The setting sun colored the sky in an armada of warm, beautiful colors.

It was near the end of summer - nights growing longer and days growing shorter, the evenings and mornings becoming colder and colder...

The engines watched the sunset from their yard - it was achingly beautiful!

The mares sat on top of their cabs, taking in the sight of Celestia's sunset...

It was the end of the weekend - last few hours of Sunday. Soon, the week will start-over, again and again, as Autumn drew closer.

"Time sur' is goin' fast..." the applefarmer muttered "It felt like a week, an' look! Summer's nearly gone!"

"Indeed..." the fashionista agreed "Sweetie Belle insists on counting the days left of it... It reminds me of myself when I was at her age..."

"EeeyuP!" Applejack chuckled "As much as we "loved" ta go t' school, Ah missed Summahtime all year."

"Oh? That's strange..." Pinkie Pie uttered "I remember that you always said that you liked Winter the most..."

"That's 'cause Ah was a small filly, an' didn' wan'ed ta work all the time..."

"I, personally, LOVE winter!" Derek declared enthusiastically.

"Do you?" Rarity asked "But I thought none of you liked it, since you all have trouble starting in the cold."

"Most of us do..." Spamcan replied "Bu' Dere's eng'ne A'WAYS ove'heats in th' Summe', so he pr'ferr'd Winte' instead..."

"Speaking of which, have you got your engine fixed?" Twilight asked.

"Not really..." the Class 17 replied "The main problem is with my cooling system, anyway... The regular treatment I receive here helps a lot, but my teething troubles are far from being over..."

""Teething" troubles?" Rarity snorted "Aren't you a few decades older than that age?"

"I am." he replied "We all are. But teething troubles can last longer with us engines."

"Ah cun' see THAT..." Applejack smirked "How old are ya, anyway?"

"Ummm..." the engine pondered "I was built in '63, so I'll be... Fifty next year!"

"Woah Nelly!" the cowmare jumped "FIFTY years?"

She looked over Derek.

"You carry yerself very well, then..."

"Mechanical age doesn't REALLY count for us engines..." Old Stuck-Up explained "It's the mental age what counts."

"That's why you're so wrinkled and frowny?" Pinkie asked cheekily.

"Such insolence! Bleh bleh bleh...!" the diesel sputtered.

"Ah, shove a sock in i', Stuck-Up!" Spamcan snapped "Bu' yeah, we're ALL olde' than th' lot of ya... My mechanical age is 51."

"Mine's 50 as well." Bowler added.

"Well, I'm 54!" Stuck-Up declared "That makes me senior!"

"Bollocks!" BoZo snapped "I'M much older, and so is the Breakfather and Cromwell!"

"Why, how old ARE you?" Spike asked.

"I was built in '26, which makes meee..." he did a bit of counting "86!"

"Geez! You're a Methuselah!" Rainbow chuckled.

"He would be..." Stuck-Up growled "If he wouldn't be a replica of the original Kitson-Still Hybrid."

"Prove it."

The Class 40 just sulked.

"What about you guys?" the pegasus asked, turning to the hazard striped shunters.

"We were built 56 years ago..." 'Arry said slowly, mentally checking his calculations "In '56, I think..."

"What, during the time of the Revolution?" Bowler asked.

"Ooooh! Was it like the one we had a week ago?" Pinkie asked.

"Nah..." Bert chuckled "Tha' one was AG'INST communism... O', a' leas', th' Soviet Union..."

"Was it victorious?" Twilight asked with enthusiasm.

"No..." 'Arry replied sadly "I' was drow'ed in blood..."

The mares felt sad...

They didn't know who fought for what, but the idea of "drowning in blood", especially for an entire revolution, sounded horrific.

"Not all revolutions succeed." Diesel spoke up morosely "Anyways, I'm 60."

"Wow!" Twilight uttered, truly amazed "That makes you the oldest engine in the yard... Mechanically speaking..."

"Yeah, but since that, I've had so many upgrades that I've been completely rejuvenated."

"It's the mental age that counts." Stuck-Up repeated himself "Which explains why you and Derek are sooo chaffy "fresh" - you're as incompetent as you were 40 years ago!"

"Ah, go hump yourself!" Diesel growled "What about you, CoBo?"

"I'm 53."

"Hah! Still one year behind!"

"Yeah, and several decades and eras ahead..." the Class 28 growled "The reason why you LOOK so old is because you live in the past! Drooling for a Dining Club membership?!"

"Heh... SUCH good friends..." Spike muttered, unimpressed.

