>"When is the next train to Manehatten?" "The timetable should be right inside next to the ticket service, but we'll be departing at 8:00 which is in... a quarter of an hour" >"Thank you very much" >The mare turns around and goes back into Canterlot Central Station >You are Steamer, engineer of the Friendship Express, and you are dead tired >Last night your conductor, All Aboard, had fallen ill a little over a quarter of the way from Vanhoover to Canterlot and you had to helm the train for the rest of it > Not that it needed much attention aside from the occasional shoveling of coal into its maw and making sure everything goes smoothly >Anyway, you’ll be running the mixed train from Canterlot to Manehatten for another 10 hours so you sure hope All Aboard gets to feeling better, for his sake and yours >You look up at the large clock embedded in the wall of the station which reads 7:52 "ALL ABOARD FOR MANEHATTEN, ALL ABOARD FOR MANEHATTEN!" >At this the ponies on the platform start to work their way over to you as you start to check their tickets >You suppress a yawn as they pass by, barely checking their tickets before handing them back >Once they've all boarded you check the clock again >7:59, time to get this show on the road, though, just to be safe "LAST CALL FOR MANEHATTEN, ALL ABOARD WHO’S COMING ABOARD!" >Just then you see a mare hoofing it out of the station building towards the train >She's a unicorn with a yellow coat and a lighter blue mane "Every time" you mutter under your breath >"Sorry, sorry, sorry, so sorry" >She says, as she comes to a halt in front of you "That's alright Ma'am, may I see your ticket?" >She starts to dig around in her saddlebag >"Ticket, ticket, ticket, ticket, where'd I put the darn thing" >You take a final look at the clock just as it ticks to 8:00 "Ma'am do you have a ticket or not, I've got a tight schedule I gotta fit and this isn't making my job any easier" >You really don't, if All Aboard still isn't feeling well by the time you get to Manehatten you'll be taking an extended stay there >The Friendship Express isn't the only train in Equestria dammit >"Ah here it is, and I thought I'd never find it, here you are" >She hands you what is very clearly a sorry excuse for a counterfeit train ticket written out in pencil >You look back to her groggily and she just smiles "Welcome aboard Ma'am, make yourself comfortable" >"Why thank you very much Mr. Conductor" she says, overplaying the theatrics as you hand her the fake ticket back >With that you shut the doors and head to the front of the train >Giving a tug on the whistle you engage the throttle and the train groans to life >”PFFFFFFF CHHHHHHH, PFFFFF CHHHH, PFFF CHHH, PF CH PF CH PF CH” >It has been around an hour or so since departing Canterlot and everything is going as it should so you decide to check up on All Aboard >You make your way over to your shared cabin and knock once, twice, thrice >No response comes from the cabin so you let yourself in >It's a spacious cabin for what it's worth >Two berths, a closet, a restroom with a shower, and a window with its curtains currently drawn >It's nothing compared to the Crystal Empire Express though >You've heard that some of their premium suites look like the an actual bedroom with a full sized bed to boot >Though that's not here or there and you remember what you’re doing here in the first place >You look over to the berth on the left side and see All Aboard >He looks like he's in a pretty deep sleep, sounds like it too considering all the snoring he's doing >When he told you yesterday that he just needed to sleep it off you believed him and left him to it >He's coming up on 9 and a half hours which itself isn't bad >Though, considering he was only awake for a couple of hours before going back to sleep is the real concern >Nothing much you can do about it though so you head back into the hallway >As you start to move back up the car you look out the window at the rolling grasslands >The mountains of Neighagra Falls should be visible within the next hour or so >That’s what you’ve always loved about being a conductor >Traveling Equestria, seeing the sights as they go by >You’d think it’d get old sooner or later and in some respects it has, but you can’t help but remember when you were a colt and riding on this very train for the first time >You were so glued to the window you hadn’t even noticed the train had stopped >If your parents hadn’t noticed you didn’t follow them off the train you would’ve rode it until it stopped >You make your way out of the sleeper car and into the crisp Autumn air >In front of you is the tender which should carry you halfway to Manehatten before needing to be restocked >You take your time going around it to get that last feeling of the wind rushing by and get back into the engine >Ever since they installed the tender the engine compartment has become a lot more spacious considering they didn’t have to store all the extra coal and water in here anymore >You take a look out the window towards the front of the train >From the numerous trips you’ve taken across these rails you know there’s a switch coming up that the train can’t take at anywhere near full speed >You reference the map and determine you’re an hour from it so you do as you always do and wait >You’ve slowed down enough to make it around the joint turn switch >Was it just you