White Line Express

The Apple Core. That’s what this little establishment was called, at least. It obviously bore no resemblance to an apple of any kind, though apples were on the menu quite often. They were a far cry from what an apple of the past looked like, being grown underground rather than on the surface—but as far as everypony in New Ponyville was concerned, they at least still tasted decent. Being run by the famed Apple Family, or what little remained of it in this area, was also a definite plus.

The eatery itself was a dilapidated, homely place, with the walls and furnishings being recycled and repurposed from older parts. Several curios and decorations hung on the walls, accenting an otherwise plain and dirty partition. The chairs and tables, all scavenged from the surface. Almost nothing about this drinking hole—about the entire town for that matter—was constructed from original material in any way. If it couldn’t be dug up from what existed in the land and repurposed, then it simply wasn’t feasible to create.

Near the center of the drinking hole, two mares sat on either side of the bar, idly chatting with each other. One mare’s daughter remained quiet, drinking her own foal-friendly beverage while the adults talked.

“So, this place ya came from… there were a lot of pegasi, there?”

The mother nodded, taking a sip of her drink. “Yes,” she said in a low voice, not making eye contact with the mare she was replying to. “It was set up after Cloudsdale dissipated, so most pegasi ended up living there. My mother was one, actually.”

“Really? That’s pretty neat,” the red-maned barkeeper said in her melodic drawl, wearing a broad smile. “I have a friend that’s a pegasus, too. Haven’t seen her lately though.”

She looked up at her, a wondering expression on her face. “Oh. Where has she been?”

“Out west, helping a buncha other ponies set up a new settlement and all. It’s out and down the Green Line, toward Vanhoover. Or so I’m told, anyway.” She shrugged. “It’s a little quieter here without her, but she’ll probably be back in a month or so. Give or take.”

“I see…” The mare nodded, humming to herself. “You’ve never been outside?”

The barkeep shook her head. “Not once,” she said, and sighed. “Not since everything apparently went bad, anyway. My sis won’t let me leave. Not even on the trains, and those are supposed to be safe anyway…”

Nodding again silently, the mother took another drink from her glass, slowly averting her gaze toward the curios mounted on the wall. The barkeeper mare tilted her head, unable to shake off a strange feeling she was having.

“Say… don’t I know you from somewhere?” she asked. “You look awfully familiar to me. Can’t quite put my hoof on it, but…”

The mare glanced back at her, then looked down, not answering her at first. “…I used to live around here,” she replied after a long pause. “But I moved away before I had my foal. Before the Freeze.”

“Right…” The barkeep shrugged. “Well, it’ll come to me eventually. Ya said you’re gonna be looking for a place to stay here, right?”

Another nod. “Yes… I, uh, already talked to AJ about it.”

“My sis, you mean?” the yellow mare said, and chuckled. “Yeah, she’s in charge of the town around here, more or less. Real overprotective sometimes, but I guess she means well, an’ all that.” She smiled, offering her hoof over the counter. “By the way, name’s Apple Bloom. Real pleasure to meet ya, miss.”

The mare blinked, looking down at the hoof being offered to her. She smiled back, tapping her own hoof against hers in return. “It’s… it’s a pleasure to meet you too, Apple Bloom,” she said.

“Sure hope you and your filly like it here,” Apple Bloom continued, smiling a bit wider. “Nice and safe, down here in New Ponyville. A little boring, but that can’t be helped apparently…”

Their smalltalk carried on for a while longer, until the filly started to finally complain about being tired. Rolling her eyes and chuckling softly, her mother lifted the tired foal onto her back again, excusing herself with a smile. Just as she turned to leave the Apple Core, however, Apple Bloom decided to speak up after her.

“Hey, uh… miss?”

“Yes?”

“Just thought I’d ask, but… what’s it really like up there, now?”

The mother was silent for a few moments. “…Do you still remember what everything used to look like, before?” she finally responded, answering her question with another question.

Blinking in confusion, Apple Bloom nodded. The mare gave her a faint, sad smile.

“Cherish those memories.”

And with that, the mare walked out, leaving her to consider those words.

~O~

Apple Bloom wondered why she was still here. She did so before, was doing so right at that moment, and likely would continue to wonder well into the foreseeable future. She’d more-or-less inherited her older sister’s work at the eatery by now, which nigh-irrefutably tied her down. To say she didn’t like that was a clear understatement.

While she wasn’t happy with her current situation, it did have one upside. Residents and travelers alike regularly frequented this place. Many of the new faces brought stories of their travels, which Apple Bloom was more than happy to extract from them for the cost of a pint. Those were the best highlights of her day, she found; talking with those that traveled from afar.

While not every story was one to write home about, there were several that captured her interest and refused to let go. Most of all were the stories of the infamous White Line.

Sure, there were the mundane hijinks that travelers got themselves in on the Orange Line, or the reckless speed records being set on the fast and narrow Red Line. But it was the White Line that compelled her more than anything, for reasons quite simple to see—its mystery. Every trek and expedition down the White Line, which rode along the old rails up the Canterhorn Mountains, always seemed to end in failure. While most did return from the line the way they came, none of them were successful. One even ended in tragedy, with the train and crew vanishing altogether.

Dangerous, mysterious, exciting… all things that her life lacked, and inwardly desired. And as the date of the latest expedition’s  departure drew closer, Apple Bloom was more interested in it than ever.

Her sister was quick to voice her objections, however.

“For the last time, I said no!” yelled Applejack, fuming. “I can’t let you go out there! Just stepping’ out the door is bad enough, but the White Line? That’s dangerous, and you darn well know it!”

