Starting Up

Bustling, all around me, these ponies are insufferable, with their long bodies it is very easy to get stuck in a crowd of them. Well, that's not quite true, I’m stuck in the middle of a clear space, surrounded by guards since the Princess didn’t want me to be accosted on my way to a train. It still doesn’t make me feel any better, seeing a crowd from a palace window was alright, but actually being down here, seeing them move around as they do makes me very slightly squeamish. Just something I’ll have to get used to, I guess.

I best elaborate on that train I mentioned, you see I’m being sent to some backwater town called Ponyville, where if the Princess is correct I will meet a guide at the local Library, Golden-Oaks Library, who is apparently quite good at being a guide, an expert in history or social conventions I presume. When I asked how I’d recognise this mystery guide, Celestia simply described her as a lavender mare with a starburst for a cutie mark. Although, she also sent a letter using some kind of combustible flame which is a rather interesting application of magic.

To get back to the present, the train station is now in sight, a small, ornate building on the edge of town which could most likely only hold one train at a time. Whether this means that all the towns connected by train are all on the same line or if they merely converge at Canterlot, I do not know. Going through the wood double doors, I was met with a bench which spanned the length cutting off near the functional end of the area. This area contained a ticket booth and a board with the train timetable, with it’s own map of the route. The room was fairly full, ponies waiting and even I even saw a new species which looked to be leaning more towards the avian side of the equation, given that it had a beak and a tail.

One of the guards, strolled up to the ticket booth, probably the to get a pre-arranged ticket, while I checked the timetable to see when we would be leaving. This question was answered for me as I heard a shrill whistle and a ticket was magically thrust into my hands. I proceeded out onto the platform where I could see the train, the guards left at this point. The train itself was a wonderful example of a steam train, with steel trimmings and wooden carriages.

The crown spared the expense and I was put in the second class carriages, where I found a empty cart(?), opened it up and sat down. It was not long before I was joined by several others, all taking their seats. There was the inevitable staring and uncomfortable glances at me, which was to be expected, due to me being a new species to them. They settled down after we set off and while I sat in silence, they were not and I couldn’t help but listen in. The first one, a grey unicorn mare with a pocket watch for a cutie mark turned out to be a clockmaker, who had been specially contracted to make repairs on the Ponyville town hall clock. Apparently, it was stuck at three hours and fourteen minutes. I was actually quite interested when she started going on about what she thought the problem might be. While I won’t disclose that here, it was very interesting and it passed the time quite well, however I did notice the other two passengers getting slightly sleepy all of a sudden.

Next, was some minor noble who hoped to get a dress from some master designer named Rarity, from the sounds of it he might actually be a nice guy if it weren’t for the fact that from the little I saw in Canterlot of the nobility, they all looked quite snobbish to me. This was only confirmed after he started whining about how he would be in the first class carriages, but they were all taken, this only served to any everyone else in the carriage as the clock-maker did exchange an awkward glance as the final passenger. The only good thing about this guy was that his remark ought up this designer, Rarity, which is a topic that the other passengers were more than happy to chat about.

Apparently, she is one of the best designers in all of Equestria, but for some reason, she is only really known by those in Ponyville and in some social circles in Canterlot. Either way, that is not the only reason she is famous, allegedly, Rarity is part of an elite group called the Elements of Harmony, who have saved Equestria several times. Although, hearing that this world needed saving was quite frightening, more so if the only defense were a small group of ponies.

Moving on, the final passenger was a green pegasus, with a camera for a cutie mark, apparently she was getting a job at the Ponyville Journal, leaving the Canterlot Daily for it. Explaining why, she mentioned all sorts of disasters and events happening at Ponyville, meaning that nowadays more happened in Ponyville in a month, then happened in Canterlot in a year. For example, there was a incident where parasprites ran rampant and nearly ate the whole town. Needless to say, at the end of this I was shitting myself.

Nearing the end of our journey, they actually asked what I was, not who. Taking offence, I told scolded them quickly, before explaining that I was a human, who was going to settle in Ponyville due to having no other choice as I was sent by the crown. Being around them for a while had caused me to also give away most of reasons I was going to Ponyville.

I could tell the Journalist was about to start asking me what I meant by being sent by the crown, from his inquisitive looks when the train let out a cry and it began to roll into the station, Quickly getting up, I was the first out of the oak door and came out the exit of the train. To be met by a wooden platform, several stares and my first sight of Ponyville.