The train to Canterlot took roughly a day when it was kept in peak condition, but as of late the train to and from the grand city was in a state of disrepair. Where the train normally had near infinite funds to keep the engine and rails constantly repaired, now the lack of customers had driven the train to replace its normal candy oriented car appearance into simple wooden cars to keep the cost of repair down. This didn’t do much in the way of keeping the Passengers happy however, as where there was once cushioned seats in a spacious cabin there were now wooden benches meant to be efficient rather than comfortable, and Rarity was making it quite clear how unhappy she was about the new look.

“Oh these new cabins are simply dreadful, even the lowest quality train has cushioned seats!” Complained Rarity, as her hooves moved around the wooden floor, trying to avoid the splinters that seemed to be seeking the six ponies’ unprotected hooves like sentient beings.

“Oh hush now, it’s bad enough we can’t even pay the workponies that maintain the rails, we don’t need to be adding train cars to the list of things they aren’t getting paid for.” Countered Applejack quietly, clearly still exhausted from working the orchards on the family farm. She looked worn out in ways not even Twilight could explain with all her vocal skills. Even her mane, normally well-kept for a country girl, looked ragged and barely managed.

Twilight stopped for a moment and really took a good look at her friends, who all seemed to be in rough condition. She worried for a moment about their ability to undertake whatever mission the Princesses had for them. What if the elements of harmony just aren’t enough anymore? Thought Twilight, subconsciously looking at Pinkie, who seemed to be deep in thought before her characteristically bright smile brought a small hope back into Twilights heart. Who am I kidding; we can beat anything as long as we stick together!

“Attention passengers,” Coughed a gruff voice over the scratchy new intercom. “We will be making a mandatory stop in the mountain checkpoint to receive a regularly scheduled maintenance check in a few moments. We would like to ask that you not stray too far from the train as it may hinder our time on getting to Canterlot, thank you for your patience.” The intercom cut off at that and was met by a chorus of sighs lead by Rarity.

“C’mon girls, it would be nice to get up and stretch our legs for a while.” Chided Twilight, her stiff limbs begging for the much needed movement.

“Yea, I’m gonna go crazy if we don’t get out of this stuffy old train car soon anyway!” called out Rainbow Dash from her seat next to Fluttershy, who, until now, had been fast asleep, laying in her lap. “My wings need to be worked out or I’m gonna to be stiff as a cumulous by the time we get there.” She complained light heartedly, doing her best impression of a stiff cloud. The other girls laughed at the blue pegasus’s high spirits and seemed to take comfort in the fact that some things just never change. Twilight decided that her next letter should be about how even friendships under strain can bring feelings of joy when you stop and smell the roses.

But Twilight was snapped out of her thoughts when she saw Pinkie get up and leave their compartment, headed towards the bath-cabin. Which despite the overhaul of the rest of the train cars, had remained largely untouched. Twilight supposed that they figured they felt they should at the very least give their passengers a decent place to relieve themselves on the long train ride from Ponyville to Canterlot.

She could feel the train gliding to a stop in the dark tunnel, lit only by the newly carved exit to a small patch of flat grass meant to allow the enervated ponies to step out into the fresh air while the train received its check-up. However now it mostly served as a break room for the new, larger crew of engineer-ponies that were necessary for keeping the train safe. The dark dank caves had been known to give not just simple caves, but due to the sewage station kept there to keep the train from being a rolling septic tank, even intense nausea sometime claimed up to half of the workforce with sick leave, leaving the rest of the crew to scramble and push to get repairs done in time to make the proper deliveries of goods and passengers.

The train finally screeched to a halt and was met by gentle groans of Ponies cracking and stretching their overworked bones. Dash and Fluttershy, having more bone than the others to stretch didn’t bother to stick around and instead took off through the rather large windows. Doing gentle loops in the sky, occasionally crossing each other with a slight giggle or nudge to the others flank. Applejack seemed to be intent on catching up on her sleep as she moved immediately to the sleeping cabin and used the moments when the train would be still to get to sleep. Rarity followed, commenting that her hair would suffer a fashion disaster if she neglected her beauty work much longer.

