//------------------------------// // Drastic Measures // Story: The Canterlot Cannonball // by The Blue EM2 //------------------------------// No sooner had the light come on, then a strange whirring and roaring started up from the road. Silverstream looked out of the cab as the engine, two carriages, and the van all started moving, without having a lit fire! It was soon very clear what was moving it along. There, linked to the locomotive via a chain, was the steamroller. And at the controls of the steamroller, was Cozy Glow. Silverstream panicked. She knew a downhill grade was approaching, and that meant a crash! She scrambled for the handbrake, but had no idea which lever to turn. The chain disconnected from the steamroller, which came to a stop. But the engine began to roll straight down the hill. It quickly gained speed, getting up to 30 miles an hour in no time. It was clear they were headed for disaster. Silverstream looked around, and saw just up ahead, in the dusky moonlight, that a rail had been removed! At the last minute, she jumped from the cab and flew into a nearby bush. The train was not so lucky. There was an ear-splitting crash which woke more or less everypony up. Ocellus shot up in her bed, and sped over to her door without a second thought. It wasn’t long until the rest of the school had joined her. She sped down the lane and arrived at the station, seeing only the brake van parked there. Where was the rest of the train? The answer lay just half a mile away. It was a scene of utter devastation. The engine lay in pieces, the frames mangled, the tanks spread around and bent. The boiler was in fragments, smokebox having disconnected from the barrel, and the smokebox door had rolled away and bounced into a nearby street. The driving wheels were bent and mangled; the connecting rods had been shredded in the impact. The cab was intact (sort of), but the engine was a complete wreck. The coaches were no better either. The frames were in order, but the wooden bodies of the coaches had fragmented in the crash and piles of wood lay everywhere. Fragments of Filthy Rich’s merchandise lay everywhere. The van was a total write-off, barely anything of it was left. Ocellus wanted to cry. “That’s the only engine we’ve got,” she said sadly. “And the inspector is visiting tomorrow!” Smoulder added. “Won’t they give you time to repair it?” asked Twilight. “No,” Smoulder told her sadly. “It we don’t have a train tomorrow, we are automatically failed.” Ocellus started to sob. “A-all that w-work. F-for nothing!” She ran off, in the direction of the school. Filthy Rich watched as the others left. Just then he saw Gallus standing there, looking at the wreck. “I don’t have an engine anymore,” he said sadly. “I fear this is it,” Rich added. “We’re doomed.” Gallus’ face suddenly changed to a grin. “I know where we can get another engine,” he smiled. Silverstream clambered out of the bush and looked at the wrecked locomotive. She had been right all along; somepony had ruined everything. Now the town faced no chance of surviving that chariot company. She stepped out onto the road, when suddenly she was jumped by a member of the Royal Guard! “I’ve got them!” he shouted, as he applied magic clawcuffs, and marched her off to Ponyville town hall. Canterlot depot had a number of locomotives being serviced and repaired. The crew of another E2 stabled it on the turntable, ready for another day, and walked away. Gallus and Filthy Rich moved quietly toward the locomotive, but stopped when they saw it start to move! “That’s our engine!” Gallus shouted, and he charged forward. But as he did so, he crashed into a lever, and this caused the turntable to start to move as well. The engine left the rails and rolled along the grass in the middle of the depot. “Oh dear,” Filthy Rich said. “We’d better get out of here.” The engine rolled along the ground and smashed straight through a brick wall. People ran in fright as a tank engine rolled down the streets of the great city, past shops and even up some of the stairs! “Good gracious!” exclaimed Fancy Pants. “Have you ever seen that, Doctor?” “Great Whickering Stallions!” added a certain Earth Pony with a sand timer cutie mark. “I have not in all my time. Not even when I faced the Mummy!” Fancy Pants looked in disbelief. “Doctor, I honestly have no idea what you’re talking about sometimes.” The engine rolled into the courtyard of the Palace of the Two Sisters, recently remodelled after the invasion. The loco rolled forward and crashed into a pillar, stopping at last. “What beest thou, that which bloweth steam and fire?” asked Luna. Celestia facehoofed. “Luna, that’s a steam engine,” she explained calmly. “They were around before you went to the moon, remember?” “But they only had wooden boilers and inclined cylinders!” Luna exclaimed. “This is a world beyond what I know!” Two stallions suddenly fell out of it, landing on the floor. “Whosh idea wash it to take it along the shtreet?” asked one. “I thought it wash yours!” “SILENCE!” boomed Luna. “YOU HAVE CAUSED CONFUSION AND DELAY! GUARDS, ARREST THEM!” Ocellus had returned to her room, and opened up her book on railways to get some solace. She turned to the page which talked about this line, and saw a lithograph of the first engine to run on the line. She must have dozed off, as she suddenly heard the sounds of chuffing, and a whistle echoing in her mind. She shot forward and cried out in excitement. “EUREKA!” “Keep it down!” moaned somepony else. “We’re trying to sleep.” Ocellus didn’t care, as she ran forward excitedly. Arriving at the mayor’s office, she found Silverstream in chains and Filthy Rich and Gallus both speaking to them. “Ocellus!” they cried. “I’ve got it!” the Changeling cried in excitement. “Don’t let us catch it!” they chorused. “The Canterlot Cannonball! We use the Canterlot Cannonball!” Silverstream interjected. “Isn’t that in a museum?” “We can still steam her, I know it!” Ocellus sure was excited. “Yeah, there’s a slight problem,” Gallus told her. “Silverstream here has been arrested. They think she derailed the train.” Silverstream looked at Ocellus. “Celly, if you can get me off these charges, I’ll gladly help you get the engine!” The Changeling raced off toward the Mayor. They got Silverstream off, quite easily. Mayor Mare’s influence with the Princesses saw to that. Now they were outside the Ponyville museum, slowly moving the Canterlot Cannonball onto a waiting wagon. The Cannonball really was a beautiful thing. It had 2 small wheels, and 4 big ones, set under arched splashers. The boiler was long, but perfectly proportioned to the engine, and the cab was short, but comfortable. The tender had 6 wheels, with space for coal and water inside. The engine and tender were beautifully finished in a black livery, with red and white lining. A group of ponies was lowering the engine down a ramp onto the waiting wagon. “Steady!” called Ocellus. With an effort, a grunt, and a shove, the engine was safely moved onto the wagon. “Thanks for loaning us the wagon Big Mac,” Smoulder said. “No problem,” the farmer replied. “Ah rely on this railway as much as you do. It’ll be a real sad day when it goes.” After a short journey, although it took a little longer than expected, the engine was rolled onto the rails. “There’s a slight problem,” said Silverstream. “Where are we going to get the coaches?”