The Haunted Tracks
Recommended Listening: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlDivIaiuMU
"Aww... Don't tell me you three are scared, are you?" Diamond Tiara mocked the Cutie Mark Crusaders.
"What? No way!" Scootaloo interjected. "It's just some dumb old train station."
She looked up at the four fillies and frowned fiercely. Her determined facade had hidden how terrified she really was.
Diamond Tiara's friend, Silver Spoon, stared up at the tall entrance to the abandoned station.
"It looks like this place has been closed up for a really long time. Are you sure you wanna do this?" She asked Diamond Tiara, visibly concerned.
Diamond Tiara looked up at her old friend. She felt a little scared too, but for the most part, she was determined to scare the daylights out of the other three fillies.
"Yep. We might even get to see the Headless Horse, if we're lucky!" She said, mostly directed to the terrified fillies behind her.
"Wait, this place is haunted!?" Apple Bloom asked her, gasping for breath.
"That's right! It's been closed up because of an accident that happened not too long ago. Do you guys want me to tell you the terrifying tale?" Diamond Tiara asked, her voice getting spookier with each word she said.
"No thank you." Sweetie Belle said quietly.
"Alright, I'll tell you!" Diamond Tiara smiled wickedly. She sat down on the abandoned train track, and directed their attention to the dark, empty train tunnel that loomed before them.
"Years ago, this tunnel was being built to service the new Ponyville train station that was inside of it. It would be the fanciest railway station built, and its tracks would go all throughout Equestria. It would be the first rail line to go through every major city." She paused, examining how everything beyond the tunnel's entrance was completely devoid of light.
"There were even new trains being built to celebrate the event. Shiny, new train cars would give transportation to the wealthiest of ponies. Oddly enough, they were made of silver, not the usual greenish color you see in subway trains. Their eye-catching color would celebrate the new train line's construction."
She silently giggled, catching the attention of everypony around her.
"Oh, I'm just getting to the good part. You guys will see!"
She cleared her throat, and returned to her eerie voice.
"Anyways, one night, they wanted to see how fast the new train cars could go. They would record their top speed, and maybe use it as an advertisement as a way to prove how fast somepony could get to work in a day. The new train line was still under construction, but they were determined to get this data."
"A conductor started up a powered car, and started moving along the track slowly. He picked up speed, and was checking the train's speed every few seconds. He went faster, faster, and faster, until everything in the dimly lit tunnel was passing by him like a blur!"
"There was a huge bump in the tracks, right by the almost finished Ponyville train station. He had been warned about this, time and time again by his boss, and was urged to fix it, but he never did. He was flying down the tracks, and had gone mad. He wasn't recording the train's speed, and was having so much fun, he laughed manically as he sped toward the station."
"The bump was right in front of him, but he had completely forgotten about it. The train car jumped the track, and smashed into the station's platform with great force. The conductor flew out of the train's window, and died instantly."
She paused so she could see everypony's reaction. They all stood there, cringing at the story. Apple Bloom especially, seemed abhorred by the tale. Scootaloo looked like she was trying to keep her composure together, but was failing horribly.
Sweetie Belle was covering her face, obviously very horrified by the story. Silver Spoon, however, had a blank face. She most likely heard this story before one Nightmare Night prior to this one.
Diamond Tiara could barely contain her laughter after seeing their reaction to her story. She giggled muffled laughter, and continued on with her tale.
"When the workers got back to working on the station the next morning, they quickly noticed the destroyed train car. It was badly misshapen and its metal was mangled up really badly. When they noticed the destroyed window, they figured something had smashed through it somehow."
"That's when they noticed the poor conductor's body. He was horribly disfigured, his body was so torn up it was impossible to tell what kind of pony he was. Male or female? Pegasus, Earth, or Unicorn? Nopony could tell."
