The classic tale, reimagined for an entirely new era.
Sunny Starscout and her friends have been on many challenging adventures, and believe they can tackle anything the world throws at them.
All of this changes when they discover the remains of an old railway line that used to connect Equestria together. Getting it restored would assist with bringing the country together, but the challenges are immense. Geography, resources, and various other problems work against them. Have the Mane 5 truly met their match?
A complete rewrite of my first ever story, Railway Adventure, and written to mark five years since I started writing My Little Pony fanfiction. Takes place after the events of Chapter 3 of Make your Mark, but was planned and written before Chapter 4 began airing, and as a result does not take it into account.
It was a beautiful morning in Maretime Bay, as mornings in Maretime Bay usually are. This partly was due to the fact it was in a fairly coastal and somewhat humid part of the world, with the temperatures and weather patterns to match. Storms were rare, or at least Sunny could only recall two in recent times. Having said that, rainfall was pretty common, but is was usually intense and over quickly (perfect for the farmers, so to speak).
This morning was also a busy one. The Crystal Brighthouse rang to the sound of activity and action as its five residents were busy going about their days.
Pipp, on the one hand, was streaming, as she was want to do at this point in the day. "Good morning Pippsqueaks!" she said, her voice ringing in its usual manner with a level of cheerfulness some found endearing and others found irritating. "Will you take a look out of the window! The sun is up, and the sky is blue. There are no clouds to spoil the view!" She popped a pair of sunglasses on. "Now then, I imagine you'll all want to do things outdoors today, but there are a number of tips I should give you guys for doing things outdoors." She produced a bottle. "First, make sure to wear plenty of sunblock to keep those pesky sunrays from burning you. And the brand I especially recommend is BreezeTech Factor 5! I have literally never gotten sunburn with this stuff!"
"Could you keep the noise down?" Zipp called from the other side of the room. "I'm trying to connect some dots here."
Pipp glanced over. "Well maybe you could connect them later!" She turned back to the camera. "Well, that's Zipp for ya. Always solving another mystery!" She laughed, even though the statement wasn't particularly funny. "Where was I? Ah, I remember. Second, always make sure to have plenty of water with you so you don't get dehydrated. And third, be sure to ventilate your home!"
"Why would we need to ventilate?" Zipp asked. "We live in an air conditioned building, and so do most ponies in Maretime Bay."
Pipp glanced over again. "Most homes in Bridlewood aren't, because they're so far north it rarely gets this hot!"
"And why would we need to wear sunblock anyway? We have fur."
Pipp huffed. "I was thinking of those poor unfortunate ponies with bald spots. But may I suggest the new Sbog shampoo to get your manes back in order? This stuff really makes manes shine! Satisfaction guaranteed or your money back!"
"Pipp, I see you're still confusing entertainment for advertising."
"I have to get the sponsors in somehow!"
Sunny was in the sitting room, looking through her dad's notes. Although some of her father's records had been lost when the lighthouse had been destroyed, a remarkable amount of information had been preserved by sheer luck. Sunny was, naturally, keen to ensure the remainder survived, and as such had built a bomb proof vault to store them in. At the moment, she was scanning through an earlier volume of research. Not only did this provide clues as to where to go next, it also gave her some comfort. She'd barely been out of her teens when he'd died, and in a sense these collected words gave her a direct connection back to him, even when the world had taken everything else.
Sunny's attention was suddenly caught by something about iron. Obviously, Imperial Equestria had the capability to make iron and steel (have you ever tried making an airship out of stone?), but one area which merited more research was the nation's massive transport infrastructure, as relatively little information had survived.
And the repeated references to the three nations once been connected in other ways was fascinating. True, there had always been the balloon network, but the writer whose works had been collected kept referring to a network of iron rails covering the land.
Sunny shook her head. "Clearly I've been reading too much. I should probably get some fresh air." She trotted over to the door and slipped her skates and helmet on, before speeding out of the door and onwards into Maretime Bay.
Sunny whooped and hollered as she thundered along the streets of Maretime Bay. Although she could fly when in alicorn mode, nothing for her could best the sheer adrenaline rush of thundering down the streets in a set of roller blades. This had always been her preferred method of getting around town, even with the city's streetcar system. Having said that, she didn't exactly have the best of relations with Maretime Bay's public transport, with a lifetime ban for spraying pro-unity graffiti on a streetcar still hanging against her. Oh well. At least with her skates she had a mode of transport nopony could take away from her.
Her phone suddenly began buzzing, and she skidded to a stop at the waterfront and removed her front blades to take a look. It was a text from Zipp.
Hey Sunny! Just got a note from the library that a book a requested is in stock. Could you ride over and pick it up for me? The collection code is 09202018. Thanks!
Sunny quickly typed back a response.
Sure thing, Zipp! Just on my way now!
Sunny popped her phone away, got her skates back on, and then, ahem, got her skates on to the library. She slid in through the door and stopped at the collection desk.
The pony manning it looked up. "Hello, Sunny," she said. "Here to collect something?"
Sunny nodded. "Yes. Zipp asked me to pick something up. Apparently the code was 09202018?"
The librarian nodded. "Yes indeed. Here you go." She handed over a largish white book. "You know, I remember the days you used to come in here and pick things up for your dad like it was yesterday. Congratulations on achieving his dream."
"The credit goes to him, really," Sunny replied. "Without his work and guidance I'd probably have fallen in line with the rest of the town. And that wouldn't have ended well."
"Very true," the librarian answered. "Good day, Sunny."
Sunny was soon back on her way when suddenly there was a crash, and something broke! Before she knew what was happening the sky and the ground were revolving at high speed, and the mare slammed into something. Something flew high into the air and splattered upon landing, covering Sunny in some sticky, goey substance.
"Sunny, I run a fruit stand, not a jam factory!"
Sunny groaned as she pulled herself up, realising she was covered in pulped fruit. "At least it wasn't the bananas this time," she replied.
"Ah!" the mechanic said, looking at the shoe. "Some of the wheels broke off. This should be easy to fix, but it will take a few minutes."
"Thanks for helping," Sunny said, as she took a seat in the waiting area. Feeling a bit bored, she decided to take a look at the book Zipp had requested. Thankfully that hadn't been covered in fruit.
Sunny scanned through the pages, reading closely in the academic manner her father had taught her. Her eyes widened as she read the contents of the pages. Clearly this was a rare text if the knowledge wasn't known to her. Argyle had collected an incredible amount of stuff during this time, yet this was news to her!
She pulled her phone out and took a note on it. This was important! The information within this book had the power to change everything they knew about relations between the three pony races.
"This is perfect!"
Izzy was standing in the middle of what looked like an abandoned field. A few buildings scattered the perimeter, but the region was otherwise quite badly overgrown and full of weeds. Obviously that would need cleaning a bit.
Izzy trotted through the field, humming happily to herself as she began mapping something out in her mind. "This is a big field. Which is perfect for my craft fair!"
Yes, she should see it now. Ponies selling trinkets! Trading supplies! Giving things to one another! Enjoying specialty beverages! Throwing parakeets through the air!
Wait, what?
Izzy had seen many silly things in her time, but she doubted somepony would get that worked up over something to throw a plushy parakeet through the air. Ponies could be silly sometimes. But not Izzy. She was always silly!
As her brain worked feverishly to stick this all together and make it work, she forgot to look where she was going, and without warning she crashed to the floor. "Oww! This place has some trip hazards! We'll need to remove those in case somepony gets hurt!"
She turned around to take a closer look at the place she'd tripped, popping on her glasses as things close to her had a habit of going very blurry. Her eyes widened in surprise.
Right about where she had tripped was a piece of metal, glowing in the sunlight.
Sunny galloped back into the Brighthouse and charged up the ramp, her heart pounding in her chest. "Zipp? Zipp? I gotta speak with you!"
She rounded a tight bend and narrowly avoided crashing into a bedpost before skidding to a stop near the elevator, not far from where she and four of her friends maintained their living quarters. "Zipp? You there?"
Zipp emerged from behind a wall. "Hey Sunny. Everything OK?"
Sunny held up the book. "Where did you find this?" she asked. "Who's the author? Where are they from? What are there sources?"
"One question at a time, Sunny," Zipp replied, indicating to a pair of chairs. "Wow. I guess you did give it a look after all. Curious minds always find the best things."
"I had no idea all of that was there!" Sunny replied. "Not even dad could uncover much about it! And yet all this history is here. So how did you?"
"How did you what?"
"Find this?"
"Oh. I gotcha." Zipp nodded. "Pretty simple, actually. Quite a while back, before we brought the magic back, I was digging through the Zephyr Heights archives looking for evidence that the three tribes used to live together rather than always being separate, as the history books claimed. Whilst hunting through the archives, I found this book, which had conclusive proof that the three tribes used to see each other and travel about a lot. Don't worry, that's a reprint, it's not a priceless original."
"What were you going to do with it?" Sunny asked.
"I was gonna go to mom and show it to her. Use it as proof that we once lived in harmony. But then you and Izzy arrived." Zipp paused. "We've already achieved so much, but building a lasting peace is proving to be tricky. We need something that will bring us together even more, and the huge distances between our major cities isn't helping. Maybe, just maybe, if we had a transport revolution we could become even closer than we are now!"
Pipp suddenly popped round a partition. "Well, I had a productive morning!"
"Flogging stuff?" Zipp asked. "Seriously, you probably sell more stuff than a telemarketer."
"Telemarketing is SOOOO last week," Pipp replied. "Wanna sell something, do it online. And with Canternet Towers everywhere in Equestria these days there really is no excuse. Sales of sunblock have already surged thanks to moi. But enough about that! What were you guys doing?"
Zipp looked about to ensure nopony was overhearing. "I have a proposal-"
"AWWWW!" Pipp said. "Who's the lucky stallion? Or mare, I don't care either way."
"Not that kind of proposal," Zipp replied. "I recently came across some really interesting stuff and want to present it to you guys. I suggest we meet after lunch to discuss it, as what I've found changes what we know about Equestria, potentially forever."
"OOOH! Sounds dramatic," Pipp answered. "I'll provide mood lighting and interesting music!"
"Please don't."
As the three made their way down the ramp (the Brighthouse having no stairs), Sunny looked over to Pipp. "Anything else interesting happen on this stream?"
"Totally!" Pipp beamed. "Mom called in and said she'd like to meet with us again at some point. She really wants to know how we're getting on, but I didn't have a huge amount to report. Things have been pretty quiet lately apart from some malfunctioning smoothie robots and that pie on the beach business."
"Yeah," Zipp replied. "Totally quiet." She was still convinced that something else was going on- after all, things being too quiet is just as concerning as them being too noisy- and that they had to be on their guard.
Just as they reached the bottom level, the door suddenly burst open, and Izzy charged in. "HI GUYS!" she yelled. "I FOUND SOMETHING AMAZING!"
"Can it wait a moment?" Sunny asked. "I'm just going to put some lunch on."
Izzy ignored her and went on anyway. "IfoundthesereallyweirdmetalthingsinthefieldforthecraftfairandIthoughtyoushouldknowastheygoinstraightlinesfornogoodreasonand-"
"Whoa," Zipp said. "Izzy, slow down. We can't understand a word you're saying."
Izzy took a deep breath, then produced a smoothie from nowhere and drank some of it. Once she was finished with drinking it, she then repeated what she had just said. "I found these really weird metal things in the field for the craft fair and I thought you should know as they go in straight lines for no good reason, and I know how much you guys like to investigate things and thought it would be perfect for an investigation!"
Pipp blinked. "That was one of the longest sentences I have ever heard."
Zipp, on the other hand, grabbed her phone. "Hey, Hitch?"
There was no reply.
Zipp looked at the device and shrugged. "Oops. Forgot to dial." She dialled the number and waited.
"Hey there Zipp! How can I help you?"
"Can you pop over to the Brighthouse after lunch? We have something really important to discuss."
"I'll ask Dahlia to keep an eye on Sparky for a bit," Hitch replied. "But I'll see you there!"
After lunch was concluded, the four residents of the Brighthouse got the projector and screen set up, ready for the presentation. "Phew!" Pipp said. "That lot is heavy."
"For you, perhaps," Zipp replied.
"Hey! Remember I'm shorter than you!"
Sunny checked the display. "Izzy? Why is the picture upside down?"
Izzy peered at the front, and then took something off. "Oh! I'd fitted one of my super silly filters for a screening of Trotting Hill."
Sunny peered at her in confusion. "Why upside down though?"
"There is an old Bridlewood tradition that if you intend to screen a film, you must first run the entire film with a filter that causes it to project upside down. That way the true screening is lucky."
"I wasn't familiar with that one," Sunny replied. "Interesting. Watching a movie the wrong way up must be a strange experience, though."
"You get used to it. Ponies walking around on the ceiling is pretty funny, though!"
Just then, Hitch arrived. "Hello everyone!" he said. "What's this meeting about?"
Sunny gestured for him to take a seat alongside Pipp and Izzy. "We found something pretty big. Something that may change all of our lives."
Hitch rolled his eyes. "Sunny, we already have a community garden. We don't need another."
"Even bigger than that! Take it away, Zipp!"
Zipp cleared her throat, and stepped forward. "First slide."
The slide came up- followed by dramatic music. "Pipp! I said no music!"
"Urrrrrrrgh, FINE."
Zipp then continued. "I've made a pretty big discovery. Back in the older times, in the brief time between Imperial Equestria and the beginning of Isolation, our three countries were connected by rail."
"That doesn't seem very helpful," Izzy said. "What use would putting some rails down do?"
"Rails that trains ran on," Zipp explained, though she suspected Izzy was just being facetious. And these trains carried goods and ponies between the three areas, which was not just useful for unity but good for business. Much of this railroad has fallen into disuse or completely pulled up, but I suggest we rebuild it. I know we've reunified, but there's still some distrust out there. Would could be even more united if our three countries were quite literally joined together by steel rails."
