The Appleloosan soldier kept frowning as he looked at the pass, up to the two women, both now smiling innocently, and back again. He looked to his partner, who did much the same, but in the end shrugged. “It’s a reserved spot. Already had six or so come by with passes like this.”
The engine gave a loud whistle. Finally, he sighed and handed the passes back. “Third car from the end. Hurry up. That was the one-minute warning.”
They practically snatched them back and quickly pushed themselves through. “Thank you very much, have a nice evening!” one called before they both ran to their designate car, flashed the passes once more to the soldier at the entrance, and slipped in.
The two soldiers remained standing and frowning at one another, but then turned to resume their former positions.
A second later, one of them blinked. Her eyes narrowed and she leaned forward; looking toward one of the nearby buildings.
“Hey,” she began to call out, “do you see-”
A sharp crack suddenly echoed through the air, like a firecracker or gunshot. As a result, not only both soldiers but several others in the area instantly put their weapons at the ready. However, over the sound of the train engine and other hustle and bustle it didn't resonate far enough to locate. Those in earshot looked around for a moment, but saw nothing.
Her partner finally eased down. “That was weird. What were you saying?”
The soldier looked back to where she had been staring a moment before, but now saw nothing but an empty roof.
“Just thought I saw someone up there for a moment…”
Somewhat more ill at ease, she went back into position. Less than a minute later, the train whistled one more time as it began to depart.
“When he said they got him a spot on the train, ugh…I wonder if it was supposed to be for his luggage…”
Rarity said nothing back, but her face showed she quite clearly shared the same sentiments. The first train she got out of Manehattan was hardly luxury accommodations, but considering that their “seats” amounted to a hard metal bench mounted into the wall of a windowless car, crushed and practically buried behind a wall of crates of supplies, with only a slight lane worth of open space to walk to the end of the car, she could hardly disagree. It didn’t help that now that the sun was down both women were plunged into absolute darkness as they were squished together on that small seat. She was quite glad she wasn’t claustrophobic or she would feel as if she had been buried alive.
The train was at least moving now, although that made things only a bit worse on them. They were already pressed together so there wasn’t much wiggle room. At that moment, they hit a sharp bump in the tracks, and Rarity found herself shoved into Dash.
“Urk!”
She turned to her immediately. “Oh…oh dear! I’m terribly sorry! I couldn’t stop myself!”
She heard a sharp inhale through her companion’s teeth. “Don’t…don’t worry about it… Just…just hard to…to stretch out…”
Rarity didn’t like the sound of that. The fact was Dash had been breathing hard ever since they had sat down. Her side was hurting her worse than it had been earlier. All of the walking around had to have agitated it.
“Is there anything I can do to make things more comfortable?”
“Nah, nah… Like I said, don’t worry…”
“But…your side…”
“What, this? No…no problem… I’m tough enough to shrug just a little scratch…”
Rarity didn’t believe that for an instant, but there was little to nothing she could do about it. She wasn’t a doctor after all. And she didn’t have whatever strange power Ms. Cheerilee had…
A thought occurred to her at that. She looked down at Dash’s direction for a moment, moistened her lips, and finally made her move. She put her hand out and touched her.
“Huh? What?” Dash instantly spoke up.
“Er…all better, all better, all better…” Rarity began to half-heartedly mutter.
“Um…what are you doing?”
“...Trying to help heal you faster.”
Pause. “By…chanting ‘all better’? I don’t think it works like that…”
Rarity frowned and pulled her hand back. After a moment, she did the only thing she could do to give Dash a measure of relief. She got up from the bench and gave her some more room.
“Hey! What gives?”
“Just stretching my legs a bit, darling. I can’t stand these cramped accommodations… I think I’ll head to the end of the car and peek out the window and see if there’s any starlight with which to look around by.”
“Well, don’t go much farther than the door. Keep in mind there’s still some Appleloosans on this train and, pass or not, we don’t need to give them a reason to toss us off. Definitely not now if this train’s trying to get some place being hit by Nighttouched.”
