jolting motion of the train as it slowly accelerated out of the station and once the train chugged along at a smooth pace, Misty closed her eyes gently and fell into a deep sleep, expecting to wake up by the time they reached Ponyville.

Or at least that was the plan. Misty woke up suddenly and noticed that the train was still moving. The view from outside the window suggested that they were still making their way through the smaller mountains that surrounded Canterlot. Misty leaned up slightly and raised an eyebrow. What in the world woke her up?

A loud snore that sounded like it came from a chimera echoed in the cart. Misty rolled her eyes and let out a quiet sigh. The snore echoed again, just as loud as before. She could see Amethyst sleeping quietly, but when her eyes shifted to Bulk, she saw his lips flapping about.

Misty covered her ears with a pillow and tightly shut her eyes, but her body refused to let her go back to sleep. Rolling over and placing the pillow where it was, she blankly stared at the roof of the train, her eyes bloodshot. She stared at the roof for minutes until another noise peeped into her ear.

"Misty Fly, are you awake?" a voice whispered.

"I am," she said in a deadpan tone. Misty rolled around a bit and noticed that Amethyst was wide awake and staring at her with a smile. "Is there something important that I need to know?"

"Not exactly," said Amethyst. "I just wanted to ask you something."

"I'm open to some questions."

"I wanted to know how you were able to talk to the waitress from yesterday so well. That was some amazing stuff, and I want to let you know that just because Iron Will didn't like it doesn't mean that you did anything wrong."

Misty gently nodded and her cheeks blushed. "Thanks for the kind words, but I'm still nervous about this course. I still want to be a member of the Royal Guard, but I wasn't expecting Iron Will's course to be like this."

"Don't worry about whether you join the Royal Guard or not right now." Amethyst stared at Misty's eyes and it felt as though Amethyst was communicating with her soul. Misty's lips couldn't help but curl into a smile. "Just be who you are and try to explore the world some more. Remember, there might be something that fits you even better that you don't know about yet."

Misty looked back into Amethyst's eyes and nodded. "I guess you're right. Still, I'm nervous as to how it will go. It's just so new to me."

"I'm sure you'll do just fine. Anyway, let's try to get as much sleep as we can. I have a feeling the tour of Ponyville won't go smoothly."

Misty raised an eyebrow and leaned up slightly. "What makes you say that?"

"Call it a hunch, but you know what Iron Will is like."

"So you think he hasn't learned his lesson either, right?"

Amethyst nodded her head gently. "Exactly. After all, he did wake the three of us up in the night with a horn."

Misty sighed and looked down at the floor below before looking back at Amethyst. "Why did he think that was a good idea?"

Amethyst slowly fell down onto her bed. "I don't know. Anyway, not everyone changes how they behave quickly. Some even refuse to change for whatever reason."

"That makes sense. Well, better get some rest as you said." Misty collapsed onto her bed again and let her body sink into the cushions, the warm and soft feeling causing her to form a faint smile. "Goodnight, Amethyst Star."

"Goodnight, Misty Fly."

As Misty looked at the roof of the cart once again, a sudden thought reached her mind. She never told Amethyst or Bulk about the dream she had before Iron Will woke her up. The more she thought about it, the more the dream didn't make sense to her. Why was she a Wonderbolt in the dream? Why was Fleetfoot there as well? Shouldn't she be dreaming about being a member of the Royal Guard? That was her dream for many years, and the fact that she never really thought about the Wonderbolts until recently twisted her mind more and more. Misty quietly sighed and closed her eyes once more, finally falling asleep.

A bell's chime, much louder than the one back in Cafe Canterlot, echoed in the cart. Misty's eyes shot wide open and she hurriedly took the thick sheets off of her. She looked at Bulk and Amethyst, both of whom also had widened eyes. As the trio carefully climbed out of their beds, they simultaneously looked out the window and then gasped together.

The rising sun painted the sky a beautiful mixture of blue and orange. The outside world sparkled under the morning sun's bright rays and the dew covered grass sparkled as though they were crystals. The silhouettes of trees loomed in the background, many of those whose details were easier to see were bearing apples. Misty's eyes shimmered, her mind carefully analyzing the landscape as though it was an artist preparing to paint a landscape. Just then, a somewhat familiar voice rang in her ears once more.

"Attention passengers," the voice on the loudspeaker said. "We will arrive at Ponyville in one minute. Please take any belongings you have with you and have a wonderful day."

The train slowed down and its wheels squeaked ever so slightly. The feeling was somewhat disconcerting to Misty, and exactly one minute later, the train jolted to a halt at the station. The doors automatically opened and Misty, her legs a bit wobbly at first, followed Amethyst and Bulk out of the cart and onto the wooden boarding platform. After what felt like an eternity, she took her first, much more coordinated steps into Ponyville.

