1. Buffalo Bullet (October 1907)
Author's Note
Dear Reader,
I’ve decided to do something a bit experimental.
I'm making the first story of hopefully many to come, taking place in an alternate universe created by me and a few friends that focuses a bit more on the trains.
How is this an alternate universe? There’s a couple of reasons, mainly 3.
Reason 1. Ponies age extremely slowly, even slower for alicorns. This is to avoid the depressing “Alicorn Immortality” situation from the show.
Reason 2. Pear Butter & Bright Mac don’t pass away, although I respect the original motive in the series to relate to children who grow up without parental figures, I decided to keep them alive and well because there’s no reason to kill them off in this universe in the first place.
Reason 3 might be explained much further down the line. But for now, I’ll keep it a secret. For I’m not too sure that I’ll stick with reason 3.
In this story, we shall follow a young mare named Silver Puff on her journey working on one of Pony Kinds first railroads in early 20th century Equestria.
I hope this sparks some people's interest. And please note I’m open to constructive criticism and suggestions.
Big Thank you to Biscuit Cat Productions for the thumbnail edit.
~ Rednbluescooter
1. Buffalo Bullet (October 1907)
Silver Puff walked into the cold engine roundhouse early one morning to start the day. It was her turn to take the Buffalo Bullet, so she needed to get her engine, Number 2, cleaned and started earlier than usual. She was looking forward to warming herself while lighting her engine's fire, and was eager to get started.
5 engines, all of the same build, stood proud and still as she entered. The residents of Appleoosa were proud to be part of a community that built the first working steam locomotive that didn’t just explode upon testing. However, that’s not to say these engines didn’t have their own problems. They were over 20 years old, and better engines were being made in Midland Equestria up in Ponyville. Manufacturing locomotives had gradually changed over the 2 decades, and Appleoosa’s roster was immensely outdated.
Due to their aluminum boilers throwing off weight distribution, these engines were victims of wheelslip and brake failure, especially considering their lack of sanding gear. Sometimes they’d even overheat, and drivers would have to drop the fire onto the rails to prevent their boilers from exploding. This was because the firebox and the aluminum boiler were roughly the same size.
If the boiler isn’t significantly larger than the firebox, a roaring fire could cause a boiler explosion. Maintaining these engines was an awkward balancing act, teetering between not having enough steam to pull a train, and having too much steam to stay in one piece.
Silver could usually avoid this though, she could never explain why, but maintaining the perfect fire was one of her strengths. However, the awkward weight distribution proved to be her kryptonite. She’d struggle leaving one station, then overrun the platform at the next. Despite her talent working the fire, the other drivers would still tease her for this.
By the time she had her engine cleaned and making good steam, the other drivers were finally entering the roundhouse. Silver Puff was in her cab, keeping warm from the brisk autumn breeze with a nice fire in her engine’s firebox.
“Taking the Buffalo Bullet again, huh?” one of her friends chuckled as she started work on her own engine, number 4. “Ya sure you won’t get a wheel flat sliding through Ponyville?”
This was Coal Shoot, a young mare whose coat was never clean, most called her “Coal Dust”, as it fit her appearance better.
“Well, they need an engine that isn’t at risk of blowing up 24/7” Silver retorted. “I might slip here and there, but I know how to make enough steam for the climb up to Canterlot”
Silver Streak, a middle aged Stallion, slowly climbed up into engine number 5. “That reminds me, Silver Puff. Be careful as you make your stop at Ponyville, they’ve been behind on their rain lately, so they scheduled a downpour last night to last up until later this evening. Rails are going to be very slippery.”
Silver Puff nodded appreciatively as Silver Streak continued.
“I know you’ll be careful, but still, some extra care wouldn’t go amiss.”
“Thanks, Streak” Silver Puff replied. “Noted”
Soon, Silver Puff’s engine was in the station platform being coupled to the train. The conductor was ensuring everypony was safely on board the right carriages, and the porter was dropping off the luggage in the luggage car
At last, the conductor blew his whistle, and the signal turned green. It was time for Silver to leave. She released the brakes, blew the whistle, and opened the regulator. The engine slowly started to move.
Almost immediately, the driving wheels of the locomotive started slipping out of control, too much steam was let into the pistons. Silver quickly closed the regulator, and the spinning slowly stopped.
Easing the regulator more and more, the train slowly picked up speed, and trundled along down the railroad, headed for Ponyville, it’s first stop.
