I was actually happy to be distracted from the newspaper in my hooves. Article after article, my eyes were being steamrolled by the same boring rhetoric and editorial drivel, until a bright pulse emanated from the corner of my vision.
"Did you see th-that just now?" a mare's voice asked.
I lowered the paper and blinked across the cramped compartment.
From the other side of the center partition, squatting on a blue seat cushion, a vaguely familiar pegasus with a blonde mane stared at me. "The lights." She gulped with a slight tremor. "Did they flicker just now?"
I looked to my right. Pine trees and lakes blurred past the windows of our monorail car. I looked to my left. A white unicorn wearing shades and headphones bobbed her head to an unheard beat. Behind her silhouette in the morning sunlight, I could see the southbound track swishing by. Across from the unicorn, an exhausted pony slept under a blanketing layer of newspapers and magazines.
I turned back to the pegasus. "I'm sure it's nothing," I said with a reassuring grin.
She smiled back—but too soon gasped, for a heavy jolt rattled through the body of the monorail car. I felt my heart skip a beat, and even the unicorn to my left tilted her head at a curious angle.
Not long after, the air filled with a high-pitched whine, like a banshee cry rising slowly from a long distance. It didn't carry on for too long, and there was a reason for that. The monorail had slowed to a stop with anticlimactic grace, ending with another jolt that nearly rolled me off my seat. The pegasus across from me gasped with fluttering wings while the unicorn braced herself against the center partition. The pony in the far corner kept sleeping, undisturbed.
Then all was still, and dead silent too.
"What... what..." The pegasus was already trembling like a living earthquake. "What j-just happened?"
"We appear to have stopped," I said calmly.
"Stopped?" She bit her lip, squirming in her seat with coiled wings. "But... but why...?"
I shrugged. "Probably a power failure, or an engine malfunction." In a dull breath, I gazed at the watch strapped to my right forelimb. The big hand was on the seven while the little hand was on the three. "I wouldn't be too worried. This sort of stuff happens all the time."
"Are..." The pegasus stared out her window at the towering palm trees flanking us. "Are we going to f-fall over because we're not moving?"
"Relax..." I smiled with a calm breath. I folded the newspaper at my side as I said, "We're fastened to the top and the bottom of the elevated track. It'd take a dragon, a tsunami, or a swarm of parasprites to knock us to the ground below."
She winced at that. Did I really just introduce a bunch of worse ideas to the poor mare's head? This was why, I realized, I rarely talked to strangers out loud. I'm really not all that good at communicating, even when I try.
"Did somepony say something about this 'happening all the time?'"
The pegasus and I glanced to my left.
The unicorn was popping her earbuds loose. Each lens of her purple shades reflected a different muzzle. "I'm used to taking the north track south into Baltimare. At least, that's what I've always done the last few times I've toured here."
"I don't know what it is about the south tracks," I said with a shrug. "They're pretty buggy. But at least they're good about performing constant maintenance. It shows that they care."
"True that. Heh..." The unicorn smiled. "Beats the cruddy system they have in Seaddle."
"I hear ya."
"You... uhm..." The pegasus squirmed and squirmed in her seat. "You two ride this monorail a lot?"
"I'm really not from around here," the unicorn said.
"I do," I remarked. "I work in downtown Baltimare. My job wouldn't be possible if it weren't for this commute."
"So... th-that means they're gonna get it moving again, r-right?" The pegasus smiled nervously. "Seeing as a stallion like you depends on it so?"
"Nnngh..." I sighed, staring lethargically out the window. "I sure hope so."
"This... th-this is my first time riding a monorail," the pegasus remarked with a nervous titter.
I could tell. "Well, I'm sorry it had to be such a weird experience." I stood up, stretching my legs. "It's simple, really. All we need to do is page the engineer."
The pegasus blinked at me. "You... c-can do that?"
"Yup..." I strolled ahead, pulled myself forward by a bar beside the center partition, and reached for a red button positioned in the wall above the sleeping pony. "Easy as pie. Hopefully they can tell us what's up."
"Sounds like you've done this before," the unicorn said.
"Yes and no. I've seen it done." I pressed the red button. "Hmmm..." I pressed it and pressed it again. "That's strange..."
"What?!" The pegasus gulped and shivered. "Wh-what's strange?!"
"Usually there's a chime to indicate I've patched a call through to them." I leaned my fuzzy blue ear towards the speaker. I heard nothing. "I don't think it's working."
"Then we've probably lost power," the unicorn droned. She yawned and leaned back into her seat with a casual stretch. "Oh well. At least now I have an excuse to tell my manager why I'm late for the record signing."
"Heh..." I turned to smirk at her. "Don't get your hopes up. The Baltimare Transit System is good about getting their act together. You'll probably still make it to your appointment."
"Pffft..." The unicorn tossed her electric blue mane. I could sense her eyes rolling beneath her shades. "Buzz killer."
I chuckled.
"How can you laugh at a t-time like this?!" The pegasus stammered, hugging herself with gray forelimbs. "This is terrible!"
"Hey, it's okay."
"And h-how can anypony sleep through it?!" She frowned at the unconscious pony under a sheet of newspapers in the far corner. "This is a serious situation!"
"Calm down. Things are going to be fine." I sat across from her. "Heck, I'd be sleeping in this thing too if I didn't have a place to get to every morning."
"Amen, brother," the unicorn said, stifling a yawn.
"Seriously, though." I made sure the pegasus could see my smile. "Just relax. Monorails are all about having a smooth, peaceful ride."
"C-can't say it has been with m-my experience," she murmured with a shiver.
Alright, she was making this really, really hard. Keeping calm, I leaned forward and spoke to her. "What's your name, ma'am?"
