Thief

by conTROLLER234

Chapter 26 Plan of Action

Thief

Chapter 26

Plan of Action

Me and Luke’s hands release from each other, and as if on cue we hear some quiet shuffling from behind us. As we gaze farther into the cart, we both spot the tied-up pegasus, slowly beginning to regain consciousness. I take one last glance back into the previous cart, before both of us approach the intruder. I take the moment to actually identify the intruder’s physical appearance. I’ve found that it is common for stallions to have short-cut tails and manes, and while his tail may just be a tuft of what his mane is, the colors still show vibrantly through the dirt and muck that is soaked into his coat and hair. His curly yet short-cut purple mane sports thick orange/salmon streaks that run throughout his messy hair. His crimson coat, further darkened by the dirt and mud, was matted and even shortened in some spots from some form of previous violence.

Once our footsteps are heard, the quiet shuffling turns into panicked thrashing, and muffled yelling. Some spare cloth that was scavenged from the curtains sufficed as both a gag, and a blindfold. It worked quite well, as combined with the rope, he wasn’t going anywhere.

We fully approach the black-suited pegasus, our tall bodies leaning over him. He seems to quickly realize the situation he is in, and that his life is in our hands. His cries simmer down to pained whimpers, and the occasional struggle or attempt to remove the gag. Luke draws his gaze up at me, causing me to return it. He doesn’t speak, and rather just nods his head towards the bundled pony. Through non-verbal confirmation, we agree to begin interrogating.

My hand violently rips off his blindfold, tossing it onto the floor. The pegasus’ eyes fly open, and squint immediately as his pupils shrink. Whether it was the sudden increase of light, or our unnerving presence, it didn’t matter. His horrified eyes dart around the room, his mind still racing for an escape plan as he thrashes around some more.

“You’re wasting energy bud, you’re not going anywhere.”

My words mean nothing to him as he continues to struggle, however it doesn’t take long before the searing pains in his head return, followed by a small trickle of blood that runs down his forehead. His whimpers return, and mellow into softer cries as he completely ceases his struggles.

Luke takes a step closer, looming down at the poor creature. “I’m taking out your gag, and we’re going to ask you some questions.” As his hand moves closer to the creature, the pegasus’ eyes panic one again, trying desperately to move away from the bi-pedal creature’s appendage.

My fist slams down on the table beside his head, instantly drawing his attention to me. I don’t blink as I try to hold as intimidating of a voice as possible. “And you’re gonna answer them, got it?”

An audible gulp is heard from the pony as he hesitantly nods.

Luke completes the removal, and the pony immediately takes advantage to breathe easier. He catches his breath from his previous actions, and regains somewhat of his composure back.

“Now, first question.” I kick off, both of my hands now on the table as I stare down at him. “Why did you invade our train?”

He struggles to speak, swallowing a few more times and muttering the beginning of his sentence. His voice sounds younger, perhaps just a young adult. With all of the nervous stuttering and mumbling it is somewhat obvious he isn’t too much of a threat. “I-I don’t know; s-seriously! I didn’t want any part in this, t-they just took me along and told me what to do. I told them I didn’t want to hurt anypony, b-but they didn’t tell me what we we’re doing so I just followed along…”

“So you just got caught up in all of this, then?” Luke adds, resting a leg up on the seat and leaning on it with his elbow and linking his fingers together. “How did you find us?”

“T-The horn. We could hear it all the way from Whitetail Woods. We were camped out there after we heard about all the evacuation that was happening, w-with these... things going around they told everypony to leave Las Pegasus and head for Canterlot. They said they were rounding everypony up there.”

Figures, I hope that horn doesn’t cause us any more trouble than it already has. With half of these ponies being able to fly, it isn’t that unlikely we’ll have another run in with some others. Potentially dangerous others, too. I ponder telling this poor soul about Canterlot’s demise, and that the Crystal Empire is the best shot. I don’t want to risk sending the wrong people there, but it’s pretty clear this pony was abandoned by his other flight buddies.