"I dunno," Hitch said. "Do remember how far apart our cities and nations are. We're looking potentially at thousands of miles of track- as the dragon flies. And I know little about trains, but I suspect they can't go up vertical slopes, which may make connecting Zephyr Heights a problem."
"Luckily, a third of the Trans Equestrian Railroad, as it was called, still exists. The bit within Pegasus territory became the basis of their rapid transit and freight system, and was even electrified."
"That means run with electric trains," Sunny helpfully clarified.
Izzy hummed. "So THAT'S what those rails were about!"
"What rails?" Hitch asked.
Izzy took a deep breath. "I found these really weird metal things in the field for the craft fair and I thought you should know as they go in straight lines for no good reason. But based on what you said they might be rails. Perhaps they were somehow connected to this Trans Equestria thingy you mentioned, possibly even used to store trains?"
"A martialling yard," Zipp said. "If my thinking is right, you may have found the old Maretime Bay martialling yard. Let's go and take a look!"
"Not yet," Hitch said. "I need to clear my workload at the station and put Sparky to bed. He's been so active since he went missing for a bit."
"And we cannot go out and do strenous activity right now!" Pipp said.
"Why?" Sunny asked.
"I can think of better things to get than sunstroke and sunburn!" Pipp said, looking at the window. "And sunglasses make it hard to read my phone screen."
"This evening, then?" Sunny suggested.
This, at least, they agreed on. And that, it seemed, was that.
The sun began to descend in the sky, and before long the former blue skies over Maretime Bay began to shift in shade to a rather more orange affair. This, in and out of itself, signified a shift away from the day and towards the evening, which was a most wonderful and enjoyable time of day.
Sunny checked out of the window and checked the weather app on her phone. "OK guys!" she said. "Temperatures are dropping out there, so we should be good to go now. You got all your gear?"
"Here!" Zipp called, bringing her drone and spy gear out with her.
"Gotcha!" Izzy replied, quickly looking through the door. "Izzy Does It is ready to, well, get going!"
"It's less than a mile's walk," Sunny pointed out. "Wouldn't such a short journey be a dubious use of petrol?"
"What's petrol?" Izzy asked. "It's like a British person is writing this!"
"Never mind," Sunny answered. "It's just that walking makes less smoke and is good for you."
Just then, Pipp arrived. "Sorry I'm late!" she said. "I couldn't decide which set of combs to bring." She dropped a large bag on the ground in front of her.
Zipp rolled her eyes. "We're going less than a mile down the road," she said. "I don't think you need all that stuff to get to the yard."
Pipp sighed. "OK, I'll leave it at home, Mrs Grouchy." She pushed it towards a sofa and turned around with a pair of sunglasses on. "That better?"
"Totally. And for the last time it's Miss. I'm not married."
"Yet!"
Zipp rolled her eyes again. "She totally ships me with other ponies, doesn't she?"
Sunny's phone suddenly buzzed, and she checked it. "A message from Hitch!" she said. "I wonder what it is?"
The message popped onto her screen.
I am at the place you mentioned now. See you there. Let me know when you set off.
Sunny quickly texted back.
Just on my way now!
Before the chat suddenly got flooded with responses.
Yes indeedally!
Rock on!
#SunsetStream!💙❗
Sunny looked back in confusion. "How are you all responding to a text sent to me?"
"It's a WhatsApp," Izzy said. "We can all see those, remember? The message gets sent to the entire group!"
"Oh," Sunny said, looking a little sheepish. "I'd forgotten that. Still not 100% used to all this stuff!"
With that out of the way, the gang set off out of the Brighthouse and out into the street. The Brighthouse sat a little way out from the town of Maretime Bay, and a small forest of trees lined the roadside and path. This was certainly a nice new addition to the region, as it beat just empty fields. Not to mention it made driving large unlicensed vehicles into buildings a lot harder.
But just before they reached the edge of town, Zipp flew up to Sunny. "If the map is accurate, we take a right here. That should lead us directly into the yard itself."
"Seems a bit odd they'd put it this far away," Sunny admitted.
"Marshalling yards and stations do need to be near the track," Zipp pointed out. "Come on. Let's go." And she sped off before anypony could stop her.
As the others rounded the corner, Hitch was already waiting. "Hey there!" he said. "So, something interesting here, right? Looks kinda like an empty field to me."
"Those are some interesting buildings," Izzy said, pointing to some of the nearby structures. "That looks kinda like a big barn but with more doors, and the one over there is a really long house!"
Sunny pulled up a plan on her phone. "Based on Zipp's book, that's a stock shed. And the second building is a depot. Not sure what it's for, seeing as they already have a building for loading freight, but-"
Suddenly, spooky music echoed through the area. "What was that?" Hitch asked. "Is somepony following us?"
"No," Izzy said. "It's just Pipp doing a livestream."
And sure enough, she was. "Good evening, Pippsqueaks!" she said, turning so the others were in view. "Tonight, me and my friends-"
"My friends and I," Hitch corrected.
"My friends and me and I are in this super spooky place! Look behind me guys! This is so not a filter!" She spun her phone around to show the buildings. "And tonight, we are going to go inside this building and see if any ghosts still live in there!"
"A ghost hunting stream," Sunny said. "Really? Well, watch where your hooves are going, OK?"
They wandered through the abandoned yard, the weeds growing so tall you'd be pretty hard pressed to find anything relating to a railroad within them. Pipp, however, was paying very little attention. "Can any of you hear ghosts? I can't right now, but there must be some as there are always ghosts in old buildings, right?"
Suddenly, there was a loud crash, and Pipp was on the floor. "Oww," she groaned. "What sort of idiot puts such obvious trip hazards in the middle of a field?!"
"We did warn you not to trip on things," Zipp said, as she helped her sister up. "Eyes on the ground, not the screen. Shut it off."
Pipp rolled her eyes again. "Alright. Gotta go Pippsqueaks, see ya!" She glanced back to her sister. "You're more like mom than you care to admit, you know that?"
Hitch popped out of the depot. "Sure is weird in there," he said. "Old tools, some newspapers from a long time ago, and even food tins- empty, thankfully- alongside many other personal items. This place is a time capsule. Almost as if the ponies who worked here just dropped everything one day and left. Sure is spooky."
Izzy appeared from further ahead. "I've found something weird as well," she said. "Up ahead the rails go from rusty to, well, not existing. That's very odd. Why just leave something disconnected from everything else in the area?"
Zipp put a hoof to her chin. "That suggests the line wasn't just abandoned. It was pulled up. But why?"
"So it could be recycled somewhere else?" Sunny suggested. "Dad had some notes on the coal railroads around Hope Hollow, and those say that when a line wasn't needed anymore they took it up and rebuilt it somewhere else. Perhaps the same happened here. There is a streetcar system in Maretime Bay, so perhaps it was used there?"
Izzy had gotten closer in the meantime, and joined the conversation. "When Zipp and me were building the Marestream, I measured the gap between the tram car's wheels to check weight. It was three feet."
Zipp pulled out a tape measure and measured some of the track. "And this is three foot as well. Which is also the exact same gauge as Zephyr Heights! Not only that, it's conclusive proof that the streetcar network was built from old railroad track!"
"I also recall seeing bridges that went nowhere and oddly flat land during our journey to Zephyr Heights way back when," Sunny added.
"It's possible those bits were railroad bridges and embankments- the old route the line took." Hitch had provided his first contribution for a while. "But if that's indeed the case, then how does that bode for this project?"
"Yeah," Pipp added. "If it was pulled up, as you say, that suggests we'd need to relay it to connect the two cities together. And I don't do manual labour."
"We know," Hitch said. "But I think we have another rather more serious problem to deal with. As I say, I don't know a huge amount about trains. But doesn't a railroad need engines and coaches and freight cars to be able to move stuff?"
"Well, yes," Zipp said. "But how-"
"This place has none," Hitch pointed out.
"I couldn't see any in the old building over here either," Izzy added. "And we can't just magic a train out of thin air like we did the Marestream, as there aren't any spare streetcars."
Sunny nodded. "We either find one or build one."
"Sunny!" Hitch said. "Where exactly are we supposed to find a train? It's not like we can just pop down the shops and buy one. And building our own? That's beyond our technical skills."
"We'll have to find one, then," Sunny finished. "Those who say something cannot be done should not interrupt those ponies who are busy doing it. After all, they said ponykind couldn't be brought back together, and yet here we are now."
"So, what's the plan Sunny?" Izzy asked.
"I suggest we split up and go searching," Sunny said. "Izzy, Hitch, can you two look about in Maretime Bay and try and get some clues? There may be something right under our noses where we live."
"Sure thing!" Izzy replied.
"I'll head to Zephyr Heights and see if I can pull some strings," Zipp added.
"What can I do?" Pipp asked.
Sunny smiled. "Pipp, I want you to do something very special indeed..."
The next day, Izzy was out in town shopping for supplies. Her food stocks at the Brighthouse had run a little low, and as such she thought it would be prudent to stock up whilst she was focused and had the time. So far it had yielded positive results. She already had bread, some cheese, and had even managed to score a discount on some salami, managing to acquire two packs for the price of one. In short, her day was going very well.
As she strolled along, she suddenly spotted a familiar face wandering about. Misty was looking at the front of Sunny's smoothie cart in confusion. "I thought she was normally here around now!" she said, looking a little frustrated.
Izzy bounced over. "Hi Misty! I haven't seen you in a while!"
Misty jumped and swung round. "Oh, er, hi Izzy! Err, yeah, long time no see! Heh. I just got back into town after a while away, you know?" She paused. "Err, where's Sunny? Normally her smoothie cart's open by now, unless the hours have changed and it opens later. Or closes earlier. I don't really know which would be worse."
Izzy looked at a notice and smiled. "Hey! She started using my code!"
"Namely?"
Izzy ran her hoof over some text. "B. R. B. F. B. B. B!" She smiled. "It's short for Be Right Back From Bridlewood, Best Buddy! And that clearly means she considers you a buddy, Misty!"
Misty nodded. "Err, yeah. I was hoping to get Kiwi Power Blast with Purple Heart as I quite like the flavour."
Izzy smiled. "So, a kiwi pony huh? Always thought you'd be a strawnanna or dazzleberry type. Or possibly even wild blueberry. But you do you, I figure. Come on, we have so much to discuss! It's been so long since you were last in town!"
Misty quickly slipped her locket into her bag. She couldn't afford to have Opaline contact her at an inconvenient moment and blow the entire operation. She simply went along with Izzy and tried to go through the motions as best she could, hoping her social awkwardness didn't cause other problems.
Thankfully, she was with Izzy, who seemed to be utterly oblivious to her social awkwardness. "So!" she said, with a grin on her face. "How have the days been treating you, Misty?"
"Oh, it's been so so," Misty replied. "I've mostly been doing normal... stuff. The sort of stuff a pony does. And how about you, Izzy?"
"Oh, we've been super busy round here. Loads of new fruit to harvest from the community garden, mysteries to solve, and possibly even a wedding to plan."
"Oh?" Misty said. This was news. "Who's getting married?"
"It's not a confirmation of a wedding, but probably actually a possible chance of a wedding. I heard it through the grapevine, so don't tell anypony else, but according to Pipp Queen Haven and Alphabittle are a thing!"
Misty was surprised. "Well, being physical objects as well as living beings they do qualify as things, but-"
"No! As in a couple!"
"Right," Misty thought to herself. Opaline might want to hear of this. If there were possible romantic entanglements, they could be used to her advantage. "Well, congrats to them I guess. But why are we heading this way?"
At that moment in time, they had excited through the edge of town opposite to the Brighthouse, and were still heading that way as they spoke. It certainly seemed an odd way to be going, but the reason for heading this way soon became clear.
"The coast road is really lovely at this time of day," Izzy said, as they went along the pathway towards the coast. "See those glowing rocks? The locals call them the Glowing Rocks. Creative, I know!"
Misty, however, was still thinking. Something felt a bit off about this journey, and as such she looked about.
But just then she stepped on something, and the ground gave way beneath her! "Izzy! Help!"
Izzy wheeled around and saw Misty disappearing into a large hole. "Don't worry Misty!" Izzy called. "I'll save you!" She dived into the hole and followed her down. "WHEEEEE!"
Eventually, their journey down into the ground ended with them in a large cavern. "You OK?" Izzy asked.
Misty checked herself over. "No broken bones or bruises," she said. "But how did we get down here?"
"The ground gave way, of course!" Izzy replied, before her eyes widened at something behind her. "Oh my hoofness. Is that what I think it is?"
The hours seemed to slowly tick by as Hitch glanced at the clock. The main problem with his line of work was that it barely resembled what you saw in the movies. Pony chases were few and far between, and the most exciting things that normally happened around her concerned earth ponies resizing vegetables for some reason. This meant that most of his day was spent doing paperwork.
Lots and lots of paperwork.
It was secure work, and pretty formulaic. This also made it pretty boring. Hitch checked the clock again for what was probably the sixth time, only to see it had only advanced about two minutes. If time flies when you're having fun, then the inverse is also true; when bored, time slows to a crawl.
Hitch was filling in so many forms as he had catchup to do. Various incidents had escaped his attention, and now he was facing the consequences of not staying up to date. He double checked the incident list, as was his custom, and noticed still nothing new. Whilst his desire for something to happen was one he knew was dangerous, it could have positive benefits. After all, he had met his new friends as a consequence of something interesting happening. Maybe he should roll with it more in the future.
He ticked another box and yawned to himself. The rules always had it that an incident happened just before a break, but he seemed to be lucky so far.
Suddenly, his incident reporter beeped, and he checked it. "Disturbance at the CanterLogic factory?" he asked. "That's not good. I'll get down there right away." He looked back. "Kevin, you watch the station until I get back!"
