//------------------------------// // Sour Lemon // Story: War Pony // by CreeperZone //------------------------------// A pure, humble silence settled in the room like a soft blanket, only broken by the recurring rustling of bed sheets along with the subdued snorts and snores coming from the other soldiers. Hopeful focused on the great battle between quiet and noise. The war carried on, seizing and securing ground with every ruffle, ripple and riffle coming from each twitch and turn from ponies in the room. A familiar feeling as Hopeful sunk into a state he was well accustomed to, just his like on his old farm, when he stood on his porch and listen to the wind fly over and flow through the wheat fields, making a hushed, whistling sound. He glanced around the room, pondering why he had awoken early. It probably was just the eventfulness of yesterday, all the days prior were just a dulling routine of waking up, training, eating and sleeping. In that order. Nothing that would keep the mind buzzing awake, but yesterday was truly a distinctive day. That thought bounced around in Hopefuls mind for a moment until he wondered exactly how early it was, it didn't feel like like it'll be that long unt- “UP 'N AT EM NEWBIES!” This, coupled with the horrifying scream of Fire Halo's whistle, made Hopeful jump up in fright, impacting his head off of the metal bars holding up the top bunk of the bunk bed. Hopeful fell back into his mattress, his bed sheets bouncing up into the air and floating back down onto the pain struck earth pony. Everypony else in the room got up and out of bed, putting on their uniforms while still half asleep, relying on muscle memory to slide each leg into separate sleeves and button the buttons on their shirts in the correct order. Fire Halo walked into the center of the room and proudly smiled at his soldiers, then he noticed Hopeful still in his bed and walked past Spring to get to him. “What's wrong, newbie? Nerves getting to ya?” Fire Halo picked up Hopefuls uniform. Hopeful groaned in pain and looked over at the general with one hoof on his forehead. “There ain't nothin' to worry about Hopeful.” Fire Halo threw the uniform onto Hopefuls face then leaned in close to shout in his ear. “EXCEPT ME GETTING YOU DISOWNED AND SHOT FOR NOT FOLLOWING COMMAND!” Hopeful tried to scramble up and ended up tumbling from the side of the bed where he was supposed to have been standing. He propped himself up and began putting his uniform on. Fire Halo walked back into the center of the room and turned around to look at a drowsy Hopeful in full uniform saluting. He began pacing back and forth, looking at each of the soldiers for a few moments before moving on to the next. “Today is it. Today, you will be sent out and fight for what is right. You will put everything you have learned and trained to work at the front lines. I am wholeheartedly certain that you are prepared.” He crossed his eyes when he came back around and eye'd down Spring. “Some more than others... But prepared never the less.” He marched up to the door and turned to face them “I'm sure you have heard by now that Chancellor Puddinghead will be giving a speech to you before you get stationed in the fight.” The door squeaked as he opened it behind him. The light from the hallway formed a shadow lurking over the ground in the shape of the general. “I WANT PEAK BEHAVIOR FROM ALL OF YOU, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU'RE BASKING IN THE GLORY OF OUR GREAT NATION'S LEADER! THAT MEANS NO BULLSHIT FROM ANY OF YOU! HOPEFUL, WAKE YOUR SORRY ASS UP! FURY, NO BREAKING ANY PONY’S LEG BECAUSE THEY PISS YOU OFF, AND, WICKER,” He scowled at Wicker as she casually tried to hide a guilty smile, “NOT ONE. SINGLE. WORD!” He took a deep breath “Everypony behind me, two file line. NOW!” “Where do you think The Chancellor is?” Wicker whispered to Hopeful. “Righteous Glory, he said this would start in five minutes, but it's been six and a half and I'm getting worried!” Hopeful sighed and rolled his eyes before whispering back, “Not a single word, that's what Fire Halo said.” He looked at her with disapproval as you would look at a dog that has peed on the carpet. Wicker tried to speak in hushed tones and dramatically shout at the same time “But what if she got captured! Or, or assassinated! Or, or or...” Hopeful put the tip of his hoof over his lips. “Sshhh” Wicker twitched from side to side, looking around the room for The Chancellor. “But, but but...” Hopeful kept making a hushing noise as he edged his hoof over to her and put it over her mouth. “The Chancellor is fine and you have to be silent. Got it?” Wicker dropped her head to look at the floor and nodded. “Good.” Hopeful turned back to the pedestal