In the second baggage coach of the excursion train, two ponies sat among the baggage. One yellow, one blue. Eric and Fluttershy had woken up early much like myself. The former had noticed the latter in one of the coaches and had managed to persuade her into going to the baggage car to talk in private.
The two talked about their adventures and misadventures. Their highs and lows. How Fluttershy once used her words to stop a dragon from polluting the air above Ponyville and how Eric had once used my whistle as an improvised way of sending Morse Code.
I always chuckle when I recall that incident.
"You mean to tell me that you actually stopped a Cockatrice from turning you to stone by staring at it?" Eric asked.
"Uh, yeah. I did," Fluttershy replied. "But I did have to talk."
"That... blimey. That's impressive. Wish I had the ability to that."
Fluttershy giggled. "Maybe-"
BANG!
The two jumped, startled by the sudden noise.
"What was that?" Fluttershy asked.
"I don't know. Let me go check."
Eric stood up and walked to the front of the carriage with Fluttershy in tow. He opened the door and looked around. He gasped as he notice something.
Or rather, a lack of something.
"Where's Edward," he asked.
Fluttershy looked out. "Edward? Um, I don't know."
"How would you?" Eric asked before jumping out of the coach. "Edward?!" he called out as he darted in between the coaches, searching for the engine he'd been friends with his whole career. Alas, the only engine he found was City of Truro.
"SOD IT!"
Inside a first class coach, the four princesses sat, discussing what had woken them up.
"It sounded like a bang," Twilight said.
"Of course it was a bang," Luna replied. "A loud one, at that."
"Maybe somepony dropped a pile of dishes?" Cadance suggested.
"Unlikely. Nopony would be up at this hour," Celestia noted.
"GUYS!" Eric yelled.
"Der- gert-! ERIC! Don't do that!" Twilight yelled back.
"Sorry!" Eric replied. "But this is important! Edward is missing!"
The princesses jumped to their hooves.
"What do you mean Edward is missing?" Celestia asked.
"Sister, stop being so coy!" Luna snapped as she ran out of the carriage. She flew dozens of feet above the village and scanned the area, looking for any signs of smoke. She found none.
"Consarn it, Edward. Where did you go?"
I looked around at the small dugout next to the track. It was interesting in the sense that someone had made it into a living space. There were shelves, chairs, a library of books, a bed, all of which made me wonder if someone stayed here with these engines.
Suddenly, a thought flew into my funnel.
"Was someone trying to hide this engine?" I asked, looking at the engine in front of me. "They clearly succeeded, but I wonder why they hid it in the first place."
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath in. I was getting out of here one way or another. I had a duty to the passengers. City of Truro certainly couldn't pull that entire train by itself. And I certainly couldn't wait down here for someone to find me. And the schedule would be thrown clean out the window if they had to send for another engine while looking for me.
My firebox flared as I built up steam. I braced myself as the coupling tightened. Then, with a deep breath, I began to pull. With pistons pumping and siderods straining, I began to pull the engine in front of me. It shuddered and groaned, having not been moved or oiled in a very long time. To my annoyance, I heard a few more cracks of coupling.
"You are joking," I grunted as I entered the incline. "Don't tell me I'm pulling a whole train up this shaft."
The next hour was the hardest I had ever worked in my life. I swear I was on verge of busting a piston with how hard I had to puff. It was bar and none the heaviest things I ever pulled. The only things that allowed me to make it up the incline was my new valve gear, roller bearings, and the track being strangely grippy.
By the time I was close to the top, almost out of fuel, I was flustered beyond belief. Never had I worked so hard for so long. I knew I had to at least been within whistle range, so I blew my whistle as loudly as I could, hoping someone heard.
I continued for a dozen seconds before whistling again. One long shriek.
...
"I TOLD YOU HE WAS DOWN THERE!"
"Yes!" I joyfully exclaimed, tooting my whistle twice.
"EDWARD! Edward... Edward!" I heard Eric yell along with a flap of wings.
"I'm down here!" I yelled back.
"What the heck are you doing down here?" he asked as he tried to find a way into my cab.
"I was reading a sign when something shoved itself up my bunker, sending me down into this blasted mine. Now how far from the top am I?"
