A Cherished Storm

Chapter Two: The Twilight Express

Rainbow Dash picked up the large, blue-covered book off the ground. It was surprisingly heavy. She turned it over and read the faded words, "Marester's Dictionary..." she looked around and saw an open spot on the shelf in front of her, just barely out of reach. She shrugged and flew up to meet the vacant spot and placed the dictionary in it. She sighed with relief, "Finished!"

She turned to see Twilight replacing a book on a top shelf with her magic. Other than her, Twilight, and Tank, who was sleeping in the corner of the room by the stairs, his flight gear removed and placed by the door, the room was lifeless.

It was pretty late by that point, all the other ponies had gone home to handle some chores before resting for the night, leaving Rainbow to help with the clean-up job. It had annoyed her in the beginning, but she wasn't about to leave just because everypony had to go. She didn't have anything else to do that day, so she figured that she could stay to help. It might even score her the next Daring Do novel! In the end, that was probably what settled her mind.

She flew down and sat at the table in the middle of the room to rest for a moment. She looked around at all of the books, now neatly-placed on the shelves surrounding the room, “I never thought putting books away would be so much work...”

Twilight walked over to join her at the table, and sat down at the other end, “I never expected to hear something like that coming from YOU, Rainbow!” she smirked.

“It's not like it was tough,” Rainbow quickly defended herself, “It's just... repetitive. Picking up a book, putting it on the shelf. Picking up another, putting it on the shelf.. Not exactly the most exciting work.”

Twilight nodded her head in agreement, “It is a lot of work, but I enjoy it!” She looked around the room, smiling, “I reorganize them every time I get a new shipment in, which is usually every few months.”

Rainbow shook her head, “That's why I'd never want that many books...” She looked at the Daring Do novel that she had placed on the table during the clean-up, and grabbed it, pulling it toward her. She patted the top of the cover gently with her hoof, “I like the Daring Do books.. They're all I need... Not all of those,” she said as she pointed at the literature-filled shelves.

“You should really give some other works a try, Rainbow. I'm sure you would enjoy them!” Twilight said, getting up from the table and walking to browse the various tomes along the walls, “What interests you?”

Rainbow Dash sighed slightly at her efforts and looked at the Daring Do novel intently, lost in thought. After a moment, she grinned, “Something with action! And adventure!”

Twilight stopped searching the shelves and glanced at Rainbow, “There's still plenty of volumes in the Daring Do series to keep you busy with that genre,” she turned back to the shelves and continued her search, “No, I think you would benefit from reading different genres. That doesn't mean you have to stop reading the Daring Do series. It's just... good to broaden your interests, you know?” she looked back at Rainbow, who had the Daring Do novel opened in front of her. She sighed and continued on with her search. “Maybe history...” she whispered to herself.

A few moments passed as Twilight searched the massive wall of literature, pulling each out to observe before putting them back in. They weren't bad books, to Twilight at least, but they'd quickly bore a pony like Rainbow Dash. Twilight pulled out another, before smiling, “History Of The Tribes: Origins,” she read aloud.

The book was the first in a series that told of how the different pony tribes came to be who they were, and how they eventually came together to found Equestria, united as a whole. The first in the series, in particular, told of how each of the pony tribes came to be... At least, how it was thought to have happened.

Twilight looked over to see if Rainbow was at all interested. Not surprisingly, she was still reading from Daring Do, her head propped up on her hoof as she leaned over it. She turned the page.

Twilight sighed and walked to the table, the history book levitating in front of her. She placed it down gently on the table in front of the oblivious pony. Rainbow turned the page again and continued reading.

Twilight cleared her throat, warranting a glance up from Rainbow. She pushed the tome forward with her magic and Rainbow eyed it for a second, before sighing.

Rainbow picked it up and read the title aloud, “History of the Tribes: Origins...” she lowered it slowly and looked at Twilight, who was smiling at her nervously. “Um... that doesn't sound very action-y... or adventure-y...”

“It has a lot of very interesting things in it, though," Twilight started, "I only skimmed through the first few pages. But from what I can tell, it talks about how all the pony tribes became who they are today... How the Unicorns obtained their horns and learned magic. How the Pegasi sprouted their wings. And how the Earth ponies grew a connection with the land and its creatures. It also talks of the battles between the different tribes... It could be a bit violent, I haven't read it.”

Rainbow looked at her with a raised eyebrow, “How do you know that if you haven't read it?”