I decide to keep it to myself for the time being, and continue interrogating.

“Alright, second question.” I take a step back and gesture to both me and Luke. “Have you seen others like us?”

He seems to have more trouble spitting out his next answer. “Y-Yes... “

My heart jumps with excitement at his answer, and I hastily ask the next one. “Where did you see-”

“A Lot… o-of them…”

My excitement pauses, and Luke seems to share similar confusion. How could there have been more of them? Is it really that likely more humans stumbled through this portal? We stay silent to allow him to continue.

“They were all gathered in the middle of Ponyville, there must have been... a-at least seven of them. Me and my group saw them as we were passing through to the train station, only to find out that the train wasn't coming...”

My questions continue to fire off as quickly as he can answer them. “What else did you see with them? Did you see a blue truck with them at all? Maybe even a pony?”

He seems to hang off my second question. “Truck? What’s a truck?”

I barely give myself a second to groan in irritation before finding a way to describe something completely alien to another species. “It’s a big blue box with four wheels holding it up. Glass windows, big open trunk in the back. Makes a loud engine noise?”

His mind goes to work in piecing together the descriptors with what he saw, and seems satisfied with the results. “Actually, yeah. From what you’re describing I definitely saw one of those, and even another one too. Except that it was black, and a different shape without an open back.”

It has to be him. There must be some reason for the other people, if they just coincidentally stumbled through, or if Dylan actually has them on his side. Either way, it’s just another thing to worry about.

“And that other thing, I actually saw a pony too. Inside the blue truck.”

Luke and I simultaneously make eye contact, and both visually increase our anticipation as we dig deeper. I turn back to him. “Did you get a good look? Any description on the pony?”

His eyes shut as he winces from pain again, the same streak of blood now passing his muzzle and collecting below his head. “Y-Yeah, actually. I could tell that they were tied up, and it didn’t look like they were moving; or awake at least. They had a big pink mane, and I don’t know for sure but it was a pegasus with a yellow coat I think.”

My hand clenches into a fist and nearly fires into the air in celebration as if I had just gotten a Yahtzee in one roll. I feel a twist in my gut that I hadn’t known was there disappear as soon as I hear his words. Luke and I both take a moment to take in some good news, and ponder our next choices.

“Do you know any of those other… uhh,” The pegasus struggles, seeming to attempt to find a word that isn’t insulting.

“Humans.” Luke fills in. “And we might know one of them. Also that pony in the truck, we had her in our group but one of those guys took her.”

“Y-Yeah, they didn’t seem like very good ponies-” He immediately flinches. “U-Uhh I mean-”

“People.” Luke corrects again.

“Right…” The pony replies sheepishly. “Well, I’m not sure you want to go after those guys. They did a number on our group… We had five of us before we came here.”

“Got a little too close, huh?” Luke inquires.

“Y-Yeah…” He shudders. “They just… immediately started attacking us. These loud cracks kept going off, a-and I heard these tiny fragments whizzing around us…” I notice his eyes begin to glaze over. “We kept trying to tell them we weren’t going to hurt them, and we just wanted to leave… B-But…” He suppresses a choke, biting his lip as he shuts his eyes again.

“They don’t care.” I express, drawing the attention of both Luke and the prisoner. “People think these walkers are dangerous, but at least they’re just trying to eat to survive. It’s nature’s fucked up way of taking its course.”

“But some people just like to hurt other people for the fuck of it, regardless of survival or not. For some people it’s just for sport. They’re the real monsters in this hell.”

I can’t help but feel a heavy burden of hypocrisy loom over me as I speak those words.

“Y-Yeah, they are…” The pegasus sighs, his eyes barely open as he stares off into space. “Are you two going to kill me, too?”

I give Luke the moment to respond. “No, we don’t have a reason to. But don’t expect such a warm welcome next time you break and enter into an occupied area.”

The pony seems to chuckle somewhat at his remark. “Yeah… agreed.”

