//------------------------------// // Royal Recollections // Story: Lonesome Whistle // by Vauclains Understudy //------------------------------// Most ponies never normally gave a second thought about the switch in engines for the express. There were times when 2398 was suddenly stricken with some form of ailment, and his post had to be filled by another engine. On this day, however, with everypony knowing about the incident with Gallow, the absence of the familiar Bavarian engine and his driver from the head of the express was obvious to all. Some of the younger ponies wanted to stop by the roundhouse and console the poor driver, but the public was of course barred from railway property for safety reasons. Nevertheless, some of the other railway ponies stopped by the roundhouse and gave Ironside consolation cards that some of the regular express passengers had written in order to try and cheer him up. Ironside was glad that there were ponies out there that cared for him, but he was still haunted by the events of the day, and he knew that he was going to lose some serious sleep over this. Since it was now late autumn, Princess Luna was raising the moon much earlier. She did welcome the change of seasons, since the ponies of Equestria were now given more time to appreciate her work of crafting the beautiful night sky. She had long since lost her jealousy of Celestia’s position as the sun goddess, but her favorite time of year was always around winter, when short days and long nights gave astronomers and stargazers alike more opportunity to study the wonders of the night sky. Once the moon and stars were in place, Luna landed in order to get a better view of her handiwork. She had become more critical, since she had been out of practice for a whole millennium, and didn’t want any flaws in the constellations. Once Luna was certain that all the stars and planets were in their rightful places, she figured she’d visit some of her newfound friends in Ponyville. Twilight was bound to be trying out her new reflector telescope since her old refractor was in for lens adjustments. The princess trotted down a beaten path that led her behind the roundhouse. She watched the little yard engine race about, setting up and taking apart trainsets. The amount of modernization that Equestria had experienced in the 1000 years since her departure never ceased to amaze Luna, and the railways were of particular interest. She was enamored with trains to the point that she actually commissioned a royal train for her and Celestia. While Celestia was fully on-board with the idea, it didn’t take long for the princesses to find out just how impractical a royal train was for two winged unicorns. Not only that, their chariots were always on hand, and they were less of a pain to maintain, mechanically speaking. Unsurprisingly, the royal train was decommissioned, and Luna had to reluctantly fire the engineer from his job. The engineer in question was now sitting outside the roundhouse, sipping German schnapps from a canteen he held in his hoof. As Princess Luna approached the roundhouse, she noticed him, and a bright smile spread across her face. “Alexander? Is that really you?” she asked. Ironside’s ears perked up; apart from his family, there were only two other ponies that he let call him by his real name, and this voice certainly wasn’t Celestia’s. He turned his head quickly, and an equally bright smile spread across his face. “Luna!” he exclaimed in delight, “Hey!” He ran up to the princess and eagerly jumped into her awaiting arms. “It is so wonderful to see you again,” said Luna, “We have not seen you for so long. Were you successful in acquiring a job?” “Luna, you don’t need to speak so formerly,” replied Ironside. “Sorry, Alex,” Luna chuckled, “It’s a habit of mine.” “Well, there’s nothing wrong with it,” he said, “It’s just a little out of place. Oh, and yes, I did get a new job. I’m currently the express train driver for the Ponyville division.” “Wonderful,” the princess replied, “I knew your royal connections would get you somewhere.” “I was your engineer for one year, Luna,” Ironside stated, “That’s hardly a royal connection.” “Still, it’s a claim no other engineer in Equestria can make,” Luna pointed out. Ironside couldn’t disagree with that fact: he was still the only royal engineer ever. “I assume you’ve become acquainted with Twilight Sparkle and her friends?” Luna inquired. “Oh yeah,” Ironside replied, “We see each other from time to time.” “I was actually just on my way to visit her,” the princess said, “Would you like to come along?” The smile on Ironside’s face suddenly vanished. Luna was confused. She never thought visiting Twilight would discourage Ironside from tagging along. “Is something the matter?” she asked him. He