TCB: Rails and Dreams

Nightmares on Nightmare Night
Berry Pony

I was scared. Returning to Baritone's hayfarm late at night, I had run into a dragon. A big, black, scary dragon. He had magic, oh, he had magic all right. Snapping me in a pocket realm, Nerius grabbed my head between his thumb talon and index finger talon and read off my memory and thoughts like a open book. When he was done, he changed his form into a human, told me that he'd be going to Switzerland, and in time, contacting me to make funds available for my railroad. It's the least he could do for telling him about a new world and its riches.

This is what I wanted, right? To make contact with a dragon, give them information about Earth and its... opportunities for making money. And then provide enough venture capital for getting my railroad and my dreams off the ground. It would all work out, wouldn't it?

Turning my head from side to side, my ears twisting to catch any sound, I couldn't hear anything. The dragon, now a man in his elegantly tailored suit and Rolex watch, was gone. I stood, shivering, at the bottom of the hill rising up to the hayfarm.

I should probably warn somepony. Perhaps even Princess Celestia. And what would I say? That I went exploring to try and find a dragon and his hoard - and the dragon found me, thanks to my lost saddlebags. The dragon was headed to Earth, probably even now, and the princess should take steps to do... what? Warn the SEC? Talk to the European Central Bank? Write a stern letter to the Editor of the Times?

And speaking of my saddlebags, why hadn't that black dragon returned them to me?

Arrgh! I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts. The cold wind continued to blow, teasing at my yellow mane and chilling the pink fur on my body. It was time to get inside where there was light and warmth.

Besides, I thought as I started up the hill, it was always possible that Nerius would be unable to make much of a dent in the Earth's financial markets. Morgan Stanley lost 9 billion dollars in Howie Hubler's credit default swaps. Lehman Brothers lost $2.8 billion in the subprime mortgage crisis. A single rogue trader, Nick Leeson, bankrupted the venerable Barings Bank, losing 827 million pounds in index futures. A dragon's hoard simply could not make that much of a difference, no matter how much gold and jewels it held.

My thoughts brightened. Nerius was frightening and powerful. But he had never faced the piranha-like masses of Wall Street insiders like the kind depicted by Gordon Gekko. The black dragon would probably be overwhelmed by it all.

Funny that? Nothing to worry about. I put the whole thing behind me.

But it's a shame that I wouldn't be able to take advantage of Nerius' offer. Having Nerius' capital behind me would make the task of building my railroad a whole lot easier - perhaps we could raise the money some other way. Bake sales. We'd need a whole lot of bake sales.

I trotted up to the farmhouse where it'd be warm. Tomorrow would be Nightmare Night and I'd be busy in the morning at Bargin Bargins, selling last minute candy and party decorations.

"Another box of lollipops!" I turned and galloped into the back of the store. The rush of ponies buying last minute Nightmare Night items had started as soon as we had opened the doors. It showed no signs of letting up. "And bring up another six cartons of black licorice." I had been at it for hours, hauling boxes of candy from the stockroom and keeping the bins and shelves filled. Filthy Rich was assisting Dusty Lily at the cash register, Pine Shavings was monitoring our inventory and helping customers. And I had been running my hooves off, trying to keep up with it all.

"Is it always this bad?" I asked Pine Shavings as I looked over the seething herd of ponies in front of the cash register.

"Yep," replied the tan earth pony. "This way, buying at the last moment, parents can insure that their foals won't find any candy. Oh, we're running short of peppermint sticks again. Better bring up some more."

I turned, ready to run back into the stockroom again.

"Courage, Cherry. It'll soon be over," Pine Shavings added before I left for the safety of the backroom. "We'll close at noon to allow employees a chance to get ready for Nightmare Night festivities. Oh, you'd also bring up some more wrapped candies too."

Around lunchtime, the last of the customers left the store and Dusty Lily closed the doors. Filthy Rich smiled. "Thank you, thank you, everypony. I think, looking at rough estimates, that we did better than last year. As soon as you've completed cleaning up, the rest of the day is yours. Enjoy the festivities!"

"Cherry Shine? What's your costume?" asked Dusty Lily as we trotted away from the store. "Wait until you see what Pine Shavings and I have got."

"I'm going over to Pin Cushion's costume shop now to pick it up," I replied. "I wanted to keep it simple so I'm going as a princess." I grinned. "Want to come along?"

