"Did you know that almost 45% of all train-related deaths begin during the camshaft ignition?" Twilight blurted as she tried to stay calm. "That means half of ponies who have died on trains have died the moment the conductor turned the control key! Isn't that fascinating!?"
Twilight's high pitched nervous giggle fooled nobody.
"Twilight you've ridden the train with us so many times." Fluttershy whispered, gently rubbing her wing on her friend's back reassuringly. "You know it's a very safe train."
"I know I know. It's just.... no matter how many times I ride the FE it never gets any easier until we're actually on the move. I really prefer that hot air balloon." Twilight groaned and hung her head. "I shouldn't have had that coffee."
"How do you even know so much about trains anyway, Twilight?"
Twilight sighed and waved a hoof dismissively at Applejack.
Applejack shrugged. "What? Trains are neat. I like 'em."
Fluttershy was right of course. There hadn't been a train accident in decades in Equestria. Even stagecoach robberies were becoming a thing of the past. Ponies both good and bad realized how important the railways were to the progress of the country and any hindrance to it would hurt them in the long run. And of all the trains in Equestria, none were as safe as the Friendship Express. It was a steam locomotive, with brass wheels and gold chains. Painted a bright purple with pink highlights with periwinkle trim and yellow hearts with hounds-tooth designs on the engine's cab and funnel. Blue and yellow stripes slid vertically down the pilot guard in front. The carriages were alternating shades of cookie brown and lavender with alternating sky blue and peach roofing. And to tail it off was an old caboose, pink with blue stripes on its wheels. It was very striking and had long since been the method of choice for the elite of Canterlot to get to other cities in style. It pulled through Ponyville twice a day at the same time every day, and had never once had an accident. For very good reason. It's engine was stoked by magical fires that could never get out of the boiler or burn a pony. This kept it safe and efficient.
At the moment five members of the Elements of Harmony and several guests had boarded the train, patiently waiting for the whistle that would signal their journey was about to begin. One of the guests, Applejack's younger sister, had come idly strolling into the carriage, looking deep in thought.
The small chubby filly sat next to her sister, signaling she had a question with a small poke to the ribs.
"Hey Applejack!" she began, her large red bow bobbing as she spoke. "I been thinkin'....I don't think miss Cheerilee let me go on this here trip to learn about plants."
"Oh?" Applejack gave her tiny sister a nudge. "Why's that?"
"Well I think she just wanted you n' me away from the farm so she could see Big Macintosh without us bein' around."
Applejack laughed loudly. Every day these kids found new ways to surprise her with their cleverness and keen observations.
"Yeh...that's probably right, Applebloom." the farm pony wiped away her tears of laughter. "But I'm sure she also knows y'all miss Sweetie Belle a whole awful lot."
"Like how you miss Miss Rarity?" Applebloom asked innocently, catching her sister off-guard. The elder of the two sighed and gave the younger one a pat on the head.
"Yeah...just about the same way I guess."
A few meters away down the cabin Rainbow was trying to clean Scootaloo off. The two couldn't have been more alike in many ways. They both loved to fight, push their athletic limits, and brag. But one way in which they differed was hygiene. Dash had always thought that a pony who feels at her best should look her best. Looking awesome was part of being awesome. Scootaloo on the other hand had decided to splash around in some mud puddles before boarding the train and wasn't exactly happy to need to clean up. Rainbow had the small filly in the bathroom sink, trying to clean her off with faucet water, hoof soap, and paper towels.
"It'll flake off on it's own!" Scootaloo argued. "This is stupid!"
"Do you really wanna see Sweetie and Rarity while looking like you just stepped out of a garbage can?" Rainbow growled. "How is anyone gonna see how cool you look if you look like one of AJ's pigs?"
Scootaloo pouted, glancing at the door to see Pinkie Pie stick her head inside.
"Need any help?" the pink pony gently asked, causing Dash's angry expression to drop immediately.
"Oh hey Pinks. Nah nah, I got it handled. How are you?" Dash asked, wincing a bit. She rarely asked anyone how they were or how their days had been. But she'd resolved to try to be nicer to Pinkie after what she'd seen the prior night.
"I'm absolutely great! Fantastically good! Wonderfully uh...." Pinkie thought hard for a moment. "Well!"
"Okay....well good." Dash smiled. She looked down trying to think of her next words, suddenly spying a purple reptile scuttling into the train car. "Why is Spike with you?"
"He is?" Pinkie swiveled her head around 180 degrees like some sort of owl. "Oh hey Spike! Why are you on the train?"
"Spike!" Twilight shouted at the approaching purple dragon. "Why are you on the train? I thought we agreed you were going to stay home and take care of Owloysius!"
"It's taken care of." Spike grumbled. "It's not like I wanted to come here. HE made me."
