CHAPTER 3

I'm back, everypony. As promised, I got chapter three up in good time. I like being able to post like this, and I'll do so as much as possible. This is one of those rare stories that just seems to flow forth without much effort or the onset of writer's block, and I hope it stays that way. I hope you're all enjoying the story so far. If so, I won't keep you from it. Here's chapter 3. Please review, loyal readers.

We stood on the wooden platform as the train began to move in reverse. I never understood the concept of railroading's 'end-of-the-line' procedure. If the track is at an end, why not put a loop in it, or a turntable or something, so the train doesn't have to back up until it gets back to the main line? But there it went, the colorful train chugging its way back the way it came, looking like a multicolored caterpillar trying to awkwardly crawl backwards.

"What do we do now, bub?" Budder asked.

"Well, somepony was supposed to meet us here and take us to the mine." I answered. "But he's apparently not here yet. I guess we wait." I sat down on the edge of the platform, and Dash and Budder sat on either side of me as we killed time until our contact arrived. Behind the covered trainstop were a few buildings, mostly warehouses, and beyond that, there was a small town, probably didn't even have a name. I picked up a piece of gravel, and threw it out into the desert where it belonged.

"So you actually lived out here when you were in the cavalry?" My sister asked, looking around at the barren landscape.

"Yep." I answered simply. "About eight years I was out here."

"Wow..." Budder commented. "What was there to do for fun?"

"Not much." I said. "Watch the cactus grow?" I shot Budder a grin. "Honestly? There wasn't much to do, so we had to come up with our own entertainment."

"Like what?" Budder queried.

"You really wanna know all of this?" I sighed.

"Well, you never really told me anything about when you were in the cavalry." She responded. "I just...I want to know more about you, you know?"

"Hm." I grunted. "Well, we had a snowball war at the fort once."

"A snowball war?" Dashie asked with a hint of disbelief. "Dude...really?"

"Heheh. Yeah...it was my idea." I said.

"You know sweetie...I can believe that." My marefriend remarked. Budder giggled.

"We didn't really do much out here but patrol the frontier. I never had as much fun as I do with you two. As...open as this place is, there's isolation, you know? You wouldn't believe it unless you live out here for a long tome, but even with all this space, you sometimes feel like you're in a jail cell. It's suffocating sometimes."

"You have any friends?" Budder asked. I looked down at the tracks below me for a few moments.

"Yeah...I did, sis." I replied. "All the troopers under my command. We um...we had some good times."

"You okay talkin' about all this?" Dashie asked, putting her right foreleg around me. I took a deep breath, inhaling the desert air I hadn't breathed in so long.

"Yeah...I think I am." I said with a nod. "Being here kinda makes it seem like it's not just a memory...or a bad dream. It sorta makes it easier. Something about this land, I guess." We sat there silently, all three of us kicking our hind legs lightly into the air as we sat on the edge of the wooden platform.

"So...um..." Dashie began nervously. "She was at the fort?" I stopped kicking and stared out along the seeming infinity of tracks for a while.

"Yep." I replied. "My scout."

"What...what was she like?" Dash asked. I looked at my rainbow-maned marefriend, and gave her a sad little smile.

"She was..." I exhaled. "She was about as stubborn and cocky as you, Dashie..." I said. "Even more so, maybe."

"Is that possible?" Dash quipped, taking a rare stab at herself. I scoffed lightly.

"With Spring? Yes." I thought for a minute. "Something happened to her...she lost her family to the Buffalo. She became Hell-bent on revenge. I had to keep her on a short leash to keep her from getting too bloodthirsty sometimes."

"Geez..." Dash commented.

"That's how it was out here back then." I muttered.

"How did you two hook up, bub?" Budder asked.

"I think in a way, we kept each other from going crazy in our own two ways. She was the cold one...and I guess I was the one who thought about things too much..."

"Huh?" My sister asked, puzzled.

"Something she said once. That I thought too much. That I was too...nice to live in the violent world that this place was. She was right in the end. That's why I ended up doing what I did. That's why I messed up, and why I'm not in the regular cavalry now."

"Oh Drake..." Dashie said comfortingly, hugging me. My sister joined in, throwing her forelegs around me.

"Look at it like this. If I had stayed where I was...I wouldn't have ever met you, Dashie." I said, feeling tears in my eyes. "And I would've never even known that you existed, angel." I sniffed. "Oh Celestia...if I hadn't gone through Hell back then, I wouldn't be in Heaven now."

