My Little Pony: Origins.
Chapter Four.
Canterlot.
February 14th 2015, Ponyville, Equestria. 8:15 am.
Rainbow finally awoke after what seemed like hours, but in reality was only a few minutes, she slowly opened her eyes and slowly looked around, the place was very dusty and covered in cobwebs, she looked down at her, that was now cleaned up and covered in a bandage.
''Where am i?'' Rainbow said, slowly standing up, taking in more of her surroundings, there was a black chair, leather possibly, there was a cardboard box full of photo album, sketch pads and a very old guitar, she moved over to the box and looked inside, finding a broken picture frame, missing the glass, that still had a photo inside, she picked it up slowly, trying her best not to damage it. She pulled it free from the frame and looked at it in detail, 'Christmas 1997, David and Candy' was written on the bottom, she gasped when she looked at the photo, dropping it.
''What the?'' She said, backing up against the bulkhead of the cab, her head knocked against a handle, she fell backwards as the rear right cab door opened behind her, she fell onto the right walkway, ''Ouch.'' She groaned, rubbing her head.
''I hope you like hot cocoa.'' She heard somepony say, panicking, she jumped down onto the snow and limped off towards town at breakneck speed, David walked up the small steps holding to large mugs full of hot cocoa with marshmallows floating on the surface, he looked on in surprise and confusion when he found the cab to be lacking a blue pegasus and had a door open.
''I.. Um... Did i imagine that pegasus?'' He said, scratching his head, he put one mug down and put the other in a cup holder, he sat down in his chair after shutting the open door, he drank from the mug that he placed in the holder and closed his eyes, he head rested against the back of the chair. He sighed as he was deep in thought.
''What do i do?'' He thought, ''Should i face my past or start anew?'' He added to his chain of thought before being snapped out of it by a high pitched whistle. He looked over to see '47500' pulling up alongside his engines. He smiled and waved as Dusty looked at him from her cab.
Rainbow limped across the train track and towards her friends, ''Rainbow!'' Twilight shouted as the pegasus limped over to them, ''Thank heavens your alright.'' She added, nuzzling Rainbow's cheek, she looked down at Rainbow's hoof.
''What happened?'' Twilight asked.
''I don't know.'' Rainbow said, ''It weird, i mean their i was, only a few feet from this human, he asked me if i was ok, I said i just need a minute and then i fainted.'' Rainbow explained, ''Next thing i know, i wake up in this dusty room, i panicked and ran over to here.'' Rainbow added, she didn't tell Twilight what she found.
David put his left leg up on the control panel, pulling up his trouser leg, showing his knee was cut and breeding, he sighed, leaning over and pulling out a few plasters from a box, he placed them along his cuts before pulling his trouser leg back down, he began to drink from his mug again when there was a knock on the front door, he rose from his chair and made his way to the door. He opened the door to see Dusty standing their, she was gently kicking the floor with her hoof.
''Hey Dusty, can i help you?'' He said, she looked up at him and smiled.
''Yes, are you by chance heading for Canterlot?'' She asked him, looking at his blue eyes.
''I will be soon, but first i'm gonna rest, I've been driving since midnight.'' David said, yawning, ''Why do you ask?'' He added, stretching his arm.
''Well you see, we have some empty coaches that may need to taken to Canterlot if they need them.'' Dusty said, ''I was just wondering if you would take them if they are needed?'' She added, looking over to her right side, seeing a rank of eight maroon coaches. Which were laid consisted of.
A Maroon Brake Standard Corridor (BSK) MK 1 at the front, two Maroon Second Open (SO) MK 1's, a Maroon Restaurant Miniature Buffet (RMB) MK1, two Maroon First Corridor (FK) MK 1, a Maroon Brake First Corridor (BFK) and a Maroon Brake Gangwayed (BG) MK 1 at the back.
