A Kindred Spirit

Vague sounds floated around my head.

My shoulders moved a bit. The sounds continued.

In my state of disturbed sleep, I did not process or attempt to comprehend the sensory input I was receiving. I stewed in the peace of sleep that still embraced me, relishing the calmness of mind I was exhibiting.

In a moment, I felt a horrendous bolt of terrific proportions careen through my entire body, tearing it at the seams, and becoming the sole object of my mind's eye. Fire ignited in all of my veins, consuming all of my flesh, ligaments, and bone. In an instant, it subsided, but not without reaction. I vaulted to my feet, fists raised and muscles tensed. Rage seethed, and all of my faculties were engaged in identifying my assailant so I may punish them. I felt an initial tap of Twilight's magic at the beginning of the terrible surge, and I held her accountable. It was fortunate that by the time I had located the pony, I had subdued my anger to an extent so as to prevent an act of physical violence.

"Jesus Christ, Twilight! Never do that again, or I will hit you."

The solar flare of rage in my chest had been expelled, and now I was able to patch myself together again. I could now process my environment. I was in the library and had arisen from the couch I had spent the night on. It appeared to be late morning, judging by the strong rays entering the windows. A small dragon stood near me in a fearful posture, and Twilight herself was evidently stunned and afraid, sitting back on her haunches with one ear dropped, and body slanted away as if blown by a strong wind. Her expression was confused, and so was her present articulation. "I, umm, I'm sorry. All I did was give you a mental tap."

I was incredulous. "Mental tap? If you can compare a tap to being struck by lighting thirty times in one second whilst being incinerated in the core of the sun!"

Looking at Twilight again revealed her once-more shrunken posture, and dark lines under her eyes, barely visible by the obstruction of her purple fur. Her eyes were drowsy as well, leading me to passively wonder how much sleep she had actually gotten last night. Such a wondering affirmed me that this experience had begun a violent, immediate startup of my preferably extremely long wake-up process. I could see the concern and confusion milling about in her eyes until they shifted to an expression of understanding.

"Oh... I really didn't think that one through. Your magic stores are already so pressured up that even the slightest attempt at using magic on your mind will lead to a violent reaction by your essence. I'm really sorry... I know how that hurts." Genuine and pained sympathy was now displayed through her body language. I normally would have attempted to affirm her, but I was far too angry still to do so. I simply sighed, exasperated. "What time is it? What is it we need to do to get ready for the day?" I recalled now the letter from Celestia, and Twilight simply shrugged and asked Spike, who seemed to most awake of us.

"I told you you shouldn't have kept going with that... game. Now I'm the only one who isn't tired." Spike scolded Twilight, and his words seemed parent-like and extremely familiar, if presented from a more child-like standpoint. Twilight merely grumbled. "At least I got a ship into orbit... but not back." I couldn't help but snort, despite the fact I had done the same in the past. She merely rolled her eyes. I wondered who the children really were here. Spike continued on.

"Okay, so it's 7:30 now, and we have to be on the platform by 8:00. I'm not sure we're going to make it--"

Twilight cut him off after hearing all the relevant information. "Your stuff's back in the bag now. I put it away at about 2:30." I chuckled again as she tossed the bag at me, which I caught. "Food now or should we wait until lunch? Spike?"

It was Spike's turn to grumble this time. "I'm hungry, but I really think we should get to the station."

About halfway through his sentence, Twilight went to fetch something. She returned about a minute later, tossing some bars of cereals at us. Spike now groaned instead of grumbling. "Twilight, again? I've had so many oat bars lately."

"No time," she said. "We have to walk." She tossed one at me and another at the purple dragon.

Spike picked up his bag, which looked too heavy for him. Twilight levitated something from across the room, setting it down on her back. A quick analysis revealed it was a saddle blanket, simple and unadorned. Do they actually have saddles here when no one rides on them? The blanket was followed by a pair of bags emblazoned with Twilight's cutie mark, and connected by a simple square of heavy cloth. She settled these on top of the blanket, and manipulated a small leather belt, cinching it down around her body. "Huh. Saddlebags without a saddle."

"Yeah, I always thought that was kinda funny too. You'd think that they'd be called something else, seeing as how saddles were always a niche tool for herding. Now they're mostly just used as utilitarian fashion statements." I noted her statement as she filled the two little containers with the things she needed to travel, and Spike's own bag, which was sitting next to him. "Let's go."

