Chapter 5 - A Bridge Not Far Enough
CHAPTER 5
A Bridge Not Far Enough
Dash gripped the cold, wet metal of the window frame with all of her strength as the engine shook violently around her. Every pipe, valve, and panel was vibrating to its own rhythm, adding a squeal of grinding metal to the deafening noise of brakes and wheels and storm. The volume of sound was as painful as the battering itself.
Knowing what lay at the end of the bridge, she couldn't help but imagine it: the engine plowing into the solid mass of muddy earth and stone, the cars crashing together and dragging each other off the bridge, the twisted metal plummeting into the cloud-filled gorge below.
The thought of saving herself and flying free from the train didn't even cross her mind. Tears of fear and recrimination flowed from her tightly shut eyes.
If only I had gotten to the train sooner, I could have prevented this. It's all my fault!
A harsh cry of anguish burst from her throat to be drowned in a sea of noise, lost to her own ears but filling her mind and spirit with its force.
Then she was ripped from her hoofhold and thrown viciously against the metalwork at the front of the cab. The train swayed, and the shrieks of tortured metal filled the world.
This is the end.
———
"We've stopped!" shouted the engineer, too loudly.
It felt like half the world was gone. The bone-rattling vibrations had ceased, as had all the mechanical sounds of the train. All that remained were the sounds of the wind and rain and the hiss of water turning to steam on the hot boiler metal. It was as if Dash's head was suddenly filled with cotton.
She groaned, trying to move her body without creating even more pain. The sudden blare of the steam whistle, seemingly right behind her, jarred her eyes open and propelled her forward and away from the source of the sound.
The engineer was again at his controls, venting steam and doing other things she knew nothing about. She looked towards the rear to see the state of the chain of cars behind her, but she could only see the top of the first—which told her nothing except that one was still there.
The engineer joined her at the back of the engine's cab, fresh soot on his face, his brow furrowed. "I think we hit something."
"There was a mudslide at the end of the bridge."
All of his previous timidness gone, he frowned and looked back along the side of the train through the cab's window. His rust-colored mane rippled in the wind like a flickering flame. He seemed more concerned and thoughtful now, glancing between his gauges and the gloom-hidden train behind them. "If we did, I can't back her up till I'm sure every car is still firmly seated on the tracks. If one has come off, trying to back off the bridge would..." He trailed off, and Dash had no desire to ask for further details.
A low-pitched rumble reverberated around them, more through the body of the train and bridge than through the turbulent air. The look of deep worry on the engineer's face propelled her once more into motion.
Dash lowered her goggles. "I'll do the inspection. What do I look for?"
"Make sure every wheel is firmly and completely on the rails. All eight cars, both sides. If all's good, I'll get us off this bridge. I don't like how it's groaning in this wind with the weight of the entire train on it."
Dash nodded and moved to the back of the cab. She tensed to spring up into the howling wind—then leapt.
A solid wall of air punched her as she cleared the cab's roof. Her wings crumpled and she tumbled wildly into the churning clouds below the bridge.
She immediately lost all sense of direction. Her battered brain spun even faster than her out-of-control body. Her rainbow mane and tail tangled wetly about her torso and wings as she plummeted like a colorful stone into the depths of the gorge.
She struggled wildly for a moment, completely disoriented, until some instinct told her to relax. Dash ceased her struggles and felt the wind free her from her entangling hair. Her head cleared as she flung her wings wide to stabilize her tumble through the thick fog.
She was blind in the fog, and she couldn't tell which way was up. However, she was willing to trust her instincts again and assume her current orientation was correct. She thrust at the wet air and began to ascend.
She went up, and up, and up. She burst out of the blinding fog only to be drenched by the horizontal downpour above. She kept climbing until, through a break in the slanting rain, she could see the lights of the train below. Two trains. She could see the lights of the work crew's engine and the longer chain of lights of the train itself.
It did reach the mudslide. It must have lost the last of its momentum to the debris spread across the bridge, bringing it to a violent stop. She could see the tiny figures of the work crew gathered around the end of the bridge, probably calling out to the engineer, their words lost to the wind.
The rest of the train formed a long line of shimmering color though the grayness. She counted the cars before the clouds moved back in and obscured her view. Eight. Good.
