Spike laid awake that night, not able to get to sleep. He had seen an actual ghost. It wasn’t just the fact that it was a ghost, but the way it appeared had frightened him. All he could see was the black eyes, the blood on his face, and it’s blank stare into the Everfree, but when he closed his eyes, the engineers eyes were black with red pupils. His teeth were as sharp as a sharks teeth. What scared him the most was a demented smile on the engineers face as he drove his train right towards him, ready to run him over.
Spike’s breathing became heavy as the nightmare seemed so real. While Celestia had informed them that Crimson and Hope were not evil, but most likely lost souls trapped in this world, seeing a real ghost for the first time had left a major impact on him. Something inside Spike had changed, and he wasn’t sure if it was for the better or not.
“Spike,” a voice said. Spike turned and saw the Cutie Mark Crusaders in the doorway to his room.
“What’s wrong?” Spike asked.
“We heard you scream and wanted to make sure you were OK,” Scootaloo said.
“I’m fine,” Spike replied. “Just a nightmare.”
“About the ghost?” Sweetie Belle asked. Spike nodded. “Celestia said that he wasn’t a mean pony. Why are you afraid?”
“Because that was the first time I ever saw a ghost,” Spike answered. “When I got to the station, the air became cold and heavy. Crimson’s eyes were completely dark with no life in them at all. In the dream, he had red pupils and his teeth were that of a shark. He was actually about to run his train over me as I stood there.”
The girls could only listen as Spike sat there and told them how it felt. Since they never saw the ghost, they were spared from the nightmares that have plagued many other ponies when they saw the ghost train.
“Maybe what Rainbow Dash said was right,’ Scootaloo suggested. The others turned and looked at her. “I mean, it was an older stallion that told Twilight the tale. Plus, he’s related to the crew of the engine so he could be holding out on telling us where they’re hiding at if they did steal the supplies.”
“But what about what Celestia said?” Apple Bloom asked. “She did say that the two were some of the nicest ponies you could meet. Plus, they were always doing the right thing and never going on the other side of the law. Crimson was even a member of the guard.”
“Maybe it might be best if we get some sleep,” Spike said. “We’ll never know what will happen until they get back.” The others nodded and went back to sleep. Spike tried to close his eyes, but he couldn’t. He suddenly felt a body next to him. He turned to see Sweetie sitting next time him and giving him a back massage.
“I figured I would help you get to sleep,” she said. Spike smiled as he began to drift off. This time, instead of having a nightmare about the ghost, he began to dream of him and his friends all having fun. What was strange about this dream was that they were riding in the tender of the ghost engine, this time fully restored with Crimson and Hope giving them rides. All of them laughing and enjoying the sights.
The next day, the others were getting their supplies together when there was a knock on the castle doors. Rainbow went to open it only to find Iron at the door.
“What do you want?” Rainbow asked, her eyes narrowing at Iron. To her, he was still guilty by association with his family. She was determined to prove that this entire thing was a hoax and that he was the one pulling it.
“If you think I’m here to brag about the ghost of my father and grandfather you can think again,” Iron said, not in the mood for Rainbow’s accusations. “I’m actually here to help you’ll out by giving you supplies from the forge.” Iron stepped to the side and showed them all the parts needed to restore the same engine that 104 was.
“Why are you giving us this?” Twilight asked.
“Because I’m hoping that you might be able to get that engine restored,” Iron said. “If anything, I would like to see the engine for myself. My father always kept me away from it, but he did promise me that when the train was done with it’s time, that we would all have it for ourselves to enjoy. Princess Celestia even agreed to it and I’ve been hoping that somepony would try and find out what happened.”
“We can’t carry all of this,” Rainbow said.
“Ah know somepony who can,” Applejack said. “I’ll get Big Macintosh and Caramel to help bring the stuff in a cart. Most of it’s all small stuff so that will help.” Iron nodded and began to leave, but stopped after a few feet and turned his head.
“If you can find the remains of Crimson and Hope,” he began. “Please give them a proper burial. No matter what you think, nopony should have to suffer if they’re innocent.” He left back for his forge, hiding the tears in his eyes from the others.
“What do you girls think?” a voice said. They turned and saw Celestia and Luna walking over to them.
“I’m not sure,” Rarity said. “He seems like he isn’t lying, but we can’t be too careful.”
“I can tell he’s not lying,” Luna replied. “He hopes to prove his family’s innocent and that something did happen to them.”
“I’m still not sure,” Rainbow argued. “But I’ll go along with what you said.” Luna nodded as she turned to the group.
