Last Train to Stirrup Halt

Chapters

Hijack Alert
The Marvels of Modern Transportation
A Ticket to Ride
Playing an Ace
Going to Plan
More Than They Bargained For

Hijack Alert

Luna’s moon shone brightly in the cloudless night sky, bathing the equestrian countryside in a dim white light. Out in the woods just north of Trottingham the moonlight seeped through the gaps created by the tree branches and leaves, creating a series of random kaleidoscope like patterns on the road that ran through that area.

The peacefulness of the night was soon disturbed by the sounds of two stallions travelling through the woods with a heavily loaded cart, which creaked and groaned under the weight of its load of five reinforced steel boxes as its wheels dipped in and out of the many potholes which had appeared in the roads surface over the natural course of time. Despite this rough treatment, the boxes were securely roped down to the flat surface of the cart, preventing them from moving.

The differences between the two stallions who were escorting the load were quite apparent just from face value. Stobart was almost a giant of a unicorn, with a pale green coat and a rather untidy black crop of hair. His well built body showed off his immense strength, though he normally shrugged this off by stating that he was just big boned. His strength however was his greatest asset when it came to his work as a delivery colt. Despite being the only pony attached to the cart he was pulling it with relative ease, not even straining his body to far when he’d had to pull it up some of the steep roads he’d encountered during the journey.

Moneybags was the slimmer of the two. This was mainly due to him working as a manager for the Royal Bank of Equestria. His pale ochre coat stood out against his suit jacket shirt and tie he wore, his blonde hair sat light and fluffy on his head and a pair of thin wire framed spectacle sat on the end of his muzzle. He’d never had the chance to properly build up his muscles since he’d wasn’t one to take part in heavy, laborious tasks. Instead he spent most of his days sat behind his desk in the bank at Trottingham, sorting out customer’s problems, responding to letters and keeping his staff in order. To see him partaking in a delivery was a very rare sight for anyone who knew him well, but Moneybags felt it was his duty to oversee this delivery since the shipment was being held in Trottingham overnight and had personally arranged to travel with the shipment on its journey to Canterlot.

Having met Stobart with the cart the day before, they’d spent most of the day travelling in a bid to arrive in Trottingham before night fall. Having proved unsuccessful, the two of them had to continue on their journey in the dark, which was beginning to play on Moneybag’s mind. Every shadow seemed to take on a more sinister look.

The two of them stopped to have a brief rest of their hooves at a fork in the road they were travelling on.

Stobart let out a sigh as he felt the weight of the cart lift off his shoulders as he sat down “It must be an important shipment for you to come along, Mr Moneybags. Usually it’s just me on these simple delivery runs; helps to calm suspicion about the load you know, not having any guards around and taking a different route every time”

Moneybags was quite thankful of the conversation, as it helped distract him from the slightly unnerving surroundings “Every shipment’s important Stobart, but this one especially. How far are we from Trottingham?”

The stallion looked down at the small stone signpost at the side of the road, ‘Trottingham, ½ Mile’. He scratched his chin with his hoof as he calculated in his head roughly how fast they were travelling “Well, if I’m correct we should be there in roughly half an hour”

He gave a great heave on the cart once more as they started walking once more and turned down the track that would take them to Trottingham. No sooner had they left the fork in the road when two Pegasi stallions stepped out from amongst the trees at the side of the road. Both of them were wearing thick black jumpers and balaclavas to make their bodies show up less in the darkness. They both nodded to each other and slowly began to creep after them on hoof.

Stepping on a twig without realising, Moneybags stopped and immediately jumped around to look behind himself like a startled rabbit.

“W-What was that?” A hint of panic was now present in his voice.

Stobart chuckled “Nervous, Sir?”

“I’m sure I can hear somepony though, listen”

The natural sounds the woods enveloped them once more, but after a few seconds Stobart’s ears pricked up as he realised he could hear the sound of two sets of hoofsteps off in the distance, very faintly.

“They could just be ponies lost in the woods”

Moneybags checked his watch “At 11 o’clock at night?”

“Look” Stobart smirked, playing on Moneybags fear “If it’ll make you feel any better you can ride on the cart, it’s not like you can add that much weight to the load!”

No sooner had he finished speaking and Moneybags was already sat on top of the iron boxes, still looking back along the road they’d travelled.

“Well come on then” Moneybags said, a hint of panic still in his voice “You’d better start getting some speed on if we still want to get to Trottingham within the half hour”

Further down the road a single pale blue earth pony mare was sat in the middle of the road, dressed in a thick black jumper and balaclava, tightly pulled up to her eyes. She raised a pair of binoculars to her eyes and looked down the road as the noise of the approaching cart became audible. Making certain it was the correct cart and not just some wandering traveller pony she waved towards the bushes at the side of the road. As she lowered her hoof an earth pony colt walked out from the bushes, pulling a large, empty cart out with him and dragging it into position across the road, blocking it to traffic. The trap was set.

Seeing the two Pegasi behind them taking off and flying close to ground level behind them, Moneybags spoke up again.

“I’m certain they’re still following us” he leaned over from the back of the cart to the front to make his voice clearer to Stobart “Can’t you pull this cart any faster?”

“I’m using all my strength now, Sir!”

Stobart gave a great heave on the cart again, breaking out into a run. The two pegasi flapped their wings more as they increased their speed to keep up with the cart. Moneybags still retained his position looking ahead, acting like a backseat driver to Stobart.

“There’s something ahead in the road. I think we should stop”

“No Sir, it looks like an Ambush! Hold tight, I’ve got an idea!”

And Stobart began racing forward even faster, his horn beginning to glow a florescent green as he began to use his magic.

“Dammit Stobart, stop!” Moneybags bellowed as the cart jolted, causing him to fall back onto the metal chests.

The two ponies by the cart shared a panicked glance with each other through their balaclavas as they saw the sight of Stobart now charging straight for them, horn glowing. Looking into each other eyes they both realised the same thing, he wasn’t going to stop! They quickly dived back into the bushes at the side of the road for their safety.

With a bright flash, Stobart, Moneybags and the loaded cart disappeared, catching the two pegasi by surprise. Unable to stop in time they smashed into the cart drawn across the road, causing their bodies to flail around like rag dolls as they lost control on impact.

With a bright green flash, the fountain square of Trottingham was illuminated for a split second as the forms of Stobart, Moneybags and the cart materialised a few feet above the ground. They fell to the ground with a loud thud, the chassis of the cart snapping from the stress of the landing. Stobart had fallen out of the harness as he fell, landing on his back on the small patch of grass that ran around the edge of the fountain basin, breathing heavily. Having to cast such a powerful spell combined with charging with the loaded cart had taken all the strength out of him.

“Are…are you alright…Moneybags?” Stobart gasped, staring up at the starlit sky.

“”Yes” Moneybags replied, a hint of disgust in his voice as he looked for any damage to his suit “I’m fine”

“Well, they couldn’t stop us, that’s a spell that they tell us only use when it looks like an ambush is imminent. We showed them alright!”

Money bags picked his weak body up off of the ground and brushed the dirt from his suit jacket “You certainly did, Stobart. You certainly did!”

Author's Note

Fun Fact: In the first draft the character of Stobart wasn't named, but when I decided that the colour of his coat would be green I decided to add the name as nice little reference to the Eddie Stobart haulage company that is iconic over her in the UK.

The Marvels of Modern Transportation

The next morning Celestia’s sun raised high and mighty in the equestrian skies, bathing everything its rays touched in pleasant warmth. The Princess herself was already in her throne room addressing matters of concern. Although she’d been informed of the attempted ambush that had taken place near Trottingham the previous night only a few hours ago, she’d already formed a plan in her head, and was now sat in her throne room, communicating with Moneybags in the bank at Trottingham, projecting an image of herself to him and vice versa with her magic.

“Do you not see the panic this has caused amongst my employees” Moneybags blustered “Most of them are scared to walk back from work at night, for fear that somepony could ambush them in the streets”

“Yes…I realise the predicament it places you in” Celestia almost rolled her eyes in a sarcastic manor, his complaining was starting to get on he nerves.

“And just what do you intend to do about it?”

“One of my best operatives is, at this very moment, on his way to my throne room”

“Well just when on Equestria do you expect him to get there!” Moneybags blustered, waving his forehooves in the air in frustration.