The door opened, the sunlight streaming through as we exited into the open air.

As we neared Ponyville's train station, the plodding of my feet and of my mind were along separate paths. The latter wandered onto the technology of Equestria. I had come to the idea that this land had entered the pony equivalent of the Victorian Age. Trains utilized steam engines, but the strange thing was, cottage industry remained the economic basis for the country. There seemed to be little machinery in this land, and perhaps it was because of the widespread utilization of magic. It was free--despite the fact that the unicorn worker must be paid--reliable, and readily accessible, whereas the production of machines was laborious, complex, and provided little extra benefit. I wondered if Equestria would ever hit a real industrial revolution. They could definitely achieve great things with magic alone, but it wouldn't be fair to let the unicorns trounce all over the rest of the ponies by means of natural talent--Celestia would likely agree. This may end with the subsidization of entrepreneurs looking to start factories, and employ the earth ponies, and, perhaps to a lesser extent, the pegasi, in these factories, balancing the abilities of the races of Equestria...

I had to wrench myself from speculation. The train station was in front of us. It was large building, purely rectangular and with a classic gable roof. It seemed to be built in the style of Renaissance buildings--cobblestone, grouted together and braced with wooden planks. The roof was of shingles, to my surprise, but thatch near coal-fired furnaces was not a wise idea. However, the fitting was extraordinarily clean and precise. Magic is a very useful thing...

I punched myself mentally. Stop. The world around you... right. I smirked dryly at my inner parent.

I looked down at the door, which we were now passing through. It swung easily and stayed square and level, another testament to the precision of the builders.

The interior of the building was much the same as the exterior, but the floor was a smoothly cut and laid brick. Ponies milled about in various queues, waiting to get a ticket or heading through the doors in the back of the building to the train. One of the ticket booth operators saw Twilight, and simply waved us through. We were already attracting looks, for obvious reasons.

We returned to the out-of-doors next to the train on a long, covered patio. The stone dropped off sharply to the tracks below, but the train itself was about level with out feet. An interesting sight, was this train. The engine itself was long and dark, made of iron, it appeared. The conservatively adorned cars behind appeared to be composed primarily of wood with iron bands for support. Ponies covered in soot and grease were looking at the wheels and drive mechanisms on and under the locomotive, applying the thick lubricant to any joint that appeared too dry. Others loaded what appeared to be coal into the large iron container at the rear of the engine, preparing it for another journey. It all looked very... Victotian.

We were greeted by an usher, wearing a nice uniform of sorts. From what I could determine, he was a fit, rather large earth pony stallion, his mustache completing the image of an olde-timey escort. "Ah, Twilight Sparkle. Please, come this way. Bring your guests!" A flicker of uncertainty rippled through his eyes as he observed me. Spike was really having a rough time of it today. "None of these guys ever notice me," he complained under his breath. The stallion led us to our left, towards the rear of the train. More ponies shuffled and mixed about underneath the covered walkway, and the number of these seemed to fall off as we passed what appeared to be white partitioning lines, separating the passengers of each car to better organize everyone. Eventually, we hit the final car--the caboose, and inevitably the most luxurious part of the steam-powered beast. A gangplank was extended from the side of the car to the closed cabin door. Our escort opened the door with a hoof, gesturing to us an invitation into the interior. "Please, make yourselves at home."

Yet again, I found that I had to shrink a bit from my typical posture to fit through the door. As Spike and I entered into this lavish train car, the door closed behind us, sealing off a remarkable amount of noise. I could stand in here, but I simply sat on the nearest portion of a long, arcing sofa instead.

Turning my eyes to the decor around me revealed that I was likely sitting in a load of cash. The interior walls appeared to be made of a varnished hardwood wainscotting of some sort, likely teak, accented by deep forest green accents in small alcoves adorned with small knick-knacks or various plants. The walls also held elaborately framed artwork hanging from them, as well as fully framed and functional windows sunk in various places about the room. The seats themselves appeared to be of very fine leather--another reminder of the interesting societal construct of animal husbandry in Equestria--and were also framed with solid planks of sturdy and well-finished hardwood. The flooring was surprisingly one of what seemed to be shag carpet, and I was visited by the need to remove my shoes. The centerpiece of the room was a massive, beautifully crafted teak table, composed of several cuts of wood laid together with such exacting precision that any gaps were imperceptible. An ornate floral arrangement sat in the center of the table, surrounded by a myriad collection of various hors d'oeurves, and a small collection of what could easily be identified as a small multitude of assuredly high-quality hard liquors, along with different sets of fancy glassware for their consumption. I could not comprehend how much time and money went into creating and maintaining this cabin, and that we were lent its use.

