Of Mares and Machines

by Razalon The Lizardman

Rating: everyone
Tags: Big Macintosh, Fluttershy, Crossover, Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe, Other, Romance, Drama
Length: 55543

Mavis the quarry diesel has been sent to Equestria as part of a punishment. 'Part of' being key...

Mavis, the quarry diesel, has been locked up in the shed for causing a serious accident with some trucks. She wants a chance to prove herself useful again.

When the Fat Controller visits her with important news, it looks like her chance has come, but not quite like she expected. He's having her turned into a pony and sending her to Equestria to work on Sweet Apple Acres for a week. If all goes well, he'll put her to work in the quarry again when she returns.

Can the headstrong diesel engine prove her worth as a pony? Of course she can! Just as soon as she gets used to moving on her own. And eating and drinking. And makes sense of the funny feeling she gets in her chest whenever she meets that big, red stallion...

Cover art by Diamond06mlp

Pre-SugarMac

A Singularverse story

Note: Reading Singularity isn't required to understand/enjoy this story.

Published 2019-04-16 19:10:02 UTC
Last updated 2019-06-03 18:31:48 UTC

Prologue

The Island of Sodor was located between the Isle of Man and the British mainland. While it had a rich history and an identity all its own compared to its neighbours, its railway system was what the citizens took the most pride in. Splendid, colourful, and especially hard-working and useful engines traveled to and fro each and every day, hauling goods and passengers to their destinations. And the head of the railway, Sir Topham Hatt — formally known as the Fat Controller — considered each and every one of his engines ‘the pride of the line’.

But some engines were prone to getting in trouble every now and then, and like a naughty child, some engines would find themselves put in the shed as punishment for their misbehaviour.

The diesel engine known as Mavis sat in the gloomy darkness of her shed, sad and feeling sorry for herself. She’d been shut up for several days ever since she got into a ‘serious bout of trouble’ with some china clay trucks. The cross look the Fat Controller had given her when he shut the shed doors on her was all she could think about whenever she wasn’t sleeping, and it only made her feel more depressed.

“What a useless engine I am,” she moaned. “The Fat Controller is sure to send me for scrap.”

Then one day, the shed doors opened to reveal the Fat Controller as well as Mavis’ driver and her manager. A surge of hope shot up in Mavis that she might be let out to shunt trucks. Her driver gave her a kind smile while the Fat Controller and her manager regarded her plainly.

“Are you sorry for what you did, Mavis?” the Fat Controller asked.

“Oh yes, sir!” Mavis said. “Very much so.”

“I would hope so after you left so many workmen injured,” her manager spoke up. “You’ve been a credit to the Ffarquhar Quarry Company until now, but I would hope you can turn things around.”

“I can, sir, I can!” Mavis pleaded.

“People are saying bad things about not just the Ffarquhar Quarry Company, but about the rest of my railway, Mavis,” the Fat Controller said sternly. “I do not appreciate that at all.”

“Please sir, let me out,” Mavis continued to plea. “I promise I’ll be good.”

“Mavis, we’re willing to give you another chance, but there’s something else you must do for us before we let you work in the quarry again.”

“Anything, sir.”

The Fat Controller heaved a great sigh. “I can promise you won’t like it,” he said darkly. “Have you heard from the other engines about the ‘Window’?”

Mavis was confused at first but tried to recall anything she’d heard that sounded similar. “... I think Percy mentioned something about Thomas coming out of one.” She looked at him worryingly. “Why wouldn’t I like it, sir?”

“Because you’ll be losing your wheels for it.”

Mavis was alarmed. “M-my wheels, sir?”

The Fat Controller nodded. “But that’s enough chat for now; we’ll explain more when we reach Tidmouth Shed.”

“Hope your wheels haven’t rusted since you’ve been in here,” Mavis’ driver said with a laugh as he climbed into her cab.

Mavis was too terrified to respond.

Chapter 1

The Fat Controller’s words had filled Mavis with dread, so much so that she refused to budge when her driver tried to make her go. Being locked up in the shed suddenly didn’t seem so bad anymore.

Her driver sighed. “Don’t be silly, Mavis,” he said from her cab. “The Fat Controller isn’t going to turn you into scrap. He’s giving you a chance to make up for your mistake; best not to make him even more cross.”

“B-but my wheels,” she sobbed.

There was a short pause before her driver stepped out of the cab and came around to face her. He gave her a firm, but understanding expression.

“Your accident put a lot of workmen in hospital, Mavis,” he told her. “And we’re lucky they only got by with a few broken bones; if things got worse they might have lost their legs completely.”

“But I’m going to lose my wheels!” Mavis whined desperately.

Her driver shook his head. “Wheels can be reattached, but legs are lost forever once they’re removed. The Fat Controller isn’t taking your wheels away forever, I promise.”

Mavis relaxed a bit at his assurance. “Well, okay then…”

Her driver smiled and climbed back into her cab. This time Mavis started without issue, and soon the two were off navigating through the quarry to Thomas’ branch line and the main line beyond. Mavis saw the Fat Controller and her manager get into the former’s car a short distance away. She thought she saw them looking her way as she passed, but couldn’t tell if they were smiling or frowning.

“What is the Fat Controller planning to do with my wheels?” Mavis asked her driver once they’d reach the main line.

Her driver laughed. “Wait and see when we get to Tidmouth Shed. It’s a surprise!”

Mavis just scrunched her face in annoyance but didn’t say anything else.

She managed to put aside her worries after a bit and enjoy the run. She wasn’t getting to shunt trucks, but being allowed to run on the tracks was a welcome relief after being locked up in the shed. All along the way she caught the attention of plenty of children who stopped to wave at her as she passed, as well as cows grazing in pastures who roared with alarm in response to the racket she made while passing.

Every engine she passed she exchanged greetings with her horn and always tried to look important. Many of them, like Henry and Gordon and James she hadn’t met personally before, having only Percy’s and Toby’s descriptions to go off of. Rarely did she get to travel beyond Ffarquhar Quarry, aside from going to the Works to get fixed. All the attention she was attracting from both people and engines made her feel very important, almost as much as sorting trucks.

Her trip took her through the countryside and passed plenty of towns. She was able to keep her mind off of the ‘surprise’ at Tidmouth Shed most of the way, at least until her driver said “we’re almost there” once they’d reached the end of the main line and ventured into Tidmouth Station, at which point her worries began building up again. Her driver guided her through the junction and eventually into a siding overlooking the turntable in front of the shed. She came to a gentle stop against the buffers and her driver hopped out of the cab and came around to face her again.

“Now we wait for the Fat Controller to arrive,” he said.

“Please tell me what’s going to happen to my wheels,” Mavis begged.

Her driver looked at his watch. “Well, if all goes like clockwork, you should know within the next few minutes.” He smiled at her. “It’ll be a great surprise, wait and see.”

Mavis huffed. “I’m not much for surprises,” she muttered.

They waited for a few minutes before the Fat Controller’s car pulled up behind the shed. Mavis’ driver left her to greet them. At the same time, one of the shed’s doors was opened and Thomas came sliding out.

“Mavis!” he called when he caught sight of her. “What brings you to Tidmouth Shed?”

“I’m being punished,” she replied, sadly. She told him about her accident.

“Serves you right,” Thomas said disapprovingly as he was brought onto the turntable.

Mavis saw the Fat Controller, her manager, and her driver enter through a side door into the shed. A thought struck her. “I heard you came through a ‘Window’.”

“I did,” Thomas said as the turntable began repositioning him. “It’s in the shed. It’s too small for an engine to fit through, though.”

“Then how did you come through it?” Mavis asked. “And what’s on the other side?”

Thomas’ face scrunched. “I’d rather not say how I came through.” The turntable clicked into place and he slid onto the tracks. “But there are ‘other worlds’ on the other side, with lots of strange but friendly creatures.”

Mavis didn’t understand what he meant by that, but before she could ask anything else Thomas had chuffed away.

Mavis waited for the Fat Controller to return to explain what was happening, deciding to rest in the meantime. She felt a bird perch itself on her cab but ignored it. She also ignored the occasional greetings engines passing by on the tracks behind her. Knowing that she was going to be losing her wheels made her want to savour what little time she had left with them. A horrid thought struck her that she might be strapped onto a flatbed truck and hauled away somewhere.

“Sleeping well, Mavis?”

Mavis opened her eyes. The voice came from behind her, and it was probably the last one she wanted to hear right now. Toby the Tram Engine was likely getting a drink of water behind her, otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to chat like this.

“Until you ruined it,” Mavis said sharply.

“I’ve never seen you here at Tidmouth before,” he remarked. “What brings you here?”

Mavis decided not to answer, hoping she could avoid further embarrassment.

“... Is it because of your accident?”

Bust my buffers, Mavis thought.

“Yes,” she moaned.

“I thought so,” Toby said. “Well, we live and learn as they say.”

“They’re taking away my wheels,” Mavis said sadly.

Toby was silent for a long moment. Mavis figured he was finished drinking and was going to leave, but she knew he wouldn’t without first talking down to her in some way. He always did that, just to prove how much better than her he was.

“That sounds fitting, considering how serious your accident was,” he finally said. “I hope this’ll teach you to be more careful with trucks from now on so you don’t end up hurting anyone else.”

Mavis didn’t say anything as she heard Toby whistle and then leave right as her driver, manager, and the Fat Controller strode over, looking up at her with varying expressions. She was surprised to see the Fat Controller actually smiling.

“What’s going to happen to me, sir?” Mavis asked feebly.

"You'll see once we get you inside the shed,” he said.

Mavis’ driver clambered up into her cab and guided her onto the turntable. The turntable was repositioned onto the rightmost track leading into the shed, and the doors opened to reveal a sight that confused Mavis; a couple of small, colourful creatures shaped like horses. One of them was purple and had a horn and wings, while the other was orange and wearing a wide-brimmed hat. Near the back wall of the shed was a large green tarp covering over something tall and narrow. The shed was completely empty otherwise.

The horse creatures themselves never stopped smiling at her all the while she approached, so they were friendly, at least. The Fat Controller and her manager came through the door into the shed and joined her driver as he stepped out of Mavis’ cab. The three of them stood side by side, facing the horse creatures, who returned their gazes.

“This is Mavis,” the Fat Controller told the creatures, gesturing to her. “She's the one I was telling you about.”

“Oh, so it’s a girl, then,” the purple creature said, turning to Mavis. It appeared to be studying her, which Mavis didn’t like. She glowered at the creature, but it paid her no attention. “Actually, Mavis does sound very feminine, now that I think about it.”

“I gotta say,” the orange one spoke up, “those yellow stripes look good on her.”

Mavis softened a bit at that compliment— at least these strange creatures recognized good livery when they saw it.

“Oh! We haven’t introduced ourselves yet!” the purple one said. She put a hoof to her front. “My name is Twilight Sparkle.”

“Applejack,” the orange one said in turn. “We’re ponies from Equestria.”

That last bit was lost on Mavis. Seeking answers, she cast her eyes to the three men and asked, “What’s going on here?”

Her manager gave her a serious look. “Mavis, the task I’m about to give you will determine whether we think you’re ready to work in the quarry again.” He pointed to the ponies. “For the next week you’ll be working for them, and if you behave yourself I’ll let you work in the quarry upon your return.”

Mavis managed to smile. That would be easy! Then a thought crossed her mind. “But sir,” she said to the Fat Controller, “you said I would be losing my wheels. How am I supposed to work without them?”

Mavis’ driver snickered, which baffled her. The orange pony stepped forward. “Actually, I’m the one you’ll be working for. My family runs an apple farm, and you’ll be helping us for the next week in the fields.”

Mavis only understood half of what Applejack said. How was she supposed to help ‘in the fields’?

Twilight must’ve seen how confused she was, because she said, “Maybe it’d be better if we just showed her what we mean.”

“I’ll admit to being excited to see what this magic of yours is like,” Mavis’ manager said.

Twilight stepped forward in front of Mavis. Her horn lit up in a purple hue, which made the three men’s mouths drop a little. Mavis didn’t know what was happening, but a sinking feeling was settling into her tank. Twilight pointed her horn at Mavis and a single, solid beam of purple light shot forth, making Mavis gasp in fright before it hit her. The beam was connecting her to Twilight’s horn, and the edges of her vision filled with the same purple light

“Amazing…” her driver breathed.

Twilight then directed her still lit horn toward Applejack and a second beam shot forth, briefly enveloping the other pony in a brief flash before she turned back to Mavis and launched yet another beam down the length of the light bridge connecting them.

The instant the light hit her Mavis felt something inside her. Her entire frame shook violently and she closed her eyes, letting out another frightened gasp. A tingle spread from her face all the way to her cab, and another flash of light blinded her vision. She felt herself begin shrinking and changing shape. The feeling was indescribable and very frightening, but it wasn’t painful. The sturdy build of her frame was softening, which was wrong. Unfamiliar feelings began overwhelming her, ones she couldn’t make sense of, which was just as frightening as the idea that her whole frame was falling apart.

She felt herself lower to the ground, coming to a stop between the rails. The tingling disappeared completely all at once. She opened her eyes and was immediately startled to see everything appeared so much bigger. The shock of this somehow toppled her onto her side, landing hard on the rocks between the rails. What struck her as odd was the feeling of the rocks against her frame; they actually dug into her side, whereas usually when a rock touched her it bounced harmlessly off, sometimes without her even noticing.

She shifted her gaze to see everyone coming forward to gather around her. The ponies were just smiling plainly, but the Fat Controller and her manager were staring at her like she’d been given rainbow livery. Her driver, however, was smiling like the ponies.

“You look so adorable now, Mavis,” he said, laughing. “If my daughter was here she’d be begging to ride you around the shed.”

Mavis blinked. Ride her around the shed? The tracks didn’t run around the shed. What was going on?

Her manager turned to the ponies while pointing at her. “Can you promise nothing bad will happen to her in this form?” he asked, worried.

“We’ll take extra care of her,” Twilight promised.

“We may not look it,” Applejack followed, “but you’d be hard pressed to find better ponies to protect somepony in Equestria than us and our friends.”

“That’s good to hear,” he said and turned to Mavis’ driver. “I’ll arrange a new engine for you to take charge of for the next week.”

“Looking forward to the change of pace,” he said cheerily, then looked down to Mavis and waved farewell to her. “Good luck, Mavis! I’ll be looking forward to hearing all the stories you have to tell when you return!”

Mavis’ driver and manager waved goodbye to the rest of the group before leaving through the side door and out of sight. Mavis frowned after them; she didn’t want her driver to leave.

The Fat Controller strode over to Mavis and knelt down to face her. Seeing him towering over her like this was strange for Mavis and actually made his stern gaze even more intimidating. She nearly cried out when something started beating inside of her. Everything was so strange and confusing and she was missing the dark emptiness of the quarry shed right about now.

“I’m sure you’re feeling uncomfortable right now, Mavis,” he said softly. “You’ll feel better once you’ve acclimated to your new body and the ponies explain more about what’s happening. I want to give you another chance, but I need assurance that you’ll behave from now on.” He reached out and put his hand on top of her; the feel of his fingers against her was as unusual as everything else. “This is your chance to give me that assurance.”

The terrifying beating inside Mavis came to a stop, replaced by a warm, comforting feeling. It was different from when the Fat Controller previously spoke kindly to her after she’d redeemed herself from a bout of bad behavior where she just felt happy and relieved; this was something different.

Twilight and Applejack came forward next to him, smiling broadly. “Cheer up, Mavis, I’m sure you’ll love Equestria,” Twilight told her.

“Yeah, you’re gonna love workin’ on my family’s farm,” Applejack said.

Mavis didn’t know how to respond; at least she was feeling more comfortable than she was before.

“Oh, we still need to show you your new body!” Twilight said.

Her horn glowed and, to Mavis’ bafflement, a framed mirror popped into existence next to her. Mavis then felt a tingling sensation envelop her entire body and she lifted off the ground, her vision straightening as she was brought right side up. The moment she settled on the ground she felt her balance give way, only to be held still again under Twilight’s strange ‘magic’.

“I’ll help her,” Applejack said.

She trotted over and stuck her head underneath Mavis, lifting her onto the orange pony’s back with a grunt of effort. Mavis cried out at the feeling of being lifted up so suddenly.

“Hoowee, girl, you’re a might bit heavy!” Applejack said.

“Well, she was a train,” Twilight said with a laugh.

Mavis huffed, feeling indignant by the way they were treating her.

Applejack maneuvered her body so that Mavis was facing the mirror. What she saw made her gasp. Her frame was gone, replaced by a similar creature to the two ponies. She now had four short hooves instead of wheels, her sideplates were gone entirely, and her beautiful black livery was now a dull gray fur coat. Her eyes were shaped like the ponies' and had a noticeable glimmer to them now, but without any distinguishable colors. What really struck her as curious was how the yellow-striped black livery that had framed her face and adorned the back of her cab was now reflected in the hair which sat atop her as well as the thick tail that had replaced her cab.

She couldn’t find words to express how utterly disgusting her reflection was. She wanted to cry out in protest, but she knew it would be pointless— this is what the Fat Controller had ordered, after all.

“Looks like she’s in shock,” Applejack said.

“This will be a great learning experience for her,” the Fat Controller said. “She’ll get used to this new body soon, I’m positive of that.”

There were a few more moments of silence. “Well, I guess we’ll be off, then,” Twilight said. “Unless you want to tell us something else, Sir Hatt?”

“Tell Celestia that I would like to extend this program if this first run goes well,” he replied and smiled. “I’d also love another round of tea and scones; the ones she served are undoubtedly the best I’ve ever had.”

“I’ll be sure to let her know,” Twilight said happily.

“I must admit to being jealous,” the Fat Controller continued. “Not of the scones, of course, but your government. It would be mania if Parliament found out a gateway to other worlds was stationed here on my railway. I daresay, the entire world would be in an uproar.”

“Yeah, I understand what you’re saying,” Twilight said sadly, before perking up. “But you know, the Window only works selectively. It’s not like just anyone can go through at their leisure.”

“How does it work, then?” the Fat Controller inquired.

Twilight was silent for a moment. Mavis looked to her, wondering if something was wrong.

“Well, that isn’t exactly clear,” she said shakily. “I guess the best way to look at it is the Windows have their own free will, able to choose who comes through.” She laughed nervously.

“Is that so?” the Fat Controller looked at the tarp, stroking his chin. “Intriguing...”

“So, is that it then?” Twilight asked.

“Indeed,” the Fat Controller said, and turned toward the side door. “I need to get back to figuring out how to better hide the Window.”

The three said their goodbyes and the Fat Controller exited through the door, leaving Mavis alone with the ponies.

The mirror blinked out of existence and Twilight turned to face Mavis. “So, what do you think, Mavis?” she asked. “About your new body, I mean.”

Mavis blinked. What did she think? Wasn’t it obvious she was repulsed by her reflection?

“I don’t like it,” she said simply.

“Well, take the time to get used to it and I’m sure you’ll change your mind,” Twilight said. “Oh yeah, by the way, you know you need to breathe now, right?”

Mavis blinked again. “... What— Ah!” Something inside her forced her to gasp heavily. Her hooves acted of their own accord, clutching her body as it tightened and she coughed.

“Mavis! Mavis! You need to breathe, girl!” Applejack shouted, panicked.

“How— do I—” She coughed more. A sense of dizziness started washing over her.

“You have lungs now, Mavis,” Twilight said, more calmly. “Draw in a breath through your nostrils or your mouth like this.” She then inhaled deeply before exhaling. “It’s easy, trust me.”

Something inside of Mavis’ head made itself known, an unfamiliar instinct which sparked to life. Mavis blanched at it at first, failing to understand where it had come from, but quickly understood what it demanded of her. She understood the control she had over her new face. She mimicked Twilight’s action, drawing in as much air as she could through her nostrils, at which point she instantly felt better, before slowly exhaling through her mouth.

“Great job!” Twilight congratulated. “Now do it a few more times.”

Mavis followed her instruction. She inhaled and exhaled over and over, finding the process easier each time she did it. By the tenth time she realized the action was automatic like she’d been installed self-deployable brakes and could trigger them herself when needed. Eventually, she was doing it without consciously thinking about it.

“... Is this something all people do, all the time?” she asked, amazed.

“Yep,” Applejack said. She reached behind her and patted Mavis. “An’ that’s just the beginning of gettin’ used to your new body.”

“Right,” Twilight said, before gesturing toward the tarp. “Let’s head through the Window back to Equestria, though; we can help you learn everything once we get back.”

The bottom of the tarp was lit in the purple light of Twilight’s magic and lifted up. Applejack walked under, followed shortly by Twilight. Mavis was awed at the sight before her. The tarp was covering what looked to be a bright, rectangular opening in the air. It was still and silent, standing there like it was perfectly natural. Mavis had never seen anything like it, this ‘Window’ as it was apparently called.

“Not something you see every day, huh, Mavis?” Applejack asked jokingly.

Mavis was too stunned to respond.

“Let’s not waste any time,” Twilight urged.

They stepped through the Window. A small part of Mavis was proud that she could boast to the other engines that she ‘went through’ like Thomas did. The world on the other side, however, was nothing but white and a lot of other Windows. It was dull and didn’t seem important at all.

“This is the Singularity,” Twilight explained. “Essentially, it’s a hub for all connected worlds. But you probably don’t have much of an opinion on it, do you?” she asked Mavis.

“I belong on the rails,” she replied, frowning. “Not this place.”

“Well, we’ll be out of here right away,” Twilight said. She turned her head around for a bit before saying, “There you are!” and trotted out of sight.

Applejack turned to follow her, allowing Mavis to see what had grabbed Twilight’s attention; a strange, darkly-coloured set of floating spheres arranged in a cross-shaped pattern.

Twilight stepped up to the strange object and cleared her throat before saying, “We wish to go to Equestria.”

The object raised its leftmost sphere, and a second later another Window zipped from a spot not too far away to right in front of them.

“Thank you,” Twilight said kindly, before gesturing for Applejack to follow her.

The two of them walked toward the new Window. Mavis closed her eyes, suddenly feeling tired after the day’s events. As she began drifting off to sleep, she briefly wondered what surprises were in store for her in this ‘other world’ named ‘Equestria’.

Chapter 2

Mavis opened her eyes to find herself in a very strange place. All around her were strange wooden objects that looked vaguely like ‘chairs’ which people used for resting their legs, richly decorated with lots of smaller colourful objects resting on them. Casting her eyes over, she realized she was resting on one of these objects; it felt soft and comfortable under her new fur coat.

A cold shudder went through her as she remembered what had happened to her. The thought of being away from Sodor was scary enough on its own, but having legs instead of wheels was even scarier. If she had legs, that meant she’d have to learn how to walk! She couldn’t walk; she’d just keep falling over! And she was expected to work on a farm!?

Mavis was snapped from her panic when she involuntarily gasped for air. Twilight’s words about breathing resurfaced, and she began inhaling and exhaling at a rhythmic pace. Eventually, the action became automatic, and she was able to calm down. Mavis’ heart sank. Everything was so wrong and strange and she didn’t have any friends in this strange place. Even more, she had no idea how to move in her new body.

A few minutes passed before Mavis decided to take another look at her new surroundings. Beyond all the chairs she saw a large window against one wall letting in bright sunlight, which meant not a lot of time had passed while she was asleep. She tried to cast her eyes a little to the left, but the way she was positioned made it impossible to see very far. Mavis let out a huff before a thought struck her: Could she move herself the same way she learned to breathe?

Mavis closed her eyes, trying to understand the control she must have had over her face. That same instinct seemed to be silent at first, but like a fog detonator under her wheels, it struck hard and suddenly. She tried tilting herself forward, and it worked, pressing her face further into the strange material that covered the chair she rested on. She pulled herself up, and it worked like a charm. A big grin split her mouth as she turned every which way, taking in the sights around her. There wasn’t much to see from her point of view aside from a door set into the wall to her right, but the added feeling of control over her new body made Mavis very happy.

A part of her body involuntarily twitched a few minutes later when she heard the echoes of steps in the distance. They got closer and closer with each passing second, and Mavis was scared that something bad was coming her way. The steps stopped outside the door before it swung open. All of Mavis’ fear disappeared when Twilight, Applejack, and a third pony entered the room.

The newcomer instantly grabbed Mavis’ attention. Unlike Twilight and Applejack, this new one was about as tall as any of the humans back on Sodor. Their coat was snow white and they wore regalia, indicating they were a ruler of some kind, similar to the Queen. Like Twilight, this pony had both wings and a horn, but she looked even more important. Just the sight of her was awe-inspiring, very much unlike anything Mavis had ever seen on Sodor; she really was in another world.

“Oh, you’re awake,” Twilight said upon noticing her. “Good.” The three of them took seats in three of the chairs around the room, facing Mavis, who couldn’t stop staring at the larger pony. “Are you feeling okay? Nothing hurts?” she asked softly.

Mavis managed to tear her eyes away from the larger pony. “Uh, yes, I’m feeling fine,” she said.

“Hope you’re feelin’ energized, Mavis,” Applejack said, wearing an apologetic smile, “‘cause ya ain’t gonna have time to rest for the rest of the day.”

“Why?” Mavis asked.

“It will take some time to properly adjust to your new body,” the third pony spoke up at last. Her voice was female and had a soothing quality that helped put Mavis at ease. “But let’s not worry about that quite yet.” She placed a hoof on her front. “My name is Princess Celestia, diarch of the nation of Equestria alongside my sister, Princess Luna.” She gestured toward Mavis. “I understand that you are Mavis, a diesel engine working at the Ffarquhar Quarry Company on the Island of Sodor, correct?”

“Yes,” Mavis confirmed.

“Sir Topham Hatt has told me you keep busy with your job and are very reliable.”

Mavis beamed. “Of course I am!”

“I also understand you sometimes express difficulties about the working conditions of the quarry?”

Mavis sighed. “Sometimes it’s hard to work when the track layouts are so confusing. Also, Toby can be a real fusspot.”

“One of your friends, I presume?” Celestia asked.

Mavis huffed. “He acts like my manager more than my friend. He thinks because he’s older he can order me around telling me how to do my job.”

Celestia giggled, which annoyed Mavis. “You might get along very well with my sister.”

Applejack spoke up. “Well, I’ll do my best to be fair and considerate when you’re workin’ for me.”

Mavis smiled.

“But that’s a matter for later,” Celestia said. “There’s a lot we have to cover before you can leave for Ponyville with my student and her friend, not the least of which teaching you to control your new body.”

“I can move my face around,” Mavis informed them. “But I can’t move the rest of my body at all.”

“Yes, we’ll need to spend a lot of time teaching you that, among many, many other things,” Twilight said. “But first, let’s go over the names of each of your new body parts.” Twilight lifted a hoof and pointed to the spot where her face was located. “This is the ‘head’.” She then lifted her hoof towards her underside. “And this is the ‘barrel’, or ‘stomach’ to use human terminology.”

“I understand,” Mavis said.

“You should also be aware of body language,” Twilight continued. She shook her head up and down. “This is a called a ‘nod’: Use this to communicate ‘yes’.” Then she shook her head left to right. “And this is a shake: It means ‘no’. Can you do it?”

Mavis exerted her control over her head and nodded. “Yes,” she said. She then shook her head. “No.”

“Wonderful, Mavis!” Celestia complimented.

Mavis became conceited at her praise.

The next half hour was spent teaching Mavis various uses of body language as well as the names of the body parts used to enact them. As Twilight taught her the function of each body part Mavis attempted to exert control over them. Each time required little to no effort, to her amazement. Even better, she was moving all on her own! No driver needed, she could go wherever she wanted under her own power! The acts of blinking and making faces she already knew how to do, but her new ‘tongue’ apparently could be used as an insult by sticking it out. It was such a shame she couldn’t do it to Toby whenever he acted like a fusspot. The ponies discouraged her from doing this to other ponies, however.

“That should cover all the basics,” Twilight finally said. “Now we need to teach you how to walk and gallop.”

Mavis lifted her hoof up and rolled it around. She’d seen horses grazing in pastures before, but she’d never seen how they moved their legs. Humans seemed to have a basic rhythm of putting one leg in front of the other over and over, but she’d seen how the ponies moved and it didn’t look as simple. She put her legs over the side of the chair and planted them on the floor; it was made of a very hard material.

Immediately, she struggled for balance, but once again she felt a tingle envelop her entire body and straighten her. She turned her head to see Twilight’s horn was lit again.

“Don’t worry, I’ll help,” she promised. “Applejack?”

“Alrighty,” the orange mare said before standing up. “Watch closely, Mavis,” she instructed.

Mavis nodded.

Applejack first moved her back left hoof forward, followed by her front left, then her back right, and finally her front right. She repeated the action a few more times to make sure Mavis got the pattern down. Mavis watched closely, but she was having trouble committing it to memory for some reason.

“Got it?” Applejack asked once she was done.

Mavis would be lying if she said yes, so she said, “I think so.”

“I’m going to release you from my grip,” Twilight told her. “Once I do, I want you to copy the gait Applejack just showed you. Don’t worry if you fall over, I’ll catch you.”

“Okay,” Mavis said.

She felt Twilight’s magic release from her and the three of them looked at her expectantly. Mavis tried to recall the pattern— front left first, was it? She lifted her front left hoof and placed it forward, only for her entire front weight to shift with it. She let out a gasp but was saved from collapsing by Twilight’s magic.

“Back left first, Mavis,” Applejack said, frowning. “Did y’all forget that quickly or somethin’?”

Mavis growled at her

“Sorry, sorry, I ain’t tryin’ ta say that you’re dumb.”

Mavis huffed, looking away.

“Now is not the time for fighting, you two,” Celestia lightly scolded. “Now Mavis, would you tell us if something is wrong? We will help all that we can.”

Mavis returned her gaze; she couldn’t tell if the princess was being kind because she felt superior or not, and it made her suspicious. “I couldn’t remember the pattern,” she said. “That’s all.”

“Do you have a habit of forgetting things sometimes?” Celestia asked. Mavis was about to lash out when she followed up with. “Because I do too, sometimes. It comes with the territory of having a job as busy as mine.”

Mavis blinked; she wasn’t expecting her to say that. Her suspicion was melting away now. Celestia was proving herself to be trustworthy.

“Uh, no, I don’t,” she managed to say after a few seconds of awkward silence. “I can remember lots of things easily, like trucks’ arrangements and how I’m only allowed to go as far as Toby’s line, but for some reason, I couldn’t remember that pattern.”

“It may be because you’re not used to having a real brain,” Twilight suggested. “Now you have a lot more mental power to work with, but you might not be able to tap into it yet. Static visuals are easier to commit to memory than moving images, and am I correct in assuming you don’t have to memorize too many complicated motions for your job?’

Mavis shook her head. “No, I don’t.”

“That might explain it, then. It might be better if we take this in steps.” She giggled. “Pun not intended.”

“Pun?” Mavis asked.

“Not important, Sugarcube,” Applejack said, waving her hoof dismissively. “But Twilight’s right, we should take this in steps. Move your back left hoof forward first.”

Mavis did as instructed.

“Good,” Applejack said. “Now front left.”

Mavis followed suit.

“Now back right.”

Again, as instructed.

“And front right.”

Mavis completed the walk cycle, now a little closer to the ponies. She smiled proudly at her accomplishment. Applejack guided her through the cycle a couple more times, each try being successful. By the end of it, Mavis felt she’d committed the rhythm to memory. Twilight released her hold on Mavis and she tried it without guidance, successfully bringing her directly in front of the ponies. Her smile broadened.

“Well done, Mavis,” Celestia said with a smile.

Mavis became even more conceited.

“Now we need to teach you how to gallop,” Twilight said. “Basically, you just need to do that walk cycle, but put a lot more force into each step in order to move faster.” She grabbed Mavis with her magic again. “Try walking at first and transitioning into a gallop after a moment. That might make things easier to get a grip on.”

Mavis did as instructed. She started the walk cycle as before, walking a few laps around the room while she built her confidence. The nervous anticipation was discomforting to her, but another strange sensation compelled her to take a deep breath. She did so, exhaled, and instantly felt much better. She started putting more force into each step as instructed, picking up her speed while trying her best not to tip forward. Her hooves began pounding the hard floor. The air rushed past her as she flew around the room at Express speed. She smiled wider than she’d ever done before.

“Whoa, slow down there, girl!” Applejack said.

Mavis felt Twilight’s magic tug against her, prompting her to slow down before coming to a stop. She turned to see the ponies looking impressed.

“Glad to see yer so enthused, Mavis,” Applejack said with a coy grin.

“You took to that very quickly,” Celestia observed. “You’re very strong.”

Mavis couldn’t become any more conceited.

“The hard part is out of the way,” Twilight said. “Now all that’s left is to explain a few more things you need to know in order to blend in.” She turned her body so Mavis could see her side. “Notice the picture on my flank?”

Mavis took notice of the six-pointed purple symbol with several white objects surrounding it on Twilight’s flank. She looked at Applejack and Celestia, noticing they, too, had pictures on their flanks: a trio of apples for Applejack and the sun for Celestia. Mavis turned to look at her own flank, wondering if there would be a picture on it, but there wasn’t one. She turned back to Twilight, confused.

“They’re called cutie marks,” Twilight explained. “Basically, they appear whenever a pony discovers their purpose in life, but they can’t be fabricated, which is why your new body doesn’t have one.”

“Okay,” Mavis said after a moment of thought. “What does that mean?”

