Max Cake

by Clonehunter

Part II: Through Fire and Ice

Part II: Through Fire and Ice

Chapter I:

The Train

I couldn’t see anything. I couldn’t hear anything. My body was numb, so I felt nothing. White set against a backdrop of black was all that filled my eyes. My ears were filled with the howling of the wind. The freeze of the air itself assaulted me from everywhere, I had to rely on pressures to know if I was still walking on the track or wandered aimlessly in the snow. I couldn’t feel the track beneath me, I could barely feel the snow. I felt as if I could drop down any second from exhaustion and freeze. I was finding it hard to move further.

Then I saw a glow. A very faint glow. At first, I thought it was heaven opening its doors to me, welcoming me into it’s warm abode, to take me from this cold-black nightmare, take me back to my family. But what have I done to deserve that reward? I wasn’t sure. But as I drew closer, and failed to feel any warmth from anything, I realized this wasn’t heaven in front of me at all. It was the train. As I got closer, more lights, and even the sounds of shouting. The train had stopped on the tracks, the fierce snow had stopped it. I found myself drawing up alongside it, the gun-metal gray engine covered in ice. The steam stack rose away into the darkness.

“What do ya’ mean there ain’t a single pegasi on the bloody train?” The voice was gruff, old, and lost in the wind. “We need this weather cleared up! How has it not cleared up already? Where’s the pegasi above the clouds? This storm ain’t natural!” I tried to follow the voice, but it was too difficult to follow with the blasting noise from the wind. “Fine! We can reverse! We can try to back up out of the storm, but lets do it quickly!” I continued stumbling down the side of the train. Ahead was another glow, this one coming not from directly in front of me, but off to the side. It had to be a door.

I heard the train whistle blow somewhere in the wind. I pushed harder through the snow, which was deep here due to the snow drifts created by the wind blowing snow against the side of the train. The whistle blew again, and I thought I heard the chug of the pistons start up. The door was getting closer, I was almost there. The light drew nearer, and nearer until--I made it. I fumbled for the first step, and soon got half of my body up onto it. The train started to move, slowly heading in a reverse direction, but I managed to drag my limp body up and into the car. I was retrieved almost instantly.

“Holy hay man!” “Geez look at that guy, frozen!” “Hey, where’d he come from? Are you a passenger mister? I don’t remember collecting a ticket from you.” “About time this train got moving again!”

Voices bombarded me from all sides, clogging my frozen over mind with noise. I tried to stand, but my body was far too numb to do anything but thaw out on the floor of the train.

“My Celestia, he’s an icicle. Let’s warm him up somewhere.”

I felt a pressure under my armpits, and felt myself being dragged across the floor of the train. I couldn’t feel anything except the pressure.

“Hey guys, guys, put him down. We’ll take him. He’s with us.”

“You mean like that dog and his friends who didn’t have tickets either?”

“Yah, just a little late.”

“Do you have a ticket for him too?”

“Yah I got one. Here it is.”

I had my eyes frozen shut, I couldn’t see a thing. The dragging returned, and found it getting warmer. Heat was returning to my body. I was thawing out. I was going to survive, I made it to the train alive. Eventually I found the strength to open my eyes. I wasn’t clear yet though for Manehattan. The thugs, gang bangers, they found me. They were taking me to another car in the train. We moved from car to car, I didn’t resist. Finally, we stopped in a car that was populated by several of the coat and badge wearing thugs. I didn’t recognize any of them.

“Man, I thought Dirt said he had everyone else from the station. Get lost in the snow?” I found myself able to stand now, I was getting back to a normal state. I looked in the direction of the speaker and found a light gray Earth colt looking back at me. He wasn’t doing anything threatening at all, and no one else I noticed was making a move either.

The disguise, I thought, I’m still wearing it, and it’s working! They thought I was one of theirs, just left behind in the storm. “Yah, yah,” I stumbled back, “Just got caught in the storm. It’s cold out there.”

“Yah tell me about it. The pegasi I heard can’t do anything about it. They don’t know how to stop it, it’s gone out of control!” He started guiding me to the back of the car where there were some empty seats. “The worst snowfall we’ve had in years, and it’s freezing, especially thanks to that wind.” I looked out the windows on one side of the train, but couldn’t see anything but wisps of white and pitch black darkness. “Here, take this eat,” he said, motioning towards an empty seat three from the back of the car. I took it, and he moved on to the seat behind me.

The other occupants of the car were mostly unicorns, a few earths, and the griffin from the train station. He was polishing his gun with a small towel. I gulped air and turned towards the window. I was sure he had never seen me. I didn’t know of anyone who might of got back here and saw me at the station, except for that dog. The diamond dog saw me. He saw me smash my hooves into his face and send him sprawling. He wasn’t on this car. Outside the window gave way to darkness and the ever lasting wisps of snow. The sounds I heard were the sounds of numerous voices on the train, and the chugging of the train moving in reverse.