The bird saluted as Hitch got on his way, speeding towards the old factory at speed. He skidded to a stop outside the entrance, and shook his head as he saw Sprout. "What have you done now, Sprout? Made giant exploding berries again?"
Sprout shook his head. "Wasn't me, boss! I've finished my community service, remember? I heard a strange noise coming from the tunnels underneath the factory and thought it should be investigated. Seeing as I'm not on the force anymore I couldn't go in, but you can, as our resident police pony."
Hitch nodded. "Very well. Let me get down there and take a look."
Hitch dashed back to the station to collect a HAZMAT suit, then returned back to the factory ready for his mission. He made his way towards the pipes. "Colonel, if anything happens let me know, OK?"
The turtle nodded, though his slow speed meant he would struggle to go anywhere fast. Hitch went on his way into the tunnel and wandered down it, a small torch on his suit illuminating the pipes. These were originally meant for the discharge of waste from weapons production (as it turns out making weapons is an astonishingly messy business on the chemical level), and although manufacturing of weapons there had ceased a while ago, there was still a backlog of toxic waste to clear from the building whilst the structure was refitted for the production of consumer goods and tools such as tractors and combine harvesters.
Hitch made his way deeper down the tunnels, glancing left and right to check for the cleaning robots that periodically patrolled the building for waste. Although programmed to recognise ponies, the units weren't exactly quick to steer around objects, and in fact were pretty prone to crashing into objects. They were best avoided if possible.
Hitch rounded another bend, still amazed at the scale of the tunnels. "Still hard to believe we used to just dump the waste from this process into the ocean," he said to himself. "No wonder things got so bad around here."
He was close to completing his checks when he spotted a small room set inside the area. This was a small refuge area for plant workers who needed to hide when the automated processes were running. It was possible something was inside there- besides, Thunder had looked down here when Sparky had vanished all that time ago.
Hitch dived inside the room and closed the door behind him, sighing as the pressure change indicator came on. This signified a switch in room pressure from one setting to another, which meant he could proceed.
His eyes widened when he saw what was in there. "Cloudpuff? How did you get down here?
Zipp snuck behind a building at a packed facility at the base of the mountain range the Pegasi called home, and looked round a corner at what was in front of her. Her location was a large yard and freight transfer facility which marked the end of one portion of the Zephyr Heights Railroad. Traction motors hummed and ponies shouted, moving boxes about and loading cargo onto the waiting freight train.
"Careful!" shouted one. "Be careful with the crane! These overhead wires are energised, remember?"
"Understood!" shouted another.
Zipp nodded, and produced her notepad to scribble something down. The railway here was an electrically powered railway. This was interesting to say the least. Notes, not to mention the book, indicated that this line was originally steam worked. And yet there wasn't a single steam engine in sight.
She tapped her equipment to deploy her drone to scan the rails and nearby equipment. The locomotive attached to the front of the train was indeed an electric, with two pantographs engaged with the overhead line. It had two sets of large wheels paired into groups of six, with another four wheels sat in front of each other group, paired into groups of two. The overall appearance was odd and ungainly. It looked oddly like a box on wheels. It was also painted a dark green shade, with the logo of the ZHR painted on both sides.
As it sounded its horn and moved off, Zipp's drone darted down to the track and began scanning the rails for anything interesting. Something was off, however, and the machine buzzed as it spotted the width between the track.
"Four foot Eight and a Half, eh?" Zipp said to herself. "Interesting. The book said it was three foot, but this is not. Clearly the line was reguaged at some point."
Suddenly, there was a loud noise, and the smashing sound of a mug of tea hitting the floor. "Is that her?" asked a crewpony.
"Yes, it is," said another, and bowed. "Your Royal Highness Princess Zephyrina, we are graced and honoured by your prescence at our humble yard today. Is this a state visit?"
Zipp shook her head. "Zipp. Just call me Zipp. And I'm just here to monitor some stuff. Train spotting, so to speak."
The second pony removed herself from the bow. "I understand, Yo- Zipp. May I ask if you have availed yourself of sensible and affordable rainwear?"
"Not sure I'd need it today," Zipp replied, taking her goggles off. "Pretty sunny, isn't it?" She paused. "I need to get to Zephyr Heights without being detected. Could I catch a freight up to the city and ride in the caboose?"
The pony nodded. "I shall procure the finest caboose in the yard, Zipp, and attach it into the best rake of vehicles we have to ensure you have nothing but the smoothest of rides to Zephyr Heights. Bellows! Start the steeplecab and assemble the train!"
"Yes ma'am!" said the pony who had spotted Zipp, and headed off into the yard.
It was remarkable, those electric trains. Just one engine able to pull more than forty vehicles up that gradient! It really did demonstrate how far technology had come in Equestria- at least based on what Zipp was able to piece together.
The freight rolled to a stop in the freight station, and Zipp got off. Apparently it was quite common for crews to change over whilst the train was still in motion, which seemed a bit dangerous. What if somepony slipped whilst boarding the engine?
Zipp set these questions aside as she darted through the streets of Zephyr Heights. It had been a while since she had last been here, but she still knew the place like the back of her hoof. The city was buzzing with life, as usual, and the pegasi went about their normal business. Special traffic lanes were directing ponies for later today to the Colosseum, where (according to adverts) some pop star called Ruby Jubilee was performing tonight. Zipp wasn't a fan of pop. She vastly preferred rock bands like Electric Blue.
Zipp finally snuck into the palace and arrived in the throne room to find Queen Haven arriving at the same time. "No comment!" the Queen snapped at a reporter.
The reporter vacated the room as Zipp walked over. "Hi mom!"
Queen Haven's bothered expression evaporated on seeing Zipp. "Hello, Zephyri- Zipp," she said, as mother and daughter quickly embraced. "You would not believe the trouble the tabloids have been giving me. One photograph of Alphabittle and I negotiating trade deals over a pot of tea and the entire press is saying I'm preparing to remarry!" She sighed. "We really do live in a glass bubble here. But enough about that. Casual visit, or other matters?"
"Other matters," Zipp said. "Mom, our railroad was once connected to other parts of the country, and me and my friends have had an idea of reconnecting them into one big network."
Queen Haven nodded. "Well, I suppose it would be worth a try. There's only one problem. Parliament passed a law prohibiting steam or diesel engines from operating within our country's borders for reasons of air quality. Not to mention we generate all of our power from renewables anyway. Imagine the massive cost of electrifying everything from here to Bridlewood!" She glanced over to a member of household staff. "Tea, Zipp?"
"No thanks, I grabbed a drink on the way here." Zipp turned back to her mother. "Mom, I know it'd be expensive, and there's a lot of track missing, but we have to try. This is a shot to really connect us all together. Not to cast a downer on your negotiating skills, but a set of iron rails connecting us up would mean we are literally joined up."
Queen Haven nodded. "I'll try. But this shall have to be a collective effort as the line would run through all of our lands. I shall call a summit to negotiate this plan with the other leaders."
Sunny trotted about near the canyon which had nearly put an end to the cross country trip to collect the crystals all those moons ago. Based on Zipp's map, the line ran through the section on its way to Bridlewood. The only problem was Sunny couldn't figure out how it had negotiated the canyon. Had it gone through a tunnel? Around it with a series of curves? Over it with a bridge? It wasn't clear.
She continued to trot along, before suddenly spotting something. A massive steel bridge crossed from side to the other, which looked like an enormous Marecano kit. Presumably this was how the line crossed over.
"I'm still not entirely sure how we managed to miss that," Sunny said to herself, before noting its location down on the map. She then began to make her way further along the line's old path, closely noting the locations of lineside structures and other useful things.
Just then, she came across some more rails which branched off into a nearby wooded area, and what sounded like a train approaching at high speed. She dived into the bushes to avoid being hit.
But what she saw next confused her. The train that was approaching wasn't going very fast at all. It was a steam engine of some sort, and it was producing a massive racket, but it was going very slowly. Several long flat topped cars were coupled to the back, loaded with logs that had been tied together with rope.
"This is interesting," Sunny noted to herself, adding this piece of information to the list of things she had to tell Zipp. "It's now a logging railroad. But that has to be the wierdest locomotive I've ever seen!"
It didn't seem to have normal wheels, instead sitting on two trucks with large vertical cylinders thundering up and down. Once the train had passed, Sunny checked a map on a board which marked a spot in Bridlewood as 'lumber station'. She compared her map to the one from the book, and spotted something.
"This lumber station and the old Bridlewood Depot are in the same spot!" she said. "So it stands to reason that they are in fact the same structure! Now to try and get a C-Net signal out here!"
Canternet coverage was still pretty spotty in many parts of unicorn territory, but Sunny wasn't going to give up. She finally got a signal and got into contact with Hitch. "Hey, Hitch? I've got some amazing news to report!"
Hitch, who looked like he'd been down a ditch, was about to reply, when suddenly Izzy chimed into the call. "Hi Sunny! Misty and I found something really amazing! You guys should come and take a look!"
"And I've made a pretty big discovery too," Hitch replied. "And it's not that these tunnels seemingly never end. We should meet back at the Brighthouse ASAPP- As Soon as Pony Possible!"
Sunny nodded as she began her journey back to Maretime Bay. Whatever it was she had found, it would have to wait.
When Sunny and her friends had returned to the Brighthouse, the first thing they noticed was that something outside it had changed. This very thing was very noticable.
"Izzy," Pipp asked, "what is this piece of junk you've dumped outside our house?"
"It's not a piece of junk!" Izzy protested. "It's what we've been looking for. The solution to our travel travails! Our local application of ferroequine locomotion! Our new wagon of whimsy! A potential replacement to the Wild Willflyer of Winderston!"
"Does anypony have any idea what she's on about?" Hitch asked.
"Nope," Pipp replied. "Izzy, in Ponish, please."
"This pond it seems me much multiplied of fishes," Izzy replied. "Relax, I'm just kidding! My Ponish is working just fine, eh Sunny? No Swiss here!"
"Please don't remind me of that again," Sunny said. "We had a hard enough time un-gibberishing my brain. Izzy, what is it you found?"
Izzy pointed to the big metal thing she had plonked on the Brighthouse lawn. "Oh, this? It's a steam train."
"Steam locomotive," Zipp corrected. "Technically there's no such thing as a steam train."
"Then it's a steam train locomotive," Izzy replied. "Everypony happy?"
Irrespective of whether it was a steam train or a steam locomotive, the object that Izzy had found was pretty impressive. It was long and large, painted mainly black except for some metal parts that were a silvery shade. Presumably this was another type of paint to help protect the metalwork from damage. Above the wheels, of which it had twelve (eight of those being linked together by more metal) was a long metal platform which ponies could presumably stand on (but also had a gaping hole in it near the front), and a series of pipes ran underneath that that extended to underneath a large box near the back of the engine. It had a big chimney, several big round things atop the boiler, and a whistle and bell mounted somewhere along it. The box was festooned with windows, and these made seeing out pretty easy for the ponies onboard. The final and other part was a large box behind the engine, mounted on two trucks with four wheels each.
The engine was also covered in quite a lot of rust, which was going to be a problem.
Sunny looked at the object in confusion. "How did we miss that one?" she asked, looking at the engine in surprise. "Where did you find it, Izzy?"
Izzy glanced around. "I technically didn't find it, Misty did! She fell through the ground and into a big cavern, so I followed her down and this was in there. We hired a drilling machine to open up a path out and hauled the machine to the centre of town, where we then dropped it off on the floor here."
Zipp checked some text and looked back at the object. "If my history is reading correctly, then this is TER No. 499, which worked the last train on the Earth Pony section of the line!" she said, her eyes lighting up. "With this it makes our work so much easier!"
"Really?" Pipp said, looking at it. "Looks like a pile of scrap iron to me."
"So did the Marestream before we fixed the old tramcar," Izzy said. "Now look at it!" She pointed to the Marestream to prove her point.
"It's actually not looking too bad," Zipp added, using her goggles to scan it. "A few bits need replacing here and there, but she looks structurally intact. Some rust needs cleaning off here and there but it's looking quite good for being stuck in a cave for years."
"Eh heh, my bad," Misty said, looking sheepishly at the floor, the first thing she had said the entire conversation.
"I found an old bridge," said Sunny, who then showed her friends a photograph. "It connects together bits of the canyon we traversed when on our way to Bridlewood all those moons ago. Not sure how we didn't spot it, but it looks in pretty good shape to me. Having said that, I'm not an engineer so I wouldn't really know."
"Anything else?" Zipp ventured.
"I also found a section of the line still in use by a logging company," Sunny continued. "They use these really strange engines with the cylinders mounted vertically, and they make a bit of a racket. I thought an express was approaching when I heard it but I got out of the way and-"
"Sunny, focus."
"Sorry," Sunny replied. "I checked your map against a logging map and it seems the old Bridlewood station still exists! Pretty great news, am I right?"
"Better than mine," Hitch said, looking dejected.
"I'm certain you found something useful," Izzy said, putting a hoof round his neck in an effort to cheer the sheriff up. "There's no such thing as a useless object. It's just a thing you haven't found a use for yet. Trust me, I know all about that."
"Indeed you do, Miss Dumpster Diver," Pipp retorted. "You'll give yourself a serious infection if you're not careful. That garbage hasn't been cleaned and could be a problem!"
"I know what I'm doing!" Izzy replied. "So, anyways, what was it you found, Hitch?"
"After recovering Cloudpuff from the tunnels under the CanterLogic factory- trust me, I have no idea how he made his way down there- I found this cylinder inside one of the storage rooms." Hitch placed a cylindrical object on the floor in front of him. "I have no idea what this thing is or what it does, but it seems to hold some importance or else it wouldn't be put in storage."
Zipp peered at the object in interest. She suddenly produced her goggles from nowhere and slipped them onto her face, then switched modes on the visor to check inside. "Night vision- no, that doesn't work. Heat vision- too blurry! X Ray- Not effective at looking inside metal objects. Detector mode- perfect! There's useful stuff in there!" She indicated to the others. "Quickly! To the Brighthouse!"
