It Takes All Kinds [private]

As it were, finding the filly's bow was both tricky and not tricky. It had gotten loose as she skipped and hopped for fun, and got caught on a corner with some hanging decorations nearby; It was hidden in plain sight on the way to the filly's mother in one of the other cars. The mare was pleased though flustered to have found her daughter just when she realized she had gone missing, but had mixed feelings about the rugged stallion accompanying her to get them back together. She still thanked him when her daughter told her he found the bow at least, and so the task was done.

Heading back to their room, Sugary checked to see if Kimi was back there again while thinking on what he had done earlier. "Still not here... Is she really mad at me? Is what I wanna do for her really so different than what I did for the filly? Help out...?" At least, he felt much more at ease as he looked at the door to the 9th car. He just wanted to clear things up by this point rather than argue.

He was unsure Kimi would be in the dining car as he opened the door, but there she was as he saw her in her booth once he walked around a bit. "She seems more at ease... I think..." He doubted he was entirely welcome, but he nonetheless approached her, held onto the corner of the booth with his hand as if about to sit, and spoke to her softly. "Mind if I join you?"

Idly Kimi drank the water and refreshed her throat, though her focus wasn't on drinking water, but clearing her thoughts. The scenery outside moved by pretty quickly, though she was able to keep most of the detail's in her mind to refer back to later if she ever passed these lands. It wasn't all that difficult seeing the darkened farm lands shooting by, before they entered the tunnel that went underneath a smaller mountain that surrounded Hollow Shades. They would be on this train for quite sometime, so it was probably better for her to make the most of it.

She thought back on Sugary for a moment and thought about what he said, though what upset her wasn't so much his want for helping her, it was the look her gave her, and the way he spoke about her. It reminded her of that wicked and cruel man from so long ago. Word's repeated in gentle manner, only in the end to reveal it's wicked truth. She has ever so constantly been the victim of 'I only wish to help you.' many times over, even by those she'd thought to be friends. So it's been a long time since she ever really let anyone in. The only person that really had managed it was her assistant Yasmin and even the beginning of their relationship was extremely rocky where they would try to kill each other constantly, but overtime she proved herself and still does to this very day.

It was how she survived after her last horrid betrayal that ended with her being a test subject for a new drug and...no, she doesn't want to think about that. She shook her head pushing away the thoughts. She finished her drink by this point and just sat there her elbow on the table and her chin resting on her propped up hand looking out the darkened window. Her ears twitched and lifted to the sound of the door opening and her tongue slithered out and flicked in the air a moment before going back in her mouth. She knew who it was. When he walked up and asked to join her she held out her empty glass to him with her free hand and without turning to him. "Get me a refill."

Sugary blinked in mild surprise as he expected either a yes or a no rather than a command. "Hmph... I'd say this is better than a 'piss off' but she better not think I'm gonna be her errand boy either... May as well see how this plays out..." He contemplated as he looked straight at the glass with a raised brow. "Will do."

And so he took the glass and made his way over to the counter to talk to the waiter. "Sir, I'd like a refill of what the lady over there ordered." As he briefly waited what Kimi was served, he eased up a bit more. "Just water, huh? She didn't go for anything strong at least..."

Once he got the glass full again, he made his way back to Kimi while trying to see if she looked at him any differently, but only stood in the same spot as last time as he placed the glass in front of her on the table and let it go. "... Can I now sit here and talk?"

Kimi felt the glass leave her hand and Sugary departed to get her a refill. Still she kept the same position the entire time even when Sugary had returned. she did wonder why he came over for, she was eventually planning on heading back to the cabin. Well it didn't matter as he was here now. What had she been looking at the entire time? The outside was pretty dark given that it was night time.

"Thank you for getting the refill." She took the glass when he set it on the table. "I'm not stopping you." she answered him as she brought the glass up to her lips and took a small sip. She held the glass in her hand and dipped her finger into it, while she held it and idly swirled that finger around in the water.

Sugary did a mental facepalm as he really could've just sat down at any moment. "I brought this on myself... But at least I'm getting to see how things play out, so..." And so he sat down, opposite to her and taking note of the swirling finger. "Didn't I used to do that when I was bored...? Could mean anything from her though..."

Thus far, Kimi hadn't questioned why he was there. In fact, she hadn't said much of anything towards him, so he figured no news is good news and he could try and get a conversation going quietly. "K-... Lotus, about earlier... I need to know. I mean I really need you to be clear with me because I can't read minds... Was there something I did wrong?"

