//------------------------------// // Solid Shroud // Story: Tales of the Battle Foals // by Sirdubya //------------------------------// Back on the Train… Time seemed to pass slowly as the caboose full of cargo went quiet for the remainder of the day. Nopony dared make any significant noise for the risk of somepony hearing them from the adjacent car. Even the ever full-of-life Turf War forced himself to sit still for a while and get a much needed nap when the opportunity arised. Spiral Galaxy quietly meditated with Fire Fight and Shadow Shroud as the two of them could both respectively help the cosmic filly with controlling her magic and gathering her focus. She dared not apply what she learned here for the risk of causing another episode on the train! At last did night fall unto the moving locomotive. Shadow Shroud told the others to relax until she returned. She flipped in her disguise dress. Spiral Galaxy grimaced at the choice of wear that her friend had clad herself in, but Fire Fight quietly warned her not to say anything about it. Despite this, Shadow Shroud could sense their thoughts. “*sigh* That’s it. When this is over, I’m getting a new dress.” She muttered to herself. She peered out the window to see that all the car’s occupants were sound asleep. She smirked in delight as she quickly but quietly slipped through the doors, closing them carefully. She snuck quickly across the train car, careful not to disturb anypony. She successfully reached the opposite end of the car, and slipped through just as slyly. A few ponies were awake, but they failed to see the dressed little filly slip undetected into their car. She casually trotted passed them and other passengers between cars; they paid the normal-looking filly no mind. She finally reached the dining car. Same as the other one, same prices, but without the exotic drinks on the menu. Continental breakfasts were not available since it was, of course, nighttime, so she decided to order some hot sandwiches with basic ingredients plus another water bottle for whatever foal they may or may not rescue in Dodge City. Her total added up to 12 bits; the clerk gave the bottle as complementary since they had a surplus. She found a seat at the window and patiently waited for the food. She couldn’t help but to overhear two mares a few tables down. “So what’s going on with the Dodge City Rodeo Show this time? I heard there was going to be some kind of new….thing….or whatever.” “Apparently there’s going to be a new act involving guns!” “Oh, wow!.......what are guns again?” “They’re……uh, well……supposedly this…little thing that like……explodes, but…doesn’t? I fires little metal bits called ‘bullets’, I think. I’ve never actually seen one. They were invented a few years back, but aren’t very common. And get this: the pony that’s going to use them in the show is supposed to be a colt who is really good with them!” That last statement caught Shadow Shroud’s interest. “…Huh….really…” she whispered to herself. “Oh, really? Cool!.....Wait…aren’t guns supposed to be pretty dangerous? Why give them to a foal?” “I just told you. He’s really good with them!.....though, it does leave me to wonder how he was allowed to get good with them to begin with.” Shadow Shroud let that sink for a moment. She had indeed heard of a ‘gun’ before and was trained to counter somepony who might know how to use one despite their sheer rarity amongst all of Equestria’s denizens. But the fact that a foal allegedly knew how to use such a dangerous weapon was something she felt that Fire Fight and the others should know. They’d have something to look out for upon their arrival. She was called to the counter to receive her order. “Here ya go, little lady! Say….what’s with the four sandwiches anyway? Yer parents didn’t just send ya here to grab them a late night snack, did they?” the clerk asked her. Shadow Shroud quickly mustered a lie. “Oh, no. I had the bits leftover, so I just came to get myself something and save the others for my parents later.” She explained in a cheery persona. The clerk looked at her concerned. He wasn’t entirely convinced that she was telling the truth, so he decided to let her pass for now. “…Ok then. Well…enjoy!” he said. “Thank you, sir!” she said as she casually trotted out the door towards the caboose. Once she was out of sight, the clerk picked up a small radio and turned it on. “Hey Watch, come here a second, will ya?” ***** Shadow Shroud successfully snuck her way back to the caboose with the sandwiches in tow. She laid them down and flipped back into her cloak. The three thanked her as they all began chowing down. “Any trouble this time?” Fire Fight asked. “None whatsoever, I’m happy to say. Although the