"Mmmmm..." She kneaded the edge of the seat cushion with the ends of her hooves. "Cloudkicker. I'm visiting my aunt from out of town."
"Nice to meet you, Cloudkicker," I said. "My name is Noteworthy. Now, don't you fret. You'll meet your aunt eventually. Sooner than later, they'll restore the power to this train, and we'll be rolling on the rest of our way."
"Okay, I gotta get something out of the bag," the unicorn said, her voice raising in a sardonic tone. Sitting up, she smirked devilishly as she tossed her words at the pegasus across the way. "You're a pegasus, right? I mean... you've got wings, don't ya?"
"Erm..." Cloudkicker's ears drooped nervously. "Yeah...?"
"Then why do you even take the monorail to begin with?" The unicorn dryly chuckled. "I mean, sure, it probably gives your feathers a rest, but haven't you had worse things in life to worry about? Like, high altitude temperatures, thunderstorms and—jee, I dunno—heights?"
I sighed, running a hoof across my face. She wasn't exactly helping...
"I'm just not used to this sort of transit. That's all." Cloudkicker shuddered. "My aunt insisted I ride the monorail into the city so that I could get the 'full Baltimare experience.' I guess she thinks that it would blow my mind, what—with me being a country pony and all."
"Oh yeah?" The unicorn nodded. "What part of the country?"
"Oh, it's a small town. A place called Ponyville."
"Hey, I've heard of that place!" The unicorn grinned, then raised her eyebrows sharply over her shades. "Don't you—like—get attacked by parasprites, dragoneqi, and ursa majors every Tuesday?"
"Nnngh..." Cloudkicker folded her forelimbs with a frown. "That's a gross over-generalization..."
I couldn't help but chuckle. She was cute, if only in a ditzy kind of way.
"I'm just saying... if I came from a town like that, I'd figure Baltimare would be a walk in the park."
"Should we be waking her up?" Cloudkicker not-so-gracefully changed the subject by grumbling in the direction of the sleeping pony. "She has the right to know what's going on."
"Cloudkicker, we don't even know what's going on. So why disturb her?" I smiled. "Besides, like I said, we'll be back on track in no time."
"Meh, what happens happens," the unicorn said with a shrug. "No sweat off my back. Might as well let the mare doze it off, lucky sap." She glanced at me. "Oh. Gosh dang it, I'm so rude. Ahem. Name's Vinyl, by the way. Vinyl Scratch."
"Pleased to meet you, Vinyl," I said with a nod. "On behalf of Baltimare... I... uh..."
"Ungh. Don't apologize." She smirked. "Best morning I've had all week."
"Heh. Alright."
She leaned her head at an angle, lenses glinting. "You said you worked in the city. Might I ask where?"
"Oh..." I shrugged. "I'm a sound editor. There's a recording studio on Porridge Avenue and Trotwell Street where I operate a sound board and help put records together."
"Get outta town!" Vinyl Scratch grinned. "PRS Incorporated?"
I felt my ears perking up. "H-how'd you guess?"
"I make it a habit to know all major studios in a town I'm visiting," she said. "Ever heard of DJ-P0N3?"
"I beg your pardon?"
She looked genuinely surprised. "Are you a big fan of House Music? Dubstep? Electronica?"
"Heh..." I chuckled. "Ma'am, the most famous artist I've ever worked with is Whinnie Neighson's backup bass guitarist."
"Ahhhhh..." She nodded with a knowing smirk. "Country music. No wonder you're the proverbial oil to my water."
"I should have guessed you were a musician," I said.
"What, cuz of the cutie mark?" She waved her right flank in my direction.
I chuckled and pointed at her dangling earbuds. "You were enjoying a nice beat just a moment ago."
"Hah! I'm not used to meeting stallions who don't look at a mare's flank upon first glance." She nodded her horn. "Pleased to meet you, Noteworthy."
"Erm... likewise." I gulped. Were my cheeks burning?
"Wait a second..." Cloudkicker squinted into the interior of our monorail car. The tongued the inside of her cheek, in search of a thought. "Vinyl Scratch... DJ P0N3..." She gasped, staring suddenly across the compartment with wide eyes. "Of course! You performed the 'Welcome Back Princess Luna' tour in Canterlot! You're super, super famous!"
"Yeah..." Vinyl groaned inwardly. "I super, super know."
"Oh, Miss P0N3!" Cloudkicker blushed with pinchy cheeks. "I absolutely love your stuff! Your latest album, Bass Future, is—like—my all time favorite!"
"You and everypony else," Vinyl said in a dull tone. "I know, 'cuz I was supposed to be in downtown Baltimare to sign—like—five hundred of those albums."
"What for?" Cloudkicker asked.
"It's called celebrity-hood, girl. I don't suggest you try it. Just stick to a simple life of loving music." She pointed across the seat at me. "Like Noteworthy here."
"Now now, I just do what I do to make bits," I said, waving a forelimb. "If I had my way, I'd be doing something else with my time. Something I'd be super passionate about."
"Oh yeah?" Cloudkicker's wings fluttered as she smiled. "Like what?"
Ah jeez. I winced, rubbing the back of my head and ruffling a dark mane. "I... uhm..." I gulped, suddenly wishing I could be drowning in those boring newspapers once again. "I h-haven't quite figured that out yet."
"Ah, yes..." Vinyl chuckled, leaning back in her seat. "The age-old battle of a stallion with his career."
"Hey!" Cloudkicker frowned. "Mr. Noteworthy here seems like a nice guy! So what if he needs some time to settle in?"
"I was just giving him a good-natured ribbing, yeesh. Chillax, girl."
