We had received the invitation to the trip a few days before; it simply arrived at my door without a mail-pony in sight. I had been cautious at first, but when I read what the trip was about, I was more than excited to go.
There was everything: a spa for Fluttershy and Rarity, extreme slopes for Applejack and Rainbow Dash, a giant food hall for Pinkie, and a warm, cozy library for myself. It seemed like the perfect vacation, something I really needed after the whole Nightmare Moon incident.
The train station was weirdly empty that day. To me it was lacking the usual flair that Ponyville buildings have, that thing that distinguishes the town from the grandeur of Canterlot or the Ruggedness of Appleloosa. Maybe it was just me; the ponies we had met seemed happy enough. They were either talking merrily with each other or simply getting on with their daily business. Just, nothing seemed right. The paintings on the walls were crooked. The clock was three hours behind and there was a strange, purple mist surrounding the platform and the lobby.
One pony going on the trip was a mare called Bumblesweet. She and I had chatted for a few minutes in the lobby; she seemed nice enough. Her cutie mark was a bumblebee, hence her name. But strangely, her hair looked pretty much exactly like Pinkie’s. She had the same curls, and her mane bounced in the same way Pinkie’s so often did. It was like someone took Pinkie, dipped her in paint, and called it a new pony. It was probably just a coincidence. I shouldn’t really be looking into it too much, I thought. I see ponies with the same manestyle almost every day, so why did this pony’s mane seem so out of place?
“Oh darn it,” Applejack blurted. She stomped her hoof down on the platform, releasing me from my pondering. “When is the darn train gonna get here? We’ve been waitin’ for hours now!”
“Be patient, it will come soon, darling. Just think of the fun we’ll have when we get there!” Rarity said. To me it was more like an order. She had, of course, come with enough clothes, coats, and warm socks to dress up an entire town. I had brought only one suitcase, and Rarity had brought ten. Not wanting to make a bad impression on the train workers, Rarity had come to the station dressed in her finest outdoor clothes, with some of the most stylish sunglasses I had ever seen gleaming off her head.
“Don’t you tell me to be patient! Ah swear the trains get later and later every single darn day, it’s like they don’t want to come ta Ponyville,” retorted Applejack. She was almost furious. Her barely hidden scowl looking straight at Rarity.
“Hey! AJ!” shouted a distant voice.
Soon after, Rainbow Dash swooped in, and took her place right beside Applejack. “I think you should calm down, the train’s coming!” she laughed. “Oh the look on your face! You are so funny when you’re getting angry!”
I looked along the train tracks, hoping to see a train speeding towards our platform. Rainbow was right, there was a train. It was magnificent: a humungous locomotive with a beautiful paint job of red and gold, the head of a dragon adorned its front. It had a certain regalness to it that I just had to adore; it was like something out of a book. It was unlike anything I had seen in Equestria before. It had to be foreign. I made a mental note to ask about it once I got on.
“It’s finally here! Oh I’m so excited now. So. Excited!” Pinkie sang out with glee. She couldn’t hold in her anticipation and burst into a flurry of bouncing and dance. Her mane was jumping around almost as much as she was; I cracked a smile seeing how happy she was. Maybe this trip wouldn’t be so bad after all,I thought to myself.
Steam bellowed into the air; the sound of the engines grew louder to a near-deafening screech as the train finally came to a halt at the platform. A large cloud of steam engulfed me, and for ages I couldn’t see anything at all. Fluttershy started to cough, as did I shortly after. The smoke was, again, purple. I pondered for a moment what it could mean. Maybe the steam had reached right over here? Or maybe something was around that changed the steam’s color? I couldn’t be asked to think any more on it, and waited for the doors to open.
The steam finally cleared away and revealed the side of the magnificent train. Many large, ornate windows lined the sides. All of them topped with the most beautiful rose curtains ever. I was sure that sure Rarity would be ecstatic.
“Oh. My. Goodness! This is absolutely beautiful! I don’t know what to say!” Rarity squealed. That confirmed my suspicions.