Turning back to the gray colt I asked, “What was the weather like in Manehattan?” He looked up from something and looked out the window, and then back at me.

“It was fine... Remember?” I had forgotten I was one of them now. I had come from Manehattan with them.

“Oh right, I forgot.” It was a poor excuse, but he took it anyways with a shrug.

“Let's hope it’s still like that. Hopefully we can beat the storm. It’s headed towards Manehattan, but maybe we can out ride it, even in reverse.” I nodded in agreement and turned back towards the window. The train picked up speed, and as the hours passed I could see the storm fading outside. The snow became far and in between. We were beating the storm. Outside the window the edges of the city could be seen. The city glowed in the blackness of this night. It wasn’t long before the Manehattan train station came into view.

The station laid on the edge of the city. It looked like the Ponyville station, except bigger, and a flat gray color like the many other buildings in Manehattan. The train slid next to the bare boarding platform and then came to a screeching halt. The train jerked to a stop, and the gray colt nudged my shoulder for me to get up.

“C’mon, let’s unload everything now. I don’t remember you being around when we first put it on, but hey, you can help us take it off now,” he said. “Sucks we weren't able to get it to Ponyville.” He headed down the aisle to the car behind us, the last passenger car on the train. I stood in the walkway, not sure what to do. For sure that dog was back there, and he had described a few of my features to those others at the platform.

“Hey, get moving!” I received a brutally hard shove behind that sent my flying forward into the gray colt. He spun at me with an intense speed and looked about to holler when he looked up behind me and stopped short of yelling, at me me anyways.

“Geez Hawkins! Take it easy!” He helped me up and gave whoever Hawkins was a hard stare. “Why don’t you just wait for him to move.”

“Please, patience? Shut up Gray Rock.” The voice sounded slightly familiar. I decided to steal a glance back, and then wished I hadn’t. The griffin from the station, the one with the gun. He glared back at me saying, “What are you looking at you yellow-mule?”

“N-nothing,” I stammered. “Just, uh, a little gentler maybe next time?” He didn’t seem to recognize me. Maybe I wasn’t the image he had in mind. The dog told him about a yellow stallion that subdued him and killed two unicorns. The griffin, I suspected, was expecting a pony with a bit more muscle tone than what I had.

“Whatever, just get moving okay?” I nodded quickly and pushed forward. I didn’t want too, but my mind wasn’t thinking of any excuses to get me out of this situation. What if the dog hadn’t unboarded yet? He wasn’t in this car, and he couldn’t of been in any of the others I was dragged through since he would’ve surely seen me and stopped me then and there. He had to be in the last car, and if he was still in there, and if he saw me, all hell would break loose inside this train. The crowd behind me was pushing me forward into the colt and towards the door.

“Geez, everyone calm down, we’re getting out!” the colt shouted. He was getting annoyed fast, and looked like he was about to lose it. The car door swung open and a blast of cold air came bursting in through the netting that connected the cars together.

“Grah! It’s freaking freezing out there!” the griffin, Hawkins, shouted in distress.

“No, really?” The colt moved forward and pushed the door to the other car open. “Man, I wish the space between these cars was bigger, we could just hop off instead of having to move through another car to get out of this thing.” I silently agreed with him. He stepped through the gap and was in the other car. From here it looked liked it was mostly empty, most of the occupants had gotten off already. I tried to get a look around before stepping through, but Hawkins pushed me through into the next car.

“Move it earthy!” I found myself on the floor of the next car and tiredly got up. I was feeling exhaustion setting in from this long night. Slowly I moved down the aisle, the gray colt I saw had moved ahead and was already getting off. I was a few seats from the door when someone shoved me into the left row of seats.

“Hey look where you going pony!” a voice growled. I looked up and froze. It was the dog. His gray fur covered face was matted around the nose with dried blood, and one of his eyes was swollen. A look of angry recognition swept over his face. “You! You are the one! The one who broke my nose and wrecked my eye!” We were attracting stares.

“Whoah now, Dirt, this is the guy who got you? This skinny wimp?” The griffin jumped onto the right row of seats, standing on the back cushions. He had his gun drawn, and I found myself looking down the barrel. I found myself turned around and slowly retreating to the door.

“Stop or he’ll shoot!” Dirt commanded and threatened at the same time. “Heck, I’ll shoot too!” He drew a gun from the brown vest he was wearing.

“Why does he have to stop? Either way we’re gonna blow holes through him.” The griffin clicked the hammer back. Dirt did too. “Freaking manure eater is gonna get it. Hey, I know, let’s shoot his legs and let him suffer a bit.” The dog created a sound that I think could only be described as some sort of horrifying chuckle.

“Yes yes! I like that idea very much!” He outright laughed then and pulled the hammer back on his gun. I hadn’t stopped moving back this entire time, and was very close to the door.