in the center of the room, brought in especially for The Chancellor. Fire Halo's regiment and the four other training regiments in the base all stood in their respective squads, forming a semicircle around the speaking area of the briefing room. Each of the generals stood in front of their soldiers, several other high-ups chatted in the back behind the pedestal, one of them being Commander Righteous Glory, who was looking concerned about something himself. Echoing steps came from the hallway outside. They drew closer at a very fast pace until the door slammed open. Smart Cookie, The Chancellor's personal assistant stood in the doorway, exhausted. She caught her breath before asking, “Any y'all seen The Chancellor around? I can't seem ta find her anywhere.” Everypony in the room's eyes widened and heads pulled back in shock and confusion. Wicker nudged Hopeful and whispered into his ear, “Told you something's up!” Cookie saw their reaction and started shaking a hoof and her head side to side. “Nah, nah nah, don't y'all fret, The Chancellor is fine.” A unanimous sigh of relief waved through the room. Cookie turned her head back to check the hallway before attending the crowd again “It's just, well...” She took a second to think of how she was going to word her explanation “The Chancellor and I were 'bout to get through the entrance there and she said she'd come around the back, I asked her why and she told me it smelt fishy or somethin' an' anyways, she said going threw the front door is what ''they'' will be expecting us to do. Next thing I knew, Puddinghead had ran off somewhere an' I can't find her since.” Righteous Glory walked up to the pedestal and addressed Smart Cookie “Not to interrupt you, Miss, but this base doesn't have a back door.” Smart Cookie sighed and rubbed her forehead. “That ain't exactly ever stopped The Chancellor, sir.” The Commander edged back puzzled, looked around and after finding nothing turned back to Cookie. “Miss, what do you mean by that?” “I’LL TELL YOU WHAT SHE MEANS BY THAT!” a sudden, excessively loud and greatly high-pitched pony shouted at Glory from behind. Glory fell forward, his head sliding down the pedestal to the ground, where he turned around and looked up at Chancellor Puddinghead wearing her comically large, trademark bowl of pudding hat on her head, a traditional royal ruff around her neck and a brown and yellow cloak around her body with a pink bow where her tail should’ve been. She switched to a more pleasant, still high pitched tone. “It means that I, your gracious leader, am a tactical genius! Not only can I smell an ambush from a mile away, I can find a way to infiltrate any building as easy as lemon squeezey-ing.” As of saying this she pulled out a lemon from underneath her cloak and put it between both of her hooves and with her eyes closed squashed it, spraying lemon juice all over herself. She then opened her mouth and her tongue whipped around licking all of the lemon juice off of her muzzle, she then cocked back her head with a “Aghh!” and started wiping her tongue with her hooves frantically trying to get the sour taste off of her tongue. She ran up to the podium stepping past Righteous Glory “WISE COOKIE! I told you to get the sweet lemons! That was clearly a sour lemon!” Cookie rolled her eyes and dropped any enthusiasm in her voice and replaced it with snark and sarcasm “Sorry, Chancellor, I'll be sure to get the right lemon next time.” “That’s THE Chancellor to you, Smart Biscuit.” The Chancellor raised her chin up and shut her eyes looking very snooty. She peeked one eye open and that eye darted around the room “Oh! Right, my speech...” The Commander made it to his feet behind The Chancellor, “Yes, Chancellor, these are the recruits that are going out to fight tomorrow.” “Ah! Fresh meat!” She scanned the room like a hawk on prey, leaning on the pedestal, she perked up and smiled. “As I can see, you all look like brilliant fighters! Just what we need to show those meanie Pegasi and Unicorn doo-doo heads that want to take all our delicious food!” Hopeful hung his head sideways and had his eyebrows pulled down and head pushed back in confusion, he shifted over to Wicker. “Did she just call our sworn enemies... doo-doo heads?” He didn't hear a response and turned to look at her, she stood wide-eyed and memorized by the Chancellor “Hey, you-” “Shhh!” Wicker snapped interrupting him and went back to her enthrallment. The Chancellor cleared her throat. “Now, it will be difficult, and it will be messy, but we have to work together and fight as one force if we wish to achieve the great victory we deserve!” She slammed her hoof onto the top face of the pedestal “I as Chancellor will not stop until we stomp those