"It's... not so much about settling in," I muttered, staring out the window. "Quite the opposite, really." My eyes squinted... then squinted harder. "I'm always looking for the opportunity to... p-put my life into motion..."
"Hmmm?" Vinyl seemed more confused from that than anything. Perhaps it was because of my tone.
"Is everything alright, Noteworthy?" Cloudkicker asked, her face awash with confusion and concern. "You sound... distracted.
She was right; I was. "It's... it's just funny..."
"Seriously, buddy, I was only being facetious," Vinyl said.
"No, it's not that." My eyes rested on a gray speck outside my window. It floated right above a pine tree branch barely a shout's distance from the train car. "Just... something funny, is all."
"What is?"
I turned to look at the mare across from me. "Cloudkicker, you're a pegasus..."
"Yeah..."
"So I'm guessing you see a lot of birds in your day-to-day life."
"Oh goddess..." Vinyl rolled her shaded eyes with a helpless giggle. "That's so equinist."
Cloudkicker giggled in an even higher tone. "I don't mind. It's kinda sorta true." She looked at me. "Why do you ask?"
I nodded out the window. "What kind of bird is that?"
She stepped gingerly off her seat and girl-stepped towards the closed doors. Pressing her gray muzzle to the glass, she squinted out the window. "Where is it?"
"The sixth pine tree from us. Upper branch—the long one sticking out."
"Right..."
"See the bird hovering above it?"
"Oh, totally." Cloudkicker smiled. "It's a mockingbird."
"You sure?"
"Sure as I was born with wings."
"Are... uhm..." I squirmed in my seat. "Are mockingbirds always hovering around like that?"
"What do you mean, hovering around?"
"It hasn't moved from that one spot in the air for over a minute," I said, pointing. "I only noticed it just now."
"Don't be silly. Only hummingbirds do that!"
"Are you sure?"
"Of course I'm—!" Cloudkicker stopped in mid-sentence, squinting harder. "Huh... You're right." She gulped. "Jee, that is funny."
"Lemme see..." Vinyl Scratch was suddenly leaning over Cloudkicker's shoulder, removing her shades to squint out the window with magenta eyes. "For real, what's that bird on?"
"What do you mean?" Cloudkicker innocently chirped.
"Nnnngh..." Vinyl groaned, then asked, "Why would a bird stay in one place like that? Is it trying to scout out a place for a nest?"
"Not for this long a period of time," Cloudkicker said. "I know enough about fowl—or at least as much as any other pegasus. A mockingbird just doesn't hover in place like that for this long."
"It apparently does if its wings aren't flapping."
"Huh?"
"You blind, girl?" Vinyl pointed out the window. "Take a closer look."
"Uhhhhm..." Cloudkicker's ears drooped. She murmured out a gaping muzzle. "What in the hay...?"
"I know, right?" Vinyl nodded.
"Could... could it be a statue?"
"To do what? Ward off pine tree worms?" Vinyl scoffed. "And since when do statues hover in midair."
"I... I..." Cloudkicker was at a loss for words.
I couldn't blame her. I suddenly became aware of my own heartbeat. But that wasn't all—something was stabbing me in my peripheral vision, much like the flicker of light that preceded the stalling of the train.
Turning towards the window past where Vinyl had been sitting, I stood up and trotted across the tiny compartment. I grasped a bar above our sleeping companion and pressed my muzzle to the glass. Beyond the empty raised track of the southbound train, I saw a familiar lake glittering in the sunlight. It was only familiar because I had ridden past it every morning to work. But right now, the body of water was a total stranger to me.
The reason for this was that it was casting a frozen mosaic of reflected light. I felt like I was staring at a cracked mirror—or maybe a translucent crystalline table-top—or anything else but an actual lake. I thought I was being extremely silly for drawing a conclusion so early, but there was no other way to describe it. The lake's surface simply wasn't moving. The sunlight reflected off in a static fashion, only changing when I swayed my head from side to side.
That wasn't what made my blood run cold. After a full minute of staring at this, I saw something along the eastern shore. A stallion was seated on the lake's edge beside a stool and a tiny metal box. What's more, he was standing dramatically on his hind quarters with a fishing rod in his forelimbs. Trailing the line into the water, I could see that it never reached the surface, but instead ended in the mouth of a flailing bass that flew in the air... and continued to fly, frozen in one brilliant pose... for the better space of one hundred and twenty seconds.
I bit my lip. Without a second thought, I raised my forelimb and glanced down at my watch. The big hand was on the seven while the little hand was on the three.
There was a deep throbbing in my neck muscles as I turned to look at the two mares. "Ladies...?" I thought I had spoken; in reality, I had just emitted a dry squeak. Clearing my throat, I found my breath again. "Ladies."
They turned to look at me.
"Maybe we should page for help."
Vinyl's brow furrowed while Cloudkicker gave me a cockeyed stare.
"But... d-didn't you just do that a few minutes ago?"
"I..." I fidgeted, feeling the weight of my watch on my forelimb. "I d-don't know..."
"Huh?"
"Let's just page them again," Vinyl said, leaning over the sleeping pony's seat and slapping the red button several times. "Hello? Hello? Is this thing on?"
"Noteworthy said it would chime if it was working—"
"Well maybe it's broken so that they can hear us but we can't hear them!" Vinyl frowned, raising her muzzle right up against the speaker. "Hey! You there! Engineer! Can you get us moving or what?!"
"Just... just calm down," I murmured, shivering slightly. Part of me wanted to look at the lake again. The other part wanted to close my eyes and hum a tune to myself. "No need to panic."
Vinyl gave me a scrutinous squint. "Dude, who's panicking?"
