//------------------------------//
// Train to Nowhere 
// Story: Another Scootarella Story 
// by The Blue EM2 
//------------------------------//

Since it had been decided that Rumble and Thunderlane were to attend the official celebrations in Avalon, the King had seen it arranged to that a special train should convey them all the way from Munchendorf to Avalon, a very long journey indeed as the two countries sat at opposite ends of the continent. This train was ten coaches long, and contained all of the amenities that two princes could possibly need on their trip to what could well be nowhere. Did they even have railways in Avalon? I suppose it is somewhat a redundant question given they were travelling by train, but anyways, they were now two or three days into the five day journey, and the train flew along the track so fast it seemed to fly, the small but powerful engine on the front snorting like a dragon and shovelling white steam over her shoulder as the mountains raced by. Rumble sat in the carriage and looked out as the world turned to a blur, lakes and valleys passing in a never ending stream of colour and light.

"Cheer up, bro!" Thunderlane joked. "There are worse things than having to travel long distance by train. We can do it in five days now, but imagine what it must have been like in the days of horse and carriage!"

"It would have taken weeks," Rumble replied. "I did history, remember? We have the same tutor, after all."

"Point taken," Thunderlane answered, and sat down next to his younger brother. "If only there was some way to teleport about magically. That'd take the problem out of this sort of travel completely, as you could go from here to there, there to here, here to there, there, there, everywhere-"

"I get it," Rumble grunted. "Though apparently Princess Cinderella said something about a mysterious woman in white appearing from nowhere on the night of the ball."

"All sorts of weird things can happen," Thunderlane answered. "Look, I get this is not the most exciting thing ever, but at least try to be cheerful when we get there, OK?"

"What is there to be cheerful about?" Rumble asked. "Sitting in stuffy halls, eating large feasts, and wandering around gardens filled with manequered plants? Where's the fun in that? It sounds so girly!"

"There are worse things," Thunderlane reminded him. "We could get stranded out here with no way of calling for help and with a broken down engine."

Just as he said this, there was a loud bang from higher up. Rumble dropped the window and looked out. The engine up front seemed to be leaking steam, and the train was getting slower and slower with every passing moment. The locomotive was not so much roaring and snorting as wheezing pathetically, and it came to a stop near a siding so that the crew could assess what was wrong.

"What's going on?" the older prince asked, as a member of the train staff walked down the train to them.

"Terribly sorry sirs," he said, "but the engine appears to have suffered a problem. We may be held here for a while." He then bowed, and shut the door, walking further down the train.

Rumble glared at his brother. "Thanks a lot," he snapped. "Tempting fate like this. Now we'll be stuck out here for nobody knows how long!"

Next to the line was a siding that ran up into the hills, and stopped next to the main line. No traffic had ever been seen on this line, and so Rumble got off to do a bit of exploring. Before him, he could examine the tracks, which appeared well worn and used by something or other. Suddenly, he could hear music in the distance.

"Hi ho, hi ho!"

"Hi ho-!"

"Hi ho-!"

"Hi ho-!"

"Hi ho-!"

Before his very eyes, Rumble saw a train of seven mine cars roll to a stop at the side of the line and come to a complete stop. Each car had a single being sitting in them, and one of them hopped out of his car and he looked annoyed.

"Who didn't apply the brakes correctly!" he demanded, staring at one of the others.

"Don't shout at me, Grumpy!" said one of the others. "I wasn't on the brakes toaaaah, ahhhh, AAAACHOOO!"

"I'm pretty certain it was Dopy," said another of the dwarfs, who had his arms crossed at Grumpy.

"Oh well," said another quietly, hiding behind his mine cart. "A- at least we stopped in time."

"We stopped too late, that's what!" said one wearing glasses. "We've stopped too far from the winding drum to hook the cables up."

Rumble walked over to them. "Excuse me," he asked, "but who are you?"

"We work the nearby mine!" said the one with the glasses. "We're the Seven Dwarfs, usually only discussed in connection with Snow White. Speaking of which, we haven't heard from her in a while. "I'm Doc, and these are Dopey, Bashful, Grumpy, Sneezy, Sleepy, and Happy."

"You said you work in a mine, right?" Rumble asked. "Could you help us with something?"

"Depends what it is," Grumpy commented. "We've wasted enough time as it is."

"Why not try smiling at some point in your life?" Happy said to him. "There's a lot of good things to be seen in life."

"And talking endlessly is not one of them."

Doc shook his head. "Excuse them, they can be awkward sometimes. What is the problem?"

"You see," Rumble said, "me and my brother are on our way to Avalon to participate in the celebrations of wedding anniversary of Prince Thomas and Princess Cinderella."

"Another Prince?" asked Sleepy, in confusion. "Hasn't he already got married?"

"Different prince, different country," Bashful told him. "We're in Gerallemagne, remember?"

"Anyway," Doc interrupted. "What was the problem?"

"Our engine has broken down," Rumble finished. "Could you help us to fix it? If you do, we'll help you get your mine carts back to the winding engine and back up to the mine."

Doc smiled. "It's a deal, my lad. Come on boys, we have work to do!"