stupid other races that keep messing with our land!” The recruits began cheering, the row of Generals Stomped their hooves. Smart Cookie made her way up to The Chancellor while the commotion died down, she moved around and up to the side of a Chancellor bathing in praise and glory and whispered something into her ear. Puddinghead jumped up. “Oh, yes, Scone Cookie, it’s time for promoting the squad leaders!” Smart Cookie placed a list with names onto the pedestal for The Chancellor to read. “First we have...” The Chancellor squinted at the card, prolonging her sentence as she tried to read the name. Once she was certain she could say it, she played it off like she was adding dramatic effect. “Private Ron-De-Vu, General Iron Sights' regiment!” A built up purple stallion was guided up to the center of the room by his General. He walked up to The Chancellor and took a bow at her hooves. He jumped up with a beaming smile from being in the presence of a pony of such excellence. “Thank you, Chancellor, this...” He took a breath trying to not stumble on his words. “This is a great honour.” “You’re welcome, Rundefu. You will be doing your nation proud!” The Chancellor was poked on the shoulder and then passed a ranking medal by Smart Cookie. “Umm, it’s Rondayvoo, by the way.” The medal practically imprinted onto the stallion’s coat as Puddinghead threw her hoof into him to attach it. “Yes, yes, thank you, RonSeafood. Let's see, who we have next?” As Puddinghead went to the pedestal to switch the cards, Smart Cookie guided the stallion back, comforting him. “Don't worry none. Been working for her three years and she hasn't gotten mine right yet...” “And the next promotion goes to...” She began playing a drum roll on a pair of drums she seemingly pulled from some kind of void. “Private Glass Cannon!” Hopeful leaned out to try and look at the Mare on the other side of the room walking up for her promotion until he was tapped on the shoulder by Wicker “Hey, are you excited? I am!” “About what?” Wicker looked shocked and whispering became very difficult for her. “ABOUT WHAT?! You're getting to talk to the Chancellor! How can you NOT be excited, probably nervous too, Are you nervous? Is that it? that's probably it, I wonder if there is a word for that, being both excited and nervous about something at the same time... Excitous? No...” Fire Halo, Standing in front of his soldiers, stopped looking onward at the Chancellor and turned to growl at Wicker. Wicker turned away from Hopeful, stand straight and looking forward with her mouth zipped closed. Fire Halo, pleased, went back to observing the promotion ceremony. Hopeful spoke softly to Wicker “I am excited to be promoted it's just... I don't think The Chancellor is everything she is said to be. She seems kinda, well... silly...” Wicker stared at Hopeful as if he had killed her entire family. She went to open her mouth but saw Fire Halo out of the side of her peripheral vision watching her. She started wildly gesturing with her legs. Hopeful couldn't make out what she meant but her frustration was practically blinding. “Wicker, it’s just that I don't see why everypony says she is such a great leader.” Hopeful tried to calm her down, his attempts were futile. “Haven't you heard the stories?” Hopeful was startled for a moment and turned to listen to Spring talk. Hopeful waited for him to elaborate. After a few blank expressions he asked “Um, stories?” Spring smiled, surprised as he says “You really haven't heard of how Puddinghead saved more than a hundred civilians in the Great Zebra Migration war?” “I've heard of the war. My grandmother hated zebras. She wouldn't shut up about it when I was a colt, but I assumed most of that was just her delusional rambling. Never heard a word about Puddinghead.” Spring has a smug smile as he leaned over to tell the story “Believe it or not, Puddinghead was in a scout group near Mount Great Stable, they were there because part of the Zebra army was spotted advancing into that area. When they saw an army of hundreds of Zebra warriors at the hoof of the mountain, This was a problem because there was an enormous cavern in Mount Great Stable that was being used as a bunker to for the ponies from Southoofton, which was evacuated after an attack from the Zebras. There were hundreds of civilians in there and they were about to be discovered. Puddinghead knew that they couldn't fight the army alone, but if they didn't act immediately the ponies in the cavern would be slaughtered. So, with her ingenuous thinking, Puddinghead decided to make the greatest distraction ever performed in any war ever. Puddinghead ran into the Zebras, well some say she shot herself out of a cannon but that hasn't been