The Equestrian Express is the major railroad that runs throughout all of Equestria's established territories.  It has major stops in Canterlot, Manehatten, Appleoosa, Fillydelphia, Baltimare, Seaddle, Las Pegasus, Trottingham... and, of course, Ponyville.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:44, Thu 24 May 2012.

The train makes it's stop in Ponyville from fabulous Las Pegasus. A pair of die roll against the floor then are picked up shortly before a White unicorn with black slicked-back hair and 3 red 7s of a cutie mark steps out of the train. He looks around in his black tux and nods his head. "Good a place as any." The pony said to himself. "A pony could settle down in a place like this... Who am I talking to?" He shakes his head and starts looking around.

<Exit to Town Square>
This message was last edited by the player at 22:41, Mon 16 Apr 2012.

Once again, the train makes it's stop at Ponyville. Minding the gap between the train and the platform, a small dragon hops down from carriage door, landing unsteadily on his feet before nodding to himself and turning around to take in his surroundings.

"That's one small st-" he began to say, before finding himself having to dodge out the way of hooves of other ponies who were just as keen to get off the train as he was, followed by other ponies who were pretty keen to get on the train as well. By the time the ponies getting off the train were off, and the ponies getting on the train were on, Quill was nursing one trodden upon tail, a ringing in his ears and a fear that maybe life outside of the Royal Archives in Canterlot wasn't for him.

"...one giant leap for drago-"

His train of thought was once again interrupted, this time by the whistle of the train behind him, carrying it's precious cargo of happy, chattering ponies to Trottingham and, as Quill began to realise, his few belongings. In stunned silence, with his mouth half open, he watched the train become nothing more than a small shape and the sound of an engine on the wind.

Shrugging off his initial misfortune, he turned on the spot and began to walk off in search of some help.

[Exit to... Ponyville Business District - Sugarcube Corner]
This message was last edited by the player at 15:41, Mon 07 May 2012.

Enter from Maison la Rich.

Diamond Tiara was not in a hurry, but her pace might have suggested otherwise.  She was not about to miss her train, even if she was early!  In her haste to leave, however, she had ran a little too quickly and didn't pay much attention.  Peppermint might have noticed, but what she noticed first was her charge running onto the train a little too quickly.  She had to flash her ticket to the ticket pony to ensure nothing untoward would happen to her charge.  By the time she might have had a chance to stop and notice the mistake, they were already on the train and the train was already rolling...away from Manehatten...

Exit: To the Adventure Zone: Show must go on.

Entrance Post - Start of Day 8

The train's horn blew as it came to a halt.  Once the train was at a complete stop the doors opened and a few of its passengers began to pour out onto the platform.  It didn't seem like there were very many passengers for Ponyville this morning.  However, among them was a little colt who appeared to be alone.

Hopping off the train and onto the platform, the little colt took a few steps from the train.  Walking further onto the platform, Star Dust stopped to give the place a quick look over.  He was looking for someone, someone who wasn't there.

Standing there, carrying only a green satchel on his back the colt chose to wait.  Surely the one who was supposed to pick him up from the train station was only running a bit late.  So the colt waited... and waited...  When about fifteen minutes had passed the colt heaved a sigh and began for the stations exit leading into Ponyville.

The colt had never been to Ponyville before, so even with an address he didn't exactly know where he was heading.  Perhaps one of the locals would be able to help him.

<To Ponyville Business District>
This message was last edited by the player at 18:42, Sat 01 Sept 2012.

Entrance post - Day 8, early evening, not too far out from Ponyville Station

Penny Dee was snoring unceremoniously in her seat, doing her best to sleep through that oh-so boring, boring, boring part of going anywhere -- sitting still in one place and waiting to arrive for hours and hours on end. A two-bit whodunit novel lay tossed next to her luggage, the sort you'd pick up at the train station for the ride, read all in one go, except you'd miss the last chapter because you'd arrived at that point, and then you'd forget the book in the cabin as you rushed out and for the rest of your life day you'd agonize over how things turned out. Except it hadn't been all that exciting after all, and now here Penny sat, doing her best sawmill impression.

