//------------------------------//
// Station Stop Silverton 
// Story: This Train is Bound for Home 
// by Paintbrush235 
//------------------------------//

Twilight knew she wasn't on the ground anymore. Not unless a rolling earthquake was occurring to shake the ground beneath her, but earthquakes were never so quiet. Also the shaking was more like a gentle swaying, much like a mother rocking her child to sleep. She drowsily opened her eyes, finding herself staring out what looked to be a window. Outside the window she could see the tops of trees moving quickly past, indicating that wherever she was now was moving. She looked to her left and saw an iron stove sitting on the floor across from her, the warmth from the fire inside soothing her. She slowly sat up, the aches still present in her limbs, as she began to form an idea of where she was now. 

It was a train car of kind, though it wasn't a passenger coach. It certainly wasn't as colorful as the interiors of the Friendship Express that ran to Canterlot. The walls and roof were dark brown wood which would've suited Applejack just fine but would've made Rarity cringe at it's "blandness." Looking out the opposite side window, Twilight could see what she assumed was the river that she had seen earlier before the train had appeared, now rolling past as the train rumbled steadily along. At last she looked to the other end of the car where she saw two figures sitting and chatting with each other quietly, one dressed in a dark suit and cap sitting on a simple wooden chair and the other, who was much smaller than the first, on a cot similar to the one Twilight was resting on. 

"Spike!" Twilight exclaimed.

The young boy looked away from the dark suited man and looked her way, a smile forming on his face as he realized that his caretaker was in fact alright. With a returned shout of "Twilight!", Spike leapt off of the cot and raced over to Twilight, who sat up to catch him in a tight hug, with not future plans of letting go entering their minds.

"Oh Twilight." Spike nearly cried. "I was so worried when you fainted. Don't do that to me again."

Twilight chuckled slightly. "Don't worry Spike. I don't plan on doing that again."

For a few moments they stayed silent, holding each other close, until the thuds of footsteps approached them, causing Twilight to look up remembering that they were in fact not alone in the train car. Standing just about two feet from the two, the dark suited man shifted on his feet while holing his hat in his hands, fiddling with the brim. Now that he was closer, Twilight was able to further take in his features. The man was average height, probably slightly taller than she was. Like her's and Spike's, his skin was pale, with hints of sun all about where is was exposed, especially his face. His hair was short and dark black, parted in the middle, clipped at the neck and slightly oiled, though not too much. His face was round and clean, his eyes a bright blue like the sky and his lips were curled into a nervous, yet calming smile. His clothes consisted of a white collared shirt, which had a dark blue cravat wrapped neatly around the neck. Over the shirt was a black vest, with 5 brass buttons down the front, one of which had a silver chain connected to it, the chain running into the left pocket. Over the vest was a dark black suit coat, with four brass buttons, though only the top one was connected, leaving the coat hanging open. The man's trousers were also a dark black and finely pressed, running down until they ended with a pair of nicely polished black boots covering the man's feet. The cap the man held in his hands, which bore the letters D&RGW, Twilight recognized as being very similar to the caps worn by the conductors on the Canterlot Railway, leading her to believe that the man standing before her now was the conductor of the train they were on. Her thoughts were interrupted by the man nervously clearing his throat.

"It's good to see that you're..uh..alright Miss." His voice was nervous, yet somewhat calming. Twilight almost would've chuckled at his nervousness had she not thought the timing inappropriate. "You gave is quite a scare back there. What were you and your boy doing out there on the tracks? In fact what were you doing out there in the woods to begin with?"

Twilight hesitated before answering. She was now certain that wherever she and Spike had ended up was not Canterlot High, who knew of Equestria and Equestrian magic. She had remembered how awkward it had initially been to tell her new friends there about her origins and her magical abilities. She was lucky in that they had believed her pretty quickly. Right now however she was faced with a completely new world and a total stranger and just wasn't quite ready to divulge the fact that she was a magical alicorn princess just yet.

"Um...I," she paused, looking down at Spike. "I don't know. I don't remember. Spike?" She looked to her young assistant, with a question that gave him the answer through her face.

Spike shook his head. "No." He looked up at the conductor. "I don't remember either."

The conductor sighed and scratched his head. "Well ma'am. Can you all remember where you are from?"

Twilight again shook her head, Spike doing the same. "Not from around here though."

Again the conductor sighed. "Well...uh, don't you all worry none. We'll get this all sorted out soon enough. Right now we need to get you and your son to the doctor in Silverton to make sure you all aren't seriously hurt or nothing."

