Thief

by conTROLLER234

Chapter 24 Teacher

Thief

Chapter 24

Teacher

Everybody sat inside the moving train, some resting or some pretending to. Whoever was still awake, was most likely processing all the moments that had led up to this exact moment. Times like these, where we had down time for our mind to take over our bodies and give us those excruciating pains of sorrow and remorse; they didn't come around often enough. And as much as some of us hated those times where we had nothing to do but think, we knew they would always. Always, come to be.

I sat alone in the main conductor room, planted on the cold, hard wooden floor. My hands traced the grain of a oak plank that just so happened to be placed beneath my palm. My fingers, with a mind of their own began picking at the board, slowly removing the specific yet unknown substance that was plastered to the wood, as to smoothen it out.

Much like everyone else this this situation with me, I was thinking about Lyra, Big Mac… all of the losses that we've encountered over our journeys. Some accidents, some sacrifices. Though I was mostly pondering and worrying about Fluttershy, trying to figure out how to find her and get her back. I guess at this point, the best chance we have is to locate the princesses and hope that they can help.

No matter how hard I had tried to get comfortable, no position would fix my uncomfort at the moment. The unpredictable and irritating bumps that would occur every so often would throw me off track of any moments I was trying to forget.

“...Maybe my earbuds will help.” I sighed softly to myself, barely able to hear my own voice over the engine pumping and working. I pulled off my small, single-strapped backpack and zipped it open with one, swift movement. I planted it down in front of me, right beside my bow, and arrows that I had been previously examining. I dug around inside for about a minute, having no success. I grunted, dropping my head against the wall that supported my back.

Of course I left them in the barn with Fluttershy. Either she has them, or they're a melted pile of plastic, copper and rubber. Guess I'd have to find something else to do in the meantime.

Just as I was about to sort through my entire kit, I heard the door next to me slide open. I halted my work, my eyes waiting for someone to come on. And even though we had cleared out the whole train of walkers, there was always the thought of a walker stumbling in on me. So my hand moved to my knife, and I unsheathed it.

My grip on my blade handle loosened when I saw Twilight walk in. She was halfway in the room when she looked around, looking in all directions and lastly my way. When she saw me, her chest compressed ever-so slightly, as if she gave out an exhale of some expression, however I didn't hear it at all.

“Relax, I'm not one of those things.” She joked, but her lack of smile made it useless. She fully entered, sliding the door closed with her magic, though she did it without flinching which caught my attention.

“Your magic is returning to its normal state, I see.” I looked down, returning to my organizing.

She gave off a quiet hum. “Yeah… I guess I haven't really thought about it.” She sauntered slowly over beside me, plopping down on the ground. Her posture and position seemed extremely irritating, and probably wasn't good for her, but she did it nonetheless.

“Well, that's good. Your magic will definitely be helpful in the long run, so try to keep it healthy… your horn, or whatever.” I sighed with a lazy shrug, not even bothering to close up my bag.

She mumbled a “Yeah…” or something, it could've been anything though. I fiddled with the zipper, and pressed my tongue against my upper teeth in my mouth, as if it were to help remove the elephant in the room. She shuffled her hooves around, and I assumed she was doing the same.

I felt my heart jump intensively inside my chest when I heard a wet sniffle emit from Twilight’s muzzle. I gulped, feeling my jaw muscles strain and flex. I turned to her, noticing how quickly her face had changed from whence she entered the room. Her eyes were stuffy and red, and watery from the tears of many negative emotions that her brain had created.

I could tell obviously what was going to happen, and why. But if anyone was bad at dealing with someone who was crying, I would raise my hand high. Words of reassurance wouldn't be able to fix her right now, we were in too deep to fix all of this with simple words. I pondered for a moment, which had seemed like forever until I had decided to break the ice with whatever flew off of my tongue.

Twilight cleared her throat several times, attmepting to return her voice to it's default sound as she spoke before I could. “S-Sorry, John… I shouldn't break down in front of you like this, it'll just make things harder for the both of us.”

I was almost caught off guard, and my mind took much longer to process what she had just said than I had anticipated. She looked up at me, and we both made strong eye contact. She was just about to get up, until my hand -without instruction- gripped onto her foreleg that was closest to me. She stopped in her tracks, looking back up at me. But my eyes were shut, and I was facing the ground with an expression of pure risk.

