Canadian Pacific 5-5

Hours rolled by and we approached Wawa where CP 1-9 split off and took a route that looped back toward the Barrier. While we hated to see them go they were needed elsewhere. I saluted them and waved as they thundered off into the distance. An eerie silence fell over the trailer during the next few hours. We pulled into Sault Ste. Marie and stopped a truck stop we trusted. While they may have been PER sympathizers we had struck a deal that we’d buy food and fuel every time we were nearby and in turn they wouldn’t douse us with potions.

They were quite thrilled to see that we were escorting the Mane 6 and insisted that supper was on them.

“For such loyal subjects it’s surprising how well they’re getting along with the PER,” Brody said as he sipped his coffee.

“Technically they’re not part of the PER,” I said before taking a swig of Barq’s, “Plus, being kind and compassionate is the pony thing to do.”

I finished of the bottle and headed over to the low table the ponies were sitting at.

“How’s dinner?” I asked as I got down and sat cross-legged next to them.

It wasn’t much of a surprise to hear that the food was quite good; I’d heard rave reviews from the numerous other ponies we’d taken there.

“Now, Pinkie, you’ve been unnaturally quiet this whole trip. Is there anything wrong?” I asked.

“Oh, nothing’s wrong,” she said, perky as ever, “I just know that it’s super duper important that I stay quiet so you guys can do your job. I know ‘cause some of the other guys who’ve escorted us got pretty upset when I didn’t just, ‘shut up and sit down.’”

As Pinkie finished speaking I noticed that she looked crestfallen and her mane had started to deflate.

“Hey, cheer up,” I said comfortingly, “I promise you that my team won’t yell at you. Well, except Brody, but he’s always had a short fuse.”

With that Pinkie perked up and tackled me in a hug saying, “Thank you! Brody’s a bit of a meanie isn’t he?”

“Only sometimes,” I said as I tried not to giggle, “We all know where his loyalties are though so we know that he’d only hurt someone if they threatened him personally. Now then, it’s time we got back on the road.”

I stood back up and walked over to the restaurant’s counter and ordered three of each of my group’s ‘usual’ to go. We then got everyone loaded onto the truck.

“Pepsi for John,” I said as I handed him the bottles trough the window, “And Coca-Cola for Andrew.”

I hopped onto the trailer.

“Coffee for Brody, it’s in your locker, Dr. Pepper for Brent, those are in your locker, and Barq’s for me,” I said as I stuck two in my locker and stuck the third in a special pouch hooked to my belt.

The truck’s engine roared to life and we were on our way to Sudbury. As the truck picked up speed I turned to the Mane 6, “I’ll tell you the first chapter of how we got here now, but you have to promise me you’ll try and get to sleep once I’m done. OK? Good. Keep this in mind; everything I’m about to tell you actually happened to me and my friends. Now, if you can try to keep your questions to yourselves until the end of a chapter I’ll begin.”

“Okie-dokie-lokie!” Pinkie replied.

“Alright,” I said, “Here we go.”

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\E5/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Chapter 1: The Beginning

John is the unofficial leader of our group, he’s the one who makes snap decisions and tells us what to do. Brent is the funny one but when it comes down to it he becomes extremely focused and unwavering. Brody is the loud, obnoxious one but no one minds. He’s the most determined of the entire group and when he’s angry he channels all of his energy into taking care of the problem. I’m the quiet and nerdy member of our group; typically formulating plans and thinking things through logically. We all have a wonderful, if slightly morbid, sense of humour that has kept us together as friends throughout our high school careers.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\E5/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

“What about Andrew?” Rainbow Dash demanded.

“What did I say about interrupting me?” I said, “Anyway, Andrew doesn’t show up until later and I can’t tell you any more than that right now, sorry.”

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\E5/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

John, Brody, Brent and I had met in the park to discuss what we were going to do to celebrate the end of the school year. We sat on the swings as we talked and I soon began to swing. Brent joined in and we silently started a contest to see who could swing the highest. John and Brody, being competitive, saw what we were doing and quickly followed suit. Soon we had all reached our maximum, none of us could go any higher, and surprisingly we were all equally matched. Suddenly I realized that the swing set we were on was starting to sway back and forth. I began to warn the others that we should stop, but before I could time seemed to slow. I watched as all four of us swung forward and as we all came level with the top bar at the same time everything went black.

I woke up in time to see that my friends were also just coming around. They all said they were fine and got up. That’s when we noticed where we were. We were standing in a vast white expanse with nothing in it. We turned full circle twice just to make sure that we really we alone.

“I am the reason why you are here,” said a deep eerie voice behind us.

We all jumped when we heard the voice; we were sure there was nothing around that could have done that. When we turned around we saw a man standing in front of us.

“I brought you four here to give each of you a gift,” he said as he took a step closer.