Rarity winced. “I shall keep that dreadful tidbit in mind…”
It took a bit of maneuvering and bumping her shins more than once, but Rarity managed to work her way to the end of the car. That window normally afford a view of nothing but the short connection point between train cars and a look at the other entrance. It made Rarity grimace a little to see there was not only just enough starlight to see that the car across from them was a normal passenger one, but also totally unoccupied at the moment. None of the train’s own soldiers were present, but even if she could sneak into the next she knew they’d toss her out as soon as they spotted her, although since they were running dark she considered hiding if it meant a chance to lay down.
She also turned her head to the sides of the car. She could only get a small view of the surrounding countryside, but mostly all she could see were hills and shadows to the south and the forests to the north. Even now the tree line hung close to the tracks, and she knew much of it was bordering Equestria…
Suddenly she spotted something. “AAH!”
“What’s wrong?” Dash immediately called from the other side.
Rarity herself had gone white, not that anyone could notice, and quickly pulled back from the window. “Yellow eyes!” she half-cried, half-gasped. “I saw a pair of yellow eyes in the forest alongside us!”
“Oh…” Dash nearly groaned. “Don’t worry about that… You always see a stray Nighttouched or two this close to the border…” Another sharp inhale. “It’s only a problem if a bunch of them gang up and come out…”
Rarity, still shaking and nervous, slowly pulled herself up and looked back out the window. She nearly yelped again on seeing another pair of yellow eyes a bit down the track. “But…but what happens if they do that?”
“Eh, we’ll worry about that when it happens… Nothing we can do now… Live out here long enough, you always take it one step at a time…”
If Dash could have seen Rarity, she would have seen she looked anything but comforted by that. She straightened back up after a moment and looked down over herself, just making out her own outline in the darkness. However, in the process of rising, she noticed her hand and just faintly the edge of the bandage over it.
She stared at it silently for a little while, thinking it over. She looked back out to the forest again. Nothing this time, but she knew she’d see another Nighttouched eventually. She looked again to her hand, frowned a bit, and finally held it out.
“Captain Spitfire!”
“What?” Dash nearly shouted on hearing her call. “What’d you just say?”
Rarity wasn’t really paying attention. She was frowning at how she once again didn’t have a reaction. “Oh, dash it all… How does this work?”
“Hey!” Dash shouted again, getting her to look up and back this time. “I just asked you a question! What did you just say?”
The tone was almost accusatory, but Rarity didn’t notice. “I just figured that since I have a symbol like yours on my hand that maybe I could do the same thing you do. I’d certainly feel safer with speed and strength like yours…”
Dash snorted back. “Well, you’re not gonna get it by throwing around the name of my old CO…”
On hearing that, Rarity hesitated. She remembered back to what Dash had said earlier. About how she had gotten that mark herself and under what circumstances. For a moment, her look grew thoughtful about what that might mean…
Before she could voice it or think further, a much brighter, fiery light suddenly radiated through the window. It was so strong that, for a moment, she saw the interior of the car itself illuminated. Most shocking of all was that it seemed to come from over the train, as if crossing the top of it. She snapped to the window again in alarm.
“What was that?” Dash called. She had seen it too even from the back of the car and was already getting up.
"I...I don't know... It was like a rocket just went over the train..."
"If they were getting in a fight, they'd have a lot more than one rocket..." Soon Dash had limped up to Rarity's side and looked out the window as well. However, the light was gone and there was no sign of anything else. Nevertheless, she stared for a bit longer to make sure.
Abruptly, both women shifted forward as the train car lurched. At the same time, from the opposite window far on the other side of the passenger car in front of them, a flash of light went out. Rarity and Dash hardly had time to notice it before they stumbled to regain their footing, but then both quickly looked out.
"What in Greater Everfree was that?"