“...Just, don't worry about it. Okay? This isn't your fault, it isn't anyone's fault. So, don't blame yourself for normal human emotions.” I spoke softly, only loud enough so she could just hear. I shook my head and turned away from her. “Or, pony emotions I guess…”

I sensed her low-toned vibe rise, and a smile could've formed on her face but I just couldn't imagine it. I finally remembered that I held a strong grip on her foreleg, and my hand snapped away from her, gripping onto my thigh.

“Yes...you're right, I know I shouldn't blame myself for this. But…” She spoke in a bubbly, cracky voice. Trying as best as possible to keep calm and collected. I opened my eyes, but they sat still in my sockets and burned holes in the ground below me. “Even after you corrected Scootaloo on what she said… I can't help but listen to that voice in the back of my mind. That we're not going to make it out of here. That we're all going to die.”

She dropped her head, finally releasing the compression in her chest as the urge to speak her idea escaped through her lips. I wanted to reassure her, but as selfish as this sounded I was too lazy and tired to do it. All of this mourning and loss, was finally getting to me. All, because of one pony…

“And I can't imagine what Fluttershy must be going through-”

“She's going to be fine.” I blurted out, the sound of my voice awakening my senses a little bit more and clearing my throat. “We're going to find her…We are going to find her.” I spoke twice, as if I were asking myself the same question again to make sure that I really, truly knew the answer.

I could assume that Twilight had different thoughts, but she was kind enough to spare the two of us from it. We had a chance to avoid more mourning, and we took it.

“...Yeah, you're right. We can't lose hope anymore.” She assured herself, and I finally looked up to give a nod.

There was another long, awkward silence as we both sat silently in the aggravatingly obnoxious, loud engine room. We had almost forgotten the other body was there, as we were left to our thoughts. I finally came up with something else to say, but my tongue blocked anything trying to escape through my mouth. As if the world had heard me, a sharp bump shook the train, unlocking my will to speak.

“So, do you know if the princesses are going to be able to help us, at all?” I hoped, scratching my scruffy face. I hadn't shaved in a long time, and facial hair just wasn't really my thing.

She took such a long pause to answer I figured she hadn’t even heard me. I was about to say her name, but she answered before I could.

“... I'll be honest with you. I don't think they can do much to help us. But at this point, it's our only option.” She mumbled as she had her muzzle pointed towards the ground.

I shrugged, better than nothing I suppose. I inhaled through my nose deeply, grabbing her attention as I stood up. Holding onto the wall to keep my balance, as my legs returned to their daily duty of keeping me upright.

“I'm going to go check on the others. You can have some time to yourself.” I ended, heading through the door without giving her any time to respond. When I shut the door, my head was relieved; all of the loud noises from the engine were mostly suppressed. And I almost felt bad for leaving Twilight in there alone.

When I looked around the passenger cart, I saw most of the ponies. AppleJack had her hind legs crossed, and resting on the table. Her dark Stetson resting on her face for some darkness as she snoozed away. Her hair was untucked from her red bands that usually held her mane and tail together in an orderly fashion. Even though it looked like an uncontrollable mess, it didn't look too bad on her.

The only other ponies in the room were Scootaloo, Applebloom, and Luke, who didn't exactly classify as a pony, but whatever. Scootaloo and Applebloom were both talking to eachother, and I was relieved to see a smile on their faces, it gave me hope and reassurance. Luke had his rifle taken apart on the table in front of him, cleaning out all of the parts. I exhaled quickly through my nose. Guns… what's the need for them?

The only pony missing was Dash, and I was a bit concerned as of where she was. She was incredibly imperative to the group, and even though I sounded like a strict mother I needed to make sure she was safe.

I walked through the center of the cart, and I spotted Luke turn to me, though he didn't speak. He simply gave me a downwards nod, and carried on with his work, I did the same. I reached the other door at the end, and slid it open with ease, stepped through, and closed it quietly behind me.

