Chapter 1: "I Kept it Locked Away for a Reason"
"Hey, Beau? Are you home?" A teenage colt's voice called out as he knocked on the door of a house in Ponyville.
"In the kitchen, Rumble." A voice called back. "Come on in, it's unlocked."
"Ok." Rumble then opened the door, stepped inside, and then closed the door behind him.
Once it was, he turned around, and after walking past the front entryway, found himself in a very familiar living room. To his left was a couch, a few cushioned chairs, a coffee table, a faded rug, a floor lamp, a ceiling fan on the ceiling, and a few shelves were against the far wall. To his right was the TV, and the TV stand, as well as a few more shelves. Also on the wall were various pictures. Some were of Beau, while others were of Rumble's big sister, Lightningroad. In a few pictures Beau and Lightningroad were together, and Rumble was even in a few of the pictures too. He smiled when he saw them. Beau and Lightning had been dating on and off for a handful of years, but had been going solid for the past year, and he was happy for them.
Also scattered around the room, and on the shelves were various pieces of mining equipment. There were a few helmets, lanterns, hand tools, books about mining on the shelves, alongside models of various mines, pictures of mines, and on a rack next to the TV stand, there hung a pair of mining coveralls, complete with black boots, gloves, a work belt, a battery for the helmet light, a miner's helmet, with a mining light attached, as well as a gas mask with a hose attached to it, connected to an air filter, which was also clipped to the belt. A miner's pickax was leaning up against the wall next to it, while a picture of Beau wearing the outfit was also on the wall. Rumble was always a bit unnerved when he saw the outfit, and more than a few times he mistook it for an actual person standing there. He'd asked Beau about it, as well as the other mining memorabilia, but he didn't really want to talk about it a whole lot. However, from his Big Sister, Rumble learned that at one time, Beau had been a coal miner, working at a coal mine outside of Ponyville, but as for which mine he worked at, and why he was no longer employed there still remained a mystery, as did why Beau didn't want to talk about it. Lightningroad suspected that there had been a terrible accident at the mine, and that Beau was suffering from trauma from it, but she claimed she still didn't know. Rumble pushed these thoughts out of his mind for the moment, and walked into the kitchen.
When he entered, he saw Beau sitting at the kitchen table, working on a model kit. It appeared to be a factory of some kind, but it was hard to tell, as it wasn't very far along in being built. Rumble looked at the older man for a moment. Beau was a Human, one of a handful currently living in Equestria, in his mid 30's, had dark, shaggy hair, brown eyes, a bit of stubble on his face, and was dressed in a button-up plaid shirt, sweatpants, and slippers. He looked up when Rumble entered, and smiled.
"Hey, Bud." He said kindly. "How are you?"
Rumble smiled back. "Hey Beau, and I'm good. Where's Lightning? Off with the Wonderbolts again?"
Beau nodded. "Yeah, she is. I was bummed, because we were supposed to go on a nature hike today, but then she got called into work. So now I'm here, working on this." He gestured to the model in front of him. He then continued painting one of its walls.
"And what is it, Beau?" He asked.
"It's going to be a Tide Soap Factory before too long."
"For the model railroad?"
Beau nodded. "Yep, for the model railroad."
"Because you TOTALLY don't have enough buildings for it already!" Rumble laughed.
"Hey! It's an ever-expanding layout, Buddy. You can never have enough buildings for an ever-expanding model layout!"
"Well, if you keep expanding it, you'll eventually run out of space in your basement. Then what are you gonna do?"
Beau shrugged. "Knock a few walls down, have the space behind it dug out, then have some walls put up, wire it for electricity, and then keep building onto it."
Rumble shook his head. "Too bad you can't make a career out of this. Then maybe you could quit your job at the hobby store, and do this full-time."
Beau sighed. "Yeah, no kidding. But I love my job at the hobby store. I'm one of their model train experts after all."
"And speaking of the model layout, can I see it?"
"Yeah, sure. Just give me a second to finish this, cap my glue, cover the paints, and then wash my hands, and I'll take you down there."
Rumble waited a few minutes for Beau to finish, and then after grabbing a key from his pocket, he unlocked the basement door on the far side of the kitchen, and led the way down.