“Then let’s break his legs, and skin off his cutie mark.” The griffin and the dog laughed together in a manic fashion. I noticed others looking on from behind them, most of them with their eyes on me. A few unicorns had guns hovering above their heads.

“Yes yes! I’ll get the knife! Hahaha!” They laughed again, a few of the other behind them chuckling along. I stopped moving back when my head was even with the exit of the door. The platform was clean right outside of it. The two were cackling in a demonic laughter, and the ones behind them were busy enjoying the ruckus themselves. I took this as a chance to escape.

I leaped out of the door, hearing gunshots behind me followed by angry shouting. I landed cleanly and sprinted down the platform, whizzing by surprised and angry faces. I heard guns go off everywhere along with the shouts and screams of other terrified passengers and bystanders. I jumped off the end of platform, diving into the snow. I got back to my feet in an instant and was again galloping along the side of the Manehattan train station. Eventually I found the street and made it out onto the the cold deserted streets. I was tired, and found it hard to keep control of my labored breathing. But it seemed I had escaped the thugs. I wasn’t very far from the station though when I was stopped by a dark gray stallion in a tophat and a monocle on one eye. I recognized him from cross-city newspapers and news reports.

“Hello, Mr. Carrot Cake, yes? My colleagues call me Caesar. I am the governor of Manehattan, and I ask you come with me, and quickly before those thugs find us.” I found that I was unable to deny his request. We walked through the streets until we came up to a small cafe. He ushered me in and we found a table in the back.

“Mr-Mr-I mean, Governor! You know me? W-What can I do for you, sir?” The governor of this city had called me out, I wasn’t sure what to say or do. It hasn’t been the first time I’ve met anyone of importance, Cup and I once hosted a banquet for Princess Celestia at our home! But this stallion seeked me out personally, or at least that’s what it looked like.

“I’ve been meaning to contact you for some time, as I know of a recently developed plan to remove you from our world. I meant to meet you personally at your home town’s station, but something came up and I wasn’t able to make it. I’m quite relieved I found you here.” A waiter came and asked for drink orders. I wasn’t thirsty; Caesar ordered tea. “We don’t have much time now. I have something to attend to, and I would like you to see me at my manor in half an hour, if you can survive for that long.”

“Survive?” These thugs were after me, I had killed some of them, but that was it. I didn’t know what Caesar was telling me, but it looked like things were bigger than I thought. The waiter brought him his tea.

“Can you make it in half an hour?” He sipped his tea quietly, his eyes on me the whole time. I thought about it, making a decision, and then nodded my head. “Good. I think you may need directions to my manor.” He told me where to go and I nodded again. “Hope I see you there. I wish I could explain everything now, but I don’t have the time.” He finished his tea, stood from his chair and nodded in my direction, and he left the cafe. I sat there for a little longer, feeling confused. He knew something, something big. Something about me.

I shakily left the cafe, troubled now, unsure what to do. He wanted me to stay alive, he believed I could be killed in the next half hour. I stood there in the cold, facing the wind. Caesar was right. Death could arrive in the next half hour.

Chapter II:

Cold Revelations

The late night streets of Manehattan were dark, deserted, and cold. The lamps flickered, now using back up electric lights that replaced the fireflies as they froze in their sleep. The wind was picking up, and the storm was on its way. Already there were light flakes drifting from the sky and being blown around in the wind, ducking and diving underneath and above each other. The jacket I was wearing was doing little to protect me, and the icy fingers of the wind pierced through my fur. I noticed a little while ago the badge I was wearing, the symbol of those thugs, had fallen off at some point.

When I left the cafe earlier I had seen Caesar’s carriage roll down the street and take a left, going in the opposite direction of his manor. It wasn’t far away, but I didn’t feel like going to wait by the door or gate for him to come back. Half an hour wasn’t a long time, but I didn’t know what to do in it. I thought that I might as well wait, having nothing better to do. I again considered just going to his manor at this moment when I heard the rolling wheels of an approaching carriage. I wondered if they would be willing to offer a lift.

I thought better of it when I saw the driver, the dog named Dirt, sitting atop the carriage with reins in hand, guiding two muscular unicorns. The carriage was a simple wooden carriage, a bit longer though then some others I’ve seen, probably to accommodate more passengers. The carriage though was pulling behind it several gray metal trailers. The caravan was coming up quickly, and doing my best to not be seen I jumped into the nearest alleyway.

The procession moved past without noticing me, and two more carriages followed the first, both of them also leading away several gray trailers. A few unicorns walked alongside serving as an escort. I imagined they were armed.

“Geez, it’s getting cold!” one of them said with a shiver.

“That storm is blowing in fast. Lets hurry up now!” They continued moving on through the cold. I cautiously left the alleyway and watched the procession go, wondering what was in those trailers. They didn’t have windows, so I wasn’t sure if they were passenger cars or not. Maybe that was their supply, the sugar-drug. I failed to intercept it at Ponyville, but maybe I could get a fix on where it was kept here, then go back to Ponyville, and tell Keylocker. Of course being that the drug wouldn’t be in Ponyville anymore, he’d probably contact Manehattan authorities. I figured I’d be better off contacting them too.

