(Third POV)

Emerald awoke to the pleasant smell of nature and opened his eyes to see the tree canopy. He yawned and stretched; his body emitting a series of cracks and pops before rolling out of the tree and landing on the ground. He smiled when he heard the ambient sounds in the garden.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdIJ2x3nxzQ

He sighed in content before making his way toward the doors that led into the castle. After walking the confusing maze of halls, he eventually made it to the dining hall where he found a sleep-deprived Celestia and a worn-out Luna.

“Are you two ok?” he asked with worry. They both nodded in affirmation. Despite the bleak mood that hung heavy in the air like a fog, he chuckled lightly as they both took a drink of coffee at the same time. A waitress came into the room from the kitchen doors and walked up to the table the group.

“May I take your order?” She asked with a cheerful smile as she addressed Emerald.

“For a drink, I would like a glass of ice water. And for food, I wo-“ A wide yawn cut off his sentence before he continued, “would like four hardboiled eggs cut in half and deviled, and apple-cinnamon oatmeal to eat please.” She wrote it down on the notepad before looking to the princess’,

“Would either of you like anything else.” She asked.

“No thank you.” Luna said before looking at her sister, who shook her head in response. The waitress nodded before walking back to the kitchen. Emerald looked at Luna with a neutral expression on his face,

“Have you taken up that dream duty job you spoke of when you were young?” He asked. She nodded before taking another sip of her coffee. “How did that go?” She smiled slightly,

“Quite well.” She replied, “There was not many nightmares last night. So it made my job easier.” She frowned, “But there dost one dream worse than the others.” Emerald tilted his head in confusion.

“How bad?” He asked. Luna shook her head,

“Quite.” She put simply. Emeralds food arrived and he ate it all with gusto. After about five minutes, he looked at the clock on the wall.

’It looks almost like a sundial.’ Emerald thought. The hour hand was on the number ten, and the minutes hand was on the six. “Celestia,” he said, getting her attention, “What time is it?”

“It’s…” She said before looking at the clock, then back, “Ten thirty.” Emerald stood up and made his way toward the door before stopping and looking back at Celestia in annoyance.

“I need to exchange my currency for equestrian currency.” He said. Celestia giggled,

“While many things have changed since you left, our currency has not changed a bit.” She stopped giggling, “Though, they will most likely check to make sure it is real.” Emerald nodded before abandoning the idea of using the doors. He used his magic to open a small window near the ceiling and ran before jumping out the opening; closing the window behind himself. Celestia shook her head and rolled her eyes before returning to finish off her coffee.

Emerald landed at the train station with the attention of most of Canterlot's attention on him. He folded his wings before walking to the booth who's sign read "train tickets." The salespony, who had been sending the last Rider on the train, was now standing in his booth in shock at Emerald's wings. Emerald looked around and saw the eyes of all present on him and sighed before summoning a large hooded cloak with a unique enchantment on it. He adorned the cloak and all the ponies in the area who had been distracted by him went back to what they were doing as if he was never there. He continued walking and approached the stand. The salespony looked at him with a smile as he approached.

"Where do you want to go?" The stallion asked.

"Ponyville." Emerald replied, the hood covering his face from the salespony's view.

"That will be thirteen bits please." Emerald summoned thirteen golden coins and levitated them over to the salespony who looked them over and even but one before nodding and handing him a ticket. He got on the train and sat down on one of the seats before closing his eyes and rested his head back. The train began moving and eventually left Canterlot.

'i guess now would be a good time to get some shut-' Emerald's thoughts were interrupted by a shock from near the front of the train. His eyes flew open as screams began to ring out from everywhere on the train. He got up with haste and ran over to the door to the next car. He entered the next car as the train hurled into a tunnel. Emerald was thrown to the side as the track hit a curve and the train; going so fast; leaned against the stone walls of the tunnel. He stabilized himself before going to the next car. He was slightly taken aback by the scene of the trains occupants being held at point by Diamond Dogs holding crossbow-like weapons in their paws. One of them turned and pointed one at him.

Emerald summoned an anti-material barrier between himself and the Diamond Dogs just before the one pointing the weapon at him fired. A near flat piece of led suddenly appeared on the barrier accompanied by a loud crack and smoke rising from the weapons. Emerald took the weapon in his telekinetic grip before using Diamond Dog's grip on the weapon to throw the Diamond Dog out the window. This drew the attention of the other Diamond Dogs and they also opened fire upon him. More of the flattened led struck his barrier before Emerald used the shield as a battering ram; sending the Diamond Dogs flying and either going through the windows, or hitting the wall and losing consciousness immediately. Emerald dispelled the barrier before going to check on the ponies that had been held hostage. None of them were injured in any way and he moved on.

He began going throughout the train from car to car; clearing them of hostile Diamond Dogs and healing any injured he came across. He finally made it to the front of the train only to see that the conductor lay dead against a wall and a Diamond Dog stood by a panel holding a broken lever. Emerald rushed at him before grabbing the Diamond Dog's head and slamming it into the panel. He looked at the panel for a way to stop the train and found a sign that read "brake." Unfortunately, it was the sign that went to the broken off lever. Looking ahead, Emerald saw a town fast approaching. Closely looking at the tracks ahead, he saw two Diamond Dogs disconnect the tracks before running toward a nearby forest. He growled before taking one last look around for another way to stop the train than what he was about to do. He hated
what he was about to do...

He stored his cloak in a pocket dimension before punching out the window and jumping out. He spread his wings and flew ahead of the train while forming claws on all four of his hooves. He turned around and landed just before the train was sent off the tracks; multiple cars turning sideways as the train slid toward him at an angle. He dug his hind-claws into the tracks and the earth beneath before standing up on his hind-hooves. Using his wings to balance himself, Emerald held up his clawed forehooves.

"Get out of the way!" he heard someone scream from the town. Most of the residents had stopped what they were doing to find the cause of the noise emitted by the now-damaged train. He braced himself when the train got close.

(Twilight POV)
Spike and I stood on the train platform, waiting for the train to arrive. we saw something black shoot out of the train and fly closer on the track to us before landing. The train suddenly turned sideways and derailed. Spike and I gasped. The black form on the track got taller but didn't get out of the train's way.

"LOOK OUT!!!" I yelled at the being. They still didn't move. The train hit it and bent to form a U shape. The train's velocity was drastically decreasing as a plume of debris formed a trail over the track. As the train got closer to us, Spike pulled on my hoof,

"Come on!" He said in fright, "we need to get back!" I looked back to see the train extremely close, yet slow and easily avoidable. I shook my head,

"It's almost stopped, we need to get the ponies off the train." I said; many of the other townsponies having the same idea. We made our way to the ruined train as the dust and smoke began to settle and disperse. As I got closer, I managed to make out the silhouette of a large pony leaning against the train with their forehooves. As I got about three meters away, I stopped. Spike; who had followed me, looked up with concern.

"What?" He asked before looking at the silhouette of a pony. We got closer and the pony was now clearly visible.

"That," I addressed spike while pointing to the pony who I now know had stopped the train, "is Emerald Dragonheart."

Author's Note

Notify me of any mistakes I may have made during this chapter, enjoy!