Chapter 2: The Arcade Car/The Snow Car/The Grid Car
As she stepped through the metal door into the next car, Sunset Shimmer braced herself for anything. But as she took in her new surroundings, her eyes widened in shock, before looking all around her in confusion, and then lighting up in wonder. All around her, as far she could see, were row upon row of gaming machines, of all types, shapes, and sizes. There were traditional arcade machines, simulator games, dance games, shooting games, and so many more. All of this, combined with the low lighting, constant beeping, and pop style music, led her to one, incredible conclusion.
“I’m...in the world's biggest ARCADE?!” She exclaimed in excitement. “Why wasn’t I put in this car! I’m officially in video game heaven!” She dashed off to explore, stopping to examine machine after machine. There were some games she knew, some that she didn’t, and some that were just bizarre, but she was enamoured by it all. She could have stayed here for years, playing each and every one of these games. But there were so many games, she simply couldn’t decide where to start. Just as she came up to what looked like a particularly challenging looking adventure/fantasy game, she froze in her tracks as she heard a loud bang, followed by a loud, angry voice.
“UGH! WHY WON’T YOU OPEN YOU STUPID DOOR?!”
Sunset stood frozen on the spot, thinking about what to do. It was obvious she wasn’t alone. But did that mean she had found someone who could help her, or was it some kind of trick created by whoever was in charge of the train. Whatever it was, she wasn’t going to find out by just standing there. If there was a chance she could find a way off the train, she had to take it. So she made her way in the direction of the voice. Soon, she walked out of the rows of games, into a small open space, in the center of which was another train car door, the exit of the car. But what really drew her attention was the person standing in front of it. It was a tall, young woman, with her back to Sunset. She had short brown hair that went down to her shoulders, and bronzed, tanned skin. Her clothes consisted of a dark, greenish brown tank top, with dull gold stripes down the back, dark brown, slightly baggy pants, and dark brown boots. Sunset slowly approached her. “Uh, hello?” She said cautiously.
The woman spun around and took an aggressive stance. “Stay where you are!” She snapped, her ocean blue eyes narrowed in suspicion.
“Whoa, whoa, take it easy,” Sunset said, raising her hands in surrender. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
“How am I supposed to believe that when you're the first…” the woman paused, giving Sunset an odd look. “Uh, person that I've seen since I woke up in this crazy place?”
“Well, that kind of goes both ways, doesn’t it?” Sunset replied. “You're the first person I’ve seen who didn’t want me as their new plaything.”
The woman raised an eyebrow. “What are you talking about?” She asked. “Did you escape from some kind of creepy sex dungeon or something?”
“What?!” Sunset shouted, her eyes wide with shock and disgust. “Not that kind of plaything! In the previous car I was in, I was-” Sunset started to say, before the woman interrupted.
“Car?” She asked, her stance relaxing a little. “You mean like a train car?”
“Yeah, that’s right,” Sunset said, lowering her hands. “We’re in a train car, attached to this giant train. Didn’t you know that?”
The woman still looked suspicious of Sunset. “If we're really where you say we are, can you prove it?” She asked.
“Yes! There’s another door just like the one behind you at the other end of the car. That’s where I came in,” Sunset said, hoping the woman believed her.
The woman dropped her stance, but still kept a careful eye on the odd looking girl. “Show me,” She said simply.
The woman stood completely still, her jaw dropped, staring out at the wasteland rushing past them as the endless train thundered along on it’s endless journey. She slowly turned to look at Sunset, who was leaning against the frame of the train car door. “OK, so you definitely weren't kidding about the ‘giant train’ part,” She said quietly.
“Yeah, it was a major shock for me too,” Said Sunset. “If you ask me, it looks like you and I are in the same boat here. Or on the same train in this case.”
“Yeah, I guess so,” Said the woman as she walked past Sunset, back into the car, and the red and yellow haired girl closed the door behind them. The woman turned back to face Sunset. “Well, if we’re both stuck here with each other, we may as well introduce ourselves.” She held out her hand. “Hi, I’m Korra.” She gave a small smile, but it looked a little forced.
“Uh, yeah, hi,” Said Sunset with a little uncertainty, shaking the woman's hand, “I’m Sunset Shimmer.”
Korra gave Sunset an odd look. “Sunset Shimmer? Huh. Don’t take this the wrong way, but that’s a weird name for an already weird looking person,” She said.