Inside this fantastically expensive train car sat several other ponies. The one who looked most at home, the alabaster one, sat back almost like a person would, bottom legs crossed and forelegs in her "lap". The fashionista was wearing a simple, unassumingly adorned dress in a creme color, with light usage of gold lace and subtle glass beads for a hint of sparkles. She just needed opera gloves and to be poured a glass of wine to look almost like a character out of a movie. It fit her personality perfectly.

Also in attendance was a heathenish cyan pegasus, splayed out across an expensive-looking loveseat across from the arc-shaped sitting area, with limbs at various angles and wild rainbow hair laying any which way it desired. She snored softly. Someone has the right idea, my normal, not-in-an-extremely-luxurious-area brain said. It was dealt with sternly.

Another cabin occupant was the meek, proper Fluttershy, sitting in an also human-like manner, but in a more closed and angular manner than her effusively charismatic friend. She smiled softly at us through her light pink locks, curling halfheartedly about their end.

I gave the group the flash of a quick smile before looking to the final other pony in the car, the farm-grown Applejack, who sat slightly removed from the group in the seat across the door from me, and looked more uncomfortable than I was. She was in less of an awestruck state than I, however, and I could assume that she had been on other trips in this car. I nodded, and she returned the motion.

Twilight took a seat towards the middle of the half-circular seating arrangement, next to Fluttershy and Rarity. Spike took up the seat between the butter-yellow and white coated mares. They all shared a "hello" in their respective fashions. I had momentarily forgotten about Spike's little crush, but with Rarity's confident, intelligent, and sociable aura, it wasn't a mystery why it existed.

Notably absent..."Hey, where's Pinkie Pie?" Twilight's voice queried.

At this moment, the door to the exterior exploded open violently, almost triggering a primal urge to reach for a weapon. As the shockwave propagated throughout the fabric of the universe, a figure was revealed. Standing in the doorway was none other than the bubblegum pink party pony herself, in a triumphant posture and with a voice that dripped with the infectious energies she made such extensive use of. "HELLLLLLLLLLOOO EVERYPONY!"

Dash had not been unscathed by this. She lunged out of her seat, adopting a wide stance and spreading her wings to their maximum span. This was difficult within the confines of the train car and produced a quite imposing effect. Upon seeing Pinkie, Rainbow groaned angrily, flopping back down onto the small couch.

"Hey, Pinkie," the group responded after fits of giggling, be it traumatized, unstable, nervous, humorous, or all of the above. The usher gave her an evil eye before closing the well-crafted door again. "Hi!" She took a seat opposite Rarity on the other side of the car after a short prance.

"So how's it going today?"

The answers happened sequentially, each of us saying something to the tune of "good" or "wonderful", and "I was okay" in Rainbow's case.

Rarity seemed to be looking me over again. "You, dear, come with me. I have your clothes in the car in front of us." The white pony rose from her interesting sitting position, pacing to the front of the caboose. Her dress seemed more natural, flowing into a position reminiscent of plate armor for warhorses; the fabric fell mostly about her sides, not quite tight, but not loose, vaguely accentuating the shape of her body. I could say nothing of what the stallions would think of her craft and look, but I could appreciate the aesthetic. As the purple-maned mare opened the door, two halves of a small, thick walkway bound together by a massive iron pin, and the door to the aforementioned car, were revealed. This was far less precarious than the other linkages between cars, as this was clearly made to allow access between the two segments of the train. Crossing the small gap that allowed the join to pivot and entering the front car revealed a similarly-decorated interior, but without seating or furniture. The opposite end of the iron and wood box was quite close, about a third of the vehicle's length away. I assumed this was to be a multipurpose room, and that the other areas were private sleeping quarters and bathrooms, the former of which I determined must be utilized on long trips--or, for some nice naps. Some clothes racks stood in this open area, which held various outfits. The way the pony dresses were hung was interesting, but I couldn't quite visualize in what manner they were sitting. Rarity tossed some clothes at me, which I caught. It was the outfit I had worn on my way from the old castle, with all the holes sewed back up with near imperceptible thread.