"No more than a hundred feet. Now why are you moving so slow?"
I grunted loudly before responding. "I'm dragging another engine with me, that's why!"
"WHAT?! What engine?"
"I don't know! Something American!"
"How do you know It's American?"
"Because It's absolutely massive."
My wheels slipped suddenly. I caught this before I lost speed.
"How did you couple up to it?"
I scoffed. "My coupling got stuck on the front valance when I smashed into it. Believe me, I tried ripping it off several times."
"It's almost like the couplings are built for pulling hundreds of tons."
I groaned.
Within a minute, I watched sunlight fill the edges of my vision. My initial relief turned to dread as I realized what time it had to have been for this much sunlight to be present.
"How long have I been down there? What time is it?" I quickly asked.
"Seven-Thirty."
I sighed with relief. "Alright. We can still leave on time."
"Leave on ti- Edward-!"
"No!" I snapped as I felt sunlight hitting my tender. "I have a duty to the passengers."
The moment I fully exited the mine, Eric appeared on my left. I could tell he was going to argue, but his jaw dropped when he saw the engine I was pulling.
"Edward!" I heard Luna exclaim as she rushed over to me. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine," I replied. "I had to wrestle with this behemoth to get out of here."
Everypony watched as the engine I was pulling came into the sunlight. It truly was a massive machine. Two small wheels lead one set of six large driving wheels, which lead six more large driving wheels, followed by four small wheels. A 2-6-6-4 locomotive.
Behind the engine was a tender almost as big as Henry. It rode on two six-wheeled bogies and had the large yellow letters bearing the Norfolk and Western name. Behind that was another tender of similar design. A "canteen" tender that only held water.
As I stopped to finally ease my axles, Norfolk and Western Number 1218's weathered black paint glistened in the sunlight. Everypony from my driver to the princesses marveled at the steam-powered giant, wondering how such a machine could ever be created.
As for myself, the feeling of finally being able to stop working and simply rest was unmatched. I felt as if I could simply collapse onto the rails. I sat there, breathing, letting everypony admire the engine I had brought out from the depths.
That was until my driver asked me a question.
"Edward, could you reverse some more?"
I looked at him. "Why?"
"Because I think there's another engine in the mine."
My eyes widened. "You mean I was towing two engines?"
"It sure seems like it!"
I sighed as I began moving again, bringing this second mystery engine into the light. This engine was just as big as 1218, but so much more powerful.
As in, powerful enough to be the one of if not the strongest steam locomotive ever built, excluding "Triplex" locomotives.
Two small wheels lead not six, but eight bigger driving wheels, which lead eight more driving wheels, which were followed by two small wheels. A 2-8-8-2. It too had two large tenders behind it, one being a canteen tender, but also had the addition of a dark blue caboose owned by Norfolk and Western. Number 500 837, to be specific.
On the front of the engine lay a four digit number. 2156.
Nicknamed the Warhorse, 2156 was a Y6a articulated locomotive capable of nearly 170,000 pounds of tractive force. Over three times the force of Britain's strongest engines. It had roller bearings on nearly every service, great balancing, a smooth ride, and was most certainly one of the best engines ever built.
Norfolk and Western 1218, otherwise known as the Mercedes of Steam, was the sole surviving member of N&W's Class A locomotives, and the sole survivor of the 2-6-6-4 locomotive as a whole. Like 2156, it had roller bearings on nearly every service, but it had large driving wheels and amazing balancing that allowed it to easily of speeds of 70 miles per hour and more. Despite the large wheels, it still developed over 110,000 pounds of tractive force and could pull 7500 tons of freight at over 60MPH on a level track.
And here I was, having just pulled these two pieces of marvelous machinery out of a mineshaft. And let me assure you, I looked hilarious doing so.
"Edward," Luna began. "What are we to do with these engines?"
I sighed. "I don't know. Listen, I need to rest for a few hours, alright? Until we need to leave. Now could someone please uncouple me?"
Luna stepped next to where my coupling was stuck and, after a few seconds of fiddling, uncoupled me from the American engines.
"Edward, what exactly was down in that mine?"
