//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2-There is a Season (Turn, Turn, Turn) 
// Story: Railway Adventure: a New Generation 
// by The Blue EM2 
//------------------------------//

Sunny galloped back into the Brighthouse and charged up the ramp, her heart pounding in her chest. "Zipp? Zipp? I gotta speak with you!"

She rounded a tight bend and narrowly avoided crashing into a bedpost before skidding to a stop near the elevator, not far from where she and four of her friends maintained their living quarters. "Zipp? You there?"

Zipp emerged from behind a wall. "Hey Sunny. Everything OK?"

Sunny held up the book. "Where did you find this?" she asked. "Who's the author? Where are they from? What are there sources?"

"One question at a time, Sunny," Zipp replied, indicating to a pair of chairs. "Wow. I guess you did give it a look after all. Curious minds always find the best things."

"I had no idea all of that was there!" Sunny replied. "Not even dad could uncover much about it! And yet all this history is here. So how did you?"

"How did you what?"

"Find this?"

"Oh. I gotcha." Zipp nodded. "Pretty simple, actually. Quite a while back, before we brought the magic back, I was digging through the Zephyr Heights archives looking for evidence that the three tribes used to live together rather than always being separate, as the history books claimed. Whilst hunting through the archives, I found this book, which had conclusive proof that the three tribes used to see each other and travel about a lot. Don't worry, that's a reprint, it's not a priceless original."

"What were you going to do with it?" Sunny asked.

"I was gonna go to mom and show it to her. Use it as proof that we once lived in harmony. But then you and Izzy arrived." Zipp paused. "We've already achieved so much, but building a lasting peace is proving to be tricky. We need something that will bring us together even more, and the huge distances between our major cities isn't helping. Maybe, just maybe, if we had a transport revolution we could become even closer than we are now!"

Pipp suddenly popped round a partition. "Well, I had a productive morning!"

"Flogging stuff?" Zipp asked. "Seriously, you probably sell more stuff than a telemarketer."

"Telemarketing is SOOOO last week," Pipp replied. "Wanna sell something, do it online. And with Canternet Towers everywhere in Equestria these days there really is no excuse. Sales of sunblock have already surged thanks to moi. But enough about that! What were you guys doing?"

Zipp looked about to ensure nopony was overhearing. "I have a proposal-"

"AWWWW!" Pipp said. "Who's the lucky stallion? Or mare, I don't care either way."

"Not that kind of proposal," Zipp replied. "I recently came across some really interesting stuff and want to present it to you guys. I suggest we meet after lunch to discuss it, as what I've found changes what we know about Equestria, potentially forever."

"OOOH! Sounds dramatic," Pipp answered. "I'll provide mood lighting and interesting music!"

"Please don't."

As the three made their way down the ramp (the Brighthouse having no stairs), Sunny looked over to Pipp. "Anything else interesting happen on this stream?"

"Totally!" Pipp beamed. "Mom called in and said she'd like to meet with us again at some point. She really wants to know how we're getting on, but I didn't have a huge amount to report. Things have been pretty quiet lately apart from some malfunctioning smoothie robots and that pie on the beach business."

"Yeah," Zipp replied. "Totally quiet." She was still convinced that something else was going on- after all, things being too quiet is just as concerning as them being too noisy- and that they had to be on their guard.

Just as they reached the bottom level, the door suddenly burst open, and Izzy charged in. "HI GUYS!" she yelled. "I FOUND SOMETHING AMAZING!"

"Can it wait a moment?" Sunny asked. "I'm just going to put some lunch on."

Izzy ignored her and went on anyway. 
"IfoundthesereallyweirdmetalthingsinthefieldforthecraftfairandIthoughtyoushouldknowastheygoinstraightlinesfornogoodreasonand-"

"Whoa," Zipp said. "Izzy, slow down. We can't understand a word you're saying."

Izzy took a deep breath, then produced a smoothie from nowhere and drank some of it. Once she was finished with drinking it, she then repeated what she had just said. "I found these really weird metal things in the field for the craft fair and I thought you should know as they go in straight lines for no good reason, and I know how much you guys like to investigate things and thought it would be perfect for an investigation!"