Her finger slowly moved and swirled the water about in her cup. One ear lifted, the one closest to Sugary, and twitched ever so lightly. She for just a moment stopped swirling the water and took a small sip and then went right back to swirling the water with her finger. "I had a teacher..." she started out as she kept her gaze focused out the window. Her voice soft and low, but at a reasonable level that hearing her wouldn't be a problem if you sat across from her. "...this teacher of mine took me quite sometime to get him to teach me. I had been searching for power to get stronger and help those I once loved back home." she didn't sound sad, she didn't sound upset, she just spoke calmly and without feeling. "He took me in, trained me, pushed me, and helped me attain what I had needed." she took another sip.

"But as time with that teacher went on, the truth began to show. Maybe it was because I was naive, I was only 13 at the time." her ears lowered. "He began to run test's on me, at first I merely thought they were to help me attain what I wanted, but as it went on the tests began to get harder and more difficult, eventually I was forced into them against my will and it grew from simple tests to complex surgeries and experimentations. After all that, I found out what his purpose was." she took another sip. "I was nothing more than a step for him to obtain what he wanted. Immortality." she stopped swirling the water and took her finger out holding the cup more firmly in her hand.

"His name is Orochimaru. The horrid man who first tricked a young naive girl by telling her." she put her cup down gently. "I only wish to help you anyway I can."

She finally moved and turned her body to face Sugary and lowered her hands onto the table. "So when you ask was there something you did wrong. My answer is yes, yes there is. Whether you find it fair or not is irrelevant and changes nothing of what's occurred. If you want to know what you did wrong, then I'll tell you." She grabbed her cup and downed the rest of her dink. "You just had to remind me of one of the men I hate more than anything else, that is what you did wrong."

As Kimi was actually talking to him more, Sugary gave her his full and undivided attention. He didn't even mind she was not looking at him at first. As she went on however, he began to feel his skin crawl as she spoke of Orochimaru, and her experiences with him. He didn't know who the man was, but he got a very bad vibe and tightly clenched his fists out of the fact he had taken advantage of the trust of a minor, Ninja or otherwise, that now sat before him. He now understood what she meant by the pain she endured much better.

However, he felt his ears and heart drop as she blamed him for reminding her of that man, just because he was doing what he felt was right. Well and truly stumped, he struggled to try and mend things, but it took him a lot of contemplating as he sat right before her. "... How can I possibly make this better then...?" In the end, all he could do was to be equally clear with her on what was what. It was the least he could do for her as his ears slowly perked up again and his expression and demeanor became more adamant. "... I really am sorry I made you feel that uncomfortable... But I am not that man, so get over yourself! Do you think I enjoyed having to deal with broken trust on the job!? Of course not! Especially when that's the kind of thing that costs the lives of others!" He spoke as quietly as he could, but it seemed an old tender spot if his own was being treated on with the topic. "I'll tell you once more, I am not your enemy, I am not that man, and we both have bigger things to worry about... Like making sure we can get back our homes!"

There goes that line, she's heard it many for many years 'get over yourself'. Her eyes closed a moment at that line and she mentally sighed to herself. There's no point to this. It would have just been better off just acting as though none of this ever happened. Kimi looked at Sugary while he spoke and the only reaction's out of her he got was her ears moving, it was probably because she wasn't quite use to having ears like this that was capable of moving all over the place. But it did show some of her emotions, which basically was up for positive emotions and down for negative emotions and right now her ears balanced near the middle with a slight angle downward.

She didn't hold any sympathy for the stallion before her, she's had her own problems to deal with and being told to simply just 'get over herself' wasn't going to fly with her. Once Sugary was done talking she waited a moment. Seeing that he wasn't going to speak any further. "I know you're not my enemy." she responded as she turned her cup upside down and then got out the booth and stretched her arms. "I'm done talking about myself and my problems. Let's just deal with getting your home back." and just like that, she dropped the topic, no rebuttal to defend herself, no excuse or explanation. Just like that she shut down any chances of further getting to know someone new.

"I'll keep helping you until you get your ship back." she stated as she crossed her arms. "I'll return to the cabin later. I'm going to explore the train a bit more." She bowed slightly to Market. "You should get your rest while you can."