Dash frowned. "Nothing good..."
Rarity looked around a bit; her brow starting to quirk. "Do we seem to be...leaning to you? And the train sounds a bit different..."
Dash looked around a little herself before she frowned even more. After that, she looked at the door. Keeping one hand on her side, she reached out and felt along it before finding a handle, and with a sharp tug she popped it open. Rarity nearly gasped as a rush of wind and air from outside whipped in. "What...what are you doing?"
"Doesn't matter if the soldiers spot us now...the cars back here just got uncoupled from the rest of the train. We're slowing down."
"Wh-what?!"
She beckoned forward as she stepped into the threshold. "Come on. Let's go check it out."
"You want us to go out to whatever that light was just now after it just separated us from the rest of the train?!"
"Either that or wait for it to come to us, 'cause we got nowhere to go now and we'll be dead on the track soon."
Rarity let out a small whine but she realized that was the truth. Uneasily, she followed Dash as she stepped out the door.
The train was still going at a good clip as the two crossed over the very narrow walkway spanning the two cars, so Rarity ended up making the trek much slower than Dash in spite of her injury. She especially didn’t like that she saw not one but two more sets of eyes in the forest to the north of them. She nearly focused more on that than the other car when they arrived at the door. With a bit of a grunt and a jimmy, Dash seized the handle of this one and popped it open as well. Rarity quickly followed her inside.
It was indeed a passenger car, with nothing but rows of empty seats. Because it had wide open windows on either side, it was possible to see a bit better from the starlight and partial moonlight, but there was little to find. No sign of anyone, whether they be an Appleloosan soldier or otherwise. Rarity and Dash glanced at them only for a moment, then looked ahead and to the back at the rear door. The other train cars were already starting to grow smaller in what they could see through its tiny window. Dash stared at it a moment while Rarity swallowed and moved close behind her. The two began to move toward it, slowly and carefully.
Halfway across the car, it erupted in brilliant light as a bladed tip of a spear suddenly thrust through the wall. It was sparking with white electricity, sending off a dazzling gleam that illuminated the entire interior. Rarity yelped and cringed behind Dash. She herself planted her feet and tightened up, but began to sweat and not just from personal pain. Especially when she saw the bladed tip suddenly rake across the back, slicing right through the door frame and the door itself. The bottom immediately fell out as a result. A moment later, the spear tip yanked back, only for its shaft to lash out and knock out the upper half.
In its wake, an imposing figure, dressed entirely in the armor of an archaic royal guard, stepped through the opening and into the aisle. A device somewhere on his suit, similar to the ones on the Trottinghamites from Flaxonville, was chugging along. Every so often, another small bolt of electricity snaked out of the tip of his spear, sending another white gleam that served to make his intricate armor look almost hellish.
Dash stared at him for a brief moment. Her eyes narrowed.
“Rarity.”
The designer, nearly petrified at the sight of the man, looked up.
“Get back to the other car and as soon as the train is slow enough, get off and run.”
She nearly gasped. “Are you mad? Once I've seen a design, I know it anywhere! That’s a suit of Trottingham royal guard armor! He has to be with the ones who attacked Flaxonville! That means he’s behind the ones who killed Ms. Cheerilee and-”
“Just get back! You’re just going to get in the way!”
Rarity almost looked indignant at that, but it didn’t last. She realized it was the truth. It didn’t stop her from being hesitant and looking rueful when she finally broke and began to back up the way she came though.
The royal guard continued to walk forward, sending out more sparks, as Dash leveled her good side at him and primed her body for combat. While Rarity was still backing off, she held up her hand. “Captain Spitfire!”
The royal guard didn’t break stride as the blue aura once again fell over Dash, but once it was finished working its power she was able to draw herself up far better than before. At that point, Rarity was at the end of the car. She looked back one more time, but finally opened the rear end and stepped out.