“I fear it’s my fault for what happened to the crew,” she began. “Since the wreck was by the old castle, I will go with you along with two of my guards. My captain, Moonlight, and her coltfriend, Dusk Chaser. Starswirl has agreed to go along so he could get an idea of what happened. We might be able to help out more.”
Hours passed until it was finally close to night. The group arrived at the entrance to the Everfree Forest where the old tracks entered. They entered in, knowing that for the most part, the forest was clear of any evil magic. Discords Plunder Vines had been wiped out, allowing for good magic to reign supreme in the Everfree. That didn’t mean there weren’t still other dangers. Timberwolves and many other creatures.
Just as years ago, the moons light was the main source of light. This one part of the Everfree was always growing out of control, no matter what Discord did to try and help change it. As they were walking by an old siding, Pinkie noticed something just sitting there, not in use. She went over and climbed aboard. She pushed down on the handle and the car began to move.
“Girls, over here!” she exclaimed. The others looked over and all smiled. They got on board, with Big Mac attaching the wagon to the side of the old car as they all set off down the line. Big Mac and Caramel pushing down on the handles as Moonlight and Dusk kept their eyes peeled for any creature trying to attack them.
As they began to near the castle, they could feel the tracks begin to shake. Twilight looked around the car, wondering if it was the car or the tracks age beginning to show.
“Stop for a second,” Twilight said. They stopped the car, allowing for Twilight to look more closely, but even after the car stopped, the tracks continued to shake.Twilight’s eyes widened as she realized what was going on. She jumped back onto the car as a whistle echoed in the background. They all looked back and saw the ghost train coming up behind them.
“Get moving!” Luna shouted. Big Mac and Caramel began to push down on the handlebars, starting the car. Dusk and Moonlight joined them, hoping to get the car moving faster, doing their best to avoid the train that was coming up behind them.
“Go faster!” Twilight ordered. They all began to try and find a way for their car to go faster, trying to outrun the ghost train. The train’s whistle continued to echo behind them, it’s pistons pounding as it moved along the tracks at full speed, as if it were chasing them. When Fluttershy looked back, she screamed as the train had picked up speed, it’s light catching up behind them. She went over by Big Mac and tried to help. She put all her might into it, giving them an extra boost of speed with Rainbow joining on Caramel’s side, but the train was catching up fast. They all closed their eyes, awaiting for the impact, only for the train to go right through them.
As soon as the train had passed, they stopped to catch their breath.
“Was that the ghost train?” Rainbow asked, not even bothering to hide her nervousness. The others could only stare.
“It seemed to have picked up speed,” Starswirl said. “We’re near where we heard the crash. Let’s keep moving.” Big Mac and Caramel nodded and continued their driving, keeping to themselves as to what happened. They had only gone a few more feet when they all heard a thunderous crash from ahead.
“Come on!” Applejack shouted. They all drove the hand car faster to the sound, hoping to see for themselves what had finally happened. When they reached the curve in the track, they all got off and saw for themselves what had laid in the Everfree for over forty years.
“Oh my Faust!” Rarity exclaimed. While she would normally never use such language, what she saw had shocked her. On it’s side was a 4-4-0 Ponyville Locomotive, it’s tender still attached, but it’s wood scattered over the forest floor, rotting. The car was a complete wreck, it’s supplies lost to time. The driving rod was bent, it’s funnel rusting, and many other parts gone from being scattered.
Luna surveyed the wreck, hoping to find something that resembled remains. She narrowed her eyes at a particular spot and gasped. She ran down the hill, her guards following close behind. She reached the first set of bones, kneeling beside them.
“This is all my fault,” she whispered. She felt a hoof on her shoulder. She turned and saw Starswirl standing over her. His horn light up, and a magic aura filled the clearing, allowing everypony to see what had happened. They saw the moment the train had come off the track and what had happened to Crimson and Hope.
“There might be a way to help them,” Starswirl began, as he cut the scene they had just witnessed. “First, we need to get this engine back onto the tracks.” His horn light up once again as he moved both the engine and tender back onto the rails. Despite the weight, his years of experience had allowed him to lift it up with little effort. Big Mac and Caramel began to unload the supplies that Iron had gave them and, with the help of Starswirl’s plans he had borrowed from Iron, had begun to repair the engine to the best of their abilities.
Starswirl turned his attention to the two skeletons and began to use his magic. As he did, the others noticed that many of their features were beginning to return. Their organs were brought back and their spirits, slowly returned to their bodies. As Starswirl stopped, the two skeletons were once again whole. Both were pale with some pieces of rotting skin, but were actually there in almost their normal form. Twilight was about to walk up to them when one began to sit up. The others stepped back as they both sat up and for the first time in years, opened their eyes to the sight of the Mane 6.