There was a quiet hissing sound as a curled plume of grey smoke spewed from the canal of Spike's green fin-like ear. The smoke fell to the floor, collecting quickly into a large cloud that twisted itself upright, wriggling like a serpent as it took on a new form. White beard? Deer antlers? Snake body with bird talons? Yup, it was Discord alright.
He yawned loudly stretching his body out like a rubber band before popping back into place, looking complacent.
"Well hello Fluttershy!" he said happily, bowing, then glancing around the room slyly before adding. "....and friends."
"Hello Discord!" Fluttershy said nervously, extending a wing protectively over Twilight. "Why....are you on the train? And why were you inside of Spike's head?"
"Oh that!" He guffawed, waving away at the question as he sat down next to Fluttershy. "Well you never wrote me back my dear. After your frightful quest to find that flower you cherished so much, I assumed I'd receive an update at some point. When I didn't I decided to make my way back to Ponyville under the assumption there had been some sort of disaster. Of course when I arrived I found you weren't home. So logically I asked your rabbit for help. After that didn't work I flew around town and saw neither hide nor hair of you. So I made the assumption you and the rest of Celestia's special forces were off doing some sort of mission with your de facto leader, Twilight."
Discord picked up Spike and gave the tiny dragon a not-too-friendly pat on the head.
"Spiffy here was kind enough to tell me that you all had rushed down to the train station. And since he had nothing better to do than pretend to feed an owl that was clearly more than capable of caring for itself, I asked him to be my chauffeur. And so here I am. And there is the flower I see."
"His name is Spike!" Twilight spoke with an edge to her voice. "And I don't appreciate you hiding in his head or making him come down here."
"Oh don't worry about it." Discord snapped his fingers, making the terrarium the flower was in appear in his hand. "As long as I'm accompanying you all on this excursion, it will be good for him to come along. Perhaps I can teach him some dragon magic, hmm?"
A small pink beam of light came out of one of Discords yellow eyes, surrounding the flower. Almost immediately the light refracted and with a loud pop shot up towards the ceiling. There was a loud crack and a smokey explosion, leaving a large crooked hole in the roof in the traincar.
"Oh dear." Discord blushed. "Well I see this flower is resistant to anything I could possibly do to it."
"Twilight already tried a whole variety of magic types on it Discord. It's probably a bad idea to try anything else on it. Especially now that the roof is gone. Perhaps you should....um...fix it?" Fluttershy smiled, hoping to diffuse the situation as her other friends walked up, their faces showing clear disdain for their new guest.
"Hey!" Dash shouted. "What's your deal, Discord? You can't just barge in here uninvited! And now you just blew a big hole in the ceiling!"
"Yeah! Y'all are bein' awful rude!" Applejack chimed in.
Discord looked around guiltily at all the frowning faces before turning to Fluttershy, her face as always a mask of forgiveness.
"Am I being rude?" he asked.
"A little bit." Fluttershy whispered.
Discord grinned sheepishly, extending his paw and snapping the longest digits. There was a flash of yellow light and soon the hole in the ceiling was now a circular porthole with a ladder extending from the ceiling down to the floor.
"There we are. Now the hole in the roof of this infernal steam-powered train thing you ponies like so much is a nice observational area. Should help air flow too, I wouldn't wager. There's even a guard rail up there for the little ones. Fixed, eh?"
The others rolled their eyes as Discord plopped down next to Fluttershy. He was about to speak when Twilight spoke up first.
"Discord why are you even on this train? Why did you have to bring Spike away from home? Who's supposed to care for the library while I'm gone? Did you even stop to consider all the planning that went into this trip? Do you ever stop to consider anything before shooting your spells all over the place!?" Twilight rubbed her throbbing temples.
"You look awful, Princess Twilight." Discord replied, putting emphasis on the word princess. "Are you getting enough sleep? You know if I recall from the time I destroyed part of Celestia's castle I believe it is customary for a Princess to get at least 10 hours of sleep per day."
"That doesn't answer my question!" Twilight growled through gritted teeth.
"Oh no I suppose it does not. Don't fret about your library for now. At the moment it's currently a very large bird nest housing a very happy owl. I dare say it's quite an improvement over that old dead tree it was before. However if upon arriving back home you find living like an avian is not up to your standards, I will quickly revert it back into the dork fortress it was previously."
Twilight seemed ready to launch into a full-on screaming rant at the mischievous trickster before a quiet nuzzle from Fluttershy distracted her. Fluttershy gently placed the end of her muzzle in Twilight's ear, whispering gently.
"He's right you know. You should be relaxing Twilight. You've had such a busy morning. Try to sleep. I'll talk to Discord I have a....uh sort of way with him. He trusts me."
"Fine." Twilight grumbled, resting her head on Fluttershy's foreleg, the long pink locks of the pegasus covering her eyes. "Thank you for dealing with him, Fluttershy."
