Train Troubles

It was a nice sunny day here in Ponyville. It was warm, the fillies were playing outside and everypony seemed to be happy about the great weather, all except two outcast unicorns. Starlight Glimmer and Trixie Lulamoon did not enjoy the warm weather. It was too hot and bright for them. They also didn't have any other pony to relate to here in Ponyville. They both had problems finding close friends, but they had each other and most of the time, that was enough for them. But sometimes, they wanted to hang out with another pony too. Fortunately for them, they had Sunburst. A childhood friend of Starlight, that Trixie also became good friends with. These three combined shared similar struggles, that feeling of not living up to the standards of society and darker, more pessimistic world views. Unfortunately, Sunburst lived in the Crystal Empire, far away from Ponyville, where Starlight and Trixie live. On this warm and sunny day, where they felt even more like outcasts than usual, Starlight and Trixie thought it was a good idea to visit the cold and harsh Crystal Empire and their friend Sunburst.

Trixie at first wanted them to walk to the Crystal Empire. She even had done that once, as she was a traveling performer. Starlight tho was not used to walking such long distances and instead wanted them to go there via train. Trixie did agree on it, since it was faster and less exhausting, or at least, they thought. The two went to the train station of Ponyville, where the train to the Crystal Empire was meant to arrive in 5 minutes. Starlight bought herself a ticket and Trixie was originally too, but then, there was an announcement.

"The train to the Crystal Empire will be about 5 minutes too late," Said a voice that came from the speakers of the train station.

"5 minutes too late?" Asked Trixie, not sounding amused about the delay, "Why the fuck can't this thing be punctually. Trixie demands a lower ticket price as a compensation for this!"

"I know it sucks that the train is too late, but we unfortunately have to live with it," Replied Starlight to her, who was also unhappy about the delay, "That means you have to buy a ticket for the same price as me and all of the other ponies."

"What kind of bullshit is that?" Asked Trixie back as a reply, sounding mad, "If something fails to deliver what it promises, the customer should pay less or if it completely fails, nothing! And you know what, I am not gonna by a ticket! They probably wont do a ticket control anyway."

Starlight was in a mix of emotions. At one side, she could understand the argument Trixie has made, but on the other side, she didn't want her to get in trouble, especially since she has managed to do this more than enough times in the past.

She just simply replied, "Trixie, I can understand your argument, but if you really want us to go to the Crystal Empire, you should buy a ticket now. There is certainly going to be a ticket control in the train. You will get punished if they catch you without one and I really don't want that. I know getting in trouble is kinda your thing, but I'm really not in the mood for it today. I just want us to go to the Crystal Empire and visit Sunburst. Don't blame me, blame the system."

Trixie thought about it and replied, "You know what Starlight, you're right. I have gotten in trouble more than enough times and I too just want us to go the Crystal Empire and visit Sunburst. The system sucks and most ponies just accept it. But not the Great and Powerful Trixie, I will not accept this and won't buy a ticket to protest against this. I might not be a communist like you Starlight, but that doesn't mean I can't be against a capitalistic system!" while becoming louder and more boastful in her reply.

Trixie as usual, just did her own thing. She just was the type of pony who didn't really listen to the rules and had no problems with getting in trouble. Starlight really wasn't surprised by this behavior from her. Still, she wanted to stay out of trouble for today and continued to plead her on buying a ticket, but Trixie just simply did not want to. Eventually, the 5 minute delay time has passed, but the train didn't come, instead the only thing that came, was another announcement.

"The train to the Crystal Empire will be about 10 minutes too late," Again, said the voice from the speakers.

"Oh come on, what kind of scam is this!" Trixie yelled out of frustration.

Starlight was just sitting there, being annoyed by the lateness of the train, while also being concerned about getting in trouble, because her friend just won't buy a ticket. This was already a lot more stressful than expected. Starlight still didn't gave up on convincing her friend to buy a ticket tho.

"Trixie please, I know that the delay is annoying and that it feels unfair to pay the full ticket price," Starlight pleaded to her, "But if you get caught on the train without a ticket, they will most likely kick you out at the next stop and you will certainly have to pay a fine that will be much more costly than a ticket. They can even ban you. And since all of the trains in Equestria are controlled by the Equestrian Railway Company, it means that you won't be able to travel via train in the future, which I know isn't a problem for you, but still. You already have gotten bans from like 3 localities here in Ponyville. Do you really want that number to increase?"

"Actually Starlight, it's 4. Hayburger, Hoofmart, Applejack's farm and the Ponyville bowling center, that last one you probably still remember," Trixie smugly replied, "But you are right, I have been banned from enough places, plus I don't want to pay an expensive fine. Perhaps I should buy a ticket. I don't really want to, but I guess I have to," and walked away to buy one.

She came back a minute later and Starlight was relieved, that her friend has finally bought a ticket. Sadly, it didn't stop the delay of the train. In fact, just when the 10 minute delay was finally over and the train was meant to come, yet another announcement came.

"The train to the Crystal Empire will be about 15 minutes too late," Once again, said the voice from the speakers.

Trixie became angrier and shouted, "What in the fuck! This is as annoying as listening to a Maroon 5 song! Just when you think it's finally over, it punches you in the face and keeps on going!"

Starlight too was highly frustrated about the constantly increasing delay of the train. Unlike Trixie, who was angrily stomping around the train station while shouting out vulgar words, Starlight just sat there and tried not to get too angry about this, but eventually, she too couldn't hold her anger for any longer.