Twilight smiled, “The Table of Contents.”

“Oh... right,” she placed the book down on top of her Daring Do novel and stared at it for a moment, contemplating whether to read it or not. She shrugged slightly and opened it to the first chapter.

She looked up at Twilight, who was anxiously awaiting her verdict, before reading aloud, “Chapter One: The beginning...” she recited, glancing back up to see Twilight wearing a toothy smile. She shook her head and read on, “In the inhospitable frozen lands far north of the land later known as Equestria, life was a rare phenomenon. With ice-cold winds that could chill to the bone, it was a wonder that any life existed at all. The land was barren of plant life; the mountainous terrain blanketed in snow several feet deep. It is surprising that anypony came to exist in such a desolate environment...”

Rainbow placed the book down and closed it, “It uh...”

Twilight interrupted her, “Do you like it?” she asked with an anxious smile.

Rainbow rolled her eyes slightly, “It was okay... But all it did was talk about mountains.. Where's the action? Where's the adventure? Nah, I don't know how much I'd like it... I'd rather read the Daring Do stories,” she pushed the history book off of the Daring Do novel and looked down at it in thought.

Twilight looked at her, eyes narrowing and ears drooping in defeat. She sighed and began to reach for her choice of literature. Rainbow placed her hoof down on it, causing Twilight to snatch hers back slightly in confusion. Rainbow moved her hoof and looked down at the title one more time before sighing, “I don't know if I'll read it... But I'll take it if it means that much to you.”

Twilight's ears perked up again and she smiled, “Alright then, good enough.”

She walked to a small closet space underneath the staircase and disappeared, returning a moment later with a small shoulder bag levitating in front of her, "Sorry, but I lost my saddlebag. This bag will do okay, I think," she placed the bag on the table and placed the history book in it with her magic. She pushed the bag toward the center of the table with her hoof.

Rainbow glanced at it for a moment before looking back down at her novel, page in hoof and ready to turn. Her eyes rolled over the text covering half of the remaining page before she finally closed it. She pulled the shoulder bag toward her and placed her prized story in it, beside the other book.

She stood up and stretched, her wings erecting for a moment before returning to their normal, folded positions, “It's pretty late... I should get back home. Bed's calling me.”

Twilight yawned her agreement, covering her mouth with her hoof, “It is late... I still have a few more things to take care of before I can even consider sleep. Thank you for your help, Rainbow.”

“Eh, no problem. I had nothing else to do, anyway,” Rainbow said as she grabbed Tank's flight gear and made her way across the room to said tortoise.

Tank heard the approaching pony and raised his head slightly out of his shell, yawning. Rainbow grinned at him and began to strap on his flight gear; the rotor first, and then his goggles. Tank shook his head slightly, in an attempt to get reacquainted with his headgear.

“Alright, I'm heading off. I'll see ya later, Twi,” Rainbow said as she walked to the door and opened it.

Spike came barging in at a hurried pace and ran into Rainbow, knocking them both to the ground, “Ow...” they said in unison.

Rainbow shook herself and got up quickly, looking at the baby dragon on the ground, who was trying to pick himself back up as well, “What's the rush, Spike? Besides the fact it's late...”

Spike, now on his feet, picked up a piece of rolled parchment and stared at the rainbow-maned pony, “Gosh, I'm sorry, Rainbow Dash! I was just in a hurry to... Where's Twilight?”

Rainbow nodded over her shoulder, “I think she went upstairs.”

Spike nodded and hurried past her, stopping only long enough to say goodbye.

Rainbow and Tank looked at each other before shrugging and flying off.

It was dark outside; a full moon shrouded by stray clouds provided just enough light for Rainbow to see. It was quiet out; not even a breeze sounded in the trees around town.

Rainbow Dash and Tank continued their flight home, slowly so Tank could keep up. Rainbow didn't mind the slower speeds as much as she once had. She loved Tank, even if he wasn't the fastest pet around. Even with his flight gear, he was still much slower than she usually was. No, it was more the fact that he was as loyal to her as she was to her friends, minus the harmless joking that she would do from time to time. Though, she was perhaps slightly impatient at the slower speeds tonight; she was tired and wanted to sleep.

Rainbow yawned as she floated in the air, waiting for Tank to catch back up. She felt a slight tickle at her ear and patted it softly with her hoof, not thinking anything of it. Then it came again; but this time, she could hear something... She looked at Tank, That doesn't sound like his flight gear... She looked around, trying to locate the source of the noise. Over there? She floated toward the sound, and it grew more distinct. It sounded like another pony... It was talking. Who would be out at this time of night? She looked down at herself and at Tank, Besides us..