I check up on the previous cart again, too see all of the ponies inside have regained their composure and are doing their best to get their mind’s off of things. I spot Twilight standing in the walkway, talking to Applebloom. I can tell just from reading her lips and the expression on her face she’s doing her best to get the filly to smile. My heart wretches for a split second, and I feel her broken mindset for a moment. I feel my blood run cold again as I’m reminded of my responsibility.

Twilight’s pleading eyes play through my head again on an endless loop, the cries echoing once again.

I feel as if I break my neck as I return my attention back to the pegasus. I jump back to questioning to distract myself. “Do you have any idea of where they might be heading?”

The pony takes a moment to think, his wings shuffling uncomfortably under the rope. “Well, before they attacked us I heard them mentioning Canterlot as the place that everypony was headed. I don’t know if that means they’re going there, but they’re at least aware of it.”

“Well if he has any intention on doing damage, that’s where he would want to go.” I turn to Luke, looking to get his take on the situation. “I still have no idea why Dylan did what he did. He could’ve just taken the truck and left, and yet he took Fluttershy and decided to come back.”

Luke seems to be just as fumbled about it as I am, so with the leads that we have we disclose the conversation. I speak to the pony once more. “Sorry things had to go this way, but you’ve actually been a great help. So for that I’m going to let you go.”

The pegasus nearly cries out with happiness, forming an abundance of words to show appreciation towards my mercy, however I give him no room to speak as I move closer to him with my finger in his face. “But if I see you anywhere near my group again, I will consider you a threat. Do you understand?”

He gulps, just barely spitting out his last words. “Y-Yes, I understand.”

“Good.” I move away from his face, and I see him sigh in relief. I bump Luke’s shoulder with my hand as I begin to walk back to the passenger cart with the others. “Just untie him and let him out. I’m sure you can handle that?”

Luke lets off a scoff, a small smirk growing on his lips as he pulls out a small pocket knife from his belt. “I’m sure I can.”

With that, I nod to him and exit the cart. The sound of the door draws the attention from all the equines. I remind myself of what had just unfolded before I left that cart, and lower my attitude to somewhat fit in. Some of the faces return to what they were originally doing, however a select few remain attentive to me, anticipating some form of news. I move further into the room and take a seat in one of the stalls that houses Twilight and Applejack, who is still carefully holding her sister with her single hoof. Twilight shifts over to allow me some room, and I collapse in the seat with a heavy sigh as I rub my face a few times.

“Well, Twilight, it’s a good thing you didn’t put all of your power into that kick. He was able to tell us a lot of valuable info that is going to save us a lot of trouble, and kind of gives us a few steps to be ahead of Dylan and his crew. I think we also have enough evidence that he still has Fluttershy with him.” I briefly explain, grabbing the attention of the last two ponies that sit in the adjacent stall.

“Oh thank Celestia, some good news!” Twilight nearly cries just from relief, but stumbles her emotions as she hears the rest of my words. “Wait wait, Dylan has a crew now? I thought it was just him...”

“Apparently, according to that pegasus he was in a group of five before coming across Dylan. They only had three after escaping, but were able to get some info for us.”

“So that Dylan character’s just goin’ around hurtin’ ponies?! Is there not enough damage bein’ done already?” AJ grunts, shaking her head as she grinds her teeth.

“Unfortunately some people just get off to that sort of thing. I’ll admit I’ve done my fair share of unethical killing, but at least I don’t go out looking for it like him.”

I hear Dash scoff to my left, joining in on the conversation with Scootaloo at her side. “I don’t think you’re in much of a position to judge someone on killing, John.” I roll my eyes, picturing her smug grin regardless of actually looking at her.

“Regardless,” I continue. “the biggest lead we have is that we think he’s heading for Canterlot. As far as he knows that’s where everyone is gathering to defend, so he’s probably expecting to just show up and take control.”

“But there’s nothing left,” Applebloom mumbles. “Why would he go there if there’s nopony there?”

