So...how should I start? thought Shield. Well, since his horn was what made him unique from a few of the other ponies, maybe that was how he used magic. He waved his horn at the curtains, hoping something would happen. He felt thoroughly ridiculous. Okay, so maybe I have to think or say something... He did the same thing again, and said, "Move, er...things covering that hole!" Nothing. Grrrrr... looks like his theory needed some work. He paced around. Maybe he was wrong about the horn being the magic channel? No, no...that felt right. Perhaps he just needed to try more. He waved his horn at the curtain several more times, but to no avail. Okay, that's it, he though. He pointed one hoof at the offending piece of tapestry and willed it to move. Not just to move, but to move very fast. A sudden glow, emanating from his forehead, lit the otherwise dim room (all the curtains are closed), surprising him. Suddenly the curtain ripped from its support above the window and flew at him, covering his head. The metal bar it had hung upon was flung across the train car, clattering loudly against the opposing wall.
As Haze stared out the window, the tunnel crept nearer and nearer, until it began to zoom over them. Suddenly, everything outside the train became dark, as they clearly were going through the tunnel in the hill. The change from the beautiful yet strange green place to this dark clammy tunnel was quite astonishing to Haze, but she wasn't scared. She quite liked the dark, and besides, the lights were on in here. side the cabin, there was next to no difference apart from it seemed more echo-y- the sound of the train seemed amplified with the window opened. Haze shut it, and continued to look out the window. Suddenly, there was a ripping sound, as the curtain around the window suddenly was torn off, and flew across the room. Now, this did shock Haze, and she ducked out the way, as it zoomed past her. As she swung round to see what was happening, she saw Sheild stumbling around with the curtain on his head. He's in trouble, I've gotta save him! Haze flapped her wings, and propelled herself towards then stallion, whipping the curtain off his head. "Are you okay?!"
A bit disoriented, Shield blinked a few times. He saw Haze in front of him, a look of concern on her face. The curtain that had been on his head was in her mouth. "Are you okay?!" She asked. Shield looked at the floor, blushing. Not only had his attempts ended disasterously, but somepony else had witnessed it! How embarrasing! Blushing, he mumbled, "Uh, yeah. I'm fine."
"Really smooth, Sheild", Haze jokingly said, with a smile on her face As the light began to shine into the cabin again, Haze Hasted to the window she'd been at before, to see more of the wondrous world that stretched around them. They seemed quite high, and were slowly descending down a cliff. Below, they saw a cute little town, with a river going through it. It had windmills and farms around it. It was quite large, consisting of many small houses in which the residents may have lived. However, nopony was around the area- There was no sign of life. "This place... Is creepy. I'm unsure about this", Haze said as the train spluttered on, on it's journey to Ponyville. ((THIS TRIP IS VERY VERY EXCITING. Where are ya, everypony!!? Looks like it's just you and me, Shied. Let us venture onwards, to victory!))
(Looks like I'll take charge until Naturematthe makes a reappearance...okay...here goes...) Suddenly, they started to slow down as they entered yet another tunnel. "Er...what's happening?" asked Shield. He trotted towards the front of the train, remembering his theory on how the steamy thing made the train move. He opened the door to a pony frantically searching the room for something. "Uh...what're you doing?" "Huh?! Oh, it's just one of you guys." The pony seemed very nervous and anxious. "Um, well, we seem to have run out of coal." (DUN DUN DUUUUUUUN!!!) (Oh yeah, and could anypony who's still active on here tell me in a PM what their Cutie Mark and Special Talent is going to be? I haven't been able to get ahold of Nature for a few days now, by Skype or anything, and I forgot to ask him what everypony's marks were. Thanks!)
OT: Yay, I've been ninja'd by not even 10 hours xD But that's what you're here for, legionbrony. Good job. Note Sheet noticed that the train they were sitting in suddenly had become slower. He guessed that they were about to reach their destination soon, so he looked out of the part of the wall that wasn't blocking his sight. Or did it? When he looked outside there was a wall. Just a dark wall. No buildings, no plants, no other ponies. Strange... Note Sheet decided to get to the bottom of things and went to the next waggon in the direction they had been moving. The waggon he entered didn't look very different from the one he just had left, so he followed his way until he found a different one. He saw Shining Shield talking to an other pony. "...Um, well, we seem to have run out of coal", the pony said when Note Sheet entered They had run out of coal? "So... You need coals to make the train move, I guess? How do you get new ones?", he asked. "Normally we just would have gotten new ones in Canterlot, but due to everypony getting weaker and weaker, we do not have much any more. I hoped the coals would be enough for our way to Ponyville, but... Now we're standing here. Luckily we're the only train on this track, so we don't have to worry about an other train hitting us. But still... I'm afraid you'll have to walk the rest of the way. It's dangerous, so please be careful." The pony opened a box nearby and took out a big sheet of paper. "This is a map of Ponyville and Canterlot. We're here." He pointed to a point on the map. "The safest way is this one. It will take many hours, but I'm sure you'll find it easily. As far as I know, you're able to read maps." "But...", Note Sheet started. "Can't you show us the way?" "I'm sorry, but somepony has to stay here and watch the train..." Note Sheet turned around and faced Shining Shield. "So... I guess we'll have to tell everypony what's the matter. But still... I've got a bad feeling about this..."