confirmed. Anyways, Puddinghead used a bag of confetti, an orchestra of musical instruments, and her own voice to confuse the enemy so much that it gave the others scouts time to sneak around and extract the civilians. It's said that not a single Zebra turned away from Puddinghead for a whole hour, she even apparently made the Zebra's Warlord, Zecoro Bloodsplatter, so bamboozled that she booped his nose before running away and having the entire army chase her for 10 miles before they finally gave up. Not a single pony died that day and it was all because of her brave actions and swift thinking. She was promoted to a general after that, eventually made it up the ranks to High Commander before running for Chancellor.” Hopeful nodded slightly in awe with a dropped jaw. “Wow, that... that's actually really fucking cool.” Spring grinned. “Well you don't get to be Chancellor without being really cool.” “PRIVATE HOPEFUL TWIST!” The Chancellor exclaimed joyfully, finally reaching the final promotion. Hopeful walked up with a smile and a newfound respect for the Chancellor. He stood in front of her, as he went to open his mouth to thank The Chancellor, she went to sweep the medal from Smart Cookie and pinned it over his mouth saying, “Proud, Nation, you're doing, blah blah blah, Thank you!” She turned to Cookie. “Thats a wrap! Let's go, Cookie Dough!” Hopeful picked up the medal and attached it to his uniform. “Thank you, I guess,” he said, watching Puddinghead hopping down the room rapidly with Smart Cookie trailing behind her, Cookie turned around at the door to wave farewell to the crowd. “BISCUIT, STOP DILLY-DALLYING!” was heard from far back behind Cookie as she finally closed the door. Hopeful awkwardly stood along side his newly promoted soldiers in the echoingly empty briefing room. After The Chancellor left the Commander told the rest of the soldiers to go back to their sleeping quarters and pack up, The regiment Captains were kept to discuss their first assignments. They gathered around a map being held up by an easel. The map was labelled with Earth Pony towns, suspected Pegasus Military Cloud-camps and recently bombed areas. They had just been receiving a lecture on command structure and how to organize their soldiers for the past hour or so. Eventually, the Commander moved on to their mission. Commander Righteous tapped on the map with a pointer. “As you can see, Pegasi have been advancing on this front, which is putting these towns at risk of a bombing raid. Evidence of Unicorns has also been spotted in the east, coming from Maneich, here. If the White-Tails are in that territory, then the Pegasi will be forced to deal them before we do. This gives our troops already on the ground an opportunity to make a break through Pegasi territory, as they will be distracted with the Unicorns. This would allow us to recapture Furford, where we know major amounts of stolen food are. Now, this is where you come in. Sending our troops in will leave us wide open from the west. If the Pegasi catch onto our plan, they will most certainly attack one, if not all, of these towns. We suspect the Pegasi have a barracks north of Mount Great Stable here. That makes Coltchester and Trottingham the most likely targets. We will be sending forty soldiers to each to set up defenses. Ron-De-Vu and Glass Cannon, you two are being sent to Coltchester. Razor Chain and Catalyst, you two are going to Trottingham. Also, as you can see, the town Glascow is also a plausible, yet unlikely target. That's why we're sending only one troop there. That will be you, Hopeful. Any questions?” A cream-brown pony raised their hoof. “Yes, Razor?” The pony cleared his throat before asking his question. “If there are already soldiers in the front lines stopping Pegasi attacks on those towns, why are we not just moving in on Furford?” “Because, Private,” the Commander growled, “the Pegasi will only be distracted by the Unicorns for so long and a conflict could break out at any moment. Getting you from here to Furford will take several days, while the soldiers already on the edge of it can push in and take it in an afternoon. Sending you to protect the towns is risky enough, as there will be a day's gap in between our defenses being down and up again, but it is the best chance we've got right now.” A light blue mare lifted up her hoof. “Cannon?” “How are we supposed to ‘set up defenses’ in the towns?” Righteous sighed. “You will be sent out with mortars and machine guns. Set up nests and just watch for an attack. If one comes, then shoot it down.” He crossed his eyebrows “And let me state the importance of these towns. While they are small and by themselves not very important, the next towns include our biggest farming city and