Chapter Juan - Starting On The Right Track

Lyra and Bon Bon
Together A Year

Chapter Juan

Starting On The Right Track

It all began as stereotypically as you would expect... maybe.

A train trundled along it's tracks -- for where else would it be trundling along? -- and it's whistle sounded as it departed from Canterlot into the chilly night air. The train was pretty average at best, consisting of the usual: lights, their glow made hazy by their thick acrylic covers; dull windows, which had a cold, glass like feel, but at the same time looked suspiciously like cheap sheets of plastic; and tightly packed chairs that you would expect to find on a bus, with the usual blue dye and random series of red, green and yellow squiggles printed over every inch of the things.

A flustered earth pony stumbled down the carriage panting slightly and scanning her dark blue eyes hungrily over the area for an empty seat. She looked around seventeen, mainly due to the fact that she was actually seventeen; her coat was a creamy white (although under the poor lighting it could just as well have been grey) and her cutie mark consisted of three sweets that were delicately wrapped in blue and yellow foil. This was all pretty standard for a mare and so none of the passengers really took much notice of these things; what they did notice, though, was her mane.

Over the last fifty years or so the variation in the colour of ponies' manes and tails in Equestria had reached an all time low. It had gotten to a point where the majority of newborns only had one colour for their hair and, more often than not, it matched the colour of their coats (albeit a few shades different). The flustered mare was a blatant exception to this for not only did her mane contrast so vividly with her coat but it also consisted of two completely separate colours (light pink and navy blue if you must ask) that also managed to contrast with each other in a big curly package. This earned her a couple of interested glances as she continued to search the room for a seat. As she searched, the mare went over the past half hour in her head:

“How is it that I left ten minutes early and still only just managed to get here in time after galloping more than half the journey?” She questioned to herself.

Her more reasonable side then kicked in and tried to replay her 'stroll' to the train station,“Well for starters there was that quick trip to the bakery... but that wasn't even that far away from the route I was taking anyway and I couldn’t just leave Canterlot without taking some memorabilia with me... even if it is only short term,”

She continued to rack her brains, the bakery definitely wouldn’t have taken that long, there had to have been something else. She inwardly cursed herself; she never did have a good memory and she tended to ignore what she was doing most of the time. This probably wasn't a particularly good combination for a mare trying to remember the past half hour.

“Come on think. THINK DAMNIT!” Her non-existent eyebrows furrowed in a mix of concentration and annoyance, “I was... I was walking... no wait trotting, I was trotting down... down... down the mountain, that's right! The train station's at the bottom of the city, where else would I be trotting? So I was trotting down the mountain and then I noticed Shining Armour an-”

“OH SWEET CELESTIA, SHINING ARMOUR!!!” She broke into a nervous sweat just thinking about it. Vivid recollections of her failed attempts at flirting with the large stallion came flooding into her mind. For the sake of keeping this particular mare's dignity in tact let's just say that her behaviour managed to take up enough time to force her to have to exhaustedly gallop the rest of the journey in order to make the train on time.

The interested glances from the other passengers had turned into curious stares as the mare was brought back to the present, realising that she had been standing there staring into empty space for the best part of two minutes. She blinked, trying to hide her embarrassment (and only just succeeding as the darkness managed to hide her light blush) whilst she started up her search for a free seat again.

She slowly trotted down the carriage and managed to find one of those devious empty seats to her right. A young bronze unicorn stallion with copper hair in the style of a comb over was sitting silently in the adjacent seat, staring out of the window. The stallion turned his head around to face the cream mare as she started to sit down. She noticed this movement and turned her head to face him. She froze as she noticed the male staring at her with a rather uninviting and somewhat annoyed glare.

“Um... uhh... hi uh... I think...” The stallions gaze grew sterner and, somehow, even more uninviting “Well... it was nice meeting you uh... I guess... I mean... well... bye!”

She practically jumped out of the seat in her haste to get away from that stallion, rewarding her with even more glares from the passengers as she cantered down the rest of the carriage with the now desperate hope of finding two empty seats next to each other so that she wouldn't have to sit next to anyone else who might have expression issues when they came across any other form of life.

For the sake of the plot, this hope was crushed and considerably well spat on-

“Get on with it already!” called out a familiar bronze stallion "This is a romance, not a court case! Tell me how they met!"...

…

So the seventeen year old mare found only one seat free of passengers left in the entire carriage (other than, of course, the one beside a certain loud mouthed and completely disrespectful unicorn).

“Piss off,”

Anyway, the seat may not have held a passenger but it did hold the belongings of the sleeping pony lying next to it. The mare let out a frustrated sigh “Why couldn't she just have put her belongings in the side of the train like everypony else?”