"We're already at the Brighthouse," Pipp countered.
"Err, quick! Inside the Brighthouse!"
After making themselves comfortable, Zipp opened the canister, and a series of rolled up papers fell out onto the table.
"Eww! These are seriously mouldy!" Pipp said, plugging her nose with her hoof.
Zipp, however, looked like a kid in a candy shop. "Drawings of locomotives and rolling stock, schematics for buildings, blueprints for bridges, gradient profiles for the line. Perfect!" She looked over to Hitch. "Great work, Sheriff. You may have made the most vital discovery yet of this entire project! With these we'll be able to rebuild all the stuff the line needs!"
"Right," Hitch replied. "I hate to burst bubbles, but we have a serious problem if we want to rebuild this railroad thing of yours. Two serious problems, if you think about it for a moment."
"Those are?" Sunny asked.
"Location and money. This line, based on what you've told me, ran across three entire countries. That's thousands of miles of potential track to rebuild if we're gonna reopen this place. The second is money. There's no way we could do this on our own! This stuff costs money, and we don't have a lot of it."
"Maybe if we could get Pipp to sell her gold plated laptop-"
"NO. WAY! That was a present from my favourite uncle!"
"You have an uncle?" Izzy asked.
"Yes," Pipp replied. "Mom has a lot of brothers and sisters. Great for Wishentine, not so good for glamping when we need to squeeze into one campsite."
"I can attest to this," Zipp added.
"So, how did it go in Zephyr Heights?" Izzy asked, having gone about three seconds since her last question.
"Mom says it might be doable if we can pursuade the other leaders to contribute resources to the project," Zipp replied. "She's trying to organise a meeting of the others, but I haven't heard back yet. Then again, it is the same day, so she's probably got untold numbers of photos to autograph or some laws to sign. Something like that."
Hitch, who had been silent for a bit, had a thought. "Right now, this railroad is a theoretical railroad," he said.
"Barring the bits that are still running," Sunny added.
"Naturally," Hitch noted. "If something is only a matter theoretical, then it can be hard to convince ponies that it can work properly. What we need is something that can demonstrate to the world that this idea can and will work. Something that shows that this idea is not merely some dream dreamed up by a group of ponies with more idealism than money. Something that will show to the world that we can make it happen!"
There was a moment of silence. Then Sunny spoke. "I've got it!"
"Is it contagious?" Hitch asked.
"We've done this joke many times before," Izzy pointed out.
"We have that engine out there. How about we restore it to working order?"
"Things certainly move quickly around here, don't they, huh?" Sunny said, looking about her in this new location.
"Well, you know how useful it can be to be the Sheriff," Hitch replied, his face in a smile. "Having all the code violations and various shenanigans that Phyllis pulled during her management of the CanterLogic factory proved to be quite a convenient bargaining chip. I keep that quiet, she lets us use a bit of the factory that's been renovated."
And what a sight it was! Whilst construction work continued on refitting the assembly lines for the manufacturing of consumer goods and useful things like combine harvesters, an untouched portion of the facility had been handed over to the six (Misty included, as the others considered her part of their friend group). In this section they had placed the engine that Izzy had found, and were currently at work stripping it down to check what parts needed swapping over.
Izzy looked inside the firebox. "I wonder what's in here?" she asked, as she peered around with a flashlight. "Lots of dark metal bits in here!"
"It's a firebox, Izzy," Zipp pointed out. "It's meant to contain a fire. Plastic wouldn't be much use in that regard."
"Well, I have heard pegasi talking of plastic trains, but I guess that isn't what was meant." Izzy closed the firehole door again, before cringing as one of the handles came flying off in her hoof. "That's gonna need replacing."
Zipp was at the other end, looking up at the locomotive from an inspection pit below the engine. "I've seen worse," she said. "A bit rusty, but some EDTA should do the trick."
"EDTA?" Misty asked. "What's that? It sounds like some sort of food code."
"Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid," Zipp explained. "It's a commercially available rust remover that's easy to find and simple to use. Applying it to the rust here should be a breeze."
"You sure do know a lot about science, Zipp."
"Thanks," Zipp replied. "I spent a lot of my foalhood behind test tubes and blackboards trying to figure out how pegasus flight might have worked. It was a relief from endlessly being in the spotlight of heir to the throne." She paused. "Guys, has anypony seen Pipp anywhere?"
Suddenly, their phones buzzed and lit up. "Pipp stream beginning now?" Sunny asked. "Nopony told me she was streaming!"
"That explains a lot," Izzy replied.
The stream started on one phone.
"Good morning, Pippsqueaks!" said the familiar voice of the spare to the Royal Throne. "I have got something SOOOOOO exciting to share with you guys! Just a few days ago we found an old train! They're these things that run on rails and can go long distances. We're trying to get it running again, but six ponies can't do it all alone!"
"Technically, five ponies and a streamer," Hitch said, to nopony in particular.
"Which is why I am hosting a fundraising stream to raise money for the restoration! If anypony can also lend a hoof in fixing it, let me know! Love you lots!"
Zipp nodded. "Huh. This may actually be helpful."
That evening, Misty hid in the trees near the Brighthouse and activated her compact that allowed her to talk to Opaline. "I'm ready to report."
Opaline's eyes looked from the other side. "It took you long enough to pick the thing up. Re- Misty, why is that tree so huge?"
"I think you're holding it too close to your face," Misty replied. "I can only see your eyes."
Opaline's face suddenly moved into view. "That better?"
Misty nodded.
"Good. Then report. Any important news?"
"Well," Misty started, "I accidentally found an old train, and the other ponies you asked me to watch are fixing it. Something about an old railroad that used to link bits of the country together and an attempt to rebuild it?"
"Now is not the time to be playing choo choos- wait, what did you say at the end?"
"Something about an old railroad that used to link bits of the country together and an attempt to rebuild it," Misty repeated. "Unity or something like that."
Opaline's eyes widened. "They want to be even more united? Give me a break. This unity talk makes me want to vomit! But I think we can use this to our advantage."
"But how? I don't know the first thing about building a railroad!"
"Neither do I, Misty. But I do know that causing chaos can disrupt it. There's an old story from the archives of three villains who divided the pony tribes by causing little acts of sabotage here and there, and before anypony knew what was happening they were at each other's throats. If they attempt to rebuild the railroad, a few acts of damage scattered about will have them all blaming each other. They'll go back into isolation, and I'll have the Unity Crystals to myself! HA HA HA HA HA HA!"
Misty joined in on the laughter. "HA HA HA-" She stopped when she saw Opaline looking annoyed. "Is something wrong?"
"How many times, Misty?" Opaline sighed. "If we're both going to do an evil laugh, we have to be in sync. Otherwise it sounds like somepony machine gunning a seal. Or that weirdness that unicorns insist is music."
"Hey, Misty, you there?" Sunny called. "We're about to start!"
"What is this?" Opaline asked.
"Izzy's organised another sleepover as the last one was a little rushed. I'll try and get some useful intel during the meeting."
"Very good! Your training is paying off. Report back to me in the morning. Out."
Opaline's face vanished as Misty shut the compact. "Err, yeah! Coming!" She trotted out of the woods and towards the Brighthouse. The same conflict that had plagued her heart was back again, as although she wanted to please Opaline, at the same time these ponies were her friends!
She couldn't be the servant of two masters forever. At some point things were going to go wrong."
A week passed by, and Pipp's stream clearly had the desired effect. The money flowed in for the restoration, and the appeal had also resulted in a flood of volunteers offering to help out with the restoration effort. Many of them were engineers and mechanically minded ponies, or otherwise former employees of CanterLogic's machine repair shop before it was automated and used drones.
Parts were pulled out and checked. Bits were swapped around and put back into service, or cleaned and polished. Paint pots were collected and used well- not as stacking tools as the Pippsqueaks had hoped, but instead to paint things. As that, dear reader, is what paint is for.
It took a lot of work to get the engine looking presentable. But then, one gloriously sunny day, it all came to be worth it. The ponies of the town gathered outside the former CanterLogic building to the blaring of trumpets and drums, and watched with amazement as the doors to the factory slid open.
And then, the engine was pulled out into the open world, looking better than it had done in what was probably a very long time. Black paint gleamed in the sunlight, and the metalwork had been polished so closely that you could see your reflection in it if you stepped close enough with the face. The silver paint on the smokebox probably helped.
"Looking good!" said a bystander. "You six should be proud of yourselves."
"We couldn't have done it without help," Sunny replied. "Thanks to Pipp, we got plenty of helping hooves!"
Hitch trotted over. "We don't have enough space here to properly check the engine over, so I've arranged for it to be conveyed to Zephyr Heights by a truck. They've got a testing facility where we can ensure it's working properly."
Suddenly, there was a loud noise.
"Yeah I'm Awesome! Take Caution! Watch out for me I'm Awe-"
"Sorry!" Zipp said, and swiped her phone. "Pipp, changing my ringtone wasn't funny then and it's not funny now!" She popped it to her ear. "Hello?"
"Ah! Zipp!" Queen Haven replied. "How are things for your band of engineers?"
"Glad you asked, mom. We've got the engine rebuilt, and we're having it moved to a testing facility to ensure it works properly. Wouldn't want it to fail on its first run, would we?"
"After all the work you've put in, of course." There was a pause. "I have good news!"
"Is it about the Dacia Sandero?" Zipp asked.
"What's a Dacia Sandero?"
"Never mind. What is the good news?"
"I was able to pull some diplomatic strings and get the other leaders round the negotiating table. In a few days myself, Alphabittle, and Phyllis will be meeting to host a conference on this railroad project of yours. I'm certain things will go swimmingly, but it would probably be worth you all being there just in case."
"Got it. Thanks for helping us with this!"
"What sort of mother wouldn't want to support her foal's hobbies?" The line abruptly ended.
The moon hung in the sky over Zephyr Heights, the sickly white glow from the secondary orb lighting the region in a spooky manner. Although the central commercial and entertainment districts were brightly lit, with screens and displays continuing to run well into night time hours, the same could not be said for other districts. In many parts, the glow of street lamps was the only indicator that a street existed at all, with the light being largely eaten up by black shadows who seemingly had foul intent upon those who lived there.
A truck rumbled to a stop in the middle of the night outside a warehouse. The truck was one of the first to arrive, as another two then pulled up behind it. All three trucks had tarpaulins over their loads, presumably to protect them from the elements, and not only that they were slightly late.
The first cab was opened and a driver got out. "Right, we got you to where you wanted to go!" he said, handing over some paper to Hitch, who had been riding with him. "Sign this and we can hand this over to the storage ponies."
Hitch took a pen in hoof and wrote his signature on the piece of paper before handing it back. "Here you go. One signature in place."
The pony who had been driving nodded. "Thank you. I'll just go get the door opened."
He was away for a few minutes, which left Hitch looking about bored. Not much seemed to be happening nearby, and he waited and waited a bit for something to happen.
Suddenly, the doors of the large warehouse began to slide open, and the truck at the rear of the formation moved forward. It began to back into the building as the doors slid open further, wide enough to take the full width of the truck, and then it stopped when it was most of the way into the structure before detaching from its trailer and driving off.
The other two then did the same, leaving their precious cargo behind as they set off for their depot far away. Hitch marched inside and took a look about at the achievement. "There!" he said. "I told you we'd get them there in one piece!"
Pipp yawned as she appeared from one side. "I still don't understand why you insisted on shipping them at night," she said, clearly tired from the long journey.
"Minimises the threat of them being stolen," Hitch replied. "This loco does represent a considerable amount of money after all, so having it stolen would be a nuisance."
"Who would steal a steam engine?" Sunny asked.
"A thief?" Izzy offered.
"Apart from the obvious," Hitch replied. "Now then, we'll need to reassemble it at some point and check it all works properly. Something tells me that somepony somewhere has taken it to bits a fair bit before but we need to be certain before we try to run it over any distance. That'd be embarassing."
"But first we need to sleep," Zipp finished. "I'm pretty tired."
"I think we all are," Pipp yawned.
"You did the least out of any of us," Zipp countered.
"If it weren't for my stream, your precious little engine wouldn't be here."
"It's hardly little," Sunny pointed out. "Based on our tests it weighs 82 tons."
"Slightly less than Pipp before her crash diet!" Zipp joked, who then ducked as a banana was lobbed at her.
As the five of them headed away towards the exit, and by logical extension a hotel, none of them thought to check back for the missing member in their tiredness. Misty was back there, tapping some buttons on a phone and transmitting data. "And... done!" she said. "Opaline, did you get all that?"
"Yes," a familiar voice replied. "Excellent work, Misty. I now know of their plans and their intentions. This will help me greatly in my next set of operations. Trail the others and continue to feed me any more information. Those fools seem to be oblivious enough to not suspect me anyway. Opaline out."
Misty closed the device and popped it away somewhere. "OK, which way did they go?"
As she trotted along, she reflected on the odd phenomena they had surrounding phones. They didn't need to put them in pockets or bags. When they needed to, they put it on their side and the device disappeared. Then when they needed it again, it just reappeared in the same spot.
Presumably something to do with the magic, Misty thought to herself. She would ask Zipp about it in the morning.
"Welcome, one and all, to the Zephyr Heights Grand Conference on the Restoration and Reunification of the Trans Equestrian Railroad and Subsidiary Branchlines!" called a voice.
Alphabittle and Phyllis took their seats at the table and glanced about. "I hope this doesn't take too long," Phyllis said. "I've got a mane appointment at lunchtime. Hopefully Queen Haven won't waffle."
"I left Onyx in charge of the Crystal Tearooms," Alphabittle added. "Knowing her she'll have turned it into a jazz bar and will be playing Bebop nonstop."
Just then Queen Haven arrived, flanked by her guards. "Phyllis, Alphabittle," she said, as she took her seat. "It's excellent you could join us today on this most suspicious day. It is a good thing we could schedule for such an inconvenient time."