or did this turn seem sharper than before >You’re probably just mistaking this for another switch on another route >You don’t usually get confused like this, must be the lack of sleep again >You open a window to take a peek outside at the rest of the train making the slow turn >Nothing looks out of the ordinary and it seems to be going well >You start to retreat your head back in when something catches your eye >You see somepony’s tail disappear behind the cars moving >It’s not too uncommon that you’d get a pony or two trying to catch a free ride by jumping on at one of these slower areas >You’ll go back and check the passenger’s tickets before you get back up to speed >You should also go check back on All Aboard, maybe he’s feeling better by now >Dawning your engineer’s cap you start towards the sleeper cabin again >Not bothering to knock this time you slide open the door and, to your surprise, see All Aboard sitting up in his berth and reading a book ”Morning All, sleep well” >you say almost sarcastically >”Yes, I think so at least” ”You feelin’ well enough to take the reins outta my hooves? I haven’t got but a lick of sleep in the past 24 hours” >” ’Course, it seems enough of my strength has returned to me” ”Thanks, ah and while you’re at it can you head to the back and check the passenger’s tickets? I feel like I saw somepony jumping on back at the turnout” >”Sure, and what should I do if they don’t have one” ”Just tell them they can ride to Manehatten but will have to pay fare and be fined once we get to the station” >”Alright then, enjoy your rest Steamer” ”Yep” >and with that you proceed to climb into the berth and fall asleep >You are All Aboard, conductor for the Friendship Express, and you are still feeling sick >You would’ve loved to stay in bed for a while longer but Steamer was looking worse for wear >Nonetheless you should head into the passenger cars to find out if somepony had jumped on >You step through to the first passenger car >It’s sparsely populated with many of the occupants reading magazines or just looking out the windows at the landscape >You clear your throat which brings some attention up to you ”Can I have everyone get their tickets out, just doing a routine check” >The passengers start to get their tickets out as you go by and check them >No discrepancies here >You go into the second car >More of the same as everything seems to be in order >You mosey on over to the third car, repeat the same spiel, and check the tickets >All of them are good until you get to a yellow unicorn mare with cerulean mane >She gives you her “ticket” with a wink ”Is this supposed to be a joke Ma’am?” >She’s handed you a piece of cardstock with the words “Friendship Express: Admit 1” written on it >”No, I just, uh…” ”Listen, you can stay on the train until we get to Manehatten, but once we get there you’ll have to pay regular fare on top of being fined for riding without a valid ticket” >”No really, the other conductor let me on, just go get him and he’ll tell you” >There’s not a second conductor on the Friendship Express though she may be talking about Steamer >She must have seen him before hopping on the train ”I’m sure he did, but right now he’s sleeping and will probably be for a while” >You look down and check your pocket watch >It reads 11:02 >Wow, it hadn’t dawned on you just how long you’d slept ”So please just don’t cause a ruckus here or I may not be so inclined as to let you ride all the way to Manehatten” >You leave before she can get another word in >That conversation had drained you a bit more than you expected considering how short it was >You’d known Steamer for a while and you don’t think he’d just let somepony on without a ticket >No point in giving it much of a second thought so you go back to the front of the train >It’s still going quite slow from the turn though you’ve cleared it by now and open the throttle to full >You have a general idea of where you are, having passed the switch not too long ago, but you consult the map anyways >You should be at the water stop a little after Noon according to your calculations so you give her a bit more coal and settle in >You are still All Aboard, and this is not good >You’ve checked the map again and again but now you’re sure of it >Foal Mountain is way to close for you to be on the correct line heading to Manehatten >Steamer must’ve gotten mixed up at the switch >The line you’re on now takes you straight to Hollow Shades >You should have noticed the mountain getting closer, but you had been reading a book >Only occasionally looking up to have a glance at where you were going >You must have been going in the wrong direction for over an hour now >You’d already cranked the throttle back half when you started to doubt yourself, but now you’re at full stop >Once you’ve completely slowed you’ll throw it in reverse and explain the situation to the passengers who won’t be too pleased to hear their arrival has been delayed for 2 hours >On top of that the conversation Steamer and yourself will be having with your superiors won’t be too pleasant either >You’re considering waking up Steamer and telling him about the situation when you hear a voice behind you >”Why is the train stopping?” >It sounds feminine though you can’t place your hoof on the accent ”You’re not allowed to be…” >you say as you start to turn around ”Up here…” >and you come