The morning came in West Virginia, all those thousands of miles away from home. It was seven in the morning, an altogether much more reasonable time to be awake than that ghastly three o clock they had had to endure the previous day. It was time to awaken here, and in a set of hotel rooms, or should I say only one hotel room, Apple Bloom awoke from her sleep, and rubbed her eyes.
"It's a bit late fer ya, isn't it?" asked a voice from across the room. Apple Bloom looked over to see that Pear Butter, or rather, her mother, had been speaking, and she looked equally tired. But it seemed as though she'd had a good night's sleep, based on how her hair was already in order. Or as orderly as the frizzy, uncoordinated mass of hair that Pear boasted could be.
"Bout an hour behind," Apple Bloom admitted, getting out of bed, removing the covers and putting her feet down on the floor in front of her. "Ah had no idea this trip would be leisurely, but Ah suppose that's a holiday fer ya."
"You've had more o' them than me, kid," added the voice of Bright Mac, who had only just appeared from behind the head of Pear. "What with all those adventures you and yer friends have been goin' on, you've had quite the year."
Apple Bloom nodded, wandering over to the shower door. "Who wants ta go in first?"
Showering was fairly uneventful, and the family gathered downstairs in the hotel lobby for breakfast. The breakfast room was off to the side of the lobby, and was filled with the typical coffee machines, pancake and waffle makers, and even, to Grand Pear's intense confusion, a device that dispensed cereals, including cheerios (which, in Applejack's frank opinion, tasted of cardboard), something called fruit loops but had no trace of fruit in them (making the title somwhat misleading), or failing that something made of wheat that fell apart upon contact with the spoon.
Whilst trying to get some sustenance of some description, Bright Mac was busy talking to the others. "Now then, when we get ta Cass, Ah take it y'all know what ta do?"
"Sing that John Denver song about the state?" Applejack asked. "Take me Home, Country Roads?"
"Yeah!" Big Mac smiled, nearly sending milk flying through the air. "Good song, that."
"Especially fer basses," Grand Pear noted, making short work of a bowl of fruit. It was, to nobody's surprise, mostly pears.
"Then we need ta collect our house key." Bright Mac quickly counted. "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. I hope we all fit!"
"It was a bit small, last Ah recall," Granny Smith observed. "Course, Ah haven't been ta that old home in 20 years. It'll be interestin' ta see what has changed in the intervenin' years."
"It sounds like we're basically takin' the place over!" Apple Bloom chimed in, forgetting her mouth was full.
"That's more or less it," Pear Butter laughed, rubbing her youngest daughter's head. "It was quite the headache co-ordinatin' all these people to get the homes we needed on the same day." She then seemed to look somewhere else. "or days. We'll be here fer a while."
"The Last Run will sure be busy!" Grand Pear laughed as well.
"The Last Run?" Applejack asked.
"The main waterin' hole in Cass," Bright Mac explained. "The visitors ate there, and the engine crews liked goin' there after a workin' day."
The meal was at last concluded, and they headed out to put their cases in the hire car. They then squashed the family in, and off they went, driving across Interstate and plain, gentle road and hill, and up the map, rolling into the hills, through the rolling landscape of West Virginia. At last, the flat terrain gave way to rolling hills and mountains, slopes covered in wondrous, beautiful trees. At long last, they reached their destination. Cass, West Virginia.
They pulled up in the parking lot at Cass, and stepped out to look about, not to mention stretch their legs in order to recover after such a long road journey of several hours, as that is enough to knacker anybody. It was just then a sound that Bright Mac knew so well echoed through the air, a wondrous, harmonious sound. It was the sound of a chime whistle, a 6 chime to be precise, and it was a whistle that Mac knew very well, as he had regularly sounded it 20 years ago.
"C'mon y'all!" he called. "That's Number 5! Let's see her in!"
"Slow down!" shouted Granny Smith. "Ah can't run as fast as y'all!"#
As they reached the old station building, the engine emerged from the treeline, puffing and panting noisily as it backed down toward the station, whistle sounding long and loud and bell ringing loud enough that anybody anywhere could easily hear it. And it rolled to a stop, the cylinders finally stopping spinning as the engine stopped in the platform. The boarding ramps dropped, and the passengers from the run up to Bald Knop disembarked, heading toward their cars and trucks ready for their journeys home. The engineer looked over his engine, and prepared to run the other way, when he looked out and saw something that made him do a double take.
"Bright Mac?" he asked. "It's been, what, twenty years?"
"Valve!" Bright cried, stepping closer to the cab. "What'd are ya still doin' here?"
"Never really had a reason to move away," Valve Gear laughed, as he moved the gear into the forwards position. "Unlike you, Ah never had a girl from the West Coast ta steal mah heart."
Bright smiled. "Yeah, about that. We're gonna be hear a while, so we'll have plenty of time ta catch up. We need ta get our keys, so see ya!"
Valve smiled in return, and waved. He then sounded the whistle furiously, and the engine began to steam forwards as it vanished into the treeline toward the depot. The Apples, on the other hand, walked toward the office whilst Grand Pear and Granny Smith headed back to the car. Bright opened the door, and stepped through with his wife and three children. The room was panelled in wood, and was exactly as he recalled it 20 years earlier. Standing behind the desk was an old man, with grey skin and blue eyes. Not only that, he had one of the most impressive beards that Bright had ever seen. He was also dressed in blue, with grey pants and shoes. He also had a pointy hat on, for some reason.
"Welcome, weary travellers!" he said. "Are you, perchance, here for the reunion?"
"Why, yes we are!" Bright replied, and handed over his booking papers. The man on the desk looked over them calmly.
"Ah, yes," he said. "Apple Family. House number 22, seven occupants, one week. If you need anything, I am Mr Starswirl. I hope you enjoy your stay, and tomorrow night I will be running a stargazing session. Here, the skies are very clear, and s a result it is very easy to see the stars."
"Thanks," Bright Mac replied. "Hope ta see ya again!"
"You too!" Starswirl smiled, as the family existed outdoors. He thought to himself. "I'm certain I've seen them somewhere before..."
After unloading all their cases in the house, and stocking the wardrobes as best they could, the family headed out for dinner at The Last Run. Upon entering, music echoed through the room, old country classics which may or may not have had a connection to the area. Apple Bloom's attention was immediately attracted to the photos of the old days on the walls, including a Shay climbing through the snow, and a Climax double heading with a Heisler out on another part of the network.
"Good pictures, ain't they?" asked a voice. Apple Bloom glanced over to see it belonged to a woman who was standing behind the counter. She had blue skin, red hair done up above her head similar to that a Cajun woman might have, and light blue eyes. She wore a cotton blouse and a green skirt, which was all that the young girl could see. She had clue what her footwear was.
"Erm, yes?" Apple Bloom asked in response. "Yes, they are."
"Most of them were taken in the local area," the woman said again. "Back long before Ah came here from Eunis. That's in Lousisiana."
"Ah don't recall seein' ya around," Bright Mac said. "Are ya a newcomer ta Cass?"
"Why, Ah am!" the woman replied. "Meadowbrook, head of caterin', pleasure ta meet ya. And you are?"
"Bright Mac, ma'am. Ah was born here, and the Apples were one of the foundin' families o' Cass."
Meadowbrook's eyes widened. "Well then, sir, it's an honour to have ya here. Ah moved here not too long ago to take up this post. Now then, what can Ah get y'all? Menus are on the tables behind ya."
The food mostly consisted of old American classics, ranging from Mac and Cheese to items such as hot dogs and burgers. All had their fill, although the coleslaw wasn't to everybody's taste, and they headed off to bed contented, to start the first day of the reunion.