"I love you, Drake." Budder whimpered, holding me tightly. I felt Rainbow Dash squeeze me even more.

"I love you guys." I said. "My life's been so great since I found you two."

"Hey, ours has been pretty awesome too, ya know?" Dash added.

"Heh..." I chuckled, drying my eyes. "Well, I try."

"And you're the best big brother ever!" Budder stated.

"Well, I have the best lil' sis ever, so it just comes naturally." I smiled. "Ohhh...one good thing about being in the desert, guys..." I said. My marefriend and my sister looked at me questioningly. "My arthritis ain't bothering me anymore."

"Um...Lieutenant Drake?" A voice said from behind us. I stood and turned to see a tall, tan earth pony stallion with a curly yellow mane and tail.

"Yes..." I answered.

"Hi. My name's Carbide Bit. I'm the forepony of the mine you were sent to check out." He greeted. "Thanks for coming so soon, by the way."

"Not a problem." I returned. "This is Rainbow Dash and Budder Sabre. I'm sure Princess Luna told you they'd be coming too."

"Yeah, of course." Carbide Bit answered. "I'll take you guys to the site, and...I tell you, I hope you're as good as the Princess says. I wanna get this mess cleaned up and get the mine back in operation."

"Is it that bad?" I pressed.

"Most of my miners won't even go near the jobsite anymore. We were pulling two tons of quartz a day outta that hole, and now it's just sitting there abandoned. The mine doesn't make any money, I don't make any money, and the miners don't make any money. That happens, this little town here dries up in the sun."

"You ever see or hear anything in the mine?" I questioned.

"Once or twice." Carbide Bit nodded gravely. "I've been in the mining game for twelve years. Started with a pick in my hoof and worked my way up. I've mined coal, diamonds, iron...and I've never heard of anything like this..."

"What did you see exactly?" I pressed.

"See? Nothing." He answered. "I heard a dang-awful moaning coming from one of the unused shafts once. Scared me half to death. Nopony ever goes in there, but it sounded like a torture dungeon or something. Another time, we'd shut down early, back when all the miners started getting' spooked and quitting, right? Well we were only running two shifts, and started closing at night, from one in the morning til nine. We'd shut everything down, and most of the guys had gone already. I was checking all the equipment before I left, me and the shift supervisor, and we heard the sound of a pick working down in the shaft. We looked at each other funny, and walked over to the opening. I hollered down in there 'Hey, who's down there?' And it stopped. A minute later, it started up again."

"You go down to investigate?" I asked.

"Nope. Neither one of us did." The forepony admitted. "It was just too weird."

"Anything else happen that was out of the ordinary?" I continued. "I mean, other than the miners seeing ghosts and hearing strange noises?"

"You ever hear of tommyknockers, Lieutenant?" He asked.

"Nope. Budder?"

"Isn't that a kind of ghost that warns you about something bad getting ready to happen by knocking on stuff?" My sister inquired.

"Yes it is. It's a superstition among miners." Carbide Bit replied. "Well a couple of weeks ago, one of the last crews that would still work down there said they heard something. They said it sounded like a tapping or a knocking sound coming from the wall of the shaft. They couldn't find out where it was coming from. That night, after everypony left, there was an explosion in one of the side shafts. We never could find out what could have caused it. If anypony'd been down there when it happened, they'd have been killed for sure."

"Uh-huh..." I mused. Still not enough information to go off of yet. If it was supernatural, I'd let Budder handle it, and Dash and I would back her up. If it wasn't, then it was my domain. Still had to figure out which it was though.

"You wanna see the mine?" The forepony asked. "We still have plenty enough time to get there before it gets dark."

"Yeah. Take us there." I said. "There a place on site where we can stay?"

"Yessir. There's a couple of shacks on the job that have bunks and stuff. Ain't the best amenities you can ask for, but it's a shack."

"Alright. We'll camp in one of those." I nodded. "You guys ready to get started?"

"Yep!" My sister answered.

"You bet." Dashie stated.

"Alright." I said, looking back to the mine forepony. "Lead the way."

Sounds like the case keeps getting spookier and spookier, eh? Is the family of detectives up against a cadre of spectral miners? What will they find when they get to the mine and begin their investigation? You'll all just have to keep following the story to find out. Hopefully, I can get chapter 4 up tonight. If not, look for it tomorrow afternoon. So until then, please send me your reviews, and as always, thanks for reading, everypony!