Chapters Boredom was all the girl felt as she walked along the sidewalk. That and several other emotions like guilt. It had been nearly a week after Sunset’s defeat at the hands of princess Twilight Sparkle. She had spent most of the week cleaning up the damages to the school with some help. That help being her henchmen Snips and Snails and her new assigned friends being her past victims. Geez that all felt weird in her head.
Yes, indeed her life couldn’t be any more bizarre and to make it more bad the whole school treated her badly. Her new friends tried to fend off the other students but they couldn’t be everywhere. Sunset sighed as she continued walking; her apartment was not too far. Hard to believe a few gems and gold bits from Equestria could easily help her finances and keep her afloat for a long time. “Maybe I need a hobby,” she said to herself.
“Hey! There she is! And she’s alone!” Sunset whipped her head around and saw three boys. All of them had baseball bats and were glaring at her. “Let's get her!”
And just like that Sunset ran. She didn’t bother heading to her home because she knew they would follow and break the door. She needed to get far away and hide. She soon rounded a corner and ran inside a random door to a shop. She quickly hid behind what she assumed was a shelf. She could hear the boys coming only for them to stop. “Darn it! She got away!”
“Relax Hoops, we’ll find her next time. Let's hope she doesn’t tattle and tell Rainbow or Principal Celestia.”
Sunset Shimmer sighed in relief as she heard the boys walk away. She got up and dusted herself off. She then looked around as she asked herself where she was. She looked around and saw lots of boxes on shelves. Many of them had pictures of colorful trains on them. She even saw what looked like tracks of different types packaged and hanging on hooks. She then saw a sign on one of the walls that had the name of the store: Train Town Hobbies. “Need some help there young lady?” a voice sounded.
Sunset jumped and noticed a rather thin and elderly man with a white mustache approached her. He wore a red shirt and blue overalls and had a name tag that said Clear Signal. “You came in quite quickly. You were running like your caboose was on fire,” the man said before letting out a chuckle.
Sunset just sighed again and rolled her eyes. “No sir, I was just trying to get away from trouble. Would it be okay if I hid here for a bit?”
The old man named Clear Signal looked at her confused but shrugged. “Just don’t steal anything I had to put up with more than enough shoplifters already since opening,” he replied as he went behind a counter and opened a book that was on it. Sunset then started to look around the store. She’d seen trains of this world in books but to see miniature models of them was something else. The shop not only had trains but other miniature vehicles too as well as buildings, trees, and other small things.
In the back while looking at some prepackaged miniature vehicles, she heard a clattering sound. She looked and saw what looked like a miniature world on a table. There she saw a small steam locomotive pulling a small freight train in a circle around a small town with streets, buildings, and even tiny people. There was something about the motion of the train that caught her eye. It actually bought back memories of when she grew up in Equestria. How her mentor would sometimes take her on a trip in a train. “Found something you like?”
Sunset jumped and shrieked a bit as she whipped around and saw Clear Signal standing there. “Geez do you often sneak up on people?!”
“Strange, I get that a lot,” he said as he looked past Sunset at the display. “Couldn’t help but notice you were ogling my display.”
“Yeah,” she said before turning back to it. “Quite the artistry.”
“Yep, that comes with the hobby. This is only one of my own creations I call Tiny Train Town.”
“Hobby? This is a hobby?” Sunset asked.
“Oh yeah,” Clear Signal said. “There's nothing more fun than making a railroad empire. It's practically a world where you control.”
Those last words struck Sunset as it reminded her of the fall formal. She was a demon ready to take over the world but then shook it off. “So I can make any kind of world with this?”
“Depending on what you want. The limit is your imagination young lady. It can be a bustling big city with a subway train or maybe the wild west with an old fashioned steam train. Like I said it's up to you.”
Sunset pondered for a bit as she continued to watch the little engine making laps. “How much for this one?”
“Woah now lady it's my display but if you want this hobby I can get you started with the starter set this train came in.”
A few moments later Sunset was with Clear Signal with a large box that contained a little train set. The box had a rather detailed picture of the train with the words Southwest Freighter on it. “Is that all I need to get started?”
Clear smirked as he hit a few buttons on the cash register. “All but the bill.”
