Twilight ran through the city night, not caring where she was going. She choked back tears; now wasn’t the time for them. She needed to reach wherever her legs were taking her first.
The block ended with a tram crossing ahead. Go ahead or turn? Left indecisive, she stumbled to a halt at the corner and started panting with her hands on her knees. She felt it quickly turn into sobbing, but she told herself no, not here. She needed to get further away.
The ground rumbling and a blast of air blew Twilight’s ponytail to the side. A dark gray train with green light flooding out its windows sped past, at least a dozen cars going by, before it finally came to a stop, the lights dimming to blackness.
A door opened in front of Twilight.
What in the world was a normal train doing on a tram line? And why did it stop here?
Twilight gritted her teeth. She didn’t care.
She ran into the door.
The wind whipped through Twilight's hair as she flew. She kept one hand on the reins and used the other to brush her hair away from her glasses. She gazed down at the green field below her and ahead at the mountain where her goal was. Maybe this would finally be the way home.
Her lips turned slightly. She thought that the last sixteen times too, with no such luck. Still, she was thankful that after almost three days of attempts, she was still experiencing new and amazing things. Twilight looked down at her ride with a smile.
"Caw!" cried her giant crow mount as they approached the top. With one last great flap, they vaulted up then softly landed with wings spread.
The bird leaned forward and Twilight quickly disembarked. She rubbed the top of the crow's head as thanks and looked ahead. A foreboding cave entrance around twice her height was her only path forward. Light snowfall made Twilight wish she wore something heavier than a sweatshirt as she pulled her hood over her head.
Twilight stepped forward and the crow flew away with a blast of wind that echoed off the rocks. At that noise, two large figures stepped from the opening and stood guard at either side: humanoid crows. Broad and black-feathered, they gripped spears in opposing wing-hands.
An unexpectedly plain male voice came from the dark gray beak of the left crow guard. "Halt, traveler."
Twilight was tempted to ask why some crows were humanoid and some weren't, but the previous ones she talked to hadn't been very forthcoming. By this point, she understood the routine. She stood still and asked, "What riddle do you have for me, o guardians?"
The crow on the right spoke with a feminine voice. "Of the two guards before you, one speaks only lies, and one speaks only truths. You will be allowed to ask us three yes-or-no questions, and then you must identify which crow is which."
The crow on the left added, "If you choose correctly, you will be allowed passage to the door beyond. Otherwise, you will be cast down to the foot of the mountain."
Twilight adjusted her glasses. Easy peasy. "I only need one question." She pointed to the crow on the right. "You, good lady. Would the other crow guard say you are the liar?"
She rubbed under his beak. "Would the other…? Oh, I see. Yes, he would call me a liar."
Twilight pointed at the left crow triumphantly. "Aha! Then you are the liar."
Surprised, the crows turned to each other and quietly squawked amongst themselves.
"You see, the lying crow will claim that the truthful crow would call him truthful, which is a lie. The truthful crow will truthfully perceive that the lying crow will call her a liar. Thus, that's how you solve this riddle in one question."
The right crow announced, "Very good, traveler. That is exactly right. There's just one problem."
"Hmm? What is it?"
The left crow explained, "I'm the one who told you answering correctly will get you passage to the door, and I'm the liar, so…"
The left crow pressed his spear into a hidden panel on the ground and a trapdoor opened underneath Twilight. She could only scream as she slid in a spiral through the inside of the mountain. After several seconds, she tumbled out a hole at the base, coming to a rolling stop next to the crow she rode earlier.
The crow looked at her at what Twilight interpreted as concern but was likely indifference. She groaned as she recovered from her dizziness, then asked, "Mind giving me a lift back up?"
Minutes later, Twilight stomped up to the crow guards. They were chatting about something, but shushed each other as she approached. Before they could speak, she pointed to the right truthful crow and said, "You! Give me the rules! And you!" She pointed at the left liar crow. "Keep your beak shut."
The right crow cleared her throat and said, "Of the two guards before you, one of us speaks only lies, and one speaks only truths. You will be allowed to ask us three yes-or-no questions, and then you must identify which crow is which. If you choose correctly, you will be allowed passage to the door beyond. Otherwise, you will be cast down to the foot of the mountain."
Twilight thought a bit to see if there was some subtle change in wording, but then said with a frown, "Those are the same rules as before."
Both crows covered their beaks, holding back laughter. The right crow managed to squeak out, "Try it again, maybe it'll work this time," and the left crow burst out laughing, hunched over with a wing-hand on his thigh.
Twilight watched them with narrow eyes. She reached up to her collar, gripping a gem underneath her sweatshirt. It glowed purple, visible through layers of clothes, and with a wave of her free hand, the crow guards were blown away from their posts, their laughs turned to yells. They landed in the snow meters away, and Twilight walked past them into the cave with a smug smile.
"Pssh, rude," said one of the crows, she didn't care which.
After a short walk, passing by two branching tunnels that seemed to lead to personal rooms, she found her quarry: a red door with a large gold handle forming an infinity symbol.
Wasting no time, Twilight turned the handle and the door opened on its own. She stepped through and found herself between worlds.
The desert outside was much warmer, so she pulled her hood down. Hearing the door close behind her, she looked back to confirm once again that the crows, the mountain, everything she saw minutes ago was contained in a dirty gray and brown train car. Certainly one far larger than any she'd seen, but not mountain sized. To add onto it, despite going so far up, she appeared to come out at the same level she entered.
Twilight sat on the ground, a metal platform over humongous wheels and an endless track, and looked to the next one. Once again, it looked exactly the same as the previous car, but she knew the inside would be completely different.
She pulled out her phone and it lit up with a selfie of her and Sunset grinning and sticking their tongues out. She looked at it for a few seconds with a slight smile, then looked at the corner. Still no reception. She wasn't sure why she bothered to check. It was around 8 PM, as little as that meant around here, so it was time for dinner.
She reached into her backpack and pulled out a protein bar. Not the most nutritious meal under normal circumstances, but she supposed she was getting more than enough exercise in.