A swift investigation of the mineshaft was carried out over the next few hours. Their findings were interesting, to say the least.
They discovered that this shaft was in fact not present before. The rocks around it did not conform with the rocks already present, and there were small signs that the incline I was sent barreling down was slotted in between the entrance and where I found the N&W engines, leaving several to believe that something or someone had purposefully placed this mine here via unknown means.
As for the shaft itself, it didn't have any branching paths, nor did it go any deeper than where I picked up the engines. It was a single passage created with the express reason of putting the engines there.
At least, that's what I thought at first. That theory was partially disproven when Twilight found a journal written by an anonymous man. I'll spare you the details as the journal spanned several pages, but the basic gist is that the man had in fact hidden the locomotives in there, saying they would have been scrapped had he not done so. Annoyingly, despite going into detail about the society that wanted to scrap the engines, he never dropped any names.
The journal ended on a dark note, the man writing in the last page how he was starving and about to die. For his last few words, he said, and I quote; "Take care of these locomotives. Restore them to working condition. Save them. Please."
After some digging, they did manage to find the bones of the man. Nothing more.
Creepy, if you ask me.
Of course, we had to keep to time. After Twilight dispatched a group of specialists to investigate the mine further, we departed on schedule, leaving the Norfolk and Western engines in the sidings. I would have to come back for them later.
"So. Edward," Eric began. "Still loving it here in Equestria?"
"Absolutely."
"Loving it more than Sodor?"
"Ye- Excuse me?"
"I'm just asking!"
My wheels clicked as we traveled over a set of point onto a two-track line.
I sighed. "See, here's the thing. I love Sodor. I've lived on it for a very long time. I appreciate the sights, the sounds, sometimes I feel like I'm a storybook for children.
"Buuut?"
"Equestria is exactly that. A storybook of sorts. Actually, no. It is quite literally fantasy. I mean, colorful talking ponies that can do magic? That can fly? Princesses who can move the sun and moon? Does that not sound like a textbook fantasy world?"
"I wouldn't say textbook, but yeah."
I sighed. "Eric, I'll be honest. I've thought about really staying here. And I hate myself for doing so. It's just that everything about Equestria is simply better than Sodor. Not to mention how big it is. It's no island."
"So what you're trying to say," Eric paused, choosing his words. "Is that you and I are stuck between the choices of personal gain and loyalty to our homes? To your passengers?"
"Exactly. Except my duty to the passengers on Sodor clashes with my duty to the passengers here. Equestria is a backwards nation in need of assistance. I'm one of the few that can give it that."
"Well, Edward, if this pattern of finding new engines continues, you won't be needed here in Equestria by the time Twilight finishes that spell. Even number 1218 could do all your work four times over."
The look on my face turned grim. I didn't say anything, choosing instead to stair at the tracks ahead. This concerned Eric.
"Edward? I-Is something wrong?"
I sighed. "This isn't something to talk about while on an excursion. Tell you what, we'll talk about it tonight."
Eric returned the sigh. "If you say so. I'm heading back to the cab."
"Right."
"To the American West we go!" he yelled as he extended his wings and flapped back to my cab.
To this day, I am still surprised at how quickly he got used to flying.
This day of the excursion involved us stopping in Appleloosa and Dodge City. It was quite enjoyable to talk to people with such American accents. Lode Star also followed us around, continuing to make high-speed freight and mail deliveries.
After we hit those two towns - particularly after I got to look at Dodge Canyon, a sight neither myself nor my driver had seen before - we visited Salt Lick City and went through the Green Mountains past the "Untamed West". A very fine place to travel, I might add. Then, after a stop for fuel, we stopped in the great city of San Franciscolt.
San Franciscolt.
This was the city that made me realize that half the town and city names of Equestria were 'ponified' versions of cities from our world. Particularly those from the states. I always want to kick myself whenever I think about it since it took me way too long to realize this.
When I told the princesses, they could only laugh.
And I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit ticked off that almost none of the cities were plays on anything British. In fact, the only thing that was a play on a British location was Canterlot.
Anyway. After visiting San Franciscolt, we traveled south to the half-floating city of Las Pegasus.