In my amazement, I didn’t notice the pony coming out of the train. He simply walked out of the only door into the train and stood there, waiting for us all to come to him. All twenty-one ponies in our group were soon standing at the magnificent entrance to the train. The pony standing there was a peculiar one. He wore a large, bent top hat and a strange multi colored coat. There was every colour in the rainbow and more. Violets, greens, purples and any colour one could think of. His face was mildy distorted, something was wrong with it. I couldn’t put my finger on what.
“Welcome to the trip of a lifetime!” he shouted triumphantly. “This trip will leave you stunned. Stunned! It’s amazing. It’s fantastic. Wherever there is a pony needing the time of their life we’ll be there! Now, if you wish, step in!” he continued with a smile. His voice was very low-pitched, conflicting with the strength in his voice.
I shivered.
“Come on slowcoach, you’re just standing there! You silly billy, you!” said Pinkie from the top of the stairs into the train. I jumped in surprise.
Grabbing my luggage, I smiled and trotted on board.
The insides of the train were just as beautiful as the outsides. Red, shiny carpet lined the halls and hand-carved ornaments dotted the various doors into the stalls. Ponies trotted back and forth, getting to their seats or workstations. I couldn’t help but let out a short gasp of excitement. Each seat in every single stall was lined with the finest materials I had ever seen, with pure oak wood forming their backs. There were small symbols carved into each of the window’s. They were a sort of small stained-glass display. Each looked like a cutie mark a pony would have: a buttercup, a crescent moon and star, a smiling cloud and more.
“Why do you keep standing there? Come on Twilight!” Pinkie beckoned eagerly.
I followed behind her until I got to the stall the others were sat in. Rainbow was sitting at the window, with Applejack right next to her. Fluttershy was in the middle of the seat, with Rarity in the opposite. They all looked happy, with smiles crossing their faces. I took my place next to Rarity. Yawning loudly, I decided to have a well-deserved nap.
*****
“Twilight, wake up! The food tray’s here!” shouted Rainbow Dash.
“Uh... urrr. How long was I sleeping?” I asked.
“‘Bout an hour. Ya sure do sleep real quiet; ah nearly forgot you were there.”
The stall door opened, and a nice-looking older pony stepped in. She was pushing a tray full of amazing delights and delectable food. A giant tray of muffins, fudge, and cupcakes sat upon the top with seemingly endless amounts of potato chips and candy under them. I looked over to Pinkie, her tongue had escaped her mouth and drool was falling slowly to the floor. I winced; I had always hated drool. The old mare stepped out and left us with our food.
“Oh my goodness! Oh my goodness! Oh my goodness!” shouted Pinkie. I was sure she had disturbed everyone on the train.
She started to gobble up everything she could lay her hooves on. I simply levitated one cupcaked, took the wrapping off and ate it like a normal pony.
That one single moment every good thing that I had ever done rushed back to me. The cupcake was so good, I just had to shout.
“Wow! These. Are. Amazing!”
I couldn’t help myself. I picked out another, and then another. Then I went onto the fudge, shovelling piece after piece into my mouth. It seemed that my friends were doing the same. I was too busy eating to really take a good look at them though. At that moment, I was in so much ecstasy I don’t think anypony would be able to describe how I felt.
“Oh my...” Fluttershy squeaked after she took her first bite into the muffin.
I felt a sharp pain in my stomach. I moaned in pain. I had definitely eaten way too much for my own good.
“Girls, I’m gonna go take a walk,” I said.
“Don’t wander off too far,” Rarity ordered.
“See ya in a mo’, Twi!” added Applejack.
I slowly trotted out the stall door, and into the long hallways of the train’s cabin. In a moment of mindless decision making I went left, instead of right where I knew we had entered from. I continued down the hall; various stalls with all kinds of ponies passed by me. Suddenly, I remembered that I had made a mental plan to ask someone where the train came from. So I decided that would be my plan of action for the little walk.
A large, red stallion bashed into me. He was wearing a conductor uniform, so I simply assumed he was the conductor.
“Excuse me, do you happen to know where this train came from?” I asked. He said nothing. “Uhh, excuse me?”
He said nothing. He simply stared into my eyes with a sunken, deathly stare. His eyes were a dark brown, like nothing I had ever seen. There were no emotions on his face, well, nothing I could think off. After we had locked our gazes for what seemed like forever, he made his way back to the front of the train, the opposite way I was headed.
