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// Banshee on the Tracks - Part 1 
// Story: Short Dead Ponies 
// by Toyloli 
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Summary - Inspired by ‘The SignalMan’ by Charles Dickens. This is the first story in a series of ghosts stories. It continues on from and explains  the events of the previous chapter, which had been written for a Halloween contest.
These stories will not necessarily continue on from each other, but will be in the same continuity.

This is a two parter.

Banshee on the Tracks Part 1

It had been three weeks, three days and three hours since Rarity had injured Twilight in their fight. The scene had been horrendous and Twilight was lucky to be alive, she was not however unscathed.

She limped through the carriages of the Train from Canterlot Station with a Surly look plastered on her face. Part of Twilight had always wondered about Rarity’s sanity, as she had a couple of her friends in the past, but Rarity had taken the cake, thrown it off the deep end then jumped into the pool of insanity after it.

Taking a seat on one of the benches she took out the letter Pinkie Pie had written and tried to finish reading it by the scant moonlight coming in the carriage window. She rocked as the train car rocked, and at least that was soothing.

So yeah!  - it read.
In the end we did find Fluttershy and we think we finally understood what happened. It was SweatieBelle the poor girl who found Fluttershy! Rarity had locked her in a cupboard and sealed it with some potent protection spell! Took all of poor Sweatie’s magic to pop it open! I swear - you have never smelled a smell like that smell.

The nearest we can figure is that Rarity killed that rabbit by accident - not realising until after she clobbered it that it was one of Fluttershy’s animal friends! After that the guilt and fear that Fluttershy would hate her drove Rarity mad.

Not that I totally blame her. I’ve seen Flutters when she’s angry and I would fear for my existence too if that happened!

Twilight rubbed her head with her hoof, the light was pretty bad and, on reflex, she attempted to cast a light spell to see by. Magic spluttered from her horn in a week attempt to respond before fizzling out like wet party sparkles.

“Arg...” she groaned, “Now I have a headache... I keep forgetting!” Twilight stuffed the letter back in her rucksack with contempt. “How could that stone headed cloth maker actually push me so bad my magic stops working!” she demanded.
The empty train car responded to her with quiet creaking and thoughtful clack clack clack of train wheels on the rumbling track.

Flopping onto her back twilight lay on the bench with her eyes closed. Her leg twitched.
“I have to make a note to tell Spike to write a thankyou card for Dash.” Twilight thought out loud. “If she hadn’t carried me all the way to Canterlot and demanded the best Healers I probably would have lost more than my magic!”
Mulling this thought over in her head she corrected something, “I should probably write the card myself. Or maybe I should thank her more personally. Lunch somewhere!”
The train clattered beneath her in counterpoint adding it’s ponderous thoughts to Twilights.

And then the noise came.

“Wwwwwaaaaaaaaaeeeeeeeeeeeiiiiiiiiiooooooooooooorrrrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaa!”

As the noise got louder and louder Twilight sat bolt upright covering her ears and screamed, her own noise barely audible over the wail of the passing sound.
Light, bright light flared ahead of the train and eyes wide Twilight was off her seat, head by the window as a shining yellow light bore down upon her position in the train at high speed!
The Carriage Thudded and rocked as the light blew right past her, rocking the train and making Twilight’s ears pop.
Diving for cover the magicless unicorn buried her head under one of the benches only to have the seat get ripped away from her and thrown against the wall of the traincar.

“eeeeeeeeettttyooooooouuuuu!” The sound faded as the light went away and, tenderly but cautiously Twilight removed her hooves from her ears to look around.

“Oh - We’ve stopped!” she observed, and very carefully, trying to ignore her shaking legs, got to her hooves. It was about this time she realized she was standing on the roof of the cabin.

“Wait, did I become a Pegasus?” She asked looking around. A quick check out the window confirmed that the train car was the item upside-down and an even quicker check confirmed that she was indeed still a unicorn, still in possession of all her legs and still devoid of magic.
“Damn!” she sighed, “I always wanted to fly, oh well. I wonder if anyone else survived!”

Twilight stumbled her way out of the train car awkwardly, cursing as she climbed over the window and skidded down the gravel slope where it had landed.
The landscape around the train tracks was a mess. Trees that had lined either side of the track were blown over, dust and sand strewn everywhere and the carriages of the train jumbled on the ground as though blown apart by a twister. The wood creaked as it settled. Fortunately, it had mostly been carrying freight.

