"Well everypony." Pinkie said as the group walked out of the Hay Burger. "If I'm gonna throw Nathan here a "Welcome to Ponyville" party, I'd better get started on setting Sugar Cube Corner up."

"Sugar Cube Corner?" Nathan repeated, trying to stifle a laugh. "What is that? Some kind of sweets shop?"

Pinkie gasped as a response. "How did you know? Are you some kind of psychic?"

"Uh... no. Lucky guess?"

"Hmm.... I guess." She replied. "Anyways. I'll be back later everypony!" With that said, the pink pony started bouncing away, only to disappear around a corner.

"So uh... how long until this Princess Celestia arrives again?" Nathan asked as the group began walking through town again.

"I'd say around sunset." Twilight replied.

"I see." He replied as he looked up at the sky. Sunset had to be at least 3-4 hours away. "So what exactly should we do until then?"

"Why don't you show us that machine of yours?" Rainbow replied, making Nathan stop in his tracks. The memory of the timberwolves attacking him still lingered vividly in his mind.

"I agree with Rainbow." Rarity chimed in. "I am curious to see what this contraption looks like."

"I don't know..." Nathan said while looking down at his arm in it's sling. "I'm still a little banged up from the last time I was with 1506."

"1506?" Twilight asked.

"That's what I call her." He replied.

Each pony looked at eachother with puzzled looks on their faces. "Her?" Rainbow asked while raising an eyebrow. "You call that thing a her?"

"Of course."

"Why?"

"Back on my world, sailors would always refer to their ship as a she." He replied. "Basically because they would love their ship as much as they would a woman." The ponies looked at him in silence, the same puzzled looks on their faces. "It's pretty much the same thing we engineers do when referring to our locomotives."

"Interesting." Twilight said as she quickly jotted down what he said on her notepad.

"Well." Applejack said. "Even if those timberwolves showed up again, we know how to deal with them." Nathan let out a little sigh in response.

"Might as well do something to make time go by." He replied before nodding his head in agreement. "Guess I do need to get a few things from her anyways."

"Then it's settled." Twilight said. "Lets get going!" And with that, the group began walking towards the Everfree Forest. Along the way, Nathan could still see ponies just staring at him in amazement as he passed by, making him feel really uncomfortable. He was also beginning to notice something strange. For every pony that looked like a stallion, there were at least three or perhaps four mares. It all seemed really odd to him, but not really knowing much about this world, he decided not to ask. "So over here, we have the Golden Oaks Library." Twilight said as she pointed a hoof over towards a tree. "That is my home here in Ponyville."

"You live in a library?" Nathan asked.

"Yep. Me, Spike, and my pet owl, Owlowiscious."

"I see." He replied as he took a look at the alicorn. "Shouldn't be surprised that she lives in a library. Kinda seems like the bookish type."

"And over there is Carousel Boutique. That is where Rarity lives and works."

"What do you do?" He asked as he turned his head towards the white unicorn.

"I design outfits. Wonderfully amazing and beautiful dresses for mares. I also dabble in clothes for stallions too."

"I see." Nathan replied as he looked down at his clothes. They were torn from a mix of being worn many times, the occasional times of getting caught on edges of freight cars, and most recently, the timberwolves. "Don't suppose you could maybe help me out with getting some new clothes?" He asked. "If you're not busy of course."

Rarity's eyes immediately widened as she turned to look at him. "A chance to design clothing for a new creature? Why I'd love to!" She replied. "Come by anytime and I'll get your measurements darling."

"Will do." He replied. As the group crossed a bridge leading out of town, Nathan could see that the only thing up ahead of them was the forest. "How exactly are we gonna find my engine in there?" He asked. "I don't really remember much about this place other than it's in some kind of clearing."

"Big, made of metal, painted yellow, surrounded by a dome of purple magic." Rainbow said as she hovered close by. "Shouldn't be too hard to spot."

"Okay smartass." Nathan thought to himself as they entered the forest.

"Don't worry sugarcube." Applejack said, placing a hoof on his jeans as she walked alongside him. "I know this forest pretty well. I remember where your thing is."

"Alright then." He replied, looking down at the farm pony. "I trust you." This made Applejack smile as she walked to the front of the group to lead the way. As he followed the group of ponies along the dirt path through the forest, Nathan couldn't help but wonder about how he was going to get a 167-ton locomotive out of this forest. From what he's seen so far, he wasn't sure if the machinery capable of lifting it even existed in this world. And even if it did, there weren't any rail lines leading into the forest.

After walking for what seemed like half an hour or so, Nathan finally saw what Rainbow Dash had mentioned earlier. A giant purple dome in the middle of a clearing in the forest. He looked closer and saw that the shield was surrounded by ponies in what looked like gold colored armor as they all wielded a spear in their hooves. "Ponies in armor and holding spears." He thought as they approached the shield. "Cross that off of the list of things I never thought I'd see."