“Pretty much every adult pony has their cutie mark,” Applejack elaborated. “You’re gonna stick out like a sore hoof without one, so odds are you’ll be getting some weird stares from ponyfolk.”

Mavis didn’t like the sound of that.

“It shouldn’t be too much of a problem, though,” Twilight followed. “We've told everyone in Ponyville that you were going to be transformed into a pony. We won’t tell them you were originally a train; whether you want to tell anyone that is up to you. I wouldn’t if I were you, but we’ll leave that up to your discretion. We’ll need to tell our friends the truth, though, since we want everyone to be on the same page regarding you. Don’t worry, they’re trustworthy.”

Mavis didn’t understand every word Twilight said, but the basic meaning was clear. Anything to keep people from looking at her queerly was good with her. She nodded her understanding.

“Next up is a brief rundown of what you’ll be doin’ on my farm,” Applejack said. “It won’t be too hard, I promise, and I hope working under me won’t be as frustrating as what you seem to go through.”

Mavis smiled upon hearing that. Not having to work with confusing truck arrangements, or whatever the closest thing Applejack would have her do to it, would be amazing.

“The bulk of the work you’ll be doing is bucking apples from trees,” Applejack explained. “The rest of the work is small stuff: feeding the pigs, collecting eggs from the coop, etc. As long as you can move around and grip things you can do the work.”

Mavis didn’t know what pigs or a porch were, but the tasks didn’t sound too hard, at least, and Applejack was surely going to help her understand first before doing the work. All the sorrow she felt over losing her wheels was gone with the knowledge that she could still be useful, and even better, she would have lots of stories to tell to boast to Toby upon returning home.

“All right,” Twilight said, standing up off the chair, “that should cover all the necessary points for now. We’ll educate you as we move along, but for now, I think we’re ready to get a move on.”

“Where are we going?” Mavis asked.

“We live in Ponyville,” Applejack said. “It’s on the Equestrian Plains a few miles from the base of the Canterhorn. We and all our friends live there.”

“We can get there in about a half hour by chariot,” Twilight said, then turned to Celestia. “Is that alright, Princess?”

“Actually, Twilight,” Celestia replied, “I was thinking we should let Mavis ride on the Friendship Express.”

Twilight’s mouth twisted in confusion. “Really? Why?”

“I believe it would be a better learning experience for her,” Celestia explained. Mavis took note of the cheeky grin that split her muzzle. Her horn lit up and a small canvas bag popped into existence in front of Twilight, dropping to the floor and making her instinctively jump back. It clinked with the telltale metallic sound of money. “That should be enough for three train tickets going down and two more coming back up. Technically, Mavis is here as part of a government-officiated program, so the Crown will pay for all travel expenses.”

“Well, I guess it’d be okay,” Twilight said after a moment of silent contemplation. She turned to Mavis. “What do you think, Mavis?”

“Is the Friendship Express an engine’s name?” Mavis asked.

“It is,” Celestia said.

“It’s a queer name.”

Twilight and Applejack blanched at her response while Celestia’s lip curled up. Mavis suddenly got the feeling she’d said something bad.

“What is it?” she asked.

Celestia straightened her face. “It’s nothing, Mavis. Just use the word ‘weird’ in place of ‘queer’ while you’re here if you don’t want to get into trouble. Promise?”

Mavis didn’t understand what the problem with the word ‘queer’ was, but the last thing she wanted was to get in more trouble. “I promise,” she replied.

Twilight and Applejack came back to their senses. “I should warn you, though, Mavis,” Twilight spoke up worryingly, “that the Friendship Express isn’t like you or other trains on Sodor; it can’t talk.”

Mavis was taken aback. “Rubbish,” she said.

“Oh no, Mavis, it’s quite true,” Celestia said, her cheeky grin returning. “You’ll see for yourself very soon.”

“I hope you’ll be okay with it,” Twilight said, concerned.

“I still don’t believe it,” Mavis said stubbornly. The very idea of an engine which couldn’t talk was absurd.

“She’ll come around when she sees the train,” Celestia said, getting up out of her chair. “Now then, how about we get moving? Only so much time in the day, after all.”

Applejack smirked. “That’s your decision to make, Princess.”

“Applejack!” Twilight said, aghast.

Celestia giggled but didn’t respond. She strode over to the door and opened it with her magic. “Let us be on our way.”

Applejack and Twilight followed after her. “Come along, Mavis,” Applejack said. “Get those hooves workin’!”

Mavis fell into step behind them without a word. They made their way outside, and Mavis felt her jaw fall open when her eyes slightly tracked upwards. The ceiling above was tall. Tall as the sky. Were all buildings this enormous on the inside? Thomas’ story about crashing through the wall of a stationmaster’s house resurfaced in her mind, specifically the detail about his funnel not clearing the roof, and she quickly realized she was someplace special.

The corridor was smartly decorated, much like how things would be when the Queen came to Sodor. Light purple columns supported the structure inlaid with swirling designs and strange and colourful stained glass windows depicting queer, unfamiliar designs decorated the walls in between. The floor was lined with a strange, flat red object that felt very soft under Mavis’ hooves.

It was so strange, being inside a building made for people, nothing like her shed back in Ffarquhar. All kinds of strange sensations were assaulting her senses that she couldn’t understand. A part of her wanted to ask the ponies if that was a problem, but that idea was promptly shot down when she realized that amounted to asking for help. Help she definitely didn’t need.

Not right now, at least.

The ponies turned left down the corridor and Mavis followed silently behind. They made many turns and passed many armored guards and maids, all of whom threw surprised glances at Mavis, specifically, her flank. Mavis returned each glance with a scowl, to which they’d immediately turn their gazes forward.

Eventually, they descended a set of wide steps, coming to an intersection of red carpets leading to three different doorways. Mavis couldn’t see where the ones on either side led, but the one directly in front led outside. A pair of guards flanked the entrance on either side, who snapped a salute to the princess as the group approached. They, too, cast glances towards Mavis’ flank, but quickly fixed their expressions before she could show them her anger.

“What do you think of Canterlot Castle, Mavis?” Celestia asked, turning back to her with a smile.

“It’s different from what I’m used to,” Mavis replied honestly.

“The train station is on the other side of Canterlot,” Twilight said, also turning back to her. “Are you excited, Mavis?”

Mavis honestly didn’t know whether or not she truly was.

Chapter 3

The journey through Canterlot was overwhelming for Mavis. Extraordinary sights greeted her at every turn. Ponies of many different colors populated the city, chatting and working like the humans would on the rare occasions she traveled beyond the quarry. Upon leaving Canterlot Castle, she’d glanced back and was amazed by how incredibly massive it was, easily dwarfing every building on Sodor, as well as every other building she, Twilight, and Applejack passed on the streets. And she was walking on actual streets— they seemed to be constructed with rocks and cement. The other engines would never believe this if she told them!

Just like inside the castle, every now and then a pony would look her way and immediately set their eyes upon her flank. This irritated Mavis, but the sorrowful looks they would give her at least showed they weren’t mean. Cutie marks, as the ponies called them, were clearly important, so anyone who saw she didn’t have one would assume she wasn’t important. But the only thing she needed to be important was to be useful, and the way to be useful was to show she could work hard.

The three of them journeyed through the city for a short while before reaching what Mavis immediately recognized as a station platform. There wasn’t an engine present, but dozens of ponies were milling about, some with suitcases and various other luggage and even a couple of guards helping haul some around on a trolley. A clock on display near the ticket booth showed the time was nearing two o’clock. They made their way to the ticket booth and Twilight used the bag of money to purchase three tickets.

“Two-fifteen, that’s when our train arrives,” Twilight said as she floated Applejack and Mavis’ tickets to them— it took a second of fumbling with her hoof before Mavis decided to grab the ticket in her mouth. “Without any delays, we should arrive in Ponyville at around six o ‘clock.”

They wandered onto the platform amidst the crowd of ponies. The air was filled with the constant chatter of everyone. A funny-bad kind of feeling settled into Mavis’ stomach at how enclosed everything was, which was strange as she’d never had that problem before in her life. Ponies moved to and fro, bobbing around the three of them with their eyes focused ahead, but the thought that some of them were looking at her funny took root in Mavis’ mind all the same. She tried to suppress these worries, turning her attention instead to the tracks as they reached the edge of the platform.

The tracks looked no different from those on Sodor, but seeing them from this new perspective was both amazing and a little scary. Mavis instinctively took a step closer, only to feel something grab her tail, prompting a sharp yelp out of her. She turned to see Applejack spit out her tail.

“Land’s sakes, girl!” she said with both panic and annoyance. “You’re gonna get yourself killed if’n ya get too close at the wrong time.”

Mavis suddenly realized she’d done something wrong. “I’m sorry,” she quickly apologized. “I won’t do it again.”

“Now may be a good time to tell you this, Mavis;” Twilight said, “pony bodies aren’t as sturdy as trains. You can crash and derail and easily get fixed up, but ponies can’t, so make sure you don’t go anywhere ponies aren’t going. Okay?”

Mavis remembered what her driver said about humans not being fixable like she was; ponies weren’t any different, apparently. “Okay, Twilight,” she said around the ticket in her mouth. Secretly, however, the thought of doing some exploring on her own was appealing.

“Good to hear,” Twilight replied.

They waited in silence for the train to arrive after that. Finally, at exactly two-fifteen, the distant sounds of puffing smoke sounded through the station above the din of noise. The crowd’s chatter quieted as they turned to the left. A distant pink shape appeared around a bend, chuffs of smoke billowing into the air. The Friendship Express rolled into the station gradually, coming to a slow, controlled stop perfectly aligned with the platform.

The pink livery of the engine wasn’t what threw Mavis off the most, nor all the hearts built into its shape or the unusually tall funnel, but the complete lack of a face. In its place was an unlit headlamp. Mavis’ jaw dropped, the ticket falling to the ground.

The doors to the coaches opened and a steady stream of ponies spilled out, maneuvering through the crowd towards the station entrance or towards loved ones. An older stallion bumped Mavis, issuing an apology before continuing on his way. Mavis snapped from her trance and turned beside her to see that Twilight and Applejack were looking at her worryingly.

“It really doesn’t talk?” she said.

“Yep,” Applejack said as she picked up Mavis’ ticket and held it up for her to take. “Hope that won’t be a problem. Will it?”

Mavis took the ticket back. She looked down, her attention going elsewhere in order to organize her thoughts. It still didn’t make any sense that an engine couldn’t talk, but she couldn’t disbelieve her own eyes.

“I… don’t know. Everything is so strange.” She suddenly felt dizzy, her vision losing focus. “Why can’t I see!?”

“Calm down, Mavis,” Twilight soothed, resting a hoof on her withers. “Don’t think about it too hard and you’ll be fine. Just take it for granted that things work differently in this world, like trains not being able to talk.”

Mavis did as instructed, pushing all thoughts about the strangeness of everything around her out of her mind. She instantly felt better, her vision coming back into focus. “Thank you, Twilight,” she said.

Twilight just smiled.

“But why is the Friendship Express painted such a que— I mean, weird colour?” she asked.

“Probably so it stands out against the landscape in case it derails,” Twilight said.

“Oh, that makes sense,” Mavis said. Now that she thought about it, that might have been why the Fat Controller had all of his engines painted in such bright colours.

“What about you, Mavis?” Applejack asked. “Why’d they give ya that yellow-striped paint?”

“I don’t know,” Mavis replied. “I guess the Ffarquhar company decided upon it when they purchased me.”

“That actually sounds really bad taken out of context,” Applejack said, holding back a laugh.

“Why?” Mavis asked.

Twilight lightly jabbed Applejack in the withers, earning her an apologetic expression from the earth pony, and gave Mavis a sincere smile. “It looks nice on you,” she said.

“Thank you,” Mavis said with a smile. That was the second time these ponies had complimented her livery.

“All aboard!”

“Well, that’s our cue,” Twilight said.

The three of them joined the line of ponies looking to board the train. One by one, they gave their tickets to the guard who punched and returned them. Mavis giggled when she got her ticket back. She was going to be a passenger! She followed behind Twilight and Applejack into the coach and followed them down the aisle, taking a seat next to them when they sat down.

Mavis looked around, taking in all the sights of the coach interior. It wasn’t as colourful and smartly-kept as the interior of Canterlot Castle, but it was clearly well-maintained all the same. The cushion she was sitting on was soft and comfortable, and there was plenty of wiggle space between her and the others. The backrests had a swirling green design that she found very appealing. Lights were built into the walls throughout the coach, presumably for night trips. Mavis wondered how similar this all looked to coach interiors back on Sodor.

“You excited, Mavis?”

She turned to Applejack. “I’ve never thought about what it would be like to be a passenger before. Is there anything I need to know?”

“Nah, nah,” Applejack said, waving a dismissive hoof. “All ya gotta do is sit back and enjoy the ride, maybe look out the window and enjoy the sights while yer at it.”

Mavis nodded and turned to look out the window. Ponies were still filing into the train, the station clearing in turn. A few minutes later the doors to the coach closed and Mavis saw the guard walk past them toward the brakevan. Her anticipation built with each passing second. This would be yet another story the other engines would either never believe, or be supremely jealous of her over

Minutes passed and nothing happened. Mavis’ excitement slowly gave way to confusion. The train should have started by now unless something happened to the driver and fireman, or firepony she supposed was appropriate here. She glanced around the coach, noticing some of the other ponies were looking just as confused as she was, including Applejack and Twilight.

“What’s happening?” she asked them.

They shook their heads. “Some kind of delay,” Twilight said. “We just have to wait for them to sort it out.”

A few more minutes passed. The other passengers were getting noticeably antsy. Twilight, especially, with how her wings fidgeted every few seconds. Applejack’s brows furrowed in annoyance, which was more in line with how Mavis reacted whenever she felt similarly. She wondered if there were anything else ponies without wings did when they got impatient.

She looked out the window for a moment and caught a glimpse of a pony wearing dirty overalls galloping through the mostly empty station. His eyes were wide and panicked and he had a sandwich in his mouth.

Realization hit Mavis and she said, “Disgraceful.”

“What is it?” Applejack asked.

Mavis pointed out the window. The driver stayed in sight for a few more seconds before disappearing in the direction of the engine.

Applejack laughed. “Must’a lost track of time.”

“I’d be mad if my driver was ever late,” Mavis remarked. “The Fat Controller doesn’t like confusion and delay.”

“That makes sense,” Twilight said. “But it’s okay to make a few mistakes every now and then.”

Mavis looked downcast, thinking back to some of the silly things she’d done in the past. Most of the time whenever she acted out of line she was scolded by either her manager or the Fat Controller very severely. But then there was the time one of her mistakes almost sent Toby, his driver, and fireman off a broken bridge into a raging river before she rescued them, and the Fat Controller hardly acknowledged it. She never understood what made that time different from the rest.

The train took off a few minutes later. The station gave way to the bustling streets of Canterlot, then green foliage, and finally the rocky face of the mountain. Mavis kept her eyes rooted to the window the entire time, enjoying the new point of view. Then everything suddenly turned dark. She let out a small yelp, but quickly realized they were in a tunnel and relaxed. The lights built into the walls came on a moment later, allowing her to see everything again.

“Scared?” Applejack said.

Mavis shook her head. “No, I was just surprised; I don’t go into tunnels very often.”

The train exited the tunnel a few minutes later and the lights went off as sunlight filtered through the windows again. A sprawling green landscape stretched far into the distance outside the window. Distant farmland and cities dotted the land, little puffs of smoke rising from chimneys in tiny villages. Unlike Sodor, Mavis couldn’t see any visible roads, only a sparse few rail lines leading to most of the settlements. She did see a few dirt trails, but nothing made from cement meant for cars or buses. That was sure to delight her friends back home once she told them.

Then her jaw dropped. Off in the distance, way up in the sky, she saw the outline of a city resting upon a giant cloudbank. The buildings were as white as the cloud itself, which made her think it was just part of the cloud and it was shaped oddly at first, but a closer look revealed distant shapes flying to and fro. The thought that they were birds at first was squashed when she realized she wouldn’t be able to see birds from this distance.

“Applejack? Twilight?”

They met her gaze. “What’s up, Mavis?” Applejack asked.

Mavis pointed out the window. “What’s that on top of the cloud?’

Applejack peered out the window. “Oh, that’s Cloudsdale,” she explained. “It’s the home to a lot of pegasus ponies and the center of weather control for all of Equestria.”

Mavis blinked. “What?”

“Actually, that reminds me;” Twilight spoke up, “we still need to explain the differences between all the different pony races to you.”

“What did you mean by ‘weather control’?”

“We’ll get to that, don’t you worry,” Applejack promised.

Mavis huffed, not liking her question being brushed off.

“First of all,” Twilight started, bringing a wing in front of her, “there are a total of four pony races—” she ticked the list off using her wing feathers, “—pegasus ponies, that can fly and make and control weather; unicorns, that can utilize far more varied and complex magic with their horns; earth ponies, that have incredible strength and agricultural skills; finally, alicorns combine the talents of all three types, and there exist only four in total: Princess Celestia, her sister Princess Luna, my sister-in-law Princess Cadence, and finally myself. You got all that?”

Mavis slowly nodded. It was a lot to take in, but she understood everything she was told. “So, then you turned me into an earth pony?”

“That’s right!” Twilight said gleefully. “Specifically, your body is modeled after Applejack’s, so your strength is equal to hers.”

“I don’t like to gloat, but I like to keep in shape what with all the work I do on the farm,” Applejack said, holding her chin up proudly. “So you’ve got some real legs of steel there.” She pointed at Mavis’ legs.

Mavis looked down at her legs. “They used to be steel,” she said sadly.

“Oh, uh, sorry, Mavis,” Applejack said. “I didn’t mean it like that; it was just a metaphor.”

Mavis met her gaze. “A what?”

“Not important,” Twilight said with a dismissive wave. “Basically, you’ll be using your legs a lot for your work over the next week.”

“It takes a strong pair of legs to properly buck apples off from their trees,” Applejack explained. “So you’re good to go on that front, but I’ll make sure to train you on the best techniques for the job.”

“Well, thank you,” Mavis said, but secretly she figured she wouldn’t need much help. How difficult could it be to shake apple trees? “Is there anything else I need to know?”

“A few things, yes,” Twilight said. “We’ll be staying by your side to help you get used to your new bodily functions. There are two important ones we still need to educate you on: eating and excreting. But we’ll fill you in on those later.” She smiled. “Right now, let’s just talk. I’d love to know more about what life is like for you on Sodor. I’ve heard some things from Thomas already, but new perspectives are nice to have.”

Mavis cast her gaze upward in thought for a moment, thinking about what interesting stories she had to tell them. No way was she going to tell them about the accident that got her here in the first place. But thinking over it some, she couldn’t recall a time where she’d done something that made her particularly proud, at least, not without some detail which she was embarrassed about in hindsight. But it was better than nothing, she supposed.

“Well, one time I saved Toby and his crew from plunging off a bridge into a raging river,” she said proudly.

“Wait, really!?” Twilight said with a gasp.

“You saved your friend from dying?” Applejack questioned. “Or, I guess being scrapped would be more fitting, huh?”

Mavis smiled; she was feeling very important right then. “I did. He was pulling a goods train along his line when the trucks bumped him at a level crossing. He got pushed all the way onto a bridge that had collapsed because the river was overflooding. The rails were almost completely gone; he compared it to walking a tightrope. I brought some workmen and helped get Toby to safety.”

“Wow that’s amazing,” Twilight breathed.

“Do y’all get bumped often?” Applejack asked.

“Well, no, but…” She cast her gaze downward. Now she was feeling more ashamed than important. “They were supposed to bump me because I was originally supposed to take the train and I asked them to.”

There was a moment of silence before Twilight asked, “Why would you ask them to do that?”

“Because I wanted to see more of Toby’s line,” Mavis explained. She peeked her gaze up, feeling relieved to see they weren’t looking at her disapprovingly. “But using his line makes my job so much easier! I was just a little curious!”

“Hey, hey, relax Mavis,” Applejack said, holding her hooves up. “I ain’t gonna judge you. Bein’ honest is all I need outta you.”

Mavis took a deep, calming breath. “Sorry,” she said.

“I think it’s admirable that you’re willing to admit to your mistakes, Mavis,” Twilight said with a smile. “It shows you’ve got a good heart and are trustworthy. That’s the kind of person that I’d want to have as a friend.”

Mavis felt a small tingly feeling in her stomach. She remembered Twilight and Applejack saying something about that indicating happiness, which she was definitely feeling right now. “Thank you,” she said softly.

There was another stretch of silence before Applejack said, “Well, how about we take a turn tellin’ some stories? I’d hope ya find them interestin’.”

Mavis nodded. “I’ll listen.”

The rest of the train ride was spent with Twilight and Applejack telling Mavis stories of their lives both before and after they became friends. There were a lot of things they mentioned that she couldn’t make sense of, like the ‘Elements of Harmony’, or things she thought sounded like rubbish such as ‘Nightmare Moon’ and ‘eternal night’ but didn’t voice her disbelief. Right now she was just happy to have friends in this strange new world with her strange new body. She wasn’t going to do or say anything to risk that.

Chapter 5

Mavis opened her eyes the same as any other day. Everything was unusually quiet. No birdsong. No sounds of machinery. The air wasn’t as stuffy as her shed typically was. Then her memories of the previous day came flooding back and she rolled over seemingly out of her control, falling off of the bed onto her side.

“Ah!” she cried upon hitting the floor, before following up with, “oooow...”

She lay on the floor for a few minutes in too much pain to attempt to move anything and on the verge of crying. It felt like a truckload of rocks had slammed into her side with how much it hurt. Pony bodies weren’t any more durable than engine frames, it seemed. She mustered up the courage to try hoisting herself up, but a sharp spike of pain shot through her making her cry out again.

A single tear ran down Mavis’ face. She stayed as still as possible, afraid of feeling more pain. She stayed that way for several minutes, her eyes looking under the bed. Through the fear clouding her mind she noticed lots of dust littering the space underneath the bed. That wasn’t good, she was positive. Dust was the people equivalent of soot for steam engines. Mavis’ assumption was confirmed as she took in a whiff of air to breathe, feeling something tickle the inside of her nose. She opened her mouth, eyes closing as she felt a great sneeze building up before releasing it in a mighty achoo!

Mavis recovered from the sneeze with a groan. Something was dripping down from her nose, and looking down at the floor revealed a streak of some slimy stuff that had, apparently, come out of her nostrils. She reached a hoof up to wipe her face clean, only to gawk when the stuff stuck to the fur of her leg. She remembered Applejack’s instructions to use the shower whenever she got dirty, but that meant getting up.

At first, Mavis was reluctant but quickly realized she had to get up eventually. She started with her front left hoof, planting it firmly on the ground, following up with her right front hoof. Gritting her teeth, she twisted her entire body to straighten out. To her surprise and even greater relief, the pain in her side wasn’t as bad as before. She pushed through it easily, straightening out and using her rear hooves to stand herself up.

She smiled in triumph before turning and making her way to the door. She opened it and peeked her head outside. None of the Apple family was in the hall, but she heard the distant sounds of metallic clatter coming from downstairs. They must’ve been preparing breakfast then, which meant she needed to shower before she could join them. She made her way down the hall to the bathroom, opening it to find no one inside.

She pulled aside the shower curtains, stepped inside, and closed them. Everything she needed to clean herself was here: water, soap, shampoo, and a scrub brush. She could do this. She turned the nozzle, fumbling with it a little before managing to push it over to ‘Warm’. The water came rushing fast, startling her for a moment, but she quickly settled down and got to work scrubbing herself clean. The soap and suds felt extra soft against her pony body compared to her engine frame. She did as Applejack instructed, lathering the scrub brush with soap and scrubbing one body part at a time before rinsing and repeating the process. Reaching parts of her back proved to be extra difficult, forcing her to put the scrub brush in her mouth and use it that way, which put a little strain in her neck that she wasn’t happy with. Her mane proved to be easier to scrub with shampoo; there was something about lathering it with her hooves that rekindled her happiness, and she spent a little extra time doing it as a result.

Once her entire body was clean she turned off the water and stepped out of the shower, grabbing an unused towel off the rack and beginning to dry herself off. Quickly. The sudden change in temperature between the steamy hot shower and the bathroom made her teeth chatter. She rubbed the towel over every part of her body, drying them off as best she could. Her mane and tail took extra time, and once she was done Mavis took a brief look in the mirror, frowning at the sight of how messy they were. A little voice in the back of her mind told her it made her look undignified, but Applejack had never told her anything about keeping it straight last night.

Mentally shrugging, Mavis stepped out into the hall and started for the stairs. Sizzling sounds reached her ears and a strange scent reached her nostrils. She took a whiff and smiled at how pleasant it was. She came down the rest of the way with a little more spring in her step and turned into the kitchen. Applejack was standing at the ‘stove’, flipping round little foodstuffs into the air before they landed back into a circular black pan. Mavis still hadn’t learned the names of many of these devices people used in their day to day lives, and there were probably too many for her to learn all their names anyway. The rest of the Apple family was sitting around at the table, Granny Smith reading a newspaper and Big Mac and Apple Bloom sitting patiently, waiting for breakfast.

She stepped forward, and Apple Bloom turned around. “Oh, hiya Mavis!” she said.

Applejack turned around to look at her, as did everyone else. “Heavy sleeper are ya?” she said with a laugh. “Was jus’ about ta have Apple Bloom head on up to fetch you ‘fore we heard the water runnin’? Did you have a good night’s sleep?”

Mavis nodded. “I did,” she said simply.

“Go on and take a seat, Mavis,” Applejack told her, “breakfast is almost ready.”

Mavis took the only unoccupied seat right between Apple Bloom and Granny Smith and straight across from Big Mac. The red stallion was looking out the nearest window, so at first, Mavis didn’t think much of it. Then, as Applejack was bringing the food over Mavis saw his gaze briefly flicker over to her, only to quickly dart away upon noticing she was looking right at him. A strange feeling she couldn’t comprehend rose in Mavis’ chest to her slight alarm, but before she could voice her concern, Applejack set the food on the table.

“Eat up, everypony!” she announced, taking her own seat. “Hope you like these flapjacks, Mavis.”

Mavis opened her mouth to respond, to try to voice her concern, but couldn’t. A brief glance to Big Mac showed he’d shifted his gaze away from the window onto his food, seemingly paying her no attention whatsoever. Mavis narrowed her eyes, thinking this was some kind of trick, but Big Mac just started digging into his food. The strange feeling in her had subsided, so Mavis just rolled her eyes and looked at the food being served.

The ‘flapjacks’ were flat and light brown, smelled delicious, and were easy to eat judging from everyone else. She grabbed the flat object used to serve the flapjacks in her mouth and stacked a few onto her plate. Everyone else was using the smaller, metallic objects next to their plates to break off chunks of the food and stuff them into their mouths, occasionally taking gulps of the orange liquid in their glasses all the while. Mavis grabbed her own metallic objects and tried copying their methods. She was surprised by how easy it was to keep a firm grip as she cut off a piece of flapjack, bringing it to her mouth. She chewed for a moment, judging the taste. It was different from the cupcakes from last night; she didn’t feel a burst of pleasure in her mouth, more like a simple, calm satisfaction. She took another bite, savouring the taste and swallowing.

“Want some syrup, Mavis?” Applejack asked through a mouthful of food, holding up a small canister. “It’ll make them taste better if you want?”

Mavis nodded.

Applejack leaned over and dumped a strange, sticky liquid all over her flapjacks. Mavis scrunched her face, thinking the ‘syrup’ looked unappealing.

Applejack must’ve noticed her expression, as she said, “Trust me, you’ll love it,” before returning to her own plate.

Mavis looked down at the now syrup-laden flapjacks, unsure whether Applejack was being truthful. She and the rest of her family were eating their food with syrup just fine, though, so maybe she could too. She cut off a syrup-laden chunk of food and stuck it in her mouth. All at once her mouth burst with pleasure, very similar to the cupcakes from last night. Mavis chewed and swallowed at Express speed. She began breaking off bigger and bigger chunks of her food, practically shoveling them into her mouth and barely giving herself any time to breathe. The world around her was wiped from existence as all her attention focused on the rapidly shrinking flapjacks on her plate. Syrup smeared her lips and even the tip of her muzzle. Small chunks of food flew around her onto the table and floor.

Finally, the plate was cleared. Mavis leaned back in her chair, letting out a contented sigh. “That was good,” she said, closing her eyes.

There was silence for a couple of seconds before the entire room burst into laughter, making Mavis jump and nearly fall out of her chair. She looked around to see that everyone, with the exception of Big Mac — who seemed to be trying to hold back his laughter — was doubled over in their chairs, laughing uncontrollably. Mavis blinked, unsure what was happening at first before remembering last night, how Applejack’s friends laughed at her for making a mess of her face by eating the cupcake. She quickly grabbed the napkin next to her plate and began wiping away the syrup from her face. This proved to be an issue as, rather than coming off as the cupcake did, parts of the napkin tore away and stuck to her face with the syrup. Mavis scowled, putting the napkin back down and using her hooves to try to wipe her face clean.

Applejack was the first to calm down, wiping some tears out of her eyes. “I’m glad I forgot to teach ya table manners! I haven’t laughed so much in a while!”

Mavis scowled and tried wiping her face harder, to no avail.

“Wait, wait,” Apple Bloom said, coming out of her laughter, “she don’t know table manners? Is that right, Mavis?”

Mavis didn’t respond, trying to free her hoof from her sticky muzzle, growling with the effort.

“Oh yeah, that reminds me, I still gotta tell y’all some things about Mavis,” Applejack said, and the rest of her family turned their attention to her, all while Mavis continued trying to scrub the syrup out of her coat.

“You all remember that one time we got visited by royalty from another world?” The Apples nodded. “Mavis also comes from another world, but Twilight turned her into a pony so she could work on the farm.”

“Wow, really!?” Apple Bloom exclaimed. “Is that really true, Mavis?”

Mavis paused her efforts to respond with a simple, “Yes.” So Applejack hadn’t told her family about where she came from. She noticed Big Mac’s expression deflate when she answered. The same strange feeling from before shot through her chest, but Mavis was too preoccupied with cleaning her face to give it much thought.

“If ye weren’t a pony then what were ya girl?” Granny Smith asked.

“Now hold on, Granny,” Applejack cut in, “I’m only tellin’ y’all so you can help Mavis fend off curious ponyfolk, not to be curious ponyfolk yourselves. What Mavis was originally is confidential because we don’t wanna have everypony houndin’ her with questions.”

“Oh, sorry,” Apple Bloom said with a sad face.

Mavis waved a dismissive hoof. On a whim, she moved her tongue up to her muzzle and licked at the syrup. To her surprise and relief, this seemed to do the job, as part of the syrup came off on her tongue. She began lapping away at all the syrup splotches covering her face, only stopping after a few moments when she thought she heard her name being called.

“What?” she asked, turning to everyone.

“I asked you what kinda work you did before coming here?” Apple Bloom said.

“I worked in a quarry.”

“Really? Pinkie Pie’s sister Maud does too. You love rocks?”

“Not really. I just move them around where they need to be.” She was careful not to use words that would directly expose her identity as an engine. Being hounded with questions didn’t sound fun at all. “Sometimes I move other things like coal and slate. I like the work; it makes me feel important.”

“I hear you, girl,” Apple Bloom said before looking at Applejack disgruntled. “I wish somepony would trust me with important things more often.”

“Hey, I let you take over for me when I left for a month to go to Elibe, remember?” Applejack replied in protest.

“Yeah, and that was it,” Apple Bloom replied back.

Mavis continued licking the syrup off of her face. Once she was finished with that, she reached over and gulped down her entire drink at once. She wanted to start the day’s work as soon as possible, and since ponies relied on food to make them strong, she’d need as much as she could get to make sure she performed well.

The Apple siblings argued for a few more minutes before Granny Smith told them to ‘pipe down’ and finish their food. The rest of the meal passed without much talking. Every now and then Mavis would catch Big Mac looking at her from the corner of her eyes, and each and every time he would immediately shy his gaze away. A part of her was wondering if Big Mac was sick in a way that only people got, but realized if that was the case, then one of the other Apples would’ve said something. She decided it wasn’t worth thinking about, at least right now.

Once breakfast was over the dishes were cleared from the table and Apple Bloom and Granny Smith brought them over to the sink to begin washing them. Applejack and Big Mac led an excited Mavis outside to show her around the farm and orchard. She didn’t know what to expect, never having seen a farm on Sodor before. She did like how spacious everything was judging from last night.

Applejack and Big Mac quickly showed her all the places around the farm she would be frequenting over the next week: the chicken coup, the pig pens, the barn, the Apples’ personal garden where they grew their own food, and finally the vast apple orchard. All the little farm animals seemed to be wary of Mavis, judging by how they backed away in their pens upon seeing her. Mavis felt annoyed by this, but Applejack assured her they’d come around after she showed she meant them no harm.

Harvesting apples from the orchard was the most important aspect of working on Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack explained, as it was where the Apple family’s ‘finances’ came from. Mavis’ excitement continuously rose as she was led into a section of trees closest to the barn. They stopped a small distance away from the treeline in front of a particularly wide tree. Applejack stepped up to the tree and faced Mavis.