Aching from the injury that had caused her limp, Twilight sat for a moment to catch her breath then made her way to the other train-cars one at a time. They had been strewn across the countryside as though a child had  thrown them during a tantrum and the freight cars has spilled their contents all over the ground. She was relieved to see a couple of Unicorns and Pegasus helping to gather the strewn freight.

Finding the closest passenger car Twilight kicked the wood and called out.
"Hello? Is everyone still alive in there?"
"Moderately speaking, yes."
Moving a piece of wooden panel with her head, Twilight looked underneath it and into the cabin. Making out figures inside she let the panel drop.
"Thank goodness for Applejacks training during Bucking season." She voiced, then turned her flank towards the wood and kicked it down.

Once the debri cleared she tried again, calling out as she entered.
"Hello? Who's this?"
A rather thin earth pony emerged from the gloom and Twilight looked him over carefully. "How well can you walk?" She enquired thoughtfully.
"About as ell as you can talk!" was the sardonic response, the brown skinned country pony with a broad northern accent, he grimaced as he attempted to hobble out. Seeing the problem Twilight walked over right away and tried to support him.

"That bit of wood in the side is going to be nasty to get out!" She said, helping him to hobble from the traincar.
"Yeah, Don't suppose you could use your unicorn magic to fix that for me could ya?"
Frowning, twilight shook her head. "Sorry. My magic got all tapped out recently. I just come out of hospital myself!"
"Be darn right. Hope we find a healer amongst the train crew!"
"I'm Twilight Sparkle" Twilight informed him.
"Buddy. Buddy Rockwell."

Twilight frowned, with a family name like Rockwall she could guess what the country pony did, but there were more important issues than a person's job or family line.
As soon as they got outside the traincar Twilight sighed with relief. A Pegusas wearing a workman's hat was fluttering there above the carriage.
"Hey!" Twilight called out. "Injured here!"
The Pegasus looked down then nodded. "I see you!" he called back, and darted off in the direction of the engine.

He returned a moment later with two unicorn in tow, one of whom was clearly wearing an engineer schmock and hat. Twilight breathed a sigh of relief and helped Buddy to sit.
Finding a rock to sit on, Twilight allowed the other Unicorn to look her over before he started work on trying to heal Buddy. Twilight addressed her questions to the engineer.

"Twilight!" she introduced, "I'd help but my magic is tapped. What condition is the injured in, and how many injured are there?"
The Engineer - slash - driver looked at Twilight incredulously.
"I know what you're thinking, you're the one in charge here. But I've learned about this stuff from professionals -" she stated, ommiting that she had only read about it not, "And I'm on business from the Princess!" she also lied. Returning to her home in Ponyville to help clean up the mess Rarity had made wasn't so much the Princess' business but it was important. Plus some problems had to be considered regarding the death of Fluttershy. Everyone would likely be grieving, but with Fluttershy's death the Elements of Harmony were broken. Although Twilight suspected she had a solution to that. Maybe.

"Ow Ow Ow Ow Ow!" Twilight looked to Buddy, the pale unicorn treating him wasn't being gentle. With some effort the wood had been removed from his side and her magic was stopping the bleeding but the mare clearly was not a nurse.
"Will you Stop!" Buddy complained, he kept looking around nervously. Twilight focused on the problem at hand.

"Well, Her Highness' business and all is good but the engine is shot! It's only a 7070 StringShot Sureboiler so even though it's easy to patch up it weren't never designed to be turned on it's side! We have no water and the coal is spread right accross the landscape!" he grumbled.
Twilights forehead wrinkled, "So we need water and something to burn? Is there enough unicorn power to get everything upright again?"
"Oh I wish!" the Engineer frowned. "Come with me!"

"Will you stop twisting and turning!" The unicorn behind them complained as Twilight followed the engineer.
"I'm Sorry!" Buddy replied. "I feel like, somebody's watching me..."