Spike curled up next to Twilight, shooting Discord a dirty look before closing his eyes and leaning against his caretaker. Within a few minutes the two were asleep. Fluttershy nuzzled the two affectionately before turning her attention to Discord, prepared to give him the kindest dressing down she could. But she stopped as she noticed the ancient sinewy creature was leaning back in his seat on the train, arms folded, seeming unhappy and deep in thought.
"I'm not....trying to be a pest. Not anymore." Discord mumbled. "Sometimes I wonder if....just perhaps...this attempt at turning over a new leaf...at being well-mannered...just isn't what I was meant to do."
"But you've done so much good, Discord. You've changed so much." Fluttershy offered, finding it very strange to have Discord, the evil god of chaos, seeming unhappy in such a reflective fashion. "But nobody can change overnight. It takes practice."
"It's been months, my dear." Discord replied with a pout. "Everywhere I go I seem to apparently ruin someone's day. For every pony I've tried to help I've annoyed several others. It's as if the world or my subconscious wants me to stay bad. It's highly aggravating. Perhaps I should just give up. Let Celestia put me back in a rock again."
"Oh C'mon now there Discord." Applejack piped up, having sat silently observing the group for for the last few minutes. "That there's just stinkin' thinkin', You ain't ruined anypony's day here. It's just ya know....nobody likes surprises."
"W...what?" Pinkie squeaked, looking heartbroken as she leaned out of her seat, lip trembling.
"I mean...folks like surprise parties, sure." Applejack said giving Pinkie a reassuring smile. "But surprise guests...well not so much. I mean yer a pretty well-mannered sort o' guy right, Discord? You wouldn't really appreciate it if'n someone just sorta came into your house uninvited, right?"
"I suppose not. If I had a house that is." Discord mumbled, stroking his beard thoughtfully. "I'm quite used to just...appearing in places I need to be."
"Nothin' wrong with that...if you let folks plan ahead." Applejack said with a nod and a smile. " 'Specially so they can accommodate themselves for someone as...uh...interestin' as yerself."
"Thank you, Applejack." Fluttershy agreed. "That's exactly what I was just thinking."
Discord's dour expression returned to the keen wicked grin that normally plastered itself across his grey features. With a loud whistle the train began it's journey away from Ponyville, moving through the pale green fields of wheat and sawgrass that peppered the landscape just outside of the village. The plumes of pink and minty smokey steam that clouded the air above the train, flattened out and faded at an low altitude, giving the train the appearance of leaving a colorful trail as it made its way downwind. Rainbow Dash and Applejack took Scootaloo and Applebloom down the train to the Coach where the food was kept, as the two little ones were eager to eat brunch, and simultaneously the elder of the four weren't sure they wanted the youngsters learning any bad habits from Discord.
Riding trains wasn't Discord's usual cup of tea. He preferred the speed and instantaneous method of magical teleportation. So in order to fight off the numbing boredom, he found himself playing a game of riddles versus Pinkie Pie, whom as he expected was a very clever opponent.
"Serpentine in gale abound,
Solely on clay finery found.
Gaze of earth that it may turn,
To see the beast upon the urn."
Discord grinned wryly, leaning backwards. Pinkie grinned harder.
"Awww! That's an easy one!" Pinkie stuck out her tongue. "It's a Coatl."
"I'm shocked you even know what a Coatl is, little pony." Discord muttered with annoyance as the grin dropped from his face.
"I know all buncha stuff. My turn hmmmm.....oh!
Red and Black and Blue all over.
Proudly draped upon the shoulder."
Discord sighed as he picked his nose, pulling a pipe out of his nostril and placing it between his wrinkled lips as he gave it a puff.
"It's either a cape or a flag. Most likely a cape so I'm going to go with that."
"Correctamundo!" Pinkie shouted throwing some confetti into the air. "You win the prize."
"What prize?"
"A hug!"
"I see! Let's.....not and say we did, hm?"
"Okey dokey! I think it's your turn now!"
Ancient primordial gears turned in the labyrinth of Discord's mind. It had been eons since he'd found any sentient creature clever enough to guess more than one of his riddles. Pinkie had managed to figure out 12 in a row. He was impressed but also highly annoyed. If he planned to win this game he would need to pull out a whopper. One he hadn't used in centuries.
"He runs but does not tire,
He wades into the land.
She sang but cannot sing,
She moves but never stands.
He feasts and never ceases,
When he's passed he will cremate.
She drinks as long as she may live,
Her thirst is never slaked.
Four siblings unalike.
Four siblings all the same.
Round and round they are our life.
Can you mention them by name?"
Discord smugly sat back in his seat, idly picking at some plaque between his fangs with one of his elegant claws, feeling assured he was now victorious. After removing an entire banana stuck between two molars, he stared out the window, patiently feigning indifference as he waited for Pinkie Pie to raise the white flag of surrender. He opened his eyes in confusion after a few minutes of sustained silence.
