Blue Fang rolled over in bed. His ears caught the sound of something. What’s that noise? He looked around the tent.
“Darn it!”
He looked at the tent entrance. He crawled out of the sleeping bag and left the tent. He looked around the camp.
“Come on!”
Blue Fang looked over to see Kydra holding a hoof-made bow and arrows. She took aim with it, then let it fly!
...into a tree. Her target, a bird, flew away in a panic. “Mother— ugh!”
Blue Fang walked over to his friend. She took aim with the bow. Blue grabbed the bow. “Calm down, Ky. Focus.”
He let her match his form. He pointed to a bird. “Breathe. Don’t worry about missing the target. Now, imagine an X on your target. Calm down. Aim, now… fire.”
She let the arrow fly. The screech from the bird made it obvious that she’d hit her target. “Good job, Ky.”
“Thanks.” She walked over to the bird and picked it up.
“We should probably get back to camp.” Blue Fang moved to the tent. He took the tent down. He folded it up and packed it up with the rest of his supplies.
Kydra skinned and then cooked the bird while Blue Fang packed everything up. She put the feathers into her saddlebags, then continued to finish cooking the bird.
Blue Fang finished packing everything and sat down by Kydra. “Need any help?”
Kydra laughed, “I think I can cook a bird, Blue.” She grabbed a knife from her saddlebag. She cut pieces from the bird. She gave the bird meat to Blue Fang, “bon appetit.”
He took a bite from the bird, “this is pretty dang good.”
“Thanks,” Kydra said. After the friends finished their lunch, they finished packing up their camp. Kydra smiled and grabbed her saddlebags.
Blue Fang grabbed his saddlebag. “Alright Ky. You ready?”
“Yeah. Let’s move.”
The two friends walked through the woods, heading straight back to camp. The map they had made it easier then it needed to be. The sun just started rising.
~~~
The trek was easy enough. They might as well have just done it with blindfolds on. Kydra looked at the camp. “Home.”
Blue Fang nodded. “Yeah.”
The two friends walked towards the camp. Blue Fang smiled as they spotted the rest of the Fang Gang. “Hey guys! We’re home!”
The rest of the Gang turned around. When they did, they all cheered. Brokenwing ran up to the two. “Blue! Kydra! You’re alive!” He hugged the two.
“Of course we are Broken,” Blue Fang said. He smiled at his brother. The three moved down to camp. The rest of the gang, with the exception of Hivehunter, Hex, and Arthrax, came up to meet the returning gang members.
“Hey Blue,” Dagger said, “did you kiss her yet?”
“Buck off Dagger,” Blue Fang replied.
“Come on Blue, you need to get with her eventually.”
“Well, Dag, according to your logic, at least I ain’t alone.”
“Burn!” Stinger said.
“We need some burn healers over here!” Mitchell yelled.
Dagger rolled his eyes. “Whatever.”
Blue Fang looked at Brokenwing, “what do we do now?”
Brokenwing smiled. “I got a plan.”
“You always do.”
~~~
Blue Fang and Dagger walked through Ponyville. They were there to meet with Mitchell. “Why are we here, Deal?” Dagger asked, using Blue Fangs second pony alias.
“Because we need to get the dynamite.”
“I know that. But why are we heading to the saloon?”
“Because that’s where Hardstone’s gonna meet us.”
“You’d think Mitch could’ve come up a better alias…”
“Okay. What would be a good name?”
“Uh…”
“That’s what I thought.”
The two friends continued towards the saloon. It didn’t look like one of those stereotypical shady bars Blue Fang had read about in books. It looked a bit more nicer. “Looks nice.”
“Looks can be deceiving,” Dagger said.
“Heh. So you do listen to some of what I say.”
“Only the good stuff. Now let’s get in there and meet up with Hardstone.”
The two friends walked into the saloon. The inside looked way different than the outside. It resembled most of the saloons in Appleoosa and Dodge City. There were creatures of all sorts grabbing drinks and food from the bartender. On the left, a couple of the patrons were playing poker. Blue Fang looked around the saloon. “Alright, where is he?”
“There,” Dagger said, pointing to a grey earth pony.
The two walked towards the veteran Sergeant. Blue Fang looked at the Sergeant, who was flipping through the pages of a book. “You’re a long way from the front Sergeant.”
“So are you, Private.”
Blue Fang chuckled. “Yes we are.” Blue looked over to the bartender. “Hey, can you get me and my friends some drinks?”
“Sure, what will it be?”
Blue Fang looked at his friends. “Wine?” They nodded.
“Alright. Coming right up.” He got to work.
Dagger looked at the poker table. “Looks like a pretty good place to “borrow” some money.”
Blue Fang nodded. He looked at Mitchell, “you got the mite?”
“Yep.”
The bartender sent them their drinks. “Thank you.”
“My pleasure.”
The three friends took drinks of the wine, which tasted like grapes. “How long till the train leaves?” Blue Fang asked Mitchell
“A few minutes, we got enough time.”