Sunset raised an eyebrow. “Oh, I’m the weird one? What kind of name is Korra? I’ve never heard a name like that before,” she said, crossing her arms. “And what do you mean I look weird?”
“Where do I start? Your skin color? The color of your hair? Your large eyes? Not to mention those strange clothes?” Korra said, counting each item off on her fingers.
“Hey, I don’t look weird!” Sunset said indignantly.
“Yeah, sure, keep telling yourself that,” Korra muttered under her breath.
“Well, anyway,” Sunset continued, rolling her eyes. “Like I said, I think we’re both in the same situation here. Can you remember how you ended up on the train?”
Korra seemed to hesitate before answering. “Um, let’s just say I was dealing with some personal stuff,” she said. “And during all that, I guess I kind of boarded the wrong train by accident, because next thing I knew, I woke up here.”
Sunset could sense that something was deeply troubling Korra, and it wasn’t being stuck on the train. “Actually, you're not the only one. I was dealing with some pretty heavy stuff too.” She admitted as she walked up to Korra and gently took her hand. “But, I could be there for you if you want me to. We can deal with the heavy stuff together.”
Korra raised an eyebrow sketicaly. “You’d do that for me, right out of the blue, right after you just met me?” She said.
“Well, yeah, why not?” Said Sunset with an understanding smile. “Seems to me, you and I are all we have on this endless train,” She said. “And besides, everyone needs a friend right?”
Korra still seemed reluctant, but then she sighed and gave a small smile. “Yeah, I guess you're right. I’ve been on my own for so long, I’d almost forgotten what having a friend was like.” She said in a slightly weary voice.
“That’s settled then,” Said Sunset with a satisfied smile. “We’re gonna stick together until we can find a way off this train. And I think the first step is to try and figure out how to get that door open so we can move on to the next car.”
Korra groaned. “Ugh, good luck with that. I tried really hard to open it, and it just wouldn’t budge.” She said with a frown.
“Well, maybe it will only open if we complete some kind of task,” Sunset suggested. “Let's go take a look.” Korra nodded, and the two girls headed back through the rows of arcade machines toward the opposite end of the car. Once the other door came into site, they stopped and looked around. “Alright, keep your eyes open for anything that might give us some kind of clue of how to open it,” Sunset said.
“Got it,” Korra said, scanning her surroundings. “Hey, what about that?” She pointed to a large screen above the door. It had a long list of numbers, which decreased as you went further down, the smallest at the bottom, each with a different name beside them.
Sunset looked up at the screen and pondered. “Hmm, looks like a scoreboard,” She said. She scanned the names on the board, none of which she recognised, until she reached the bottom, where, to her surprise, she saw her’s and Korra’s names, both their scores at 0. Then, a message flashed across the top of the board. GET THE HIGH SCORE AND WIN THE GRAND PRIZE! Sunset gasped in excitement. “Get the High Score! That’s it! I know what we need to do!”
“Really? Well, would you mind filling me in, because I’m lost,” said Korra, looking perplexed.
“It’s simple!” Sunset continued. “Our names are on the board, along with our scores. All we have to do is get our score to the top, and I bet you the grand prize is that the door will open!”
“Um, ok,” Said Korra in utter confusion, “and how do we do that exactly?”
Sunset turned and looked at all the arcade machines, practically giddy. “We play the games, of course!” She exclaimed.
“Games?” Said Korra, looking upon the game machines in utter confusion. “You're telling me these weird machines are all games?”
“Uh, yeah! What else would they be?” Said Sunset, before her smile suddenly faded. “Wait a minute. Don’t you have arcades where you come from?”
“I’ve seen game machines before, but none of them were like this,” Korra said, gesturing with both arms. “I don’t have the slightest clue how these things work.”
“Is that so?” Said Sunset, before her face split into a smirk. “Well, it’s very lucky for you that I happen to be here, then.” She stepped forwards toward the nearest game, before looking back at Korra. “Watch closely, Korra. You're about to learn from a master.”
Korra rolled her eyes and chuckled. “Learn from a master, huh? Like I haven't learned from enough of those in my life,” She said as she walked up behind Sunset to look over her shoulder. “So, tell me, oh great master, what kind of game is this?”
“This is an all time classic, called Street Fighter. This is just your basic beat’em up game, but you can’t just go bashing buttons. You have to know what your opponent is going to do, so that you know the right moment to move in for the Knockout,” Sunset explained.