Cha-ching
“So you bought yourself a toy?” Rainbow Dash asked as she watched Sunset put some track together in an oval shape.
“They say it's not really a toy. It’s a model,” Sunset replied as she pulled an 0-8-0 steam locomotive out of the box. “I thought maybe I could use a hobby.”
“Make sense, a hobby better than world domination,” she chuckled but immediately shut up when Sunset glared at her. “Right too soon.”
After placing the train on the track and plugging the set into a wall socket. She turned the remote control on and turned the knob. Just like magic the engine began moving while making an audible chuffing noise. The two girls sat there and watched the little engine go around an oval of track. Sunset would occasionally either speed up the train or slow it down. She even pressed the whistle button. It didn’t take long for Rainbow to get bored. “Is that all it can do?”
“Maybe but the guy at the shop says it's a start,” Sunset replied.
Rainbow then hopped off the couch. “Well, have fun. If you’ll excuse me, I gotta have a word with those three idiots who thought it would be a good idea to chase you with bats.”
Sunset couldn’t help but giggle a bit. “Go easy on them.”
As Rainbow left, Sunset just continued to watch the little engine go around but it felt like something was missing. Even after pressing the whistle and bell button a few times she felt like there should be more. She didn’t think for long as she suddenly heard a vibrating sound. She turned towards a book that was glowing and vibrating like a cell phone. She powered off the train and opened up the journal.
Sunset Shimmer,
I hope this message finds you well. I know it can be difficult to adjust to. But try not to think of me giving you friends as some sort of punishment. Sure you may have tricked them into not trusting each other but I’m sure you’ll get along well with them. This world has so many strange things to see and learn from but now that you have friends maybe you can learn many more things and maybe find something that allows you to enjoy life in a creative way. If you ever have any questions or concerns please feel free to reach out to me at any time.
-Twilight Sparkle
Sunset rolled her eyes as she read the message. She then looked back at the little locomotive still on the tracks.Her mind then went back to what Clear Signal said. “Hmm… a creative way.”
Author's Note
Another side project as I suffer either writers block and other things in life.
Three girls and a single boy stood by the entrance of the school. The boy had dark grey skin and black hair. He wore a simple shirt with a railroad semaphore signal on it along with blue jeans. He glanced around the place and occasionally at the three girls. The boy could’ve sworn that already, something felt off about the girls, something familiar. He didn’t wonder for long as another girl came up to them. “Hello,” she greeted. “Are you the four new students I’m supposed to show around?”
“We are,” said the girl with the large frizzy hair.
“Hello, I’m Distant Approach,” said the boy.
“And we are excited to be here,” said the frizzy haired girl. “We have a feeling there is something…magical about this school.”
Sunset nodded and proceeded to give them the tour. She soon learned the names of the girls being Adagio Dazzle, Sonata Dusk, and Aria Blaze. All was going well until the end of the tour when the girls noticed a flier. “A musical showcase?”
“Yeah, it's a little something this school does to raise funds. Think of it like a musical talent show,” Sunset explained.
“Eh, I'm not much into performing music. Especially in front of others,” said Distant. “I get stage fright easily.”
“Oh but we are,” Adagio said.
“Oh? I assume you three can sing?”
“Yeah, It’s how we get people to do what we want,” Sonata said matter of factly before Adagio glared at her and made a sweep gesture with her hand across her neck. “What? What’d I say?” she asked innocently as Aria rolled her eyes. Both Distant and Sunset looked at them confused. Sunset then noticed the strange gem pendant on her and attempted to reach for it only for Adagio to grab her hand.
Adagio regained her composure, let Sunset’s hand go, and cleared her throat. “Well this has been fun but now I believe we should head to our class. Good day,” she said as she left with her two sisters in tow, leaving Distant and Sunset alone.
“Hmm, quite an odd bunch,” said the boy.
“You noticed it too?” Sunset asked.
“Yeah… anyway I don’t suppose you know where class room 113 is do you?”
Sunset perked up. “Yeah that’s where I’m heading. You can follow me.”
The two were soon walking through the halls but all the while Sunset could feel he gazes of the other students. “So…you new to the area?”
