Chapter 4
A Train To Stop

As Alexei's right hand man and the only dragon Alexei has ever trusted, Discord is allowed to do pretty much anything he wants, and is free to cause as much chaos and mischief as his twisted heart desires. One day, Discord found the perfect opportunity. It all began at a train yard where a group of construction ponies were attempting to lower some containers of glowing, pink liquid into some train cars. The boss pony looked up at the pony using the crane to lower the containers into the train cars. "Careful with those containers Mac!" he yelled, "They have very unstable magic inside. One crack in them and this entire train yard is going to be one giant poisoned cesspool. Now this train here will be heading for the science lab in Fillydelphia, just past Ponyville. Let's hope the train makes it there without any problems." Meanwhile, Discord was hiding behind a wall listening to what the pony had just said.

"What do we have here? Some containers with unstable magic?" Discord said as he began to laugh. "Let's see...so it's heading for Fillydelphia? It would be such a shame if this train would crash near Ponyville!" Discord then quickly sneaked past the construction ponies. Soon after, he used his chaos magic on the train which spread to every train car, including the pilot, and corrupted it. As quick as he could, Discord hid again as he watched his devious plan unfold. A couple of minutes later, after the pony in the crane lowered every container into the train cars, he jumped down and joined his fellow workers.

"Great work guys!" the boss said, "Now all that's left is to wait for the train conductors to finish eating their lunch as they can take that train to Fillydelphia." Unfortunately for them, Discord snapped his fingers, and soon after, the train suddenly began to move on its own. The group of ponies quickly began to realize the train was now moving down the train tracks.

As they watched the train leave, the boss pony said as he rubbed his forehead, "It looks like those guys finished their lunch early. Well then...I guess we're done here." At that moment, the two conductors that were thought to be on the train, had appeared before them. The boss right away began to realize something had gone wrong. He then turned to a pony worker and yelled, "Send a letter to Princess Celestia. Tell her there's an out of control train heading right for Ponyville!" A few seconds later, Discord began to laugh as he basked in the glory of his brilliant work.

"Have fun Flareon! Let's see how you deal with a run-away train carrying unstable magic. I hope you like riddles!" Discord said. Soon after, he disappeared. A few hours later, Flareon with Twilight holding tight on his back, were seen flying high through the air near some train tracks. After Princess Celestia had received the letter from the train yard that told of the run-away train containing unstable magic that was heading for Ponyville, she immediately sent a letter to Golden Oak Library asking Flareon and Twilight to stop the train before it crashed near Ponyville. The catch was they couldn't use magic on the train or it would react with the unstable magic and cause an explosion. They also couldn't destroy the train either. Flareon and Twilight were going to have to stop the train manually and that would mean getting into the pilot and activating the brake. She also noted that this might be the work of Discord and told them to be careful. It didn't take long before they spotted the train. Flareon quickly began to fly along side at and soon made it to the pilot and attempted to enter the door, but suddenly, the door disappeared. When Flareon went to open the window, it also disappeared. He then slowed down and tried to enter the door in the next train car, but it also disappeared when he got near it. Soon after, every window and door on all the train cars vanished. Twilight then tapped him on the shoulder.

"Let's try going to the back! Hopefully we can enter there! she yelled. He once again slowed down and when they got to the back of the last train car, Flareon was surprised when he was able to open it. After they got inside, the door suddenly closed behind them and disappeared. When Flareon and Twilight looked around, they noticed the all the glowing containers of unstable magic, and also, the windows had reappeared. "This is defiantly the work of Discord. He wasn't going to let us stop this train that easily. We should probably expect more traps ahead." Flareon and Twilight then ran to the door of the fifth train car, but they were unable to open it.

"No use," Flareon said as he tried to open the door once more, "This door isn't going to open. How are we supposed to move on?" At that moment, words began to appear on the door as if an invisible person was writing on it. Flareon quickly began to read what it said aloud. "Who are the two brothers who live on opposite sides of the road yet never see each other?" Soon after, Flareon replied, "Wait...what is this? A riddle? Seriously...a riddle?" He put his right hoof on his face. "I hate Discord." Twilight however, was actually happy.

"Oh I love riddles!" she exclaimed, "Well then...shall we solve it?" They looked at the riddle for a few seconds trying to figure out what the answer was.

"Is it...ears?" Flareon asked. Suddenly, a big 'X' appeared where the riddle was, and soon after, they train jerked forward and began to pick up speed.

"It seems it you get the answer wrong, the train goes faster," Twilight said, "We've got to be careful." After the X vanished, the riddle returned. A few seconds later, Twilight eye's began to glow. "The answer is...eyes!" she yelled. At that moment, a big check mark appeared, and the door quickly opened. Twilight then looked at him and smiled as she held out her left hoof in front of her. "After you Flareon."