“Uh, knockout?” Korra said in confusion.
“Just watch,” Sunset said, as she manipulated the controls, selecting one of the fierce looking fighters on the screen. The screen then changed to the fighter she selected and another fighter facing each other, with two yellow bars across the top.
“FIGHT!” Said a deep voice, and the madness began. The two fighters lunged at each other and started kicking and punching each other at insane speed, as Korra watched Sunset’s hands fly across the controls. Everything was happening so fast, she almost couldn’t keep up. She looked at Sunset’s face, seeing the concentration and excitement in her eyes. She was having a blast with this. As the fight went on, the two yellow bars slowly edged further down, until, with one last strike, the opponent's bar hit the bottom, and he keeled over and collapsed in a bloody pulp. “KO!” Said the deep voice.
“YES!” Sunset cheered. “IN YOUR FACE!” She then turned to look at Korra with a wide grin. “Well, what do you think?”
“I think that was one of the craziest things I’ve ever seen!” Said Korra with wide eyes.
“If you think this is crazy, you really do know nothing about video games,” Sunset said with a smirk. “Well anyway, I think It’s your turn to give it a try.”
“Uh, okay, sure. I’ve done way harder stuff than this. I can do this!” Korra said with a mix of determination and uncertainty.
A few minutes later, Korra finished her first game. “Whoo-hoo! I did it!” She cheered. With Sunset’s help, she had won her first game. “Oh, wow, that was so much fun!”
“I knew you’d get the hang of it,” Said Sunset with a smile. “And look at our scores!” She pointed at the scoreboard, where both their names had moved from off the bottom. “Well anyway, step aside, I'm gonna show you how it’s…” She paused as the game screen suddenly went black. “Or, I guess not.”
“What happened?” Korra asked. “It’s not broken, is it?”
“Hmm, I doubt it,” Said Sunset with a frown. “Maybe it just means we can only play each game once.”
“Well, what do we do now?” Korra asked.
“It’s obvious, isn’t it?” Sunset said, gesturing with both arms. “To get our score up, we have to keep playing all the games.”
“All of them?” Korra said, looking around at the many rows of games.
“Come on, look how well you did on your first try. We can do this!” Sunset said encouragingly.
Korra looked back at Sunset and smirked. “You know what, you're right! Let’s do this!” She said with confidence.
For what felt like hours, the two girls played game after game, their score climbing higher and higher. Eventually, they found that the score was just off the top spot, and there was only one game left. It looked like most of the other games, with a tv screen, but it had two long, oddly shaped pieces of plastic with lots of different buttons running down the arms of them, which Korra raised an eyebrow at, but Sunset recognized as guitars. Korra looked over at Sunset skeptically. “Uh, what kind of game is this?” She asked.
“Oh, this is a really fun one, because you don’t just stand around pushing buttons, you actually take part in the game,” Explained Sunset excitedly as she picked up one of the guitar controllers and presented it to Korra. “If this is the game I think it is, we’re gonna have a blast with this! This is a guitar. You play music with it, and this is for a guitar simulation game. Luckily for you, I’ve played games like this before, and I play guitars for real. We’ll be out of here in no time!”
“Well, if that’s the case, maybe I should leave you to it then,” Korra said, eyeing the other guitar controller with uncertainty.
“No way, we started this together, we’re getting out of here together,” Said a determined Sunset, picking the other controller and thrusting it at Korra, which she took reluctantly. “Look, just follow my lead, ok? Trust me, we’ll breeze through this.” The game started up, simply saying The Ultimate Solo. The song bagan slowly, with Sunset tapping away on the mock guitar. “Heh, child's play,” she smirked. The song steadily went faster and faster, Sunset’s fingers dancing across the buttons, Korra watching with interest.
“Hey, are you sure you got this?” She asked.
“No, sweat,” Said Sunset. “I’ve played way more complicated stuff than this. I’ve so got this!”
FIVE MINUTES LATER…
“I DON’T GOT THIS! I DON’T GOT THIS! HELP MEEE!” Sunset screamed frantically as Korra screamed next to her. The music was playing so fast, she could barely keep up, her fingers almost a blur.