“That’s exactly it.” I waggle my finger at her for a moment. “He doesn’t know that. If we’re somehow able to beat him there, we might have the upper hand with having the element of surprise.”

Applebloom’s eyes seemed to flicker at the statement, a bit of hope returning to her fragile mind. “D’ya think we can do that?”

“Well, those cars that they’re using are fast, but they aren’t exactly all terrain, and need fuel. Trains are strategically built to be a straight shot from point A to point B and quickly as possible, and with the coal on board we shouldn’t have to make any stops.” I explain, diving deeper into this potential plan. I feel Twilight shift closer, obviously trying to key into it as well. “We may need to transfer onto another train, or something when we reach Canterlot. If that place is the main headquarters for this whole country, then I doubt we can just go straight through to the Empire without getting off.”

“Plus I think we can all agree we want to get Fluttershy back.” I finish, speaking abroad as I look over all of the ponies. They show nothing but immediate determination and loyalty to their lost friend.

“I’m done watching my friends get hurt, and losing ponies…” Dash speaks up, her eyes fueled with suppressed rage and vengeance. “These guys are gonna wish they never stumbled through that portal!”

“Dash is right.” I swivel my head to the purple unicorn next to me. “We’ve lost too much already to give up. We have to fight for everything that we have left! To make our friend’s deaths… worth it. We have to fight for them.” Her back seems to straighten and her eyes narrow with conviction. “They would do it for us!”

“We didn’t come this far to leave others behind. Either we’re gettin’ Fluttershy, or that Empire ain’t gon’a see any of us!”

Without hesitation, the three mares nod in absolute affirmation. Even Scootaloo seems to start cheering up at the sight of her sister’s determination. Scootaloo turns to Applebloom, who is still holding a bit more of a sour and hopeless expression.

“They’re right, Applebloom.” This grabs the young apple filly’s attention, and she looks to Scootaloo with somewhat of a shocked look. “We’ve come all of this way for something. We can’t just give up! We’re still here for a reason, and we need to use that to our advantage to help those who can’t help themselves!”

“Everypony who has died already, they wouldn’t hesitate to help us if we needed it!” We all silently watch Scootaloo try to help her friend, fighting back tears simultaneously. “It might be too late to help them, but it’s not too late to help those who are still alive! We have to make use of our advantages, and help those who can’t help themselves.”

Scootaloo’s expression now grows more irritated, as Applebloom’s psychological standpoint doesn’t seem to budge as she turns away from her friend’s gaze.

“It’s what Sweetie Belle would have wanted!”

The air in the cart seems to suddenly sit still, as everyone registers what was just said. I can already feel the tension between the two fillies rising with every second of silence that passes, which only lasts a few moments.

Applebloom lets out a suppressed sniffle, biting her tongue as she desperately tries to hold back her emotions. “D-Don’t say that, Scootaloo…”

“It’s true, and you know it!” Scoots takes a step forward, a quiet clack sounding at her hoof hits the hard floor. “Sweetiebelle wouldn’t hesitate to help anypony who needed it, especially her friends!”

I witness Applebloom’s dam that had only been repaired not long ago crack and collapse around her. She sputters out a whimper, glaring at her orange pegasus friend. “Yeah, well LOOK WHERE THAT GOT HER!”

The cart we reside in now feels like an industrial freezer with the words that are just said, and the grown mares immediately realize they have to take over this conversation. Dash takes a step in front of Scoots, wrapping a foreleg around her chest to pull her away from Applebloom. I can tell Applejack is having conflicting thoughts on what to do, but the only true thing I read from her expression is complete and utter exhaustion. She barely even has the energy to emotionally seem stable, and take care of her sister.

“Applebloom, listen to yourself; saying those types of things ain’t helping anypony!” She stares down at her younger sister with that ‘authoritative older sibling’ gaze, however it seems to shoot right through Applebloom. The young filly seems to be too wrapped up in her cemented thoughts to care about other opinions.