I watched the caravan move further down the road, and slowly I emerged further from the alleyway, planning to trail them from behind. Of course, how often do things go perfectly as planned? I should’ve looked both ways, but not doing so caused me to collide with a passing unicorn stallion in a white shirt and apron with a white paper hat on top of his golden brown hair. We fell on top of each other, and when I scuttled back to my feet I saw the caravan was out of sight, having melted away into the darkness of the street further down, and odds are they probably turned somewhere up ahead too. I turned towards the pony I had collided into and found myself surprised by the identity.

“Oh my god, Pony Joe?” He was still on the ground, looking a bit dazed. I helped him get back to his feet and stand right. He swayed for a bit before steadying himself. He looked at me and smiled with a sense of recognition.

“Carrot Cake? Is that you?” He laughed and threw a hoof around my neck to draw me in for a hug. “Carrot, dearest of all my friends!” I returned the hug, feeling a little uneasy. So he was here in Manehattan after all. “What are you doing here?”

“I got your letter,” I said. He brushed himself off and adjusted his paper hat. “You weren’t at the train station, and well, lets say I ran into some complications. I got a ride onto a train before it came back here due to the weather.” He looked off in thought for a moment, then returned his gaze to me.

“Um, yes, yes. The weather I heard is very bad, and headed this way. The pegasi have lost control of it unfortunately. It’s bringing in a freeze too I’m afraid.” He shivered slightly and tugged the white apron on him tighter.

“You’re not wearing much for the cold.” He shrugged.

“I don’t mind it too much, Carrot. I’m well built. You not as much. Is that coat all you have?” He tugged at the corner of my coat and inspected it briefly.

“I’m afraid so. I wish I had something warmer.” I shivered in the cold.

“Well Carrot, since you got my, uh, letter; Firstly, my sincerest apologies for not being able to make it there myself - Secondly, take an airship with me now back to Canterlot, so we can talk about what I wanted to see you about. I don’t have much time to talk here.”

“Airships are getting through the weather?”

“Not through my friend,” he laughed, “but above the weather! They are breaking above the clouds, flying above the storm. But they can only take off for so long. In an hour or so, the airships that don’t take off will be grounded I’m afraid. Come lets go now, not many are left that are going to Canterlot.” He wanted to go now, but Caesar had asked me for an audience at his manor. I didn’t want to abandon that.

“Joe I’d love too, but either tell the airship to wait or I’ll try to get another one. I have to do something first.”

“Carrot, the ships will only wait for so long.” He directed a frown at me and said, “Please, come with me now Carrot, there isn’t a lot of time.” I shrugged apologetically. I didn’t want to miss what Caesar wanted to say. He was the governor for Celestia’s sake, and he wanted to take something up with me!

“Look, I think I’m a little late already. I don’t want to keep him waiting.” He seemed to be getting agitated now. Was this really that important?

“Keep who waiting Carrot? What do you need to do so badly?” He just about shouted that.

“Alright fine! The governor. Caesar of Manehattan, he wants to see me at his manor.” His demeanor changed instantly.

“Well Carrot! Why didn’t you say so my friend?” His horn started to glow and a bag he had dropped lifted into the air. “I’m sorry if I lost my temper, Carrot. Are you walking there? It’s not far, but it’s very cold out.”

“I’m walking.”

“Well I see what I can do with the airship.” He waved and smiled before walking down the street and disappearing into the dark. I decided it was time to go to Caesar’s.

Through the night I trekked down the streets, cold and alone. The night was becoming late, I suspected it was around midnight now. Over the course of the last few hours, I’ve seen one too many familiar faces, watched one of them die in front of me, and I almost froze in a snowstorm. I’ve been shot at, and I’ve fought back, and killed. I met an old friend on the streets of a giant gray city right after meeting the governor of the city and being invited to his home, and every arrow pointed at me being involved somehow. And with all of this, I knew this night was far from over.

It wasn’t too long before I found the manor. Unlike the majority of buildings in Manehattan, which were mostly all tightly packed one right next to other with a skinny alley every few building blocks, the manor was set back from the walls of concretes on either side of it, and wasn’t attached to any other buildings. It gave way to a giant front lawn that was guarded by a great iron bar gate which stood wide open, accepting guests. A thin layer of snow sat on top of the walls that the gate stood in, and that’s when I noticed the snow falling before my eyes. It was very light, very sparse. It was on and off since I got here. But these flakes were noticeably larger. The storm was getting closer. I needed to be quick here, and then get to an airship.

I walked up the long driveway up the marble white stairs that lead to a great mahogany door surrounded by the white marble body of the house which was larger, much larger, than the other buildings on the street. I rapped my hoof upon the wood door and waited. I shivered again as I heard noise on the other side of the door, the sounds of opening locks.