I'll admit. Flying ponies, princesses that move the sun and moon, and literal magic were one thing to get used to. Staring at a half-floating city? That was a completely different matter. This was a city of bright lights and bustling activity. It had casinos, hotels, five star restaurants, everything that made it quite the wild vacation spot. As Apple Jack put it, the city was essentially "one big party".
Here, we actually met up with another engine that had been found parked in the station platform just that morning. A Great Western Railway 4073 "Castle" Class named "Earl Bathurst" with the number 5051. This 4-6-0 express engine was similar to Lode Star but with a few upgrades. These upgrades included a bigger and lighter boiler, bigger pistons, heavier frame, and more tractive effort.
Luna expressed immediate interest in putting the engine to work, but Eric told her that the engine had recently been in a scrapyard and - last he checked - was undergoing restoration. While it seemed to be in good working order, he suggested having a professional look at it.
So what did Luna do? Seeing as Las Pegasus didn't have any sidings or extra tracks, she coupled it to the back of the excursion. In any other situation, I wouldn't have went through with this decision, but considering there were zero other engines available, it felt justified.
The rest of the day was largely uneventful. We made our way back to Canterlot to let off passengers and drop off the Star Class. We spent some time there and let new passengers on, then continued off the mountain out North to continue the excursion.
But not before doing something that, to this day, I am still grateful for.
You see, in our excitement of touring Northern Equestria, we didn't actually tour Northern Equestria. As in the Crystal Mountains. Because we would be traveling over some very steep grades, Luna decided that it would best to uncouple City of Truro and replace it with Sierra Railway #3.
This decision would prove invaluable as we ascended the mountains towards the Crystal Empire. The grades her rivaled that of Gordon's hill. But while said hill was steep, it was only several hundred feet in length. The grades of the Crystal Mountains would go for close to a mile.
Sierra #3's tractive effort coupled with mine allowed us to climb the hills in a timely fashion, owing to Luna's surprising skill with the throttle.
We stopped by the Crystal Empire for an hour, then continued on through the mountains to the Rainbow Falls. It was practically nighttime by this point, so this is where we stopped. And let me tell you, the Rainbow Falls were beautiful. It wasn't just a name. The waterfalls were literal rainbows. Couple that to the beautiful mountains that surrounded us, and it was among the reasons I loved Equestria.
While we parked in the siding that was - to our surprise - able to hold the entire train, Luna told me that this line had recently been extended next to and past the Neighagra Falls to provide a connection to Manehattan, which would be our first stop the next day. This decision had already proved invaluable as ponies were able to get between the two cities faster.
Well, 'faster' depending on what the Friendship Express' Engineer was feeling.
With everyone retiring to the coaches and local hotels, I was once again left alone. Nothing but the buildings, the mountains, the falls, and most of all, the night sky.
Soon enough, I closed my eyes, and began to sleep.
It was a dark and cloudy morning on the Waterton Branchline, better known as the Little Western. Engines rolled through switches, roared around bends, and raced down straight sections of track with their trains.
I myself was hauling a heavy train of brick and steel bound for the coastal town of Arlesburgh. Because of my experience pulling the Norfolk and Western engines up that mine, this was childs play.
"Welcome to the Arlesburgh, your highnesses," I said to Luna and Celestia who were in my cab.
"Though there is ample amounts of construction happening, this looks like it will be a most wonderous tourist destination," Luna stated.
"It most certainly will be. Perhaps it might get finished by the time me and Eric get back."
"This entire line has been just beautiful," Celestia said. "It looks like it has been plucked right out of a children's tale."
I chuckled. "Well I can promise you that it isn't my memory being flowery."
"I'll hold you to that."
We entered the yard, puffing through sets of switches before coming across two other engines. Thomas and Donald. Both of whom seemed to be arguing.
"Take the children to the carnival? Whyyy?" Thomas asked. "What have CHILDREN ever done for MEEEE?"
"Ya want your special coach? Take it!" Donald exclaimed, angrily shoving an express coach next to Thomas. "Now Douglas can come back, right?"
Thomas looked at the express coach, looking at it from top to track. He frowned.