clerk at the dining car seemed to grow weary of me. A sharp one, that. So it might be best that I don’t go back there.” She explained. “Damn…’cause d’ese sandwiches are hot, y’all! Toasted just right.” Turf War commented. “Dat’s alright, though. We still got plenty o’ stuff from dat forest, so I think we good.” “Yeah…it’s a just a matter of how much we’re gonna need out in a desert. And furthermore, how much we’d be able to find out there.” Spiral Galaxy added. Shadow Shroud suddenly remembered what she wanted to say. “Oh! Speaking of which, I overheard some mares talking about a Rodeo Show that’s apparently scheduled to happen in Dodge City; it would explain the many passengers aboard this train headed there. From what they’ve heard, a colt performing in one of the acts is set to use guns!” she explained. The three just looked at her blankly, not quite remembering the word ‘gun’. “You know, those….explosive shooter things that were introduced some years ago?” she asked. “Ooooooohhh.” They all said in unison. “Hol’ up! Yeah, I actually seent one before too back in da hood! Some b*- uh………jerk tried to rob an art museum widit…..or….was it a museum?.......Anyway, look. Dat thing was no joke, y’all. He fired one o’ its shots and it freakin’ shattered a window from across the room! I had go real sneaky sneak on his a** just so he couldn’t think to shoot me. I was just dat da…..ng nervous ‘bout it!” Turf War explained “Really!? Did you manage to take him down?” Fire Fight asked. “I did, and thank Celestia I did! If it could do what it did to dat window, imagine what it’d do to a pony.” he answered. “Or don’t. I don’t surmise it’d be at all pleasant.” Shadow Shroud sneered. “But…..they’re letting a colt use one for a show? Isn’t that asking for trouble?” Spiral Galaxy inquired. “He’s allegedly quite talented, so there’s minimal concern….at least that’s what I gathered.” Shadow Shroud answered. “But if he’s talented with them, then he’s not lost. Plus, if he makes a mistake with them, that’s just something he has to pay for. He could just put them down for good if he was so inclined.” Fire Fight stated. Shadow Shroud leered at him. “You fool. If he’s talented with them, then that means that their not something he can just ‘put down’. Could you put away your Flame Fu if you wanted simply because it was a bother and move on to something else entirely?” she argued. Fire Fight let that realization sink as he looked into her expectant eyes and at his Cutie Mark. That dragon beckoned him just as he would call upon it. They were bound together by Fate, and Fate was not a mistress to be so easily denied. He took the last bite of his sandwich. “Yeah….I guess you’re right. But then again, we don’t know if whoever this colt is is a lost foal….so we’ll just have to see for ourselves!” he declared. “Word up, son!” “Agreed!” “Now that’s the Fire Fight who started this little mission!” Their affirmations brought a smile to the red colts face. They eagerly awaited their arrival into Dodge City having a possible goal. They finished their sandwiches and Shadow Shroud snuck out once more to throw away the trash. She returned to the other foals getting ready to set up their bedrolls. Just as they were going to pull them out however, they suddenly heard the caboose door open! Quickly crouching behind a big crate next to a wall, the foals listened carefully to what was going on. “You sure she went out this way, bud? ‘Cause we didn’t see her at all.” One of the voices, a stallion said. “Positive! You expect me to believe she just jumped on top of the train and pranced through the wind to the other side? And in an ugly dress no less?” the other stallions voice said. Fire Fight looked over at Shadow Shroud. She was normally one to not express herself, but her face was steaming and her teeth bore like a mad dog. She looked like she could just up and stab everypony at a given moment. “Well, we’ve searched every car from the dining car from this end of the train and now I have to look around this stuffy mess of cargo hold! Seriously, why the caboose? Isn’t it normally a passenger car?” the first stallion voice complained. The foals were as still and quiet as a mouse as they awaited the stallions to pass. Shadow Shroud had herself at the ready in case of emergency, but Spiral Galaxy began to panic. Fire Fight and Turf War tried to calm her as she tried to calm herself with deep breathes, but the notion of being caught and sent back to Hoofington was too great a thought for Spiral to bear. Crates suddenly started shaking violently as light poured from her horn…… “Oh s***…” Turf War muttered “Huh!? What the hell is going on!?” the security guard screamed. An immense light suddenly