She took a bite and looked out at the wasteland the train was traveling through. Even after the days she's been there, it's been nothing but flat lifeless dirt. What even is this place? How could she get back home?
The answer to that last one wasn’t a big mystery, from what everyone on the train has told her. Get your number down to zero, and you’ll be on your way.
Her number...
Green light bounced off the wrapper. Twilight took another bite, then switched the bar to her other hand and looked at her empty palm, where a glowing number was displayed: 1.
She frowned. Another car down, but still no change. To her recollection, her number was 1 the entire time on the train. She flicked her palm to no effect. Is it broken?
The train’s conductor would probably let her off if she talked to him. Twilight leaned to the side and looked ahead. The train extended to the horizon, the front nowhere in sight. She frowned, finished her protein bar, then got up. Hopefully there were tech support people ahead.
Twilight walked across the bridge, a hand running along the railing. She stood before the next door and held the handle. For now, there was nothing more to do than see what comes next. She turned the handle and the door opened.
The first thing to hit her was the smell of herbs and cooked fish, and her stomach immediately made clear that protein bars were no longer satisfying.
She stepped through and found herself in a train car. Well, more of a train car than usual. It was a normal size, for one. Light violin music played as Twilight walked past empty rows of velvet seats, with talking and the sounds of silverware tapping against plates coming from another area further ahead. Glancing to her side, snowfall rushed by the window, and the rumbling made clear this car was moving.
A train inside a train, and this was going the opposite direction as the outer train, at that. Somehow this felt odder than the previous cars. Looking behind her, she noticed the door she came in from was in the middle of the chamber, with more train behind it.
Twilight walked into the next area, where she saw several otters in fancy clothes sitting at tables, making polite conversation while taking small bites from seafood dishes. Her stomach guiding her, she sat at an empty table and looked at the menu.
Fish, fish, and more fish. No real surprise there. There was a decent selection of vegetarian dishes, which she’d normally select, but this was a fine time for a cheat day.
An otter in a waiter outfit soon waddled up to her and said in a feminine voice, “Hello, ma’am. Have you made a decision?”
Her stomach not wishing to waste any time, Twilight replied, “Yes, I would like the salmon and seasonal veggies. Oh, but wait, I didn’t see any prices.”
“Meals are free for passengers, so there’s no need to concern yourself,” the waiter said as she took the menu.
Twilight watched her walk away and hummed. That’s another person—well, sapient individual—that used the plural to refer to passengers. Clearly that meant there were people besides her on the train, other passengers with numbers on their hands, but thus far, she hadn’t seen them. If the train really was infinite in size, like the door handles implied, then there could be millions of people here and she’d likely never run into them.
She sighed and turned her gaze to the other denizens. She had to admit, seeing otters in old-timey clothes was pretty adorable. Maybe she could get Spike to wear some once she got back. Something bothered her, though. A train going through the snow, creatures wearing clothing out of the 1920’s or 30’s. This almost seemed like it was leading to…
The lights went out. Twilight blinked as she heard plates crash onto the ground around her, followed by a groan then a shrill scream. Moments later, the lights came back.
In the middle of the room, an otter laid on the ground with a knife in its back.
Of course.
Twilight gasped, as did several of the otters. Before she could really process this, she felt someone nudge her and turned to see an otter in a dress with graying fur. She said with a chuckle, “Don’t worry. This happens all the time.” Twilight looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
A deep voice yelled, “Everyone, stay where you are!”
The diners made way for an otter with a blue police uniform and a large brown mustache. He waddled up to the victim with his front paws behind his back. “Until we solve this murder, no one gets off this train,” he declared. “Seal the exits!”
Some otters got up and ran to either side of the car.
“There is no need for that, Officer Burt,” a familiar but unexpected voice announced. The source stepped forward among murmurs from the others, standing out from the brown and gray otters with her stunning red dress, a purple mane forming elaborate curls, white fur, and a horn protruding from her forehead. With a whip of her mane and a front leg extended forward, the figure announced, “With Rarity the unicorn on the case, everything will be wrapped up before you can say, ‘Preshrunk silk shirts!’”
Some of the otters attempted to say this, but Twilight just exclaimed, “Rarity?!”
Could it be? Another passenger! And it’s someone she knew! Well, kind of. An interdimensional counterpart to someone she knew is enough of a comfort.
Rarity looked up with a start and said, “Darling?” She glanced in Twilight’s direction with wide eyes, but appeared to look past the human, her eyes searching for someone else. Twilight supposed that made sense. Pony Rarity and her had only met once while they were both ponies, so she couldn’t be expected to recognize her human self as anything but another of the train’s odd residents.
Rarity’s attention was drawn back to the officer, Burt, when he asked, “Are you saying you have an idea?”
Rarity shook her head and smirked. “I’m saying I’ve solved it!”
Otters around them gasped… including the victim, who briefly lifted his head, only to seemingly remember he was stabbed and lay back down. Twilight narrowed her eyes.
“That’s incredible, Miss Rarity!” Burt exclaimed. “How did you figure it out?”
Rarity walked up to the “corpse” and with half-lidded eyes said, “First of all, am I to assume the lack of blood is a factor in this case, and it isn’t a matter of missing special effects?”
The corpse harrumphed.
“I’ll take that to mean it’s intentional. In that case, one must ask the question, why is there no blood?” The mare walked in a circle around the body. “The only logical conclusion is that the victim was exsanguinated before he was left here. But when did this happen? During the brief time the lights were out. No!” She stopped and pointed her hoof dramatically at no one in particular. “He was murdered at another time!”
The otters gasped. Twilight’s mind was too jumbled to react. She wanted Rarity to finish so she could figure out what she was doing here, and yet she was also interested in the mystery and tried to parse things out herself.
Rarity continued. “Let’s go over the sounds heard during the blackout. Plates crashing, a groan, and then a scream. The scream clearly came from Lady Patricia, as anyone who went to the pool yesterday would know—”
“Out of universe knowledge!” the victim exclaimed, pushing himself off the ground and sitting up.
Rarity lifted a front leg to her chest. “I’m sorry?”