our capital! We've lost enough land early on in the war when we were forced to retreat and give up all the Rock farms we had up North. WE WILL NOT LOSE ANY MORE LAND TO THOSE DAMMED, WINGED SKY-FREAKS!” Hopeful reluctantly brought up a hoof. “Ah, when are we being sent out?” The Commander menacingly smiled. “In less than an hour, once we have gathered all the equipment and troops.” He glared around at all of them. “So, if that's it with the questions, DISMISSED!” He saluted and the soldiers saluted back. Hopeful turned around and went to the exit. He trotted down the hallway, trying to get to his dormitory quickly without actually running. He made it down the gray, barren hallways for what he'd hoped would be the last time, walking until being met by a door. Hopeful leaned into the heavy door, edging it open until it swung around. He looked up and was taken back as he saw everypony standing aside their beds, saluting Hopeful as they would do to General Fire Halo. Even a frustrated Fury Temper abided. “Wow, thanks, guys, but really, it's not necessary.” “Sir, would you like us to be at ease, sir?” Wicker smirked as she tried her hardest to remain serious. “Umm, yes?” Hopeful replied confused. Everypony loosened up and some began walking up to Hopeful to congratulate him. Wicker shook his hoof energetically and vigorously, “Howya doin! What were you talking about back there? Can you tell us?! Or was it super secret leader stuff?” Hopeful stuttered as he was shaken up and down “No, It, was-ss, jusst a briefffinggg.” He pulled away his hoof. “A briefing about our assignment. We’re being shipped out in less than an hour.” Hopeful glanced around the room swiftly counting heads, “...seventeen, eighteen and with me that's nineteen...” Hopeful eyelids dropped to an annoyed stance in realization. “Basalt, can you go get Spring from the Medical ward?” Basalt tilted her head back. “What, is he sick?” “No,” Hopeful said entering further into the room. “He's fine, probably.” Basalt shrugged and trotted off to search for the missing Spring. Hopeful went over to the table on the opposite end of the room and sat down, back to the wall, facing everypony. “Alright, listen up! Were heading out in one hour and I'm gonna tell ya whats happening. We are going to be sent to the town Glascow to set up defenses in the case of a counter-attack by the Pegasi.” The others began to crowd around the table, the door opened and Spring walked in with Basalt. “We’re gonna be given mortars and machine guns, the rest is up to us to set up. Sharp, Gearbox and Tripod, I want you setting up mortars inside the town. Glisten, Basalt, Quick, Brass and Spectacle, you're gonna be patrolling on the watch for any Pegasi.” He looked around at the ponies he is yet to assign and saw Fury waiting, staring at Hopeful with reluctant patience. “If we are getting attacked it will be from the North or west, Fury, I want you setting up a machinegun nest covering the west, me Spring and Wicker will be taking the North with three more. The rest of you, will be with Fury so each group has six.” Ponies shifted back, forward and around to organize themselves into groups. A grin appeared on Fury's face as soon as it disappeared before he saluted Hopeful. “Good, You should all pack up your things as I doubt we will be back here anytime soon.” Hopeful jumped down off his chair and once everypony dispersed he went to put away his possessions. Once he got to his bed, he looked over onto the other side to see Spring “Hey Spring?” “Yes, sir?” Hopeful chuckled, still getting used to being a higher rank “Come on Spring, you don't have to call me sir.” “Well, Halo stopped by here earlier and one of the things he said was that we should treat you as we would him, but if you don't want me to call you that, it's fine with me.” Spring grinned and stopped packing his rifle to look up at Hopeful “Sir.” “Whatever, Spring. I just wanted to say that, if you want to, you could possibly be a field medic...” As Hopeful finished his sentence he witnessed Spring's smile grow like an explosion and stare opened eyed at him. “Does this mean I won't have to fight!?!” He jumped and down with glee. “You'll still have to come with us, carry all your equipment, the medical supplies and possibly have to heal an injured soldier in the middle of a bombing raid, but yeah, your job won't be to fight.” Hopeful opened up his bag to begin packing. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Spring Step went down and pulled his rifle out of his bag. Hopeful saw him and quickly stopped him “Hey, just ‘cause your job won't be to fight doesn't mean you won't have to. If it comes down to it, you still might need to kill a pony to survive, I'm sorry to say that, but that's how it is.” Spring, with a depressing, long face, let go of the rifle he was holding in his mouth and it fell into his bag with a thump. “Thanks anyways...” he said dishearteningly. Hopeful turned to his bag again and packed away his rifle. As he was packing, he stopped when he looked to his nightstand, having his eye caught by what was standing on it. He took a step toward the nightstand and took a hefty sigh as he looked at it. His nightstand was bleak when it came to his personal items, only two lonely gray-scale photographs stood encased in a hoof-crafted oak frame. The picture on top right of the frame was of his farmhouse and the lush wheat fields surrounding it. The second photograph was one of his daughter as a foal, snuggled up in her cot when she hadn't even turned the age of one. Hopeful kept the pictures in his bag for most of the first week. When he took them out Wicker loved to squee and comment on the cuteness of his daughter. Hopeful picked up the picture and with a smile, almost interrupted by tears beginning to form as he stared at them. He gently put it into his bag and proceeded to sweep the rest of his belongings in: his two-way radio, a picture of a barn drawn for him by Sharp, a book he thought he might read in his spare time but never got around to, and the few other things lying around his bed. A while later, Hopeful was talking with Wicker when another soldier came in, telling them all to follow him and begin loading the equipment onto the train. With buckled up coats and thick, fur-lined helmets, they made their way up and out of the the base for the first time in two weeks. The air was chilling and dry as a gentle breeze blew into them like a nova of ice. Shivering began quickly, but hauling several crates filled with explosives kept them warm as they trudged through the forest. After an exhausting push, they made it to a snow covered train with a lone carriage at the outskirts of the forest. To the front was another train and carriage and a troop loading the last of their soldiers into it. The other train pedaled down the tracks and had departed by the time Hopeful’s soldiers began loading into theirs. The carriage was similar to the one they were brought in on two weeks ago, with two benches on each side. The difference being this one had a sliding door that cut out a section of the bench on its side to allow entry. They brought up each crate with a pulley mechanism attached onto the rim of the carriage’s ceiling, and pushed each one into the center of it until they had a clean line of cargo pressed up against the back. The ponies finally got to sit down as another soldier, who would be driving the train, sealed the door and relieved them from the outside elements. Hopeful sat down in the same corner he had chosen before as he had found last time it provided good rest from leaning on the wall next to him. While some of the other ponies were forced to stand with lack of seating, Wicker did manage to get the seat beside Hopeful. Spring stood up beside one of the box's checking on a medic-bag he had prepared with all of the medicine he could get from his fellow soldiers added onto what they were given for the assignment (Which wasn't much as it was a very unlikely target so few supplies were spared) The train surprised everyone when they were swept backwards as it suddenly began chugging. Wicker was pushed into Hopeful, pressing him against the wall. Wicker pushed off of him. “Oh, excuse me, didn't know the train was gonna move...” Behind the fur collar on her jacket she was blatantly blushing. “Don’t worry, it's fine. At least we're finally moving.” “Yeah, loading boxes sucks! I'm all for sitting back and relaxing for twelve hours!” Wicker leaned back against the wall, folding her front legs behind her head. “Twelve hours? Seems short.” Wicker closed her eyes, resting. “Well it's more like eighteen hours or something. Dunno, though, with this weather it could be a full day before we arrive.” “Do you know what we're gonna do for that long?” Wicker Shrugged her shoulders. “Sleep and talk, I guess.” She leaned forward and opened her eyes, resting her hooves on her lap. “Don't know about the sleeping part though. This cart is a lot colder than the one we came in on.” “Probably because there are less ponies in here, less body heat and all that. The carriage over here was crammed full, felt like a fucking radiator.” Wicker's eyes floated around in the clouds for a moment before she got a smirk on her face. “What did you say about body heat?” Hopeful was taken back slightly and questionably glared at her. “What are you implying?” “I'm just saying that if two ponies wanted to stay warm and were close enough to not care about personal