Ponyville was a peculiar place, and the scent of the air was enough for Misty's nostrils to communicate this to her. All of the simple, wooden buildings looked incredibly similar. The only differences that she could make out were the personal decorations that adorned the front porches of every home. The residents of Ponyville also captured her attention. Instead of always moving about or making deals with somepony, the residents occasionally relaxed outside, stood still, played outside, and had casual conversations. To a mare accustomed to the city, it felt as though she had trotted into a foreign country.

Misty continued to shift her eyes around, taking in and trying to understand just how different Ponyville was to cities like Canterlot or Cloudsdale. The simplicity of the town was enough to make her smile and warm her heart, though her mind told her that Cloudsdale would always be her home. As she took in a breath of fresh air, Iron Will dashed over to the Misty and her friends and stood as straight as he possibly could. He extended his arm outwards and formed a wide smile across his face.

"Welcome to Ponyville," he shouted with enthusiasm as though he was a tour guide, "the town that combines infamy with subtlety!"

Misty tilted her head and stared at Iron Will. "Infamy?" she asked. "What makes Ponyville so infamous?"

Iron Will chuckled and looked down at Misty. "Something is always happening in Ponyville! That's why!"

"Infamy means that something is well-known for a bad reason," said Amethyst. "I think what you're looking for is a phrase about how the town never sleeps. Is that correct."

Iron Will sighed and then flexed his arms, his eyes staring intently at his muscles. He then straightened himself out again and extended an arm out as before. "Welcome to Ponyville, the town that never sleeps!"

Misty, Amethyst, and Bulk simultaneously rolled their eyes and followed Iron Will out of the train station and onto the roads of Ponyville. The first thing Misty noticed upon leaving the station was that none of the roads were paved. Blades of grass rubbed against her hooves, which surprisingly felt cool and somewhat comfortable. Ponyville itself also had a homey feel to it, which her mind couldn't quite comprehend, as it was the first time she ever set hoof in the town. Trotting alongside the group, she looked over to Amethyst and Bulk, the latter of which stared at the buildings with sparkling eyes.

"This is just as I remembered it," said Bulk, bouncing around on occasion.

"How come?" asked Amethyst. "Also, would it be okay with you if you gave me a tour of the town?"

"Of course. Ponyville is my hometown, and I've been stuck in a hotel ever since I signed up for Iron Will's program." Bulk looked over to Misty and smiled, his teeth visible and shining brightly. "Misty Fly, do you want to join us when we tour Ponyville?"

Misty nodded enthusiastically. "I'd love to," she said.

"Yeah!" Bulk shouted into the air, his voice echoing in the air.

"Now that's what Iron Will likes to see," said Iron Will. "Shouting is highly appreciated when it comes to being tough." Iron Will cleared his throat and stared at his students. "Now then, you're probably wondering why I dragged you to Ponyville. There's a town fair today, and ponies from all over Equestria will be showing up. There will also be all sorts of stuff for sale and huge lines of ponies wanting to get whatever it is they feel like having." Iron Will's smile grew wider and his three students all tilted their heads slightly.

"What does this have to do with getting tougher?" asked Amethyst.

"Remember how I acted back at the train station?" The trio nodded their heads. "I want you to convince the ponies selling stuff to give you what they have for sale at a discount. Got it?"

Misty and the others all nodded once again, but she could feel her chest tighten. Her breathing sped up and she bit her lip. There was no telling what the ponies selling their goods would be like. Misty knew that the main reason they were there was to make money, so what she was being tasked with seemed impossible, even for her. The image of wearing the armor of the Royal Guard became fuzzier and fuzzier the more she thought about it.

"Good. The fair is straight ahead. Here's twenty bits for each of you." Iron Will tossed a sack at each pony. Misty opened the sack and peeked inside. Sure enough, there were twenty bits ready to be used for whatever transaction would take place. "Now then, every item has a price tag, so you'd better keep it on so I know if you did it right. Now get moving and spending!"

Misty, Amethyst, and Bulk all trotted in synchronization, their steps heavy and slow. Misty told herself more words of encouragement as usual, but something was off. Her nerves were still tense. She gulped and continued trotting forwards as she saw her dream become a distant memory. Looking at Amethyst and Bulk, Misty noticed that they also trembled slightly. Nothing good could come of this.

Comments

[ZeroChill]

Unusual dream is unusual. Also, can't wait to see another Iron Will blunder.

[hailspider]

I wouldn't be surprised if Ponyville is actually infamous for being a disaster magnet.
Also, this chapter is... interesting. The plot is moving on and in ways I'm not expecting, which is cool.