Canterlot & Everfree: The Early Years

by Smokey_Cinders

Chapter 2: Preservation’s Bold First Steps

After compiling both their allowances, breaking piggy banks and getting birthday money early, and even calling on every favor they had, the two colts headed to Ponyville’s town hall to see the mayor and find if the Canterlot & Everfree was owned.

“So, did you want the current owners or a specific segment? Some of the railway was sold to various other railroads after it went bankrupt” Mayor Mare asked as she looked at the few papers she had on the obscure little railroad.

“Is there anything about the portion of the line heading into the Everfree Forest?” Smokey asked as he brushed his charcoal mane out of his face.

“Let’s see here… yes, opened in 877 CE, it was the fifth railroad to be built in Equestria, it primarily hauled mined ore and coal, lumber, and passengers, had a tunnel which ran through alicorn ridge which connected to a line that once ran to Los Pegasus… and was closed in 967 after that tunnel collapsed with a passenger train inside…” Mayor Mare said as she furrowed her brow a bit as she passed Smokey the papers. “It’s currently owned by the Royal Guard”

Smokey looked at the papers and nodded. “Thank you, ma’am!” He said with a smile before he turned to Crosby. “Looks like we’re heading to the office for the Royal Guard” he said with a smile as he stood.

---

Swift Sword sat at his desk, doing paperwork when his receptionist peaked her head in. “Sir, there are two colts here to see you,” she said as Swift nodded.

"Send them in," replied Swift as he put his papers aside.

Smokey and Crosby entered, the two gave a salute before going to sit at the desk. “So, what can I do for you two? Here to sign up for the junior guards?”

The two looked to each other before shaking their heads “No sir... We came to ask about the old train track in the Everfree.. The Canterlot and Everfree, we were told it’s owned by the Royal Guard," Smokey explained. Swift raised an eyebrow as opened his filing cabinet and began to search.

“That's something I haven’t heard about in a while... We used to use the line from Ponyville to Canterlot to move guards and supplies without disrupting traffic on the Equestrian United mainline, we never went down into the Everfree section of the line though, it was seen as too dangerous, especially since the outpost was destroyed by a hydra before it was railbanked decades ago” he said as he found the file. “Says here it was supposed to be converted to a new trail of a few years back, but then the Changelings attacked the Royal Wedding and we never got around to it, we had bigger issues at hand" Swift explained, as he looked to the two, “so, if I may ask, why are two colts like you asking?”

Smokey gave a nervous smile. "Well... myself and my friend...we wanted to...ask if we could purchase the line and maybe preserve it for future generations."

Swift laughed loftily. "So I take it the electric trains on a coffee table aren't enough anymore?” He asked as he picked up a quill in his magic “Let me ask my supervisor," Swift finished as he wrote on the parchment, his horn lighting up and causing the parchment to disappear in a puff of fire. A moment later another parchment appeared on his desk. Swift read it and nodded, "Your in luck, my supervisor says since the line is redundant, you can purchase it...and since we were planning to sell the line to a recycler for scrap value, I don’t see why you can’t buy it for that, she also said if you take it, you can also have one of the old diesels, engine 409, two troop carriages and caboose number 90753," Swift explained, then saying the price... one which Smokey almost instantaneously agreed to pay.

The two colts looked at each other with a grin as Smokey stood up. "Thank you sir! Thank you, thank you, you thank you!" He said as he vigorously shook the guard's hoof.

“It’s a pleasure! And when you start running trains, have a seat for me!” Swift said with a smile, shaking Smokey’s hoof. “I always love riding on trains! It’ll be nice to ride on one for fun instead of work”

The two left, grinning widely. They had been told that the rolling stock would be delivered to the Ponyville yard in two days. While Swift was concerned that neither were certified engineers, Smokey proudly declared that he managed to get his certification. Since his father was a machinist for Equus Lumber Co, Smokey had received training and certification to operate the company’s little engine when need be.

---

The two headed to the Ponyville yard, taking a hoofcar and peddling along the whole line to see what would need repairs before a train could run. It wasn't long after when they saw a wooden fence built over the track.

“Oh you gotta be kidding,” Smokey said as he saw the land around the track was now an orchard for Sweet Apple Acres, and in the time that the the railroad had been closed, the fences had been removed to give better access to the fields on the other side of the track, as consequence needing a fence over the track to keep our animals and unwanted ponies.

“Maybe we can get Applejack to let us run a train through?” Crosby asked as Smokey shook his head.

"The new diesel, maybe... but 13? Yeah right, they banned steam operation outside the Manehatten museum of Equestrian History, and the toy class they use on the EUR," Smokey said as he thought aloud. “It's a pickle…”

The colts hopped the fence and continued through the field, finding the tracks to be in a rather shabby state due to the saturated ground. “Huh...that could complicate things...” Observed Smokey, seeing the wooden ties had eroded away. “Maybe we’ll have to strengthen this section,” he continued onward.

“Howdy Smokey!” A hearty voice called, making the ash coat colt jump.

“Gah! Heya Applejack!” Smokey said as he turned with a smile.

“What brings ya here on the farm?” She asked before she furrowed her brow. “You ain’t pilfering’ apples again, are ya?”

“What!? No no no!” Smokey said nervously before he explained how they’d purchased the line and would need trains to be able to pass through.

Applejack nodded as she looked to the fence. “Well I don’t see why we can’t work somethin’ out, tell ya what! Me an’ Mac’ll put up a couple gates, and y’all can come through any time! Of course once we get a fence put up again you won’t need to worry about the gates” she said with a smile.

“That sounds great, Applejack! I appreciate it!” Smokey said with a smile, happy with the arrangement.

---

Despite being abandoned, the line was in relatively good shape, they planned to run their new engine over the line, just to be sure that 13 wouldn’t derail. It wasn’t long before they reached the abandoned town, finding out its name was Everfree. The two began to drain the turntable pit, it would need a decent amount of repairs before being used, luckily 13 was on the track aligned with the turntable.

“Well... that’s not good," Smokey said as he climbed out of the turntable, "the mechanisms rusted up, it won’t be turning for a while. We oughta save the station though, when they deliver the rolling stock, the first thing we need to do is bring some lumber to fix it… and a couple cans of bug spray…” Maybe Fluttershy has a couple bee suits we could borrow… Smokey thought as he walked into the shed. "For now, let’s see what 13 needs." Smokey brought 13’s blueprints to a workbench to read over it. “Looks like almost everything’s here. We’ll have to perform a hydro test on the boiler, so we might have to call a boiler inspector for that. ” Smokey planned as he took a wrench and began to open the old engine's smokebox to check the flue’s and superheater piping.

“That could be risky, couldn’t it?” Crosby asked as Smokey rooted around the smokebox. “What if they rat us out?”

“I doubt they would!… besides, I don’t wanna even try to steam this thing up if the boiler’s bad, remember what happened to the B&O Big Six, they didn’t inspect or maintain the boiler for three months before the blast” Smokey said as he popped his head out, ash clinging to his nose. “We’ll need a headlight, bell and a smokestack as well” he said as he looked over towards the adjacent brick Backshop which too was locked. surely there had to be some spare parts in there. He thought before he chucked.