Life of the Whistle

by SteamingWhistle382

The journey and the offer

The next morning, both Steaming and Emerald were woken up by the butler. It was very uncommon for the two kids to sleep in like this, but it was also uncommon for them to sleep in beds as comfortable as these were. They got into their clothes and went downstairs where the Spike family was waiting for them.

"Good morning you two! I suppose you two sleet well?" Asked Iron with a grin.

"Very good indeed sir." Smiled Emerald.

"Best nights rest I had in years!" Grinned Steaming, while popping his back.

"Well then, you two better get to eat breakfast quickly then, or we'll miss our path towards Dodge Junction." Winked the man, as the two of them quickly took their seats and dug into their meals.

When they had finished, Steaming grabbed his hat from the hat stand, while Iron took his briefcase, which contained some important documents about the route down to Dodge Junction. They stood at the door when Jacky came up to them.

"Daddy, can't I come with you three?" She asked.

"I'm sorry my little princess, but I'm afraid you can't. The run down there is far too dangerous for such a small girl as you are." Said the man.

"But I'm not that small! I can help you, I know I can!" Said Jacky in protest as her mother came up to her.

"Now now, your father has made up his mind and you must respect his decision. Good bye dear." Mrs. Spike said as she kissed her husband.

"Good bye my love, I'll be back in around a days time, two if it is harder to find them." Said the man as he opened the door, as the two boys and he walked towards the carriage.

They soon arrived at the big train station that was the Canterlot main station. It was a very large station, with the building made from stone, and the canopy made from steel and glass. When it was build, it was made to replace the many smaller stations from the small railway companies, and was the first step to unite the railways of Equestria as one company. As for that, the station was the biggest in whole Equestria. With more than 25 tracks, it was always busy. They walked through the large entry hall and past the numerous packed platforms, where long strings of coaches stood, some of which already filled with passengers, others completely empty. They walked to the platform that was furthest to the right, where a small, partly outdated 4-4-0 'Ponystone' tender engine stood, coupled to two passenger coaches, both looking like they came right out of the midst of the last century. Both kids looked in awe at the old train. They had heard from such engines, from the tales of the early days of the settlements down in Dodge Junction and Appleoosa. With fast chase between natives and settles on horses and train, horrible derailments and daring shootouts between horseback riders and gunmen that would fight from the coaches or trucks.

"She's quite the beauty, ain't she?" Smiled Iron as the two children eyed the engine.

"Yes, yes she is..." Said Steaming in awe, as the engineer walked up to them from the front of the engine.

"Sir, train #46 is ready and waiting for the departure call." Said the man in a gruff, but somewhat kind voice.

"Thank you Hotbox. Say you two, how about we take a look inside her before we depart?" Suggested Iron.

"Can we?!" Asked the two kids with bright eyes as they turned to the engineer.

"Sure, climb aboard, I show you around." Smiled the engineer as they climbed inside the small old engine.

Inside the cab, it was pretty warm, but quite spacey. Both kids looked in awe at the many different levers, knobs and wheels inside the cab, and eagerly asked questions about each lever, and what function it had. Steaming had sat himself onto the drivers seat and looked through the window passed the boiler, and onto the tracks in front of him. He then noticed a long rope, hanging from the top of the cab roof. His eyes were fixated on the rope, slightly swaying around thanks to the slight vibrating of the engine. His curiosity got the better of him, when he grabbed the rope and pulled it. A loud whistling rang through the air as the engines whistle blew. Hotbox quickly went to the small child and pulled him from the drivers seat.

"Hold your horsepower there young boy, that's the engines whistle. You can only pull it if your about to pull out, or if there is danger on the line." Explained the engineer, as he was called to the side of the cab by an porter, who quickly told him something, and then moved away again.

"Alright, looks like we're about to get the green light. I suggest you get into the coaches now. It'll be a long ride down to Dodge." Said Hotbox as the others started to climb down from the cab.

The other three got down and into the coaches, while the fireman finished the oiling of the motion parts. As soon as he was back in the cab, the guard blew his whistle, and with another strong blast of its whistle, the old locomotive made its way out of the station.

The train quickly got up to speed, and soon they were coasting down the main line outside of Canterlot. Both Steaming and Emerald had their noses pressed against the window of the coach, looking at the passing landscape with awe.

"I take it this is your first time riding on a train?" The man next to them said with a chuckle.

