"Can you feel that?"

A pulse rippled through the land, it's epicenter based around the pillar.

"Aw shit..."

"What's wrong?" Twilight asked.

"Something just happened inside... Its seeping out..." Diesel replied, looking worried.

"W-What?!"

"Can't you feel it?"

The unicorn didn't understood.

"Feel what?"

Then...

"UUGH!"

It was... That feeling again...

Gurgling up from the depths of her innards, sending jolts down her muscles, making her intestines and stomach cramp up to an almost nauseating tightness. It rushed through her veins, making her blood boil, as her nerves sort-circuited and her fur stood on edge. She sweated profusely... The taste of gall and pus rising at the back of her throat, making her retch, but to no avail.

Slowly the taste changed, from horrid to neutral, as the feeling reached her heart and mind, sending a cold shiver down her spine.

"What... IS this?" she gasped, choking on the clear air itself.

She felt darkness envelop her body, seeping in from all directions...

The feeling was dreadful, almost excruciating, while she didn't even felt physical pain!

Trough her agony, she glanced at Diesel.

The shunter merely winced, standing steady and still without a flinch. Whatever was this dark energy ripple, it didn't effected him as much as he let it on.

"Hurts, doesn't it?"

The voice she heard in her mind made her jump, but this time, there was no mistake about who it was.

"D-Diesel?"

"Don't waste your breath, Sparkle. You'll need it." his voice said, sounding more clear.

"What... What are you doing in my head?!" she thought.

"Stop shouting, damn it, you're giving me a headache!" - another voice said.

"B-Bowler?!" she asked herself "What's going on."

"...We haven't explained this yet, haven't we?" asked a third voice, after which she made a mental double take. It was Spamcan, his voice lacking his usual thick, working class accent, revealing an off-key deep baritone - rough, but amiable...

"Spamcan, what...? No, you haven't..." she "replied".

"Sparkle, this is the Talk Box or Mental Chat, an ability that all engines and rolling stock possess, which enables us to communicate without speaking."

"That's why it took our creators so long to realize that we were, indeed, alive." this was Derek's voice. He didn't had his usual soft lisp, and his voice sounded more confident and somewhat deeper "In the early days, before we learned to speak, we exchanged thoughts and impression through this. Once we learned to speak, however, the Talk Box changed into a Mental Chatroom, were we basically talked to each other telepathically, when we felt to tired to speak, or had to do it in absolute privacy from our masters. You're the first "outsider" to join in."

"To get this operational, all you need is eye-contact, but sometimes, that isn't necessary, either." it was Bowler again. Like Derek, he also sounded deeper and smoother in thought "The trucks also have something like this, but it's usually on a... I don't know, different frequency. That's how they manage to cause trouble so easily, once they decide about something."

"Is that why often see you just glancing at each other while your faces display the same expression for minutes on end?"

"..."

"...Yeah. Totally not using jump-cuts, or anything!"

"Shut up, Bert!"

"THAT was Bert? And 'Arry?" Twilight wondered with amazement. Once again, the mental voices were much more different. In the case of the Iron Twins, they weren't deeper, just smoother and more refined. And of course, they lacked the Twin's thick accent.

"You better believe it, sister!"

"Can the others hear us?"

"No, or at least, not yet." that had to be Bert's voice. It was deeper, and sounded more thoughtful.

"But that's not the point!" and that was Diesel. His voice didn't changed, except that it sounded... Softer, more... Gentle...

"Then what is? Guys, what's going on?!" the mare was frantic.

"Well, as you could probably guess, an incredibly strong wave of... Stuff... I don't know, dark energy or some shit like that had just blasted us head-on with full force."

"It didn't effected us, really..." put in Derek "It feels as if... We've built up a natural resistance to it..."

If that's so, Twilight didn't even needed to guess what THAT dark energy was.

"However..." the Class 17 went on "It seems to be developing a rather poisonous effect on you, which IS unfortunate, as it appears that WE'RE the back-up plan..."

"What do we do now then?" the unicorn pondered "Because, unless WE develop some sort of resistance... I mean, it's not like you could share yours..."

There was a short pause.

Then...

"What if we can?" Derek "asked".

"Don't be stupid..." Bowler thought "Just HOW do you think we'll do that?"

"I say we hear him out, lads..." said Stuck-Up, diplomatically. He sounded much more kinder, almost fatherly. ALMOST "What's your idea, Derek?"

"Well, if you think about it, this dark energy mainly effects them metaphysically, however, it is so strong, that physical effects surface as well." he explained "Obviously, we've experienced the emotions it generates so many times that it doesn't effect us at all. The ponies, Spike and Gilda, however, don't have this privilege, because they haven't experienced the aforementioned emotions that much - they lack the experience we have! Thus, the only way we could help them is by "lending" them some of our experience, so they can face these emotions with ease."

"Good theory, but how can we do it?" the question came from Spamcan, and the others "fell silent".

Suddenly, Steamie "spoke up":

"Guys, what if we'd "Discorded" them, but in "our way?"

"Our way?" Diesel pondered, then presumably understood it, as deviously delighted "Yeeeessss..." soon rose from him...

"OK, guys, let's do this, then!" Bowler "declared".

The pulse had long since passed, but their drivers were still suffering from the effects, loosing their strength...

They didn't notice the sounds of engines (and boilers), as they revved up (or hissing), before the noise began to slow down and grew quieter, but also, deeper...