Starlight loudly screamed, "FUCKING BULLSHIT!" While brutally kicking her right front hoof against a trashcan.

The two unicorns were really pissed of. They were sick of waiting and the constant announcements on how much delay the train has. Fortunately, after 15 minutes of delay and 20 minutes of waiting, the train finally came. The two felt relieved that the wait was finally over.

They hopped in the train and tried to find a place to sit down, however all of the seats were already taken and the train itself was really crowded. Starlight and Trixie had trouble just walking around. Eventually, they did find a somewhat less crowded spot in the train, where they were able to stand without getting pushed around by other ponies. Still, the two unicorns were annoyed on how loud and crowded the train was.

"Next time we will walk to the Crystal Empire. I don't care that your hooves aren't used to walking long distances. I definitely prefer walking over this pricey, annoying and unreliable train," Said Trixie with an arrogant and grumpy tone.

"I got to be honest, I did not expect this to be this stressful and annoying, but we are on the train now and are on the way to the Crystal Empire. Sure it's loud and crowded, but at least the waiting is over and yes, we can try to walk to the Crystal Empire in the future," Said Starlight in an attempt to cheer her grumpy friend up.

Right after that, the two unicorns saw a ticket control pony in the crowd, who strictly controlled everypony's tickets.

"See, I told you there would be a ticket control pony," whispered Starlight to Trixie.

A minute later, the ticket control pony arrived to them and asked them to show their tickets.

"Tickets please!" He said blunt and emotionless.

Trixie started to get a big smug on her face and arrogantly replied, "The Great and Powerful Trixie demands the train to be punctually, before she lets you guys see her ticket!"

Starlight felt somewhat embarrassed by her friend's behavior and said to her in a slightly annoyed tone, "Trixie, this not the time to be smug and fool around with random ponies, just show him your ticket."

"Well guess what," She said loudly, still having a arrogant tone in her voice, "The Great and Powerful Trixie did not buy a ticket!"

Starlight was highly confused about this at first.

"But, you said to me that you bought one, you were even away for like a minute or so! Why don't you have a ticket?" She asked her in confusion.

"Well Starlight," She smugly replied, "The Great and Powerful Trixie only pretended to buy a ticket! The real reason why I was away for a minute, was that I went to the toilet. I needed to pee."

"Well seems like we have to kick you out at the next station. Here is your fine miss," Said the ticket control pony, still sounding blunt emotionless, while giving Trixie her fine.

"Aw fuck you!" She replied to him in a frustrated tone, "You can't even have your train be on time and yet still demand ponies to pay full price, THIS IS A SCAM!"

"Hey don't get rude, or we will have to ban you from all public trains in Equestria in the future!" the ticket control pony replied, this time sounding louder and bit angrier.

"Well then, ban me if you want to! I never want to travel with your hideous, overpriced and overcrowded dick on rails ever again! You hear that!" She loudly shouted towards him.

Starlight just watched the whole situation, having very mixed opinions about Trixie's behavior. But she also wanted to stay on the train with her. After all, they wanted to visit the Crystal Empire and their friend Sunburst.

She kindly pleaded to the ticket control pony, "Look, I know my friend can be a bit tricky, but please don't kick her out of the train. She is in a lot of stress and we really need to go to the Crystal Empire and this is the only way to get there fast enough. Plus, she does have a point. The train had a delay of 15 minutes, we were waiting for a really long time and it just eventually was to much for her. Just please, let her stay on for this ride at least!"

"No!" The ticket control pony bluntly replied, "You seriously demand me to keep this asshole of a pony, who has no ticket on here? This has to be a joke!"

Starlight awkwardly chuckled and nervously replied, "I know, I know. My friend is kind of an asshole, but she is not a fucking asshole. She isn't acting like this for no reason, as already said she has a point here. Just please, I swear, when you let her on this train to the Crystal Empire, she will never travel with a train ever again!"

Trixie shouted a "Hey!" when Starlight made that comment about her being an asshole.

The ticket control pony tho, was not amused by this, "As already said, no! No ticket, no ride! By the way, do you at least have a ticket miss?"

"Oh yes, I have one!" Starlight said while pulling out her ticket.

"Do you have a Equestrian Railway Guest Cars with you?" He asked afterwards.

"A what?" Starlight was somewhat confused by this question, "No, I don't. But why should I need it? I have a ticket that I bought and that's all I need, right?"

"No, you need a Equestrian Railway Guest Card along with you ticket," The ticket control answered her emotionless, "Here is your fine miss," and gave Starlight her fine.

Starlight felt scammed by this and demanded to him, "Hey, I didn't even knew you needed that card thing! Plus, I paid money for this ticket! Please, don't give me a fine! I already paid you guys by buying this ticket!"

The ticket control tho didn't reply to her and instead walked away, continuing to control the tickets of the other passengers.

Trixie chuckled about Starlight's situation and smugly said to her, "Seems like not buying a ticket was a smart idea in the end."

Starlight just ignored her comment and tried to keep her anger and frustration in control instead. Only a few minutes later, the train held on the next stop. It was the small city of Ponygrad. As soon as the train stopped there, Starlight and Trixie were promptly kicked out of the train by two ticket control ponies. The two unicorns had fines, didn't manage to get to the Crystal Empire and were stuck in Ponygrad. They felt frustrated and scammed by the Equestrian Railway Company.