Oneway Ticket to a Dead End

by Dableaxcheaz

A Talk With The Mayor

While the fire brigade fought the blazing wreck that was the trainstation, the CMC were escorted to the town hall/Jail for interrogation. Running away was futile since one of the escorts was a sheriff. The fillies would’ve been caught before they could make it one yard.

The mayor lead them into his office while the sheriff and train manager stood guard at the door. His office had walls and furniture with the same dark wooden texture. There was a book case with a collection of books, a cabinet with important documents, and a desk that was neatly organized with its pens and lamp. It was the mayor’s office alright.

The mayor sat in his chair behind the desk,” Sit down please,” He ordered. The 3 made their way across the velvet floors to the chairs against the wall. They sat upright and waited nervously for him to speak. “Now, you three are without a doubt, the troublemakers behind this catastrophe.” He picks up a quill full of ink and pulls out a sheet of paper. ” I want the truth, and I want the full story.”

Applebloom and Scootaloo wanted to speak, but then realized that their minds were a little fogged in the head. They both turned to Sweetiebelle who was sandwiched between them.

“Well?” said the mayor waiting for Sweetiebelle to answer.

Sweetiebelle then said,” I’ll explain.” She then told the mayor every single detail that has lead up to this moment; the mayor meanwhile, was hard at work copying it all. From the CMC meeting, to the train spitting sparks from its wheels, Sweetiebelle didn’t leave a single detail out.

The mayor intrigued by the whole story placed his quill down and said,” I see,” he turned to the door way,” Sheriff.” The stallion came inside,” Take them to the jail.” The CMC gasped at the order. “They are to remain there until further notice.”

The Sheriff led them out of the office and down a dark hallway. It lead to a room with windows beaming light at an empty jail cell. The sheriff opened the door and ordered,” get in.” The 3 walked into the empty cell, with the sheriff locking the door from the outside. The CMC walked up to grip the bars, as they watched the Sheriff walk away.

“Jeeze,” sighed Scootaloo,” Some day this turned out to be.”

“Yeah,” replied Applebloom,” One minute we’re talkin’ about Train Engineer cutie marks, then the next thing ya know, we’re in jail.”

Scootaloo turned to Applebloom and Sweetiebelle,” I’m sorry guys. I’m sorry I blew our big chance to get our cutie marks.”

“It’s alright Scoots,” smiled Sweetiebelle.

“Yeah,” added Applebloom,” and I’m sorry I called ya a big chicken.”

“Water under the bridge.” Smiled Scootaloo.

“Besides, Sweetie and Ah agree, breaking two switches is worse than pulling one don’t ya think?”

At that moment, the Sheriff rounded the corner. He walked up to the cell and opened it. “Unicorn.”

Sweetiebelle gave a confused look. Pointing at herself, she replied,” Who, me?”

“Yes, the mayor would like to see ya.”

Sweetiebelle nervously turned back to her friends. They were both worried for what Scootaloo was in for. But why only her? Why not all three of them? Sweetiebelle exited the cell, with the Sheriff closing the cell door behind her. She followed the stallion through the hall, as her friends watched in horror.

_______________________________________________________________________________

The sheriff led the filly through the office door, where she then sat at the same spot as before. The Sheriff once again, returned to his post at the door. Sweetiebelle turned her attention to the mayor, while he was examining a small stack of documents. He laid them down, and crossed his hooves on the desk.

“What is your name?”

“Sweetiebelle s-sir.”

The mayor pondered at the name, as if he had heard it before,” Sweetie belle? You must be miss Rarity’s sister.”

The white unicorn nodded.

“What a fine young mare she is, she made a beautiful dress for my daughter’s cutsineara. A dress that only she could have made. But enough about her. I have called you in here to tell you-“

Sweetiebelle hid her face with her hooves.

“You are a hero.” He declared.

Sweetiebelle uncovered her face in surprise and confusion, ”A hero?” she squeaked,” But sir, I was with them, I was a part of it, and-“

“I know. But I have written and read your story. According to this, you’ve done nothing wrong at all.”

“But I pulled the slip of paper from the basket.”

“True, but according to this passage, Applebloom said that this was one of her entries.” Sweetiebelle felt a little bit happier from what came out of this day. Sure the station and train cars caught fire, but at least nopony was hurt. “And one more thing. Not only did you save the ponies of ponyville, you also saved my own reputation.

“Does that mean your going to give me a favor?”

“Yes,” nodded the mayor,” Anything except pardoning your friends, I still need to have a word with them.”

