Near the end of the Ponyville train station, a tall lavender alicorn levitated a shiny silver suitcase into the Friendship Express as the conductor was making his last call for passengers, following close behind as she stepped onto the train.
"Twilight! What's taking you so long?" yelled a cyan pegasus with colorful hair, who was lounging with her feet up on a seat.
"Just one more," Twilight Sparkle said, dropping the suitcase down beside her and dumping her heavy saddlebags onto the berth beside her three friends.
"Last call for Appleloosa! Anypony? No.." The door slammed shut, puffs of grey smoke beginning to emit from the train as the wheels began to turn slowly on the tracks. The trio settled into their seats, the calm and familiar noise of the Friendship Express' mechanism.
The four ponies were on their way to visit Applejack's cousins for the holidays. Twilight had feared the Express would be delayed because of the incoming snowstorm that had been reported around a day ago by weather scouts from Cloudsdale, but despite the bitter weather that was already settling in, the train was operating well. The cars were practically void of passengers save for Applejack, her friends, and a few other ponies who were occupied with their own activities: an old stallion reading the newspaper, a young filly scribbling in a journal with crayons beside her mother, who was looking out the window at the blurred view.
The sky had already darkened with a thick swath of grey clouds. Light bits of frost swam through the air behind the windows. Twilight glanced at the descending storm ahead of them. "I wonder if we'll need to stop along the way because of the blizzard..."
"Probably not. I mean, the train's still operating. Let's just hope it isn't freezing when we get to Appleloosa," spoke Starlight. It was already starting to feel cold, despite the enchanted heating properties of the train that helped to regulate the temperature during the winter.
Rainbow Dash was taking one of her usual naps, bundled up in a warm fuzzy blanket. Applejack laid her head against the window, catching up on some sleep as well. The ponies had to wake up especially early for the train ride this morning, and Twilight was the only one used to waking up before the sun even rose. Starlight was feeling a bit drowsy too, though the excitement kept her awake.
A few hours had passed before the train's sudden lurch startled Rainbow awake-the last one still sleeping. The train seemed to take a leap into the air, then continued as usual. "What was that?" she muttered, looking out the window and seeing nothing out of the ordinary.
"Hopefully just a little problem with the railroad. Nothing big, seeing as the train's still-" Twilight stopped as the Friendship Express screeched to a sickening stop, sending its passengers into the air. Luggage fell to the ground with a series of loud thumps, and a deafening high-pitched noise issued from underneath the dazed ponies.
In almost an instant, the conductor was yelling in a panic. "A car has detached! And we can't seem to get the engine working...Hold up for just a little while, I'm sure it's only a small malfunction in the system!" Despite a few quiet words of protest from ponies wanting to know more, he pulled an emergency lever that swung open a set of doors and raced out into the bitter wind. Snowflakes swirled their way into the train cars, sending a chill across the group of passengers.