Dash forced a cocky smirk even as a few beads of sweat gathered on her forehead. “Y’know, I was just thinking a little while ago that the ol’ fire-headed brat from Trottingham might be behind this, and look who shows up? You must be that little lap dog of hers the gang at the Huntsman Guild mentioned. What’s your name again? Flash Guard or something?”
“There’s only two options open to the two of you right now,” he spoke back, ignoring her comments as he readied his spear, “the easy way or the hard way. Don’t make it more painful than it has to be.”
“My, you’re thoughtful,” Dash snickered. “But I think I got a third option.”
In a snap, her body turned into a blur. A split second later, she was kicking off an aisle seat and launching herself at the royal guard’s unarmed side. Her leg cocked back to drive her foot into his neck.
Suddenly, his armor ignited in the same light that the spear tip had; only this time rapidly expanding to the rest of his suit and obscuring it in a blinding flash. Dash’s cocky look turned into surprise in mid-strike as she saw her foot sail into the electric cloud, only for it to evaporate into nothing but air.
She barely managed a “huh” before, to her astonishment, she realized the royal guard was just to the left of it and now watching her body sail by. At least, he did for a moment, before his gauntlet and spear shaft moved. His hand seized her airborne body, the shaft of the spear braced across it, and a moment later she was snapped out of the air and slammed down with a thunderous ripple against the floor of the train.
The look on Dash’s face on impact showed the pain that resulted, but she barely lay flat before she snapped her legs up and swung them about, trying to catch him off his feet. In response, he snapped back just as rapidly, hopping off of her and taking his spear with him. It gave Dash the moment she needed to spring up and back up to her feet, but even with her enhanced speed that was all she had time for. No sooner had she landed than the royal guard was on her, driving the end of his spear for her head. She quickly dodged it to one side, but even then she had to step back for he rapidly closed on her, and in moments he yanked the spear back and drove it for her middle next. She got around that only to quickly backstep from repeated stabs for her feet. Each one gave off sparks and punctured the floor, and in moments she found, to her astonishment, she was already backed up half of the way to the rear of the train.
As he went for a forth jab, however, she squared her jaw and advanced instead, hopping over the stab and planting one of her feet on the shaft of the spear. The royal guard’s helmet snapped up, realizing he was pinned, before Dash used the moment to drive herself forward and aim a pair of kicks for his middle. Quickly, he snapped back the instant she laid off and crossed his shaft in front of himself, blocking first one and then the other, but Dash didn’t stop. As the strain and agony on her face leaked through the edge of her grin, she snapped her body forward and progressed in performing one thrust kick and flying roundhouse after another, forcing the royal guard to step back and guard just as rapidly as she had to backpedal.
She managed to nearly push him back to where they started when his armor sparked again. Dash was so intent on applying her speed she noticed it too late, and was unable to break her momentum as he suddenly lunged at her. She tried to meet his face with her boot, but again she struck an electric cloud that faded into nothing. She was just in time to feel a physical presence behind her before the royal guard, now standing back to back with her, snapped around and swung out with the back of his fist. A solid blow connected with the base of her head; sending her spilling forward and sprawling on her face.
She didn’t even bother to look behind her again on landing, but focused entirely on pulling herself up and tucking into a forward roll--just in time to avoid the royal guard’s spear tip puncturing where her body had been lying. Once again, she sprang back to her feet and spun around, but the royal guard didn’t let up. Quickly he advanced again, this time swiping the end of his blade tip at her. Each one was charged with electricity, slicing easily through the railings and seats on either side as he forced her to continue to backpedal. Soon she was sweating and panting freely under his relentless assault.
Finally, after one slice, she snapped forward again; not in a direct forward charge but to a vertical support rod for the railings. She seized it with both hands and moved forward for another kick. Quickly, he halted and braced his spear to support himself, only to learn too late she was feinting. Rather than attack at first, she swung her body around the shaft once before flinging herself at him; after he had already lowered his spear again. A solid two-footed kick smacked into the side of his helmet, letting out a resounding clang and snapping his head to one side. The result forced him to stagger back.