With that, she hastily hops out of the booth, and heads for the rear cart. “Ah’m goin’ to get some food…” The silence continues until we hear the door open, and slam. The only sound being heard once again from the engine, and the rails underneath.

Applejack shuts her eyes and collapses against the window, heaving out a shallow sigh and biting her lip to prevent it from quivering. A soft whimper sounds out as well, a moment before she speaks. “A-Ah don’t know what to do with that filly... “ She sniffles, and I take notice of Twilight who swiftly replaces Applebloom’s spot to comfort her. “Big Mac always talked to her best…”

Twilight nuzzles her friend under her chin, and AJ seems to reciprocate it wholeheartedly. A quick chuckle hisses through her teeth. “That filly is so darn stubborn… ah’m not sure how to help her right now.” Those words coming out of her own mouth seem to be a heavy realization for her, and she buries her face deeper into Twilight’s neck as she continues to hold her emotions back. Twilight gingerly wraps a hoof around her, and rests her chin atop of her head and closes her eyes.

"She just needs some time to adjust." Twilight responds, holding AJ tighter. "This is difficult for everypony, but I can't imagine being a filly right now…"

"Yeah… Y-You're right." AJ sighs, her body relieving some of her stress. It looks like she could fall asleep at any moment.

I take a glance over at Scootaloo and Rainbow, who have relocated back to their personal booth. They are conversing about something, but I can't make out much of it. If I had to guess Dash is doing her best to be the older sister, too. Scootaloo at least seems much less distraught than her filly friend, however I can't decide if that's a good thing or not.

A swift silhouette suddenly flies outside past the window, casting a shadow into the cart. Not a moment later, Luke re-enters through the door. He seems to read the room like an open book, gazing around before taking a seat beside me. He watches Twilight and Applejack embrace for a moment, before finding something else to distract his eyes.

I barely nudge him with my leg, to gain his attention. "That took a little while; d'everything go alright?"

He doesn't look in my direction, and switches his gaze down to his fiddling hands that rest upon the table. "Yeah, just had some burning questions. Nothing important."

I decide to just shake it off, and turn my attention back to the unicorn and earth pony in front of me. I take notice of Twilight, who seems to already have her attention on us. “So, should we try to lay out a plan? Because so far it seems we’re going in blind.”

I bring my hands up to the table, immediately interlocking my fingers and fiddling with them as I ponder some potential ideas. “Well, I’m not sure it’s going to get much better than that. I’d say the only upper hand we have is that you are all familiar with the area. That and we might beat them there, but aside from that we may just have to improvise.”

I can see Twilight already trying her best to plan as well, and it’s clear she is having trouble too. I have no doubt her mind is completely clouded over with about a million other things, which doesn’t help.

“At this point, the only reason we’re stopping in Canterlot is to find Fluttershy. So that should obviously be our main focus, but just how we’re going to do that is the difficult part.”

“Dylan may have one of those… gun, thingies. But we’ve got speed, and magic on our side!” Dash joins the conversation. “I’d say that we have even more than just the element of surprise.”

“You’re not wrong,” Luke chimes in as well, however he doesn’t look away from the tabletop. “However they also have more numbers now, and guaranteed that means more guns, too.”

“Plus, Dylan knows how much we want to get Fluttershy back. That may be a huge problem, since he completely has her hostage.” I add on, crossing my arms on the table to stop myself from fidgeting.

“Maybe we just need some kind of distraction; anything to take their attention away from her. Then getting her out of there should be easy.” Twilight stares blankly in front of her, visualizing the plan taking place. “If we can beat them to the train after getting Fluttershy, there’s no way they will be able to get to the Crystal Empire. The frigid zone that surrounds the empire is too cold to get through without the train. I’m not even sure that the truck you used could get through the snow.”

I find myself extremely attracted to her description of the Empire, and perk up immediately. “The Empire, it’s in a polar region?”

