It was a cold and rainy night on the Mid Sodor Railway. Owls hooted, wolves howled, and the chuffing of a steam engine filled the air as a train thundered by.
The little tank engine was painted bright yellow with red lining. Its four small front driving wheels spun as fast as they could while the rear two wheels worked to provide stability. Behind the engine was a line of flatcars, each piled with heavy logs.
The engine, whose name was Proteus, panted as he tried desperately to make up for lost time. He raced around bends, rattled through tunnels, and thundered down hills.
“Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!” exclaimed Proteus.
“We’re doing that!” his driver and fireman yelled back, the latter shoveling coal as quick as he could.
The rails creaked and groaned, having not been designed for the speeds Proteus was achieving. The engine didn’t care. He was late and had to triple-time it to get to his destination on time.
The track dipped down, growing steeper and steeper, allowing Proteus to go faster and faster. Unfortunately, the weather changed for the worse, almost in sync with his speed. Rain buffeted his boiler and smokebox, and his wheels began to slip and skid.
“After this tunnel is the bridge, and after that is the straight line,” said Proteus, not caring about the quickly worsening visibility. “I can run faster!”
What Proteus and his crew could not have known was that the viaduct had partially collapsed, rendering it completely unusable, especially at speed. The tunnel walls, thick rainfall, and soaked rails did nothing but seal their fate.
KSSHHHHHHH-
FOOOOOO-!
CRASH!!
“And every year on the date of the accident, the train runs again as a warning to others, plunging into the gap, shrieking like a lost soul!”
The workponies at the platform sat in wonder for several seconds before one started slowly clapping. Then another started clapping, then more, and the rate increased until everypony was clapping. It took several seconds for it to die down.
"How long ago did THIS happen?” A worker asked.
"A very long time ago," I replied.
"Wow..."
"Ahem. Alright, enough storytime. We still have a railway to run."
“So,” Eric began as the workers filed out. “Are you ever going to tell them that the story isn’t real?”
“Of course not,” I chuckled.
At that moment, a stallion holding a shovel caught my eye. He had a lime green coat of fur, a teal mane and tail, red eyes, and a slightly stout build. His “Cutie Mark” - as I had learned was the term for the strange markings I saw on everypony’s flanks - was that of a “brimstone” shovel.
I chuckled. “Hey Eric, think that chap with the shovel is our fireman?”
“I think he is,” Eric replied. “I’ll go greet him.”
My driver trotted over to the stallion, who swallowed as he mustered up some courage.
“Afternoon mate,” Eric greeted. “I take it you’re Brimstone?”
“Uh- Yeah! That’s me!” Brimstone replied with a smile.
“Feeling nervous?”
“A bit. I just-” He glanced at me. “can’t believe I’ll be firing Edward. I thought for sure I’d be firing that other black engine I’ve been seeing around.”
Eric chuckled. “Just because Edward is the first and only non-faceless vehicle in Equestria doesn’t mean he’s some puffed up celebrity. Nothing to be afraid about.”
“I guess you’re right.”
“Anyway. Let’s get back over there. The train is almost ready.”
I greeted the two with a smile as they neared me.
“Hello there. Brimstone Shovel, right?” I asked.
“That’s me!”
“Pleasure to meet you. I’m Edward.”
“It’d be a crime if I didn’t know who you were.”
I chuckled. “Of course it would be. Now I would love to stay here and chat, but we have a train to deliver.”
“Right. Come on then,” Eric said as he climbed into my cab. Brimstone followed suit.
“Where are we off to?” he asked.
“A supply run to the Crystal Empire,” I replied.
“The… The Crystal Empire?”
“Yes. Have you never been there?”
“No. I haven’t.”
“Well, on this train, you’ll get to explore just about every city and town Equestria has. So I’d look forward to that.”
The train of BR Standard Vans and Brakevan was ready in short order, and we departed for the Crystal Empire.
“So,” Eric began as Brimstone began shoveling coal. “How long have you been working on the railway?”
“This is my first day, actually,” Brimstone replied.
Eric stared at Brimstone like he just screamed bloody murder. I would have done the same if I had the ability.
“What do you mean It’s your first day? How can you be a fireman if you’ve only been working for a day?”