"Not only that sir, it's the first time we are out of Canterlot. We always had to work, so we never got time to go anywhere, other than the factory." Explained Steaming.

"Then you two are in for an interesting ride, 'cause along the way the scenery will change quite a lot." Grinned the man knowingly.

Hours past. The train never slowed down, rattling past small village stations, or unmanned goods loading platforms, only once or twice running through a mayor town. They gasped in awe when the train raced past the biggest apple orchard they had ever seen. Emerald thought that it would be bigger than the forest that it was build next to. The landscape soon chances. The green landscape with small hills and forests chanced into long, drawn out green prairies, before turning into a desert like landscape.

"We are nearly there kids. Maybe 1 more hour, and we'll be in Dodge Junction." Said Iron with a smile, as the train rattled over the tracks.

Steaming, who by now had grew bored of watching the scenery, excused himself for going to the toilet. He walked through the first coach, before crossing the coupling to the second coach. He got inside, seeing that it wasn't filled with comfortable seats like the other. In it was only one small chair in front of a small table. Above the table were many small cupboards, but all of them were empty. He let his eyes wander towards a closed off cupboard at the other end of the coach, with an heavy iron chain around it. He slowly walked towards it, when he suddenly stopped dead in his tracks, when somebody sneezed next to him.

"W-who's there?" He asked, slightly scared, before shaking the scared feeling off of him, and regaining some bravery.

"Who's there?! Come out, show yourself!" He said loudly, as from a wooden box, a slight shaking could be seen.

He sneaked to the box, before pulling it to the side, reviling a eight year old, black haired girl that he last saw that morning.

"J-Jacky?!" He asked, shocked, before being pulled into a hug.

"Please, don't tell my daddy that I'm here!" She quivered, making Steaming feel bad.

"It's alright Jacky, it's me, Steaming." He said, calming the young girl down.

"Oh thank Celestia it's you, I thought it was somebody from the trains crew." She said with a sight.

"But what are you doing here? I though your father didn't want you to come with us?" Asked Steaming.

"I wanted to come with you! I always got to stay with Mom at home, while daddy goes onto one of his trips. I rarely get the chance to go out of Canterlot, and if I do, it's always onto the same, lame old fancy galas or birthday parties of some of my aunts or uncles. I never had the chance to meet any friends." She said with a sight.

"That's bad. But your father needs to know that you are aboard the train. Otherwise, he can't protect you in case something bad would happeeEEEEEENN!" He said, screaming the last part as the trains brakes came hard on as he and Jacky were thrown off balance.

"What's happening?!" Asked Jacky, scared and surprised.

"Somebody pulled on the brakes. It must mean we are there!" Said Steaming joyfully, as he got up again and raced to the door.

But when he jumped out, he was surprised to see that the landscape didn't chance a bit. There were no houses, or buildings or anything other than the same, drawn out, yellowish sand dunes that made up the desert. He walked up to the locomotive where Emerald, Iron and Hotbox were standing.

"What's holding us up?" Asked the small boy.

"Look in front of us boy." Said the engineer as he pointed in front of their train.

There, right on their track, stood another train. It was another passenger train, coupled to another, worn out looking 4-4-0, with soot covered paint, covered in a cloud of escaping steam.

"Thats the 10:30 to Dodge Junction, it should've been there 20 minutes ago!" Fumed Iron, as he walked down the length of the train, till finally reaching the locomotive. When he got there however, he was shocked to find the engineer impaled by an arrow, while the fireman was sitting on his seat, eyes wide because of the shock. Iron quickly climbed inside, and walked over to the fireman.

"What happened here lad? Can you hear me?" Asked Iron, but he didn't get a response from him. Then, from over the pile of coal, came another man, wielding a Coltchester rifle, which he aimed at them for a brief second, before lowering it when he saw who was in the cab.

"Sir! Thank the gods, you are here! We were attacked by the natives! They pulled a rail and killed the driver! We defended ourselves till they pulled back, but I'm guessing they are just waiting for another time to strike!" Explained the guard.

"Do we have any wounded?" Asked the man as he tried to move the fireman.

"Some of the gunslingers inside the coaches have some light injuries, one got an arrow into the shoulder, we patched him up but we need to get to Dodge to make sure he is going to be okay." Said the guard.