A jerk in the train as they shifted tracks jolted her awake, though. Just as well, there was someone in the cabin with her now!

"Oh, hi!" Penny said, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes before beaming at the other mare. "Didn't hear you coming in. Hope I wasn't too loud over here, heh."

Entrance post - Day 8, early evening, not too far out from Ponyville Station

Carbon Copy flinched, surprised by the sudden jerk of the train. She looked at her sketchbook and sighed, subtle frown forming. Because of the sudden movements, her hand had slipped and now the hillside she had been drawing looked like a mountainside. Reaching out towards the eraser, Carbon happened to look over her book to see the other occupant of the cabin awake and excitedly talking to her. At least the other mare seemed to be talking since her lips were moving and she was facing towards CC.

Carbon took the plugs off from her ears.

"...too loud over here, heh." Indeed, she was talking to her.

When Carbon had entered the cabin, the other mare had been asleep and made enough noise to fell down a small forest. CC had considered waking the other pony but decided against it and just stuffed her ears with plugs instead. No need to tickle the sleeping chainsaw.

But now the pony was awake and since she was addressing Carbon it would be rude to not answer. The grey mare shook her head in forgiving manner and offered a vary smile. Hopefully that would be enough and the other side of the "conversation" would be satisfied.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:30, Sat 12 Jan 2013.

"Phew!" Penny said with relief, and returned the smile.

A silence started to take hold after that, as her cabinmate returned to her acivities and Penny took to looking in no specific order out the window, around the cabin, down at her hooves (idly wondering whether she could get a half-decent hooficure where she was going), and over at the grey mare in the seat opposite and what she was occupying herself with. The farm country rolling along outside made her wonder if she'd missed her stop, but surely the train would make such a commotion (or lo-commotion, even? Penny tittered to herself) coming in to have woken her, and even if it didn't, surely that helpful train conductor would have made sure all the passengers got off where they needed to.

Of course, Penny Dee could only sit still and look into the air for so long without imploding; nary a minute had passed before she cleared her throat and appeared over the edge of her cabinmate's book. "So whatcha drawing there?"

CC returned to her drawing, content silence returning in the cabin between the two strangers. Finally doing what she intended to do the grey mare corrected the drawn landscape in the way she remembered it. Hillside, not mountainside.

As CC resumed her work, she took another subtle glance at the pony on the opposite side of the cabin. She looked to be about her age, maybe slightly older but not more than few years. She had quite unique looks with wild mane, vanilla coat and periwinkle eyes. And was that a beret? Hats were not that commong among ponies, at least not in the places she had visited. In Manehattan some of the more high-class ponies were wearing them but it was to stand out more than out of practicality.

While CC seemed to be content with the silence the other mare obviously wasn't as she addressed her for the second time. CC looked up from her drawing which was almost ready apart from some finishing touches and came face to face with Penny who had sneaked in front of her. Releasing a meek eep CC took few seconds to decided should she just ignore this strangers attempts for conversation. In the end she went along and turned the sketchbook for Penny to see it. She looked slightly nervous as she did this but remained otherwise silent.

The picture showed a sketched landscape which could be seen from the window at the last station they stopped few hours ago. The trees and hills were all drawn with much detail and it was almost like a B&W photo.

(OOC: Sorry Penny, having a conversation with Carbon is really hard ^^)
This message was last edited by the player at 18:41, Sat 12 Jan 2013.

"Oooh. You drew that? Wait, silly question, 'course ya did! And what I mean to say is, that's a really nice drawing."

The picture also made Penny think, and she looked away again, deep in thought for all of five seconds. She didn't remember seeing any place like the one that had been drawn, or at least, nowhere exactly like it. And she'd probably been working at it for quite a while. She hadn't heard the other mare coming in, either, and who knew how long she'd been sitting there before she started? Not Penny, because she'd been asleep half day! Which meant she'd missed dinner! "Also, it makes me realize how hungry I am."

