//------------------------------// // Then There Were...How Many? // Story: The Veins Run Deeper // by Thunderblast //------------------------------// He blinked awake slowly, vision blurred and darkened with a confusing assortment of muffled noise in his ears narrowly atop the ringing. He glanced around, met with a sudden brightness. His eyes burned with a sudden dryness, forcing him to squint and blink every other second without time to adjust. Chaos had erupted around him. Distant cries and screams, crackling of fire, and shifting debris surrounded, remaining slightly blocked out by continuous ringing that gently faded. Leaning upright steadily, Night groaned and widened his eyes, gaze snapping to his left, noting the train carriage he and the rest of his squadron sat in minutes ago, mangled, on its side, and partially buried in a stretch of dirt kicked up as it slid away from the tracks. A gaping hole in front of the car's remains glowed of bluish embers. The other carriages were in a similar state. Some rolled over or upside down with not much damage, split in half after colliding with trees, and a couple having fallen off an embankment into a frigid creek. Small fires scattered about. "Captain!" Shouted a voice from nearby, repeating itself every so often as it came closer. *** Five hours earlier... *** A blank-faced, drowsy Night sat in the designated waiting area for the next train to Manehattan, with a planned stop in Hollow Shades. Their stop. Lack of the ability to sleep for long took this much of a toll on him, and now he sat here for two hours, by himself, in a cold train depot, far earlier than he hoped for. He blinked slowly, lids sagging slightly beneath his eyes. Atop his discernible fatigue, he kept alert for the time ponies he knew would begin filing into the building. Soon enough, unaware of his entrance, Thunderblast stepped up to the glass-shielded counter, collecting his ticket for the journey. He turned, then froze, blinking with surprise as he spotted a zoned-out Night seated in one of the chair rows. The majority of his surprise came from Night having been here for who knows how long, originally expecting to be the first to come this early. The grey pegasus sauntered to Night with a green sack over his shoulder, taking a seat beside him silently, but with a slight rustle of metallic objects in his bag. For a few moments, he fiddled with his hooves, then cleared his throat. Night's trance broke, and he turned to Thunder, jumping slightly. "You're here early." "What about you?" Thunder faintly grinned. "How much sleep did you get?" "Not enough," Night yawned out quietly. "You?" Thunder only shrugged, and Night nodded. "So, this is it," Thunder finally said after a minute of silence. "It is, at loooong last," Night replied. "We will finally be able to sleep at night knowing Shield is avenged." "Never met him. Sounded brave, nonetheless." "Atop the jokes, he was. Gave his life to save another. Hopefully the only ever in the Zodiacs to sacrifice themselves, now, and in the years to come." "As a captain, you can only pray. As shameful as it is to say, things happen, and not always in our favor. Fate controls us all. If there is the slightest opportunity to alter it for the better, it is our obligation as Equestria's guardians to take that chance, even if it means we don't come home." "I understand that," Night nodded once. "But, this was also my decision. Something huge may go awry and worsen the situation. Who knows, we might end up starting a whole new war. This wasn't the order of a princess, or—or a superior officer, this is out of revenge." "You are a superior officer, Night, do not forget that. You do make orders." "Well, four years later, I still have trouble accepting that," Night grimaced. "I often question my decisions. They keep me up at night if they are large enough." "As do most ponies of your rank. During the war, Shining Armor admitted his orders to storm Gryffsvale, knowing the possible outcome, were tough. Many of the leading platoons dropped like flies, but our mission was successful after two days. Sharp could have gotten himself captured, or worse." "He did say that," Night nodded. "That is not reassuring in the least, Thunder. Knowing others have felt similar provides little comfort. If anything, it tells me I could make the smallest mistake and lose three more when it could have been avoided." "You would not otherwise know, Night. Part of life is taking risks. No pony is perfect in what they tell others to do. Hell, the world is made up of poor judgement. Without it, where would we be as a