The streets of Manehatten are seldom quiet, even at midnight. Tonight, however, there was an eerie silence over the city. Most Ponies were asleep, dreaming of wonders to come. One filly was not. Moonrose was silently running around her apartment, gathering all the things she could take without somepony noticing. On the list: 2 apples, her Yankees hat, and of course, her Pony-pod. Never leave home without it, that was her motto. Now the question was, where did she put it? As quietly as she could, Moonrose walked to her room. The door creaked when it opened, not waking the sleeping pony inside. Moonrose smiled sadly as she looked at her little brother Shadesprint, sleeping so peacefully. They were only 3 minutes apart, but Moonrose felt responsible for his safety. Manehatten was a dangerous place, and Moonrose's dad was definitely not going to protect either of his foals. Doubts crowded Moonrose's head. how could she leave her brother in the hooves of that stallion? Moonrose shook her head, this was something she needed to do. Perhaps if she was gone, Dad would get better. Moonrose grabbed her Pony-pod, gently kissed her brother on the forehead and slipped out of the room. On a pink Note-It Moonrose wrote a note to her father
Dear dad, I thought a lot about what you said earlier and you're right. Perhaps it would've been better if I had never been born. I can't change the past, but I can change the future. Clearly I was not meant to be a good daughter, I apologize for being useless and such a disappointment. Therefore, I am doing you a favor, I will get out of your life. I don't know where I will go, but you can be assured that it will be far away from here. Thats what you want, right? Take care of Shady for me, Moonrose
As she wrote a single tear fell from her eyes and landed softly on the paper. Gently, Moonrose took the Note-It and stuck it to the refrigerator. A timeline of crayon drawing crowded the Yellow- white machine. Smiling sadly, Moonrose stared longley at the memories of her family. Pictures of " SuperDad" and "The World's Best Mom". Mom... the pictures began to blur as Moonrose's eyes began to burn.
"Am I doing the right thing Mom?" she whispered " Why does it feel so wrong?" There was no response, as usual. Moonrose shook her head, placed her saddlebag to her waist, and headed towards the door. Moonrose turned her head, looking back at the apartment. Her old home... a sort of determination settled over Moonrose. She would come back, someday. Till then, She was on her own. Moonrose closed the door behind her walking to the elevator. The rattling of the elevator was nothing compared to the churning of her stomach. Tiptoeing past the sleeping guard, Moonrose pushed on the heavy glass doors that lead to the somehow empty street. Moonrose gave one last look back, then stepped out onto the streets. There was no turning back now.
The road to Grand Amble Station was not a pleasant one. Moonrose found herself constantly pushed around in the suddenly busy street. To make matters worse, it was raining and Moonrose didn't have enough money to hail a cab. Bummer, she had a killer taxi whistle. Just as Moonrose thought matters couldn't get any worse, the station appeared, only a block away from her. thank Celestia Moonrose thought, as she galloped with all her might towards the majestic building. Right outside of the doors, Moonrose felt a gust of hot air from under her hooves. She was standing on top of a grate that covered the subway. At least now she was dry. Moonrose rushed through the big, glass, doors desperate to get out of the city.
As Moonrose walked toward the reception desk, she took notice of the station around her. Grand Amble Station was well, grand. It had a huge, overarching, dome- like roof painted green with golden constellations across it. In the middle of the main room, there was a four- sided clock on which read 1:35 . It had taken her more than an hour and a half to reach the station? It had seemed a lot shorter. A pony next to her caught Moonrose's eye. It was a young filly, with light periwinkle fur and a messy, dark blue mane with lighter highlights in it. The young filly looked back at Moonrose with scared, green eyes. It took a second for Moonrose to realize that she was looking at reflection of herself. She took a hoof and ran it through her mane, trying to smooth it out the tiniest bit. After shaking her mane out a bit, she got only to purchase her ticket. Guilt flowed through her as she thought of her family. Her sweet little brother, her deceased mother, and, most of all, her broken- minded father. How could've she been selfish? To leave her brother alone with that shell of a father... Stop it, stop it right now she scolded herself you don't have enough bits to take Shadey yet, and dad is always worse when you're around No really, it was for the best. Shade would come after Moonrose had gathered enough to support the both of them.
"NEXT" the mare at the ticket booth screamed, jolting Moonrose out of her thoughts. The mare had pink fur, an obviously bleached mane, and blue eyes. "where to kid?" she asked as she snapped her gum.
"umm..." Moonrose hesitated. Not knowing where to go, and accounting the amount of bit she had, Moonrose asked "what's the farthest, cheapest ticket you've got?"
"That would be Ponyville." came the annoyed response "12 bits" Moonrose handed her the bits."Ok one Ponyville ticket comin right- hey wait a sec," Moonrose gulped, now what?
"How old are ya?" the mare asked suspiciously
"T-thirteen, why?" all Moonrose could think was **please* don't let there be an age requirement!*
"Sorry kid, but you need an adult companion." the ticket master explained as she handed Moonrose back her bits.
"but, b-b-but" Moonrose could barely breath. It was almost 3am, no WAY she could get home in time to keep suspicions down. In fact, she was willing to bet that the doorman had already told security that she had gone.
suddenly, a hoof was place on her shoulder
"She's with me ma'am" said the stallion. He gave her look that said go with it.
"Alright then mister, whatever." the mare said scooping up the bits and handed Moonrose a minor's ticket. As the mare got the adult's ticket, Moonrose got a good look at the stallion who had helped her. He had light blue fur, with a slightly darker mane. His mane was styled back in a wind- blown fashion and his bright green eyes had creases underneath, from stress no doubt. The mare at the booth handed him his ticket and yelled "NEXT!"
"Thank you mister.. uh.." Moonrose stuttered, not knowing his name.
"I'm Soarin" he said
"I'm Moonrose"
"Nice to meet you kid. Where ya from?" he had a medium- low voice, with a slight Manehatten accent.
"The Broncos."
"Pretty far from home then huh?" He said with a sly grin "something tells me that you're not suppose to be here." Moonrose blushed, how had he read her so well?
"Bingo, don't worry kid, I won't tell."
Moonrose scratched the back of her head, "Heh... yeah I kinda wanted this to be a solo trip, thanks again for covering me."
"Hey no sweat, I'm heading to Ponyville to, I just lost my comrades." Soarin didn't seem fazed at all. The Moonrose talked to him, the more chill he seemed. Moonrose couldn't shake the feeling that she had seen him somewhere. From a loudspeaker up above, a garbled voice rang out. The words made absolutely no sense
"What?!? That either said 'train to ponyville, track 24' or 'pain do many still, pack bentley for'" Soarin said with a completely straight face. Moonrose giggled.
"I think we should go to track 24 and find out."