Fortunately, there was a ledge for placing hand luggage just above the seats, unfortunately she wasn't a unicorn and so actually getting the luggage up there would be awkward and would most likely result in pain and humiliation. Equestrian structures always did have a biased design and earth ponies were usually left worse off because of it. Unicorns had the easy life with their levitation and teleportation spells and even the pegasi could reach those high cupboards and shelves without too much exertion. What were earth ponies left with? Sure they had a strong connection to the earth but with the recent growth of technology and the new city lifestyle this 'ability' was becoming more dud than a birthday clown; the blue eyed pony knew this fact all to well.

She took a deep breath before pushing herself up on her hind legs and wrapping the luggage firmly around her left foreleg. It was awkward and difficult to balance like this but seeing as the owner of the bags was asleep (and wasn't about to be woken up any time soon for fear of another unfriendly encounter) this was really all she could do. Anyway, if doing this meant that she was finally going to be able to sit down then she was damn well going to follow it through!

She swung her right hoof above her and smacked the button on the compartment so that it swung open with a satisfying whoosh before climbing onto the now empty seat. Wrapping her right hoof around the inside of the compartment to maintain her balance, she carefully shuffled the baggage so that her foreleg was positioned underneath it rather than around it.

The mare then found herself in the awkward position of not actually knowing what to do in order to move the items in her grasp from her grasp and into the storage compartment without dropping them. It is in this kind of situation that only one solution ever comes to mind and that solution is to launch the object concerned as quickly as possible into it's destination, praying that it won't fall before it gets there. With this in mind, the mare proceeded to do just that.

Letting out a sharp breath she thrust her left hoof into the compartment taking the luggage with it. With great determination and much greater luck, she managed to land all of it safely inside the closet. With a satisfied smile she closed the compartment and collapsed back down to all fours, once again panting slightly. Our creamy mare now had the opportunity to take a closer look at what would be her sleeping neighbour, at least, until the end of the journey.

The pony in question was another mare and, rather ironically, was also a unicorn. The observing pony glared at the protruding anomaly as if it were a daemon of some sort, she knew better than to judge someone based on so little knowledge though and continued with her inspection (which probably wouldn't have been taking place if a certain somepony hadn't made the entire train seem suspicious with a single first impression)...

…

What our observing mare noticed first was that the snoozing pony seemed to be in an awkward resting position on the chair. In all honesty she had noticed this before but it was only just now that she was starting to take note of just how ridiculously silly it actually looked! She couldn't help but chuckle to herself as she noticed how her head was pressed uncomfortably against the cushioned wall and that her forelimbs seemed to hang in front of her, not really doing anything in particular other than... well... hanging!

The next thing to notice was, of course, her coat and mane. The inspecting pony was struggling to see the colours clearly through the cheap, filtered light but it looked as though her coat was a yellowy green and her mane was about the same colour, though maybe a little darker, and had a controlled yet messy look to it. Finally, there was her cutie mark, which was a golden yet simplistically decorated lyre.

With these observations in mind she finally took the decision to try sitting down. With a quick hop she flopped onto the chair, only realising, now that they weren't supporting her, just how much her limbs had been aching. Just as she was tucking her legs underneath her to get comfortable she happened to brush lightly against her neighbour whom responded with a jolt as she snapped herself awake, resulting in yet another jolt from the culprit.

“Oh! I... I'm s-so sorry I-”

The green unicorn interrupted her by holding up a forelimb in an odd fashion that only seemed possible whilst sitting the way she was, it was odd but the message was clear: shut it, I'm thinking! She looked around herself blinking a few times, as if she hadn't expected to have woken up inside the carriage, before closing her eyes, lowering her hoof and taking a deep breath.

“Finally!” Something in the background shouted, attracting a few gazes towards an empty seat which was now starting to become more and more (in)famous.

“It's perfectly fine,” she smiled, not groggy at all from her recent snooze “I hope you don't mind me asking as to why you felt so inclined to sit next to one of the more odd looking ponies on the train?”

“Oh, uh well, no offence buut... well, this was the only free seat left on the coach... well, I say 'only' though there was one other seat, don't ask,” she bumbled, she did that a lot when she was nervous “Oh, no offence by the way! Did I mention that? Sorry if I didn't!”

“Once again, it's quite fine” she stated. Her voice was clear and her word choice was quaint but she lacked the posh snobby accent that usually came with these traits, in fact, she sounded more like a college student than anything else. She decided to cut straight to the question on her mind “May I ask what your name is?”

“Of course,” She said reaching out a hoof for the purpose of shaking “I'm Bon Bon, nice to meet you.”

The unicorn chuckled to herself before fulfilling the purpose of the outstretched hoof with one of her own “Of course! I should have been able to guess that,” she giggled, glancing at her cutie mark.

