Canterlot & Everfree: The Early Years

by Smokey_Cinders

Chapter 6: The First Ride and The Legend Unravels

The sounds of hammers hitting nails filled the railyard in Ponyville as Smokey and Crosby were patching up the old station, hoping to return the station to its former glory. Not very far away, the newer station on the Equestrian United stood proudly, some of the employees turned their muzzles up at Smokey and Crosby. He had heard two of the station attendants making comments about the line.

“Rusty rails and ramshackle carriages! The whole railway’s a decaying zombie! It wouldn’t surprise me if they had Ponies pull the trains like back in the old days!” That conversation played over and over in Smokey’s head, he wanted to prove him wrong, he wanted to prove to all of them that he-

“BUCKIN’ TARTARUS!” Smokey cried out as a nail slipped and the hammer hit his hoof. It didn’t break it, but sweet Celestia it really hurt all the same.

“You ok!?” Crosby asked, frightened for his best friend.

“Yeah CC, I’m aight, just hit m’hoof is all,” Smokey groaned as he limped over to a cooler and stuck his hoof into the ice, wincing.

“Better not bang yourself up too bad, Smokey, can’t have a train without an engineer ” Crosby replied as Smokey nodded. “Plus, don’t forget we’re putting a fire in the You Know What tomorrow night”

“I know, I know… But we may need to find more Ponies to help out," Smokey assessed as he glanced out to Mrs Cheerilee and her class, who had been painting the caboose. “I know we’ll need a conductor and a couple car attendants”

As Smokey mused on the issue, Apple Bloom was telling the others about something odd that had happened a few days before. “It was the strangest thang, I was out playin’ in the fields, when all at once I heard an old train in the woods, I heard it’s whistle and I could just about hear it chugging,” she said as she ran a brush over the old paint.

Diamond Tiara grinned as she looked over “You did?” She asked before gaining a worried tone, “You know what you heard don’t you?”

Apple Bloom raised an eyebrow, confused “A train?”

“Not just any train… The train to Tartarus! My daddy told me about it! He said that back when his granddad owned the railways, a passenger train fell off a bridge in the woods and disappeared! And ever since, it’s haunted the old line, it’s whistle crying into the night! They say if you get on...you never get off!” Diamond Tiara exclaimed as Silver Spoon snuck up behind Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, blowing a wooden train whistle as loud as she could, causing the three to jump.

“Hey! That wasn’t funny!” Scootaloo retorted as she looked at the two bullies.

“Yeah! There ain’t no such thang as a ghost train!” Apple Bloom declared as she furrowed her brow.

“Oh yeah? Meet us tomorrow night out by the old bridge down the tracks!... That is if you're not...scared," Silver Spoon challenged, as she went to walk away with a grin, Diamond looked to her friend with alarm.

“Silver, what are you doing, I’m not going out to some dumb old bridge with the blank flanks… what if it really does come?” Diamond said as she looked to her friend.

Silver Spoon laughed, "Diamond! I’m surprised at you! Believing all that ghost train nonsense."

“I don’t know girls, trespassing, breaking curfew….it doesn’t seem safe...and Rarity would be upset if I got all dirty!” Sweetie Bell said as she looked to her two friends.

“Aw come on, Sweetie Bell, there’s no train to Tartarus! Those two are just trying to scare us!” Scootaloo retaliated with a confident grin.

---

The three agreed to head out to meet Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. As time went on, they had managed to paint 109, one of the coaches and the caboose up. Smokey has relented and agreed to 109 being painted passenger green. However due to some precariously stacked paint cans and a slight bump, they ended up having to substitute black for the intended green and gold. It was getting late now and all were growing tired.

Smokey looked up from one of the leftover apple fritters that Applejack had sent during lunch, thinking as he chewed and then smiled. “Well…a promise is a promise,” he said as he stood up. “Hey y’all! I know we ain’t got the other coach done, but come on up to the station and I’ll wrangle a train up!” He offered with a grin.

Cheerilee’s class cheered as they all ran up the station platform while Smokey started up 109 and coupled to the painted coach and caboose. Crosby was just about to put on a conductor's uniform when someone called out.

“Hey! Y’all ain’t wantin’ to run a train without a conductor are ye?” An elderly unicorn called out as he walked to the platform, he had a faded and graying royal blue coat with a mane and tail so silvery gray, it was almost chrome. An old, worn out conductor's hat adorned his head. He had a golden pocket watch for a cutiemark.

