The last train home, a short story of Blaze
After six months of gruelling lessons, games, studying and exams the time had finally come to go home. Blaze stood on the platform waiting for his train home, taking in the life around him. He'd been up since six this morning, double checking his room was clear, making sure he'd packed everything and getting ready. He'd take a half hour shower to make sure he was thoroughly clean for his mother, and another half an hour shaving and combing his hair to make sure he didn't miss a thing.
All around him other ponies where chatting and laughing, talking about what they were going to do for the holidays. The conversation topics were pretty average, blue eyes, the most popular mare in school was surrounded by her adoring legions of 'friends' or hangers on, was going on and on about how her parents had paid two hundred bits to get her front row seats at Vinyl scratches new concert. Pinkwing, her equally popular arch enemy was similarly surrounded by ponies and going on about the private cruise she was going on down south in the indigo ocean. All the stories where the same, concerts, festivals, conventions, everypony was doing something with their friends.
Blaze didn't particularly have anything planned; he would have gone to the Vinyl scratch concert. But he found her music to be kinda repetitive and boring 'now give me a shot of vodka and some tombstone, that's a concert I'd go to'. Blaze had been out the whole of last night on top gate hill with his friends, simply enjoying the final night. They'd snuck in some vodka, cider and even several cigars and spent the whole night simply chatting. When Daymoon had cracked out his music player and speakers from now where the sounds of Dubtrot had soon been echoing throughout the whole school. They would have stayed out longer, but then the teachers had come out with flash lights in search of the miscreant pupils and they'd had to run. Blaze had to hide in a clump of bushes with Daymoon, Nightshine and Kito for an hour whilst the lights had flashed to and throw.
Now waiting on the platform he knew he would miss the guys over the holidays, all of them. He'd had a great time over the term, but now it was time to go home and finally relax. "this is the calling for the ten fifteen to Canterlot, now boarding at platform seven" there was a sudden bristle through the crowd of assembled ponies and then, as one, they moved off to the platform, leaving Blaze alone on the platform with Blue eyes, who without her following of slavering ponies, seemed a little deflated. Blaze hid a smile 'serves you right in the end, you go around with your head held mercilessly high and break your neck when you fall'
Blaze didn't have anything against her specifically, but something about the arrogance the teenage filly carried herself with got on his nerves 'that and the rumour involving me, Sweet cream and half a gallon of full fat cream…' a few months ago with nothing better to do with her time Blue eyes had spread a rumour that Sweet cream, one of the shyest and self contained ponies he knew after Fluttershy, had reached heat early and had ask Blaze to cover her in cream and lick it off. Just the memory of Sweet creams face when she'd walked into the dining hall and been ridiculed by the entire school make Blazes flame like mane and tail, for which he was aptly named, flare up.
"so…what are you doing this half term?" Blue eyes asked him, she trotted over and stood beside him, preferring to be seen with anypony then be seen by herself. Blaze gave her a sideways glance.
"Nothing much, just working" Blaze managed to hold down a steady job at his dads forge, mainly fixing old tools and machinery for the Apple family. He was learning how to forge rudimentary jewellery though, and around his neck hung his first attempt, a simple chunk of metal he had carved into the shape of wings.
"You work? That's so lame" Blue eyes giggled. 'What does she know, her father's rich and powerful, and she'll never have to work a day in her life for anything. Take a look at her test results and you can be sure of that' "I can't believe you have to work" she tossed her mane "I get everything I want for free"
'that's because you sleep with half the stallions in school' he wanted to say, but instead he took a different approach "well somepony has to make a honest living" he fixed her a stare with his sapphire blue eyes "someponies don't want daddy to pay for everything, someponies find it more satisfying to earn something"
Blue eyes stared at him, shocked. Nopony had ever talked like that to her before, not once. "well someponies have a father that can actually support their families" Blaze felt the muscles in his wings tense.
"My father works around the clock to feed his family, how do you think he managed to send me here?"
"probably because he slept with the head mistress" Blue eyes flicked her mane again 'god that's irritating'
"my father would never betray my mother, but speaking about promiscuity…" he smiled 'this is going to be good' "how's your ponyfreind doing? He must have been heart broken when you two broke up" Blue eyes had been going out with a stallion called ironhoof , but the relationship had ended when it had emerged that he'd been seeing Pinkwing on the side lines. Blue eyes mouth gaped. "close your mouth before somepony gets the wrong idea and pulls down their pants" Blue eyes shot him a venomous look, then closed her mouth and trotted off, humphing as she did so.
Blaze smiled, then pulled out his headphones, a large set of 'Dubtrots' produced by Vinyl scratch for her knew audio technology line, placed them over his ears and played his favourite song "love me cherilee" by wooden toaster. Time passed and slowly the students filtered away onto their trains, Blaze watched them go, waving bye to his friends as their train left, and then waited for his train.
As ever his parents had placed him on the last train to leave for ponyville the ten fifty nine, time seemed to crawl by at a snail's pace. When the train finally pulled in he pulled on his flank pack and stepped onboard into the single train car, dropping down into an old worn out seat. With a screech of steam the train slowly out of the station, huffing and puffing as it pulled away. The conductor came along and punched his ticket, but apart from that the trip was quiet and lonely.
After an hour the train pulled into the ponyville train station, with yet another screech of steam. Blaze stepped off the train and onto the empty platform, looking down its length. Further down the platform there stood two adult ponies, waiting hoof in hoof. One of them was a small unicorn. Her skin a snow white, her mane and tail a deep purple and both where expertly curled, on her flank were three diamonds. Her eyes where light blue and seemed to twinkle with happiness and pride as she saw Blaze. The other was an alicorn. He stood tall, his face filled with pride. His skin was as equally white as the unicorns, and his wings where covered in soft white feathers. His mane and tail where the same mixtures of oranges, yellows and reds as Blazes, and his eyes where a fierce emerald green that seemed to hold green flames.
Blaze nodded in greeting and slowly walked up to the pair. "mother, father"
"BLAZE!" the alicorn pulled him into a fierce bear hug and swung him through the air, laughing as he did so, Blaze was surprised to find himself laughing as well. When his father placed him back on the floor blaze staggered slightly, his vision going in circles. "why didn't you call your mother? She's been worried sick"
"no I haven't" the unicorn gently nuzzled his face "it's good to have you home son"
Blaze smiled and nuzzled his mother Rarity back, then he gave his father Nova a hug. "it's good to be home"
"come on son, I'm cooking tonight" his father said, a smile on his face "how does your fathers homemade lasagne sound?" Blaze made a face and then laughed.
"it sounds good dad" and with that he picked up his flank pack, gave his parents a warm smile and stepped out the doors of the station. In the street ponies where going around their business, overhead there wasn't a cloud in the sky, the sun was warm on his skin. Blaze tilted his head to the sky and sighed, taking in the warmth of the day.
It was good to be home.