When I entered, the sound of the engine was barely noticeable, making this passenger cart much quieter. It would have been perfect for sleeping in, that is, if it weren't for the sobbing that echoed in the cart. I stood silent for a minute or so, listening. I had already come to the conclusion that, with everyone else in the previous carts, that this must be Dash.

I was already about to turn tail and head back into the engine room, but I stopped myself before I could reach for the door handle. With a quiet sigh, I faced back towards the sound of the crying. With silent steps, I moved through the train cart, looking left and right between the seats until I spotted my objective.

Finally, at the seat to my left that was right next to the other door, lay the whimpering heap of a rainbow Pegasus. Curled up in her own ball, with her head directed towards the window. Her eyes were closed, but around them they were red, stuffy and wet from her liquid mourning. She must've been in there for a while, because she probably had just gotten over a crying fit. Her body was shaking uncontrollably, and she gave off quiet coughs and sniffles.

I stood there stupidly, oblivious of the answer of what to do. Should I leave? Should I sit down next to her and ask about her feelings like some kind of therapist?

I was in the midst of planning an action, when one of her eyes squinted open. Her lazy, yet bright magenta eye met mine, and dug into my heart and soul like a molten hot shovel. As soon as she realized it was me, her eyelids shot open as if something had bitten her, and she jumped out of her seat, her wings expanding.

“J-John! T-This isn't what it looks like, I-I promise!!” She landed back on her hooves, shaking more in panic. “I was just-! ...j-just…” Her legs gave out in fatigue and defeat as she collapsed back onto the seat. Her eyes were already tearing up again as she covered them with her hooves, blushing with embarrassment. “Oh, forget it… Go ahead, l-laugh at me…”

I sighed, feeling relaxed at the minimal feeling that she had dropped her giant wall of ego. I looked about the cart, confirming that it was only me and Dash in the room. When I was sure, I faced the Pegasus.

“Dash, I'm not going to laugh at you. Why the hell would I laugh at you?” I took a seat beside her, and she didn't seem to object, other than moving over slightly.

She wiped her muzzle with her hoof. “...B-Because, I'm not strong. I started to feel proud, because you seemed so badass, and told me how helpful and confident I was.” She sat up, looking straight in front of her with an depressed face. “And now I'm sitting here, weeping like a little school filly…”

Badass...

“Well, you're right about one thing. You are definitely one of the most important people in this group. You are very confident, and selfless, and not to mention extremely loyal.” She turned her head to face me, looking up at me. Her eyes met mine, and there was a brief moment where I hesitated. My mouth just hung open stupidly, as I stared at her.

I watched as her light blush of embarrassment converted into a dark, crimson flush. I shook my head out of the trance before I could let things get any weirder.

I'm getting way too attached to these horses…

“Anyways,” I shut my eyes, looking away as to make sure I didn't get caught by her gaze again. “what I’m trying to say here, to be honest, you're much stronger than I was when I was first introduced to this hell.”

“What do you mean by that?” Dash spoke, her voice cracked and sore. I opened my eyes when I felt her soft tail brush up against my arm as she shuffled around to get comfortable. I looked straight ahead as I continued.

“After the main introduction, when I was on the boat… I rowed to an island called Vancouver Island. And I won't lie to you, I cried the whole way there. The infection had already reached the island, but it was only just breaking out. I would've died, if it weren't for this group of people who took me in.” I leaned forward, resting my arms on the table in front of me. “I spent a couple years with them. Got used to the whole apolcalypse thing, learned how to kill walkers, used proper equipment, trained, yadda yadda ya.”

“But there was the time where we finally got overrun, obviously. I was the only one who made it out alive as far as I knkw, because of this one guy.”

“Why? What'd he do to you?” Dash asked eagerly. I looked at her, and gave off a hum of a chuckle as I noticed how enticed she was in my story.

“Well, not what he did to me, rather what he did for me.” I leaned back, lifting my legs up onto the table and crossing them with my hands folded on my chest to get more comfortable. “...Terry, was his name. He was the one that taught me all about free running and parkour, and to this day it's been the most useful thing I've ever had in this apocalypse.”

“...What happened to him?”

- - - - -

*SLIP* *SMACK*

“AHH! F-For fucks sake; what the hell am I doing wrong!?”