Tank finally caught up, his rotor blades cutting through the air as silently as a soft breeze through open sky. Rainbow turned to him and whispered, “Hey Tank, I need you to go home without me. Something's up, and I need to see what it is.” Tank looked at her, confused. Rainbow sighed, “I hear somepony over there... behind those trees. I don't want ya to have to wait for me. I'll be home soon to get that gear off ya.”

Tank slowly nodded at her, showing his understanding, and continued on his way to Rainbow's home in the sky.

Rainbow watched him go for a moment before more words came muffled from behind the trees. Rainbow started toward them, “Okay, time to see who the hay this is...”

She approached one of the trees and hid behind it, quiet enough to keep from being noticed. She slid along the trunk of the largest one, and peaked around the corner.

“Darn it... Why won't my wings lift me up?” a young filly complained to herself quietly.

Rainbow's eyes went wide, What's Scootaloo doing here? She shouldn't be out this late... She smirked, though, at the young filly's eagerness. She continued to watch for a bit as Scootaloo flapped her wings vigorously, and sighed when the filly slumped to the ground, defeated, and complaining.

“It's no use... I'll never be as good a flier as Rainbow Dash...” Scootaloo sighed.

Rainbow rolled her eyes slightly and grinned as she stepped out from behind the tree, still not seen as she approached the sulking filly.

Scootaloo continued her complaining, “How am I supposed to be even half as good as her if I can't even fly at all?”

“Keep at it, kid, and you'll be able to fly someday.”

Scootaloo shot up from the ground, looking around her, until she finally spotted Rainbow Dash behind her, “R-Rainbow!” she stuttered as she straightened herself up. “What are you doing here?”

Rainbow shrugged, “I was heading home, then I heard a tree talking. Now... trees don't usually talk, so I had to investigate. Turns out, the tree was you,” Her grin grew wider, “Which makes me wonder... Why are you here? Shouldn't you be at home?”

Scootaloo sighed, “Yeah, I guess...” An awkward silence surrounded them for a moment before she spoke again, “So, uh... Did you hear any of that?”

Rainbow shook her head, “Nope... Well... maybe a little,” she dropped the grin and walked to Scootaloo, “You shouldn't give up so easily. You'll get it if you keep it up. Remember what I said today? You need to strengthen your wings so they can lift you. And if you don't keep practicing, it'll take longer to do that. Fluttershy was like you at your age, but look where she is now.”

Scootaloo groaned, “But she's still not a great flier!”

Rainbow brought her hoof up to her face, shaking her head, “Okay, bad example... Look, just keep at it, okay? Practicing will strengthen your wings, remember? Once you can lift yourself off the ground, you'll soar.”

Scootaloo lifted her head up, smiling now, “Yeah! You must have practiced for a long time to get as good as you are now.”

“It took a lot of practice,” Rainbow said, half lying to cheer the little filly up, “Anyway, it's pretty late right now, and I'm guessing your parents don't know where you are. It's not cool to keep them worrying.”

Scootaloo's eyes widened as a realization came to her, “Oh, no... They're going to be mad... I've been out here since it was day. I didn't even think about how mad they'd be!”

Rainbow laughed, “Hey, don't worry about it, I've got ya covered. They would be mad if you were out alone. But who has to tell them that? As far as they know, you've been with me the whole time, and that's what I'm gonna tell them. I'll just explain to them that you wanted help with flying, and I offered to help after helping Fluttershy.”

Scootaloo's smiled widely at the thought of her hero helping her, and showed her excitement with a series of jumps around said hero, “Oh, thank you, Rainbow Dash! I'm sure they'll listen to you!”

Rainbow put on a grin and motioned her head back toward the road, “Yeah, no problem. Let's get you home.”

Rainbow yawned as she walked the young filly home. It was getting really late by now, and a cool breeze was beginning to pick up strength. She looked down at Scootaloo as the young filly walked on with an excited smile on her face.

The two ponies passed a few homes, each one absent of light, before they finally reached Scootaloo's home. It was an average home with beige-painted walls and light-brown wooden frames around it; a red tiled roof topped off the two-story house. The windows glowed a warm, inviting yellow.

“Well, it looks like they're still awake,” Rainbow looked at Scootaloo before adding, “Let's go.”