"... Very well..." Sugary just nodded in return as he stayed on the booth for the time being as he slowly eased up again while Kimi went her way. "... A bit cold... But she seems more focused on what matters at least instead of whatever creeped up from her past... Did I do the right thing though...?"

He rested his back into the chair as he gave a bit more thought as to what she told him. "... She said Ninjas of her world don't seem to make friends easily... What kind of life has she lived?" He thought back to that Orochimaru she spoke of. "... It must've been hell... I don't think she's ever gonna trust me... Or anyone else... And yet she hesitated when I called her out on camaraderie... She even used to trust that creep..." He then sighed and slumped forward onto the table as he looked puzzled and frustrated. "Bah! Why am I trying so hard to figure her out...!? And yet she still worries me..." He'd grumble lightly as he scratched his head in thought. "... Maybe I really do care too much... But I can't just not care... Can I...?" For the time being, he pondered the conundrum of wanting to do good with all his heart, but his efforts were apparently not needed. It made him feel antsy to say the least...

After Sugary said 'very well' Kimi walked away, heading back the way she came back to cabin 8. She, however, wasn't going to go back to the room. She continued on past cabin 8 and onto cabin 7. she was quite curious as to how the rest of the train looked and maybe it'll give her a bit more information about this world. This world was strange, she had noticed similarities and differences everywhere. Which helped her along with coming up with a theory about this world. That it was probably a copy, not not exactly like a copy, but more so a kind of reflection. Similar to staring at a joke mirror. Because of how it's structured everything looks the same, but there are still a lot of differences.

At the moment, she would push Sugary to the back of her mind and focus on just scouting the rest of the train. It was fairly quiet and calm, given that the time of day was night, so many on the train were more than likely asleep by this point, or probably even getting ready. I'll figure out what to do on my own. she thought to herself as she had a moment to think about things. Maybe she should find someone ask how long it would take to get to the next station.

At some point, Sugary had decided to drink his anxiety and worries away with some root beer as he sat in the same booth as earlier, looking out into the night while letting in a bit of the cool air with a partially opened window. He thought back to the days he flew on the night sky in his airship, both with and without company. He had a bittersweet smile on his face. "... Hm... Still can't feel quite at ease... And here I was hoping the two of us could pass the time talking about her world and culture..." spoke he softly to himself. The train ride was relaxing, but he felt like he had forced himself to stay cooped up in the meantime. He yearned to have the freedom he had with his ship, but he was just gonna have to persevere through thick and thin again for it.

Eventually, he decided to be more productive, and headed to the serving table to go with the old act of finding information out of a Pub or Café. He'd beckon to the nearest waiter or waitress . "Hey, mind if we just talked for a moment? I'd like to know how close to the Badlands our route is..."

Kimi would not exactly find much for conversation among those whom were mostly interested in just tending to business in the bathrooms, but among those that came out was one of the security guards still on duty. The hefty looking Pegasus mare looked towards Kimi, partially out of work habit, partially out of curiosity for the way she looked and dressed, and partially because she happened to be watching in her direction as she walked out to go back to work...

The waiter was in the middle of cleaning cups when Sugary had walked up to him. He looked at Sugary with at first a confused stare, almost as if this was his first time being spoken to about something other than an order. He then gave a gentle smile and a light chuckle. "If I remember correctly, this route in specific actually goes straight through the badlands." He put the glass into a tray and picked up another one and began to wipe that one down as well. Seem's like he was currently drying off the recently washed cups.

---

Kimi would look around at the different ponies that she could see, though she didn't see much of any that could possibly look like they could be of any good use. Well there was one that stuck out the most, well honestly, it was because the mare was staring right at her. Kimi stared right back and arched a brow. Kimi waved the guard over. "Pardon me, I need to ask you something."

Sugary perked up at the information given with interest, thinking that the Badlands weren't part of the route due to their namesake. "How odd... I should take a better look at that map later..." He decided to continue asking for some more information while he could. "Thank you, I didn't know that. Could you tell me the nearest stop to the Badlands though? I vowed to meet someone around there for old times sakes."

---

The guard mare approached Kimi somewhat, cupping her hands in front of her waist in casual attendance. "I hear ya'. Whaddaya need, Miss?"