"Feel free to give up if you like, Pinkie Pie." He jeered. "I am the master of this sort of thing after all. You've held your own quite well, no need to feel ashamed for losing to a superior mind! Second best is perfectly good."
Another moment passed and Discord's short temper finally distracted him.
"Oh for heaven's sakes, Pinkie! It's not even a hard one. The answer is...." Discord tilted his head at confusion at the pink pony who seemed to be dancing and wriggling in her seat, her hooves clasped over her mouth as if she were trying desperately not to scream in delight. "....what on earth are you doing? Why aren't you saying anything? Are you trying to notify me you need to use the restroom? Does Celestia force ponies to notify others about this sort of information in her new republic? Or are we playing charades? I do like charades....oh....it's...two words, yes?"
Pinkie pointed urgently at the seat next to Discord, causing the old chimera to turn and see the heartwarming scene to his right. Twilight Sparkle was still sleeping peacefully, wrapped in Fluttershy's pale yellow wings. Fluttershy was quietly preening Twilight's lavender wings, making not a single sound as she happily worked, straightening each barb on each feather. It was rare for Discord to smile at anything that wasn't one of his own jokes, but he couldn't help but grin a bit.
"So Fluttershy," he began, a mischievous glint in his eye.
"OH!" Fluttershy jumped as she noticed she was being watched. "I'm so sorry. Did someone ask me something? Did I ruin the riddle contest?"
"Not at all. The answer to the last one was the elements. Water, Wind, Fire, Earth. Pinkie was apparently unable to guess and thus I win by default."
"I thought there were five elements!" Pinkie argued.
"There are four technically. The fifth one is the one that controls the other four. Can you guess what it is?" Discord pointed to himself with a claw and mouthed the word "chaos".
Pinkie pouted angrily as Discord turned to his friend.
"Moving on. Fluttershy is there something the matter with Celestia's Pet?"
"You mean Twilight? No....why?"
"Oh nothing...." Discord scanned the ceiling, acting innocent. "I simply can't help but notice you two have been clinging to each other ever since we stepped into this tin box on wheels you ponies love so much."
"Oh....." Fluttershy grew quiet as she averted her eyes.
"I also can't help but notice a little bit of a spark in your eye, Shy. You know I'm very powerful. Nearly omniscient, really. And I notice little things like this."
"W...well...I um....you see..."
"You can tell ol' Discord. I've been around the block so many times. Why I practically built the block that I've been around."
"Fluttershy and Twilight like each other! Eeeeee!" Pinkie squealed, hopping up and down in her seat. "It's been like this for a little bit it's so cute I can't stand it!"
"Oh my gosh you are so right, girlfriend!" Discord squealed, appearing next to Pinkie Pie in a dress and lipstick and blonde wig. "Y'all just gotta gimme all the gossip you got! Ooh hoo hoo hoo!"
"I.....don't even really know!" Pinkie immediately ceased hopping and adopted a very serious expression. "Hey Flutters how did you and Twilight even figure out you liked each other so darn much?"
Fluttershy sighed with annoyance at the two eager smiles in front of her. Dealing with these two was like dealing with children sometimes. But she knew eventually all of her friends would end up asking her the same questions repeatedly until they got an answer. It would be best to come clean about it now and get it over with.
"Well...hm...this is sort of an embarrassing story but...I'm not sure where to start. Um....well.... do either of you understand how pegasus wings work? I mean for...emotional stuff."
"Nope!" Pinkie shouted as Discord shook his head solemnly.
"Oh goodness....well you see...usually when a pegasus would spread their wings for a pony it's was a way of attracting a mate. Now it's just sort of an instinct....and sometimes our wings flap when um....we see a pony we really like...or are feeling uh..."
Discord snorted with laughter, causing Fluttershy to give him a cold glance.
"Sorry sorry, please continue." he said, giving a small wave.
"As I was saying...they can sometimes move on their own if we're feeling....infatuated...or um...well...excited." Fluttershy mumbled, noticing Pinkie's eyes lighting up. "What?"
"Is that why Dashie's wings always unfold really whenever I hug her or bite her ear or we have a pillow fight or I bake her a cookie? Or sometimes when I'm talking to her. Or when we pull a prank. Or actually a lot of things. I mean it seems to happen a lot."
"What in the world is a Dashie? Sounds like a frozen dessert." Discord remarked. "I could go for a frozen treat at the moment."
"Oh it's what I call Rainbow Dash."
"Hmm I see. Yes. Interesting. Really. Yes." Discord scarfed down a fudge-covered ice cream bar that he had materialized out of thin air. "But why?"
"Cause....I don't know!" Pinkie replied as her cheeks went a bit red. "It's just what I've always called her by ever since we became friends!"
