As Hope stepped off the train, he was met with many stares. He expected it after coming in a train that was over a century old. He also then remembered the old flesh that was still visible, causing many of the nearby students to back away. He was about to walk back onto the train when Crimson walked off.
“I guess we ain’t in Ponyville anymore,” he commented, seeing how much the place had changed. He then saw the much newer and bigger engines. He mouth just dropped at the sheer size of the nearby Lunar Class. When Luna saw his reaction, all she could do was laugh. It got worse as Crimson fainted, causing everypony to laugh at the old engineer.
When she got herself under control, Luna went over and got Crimson up as some of the nearby guard arrived.
“Crimson Crown and Hope Shield,” the lead guard began. Everypony gasped at their names. They all heard of these two, but to actually see them was another matter. “You two are under arrest for the theft of important goods to Dodge Junction and for betraying Equestria. Under orders of Cold Heart, you are both to be executed.”
As the first guard ran over to Crimson, his spear ready to strike, Crimson brought out his axe and blocked the spear. Another guard ran over with his sword, forcing Crimson to duck, only to have his hooves swept from under him, causing him to fall on his back.
Hope grabbed his sword from the train and used it to block the guard’s sword, allowing his dad to get up and jump before striking the guard’s helmet. As a third guard was about to strike Crimson with his spear, Luna blocked it with her sword, giving Moonlight and Dusk time to tackle the guard.
Everypony could only stare as these five took down a group of the royal guard. Things only seemed to get worse as more guards showed up. Hope held his sword in front, the smile that was once on his face gone. Crimson’s eyes narrowed as he twirled his ax in his hand. Moonlight and Dusk stood side by side, their swords at the ready to defend their Princess. Luna, holding her royal weapon, stood in front of the two knights, ready to lay down her life for them if needed.
“Everypony stand down!” Celestia ordered. Her guards stood down. At the same time, the other five lowered their weapons, but still kept them drawn in case there was more trouble.
“Where did Cold Heart get these orders?” Celestia asked.
“From you, Your Highness,” the lead guard said, pulling out an envelope. Celestia took the contents out and read them over.
“I gave no such order to Cold,” she said.
“That’s because it wasn’t me that even gave the orders,” another voice said. They all turned to see a dark gray stallion walk onto the platform. His eyes were a brown as the trees of the Everfree and his black mane was as dark as the caves. His cutie mark was a red heart cut in half: one half of that heart being ice.
“Cold Heart,” Celestia began. “What do you mean?”
“What I mean is,” Cold Heart replied, “is that I’ve been trapped in a nearby cave with diamond dogs for the past few weeks. This weird shadow had been giving them orders before leaving to find where something called The Light of Equestria was.”
No sooner that those words left his mouth, Crimson and Hope dropped their weapons, mouths wide open.
“Please tell me you saw who it was,” Hope begged, dropping to his knees. “That was given to my wife from her family to keep it safe.”
Cold looked down at Hope and sighed.
“All I remember is a green light,” Cold replied, walking over and placing a hand on Hope’s shoulder. “I’m sorry I can’t tell you more.” Hope looked up, tears beginning to show in his eyes, not knowing what would become of his wife's grave.
Everypony stood still, not knowing what to do. The guards that had been sent had done so under false orders. Luna and her group did their best to not run into town and try to find out more, despite wanting to but having no idea where to start looking. As they were about to come do a decision, Starlight and Sunburst ran over.
“Spike’s been kidnapped!” Sunburst exclaimed. Everypony stopped what they were doing and looked at the duo. “We went over to the castle and found Flash knocked out and a note.” He brought out the note only for Twilight to grab it with her magic and begin to read.
“To Princess Twilight Sparkle,” she began. “We have your son. If you want to see him again, bring the alicorn amulet to these coordinates. If you do not appear within an hour, Spike will be killed.” With each word, her face turned from shock to anger. Her eyes began to glow of fire as her mane showed signs of smoke. Twilight was about to explode when she heard a voice.
“TWILIGHT!”
She stopped what was happening and looked down the tracks leading to the Badlands. Everypony gasped as Spike was being loaded onto a train with Light’s coffin. What was even more of a shocker was that Spoiled Rich was the one loading the engine.
“Spoiled!” Applejack exclaimed. Spoiled just smirked at them and boarded her engine. “You won’t get away with this.”
“No she won’t,” everypony turned to see another Spoiled walk onto the platform with Filthy Rich. They all turned to see the Spoiled on the engine frown before a green light enveloped her, showing her true form.
“It’s Chrysalis!” Starlight gasped, not wanting to see this villain anymore. Chrysalis just opened the throttle of her engine and began driving down the line, the diamond dogs and ponies under her hypnoses taking control of the train as she laughed.
“I win, Celestia!” she yelled, her train heading down the line.
