//------------------------------//
// Tunnel Vision 
// Story: Manes, Pains & Trains 
// by lunabrony 
//------------------------------//

	"Stay together now, children!" remarked Cheerilee, guiding her small class towards the large tracks by the station. She had quite a job for one mare. Escorting, supervising, feeding and ensuring the safety of an entire class was no easy task.  But she enjoyed it very much, especially when she was able to watch them learn. Her class was about to embark on a field trip to the Canterlot Colosseum, an ancient landmark of historical significance. A quick glance around assured that all the students were behaving. At least, most of them. Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were huddled together, whispering amongst themselves as they always were. Diamond Tiara was pushing Lilac out of her way while Silver Spoon watched, she'd be sure to give the two a warning later when they were alone instead of embarrassing them in front of the rest of the class. But where were Snips and Snails? She quickly glanced about, and found them in the absolute last place she wanted them.
"Look at me, look at me!" Snails was saying, doing push-ups while balanced on the heavy tracks. "I'm in train-ing!" This brought an idiotic laugh from Snips, who thought that was the funniest thing he'd ever heard.
"You always know just the right thing to say, Snails." The rotund little colt snickered.
Cheerilee glared at them both. "Snips! Snails! Get down from there THIS INSTANT." She ushered the rest of the group forward, all the while turning her attention on the pair of colts. "That's incredibly dangerous, get off of there!"
The two reluctantly climbed off the tracks. "Aw, it's not like we were in any danger. If we didn't feel a train coming first, we'd hear it." Snails complained.
"That's not the point, I don't want to see either of you up there again, or you're both going to be my special best friends for the day. Is that what you want?" Cheerilee warned.
"No ma'am, we'll be good!" Snips said quickly. Nothing lowered your cool-level faster than being stuck with the teacher. It was fortunate that they left the tracks when they did, as a train whistled its incoming passage several minutes later, and a large blue carriage chugged onto the boarding platform soon after. A stallion in a striped blue and white hat was leaning out of the window of the very front of the large train.
"Now boarding, Canterlot Colloseum!" The conductor called with a friendly wave. 
Cheerilee had not taken her eyes off the children. "Alright, we're on a schedule. Everypony on the train, hurry now!"
Snips and Snails quickly turned to run towards the train, unfortunately in doing so slamming head first into each other instead. They recovered after a momentary argument of "Get off me!" and boarded the train.
The Cutie Mark Crusaders, meanwhile, were discussing the possible ramifications of train-oriented skillsets.
"Window washing?" Scootaloo asked.
"We could do that anywhere, why would we want train window cutie marks?" Sweetie argued. 
"Y'all are bein' a bunch of sillies, we'll get conductor cutie marks fer sure!" Apple Bloom said excitedly.
"As IF," came the voice of Diamond Tiara, who pushed past the trio with a snort. "If anything, you'll get your cutie marks in shoveling coal, because that's all you'll ever be good at."
"And even that's being generous," Silver Spoon seconded, bringing up the rear. "I wonder what a cutie mark in being completely useless looks like? Probably just an image of all three of you." The two fillies boarded the train, laughing.
Sweetie Belle looked devastated, and tears began welling up in her eyes. Scootaloo did not particularly enjoy the thought of having an image of herself on her flank, even under the condition of being with her two best friends. She hollered after the two. "You two lunkheads get back here and say that again!"
Apple Bloom was nudging her friends towards the stairs on the train car. "Come on y'all, don't listen to them. We'll show them by getting super awesome cutie marks instead!"
"Yeah, I guess." Scootaloo said, and made her way up onto the stairs following the others. "It's just not fair, I'm not good  at much of anything except my scooter, and a scooter cutie mark is just stupid. That's like Sweetie Belle's special talent being, like, singing or something."
"I know!" Sweetie insisted. "Everypony says I'm good at it, but I'm tot*squeak*ally scared of singing in public. Not happening, no way!"
"And ah'm gonna work with apples!" Bloom said proudly. "Don't know exactly how yet, but maybe ah'll deliver cart loads of apple with mah very own train!"
"Yeah!" The other two said excitedly.
"Cutie Mark Crusaders TRAIN DRIVERS! YAY!"

***

"All aboard, last call!" The conductor yelled, eyeing the loading platform from his vantage point. Seeing no others waiting and having a schedule to keep, he pulled down on a long cord with his hoof and a fierce whistle sounded. The whistle was met with the cheering of children from the back compartments, and he grinned as the train lurched into movement. His passengers were relatively few today, a single class from Ponyville and a few regular commuters. Nothing significant.
The train rolled out of Ponyville and into the rolling hills, a seemingly minor change in scenery but one that many of the children had never seen before. A majority of the class had their noses pressed up against the windows, some whispering, some yelling, all in excitement. 
Not the Cutie Mark Crusaders, however. Finding that they were not allowed to wander around the train unsupervised, effectively stalling their plans to infiltrate the control room, the three had fallen silent and were seated around a table containing an abandoned game of Maneopoly they had found stashed overhead.
"I'm bored."
"Me too."
"Me three!"
"Well what're we gonna do about it?" Scootaloo asked impatiently.
"We could do each others manes!" Sweetie chimed in.
"Naw, y'all aren't allowed tah do mah hair after what happened last time." Bloom said. This comment was met with a particularly accusing look at the pegasus sitting across from her.
"I'm SORRY," Scootaloo insisted. "I thought the dye would come out!" She rubbed her neck. "But, your mane DID grow back. Eventually."
"Look, look!" Sweetie Belle said suddenly, pointing out the window. Naturally, the other two did just that. An enormous tunnel was coming up quickly, seeming to swallow all sources of light in its depths. There wasn't any telling how long it was, there didn't appear to be any end in sight. "Whoa..." Apple Bloom and Scootaloo echoed. 
"What do y'all think is on the other side?" Bloom asked. There was silence for a moment, as ideas were forming in the  minds of all the children.
It was at that very moment the train entered the tunnel, casting all of its inhabitants in darkness.