> Iron Horse: Invaders from Germaney > by Ferrum Vexas > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > New Findings > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Click, cling, click cling, click cling, click cling. The unnatural hoof beats hit the ground, echoing within the tunnel. Click cling, click cling, click cling, cling. They paused, echos of voices were carried to the hoof beats' owner. Almost a second later they started up again. Click-click, cling, click-click cling, click-click cling. They increased in speed, suggesting that who-ever it was, was speeding up. Their head turned around and snorted in surprise and fear, the voices were getting closer! They turned their head toward the direction that they were going, desperately trying to flee both the place and their pursuers. At last they spotted something, light! The figure pushed themselves to go even faster, but just as they were about to enter the light of day, a frightening sound reached the remnants of their ears. Water! Lots of water at that. They desperately tried to stop, but, unfortunately for them the ground was slick with water. The figure slipped and slid straight into a fast-moving underground river. Frantically they struggled to escape it's icy grip, now hearing the deafening roar of water free-falling. The light was getting brighter, and with it the figure's struggle increased. Anypony, who would've looked at the waterfall behind Canterlot would've noticed a pale colored shape being swept over the edge of the waterfall. Seriously, though, how may ponies would go “Gee I think that I shall look at yonder waterfall now.” The poor pony struggle to keep his head above water, a worthless battle in the state he was in. A strong undercurrent finally won against him, pulling him under and causing his skull to hit a rock, effectively knocking him out. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~HETALIAAAAAA~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down, never gonna turn around and desert you!” a young pegasus mare hummed. Carefully carrying a bucket of iron ore in her mouth, Iron Wing impatiently waited for her iron ore to melt, a chore that some ponies (herself included) would find dull, but, they weren't top-notch blacksmiths were they? She frowned slightly, “Come on and bucking melt already, I can't afford to get behind again.” her slightly raspy voice spoke. The small bell on her door rang, alerting the blacksmith somepony was in her shop. “Be there in just a second!” she called out, already trotting up to the shop front, shedding her thick work gear on the way. “How may I be of service to you sir?” she addressed one of the three military-looking stallions at the counter. “We are wondering if you have seen anything....Unusual.” the first one addressed her in a strong accent, Germane she decided. All three were the same color, white coat, yellowish mane, and with some of the iciest blue eyes she had ever seen. Killer eyes, she thought slightly shuddering. “No, I'm afraid I haven't seen anything unusual lately.” she replied, her face hardening. These ponies were not to be trusted by her. They were sending off all kinds of mental alarms inside her, “If you do find something, please find us, we will take care of it.” the leader, she decided, said. Without another word the trio turned sharply and exited the shop. After they left, Iron Wing stood there, thinking about the cold-eyed stallions. What was it they were looking for? She shook her head. She had work to do, and thinking about the Germanes wasn't going to help. Without another word she retreated back to her workroom. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~VODKAAAAAAAAAA!!!!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hours Later Three white-coated earth ponies were spotted leaving the city. No one talked to them, they talked to no one. Once they were a ways away from the city, did they speak. “What happens now?” “We must find him. Or we will be kindly introduced to the new firing squad.” All three shuddered, they had seen what the firing squad did, and it wasn't pretty. The leader looked over at Canterlot, worry clear upon his face. It was only a matter of time before the ex-captain was either found by somepony, or even worse because of his current state of mind, wandered into one of the many towns of Equestria. A very worrying thought indeed, he thought to himself. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~PASTAAAAAAAAAAAA~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Humming a tune under her breath, Iron Wing locked up the shop. It had been a long day and she was eager to head for home just outside the of the city. Trotting down the street, her head was full of ideas for a project to do when she had slow days. Something cool, she mentally thought, a weapon unlike any that she had seen. Wing blades were cool, but when you weren't the best flier, they got in the way...a lot. She shook her head. No, no wing blades. It had to be something new, something nopony has ever seen before, but what? She paused, for a moment, and shook her head. When she got home she could brainstorm, but first she had to get home to do that. Roughly twenty minutes later she was soaked to the bone in one of the thunder storms she had seen that year. Nervously, she glanced over at the river flowing nearby the road. “That river get's any higher and I'm gonna have to make like one of those Sea-ponies.” she muttered to herself. Her crimson eyes wandered along the riverbank. Narrowing on a large shape. “That's a really pale log over there...Kinda weird shaped too...Sorta like a....pony.” staring at the “log” it hit her, hard. “Sweet Celestia that is a pony!” From what she could see he/she was HUGE! At least as big as a royal guard, if not bigger. She raced over into the muddy bank, within minutes the pony could be swept away by the floodwaters. Plowing through the mud and water challenged the pegasus to have to bound through it like a mud-covered deer. In order for her to carry him Iron Wing had to partially dive down under the mud. She grunted as she struggled to carry him (she was going with that for now) on her back. “Geez what are you made of? Rock?” Seriously he was bucking heavy! She shifted and wriggled until he was somewhat stable on her back. With him finally situated to where Iron Wing could carry him home, she continued on at a much slower pace. What she didn't notice was some mud slide off of his flank, exposing a bright metal plate.