//------------------------------//
// Tied Down 
// Story: A War 
// by Comma Typer 
//------------------------------//

Blurry again.
Looked up.
A hole on the ceiling, only sky in view.
Then, ponies leaned in.
Wearing black helmets, eyes glowing green.
"It's them!" Vapor screamed.
Opened her wings.
Kicked Party away.
Flew.
"I'm coming with you!" she heard Stinger cry out.
Speeding above the passengers, dodging baggages and other flying pegasi.
Door in front opened, revealed armed charging guards.
Tilted her body to the side.
Avoided them.
To another carriage.
Bumped by another pegasus.
"Sorry!" he shouted, zooming away.
Kept flying, looked behind her.
Saw that spiky-maned Stinger following behind.
Looked ahead.
Approaching a pile of luggage.
Steered up.
Steered down.
Through another door, to another carriage.
Landed on the floor, gasping again.
The door to the next carriage barricaded by a mob of ponies clambering their way to it, banging on the door when they reached it. "Let us in!" several shouted.
More pegasi whizzed by her, only to land and stand helpless, staring at the obstructed door and the panic surrounding it.
On the side, passengers trembled, holding on to each other.
Muddled, muddied shrieks. Weeping and wailing under volume. Words of relief spouted out in bursts of mumbles.
Door's crowd broke out, running away from it.
A few stayed at it, exerting pressure on the door.
Through the window, Vapor saw what was in that next carriage.
More Crystal soldiers.
A blue wing spread in front of her.
"I'll take care of this," Sky Stinger said, stepping ahead and giving her a reassuring expression.
"No!" Vapor said, clinging on to him. "What if you lose?!"
"I know the odds," Stinger said. "But, if it means buying everyone else more time...and, besides," smirking— "I have absolutely zero doubts about myself."
"A-Are you sure?" Vapor said. "Because, I could help, too."
"You and that funny-looking unicorn could be more useful alive," Stinger said, spreading his other wing. "I'm not risking that."
Banging on the door from the other side.
"But...we just met! Well, you saw me and I saw you at times before but..."
"Does it matter if I met you before?" Stinger answered, raising his voice above the din of shouts, screams, sobs, and bangs.
A pegasus hurtled by from the previous carriage, reached the door, and proceeded to rest his entire weight on it.
The Crystal soldiers covered the entire window with their obscured faces and their armored hooves.
Shatters.
Vapor and Stinger turned their heads.
Pegasi flew out of broken windows, the wind thrashing the curtains and their manes—some little items went flying.
Those pegasi escaped the train.
Only for most of them to be tackled by flying fighters, never to be seen again.
Screams, both in and out.
Stinger turned to Vapor once more, surrounded by growing disorder. "Vapor Trail, you still have life left in you. I don't know who that other guy is, but he seems to know a lot more than I think. So, stay behind cover, keep yourself safe, bring your friends along if they're here. I'll stall for time."
He took off.
Snagged wing.
Fell to the floor.
Looked at the wing in question.
Another wing held it.
"What...wh-what if you're not as good as you think you are?" Vapor asked, almost shouted, gripping and clinging on to his wing. Almost whimpered out.
Stinger gave her a pat on the shoulder with his wing. "Time to find out."
Spread his wings.
Took off.
Flew to the door, hovering above the ground.
"Guys!" he yelled, catching the attention of those still blocking the door. "We're not gonna do anything by standing here. I need you to let go!"
"Are you crazy?!" one of the mares screamed while she pushed on the door. "You're going to let all these mindless creatures take us by storm without a fight!"
"Oh, I'll give them a fight!" Stinger said, rolling up his forehooves and punching the air. "When they're out the windows, you'll know the coast is clear!"
The rest of the ponies at the door looked at each other.
A stallion took his hooves off of the door. "Why didn't I think of that?!"
The door broke down, hitting him and knocking him out.
Crystal ponies swarming in.
The pegasi there opened their wings and fought them.
Pummeled down.
Thrown out a window.
Swung a bag at him.
Somersaulted, letting two Crystal warriors bump each other's heads.
Kicked down, kicked up.
Uppercut, both with a hoof and a wing.
Magical beam neutralized another Crystal soldier.
Stinger glanced back.
Party Favor's horn had smoke coming out of it, glowing red.
Stinger lobbed a Crystal pony out a window, smashing a window.
"There's too many of them!" one of his fighting fellows roared as he hurled several soldiers to the next carriage.
Stinger looked at that next carriage.
Half-full with Crystal ponies, all armored and with glowing green eyes.
There was a hole in the ceiling there.
Stinger lunged at them.
Kicked one down, punched another.
Grappled by one more.
Tackled to the floor.
Kicked him with his hindleg.
Stunned and out.
Up on his four hooves.
Another lunged at him.
Flew up, dodged him.
Crashed out another window.
The rest charged in, battling the rest of them out.
Then, all the Crystal ponies there were down.
Stinger dusted his wings off, facing his impromptu crew of civilian combatants who were cleaning up themselves, too. "That was great, everypony! I'm pretty sure if we get to Cloudsdale and enlist as Wonderbolt trainees, they're going to be blown away by the heroes of this very train who saved the day—"