overtook his vision along with the counter clerk. They briefly covered their faces until the light quickly dimmed a little, but the sight of levitating crates shocked them. “What in Celestia’s name…….huh? Hey! What are you doing there!?” he shouted. He could see the foals as the crate they were hiding behind floated upward to reveal them. Shadow Shroud quickly covered her face before the stallions couldn't see it. Fire Fight and Turf War quickly armed themselves for a potential fight. But Spiral Galaxy looked up at the authoritative stallions in a panic. Her greatest fear right now was directly in front of her…..and she wanted nothing more than to be rid of it. “NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!” She bellowed in terror as her outburst caused all of the crates to slam into the stallions. She gasped at the damage she had done. She was too stunned at wreaking more carnage to hear the others calling for her. Turf War grabbed her and pulled her out the opened back door. They were on a bridge just narrow enough for the train high above a river flowing just out of Mt. Foal. If the river wasn’t deep enough, there was plenty of brush to break their fall. “ALRIGHT, WE JUMP ON THREE!” Fire Fight commanded. Shadow Shroud nodded holding tightly onto a flustered Spiral Galaxy. Turf War noticed the stallions climbing out of the clutter as Fire Fight and the others turned to the jumping point towards the riverside. He slammed the door. “One-” Fire Fight started. But he was cut off when Turf War shoved all of them off the platform. “THREEEEE!!” he screamed. Spiral Galaxy suddenly snapped out of her panicked trance as she realized what was happening. Unfortunately, Turf War made them jump a little too soon as they weren’t headed for a whole lot of brush. They all held on for dear life, hoping to Celestia and whatever other high powers that the river was deep enough to safely fall into. That’s when Spiral suddenly focused her magic. Light poured from her horn once more as the foals began to feel lighter. Mini stars formed around them in a galaxy shape as they orbited around Spiral Galaxy’s horn. The river water below them rippled and splashed violently and rocks began to levitate as they gently floated to the ground. Spiral peeked down to see that they were mere inches above the water, so she took deep breathes and released her magic. They fell into the river. All of them save for an exhausted Spiral Galaxy were able to swim for shore easily; Turf War carried her back along with his gear. They climbed onto the rocky riverbank and coughed and sputtered from exhaustion and adrenaline. Turf War laid the nearly unconscious Spiral Galaxy onto soft soil to catch his own breath for a moment. Once the three caught their breathes, they climbed further into the brush with Turf War carrying Spiral again. “Come on! We’ve gotta go further into the woods! They might come looking for us!” Fire Fight said. “Indeed! They’ll likely think we got swept up in the river and drifted off, but we should make shelter deeper within just to be sure!” Shadow Shroud affirmed. Trudging through the thick mountainside brush proved grueling in their current conditions. The fact that it was dark outside only made things worse as their only sources of light were Luna’s moon and Fire Fight’s horn. It was a miracle that no predator of the night tried to make them a late night snack. Within a small valley area of the mountain was a small cave entrance that foals entered without hesitation. The cave wasn’t very long as they could see an opening to the outside just on the other end of the tunnel. They didn’t bother going to see where it went until they got sufficient sleep…. “Aw, man! Are you kidding me!?” Fire Fight complained. Their saddlebags had gotten wet when they took their plunge and were unfortunately not watertight. Their bedrolls were soaked, the wheat they’d collected was too soggy to cook so it was thrown away, and they didn’t have any towels to dry them with. “*sigh* Hang on, guys. I’ll start a fire and hopefully get this water out.” Fire Fight said as he exited the cave briefly to collect firewood. A pit was made and fire was started with their bedrolls and bags that were strained of as much water as they could get hung next to it to dry. “At least the rest of our produce was nicely washed.” Shadow Shroud begrudgingly commented. They all sighed. Turf War went out briefly to collect a pile of leaves to make Spiral Galaxy a pillow to rest her head on. “I gotcha covered, homegirl.” He whispered to her sleeping form as he laid her onto the pile. The others didn’t care that they’d have to sleep on hard stone, so they made themselves some leaf-pillows and drifted off to sleep.