//------------------------------// // Stopping the Train // Story: The Legacy of Ouija Star Part I: The Silver Soul Family // by OuijaSilverstar //------------------------------// Chapter 5: Stopping the Train We made it to the engine and I noticed the edge of Shaggy Solo’s jacket on the roof. I shushed Twilight and slowly creeped to the base of the ladder to hear the conversation. The other stallion sounded disappointed and suggested something to him, seemingly offending him. This caused the rockabilly unicorn to protest. “But sir! There’s an Alicorn on board and he took out our men!” I attempted to closely listen the other stallion, but the noise from the wheels turning and the wind blowing drowned him out. “...what do you mean go with the plan?...jam the brakes?...no! I am not doing that! You can take your plan and shove it right up your-” His defiance was cut short by the sound of a loud gunshot. I saw the unfortunate stallion make no noise as I saw him stumble and slip off the side of the train, looking away at the sound of his bones crunching on the ground. I turned to Twilight, who was trembling. “Liam, I’m not too sure about this; I’m scared.” “Twilight, I need you here with me. If I can stop this train, I need your help.” “Whatever magic he’s wielding, we need to sneak up on him.” “He knows we’re here; we’ve got no choice but to face him. We’re going up that ladder at the signal.” “Alright; I hope you know what you’re doing.” I signaled her to follow me as I climbed up the ladder. At the other side was a white furred Stallion with a black slicked back mane, round sunglasses with twin heavy machine guns mounted on each side of him with a white harness. He bared the same fatigues as the other spooks, but his seemed a lighter shade of grey with red pauldrons and without sleeves for his forelegs. He turned to face us, grimacing at my appearance like he’s disappointed by my lack of supposedly royal presence. “So, is this my monkey wrench? You have balls for standing up to somepony like me and my men. I expect no less from a royal Alicorn. My...employers kill for members like you.” “You’re the big cheese, Herureiza, correct?” He tensed up, a scowl grew across his face like I found out a damning secret. “How do you know that name?” “I have...ways of getting info.” My nonchalant explanation garnered a quick laugh from the crime boss, making him smile with contentment. “I have a proposition for you, Alicorn; I suggest you take it with utmost kindness.” “And what, pray tell, is this so called offer?” “Simple, you and your marefriend here come with me quietly to meet my employers and we won’t have to kill you.” I snickered at his obvious offer towards me. It’s a ruse to execute me when I’m not looking. That’s mafia behavior. I wonder how a pony like him learned of something like that. Maybe he...no, that’s not possible; I’m the only one who came from Earth, right? Right? I need to stick to my guns and give him the middle finger, in a sense. I smiled and shook my head in disappointment. “Well, at least I know what I can say to that offer; in fact, I got three words for ya.” “Yeah? What?” “Go fuck yourself.” He stood there, motionless. His smile disappeared, his guns cocked, aiming at me and Twilight. “Then I have no choice, but to kill you two as well. Keep Tartarus warm for me, race traitor!” Twilight leapt in front of me, casting her shield spell around us, bullets ricocheting off the bouncy field. He blasted through the shield with a bolt of his own magic. The impact knocked us both off balance. I quickly regained my footing (strange that I am a pony now and I should say hoofing) and immediately retaliated with balls of fire shooting from my horn. He slid around the balls of fire punching the metal frame, acting like molotov cocktails. He shoots a few bolts of his own and struck me on random places on my body. Luckily, my jacket protected me, but the spots got singed by the heat. One grazed my chest, leaving a minor gash. He noticed Twilight, where she had her leg stuck in the roof hatch and aimed his guns at her head. In an instant, I quickly thought of a spell for sabotaging machinery and incapacitating foes. Electricity engulfed his entire body, convulsing backwards from his own muscles spazzing out. I made a mental note of that spell under the name “Zio,” to remember how to cast it. He quickly recovered and shot off a few bullets at me once more. I ran around him, the bullets missing me by inches. I slid to a stop, a single bullet grazing the side of my face. My horn blade lit up and threw down onto my foe in a downwards diagonal slash. The blade itself cut through one of Herureiza’s guns and slashed his left foreleg. He growled in frustration after realizing his gun is broken and lit up his horn in his own magical aura. I saw him wince in pain and jump back from my blade. He swung at me with his horn blade. At the last moment I blocked it using my horn, creating a magical discharge like two metal clamps on a car battery. I managed to match him, blow by blow, each impact creating mini magical explosions that cut through the thick smoke. Whomever he is, he is good at fencing, but I have to focus on repelling his attacks. I lost my footing and slipped under him right before he shot his gun at me. Luckily, the bullets whizzed right over my head, missing me by a Dutch mile. He jumped away from me, firing his gun at me without regard for his aim. I spun