“I can assure you, he will be here just as fast as the marvels of modern transportation will allow”

The train rocketed through the small country station, bellowing and snorting steam from its boiler. It tore down the middle express track in the three tracked station, smogging three young fillies who were watching it go through from the steel footbridge that joined the two station platforms. The sparkling clean carriages clattered after it rhythmically. Within a few brief seconds the whole spectacle was over, returning the idyllic country station to the state it was in before.

Whooves stared out of the railway carriage window, watching the world roll by. Even though he was used to being summoned to Canterlot at a sudden notice due to the position he held, being woken up by a scroll hitting him over the head at five o’clock in the morning telling him to get the next three hour train service to Canterlot wasn’t exactly his idea of fun. Across from him sat Carrot Top, his personal assistant for his work. Initially Whooves had been totally against the idea of having an assistant assigned to him by the princess lodging in his house in Ponyville, but when he found out Carrot Top was a skilled gardener he felt more at ease with her, letting him have the free reign of his garden. Engrossed in the book she was reading, she still wasn’t able to hide the tiredness from her eyes. Being woken up early in the morning by Whooves to go to Canterlot wasn’t her idea of heaven either.

“Interesting book, Carrot Top?” Whooves asked, reaching into his mane and pulling out a brass pocket watch.

Carrot Top blinked rapidly, obviously coming out of trance. Raising a hoof to her mouth she yawned loudly, stretching her spine before she sank back into her seat “No, It’s awfully dull. It can’t seem to decide whether it’s a romantic, a thriller, a drama or a horror novel”

Whooves chuckled at this, finishing winding up his pocket watch as he did so. Passing a signal post at the side of the line, Whooves took a quick glance at the second hand on the watch before looking back out of the window again. When they passed another signal post he looked back at his watch, before doing some rough calculations in his head. Every signal post on the standard gauge Equstrian railway system were placed roughly two miles apart from each other, bar the station approaches, to try and make all the sections an equal length with each other. So all he had to do was divide the distance of two miles by the timespan of two minutes and fifty one seconds.

“By my calculations, we’re roughly running at just over Forty Two miles per hour. We’re making excellent progress”

“We certainly are” Carrot Top had begun to dose in her seat with her eyes closed, not really paying to much attention to Whooves’ mathematics.

“The mind boggles when you remember when the railways were first built ponies believed your head would implode from the G Forces if you went through a tunnel at a speed faster than twenty miles per hour”

“Yes Whooves”

“And nowadays speeds of forty and even fifty are commonplace”

“As you say Whooves” Carrot Top yawned, her eyes still closed “The mind boggles”

With a deep blast of its whistle, the train accelerated onwards to Canterlot, rushing into a tunnel in a cloud of steam like a fiery dragon.

In her throne room Celestia had successfully calmed Moneybags down and explained her plan to him, ending their rather strenuous conversation on something of a high. Before her mighty throne now stood the grey form of Octavia, carefully holding a brown paper envelope that Celestia had given her as the princess explained her plan.

Although Octavia also secretly worked for the royals, she had never really had the chance to take part in any large scale operations, instead she was mainly used as a distraction to enable the larger operations to take wing, such as the time she was ordered to take a pill given to her by Celestia outside the entrance to the Canterlot Castle Armoury, sending her into a deep sleep which caused all the guards to think she was dying, creating a long enough distraction for Whooves to sneak in and find a suspected traitor amongst the ranks, but not that Celestia told her she’d only been used as a distraction anyway. Octavia’s enthusiasm for working for the royals definitely shone through, but there were times when Celestia thought she could be a little to eager.

“Now Octavia, I want you to take that envelope and go to the Canterlot Railway Station” Celestia explained.

“And then?” Octavia asked, interrupting her without realising it.

“And then deliver it to the manager’s office. He’ll be expecting it”

“And then” Octavia was leaning slightly more forward, pressing for more information from her.

“Then you go home, Octavia” Celestia ended bluntly.

“Home?” Octavia felt a slight ping of sadness at having such a short and basic assignment.

“But I need you here early tomorrow morning” Celestia continued, noticing Octavia was hardly able to contain a smile as she said it “I’ll need you here at seven o’clock, with a map from the Canterlot archives that shows in detail the area between here and Trottingham”

“Yes Princess, I’ll do that”

The heavy doors at the end of the throne room opened, emitting Whooves and Carrot Top into the room.

“You may go now, Octavia” Celestia said.

Octavia slipped the envelope into her saddlebag, gave a quick curtsey and trotted out of the throne room, casually smiling at Whooves and Carrot Top as she passed them. The heavy throne room doors closed behind her with a satisfying thud. Celestia let out a small sigh of relief after Octavia left the room, silently praying that Octavia never found out that she was simply delivering a notice of overdue taxes to the station manager. She composed herself once more as Whooves and Carrot Top walked towards her.

“Ah, Whooves and Carrot Top. Please do come in. Feel free to help yourself to tea and cake” Celestia made a complete tea set on a small table and cake trolley magic into existence.

Not one to miss an opportunity to drink copious amounts of tea and eat an equal amount of cake, Whooves almost darted straight for the tea set, nearly forgetting all his manners in the process, but after how groggy he was from being woken up early he’d already decided that this tea and cake would be his ‘victory prize’ for making it to Canterlot as quickly as he could.

“I hate to spoil an all too infrequent visit with a sense of urgency” Celestia continued “But we must get down to the job in hand immediately”

Whooves had just shoved an iced bun into his mouth, swallowing it whole and gulped down some of the tea currently in his cup. He’d just finished drinking it and was about to reach for another cake when a loud and suggestive cough from next to him diverted his attention to Carrot Top, who was now giving him the angry look of ‘Have you forgotten where in Equestria you are?’ as she poured a cup of tea in a much more respectable fashion for herself.

Seeing this expression Whooves turned back to Celestia “Pray go on, Princess”

He reached out for another cake, but got his hoof slapped by Carrot Top before he could even lay a hoof on the cream horn he had his eye on.

“Well, last night, an unsuccessful attempt was made to hijack a shipment for the Royal Bank of Equestria”

“What exactly were the contents of the shipment” Carrot Top asked, sipping her tea.

“Two million bits worth of gold bullion, en route to Canterlot”

Whooves pondered on this “Two million bits, that’s quite a veritable fortune” he neglected to say he was thinking of some of the pleasures he could indulge himself in if he had that kind of money.

Celestia’s voice brought him out of his dream as she continued “The bullion is at present in a vault in Trottingham, but we must ship it to Canterlot tomorrow”

“By cart?” asked Carrot Top inquisitively.

“No, by train – non stop express. And as I feel certain that the hijackers will try again, I’d like you, Doctor Whooves, to be on that train”

Whooves was about to chomp into a fairy cake, but stopped himself when it suddenly struck him that Celestia was looking at him.

“Erm…what about me?” Carrot Top asked, resting her cup down on the small table in front of her.

“As for you, dear Carrot Top, you’ll be in your case” she smiled a knowing smile, obviously showing that she already had a cunning plan thought out.

Carrot Top’s brow suddenly dropped, showing her disapproval at what she was certain the princess had planned.

Out in the open Equestrian countryside was the tiny hamlet of Stirrup. Set amongst the ever changing gradient of the rolling hills it was once a thriving industrial community, but now was just home to the odd few cottages, one of which was converted from the old railway station.

The station itself had closed ten years previously due to declining exports from the hamlet, as families from the area began to move out of the country into the towns, and in doing so took their personal trades with them. The final nail in the coffin for the station being used by the public was when the National Equestrian Railway Company released their yearly report, indicating that the branch that Stirrup Halt station was on had been running at a loss for several years. The main problem was that the company itself was also in financial difficulty so the station; the railway lines were simply never used again and left to become overgrown with tall grass and the buildings to crumble away.

In this time of decay though, the station found itself serving a new purpose. No sooner had the Railway Company boarded up the windows of the station and left when one of the locals who used to drive engines on the line seized his chance. His name was Porter, and dissatisfied with the amount of space in his tiny cottage he broke through the padlock locking the station’s waiting room doors and moved all his furniture into the building under the cover of darkness, setting up his new home. No one dared challenge him about this due to how much of a reputation he’d gained for being rather crabby and uptight, and the railway company couldn’t care less about the stations fate just as long as they had nothing to do with it, so there he lived.

It was a rather peaceful night at Stirrup station. The hanging baskets that had been put up from the crossbeams underneath the station canopy swayed gently in the breeze, as did the tall grass that had grown up in between the rails and ballast of the line. Porter was sat in his battered high backed leather armchair in the old waiting room as he did almost every night, reading the day’s edition of the ‘Equestria Daily’ newspaper.