“Yes? Who’s there?” came a voice as the door opened. I pressed a hoof on the door to open it just slightly more.

“I-it’s me, Mr. Carrot Cake. Governor Caesar?” The door opened abruptly and I felt an arm around my neck pull me in. The door shut quickly behind me and a gust of cold air pushed in by the door blew on my back that tore through my fur and prickled my skin.

“Finally, and it’s about time, sir.” My eyes adjusted to the lights of the room, and soon I recognized Caesar standing next to me. “Goodness, what took you so long?”

“An old friend after you left. Sorry. Also, a little trouble finding the place.” I shrugged.

“Well, you’re here now anyways. Please, follow me to my den. This very much concerns you, and your wife.” I stopped where I was. My wife? What did he know about that? “Are you coming?” he called. I walked quickly to catch up with him.

“What-What do you know about my wife?” He continued walking without saying anything. We arrived at his den shortly, and he gestured me into the room first.

“Please, take a seat if you wish. Or better yet, stay standing. You’ll probably need too.” I wasn’t sure what he meant by that.

“Please, what about my wife? What do you want?” The den had a soft red carpet and red wallpapered walls. A statue of a toucan stood in the corner, perched on a marble tree branch with no leaves. He took a seat in a plush red armchair sitting in front of a bright orange fire. Above the mantle hung the framed painting of a full hydra, raising from an ocean deep. The fire flickered shadows everywhere. One wall had a giant window, plane and simple, flat on the bottom, round on top. It was clean and very bare. It looked out at an alley that ran between the rows of buildings. The back of the buildings were bare and stained with age and grime. It was a terrible view.

“Mr. Cake, first, my dearest and most utterly sincerest apologies. I know these are very late, but older circumstances wouldn’t have let me admit them. You’re wife was a fascinating mind in the business we had those several years ago. I’m sure you would’ve been a great member of our team too if you’re health didn’t suffer at the last minute. What I did, to her, and any others, the test subjects we used... I’m deeply sorry.” He removed his top hat and set on a coffee table next to him. He looked tired and exhausted, the weight of the world on his shoulders. He was talking about the convention, the research convention for baking, so long ago. I wanted to say something, but I thought it’d be best if I let him finish. “It was one mistake of many I’ve made. We should’ve stopped when we could’ve, thrown the messed up hell-powder into the flames of the ovens. But no, we kept it. We tried to profit off of it. Your wife was avidly against it, and she threatened to expose us. I didn’t want too, but the power and money, the one who found himself with the reigns to everything, forced me too. I sent them in a crate, and his loyal money hungry contact in Ponyville complied. He released the monsters into your home, had them armed, drugged, all of that. He left them to rampage, confident he wouldn’t need to look back. He thought you would’ve been there too, though you may of known of this. By some sort of luck you weren’t there, and that’s how you lived.

“I was responsible for this. Your tragedy was my wrong doing. I murdered your family. I don’t expect you to forgive me, but I know you’ll help me, because you’ll want to help me, or else you’ll be finished.” I stared at him blankly, trying to take it all in. “You must help me, because helping me will be helping yourself.” His words caught up to me, and fear and anger welled up inside me, and I saw the world tint red. “Please, Mr. Cake, you must--” I cut him off there.

“NO! Why should I help you?! You killed them? YOU DID THAT?” The scream filled the room. The suddenness of it had scared Caesar into falling out of his chair.

“Please understand me! I’m your only chance at redemption!”

“Redemption? What redemption?! You should be begging me not to kill you right now!”

“Please, I know, I know! I want redemption too! Don’t think you have nothing to redeem yourself for! You were no doubt blaming yourself for everything! You blame yourself for not being there, for arriving too late before you could do anything! There is a bigger force at work that must be stopped! Extract your revenge on the true mastermind!”

“Yah? And just who the hell is that?”

“Donut Joe.” The answer was a sudden hit home.

“Wait, what?” This revelation was something I was unprepared for. Donut ‘Pony’ Joe? And too think I had just talked to him only a short time before. Caesar got to his feet and brushed himself off with a hoof.

“I realize, you and he were friends, up until the convention and your wife’s murder, long time friends. I... He... He has, for the longest time, been running a very small time crime syndicate out of Canterlot. He was a baker first though, but a criminal second. He saw something in this project, something he could use. He thought that he could bring in a fortune with this, this drug... And he did, through the underground market. Mr. Cake, if you let me, I’ll explain everything you’ve been through this night.” He got back up in his chair and sat back, looking at the floor all the while. “You received a letter earlier today, yes?”

“Yes. It said it was from Po--”

“Joe, yes I know,” he cut me off. “I wrote it. I meant to arrive on that train, but something came up and I wasn’t able to make it. Somehow you found your way here anyways.”

“I was being chased, they were trying to kill me, Lucky, and some others...”

“Lucky? That must be Joe’s Ponyville contact. You know him?”