We trotted through a town busy with preparations. Booths were being stocked, games were being set up, and pegasi were flying from pole to pole, hanging garlands and decorations. I saw Baritone and a member of the Apple clan hauling in a wagon filled with pumpkins. Other wagons were standing around, filled with hay. A large dance stand had been erected near the town hall and ponies were standing on it, checking the lights.

We passed three humans, gawking at the activity in Ponyville. They weren't the only humans in town - quite a few had come to see the festivities.

At the costume shop, I found a line of ponies standing outside, all waiting to pick up their costumes. "I'm sorry, Dusty," I began, "this is going take a bit of time. Shall I meet you later?"

"Sure. Seven-ish? Outside Sugar Cube Corner?"

"That sounds good to me. Look for a pink pony in a pink princess costume, okay?"

"Okay," Dusty answered. "Will do." She trotted off.

The line moved forward. Another pony left the shop carrying a pair of bags. I flicked my short tail in impatience.

"Cherry? Cherry Shine? It's me, Sandstorm from Phoenix."

I turned to stare at a tan earth pony with a brown and white mane.

"Don't you remember? We got converted in the Phoenix Conversion Bureau at roughly the same time. Travelled to Equestria? We rode the train as far as Ponyville? I continued on to Dodge Junction..."

"Sandstorm! What are you doing in Ponyville?"

The tan earth pony smiled. "I'm headed to Baltimare to take on a new job. They're levelling an island outside of the Barrier to make room for a bigger airport. Celestia wants it easier for humans to travel to and from Equestria."

The line moved. I stepped forward. "New job? Last time I heard, you were doing land reclamation in Dodge Junction."

Sandstorm stepped aside to let a yellow pegasus leave the store with a box under his wing. "Yeah, I was doing land reclamation for a while - planting trees and trying to get grass to grow. My trees weren't looking too hot and my grass was kinda browned and shriveled. So I wasn't doing too well making things grow."

"So what happened?" I poked him with a hoof.

"Turns out that a crew was filling in a ravine and needed some help. You see, land reclamation is not only replanting trees, it's also restoring the land to make it possible to plant stuff. Well suddenly, things just clicked. I was able to figure the amount of earth they needed to fill the ravine. Then I showed them where to excavate so that the ponies had to move the least amount of dirt. It was like I had a talent for surveying and estimating. There was a light tingling on my side and when I checked, this appeared."

Sandstorm moved aside and turned to show the cutie mark on his flank. It was a theodolite - a optical sight used in surveying - standing on a tripod. "It came as a complete surprise."

"You have your cutie mark..." I breathed.

"Yeah. Anyway, they want me in Baltimare for this airport job. I heard that Ponyville throws a hummer-dinger of a Nightmare Night party so I arranged so that I'd make a stopover here."

The line moved again. I got up to the door of the costume shop. There were only three ponies ahead of me now. So Sandstorm had his cutie mark already. He knew what his special talent was, what he was going to be happy doing. I started to feel a bit envious.

"Hey, do you know of a good place to eat? They didn't give us anything to eat on the train ride over here and I'm starving."

Sandstorm had his cutie mark. I was so envious.

"Cherry?" Sandstorm inquired, looking at me.

Another pony trotted out of the store, her bags firmly under her wings.

"Okay. You've got something on your mind - I can see that. I'm going to find someplace to eat. I'll see you later." The tan earth pony started to walk off. "Take care, Cherry."

I was jealous that Sandstorm had gotten his cutie mark - for shoveling dirt around. But he was out in Equestria, doing stuff, making a name for himself and I... I was restocking candy boxes at Barnyard Bargins. No. I shouldn't be jealous of Sandstorm for his cutie mark. He was in the right place at the right time. I wouldn't be working at Barnyard Bargins forever. I'd find the venture capital, I'd build my railroad and then I'd run my railroad - and when it was running, I'd discover my own -.

"I asked if you would like to pay the balance on your deposit," the beige unicorn at the counter repeated. "Hello?"

"Huh? Oh, right. Sorry, my thoughts were elsewhere," I answered.

"Balance? Deposit? There are more ponies waiting," said the harried unicorn. Behind me, two other ponies glared at me. A glance at the door showed a line of ponies stretching down the street.

"Sorry." I paid the rest of my bits and collected a box with my evening's costume. Turning, I trotted out of the store.