“Equestria today!” he grumbled to himself as he read an article about a cream earth ponies’ thoughts on living with a mint green unicorn with an obsession for her imaginary creatures called ‘humans’ “What’s it coming to!”

His thoughts were interrupted as quite clearly he heard the sound of the rickety wooden gate that led on to the station platform outside slam shut. He let out a heavy sigh “Now who could that be at this time of night?”

Outside three ponies walked onto the platform. Two earth ponies, one a pale blue mare with flowing brown mane and the other a yellow stallion with shorter ochre hair, and a cream coloured Pegasi stallion with a very untidy crop of golden hair. All three were wearing outfits that gave them a sense of grandeur and authority, the stallions choosing suits whilst the mare chose a rather formal business dress.

The yellow stallion turned to the others as they stood outside the waiting room door “Just leave the talking to me. And for Celestia’s sake Cutler, make your hair look presentable, we’re supposed to be in authority, remember?”

Cutler, the Pegasi, quickly began to try and style the front of his mane into a comb over with his forehooves as the yellow Stallion raised a hoof and knocked on the door.

“Who is it?” Porter called from his armchair, refusing to move.

When no reply came he turned his attention back to his newspaper, searching for another aspect of modern Equestria to moan about. No sooner had he found an article when the sound of knocking on the door came once more. Realising the visitors weren’t going to go away he threw down his paper at the side of his chair and headed for the door.

“Alright, alright. I’m coming!”

Outside, all three ponies could see Porter approaching the door through the two think frosted glass panels that had been very amateurishly added to it.

“Who is it?” he called out again, sounding more grouchy than usual.

“My names Fenman” the yellow stallion called back through the door “I’m from the railways board. Open up!”

With a heavy clunk Porter slid back the heavy bolt that locked the door, opening it up to come face to face with the three visitors.

“Clumsy Porter?” Fenman asked.

“That’s right” Porter replied, still weary of the ponies on his doorstep.

Fenman exchanged a quick smile with the others at having found the right pony, then turned back to Porter “I am authorised to inform you this station is to be re-opened”

If Porter’s jaw had been capable of it, it would have dropped so far it would’ve hit the floor.

Fenman continued “The first train will arrive here at 0900 hours tomorrow morning”

Author's Note

Fun Fact: The full names of the three ponies who appear on the station platform at Stirrup share names with those of British express train services, they are The Fenman, The Master Cutler and, currently yet to speak, The Southern Belle!

A Ticket to Ride

Whooves and Carrot Top had spent the remainder of the day travelling across Equestria by train from Canterlot to Trottingham. Even though it hadn’t been physically demanding for them both, by the time they’d gone back to Ponyville, collected their things and then gone onwards to Trottingham the two of them were tired out. Not saying anything to each other throughout their journey for lack of energy they both kept slipping in and out of sleep as the train gently rocked from side to side as it sped through the countryside on its journey.

“This is Trottingham! All change! All change!”

The words instantly caused Whooves to come out of his deep slumber. Wearily looking out of the window he could see all the stereotypical architectural features of Trottingham, slate grey stone buildings with white window frames, chocolate brown bargeboards holding up the drains on the roofs of the buildings, which were covered in emerald green roof tiles. Nudging Carrot Top awake, they grabbed their saddlebags and a battered leather suitcase and stepped off the train, making their way off the station and into the bustling cobbled streets of Trottingham.

Even though it was only 6 o’clock in the evening and the sun was still in the sky, a day of travelling had taken its toll on both of them, especially Carrot Top, who was now leaning against Whooves, walking blindly with her eyes closed as they walked up the staircase to the room in the B&B they had booked into. Whooves tiredness was now beginning to prevent him from registering everything that was going on around him as he somehow managed to open the door to their room whilst holding a suitcase in his mouth and keeping himself and Carrot Top upright.

He used the last of the energy in his body to set down his suitcase, gently place Carrot Top on the spacious double bed in the room and slip her saddle bag off her, before removing his own and walking over to the high backed chair at the end of the bed. He fell asleep as soon as he let his body hit the plush cushion stuffing.

The morning sun shining through the window of the bedroom spread across Carrot Top’s body, curled up into a foetal position. With an almighty yawn and stretch she slowly began to wake from her deep slumber, moving onto her back and lying there as she slowly worked her subconscious into action.

Why do I always end up waking up at the best moment in a dream? Hang on, where am I? I don’t remember seeing that awfully tasteless royal icing style plaster roof yesterday. Think Carrot Top, think, there’ll be a reasonable explanation for this.

She raised her head at the sound of the door to the en-suite opening, and Whooves strutted out, his hair spiked back in his usual fashion, wearing his signature white colour and green tie.

Of course Carrot Top, how could you forget?

She glanced at the clock on the bedside table, the clock hands reading half past seven.

Oh great, this means it won’t be long before I have to get ready for Celestia’s plan!

“Are you going to get up then?” Whooves asked, interrupting her thoughts.

“And a very good morning to you too, Whooves” Carrot Top only just managed a groggy smile before yawning again.

“We’d best get ready, the train leaves in just under half an hour”

Realising how little time there was, Carrot Top got off the bed and sat down against the wall opposite Whooves. Even though her hair was rather out of place and she didn’t look to presentable, this didn’t bother her given what her role was to be in the assignment. As much as she hated what the princess had proposed, she knew this tactic had its advantages that had been proved the other times she had been subjected to it.

Whooves opened up his leather suitcase and pulled out a thick book, on its cover the title “A Complete Account of the 748th Year of Celestia’s Reign” was firmly imprinted in gold lettering. The book itself had belonged to an old friend of Whooves, the late Dr Strangecolt. Entrusting it to Whooves on his deathbed he had made him swear that he would make the book, containing his entire life’s work, known to Celestia, for as Whooves soon found out, it wasn't all it seemed on first impressions. The old doctor’s work was not in fact making a detailed account of a single year in Celestia’s reign, but was in fact a project he named ‘The Minimizer’.

“Ready, Carrot Top?”

Carrot Top sighed “As ready as I’ll ever be”

Whooves pulled back the front cover of the book, revealing a small panel built into the interior of the book, concealed cunningly by the edges of the pages. Pointing the book towards Carrot Top he pressed on of six buttons built into the lower half of the panel, causing a tiny dish to rise up at the front of the panel and aim itself at her. With a high pitched whirr the dishes edge began to glow as Carrot Top tensed her muscles as she prepared herself for what she knew came next.

With a bright flash the dish shot a yellow beam of light at her, picking her up off of the floor as it hold. Whooves used one of his forehooves to shield his eyes from the bright light, waiting for it to cease before looking back at Carrot Top. Looking back at her she was still stood in the same position that she had been before Whooves had used the gadget on her, the only difference was that she was now shrunk down to half the size of a school aged filly!

“Any problems Carrot Top?” Whooves asked, pointing the book at their saddlebags and shrinking them down to her scale.

“None that I can find” Carrot Top finished looking herself over, satisfied that none of her body had become deformed during the shrinking process she picked up the saddlebags in her mouth and walked over to Whooves’ leather suitcase which was in an upright position on the floor, the locks for the case lid left open. With a great heave on her forehooves she pulled the lid down of the case, revealing it’s rather plush interior.

Whooves took a small ear piece off of the desk. Designed to look like a small hearing aid that would be used by an old aged pony it was his own secret way of communicating with Carrot Top without being noticed, particularly when she was miniaturised as she was now. He lifted up one side of his collar and stuck a tiny microphone to the part of his green tie that ran underneath it, folding the collar back down to cover it up.

Carrot top sighed quietly as she clipped her own earpiece and microphone to her head and climbed into the suitcase “Travelling in this case isn’t particularly that thrilling Whooves, you don’t have anything that could make this journey more entertaining do you, like a newspaper?”

Whooves smiled, picking up something small off the desk, hidden from view from Carrot Top “I’d already thought of that, so I thought I’d shrink down this for you”

He reached out his forehoof, handing to Carrot Top the book she had been reading recently, shrunk down by the minimizer. She threw it down in the case when she realised what it was.

“I hate you”

Whooves grinned a cheesy smile “No need to thank me”

He shut the lid of the case and locked it shut, picking it up in his mouth and heading out of the room, bound for the railway station.

Celestia was waiting in her throne room, pacing up and down the long red carpet that stretched the length of the room for the umpteenth time. Now she was beginning to remember why she’d never made Octavia part of a big assignment before, her time management was less than satisfactory, rather ironic given that she was a musician by trade!