''Sure, i'll take them, just let me know if they are needed, Ok?'' David said, yawning loudly, he looked over her shoulder to see a black British Railway Standard Class 9F thundering past, pulling a long line of HAA hoppers full of coal, they had a dirty silver livery with red framework.
''Sure, i'll let you know.'' Dusty replied, her ears twitched as the 9F rattled past the yard, she hopped down and walked off with a smile on her face.
February 14th 2015, Ponyville, Equestria. 8:15 pm.
Night soon fell over the small town of Ponyville, the full moon casted its pale white light on the town and the surrounding terrain. Mist began to roll in, covering the ground in a think sheet of white, the area was so quiet, you could hear an ant yawn, the silence was soon broken by the sound of an engine starting up, the darkness was chased away as a pair of headlights lit up. David yawned as he hopped down from '642', the thick frog was at knee height. He looked back as Dusty's Jinty pushed the coaches gently up with coupling distance of '644', the coaches stopped, they sat cold and dark as the Jinty was uncoupled from the rear coach, the maroon paint was dimly lit by the moon's glow.
David looked down at the MK1's coupling, it, much like his Class 19's had a knuckle couple that could be lowered to use a hook instead, accompanying the coupling was a set up of dual brakes, consisting of vacuum and air brakes and a steam heat pipe, on each side of the gangways were RCH jumper cables and below the right buffer was a ETH cable and dummy socket while below the left buffer was the receiving socket for the ETH cable from '644', David moved over to the coupling and raised both knuckle couplers and locked them in place. He yawned some more as he pulled the locking bar down, opening the knuckle of '644', luckily the coach's knuckle was already open, he connected the air brakes and ETH cables together.
He looked up at the stars, the thousands of white specks twinkled and danced on the endless ocean of darkness, there wasn't a cloud to block the beautiful night sky, he sighed as a blast of cold air blew against him, ''This is the only thing i missed back when i use to live in London.'' He said to himself as he looked up at the stars, as he breathed out, he could see his breath in the cold night air. The wind picked up, making the nearby fir and pine trees rustle in the breeze, he turned north and looked over at the city on the mountain, the lights sparkled and flickered in the distances, he then turned south and looked at the ocean that the surface reflected the moon like a mirror, the ocean brought a cold breeze inland.
David stepped into '642's cab and slowly back the train up until he heard the clicking sound of the knuckle coupler closing and locking. He looked up at the ETH control screen, a light was flashing below the 7.9'' screen, 'ETH cable connected. Push ON button when ready.' flashed above the screen, he pushed the ON button, the screen flickered to life, it began to display the current coaches temperatures at -2°C as well as displaying carriage lighting and recommended radiator temperature. He pushed two icons on the screen, one was red and marked 'Carriage Lights OFF' once pressed, the icon changed to green and was now marked, 'Carriage Lights ON'. The second icon was also red but was marked, 'Carriage Radiators OFF' once pressed, the icon also changed to green and was now marked 'Carriage Radiators ON'.
As David waited for the all clear, he checked on his control panel screen, it displayed fuel levels, sand levels, current train length at 152.37 meters and current time.
''Ok, fuel is at 90% and sand is at 87%.'' He said to himself as his stomach growled, he sighed when he remembered that he had no food in his cupboards, he looked up as the signal went green, he moved the reverser into forward gear as he waited for Dusty to give him a map of the line from Ponyville to Canterlot.
The snow crunched under Dusty's hooves as she walked along the ballast, she gently held the map in her mouth, she hopped up onto the front of '642' and knocked on the door, the metal door was cold to the touch, the grey paint work was covered in frost, ice and snow., The ice cracked as the door opened, David looked down at her and smiled.
''I brought you the map.'' She responds, trembling slightly, she placed the map in his hand, ''Open it once you leave the yard, Ok?'' She added before running away, her face was bright red.
David, now confused, sat back down in his chair, the brake released with a hiss, the throttle moved into notch one, the wheels slowly began to move forward, gripping to the rails.
