//------------------------------// // Returning the Ticket! // Story: The Hearth's Warming Express // by Shadowlord //------------------------------// Everypony in the car looked at the pony who said Sweetie Belle was to be thrown off “he’ll probably throw her right off the platform” he went on. “Its standard procedure, that way she won’t get sucked under the wheels, they may slow the train down a little, but they’ll never stop it.” “Stop it” I repeated. “That’s it, I have to stop the train again” I said grabbing the Emergency break. “No, not again” cried several fillies, but it was not them who I had my eyes on nor was it the emergency break, just above the emergency break was an air vent and caught between two sections, I couldn’t believe my eyes nor my luck, but there was Sweetie Belle’s ticket! I reached for the ticket and grabbed it as quickly as I could which was lucky because the ticket was starting to fall out and if I tried to grasp it a moment sooner it would have slipped away but I pulled it out hardly believing my luck, I turned to Applebloom who was staring at the ticket with as much shock as I was “we have to get this to her” I said, she nodded. There was no time to lose, I put Sweetie’s ticket in my pocket next to mine, I hopped across the connectors to Dinky’s car with Applebloom right behind me, we raced to the platform at the end of the train, and it was empty. “You don’t think he already threw her off do ya?” asked Applebloom I could only hope she was wrong. I raced back in the cart to Dinky “Where’d they go?” I asked. Dinky looked down at her hooves “please Dinky she could be in big trouble” I begged, Dinky was silent but her eyes went upwards, I heard the sound of hoofsteps above me, I saw the light reflecting on the snow outside with the silhouette of a pony dragging something, “up there!” Applebloom was already on the ladder to the top of the train before I was; the snow was starting to pick up as we trudged across roof, up ahead we could see the light and the silhouette “wait I have her ticket” I shouted to no response. “Come on” Applebloom shouted getting ahead of me; I guess her hooves were stronger than mine because of all that apple bucking she did with her family, soon she was far ahead of me and I was losing sight of the light. I kept walking as best I could and soon enough I saw a light, but this one was different from the one I’d seen from Dinky’s car, smaller, and not moving like the other, in fact it wasn’t moving at all. I walked up and discovered the source of light was a fire, right there, on top of the train was a fire with a device made of sticks holding a metal pot over the fire, only a few feet away was a pony sitting on a cardboard box. He wore a ragged coat underneath which was a ragged blue shirt, he had a five a clock shadow on his face which also had traces of dirt, his boots on his hind-hooves were covered with signs of wear in the soles, he was also wearing a pair of ragged and dirt covered jeans which hid his cutie mark if he had one, his fore-hooves were playing a musical string instrument which was made of garbage, and he was muttering something under his breath which may have been a try at singing but sounded more like grunting. When the pony noticed me he looked up “is there something I can do for you?” he asked in a gruff voice. “Ummm I’m looking for my friends, a little unicorn mare an…” I began. “Looking for a… ha, ha, looking for a little mare! Ha, ha, like to find one of those me self” said the pony laughing wheezily. “I have her ticket” I said taking Sweetie Belle’s ticket out of my pocket. “Oh” said the pony taking the ticket and examining it “this is the real deal, official, golden ticket to ride, you keep that in a safe place” he said handing the ticket back to me I put it back in my pocket with my own ticket. “I keeps all me valuables right here” said the pony taking off his left boot which had hole in the bottom “right here in the old Size 13” he stated. “I don’t bother with tickets me self” he added “I rides this rattler as I please. I own this train. O yeah” he said. “it’s like I’m the king of this train, the king of the Hearth’s Ex” he went on. “In fact” the pony said standing up “I is king of the Frozen North!” he exclaimed loudly. “Oh where are my manners, sit down” he insisted offering me a smaller box, I took it hoping he’d seen my friends. The hobo pony carefully took the pot off the fire and poured its contents into a metal cup, “Here” he said offering me the cup “nice cup of java, great for a cold winters night” he said. I looked down at the cup and saw it was much darker and had more bubbles than any coffee I’d ever seen, I took a gulp only to be polite, and then to my shock the