"Such as loife, ki', ge' use' t' i'!" 'Arry muttered.

"Speaking of which..." Fluttershy spoke up, successfully grabbing everyone's attention.

She turned towards Rainbow Dash.

"Are we still on... Trial?" she asked.

The others fell silent.

Rainbow Dash's "Trial" of trust had been going on for a month now. The others have long forgotten about it, as it was rarely brought up - even Dash herself didn't remember until then.

She thought hard now...

On one hoof, she actually sorta enjoyed having control over the others, even if in such small proportion - having them trying to humor her, gratify her to win her trust... Feels wrong, but satisfying in the same time.

It feels like...

Like...

"...Einstand."
"What?"
"Einstand." Bert repeated.
"What does that mean?"
"I's a German wo'd which me'ns "t' ta'e sum'hin' on th' roigh' o' th' stronge'". Club law conf'scation."
"...I still don't get it."
"A'su'lly, i' me's t' c'remonic'lly arroive sum'whe'e..." 'Arry explained "Bu' i' received a dif'rent me'nin' in "Th' Paul Stree' Boys".
"The what now?"
"Th' Paul Stree' Boys. I's a famous children's book from ou' wo'ld..." the shunter replied "On' o' moy favorites."
"You read books?"
"Yeah. Whoy?"
"N-Nothing! So... Is it good?"
"An eve'green. Ya shoul' re'd i'. Has a sad endin', bu' i's great!"
"Yeah, a bi' o' change afte' all dose Darin'-Do comics!"
"OK, OK! So... What does "Einstand" mean?"
"I' me'ns: t' ta'e sum'hin' on behalf o' th' roigh' o' th' stronge'. When an olde', stronge' ki' sees a smalle', weake' on' playin' wi'h sum'hin' he o' she would loike, he o' she goes dere, an' says on' wo'd: Einstand. I' me'ns tha' th' he o' she c'nside's th' smalle' ki's toy a booty, a trophy, an' tha' i' th' smalle' ki' da'es t' resist, he o' she WILL use violence."
"So, "einstand" is also a declaration of war, right?"
"So't of..."
"I's th' dictum o' statarium. Club law. Force. Bully rule."
"...That doesn't sound nice."
"Eh. Depends on which role ya ta'e..."
"So... Why did you called 'einstand'?"
"...Ya gunna drin' tha' cide' o' not? Ya've been holdin' i' fo' a good 'ou' by no'..."
"...You could've just asked..."
"I know... Bu' i's funnie' dis way..."
"How?"
"...I dunno. I' just is..."
"..."
"Einstand."
"GO GET YOUR OWN!"
"...OK..."

...On the other hoof, it felt cheap...

Her friends have been trying to adjust to her conditions to gain her trust back. Well, most of them. Gilda didn't seemed to bother, and, truth to be told, she wasn't de facto on trial - she still kept the trust she put in Dash, and the feeling was mutual. It was just her style. Or CoBo's, she couldn't tell - the two of them had grown close in their sulky, word-avoiding ways, and the misanthropic diesel seemed to serve not only as a friend, but as in influence as well.

The same thing could be said about the other diesels and their drivers...

The pegasus sighed, and looked back at her friends with her eyes half closed, mouth a sharp line. Fluttershy squirmed under her gaze - it was cute when she did that...

But, as she looked around, she saw that her friends looked at her differently...

The lithe Fluttershy was respectful and gentle as always, but she seemed to be... Pushing herself a bit more into submission towards her...

Rarity, truly a fitting driver for Stuck-Up, tried to keep her composure, but all the same, she looked at her with a slight, almost unnoticeable anxiety... As if waiting judgment...

The ever-honest Applejack didn't bother putting on a façade - she was waiting as well, ready to accept whatever Rainbow has to say.

Gilda looked away, leaning up against the side of CoBo - not avoiding her gaze, just... Not caring... Though, her face carried a gloomy expression.

Pinkie Pie, albeit smiling, looked a bit nervous as well, her smile growing weaker as time passed...

Twilight was her studious self, with Spike by her side, both waiting for her announcement... Although... They seemed on edge.

Rainbow glanced to the side.

The engines stood in a gloomy, saturnine line, with an unsympathetic deadpan. Among them, 'Arry and Bert, the Iron Twins, stood out - they seemed even more rough, more grim and austere... Almost ominous...

"The Element of Fear has to sides: Shock and Dread, also known as Horror and Terror - jumpscare and buildup. Shock overwhelms your mind, Dread numbs it. In any case, Fear is a good way to possess power over others."

A dark shadow ran through her face.

