Wheels clattered and screeched as the train raced along the line. Bouncing along at almost 70 miles an hour, it was a miracle it held the rails at all. This, however, was a blessing, as if it were to derail, disaster would surely ensue.
But another engine was pursuing from the rear. Charing toward the rear coupling, was a steam engine, smoke billowing from its funnel as it chased the train down. It produced a noise unlike any ever heard before or since as it chased its target.
Sunset Shimmer stood on the front of the engine, gripping the handrails that connected to the top of the running board. She had a radio in one of her hands and was directing the driver.
“20 cars! Increase speed!”
“20 cars! Copy!”
Slowly the gap lessened, and they got closer to their target.
“10 cars!”
“10 cars! Copy!”
As they neared the runaway train, Sunset could hear the whine of the traction motors of the locomotives in front, straining as if they had been pushed beyond their limits.
“5 cars!”
“5 cars! Brace for impact!”
The steam engine slammed into the rear coupler of the engine, emitting a loud bang as it did so. The front engine groaned as it took a hit, and Sunset lost her balance, trying to stabilise herself on the front of the engine.
“You can’t do anything,” whispered a voice in her head.
“I’m gonna stop this runaway train!” she cried.
A loud whooshing noise distracted her attention. She looked to her left, and saw a massive flying creature, coloured completely red, and with a crown lodged into its skull. It wore a fiery outfit, and a pair of boots to match.
The monstrosity Sunset had changed into that night at the Fall Formal.
“Trying to be a good girl, are we?” it laughed. “Well, you’ve had your fun, but now it’s my turn to play!”
It’s eyes glowed as it shot a beam of energy into the train in front. The lead locomotive tumbled off the rails, followed by the rest of the train and most of the tankers. The seal on one of the tankers burst, and sparks from the overhead wires ignited the fuel contained onboard.
Within a second, the entire stretch of line became a vision of hell. Flames were everywhere.
“Oh shit, we’re gonna derail!” cried the driver.
The steam engine ploughed into the wreckage, Sunset being thrown forward and onto the ground. She rolled over, and saw the daemon hovering over her.
“Tick tock, Sunset,” it laughed. “Your number is up.”
Sunset saw nearly 300 tons of locomotive slide forward, and screamed as the machine fell on top of her...
Sunset shot up in her bed, wide awake, and looked around her. She was just in her apartment, that was all. It was just another morning on another day in Canterlot.
She looked to her right and saw her alarm clock. 07:00 it read. "Time to go to work,” she thought.
She hauled herself out of bed and wandered over to the shower. She emerged a few minutes later, and pulled a turquoise blouse, blue leggings, a pair of black boots, and a black jacket out of her wardrobe.
She wandered down the stairs toward the kitchenette. Her home was small, but it was comfy, and that was enough for her. She pulled some bread out of the fridge, as well as some cheese and salami, and chucked a sandwich together for her to eat.
She sat down at her desk, and flicked on her television, setting it to KTCC. She didn’t expect anything dramatic.
“Tensions are high as Canterlot High School and Crystal Prep Academy prepare for the Friendship Games. This quadrennial event is usually won by Crystal Prep, but evidence this year suggests that CHS will not go down without a struggle!”
Sunset sighed. Given the events of the past months, was that really the most exciting thing to be broadcasting about?
Her mind drifted off, considering what had happened since she had arrived here.
She had emerged from the portal 3 years ago, about 12 in human years. The next 3 years had consisted of her being awful to everybody as she climbed to the top of the ladder, but then came the awful mistake that was the Fall Formal.
That had been a learning experience.
Since then, she had tried to earn everypo-everybody's trust, but they had been slow. Frankly, it was no surprise. She’d had it easier when the Dazzlings had tried to take over the school, and defeating them did work wonders for her reputation.
At least Celestia had shown some kindness. Upon learning that Sunset had been living in the school library, she had allowed her use of an apartment she owned in the centre of town, and even helped supply schoolbooks, supplies, and some food, on the condition that Sunset keep it clean and get a job.