Twilight giggled at Rarity, and simply nodded, standing up and headed out of the cabin towards the clearing, which for the moment was empty and available for passenger use. Her hooves felt quite relieved to feel the sandy dirt beneath them, a cooling feeling coming from the cave and making the sand almost like a luxurious massage. She found herself trotting slowly in circles, feeling a new sort of renewed vigor every time her hooves met the ground. She was so relaxed trotting in her slow circle that she nearly jumped out of her coat when she felt her tail rubbing gently against the flank of another pony. She heaved a frightened sigh of relief when she opened her eyes to the fluffy pink mane of her friend Pinkie Pie, who was smiling like she hadn’t in quite some time.

“Sorry, did I scare ya Twi?” Asked Pinkie in a soft, almost hoarse, voice. She giggled as Twilight did her best to catch her panicked breath, and steady her shaking legs.

“No no, pinkie,” panted Twilight “I just didn’t notice you coming in.” She finished, taking a final deep breath before she smiled awkwardly for a few moments. Trotting over to the railing and looking out over the village of Ponyville. “Gosh … it looks so beautiful from up her doesn’t it?” Asked Twilight softly, spotting the large oak tree that was her library home. Her mind began to drift to older times, when she and her friends had been able to live in relative peace, the economy and environment far from their minds, but that semblance of a reality was long gone for Ponyville now.

“Yea Twi, a lot of things are beautiful if looked at from the correct angle.” Whispered Pinkie Pie, trotting up to Twilights side, and causing a blush Twilight was hard pressed to explain. She allowed her flank to brush against the pink ponys, their cutie marks pressing gently together in what Twilight could only describe as a near symbolic nature.

“Oh Pink,” Whispered Twilight, not sure how to handle the situations, the combined knowledge of all the romance books in Equestria couldn’t have prepared her for the feelings that rushed through her every time she found herself with Pinkamina. But she couldn’t understand the feelings stirring inside of her, the idea of walking willingly into the unknown frightened her. “w-whats … whats happening?”

Pinkie’s smile softened as she turned to look at Twilight, the sun setting behind her and outlining the gentle features of her mane and her face. Pinkie leaned forward, her nose nuzzling gently into Twilights cheek. “I’m not sure yet, but it’s kind of scary … and not the kind of scary I can just laugh away.” Cooed Pinkie, Letting her head rest atop Twilights neck in a gentle hug. “But, it feels good … I want whatever it is to stay, like a party you don’t want to end.” She giggled after saying this, and pulled back from the hug, leaving Twilight staring in near disbelief at how much Pinkie had matured since things had started to become more and more harsh in Equestria. But Twilight could still feel that childish spark in Pinkies heart, the one that drew them together like iron to a magnet.

Twilight found herself beginning to speak, only to be cut off by the whistle of the train, signaling to the passengers that it was time to re-board the train. “Well I guess its time to go huh?” Said Twilight, changing the subject as the bit of fear in her heart ebbed its way back into place. She turned and trotted off, wanting to gasp for air. What just happened? Thought Twilight frantically as she made her way to the train. I’ve never felt like this before. Her mind raced, but also seemed calm, like a ship headed for its destination as quickly as possible. As she boarded the train she found Fluttershy and Rainbow dash sleeping soundly, leaning on each other for support and felt as though this should be offering her understanding, but she couldn’t grasp it. She found her hooves taking her to her room, her eyelids nearly closed as she walked through the swing door, the small hay bed the train supplied for their passengers looked like the king sized beds she used to stay in when she visited Princess Celestia. And as her head lay down on the small pillow her final thoughts were of Pinkie, and why she should be scared of being with her. Nothing seemed to come up.

Author's Note

There a parts of this chapter that have spelling ang grammar issues, i ask that you kindly look past them and read the story, or point out the exact point in the story to fix in your comment. thanks! :D