Chapter 2: Train Ride

The day was quiet at the small train station, in the outskirts of Manenich. A few ponies wondered around the single machine stationed there. This train was one of the few to travel this far north, only losing to the ones heading towards the Crystal Empire. They were getting ready to leave, only waiting for the final thumbs up (hoofs up?) from the rest of the crew.

This calmness was broken by two rapidly approaching figures. The first was small and orange, a pegasus mare called Habeas Corpus. The second was a tall man, called Luiz. Many of the ponies around stopped what they were doing, giving confused looks at the odd pair, as they charged into the station.

“Come on, Luiz! Hurry up!” The pegasus shouted at the man behind her. Sweat dripped down her body as she struggled to keep going. The weight of the saddlebags on her back proving to be an issue. Her once beautiful and carefully adjusted suit now hang loosely on her body. “This is the last train, we gotta move!”

“I know, I’m coming!” Luiz answered. The man was in a similar state. The two of them quickly approached the entrance of the passenger cart. The earth pony standing close to it wisely stepped aside, allowing the pair to easily drop their tickets with him and head inside. Just as Luiz and Habeas went in, the train began to move.

Finding their empty seats, they sat down, taking deep breaths and trying to calm down. The train soon left the city, its buildings giving way to open fields and forests. “Wow, that wasn’t fun…” The man said, allowing his body to slide a little in his seat. His winged companion did the same, being relieved, as she got comfortable.

Giving him a small glance, she replied, “Yea, I know, at least we got here in time”. She closed her eyes a little, hoping to recover from the exhaustion. “We should arrive at Trottingham in little more than a day,” she said.

“Great, that leaves almost no time to prepare…” Luiz commented. “We’ll need to look into this case right away”.

“I guess… can we at least rest for a while? We can begin after lunch”.

“I suppose we can, we are in no shape to do this properly”.

-x-

Therefore, the pair rested, enjoying every precious second. Soon, the time for a good meal came. They both smiled at the sight of the food carts coming. This train even had some meat on the menu, a rare thing in a place like Equestria. They eagerly dig into their respective plates.

“Jesus Christ, this thing is wonderful,” Luiz commented. One aspect he really liked about Equestria was the food. Most of what he had eaten was tasty and cheap. This meal was no exception. “How long has it been since we ate a proper meal?”

“No idea,” The pegasus replied between bites. Because of the nature of their job, the two of them rarely had enough time for a good meal. Usually, they relied on junk food, coffee and energy bars to keep going, not exactly an ideal diet. “Way too long”.

“So, what’s the case now?” The man asked.

“A supermarket company wants to set up a store in the city,” The mare replied, taking the final bites of her food. “We’re supposed to take care of the legal stuff”.

That information brought joy to Luiz. Dealing with private-public relations such as this (which can be summarized in writing property documentation, plus some tax and trade agreements) is a lot easier then what he’s used to. “Thank god, I was afraid it was going to be another of those weird herd cases”.

Habeas frowned at that. “Hey, herds aren’t weird”.

“Yes they are,” The man replied. “Have you ever been part of one?”

“A-Actually yes…” The mare blushed a little at that.

“Really? With who?”

“A marefriend, a few years ago,” She explained. “She wanted to hook up with a stallion, so we formed a small herd”.

“And you don’t think that was even a little weird?”

“Well… no, that’s pretty common here in Equestria”.

The two of them spend the next minutes in silence. Occasionally, they would look outside, watching the moving landscape. Soon, they got bored. It didn’t took long before they both closed their eyes and drifted away.

-x-

A small bump woke Luiz. He slowly opened his eyes, his senses coming back to him as he tried to make sense of things. He felt something heavy resting against his left shoulder. It was Habeas Corpus. Her entire body was laid against him, unmoving. “Must have fallen asleep,” He thought to himself. Shifting his vision to the window, he became aware of the time. It was night already, the moon shining high in the sky.

Luiz attempted to wake the mare. He gently pushed her body with his free hand. Soon, the pegasus opened her eyes. “What?” she said in a confused tone, as her ears moved a little. “What’s going on?”

“We fell asleep, Habeas,” The man replied. “Come on, we should go to our cabins”.

The two of them clumsily moved away from their seats, taking their bags and heading to their respective cabins. The train was quiet, for most of the other passengers and crew were already sleeping. Five minutes of search later, they found their designed quarters.

“Good night, Habeas…” The man said as he entered his room.

“Good night, Luiz,” The pegasus replied.

Both of them wasted no time in storing their stuff and practically jumping into their beds. They eagerly embraced darkness. “Tomorrow… more work” Luiz thought to himself. “I want a raise…”

-x-

The next morning was pretty quiet. They both woke up from their slumber and went eat breakfast. They didn’t spoke much, but it was clear their mood had improved greatly. There’s nothing like a good night of sleep followed by a good meal.

“So, Habeas,” Luiz said, lowering his newspaper a little. “Did that latter contained any specific information about what kinds of deals are being made?” The man looked forward to get this job done. What better time to start then now?

Across the table, the pegasus frowned a bit. “Actually, no, the latter was pretty vague about that…” She answered. That was something he was afraid of; they had a short deadline and little information to begin writing.

“Guess we’ll have to wait until we reach the city to get the job done,” He commented.

“We could start by writing the most basic documents”.

“I suppose we can; there isn’t much else to do, anyway”.

They proceeded to do just that, right after they finished their coffees. Time flew by as they worked, either by writing new pages or by consulting books on Equestrian law. A few hours later, however, they distracted themselves with a sudden change in the landscape. The open fields and forests gave way to farms and small villages.

“We must be close to the city,” Habeas guessed. True to that, the train soon approached their destination. Trottingham was, mostly, a typical medieval town, very similar to ponyville but much larger. In the western part of the city, a castle rested on top of a hill. This one was not similar to the other in the capital, but instead to the ones in Europe.

Luiz and Habeas both felt happy to be arriving there. However, they were also weary of the incoming workload ahead of them. Well, it’s not as if they aren’t used to it.

Author's Note

Well, here's the next chapter. I'm already making some plans on how this story should go. If you have any suggestions or questions, leave a comment. As always, thank you all for reading my story.

(I'm currently without an editor or pre-reader, if anyone is interested, PM me)