Outside the Train Car, the door finally opened, and Sunset and Korra walked out, looking exhausted, and Sunset cradling her right hand. “Ouch! I’ll never be able to look at a guitar the same way again,” She said with a grimace, trying to wiggle her fingers, but instantly regretting it. “Ahh, so much cramp!”
“Maybe I can help with that,” Said Korra, gently taking hold of Sunset’s hand. “I know a thing or two about healing.”
“Healing…” Sunset began, before, SNAP! “YEOWWW!” She screamed in agony.
“Oh, my gosh, I’m so sorry!” Korra spluttered, pulling her hands back like she had just received an electric shock.
“Next time,” Sunset hissed through gritted teeth. “Look before you snap.” She then looked across to the door of the next car. “Well, anyway, we'd better keep moving.” She and Korra then crossed the bridge and stopped in front of the next train car door. “Remember, there could be anything in there, so be ready for anything.”
“You betcha,” Said Korra, as she placed her handles on the handles. “Ready?”
“Just do it,” Sunset said, so Korra turned the handle and they stepped through into the next car, only for Sunset to wrap her arms around herself, shivering at the sudden cold. “Whoa, jeez, it’s like winter in here.” And she was right. As they looked at their new surroundings, they saw they were in what looked like a meadow covered in snow, with a few pine trees in the distance. Sunset looked at Korra, who didn’t seem bothered by the cold, even though she was wearing slightly less than her. “What’s with you, aren’t you bothered by this?”
“Actually no,” Korra replied in a flat tone. “This is actually making me kinda homesick.”
“Where are you from, the North Pole?” Sunset asked with a slight chuckle.
“Nah, don’t be silly,” Korra chuckled back. “My cousins are from the North Pole, I’m from the South Pole.”
“Whaah?” Sunset said, not sure if she was joking.
“Well, anyway, we'd better keep moving,” Korra said, moving ahead of Sunset as they made their way across the snowy ground. However, they hadn’t gone far, when Korra stopped in her tracks and pointed. “Sunset, look!” Sunset looked where she was pointing, and her eyes widened. Lying in the snow was what looked like a young girl with ginger hair. They quickly dashed to her side, and knelt down beside her. The girl wore a green winter jacket, gray skirt, dark gray leg warmers, gray boots, dark gray gloves, a backpack, large U shaped glasses, and a dark gray headband, with her hair tied in a ponytail. Korra was about to try and wake her, when her eyes fluttered open, and she sat up with a groan.
“Ugh, did I just hallucinate a train station,” She said in an annoyed tone, but then she looked and stared at both Sunset and Korra. “And now I’ve been found by two total weirdos!”
“Uh, are you ok there?” asked Korra.
“Oh, yeah, sure, I’m just peachy,” Said the girl as she stood up, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “Why wouldn’t I be fine after waking up in the snow and being found by a female Rocky wannabe and her pastel colored alien girlfriend?”
“What did she say about me?” Said an indignant Sunset.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” the girl went on, “Didn’t mean to strike a nerve, but how about I just go before you get on my nerves.”
“Ok, I’m gonna break this girl's legs in a minute,” Sunset said with a scowl as the girl headed off in a huff.
“I don’t think we should just let her go,” Said Korra.
“Why shouldn’t we? She obviously doesn’t want our help,” Said Sunset with a frown.
“You heard her, right?” Korra asked. “When she woke up, she said something about hallucinating a train station. I think she may be stuck on the train, just like we are. She may be able to help us.”
Sunset rolled her eyes. “Ugh, fine, but she’d better watch her mouth.” So they both headed after the grumpy girl, which wasn’t for long as they saw her taking out her frustration on three snowmen, flicking the hat on the first, sticking the wooden finger of the second up it’s carrot nose, and lightly bringing her fist down on the round head of the third… which suddenly screamed, causing the girl to scream.
“Are you my mum?” The little white sphere asked. It had a black stripe down the middle, with two little white dots for eyes, and four stubby, mechanical little legs.
“W-what? Am I what?” The girl stuttered in shock and confusion.
“Are you my mum?” The little ball asked again in a chipper voice
“No!” The girl said.
“So you’ve come to bring me the sweet release of death,” The ball said in a deeper, depressed sounding voice.
“Also no,” said the girl, as Sunset and Korra walked up to witness the strange conversation.
“Oh, well how about either you?” The sphere asked them both. “Are you my mum?”