Boom!
Rumblings.
Many staggered to the ground.
And that carriage torn into pieces, chunks of debris plunging down the aisle, taking down unwary passengers and knocking them cold.
"Sky Stinger!" Vapor cried out, reaching a hoof toward the door—or where it had been.
Her cry drowned in more names screamed out, screeched out.
Past the door: fields of grass, line of track, all moving fast.
Vapor rushed to one of the windows.
A speeding landscape of grass, endless grass, with hills and mountains in the background.
Could see a few unmoving bodies before they disappeared.
Caught a glimpse of a blue one.
She choked up.
Eyes welling.
Held on to her head.
"I...I...just met you....a-and you're gone..."
Stretched her hoof out the window.
Her head out the window, to look.
Heads of other ponies out other windows.
Then, only grass.
Cried.



Vapor Trail got off of the station, ignoring the passengers who crowded and moved around her, ignoring the celebrated pegasi who stopped the runaway train (or what was left of it), ignoring the throng of doctors and nurses and other medical ponies who offered her bandages or treatments or medicines, ignoring Stinger's entire family bawling and lamenting over his dead body on a stretcher.
Flying mindlessly, fluttering mindlessly, flitting about mindlessly.
Bumped into another mare.
"Oops!" that mare yelled, hopping out of the way. "Sorry, stranger! You're one of those, right?"
Not a nod, not a word.
Only flying on, over sidewalks, over roads, through parks, through fields.
Under a sunny afternoon.
Her face: a daze, mouth open but never a sound except breathing.
Eyes upward, toward the sky.



Sat there on the seat.
Surrounded by other ponies on other seats.
On the open field. Around them, acres of grass, bushes, and trees.
Above: a gray, darkening sky.
Harder to see.
A stallion garbed in black and white stood front and center, facing his audience.
Of only seven.
Behind him, a coffin and a picture of a smiling Sky Stinger.
"We're gathered here today to pay our final respects to a friend. A good friend."
Sniffing from the audience. His mother wiped the lone tear coming from her eye.
Her husband, a half-shaven and stout yet muscular pony, patted her on the shoulder—as more tears poured out from his own eyes.
"As a son, he was lovely and loving. Though he had his quirks, he ended up being a stallion who made his parents proud, made them know that their years of nurturing and caring paid off."
His siblings, four of them, did their best to fight off the tears; one turned her face to the side and looked up. The youngest of them, the filly, whimpered, crying out: "Stinger!"
He looked down, avoided her and everyone else's glance. "As a brother, he was certainly an amiable pony. While the usual sibling rivalry is experienced by all, it did not escalate to lifelong feuds and we have him to thank for that, always seeking to bring something good to his sisters' day."
Coughed.
"As a Stratusburg citizen, he contributed much. He helped out in the construction of several institutions and parks, represented the city in many flight competitions nearby and around Equestria, and even laid the foundation of a new flight school in his hometown, though, sadly, he—and many others—would never see it completed.
"In the end, however, as they say, 'After you die, you will not remembered for what you've done. You will be remembered for who you are.'
"This day, we saw who Sky Stinger truly was: A selfless hero. Willing to sacrifice his life to ensure the safety of many others, he and those who went with him...they saved the rest of the ponies on that fateful train.
"He did not give his life up in vain."
Silence.
Vapor looked.
Fixated on that forever smiling portrait.
Tears flowed.
From family.
From her.