“He’s on our force.”

“Ah yes, your ramshackle police force. I figured he would’ve had a contact in something like that. Did it look like a setup? I knew it was going to happen.” He turned towards the flickering fire with a blank stare. “I thought I could’ve stopped it. They killed an officer then, and you’re to blame, and everyone wants you now.”

“You knew about this all? And who’s out to get me?”

“All of Equestria. You don’t listen to the radio much I see. As far they are concerned, you killed an officer of the law. Maybe he wasn’t a trained officer like the Royal Guards, but it’s still something.” He turned back to face me, and his eyes were hollow black pits. This was eating him away. He stepped down from his chair and walked to one end of the room where a small wooden dresser sat with a radio on top of it. Caesar twisted the dials around, and the radio began emitting a high pitched wailing squeal. The sound was obnoxiously loud, and I flattened my ears to my head to try and lock it out. He kept twisting until he found the station he was looking for, and as soon as he found it the squeal immediately stopped and a new voice filled the room. I recognized it instantly.

“Remember this is for everyone to be on high alert. We have a rogue cop, I repeat a rogue cop. I don’t know if he’s armed, but if he was responsible for the carnage we found at the train station, then he’s one dangerous pile of manure.” Keylocker’s voice trembled through the room. He sounded drunk and tired, and terribly disgruntled. “He’s a cop killer, and I ask for assistance from all guard services everywhere who is listening in to take this killer alive.” There was a pause, some muffled sounds emitting from the radio.

“Did I lose the signal?” Caesar was about to adjust the dial again when the voice boomed back on.

“We can’t tell from the storm, but he may of headed to Manehattan or Canterlot, following the railroad either direction. Unless he got on a train or sprouted wings, he’s gotta be on the tracks. Dead or alive it doesn't matter. A 10,000 bit reward. I’ll repeat the name and description. Name Cake, Carrot. Carrot Cake, yellow stallion with orange mane and tail, last seen wearing a dark brown and stained trench-coat. He--” Caesar turned the radio off and turned back towards me.

“You’re wanted by everyone. You have nowhere to run.” He strode over to his fireplace, placing himself in the orange glow, appearing to me now as a silhouette against the flames. “This drug case, Joe, all of it. As of now, you’re the only one I can ask to end it.”

“What do you mean?” I asked him.

“Go to Canterlot, and end Joe’s project.” He pronounced the word carefully and slowly, letting it sink in. He wanted me to take on Joe. Was he crazy? I hated Caesar for his involvement, but I hated Joe now too, and this whole drug case. But what could I do? I wasn’t fit, wasn’t that strong. He wanted me to fight a legion of demons by myself, take on the Devil and his armies, all in pursuit of bringing back a false sense of heaven and peace on this world.

This world is filled with enemies, but right now I felt, regrettably perhaps, one enemy of mine would have to be a friend for now, Caesar. Friends help you live.

“I realize it will be a, ah, difficult job, but Mr. Cake, you must do it. You’re a baker at heart, not a fighter, but you must try. If you succeed I can’t see to it that you aren’t arrested, but I can guide you through the legal system and bring you out clean and free. It’s the best deal I can offer. You’ve survived this long, don’t think this is as far as you can go.” I thought it out a little longer. I still thought about life after death. Would I see them again? Wife, children, would I ever see them again? Is there a heaven? A Hell? And too which place would I go?

“Alright,” I muttered. It was quiet, and I didn’t think he had heard me. I strode over to the window overlooking the alley that ran behind the buildings, moving past their ugly back sides.

I was about to repeat myself when he he said just above a whisper, “Good luck then. I look forward to the outcome.”

Right then it was like the cue for the killer thugs to arrive, busting down the door, firing off revolvers with their unicorn magic. I didn’t get much of a look but I found myself smashing through the window pane and picking myself up in the alleyway. Gunshots rang out from behind me as I sprinted down the alley, galloping faster than I ever remembered doing. I slid on some ice covered by snow, and turned between a gap between two buildings, finding myself back on the streets. I stopped, stood there breathing heavily, nearly exhausted. I wanted to pass out, but the cold prevented me from doing so.

The guns, the assailants, the promises Caesar could no longer act upon with his death now in the history books of Manehattan. Still, I knew my enemy, and the Devil remained in my sights. Whether it meant prison or not, I was going to finish this anyways.

Chapter III:

Flying to Hell

Snow was becoming thick, falling with more force, with more impact. Every extra flake that fell on my back was another weight to be carried, to be heaved around. The cold was biting at me again, more teeth this time, gnawing through my fur and into my flesh. The streets were bare and deserted. It was past midnight. No one was up. I was alone in this city. Those who walked it with me hunted me.