"Trotting along the lineup of carriages towards the front of the Train Twilight started to see the problem. Although it took her three tries.
"Where are the tracks?" She said eventually.
"That - my royal friend, is the problem!" the Unicorn nodded ahead, "That stick with the coloured disc on it up there. That's a signal! It indicated which way the track is going!"
"But!" Twilight hesitated, "I thought this was a straight piece of track!"
"It's supposed to be!" The Engineer responded, "Once upon a time there was a branch here, one part went out across the valley towards White Tail Woods!" He indicated with his horn, using magic to light up the area. "But now the valley is flooded and a river!" He indicated in the other direction. "So they removed it and put a pass through the mountains after PonyVille!"

Twilight nodded, "And the switch it still here, I think I see where this is going. Somebody changed the switch and we jumped the tracks!"
"And went over half a mile of uneven ground! The wheels on the carriages are shot to hell!"
"So it wasn't actually that light that blew past us that knocked the train over?" Twilight enquired, examining the switching mechanism.
She looked up to stare at the engineer when he didn't respond. The Confused expression on the engineers face very quickly infected Twilight's face.

"You did see a white light, blared right past us just before we crashed!"
The Engineer shook his head.
"Well that Aint right!"
Busy examining the switch, Twilight only noticed the Engineer had left by his absence some moments later, so carefully (and now in relative darkness) she began to pick her way back towards the others.

Rockwell seemed to be mostly patched up when Twilight returned, and a number of the other Ponies and Pegasus were starting to mill around again. Oddly the engineer was nowhere in sight.
"Guess he has stuff to do!" Twilight mumbled to herself. The survivors of the crash were milling around like lost sheep.
"Oh how I wish Applejack were here!" she commented, then took two deep breaths, and two steps forwards.

"Everyone Listen Up!"

All hooves turned towards Twilight, and for a moment she felt that familiar hesitation. That nervousness as a group of strange ponies looked at her. But as always, she had to push past it.

"Hi, you don't know me but I'm Twilight Sparkle. Like you I'm a survivor of this crash - and like you I have lots of stuff I need to do so obviously we can't sit around here waiting for a rescue!" She walked as she talked, "We have a lot to do. I noticed earlier some of you trying to recover the freight and possessions from the train. While I commend you on that, there are more important things at hand. This train is at current not going anywhere!"
Most of the Ponies looked at each other nervously. Only Buddy continued to look Directly at Twilight.

"We need to organise ourselves! What healers do we have?"
Three or four Unicorns rose a hoof and Twilight acknowledged them with nods. "Good!" She replied, thinking on her feet, "Get anyone who's injured so they can work. Don't bother about full healings right now - the night is going to get cold first and we're going to need warmth and shelter. Which brings us to the next point!"
She looked at the carriages, then she looked at the engine.

"Help likely won't be coming for a couple of days. We need to work to getting this train working again, with at least one or two usable Traincars! I need Unicorns to survey them, find at least two can can be easily repaired. We also need to get wood, which can be the job of the Earth Ponies and water! So if any Pegusus -" She hesitated.
There were only four Pegasus amongst the 20-odd ponies gathered.
"Perhaps one of them should try to make it to PonyVille?" Buddy interrupted.

Twilight thought, shaking out her mane.
"Yes. One of you to ponyville, the others find anything that can hold water and fill it from the River. Even if help arrives we'll stlll need a working train  to get everyone home!"
"Alright Earth Ponies!" Buddy called out, "With me! I'll organize you. My goodness there are a lot of you!" Twilight nodded to herself as the groups got to their tasks. That happened the only way it could have happened.
"Come with me, work to do - I - "Buddy began to sing a rallying song but broke into a coughing fit.
"He really does have a nice voice!" Twilight decided, then went ahead to look at the Locomotive.

Despite not finding the engineer, Twilight very quickly was able to confirm the destruction to the trains wheels. Buckled and bent out of shape they looked like ripple whirl strawberry swirls with flat dented in waves from impacts with rocks and barren ground.
She looked at it frowning. "We're going to need a forge." she said, "There's no way that can be fixed with magic alone."

Twilight sighed. "This is getting complicated."
Walking up to the engine she gave it a kick.
"We're going to need some magical muscle!"
"Well it's a good thing I'm here then!"

Twilight blinked at the voice who answered her and lifted her head, looking around with shock. "That can't be!"
"Well it is!" A Familiar white mare emerged from behind the engine. Twilight mouthed openly for a moment then ran at Rarity. Vainly she tried to summon her magic again, not even a spark graced her horn. And Damn Rarity could move fast.