Dash aimed herself at the memory of the train's location and pushed herself into the howling winds.
———
In the lee of the train where the wind was somewhat blocked, Dash could better maintain her position against the storm. She made her way down the line, carefully inspecting each wheel as she passed. Above her, she could see movement though the lit windows of the passenger compartments, but she focused on her inspection and didn't let herself get distracted.
All was well until she reached the rear axle of the seventh car.
It's off the tracks.
The same was true for the front axle of the caboose.
She flew around the rear of the caboose, grabbing at its railing as the winds forced her back. Panting, she hung there, until she decided there was no way she could fly along the windward side to inspect the train—and it didn't matter now, anyway. The train was going nowhere.
Glancing at the rear door of the caboose in front of her, Dash briefly considered returning to the engine through the train, but she knew she needed to get the results of her inspection back to the engineer—before he panicked and decided to risk a reverse anyway. Going through the train would mean far more delay than she could spare. She'd see her friends soon enough.
Dash caught her breath, then she let go of the railing and allowed the wind to blow her back to the leeward side. She then raced up the line as fast as she could.
She allowed herself the small indulgence of looking through the windows as she hurtled back towards the engine, but while she could see many indistinct and blurred faces looking out of the rain-streaked glass, she couldn't spot her friends with any certainty.
She landed behind the engineer while he had his head stuck out the window, yelling ineffectually towards the ground crew on the cliff edge ahead. She tapped his flank to get his attention, and he once again banged his head in surprise, this time on the window frame.
"Can't hear you come and go over this wind," said the engineer, rubbing the top of his head with one hoof.
Dash told him of the state of the seventh and eighth cars and saw his face fall from hope to despair as she did.
"We can't stay on this bridge. It's not safe!" he protested.
Dash considered the idea of flying the passengers to the relative safety of the mudslide and the work crew's engine, but she could barely fly herself in this storm, let alone carry somepony else. It was impossible. She'd never felt so helpless in her life.
I can't do this on my own.
That was when inspiration struck her. "My friends! Together we'll be able to think of something!" And without waiting for his reaction, she slipped back out into the wind shadow of the train and made her perilous way towards the first passenger carriage.
———
The anxious fears of the train's passengers made most of them start in alarm when the forward door to their car suddenly burst open, slammed by the wind, blowing in rain and a drenched and wounded Wonderbolt.
After a moment's shocked silence, something happened that was the last thing Dash would have expected.
They cheered.
———
Wonderbolt Rainbow Dash made her way through the excitedly babbling passengers—a sea of strange curious strangers. She looked around for any sign of her friends. She was pelted with worried questions: "What's happening?" "Why have we stopped?" "Are we going to be late to Manehatten?"
Dash tried to answer their questions, without giving them any real information, as she made her way through the car, using her wet wings to gently clear a path. She tried to keep her voice both comforting and serious but had no clear idea how she was actually coming across. This sudden attention and acclaim was more than she could take at the moment.
Inside her head, Dash had a bark of a laugh at herself. She once would have basked in this attention—and would again sometime in the future—but right now it was the last thing she needed. She needed to think. She needed her friends.
The junction between carriages, once Dash had escaped the clamorous passengers, was more treacherous than she expected. The gaps between cars acted as small wind tunnels, intensifying the force of wind and water.
She grabbed the railing tightly. The wind was strong enough to shove her off the train and into the gorge below if she lost her grip.
Each car had a railed metal porch with steps down on either side. A gap in the railing made travel from one car to another a simple matter of jumping over the coupling that held the cars together.
Simple, she thought, when there isn't this wind to deal with.
She kept her wet wings closed tight against her sides to lessen her profile to the wind and kept a tight grip on each hoofhold. The grasping tendrils of air tried to yank her mane and tail out by the roots, whipping them into gyrating rainbow streamers next to her.
The jump over the coupling junction between the two railings was the trickiest part, but she accounted for the wind and slipped only slightly on the wet metal porch upon landing on the second carriage.
Inside, the response was nearly identical to the first—though this time Dash kept the door from slamming open. She received more cheers at the appearance of a Wonderbolt and more questions and pleas for information.
Again Dash answered as best she could while giving no additional reason to worry—or panic. She spoke empty, consoling words that were more to soothe than inform.
