Bridle Royale

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It was strange. Twilight had never pondered on the thought. Maybe she had slightly contemplated it while scanning enthusiastically through a text book, then locking the cogitation deep at the back of her mind for future recognition. Then again, it was like her to discover fascination from the least likely things. Given her whereabouts at that moment, perhaps that was what developed her abrupt interest. Or maybe, she was just an egghead. Despite constant reminders of this notion, she never really did take the statement to heart, because who could she kid. She was an ‘egghead’ and even more importantly, she adored being one. Who wouldn’t? Delving deep into books to discover astonishing facts and mysteries of the world, that didn’t sound remotely – how did Pinkie put it? “Boredarific” - toTwlight in the least. Is it such a crime to want to study? She couldn’t resist it; she just had an extreme thirst for knowledge. Nevertheless, this one question itching away at her brain was going to leave her parched if it remained unanswered.

Just how long does it take the water in the river source atop Smokey Mountain to reach the west coast? she replayed the question gain in her mind, while continuing to stare aimlessly out the carriage window, every few moments wiping the thick glass condensation away with a hoof. The outside was gloomy and dreary. Covered by the light flickers of rain, Twlight could just make out the Unicorn Range Mountains from her window seat. They were mostly hidden in shadow by the overcast, black, clouds above, each letting out a low rumble in their own time. The storm had worsened since pasting by Canterlot. The once glistening, snow-covered peek of Smokey Mountain, protruding into the blue skyline was now becoming progressively harder to recognize, as the sky made its gradual change from grey to black. The rain was positively torrential now and the small taps and patters against the windows perked Twilight’s ears, a small change from the constant chugging of the train’s engine.

She frowned slightly at the streams of droplets running down and long the window frame. This extra rain will definitely affect the variables in my hypothesis of the water’s velocity she thought; annoyed that weather was ruining her fun. Wait, was determining variables considered fun? Turning her attention from the window, she glanced at the large clock above the carriage entrance. It was made of old, dark, splintered wood and the frame was chipped in several places. It looked familiar, similar to the one inside Ponyville town hall Twilight recalled. Eight o’clock, had it really been that long? Surely they should have arrived by now? How far away was Vanhoover anyway? Twilight grunted and turned back to her window. She felt heavy-eyed and somewhat sluggish. Tired, that was it, she could sleep off the remaining journey time. Taking in a deep breath, she positioned her fore leg on the small window ledge, resting her cheek in her hoof. Releasing an audible long sigh, she closed her eyes. She felt herself starting to drift away, as the minor motions and movements of the carriage rocked her gently to a peaceful slumber.

“TwIlight…Twilight…TWILIGHT!”

“GAHHHH!” Twilight shot up, smacking her head against the overhead storage compartment before landing wide-eyed and dazed.

“You alright?” Spike asked, examining the unicorn, whilst she gathered surroundings. After finally discovering her waker, she gave him a quizzical look rubbing her now aching horn.

“Spike, don’t you know better than to sneak up on ponies?” she questioned, inspecting her forehead for a bruise. Her blurred vision from the awakening slowly adjusted, as she looking at him puzzled.

“Oh, sorry Twilight,” he mumbled, taking a huge bite out of a cookie. He held up a claw grasping the bulging treat bag. “Hey, want one?”

She groaned still rubbing her temple. “No thanks Spike, I was just-” Don’t say analysing river velocity. “- Taking a nap, that’s all.” She grinned anxiously.

“Oh well, you should, Mrs. Cake made them for the trip, they’re real good,” he chirped, taking another bite. “You should come sit with us Twilight, Pinkie is gonna show us all how to make balloon animals, Oh, and Mr. Filthy Rich said he used to live in Vanhoover so he was telling me all about what-”

Twilight quickly raised a hoof to hush the dragon. “That sounds great Spike, I’ll be over in a while, okay?”

“Sure.” He smiled, turning to waddle back down towards Pinkie and the others at the bottom of the carriage. Scooting to the aisle seat, she craned her neck round watching her small companion walk away. She stifled a small giggle upon seeing the crumb trail Spike had left along the carriage floor.