“For the hundredth time, I keep telling you to lean back WHILE you jump up to the wall! If you don't listen to me you're gonna keep on face planting.”

I growled in irritation, holding my palm against my aching forehead as I sat up on the concrete. I squinted my eyes open, submissive to the towering brick wall that stood before me. I felt some strong arms grasp under my own, pulling me back up to my feet. I was already tired at the moment, as we had been practicing all day long and it was growing dark.

“Damn it...I can't do this Terry, I guess my body just isn't built for this.”

“No. Your body is extremely fit and up for this kind of athletics. You're mind, however, isn't. So get it through your damn skull, and watch me do it again.”

I turned to my side, where my instructor stood. He glared at the wall, holding an intimidating stance as he prepared to lunge towards the wall. My eyes widened a bit more in awe as I admired him, and how he took to the wall without hesitation. Probably because he has done it too many times, just to show me. I watched, and learned as he ran and climbed up the wall with ease. He turned around, sitting on the edge of the top with his cargo shorts revealing his dirty, scarred legs dangling over.

“Doing it over and over again obviously isn’t going to help me, let's just forget about wall runs and go back to vaulting or something.” I sighed, throwing my hands up in defeat and exhaustion. He shook his head with a roll of his eyes, standing up.

“Look, let's try something else here…” He grunted as he crouched down on the wall, holding a hand out to me. “Grab my hand.”

I shook my head. “I can't, you're too high up.” I took a glance around us, making sure no one was watching.

“That's why you have to run up the wall, dumbass.” He spiked, and earned a tongue bite from me. Once I knew that there was no one around, I faced the immovable wall of failure. With a deep breath, I ran at the wall. Not too fast, nor slow. I made sure not to screw up my foot placement, and I leaned back at the right moment.

I felt my momentum carry me upwards on the wall, and I stepped again on the red bricks. Before I knew it, I had just barely grasped Terry’s callused hand. My other hand gripped onto the wall, and I struggled to pull myself up.

When I was finally above my waist, I swung my leg over the wall and sat down beside him. I gulped, looking down the side that I had just climbed up. I overcame my fear of inability, and gave out a shaky sigh with a smirk.

“...I made it!” I scoffed out, grinning in satisfaction and triumph.

I glanced at Terry, who had a face of concentration as he looked over the edge. He seemed as if he were examining where I had first taken off, and his eyes traced up the wall until they finally landed on me. “You had a good take off, no stuttering, good posture and leaning… I would register that as a success.”

“Sweet!” I pumped a fist in the air, happy that I finally got far enough to overcome the wall.

“Hang on,” Terry cut off my celebrating. “you've made it up; WITH my help. Now the next step is to do it on your own.”

I nearly cut off his sentence with an angered groan, digging my fingernails into the hard concrete of the wall. “Ugh… seriously? Can we at least take a break first?”

I watched him look down at the ground, silently, deciding his answer before falling backwards onto the roof. His arms spread out wide, folding in behind his head to give him comfortable support from the gravel that was littered across the building’s roof.

“...Is that a yes?” I bugged, eagerly awaiting my approval to go sit down for a while, maybe get something to drink.

But I didn't get that, instead I recieved a dead stare from Terry that fled upwards into the night sky. His eyes weren't completely dead, however. I could either see the stars’ reflection in his eyes, or a sparkle of something else. I could tell that he was enjoying something, maybe the peacefulness of the situation.

I didn't say anything, all the sound that consisted of me and Terry’s exhausted heaving for air. The quiet talking of the other members, farther off in the distance, with a spike of laughter every so often. I could feel the sweat that coated my skin, as it practically absorbed any small breeze and transformed it into an ice-cold wind. How my oily, unshowered hair, did the same.

I scooched back further, and lied down beside him. A relieving sense of relaxation and restfullness washed over my body like I was getting lathered in whipped cream. I rested my head on my hands, that we're cupped behind me. We lied there, silent, and chill, and heard the sound of crickets that emitted from the forest that sorrounded us.

“Tell me what you hear.” He paused, “what you think.”

I didn't move, but I took in a loud inhale, only to let it out as a sigh, with a lazy reply: “I donno…”

“If you didn't feel anything, you wouldn't be lying here next to me.”

