Return Trip

by RunicTreetops

Trials, Tribulations, and Trains

You awaken with a sneeze. Ugh. Hay in your nose. Getting your bearings, you realize two things. First, although you're fairly certain you got a good night's sleep, the sun still has yet to rise. Second, Tia is no longer snoozing alongside you. Sitting up (with some difficulty, this train isn't exactly the steadiest ride), you see her sitting next to the half-open door, staring out at whatever may be outside. You stand up, doing your best to brush the hay off of your clothes as you do so before making your way to Tia's side.

"Good morning, Tia."

"Hm? Oh, good morning, sunshine."

She never even glances at you, as her attention is focused solely on the view. Now that you can see outside, you take in the sight. The landscape of the Rocky Mountains is absolutely breathtaking, and the high peaks and low plains make the view picturesque. Even with the train moving as it is, the distinct smell of morning dew permeates the space. Above, the dark, cloudless sky stretches in all directions.

"...Your world is beautiful, Anon."

You take a seat next to her, wrapping an arm around her as you do so.

"There are quite a few aspects about it I've missed, I'll admit. The vistas are on that list."

For a few moments, Tia says nothing. Much like when she got to use the computer, her eyes are sparkling with amazement. A gentle, unconscious smile rests on her face.

"What is this place?"

"Well, while I can't say for sure exactly where we are, we're somewhere in the Rocky Mountains, one of the two mountain ranges in my home country."

"Are there a lot of places like this? Don't get me wrong, I adore Equestria, but I've... kind of seen it all already. This is a breath of fresh air."

"You mean beautiful places? Yeah, they're all over the place, so long as you know where to look. After we get past these mountains, we'll eventually be in the Great Plains, where the verdant fields and rolling hills stretch for miles and miles. A different kind of beauty, to be sure, but still nice."

She turns to look at you, a loving smile on her face.

"This is the first time I've heard you speak about your world with such fondness."

"W-well, I-"

"Hehe, don't try to deny it, sunshine. It's not just your words, it's your tone. You wear your heart on your sleeve, love. No matter what you say, you have missed your world, haven't you?"

"...I still have plenty of reasons to want to get back to Equestria though, and that's not counting you."

She sighs and wraps a wing around you. She seems pensive and hesitates for a moment before responding.

"Sunshine, I'm sorry for blowing up on you yesterday. It's just... I can tell how much this world means to you. I would hate to become that bitter towards my homeland. Sometimes, I fear that I will."

"You don't need to apologize, Tia. But, uh... what do you mean by that?"

"...I have seen Equestria at its worst, Anon. I've seen ponies hate each other just for their race. I've seen ponies kill each other just for their race. I've seen terrible, pointless wars destroy the lives of thousands. I've... I've been a leader in some of those wars. When my sister finally snapped, and I was forced to banish her to the moon... that was the last straw. I vowed then and there to ensure that peace and friendship reign forever more. Heh, it was a bit idealistic of me in hindsight, but... I don't regret it."

"Well, with Twilight as your successor, I imagine you must feel pretty vindicated. It all worked out in the end, yeah?"

"It's not the end, Anon. It never is. Peace is an ongoing process. We can't just say 'happily ever after' and move on. You realize that pretty quickly when you get to be my age. ...Still, though. I've seen Equestria at its worst, but rather than dwell on what it was, I choose to see it for what it can be."

"That's... a really nice outlook to have, actually."

"Perhaps you could consider adopting it in reference to your own people, then?"

Her words hit you like a freight train. So that's what all of this is about. But, you have to admit, she has a point. Have you been too hard on humanity, or are they too far gone? If they aren't, what could you do about it? Do you even think they're worth the effort?

You look back out over the landscape. Perhaps because you're so focused on that line of thought or perhaps because you simply failed to notice before, but either way you realize that you've been taking a few Equestrian things for granted, too.

"Hey, Tia?"

"What is it, sunshine?"

"You see the sky?"

"Yes, by my estimation it should be around five in the morning right now. Would you like for me to raise the sun?"

"N-NO! Absolutely not! T-Tia, please, do not touch ANY celestial bodies while we're in this world!"

"Haha, I'm only teasing, darling! Now, go on, finish your thought."