At the bottom of the basement stairs, Beau turned on the lights, and once again, Rumble feasted his eyes on the glorious sight that was Beau's model railroad.
The layout was modeled in HO Scale, and was of incredible detail. It was made up of various sections, and wrapped around most of the basement, with several unfinished sections marking where Beau was actively working to expand his layout even more. In the finished sections, there were mountains, valleys, a river with a waterfall at one point, a few towns (one of which was Ponyville), roads, fields, power stations, coaling towers, water towers, fuel depots, factories, other industrial sites, freight yards, trees, various vehicles and figures of people and animals, and of course, tracks, and lots of them. There were also all manner of trains on the various tracks, both steam engines and diesels, pulling passenger trains, freight trains, and mixed-traffic trains. Some were sitting in various sidings, while others were in freight yards, in front of stations, or were having their cargoes "loaded up" at various coaling towers, factories, fuel depots, and other industrial sites around the layout. Pretty soon, Beau powered up the layout, and shortly afterwards, it all came to life. All of the lights in the buildings, and lighted signs came on, a large (but still HO-scaled) white flag with a black wolf's head on it began to wave at the top of a tall (HO-scaled) flagpole in the middle of a military fort, various cranes and cargo loaders began to operate, and of course, many of the trains began to move. Their whistles blew, their horns sounded, smoke came from their smokestacks, and exhaust fumes came from their vents. Even a few of the road vehicles began to move as well. It was so amazing to see. And on the walls surrounding the layout were various train posters, pictures of trains, old railroad signs, and even shelves that held other model engines and cars.
"I'll never get tired of seeing all of this, Beau".
Beau smiled. "I'm glad. After all, when guys like me get old and gray, it'll be up to you young kids to carry on the legacy of model railroading."
"And that'll be so much fun to do."
Rumble then walked over to look at his favorite train. On the far side of the layout, in a siding by itself, sat a black Pannier tank engine, numbered "9736", and behind it were 4 empty coal cars. The train was unusual, as not only was it one of the only British locomotives on the layout, but Rumble had never seen it move. All of the other trains had moved at some point, except for that one. He asked Beau about it, and Beau claimed that the locomotive was broken, and since he'd been unable to fix it himself, and no one in the immediate area was an expert on fixing Hornby trains, he just left it in that siding as a set piece.
"I see that 9736 still hasn't moved."
"Nope."
"Are you ever going to fix it, Beau? It's been there for what, 5 years now? Maybe more?"
Beau sighed. "Eventually. It's not really a priority to anyone except you. Plus, I still don't have enough money to have it shipped all the way to the UK for repairs, and then have it shipped back here. International/inter-dimensional postage is VERY expensive."
"And I take it you're still not going to tell me about the line that goes through the wall, and the locked door next to it?"
Beau narrowed his eyes. "No." He said in an annoyed tone.
Rumble then looked ahead of where the Pannier tank engine was sitting. Past a set of switches, a single track went to the right, away from the rest of the model layout, across an improvised bridge made out of wood scraps, and then disappeared into a hole in the basement's wall, the outside of which was painted to look like a tunnel, and was covered by a scale-size metal grate. Scale-sized signs on the grate warned about the tunnel being unsafe, and "Do Not Enter". A scale-sized sign over the tunnel read, "The Demon Line". About 5 feet to the left of the hole was a regular-sized wooden door that seemingly led to a room, and presumably, that room was where the track went as well. However, the door was always locked. Rumble, and even Lightningroad had asked about it, as well as the track that led to the hole in the wall many times, but for some reason, Beau refused to talk about it, and would get really angry when pressed about it. All he would admit was the room contained his house's furnace and water heater, but beyond that, he said nothing about it. A few times Rumble had tried to send a train to the grated tunnel, but the switch leading to it was locked in the "straight" position, and the grate itself was actually locked, preventing it from being opened. He'd once shined a flashlight into the tunnel when Beau was in the bathroom, trying to see into the room beyond it, but he couldn't really see anything. He also fiddled with the door, but to his surprise, while it had a doorknob, it had no visible lock, yet it was locked. The door was locked, but it was locked from the inside. This revelation, coupled with the strange grated tunnel, and locked switch, gave Rumble a very unsettling feeling about that room, and decided to leave it alone for the time being. Over time though, his curiosity began to get the better of him, and he began to wonder once again what was inside that room, but seemingly had no way of finding out.