civilization?" Thunder turned to him. Night stared forward, then glanced down, sighing. "You're right." "I'm usually not," Thunder replied. "I'm simply citing what an old friend once told me." "Did he die, too?" "No. In fact, he is doing quite well in San Dineigo. Although, he was close to death. Lying in his hospital bed, not expected to survive his injuries, then a miracle happened and made a full recovery. Said those exact words two weeks after the incident, when his voice came back." "Let me guess, bad idea led to his near-death?" Thunder nodded, chuckling softly. "But it saved Canterlot, or contributed to it at least." He turned to Night again. "My point is, never be afraid to be in charge. Regardless of the possible outcome, do what you believe is right for you and everypony around you. You cannot always control what happens, just, never give up." Night nodded, a small smile pursing his lips. "Thanks for the inspirational speech. You know, after the Guard, you should work for Celestia as a speechwriter." Thunder shrugged, then shook his head. "How dare you," he grinned, only to be punched in the shoulder by Sharp on his right side. "He ain't wrong," the unicorn said aloud, startling them both. "I decided not to interrupt when it all got deep, didn't want to ruin the moment," he grinned as well. "Well, er, thank you?" Thunder blinked, rubbing his shoulder from the punch. "How long have you been sitting here?" "Oh, I just sat down. Been standing there for about five minutes, though, only started listening when I heard you say my name," Sharp responded, waving a hoof. Night tiredly chuckled, eyes closed with a stupid grin. "Always making a sudden entrance, aren't you, Sharp?" "For a stallion your size, you're scarily silent," Thunder added. "Ever thought about being a Sharp-shooter?" Thunder was met with punches on either shoulder from the two stallions on either side. He yipped with pain as one punch was significantly harder than the other. "Come on, harmless pun!" *** The train chuffed eastward, closing in on Hollow Shades in the final stretch of the trip. Night, his Zodiacs, and others among him sat gathered in a center carriage, no other ponies but them occupying the seats. Out of the sixteen of them, Night retained his unofficial title of the quietest throughout the journey, having not said four words since they boarded back in Canterlot, that being hours ago. The others, less so. Not everypony engaged in some sort of conversation, nonetheless, silence became a rarity up to this very moment. Every so often, a passenger would come through to another carriage. Not one that passed didn't give somepony a strange look, whether it be of bewilderment or concern. After all, it was not every day an entire squadron of guards rode the train without being attached to a princess. While Night fixed his eyes on the passing snow-covered landscape, Sharp seated himself on the bench opposite of Night, sipping from a steaming plastic coffee cup, letting out a satisfied ahh. He glanced up to Night, who leaned against the glass. "Coffee?" "No. Thank you, though," Night responded, not moving his eyes a hair. "Well, the dining car has plenty of it. You look like you'd need some eventually." Night straightened his back, stretching it and groaning quietly before relaxing again. "Maybe later. There is another good place in town where I could get some." "Fair enough," Sharp nodded, cautiously sipping again to avoid burning his tongue—having already done twice already. "I hope we aren't too late," Night said, returning his gaze to the window. "We won't be." "Do you understand—" "We won't be," he repeated, more sternly, coldly making eye contact with the fanged pegasus. "Kill the negativity, Night. I am about sick of it." "I can't help it, Sharp," Night sighed quietly. "I can't control how my mind thinks. I can't help but go over the possibilities, what if—" Sharp raised a hoof, stopping Night mid-sentence. "Just how will that help us? There could be infinite possibilities, Night. Along with what I said to you at the train station, worrying too much about the future can throw you off balance. Focus on your current task, and nothing more. Any distraction and it will go awry." "Yeah, well, considering how many tasks we currently have, I don't know which to think about more. Duskbloom, definitely. But, what if the only possible way to rescue him is to bring down his captors first?" "There is only one way to find out. As I said, infinite possibilities," Sharp paused for a swig of coffee. "Or, how about this—settle on the outcome you want, but keep the worst possible one in back of your head. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst." "I will try—" "There is no try. There is only do, or don't do. There is no in between," Sharp cut him off once more. "I want to hear that you will do, not try." Night grumbled softly, ears flattening in annoyance and rolling his eyes. "I will do it." Sharp simply nodded, glancing outside, taking another long sip. Only silence followed between the two, much less the others around them ignoring their conversation and focused on their own. "You know, I've been thinking—" On the left side of the carriage, opposite of the two, a window burst inward, followed by a heavy thump of a figure falling in. Before anypony could even react or snap in that direction, two more windows shattered. One of which breaking pelted Zipline, Midnight Blade, Scarlet Iris, and Red Knight with shards of glass. Other than minor cuts far and few in between, neither were hurt after having shielded themselves with their hooves. All jumped with surprise, fixing onto the three clothed figures that came crashing inside. In an instant, these ponies drew knives, picking their targets in the carriage. With little hesitation, Lodestar leaped from his seat—clearing another entirely in the process—landing feet before one of the assailants. He stood without any weapon, but with the intention of disarming and seducing the one across from him. Valiant stood quickly, tackling the second of the three to the floor, lighting his horn and encasing the blade in his aura to hold it in place, the attacker refusing to let go of it and stand back up. Upon a quick glance, beneath the hood stared a pair of brown slit-pupils, fixed on him. The clothed figure lurched up, baring its teeth with not two, but four razor-sharp fangs, aimed for Valiant's neck. Quickly, he brought down a hoof, driving it into the pony's muzzle before it could latch on to him. A painful yip emanated, the hoof releasing the magic-pinned knife, and rolling out from beneath the larger unicorn. Sharpblade and Eventide took on the third pony, missing her hood and bat wings stretched out fully. The mare hissed threateningly, lunging at them. Eventide jumped toward her, the two colliding forcefully, landing with the attacker above Eventide. Just as the armed mare regained her senses, realizing her target laid beneath her and prepared to swing a punch, Sharp charged from the side, sending her sailing across the carriage, slamming into a bench and snapping it in half upon impact. He kept his momentum, yanking Eventide upright onto all fours quickly, whose eyes shot wide in surprise. Sharp leaped up, about to slam on top of the hoodless thestral, when she rolled just out of the way. Sharp's hooves landing heavily into the wooden floor beside her, one of which impaling through the floor and becoming stuck. He focused on attempting to pull it free, much less the floor splinter that jabbed into it just narrowly above his hoof guard. The attacker rolled onto her hooves, reaching to grab the knife, realizing it sat on the floor far from her reach. Rather, she recoiled a hoof, charging to punch Sharp. With his free hoof, he raised it, blocking the shot she took. For a stallion his size, this mare was far stronger in her hits than even he would expect. Per punch she threw, his hoof would be pushed back, steadily coming closer to him whilst still struggling to yank his hoof from the hole in the floor. Sharp grabbed hold of the hoof, halting it mid-punch, swinging the mare into the wall and briefly stunning her. He took this moment, and his other hoof, further attempting to jar it unstuck. He grunted in his struggles, the splinter only further stabbing into his hoof. He snapped to the side, the mare now having lunged at him, about to tackle. His eyes shot wide open, caught off-guard and lifting his hoof again to block her, only for Eventide to swoop in from down the carriage's aisle, slamming the mare into the vestibule door and into the next carriage, startling passengers as the two begun to wrestle. Lodestar lifted the pony he took, forcing him against one of the windows, cracking it in center and threatening to break. It bulged outward, cracks spreading further as Lodestar raised his hoof—leaving one to keep the stallion pinned—driving punch after punch into his jaw, stunning him. The stallion quickly reached into a pocket, drawing a second, smaller knife, swiping blindly at Lodestar's shoulder. The steel of the blade simply scraped against the cyan pony's armor, not even deeply enough to scratch the paint. A second swipe came around, this