space...” Her eyes darted back and forth, not suspiciously at all. Especially not suspicious when her smile grew wider. Hopeful was exhausted after all of the manual labour and Wicker did have a point when she said it was to cold as he could feel shivers running down his spine anytime he moved. Hopeful sighed and rolled his eyes smiling. “Sure, why not.” Wicker scooted over closer to him and snuggled up beside him, It felt like a giant fluffy kitten with all of the clothing she was wearing. Hopeful leaned back against the wall then put his hoof around Wicker and held onto her tightly. As they snuggled up and got comfortable, they began chatting about the day, what future lies ahead, and when Wicker became particularly curious, about themselves and their relationship. It lasted for a while, Hopeful talking about them being friends and Wicker hoping they could be more than that but not mentioning it, at least not yet. Nearly an hour passed before ponies started dozing off and when he became weary enough, Hopeful closed his eyes and slowly but surely drifted to sleep. The last thing he heard from Wicker before he slipped into his slumber was a very simple statement, although he may not have heard it, but in the end that might have been what she was going for. “I love you...” The next morning, a single beam of faint light glitters through the window as the sunrise begins. The train has been traveling all night, peacefully undisturbed by anything. Hopeful and Wicker lay, un-awoken, wrapped in each others hooves. Hopeful dreams. He dreams of someplace he hasn't dreamt about in a long time. Not of his farm this time, somewhere new, with a pony that wasn’t Joyful, somepony new. The cracks of sun rays dash across Hopefuls face, causing his eye to twitch. Only a few moments pass before a hushed whistle can be heard in the distance, as if from the heavens. Hopeful twitches again, this time gently opening one eye. He looks down at Wicker as she mercifully and softly lays on top of Hopeful, with two hooves hooking over his leg he is holding her with. She had a shy smile as she dreamt of sweet things, her eyes gently shut, her chest pushing out lightly Hopefuls leg with every delicate breath she took. Hopeful pears around the room, everypony asleep, only he sits awake. A gracious smile appears on Hopeful as he spends a second to enjoy the moment. He knows things won't be this nice in a very long time. Hopeful glances out the window, listening to the whistle. His smile grows as he is reminded of the wheat fields and their hushed whistle as winds blew through them. A shadow wisps by the window, too fast for Hopeful to make it out. Hopeful squints his eyes to try and see what it was. His heart suddenly stops. The whistling increases. He screams. “SCREACHER!” A crash, as the train suddenly stops. A moment of zero gravity as they are flung up into the air. Wicker slips out of Hopeful’s grasp. She turns as she is launched in front of him and she reaches her hoof out to him in the air, he desperately tries to grab her as he is thrown with her. A blazing inferno, as the front of the cabin is shredded, launching shrapnel in every which direction. The flames flashed, blinding them all and opening a hole, revealing a pile of smoldering scrap previously known as the engine. A moment of shock as everypony screams, getting flung out of the gaping hole and into the dirt. Some land at the edge of the cabin, some get thrown past the gutted engine and the rest directly in the bulk of roasting metal chunks. A wet patch of soil, soggy from melted snow as Hopeful lands face first into the dirt in front of the wreck of an engine. A moment of despair, anger and love as Hopeful lifts himself up and turns his head toward the wreck. A brown-coated Earth Pony mare with a short messy red mane, lying in front of him, tirelessly grasping for air, which she would be getting if not for the jagged metal sheet sticking into the side of her neck. A moment of helplessness as Hopeful crawls to the side of the mare. He looks into her eyes as they fill up with blood and she coughs out a dark red, gooey mixture of blood and saliva, dripping out of her mouth and onto the damp earth beneath her. A last goodbye as Wicker reaches out her quivering hoof, unable to speak. Hopeful grabs it and holds on dearly. Wicker cries her last tears that bleed out of her eyes as she grows cold and stiff. Snow glides down softly, glazing her body with a thin icy layer that grew over her unmoving, innocent eyes. A moment of darkness that begins to set in as Hopeful moves closer to her, embedded shrapnel digging into his shoulder, painless due to adrenaline, yet still bleeding and causing him to lose consciousness. A fade to black as Hope is lost.