A faint knocking sound came from behind the throne room doors, causing Celestia to snap out of her train of thought.

“Enter” she called out.

A lot of loud fumbling followed as the pony outside tried to turn one of the heavy door handles, usually attended to by the royal guards, who were off duty at this time in the morning. With a lot of effort, the pony managed to unlock the door, causing it to swing out infront of them quicker than they expected. Octavia fell forward, landing a heap on the floor if the throne room amongst the many maps and scrolls she’d brought up from the Canterlot Archives. She moved the hair that had fallen across her face to see the Celestia staring down on her, a deadpan expression on her face.

“M-morning princess!” Octavia blushed, her cheeks turning a deep red.

Celestia simply shook her head in a disapproving manner “Good Morning, Octavia. Did you bring the map?”

Octavia scrambled up off of the floor, gathering up the documents she’d brought with her “E-everything’s here. I’m sorry I’m so late, but I accidently slept through my alarm, then it turned out the power has been knocked out in apartment, then I had to go around making sure that everything was fillyproof so that there’s no chance of Vinyl damaging the place or herself, and then…”

She accidently dropped one of the maps, which rolled out as it hit the floor.

“Sorry!” Octavia almost squeaked in her mad panic, dropping everything she was carrying in order to roll up the one map, creating more work for herself in the process.

Celestia just rolled her eyes when Octavia wasn’t looking. This was going to be a long day!

The low pitched chimes of the clock on the Trottingham Town Hall rang out 8 o’clock as down in the station yard the gold bullion was being loaded into the express train by a guard and a porter from a simple wooden platform across from the main station platform. Moneybags had also come down to supervise the loading of the shipment from the Trottingham Bank. The train itself simply consisted of a simple parcels van, designed for running at high speeds, and an express diesel engine. Diesels were rarely used on the Equestrian Railway networks, mainly because they were fairly temperamental due to not being a technologically advanced as there steam counterparts, which the engine crews preferred. One advantage they did have over the steam engines though was the ability to accelerate far more quickly.

Moneybags held out a blank docket in one of his forehooves, with a pen in the other “Sign here, if you please”

Taking them both in his own hooves, the guard read through the paper “Six crates, security A. Seals unbroken. Right”

The guard was a slightly older pony grey coloured earth pony with a black moustache that covered his mouth entirely when he wasn’t speaking. His companion the porter, was a far younger white coated teenage pony with a rather untidy dark blonde mane, obviously new to his job judging by the fact that his shirt sleeves that poked out from under his waistcoat were rolled up above his elbows untidily. The prospect of having to travel with such a valuable load made him extremely nervous, but he just got on with making sure the load was secure without saying a word.

“Well” Moneybags gulped nervously “They’re all yours”

“Don’t look so worried mate, we’ll make sure they get to Canterlot without harm” he turned to the porter “Right, let’s get these doors closed”

Wrapping one of his hooves round a door handle he was about to slam the door to the box van shut when…

“Excuse me gentlecolts!” A slightly muffled voice called out.

Both the guard and Moneybags looked down the platform, shocked into disbelief at what they saw. Before them stood Whooves, carrying his suitcase in his mouth by the handle, wearing his signature white collar and green tie. Whooves set his suitcase gently down on the platform “This is the train for Canterlot, is it not?”

“We’re going to Canterlot” began the guard.

“Ah, good” Whooves replied, starting to bend down to pick up his case.

“But I’m afraid this isn’t a passenger train”

Whooves chuckled “I realise that. I don’t expect the usual comforts, just an odd corner. Wherever you can fit me in”

Glancing at the seconds ticking by on his pocket watch, Moneybags interrupted, speaking angrily to Whooves in an authoritative voice “This is a security shipment. Under no circumstances will you be allowed aboard!”

“Not even under these circumstances?” Whooves smiled, pulling out an envelope that he had folded up in his collar.

There was a small silence as Moneybags read through the letter, his expression changing from one of anger to one of disbelief as he read on.

“I-I don’t understand” he stuttered, glancing back through the letter again “How did you get this authorisation?”

“Will it suffice?”

“Just about…” Money bags showed it to one of the guards “It’s from Celestia herself”

The guard quickly read through the letter, impressed, before handing it back to Whooves, who folded it up and slipped it down behind his collar again.

“Well” Moneybags began “You’d best be going”

Whooves picked up his suitcase in his mouth and with a nod to Moneybags, stepped aboard the parcels van, setting his case down in an upright position on the bottom rack of a shelf unit on one side of the van as the heavy wooden doors were shut behind him.

The guards pulled down one of the windows of the van and leaned out, green flag and whistle in his forehooves, ready to signal the clear to go. Moneybags was still present on the platform, waiting to see the train depart himself. A mighty clunk from in front of the train caught both of their attentions, making them both turn their heads in time to see the signal arm bounce slightly as it settled into the ‘line clear’ position.

With a blow on his whistle and a wave of his flag, the guard got a deep blast on the diesel engines horn as a response from the driver. With a large growl of its engine, the train slowly began to move out of the platform.

“Good luck!” Moneybags called after the train as it began to pick up speed, getting a quick salute from the guard as a response before he ducked back into the carriage and pulled the window shut tight.

Moneybags waited on the platform till the train was out of sight and the signal arm had risen back into the ‘danger’ position. He plucked his pocket watch from his suit pocket and flicked open the lid. Realising it was far later in the morning than he thought it was he hurried from the platform. He was going to have to rush if he ever wanted to be on time.

Playing an Ace

Carrot Top was beginning to get comfortable inside her case. One of the blessings of being miniaturised was that the padding which was used in the case’s interior now felt even plusher under her hooves. Another blessing that Whooves had created for her was a small periscope that he had fitted to the suitcase, this, combined with the two way microphone set her and Whooves possessed, enabled her to keep up to speed with what was going on outside. Peering through its lens she could see Whooves, the Guard and the Porter all sat on packing crates, sat round a larger crate which they were using as a table.

The guard was casually shuffling a pack of cards “Care for a game yourself Whooves?”

Whooves was about to say yes when Carrot Tops voice came on over his earpiece, almost making him jump.

“If you even think about playing a game I think I might just plant a few more pear trees in your garden!” She was well aware of how bad Whooves track record of gambling was, having beat him herself a good few times.

Mentally terrified at this threat, Whooves reconsidered “Err, no… it appears I’ve got no bits on me”

The porter reached into his waistcoast pocket and produced a bag of small wooden scraps, which he tipped out on top of the large crate “Well, we usually play for matchsticks”

Carrot Top was about to open her mouth again, but Whooves jumped in before she could do so “Well in that case, I think I will participate” He threw a smug glance at the suitcase as he said it.

Back in Canterlot Octavia was alone in the throne room, studying the massive map of Canterlot, Trottingham and the surrounding areas. The railway line the train was travelling along had been marked out in red, and Octavia had used a varied selection of badges she owned to mark off the checkpoints the train had passed. She had planned to use more official looking pins to mark its progress, but in her rush to get to the castle that morning she’d left them behind at her apartment, so had to settle with the random array of she had attached to her saddlebag. Octavia intently studied the place names on the map, finding out all the places that she had visited herself, and all the places she wanted to visit.

Telephones were an unusual sight in Equestria. Mainly due to the fact that the magic that powered them was still a relatively new form, and as such had many teething problems. The local newspapers had already jumped onto the bandwagon of creating scare stories about ponies that had allegedly suffered side effects from using them.

Ring. Ring.

Octavia jumped as the phones ringing bell shattered the silence like a stone against a glass window.

“Oh no” fear began to set in a she saw the receiver vibrate from the ringing “What do I do?”

All the other times the phone had rang that morning the Princess had answered it, leaving Octavia to make notes of the message she’d received or mark off the trains progress with another badge. But now the princess had
She extended a hoof out to pick up the receiver flinching slightly as she though the phone could possibly shock her when she touched it.

“OK Octavia, you can do this. If fillies half your age can use one of these things with ease then surely you can!”

The phone rang menacingly again, crushing all the confidence she had just built up.

“Hello?!” she almost squeaked in panic as she pressed the receiver up to her ear.

There was stunned silence from the other end of the line “Umm, this is four…”

Octavia screamed, throwing down the receiver to the floor. Even more panic suddenly set in. What if she’d just broken the princess’ telephone? What if that meant she’d have ruined the whole operation? How she imagined the rest of her life suddenly flashed before her eyes. Her exile from Canterlot, living as a travelling pony, having to replace her beloved cello with a concertina. The thought of having to play such a lower class instrument terrified her.

