Blackness...that is all Twilight Sparkle could see and feel for Celestia knows how long, her body feeling as if it was floating through an endless darkness. Suddenly, she saw a single light, the light that continued to grow brighter and brighter as she floated closer to it. She could feel a dull throbbing in her head, pain registering in her mind as the light enveloped her, the smell of smoke reaching her nostrils. She let out a soft groan, her eyes fluttering open and tearing up as the smoke floating through the train car irritated them, and put a hoof up to her head gently and winced, seething in pain as she felt the bump that had formed from the impact of the dropping suitcase. She sat up slowly and looked around, coughing a little on the smoke and looking around to see if anypony was around. She frowned as she realized she was alone, and gently climbed up onto the hallway, using the wooden dividers of the bunk beds as stepping stones.
She hopped from plank to plank, moving quickly towards the front door of the car and opening it with her magic. She coughed as she lept from the smoking car, landing with a loud 'thud' on the ground and taking in large gulps of fresh air, the heat of the afternoon sun bearing down on her. She looked around at the destruction that had been wrought on the car in front of her, its side completely blasted open and boxes of what looked like food littering the ground in front of it. She got up slowly, her head still throbbing from earlier, and made her way around the wreckage, the smell of smoke prominent in the air. She looked over the gaping hole in awe, shreds of metal hanging limply off of the edges and looking as if they had partially been melted. As she approached the hole, she heard the sounds of shuffling from within. She stopped, lifting her head up and asking loudly "Hello? Is anypony there!?". Silence followed her shout, the shuffling suddenly ceasing...an awkward silence prevailing over the area.
Just as she was about to approach, she jumped back with a frightened squeal, a bolt of green magic burning the ground just in front of her. Her horn lit up on instinct, a magical bubble forming around her and deflecting another two bolts of green magic.
A colt's voice followed the second bolt "Go away! This belongs to us, not you!" Twilight blinked in surprise, still reeling in shock from being attacked. Her horn flashed once and with her magic she lifted herself up along with the bubble, getting a good bird's eye view of the inside of the car. She gasped as she witnessed a group of four ponies, three earth, one Pegasus, scrounging through the boxes of food that made up the insides of the car. The scavenging was not what startled the mare the most however...it was the condition of the scavengers. She could see their ribs through their skin, the heavy bags under their eyes, the scars that adorned their flanks and sides.
She gently floated over, shouting "Are you all ok?! I'm not going to hurt you...you didn't have to shoot at me!"
The green-coated colt looked up, horn flaring up with emerald magic and his voice spitting venom at her "Screw you! We don't need your sympathy or concern, we're just fine on our own!" Twilight frowned, touching down on the side of the blasted opening, her bubble opening just enough underneath for her to plant her hooves down on firm metal.
She looked towards the colt, still whispering as the other ponies moved away from her, digging deeper into the pile of boxes "I was just shocked...you all attacked the train...you could have hurt somepony!"
The colt scoffed, turning his head and hissing "You think we care? None of these bastards would extend a hoof of gratitude towards us, so what's the point? If they're not going to give us what we need to survive, we'll TAKE it!"
Twilight's eyes widened at the colt's blunt statement and whispered "But...why? Why would you need to resort to violence and thievery...?"
The colt sighed, dropping the box of food he had lifted with his magic and turned towards her, an annoyed expression on his face. "Look," he muttered, the anger clearly audible in his voice "We came from the downtown area of Manehatten...it's a mess down there. There are ponies down there who are worse off then US, if you can believe it. We struck a deal with this mare who said she could help us get what we need, but only if we got her some kind of...anti-anxiety medication...whatever, the point is, we needed these supplies. Nopony is helping us, nopony CARES! The mayor is as corrupt as we are starving and we're going to do whatever we can to survive, no matter who gets in our way, got it?!" Twilight nodded slowly, but was still a little confused as to why they weren't getting the care and food they needed.
Her thoughts were short-lived however as one of the ponies, a mare, screamed "Guards!!!!" Twilight turned her head towards the entrance and gasped as three chariots, red in color, flew across the sky. They were heading towards the train with what looked like an escort of two Pegasus ponies each.
The colt screamed "Run!!! We're no match for them all!" He dove out of the car, running down the length of the train as Twilight watched the chariots come closer. She noticed that the three chariots seemed to have a red glow over each of them, probably made from Unicorns. As the other ponies jumped from the car, Twilight watched in horror as six bolts of crimson magic shot out from the chariots and rocketed towards her. She lept from the opening as the bolts raced by her, igniting the inside of the car with explosive fire. The force of the explosion threw her a good forty feet, the bubble of magic taking most of the impact and shattering like glass. She hit the dirt with a loud 'OOF!', looking up as the chariots circled overhead, the red-armored Unicorns firing bolts of magic towards the fleeing ponies.
She yelped as a few of the armored Pegasus ponies landed nearby, one catching sight of her and shouting "There's one! Grab her!!!!" She pushed herself up on her hooves, running back towards the train.
She screamed as they gave chase "Wait! I'm not with them!!! This isn't my robbery, stop!!!" The guards paid her words no attention however, continuing to chase her towards one of the forward cars. Twilight jumped up onto the rear platform of one of the passenger cars, throwing the door open with magic and closing it quickly behind her. She lit her horn up with magic and whipped her head downwards, the lock of the door melting and welding itself to the door frame. She jumped back in fright as the Guards kicked their hooves against the door, shouting for her to let them in and to cease and desist. Ignoring this, obviously, she turned and started to gallop down the car, her thoughts racing about what she was supposed to do. They were guards from Manehatten, she knew that from their colored armor and the travel guides she had read before she embarked on her journey. The only problem was...they probably thought she was one of the robbers, and were now trying to arrest her. She yelped suddenly as a bolt of crimson magic blasted through the window in front of her, just passing in front of her face and crashing through the other side. She dove to the ground, covering her head with her hooves as magic tore through the windows and walls above her. They were either trying to flush her out...or kill her, and both possibilities scared the ever-living bejesus out of Twilight.
The bolts of magic suddenly ceased, the walls of the car smoking from the attack. Twilight lifted her head up, quickly turning it to the sound of a horn flaring up with magic. The door she had welded shut was being cut open by a Unicorn, and looked like it would be open soon. She gasped, pushing herself up and running down the hall. The welded door, after a heavy buck, caved in and allowed two Pegasus ponies and the Unicorn inside, chasing her down the way. Just as she was nearing the door, it opened with a loud 'BANG', more guards rushing in in attempts to grab her. She skidded to a halt and looked behind her, watching as the two groups started to close in on her. "Well..." she thought, tears in her eyes and sorrow in her heart "Good job Twilight...fail your task before it even has a chance to start...figures th-" Her thoughts were cut off by a loud explosion from above. Twilight looked up with a loud yelp as burning piece of circular metal was ripped from the roof of the car, and a small ball of Azure colored magic fell through, bouncing along the floor like a ball. Twilight stared at it curiously, as did the guards, wondering exactly what it was supposed to be. Suddenly, the ball exploded into a blinding light, drawing screams from the guards and Twilight as their vision gleamed with white. Her ears rang as she felt something land next to her, a pair of hooves wrapping around her neck and the feeling of magic rippling over her skin.
She had felt this countless times before...the magic over her skin...the sudden rush of wind and the cold feeling of icy water washing over her. She was being teleported.
(Bit short, but I'm still feeling partially under the weather...that and there have been a few events that have taken place that kinda put me off for a bit. Sorry for all the trouble and the waiting, but I'm back!)