"Excuse me." Fluttershy interrupted, feeling exasperated. "I'd like to continue the story. But at least you two seem to understand what it means when pegasi show off their wings. And Twilight.... didn't. And she couldn't control her new wings around me."
"So you knew she liked you!" Pinkie squeaked, clapping her hooves together.
"Well....I suspected it. I'd already liked Twilight for a while and I certainly didn't want to convince myself she could ever feel the same way. Give myself false hope." Fluttershy continued. "Eventually as we hiked into the woods looking for the flower her wings started hurting her every time we talked...or at least whenever I talked about...nature or wildlife... and....when I explained why it was happening well...she...um...started to cry."
Fluttershy glared at Discord who appeared to be trying very hard to contain his giggling. Pinkie soon was glaring at him as well. With a flicker of magic, Discord had caused his mouth to vanish entirely off his face, leaving nothing but his enormous chin and beard. Satisfied with the change, Fluttershy continued.
"And I'm not sure how to really explain this...I went to try and tell her it was okay when she was crying and...uh...something just clicked.... I guess. We just knew that...we felt the same way. We ended up curling up together under the stars that night because we were too tired to walk back. I was really happy and she was too."
"And they've been inseparable ever since!" Pinkie chirped.
Discord curled into a ball and bounced back into his seat next to Fluttershy, working his jaw as his mouth reappeared.
"Sorry if this all seems so weird and sudden, Discord." Fluttershy whispered. "It's been a big surprise for all of us. I never would have thought..."
"Thought what? That you'd ever fall in love? Go head over hooves for someone? Happens to everyone my dear Fluttershy." Discord said with a grin. "Even happened to me once a very long time ago. I'm rather pleased to hear all this actually. Someone as kind and nice as you doesn't deserve to be alone. Growing old and rotten by yourself. The resident crazy old cat lady except with bears and opossums. Although I must admit I think you could do better than picking Celestia's court jester but I'm happy nonetheless."
"Hey don't call Twilight a jester!" Spike suddenly angrily spluttered, having been roused from his slumber by the slanderous words being levied at his former master. "She's a princess now! You should give her at least some respect you jerk!"
"Tell me Spike...." Discord began, eying the tiny purple dragon. "Have you ever tasted meat? I'd assume not, having lived among ponies and brought up to eat like they do."
"Of course not!" Spike looked horrified. "What do you think I am? A barbarian? I'll keep eating fruit and gems, thank you very much!"
"Thought so." Discord waved his eagle clawed arm briefly, causing a silver dish to appear on it. Upon it sat a strange sort of sandwich. The bread was very round, and between the casually layered vegetables sat a large dark flat cylinder, giving out a thick salty scent as he levitated it over to Spike. "This, little fellow, is called a cheeseburger. They were very popular once a very long time ago when griffons and dragons weren't so....uncommon. Go ahead and take a bite. I know you'll like it."
"Is this meat?" Spike asked, sniffing the sandwich, unable to control the drool now pooling in his mouth from the scent.
"Mmmmmmayyyyyybe." mocked the trickster. "Just give it a little bite, Spike. A small nosh if you will. A little chew a little chomp."
Spike nervously picked up the sandwich, taking a small bite out of it. He squinted his eyes shut, chewing hard, afraid of what might happen. Fluttershy and Pinkie stared in curiosity as slowly Spike's eyes opened, widening, and he furiously took another bite. Then another and another. And soon the whole sandwich was gone, scarfed into his toothy mouth.
"Oh my gosh." Spike panted, breathless after his feast. "Oh my gosh that was good. Oh man."
"Twilight's going to be so upset if she wakes up and finds out you gave Spike meat, Discord. She's tried really hard to keep his diet like ours." Fluttershy said.
"Well it's too late now, my dear." Discord moaned with a sorrowful expression. "Spike knows the glee of flesh now. He has a taste for blood. Soon he will come after ponies in the night desiring to feast...ahaha ahaha oh I'm sorry that's just too ridiculous. Oh I slay myself sometimes. He'll be fine Fluttershy. It's just food."
"You don't wanna joke about stuff like that, Discord." Spike replied with a sheepish grin. "I actually kinda had a similar problem during my last birthday."
"Was it greed?" Discord asked flatly.
"Yep! Spikey got really huge!" Pinkie exclaimed, waving her arms. "He was as big as Celestia's castle by the time Rarity stopped him."
"Not too impressive. I ate a planet once." Discord glanced over at the sleeping Twilight. "Why does the new princess look so...awful anyway? I was under the impression ponies were meant to be cute, after having ruled over them for a few hundred years. Miss Sparkle looks like she hasn't slept in weeks up til now."
