Fizzlepop looked at the map, the only way to reach overseas lands would be by airship, so she would first have to reach a port, luckily all of Iponia had a complex network of railways connecting every city from the west to the east coast.
The railway had been built shortly after the founding of the nation, the aim was to connect each region in order to allow exchanges and trade, movement of troops and resources, and of course to allow non-Pegasi to go from one place to another. more in a very short time.
The train ran on coal, however years earlier Fizzlepop had developed a way to optimize its efficiency: it had devised catalysts that allowed to slow down the combustion of coal so as to use less than half of it and achieve the same result, it was a true technological marvel. .

It was still night and there were some ponies on the streets, the sidewalks were illuminated by street lamps.
Fortunately, in the capital there was a very low level of crime, this was due to the fact the level of well-being of the population was high; enough not to make it necessary to steal to survive.
She had walked for over half an hour and finally reached the station, the building was very large as it was a very important stopover, over 600,000 ponies and other creatures passed by every day.
When she arrived at the reception sshe saw that the station was more crowded than it seemed, there were masses of ponies walking around wearing backpacks and bags, some were in a hurry while others were walking slowly, alone or in groups.

Fizzlepop glanced at the board that marked the trains arriving and departing, most were going to other cities inland but eventually found what she needed: in an hour a train would arrive for Blapolis, a port city overlooking the ocean.
She decided she went to the reception to get the ticket, she kept her head down so as not to show the face and the horn.
"Hi, I'd like a ticket to Blapolis." she asked the conductor.
The pony just tore out a ticket and then used a stamp to mark it.
"Twenty dollars please." the conductor said as he handed her the ticket.
Fizzlepop took a wallet from her purse and handed over the twenty dollars, took the ticket and put it back in the backpack along with the rest.
"Thanks, good morning." she turned and walked away from the ticket office.

She glanced at the billboard again, the train would arrive at the quays thirteen by four in the morning, the journey would take eleven hours, so she would arrive in Blapolis by three in the afternoon.
She began to walk towards the quays, while she was walking she noticed that the train station had its own economy, there were shops, restaurants and entertainment points, it seemed to be a shopping center.
It occurred to her that the journey would take a long time and she certainly would be bored with nothing to do, she walked into a shop that sold many things including items and food, she decided to buy a book and a box of bananas dry.

When she reached the quay she noticed that there were few ponies waiting, most were sitting on the benches while the others were standing.
Fizzlepop sat down on one of the free benches, took her backpack off her back and placed it between her legs so that it was always within reach of the hoof.
Since there were still 40 minutes left for the train to arrive, she decided to think about what she should do, look in her wallet and saw that there were still a hundred dollars left, she had taken enough money to get to a port city, she would pay the airship trip with gems.
"Mom, Dad, we have to hurry or we miss the train!" she heard the voice of a filly screaming with excitement
"Yes dear, here we come." the father answered affectionately.
Fizzlepop interrupted her thoughts, hearing that scene of affection made her remember when she was little, when her parents loved her.
Deep down she felt a little sorry, maybe she shouldn't have abandoned her parents like this, maybe she should have left a letter or said goodbye.
"Now that's enough, it doesn't make sense to think about it now, they made their choice, and I made mine."
She shook off her sad thoughts and went back to planning the trip.

"Chooo-chooo" Fizzlepop heard the typical sound of the train whistle, looked up and saw the locomotive in the distance and behind it there was a cloud of steam coming out from the top of the tube placed on the boiler.
As it got closer, you could hear the rhythmic metallic noise of the wheels and engine.
The train stopped in front of the quay and blew a last whistle, in a short time the passengers began to get off the train.
When the stream of ponies that came out stopped Fizzlepop got up and boarded with the few who waited.

Although the carriages were not like the royal ones, they were still welcoming and elegant, the corridors were wide enough to allow two ponies to pass at the same time, on the sides there were cabins and in each there were two sofas facing each other.
Fizzlepop went into one of the many free cabins and closed the door, put the backpack on one of the sofas and sat down so that she was facing the direction of travel.
The seats were comfortable and from her position she could see out the window, it was still dark but the moon was no longer visible, soon the sun would rise.

"Everyone in the carriage, we're leaving!" she heard the wagon leader scream and followed by a long whistle.
The train began to move slowly and then took on more speed, she was amazed that from inside the carriage you could barely hear the wheels turning and the roar of the steam engine.

Passenger carriage cabin, to enter you can use the door you see in the image or go from inside through the corridor.