Dark Shine walked into the cart to see an upset looking Note Sheet. "Is something disturbing you?" He had a serious look on his face, as though saying, please be honest with me.
Cherry Berry tried to keep har balance as the train came to a full stop, and actually succeeded. Confused, she looked around to see what the other ponies were doing and noticed that Note Sheet had left. She left her seat and walked toward the front of the train where she found him (Note Sheet), Dark Shine, and another pony looking at a sheet of paper. As she got closer, she noticed that the paper seemed to have pictures drawn on it, but it mostly consisted of squiggly lines. If she tilted her head just right, it sort of looked like the first picture that she drew on the window. The circles with the curved line underneath. "Hey, what's that?" she asked, pointing at the paper.
"It's a 'map'," said Shield. "I think it's just a picture of where we are, except it's like you're way up above it." Shield picked up the map, and then looked out the window. Oh. Right. They were inside a mountain. "Er...right?" he asked the pony in charge of running the train. "That's a good way to think of it," said the pony. "Well, I wish you all good luck in getting to Ponyville! I'm terribly sorry about all of this..." He started to turn around, and then seemed to remember something else. "Oh, and watch out for Diamond Dogs! They are really common in these parts, and they aren't afraid to attack traveling ponies!"
Zephyr slowly opened his eyes as sleep faded from his body. He sat there in the silence of the dark for a moment before feverishly waving a hoof in front of his face in despair. A grim look draped over his face and his eyes displayed a harrowing look of horror. 'Oh god, what is this. What is this. WHAT IS THIS?! Am I blind? How did I go blind?! WHAT DID I MISS?!' his thoughts echoed through his mind. He got up out of his seat and attempted to walk around and feel for his surroundings. His legs had a powerful feeling to them, they no longer felt restrained by some invisible force that held him back. That nap he had must've restored full feeling to his limbs, and such a fact was affirmed when he tripped over some loose carpet and slammed down onto it knee. A violent surge of pain shot up his leg and he let out a small burst of screaming before gritting his teeth. He sat there for a moment, coping with the pain when his eyes began to fully adjust to the darkness of the tunnel. He was able to recognize vague patterns sewn into the carpet of the train and gave an enormous sigh of relief. He may have been in extraordinary pain, but at least he had his eyesight. Stumbling to his hoof and wincing in pain, he noticed that the train had stopped moving and in a fit of curiosity and more panic, he called out to the others. "Hey guys? Guys? Where'd you all go? Oh dammit, don't tell me they abandoned me already. Guys? Hello?!"
Shield heard frantic shouting from one of the train cars behind him. "Er...I guess I'd better go...check that out?" he said hesitantly. Leaving the others with the map, he wandered back into the train, which had been plunged into darkness; the only reason they had been able to see in the engine room had been the dying glow of the burning coal -- the door to the furnace had been left open. Taking each step carefully, he forayed into the blackness. Suddenly he tripped over something, and smacked his snout on the floor. "OW!" he said, rubbing his nose. "What...? Oh, hello." He managed to disentangle himself from Zephyr, and stood up, shaking his mane back into its natural position.
Cherry followed Shield into the darkness and soon almost bumped into him as he was regaining his own footing. She wondered if it was normal for ponies to fall as much as he did. She thought maybe not, since the others hadn't tumbled as often as he had. The voice in her head answered her in its typically cynical tone: He's such a clutz. He'll probably get eaten by a Diamond Dog. It's okay though since he probably doesn't like you. You're better off that way. "Augh!" Cherry shook her head violently, then hit it a few times with her hoof. She whispered to herself, "Quiet!" Hoping nopony heard or saw her outburst in the dark, she chirped, "Are you okay you two?"
"Augh! Quiet! ...Are you okay you two?" "Yeah, I'm fine," said Shield. "Er...why do we need to be quiet?" he asked Cherry, confused. "It's not like we're bothering anypony...unless we were bothering you," he said quickly. "Oh...sorry...I'll be quiet..." There was just enough light for Cherry to see him look at his hooves and blush, embarrased that he had continued talking when he thought she'd asked for silence.
Cherry took a frightened step back. "Oh, no! No! I wasn't telling you to be quiet! Really! I really wasn't... I was telling...um...um..." Me? Tell 'em. They'll think you're bonkers. Then they really won't like you. After letting her statement trail off, she hung her head. "I'm sorry... I wasn't yelling at you..."
Shield looked up and gave her a little smile, his cheeks still pink from his fading embarrasment. "Well, no, you weren't. You weren't yelling at all. It was more of a whispering." As he fumbled around in the darkness, trying to get around Zephyr, he continued to talk. He could see that something was bothering her, so he tried to change the subject, hoping it would cheer her up. "Hey, let's get back to the front of the train. Maybe the others have something figured out by now." He carefully padded his way back toward the engine room.
(It hasn't. I just guess our group has become a little bit smaller than before...) Post will be added