Thick clouds of pitch black smoke rose from the engine's vents (and a thick, cold white cloud of steam from the two exceptions' cylinders), denser than air, which began to circle envelop their drivers, not scattering as such vapors should.
It circled around them like mist, crashing against heir legs like the waves of the ocean...

"Whu-What's going on?" Twilight muttered, not noticing that the sickly feeling dissipating, and being replaced by a comfortable coldness. For a moment, she knew exactly how it felt like being trapped under ice.

"Shhhh... Just let it sink in..." said a whisper "You're going as low as we can go..."

"What?

"No remorse... No sense of shame..." the whisper went on "Time's gonna wash away all pain..."

She didn't understand... The voice... Sounded so familiar... It wasn't Diesel this time, but rather...

But it couldn't been...

...Could it?

She needed some time to think.

So she eased her muscles, and took a deep breath - realizing too late that the smog was still around her!

To her surprise, it wasn't choking her. It smelled... Almost natural to her. It filled her lungs like the cleanest, cold air, making her heart pick up the pace and her blood rush into even her thinnest, smallest veins, reinvigorating her... And filling her with a sense gloominess in the same time as well...

The others experienced the same thing: trying to relax and think things over, they were found themselves breathing in the thick vapors. And within the material mist, they heard their engines calling out to them.

Voices, filling the mist with content, the smoke with scent, as the sound of engines murmuring, whispering in the ambiance spread through the fog, reaching their ears...

Urging them to change. To see different.

To deviate from the absolute...

Darkness rained down upon her like never before...

Her eyes were blinded by black light. Her ears deafened by a silent roar. Her nose and mouth filled with the scent of emptiness...

HE was right!

The truth is like a thunderstorm.

The reveal is oh-so-bitter...

A choir of souls in the wind, nothing more - these are her friends...

Discord represented Chaos - Chaos that is constant, that reaches all, that is everywhere.

Chaos, the oldest order in Existence, the greater scheme of things, the ONE rule:

Chaos IS Existence, and any sort of Order known by mortals is a mere fraction of it.

Order is organized, and in it's center are the leaders - like a carriage wheel: the followers of order are the rim, the maintainers are the spokes, and it's owners are the hub, turning around their main beliefs and ideas: the axis.

Take the axis away, and Order loses it's reason, take the Hub away, and the wheel would soon collapse.

Order is fragile, and it's weakest part is the hub - it's owners, the ones who have others' head in their hands.

Yet in order, all pieces take part in maintaining it, so all parts have a purpose.

In Chaos, there's no wheel - the pieces exist, but that's all they need to do: exist. There's only one rule in Chaos: exist. Your place is where you're at. Your purpose is existence.

In Order, you're a part of something... Something that's extremely fragile, and unstable without a main goal, an axis.

And then, there's anarchy.

Anarchy is the wheel itself, the tire, no spokes or hub. Everyone has it's place: it's where they are, and they all have a purpose: maintaining the place they are, thus helping the others maintain their place as well.

Their strength is in the lack of a hub: nothing they need to work for, the round wheel itself is structure strong enough to exist on it's own. And since there's no hub, there's no need for spokes as well.

In Chaos, we have a secured place, but our only purpose is to exist. We're beyond that.

In Order, we have our purpose, but our place is as unstable as the system we live in.

In Anarchy, we have our place among our peers, and our purpose to maintain ourselves and help our peers.

So, in order for her to defeat Discord, to defeat Chaos, she shouldn't trying to fight him with Harmony, with Order - Order is, but a fraction of the great Chaos that Existence is based upon - proof that Chaos exists, as it is Existence.

No, in order to defeat him, she must deviate from the rigid, fragile stiffness of "conventional" Order, and differ from the nihilism and passivity of Chaos. She'll need something dynamic and flexible.

Diesel was right.

She'll have to move away from Harmony - it doesn't serves as an antithesis to Chaos.

She'll have to deviate.

Friendship won't help anymore.

But a main goal still binds them: survival.

Order makes rules. Chaos denies them or makes them morph constantly, to make them fit it's one rule of existence.
She'll have to break and bend them for her own gain.

A guileful smirk appeared on her face, as her fur darkened.

Yesssss....

It's time to deviate...

The pillar of clouds opened before the arching row of engines, slowly dissipating, as the deities revealed themselves.
Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Alexei were back in their normal, everyday attires...

Discord looked bewildered, but unhurt. Well, at least, physically.

They all gazed at the parting mist, as the silhouettes became filled with detail.

They had to gasp.

Rainbow Dash emerged from between the Iron Twins - both grinning wickedly, along with their fitter. The pegasus was in a threatening position, with wings raised high and her torso low on the front. She was ready to pounce.

Her cyan fur was now a dirty gray, her deep magenta eyes now blazing red, and her cutie mark was a dark cloud with with a single, realistic white lightning. Her mane and tail lost their colors, and were now replaced by varying stripes of black and yellow - much like the hazard stripes pf the two diesels. Her wings were definitely larger, and so was her body - she now resembled a winged earth pony, rather than a lithe pegasus. Her feathers were a dirty, hazard yellow color with metallic tips, as she draw out two torches on top of them: a welding torch on her wing closer to 'Arry, and a cutter torch on the one closer Bert's, both lit, and burning with a yellowish-blue jet flame.

Whether they were weaponry or means of extra propulsion was a question yet to be answered. A grim smirk was present on the mare's face, and she glanced imposingly on the draconequus.