Heading up Stirrup Street, my package floating in the air beside me, I thought about Sandstorm and his cutie mark. Suddenly, a heavy wagon, burdened with supplies for the festival, turned in front of me onto the road. It almost hit me but at the last moment, I jumped out of the way. Unfortunately, my head slammed into a fence post. My package fell to the ground as I saw stars. The heavy wagon rolled past.

I was on my haunches in the road, sitting in front of the fence post. The world was spinning in front of my muzzle. I hoped that it would stop soon.

"Oh, are you all right?" Filthy Rich asked as he walked up in front of me.

"I... I think so." My vision cleared and I was able to focus again. Standing next to Filthy Rich were two mares. One was younger than the other.

"Cherry, may I introduce my wife and my daughter, Diamond Tiara. Diamond Tiara has been up at Canterlot at finishing school and has come down to Ponyville for the festivities." He turned to the two mares. "This is Cherry Shine, our new unicorn employee at Barnyard Bargins."

"Nice to meet you," I said as I attempted to stand up. Sitting on your haunches in the mud is not the way that I wanted to meet the boss' wife or kid.

"Likewise," Mrs. Rich said in a chilly tone. "Come along, Filthy, we still have calls to make before tonight." She sailed past me, headed up the road.

Diamond Tiara's blue eyes glittered at me as she stepped closer. "Oh look," she hissed quietly. "No cutie mark. You have never learned what your special talent is. Dirty and muddy too. Poor dear."

"One moment, dear," Filthy Rich said, turning away from his wife. "Cherry, you were carrying a package when you had your accident. Where is it?"

I got onto my hooves and swished my little tail. The world spun around me for a moment before stopping. "My costume?" I asked, blinking my eyes.

Filthy Rich looked around while Mrs. Rich made impatient gestures. Diamond Tiara thought for a moment before whispering to me. "Or is there another reason that you're a blank flank? Could it be that you've come from Earth?" The pale magenta pony grinned maliciously. "Converting to a pony? Ha! You'll never become one of us. You'll never get a cutie mark, blank flank."

She stepped aside, revealing a crushed box beneath her hooves. "Daddy, is this it? Oh dear, it's been stepped on."

I reached for my costume box, picking it up with my teeth.

"It's been found? Good. Come along, Filthy. Diamond Tiara," Mrs Rich said. "We are wasting precious time, dilly-dallying here."

Filthy Rich looked at me. "It's a costume, right?" he asked. "It probably won't get damaged by crushing the box. You'll be all right, won't you?"

"Daaaaaaaaad?" Diamond Tiara whined. "Come on now."

"Go. I'll be okay. Thank you for looking out for me," I replied.

The three walked away. Diamond Tiara checked to see that her father wasn't looking before sticking her tongue out at me. Then the three turned a corner.

I watched them go. Filthy Rich was a good pony - although he could be real hard as a business pony. But I couldn't stand Mrs. Rich or Diamond Tiara. With any luck at all, I wouldn't have anything more to do with them.

With the crushed box swinging from my mouth, I trotted up the street toward the railroad tracks north of Ponyville, headed back to the hayfarm.

"Cherry Shine, what are you doing?" scolded Colophon's voice. "Carrying your baggage in your mouth? A unicorn does everything with style!" My teacher stepped out of a tea shop, a disapproving look on her face.

I set down the package. "Miss Colophon," I began. "I -."

"And look at you! Splattered with dirt and mud. What happened to you? You haven't been exploring in the Everfree Forest again, have you?"

"No, Miss Colophon. There's been a slight... accident. I jumped out of the way of a wagon when I hit my head on a post."

Colophon looked up and down the street. "Child, you should come with me," she said as she levitated my costume box in the air. "I will make you a cup of tea. You can brush off your mud and get cleaned up. Then, since we have a few hours before the festival gets under way, you can tell me of your readings in Unicorn Script."

I sighed and followed her across Ponyville to her bookstore.

"Miss Colophon?" I asked as we were walking, "I do not wish to offend but why do you refer to me as a 'child'?"

"Pardon me, Cherry," Colophon chuckled. "It is an old habit of mine. I call everypony who does not have a cutie mark, 'child'. I guess I learned it when teaching large classes in Canterlot. Ah, here we are."

Colophon unlocked the door and let us inside. "Bathroom is upstairs and to your left," she said as we entered the rear of the store. I will get started on the tea. Then we can see how badly damaged your costume is."