"Okay, get a few men from the coaches and get them out here, we need to lift that rail back into place before the natives come back! Hotbox, get your fireman up here, he needs to drive this kettle while you take care of yours!" Ordered the man.

"But what about the fire Sir? We can't work as fireman and driver at the same time!" Asked Hotbox.

"What about Emerald and me sir?" Suggested Steaming.

"What?!" Asked the three men at once.

"We both worked at the steelworks, feeding the boilers with coal there! We know how to keep a fire up! We can keep the engines moving!" Said Steaming with determination.

Iron Spike said nothing, and turned towards the firebox of the engine, seeing that the fire had grown pretty small.

"The run up to Dodge from here is around 20 minutes. Do you think you can keep up firing for that long?" Asked the man.

"We had break times that were shorter than that! Emerald! I take care of this one, You'll feed the boiler on Irons train!" Said Steaming as Emerald jumped from the engine and raced back to Irons train.

Everyone worked fast. The men from the train quickly levered the rail back into place. Emerald and Steaming shoveled coal as fast as they could while the fire in the engines grew back to their former size. Soon, everything was ready, and the men quickly boarded the train again. But before the last man could clear the door of the coach, a arrow hit him in the calf.

"Argh!" He screamed, as he fell into the coach, before being pulled completely inside by some of his friends.

"THE NATIVES!" One of the passengers shouted, as the others quickly pulled out their weapons, readying themselves for the fight.

Both Hotbox and his fireman opened the regulator of their engines, and slowly, the cavalcade moved forward. The passengers started shooting, their Coltchesters clearly superior to the bows, arrows and tomahawks. But the Natives had been gathering firearms as well, mostly older, outdated ones, but these still could hold a threat against the men on board. The wheels pounded the rails as the trains moved through the desert, as the Natives tried to reach them. The guard was still with Steaming and the fireman on the first locomotive, firing his gun at the horseback fighters, while Steaming shoveled coal for dear live, and the temporary driver pulling every ounce of strength that the engine had out of her. Just then, a arrow flew into the cab, hitting the driver into the back, as he fell forward, closing the regulator as he did. Steaming jumped forward, grabbing the injured man, pulling him away from the controls, as the guard checked the man.

"No chance, he's gone." Sighted the guard, as he opened the regulator, before quickly getting into the blind spot between him and the natives. Steaming gave a quick glance back towards the end of the cavalcade, and saw how some of the natives jumped from their horses, and onto the train. Then he remembered who was in that final coach of the train.

"By Celestia, JACKY!" He cried, as he threw his shovel aside, jumping over the coal of the tender, and jumping onto the first platform of the first coach.

'Damn it! Why did I choose to get into the first engine?!' He thought, racing through the train, trying to beat time. He was quickly at the last coach, jumping onto the second locomotive and racing through the cab, passing a very surprised Emerald and Hotbox, as he climbed back into the coach. When he was inside, he could see how Iron Spike and one of the natives fought against each other, with the native having a tomahawk in his hand, while Iron was fighting with his bare hands. The fight was in favor of the native, as he had pinned down the man, his right hand raised with the tomahawk inside, ready to strike the fatal blow. Steaming quickly charged at the big red skinned man, jumping at him and pulling him off the man with force. Iron quickly got up and tackled the native, giving him a few punches into the face, before grabbing an paperweight, and hitting the man onto the had with it, knocking him out cold.

"Phew, thanks for the help kid, you saved my life there!" Panted the railway man, but Steaming was already running towards the open door, running through it, jumping over the couplings and into the last coach.

When he reached it, he almost froze in terror. There, lying unconscious on the ground, was Jacky, an native was about to pick her up, when something inside Steaming snapped. He roared in anger as he raced at the native his small fist pulled back ready to strike. He threw a heavy right hook at the native, heavier than anyone would expect from an 8 year old. The native was slightly thrown back, a light crunching could be heard as he was thrown back, but he quickly recovered, spitting out something white. Steaming was standing in front of Jacky, making sure than the native wouldn't cause any more harm to her. His glare was cold as ice, and it looked like steam was coming out of his nostrils, making the native unsure if that really was just a 8 year old child. Iron, who had come in just in time to see Steaming throw the punch, had finally recovered from the display of power, and charged at the man, ramming him head on, pushing him out of the door, and throwing him out of the train as he watched the body of the man bumping on the sleepers a few times, before coming to an rest. He turned around, to see Steaming on his knees next to Jacky, out of breath from his charge through the train and the outburst here in the coach.