“Here’s how we harvest our apples,” she said. She raised her hind legs and, almost too fast to see, shot them at the tree’s trunk. The resulting strike visibly shook the tree and a few seconds later a whole bushel of apples fell to the ground. “Give it a try, Mavis.”

Mavis made an ‘o’ with her mouth, admiring the technique. “Okay.” She walked over next to Applejack and turned around. The beating in her chest was picking up again, but she ignored it. She furrowed her eyebrows in concentration before shooting out her hooves as best she could to imitate Applejack. They hit hard, but the tree didn’t visibly shake. Mavis waited eagerly for apples to fall down, but none did. Frowning, she struck the tree again, harder. Nothing happened again. She scowled and hit the tree with all the force as she could muster, but still, nothing came down.

“Grrrraaaaaagh!” Mavis wailed.

Applejack laughed then said, “It ain’t easy fer a first timer.”

Mavis growled at the tree. She tried again and again, pounding the tree as hard as she would when shunting trucks. Harder, even. The amount of force she was applying probably would have been enough to snap a truck’s brakes apart, but all she ever managed to knock down were a couple of leaves. Soon her legs were aching too hard for her to stand, forcing her to slump over on her forehooves. Her tongue hang out and she panted heavily as exhaustion overtook her. Even as a pony she could be overworked, it seemed.

Big Mac came over and knelt down so they were eye level with each other. “You okay, Mavis?” he asked.

Mavis nodded. Big Mac reached a hoof down and she accepted it, levering herself to stand back up. She spent the next couple minutes waiting for her strength to come back and her legs to stop aching.

“Why couldn’t I do it?” she asked once her breath came back.

“Might be ‘cause ya ain’t attuned to your new earth pony magic,” he suggested. “Can you feel it in yer hooves?”

Mavis looked down at her hooves. She tried moving one, thinking that it might help her understand what Big Mac was talking about. Nothing seemed unusual.

“This body still feels strange to me,” she said. “What does it feel like?”

“Not really sure how to describe it in words,” Big Mac said with a shrug. “It’s about as plain as movin’ limbs fer me, so I guess ya just gotta grow into it.”

Hearing that didn’t lift Mavis’ spirits at all. She cast her gaze downward in disappointment, only to perk up when she felt Big Mac’s hoof on her withers. She lifted her gaze to look at his smiling face.

“Let’s go do some other chores in the meantime, okay?” he suggested. “Maybe you’ll feel yer magic by then.”

The funny feeling in her chest came back and warmth started building in her cheeks. Her body felt stiff under his soft, kind gaze. The beating in her chest was picking up yet again. She managed to open her mouth a little, but no words came out. All these sensations coming at once terrified her. What if she was the one who was sick?

Big Mac took his hoof off of her and all at once Mavis felt everything return to normal. “Y-yes,” she said. “That sounds good.”

“I’ll help her around the farm, then,” Applejack said, trotting over to them. “Why don’t you gather today’s stock, Big Mac?”

“You sure, sis?” he replied. “You’re almost as good at applebuckin’ as me.”

“‘Almost’, huh?” Applejack replied with a cheeky grin. “Wouldn’t that make you better-suited fer the job, then?”

“Yeah, but I—”

“I want Applejack to help me!” Mavis said suddenly.

Both siblings flinched at her sudden outburst. They looked at her questioningly, but Mavis didn’t care.

“Well, if that’s what you want, Sugarcube,” Applejack said before turning toward the farm. “Let’s giddy on up quick and get the chores done so we can get to the market fast.”

“Of course,” Mavis said, and followed after her. She spared a single glance back at Big Mac, seeing him looking sad before turning around and heading out of sight behind a tree. The strange sensations always happened around him, so she would have to stay away from him as much as possible to avoid getting sick.

The better part of the morning was spent with Applejack bringing Mavis back to all of the places she’d shown her earlier, except this time actually doing all the things she’d mentioned. The animals were about as welcoming to her as they’d been before, but a little food given from Mavis’ own hoof was enough to warm them up to her a little.

Feeding the pigs proved easy, but Mavis blanched at how messy her hooves got having to trudge through the pig pen to dump the food in the slough. Only Applejack’s promise of a good outdoor shower kept her from complaining too much. Extracting eggs from the chicken coup was an interesting if uncomfortably cramped task. Having to burrow her way into the small coup and delicately collect the newly laid eggs was tricky for her to try since she still hadn’t mastered the use of her new hooves yet. Applejack took care of the bulk of the collecting, but Mavis was still required to collect a fair amount. She managed fine enough, but there were a couple of times where she nearly dropped an egg, making her feel guilty when Applejack had to tell her to be careful. Planting new seeds in the Apples’ personal crop was a simple matter, but Mavis was annoyed again by how dirty it got her hooves.

All the while she worked, Mavis kept thinking about what Big Mac said about ‘not being attuned’ to her new magic. She wondered if it was anything like the instincts she had for moving her body, where she just needed to want it bad enough for the control to make itself known. She considered asking Applejack for help a number of times but decided against it. She preferred to figure it out on her own.

The sun was hanging high overhead by the time they were done with their chores. Mavis was the happiest she’d been in days when Applejack brought her over to the garden hose and showed her how to rinse herself off. Feeling the water spray over her hooves, washing the mud and gunk away was a pleasantly familiar sensation. Working in a quarry tended to get her sideplates especially dirty, and she’d always love it when the workmen sprayed her clean, making her feel fresh and important. Anything that helped remind her of Sodor was wholly welcome to her.

“Can I try hitting the tree again?” she asked Applejack once they’d both finished cleaning themselves off.

“You wanna try applebucking again, huh? Sure. Big Mac’s probably done by now, but a little more practice for ya ain’t a bad idea.”

They hurried away from the barn and made their way back to the orchard. They found Big Mac a little further ways in than where they’d left him, finishing up a column of apple trees. He stepped up to the last tree in the column and turned around, shooting a single hind leg out to strike the trunk. An entire bushel of apples showered down around him and he began picking them up in his teeth and dropping them into a nearby wooden bucket.

Mavis’ jaw dropped, amazed at how utterly easy Big Mac had brought down the apples. A part of her was jealous, but another, bigger part of her admired how strong he was, how easy he made such hard work look. Then the funny feeling in her chest came back and her cheeks started heating up again. Mavis opened her mouth with the intent to cry out, but all that came out was a choked gasp.

“Something wrong, Mavis?”

Mavis shook her head a little too rapidly. “I-I’m fine,” she lied. She seriously considered asking Applejack for help again, but if she really was sick than that would mean she’d have to go to the Works or whatever the equivalent was for ponies, and that would mean she couldn’t prove herself to be reliable and useful to the Fat Controller.

“If you say so,” Applejack said with a shrug. “So, ya think you can bring down some apples?”

“I’ll try,” Mavis said, feeling her resolve return to her.

She approached the nearest tree and turned around. Over and over in her head, she repeated to herself how much she wanted to use the magic. Something poked up from the depths of her mind, a presence different from her previous instincts. This had a more definite shape, something like a flowing river coursing through her. It was strange, yet comforting. She focused on that river, trying to connect to it. It traveled the length of her body, gathering in her hooves. She raised them and, with all her strength, struck out at the tree.

The tree shook under the force of her blow. A few leaves fell from the branches. Mavis turned her head around, excitedly searching for any fallen apples. She saw nothing. But before she could feel sad her attention was diverted by something smacking her on the head.

“Ow!” she said before reaching a hoof up to rub the spot that was hit.

“Well hot dang, Mavis!” Applejack said with glee. “Ya did it!”

Mavis looked at her confused for a moment before looking to where the other mare was pointing with her hoof. Her eyes widened and her muzzle split into a broad smile. The pain in her head was instantly forgotten at the sight of a single, bright red apple lying on the ground by her hooves.

“I did it!” she cried with joy. She picked up the apple in her hooves and stared at it. This was the first step toward her redemption, and now that she could make use of her magic, the rest of the journey would surely be a breeze.

“Well, good to see you’ve got the hang of it, at least a little,” Applejack said. She walked over to a full bucket under a nearby tree and lifted it up onto her back. “We can practice more later. Right now we gotta get our stock washed up and brought to the marketplace. Ya wanna come with me into town to help?”

“That sounds great,” Mavis replied

“Then grab a bucket and let’s head back,” Applejack said, turning in the direction of the barn.

Mavis quickly grabbed a bucket from another tree and hoisted it onto her back, struggling a bit under the thing’s surprisingly immense weight. Balancing it on her back proved a bit easier than craning it with her neck, but it put a horrid strain on her for the entire trip back down to the barn. It was a reminder that she hadn’t mastered her new earth pony magic just yet.

They reached the barn in a few minutes’ time and returned to the garden hose where they began working to spray clean all of the apples. According to Applejack, food wasn’t good to eat if it got dirty, but only some foods, like apples, could be washed off without going bad. Diesel oil could potentially go bad, too— yet another interesting similarity between ponies’ and engines’ ways of life.

Once all the apples were washed off they made their way around the barn towards the front gate where the supply cart was. Mavis smiled. The day had been going well so far in regards to her ability to contribute to the Apple family’s workload. She only needed to learn how to better utilize her magic and she’d be well on her way to earning her redemption in the Fat Controller’s eyes. Her gloom from the previous day was well and truly gone; she was now in good spirits.

She and Applejack turned a corner and all the joy was instantly sapped out of her. Her eyes fell on the pony hitched to the supply cart, a sinking feeling settling in her stomach.

Big Mac.

Chapter 6

Mavis stopped dead in her tracks. The weight of the bucket on her back seemed to fade away as all the symptoms she’d come to fear as meaning she was sick returned in greater force than before. Just the simple act of spying Big Mac in her field of vision was enough to do it. Now she was realizing how impossible it was to avoid him for the rest of the week.

“Mavis, you sure you’re alright?”

She met Applejack’s concerned gaze. “I-I’m fine,” she lied. “But do you think maybe we could go into town just the two of us?”

Applejack quirked an eyebrow, glancing briefly at her brother before saying, “Huh, guess Big Mac wants ta run the stall today fer some reason. You’re saying ya wanna do it with me instead?”

Mavis nodded.

“Why?”

“I just want to, okay!” Mavis cried.

“Hey hey, no need to yell,” Applejack admonished. “If’n you wanna spend some more time with me, that’s fine, but there’s no need to be rude, you hear?”

The stern glare Applejack was giving her reminded Mavis far too much of the Fat Controller. She wilted under the stare, all her mounting troubles melting away to the guilt rising within her over how she’d acted.

“I’m sorry,” she said softly, casting her gaze down.

A moment passed before she felt Applejack’s hoof on her withers, and she looked up into the other mare’s smiling face.

“Apology accepted, Sugarcube,” she said, then turned toward Big Mac. “I’ll clear things up with my brother in a jiff, just sit tight here.”

She walked briskly over to her brother. Mavis watched as they conversed for a minute before Big Mac unhitched himself from the cart, gave her his saddlebag and began heading in the direction of the farmhouse. On the way, he spared Mavis a smile which she was too distracted by her symptoms to respond to. Only when he disappeared into the farmhouse did she find the strength to move, quickly joining Applejack as she hitched herself to the supply cart after loading in her bucket.

“We’ll be going the same way we came,” Applejack explained as Mavis unloaded her bucket into the cart and she strapped on the saddlebag. “‘Cause it’s yer first day I won’t make ya pull the cart, but count on doing it sometime this week. We’ll be at the market stall ‘til around three o’ clock before we pack up and do some errands. After that, we come back home and rest and eat and eventually go to sleep. That sound like a pleasant time fer a workaholic like you?” She laughed.

“Eheh, of course,” Mavis replied. It did sound fun and important, but she wasn’t too thrilled about their eventual return to Sweet Apple Acres and inevitable encounter with Big Mac.

Without any further word, the two of them set off through the front gate and down the dirt road. Mavis tried to put all thoughts of Big Mac out of her mind and enjoy the scenery around them. Now that it was bright and sunny out, the vibrant greens of the surrounding hills and fields were clearly visible. Off in the distance, she saw the proud sight of Canterlot resting alongside the mountain, towering over the land. Mavis tried to relish in the beautiful sights but struggled. Knowing that she could potentially be sick whenever she spied Big Mac and that she’d inevitably be seeing him many times as long as she was here was too great a worry for her to overcome.

It wasn’t until the distant buildings of Ponyville had peeked over an approaching hill that Mavis wondered whether it was worth keeping silent. Every time she saw Big Mac, her symptoms only got worse and worse, making her feel more and more miserable. If she told Applejack what was happening, she might have to go to the Works, but maybe she’d be given another chance to prove herself reliable and useful. Engines got sick from time to time, and the Fat Controller never held it against them just because it made his job a little more difficult. Maybe the same would hold true here.

“Applejack?”

The other mare turned to face her. “What’s up?”

This was it, now or never. “I lied earlier; I actually haven’t been feeling very well lately.”

“Oh, I already knew that.”

“What?” Mavis said, aghast.

Applejack chuckled. “Takes a lot fer somepony to slip a lie past me. I knew something was wrong with ya, but it ain’t polite ta pester somepony unless it’s somethin’ really big. I figured you’d tell me if and when you were ready to.”

Mavis felt a little indignant by her response but chose not to show it. “Well, whenever I see Big Mac, I feel hot and miserable.”

“Oh? What d’ya mean?”

“I get a strange feeling in my chest and my cheeks heat up in a way that’s different from having a good batch of oil inside me. Every time I see him it gets worse and worse and I’m afraid it means I’m sick and that I’ll have to get fixed and won’t be able to prove how reliable and useful I am to the Fat Controller.”

Applejack just stared blankly for a few moments while Mavis took a moment to catch her breath. Then her lips curled and she snorted out a laugh while a single tear rolled down her face.

“Applejack?” Mavis said, confused.

Applejack burst out laughing. She stopped the cart and sat down on her rump, holding her hooves to her chest as her laughter filled the previously silent country air. Mavis’ expression turned bemused. Applejack continued laughing for a long while, trying and failing several times to control herself, all the while Mavis watched on with increasing frustration. A part of her wondered if physically striking a person was just as dangerous as running into another engine because doing that would surely get Applejack to stop laughing. She decided it would be better not to risk it.

Finally, Applejack calmed down when she seemed to have run out of air. She wiped a few tears from her eyes, took a deep, calming breath, got back up on her hooves and faced Mavis with a cheeky grin.

“I feel like I’m becoming a surrogate mother for ya, Sugarcube,” she said, forcing back another round of laughter.

“Surrogate… mother?” Now Mavis was confused again. “What’s that?”

Applejack waved her off. “Don’t worry about it, none. Sounds ta me like having an organic, breathing body is coming with all the same emotions and such.” Her grin grew a little wider. “You’ve got a crush on my brother.”

Mavis was still confused. “What’s a crush? Does it mean I’m sick? Am I going to have to go to the Works to be mended?”

“Of course not, girl!” Applejack laughed again, more heartily this time. “You’re perfectly fine, trust me. I’ll tell ya what: if it keeps happening and ya really wanna know more about it, ask me an’ I’ll tell ya all you need to know. Sound good?”

It felt like an invisible weight had been lifted off of Mavis, replaced by immense relief. “Okay, that’s good to know. Thank you, Applejack.”

“Sure thing. Now let’s get moving again before everypony leaves the market.”

Now that her worry was quelled, for the time being, Mavis was able to enjoy the scenery of Ponyville’s outskirts for the rest of the journey. Rolling hills were a welcome new sight, as much as she didn’t mind always working in the quarry. At one point, she even stopped to admire some flowers growing alongside the road. Sunflowers, Applejack called them. They looked pretty and even smelled nice when Applejack encouraged her to take a whiff. She could smell as an engine, but she rarely smelled much else besides oil and on a couple of occasions the salty brine of the sea.

Eventually, they made their way into Ponyville itself. The first thing Mavis noticed was how much more bustling the streets were in the day. Ponies shopped, played together, talked practically everywhere she looked. A couple of ponies they passed waved greetings to Applejack as they passed, also giving Mavis a friendly ‘hello’ or ‘hi’ or ‘hey’. A couple of them noticed she didn’t have a cutie mark and passed with pitiful glances, but Mavis didn’t pay them any mind.

The market itself proved to be a hassle to navigate, especially compared to the rest of the town. Mavis had to constantly bob and weave around ponies balancing shopping bags on their backs to make sure she didn’t bump into them and spill their purchased goods. The air was filled with a hundred peoples’ chatter, of customers asking questions and vendors trying to make sales, forcing Applejack to shout to be heard by Mavis. Going from the quiet countryside to the noisy marketplace wasn’t pleasant, and Mavis made no effort to hide the discomfort on her face, even if it wouldn’t change anything.

Finally, they came to a less crowded area near the center of the marketplace and stopped. Applejack fetched a white and green-striped canopy from the cart and quickly propped it up overhead along with an apple ornament.

“Alright, we’re open fer business!” Applejack declared.

“What do we do now?” Mavis asked, giddy with excitement.

“Now we wait fer some customers to come wanting our apples,” Applejack explained. “Ah, here comes one now!”

A young mare with a gray coat and a blonde mane and a lazy eye came strolling up to the stall with a cheery expression.

“Heya Derpy, how’s it going?” Applejack asked.

“Hiya Applejack, Doc’s still busy tinkering with that robot thing that came here last week. I’m running some errands for him in the meantime.”

“Mighty nice of ya. How many apples do ya need?”

“A dozen. I’m going to make him some apple pie tonight.”

“Taking it to the next level, are ya, Derpy?” Applejack said with a teasing grin.

Derpy’s cheeks, to Mavis’ interest, turned red, just like Big Mac’s had last night. Is that what happened when heat built up in a person’s cheeks? Did her own cheeks turn red when she caught sight of Big Mac? “Ehehehe, when you put it that way…”

Applejack reached over and lightly bumped her withers. “You go get ‘im, girl,” she said. “That’ll be two bits.”

Derpy took two gold coins out of her saddlebag and passed them to Applejack. She then proceeded to pick twelve apples from the cart and place them in her saddlebag.

“Alright then,” Applejack said once the exchange was finished, “you have a good day, you hear?”

Derpy waved goodbye as she trotted away, humming a little tune. Mavis turned to Applejack. “Does she have a ‘crush’ too?”

“Little bit more than that,” Applejack said. “It’s a perfectly normal thing, trust me.” She threw the ‘bits’ into her own saddlebag. “But let’s focus on managing the stall right now.”

“Okay,” Mavis said as a rush of excitement shot through her, “what do I need to do to be useful?”

“Basically, just be polite to anypony that comes to us,” Applejack explained. “We can take turns running the stall, but for now just watch what I do. Okay?”

Mavis nodded her understanding.

As the minutes ticked by, more customers came to the stall looking for apples. Mavis did as instructed, watching the way Applejack conversed with customers and made sales. Every now and then a customer would strike up a conversation with Mavis and she’d do her best to do as Applejack said and stay polite and friendly. She was challenged at one point when a young filly taunted her for not having a cutie mark and the filly’s parent quickly admonished her before Mavis had the chance to fire back her own insult, but for the most part, the conversations were pleasant and exciting. Nearly all of them asked Mavis what her homeworld was like, but the ones that asked for more personal details about her own life were quickly brushed off by herself and Applejack. She enjoyed listening to them talking about their own lives, however, finding interest in comparing all the joys and hardships they lived through to her own back on Sodor. Ponies, it seemed, also wished to be useful, but unlike engines, they seemed to be driven mainly by a desire to provide for their friends and family. That was one difference Mavis had trouble understanding.

After a while, however, Mavis started to get bored. She’d watched Applejack run the stall and done her best to commit to memory everything she did which was ‘proper’. She felt she was ready to run the stall herself. Once the last customer left she put out the question.

“You sure you’re up fer it, Mavis?” Applejack asked back, giving her a serious look. “It’s a big responsibility, an’ yer still a newbie at this. Can I really, truly trust ya?”

“Of course you can,” Mavis said sincerely. “I’ll manage the stall as well as you do. I promise!”

“Well, you sure got spunk.” Applejack appeared to think it over for a moment before she smiled. “Alright, I’ll give you a chance. I can run my errands in the meantime.”

“Thank you,” Mavis said.

“Just remember that half a dozen apples cost one bit and a whole dozen costs two. Just throw the bits you get in the cart.” She held up her saddlebag. “I’m gonna use the ones we just earned fer my errands.” She walked off, waving goodbye to Mavis, who waved goodbye in turn.

“I can do this, I can do this,” Mavis repeated to herself.

A mare and a colt walked out of the crowd towards her. Mavis steeled her nerves. She was determined to prove her usefulness, but this first act would prove to herself whether she truly could.

When the mare and colt noticed her, looks of confusion crossed their faces. Mavis was worried for a moment until they came up to her and the mare, who was presumably the colt’s mother, asked, “I’m sorry, but isn’t this the Apple family’s stall?”

“Oh, Applejack left me to run the stall while she did some errands. I can help you just as well, I promise!”

The mare blinked and then smiled. “Well, okay then. How much for three apples?”

Mavis blinked herself. Three apples? Ponies didn’t only buy either six or twelve?

“Uh… well…” She trailed off as confusion took over. Applejack never mentioned anything like this. What was she supposed to do?

“I asked you how much it was for three apples,” the mare repeated. “Is something wrong, Miss?”

Mavis had no idea what she was supposed to do here. The sinking feeling returned to her stomach, but it was worse this time, like she’d swallowed a lead weight. Her lips threatened to change from a proper and polite smile into a panicked frown. The other mare’s expression turned more impatient and frustrated— Mavis was failing at being useful.

Something clicked in her mind. She needed to find a solution, and fast. But what could she do?

“Is something wrong with her, Mommy?” the colt asked.

“Miss, is something wrong?” the mom said, ignoring her son. “Because I don’t have all day to stand around.”

Mavis breathed deep, calming herself. An idea had come to her, but she didn’t know whether it would work. She just had to trust her judgment.

“It’s one bit for six apples and two bits for twelve,” she said.

“Oh, is there nothing in between?” Mavis shook her head. “Well, in that case, I’ll get six.” She took a single bit out of her saddlebag and passed it to Mavis.

“Thank you,” Mavis said as the mare selected six apples from the cart. She tossed the bit into the cart and waved the mare and her son off as they walked away. She smiled with pride at how well she’d resolved that issue all on her own. If Toby could see her now she’d have a good giggle at his expense.

The sun had dropped a fair distance and several more customers stopped by the Apple family stall over the next couple of hours. Apparently, the first mare just wasn’t familiar with how the Apple family priced their apples, because no one else asked for anything more or less than six or twelve. She managed each and every exchange as good as Applejack had, making sure to smile wide and strike up ‘small talk’ with customers every now and then and show interest in their daily lives. Show, at least; many of the things they talked about Mavis couldn’t relate to nor could she understand, but she never let them know that.

One conversation, in particular, grabbed her interest. It was from a pair of mares named Berry Punch and Carrot Top, who came up to the stall in the middle of an argument.

“C’mon Carrot Top, I really wanna see what the Everfree Castle’s like now that it’s safe!” the purple earth pony whined.

“And like I keep telling you,” the yellow earth pony argued, “those monsters didn’t go anywhere! Listen Berry Punch, don’t go doing anything stupid, okay? Let Princess Twilight and her friends do their own thing and not worry about copying them.”

“But if they can make it through safe and sound multiple times then surely I can too!”

“They can make it through because they have Ponyville’s resident monster tamer in their group. Like I keep telling you, going that far into the Everfree is suicide!”

“Hey, you’re the new mare from another world, aren’t you?” Berry addressed Mavis, ignoring Carrot completely. “Are you filling in for Applejack?”

Mavis nodded.

Carrot slapped a hoof to her face, groaning. “Why do I even bother?”

“How many apples do you want?” Mavis asked politely.

Carrot removed her hoof. “A dozen, please,” she said.

The exchange was made in short order. “What were you arguing about?” Mavis asked, curiosity filling her.

“There’s this forest outside of town called the Everfree,” Carrot explained. “It’s full of dangerous monsters that’ll rip you apart without a moment’s hesitation. But this one—” she gestured to Berry, “—fails to grasp that reality.”

“Hey, who’s to say we can’t get Fluttershy to guide us for a day?” Berry asked.

Carrot sighed. “Maybe, but I’m still worried you’re going to run off before we get the chance to ask her.”

“You need to trust me more,” Berry said with a pout.

“Yeah, I’ll trust you when you inspire it in me.” Carrot turned from the stall. “Hope you enjoy your stay in Ponyville!” she said, waving to Mavis as she walked away, Berry following behind her.

Mavis waved them goodbye in turn until they were out of sight. Now she was curious. Everfree Forest? Monsters? It sounded scary, but ghosts and monsters didn’t scare her. And apparently, there was another castle somewhere inside! Canterlot Castle was amazing, so the more the merrier!

She continued thinking about this up until Applejack returned with a slightly bulgier saddlebag.
“Looks like everythin’ went well while I was gone,” she said, eyeing the cart curiously. “Or are ya hiding somethin’ from me?”

Mavis was confused. “Why would I do that?” she asked.

Applejack waved her off. “Ah, it’s nothing Sugarcube, just a joke.” She walked over and put her hooves up onto the cart, hoisting herself up to peer inside. “Hoowee! That’s a lotta bits!” She smiled at Mavis. “You did a bang up job, Mavis! I’m mighty proud of ya!” She reached into the cart to gather the bits.

Mavis smiled herself, puffing up her chest. “I told you I could do it.” She felt a surge of pride. If she kept this up, she’d be working in Ffarquhar again for sure. “Um, Applejack?”

“Yeah?” Applejack said as she began counting the bits.

“I met Berry Punch and Carrot Top earlier.”

Applejack looked over to her. “That so? Hope you had a good meeting.”

“They were nice. They also mentioned the Everfree Forest and how there’s a castle somewhere inside.”

“Yeah, that’s true,” Applejack confirmed. “But there are also dangerous critters that’ll gobble ya up fer lunch if you enter.” She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “You weren’t thinkin’ of goin’ in, were ya?”

“I would love to see the inside of more castles,” Mavis said, hopeful. “And they said they were going to ask Fluttershy to guide them through.”

“Look, I get you’re curious, Mavis,” Applejack said. “But let’s not bother other ponies asking for favours that might wind up gettin’ somepony hurt. Fluttershy’s too busy taking care of all her little animal friends most of the time, anyway.”

Mavis didn’t let her resentment show on her face. It sounded more like Applejack was being a fusspot than anything. If she and her friends could make it safely through the Everfree Forest, why couldn’t she? Monsters weren’t scary at all.

Applejack finished counting her bits and put them into her saddlebag before retrieving a couple of white packages from inside, passing one of them to Mavis. “I got us some lunch,” she said.

Mavis opened her package to find a bunch of hay straws and a sandwich. The two of them spent the next thirty minutes eating their food, stopping whenever a customer came by to purchase apples. The subject of the Everfree Forest never came up again, but Mavis didn’t stop thinking about it. The way Berry and Carrot were talking made it sound like the castle was a fair distance inside the forest, but that didn’t stop her from wanting to see it for herself. She had a week to figure out how to make it there; plenty of time.

Three o’clock came around. Applejack folded up the canopy and apple ornament and placed them back in the cart. Slinging her saddlebag over herself, she said, “I gotta pick up my dog from Fluttershy ‘fore we head back home. Wanna come?”

“Of course I do,” Mavis said. Secretly, however, she was more interested in asking Fluttershy to guide her through the Everfree. “May I try pulling the cart?”

“Think you can do it?” Applejack questioned, lifting an eyebrow. “I did say I wouldn’t make ya pull it today, remember?”

“I pull trucks loaded with rocks at Ffarquhar all the time,” Mavis pointed out. “A wooden cart would be easy.”

Applejack laughed. “Good point. Alright then, show me yer strength.”

Mavis was quickly hitched up to the cart and the two made their way out of the marketplace. True to her word, pulling the cart was easy for Mavis. More than once she accidentally pulled ahead of Applejack, forcing her to slow down to let the other mare catch up. Mavis took pride in the impressed look Applejack had on her face by the time they’d cleared Ponyville itself.

Mavis was surprised when they finally came into view of Fluttershy’s cottage. It was a small, peaceful little building. ‘Rustic’ as her driver would say. Even as they approached, Mavis saw lots of furry and feathery animals scurrying around in the front yard. She identified about a dozen birdhouses hanging from trees and a little dock over the creek under the bridge leading to the cottage, as well as several little burrows dug into the earth.

What had surprised Mavis, however, was the forest behind the property. The foliage was dark and overgrown, completely unlike the pristine forests she’d seen from her view on the Friendship Express. No doubt about it, that was the Everfree Forest. Judging from what everyone said about it, she wondered why Fluttershy would want a house so close to a place that was dark and supposedly inhabited by monsters.

Mavis unhitched the cart before the bridge and the two made their way up the path. The little animals took a noticeable curiosity in Mavis as they passed, chittering and squealing with each other while looking at her with interest in their beady black eyes. They looked like they were having actual conversations with each other, completely unlike the animals back on Sodor. A small part of her was worried they were teasing her without her knowing. She tried to keep her gaze forward, away from them.

They made it to the front door and Applejack knocked twice.

“I’ll be there in a minute!” a soft voice called from inside.

Faint sounds of shuffling and animal noises could be heard inside, followed by frantic galloping against hardwood floor. Applejack and Mavis shared a brief, curious glance. They jumped three feet into the air when a loud crash erupted from inside followed by Fluttershy screeching, “You need to get your shot, Dennis!”

Sounds of furniture crashing and broken glass and frantic chirping rang through the walls of the house, all up and down the first and second floors from one end of the house to the other. More animal noises joined the ruckus: roars, squeals, chitters and more. Something slammed hard against the wall next to the front door, causing Mavis and Applejack to jump again. The noise continued for another couple minutes before, just as suddenly as it began, coming to a stop just in front of the door.

“I’ve got you now!” Fluttershy cried. “Everyone hold him down, please.”

There were animalistic mutterings of agreement, followed by chirping so loud and frantic that Mavis was forced to fold her ears back to block it. They increased in intensity for a short while, culminating in one final, high pitch before silence fell upon the house. Mavis blinked. A few moments later a series of small hoofsteps approached the front door and it opened a crack, revealing an aquamarine eye.

“Oh, hello Applejack! Mavis!” The door opened all the way to reveal Fluttershy.

Mavis’ eyes bulged at the sight behind the pegasus. Everything was a complete mess. Furniture was overturned and broken in some cases. Glass littered the floor from a couple of broken windows in the back. Feathers were scattered everywhere. Various animals were working to clean up some of the mess. A bird with a small bandage wrapped around a wing lay on a table in the middle of the room, breathing heavily.

“Whoa, looks like a hurricane came roaring through there, Shy,” Applejack remarked.

“Sorry,” Fluttershy said, “one of my animal friends didn’t want to get their shot and put up a fight. You’re here to pick up Winona, right?”

“Yup.”

Fluttershy bade them enter. They stepped inside, carefully maneuvering their way around pieces of splintered wood and glass shards. A big brown bear with a broom came over and quickly swept clean the area where they were standing. A series of barks drew their attention behind them before Applejack found herself tackled to the floor by a brown and white dog that began happily licking her face.

“Ehehe, glad to see you missed me, Winona,” Applejack said once Winona stopped, patting her pet on the head.

“She was a good girl during her shot,” Fluttershy said, casting a brief annoyed glance at the bird on the table. “She’s got a clean bill of health, as always.”

“Good to hear,” Applejack said as she stood up, Winona right by her side.

Mavis surveyed the messy room with disgust. “This is not orderly at all,” she stated. “Did one bird really cause all of this?”

“He’ll be getting a stern talking to later today,” Fluttershy said with conviction. “But before that, I need to get this place straightened out.”

“Can I help?” Mavis asked.

Fluttershy and Applejack looked at her surprised. “Hold on, Sugarcube, I still need ya at the farm.”

“Oh, that’s okay Applejack,” Fluttershy said. “I just need to clear the space for now; that’ll only take a short while.”

Mavis smiled hopefully at Applejack.

Applejack narrowed her eyes suspiciously. Mavis tried to look innocent, but mischief was worming its way through her mind.

“Well, okay, s’long as it doesn’t take too long,” Applejack relented, turning toward the door with Winona. “You can make it back to the farm just fine?”

Mavis nodded.

“Alright then.” Applejack led Winona outside, shutting the door behind them.

Mavis turned to Fluttershy. “What should I do?” she asked.

“Here,” Fluttershy said, maneuvering around a few rabbits picking up wood splinters over to an overturned sofa, “help me lift this thing back upright.”

Mavis rushed over and grabbed one end of the sofa with her hooves, fumbling a bit before securing a firm grip. Fluttershy grabbed the other end with her wings.

“On three;” Fluttershy said, “one… two… three!”

Together as one, they pulled hard on the sofa. It lifted up easily. Inch by inch it tipped over, coming to rest on the tips of its legs. Mavis and Fluttershy let go before gently nudging it, allowing it to fall over right side up with a hard thud.

“That was easy,” Mavis remarked.

“You’re very strong, Mavis,” Fluttershy complimented. “We’ll be done in no time.”

Fluttershy ended up being right. The clock on the wall indicated it was three thirty-eight when they joined Fluttershy’s animal friends in cleaning the house, and by the time they finished only twenty minutes had passed. All the glass and wood splinters were swept up and thrown in the garbage, all the furniture was straightened up, and every bird and mouse whose living space was demolished was relocated into other animals’ homes.

