The Polar Express: Dual Blade's Journey to the North Pole

by TwinSwords79

The Rooftop

Dual went back on the outer platform again and reached out, grabbing the ladder that was on the right of the platform, he then grabbed the platform's fence bar and placed his foot on the bar as he grabbed the ladder with his other hand too, cold strong wind and snow was hitting his face along with making his black mane blow around violently as it blew through it.

He threw himself over the railing and he swung his feet to the steps on the ladder, he looks down and he can see the wheel spinning very visibly and fast on the track, he even looked behind him and there was a huge iceberg near him, making it a very narrow feeling as he starts climbing quickly to the roof of the train.

He grabbed the final railing and pulled himself on top of the train, standing up he sees the shadows of Shining and Virtus. His mane and robe were moving around everywhere violently due to the wind as he slowly pulled her ticket out of his pocket and held it out in front of him, the wind blowing it back a bit in his hand.

"HEY!!!" He yelled at the top of his lungs. "VIRTUS!!! I FOUND YOUR TICKET!!!! WAIT!!!!"

They didn't hear him due to the wind and the sound of the train being too strong and loud, but he kept yelling anyway. "HEY!!!!!" The shadows and the lantern light disappeared into the blizzard as the colt kept calling out. "WAIT!!!! VIRTUS, ITS DUAL BLADE!!!! I FOUND YOUR TICKET!!!"

Dual puts his arm in front of his face as the strong wind from the blizzard continued to blow through his robe, mane, and pajama pants violently. he starts moving very slowly on the roof of the train as the loud sounds of the wheels rattling on the tracks and the strong wind of the blizzard slightly deafened his hearing.

His feet and ankles were buried deep into the snow as he followed the footprints of Shining and Virtus.

While moving, a light shined in his face, he smiled a bit thinking that Shining and Virtus stopped but looks confused when he saw the light was just a lit fireplace, with logs and everything. In front of the fire was a red dragon playing a hurdy-gurdy, he had an old open trench coat with a gray sweater inside, a gray scarf around his neck, a wool hat, gray pants, and black boots, he also had old gloves on, one of the gloves was showing his index finger and his thumb, in fact, with all of that on...he looked like a hobo.

Dual dropped his arm and was confused as he stared at the mysterious hobo, who noticed him and looked up from his instrument.

"Is there something I can do for you?" asked the dragon hobo in a scruffy voice.

Dual slowly walked up, a little surprised that the sounds of the train and the wind were quieter now to the point where he could hear the hobo perfectly.

"I-I'm looking for Virtus..."

"Virtus who?"

"She's uh...a wolf girl..."

"A g-?" The hobo then started laughing. "HAHAHAHAHAHA, Ain't we all?" He continued laughing but he stopped when Dual held up his hand and showed him the ticket Virtus needed ASAP.

"I have her ticket..." Dual said, handing it to him.

The dragon grabbed the ticket and inspected it in his hand. "Huh...this is an official genuine...Ticket to ride? Ooh...you better keep this in a safe place, young stallion..." He handed Dual back the ticket and he was about to put it in his pocket before the hobo stopped him. "Oh, I wouldn't put it in there...if I was you, I'd keep all my valuables..." He takes off his left boot and points to the inside of it. "Right in here...experience shows that this is the safest place..."

Dual arched his eyebrow and takes the advice, he puts his foot on a stool in front of him and starts to slip Virtus' ticket into his right slipper as the hobo continued talking. "Not that I have use for those ‘tickets’...No, I ride here for free, I hop aboard this rattler anytime I feel like it...I don't need those tickets cuz I own this train. Like I'm the king of this train...yeah! the king of the Polar Ex-"

He then stood up and smiled, lifting his hands. "In fact, I am the king...OF THE NORTH POLE!!!" When he said that, his words echoed through the mountains and Dual looked out toward where the echo responded.

The hobo looked at Dual and smiled. "Oh, I'm sorry where are my manners, go ahead and sit down. Here, have a chicken kabob..." Dual sat down on the stool as the hobo gave him a chicken kabob on a stick. "Hot and fresh food...perfect for a cold winter night..."

"Thanks...I am getting pretty hungry..." Dual said, looking at the chicken kabob and taking a bite, it actually tasted really good. "Mmm, tasty."

"Heh glad you like it, kid, the name's Ultima by the way."

"Dual" The colt replied with a smile. "But hang on, what about Santa?"

"Santa?"

"I thought he was the...King of The North Pole..."

"Oh...you mean..." Ultima takes out a Santa hat from his coat and puts it on. "You mean this guy?" He then starts to mockingly saw 'Ho, Ho, Ho' like Santa and was moving his body around like he was a robot as Dual kept watching in confusion. He then stopped and took off the hat as he looked at Dual.

