Magic Song

CHAPTER ELEVEN: On The Road

“All aboard!”

The whistle screeched, then the train let out a puff of smoke and began to roll off down the track. Corey watched it go. It had been an interesting two days, but he’d been glad to leave the Friendship Express. For one thing, what kind of a name was the Friendship Express? And for another, he’d barely seen Laney during the entire trip.

Sure, he knew she was starved for girl time. Peaceville girls barely talked about anything but their favorite bands, boys, their clothes and hair, and stupid movies made by stupid movie stars like Cherry Grapestain. But Laney was his best friend! He missed her.

Could it be he was jealous?

Corey shook the thought off. Kon was waving him over to join the group, and he didn’t want to miss a single thing.

As he approached, Twilight unfurled another giant map, this one of the city of Las Pegasus. “So we’re here…at the train station,” she said, pointing with a hoof at a small red square at the edge of the scroll. “And Zecora says the best town exit for our purposes is…here.” She moved her hoof to a shiny-looking image of a fence.

“The Golden Gate! Oh, Zecora, don’t tell me we’re going through Applewood!” Rarity gushed, her eyes growing wide. “It’s another town with a night life! Why, before I wanted to be a dressmaker, I wanted to be a movie star! All the great theaters and films in Equestria are made here…”

“Almost as good as Bridleway,” Twilight agreed.

“The biggest, bestest performance district in the whole wide world!” Pinkie crowed, doing an incredible twirl that would have left Corey dizzy for a month.

“Zecora, can we have some time to explore the city before we leave? Please please pleeeease?” The white unicorn leapt forward and grabbed Zecora’s forelegs, staring up at her like a starving child. Zecora smiled, but gestured to Grojband.

“Miss Rarity, that all depends. Can you do that and still help your friends?”

Rarity groaned, but got up, carefully dusting herself off. “Well, I suppose when you put it that way…”

The ponies wound through the narrow streets, following Twilight, who had the map, and Zecora, who seemed to know the city very well. Corey walked with Kin and Kon, who stared in awe at every building they passed, albeit for very different reasons.

“Wow! Look at the structure of that one! It’s a feat of technological genius! And they don’t even have hands…” Kin marveled.

“I wonder if that one’s a restaurant,” Kon wondered.

Corey flung a foreleg over his large friend's back. “I feel you, bro. We haven’t eaten since breakfast.”

“Thirty minutes ago,” Laney called from in front of them.

“I know!” Kon yelled back. “It’s torture!”

Rainbow Dash, who’d been walking with Applejack and Fluttershy, flew back to where Corey, Kin, and Kon were. “I need to keep an eye on you,” she said, landing and giving Corey a suspicious glance. “Can’t have any of you aliens sneaking off to tell the mothership, now can we?”

“Someone’s been reading too many comic books,” Corey whispered to the short Earth pony next to him.

“Not necessarily,” Kin whispered back. “We’ve dealt with aliens before and they were pretty hostile.”

“True.”

“IS THAT WHO I THINK IT IS?”

Rarity had suddenly made a huge bid for freedom, and Fluttershy, Zecora, and Laney were holding her by the tail. “Don’t…even think…about it!” the yellow Pegasus squeaked.

“It’s Gentle Forest, the MOST up-and-coming female star in Applewood! You wouldn’t let me pass up my one chance to meet her!” Rarity pleaded. “Careful with my tail!”

“We’ve got more important things to worry about right now!” Applejack grabbed Rarity’s head, swiveling it toward Grojband. “Eye on the prize, sugar cube.”

Rarity stopped struggling, and gulped as her eyes met Corey’s. “Eye on the prize.”

For some reason, Corey felt extremely tingly, right down to his hooves. He cocked his head, smiling at the white mare. No one moved, for another awkward second.

Then Laney appeared on Corey’s right and pushed him out of Rarity’s gaze with her head. “Awesome! Why don’t we keep walking that way? Looks good to me,” the little unicorn said cheerfully. Well – not exactly cheerfully; Corey could almost hear a touch of malice underneath the wide smile spread over Lanes’s face.

But it didn’t matter, because a moment later it was gone, and they were off down the pony-filled street again. Through Applewood, Pinkie and Rainbow Dash practically had to tie Rarity up and drag her along behind them so she wouldn’t run off into the winding maze of streets and theaters, which were tempting Corey himself. I wonder what it’d be like to get a gig at a place like this, he wondered as they passed a blindingly lit marquee advertising NOW HIRING: EXTRAS NEEDED FOR SUNSET, MOONRISE!

Thinking of gigs made him think of Peaceville, and he let out an unconscious sigh. Sure, he liked Equestria, but he was feeling a little homesick, too. He turned to Laney, who was still trotting at his side, and blurted, “Lanes, how do you think Kate and Allie are doing?”

Laney blinked at her friend, confused. “Kate and…”

“Kate and Allie. Our adorable groupies? How do you think they’re doing? They’ve gone concertless for about three days now.” Corey shook his head. “And what about Trina and Mina and Nick? They’re still somewhere in Equestria! Once we figure out how these zebras can help us, we should talk to Twilight about looking for them, too.”