It was in the gap between the second and third cars that Dash found the conductor leaning out the leeward side. Clutching the railing to hold himself in place, he waved a metal lantern back and forth. The light's red lens and hood made it very directional, and he turned it as it swung, sending pulses of intense light up towards the engine.
He paused for a bit, peering out into the darkness, then waved his lantern a few more times before turning around.
He started when he turned around and saw her, but he recovered quickly and waved her towards the third car.
Dash made the jump and entered the next car, once more controlling the door and holding it open for the conductor as he followed her in. When she turned around, she went weak at the knees in relief.
She had found her friends.
———
In their excitement to see her, they all spoke at once, a torrent of voices Dash took immense comfort in hearing even if her rain-clogged ears couldn't make out one from another. Relief to be with them flooded through her, draining the last of her strength. She staggered, and the conductor caught her and guided her to a seat.
Fluttershy gasped, "You're hurt!" and rushed to her side.
Seeing Dash's state, Twilight quickly hushed the others, and Applejack asked the first clear and understandable question, full of concern. "What happened to ya, sugarcube?"
What's happened to me? thought the bruised and battered Dash. What's happened to me... There was just no way for her to answer that. Too much. That's what.
Seeing Dash at a loss for words, Twilight asked a better, easier question: "What's happened to the train?"
That one Dash could answer, but before she could do more than open her mouth, the conductor chimed in. "I believe I can answer that for you, now. I spoke with the engineer by lantern. There was a mudslide caused by the rain..." He proceeded to give a clear and factual account of their present situation.
Three cheers for lantern-talk, Dash thought, slightly giddy from relief.
The conductor stopped short of telling them about the off-track wheels and the fact that they couldn't reverse off the bridge, probably to keep them from being alarmed. However, Dash needed their help, so they needed all the facts.
"It's worse than that," Dash said. The conductor looked at her with concern, but she raised a hoof to stop him. "I need their help. They need to know everything." After a pause, he nodded, and she filled in the remaining details.
"... And this bridge may not hold the weight of the train in this wind. We have to get everypony off, and the storm's too strong for me to fly them to safety." She added plaintively, "I don't know what to do."
"I—I can teleport some. But I don't know how many." Twilight turned to the conductor. "How many passengers are there?"
"One hundred sixty-three," he immediately replied, and Twilight blanched at the prospect.
"It'll have to be short range only. Is there somewhere safe nearby?"
The conductor said, "There's a work crew dealing with the mudslide ahead. They've set up some temporary shelter and are working to build a walkway past the engine to the first car."
That was news to Dash. Maybe there's hope yet.
"But that's going to take some time, if it's even possible in all this." The conductor shook his head. "We don't know how long we have."
As if to punctuate his remark, a sudden violent gust rocked the train and they heard and felt the deep, wooden groan of the overstressed bridge. The sound vibrated through their hooves, unnerving Dash with its power and implied threat.
"We've gotta round everypony up and move'em to the front cars. This bridge should be stronger closer to the ends," suggested Applejack, jumping to her hooves. At nods from the others, she headed towards the rear door. "C'mon, Pinkie Pie. Ah'll need you to help keep everypony calm."
"Okey-dokey-lokie!" said the ever-chipper Pinkie, and she bounded after Applejack down the aisle.
"Be careful crossing the gaps between cars—the winds are fierce!" warned Dash. "Did you bring your rope?"
It was, Dash thought, a rather silly question. Hat and rope were every bit a part of Applejack as her cutie mark. "Ah never leave home without it! Don't ya'll worry. I'll get them through—safe and sound!" Applejack said. Then she and Pinkie disappeared into the storm beyond the door.
Twilight also stood up and headed for the other end of the car. "I should get as close as I can to the destination, so I'll start with the passengers up front."
Dash started to get up to follow her, but Rarity and Fluttershy held her down. As tired as she was, that wasn't very hard. "You have to rest," insisted Fluttershy with uncharacteristic forcefulness.
"And let us treat your wounds," added Rarity, tearing her shawl into strips with her magic.
Dash tried to resist, to insist that she had more work to do, that she was needed—but they'd have none of that. She had to admit, when even Fluttershy could hold her down, she was probably not much use to anypony.