Applejack wasn't the same mare, either. Her rich orange fur was now green as an unripe apple (with a bluish tint, even!), her golden crest and tail the same hazard yellow as her friend's wings, but remaining in ponytails, respectively. The three apples of her cutie mark were now small and gray like immature zap apples, and her body was covered in soot and dust - the remainder of the mist. But most noticeable was her hat: no longer her pa's brown Stetson - it replaced with an eight-point Gatsby cap instead, her signal green eyes glowing under the eye-shade.

She leaned against the side of Spamcan, the same, "Immagunnabeatchu" smirk present on their faces.

Pinkie Pie sported a wide grin, which was sort of expected from her.

Except that this grin... Had a bad feeling to it.

It was very wide, almost uncomfortable to look at, with a hint of malice hiding in it's corners. Her fur was now a fluorescent green, with a forest green mane and tail, more shaggy than curly, eerily reminding the four deities of another, certain pony who's name they couldn't recall. Her cutie mark was now three gushes of steam, leaking from an unseen valve. The brightness of her black eyes, the whiteness of her teeth...

She was downright disturbing...

The fact that she stood in front of a quietly wheeshing Steamie who wore an even wider grin, with an insane expression in his WIDELY OPEN eyes, only added to that...

Trixie's change was... Surprisingly insignificant at first glance...

Her usual, Azure-French Blue fur was now a pine green, with a slight grayness to it. Her mane and tail were still silvery, but no longer contained a blue hue - they looked almost metallic instead, with an odd strike of yellow in them. Her face, now with a lazy look and content half-smile (similar to Bowler's, who stood slantwise behind her), reflected utmost certainty of her own abilities - but without her usual haughtiness. Dark gray eyes eyed the world with the calmness and uppity of one who has the upper hand. Gently, she reached up to her head, fixing the incredibly dark green (almost black) bowler hat on top of it, pulling it down to the base of her horn to reveal a very tiny hazard yellow band on it.

Rarity's... "Transformation" only seemed to enhance her grace.

Paletinale blue fur, selective yellow crest and tail, the former kept in mixture of bangs and a "Feathered" hair style, the latter now combed like the lazy waves of the ocean, and both shining like gold, while her cutie mark looked like three glass shards. She also acquired a black eye mask with golden frills, held on a stick at it's right side. She seemed... Smug, even more so than usual.

...Still nothing compared to the King-of-Arrogance Old Stuck-Up to her right, though.

Fluttershy was... Different, to say the least...

Her once creme yellow fur was now a dark yellow-green. It's original color had traveled it's way into her mane and tail, pushing out the original pink, then saturating into a familiar hazard yellow, the very tip of her locks appearing to be... Burned... Or at least covered in soot or ash.

She gazed at them with grayed eyes, her pupils were deep wells of truth, searching their mind and heart. It was safe to say, that she had been compromised, along with her friends. Her cutie mark was now three moths, their wings made of smoke. At first glance, she was less threatening than the others, standing on Derek's footplate, leaning against his engine block with a calm smile, which she shared with the diesel. But the more they looked at her... The more unnerving her whole appearance got. There was an air of dreariness that emanated from her being - her calm smile predicted a storm, her eyes were digging into their brains, exposing their insides to the world, while she showed them, in their minds, her own misery.

She didn't intended harm, though. She just wanted a job to be well done. Not seem like a weakling. But that didn't meant she had to be brutish or harmful. There are ways to prove your worth gently, after all...

Twilight Sparkle's transformation was still progressing when the deities finally revealed themselves. Darkness, like paint trickling down, slowly covered her body, the edge's of this dark influence appearing to be burning, singing her fur, making it turn from lavender to pitch black. The same thing happened to her mane, changing from it's usual violet-blue to black, while those stripes in her flat crest and tail - one purple, the other a dull magenta - changed to red and dark gray.

As the transformation slowly completed, the icky blackness, seeping around her body like spilled, crude oil, reached around her cutie marks. As it completely surrounded them, their image wavered and warped, it's edges twisting in impossible ways, some of which one could even describe as painful...

Her face revealed nothing. The complete lack of emotions, eyes closed and mouth shut, as the changes were coming to an end.

Her new cutie mark was a familiar symbol. Blazing red, it stood out from the blackness of her fur, looking like a precisely made cut or gash on her flank. It was the same symbol that could be found on the engines - on Old Stuck-Up, Pip and Emma, Spamcan, though his was crooked, BoZo, though his stood on it's side.

Twilight's symbol was different, of course - it was twisted and warped to remind one of her usual cutie mark. It's blazing red form had a white, oval shape underneath it, further enhancing the new symbol's similarity with the old one.

As the transformation finished, the mare's eyes crept open. Crimson irises, edged by gray, were slowly revealed, gazing at the world with a newborn's wonder... Then turned to frown, her eyelids slipping down slightly, as a devious smirk appeared on her mouth.

She smiled, guilefully, as she raised her head, horn sparkling up with a sharp, flame-like magic aura.

As the last traces of the smog dissipated, the form of Devious Diesel came into view, rising out of the gray mist like a block of darkness, the light granting him features. He was smirking as well, staring straight at Discord.

"You know, that trick of yours IS quite neat... Turning ponies into the exact opposite of their personality, driving them insane..." he said, after some mutual oogling "So we decided to try it ourselves. But with some alterations, of course. First!"

He scrolled his eyes on the mares beside him and his associates.

"...No insanity. Insanity is for the weak willed! Second!"

He smirked, triumphantly, as his gaze met the chimera again.

"Their change is a bit more... Concentrated, this time..."

"Concentrated... On what?" the spirit asked.

Diesel narrowed his eyes.

"Destroying you..."