time catching Lode on the cheek, leaving a shallow cut. He hardly winced, shifting his focus to the significantly smaller weapon and catching the stallion's hoof in the midst of a third thrust that was sure to jab into his cheek. He twisted the assailant's hoof, it letting out a painful-sounding crack. The pony cried out painfully, dropping the knife with a tiny metallic clank against the wood surface. Lodestar dealt one final blow: a strong headbutt, in the process, smashing the incapacitated attacker out through the damaged window, tumbling along the edge of the track behind them. Before any of them could catch their breath, another bat pony mare tumbled in through the window, tackling onto Sharp, ripping his hoof free of the hole with the splinter still attached. He yipped in both pain and surprise, rearing his hinds out of reflex and kicking the mare straight up into the ceiling, smashing a light and shocking her unconscious, then finally landing to his left. Sharp jumped up, keeping his forehoof raised just slightly, he examined the figure, the fur on her back darkened and burned from the electric shock. His breath steadily calmed, heart rapidly pumping in his chest. He glanced up to the others in the carriage, all of which exchanging looks to each other, whilst Valiant, at last, incapacitated the final attacker along with Thunderblast's aid. Zipline opened his mouth to speak, the words just narrowly beginning to slip out, before a bright blue flash stunned the fifteen of them. In an instant, everything began to fall apart around them. Screeching metal, snapping wood planks, and the powerful roar of the train's cars coming uncoupled and derailing, smashing into trees or rolling over, some plunging down a thirty-foot embankment into a frozen creek. The ordeal seemed to go on for minutes upon minutes. The terrifying sounds of destruction far overwhelmed the terrified screams of his friends and squad members, as well as other passengers in other carriages that too came off the tracks. Night flew through a gaping hole in the side of their car while it tumbled, tossed many feet from the tracks. He struggled to regain his bearings while airborne, only to black out instantly upon impact. *** He shot awake, gasping for air as he lay chest-up against... something. Night's ears rung, drowning out the chaotic ambience unfolding in all directions of him. It took a good minute for his vision to clear, at long last allowing him a glimpse of the turmoil. Before him lay a pair of railway axles, lying upside down against a tall bent-over tree, some of its larger branches snapped and fallen, or hanging from where they once strongly stretched from the trunk. To his front and left, and nearly his direct left, were the train tracks—or what was left of them. The force of the derailment bent the rails and destroyed the wooden ties placed beneath them for stability. Many of the carriages rested on their sides, upside down, or destroyed entirely. Blinking heavily, Night shifted his gaze to a blonde-maned draft stallion dragging a limp pony out through a narrow opening in a car, laying them in a flat area away from the wreckage, and proceeding to perform resuscitation maneuvers. "Captain!" A voice called from afar, repeating itself as it gradually came closer from a direction Night could not pinpoint in his current state. After many minutes of self-induced paralysis, Night gradually pushed himself up onto his hooves, grunting, yet successful. Immediately, Midnight Blade whipped around the section of debris he previously laid against, stopping and breathing a massive sigh of relief upon finding him. "How many casualties?!" Night shouted, ears still ringing after this long. "Too many to count," Midnight panted. "Halfmoon and Eventide are missing, Captain!" The words struck Night, but immediately after, he grabbed her shoulder and started running. "They're here somewhere, get to it!" "Right, sir!" Midnight responded, galloping to Rescue, whom managed to wake the incapacitated mare. Night rushed in the opposite direction, met with what seemed like endless destruction in all directions. More passenger carriages laid on their side, smashed through one another—even one split in half down the center by a tree it struck. Further down the line sat the locomotive, only partially still on the tracks. Near it rested a small group of passengers, the conductor, and the engineer, helping one another out. Neither of which seemed too terribly injured, much to Night's relief. Then, his ear swiveled in the direction of a painful cry. With no hesitation, Night rushed to the