“I worked as a stoker for five years up in Canterlot. A lot of the buildings up there use boilers for heating.”
“Ahh. I see.”
“Hungry bastards, those boilers were. And I actually got paid extra depending on how much coal I didn’t use, so I had to learn to be efficient.”
“So what made you join the railway?” I asked.
“Well, I decided to quit that job about a week ago and move to Ponyville. Then I saw you on the excursion and decided to sign up. Just to see what happened.”
“And they gave you the job of being a firemare? Just like that?”
“They saw my experience in firing a boiler so yeah.”
“Interesting. The railways back home wouldn’t do such a thing.”
“To that, I say: Welcome to Equestria,” Brimstone chuckled.
The trip to the Empire was uneventful. We stopped to fill up with water twice, stopped once for coal, and then we were there. We spent another hour there to help with properly constructing new sidings and a new maintenance shed.
Of course, with a brand new shed being constructed and the sun beginning to set, I simply could not pass up the opportunity to sleep in a brand-new shed. They always had a very good smell to them.
This proved to be a surprisingly good decision, as I would meet quite the interesting character that night.
I woke up to the feeling of someone climbing into my cab. Though on other nights I would have immediately called them out, I decided to stay silent, curious as to what they would do.
For a few minutes, the pony in my cab simply sat there, mesmerized by my pipes, gauges, levers, and valves. After a few minutes, it began to fiddle with my controls. A feeling I could compare to that of someone moving any of your limbs.
Throttle, blower valve, damper, water injector, you name it. The pony messed with everything for minutes on end. He even sat on the driver’s seat and leaned out the window, making chuffing noises and whistling whenever he pulled my whistle cord. He giggled, which only made me smile.
From his voice, the pony sounded young, but not too young. Perhaps his late teens. Just old enough to work on the railway.
I fought the urge to chuckle. Whoever this was, they really wanted to drive an engine. I adored people like this. The innocent people that wanted to do nothing but work on the railway. No matter their age.
After a few minutes of the pony poking and prodding at my controls, he hopped out of my cab and climbed onto my splashers, staring at my valve gear that rested under the boiler.
“Having fun?” I asked, bringing a squeak out of the startled pony. I chuckled. “Don’t worry. I’m not mad. We can talk.”
The pony tried to start a sentence. He failed, then tried to start another. He failed that as well. After failing a third time, he sighed and slowly walked into my view.
Almost immediately, I realized that I wasn’t staring at a regular pony.
He wasn’t a neon toy-like bright blue or green with red stripes like most ponies. He was all black with a little pop of blue on his ‘wings’ and eyes. Admittedly, I quite liked this ‘restrained design’.
Most surprising was the many holes in his legs. Each was an almost clean cut right the way through. Almost like they were meant to be there.
I gasped as I saw the creature’s frightened expression.
“S-Sorry! I don’t mean to stare,” I quickly apologized. “I’ve just never seen a pony like you.”
The creature opened his mouth to speak, but shut it and sat there in silence.
“Is… something wrong?” I asked.
The creature swallowed hard, mustering his courage. “N-No,” he finally said. “Nothing’s wrong. Er-... Yeah.”
“You don’t have to be scared. I’m not gonna hurt you.”
“...”
“Can I know your name, please?”
“Uh- Um-... Ahem. I’m uh… I’m Thorax.”
“Thorax? That’s… Actually quite fitting.”
“W-What? Wha-do-you mean?”
“Sorry if this is offensive, but you look like a bug. If memory serves, Thorax is a body part of a bug, so you looking like one makes your name quite fitting.”
Thorax’s ears perked up slightly. “I… guess. And uh- That is a little… offensive.”
“Then I’ll be sure to not use the term around creatures like you. Speaking of, what exactly are you?”
“I’m… a changeling,” Thorax slowly replied. His ears lifted a bit. “H-Have you never heard of a changeling?”
“I’ve heard the term somewhere from some old folklore but other than that, I can’t say I have.”
Thorax suddenly perked up. “This… Well uhh… Hi!”
“H-Hello?” I laughed. “Oh! I’m sorry, I never mentioned my name. I’m Edward.”