Apple Bloom scowled, barely fazed by her sister’s typical temperament. “Well, of course I do, sis!” she snapped right back. “And maybe that’s why I wanna go out there! I’m a grown-up mare, for granny’s sake! Maybe I’m just sick and tired of being treated like a baby!”

“Dang it Apple Bloom, we’ve had this talk before! I told ya, it doesn’t matter that you’re not a filly anymore, these dangers out there are real! How do you think I’d be able to live with myself knowing I let my little sister run off and get savaged by hounds?!”

“Oh, so now this is about you? How you can with yourself about whether or not I get hurt?”

“You know I don’t mean that, darn it! Think about your brother! Your friends! EVERYONE!”

“I think they’d be pretty happy for me that I’m actually doing something with my life, rather than wasting it away HERE!”

“Wh… why, now you listen here, you little—”

A knock at the door interrupted both of them. They both turned to glare at the open doorway, where a tall, sandstone-colored stallion in makeshift guard’s attire was standing. And it just had to be Snails, didn’t it, the earth pony thought to herself, rolling her eyes. Apple Bloom would recognize his dopey, lanky frame anywhere. He glanced between the two of them, seeing that he was stepping in on a clear dispute, and coughed.

“Err… sorry for interrupting,” he said, offering a nervous grin, “but, um… the princess wanted to see you, miss Applejack.”

The earth pony grumbled, kicking at the ground. “Gah, fine,” she said, huffing. AJ turned to her sister again, glaring at her. “We’ll finish this talk later, get me? You get on back to work, now. No grumpin’ about it.”

Apple Bloom only shot her a dirty look in response, watching the older mare stomp out the door as Snails stammered and hurried along to follow her. She didn’t particularly care about what the princess needed her for, but at least it got her sister out of her mane for a while. The mare sighed and walked back out into the open eatery, muttering curses under her breath.

A number of patrons apparently heard their argument, since many of them were staring at her, though they quickly looked away when she looked back at them. Her brother, Big Macintosh, was already over behind the counter, watching her with vague concern.

She paid them no heed, focusing on her own tasks with a grumble. Stupid rules, stupid sister, stupid… stupid! she thought, angrily huffing again. I’ll never leave this place with my sister chainin’ me to a post like this… Heck, she won’t even let me look at colts, now! Seriously, she’s just so—

The mare let out a sudden yelp, her forehoof catching on another’s pony’s dragging overcoat and sending Apple Bloom stumbling across the floor. “H-hey, watch it!” she snapped, whipping her head around to glare at the offending pony. “Darn near made me fall on my face!”

The pony winced, shrinking away from the angry barkeeper. Apart from the coat, she wore a hood that concealed most of her face. Apple Bloom heard her mutter an apology and hurry on her way, quickly taking a seat in the far corner of the restaurant.

Apple Bloom quirked an eyebrow at her. It was not often that she saw a pony that wore such concealing articles, and her anger shifted to curiosity in a flash. “Hey, uh… it’s fine,” she said, offering a weak smile. “Accidents happen, an’ all.”

She heard the mare mutter out a half-hearted reply, but did not stir.

Tilting her head, she walked over toward the table. “I, uh… haven’t seen you before,” the earth mare said, sitting at the table across from the strange visitor. “You new in town?”

The cloaked equine looked down, staying silent.

“Hey, you can tell me. I don’t bite.”

Silence persisted, though the mare soon spoke up in a light, airy voice. “I’m… not from around here.”

“Oh, really? A traveler?”

The cloaked mare was quiet for a moment, before replying, “Sort of…”

“Ooh. Well, welcome to New Ponyville, then!” said Apple Bloom, grinning as she offered her hoof to the stranger. “Name’s Apple Bloom, and I… well, I sorta run this joint, here. Nice to meet ya!”

Silence again. The traveler looked up slightly, almost enough for Apple Bloom to see her face, then looked back down again. The earth pony eventually drew back her hoof, frowning slightly. Not a very outgoing one, is she? the mare noted.

“So, uh… any stories to share?” she asked, mostly out of curiosity. “Where’d you come from?”

“I…” The traveler hung on that letter, thinking out her answer carefully. “…came through the Yellow Line.”

“Yellow Line… huh… That’s the one that comes down from Manehattan, right?”

The mare nodded.

“Wow…” Apple Bloom rubbed her chin, realizing that it had been quite some time since a Yellow Line visitor was last here. “Hey, uh… is what everypony says about the city is true? That it’s been all flooded, and stuff?”

“Flooded and frozen over,” the cloaked mare said quietly. “Like most of Equestria.”

Apple Bloom let out a low whistle. “Huh… Jeez, must’ve been real bad there,” she said, her eyes trailing down to stare at the table blankly. “I had family that lived in Manehattan…”

“My condolences.”

“Yeah…” The earth pony sighed. “But, anyway… what brings ya here to New Ponyville?”

The mare looked away, muttering out, “Just passing through.”

“Right… Takin’ the next train outta here, then?"

She nodded.

“And the next train is…?”

“White Line.”

A hush fell over that section of the eatery. Other patrons turned to look at them with mixed expressions of shock or morbid resignation. Apple Bloom herself blinked, eyes widening at the words. “Wait… you’re going on the line?”

The cloaked mare seemed to tilt her head. “Is that a problem?”

“Well, no, but…” The earth pony shook her head. “Isn’t that line kinda, well… dangerous?”

“I’m told it is. But I have my reasons.”

She stared at the traveler. “And… you’re not gonna tell me about them, are ya?”

An expected shake of the head was the response.

Apple Bloom glanced side to side, leaning in a little closer to the mare and whispering out a final question.

“D’ya know if they’re looking for more volunteers?”