When I came down the stairs, Colophon's kettle was whistling on the stove top. The unicorn was filling a tea ball with black tea. The table was covered with saucers, cups and a plate of scones.

"Feeling better?" she asked as she lifted the kettle off the stove.

I nodded. "Yes. Thank you, Miss Colophon." I was clean, brushed and feeling refreshed.

Colophon dropped the tea ball into the teapot and poured in boiling water. "Come, sit down and relax. It will take a few moments before the tea is ready."

I took my place at the table. The freshly brewed scent of tea and the rich smell of baked scones filled the room.

Setting a tea cosy on the teapot, Colophon floated it over onto the table. She sat down across from me and closed her eyes. "Ah, this is wonderful."

"Miss Colophon?" I began.

"Yes, child?"

"I... " I was unsure of how to start. I was pretty sure that Nerius would be swallowed up in Earth's convoluted financial system but there was always the chance the black dragon would come out on top. "I think I might have met someone... who could give us the seed money to start construction on our railroad..."

"You sound uncertain," Colophon said without opening her eyes. "Why?"

My hoof made little circling motions on the tablecloth. "I do not know if this... person... has the best interest of our railroad... or Equestria... at heart."

"Hmmm... Someone. A person." The orange unicorn opened her eyes and looked at me. "You're not talking about a pony, are you?"

"No."

"It is every pony's right," Colophon said, "to decide whom they want to do business with." She concentrated and leviated the teapot. Pouring each of us a cup of tea, she paused and asked, "one lump of sugar or two?"

"Two. No, three lumps."

Three lumps floated from the sugar bowl to land in my tea cup.

Colophon quietly sipped from her cup. "So, what are you going to do?" she finally asked.

I emptied my cup. "I do not know. But right now, could I trouble you for another cup?"

Colophon smiled and lifted the teapot again.

After emptying the teapot and clearing the plate of delicious scones, we decided to look at my crushed costume box. Snipping the threads, I unwrapped a long dress with sleeves, armlets, and a hennin - a cone-shaped headdress - to which a veil is attached. The hennin was crushed but the dress was protected by the paper wrappings.

"Let me have this," Colophon said. "A bit of work with a hot iron and some unicorn magic should make this as good as new." She took the headdress and disappeared.

I studied the long dress. "How am I to put this on? I can't bend my forelegs all the way back. How do ponies even dress like this?"

"You push your forelegs into the sleeves and a servant - or a friend - pulls the dress into place," came Colophon's voice from the other room. "In fact, that is why Canterlot unicorns all dress up - it shows that they can afford servants to help them dress."

"I seem to remember something similar with fashion in the 18th and 19th century on Earth. Dresses for women were designed to require a servant to assist them."

"There," Colophon said as she re-entered the room. "All better." She levitated the cone-shaped hennin and placed it on the table. "I will help you get ready for the festival. Later. But first," she grinned. "Grab the Unicorn Script book from downstairs. I will freshen up another pot of tea. You can explain what Moon Pearl the Magnus said about the limitations of magic."

I groaned and went upstairs to retrieve the book.

As we were studying, the sun slowly sank to the west. The shadows grew long as the dying light faded into grays and blacks. Evening crept up on us as houses lit lanterns and turned on magical lights. I detested Moon Pearl - his writing was boring, obscure and confusing. He never wrote anything without taking a side trip through several dictionaries of obsolete, archaic and unused unicorn glyphs. Often with added footnotes and references to books long since forgotten. At times, even Colophon would find herself confused and dive into her dictionaries and glyph tables to confirm a reading of a given glyph.

The clock in the kitchen chimed six. Colophon looked up and closed her book. "That is enough for today. You have done well. Moon Pearl is difficult going. But if you're going to enjoy the Nightmare Night festival, we had better get you ready."

I put Moon Pearl back in its place upstairs and returned to get dressed. With Colophon's assistance, I slid into the dress and put on the armlets. While Colophon buttoned up the dress, I attached the hennin to my forelock and mane. As a last touch, Colophon pinned a long veil to fall from the cone down my back.

I grinned. Colophon smiled and levitated a mirror to show me a fairy princess.

"Shame about your tail," she said. "The dress hides most of it but for full effect, you should have a long sweeping tail from the back of your dress."

"Thank you, Colophon. And now, can I help you into your costume?"

"No. I got it. My costume is not as complex as yours." She disappeared in the other room and came out in a little while dressed as a barbarian. Helmet, furry bodice, leather boots, and a honking great axe. "A little unexpected from a teacher and bookseller?" she said.