Laney scoffed. "Trina. One of the nice things about this place is that we haven't had her bothering us every twenty minutes."

"True," Corey said, pulling his friend back until they were out of the group's earshot. "But if we're ever gonna get home, what will we do if she's not around? Think about it - no more lyrics for anything, ever."

The little mare gasped. "You're right! I hadn't thought of that."

"And if Nick's not around, what can we bother her for lyrics about? Face it, Lanes, they're just as important to the band as we are, in a really weird way."

"I guess you have a point," Laney conceded.

Corey didn't want to explain to Laney, but he'd always had mixed feeling about his sister. Even though he annoyed her - a lot - and even though she was usually a huge jerk to him and his friends, Corey had a hard time hating her. She was family, darnit, and somewhere under her stupid image, the old version of her that had played with him when they were kids was still there.

He was also kind of worried that all the nice ponies would drive her even further off the edge.

He hadn't noticed how lost in thought he was until Laney shook his shoulder with the force of a max-volume amp. "Corey! Earth to frontman!"

“You two! C’mon!”

Both band members started and looked ahead, where the group had wandered ever farther ahead - except for Applejack, who was waiting by a streetlight for the pair of unicorns. “Some ponies are gonna start to wonder what in th’ hay you’re doin’. Now let’s get a move on.”

The sun was only halfway across the sky when the band of friends made it to the Golden Gate. Corey had to squint to look at it through all the glitz and sparkles; even the buildings surrounding the Gate were draped attractively in shimmering gold leaf.

“This is where all the really famous stars live,” Rarity said excitedly. “I bet one of these mansions belongs to Gentle Forest!”

“Oh, Rarity, I wish we could stay for you! Maybe on the way back?” Fluttershy fiddled with a strap on her saddlebag.

The unicorn swooned. “You’re telling me! I could book so many fashion orders with all of the…celebrities…”

“This is really not the best time to lose focus,” Twilight said, though Corey could tell she was amused by Rarity's dramatic display. “Once we get out of the city, we’re going to have to make good time if we’re going to get out of Equestria tonight. I don’t expect we’ll make a stop to sleep until we get there.”

“WHAT?” Rainbow Dash, Kin, and Kon all exclaimed at the same time.

“I am risking my life to take you to my home. Do you wish to turn back? We don’t have to take this road,” Zecora said, calmly looking at the ponies before her.

“We can’t turn back now! We have to get home!” Laney said stonily, with a glare in Kin and Kon's direction.

“Yeah, and we’re a few days behind as it is. If we don’t hurry up, our week’ll be over quicker ‘n a seed to weeds, and Twilight’ll be in even more unnecessary trouble!” Applejack said, brushing cobblestone dust off the brim of her Stetson. “Ah don’t know about y’all, but Ah’m stickin’ with Twi and the band.”

“Me too!” Pinkie sang joyfully.

Fluttershy nodded her head. “We owe it to them.”

Corey smiled at the show of the support from his new friends, feeling his chest swell with pride. “Well, what are we waiting for?" he exclaimed, breaking into a run. "We have a zebra tribe to find!”

The dusty San Palomino desert slowly segued into the drier and more cracked Samarea. Corey couldn’t believe how large the arid landscapes were, going on for miles and miles before small oases interrupted the terrain. Sometimes there were cacti, but they weren’t plentiful. Applejack said there were more of them across the Macintosh Hills. “Lots of Apple Family out there,” she remarked to Corey. “’Specially in Appleloosa.”

The sun was sinking fast, and soon it would be dark, but Twilight was determined to keep the group going. “It’s going to get cold, so I hope you all brought something to help stay warm,” she said during their latest water break, yanking a thick woolen scarf out of her saddlebag.

“Silly Twilight! It’s the desert. It’s always warm!” Pinkie giggled, rolling in the sand.

“Actually, the desert gets freezing during the night,” Rainbow Dash said, flapping imperiously into the air. “In ‘Daring Do and the Search for the Raven’s Eye,’ Daring has to spend weeks in the desert excavating the ancient Egyponian tombs, and has to bundle up at night because temperatures drop below zero.”

“Wow,” Fluttershy said to Laney, in awe. “I never would have guessed.”

“You’re all lucky I brought so many scarves, then.” Rarity produced a number of brightly patterned fabrics out of her bags. “Take one! I designed the majority of these myself. Sorry, boys, they’re not the most masculine, but I suppose the point is to keep warm.”

Corey chose a soft scarf striped in blue and green and tied it around his neck. “Eh, they’re not that bad.” He picked through the pile until he'd found one with exceptionally fluffy tassels and trotted over to Zecora. “Need one?”

“Thank you for your generosity, but I have brought my own, you see?” Zecora showed him the thin swatches of cloth she had brought from her home, one of which she wrapped around her head. “It helps when traveling in the night, and keeps out sand and scorpion bites.”