A voice appeared coming from the left of Sugary. It was a unicorn waitress who was bring in empty glasses on a tray. "Shot, we stop BY the Badlands, not through the badlands. How many times do I have to remind you?" she said in an annoyed fashion to the Waiter, Shot, who blushed in embarrassment from being corrected. "Oh that's right, by not through...eheh heh heh." he gave a nervous chuckle as the female waitress went behind the counter and dropped off the tray and gave him a sharp gaze. "You really need to remember the routes better, you're luck the boss didn't catch you, remember the last time?" Shot's face went slightly pale at the thought. "Yes, yes, you're right, i'm sorry! I'll try to remember it better next time."

"Good, now just take these to the back, I'll handle it from here." Shot nodded his head to what the waitress said as she turned to face Sugary and smiled to him. "Sorry about that. He often has trouble remembering the routes. Our last stop is in Dodge Junction. From there you'd have to try and get someone to take you to the Badlands or walk there yourself."

---

Kimi waited until the guard mare had gotten close before asking her question. "What's the last stop for this train and how long will it be till we get there?" she asked. She eyed the guard over and then focused back into her eyes and she awaited an answer.

Glad to have been corrected on time, Sugary chuckled lightly as the mare scolded the stallion while taking note of the information. "Near Dodge Junction it is then... That sounds about right. Thank you for your time..." He'd nod to both of the staff members and make his way back to the cabin he was sharing with Kimi to look at the map and take notes to try and plan ahead.

---

The security mare seemed to give a fair bit of though to Kimi's question, but she'd answer as per requested soon enough. "Well... I recall we should reach the halfway point in the Ponyville station somewhere between a day and a day and a half from departure. Dodge City, the last stop, should be at roughly the same distance away from Ponyville so... 2 days at earliest, 3 days at most. I'm not exactly train staff though, that's just part of our briefing as security. Feel free to ask them if you prefer... Now excuse me, but is that all? I really have to get back to patroling, Miss." The mare merely wished to continue with her task rather than just brush off Kimi, but even she had a hard time looking away from her unique eyes, pondering if they were real or contact lenses were involved.

The waiter and waitress nodded their heads and waved to Sugary as he left and then went back to their duties of cleaning up.

---

Kimi listened intently to what the security mare had to say and she repeated them in her mind as the security mare told her. Once Kimi had it memorized, she nodded her head, and thanked the security. "Oh no, that's perfect. Thank you, sorry for taking up your time." Kimi stared right into the security mares eyes as she gave her a slight bow. "Enjoy the rest of your night." she wished her well and stood straight and began to walk in the direction of car 6.

Sugary would be quietly sitting on his mattress while marking a couple spots on the map he had. He also had been contemplating on asking about the Bazaar to those who were part of the staff and some of the other passengers, but with security nearby, he felt it was too risky to ask around what might be a hot, if obscure, topic. He didn't want any official forces involved on the matter so long as he could avoid it. "Asking at Dodge Junction itself seems sound enough anyway... Then again, Ponyville is in a prime location for trade... Among other things... Assuming that's the midpoint anyway, unless it's actually Canterlot... But stops there tended to be more exclusive, didn't they?"

At some point in his thinking, he looked over to Kimi's mattress, and frowned lightly. "... I just couldn't bring myself to abandon her if she really were in need... Can't pretend something's not wrong when it is... But that's something to worry about later I guess..."

Kimi lightly sneezed and covered her nose with her elbow. She stopped and looked to her left and then to her right and then just shrugged her shoulders and continued moving on to the next car. This was another passenger car, though this one seemed to be more quiet than the rest, seems like mostly everyone on this car was asleep. For the most part, however, Kimi's travels throughout the train fared no real new experience as a lot of what she saw were pretty much copy paste of each other. The only real differences were the paintings that were in each of the cabin's some had more, some had less, but each painting was different. But what they all had in common is that they were scenery painting. So Kimi, in a way, got to see different places in Equestria, whether she knew them to be actual places or not is a different story.

Kimi would have been gone for a total of three hours before she had finally decided to return back to the cabin. Only reason she was really gone for that long aside from looking through the area's of the train she was allowed too, was that she took some extra time to look at the paintings and take in their details. Only when she actually visited those places would she be able to actually notice the accuracy of the paintings for now, she merely saw them as just pretty paintings.

Sugary looked to the door and... calmly nodded towards Kimi in greeting. He still had lingering thoughts regarding her own circumstances, but he subdued them well enough as he lay on the mattress turned bed with hazy looking eyes as the stresses and length of the day were finally catching up to him. "... Hey..." It was sort of a lazy greeting, though not unkindly, but it was all he could muster right away. "... You learned anything...?"