"There's just been so much going on. With the coronation and the celebrations and then having to go through a crystal mirror to an alternate dimension because someone stole her crown. Then coming back and having to do so much paperwork for the Equestrian government. And then all the trouble you caused with your vines. Twilight's been very stressed out." Fluttershy lay down in her seat, gently resting her head on Twilight's neck, ready to join her friend in slumber. "This trip is going to be a little vacation. For all of us."
"I suppose I should apologize eventually for the mess with the vines." Discord mumbled, looking agitated.
Fluttershy nodded. "I think that would be a good idea!"
By the time Applejack and RainbowDash had returned from the food cart with their sisters in tow, Fluttershy and Twilight were asleep, and Discord and Pinkie were now in some sort of staring contest. Which was easy for Discord since he could give himself as many eyes as he wanted. The two entering ponies exchanged glances as they sat back in their seats, knowing this trip would be a weird one.
****************************************
Twilight's restful slumber was awakened hours later by a piercing scream of terror and the sound of several voices crying out all at once. Immediately her fear of the train snapped her back into the waking world. Her eyes shot open, only to perceive darkness. There was nothing. But she could still feel the vibrations from the train and hear the audible calamity. Her mind immediately went to Discord. This was some nefarious trap. He had plunged the train into darkness to kidnap and control all of them. He had finally taken advantage of the fact that the Elements of Harmony were locked away in a tree. That had to be the reason!
"Hello?! HELLO!? WHAT'S GOING ON? IS EVERYONE OK?" Twilight shouted over the noises of shouting around her, trying to flicker on some ghostly light from the tip of her horn.
Immediately she felt the gentle embrace of Fluttershy around her chest.
"Don't worry, Twilight. It's fine. We're just in a tunnel and...Pinkie...." Fluttershy's voice shook a little. "Had an accident but I think she's alright. Or at least...I hope she is."
Like a giant blanket unveiling the sun, the tunnel came to its end, basking the Friendship Express in the warm rays of the afternoon light. Twilight squinted as she adjusted going from total darkness to the bright light now flooding the train car. Discord, Spike, Applejack and her little sister along with Scootaloo were all leaning up against the ladder leading up the hole in the roof.
"Is she alright? Say somethin', sugarcube!" Applejack shouted, breathing out a sigh of relief as a rainbow tail and a pink curly tail both appeared at the hole.
Rainbow Dash entered from the ceiling, with Pinkie in her arms. Both were covered in scratches, and Pinkie in particular had a large purple bruise on her neck and a grotesque gash on her rear leg. The pink pony was shaking like a leaf as Dash lowered her to the floor.
"Ya ok Pinkie? Is anythin' broke?" Applejack asked, rushing over to inspect Pinkie as the trembling pony wobbled to her feet.
"No....I'm ok I think. I have a big lump on my neck from the tunnel smacking me, though."
"Wait! The mouth of the tunnel hit you Pinkie?" Twilight asked, rushing over with some bandages out of her travel bag, ready to apply them to anywhere Pinkie might be bleeding.
"Yeah it bopped me good! Then I fell off the train and..." Pinkie inspected the sizeable gash on her left hind leg. "I hit the rocky wall with my leg and it got squished between me and the wall and all this happened so fast. But Dashie saved me."
"Well I'm just glad you ain't hurt, sugar." Applejack breathed a sigh of relief. "You probably shouldn't have gone up there in the first place. 'Specially after me n' Dash told ya it was dangerous."
Dash was shaking as she suddenly stepped forward around the ladder, shoving Applejack out of the way so she could be level with Pinkie Pie. Her normally cheery face twisted in a scowl of rage and fear, her entire body seeming to quiver with anger, causing Pinkie to stare at her wide-eyed.
"WHAT....IS..YOUR PROBLEM, PINKIE?!!?" Dash hissed through clenched teeth. "DON'T YOU THINK WE HAVE ENOUGH STUFF TO WORRY ABOUT WITHOUT YOU CAUSING AN ACCIDENT?!?"
Pinkie pawed the floor looking dejected. "I just wanted to see what the top of the train looked like. It seemed fun. I didn't know it..."
"FUN?!? FUN!?!" Dash shrieked, growing louder with every word as her ruby eyes filled with tears. "YOU COULD BE DEAD RIGHT NOW PINKIE! YOU COULD HAVE DIED! AND WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO THEN, HUH!? WHAT AM I...SUPPOSED TO DO ALL DAY IF YOU.......IF YOU'RE GONE, HUH!? If you aren't around. YOU STUPID....stupid....pony."
Dash coughed loudly as her screams became a tangled sob, leaning forward as if to embrace Pinkie. But she quickly withdrew, snorting angrily and stomping out into the other train car, leaving the rest in stunned silence and a small trail of dripped tears leading to the door.
"Oh dear." Fluttershy whispered.
"I'll go check on her." Scootaloo mumbled as she quickly followed the path taken by her adopted big sister, scuttling out the car on her tiny orange hooves.