The earth pony felt hurt at this comment and decided to try and get her own back “W-well if that's what we're doing then I wouldn't be surprised if your name was Lyra!... or Medley... o-or even Heartstrings!”

OK, maybe 'Heartstrings' had been a little too far but she deserved it for laughing at her apparently predictable name! Not to say that most ponies names didn't usually relate to their cutie marks (parents did have a tendency of naming their children a second time after they had acquired their talents) but to discuss somepony’s mark with them after having just met them was often seen as disrespectful, sort of like asking about somepony else's age or relationship. Of course, seeing as the unicorn had not only mentioned it but apparently just laughed at her for it, she had provoked Bon Bon into her rightful outburst.

Anyway, at least one of those names had to be correct because as soon as Bon Bon had said it, the unicorn had turned away and started fidgeting. I would like to say that Bon Bon stopped her verbal assault here but unfortunately this was not the case.

“Oh, I'm sorry! Did I manage to offend you by guessing some names?! I didn't know that it was offensive to say something like that, I mean, you seemed perfectly fine doing it! Not to menti-”

“Ok, ok! I-I'm sorry!” Now it was the unicorns turn to fumble with her words. “I was j-just attempting to break the tension with a l-l... a little laughter! That's all!”

“Yeah,” Bon Bon let out a long sigh “Sorry, I have a tendency to overreact in first impressions,”

“Oh, well you must be a bomb at parties, in the literal sense anyway,” Bon Bon took a long, hard stare at the unicorn before they both burst out into a fit of giggles.

“Wha- hehe what is your name anyway?” Asked Bon Bon after a good minute or so of dying chortles.

“Well if you must know,” The green pony held out her hoof “My full name is Lyra Heartstrings, and it's lovely to meet you!”

Bon Bon would have taken the time to stare at 'Lyra' in disbelief but she was to busy breaking into another fit of laughter, this one much more noticeable by the passengers which, in turn, caused the passengers to take more notice of the pair. This settled the laughter considerably and, when she looked up to see Lyra's unamused face, helped her to refrain from falling on her back and rolling on the floor in a puddle of her own giggles for the rest of the journey. She instead decided to take the green pony's hoof (which had been frozen in it's outstretched place throughout all of that) and shake it“Wow, really? I mean, I expected to be right on one name but two? That's brilliant!”

“I believe you were the one who mentioned that it was rude to go about this topic the way you are at the moment,” Lyra said with a raise of her (also non-existent) eyebrows.

“Oh... sorry... yeah uh...” Bon Bon decided to change the topic “so you're going to Las Pegasus right?”

“Yes,”

“and you came from Canterlot?”

“Actually, no.”confessed Lyra “I boarded this train back in Trottingham at around half past one,”

“Oh,” Bon Bon was surprised, she didn't think the train went as far as Trottingham. Then again, it explained why all the seats were taken (with the exception of one (a few ponies were standing)) “So, why are you going all the way to Las Pegasus then?”

Lyra closed her eyes, she had been dreading this question though it was bound to come up sooner or later. Still, it was best to avoid answering it unless necessary. “I would ask you the same question, and after your... less than warm introduction I believe that I should be answered first,”

Bon Bon sighed “I guess you're right. Well... I'm going there on a gap year! I'm starting out at a nice villa but in a few days I'll be moving into some skankey old hotel to do some community work. Not that I wanted to or anything but my dad insisted on it for at least a month! Urgh, he can be so annoying sometimes. Anyway, after that I'll be doing some work at 'Horseton Blumenthal's synthetic sweet store' for about six months and fin-”

“Wait!” Lyra interjected “You mean to say that you're the new apprentice he's been mentioning on the television?!”

“Yep, that's me! Though it would help if you didn't shout it out loud enough for everypony to hear...”

“Oh, of course,” Lyra chuckled nervously before whispering “Sorry,”

“No problem! Now where was I... ah, that's it! Finally I'm going to be spending the rest of my year at a water sports resort where I'll get free lessons on sailing and windsurfing and access to all the facilities for running the bar during lunchtimes!” Bon Bon explained.

“That's... allot,” Replied a wide eyed Lyra “and... you planned this, did you?”

“Oh no, of course not! I don't know anything about that kind of large scale planning! No I just told my dad that I wanted to do sailing and stuff so that he could fit it in with the rest of my year,”

Some of you may be confused as to why there is a water sports resort in Las Pegasus. Let me put your mind at rest by stating that contrary to popular beliefs Las Pegasus is, in fact, nothing like Las Vegas with the exception of it being in the desert. There are two main reasons for this, the first being that gambling was a rather pointless exercise in equestria, what with unicorns being able to use magic and pegasi being able to steal cards and gambling chips easily with their wings. The second that the pegasus are in control of the local weather and had decided to flood around the city to create an area for water themed activities.