Twilight almost corrected the man when he called Spike her son. But she stopped herself, thinking that that was probably the best story to go with for the meantime. Also having Spike called her son didn't really bother her as much as she thought it would.

"Thank you." She smiled.

"Your very welcome ma'am." The conductor smiled, walking back to the other end of the car and grabbing the wooden chair he was sitting on earlier, bringing up to the side of the bed and taking a seat in it.

"We couldn't just leave you all laying out there on the tracks. Not with fall coming to a close and winter rolling in." His eyes widened as if he had just realized something. "Oh! Where are my manners? My name is Henry. Henry Calloway. And may I..uh..ask you your name ma'am?"

Twilight hesitated but decided to at least give him part of her name. "Twilight."

Henry looked puzzled by the name. It certainly was one of the strangest names he had ever heard, though it certainly was a pretty name. "Alright." he said, looking to Spike. "And your name was 'Spike', right?"

Spike nodded in reply.

"No last names?" Henry asked further.

Both Twilight and Spike shook their heads, collectively choosing not to use the name "Sparkle."

"Oh ok then." Henry nodded. "Well, we'll be in Silverton in about a half an hour. When we get there we'll get you two to the doctor to get you both looked over. You ok with that?"

Twilight and Spike both nodded. "Thank you." Twilight smiled.

"Not a problem at all ma'am." Henry smiled placing his cap back on his head. "If you all have any questions, feel free to ask."

"Actually if you wouldn't mind." Twilight spoke up. "You keep saying 'Silverton'. Where is this 'Silverton'?" 

"Silverton Colorado ma'am." Henry replied. He paused when the look of confusion stayed upon the young woman's face. "The state of Colorado? Of the United States of America?"

None of those names were recognizable to Twilight, increasing her fear. She had expected to land somewhere new and uncharted yes, but not as violently or as disorienting. That was why she had prepared for this....

Twilight froze. She had prepared, with journals, map paper and a magical communicator that was connected back with Princess Celestia in Equestria. And they had been nowhere near her when she had woken up. Her breathing increased as near full blown panic began to set in. How would she be able to figure out where she was? Where the portal was? How would she be able to communicate with Princess Celestia.

Her breathing caught in her throat when a pair of large hands grabbed her shoulders gently. Looking up, she saw Henry's face just about a foot away, a look of genuine concern expressed upon it. 

"Hey now Miss. It'll be ok. We'll get this all sorted out. Just relax ok?" He said quietly.

Looking into his eyes, Twilight felt a sense of calm and reassurance that what he said was true. It would be ok. Applejack had helped her learn to read ponies and other creatures from the presence they gave and right now, even though they had just met, Twilight felt somewhat safe with the young conductor. Twilight smiled. Though she certainly had a lot to fix and figure out, at least for the moment she knew that she and Spike were safe at the very least.

"Thank you." she said. This gained a smile from Henry, who patted her shoulder before standing back up.

"Alright then." He said. "I've got to go and check on the rest of the train. I'll be back soon. If not I will see you in Silverton."
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Silverton Depot

Station Master George Granger paced the platform in front of the yellow wooden depot that served as the station for the small mining community that was Silverton Colorado. As he reached the end of the platform, he pulled his watch out once again, seeing that it was still 3:45, only ten seconds later. Shaking his head in frustration, he shoved the watch back into his pocket, stroked his grey beard, turned once again on his heels and made his way to the other platform. He normally wasn't this apprehensive about an arriving train, but a message he had received about 30 minutes ago had made this instance much more urgent.

Granger had been sitting in his office going over the next week's schedule of trains, waiting patiently for the daily train from Durango to arrive. It was no different than any other day for him and was looking forward to having dinner at the end of the day with Henry Calloway the conductor. Then all of a sudden, Tommy Dawson, the station telegraph operator, had burst into his office waving a yellow piece of paper in his hand. Taking the paper from Dawson, Granger understood why the young operator had been so frantic in delivering it. The message was from the Silverton stopping at the Needleton water tower, letting the station know that they might be slightly behind schedule. Granger's eyes had widened at the reason why. The train had encountered two individuals, a boy and his mother, stranded along the line outside of Cascade Canyon. The mother and child had been found with injuries and the conductor was requesting that the local railway detective and the Sheriff of Silverton meet the train at the station with a doctor. 

