The Long Trains Roll

(Randy's POV)

I awoke to the hissing of steam. My head was pounding, and I was lying on the floor of the locomotive. As I became more aware of my surroundings, I realized that my fireman was no longer in my arms. In fact, there was no sign of him. His grip was gone, and the coal scoop was on the deck of the tender.

Slowly rising to my feet, I clutched at the the throttle to steady myself as a dizzy spell came over me. Waiting for my head to clear, I took stock of my surroundings. The scenery had changed. Instead of forested, green mountains with four tracks, I was on a prairie with a single track stretching off into the horizon. Looking back to see how the rest of the train fared, I was surprised to see that there was no train!

"What the hell?" I asked no one in particular.

I climbed off the locomotive and started towards the rear of the tender. As I was walking back, I noticed that every other tie was broken in two or dislodged. When I got to the rear of the tender, I saw why the train was not there. The knuckle, the part that keeps the couplers together, had been broken off because of the force caused by the application of the emergency brake.

When I walked to the front of the engine, the cause of the wreck became clear. The main drive wheel was gone. Looking closer, I saw it wedged up under the boiler. When the reverse lever let go, the valve adjusted itself for a full charge of steam. At the speed we were going, when the piston rammed against the trapped steam, something had to give. The main rod transmitted the load to the main drive wheel and the force broke it off at the journal. This action tore the main rod off at the crosshead. The wheel derailed at once, and being caged in by the connecting rods and the other two drive wheels, started bouncing up and down between the boiler and the ties. After pounding a deep hole in the bottom of the boiler, it wedged itself up into the cavity.

I heard a distant whistle. Peering into the distance, I saw a garishly decorated locomotive steaming towards me. It appeared to be slowing.

(Reggies POV)

The train stopped not 50 feet from the strange machine. It wasn't smoke, Reggie realized, but steam.

Dusty was the first to speak.

"It looks like a locomotive!"

"Don't be silly," Reggie replied, "there is no way that a train can be that big."

Jumping down from the cab, the two of them cautiously approached the large, black behemoth. Sure enough, it was a locomotive. The mysterious engine was larger than anything the two ponies had seen. Suddenly, a strange creature emerged from the clouds of steam. The creature was twice as tall as Reggie, and was walking on two legs. Its other two limbs were held loosely at its side.

It regarded the two ponies with wide eyes. Suddenly, the creature collapsed. Rushing forward Reggie felt for a pulse. It was there, but faint. Removing the creature's hat, he saw a large gash in its forehead.

Reggie shouted for Dusty to get help from the train.

Dusty rushed back to the first car. Jumping on board, he slammed the door open and asked "Is there a doctor on board? Something has been injured!"

A purple unicorn got out of her seat. "I'm not a doctor, but I can teleport the injured party to the Canterlot hospital."

"That would be helpful," Dusty admitted. "Follow me."

Dusty trotted back to the front of the train, the unicorn following him with a young green and purple dragon on her back.

"Oh my!" She exclaimed, when she saw the creature. "Spike, send a letter to the Princess telling her that I am teleporting myself and a strange creature to the palace infirmary. Tell her that he should also contact the Canterlot & Northwestern Railway and tell them that the Ponyville Express needs help, as the track is blocked."

Spike did as he was told, sending off a scroll with a flash of fire. As soon as the fire disappeared, the unicorn surrounded the creature in a purple field of magic, and with a flash, disappeared.

Dusty looked at his engineer and asked, "So now what?"

"We wait," came the reply.