"Quite so," I agreed.

Locking the door of the bookstore, we set out to see the Nightmare Night festival.

The full moon rode high over the festival, lighting the activities around town hall. There were black tents, topped with the all-seeing eye, promising scary secrets inside. Nightmare Moon's silhouette decorated every pole and sign. Booths of every variety sold candy spiders, pies and mysterious potions. Garlands of stylized skull lanterns hung from booth to booth. Vendor's carts stood throughout the festival grounds, selling wrapped candies and flowers.

On the south side of the town hall where bridges crossed the little stream, catapults had been set up to hurl pumpkins at targets. Ponies could also bob for apples at Applejack and Apple Bloom's booth.

And everywhere, there were ponies dressed in colorful costumes. They were dancing at the dance stand to a Country and Western band, enjoying cupcakes topped with molded sugar eyes and trying out all the games that the various booths offered. Fillies and colts ran around, a bag tied to their necks, vying to collect as much candy as they could.

I excused myself, telling Colophon that I had promised to meet a friend and went in search of Dusty Lily. Colophon headed over to browse the Cakes' booth. Outside Sugar Cube Corner, I looked over the milling herd of brightly costumed ponies - but did not see a beige earth pony - or her coltfriend, Pine Shavings.

"Boo!"

I turned to look at a white pony with a flowing long white dress and large white hat. Only her blue eyes were not colored white. "Dusty Lily?"

"The same. How do you like my costume? I'm a spectre, a ghost. Pretty cool, huh?"

"I hope that white washes out," I remarked.

Dusty Lily made a little gesture of concern. "I hope so too. The book said it'll take only two baths to completely remove the dye."

Pine Shavings walked out of Sugar Cube Corner, holding a plate of sweets in his teeth. He had on the garb of a steampunk engineer, complete with top hat, goggles, and frock coat. Brass tools peered from every pocket. "Evening, princess," he said after placing the plate in front of Dusty Lily. "Care to join us?"

After dining on cupcakes, crullers and other baked goodies, we went to enjoy the festival. Pine Shavings showed himself as a master of the catapult, hitting the target three times out of three pumpkins. After my second pumpkin followed the first into the river, I gave up. Dusty Lily had her fortune told by a mysterious pony but refused to tell us what the pony had said. I bought a bag full of candy corn and passed it out to the foals running past.

Across the open grounds, I spotted Written Dreams waving at me. I excused myself from Dusty Lily and Pine Shavings and walked over to the unicorn.

"My god," Written Dreams said as soon as I got close to her. "Would you look at that? Cherry, you look like a freaking Disney princess. There's enough pink about you to even make a Hasbro executive happy."

"You didn't call me over to make fun of me or my costume, did you? Because that's cruel and unbecoming of you," I replied.

Written Dreams grinned. She wore a brightly colored corsair's costume with bandoleers and a pirate's hat. She motioned me to follow her between two booths. I followed her to find Windstorm waiting as well. He was also dressed as a pirate.

"Why, Cherry, I'm better than that," she said as she turned to face me. "No, I wanted you to see this. I sold an article to the Ponyville Express earlier today. It was a long piece, arguing for better educational opportunities in Ponyville."

"Well, congratulations," I replied.

"There's more," Windstorm said.

"I poured my heart into the article," Written Dreams continued. "And after I put it on the editor's desk and he had read it and then sent it down to be set into type, I got a wonderful feeling." She flipped back the tails of her corsair's coat. "I got my cutie mark." On her light blue flank could be seen the symbol of an ink pot and a quill. "Isn't it exciting?"

"It's... certainly... wonderful..." I stammered out. "I'm happy for you." But all I could keep thinking, Written Dreams has her cutie mark too?

"I'm so happy. I always knew that I wanted to write," Written Dreams said. "Isn't it wonderful that I got my cutie mark from writing?"

"I'm happy... for you." I bit back tears. First Sandstorm and now Written Dreams got their cutie marks. Was I doomed to be a 'blank flank' for the rest of my life, never knowing what my special talent was? "I... have to go," I called out as I broke and ran.

"Wait!" Written Dreams shouted as I galloped away from the festivities.

As I ran away, holding back my tears, I knew that if Nerius came back to me, if he offered the money to start building the railroad, I'd definitely say, yes, yes, YES to the black dragon's Faustian bargin.