Twilight frowned and turned on Discord who had remained suspiciously quiet throughout the event. "This is all YOUR fault Discord! If you hadn't shown up and decided to destroy half the train with your stupid chaos magic NONE of this would have happened! Pinkie wouldn't be hurt and Dash wouldn't be upset and we wouldn't have this big dumb hole on the ceiling!"
Discord said nothing, snapping his fingers and whisking the hole away.
"It's not his fault Twilight." Pinkie squeaked. "Please don't yell at him. It's my fault. I was silly and didn't look where I was going and now I...made Dashie cry. This is on me."
"If the hole hadn't been there in the first place, no one would have gone up it!" Twilight barked, giving Discord another dirty look that caused the monster to shrink away.
"I....I'm sorry."
"What was that?" Twilight asked, stomping over to Discord who appeared to be flattening against the floor like a pancake to avoid the purple alicorn.
"I said....I'm sorry. I apologize. I made a mess of your little trip. And I'm sorry about the whole mess with the tree of harmony. I was just having a bit of fun. Sorry."
Twilight's expression softened slightly as she stared into Discord's beady yellow eyes. The small red pools of color that made up his irises were darting all over Twilight's face, his fuzzy grey eyebrows slowly curving into a worried expression. He was grinning sheepishly, but in his eyes he looked truly afraid. This wasn't a trick, or a way of weaseling out of trouble. What she saw was something she often saw in Spike on those days where he'd done something bad but was too afraid to fess up to it. She saw remorse, and a bit of fear. Fear of rejection and fear of disappointment. In those eyes she saw the reflection of a creature whom, despite being as old as time itself, was not wise. Was not well-mannered. A creature that had the same constitution as that of her apprentice. The mind of a silly young boy, hidden beneath centuries of bitterness and loneliness, dressed up as a cantankerous old creature.
For the first time Twilight felt pity for Discord. He wasn't a menace or even very evil. He was simply desperate to not be alone. Desperate to have meaning in his life. He'd been alone at the beginning of the universe, and so too would he be at it's end. He was contradictory and reactionary. Pretending to dislike the things he yearned for most. Things like love and friendship. Afraid to be seen as he really was. A lonely creature with a heart that was a bit softer than he'd ever admit.
"You're really destructive you know that?" Twilight muttered, gently placing her hoof on Discord's paw. "But you know I think....I get now...why Fluttershy trusts you. You're not evil. Just....impulsive. And rude, I guess. It's not entirely your fault. You don't know any better. You're...forgiven...I guess."
"Really?" Discord asked, looking suspicious. "I find that odd."
"Yep. Just please no more magic for a while."
"This is nice n' all but uh...what're we gonna do 'bout Rainbow?" Applejack asked.
Pinkie stood up again, taking a deep breath.
"I'm the one who did this so I think I need to be the one to apologize and try to make her feel better. I really REALLY scared her. So I'll see if I can un-scare her." Pinkie's voice wavered slightly as her nerve left her. She was used to cheering up sad ponies, but never before had she been the cause of the sadness.
Gently she pushed open the door to the next train car, closing it behind her as she made her way to the other end. Scootaloo was sitting on the edge of her seat, kicking her tiny legs as she cast a forlorn look at the bathroom. Past the orange door was the sink, faucets on at full blast as Rainbow was cleaning off the scratches and cuts that were on her legs and wings from the rescue effort. Once satisfied she dunked her head into the deluge of water, savoring the numbing peace it brought before pulling out and letting out a long sad sigh, shaking her head and flinging small drops of water everywhere. Staring at the tile bathroom floor, she didn't even notice the pink pony slowly approaching her.
"Hey Dashie..."
"Pinkie wait. Just....stop." Dash interrupted, holding up a hoof. "Look I.....it's not your fault, ok? I shouldn't have shouted. I've just been really stressed out. First I find myself caring for a kid and doing it all wrong, and then the Wonderbolts accepted my application. Now my best friend since I was little is dating my other new friend. It's just...stressful I guess. And...I shouldn't have blown my top and yelled at you, Pinkie. You nearly got hurt and all I could do was yell at you and that wasn't fair of me. It was really uncool and I'm sorry I was such a jerk. So just...save your apology cause I don't deserve it, ok?"
Pinkie sat on the floor, dumbfounded. That had been the exact opposite of what she'd been expecting to happen! Now her apology plan was all screwed up. But it didn't feel right.
"No! It's not ok!" Pinkie growled in as serious of a voice as she could muster.
"It's...not?" asked a very confused Rainbow Dash.
"No it's not!" Pinkie crept up to Dash, shrinking the distance between her and the surprised pegasus until their muzzles were nearly touching. "You...you shouldn't say sorry to me when I'm the one who screwed up. I was being a big silly dumbo-head doing dumb things and you saved me. You're always there for me, Dashie. You're always there for me and...you were my first real friend. And...I'm sorry I scared you and made you cry! Please don't hate me."
