Early the next morning, the three of them boarded the train to Ponyville. The train originated in Manhattan and would eventually head to Dodge Junction, passing through Canterlot and Ponyville along the way.
Because the journey was a bit inconvenient and to prevent any accidents, they entrusted Spike to Celestia's care, hoping that The Grand Princess would have a pleasant time with the little Spike during the day.
"Wow, this is the first time I've traveled by train to a place outside of Canterlot with friends!"
Twilight Sparkle said excitedly.
She had barely slept last night. She had intended to make a plan for tomorrow before falling asleep, but she overestimated her energy and unknowingly fell asleep on her scratch paper. As a result, she almost walked out the next morning with ink all over her face; it wasn't until she handed Spike over to Celestia that The Grand Princess reminded her, and she finally noticed. Thinking back, it was just too embarrassing.
"Me too."
Sunset Shimmer said with a touch of emotion.
In the past, she never could have imagined herself doing things with friends, and this feeling wasn't bad at all.
"By the way, Twilight. Are your parents really that comfortable with you going on a long trip?"
"Oh, they were a bit worried at first. But Ponyville is only one station away from Canterlot, so strictly speaking, it's not that far. Plus, once they heard I was going with you guys, they didn't have any objections."
"I don't want to dampen your spirits, but I still have to remind you that we're not just going on this trip to play."
"I know. I've already prepared enough paper to record the things we need. Last night, I also learned a bit about the history of Ponyville, hoping to analyze the possible causes of the explosion from the local culture."
Twilight Sparkle was quite confident in her preparation. Although she hadn't found any clues directly related to the rainbow explosion, she wasn't completely unprepared.
Sunset Shimmer turned her gaze to Aurora, who was sitting by the window.
Ever since the train departed, she had been staring out the window, looking even more excited about this trip to Ponyville than they were. She had been so uninterested in investigating the rainbow and the explosion; could it be that she was very interested in Ponyville itself?
But based on what they knew, Ponyville was just a very ordinary small town; there shouldn't be anything there to pique Aurora's interest. Moreover, because it was a town built by an Earth Pony, Unicorn magic was rarely used there; one could say it didn't fit Aurora's personality, as she loved magic. The only thing that could be called special was that Ponyville was quite close to the dangerous Everfree Forest.
However, seeing her in such a good mood, Sunset Shimmer could breathe a sigh of relief. Yesterday, they had burned all her treasured books. Although Aurora had been very forgiving and didn't hold it against them, and even agreed to come to Ponyville with them for practical experience, Sunset Shimmer had been worried that Aurora was forcing herself to accommodate them. Now it seemed things weren't as bad as she had thought.
Not understanding what was in Aurora's mind, they just assumed that Aurora was truly enjoying this outing. It wasn't their fault that they couldn't realize it now; in Aurora's memory, Ponyville was the place where dreams began. For her, this journey was simply a pilgrimage to a holy land of her dreams. Not to mention having the two ponies she liked most by her side.
"It's perfect, the best trip ever!"
Aurora was incredibly grateful to her pony parents for allowing her to be reborn into this world.
Looking at the quiet Aurora, who seemed to be lost in her own thoughts, Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle exchanged a glance, and then decided that Sunset Shimmer should be the one to speak.
"I thought you would be depressed for a while, those books of yours... Sorry, some are really hard to get right now; we might have to wait until they are reprinted to buy them again..."
Although mentioning this now ruined the mood a bit, those books were important to Aurora, and the two of them felt they had to tell her.
"Are you still dwelling on what happened last night? I know this can't be rushed, and I stopped caring about it a long time ago, I'm serious."
---------------------------------
If you'd like to read the next 70 chapters in advance, you can support me on Patreon.
I regularly post chapter previews there, so you'll always be up-to-date and won't have to wait too long.
patreon.com/SolyuraMT
And if you enjoy the story, don't forget to give me a Power Stone. Your support really motivates me to continue translating!