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Trains, Carriages and Airships

by JohnPerry

Chapter 7: Chapter Seven

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Chapter Seven

It didn’t take long for Twilight Sparkle to break down into tears.

After they recovered from their fit of laughter, the three travelers retrieved their luggage from the wreckage of the balloon and found the road they had seen from the air. Much to the relief of the three ponies, it not only ran in the direction they wanted to travel but was a fairly well-beaten path, with carriages passing frequently. Ten minutes was all it took for them to flag down a north-traveling carriage that was headed to Manehattan – in this case a freight carriage pulled by a pair of stallions. The stallions proved eager to help and didn’t ask any probing questions, seeing as they hadn’t witnessed the balloon crash. Twilight, Applejack and Rainbow Dash clambered into the back of the carriage and wedged themselves between the stacks of crates inside while the stallions continued to proceed down the road.

It was in that freight carriage, sitting there in the dark and awkwardly positioned between stacks of produce crates, that Twilight began to sob uncontrollably. The horror of going through a near-death experience coupled with the dawning realization of the serious crime she had committed finally hit the unicorn in a wave of emotion that she couldn’t help but surrender to. Applejack and Rainbow Dash sat nearby in an awkward silence, unsure of how to respond to this abrupt change in their friend’s emotional state. Finally Applejack, unable to remain inactive in this situation, sat next to Twilight and gently placed a hoof on her shoulder despite her lingering disappointment in her friend.

“I’m (hic) sorry,” Twilight sobbed, resting her head against the orange hoof resting on her shoulder. She took a great, shuddering breath and smiled awkwardly. “I know this (hic) looks awful, me just sitting here crying like this…”

“Nonsense, Sugarcube,” Applejack replied, giving Twilight a reassuring pat. “You should see Big Macintosh when he gets upset – he’s all waterworks, bawling his eyes out. But Ah think no less of him for it.” Twilight sniffed and smiled in response while Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, unwilling to partake in such sappiness.

Twilight took a moment to wipe her tears away before clearing her throat and looking her two friends in the eyes, a determined expression on her face. “Look, I’m sorry. For everything.”

“Twilight, you know we-“ Applejack began but was cut off when the unicorn held a hoof up in front of her, signaling that she didn’t want to be interrupted.

“This whole trip,” Twilight continued. “I thought I could lead you. I plan in advance, I organize, I have my magic. After all we’ve been through together, I saw myself as a natural-born leader. I thought that no matter what happened we could overcome it so long as we were together, with me guiding you.”

The unicorn’s eyes became watery as she went on. “But I was wrong. All my organizing, all my planning meant nothing if all my plans kept getting destroyed! I…(sniff) …I couldn’t handle having to change everything on a whim over and over again with nothing to show for it! It made me so mad I just…” she trailed off, closing her eyes shut and squeezing a few tears out as she gritted her teeth before continuing. “And when I was in that office with the salespony and I thought my next plan would be ruined, I just…I acted on impulse. It just happened and I…” At this she broke out in a fresh wave of sobs as the full impact of what she had done finally hit home. Applejack, seeing her friend so full of remorse over what had happened, grasped the unicorn in a hug. Even Rainbow Dash, looking increasingly uneasy, decided she’d better not remain aloof from this any longer and trotted over to sit on the other side of Twilight, though at first she couldn’t bring herself to do more than awkwardly pat the unicorn on the shoulder.

Recovering, Twilight pulled her head out of Applejack’s hug and wiped the tears from her eyes once again. “And even when I stole a balloon it wasn’t enough. I thought I could get you two to Manehattan, but I failed. And for that, I’m sorry.”

“Twilight…” Rainbow Dash began, but faltered. Her lip quivered as she tried to finish what she had been about to say. “Twilight…we…oh, darn it, why did you have to get me acting all sappy?!” she exclaimed, flinging her hooves in the air in frustration.