Rainbow walked up to the red, wooden door, Scootaloo following behind, and knocked on it. The scraping of furniture on wooden floors sounded muffled through the door. It opened to reveal a stallion with a light-brown coat and black mane. He looked at Rainbow Dash for a moment with tired, blue eyes before seeing Scootaloo behind her.

His eyes widened and he put on a heavy frown as he eyed the filly hiding behind Rainbow. His gaze turned toward the rainbow-maned mare as his eyes narrowed, “What is the meaning of this? Where has my daughter been all this time?”

Rainbow shrunk slightly beneath the father's piercing eyes. Hah... There's no reason to be nervous. All I have to do is tell him that she was in good hooves, and all will be good! She opened her mouth to speak but stopped when a pony with an orange coat and purple mane appeared in the door beside the father; obviously Scootaloo's mother. She eyed Rainbow like a hawk ready for dinner.

Rainbow gulped and chuckled nervously, before shaking herself and standing up straight. She looked back at Scootaloo, who was hiding behind her hind leg, shrunken under her parents gaze. She put on the best, most polite smile she could manage and turned to the angry parents, “Hi there, uh... Scootaloo's parents! Your daughter was out with me while I taught her how to strengthen her wings so she could fly. She was safe and in good...” she stopped as she noticed the father's narrowing, razor-sharp eyes.

“You're telling me that you took my daughter,” he glanced at his wife a moment before turning back to Rainbow, teeth now bare in a snarl, “Our daughter... To go teach her how to fly in the middle of the night?”

“But...” Rainbow protested.

“And!” the father shouted, “You don't even bother to tell me or my poor wife about it? She has been worried sick. And I've been out at least three times looking for Scootaloo. Where were you two this whole time?”

“Well, we were...” Rainbow tried to answer.

“It doesn't even matter,” the mother joined in, looking at Rainbow Dash, “You were very irresponsible for keeping her out so late. You should be ashamed of yourself! Scootaloo? Come inside, now.”

Scootaloo inched passed her idol and turned to her slowly, her head lowered, “Sorry, Rainbow Dash..”

“Wait,” the father asked, “You're Rainbow Dash?”

Rainbow's smile, which had previously deteriorated, came back across her face, “The one and only!”

He nodded his head once, his eyes still narrowed in on her, “Yes, I should of figured as much...” he mumbled, “We've heard Scootaloo talk a lot about you. She really admires you.”

“Yes,” the mother joined in, “And perhaps we should talk to her about her choice of 'idols.'”

Rainbow's face went blank, “But I..”

“No arguing!” the fuming mother exclaimed, “You are clearly a bad influence on her, keeping her out this late...” she finished and nodded to the father.

Rainbow looked at Scootaloo, who wore apologetic eyes, before the door slammed shut in her face. She flinched and blinked a few times before sighing, “That didn't turn out quite the way I thought it would...”

She walked a few steps away from the door. Looking back at it one more time, she shrugged and flew off in the direction of her home.

The wind whipped against her face as she flew, her eyes stinging from the sharp, cool air. She shook her head and continued on.

A voice echoed in the near-silent night from the the streets below her. She slowed down and scanned the ground, squinting at the shadows to spot the source of the voice. Another voice replied to the first in a whisper. Rainbow flew down a little closer to get a better look, Who is that? Isn't there enough ponies out tonight?

She spotted the source of the two voices and leaned forward in an attempt to identify them. A gust blew strongly from behind her, causing her to lose balance. She tried to compensate for the added pressure against her, and heard a small snapping sound, followed by a lightening around her neck. Her eyes went wide as she felt for the strap of her shoulder bag. It was gone!

She looked below and gasped as she spotted the bag tumbling down to the ground, straight for the shadowed figures. “Oh, no!” she said in a whispered shout, and flew after the falling bag of books.

The figures grew larger in shape, just as the bag grew smaller. She sped up in an attempt to catch them. The bundle grew slowly larger in size, but the figures grew much faster. Not going to make it! she thought as the books targeted the smaller of the two shadows.

She stopped as the books struck their target, earning a loud “Ouch!” from it. She blinked at the voice; it sounded very familiar... It was Spike! Wait... if he's Spike, then that means that... She heard the other voice call out, asking if Spike was alright. ...the other is Twilight? What the hay are they doing out here?