"He's yours..." Alexei exhaled, tossing the draconequus in front the engines "We've tried everything... You can do as you please..." he finished, turning away.

"Aren't you gonna stay?" Bowler asked "Enjoy the show perhaps?"

The Controller looked back.

The mares were ready.

Under their engines' silent command, Spike and Gilda had retreated into BoZo's and CoBo's cabs, avoiding the transformation in the process.

"We'll spectate." Luna replied "From afar..."

They teleported away...

A menacing chuckle rose from the row.

Discord looked down.

"Well... It's me and you guys now..." he muttered, talking more to himself than to anyone. Then, he grinned "This shall be easy..."

"You really think so?" Twilight asked, smoothly "Poor old Discord, he hasn't the slightest idea what sort of mess he'd gotten himself into..."

"Indeed." Rarity added, moving her mascara closer to her face "The poor fool. Oh well... He'll realize it, soon enough."

"Realize? What?" the draconequus asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Trixie asked on a sickeningly confident tone "It's over."

"Over? What is?! What are you talking about?!" the chimera demanded.

"Discord..." Fluttershy's voice was very calm and quiet. She spoke softly "It's... Over. Done."

After seeing the incredulous look on the spirit's face, the mares groaned impatiently. Twilight rolled her eyes.

"Discord, it's over! You're done! Game over!" she snapped "You've lost! Defeated! We've drawn blood and you bled out for the sins you've committed in the name of evil!"

"That's a bit melodramatic..." Pinkie uttered.

"Shut up, Pinkie!" the unicorn growled "Anyways... You're done for, Discord, now lay down on the rails, preferably across them, and let faith, and several tons of moving steel on sharp wheels, do the rest."

"You're not... Trying to KILL me... Are you?" the spirit muttered.

"Of course we are." Rainbow grinned "You've caused enough trouble... And the Princesses themselves gave us the permission to... Euthanize you."

"Bu' first, we might as well break yer leg." Applejack added "Ya 'no'... Justta' giv' it sum reason..."

"You aren't serious, are you?" he chortled, and flew off the ground "I'm still the God of Chaos, and OUGH!"

He hit... Thin air...

Falling back onto the ground, he looked up.

"...WHAT?!"

"That's right..." BoZo grinned "The Princesses made EXTRA sure that you won't go unpunished. You're now trapped in a tunnel of magic that goes along the railway lines, giving you the stretch of them to run, but..."

"You can't escape, all the same..." Trixie finished, smirking "No teleportation, limited height to fly or float..."

"So..." Diesel smirked "If you still believe in such wonders as a... "Fair fight", or... "Escape from a diesel convoy", then... Run."

His smirk turned grim.

"Run for your life!"

It was an odd sight indeed: a yellow ball of unearthly flame, racing down above the triple railway line, across the darkened Equestrian countryside. One may would've thought that it was a ghost of some sorts - they wouldn't been that wrong, given that the anomaly was, indeed, a Spirit of sorts.

But that would've raised a question:

Why was this spirit pursued by multiple lines of locomotives, and their respected drivers, at such high speeds?
Answering this question, even with the correct answer, would only raise more questions, most of them beginning with "Why?".

Or, correctly:

"OH GOD, WHYYYYYYYYYY?!"

A being like Discord rarely experienced fear - especially a being of his age. Any other being would have welcomed a feeling they haven't felt in eons. Discord didn't. He hated being afraid.

And he ESPECIALLY hated being in fear for his life.

The engines were gaining upon him. What gaining? They were tailgating him!

Wouldn't been much of a set-back, but as Twilight had told him, he was in an invisible tube, barely bigger than a normal railway tunnel. This limited his aerospace, and restricted his magic as well, leaving him with running and flying.

He hadn't flew in a long time, and running was no cup of tea with four different limbs...

What made the whole little joyflight even more BRILLIANT is that the unicorns were now on the top of their engines' cabs, shooting projectiles at him every now and then, without any reasonable pattern...

"C'mon, Twi', burn 'is ass!" Applejack shouted. She and Pinkie stood inside their engines' cabs, but kept throwing petrol bombs at the chimera - with surprising force and accuracy.

"On it!" the black mare replied, as she and the other two kept shooting deadly spells at Discord - she shot fireballs, while Rarity rapid-fired her respective crystals, sharp as a razorblade, and Trixie bombarded the chimera with globe-lightnings. They didn't damage the line (well, the tracks, anyway, though the sleepers received some battlescars), so the pace was easy for the engines to maintain.

He had done quite a few things to encourage their wrath, but this time, it was different.

Defeating him wasn't enough.

They wanted his blood.

And he knew it.

"I gotta get out of here!" the spirit thought.

But there was no way out...

The convoy was catching up to him...

The spells got more and more vile and destructive.

There was no way out...

Scared, tired and frustrated, Discord let loose of a bawl that shook the landscape...

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!"

"And there he goes!"

The princesses and the Controller were laying on deck chairs, watching the chase from atop of an outcropping that the draconequus created.

"Shouldn't we... Interact?" Luna asked.

"You mean "intervene"?" Alexei asked back "Nah... Let them have some fun now, and Discord DOES need to learn some humility. Two birds, one stone!"

"Hmmmm..." the Princess of the Night pondered "This still seems a bit... Harsh..."

"Why, would you like to endure MORE of his cheap exhibitionism?" the Dimension-Wanderer asked.

"No, of course not!" the alicorn replied, turning her gaze towards her sister "What do you think, 'Tia?"

She was stumped by what she saw.

Rather than laying, her sister was sitting uneasily her the deck chair, gazing intently at the chase below - and Luna could've sworn she had just finished praying.