I bit my lip and backtrotted into the seats, almost stumbling.
"How many ponies ride this train?" Cloudkicker asked. "On a regular basis, I mean."
It took me a few palpitating seconds to realize she was talking to me. "Huh? Oh... uhm... I dunno. Maybe fifty per train."
"We're in the first passenger car from the front, right?" Cloud Kicker flew to my side and started knocking her hoof against the wall behind me. "Maybe there're ponies who can hear us in the next compartment!"
"And what's that going to accomplish?"
She frowned at me. "Well, maybe we can see if any of them have gotten their intercoms to work with the engineer, ya think?"
"These compartments are built to give each passenger a calm, quiet ride," I droned. "They're practically sound proof."
"Well, we can't just sit here forever!" Cloudkicker said, tossing her forelimbs as she leaned back against the partition. "Call it a pegasus trait or what-have-you, but I hate being cooped up in one place!"
Vinyl suddenly leaned back from the intercom, smirking. "Who says we have to?"
Cloudkicker looked at her. "Huh?"
"It's simple, girl." Vinyl trotted over to the shut doors on my right. "We open these here doors, and one of us gets out and finds out what's going on with the engine compartment."
Cloudkicker gawked at her. "And just which one of us is going to do that?"
"Uhm..." Vinyl gave her a bored glance. "The only one of us with wings, perhaps?"
Cloudkicker bit her lip, blushing. "Oh. Right..."
"You are afraid of heights less than you are of monorails, right?"
"I get you, I get you." Cloudkicker smirked as she trotted over to stand beside the door with Vinyl. "I'll have an opportunity to stretch my wings from outside this cramped car, and you guys get to find out what's going on with this train. Everypony wins."
"Careful," I said, stretching a hoof out. "Those cars weren't exactly built to be forced open manually."
"Oh please." Vinyl smiled into the light of her glowing horn. "I've opened tons of doors from the inside out in my lifetime," she said.
"Really?" Cloukicker blinked at her. "You make it sound so... mischievous."
"If by mischievous you mean awesome, then sure!" Vinyl chuckled. "This one night, while on tour in Manetreal, I got locked inside my trailer. It took a lot of magic, but I got the door open and galloped to the auditorium in time to perform for a packed crowd!"
"Hey! Wasn't that the last leg of the 'Boreal Bass Tour?'"
"Yup!" Vinyl smiled proudly. "I dropped it before an audience of over eight thousand!"
"Cooly Crispies!" Cloudkicker beamed, then glanced at the glowing doors. "So, how are we going to do this?"
"I'm popping the locking mechanisms loose from the inside," Vinyl said. "On the count of three, you give 'em a shove, and they should open."
"Be careful," I said.
Cloudkicker nodded. "We will."
"Ready?" Vinyl asked.
"Ready."
"One... Two... Three!"
With a grunt, Cloudkicker shoved the doors apart. A frigid draft of air blew inside immediately.
"Oh please." Vinyl smiled into the light of her glowing horn. "I've opened tons of doors from the inside out in my lifetime."
"Really?" Cloudkicker blinked. "You make it sound so mischievous."
"If by mischievous you mean awesome, then sure!" Vinyl said in a chuckling tone. "This one night while I was on tour in Manetreal, I got locked inside my own trailer. It took a lot of magic, but I got the door open. I had to gallop all the way to the auditorium, but I got there in time to perform for a packed crowd!"
"Hey!" Cloudkicker gasped. "Wasn't that the last leg of the 'Boreal Bass Tour?'"
"Yup!" Vinyl nodded with a proud smile. "I wowed an audience of over eight thousand!"
"Cooly Crispies!" Cloudkicker beamed, then glanced at the glowing doors. "So, how are we going to do this, exactly?"
"I'll be popping the locking mechanisms loose from the inside," Vinyl said. "On the count of three, you give 'em a shove, and they should open."
I stretched a hoof out and said, "Be careful.".
Cloudkicker nodded. "We will."
"Ready?" Vinyl asked her.
Cloudkicker nodded. "Ready."
"One... Two... Three!"
With a grunt, Cloudkicker shoved the doors apart. We shuddered from a frigid draft, chilling us to the bone.
"Oh please." Vinyl droned. Her rolling yees glinted from the light of her glowing horn. "I've opened tons of doors from the inside out in my lifetime," she said.
"Really?" Cloudkicker blinked at her. "You make it sound so..." Her words trailed off.
Vinyl squinted at her."
Cloudkicker squirmed. "Well... I was going to say mischievous."
"Pffft. Awesome is more like it," Vinyl said with a smile... a smile that slowly faded the longer she stared at Cloudkicker.
Cloudkicker stared back, her lips pursing. "You've... you've done this sort of thing before?"
"Uhhh..." Vinyl ran a hoof through her blue mane. "As a matter of fact, yeah. This one time on tour in Mantreal. I was locked inside my trailer. But... y'know..."
"You got out, right?" Cloudkicker asked.
"Yeah..." Vinyl's eyes wandered to the doors she was manipulating. "Just in time to perform before eight thousand ponies... maybe more..."
"The 'Boreal Bass Tour,' right?"
"Yeah. How'd you know?"
"I just..." Cloudkicker shrugged, smiling nervously. "I've always loved hearing recordings from that tour. It's all so... Cooly Cripsies, y'know?"
Vinyl blanched at her. "Did I ever tell you how stupid that sounds?"
"What? 'Cooly Crispies?'" Cloudkicker grimaced. "No. Why, should you have?"
Vinyl said nothing. She glanced at me.
I blinked, my mouth hanging open in confusion.