Suddenly four tall pillars shot up from the floor, one in front of each of us. Each pillar was a different colour and had a different symbol etched into it. The pillar in front of Brody was a blazing red and the symbol emblazoned upon it looked like leaping flames. Brent was standing before an aqua pillar with, what appeared to be, waves cut into its surface. John’s pillar was almost as white as the surrounding expanse; the symbol carved into it looked like curling strands of smoke. The pillar that stood before me was a dark, rusty brown and it was engraved with an image of mountains.

“Step forward and touch the pillar before you,” said the man.

It was almost like the man demanded it but his voice implied that it was more of an offer. We each looked at each other and put out our hands.

“On three,” John said, “Ready? One, two…THREE!” and we all slapped our hands onto our respective pillars.

A moment passed and nothing happened.

We were just about to say something when the man spoke, “You will each be given control of a different element.”

The moment he finished the sentence, a shockwave rippled through me and I was knocked unconscious, again. When I woke up I found myself lying flat on my back, on the ground, under the swing. I pushed the swing out of the way and sat up to find my friends doing the same thing.

Wondering if it had been real I asked, “Did you guys wind up in…”

“…an endless void…” John replied.

“…with four strange pillars…” Brent said.

“…and a creepy old dude?” Brody finished.

We all said, “Yeah” at the same time.

Figuring that the swings were no longer the best option for discussions we walked over to one of the picnic tables and sat down. We talked briefly about the endless void and the topic quickly turned to the four pillars and what the man had said.

“What did he mean, ‘you will each be given control of a different element’ and what was up with those pillars?” I asked.

John thought for a moment and said, “Each of those pillars was a different colour, right? And each one had a different symbol, correct?”

We all nodded.

“Well, what if each of those pillars represented a different element. You know, like earth air, water, and fire?”

“Of course!” I said, “It makes sense. And if we take that man’s word then that would mean I have control over Earth…”

“…I can control Water…” Brent said.

“…I can control Air…” John piped in.

“…and Brody can control Fire!” we all said in unison.

“So,” I said after a minute of silence, “How should we test to see if we do have control over the elements?”

They thought for a moment and John said, “How about just trying? What’s the worst that could happen?”

We all nodded, he had a point.

“I’ll go first,” I volunteered.

I turned my head and focused on a small section of ground just in front of the swing set. I held my arm out aiming at the small patch of gravel and willed it to lift. For one long, suspenseful moment nothing happened. Suddenly the gravel jumped slightly as a roughly two foot square section of the ground rose up, right where I’d wanted it to.

“It…it actually worked.” Brent said in astonishment, “I can’t wait to try my own powers!”

“This is the coolest thing ever!” Brody said, “We have superpowers!”

“What was that that someone said?” I said with a little sarcasm, “Something about great power and great responsibility.”

We all turned and gave Brody a he’s-talking-to-you look and he sulked slightly. We stood there for a few moments wondering what to do next, aside from John’s air powers we couldn’t really test anyone else’s powers. Brody’s fire powers were too dangerous and Brent’s water powers would be too conspicuous. There was also the fact that I couldn’t do much more than make gravel jump around without attracting attention.

Just then John spoke up, “How about we meet back in one week, right here, and in the meantime we all test out our powers and make notes on what we can and can’t control.”

“Great idea. That way we can test them in the safety of our own backyards,” Brent replied.

With that we all said good-bye and head for our own homes.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\E5/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

“Alright,” I said, “Time to get some shut-eye. We’ll bet at Kitchener’s Bureau at around 4 in the morning.”

I got a few complaints in reply but I remained adamant; I didn’t need Equestrian ambassadors adopting a sleep schedule as stupid as ours. It didn’t take long for them to all fall asleep. Brody, Brent and I were then left to chat with each other as CP 2-2 broke off at around the same time. We sat down with our backs to the fence and discussed rumours we had heard and spoke of some of our fondest memories from previous trips. We managed to finish off all of our drinks just to stay awake and I drained mine as we pulled into the Bureau’s parking lot.

“Alright my little ponies,” I said in a hushed tone, trying to wake them as gently as possible, “We’ve arrived.”

“Couldn’t ya’ll jus’ give me five more minutes?” Applejack said drowsily as she fell back asleep.

I smiled and gently picked her up and carried her under my stronger arm.

“Oh, we’re here already?” Fluttershy said as she held back sleep.

I nodded as we headed inside with John carrying Rainbow Dash, the only other pony who was still asleep. By the time we got to the reception area Applejack managed to wake up enough to walk herself the rest of the way. The night receptionist gave us directions to two rooms where we could bunk until morning. As we headed that way I quietly called, “Thank you kindly.”

We got the Mane 6 settled into the one room before heading over to the other to make ourselves comfortable. We all wished each other a ‘good night’ before falling asleep; despite the caffeine.