“Uh, Sunset,” Korra said in utter confusion, “What am I looking at here?” Sunset didn’t answer, only letting out a high pitched squeal. Korra looked at her, seeing her eyes were wide and starry. “Sunset?”
Instead of answering, Sunset dashed forward and scooped the sphere up in her hands. “Oh, my gosh, you are so cute!” She exclaimed in delight.
“Oh, do you really think so? Cuteness is overrated. So, are you my mum?” The little ball said.
“I can be if you want me to be,” Sunset cooed, nuzzling the little ball with her cheek.
“Yay! Stop, you're smothering me!”
“OK, stop that, that’s weird,” said the red haired girl, snatching the ball from Sunset’s hands.
“Hey!” Sunset said indignantly. “That was rude!”
“Least it brought you back from La La Land,” Korra muttered.
“My baby,” Sunset whispered with watery eyes.
Korra facepalmed with a groan. “Ugh!”
“So, what exactly are you?” Said the red head as she examined the little sphere. “Are you a toy? You have really good speech recognition.”
“I’m looking for my mother. I don’t know what she looks like though. She might be large. Or incredibly small, like a gnat.”
“Wait, you're telling us you're looking for your mother and you don’t know what she looks like?” Asked Korra with a raised eyebrow.
“Yes, pretty much,” Said the little sphere, before asking the red head, “Are you looking for your mother too?”
“No, definitely not,” she said, before muttering under her breath, “Not my dad either. Weird toy.” She dropped the ball on the ground and started walking, the ball and the older girls following.
“So what are you looking for?” The ball asked innocently.
“I’m not looking for anything,” Said the girl, sounding annoyed. “I’m going to Oshkosh.”
“Is that where you're from?” Asked Sunset.
“It’s where Game Design Camp is,” Said the girl, before looking back at Sunset and Korra. “And why are you two following me?”
“We’re not following you, this just happens to be the only way to go,” Sunset replied, quickly becoming fed up with the grumpy redhead.
“So you're going alone?” The ball asked the girl.
“Yes.” She muttered.
“Without your parents?”
“I don’t need them to get there!” The girl snapped. “Now go back to being a snowman or whatever you are.”
“Oh, my gosh, what am I?” The little ball asked, sounding distressed.
The girl groaned in frustration, “Ughhhh,” which turned into a sound of surprise, “Ooh.” In front of her was another snowman, only this one was quite a quite bit taller than an average snowman, and in the bottom part of its body was another train car door, the exit to the car. Sunset and Korra knew this, but the girl didn’t. “Puh, North St Paul’s kids probably built this.” She was about to reach for the handle, when she was interrupted by Korra.
“Uh, don’t you think it’s strange that there’s a door in a giant snowman?” She said.
“Who cares as long it leads away from here and the both of you,” The girl said flippantly, before turning the handle, the door swinging open. She took one look outside, and stared. “I’m… on a big train?” She then turned back to Sunset and Korra, now looking excited. “I’m on a big train! Is this what all big trains are like?”
“Normally no,” Said Korra.
“Definitely not,” Said Sunset.
“Oh wow!” Said the girl, giddy with childish excitement. “I gotta see what’s in the next train car!” With that, she turned and dashed out of the car and over the bridge between the cars.
“Hey, come back!” Shouted Sunset as she and Korra gave chase. “You don’t know what’s in there!”
“It’ll probably be disappointing,” Said the little sphere as it scurried after them.
“Wow!” The girl said as she threw open the door of the next car… only for her face to fall in disappointment. “Oh.” The room she saw was completely empty, and almost featureless except for a square grid-like pattern across the floor, ceiling and walls, and the next exit door at the far end.
“Called it,” Said the sphere as it came up behind her along with Sunset and Korra, the former looking quite annoyed with her.
“Are you always this reckless?” She said in a frustrated voice, only for Korra to place her hand on her shoulder.
“Simmer down, Sunset,” She said. “We’ve done nothing but shout at this girl since we met her. Maybe now she’s in a better mood, she’ll be more willing to talk.”
“Are you sure about that?” Asked Sunset doubtfully. “She doesn't seem like the talking type.”
“She just woke up and found herself in a crazy situation, how would you feel?” Korra said earnestly.
Sunset sighed. “OK, fine.” She muttered.
But before anymore could be said, the girl stepped into the room, and a musical note was heard as a colored cube rose up from the panel she’d stepped on. “Whoa, back to being impressed,” She said as she dashed into the room and began pressing the panels left and right, creating rows and rows of brightly colored cubes, the little sphere scurrying in to join her.