“I’m glad that’s finished,” Fluttershy said, wiping her forehead clear of ‘sweat’. She gave Mavis a grateful smile. “You were a big help, Mavis.”

Mavis felt both proud and a little conceited. “I’ll do anything to help.”

“That’s an attitude more people should have,” Fluttershy said before gesturing to the kitchen. “Would you like some tea before you go?”

Mavis nodded excitedly, but not at the prospect of ‘tea’, rather having a chance to talk with Fluttershy about her request.

They retreated to the kitchen and Mavis took a seat while Fluttershy began brewing up some tea. When she brought it to the table the aroma intrigued Mavis. Her initial reaction was one of revulsion, but a second whiff was a little more pleasant to her nostrils. Those conflicting sensations made her more interested in tasting it.

Fluttershy set the tea tray on the table and used her mouth to put one of the cups in front of Mavis, who eyed the dark liquid inside with curiosity. Each whiff she took was better than the last. She grabbed the cup and lifted it to her face, pouring a little bit into her mouth. The taste was mildly bitter, tempting her to spit it out. She held firm, though, and swallowed. The taste improved a little as it traveled down her throat. She set the cup back down.

“How is it?” Fluttershy asked, raising her own cup to her mouth.

“It tastes strange,” Mavis said simply.

“Oh, um, would you like a different brew?” Fluttershy suggested. “I have plenty more in the cabinet.”

“That’s okay,” Mavis assured her. She picked the cup back up and gulped the rest of its contents at once. That same bitter taste assaulted the inside of her mouth again, but just as quickly improved when it traveled down her throat. She set the cup back down with a sharp breath before she said, “May I ask you for a favour before I leave?”

Fluttershy nodded as she was taking a gulp of her own tea.

“Could you guide me through the Everfree Forest?”

Fluttershy’s eyes bulged for a brief moment before she sprayed her mouthful of tea all over the table. Some of it got in Mavis’ eye, forcing her to close it and try to rub it away with her hoof.

“You— what!?” Fluttershy hacked and spluttered. Her breathing was laboured, but after pounding her chest with a hoof it returned to normal. Tea dribbled down her face, staining her fur. “Oh, I’m sorry!” she said once she’d composed herself.

Mavis shot her an annoyed glare. “That was undignified.”

Fluttershy rushed over to the kitchen counter, grabbed a bunch of strange paper rags off of a rack sitting there, returned to the table and began wiping up the tea, all while giving Mavis a worried stare. “Why do you want to go into the Everfree?” she asked.

“I heard there’s a castle there and I’d love to see it,” Mavis said excitedly.

“Didn’t you come out of Canterlot Castle?”

“Yes, but I’d love to see more.”

“The Castle of the Two Sisters is about an hour long walk away from here,” Fluttershy said.

“I heard you can guide ponies safely past all the monsters that live there,” Mavis replied.

Fluttershy cast her gaze down, her face looking hesitant. “That’s true, I can do that. But you need to get back to Sweet Apple Acres right now.”

She’d forgotten that in her excitement, Mavis realized. Her lips curled downward but lifted again when an idea came to her. “Maybe you could take me just a little way in? Just enough that I can see the forest at least?”

Fluttershy wiped the last of the tea off the table and walked over to the cabinet underneath the sink. “Well, I suppose I can do that much at least.” She opened the cabinet and threw the rags in a tall basket set into the inside of the cabinet. “But only a little way in; I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to a friend of mine.”

Mavis beamed internally before she realized what Fluttershy had said. “We’re friends?” she asked.

“Of course,” Fluttershy said sweetly, returning to the table. “You’re strong and thoughtful and love helping others. That’s the kind of friend I love having.”

“I’m glad you think so,” Mavis said, humbled by her compliment. “I’m glad to call you a friend, too.”

The two sat and conversed for a few short minutes while Fluttershy finished off the rest of her tea. Afterward, she led Mavis outside and across the backyard, toward the Everfree Forest. Nervous excitement built within Mavis as they got closer and closer, as well as a deep, burning curiosity. Something about the forest was stirring a desire for knowledge she’d never felt before in her life.

“Why is it full of monsters?” she asked suddenly.

Fluttershy seemed surprised to hear the question. She cast her gaze up in thought for a moment. “No one really knows, not even me. Something about the ecosystem must be preferable for them, but I can’t say anything for certain beyond that.”

“Why is it so overgrown?”

“Because there’s no magic keeping things in order.”

“Are the monsters really as dangerous as Applejack said?”

Fluttershy gave Mavis a serious look, which seemed unusual for the pegasus. “The monsters of the Everfree are incredibly dangerous. If they find you alone, they’ll eat you without a second thought.”

That was still a strange concept for Mavis to wrap her mind around, being a source of fuel for a living creature. Diesel oil isn’t living, nor is coal for steam engines. What would it be like to get turned into a fuel source? She couldn’t dwell on it for too long, as the two of them stepped past the treeline into the Everfree Forest.

They walked a short way in, all the while Mavis took in the sights around them. The tree canopy overhead was so thick it almost completely blocked out the sky. Vines coiled around tree trunks and sharp, pointy plants clustered together in certain places. The air was stiffer here than it was outside the forest, much to her displeasure. She didn’t see any monsters anywhere, which made her wonder whether everyone was just lying or if the monsters were hiding out of sight. It wasn’t even slightly scary, either.

Fluttershy stopped in a small clearing surrounded by bushes. Mavis scanned the surroundings, looking for anything of interest, and her eyes quickly landed on a split between two bushes. A closer look revealed the start of a dirt path leading further into the trees. A mischievous smile split Mavis’ mouth.

“Here we are,” Fluttershy said, turning around to face Mavis.

Mavis met her gaze with a smile. “Thank you for showing me this, Fluttershy. It’s all so interesting.”

“I’m glad I could make you happy.” Fluttershy turned and began heading back the way they came.

Mavis committed the spot to memory before following after her. “Is that something friends do here?” she asked. “Making others happy?”

Fluttershy gave her a curious look. “Is that not something engines do?” she asked.

“Me and my friends, and all the other engines are happy just to be reliable and really useful to the railway and the Fat Controller,” Mavis explained. “Sometimes we’ll be happy to take trains meant for each other, but nothing else.”

“Oh my,” Fluttershy said, surprised. “Well, as long as you’re happy, then that’s all that matters.”

Now for her plan, Mavis thought. “I’d be happy to come here and help you more,” she said.

“Would Applejack let you?” Fluttershy asked.

Mavis truthfully didn’t know if Applejack would, but if she let Mavis help this once, she just might let her help more often. “I’ll ask her,” she promised.

“Well, if Applejack allows you to, I’d be more than happy to let you help whenever you come,” Fluttershy said with a sincere smile as they crossed the treeline back onto her property.

Mavis’ mind was mostly elsewhere, however, but she managed a smile in return.

Chapter 7

The following few days passed by uneventfully for Mavis. The day’s routine didn’t change beyond how it went her first day living with the Apple family. Everything that had seemed strange at first became more normal with each passing day. The only thing that caught her off guard was the end of the first day when she felt her belly aching and remembered Applejack’s warning, how she needed to sit on the toilet when that happened. She’d rushed to the bathroom as instructed and sat on the bowl after lifting the lid. The smelly brown things and the stream of yellow liquid that came out of her ensured she didn’t sleep much that night.

Doing the normal chores involving the farm animals didn’t get any easier or harder over time, but Mavis couldn’t find it in her to be excited with how many eggs were collected from the coop like Applejack tended to be. She did make considerable progress working in the orchard, however, thanks to the help of Applejack and, only occasionally as per her request, Big Mac. The magic inside her became more clear and accessible over time, as normal as the oil fueling her back on Sodor, allowing her to buck apple trees with greater force with each try. One fallen apple became five, then ten, and eventually more than she could count at a glance. The more apples she knocked down, the prouder she was, and the more conceited she became.

All her progress and hard work had the benefit of making Applejack especially happy. When she’d first asked for time off to help Fluttershy, Applejack had told her that she might allow it if Mavis kept up a consistently good performance over the following few days

“One more tree, Mavis!” Applejack called from a short distance away.

Mavis approached the last remaining tree in the row they were harvesting. She turned around and readied her hind legs. The magic gathered in them, making them strong enough to withstand the impact. She pictured herself back on Sodor, shunting troublesome trucks in the quarry. The only thing to make those trucks behave was to give them a good, solid, but not too rough bump. It was one of the first pieces of advice Toby gave her back when she first started working, and, as much as she was loathed to admit it now, he knew what he was talking about. The tree was like a truck in need of a bump.

She lifted her legs and struck the tree with as much speed and force as her legs could muster. The trunk shook violently and a rain of apples tumbled down around her. Mavis smiled proudly.

“I gotta say,” Applejack said as she approached her, “yer strength is definitely on par with my own.” She looked up to the sun in the sky. “Looks like we finished early. Colour me impressed, Mavis.”

“Does that mean I can visit Fluttershy?” Mavis asked, hopeful.

Applejack smiled. “You know what? Go on ahead. I can run the stall just fine on my own fer a day.”

Now Mavis strode through Ponyville on her way to Fluttershy’s cottage with the biggest, cheekiest grin splitting her muzzle. The ponies were all fusspots being so scared of monsters in the forest. Monsters weren’t scary. She was brave.

Her memory capacity had also improved greatly over the past few days, as the route from Sweet Apple Acres to Fluttershy’s cottage was much clearer in her mind. She made her way through the market, past the outskirts of town and onto the path leading to Fluttershy’s cottage, all the while wondering what she might find in the Everfree Forest if the castle was too far away for her to get to on her own. She hoped she’d get to see the monsters the ponies kept warning her about because then she could brag about how she wasn’t scared of them.

At last, she made it to Fluttershy’s cottage. She knocked on the front door and a few seconds later it opened to reveal Fluttershy.

“Oh, hello Mavis,” she greeted warmly. “Does this mean Applejack is okay with you being here in your free time?”

Mavis nodded. “Yes. Is there anything you want me to do to help?”

“Oh, you don’t need to do anything for me. Just having your company is good enough.” Mavis shot her a pleading look. “... But if you insist, I could use some help tending to my animal friends.”

Mavis’ plan was going smoothly so far, much to her delight.

The next hour was spent with Mavis filling food bowls, dusting off floors, and other small tasks along with Fluttershy. She genuinely enjoyed doing the work, but what she was waiting for was an opportunity to slip away unnoticed to the backyard and into the forest.

Her chance came when Fluttershy announced she needed to fetch some supplies from the market.

“Can you finish dusting the furniture for me while I’m gone?” she asked Mavis while equipping her saddlebag.

Mavis nodded and Fluttershy left through the front door. Mavis turned around and glanced around the living room. Most of the animals had retreated into their little homes while the rest eyed her curiously; their presence wasn’t discomforting, though, Mavis wondered if they would tell on her when Fluttershy came back.

The only dusty spot left was a corner near the kitchen entrance. Mavis worked briskly, sweeping up the dust and disposing it into the ‘trash can’ in the kitchen. Once she put the broom and dustpan back into the ‘supply closet’ a wide grin broke out on her face. Her plan had worked perfectly! She briskly slipped outside through the back door, unmindful of all the animals watching her. She trotted across the backyard, searching out the spot where Fluttershy brought her the other day. She found it quickly and stepped past the treeline, heading straight forward.

I wonder what I might find? she thought. Where does that path lead? Oh, I can’t wait to find out!

She tried to recall the exact path they’d taken the other day to the best of her memory. Fluttershy had followed a straight line to the clearing, so she followed suit and sure enough, she came upon the exact same clearing a minute later. She quickly found the path and ventured down it, forcing her way past a tangle of extra long tree branches. One of them scraped along her flank, making Mavis wince in pain. Looking back, she saw a big, nasty scratch running along her flank. Pony bodies really did get damaged more easily; her frame was more resistant than this.

Mavis shrugged off the pain and continued walking along the dirt path.

She traveled for what felt like a few minutes, but never once did anything particularly interesting stand out to her. Lots of bushes with pointy plants barred her way, resulting in her body getting further scraped and scratched from pushing forward. Strange red stuff started oozing out of a particularly nasty cut on her left foreleg which Mavis figured wasn't good.

All of Mavis’ excitement and interest faded the further she walked along the dirt path. The forest only seemed to get darker and darker over time. A few times she thought she heard a sound from somewhere close by, but turning to look revealed nothing but thick foliage. The air grew stuffier as well and something like a thin mist began swirling in the air after a while. Aside from the leaves crunching under her hooves and her own breathing, the forest was dead silent.

She stopped in front of a large tree, checking her surroundings. Everything looked too similar. Everything was too still. Too lifeless.

The heavy weight in her stomach came back. The last of her boldness slipped away, replaced by a sliver of fear. Something wasn’t right. She didn’t know how she knew it, she just did, like another instinct had made itself known.

Mavis turned around. Her curiosity gone, she picked up her pace to a trot, eager to return to the cottage before Fluttershy returned and learned what she’d been up to.

A twig snapped to her left.

Mavis froze in place. Fear rooted her to the spot. She could only turn her head towards the wall of bushes to her left. “Wh-who’s there?” she asked.

No one replied.

Mavis took a step forward. “I’m not scared of you,” she said shakily.

Another twig snapped. Suddenly, a big brown blur darted from behind the bush onto the dirt path in front of her, making her squeak in surprise. The creature faced her and Mavis felt true fear for the first time since entering the Everfree Forest.

The creature before her looked like no animal she’d seen in her entire life. It stood just as tall as her and was covered in brown fur. Red hair framed the top of its head and two long, sharp fangs stuck from its mouth as it eyed her with an intense gaze. Protruding from its rear was a tail with a pointed end which moved up and down seemingly independent from the rest of the creature’s body.

The creature gave a low growl of warning. Mavis instinctively took a step back. “I’m sorry to bother you.” She tried yet failed to sound brave. “I’ll leave now.”

She took another few steps back and the creature took a few forward. The strange beating rose again in Mavis’ chest, rising in intensity at an alarming rate. A soft ringing similarly rose in her ears. She needed to run; that was what her body was screaming at her to do now.

She turned and broke into a gallop down the path. She immediately heard the creature following her, its footsteps pounding the ground as it quickly began catching up with her. Mavis picked up her pace. Trees and bushes whizzed past her as she bolted down the path faster than she’d ever gone before as a pony or an engine. Dirt covered her body as her hooves kicked it up into the air. She didn’t dare look back for fear of running into something and allowing this creature to get closer than it already was. A couple of times she felt hot breath on the back of her neck.

The creature chased her along the dirt path all the way to the treeline. Mavis was running so fast that her hooves started aching, but she couldn’t stop. She had to keep running even if she didn’t know exactly what would happen if she stopped. Up until now, adhering to the new instincts that came with her new body spelled only good things, so she wasn’t going to stop listening to them now.

Some plants scraped her face as she broke through the treeline with a fearful cry and sprinted across Fluttershy’s backyard, the creature following right behind her. To her immense relief, the back door was slightly ajar. She flung it open, bolted inside, and slammed the door shut as hard and as fast as she could.

“Mavis!?”

Mavis barely heard Fluttershy’s voice over the sound of her catching her breath. Her legs screamed with agony and her chest heaved. She slumped face down to the floor, too tired to move or speak. A small part of her did wonder if the creature was going to try to break through the door, but she didn’t have the energy to be afraid.

She heard hoofsteps trot over to her and a hoof rested on her back. “What’s wrong, Mavis? Where were you? Are you okay?” Fluttershy asked.

Mavis managed to lift a hoof toward the door. “Monster…” she moaned.

There was a moment of silence before she heard Fluttershy open the door, followed by an excited squeal. “Robbie, is that you!?” She ran outside.

Mavis lay there motionless for a few more seconds before she forced herself onto her hooves, ignoring the aches in her legs. She looked outside and felt her jaw drop in amazement at the sight of Fluttershy gently rubbing the creature’s back as it now laid on its belly with a friendly, relaxed expression.

The creature, ‘Robbie’, let out a sigh of content and Fluttershy giggled. “You’ve grown up so much since I last saw you. Is life treating you well these days? How are your parents doing?”

Robbie purred.

“Glad to hear that.” Then Fluttershy noticed Mavis staring and frowned. “Is something wrong, Mavis?”

“How are you doing that?” Mavis asked.

“Doing what?”

Mavis pointed at Robbie. “He was chasing me before, but now he isn’t.”

Fluttershy stared confused for a moment before realization seemed to strike and she giggled. “Oh Mavis, Robbie here was just playing with you. He’s just a cub after all. He loves chasing ponies since it lets him get some practice for when he’ll have to start hunting in a few years. Isn’t that right, Robbie?” She scratched behind his ear.

He purred again.

Mavis blinked. The only part of that she could make sense of was the part about Robbie ‘playing’ with her, which was a queer way of playing if she ever saw one. But seeing how calm he was helped melt away the last of her panic. She wanted to go over and scold Robbie for scaring her as he did, but couldn’t bring herself to for some reason. Another instinct in her mind was holding her back, yet another one she couldn’t identify.

Fluttershy continued stroking and scratching Robbie for a few more minutes before she sent him on his way. Once he was out of sight through the trees Fluttershy turned to face Mavis with a disapproving gaze. It was the same look Mavis got from the Fat Controller whenever she did something bad, but the sinking feeling in her stomach made the experience even worse. Then it came upon her that she could actually run away— she could move entirely on her own! She turned toward the side of the cottage, readying herself to gallop.

“Mavis.”

All at once her resolve shattered. Fluttershy’s voice cut deep into her, coupling her to the spot she now stood, unable to move. All she could do was turn her head to meet Fluttershy’s eyes as the pegasus came up right next to her.

There was a moment of silence that felt much longer like Mavis was being made to wait in the shed again, before Fluttershy asked her, “Did you go into the Everfree?”

The instant the words left her lips Mavis’ discomfort turned into guilt. She cast her gaze downward in shame. “Y-yes,” she admitted.

“We’ll have to tell Applejack about this, you know that right?” Fluttershy said firmly.

Mavis nodded. Her eyes threatened to well up with tears.

Fluttershy sighed and rested a hoof on her withers. “I’ll make sure to let her know that you were a big help to me, but she needs to know what you did.”

A tear rolled down Mavis’ cheek. “I-I u-underst-stand,” she choked out.

Fluttershy nodded. “Let’s go.”

The entire trip back to Sweet Apple Acres was awful for Mavis. If there was ever a time she wanted to be turned into scrap, it was now. Tears streamed down her face more than a few times; ponies they passed probably stared at her for that reason more so than her lack of a cutie mark.

The only thing she could think about the entire way was the scolding Applejack was sure to give her. Even worse, Applejack was sure to tell the Fat Controller, who wouldn’t be pleased at all to know Mavis had acted out of line. He wouldn’t let her work in the quarry again.

I’m such a naughty engine, she thought dreadfully. I’m sure to be locked up in the shed forever now.

They reached Sweet Apple Acres within the hour. They made their way through the gate and across the front yard to the door. Each step was more labourious than the last for Mavis like she was trying to pull an extra long line of trucks. When they ascended the porch steps Mavis held back, earning a curious stare from Fluttershy. Her choked sobs prevented her from saying it, but she was too afraid to go any further.

Fluttershy must’ve understood, as she simply turned and knocked on the door. A few moments later the door opened to reveal Applejack. “Howdy Fluttershy—” she turned to acknowledge Mavis’ presence, “howdy— whoa, what’s wrong, Mavis? Why’re ya cryin’?”

Fluttershy sighed. “Can we talk inside for a minute, Applejack?” she asked.

Applejack looked to her with a quirked eyebrow, then back to Mavis for a moment before saying, “Oookay, sure,” and stepping aside to let Fluttershy inside. She shot one last curious glance to Mavis before shutting the door.

Mavis perched herself down on the porch. She wiped her eyes clean of tears, not caring about the stains she got in her coat. Eventually, her eyes ran dry altogether and her choked sobs subsided. She laid her head down on the wooden boards, left with nothing but her imagination. Applejack would probably be cross to learn she’d put herself in danger and be ready to barge through the door to scold her.

That scenario played repeatedly in her head for the next few minutes. At one point, she heard a sharp gasp inside followed by some indistinguishable words. She tried to get her mind on something else by looking at the clear blue sky above but to no avail. The thought of running away surfaced in her mind again, but it quickly came upon her that she had nowhere to run to. She only knew as much about Equestria as she’d been shown, which wasn’t much. If she left and got lost, that would be just as bad as having to listen to Applejack scold her. To that end, she stayed put, awaiting whatever punishment she would get.

Finally, the door opened. Mavis couldn’t bring herself to look around.

A moment of silence passed before she heard Applejack’s voice say, “Turn around and face me, Mavis.” It was calm, yet firm.

Mavis sniffed, stood up and did as instructed. Applejack didn’t look cross, much to Mavis’ surprise, but not at all pleased. She looked like she was ‘appraising’ Mavis, to use another one of her driver’s terms.

“What you did was wrong, Mavis,” Applejack said, and Mavis felt the weight in her stomach sink a little deeper. “I’m disappointed in you, but this is a discussion all three of us need to have.” She stepped aside and motioned for Mavis to come inside.

Mavis obliged. She saw Fluttershy standing in the middle of the living room, but she was surprised to see Big Mac looking at her from the doorway to the kitchen. The look on his face was impossible for her to understand; it wasn’t quite happy or sorrowful or cross. A small part of her was happy her symptoms weren’t returning upon seeing him. Fluttershy motioned for her to sit on the couch, which she again obliged.

Applejack came in and took a spot next to Fluttershy. The two of them stared at Mavis for a full minute, all while she squirmed under their collective gaze. It reminded her too much of when her manager and the Fat Controller first locked her up in the shed after her accident.

Finally, Applejack broke the silence. “Mavis, I need to know: Did you want to help Fluttershy just so you could get into the Everfree?”

Mavis blinked. That wasn’t what she was expecting to hear first from them. “No, no I didn’t. I really wanted to help her.” That was true, but she hadn’t been blind to the opportunity working at Fluttershy’s cottage would give her. It wasn’t actually lying, she was almost completely positive.

Applejack stared at her for another short while, judging her honesty, before sighing. “You know, Mavis, Sir Topham Hatt told us you were young and full of your own ideas. He also gave us all the details about the accident that got you locked up in the shed.”

Mavis cast her gaze downward in shame.

“Look at me, Mavis,” Applejack continued, and Mavis obeyed. “There’s something you need to realize: Ponies, and humans fer that matter, have their own version of being turned into scrap.”

“Really?” Mavis said, genuinely surprised.

Fluttershy nodded. “We call it ‘dying’. Dying is what happens when your mind completely shuts down and you can never move your body anymore. It’s kind of like permanently going to sleep. Being eaten is just one of many ways to die, and probably the most horrifying.” She narrowed her eyes in a serious manner. “Robbie would never actually harm a pony, but if something else had found you and eaten you we would’ve lost you forever.”

“I feel like we should’a talked about this earlier,” Applejack put in. “S’pose it’s my fault fer that. But Fluttershy’s right, we would’ve lost you forever, and we would’a been in a whole heap o’ trouble; a thousand times more trouble than you got in fer your accident.”

Mavis’ jaw dropped a little. A thousand times more trouble!? What kind of punishment could be worse than being locked up in a shed?

“You need to understand how important it is ta heed our warnings ‘bout dangerous places,” Applejack continued. “Pony bodies aren’t so sturdy; we can’t take a lotta punishment before we keel over. You ain’t gonna survive to work in Ffarquhar iff’n ya fall off a cliff or somethin’. You understand all that, Mavis?”

It was strange. Since gaining a pony body and coming to Equestria, Mavis was having trouble understanding certain ideas she was told about, but now things were different. The fact that pony bodies weren’t as strong as engine frames made perfect sense to her, as did the comparison between getting scrapped and ‘dying’. Everything was all so clear to her now for a reason she couldn’t explain. Maybe it had something to do with what Twilight had said the other day about utilizing more brain power.

“Yes, Applejack,” she answered genuinely. “I’m sorry. I promise to be good from now on”

“Good to hear,” Applejack said, her mouth lifting into a smile. “It’d be such a shame to lose such a dependable and hard-workin’ pony like yourself, ‘specially one who’ll help out friends without bein’ asked to.”

Mavis looked at her curiously. Applejack nodded at Fluttershy, who spoke up. “You were a big help to me today, Mavis. If you’re really serious about being good, I’ll let you keep coming over to help, or even if you just want to chat.”

Mavis smiled. “Oh yes, please, I would like that very much.”

Fluttershy and Mavis turned expectantly to Applejack. The stare Applejack gave Mavis was coy. “Well, I don’t know,” she said playfully, “I wouldn’t want ta lose ya to her.” She laughed and slapped her leg. “I’m jus’ pullin’ yer leg, Sugarcube; I ain’t gonna be one ta stop ya, so sure, I’ll let ya go whenever I let ya take a break.”

“Thank you, Applejack,” Mavis said, a great sense of relief coming to her.

“No problem.” Applejack looked thoughtful for a moment. “You know, my brother nearly fell over dead from shock when he learned you entered the Everfree.”

“He did?” Mavis said, interested.

“Yep, I ain’t never seen him more deathly pale in my life.” Applejack laughed again.

“Deathly pale?” But all Mavis got for an answer was more laughter from Applejack, much to her frustration.

“That’s enough, Applejack,” Fluttershy lightly admonished, and Applejack settled down. “While I’m here, why don’t we set up Winona’s next appointment?”

“Sure thing,” Applejack replied.

Mavis’ mind drifted elsewhere as the two friends delved into their conversation. She was surprised she’d gotten off without any real punishment, which meant she could still be useful. Of course, the last thing on her mind now was any desire to explore the Everfree, or any other dangerous place, again. All that stuff they’d said about ‘dying’ was horrible; there was no way she’d misbehave again if it meant risking that and never being able to work in the quarry again.

Then Mavis’ mind floated to Big Mac and his reaction to hearing about the danger she’d put herself in. Why would he react that way? Her curiosity won out and she hopped off the couch, walking over to the kitchen. Peeking inside, she spotted Big Mac washing dishes at the sink, face turned away from her. He must’ve heard her hoofsteps, as he turned around to face her when she was halfway to him. His eyes bulged and the dish in his hoof fell out of his grip, only for him to quickly snatch it with his teeth just before it hit the ground. The entire display was undignified and disorderly, but Mavis was too distracted to voice that opinion.

“Hello, Big Mac,” she greeted as politely as she could.

Big Mac nodded his acknowledgment and lifted his head to drop the dish back into the sink. “Hey,” was all he said.

A few moments of awkward silence passed between them, during which Mavis tried to strike up the courage to ask her question. It was hard for some reason.

“Applejack said you were ‘deathly pale’ to hear I went into the Everfree Forest,” she finally managed to let out. “What does that mean?”

Big Mac said nothing at first. His eyes were turned away from her, but Mavis knew he’d heard her. Another shorter silence passed between them, broken only by the rushing water in the sink. Mavis’ symptoms came back, but this time they weren’t unwelcome. Indeed, for some reason she actually found herself relishing in them. Yet another thing about her new body she didn’t understand.

Finally, Big Mac sighed and turned to face her with a serious expression. “I overheard Applejack and Fluttershy talking to ya jus’ now. I hope you really do stay outta the Everfree, ‘cause I couldn’t live with myself if somethin’ bad happened to ya.” He then turned back around and resumed washing the dishes.

Mavis stared at him for a few moments, waiting for him to say anything else, but he didn’t, so she turned around and headed back for the living room. Her curiosity hadn’t been satisfied, so she decided to ask Applejack what was going on.

Fluttershy and Applejack continued talking for another minute before Fluttershy left, saying goodbye to both of them as she left through the front door.

“Can I ask you something, Applejack?” Mavis asked right away. “Somewhere away from the kitchen?

Applejack looked surprised but still smiled. “Sure thing, Sugarcube,” she replied. The two of them retreated to the far side of the room.

“Big Mac says he ‘couldn’t live with himself’ if something bad happened to me,” Mavis explained. “What did he mean by that?”

Applejack looked thoughtful for a few seconds before a small laugh escaped her lips. “Sounds like Big Mac’s returning your feelings.” Another laugh threatened to break through her mouth, but she held firm.

Mavis quirked an eyebrow. “Big Mac has a crush on me, too?”

“Seems like it,” Applejack said. “You wanna know more about crushes, I take it?”

Mavis nodded.

“Then I guess it’s time fer yer gal pal Applejack to tell you all about love.” She snickered.

Mavis looked at her curiously; something told her she would never completely understand the language of ponies.

“Well, first things first;” Applejack began, “ponies, and every other sapient, organic creature fer that matter, eventually starts developin’ special feelings for the opposite gender; special in a way that goes beyond just being friends. Like, you actually want to spend the rest of your life with them, living and working with them, sleeping with them, but if the feeling isn’t mutual none of that’ll happen.

“We call that ‘romance’. Romance is a special kinda love that shouldn’t be taken lightly. Since y’all weren’t an organic creature originally, I doubt this is something ya can really understand, but since you’re feeling it I s’pose I oughta explain what it’s all about so you’re all the wiser for it. As long as you’re here, at least.”

What Applejack was describing wasn’t making any sense to Mavis, but she was determined to learn if it meant being comfortable for the rest of her stay.

“What about the heat in my cheeks and the funny feeling and beating in my chest?” she asked.

“Those are the physical manifestations of romantic feelings, usually because you find the pony in question physically attractive.” She walked over and pressed a hoof against Mavis’ chest. “But that beating is your heart working overtime, which also happens when you tire your body out from exercising a lot.”

Mavis looked down to where her hoof was. “My heart?”

“Yep, it’s the body’s organ responsible for pumping blood,” Applejack explained. She looked Mavis over. "Looks like you might have lost a bit on yer little adventure, from the looks of it."

Mavis glanced at her flanks and all the cuts she'd gotten from scraping against branches. Now she knew the red stuff that was coming out of her was called 'blood', which was apparently important to keep inside of her, but it was good to know that the beating in her chest was normal. “I’ve been having these symptoms since I first met Big Mac,” she stated.

“Really, huh? That’s interesting.” Applejack retracted her hoof. “Well, normally I wouldn’t mind somepony tryin’ ta hook up with my brother, but it ain’t gonna work with you.”

“Why not?” Mavis asked.

“Because doing so usually leads to gettin’ married, an’ that usually leads to havin’ foals.” The emphasis she put on the last word surprised Mavis; it must be important. “Now, y’all won’t be here long enough fer that to happen, but better safe than sorry, ‘specially when Sir Topham Hatt would have my neck if it happened.” She shuddered.

Mavis understood what marriage was; her driver mentioned about a year ago that he’d attended a wedding and had explained to her what it was about. All the stuff about the ‘physical manifestations’ of ‘romance’ he’d neglected to talk about, however.

“That said,” Applejack continued, “if you’re interested, I wouldn’t mind if you got a little cozy with my bro.”

“Cozy?”

“Nothing too serious,” Applejack said. “Like, dating would be okay, but that’s about it.”

“Dating?”

Applejack laughed. “Rarity’s really the pony to ask about this kinda stuff. We can visit her once we’re done fer the day.” She turned toward the front door. “Right now, there’s a break in the fence that needs fixin’. I’m gonna need yer help for it, girl.”

“Of course I’ll help!” Mavis said with a smile.

She followed Applejack outside and towards the front gate. All while she helped she kept thinking about everything Applejack said about love and relationships. Marriage and having foals didn’t interest her, but the idea of ‘getting cozy’ with Big Mac sounded nice, if for no other reason than to make the rest of her stay here even more enjoyable.

Chapter 8

The sky was darkening by the time the fence was fixed and Applejack began leading Mavis to Rarity’s house. The street lamps were lit and the streets themselves were quickly emptying. The chirps of crickets could be heard off in the distance. The moon was full and shining bright and the stars twinkled with splendour. Mavis basked in the serenity of the night the entire trip to Rarity’s house.

Finally, they came upon the oddly-shaped building. Mavis asked why it looked so strange, to which Applejack simply said, “It’s all elegant and frou-frou-y, exactly as Rarity likes.” Mavis thought it looked more silly than elegant. They came up to the front door and Applejack knocked.

“Coming!” sing-songed Rarity’s voice from somewhere inside. There was the sound of hurried hoofsteps approaching the door, which opened to reveal Rarity’s smiling face. “Oh, hello there Applejack. Mavis. What brings you here at this hour?”

Applejack leaned forward and whispered something in Rarity’s ear, to which her eyes sparkled and her mouth opened in delight.

“Oh my, this is important!” She opened the door and beckoned them to enter. “Please, make yourselves at home. I’ll make some tea for you. The living room’s just across the sales floor.”

Applejack and Mavis made their way to the living room while Rarity retreated to the kitchen. They sat down on a purple couch which Mavis immediately decided was the most comfortable thing she’d ever touched. A look around the room, however, revealed an overabundance of bright colours. Various shades of pinks and purples filled every corner and surface of the room and ornate designs were etched into every wall; nothing at all like Applejack’s house. Mavis had thought the exterior of the house looked silly, but the inside looked downright ridiculous. Not that she would tell that to Rarity’s face.

The two of them waited patiently for a few minutes until Rarity entered the room carrying a tray with a tea kettle and three cups. She set it down on the table in front of the couch and levitated a cup to each of them before levitating the tea kettle to fill them all up.