“Who are you?” the blue one asked, slowly backing away, the green one copying his moves. “Where am I? What am I doing here?”
“My name is Twilight Sparkle,” Twilight began. “I’m known as the Princess of Friendship. Who might you be?”
“I’m Crimson Crown,” he replied, still keeping his distance. “What do you mean by Princess of Friendship? There’s only one princess and that’s Princess Celestia.”
“I’ll be able to explain later,” Twilight said. “Who is the other pony with you?”
“This is my son Hope Shield,” Crimson answered. “We’re the main operators of the Ponyville Railroad.”
“I’m sorry to say this, but the Ponyville Railroad has been closed down,” Applejack said. “Mah name’s Applejack. I help run Sweet Apple Acres.”
“What do you mean that the Ponyville Railroad’s been closed down?” Hope asked. “It’s the main supply lane between Canterlot and Ponyville.”
“What Applejack means is,” Luna began. “Is that ever since your disappearance, nopony has ever tried to run it. They just closed it down.”
“What do you mean?” Crimson asked, afraid of the answer he’ll get.
“I’m sorry,” Luna replied. “This is all my fault. But your train had wrecked due to some dark magic that was still at the castle. It was leftover from my battle with Celestia over 1,000 years ago. It caused your accident and your death.”
“You’ve been dead for over forty years,” Fluttershy stated. “It was Starswirl that brought you back to life.”
Crimson and Hope could only stare in shock at what they were hearing.
“Over forty years,” Hope whispered. “What happened to my son, Iron Shield?”
“Your son runs the blacksmith back in Ponyville,” Pinkie explained, jumping up and down, a smile on her face. “He actually keeps saying that you’ll be able to get a proper burial back in town.”
“PINKIE!” The others exclaimed.
“What?” she asked. “Oh, wait. I need to throw you two a Welcome Back to the Living Party! I need my Party Cannon!” She was about to speed off until Twilight used her magic to grab her tail.
“I’m sorry about her,” Twilight said. “As we’ve already said, it was thanks to Starswirl that you two are among the living once again.”
“Not fully,” Starswirl began. “This will only last for a few days but hopefully we can find a way to restore you two completely. First we need the Alicorn Amulet.”
“We got that,” Twilight said.
“Alright,” Starswirl nodded. “The final piece we need an artifact known as the Light of Equestria.” Crimson and Hope nodded.
“Light had it in her coffin,” Hope began. “We’ve tried to keep it safe. Now it seems like it’s the only thing that can save us.”
“Her coffin has been dug up,” Twilight began. “We need to get back to Ponyville before it’s gone.”
“Then there’s not time to waste,” Crimson said as he got up and started to run over to where the engine was being worked on. He fell down to his knees, not used to moving on his feet in a long time. Luna helped him up and pulled him over to the engine, giving him time to gather his strength back. As they reached the engine he grabbed some of the tools and got to work, knowing where to put everything where it went on the old engine. Years of working on it and driving it had gave him the knowledge needed for the old engine. Hope walked over and examined the tools after being helped by Fluttershy and Rarity.
“Iron made these, did he?” he asked. The others nodded as Hope’s pride soared at the thought of his son not only being alive, but a very skilled craftspony. He got to work, helping his dad get the engine together. As the dawn rose, Crimson and Hope had fixed their old engine.
“Now we need some wood and water,” Crimson began. “Hope, go and get some water from the stream. I’ll get the wood.”
Twilight and her friends stood by, not sure what to do.
“I’ll help get the water,” Caramel said, as he followed Hope to the stream. Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash went with them, hoping to speed up the process. Big Macintosh, along with Twilight, Fluttershy, and Pinkie went with Crimson to get the wood for the tender as Luna, Starswirl, and the guards stood by the train, making sure nothing happened.
“Why did you do that?” Luna asked.
“I know you saw Spike’s dream,” Starswirl began. “This will give them a new chance at life. They lost it before, but now they can make it up. Plus, this could help them clear their name.”
“Fat chance that Cold Heart will listen,” Moonlight said. “He’ll still try and arrest them. Heck, he might even try to arrest you for bringing them back and us for aiding them in any shape or form.” Dusk nodded.
“I just wonder what will happen if Cold actually tries to attack those two,” Dusk wondered.
“One can only hope that everything will go OK,” Starswirl stated. “If Cold tries anything, we can always find some way to keep him under control.” If only he knew what would happen that day would change Equestria forever.