"Hello!" Twilight called out, making the guards facing them look towards her.

"Uh... Greetings, your highness." One of them replied in a nervous tone. "What can we do for you?"

"I wish to have access to the machine that is inside this dome."

"I see. And is this the creature who owns that thing?" He asked, pointing his hoof towards Nathan.

"Yes. He wishes to gather some of his belongings from it."

"Understood. You may proceed." The guard replied as he stepped aside. Twilight's horn lit up, resulting in a small opening appearing in front of them.

"Lets go." The alicorn said as she passed through, followed by the other ponies. Nathan, unfortunately, had to crouch down in order to get inside. "Oops. Sorry! I forgot that you're twice my height." She said as her cheeks began to turn red.

"It's alright." Nathan replied before turning his attention to his locomotive. It was still in the same condition as he remembered. "Good to see you again, old girl." He thought after he walked over and placed his good hand on the side.

"Now I can see why this thing is an engine." Twilight said as she looked at the half-buried wheels. "These wheels are similar in design to the ones on our trains." She then walked along the side, the look on her face showing much enthusiasm as she studied the mammoth object in front of her. "What is this?" She asked while pointing her hoof at the fuel tank.

"That is a fuel tank." Nathan replied. "Capable of holding 2,500 gallons of diesel fuel. There's one on the other side just like that one. In total, this engine can hold 5,000 gallons of fuel." After saying that, he stepped up on the rear steps before turning his attention to the cab. Just as he set his sight on the door, he saw something inside the cab move. "Uh.... Twilight? I thought you said that no one could get in with that shield up."

Twilight looked up at him before turning to look at where Nathan was looking. She then watched as Nathan nervously stepped forward towards the door. "Be careful Nathan!" She called out before she spread her wings and lifted herself over the railing to walk behind the human.

"Whoever or whatever is in there better not try anything unless it wants a fight." Nathan thought to himself as he reached for the door handle. Turning it slowly, he heard the latch open before he began pulling on it with his good arm. Once open, he slowly stepped inside.

"Well hello Nathan." An oh so familiar voice said, making Nathan jump. He turned to see a creature sitting in the conductor's chair that looked like it was the result of a child's curiosity or boredom. "We finally meet face to face." After saying that, Twilight stepped in behind Nathan. The moment her eyes looked at the creature, her pupils shrank immediately.

"Discord!" She said in a loud tone. "What in Equestria are you doing here?"

"Oh just taking a moment to admire this wonderful machine that our mutual friend here owns." Discord replied before getting up. Twilight was amazed to find that Discord was just slightly taller than Nathan was as the two stood, facing eachother.

"It's you..." Nathan said softly. "You're the one who's been torturing me for weeks with those damn dreams!"

"Guilty." Discord replied as a pair of handcuffs appeared around his wrists. "I must say though that it seems you're taking this whole situation rather well." He was gonna say more until Rainbow Dash landed on the hood just outside the cab.

"What the hay are you doing here?!" She asked as she glared at Discord.

"Calm yourself, young one." He said. "Don't you want to hear the tale behind the reason that this human and his machine are here?" That question immediately made Rainbow go silent as the rest of the group wandered into the cab. Fluttershy, Rarity, and Applejack each gasped at the sight of Discord, but Twilight hushed them in order for Nathan to hear what the draconequus had to say.

"I'm listening." Nathan said, allowing Discord to speak.

"Well it all began a few days after my last visit to Ponyville." Discord began as he sat back down in the conductor's seat. "You might want to take a seat. This is going to be quite a story." He said, prompting Nathan to sit down in his seat. "So I was sitting in my home, thinking about what to bring for Fluttershy's tea party when I received a letter from Princess Celestia." This made Twilight raise an eyebrow towards him.

"How does she fit in with this?" She thought to herself.

"Apparently she wanted further proof that I truly was reformed." Discord continued. "So she told me to do something good without the help or guidance from Twilight or her friends."

"And what was good about taking me from my own world?" Nathan asked, his right hand slowly clenching into a fist.

"I'm getting to that part." Discord replied. "So anyways, this request was a bit vague as far as how much good I needed to do. I doubt she would have accepted me helping Granny Smith cross a street. So I then decided to watch some interdimensional television to pass the time and perhaps help me figure out something good to do." A remote suddenly appeared out of nowhere and floated down to Discord's hand. With his other hand, he snapped his fingers together, teleporting himself, Nathan, and the other ponies outside of the locomotive. He then pressed a button on the remote, causing a rift to open in front of them. Nathan and the ponies all stared with their mouths wide open as Discord made different shows from different dimensions appear.

"It's like a weird shaped television..." Nathan thought to himself as he could only stare.