Twilight could have sworn she had charged right at Rarity but the pale unicorn seamed to side-step her like a breeze.
"Well isn't that a way to great a good friend!" She declared.

"Good Friend??" Twilight screeched, "You lost it Rarity. You tried to kill everyone! And you succeeded in Killing Fluttershy! You dearest friend! I swear I'm going to kill you if I get my hooves on you!"
Rarity's face dropped into a sad frown, and promptly the mare sat on the ground. Twilights head cooled, just a little.

"I have no excuse." Rarity responded, after a moment. "I wish I did. When I saw Fluttershy's animal friend was dead. I - I guess I panicked..."
Lowering her flank to the ground, twilight sat and listened, anger still seething inside her it showed in her face but not in her body.
"And you thought killing people would make it right?"
"I love her, you know."

Twilight blinked. "Who?"
"Fluttershy." The simple confession smacked Twilight in the face, walked around her and smacked her on the back of the head as well for good measure. When Twilight spoke her face showed the mental impact.

"Wait wah?"

"I love Fluttershy!" The unicorn reaffirmed. "She was the first pony who ever listened to me. I mean Actually listened. For years, the longest time anyone I talked to just assumed I was some, oh -" Rarity shrugged. "A snooty know it all?" She seamed to ask.
Twilight nodded, then corrected her response. "We don't think that." She tried to consol. "But I don't see -"
"Fluttershy was the first one who would genuinely listen when I talked. And after a while she felt comfortable talking with me. I love her and I couldn't bare for her to think badly of me. So...."

A small light flicked on in Twilight's head. "So when you accidentally killed her animal friend, you became afraid that she would stop being your friend. Not understand that it had been an accident."
"And I figured the only way to solve things was to keep her safe somewhere while I tried to cover it all up..."
Twilight could appreciate that Rarity was starting to tear up over describing the events, and her anger slowly drained away until only a small spark was left.

"So you're pleading Temporary Insanity for Fluttershy's death?"
"I think I'm just pleading." Rarity replied sadly.
"This isn't going to make up for it. You have a long way to go before anyone will accept you as a friend again."

"I know. I - I want to help others now. If I can. I'm not sure how that's possible. I am glad you acknowledge me."

Something about this wording ringed strangely i Twilight's head. But there were more important things to worry about.
"Do you think you can make a forge?" Twilight replied. "A basic magic Taulin one, in the earth. Something we can use to heat those wheels and bang them back into shape!"
Rarity nodded, and Twilight left her to work, going back to check on the others.

Rockwell was pretty cheerful for a pony who had a gaping wound in his side. He was good at motivating the ponies, talking to everyone with a cheerful sing-song voice and keeping them working with words of praise and occasional cajoling. Twilight was pleased to see one of the traincars upright again and a lot of wood and water being gathered. Somebody had even cleaned out one of the wrecked traincars to turn it into a temporary shelter.

"We're making fast progess!" Twilight confirmed with Buddy, He smiled a weak but charming smile.
"We're almost ready to fix the wheels, we just need something to heat them, then the unicorns can use their magic to pound them back into shape."
Twilight nodded, "I thought of that too. I have a pony making a small forge up near the engine!"
"Awsome."

'Not Awsome....'

Twilight and Rockwell blinked. "No, It's awesome!" she confirmed, "Wait who said that?"
'It's not Awsome... Nothing about this s awesome. Everything is bad.'

Rarity and Rockwell looked around, the sound seemed to be coming from everywhere and nowhere at the same time.
"Who's speaking!" Twilight demanded, then enforced it, "I demand to know who is speaking!"

A whistling wind started to raise in the trees around them, and gradually Twilight began to notice a light coming from the edge of the wood. She shivered at the yellow light. It was way too similar to the one that had blown past them on the train.

"H-Hello?" She called out to it.
'Hello Twilight... You haven't seen Rarity have you. I have a score to settle.'
The quiet hatefilled voice carried itself in the air in strange ways. Twilight squinted.
"What are you staring at?" Rockwell asked.

"There's a light over there."
Rockwell looked, "No there aint. Unless..."
Slowly as it got closer the yellow light came into focus. Twilight stifled a gasp.
A small yellow pony, with a murderous look glared back at her.

"Fluttershy? But - I thought you were dead?"


>>> To be Continued