Vinyl fidgeted, cleared her throat, and nodded towards the doors. "I'll... uh... be popping the locking mechanisms... from the inside, ya feel me?"
"Want to give me a countdown so I'll know when to give them a shove?" Cloudkicker asked.
"Uhm... actually, y-yeah," Vinyl murmured.
"Be careful," I said, then glanced at my own outstretched forelimb.
Vinyl bit the edge of her lip. "Right. We'll try to be." She looked at Cloudkicker.
Cloudkicker looked back, trembling.
"Alright..." Vinyl gulped. "Ready?"
"Ready..."
"One... Two... Three!"
Cloudkicker struck the door. It was barely open when I heard her yelping voice. Vinyl shouted something, her breath a vaporous cloud. I saw nothing after that, for my eyelids had frozen together while I leaned over to vomit.
"Oh please." Vinyl smiled into the light of her glowing horn. "I've opened tons of doors from the inside out in my lifetime," she said.
"Really." Cloudkicker droned against the door-frame. "You make it sound so—"
"—mischievous?" Vinyl stammered.
Cloudkicker looked up at her with a blank expression. "Not 'mischievous.' Awesome."
Vinyl stood in place like a pale statue.
Cloudkicker gulped and said, "You were on the 'Boreal Bass Tour.'"
"You got locked inside your trailer," I said.
Both mares jumped, staring at me as if I had appeared out of nowhere.
"I... performed..." Vinyl murmured.
Cloudkicker glanced aside. "For over eight thousand ponies," she said. "But you were locked in your trailer before the show."
Vinyl gulped before spitting out, "Cooly Crispies."
The compartment hung in dead silence.
Cloudkicker's feathers twitched as she gazed at the doors. "What... what do we do next?"
"You mean what did we do next," Vinyl said.
Cloudkicker frowned. "Don't be silly—"
"Silly?!" Vinyl snarled. "Girl, don't be pretending you're not four times as freaked out about this than I am!"
"Now let's not bite each other's heads off!" I exclaimed. "There's no reason to panic!"
"Are you kidding?!" Vinyl stared at me, her lungs rising and falling in fitful spasms. "Just why are you so calm about all of this?!"
"Believe me! I'm not!" I said with a frown. "Let's just... step away from the damn doors and try to think for a second."
"This can't be happening..." Cloudkicker paced in a tight, tight circle. "This can't be happening! I have to see my aunt! I have to know that she's okay!"
"Don't dwell on that," I said, waving a hoof. "There's no telling that what's happening here is happening in Baltimare."
"And just how do you know that?!" Vinyl exclaimed, waving a hoof across the tiny compartment. "When was the first moment you noticed things were... were..." She bit her lip, trembling.
"I dunno... The bird, I guess?" I ran a shaking hoof through my mane. "But then, just a moment ago, I saw a fisher pony frozen by the lake outside."
"Oh! Great!" Vinyl tossed her hooves. She was red in the face. "So, now you're telling me that ponies on the outside are in on this!"
"What do you mean, in on this?" Cloudkicker stammered.
"Isn't it obvious?!" Vinyl frowned. "This is one big stupid prank!"
"How can this be a prank?!" Cloudkicker squeaked. "What pony can create what happened when we opened the doors?!"
"But... we n-never opened the doors," I said.
Cloudkicker fidgeted. "Didn't we?"
Vinyl squatted down on the floor, hugging herself as foalish breaths filtered in and out of her nostrils. "I'm gonna hurl, guys. I'm sooooo gonna hurl."
"It isn't a prank," I muttered, shaking my head. "I can't be a prank. Besides, the fisherpony wasn't all I saw. The lake just outside the window? The waters weren't moving." I looked up. "The sunlight was reflecting off of it like it was a still mirror!"
Cloudkicker gave me a double-take. "Huh?!"
"The reflected light wasn't glittering! And yet, there were waves! Waves that stayed frozen—"
"No, I mean, how could you have seen sunlight?!"
"Because of the rising sun, of course!"
Cloudkicker blinked, then pointed out the window. "But it's nighttime."
I turned to look, and that was when I finally fell out of my seat. "What... what in Celestia's name...?!"
Beyond the southbound tracks, it was pitch black outside. I couldn't even see the lake anymore.
Palpitating, I glanced to my right. The dull and dead trunks of pine trees loomed in the darkness, their branches stretching out like bone chimes. The frozen mockingbird was nowhere to be found.
"But... but that isn't possible!" I exclaimed.
"Isn't it?"
"No!" I frowned. "It was morning just... just..." I grimaced. "J-Just now. I'm sure of it."
"I can't say I recall seeing any sunlight," Cloudkicker said.
"I take the commute every morning!" I growled, "That's when the sun is rising, in case you've forgotten!"
"Well, this is my first time on board the monorail."
"So?! What's that supposed to mean!"
"It means that I wanted to get to central Baltimare so that I could see my aunt!" she shouted back. "That's what it means!"
"Oh yeah?! At what time?!"
"Why, at... at..." Cloudkicker leaned back, blinking blankly. She glanced out the window in petrified thought.
I panted and panted. I looked down at where Vinyl was squatting. "Miss Scratch. Do you recall when your appointment was in town?"
"What... wh-what appointment?" she stammered, rocking back and forth.
"The one where you had to do all the record signing, remember?"
She gulped and shook her head. "I dunno. My agent does all of the scheduling for me."
"Well, what time did your agent want you to be at the record signing?"
"How should I know?"
"You're a successful musician, aren't you?!" I exclaimed, glaring at her. "It stands to reason that you have an agent who would be punctual and communicative. Surely they would have given you a schedule to follow!"
"I... I..." Vinyl bit her lip and stared up at me with moist eyes. "I-I can't think right now..."