Joe told me there were airships making their last flights to Canterlot and elsewhere before the brute of the storm passed through. I don’t know how long I was at Caesar’s, and I didn’t know how long until the last flight took place, or if took place already. I didn’t even know where the airfield was. There was no one to ask either. Doors were locked, lights doused, the streets still barren and covered in an undisturbed layer of snow. I was alone with no idea on where to go. There was nothing to do but wander the streets, and simply hope I would come across something that could help. I looked up in the falling snow and stood there for a moment, feeling the icy cold of each flake settle upon me. I took a breath and stood for a bit longer. The clouds above were black, the tall buildings on either side of the street disappearing into the night. Up in the air there was a single gray cloud, a light blot against the black sky. It moved slowly against the backdrop of the black clouds, and as I concentrated on the shape, staring straight through the snow, it took on shape, an oval almost. Then suddenly it came to me. It wasn’t a cloud at all. It couldn’t have been. As the picture in my eyes resolved itself, the shape became more defined, details stuck out.

It was an airship. I tried to pinpoint the direction it was going, I wasn’t sure. Eventually I was able to make it out. But was it arriving or departing? It wasn’t clear, but what I had heard the airships were trying to make their last breaks for other cities. It must’ve been departing. I checked the direction it was coming from, and I turned and sprinted down that direction.

The run there is a blur to me now, but I found the airfield eventually. They were closing off the gates when I arrived. I saw one airship left, a loading ramp leading to its passenger hold. I slipped past the pony dragging the gate. He didn’t notice me. Probably tired or exhausted, maybe too frozen in his work and body to notice or care. From the gate I could see the inflated balloon clearly, a majestic purple color in the shape of a whale, and on it the regal symbol of Princess Celestia, an orange sun emblazoned near the rear of the balloon, bearing resemblance to the position of a cutie mark. It was a Canterlot ship. I heard various shouts coming from the airship’s groundcrew. They were preparing to take off. I was almost to the ramp when an orange pegasus stopped me.

“Where the heck do you think you’re going?” he growled.

I Looked at him and a shot a worried glance at the ship and said, “Just trying to make the last flight to Canterlot.”

“No free rides! Fare is twelve bits.” I had some money, I knew that, but I didn’t know where I would go to buy tickets. A high wind blew in, and the working crews became more frantic in their work.

“We gotta get off the ground!” one of them shouted. I turned towards the pegasus.

“Where do I go to pay?” I shouted over the roar of the wind. He eyed me and glanced at the airship.

“Alright fine, give me six bits and get on quick. The doorcolt is too old and too busy to notice a new passenger.” I gave him the six bits and he grinned at me before pushing me up the ramp. I got into the passenger carriage and found a window seat. I watched as the ground crews struggled in the wind and snow to get this last ship up in the air. The cabin was moderately warm, and only a few of the seats held occupants, most of them wrapped up in soft blankets to stay warm. They looked like they were in peace, despite the thunderous chaos outside. They were sleeping through the storm, waiting it out until tomorrow, waiting until it finally passed allowing them to poke their heads up and enjoy the next hazard free day. I wish I could join them in the same way I used to be with them. Not tonight, perhaps not again ever. I was going into the storm, going through it, into the Hell it was. There was no letting it pass through.

The ship cabin suddenly lurched forward and the cabin door slammed shut. Slowly then, the cabin began to rock side to side, left to right, very slow, very calm. We were airborne, and heading to Canterlot.

“You know,” a voice said from behind. I turned my head to see an old gray colt in the seat behind me wearing some sort of uniform. I guessed he was the doorcolt. “I heard that, that this here storm, is next spreading to Canterlot! It’s breaking into pieces and sending them off to anywhere and everywhere in Equestria!” It sounded like Equestria was freezing over. I looked back at the colt, but saw he had drifted off to sleep.

The cabin hung from ropes that hugged it close to the balloon. It rocked softly, despite the increasing wind-speed outside. The cabin was tight enough to withstand hard turbulence. The light swaying there was though I found was calming, relaxing. I felt tired, exhausted... It was still at least two hours before we would reach Canterlot. I couldn’t help it. The tug of sleep, the blanket of darkness, it all came to me at once.

Some when they sleep, they can go straight through, no problems, no bumps in the road. No turbulence for this ride. Peaceful sleep until destination achieved. I wasn’t on that ship. In the darkness I saw a light, a single far away light. The cabin rocked gently. I slept without making sounds. The light grew bigger, and it gave way to a hallway with blue wallpaper, wood floor and ceiling. There was no source though to the light, no lamp, no fire. The swaying of the cabin kept the sleeping asleep. A tarp thrown over all of us in here, stakes driven into the ground at its corners, disabling our ability to wake. The tarp was tight, it couldn’t be loosened from the ground. I was in the hallway. It was a long stretch, darkness at the end. I took several steps, and the darkness retreated slightly. Darkness had to be faced, it couldn’t be left alone. I ran after it, and it ran away from me. The tarp held tight movements in sleep. Body stiff, breath slow and deep, mind pulsing. The darkness raced away from me, but it played fair. I stopped to breath, wondering why I would need to do such in what could only be a dream. Perhaps the need to breath calculated this into a nightmare. Regardless, the darkness waited for me.