Before anypony could stop them, Crimson and Hope ran to their engine, releasing their brakes. As they were about to open the throttle, they were joined by Luna, Celestia, Starswirl, Twilight, and Shining Armor.
“We’re helping you!” Twilight commanded. Crimson nodded and opened the sander before opening the throttle to full. The wheels began to spin in place for a few seconds before the engine, now uncoupled from the cars thanks to Rarity’s magic, began gaining traction, allowing the engine to head down the line after the group. The onlookers at the platform could only watch as Engine 104 sped down the line, not knowing if they would succeed in their goal.
Chrysalis watched as her engine moved down the line, not a single Equestrian in sight. She now had the chance at revenge against them for taking away her kingdom. While her last plan had failed, this now gave her something that the others would never get the chance.
“With the Light of Equestria,” Chrysalis began. “I will soon be able to rule all over Equestria. Not even Twilight can stop me.” She laughed at her plan, only to jump as she heard a whistle. She turned around and saw Engine 104 behind them, catching up fast.
“You won’t get away with this, Chrysalis!” Twilight yelled, using the Royal Canterlot Voice. Crimson closed his ears before opening up the throttle even more. Engine 104 was going faster than it had ever done before.
“How did that piece of junk catch up to me?” Chrysalis asked. While her engine was new, it was still experimental. She had stolen it from the Equestrian Pacific’s test yard, deciding that since it was new, that it would be the best engine for what she needed. The main problem came from the fact that this engine was never tested, meaning that its speed was never really determined.
Despite the age of 104, the engine somehow kept together. When Crimson looked around, trying to see what was keeping 104 together, he saw Starswirl, his horn glowing.
“I’ll keep the engine in one piece,” he said. “Just drive.” Crimson nodded and turned to face Chrysalis’s engine. They were close to catching up, but they needed more wood.
Hope went over to the tender and grabbed the first piece of wood. As he lifted it up, another hand gave him a second log. He looked and saw a white Unicorn filly handing him the wood.
“Sweetie Belle!” Twilight exclaimed, looking back to see what was taking Hope so long. “What are you doing here?” Sweetie Belle just turned to the Princess.
“I’m here to rescue Spike,’ she said. The moment she made her statement, a spark appeared in her eyes, one that Crimson and Hope had seen before, back when Light had set her mind to something.
“We’re closing in!” Crimson shouted. Before anypony could do anything, Sweetie Belle went over to the side of the cab and began to climb on the outside of the train. Hope, just getting over his shock, joined Sweetie Belle, doing what he could to get his wife’s coffin back.
Wind blew Sweetie Belle’s mane as she struggled to keep hold of the engine. Despite her fears starting to show, she beat them down and continued on. As she reached the front, she saw how close they were to Chrysalis’s engine. If given the chance, maybe Spike could jump and hopefully make it to where she was.
“Spike!” Sweetie Belle shouted, hoping he would hear her. Hope soon joined her, looking at the situation. With luck, they could get the coffin and Spike without injury, but the only way to test it was to try it.
“Sweetie Belle?” Spike shouted back, confused as to why she would be there. He was able to look back to see her along with another stallion on the front of the engine. What shocked him the most was the number on the engine. As soon as he saw the number, he thought back to his dream. The same one where he was about to be ran over.
However, he had no time to be picky on which train got him away from Chrysalis. Plus, if Sweetie Belle was on the train, then he should be safe.
“What are you doing?” Spike shouted back. Lucky none of the crew could hear him due to their hypnoses.
“I’m here to help rescue you,” Sweetie Belle replied.
Sweetie then did something that even Hope couldn’t believe. Her horn lit up and soon, the ropes around Spike were cut. She then used her magic and to the surprise of the others, she began to pull Chrysalis’s engine closer.
Spike saw the opportunity and jumped onto 104’s pilot, being grabbed by Hope to keep him from falling. Sweetie soon grabbed Spike, allowing Hope to let go and jump onto Chrysalis’s engine and knock out her guards. As these were not soldiers, but ordinary ponies and diamond dogs that fell victim, they had no experience in fighting like Hope did thanks to his dad teaching him how to fight and defend himself.
After they were knocked out, Hope began to pull the coffin closer as Celestia joined them, using her magic to bring both Light’s coffin and Hope onto the pilot. They made it safely to the pilot, only to watch as Chrysalis’ engine was nearing a very tight curve.
Crimson saw what was happening and applied the brakes. When he tried to apply them to full, the brakes were stuck, just like years ago. He gave one last giant pull, and with Luna’s magic helping, he was able to apply the brakes and soon put the engine in reverse, allowing the wheels to turn the other direction. Thanks to Luna, the engine was able to stop, just as Chrysalis’s engine went off the rails. Just as they thought that Chrysalis was gone, she flew over.