That bit had been tough. Sunset, not being from the human world, had not been sure what job to take. In the end, she’d found an opening, and it paid well, so that was fine for her.
Not even Anon-a-Miss had had a damaging effect. Most students saw through it straight away, and the perpetrators were dealt with in style by Rainbow and Scootaloo.
Sunset had no doubt she was now in a better place than last year. Even so, she was worried about what would happen if she lost that place. She knew that if she made one mistake, snapped in front of someone, or worse, it would all come crashing down.
Which brought her onto last night. She’d been having nightmares about her daemon form killing her in numerous ways for a few weeks now. She feared there was still some residual energy from that night stuck in her body.
She reached for her journal, and took out a pen, starting to write.
Dear Princess Twilight,
How are things in Equestria? They sure have been wild here.
At the moment we are prepping for the Friendship Games. Some silly rivalry nonsense, or something like that. Anyway, me and my friends are stronger than ever, ready to take on any challenge.
There is one concern I still have, however. For a few weeks, I’ve been having nightmares about my daemon self. I only fear what could happen if it could reassert itself, and I suspect I’ve somehow got some residual energy left over from that night.
Could you look into it for me?
Your stu
Your friend,
Sunset Shimmer.
Sunset laughed as she finished the sentence. It still felt strange referring to Twilight as a friend. There was suddenly a loud horn blast outside that shook her from her thoughts, and she jumped up.
“Oh crap, I'm gonna be late!” she cried, jumping out of her room and running onto the sidewalk, remembering to lock up behind her.
The streetcar rolled to a stop outside her home, and she climbed aboard. She lived on Rudell Street, and her destination was on Faust Road.
Meanwhile, Spitfire sat down in the chair of the San Fernando Yard control tower. The yard had two sets of 20 sidings, each with road access for lorries and other vehicles. Overhead power wires snaked into the distance, as trains rumbled in and out of the yard.
Spitfire was a woman in her late 20s, with yellow skin and two-tone orange hair. She currently wore a light blue suit with 3 buttons on the jacket, and had just put on her headset when she spotted something amiss in the yard.
“Hey, what’s that train on D12 still doing there?” she asked, a tone of annoyance in her voice. “You need to move it up to D8.”
Down at the train, two women were conversing. One was wearing grey pants, a white T-shirt, a brown leather jacket, and had tan skin, yellow eyes and white hair. Her name was Gilda, and she was currently speaking to her friend Upper Crust.
Gilda grabbed her radio. “Hey, relax,” she replied. “We’re currently letting the brakes recharge.”
“Well, you’d better hurry it up!” Spitfire snapped. “If you don’t get it to D8 within the next 30 minutes, you’ve missed your departure slot. And trust me, management doesn’t like it when drivers screw the timetable up.”
The train in question was a tanker train, 30 cars long. The tankers were built to the DOT-111 specification, and each was painted black.
The locomotives, however, were of considerably more interest. Coupled to the train were four squat, short electric locomotives, each painted blue with yellow cab ends. Each of them had two pantographs engaged with the wires, and two were coupled to the front, two to the back.
They were based on a design built for the LNER in England shortly after the Second World War, specifically for the Woodhead Route. This line had steep gradients, and so electric traction was perfectly suited to the route. 58 of them, the BR Class 76, had been built, but when Woodhead closed all but one had been scrapped, due to being non-standard with overhead power systems in the rest of Britain.
However, the 1500V DC system was perfectly suited to operations here, as there were steep gradients on the 350-mile line from Los Angeles to Cloudsdale. As a result, shortly after electrifying the entire line, the railway had decided to order another 50 to the same design, scaled up for US rails.
They had been numbered to continue the original numbering sequence, and as such were numbered from 76058 thru 76107. This train consisted of 76076 on the front, 76077 behind, and 76059 and 76081 on the rear.
And here they were, waiting for the brakes to recharge, so they could get the train on its merry way.