However, on that day, a string of events would be set in motion that would finally give Rumble the opportunity to seek out the answers he sought, but looking back on what was about to transpire, he sorely wished that he'd just listened to Beau, and left well-enough alone. His good friend Scootaloo had pushed the envelope in the Ponyville Railyard a few years earlier while seeking for answers to the mystery of the 6 Old Gravel Cars, and she paid a heavy price for it. Now Rumble was about to make the same mistake.
On that day, after Beau had given his "no" answer in his annoyed tone, the phone upstairs began to ring.
"Ugh. I need to go answer that." He then began to move towards the stairs.
"Can I stay down here?"
"Yeah, but don't hurt anything. I'll be right back." He then went upstairs to answer the phone.
Rumble then turned back to the model railroad, and once again walked over to his favorite train. As he was looking at 9736 and its train, Rumble decided to try and take another picture of it, so he began to pull his camera out of his pocket, only to accidentally drop it.
"Oh crap!"
He then bent down to grab it, and for the first time, he saw underneath Beau's model train layout from the far side. For the most part, there wasn't really much to see, aside from the wooden legs holding it up, various wires for switches, building lights, and other operating features, as well as a few boxes of supplies, and building materials for the new sections of the layout, but just as Rumble picked up his camera, he suddenly caught sight of something he hadn't noticed before. On one of the wooden legs of the layout, he saw a black switch. It looked like a light switch, and the words "Demon Line" were written above it in white Sharpie. The switch was also in the "off" position.
"Huh? What does this do?" He then had an urge to flip the switch, and he did so.
For a few moments, nothing seemed to happen, but then Rumble suddenly heard a distinctive "click", and then the telltale sound of an electric motor whirring. Rumble then stood up, wondering what the motor whirring indicated, and he then turned to his right, and to his surprise, the metal grate covering the mysterious tunnel was now unlocked, and the grate was opening!
"Wait, the switch unlocked, and opened the grate?"
Before he could wonder anything else though, Rumble heard another noise, and to his surprise, 9736, which for a long time Beau had insisted was broken, and unable to be fixed suddenly came to life. Smoke began to come out of the engine's funnel, its headlight turned on, and the sounds of quiet crew-chatter could be heard.
"Alright, Donnie. Let's get this train movin'." Said a man's voice in a Scottish accent.
"Aye. On it, Dougie." Another Scottish man replied.
Then, with a whistle, as well as the switch in front a short distance away from the train, which had been jammed into the "straight" position suddenly moving to the right, 9736 and its train began to move forward. Rumble, still a bit surprised that the engine was equipped with the Crew Chatter feature, watched in even more surprise as the train moved to the right, across the wooden bridge, and into the mysterious tunnel in the wall, which seemed to be called the "Demon Line" for some reason. Soon after the train vanished into the tunnel, Rumble began to wonder where it had gone. He could still hear the train moving, so there were more tracks inside the room, but where was it? His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the sound of the train bumping into something, and seemingly coming to a stop. Then, before Rumble could say anything, a metallic unlocking sound was heard from the wooden door.
"Wait. The train was the key to unlocking the door? Why would Beau do that? Why would he go to the trouble for a system like this when no one's allowed inside? What's he hiding?" These, and more questions began to flood into Rumble's mind as he ducked underneath the wooden bridge, and walked over to the wooden door, which was now seemingly unlocked.
Rumble then glanced up the basement stairs. He could still hear the sounds of Beau on the phone in the kitchen, and from the sound of it, it was quite the spirited conversation, and Beau seemed to be getting angrier by the minute, and was yelling at times. He couldn't fully make out what Beau was saying, but whatever it was, he wasn't wishing the person or Pony on the other end of the phone a Happy Birthday. He then looked at the door again, and decided that it was finally time to solve the mystery. He then turned the doorknob, and sure enough, the door was indeed now unlocked, and he pushed it open.
