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// Coal-fired 4014 
// Story: Smokestack Lightin' 
// by Logic Flip 
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"Can this thing go any faster?"

"In case you haven't noticed this ain't the Crystal Express." Ashpan snapped as he threw on the sander. Hopefully what they used to provide grip druing icy weather could give them that little extra push. "She was build for freight not speed."
It took less than 15 minutes for the small Appaloosa steamer to get to speed yet it was clear by the very distant column of black smoke that they were very far behind.

While it wasn't easy for Ashpan to keep up his duties on a less than 10 second nap, it was clear to him that the strain was even worse on the locomotive. Every chug of the four driving wheels seemed to cause an unsettling pop or hiss or rattle that he hadn't heard before tonight. It was clear to him that they were putting her under the most tenuous strain of her long service and he would be the first to admit he was worried. This engine wasn't designed for this kind of speed and if even one thing malfunctioned the result would be disastrous. 

Yet in In Time's case she hadn't slowed down even for a moment. She went from shoveling coal to checking the gauges to twisting whatever lever, valve, or knob on the backhead Ash told her to in order to keep their own engine from turning into a highspeed bomb on them.

Slowly, ever so slowly, the began to gain some ground. The smoke trail was getting thicker the longer they went and soon the horizon in front of them was a little less barren every time Ashpan looked out for a glance. "Alright, we're gaining. What's the plan?"

"Shlimple." In Time slurred through the shovel in her mouth. She spit the coal coated shaft of wood out of her mouth, teeth blackened from the dust. "Simple," She repeated, leaning out of the cab to catch a glance at the monster of a train ahead. "Since we're on a adjacent track, you're going to get along side that engine's cab and I'll fly across and shut on it's brakes."

Ashpan nodded. It was a risky plan and if anyone knew this, it was In Time. A simple jump between trains was hard enough when they were not pushing...The earth pony checked the speed and felt his insides twist a little at the needle pushing against the gauge limits. "You can't! We're going 45. The wind resistance alone will throw you like a ragdoll!" He may not have been a Pegasus but he didn't have to be to know that the air pressure between two locomotives would be insane at 30 mph. They were going 15 miles faster with the air being ripped up in Celestia knows how many ways by that larger monolith of an engine. It was the reason pegasi flew in from above.

"I don't have much a choice, you and I know that that uphill grade won't last long." She said firmly. "We've got less than a mile, at most before it hits that long downgrade and Luna knows how we would stop it then."

The thought of letting In Time make leap of faith with the odds against her, left a bad taste in Ashpan's mouth. He didn't like it but he was sure the pegasus next to him liked it even less. Running a hoof through her white mane which was now thoroughly smudged with coal dust, she went back to shoveling. 

The wheels squealed as their grip was pushed to the maximum as they finally caught the first passenger carriage. One by one they passed twelve carriages before they reached past the locomotive's tender almost at the exact same time both trains reached the grade.

The difference in power was immediate. The other train continued to plow on while they began to lose ground again.Other engine seemed to roar in a predatory manner, rumbling and nipping at the mere fractions of yards separated them, making the steamer's own sound like fearful whimpers in comparison. 

"Ponyfeathers!" Ashpan cursed as the smaller steamer swayed and lurched with each chug from the larger locomotive. It was as if the giant was trying to blow them off the rails from sheer force alone. The sounds that had made the earth pony nervous had grown more frequent. Too frequent.   "If you're going to do it, do it now!" He shouted above all the noise.

In Time nodded and spread her wings. Ashpan watched as she positioned herself carefully and his breath caught as she jumped. 

For a moment, a single horrifying moment, In Time tipped awkwardly as the air caught under her wings and he was sure the next thing he would see would be her being sucked out of sight. 

With a single pump of her wings, she straightened out and landed in the locomotive's cab. She turned to face him from across the space, eyes practically glowing.

We did it. She seemed to say.

However their victory was short lived.

Ashpan was nearly thrown into the backhead as a metallic agonized wail sounded, bringing all his thoughts to a standstill. For a second, he was sure they had just jumped the tracks that was until he noticed the orange glow coming from the outside. He hadn't heard In Time scream, just noise as something in the engine ripped from the inside with a loud KER-POW. He righted himself and watched as the everything on the backhead began to physically move, a number of connections were strained to the breaking point. One by one there were various twangs and pops and horrific tearing sounds, smoke billowed out the firebox. He jerked out of the way of the cloud and put his head out of the cab, towards the other locomotive, somehow the dangerously overstrained steamer still keeping pace, and saw a the pegasus' hoof stretched out towards him.

Her mouth was moving, he couldn't hear it but he could read her lips well enough. "JUMP!"