"W-well... what do you think about the stars?"

"The stars?" She takes a moment to focus on the sky, furrowing her brow as she does so. "I'll admit, I can only see a few of them up there."

"Right. Because even out here, the light pollution is just that bad. Some nights I can't see any stars at all."

"Sunshine, if this is supposed to be another jab at humanity, it's falling on deaf ears. We have light pollution in Equestria too, you know."

"Mostly just in places like Manehattan and Las Pegasus, though, right? Look, I'm not saying this to imply that mankind is evil or something. What I am saying is... I learned to appreciate the little things in Equestria, like being able to actually see the night sky. There are side effects to progress, you know."

"Hm..."

"It's a minor example, but all I'm saying is that my reservations about humanity aren't completely unfounded. Nor is my adversity to Equestria becoming more like this world, even if that means living without the internet."

"Didn't you say yourself that Equestria has better morals than humans do? Even if I disagree, by your logic, surely that means we would be better equipped to deal with these problems as they arise, no?"

"You probably are. I'm just a little leery, that's all. Being in this world... it's making me remember a lot of things I would have rather forgotten. Painful things."

"And yet, it's still your home, isn't it?"

"No. It isn't."

"The Return Scepter brought us here though, didn't it?"

"And it was wrong. My home is in Ponyville by your side. I've left this world behind already."

Your voice is shaky and lacks confidence, something that you know Tia noticed. She opens her mouth to say something, then closes it again. There are no words spoken between the two of you for a while, and you watch as the sun slowly begins to rise over the horizon.

"Either way, it might do you some good to see your old home again."

"...We'll see."

---

The day passes with little of note happening. After all, there isn't much for the two of you to do but wait for your eventual arrival in your home state. Most of the time is spent looking through the door at the passing landscapes. You see mountains, lakes, and eventually the bright greens of the Great Plains. Tia even gets to see a few horses on a ranch at one point. You were afraid of what her reaction would be, but it wasn't all that dissimilar to that of a child seeing their favorite animal at a zoo. It was kind of cute to watch, actually.

As the sun begins to set, you start seeing landscapes extremely familiar to you. You probably have less than an hour until you arrive at your home state. From there, the two of you will have to travel a few miles before you arrive in your hometown, but that shouldn't be too bad. That said, your body is growing tense, both from the anxiousness that comes with the idea of returning to your old home and from the growing hunger in your belly. Darn it, Anon! You need to stay focused.

"Well, sunshine? What's the plan when the train stops?"

"I was just thinking about that, actually. Do you still have that invisibility spell you showed me a few months ago?"

"Yes, but you should know that the spell isn't perfect. It's more like we're 'clear' rather than 'invisible.' If we move around too much, we'll probably be spotted."

"It's better than nothing. We'll need to be quick right as the train starts to slow down. It doesn't matter where we go so long as it's away from the train. We can get our bearings after that."

"Very well, then. Just say when."

Sure enough, about 45 minutes later, you see the familiar outline of a city as the train slowly starts coming to a stop. The train is still moving, but you should be able to jump off without much issue.

"Alright Tia, are you ready to cast the spell and jump?"

"As I'll ever be."

You walk up to Tia's side as her horn begins to glow. After a moment, your vision is obscured by light, but as the light fades you notice that the spell has worked. To you, both yourself and Tia look slightly translucent, but to others, you're practically clear. You still cast shadows and make the area where you're standing shimmer a bit if you move around, but like you said, it's better than nothing. The train slows down even more, and you realize your window of opportunity is slowly slipping away.

"Okay. On the count of three. One. Two. Thr-"

"WHO'S IN THERE?!"

You both freeze as you hear a man's voice ring out from behind you. You turn your heads just in time to see the door on the opposite side of the car, which had been closed up until now, suddenly fling open. A man steps into the car, dressed in a dark uniform of some kind and holding a flashlight. He shines the light directly onto the two of you, but you're fairly certain he doesn't see through the invisibility spell, as he starts shining the light throughout the rest of the car instead, eventually resting it on the makeshift bed of hay the two of you made the night before.

"I heard your voices already, so stop hidin'!"