Grinning again, Dash quickly landed on both feet, bit back her pain again, and moved in another blur. While the royal guard was still trying to get up, she snapped right in front of him and drove a palm for his middle. It nearly connected, but at the last moment he managed to recover enough to cross his spear shaft in front of him and deflect it. He began to step back again, but Dash quickly moved in another blur, this time chopping for his neck. He quickly had to wrench his arms upward to block that blow. She blurred a third time, this time aiming for his ankle with another powerful kick and forcing him to half-stumble back to avoid having it sprained or broken.
At that point, his armor began to spark again. By now, though, the Huntsman knew what was coming. She appeared oblivious, however, starting off by preparing for another strike, when suddenly he vanished in a burst of electricity. However, Dash instantly answered by launching into a rapid set of backflips, once more entering a blur in order to pull it off. The royal guard reappeared and swiped his spear out, only to see Dash was not only already out of range but continuing to flip back.
A split second later she planted her feet as she came out of her latest flip, then launched herself in another blur right at him. He readied his spear to thrust at her as she came, but she responded by launching herself into the air and for the side aisle again. Expecting another move that would use that as leverage to attack from his unprotected side, he quickly moved to block, only to snap his helmet around again on seeing her launch herself across the aisle instead and kick off from that side, to where he was open.
Having no other defense, he could only swing the blunt side of his staff out almost erratically, hoping the move would at least force her to abort her strike. Yet whether by luck or his own instinctive skill, Dash wasn’t expecting it, and the end struck against her exposed side.
The Huntsman’s eyes seemed to nearly bulge out of her head as her strike aborted, and she instead collapsed to the ground. The inertia sent her forth in a tumble so sudden and shocking that the royal guard stepped out of the way for fear it was a new move; letting her slide right past. She stopped herself soon after, but only by going onto three limbs. Her eyes were watering, her teeth were clenched, and she gripped her struck side in agony. Try as she might to get up, all she could do was hiss and lay there for a few seconds.
The few seconds were all the royal guard needed to understand. He saw the pain she was in, and where he had barely glanced her with a blow. Soon, he shifted his spear back down into an offensive position and squared himself at her. He nearly moved again, but held on seeing how long it was taking her to spring back up. Finally, Dash was able to bite it back enough to get to her feet in another snap, but she stumbled and, in spite of her best efforts, kept clutching her side with one hand while keeping her other in a fist.
“You have to see you can’t win now.”
“Guess I’m just that thick…” she slowly choked out; her grin now nothing more than a pure bluff.
The royal guard sighed before lunging at her.
Rarity nervously paced back and forth at the end of the storage car as she stared at the back window of the passenger one. It was still slowing down, but she wasn’t waiting for her chance to flee. Her attention was fully on the continuous flashes of light she was seeing from the other vehicle and how she was standing there powerless to help.
At last, she stamped a foot and made her hands into fists. “Confound it all! I cannot simply stand here doing nothing!” She held up her hand again and scowled at the symbol. “Good for nothing skin blemish! Can you do anything for me besides just make me a target for homicidal Trottinghamites?!” She snapped her hand into the air and called out again. “Um…power on! Razzle dazzle! Save the queen! Hocus pocus! Make with the magic!”
Nothing resulted.
She groaned. “Alright, so it’s not Captain Spitfire that does it. Who else is dead that I know…? Commander Hurricane? Chancellor Puddinghead? Do I have to sound out the deceased until I get lucky?”
She nearly flustered as she saw yet another flash of light from the window. She thought she heard Dash cry out at that point, in spite of the fact she had to be using her own power. But on thinking of that, she paused. She had been so flustered when all of this broke out that the idea she had come up with had slipped her mind. She remembered what Dash had said…
Captain Spitfire…she could have made it, but she wanted to save me. Me, of all people. She was ten times the person I was, but she’s dead and I’m here. Here with this… This thing that showed up that same day, reminding me each and every time I’m about to bite the big one and I have to call her to save me again.