His voice was much softer, almost like velvet. I'd never heard him speak like that before.

“...I guess I feel… relieved. That, all of my stress is gone. But that is just because of this whole apocalypse that's happened. I know it seems, crazy almost. To give up all of the privileges and simple things that were given to us, in a heartbeat. But, I always felt that it was unnatural; that we weren't supposed to do the things that we did. Hell, maybe that's the reason this all broke out. As a: 'punishment from God’ or something like that” I released, tossing my hands up into the air in over exaggeration, almost as if I wasn't talking to Terry, but someone in the sky.

“Somehow living like this feels better; it sits better with me. There aren't any worries about taxes, school, work, money, girlfriends. Nothing. All of those problems are just out the window in the blink of an eye.” I dropped my hands into my chest, and it gave a low thud against my ribcage. “Obviously at the cost of death possibly being around every corner. And while that seems immature, it's almost like the pros outweigh the cons.”

There was a long silence after I spoke, giving my words the opportunity to sink into the quiet ambience of our situation. I was getting worried, that maybe I had gone too far. Until I heard a long chuckle vibrate off of Terry’s lips.

“You took the words right out of my mouth, kid.”

I returned the laugh, which was a bit more sincere and real. “Glad to hear you're as crazy as I am.”

He sat up once I completed speaking, looking straight ahead into our camp. Our camp was made up of an old rental RV camping ground. RVs were placed strategically in a circle, acting as a protective barrier. We used whatever else we could find to give us maximum defense, and so far it's worked fairly well. Other members of the group stood on the RVs with their rifles and such, to fire away at any walkers who got too close to us.

However the sound of the gunshots were obviously a problem to attract large hordes of the dead. Even though our spot was high up on a mountain, there was a fairly large town not too far from us. Which is where we get most of our supplies. It also houses too many walkers for us to count. It was almost like they kept coming, no matter how many we killed.

It usually wasn't a problem, though. If there were one or two walkers nearby our camp, we usually leave them be or get Terry to jump down there with a machete to take them out. I always loved watching him at work; he's taught me so much without even speaking a word.

“Let's go get some water and take a break, I'm sure we both-”

Terry was cut off by a sudden gunshot, by someone in the camp. Both of our heads turned to the explosion, and whilst I looked in concern he just turned away with a shrug.

“That's probably just Jerron picking off some of the walkers. Wasting ammunition.”

“I thought we were told not to shoot any guns unless completely nessecary.” I pointed back to him, and just earned a sigh from Terry.

“You think people follow those rules?” Terry stopped speaking as another shot was fired off. And another, and another. Then some other guns joined in. Along with that, yelling was heard.

Now Terry was beginning to feel concerned, which worried me even more.

“Do you think there's been a breach?” I questioned eagerly.

“Could be. Hang on a second.” Terry jumped up onto his feet, standing as tall as possible and looking around. His eyes seemed to draw to something off in the distance. The second his eyes stopped, his pupils shrunk dead… I'd never seen fear in his eyes like that before. I hadn't seen what he was looking at, but I already knew it was horiffic.

“W-What is it?!” I spurted out, without thinking. He didn't answer, he just continued to stare off at whatever scene was taking place before him.

“We need to go. Now.” His bloodshot eyes snapped to me, tearing up my emotions. “NOW!”

I scrambled onto my feet, kicking some of the gravel off of the building top. When I finally got to my feet, I glanced over at the sight.

And immediately regretted it.

I froze up, jaw ajar as the sight took my breath right out of my lungs, and my heart dropped into my stomach. Hundreds. Hundreds of thousands of them sauntered lazily towards our camp. They were barely moving 1 mile per hour, but it was still too fast for us to do anything.

I craned my head around, and we were completely sorrounded, like a giant, bloody tsunami wave closing in on us.

I was shaken back to reality as I heard Terry jump back to the earth beneath us. “John hurry your ass up! We have to evacuate everyone!” He commanded, waving me down to him.

I swung around the ledge, sitting in a sort of cat hang position before dropping to the ground. I didn't hesitate to lunge after him, because we both knew well that time was running out. Hell, it was sprinting.