Applejack chuckled. “Ah think what Rainbow is trying to say is that we understand. You're a great leader, even if you failed this one time. Now Ah’m still disappointed in you for what you did, but we forgive you. You did yer best.”

And your worst,” Dash added, smiling, but Applejack’s glare caused the pegasus to falter. “But yeah, we still forgive you. What AJ said,” she quickly added.

“Thanks, you two,” Twilight said gratefully, pulling both of her friends into a hug. “At least we’re close to Manehattan now. Maybe when we finally get there, everything will start getting better.”


WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON’T HAVE OUR LUGGAGE?!

Rainbow Dash’s horrified yell rang throughout the large baggage claim hall in the massive Manehattan Airport, positioned on the outskirts of the city. It took a few hours for the freight carriage to arrive in Manehattan, where it stopped at its destination at a shipping facility along the river across from the heart of the city. The three travelers walked out into the crisp air of early morning and quickly found a local bus to take them downtown, where they found another bus to take them out to the far reaches of town where the airport was located. Both buses had been so packed with ponies it made the bus they took from Buffalo to Fillydelphia seem luxurious in comparison. Here the intent when designing the vehicle had obviously been to cram as many commuters into a single vehicle as feasibly possible. Seats were limited and the three travelers did their best to cram themselves and their heavy saddlebags against one side of the bus between the many early morning commuters surrounding them.

After three buses and two transfers the trio finally made it to the airport a couple of hours after their arrival in Manehattan. Unlike the gleaming modern structure in Fillydelphia, this building was older and more utilitarian in its design, which to its advantage made finding your way around a simpler task. However, the bleak design of the structure did nothing to improve the three traveler’s moods when they found out that nopony in the building seemed to know where their luggage was.

The baggage attendant Rainbow Dash was currently yelling at, a light tan stallion with a stubby beard on his chin, didn’t seem perturbed by the three travelers’ dilemma. “What, do I hafta spell it out for yoose? We don’t gaht you bags heya,” he responded in a heavy Bronclyn accent.

“Well, could you take another look? We’ve got a lot of important stuff in them,” Twilight said urgently, giving the baggage attendant a pleading look.

The stallion sitting across the small counter from them sighed and turned around to face the large room of stray luggage behind him. “HEY DONNY!” he yelled to an unseen figure hidden within the depths of the room. “WE GAHT ANY BAGS FROM FILLY YESTAHDAY?”

“Yeah, I got you bags right heya,” a light gray donkey who was apparently Donny replied, emerging from behind a shelf and gesturing towards a space between his hind legs.

“Aw, buck you, Donny!” the stallion at the desk called back, but to Twilight’s bewilderment he was smiling as if sharing a joke, despite the vulgar language which would suggest insult or anger. None of her studies in the field of Hippology had informed the unicorn of such strange behavior, and within Equestria no less. Clearly the residents of Bronclyn were a species that demanded further scientific research.

But such research would have to wait for another day, as the baggage attendant turned back to the three travelers with a grimace on his face. “Nah, we don’t got you bags heya.”

“Could you at least take a look?” Rainbow Dash muttered in an annoyed tone.

“Sorry kid,” the stallion replied, reaching up to pull down a metal grate. “I’m on my cawffee break,” he grunted, banging the grate down onto the counter and sealing off the room before retreating away from the counter.

Why you…you…” Rainbow Dash began, rushing up to the window and rattling the metal grate, but her anger was such that all she could do was grit her teeth and sputter incomprehensibly.


“Here it is!” Dash exclaimed, pointing at a small article in the corner of page 13 of today’s Manehattan Times, which Twilight was currently levitating in front of them. “Down here, this little story: ‘Mid-Air Collision with Wayward Hot-Air Balloon.’”

After attempting without success to retrieve their luggage, the three travelers were forced to give up with the best answer received being a vague “Come back tahmahrruh.” By the time they got off the bus downtown, it was already late and the three mares were once again utterly exhausted, but they needed to know how much was known of their misadventures yesterday.