Her eyes widened in realization. After a moment more, she looked back to her hand, held it high, and spoke out far more firmly and forcefully.
“Daisy Cheerilee!”
Her eyes widened even more as she watched her sigil blaze to life, especially the point on the six-sided figure. Soon after, the same aura that spread around Dash when she made her own call formed above her, only her hue was a darker blue closer to an indigo. She scarcely noticed; only staring slack jawed as she watched it seem to form a hint of a figure a moment before the light broke and fell over her.
Soon, she was gleaming with a bit of the same power, just like Dash. As such, she could see a few changes. Her clothing seemed to have fixed and cleaned itself a little. She couldn’t be sure if it was a trick of her eyes or not, but she almost thought she saw the hand-me-down boots look a little neater and more “chic”, and a trim on the edges of her clothes emboldened the way she liked it. Aside from that, she realized she didn’t feel nearly as tired or worn out as she had before. She didn’t feel like she could throw a punch or a kick as fast as Dash, though. And she didn’t feel like she could move in a blur either.
However, she placed a hand to her temple. There was something new running through her head…
Before she could concentrate on it, the door to the car suddenly smashed inward. Yelping in alarm, she turned and saw it swing wide before Dash’s body fell to the ground just in the threshold. She was sporting some new bruises now, and looked like she was in more agony than ever. Worst of all, on landing she could only groan; unable to snap up again.
Still cringing, Rarity saw the royal guard had hit her so hard he had knocked her out of his car and almost into her own. By now, it was slowed enough to hop off, but there was no way Dash could escape now. And by the look of the sparking lights from the other car, it didn’t look like their assailant would let her try.
Nervous, realizing she still wasn’t as strong as she needed to be in order to help, Rarity began to look around frantically for something she could do or use. Thanks to the soft light emanating from her body, she didn’t have to look far. Her eyes fell on one of the nearest crates and saw what was labeled on the side…
As much as Dash tried to force herself up, it wasn’t possible anymore. She was in too much pain. Her side felt like it was on fire; possibly internally bleeding now. The rest of the injuries she was taking were also costing a toll. When she finally managed to crack her eyes open, she saw her aura was starting to flicker and fade. She couldn’t maintain it much longer.
Finally, she managed to force her head up enough to look back to the other car. The royal guard hadn’t come at her again, having just used another one of his “lightning flashes”. However, he was still advancing and keeping her spear ready. He kept doing so for another step or two, before he suddenly crouched and broke into a run. She began to writhe and get her arms underneath her in a last ditch effort to stand, but it was no use. The pain only increased and he’d be there before she could get halfway up anyway.
“Aah!”
Rarity’s cry from behind her caused her to look up. She saw just a flash of her arm extend before an object was flung out of it; one she recognized as an Appleloosan grenade. She saw it fly through the air a short distance, right through the door of the passenger car and into the path of the royal guard.
Instantly, he began to plant his feet to stop himself; recognizing it as well. His armor began to spark…
Dash saw no more a moment later, save for an eruption of fire and smoke before she was slammed back against the train bottom and forced to shield her eyes.
It agonized her a bit more, but that was nothing compared to a moment later when she felt a grip go under her shoulders and arms and suddenly pull her back. She cried out at once as it agitated her wounds even more.
“Sorry! Sorry!” she heard Rarity apologize. “Just need to get you back! Just a moment!”
In seconds, she was inside the train car as the fire and smoke continued to subside from the grenade, although she was in too much agony to notice. She barely picked up on Rarity bending down at her side, not even realizing she was glowing by now. Right after, the woman pressed her palm against her side, causing her to wince and hiss yet again.
“Please let this work this time… I think I’ve got it…”
Dash tried to croak a reply, but before she could she heard the same chant as before.