Soon the first of Applejack's soggy refugees from the rear cars started clambering in out of the torrent of wind and rain. They were tied together by a length of rope and led by a bouncing Pinkie. "That's it! You're doing fine, everypony. Remember to stay with your Train Buddy!"
Dash felt a surge of immense pride in her friends. She knew they'd know what to do. Together they could do anything.
She didn't notice her eyes were closing, and a moment later, she didn't notice anything at all.
———
The crowds are cheering her name: "Rain-bow-Dash! Rain-bow-Dash!" The Wonderbolts lift her up and carry her around the field on their backs as she waves to the wild onlookers. Golden beams of sunlight shine through her rainbow mane and reflect from the trophy being presented to her for her heroic deeds. Trumpets sound off in a rousing fanfare, but it sounds out of key, sour, screaming... ponies are screaming... the stands start to collapse... the Wonderbolts drop her...
She was thrown from her seat onto the floor of the car as the whole bridge rocked. The cannon sound of mighty timbers splintering filled the air with a deafening crackle. Dash was instantly awake and on her hooves, plowing through the yelling, off-balance passengers towards the back of the carriage.
There she found Pinkie Pie, who was frantically untying the last pony from a rope snaking out the open door. It ran out through the horizontal rain and streaks of rushing cloud, crossing the gap and entering the next car in the line—a car that was now tipping and rocking out of time with the rest of the train.
"Pinkie Pie! Applejack?"
Pinkie's mouth moved, but Dash couldn't hear her over the din of what she now realized was a fast-collapsing bridge. Pinkie then turned to look out the door with more worry etched into her face than Dash had ever seen there before.
Without a second thought, Dash launched herself out the door, making the leap to the other car in a single wing-powered vault. She smashed into the opposite door frame, pushed out of line by the wind. Scrambling for purchase, she swung in through the open door to find a family of five panicked ponies huddled together just inside. They were utterly terrified and clinging desperately to each other or to whatever hoofhold they could find in the swiftly tilting car.
But there was no sign of Applejack.
Dash's gaze followed the rope through the length of the carriage and out the far door.
There she saw the small figure of Applejack—her hat gone, ponytail undone and streaming behind her—standing on the next carriage's porch and frantically bucking loose the coupling that connected the two cars together.
There was a single, frozen moment as time seemed to slow to a crawl, sound and sensation muffled and distant. Their eyes met, and Dash saw an expression on her dear friend's face of such grim inevitability that her heart froze in her chest.
An instant later, Applejack, the rear of the train, and the tons of wooden scaffolding supporting them dropped out of sight as the center of the bridge collapsed.
———
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527682
Oh, if you insist.
*whips up another chapter from moon dust and gossomer*
There ya go. Enjoy!
527731
Yay! Oh, you. Always going out of your way to make others content.
All joking aside, this truly is an amazing piece of literature. There's so much attention-grabbing detail! Please continue writing marvelous stories such as this. I look forward to the next chapter.
527777
Another chapter??? Okay, now you otta give me some time.
You just got lucky this time.
I. Can't. Believe. This. A new chapter!!!! YAY!
528029
Oh, take as much time as you need. I'm patient.
But don't take too long. 
OH MY GOD
No... don't tell me this is the end
530788
Oh, it's not the end! I know I said it would have five chapters, but chapter three became three chapters all by itself. And I'm still not quite done with it. Writing... It has a will of it's own, it seems.
More to come!!!
woohoo, cant wait for next update
531082
I know exactly what you mean. my latest fanfic, while currently sitting at 9k words, has yet to reach even a reference to the original inspiration. It's all still chapter one lol
I'm not sure what happened at the end there. Did Applejack disconnect the last car? Was she trying to buy time for the others by sacrificing herself?
–"We've stopped!" shouted the engineer, too loudly.
Minor nitpick; This seemed like some rather odd wording.
During the last scene, I had a bit of a hard time understanding what was going on. I got the general idea, but it was all worded a bit confusingly. The problem about the rather chopped-up scenes is still there,too; The constant page-breaks just seem unnecessary, and end up making the pacing rather weird. Other than zat, I'm still enjoying this. It's one of those fics that I keep returning to, eager for more.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!
NOOOOO AJ!
...
Shit!