“Yeah. I uh… heard. I was on the… excursion.”
“You were? Huh. I swear I would remember a fellow like you.”
“You wouldn’t have seen… me. You would have seen my disguise.”
“...Your disguise?”
Thorax explained to me what a changeling was. To put it simply, they were bug-like creatures that had the ability to change into nearly any form. Mostly creatures such as ponies and griffons, but they could become various inanimate objects. Even a small engine.
That was not their only unique function, however.
The way they… “Ate” was by consuming love. Actual physical love. Changelings could eat normal food, of course, but doing so would only barely sustain them. How they ate love was by sucking it out of ponies like a literal parasite.
I physically cringed when told that. Thorax, seeing this, quickly said that this was typically a last resort process. They mainly fed off of ambient love and love directly given to them. This certainly lightened the mood.
Yes, he did offer to share his limited knowledge on changeling reproduction, but I passed. I’ve never been interested in reproduction of any kind.
Anyway, after explaining how changelings worked, Thorax stared at the ground for a few seconds. I asked him if anything was wrong, to which he timidly replied with:
“Could you tell me a story?”
I smiled. “Of course I can! Would you like to hear anything in particular?”
Thorax perked up. “Something of uh… Oh how do I put this… Winning against the odds? I think?”
My smile broadened. “Thorax… I know exactly which one you will love.”
And this was the story I told.
Crash!
It was a dark and stormy evening on the main line. Wind and rain buffeted my boiler. My sanding gear had failed, my wheels slipped, and my fireman rode in front, dropping sand on the rails by hand.
Dragging behind me was a rake of seven long coaches, each fit to burst with railway enthusiasts. They watched anxiously out the windows, praying we made it home safely.
"Come on!.. Come On!... Come on!" I panted, breathlessly. "This is dreadful!"
But there was worse to come. The rain and thunder only got worse and my grip on the rails decreased. Worse still, I began climbing an incline.
Suddenly, my wheels began to slip fiercely again and again. Before I could do anything, there was a snap! instantly followed by a horrendous CRASH!
Pain ripped through my body as we grinded to a halt. The passengers gathered around while my crew inspected the damage.
To say it was grim would be an understatement. My siderods had sheered off and launched into my frame and splashers, battering them up and out of shape. Repairs took some time.
"One of your crankpins broke, Edward," said my driver at last. "We've taken your siderods off. Now you're a single. Like an old-fashioned engine." He cleared his throat. "Can you get these people home? They must start back tonight."
"I'll get them home or go down fighting," I promised.
"Atta boy!"
We backed down to where the track was nearly level. I puffed and pulled my hardest, but my wheels kept slipping and I just could not start the heavy train.
The passengers were getting anxious.
My driver, fireman and guard went along the train, making adjustments between the coaches. "We've loosened the couplings," they said. "Now you can pick your coaches up one by one. Just as you do with trucks.
"That'll be much easier," I gratefully replied.
So, with the fireman sanding in front, I gently began letting steam into my cylinders..
"Cooome... oooon!" I puffed.
I moved cautiously forward, ready to take the strain as my tender coupling tightened against the weight of the first coach. The first coach moving helped to start the second, which helped to start the third, and so on down the train.
I let out a breath I had been holding. "Right. Now that that hurdle is over with, It's time to tackle the hill."
"Steady..." my driver warned as the track grew steeper. "Well done, old boy!"
We all listened happily to my steady beat as we forged slowly but surely up the hill. The passengers were thrilled, most having their heads out of the windows. They waved and shouted, cheering me on as we puffed around a bend.
At Knapford Station, Sir Topham Hatt paced the platform. Henry, with a special train, waited anxiously too. Soon, they heard a familiar PEEP! PEEP!
Battered, weary, but unbeaten, I steamed in. Henry, having been on the side where my battered frame was visible, was utterly gobsmacked at the state I was in. The fat controller, having not been on that side, stepped forward and angrily pointed at the clock. But before he could say anything, excited passengers swept him aside. They cheered myself, my fireman, and my driver to the echo before rushing off and getting in Henry's train. I could tell Henry wanted to talk, but being late enough as he was, he puffed off with a little extra fanfare.
"Edward, would you mind explaining why you are so late?" Sir Topham asked.