“Using out of universe knowledge to solve the mystery is not allowed!” he declared, wrinkling his snout and slamming the ground with a paw for emphasis. “The pool is outside the bounds of the mystery.”
Rarity frowned and waved her hoof. “Ack, fine. So then, let’s consider the way everyotter was seated. Lady Patricia is usually seated by the window, but today she sat—”
The victim pointed. “You’re using knowledge from previous mysteries! And why do you keep saying ‘everyotter’? Nobody says that!”
Rarity gasped in offense. “Honestly! Do you expect me not to pay attention to how every—everyone acts? What kind of hostess do you think I am?”
Burt jumped in. “Now now, everyone calm down. Reginald, I think Rarity has been here too long to be a good detective for your murder cases.”
The victim, Reginald, sighed. “Yes, I suppose you’re right. Thankfully, we have another passenger right here!”
All the otters turned to Twilight, who then shrank back in her chair at the sudden attention.
“Young miss,” Reginald said. “Tell us your name.”
Blushing, she stood up and said, “Hello, I’m Twilight Sparkle.”
Rarity first twisted her muzzle and widened her eyes in realization. “Ah, I see. Human Twilight.”
Twilight unconsciously bristled a bit at the added title, but understood why she used it.
“Miss Sparkle, can you try your hand at solving this mystery?” asked Reginald.
Twilight cleared her throat. “I’m sorry to say that the preceding minutes of conversation have biased me as a participant too much. I assume your intended scenario was me being caught up in an unexpected murder, but I already know everything I need to investigate.”
The otters murmured.
“I suppose you’re right. We could do-over the murder in about an hour, using the scenario for if Gary was still too sick to participate—sorry, Gary.”
Twilight adjusted her glasses. “That scenario probably still required me to be unaware of the upcoming murder, correct? Perhaps what you need is one where I’ve been asked to investigate a death threat, and thus I’d have a reason to be wary of everyone.”
Reginald stroked a tuft of fur under his chin. “That does seem like the best way to handle this, though I’d have to pull up a scenario not everyone is ready for.” He got up and pulled the stage knife out of his back. He lifted his front legs. “That’s it for today, everyone! We’ll reconvene tomorrow for Murder #23b!”
There was a mix of sighs and groans. Twilight watched with some bemusement as some otters got up and left through a passage at the other end of the dining car, Reginald and the officer among them, while others continued eating their meals.
“Do you mind if I sit here, dear?”
Twilight looked down to see Rarity the unicorn at the other end of her table.
“Oh, not at all!” Twilight sat down. “You’re just the person—err, pony I wanted to talk to.”
A waitress came and placed a steaming plate of salmon and vegetables in front of Twilight. “Sorry for the delay, ma’am,” she said before leaving.
Twilight’s mouth hung open, glancing between the food and Rarity. The unicorn tapped the table and said, “You go right ahead. I’m sure you’re hungry, and I’ve gotten quite used to the fish smell.”
She didn’t need to hear that twice. Twilight stabbed a fork into the salmon, bringing up a full half of the fish and shoved it into her mouth, chewing with pleased hums.
Rarity half cringed and half smiled, magically lifting a napkin to protect her dress. She laughed lightly and said, “You really are Twilight, aren’t you?”
Twilight blushed and wiped off her lips with a cauliflower, which she then pushed into her still-full mouth.
“In any case, it’s wonderful to see someone familiar at long last. We haven’t seen each other since the wedding, right? Speaking of which, again, I hope going to the wedding of your alternate universe counterpart wasn’t too awkward, considering you’re with someone that my Twilight, well, isn’t.”
Twilight lightly shrugged with her palms up. The oddities of differing romances between dimensions was the last thing on her mind at this point.
Rarity’s eyes shot to her hand. “Oh my, here I am talking about old news, when we have much more important matters at hoof.” She put her right hoof on the table, showing the underside to Twilight. The number 187 displayed on it with green light. “You have a number too! And it’s so much lower than mine, so that must mean you’re close to getting off here!” She planted her front hooves on the table and leaned toward Twilight. “You need to help me get home!”
Twilight was about to respond, but Rarity leapt out of her seat and continued talking while pacing. “That strange creature, the conductor, he—or they—said this train was for figuring out our problems, and that getting our number down to zero would bring us back home.” She stopped and pointed her hoof at Twilight. “But that’s just the thing, what problems? I'm in a good place in my business, I'm getting along with everycreature, and our love life is splendid!" She blushed and added, "Err, my love life with my Twilight."
Twilight blushed. She swallowed her food then said, “I may not know much about your relationship with Princess Twilight, but I know how the Rarity of my world acts with my world’s Applejack.”
Rarity rolled her eyes. “Ugh, don’t remind me that’s what my other self went with. Though while we’re on the subject, maybe if Applejack cleaned up a bit and—”
Twilight interrupted, “Rarity, are you lying about not having any problems?”
Rarity raised a hoof to her chest in offense. “Darling, of course not!”
Twilight raised an eyebrow.
Rarity waved her front legs. “Alright, fine! So maybe my Twilight and I had a teensy fight. But that's normal! Couples get into arguments and couples work it out! I don't see why it's any of this train’s business. I didn't see a train come take away the Riches!”
Twilight finished a bite and said, “Given our two data points, it’s hard to tell how exactly the Train decides what people to take. Take the fact that the two of us are from completely different dimensions. The message when I got here said each passenger would have a personalized experience, and given the size of the Train, us just running into each other like this seems unlikely, so maybe this is all just an insanely over the top way to get us to talk?”
Rarity waved her hoof. “Ack, is this really all this is about?” She turned to the roof and shouted, “You could have just left a note!” Ignoring the staring otters, she sighed then turned back to Twilight. “So, what problem of yours do you think the Train wants you to solve?”