“S-scorpions?” Laney jumped, dancing about on her hooves. It seemed like she was too scared to touch the ground. “Ack! Those hurt!”

“She should know,” Corey remarked, turning to Kin and Kon. “Remember when I still had Tex and Ralph? And Laney –”

“– reached into the tank and tried to hold Ralph,” Kin continued.

“And she got stung in the face!” Kon finished.

“I had to wear a patch for three weeks,” Laney said nervously, still skipping over the sand. “All because Core dared me to touch one of his pet scorpions.”

“Hey, you took the dare,” Corey laughed, pulling the fluffy scarf over his ears.

“I think the best thing to do out here in the desert is to take buddies, so that if we get lost, we don’t get lost alone,” Twilight said thickly. She had two scarves and one of Zecora’s patterned fabrics covering her muzzle. “There’s going to be one odd-numbered group, but that’s okay. Who wants to pair up?”

Rainbow Dash stuck her hoof up high in the air. “A Ponyville pony needs to be with each member of Grojband,” she announced, voice muffled behind a red scarf, “so they can’t run off or anything. I still think they could be dangerous.”

“Ah don’t think they’re goin’ to run off anywhere, but that’s still a good idea, since they ain’t Equestrian in th’ first place,” said Applejack as she placed her hat back on over an appropriately apple-embroidered headwrap.

“So why don’t you go with Kon, Pinkie Pie?” Twilight suggested. “You two seem to be close friends anyway.”

“You can say that again!” Pinkie cheered, wrapping a huge hug around the robust Earth pony.

“I’ll go with Fluttershy,” Laney volunteered.

“And I with Corey. I have some questions I want to ask him about his hometown,” Rarity said, ignoring the evil-eye death glare Laney threw her way.

“Perfect! I’ll go with Kin, and Zecora can walk with Rainbow Dash and Applejack. That way we’re all accounted for.” Twilight blinked. “Uh, is that okay with everypony?”

“Yeah, I guess so.” Corey looked at Laney, Kin, and Kon, who nodded their agreement. “We’d better hurry.”

“This time of year, the camp is past the desert’s edge. We must run fast,” Zecora warned.

“That ain’t gonna be a problem, if we keep our heads turned toward the goal.” Applejack looked pointedly at Rarity between her scarves, then pointed a forehoof towards the stars that had begun to twinkle in the southern sky. “Zecora, is there anythin’ we can keep an eye out for? So we know when we’re gettin’ close?”

“Watch for flickering campfire light. The tribe will be celebrating on this night.”

“What will they be celebrating exactly?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Tonight is the eve of the Spirit Dance, a coming of age ritual trance,” the zebra explained, re-hitching herself to her wagon. “Young zebras perform a dance for all, then receive their cutie marks, big and small.”

“And that’s different than what happens in Equestria,” Corey guessed. He could already feel the chill from the evening air through his exposed fur, and was glad Rarity had broken out the scarves.

“We should not be lingering here. Our water is low and the night is near,” Zecora said, nodding to Rainbow Dash and Applejack. “We will go ahead to prepare the way. Follow our tracks and do not stray!”

As groups repacked their saddlebags and began trailing after the wagon in twos, Rarity walked up to Corey and tugged the fluffy scarf over his beanie with her magic. He felt her breath on his shoulder as she tied the tassels firmly together. “We have a lot to talk about, darling,” she said, smiling widely. “Tell me more about this Peaceville place.”

Trixie concentrated, letting a thin stream of magical energy slip out of her horn and collect on the pebble in front of her. She then levitated it to eye level, held it for a moment, and set it gently back down on the forest floor.

“Now you try. More power this time.”

The pink unicorn, Trina, closed her eyes, but almost immediately opened them again. “Ugh! This is so hard. I don’t think I can do it.”

“You aren’t trying!” Trixie stamped her hoof, leaving a circular imprint in the mist-dampened dirt. “Trixie has been showing you this simple spell for hours and you haven’t gotten the pebble in the air once! If you don’t work your heart out, it will never happen. Understand?”

Mina, who was watching from the side of the clearing, nodded vigorously. “You can do it, Trina!” she shouted.

“Again. You will keep trying until the pebble reaches your eye level. And if you stop trying…” the blue mare let a threatening grin split her face. “Trixie will know.”

Trixie left the otherworlders with their ridiculous pebble and pushed aside a tree branch, exposing a small tarnished cage flanked by Snips and Snails. Inside was a purple and green dragon, spitting mad, his eyes burning with hatred at the mare who stood in front of him. “Trixie.”

“Hello, dragonling.” Trixie straightened the cage and poked Snips in the stomach. “Been keeping busy?”

“Not much to do in a cage.” Spike turned away, keeping his eyes averted from his unicorn guards. “What do you want now? Need me to write another letter for you?”

“Not quite yet.” Trixie spun the cage so that the dragon faced her again - she needed him to see her. She needed to break his spirit. "What Trixie needs to do is make a few adjustments to your letters’ destination.”