"Please, hurry, Discord..." she whispered...

And that was all that Discord intended to do. Hurry.

Faster and faster.

He'd stop at no measures to put distance between himself...

...And his chasers...

The convoy became completely indistinct by then.

Minutes before, an unhealthy sounding growl rose from Diesel's engine, followed by coughs and spluttering... Dark smoke rose from him, first from his exhaust, then his vents... Soon, he was completely engulfed by the black smog, his body no more than a silhouette in the middle, with his eyes and grin shining trough. Twilight looked the same, the only thing completely visible of her were her were her eyes, completely white and glowing like lamps - the fumes were dense enough to cover the magic aura around her horn.

The other engines, and their drivers followed suit. Soon enough, all that was visible was a black mass of smoke and shapes, with sharp grins and malicious glares cutting through it like beamlights slicing the night sky.

The sound of the motors became a blurred, deafening roar, akin to the sound of a demon.

The draconequus broke out in cold sweat, and increased his pace, not looking back again.

His wings ached, his eyes burned as tears rolled down his cheeks...

The pain was getting unbearable.

His gaze, glued to the tracks up ahead, was that of a hunted animal's...

Which he was.

A bend came into view. The tracks ran downhill.

He turned back one last time.

Yep.

There was nothing left of the ponies and... Machines he once knew... Sort of...

No more looking back now.

Adrenalin crashed through his system like never before.

If he had any chance of escaping an oily death, it was now.

Now or never!

Time seemed to slow down.

Around the bend came the shape of an object, the chance of it appearing is what he had forgotten about.

Now, with eyes wide as plates, and horror sinking in, he realized how foolish he had been, thinking he could escape.

It was over. Clear as that.

Everything had to end once. Him. Them. Her.

Everything, even the lines.

His eyes, still wide as plates, focused on another pair of plates which came into view, clear black upon the red structure they were placed on. They drew nearer at a surprising... What surprising, alarming rate!

Turning his wings in a vertical position, his long body crammed up into a bundle, as he stopped, his face inches from the sharp hook of the buffer stop.

He dropped on the ground, gasping for air - he hadn't done this much exercise since his early "teenage", if such a long period of time could be considered as such. He checked the air for magical flux. It all seemed to sharply end at the buffers, forming an impenetrable wall. No escape there...

He turned around, considering his chances at quickly racing back to the last switch, and getting back onto the main line, before the convoy caught up to him.

He then looked ahead...

...And his heart skipped a beat...

If the convoy didn't, one certain engine, and his driver, DID reach him.

He stared, partially in shock, partially in impressed awe, as the black shape roared towards him. It's face, twisted into obscurity, was rid of every identifying feature, resembling the carved face of jack-o-lantern, with a jagged mouth, and gash-like eyes, glowing with an unearthly white light. The mare on top of him, glared down at Discord with an unforgiving, crimson gaze, as the engine approached, much like the blade of the guillotine.

Everything went dark.

Then a voice said:

"Let's not get so carried away!"

There was the sound of fingers flicking, then... Everything seemed to... Rewind...

The grim faced engine backed away from, he turned back to the bufferstop, and shot out away from it - backwards.

He felt like he was being pulled by strings. The countryside, overcast by the unusually dark clouds, flew past him, again, backwards. Charred, burned spots on the ground burst into various balls of magic, flying pass him, always nearly missing him all the time, as they disappeared behind him. The sound of the convoy roared in an eerie reverberation, as he flew, faster and faster, along the very path he took in his exodus. He was aware of his surroundings, but could not control the behavior of his body. He mentally examined his surroundings, and could clearly tell that there was magic, far stronger than his (at least, in this reduced form), at work. The scenery became a blur, and suddenly, he found himself standing on the concrete turntable once more, the half circle of engines, and their drivers, standing before him, with their superiors at the side, wearing their railway uniforms, double-button-line coat and peaked cap and all.

He gazed to the side, his eyes meeting with that of Celestia's, the two of them blushing, while Alexei and Luna snickered knowingly.

The engines, and their crew (now reverting into their original forms) looked disoriented.

"Wha' jus' happen'd?" Spamcan muttered.

"Well..." Alexei spoke up, softly and gently, but loud enough to gather their attention "Some... Thing had occurred, that led us to make a change in our plans...

"Oh? And what would that be?" Rarity asked, sounding fairly irritated.

The Leaderboard stayed silent for short moment...

Then...

"...See it for yourself." Luna said coldly, as both she, her sister, and the Controller gazed at a certain point above the tracks, on the line right behind Discord.

All gazes turned towards said spot, and even the draconequus craned his head back with curiosity.

Above the line, the air wavered, is if it was hot enough to be distorted by heat rising from the ground. The distortion got worse and worse, and soon, sparks began to form, and fall, all the more frequent...

"What is going on?" Trixie asked, truly confused. By then, the sparkling had turned into a constant flashing of bluish white electricity, the spot growing larger and larger.

It stopped, when it reached the side of a tunnel.

It's outer rim was a thick, seizure-inducing line of sparkling bundles of electricity, that made an awful lot of noise, sounding much like a malfunctioning transformation.

The inside of the portal was blinding white, which sometimes flickered, revealing a set of rails behind it, showing it in an unsettling lighting. Eventually, something appeared on the tracks - two headlamps, located unusually low. As their owner drew nearer, the buffers, and soon, the silhouette of the engine appeared as well.