"Are you feeling alright?" Phyllis asked.
"Yes. My speech just has a lot of typos in it." Queen Haven tossed it over her shoulder, and that was that. "Now then, we are here to discuss this railroad proposal my daughter has come up with."
"First point of order," Alphabittle said. "The names of your conferences are far too long. They take too much time to say!"
"Noted," said a guard, who began writing something down.
"We shall hear evidence from a variety of experts and thinkers in the relevant fields who can contribute their expertise to the future of this project," Queen Haven continued. "Bring forward the first witness!"
The presentation of evidence went on for a few hours, and many speakers said many things, including the Mane 5 themselves, who presented all that they had found over the last few days. Phyllis did miss her mane appointment, so she simply had the Royal Stylist do it in the midst of the evidence presentation.
Once the evidence was presented, it was time for negotiation. Alphabittle was the first to speak. "I'm not so sold on this idea," he said. "Based on that map there's a lot of track missing between here and there, and who would run it after all this? If the pegasi are putting in most of the muscle a lot of unicorns would regard it as a pegasus takeover of our operations."
"How about a joint operating company, with each of us operating our own bits?" Queen Haven suggested.
Phyllis was also seemingly unimpressed. "How much will this cost?" she asked. "As you probably know the Earth Ponies, whilst hardly destitute, are not the wealthiest group in Equestria. Who's taking the financial risk on the whole scheme, and how can we make this viable in the long run?" She paused. "I'm certain the Pegasi have the cash to fund their bit- you're the wealthiest of the three tribes, after all- but consider the unicorns!"
"Yeah! We're not exactly rolling in the dough, so to speak," Alphabittle added. "And is there any evidence of prior work? Proof this will even work? Proof that not only can a railroad of this scale can be build, but run properly and to time?"
Izzy spoke up. "We have an answer to that question, Alphabittle. Follow us, your many titlednesses, and you shall see."
"Your many titlednesses?" Phyllis questioned. "Oh please. I'm just a CEO."
"I am, amongst other things, the Vanquisher of the Pegasi and Defender of the Golden Teacups," Alphabittle smiled.
"Quite the pickup line. Not."
Zipp wrote this down. "Defender of the Golden Teacups. Must find said Golden Teacups."
Once they exited the palace, the engine was sat outside on specially laid rails. Sunny leaned out of the cab. "Ready?" she called.
"Ready!" Izzy called.
Sunny reached back and blasted the whistle, a low, deep chime echoing across Zephyr Heights. "I've always wanted to do that!"
With a whoosh of steam, the engine began to move off, a gentle puffing beat echoing across the landscape outside the palace. It slowly gathered pace along the track, before stopping at one end and halting to avoid falling off a cliff. Sunny then put the gear into reverse and drove the engine back along the track to the other end, again avoiding falling off a cliff. She then returned the engine to its original spot and stopped. "There you have it!" she said. "One proof of concept!"
Alphabittle smiled. "You know," he said, "this project may yet have some merit. I'm in."
"The Earth Ponies are also contributing," Phyllis added. "There are plenty of potential benefits, it seems."
Now that the Earth Ponies and Unicorns had thrown their political and economic capital behind the project, it was hoped that things could proceed somewhat more smoothly.
Alphabittle certainly seemed to be more impressed than most. "Nice work, you five!" he said. "It's not easy to return an older piece of equipment like that to working order, but you seem to have done the work pretty well. Then again, putting your mind to things and getting them done is Izzy's middle name."
"No it's not!" Izzy replied. "My middle name is Jessica."
"To say something is your middle name is a figure of speech suggesting you know a lot about it," Zipp explained. "I know, that expression confused me too at first. Perhaps it's exclusively a Unicorn figure of speech?" She took out her phone. "Note to self: look up more colloquial phrases from each group and establish their meaning."
"Still," Phyllis said, "it'd be nice if we could upgrade. Imagine those smelly things running in and out of Maretime Bay all the time, throwing soot and dust everywhere. It'd be pretty unpleasant all the time, don't you think?"
"I imagine we can iron all of these things out," Sunny said quickly, who had rejoined them. "After all, we've cleared the first hurdle."
"Sunny, who is looking after the engine?" Pipp asked.
"Misty. She seemed so eager to hop in. After all, she just needs to prevent the water level from getting too low and keep the brakes applied. Easy peasy lemon squeezy."
"I hope we're not eating lemons," Alphabittle said. "I'm allergic to lemons. And most things in Zephyr Heights, apparently. Best avoid going to the spa."
Once the assembled personnel had gathered around the table once more, Queen Haven was keen to resume the talks. It soon became clear exactly why she wanted to do this. Cloudpuff was bouncing up and down at the side of her chair, seemingly eager to be taken for a walk.
"I'll take him out!" Hitch offered, and he then exited with Cloudpuff in tow. The dog was much quieter than he normally was.
"Seems Hitch is working his magic touch with animals again," Izzy smiled. "He really is really good with them. He even has a band of critters who help him out with his duties. But of course you already know all that."
"Why are you telling us this then?" Phyllis asked.
"Just in case somebody in the audience hasn't watched as far as Make your Mark Chapter 2 yet," Izzy explained, winking to somepony who wasn't there. "But quite why they'd be reading this without that knowledge I'm not sure."
"What's Make your Mark?" Pipp asked.
"Oh, never mind. It's a joke for somepony reading this from far away on a screen."
Queen Haven decided to take over the conversation before Izzy started breaking the fourth wall so severely it would destroy the space time continuum. "So, anyway, shall we get on? We still have many aspects of this rebuilding plan to discuss."
Misty sat in the cab, admiring all of the levers and gauges and controls and other gubbins inside the cab. As hot as it was in here, she had to admit it was a pretty neat piece of machinery. And not only that, she was quite happy. She'd actually managed to contribute by helping to restore it. Her loyalty was to Opaline, of course, but ever since that sleepover at the Brighthouse she'd begun to feel a connection to the others. Despite the suspicions of a certain pegasus, the others had treated her with the sort of friendliness and respect she hadn't felt in a very long time. Or ever, for that matter.
She was shaken out of her thoughts by a loud buzzing. She pulled out her compact and flipped it open. "Ready to report, Opaline!"
"I was beginning to think you'd fallen off a cliff," Opaline replied. "I've been running the dial tone for about five minutes now. If you could- wait. Is that... coal behind you?"
"Yes, Opaline, and apologies for the delay. It's pretty loud in here."
"Sorry, what was that? I can't hear you over all the hissing."
"I SAID IT'S PRETTY LOUD!" Misty shouted.
"I see. Anyway, I assume this is the engine you've been referring to. Any more news?"
"Yes," Misty said. "They've agreed to rebuilding it. The line, I mean."
There was a brief silence. "What did you say?"
"They've agreed to rebuilding the line."
"Oh." Opaline nodded. "This was not what I was expecting. These ponies are like superheroes- they sweep in at the worst possible time and ruin your well founded plans!"
"If you like I could do some sabotage here."
"You mean blow the engine up?"
"Yeah."
"Don't be ridiculous, Misty." Opaline paused again. "Blowing an engine up would only make them more suspicious and make them suspect outside interference. My operation cannot be revealed until the moment to strike has arrived."
"So, no blowing things up?"
"Nothing shall be blown up!" Opaline shouted. "Unless I order it, of course. Otherwise no. What I need you to do is keep an eye on proceedings and notify me on how things are progressing. This is, of course, a bit of an inconvenient setback, but even setbacks can be used to one's advantage should one take advantage of them well."
"Who's one?"
"It's an archaic way of saying my or me. Never mind. I shall be in contact later with some more information and support. Opaline out."
Opaline's image faded from the screen and once it was gone, Misty closed it shut. That added just as many questions as it did answers. Still, her current job was keeping this engine in order, and this was certainly going to do. She added a tiny bit more water to the boiler, the way Sunny had shown her.
"This is easy," she said, and rocked back- only to fall off the chair and onto the floor with a loud bang. "Ow..."
Back inside the negotiation room, things were back on track. Sort of. "There's an issue that Zipp raised that I wanted to discuss," Phyllis said. "The Pegasi regauged there bit- is that the right word?- and although I don't really understand the science behind it I get the impression that Pegasus track won't fit on the Earth Pony bits as they are too narrow."
"That's correct," Zipp pointed out.
"They'd fit on ours though!" Alphabittle said. "But that brings up another point. How and where do we build from? And how do we manage locomotives and stock given that the gauges will be different?"
"As you know, only electric traction is permitted within Pegasus territory on the main line- the engine we saw outside is an exception as that's a demonstration built for today- and that's a bit of an issue, admittedly." Queen Haven paused. "I believe the Earth Ponies favour steam power and the Unicorns diesel, is that correct?"
"Yes," the other two leaders said.
"It's also not feasible to pay to upgrade the entire system to electric power as the traffic levels are projected to not be high enough. Perhaps a solution is we use our own traction on our own sections and transfer passengers and cargo between trains at dedicated points?"
"Well, that's one issue resolved," Phyllis said. "No doubt there'll be others."
"Guys, I've had an idea," Sunny said. "You said earlier that you aren't sure where to start building from. Why not work from multiple ends at once?"
"How do you mean?" Pipp asked.
"Simple!" Sunny smiled, nicely demonstrating the origin of her name. "One of the ending points was in Maretime Bay, and the other was near Bridlewood, based on our maps. The Zephyr Heights bit is in the middle, roughly speaking, so if we have an Earth Pony crew working from Maretime Bay, a Unicorn crew working from Bridlewood, a Pegasus crew working towards Maretime Bay, and a second Pegasus crew working towards Bridlewood, we'll be able to build the line at twice the speed and with fewer slowdowns, as resources will only need to be delivered to one place at once rather than dropped all over the place."
"Give that mare a medal!" Izzy said. "No, wait, that was actually sincere. Unicorns don't really do sarcasm."
There was a brief moment of writing from the various parties involved until after a few minutes that writing stopped. "Well," said Queen Haven. "It seems that all parties are in agreement, correct?"
"I'm certainly agreeing," Alphabittle noted, as he scanned over his notes one final time. "I'll head to Bridlewood and inform the other Unicorns of the game plan. This is gonna be a lot of work, but worth it in the long run- I hope."
"I shall head back to Maretime Bay and do the same," Phyllis said. "Glad that things went a bit more smoothly than our last interaction, Your Majesty. Being the mother of a pony who nearly ran a monarch over is not the best of records."
"All is forgiven," Queen Haven replied.
As the leaders left, Zipp looked at the map. "That was the easy part," she said. "Now the difficult bit begins."
If you had been present in Maretime Bay on a cool summer morning, just as the sun was beginning to rise above the ocean where it had taken its rest, you would have been the witness to something very peculiar. Unlike the normal relatively quiet and sleepy existance that Equestria's friendship capital enjoyed, there was something different that morning.
A massive army of Earth Ponies had descended on the town, and had established a work camp at the former transfer yard. Lorries and cranes were being positioned ready for the off, and the place sounded to the reverberation of engines and the gentle hissing of contractor's locomotives being brought up to steam. Behind them were several panels of sleepers and rail, as well as dump trucks loaded with ballast and supplies for the construction of the line. Temporary houses were being offloaded from trailers and placed around the site.
"What's with all the temporary housing?" Hitch asked, as he walked through the scene with Sunny by his side.
"There isn't enough space in Maretime Bay to house all the workers needed for construction," Sunny explained. "The construction leader explained this to me. Instead, the company prefers to take all the houses with it and move them as work continues. Think of it like a series of mobile homes. The Marestream's the same basic idea; a mobile home for working away from your normal home."
"That makes sense," Hitch said. "I wish it wasn't so smelly though. Look at the sky!"
The normally orange skies were quickly filling with smoke from all the construction machinery, and workers weren't exactly doing much to limit emissions from their machines. The first of the contractor's diesels roared into life and was attached to some flatbeds loaded with rail, preparing to move off.
Before work began, a pony in a hard hat and overalls stepped onto a makeshift podium. "Right, listen up you lot!" she said. "We've been contracted to build this section of railroad, as you undoubtedly already know. Although the work should be completed at a reasonable speed, doing the job properly is more important than doing it quickly- we don't want a repeat of the Highway 14 incident, do we?"
There were murmers and shaking of heads. It seemed none of them wanted to remember that particular day. So they didn't, and instead they went back to listening to the pony on the podium.
"We have a list of targets to complete. Remember that to complete construction on time we should be building an average of sixty miles a day. This means eight hour shifts, working day and night." She paused. "This won't be easy. Matter of fact this is the toughest construction job this company has ever received. But I know you won't let me down. Each of you must do your very best and use your skills to their maximum effect, understood!"
"Yes ma'am!" the workers replied.
"I thought so. Hop to it! This railroad won't build itself!"
"Unlike some things," Sprout said, who had suddenly joined them.
"You took your sweet time," Hitch said.
"My alarm didn't go off!" Sprout protested. "Clearly it's broken. I may ask Izzy to fix if when she gets back as the local clockmaker's shut for the weekend."
"What did you mean by some things?" Sunny asked.
"Didn't the Brighthouse build itself?" Sprout asked. "I mean, this magic stuff can seemingly do anything."
"Not sure where you got that idea from," Sunny replied. "It was built by a construction company and outfitted according to our needs and specifications. Imagine us trying to build something! It'd be complete chaos!"
"Speaking of chaos," Hitch said, "we already seem to have run into problems."
And they had. "Boss?" shouted a truck driver. "We need to stabilise this ground! At the moment the trucks are sinking into a bog and can't get moving again!"
As if to demonstrate his point, one of the dump trucks got stuck, its driving wheels skidding as it tried to get moving. Mud flew through the air and splattered into everything.
Sunny removed some of the mud from her muzzle. "Why not lighten the load?" she suggested. "If the trucks are too heavy to get over the boggy ground, use more trucks and have each carry less stuff!"