“You might say that. I recently moved here with my grandparents. They both run a family business and I help them out after school and on weekends.”
“Oh? What's it called?” Sunset asked.
“Train Town Hobbies,” Replied Distant.
Sunset’s eyes widened a bit. “The store that sells model railroad stuff?”
“Yeah? You know it?” Distant asked.
“I was there not too long ago,” she replied. “I bought a starter set.”
“Really?” Distant said surprised. “You don’t look like the type who would be into model trains.”
“Well you really shouldn’t judge a book by its cover,” Sunset said as they approached the door to class.
As they entered the class stopped chatting and watched as the two entered. The class then started whispering. This confused Distant Approach. ‘Must be about me and the new girls. Typical new kid at school stuff.’ He thought to himself, but he was wrong. Sunset felt as if daggers were stabbing her as she heard the whispers about her.
As Distant sat down he felt a finger tap his shoulder he turned to see a girl with bright green hair and had lipstick on. “You’re one of the new guys right?” she asked.
“Yeah?” Distant nodded slowly.
“Whatever you do, don’t go anywhere near her,” she said pointing to Sunset as she sadly sat down and began pulling stuff out of her bag.
“Why?” he asked, confused. “She seems nice. Who are you anyway?”
“Cherry Crash and Don’t let her fool you she is…a monstrous demon.”
Distant stared at the girl with a dumbfounded look. “Well that’s a bit outlandish.”
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Cherry said as she sat back down at her desk as the teacher came in.
Distant gave Sunset an occasional glance throughout the lecture. While what Cherry said did make him a bit uncomfortable he practically didn’t believe her. Because if there was one thing he taught himself to believe is that anyone who likes a simple train set can’t be all bad right?
It was the lunch period as Sunset made her way to the cafeteria. But as she walked she found herself deep in mind about the three new girls. She couldn’t help but get a bad feeling about the three sisters. Distant Approach on the other hand seemed polite. But as she entered the Cafeteria she suddenly felt herself being grabbed and then slammed into a wall. She then found herself face to face. With the three boys who chased her. “You costed me lots horsegirl!” Hoops said. “Got kicked off the team because of you!”
Many students watched the interaction and some of them seemed excited. “Hey let go of her! That was your own fault!” Rainbow snapped as she tried to fight her way through the crowd.
“Can it crash!” said one of the other boys. “How about we throw the unicorn away.” he said as he pointed to a nearby trash can.
“Nice thinking Score,” said Hoops as he picked her up.
Sunset struggled to get loose as the other students cheered them on. Sunset looked towards her friends who were struggling to fight through the crowd. The only thing she thought was it can’t get any worse than this other than being outright killed by a huge rainbow death laser. She was about to get thrown in when a voice sounded nearby. “Leave her alone.”
The cheering stopped and the boys turned to see Distant Approach standing near them. Holding a fierce look on his face. “Perhaps you didn’t hear me all the way up there, big guy. Put the girl down.”
“Beat it newbie, this bully needs to be thrown away,” said Hoops.
Distant soon got in between them and the trash can. “I don’t know what she's done but you’re the one being the bullies here. In fact there's one word to describe you three now, Hypocrites.” He then grinned. “Make sense because you three are fat as hippos.”
The room became silent. “That is one epic burn,” whispered Rainbow to Pinkie who nodded.
The boys put Sunset down and stared at Distant with menacing looks. Hoops, Billy Dumbell, and Score got closer with one of them grabbing his shirt. “Think you’re some tough guy. We’ll show you-”
“Show him what?”
The boy's eyes widened and slowly turned to two older women. Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna stared at the two with expressions that were as cold as an arctic blizzard. “We saw everything,” the Vice Principal said.
“B-bu she…he…t-they,” Hoops stuttered but a hand raised from the principal immediately silenced him.
“Office now you three,” said Principal Celestia. She then casted a look at the rest of the students who slowly dispersed.
As the boys left Sunset approached Distant. “Thanks, but you didn’t have to do that.”
“No, I wanted to,” he said smiling. “Look I really don’t know what you did but for some reason I don’t think you really are a bad guy.”