The portal made haunting noises, as it crept through. Most of it resembled the weird "music" composers made, when they first began to experience with the opportunities granted by the magnet tape recorders. Some sounded like background audio clips from video and computer games like Earthbound, Mortyr, and other, either half-arsed or disturbing creations. Eventually, however, all other sounds were subdued by the sound of laughter.

Wicked, conceited laughter, slowly growing hysteric, but all the while, keeping a certain grace... Well, grace wasn't the right word - might would've been better.

The engine crept through the hole, rolling onto the line that Discord stood on.

It was long, with two large windscreens and oval buffers, his paint presumably green - most of his features were hidden by the dim atmosphere and the bright light of the portal.

A malevolent smirk, however, became deviantly visible - a stark contrast compared with the rest of the picture.

It's engine made a deep, zooming noise, and it's brakes hissed gently, as he stopped, not far from the draconequus himself.

And it was MASSIVE!

Truly a leviathan of a locomotive, it's entire structure practically radiating power.

With his smirk yet to fade, his headlights scrolled the area like beamlights, before setting on Discord's face.

Irritated by the light, the spirit turned to the other three deities with a smug smirk of his own.

"Really? Reset a timeline for ANOTHER diesel? I'd never thought I'll ever see you grow so desperate--..."

He was cut off.

A large, sharp-teethed claw clamped around his body, slowly lifting him from the ground.

The grabber belonged to the new arrival, connected to him via a bulky, two-sectioned arm, moved entirely by hydraulics.

The claw itself could move separately - it turned Discord into a horizontal position, and lifted him high, high above the engine's roof, only to toss him down to the ground with a brutal strike.

The sight was blood-curdling.

Discord's thin body was bent in all sort of ways it shouldn't have been, blood oozing from his mouth and nostrils, and from gashes on his body - quite a few of them made by broken bones tearing through the skin...

For a moment, he seemed dead, but a resonating cough and the sickening sound of bones snapping back into their places, fat and muscle tissues sewing themselves back together, and skin soldering in a rapid space.

With a groan of both pain and exhaustion, the chimera lifted his body from the rails, trying to stand up...

...Only to be grabbed by the claw again.

"HEY! What's the big--?!" he yelled, before being silenced by the glare he saw - the engine held him close to his face, glowering at him, with eyes filled of pure malice, and mouth still grinning.

He threw him on the ground, again and again, each time with a stronger and stronger thrust. Finally, after spinning by the tail above his cab, he tossed him forward, making him land on his face in front of Celestia.

He quickly recollected himself, and immediately sprinted behind the Sun Goddess, twisting his body around hers, clinging to her, and also hiding his face in her crest.

Once both of them had calmed down from their shock, they both began to blush as they slowly parted, left with a feeling of awkwardness and warmth. Alexei and Luna just smirked, knowingly.

Meanwhile, the engines were getting acquainted with the newcomer. That is to say, reacquainted...

"Ah, Vincent!" Stuck-Up smiled at the large engine, who had since rolled forward, now parking on the turntable. He was painted dark olive with white hazard stripes painted across his width, on the lower part of his body. He was a Class 42, a Warship type. His claw, robust yet agile, rested atop his cab.

"Long time no see, old chap!" the express engine went on "How are things?"

"Good, Ay guess..." he replied. He had distinct Australian accent - an outlaw accent, even.

"You seem a bit longer." Derek commented "Have you been stretching?"

"Don't be an idiot, Derek!" Diesel snapped at him "He's been through an overhaul, obviously!"

"...Anyways..." Bowler sighed, rolling his eyes "It's good to know you're back, Vincent. Planning to stay?"

"That's wha' I had in mind..." he replied. Suddenly, his roof sunk down under his claw, and parted: two equal halves sliding back, allowing his claw to lower into the compartment, before shutting close again.

"I see they've done a thorough job." the Controller muttered, adjusting his glasses "Welcome to the team, Vincent. Your codenumber is still D10, right?"

"Yeh."

"Ooookai then..."

"Diesel?"

"Yes?"

"Who's Vincent?"

"...His right in front of you. Well, behind that messed undead roadkill, but..."

"No, I mean, who is he? How come you guys know him?"

Diesel sighed.

"Vincent, alias Diesel 10, was a special prototype Class 42, half the size of a normal Warship, and equipped with a hydraulic claw. Obviously, he was picked on for that, especially by steam engines, until one day, he figured out that he can use his claw for more than just loading stuff, mining and making sculptures."

"Making... Sculptures?"

"Yeah, he's an expert, sort of an Edward Scissorhands-type of guy..." the Class 08 thoughts trailed off, but soon back to reality "But I'm getting off topic. Point is, he's hunted all over Britain and Australia for the claw he has, and because of illegal scrap dealership."

"Why Australia?"

"He was shipped over there to be tested..." Derek explained "And spent the first few years of his life there - that's were he picked up that funky accent of his."

"Is he... Dangerous?" Pinkie asked.

"O'ly i' ya piss 'im off!" 'Arry chuckled "Bu' tha's no' li'ely... 'E 'as a lo' o' pa'ience..."

As Vincent fully exit the portal, it shut immediately. Two other, smaller portals opened, allowing two gray diesels to enter the realm as well - quickly closing soon afterwards.

No sooner than they realized who the other two were that a tired, irritated groan left the engines' mouths.

"Ummm... We're here boss..." said one.

"Yeah, where here! Wherever "here" is..." the other muttered.

After the introduction and welcome trivialities were over, both engines, equines and other species departed to a more comfortable location - escaping the raging storm that started from all the magical flux in the air.