"That's not a bad idea, actually," the forepony said.
"We've got another problem," said another engineer. "This bridge they've asked us to put in? Our cranes aren't big enough to move it as one component. We'll need to take the bridge to pieces and reassemble it on site."
The forepony rolled her eyes. "What else can go wrong?"
Several thousand miles away, another engineering crew was getting to work. The large bridge that Sunny had discovered was considered a priority structure for restoration, as years out of use had presumably not been kind to the bridge. As a result, engineers had been dispatched from Bridlewood to take a closer look at what was there.
At the current moment, Izzy was looking up at the works, with Misty next to her. As both of them were unicorns, it was argued that it made sense for them to join unicorn construction efforts. This was despite the fact that both of them lacked any real engineering expertise, and were largely just watching the experts work on the structure.
Izzy took a sip of a large mug of tea whilst looking up. "Nice brew, this!" she said. "Earth ponies really are quite good at tea leaf cultivation." She glanced over to Misty. "Want some?"
"No thanks, that brew's a bit strong for my taste," Misty replied. "So, any clue what they're doing?"
Izzy put down the mug and picked up a pair of binoculars. "They seem to be looking at metal things and tapping them," she said.
"What does that mean?"
"I have no idea!" Izzy put the binoculars down. "I don't really use metal in unicycling. It's not malleable enough. Would you be interested in going up there on the platform?"
Misty shook her head. "Not really. I'm acrophobic, which means I have a fear of heights."
Izzy nodded in agreement. "Well, at least you're nice and safe down here- wait! It seems something important has happened!"
The platform which the inspector was on, which was connected to a truck, began to descend, and soon was on the ground. "Well?" a worker called.
"Got some bad news," the inspector said, adjusting his helmet around his horn. "There's no way that bridge is taking a train. It's pretty weak in several places, and we'd need a lot of money to fix it. It'd be easier trying to end the mayonnaise flood."
"BING BONG!" said several voices at once.
Misty looked confused. "What?"
"I'll explain later," Izzy replied, before trotting over. "So, it's too expensive to renovate the bridge so it can take the weight of a train, correct?"
"Precisely," the inspector replied. "We'd need to replace most of it in order to be certain it's safe to use. By that point it would be simpler to just build a new one."
Izzy blinked. "Sorry, what did you say?"
"I said, it would be simpler to just build a new one," the Inspector repeated. "Probably a lot cheaper, too. But you're not suggesting that-"
"It's a brilliant idea!" Izzy said. "Instead of investing loads of resources in repairing an old thing, build a new thing for less! It's perfect!" Izzy switched to her phone and set it to dial.
There was a momentary pause. "You have reached the voicemail of Zipp Storm. The pony you wish to speak to is unavailable right now. Please leave a message after the tone. To record the message again, press the Hash key."
There was a beep, and Izzy nearly dropped the phone in surprise. She quickly recovered, though. "Hi Zipp! Any chance of some spare steel going around? We could really use some girders and nuts and bolts for constructing a new bridge next to the old one. Hope to hear from you soon! Bye!"
She ended the call and popped it down. "I'm still not used to leaving voicemails. Telephone systems have gotten so complicated recently."
The inspector looked. "Well?" he asked. "Any news on resources?"
"Not yet," Izzy replied. "I asked Zipp to ring me back with any information. But right now we could be doing other things."
"Such as?"
"Figuring out where to put the other bridge, of course! There's gotta be a pony here who can use CADD software, right?"
"We are engineers," said one near the cherry picker. "It's in the job training, really. I'll get my laptop and start sketching a plan for your monitoring."
Izzy glanced back. "Productive use of time, eh?" She smiled. "Time flies when having fun!"
Suddenly, her phone buzzed again. She picked it up, and saw it was Zipp calling her back. "Do you mind if I take this?"
"Go ahead," Misty replied.
"Hi Zipp! What's cooking?"
"Not much," Zipp replied. "Sorry, but I can't help you right now. We've got a serious mess to untangle at our end..."
Zipp could really have done without this. Below her, a pegasus and unicorn construction crew were arguing.
"I knew it!" said one unicorn. "You pegasi cannot do anything properly, can you?"
"I could say the same of you," a pegasus smugly replied. "Unicorns seem to like doing things on the cheap. Talk about dumb!"
"You pegasi think you're smarter than us! That we are idiots!"
A second pegasus snorted. "You're not exactly doing much to dispell that notion, mate."
More unicorns came forward with tools and equipment. "Good thing we have magic at our disposal."
"But seemingly not the brains to go with it," a pegasus said, sarcastically. "Good luck hitting us with those when we're in the air."
Zipp knew she had to intervene. "STOP!" she shouted, in a voice which, had it been said thousands of years earlier, could easily have been confused for the Royal Canterlot Voice. "This fighting isn't going to get us anywhere!"
The two groups stopped, and looked up. "My eardrums," said a pegasus.
Zipp walked over. "Now then, I want both of you to explain the problem to me. Without resorting to insults or name calling, Got it?"
There was a nod from both parties.
"I thought so. So, what's the problem?"
"The problem is that they layed the track to the wrong gauge," said a pegasus. "We can't link them up."
"We did not!" said a unicorn. "We laid them to the gauge specified. The documents told us to lay this track to standard gauge, and that we have. You've laid yours to the wrong gauge, more like."
"We have not," the first pegasus replied. "Standard gauge is four foot, eight and one half inches. Has been for centuries."
"That's not standard gauge!" another unicorn chimed in, keen to provide his two bits. "That's narrow gauge. Standard gauge is five foot three inches. It has been since the creation of unicorn lands, and will probably never change."
Zipp immediately figured out the problem. "Pegasi and unicorns use the same word to refer to different things," she said. "In this case, different track gauges." She groaned. "Urghh, why didn't we think to check this?"
She turned and flipped on her phone. "Note to self: check what the earth ponies consider to be standard gauge to prevent more problems in the future." She then turned back to the track crews. "Obviously we'll need to figure out this problem or else trains won't be able to run from Zephyr Heights to Bridlewood. The only obvious solution that I can see is to pull up the unicorn track and relay it to pegasus gauge."
"Then our locomotives won't be able to run," a unicorn pointed out. "That's not very useful."
Zipp then had another idea. "Why not a dual gauge line?" she suggested. "That way pegasus freight and passenger cars can run through to Bridlewood without ponies having to change!"
"That's the solution, then?" the unicorn said again. "That certainly solves that problem. Right then, time to add an extra track!"
Sunny's phone buzzed as she oversaw some more construction work higher up the line. "Hello?"
"I thought we'd already agreed this, Zipp. Three foot in Earth Pony territory, and the other groups can use other gauges. Is there a gauging problem?"
"We just had to modify plans slightly and relay a section of line with dual gauge where the unicorn and pegasus sections meet."
"Why? I thought you were using standard gauge up there?"
"Turns out unicorns and pegasi mean different things when they say standard gauge. The tracks were different gauges, meaning they wouldn't connect. As a result, we had to use dual gauge track from Brickmere Junction to Bridlewood to ensure pegasus stock can run throughout."
Sunny pondered for a moment. "Well, that is a good solution. But it's not workable here. The road bed won't take pegasus track, put simply, so passengers will need to get on and off to change between earth pony and pegasus services."
Zipp sighed. "Noted. Got any good news?"
Sunny glanced up as the nearby cranes got to work. "It's been going pretty well. Apart from the somewhat boggy ground near Maretime Bay we're well on our way to making our daily target of sixty miles a day. We've even got the new bridge going in right as I speak."
"That's fantastic. Tell Hitch I said hi and to keep up the good work."
"Sure thing." Sunny ended the call and popped her phone back into the mysterious space it always went to. "Hey Hitch. Any further news?"
"There's gonna be a slight delay," Hitch said. "Some track got a bit delayed, meaning we won't be able to get the bridge up and running today. But the good news is we've got the roadbed fully ballasted for the sixty miles, so we'll only be 4 miles off-target by work's end today- provided all is going to plan."
There was a whistle nearby as a train rumbled to a stop at the front of the bridge. To Sunny's surprise, it wasn't headed by one of the contractor's engines, but a regular locomotive. "Ah! The machines we ordered from CanterLogic Locomotive Works have arrived!" she beamed.
"You ordered steam engines from CanterLogic?" Hitch asked.
"Good use of an old factory, isn't it?" Sunny said.
A workspony came over and handed over some paperwork on a clipboard. "Good news!" he said.
"Is it the Dacia Sandero?" Sprout asked, as he had just arrived.
"What?" Hitch asked, confused. "What's a Dacia Sandero?"
"Never mind."
The workspony spoke again. "We've just tested the permanent way as far as the bridge, and it's passed flawlessly. At this rate, we'll be at Zephyr Heights' door in no time!"
"We're not actually building tracks to Zephyr Heights, remember?" Hitch pointed out. "We're only laying them as far as the yard."
"Of course."
This got Sunny wondering to herself. How were things going over in other bits of unicorn territory?
Several trucks shifting steel beams and other metal things arrived at the sight of the old bridge. The driver of the lead truck leaned out of the cab. "Where do you want this lot putting?" he asked.
The inspector trotted over. "By Stoneheart's Saddlebags, that was quick!" he said. "Offload them there in a neat pile."
"Expedited delivery from one A. Blossomforth," said the driver, who then took the load off to another point.
Misty was watching when suddenly her compact buzzed. "Err, excuse me just a sec? I need to take this." She trotted behind a tree and opened the device up, looking closely at it. "Ready to report, Opaline."
"Oh I do like to be beside the seas-" Opaline abruptly stopped and looked at Misty. "I was in the bath, Misty. Go ahead."
"Were you just singing then?"
"I don't sing. Do you have anything useful to report? Or are you just wasting time?"
Misty gulped. "I have news. They're building a new bridge here to replace the old one, and apparently stuff is being linked up across the network pretty fast. I can send a map if you'd like."
"Just a second, I'm on my way to the cauldron." There was a pause. "Send it through."
Misty then sent the map she had through the device's attachments function. "Is it there?"
"Just accessing it now, and... good grief! They're working faster than even I could have anticipated! The roadbed is open, it seems!" Opaline seemed to be annoyed. "Why is it that when my enemies want to do something they face no obstacles, but when I try to do things my path is always blocked up with stuff?!"
There was a pause. "Excuse me. Obviously, this pace of operation is rather inconvenient. To this end, I think now is the time to act. Focus your attention on the earth pony section. There's a bit of line that can be dealt with."
"What do you mean?"
"Block it with a train, of course."
Misty was confused. "How do I do that?"
"Crash it into a ravine, blow the engine up, strap dynamite to the flatcars and set it off when it goes over the bridge, I don't care! Whatever you do, make sure it looks like an accident. You don't want us to get implicated, do you?"
"No."
"No what?"
"No, Opaline."
"That's better." Opaline leaned into the screen. "This task is very important, Misty. Do not fail me, or you can forget about ever getting a cutie mark."
"Uh, crystal clear."
"Good. Opaline out."
As the call faded away, Misty weighed up her options. The easiest one would be to crash a train, as that was the easiest to fake as an accident. But the first challenge would be getting down there in the first place.
"It's just one train," she said to herself. "They can rebuild. Besides, I'll get my cutie mark out of this." And she set off across the country, the fiendish scheme forming in her mind.
It's never a good start to the day when the warning klaxon sounds.
Sunny had been awoken by the noise outside. She sat up in the trailer she was staying in (the Marestream was out of action for repairs as it needed spare parts), and rubbed her eyes in confusion. "What'sh going on?" she asked, bleary eyed, as she looked out of the window.
The klaxon continued to blare into the region, sounding all over the place with its ominous message of doom and destruction.
"Something's wrong!" said a worker.
"You don't say!" said another. "If nothing was wrong, no alarms would be sounding, would they? So you can say again that something is wrong!"
"Something's wro-"
"Not literally!"
That joke's overused, Sunny thought to herself. She pushed open the door, her brain still switching on from all that was going on. "Is something going on?"
"Some sort of problem higher up the line," said a pony. "Possibly just a rockfall or something like that. Or maybe a lineside fire. Either way, they'll probably soon have something sorted out and then work can continue."
Suddenly, noise came from a nearby tunnel. This was the tunnel that connected one of the bridges to the next major section of line up ahead. And suddenly, a pump cart roared out of the tunnel, two ponies pushing up and down on the handles with all their strength, as if their life depended on it.
"RUNAWAY TRAIN!" one of the ponies onboard the pump cart shouted. "RUNAWAY TRAIN! CLEAR THE AREA! CLEAR THE AREA!"
The ponies suddenly began to take notice of what was going on. They certainly seemed to be worried, so it probably wasn't a false alarm, right?
Sunny checked her map. "That can't be good," she said, as she loaded the gradient profile. "This bit's all downhill. If there's a runaway train it'll have a hard time stopping!"
Just then, a series of loud percussive beats echoed through the valley, and most of the residents of the construction camp looked up and heard it too.
The lead forepony had had enough. "Move quickly!" she shouted. "Evacuate the camp and move to higher ground!"
The workers quickly complied, leaving the area as quickly as they could. Pots, pans, tents, and entire buildings were left behind, all with most of their stuff that wasn't in use still inside. It was far more important that they were safe, after all, than to be potentially reduced to a squidgy mess below a bridge.
As the area was cleared, vehicles were also backed out of the area by those who were already driving them. They rattled for the hillsides and surrounding terrain determined to get out of the way and avoid being hit by flying debris.
"Anything else we can do?" Sprout asked, who had also been woken by the commotion. "Coffee, Sunny?"
"Is that all you can think about?" Sunny asked in return.
"I find it calms the nerves," the red earth pony replied, before taking a sip. "WHAT IS THAT?!"