I only chuckled in reply.
“Never give up, I always say. No matter the odds, no matter the threat. Never. Give. Up.”
Thorax squeed like a colt, happily prancing back and forth. I only chuckled.
“Hey, uh… Could we head outside?” he suddenly asked.
“Outside?” I asked back.
“I mean, since you can drive yourself, could we head out onto the uh… tracks? I really love riding trains.”
“Heh. Sorry, but I can’t do that without proper clearance. Not when there’s a chance of running into another train.”
“No No No there’s an old line I know! We could go down there?”
That certainly grabbed my attention.
“An old line? Where?”
“Uh… A few miles from here? I think?”
I looked up at the clock. Eric and Brimstone wouldn’t be awake for hours.
I could run crewless. It was only a few miles before getting on whatever old line Thorax was talking about. It wasn’t that unsafe. Especially since there were very, very few trains I could accidentally run into.
And considering the fact that I was heading down the tracks with Thorax in my cab not ten minutes later, you can probably guess what I decided to do.
Soon, Thorax directed me over a track switch that I swear was never there before, after which we then traveled for miles down this mystery line. It was very cold and overgrown. So overgrown, in fact, that I could hardly see the rails sometimes.
This entire time, I allowed Thorax to shovel coal and operate my water filter like how a real fireman works. And he hated it. He, like many others, never realized how hard it was to actually fire a steam engine. It was hot, it was tiring, and there was a level of finesse one had to have in order to fire it properly. But he did the best he could.
While he shoveled, I looked around at the surrounding forest. There were very few places like this line on Sodor, mostly due to the lines being properly tended to, but this overgrown look was different. The fact I couldn’t see very far into the forest was something I actually liked. It felt cozy, if a bit unsettling.
“So, Thorax. Why not tell me about yourself?” I asked.
“Like… Like what?” he asked back.
“Whatever you would like. Your parents, where you’re from, all that.”
“Oh. Well um… I have an older brother. Named Pharynx.”
“Really now? Where is he?”
He’s back at the hive. He… runs security there…”
“Is something wrong?”
“N-... Yeah… Sorry, I just don’t like talking about him. He terrifies me...”
“...Is it because he's the head of security?”
“Well, kind of. It’s mainly because of what he’s done to me…”
I sighed. “He’s your big brother. What has he done to you?”
“Well… he uh…”
I’m not going to go into what he told me, but I will say that the things Pharynx did to Thorax were extremely vulgar.
Despite this, I listened to Thorax. I was grossed out, yes, but I could tell he had never had anyone to talk to. No parents, no real friends, no one. So I listened. I let him get all his thoughts out and gave my two cents on the few things I felt needed it. I listened to his grievances, his annoyances, and his anger. Especially his anger.
After he was finished with a particularly heated rant, I found myself discussing things further with Thorax. And my word, he needed it. The happiness he felt was “nothing like he had ever felt before”. His overall mood improved, he was less shy, and was overall in a much better place, mentally.
This began my thoughts about becoming something of a therapist.
CLICKACK-CLICKACK
Minutes later, I nearly jumped off the tracks as we suddenly passed over a track switch. I quickly glanced over at where the other track went only to see that it simply ended after passing through another switch.
“A Y-Track?” I asked. “Why would a Y Track be in place if it wasn’t for a-”
I gasped, slowing to a stop as I passed over yet another switch.
The overgrowth had opened up slightly, revealing a second track that led into a set of buffers. There was also a very old two-story station. It had beautiful red paint with white accents and a steeply pitched black roof. It was beautiful. Certainly much different than anything back on Sodor.
Almost heartbreakingly, the station had succumbed to nature a very long time ago. Its paint was peeling, its metal supports had rusted, its windows had cracked…
…and the clock that had told so many people when the next train was due had stopped at exactly 8:38AM. Just below it was a hanging sign with the word BENNETT in bold black letters.
But the thing that fascinated me the most was sitting at the platform. It had nine long Tuscan-red passenger cars, one of which being a baggage car and another being a rear deck observation car.
At the very front was a big semi-streamlined 4-6-4 steam locomotive in black and silver paint. It had big Tuscan-red stripes on its sides with the golden number 2850 smack in the middle. On its front sat two plaques.
