"Ow, ow, stop moving!"
"Your hoof is in my eye!"
"I swear this is worse than how they pack us in at Academy!"
"Quiet, we'll get detected!"
"We are not dealing with this again! Rarity was right, this is completely not fair!"
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The complaining of the five Royal Guard stallions of the Ponyville contingent, pretty much laying on top of each other in a small car just behind the train engine after awakening from an uncomfortable sleep enroute to Appleloosa, is abruptly stopped by the sudden appearance of the sound of thundering hooves. This noise masks their voices, such that the following conversation is not heard by the Element Bearers.
"What's going on out there?! Get me a report!" Lieutenant Meadow Song exclaims, unable to move due to being stuck underneath his subordinates on the car floor.
"Trying, sir!" Guard Upper Class Lucky Clover, on top of the pile, exclaims, going up on hindlegs to peak through the opening of the covered-top car. This prompts more complaining from his comrades - Aide Cherry Fizzy, Guard Upper Class Noteworthy and Guard Upper Class Caramel - as he shifts around to get a better view of his surroundings.
"Buffalo stampede, sir!" Lucky Clover shouts out, prompting the rest of the squad to squirm and struggle to stand up beside him and get a view for themselves. Meanwhile, the train shakes with buffalo impacts, apparently trying to derail the train or injure its pullers before it can get to its refuge at the Appleloosa train station.
"Element Bearers are responding, sir! Mostly Rainbow Dash!" Cherry Fizzy exclaims as soon as he gets in position, pointing back down the train toward where the Element Bearers are currently located.
"Anything we can do to help?!" Meadow Song shouts out again.
"Negative, sir, the train is surrounded by the stampede! We're trapped in here!" Caramel responds, currently watching the opposite side of the train from his comrades.
"Get me a report on the pullers!" Meadow Song shouts one more time.
"They seem to be alright, sir, but I'll keep an eye on them because the buffalo are knocking them around!" Noteworthy exclaims, facing toward the engine being pulled by a small squad of oversized earth ponies.
"Sir, something's happening on the train top. There's a small buffalo racing Rainbow Dash up there toward the rear of the train!" Cherry Fizzy shouts again.
"Isn't the rear of the train where Bloomberg is?" Lucky Clover asks.
"Yes, that might be their target. The tree is the whole reason the train is travelling, after all." Meadow Song comments.
"Then it seems like we're dealing with a smarter enemy than the buffalo have been made out to be." Cherry Fizzy adds.
There is a brief pause - to all involved, the terrifying prospect of the rebels employing or forcing the buffalo to attack the train, if not Appleloosa itself, had been raised. The Royal Guard could not ignore the prospect of an extended campaign in this isolated region.
"Rainbow Dash has taken a hit, sir! Ran into a sign. The little buffalo has made it to the rear of the train - can't see what's going on there, though." Lucky Clover exclaims again.
"Well, her nickname is 'Rainbow Crash', sir." Caramel comments with a wince on his face.
"Not the time right now, Caramel! Any other casualties?" Meadow Song asks, with nerves adding to the agitation of the situation.
"Negative, sir." Lucky Clover answers. "Wait, the little buffalo is on top of the rear car... the buffalo are turning around! And I can see Spike in there with Bloomberg!"
"A well-coordinated raid. Wonder if the Agents of Chaos rebels have been giving them training..." Meadow Song comments, as he and the others on the train watch helplessly as the buffalo herd make off with the rear car containing Bloomberg and Spike.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The train finally slows to a stop after the rear car is detached and the buffalo stampede moves on, taking the detached car back down the track. Meadow Song issues a series of orders as he tries to get a picture of the situation:
"Cherry, hop out and have a look at those pullers! See if any of them are hurt!"
"Got it, sir!", Cherry Fizzy replies, squeezing out over the top of the covered car and heading toward the front of the engine.
"Lucky and Noteworthy, check each side of the train, see what damage has been done by the buffalo rammings! Lucky on the left side, Noteworthy on the right."
"Left side? Yes, sir!" Lucky Clover answers, starting down the train as he does so.
"On it, sir!" Noteworthy follows immediately, doing the same as Lucky Clover.
"Caramel, can you see what's going on with Rainbow Dash and the other Element Bearers?"
"Trying, sir... they seem alright, Rainbow's impact notwithstanding."
"Good, I'll be up front with Cherry, let's see if we can get this train going again!"
"Sir, what about Spike and Bloomberg?" Caramel objects.
"We can't do anything for them out here. We need to get this train moving so that we - and the Element Bearers - can get to Appleloosa and help. We can hook up with Braeburn and Sheriff Silverstar once we're there and try to get help from there."
"Understood, sir. Do you want me to keep watch of the Element Bearers?"
"Yes, Caramel, I need you to do that. I'll be out front with Cherry if anypony needs anything."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lieutenant Meadow Song leaps out and dashes to the front of the train's locomotive, mind racing with "what if" possibilities. Cherry Fizzy was already there, looking over the surprised and disoriented pullers. These large earth ponies were pulling the locomotive as a labor payment - a gateway to a new life in an earth pony settlement where they would fit in better than the generally awkward life in the more settled regions of Equestria - and if anything were to happen to them, the locomotive didn't have enough fuel on board to finish the trip to Appleloosa on its own. They would be completely stuck and have utterly failed in their mission - Element Bearers and Royal Guard alike.
Meadow Song glances around, observing nothing but rocky desert as far as the eye can see in all directions. The only exception is the thin parallel lines of the railroad track and the currently stopped train. Fortunately, the Element Bearers are too concerned with worrying about Spike and Bloomberg to notice the Royal Guard ponies at work, and Meadow Song turns back to the task in front of him.
"Everypony alright?" Meadow Song asks Cherry Fizzy hopefully, the latter looking over one of the large pulling stallions.
"A little hoofsore, but in terms of actual injuries none to be found." Cherry Fizzy replies, much to Meadow Song's relief.
"Cherry, make a mental note to recommend bravery citations for all four pullers in the final report." Meadow Song continues.
"Yes, sir, will do sir." Cherry Fizzy answers.
"I wonder when we can get goin' again, sir." one of the pulling stallions comments toward Meadow Song.
"My squad is still checking out the train for damage. Once they give their report, I'll make a decision on whether the train can proceed or not." Meadow Song answers.
"My cousin Trouble Shoes lives in this area, my family hasn't heard from him in years. I took this job to help find where he is, and whether he's alright..." the puller stallion trails off.
The mention of family once again focuses Lieutenant Meadow Song's mind on the "what ifs". The success of Appleloosa and the mission in front of him and his squad had a personal element involved, considering his personal history with the Apple clan. He was a colt of a line of entertainer earth ponies that had found regular employment with the Apples, and eventually Meadow Song married Apple Fritter to cement the commitment of the two different families to each other - Meadow Song himself had only joined the Royal Guard to provide a more regular income for himself and his mate.
Now, it seemed, he was in a situation way over his head, with no real way to get help and, with nothing but desert around him, could only run on hope at the moment...