sighed, hoping in vain that he wouldn’t have to explain the day’s events to her. But he answered her nevertheless. “I… I…” he began. He turned his face away, unable to look his friend in the eye. “… I ran over a filly with the express,” he finally stated. He took a quick glance at Luna. Her eyes seemed like they were about to pop out of her head, and her jaw was fully slack. Ironside quickly turned his glance away from her again. Luna held her expression for about five seconds, then blinked and closed her mouth, though her eyes remained widened. “Nurse Redheart asked Twilight and Spike to perform surgery on the girl,” he stated, “I don’t know how well the operation went. Honestly, I think it was more of an autopsy.” Applejack and Pinkie had told him that Gallow was sent to the ER, but they did not yet know of the details or the aftermath. Ironside still assumed her to be dead. All of a sudden, he felt Luna’s hoof place itself upon his shoulder. He looked up at her face again, and was met this time with a comforting smile. “We should probably still go,” she replied, “Maybe Twilight can explain the situation with the filly. If she still is dead, at least you’ll have some closure.” Ironside could have cared less for closure at this point, since it would already be obvious as to the cause of death. Nevertheless, he took Luna’s advice and began to follow her down the path. “Uh, hold on a sec, Luna,” Ironside stated suddenly, “Almost forgot.” Trotting back to where he had been sitting before, he picked up his canteen and took another swig. “What is that?” the princess asked. “Oh, it’s schnapps,” the engineer replied. “Schnapps?” Luna asked, “You really shouldn’t be drinking that stuff.” “Don’t worry,” Ironside replied, “I’m off for the rest of the day. I only started drinking it now, anyway. You can have some if you want.” Luna decidedly picked up the canteen with her magic, popped the lid off, and took a swig. She had heard of schnapps, but had never actually drunk it before. Her eyes widened, and she quickly retracted the canteen from her lips. “Oh my!” she exclaimed. “Heh, yeah, strong stuff,” the engineer replied. Luna figured it best not to take another sip of the stuff, but she still held the canteen by her magic. She was intrigued by the designs on the sides. “You like it?” Ironside asked. Luna lit up her horn’s tip and examined the patterns. On one side, she found miniature number plates from all the engines that Ironside had driven throughout his career, including 2398, whose number was located at the top. As she rotated the canteen to examine the other side, she stared for a second, and then smiled. Opposite the number plates were three cutie marks. On top were two marks: one was the bent-ray sun mark of Celestia, and the other was the crescent moon and blotted night sky mark of Luna. Underneath the royal crests was the third mark: a black steam locomotive passing over a level crossing complete with cross-buck. The three marks were enclosed within a heart etched into the metal of the canteen. Luna looked back at Ironside, still smiling. She was deeply touched by how much she and her sister meant to Ironside. “Why a heart, though?” she asked him with a raised eyebrow. “Eh, it was Fluttershy’s idea,” Ironside said, “She can be a real romantic sometimes.” “Well, it suits us,” the princess replied, “You were one of the first friends I made since my return to power.” “As far as I can tell, I was one of your only friends,” Ironside pointed out. Luna nodded. She and Ironside had spent much time together in Canterlot during the time of the royal train. Since the train was rarely ever called out, Ironside spent much of his time getting Luna acquainted with the modernized world she once called home. As a result, Ironside became very close friends with Luna, and vice-versa. It also explained her reluctance to fire him from the position of royal engineer. After being pressured by both Ironside and Celestia, Luna finally conceded, but only on the condition that there be left provision to reactivate the train if the need ever arose, which the other two both agreed to. The two ponies resumed their journey towards the library. Ironside still felt uneasy about visiting in case the news he received about Gallow was exactly what he feared. Luna could tell just as easily as Pinkie could that he was still nervous. She wrapped one of her wings around him. “You should not worry so much, Alex,” she spoke softly, “I am quite certain that Twilight did everything in her power to help that little pony.” Ironside nodded. He was familiar with the power of Twilight’s magic, and how much of it she could control. For once, he actually began to feel hopeful. Luna looked at her friend, and was delighted to see a smile on his face again.