“So, our dear Mavis has a crush on Big Mac, does she?” Rarity said happily while she took a seat in a similarly purple chair, teacup held aloft by her magic. “I must say, I’m both surprised and not at the same time. I had thought such feelings were beyond trains, and yet, Big Mac is quite the gentlecolt that perhaps it was too much for Mavis’ heart.”

“C’mon Rarity, there’s no need to make this all dramatic,” Applejack said. “I ain’t Twi an’ even I know it’s a side effect of her spell.”

Rarity tsked. “You simply can’t play along for once, can you?”

“Nope,” Applejack said plainly.

There was a moment of silence between them before they burst out laughing. Mavis was confused by the exchange but kept quiet.

“Well then,” Rarity started once they settled down, “if dear Mavis wishes to ‘get cozy’ with your brother, you came to the right mare for the job! I will do nothing short of my best to help!”

“Thank you, Rarity,” Mavis said with a smile.

“Now, listen closely to the following advice,” Rarity said seriously. “You must adhere completely to these steps if you truly wish to court Big Mac, as it were.”

Mavis leaned forward, ears up and attention fully rooted to the white unicorn.

“First things first;” Rarity began, “the key to winning a stallion’s heart is pushing to be close to them as much as possible. I imagine you two work in the fields fairly often, yes?”

Mavis nodded.

“Try to work close to him as much as possible. Also, make sure to compliment him on his work, especially about how strong he is. Make conversation as much and as often as you can. Ask questions about him. Although, don’t mention the fact that you’re a train; he might lose interest completely if you do. Building a solid friendship is a crucial first step in starting a romance. Do you understand so far?”

Mavis nodded again.

“Good. Now, once you’ve built a solid friendship, the next step is to put yourself in a romantic environment with him to subtly show you’re interested in taking things to the next level. There are many different situations that would suffice…” She tapped her chin with a hoof, eyes glancing up in thought for a moment. “Aha! Might I suggest stargazing? That’s a concept you’re familiar with, correct?”

“I like looking up at the stars,” Mavis said with a smile.

“Perfect. Once you feel ready, ask him to do some stargazing, and make absolutely sure to sit close to him the entire time. Maybe even drift your hoof over to his own at some point. Once you’ve managed to do all of that, come back to me and I’ll tell you how to advance your relationship further. Does that sound good?”

Mavis nodded. “Thank you for your advice, Rarity,” she said. “I’ll make sure to follow it.”

“You’re very welcome, Mavis,” Rarity replied. She took a sip of her tea, smacking her lips and savouring the taste. “Although, I lament the fact that you’re going away so soon before this romance has a chance to truly blossom.”

“Can’t ya just read one o’ yer corny romance novels?” Applejack asked with a smirk.

Rarity huffed, turning her muzzle up at Applejack with her eyes closed. She held that look for only a few seconds before flashing Applejack a cheeky grin.

The three of them continued talking for a short while after that, finishing up their tea all the while. Mostly Rarity and Applejack talked about things Mavis couldn’t relate to while she herself spent most of her time committing to memory all of Rarity’s advice. It was much easier now that she had lots of brainpower to work with, but she still wanted to be extra sure she understood everything.

Finally, they finished off their tea and passed the empty cups back to Rarity. “S’pose we should get going, now,” Applejack said, getting up off the couch.

“Not so fast, you two,” Rarity said as Mavis got up as well, earning their collective attention. “Before you go, there’s one last thing Mavis will need for her date tomorrow.”

She levitated the tea tray and cups and hurriedly made her way to the kitchen to drop them off before rushing through another door out of sight. Sounds of shifting fabric and mutterings from her filled the air. Mavis and Applejack shared a confused glance. After a few moments, there was an ‘Aha!’ and the sound of a door closing, followed by hoofsteps.

“No stallion can resist such an alluring design,” Rarity said from out of sight before she appeared in the doorway, her horn glowing. “Feast your eyes on this!”

The object she was holding floated into sight. Mavis heard Applejack groan heavily while she looked at the object with interest. It was a single piece of long, tube-like clothing, brightly coloured gold with swirling light blue patterns, detailed to a greater degree than she’d ever seen from any human she’d ever met. It looked like it would fit her nicely.

“Oh dagnabbit, Rarity!” Applejack cried. “Y’all ain’t really gonna give her a dress fer this, are ya?”

“Of course I am, Applejack,” Rarity replied. “A lady must be properly attired for a date. This dress was intended for you for whenever you found yourself a coltfriend.” Applejack shuddered. “But since Mavis’ body is based on your own, it will fit her just as well.”

Applejack turned to Mavis. “You really wanna do this, Sugarcube?”

Mavis looked between her and the ‘dress’. “Is there a reason I shouldn’t?”

“Quite the contrary,” Rarity said. “A lady must look the part for a date, and my dresses are perfectly suited — pardon the pun — for such an endeavor. Why don’t you try it on before you go? And don’t worry about cost; consider it a free rental until you leave to go back home.”

“If it’ll help me get cozy with Big Mac, then I’ll wear it,” Mavis proclaimed.

Applejack groaned.

“Excellent!” Rarity said. “Let’s see how it looks on you in the changing room. Come along, now.”

Mavis followed Rarity onto the sales floor and over to a set of swinging double doors leading into a smaller room. She passed Mavis the dress and gestured toward the ‘changing room’.

“Go on,” she said.

Mavis clutched the dress to her chest and stepped through the double doors. A long mirror was set into one wall while a wooden bench was set into the opposite. She laid out the dress on the bench and inspected it. Four holes were carved out of it, one on each side, two of them bigger than the others.

Somehow, some way, she was going to put this on all by herself. To that end, she carefully inspected the dress’ design the same way the people at the Works would inspect her for illness whenever she visited. It looked like she needed to stick her head through the largest hole and up through the dress, exiting through the opposite hole.

Mavis smiled at her cleverness. She lifted the dress up with her muzzle and stuck her head in, wiggling through until her head, including her mane, exited through the opposite hole. The dress seemed to fit nicely around her body.

She tried to stand on all fours again but was met with resistance as her hoof wedged itself between her body and the inside of her dress. Frowning, she tried to force her hoof down, but to no avail. She tried harder, but all she got for her trouble this time was a loss of balance that sent her toppling onto the floor. She growled and tried to slip the dress off of her body, but it had become too tightened around her for that to work.

“Grrragh!”

“Mavis, is something the matter, dear?” The doors opened and Rarity came inside. Her eyes quickly landed on Mavis’ wiggling form inside the dress. “Oh, do be careful Mavis; too much force and you’ll rip it.”

Mavis felt her entire body tingle and surround with a blue glow, being rendered completely immobile. She glanced up at Rarity with annoyance but relented at the understanding look the unicorn was giving her.

“I do suppose I should’ve foreseen this,” Rarity said solemnly. “But never fear, my assistance is as invaluable as it is endless.”

Mavis felt the tingle of the magic shift from her body to the dress. “Hold still now, please,” Rarity instructed, and Mavis obeyed as she gently pulled the dress off of her. It splayed in the air and the bottom opened up. “I’m going to pull the dress over you— raise your hooves so you can slip them through the sleeves.”

The ‘sleeves’? Mavis looked at the dress and quickly realized Rarity was referring to the holes on the left and right sides. Again, she did as instructed and raised her hooves. Rarity lowered the dress, gently sliding it over Mavis’ body. She paused for a moment to allow Mavis to put her hooves through the sleeves before sliding the dress the rest of the way.

“Voila!” Rarity said with glee. She took a moment to pull some caught strands of Mavis’ mane out of the dress before saying, “Look at yourself in the mirror, dear, and admire your radiant splendor!”

Mavis gazed at her reflection with interest. The dress did indeed nicely fit her body and the material used to make it felt nice and smooth against her coat. She wasn’t sure what to feel about her appearance, whether she really was supposed to look good wearing the dress. It certainly didn’t feel as good as receiving a new coat of paint, but Rarity certainly seemed to like how she looked, so that had to be good.

“Are y’all done in there!?” Applejack called from the other room.

“You can’t rush the art of beautification!” Rarity half-screeched.

Mavis gave herself another look before saying, “Thank you very much, Rarity.”

“Think nothing of it, Mavis. Now, let me remove it and put it in a bag so it doesn’t get dirty on your way home.”

Mavis complied, allowing Rarity to lift the dress off of her. The two of them exited the changing room to find Applejack waiting near the front door, looking very impatient. Rarity spent the next few minutes wrapping the dress up in colourful paper and putting it in a small white box before passing it to Mavis as she showed her and Applejack to the door.

“Ta-ta, and good luck bagging your catch, Mavis!” Rarity said as she opened the door for them.

Mavis frowned, not understanding what Rarity was saying, but didn’t voice her confusion as she and Applejack waved her goodbye while heading back to Sweet Apple Acres.

The town was completely dark by now, with only the moon and stars overhead providing any light. Mavis looked up at the nighttime sky in interest. It looked no different from the night sky back on Sodor, which was good because she liked the stars back home. It would be the perfect activity to share with Big Mac tomorrow night.

Following Rarity’s advice proved to be easier than it would’ve been a few days ago when Mavis thought the symptoms that happened whenever she saw Big Mac meant she was sick. Now that she knew what those symptoms actually meant, it made the task all the more pleasant. She stayed close to Big Mac all the while they worked in the fields, chatting frequently about whatever came to mind and complimenting him on his work, which he definitely deserved. Usually, he said little more than ‘eeyup’ and ‘nope’ when talking to her, rarely speaking in complete sentences, but he kept a smile on his face the whole time.

Big Mac seemed the most impressed whenever Mavis managed to bring down an entire tree’s worth of apples with one kick, giving her an appreciative whistle at her success. Every single time he did this Mavis felt her chest fire up; being complimented for her work felt nice, and she was sure Big Mac felt the same way. If she was forced to, she wouldn’t mind working with him for the rest of her life.

After finishing with the daily chores she helped Applejack run the stall at the market and paid her next visit to Fluttershy to help take care of her animals. Any bubbling curiosity she had about the Everfree was quick to be discarded; she was determined to be good from now on. All the while she worked, her anticipation for that night built up. Even beyond the idea of getting cozy with Big Mac, she’d never done stargazing with her driver or any of her engine friends, and getting to share that experience was exciting to her.

The sun was just above the horizon by the time she made her way back to Sweet Apple Acres. Dinner was being prepared when she came through the front door. Granny Smith and Apple Bloom were in the living room, the former resting in a chair and the latter drawing a picture of something on the floor. A quick glance in the kitchen showed Big Mac at the stove and Applejack bringing a cloth-covered bowl to the table.

“Welcome home, Mavis!” she said upon noticing her. “Dinner’s ‘bout ready. Go on an’ wash up and come on down in a few minutes.”

Mavis nodded and trotted up the stairs, turning down the hallway and entering the bathroom. She spent the next couple minutes washing her hooves and splashing some water on her face as per Applejack’s guidance. Having water splashed in her face normally wasn’t a pleasant experience, but having a towel nearby to dry it off made it okay.

She exited the bathroom and turned down the hallway when an idea came to her. She turned and entered her room, striding over to and opening the closet. Her eyes rose to the dress hanging from the rack. She took it down, laid it flat on the floor, and inspected it once again. She hadn’t thought about it since last night, but now that the time was almost coming, a sense of unease came over her. Would he really like how she looked wearing it? If not, would that ruin the entire night between them? A part of her considered not wearing the dress, but then she remembered how happy Rarity was giving it to her; it would make her sad if Mavis didn’t wear it.

Mavis took a relaxing breath. She was going to wear it, no matter what. If Big Mac didn’t like it, then she’d get rid of it. Until then, she’d wear it and hope things went good.

“Dinnertime, everypony!” Applejack’s voice called from downstairs.

Mavis left the dress where it was and returned downstairs to join the Apple family for dinner. She didn’t talk much during the meal, her mind too preoccupied wondering how the upcoming ‘date’ would go to pay much attention to what the others were saying. She caught Applejack flashing her a few winks whenever Big Mac had his head turned away. Mavis would respond by rolling her eyes and burying her face in the salad they were having for dinner; it was very ‘tasty’, she had to admit.

Mavis was quick to put away her dishes once dinner was over and rush upstairs to her room. With a deep, calming breath, she slipped into the dress using the same exact method Rarity showed her the night before. After that, she gave her reflection another look over in the bathroom mirror. The front of the dress was marred by a couple of wrinkles, but a few firm pats with her hoof easily smoothed them out; it wouldn’t do to look even a tiny bit disorderly.

“I can do this, I can do this,” she repeated to herself as she descended the stairs. She found Apple Bloom and Granny Smith back in the living room, having returned to their previous activities. A look in the kitchen showed Applejack washing the dishes. Mavis came up to her.

“Applejack?”

“You lookin’ fer my brother?”

Mavis nodded.

Applejack pointed toward the front door. “Out on the porch.”

“Thank you.”

Mavis went over and opened the front door to the cool nighttime air, shivering a little at the touch, but in a way that made her feel comfortable, unlike a cold winter night where her wheels felt like they’d freeze to the tracks. She stepped out onto the porch, looking up at the sky. The stars and moon were shining bright, perfect for stargazing.

She found Big Mac sitting in a rocking chair to her left, eyes closed and a piece of straw in his mouth.

“Hello, Big Mac,” Mavis said kindly.

He opened his eyes and looked over to her, only for his mouth to fall open and the straw to drop to the porch. It was similar to how he’d acted upon meeting her for the first time, which Mavis wasn’t sure was good or not if he really did have a crush on her, but it had to be because of her dress. He wasn’t frowning, at least, so he wasn’t displeased with how she looked in it.

“Um, Big Mac?” she said when he didn’t say anything after a long while had passed.

Big Mac shook his head and his face returned to normal. “Sorry,” he said. “I just wasn’t expectin’ to see you wearing a dress.” His eyes darted up and down between meeting her gaze and looking at the dress.

Mavis was relieved. If he was just surprised to see her wearing the dress, that meant the date could go smoothly. “Do you like how I look?” she asked with a smile.

“Y-you look lovely, of course!” Big Mac spluttered.

A compliment! Things were looking up now. “Can we do some stargazing together?”

Big Mac blinked. Then he smiled softly. “Eeyup.” He got out of the chair and strode across the porch. “I know jus’ the place, too.”

Mavis smiled and followed after him. He led her into the barn and up a ladder into the loft. From there he showed her through a door built into the ceiling. Mavis stepped through first onto the roof, taking in a sharp breath at the view of the landscape; it was the first time she’d seen such an expansive view under moonlight and it left her speechless.

She was brought out of her awe when Big Mac said, “Come on,” from behind her.

Mavis followed Big Mac the rest of the way up to the topmost point of the roof. A cool breeze blew past them, but it did little to crush the building warmth in Mavis’ cheeks. They sat down next to each other, silent, their eyes cast upward at the twinkling stars. Mavis began connecting the brightest stars into whatever shapes she could make out of them. This was a nice activity, one she’d never gotten to do before. Usually, she was either locked up in her shed or, when she was doing night work, her attention had to remain forward on the rails. This was a rare opportunity she wouldn’t pass up.

“The sky sure is beautiful, ain’t it?” Big Mac asked.

Mavis nodded. “It is; just as much as back home.”

A short silence passed between them, but Mavis was too busy looking up at the sky to notice at first. It wasn’t until Big Mac breathed a heavy sigh that she turned to look at him. He seemed to be fighting with himself over something. That didn’t seem good.

“Is something wrong?” she asked.

Big Mac breathed deeply again, exhaling rather loudly, and faced her with a determined gaze. “Do you trust me, Mavis?” he asked.

Mavis quirked her eyebrows. “Yes…?” she said hesitantly. “What are you on about?”

“Do you trust me enough to let me know what you used to be before being turned into a pony?”

Mavis opened her mouth to respond, then stopped. Rarity’s advice from last night about keeping her origin secret resurfaced in her mind.

“I trust you,” she replied, turning her head away from him. “But I shouldn’t say anyway.”

“Okay,” was all Big Mac could say in response.

Another, longer period of silence stretched between them. Mavis tried to continue connecting the stars in bizarre shapes, but focus had escaped her, replaced by guilt. Every now and then she spared a glance at Big Mac, her guilt growing each time at the sight of his sorrowful face. She was positive this wasn’t good for the date’s success.

“Do you go stargazing often?” It was the first question that came to her mind and it seemingly came out of her mouth before she knew she wanted to ask it.

Big Mac shook his head. “Nah, not since I was a little colt. My ma an’ pa took me out to watch a meteor shower when I was around eight or so, but I’ve never had much interest in the sky.” He smiled. “But looking up at the stars with you is nice.”

That seemed to lift his mood a little. Mavis pressed onward. “Really? Are we getting cozy?”

Big Mac’s cheeks turned bright pink and his eyes bulged. Mavis shrunk back, thinking she’d said something bad. “Ah, sorry,” she said, turning away from him again.

“Why’re you— I-I mean— ‘getting cozy’?”

Mavis felt her cheeks warm. Yes, she’d definitely done something stupid. Now the date was going horribly, she just knew it. A part of her thought it might be a good idea to leave and go to bed, but another, growing part thought maybe she could turn things around, make it right. The only problem was she wasn’t sure how.

She peeked a glance at Big Mac to find him still wide-eyed but looking forward instead of at her. He was surprised but in a bad way. That meant she needed to surprise him in a good way. But what could she do to accomplish that? She recalled the rest of Rarity’s advice from last night and one bit stood out to her. It was worth trying.

She scooted closer to Big Mac, drawing his attention. He opened his mouth to say something but froze in place as Mavis put her hoof over his leg. All the awareness drained from his eyes and his body went rigid. Mavis closed the remaining distance between them, slightly rubbing her body up against his.

“Are you happy, Big Mac?” she asked, hesitant.

Big Mac responded with nothing. That couldn’t be good. She tried pressing herself deeper into his body but still nothing.

“Are you okay?” she asked finally. “Big Mac?”

She felt relief wash over her when Big Mac’s eyes returned to normal but his cheeks remained pink.

“Why are you touching me?” he asked.

“Do you not want me to? I thought it would make you happy.” She put some space between them.

Big Mac rubbed his neck sheepishly. “I-I mean, I didn’t mind it, but…”

Yet another new, unfamiliar sensation overcame Mavis, brought about by watching Big Mac looking so nervous and insecure. For a second, she thought it had just been guilt, but there was something more to it that she couldn’t place. All of her interactions with Big Mac over the week so far collected in her mind, painting a clear picture of the stallion before her. He was smart, understanding, and respected her feelings— nothing at all like Toby. She’d already made a stupid mistake, yet the date hadn’t been completely ruined. If she was a little more open with him, could that make things right?

“... Do you still want to know what I really am?”

Big Mac seemed to regain his composure only for his face to turn sideways. “Pardon?”

“You asked me what I was before being turned into a pony; do you still want to know?” Mavis gave him a genuine, kind-hearted smile. “I didn’t want to say because I was afraid you wouldn’t want to be with me for the rest of my stay if you knew.”

“That’s plum ridiculous, Mavis.” All the unease vanished from Big Mac’s features, replaced with iron-clad determination. “I don’t care what ya really are. What matters is who you are on the inside, not the outside.”

Hearing those words filled Mavis with the confidence she was searching for. Now everything was on course to go splendidly!

“My home is the Island of Sodor,” she began. Big Mac gave her his full attention, eyes filled with curiosity. “There, I’m a diesel engine working at Ffarquhar Quarry, shunting trucks full of rock and other goods. I haven’t seen much of the island in my life, but I’ve heard stories from the other engines about what the rest of the island is like.”

Big Mac stared at her blankly for a short while, unresponsive. Mavis was afraid he’d be angry with her at first, but then a big grin broke out on his face and he started laughing heartily. Mavis was surprised by the reaction at first, but quickly realized he was happy if he was laughing, which was good.

“I’m sorry, Mavis,” Big Mac finally said once he’d managed to calm down. He wiped some tears from his eyes. “I jus’ wasn’t expectin’ something like that to be yer answer.”

“I hope it doesn’t upset you.”

For a brief moment, Mavis thought she saw disappointment in Big Mac’s eyes, but he waved her off and shook his head. “Nope.”

Mavis blinked, not entirely sure he was telling the truth, but he continued speaking before she could voice her disbelief.

“I’d love to know more about what it’s like bein’ a train if you don’t mind sharing.”

Mavis felt her symptoms suddenly return. “S-sure,” she stuttered.

Their stargazing date was forgotten as Mavis began recounting tales of her life experiences to Big Mac. He gave her his full attention with every story, his eyes sparkling with interest whenever she went into detail about her relationships with her fellow engines, driver, and the quarry workmen. Every now and then he would laugh at a particular detail she recounted or ask questions to clarify some things, though, she didn’t know the answer to many of them. She appreciated his attention very much.

When she came to her story about saving Toby and his crew from falling into a river, she was hesitant to include the detail about her being responsible for the near accident, but she told him anyway. To her immense relief, he took it in stride, even commenting on how good it was to admit to her bad choice. Her symptoms flared hotter than a steam engine’s firebox at his praise.

“Sounds like you have a love/hate relationship with this Toby fellow,” Big Mac said once Mavis was finished talking.

Mavis huffed. “He acts like he’s my boss and that he knows everything about trucks.” She wouldn’t admit it out loud, but she knew Toby was more experienced than her. But he still didn’t need to treat her like she was so useless without him!

She stiffened when she felt Big Mac rest a hoof on her withers. She turned to look into his smiling, knowing face.

“You know, Mavis, I think he’s trying to help you in more ways than you know,” he said.

Mavis blinked. “What do you mean?”

“We all have to start somewhere, without any knowledge of anything, but we learn and grow as we get older,” he explained. “It sounds like Toby is just tryin’ ta help you learn and grow. Maybe he comes off as bossy, but I’m sure he means well.”

“I guess…” Mavis tried to come up with a good counter-argument, but only drew blanks. She thought back to the time she got stuck at the level crossing because of an icy incline and how Toby had said to her after getting her out of the mess, ‘You’ll manage now I expect’; she wondered if he’d said that not to boast, but because he believed she could get the job done on her own then? “But I can manage a task fine if I get proper directions.”

“You’ve proven as much over the past few days,” Big Mac pointed out, smiling. “I’ve been very impressed by your work ethic.”

“All the engines on Sodor want to be useful,” Mavis explained. “Some think they’re more important than others, but the Fat Controller considers all of us the ‘pride of the line’.”

“Well, I consider you the ‘pride of Sweet Apple Acres’,” Big Mac said with a good-natured laugh. “And I’m sure the rest o’ the Apples would say the same.”

Mavis’ symptoms rose to a searing pitch. She loved it.

“Hey look, Mavis!” Big Mac said, pointing upward.

Mavis followed his gaze, gasping at the sight of a shooting star flying across the nighttime sky.

“Better make a wish ‘fore it disappears,” Big Mac followed up before closing his eyes and pressing his hooves together.

Mavis was confused. “Wish?”

The shooting star disappeared a second later. Big Mac muttered something under his breath before opening his eyes and turning to her. “Ain’t you ever heard o’ wishing on shooting stars before?”

Mavis shook her head. “What’s a ‘wish’?”

Big Mac looked surprised. “Really? Ya ain’t never heard o’ wishing before?”

Mavis shook her head again.

“Ah, well, it ain’t no big deal, really; just something fun to do if you ever see a shooting star. Wishing just means expressin’ a desire, and they say if you wish for somethin’ when you see a shooting star, it’ll come true.”

“That sounds like rubbish,” Mavis said, unimpressed.

“Yeah, it is, but it’s still fun to do.”

“What did you wish for?” Mavis asked.

Big Mac looked to her with the nicest smile he’d yet given her. “That you’d enjoy the rest o’ your stay in Equestria.”

“Oh, really? Thank you.” She’d said it so casually, but hearing that from Big Mac had made her the happiest she’d yet been since being turned into a pony. Something about his wish made her feel extra special, something that went beyond being a hard-worker, or even a good friend. Her symptoms no longer registered to her, buried under all of her good feelings.

The date had been a success!

They remained up on the roof for a good while longer before Big Mac got up and suggested they ‘hit the hay’ which actually meant going to bed. Mavis could think of nothing but Big Mac’s wish all the while they made their way back down to the house.

Chapter 9

Mavis’ dreams normally had to do with her work in the quarry and making Toby look foolish or, if she was lucky, she’d find herself running with a long line of trucks on the main line to a faraway place on Sodor, enjoying the strange and exotic sights around her.

That night, however, she found herself standing in the middle of a grassy field underneath a clear blue sky. Directly in front of her was Big Mac, facing away from her. Nothing else was in the field apart from the two of them.

Mavis was sad that they were as far apart as they were. The desire to stand by his side soared within her for some reason. She began walking closer, but with each step she took, Big Mac seemed to drift farther and farther away. She broke out into a gallop, but try as she might, she couldn’t get any closer to him. She gave up and sat down on her rump, head slouched over as tears began spilling from her eyes and choked sobs wracked her throat.

Through her weeping, she heard faint hoofsteps approaching her, but it wasn’t until she felt a hoof press up against her chin that she managed to calm down and her eyes were lifted to meet Big Mac’s compassionate own. They locked gazes for a solid minute, with Mavis at a loss for what to do or say. She was happy to be with him, at least.

Finally, Big Mac winked at her and said, “Keep bein’ yourself.”

Mavis woke up at that moment. Sunlight streamed through her bedroom window, spilling over her bed. Birdsong could faintly be heard outside. She sat up in bed, taking a moment to stretch before getting out and beginning her daily routine. Breakfast went along as normal, as did the daily chores and work in the orchard. Every now and then she caught Big Mac flashing her a soft, genuine smile, and she always returned it with her own. She also caught Applejack trying to stifle bouts of laughter more than a few times at their silent exchanges, much to her indignation. It also made running the stall more awkward than usual.

Her dream stayed in her thoughts throughout the day; she couldn’t help but think it meant something important. Applejack was being too rude, so Mavis decided to visit Rarity on her way back from helping Fluttershy that day to ask her.

Her volunteer work at Fluttershy’s cottage was also fairly uneventful. The only notable thing to happen occurred when she first arrived, finding Fluttershy with her head in her chicken coop. She came out of the coop a moment later and a couple of chickens came walking out, heads hung down in obvious shame.

Mavis reached the property just as Fluttershy was finished talking to the chickens and they returned to the coop, their heads remaining hung.

“Oh hello, Mavis,” Fluttershy said kindly upon noticing her.

“Hello, Fluttershy,” she replied kindly in turn. She glanced at the chicken coop. “What was that?”

Fluttershy cast an exasperated glance at the coop. “My chickens have been very naughty lately. They’ve been wandering off on their own without me knowing where they are.” She sighed. “I don’t like having to punish them, but sometimes it’s the only way to effectively get your point across.”

Mavis felt sympathy for the chickens, but she knew Fluttershy was right. She was only glad that she wouldn’t have to learn that lesson again.

“So, did your date go along well last night, dear?” Rarity asked as she poured tea for both of them.

“I think so, yes,” Mavis said, taking one of the cups from the ‘coffee table’ and bringing it up to her mouth. Tea still tasted funny to her, but as long as it didn’t make her sick she couldn’t complain. That is unless it tasted completely horrible. “Big Mac made a wish on a shooting star that the rest of my stay here was pleasant.”

“Oh, that’s so lovely of him.” Rarity’s eyes looked funny when she said this, almost like they were literally shining like diamonds. “Well, considering how well you’ve been working and gotten along with everypony, I do believe his wish will come true.”

Mavis nodded. They chatted for a little while about other things after that; mostly Rarity explaining pony fashion to Mavis, most of which she couldn’t relate to, being an engine. She could understand the idea of looking one’s best, at least; all engines needed to be washed down after a long day of dirty work.

Mavis decided to speak her mind after Rarity had run out of things to talk about. “I had a dream about Big Mac last night.”

Rarity’s eyes shone again. “Did you now? I hope it was a pleasant one.”

Mavis gave her a rundown of how the dream played out. The more she explained, the more weirdly happy Rarity seemed to get.

“I do believe you’re in the full throes of love, darling!” she cried jovially when Mavis finished.

“Is that what it means?” Mavis asked.

“What it means is that you’re ready to take your budding romance to the next level.” Rarity gulped down all her tea in one swallow and set the cup back on the table. She smacked her lips, savouring the taste, and continued speaking. “The time has come for you to pour your heart out to him, to express your true feelings to him.”

True feelings? Mavis thought for a short while what those were. Big Mac was kind, complimentary, strong, hard-working, and just, in general, she enjoyed being around him. But according to Applejack and Rarity, feelings of romance like she was experiencing were supposed to lead to ‘marriage’ and ‘having foals’, but she wasn’t interested in those two things (she still didn’t know what the latter actually meant) even if they were possible to achieve.

What were her true feelings? If she had no interest in marriage than was her crush real? She would’ve been perfectly happy to just consider Big Mac nothing more than a great friend, but getting cozy with him had been such a great experience last night that she wanted to experience it again. Never before in her life was she so conflicted.

“Mavis? Are you okay?”

Rarity’s voice snapped Mavis from her thoughts. “Uh, I’m fine, of course,” she lied. She decided to put aside her questions for now. “How do I express my true feelings?”

“Well, first things first, you need to put yourself in an equally romantic situation as last night. Another round of stargazing will suffice.”

Mavis nodded her understanding.

“Do everything you did last night: get close, talk often— communicate with your body language that you want to be with him. Once you’ve gotten cozy with each other, stare into his eyes and tell him exactly how you feel about him. Hold nothing back; if you want to spend the rest of your waking days by his side, you tell him that! Put your honest feelings out in the open!”

Mavis nodded again.

“Furthermore,” Rarity continued, a cheeky grin splitting her muzzle, “no proper second date can end on anything other than a kiss.”

“You mean that thing people do at the end of weddings?” Mavis asked, once again recalling her driver’s story from last year.

“Not just at weddings, dear Mavis. Any two people that grow attached are destined to kiss to seal their true, undying love for each other!”

Mavis was starting to feel uneasy. She wasn’t sure what her feelings for Big Mac were and she didn’t want to do anything that he wouldn’t approve of. She relaxed a little when Rarity’s grin disappeared and she laughed heartily.

“Ah, I’m only teasing you, darling,” Rarity explained. “But seriously, a kiss under the star-filled night sky—” She gave a dramatic sigh and held a hoof up to her forehead, “—There is no better way to cap off a second date, believe me.”

Mavis didn’t much appreciate the teasing, or at all, really, but Rarity’s continued advice she did appreciate.

“Thank you, Rarity. I’ll follow your advice again.”

“Glad to hear it.” She lifted the tea kettle with her magic. “Another round of tea?” she asked.

They spent a little more time chatting about other things and drinking tea until the sun started setting. Mavis left Carousel Boutique with a lot on her mind, but also with great anticipation for her second date with Big Mac that night.

Dinner went by uneventfully as it usually did with the Apples. Afterward, Mavis had to make her fifth trip to the bathroom in a hurry to excrete— the smell never got any better, and likely never would. She also took the opportunity to wash and straighten her mane, to get rid of the tangles and make it clean and presentable as befitting the Pride of the Line. Once she was neat and clean she went to her closet to fetch her dress. She was fairly positive a big reason why the date went so well last night was because she wore it, so of course she would wear it again for this next one.

She quickly slipped it on and headed downstairs. Granny Smith and Apple Bloom were in their usual places in the living room, doing their usual activities of napping and drawing, respectively. Mavis once again found Applejack washing dishes in the kitchen and once again she told her that Big Mac was out on the front porch. Sure enough, that’s exactly where Mavis found the stallion; he must’ve made it a habit to come out here after every dinner.

“Hello, Big Mac,” she greeted.

Big Mac looked over to her and once again he was awestruck by the sight of her in a dress, but not to the same degree as last night. He quickly shook off his amazement and replied, “Evenin’.”

“Would you like to do some more stargazing?” she asked, getting straight to the point. “I had such a wonderful time last night; I would like to do it again if you wouldn’t mind.”

Big Mac was quick to reply with, “Eeyup.”

The two of them made their way into the barn, up the ladder to the loft, and onto the roof again. The air was warm tonight, which was nice in Mavis’ eyes. They sat next to each other, but Mavis scooted closer so she was less than half a body’s length away from Big Mac. For a brief moment, Mavis thought she saw his eyes flicker her way at the action. That was good.

They were quiet for a few moments. Mavis looked up at the stars. Like before, she began making random shapes with them, connecting them as her mind saw fit with no rhyme or reason. One benefit to having movable limbs was that she could point and trace patterns instead of having to use her memory for everything, something she was limited with as an engine. Between legs and wheels, however, she would still always choose the latter if given the choice.

After a minute or two of making shapes with the stars, Mavis noticed something peculiar. Some of the stars off to one side of the sky looked like they were arranged in a specific formation already. A closer look revealed it was in the shape of an alicorn; she could make out wings, a horn, a snout, and even a tail. That was odd.

“You’re looking confused, Mavis,” Big Mac remarked.

Mavis pointed at the sky. “Those stars look like they’re organized.”

Big Mac followed her hoof. “That’s a constellation,” he said.

Mavis looked at him curiously. “‘Constellation’?”

Big Mac nodded. “Eeyup. Sometimes stars look like they’re arranged in specific shapes, like ponies or legendary creatures. Ancient ponyfolk thought they actually were, but nowadays we know it’s all just a coincidence.”