"Don't ever think like that, Pinks! I would...could NEVER hate you. What kind of friend would I be if I hated you for just being you? A lame friend, that's what. And I wasn't crying.....okay maybe I was crying a little." Dash flinched as she mentally prepared for her hyperactive friend to shriek with grief and seize her in a painful hug.
"I'm sorry." Pinkie said softly, her large sky blue eyes peering deeply into Dash's own ruby ones. She didn't move to painfully hug Dash or even say anything. She simply gave a small sad smile, sitting on her haunches, waiting for Dash to continue.
"You really scared me, pal." Dash mumbled, swallowing hard and trying to avoid Pinkie's piercing gaze.
Pinkie wrinkled her snout in a way that made Dash feel tingly all over. "Promise me you won't ever cry like that again."
"Only if you promise not to risk your life jumping off any more trains like an idiot." Dash shot back.
"Deal!"
"And....um..Pinkie...." Dash began, pushing the bathroom mat around a bit idly with her hoof. "I know that...you're worried I might skip town to fly with the Wonderbolts permanently. Well that's not gonna happen. What kind of Element of Loyalty would I be if I just abandoned half my Ponyville friends? What kind of mentor would I be if I just tore Scootaloo away from everything she knows just as she's getting settled in at my place? A crappy one, that's what. So...I don't want you worrying about that stuff. I don't want you making yourself sad about things that.....aren't gonna happen."
And there came the hug. It was about as painful as she predicted, her ribs screaming for mercy as Pinkie's forelegs wrapped around Dash's torso like a boa constrictor around a delicious antelope. Pinkie grinned as she watched Dash's wings unfold on their own. She gave one of the longer primary feathers a small flick with her hoof, grinning wickedly as she felt Dash squirm slightly in her grip.
"You know Fluttershy told me what it means when your wings do this!"
"Aw geez." Dash muttered, quickly clasping her wings to her sides, snorting angrily and looking somewhat embarrassed. "Sorry about that."
"It's ok." Pinkie giggled to herself, before returning to looking very serious. "Did you mean what you said? About not leaving?"
"Of course, Pinks. Ponyville is my home." Dash quickly rubbed her muzzle on the end of Pinkie's snout, trying not to laugh as she saw her friend's pupils dilate. It felt good to make Pinkie smile. "I'll never leave you behind. I promise."
"Okey dokey!"
Dash leaned forward, nuzzling her pink friend's forehead, eliciting Pinkie to squeal happily and dragging the pegasus into another painful hug.
"EEEWW!" shouted a small voice.
Pinkie and Dash jumped, leaning out to see Scootaloo looking impatient and annoyed with a frown of disapproval as she sat a few feet away from the bathroom..
"Are you two done making up yet? All this mushy stuff makes me want to barf."
Dash grinned and picked Scootaloo off the ground with one arm and gave the tiny pony a noogie with her hoof.
"You're lucky I'm your big sis now or I'd kick your little butt from here to Manehattan."
The door to the car carrying the other ponies swung open, admitting the three back in amongst their friends. Well, their friends and Discord anyway. A look of approval and a small nod from Dash seemed to dissipate the tension in the room. Applejack let out a small sigh of relief, removing her hat to wipe the sweat from her brow.
"Is everythin' alright then? Nobody hurt? Physically or otherwise?" Applejack asked, trying to hide her smile as she saw Dash blush slightly.
"Yeah it's cool." Dash mumbled, hopping into her seat and placing Scootaloo in the seat next to her. She lowered her voice a bit to whisper to Applejack. "Why's Discord lookin' so...happy. And not stupid happy like usual."
Applejack chuckled. "He and Twilight sort of called a truce between the two of 'em. Mostly to make Fluttershy happy since she hates seein' em in a bad mood."
"Ha!" Dash sat back upright again. "Hey guys how much longer 'til we're in Canterlot anyway?"
Twilight's horn glowed with a white light, firing a tiny spark above her head. It turned skyward, becoming a tiny comet that spun into a circular pattern, becoming a small compass that hovered in midair. A tiny luminous map folded out behind it with a red "X" representing the train.
"Probably another half hour by the looks of it." Twilight shot a beam at the compass, absorbing it back into her horn.
"You know you could just have asked the train conductor." Discord mumbled, drawing a cold stare from Twilight. "Just thought I'd point it out."
"Discord did you just suggest something that made sense?" Fluttershy asked.
The old creature stroked his beard for a moment, appearing very pleased with himself. "Hmmm yes. I do believe I did."
"I'm glad you guys are getting along." Rainbow smirked and leaned back in her seat. "Did Discord tell you that he fed Spike meat earlier, Twi?"
"HE WHAT!?"