Sweetiebelle began to think. She thought hard, and didn’t want to waste the one wish. Since the mayor couldn’t pardon Applebloom and Scootaloo, She had another wish that might make things easier for them. The unicorn then said,” Can you not let the press get a hold of this?”

The mayor sighed,” I’m afraid not Sweetiebelle, the press can be very demanding of answers. After all, I was there.”

“Oh,” sighed Sweetiebelle in disappointment

“But I might have something similar in mind.”

_______________________________________________________________________________

Meanwhile in the jail cell, Applebloom and Scootaloo sat on an old bench on the wall. They became worried for Sweetiebelle, and hoped that she wouldn’t be devastated by the mayors’ punishment. While their heads were down, a Sweetiebelle with a white towel came around the hallway corner.

Her friends looked up and became relieved that she was alright. In fact, she didn’t look stressed, sad, or tired at all. She was actually smiling right back. The Sheriff opened the gate for Sweetiebelle to enter, and closed it behind her.

Applebloom and Scootaloo jumped out of the bench and ran up to the unicorn.

“Sweetiebelle,” cried Applebloom,”you’re ok!”

“What happened?” asked Scootaloo,”How bad was the punishment?”

“I wasn’t punished at all.” Sweetiebelle gladly announced.

They both sighed in relief. Sweetiebelle took the towel off her shoulders and applied it to Appleblooms’ fevering forehead. As soon as it made contact, the earthpony felt instant relief. It felt as if she had her head in an icy cold river, and the water flowed across her face. “Thanks,” she replied.

Before anypony could say anything, the sheriff returned. He opened the gate and said,”Earthpony, Pegasus, the mayor would like to see ya now.”

The two fillies gulped in terror and walked out of the cell. Before they exited, they turned back to Sweetiebelle, who said nothing but smiled to try keeping her friends hopes alive. The two looked forward and left the cell. The sheriff once again closed the gate, and escorted Applebloom and Scootaloo to the office.

Sweetiebelle walked up to the bench, where she waited for her friends to return. She waited, and waited, but they didn’t return yet. They were now in the office longer than Sweetiebelle was. She began to worry like her friends did for her. After waiting for at least 10 minutes. The two fillies finally return, and they looked very depressed.

Applebloom with her towel around her neck, looked like she was going to cry again. Scootaloo looked like she had been scarred for life. They were the exact opposite of Sweetiebelle when she came back. What did the mayor do to them?
When the two were let in once again, Sweetiebelle ran over to her friends aid. ”Girls, what happened?” Sweetie asked.

Applebloom looked up,” Well,” she sniffled,” that could have been better.”

“Yeah,” said Scootaloo terrified,” That mayor has a *gulp* way with words to get under your skin.”

“What did he say?”

“He said that we did the stupidest thing ever and he will never live it down.” Answered Applebloom wiping her tears.

“Those exact words?” replied sweetiebelle baffled.

“No.” said Scootaloo in a shrill voice.

“That’s not the worst part,” added Applebloom,” Both our families are gonna know about this, and pay a fine for the damages. Applejack’s gonna kill me.”

“Oh sweet celestia you three are alive!” said a familiar voice.

The fillies all turned their attention to the source of the sound. Covered in desert sand and dust, it was Rainbow dash, alive and well. Scootaloo smiled again, and ran up to the bars. Rainbowdash walked up to the bars and looked at Scootaloo.

“You’re ok!” The young Pegasus cried.

“Coarse I am, why wouldn’t I? I’m glad that you three are all right.” Scootaloo looked into Rainbow’s eyes, and she smiled back. “You guys sure did make a mess out there.”

“Guess you saw that, huh?” said Sweetiebelle

“When checked it out, I didn’t see you three anywhere in the crowd. I then saw the burning train engine and assumed the worst. But one of the deputies then told me that three fillies were sent to town hall for questioning.”

“Yeah,” added Applebloom,” and that didn’t turn out so good.”

Scootaloo looked around the outside of the cell and noticed that the conductor wasn’t with her. She asked,”What happened to the conductor?”

“Oh, he wanted me to take him back to Ponyville. He said something about talking to an employee about something.”

At the other end of the hallway, the door to the mayor’s office opened with him peeking his head out of the door way. He saw Rainbowdash on the end talking to the inmates, and walked on over down the hall.

When he was about halfway down, he said,” Ah, Ms. Rainbowdash. What excellent timing.”

The Pegasus turned and said,” Oh, hey Mr. Mayor.”