"I'm going to head over to the dining car and see if they're still making anything. Do ya want me to bring something back for you? Don't worry, you can pay me back later!"

Carbon let out a relieved sigh as if she had been expecting a stream of insults or something similar. The praise actually made her blush a bit and she looked away in embarassment. Maybe the other mare wasn't so bad. At first sight she had seemed a bit nosy and uncouth but now Carbon felt ashamed for even thinking like that.

Perking up at the next question, the young mare raised an eyebrow at Penny's train of thought. How did her drawing make the unicorn realize her lack of proper nutrition? That just didn't make any sense. A portrait of a landscape shouldn't make you think of food. Maybe nature, animals, past, future or even weather but not food. Come to think of it, she suddenly realized how hungry she herself was as her stomach growled. It had been good few ours since her last supper.

As Carbon was pondering these, Penny was already halfway out of the cabin. Hurrying after the unicorn, Carbon shook her head to indicate Penny didn't have to bring anything. Instead she started walking beside her, apparently joining on the trip to the dining car.

"Oh, you're coming with? Works for me!" Penny slowed down so her cabinmate and dinner companion could catch up, then resumed her steady pace. "Hey, we should get a table if they're still serving! I've always wanted to eat at a restaurant-on-rails. I hear it's like a fancy restaurant..." She stopped and made a sweeping gesture with her foreleg. "...but on rails!"

As it turned out, as the time was only barely creeping into the evening, they hadn't missed dinner at all. In fact, it was still in full swing, and the dining car was full of hungry ponies and other passengers waiting for or finishing their meals; there were only a couple tables that were still free! Oh, and there were even waiters! And fancy dishes! And neat little napkins! Penny gazed at the sheer novelty of it all with wide-eyed wonder for as long as it took her to realize that one of the waiters had come over and was waiting to wait on them.

"Hi! Table for two, please."

As Penny chatted away, Carbon remained silent but nodded once in a while to sign she agreed and was still listening. The pony next to her sure was lively and knew how to hold on a conversation. Carbon had to try her best to keep up and luckily she was a pony of few words since there was not much room to say anything.

The dining car was just as fancy as Penny had expected and Carbon shared the other mare's silent amazement. She had traveled by train many times but had never bothered to check the dining car to save money. Now she regretted it a bit. Looking around herself Carbon started to feel a bit out of place and wondered why she had decided to follow the other pony. In reality she didn't even know the vanilla mare's name. They never took time to introduce themselves.

Realizing how odd it would be to be sitting on the same table with someone she even couldn't call by name, Carbon nudged Penny gently to get her attention. She then pointed herself and said in very soft voice."I...I'm Carbon Copy. You?"

Penny chatted away as she partook in a delicious if a little overpriced salad and sipped at something that may have been a glass of white wine but that could also have been a perfectly non-alcoholic juice that had merely been served in a slender wine glass-esque piece of drinkware, managing to look only a little feral as she both spoke and ate at and either displayed a commendable fortitude for wine or shown how incredibly thirsty she had been before sitting down to eat, depending on the aforementioned dichotomy was sorted. She stopped the moment CC spoke up, though.

"I thought I'd forgotten something... guess I got a little carried away back there. In any case, it is nice to meet you, Carbon Copy! I," she hiccuped, "am Penny Dee." She introduced herself with a bow and a flourish, or as much as a bow and a flourish as one could muster while sitting down at a table, knocking the contents of her half-empty glass into her salad bowl in the process, fussing about with the mess before she tried it and found she rather liked it, then ordering a new glass and finally forgetting anything unplanned and untowards had ever, ever happened. "I hope you don't I've been acting," she hiccuped again, "- oh my - acting too weird today. But you see--"

Penny looked about conspiratorially and lowered her voice was sort of a whisper, but not really on account of being so loud: "--I've got a teeny, little problem. You see, I'm moving to a new town, and..." She looked about once again before continuing, bit her lip as if unsure whether to go on. "...well, I get really, really nervous about meeting new people! Blabbermouth-kinda nervous, I mean, but still! My pulse's been like," her hoof went DUNK DUNK DUNK in the table for demonstration, "almost since I woke up! Anyways, just wanted to say that I really appreciate that you're bearing with me until I arrive at my stop tomorrow."