Twilight stroked her chin. “Well, let’s see. What happened right before I got here? Sunset told me something…”
Sunset opened the door, turned to Twilight with a frown, and said, “Timtoogeueghti tlweIetyi ierhuTTtoo rcgahiriabeswh sdtetIlhsbmrr rsgolhmormjsooia Tblvmronttnu mtedtthaeehr geassdingweehp”
Twilight’s face twisted. “She said…”
“Mglimooisiul toligyeoestT ngtTuhdhioatbvaani goohctteejdh arbphenemrr srTrhseoshtlwduie eirrtehIhtmm seerogtwrtb sawtetmgI”
Twilight shrugged. “Well, it probably wasn’t important. In any case, Sunset told me earlier to take some vacation days from work. Maybe the Train was trying to give me a vacation.”
Rarity’s face scrunched as she considered this. “I did just have a busy season. And taking part in a murder mystery every day for three days was an interesting experience, though it overstayed its welcome. No disrespect to Reginald, he does try hard with these. If it is just work stress on your end, that explains why your number is four. However, I strongly disagree with me being one-eighty-seven if that’s the metric.”
Twilight blinked. “Four?”
Rarity looked at her hoof. “Ooh! Update, I’m down to one-seventy-six. Talking to you is helping already. Ah, sorry dear, you were saying?”
“Rarity, I’ve been at one the entire time I was here. Look.”
She put her right hand palm up on the table, revealing a glowing 7.
Rarity sat back down and replied, “Ah, it seems we were both wrong. Seven’s still a low number, though.”
Twilight stared at her palm. “But this makes no sense! It’s been stuck at one for ages, and now it’s going up?” She glanced at her plate. “Is it because I’m eating seafood? Does the Train want me to be vegetarian?”
Rarity waved a hoof. “We did try to be accommodating at our School of Friendship, but I do admit I’d rather our griffons and hippogriffs fully switch to vegetarian.”
Twilight pushed her plate away and they both looked at her palm. The number went up to 13.
“Good heavens!” Rarity exclaimed.
Twilight shook her head. “What’s going on? Is the Train taking into account my motivation? Do I have to give up meat for its own sake rather than to get my number down? But I’ve already mostly cut meat out of my diet!”
The number shot up to 65 and Rarity yelped.
“Why even have the numbers if it goes up if you try to get it to go down? But wait, why did Rarity’s number go down? She definitely wanted to get her number down, so what am I doing different? Is it because I’m digesting the food? Is this like a calorie counter?” Tears started forming in Twilight’s eyes. “What am I doing wrong?”
Rarity put her hoof on Twilight’s palm, covering the number. “Twilight, calm down. Don’t look at the number. Look into my eyes and breathe.”
Twilight did just that, focusing on her blue eyes that uncannily resembled her human friend’s. She breathed quickly for a few seconds, then shortly switched to slow deep breaths. After returning to a normal pace, she rubbed her eyes under her glasses and chuckled. “I guess you have a lot of experience doing this with Princess Twilight.”
Rarity had a small smile. “Yes, it doesn’t come up as much as it used to, but it’s still a useful tool.”
Twilight took another deep breath. “Alright, I’m ready to look again.”
Rarity nodded and pulled her hoof back. The number displayed 146.
Twilight gave it an analytical gaze. It flickered and jumped up to 192, then instead of settling, rolled up to the next number and the next at a growing pace. “OK, I can say with certainty this isn’t because of anything I’m doing now.”
There was a loud thud and the train shook. The remaining otters in the car looked around warily.
“What in the world?” said Rarity.
“That came from the entrance,” Twilight replied, shooting to her feet.
The lights went out. The sky had cleared enough to let moonlight through the windows, but visibility was still low. Otters spoke up in a panic, some saying there wasn’t supposed to be a murder now. Rarity lit her horn, casting a white glow over the car. Twilight stepped into the middle of the car, looking into the passage she came from. The light failed to pierce the shadows.
Twilight asked, “Rarity, can you focus your light over there?”
As Rarity got out of her chair, the train shook so intensely that both she and Twilight fell over, dispelling Rarity’s magic. A horrific sound of metal rending echoed throughout the train and even the otters still sitting down fell over. A blast of cold air washed over the car.
Twilight got to her knees as the shaking subsided to a more manageable level. “Rarity, are you OK?”
Rarity groaned and got to her feet. “Yes, I’m fine. Hold on.” She lit her horn.
A mass of shadows stood at the car entrance, black tendrils flowing on the ground like cloth in the wind. In small gaps, the open air could be seen behind it. They were separated from the train's engine, which was now speeding away.
Twilight and Rarity gaped. Otters screamed and rushed out the other side of the car.
"What in the world is that?!" Rarity exclaimed, backing away. "It doesn't fit the mystery aesthetic at all!"
"I don't think it came from this car.” She glanced behind her. “Whatever it is, it's moving slowly. Let's try not to provoke it until the otters all escape."
Rarity smiled. "I suppose both of us have experience with monsters."
The shadow moved an inch closer. A change in the glow of Twilight’s hand, obvious in the low light, made her look at her number. 1187.
The shadow moved another inch closer. 1191.
“Rarity,” Twilight said, backing away. “I think my number is reacting to it.”
Rarity turned to look at Twilight, but quickly shifted her focus back to the creature and stepped back.
Reginald and Burt squeezed past the fleeing otters and stepped ahead of Twilight and Rarity. Reginald pointed at the shadow and declared, "Hold, you ruffian! How dare you frighten my guests!"
Rarity turned to them. "Reggie, Burt, you really must stay back! We can handle this better than you can."
Burt pulled out a bludgeon. "What kind of officer am I if I just stand by?"
Rarity narrowed her eyes. "You aren't an officer, Burt, you just play one in Reggie's stories. Now trust us, we have magic, we can stop this thing."
The two otters paused, leaning side to side, obviously undecided whether their logic or their bravado will win out.
Twilight lit her gem and enveloped the otters in magic. "Look, I'll—"
The shadow lunged toward the otters. With a yelp, Twilight lifted them into the air, the tendrils impacting on the ground with a thud. It reached out for them again in the air, only to pull its limb or whatever it was back after a blast from Rarity's horn.
Desperate to get them out of there, Twilight flung the otters out a window, glass breaking as they yelled. Her eyes widened as she realized what she just did. Twilight and Rarity winced as they landed with a grunt, but thankfully the otters shouted back, "We're OK!"