“I see that you’re chatting with these trouble makers.”

“Yeah, and I bet their families would be furious.”

“Which is exactly why I need your help.”

Rainbowdash returned a look of confusion,” Huh? What for?”

“You see, my messenger has the day off and I’m, well… messengerless. Knowing that you’re practically the fastest flyer in Ponyville,”-Dash blushed at the statement-“, you’re perfect for the job. Now come along.”

Rainbowdash turned to the cell with the CMC looking at her kind of sad like. Rainbowdash just got there, and even cheered the fillies up a little. They didn’t want her to leave. The sky blue pony smiled.

“Come now.” The mayor ordered. Rainbow dash turned her head back to the mayor and went down the hallway. She entered the office while looking down the hallway.

“See ya.” Murmured Scootaloo.

Sweetiebelle turned to the bench at the back of the cell, and moved towards it. They others followed behind, feeling exhausted, and wobbling left and right. They looked as if they were about to collapse. Sweetiebelle climbed on and watched her friends attempt to reach the bench.

With the last of their strength, Applebloom and Scootaloo lunged at the seat, grabbing it by the edge. They pulled themselves up, sandwiching Sweetiebelle in between again.

Applebloom let out a long yawn and rubbed her eyelids. “Ah wonder when our sisters gonna get here?”

Scootaloo yawns as well,” Well, because there isn’t going to be a train coming… from… pony…” She collapses, resting on Sweetiebelle’s left leg. The unicorn chuckled a little.

“Heh, I guess it doesn’t really matter.” Sweetiebelle looks at the tired head headed pony. “So what did the mayor want from you?”

“Well,” thought Sweetiebelle,” He said that I saved his reputation, and granted me a wish.”

“Really,” Applebloom yawned,” What would that be?”

“I wished-“she felt a soft thud her other leg. Applebloom fell asleep. Sweetiebelle smiled at the two as she saw them cuddle up on her lap. She then looked forward at the room’s barred windows, closed her eyes, and leaned back. The unicorn fell asleep.

______________________________________________________________________________

They slept through the evening in the cell, like foals in a crib of security. As dusk was approaching, the fire brigade was finally putting an end to the fiery train station. The area was now a smoldering fire pit, with charred wood, fallen walls, and ash shingles. The team went over to the local pub, where everypony celebrated the heroic achievement. Apple cider was on the house.

Back at the cell, the three continued to sleep through the night. Unfortunately for Applebloom, her slumber was interrupted by a small fly tickling her nose. She slowly opened her eyes, only to see that night has fallen. A small candle outside the cell, kept the room illuminated. The moon light seeped through the windows to help the candle out.

Applebloom then heard a faint conversation coming from the hallway. She got off the bench and pressed her head to the bars closest to the hall. At first she could only hear the mumbling of two ponies. She was able to make out one of the voices, which was the mayors’.

With second one, she could only tell that it was a female voice with a familiar accent. Paying attention to the words, she made out,” I understand Mr. Mayor, and Ah’m sorry for the trouble.” She knew that voice anywhere, it was Apple Jack’s voice. Applebloom froze.

On the bench, Scootaloo and Sweetiebelle began to awaken. They noticed Applebloom listening by the door, with a doomed expression. “Applebloom,” Sweetiebelle yawned,”whats wrong?” They heard hoof steps coming down the dark hallway. Somepony was coming.y second,

They got off the bench and moved toward the door for a better listen. With every second, the steps grew louder. Scootaloo and Sweetiebelle felt a little nervouse. The next thing they knew, the sheriff rounded the hallway with the keys jangling on his vest. As he unlocked the door, Applejack came out of the hall, and she was not happy at all.

Applebloom slowly exited the cell, and approached her sister. She stared down at the weepy eyed filly with a grimace. “Ahm’ very disappointed of ya Applebloom, very disappointed.” She began to stroll down the hallway, with Applebloom following her. She didn’t say a word.

Scootaloo and Sweetiebelle seeing it as a cue, exited the cell and followed Applebloom close behind. They came up to her on each side to make her feel better, but she didn’t notice. They continued to follow Applejack until they were outside. They were greeted by a horse drawn carriage with it’s door open. ”Get in!” she growled.

The CMC slowly entered, closing the door behind them. The stallions, connected to the carriage, began to pull away from the Town hall/ Jail. They soon exited the town, passing the smoldering building that was the train station. The carriage rode off into the blank dessert, beginning the long return journey to Ponyville. Nopony, said a single word.