The Canterlot freight terminal seemed like the most obvious choice.

And now, standing in between two rows of disgruntled diesels, on a narrow platform with his former friends and their newest ally in front of him, and group of disheartened ponies, and an indifferent dragon and griffon behind him, he reconsidered his life.

His deeds so far were not THAT terrible, but they would've enraged anyone to the point of sentencing him to death by torture.

Any person in their right mind would've ran from being in such a position. Yet here he was, awaiting Faith itself, obediently.
With Diesel 10 on one side, and the Iron Twins on the other, he couldn't think of anything else, but:

"This is where I die..."

"Well, Discord, you sure put us into an awkward predicament..."

The Princess of the Night let out a long sigh.

"As usual..."

"I still don't understand just WHAT is your deal..."

"Well, you see..." Alexei began "As much as it would be logical to just end your life, we can't do it."

"That's certainly a charming way to start..."

The Controller rolled his eyes, and continued.

"There are forces far greater than any of us at work here!"

"Uh-huh. Totally convincing. It's not like we've all heard those lines before..."

"Discord..." Celestia spoke to him softly "Shut up. Please."

"Right. Just get to the point, this is already boring as it is!" the chimera snapped "You don't need to stretch it!"

"...To cut it short." the figure went on "We need your help. There are events we're yet to understand that will happen sometime in the near future, that will effect Existence itself."

"Everything that we know... LIFE as we know it... Could come to an end!" Luna added, trying desperately to make the spirit more interested, and failing miserably in the process with her melodrama "We could all DIE!"

"Isn't that what we all secretly want?" the draconequus asked bitterly...

"WHAT?!" Twilight snapped "HOW can you say that?!"

"Umm... Twilight..." Fluttershy peeped, motioning her hoof around the company.

Many of the diesels looked miserable, especially Diesel, who appeared to be impatient for some reason. Both Princess Celestia and Luna looked to the side, as if trying to escape the topic, while Alexei scratched his head, unable to answer...

Unable to avoid the inevitable truth of that one sentence...

"...Fair enough..." the stickly figure uttered, after a long pause "All the same, you can't honestly be THAT nihilistic!"

"WHY NOT?" Discord growled "You're trying to enslave me! Restrict me from doing the thing I can, do and enjoy doing the best!"

"No, we don't." the Controller replied "We merely give you guidelines..."

"Yeah, to keep me on edge!" the spirit retorted.

"YOU keep yourself on edge." Celestia declared. Her voice suddenly became stern "Discord, THE WHOLE WORLD is at stake! ALL We're asking is your cooperation! You'll be free to do whatever you want, unless it's something harmful for other ponies - all WE ask for is that you stop acting like a stubborn colt and actually help, for once!"

"You are on an equal level with us." Alexei added "We'll give you the same respect we treat each other with."

"Yeah, right..." Discord scoffed "Then what was all that chasing and bruising?"

"You forced us to do it, ya old coot!" Diesel growled "You barged in, and started acting like a complete prick, as usual, then surprise, surprise, we got pissed and decided to teach you a lesson or two, AND then some, for all those years of prickery before we came here, and now, you're offered an easy escape from beating, AND a high position, and yet, you whine like a little bitch. Pathetic!"

"Hmph. Acid tongue..." the chimera replied.

"Tha's wha' ya ge'!" Spamcan grumbled.

There was a short pause.

"...Fine!" the draconequus grumbled "I guess I can make THIS sacrifice."

Alexei's left eye twitched.

"...Pardon?" he uttered.

"I mean, I'll only be betraying myself!" the spirit went on "No big dea--!"

"Stop right there!" the Controller snapped.

Surprised, Discord looked towards him.

And nearly fell back onto his tail...

The Wanderer's head hung low, his eyes glaring daggers above his glasses, his glower directed straight at the God of Chaos. His pupils, normally black and deep, were now wells of blood, slowly gaining an eerie glow to them.

"...You speak of sacrifice..." he muttered, stepping forward "...Yet, you know nothing of the word..."

Discord took a step back.

"...You speak of betrayal..." the Controller went on, raising his voice dangerously. His eyes were blazing red "When you cannot even COMPREHEND the full meaning and essence of treason or mutiny!"

He took another, staggering step forward, his eyes burned with untold amounts of ire, bursting out from deep within his soul.
"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA, WHAT TRUE BETRAYAL IS?!" he was roaring by now.

Discord made a few steps backwards, when he suddenly found his face violently gripped by the stickly figure, his sharp fingers digging into his skin, his jaw, his gums...

"Do you think I got my powers from birth? Well, unlike YOU, you degenerate, I had to work for them! I had to search for them, fight for them, achieve them, study them, MASTER them, all by myself, DYING and BEING REBORN, again and again, for eons! And what did I got out of it?! That everything I knew and based my life on were lies, ALL LIES! That I had been fooled from the VERY START! That I had been TRICKED by my very creator, so that HE and his adversary could gain easy power, and I had to suffer for it!"

He let go of Discord - actually, no, he violently tossed him to the ground, face first.

"In fact... ALL of you magical beings are just like this!" Alexei went on, pointing a blaming finger at the Princesses, and the unicorns and pegasi present "Stuffed up, aristocratic, know-it-all, superiority-complexed, "aryan" FREAKS! You look down upon ANYONE who doesn't have the same power as YOU do, and you ALWAYS also seem to think that just by having power, you have privileges as well!" he yelled, and spat "DISGUSTING!"

And then, as quickly as it came, the hatred that dripped from his words left without a trace.