"Hic! Hee."
This message was last edited by the player at 01:10, Wed 16 Jan 2013.

Carbon had gotten herself a daisy sandwich, the cheapest item in the menu. A friend of hers back in Trottingham had never praised the food on the train even if the surroundings were fancy. She nibbled her food while following the mare introducing herself as Penny with her eyes. The lil' pony had fallen silent again and only sign of her conversing was a brief nod or shook of her head.

When Penny mentioned her "big" secret Carbon perked up slightly. She could relate to the nervous part more than enough although her way of showing it was the opposite. She reached to her glass of water and saved it again from spilling over as Penny demonstrated her pulse on the poor table.

"Not a problem." she said softly and smiled in consoling manner."Where you moving?" Carbon couldn't help but be interested. She too was going to be living in a new town and finding anyone in similar situation eased her own nervousness.

Penny beamed, relieved that CC was taking this all in stride. "Nowhere big, small town called Ponyville - dunno if you've heard of it - I used to live in Hoofington, but I... wanted to get out of town for a bit. Get away from all the hustle and bustle while I'm working on my next book. " Well, first book, but who were counting, anyways? "More importantly, have you seen the price on real estate out there? They're practically giving places away - or at least, leasing them out pretty cheaply - if you're moving in and sticking around."

"Anyhow, CC, that's where I'm headed." She folded her hooves beneath her chin, throwing the evening sky a pensive look before smiling back at Carbon. "So how far are you going? Heading to visit family or friends?"

Carbon blinked. Did Penny say Ponyville? But wasn't that the same town she was headed to and intended to stay for a while?"Coincidence..." she muttered softly, mostly by herself but just loud enough for Penny to hear too. She then pulled out her sketch book and dug something from between the pages, then offered it to Penny. It was a small brochure of Ponyville and a trainticked to there, stamped at Trottingham.

"I'm headed there too." she said in meek voice, poking her hooves together as she spoke."Probably staying..." Hopefully. Carbon had moved many times since she had yet to find place to fit in."You mentioned book...what is it about?" She changed the subject since talking about herself made Carbon nervous.

Penny found herself excited by the news that CC was going to Ponyville, as well. For a second, she was also a little suspicious -- had they figured out where she was going so soon? Was this some kind of plot to reel her in? But then Penny thought about it and realized what a silly idea that was!

They wouldn't realize anything was wrong with the books until payday month, or next week at the earliest, and besides she had made sure to cover her tracks. Nobody at the 'Post would realize she was gone for at least another few days, either, unless her boss had grown a conscience and concern for his fellow being's well-being since the last time she'd seen him (as if!). And even if somebody got into her apartment, the note she'd left for her landlord that she'd gone off to visit her mother in the countryside - in the opposite direction of Ponyville - should throw them off the trail. Nevermind the several other steps Penny had taken to make sure that there had been no paper trail for anypony or anyone to find her by whatsoever.

No, they couldn't be looking for her already... probably.

She shook these thoughts from her head and smiled at CC. "You're going to Ponyville, too? We should get apartments next-door! Or in the same street. You know, whatever the market allows for." Her thoughts briefly took a different turn, towards the state of Ponyville's real estate. Sure, it was cheap, but were they simply trying to attract ponies and encourage urban growth, or were the idyllic photos and paintings merely a facade for a dark and troubled place, where no sane pony would ever want to live, much less purchase property and invest in local business and agriculture? Hmm, now there was an idea for something to write about. Speaking of which, apparently CC was curious what Penny's book was going to be about about.

"I really shouldn't say," she said with a grin, "it's - a - se - cret. But if you want, I can get the first book off the printers set aside for you. I'll even sign it and everything!"