myself in a horizontal spiral, using my time slower spell. I spread my limbs out in different directions, watching the mass of bullets zip around me. I’m like Neo, except I have emotion and I’m a pony. I carefully positioned my legs and landed on my hoofs, time returned to normal. I also unconsciously used my magic to stop the bullets behind be and let them drop on the metal roof just to rub it in. I saw him attempt to shoot his gun at me, but in an instant, I shot an ice spike into the gun barrel, causing the barrel and ejection port to break off in a fiery blast. The side of his stomach got burned by this and stumbled onto the roof floor. He groaned in pain and looked at me in anger. I sensed Twilight stirring from her unconsciousness stumble to her hooves, running towards me. She noticed the stallion at his knees, wiping the blood from his muzzle. “Good job, Liam,” she complimented on my victory, “Now, let’s find out why he’s doing this.” “You’re pretty good, kid,” he complimented me, “But that still won’t save all these souls; you’re too late!” “Why? Why harm innocent ponies?” Twilight asked. “A reason too complex for the likes of you.” “Really? You’re at your last legs and you refuse to tell us? Please, surrender and we’ll promise you a hard labor sentence in prison at the least.” He attempted to catch Twilight off guard by shooting one more bolt at her. It reflected off a shield spell, leaving a bewildered terrorist to give up. “Damn you, Alicorn!” “Looks like you’re starting to understand that we’re way out of your league!” “Liam, calm yourself; it’s no use kicking him while he’s too weak to fight back.” “TOO WEAK!? I still have enough strength to snap your neck while singing the Irish national anthem!” !!! No...it’s not possible. I swear I heard him say something that hints him being from Earth. Who else brought him to Equestria? How is he part of this supremacy movement? I have to confront him about this. “Can you run that by me again?” He tensed up, acting like that slip of the tongue will be the death of him. The entrance of a tunnel quickly came up, which made Twilight tug at my jacket. “Liam! Liam! That’s the last tunnel to Canterlot! We need to get off the roof, NOW!” “NO!” I shouted, ripping myself away from her grasp, “This bastard is going to die, today!” I felt my shift of gravity do a 180 degree turn as my body was enveloped in a purple aura, pull me quickly backwards from my target. He noticed the rapidly approaching tunnel and leapt off the train. I was pulled under the canopy right as the train entered the tunnel. I immediately snapped at her for her choice for me. “What the hell is wrong with you!?” I growled, “I could’ve ended it right there!” Twilight smacked me hard with her hoof, sending me back to my senses. I spat blood and wiped the rest off with my sleeve. “What the hell is wrong with YOU? You completely lost it! Equestria is nothing like your world; you can’t go around killing as you please!” “NOTHING LIKE MY WORLD!? What the hell is going on here!? These unicorns want to kill ponies, gather their souls and I need to find out why they’re doing this, what for? Even if I have to stoop to their level!” She said nothing, looking the other way. “I understand that life is valued here, but when you got those who prey on the weak, willingly take the lives of others and use terror tactics to get what they want, ponies like me willfully take their lives to prevent them from hurting anypony again. I don’t expect you to accept my actions or support them, because for the past 8 years, I’ve done my own thing. I don’t care what you think of me. Why do you think I look like this, anyway?” She slowly turned to look at me again, tears forming in her eyes. I thought for a minute, then came to a conclusion, if I want my family to reunite and bite the bullet of my family tearing itself apart, I need to play ball with the Princesses. “Yes; I may have taken the law into my own hands and I may lose my head more than often, but these are times I do not hold myself back. You’re right about one thing, though. I’m leaving myself to the mercy of your Princesses from here on out, now.” With that said, without looking, I slammed the base of my hoof down onto the brake, sending the whole train to grind to a halt. Sparks from the brakes lit up the dark tunnel illuminating our vision towards one another. We said nothing, but felt time slowing down, giving us time to our thoughts in case if we didn’t stop in time. My eyes lit up. I used one foreleg to pull Twilight in and the other to hold something onto. Crashing through a gate, our speed decreased by half, but looked as if it couldn’t stop for another minute. We left the tunnel out into the capital city of Canterlot, but ignored its detail and frightened citizens on my focus on what’s ahead; all the more derailing. In front of us across the way, I noticed an opening in between two buildings with nothing on the other side. A cliff. Out of fear for the worst, I used my horn on the engine to dampen its momentum. It didn’t seem to work since it was too heavy and too fast for me to help brake the train faster. “Twilight! Help me, please!” Her horn lit up as well, both grey and purple aura pushing against the front of the train. Eventually, the train slid to a stop with half of the engine hanging off the cliff. “We...we’re alive,” Twilight gasped. “Yep,” I simply said, laying down, exhausted, “Mission Accomplished.”