As they walked to the next train car, the door closed behind them and vanished just like the last one. Flareon then replied, "Twilight...I think you should handle answering these riddles. You're smarter than me after all."

She then smiled at him. "Oh Flareon...it doesn't matter how smart you are, anyone can solve a riddle if they just think hard enough and use their imagination!" Soon after, they made it to the end of the fourth train car and just like before, words began to appear on the door.

"It's been around for millions of years, but it's no more than a month old. What is it?" Flareon read aloud. They quickly tried to solve the riddle. Even though he was trying, Flareon couldn't figure out what it meant. He thought of an answer, but Flareon was scared that if he got it wrong again, the train would go even faster. Flareon then shook his head signaling to Twilight he didn't know the answer.

Twilight smiled and yelled, "The moon!" Right away, a check mark appeared, and the door opened. After they got into the third train car, the door behind them closed and disappeared. If they had any hope of stopping this train, it was Twilight.

As they got to the door, Flareon began to read aloud the riddle. "There are four brothers in this world that were all born together. The first runs and never wearies. The second eats and is never full. The third drinks and is always thirsty. The fourth sings a song that is never good." Once again, Flareon had no idea, but he was worried because Twilight was by his side. She defiantly had this in the bag. Unfortunately, this time, Flareon noticed Twilight wasn't smiling.

"This riddle has a total of fours answers," she said, "I think...I got it." Twilight then took a deep breath. "The answer is...water, electricity, earth, wind!" To his surprise, a X appeared, and the train quickly jerked forward and picked up speed. She then hit herself in the face with her right hoof embarrassed. "I messed up. It's water, fire, earth, wind." A check mark then appeared and they went through the door into the second train car. They were very close. All they had to do was answer the last riddle and they would get into the pilot and activate the brake. As they were walking towards the door, the train went over a hill and went airborne. It then fell back onto the tracks. The sudden impact of the landing was so hard that Twilight lost her balance and went tumbling into a nearby window. She then crashed through it and began falling towards the ground. Luckily for her, Flareon managed to grab her right hoof just in time.

"Hold on Twilight!" Flareon yelled, "I got you!" Soon after, he managed to pull her back inside.

As they both tried to catch their break, Twilight looked him and smiled. "Thanks for saving me."

Flareon then helped Twilight back up. "Don't worry about, I'm just glad your ok." However, when Twilight looked outside, she noticed familiar scenery.

"Oh no!" she yelled, "We're close to Ponyville! Let's hurry!" As Twilight ran towards the pilot door, Flareon looked outside, and also noticed familiar scenery. She was right, they were almost near Ponyville. They had to stop the train now or else it would be too late. When he joined Twilight, she was beginning to read the last riddle.

"What fastens two ponies yet touches only one?" she said. A minute later, Flareon could tell the pressure was staring to get to Twilight as she was beginning to cry. "I'm sorry, but...I don't know the answer." He softly put his right hoof on her back.

"The answer is...a wedding ring," Flareon replied calmly. As the door began to open, he smiled and said, "Remember the day we got married? When Princess Celestia gave us our wedding rings? Mine joins you to me, and yours joins me to you. They symbolize our marriage and our commitment to each other."

Twilight quickly wiped the tears from her eyes. "Thanks Flareon...I knew you could do it!" Soon after, they entered the pilot and found the brake.

As Flareon and Twilight quickly grabbed hold of it, he said, "Alright on the count of three. One, two...three!" Right away, they yanked the brake back and the train began to stop. Suddenly, it began to tilt right as the train was rounding a corner. Luckily for them, the train fell back down onto the tracks as it finally stopped. Flareon and Twilight had done it. They managed to stop the train and saved Ponyville from being poisoned by the unstable magic. As they got off the train, Flareon and Twilight were quickly stormed by a large crowd of ponies who began to congratulate them. Soon after, the crowd parted and Princess Celestia appeared before them smiling.

"I knew you two could pull it off! Well done!" she exclaimed as the crowd began to cheer. Meanwhile, on top of the Ponyville Train Station, Discord was sitting in the air, eating a bag of popcorn.

"So...they managed to stop the train?" Discord said as he finished eating and threw the bag away. "I guess he's not called the chosen one for nothing, however, I'm just getting started. Just you wait Flareon...I've got a lot more tricks up my sleeve!" After he finished laughing, Discord disappeared. In the end, Flareon and Twilight successfully foiled Discord's plan and saved Ponyville. Unfortunately for them, this wouldn't be the last time they had to deal with him.