She nervously approached the receiver, leaning her head down to the floor so she could try and hear any noise from it “Hello?”

“This is four. She’s just passed” The deadpan tones of a stallion spoke on the other end of the phone, before promptly hanging up.

Octavia lifted her head up and stared down at the receiver.

“I got myself worked up over that?”

A large clunk from the heavy throne room doors signalled the Princess’ return as Octavia placed the receiver back on the dialling unit.

“Any news on the train?” She asked, neglecting to mention she’d secretly been watching Octavia’s struggle with the phone through the gap in the doors for a few minutes previously.

“It’s just passed checkpoint four, Princess” Octavia said as she pinned a badge of a large tabby cat to the relevant position on the map.

“Good” Celestia smiled as she used her magic to bring a tea set into existence, complete with two china cups already filled with a delicious golden blend “Over halfway to Canterlot and no sign of the opposition”

Octavia picked up her china cup in her hooves, blowing the steam that was rising from it “Well, with checkpoints every ten miles, we should be safe now”

Fenman was rather surprised that when he’d gotten his cutie mark of a spoke railway wheel. Given that he was quite skilled with the ever expanding magic powered radio equipment that was becoming more common in Equestria he always expected to get one to do with that. He had one of his homemade devices besides him on Porter’s dining room table, a transmitter and receiver to keep in contact with other ponies who had the hand held speakers that corresponded to it. The array of switches and buttons on it completely stumped Porter, but he was amazed at how easily Fenman was able to work the machine and get a clear sound out of it.

“Thank you Cutler. Out”

Fenman flicked the off switch on the transmitting part of the machine before turning to the tatty and rather faded map of the surrounding railway lines he had spread out over the remaining space on the table. He picked up a little flag pin that was had been stuck into the a point along the main railway line, moving it further along the tracks before pinning it down again.

“That’s where the train is now, Porter”

Looking down at the map, Porter was starting to have some doubts about this whole scheme “This is all official, isn’t it Sir?”

Fenman “My dear Porter, I thought you’d be glad to have a train back at Stirrup Halt?”

“Well, I am Sir. But there hasn’t been a train up for over ten years. And back in my day the trains weren’t tracked with…”

Fenman cut in pointing a hoof down at the map “Well one’s coming now!”

Porter was now beginning to feel he might be right about his suspicions.

The guard placed a card down on the crate “Your turn Whooves”

“Now let me see…” Whooves pondered on which card to play.

Carrot Top was still looking out of the case through the periscope. Even more so now with the fact that with where the guard and the porter had decided to sit, she could clearly see their cards. She already spent the last few games shaking her head at Whooves attempts to win, only proving to her that the only thing he was good at with cards was building card towers on the desk of his study. Seeing that he was taking far to long to think about his move, she decided to give him a hand by talking to him over their earpiece connection.

“If you’ve got the Ace play that, neither the guard nor porter has got a king!”

Whooves looked across the van past the guard and the porter, shooting a look of slight anger at the suitcase “I wish you wouldn’t tell me what they’ve got in their hooves, Carrot Top!” He muttered a bit too loudly.

The porter looked up from the cards he held “Did you say something Whooves?”

“What me?” Whooves said, trying very badly to act surprised “I said nothing”

He reached into the cards he held, pulled out one and placed it down on the table. He smiled at the porter “Your move!”

The porter looked down at the card Whooves had just placed down and began grumbling to himself. It was the ace.

Fenman was quite envious of Porter for living inside the old station. One item that Porter noticed he seemed to be taking a keen interest in was the old waiting room clock, which hung proudly above the ticket window, still ticking the time out perfectly as if the station had never closed.

“You seem to have taken a liking to the station clock, if you don’t mind me saying so Sir” Porter said, trying to make conversation.

“Yes, it just amazes me how little the appearance of the station has changed since it closed” Fenman raised a forehoof to his chin, pondering “Tell me Porter, do you still have your uniform from when you worked on the line”

“It’s tucked away in the back of a cupboard Sir; I couldn’t bear to part with it”

“Well then, why don’t you go and change into it. It’d look more smart and formal for when the train finally arrives”

Porter suddenly seemed to be filled with all the excitement of a young pony, whatever suspicions he had were now completely erased by the though of wearing his old uniform again. Without saying a word he quickly darted into one of the side rooms and began rummaging.

Fenman smirked. He didn't think it would be that easy to get him out of the way. Now it was time to proceed with the next stage of the plan. He flicked the transmitter on and chose the correct strength of magic to broadcast at, looking back up at the time ticking by on the clock.

“Belle? You remember what you’ve got to do? Good. It’s Eight forty two…” He waited for the last few seconds to tick away on the waiting room clock “Now! Right Belle, on your way”

Southern Belle had been standing on a road bridge that spanned the railway line, making herself inconspicuous by having a camera and tripod set up besides her to take photographs of the steam trains as they passed through. Not that there was much need to make herself inconspicuous, the roads were deserted, and having a cutie mark that looked like an Equestrian steam train gave her a feasible excuse, for she’d earned it from photographing steam trains. Having received the signal from Fenman she picked up the tripod with one of her forehooves and carried it off the bridge, concealing it in some bushes at the verge of the country lane, along with her small transmitter receiver. Looking further down the line towards the Canterlot end she could see a small and rather lonely signal box in the distance. She began to trot at a steady pace towards it.

The pony in the signal box was used to long shifts that felt like an eternity. But being on one of the loneliest stretches of line guaranteed two things of which he was very happy. A lot of time to read his vast collection of books, and a good view from the great glass window that gave him a view of the line. Having set the signals for the next train to come through the signalpony was now proceeding to finish the last few lines of the chapter he was on whilst his tin kettle boiled on his small stove. BANG! Southern Belle threw the door to the signal box wide open, standing imposingly in the doorway.

“Here! I’m afraid you’re not allowed in here, madam” The signal pony was still trying to recover from the fact that he had almost been scared to death by her entrance.

Southern Belle simply reached into her saddlebag, removing a small jam jar. It’s contents were clearly obvious, a pair of Parasprites.

She gave him a smug look “This usually makes ponies change their minds”

“What are you doing” he raised his hooves above his head to surrender “What do you want”

“There’s a train due through here in two minutes. I want it stopped in the Bridleoak tunnel”

“That’s impossible” He knew this was a lie. The train would be so close to signal now that it would no doubt over run it and end up in the tunnel “I can’t…”

Belle gave out a sarcastic sigh, reaching with her other forehoof she twisted the lid to the jar slightly open, causing the signalpony to sharply breathe in through gritted teeth. Seeing that she had him figuratively wrapped round her hoof with the threat of destroying his signal box, she spoke to him slyly again, brushing her long, chocolate brown tail under his chin.

“Do it”

Realising that there was definitely no way to get out of this situation, the signal pony walked over to his lever frame and simply pulled back on one of the levers. The signal just outside his window dropped from the all clear signal to danger. Due to the box and signal being located on a bend, he knew there was no way the driver would be able to stop in time for it with the speed he was certain he’d be going.

Inside the parcels van, Whooves was rather pleased with his large amount of matchsticks he’d acquired. He was just about to place down another card when…

“Hang on” The guard began.

“Look” Whooves sighed “It’s pretty obvious I don’t have any sleeves to conceal any cards up”

“No” the guard continued “Just listen to the sound of the train”

All three listened to the steady rhythm of the train rolling along that tracks. Clickety clack, clickety clack, clickety clack. Whooves suddenly noticed that the gap of silence in-between the clickety clacks was getting longer and longer.

“Are we slowing down?” He asked.

The guard nodded “And were miles from any station at this point on the line”

Whooves threw a nervous glance towards the suitcase on the luggage rack, which Carrot Top noticed all to well through her periscope.

“Good work Belle, Cutler’s flying above the line and by my calculations should be there shortly to pick you up. You two had better get back here as fast as you can. Out”

Fenman switched off the transmitter, unpinning the flag off the map of the railway line and placing it further down the line on top of the icon for the tunnel. He turned back to his transmitter and began switching it to a different strength of magic, eventually getting the right setting.

“This is the station to leader. The train will stop in the Bridleoak tunnel, as arranged”

The Bridleoak tunnel was located on one of the loneliest parts of the line. Since the Equestrian Railway Board had made reductions in its line side staff heavy shrubbery and vines had covered the red brick tunnel entrance, causing it to blend in with the surroundings more. The result being that the tunnel now looked like a gaping black hole into the earth.