He didn't hesitate. As the orange glow got brighter he kicked off his cab platform and jumped  towards her. The air whipped around him and  his heart leap into his throat as he felt gravity slowly begin to drag in down.

"Got ya!" In Time shouted as their hooves came together. With a swift yank, Ashpan was pulled inside the monstrous locomotive's cab. The orange glow turned yellow and he turned around just in time to see the steamer, his steamer, burst into flame.

Cab, boiler and all.

With a painful screech the locomotive dropped out of sight.

Both he and In Time heard the derailment further down the tracks.

"I swear, I'm taking all my vactation days and sick days off when this is over." He finally said, adrenaline probably being the only reason why he was still standing right now.

"I'll be there right next to you. I hear the beaches on the southern griffon border are nice this time of year." In Time chuckled, turning to the backhead. "Okay, now how do we stop this thing?"

Ashpan turned to the controls and, not for the first time since this whole ordeal started, balked. The backhead, the cab, everything in here was huge. Most of the controls were far out of his reach as if this thing had be designed by a minotaur or something. "I don't know."

In Time leaned out of the cab. "Better figure it out fast. The peak's coming."

No way, not this soon. He looked out with her and there it was. The sudden absent sight of a horizon, just a bit of sky that was getting closer and closer.

Quickly, he ran some scenarios through his head. "Okay, we're going to have to ride this out to Ponyville junction."

"What? Are you crazy? That's a five hour trip away." In Time responded. Yeah, he probably was. "We need to stop this train and reverse it to Appaloosa."

"Look, we need to clear the mainline as soon as possible," he explained. "And I for one, don't know how to slow this thing down, I need time to figure it out. Plus we can't go back there might be wreckage on the tracks for all we know." 

In Time looked ready to argue before her frown faltered and twisted into a grimace just before she brought a hoof to her face. "I hope you know what you're doing."

Ashpan looked over the wall-like backhead. "So do I."




It was morning in Ponyville. Celestia's sun was glowing brilliantly and Twilight was cooking for once, much to her assistant's delight. The purple alicorn would be the first to admit that she wasn't the best when it came to working in the kitchen. In fact, if she was absolutely honest her attempts at preparing food had resulted in some...unique experiences.

Her mother still wouldn't let her help cook Hearth's Warming dinner, new wings or no. But after Golden Oaks destruction and the subsequent discovery of a fully stocked kitchen in the new Friendship Castle, she had taken it upon herself to learn. She could only go out for hayburgers for so long before she got sick of them. She had to learn how to cook, not only because she wanted to, but because she needed to.

And learning meant experimentation.

And experimentation meant mistakes.

A lot of mistakes.

Mistakes led to messes that lasted for days.

Ones that even Spike refused to help clean up.

This morning however was not one of those days.

Her horn glowed as cooking utensils and food flew in between appliances. Every move she made with her magic was not wasted, gliding from pan to the preservation cooler to the counter, chopping, frying and baking. So much finesse with just the right amount of direction, and she was humming a tune the whole time while she did it. 

"Wow." Spike's voice came from the doorway leading into the kitchen.

Twilight didn't even skip a beat. "Spike, good to see you're up. Take a seat at the table. I'll have something done in a few."

"All that, uh, practice seems to be paying off, huh?"

"I would hope so She paused to sprinkled salt on the creation in the pan, mixed it then took a small taste from the end of the spoon. “Good,” she mumbled to herself and then reaching over the counter with her magic pulled out a pot and started to boil the carrots. "You can only mess up as many times as it takes to improve."

"Hopefully, its better than yesterdays improvement." The green dragon shuddered, adding under his breath. "I didn't think it was possible to burn gems like that."

Twilight pretended not to hear that last part, pulling down a pair of plates from the cupboard overhead. She laid a single serving on each plate and set one on Spike's side of the table before taking a seat on her side.

"You take the first bite." was the first thing out of the dragon's mouth.

"Oh, come on, Spike. It was only one time."

"Yeah and my stomach still has a restraining order on me for the abuse."

Twilight was about to say something else when several loud knocks came from down stairs. Before Twilight could even stand up something shockingly black pony flew in through the window. "Twilight! We got trouble!" She recognized the voice and slight patches of blue all at once.

"R-Rainbow?" She asked, uncertain if her eyes were playing tricks on her. She knew the pegasus normally didn't care much for her appearance but she never would be caught dead looking like this. "What happened?"

"Some metal monster just blew my cloud house apart, that's what happened!" Dash growled. "It's in the station now."

Twilight gave her friend an incredulous look. "Do you mean a train blew your house apart?"

"I would hardly call it that."

The alicorn sighed. So much for breakfast. "Spike get on my back." She then turned back to Rainbow. "Show me."