BRITISH COLUMBIA
CANADA
I grinned as I read the words CANADIAN PACIFIC plastered on the sides of its rusted red tender.
“Oh my god it's a Royal Hudson.”
“It’s a what?” Thorax asked.
“A Royal Hudson!” I exclaimed. “From the Canadian Pacific Railroad! And not just any Royal Hudson, but the very Hudson that pulled the Royal Train for King George and Queen Elizabeth back in 1939!”
“Wha- I- Uh-... This train pulled royalty?” Thorax asked.
“With a striking blue paintjob to boot. I’ve seen pictures of it.”
“Well…” Thorax jumped out of my cab and walked to the Royal Hudson. “Wow… I never knew I was playing with the Royal Train…”
I chuckled. “Not the Royal Train. But it was the Royal Train of Canada.”
“Still…” Thorax turned to look at me. “So… Are we going to take the train back or something?”
I opened my mouth to say no, but stopped myself to think about it.
While I had to pull Norfolk and Western out of a mine, pulling this train would be far easier since the line was a series of uphill and downhill grades. I could easily maintain speed on such grades.
After about a minute of thinking, I sighed. “If the brakes on the train aren’t on, we can bring it back.”
After turning around on the Y Track, Thorax did his best to fasten my coupling to the Hudson, and I gave a firm tug on the train. As much as I loved to say I dragged the train out of there, I can’t. No matter how hard I tried, I could not move a wheel.
“Welp, that does it. Sorry Thorax. Its brakes are stuck on. We’re going to need help to move this.”
Thorax crossed his forelegs in a pout. I only smiled.
“Come on. We can head back and wait until morning to fetch a bigger engine. Or at least one with an air compressor.”
After uncoupling me, Thorax jumped back into my cab and we traveled down the line and back to the Crystal Empire. As we approached the station, Thorax asked me something. Something very important.
“Hey. Uh, Edward? Can I work with you? As… a conductor?”
“That depends,” I chuckled. “How old are you?”
“Uh… Seventeen…”
“Hmm… A bit young, but you may be able to sign up. I’ll talk with the-”
“Edward, what are you doing?” a new voice called out, causing me to look ahead.
We had been approaching the Crystal station. On its single platform was none other than Cadance, whom I smiled at.
“Ah. Good morning, Cadance,” I greeted as I slowed to a stop. “What are you doing up at this hour?”
“I could ask the same question,” she retorted. “I woke up on accident, realized I needed something to eat, and decided to come out here when I heard your whistle. Now, where were you and who were you just talking to? It couldn’t have been our crew.”
“A chap named Thorax got in my cab earlier and woke me up by accident. We talked for a bit before he told me about an old line he found. We traveled down it, found a train, and came back here because I certainly couldn’t move it.”
“Oh! You found a train?”
“A Royal train.”
“EEE! You’re gonna have to show me! But uhh…” She leaned over to get a look at my cab. “Where’s Thorax?”
“Right in my cab. Thorax, what are you doing?”
I knew he wasn’t gone. I could feel him shuffling around my cab.
Suddenly, I had a thought.
“Cadance…” I slowly began, training my eyes on the princess. “Do you know what a… what a changeling is?”
Cadance suddenly grew livid. “Don’t you DARE mention those-... those PARASITES around me! They are-”
“SHUT IT!” I snapped, surprising her.
I was not having any of this.
“What is it with you and changelings?”
“They crashed my wedding and tried to enslave all of Equestria!”
“...I beg your pardon?”
Simply put, the changelings had invaded Equestria three years prior to this occasion. Their queen, Queen Chrysalis, had foalnapped Cadance and impersonated as her. The queen had mind controlled her husband, took Celestia and the Mane Six hostage, a very nearly won had it not been for the literal power of love.
Interestingly enough, Luna had been nowhere to be seen.
Annoyingly enough, Twilight Sparkle had been the only pony to suspect the fake Cadance. Which…
UGH!
I just about broke my safety valve with sheer anger alone. The thought that Twilight, who had generally known Cadance the longest since she was literally foalsat by her, was completely dismissed in her suspicions was just so unbelievably ridiculous. Especially by her friends, who hadn’t even known about Cadance until just hours prior.