The shadow withdrew its limbs and shambled forward, making the mare and woman back away.
"Is that everyone off the train?' asked Twilight.
"I don't hear anyotter inside," Rarity replied, her ears searching behind her. "There could still be some in the pool, though."
"If we ran to the exit, would we go through the pool?"
"The pool is to the side, so we'd go past it. Are you planning on leaving this thing here with the poor otters?"
"No, I plan on drawing it outside, into the wasteland. That thing reacted to my magic, so I think we can draw it out there."
Rarity nodded. "Sounds like a plan."
They turned and ran into the next area, containing a kitchen and exits into the snow on either side. Twilight stopped and used magic to lift a plate. As expected, the monster sped its progress and reached out. They came to the doors to the next car, which Rarity opened with her magic. They ran to the next car, briefly stepping outside, and the creature ignored the exits and continued after them. It seemed to get stuck in the doors between cars, lashing and writhing violently and cracking the walls. Twilight let go of the plate and as she turned to observe, the monster slowed a bit.
"It's working!" Twilight said. Looking in their current car, the passage was narrower than before. There were several doors on the sides, some labeled W.C. and others labeled bath, with other labels out of sight. On either end of the car were two pairs of doors out, all open. She looked to the end of the passage. "And the door out is in sight. Only a bit left, Rarity."
There was a thud and the train violently shook from side to side. As they regained balance, Twilight saw the shadow pull a large limb back. It struck the side of the car so hard that it tipped over on its side. Screaming, the ladies fell onto the side wall, the sound of glass shattering coming from inside the side rooms. The train exits were now on the ceiling.
Rarity got up with a groan. "That thing is smarter than we thought." She looked up at the ceiling and her eyes widened. "Twilight, the pool!"
Twilight looked up and saw water dripping down from a bulging door on the ceiling. Within seconds, it burst open, releasing a torrent of water. It swept the girls back, Rarity grabbing the frame of an exit door with her hooves to stop. Twilight had no such luck and came to a stop a mere meter away from the monster.
The shadow slowly reached for Twilight. She found herself extending her own hand to it. The number on her palm increased. 2500. 4000. 6500.
"Twilight!" Rarity shouted, using her telekinesis to pull her away with a jerk.
Twilight struggled to her feet, wading through warm water that was already close to her knees. She panted, her mind going over what just happened, but she decided to focus on another question as she took slow steps forward. "How big is this pool?! How can it fit on this train?!"
Rarity half trotted, half paddled ahead, but managed to shrug nonetheless. "It's bigger on the inside."
Water continued pouring, and several otters wearing swimsuits and floaties fell out, the younger ones shouting, "Weee!" With gritted teeth, Rarity magically lifted them out of the water and up to the ceiling exit.
The water was past knee height now, and the flow out the broken entrance of the car made going forward a struggle. Twilight knew her using magic would only encourage the monster, so she trudged forward, one step at a time, keeping the danger out of mind. Rarity was now fully swimming, and with a grimace, removed her dress, which was impeding her movement. After some effort, they reached the red door with the infinity symbol, on its side and mostly submerged..
"We made it!" Twilight declared. She chose to look back now.
The monster reached out for Twilight.
She turned the handle and, having forgotten about the water pressure, the girls were blown out the door into the dry air of the wasteland.
Gravity shifted and they tumbled into a world where their exit was right side up. Twilight and Rarity both used their magic to grab hold of the ground, just barely avoiding falling off the edge into the tracks far below. The water flow died down and they noticed the only thing preventing the monster from reaching them after that magic use was it forcing its way through the door.
They scrambled to their feet, narrowly avoiding slipping on the wet metal, and grabbed onto the bridge railing.
Breathing heavily, Twilight said, "Let's get to the other side, then we'll show it what we can really do."
The two nodded then rushed across the bridge, reaching the next car with no obstacles. They turned to face their foe. The creature had squeezed its way through the door by this point, standing twice its height, with billowing black cloth and unnatural shadows obfuscating its true appearance. It slowly lurched toward the bridge.
Twilight observed the creature. "OK, so it's a big shadowy creature, it's drawn to magic, perhaps my magic specifically, and my number goes up when it's close. What does this all add up to?"
"It could be some kind of number-increasing monster the train made to stop you from leaving."
"If that's true, does that mean every passenger has a monster like that? But if so, then—"
"Darling, there's a time to analyze," Rarity said, wiping her wet mane out of her eyes. She knelt down and built up magic in her horn. "And there's a time to light 'em up!"
Rarity fired a stream of blue energy at the figure. It leaned back, lifting an appendage to block the blast, and it continued forward. Twilight grabbed her gem beneath her drenched sweatshirt and held a hand out, reaching for it with her magic.
Nothing happened.
Rarity looked to Twilight as she sweated with exertion. "Uh, a little help, dear?"
Twilight's eyes widened. "I can't use telekinesis on it! It's like it isn't even there."
Rarity frowned. "Well I can tell you it's really there, so how about you blast it?"
Twilight shrugged. "I, uh, can't really blast with my magic."
Rarity narrowed her eyes. "What in the world do they teach you at school?"
After thinking for a second, Twilight enveloped the middle of the bridge in purple light. The monster lunged toward it, then slowed when the magic dissipated.
"They taught me gravity!" She quickly added, "Well, technically I taught myself the basic equations in kindergarten, but I digress."
Rarity smiled. "That was already a bad line and you made it worse, but I see what you're going for."
Rarity canceled her energy blast and concentrated her magic into a bright disk, which she whirled and slammed into one of the bridge's metal railings. Sparks shot off of it, and Twilight took a deep breath. She held out both hands and coated the bridge in her magic.
Twilight shook the bridge, the creature flailing in a futile attempt to grab her magic. Rarity cut through one railing, and shortly the other. The telekinetic shaking, combined with the monster's own, soon made the bridge collapse with a loud screech.
Despite its tendrils, the creature didn't attempt to grab onto anything as it fell far to the ground, managing to avoid the wheels and instead rolling into the wasteland. Within seconds, the train left it far behind.
