The Chronicles Of ARTIMUS: Book One

by AlkapwnZ

Chapter 15: The Train.

Twister hated it when things couldn't just be simple.

Twister tapped his hoof impatiently as he waited outside for Applejack and the other mares. They were saying their goodbyes to Braeburn, and he sat just outside the hospital with Leo. The griffin kept messing around with his huge mane, getting it tangled and knotted then combed back down again. Rinse and repeat.

Twister finally decided this would be the best time to truly catch up with his old friend, so he struck up conversation. "So, Leo...you never really told me how you managed to get from Manehatten to Appleloosa." Leo shuddered, and he stopped fiddling with his mane long enough to reply. "It's a long and horrid story. Remind me later when we have more time to talk."

Twister grumbled, annoyed with his friend's short answer. He wasn't going to let Leo go off with the mares until he had a better idea of how things were back home. "How's the gang?" Leo sighed, and he closed his eyes. "Most of them left, after you disappeared. Without you or Jack, nothing was really holding us together. I tried to keep them around, but..." Twister sighed as well. The memory of Jack-of-Aces was bittersweet one. "What about your contacts?"

Leo scrunched his face up again as his gears clicked. "They're all over Equestria. Well, except for Canterlot....that fortress has so many guards, it's impossible for anypony to go underground." Twister grumbled under his breath. Canterlot was far too difficult to safely infiltrate. Unless you were with the monarchy, you were always being checked for something illegal. They want to keep their little metropolis nice and clean. Idiots. It's simple logic to focus your forces all over the land, not just in one specific place. It's why other towns like Manehatten are so riddled with criminals. You don't keep brushing your teeth in one specific spot every day, do you? No, because then you'd get cavities everywhere else. The monarchy was filled with imbeciles.

"That shouldn't matter. Celestia and Luna don't have anything we need, and nopony in Canterlot has any good information to help us. It's just too clean to be useful." Leo nodded. "Good point. So, how'd your little interrogation go?" Twister winced as he asked this. He hated having to kill other ponies, even if they were the enemy, but this specific kill disturbed him more than any others, all because of Rainbow. He should'v been more careful with what he said to her, or maybe she wouldn't have been as forceful to help out. She had an adventurous spirit, but she was innocent. Twister knew her witnessing his murder could ruin her chances at returning to a normal life. And her face when she watched....Twister hated himself for that.

It had to be done. He would'v told somepony about your little group, and then she, along with the other mares, would be in greater danger. Or dead. Twister failed to reassure himself. He shook himself, and muttered, "It went fine. But we'd best hurry up, before something goes wrong. We still have to find that Celestia-damned train, and I don't want it to move out of our reach." Leo nodded, and he grinned. "A train, huh? Classic.....thugs never change, do they?" Twister looked away, grumbling. "No, they don't." Leo rolled his eyes, and chanted, "Outlaws to the end."

Outlaws to the end. Jack always said that. It was his favorite thing to say. He always told Twister that the monarchy uses you, plays you like a puppet, but the minute you stand up to them, BAM, you're marked an Outlaw. Once an Outlaw, always an Outlaw, all the way down to your grave. Twister never really took much meaning from it, just thought it was a way to keep ponies in the gang around, but now he realized it had some element of truth in it.

Here's Leo, an honest-to-Celestia griffin, but when he was a foal, he was an orphan. He was turned away from countless families because of his heritage, constantly picked on for being a griffin, and finally, he snapped. He stood up for himself, and he was punished for it. The griffin ran away after that horrid incident, and was found by Jack. The earth pony had raised him as his own after that, and Leo was still hunted down because of what happened so long ago. The law didn't know the word forgiveness.

Then, there's Jack himself. He defended his father as a young colt, who was being attacked for picking food in the royal gardens. His father only did it to help his foals, and he, along with Jack's other siblings, was killed for it. And Jack was chased his whole life after that, being hunted for eating royal food, when he didn't even know it himself. And he payed for it in the end....damn the monarchy. They didn't know half of the shit the little folk went through every day.

But he knew they weren't his enemy. No, Twister's enemies were much more organized than the princess's...and twice as cruel. Twister hated not knowing who is enemies were, except for one pony in particular. Nightshade. How much Twister would love to just fire a round through his head, just for Silver....

Twister was shaken out of his bitter thoughts when the three mares stepped outside the hospital. Applejack's eyes weren't red anymore, so she hasn't cried recently. Rainbow Dash was looking down for some reason, and Twilight was the only one of the three who didn't look as if she would burst out either yelling or crying. Twister ignored these observations, and he stood up and greeted them.

"What took you so long?" Rainbow Dash suddenly whipped her head around to face him, and she snapped. "We were checking on a friend. That tends to take awhile." Twister scowled, her attitude starting to tick him off. Ever since the interrogation, she refused to look at him, and when she did, it was to snap or hiss at him. When she wasn't around, Twister felt guilty for it, but when Rainbow tried to make a point like that, it just pissed him off.

