//------------------------------// // Unscheduled Stop // Story: This Train is Bound for Home // by Paintbrush235 //------------------------------// Aching pain was running through Twilight's body, her sharp groans indicators of the strain and sensations hitting her muscles and joints. She felt cold and stiff, the air around her causing her to involuntarily shiver. Moving her limbs seemed to bring about even more pain, which she found out when she tried to move her arms and legs. Arms and legs? she thought. Well at least I know what I am. And I know that what I am now is what I wanted to be. Despite the stabs of pain, she knew she had to get up, to get a look at her surroundings. She could already tell just from the noise that she had not landed at the base of the statue in front of Canterlot High. The noises reaching her ears sounded more like those coming from the Everfree Forest. Moving her arms up she pushed on the stones, stones? Her confusion and panic were beginning to rise when she did not feel any pavement. She pushed up and pulled her legs up, groaning all the way, until she was propped up on her knees. Taking a moment to catch her breath, she opened her squinted eyes slowly, only for them to suddenly snap open when she took in the image before her. Before her was not the expected stone walls and door to Canterlot High she had only a few months ago visited, much less any of the new friends she had made, including her former enemy Sunset Shimmer. Rather, she was greeted with a truly breathtaking scene, though Twilight figured that given a different situation, the scene would've stolen her breath for different reasons. With and black birch trees stretched on beyond her line of sight, towering above her with bright orange, red and yellow leaves dancing above her head. Lush green grass was poking out beneath the already fallen piles of leaves, indicating that wherever she was was now in the midst of autumn. The sky above her was sparsely dotted with puffy white clouds, leaving room mostly for the bright blue color illuminated by the glowing yellow sun. She could hear the mixed symphony of the calm breeze making its way through the trees, joined by the chorus of birds and other wildlife echoing throughout the land. Off to her right she could see the tops of what appeared to be mountains, though the grand peaks were unfamiliar to her, and they were certainly not the Canterlot range. Looking behind her, she had her first clue as to where she had come from. A short rocky hill rose up behind her, and leading back to it were two lines of small rails, upon which a rusty mine cart sat empty. The tracks led to the hills into a pitch black mineshaft, which Twilight could not see more than five inches into. Thinking back to her experience in the portal, Twilight remembered almost flying down what had appeared to her to be a dark cave before she came to a hard stop at the end. Twilight groaned to herself, thinking back to the reason she now found herself here. After returning through the portal, having befriended Sunset Shimmer and retrieving her crown, Twilight had poured many hours, even days, into researching the mirror and the concept of alternate worlds in general. The idea of mirror dimensions existing beyond her own had fascinated her and her thirst for the potential knowledge that could be gained from exploring these worlds fueled her resolve to seek out these possible worlds. She had taken the time to compile the necessary material and other research that she believed would be enough to convince her mentor, Princess Celestia, to give her permission to proceed with her proposed project. She knew that Celestia was apprehensive about the mirror, remembering what had happened with Sunset Shimmer. However, Twilight seemed to be more levelheaded about the subject and had also done way more research on the mirror than Sunset had. Therefore, Celestia had given her star pupil permission to go ahead with her project. From that point on, it had taken a lot of magical tinkering with the mirror until Twilight was able to program it to open up at her own command, and to also randomize wherever the mirror lead to. After six months of preparation, Twilight was ready to commence her expedition into the unknown. Once again, her friends had wanted to join her, but she had convinced them all to stay behind. She was going into possibly dangerous worlds by her own choice, and she did not wish to put anypony else in harms way. Therefore, with tearful goodbyes, she had stepped into the portal for worlds unknown. She remembered vaguely Rainbow Dash shouting something just before she became lost in the swirling vortex, which she hadn't quite been able to make out. It had kind of sounded like... "Spike!" Twilight suddenly forgot the pain she was in when she came to the sudden realization that Spike had once again followed her through the portal. She remembered briefly seeing him in the cave she had flown through after stepping through the mirror, his voice briefly piercing the cacophony of sound pounding her ears. Her heart just then leaped into her throat though, for when she looked around again, she saw that Spike was nowhere to be found around her. Her levels of panic skyrocketed. "Spike!!!" Her shouts echoed through the woods as she scrambled to her feet. Her breathing pace increased rapidly when her shouts were only answered with silence. "SPIKE!!!" She almost screamed. "Ahh." Twilight snapped her head towards the tiny groan coming from the trees, immediately running towards them at nearly a sprint. Upon reaching the trees, she both calmed down and began to panic again when she saw what she found. At her feet laying on his back, was the body of a small boy, his pale skin covered in red scrapes and dirt, and his dark brown hair scruffy like it had been through a whirlwind. The boy's clothes consisted of a little brown vest with dark brown buttons, worn over a dirty yellow shirt, a pair of dark chocolate brown corduroy pants adorned his legs. His feet were covered by obviously old brown leather shoes with frayed laces, indicating a