“’Investigators are currently looking into the cause of an aircraft accident after a hot-air balloon struck a passenger yacht last night in the skies south of Manehattan,’” Twilight read. “’The pilots of the yacht, a Mr. and Mrs. Airheart, suffered no injuries even as their aircraft impacted the balloon in mid-air. The yacht took on mild damage and was forced to make an emergency landing at Lakehorse Air Station, where the Airhearts gave a thrilling account of their near escape.’ And then there’s some quotes from the pilots,” Twilight muttered as she skimmed down the column.

“Let’s see…here we go: ‘The wreckage of the balloon was found in a field along the Neigh Jersey Turnpike near the small village of Grover’s Mule. No evidence of any passengers has been uncovered and investigators currently believe the balloon may have been inflated, then became untethered or otherwise left to fly unpiloted. Investigators are now searching aviation records for any missing hot-air balloons.’”

“So they think no one was flying the balloon?” Dash said disbelievingly. “So we’re in the clear then!”

“But they’re looking for where it came from,” Applejack pointed out. “Somepony’s gonna eventually figure out it belongs to that pony in Fillydelphia.” She turned to look Twilight in the eye. “You have to fix this.”

“I-I can...I will,” Twilight stammered, almost cowering before her friend’s gaze. “But right now we have little money and are still carrying all our stuff. And I need to get some sleep,” she moaned.

They decided to find the residence of Applejack’s Aunt and Uncle Orange, where they would be able to finally put down their saddlebags and take a long and desperately-needed rest. Applejack took the lead – with Twilight’s self-confidence shot, the earth pony had taken on the role of leader without any of the three ponies actively realizing it. It made sense though, given how Applejack was the only one of the three who had visited Manehattan previously.

Still, despite Applejack’s experience, Manehattan was a city changing constantly, with new and bigger buildings replacing older ones. Between the crowds of ponies walking down the street, the different landmarks and a general sense of disorientation, it took the three travelers a while to find their way to Aunt and Uncle Orange’s apartment building. But find it they did, and it was almost exactly as Applejack remembered: a velvet red building with curtained windows and a tall, striped-arched doorway that led inside to the warmly lit interiors that typified fine Manehattan living. Despite the familiarity, Applejack couldn’t help but shake a feeling that something was off as she led her two friends inside, and it took her a moment to realize that everything simply seemed smaller than she remembered it. Or rather, she had grown considerably since her last visit. She chuckled inwardly as she began trotting up the stairs to the second floor.

The three ponies proceeded down the hall, stopping in front of the apartment Applejack remembered as the home of her Aunt and Uncle Orange. Applejack turned to Twilight and Rainbow Dash. For a split second she considered warning the two of them about her relatives’ high opinion of proper manners, but she dropped that idea once she realized how tired and dirty they all looked. Twilight’s mane was in disarray, with stray hairs sticking out all over while Dash’s mane was lying flatter than normal and somehow looked dull despite its bright colors. Both ponies stood slightly slumped over, weighed down by their saddlebags and with dark shadows beneath their bloodshot eyes. Applejack realized she probably looked no better, so the suggestion of minding one’s manners died in her throat. After a silent moment she broke eye contact with her friends before raising a hoof and knocking on the door.

A few seconds passed in silence. Then a few more. And then a few more still. After about fifteen seconds with no answer, Applejack glanced at her friends before knocking again. But still there was no answer. She put an ear to the door but could hear no sound coming from the other side. Applejack knocked once more but after another silent moment they were forced to admit that nopony would be coming to answer the door.

“Do you think they just stepped out?” Twilight asked, dismayed that she wouldn’t be able to put down her saddlebag and go to sleep just yet.

“It sure looks that way,” Applejack admitted. “After all, we are a couple days late. They can’t just sit around here all that time waiting for us to show.”

“Well, now what?” Dash groaned.