"Knock knock ..." she heard someone knock on the door.
"Forward." Fizzlepop said.
The door opened and a stallion dressed in a uniform entered, carrying a purse and a kind of scissors.
"Hi Miss, I'm the conductor, can you show me the ticket?" he asked her.
"Of course." Fizzlepop took the bag, took out the ticket, and handed it to the conductor.
The stallion examined it and then he nodded, took the scissors and cut it, put one part in the bag and the other gave it back to Fizzlepop.
"All right, I wish you a good trip." the conductor said politely and left the cabin, closing the door behind him.

Fizzlepop took a deep breath and got comfortable on the sofa, looked out and noticed that they had already abandoned the capital, instead of the palaces and buildings there was a vast countryside, on the horizon she could see fields and some houses and farms.
She remembered a speech she had heard long ago at a party among nobles, according to them the land ponies were inferior and their work was crude and useless.
That day Fizzlepop wanted to strangle that unicorn, the work of the land ponies was very important, they were the ones who produced most of the food and raw materials, if there were no land ponies the economy would collapse.
However, those snobs did not understand it, for them it was only wealth, lavish dinners and extravagant clothes that mattered.
At that moment she felt a wave of anger, and to think that her father also wanted to defend them and agree with them.
Sparks began to come out of Fizzlepop's horn and afterwards she felt the usual headache.
"Calm down Fizzlepop, there's no point in getting mad now, let them drown in their pool of gold."

Fizzlepop decided to read to relax her mind, took the book she had bought at the station and gave it a look, she honestly hadn't looked at what book she was getting, the only thing she knew was that it was in the adventure novels section.
On the cover there was an image of a yellow pegasus with a gray mane, hung from a vine and under it a crocodile with its jaws open, at the top the title said "Daring Do: Quest for the Sapphire Stone"
The book looked tempting so she began to read it with good taste.

Fizzlepop gave a long yawn and put the book down and closed it after placing the bookmark, she realized that the sun had risen and was high in the sky, certainly more than 4 hours have passed since she left.
She stood up and stretched well, sitting for too long was not good for her joints.
"Grouggrrrr" she heard the familiar gurgling in her stomach.
"Of course you are always hungry." she said good-naturedly to her imaginary friend.
She turned and took the bag, the only things to eat were a couple of apples and carrots, the dried bananas and finally the buds.
She decided it was best to leave the buds for last and eat the fresh food first as it go bad in a couple of days.
She took the apple and began to eat it; the fruit was yellow and she liked it a lot, she hated red apples since they had a more floury consistency and were less crunchy and juicy.

When she finished eating she felt that she was sleepy, in fact she had slept little at night and has remained awake until now.
She got up and locked the door, however they could still have opened it from the outside thanks to the keys that the conductor or the train leader had.
She also closed all the curtains so as to let in less light and block prying eyes.
She lay down on one of the sofas and used the backpack as a pillow, that way she would be comfortable and she would keep the backpack safe close to her.
She settled back and closed her eyes, the lack of rest and the light movements of the train were a good combination that plunged her to sleep in minutes.

1. Ursa
   
2. Library
   
3. School
   
4. Parents

The nightmares of Fizzlepop took place in this order, sometimes they mixed with each other creating confusion and disorder, those were the worst.
Sometimes they were single events but with variations, she in rare cases she heard only whispers while she remained suspended in the dark void.
Fizzlepop had gotten used to it, at first she would cry and then stay depressed all day, now instead she would wake up with a start as if she heard a loud noise, she would feel a slight pain in her head and a gash in her soul, but she wouldn't shed a single tear, now she knew it was just memories that haunted her.

Fizzlepop opened her eyes, saw the sofa in front of her, sat up and yawned.
After rubbing her eyes she looked towards the window, pulled up the curtains and was blinded by the sunlight; Fizzlepop looked away and waited for her eyes to adjust.
When she saw what was outside she was pleasantly struck, in front of her she could see a vast landscape, apparently they were quite high given the angle with respect to the plain.
From where she could see a huge flat area, in the distance there was a large city highlighted by tall buildings and skyscrapers, moving away from the city the number of buildings slowly decreased until there were only crop fields or simple green areas.