hobo pony pulled a dirty sock out of the pot he’d just poured my drink from, I spluttered into the cup “bless you” said the hobo pony. “What about Santa?” I asked. “Who?” responded the Hobo pony. “Santa Hooves, I mean, isn’t he the king of the Frozen North?” I asked. The Hobo pony chuckled “you mean this guy?” he asked taking a dirty Santa hat from his coat and placing it on his head. “Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, oh ho, ho, ho” he said doing a pretty good imitation of the wind-up Santa Hooves I’d seen earlier “ho, ho, ho, ha, ha, ha” he said laughing like a mad pony. “Since you brought him up, what’s your opinion of the big pony?” asked the hobo pony. “Well, I want to believe” I said “but…” “But you don’t wanna be fooled neither, you don’t wanna be bamboozled, hoodwinked, you don’t want the wool pulled over your eyes” said the hobo pony dumping water on the fire, dowsing the it, and somehow was standing up a minute later with all his possessions over his shoulder in a bindle “seeing is believing, am I right?” “But this train, I mean we really are going to Hearth’s Warming town, I mean it is all real, isn’t it?” I asked. “Isn’t it?” asked the hobo. A horrible thought occurred to me “are you saying this is all just a dream?” “You said it kid, not me” said the hobo pony “now come on let’s find those friends of yours.” The Hobo pony turned to me “one last thing, do you believe in ghosts?” he asked me, I shook my head “interesting” he said before going onward. I watched the hobo walk ahead, out of sight “I have to wake up” I said giving myself a light slap on the face “wake up, wake up” I repeated slapping a little harder, “wake up” I said now throwing snow in my face “wake up, wake up, wake up!” “Scootaloo, what in the name of zap apple jam are you doing?” asked a voice, I looked ahead and saw Applebloom. “Come on we gotta find Sweetie Belle.” As we charged through the snow I knew I was slowing us down, I couldn’t help it my mind was racing “could this all really be just a dream? Here I am trying to get across a moving train bound for Hearth’s Warming town it just doesn’t seem…” “Scootaloo” Applebloom cried interrupting my thoughts “look!” I looked ahead we were heading toward a very low cave “up ahead” I said pointing toward a coal deposit right behind the engine “we can jump in and protect ourselves.” Applebloom and I joined hooves “on three” I said, Applebloom nodded “one, two three…” we leapt into the coal deposit, I swear I felt the top of the cave brush my head. “I can’t see a thing” said Applebloom’s voice as we tried to find a way out of the coal. “I think I see a light down there” I said seeing a patch of light where pieces of coal were falling out. We managed to get through the coal and eventually we found ourselves in the main engine room, levers, ropes, and switches were everywhere on the wall, there was a boiler nearby where coal was being burned, and sitting on an adjustable stool was Sweetie Belle! “Hi guys” Sweetie Belle greeted happily. “Sweetie Belle!” said Applebloom and I together. “What are you doing?” I asked. “Driving the train” said Sweetie Belle simply. “They put you in charge?” asked Applebloom. “Yeah the engineers had to go change a light bulb” said Sweetie Belle. Meanwhile the engineers; a thin pony with ridiculously long red beard, and a portly grey pony, were struggling to change the train’s headlight as the train sped along. “That’s the break, that’s the throttle, and that’s the whistle” said Sweetie Belle pointing to a golden lever, a red lever, and a rope. “The whistle?” I asked, Sweetie Belle nodded, I pulled down on the rope she pointed to and sure enough the Hearth’s Warming Express gave a mighty whistle! “I’ve wanted to do that my whole life!” I said excitedly. Meanwhile up ahead the grey pony was now hanging on his friends red beard! “Hold still” the grey pony begged as he finished changing the light-bulb. “Look!” said the bearded pony loudly, his friend looked up ahead and saw a light we were approaching fast! “Stop the train! Stop the train! Stop the train” the grey pony shouted at us but it was hard to hear him over everything else. “What?” I called back. “They want us to stop the train” said Applebloom. “Which one of these is the break?” I asked. “He told me this was it” said Sweetie Belle pointing to a small, gold lever. “Are you sure?” I asked “this red one looks a lot like a break!” “No, no he said this was the break!” said Sweetie Belle. “Are you sure?” I asked. Sweetie Belle was silent, I could tell the pressure was getting to her; she looked from both red to gold nervously. “Sweetie Belle said the engineer said the gold one was the break” Applebloom pointed out. “Well yeah… maybe” said