"Weeks later, they finally managed to discover not only who he was, but also why he died the way he did. His boss spilled the beans as to what they were doing. Both him and the conductor had to record the train's top speed, but had to make sure nopony would be in the way as it was flying down the tracks. He wanted to keep the conductor's death a secret, but obviously wasn't able to do so."
"When word reached to everyone working on the project, it was quickly abandoned and the station was left to rot. All of the train cars were soon scrapped because they feared that the new cars were cursed. They left the area, and the newest station in Equestria would never have a single traveler. Or so they believed." She chuckled mischievously as she continued.
"Some ponies, daring enough to travel inside the station's tunnel, have heard what sounds like a train whistle coming from the other side. Some have also seen mysterious lights coming towards them, but disappearing when they get close."
"Others have even seen the train, in a spooky ghost form, stop to pick up passengers at the nearly finished Ponyville train station. It opens up its doors, and waits for you to enter inside. Don't dare go inside though, because those that do go inside that ghost train are not seen again for weeks, months, or even years."
When her story was finally over, Apple Bloom spoke up.
"I am not going in there." She said simply, causing Diamond Tiara to frown.
"That's the smartest thing you've said all day, Apple Bloom." Scootaloo said, smiling, but shaking like crazy.
"I'm gonna go tell Rarity what you said." Sweetie Belle told Diamond Tiara. The three fillies then turned away from them and started trotting away.
"C'mon, guys! It's Nightmare Night! Don't you all want to do something fun?" Diamond Tiara called to them.
"Getting candy sounds like plenty of fun to me, right girls?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Yeah!" Scootaloo replied.
"And it sounds a lot less dangerous, too." Sweetie Belle said.
Diamond Tiara sighed and turned away from the three fillies. She looked up at Silver Spoon.
"C'mon, Diamond, let's go home." Silver Spoon said. She then started walking away from Diamond Tiara.
"Wait, we should check it out! Just you and me, we don't need those blank-flanks holding us back."
"Even if the ghosts aren't there, it still sounds pretty dangerous. Isn't everything all falling apart and stuff?" Silver Spoon asked.
"We'll be fine. Just follow me, it'll be okay." Diamond Tiara assured.
"Okay, but if I get hurt, I'm blaming you when we get back."
"Yeah, whatever. We'll go in, check it out, and leave. Easy as that." Diamond Tiara said. They approached the dark, lifeless tunnel that led to the empty station.
"Did you bring a light or something?" Silver Spoon asked.
"Nope. Honestly I didn't think we'd go in here."
"How will we be able to see then?" Silver Spoon asked.
"Don't worry, we won't go too far into the tunnel. As long as it stays daytime, we'll be just fine." Diamond Tiara replied.
They entered the cold, empty tunnel. It towered over them, leaving their mouths agape as they trotted through. The track traveled on though the darkness; it seemed endless.
"You were kidding when you told that story about the ghost train, and the disappearing ponies, right?" Silver Spoon asked, shaking nervously.
"Yeah, I mostly said that to scare those blank flanks. They'll believe anything!" She giggled.
"You seem really... uh... undeterred by this creepy place." Silver Spoon said.
Diamond said nothing in response, and the two continued on, the light fading away fast.
"What about that story where the conductor pony was killed." she asked again.
"What about it?" Diamond asked back.
"You made that up too, right? I mean you told me it before, but I kinda brushed it off."
"Wait..." Diamond Tiara said. She unexpectedly halted. Silver Spoon did so as well.
"What's w-w-wrong?" Silver Spoon stuttered.
"The station's up ahead. You see that flickering light?" Diamond asked.
"Yeah," Silver Spoon replied.
"Let's go check it out!" Diamond Tiara said, a smile reappearing on her face.
"Are you sure? I mean, it looks really scary, and-"
"Yes, I'm sure!" Diamond shouted. "I've never seen it before. I wanna go inside!"
Silver Spoon sighed, and knew she couldn't change her mind. Her mind was set.