"In the meantime, one of your other friends is probably going through a sickening amount of torture because of the time we've wasted. We need to move right now." Twister spun around and headed for the station, not waiting to see if they followed or not. He heard their hesitant hoofsteps behind him, and he briefly smirked before speeding up. Rainbow could give him all the lip she wanted, but he was the one helping them right now, and she was either going to have to deal with it, or try heading back to Ponyville herself.

Twister stepped into the station and quickly scanned the area. No trains were at the station, and the pony behind the desk giving the tickets was asleep. The poor sod must not be used to working this late at night. Twister walked up to the desk, and he cleared his throat. "When will train 17-BE be coming in?" The pony still lied there, sleeping away. Twister shook the pony aswake violently, and he grumbled, "Wha? Erghermergh....mmhuh?" Twister scowled, starting to get annoyed again. "Wake up!" The pony stood upright suddenly, and he whipped his head around violently. "What?! Whazgoinon?!"

Twister sighed. "I'm asking about train 17-BE. When will it be coming in at this station?" The pony realized it was just them, and he yawned. "Whaddya want wit dat train? It's jus' a cargo train. Ya can't catch a ride on it." Twister growled, and he put his hooves on the desk and leaned in, giving the pony an intimidating stare. "My business. Where is that train?" The pony shifted uncomfortably, looking away. "Um....sir, dat train is on it's way ta Las Pegasus at the moment. I'm afraid ya won't be able to git to it until the day after tamorrow."

Twister groaned. This just complicates things even more. "Which way to Las Pegasus on the tracks?" The pony shrugged. "Ah dunno.....check the map." The pony leaned back in his chair, falling back asleep. The dumbass was going to have to learn how to work a nightshift right soon, or he was going to get himself fired. Whatever, it wasn't his problem.

Twister walked over to the map on the station wall, and he pulled his own map out to mark the tracks. He copied the tracks shape to the best of his ability, and he checked back with the pony occasionally to get the time it would take to get to Las pegasus at this point. After lots of mental math, Twister quickly judged the train's current location, and where it would be when he finally caught up with it. Twister knew where they were going to have to go, but they needed to hurry if they were going to catch it.

"Leo, where can we rent some cars? We'v got a long journey ahead of us."

Twister tilted his hat back up so it didn't block his vision. He had fallen asleep while Leo drove the car out, and he used Twister's map as a reference. Twister adjusted himself in his seat, smacking his lips as he grimaced at the same morning taste he always got. Leo had to know everypony in Appleloosa if he managed to somehow know somepony who rents out cars, AND rents them at an discount to him. Twister had to admit....when he could focus, Leo was pretty reliable.

Twister pulled his hat off, afraid of it getting blown away in the hoodless car. Twister turned his head around, to ensure that the other mares were still in the back. He remembered seeing them get back in there, but it never hurt to make sure he was right. And he was; Applejack and Twilight sat in the back, but....where was Rainbow Dash?

Twister's question was answered when he saw the rainbow-maned mare suddenly drop out from the sky to speak with Leo. What was she doing out of the car? "Hey! Get back in the car!" Rainbow gave him a defiant glare, and then turned back to Leo, ignoring Twister. "The train is just on the horizon. We're almost there." "Good." Leo gave a brisk reply, and Rainbow flew back into the air.

Twister pulled himself up a little and nudged Leo. "Whadya think your doing?!" Leo sighed, and not taking his eyes off the desert road, answered. "Rainbow Dash was gettin' antsy back there, and she still wanted to help. Honestly, Twist, she's been a great help so far. She can take care of herself, so I really don't understand why..."

Twister cut him off. "She's an innocent mare, Leo. I'm helping her right now, not the other way around. If she's seen helping us, she could get into serious trouble, ruining any chance she's got at returning to her old life." Leo turned to look at Twister, still expertly driving the car somehow. "Like how things went with Silver?"

Twister hit Leo on the head. "EYES ON THE ROAD!!" He had startled the griffin, and the car swerved a little before Leo put it back under control. After he did this, he growled under his breath. "Twist, that was a stupid move. I already had the car under control..." Twister cut him off again. "I'm not taking any chances, Leo. Keep your eyes on the road." Leo did this, but continued talking. "Suuuuurrrrrrre........that totally wasn't a cover-up to change the subject." Twister scowled. "Leo, drop it...."

"Who's Silver?" Twister's blood ran cold when Twilight piped up from behind, and he realized she had been leaning in as she eavesdropped on them. Twister whipped his head around and gave her a cold glare. "Nopony you need to know about, Twilight. Mind your own business." Applejack suddenly shot up, and she scowled at Twister. "She was jus' askin' a question, Twister! No need ta make trouble over it fer nothin'." Twister turned to the cowfilly, his glare not changing a bit. "Making trouble is what I do for a living, AJ. Why else do you think my cutie mark's a tornado?"