Sweetie Belle nervously. “The break!” said the grey pony loudly. I put my hooves on the red lever, Applebloom looked nervous, and Sweetie Belle was looking from behind her hooves! I was just about to pull the red lever when something in me grabbed the gold lever! Once again the train’s breaks made a mighty Screechhhhhhhhh! The train began to slow down the grey pony braced himself for impact when he stopped just an inch away from a snout! “Caribou?” said the grey pony as the creature gave a mighty blow. “There can be no Hearth’s Warming without the Hearth’s Warming Express arriving on time! Am I the only one who understands that?” said the conductor’s voice, he sounded annoyed as he stepped into the engine room. “You” he said angrily and even though all three of us were now on the floor I knew he was talking to me “I should have known.” Soon he was once again looking me right in the eye similar to how he had the last time I’d stopped the train “young mare, are you determined to make sure that this train never reaches Hearth’s Warming Town?” he demanded. “But look” said Sweetie Belle who was now at the window pointing ahead. The conductor looked outside “Caribou crossing!” he said loudly. The four of us joined the two engineers as they grey pony attempted to count them. “I make that herd to be at least 100,000, maybe even a million. It’s gonna be hours before they clear this track” he said. “A tough nut to crack” said the bearded pony. “We are in some serious jelly” said the conductor. “And a jam” said the grey pony. “Tight spot” said the bearded pony. “Up a creek” said the grey pony. “Up a tree” said the bearded pony. “Lost in the grass” said the grey pony. “I’ll tell you what’s lost in the grass: our…“ the bearded pony began. Suddenly I slipped on the train's frozen metal , I reached for the first thing I could reach which happened to be his beard, he let out a pain filled cry, I let go, and when I did one of the caribou let out a call. The conductor pulled on the beard again and the engineer let out another cry, and when the conductor let go the caribou let out another cry, the conductor pulled on the beard a final time this time the cry was much louder, the caribou let out another similar cry before the entire heard began to move away from the tracks. “Problem solved” said the conductor “all ahead, slow” The engineers returned to the engine room while we and the conductor stayed at the front of the train to make sure all the caribou were off the tracks. Soon The Hearth’s Warming Express gave a mighty whistle and began to press ahead. However our troubles were far from over, back in the engine room the grey pony was beginning to have trouble with the throttle, it got stuck when he tried to move it back to slow down the train, he tried to jiggle it as the train began to pick up speed. “We’re going pretty fast” I pointed out. “Tell the engineer to slow down” said the conductor. Applebloom nodded “slow down!” she shouted to the engine room “watch the speed!” Meanwhile in the engine room the grey engineer was still jiggling the throttle when suddenly the pin attaching the lever to the train’s controls flew out! “Jumping jeepers, the cotter pin sheared off” he said. “What?” asked the bearded engineer as the pin bounced off his hat. “The pin!” said the grey engineer. “Where?” said the bearded engineer. “There” said the grey engineer as he pointed to the pin which had landed on a vent, as he said it the pin fell right through the shaft! “Oh no!” said the engineers together. Meanwhile back with the conductor we were still speeding along! “They can’t hear me” said Applebloom. “They can’t?” asked the conductor, Applebloom shook her head, “oh no” he said, looking ahead there were signs warning trains to slow down in his location. “I don’t like the looks of this” said the conductor “quick under the safety bar” he ordered. “What do we do?” I asked, up ahead the tracks started to move along a steep, winding gorge. “Well” said the conductor as he attached a safety latch to each of us “considering the fact that we have lost contact with the engineers, we are standing totally exposed on the front of the locomotive, the train seems to be accelerating out of control, and we are rapidly approaching Galloping Gorge which just happens to be the steepest downhill grade in Equestria, I suggest we all hold on…” he said as we entered Galloping Gorge looking down into a set of steep and twisting tracks “tightlyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.” It was like nothing I’d ever experienced, I’d thought I’d gotten into some pretty tough ones on my scooter but this put them all to bed, we were speeding up, down, left, right, right, left, up, up, up, up, and down, down, down