This isn't what she wanted to be...

This isn't how she wanted to be remembered...

"Guys... I put you on trial because I felt I wasn't receiving it from you, right?"

The others nodded.

"Well, I realized that you have to earn one's trust... You can't just ask for it..."

Her friends smiled.

"Oh, but we were charging you too much for it, weren't we?" Rarity asked.

"Maybe..." the pegasus replied "But what's been done is done. You had a taste of your own medicine, so it's OK."

"And what a sour taste it was!" the white unicorn exclaimed, then smiled "It's glad to have you back, darling!"

""Back"?" Gilda uttered "There's no "back". She's been here with us all along, now hasn't she?" she asked "You were just too scared to talk to her."

"True..." Applejack sighed "So... Are we in?"

"Have we... Regained you trust?" Fluttershy asked, cautiously.

Dash smiled.

"Sure! You are my friends, after all!"

The others smiled as well.

"That's it?"

They stopped smiling.

"Really? That's it?!"

Diesel looked discontent.

"What a blow!"

"What's wrong?" Twilight asked.

"What do you mean, "what's wrong"?!" the shunter snapped, and the other engines seemed to share his feelings.

"They give you Hell for months on end, and you let them slip after a few weeks?!" Stuck-Up spluttered, glaring at the polychromatic mare "AND with such a weak note: "You are my friends"? Are you mad?!"

"Now what's yer problem?!" Applejack shouted "We finally got this ordeal behind us, so what are you bellyachin' about?!"

"Well, EXCUUUUUSE ME for being irritated by cheap, cliché solutions!"

"Cheap? What the Hay are you talking about?" Rainbow snapped.

"What are we talking about? What are YOU talking about?!" Bowler snapped back "Your friends, YOUR OWN FRIENDS, didn't trusted you and neglected you in your time of need, for months on end. So you let them cook in their own sauce for, what, a mere month? THEN, you literally EXCUSE YOURSELF for standing up against them, even though they deserved it, and give a weak, shitty reason why you "forgave" them, bringing the whole ordeal to an end in the most stereotypical, blatant way possible!"

The mares couldn't reply to that.

"So, what's wrong? YOU'RE A GOD DAMNED CLICHÉ, AND FAIL TO NOTICE THE HORRENDOUS AMOUNT OF STUPIDITY AND COWARDICE THAT RADIATES FROM YOUR DECISION, THAT'S WHAT!" Diesel bellowed, as the engines quickly started their motors, and rumbled away sulkily.

The ponies, the griffon and the dragon stood there for a few minutes...

"What the heck just happened?" Pinkie asked.

"I think... We've been put down..." Fluttershy replied.

"Scorned..." Rarity agreed "But... For what?"

"Y-Yeah..." Dash muttered "What's wrong with them."

"They didn't liked the way you put things behind yourself, Dash." Gilda answered her.

"It seems so..." Twilight agreed.

"But still... WHAT was that?" Spike muttered.

"I think..." the unicorn began "They expected something more... Something... Dark and dramatic. At least, that's what I concluded from what they've said."

"They seek entertainment in other's anguish?" Rarity huffed, before uttering "That's parasitic..."

"No, I think they just... Didn't expected things to turn out... So positive THIS easily..." Twilight replied.

"But why?" Rainbow asked, confused "Isn't it good when we sort things out this smoothly?"

"They may have found it abnormal..." the lavender unicorn replied "Unnatural..."

"How come?" Applejack asked "We got things sorted out among ourselves, and everypony was happy. That's good, isn't it?"

"It may be for us..." Twilight explained.

"...But for them, things usually don't go so easily..." Fluttershy continued, finally understanding what the unicorn said.

"So, in their world, things don't usually end well..." Spike deduced "Which is why they were angry. They were envious!"

"Not as much envious as enraged..." Twilight went on "For them, this conclusion seemed like a cheap, unrealistic act."

"But, then... If they saw this as an act, why were they mad?" Applejack pondered.

"They DIDN'T saw it as an act..." the unicorn went on "They were fully aware that this "trial" was coming to it's end, but they expected... I don't know, an "extension" instead of a "pardon"... Because that would've been more realistic to them. More... Normal."

""Normal"?" Applejack snorted "Well, if that is what's "normal" to them, then..."

"The concept of normality differs for every and each." Twilight interrupted her sharply "They're used to having things the hard way... Perhaps, for them, our entire world is a watered down joke."

"Which means that their world would be a real horror show to us..." Rainbow sniffed "Some world..."

"Some life..." Gilda muttered, as the sun finally set.

Some life...