“All better, all better, all better, all better…”
Another groan. “Seriously…? You’re trying that ag-”
Dash cut herself off and opened her eyes wide, realizing she was able to talk again in spite of her trauma. She realized a moment after it was because her pain was rapidly subsiding. She blinked a few times, then looked over to Rarity again. This time she noticed her aura. Not just on her, either. A stronger glow was now concentrated around the hand placed over her side as she chanted. Her pain didn't leave her all together, but the crippling nature was disappearing.
After a few moments, she managed to sit up. In alarm Rarity removed her hand and stopped chanting, but in spite of her lingering injuries Dash felt much better than before. For a moment, she sat still shocked not only at her change but what she had managed. It only lasted a moment, though, before she smiled again.
“Hey, what do you know? You pulled it off!”
Rarity couldn’t help but blush, partially out of modesty and partially out of relief it had worked. “I…I just tried it out… I thought, maybe if Captain Spitfire worked for you, then if I said Ms. Cheerilee’s real name-”
Loud sparking sounds cut Rarity off. Both women looked forward and gasped, for at that second the royal guard suddenly lunged out of the fire and smoke, not looking any worse for wear, and had his spear tip out and aimed for them both once again. Not wasting a second, Dash quickly shot to her feet, shoving backward as she did. Her arm swept out, caught Rarity, and unceremoniously pushed her away as she herself sprang back, again narrowly missing the spear tip.
However, the royal guard seemed to have noticed she recovered, and was attacking swiftly and powerfully again. In spite of the tighter corners, he slashed out with his spear tip for her again, forcing her back as he cut through crates on either side of them. Dash quickly backed up, trying to regain her footing and focus, but he wouldn’t let her as he sliced out repeatedly. Finally, however, he snapped his spear back to try and slice for her head; only to wedge the shaft of it in a crook between two crates at his side. He tried to come back but was halted; his spear barely moving as it pressed against the space it was now nestled in.
He looked up to see what had happened, and Dash seized the moment. Quickly she shot forward, braced one hand against the spear shaft, and drove her other fist deep into his side. The blow should have been enough to dent the armor and possibly even break a rib. Yet as soon as the armor began to give, she got a nasty surprise. A large spark erupted from the point of contact, and she yelped as her hand, now jolted numb, shot off it again.
The royal guard quickly twisted his helmet around and swung forward; smashing his armored head into hers. She snapped her neck backward from the impact, stunned again, and he followed up by yanking his spear free and swinging the nearest end upward as quickly as he could. The blunt side ended up catching her under the chin. Once more, one of his impacts was enough to send her sailing backward and to the floor, but not before sending her body sailing by Rarity and leaving nothing between her and the royal guard.
She looked alarmed at Dash for a moment, before turning back to the royal guard. He, on his part, gave a bit of elbow grease to fully snap his spear loose and aim it forward again, causing her to swallow.
“Alright…if that trick worked, then…surely I’m capable of more… Um…er…uh…” She held her hand up, but muttered and stumbled as she tried to think of something. “Er…light beam? Sparky-sparky? Pointy knives? Hertz doughnut?”
The royal guard’s spear began to spark again.
“Ah! Oh…!” Getting frustrated, she finally shoved her hand forward. “Fireball-fireball-fireball-fireball!”
As she desperately cried out the words, a few sparks of indigo light emitted from her fingertips before her hand suddenly glowed. Moments later, a ball of fire materialized from her fingertips, about the size of a marble, and sailed right for the face of the royal guard. It successfully impacted his visor a moment later, erupting in a small flash of flame. At once, he grasped for his eyes and shook his head, as if momentarily blinded.
“Yes!” Rarity shouted. “I mean…no! I mean…that will do!” Quickly, she spun around and tried to run for it while he was still stunned.