After checking on the state of Spike, Twilight bent down to look at the fallen objects. She illuminated the ground with magic from her horn and saw two books beside an open, broken-strapped bag, “Wait... Daring Do and the Sea Serpent Shrine?” she read the other one, “History of the Tribes: Origins?” she looked up and saw Rainbow Dash flying down to meet her and Spike, “Rainbow? What are you doing out here this late?”

Rainbow landed, chuckling to herself, and quickly scooped the books up into the bag. She tied the loose ends of the strap together and laid the bag neatly at her hooves, “Uh, sorry about that, guys... Was kinda heading home, then the strap on that bag of yours broke... Now I'm here... At least the books are okay!”

“Yeah, because they had something soft to land on,” Spike said, rubbing his head.

“That still doesn't answer why you're out here now,” Twilight said, “You left the library an hour ago. You should be home now.”

Rainbow sighed, “Well... I heard Scootaloo and went to see why she was out. I took her home and got yelled at by her parents; they weren't very grateful... So I started to go home before I heard you two. The strap on that bag snapped and fell off of me and landed on Spike. So now I'm here...” She crossed her hooves and looked at Twilight, “So, why are you out? It seems a little bit late for a joy-walk.”

Twilight chuckled lightly at that, “Well, we're heading to the train station to see if we can ask for a ride to Canterlot.”

Rainbow looked at her and blinked, “Isn't it a weird time to catch a train to Canterlot? Why not go tomorrow? Ya know, when it's light out?”

“That's what I was telling her, but she just insisted we go tonight...” Spike stated.

“Spike, we've talked about this. The princess said to come at our earliest convenience...”

Spike groaned, “It may be your earliest convenience, but I'm normally asleep at this time of night... Face it, Twilight. You're tired, and I'm tired... Why couldn't we just sleep and wake up early tomorrow to catch the first train?”

Twilight sighed, “Because we can ride the train through the night, get some rest while on it, and be at the castle bright and early tomorrow morning to see the princess. Now come on, we need to go.”

Spike sighed and followed the now-moving purple pony, and Rainbow followed slowly behind them, flying a few feet off the ground.

Rainbow caught up, “So, uh... What's so important that's forcing you to go to Canterlot tonight?”

“Princess Celestia requested my presence there,” Twilight said, still concentrating on the road ahead.

“I still don't think she meant tonight...” Spike complained again.

“Spike,” Twilight said sternly, “Please, read that letter for me again.”

Spike sighed and brought out the letter. He cleared his throat,

“Dear Twilight Sparkle,

I have matters in which to discuss with you personally.

I hereby request your attendance at the castle here in Canterlot when you have time to spare.

I will speak to you more about the reasons for your visit when you arrive.

Please, come at your earliest convenience.

Signed, Princess Celestia”

Twilight turned her head to look at Spike, “You see? 'Earliest convenience.' She has never said that before in any of her former letters. Something's wrong, and I must do my part to be there to help her in any way I can.”

Spike sighed and hung his head in defeat, “But, I'm so tired...”

Twilight sighed and stopped in her tracks, lowering herself down for Spike, “Here, hop up,” she said gently to him, “I know you're tired and need to sleep. You are a baby dragon, after all. You'll be able to get a good night's sleep when we're on the train to Canterlot... But for now, go ahead and rest on my back.” Spike smiled at the invite and obliged.

The two began moving again, and Rainbow followed. Twilight looked over her shoulder, “Where are you going?”

Rainbow sped up to be beside her friend, “I can't just let you two go off to Canterlot alone. I'm going with you!”

Twilight raised an eyebrow, “Are you sure you want to?”

Rainbow laughed, “Sure, why not? It'll be fun,” she flew out in front of Twilight, facing her and traveling backwards, “Besides! How could I pass up an opportunity to talk to the Wonderbolts again?”

Twilight smiled, “Thank you, Rainbow. With Spike sleeping here, I could probably use the added company.”

“Don't mention it!” Rainbow answered with a smile.

A few seconds passed in silence; both ponies traveling in the darkness of the night. The only sounds were that of the wind blowing through the trees, and Spike's snoring as he slept on Twilight's back.

“So,” Rainbow began, breaking the silence, “I didn't know trains took off at night.”

Twilight turned to her with a smile, “Oh, they don't.”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow at her, “Then... how do you plan on getting to Canterlot?”

Twilight's smile turned into a proud one as she spoke, “The princess's letter will be our ticket. They won't hinder the progress of royalty, or, in this case, their subjects.”