Sunset looked out of the streetcar window, to see a flock of freshmen being dropped off at the railway station. Several railroad employees were taking them on a tour to San Fernando yard, to be shown the beating heart of the railway. Snow covered the ground, and the kids were wrapped up to the nines to keep them warm.
She sighed. She hadn’t spoken to her family in years. Maybe she would one day; she didn’t honestly know. Her mind was jolted when the streetcar came to a stop.
“Canterlot Railroad Station,” said the announcement.
Sunset walked into the administrative building that faced onto the street, and found herself in a hive of activity. This was Canterlot Depot, where engineers and stokers signed on and off every few hours or so. She walked up to her locker, and heard the key scrape in the lock as she opened it. She dumped her bag inside, and looked at the dispatch board.
Sunset Shimmer, assigned to Lightning Dust, 611.
She spoke to a passing worker. “Excuse me, where can I find Lightning Dust?”
“She's over there, at the coffee machine,” he replied.
Sunset made her way over, to see a group of 2 girls and a boy standing next to a coffee machine and laughing.
One was wearing grey pants and turquoise sneakers. She also had a white T-shirt on, with an emblem of a lightning bolt hitting 3 stars, as well as a black jacket. She had turquoise skin and amber and gold hair, as well as a pair of orange eyes. She had a coffee in her hands, which she was slowly sipping as it seemed to be very hot.
Sunset approached them. “Hi, I’m looking for Lightning Dust. Can you point me her way?”
The girl with the coffee raised her hand. “That’s me,” she said.
“We’re working together on 611,” Sunset answered. She suddenly noticed the boy staring at her. “Is there a problem?”
He simply pushed past her, saying, “I wouldn’t want to work with a She-Demon. Management must hate you today Lightning!”
Lightning shrugged. “Ignore him. Besides, I have no idea what that was about.” She took another sip of her coffee, and then suddenly yelped. “Shit!”
Sunset dashed forward. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s OK, just burnt my tongue, that’s all,” she replied. “611, you say?”
“611, that’s correct,” Sunset answered.
Lightning paused. “Hey, let’s go,” she said. “We can chat on the way to our engine.”
They walked into the roundhouse proper, which was home to 20 berths, and one access line to the outside world. Steam was in the air everywhere, as engines off shapes and sizes were readied for their work. The two of them passed by a NYC J3a as they walked along, and a Y6b moved off of the turntable and out into the world.
“So, what are we doing today?” Dust asked.
“According to these orders, we’re to take the engine up to Cloudsdale, turn her around, then take a train of 20 boxcars to Crystal City marshalling yard. We then return it-”
“Her.” Lightning Dust’s interruption came as a bit of a surprise. “You always refer to a steam engine as female.”
“Sorry. We then return her to Canterlot and hand over to another crew.”
“Any passing orders? They’re indicated in red.”
“We’re held in a loop at the foot of Cloudsdale ascent on the way back, but nothing else.”
Dust nodded. “Good. Walk in the park.” She grabbed onto the handrails of 611 and climbed up. Sunset followed her momentarily.
Sunset stood on the left in the stoker’s position, whilst Lightning took position in the engineer’s seat.
“One of my favourite places in the world, this,” Dust said. “I didn’t ask your name. We’ve got a few minutes until we get our departure slot.”
“Oh, I’m Sunset Shimmer. But you can call me Sunset if you want!”
“How long have you been on the rails?”
“Passed out shortly after Thanksgiving, as a stoker and conductor.”
“Dual post?” Dust was impressed. “Few people pass high enough to get both jobs. Passed out as an engineer, 4th July 2009. I’ll have been driving for 5 years come this summer.”
Just then the turntable clattered around to their position. Lightning sounded the whistle, and the engine pulled forward onto the turntable.
It clattered around until it faced the exit. Lightning opened the regulator, and 611 began to move out of the shed. It gathered pace, until it ran out onto the mainline, and toward Cloudsdale.