all the while watching rock formations and landscapes speed by. Meanwhile as we went down a particularly high point the pin in the engine room came out of the duct, the engineers reached for it with everything they had as it flew in all directions as the train sped along, eventually the grey one was propelled in the air right at the key but swallowed it by mistake! “Jiminy Hearth’s Warming, the ice has frozen over the tracks!” said the conductor and ahead was what looked like a frozen lake where the tracks were indeed frozen! The train sped on, but soon it was off the tracks, the passenger carts were shaking back and forth out of control! The bearded engineer hit the other on the back with a shovel; the pin flew out of grey engineer, right out of the train! The pin landed and broke the ice creating a crack which seemed to pursue us! Sweetie Belle almost flew off the train but the conductor caught her slowly slipping off the edge himself until Applebloom caught him taking her to the edge before I grabbed her with all my might but we couldn’t pull ourselves up! I thought we were all going to fall of the train, when suddenly I felt someone grab my coat, I looked back and there was the hobo pony making a silencing gesture to me. Soon the train shifted again and we all got back up safe and sound, I vaguely heard the conductor say “a little adventure huh, young mare good thinking on your part” as I turned and watched the hobo pony vanish in a puff of snow! Meanwhile in the engine room, the bearded pony quickly took of his hat to reveal a ball of hair held together by a pin identical to the pin we’d just lost, he removed the pin, blew away the layer of orange hair that fell down, and repaired the throttle. The grey pony pulled the throttle back with all his might and the train came to a stop, by now the back of the train was facing forward and we on the front were looking back. “Well that’s more like it” said the conductor, he took us to the top of the engine room and pulled open a shat “what in the name of mike?” he said to the engineers, I thought we’d finally found a moment to catch our breaths, I was wrong. We heard a growing cracking sound, we looked back and saw the crack in the ice was now quite large and slowly destroying the layer of ice over the lake! “Get us the blazes out of here!” said the conductor. The engineer pulled a lever and the train started to move backwards, “turn this sled around” begged the conductor, the engineers pulled levers and switches and soon the train was slowly turning around and then it speed forward, right for a tiny opening of tracks. As the train swayed from right to left as the conductor guided the conductor, meanwhile I noticed something slipping out of my pocket. “Careful you’ll lose your ticket” said Sweetie Belle. “That’s not my ticket it’s yours” I said. “My ticket?” asked Sweetie Belle. The ticket seemed to move with the train as the three of us tried to catch it as it fluttered in the air. The ticket chase brought us to look back all three of us grabbed the ticket at the same time and saw the icy crack catch up with the back of the train as the back car began to submerge into the icy water! “Oh no” all three of us said together. “Brace yourselves!” said the conductor as the train fell down, right onto the tracks! “Well that’s more like it” said the conductor hopping down into the engine room most likely to speak with the engineers. “Thanks guys” said Sweetie Belle hugging me and Applebloom “I can’t believe you found my ticket!” “Did somepony say they found a ticket?” asked the conductor as he popped back up to us. Sweetie Belle nodded happily “well, in that case….” said the conductor taking out his trusty ticket puncher “ticket’s please” he said. Sweetie Belle hoofed him her ticket and he went right to work punching out two letters, letting the tiny dots of paper fly behind him before returning the ticket to Sweetie Belle “F T “ Sweetie Belle read. After conversing with the engineers for a while the conductor guided us back to our car, by now all the snow had come off the train leaving only icy metal. “Watch your step. Tricky walking up here, it’s mighty slick, mighty slick I tell you.” he said. I slipped on the ice and nearly fell off but the conductor saved me “there you go. What did I tell you?” he asked. “Years ago, on my first Hearth’s Warming Eve run, I was up on the roof making rounds when I slipped on the ice myself. I reached out for a hand iron, but it broke off. I slipped and fell and yet I did not fall off this train.” “Somepony saved you?” asked Sweetie Belle. “Or something” said the conductor. “An angel” said Sweetie Belle with a smile. “Maybe” said the conductor as he climbed down a ladder to