Inside, the tunnel its condition was no better. Thick soot and ashes caked the walls, falling off in clumps from the slightest disturbance and mixing in with the air. It most certainly wasn’t a place that ponies would casually visit, which made it the ideal hiding place for its single occupant. Having hastily tied a handkerchief round their muzzle to keep out the work of the soot and ash, the figure had walked through the tunnel by the light of an old oil lamp until they came to the emergency point levers. The levers themselves operated a set of points concealed within the tunnel itself, for halfway through the single track of the closed Stirrup line branched off the mainline, running into its own separate tunnel and turning sharply to the right. The separate tunnel had been boarded up when the line closed, but fresh marks and a stack of planks at the side of the tunnel showed the figure had been hard at work putting their plan into action. Even though they were the leader of the whole operation, he still wanted to carry out the main hijacking himself.

Having received the message from Fenman that the train was fast approaching minutes ago, he’d taken up his position at the side of the line, waiting for the prey to fall right into the trap. The deep growl of the approaching train entering the tunnel woke him from his drowsy state, and he stood up, putting hooves on the lever for when the train passed so he could switch the points and then reverse it back up the branch. But it never did. Having just overshot a danger signal, the driver had instantly put on the brakes, bringing it to a stop further up the tunnel.

Walking back up the track towards the train, the figure stepped into the hazy light beaming from the engines lamps. It was Moneybags.

Author's Note

It's funny, but only this week did I find out there's actually an American 'Southern Belle' express service. But still, the character of Southern Belle is named after the english express service which ran between London and Brighton. As such, part of me imagines her cutie mark resembling that of a LBSCR Atlantic Engine

Going to Plan

Cutler was soaring through the clouds at full speed. Wearing a harness designed for carrying a single pony, he’d picked up Southern Belle from just outside the signal box and both were now well on their way to meet up with Moneybags in the bridle oak tunnel.

“There’s the tunnel down there! Look” Southern Belle called out over the rushing wind.

Cutler said nothing, but just nodded in approval, angling his wings so he could make a quick spiral decent towards the tunnel mouth. They were within 200ft of their target when both of them suddenly noticed the forms of three Royal guards, one of which could be easily Identified as a captain with his purple armour, walking along the tracks towards the entrance.

Instantly realising that if they landed they would be caught, Cutler pulled up sharply, winding Southern Belle as the force of the wind hit her. The two of them glided straight over the top of the tunnel, Cutler’s plan being to simply gain access using the other entrance, but when they glided over the southern entrance they could see two more guards down below, using their magic to illuminate their horns before entering the tunnel. Re-plotting his decent with precision once again, Cutler gently dropped from the sky, landing an eighth of a mile from the southern tunnel entrance. Unfortunately due to the how tight the harness needed to be when they flew, when they touched down Cutler ended up in a position mounting Southern Belle’s back, so they both leaned back on their hind legs, Cutler further leaning against a nearby oak tree, to make the situation far less awkward.

Belle moved her flying goggles up onto her forehead and removed her small receiver from a small pouch at the front of the harness, clicking it into the ‘on’ position “S.B to Leader”

Moneybag’s voice crackled back through the speaker “What is it Belle, you should be here by now”

“We’ve run into a slight problem. There are royal guards converging on the tunnel from both entrances, there’s no chance of us getting in”

“Right” there was a slight pause as Moneybags considered what options were available “You and Cutler fly along the route of the old line to the rendezvous point. We’ll meet there. Out”

With a click, Belle slipped the receiver back into the small pouch on her harness.

“Ready?” Cutler asked. He knew Belle had never liked how tight the harness had to cling to her coat, often remarking on how overweight she felt is made her look whenever they’d tested it.

Southern Belle pulled her goggles back over her eyes “As ready as I’ll ever be”

The both stood up in unison, Cutler gently mounting himself on Southern Belle’s back. With a few strong sweeps of his wings they’d both left the ground and were heading in an easterly direction, following the blocked up brick ventilation shafts that marked where the disused branch line spurred off the main line inside the Bridleoak tunnel.

The two royal guards who’d entered through the south tunnel entrance were now walking through the gloom, illuminating their way by the light of their horns. The silence was incredibly eerie, punctuated every now and then with drops of water falling from the tunnel roof and hitting the ground below. It was this atmosphere that was unnerving one of the guards.

“What was that?” he turned round quickly at the sound of rolling stones behind him.

“Ballast” Replied the other Guard calmly, obviously rather disgruntled at being stuck with such a nervous member of the royal guard.

“What?”

“Small stones piled up around the track to hold it in place, you’ve probably just caused some them to unsettle under the weight of your hooves”

The two had hardly progressed any further when three sharp, bright lights appeared in front of them, approaching them quickly. The sound of the ballast ahead shifting up and down as they quickly approached became more and more audible.

The nervous guard immediately panicked, shouting over the noise “What the? B-b-but you said another train wasn't due through here for another two hours!”

He immediately jumped into one of the many workers’ holes that lined the tunnel walls and ducking down on the floor, shutting his eyes tight and sticking his hooves in his ears to drown out the noise. He stayed in that position for what he felt was an eternity, before slowly opening his eyes. Four sets of hooves were now stood right before him. Looking up nervously he found the imposing figure of Captain Shining Armour staring down at him, along with two more guards besides him, both out of breath from having just charged through the tunnel.

All five grouped together around the workers’ hole.

“I take it you haven’t found the train?” Shining Armour asked.

“No” Replied the nervous guard “And I take it you haven’t either?”

Shining Armour shook his head.

“Well” The guard paused slightly “This is awkward”

None of them paid any attention to the hastily re-boarded branch line tunnel portal beside them.

Since her unfortunate encounter earlier Octavia had been practising using the phone in-between marking the progress of the train on the map. She and Celestia were finishing yet another cup of tea when the telephone started ringing again. Feeling her blood suddenly boil with fright, Octavia nervously glanced at Celestia, who gave her an approving nod. Realising that this was a suggestion that she should answer the phone, Octavia took a couple of deep breaths before clenching the receiver in her forehoof and lifting it to her face, beaming with delight at how far she’d progressed.

Octavia’s expression slowly turned from one of delight to one of horror as the voice of one of Celestia’s agents spoke to her down the line “You’re certain? Yes….yes, right. Goodbye”

Octavia nervously put the receiver back on the handset, terrified that she was the one who would have to relay such bad news.

“Well?” Celestia asked, raising an eyebrow.

Octavia nervously turned round to face her, slightly shaking with fear “Well, Princess, it appears the train has…vanished…”

The silence was tremendous, and only caused Octavia to become even more nervous.

“Vanished?” Celestia deadpanned.

“Y-Y-Yes, it started to slow down, entered the Bridleoak Tunnel, and…er…didn’t come out the other end!”

Celestia silently walked over to the map of the train route, using her magic to pin one of Octavia’s many badges to the icon that signalled the Bridleoak Tunnel “I see…”

Octavia began to panic even more with how calmly the princess was acting, causing her voice to become more and more higher pitched as she spoke “Now Princess, before you banish me from the castle, I’d just…”

“Banish you from the castle? Octavia, why should I do that?”

“Well, the train, it’s…”

Celestia raised a hoof; causing Octavia to be silent immediately “The hijackers may find the contents of that train more than they bargained for”

Octavia held her head in her hooves “B-B-but…” she sighed “…I’m confused”

“You’re obviously overworked Octavia” Celestia smiled.

“Just a bit” Octavia slightly chuckled, thinking back at how hectic her past week had been.

“Don’t worry” Celestia’s horn glowed as her yellow magic aura took possession of Octavia, causing her eyelids to slowly flicker shut and send her into a light sleep “Everypony needs rest sometimes”

Using her magic to bring a large, plush cushion into existence she levitated Octavia on top of it, recoiling her magic from around her to leave her to rest. Certain that she was completely at rest Celestia walked over to one of the stone pillars that lined the walls of the throne room, gently pressing a brick at head height with a hoof, causing it to spring open like a door, revealing a secret compartment inside. Inside the compartment was a simple pre-set receiver system with a small screen above the speaker. She flicked the switch by the receiver and spoke clearly as it began to contact its recipient.

