It was at that very moment the train entered the tunnel, casting all of its inhabitants in darkness.
The train, which was a shorter, more efficient model than the Friendship Express, was designed for passengers. It had only four cars, not counting the engine itself, and each car was fitted with benches and tables below, with storage compartments overhead. The Cutie Mark Crusaders were sitting by themselves in the last car, an abandoned game of Maneopoly laying strewn about on the table. As the darkness overtook them, Apple Bloom blinked several times, trying to adjust her eyes. There was a soft yelp from the next table over as Sweetie Belle jumped with fright, and an annoyed groan from Scootaloo. "Get OFF me!" The pegasus said.
"I'm sorry, I'm just so frightened of everything!" Sweetie Belle squeaked. "I wish I could be brave and strong like you, Scootaloo."
Scootaloo waved it off. "It's no big deal, I get that all the time." She said casually.
Apple Bloom frowned. "Quiet down, y'all. Somethin' big is goin' on up front." She cracked the door to the next car open, and immediately sensed something was not right. Several stallions in masks were pushing their way farther and farther back into the carriages, threatening the children and passengers with broken cider bottles and holding out burlap sacks. The children gave what little bits they had, some had pieces of candy which were thrown into the bags. The adults were handing over bits and jewelry, and nopony seemed to be protesting all that much. Apple Bloom began to close the door again, and the hinges creaked. She froze.
One of the assailants looked up immediately. "HEY!" He shouted, and charged for the door. Apple Bloom shrieked and slammed the door shut, locking it. She and Sweetie Belle pressed their backs up against it as the thieves pounded on the door.
"Help us, Scootaloo!" Apple Bloom begged. "Ah'd do somethin' mahself, but ah'm jes' a helpless little earth pony, little sister of an even more useless earth pony!"
Scootaloo opened her mouth to respond, but just then the door to the carriage flung open, sending the other two fillies head over hooves. The thieves rushed to pin down Sweetie and Bloom, a third making a lunge for Scootaloo.
"Run, Scoots!" Sweetie Belle yelled.
"Don't worry, you guys! I got this!" Scootaloo declared, and charge out the back door of the train. She found herself nearly tumbling over the balcony, tracks rushing by underneath. The third thief was still charging her, and she had to think quickly. She began to climb her way to the top of the speeding train via a ladder on the side of the door with the thief right behind her. Scootaloo narrowed her eyes. "Hey, ugly! Why don't you pick on someone your own size?"
"Like... you?" The stallion grinned.
"Oops." Scootaloo made a run for it, heading towards the front of the train. She leaped towards the next car, clearing the gap with inches to spare, and ran across the roof. The train was speeding faster now, one wrong move could mean certain death. The stallion pursued her further and further across the roof, with Scootaloo yelling back at him. "Who even robs trains anymore? I mean seriously." She leaped across the next gap, but her hooves slipped at the last second. Her body slammed into the edge of the carriage, and there were gasps and screams from down below as a pair of orange hooves dangled precariously from the roof, in front of one of the windows. "Not today!" Scootaloo exclaimed, and pulled herself up.
"Gotcha!" The thief exclaimed, for he had not missed his jump, and the extra few seconds had been enough for him to catch up. He grabbed a hold of her forelegs, and yanked her up. "What do you have to say for yourself now, you little brat?"
Scootaloo just grinned. "That's my saddle! I don't know you!" She screamed, and slammed her hind hoof between the stallions legs. The stallion had only enough time to look confused before he went down, rocking back and forth in a ball on the ground.
"Yeah, that's what I thought." Scootaloo snorted. "Next time, you think twice before you mess with me!" She turned around, and found herself face to face with the two other thieves who had followed their friend onto the roof. "Oh, crap."
Down in the train, the worried gasps had turned to muttering.
"She still hasn't come down yet."
"Is she alright?"
"Somepony go get her!"
"HEY!" Yelled the guard by the door. "All of you, stop your whispering!" he demanded. He was intent on keeping an eye over all of their victims, and that was exactly what he intended to do.
Of course that didn't stop them. "Look, up in the sky, what IS that?"
"It's a bird!" exclaimed a mare.
"It's a plane!" exclaimed a stallion, to which was met several mutterings wondering what exactly a 'plane' was.
"No! It's... it's..."
"RAINBOW DASH!" Scootaloo shouted,
"In the awesome flesh!" The pegasus announced, zooming in to land behind the stallions on the roof. "What are you two lunkheads doing harrassing my favorite filly?" She demanded, grabbing them both by the tail. The stallions didn't take too kindly to having their tails grabbed, and kicked at Scootaloo. Scootaloo screamed, losing her balance, and slid off the edge of the roof, disappearing towards the tracks below.
"NO!" Rainbow screamed, reaching out a hoof towards where the filly had fallen. "No..."
"Relax, wouldja?" A voice, this time... behind Dash?
Rainbow Dash whirled around, and her jaw dropped. "Scootaloo? But... you're..."
"Flying?" finished Scootaloo, diving back and forth in the air to keep up with the speeding train.
"That's... so... AWESOME!" Rainbow Dash squished her face together. "Come on, squirt! You and I will round these losers up, and we'll go fly together!"
"You're on!" announced Scootaloo.
***
Scootaloo beamed with pride. "And then Rainbow Dash and I totally wound up the rest of the thieves, and Rainbow Dash adopted me as her sister." She finished. "And that's how Equestria was made!" She opened her eyes, expecting a wild round of applause, but was met with the evil glares of both Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom, who had not taken kindly to being portrayed as an idiot or being called useless.
._. ._.
"What?" Scootaloo asked.
Apple Bloom pointed to a chair in the corner.
"Ugh, you guys just don't appreciate a good story." She muttered, and went to sit in the corner.
"You want a good story?" Apple Bloom asked. "I'LL tell you what's gonna happen next."
"Now this I have to hear." Sweetie Belle said.