//------------------------------// // 104 Rides Again // Story: A Ponyville Ghost Train // by Darth Redbeard //------------------------------// Crimson and Hope were busy getting the engine ready to roll. This required a lot of work as many of the parts were still worn from years in the Everfree Forest. The rod was still rusted so Starswirl and Twilight had to cast a lot of spells to make the parts as good as new. Many of the gauges needed to be hit a few times to make them work again. Sand was needed, but there wasn’t any beach close by. It was thanks to Pinkie that they were able to somehow get the sand and whatever else was needed. When Crimson asked how she had all of the stuff they needed, the others all replied, “Don’t ask. It’s Pinkie.” Crimson just shrugged, remembering that he lived in a land filled with Alicorns, Unicorns, and so on. His own wife had her crazy moments, since she had been able to tell whenever he was about to do something stupid. As everything was put in place and and the sander filled up as far as it could be, Crimson and Hope did one final inspection before making their verdict. They turned to the others and smiled. “We would like to thank you all for helping us get 104 repaired,” Hope said. “Thanks to all this, she is ready to ride the rails again.” As Hope said this, they all cheered, their hard work paying off. The sun had gone down towards the horizon by now, meaning that it was time for Luna to start raising the moon. Luna had went off on her own for a bit and began to do her job, making sure it would be something beautiful. As the moon began to rise, something different happened. Instead of a normal moon, this moon appeared much closer than normal, an orange hue. To Crimson and Hope, this would be a good sign, as they still believed the old sailors’ tale. “Red at night,” Crimson began. “A sailor’s delight.” While neither one had been a sailor, this old saying had some meaning to them as much of their good days came from this. The others all gathered up anything that they would need for the trip, knowing that they would soon be leaving. It was then that Rarity noticed something. “Where is Princess Luna?” she asked. Dusk and Moonlight panicked, remembering that it was their job to protect her. Crimson and Dusk offered to go and find her, both having their own set of skills. Dusk due to his ability to see better in the dark and Crimson for knowing the layout of the land from when he was helping to build the line. Dusk went over to the stream, seeing what he could find and maybe grab some food for the trip. Moonlight soon joined him, grabbing what they could while calling out for Luna. “Where could she be?” Moonlight asked. “We shouldn’t of let her go off on her own.” “She should be fine,” Dusk said. While he was worried, he also knew that Luna could still take care of herself. “Remember what Celestia said? If Luna was killed, then the moon would turn blue. So far, nothing bad has happened. We better get back. I can’t see anything right now.” They went back to the engine, shocked to find that Luna was already there. Meanwhile, Crimson was walking to the front of the train as the others all began to check the back and around the old car. As he made it to the pilot, he found Luna leaning against the other side, looking towards the ground. Crimson went over and leaned against the pilot next to her. “Beautiful night,” Crimson commented, not sure where to start. He continued to face forward, the corner of his eye catching a smile on Luna’s face at his comment before turning to a frown. “How often does the moon do this?” “Once and a while it will,” Luna answered. “Celestia uses the sun to help add to the beauty.” Crimson nodded, understanding now that the two together could do anything with the sky and add beauty. While they could talk about the sky, they had a time table and they needed to stick with it. Crimson took a deep breath and began. “Why are you still blaming yourself?” he asked. “Accidents happen. I’m not the only engineer to have these problems. First to be brought back, but not the first to die from a train wreck.” “Because it was my magic that caused the wreck,” Luna began, her eyes beginning to water. “My darkness made the Everfree dangerous for all those years as well as Discord’s plunder vines, but I basically caused your death.” Crimson began to understand what was going on. He heard the stories like all the other foals, but to meet the same pony who the legend was about, that was much different. He also began to understand more of why she blamed herself, but he needed to get her to understand that it wasn’t her. He looked over to her. “I highly doubt it was you,” he said. Luna was about to argue, but Crimson held up his hand. “What happened was that the brakes didn’t work and we picked up speed. I didn’t feel any magic when we were driving, so that’s out. I did remember seeing a strange figure near the station before I had the train back into the siding for the car.” “How can you tell it wasn’t magic?” Luna asked. “Years in the guard,” Crimson replied. “Being the target of unicorns and their high and mighty attitude.” Luna laughed as many of the unicorns in the guard did have a superiority complex. The main exception being Shining Armor. Crimson joined in, remembering how many of the unicorns hated Crimson for not dropping out, meaning that to some, the guard wasn’t pure enough. However, many of the other unicorns had been welcoming, helping train the others to detect magic, giving Earth and Pegasi ponies an advantage. This allowed Crimson to always tell whenever somepony had used magic on his train without his knowledge. This also helped him remember that there was no magic that night. “We'd better get going,” Crimson said. “We have a timetable to keep and the sooner we’re back to Ponyville the better.” He stood up, holding out his hand to help Luna up as well. Luna accepted and they both went back to the cab of the engine, just as the others were coming back. “Glad to see you’re OK,” Starswirl said. Luna nodded and got on board with the others. Hope was already fixing up the valves and throwing some wood into the fire. “ALL ABOARD!” Crimson yelled, climbing aboard as well and sitting in his seat. The