“Canterlot Castle to Carrot Top”

The image of Carrot Top sat in the suitcase flickered on screen “Go ahead Canterlot Castle”

The tunnel entrance that brought the railway tracks out onto the Stirrup branch line was totally overgrown. Since the lines closure mud and soil had washed down the banks of the cutting due to heavy rainfall, and thick weeds and bushes had grown all around the portal, nopony would have known it was there if it wasn’t for the railway track mysteriously disappearing into the undergrowth.

The silence of the countryside was slowly killed as the distant grumble of the diesel engine became more audible from the tunnel. Slowly the mound of foliage in front of the tunnel bulged, soon breaking apart under the stress as the parcels van slowly rolled out of the tunnel mouth, being pushed up the line by the diesel engine. Having overcome the obstacle of nature, Moneybags leaned out of one of the cabs windows in order to get a view of the line. On the floor besides him was the unconscious body of the driver, his hooves bound together behind his back, along with a gag tightly round his mouth. As per his plan, Moneybags had taken his jacket and hat before he'd tied him up and put them on himself, swapping them for his more formal attire.

The tired and worn track creaked and groaned with every inch the train progressed along the branch line.

Whooves was sat on one of the packing crates in the parcels van, his forehooves clasped tightly in front of his muzzle, eyes closed, deep in concentration. In reality, he was listening the voice of Carrot Top over his ear piece, keeping him up to speed with all the events that had unfolded outside that she had been made aware of through her earpiece.

“Yes, the situation is clear to me. Yes, yes, I understand…goodbye” He opened his eyes and looked towards his two travelling companions “Well, it would appear the train has been hijacked”

“I knew it” The Guard was collecting all his playing cards and putting them back in their packet “I can tell from the sound of the rails that we aren’t on the main line. But, er, you seemed to be talking to someone Whooves?”

Whooves simply smiled “A voice from afar…”

“I see…” watching Whooves close his eyes and concentrate once more the Guard leaned over to the Porter and whispered “Better keep a close eye on him” he tapped his head with one of his hooves.

Whooves couldn’t help but smirk from behind his clasped hooves.

Having changed into his old regulation uniform, Porter bounded onto the dilapidated platform with a spring in his step like that of a stallion half his age. His deep blue jacket surprisingly still fitted him, even hanging off him in a few places where he’d thinned out over the years, as did his shirt and tie, though he’d neglected to press them with how little time there was, instead spending what little time he had polishing the brass crest of the Equestrian Railways board that adorned his hat, which not sat prominently on his head. He held two flags, red and green, under one of his forelegs.

“I knew this day had to come, Mr fenman!” He said with glee for the umpteenth time “I knew the Railways Board wouldn’t forget Stirrup Halt!”

“Yes, yes, Porter” Fenman glanced at his watch “The train will be here any minute. Now, remember just to do exactly as I told you”

“You can rely on me, Mr fenman” Porter saluted him.

Fenman turned away from Porter, silently raising a hoof to one of the inside pockets of his jacket, instantly recognising the shape of a pistol at a hoofs touch. He breathed a small sigh of relief at having remembered to conceal it.

The deep toned horn of the diesel engine broke Fenman’s concentration, causing him to spin round in time just to see it coming in to the platform, parcel van first, with Moneybags leaning out of the driver’s cab window. Porter ran up the edge of the platform, holding his red flag aloft with one of his forehooves and extending the red fabric with his other one due to the lack of wind as with a gentle purr the engine was smoothly brought to a halt.

Porter quickly rolled up his flag and put it aside on one of the rotting platform benches, before turning back to the train, calling out “Stirrup Halt! Stirrup Halt!”

Moneybags stepped out of the engines’ cab, shaking his head in a silent pity at the sight of Porter in his old uniform before making his way over to Fenman.

“What’s going on?” Fenman asked with a slight hint of panic “Where are Cutler and Belle?”

Moneybag’s removed the driver’s hat from his head, it was an uncomfortable size to small “There was a change of plan at the Bridleoak tunnel; the royal guards were more quick on our heels than we anticipated. But they’ll be here, don’t worry”

The Guard walked over to a small cabinet on one of the walls of the parcels van, opening it up and taking out two thick truncheons, handing the second one over to the porter “Alright. As soon as they open the doors let them have it” He thumped his truncheon into one of his forehooves, trying to emphasise his point.

Whooves stepped in “Gentlecolts, please. It’s almost certain they’ll also have a means of harming us. Let us avoid violence, allow me to handle the situation” He held out his forehooves, and grudgingly, the two guards handed over their truncheons.

Porter was amazed at the sight of Cutler and Southern Belle coming in smoothly to land on the platform, Moneybags and fenman remained unfazed by the procedure as both ponies landed with a slightly audible thump of their hooves on the stone paving slabs, just shy of the station building’s wooden canopy.

Moneybags leant over to Fenman, making sure Porter was out of earshot “Is the cart ready to move in?”

“It’s on its way” Cutler replied, having overheard their conversation whilst unclipping Southern Belle’s part of the two pony harness away from his “We saw it not so far off when we flew over”

“Alright then” Moneybags eyes seemed to glow with madness “Open her up”

Fenman reached into his jacket pocket and produced his small pistol, ready for a possible brawl as Southern Belle moved to the door and lifted up the heavy steel catch on the door, then with the help of Cutler she slid back one of the doors, revealing the figure of Whooves stood impressively in the doorway.

“Good morning” He beamed cheerily, acting as if he was in no danger whatsoever.

“Who’s this, Moneybags?” Fenman asked, totally bewildered by Whooves sudden presence.

“Ah, I’d forgotten about him” Moneybags grumbled through gritted teeth.

“Ah, Mr Moneybags” Whooves casually stepped out of the parcels van, brushing past Fenman’s pistol as if it wasn’t there “You’re looking a little peeky today, but then you have a lot on your mind. I never suspected that you were the ‘inside colt’ as they say. I’d assumed we’d left you back in Trotting…”

Moneybags quickly interrupted him, turning to Fenman “Alright, take them all into the station…”

“All change! All change!”

They all turned their heads to look at Porter, still completely oblivious to the present situation.

Moneybags turned back to Fenman “…and take that idiot Porter in there as well!”

“Gladly, Porter!” Fenman called out.

Porter immediately stopped trying to move a rusted old porters trolley towards the train and hurried over to him “Yes, Mr Fenman?”

“It would appear we have some stowaways” Fenman indicated Whooves and the two railway officials with his pistol.

“Now just hang on a minute…” The guard began, but Fenman interrupted him.

“Be so kind as to take them into the building would you? I hear the royals guards are currently on the look out for these three in particular”

From inside the suitcase, Carrot Top watched out of the small periscope as Whooves, the guard and the porter were lead away at gunpoint to the station building.

Author's Note

An awful lot of stalling, rewriting, and several listenings to the theme for "Double Rainboom" later, here we are!

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go and write that 2000 word University Essay I was supposed to be writing.

More Than They Bargained For

In the waiting room, Whooves fidgeted his forehooves in the ropes tying him to the backrest of a chair, desperately trying to slacken them without drawing attention to himself. Beside him were the Guard and Porter from the train, both with their forehooves tied up behind their backs like himself, except the two unfortunately had to endure the pain of being tightly gagged, administered to them when they were both taken to the waiting room under a rather audible protest, which Moneybags feared may be heard in the village only a quarter of a mile a way down the hill. Being a much smaller build and more compliant than his companions, the hijackers didn’t bother with Whooves. The body of the driver lay on the floor before then, still unconscious from being attacked by Moneybags.

Fenman had just finished tightening the bonds of the Guard some more, causing him to wince out in pain as the rope began to dig into his hooves.

“That should do it” Moneybags noted, turning towards the open door “Belle? Where’s the cart?”

Belle poked her head round the door, holding onto the frame to remain upright “According to Cutler it should be here in five minutes”

Moneybags grinned “Perfect timing. Right, let’s go and check the loo…err” he stumbled as he tried to correct himself “…shipment”

Whooves tried to contain himself from Moneybags almost revealing his true intentions to Porter.

“Right, Porter” Fenman handed him a truncheon “Keep an eye on them”

Porter gave a very militaristic salute “You can rely on me, Mr Fenman”

Watching Fenman stroll out onto the platform, Porter sat himself down in his favourite armchair, opposite the three stallions that he thought had committed hideous crimes. His eyes narrowed in disgust as he glared at each of them individually.

“Clumsy…” Whooves whispered, unsure as to whether one of the gang members was stood directly outside the door, thus overhearing him.

“Porter’s the name” he made a point of quickly correcting him, marking his authority “Mr Porter”

“Ah yes. Well, Mr Porter…” Whooves began to correct himself, speaking more naturally now.