"Wrong! That isn't my SPECIAL coach!"
"Then have some more coaches! I'VE GOT PLENTY OF EM'!!" Donald yelled, suddenly shunting what I swear was the entire island's fleet of coaches into several sidings beside Thomas.
"You can't put a price on my special coach!" Thomas yelled. "And I won't forgive that thieving engine Douglas for stealing it!"
BANG!
Douglas snapped, slamming into Thomas' buffers.
"LISTEN YOU USELESS BLUE PUFFBALL! DOUGLAS HAD BEEN SENT BACK TO SCOTLAND FOR SCRAP! AND YOUR NOT GOING TO BRING HIM BACK OVER A STUPID COOOAACH!?!!?!??!"
"WHAT IN BLAZES IS GOING ON?!!" I yelled, blowing my whistle.
"Stay out of this, Old Iron! This is between me and this useless blue puffball!" Donald snapped back.
"So you're so mad that you're insulting me are you? LISTEN! Get back to work, the both of you! Now! Or else I'm telling Sir Topham Hatt!"
"Edward, this git isn't bringing back Douglas from Scotland!"
"How in blazes is it Thomas' place to bring back Douglas? And what do you mean by that, anyway? I just passed Douglas not ten minutes ago!"
"Yeah, Donald! How is it even my business?!" Thomas smugly asked.
"DON'T you DARE think I'm on your side, Thomas," I snapped. "As far as I know, you are just as much in the wrong as Donald is."
"No I'm not! I was minding my own business when Donald started-"
FooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! wooOOOOOOOOOOOO! woooOOO WOOOooooooWOOOOOOOOOOO!
We all stopped as a whistle filled the air like the ghostly wail of some eldritch being. I found myself not being able to hear any construction sounds, the princesses, or even the hissing of my own steam.
"What is that?" I asked, fear skyrocketing as my vision darkened.
Suddenly, I was back in the rainbow falls. It was dark, and a dense fog had made itself present. There wasn't a single pony out, not one light on. It felt like I was the only being that lived in the world.
But I could still hear the whistle.
I could hear an engine approaching. I could hear the rapid chuffing of the funnel and feel the speed of the siderods. The tracks in front of me got brighter and brighter as the engine approached from behind. The whistle continued to echo off the mountains, shrieking like that of a lost soul.
Suddenly, the engine roared into view. It was dark bronze with gold lining. Four small wheels lead a team of six] large driving wheels followed by two small ones. It had bullet-nosed streamlined that stretched around the full body, making it seem like a raging torpedo. Under its cab windows, I saw the golden number 3768.
The tender was equally streamlined. It rode on six-wheel bogies and sported equal amounts of streamlining compared to the engine. On its side, just below the golden lines, lay a name I had seen few times before.
PENNSYLVANIA
As the engine roared by, I got a great look at the coaches. They were 80 feet long and wore Tuscan Red liveries and silver Clerestory roof. Sixteen of these coaches rattled by, the last one being an observation car. On the rear of that observation car sat a circular logo with a name that told me what this train was.
BROADWAY LIMITED
"Bloody hell," I slowly let out as the train roared on, continuing to blow its ethereal wail.
"Edward?" I heard a familiar voice call out. I looked to my right to find Luna. "W-What was that?"
"I don't know," I replied. "Perhaps a lost train. A soul trying to find its way through the night."
"Was it a ghost?"
"I don't think so," I said, listening to the whistle and watching the train travel over bridges in the distance. "Though, having seen a ghost train myself, I can't be so sure."
Luna cleared her throat. "Well. I hope to meet up with that train. I would do it now, but I have a question I wanted to ask."
"And what is that?"
Luna looked me in the eyes. "What do you think is really happening back on Sodor?"
I sighed. "They're more than likely all concerned about me. They are probably looking for me. Looking through each and every nook and cranny." I chuckled. "I just became a poet."
Luna returned the chuckle. "That you did."
"I just hope they aren't worrying so much that It's impeding their work. They still have a railway to run, after all."
Of course, I had no way of knowing how things truly were going back on Sodor. For all I knew, I had a perfect double that made it seem as if I had never left.
I really hoped something like that wasn't the case.