Glancing down the carriage had exposed Twilight to the pink bounding blur that was Pinkie Pie, zipping to-and-fro groups of ponies offering up treats and ‘hilarious’ antidotes. She didn’t know how, but perhaps all that sugar had finally had an effect on the mare. Was it even possible for Pinkie to get sugar rush? Scanning further, Twilight was relieved to see everypony seemed to be enjoying the journey, all clustered in small groups discussing their plans for the trip ahead. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom where gazing up and chuckling and at Scootaloo, doing some sort of hoof bump in the air, whilst doing lengths of the train car. Some ‘Cutie Mark Crusaders’ new cheer no doubt. Likewise, from the row behind Silver Spoon was raising a hoof, whispering in Diamond Tiara’s ear about the ‘display’. Blossomforth, Thunderlane and the rest of the weather team were all perched round a table playing, from what Twilight could tell, some form of card game. The buff white Pegasus, she remembered as Snowflake gave a thunderous, “YEAH!” before reaching out his fore-hooves, raking in his winnings of small change and some of Pinkie’s cherry candies. Twilight gave a sigh, must be poker.

Across the aisle from the game, Big Mac, his cousin Braeburn and a blue stallion Twilight often saw working the fields around Sweet Apple Acres called Baritone were in quiet conversation about the trip ahead. Twilight had questioned why Braeburn was on this trip. In all honesty, the journey to Vanhoover was a complete mystery to her. When Spike had handed her the summon only three days prior stating that fourty-two lucky residents of Ponyville had been chosen to attend a special royal gathering, she was positively intrigued. Even Mayor Mare had seemed clueless when she had enquired about the event on the station platform before boarding. It turned out she was about as oblivious as that grey mail pony Twilight would spot on delivery day.  Still, this didn’t answer Twlight’s question on why Braeburn was here. Braeburn wasn’t a Ponyville citizen, was he? Besides, Trixie was here too! She had stifled a harsh glare Twilight’s way when they had crossed paths in the carriage gangway. Why was she here? She had imagined Trixie to live miles away from Ponyville, also she travelled all across Equestria with her magic shows. Trixie shouldn’t be here and to some extend Twilight thought she shouldn’t either. Deep down she felt cold, anxious, like something bad was going to happen. But that was Twilight, analysing every little step before she even took one. Yet something smelt fishy about this whole trip to her, and it wasn’t Applejack’s baked-bads.

Speaking of Applejack, Twilight had noticed her from across the train car, asleep with her trusty Stetson covering her eyes, rising and falling as she breathed. She hadn’t shifted since passengers had first boarded. She had sat alone, just watching the passing scenery deep in thought. Twilight could swear something was wrong with the mare, ever since the delivery of the summons and the news of the trip she wasn’t acting her usual self. She seemed distant from everypony, on edge. Whenever the trip was brought up in conversation she would change topic, roll her eyes in irritation or simply leave. This didn’t help Twilight’s already uneasy mindset. Did Applejack know something? Or was she just over analysing things…again. Probably the latter, but one thing Twilight was certain of was something was troubling the country mare and she was going to put her hoof on it, one way or another.

At long last, she finally arose from the window seat. Giving her hooves each a quick jiggle to rid herself of the building numbness, she set out down the carriage towards Applejack and the others. Upon passing, she gave Rarity and Fluttershy a petite smile and nod, as they continued their conversation to Cheerliee and Zecora. Twilight couldn’t quite make out the topic of conversation, but she heard something about ‘100% Saddle Arabian silk’, Rarity’s choice of subject surely. She continued down the gangway, avoiding the crumb trail and pink frosting ground into the wood panelling. How could Pinkie and Spike drop so much food? It wasn’t like their mouths were small, especially Pinkie’s! The carriage was crammed, how forty-two ponies could fit into such a small carriage, the studious mare would never know.  She dreaded to think how densely packed the train would have been if the rest of the town had attended. Thank Celestia it was just a selected few. Twilight took an instant to think of her mentor. She hadn’t had the glory of her presence in three months. Perhaps she had a hectic schedule to uphold, she was the Princess after all. Although, she had become anxious when her daily letters from the Princess had turned into weekly ones. Maybe she was at the gathering? She recalled seeing her beautiful signature, written in golden ink on the summon. Of course she would be! Twilight breathed a sigh of relief; she really could get too agitated. Twilight was half way down the train car when a familiar purple claw reached out to the aisle, drawing her attention with prod to her side.

“Here Twilight,” the small dragon called giving a wide grin, “sit down." She humbly obliged, heading for the seat, as Spike patted the cushion, beckoning her over to the table he and a group of other ponies where sitting.

“So, does it still hurt? I heard you did a wicked noise dive and BOOM!!” Vinyl Scratch bawled, pounding the table then creating an exploding gesture with her fore hooves.