“We were thinking about it, old timer, come to ride?” Smokey asked as the old unicorn walked up.

“Sorta... I also wondered if ye needed a conductor," he said before looking to 109. “I spent fifty years on the rails, forty five as a conductor! I’d love to do it again... Name's Buttons, Brass Buttons," he explained with a grin.

Smokey smiled. "Smokey Cinders! And my friend there’s Crosby Chime!” Smokey said as he thought and then nodded. “I don’t see why not! The caboose ain’t too pretty inside, but you wanna help out, you're welcome to be our first conductor!”

“Nice to meet ya both! And thanks a bunch!” He said as he picked up a radio with his magic and went back to the caboose, watching for Smokey as they backed into the platform. Cheerilee and her class boarded the coach. While the pinnacle of luxury at once time, it had slowly faded away, the interior would need work next. The seats were somewhat uncomfortable and some windows wouldn’t open.

Brass held up his radio and called Smokey. “Rear end to 109, what time are we planning on departing? Over."

Smokey chuckled and held up his radio. “109 responding, we don’t have a schedule drawn up yet, so we’ll depart at any time, ready for the signal."

Brass smiled as he walked to the back of the caboose and leaned out. "All aboard!” He bellowed before going back in, climbing onto the cupola. “Clear to depart 109, let’s roll."

“Copy that rear end, 109 clear for departure on track one for MilePost 7, over." Smokey acknowledged, giving two blasts of the horn before gently setting off up the line, being careful not to jar the coaches or his first official passengers.

---

Twilight watched the train leaving the station from her castle. “A preserved historical railway... I never thought I’d hear of one of those in Equestria, though Sunset did tell me about those railways, they’re supposedly popular." She said as she watched the little diesel and its two-car train heading into the woods.

“Well they are workin’ hard on it, it looks like, I see them movin’ equipment back and forth a lot, must have a lot of track repair from where that old line goes, apparently to a whole town” Applejack said as she sat at her chair in the Cutie Map Room.

“Indeed… Everfree was once a thriving boom town in its day, however once the railway was closed, there really wasn’t a reason for any ponies to stay, it’s honestly kind of sad” Twilight recounted, once the little town was abandoned, the residents scattered to the wind to the surrounding towns, Ponyville in particular.

“Eeyup… but there’s something strange, Twi, somethin’s up, a few days ago I heard what sounded like a steam whistle, it echoed out every so often and at one point I thought I saw smoke above the forest, I ain’t never heard any animals holler like that”

“It appears that Smokey and Crosby might be withholding some details about the trains on the line” Twilight replied as she pulled a book. Echo’s In The Everfree: An Autobiography of an Engineer and Master Mechanic. by Walschaerts Baker.

---

It was a pleasant ride, it really was, though some of the students did make a comment about the bumpy track. The scenery was second to none! Soon they reached the trestle.

Crosby walked back to the coach and entered it, picking up the intercom microphone. “Sorry folks, this is as far as we’re going today, the tracks beyond the bridge are out, so for the time being, this is where we go back,” he explained before walking back to the caboose to watch the tracks with Brass Buttons. Lying about the tracks being out as an excuse, since the Everfree yard was just a mile ahead.

Apple Bloom leaned out a window and looked down into the water, whispering to her friends “This is where we gotta come girls, we’ll prove to them bullies that there ain’t no train to Tartarus," she said as Smokey gave three blasts of the horn before reversing back to Ponyville.

Meanwhile, Silver Spoon walked over and sat with the three, grinning “Enjoying the train ride, blank flanks? I hope you get used to it, because the train to Tartarus has old coaches just like these,” she said with mischief, as she stood up and went to walk back to Diamond Tiara. The car jolted as it went over a rough section and caused her to fall, landing on Diamond Tiara and knocking the wind out of both of them. The Cutie Mark Crusaders laughed when they saw this.

“Stupid old track and stupid old train!” Diamond Tiara said in frustration as she sat back, crossing her arms.

Soon they arrived back at the station and disembarked, heading off for home as Smokey, Crosby and Brass stayed behind.

“So, Buttons...tell me," Smokey began as he looked at the old conductor, “do ya like steam locomotives?”