Before we had gotten to the center of the camp, we could already see the rest of the members gathering people up. There were multiple members still on top of the gate, and pushed over R.V’s, firing into the crowd, but it was utterly useless.

“Is everyone here? We need to leave, right now!” Terry ordered to the group of people in the middle.

“No, we're missing a couple people, Derek and Manav.” One of the group members turned to Terry, he was wearing a wife-beater with multiple stains on it, some khaki pants, and work boots, and his hair was cut short to nearly bald. “I'm guessing they're still in the basement.”

The man was nearly cut off by the screeching sound of one of the R.V’s being tipped over. The hundreds of them pushed over the 10 ton vehicle like it was nothing, then proceeded to march inwards. They were climbing over the walls, pulling the men that we're shooting at them into the ocean of undead. They were torn apart so quickly that they didn't even have time to scream.

Terry started pushing people back, away from the horde. “We don't have time for this! Everyone needs to get out!”

“What about the two in the basement? We can't just leave them!” The man said again standing up to Terry. I could tell by the look in Terry’s eyes, that he wasn't ready to deal with this.

“We're all about to die in one minute, and you want to go waste more time!? Either we leave now, and maybe survive, or save two stupid kids and we all die!”

“One of those 'stupid kids’ is my son!” A woman from in the crowd stepped forward, but when Terry faced her, she fearfully took a step back.

Terry turned around, and the horde was probably only about 25 feet away from him. He grunted, grabbing my arm. I flinched, but he tugged me away.

“Good luck getting out of here, then.” He yelled out to the crowd. He waved me to follow him as he ran back towards our practice spot. I ran after him for a second before stopping in my tracks.

“Terry… we can't just leave them like this. They'll all die.”

He turned around, stepped up to me and looked down at me. He was slightly taller than I was, and his face was barely an inch away from mine.

“I've taught you everything John, including survival. You know just as well as I do that there's nothing we can do here. We have to make sacrifices in our lives, and right now is one of those moments. Now let's leave. These assholes never treated us right anyways.” He stepped away, and bolted back for the wall.

I wasn't far behind him, until around one of the corners of a small building that stood in beside our spot, showed the horde. Terry nearly ran right into it, and he slid to a stop. He scrambled to get back up, but he got grabbed by one of them.

“Terry!” I sprinted towards him, and tried to grab his arm and pull him away. To my shock, he shook my hand free as another one grabbed him. “What are you doing!?”

“J-John-!” One of the walkers dug it's teeth deep into his shoulder, and he screeched in pain. But through it, he sputtered something through his lips.

“...R-Run.”

I swallowed dry, nearly choking on air. My fight or flight senses were going haywire. My legs were already moving in the direction of the wall, while my torso and hands wanted to fight. I suddenly felt something grab my arm, and with immense strength I yanked it away from the grasp, and made a break for the wall.

I wasn't thinking at this point, I just ran at the wall as adrenaline pumped through my legs, moving them forward. I spotted the wall in front of me, the wall I so desperately tried to get up before on my own but never did. If there was any moment for me to climb it, it would be now.

I leaped for the wall, my legs pushing faster and harder than they ever did before. It was almost like I had jumped off a trampoline, and I flew upwards on the wall. I stepped up the wall twice, and I felt my momentum running out. When I was at the last peak of my force, I reached up for the wall.

I felt my fingertips barely grasp the edge, and I swung my other hand up before I slipped. The second I had successfully had a grip on it, I could feel the walkers jumping for my ankles, and I scrambled up the wall before they could pull me down.

I practically threw my body onto the roof, panting extremely fast as I got back up to feet immediately. As I looked over the edge, I could see a few walkers reaching for me, however after a few seconds they lost interest, and stumbled over to the thick crowd of walkers that we're feasting on Terry. Or the corpse that used to be him.

My teeth chattered for a moment, and a splitting shiver ran down my spine. I turned around, heading away from the camp. I reached the other side of the roof, which led down into a forest. With no other escape route, I climbed down to the ground. My feet hit the hard dirt with a thud, and without looking back I disappeared into the forest.

Everything grew much quieter once all of the gunshots stopped echoing off of everything around me, and it was safe to assume that they were all gone. Most likely dead.