All went quiet again after that. Rainbow continued to travel alongside her friend as she thought about events from that day; it had been fairly eventful. She had spent the early hours of the day and part of the afternoon trying to teach Fluttershy how to control herself at faster speeds, and giving her advice to strengthen her wings so she wouldn't tire out after so much use, That ended well... She had helped clean up the mess in Twilight's library home from Fluttershy's crash landing, That was more work than I thought it would be... She looked at Twilight, who was smiling to herself, She has WAY too many books... After all of that cleanup, she had left and... She gasped, Tank! “Hey, I have to go handle some stuff real quick. I'll catch up!” she said as she checked to see how well her shoulder bag would hold up. Satisfied, she took off back toward town.

Twilight blinked as she watched Rainbow Dash fly off, “Um, that was random,” she looked ahead at the train station in the distance and sighed, “Well... so much for company.”

She continued on her way.

Twilight sat on the ground against the cold, stone walls of the train station. The wind had gotten colder, now, and she shivered slightly at its touch. Spike lay against the wall beside her, snoring as he slept, seemingly unaffected by the cold air.

She looked around at the passing ponies as they prepared the train for departure, some still yawning from having been recently woken up. A few threw annoyed glances at her as they walked by. She didn't think anything of it as she, herself, yawned as sleep tried to welcome her. She shook her head to rid it of sleep's embrace and looked on as ponies carried things onto boxcars at the end of the train. She concentrated on the objects; they looked like wooden crates.

Uninterested, she turned her head to the sky to stargaze. The different constellations sparkled in her eyes. She knew all of them, and she would normally study them for hours; they were so fascinating to her, after all. But something bothered her. What is wrong that would have the princess asking for me to come to Canterlot at my 'earliest convenience?' Whatever it is... She couldn't tell me in the letter.

She shook her thoughts away and looked at the moon, now nearing the middle of the sky. She had been there for a hour already, and it was nearing midnight. She looked toward town and spotted nothing in the sky. Not even a silhouette of her winged friend, I guess she decided not to come... I understand, it is late anyway.. She probably saw her bed and went straight to sleep. She did say she had been giving flying lessons for several hours today, so she was probably very tired. She looked over at the sleeping dragon beside her and sighed, Poor Spike; he's tired, too. Maybe we should of waited until morning to go...

“Miss?”

Twilight caught herself as her head began to fall, “Huh? What happened?” she looked up to see a pony with a conductor's uniform on. Stitched on the front of his uniform was what was presumably his name. Twilight squinted her eyes in the dark to read it, “Oh, I'm sorry Mr... Boxcar?”

Mr. Boxcar grunted, “You were sleeping, I think, Miss Twilight.”

Twilight stood up and laughed softly, “Sleeping? Oh, no, I was just... thinking.”

Mr. Boxcar stared at her blankly, a small grin forming on his face, “Miss Twilight, most ponies I know don't snore while they think.”

Twilight's eyes went wide and her cheeks warmed, “S-snoring? I don't snore, Mr. Boxcar... sir.”

As if on cue, Spike snored loudly, gaining a look from both ponies. Mr. Boxcar smirked before turning back to Twilight, his face now carrying seriousness, “In any case, the train will be ready for departure in five minutes. Will you, or your friend, be ready to leave? I'd really prefer if there were no delay. Most of my employees are tired enough as is.”

“Yes, sir!” Twilight nearly shouted happily, before lowering her voice when ponies looked at her strangely, “Um, we'll be ready, sir!”

“Good,” the conductor said, “Even if you are the personal student to Princess Celestia, we won't wait for you. We have deliveries that we were gonna deliver tomorrow, but we'll handle that tonight, since we're all awake now.”

Twilight nodded her understanding, “Yes, sir. We'll be ready. Thank you, sir, for all the work that you, and your team, are doing for us.”

Mr. Boxcar stifled a yawn, “Yeah, yeah... Just remember that we won't hesitate to leave you behind if you're not ready,” with a yawn, he walked off toward the train to help with crates.

Twilight scanned the sky again for Rainbow and spotted nopony. She sighed. She had actually hoped that Rainbow would come, after her initial offer. It really would've been nice to talk to somepony, other than a sleeping, snoring, baby dragon, who she didn't think would be awake to talk to for awhile anyway. She looked at the sleeping Spike against the wall and shook her head with a small smile, Yup, he'll be tough to wake up... Oh well.