source: an overturned car, partially burning with fire rapidly spreading. Through the broken vestibule he slipped into, Night scanned around the smoky cabin, spotting an older stallion near his own father's age pinned beneath a bench jarred loose in the derailment. Through the smoke, on the opposite end of the carriage, fire burned, lighting the interior in a horrifying, sweltering orange. Night rushed to the stallion's side, coughing softly to the flame's fumes. "I'm here, I got you!" he shouted over the crackling and the fire's low roar. The older stallion hacked and coughed heavily, blinking slowly up at Night. He'd been breathing the smoke for too long, and was very well on the verge of passing out. Night quickly grasped the bench, grunting and digging his hinds into the snow that flooded through the broken window when the carriage rolled over. He trembled in his struggle to push the bench off, finding it did not budge a hair. He paused, huffing heavily and coughing shortly after, quickly shifting his focus to the steadily-approaching fire, then to the bench, and finally to the stallion. "I'm not leaving until you are out of here, you hear me?!" Night grasped the stallion's one free hoof, him slowly nodding, eyelids half shut. Night snapped toward the opening in which he slipped inside. "Hey! Over here, I need some help!" He screamed at the top of his lungs. "Over here!" Without waiting, Night returned to attempting to free the stallion, struggling once more to shove the bench pinning him to the side. Much like his first attempt, it was to no avail. Just as soon as Night began to give up hope of help arriving, a familiar voice rose above the fire's growing roar. "Night, where are you?!" His ears perked up, pausing to glance toward the opening a second time. "Burning car, hurry!" Almost instantaneous, a surge of relief swept across Night as a slightly larger figure rushed inside, grasping the bench beside him. "On my mark, give it all you've got. Ready?" the stallion hurriedly said. Night nodded once, preparing himself. "All right. One... two... three!" With their combined strength, the two dug their hinds into the ground, grunting in effort. Yet, this time, it worked! The bench slowly slid off of the unconscious victim, just enough to quickly slip him out, which the other pony did so gracefully before grabbing Night by the hoof and yanking him to the only way out. Just as the two exited the burning carriage, the powerful force of it exploding just feet behind them sent them sailing forty, fifty feet, with the incapacitated survivor still within the larger pony's grasp, shielding him from the impact. Night leaped up no more than a second after landing on his side, racing to the other two. "Dad, are you okay?!" The larger bat stallion nodded, wheezing slightly, releasing the other stallion into the soft snow beside him, safe from the wreckage. Gradually, he stood with Night's help. "I'm fine, son," he dusted off his armor, then Night's, who fiddled to stop him. "No, Dad, stop, stop!" he grabbed his hooves forcefully. "How did you get here?" "We only just reached Hollow Shades an hour ago. I noticed a strangely-dressed unicorn make his way toward the tracks, then... then I saw him do it," Skywatcher replied, breath slowing. Night blinked, eyes widening. "Saw him do what? What did he look like?!" "Couldn't tell much. He wore strange greyish-black robes with some sort of markings on them, like another language, but symbols. He shot a beam at the train, he derailed it! Then, just like that, he was gone. I ran to help, then it hit me when I found somepony in your armor helping out survivors." Night gasped, eyes even bigger now. "Topaz... you saw him?" "Do you know him, Night?" Skywatcher blinked. "Did you follow him anywhere other than the tracks, Dad?!" Night frantically asked. Sky nodded, raising an eyebrow. "Yes. In fact, I did. He was near an old mill of some sort. It looked old, but it was operational. There were... others like us! They were running it, hundreds of them. They stopped, he spoke with them. At least, I think he did. He went inside, and I followed him to the tracks." Night gasped again. "Duskbloom! That's where they are keeping him!" His father raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about, son?" Night began running the opposite direction, Skywatcher quickly following. "I will brief you along the way, help me round up survivors and take them to town!" Skywatcher's eyebrow raised further, bewildered at the sudden behavior. He simply chose not to question and nodded, rushing off to do as his son ordered.