All hell broke loose when the doors of the car opened; as hoards of ponies tried to get out, a lot more tried to get in. A similar sight could be seen at the entrance to the terminal. Even worse than the train station were the streets; not only were they filled with ponies, but with snow as well. This city's taxis were known for their speed, but it seems even that had to be limited, much to the impatience of the passengers; word has it there was a collision when one cart slid into another on the intersection where Whinny Street meets Chestnut Avenue. Manehattan sure was an urban mess during the hollidays.

The same kind of craziness continued indoors. Depending on whether they were about to leave or had just arrived, ponies would hustle and bustle to pack and unpack within the confines of their hotel room, condo, guest house, apartment - whatever accommodation they preferred to spend a Hearth's Warming getaway. That rush to unpack has been taken to the extreme in room 129 on floor 3 of the Manefair Hotel, where six mares had been residing - you know the aforementioned "hustling and bustling" will be a doozy when a large group like that needs to get out the door.

"Come on, Fluttershy! Get that packing done!" a yellow, pink-maned pegasus was ordered by a light blue one from mid-air; her noteworthy mane and tail streaked in a darker shade of blue plus the five other colors in a rainbow.

"U - um - okay."

"Why don't you put your smaller items on the outer pockets?"

"Uh - sure."

Fluttershy grabbed her copy of the monthly Equestrian Ponygraphic magazine with her hoof, and began to unzip the external pocket of her suitcase.

"No, no! That's too big to fit. Here - "

The blue pegasus grabbed Fluttershy's zebra-textured toiletry bag with her mouth.

"Er - please - don't grab my bag that way! That's authentic zebra fur you're messing with!"

The impatient pegasus didn't listen, and instead took to doing the same to her other small items.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the room, another contrasting pair were having a quarrel.

"Just carry the rest of your baggage with that levitation spell you unicorns use, Rarity," an orange earth pony in a cowgirl hat drawled.

"But there's just a little bit of room left on the top!"

"Yea - on the top. We don't got no time to risk havin' some spilling luggage."

"Well, maybe if we proceed with caution - "

"Our train leaves in less than a half hour!"

"Have you even seen the roads, Applejack?"

"You know, this entire time you girls have been arguing, you could have gotten another trolley, instead," a purple pony intervened. This one had both wings and a horn.

"I say we get a bellhop!" said Rarity, excitedly. She began to run out into the hallway. "Oh, rooooooooooom service!"

The other two scowled at Rarity's sudden burst of energy.

Even more unpredictable in her energetic outbursts was the earth pony whose coat was pink, and mane was in a darker shade of the same color. She was encouraged to bounce on the bed, doing mid-air somersaults and belly flops, just as the blue pegasus was now bouncing on Fluttershy's overstuffed suitcase to secure it shut as its owner watched with a worried look on her face.

"Why - can't - this - darn - thing - stay - shut!"

Just as she had finished that sentence, she landed so hard on the case that she slipped on it like a banana peel. Both her and the bag crashed into the walls on opposite sides of the room. The pink pony had to do another belly flop in order to dodge making the crash even worse. When she looked back at the pegasus and noticed she had landed into the wall just as she had landed into the bed, she was rather amused.

"I can belly flop better than you, Dash!"

And then she jumped up and collided into the wall right next to Dash, in the same position as Dash.

"Rainbow Dash! Pinkie Pie! Will you get yourselves together?!"

While the alicorn was asserting herself again, both ponies had come tumbling down to the floor, eyes all criss-crossed and everything. Rainbow Dash was the first to regain her strength, and she used that to help Pinkie Pie back up. Both rejoined the rest of the group plus an overloaded bellhop at the door to the hotel room.

"Alright," said the purple alicorn, "does everypony have everything they need?"

"Yes, Twilight," said Fluttershy begrudgingly, accompanied with a dirty look towards Rainbow.

The rest all nodded.

"Let's move on out, then!"

And so, they began the tedious trek to the exit. The six female ponies walking at an anxious jog ahead of the bellhop stallion; he could barely even muster a crawl with all the baggage carried on his back that belonged to Rarity, who was right about being cautionary. It was like seeing Applejack's brother carry a large cake made for the National Dessert Competition from Sugarcube Corner to the Friendship Express, which also required the help of these six mares. But Rarity did not feel the same anxiety the owners of Sugarcube Corner felt during that...also tedious process. She would make occasional glances behind her to see how all that baggage was holding up, but had no care for the stallion doing all the work.

"Now be sure to pick up the pace, darling...But can you do so without wobbling like that?...Excellent. See ya downstairs!"

"Wouldn't it be easier if we all took one elevator?" questioned Applejack.

"No, that would risk having a bit of a spill."

Applejack scowled at her as the elevator doors closed.

As much as Rarity had seemed indifferent to their slow pace, she bursted across the lobby, from where she and her friends had been waiting at the entrance, when the bellhop emerged from the second elevator and began to use magic to unload his back, several bags at a time.

"Twilight! Come over here and help me!"

She obeyed, and the two horned ponies would levitate the bags to the last of three taxi wagons, while the other ponies loaded the first two. The last of Rarity's many suitcases would finally be taken care of when the bellhop made it through the exit door. At long last, they were ready to depart - except for one more thing: Rarity used her magical aura to lift a long, pointed, green jewel from the depths of her purple curled mane into the bellhop's pocket.

"Here's a tip. Use it wisely."

Then, she hurled herself into the second wagon next to Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, before they all set off into the overcrowded hellhole of the city streets.

Author's Note

I have always had a fascination with trains, particularly high-end American ones that carry passengers; and, ever since two years ago, my passion has expanded to that of ponies, as well. While those passions do meet many times with the frequent presence of the Friendship Express, I've never taken aliking to the Equestrian trains - bleh, tank engines. My interest in trains, as I said, has been pointed at the luxurious streamliners that existed before Amtrak. Trains such as the Super Chief, 20th Century Limited, and most notably in my mind, the one you will see in the following video:

That train has always been a favorite of mine, and this passion project answers my question as to what happens when the cast of my favorite TV show ride it.

So, after weeks of pondering what will go on in the story, while I haven't got it all planned out, I at least have enough to give it the very first chapter. It's not much, but what do you expect? It's the first chapter! Personally, I almost never get that invested in a book until I'm a few chapters in. Which can only be natural; the further you read a book, the further into its universe you go into. And that's what I want you, the audience, to go into: Equestria. In this chapter, you'll be in a hotel; in the next, you'll be travelling through the kingdom on a train.

While I know you bronies are all familiar with the world of Equestria, it doesn't hurt to approach this story as if the reader is not a brony. Which is why I felt the need to dedicate this chapter to introducing the characters, and giving you a glimpse of their personalities. It's basically a story within itself: the mane six are in a hurry to catch a train, but they need to get ready to leave before they can. Each chapter within Flight of the Broadway story will follow this pattern of having a conflict, and a resolution; it's how the characters react to what goes on that brings out their individual personalities. And if I can capture that accurately, then I can keep this execution of my bizarre idea for a fanfiction in tone with the actual show.