"There's those, but come, come, darling..." No... she didn't... The purple-maned tailor opened a door to one of the small rooms, dimly lit by a few rays of light entering through the blinds covering the windows, and I entered behind her. My fears were confirmed.

The same ad-hoc mannequin stood in front of me in the little room. A pristine black suit coat was buttoned smartly on the assembly, with a lustrous red tie peeking out from beneath. An undershirt was thoughtfully included, of a clean white fabric that I could not determine until I put it on.

I was trying to organize the whirlwind inside my mind into a coherent oration as Rarity began to explain the work she had done.

"...I didn't have much time to put this together, but it's something I'm willing to put my name on--"

I started to talk, softly, and quickly escalating in volume. "No, Rarity, no, no, no, no--"

"Excuse me!" Oh no. I do believe I've made her mad. A stern and commanding look compounded the perceived anger in her voice.

"Dear, this is a serious problem. Remember the definition of insanity--doing the same thing twice and expecting a different outcome? Well, that's certainly true in this case. You have no right to tell me how to spend my resources, especially when it comes to doing things for you. I will do as I please. I sincerely hope that you do not exercise this behavior around the princesses of this country. Do remember, you are acting as a diplomat for your entire race.  Also, please just be happy when I give you a gift. That is the point of giving gifts, darling. Now, what do we say?"

"Sorry, Rarity," I eked. The back of my mind was reveling in the comedy of the situation, while the front was attempting to bandage the fresh wounds it had sustained. It was, again, dealt with.

The mare's fierce, defiant expression almost instantly ameliorated into that of a pleasant smile, as did her tone of voice into an effusively praising one, which was dizzying for my internal emotional state. "Good, good! Now that that's settled, what do you think of this suit? I'll leave the room a moment while you change." As promised, she left the room, not giving me time to answer her question. I shrugged as the door closed, assuming she would expect an answer after I was done.

Feeling the fabric the coat was composed of assured me of its quality. It seemed to be of a moderately high thread count, and both soft and abrasive to the touch. I laid it down on the bed next to me as I re-clothed myself. The ensemble included an excellent set of dress pants, likely of a sort of cotton and wool blend, and the undershirt was a soft cotton production. The tie was plainly of silk, both luxurious and a reminder of Rarity's excessive expenditure on making unnecessary clothing for me, however much I appreciated her work. Her assurance and even scolding reminded me that she had not a single care about it, and her insistence that it was none of my business. Nonetheless...

Damn it, Rarity. The lining of the suit was, similar to Rarity's previous creation, of delicious satin weave silk. The subtle grey shine of the interior should have told me this, but instead it was my sense of touch. The fitting of the garments was sublime, and I was now able to see plainly the conspiracy for which my measurements were taken. She was by no means a lady lacking in intelligence, which she plainly radiated along with her other alluring powers of social prowess.

I made sure everything was as it should be before opening the door and exposing Rarity to her own scruitny. As soon as I stepped out, she was inspecting everything, checking to see if it all fit correctly. "I can't find any issues with it. I'm amazed you were able to put this together in one night." I was sure I looked somewhat comical, with my wildly curling mop of hair and obvious glasses clashing with the luxurious, refined clothing I was now wearing.

"Thank you, darling," she replied warmly, now more passively looking for issues. "I'm not a cobbler, so I couldn't make you any shoes, but what I can do, is fix that unruly bit of mane... this way, dear..."

Oh, Lord...

Just as I began to follow Rarity, faint tremors passed through the vehicle. The muted sound of a whistle diffused through the cabin.

"Oh. I do believe we're about to set off."

As Rarity said this, the car lurched slightly, vibrations continuing to pass through the flooring. Several more jolts of acceleration passed through the vehicle before it gradually began to smooth out into a more comfortable rhythm. It was now easier to walk about, and I followed Rarity across the hall.

About 45 minutes later, Rarity had almost entirely given up on trying to work with my hair without magic. I simply spent the time thinking about whatever came to mind, adopting a somewhat brooding composure, no doubt.