“What? Nah, just a scratch.” The rainbow mare shrugged.

Twilight knew of Rainbow’s way of showing no weakness to ponies, it was a trait she highly envied, but this was ridiculous. The crazy mare had undergone an intensive life threatening operation, not to mention a temporary coma! Now she was passing it off as a ‘scratch’. It only happened three weeks ago, for ponies sake! Twilight was used to Rainbow crashing into the library; she could deal with that norm. It was only when Applejack had dragged her from her latest copy of ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’ that she had learned of her new trick a.k.a barrelling into Ghastly Gorge and causing a rock slide. Well done Dash. Twilight had remembered the horror when the rescue team finally found her crushed and unconscious under a mountain of rock. Thank Celestia she recovered… eventually. Most ponies don’t bounce back as easily from neurosurgery. Twilight opened her mouth to interject to Rainbow’s pride, but was interrupted by a classy grey mare sitting beside Vinyl.

“Vinyl! Must you be so boisterous?” Octavia exclaimed, pushing her friend back down into her seat, “I’m sure Rainbow Dash doesn’t want to relive that dreadful incident.”

“What? I was just asking, geez!” the DJ shrugged, slumping back into the cushioning of the chair.

The gray mare swept her black mane back with a hoof, giving a bewildering look, “Well you shouldn’t.”

The two musical mares continued to bicker, whilst Twilight glimpsed at Rainbow Dash. Rainbow tried to contain a smile, but to no prevail, Octavia was right; she didn’t want to relive the accident. She wasn't the strong pony she made herself out to be, at least not anymore. This was a fall she couldn’t get up from. Rainbow had tried to talk to someone about it, she really had, but it was difficult. These nightmares and mood swings weren’t helping in the slightest. She thought Twilight might have had some book or spell to suppress them, but with the trip to Vanhoover keeping everypony pre-occupied she didn’t want to trouble the studious mare. She caught Twilght glancing over and returned a smile. Flexing her bandaged wing she sat back, resting her eyes and continued to listen to Vinyl and Octavia’s rambling.

Twilight saw that most of the other ponies where setting down, it must be getting later than she thought. Spike had already fallen asleep, resting against her side. Now that she thought about it, a lot of ponies where asleep. She couldn't even hear Pinkie’s babbling.

“Hey Twilight, are you okay?” Rainbow asked, opening an eye to peek at Twilight frantically scanning up and down the carriage aisle.

“Yes, I’m… fine.” Faking a smile, she slowly responded, “I don’t know, earlier I had this weird feeling and now I think-”

The car slammed to a halt, producing a high screech, as the wheels and track grinned in unison. Even through the carriage the sliding of steel against high volumes of rain water could be felt, the Ponyville Express battling for its wheels to obey. Twilight was thrown forward with nothing but a table to stop herself turning into a purple projectile. It wasn’t most comfortable airbag to have. She pushed away from her hard landing surface, as the motion finally subsided. Rainbow too trying to steady herself upright, clearly having just witness the same fate from the table as Twilight. Both gawked at each other, letting a moment of silence past and trying to come to some realisation of what had just happened.

Dash spoke, breaking the silence, “What the hay is going on?” Looking out the window was useless; the storm had made fine work of painting the windows with white condensation and rain. Rainbow stared at Twilight, seeking some reassurance.

“We probably just broke down.” She shot a fake, conscious grin. Rainbow gave a nervous laugh. She wasn’t buying it. Twilight didn’t even find comfort in her own words. That niggling feeling was back again.

“Sure, of course, thats totally why…Right?” Rainbow was getting anxious now. She couldn’t deal with situations like this anymore. Okay, so maybe this wasn’t that bad, trains brake down all the time, but it was there eating away at her mind. That damn accident, she hated herself for being so stupid. She had tried brushing it off, it was nothing. It was only nightmares, but she had never felt this way. Nervous, panicky…scared. Oh gosh, she was turning into Fluttershy!

Twilight stared down the aisle towards the engine car, every so often squinting to peer through the window glass at the carriage door. Standing out of her seat, she gave a curious look around then to Dash.

“Everyone’s asleep,” she rubbed her head with a fore hoof, “That’s strange, surely someone would have noticed that emergency stop.”

“Really?” Rainbow peeked over the back of the seat, tapping Lyra’s head, while Bon Bon snored softly beside her, “You’re right, this is creepy.” Rainbow hadn’t even noticed Vinyl and Octavia’s arguing had ended; they too were asleep, silent.