The door opened with a bit of a creak, and the room beyond it was dark. The room smelled musty, and the rumbling of the water heater could be heard. Rumble then reached out onto the wall of the room, looking for a light switch, and after finding it, he flipped it on. The lights in the room consisted of 2 old bulbs, and they flickered to life, dimly lighting the room. Rumble then looked around, and was surprised by what he saw. To his left, on one side of the room was the furnace and water heater, and to his right, on the other side of the room, seemed to be part of another train layout. The floor of the room was concrete, as were the walls, which was a far cry from the carpeted floors, and drywall walls of the rest of the basement. In the center of the room was a drain, and hoses from both the furnace and water heater were connected to it. Rumble then turned his attention to the train layout. He saw the hole in the wall where 9736 and its train came through, and the track then turned to the left, dipped a bit, and then went through a corkscrew-shaped helix-spiral sitting on top of a wooden table, before leveling about again, and traveling about 2 feet before it came to a set of buffers at the end of the table, which were connected to a few wires, which led to the doorframe, where a large metal locking system was located. Rumble's theory that the train was part of a pressure-plated locking system was confirmed, as 9736 and its train were sitting in front of the buffers, which had moved forwards slightly, triggering the door to unlock.
"That's.....that's actually really impressive. But again, why would Beau go to these elaborate lengths for a door locking mechanism, if the door that they unlock is one that he won't even talk about? It makes no sense. And why's there another model train layout in here?" He then turned his attention towards it.
When he did, he noted with surprise that instead of being a whole layout, or even a section of a layout, it seemed to instead be a very large diorama. It was scaled a bit bigger than HO, but Rumble wasn't sure if it was S-Scale, or something that was custom-made. He also notice that the diorama was of what seemed to be a mining complex. It was sitting on top of wooden legs at the same height as the main layout, and there were mountains on both sides, with the mining complex set up between them There were piles of coal in various places, a few small buildings, a water tower, and what looked like a mining headframe, various coal chutes, and the entrance to the mine itself, located close to the wall, with some coal trucks in front of it.
There were also a few figures, seemingly of miners, but there was only a single locomotive on the diorama; a small dark green 0-4-0 saddle tank engine. It had no number, but did have the words "Newcastle Mining Co." on its side. Rumble then realized something. Beau had been a coal miner in the past, but yet while he had a lot of mining memorabilia upstairs, there wasn't a single mine, or any reference to mining anywhere on the entire train layout. This diorama seemed to be the only exception, and Rumble had no idea why. He walked over to the diorama, and examined it more closely. Unlike the model train layout, there didn't seem to be any control knobs, dials, switches, or anything else that would allow the diorama to operate. In fact, it didn't even seem to have any power to it at all.
"This is getting weirder by the minute. Why is this Diorama here? Is there any way to make it operate? Why's the line that unlocks the door called the 'Demon Line'? Did Beau work for the Newcastle Mining Co.? And if so, what happened there?"
As if in answer to his question, Rumble suddenly looked at the concrete walls all around the room, and it was then that he noticed that they were covered in old newspapers and newspaper clippings talking about the Newcastle Mine, a prosperous coal mine outside of Ponyville. It had been in operation for nearly 75 years, and produced a massive amount of coal, until one day, about 6 years before Rumble found that room, there had been a terrible accident at the mine. Details were sparse, but it seemed like there had been a gas leak in the mine, and a blasting operation had triggered a massive gas explosion, which completely collapsed the mine, killing at least 17 miners. After that, the mine closed, and was to never reopen, however, rumors circulated that the mine had closed for another reason, and that the collapse had been deliberate. Suddenly, as he was reading, Rumble suddenly became aware of a faint creaking/squeaking sound. It sounded like a wheel in need of oil, but it was a faint sound. He looked all around the room. The door was standing still, and the furnace and water heater were sitting silent. 9736 was also sitting motionless, but then he turned towards the diorama, where he then noticed that the sound seemed to be coming from the entrance to the mine.
"Hmm? Does something on this diorama operate after all?" He wondered. Just then, he saw something move inside the mine, and a moment later, an empty coal truck rolled into view. It exited the mine, and then rolled to a stop, continuing to creak and squeak a bit as it did so.
"Oh. So that's what was making the noise?" Rumble then reached over, and gently picked up the truck. He began to look at it, and it was here that he noticed that something was different about this truck.