others all got into the tender and made themselves comfortable. As they just needed enough to get to Ponyville, they had more than enough room for the others to sit. They watched as the fire roared from the wood that was tossed into the firebox. Steam soon hissed as Crimson activated the sander, allowing sand to fall onto the tracks. The light went on, thanks to Luna’s magic and for the first time in years, Engine 104’s whistle sounded not as a ghost, but as Crimson pulled the the chain. The whistle was a beautiful sound after all these years. As the reverser was put forward, brakes released, and the throttle opened, the engine began to move. The first puff of the engine caused for a round of cheers. Pinkie, Rarity, Twilight, and Rainbow Dash all looked at the wheels, making sure that they weren’t imagining things. Applejack and Caramel hugged, laughing that it worked. Fluttershy ended up giving Big Mac a kiss on the cheek. Starswirl nodded, but was jumping for joy inside. Dusk and Moonlight hugged and kissed, before breaking apart as the others laughed. Luna was in the cab, telling Crimson and Hope what to expect. “So this Cold Heart might try to arrest us without even giving us a chance to explain?” Hope asked. Luna nodded. “Great.” “Celestia said he was a good stallion,” Luna said. “It seems to have been recently that he changed into what he is now.” “That’s strange,” Crimson mentioned. “So we might have to fight him?” “Good chance,” Luna answered. “Just don’t kill any of the guards.” Crimson and Hope nodded as they turned their attention back to the rails. The others had all gone to sleep except for Crimson and Hope, as they had to keep awake to drive the engine. Hope turned to his dad. “Do you think that we’ll ever be done with this curse?” he asked. “I hope,” Crimson replied. “I just wish we could bring back your wife as well. You never did smile after that.” “Like I said all those years ago,” Hope remembered. “She was the light of my life. When she went, my light went with her.” Crimson nodded and faced back to the front of the engine. The old signal box was still there. Crimson blew the whistle, waking the others by mistake. “Sorry,” Crimson hurried up to say. The last thing he wanted was a fight while the train was in motion. Twilight nodded and was about to go back to sleep when she noticed something on the siding. “Look!” she exclaimed. They all turned to see the old Ponyville Railroad cars still in good shape. Crimson slowed the train down and applied the brakes when they were past the switch. Hope, knowing what his dad’s plan was, got out and flipped the switch. Crimson backed the train up to the row of cars. As Crimson neared the cars, he slowed the engine down, the couples connecting as Hope ran over and attached the cars to the engine. Hope got back on board and the engine moved forward again. This time, going nonstop until they reached Ponyville. Crimson and Hope looked ahead, the sun finally beginning to rise. To them, a new day and maybe even a new beginning. The sun had risen two hours ago as the ponies in Ponyville were waking up for another day. The school had taken a trip to the station as many different important trains were there. Princess Cadence's personal engine, Celestia’s royal engine, and Luna’s newest steamer. The foals were in awe at these machines as another pony came over. “Greetings kids,” the old stallion began. “My name is Steamer and I work for the Solar Western Railroad. I understand that you’re here to see the pride of Equestria’s Railways.” The teens cheered, but none cheered more loudly than Steamer’s nephew, Locomotion. As the others were cheering, Sweetie Belle looked around, seeing one of them was missing. “Did you girls see Spike?” she asked. The other two shook their heads, not knowing where Spike had gone off to. “I’m glad to see that there are so many wanting to see our engines,” Celestia said as she came from the station house. Cadance and Shining Armor stepped off their train as many of the the foals were bowing to the royals. “Has there been any sign of Luna or Twilight?” Celestia asked. Shining and Cadance looked down, disappointed that they couldn’t find them yet. “Can anypony tell me the first line in this part of Equestria?” Steamer asked. The group raised their hands. “You,” Steamer said as he picked one of the group. “The Equestrian Pacific,” Snips said, proud of his answer. “Nope,” Steamer answered, much to Snip’s shock. “How about you?” he asked, pointing to Apple Bloom. “The Ponyville Railroad,” Apple Bloom answered. “That’s correct,” Steamer said. “The Ponyville Railroad was the first line for this part of Equestria. Now, the only trains in this part is ran by either the Equestrian Pacific or the Friendship Express. The Ponyville Railroad was closed down decades ago. No engine has ever ran these rails since.” As soon as he said that, Celestia heard what sounded like a bell. She went over to the abandoned line, the others all following. “What is it, Your Highness?” Steamer asked. “I heard something coming from the Everfree,” Celestia answered. “It sounded like it was coming from the tracks.” “It can’t be,” Steamer argued. “This line has been closed down for years. No engine could possibly be.” Before he could finish his sentence, a whistle sounded. They all looked to see an engine coming out of the Everfree Forest with a full train. The engine was sounding its whistle loudly, its bell ringing as it approached the platform. Everypony stood back as the engine made it to the platform, coming to a complete stop. What was even more of a shocker was that their residential Princess was in the tender. When they got out, Luna turned to her sister and nodded, before turning her head to the cab. She walked inside of it, turning to the two crew. “I hope you two are ready,” she said. Hope nodded and walked out first. Crimson took a few deep breaths before turning to face Luna. “Thank you for all you’ve done,” Crimson said as he bowed to Luna before walking out of the engine, ready to face Celestia. Luna followed, ready to protect these two. ‘I won’t let these two suffer for something that they never did,’ she thought, as she climbed out of the cab, ready to tell the others about their journey.