"C'mon!" Diamond Tiara urged her friend. Silver Spoon silently followed her as she jumped onto the platform. It looked like something had impacted it many years ago, as the concrete had a huge indent in it.
"So it was real!" Diamond Tiara exclaimed. "The story was real. My daddy told me that story years ago, and now I know it's real!"
"I was wondering what that was about." Silver Spoon mumbled. "I wonder how they got the train car out.
"Who cares. The story's real! I always knew it was!"
A low pitched sound was heard, and it echoed everywhere in the tunnel. It was impossible to tell where it was coming from. It abruptly stopped, leaving the two fillies stupefied.
"What was that sound?" Diamond mouthed to her friend on the other end of the platform.
"I have no idea." Silver Spoon replied quietly.
The same sound was made present, and it became louder, and louder, and it blasted in their ears. It sounded almost like a train whistle, but it seemed somewhat distorted. It again suddenly stopped, leaving two confused ponies alone in the shadows.
"I think we should leave." Diamond whispered to her friend.
Before Silver Spoon could respond, the sound bellowed in their ears once more, before an empty looking silver train emerged from the darkness. It was shiny and new looking, but at the same time looked aged and rusted. It also had an eerie green glow in the windows.
The two fillies' eyes were wide with shock and fear, but they were too terrified to scream. They were too terrified to even think.
The train flew down the track at a ridiculously fast speed, and looked like it would zoom past the platform, but it didn't. When it looked like it was going to leave the station, it stopped, impossibly fast. Its halt caused the two to jump back in shock. For almost a minute, the train car sat there, motionless. This gave the fillies a chance to examine its exterior clearly.
It looked empty, not a single soul aboard. There were many seats, but every one of them was empty. The outside was rusted and dirty looking, but the whole car was a very shiny, chrome color. In the car's mirror-like reflection, they could see themselves, being surrounded by a fancy, completed train station. This must have been how the station looked before its construction stopped. It was as if this ghost train was a window to the past.
Before any more examining could take place, the doors whooshed open as a high pitched sound resembling that of a bell was heard. They now had a clear entrance into the train car.
Without any hesitation whatsoever, Diamond Tiara stepped toward its door. She continued trotting toward it, staring straight forward.
"Diamond, wait!" Silver Spoon called out.
It was almost as if she didn't say anything at all, because Diamond Tiara continued walking forward. It was like she was possessed, her eyes were glazed and emotionless. She continued forward, not even acknowledging her friend's presence.
"Diamond, please don't." Silver Spoon whispered, practically to herself. She buried her face in her hooves as Diamond Tiara kept walking toward the doors.
She was halfway through the train's doorway when she finally stopped walking. She peered inside.
Just like what they could see through the windows, it was completely empty. No passengers, no engineer, conductor, nopony was inside. The interior almost seemed dirty, especially when compared to the shinier exterior.
"Wow, Silver Spoon, nopony's here-" she said, before being pushed inside by an unseen force. The doors of the train slammed shut, before the same haunting whistle blasted two short honks.
"Diamond?" Silver Spoon asked, removing a hoof from her eye. She was horrified to see that her best friend had vanished, completely without a trance.
Before she could investigate the crime scene, the train started moving away from the platform.
"No, wait!" She shouted to the disappearing train car. She ran to the edge of the platform, and stopped herself from falling off. She looked at the train as it rolled away, picking up great speed before vanishing, right before her eyes.
"Where did she go!? She could be anywhere! She said that train takes people away, so why did she get on it?" Silver Spoon asked the empty tunnel. She soon realized she was alone, in this cold, dark tunnel, and that her best friend had disappeared on a phantom train of some kind, all right in front of her eyes.
"W-w-why did this have to happen, to Diamond, to my best friend? To my... only friend." she said, tears welling in her eyes.
"I have to tell somepony about this!" she shouted. She galloped out of the tunnel, about to tell everyone she knew that her best friend had vanished, right in front of her.