Even Luna, when I talked to her about it, hated everypony involved in that situation whenever she thought about it.
And even to this day I still get angry! Just as you can see right now! It’s just so BLOODY STUPID! It doesn’t make a lick of sense!
Okay… Deep breaths… Sorry, I just… ugh.
Ahem. Anyway.
After she relayed to me that info, I cautiously decided to start asking her a question.
“What if,” I began, doing my best to conceal my lividness. “You met a nice changeling?”
Cadance scoffed. “There is no such thing as a nice changeling.”
“What if there was? What would you do?”
“It’d better explain pretty fast that It’s nice because it would either be going straight to the dungeons or straight to the pits of tartarus.”
I groaned. “Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. This is no way for a princess to act. Calm down and answer me professionally.”
“...”
“Now.” I took in a breath. “Princess, I would like you to meet Thorax. He woke me up earlier and led me down an abandoned line where he showed me a very special train. Had he not done so, I would have never known about it.”
Cadance leaned over to try and get a look in my cab.
“Could you please sit down?” I asked, causing her to reluctantly do so. “Anyway. Thorax? Would you mind coming out now? Cadance won’t attack you. I promise.”
Cadance stared at my cab as, very slowly, Thorax leaned out to stare back at her. A little gasp was shared between the two before Thorax very slowly stepped out of my cab.
“Uh… A changeling?” she asked, glancing at me.
“Cadance, meet Thorax. Thorax, meet Cadance.”
The two stared at each other for a moment before Thorax decided to start moving forward. Cadance held her ground, never breaking her gobsmacked eye contact with him.
Then, to both myself and her surprise, Thorax sat down in front of Cadance, ears flat on his head.
“H-Hi…” Thorax greeted.
“H-Hello…” Cadance greeted back. “So… You… You really are a nice changeling?”
“Y-Yeah… I am… I want to be loved by ponies. I want to be with ponies. I want… I want to work as a conductor on a pony railroad. I just want…” He took in a breath.
“I don’t want to be with my hive…”
A rather dumb grin appeared on my face as Cadance reached out at the changeling with a hoof, holding it in front of him. She then used her magic to take off her golden hoof shoe.
Thorax slowly outstretched his own hole-filled hoof. After a brief second of hesitation, he touched her hoof.
Cadance smiled and, surprising both myself and Thorax, pulled the changeling into a deep hug, wrapping her wings around his smaller body. It took everything in me to remain silent, especially after Thorax simply melted into the princess. As he did so, I watched his wings seemingly become less transparent and shinier.
The hug lasted for a long time The Princess of Love hugging a creature that fed on love. A creature many thought to be fierce, uncaring, and emotionless, currently crying into Cadance’s soft fur…
Hehe, I just made this sound like somepony’s fantasy story.
Anyway. After that moment, Cadance looked up at me and smiled. I smiled back and then, taking it as an “I’ll take it from here”, I took my leave.
Over the next few days, word got around about me “connecting ponies and changelings”. Both Eric and Brimstone did grow annoyed that I didn’t take them on the little adventure to find the Royal Hudson, but understood that there likely wouldn’t have been any way for me to contact them.
Speaking of the Royal Hudson, it was dragged out of the line by me and stored in the newly built sheds and sidings, awaiting repairs. When the train was finally repaired and repainted with the same silver and blue paint scheme it once had, it ran express services throughout the Crystal Mountains under the private ownership of Princess Cadance, who loved to use it extensively when she traveled.
Thorax, after some training, became the guard of any and all trains I pulled. It was a real treat when ponies that were eager to ride my passenger trains ran out screaming when they saw him. In time, ponies would grow used to him.
Despite his lack of experience as a conductor, he was courteous and generally nice to chat with, though he did suffer from a severe lack of self esteem, forcing either Eric or Brimstone to enter the coaches themselves to deal with the especially rude passengers.
Thorax would prove to be an extremely valuable asset a few weeks later when a certain incident occurred. The incident I alluded to earlier.
One that would put the fate of Equestria in the wheels and hooves of myself , Eric, Brimstone, and Thorax.