Applejack raised her eyebrows in surprise and puzzlement. "Ah...don' see what dat has ta do wit yer cutie mark being a tornado..." Twister sighed as he prepared his explanation. Nopony ever seemed to get why it was a tornado. "It's a tornado, because I cause trouble everywhere I go. I'm the eye of the storm, while everypony around me suffers, both friend and foe. I cause only trouble and harm for the ponies around me, no matter who they are...." Twister sighed, and he looked away.

"Silver....she died for those reasons. I unknowingly stepped on somepony's hooves, and they killed Silver for it. I won't let it happen to anypony else." Twilight leaned in a little. "Who was Silver?" Twister didn't answer, hating having to look back on her memory. AJ raised an eyebrow. "She was....more than some innocent mare, wasn't she?" Twister still looked away, letting his silence answer her. Applejack and Twilight leaned back, and Twister suddenly felt himself become colder. Leo was smart enough not to interrupt, and he could feel the sudden silence make everypony feel uncomfortable.

Suddenly, Twilight spoke up again. "Nightshade....what did he have to do with all this?" Twister's blood boiled at the mention of that wretches' name, but he managed to bottle it up enough to properly reply. "He was my friend....closer than me and Leo. My best friend, my confidant, practically a brother.....and he lied about it all. He did it all for his employers. He betrayed me, just for a couple of bits. Because of him, they were able to get to Silver, and to all of my other friends....Leo's one of the last." Leo nodded, acknowledging his own mention. "Luckily, I grew up smart enough to be prepared for those assholes. They didn't stand a chance."

Twister nodded, and he looked down at his old hat. The torn accessory was all he had left of his grandmother....damn these rich, corporate bastards. It was bad enough Twister was fighting blindly against a ghost-like enemy, but the fact that they took everypony around him as punishment crossed the line. "I'm going to find The Artimus....and use it to break those bastards before they break me." Twister's true reasoning for his adventure rang out, suddenly crystal clear to both him, and to the mares.

Twister didn't want to talk any more of Silver, or of his foalhood. If any of them knew half of what he did as a foal....he'd lose their trust completely. If they knew what he, Nightshade, and Leo did as foals, of his time with the gang....what would they do?

Suddenly, Leo broke the silence with an excited cry. "I can see the train! We're catching up to it!" Twister unbuckled his seat, and he saw Rainbow dive back to the car. He pulled his gun out, and he stood up in the car, balancing himself with the car door. He pulled his hat back onto his head, scowling as he prepared for Leo to drive the car next to the train.

"Keep quiet, you guys; we have the element of surprise on our side. I don't want to waste it." Twister tensed his muscles, ready for when they lined up to a door. Leo sped the car up a little bit, and Twister felt his own excitement begin to get the better of him. Keep calm. This'll only take a few minutes, if you manage to do this right. Twister tensed even more, ready for when they lined with the door.

Finally, Leo had the car lining with the cargo door. Twister leaped to the opened door, landing in the train car with a satisfying thud. He lifted his gun, the heavy weapon weighing down his hoof. He preferred using his bare hooves to incapacitate his enemies, but a gun would be much faster. He needed to be fast if he wanted to get the Key Shard; he didn't have the time to deal with a bunch of thugs in hoof-to-hoof combat.

Twister crouched, sneaking behind a large crate. The train car was dark, and Twister couldn't see into it without the light of the sun. Only the light of the moon gave him any sight at all, and it couldn't light up the whole area. Twister took in a deep breath, and he moved around the crate and delved deeper into the dark train car. It disturbed Twister that he couldn't see anything; he may have the element of surprise on the thieves, but they could just as easily surprise him in this horrid lighting.

Twister froze when he heard the sound of another thud. Somepony else was in the train car. He wandered through the dark room, seeking a hiding spot where he could ambush this new pony. He could'nt see anything, but he felt the corner of another crate. He moved around it, and after checking with his hooves, realized he had entered a dead end area. The only way he could go was back. But....perhaps he didn't have to quite yet. He'd be able to ambush the other pony in here from where he was.

Twister sat and waited, listening intently for the other pony's hoofsteps. Sure enough, there they were, their soft tip-tap ringing out in the metallic train car. They were trying and failing to sneak through the car. Judging from the weight they were putting down on each step, it must be a mare. Wait....the hoofsteps stopped. They must be sitting still now.....hold on. He could hear the soft flapping of wings. Pegasus wings.....this wasn't an enemy.