“Well, at least she’s having fun now,” Said Korra as she and Sunset watched the girl enjoying herself. “You think maybe we should join her?”
“Well, it doesn’t look like there’s anything dangerous here,” Sunset said. “Sure beats dodging giant toddlers and beating ridiculously high scores.” She then looked at Korra with a smile. “Sure, why not? We can take a short breather here.”
“Agreed,” Korra smiled back, and the two girls rushed in to play amongst the multicoloured blocks. A little later, the little sphere hopped up beside the red haired girl, who was making an alien creature out of purple blocks.
“Are you building a coffin?” It asked her.
“It’s a character from my game,” She said, placing the creature down beside a spaceship made of yellow blocks. “I call it ‘Good guys Popping Bad guys. It’s the best game i’ve ever made,” She finished proudly.
“How many games have you made?”
“One.”
The ball gasped happily. “You’re joking?”
“That’s kind of a weird thing to joke about,” Said the girl in confusion.
“That’s my name! I’m One One.”
“Oh, so we’re finally introducing ourselves, are we?” Said Korra as she Sunset walked up to them.
“So, your name is One One?” Sunset asked the now named little ball.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“That makes you even cuter,” Sunset said cheerfully, going starried eyed again.
“Oh, happy day,” Said One One.
“Well, anyway,” Said Korra, raising an eyebrow at Sunset. “Since we’re giving out names, I think we should do the same.” She then turned to the girl. “Hi, I’m Korra.”
“And I’m Sunset Shimmer,” Said Sunset as she came back to her senses.
The girl frowned. “One One, Korra, and Sunset Shimmer? Those are all kinda weird names to have, unlike my name which is Tulip, and is perfectly normal.”
At this, Sunset looked annoyed. “Oh, your saying my name is weird when you're named after a flower. Very original.”
“Least I don’t look like a pastel colored alien,” Tulip said back.
“What’s that,” Said Sunset, about to walk right up to Tulip, when Korra jumped in between them.
“Ok, kids, before this goes any further, let’s just take a step back and take a breather,” She said, looking at both of them sternly. Sunset and Tulip looked at each before they both sighed and backed off.
“Uh, sorry,” Tulip muttered. “I’ve just been going through a lot lately.”
“Yeah, me too,” muttered Sunset, scratching the back of her head.
Tulip then looked at one of the panels on the ceiling, and her smile returned. “Oh, ho, you know I’m getting up there,” She said, taking off her right glove and tossing it up at the panel. The glove struck home, and a blue cube emerged, as the glove fell back to the floor. “Ha, ha!” As she reached for her glove, Sunset and Korra noticed something.
“Uh, Tulip?” Said Korra, sounding worried. “Why is your hand glowing?”
“Huh? What are you talking ab-?” Tulip stopped as she looked at the palm of her hand… and gasped in shock as she saw a glowing green number, 115, on her palm. “Ahh! Wh-what’s this?!”
Sunset and Korra starred, wide eyed, at the brightly glowing digits, before looking at each other, and then down at their own hands. Sunset quickly pulled off her own glove, as Korra unwrapped the bindings on her own hand. They held up their hands and unclenched their fingers, gasping at what they saw. They both had numbers too! Sunset’s was 120, but Korra’s was 250!
“W-what is this? What’s going on?” Stammered Sunset, starting to panic, but before anymore could be said, the whole car jolted, and they all dashed to the door to see what was happening. Outside, they saw that the train had ground to a halt, and all they could see was the vast, red expanse of wasteland that the train travelled through.
“Um, do any of you guys know what Wisconsin looks like?” Said Tulip nervously.
“Alright, hold on let me think,” said One One, “I want to say it looks like…this?”
“I think I can safely say we’re nowhere near Wisconsin,” Said Sunset quietly.
“I think I can say we’re nowhere near anywhere,” Said Korra in the same quiet voice.
All three girls looked at the wasteland, before looking at the sky as they saw a stream of light flow down and strike one of the cars further back along the train.
“Ok,” Tulip muttered as they peaked around the edge of the platform to look back along the train. They squinted as they saw what looked like the silhouette of a person being pulled into the stream, and then dissolving as they were sucked up into the sky. Tulip gasped in horror at this, with Sunset and Korra looking on, just as shocked, before the stream retreated into the sky, and then came crashing down into the ground, causing a shockwave that kicked up a wave of dust, and forcing the girls back a couple of inches. “Whahh, what happened to that guy?!”