"What exactly is your persuasion on the 'big man', since you brought him up?"

Dual looked away, taking another bite of his kabob. "Well...I...I want to believe...but-"

"But!" Ultima interjected. "You don't want to be bamboozled, You don't want to be led down the 'garden path', you don't want to be conned or duped, have the wool pulled over your eyes, hoodwinked, you don't want to be taken for a ride railroaded!"

The dragon then took out some water and poured it on the fire, putting it out and making Dual jump with his half-eating kabob. Ultima then took out a stick with a sack at the end of it and looked at the 12-year-old stallion. "Seeing is believing...am I right?"

Dual looked up at him. "What about this train?"

"What about it?"

"We are really going to The North Pole...right?"

"I don't know...are we?"

"Are you telling me that this is all just....a dream?"

The hobo then swiped Dual's half-eaten kabob and smirked. "Hey...You said it Dualy-Boy, not me." He ate the last bit of Dual's kabob and threw the stick off the train. "So... let's go find that girl!"

He grabbed the stool Dual sat on along with his own stool and started to walk away, he then stopped after a few steps and turned back. "One more thing..."

"Y-Yeah?"

"Do you believe in ghosts?"

Dual looked at him for a few seconds before shaking his head. "Why would I believe in ghosts if I barely believe Santa exists..."

Ultima nods. "Fair point..." He then started to walked away again as Dual tried to follow him but the latter was having trouble.

"W-Wait...Wait!" The blue colt could barely move due to the deep snow under his feet, he saw Ultima disappear into the blizzard as he kept struggling to keep up, the sound of the wind and the train getting louder again and slightly obstructing his hearing again. "WAIT UP!!!!!"

Dual was alone on the roof of the train once again as he stopped walking, running out of breath due to the wind being too strong. "I have to wake up...yeah...I have to wake up..." He starts to pinch his left hand with his right. "Grr...Wake up, Wake up, Wake up!!" When that didn't work, Dual went on his knees and puts his face in the snow the roof had, he put his face back up and it was covered in snow. He blew the snow off of his face as he breathes, the wind continuing to swish his mane all over the place as he heard the train whistle very loudly.

When Dual looked forward again, he saw that the blizzard was lighting up a bit and can see in front of him...but what he saw, he didn't like. The train was heading up a steep hill.

"Oh no!" Dual yelled, beginning to slide backward as the observation car started to slant a bit. He was going very fast and ended up on his belly as he kept sliding backward. "Nononononono!" He then gripped the red light at the end of the car and held on for dear life as his legs swung left and right, dangling. "NO! NO!!!"

He then heard a clang near his hands and saw that it was a skiing muck stick, he looked up and saw Ultima wearing a pair of skis. "GRAB ON DUALY-BOY, HURRY!!!"

Dual grabbed onto the stick with both hands and Ultima used his strength to swing Dual around, the colt's body dangled a bit from the muck stick as he looked down, seeing nothing but a very nasty and dangerous drop. "AAAHHH!"

Ultima put Dual back onto the roof and made his feet land perfectly on his skis. Dual then gripped the two muck sticks when the dragon presented them to his hands. Dual looked forward and saw the train was starting to go downhill. "We're going down!"

"Don't worry...when the train goes down fast...we go fast..." Ultima replied, the train then went down the steep hill and the force of the drop helped them ski down the train fast. "GRAVITY IS YOUR BEST FRIEND WHEN YOU'RE SKIING, DUAL!!!"

They then began jumping from car to car as the train descended downhill at an alarming speed. The wind blew through Dual's mane violently as they kept skiing. "WHAT'S AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS HILL ANYWAY!!??"

"THAT!!! LOOK IN FRONT!!!" Dual looked ahead and saw a scary-looking tunnel that had sharp icicles like teeth as the dragon continued yelling. "THAT'S FLAT TOP TUNNEL DUAL!!! YOU WON'T MAKE IT IF YOU'RE STILL ON THE ROOF WHEN THE TRAIN GOES THROUGH, SO I'M TAKING YOU TO THE ENGINE!!!"

The train went faster and faster, as they kept jumping and skiing train cars, there were only two cars left, but the train was too close to the tunnel.

"WE'RE NOT GONNA MAKE IT!!!!" Dual cried.

"I CAN'T, BUT YOU CAN DUALY-BOY!!!!" Ultima yelled. "THERE'S ONLY ONE SIMPLE TRICK.....WHEN I SAY 'JUMP' "

The engine went into the tunnel as they jumped the last two cars. "YOU...JUUUUUUMMMMP!!!!!!" The dragon disappeared behind Dual as he said that.

The colt closed his eyes and jumped as far as he could, screaming. "AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!"