“Ah guess we could ask the doormare downstairs if she knows when they’ll be back,” Applejack suggested, looking at Twilight. Normally the unicorn would have offered some advice or at the very least audibly agreed to this suggestion, but in her present condition all she did was shrug in response, too tired to offer any other kind of reply. Applejack took this as the closest to an affirmative she was going to get and led her friends back downstairs.

“’Scuse me, miss,” Applejack called across the lobby once she reached the bottom of the stairs. The doormare, currently the only pony in the subtly but elegantly-decorated lobby, looked up from her post, frowning at these strange out-of-towners who couldn’t be bothered to act like true Manehattanites.

“Sorry to bother you,” Applejack continued. “But would you by chance know a Mr. an’ Mrs. Orange who live here?”

“Oh, finally,” the doormare sighed, half-groaning and half-relieved. “I take it you’re here to pick up their mail? Somepony was supposed to get this stuff ages ago.”

“Wha…mail?” Applejack replied in confusion as the doormare reached under her desk and retrieved a basket that was nearly overflowing with sealed envelopes and parcels addressed to Mr. and Mrs. Orange.

“We’re not here to pick up their mail,” Rainbow Dash scoffed. “We’re here to visit them!”

“Visit?” the doormare responded, raising an eyebrow at the pegasus. “Surely you must be mistaken, they-“

“Hey, wait a moment!” Applejack cried, snatching an envelope out of the basket. It stood out from the white and yellow envelopes of the rest of the stack because it was a light brown color, made of slightly thicker paper that was adorned with the illustration of several shiny red apples on one side.

“This is Sweet Apple Acres stationery!” the earth pony continued, holding the envelope in her hooves. And indeed, there was Applejack’s name and the address for Sweet Apple Acres in the top left corner of the envelope.

“Wait…Sweet Apple Acres has stationery?” Twilight asked as her friend ripped open the envelope she herself had sent. “I never really saw you as the kind of pony to invest in…well, stationery,” she finished awkwardly.

“Apple Bloom made it,” Applejack said as she reached in the envelope to retrieve the letter within. “Wasn’t exactly what we had in mind when we bought all that paper stock, but it works out nicely.” She unfolded the letter and scanned over it quickly. “Yep, this is the letter Ah sent to Aunt an’ Uncle Orange telling them we were coming! Ah sent this weeks ago! Why didn’t they get it?” she asked, raising her head to face the doormare.

The doormare cleared her throat. “Mr. and Mrs. Orange have been out of town for over a month now. I believe they are vacationing in a summer house on Cape Colt and won’t be back for at least a couple of weeks.”

“They’re…not here?” Rainbow Dash said quietly, giving the doormare a blank stare.

“I believe that is the definition of a vacation,” the doormare sniffed, holding her head high.

“Applejack…” Twilight started, looking at the earth pony. “Do you mean to tell me you never got a response from your Aunt and Uncle Orange?”

“Uh, well now that you mention it,” Applejack said, rubbing a hoof along the back of her neck and giving the unicorn an embarrassed smile. “It seems kinda obvious in retrospect, huh?”

Twilight groaned and planted her face flat down on to the counter.

“So…I don’t suppose you would have the key to their apartment upstairs, would you?” Dash smiled awkwardly at the doormare, who only frowned in response.


“…Are you sure this is the best you have?” Rainbow Dash asked, an obvious note of disgust in her voice.

The three travelers were standing in a room on the second floor of a dingy building on the edge of the main business district, close to the more industrial areas near the river. Manehattan seemed to be awash in hotels, but for all the places they looked at, this was the only one so far that promised to be within their price range. With only seventy bits between the three of them at this point, this was the only hotel that even came close to being affordable.