"Nnnngh... Come on. Just try and work with us here!" I squatted down beside her. "At least you're given a schedule by the month for your tour, right? Try and work your way down from there."
"I... I think so..."
"Take the 'Boreal Bass Tour,' for example."
"Why are you asking me about that?"
"Because I need to, Miss Scratch. Tell me. When did that tour begin and when did it end?"
"Well... it began in... in..." Vinyl's face scrunched up. "I mean, I could have sworn it started in..." She exhaled with a shudder, then clapped her hoof from left to right across the compartment's floor, murmuring to herself. A flushed color overcame her cheeks, and she looked up with a wincing expression. "Uhm... Noteworthy? I know this is going to sound really, really stupid and all... but..."
"Yes...?"
She gulped. "How many months are in a year, exactly?"
"Why, there's... there's..." I felt my skin go cold. I gazed up at the dark windows, jittering. "It's... well... there's... quite a few of them... aren't there..."
"You sure?" Vinyl tried in vain to stroke back her frazzled mane. "I mean... a year's pretty long, isn't it?"
"I'm sure..."
"Or is it sure?"
"No, that's something else."
"Like what?"
"Like... like..." I felt dizzy. I closed my eyes tight, hissing through my teeth. "One one thousand... Two one thousand... Three one thousand..."
"Noteworthy, what are you doing?"
"I'm counting, Vinyl."
"Counting what?"
My eyes opened at that. Speechless, I glanced down at my watch. My face glanced back at me, wide-eyed. All of the hands and seconds were gone.
Cloudkicker screamed.
Vinyl and I jumped up to our hooves, breathless.
"What?! Wh-what?!" Vinyl sputtered.
"Who are they?!" Cloudkicker whimpered, pointing straight to my left.
I turned and saw them too, jolting in place. "Luna alive!"
Another monorail was sitting on the other tracks all of the sudden. Dozens upon dozens of pony shapes occupied the windows. Between the glass of our doors and the darkness outside, it was impossible to make out their features—only that there were many of them... and they were seated dead still within their car.
"When in the hay did that train get there?!" Vinyl exhaled.
"Just now..." Cloudkicker mewled, cowering behind me with uncontrollable shivers. "I turned to look, and I saw them!"
"Wouldn't they have made a sound?!" Vinyl sputtered. "I know monorail engines are pretty quiet, but damn."
"It doesn't look like they're moving," I said.
Cloudkicker leaned on my shoulder and pointed again. "Aren't they, though?"
I narrowed my vision. Finally, once I squinted one eye, I could see that their train and our train were passing each other... only very slowly. Like an inch for every five seconds.
"I... I don't understand," I murmured.
"Brother, you aren't alone," Vinyl said.
"No, it's not that..." I winced. "It looks like they're going in the direction that we were going."
"You mean north? Into Baltimare?"
"But... but they're on the south bound track," I thought out loud, shivering.
Cloudkicker looked out the right windows. The pine trees were gone. "Are they going south?" She looked at us. "Or are we going south?"
"Why would we be going south all of the sudden?!" Vinyl remarked.
"I don't know."
"You're the pegasus! Can't you tell north from south?!"
"I don't know! I don't know, okay?!" Cloudkicker broke into quiet little sobs.
Vinyl turned back towards the windows facing the train. Bravely, she stepped forward, illuminating her horn to shine through the glass.
In the meantime, I turned, shuffling over to the newspaper I left lying in the corner of my seat.
"I don't understand..." Cloudkicker whimpered, slumping back against the doors behind her as she hugged herself. "Why is this happening?! Why is it happening to us?!"
I picked up the paper. In the flouncing pale light from Vinyl's reflected horn, my eyes scanned the very top of the page. I saw nothing above the headlines—just a strip of blank white nothingness. Wasn't that where the newspaper's date was supposed to be? I flipped from page to page, at a lost to find it.
"I just want to see my Auntie!" Cloudkicker sniffled. "I just want to know she's fine. I wish sh-she could be holding me right now..."
"Wait a minute..." I muttered, lingering on the front page of the newspaper. There was a photograph of a burning zeppelin, followed by a lengthy article. "I... I've read this before."
Cloudkicker wiped her cheek dry and looked up at me. "Just now... r-right?"
"I... I think..." I bit my lip. "Not quite as recently..."
She buried her face in her hooves, weeping. "What does it m-matter?!"
"Because..." I snarled. "I'm trying to figure something out, dammit!"
"Oh goddess..." Vinyl's voice stammered. I sensed her shuffling around from the other end of the compartment. "Noteworthy, come look at this."
I turned towards her, blinking. Dragging the newspaper along, I shuffled up to the window. She stepped aside, her eyes trained on me.
"Look into the car passing us right now," she said in a quiet tone. "A little bit to the right, the seat facing to the left."
I squinted as I leaned my muzzle straight up to the glass. Vinyl loomed over my shoulder, casting her pale light. Suddenly, the faces of the ponies in the adjacent car lit up like pale statues. They were frozen stock-still, staring at everything and nothing but us. I realized that I recognized quite a few of them, but none quite as much as the stallion seated against the closest window, his blue-toned muzzle digging deep through a newspaper.
"It's..." I murmured. "It's..."
"It's you," Vinyl said.
I looked at her, my jaw agape. I stared back into the monorail car slowly inching past us. The other Noteworthy had the front page of the newspaper in his grasp. On it was the black-and-white illustration of a burning zeppelin.
"Wait..." Breathless, I looked down at the paper in my grasp.
The entire front page was blank.
Thunder rolled. At least, my mind told me that it was thunder. Whatever it was, it echoed across the compartment from rattling window to rattling window, followed by a shriek cry—Cloudkicker's.