Just then, the runaway train emerged from the tunnel mouth. It was going at full blast downhill, steam pouring from the cylinders and chimney, and running far too fast to stop safely on the bridge. As it hit the curve, it began to tip over.
And when things going at speed tip over, it usually doesn't bode well for anypony below. It fell off the rails and began to descend towards the ground below, dragging most of the freight vehicles behind it down with it. It plummeted into the ravine at speed before crashing into the ground. Wooden vehicles splintered apart like matchwood, and metal was torn apart from boxcars and frames. Bogies were shorn from bodywork, and vehicles were smashed together.
The locomotive itself was reduced to a fraction of its former length, now resembling a bizarre piece of protest art rather than a functioning piece of machinery. Remarkably, though, the caboose had remained on the bridge, and it sat there rather awkwardly above the carnage below.
"Is everypony OK?" called the forepony.
"Yes!" called back many voices.
Sunny grabbed a pair of binoculars and took a look. "That's a pretty nasty wreck," she said. "Zipp isn't gonna like this at all."
"Nor do I," said the forepony. "We need to get that mess cleaned up, but first we need to stabilise that bridge. There's a high chance it took damage in that accident. This is really gonna slow us down."
Sunny looked worried. "If this is true... then the line may not open in time!"
Sunny was right to be concerned about the accident's potential knock-on effects further down the line. The construction project had been planned with each time making roughly equal progress each day, as the lines would need to connect to one another. True, there had been problems along the way, but by and large proceedings were proceeding as normally as proceedings could proceed. (That sentence is probably the greatest number of times the word 'proceed' and its variants were used in one sentence.)
Pipp had been sent to take a look at the pegasus construction towards the earth pony lines. Safe to say, she was not enjoying the visit very much. "Yuck!" she said. "This mud is gonna be a nightmare to get out of my coat!"
"Well, Your Maje-"
"Higheness. I'm not the Queen. Yet."
"Well, Your Highness, We've had a bit of trouble with some rain. Rain clouds have flown overhead and made the ground a bit boggy. We've had to spend quite a bit of time laying earthworks and ballast to compensate for the bog as otherwise the track keeps sinking into it. Not to mention some of the supplies we need haven't arrived."
"Namely?"
"Some track panels, but if you look at this map," the worker continued, indicating to a map, "this is the point where our rails are supposed to join onto the earth pony line. The main problem is they aren't here, so we cannot move forward. This track will have to sit in storage until the earth ponies get their mess cleaned up."
Pipp looked at her phone. "HashTagNotGood."
"I don't think this is working!" called a worker. "There's too much rubble to clear!"
Sunny got closer to the wreck site. "What's going on?"
The forepony looked serious, but then she always did. "The wreck can't be left sitting here, as damaged equipment is unsightly and also could cause stability issues later in the day," she explained. "But we have nothing big enough to recover this lot in one go. We'll need to cut it into pieces and ship it out in bits. The freight cars are totalled, or so one of the railroaders tells me, but the engine may be repairable."
Sunny turned her mind to another thought on her mind. "Well, who caused the accident?"
"That's a good question," the forepony said. "But surely the question should be what caused the accident. There's no guarantee this was an act of sabotage, and jumping to conclusions is always dangerous, especially these days when rumours spread so easily."
"I certainly learned that one the hard way," Sunny admitted, her mind briefly returning to the Zephyr Heights jewellery theft all those moons ago. "Who should investigate the accident?"
Zipp touched down outside the Palace and trotted over to the information board. The Grand Commission on the Restoration and Reunification of the Trans Equestrian Railroad and Subsidiary Branchlines (or GCRRTERSB, for short) had established a digital display to allow for information to be added in real time to the board. And it wasn't looking too good.
"Is everything OK, Zipp?" Queen Haven asked, continuing her well established habit of appearing suddenly from nowhere. "The board is apparently slightly out of date, but that can be fixed."
"No," Zipp replied. "Everything's fallen behind. The gauge mixup caused unicorn construction to slow down, and that's having serious effects on other sections. They've had to modify some of the bridges to take dual gauge track, and that's caused a slowdown on their end. And now this accident in earth pony territory has put the entire project at risk!"
"How so?"
"The earth ponies are accusing the unicorns and pegasi of deliberate sabotage."
Queen Haven blinked. "Well, I hardly think there's such a thing as accidental sabotage. But what could prompt them to pursue such a preposterous idea? I thought we were all supposed to be friends now!"
"Seems old habits die hard in Equestria," Zipp said quietly. "Maybe this was a bad idea after all."
The princess jumped slightly when she felt a hoof on her shoulder.
"Zipp, if there's one thing you mustn't do it's give up on your dreams. True, we all encounter hardships and struggles along the way, but it's the way we rise above those hardships that defines us. And we all need to work together." Queen Haven paused. "I am calling another summit. Hopefully there we can get this nonsense sorted out."
The second Zephyr Heights Grand Conference on the Restoration and Reunification of the Trans Equestrian Railroad and Subsidiary Branchlines was now meeting at Zephyr Heights, and this meeting was, I am sorry to say, a good deal more frosty than the previous one.
"Right then!" Queen Haven said, trying to remain cheerful. "Who wants to go first?"
"I shall," Phyllis said, looking at her paperwork containing her points. "As you are undoubtedly all aware, a few days ago an unfortunate accident occurred on the earth pony section of the line. A maintenance train, which had been stored higher up the line, was found to be rolling downhill by itself, and then fell off a bridge and caused considerable track damage on both the bridge and the nearby rails. The delay has been serious."
"Well, that's unfortunate," Alphabittle noted to himself.
"You would say that, wouldn't you?" Phyllis replied.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means that it confirms my suspicions," Phyllis said flatly. "A unicorn derailed the train to slow the project down. That is what happened. Of course, that is what they would want."
Alphabittle leaned over to Izzy. "That mare makes me hot under the collar sometimes."
Izzy looked confused. "But you're not wearing a collar. I'm certain I could unicycle one for you, though!"
"No need." Alphabittle adjusted his microphone. "I utterly and completely rebuke that claim. Unicorns had no involvement with that derailment. If anything, it's the earth ponies and pegasi who are making things hard for us unicorns."
"How so?" Phyllis asked.
Zipp glanced to Sunny. "This isn't going too well."
"What makes you think that?" Sunny replied, her voice in full snark mode. "The casual throwing of threats and accusations- this isn't looking too good."
"I would like an answer to that question as well," Queen Haven added.
"Earth ponies are sending us unrealistic construction deadlines and expecting us to rush our work, whilst pegasi are constantly observing our work and buzzing our work crews. We've got quite enough on our minds with laying the track and sorting out this dual gauge nonsense without having to worry about pegasi constantly hovering over us like swarms of bees."
"We are not like swarms of bees!" Pipp protested. "In fact, pegasi are very good at the concept of personal space."
"Then why are you standing about half an inch away from Zipp?"
"Oh." Pipp shifted to one side a bit. "Sorry."
"The unicorns have a saying- if something is to be done, it is to be done properly."
"Quickly," Phyllis interrupted.
"Properly!"
"Quickly!"
"PROPERLY!"
"QUICKLY!"
Hitch looked about. "I'm gonna go elsewhere until they stop arguing," he said, and trotted away towards a door.
Queen Haven, on the other hand, had had enough. She grabbed a megaphone and bellowed through it. "ENOUGH!"
The other two looked over.
"All of this bickering and squabbling is preventing us from finding the true culprit in this case! Phyllis, do you have any evidence a unicorn did it?"
"No, but it's the sort of thing they would do, isn't it?"
"Such flawless logic," Sunny said. "I can see why CanterLogic kit was impeccably made. Oh wait, no it wasn't."
"And Alphy- sorry, Alphabittle, I do apologise, the only reason pegasi are observing the work is because we want the line to be finished. I'll inform them to reduce the levels, though." Queen Haven moved back in her chair. "In the meantime, I propose a compromise. Obviously, this accident needs to be investigated before whomever did this strikes again. Assuming a pony did this and it wasn't a simple accident caused by mistakes or an act of Faust."
"Who should head up this enquiry?" Phyllis asked, noticably cowed from having taken the full force of the Royal Pegasus Voice.
"Me, obviously," Alphabittle answered.
"Not any of the leaders, obviously," Queen Haven replied. "The perfect candidates are in the room with us. After all, they are the ones who brought back magic, became friends despite the circumstances they found themselves in, and have a reputation for impartiality."
"The Filly Four?" Phyllis ventured.
"Izzy and her friends, you doofus!" Alphabittle answered.
"Feather."
Queen Haven shook her head as the room sounded to numerous shouts of 'bing bong'. "I'll sort them out in a moment. In the meantime, you five had best get to work. If we're going to lower the tension in the room, so to speak, we need to ensure this mystery is cleaned up as soon as possible."
"Understood, your majesty," Sunny replied. "Let's get going!"
"Detective Zipp is on the case!"
Pipp looked over. "Zipp, why are you wearing a silly hat?"
Pipp and Zipp deployed to the crash scene as soon as they could. It was still something of a smouldering wreck, though thankfully the fire that had started not long after the accident had been put out. There was something about the scene which didn't seem right, though, so Zipp checked in with the forepony.
"Is everything in place?" she asked.
"It is, Your Highness," the forepony replied. "Everything has been left exactly where it landed exactly as you asked, although we did put the fire out."
"Understandable," Zipp said. "Pipp, got your phone? I may need you to take pictures."
"Don't you have a phone?" Pipp replied, as the pair approached the mangled wreckage of the engine. "You could take pictures on that!"
"I could," Zipp answered, "but that would reduce the amount of space for audio recordings."
Pipp huffed. "We're not in the stone age, Zipp. Most phones these days have 16 gigabytes of storage as a bare minimum."
Zipp nodded. "Focus. We need to look at the cab." She popped out her magnifying glass and wandered into the cab remains. It was pretty badly mangled, as you'd expect of a machine that has been trashed in a crash, and some of it was badly squashed.
She glanced about with her goggles, scanning for any trace chemicals or other signs of interference. Just then, she spotted something pretty important. Her eyes looked closer, and saw something around the regulator.
She snapped a few pictures. "Note to self; badly burned rope tied around regulator. Suggests regulator was tied on to ensure crash." She took a few more looks for evidence, then backed out of the cab.
Pipp looked over. "Well? Anything interesting in this heap of junk?"
Zipp nodded. "Yes. This was no accident. It was an act of sabotage."
"How can you tell?"
"Burned rope around the regulator handle. This suggests it was tied on rather than simply open."
"Well, that sorts confirms Phyllis' suspicions," Pipp sighed. "But who did this, and why?"
"This is a bit dull," Hitch admitted, as he looked closely at the bridge. The pair had been deployed to look at the bridge site to ensure impartiality, for the same reason that the two pegasus sisters had travelled to earth pony lands and Izzy was currently in pegasus territory- that way, nopony could accuse them of bias towards their own kind. "Do we have to look a metalwork all the time?"
"Well, the old bridge is a fine surviving example of late Imperial Equestrian steel construction," Sunny replied. "Dad did a lot of research into the surviving ones. And the new bridge is looking pretty good too."
It was. It was about half finished, with some parts still yet to arrive, but otherwise things were going reasonably well. Track was now on either side, simply waiting for the bridge to be installed so that track could be put into place over it.
Hitch sighed. "I see. Well, not everypony is as interested in the past as you, Sunny. Come to think of it, most of us just see transport as a way of getting from A to B, not a thing to do otherwise. I mean, whatever next? Ponies building railroads with vintage equipment so other ponies can ride on them for fun? What a silly idea!"
Sunny's face suggested otherwise. "I think there's mileage in that concept, actually," she said, noting something down in her journal. "In fact, that sort of thing could bring lots of money into deprived areas!"
Hitch looked around as Sunny continued excitedly talking. If Sunny had a flaw (and she had several) it was her tendancy to talk at length about topics even when the other pony wasn't interested or paying attention. He spoke to interrupt this. "Hey, Sunny, don't you think it's strange we haven't seen Misty in a while?"
Sunny stopped, and looked over. "Sorry, what did you say?"
"I said that don't you think it's strange we haven't seen Misty in a while?"
Sunny nodded. "Yeah, that is true. I wonder where she's gone?"
Suddenly, Hitch's phone buzzed with a message. "Hey, it's from Pipp! Apparently they're done investigating the crash, and want to present their findings to us at the Brighthouse."
"Izzy's on her way there, and apparently she found Misty, so they're coming along too," Sunny replied. "Let's go!"
WARNING: THE AUTHOR'S NOTE FOR THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR MAKE YOUR MARK CHAPTER 5. PROCEED WITH CAUTION.
The six ponies (that is, Sunny, Hitch, Izzy, Pipp, Zipp, and Misty) had gathered at the Brighthouse, which was considered neutral ground for the purposes of discussion. This was because it was where the four of the six lived, and as they were each members of each tribe they could be considered to be impartial in their findings. But you already knew this.
Already, Zipp was getting the slideshow set up whilst Hitch and Izzy were pushing the sofas together. "These sofas are heavier than I remember!" Hitch said.
"That's probably because Pipp is sitting on one!" Izzy ventured.
"Are you calling me fat?"
"No. Just the addition of a pony on top of an object will make it heavier, that's all. Basic science." Izzy smiled. "Besides, I've already made some snacks for us during the presentation."
Hitch sighed. "Izzy, this is a serious conversation about an accident, not a movie night. I somehow don't think that popcorn fits the mood very well."
Izzy grinned again. "I didn't make popcorn! I made brownies!"
Hitch rolled his eyes. "Sometimes, I really don't get you, Izzy."
Sunny popped out of the kitchen with her notes. "This is really bad!" she said.
"What's happened?" Pipp asked.
"I accidentally blew up the blender!" Sunny answered. "This latest strain of pearnana is too stough for the blender blades. We need to get a softer version made pretty soon."
"Interesting," Pipp answered.