Fizzlepop felt a certain mouth water, she decided to eat a carrot, she liked things with a crunchy texture, when she finished eating it she put the leftovers in a bag where she had also put the apple core.
However she felt that she was not yet full, she took another look in the backpack, at that moment she no longer wanted fruit or vegetables, her gaze fell on the bags of gems.
She took one and opened it, the gems seemed to glow with their own light as they were bathed in sunlight, to Fizzlepop's eyes they looked truly delightful.
She took a blue one and put it in her mouth, initially it seemed to taste like lemon but then it began to crumble and gave off an aroma of elderflower, the gem also seemed to be slightly fizzy, not like candy with that strange sour substance on it, but like a fizzy drink.
When she finished tasting it, she was tempted to eat another one but she didn't, she decided it was better to spare them, besides they were very satiating and gave a lot of energy, it was like drinking a large cup of coffee in sugared form.

She satiated and rested she decided to resume reading the book of Daring Do, she was enjoying it a lot.
She settled into a comfortable position and resumed reading from where she had left off.

“Chooo-chooo” the train whistle woke her from her reading, she looked out the window and saw that the previous landscape had been replaced by houses and buildings, the train was slowing down.
It was impossible that they had already arrived, from the sun you could see that it must have been at the latest 11 in the morning.
She got up and opened the door that gave onto the corridor, she noticed that there were some ponies that were walking to get out, at that moment the conductor passed with the usual uniform and bag.
"Excuse me, have we already arrived at our destination?" she asked the stallion.
The conductor stopped and gave her a smile.
"No miss, we stopped to refuel coal and water, we will stay here for about half an hour and then we will leave again, I recommend that you go down to stretch your paws, there are also some shops at the station." he kindly suggested.
"Thank you very much, goodbye." Fizzlepop thanked him and closed the door again.
She liked the possibility of getting out of that cabin for a while, however she was not willing to leave anything on board so she put on her backpack after putting her book inside.

When she got off the train she noticed a large influx of ponies running from side to side.
Fizzlepop walked along the quay, she was surprised by the fact that no one glanced at her, everyone had their own things to think about, in fact since she had started this journey she felt freer and less judged, she was not afraid to show herself for what it was since most ponies she met would see her once in their entire life.

"Din-dong" she heard a sound above her.
She raised her head and saw that there was a suspended clock, it showed that it was 11 in the morning.
"I was right." she realized that she actually did not have a watch with her, she could have used the sun but she was not reliable, if there were clouds or it was night she would not have been able to know what time it was.
"Perfect, this is my chance." Fizzlepop kept walking until she arrived in the station hall, it was very similar to that of the capital but smaller, the area was crowded and noisy.
She looked around until she saw a souvenir shop.

As she entered she noticed that there were many objects, T-shirts, mugs, postcards, magnets, costume jewelery and other typical things in shops of that kind.
She stayed for a few minutes looking until she found what she needed, on a shelf there was a display stand showing some onion clocks, she didn't pay much attention to detail and took one, before buying it she made sure it worked well and did not make strange noises or creak.
Making sure it was okay, she went to the cashier to pay.
"Good morning, do you need a bag?" she asked the cashier while she removed the anti-theft.
"No thanks." she replied simply as she pulled out her wallet.
"$ 8 please." the mare said after passing her the clock.
Fizzlepop handed over the money and put the watch in the bag.

Onion clock, attached to the ring there is a chain that is used to put it around the neck

When she left the shop she took another look at the large clock and found that she had 13 minutes left.
She smelled a sweet aroma in the air, it seemed to be the scent of freshly baked croissants, it made her very hungry.
Fizzlepop followed the scent and saw that a few meters from where the souvenir shop was there was a pastry shop, she didn't think twice about approaching it.
Outside the club there were several tables, most of them were busy but she didn't intend to stay longer than necessary.
When she got to the counter she saw that it was full of delicacies, there were cakes, donuts, pastries and above all what gave off the scent of before: the croissants.
"Hi, what can I help you?" she asked the cashier politely, it was an earth pony with cocoa-colored fur.
"I'd like a brioche with vanilla." Fizzlepop said.
"Of course, I'll be right there." the waitress went to get the brioche and put it in a paper bag along with a handkerchief.
"Here you go, it's $ 3."
Fizzlepop paid for the brioche and left the place.

She ate the dish on the way back to the train and before boarding she threw out the paper bag and the remains of the apple and carrot.
As soon as she returned to her cabin the train whistled loudly and began to move.
"Just in time." if she missed the train she would have to wait two full days at the station. She sat down and continued reading for the rest of the trip.