"What was th-that?!" The pegasus clung to my flank, trembling. "What in the b-buck was that?!"
"Maybe..." I grinded my teeth together to prevent them from chattering. "Maybe one of the pine trees fell over."
"Yeah?" Vinyl trained her glowing horn in me. Everything behind her was shadow by now. "From what?!"
"From... from..." I didn't want to finish that sentence.
To my shock, another pony did it for me.
"It's tomorrow," a tired voice said.
Cloudkicker and I froze. Vinyl turned around, swinging our only light source into a groggy lavender face. The pony sleeping in the corner had woken up. How long ago—I couldn't say. She peeled the blank sheets of paper off her body and stretched with an inward groan. Her purple-streaked mane was a mess and her eyes were noticeably bloodshot.
"I've waited too long this time," she muttered, rubbing a flickering horn above her bangs. "It's happening again."
"What's happening again?" Vinyl glared at her. "Just who are you?"
"My... my name is Twilight Sparkle," the unicorn murmured, teetering dizzily in her seat. "At least... it once was." Her tired face took on the hint of a frown. "Somepony's taken the title now without my permission. Or at least, she will be taking it... and yet she has taken it..." Groaning, she buried her muzzle in her hooves. "Nnnngh... I'm sorry. I know it sounds confusing. I can't even explain it t-to myself..."
Thunder rolled again—only this time, from the way we cowered and gawked at the rattling walls—we were all pretty certain it wasn't thunder. Thunder doesn't have rhythmic percussion to it, like mountainous lurching steps in the darkness.
"Well..." Vinyl aimed her bright horn at Twilight Sparkle's eyes, keeping her awake. "Think you might wanna try, lady?"
"Mmmff..." Twilight squinted our way. Four shadows danced behind her in the pale spotlight. "Days ago... weeks ago... m-maybe years ago, I... I-I was given an old book with an ancient spell from Princess Celestia herself. It was a spell that Starswirl the Bearded never completed. Only now do I realize why he never finished it." She gulped. "For in mastering the spell, he would have undergone a transformation... a transformation that would have made him ten times more powerful than the legendary sorcerer he already was. Only..." She gulped. "...that transformation would have come with a curse."
"A curse?" I remarked.
Cloudkicker shivered. "What kind of a curse?"
Twilight Sparkle's eyes were hard as daggers. "Immortality," she spat out like it was venom. "If I had known that performing the spell would have turned me into an alicorn, I'd never have pursued it from the beginning. I... I have friends that are close to me. I have an apprentice that I love like a brother... a son." She sniffled, hugging herself. "I couldn't bear the thought of living a full and eternal life without having them alongside me for every moment. So... when the moment came for me to transform, and I realized it, I... I-I refused... just like Starswirl the Bearded did..."
"Is that right?" Vinyl blinked, then motioned towards the unicorn's backside. "Then how come I don't see any wings on you?"
"Because while I rejected the transformation, somepony else went through with it." Twilight looked up with a trembling lip. "Another me. The me that belongs to tomorrow..."
We all stared with mouths agape. Once more, a salvo of noise echoed from beyond. The entire monorail rocked this time, causing Cloudkicker to shriek. I heard a distant wind, high-pitched as it trailed the edges of the rumbling noise, like a flock of banshees blending in with the cacophony.
"The heck is that all supposed to mean?!" Vinyl remarked, her voice growing breathier and breathier.
"There was a second spell hidden between the lines of Starswirl's writing," Twilight said, closing her eyes shut and breathing calmly in spite of the noise. "Whether or not Celestia knew it was there when she sent it to me, I don't think I'll ever know. But it was an improved version of Starswirl's time travel spell. While the other me transformed into an alicorn, the unicorn you see before you performed his hidden spell instead. It brought me here... to yesterday... or at least the vestiges of what we call 'yesterday.'"
The monorail shook again. It sounded like roaring this time, with the high pitched shrieks growing denser and desner. I reached a hoof out to steady Cloudkicker while Vinyl's light danced like a necrotic kaleidoscope across every window.
"There's a problem about going back in time, though," Twilight droned, and her eyes reopened with a glazed stare. "Tomorrow doesn't like leaving any of yesterday behind."
"Wh-what...?!" I stammered.
"You... you speak as if you're talking about ponies!" Cloudkicker said. "Or... cr-creatures..."
"Most ponies don't understand time," Twilight said, her face suddenly long and sad. "I know I didn't. The reality is that... time is simply a veil... an easily deformed and torn fabric that hides what's actually behind it. And it is something far older than time... and yet younger, as well. It dominates matter and energy, and consumes the meat and bones of what's left lying in the shadow of the next day. I had meant to jump back to a time when I could rewrite my own future. But unlike Starswirl's older time travel spell, this one didn't have an anchor to where I was when I first did the jump. Turns out it's a one-way trip. And now I am stuck here in the shadow of tomorrow while a thing that thinks it's me prances around as a Princess in some far-off place. I keep repeating and repeating the spell, but I can never find my friends again—or at least the ponies that are really them, and not just their reflections... their hollow shells." She shuddered, running a hoof through her mane once again. "I don't know how long I've been doing this anymore. I can barely sleep without running out of time. All I can do is go backwards by a day. And tomorrow always comes... looking... searching... hungering..."
The monorail shook again. We heard groaning noises this time, followed by a loud crash. It ricocheted all across the floor beneath us. I had no doubt whatsoever that the track ahead of us was giving way. Or maybe it was behind us. Or, more likely, all around.
"What..." Cloudkicker gritted her teeth. "Wh-what does this have to do with us?"