She walked over to Spike and nudged him gently on his shoulder, “Spike? You need to get up one more time, the train's about to leave,” he didn't budge, so she tried again, “Spike... Come on, we have to go,” he pushed her away, mumbling something softly, Did he just call me mommy? She rolled her eyes and nudged him again, this time slightly harder, “Spike, wake up!”

Spike's eyes darted open as he shot up, away from the wall, “Huh? What?” he looked at Twilight and groaned, “Twilight, can I just have fifteen more minutes?”

The conductor called out, “Miss Twilight, we're ready to depart! Hurry up, if you would!”

Twilight shook her head, “No, Spike, it's time to go. You can have fifteen more minutes plus several hours more on the train.”

Spike reluctantly stood up and stretched, “Well... That sounds more like it! Maybe they'll have comfortable seats to sleep on,” he walked past Twilight, toward the train. Twilight followed.

At the door, Twilight scanned the sky one more time for a glimpse of Rainbow Dash... and spotted her in the distance. She was just a tiny black speck against the dark-blue, moon-lit sky. Well, she thought it was her, at least..

“All aboard, Miss Twilight,” Mr. Boxcar said from inside the train, “We're not staying here all night for you.”

Twilight looked at him, “But, sir, my friend is coming. She'll be here really soon,” she pointed at the growing speck in the distance; the conductor stuck his head out to see.

He shrugged, “Is she here right now?”

Twilight sunk her head, “No...”

“Then she'll just have to catch up, because we're leaving now. Now, all aboard that's going aboard!”

Twilight thought about protesting again, but when she looked back up to face Mr. Boxcar, he looked at her with tired, annoyed eyes, “Okay...”

She took the steps up into the train and turned around to face the still-open door, Maybe she'll get here before the door... Twilight's thoughts were cut off as the door slid shut, ...closes. Well, so much for that hope.

She walked down the aisle of the passenger car and spotted Spike laying comfortably on one of the cushioned seats. She took a seat across the aisle from him and sat at the window. She felt the train vibrate as it started moving. She sat back against the seat and closed her eyes to welcome sleep.

A minute passed; Twilight was nearly asleep when a loud thump sounded on the roof of the car. She jumped at the sound and glanced at Spike. He slept as if he hadn't heard a thing, which he probably hadn't. Twilight looked at the ceiling of the car; no visible indications of impact were in sight. She heard a few smaller thumps leading down the car's roof until it reached the other end. Twilight blinked, What was that?

She watched the other end of the car from behind her seat, waiting for something to happen. The door opened up, and Rainbow Dash walked in, breathing heavier than normal. She walked down the aisle to where Twilight was seated and sat down beside her. She breathed an exhausted breath, “The train's faster than I remember...”

Twilight laughed, “Where have you been? I didn't think you were going to make it.”

Rainbow shrugged, “Well, I told Tank to go home before I found Scootaloo. I forgot that I still needed to get his flight gear off so he could sleep... He'd be kinda angry with me if I forgot,” she laughed, “Besides, I decided to pick up an actual saddlebag to put my book in, so I could read it on the trip,” she showed Twilight the bag hanging off her back, "Easier to manage than that bag you gave me."

“Well, it was all I had at the time, but... Wait, 'book?' Not books?” Twilight asked with a raised eyebrow.

Rainbow grinned, “Yup! The only book I really need for the road. I dropped the other one off,” she reached into her saddlebag and pulled out said book. She gasped, “What?!”

Twilight read the title, “History of the Tribes: Origins,” she smiled widely, “I knew you'd like it!”

“But... But... I... This...” Rainbow stuttered as she looked at the book.

Twilight continued to observe it, having taken it from her friend with her magic, “But for you to choose this over the Daring Do novel? Wow! This must really be a good read!”

Rainbow snatched the book away and tossed it into the bag, “That is not what I meant to bring!” she pouted and placed the bag in the aisle.

Twilight sighed, “You should give it a chance, Rainbow. You never know if you'd like it. Just read a few chapters,” she got up and wiggled her way past her friend, and hopped in the seat in front of her, “I'm going to get some sleep, I think. It's a shame they don't have any bunk cars on this train...”

Rainbow watched as Twilight's head disappeared behind the front seat, “Well, might as well go to sleep also...” she laid down in the seat and closed her eyes. She whispered, “I really wanted to know what happened to Daring Do after she fell into that bottomless pit...”

She sighed and fell asleep.