Of course, what relief the three mares had felt upon finding a place to sleep was banished when they realized the horrendous condition of the room. It was small and cramped, with wooden floorboards that creaked loudly. There was only one bed in the room, which was only just big enough to hold two ponies. Other than the bed the only furniture in the room was a small night table, a solitary chair sitting alone in one corner of the room and a ragged-looking sofa that was leaking stuffing. The window had metal bars on it and even though it was shut the sound from the street still came through almost as clearly as if they were still outside. Everything seemed to be coated in a fine layer of dust and the room smelled of a bizarre combination of something sweetly fragrant and the pungent scent of decay, as if someone had sprayed the artificial scent of fruit to cover up the smell of mildew.

“This is biggest room I have,” croaked the mare who worked for the hotel, speaking in a foreign accent none of the three travelers could identify. She had brought them up to their room and was currently standing behind them in the hallway outside the room. The mare had a greenish-yellow coat and a general air of scruffiness about her. Her voice was scratchy and she would occasionally pause to cough loudly into a filthy-looking handkerchief.

“Um, look…” Applejack started, trying to figure out how to say this politely. “Would it be alrigh’ if we looked around at a few more hotels before we made a decision? Maybe you know of something else in the neighborhood in our price range?”

The angry and offended look the hotel mare gave Applejack told the farmer she might as well have suggested leaping out of the window.

“This is cheapest hotel you find,” the hotel mare said bluntly. “And only hotel in neighborhood for money you have. You may not know this, but hotels in Manehattan are expensive.”

Applejack gulped. As a matter of fact she did know this, which is why she hadn’t made a backup plan if Aunt and Uncle Orange wouldn’t be able to house them – her entire strategy for accommodation in Manehattan had hinged on staying at their place.

Before anypony in the room could say another word, the hotel mare turned away from Applejack to face the three travelers at large. “Price is fifteen bit for each pony. That forty-five for all of you.”

“But there’s only one bed!” Rainbow Dash protested.

“Then five less bit for pony who sleep on couch,” the hotel mare growled. “Forty bit.”

The three travelers looked at each other for a moment, but soon Applejack sighed and nodded at Twilight, who pulled some money out of her bag while the farmer did the same. Dash was reluctant at first, but unable to offer any solution of her own she gave in and forked over her share of the cost. The hotel mare collected their money and left, leaving the three mares alone in the room. They spent a moment looking at each other, Twilight standing between her two friends.

“So…” the unicorn began with a false tone of casualness. “Who’s going to be the one to take the couch?”

“I call not it!” Rainbow Dash suddenly exclaimed.

“Not it!” Applejack chimed in.

“I…wait…” Twilight muttered, looking from one friend to the other with a confused look on her face. “I…oh, that’s not fair! I wasn’t ready, I didn’t even know what was going on!” she pouted. Applejack and Rainbow Dash each had a smug look on their faces.

Twilight didn’t put up much of a fight. Tired and still feeling guilty over her actions the previous night, she quickly relented. But while she desperately wanted to get some sleep, the realization that they only had enough bits for one night drove her to ensure they wouldn’t have to sleep on the street the next night. She exited the hotel and found a nearby post office, where she sent off an urgent message to Spike informing him they there had been some unexpected purchases and she needed him to wire her money as soon as possible. She enclosed some instructions on doing so with the disclaimer that he could ask Rarity for help if he needed it before sending it off for immediate delivery. As she left the post office, Twilight uttered a silent plea that Spike would get back to her by tomorrow.

She returned to the hotel and slowly trotted up the stairs, stepping inside to see that Rainbow Dash and Applejack were already passed out on the bed. She carefully shut the door and tried to quietly make her way over to the couch (a difficult task, given how loudly the floorboards creaked) before lying down. The cushions sank under her weight, hugging the hard frame of the couch beneath. The threads binding the cushions together were hard and frayed, and what little stuffing remained was visible between the threads. Twilight groaned and rested her head upon the uncomfortable surface, thinking she would never be able to get to sleep in such a position, but within a few seconds she had passed out.

Next Chapter: Chapter Eight Estimated time remaining: 17 Minutes
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