At first, Silver was enjoying herself. It was a nice run down the Appleoosan desert. She whistled as she passed a stampede of buffalo doing their usual run. But as the landscape slowly turned from desert to green hillsides, the weather got progressively more downcast. Grey skies turned to drizzling rain, and by the time the Buffalo Bullet crossed the viaduct over Ghastly Gorge, the rain was pelting against the train like attacking bullets.
Shortly before Ponyville, there’s a small cutting that leads down to a little railroad bridge built over the river. Ponies love to fish in that area, the shady trees and the calm stream by the railroad tracks make it a great getaway from the stress of day to day life. But it certainly wasn’t calm today..
The river had overflown from the heavy rain and the tracks were flooded, by the time Silver rounded the corner, it was too late. She slammed on the brakes, but the wheels only locked up and slid along on the wet rails.
With a splash, the train came to a halt in the flood. A bunch of water had splashed into the cab upon impact and into the firebox. Fortunately, the cab didn’t flood, but the damage had already been done. The firebox was soaked and the fire was quickly dying. If the fire wasn’t salvaged, the train would be stranded, just a few kilometers from Ponyville.
“I need something that’ll burn easy, coal isn’t gonna be enough..” Suddenly, light bulb.
“..I know what I must do.”
Meanwhile, in the caboose, Mr Conductor was looking out the window, sipping his tea by the little fireplace.
“That’s not good,” he sighed. “Looks like we’ll be stuck here for awhile.” He went to grab another log to put in the fireplace, when Silver burst through the door, panting.
“CONDUCTORINEEDHELP!” she blurted out in one breath. Mr Conductor dropped the log in surprise, it landed on the floor next to the log rack with a heavy bang.
“Help?” He asked, then motioned to the flood they were stuck in outside. “With this? How?”
Silver bluntly pointed to the logs of firewood. “Water splashed into my cab and nearly put out the fire. Coal isn’t gonna cut it this time around, I need something that’ll burn easier. Please can I use your firewood? Otherwise we’ll be stuck here for Celestia only knows how long.”
Mr Conductor sighed, this wasn’t how he envisioned his day to go. “Of course, Silver. If that fire goes out, not only are we stuck, but the passengers will freeze if we just sit and wait for help.”
Passenger trains have a heating pump that travels throughout the train keeping the passengers warm during the colder seasons. The heating pump is connected to the steam engine, and the engine’s fire creates the heat. If the fire has gone out, then there isn’t any heat to keep the passengers warm.
Together, Driver and Conductor. They moved the log rack up the train and into the engine cab. The fire wasn’t doing so well, and would soon be dead. Silver quickly set to work, throwing logs in the fire and moving them around with the shovel to proper positions. The logs needed to feed the fire, but not bury it. Making sure not to create too much steam to blow the boiler, Silver slowly but surely built up enough steam to attempt moving again.
Slowly, the train started moving, pushing through the water and creating small waves as it picked up speed. Then came the small hill leading out of the cutting. This would get them out of the water, and back onto dryish rails. If Silver succeeded to climb the small incline, they’d be homefree, if she slipped, then the train would likely slide right back into the water.
Silver had been dreading and trying her best to mentally prepare herself for this part. She had tried to get as much speed as possible so she could coast out, and at the moment, the train was moving at about 40 kilometers an hour.
Once she felt the incline start to begin, she shut off steam and let the engine roll at the speed it was currently moving at.
As the engine rolled up the incline, it was decreasing speed. Both Silver Puff & Mr Conductor held their breath.
First the locomotive reached the top, then the first two carriages, then two more, then three more. Eventually, half the train had reached normal land again. Silver opened up the regulator slowly, and to her surprise; no wheelslip.
Finally, The Buffalo Bullet was back in action. And with a victorious blast of the whistle, Silver Puff continued the run on to Ponyville.
At Ponyville, Silver Puff backed her engine into the workshop, a pink Ponyville locomotive was taking The Buffalo Bullet the rest of the way to Canterlot just in case Silver’s locomotive suffered any damages.
As she climbed down from her engine, she got an umbrella from inside the workshop, and headed over to the station, going inside for hot cocoa. As she walked, she noticed an old platform next to the ponyville station. Old rails went from the old platform and headed towards a forest just outside Ponyville. The Everfree Forest. It was an abandoned line no one really knew much about. But that’s a story for another time.
Silver Puff sighed, shook her head sadly, and entered the station to put the kettle on.