“Okay, I’m going to talk to the driver-”

“What! Wait!” Rainbow interjected, leaning over the table.

“You just say here I’ll be right back, you can’t use too much energy in your condition.” This time her smile was reassuring, she started down the train car, “I’ll be back, Pinkie promise.”

“Okay, sure thing, I’ll just… say here.” Rainbow breathed, Twi was right the train just broke down, she was always so logical. Any courage Rainbow had built up was shattered, upon the uneasy flittering of the carriage lights. Any other time, this would have been funny; they kind of looked like strobe lighting, the crazy patterns and timing of the lights. Vinyl and Pinkie would have had a field day. However, this was just perfect, let’s make this even more awkward and weird.

Twilight glanced up to the unexpected light show. Okay, this is perfectly normal the emergency stop must have alliterated the electrics. Scanning around, everypony was asleep, it was like something she’d read in a horror novel. Finally, the purple mare stopped, focusing at the right corner of the carriage; she gave a small gasp in surprise. Applejack. At first she didn’t move, but the raise of her hat told Twilight otherwise. She wanted to call out to her, any other pony would have, why wasn’t she asking her what was going on? She just stood there, frozen. Applejack gazed back a very cold, uneasy stare. At least, she could just make out her glare, the lights weren’t helping and did her vision seem blurred? No, it’s just the darn lights. Twilight knew something was going on, at that moment she unsteadily raised her hoof to walk back towards her. Then she stopped. It was the very stern shaking of Applejack’s head, which gave Twilight the message, she didn’t even know what it meant, but giving a firm nod she started back towards the door.

Creeping down the aisle, amongst all the slumbering ponies was very unsettling. At least the dim glow of some candles Pinkie had left on a cupcake upon a table helped guide Twilight through the dark carriage. Something was defiantly wrong for Pinkie to leave a cupcake abandoned. On approaching the carriage door, she peeked through the glass. Nopony was around, but the lights were on, that was a good sign. Engulfing the door knob in an opaque purple aura, she opened the door. She tried, and then tried again. What the heck, why is it locked? She grabbed the handle in both fore hooves, harvesting all her strength and unleashing it onto the door. It didn’t budge; she wasn’t a strong pony like Applejack or Rainbow.

She leaned in closer to inspect the lock, before calling down the carriage, “Rainbow the door is locked, I could use your help with it.” There was no reply, what was that mare doing? She only left her for five minutes.

“Rainbow, are you listening?” Twilight had a high tolerance for Rainbow’s pranks and shenanigans, but this was talking it way too far.

“Rainbow…Rainbow Dash?... Hello?” Okay, now it was getting weird.Why wasn’t she answering? Why wasn’t anypony answering?

“Hello.. is any p-pony awake?” Everyone was asleep, she was alone and Dash had gone somewhere. Something was coming over Twilight and it wasn’t just panic and worry. Was it always misty in here? Wait, mist?

“Ugh, I don’t feel so good,” she stared back down towards the table where she left her colourful friend, “R-rainbow?” That was it, at that moment, it all dawned on Twilight. She looked up to the ceiling, slanting her head in observation. A thin mist was hovering and swirling inches from the carriage roof. She could see it now, she waved a hoof, as it wrapped and coiled in the air around her. Great Celestria!

Galloping back towards the door she yelled, trying to stifle her coughing, “Gas, there’s a gas leak in here…ugh” Twilight’s fore hooves buckled from beneath her, horrified she pushed her torso forward, crawling low towards the door.

“Hey, somepony! H-help!” she couldn’t breathe, her lungs grasped and clung in her chest. There it was the burring vision again, only this time it wasn’t the gas. Her own eyes were deceiving her. She went down hard, containing her coughing attack, she edge forwards reaching her fore hooves out for the invisible pony that would save her, but nopony came.

Twilight squinted, straining to see. Appearing from a cloud of haze, the carriage door opened to reveal a black silhouette. Through the smear of the carriage car, the figure approached her. Twilight couldn’t think or even believe what was unveiling before her was real. The last thing she saw, that image stapled to her mind.  A dark stallion in uniform, wearing an old gas mask studied Twilight, letting out deep, tinny sounding breaths.

Twilight with her last ounce of strength reached for the stallion, whilst quivering at his dark, piecing stare. She felt the life suck out of her, as she fell limp her hoof slumped down smacking against the wood panelling. Then she saw nothing, darkness.

Twilight blacked out.