“Do we really want to find out?!” Sunset said in shock.
“I’ve seen a lot of freaky stuff, but that was just messed up!” Shouted Korra.
“You're all in kind of a bad place right now,” Stated One One.
“I-I’m not...I don’t want to be on this train anyone!” Shouted Tulip in panic as she ran toward a step ladder and began climbing down.
“Tulip, come back!” Shouted Korra as she, Sunset and One One gave chase.
“Yes, wait, are you my mum? I forget what you said last time,” Said One One as they all began climbing down.
“Not now, One One!” Shouted Sunset.
Tulip reached the bottom of the ladder, just above the enormous train car wheels, before dropping to the ground and dashing out into the vast expanse of the wasteland, screaming into the still air. However, she didn’t get very far, before her boots became stuck in what seemed to be thick mud. As she struggled to pull herself free, something even more terrifying happened. Something began pushing its way up from the ground, when what looked feelers burst up and began flailing about.
Sunset and Korra were rushing up to help her, when Sunset looked back and saw that the train was slowly beginning to move again. “Korra, the train!” She yelled.
“Forget that, we have to save Tulip!” Korra yelled back, and not a moment too soon, as the feelers grabbed onto a short, dead looking tree, and pulled itself out of the ground, revealing a large, cockroach like creature, followed by two more. They advanced on Tulip as she struggled to free herself. Sunset and Korra reached her side, grabbing her arms, and with one huge effort, they finally freed her, before turning and running back toward the train, with One One perched on Tulip’s shoulder, humming a silly tune as they ran.
“Doo, do,do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, doo!”
“What are you singing?” Tulip asked as the three girls ran.
“It’s a wacky, getting chased song, I made it up.”
“What the heck are they?!” Shouted Sunset as she looked back over her shoulder at the pursuing roach creatures.
“Talk later, run now!” Tunip shouted back at her before they all scrambled up the ridges of the wheel of the train car and back up the ladder. But the roaches were not so easy to escape. They spread their wings and buzzed up after them, as they dashed back into the grid car, the huge bug right behind them. As Tulip and Sunset made it through the door, two of the roach dogs swooped down at Korra, who quickly turned, and with two well practiced kicks, blew them both away with twin blasts of air. As Tulip and Sunset were about to slam the door shut, they noticed that Korra wasn’t with them.
“Wait, where's Korra?” Asked Sunset frantically.
“There she is!” Chirped One One. “She’s with her new friends.”
The girls both looked as Korra ran as fast she could toward the door, another roach dog right behind her. She dashed through, and then all three girls tried to shove the door shut, only for the bug to get it’s head stuck in the gap. They struggled hard, but the roach dog was too strong as it forced its way through, throwing them all to the floor, then sliding along the floor, leaving a trail of red cubes in its wake. Tulip panicked as she began to build a wall in front of her from the blocks. The roach turns and leaps at her, hitting the wall, as Tulip runs out from behind it. The roach regroups and leaps at her again, landing on top of her this time, pinning her to the floor. As she struggles, a mouth like opening underneath the roach's head begins to glow, sucking up a blue light from Tulip, whose face looks like it’s beginning to shrivel up.
“Tulip!” Yelled Sunset, and she was about to run over to try and help her, but One One beat her to it.
“I can help, Miss Tulip.” POP! One One split in half, launching one half into the roach dog, plugging up its mouth, and throwing the creature off of Tulip, who sat up with a gasp as her face returned to normal.
“Whoa, he can do it?” Asked Sunset when she and Korra reached them.
“Yeah, apparently, he can do that,” Said Tulip. The two halves of One One clicked back together, and the three girls dashed away toward the opposite end of the car. “Give us a wall!” Korra shouted, grabbing One One and throwing him along the floor toward the door, leaving a long trail of red blocks behind him, before he started rolling back and forth, building a wall out of the blocks around the exit door. Tulip then grabbed her little spaceship and alien. “Ok, good guy. Pop that bad guy!” She threw the spaceship as hard as she could, but it bounced off with no effect. “Uh, bad guys turn!” She threw the alien, with the same result. “One One? Hows that wall?” Tulip asked as they turned and ran towards the far door.