2. Sunny Town (October 1907)
Author's Note
Big Thank you to BigEngines87 for the thumbnail edit. (Original Photo by Jan Animations)
Story of The Blanks is a story/game created by Donitz. Said game was adapted into a fanfic by Aoshi Stark
I recommend reading the original fanfic and/or playing the original game before reading my butchered version.
Also credit to Frederick Wilson for pics
Happy Halloween
2. Sunny Town (October 1907)
Silver had been helping around the midland region after the events of the flood. The wooden bridge, having submitted to the raging force of the flooding water, had begun to rot as the sun came back out. So while the bridge was being rebuilt, Silver Puff and her engine were stuck helping around Ponyville.
The Appleoosan Railroad and the Midland Equestrian Railroad thankfully weren’t rivals for business, and in exchange for Silver’s help around Ponyville, the MER would build a modern Midland Equestrian “Saddle Tank” Engine for them to replace one of the older Appleoosan Engines.
It wasn’t bad, the ponies inhabiting the town were really friendly and marvelled at the sight of such an old engine. That being said, however, because of the age of her locomotive, she was stuck to the boring tasks like switching (or shunting) cars and carriages around for the more modern locomotives.
If she was lucky, she’d take an odd short distance freight train to and from a farming area. But even that had it’s cons. Two of the farms: Sweet Apple Acres & Ponyville Pear Precipice were in a heated feud against one another. Pickups and deliveries would sometimes run late when the two farms would run into each other, loading the cars with their produce would then take forever.
However, work aside, she always looked forward to the end of the day where all of the engines were parked in the engine shed for the night. Thankfully, there was an extra spot for visiting engines that took long distance trains from far away places like Vanhoover or Manehattan. So Silver parked her engine there at night.
One night, it was Nightmare Night, and all of the engine drivers of the Midland Equestrian Railroad, along with Silver Puff, were cooling their engines down before going home. While they did so, they decided to tell spooky stories. They didn’t have any plans for Nightmare Night, so this was the best they had.
“..And every year, on the date of the accident, it runs again as a warning to others, plunging into the gap, SHRIEKING, like a-”
“Oh just skip to “The End” already, you obviously made it up as you went.” Scoffed Summer Smoke, rolling her eyes. “A random train driver gets possessed by an evil spirit, then decides to drive his passenger train off of Ghastly Gorge’s unfinished viaduct?”
Wheel Turner was the newest and youngest driver on the fleet, he was still trying to make a good impression and impress his older co-workers, but so far, nothing seemed to work. “Hey..it could happen..”
Silver Puff spoke up. “Well..it could use some work, but the concept is fairly good.”
“Does anypony have any REAL scary stories?” Summer asked impatiently. “Because otherwise, I’d rather just get this over and done with so I can go home and get some sleep.”
The other drivers looked at each other hopefully, hoping this Nightmare Night wouldn’t be a complete bust after all. But after a few sighs of disappointment, nopony came forward.
But seemingly at the very last moment:
“Would..The Everfree Line be a touchy subject?” Silver Puff asked. The older drivers of the MER shared a look of concern.
“The Everfree Line?” Wheel Turner asked.
“Might as well tell it” Groaned Summer. She too had never heard of the story, not being much older than Wheel Turner.
Silver Puff looked to the other drivers, who eventually gave nods of approval, then she began.
“As I’m sure you’re aware. Your railroad builds these fine engines and sells them to other parts of Equestria, sometimes even with custom liveries..like Ponyville Pink, Baltimare Blue, etcetera.”
Both Wheel Turner and Summer Smoke nodded, so Silver continued.
“Well there used to be a mini freight branch line up the everfree forest that requested a locomotive as well. The Everfree Line. Their locomotive was green”
“Who’d have thought..” Grumbled Summer, before being shushed by Wheel Turner.
“Anyway..The line was shared among a population in the forest. Zebras, and earth ponies. Only..the earth ponies didn’t have cutie marks. They didn’t know what those were. Only the Zebras came to ponyville to pick up goods and other essentials for the forest's population.”
Silver stopped momentarily, expecting a question from Wheel Turner or a rude interruption from Summer Smoke. But was pleasantly surprised when she got neither. Both were actually intrigued, so Silver pressed on.
“The Zebras and blank ponies lived together in harmony throughout the forest. The blanks lived in a village called “Sunny Town”, whereas the Zebras decided to make their homes out of trees, living in little huts. There’d be little halts along The Everfree Line for groups of huts to get their goods from Ponyville. There was also a junction leading into Sunny Town for the blanks to get their own goods from the engine as well.”