"Steaming, why is my daughter on board the train?" Asked Iron confused, as he came to the two children.

"She wanted to tag along. She didn't wanted to be left home again. Damn, if I knew this would happen I wouldn't have left the coach!" Steaming panted, growling the final part as he caught his breath back.

"Don't be too harsh on yourself. If it wasn't for you, Jacky would've been abducted and without a father by now." Iron said, laying a hand on his shoulder.

"Still, I should've been there! I could've protected her better!" Steaming grumbled, just as Jacky began to stir, and opened her eyes slightly.

"S-steaming?" She stuttered, unsure if the boy in front of her was real, before jerking her body upwards, pulling Steaming into a tight hug, sobbing loudly.

"Don't leave me alone again! I was so scared! I thought I was going to, going to-" she didn't got any further as she broke down completely, crying into the boys shoulder, as he just sat there, the girl in his arms, and returning the hug.

"Don't worry, I won't leave you, I promise." He whispered into her ears, trying to calm her down. It worked, as her sobs got more and more silent, before ending completely.

Steaming looked into Jackys face, noticing that she had gone asleep, the fear and shock from the situation had worn her out. Iron walked up to the two, trying to pick Jacky up, but she held onto Steaming with an iron grip.

"Looks like you need to carry her." Chuckled Iron a bit.

"Don't worry, If I can work for 8 hours shoveling coal, carrying her won't be a problem." Smiled Steaming, as he picked up Jacky and brought her into the other coach.

After another few minutes, the trains arrived in Dodge Junction. The passengers were glad that they had survived the attacks, and the wounded were brought to the hospital. The dead drivers were brought to the nearby cemetery, to get a proper burial, on costs of the railway, as Iron promised them. They made their way to the local headquarters, where an man in black, slightly dusty, suit awaited them. He was around Irons age, with short, brown hair and square glasses, his hair being slightly flattened, probably because of the stetson that hung on the hatstand next to the door. He stood up and shook hands with the man from Canterlot.

"Boss! What a pleasant surprise! I didn't expected to see you here!" Smiled the man.

"I'm sorry to pop in unannounced, but there is a matter of big importance that needs to be attended to. Westing, these are Steaming Whistle and Emerald Heart, two very brave and very helpful boys from Canterlot. Steaming, Emerald, this is Mr. Westing House. He is the supervisor of the railway lines around Dodge Junction. Now Westing, young Steaming here is the son of two employees that worked on this section of the railway. Their names were Steaming Funnel and Head Light. Both of which were send down here to negotiate between the natives and settlers." Introduced Iron and explained the situation.

"So you are the little Whistle Funnel and Light told me about! Hehe, yes, you really do look like your father." Chuckled the man, as he ruffled the boys hair.

"But I'm afraid that you won't have any luck in them here." Sighted Westing, as he looked at the three, as their expressions fell.

"Whys that?" Asked Steaming.

"They departed from her, a few years before I took charge as supervisor of this section of the road. Nobody knows where they went. Well, almost nobody."

"Wait, who could know?" Asked Iron.

"There might be a chance that Lucky Strike knows where they went. He worked with them in the negotiations with the natives. But he disappeared when he wanted to live together with the natives." Explained Westing.

"Then we have to go and find him!" Said Steaming with determination in his voice.

"You won't have any luck. The natives are very tricky to find. It took your parents and Strike nearly 5 months to find them, and even then they had to promise never to tell another soul where they were living for the sake of their lives. However, they started to attack the trains again, but without any way of finding their tracks, it will be impossible to find their hideout." Explained the road supervisor.

"Then I just have to work on the trains and go after them once they draw back from the train!" Said Steaming, but Westing shook his head.

"I'm sorry, but I can't and will not allow a child at your ago to go after men as trained in combat as they are." Said Westing with a firm voice.

"But I can't return to Canterlot with nothing! I just can't, and I won't!" Said Steaming firmly, as Emerald nodded.

"I'm sticking to Steaming with this one. We come all the way, we won't turn back now. After all, we have nothing to return to anyways." He said.

"Wait, you two don't have a home?" Asked Westing, slightly shocked, whilst the two nodded.

"We don't have a home, we don't have a family, we don't have a job. We only have us." Said Steaming, but it didn't sounded pained or sad. It sounded almost proud.