That was fascinating! “Do you know what that one is?”

Big Mac shook his head. “Twilight’s the one to ask about that stuff.” Then a thoughtful look crossed his face as he took a closer look at the constellation. “Actually, I think I do know that one: Helios the Selfless.”

Mavis didn’t say anything, confused by the name. Big Mac must’ve caught on to her confusion, as he began elaborating.

“Now, I dunno how much of this I believe myself, but here’s the gist of it: Back when Princess Celestia and Princess Luna first appeared, ponies weren’t sure where they came from; even nowadays they still won’t say anythin’ about that. That led to all kinds of rumours about where they came from, and one of them ties to that constellation.” He pointed up at it. “That constellation existed even before the princesses, but it wasn’t until they showed up that it got a name: Helios the Selfless. We don’t know where the name itself came from, but myth has it that Helios is the father of the princesses and that he’s the ruler of the cosmos. Those stars are supposedly him watching over space, but facing away from the planet since he’s too busy doing that to keep an eye on his children.” He laughed. “Eeyup, ponies come up with the strangest stories sometimes.”

Mavis listened the entire time with great interest. The story didn’t make complete sense to her, but she liked it, even if she wasn’t sure exactly why. But one question of hers she wanted a clear answer to.

“What does ‘selfless’ mean?”

“It means putting the well-being of others before your own,” Big Mac explained. “The myth also says that Helios doesn’t like having to watch over the cosmos, that he’d like to meet with his daughters, but he does the job anyway because otherwise, the cosmos would fall apart. But again, that’s all just a myth.”

There was a lull in the conversation. Mavis decided to scoot closer to Big Mac so there was little more than a hoof’s length between them. He didn’t react to the action.

“That sounds horrible,” she finally said.

“Sometimes you gotta make hard decisions in life,” Big Mac said. “But when your decision ends up saving others, you know you chose right.”

Mavis finally closed the distance between them, her side gently pressing against his. She didn’t look to see if he reacted this time. In truth, she wasn’t entirely paying attention to the conversation; she was busy repeating Rarity’s advice over and over in her head, which was difficult to focus on with her rising symptoms. Big Mac wasn’t moving away after she got close; she took that as encouragement to press forward.

“Am I selfless?” she asked.

There was a moment of silence. Mavis looked up to see that Big Mac was smiling down at her brightly. He reached a hoof up and patted her back; her heartbeat quickened even more at the action.

“I think any pony, or engine, who’s as hard workin’ as you are is a good pony,” he said sweetly. “‘Selfless’? Can’t say fer sure unless you got put in a situation where you had to decide between your safety an’ somepony else’s.” A knowing glimmer flashed in his eye. “But if I had ta guess, sure, you’d make the selfless choice.”

Mavis’ heart was pounding inside her chest. Everything was going perfect! She smiled and pressed herself harder against him. Now was her chance!

“I like how nice you are to me, Big Mac,” she said. Her words came out soft-spoken; trying to talk normally while her body was acting up proved troublesome. “I wouldn’t have enjoyed my stay here if it weren’t for you. I was scared to be here without my wheels at first, but whenever I’m around you I feel happy. These dates have been the best part of my visit here.”

Big Mac smiled coyly. “‘Dates’, huh? Well, I’m glad you like havin’ my company, then.”

Their gazes locked with each other. Mavis recalled the last bit of Rarity’s advice about kissing Big Mac to end the date. How was she supposed to go about it? Did she need to ask for permission first? How long was she supposed to do it for? These questions and more rang through her mind before she decided to throw caution to the wind.

She raised her head towards Big Mac’s face and puckered her lips. Big Mac didn’t move, but the look in his eyes was one of shock and disbelief. Mavis worried for a moment that this meant she should stop, but she promised Rarity she would follow her advice perfectly, so she kept going. Closer and closer she got— Big Mac didn’t move, but his cheeks grew bright pink. Her heartbeat became nearly unbearable, and the funny feeling in her chest spread throughout her entire body.

She was about two inches away from Big Mac’s mouth when something happened. All the confidence she was feeling a second ago was, near instantly, replaced with discomfort. It happened for seemingly no reason, almost like someone had pulled a lever on her feelings. Her lips pursed and she pulled herself away from Big Mac, who continued staring at her in shock.

All her discomfort went away as soon as she pulled back, but what followed was a long stretch of awkward silence between them. Doubt clouded Mavis’ mind. Something wasn’t right, a thought now reinforced by Big Mac’s face. She wilted under his shocked gaze, feeling guilty that she’d almost done something potentially bad.

“I’m s-sorry,” she eventually managed to stutter.

Big Mac said nothing in reply, but his face softened somewhat. Mavis cast her gaze downward, unable to meet his eyes any longer.

“Could you not mention this to anyone?” she asked, hating how weak her voice came out.

Another few moments of silence passed before he responded with, “Eeyup.”

“Thank you,” Mavis replied before she got up and headed down the roof, intending to make for her bed. Never once did she look back at Big Mac, too ashamed of herself. He said nothing, but she could feel his eyes watching her the whole time; she pictured him looking crossly at her.

Mavis didn’t sleep well that night at all. Questions she couldn’t answer played repeatedly in her mind, making her toss and turn in her bedsheets. Through the chaos in her mind, however, one thing was perfectly clear: She didn’t truly love Big Mac.

Chapter 10

The day before Mavis was scheduled to return to Sodor started off extremely awkward. Mavis got up, did her morning routine and descended the stairs, all while the events of last night played out repeatedly in her mind. She felt awful for ruining the date, but even more so for whatever discomfort she might have caused for Big Mac; he hadn’t looked particularly happy when she tried to kiss him. What ate at her even more than that, however, was the nagging question of her true feelings for Big Mac. All these feelings of love and romance were still so new to her, so she was at first tempted to ask Applejack more about it, but quickly realized doing could end up revealing what happened last night, so the thought was discarded.

Breakfast had already started by the time she entered the kitchen. An assortment of foods was spread out on the table with everyone digging in.

“Mornin’ Mavis!” Apple Bloom said when she noticed her walk in.

Mavis smiled at the youngest Apple. Applejack and Granny Smith acknowledged her presence with similar smiles before returning to their food. Big Mac was facing away from her so she couldn’t see his reaction, but the fact that he didn’t turn around to acknowledge her hurt a little. Thankfully, the last remaining seat at the table was two chairs away from him. Mavis took the seat and began putting food on her plate.

Breakfast went by quietly, save for the occasional time where Apple Bloom decided to say something about school or her friends. Mavis didn’t pay much attention to what the filly said as she chewed her food and even if she did most of it would mean nothing to her. Every now and then her eyes drifted over to Big Mac, but the stallion was always busy eating his own food whenever she looked. That was probably for the best.

By the time breakfast was over, she’d come to a decision. She might have had a crush on Big Mac, or maybe she didn’t — talking to Applejack again would likely help her better understand her feelings — but whatever the case, her true feelings for him meant nothing as far as her work on the farm was concerned. She was leaving the next day, so all that mattered right now was continuing to work hard and be useful.

Coming to this decision brought a much-needed sense of relief to her, strong enough that even now she could look Big Mac’s way without feeling guilty. He only looked at her once as everyone left the table and she, him, and Applejack headed outside to begin their work for the day; his expression wasn’t happy or sad or cross — it was calm. What that meant, she didn’t know, but what mattered was that he wasn’t sad or cross with her.

While Big Mac headed into the orchard, Applejack and Mavis made their way around the house to the pig’s pen to begin the daily chores. They’d reached the gate when Mavis said, “I can do these chores all by myself.”

Applejack looked surprised to hear that. “Really? Ya sure?”

Mavis nodded. “I’ll even harvest your section of the orchard as well as my own.”

Applejack’s surprise grew before she looked uneasy. “Land sakes, girl, you lookin’ ta steal my job or somethin’?”

Mavis shook her head. “I just want to be as useful as I can be.”

Applejack appeared to think for a moment before she tipped her hat off to Mavis and said, “Well, I s’pose there’s a few other things I could tidy up around the house.” She turned and headed back the direction they’d come from. “Good luck!” she called back, waving a hoof.

The next hour or so went by routinely. Mavis worked diligently to complete her chores quicker and more efficiently than previous days. More than a few times she wound up getting a little too reckless and bumped or scraped herself against something, not to mention all the mud and muck that clung to her lower body; that part never got any more bearable. Upon completing all her chores she practically galloped over to the hose to wash off— it made her feel so good that she managed to forget all her prior troubles.

The next round of apple bucking was going to be exhausting since she was doing Applejack’s work as well as her own, but she was more than up for it; she wouldn’t have offered otherwise. Big Mac was working in a section of orchard far to the north today while she and Applejack had to work in a section near the front gate. She had a grand total of forty trees to buck before lunchtime.

Easy!

Mavis didn’t waste any time; she walked straight up to the first tree from the house. She bucked it hard and quick, shaking it enough to send every single apple down on the first try. This filled her with pride as she’d truly come a long way in harnessing her earth pony magic since she first arrived. The following task of gathering the fallen apples and putting them in the nearest barrel was more time-consuming than hard, but Mavis didn’t mind at all. She then moved on to the next tree and repeated the process. And then the next one, and so on. Whenever a barrel got full she lifted it up onto her back and brought it down to the wagon to unload.

The sun was high in the sky by the time she finished all the work. She’d worked up a good sweat and her throat was parched. Once she unloaded the last round of apples into the wagon she went back to the hose. She turned it on, put it up to her mouth, and drank until her thirst was quenched. An amused smile split her muzzle at the thought that this was as close as she’d ever get to be a steam engine. Then again, if Twilight could turn her from a diesel into a pony, then maybe she could turn her from a diesel into a steam engine. That was an interesting thought.

She set the hose down and turned back around the house toward the front door, intending to fetch Applejack and let her know they could head to the market. She hadn’t made it to the front steps when she heard little hoofsteps scurrying behind her and a familiar voice saying, “Heya, Mavis!”

Mavis turned to see Apple Bloom running up behind her with a friendly smile. “Why aren’t you in school?” she asked. She hadn’t seen the youngest Apple at all during this timeframe over the week.

“It’s Saturday,” Apple Bloom said plainly, then quickly changed the topic. “So, how are things goin’ with you an’ my brother?”

“What do you mean?”

“You knooooow—” The way she grinned made Mavis uncomfortable, like she knew Mavis had done something bad and was going to tease her about it. But instead of anything like that she said, “Your crush on my big bro. You two kissed yet?”

Mavis huffed and turned around, continuing her trip to the house. “I don’t love him.”

“WHAT!?”

Mavis continued onwards, ignoring Apple Bloom. Right now she didn’t need any distractions to her work. But Apple Bloom was persistent.

“But you two’ve been head over hooves since you met!” She ran up to Mavis’ side, keeping pace with her while staring at her with big, sparkling eyes that Mavis would’ve been discomforted by if she weren’t so annoyed. “Did the date last night go bad or somethin’?”

Mavis stopped. She turned to Apple Bloom with the intention to mouth off, to tell her she should stop being a fusspot and go mind her own business. But the hard realization that Apple Bloom was correct sapped Mavis of her resolve; saying the date hadn’t been a disaster would be lying.

But she couldn’t admit that. She sighed and turned back to face the door. “I don’t know what my true feelings are for him,” she said.

“Really?” Apple Bloom said. “So ya don’t wanna get hitched to my big bro?”

“I may not know what my true feelings are, but I do know that I don’t need to know in order to be hard-working and useful.” Mavis glared at her. “Right now, you’re being a distraction.”

Apple Bloom apparently didn’t care. “But you two didn’t get into a fight, did you?” she asked.

Mavis sighed and shook her head.

“Okay. Whew.” Apple Bloom looked mournfully at Mavis. “But you still care about him, right?”

Mavis was about to tell her to buzz off, but the filly’s words caught her interest. “What do you mean by that?”

“Like, do ya hate seein’ him sad or hurt?”

“Of course.”

“Does yer chest feel all funny when ya see him?”

Mavis hadn’t felt that since last night, but she still said, “Yes.”

“Do ya wanna spend the rest of yer life with him?”

Mavis hesitated for a moment. The truth was she wouldn’t mind being with him for the rest of her life, but she wasn’t sure if she would actually choose to if given the choice.

“... Yes?” she said, hesitantly.

Apple Bloom beamed. “Then ya do wanna get married!”

Mavis’ mind went blank. Apple Bloom kept on talking, but nothing she said registered with Mavis. It took a short while for her brain to understand what Apple Bloom had just said, but when she did all she was left with were more questions. Caring about someone meant you wanted to marry them? But there were lots of people, both engines and humans, she didn’t like seeing hurt or unhappy yet had no desire to marry. But those two things directly related to marriage, according to Applejack and Rarity. Did the same hold true for caring?

She came out of her thoughts just as Apple Bloom finished talking.

“—Well, I gotta go. I’m meetin’ up with Sweetie Belle an’ Scootaloo for some crusadin’.” She ran off toward the front gate, leaving Mavis speechless. “I’ll be a flower filly at your guys’ wedding!” she called back while waving a hoof.

Mavis watched her retreating form until she disappeared over a hill. Confusion had an iron grip over her. All her bad feelings from earlier started resurfacing, but a deep surge of anger directed at the filly took root alongside them. She came out of her blank state with a furious scowl aimed in the direction Apple Bloom went, but it quickly disappeared, replaced with a defeated expression. Things weren’t making sense right now, but there were more important things to focus on than her resurrected questions about her true feelings for Big Macintosh.

She entered the house, quickly finding Applejack working in the apple cellar. After a brief exchange, they prepared themselves and set off to the market with their cartload of apples. Mavis was tempted more than once to ask Applejack if what Apple Bloom said was true, but decided against it, preferring instead to try putting it out of her mind again. All she needed right now was to focus on her work.

Things went about the same as always in the marketplace. Applejack let Mavis run the stall the entire time while she did some shopping and other errands. It wasn’t the kind of work that Mavis would’ve expected to be good at before coming to Equestria, but she’d certainly proven herself competent. That would be another thing to boast to Toby about.

One thing Mavis was starting to notice that she hadn’t realized before was that the townsponies were growing more curious and friendly towards her. The former was a problem, as some of them would come up to the stall and ask about where she came from while making their purchase, making Mavis nervous while she told them she wasn’t comfortable answering. Most of them, thankfully, were understanding and dropped their questions when asked. She did like how friendly they were as it helped take her mind off of her troubles from earlier. A part of her would miss this when she returned to Sodor, but even so, she was greatly looking forward to returning home.

As usual, Mavis bid farewell to Applejack at the end of the market shift to head to Fluttershy’s cottage. That was another job that Mavis wouldn’t have expected to be so good at before coming here. Most of her work involved simply cleaning up after Fluttershy’s various animal friends (which itself was a concept Mavis would never be able to understand, she was sure), or helping the pegasus administer medical treatments to them. The former was simple enough, but some of her animal friends, as she’d learned upon her first visit, really didn’t like getting ‘shots’. Just the other day, she’d had to pin a beaver down to the floor with her hooves while Fluttershy inserted a ‘needle’ into its arm and pumped it full of something that was hard to pronounce; its screams were unbearable to listen to. In a way, that made this job even harder than working at Sweet Apple Acres, but she was happy to help all the same.

The sun’s position indicated it was mid-afternoon when Mavis reached Fluttershy’s cottage. Fluttershy wasn’t out front like she was most of the time. She walked up the front steps and knocked on the front door, but she got no answer after a few moments, so she tried again. Still nothing.

She frowned, wondering if Fluttershy was asleep or something? She knocked a little louder and shouted, “Fluttershy! It’s me, Mavis! Can you hear me!?”

No answer.

Mavis was getting worried now. Something didn’t feel right. She looked behind her to see if Fluttershy had gone out and was returning home up the path, but saw nothing. She made her way around the house, peering in every window to try to catch a glimpse of the pegasus. She spotted a number of animal friends in the living room, but only small ones, and still no sign of Fluttershy.

Mavis was about to knock on the back door when something near the edge of the property caught her eye; something white stuck in a green bush. She trotted over and the object revealed itself to be a feather. Mavis bent over to inspect it closer. It looked awfully similar to the feathers on Fluttershy’s chickens. But what was it doing in the backyard rather than the front where the coop was? Then Mavis remembered her encounter with Fluttershy the other day where she was scolding her chickens for running loose. Her eyes swept the immediate area before landing on another feather just next to the bush. Moving over to it revealed a third feather a small distance away. Then another one just on the outskirts of the Everfree.

Everything made sense after a moment and Mavis let out a sharp, horrified gasp. If a chicken went into the Everfree, then Fluttershy must have gone in after it! That meant she was in danger! She still didn’t know everything about the Everfree, but her encounter the other day, despite there being no real danger, convinced her the ponies knew what they were talking about.

Mavis took a step forward to go in after her but hesitated when she remembered her promise not to enter the Everfree again. She imagined the scolding she’d get from the ponies if she broke her promise. They would tell the Fat Controller and no doubt she’d be locked up in the shed again for misbehaving so much. She turned around and took off in a sprint around the cottage, intending to head back to town to tell everyone what happened.

She didn’t make it very far before a nagging worry took root in her mind, slowing her down before eventually bringing her to a full stop. She looked back to the Everfree with concern. If she took too long to get help, then something might happen to Fluttershy before she got back. If she could get in and quickly find Fluttershy before something bad happened then everything would be okay. She was torn between the two options. For a couple of minutes, she tried to figure out the right decision to make. Every time she thought one decision might be preferable, a small voice in the back of her mind that she couldn’t ignore said it was wrong. Mavis growled with frustration, wanting to do the right thing, but also realizing that the longer she did nothing the greater chance that something would happen to Fluttershy.

... I can’t let anything happen to her, she eventually decided.

Mavis returned to the edge of Fluttershy’s property, right at the treeline. She hadn’t been scared of it before, but now, realizing the dangers that lurked within, her nerves were sapped. She’d gotten lucky before, but entering now could see her encountering a dangerous creature that wouldn’t hesitate to eat her. The same could also happen to Fluttershy if she wasn’t quick enough, however. She breathed a deep, resolving breath and exhaled before marching into the forest.

Every step she took was hard to make, but she trudged onward at a steady pace. She had to find Fluttershy and make sure she was safe. She committed to memory every oddly-shaped rock and tree she passed to use to follow back since she wasn’t on the dirt path. She knew she was going the right way, too, as she found a couple more chicken feathers lying on the ground. Every now and then she heard the distant cry of some animal and each one sent a spike of fear through her. The chicken was absolutely silly to wander into such a dangerous place!

She stopped after about a quarter kilometre into the forest. She’d made it to a small clearing surrounded with prickly plants and snags and one more feather lying in the middle. Something told Mavis this was where the trail ended; the best possible place to find Fluttershy.

“Fluttershy!” she called. “Fluttershy! Can you hear me!? It’s me, Mavis!”

No answer.

The forest was eerily silent now; no animals made their presence known. Fear coursed through Mavis, but she steeled her courage and called again. “Fluttershy!”

Still nothing.

Mavis began walking the edge of the clearing, checking for any sign of Fluttershy or her lost chicken. Wisps of mist were rising in the distance among the snags like little ghosts. Nothing moved, either, whether an animal or the wind blowing the trees. Everything was still as statues. She made several laps around the clearing, her fear rising with each pass and struggling to keep her courage. It didn’t take long for her to realize how very exposed she was like this— if a monster or something bad showed up, she was far away from the safety of Fluttershy’s cottage, possibly too far to outrun anything that came after her.

She made a fifth lap around the clearing and still didn’t see any trace of Fluttershy. She could either venture further into the forest in the hopes of finding something, or she could turn back and seek help in town. She wanted to keep searching, but the part of her that had wanted to go get help was back and was starting to make more sense. She didn’t know the Everfree Forest as the ponies did, so they’d be preferable to have along in her search for Fluttershy. Confident in her logic, she turned back in the direction she came from.

She was shocked to see a chicken peeking out from behind a snag! Its eyes were closed and it was oddly still, but it was definitely Fluttershy’s missing chicken.

“You should’ve stayed in your coop as Fluttershy told you to,” Mavis scolded the chicken as she closed the distance between them.

The chicken didn’t make any reaction. Mavis stopped a few steps in front of it.

“Let’s go back to the—”

The chicken’s eyes opened and Mavis was startled to see they were crimson red. She gasped in shock, stumbling back a bit. Then the chicken stepped out from behind the tree and Mavis saw that it most certainly wasn’t Fluttershy’s chicken. Attached to the chicken head was a sickly green, scaly body with a long, spike-covered tail. It opened its mouth to reveal two rows of sharp, menacing teeth.

Mavis tried to lift her hoof to step back, but it refused to move. Panic gripped her and she tried again, but still nothing. She looked down and her eyes bulged with shock upon seeing that all four of her hooves were turning to stone! Slowly but surely, before her eyes, the fur was being transformed in a sparkly veil of what must’ve been magic. Her heartbeat began picking up as fear completely overtook her. She tried with all her might to make her legs move, but no amount of effort was making it work.

The creature took a step closer to her, drawing Mavis’ attention back to it. One look in its eyes was all it took for her to realize it was turning her into stone!. The magic had covered all her legs by now and was creeping across her flanks and chest. Mavis couldn’t move any part of her body now.

“Someone!” she screamed. “Help me! Please!”

No one came. The creature continuing turning her into stone, unmindful of her cries. The strange magic had finished with her chest and was working its way up her neck now while the rest of her body had been completely turned. Tears streamed from Mavis’ eyes, but for what reason, she wasn’t sure; even they turned to stone against her body as they fell into the magic’s reach. She should’ve gone for help in town.

The magic reached Mavis’ face. Her mouth was quick to turn, leaving her unable to scream for help anymore. She swept her gaze back and forth, searching the surrounding area for any sign of help; her heart sank when she saw no one coming. The magic reached her eyes and everything went completely dark. Next was her ears— the sound of the creature’s breathing muted. All of her senses were gone, leaving only her thoughts intact, and even those she could feel slipping away as the creature’s magic continued working on her head. She was completely trapped.

The last thing she thought before she lost all sense of self was how very silly she had been.

Chapter 11

A small flicker of awareness came back to Mavis. Everything was dark and silent and her body had no feeling. The instincts that gave her control over herself were still present, but her attempts to activate them failed. She used what little brainpower she had to try to remember what happened. Her memories were a jumbled mess; trying to piece together what happened proved both difficult and time-consuming.

Slowly but surely, her last memories reorganized themselves in her mind. Fluttershy’s cottage. The chicken feather. The Everfree. Encountering the creature that turned her to stone.

That was it! Mavis had been turned to stone! So this was what that was like, was it? She couldn’t see or hear or speak, but she could still think, at least. She remembered being a good distance into the Everfree when she was turned. She hadn’t told anyone where she was going, which meant no one knew where she was and might never find her. Panic gripped her upon this realization. She tried again to exert some degree of control over her body but to no avail. She really was stuck where she was. Was she going to be swallowed up by a monster for lunch? Did monsters like stone ponies? Where did that creature that turned her run off to? She didn’t know, which was somehow the worst part of this.

Over and over she repeated to herself how much of a silly, troublesome engine she was. If she was never found, that meant she would never go back home and work in the quarry again. Then another thought struck her: If she was found, she would be in a lot of trouble. She’d been scolded very harshly the first time she went into the Everfree and didn’t encounter any real danger. This time she had, which meant Applejack and Fluttershy would be straight up cross if they found her. Then they would tell the Fat Controller and that would definitely be enough to get her locked up in the shed forever, or worse, turned to scrap. She would’ve cried if she wasn’t turned to stone.

That thought repeated over and over in Mavis’ head many times. Mavis was sadder than she’d ever been before. She’d made so many mistakes in such a short stretch of time that she was beginning to wonder if she was, in fact, a bad diesel? Thinking that only made her sadder. She wished more than anything now that she could undo her mistakes, somehow. But it was too late to do anything now. She was in trouble no matter what happened, but even if she was going to get into trouble upon being found, she’d rather be found than be stuck as a stone statue forever.

The idea of refusing to return to Sodor resurfaced, but she was quick to drop it. Even alongside the fact that she knew very little about Equestria, a part of her knew the Fat Controller would be even more cross with her for running away and that was something she didn’t want to see. She briefly wondered how likely it was that she could continue working at Sweet Apple Acres, but the Fat Controller had specified that she wouldn’t be here for more than a week and he always got his way. She would just have to plead and beg not to be turned to scrap at the very least since her chances of working in the quarry again were gone by now.

Eventually, she put these thoughts out of her mind and started wondering about other things. Without any of her senses, she had no way of knowing how much time was passing, but she knew it was a very long time once she started growing bored. Being a pony was an entirely new, strange experience, but being a stone statue was even stranger. She wondered what it would be like to be one for always and always. If it meant being bored forever than that was a fate worse than scrap in her eyes. Not having a chance to be useful was every engine’s greatest fear.

Then a point came where the boredom became unbearable. Another strange sensation came over Mavis. But unlike the others which appeared and slowly but surely built up over a short stretch of time, this one came all at once in a flash, like lightning. Her mind was washed of everything except the burning desire to be set free from her stone imprisonment. Over and over, she internally screamed to be set free. She no longer cared about her predicament or what her punishment would be if she was found; all she cared about was being in control of her body again. Instinctively, she tried moving her limbs and face, fighting against the magic through sheer force of will.

Then, to her shock and amazement, feeling came back to her face! The magic receded from her eyes first, but the darkness remained, though she could see faint shapes around her, illuminated by a glowing light somewhere behind her. Next came her mouth, but when she tried to breathe she found herself unable to do so. She cast her gaze down to see that the magic was slipping away down her chest. After a few moments, a rush of air filled her mouth, allowing her to breathe again. She drew in several quick breaths before her breathing returned to a normal, steady rhythm. She felt the magic slip away from her forehooves and recede along her back. She moved her forelegs around a bit, getting feeling back into them before her hind legs were freed and she did the same with them. Her tail was the last part of her to be free from the creature’s magic. She trotted in place for a moment, making sure everything was in order before crying with joy.

“Hello, Mavis.”

All of Mavis’ joy was struck down in an instant at the familiar voice behind her. She wanted to keep facing forward, to not have to look behind her at what she knew she’d see, but with a defeated sigh she turned around. She was correct. The disapproving faces of Applejack, Fluttershy, Big Mac, and Twilight, illuminated from the glow of Twilight’s horn, stared back at her. Next to them stood the chicken-headed creature, looking down at the ground, ashamed.

Fluttershy turned to the creature. “I hope you’ve learned your lesson this time,” she scolded.

The creature met her gaze and nodded.

“Good. Now off you go.”

The creature scuttled away into the surrounding darkness. Fluttershy turned her gaze back to Mavis. The shame Mavis felt under the ponies’ disappointed expressions was crushing. Finally, Twilight broke the silence.

“Are you alright, Mavis?” she asked, her face softening a little.

Mavis nodded

“We can talk about everything back at the cottage,” Applejack said, her face not softening. “Celestia knows there's about a million critters that’ll want ta eat us fer dinner if they find us out here.”

The group formed a single file line with Twilight in the front and Big Mac in the far back. Fluttershy and Applejack got behind Twilight, putting Mavis directly in front of Big Mac, which was the absolute last place she wanted to be, but she wasn’t in a position to argue. They began the journey back through the Everfree with Twilight’s magic lighting the way for them. Soon they came to a point where the canopy overhead thinned out, allowing the moon’s light to shine down and help further light the way. Mavis had indeed been encased in stone for a long time.

Mavis’ stomach twisted and turned and tears streamed down her face for the entire trip. A couple of times she choked up, but no one ever reacted. That made her feel even sadder again. They reached the edge of the forest sometime later, coming onto Fluttershy’s property. The lights were on inside and Mavis could see a few creatures inside looking concerned. The group entered through the back door and gathered in the living room.

“I’ll make some hot chocolate,” Fluttershy announced and entered the kitchen.

Everyone else took seats around the living room. Mavis purposely claimed the rocking chair on the other side of the room from the couch where everyone else took their seats. She shied her gaze away from them, glancing instead at all the animals scattered around the room. The white rabbit known as Angel was looking at her with disgust, but all the others looked at her more softly. The fact that they weren’t cross with her helped ease some of Mavis’ heartache. She eventually spared a glance at everyone on the couch, finding some relief in the fact that they were all looking elsewhere. Big Mac met her gaze during that moment and Mavis quickly turned away from him, still afraid to see his disappointment.

Fluttershy came back a few minutes later carrying a tray with five mugs. She set it down on the coffee table and Twilight levitated the mugs to everyone. Mavis took hers and peered at the liquid contained within. Unlike tea, which was more of a dark purplish black color, this ‘hot chocolate’ was a lighter shade of brown not unlike Toby’s livery and had a number of little white things floating inside of it. She lapped up the white things first and chewed, finding them delicious before taking a gulp of the hot chocolate, finding it to be delicious also. She continued drinking gulp after gulp, letting the amazing taste distract her from the current situation. It was hard to believe she could be feeling so miserable and sad a few minutes ago, then suddenly feel comfortable and happy with just one satisfying drink. But she knew it couldn’t last. With one final gulp, she finished off the last of the hot chocolate and put down the mug, which was immediately enveloped in Twilight’s magic and levitated back to the others.

Mavis finally gave them her full attention. Their eyes were all on her, but not in a disapproving way. They looked plain and patient as if they were waiting for Mavis to finish her drink; it looked like they’d barely touched their own. Mavis was afraid they disapproved of her finishing off her drink before them. Yet again, her mood had turned like a turntable.

Finally, Applejack broke the silence with a sigh and said, “Look, Mavis, all we wanna know is why you were in the Everfree after we told ya not to go in there.”

“You were lucky we found you relatively close to the Everfree’s border,” Fluttershy said. “The Everfree is so big and vast that it could take days to thoroughly search it all for one pony.”

“You’re also lucky you only came across a cockatrice,” Twilight added. “Of all the monsters in the Everfree, those are one of the few that won’t eat you. If you’d come across a hydra or a cragadile, we might never have seen you again.”

The way they spoke to Mavis was surprisingly calm and gentle. It helped her feel more at ease, no longer hesitant to meet their gaze and keep it.

“Does that mean you’re not cross?” she asked, hopeful.

“That depends on yer answer, Sugarcube,” Applejack said plainly, crossing her forelegs. “If ya got a good excuse, we’ll be more understandin’. That don’t mean you ain’t still in trouble,” she finished with a little more sternness in her tone.

“And if it’s not a good excuse?”

“That should be the last thing on your mind right now, Mavis,” Twilight said sternly as well. “What matters right now is that you’re upfront and honest with us. It will only make you look worse if you try to hide stuff from us, which doesn’t help your very precarious situation.”

“Eeyup,” was all Big Mac said.

Now Mavis wasn’t sure how to feel. On the one sideplate, she was grateful they weren’t coming down harsh on her, but on the other, she was afraid they wouldn’t find her reason acceptable, which made her hesitant to tell the truth. She had nowhere to run and hide, however, and she had a feeling saying nothing would only make them actually cross with her. She looked around at all the animals in the cottage for a source of comfort, but they were all staring eagerly at her which didn’t help at all.

Mavis resigned herself to her fate. All she could do at this point was hope for the best, but she mentally prepared herself for the worst as well. She took a deep, relaxing breath and proceeded to tell her story: heading to Fluttershy’s cottage; finding the chicken feather; venturing into the Everfree in search of Fluttershy; being turned to stone by the ‘cockatrice’ and her great relief at being turned back. All the while she gave her story the ponies listened quietly, never interrupting even once. Even the animals were unusually silent, their eyes fixed on her like coupling between trucks.

By the end of her tale, Mavis was feeling much better. She saw that the ponies were mulling over her story, trying to decide whether they liked it or not. The animals seemed rather happy with her, judging by the smiles on all their faces, but she knew their opinions wouldn’t help her keep her job at Ffarquhar Quarry. She waited patiently for the ponies to decide.

“That was very noble of you, Mavis,” Twilight said, breaking the silence. “But it was also extremely reckless.” She gave Mavis a disapproving stare. “You should’ve gotten help first.”

Mavis wilted under her stare. “I thought that too,” she responded softly. “I’m sorry.”

“I agree that you should’ve gotten help first,” Fluttershy said before smiling. “But I’m grateful all the same for your concern.”

“That was mighty brave of ya, Sugarcube,” Applejack said. “Really buckin’ stupid and reckless, but brave, an’ I can admire that.”

“Eeyup,” was all Big Mac said again.

“Thank you,” Mavis said, genuinely grateful. “What about your chicken, Fluttershy? Is it safe?”

Fluttershy nodded. “It is. Luckily, I found it before anything bad happened to it.” She looked at Mavis intently. “And I was doubly lucky to have found you on my way back home. We spent all afternoon combing the area where we found you for the cockatrice, which itself was incredibly dangerous, especially at night.”

“This isn’t the first time this has happened, either,” Twilight said with a sigh.

“Really?” Mavis said, surprised.

Twilight nodded. “I was once turned to stone by a cockatrice in the Everfree, but I was frozen a bit longer than you were. According to Fluttershy, it’s the same cockatrice, even!”

Fluttershy sighed with exasperation. “I thought my words had gotten through to him the first time.”

Now Mavis’ curiosity had reached a breaking point. “Why do you live so close to the Everfree, Fluttershy?”