"Hmph. Your--hair--is so stiff and curly that I'm either going to have to leave it as-is or wash and brush it so I can use product to keep it flat. What do you say?"

"I'd rather leave it. I hate product in my hair." Why she was so engaged in something entirely arbitrary I had no idea.

"Well, I suppose I could use a bit of conditioner to keep it from being so frizzy. You may want to take off your suit, dear, or it's going to get wet." I snorted inwardly. No choice...

I followed her advice. The small stool that had I had been sitting on was moved to the edge of the "sink", the same style of structure I had seen previously in the library, albeit made of marble. It was simple enough to do as Rarity had insisted, if awkward, and I was soon mostly dry and back in my comfortable, timeless clothing. I had the feeling I would enjoy wearing this commonly, as the fabric did not seem so fine as to be hard to tailor and lacking in durability, and not nearly so coarse as to be uncomfortable.

"Alright, darling, let's go back to the caboose. Our friends are likely wondering what's taking us so long." I noticed her use of the inclusive pronouns, and once more I wondered what the others thought of me. I seemed to be accepted by six of the most important mares in the country, which I found strange. Again, the thought that perhaps this relationship was strictly professional and I was meant to be given a warm welcome before meeting the real leaders of the Equestrian government bubbled up. Worries about appearing authentic again strode the halls of my mind. Were my intentions clear by my behavior? I could not continue worrying, as I knew full well how it would eat away at my energy and produce a messy emotional outpouring, but the questions still gnawed at me.

Opening the door to the exterior of the moving train exposed us to an influx of sound from the mechanisms of the vehicle. The motion of the wind in between carriages was stymied by the forward movement of the train, producing a small pocket of calm air. A small tinge of anxiety slid in and out of my mind as I approached, then crossed the gap between the cars. Rarity was more obviously upset by this, but made it across fine. I opened the door, allowing her in first. I vaguely caught wind of a comment from her, pleased in tone. Entering the car after her, I closed the door behind us, sealing the outside off from the quiet of the luxurious caboose.

Twilight, who had evidently been nodding off, saw me, and decided to strike up a conversation. "Hey, you're back. We were starting to wonder what was taking so long. You clean up nice." Hm! The weird voodoo magic of suits transcends species boundaries!

I answered coolly to Twilight's conversation starter, as was generally my wont, especially after a long period in my head. "Yeah, I'm back... Rarity wanted to do some work on my hair and it was kind of a lost cause."

Rarity caught this one. Her animated nature assured a snappy response filled with humorous indignation. "It was not. I managed to tame it with a liberal application of conditioner, and it looks good, no?"

Twilight shrugged. "It looks like it did before, but with less stray hairs."

"Precisely," the fashionista replied.

A conversation started with that, and, for a period of about twenty minutes, continued, primarily involving various forms of clothing in the human world. Rarity enthusiastically contributed, whilst Applejack listened attentively and offered the occasional input, Pinkie allowed her mind, body, and mouth to wander, and Rainbow mostly just tried to take a nap. While she mostly just stayed still and occasionally shifted about, I eventually made it a point to offer her a solution.

"Rainbow?"

"Yeah?" came the mare's muffled voice.

"You know there's bedrooms in the next car...right?"

She disentangled herself from the chair, quickly rising to her feet. "Well, why didn't you tell me sooner! See ya later! And nice suit!" The cyan mare rushed out of the caboose, no doubt headed towards the promise of a comfortable nap. The group had a collective chuckle at her antics. I had more ammunition for the theory of strange suit powers.

Twilight again addressed me. "I think I'm about to do the same as Rainbow... I didn't get too much sleep last night. What about you?"

"Probably not a bad idea, but--"

Rarity cut me off. "Darling, if you get bed-mane on me, we're going to have an issue. I'm going in whatever room you're in and waking you up thirty minutes before we get to Canterlot."

I tried to reply, but Pinkie chipped in. "Yeah, you won't want to miss the sights on the way up to the city, either!"

Twilight, Rarity and I all shared a look of "that's not what she meant, but her point is valid" and moved on. She probably saw this, but was evidently alright with it.

"Think I'm gonna catch some sleep. Talk to you all later."

Twilight and I headed for the door.