Sunset smiled as she glanced at her friends who were walking towards her. Most likely to see if she was alright. “You want to eat with us?” she asked him.
“Does this mean we’re friends now?” Distant asked.
“Sure,” she said.
“Sounds great then. It really is nice making new friends,” he said as he walked with the six girls to a table. Sunset Shimmer couldn’t agree more. “So you planning on getting more model trains from the store?” he asked.
Sunset thought for a moment. “I am just getting started with this hobby.”
Distant then pulled something out of his bag. It was a magazine for model railroaders. “Then perhaps this might help. My Grandpa’s store has loads of these.”
As the girls and boy conversed they talked about trains, music, and the new girls. The last topic did leave the girls having an ominous feeling. The Dazzling sisters watched from the door. Adagio grinned and looked at her pendant. Her musical mission has only begun.
Author's Note
It may not follow the exact road of Rainbow rocks but i might skip through most of it.
Chapter 3: Scale Problems
Clear Signal was reading a catalog as he worked the register at his store. It had been a quiet day so far and he was expecting his grandson to come in and help him the moment school was done. As if by chance he heard the door open followed by the chime of a bell. He looked up to see his grandson, Distant Approach followed by another familiar face. “Are you sure your Grandpa would have an answer?” the girl asked.
“No but those girls and their actions in the cafeteria looked very familiar. Arguments don’t just start randomly.”
The old man smiled at the two. “Well if it ain't my Grandson bringing a- hey wait have we met before?”
“Yeah I bought a starter set from you,” Sunset replied.
“Oh I remember you now. How’s that train treating you?” Clear asked smiling.
“It's going fine but can we ask you something?” Sunset asked.
Clear Signal sensed the seriousness and his smile dropped. “Oh what about?”
“Grandpa, we saw something familiar at the school. Remember that article you showed me in one of those railroader magazines? The one that involved your first run?” Distant Approach asked.
“You mean the one about the singing incident?” Clear asked with a raised brow.
“That’s the one, can we see it?”
Clear Signal nodded and began typing something on his computer. “Don’t know what got you kids curious but here you go.” He said as he turned the monitor. Sunset Shimmer and Distant Approach leaned in. The article had a vintage photo of a train station platform. The people on the platform were fighting with either fist, canes, or their own luggage. “I remember that incident,” Clear Signal said. “I was just promoted to engineer on the Monon. Everything was going great on my first ever passenger run. But then all of a sudden I got word from my conductor to stop the train at the nearest station because the passengers somehow broke out in a riot in the cars.”
“How did it start?” Sunset asked.
“Don’t know,” Clear Responded. “But the conductor said the last thing he heard before the fight was some beautiful singing. What was more strange was that despite the whole train looking like a bar fight inside, only three passengers managed to escape unscathed. In fact there's a photo of those three in there somewhere.”
The two students looked through the page only to find another photo and their eyes widened. The photo had what looked like the Dazzlings wearing 1970s era clothing and running away from the fighting on the station platform. “They look as young as they look now. How is this possible?” Distant asked.
“What do you mean by young as they look?” Clear asked suspiciously.
“It’s a long story sir,” Sunset asked as her mind went into deep thought. “They must be the same,” she said quietly.
“What is she talking about?” Clear asked his grandson.
“Uh don’t worry about it Grandpa. How about you take a coffee break and I’ll manage the front for a while.”
The old man shrugged and went into the back. “It was so weird,” began Distant. “One moment things are fine and all of a sudden the girls break out a musical number at lunch and everyone is against each other. What's that about?”
“It’s more than that,” Sunset said. “Listen, I need you to print out this article and meet me back at the school.”
“What for?” he asked.
“You’re new here so you might as well learn what everyone at school already knows.”
Later that day Distant was with the six girls near the statue outside Canterlot high. He noticed that Sunset was holding a bag. He recognized the logo from his Grandparent’s store on it. “You got more stuff after all?”
“I thought I needed something to make my set look real. Bought some trees.”
“Do you at least have a table or benchwork for your layout?”
Sunset looked at him confused. “Benchwork? Layout?”
“You have a lot to learn,” he said.
Suddenly there was a strange sound as a girl with purple skin along with a purple and green dog emerged from the mirror on the side of the pedestal. All the girls got up and hugged the girl. “Twilight!”