“You haven’t seen the last of me!” She shouted. She disappeared into the sky, allowing the others to relax as Princess Cadence's engine arrived at the scene. The Royal Guard, under both Flash and Moonlight’s command, ran out and arrested the conspirators, one of whom was not being hypnotized. It was this one that Crimson and Hope thought looked familiar.
“You!” The mare shouted. “My Great Grandmother was right. You two were nothing but trouble. Even my Grandfather wished he would’ve killed you!” She pointed to Hope as she said this.
“Once my husband gets wind of this, you’ll pay for this. Everyone of you will die!”
“You can tell your family all about it,” Flash said, placing a magic restraint on her. “While we decide what to do with you.” He placed her onto the prison car along with the others, with other guards looking into the area for anypony else that was involved. The others coupled up 104, loading the coffin into the tender for safety, before reversing back to Ponyville. On the way back, Spike was being watched by Sweetie Belle as Twilight was ordered to help drive 104 back as Hope was resting after the experience he had today.
“How you holding up, Spike?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“I guess I’m holding up OK,” Spike replied, his hand clutching his right left forearm. Sweetie moved his hand to see a large cut. She ripped the lower portion of her skit and wrapped it around his arm, tying it with her hair bow. Her hair was soon let down, going down to her lower back. Spike could’ve sworn he saw the sun light up around her, stunned as he was by her beauty.
“This should hold it together,” Sweetie Belle said, placing a kiss on the injury. Spike nodded before leaning against the tender wall more. Sweetie Belle snuggled up to him, allowing them to relax during the trip.
Twilight looked at the duo, smiling that Spike had somepony to help him through this. She went over, placing a blanket over the two and grabbed some wood, throwing it into the fire. After the events of today, she couldn’t wait to be home.
The sun was setting as they returned to Ponyville, cheers erupting as the two engines returned to the station. Spike and Sweetie Belle exited first, Sweetie Belle getting hugged to death by Rarity before being scolded for running off. Hope and Crimson brought out Light’s coffin, going into the empty space provided by Applejack and Rainbow Dash. As the coffin was laid down, Hope opened the lid, revealing his wife’s corpse, somehow in good condition after all these years. He held the Light of Equestria as six students from the nearby Friendship Academy brought the Alicorn Amulet over. As soon as Gallus saw Crimson, he panicked, hiding behind Smolder.
“It’s the Blue Demon!” he shouted, not wanting to be the next Griffin to die. Crimson juist sighed and looked to the sky.
“Will I ever be rid of that blasted name?” he asked to himself. He turned to Gallus. “Can you please not call me by that name? I hated it and all I want is to be rid of it.” Gallus, who was still scared, agreed, slowly coming out of hiding.
The others gave the amulet to Twilight, who laid it on the ground next to the Light of Equestria. The two ancient pieces floated into the sky, circling the area as a bright light hit Crimson, Hope, and the coffin. The light grew stronger, blinding everyone around before finally fading, allowing them to see the results.
Crimson and Hope opened their eyes, no longer seeing any of the old flesh. They were now among the living again. Crimson threw his hat in the air as Hope went over to the coffin, hearing a voice call his name. The moment he looked in, he bent down and soon, a pair of hands wrapped around his neck. He went back up; his wife was grabbing onto him. When Light was on the ground, she looked around before turning to Hope. Hope picked up her and spun her around, laughing for the first time in years.
Crimson looked at the two, happy for their reunion. Despite the fact that his wife would never return to him, he wasn’t sad at all. He had many lovey years with her and he enjoyed every single minute. While he wished he could hold her one last time, he knew that she wouldn’t want him to dwell on the past. He soon felt a presence beside him. He looked over to see Celestia and Luna standing to his right.
“You seem to be happy for them,” Celestial commented. Crimson nodded.
“I never saw him smile since he lost her,” Crimson replied. “Seeing him happy again is the best wish I could make.”
“What about your wife?” Luna asked, just as Iron arrived and was soon joining in the hug with his parents.
“I had my time of happiness,” Crimson answered. “I just want my son to be happy again.”
“I guess age made you wiser than you were years ago,” Celestia commented. Crimson nodded and sighed.
“Well, I guess it’s time to say goodbye to the railroad business,” Crimson said as he walked over to his engine. “Drove this train for years and now we’re no longer needed. I’ll start looking for some work elsewhere and see what I can do.” As he was about to walk away, Luna stopped him.
“Actually,” she began. “I might have a proposition for you.” Crimson turned to her and smiled, seeing a deal that would benefit not just him, but maybe Ponyville as well. As Luna explained her deal, Crimson’ face lit up with joy.
“Your Highness,” Crimson said. “You’ve got yourself a deal.” Crimson and Luna shock hands, finishing up the deal that would change Ponyville forever.