I continued to trot through the train; there was a faint song that grew closer and closer as I went. It sounded like an old pirate song: a low pitch, a slow tempo and a very odd choice of lyrics. Well, it was to me at least.
I was hesitant to go any further. The song kept droning on and on, with no end in sight. It was almost captivating; it was like it was pulling me into the end of the train.
The whole room had grown cold. I started to shiver uncontrollably. I just brushed it off as the cold northern wind finally coming into the train. Maybe someone had left a window open? Ice crawled upon my body, freezing my mane in place and forming small icicles on my nose. I couldn’t take it.
I ran forward in a desperate attempt to find warmth. I should have just gone back to the others. They were most likely warm and comfortable back in their stall. I sprinted past the food carriage and the crew carriage.
There it was, my saviour. A large fire. I had never seen a fire on a train, especially one with a chimney. I didn’t bother to think of that anymore; I bolted to it. The warmth hit me in the face. I breathed a heavy sigh of relief. Finally I had some time to gather myself. Taking a deep breath from all the running, I looked around at the way I had come. A dark, tall figure stood there. Far away, I could barely even see it. I took one step back into the dark, dark cold. Immediately I flung my leg back. I had to put my leg almost scaldingly close to the fire to make it warm again.
The figure was approaching me slowly. It’s face was hidden in shadows. All I knew was that it wasn’t a pony.
I could now see the figure’s shape. A tall, two-legged creature with weird tentacle things coming out of it’s body, one with a hook on the end, and the other with five weird sticks. The weirdest thing at all, it was standing upright!
It’s warm breath was falling down upon my back. I couldn’t move.
*****
“Hey Twilight! Wake up!” shouted Rainbow Dash
I opened my eyes. I was in a dark, dirty old metal room. Blood and pus streamed from the ceiling, with a floor covered in drops of tears and more blood. Just the sight of it was enough to make me vomit. I held it in; I didn’t want to make this place even worse. I looked up in front of me. Nothing was there.
I stood up, and spun in circles trying hard to see where Rainbow Dash was. There was nothing, nopony and no sign of life. I screamed out loud. How could I get out? There wasn’t a door! All there was was a large, glass wall showing a dark, metal hallway almost indistinguishable from what I was in.
“Hello!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. “Somepony! Hello!? Help! Anypony! Please help!!”
No-one heard. Desperately punching the glass wall in a vain attempt of escape, I started to cry. I bashed against the glass until my hooves grew sore, but soon I had given up. I fell to the floor into a lump of tears and pain.
I looked up, a loud gasp escaped my lips when I saw what was in front of me. A large, iron frame. A frame for a pony, something that would lock a pony into one exact pose. It was rusty, dirty, and un-cleaned. Sharp, horrifying needles protruded from inside the frame. A large, heavy lock hung on what looked like the entrance. There was some sort of weird glowing thing hanging above it. It looked like it was on a rail, so it could go up and down constantly looking at the frame.
“Oh my goodness!” I shouted. My gut had told me I was going into that thing! More tears fell from my eyes, I just couldn’t handle it.
I heard a quiet mumbling come down from the hallway. I couldn’t hear the voices yet, but I knew I had to get out of sight. The darkest corner of the barely lit room was my only option, so I took it and leaped hard into it. A small rat crawled over my mane as I hid; I tried my best not to flinch. The voices grew louder as they came down the hallway. One sounded exactly like the pony I had met when going onto the train. The other’s voice; I didn’t have a clue. Their footsteps cascaded down the hallway at a brisk pace.
They appeared in the window. There is nothing that could even describe how shocking they looked. They looked hideous, monstrous and deformed. Two tall, large creatures stood right in front of me. They were standing upright, like a minotaur or a diamond dog, yet they had no resemblance to them. Their faces were disgusting, and both had an unusual mish-mash of disgusting, unkempt hair upon what I assumed was its head. I couldn’t bear to look at them, and cowered my head in the shadows.
A door in my cell opened. I hadn’t noticed it before. I shot my head around, and saw one of the things coming in. It’s long, tentacle-like arms waved as it walked.
“Let’s get this over with,” the Thing said.