"My spell has an aura to it," Twilight murmured. "I... I g-guess it can affect more ponies than just myself when I cast it," she said. The exhausted unicorn stifled a yawn. "I... I thought that maybe this train car would have been empty. But... b-but I guess I was wrong..."
"I'd say you were wrong!" Vinyl growled, her teeth showing. "We were all minding our own business, living our lives in the day until you showed up!"
"I... I'm sorry..." Twilight teetered, nearly falling off her seat. "I... I can't remember the last time I slept well. I... I-I must have made a miscalculation. I apologize..."
"Is that what you've got to say for yourself?!" Vinyl barked. "Do you realize what you've done to us?!"
"I... I do..."
"Bullcrap!" Vinyl spat, her voice rising over the sound of the grinding thunder. "All you care about is yourself! Afraid of 'eternal alicorn life,' my flank! You're just a pathetic coward!"
Twilight suddenly glared up at her with vicious eyes. "If you knew what is coming for me... what is coming for all of us... in our daily routine... when we hug our moms and dads... when we go to bed and dream of sweet things..." She hissed, "You would be a coward too."
"Is..." Cloudkicker fought the urge to cry. "Is it death?"
Twilight looked fixedly at her. "No." She shook her head in an icy manner. "There's a place far darker and colder than oblivion itself. It is a place where there is no ending and beginning. Instead, it is always..." Her voice limped off a wincing muzzle.
I leaned forward. "Always what?"
Twilight gulped. "Decaying."
Something cracked through the structure of the train. We gasped as we felt our car leaning slightly towards the right side... or maybe it was the left side? I could barely see the windows or the seats anymore. All that existed was Vinyl Scratch's light and the ponies huddling behind and in front of her.
"It's almost here," Twilight stammered. "I have to perform the spell again..."
"Is it that cl-close already?!" Cloudkicker panted. "How do you know if it's... if it's g-got you?"
"I don't..." For a moment, I felt Twilight's eyes resting on me. "And I don't want to know."
"Maybe we c-can bust out of this place and try to escape it?!" I exclaimed.
"No. It's a void out there. A void that cannot be defined by science or magic," Twilight said. "You'll first freeze, and then you'll face something bleaker than nonexistence itself."
"Then I think the solution is obvious!" Vinyl said. "Take us with you!"
"I... I don't think that's a good idea..."
"My butt, it is!" Vinyl snarled. "You got us into this friggin' mess, lady! Now you need to get us out!" She pointed at Twilight's horn while crunching and scraping noises issued all around us. "You said that the aura of your spell is what caught us to begin with, right?"
"Th-that's what I'm guessing..."
"Well, think harder! If you cast it again with us nearby, couldn't you take us to yesterday?!"
"It..." Twilight breathed harder and harder. The thunder was deafening now—the screeches ear-splitting. I could see her bangs flouncing in an unseen wind. "It's not an escape. You th-think I'd still be here... still be doing this to myself if I knew another way out?"
"But at least it's something!" Vinyl had to shout at this point. We heard glass breaking and felt the icy breath of deathly cold seeping in. "You seem like a smart pony!" she hollered, her light growing smaller and smaller as we all crowded together. "For Equestria's sake! Take us with you! We'll figure something out!"
"I... I don't know if it'll work..." Twilight whispered against the bedlam. "I've never tried to carry more than one pony before. What if it backfires. What if it fails—"
"Miss Sparkle, please," I insisted, leaning forward to grasp her hooves. I heard crumbling and imploding metal. Cloudkicker moaned, and somehow it was louder than all the rest. Nevertheless, I stared into the unicorn's violet eyes and spoke as sincerely as I could. "We know you fear eternity. And we know that death is not an option. But if there's one thing you've made it clear that we can all share, it's now. Please. Have some faith. Take us with you. I insist."
She stared at me, her muzzle quivering. "In... in all m-my days of running away... I-I never once thought I-I could make friends again."
I smiled. "We can try that too. But one thing at a time, Miss Sparkle." I felt frost lining the edges of my eyelashes. Vinyl and Cloudkicker leaned against me, shivering. I murmured into Twilight's face. All that was between us was darkness and vapors. "Please... save us..."
She took a deep breath. "Stay close." Her eyes shut as pinpricks of energy emanated from the tip of her horn. "Stay focused."
I nodded. I shivered. I choked on a lung-ful of empty breaths.
Her head jolted back, then forward. Just as the howling thunder descended on us, she countered it with a blindingly bright flash of lavender illumination.
I was actually happy to be distracted from the newspaper in my hooves. Article after article, my eyes were being steamrolled by the same boring rhetoric and editorial drivel, until a bright pulse emanated from the corner of my vision.
"Did you see th-that just now?" a mare's voice asked.
I lowered the paper and blinked across the cramped compartment.
From the other side of the center partition, squatting on a blue seat cushion, a vaguely familiar pegasus with a blonde mane stared at me. "The lights." She gulped with a slight tremor. "Did they flicker just now?"
I looked to my right. Pine trees and lakes blurred past the windows of our monorail car. I was about to look at a white unicorn to my left... when my heart stopped, along with my head movement. I looked to the corner opposite of me.
A pile of newspaper lay on the empty seat. I blinked, and suddenly I couldn't make the words out anymore.
"Mister...?" The pegasus murmured again.
I looked back towards her. As I summoned the strength to speak, I felt the warm kiss of a tear rolling down my cheek. "I'm s-sure it's nothing," I whispered through a reassuring grin.
She smiled back—but too soon gasped, for a heavy jolt rattled through the body of the monorail car. Not long after, the air filled with a high-pitched whine, like banshee cries rising from the distance.
Author's Note