Westing turned towards the window of his office, overviewing the whole rail yard below.

"We are in need of someone who could take over smaller jobs around the station and in the yards. It wouldn't be much, but the payment should be enough for you two to get something to eat and drink at the station cafe." Said began Westing slowly.

"You could sleep in the station while it's closed for the night, or in one of the older coaches in the yards." Continued the man, as he turned to the two boys with a small smile on his face.

"Y-you mean we could work here?" Asked the two boys shocked.

"You did say you had nothing to keep you in Canterlot right? And here you would have everything: a home, a job, and you could still keep up the search for Lucky Strike. Maybe some of the other folks in the town or around the mines have seen him ? So, what do you say?"

Train #46 stood at the platform, ready for its return run back to Canterlot. While Hotbox felt the loss of his fireman, he didn't showed it, and tried to focus on work. On the platform, both Steaming, Emerald and Iron stood, looking around the station.

"I'm sorry we can't come back with you, but like Westing said, we have nothing but bad memories that keep us there." Explained Steaming.

"It's alright my friend. Though I don't think that I'm the one you should be apologizing to." Chuckled Iron as he pointed with his head at the coach that stood next to him, in which the figure of Jacky could be seen.

"She has been pretty quiet since you said you wouldn't come back with us." Said Iron.

"Well, it isn't a goodbye forever. Maybe, one of those days, I come up with a train to visit you." Said Steaming with a smile.

"And maybe you'll be in the company of your parents then?" Grinned Emerald.

"You bet I will!" Laughed Steaming, as he turned his head to the window where they had spotted Jacky just a minute ago.

"... Excuse me for a second, I need to talk to somebody." Said Steaming as he turned to the coach.

He climbed inside and looked around. Jacky had moved from the window that was closest to the platform, to the one in the direction of the yards. He walked up to her, and sat down opposite to her.

"Jacky?" He said softly, as the girl looked up. Her eyes were slightly red, and the sides of her face had wet streams on them, indicating that she had been crying.

"Why don't you want to come with us?" She asked.

"I'm sorry Jacky, but I have to find out where my parents are, even if they are buried somewhere, I have to know! And here, I can have a job, a home, and can start a new life. All I have left in Canterlot is a heap of bad memories." Said Steaming, going soft on the final part.

"Only bad memories?" Asked Jacky, even more upset.

"Well, there were one or two good ones, like when I met Emerald, or how the two of us made the old man at the orphanage so angry that he went purple." He rambled, smiling softly as Jacky turned her head away in sadness.

"And meeting you." He concluded, making the girl in front of him turn her attention to him again.

"Without you stepping into my life, I would probably be on the streets of Canterlot right now, stealing fruits or bits for a living. But now, I am here, I have a job, a home, and the possibility of seeing my family again! And that's all thanks to you. I owe you everything, Junction Spike." Said the boy, using her real name for the first time.

Jacky looked at him with watery eyes, and jumped from her seat, hugging him tightly, soft sobs coming from her.

"Promise you'll write?" Asked the girl in a whisper.

"As soon as I'll learn how to, of course!" He whispered, returning the hug.

They hugged each other for a few more minutes, before Iron stepped into the coach, stating that they needed to go. Reluctantly, Jacky let loose of the young railwayman, but not before giving him a kiss on the cheek. The boy turned bright red, as he turned towards the door, saying his goodbye to the manager of the railway, and jumping from the train. As soon as he was off the train, the guard blew his whistle, and the train started to depart. The engine whistled loudly, as the two boys started to walk away, but it wasn't loud enough to drown out the loud shout that came from the train. Steaming turned around to see Jacky, leaning out of the window, waving her goodbyes at the two friends, as the two of them waved in return, until the train was out of sight. They then made their way back to the main office. Whilst they did however, Emerald started to snigger.

"What is it?" Asked Steaming.

"Oh nothing, you just have something on you cheek." Said his friend innocently, as they walked past a window.

As he looked inside, Steaming stopped dead in his tracks, as he saw his reflection in it. On his cheek was a big kiss mark. He tried in vain to get it off of it, as Emerald laughed loudly.

"GRRR! Just wait till I'm done with you!" Growled Steaming as he started to chase Emerald back to the main office.

Author's Note:

For those who are asking what a Coltchester rifle is, it's basically the Equestrian version of an Winchester rifle