a car. “Wait, wait” I said as I climbed down with Sweetie Belle and Applebloom right behind me “what did she look like? Did you see her?” I asked. “No mam” said the conductor. “But sometimes seeing is believing, and sometimes the most real things in the world are the things we can’t see.” The conductor opened the cart door but inside, there were no ponies, the car was filled with toys, not just any toys these toys were all in very, very bad shape. Each toy had a layer of filth on it, the seats held ripped teddy bears, carts with wheels missing, broken pony figures among other sad looking things, meanwhile the marionettes which looked hopelessly tangled hung from the walls, some of them were missing limbs, while some had parts barely holding on but no matter where you looked you got the feeling of looking at a defeated and neglected warrior. “The forsaken and the abandoned” said the conductor sadly. “Mind your step, now. These poor toys have suffered enough, being left to rust and decay in the back alleys and vacant lots of the world” he added. “What are they doing here?” I asked looking at a toy solider pony whose limbs were barely holding on. “It’s a new concept the boss came up with” said the conductor. “Instead of being thrown away, they’re collected and refurbished. He calls it “rebicycling” something like that.” Sweetie Belle picked up and examined a pony doll which was dressed as a bride, she was missing her right arm and her veil was ripped, she may have been beautiful at one point but now she was so covered in filth it was anypony’s guess. “It makes me wanna cry, seeing toys that were treated this way.” “These hopelessly entangled string puppets and marionettes pose a particular problem, we found the nimble hoofed of our work force here at the Frozen North and they're are the best for working out those knots and tangles” said the conductor as he led Applebloom and Sweetie Belle out, I was close behind them when I felt a wooden hand on my side. “You are just like me, my friend a scrooge!” I jumped back and saw the puppet talking to me it had a grey mane and was wearing red and white stripped pajamas along with a nightcap, in its right hoof it had a wooden candle. “Ebenezer Scrooge, Hearth’s Warming Town, Santa Hooves, and this train…” the puppet said I looked up and saw the hobo pony was operating the puppet through a shaft. “It’s all a bunch of humbug.” The puppet continued “a bout of indigestion, oh yeah I know what you are, you’re a doubter!” it shouted. I screamed as I ran away but I could still hear the puppet shouting “a doubter, you do not believe!” I raced out of the toy car and into the next which turned out to be the car with all the fillies in it. I looked around at the other fillies happily playing or talking about the exciting ride. That’s when I noticed Sweetie Belle and Applebloom in the next car, I went to join them and when Applebloom noticed me she made a silencing motion and pointed ahead. At the platform of the train was Dinky and she singing. “I'm wishing on a star And trying to believe That even though it's far He'll find me Hearth’s Warming Eve I guess that Santa's busy Cause he's never come around I think of him When Hearth’s Warming Comes to Town” Dinky sang. “The best time of the year” Sweetie Belle sang startling Dinky. When everyone comes home With all this Hearth’s Warming cheer It's hard to be alone Putting up the Hearth’s Warming tree With friends who come around It's so much fun When Hearth’s Warming Comes to Town” Sweetie Belle gave Dinky an encouraging smile. “Presents for the children Wrapped in red and green” Sweetie Belle sang. “All the things I've heard about But never really seen” sang Dinky. “No one will be sleeping on The night of Hearth’s Warming Eve” sang Sweetie Belle. “Hoping Santa's on his way” Sweetie and Dinky sang together. “When Santa's sleigh bells ring” sand Sweetie. “I listen all around” sang Dinky. “The herald angels sing” Sweetie sang. “I never hear a sound” sang Dinky. “When all the dreams of children” sang Sweetie. “Once lost will all be found” sang Dinky. “That's all I want When Hearth’s Warming Comes to Town” sang Sweetie “That's all I want When Hearth’s Warming Comes to Town” the two sang together. Dinky looked back at me and Applebloom we both smiled “look” said Sweetie Belle. The skies were filling with the famous lights of the Frozen North. “Hey, you three” said the conductor as he stepped through the car, “we’ve just crossed into the Northern Circle” he told us. “And so you see? Those lights over there?” he asked the four of us looked where he was pointing and saw what looked like a large ship, lit up as it crossed the frozen sea. “There” said the conductor “is Hearth’s Warming Town.”