“Oh, the creatures in the Everfree usually don’t venture outside the forest,” Fluttershy explained. “I like this spot because it’s quiet and secluded.”

Mavis understood her reasoning, but she still thought it was rather silly.

“Getting back to the point of this conversation,” Applejack said firmly, recapturing Mavis’ attention and reminding her she was in trouble, “we’re gonna be tellin’ Sir Topham Hatt about this, but we’ll let him know you were acting outta compassion instead o’ stupidity.” She smiled softly. “I’m sure he’ll be understanding, Sugarcube.”

“Thank you, Applejack,” Mavis said, relieved beyond words.

The ponies chatted for a bit longer about other things, leaving Mavis out of the conversation to think to herself. Knowing that the ponies would put in a good word for her was comforting, but would that be enough for the Fat Controller to let her work in the quarry again? She could only hope so; she would be leaving for Sodor the next day, so she had little opportunity to make any more mistakes. All the same, she resolved to be extra careful from now until next morning and only do things she was told.

She was watching a couple of mice playing in a corner of the living room when she caught Big Mac looking at her in her eye’s corner. He hadn’t contributed much to the conversation and was now separate from it completely, looking at Mavis with a soft, sincere smile. Mavis’ symptoms returned. She tore her gaze from him and back to the mice, but she could still feel his gentle gaze on her. Hadn’t she dropped her crush on him? Why was she feeling this way again all of a sudden? She hadn’t felt this way earlier during the journey through the Everfree.

Finally, the girls finished talking and got up off the couch, signaling the time to return home. Pleasantries were exchanged and the group exited through the front door, waving goodbye to Fluttershy as they crossed the bridge leading to her cottage.

Mavis was allowed to trail behind on the journey through town which she loved because it let her be alone with her thoughts without the feeling of someone watching her from behind. Big Mac and Applejack walked side by side in front of her while Twilight led the group. Ponyville was completely deserted as they passed through. The streetlamps illuminated their way through the outskirts, past the Town Hall and finally onto a small dirt path that led to a distant structure which Mavis couldn’t quite make out through the darkness until she got closer. When she could see it properly, her mouth fell open with shock.

It was a castle! But it seemed to be made of some kind of oddly coloured rocks instead of bricks. It was oddly structured, too, looking a lot more like a tree than a building. A banner depicting Twilight’s cutie mark hung from an upper level and the topmost part of the structure was shaped similarly. Obviously, this place was important.

Twilight departed from the group, walking towards the castle and waving goodbye to everyone. “See you tomorrow, Mavis! Applejack!”

The group returned the goodbye until Twilight had entered the castle, whereupon they headed back the way they came. Mavis wanted to see what the castle was like on the inside, but it was getting very late and she would need a good night’s rest before she returned home tomorrow. Maybe she’d get a chance if she ever got to visit Equestria again someday.

The three of them made their way through town and along the road leading to Sweet Apple Acres. Mavis’ thoughts wandered from topic to topic before she got to thinking about her true feelings for Big Mac again. Apple Bloom’s words from earlier in the day still confused her. Did caring for Big Mac mean she loved him in the way that led to marriage and foals? If being married and having foals meant she couldn’t work in Ffarquhar, then she definitely hoped that wasn’t the case. But what if it was the case? Would the Fat Controller approve? Or her manager? Would they make her stay in Equestria? Working on Sweet Apple Acres was nice, but nothing was better than shunting trucks and teasing Toby for being a fusspot.

She needed her questions answered before returning to Sodor.

The three of them reached the front gate to the farm in good time. Big Mac opened the gate and ushered Applejack and Mavis inside. They made it about halfway across the property before Mavis said, “Applejack?”.

“What’s up, Sugarcube?” she replied.

“Can I talk to you privately about something?”

“Of course ye can!”

Big Mac nodded his understanding and trotted off, leaving them alone. Mavis waited until he’d entered the house before speaking again.

“I need some help understanding my true feelings for your brother.”

Applejack suppressed a laugh which earned a glare from Mavis. “Sorry, sorry, Sugarcube,” she apologized, waving her off. “Sure, I’ll help ya figure all that out. Heh, I’m still feelin’ like yer surrogate mother.” Mavis still had no idea what that meant. “So, whatcha need help understandin’, exactly?”

Mavis recounted what Apple Bloom had told her earlier while Applejack listened intently. Applejack seemed to grow more annoyed as Mavis went on, which worried her at first until Applejack spoke up once she finished.

“Something ya gotta know, Mavis, is that little filly is too young to know a darn thing about love. She didn’t know what she was talkin’ about, trust me.”

“Really?” Mavis said, more than a little surprised.

“I don’t lie,” Applejack stated matter-of-factly. Mavis felt inclined to believe her.

“So what are my true feelings for Big Mac?”

Applejack shook her head. “I ain’t you, Mavis, so I can’t say fer sure what they are, but I can tell you more about love so you might have a better understandin’. That sound alright?”

Mavis nodded.

“Alright then, let’s see…” Applejack trailed off for a few moments, gathering her thoughts. “Well, your crush on my brother is romantic love, like I said. But crushes are kinda like an apple seed and that real, true romance is like a fully grown apple tree; it takes time to develop, but only when it does does it really mean anythin’. Your feelings, from the sounds of it, are somewhere between the two, maybe a sapling if I had to guess from your personality.”

“What does that mean?” Mavis asked, confused.

“Oh, nothin’.” Applejack failed to suppress a snicker, annoying Mavis. “But like I said, it’s just a side effect of Twilight’s spell, so it’ll probably go away once we turn ya back into a diesel engine.”

That was a relief to Mavis’ ears. Now there was just one question left that needed answering.

“So how does caring about someone relate to marriage?”

Applejack sighed. “And that’s why you shouldn’t have taken Apple Bloom at her word.” Another sigh. “Caring for other people is something that all living, sapient creatures are capable of, but it’s necessary for a successful romantic relationship all the same. It’s jus’ a natural wish to see people succeed and be happy and healthy. Ain’t you ever felt that way ‘bout your friends on Sodor?”

Mavis could recall a few instances where she wanted her fellow engines to be happy and safe— the incident with Toby over the rapids came to mind again. “Yes, I have.”

“And did you ever want to marry those people you felt that way about?”

Mavis shook her head; she didn’t even know what marriage was for the longest time, even.

“There you go.” Applejack laughed. “Although, I gotta say, the thought of engines gettin’ hitched is somethin’ I’d be interested in seeing for the laughs if nothing else.”

Mavis felt a little indignant by her comment, but having gotten a better idea of what her true feelings were for Big Mac made it hard to be too annoyed. Then a thought struck her.

“Does going after Fluttershy in the Everfree mean I care about her?”

“Fluttershy said as much, didn’t she?” Applejack asked jokingly before waving Mavis off. “Yeah, runnin’ headfirst into potential danger to save somepony means you care about them. But that don’t excuse the fact that you should’a gotten help first,” she finished sternly.

Mavis nodded.

Applejack looked thoughtful for a moment before she said, “Y’know, Sir Topham Hatt cares about you a lot.”

Mavis stared blankly. “What?”

“Well, yeah, seeing how he sent you here in the first place.” At Mavis’ continued confusion, Applejack began elaborating. “It might seem like he’s punishing you just because he’s upset with you, but he’s tryin’ ta teach you and help ya grow.”

“Help me grow?” How did that make sense?

“Figuratively, I mean; he wants you to learn from yer mistakes and become a better, even more useful engine as a result. An’ that ain’t all too different from how ponies treat their foals. I got punished by my folks a whole lotta times for acting out o’ line when I was a little filly. But if they hadn’t, I wouldn’t be the mare I am today.” Her chest puffed in a show of pride.

It was surprising to Mavis, but Applejack seemed to have a point. She wouldn’t know how to be a useful engine if the Fat Controller or her manager didn’t tell her when she was being bad or doing something wrong. If that was what caring for others meant, then Mavis felt happy knowing she had many who cared for her and wanted to see her become ever more useful.

“Thank you, Applejack,” she replied. “I have all my answers.”

“Glad to hear it,” Applejack said before gesturing to the house. “Now, let’s get some shuteye. Big day tomorrow.”

Mavis nodded and fell into step behind her as they headed for the house. She finally understood her feelings for Big Mac. Crushes were nice, but the desire to see the people and engines in her life be happy and healthy and really useful flared within her. That was a goal more worth pursuing.

Chapter 12

Mavis’ last day in Equestria was as routine as all the rest: get up, shower, eat breakfast with the Apples and complete the morning chores. But the excitement of finally returning home and getting her wheels back stayed at the forefront of her mind the whole time. She tried not to think about how her upcoming meeting with the Fat Controller would turn out, not wanting to have to worry about it right now. She still took extra care not to act out of line or get into trouble.

It was afternoon when it came time to leave for the train station. Mavis exchanged goodbyes with the Apples while they waited for Twilight to arrive. They all commended her for her hard work and diligence and told her she was welcome on Sweet Apple Acres if she ever came back to Equestria. But there was one thing she had to do before leaving.

She pulled Big Mac aside when Granny Smith and Apple Bloom went back inside the house and Applejack was waiting by the front gate for Twilight. He didn’t speak as she led him, but the knowing glint in his eye made it clear he knew exactly what she wanted to talk about. She stopped once they were out of sight around the barn and turned to face him, forcing her eyes to meet his against her discomfort.

“I have a crush on you, Big Mac,” she said, getting straight to the point. “Or, rather, I had one, but I don’t want to have one anymore if that’s okay with you.”

Big Mac smiled and nodded his head. “Eeyup.”

It felt like a massive load of trucks was uncoupled from Mavis with that statement. She sighed with relief and replied with, “Thank you.”

“You know, I had a crush on you from the moment I saw you, too,” Big Mac said.

Mavis was surprised. “Really?”

Big Mac nodded. “Eeyup. But I realized it wouldn’t work out pretty darn quick, so I got over it. Glad to see you did too.”

Mavis felt heat come into her cheeks again. Big Mac chuckled.

“I still like you, though,” he continued. “You’re strong, dependable and good-hearted. You bein’ a train don’t mean we can’t still be good friends.”

Mavis was confused by that. “How can we be friends if we’re in different worlds?”

Big Mac raised his hoof and pressed it against her chest, earning a startled gasp from her. “S’long as you keep me here, we can be friends no matter where we are.”

Mavis was even more confused now. “My… heart?”

Big Mac nodded.

“But I don’t have a heart as a diesel engine.”

Big Mac shook his head. “Maybe not one for pumpin’ blood, but all livin’ things have a heart. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t have any friends back home.”

Thinking over his words, Mavis thought she understood what he was saying. She didn’t see her fellow engines very often, but she still had them in her thoughts when they were away. Calling that ‘having a heart’ was strange, but she intended to keep Big Mac in her thoughts even back at Ffarquhar, even if those thoughts had nothing to do with marriage and having foals. Speaking of which…

“I have another question: What does ‘having foals’ mean?”

Big Mac’s eyes bulged and his cheeks turned pink. Unintelligible rubbish spewed from his mouth for a few seconds before he shook himself. Mavis recoiled from the brief, indignant display, but relaxed once he regained his composure.

“That ain’t nothin’ you oughta worry about, Mavis. Trust me, yer better off not knowing since yer gonna be an engine again soon.”

That did nothing to sate Mavis’ curiosity, much to her annoyance, but she didn’t press the question, deciding to trust Big Mac. She nodded her understanding.

“Well, I reckon Twilight’s gonna be here soon,” Big Mac said. “Better go wait by the front gate for her.”

Mavis nodded again and turned back the direction they came. Before she turned the corner out of sight, she stopped to give Big Mac a wave goodbye and a sincere smile, both of which he returned.

She re-joined Applejack by the front gate and the two of them waited for Twilight to arrive. The alicorn princess arrived a short while later, but she didn’t come alone— Fluttershy was with her.

“Hello, Applejack. Mavis,” Twilight said, addressing them both. “Are you ready to go?”

Mavis nodded.

“Yep,” Applejack replied and looked to Fluttershy. “You ain’t busy, ‘Shy?’

The pegasus shook her head. “I really wanted to say goodbye to Mavis.”

“Thank you, Fluttershy,” Mavis replied, genuinely touched.

“Well, let’s not waste any time,” Twilight said. “The train leaves in about forty-five minutes and it’ll take us about thirty to make it there so long as we don’t get distracted. Then it’ll take us about five to collect our tickets, another five if any of us need to use the little filly’s room, so the remaining five is our margin for error that we need to—”

“Heya, Twi?”

Twilight looked to Applejack. “Yes?”

“Didn’t you jus’ say we shouldn’t waste time?”

Twilight looked confused. “... Yes?”

Applejack raised an eyebrow.

Realization quickly dawned on Twilight and her cheeks turned pink. “Eheh, sorry.”

Applejack laughed and Fluttershy giggled. Mavis didn’t understand what was happening but decided to giggle as well for the sake of fitting in.

Twilight threw a hoof over her eyes as if trying to hide from them. “Let’s just go.”

The Ponyville train station was nowhere near as crowded as the Canterlot platform was about a week ago. Small groups of ponies milled about, chatting with friends or standing silently while porters pushed along trolleys carrying luggage. The Friendship Express hadn’t yet arrived by the time Mavis’ group arrived. They collected their tickets from the booth and gathered at a spot near the middle of the platform. With the small number of ponies on the platform, the air was filled with very little noise, which allowed the four of them to easily converse with each other.

“Excited, Mavis?” Applejack asked.

Mavis turned to her. “What about?”

“Getting to ride on the train again.”

“A little.” In truth, she hadn’t been thinking about that fact until now, but now a welcome bit of excited anticipation began building within her. “I never get to pull coaches like the other engines, so it’s less special for me.”

“Maybe if you visit again we can arrange for you to replace the Friendship Express?” Twilight suggested half-jokingly.

“Ponies would find it really freaky to see a talking train, though,” Applejack pointed out.

“True.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Mavis assured them. “Pulling trucks is my favorite thing to do, but coaches are too big and heavy for me.”

“You sayin’ you’re weak?” Applejack questioned.

“I can pull trucks easily enough, but I wasn’t built for long journeys pulling passenger trains,” Mavis explained. “But that’s fine; I like working in the quarry. A good run along the coast is nice every now and then, though, but I’m most happy to be at home.”

“I can relate,” Fluttershy said softly, but that was all she said, and no one prodded her further.

Finally, after some time, smoke began rising from distant treetops, signaling the arrival of the Friendship Express. Ponies stopped doing what they were doing and gathered near the edge of the platform with all their carry-on luggage. The train came around a bend into sight, drawing closer and whistling as it neared the station. It rolled in loudly, stopping perfectly aligned with the platform. A few minutes went by while the crew completed the required post-journey protocol before opening the doors to allow the passengers to disembark. They streamed from the coaches, spreading out along the platform to wait for their luggage which started being unloaded from the coaches’ storage compartments and rolled out on trolleys.

“Well, this is goodbye,” Fluttershy said to Mavis.

Mavis nodded. “Thanks for letting me help you,” she said. “And I… I’m sorry again about all the trouble I caused.”

Fluttershy shook her head. “Everything you did to help more than makes up for it,” she assured her. Fluttershy then reached over and grasped Mavis in a firm hug, startling her at first before she returned the gesture. Mavis felt Applejack and Twilight join in the hug as well— she wondered if that could be seen as undignified by everypony around them?

The four of them held the hug for a short while, eventually breaking away when they heard the guard blow his whistle and shout, “All aboard! Have your tickets ready!”

Fluttershy waved goodbye to Twilight, Applejack, and Mavis as they got in line to board the train. Twilight held the tickets in her magic, passing them to the guard once they reached him. He checked them over before giving them back with a nod and allowing them to board. They climbed on board the train one after another and took the only row containing three open seats next to each other, near the rear of the coach.

A few minutes later the train’s whistle blew. The three ponies waved goodbye to Fluttershy through the seat’s window, who waved in turn as the train set off down the line.

“Almost home, Mavis,” Applejack said, settling into her seat.

Mavis replied with a soft smile and a nod, her gaze rooted to the passing landscape outside. Trees and rocks whizzed past in a blur as the train picked up speed. Mavis wondered how it would feel to stick her head out the window and feel the air rushing through her mane. She would’ve tried to open the window if she knew how to, but she didn’t, so she put it out of her mind and contented herself with watching the passing scenery. She should relish the experience of being a passenger as much as she could, after all, since she didn’t know whether or not she’d ever get a chance to do so again.

It was about a half hour into the trip that Applejack said her name to get Mavis’ attention. She turned to see Applejack and Twilight looking eagerly at her.

“Is something wrong?” Mavis asked them.

“Well, this is probably going to be our last chance to chat,” Twilight explained. “And there’s so much more we would love to know about Sodor!”

“You can’t satisfy this one’s curiosity,” Applejack teased, earning a playful glare from Twilight.

Mavis frowned. “I’ve already told you all about my life on Sodor; I don’t have anything else to say.”

“Even little things could be interesting,” Twilight said. “And… well, I understand you’re not as worldly as some of your friends are. I can’t go to Sodor freely to learn anything more, so you’re my only viable source of information right now.”

Mavis thought for a long while about anything else she could tell Twilight about Sodor that was interesting. That was hard since she didn’t know what could qualify as interesting, but she still tried her best.

“... Sorry, I can’t think of anything,” she finally replied.

Twilight’s head drooped. “Okay, I understand.”

Mavis felt bad for Twilight. “I’d like to learn more about you!” she quickly said, hoping it would cheer her up. “If that’s alright with you, of course.”

Twilight seemed to perk up a little.

Applejack nodded. “Well, there’s a lot we could say that we didn’t last week.” She tapped her chin in thought. “What to say…?”

“Oh! We never told her about Discord!” Twilight said suddenly.

Mavis was happy at first to see Twilight cheering up but then got a little spooked when her muzzle split into a cheeky grin. She’d learned that to mean something was going to happen at her own expense.

“Oh yeah!” Applejack laughed. “I wanna see her reaction to that! It’s a darn shame he’s been away for the past couple o’ weeks.”

“What are you talking about?” Mavis asked, feeling uneasy.

Twilight stared at her intently. Shadows seemed to come over her eyes, giving it a spooky vibe that sent shivers down Mavis’ spine.

“You hate confusion and delay, don’t you, Mavis?” she said darkly.

Mavis nodded shakily.

“Imagine a being whose entire purpose is making things difficult and disorderly. A being who would make clocks tick backward on a whim, or would make rails loop endlessly. A being who delights in being condescending and acting like he’s your superior in every way, who will, quite literally, talk your ears off. How does that sound, Mavis?”

Mavis was quivering by now. She tried to give a reply, but all that came out was a pitiful squeak. She tried again, succeeding with, “It sounds scary.”

Applejack drew her face right next to Twilight’s, adopting a similar sinister expression as the alicorn. “That being exists right here in Equestria, Mavis. An’ we never know when he’ll pop up and cause trouble. If he decided to pop in right now, we might be hours late to arriving in Canterlot.”

Mavis was shaking like a leaf now. Fear consumed her entire being and she let out another pitiful squeak.

Twilight and Applejack bore into her with their striking, sinister gazes. Then, as if a switch had been flipped, their gazes brightened and they doubled over laughing. Mavis blinked, her composure returning as she tried to process the sudden mood shift. Ponies in front of them cast back disapproving glances. Mavis stared at the laughing mares for a short while before eventually joining the other passengers, her eyebrows furrowing and teeth gritting upon the realization they had merely been teasing her. She didn’t like that.

“Stop,” she commanded crossly.

Twilight and Applejack finally settled down and sat straight up in their seats, waving her off. “Sorry. Sorry, Sugarcube,” Applejack said while steadying her breathing. Then another laugh suddenly burst forth from her mouth. “The look on your face was priceless!”

Mavis huffed and turned away from them, returning her attention to the passing scenery outside. The mountain on which Canterlot was built could be seen far off in the distance; they still had a fair ways to go.

Applejack reached over and patted Mavis’ withers. “C’mon now, Mavis, we were jus’ playin’ around. It’s all in good fun.”

Mavis turned around, shooting her a disapproving glare. Applejack caught on to her silent communication and retracted her hoof, but kept smiling.

“Sorry if we went a little too far, Mavis,” Twilight apologized. “But Applejack’s right; it’s all in good fun.”

“It wasn’t fun for me,” Mavis said softly.

“That’s teasing in a nutshell, but it’s what friends do,” Applejack said.

Friends were supposed to tease each other? That was new to Mavis. If it was true, then she would’ve been Toby’s very best friend with how often she teased him. That was laughable at best.

“Were you just making that stuff up?” Mavis asked.

Twilight shook her head. “No, there really is someone like that: His name is Discord.”

“He don’t live in Ponyville, though,” Applejack added. “An’ even when he comes around ta give us grief, he knows better than to make ponies’ lives miserable nowadays. Us and our friends put a stop to that when we reformed him a little while ago.”

Mavis wasn’t feeling too good even after their assurances. Twilight must have seen it in her face as she said, “Why don’t we talk about something else, then?”

Mavis was all too happy to do that. “If I ever get to come back, could I see more of Equestria?” she asked.

“Sure,” Twilight said. “Although, you wouldn’t be able to see much from the rails. Many of the best sights in Equestria are located away from the railway, so you’d need legs.”

“That’s okay,” Mavis said. “I prefer my wheels.”

“You haven’t warmed up to your legs?” Applejack asked playfully.

“I’m proud to be an engine,” Mavis stated. “I’ll be happy to stay on the rails.”

“It’ll be a little hard to pull off,” Applejack said warily. “Like I said, ponies ain’t isn’t used to the idea o’ talkin’ trains.”

“It’ll probably be a long time before the existence of the Singularity becomes general knowledge,” Twilight added.

“I’ll be around for a long time,” Mavis said with a smile. “As long as I can keep being useful, I don’t need to worry about being turned to scrap.”

“Well, you certainly proved yourself this past week,” Applejack remarked. “If you’re plannin’ on staying useful for another thirty or forty years or more, I’d believe it.”

“Me too,” Twilight said.

The three of them fell into a series of casual conversations about random things afterward. They shared many smaller stories about things that happened in their lives with each other, but more often than not Mavis found the ponies’ own stories far more interesting than they found her repetitive tales of bumping trucks and teasing Toby. It all helped to lift Mavis’ spirits a great deal. She hadn’t forgotten that Applejack was going to tell the Fat Controller about all the trouble she’d gotten into during her time in Equestria, but being with her new pony friends like this, talking and laughing, took her mind off of it and allowed her to enjoy her last few hours in this world without any worries.

She couldn’t think of a better end to her week-long ‘punishment’.

The Friendship Express rolled into Canterlot Station right on time at one o’ clock; Mavis was impressed by how orderly and on-time the Equestrian railway system had proven to be. Maybe it had to do with how small it was compared to Sodor which would mean less room for confusion and delay. That was the last thing she needed on her last day here.

The coach doors opened once the arrival procedure was complete, allowing the passengers to spill out onto the platform, which itself was packed with ponies and the air filled with their chatter. Mavis followed directly behind Twilight and Applejack as they navigated through the crowd, coming out near the entrance to the train station.

“There’s always a big crowd here,” Applejack remarked.

“Canterlot is the capital of Equestria,” Twilight agreed.

Mavis could only look at the large crowds and wonder how happy the Friendship Express would be to have so many passengers if it was alive.

“Well, we don’t have to be back at Tidmouth until about one-thirty, so we’ve got a little time to kill,” Twilight said. “Would you like to see the city sights, Mavis? This may be your last chance to do so for a long time.”

“I would like that very much,” Mavis said with a smile.

They took off down the main street leading away from the train station. Mavis craned her neck every which way, taking in all the strange yet interesting sights of Canterlot for a second time. The city was just as lively and colourful as it was the first time, with ponies chatting and going about their daily activities everywhere she looked. Now that she was here again, though, she was starting to think the buildings here, while awe-inspiringly tall, were too queer for her liking. The simple thatched and wooden cottages of Ponyville were more appealing, though, she wasn’t sure why. Maybe it was because they closely matched her yellow livery.

Mavis listened intently as Twilight pointed out various landmarks that they passed while giving elaborate descriptions of each one, oftentimes forcing Applejack to step in and tell her to ‘keep it simple’. She couldn’t understand the significance of most of the stuff Twilight described: a ‘museum’ was where ‘art’ was kept and a ‘library’ housed a lot of ‘books’. Twilight seemed extremely eager to talk about the library, especially, whereas Applejack kept playfully rolling her eyes at her friend’s enthusiasm.

“Doesn’t this annoy you?” Mavis whispered to her as Twilight prattled on.

“You get used to it after a while,” Applejack whispered back. “Honestly, it’s pretty amusing to see her go on like this, forgettin’ who she’s talkin’ to.”

Mavis had no idea how that could be true.

They’d traversed a good portion of the city, taking many turns and venturing down many side streets before Twilight announced it was time to get a move on. They turned in the direction of Canterlot Castle which was easy to spot as it towered over the rooftops of every other building. Its incredible size wasn’t as awe-inspiring as it was a week ago to Mavis, but upon realizing how much work would’ve gone into constructing it, she was impressed all over again. It was buildings like these that were built from the stones extracted from Ffarquhar Quarry; that always made Mavis feel important. She hoped that whoever had built the castle felt the same way.

The three of them made it to the castle in good time. They made their way across the drawbridge and up to the front gate where a pair of royal guards stood on either side.

“Good afternoon, sirs,” Twilight said as they approached them.

“Hello, Miss Twilight,” one of them said. “Go right on in.”

“Thank you.”

The three of them entered the castle without a hitch. This was yet another thing that made Mavis feel important and helped distract her from the upcoming encounter at Tidmouth.

They came into the castle foyer and a pegasus guard off to the side trotted up to meet them.

“Private Gale Strike, your highness,” he said, bowing before Twilight. “I’ve been instructed to escort you to the throne room.”

Mavis saw Twilight roll her eyes at the display before she said, “Lead the way, then.”

Gale Strike stood up and nodded, turning around. The three of them followed behind.

Mavis fell into step next to Twilight. “Why did he bow to you?” she whispered to her.

“That’s what happens when you become a princess; everyone treats you like you’re above them,” Twilight explained, her mouth set in a frustrated frown. “It’s the worst part about being a princess, honestly.”

Now that was something Mavis couldn’t hope to comprehend. How could being important ever be a bad thing?

Gale Strike led them briskly through the castle, eventually bringing them to the throne room’s double doors. He knocked and the doors were enveloped in golden magic and pulled open. Gale Strike bade them enter, which they did. The doors shut behind them as they tread the long red carpet leading up to the throne and Princess Celestia sitting upon it.

“Hello Twilight,” she greeted in that soft, caring tone Mavis remembered from a week ago as they approached. “I trust you had a safe and pleasant trip?”

Twilight nodded. “Yep. Thanks for paying for both train rides, Princess.”

“You’re most welcome,” Celestia replied before turning her attention to Applejack and Mavis. “It’s good to see you’re looking healthy and happy, Mavis. How did this last week fare?”

“Hoowee, Princess,” Applejack said, taking off her hat and fanning herself as if she was suddenly hot, “a whole lotta stuff happened is how it fared. More than I ever thought would’a happened when I agreed ta this.”

“Really?” Celestia said, intrigued. “Well, I’m all ears if you’re willing to say.”

Applejack proceeded to give the princess a simplified rundown of everything that had happened over the past week. Mostly, she stuck to commending Mavis for all her hard work on the farm, but she didn’t hesitate to talk about Mavis’ misbehaviour, albeit without much detail. All she really said was that Mavis had a knack for letting her childish ideas make her do silly and dangerous things without mentioning the fact that she got turned to stone by a cockatrice. She did hint at Mavis’ crush on Big Mac, saying she “had some unexpected feelings for my brother”; the emphasis she put on ‘feelings’ was all Celestia needed to hear to understand what Applejack was saying, much to Mavis’ humiliation.

“It sounds like you had quite the experience, Mavis,” Celestia said, looking to her with a gentle gaze. “Would you say you enjoyed your week-long stay in Equestria?”

Mavis nodded. “It was more pleasant than I thought it would be to lose my wheels.”

“That’s wonderful to hear,” Celestia said, flaring her wings. “Consider yourself welcome to visit Equestria whenever you are allowed to.”

“Thank you, Princess,” Mavis replied, smiling.

Celestia stepped off her throne. “Now then, let’s get you back to Sodor.”

Celestia led the group out of the throne room and to the supply room where the Window was housed. She nodded to the guards on either side and they acknowledged the greeting. A key popped out of thin air in front of Celestia, surrounded in her magic. She used it to unlock the door, opening it to reveal the Window. Twilight, Applejack, and Mavis stepped up to it.

“Bye, Princess!” Twilight said, waving a wing.

“See you again in a little while!” Applejack said, waving a hoof.

Mavis didn’t say anything, merely waving a hoof as well.

Celestia waved goodbye in return. “Take care. And Mavis?”

“Yes?”

“Tell Sir Topham Hatt that any of his engines he decides to send over from here on out will be met with open hooves.”

“I’ll tell him!” Mavis promised. She assumed ‘open hooves’ meant ‘welcome’.

The three of them stepped through the Window into the Singularity. Going from the dimly lit supply closet to the infinite expanse of white was a little jarring to Mavis. Just like last week, she spotted dozens of other Windows littered around the otherwise empty space. Now she fully realized the significance of this place. Going through Windows could lead to worlds as strange and frightening, yet interesting, as Equestria. She would never admit it to anyone, but that was more important than she, or any other engine for that matter, would ever be. Maybe even more important than the Fat Controller, which both fascinated and terrified her.

“Alright, where is the nearest Guide…?” Twilight murmured, turning her head around this way and that. “Aha! There’s one!” She trotted over to the same floating, darkly-coloured set of spheres Mavis remembered from last week a small distance away. “We wish to go to the Island of Sodor, please.”

The Guide lifted its spheres. A small point of black in the distance in Mavis’ eye’s corner began growing larger and larger, forming a rectangular shape. She quickly realized this was a Window that was situated very far away and appeared to grow bigger because it was coming closer at Express speed. In no less than three seconds it halted, coming to a perfect standstill right in front of the group.

“Thank you,” Twilight told the Guide.

“Why were the two Windows so far apart this time?” Applejack asked. “Do they not stay in the same place?”

Twilight was silent for a moment, thinking before she spoke. “This place was created by a higher power. By higher beings. This place exists purely for their amusement and we’re their performers. We’ll never know the ins and outs of why what happens here happens the way it does.” She turned around and winked, flashing them a smile. “And I’m okay with that.”

“Really?” Applejack laughed. “Guess there really is a first time for everythin’!”

“Trust me, Applejack, we’d have better luck figuring out how Pinkie Pie works than even coming close to uncovering the mysteries of this place.”

“Now that’s a bold statement if I’ve ever heard one.”

The two friends shared a good laugh after that. Mavis would’ve loved to join in, but right now the only thing on her mind was getting back through the Window so she could get her wheels back. She remained patient, though, waiting for the ponies to stop and following them through the Window once they did.

The Window was still covered by the tarp from last week. They lifted it up and stepped out into Tidmouth Shed. It was completely empty right now, which made sense since every engine would be off working in the Yard or pulling coaches or goods trains or various other odd jobs around the railway about now. The gravel crunched under their hooves as they made their way across the ground to the nearest set of tracks. Mavis reached up and rubbed her hooves against the buffers. She’d almost forgotten what they felt like and even now they felt strange under the bottom of her hoof. But the sight of them alone was enough to make Mavis feel happy.

They stood around, waiting for the Fat Controller to arrive but not talking much. Every now and then, Twilight or Applejack would make a comment about some aspect of the shed like how enormous it was. At one point they asked her how cozy it was to sleep in.

“I’ve never slept here in Tidmouth,” Mavis clarified. “My shed is back in Ffarquhar; it’s comfortable, but getting locked up inside for days is horrible.” She shuddered.

“Hopefully you won’t have to go through that again,” Applejack said.

Mavis certainly hoped she wouldn’t.

A few minutes later the side door opened and the Fat Controller slipped inside, followed up by Mavis’ driver and her manager, and strode over to the ponies. Mavis’ driver was looking cheerful, but her manager and the Fat Controller were more serious. Mavis felt her stomach start to act up. This was it, she thought. She tried her best to push down her rising fear and put on a warm, welcoming smile.

“It’s good to see you’re unharmed, Mavis,” the Fat Controller said to her, speaking in a plain tone. “I hope you were good to these ponies.”

“She certainly made life interestin’ for us all right,” Applejack said. “She had a lot of ups and a lot of downs, but I think overall you’ll like what we have to say.”

Mavis’ manager nodded. “We’re all ears, then.”

Applejack proceeded to give a repeat of her earlier rundown to Celestia about the past week’s events, except this time she didn’t hold back any details. Every significant thing that Mavis had done, both good and bad, was relayed to the three men. They seemed impressed at first as Applejack told them about how hard-working Mavis was and what a big help she ended up being. When she started talking about Mavis’ adventures in the Everfree, however, they were visibly shocked. Mavis was tempted to shy away from their gazes, but she held firm and kept her eyes locked onto theirs’. Applejack next started talking about how Mavis volunteered to help their friend Fluttershy with her animals. This seemed to lift their spirits a little, but they then were beyond horrified to learn Mavis got turned into stone by a cockatrice, but Applejack was quick to assure them that the only reason it happened was because Mavis was concerned for Fluttershy and that she was very brave to venture into the Everfree to try to find her friend. Mavis couldn’t read their faces at all by the end as they didn’t seem to know whether they wanted to be happy, cross, or some combination of the two.