Distant just stared wide eyed and jaw dropped. “What the- How did you-?”
After calming down the girls introduced Distant Signal to Twilight and later explained everything about magic, Equestria, and the fall formal. “So you’re an alicorn princess and dragon that turn into a human and dog through that mirror thing?”
“Yes,” finished Twilight.
“And she’s a unicorn?” Distant asked, pointing to Sunset.
“Yes.”
“And they can do magic from music?” he asked, pointing to the other girls.
“Yes,” all the girls say.
“So wait, those rumors about you they’re also true?” Sunset nodded, frowning. “A bully and a raging she-demon?” He asked before getting another confirming nod.
“Good gosh. As if my life couldn’t get more bizarre,” he said, placing a hand on his head.
“It’s a lot to take in but it took people a few days to adjust,” Sunset said. “But if you don’t want to be friends-”
“No no no, I was just shocked by all this and I uh…yeah you’re right I just need a day or two to process this.”
Twilight Sparkle nodded “Right, now that introductions are out of the way do you have the information about these girls?”
“Yeah,” Sunset said, showing her the printed copies of the article. “Apparently despite them looking young, they’ve been causing trouble for a long time. It seems their singing causes people to argue and fight.”
“Sirens…” Twilight said as her eyes widened in realization. “I’ve heard stories about how they were three serpent creatures that were banished by Star Swirl the bearded and his friends.”
“Well, how do we combat this?” Fluttershy asked with worry.
“We gotta fire with fire and by that I mean fight music with music.”
Rainbow Dash grinned. “Aw yeah time for my band to shine so bright.”
“Our band…” Applejack corrected before getting a annoyed look from Rainbow.
“I’m going to need some time to figure this plan out and work on the spell to properly combat this. Can I spend the night at one of your houses?” Twilight asked.
Pinkie immediately hugged her. “Slumber party at my house!”
The girls cheered and left but Twilight noticed Sunset going the opposite way. “Aren’t you coming?”
“I’d love to but I'm not part of this band plus I got things to do.” She turned to Distant. “Think you can help me with this benchwork you mentioned?”
“Oh I got my homework done early. Sure, I’ll help you out,” Distant said, leading her. All Twilight did was watch the two leave. While she was pleased Sunset had a friend she hoped she would bond more with the friends she’d given her.
“Okay hold it steady,” Distant said as he pulled the trigger on the drill. The screw went into the cross beam securing it in place. “You know if you’re planning on making a huge layout this gauge might be too big for this home.”
“Yeah, I hadn't thought of it. Maybe this can be for a smaller gauge. What would you recommend?” Sunset asked.
“Well HO is popular with fancy technology and realism,” he replied. “Maybe I can find you a smaller table for just your O gauge starter set and next time you’re at the shop we can find an HO set and some extra track.”
“That would be great,” Sunset said as she dusted the sawdust off her. After a trip to the hardware store it was a miracle she managed to get some of this done. Sure there were problems but if Twilight Sparkle could defeat her she can handle this. That thought now made her frown a bit.
Distant Approach noticed it immediately. “What’s wrong now?”
“Can I ask you something?” she asked.
“You just did,” Distant said grinning. That got them both giggling. “No but seriously go ahead.”
“Why are you still being nice to me? You literally just learned I was a monster,” she said. “And not just literally but also metaphorically.”
Distant placed a hand on her shoulder. “I had my fair share of meeting bad people. They were all walking train wrecks,” he said before pointing to Sunset’s 0-8-0 locomotive sitting on a nearby table. “To me, whoever can appreciate simple things like that aren’t monsters. And somehow I can see you’re really trying to be better if those friends of yours we saw early aren’t anything to go by.”
“They were more like past victims assigned to me by that princess,” Sunset deadpanned.
“Oh…well you at least have me. Its nice to meet someone around here at my age that likes trains.”
“Yeah,” Sunset said before picking up her locomotive. “I think I am starting to like it.”
“Model railroading?”
“That and having friends,” Sunset said as she smiled at Distant who returned it.
Author's Note
Another story strikes the feature box? I'm on a roll.