It was looking around, lumbering about with the gracefulness of a tumbling building. It’s face wore a mask of anger and frustration, and it screamed words that I hadn’t ever heard before. I tried my best to make myself unknown, to hide in the shadows. It looked everywhere except the one, dark corner I was hidden in. I held my breath, and tried perilously not to make a single sound. I could hear the thing’s footsteps become louder and louder until I swear he was literally touching me. I took a short, silent breath then held my breath some more. Sweat had began to drip down my forehead.
It walked away.
I let out a sigh of relief.
A sharp pain pierced my neck, and before I knew what was happening I was looking straight into the tiny eyes of the thing that was holding me prisoner. It’s face was fuming with rage. It had what looked like a mouth, but it’s lip were chapped and red as blood. It had the exact same eyes the conductor in the train had. Yet smaller, they stared directly into my very soul. There was no smile on the thing’s face. No form of happiness, just pure anger.
“Don’t touch me, you monster!” I shouted at it. “I said, get off of me!”
It brought me closer until my eyes were staring directly into its demonically brown eyes and spat in my face. With a great jolt the thing had flung me around, and I was now looking straight into the pony-frame I had so dreaded before.
It grabbed a large, disgusting syringe from some sort of pouch, and in one fell swoop he drove it deep into my neck . Once again my vision faded.
******
I couldn’t move. I couldn’t move! I tried to move any muscle I could, anything at all. There was nothing I felt but the cold hug of iron and the harsh spikes that stabbed my body. I opened my mouth, and began to scream. Yet nothing came out. I couldn’t scream. I started to panic, I squirmed around in my binds but to no avail. I was in one, inescapable position. I was being forced to look forward, with one front-hoof in front of the other. It was like I was in a mid-walk, yet I couldn’t take a step forward.
The glowing screen had been lowered down in front of me. It ran a bright blue light over my body. I had no idea what it was doing. Was it scanning me? Checking me? I just didn’t know.
My back convulsed as much as it could in agony. I tried to look back. I couldn’t.
A bright blue light shone on the wall in front of me, and a deafening screech came from behind me. Then there was silence. The pain had stopped, yet I still couldn’t move. The lights had gone out, but I could still see a faint outline of what was going on. I tried to cry; it seemed like it would be the only way I could relieve the pain of what I had just gone through. I couldn’t. No matter how hard I tried, no tears came from my eyes.
The screen lowered down again, this time right in front of my eyes. It’s blinding white light flashed on me. words appeared on the screen in large black letters. Words that I couldn’t comprehend at all.
Show copy complete. Toy copy #000001 in progress.
Again the screen covered my whole body. The piercing pain came back, this time even worse. I tried to scream. I had to. Once again, but I couldn’t. I just couldn’t All that came out of my mouth was silence. Pure and utter silence.
The lights in my room and the hall burst into life. In front of me stood... me. An exact replica, with no detail missed. It looked at me straight in the eye, and my eyes looked back.
“Bye!” it said. It had exactly the same voice as me! Exactly the same. It simply walked out of my field of view, and I never saw it again. What if that’s what they’re going to use to replace me! What if they’re going to keep me here forever?! I thought in another panic.
Then I looked across the hall, where a new light had came on. It was Fluttershy. But not in a way I had hoped.
She was in a frame, exactly like me. Yet she was stuck in a constant rear, her wings outstreched behind her. Her eyes darted rapidly around, with a look of utter despair and fear in her eyes. It too had spikes, spikes that were digging into the fur of my friend and holding her in place. She, like me, was being scanned over and over again with the screen and a large, sharp needle jammed itself into her back. She looked in my eyes, I looked into hers. The lights went dark, and I never saw her again.
A orchestra of engines and mechanical noises sprung into life around me. A conveyor belt in the hall had started to move. An exact copy of me came down the line. It was in the same position I was in right now, yet much smaller. It wasn’t moving, it wasn’t breathing. There were no signs of life in it whatsoever. It was simply a statue. Yet to me it looked more like a toy.
Once again the lights went all around my body and the same position on my back was tormented. Then another copy came down the line, the exact same as the last.
I wouldn’t ever see sunlight again my life, and I will be stuck in constant pain with no end in sight. Never in my life had I wanted to scream so badly; there was only silence.