Just then, Misty arrived. "Uh, sorry I'm late. Anywhere you want me to sit?"
"You can sit with me!" Izzy said, inviting her up next to her. "Two unicorns together!"
Everypony got seated, the lights went down, and Zipp began her presentation. "Greetings, everypony. As you probably know there was an accident on the railroad a few days back. A train fell off a bridge and caused some damage." She noticed Misty looking about and generally behaving oddly, but decided not to comment yet. "This may seem like a bold statement, but I have reason to believe that this was no accident. It was an act of sabotage."
"Not an act of sabotage!" Izzy said dramatically. She then noticed the others were looking at her in confusion. "What? I'm trying to make it dramatic!"
"I took some photos inside the cab of the wrecked engine, and this is the smoking gun, so to speak."
"I can't see a smoking gun," Hitch said.
"It's a metaphor," Zipp sighed. "It means the critical piece of evidence. The regular handle is tied in place with rope."
Izzy looked closer, and spotted something interesting. "Those knots can't be tied by hoof, as they'd get all tangled up," she said.
"What are you saying, Izzy?" Sunny asked.
"They were tied in place using magic. I didn't do it, and I have no reason to think Sunny did it, so another unicorn must have tied them."
Just then, the sofa springs bounced up, and there was the sound of galloping before the main door burst open.
"What the?" Pipp asked.
Zipp saw the empty space. "After her!"
Pipp and Zipp took to the skies and flew along, spotting Misty speeding down the coast road. Zipp switched on her radio. "Misty is heading into town. You guys keep following, Pipp and I will try to get ahead."
The two pegasi sped up as Sunny whizzed out of the Brighthouse in her skates, racing down the path after the fleeing unicorn. Hitch followed a bit slower, but at least the animals were helping him keep an eye on what was happening ahead.
Izzy, however, was following along a bit slower, suspecting there was more to this case than met the eye. And it wasn't that she thought Misty was a Trotformer, because she most certainly did not, but there was something about Misty's behaviour that was pretty super weird, even by unicorn standards.
At the other end of the chase, Zipp dived down into town to try and get a better visual. Misty was sprinting for the nearby streetcar. "Trying that trick again? Not so fast."
She turned and dived in at speed, slamming into Misty with considerable force. This caused both of them to bounce into an alleyway before abruptly stopping near a garbage can.
Misty was the first to recover, and immediately ran for the end of the alley. Only for it to be a dead end.
She stopped and turned around to try and double back on herself- only for Zipp to be right on top of her. "You have a lot of explaining to do, Misty! Now then, we can do this the easy way... or the hard way. And trust me, you don't wanna know the hard way."
Misty immediately curled up and made herself as small as possible. "Alright! I'll tell you everything! Just don't hurt me!"
Zipp was confused. "Wait, what? I never said I was gonna hurt you. What are-"
The others had arrived at this point, and were confused by the sight in front of them. Misty was their friend, right? So why was she seemingly so terrified?
"Zipp, what did you do?" Pipp asked, with a quizzical eye.
"I only said I wanted to know the truth! I have no idea why she's reacting this way."
Misty unravelled herself, and looked in confusion. "Wait. You're not gonna hit me?"
"Why would we do that?" Sunny asked. "We're your friends, right?"
"It's just that I thought all ponies hit one another when they're mad with each other. And you guys seem pretty mad at me."
"Who taught you this?" Hitch asked.
Misty sighed. "Well... the truth is, this entire time I haven't been honest with any of you. I've never lived in pony society. I'm not from Bridlewood. I have no idea where I'm from, actually, or if Misty even is my real name. Opaline's all I've ever known."
"Who's Opaline?" Izzy asked.
"Well, it's a long story, but I guess we got a long day. I've been trailing you guys as a spy..."
A few days later, Misty was testifying in front of the third Zephyr Heights Grand Conference on the Restoration and Reunification of the Trans Equestrian Railroad and Subsidiary Branchlines. Her friends were there as well to support her, as what she was doing a lot of guts to say the least.
"So, in an attempt to divide you all, Opaline ordered me to derail a train and cause damage so you'd all start fighting again."
"Hah!" Phyllis said. "I told you a unicorn did it!"
"Phyllis, either shut up or get out!" Alphabittle snapped. "Go on, Misty. Why did you do this?"
Misty turned to one side, and rubbed her flank with her hoof. The butterfly image there vanished, revealing a blank flank.
"She's a blank flank?" Queen Haven said in surprise. "Most ponies get their cutie marks pretty young!"
"Opaline promised me a cutie mark if I did this," Misty continued. "I know. I'm probably the oldest blank flank in existance right now. All my life I've just wanted to fit in, like I belong, like I actually have a purpose in my life. Now I know that's a fool's errand." She sighed, and hung her head. "I'm so, so sorry for what I did to all of you. I'll accept whatever punishment you give me."
There was a moment's silence. Then Izzy piped up. "We can fit another bed into the Brighthouse, right?"
"Yeah, we've got plenty of space," Sunny said. "And if it doesn't work I'm happy to sleep on the couch for a bit whilst we expand the upper levels a bit. Besides, Izzy, doesn't your bed float?"
"It can do. Of course! We fit it in under there!"
Misty was very confused. "Err, what's going on?"
"What we're saying is we don't think a punishment is appropriate given your circumstances," Queen Haven said. "It's clear, to me at least, that the manipulation you endured means you cannot be truly held responsible for your actions. To this end, it's probably best for you if you spend time in the presence of other ponies. And I'm certain my daughters will be more than happy to help you on that front. Right, girls?"
"Of course, mom!" Pipp and Zipp said in unison.
"And Izzy will happily get you up to speed on unicorn culture, right?" Alphabittle asked.
"All the movies, food, other things... possibly even jinxies as well!"
"Jinxies?" Misty asked.
Phyllis rolled her eyes. "Honestly, all this is ridiculous. Can't she get even the slightest of punishments?"
"You mean like your son did?" Hitch said. "Oh wait, no, because I distinctly recall you used all your political clout to ensure he basically got a slap on the wrist for vandalism and civil disorder- both of which carry jail sentences, if memory serves."
Phyllis grumbled to herself whilst the other leaders turned to one another. "I consider that case closed," Alphabittle said. "Now then, let's get this railroad over the finishing line! Though do remind me what the function of a junction is?"
Several weeks of hard work was finally complete. After the laying of thousands of miles of track, the building of several structures such as bridges, tunnels, and lineside buildings such as stations, shops, and maintenance facilities, the work was done. At the location where the lines joined up, a symbolic spike was driven into the ground. Made of gold, this 'last spike' was meant to represent the new unity between the three nations. After all, they were now connected to one another by a long string of iron ribbon that stretched from the seas and coastline of Maretime Bay to the woodland and forested lands of Bridlewood, via Zephyr Heights. The importance of such an achievement could not be understated, as they were now joined to one another for the first time in over one thousand years.
All that now remained was to dedicate the line and bring it into service. And so, on a gloriously bright sunny day, ponies gathered at the railroad station in Maretime Bay. The place was packed. Apart from the train, which was sat in the platform and gleaming in the sunlight from all the polish it had received, there were many ponies. There were jugglers, entertainers, a considerable number of brass bands, and delegations from each of the Three Tribes.
The leaders were there too, as were the Mane Five. And Misty. Although there had been some initial grumblings about her being there, these had been silenced when the truth about Misty's role in the matter had emerged. In fact, the news of this 'Opaline' was a matter of great concern, but could be dealt with later. After all, if nothing else today was a day of celebration, and celebrate the event they would, no matter what happened or where or when.
And so, at the exact moment the clock struck three, the three leaders took to a podium to deliver speeches. Phyllis went first.
"Gathered ponies," she said. "Today we come together in a new spirit of unity and friendship that has not existed on this continent for a long time. Although we were long divided by our prejudices, it is clear now that the way forward is not separate, but together as one group, striving to forge a better world for those who will follow us."
Queen Haven spoke next. "If you had told me twenty years ago that one day I would be delivering a speech about the opening of a line connecting us all together, I would have called you mad. But it shows us the importance of holding onto a dream. Things can only improve if we fight for them to improve, and five brave ponies defied the odds and brought us together once more with this line. Truly may this elevate our new world to increased heights of greatness."
Alphabittle went last. "The past is something that many ponies gathered today find comforting- myself included. But the past is not a blueprint for our existance. It is merely a guide from which to learn. One pony understood this especially well. Although I never met him, it was his words and tireless research dedicated to discovering this continent's history that enabled us to not only regain magic, but also to be reconnected as we are today." He paused. "Although sadly he is no longer with us, it was his daughter who took his words to heart and showed us a better path to the light. To the light of a better and more prosperous future for us all."
He paused. "But what is to be done next must be done together. And so, if the other leaders will join me in this symbolic act." He indicated to a gigantic pair of scissors, with he, Phyllis, and Queen Haven then picked up. They moved it to the ribbon which was strung over the line, and steadied themselves.
"We hereby declare the New Trans Equestrian Railroad open!" they said in unison, as they chopped the ribbon open. It dramatically fell to both sides. Ponies cheered and the engineer of the reopening train sounded the whistle with triumph. It had been done, and the railway was officially open.
"Come on!" Sunny called. "To the train! Onwards we go!"
The assembled guests scrambled aboard, and the engineer once again sounded the whistle.
"ALL ABOARD!"
The doors slammed, and the conductor showed a green lamp. With a hiss of steam and loud snorts from the cylinder cocks, the moment those who had dared to dream about had finally become true. Slowly but surely, and with ringing of bells, the train got underway, climbing the side of the local hills and climbing ever closer to the skies.
The train seemed to be climbing so far it was flying, and many enjoyed rumbling over the hills and bridges, and through spectacular spiral tunnels and up steep slopes. The mountains soon gave way to sweeping prairies and vast grasslands, before the passengers changed trains for the run up to (and through) Zephyr Heights.
This section was much more direct, what with the benefit of electric traction, and the train rattled over the hills and up through craggy peaks. Oxygen was supplied for non pegasi, but luckily it wasn't needed. After a brief stop in Zephyr Heights Central Station to exchange supplies, the train was off on its way once more, this time coasting down another set of steep grades until it reached the next changeover point.
Here the electric was detached and parked in a siding, and a large diesel engine spitting black smoke took over. They then roared away through more fields, watching as the landscape shifted once more. The train descended over the new bridge (the old one now part of a public footpath) and down into the forested regions. A logging train waited to let them pass by, and after a long trip the train came to a stop at Bridlewood station, where the passengers got off. There's had been the very first train trip from one side of Equestria to the other for over one thousand years.
Naturally, whenever a big achievement is made, the appropriate response is to host a celebratory party. And this is exactly what happened. Bridlewood rang to laughter and merriment well into the night as a celebratory ball was hosted, and everypony had a great time just enjoying themselves. The fun went on well into the night, and safe to say ponies were quite exhausted by the time they trooped off to bed later on. But it could wait. They did not need to do anything important that night.
The very next day, Sunny, Izzy, Pipp, Zipp, Hitch, and Misty all returned to Maretime Bay, running back along the very same terrain as the previous day, just in reverse order. Once they arrived, they headed straight for the Brighthouse.
"Err, I don't mean to sound unnapreciative, but you don't need to have me stay here," Misty said. "I really don't mind."
"We insist!" Sunny said. "After all, considering what you've been through you should get another chance at things. And a change of pace with a proper roof over your head is a great place to start." She indicated to the ramp which connected the floors together. "This way!"
The six raced up the stairs and stopped at the top. "Sunny, have you redesigned the place?" Pipp asked. "Because I'm pretty certain there are four of us who live here, not five."
A fifth bed, with some attachments, had been added to the edge of the room. "That one's for Misty," Sunny explained. "That bit is your to personalise as you see fit."
"Sure took a bit of shifting furniture to get that lot aligned well," Hitch joked. "But worth it in the end, huh?"
Misty was amazed. Opaline had never let her customise the room she had in the castle. And now she had her own living space to call her own! "I... I don't know what to say," she stammered, amazed at the idea that somepony was being nice to her. "Thank you. Is there something you want in return?"
"Do I need a reason to be nice to a friend?" Sunny answered, using a question to answer Misty's question.
What Misty did next caight them by surprise. She trotted over to Sunny and hugged her. "Thank you so much," she whispered.
"And I've organised a new and improved sleepover to celebrate your first night as one of us!" Izzy grinned.
"Welcome to the crew, Misty!" Zipp said. "Not that you weren't before, of course, but it feels good to make it official."
"Agreed!" Pipp said. "Let's make this night amazing!" She switched to sing song mode at the end of the sentence.
"Uh, yeah, let's do that. Provided Sparky doesn't do anything silly," Hitch added.
After an incredibly fun night of games, events, and other activities, they eventually retired to bed. Except Hitch, who went back to the station. It had been a tiring few days, but they felt it had been worth it.
After all, there's had been... a Railway Adventure.
A. J. Bridel - Pipp Petals Matreiyi Ramakrishnan - Zipp Storm Jenna Warren - Sunny Starscout Ellen-Ray Hennessey - Additional Voices Brian Dobson - Additional Voices Ana Sani - Izzy Moonbow, Additional Voices J. J. Gerber - Hitch Trailblazer Bahia Watson - Misty Joshua Graham - Sprout Cloverleaf Amanda Martinez - Queen Haven Athena Karkanis - Opaline Rush Marshall - Phyllis Cloverleaf Andrew Jackson - Alphabittle Blossomforth
Opaline scowled over the scenes of jubilation as she looked at them through her cauldron. "So those silly ponies got through to Misty and completed their railroad?" she said, her voice barely containing her frustration. "No matter. This merely represents a minor setback."
She switched the display to a large floating rock. "This is what I've been looking for. And when I have it and have used its power for myself, I will be able to undo everything they have achieved! You have no idea what's coming next, Equestria!" Her eyes narrowed. "I'm coming for you, Sunny Starscout."