“What happened? Did they go to war or something?” Asked Wheel Turner
“Of course not..Zebras are the kindest group of creatures Equestria has. They speak in riddles or rhymes so it’s sometimes difficult to understand them, but they’re really patient with you provided you’re patient with them. I met the Zebra driver of The Everfree Engine at Ponyville, I was making a stop during a Buffalo Bullet run a few years back.. Before everything came to an abrupt end..”
“Well..what happened..?”
Silver sighed.
“She essentially told me that Sunny Town’s blank ponies had theories of cutie marks..only, they were called “curse marks”. Where marks appear on you from Poison Joke. And it spreads like a virus among your peers. She told me they had it all wrong. They’re not “curse marks”, it’s just a wacky illness called “The Cutie Pox.” It’s not even contagious either. A few herbs and ingredients to make a special bubble bath is all it takes to clear up anything from Poison Joke.”
“Anyway.. On the 50th anniversary of Sunny Towns founding..the locomotive was carrying empty cars filled with blanks and Zebras to Sunny Town for a huge town celebration..it went over the junction entering the town..and was never seen again.”
“..what?” Summer Smoke cocked an eyebrow skeptically.
“The train, it’s passengers, and the entirety of Sunny Town: Completely vanished.” Silver replied.
“..Why..? What happened..?” Wheel Turner asked, desperate for answers.
“..The blanks found out what cutie marks were..”
Silence fell.
“When two inhabitants found their special talents, the town went into panic. They tortured one to brutally remove their cutie mark, and when the other got theirs, the town leaders went to the only solution they thought they had..”
Wheel Turner & Summer Smoke were seemingly glued to Silver’s every word, waiting for her to continue. But one motion of Silver’s hoof being dragged across her throat was all they needed to understand what she meant.
After another few moments of silence, Silver continued.
“The forest was angry, finding your special talent is just nature. Punishing or forbidding that just isn’t right. Because of this, Sunny Town, along with everything & everyone inside it, disappeared.” Silver sighed sharply, as if she had just finished a rant, then she continued again.
“When the blank ponies & zebras who hadn’t been at the party attempted to walk to Sunny Town, they found nothing. Just acres and acres of trees. Some got lost trying to find Sunny Town and were never found again. Others moved away to other parts of Equestria to start new. One pony named “Green Tea” allegedly came here after losing her older sister to the curse of Sunny Town. Rumoured that the apple family took her in. Giving her work and a loving family, teaching her about cutie marks and other norms outside of her former home. You see, there’s only one last inhabitant of The Everfree. She’s a Zebra. Nopony has seen her however because nopony dares to walk into that forest, for fear of getting lost too.”
Assuming the silence of everypony listening would continue, Silver headed for the final leg of the race, finishing her story.
“Throughout Equestria, relics of the past lay forgotten and alone, never truly resting, awaiting recognition. They say if you venture into the forest, there’s a chance you might find Sunny Town, but not in the way you’d imagine. Once found, there’s a chance you’ll never leave again.”
“..And they say that some nights, when the air is cold, and the yard goes quiet. You can hear the ghostly whistle of The Everfree Line’s locomotive coming from the forest, heading to Sunny Town, but never truly making it there..”
“..The End.”
“That..” Summer began. “Was the most stupid thing I’ve ever heard. It doesn’t even make any sense! How-”
“Pick out all the flaws that you want, Summer Smoke.” Silver interrupted. “But do it on your own time. You can choose to believe that story is false, but I was there to witness The Everfree Line in good working order. I was told first hoof about how life in the forest was like, all you have to do is put 2 and 2 together to figure out what happened when everything vanished, and forest inhabitants fled to find life elsewhere.”
All Summer Smoke did was give her trademark scoff, and the shed returned to quiet.
Eventually, one by one, all of the drivers left for home. Summer Smoke was the last to leave. She turned out the lights in the shed, then made a beeline for the door, closing it behind her as she entered the cold. She shivered, fixed her scarf, then headed for home.
As she walked, all she could hear in the Ponyville railyard was her own hoof steps crunching the gravel beneath her, and the occasional metal or wooden clunks when her hoof would step on a rail or sleeper, walking across the train tracks. It was eerily quiet, and she felt uneasy.
She suddenly jumped when 2 short blasts of a whistle came from the direction of The Everfree Forest, followed by faint distant chuffing. It only lasted a few seconds, until once again: Silence.
Eerie silence.
Summer stood there for a moment, then started trotting for home, eventually turning into a gallop. She didn’t stop until she was in her house, under the blankets, with all of her doors locked.