snout to snout with a bat pony ”AHH A BAT!” >you jump backwards >The bat pony mare continues towards you >”What was I supposed to say next” >You barely hear this over the noise of the train and the half whisper she spoke it at >”Oh right, um, this is a robbery, put your hooves in the air” >She almost seems unsure of herself >It may have been cute under normal circumstances ”What? A robbery? But we’re not hawling anything impor…” >What was in the freight cars >You’d been asleep while you were at Canterlot so you have no idea what she could be wanting ”...tant” >The bat pony walks past you and pushes the throttle back to full >You’re getting a bit old but you’re still a fully grown and healthy stallion >You could easily take this bat pony in a fight >”Well the others seem to think it’s important” >And there goes that plan out the window >”So yeah, just take us to Hollow Shades, we’ll take what we need, and then you’ll be on your way” >You genuinely don’t know what to do in this situation >They didn’t exactly prepare during the training >The little they did tell you was to just follow what they wanted >So guess you’ll be doing that ”A-alright then” >You steady yourself, getting over the shock of seeing a bat pony out in the day >Or a bat pony at all for that matter >Wait why was a bat pony out during the day >You’d heard of instances of bat ponies coming out during the day, though you’d always thought that the sun was almost harmful to them >As evidenced by this one that doesn’t seem to be the case >”How long until we reach Hollow Shades?” ”It’ll be an hour and a half” >You answer bluntly, trying to keep a poker face >You wish Steamer were here right now >He’d probably know what to do a bit better than you >It’d also be better if they tried to pull anything on you >It’ll be a long shot, but maybe she’ll let you get him ”You know…” >You say as enticingly as possible ”If we were to get the engineer we could speed up getting to Hollow Shades” >A blatant lie to you, but you’re banking on the bat pony not knowing too much about trains >”And how would that make us go any faster?” >Wellllll, you hadn’t gotten that far ”He knows how to operate this thing better than me so I’m sure he’d know something” >You look back at the bat pony and she seems to be considering your words >It’s worth a shot >”If it’ll speed us up then that should be fine” >That worked out rather smoothly >”Though I’ll be the one waking him up, you just.. tell him what’s going on” >Better than nothing ”Ok” >You are Steamer, and you are dreaming about what else but trains, when you hear a loud noise that jolts you awake >”KeeeEekKkKeEEkKeEkKeeEEekKeeeeekKeeeE” ”AH wh-what” >You turn your head to the source of the noise and you see a bat pony >Oh a bat pony… OH ”WHY IS THERE A BAT IN HERE” >The bat pony steps a bit away and you see All Aboard >You try and croak something out but nothing does >All Aboard speaks up >”Yeah, it seems like we’re being robbed” >Of course you are ”And what are they robbing us of” >”That’s the thing, I don’t know, she hasn’t said anything about it besides ‘the others think it’s important’” ”There are others?” >”Apparently” >Good grief ”So what am I supposed to do, why’d you wake me up” >”Because you can make the train go faster of course” >As he says this he looks over to the bat pony and then to you expectantly ”Ah, right, of course I can make us go faster” >The bat pony speaks again >“Great, now come up to the front and do that” >With that the bat pony ushers you both out of the room ”... and now we just shovel some more coal into the firebox here and we should get there quicker” >This won’t really make the train go any faster >It’ll just heat up the water more and cause more steam to build up >You’re already on full steam ahead so all this will do is make you go full throttle longer >”See, I told you he’d know what to do” >All Aboard says, turning towards the bat pony >She seems pleased >All Aboard then walks over to you >”What do we have that they’d want anyway” ”I haven’t the slightest, when I got to Canterlot I gave them the cargo from Vanhoover and coupled with the shipment going to Manehatten” >”You didn’t even bother to ask what’d be in it” ”Why would I? It’s not like I’m personally invested in what we're hawling on any given day >”Fair point, what should we do now?” ”Just wait this out I guess, nothing much really to do” >”Maybe I should go tell the passengers that we’re going to be delayed for a while ”That’d be a good idea, not that it’ll change much considering our situation but still” >He turns around before being stopped by the bat pony >Oh, right, guess not then >You finally make it to Hollow Shades >Once you’re at the Station it seems like more co-conspirators arrive >That or just interested citizens >The bat pony tells you to go release the back two freight cars >Looks like you’ll finally get to the bottom of this mystery >You uncouple the back two cars from the rest of the train >On the side of the car it reads “LOS PEGASUS” >This just keeps getting more and more confusing >The bat pony mare and a bat pony stallion with a crowbar fly to the top of the car >You hear as he pries away one of the boards >”KEeEeEkKkKEEekKEEkKEEEkKeEkKEEEek!” >The mare shouts >”KEeEeEkKeeeeeeEkKEeEEekKeEEeEkKEeEEEkKeEeEEkKEEEeEk!” >The rest of the crowd responds >And resting there, in the frog of her hoof is…………… >A mango