Having settled down, he had taken off some of his clothes, though only his upper body was bare as he was half covered with a blanket, while the bandana on his mane was gone and it freely spread on the bed and part of his face and torso. He was still wearing his pants underneath though. He was just as ruggedly built on the torso as his arms were, but aside from the obvious muscle toning and less obvious strain on his body brought on by years of work, travel, and weather, he had white spots similar to those on his arms and muzzle that could be seen starting just below his ribs and growing larger and more numerous along the waist, suggesting that his flanks were blanched out like his other limbs.

Kimi closed the door behind herself when she stepped into the room. She didn't say hello, however, she did answer his question. "I learned we'll be on this train for about 2 to 3 days before we arrive." she walked over to the empty mattress and climbed into it and sat against the wall furthest away from the door. She pressed her back against the wall. "We'll arrive at our halfway mark, ponyville, in about a day, a day and a half and the last stop is Dodge City, which is about the same distance as Manehatten is to ponyville." she eyed him seeing his relaxed demeanor. "So we'll be on this train for quite sometime."

she hadn't undressed, or prepared herself for bed or anything. She just sat there and shifted her gaze from Sugary to the door. She propped up one knee and rested an arm on it and stayed like that.

"Mmm... Here's hoping for 2... The bed is nice, but I need more freedom..." His mind certainly registered what he was being told, it was just a little bit slower now. It did bother him slightly that it wasn't in even less time though, but he was still on his way, and that was good enough.

He also noticed how she seemed to acknowledge him despite her voice sounding entirely business-like, yet still remained a tad aloof to him. Still staring her way, he blinked a few times to focus. "I was gonna tell her something... What was it...?" Eventually, something would click. "Kimi... What do you expect out of others?"

And here he goes asking more questions. Kimi's eyes shifted over to him as she looked at him. Hearing his tone and giving his question some thought. What did she expect out of others? Should she be honest? It's not like it's something she constantly thinks about, more like she subconsciously does. Though being able to bring it out into words, how will she do it. She was silent for a moment and then she shut her eyes. "I'm tired, and I would like to rest." Well doesn't seem like she plans to answer it. She kept her eyes closed, but still kept in her seating position. "You should just focus more on more relevant things." she said as she yawned.

"Good night, Sugary." she stated as she just lowered her head onto the arm that is resting on her propped knee.

In a way, Kimi still answered him as it were. She gave him something to really keep in mind. "... She expects not to be bothered while in her shell..." Of course, he was just assuming and he knew it, but he had seen a more personal side of her that wasn't easy to fake or lay bare to others, while she seemed to shut herself from him more now instead. He simply took her words at face value and lightly nodded in agreement. "... Fair enough... Rest easy, Kimi..." His head looked to the ceiling as his eyes grew heavier and heavier, eventually becoming shut, his breathing calm and quiet.

Of course, she couldn't sleep, but she sure as hell can pretend. she's a ninja she's good at faking things when it's necessary. With her head down and her eyes shut, she waited. Thankfully she could still 'see' thing's due to the major vibration's that the train was making just simply moving along the train tracks. So she could tell if Sugary was attentive to her or if he just laid back down. It would be quite sometime though before she decided to move again. Within about thirty to forty minutes, Kimi finally lifted her head and stared toward's Sugary who was sleeping soundly.

Well tonight for her was going to be a long night. She looked toward's the door and waited for the rest of the night. Come morning however, she snuck out the cabin and relocated herself to the dining car in car 9.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tcujXSXqDPA

Depending on who might or might not be listening well enough at sounds from car 8, a select few from car 9 might hear the sound of a door sliding open eventually, an elderly mare dramatically exclaiming "By the sun! Put a shirt on...! Or I might just steal you away~" followed by a stallion gasping, hurting back to his room, shuddering, and changing clothes.

Shortly afterwards, a skinny and tall wrinkly mare in a gaudy purple and blue dress with an oversized feathered hat and many jewels entered car 9 with a deeply amused look while chuckling to herself. "My my, how exhilarating!"

Back at car 8, a certain stallion would walk back out as he brushed his mane and grumbled and mumbled about cutting off Thieves hands and how that's not the kind of appeal he finds in older women while making his way to car 7...