He takes a few steps towards the bales of hay. As he does so, you watch as he approaches your invisible form. You hold your breath as you notice that with his current path, he is going to hit your leg. You lift the leg off of the ground and tuck it behind you, terrified of allowing it to hit the ground for the noise it would make. Tia looks at you with wide eyes, seemingly holding her breath, too. Then, missing you by less than an inch, the man passes by and begins inspecting the hay bales. As he moves a couple to check behind them, you take the opportunity to place your foot down, the gentle sound covered by the rustling hay. With the man preoccupied, you turn to Tia and hold up three fingers before slowly lowering one of them, indicating a silent countdown.

Three...

Two...

One...

The two of you leap out of the now-stationary train. While Tia makes a graceful landing on all four hooves, you take an embarrassing tumble onto the gravel below. The fall makes a great deal of noise, and quickly getting to your feet makes even more. Sure enough, the man appears in the doorway looking right where you're standing.

"I know you're out there! This is private property!"

The man leaps out of the car with the exact same trajectory that you just did, threatening to land on your invisible form. You have no choice but to turn tail and run, your invisible figure shimmering in the dark and your footsteps displacing the gravel beneath you in a manner that obviously gives away your position.

"W-what the-?!"

Tia, not knowing what else to do, follows you. She's much faster than you, but willingly runs alongside you regardless. From behind you, you hear the man pull out a walkie-talkie.

"I've got one, maybe two train hoppers trying to flee! I don't know what's goin' on though, it's like they're invisible or somethin'!"

The man starts to give chase as you run with all of your might. Through her strained breath, Tia tries to talk to you in the darkness.

"S-should I teleport us out of here?!"

"No! Th-the light from the spell would give away our position!"

"Our position has already b-been compromised!"

"If we can make it to the treeline, w-we should be safe!"

Unfortunately for you, the treeline is about 200 feet away, and you can clearly see through the moonlit rail yard several other men, most likely security guards, booking it in your direction. It's been a while since you've had to run this fast, and you can tell that the man behind you is gaining on you. You don't dare turn your head for fear of slowing down.

"Tia, if I can't make it, just go on without me! I know you're faster than me!"

"No! I'm not leaving you behind, Anon!"

In a quick motion, you feel her grab your waist with one of her large wings. She almost knocks you over, but with a shocking amount of strength she uses said wing to lift you onto her back. Now, Celestia is the biggest (Equestrian) pony you've ever seen, but you're still a bit big to be riding on her back. Yet, she still seems to carry you with little issue.

"Hold on, sunshine! Not to my wings, preferably!"

You watch as her invisible form flares out its wings before she takes a leap and begins ascending. The resulting gust of wind disturbs the gravel below and leaves the man, as well as several other men that have caught up to you, in complete shock.

"What the heck is goin' on here?!"

You try to catch your breath as Celestia takes you higher and higher into the air. Eventually, after making it about 100 feet up, she starts flying in a random direction away from the rail yard.

"T-Tia..."

"Heh, I can't believe this is the first time I've let you ride me like this!"

For all her enthusiasm, she seems to be trying to catch her breath as well.

"Well, I'm certainly in your debt. Thank you, Tia! That was amazing!"

"Don't you dare underestimate this old mare, sunshine!"

"I wouldn't dream of it! Now then, we still have a ways to go. Are you fit to keep flying?"

"For a while, but the invisibility won't last forever."

"That's okay, once it starts to wear off we can go the rest of the way on foot with your illusion up. We aren't far now."

"Ooo, I'm getting excited! I can't wait to see your old home!"

"...Right. My old home."

You feel the chilly wind on your face while the two of you set off, leisurely flying through the night sky as you slowly make your way towards the life you left behind.

Comments

[JD1]

Two chapters in one day. That's a treat.

[Quail]

Who-hoho! Didn't expected a escape run already, that was thrilling

[Hye]

11597998
Same thought here! I just hope the scepter hasn't been discovered/taken.

[Quail]

11597998
The cetre... From what we know about it I'd expect it to have just throw itself close/on anon's house, and as he's away for sometime already so i wouldn't be surprised if the house has a new owner, and the chance of this person to find it would probably be... High

Well let's see right?