"I'm offering you, ALL of you, to redeem yourselves and destroy a stereotype that had been around since the first "magical" beings appeared, yet always slipped under the radar for one reason or another. To achieve this redemption you'll have to go through training, but don't get me wrong. We'll be training for the many potential apocalypses, Armageddons and other, similar end-time phenomenons." he turned to the others "These are the final battles between existence and and nothingness, and the very final one will decide whether we all live... Or die..."

He turned back to Discord, offering him his hand.

"You're NOT getting any second chances after this." the Wanderer declared "I'm offering you recognition and respect trough trust and not fear, an obligation which gives your talent of creation a possibility to be used constructively, and plenty of free time to do whatever you want, until the time for action comes. You'll be a respected, and perhaps, loved member of the team..." he said, making a slight, sideways glance in the direction of the elder princess "...Instead of being a fugitive at large. Accept not, and you're on your own. Cross our paths once more, and you're dead. There's no need for slack among us in these dire times. So, decide..." he called, wrapping it up "Are you with us, or on your own."

For once, the scrambled mind of Discord seemed to be focused. His eyes glistened with intelligence, not unlike the one he needed for his cunning and... Honestly, just plain stupid plans and ideas, but this one... Lacked malicious intent. Finally, he reached out, and grabbed the figure's hand, allowing him to pull him up.

"I guess that's an answer..." Old Stuck-Up muttered, sounding quite bemused "Will you be joining us, then?"

"Well, I was actually trying to pull him down to the ground to see his skull shatter against the rails, but that'll do, I guess..."

After undusting himself (and snapping a few bones back into their proper place), he turned his gaze to the Sun Goddess...

"So that means I'm no longer... "Rejected", does it?" he grumbled, sulkily.

"Discord..." Celestia was about to reply, before being cut of by her less hesitant sister.

"Dream on, Rebel-boy!" Luna snapped "After all that horseapple you've put us through, be glad if we let you sleep on the porch!"

The flame has been lit, and the fire was soon roaring.

"Fancy hear you speak instead of shouting your ass of, Queen Caps Lock!"

...And as the insult swapping between the two deities progressed into a full-on free-for-all, and as the other stared, bemused and increasingly awkward, Celestia felt like sinking into the floor next to them, whils also progressively shrinking in size, until her reached sub-atomic level.

Alexei just shook his head.

"So, that's it?" Diesel grunted.

"Yup. That's it." the Controller replied "Why did you expected more?"

"We DID deserve it!" Bowler argued "We worked so hard, and THIS is what we get?! Some word-throwing, philosophizing and the introduction a few new characters?!" he snapped, before turning to Diesel 10 "No offence, Vincent."

"None taken." the Aussie Warship replied.

"Well, Diesel..." Alexei began "...All I can say is: you're still the Other Railway, and this is just the first season final. So YOU ain't gettin' shit!"

At that very moment, an enormous and stingy smog cloud covered the area, literally choking the fight between the God of Chaos and the Princess of the Night. Eyes were filled with ashes, mouths with dust, and lungs with soot. And it all smelled suspiciously like a certain petrochemical...

"Bl'udy 'ell, Dere'! Tha's rank!" Spamcan coughed.

"It smells worse than Jugga'nouts early mornin' starts!" Applejack spluttered.

"Ough! Most disgusting! Blehblehblehbleh!" Old Stuck-Up added.

"It's all in my maaaaneee!" Rarity bawled.

"Ah! The soot! It's everywhere!" Bowler wailed "Get it off of me! Get it OUT of me! It went straight up my vents!"

"The Great and Powerful Trixie is glad that she's still wearing her multifunctional hat and cape." Trixie muttered, her voice slightly muffled from her hat as she used it as a gas mask.

"Yea', an' ya no lon'e' 'ave a cu'ie ma'k tha' ma'e ya loo' loi'e yer an islami' communist!" 'Arry added, guffawing loudly. He and Bert were used to the smog.

Rainbow Dash wasn't.

"Worst. Ending. EVER!" she declared, before having another coughing fit.

"Aaa... CHU! Dere~e~ek, this air is foul..." Fluttershy peeped, before sneezing again.

"It is indeed..." Derek groaned "But it wasn't me..."

"Wait..." Diesel thought "If it wasn't Derek... Or ANY of us, for that matter... Then who...?"

He glanced to the side.

Twilight stood, casually on all fours, with a narrowing trail of smoke fumigating from the very tip of her horn...

The shunter smirked.

"Eh... So all that effort I actually sort of half-heartedly put into something finally paid off." he snickered "My presence did rub off on you."

At first, Twilight looked embarrassed. Then, she smirked as well...

"Well, they WERE getting on my wick..." she mumbled, trying hard to snuff out a smile, but failing after a decent struggle.

"There's hope for you yet, Ms. Sparkle." the Class 08 said, smiling as well. His cab door opened "Let's go home, shall we?"

As they trundled down the line, leaving their smog-smothered friends, colleagues and superiors behind, there was a... Pleasant silence among them.

But finally, the shunter decided to speak.

"You know..."

Twilight's ears sharpened.

"You may have found a nice guy within me..." he said, his voice trailing off.

The unicorn smiled.

His voice came back, more ominous.

"...But that means there's a bastard waiting to come out... From you..."

Twilight smile faded.

"That.. Sounds bad..."

"That's because it IS bad... But it builds and develops character, which is something you'll need from this point onwards.

"Wha...?"

"Trust me on this one."

THE END

Author's Notes:

We've reached the end of season 1!

Stay tuned for the next season, everypony and everyengine!