Unfortunately for her, it didn’t last nearly as long as she would have wanted. He jerked his head back to her as his vision cleared enough to see her running, then raised his spear and aimed the tip at her. This time he didn’t break into a lunge or dash. Instead, the tip gleamed and snaked out bolts of electricity before a finely focused one erupted out of the end in a sustained charge, tagging Rarity on the back of the right calf.
The designer instantly cried out, not only stumbling but falling flat on her face from the crippling jolt. The royal guard continued to shoot for a moment before cutting off, leaving her rear leg smoldering with a few wisps of smoke. Wincing and cringing in fresh pain, Rarity’s aura quickly faded into nothingness as she drew herself in and looked to the back of her limb. It sported a decent sized burn, and from the look of misery on her face it was clear she wasn’t going to push herself up again soon.
The royal guard kept his spear aimed out, the end still sparking and aimed at the woman. Before he could perform another attack, however, he heard a loud whistle. “Hey buckethead!”
Quickly, he snapped his spear up to the source of the voice, nearly letting out another bolt, before cutting it off as quickly as he could.
Standing again just behind Rarity was Dash, only she had found another grenade and now was idly tossing it up and down in her good hand.
“Ah, ah, ah…” she scolded. “You know what lightning like that could do to a room with tons of little explosives mixed in with it, don’t you?”
He didn’t answer. Dash smirked even wider.
“What do you say you find out and tell me?”
Popping the top off, she flung it forward. Instinctively, the royal guard stepped back and guarded himself, only to watch as the grenade sailed right past him and into the same box that Rarity had broken into for the grenade she had used.
Dash, whose own aura was still burning, moved in a blur as soon as the grenade was cast. She was at Rarity’s side in an instant, putting her arms underneath her. In spite of the renewed pain it gave her, she yanked her to her feet. A moment later, she flashed again. The royal guard snapped his head back, but only saw the door to the rear of the car still swinging open idly before a blur vanished through it. He began to spark to try and follow…
The grenade went off before he could.
The previously dark night was lit up rather brightly in moments. At first, only a few explosions went off at once from within the supply car. Other than breaking out the rear window and sending out clouds of smoke from the interior, they accomplished nothing. However, one of those explosions, in turn, triggered a cluster of other grenades, and their resulting blast blew out some of the covered panels where windows had been on the sides of the car, but more importantly triggered two other boxes of undetonated munitions. When they went off together, part of the roof blew off in a column of fire while the rest of the panels blew open as well. The entire car rocked violently on the tracks and sent out a resounding boom for miles.
When the noise died down, flames began to rise from the new openings; slowly gaining in strength. There was also a new clatter as debris and remains of crates were violently flung out of windows and pushed out of the end of the train, before the royal guard forced his way out to one end and dismounted onto the tracks. Aside from a touch of smoke, he still looked undamaged. His visor turned up to where the two women had run.
Nothing but darkness. Appleloosa had cleared the trees on their side of the forest bordering Equestria for most of the track length, but here was a spot where more of them were allowed to grow which prevented an easy sight line through bent grass.
More than that, however, was the fact that a steady light source was now right on the border. He only searched for the two for a moment before he looked northward. Two dozen sets of yellow gleaming eyes were already gathered there, with more slowly emerging from the woods and drawing nearer. After a few seconds, though, something suddenly spooked them and they scattered in all directions.
Moments after, a much larger pair of moonlight-colored orbs began to emerge. In moments, he started seeing a glossy shine about them as a misshapen, clay-like limb began to poke out from the woods.
Unlike how most would react when they realized they were looking at a Light Eater, he stayed calm. He turned and glanced one more time out in the direction the two had fled before he put his spear to one side. He used a hand to reach into his pocket, emerging with what looked like a tuning fork with a relief of a bell etched into the bottom of it. He flicked the end, and, about seventy yards away, he heard a bell chime in response.
Giving neither the Light Eater nor the Nighttouched, which were now beginning to gather behind it again, any more mind, his armor coursed electricity again before, in a flash, he was gone.