lot of wear and tear. Twilight paused in shock for only a brief moment before she leaned down and grabbed the boys shoulders, shaking him slightly. "Spike?" She said. The boys eyes slowly opened, first looking off to the sky before turning towards Twilight. The young green eyes initially spoke volumes of fear, before slowly fading into a gleam of recognition. "T-Twilight?" He stammered. Twilight sighed in relief and smiled gratefully, thanking Celestia that her beloved assistant was still with her. "Are you ok Spike?" She asked. Spike sat up on the ground with a grunt. "Yeah I'm ok. But what about you?" He pointed. "You look different from last time." He then took notice of his arm and hand in place of his remembered paws. "W-Why am I different this time?!" Twilight for the first time took note of her own appearance. Like Spike, her skin appeared to be pale, though slightly more tinged, and if her hands were any indicator, she too was covered in scrapes. The clothing she wore was nothing like what she had worn at Canterlot High. She could tell she was wearing multiply layers, her outer dress she could see was a dusty light blue dress that buttoned up the her neck in front of her chest. Her feat were adorned with dark black boots with laces leading up to the top, covering what appeared to be stockings covering up to her knees almost. Before she could continue to investigate, she took notice again of Spike's panicked state, sensing that at this moment, he came first. She quickly reached forward and brought the stammering dragon turned boy to her chest in a reassuring hug, bringing an abrupt stop to the child's rantings. "Shh. Shh. It's okay Spike." She said softly. "We'll figure this out. We'll figure it out together ok?" Spike looked up at Twilight with tear filled eyes. "I-I'm sorry I followed you again without permission Twilight." He said. Twilight looked down at her assistant and smiled. "Spike. All I care about right now is that you're ok. And right now we need to start looking for help. I don't think it would be safe to stay out here at night." Spike looked around and was inclined to agree. "So...which way do you want to go?" Twilight stood up and helped Spike to his feet. Looking around, judging in her mind which direction was the best, she decided that this was one of the few times that she would just go with her gut. "Let's head this way." She pointed. "Just stay close to me ok? I don't want to lose you." Spike nodded as he followed Twilight as they headed off into the birch forest, hoping that they somehow came out on the other side. ------------- Twilight was once again beginning to worry, though she kept it controlled for Spike's sake. They had been walking through the woods and over boulders for the past 40 minutes, during which the pain they had initially forgotten was beginning to return. It had gotten so bad for Spike that Twilight was now carrying the young boy in her arms, pressing through the pain for him. It almost seemed that there would be no end to the woods. Twilight looked up into the sky as if asking whatever Gods in this world to give her something to go on. "Twilight." Spike croaked. "Whats that over there?" He pointed shakily. Twilight looked to where Spike was pointing and her eyes widened. Though the trees, she could see what appeared to be a stretch of track, thinking back to the railroad that ran through Ponyville. Filled with renewed adrenaline, Twilight quickened her pace and made her way towards the tracks. Upon reaching them, she saw that to her left the tracks curved and disappeared through the trees and did the same to her right. On the other side of the tracks was a rushing river which flowed off to her right. Stepping over the tracks, Twilight went up to a nearby tree and lowered Spike down against it. "I'm going to get you some water ok?" She said. Spike nodded slowly and Twilight made her way to the river, ripping off a small portion of the hem of her dress to soak up some water in. She had just reached the water when the sharp shrill sound of... A whistle! Twilight looked to her left and her heart leapt when she saw a moving column of white smoke making its way towards them from behind the trees lining the river bank. The smoke was accompanied by the distinct and familiar chugging noise of a steam engine slowly getting louder and louder. Twilight quickly forgot what she was doing and ran back up to the tracks, looking down in the direction of the approaching train. "Twilight?" Spike looked up. "What are you doing? Whats going on?" "Theres a train coming Spike." Twilight quickly said, before waving her hands as the engine finally came into view slowly from around the bend. "Hey! Stop! Please help! Please help! Stop! Stop!" Twilight shouted at the top of her lungs as she waved her hands frantically as the train slowly approached. The engine larger than the colorful friendship express that ran through Ponyville. A large large cowcatcher adorned the front, which was painted black, the boiler a slate grey, and the tender was also black, though the colors were slightly faded from the ash and soot coating the engine. A large smokestack poured smoke into the sky, sitting behind a large headlight. The two large pistons on each side of the engine hissed steam as they pumped the drive rods of the 4 drive wheels. The cab was a dark maroon red, and on the front of the boiler was a maroon circular plate with the gold number 214. And lastly on the tender were the words in faded gold Denver and Rio Grande. Twilight continued to shout as the train approached closer and closer. Suddenly, the engine's whistle blew long and loud as the sound of screeching breaks pierced the air. At that moment, the rush ended and Twilight collapsed hard down onto the track, hearing faintly over the screeching brakes and piercing whistle Spike shouting her name. ------------------------------ Henry Calloway rubbed his hands by the stove as he watched the Animas River roll by through the window of his caboose. He could hear through the slightly open window the steady chuffing of the engine up front. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his silver pocket watch to check the time. 2:45. Right on time, he thought with a smile. Putting the watch back into his coat pocket, he looked over to brakeman Charles Fuser sitting on the opposite end of the caboose, sipping a hot cup of coffee that had been brewing on the stove, the steam rising up around and through the face and dark mustache of the 45 year old brakeman. Henry chuckled to himself before looking back out the window to watch the flow of the river. Henry Calloway had made this trip before. For almost three years out of six working for the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad, he had made the trip from Durango Colorado to the mining town of Silverton, as the conductor of one of the few passenger services that the railroad provided up into the Rocky Mountains. The train was simple, both in name and in purpose. Called the Silverton, the train carried supplies, mail and passengers bound for the rugged town tucked away in the mountains. These goods were carried behind the engine in three red brown D&RGW boxcars, a forest green United States Post Office mail car, and a forest green coach behind that. At the end trailed the red caboose, where Henry and the brakeman frequently stayed during the 3 and a half hour trip up into the mountains. The 27 year old conductor absolutely loved this route. He had been told when the railroad was first conceived it had been seen as a madman's folly. No one believed that they could build a railroad through those mountains, much less make it work. And yet here they were proving them wrong. Henry never got tired of the sights of the forests and mountains that the railroad snaked its way through all the way up to Silverton. With the rapid changes sweeping the United States, the railroad and the mountains were the closest that Henry got to experiencing the West as his father had described it. His father had been a railwayman for the Union Pacific before moving his family to Alamosa Colorado, where Henry had first become enraptured with the D&RGW. Now here he was 12 years later a conductor for the same railroad and working one of the most rugged parts of the line. He was just about to once again look at his pocket watch, when the whistle suddenly began to blow loud and long. Standing up alongside Fuser, the two men were nearly knocked off their feet when the engineer applied the brakes, causing all the cars to bash into each other. For a few moments the train screeched as it rapidly decreased in speed. At last, the train lurched to a spot, shaking the cars once again and again nearly knocking the conductor and the brakeman off of their feet. Before Henry could get a word out, Fuser made his way to the back of the caboose to set the rear brakes on the train. Henry sighed before straightening his cap, grabbing his coat and made his way out of the caboose and beside the train. He walked rapidly along the train, placating passengers leaning out of the windows asking why they had stopped along the way. At last he reached the hissing engine and walked up to the entrance to the cab. "What the hell is going on Mickey?!" He shouted up to the engineer. "Why have we stopped?" The dirty bearded face of engineer Mickey Rourke appeared in the entrance to the cab, pausing to wipe his face with his rag before answering. "There is someone on the track Henry." He said quickly. "Looked like they fainted." "Mickey!" Both Henry and Mickey looked up the track where the shout had come from. Not waiting for Mickey to climb down from the footplate, Henry made his way up to the front of the locomotive, where he found fireman Daniel Buck standing over what appeared to be a woman crumpled upon the tracks. "Holy-" Henry rushed over to the body of the woman and with Daniel's help, lifted her up to see if she was still alive. When they did, Henry brushed away the woman's dark brown hair and saw that her soft face was covered in scrapes. Despite this shock, causing Henry to wonder what had befallen the poor woman, he was relieved to here a faint breathing when he put his ear near her mouth. "She's alive!" He shouted. "Hey! Over here!" Henry and Daniel looked over to see Mickey walking towards them with a little boy cradled in his arms. The boy, like the woman, was dirty and covered in injuries. Henry was having a hard time trying to come up with any sort of scenario where this woman and he guessed her son would be out here in the woods. "What do you want us to do Henry?" Daniel asked. Henry paused briefly. "Alright. Daniel, help me get them back to the caboose. We'll take them into Silverton to see a doctor. I'll see to them. Mickey, get the engine ready to go again." "Yes sir." Mickey replied, handing off the boy to Daniel before heading back into the cab of the engine. Henry picked up the woman and began making his way back to the caboose. As he passed the coaches, the passengers looked out with concern as they saw the woman and child in the arms of the train crew. Stepping up onto the caboose and opening the door, Henry made his way over to the bunks at the end of compartment and lay down the woman in the first one on the left. Just them, Fuser walked in from the back, nearly stumbling at the sight of the woman and boy. "Henry. What the hell is going on?" "We're taking them in to Silverton." Henry replied while laying the woman down. "They were passed out by the tracks. They need a doctor. Get the breaks off. We're about to get going again." "Ok. Whatever you say Henry." Fuser nodded before heading out again to release the breaks. Looking back down at the woman on the bunk, Henry stared for a few moments. He couldn't deny that the woman was pretty, which again brought up the question as to what she and the boy were out here, but first he needed to get them to a doctor. Once he heard the sound of the breaks being released on the caboose, he stepped out with his lantern on the left side of the train, waving it for the engineer. The whistle returned his wave, and with a jolt, the Silverton rolled on up the line, now with two extra passengers.