It was the same size at the other trucks in the diorama, but unlike them, which were mostly made of plastic, this one was seemingly made out of real wood, with real metal bracing, tiny nails and bolts, and very realistic wheels and couplings. He then felt something weird on the front of the truck, and he turned it over, and when he saw what was there, Rumble gasped in shock.
"What the hell?!"
The truck had a face on it! It was rectangular, and fit the front of the truck almost perfectly. The face was seemingly made out of silicone, or some other rubbery material, and it had 2 eyes with black pupils, a fat nose, a mouth that was opened in a smile, with a visible tongue, and a single tooth was on the lower jaw. The truck's face also had eyebrows, but to Rumble's growing unease, they were furrowed, and they, coupled with the odd smile, made the truck's face look....almost evil. However, before Rumble could do anything else, he suddenly saw movement out of the corner of his eye, and he turned towards the door, and to his horror, there stood Beau. He was gripping the door frame very tightly, and his face denoted a look of rage. Before Rumble could say a word, Beau came storming into the room.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN HERE?!?!" He shouted. "I TOLD YOU TO LEAVE THIS ROOM ALONE!!!! HOW THE HELL DID YOU EVEN GET IN HERE?!?!"
"I-it w-was an accident, Beau. I f-found the switch under the t-table, and....."
Beau slammed a hand over his face. "Celestia f@#king dammit! I KNEW that I should have hidden it better! Or better still, not have even made that hole in the wall for the train door locking mechanism at all!" He then saw what Rumble was holding. "What......GIVE ME THAT TRUCK THIS INSTANT!!!!" He then ripped the truck out of Rumble's hand, placed it back on the tracks in the diorama, and pushed it face-first into the mine, before pushing the small line of trucks at the mine's entrance in after it. A few seconds later, the truck could be heard hitting the wall at the back of the mine, followed by the rest of the trucks.
"And STAY in there, you vile piece of filth!" Beau yelled, seemingly at the truck with the face.
He then turned to Rumble, grabbed him by the shirt, picked up up by his shirt, hauled him out of the room, before throwing him roughly onto the floor. Luckily the floor of the basement was carpeted, but Rumble still landed hard.
"While I'm willing to admit that I made a mistake in making that line, and the door locking mechanism triggered by 9736, as well as the tunnel, and hiding the switch in plain sight under the layout, and labeling it, that does NOT give you the right to go snooping around, Rumble!"
"I'm......sorry, Beau. You're not making this easy with how you set it up, but I won't ask about that. Instead, I want to know, why? Why did you build that diorama in there, and then lock it away? Why's there mining memorabilia upstairs, but no references to it in the train layout? And why does that truck have a face?"
Beau sighed. "As you may have seen in those papers on the wall, I used to work for the Newcastle Mining Co. as a coal miner before the mine closed, and I was forced to find work elsewhere. However, that collapse that caused the mine's closure was NOT because of a gas leak. I built that diorama to help cope with the trauma, but I kept it locked away for a reason."
"And what reason is that?"
Beau didn't answer. Instead, he pushed a button next to the door, causing 9736 to power up again, and slowly start to reverse away from the buffers, and presumably head back towards the siding where it started from.
"Why, Beau? Why did you build that diorama, and then keep it locked away? Does it even have any power to it?"
"Like I said, I built it solely to help cope with the trauma of the incident at the mine, but there were....complications, which was why I put it in that room. And no, it doesn't have any power. It's made for looks only; it has no functionality beyond what can be moved with your hands."
"But......if it doesn't have any power.....how.....how was that truck you snatched from me able to move?"
Beau looked at him. "What did you say?"
"That truck you snatched from me, and then shoved back into the mine. I watched it roll out of the mine, making a creaking/squeaking sound as it did so. I picked it up when it reached the entrance. How was it able to move on its own? I didn't see a power source on it/for it. And come to think of it, why does that truck have a face on it, while none of the other ones do?"
Beau turned very pale. He knew exactly what Rumble had seen, and if word got out about it, it would be very bad.
"It didn't. You didn't see the truck move on its own Rumble. The vibrations from the layout in the main part of the basement must have jostled it just enough to roll forwards. As for why it has a face.....I.....I was bored, and decided to give it one. And the reason why it's made out of real wood and metal, while the rest of the trucks aren't is because I wanted to try and make the diorama as realistic as possible, but it was such a pain in the ass to build that I only made that one 'real'."