Whispers. The tarp tightened. Pinned to the ground, unable to move. Galloping whooves, increasing in sound and pitch. A figure retreating into the darkness. Distinct shape I only knew all too well. I sprinted to catch up with it, running fast, galloping hard, a speeding train. Darkness only stayed at the distance it’s been at this entire time. It had to tire eventually, didn’t it? I gave chase again, and down the hallway we went, endlessly chasing. One of the spikes gave way and popped from the ground. The tarp loosened. The cabin swayed, ever so gently. The darkness stopped, and I kept running. I had it, almost. It wasn’t far now. The darkness, I was upon it. The hallway ended. A chasm was the end, a giant pit at the end of the hall. Another spike popped from the ground. The tarp was loosening further. A voice from behind me. I had nothing but a glimpse of her eyes when I received a shove from behind, throwing me into the abyss. I fell without noise. I lost my jacket. The ground, I couldn’t see it. Speed increase. I felt the fur and skin tearing from my body. The cabin rocked a little more, less gentle. High winds kicked up. Sudden turbulence. No landing. I was on my feet, surrounded by darkness.

There was another light up ahead. A low glow. There was a slight pressure on my head, and something was wrapped around me neck. I couldn’t see what. I used a hoof to pry, found my hat on my head, my striped tie around my next, knotted together as a bow. I was wearing my work apron. The cabin lurched to the side. The tarp stayed where it was, those trapped under it still there. I made movement towards the light, and it didn’t move. It stayed where it was. Slowly I approached it, carefully. I heard the whispers of chimes. I smelled fresh pastries baking in an oven. The light was a doorway, but I couldn’t see into it. I stepped forward until my nose was against the light. I couldn’t see through it. I lifted a hoof, and nudged it towards the light, slowly moving it into it. I wanted to stop, everything in this dream body screaming at me to halt. I pushed the hoof through the barrier of light.

The third stake burst from the ground. Turbulence. The tarp was loose. Only one stake held down a single corner. Those under were free to go. But they didn’t. The tarp still hovered above them. Covering them in its shadow. I stepped full through the door of light. My eyes adjusted to the sudden darkness, but soon I was able to make out furnishings. A glow appeared in the corner of the room and quickly and quite suddenly burst in intensity, lighting the whole room in a ghastly orange color. The room darkened again just as quickly, but the glow remained, casting eerie shadows off the furniture. At first, I didn’t recognize where I was. I never went in here after the murders. I sealed off their room from that day on. Their room. The children’s room. Upon my realization stains on the floor materialized, red in color, and faint cries came from the battered cribs hulked against the walls. I stumbled back, terrified by the vision. A miscalculation of my footing caused me to twist my legs up and tumble back through the door, but it didn’t lead back the dark. Another room. A bed, the quilt dripping blood. A yellow stallion standing next to it.

The fourth stake broke free, finally, and the tarp lifted away. My eyes became clear in the dream, and there I was standing, next to the bed which held blood but no body. This dream contained two of me, and it had us both in the same room, at the same bed. The other me though, he was a wreck. He own fur was matted down with red liquid in several places, his apron torn, dark bags under his eyes. He was a ruined colt. I felt the need to get closer, but as soon as I took my first steps forward, he turned on me, staring at me wild eyed.

He screamed, “You did this! It’s your fault, it has always been your fault!” I found myself at a loss for words. “You did it all! You could’ve stopped this!” The words stung, because for the longest time I believed them to be true. But they weren’t, they couldn’t have been. I wanted to respond, correct him, but this demonic version of me, a representation of my own inner self (It had to be!) had other plans. Pulling it from hammerspace, the other me had Lucky’s customized revolver. I realized I had it too, and in that instant I saw where this was going. Shots fired, turbulence grew, bullets struck, flesh was torn open. He hit the ground dead, and in that instant I woke up. I was sweating, panting. The cabin was steady, calm. I looked out the window and saw Canterlot just ahead. The trip through Hell was done. A demon conquered, but was it the one I was after all this time. Wasn’t my true demon Joe himself? Or was I my own devil, my own tarp? We all have our devils, but do we all conquer them?

The thought occurred to me that maybe some of us have more than one demon, and that this flight through Hell wasn’t over yet. Canterlot was just ahead.

Comments

[Latch]

Another excellently written chapter.

Whatever you do, just please don't stop writing this.

[Clonehunter]

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Thank you again for the support, it's really appreciative!

And I'll do my best to not stop writing it until the story is done.

[Jack Kellar]

A tree that big has to have deep roots, Carrot. You're on the right track.

Have I told you I love this, Clonehunter? It feels like Max Payne, but even though it's an adaptation, the worldbuilding is fitting for both and you made one important thing clear: Carrot isn't Max. He's on about the same track, but it shows that he's not simply a pony possessed by Max's personality.