“Just you sit quiet” Porter grumbled, pointing his truncheon at Whooves “The railway police will take care of the likes of you!”

“Quite so” He glanced around the waiting room, taking note of how well Porters personal possessions blended in with the majority of the railway architecture and finishing’s he’d managed to restore “You obviously have the good of the railway at heart”

“Forty Five years. Never missed a day” Porter deadpanned.

“Exactly, but I must explain that you are a victim of deception”

The two stallions locked eyes, sending the room into an eerie silence. The Guard and the Porter exchanged a nervous glance with each other as they awaited a response.

“Deception?” Porter spoke out at last, raising a quizzical eyebrow.

“I have a note concealed behind my collar if you will care to have a look at it” Whooves tried to indicate where with his head, which ended up being a lot harder than he’d first thought it would be.

Moneybags, Cutler, Fenman, and Southern Belle were all sat on the crates of golden bits in the parcels van, all deciding to take a quick break from their hard mornings work.

“As soon as the cart arrives we’ll load the bits” Moneybags said to them all, making sure they all understood how precise they needed to be.

“It’s working like a charm” Fenman smirked, picking up the deck of cards left over on one of the crates from earlier, shuffling them in hooves.

On the luggage rack in the van, Carrot Top peered in closer at them through her periscope in the suitcase.

Porter’s jaw dropped for the second time in twenty four hours as he read the words contained in Whooves note. Awestruck, he had to sit back down in his chair and read through each word again slowly and then again with his reading glasses on, just to make sure he wasn’t reading it wrong.

“B-But this is signed by…” he was about to say.

“Exactly” Whooves interrupted him, feeling time was of the essence “The highest in the land!”

Porter now had a greater respect for Whooves, looking at him wide eyed in wonderment “Alright, I guess I’m in your hooves now. What do you want me to do?”

“Well first things first” Whooves gave another pointless tugs at the ropes “Release me from these bonds”

Having dealt out the cards equally among themselves, the hijackers were now engrossed in their game. Or at least they would have been had it not been for the interruption from one of Fenman’s pocket receivers.

“Right” Fenman put the receiver down, having finished his conversation. He turned to Moneybags “The stallions with the cart are a mile down the road”

Frantically, Carrot Top pulled back from the periscope, grabbing the small microphone which hung from a wire in front of her, almost shouting into it “Whooves! The rest of the gang will be here any minute”

Porter had just quietly stepped out onto the platform, leaving Whooves alone in the waiting room, he raised his head skyward as he heard Carrot Tops voice over his earpiece

“I understand” he looked down towards the Guard, Porter and Driver, still all bound and gagged “Now, we’ll get help as soon as we can, just stay where you are!”

The Guard scowled at him for such a remark as Whooves stepped out onto the platform and turned to Porter “Now, Mr Porter, can you drive this train?”

The look in his eyes immediately told Whooves that Porter was relishing the chance to relive his working days “After forty five years, it’ll be an honour”

“Good. Make your way to the front of the engine, I’ll join you there” he waited until Porter had walked out of earshot “Because there are other matters I want to attend to first!”

Walking closely along the platform edge towards the parcels van, he stopped dead just outside the open doorway. Realising he’d only get one chance to take a look inside, he pressed himself up against the exterior of the van, so as not to cause to greater shadow from the morning sun on the platform outside. Slowly he peeked an eye round the door, looking at all four ponies, heavily engrossed in their card game. They were so engrossed in fact that Whooves decided to casually stick his whole head round the door, even going as far as to pull an array of funny expressions at the criminals.

“WHOOVES!!!”

The voice of Carrot Top shouting through his earpiece caused him to almost have a heart attack, and he quickly pressed himself up against the parcel van’s exterior to avoid jumping out in front of the villains. He took a few seconds to get his breath back and get over the shock.

“Don’t you ever do that again!” he whispered into his own microphone through gritted teeth.

“Well, don’t you ever almost blow the whole operation that stupidly ever again!” Carrot Top retorted.

Whooves held his head in his hooves and let out a small sigh “Look Carrot Top, I need you to create a diversion that’ll most certainly keep Moneybags and his crew inside the carriage”

“Well, what do you suggest?” Her tone of voice suggested to Whooves that Carrot Top clearly hadn’t planned ahead for his mad idea of a plan.

Whooves voice began to rise in pitch with his sense of panic as he noticed a cart not to far down the road from the station “I don’t know, ad lib! Be bold, be daring! Be sexy!”

“What?!”

“I-I didn’t mean that, you know I get my words muddled when I panic!”

Carrot Top scoffed “So it’s a suggestive diversion you want?”

“I don’t know!” Whooves voice almost cracked from how much was trying to shout a whisper “Just do something!”

Realising there was very little time left, Carrot Top sighed heavily as she switched her microphone to the loud speaker contained in the suitcases’ lid.

“…Moneybags…” Carrot Top’s seductive voice filled the silence of the Parcels Van.

Southern Belle looked up from her cards to find the others all staring dumbfounded at her.

“Hey! Don’t look at me like that!” She almost threw her cards at them “I may be the only mare here but what makes you think I’d talk to Moneybags in that way?!”

Moneybags rolled his eyes “Charming!”

“Moneybags….over here Moneybags….” Carrot Tops voice once again became audible. She felt like she could slap herself across the face with how silly she sounded.

Outside, Whooves slowly looked round the door again, noticing the group all now gathered round Carrot Top’s suitcase on the luggage rack.

“It’s coming from that case” Fenman pointed quizzically.

“Prize the lock open!” Moneybags ordered.

Fenman picked up the case in his forehooves, shaking it slightly, causing Carrot Top to scream in fear for her life inside as she was thrown about.

“Well there’s certainly something in it!” he concluded.

Seeing this was his chance Whooves quickly stood up on his hind legs, pressing his forehooves against the van door and sliding it across. Suddenley realising what was happening the group reacted almost immediately.

“The door!” fenman called out, dropping the suitcase in horror with a heavy thud.

Carrot Top had never been more thankful for the padded interior of the case. Cutler dived across the carriage the try and get a hoof in the doorway, but he was to late. Whooves slammed it shut with a resounding thud.

Cutler got up from off the floor “It must be that old fool Porter. I told you we should have tied him up with the others Fenman!”

Moneybags raised a hoof “I don’t know what you’re panicking for. He hasn’t locked the door, we can easily get out”

A heavy click of the lock proved that Whooves had thought of this beforehand.

“Ok” Moneybags inhaled deeply “It looks like we should panic then!”

Spotting the cart not to far off now, Whooves darted into the diesel engines front cab, where he found Porter amusing himself by swivelling in one of the drivers chairs.

“Very plush!” Porter remarked, overwhelmed with how modern the interior looked “And look, they’ve even created a foot rest for me!” he said as he swivelled his chair into a forward position, placing his hind whooves on a small metal plate below the control panel.

“Yes, very nice” Whooves quickly sat in the chair besides him “But we must be on our way before the rest of the gang arrive”

Porter looked at the array of controls before him “Err… right then”

Gingerly he hovered his hoof over several of the buttons, taking a random stab at one of them. The deep toned horn of the engine blasted out over the structure of Stirrup Halt, causing Porter to jump. Whooves was certain he heard a window shatter from the sound waves. Quickly pulling his hoof back, Porter tried to keep his cool and placed his hoof on one of the thick handled levers, slowly clicking it forward a few notches. With a low growl of the engine the train started to glide out of Stirrup Halt and back up the branch towards the mainline.

The two stallions pulling the cart towards the station were stumped to suddenly realise the train was moving out of the station towards them. Assuming it was going to stop besides them they were even more stumped when it carried on down the line.

One of them grabbed a small receiver of Fenman’s that he’d attached to the side of the cart “Getaway to Fenman! What in the name of sweet Celestia of Equestria’s going on!”

Inside the van, Southern Belle had managed to find a small metal file lurking on the luggage rack and was now trying to see if she could break the lock on the door by wedging it between the van wall and door. She was more hopeful when she heard the getaway stallions over fenman’s receiver.

Fenman picked up his receiver “Getaway from Fenman. We’re trapped in the Parcels Van. There’s a level crossing just down the line. Get to it first and stop this train!”

Not wasting time, the two getaway stallions quickly turned the cart around and broke out into a fierce gallop after the train.

Author's Note

Originally this chapter was far to serious for my liking, hence the introduction of Carrot Top's seductive voice!

Do I regret adding it in? Not one bit!