The two ladies sat, panting. They didn't speak, instead looking up at the featureless twilight sky.
Rarity took some deep breaths, then said, "Well, whatever horrid thing that was, it's in the past now. Come, let's see what the next car is like. Hopefully they have a change of clothes for you."
Twilight nodded and got up. Suddenly aware of the soaked bag on her back, she took it off and poured out the contents. Books and energy bars plopped onto the ground. The bars, still in their wrappers, would be fine, but hopefully the books could be salvaged if they dried out. She wringed out the backpack and packed everything again.
She noticed Rarity looking at something across the broken bridge. The unicorn lit her horn, sticking her tongue out in concentration, and in time, she pulled over the red dress she was wearing before. She smiled as she spread it, only to grimace at the rips in it.
“Ponies are fine without clothes, right?” Twilight asked.
Rarity crumpled up the dress and looked at Twilight with wide eyes. “But Twilight,” she whined.
Twilight narrowed her eyes. “Rarity.”
After a second of deliberation, the unicorn sighed and dropped the soggy dress. “Well, I’m sure it’s out of fashion in the next car anyway.”
Rarity magically opened the next door and said, "Ooh!"
They walked into the interior of a fancy hotel, with a shining floor and creatures of a variety of species carting luggage and being aided by penguins in red uniforms.
Feeling the warm air on their skin, they walked toward the front desk, stopping in front of a poster. Below a picture of a brown-skinned man giving a thumbs up and a pig, it said, "Rooms free for passengers and their animal companions!"
They heard a child behind them, and turned to see a small pink blob with a face pointing at them excitedly. A larger blob, seemingly its mother, smiled and pulled it along.
Rarity laughed. "Well, I hope you don't see me as your pig companion."
Twilight giggled back. She then paused and frowned. "Rarity, I'll make sure you get back to your Twilight."
Rarity blinked, then smiled. "And you to your Sunset."
Twilight smiled. Rarity walked ahead to the front desk, and Twilight looked at her hand.
The number 1 looked back.
Author's Note
Preread by Lingo.
My plan is to only publish more chapters once all of them are written. For now, view this chapter as a pilot; hopefully it won't take three years to get the rest, haha.
2. The Hotel Car (incomplete)
Author's Note
This chapter is presented in an incomplete and largely unedited state, with a summary of how the rest of the chapter was meant to go at the end. The story is now canceled. See this blog post for more details.
2. The Hotel Car (incomplete)
Twilight groggily woke up and looked around. She blinked at the yellow wallpaper and then down at her sheets. Oh right, she was in a hotel. Her body ached as she sat up, with her muscles having not had a proper rest in a long time. Why was that?
Oh right. The Train.
She blinked the fuzziness out of her eyes and looked at her hand. Yup, still a 1.
She rested her head back down, and moments later, a door to the side opened up.
“Oh good, you’re awake,” said Rarity the unicorn, wearing a towel over her mane and a bathrobe. “How about you take a shower yourself, then we can talk. They provided toothbrushes too.”
Though not quite willing to get up, Twilight didn’t see the need to object either. She took her glasses then got out of bed, stretching. “So, how was your sleep?”
“Oh, it was quite good. Considering, well, the situation.”
“I’m pretty hungry,” said Twilight. “Do you think you could order room service while I’m in there? Actually, wait, do you know how to use the phone?”
Rarity looked at the rotary phone on the drawer between the two beds. “Oh, of course. I’ve been in my fair share of Manehattan hotels, you know.”
“It doesn’t look like they’re going to charge us, so feel free to order whatever you want for the both of us. I’m sure you have a good idea of what I like. Well, assuming Princess Twilight’s tastes are like mine, but then again if she’s a pony then…” Twilight paused. “I’ll just take that shower first. And make sure to get coffee!”
Rarity nodded with a smile and Twilight went into the bathroom.
By the time Twilight came back, wearing a bathrobe of her own, she was startled to find piles of pancakes on a cart. “Wow, that’s fast service.”
Rarity levitated over a cup of coffee. “Indeed. From what I gather, the penguin staff slide everywhere, and that speeds things up a lot.”
Twilight greedily took a sip; thankfully, it had cooled down enough for her not to get burned. She smacked her lips. “This coffee…”
“I took the liberty of ordering it the way you liked,” Rarity said, holding a fork full of pancake in the air.
Twilight’s eyes widened. “Oh! Uh, I’ve actually never had it like this before.”
Rarity blinked. “Oh, my, I apologize. Is it not to your liking, then?”
“No, I mean, it’s fine. I could definitely see myself drinking it like this more, actually. Just not something I’ve tried before. Another sign that I’m not your Twilight, I suppose.”
Rarity laughed lightly. “Indeed.”
They sat and ate their pancakes for a bit.
“So, while we have a moment of peace, we need to take stock of our situation.” Twilight adjusted her glasses. “First, numbers. Mine’s still at one. Any change to you since last night?”
“What was it I said last time? One-seventy?” Rarity looked at the bottom of her hoof. “It’s one-thirty-two now, so that’s a big improvement.”
“You said one-seventy-six before that monster attacked. I suppose maybe fighting it off brought yours down. Defending the otters, perhaps?”
“And you too, let’s not forget.”
Twilight rubbed her chin. “So, helping others could be how you can get the number down. A reasonable hypothesis, I’d say.”
Rarity raised her hoof. “And a natural fit for us!”
“Then there’s supplies. I still have some energy bars, but maybe we could stock up on food here, and—”
Rarity interrupted, “Hold on dear, isn’t there something you’re forgetting?”
“What?”
Rarity waved her front legs out. “We’re in a hotel! One that other passengers are expected to stay at.”
Twilight put her hands together. “Of course! If we talk to other passengers, then we’re sure to get more information.”
Rarity nodded. “Well that settles it. To the spa!”
“The spa?”
“First of all, don’t think I didn’t notice how achy you are. It’s the same for both of us. Second, I can guarantee you any passenger with taste would try out the spa, especially when it’s free for them.” She put a hoof to the side of her face conspiratorially. “Plus, I’m sure the spa workers have intel of their own.”