The only sound that breached my eardrums was the constant pounding of my feet against the ground, and the fact blood flow that I could hear and feel in my ears. After long enough, I finally collapsed to fatigue. I lied on the ground, pushing my back against a tree. I was so deep into the thick forest that barely any moonlight got through the brush, and it was nearly pitch black. I was a fair enough distance away from the camp that I could assure myself that I wasn't being chased anymore.

I couldn't bring myself to hide in a tree, I could barely keep my eyes open. Before I knew it, I drifted off to sleep.

- - - - -

“So, I woke up after that, thankfully alive. And from there I just set off on my own.”

Dash’s tears had long dried and been rubbed off. Her eyes weren't red anymore, and she seemed to take full interest in my story.

Her mouth was open slightly, and she looked like she wanted to say something, but she couldn't find the words for it. She ended up scoffing to herself, and shaking her head.

“What is it?” I looked at her, though her eyes-when she looked up-pierced my defensive wall that has already been weakened by telling her this story.

“I just… I don't believe it.” She shuffled around in her seat, and turned away from me to look straight ahead. “You've gone through so much, so much bad stuff has happened to you for years, but you're still here… alive.”

I chuckled, “believe me, I'm just as surprised as you are. But I've told all of your already, there's certain things I have to do to survive. Things so inhumane that I'd be charged with a death sentence of our society still exsisted.”

“You seemed like such a horrible person when I first met you. But, now I understand why. So… I'm sorry. I'm really, really sorry.”

I was surprised to hear her say that; sincerely. I looked down at her, and I could sense that she was getting emotional again. My hand brushed her mane, and I felt her ear flick against my wrist.

“You don't have to apologize for anything. The only thing I want from you, is to stay strong. Because you are one of the strongest, and most reliable members of this group. We need you, so I can't have you getting all soft on me. It's normal to have a nice cry every so often, but I want that side of you to disappear when we need you to be tough. Got it?”

She laughed, wiping one of her watery eyes with a cyan hoof. “Y-Yeah… Got it.”

“Good.” I lifted my hand off of her head, and stood back up. At the same time, noticing that my left leg had fallen asleep at some point, as the pins and needles were wearing off. As I got up, I heard a thud above me, almost as if something landed on the roof of the train. I could've mistaken it for my own footstep, but as I looked over at Dash I saw that she heard it too.

“What was that?” She questioned, she didn't seem worried, but more curious.

“Not sure, it was probably a small rock or something-”

*THUD, THUD, THUD*

At this point, it was sounding like heavy hoofsteps. In my peripheral I barely saw a silhouette of a figure zoom by the window to my right. I could sense my heart rate picking up tremendously, and I started to head for the train car that contained the rest of the group.

“Let's go Dash, I don't think we're alone on this train anymore.”

Author's Note:

Hey everyone, I won't give you all a shitty excuse as to why this took me so long, I'll just say that I am sincerely sorry for making you all wait. You are all important to me, and you are the reason I continue to write. There will be more to come in the future, if there are any of you still out there. Thanks everyone.

Comments

[verypeeved]

looking back, your writing has improved tremendously from your humble edgelord beginnings. you've come a long way since chapter one.

[conTROLLER234]

8065090 Thanks! That means a lot!

[conTROLLER234]

8902857
Hey there.

I haven't been on here in a long time, but I thought I would come and check on my stories to see if there was any new activity with any of my viewers. I was kind of glad to see there was some recent viewers, like yourself (if may of 2018 is what you call recent). I've read your posted comments, and I can't help but agree with a lot of what you've said. If you have happened to read up to chapter 24, you might notice a change in writing (for the better) as the chapters went on. I am considering correcting many of the errors in the earlier chapters, and after that I hope to actually finish this god damn story. I'll be glad to see if you end up reading and responding to this. Hopefully changes will be made soon, however i haven't exactly lived up to my old promises. We'll see where this goes.

[Wolfblood2203]

When are you going to make a new chapter I really want to know what happens next this is an amazing story.

[conTROLLER234]

9513721
I'm currently re-writing the earlier chapters so they are more up to date with my writing style. Once I have finished with that, I will continue releasing new chapters.

[Wolfblood2203]

9547367
Ok good to know