Twister leaped out, snarling as he yanked on Rainbow Dash's mane from the darkness. He held his hoof over her mouth to muffle her cry, and he hissed into her ear, "What the BUCK do you think you're doing?!" Rainbow yanked away, and even though he couldn't see her face, he could tell she was giving him her signature glare. At least, she was trying to. "I'm helping you!" Twister growled with frustration. Rainbow was starting to cross the line. "You REALLY want a repeat of the last time you helped me?" Rainbow pushed Twister back, and because of the darkness, he hadn't been expecting her to do it.

"I'm here to make sure you don't do to any of these ponies what you did to the con!" Twister wanted to hit Rainbow now, but he bottled his anger as best he could. "You'll only mess things up for the both of us. Get back with the other mares right now, before-" "Before what?!" Rainbow cut Twister off with a loud yell. Suddenly, Twister was blinded when a bright light flooded the train car, and he stumbled back on his rump with a loud thud.

"HEY!! Who's in here?!" Twister cursed under his breath, and he rapidly whipped his head around, blinking away his blind spots. He could see the train car was filled with wooden crates that were tall enough to hit the metal ceiling. He turned to where he remembered Rainbow being at, and saw that the cyan mare had been blinded by the light as well. She was stumbling around while blinking away rapidly, ready to fall onto her rump. Twister knew if she fell, the noise she'd make would give their position away for sure.

Twister leaped forward, and caught the cyan pegasus before she could fall. She grimaced at Twister's touch, but she was smart enough not to cry out or audibly protest. Twister let her steady herself, but if looks could kill, he'd be a small red stain on the metal floor. He put his hoof to his lips to signal her to be quiet, then lifted a hesitant hoof to step forward.

"I know somepony's in here! Come out right now, and you won't be in as much trouble as you would be normally!" Lamest attempt at luring somepony out in history. Twister steped forward, then heard loud hoofsteps and the sound of a gun clicking. "You had yer chance, crook! Now I'm ending this myself!" Twister jumped when he heard a loud bang he recognized as a gunshot, and ducked when he heard the bullet ricochet off the metal walls.

Twister readied his own gun, and he whipped to look at Rainbow Dash. "Get out of here right now." Dash gave him another of her defiant stances, but before she could open her mouth, Twister snarled, "This is bad, 'Dash! I need somepony to get back to Leo to get help! Right now, you have to be the one to do that!" Rainbow opened her mouth hesitantly, then shut it and nodded. She opened her wings and leaped into flight, quickly flying out of the train car. Twister flinched when he heard another gunshot, but remained where he was when he saw Rainbow was still flying. She disappeared past the open car door, and Twister leaned his back against one of the wooden crates.

"COME OUT, CROOK! I SAW YER PARTNER!! I'M NOT STUPID!!" Hold on....how did this pony know there were two of them? Twister shook himself; it didn't matter right now. He knew he was there, so Twister might as well play along. Twister cocked his weapon, and he fired at the ceiling. The gun's recoil jerked Twister's hoof back, and he felt a sharp pain go up his leg all the way to his back. Dammit....it hurts to use this thing? How do any of these thugs manage to use them on a daily basis?

Twister was shaken from these thoughts when he heard a gunshot in reply, and an arrogant laugh. "HAHA! I ain't stupid, crook! I have you now!" Twister rolled from his cover and behind another crate, closer to where he heard the pony talk. Didn't he realize the more he spoke, the better chance Twister had at finding him first?

Whatever. It didn't matter. Twister waited for another signal, and when nothing came, he shot at the ceiling again to encourage the pony. The pistol recoiled again, and that same pain from before went up his leg. Twister couldn't help but cry out this time.

"I'V GOTCHA NOW!" He heard rapid hoofsteps, and knew the pony was coming for Twister. It was do or die, now. If the pony managed to get around the corner, he'd shoot and kill Twister in an instant. But if Twister spun around the corner himself, before he could acknowledge his environment, the pony would get him anyways. What could he do?

Twister chose his least favorite option; he fell back, hiding behind a crate that was just behind him. He'd be able to catch him off guard there. Twister crouched behind it, and he felt a bead of sweat roll down his brow as he waited for the hoofsteps to fall silent. Then, he'd have a better chance of killing the thug first.

Twister felt his heart race, and when he heard the hoofsteps become silent, he leaped out of cover. He pointed his gun at the pony, but his excitement disappeared when he saw his company. There was one pony, with a gun like he had heard, but a gorgon and some other chimera with wolf and boar-like qualities were with him. That gorgon....it was the same gorgon who blasted his wing off. What the hell was going on here?!

Twister realized he had waited too long too late. A gunshot fired, and Twister felt a bullet tear through his chest, and he fell crying out. Twister tried to aim his gun at his enemies, but it suddenly flew out of his hoof by magic. The gorgon caught it in midair, and it gave Twister a cruel, crooked grin.

Twister grimaced, and looked at his bloody injury. The hole in chest left blood staining his vest, and it trickled down his legs. One thought ran through Twister's head before he lost consciousness.

Rainbow, please get to Leo in time...