“Well, the Empire itself is just as warm inside as Ponyville, however it’s surrounded by a extreme winter tundra that goes on as far as the eye can see.” Twilight describes.

“That’s if there isn't a violent wind constantly blowing, which there always is.” Dash speaks up again. “It never stops either. I’d be surprised if they could even follow our tracks, if we manage to outrun them.”

I feel my blood pump faster as my heart picks up. I nearly stand onto my feet as I look directly at Twilight. “This is perfect. Not only is that a perfect plan to outrun these assholes, but there is no way that any walkers will get through that.” I vary my glances around the room to the rest of the bystanders. “If you guys manage to quarantine the Crystal Empire well enough, and ensure no one is infected. You guys might actually be safe there. For a long time at least. Cold slows down walkers a lot, and if it’s cold enough their muscles seize up, and they just collapse there and freeze.”

Twilight seems to key into my same excitement, placing a purple hoof on the table and leaning closer. “If that’s true, and we can tell the Princesses, then the Empire can be the safe haven for all of Equestria! Anywhere the infection hasn’t reached yet can go there and be safe!”

For once in a long time, I see a smile appear on her face. A real smile, that shows relief and cheer, rather than a fake expression to make everyone else feel more at ease.

“And if we know for sure these things can’t fly, we can get squadrons of Pegasi to spread the word to the nearest countries, and spread it further from there.” Dash piles on, now having approached our booth to be completely included in the plan.

Me and Luke exchange glances, one that visually expresses a satisfaction with the growing plan. That look between us is nearly enough to refill Twilight’s confidence, and I can nearly feel her beaming with joy, and almost a bit of excitement. “You guys, this can work. We can still make it out of this mess!”

It doesn’t take long for Dash to follow suit, as she hovers off the ground and pumps her hoof in the air. “Hay yeah it will! These guys are never gonna see us coming, and then it’s home free!”

I hear Luke barely spit a scoff next to me, with a slight shake of his head. With the ponies too wrapped up in their own excitement, I can fully read what he’s thinking. I barely lean in and whisper to him. “Just let them have this. They need some clear sight of hope, otherwise they won’t have the drive to look for it.”

Luke’s expression doesn’t change, and he holds his small grin upon his face. With a small head tilt, and a glance with one of his eyes, I get a non-verbal confirmation to cooperate. With that, he returns his gaze back up to Twilight. “Well, I’d say that’s a plan. Better than not having one at least.”

Twilight reaches out with her other hoof to grab Dash from out of the air, and pulls her into a small group hug with her and Applejack. Dash shows immediate discomfort at first, but doesn’t hesitate to hug her friend back. “We’re going to make it out of this you guys. We don’t have to lose anypony else.”

My heart both warms and shatters at the sight in front of me. How much I would give at this point to promise these tiny creatures that they wouldn’t have to see another one of their friends being ripped apart before their very eyes by flesh-eating monsters. Or not have to beg for their life while being held at gunpoint…

I have to remember that things can change at any time. It can go from zero to one hundred in a split second, at any given moment. But I can’t bring myself to remove anymore of the hope that they’ve managed to build up. Because if they plan to go through with all of this...

They’re going to need it.

Author's Note:

Hey guys, happy December! Sorry this chapter seems so short, I just wanted to get out another chapter so you all don't think I fucked off again. The next chapter is going to have lots of juice, so it may take a bit longer. Hopefully this can hold you guys over until then!

Comments

[verypeeved]

hope springs eternal. now to see how this all goes up in flames.

best case scenario, the Crystal Empire is fine, but getting there is gonna be a bitch and a half. worst case... well, let's hope the Crystal Empire is fine.

[MatTheBook]

“T-The horn. We could hear it all the way from Whitetail Woods. We were camped out there after we heard about all the evacuation that was happening, w-with these... things going around they told everypony to leave Las Pegasus and head for Canterlot. They said they were rounding everypony up there.”

Whitetail woods!?

That is hundreds of miles away!!