One One had built a wall with a square shaped hole for the girls to escape through. He was rolling around on the top. “Well, it’s more of a house instead of a wall. Do you want me to start over? I’ll just start over.”
“No, don’t start over!” Shouted Sunset as she dived through the hole, then reached through to pull Tulip through, and then both girls grabbed Korra’s arms and yanked her through as well, just in time, as the roach dog dived at them, but became stuck in the hole, struggling and flailing.
“I forget to make a roof. Is that weird for a house? No roof?” Asked One One innocently, as the girls caught their breaths.
The three girls scrambled out of the car door, with Tulip falling to her knees.
“This place has stuff that’s ok about it. And some stuff that could be better.” Stated One One happily.
“What in the spirit's name were those things?” Asked Korra as she mopped her brow.
“They looked like giant, mutated cockroaches,” replied Sunset as she bent over, panting for breath.
“But with legs like a dog?” Put in Tulip.
“Ok, Roachdog, got it,” Nodded Korra.
Tulip leaned against the wall of the car to catch her breath. “Huh. There has to be a way off this train that won’t kill me,” She stated.
“I think you mean, won’t kill us,” Said Sunset with a frown, but Tulip ignored her, thoroughing her brow in deep thought.
“Ok, everything has rules. Even crazy things have their own logic. It’s a train, right? And what do all trains have?” She asked out loud.
Sunset thought hard. “Uhh, a Conductor?” she asked.
“A Conductor? Oh, I think we have one of those,” Chimed in One One.
“And, where would we find this Conductor?” Asked Korra.
“He would most likely be at the engine,” Answered One One.
The girls headed over to the edge of the platform, and looked out at the seemingly endless line of train cars. They then looked at the numbers on their hands, and each took on a determined look.
“We’re getting off this train,” Stated Tulip firmly.
“But first we find the Conductor,” Stated Korra, just as firmly.
“After we reach the engine,” Finished Sunset.
With that, the three companions crossed over to the next train car, the first step on their long journey to the engine.
To Be Continued...
Stats
Page generated in 0.071 seconds
Total duration
829 users online
753,880 hits today, 2,814,898 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
awesome it's being continued amazing chapter and story so far!
I loved Infinity Train. Can't wait to see who's next on the Girl Squad.
I hope Lapis will appears
So seeing the concept to this via skimming...for some reason I have the outside hope of someone from Code Lyoko getting caught up in this.
Oh loving this! I am so pumped to see what happens next, and what other crossover characters will appear. Whether as friends or as enemies, and how these changes will affect and possibly change how the events of Infinity Train develop.
Also can I say that whole scene with Sunset and One One was a brilliant touch, and laughed when she called him her baby.
Glad to see this continued.
I thinking eathier Frankie, Draculaura, Clawdeen, Cleo, Lagoona, Ghoulia, Abbey, Ari from Monster high. Raven Queen, Apple White, Madeline Hatter, Cerise Hood, Briar Beauty, Cedar Wood, Lizzie Hearts, Kitty Cheshire, Blondie Lockes from ever after high. Bloom, Stella, Musa, Flora, Tecna, Layla, Roxy from Winx Club. Wonder Woman, Batgirl, Supergirl, Green Lantern, Bumblebee, Zatanna from Dc superhero girls 2019. Shantae, rottytop, sky, risky boots from Shantae. Arkayna Goodfey, Emerald Goldenbraid, Piper Willowbrook, Zarya Moonwolf from The Mysticons or Mal from Descendants?
What you guys think of characters will appear next chapter?
10238460
FYI this won’t be an all girls squad, one of the future chapters will introduce Steven Universe from Steven Universe Future, and if you’ve watched Steven Universe Future you should know why.
10250526
I know what happens. And it was admittedly kind of sad. I understand why he would be there. So how soon can we expect an update?
10250526
And which Korra is this? Before or after she got poisoned?
10250684
If you couldn’t guess from how I described her appearance, this is early season 4 Korra, during her six month lone wondering, so this is after she was poisoned. As for an update I’m not sure. Me and Mad Page are going to take a week off from writing, and then we’re probably going to work on our other stories. Just please be patient.
I for one am voting that Sunset eventually returns to the train after she gets off and makes up with the girls.
I'd like to see Gir, Zim, Dib or Gaz from Invader Zim make an appearance.