“Attention passengers, I'm the conductor. I announce that we will arrive at Blapolis station very soon, so please get ready to get out of the carriages, thank you very much and good afternoon. "
The conductor's voice rang through the speakers.
Fizzlepop had finished reading the book a few minutes earlier and was staring out the window, luckily from where she was she could see the sea and the coasts, it was a completely different environment than the capital.
After hearing the announcement, she got up from the sofa and stretched, then she put on her cloak and finally her backpack.
She decided to leave the book there as she would no longer need it and it would just clutter up space.
When she arrived she got off the train and looked around to find the exit from the station, luckily there were signs indicating the right direction, it would have been enough to follow them.

As soon as she got out she was shocked by the temperature difference, the weather was hotter and drier but she liked it.
She went to a notice board showing the map of the city, she had to go to a port and the station was in the city center, to get there she would have to walk or take a taxi, she preferred the second option.
She turned and went to the area where there were taxis, it didn't take much for a yellow carriage to stop in front of her, there were two stallions pulling it.
Fizzlepop climbed aboard and put the backpack next to her.
"To the port please." she said to the two stallions.
"Certainly miss." said the left one and they began to gallop.

While traveling she had the opportunity to see the city, there were several ponies on the street but also some anthropomorphic creatures such as birds, cats and some marine creatures.
She also seemed to notice a zebra and a few mules.
At a certain point she could see the sea in the distance, in the air she could taste the salt.
The journey lasted another few minutes, when she arrived at her destination she got out of the carriage with the backpack on her back and paid the taxi drivers.

"Here I am, last stop before leaving Iponia."
In the port there were many ponies who were in a hurry, most of them pulling carts with goods, she had to be careful not to get run over.
You could clearly hear the screeching cries of the seagulls and the movement of the waves.
There were lots of ships of all sizes moored at the piers, however this is not what she needed, only one airship could cross the entire ocean without risking sinking, plus they were much faster and took a quarter of the time it employed a normal ship.
The airships had the hull of a ship but instead of the sails there was a huge air chamber filled with helium and reinforced with a wooden frame, which served to keep the airship in the air.
To make it move, there were large turbines powered by an engine similar to the train, instead of the propeller wheels facing parallel to the hull.
The airships were very useful because they could also be used on the water and parked on the mainland, however they could only be used along the coasts due to some laws that prohibited air traffic.

She had been walking for a while and she saw only ships around, she was afraid there were none until an immense long-shaped balloon appeared from behind the sails.
Fizzlepop quickened her pace, and as she approached it revealed the shape of an airship.
When she reached the piers where the vessel was docked she saw that there were no ponies working there, but there were anthropomorphs, one seemed to have the features of a bird, one of a wolf, then there was a bigger one that looked like a shark and finally a cat.
The latter was near the helm and was giving orders.
"Come on, move, we have to leave before the sun goes down." he said to the others, his tone was not that of someone commanding subordinates but as if he was trying to make them go faster.
"Yes captain." the others answered in unison.

Fizzlepop was enchanted by the airship, the shape of its hull resembled that of a galleon, but what was really special was the air chamber, it was clearly inspired by a shark.
The size of the aircraft was considerable, however it was also very refined, had gold details and the part above the waterline was painted blue.
"Hey, what can I do for you little pony?" she heard the voice of the anthropomorphic cat from before, now he standing in front of her.
In reality, he was not much taller than her if you took into consideration the standards of her species, in fact Fizzlepop could reach the sternum of the other creature with his theta.
"Hi, my name is ...." it was better not to give her full name "Fizzle" she could have come up with something better but at that moment she couldn't think of anything else.
"Hello Miss, I'm Captain Flynn and that's my steed." she said politely as he pointed to the vessel behind him.
"Are you going to overseas lands?" she asked them.
"Yes, why are you interested?" Flynn replied with a frown.
"I need a ride"
The captain raised his arm and began to tease his mustache.
"Mmmm, we don't usually do this kind of thing, but if you're willing to pay we could make an exception."
"Oh, of course, I have some gems with me if they'll fit you." Fizzlepop said.
Flynn exploded with excitement but did not show it, gems were a very precious commodity and were worth a lot all over the world.
"And how many do you have?" he asked her.
Fizzlepop knew it was best to pretend to have few, she knew the methods of contract and exchange.
"I can give you 3 now and another 5 if we arrive at our destination." she said confidently.
The captain already smelled the scent of money, with so much he could easily have bought a small airship. It was a deal not to be missed.
"Deal, you've just won a place on my crew, welcome board." the captain said as he bowed.

Fizzlepop smiled.
"I did it, there's no turning back from here."

Flynn's airship.

Author's Note

if it was not understood for this chapter I have made a lot of reference to America