“Alright.”
Dagger looked at a nearby dart board, then he finished his wine. “I’m gonna go play darts.” He got up and accidentally walked into another patron. “Oh, sorry!”
“Watch it short stack!”
“Short sta— what?!”
Blue Fang chuckled remembering that Dagger was shorter than pretty much all of the other changelings back in the army. He looked at Mitchell, “he gonna punch him or kiss him?”
That question was answered when Dagger grabbed a bottle and slammed it into the side of his opponent’s head. Mitchell smirked, “well folks we have our answer!” and with that, Mitchell grabbed a chair and smashed another pony who was backing Daggers opponent. Blue Fang jumped up and joined the fight. He grabbed a bottle and threw it at another pony. Another pony hit him with a chair. If only the pony knew what he’d done.
~~~
Applejack and Rainbow were walking towards the saloon. “I wonder if we’ll get to see a bar fight,” Rainbow said.
“Ah, please, there ain’t been one in months. Ah think it’ll be as peaceful as a—
Applejack was cut off by a pony flying through the window. “Wow…” Rainbow said.
“Ah know. Some bar fight.”
Blue Fang and the others walked out. “Hello ladies,” Blue said in a country accent in an effort to disguise his voice from ponies who definitely knew his voice. Applejack and Rainbow silently walked into the saloon. Blue Fang looked at Mitchell, “where’s the bridge?”
“Follow me,” Mitchell replied. The three changelings set off for the bridge.
~~~
Blue Fang and Dagger walked across the bridge, planting dynamite on the support beams. Blue Fang watched as Dagger got increasingly bored out of his mind. He chuckled at the short changelings mumbling. He planted the last stick to the support beams. “Alright, done, you?”
Dagger nodded.
“Alright, now let’s blow this thing!” The two changelings flew away from the bridge. Mantis hooked the dynamite up to a detonator.
“Done.”
Blue Fang looked at Dagger, “wanna do the honors?”
Dagger smiled, “of course.” He grabbed the detonator's handle. He started counting down, “3. 2. 1.”
Boom!
The changelings watch as the bridge went up in a fireball of an explosion. No fireworks show could compare to this. With that out of the way, came the boring part. Waiting for the train.
Then, Mitchell, Blue Fang, and Dagger teleported back to Ponyville, where everyone else was waiting. The three met up with the rest of the gang, who were waiting by the train. They were waiting for the train to leave. “How long until they leave?” Dagger asked.
Brokenwing looked at him, “in a few minutes.”
The gang nodded. Blue Fang looked over to the new members, Arthrax and Hex. “You two sure you want to come?”
“Course we are,” Arthrax said.
Blue Fang nodded. He sat against the a nearby box. Then something hit him, “I wonder how the Hive’s doing now that Thorax is in charge.”
Mitchell looked over, “I heard from a couple of changelings in the saloon that someone tried assassinating him. Poison I’ve heard.”
Blue Fangs heart dropped. “Is he alright?” he asked, worriedly.
Mitchell nodded. “Yeah. He’s back on the throne and all.”
Blue Fangs heart found it‘s beat again. “Okay.”
Hivehunter looked at Blue Fang. He looked on edge. Blue looked over to him, and he turned away and started looking through a nearby box.
Kydra walked over to Blue Fang. “Go on.”
“What?” Blue Fang replied.
“Go talk to him.”
Blue Fang sighed, “why? He hated me as it is.”
Kydra nuzzled him. “Please. Do it for me?”
Blue Fang nuzzled her back. “Alright, I’ll do it.” He walked over to his rival. Hivehunter looked from his box to Blue Fang. “Hey Hive.”
“Hey First Class Fang.”
Blue Fang chuckled. He sat down beside his rival. “You alright Hive?”
He nodded. “Yeah. I just… remember the war.”
“We all do. PTSD affects us all.”
“Yeah.” Hivehunter looked around. “Can I talk to you? In private.” Blue Fang nodded. The two walked behind a couple of boxes.
~~~
A few minutes later
Blue Fang and others flew down the rails, chasing the train. The train itself was moving further and further down the rails. By now, the train was far away from Ponyville. Blue Fang, Dagger, and Mantis caught up to the train. “Y’all ready?”
They nodded.
“Alright. Let’s move.”
The three changelings jumped onto the train car. They got up and took cover. “So much for sneaking onto the train!” Dagger said blasting the RG’s who stood in the way.
“Like you’d sneak on either way!” Mantis replied, shooting at the RG’s as well.
Blue Fang rolled his eyes. “That don’t matter! Just get to the front of the train!” They continued pushing towards the front. They moved towards the next car. Blue Fang grabbed an RG and beat him down. The other two were taken down by Dagger and Mantis. “Come on! We gotta get to the front of the train!”
“What do you think we’re doing, Mant?!” Dagger yelled.
