Death's Invitation

We had travelled a good hour and a half maybe, as the sun had just finished it's leave, something caught our eyes,

"Is that a building over there?"

As James pointed, there wasn't any sunlight left, but there was the little bit of moonlight to outline the building, and James saw it at first due to the fact I was looking at the sky as time was passing by.

"I think so"

But I noticed a little something to the sides of the single small building, train tracks?...

"Wait, I think it's a train station"

"Really? Do you think it can take us wherever it was we needed to go?"

"Canterlot, and let's hope so"

We picked up the pace towards the station. But James slowed down a little and asked, "What are we even going to say if we meet someone there?" A little worry showing on his face.

"I think I have a little story I could tell"

James gave me a quick glance with narrowed eyes "A story or a lie?"

"Well, fifty fifty, most is true, but it's just how we got into the forest in the first place I might have to lie about obviously"

"Well then, what are we waiting for?"

"You to pick up the pace again, that's what"

I gave a little laugh then we picked up the pace, soon reaching the station, and also confirming it is a station too.

We came around the side and hopped onto the platform, where we were approached by the looks of it, a station pony. James gave me a fearful look, but I reassured him it'll be alright.

"And where are you two ponies o- oh, sorry about that, pony and changeling, off too tonight?"

"That's alright, uhm, Canterlot?"

"Very well. Do you have bits for your tickets?"

James gave me a confused look, probably wondering what bits are, but I just continued to talk to the station pony.

"Uhh, no actually."

"Well then, I see you two seem like you really need to get to Canterlot, so I suppose you could convince me why you need to go"

"Are you serious? If you are, then thank you so much"

He nodded "Well then?"

"Well, we were on our way to the station yesterday afternoon and we did have bits for our tickets, but on our way to the station we were had to encounter a couple of bandits-"

"Oh, I see"

"And we were chased into the middle of this here forest behind the station, but lost our bits in the meantime too, and if you couldn't tell by the word 'yesterday', we had to spend an entire night in that forest."

"But not only did we have to deal with bandits, we also had to deal with timberwolves that night and my friend got a little scratched up too."

I motioned for James to show his hoof and he obliged.

"Oh sweet Celestia! Well, I have a first aid kit and can help get that bandaged up for you, and also, why is it that you were planning on going to Canterlot?"

"To speak to the princesses"

"Oh, well then, that does seem worthy of my help, but you won't be able to speak to them at this time since the princess's public day court is over for the day"

"I can lend you the ticket booth to stay in for the night, it'll be a bit cramped but it'll be better than sleeping out on the benches in the cold."

"Then I'll have you on a train to Canterlot that'll arrive just in time for the princess's day court to begin"

"Thank you so much"

"No problem, it's the least I could do for your troubles, now I'll go get that first aid kit."

He went to go do just that, "I- I cant believe that actually worked Matthew"

"I wasn't to surprised actually"

"Really?"

"Yea, from how much I know, I'm quite certain ponies are a bit more helping than what you would expect humans to be most of the time"

"Well then, I suppose our plan is set right? Sleep the night, get a train to Canterlot, and then speak to the princesses"

"Pretty much, also, I do have a pony name you should probably use when around other ponies, sorry I can't think of a name that you could use right now."

"That’s alright, and it is?"

"Crimson, Crimson Night"

"Well then Crimson, let's hope we have a smooth ride tomorrow." We gave a quick chuckle and a hug.

Then the station pony returned. "Here you go, all nice and cozy I hope" as he put the bandage around James' hoof

"Its fine, thank you"

"Well then, there's only one more train scheduled fifteen minutes from now to pass through here, then I'm done for the night"

"So you two can head over to the booth now if you want, and don't worry, I'll be back first thing in the morning."

"Ok, and thank you for everything"

"Don’t worry about it, it's the least I can do"

We then went over to the ticket booth and entered it, while the station pony waited on the benches for the last train to come through.

James let out a sigh of relief mixed with a little yawn, it was actually kind of cute.

"Tired are ya James?"

"Yea, a little I suppose" We gave a quick chuckle.

"Well, I guess we should try to lie down, oh and don't worry if we have to cuddle a little or something like that to fit on the floor, I'm perfectly fine with it, it'll at least keep us warm."

"Sure, it can't be any weirder than being a double gendered bug, can it?"

"Heh, I suppose not."

Eventually I did have to cuddle James a little to fit, but it was fine. "Just don’t fall asleep too soon or you'll end up being quite annoyed at the last train coming through in a few minutes" I joked

"I think I can last, anyways, damn, I didn't know how soft a pony's fur is"

"At least we're warm are we not?" I giggled a little

"Just shut it and let me wait for the train to come through so I can sleep"

I gladly shut my mouth to enjoy the silence, heck, I swore I even heard James gently coo in my soft, warm embrace, I've never heard anything cuter, I'm probably going to make fun of that in the morning.

The train had now passed through, but I still felt wide awake, there was a clock on one of the walls, it was hard to make out the time from my angle, but I think it said something around quarter to one.

Typical, it seems I probably still have my horrible sleep schedule from my human self. I eventually let the time pass by and I fell asleep eventually, probably around half past two or closer to three like I normally do.

But still, the night passed like any other, with a rough and tiresome sleep as usual.