Knock on the door.
"Come in," Vapor called out from inside.
The stallion entered the house.
Inside the living room, Vapor Trail sat on the sofa before a tall table of fruits and vegetables. Scattered on the sofa itself were newspapers and magazines and paper pads with hoofwritten scrawls. The blue and red walls gave off a sharp feel to the home, though the red dominated under the sunlight through the windows.
"There's one benefit of volunteers leaving their homes," Party Favor said as he closed the door, glowing the knob and shutting it without using his hoof. "And, you're living proof."
"No, Party Favor," she said, lifeless and placid—half-open eyes. "I...don't feel right."
"You must be sick," Party said, levitating a bowl of hot soup, bringing in its mouth-watering scent. "Maybe this could cheer you up."
"I'm not sick," Vapor insisted, only turning her head around; staying on the sofa. "I don't want your stalking and watching and whatever your leader wants you to do..." and let a hoof hang limp over the rug.
Party levitated the bowl to the table. "I wasn't really stalking these past few days here. I only knew you weren't well because...you didn't seem so happy."
"Well, of course!" she screamed, rising up from her sofa and pulling his face closer to her, letting the papers fly to the floor. "I was warming up to him, and we could've been friends—memories, experiences, everything!"
"Now, Vapor—"
"And, don't you twist this into an advertisement for your silly town!" Vapor roared, pulling his face even closer. "I lost my belongings, I lost my home, I lost my town, I lost my friends! I'm not in the mood to listen to your speeches about the Efficient Town or whatever you call it!"
Threw him at the wall.
Plopped back down on the sofa.
"Ow!"
Party slid to the floor, then stood up. Sighed.
"OK. I get it. You don't want to be disturbed. You're depressed over Sky Stinger, I know—plus, that funeral guy's probably getting tired making the same speeches out of the same forms and templates."
Then, put on real shades, reflecting the sunlight off.
"But...why are you this sad?"
Silence. Could not see her figure behind the furniture.
Took steps forward, closer to her.
Leaned over.
She shuddered.
"I have this...feeling." Vapor gulped. "I have this feeling that...this wasn't meant to be."
Party raised an eyebrow, looking incredulous. "I don't want to make you more mad, but that's kinda' cliché."
Vapor grabbed him again by the neck. "Listen to me!"
Party gulped.
"I'm not talking about romance or love!" Vapor began, eyes straining. "I'm talking about how I...I should've known him and his family."
"But, where are you getting that sense?" Party asked.
"I don't know!" Vapor yelled, pushing him off. "Was it something I read? Something I said? Did my Mom or Dad tell me this? But...I've had...feelings. Hunches. Thoughts about what if...what if we were foalhood friends?" Looked out the window, seeing a street decorated with tufts of grass and potted flowers; a lone tree was in view. "That...that we would be there for each other."
"I don't know about it, too," Party said. "Sounds like romance to—"
"If it is romance," Vapor interrupted, hovering above her sofa and above him, "it doesn't matter! Because...nopony just thinks of thoughts like this after somepony dies! Not distinct, thought-out...thoughts like wanting to be Wonderbolts together—that I'll be his wingpony, but, at times, he'll be my wingpony. Giving him boosts—probably hurting my own flying skills, but...I think it would be all worth it and—argh! Stop meddling, Party Favor!"
Threw a newspaper at him.
Party stopped it in mid-air, levitating it, crumpling it, and throwing it to a garbage bin.
"Those are unusual thoughts," Party remarked.
"I know, right?!" Vapor shouted, about to cry again. "It's like I was given these thoughts—I didn't think them up, I couldn't think them up in bouts of depression and anger and—get out!"
Chucked a newspaper at him.
Hit him.
"Alright, alright!" Party yelled as he galloped out of the house.
Hoofsteps fading away.
Vapor sighed.
Stared out the open door for a while.
"What's causing this?" Vapor asked in a weak voice.



Party Favor sat on a bench in a park.
It was morning. Some pegasi flew about in the sky, moving clouds and coordinating with each other about the positions of such clouds. Then, guards posted themselves on smaller puffs of cloud, standing vigilant with their spears or bows and arrows by their side.
Out of his mane, he pulled out a balloon.
A simple yellow balloon. Round and standard.
"She was a good candidate," Party said. "That 'thought' problem...mind problem? Starlight is good in that department. Maybe her magic abilities can help solve the case, lead her to us—she should be on our side. Wasn't she affected by the attack on the train?"
Brought out a small piece of paper.
Scribbled some sentences on it.
Tied the paper to the balloon's string.
And let it fly.
He got out of the bench, standing firmly on the grassy soil moist with dew. Felt cold hooves.
Watched it go higher.
"You will be missed, Malcolm," he said, saluting the fleeting balloon. "I may never see you again, though the friends that you will see...we shall reunite."
A tap on his shoulder.
Party turned round to face the armored guard.
"Uh, did you just salute that balloon?" he asked the unicorn, pointing upward.
"Why, yes!" Party said, closing his eyes and taking a bow. "In fact, I name each and every—"
Jangling of hoofcuffs and locked.
"What?!" he yelled as he gawked at his subdued hooves. "Are balloons illegal now?!"
"You've been on our wanted list for some time," the guard said. "Can't let rabble like you stir up 'peaceful' trouble with your interference."
Party opened his mouth to say something.
Locked up.
"Also," the guard added, smiling, "you weren't looking."