Steamer cautiously looked out of the window of the friendship express as it was racing along the tracks, aiming for ponyville.
While he usually didn’t have any problems with his job, it had changed as of lately.
It started with rumors of monsters appearing from the everfree forest, then it became facts as they made the frontpage of the newspapers and finally he had actually seen one of these… things.
Strange, misshapen entities that walked on two legs and had arms to long for their body, being overall bulky and out for blood.
If it hadn’t been for the guards, it could‘ve ended a lot worse with these… what where they called again?
Oh, right. Ghouls, these monsters were named ghouls…
He took a deep breath.
“Alright, calm down Steamer. Just keep the train moving. As long as you’re moving, these things can’t get to you.“
As if on cue, one of the ghouls suddenly appeared on the traintracks, looking at the approaching train.
Instinctively Steamer reached out for the breaks, but halted.
This was a monster, not a pony. Stopping would only endanger himself and the passengers, so he had no other choice then to run over that thing.
Getting closer he saw that this type of ghoul was red-ish, instead of the usual yellow/brown he was used to.
“Never seen this variant before…“ he mumbled before the train crashed into it, sending an explosion echoing across the landscape followed by the sounds of screams and a train derailing…
…