“So anyway,” Continued Bon Bon “Now I've told you what I'm doing, why don't you tell me what an 'odd looking' pony like you is moving to Las Pegasus for,”

“Ah, you see... well...” Lyra really didn't want to have to do this, but she had no other choice “My seventeenth birthday is coming up...”

“Ah, so you're having a party up there?” Lyra nodded “Nice! Where are you're friends? On another train?”

Lyra was quite shocked by this question and was kicking herself for not having realised such a noticeable flaw “Oh... well... yes, on another train,”

“Ah, it must be a surprise party then!... Oh shit, I've ruined the surprise haven't I?”

“Oh no, it's fine. I've known about it for quite some time now, it's not hard to guess that sort of thing when you find a mysterious train ticket in your room set to leave a few days before your birthday,” Lyra smiled to herself. It was a bit of a stretch, but at least it was believable. “Part of it is true at least,” She thought “My seventeenth birthday is coming up in a few days,”

“Oh, right” Bon Bon chuckled “Of course,”

The two continued to chat for about an hour longer about more trivial things such as past holidays and their schools. Once the conversation had died down they both nodded off for the rest of the journey until an announcement came through the speakers:

Good morning ladies and gentlecolts
This is your train driver speaking to inform you that we have arrived at Las Pegasus
We hope that you have enjoyed travelling with us on Equestrian Trains Ltd
Please collect your luggage from the sides of the train after exiting-

The two ponies both stood of their chairs, one sliding off the side and the other flinging herself forwards and on to the floor, respectively, before stretching their backs.

“Hmmm, that is something I've forgotten, where has my luggage gone?”

“Oh!” Bon Bon waved her forehoof at the compartments above them “I had to move them up there so that I could sit down, sorry,”

“I swear you say 'sorry' too often than is good for you” Lyra giggled as she floated her luggage onto her back “Once again, it's perfectly fine,”

“I never really noticed it before I guess” Bon Bon replied, also giggling slightly “I should probably pay more attention to that, I'm s-”

“Don't you dare apologise for apologising!!!” and with that they both broke into heavy laughter for a good minute or so. By the time they had finished laughing they were nearly the last ponies left in the carriage.

“Well, I ought to get going now. I don't want to be still stuck on this train whilst my friends celebrate my party without me!”

“Yeah, and I've got a nice comfy bed waiting for me at that villa,” Mentioned Bon Bon as they walked towards the train door “and who else is going to lay in it if I don't?”

“But you've only just woken up, you cannot seriously be thinking of going to sleep again!”

“Who said anything about sleeping? I just said I was going to lay in it!” They laughed a bit more before coming to a stop just inside the door to the platform.

“Well, this is it,” Said Lyra

“and that was stereotypical,” Bon Bon pointed out “Anyway, bye!” she started to quickly trot away to luggage collection before turning around and shouting “Hey! You've still got my number haven't you?” Lyra nodded as she stepped down from the door “Great! Call me when you get the chance!” then Bon Bon turned back around and continued to trot away.

Lyra then cantered in the opposite direction, towards the exit of the station. She had refrained from mentioning that she didn't actually own a mobile phone and she wasn't intending to get one any time soon.

Back in the carriage a young bronze unicorn stallion with copper hair in the style of a comb over laid down his newspaper and stared ahead at nothing in particular for a while before adjusting his seating position and picking back up the newspaper.

“Well...that sucked,”

Author's Note:

I'd like to say before anything else that this story is probably not going to be getting any fresh updates any time soon. It took me a good three and a half weeks just to write this measly portion of storyness (mainly due to lack of free time and holidaying) and with GCSE's coming up and such I'm getting even less free time than normal. I can't even guarantee regular updates by the summer holidays cause I'm going to be away on holiday for most of the time (first world problems woooo (saying that meme is probably going to get me in a lot of trouble (goody))). So yeah, don't expect this story to be very 'alive' for a while.

Next thing, I didn't re read this (because I'm hard like that(that's probably going to get me into some trouble as well (yippie))) and I don't own an army of proof readers like some people so please feel free to point out to me any horrible mistakes that you happen to notice (I tend to be worse at punctuation and choosing what symbols to use over anything else) and I'll try to change them as best as I can.

Another thing. First story posted on internet, yeaaaaaah! WOOOOOOOO!!!... Ok I'm done now.

Finally, tell me what you think so far. Do you like copper grumpy guy? Or do you think he's the bane of your existence? How do you find the way in which Lyra and Bon Bon are portrayed? etc. etc.

That's all for now I guess. Bye!

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