“That… actually doesn’t sound like a bad idea.” Twilight got up. “Though first, I suppose I should do something about my clothes. They’re pretty dirty, and I can’t exactly walk to the spa in a robe.”
“Ah, yes, I suppose that is a bit uncouth. In that case, we can simply go there without robes.”
Twilight blushed. “What? Rarity!”
“‘What? Rarity!’ what?” Rarity blinked, then her eyes widened. “Oh! Right, now I recall. You humans have a taboo about not wearing clothes, don’t you?”
Twilight nodded.
Rarity hummed. “That does complicate things. In concept, it being illegal to not wear clothes sounds fun, but in practice…” She looked around. “Well, this wouldn’t be the first time I made a dress out of hotel decorations.”
Twilight looked around. “Er, probably not the best idea when we don’t know how they handle damage charges.”
Rarity sighed. “I suppose you’re right. Well, we can always—” she held up the room service booklet and gagged “—order gift shop clothes.”
Twilight shrugged. “Oh, sure, if that’s an option.”
Rarity gasped in response. At Twilight’s impassive expression, she frowned at the phone, then lifted it up with her horn. “Hello—hurk—room service, I’d like to—hrmph”
Rolling her eyes with a smile, Twilight took the phone herself and made the order.
Twilight melted into the massage, which felt better than she’d expect from penguins slamming their beaks into her back.
“So that’s when I told Sassy, ‘Las Pegasus should be happy I gave them so many trends, but if that’s how the city’s going to treat me, then I’m going to turn the streets red… because my designs were meant to work with red streets while everyone else’s isn’t.’”
The penguin attending Rarity squawked in response.
“Any luck getting info?” asked Twilight.
Rarity sighed. “Alas, if Fluttershy was here, we’d have better luck.”
“Have you seen any passengers to smooze?”
“Alas, all the guests I’ve seen appear to be the Smooze’s cousins. No one that could give us information about the Train.”
“Have I heard you right, that you want information about the train?”
The woman and the mare turned to the source of that question: a white cat resting on a table, getting her nails clipped. She continued in a smooth confident tone, “As it so happens, information is one of many services I offer.”
Rarity gasped. “Good heavens, a talking cat!”
Twilight turned to her with a raised eyebrow. This bothered her?
The cat narrowed her eyes and responded, “Good heavens, a talking horse.”
Rarity stammered. “I apologize. We do have talking cats where I’m from, but they’re huge! The ones your size are normal, and I myself have one that looks a lot like you.”
The cat swished her tail. “Charming.”
Twilight realized she’d probably have to be the one to take the lead on this. “So, uh, Miss…?”
“Cat. The Cat.”
“... Cat. Do you have information about this train, the conductor, and these numbers? Mine’s been stuck at the same number for a while, and—”
The Cat raised a free paw. “Of course, I can answer questions like that, but I have a few disclaimers. First of all, my information isn’t complete.” She looked at Twilight with one eye closed. “I’ve never seen a passenger that looks like you before, for instance.”
Twilight blinked. “What, you mean with glasses?”
The Cat paused, as though considering how to respond. “Precisely. Though actually, now that I think about it, there is a familiar vibe I’m sensing. Tell me, do you happen to be a stubborn egghead with a horribly pretentious name that starts with ‘T’?”
Twilight frowned. “I’m not a fan of those descriptions, but my name is Twilight.”
The Cat nodded. “I knew it.”
Twilight spread her arms. “My name isn’t pretentious!”
Rarity hummed. “It kind of is, dear.”
Twilight narrowed her eyes. “Says the unicorn named Rarity.”
Her claw clippings complete, The Cat sat up and put her front paws together. “In any case, my second disclaimer is that access to my wealth of knowledge and resources doesn’t come for free.”
Rarity sighed. “And there it is.”
Twilight asked, “So how much are we talking? Actually, what currency do you even use here?”
The Cat shook her head. “Oh no, currencies will completely change car by car, if they even have any. No, to get something from me, we’ll have to make a trade. Thankfully, all I require from you is your time.”
“Meaning?”
The Cat jumped down from her table and walked in front of the two. “During an earlier trade of mine, I agreed to babysit for a certain someone. However, I was never great with kids, and honestly, I’d much rather spend my time doing literally anything else. Then, as luck would have it, what would I run into but a unicorn? And I think, surely a unicorn must be great with kids. So there you have it. Babysit the brat for the night, and I’ll give you all the information you need.”
Rarity said, “Well, I wouldn’t say I’m great with kids, per say.”
Twilight rubbed her chin. “What’s the catch? Is this a monster baby or something?”
The Cat’s eyes widened and she put a paw to her chest. “Nothing of the sort! She’s quite the precious furball. Or so I’m told.”
Rarity’s expression was flat. “Or so you’re told.”
“I’m not the first one to pass off these babysitting duties. In any case, it’s quite low risk. It’s right here in the hotel, and you seem like new guests, meaning you’re on, what, Night Two? Besides, if you don’t trust me, then you can feel free to continue on your merry way. You won’t get my information, but you also won’t run into a monster baby. In this car, at least. Not my fault if the kid falls into a furnace.”
Twilight waved her arms. “Wait, back up. Night Two? What are you talking about?”
The Cat swished her tail. “The Train rewards forward progression. If you find yourself in a car with fully provided amenities, then there’s going to be some risk with staying there too long. In this case, it’s these fellows here.” She pointed her paw to the penguins, still in the middle of massaging Twilight and Rarity’s backs.
With sudden unease, Twilight and Rarity looked to their attendants. “What do you mean? Are they dangerous?” asked Rarity.
“Oh, nothing of the sort,” the Cat responded. “The exact opposite, actually. Once they know a guest long enough, they all start to get… a bit too familiar. It’s a real bother. That’s why I only come here after there’s been staff turnover.”
“Care to go into more details?” asked Twilight.
The Cat stretched, her claws extending as her legs extended. “I’m a busy cat, you know. My claws are trimmed, so it’s time for me to get to work. But I’ll tell you what, give me your room number and in addition to the babysitting details, I’ll send you a sample of my wares, including an answer to your questions. Sound good?”