At this point, 9736 and its cars were out of the tunnel, and back in their original siding. After the train came to a stop, Beau then walked over, kneeled down, and after flipping the switch to "off", thereby closing and locking the tunnel's grate, and jamming the switch leading to that line, he then ripped the switch off of the support post, thus preventing it from being used again.
"And once I shut the door again, it'll lock once more." He muttered as he pocketed the switch. He then stood up, and began to power off the train layout. "You need to leave, Rumble. Now. Please go."
"What? Why, Beau? Why won't you talk about this?"
"Because it's none of your business!" Beau snapped. "We're done here." He then began to walk back towards the door.
"But...."
"But, nothing! This is so much bigger than you think, and so much worse than you can even imagine. I built that diorama to cope with the trauma, and I wanted it to be part of the railroad layout, but then it came. It followed me here. That's when I had to lock the mining diorama away to keep everyone safe, but it just won't leave!"
"What are you talking about, Beau?" Rumble was now genuinely concerned.
"Nothing! Now go, now!"
"B.."
"Look, you know your friend Scootaloo? Remember what happened to her when she pushed the envelope a few years ago in the Ponyville Railyard? How she almost got snatched away by the vengeful spirit of Oilcan? You're at the same crossroads that she was at. I pray that you make the right choice."
Rumble was confused. On the one hand, he wanted to know what was really going on there, what was going on with that diorama, and the wooden truck with the face on it, and why Beau kept them locked away, and refused to talk about them, as well as what he was talking about just before he mentioned Scootaloo, but on the other hand, if Beau was this riled up over whatever it was, it was most likely something serious. And he knew all too well about the trauma Scootaloo was still facing even to that day several years later, and he didn't want it to be him, so he made his choice.
"Ok, I'll leave. But remember, Beau, this isn't over. Whatever you're trying to cover will be revealed one day."
"And that's what scares me the most." Beau muttered.
Rumble then went upstairs, and left Beau's house, leaving Beau all alone in the basement. He then went back inside the room, looked around briefly, and turned off the lights again. He was just about to close the door again, when he heard it; a faint creaking and squeaking sound. He looked immediately towards the diorama mine's entrance, and tried to flip on the light again, but one of the old bulbs blew out, and the other only flickered dimly. Unfortunately though, it still provided enough light for Beau to see his nightmare reveal itself once again.
From the entrance of the mine, Beau once again saw the face of the Demon-Truck as it creakily and squeakily rolled into view, stopping at the entrance of the mine, before looking at him with its evil grin.
"Hello, Beau. It's been a while. Aren't you happy to see your ol' pal 'Scruffey' again?"
"Not today, Satan." Beau then turned off the flickering light, and shut the door tightly, hearing its mechanism lock securely, sealing away the Demon once again.
"You can't keep me locked away forever, Beau! You can't keep running away from me!" It cackled from inside the room. "I shall be free again!"
"Well that day isn't today, you foul beast."
Beau then walked away from the door, turned off the lights to the basement, and shut the door behind him, before leaning against it, and sinking to the floor. He then sobbed bitterly. He sobbed for all those who died that day at the Newcastle Mine, he sobbed because of how the Demon still tormented him, and he sobbed for the future, knowing that he'd never be able to live a normal life as long as that Demon still remained around.
"But what am I going to do about it?" He wondered. "I can't kill it, and I can't get rid of it. I just won't leave me be."
Beau had no answers at all.
(The End. For now)
Author's Note
I decided to write another railroad-based story, and in the span of about 1 1/2 days, I came up with this. Yes, it's not quite "horror", but it's definitely close to it. I hope that you all enjoyed it, as I put a lot of effort into making it god for you
So what did you all think? Will Rumble or Lightning Road ever be able to get Beau to talk about what really happened in the past? Who was Beau yelling at on the phone? What is the demon that hounds Beau, and why is it a model train coal truck? Will the answers ever be revealed? Only time will tell
In the meantime though, as always, comments, questions, feedback, as well as spreading the word about this story are always appreciated, and I'll see you all again soon!
ScarFox out for now!