“... And that brings us to now,” Applejack finished. She looked between the three of them. “Anything else you three wanna know?”

The three men looked to each other, their faces growing serious. “We need to talk this over,” the Fat Controller said to the ponies. “Please wait right here.”

The three of them retreated to a spot close to the opposite side of the shed out of the ponies’ earshot and began conversing.

“That went well,” Twilight said, smiling.

Mavis looked confused at her. “They didn’t look pleased at all.”

“But they weren’t furious with you, either,” Twilight said. “That means there’s a chance they’ll give you your job back.”

“Eeyup,” Applejack said. “My gut’s tellin’ me they will, in fact. Just you watch.”

That was confusing. “Your gut talks to you?” Mavis asked.

Applejack chuckled. “Figure of speech, Sugarcube.”

They waited for a few minutes while the three men talked. Mavis felt her heartbeat increase and stomach roll over. This was it. Either she’d be changed back into her true self, or she’d be locked up in the shed forever, or even turned to scrap. As bad as thinking about those last two possible outcomes was, waiting for the men's final decision was even worse. It was a huge relief to her when they stopped talking and made their way back over to the ponies.

Mavis was instantly drawn to their faces to see how they were feeling. They looked plain. That didn’t help her feel any better; at least if they were cross Mavis would know to act scared, or relieved if they were smiling. As it was, her heartbeat became nearly unbearable; she’d be glad to turn back into a diesel and be rid of it altogether.

“We’ve talked it over,” Mavis’ manager said. “And we’ve reached a decision.”

A sudden impulse forced Mavis to hold her breath against her wishes, but she didn’t release it, her mind preoccupied with listening to him. Applejack and Twilight looked a lot calmer and composed than she was feeling, which made her incredibly jealous.

“You’ve been very brave and courageous, Mavis, judging from what Miss Applejack has told us,” the Fat Controller told her, his tone firm but respectful. “Brave to the point of foolishness from the sounds of it. I cannot have that on my railway.”

Mavis glumly hung her head. “Yes sir,” she said softly. This was it; she was going to be turned to scrap.

“But,” he continued, drawing Mavis’ gaze back up to him where she was surprised to see him smiling, “an engine that cares for those around them certainly is welcome on my railway, especially one that’s as hard-working as you.”

A spark of hope lit up in Mavis’ chest. “Sir, does that mean…?”

“The quarry hasn’t been the same without you,” Mavis’ manager cut in, smiling as well. “I look forward to seeing you at work tomorrow.”

Mavis’ heartbeat returned to normal. For the first time today, she felt genuinely happy. “Thank you, sir,” she breathed. “I’ll work harder than ever, I promise.”

“I look forward to it as well,” the Fat Controller said. He turned to Twilight. “All that’s left is to change her back.”

“Right away, Sir Hatt,” Twilight said. “Mavis, go stand in between the rails. And make sure you get as close to the middle as you possibly can.”

Mavis did as instructed. It took about a minute to center herself between the rails, but she was positive she was correctly positioned.

“Pull your hooves together,” Twilight said.

Mavis did as instructed again.

“Okay, here we go.”

Twilight’s horn was quickly enveloped in lavender magic and she pointed it at Mavis. A flash of lavender light burst forth from the tip, washing over Mavis and blinding everyone. Mavis heard the men cry in mild surprise at the sudden flash as she closed her eyes.

The sensation of being transformed back into a diesel was just as indescribable as being changed into a pony and every bit as non-painful, but this time she wasn’t afraid; she was eager to change back. A tingle shot through her entire body and she felt it start to expand and harden. All the sensations she felt as a pony was replaced by the familiar, welcome ones she’d grown to love for her entire life: the thirst for good oil, her sturdy-built frame, and especially the wheels which, thankfully, set upon the rails on either side of her without issue. She felt absolutely splendid!

The strange feeling of being transformed gradually faded away. Mavis waited a few seconds before opening her eyes. She’d grown so used to only being at eye level with the ponies that she was taken aback to see them standing below her, having to cast her gaze down in order to see everyone. They stared back up at her with appreciative smiles; her driver especially, who looked eager to hop in her cab and drive her away.

“How are you feeling, Mavis?” he asked.

“Ready for a good run,” Mavis replied without any hesitation.

“I’ll leave you to that, Driver,” the Fat Controller said. “Make me proud, Mavis,” he finished warmly.

“Of course, sir,” Mavis replied. “Oh, by the way, Princess Celestia asked me to tell you she would welcome any other engines you send through with open hooves.”

The Fat Controller nodded in understanding. “That’s good. I believe this program will be greatly beneficial to us both.”

“I’m sure it will,” Applejack said. “And with that, I’m thinkin’ it’s about time we head back home, Twilight.” She started walking towards the Window.

“Agreed,” Twilight said and followed after her. “Bye, everyone!” She waved her hoof goodbye and Applejack did so too.

The humans waved goodbye as well as the ponies lifted the tarp up and disappeared under it.

“And with that, we must be off as well,” the Fat Controller said. “The construction crew will be arriving shortly to cover up the Window and I’ll need to supervise them to make sure they don’t see it.”

“I wish you luck with that, sir,” Mavis’ manager said.

The two of them waved goodbye to Mavis and her driver as they left through the side door.

“Time we got you back to Ffarquhar,” Mavis’ driver said, climbing up into her cab. “Best let you rest today after everything you went through this past week. You need to be in good health for tomorrow.”

“I’d like that very much,” Mavis said.

“So, did you enjoy your holiday in Equestria?” he asked as he prepped her.

“I did.” Calling it a holiday was a huge stretch, but she did enjoy it. More than anything, though, she was glad to be back home on the Island of Sodor.

The End

Author's Note

Chapter 4

The sun was hovering just above the horizon by the time the Friendship Express rolled into Ponyville Station, coming to a controlled stop perfectly aligned with the platform. The coach doors were opened soon after, allowing the passengers to spill out with the guard keeping things orderly so no one was hurt.

Mavis followed behind Twilight and Applejack as they exited the coach and led her to a spot near the ticket booth. The platform quickly filled with the chatter of passengers meeting friends and family. Porters pushed trolleys filled with heavy luggage to and fro, bobbing between crowds of ponies and politely asking them to move aside when necessary.

“Hoowee, big crowd today, huh?” Applejack said once they’d escaped the chaos.

“It sure is,” Twilight agreed. “Not sure why.”

Mavis only barely heard them as she was busy taking in the new sights around her. Beyond the station was a dirt road leading into a village— Ponyville, they called it. The buildings were nothing like in Canterlot— small and, if Mavis remembered her driver correctly, ‘quaint’ was the word to use, as opposed to the towering, rich architecture of Canterlot. Most of the houses here had thatched roofs and wooden framework, with colours limited to yellows and browns. There were no visible roads between houses, just endless grass. Off in the distance, she could see buildings with similar architecture to Canterlot and a broader range of colours, which confused her.

“Somethin’ catch your eye, Mavis?”

She turned to face Applejack and Twilight. “I’ve never had any interest in buildings other than my shed before. I’ve always paid more attention to my work than the world around me.”

“So you’ll be learning a lot about not just our culture, but that of bio-organic organisms as a whole!” Twilight said, a sparkle of glee in her eyes. “Well, I’m sure by the end of your stay you’ll come to love Ponyville like it was a second home.”

Mavis frowned. “Am I going to have to memorize the layout of the town?”

“We’ll be giving you a tour, don’t you worry none, Sugarcube,” Applejack reassured her. “Why don’t we get that outta the way right now; we can make Sugarcube Corner our last stop while we’re at it!”

Applejack flashed a wink to Twilight which the alicorn returned. Mavis didn’t miss the subtle action. A small, yet dreadful feeling settled in her stomach. Usually when an engine or person did that it meant they knew something was going to happen which would make her look foolish. But before she could say anything, Twilight and Applejack started off into town, prompting her to quickly follow behind.

Their tour of Ponyville started near the edge of town before gradually moving inward towards the center where the ‘Town Hall’ was located, according to them. The first stop was the Ponyville schoolhouse which was currently deserted as school hours were over; it was the first time she’d ever seen a playground, so she had a hard time imagining little colts and fillies or even human children playing on it. A little later they showed her Quills & Sofas, which literally sold nothing but those two things, something that Twilight and Applejack thought was odd but Mavis didn’t understand why it would be. One of the last stops before reaching Sugarcube Corner was a dirt path leading away from Ponyville toward a dark forest. According to them, their friend Fluttershy liked to keep to herself away from ponies aside from their circle of friends. Mavis thought that sounded sad.

Most of the time, however, Mavis wasn’t paying attention to the landmarks they were pointing out; she found herself more interested in the ponies they passed. They were all doing things she’d sometimes seen humans doing back on Sodor: fixing their homes, shopping, chatting on walks— things she’d never thought twice about before. She’d only ever viewed people as either passengers or workmen, completely ignorant to the lives they lived away from the rails. The engines of Sodor only knew life on the rails, but now she was going to live the life of one of Sodor’s citizens herself for the next week. All she and her friends wanted was to be useful, but she wondered if ponies and humans were just the same, or if they wanted something more. She supposed she’d find out in time.

The sun had long since set by the time the three of them reached Sugarcube Corner, which was by far the queerest-looking building in the entire town; Mavis didn’t even know how best to describe it. It was a strange combination of pink and brown and white, with a strange, dome-like structure atop and three pointy things sitting atop that. Guided by streetlight, they made their way to the front door. It was dark past the swinging doors inside, too dark to see anything. Even the town was clear of ponies by this time, making everything eerily silent.

“So, what do you think of Ponyville?” Twilight asked, turning around to face Mavis.

Mavis shrugged. “It’s adequate.”

Applejack quirked an eyebrow. “That all ya can say?”

“It’s what my driver calls things that he says function properly,” Mavis explained. She frowned, looking up at Sugarcube Corner. “This place looks strange compared to all the other houses.”

“Maybe, but hooves down it serves the best pastries in all of Equestria,” Twilight said with a smile.

“Pastries?”

“You’ll see soon enough, Sugarcube,” Applejack said. She climbed the building’s front steps and opened the door. “How about right now? Go on ahead in.”

Mavis didn’t like the cheeky grin Applejack gave her. She instinctively backed away, fear shooting through her. She then felt Twilight wrap a wing around her and she turned to face the alicorn princess.

“Trust us, please,” she soothed. “We made a promise that nothing bad would happen to you, and we intend to honour that promise.” She paused for a moment. “We’d get in serious trouble if we broke it.”

That made perfect sense. The Fat Controller spoke harshly to engines that acted out of turn, but Mavis remembered her driver once saying he’d heard stories of Sir Topham Hatt being cross even to workmen that gave his railway a bad reputation. If Twilight and Applejack let something bad happen to her, the Fat Controller would definitely do the same thing to them. Realizing this, Mavis felt more confident.

“Okay,” she said.

Twilight unwrapped her wing as Mavis stepped forward, climbing the front steps and pushing open the swinging doors. She took one step inside. Nothing happened. She took another few steps, jumping when a snicker sounded in the darkness.

‘Who’s there?” she asked.

No one replied.

Mavis crept slowly forward. The tingling was back in her stomach and even worse than before.

Suddenly, the lights came on and—

“SURPRISE!”

Several dozen ponies popped into sight, throwing their legs up and shouting all at once. Mavis cried and stumbled backward, falling on her rump. The beating in her chest from before returned in full force and she felt a ringing in her ears. Something popped and blasted a shower of colourful little pieces of paper into the air which fell on Mavis, tickling her muzzle and making her sneeze.

“Ha! Sorry if we gave you a fright there, Mavis,” Applejack’s voice came from behind her.

Mavis brushed off the pieces of paper before turning around to see Applejack offering her hoof. She accepted it to hoist herself back up before turning back to the scene before her. The ponies were all wearing strange pointed hats and some had odd contraptions in their mouths. Colourful streamers decorated the walls and a large banner was stretched across that read ‘Welcome to Ponyville from Another World’. A table sat at the far end of the room which contained a variety of foodstuffs. One of the ponies blew into one of the odd contraptions and a loud, unpleasant noise filled the air, making Mavis fold her ears back out of reflex.

“What is all of this?” she asked to no one in particular.

One of the ponies in the crowd — a pink one with an even pinker mane and tail and big, blue eyes — hopped out of the crowd and got right in Mavis’ face, much to her distaste.

“Hiya, I’m Pinkie Pie!” she cried mere inches from Mavis’ face. “I organized this ‘Welcome to Ponyville from Another World’ party. It’s the fourth ‘Welcome to Ponyville from Another World’ party I’ve ever put together and I hope you like so so so so much. I was thinking about making another banner because I think it’s weird that ‘Another World’ shouldn’t be capitalized but I only have so much canvas in my Party Cave so I couldn’t make another one. So what’s your name? My name’s Pinkie Pie– oh wait I already told you that, didn’t I? So what’s your na—”

Pinkie was cut off by a blue hoof covering her mouth and pulling her back, much to Mavis’ relief. Her saviour was a blue pegasus with a rainbow-coloured mane and tail and magenta eyes.

“Remember what we told you about personal space, Pinks?” she said.

Pinkie nodded, mumbling something behind the hoof still covering her mouth. “‘Respect it’, you guys said,” she said once she was free to speak.

“Exactly.” The blue pegasus hovered in place above them all. She must’ve noticed Mavis was staring at her as she said, “Something wrong?”

“N-no,” Mavis said shakily. “I’m sorry. I haven’t seen one of you winged ponies fly yet.”

“That so, huh?” the pegasus replied. She hovered down and stuck out a hoof. “Rainbow Dash, fastest flier in all of Equestria. Nice to meet you.”

Mavis accepted the hoofshake. “Mavis.”

“Why, that’s a lovely name, Darling.”

A white unicorn and a yellow pegasus emerged from the crowd, coming towards them. The white pony’s purple mane was curled up in a manner which Mavis thought looked unnatural, while the yellow one had half of her face hidden behind her own pink one.

“I am Rarity,” the white unicorn introduced herself as, then gestured to the yellow pegasus, “and this is Fluttershy. Say hi, Darling, please.”

Fluttershy didn’t say ‘hi’, squeaking like a cornered mouse instead.

“Why is she hiding behind her mane like that?” Mavis asked. “It seems undignified.”

Fluttershy peeked an eye out from behind her mane. “Um… I’m sorry,” she said so softly Mavis could barely hear her.

“She had a bad experience with the last person that came through the Window and is a little hesitant to meet any more after it,” Twilight explained. She met Fluttershy’s gaze. “It’s okay, Fluttershy; Mavis is a good person.”

“Yeah, an’ ‘sides,” Applejack spoke up, “she’ll be staying at Sweet Apple Acres for most of her stay, so don’t you worry about anythin’ going wrong ‘til then.”

“O-okay,” Fluttershy said, the corners of her muzzle lifting slightly.

“That’s enough chit-chat!” Pinkie cried before jumping into the air. “Let’s party!”

The crowd cheered for a moment before they all dispersed. They all chatted, ate food off the table, and a few even started doing odd activities that must’ve been fun games, judging by their smiles and laughter. Mavis spent the next few minutes just watching, fascinated by the scene before her. This was an aspect of people’s lives unlike her and her friends’ own. Sometimes when she managed to gather with the other engines they’d talk about their accomplishments or things they found funny or silly, but this was something even bigger. She had a hard time fully comprehending it.

She was brought back to reality by a hoof clamping onto her withers. She looked to see Applejack flashing her a smile. “‘Bout time you joined your own party, don’t you think?”

“Sure, I guess,” Mavis replied, feeling a little hesitant.

“Let’s go play a game of ‘Pin the tail on the pony’. A Pinkie Party ain’t complete unless its guest of honour plays at least one round, at least according to her.”

She led Mavis to a far wall of the room where a couple of ponies were standing and watching as a third pony with a band covering his eyes walked toward a section of the wall with a picture of a crudely drawn pony without a tail stuck to it, holding a piece of colourful cloth attached to a pin in their mouth. Once he reached the wall he gently stuck the pin into the picture, landing it right on the picture pony’s forehead. The audience laughed merrily as he removed his band, laughing himself at the result.

“Think you can do it, Mavis?” Applejack asked as the next pony stepped up to try.

“What’s the purpose of this?” Mavis asked.

“Having fun, silly!” Pinkie’s voice came suddenly, causing Mavis to jump and the strange beating in her chest to come back.

Mavis steadied her breathing as the second pony stepped away from the wall and the third pony stepped up to take their turn. Mavis felt the beating in her chest relax and she turned to face Pinkie with an irritated frown.

“I doubt I’ll be able to find fun in something as strange as this.”

“What do you normally do for fun?” Pinkie asked.

“Teasing Toby about how much of a fusspot he is.”

Pinkie looked taken aback. “That sounds mean to whoever that is.”

“Well, he is a fusspot; you’d believe me if you ever met him.”

The last pony finished their turn at the game before wandering off to go join the rest of the festivities. Applejack walked over, pulled the pin out of the wall with her teeth, grabbed the band, and returned to Mavis.

“Well, you won’t know if you like it until you try,” she said. “At least try it once, gal.”

“Yeah, Mavis!” Pinkie cried, this time making Mavis fold her ears back. “Show us what you’ve got!”

Mavis was feeling very silly as she took the pin in her mouth while Applejack worked to wrap the band, or ‘blindfold’ as it was called, around her head. She could get it over with quickly, at the very least.

“And now for the dizzy spin!” Pinkie shouted.

“Wait, wha—?”

Mavis was cut off as two hooves grabbed her withers and spun her entire body around on the tip of her hoof. She wailed in alarm as her body spun faster than she ever had on a turntable before. It wasn’t long before she toppled over, her head feeling too dizzy for her to think clearly. She landed hard on her barrel, momentarily stunned. She shakily planted her hooves on the ground and hoisted herself up, but wobbled as her head still hadn’t settled down.

“Hurry, Mavis!” Pinkie said. “Pin the tail on the pony!”

Mavis couldn’t find the strength to growl in response. She walked forward, doing her best not to topple over again. She reached the wall and quickly stuck in the pin, not caring where it landed.

“Not too bad, Mavis!”

Mavis removed the blindfold from her eyes and looked at the picture— the tail had hit just below the rear hooves.

“So, did you have fun, Mavis?” Applejack asked.

Mavis turned to look back at them and shook her head.

“What!?” Pinkie’s eyes went wide with shock. “Really!?”

Mavis narrowed her eyes at her. “Why did you spin me like that?” she said darkly. “None of the other ponies did that before taking their turn.”

“Well— I mean— you know—” Pinkie paused for a moment, her cheeks going red. She laughed nervously. “Well, those other ponies were cheating.”

“At least you tried it, even if you didn’t like it,” Applejack said. She gestured toward the crowds of ponies. “Let’s go join up with our friends.”

The three of them made their way into the crowd, Mavis following close behind Applejack to avoid losing her in the crowded room. The noisy chatter filling the air was getting annoying by now. Every now and then a pony would bump against Mavis and wouldn’t even apologize. Mavis had a cross look on her face by the time they’d arrived at a long table against one wall where Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Twilight Sparkle were sitting along with a small, strange-looking purple creature that Mavis couldn’t identify. Sitting on the table was a plate full of colourful foodstuffs. The three of them took empty seats, all while Mavis eyed the strange purple creature curiously.

It must have noticed her staring because it said, “You’ve never seen a dragon before, have you?”, raising his voice to be heard over all the talking behind them.

Mavis quirked an eyebrow. “Dragon?”

“If I have my facts right, aren’t dragons a part of your world’s mythology?” Twilight asked her.

Mavis stared blankly. “What?”

“Never mind,” Twilight said. “Basically, Spike’s my number one assistant and a friend to all of us. You can trust him as much as us.”

“Yeah, you bet you can!” Spike said proudly.

“Okay then,” Mavis replied simply.

“Anyway, I think it’s important we make sure we’re all on the same page in regards to Mavis,” Twilight said. “Specifically, about her origin.” She motioned everyone to lean forward, which they did. “Remember how we told you all that our visitor would be transformed by my spell?” She spoke softly enough not to be overheard by anyone behind them, but loud enough so her friends could hear her.

“Indeed, Darling,” Rarity said. “And I must say, you did a magnificent job as usual.”

“Yeperooni!” Pinkie cheered.

“What we didn’t tell you is exactly what she used to be.” Twilight’s expression turned serious. “Ponies might come up to Mavis asking questions, and we all need to be able to help her deflect them so she isn’t overwhelmed.”

“You can count on us for that!” Rainbow said.

Everyone nodded their agreeance.

“Okay then, here’s the truth…”

Twilight and Applejack spent the next several minutes explaining everything to their friends: Mavis’ origin, the reason why she got turned into a pony, and even a detailed description of her original form to explain why her new body looked the way it did. Everyone actually looked surprised to learn that Mavis was originally a diesel engine, with Pinkie making a couple of ‘jokes’ comparing her to the Friendship Express that Mavis found more silly than funny. Rainbow asked what it felt like to be an engine and be driven by a human, which Mavis could only reply by saying ‘it feels natural’, to Rainbow’s slight disappointment.

“So she’s never had a cupcake before?” Pinkie said, looking almost sad.

“I don’t know what that is, so no,” Mavis replied, only to gape when Pinkie stretched, seemingly impossibly, across the table and grabbed the plate of food in her hooves, bringing it over to Mavis and setting it back down.

“You’ve just gotta try one!” Pinkie cheered.

Mavis examined the ‘cupcakes’ on the plate. They were an assortment of colours with paper-wrapped bottoms and little colourful things littering the top. She brought the plate closer and sniffed one of the cupcakes. It had a certain scent to it completely unfamiliar to Mavis but was pleasant all the same. She opened her mouth and bit off a small chunk.

The instant she began chewing she paused, a broad smile breaking out on her face. Relief and pleasure filled her like a fresh batch of oil. The sensations going off in her brain were indescribable. What was clear was that this cupcake was amazing to eat. She bit off an even bigger chunk of the cupcake and began chewing with fervour, ignoring the mess she was making of her face and humming with delight. She swallowed and took another bite. Over and over she whittled down the cupcake, ignorant of everything happening around her. By the time she’d finished it off her face was smeared with colourful pasty stuff and crumbs littered the table in front of her.

Mavis let out a contented sigh. “That was amazing,” she said. Then she noticed everyone was looking at her funny. “What?”

Rainbow Dash sniggered. Rarity’s eye twitched. Fluttershy looked to be on the verge of giggles. Spike was clearly holding back bowls of laughter. Pinkie was about the only one that looked somewhat normal, though, her smile somehow seemed to stretch beyond the edges of her face, to Mavis’ slight horror.

Twilight levitated a square piece of paper from another nearby table and passed it to Mavis, who just looked at it curiously. “Use the napkin to wipe your face,” she instructed.

Mavis did as told, holding the ‘napkin’ in her hoof and doing her best to wipe her face clean, giving it back when she was done.

Applejack laughed heartily as Twilight dropped the napkin into a nearby trash can. “Glad to see you took to eatin’ so easily, ‘cause you’ll be doin’ a lot of it.”

“I will?” Mavis said.

“Food acts the same as coal and oil do for engines,” Twilight explained. “It gives you the strength needed to work and play. Unlike oil, however, you need a variety of different foods to stay healthy, as well as plenty of water and other liquids.”

Mavis nodded her understanding. It was an easy enough concept to grasp, needing more than just one kind of fuel in order to function.

“We’ll go over all of that in the morning,” Applejack said. “Right now, we’re here to enjoy the party!”

“Yeah!” Pinkie cheered.

Mavis couldn’t bring herself to be excited, not having found the party to be especially thrilling so far. While the group of friends spread out to enjoy the various party games and socialize, Mavis busied herself with trying a little bit of every item of food and drink that was being offered. None of them offered her the same amazing satisfaction as the cupcake, but they were all tasty enough that she freely stuffed herself full without bothering to talk with anyone. Any attempts to socialize would’ve probably resulted in her making a fool of herself, anyway.

The party was winding down by the time Mavis couldn’t bring herself to take another bite of food. Any attempt to lift her leg towards the last few foodstuffs on the plates was met with cries of protest from her brain. That and her stomach was aching badly, which was probably a person’s signal to stop eating. She slumped in her chair, closing her eyes for some much-needed rest.

“Full stomach, huh?”

Mavis opened her eyes. A pang of annoyance shot through her at having her sleep interrupted. She turned around and flashed an annoyed glare at Applejack. “I was just about to sleep,” she said darkly.

Applejack laughed. “Yeah, I’m plum tuckered out as well. How about we head on to the farm and get ya settled in?”

“I can sleep there?”

Applejack nodded. “Yep. In a bed, mind you, not a shed. Hope you’ll get accustomed to that quickly.”

“As long as I get to sleep, I won’t mind,” Mavis replied as her eyelids threatened to droop.

The two of them waved goodbye to the remaining partygoers and made their way outside. The night air was chilly, sending a tingle down Mavis’ spine. The streetlights illuminated the entire town around them, showing it to be completely deserted. Although, the lights were on in many of the houses, indicating the ponies hadn’t gone to sleep yet. The sounds of nighttime critters like crickets, frogs, and a single distant owl filled the otherwise silent air.

Applejack led Mavis all the way through town, across bridges, before they reached a dirt trail leading away from town. The light of the moon and stars shone brightly away from the streetlights in town, allowing the two to traverse the trail safely without a headlamp. They didn’t talk at all the entire way. Mavis busied herself observing her surroundings, taking in the sights she could see under the moonlight. Everything was very remote and open, unlike Ffarquhar Quarry which was enclosed and industrious. It was an interesting change of scenery if nothing else, one that Mavis could get used to.

They reached the farmhouse after about a half hour of walking. The lights were on inside and a silhouette could be seen walking around inside. A vast orchard sat to the right of the farmhouse, stretching into the distance. Applejack opened the front gate for Mavis and the two made their way across the lawn and up to the front door. Applejack opened the door and stuck her head inside.

“We’re home, y’all!” she called.

“Applejack, ‘bout time ya came home!” an old feminine voice said from inside. “Ya missed supper, too!”

“I told ya, Granny, I was gonna be away to get our guest,” Applejack replied. “She’s here with me right now.”

“I wanna meet her!” a much younger voice piped up from inside.

“We’re comin’ on in!” Applejack said before turning to Mavis, holding the door open for her. “Guests first.”

Mavis stepped over the threshold into the house, looking around. The inside of this house was far more spacious and decorated than her shed. On her right was a room with chairs and a single table, structures built into the wall that Mavis couldn’t comprehend, while a colourful, oddly-patterned thing lay on the floor in the center of the left room in addition to a couple similar pieces of furniture as the right room. Directly in front of her was a staircase leading up to the second story.

“So you’re the new pony, huh?”

Mavis turned to see a small, yellow earth pony filly with a bow in her mane emerge from the left room.

“Apple Bloom, remember what we said about bein’ polite to guests?” Applejack admonished sternly.

The filly, ‘Apple Bloom’, sighed. “Yeah yeah, I’m sorry Miss,” she said to Mavis. “So you’re gonna be workin’ with us on the farm for the next week?”

“So it seems,” Mavis replied, suddenly feeling uneasy. She’d never interacted with children too much as an engine so she wasn’t sure in what ways she might mess up this encounter.

Another pony stepped out behind her: a lime green, wrinkly-faced earth pony mare with a gray mane. She hobbled over to Mavis and began inspecting her from top to bottom. Mavis wondered if there was something wrong with her body; she didn’t feel sick or broken.

“Not sure what I was expectin’,” she said after a few moments. “But she looks right young and strong, at least, 'specially in the hind legs. Perfect for apple buckin’.”

A third pony rounded the corner: a big, red stallion with an orange mane. The instant his eyes fell on Mavis he froze stiff like a board. His eyes widened and his mouth opened a little. His cheeks even turned a very slight shade of pink. Mavis raised an eyebrow at his strange reaction to seeing her. He didn’t look happy or sad or cross to be seeing her, just… amazed. It couldn’t be her lack of a cutie mark that grabbed his attention if Twilight was being truthful about telling everyone that detail in advance. Was there something else really special about her appearance? If so, why hadn’t any other pony had a similar reaction upon seeing her?

“Mavis, I’d like ya to meet my family,” Applejack said, grabbing her attention. She pointed to Apple Bloom. “This here’s Apple Bloom, as I said—” then to the older mare, “—Granny Smith—” and finally, the red stallion who was still looking at Mavis funny, “—and Big Macintosh, or Big Mac for short.”

“Howdy, Mavis!” Apple Bloom said cheerily.

“Glad to have ya a part o’ the Apple family for the next week, young’un,” Granny Smith said.

Big Mac finally broke his weird expression and smiled at Mavis. “Eeyup.”

“Hello everyone,” Mavis said hesitantly, still weirded out by Big Mac’s odd reaction to her. “I hope I can be very useful while I’m here.”

“I hope so too, young’un!” Granny Smith said. “We’re gonna be the ones feeding you, so you’d better put out a good performance!”

Mavis felt emboldened by her words.

“Where are ya from, Mavis?” Apple Bloom asked suddenly.

Mavis opened her mouth to respond but Applejack spoke up first. “We’ll get to all that in the morning. Right now, I gotta give Mavis a tour o’ the house.”

“Okay,” Apple Bloom said. “Good to have you with us, Mavis!”

The three of them turned back into the room they came from, Big Mac’s gaze lingering on Mavis for a second longer before disappearing from sight. Apparently, Applejack hadn’t noticed as she immediately began giving Mavis a rundown of the house. The room her family walked into was the ‘kitchen’, where meals were prepared and served and eaten. The opposite room was a general ‘living room’ meant for unwinding after a long, hard day of work.

They went up the stairs next. The first door down the hall was the ‘guest bedroom’ where Mavis would be staying. She wasn’t sure what to make of the ‘bed’, but Applejack insisted she would enjoy it. They passed by the next few rooms which Applejack explained were for herself and the rest of her family, and that Mavis should come to her if something happened in the middle of the night that she required help with.

The last stop on the tour was the ‘bathroom’, which was undoubtedly the strangest one. At first, it went well, with Applejack showing her the shower which was meant to wash mud and gunk off one’s body. Staying clean was a concept Mavis understood already, as did every engine, though, it took her a few tries to understand how to turn the nozzle to get the water flowing in the ‘shower’. The same held true for the ‘sink’. The ‘toothbrush’, ‘toothpaste’ and ‘towels’ took the most time and effort to understand and properly make use of. It was when Applejack showed her the ‘toilet’ that things got awkward. Applejack fidgeted, seemingly struggling how best to properly explain how it worked to her. Eventually, she simply instructed Mavis to sit on it whenever her stomach started aching when she hadn’t eaten anything. Mavis chose not to prod for further details, putting her full trust in Applejack.

They returned to the guest bedroom once Applejack declared the tour was over. Again, she gave a rundown on what everything in the room was used for: the desk was used in case she ever needed a hard surface to write something on; the nightstand more or less was simply to hold up the candle level with her in case she wanted to read something, and the closet was used for clothes in case she was going to attend a ‘hoity-toity social function or somesuch nonsense that Rarity gets kicks out of’, but there weren’t any plans for that in the upcoming week, so she wouldn’t need to worry about using it.

“That’s about it, then,” Applejack said. “Make sure you blow out the candle before you fall asleep. Also, settle under the bed covers to keep warm.”

“I’ll remember that,” Mavis said.

“Then I’ll leave you to yourself.” Applejack started for the door. “Get a good night’s rest, ya hear?”

Mavis nodded. “I will.”

Applejack left, closing the door behind her, leaving Mavis alone. She inspected the room again, the dim candlelight aided by the moonlight streaming through the window next to the bed letting her see everything. Looking outside showed a large section of the orchard sitting next to a vast stretch of empty plains leading to the horizon. That orchard was where she’d be working. Mavis smiled, happy that she would be getting her chance to prove to the Fat Controller how responsible, reliable, and really useful she truly was soon enough. None of the things she was expected to do sounded very hard either, which was good.

A yawn forced its way out of Mavis’ mouth, signaling to her the need for sleep. She walked over to the bed and pulled up the covers, settling under them. She lay her head on the pillow and just stared blankly up at the ceiling. So this was how people slept? It didn’t seem too different from sleeping in a shed, only that she had the ability to turn around, which didn’t seem very useful. But she was warm, so the bed was doing its job fine.

She lay there for some time, lost aimlessly in her thoughts. The day’s events began replaying themselves. That morning she was locked up in her shed, worried she’d be turned to scrap. She’d been brought halfway across the Island of Sodor to Tidmouth Shed only to have her beautiful frame taken away and replaced with a strange pony body. All of what happened through the Window was a blur, but waking up in a castle in another world was, surprisingly, fairly normal compared to being a passenger!

The stories she’d have to tell the other engines would make them jealous for sure. She could already imagine the look on Toby’s face when she told him everything she’d done. Never again would he call her silly; he would see just how important she truly was.

Eventually, her eyelids started drooping, so she lifted her head to blow out the candle on the nightstand before settling back onto the pillow. She fantasized about Toby’s shocked reactions to her stories up until her eyes closed and sleep overtook her.