Twilight and Rarity looked at each other with raised eyebrows. Suspicious as this was, this was their best lead yet, so with a slight nod to each other, Twilight responded, “Sure. Our room is 224.”
The Cat nodded back. “You won’t regret my services, my fanciful friends.” She left the spa as the others watched.
“You’re better at reading people than me,” said Twilight. “Do you think we can trust her?”
“I trust that she doesn’t mean us harm. I also trust that she has no interest in making sure we aren’t harmed.” Rarity squinted. “Not too unlike another cat I knew who proved untrustworthy. However, a show of generosity was enough to bring him around. So it may very well be the same for her. Plus, we very well can’t leave a baby unattended, can we?”
Twilight hummed. “Well, alright.” She sank back into her massage.
“Honestly dear, do you really have to wear those clothes?” Rarity asked with disdain from her bed. “It’s horrifying!”
Twilight looked down on her white shirt, with a logo reading “Hotel Infinity” in green text and the same image of the man and pig giving a thumbs up from the poster they saw earlier, and then looked at her green shorts. “It isn’t too bad.”
Rarity hit her hoof against the mattress. “It’s horrifying!”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “It’s not like I have anything else to wear, what with everything else in the laundry.”
Rarity pressed her face into her blanket. “Is the nudity taboo really bad enough to have to wear that?”
“Yes,” Twilight said simply.
There was a knock at the door. With the guests’ approval, a penguin came in with a small paper bag. They squawked, placed it on a table, nodded, and left.
“That must be what the Cat was talking about,” Twilight said. She reached into the bag and pulled out a black box.
As Twilight hummed and turned it around in her hands, Rarity asked, “What is that?”
“It’s a VHS tape.” Twilight looked around, and saw what she was looking for below the room TV. She knelt and placed the cassette into a VHS player, with the device pulling it in fully and lighting up. She turned on the TV and pressed play, then sat back.
The screen lit up with a figure familiar to both of them: the Conductor, a small gray metal sphere with a single LED eye on a black screen, and small insect-like legs. Also familiar was his location, the lobby of the very hotel they were staying in.
In a peppy voice, he announced, “Hello passengers! My name is One—” his voice suddenly lost all of its energy “—One, bringing you another of the Train’s existential nightmares.” His peppy tone returned as he said, “This is episode 926x214 of my Train documentary! And here we bring you the Infinity Hotel Car! Let’s take a look.”
There was a cut, now showing the Conductor in one of the hotel’s rooms. “Well wouldn’t you know it, I lost most of my footage because I maxed out the camera’s memory!” His tone grew annoyed. “Why did I use such a cheap camera when I command a train beyond mortal understanding?” He spread two legs in the air and said in a peppy tone, “Because that’s part of the charm, of course! Anyway, it’s day 3 of my stay here. Let’s take a look at what we have in this room.” He opened a suitcase and pulled out a speedo. “Got my swimsuit for the pool, of course. And a couple doodads I picked up—but oh wait, that’s all my stuff, isn’t it? Not so much showcasing the car.” He walked to the room refrigerator and opened it up. “Alright, we got some bottled water in here.” His tone grew severe. “Ugh, ten dollars for this?”
At that moment, the door opened and a penguin walked in.
One-One’s peppy tone returned. “Oh hello there! What could you be up to?”
The penguin looked around, then turned back and waved a wing. At that moment, three more penguins came in, one pulling in a speaker larger than them.
The peppy tone remained, but there was an edge of unease. “Oh, yes, well, I want to be clear that I’m filming something right now, and—”
The speaker was plugged in and one of the penguins hooked up a smartphone. Music started blasting out of it and then even more penguins slid into the room.
One-One switched voices and exclaimed, “The nightmare has finally taken form! It’s a party full of strangers!”
One penguin set up colored lights on the ceiling and even more penguins slid in and started squawking, swinging their heads around. A few landed on the bed, knocking the camera over. As One-One screamed, the feed cut off.
There was a pause as Twilight and Rarity considered what they had just seen.
“Ah,” said Rarity, “so that’s what the Cat meant.”
Twilight said, “And also… the Conductor has videos about every car? What? Where were we supposed to see these?”
“In any case, the Cat made good on her word so far, so she should be able to help once we finish babysitting.” Rarity reached into the bag with her magic and pulled out a note. “Room 1224, 8 PM through midnight. Oh, that isn’t too bad, I think.”
“From the video, the penguins didn’t start partying in One-... One?’s room until day 3, so we probably won’t be bothered by them tonight.”
“Seems like we have a plan, then.” Rarity stretched in her bed. “We babysit, get all the information we need, and if that doesn’t get us off this Train, then we’ll spend one more night here and move on to the next car.”
“That sounds good to me.”
Time passed and Twilight was able to retrieve her cleaned clothes. At Rarity’s insistence, she changed back right away. Then, it came time to go to Room 1224.
Summary of the rest:
They take care of the child they're babysitting for a bit. I was undecided what the nature of this child is, whether it's just a slime or if it's connected to the shadowy figure.
They realize that while they haven't been in the hotel for long, the people whose room they're in have been, so the penguins try to break in like in Aliens. Rarity's solution is that the best way to empty a party is to convince them there's a way cooler party elsewhere. They get them to go back to the Dining Car, since it's cold.
The Cat lives up to her promise and gives them... One-One's instructional tapes, which don't teach them anything new. The Cat seems disinterested in helping more, until SciTwi mentions the monster. She can't say she heard of something exactly like that, but she knows of another grifter merchant that has ways of messing around with numbers. They're concerned about finding him, but The Cat says the Train has a way of making people bump into each other; as long as they keep moving, they'll run into him eventually. It might be good to ask a Randall about him if they run into one.
Besides, with just 1 point left, what else could SciTwi possible have left to accomplish here?
The Cat doesn't realize Rarity is a passenger until the end.
After this chapter, they continue going on adventures and work through the personal problems that I hadn't actually figured out, then get out.