Pipp blinked. "That was one of the longest sentences I have ever heard."

Zipp, on the other hand, grabbed her phone. "Hey, Hitch?"

There was no reply.

Zipp looked at the device and shrugged. "Oops. Forgot to dial." She dialled the number and waited.

"Hey there Zipp! How can I help you?"

"Can you pop over to the Brighthouse after lunch? We have something really important to discuss."

"I'll ask Dahlia to keep an eye on Sparky for a bit," Hitch replied. "But I'll see you there!"





After lunch was concluded, the four residents of the Brighthouse got the projector and screen set up, ready for the presentation. "Phew!" Pipp said. "That lot is heavy."

"For you, perhaps," Zipp replied.

"Hey! Remember I'm shorter than you!"

Sunny checked the display. "Izzy? Why is the picture upside down?"

Izzy peered at the front, and then took something off. "Oh! I'd fitted one of my super silly filters for a screening of Trotting Hill."

Sunny peered at her in confusion. "Why upside down though?"

"There is an old Bridlewood tradition that if you intend to screen a film, you must first run the entire film with a filter that causes it to project upside down. That way the true screening is lucky."

"I wasn't familiar with that one," Sunny replied. "Interesting. Watching a movie the wrong way up must be a strange experience, though."

"You get used to it. Ponies walking around on the ceiling is pretty funny, though!"

Just then, Hitch arrived. "Hello everyone!" he said. "What's this meeting about?"

Sunny gestured for him to take a seat alongside Pipp and Izzy. "We found something pretty big. Something that may change all of our lives."

Hitch rolled his eyes. "Sunny, we already have a community garden. We don't need another."

"Even bigger than that! Take it away, Zipp!"

Zipp cleared her throat, and stepped forward. "First slide."

The slide came up- followed by dramatic music. "Pipp! I said no music!"

"Urrrrrrrgh, FINE."

Zipp then continued. "I've made a pretty big discovery. Back in the older times, in the brief time between Imperial Equestria and the beginning of Isolation, our three countries were connected by rail."

"That doesn't seem very helpful," Izzy said. "What use would putting some rails down do?"

"Rails that trains ran on," Zipp explained, though she suspected Izzy was just being facetious. And these trains carried goods and ponies between the three areas, which was not just useful for unity but good for business. Much of this railroad has fallen into disuse or completely pulled up, but I suggest we rebuild it. I know we've reunified, but there's still some distrust out there. Would could be even more united if our three countries were quite literally joined together by steel rails."

"I dunno," Hitch said. "Do remember how far apart our cities and nations are. We're looking potentially at thousands of miles of track- as the dragon flies. And I know little about trains, but I suspect they can't go up vertical slopes, which may make connecting Zephyr Heights a problem."

"Luckily, a third of the Trans Equestrian Railroad, as it was called, still exists. The bit within Pegasus territory became the basis of their rapid transit and freight system, and was even electrified."

"That means run with electric trains," Sunny helpfully clarified.

Izzy hummed. "So THAT'S what those rails were about!"

"What rails?" Hitch asked.

Izzy took a deep breath. "I found these really weird metal things in the field for the craft fair and I thought you should know as they go in straight lines for no good reason. But based on what you said they might be rails. Perhaps they were somehow connected to this Trans Equestria thingy you mentioned, possibly even used to store trains?"

"A martialling yard," Zipp said. "If my thinking is right, you may have found the old Maretime Bay martialling yard. Let's go and take a look!"

"Not yet," Hitch said. "I need to clear my workload at the station and put Sparky to bed. He's been so active since he went missing for a bit."

"And we cannot go out and do strenous activity right now!" Pipp said.

"Why?" Sunny asked.

"I can think of better things to get than sunstroke and sunburn!" Pipp said, looking at the window. "And sunglasses make it hard to read my phone screen."

"This evening, then?" Sunny suggested.

This, at least, they agreed on. And that, it seemed, was that.