Taking a few moments to let the message sink in, Granger had then rushed outside, calling to one of the porters, Francis Corman, and told him to rush straight to town and get Sheriff Foley and Doctor Warren, tell them what was going on and bring them back to the station as quick as he could. He then sent Dawson off to Railway Detective Shawn O'Keefe's office on the other end of the yard and do the same. 

Now, twenty minutes later, he paced the platform with all three men standing behind them waiting for the arrival of the train. Sheriff Lawrence Foley stood with his legs apart and his hands in his trouser pockets, making his long black coat hang open exposing his holster belt containing his Colt Single Action Army revolver and the silver sheriffs badge pinned to his vest glinted in the afternoon sun. His wide brimmed black hat shielded his eyes from the sun as he scratched his chin while his bushy black mustache shifted as he chewed on his wad of tobacco. Next to him, Shawn O'Keefe put his tan and crumpled wide brimmed hat back on his balding head. Puffs of smoke came from his mouth, swirling up around his thick grey beard, as he continued to pull on his brown pipe. Doctor Frederick Warren was the most still as he stood to O'Keefe's left, firmly holding onto his leather medical, thinking of whatever possible situations he was about to face with these two rescued people. He especially was concerned for the child, as the Rocky Mountains, even in the late fall, were a harsh environment for a child to wind up in. In comparison to the other two men by him on the platform, his attire set him definitively apart from them. His black felt bowler hat, grey tweed suit, vest and pants, his starch collar, red silk cravat, polished round spectacles, and even his finely trimmed small brown mustache proclaimed to all his profession and the status that it came with.

Granger was just about to reach back into his pocket to retrieve his watch once again, when he was interrupted by the distant echoing wail of a whistle. The four men turned to look down the track and were greeted by a distant white trail of smoke coming from the exit of the canyon. The whistle of the Silverton blasted again, as the column of smoke got closer and closer. Soon the form of the locomotive could be seen and the sound of the engine steadily grew louder and louder, until the Silverton was slowly pulling in alongside the platform. At last with a scrape of it's brakes, the train lurched to a stop, blast a quick toot of it's whistle to announce it's arrival to the town.

Normally this would be when Granger and the staff would greet the passengers as the disembarked the train, but today was not normal. Gesturing to the three men behind him, Granger led the way to the rear of the train as the usual passenger got off onto the platform and watched the men head to the caboose, remembering what they had stopped abruptly for back down the line. Reaching the caboose, Granger was greeted by the sight of Conductor Henry Calloway standing on by the door.

"Well Henry." Granger's gruff voice cut through the hiss of the steam coming from the engine. "Where are they?"

Henry quickly went back into the caboose, returning shortly with Brakeman Charles Fuser, who was with a young and dirty looking who didn't look a day over 12. Beside Henry, holding his hand, was a woman in a dirty blue dress and dark brown hair who held onto the conductor's arm as he guided her down the steps and onto the platform. There he helped her over to Doctor Warren who stood patiently waiting.

"Now Miss Twilight." Henry spoke to the woman. "This here is Doctor Warren, one of the best doctors in Colorado. He'll see that you and your boy are alright. Alright?" 

The young woman nodded saying thank you to the young conductor. Doctor Warren smiled and walked up to the young lady, taking off his hat in respect.

"Ma'am." He said. "If you and your son would just follow me to the ambulance wagon, we will make our way to my office in town." The young woman smiled at the doctor, nodding as Henry guided her with Doctor Warren to the black ambulance wagon waiting out behind the station with two brown horses standing by. Soon, the young woman and her child had been helped into the back of the ambulance, the doors closed and Doctor Warren began driving the wagon back to town, with Sheriff Foley following behind on his black horse.

After watching the wagon disappear into town, Henry turned around to find Granger and Detective O'Keefe standing behind him. Granger was the first to step forward.

"Alright Henry. What in the hell is going on?" He pointed towards town where the wagon had disappeared. "Just who are those two? What were they doing on the tracks at Cascade Canyon?"

Henry rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "It's....complicated George."

Granger pinched his nose and gave an exasperated sigh. "Alright. You go on with O'Keefe and he'll ask you all the questions. Then get yourself down to Doctor Warren's office. Then report back to me as soon as you get that done."

Henry nodded before he began walking in the direction of the Railway Police office.

"And Henry!" Granger shouted, causing the conductor to pause and turn around.

"You were one minute late." Granger said with a sly smile. "Never let that happen again."