“Come on! Enough foolin’ around!” Blue Fang snapped.
The three continued to run down the train cars, aiming for the front of the train. They came across a train car that couldn’t be opened. “Gotta climb over it.” Blue Fang grabbed the top of the top of the train car and hoisted himself up. An RG tried shooting him. Blue Fang dodged the attacks and grabbed the guard and threw him off of the train. Mantis and Dagger climbed up.
“You good?” Dagger asked.
“Yep, now come on let’s move.”
The three ran across the top of the train. They jumped down to the next flatbed car. Another guard fired at them; they in turn, lit him up.
The guards stumbled around, firing blindly. Those stray beams flew in many directions. One of them hit a lantern, and the next train car caught fire. The guard stumbled around until he fell off the train. “Buck! The train’s on fire!” Blue Fang yelled.
Dagger looked over the side of the train. “We gotta get off this thing!”
“Jump and fly!” Mantis yelled.
The three changelings jumped off of the train and started flying. They flew over the burning train car and landed on another flatbed car, where Hivehunter and Zenex were waiting. Blue Fang looked at the flaming car. “Uncouple that carriage before it blows us all up!”
Hivehunter nodded, “I’m on it.”
Blue Fang looked up. A guard stood atop a small ledge, watching the train pass by. “The train’s being robbed!”
“Guard the rear!” Zenex said to Blue Fang.
“Sure.”
Hivehunter uncoupled the car.
“Well done,” Blue Fang said.
After a few seconds, the car exploded in a fireball. The changelings ducked out of reflex. Dagger looked at Brokenwing, Mitchell, Stinger, Kydra, Arthrax, and Hex. “Get on!”
The six changelings landed onto the flatbed car. Hivehunter looked around. Then he looked at Blue Fang and Zenex. “Blue! Zenex! Move!” He ran over to the two and pushed them down.
Blue Fang was about to attack him. Then…
Zap!
He looked over to Hivehunter, who had a look of shock on his face. Then, he fell off the train. “Hive!” Blue Fang cried out. He couldn’t believe it! Hivehunter? The one who hated him? HE took a beam for HIM? Another beam flew past him. He turned around and fired at the crap for aim guard. The guard stumbled around until he fell off the train. Blue Fang looked back at the spot where Hivehunter fell off.
Arthrax ran over. “We’ll get Hive, you protect that money!” Then him and Hex jumped off the train.
Mantis ran over. “Guard the rear Blue Fang, I’ll go stop the train!”
Blue Fang looked at him. “Stop the train?! Whatever you do, do not stop the train! You secure up ahead, but keep us moving!” He turned to face the rear. “I’ll deal with that patrol when it comes through.”
The patrol started charging them. Blue Fang let his RFM fly in a colorful fireworks display. He watched as the many unicorns and pegasi fell and hit the ground. He hadn’t felt his adrenaline rush like this ever since the war. And he was enjoying every second of it. Another patrol charged, and they were cut down like a forest. Then another patrol, and another…
And another.
Blue Fangs horn was smoking like an oven. He blew the smoke away and turned around to Kydra, Stinger, Zenex, and Dagger. “Let’s move. The vault should be the second car.”
The changelings nodded.
The five changelings moved to the armored car. They passed over a train car full of coal. Then they reached the armored car. Blue Fang grabbed the dynamite and placed it on the door. “Get back.” Blue Fang fired a beam at the dynamite and the door exploded. He moved into the room. He took a quick look around the room. “We got something!” He grabbed a couple of bags of bits. “Here!” He threw the bags at the gang.
Mantis, Mitchell, and Brokenwing jumped into view. “Driver bailed. This train ain’t stopping, we gotta jump!”
“Alright. Everyone grab something!”
The gang each grabbed a bag of bits and jumped off the train. They watched as the train flew off of the destroyed bridge. “Sweet Chrysalis…” Dagger said.
Mitchell picked up a bag. “Well uh, let’s move.”
The gang picked up the bags. Then Arthrax and Hex walked up to them. Blue Fang looked at them. “Where’s Hive?”
“That patrol got him,” Hex said, “we had to run.”
Arthrax grabbed some of the bags. “Come on, let’s go before another patrol turns up.”
Blue Fang looked at the ground. He started following the rest of the gang back to camp.
~~~
Blue Fang laid in bed. He couldn’t sleep, especially since his friend had been captured by the RG’s. “Blue? Can I come in?” Said an unseen Kydra.
“Sure.”
Kydra walked into the tent. “Mind if I..?”
He scooted over, “of course.”
She laid down beside him. “Is something wrong?” Blue Fang nodded. “Is it Hive?”
“Yeah.”
Kydra hugged him, “don’t worry Blue, we’ll find him.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
The two embraced. “Thank you Ky.”
“No problem Blue.”
The two fell asleep, their nightmares and fears becoming dreams and fantasies. Blue felt at ease. Tomorrow, they’d find Hivehunter and save him.