''Ok, here we go.'' David said as he brought the train up to speed, he unfolded the map, he looked at map, the line went straight to Canterlot, he breathed in as he moved the throttle into notch four.
February 14th 2015, Canterlot, Equestria. 9:05 pm.
''Canterlot! The city that never sleeps! What a town!'' A stallion royal guard said, his nose taking a breath of the air.
''Your drunk!" Responded a female royal guard, she was his superior officer and she did not look pleased in the slightest. ''And your sexy.'' He replied before passing out, the mare rolled her eyes and continued her look outs over the great city, she looked down as the valley below the city and watched the twinkling lights of Ponyville which looked like a simple speck in the distance.
''Hello? What's all this then.'' She mumbled to herself as she saw an unfamiliar train pulling into Canterlot, she shrugged and continued the look outs.
'642' crawled along as it rolled into the south station yard, the remaining brake blocks slowing the train down as it came to a stop on a long siding, the engine hummed quietly, David put the reverser into neutral, he turned off the ETH control screen, the carriage lights flickered off and radiators began to cool down, he sighed as he stepped out of the cab, a piece of paper in his hand.
''Damn, now that's a view.'' He said, looked at the castle, a flag that sat at the tallest tower of castle fluttered in the gentle breeze. He pulled the locking pin, the knuckle unlocked, he disconnected the ETH cable and the air brake pipes, the ice around '644's snowplow cracked as the air brake was left hanging under the coupling, the pipe swinging and hitting the ice. David got back into the cab and slowly moved the engines, clearing the knuckle coupler.
Canterlot railway station, known by locals as Canterlot Citadel station was the main railway station and the hub for most of the Equestrian railway, the station had eight platforms with platform one being bi-directional, platform three being northbound with platform four being south bound, the rest of the platforms were bay platforms with platforms two, five and six being used by south bound traffic and platforms seven and eight being used by northbound traffic. The station was built as a replica of the Carlisle Citadel railway station of what it looked like in the late 50's, early 60's.
WestRail '642' stopped outside of the south station yard's engine sheds and office, David left the cab, the snow crunched under his feet as he made his way to the office, he looked at the back of the picture.
'Dear David.
Greeting from Equestria, hope you are well, things over here are a bit hectic, what with Christmas right around the corner and with me moving to my new home of the Crystal Empire, Hope to see you and the family soon.
Love
Candy
P.S if you're in the area, look me up or my husband, S...'
The rest of the note was smudged and torn, he sighed as he slipped it into his pocket as he opened the door of the rundown yard office, the door creaked and moaned as he opened it. Despite its outward appearance, the inside of the office looked like it was just refurbished, he looked around the building, there were three desks, the first one had a slow spinning fan, the second one was empty and the third one was full of paperwork, a female pegasus sat behind it, looking very tired, she yawned, her eyes struggling to stay open, David cleared his throat, startling the pegasus.
''Um can i help you sir.'' She said, trying not to yawn, her sleepy eyes tried to stay open.
''Um, i've just brought in a rank of MK 1 coaches from Ponyville.'' David responded, nervously as she stepped out from behind the desk and walked towards him.
''Ok, let me just tell the crew that they can now move them.'' She replied, walking up to the door, David followed her out the door. The pegasus walked over to two stallions who sat on the running board of an Ex-SECR H Class with 'Equestrian Railway' on the side tanks, she told them about the coaches and where they were to be shunted, they nodded and got into the engine's cab.
The pegasus walked back over to David and weakly smiled, ''Thank you for bring them up.'' She said, yawning, ''I think i need to go the bed and stay there.'' She added, turning away.
''Hey! Do you know where the Crystal Empire is?'' David asked, she turned back around and turned his head and made him look at a bunch was wavy lights at met at the horizon.
''See those auroras? Just follow them and you'll see it.'' She said, turning back to the office, leaving David staring at the auroras.
End of Chapter Four.