"So I was busy flipping through channels until I found a particularly interesting one." He said, making the rift/television stop on a show that Nathan was familiar with. It was a news show on NBC that he watched each night.

"Our top story tonight!" The reporter on the show said. "Disaster on the tracks in southern California as an engineer's life has been tragically cut short." The show then revealed a destroyed diesel locomotive laying on it's side. Nathan's pupils shrank as he saw the numbers on the side.

"1506." He thought as he darted his eyes back and forth between his diesel and the destroyed version he was seeing.

"Rookie engineer Nathan Bridgeport tragically perished on Cajon Pass just near the summit as it would seem that his locomotive tipped over on it's side while going around a curve." The reporter said. "The cause of the accident is yet to be determined."

"My brakes!" He said internally. "My brakes went out just before I hit that curve!" Twilight and the rest of the group stood in silence, not really knowing what to say.

"I saw this and I thought that this would be what proves that I've been reformed. Saving a creature from a gruesome fate." Discord said as he pressed a button on the remote, making the rift disappear. "So I decided to go back to a few weeks before that and began giving you those dreams in hopes that they would prepare you for the jump."

Nathan just stood there in shock. "I'm supposed to be dead right now?"

"You okay there sugarcube?" Applejack asked, lightly poking at Nathan's leg only to get nothing for a response.

"Uhh.... Nathan?" Twilight asked, hoping to get a reply, but like Applejack, she got nothing as Nathan just stood there, silent and still like a statue.

"But... y-you can... send me back. R-right?" Nathan finally managed to ask.

"I'd tell you." Discord replied, but in a lower tone. "But I think it would be better for you to see for yourself." He then snapped his fingers and a portal opened up. Nathan's eyes grew wide as he immediately recognized the location on the other side of the portal. It was the Yard Office in Victorville. Nathan slowly turned his head to look at Discord, only for him to motion for Nathan to step through. He nodded slightly before slowly walking through.

Upon exiting the portal on the other side, Nathan could immediately feel the familiar heat of the sun as it shined in the clear blue sky. He then heard a familiar sound before turning to see a northbound reefer train speed through the rail yard, passing underneath the same signal gantry that he went under with his diesel. Just after the train finished going by, Nathan heard a familiar voice.

"It should have been me."

Nathan turned around to see his longtime friend and mentor, Gary, sitting on the bench just outside the building. Sitting beside him with an arm draped across Gary's shoulders was Kyle. Both of them looked as though they'd seen better days.

"We had no way of knowing this would happen, Gary." Kyle said.

"I know." Gary replied. "But still. It isn't fair that my buddy is gone. He was a good kid."

"I'm right here!" Nathan said as he walked over to the bench. "Gary! Kyle! I'm fine!" But instead of a joyful moment that Nathan was hoping for, neither one of them turned to look at him. This made Nathan really confused as he stopped next to the bench. "Uh... guys?" Still no response from either of them. "Hello?" He then tried to place his good arm on Gary's shoulder, only for his hand to pass right through. "What?!" He said in a loud tone before he felt a hand on his shoulder. He then turned to see Discord standing next to him.

"They can't hear or see you, Nathan." Discord said as he demonstrated by waving his other hand through the bench that Gary and Kyle were sitting on. "I'm afraid to say this. But when I brought you to Equestria with my magic, in my haste to prove that I was indeed reformed, I forgot that you wouldn't be able to physically return to this world. I mean, you can still come and be here like we are now, but you'll never be able to physically return to this world ever again." Nathan only stood there in silence as Gary and Kyle each stood up and walked towards the building, both of them passing through him like he wasn't even there, because from their point of view, he wasn't. "I'm sorry." Discord said as he could sense immense sadness coming from the human.

Nathan didn't reply. He simply couldn't respond because he didn't know what to say. He was standing in his world. He could feel the heat from the sun, yet it was like he wasn't there at all. As far as his friends were concerned, the Nathan Bridgeport that they knew was gone. After several minutes of just standing in silence, Nathan turned around and slowly walked back toward the portal with his head tilted down. Stopping just before going through, he turned his head to watch as another train passed through the yard. Normally, this would make him smile, but there was no smile on his face this time. After the train passed, Nathan stepped through the portal.

As soon as he and Discord emerged on the other side, the ponies all saw the extremely depressed look on the human's face. Twilight could even see tears streaming from his eyes.

"Nathan?" She asked while walking up to him. "Are you alright?"

"I.... just.... need some time to think." Nathan quietly replied before turning to walk away from the group.

"Nathan?" Fluttershy asked. She tried to go fly after him to try and comfort him, but Discord stopped her.

"I think it might be best if he was alone for a little while." He said in a soft tone as they all watched Nathan slowly walk through the opening in the magical dome.