My heart suddenly lifted. I was no longer alone in the world. I had two friends who were still alive. However my heart grew tainted with hatred for Princess Luna. I wanted Eagle and Wolf to join my side to help me. They didn’t know the truth of what Luna did.
“Wolf? Eagle…?” I said, only managing to say their names.
“Shadow…? You’re alive?” Wolf smiled happily.
“Yeah! Oh wow it’s great seeing you two again! I thought you were dead!” I exclaimed happily.
“We thought you were dead too, Shadow.” Eagle confessed, chuckling a bit.
“Is Iron alive too?” Wolf asked, his hopes doomed to fall.
I only responded with the shake of my head, all of our smiles simultaneously fading from existence.
“A lot has happened, you guys. A lot you need to know.”
I began to tell them about how afterwards I buried Iron and went back to the fort and confronted Luna to tell her the news. I told them about how I ran away the next night with Cosette and escaped the war. I told them we lived happily together for months until today, when they took her away from me. They couldn’t believe what they were hearing by the slow shaking of their heads.
“She… killed her own daughter?” Wolf managed to say.
Eagle couldn’t say a word, but only tried to feel sorry for me for losing the one pony I had left. They finally understood everything up until now. Eagle looked down at his Lunar Republic patch on his uniform, staring at it for a long time before he tore it off, along with his armor. Wolf watched and hesitated until doing the same thing.
“We’ll help you, Shadow. You’re our friend and we will do whatever it takes to see this war to the end.” Eagle said, Wolf nodding in agreement.
“Thank you Eagle… and you as well Wolf. I’ll get them to release you. We will not fail this mission. We will end this war.”
With that, I left the caboose and entered the next car, seeing Rainbow sitting there waiting patiently for me. I smiled as she turned her head and noticed, reading my face. I assume she knew that I converted them and she returned a soft smile.
“So they are now on ou- well… your side?” Rainbow asked, leaning a bit towards my direction, eager to hear my response.
“Yeah. They’re on our side.” I said with a small nod, chuckling.
She stood up, now fully turning towards me.
“Well good job. I’m surprised you got them to change so fast. You three must really be good friends.”
Thinking back, they happened to be the only ones in the Black Squadron I actually conversed the most with. Eagle was the one I considered to be a brother. He played that role that Iron did. He saved my life by tackling Celestia so I could escape. Wolf did the same thing, too. Both of them I owed my lives too, and I wouldn’t let them down.
“We are good friends, Rainbow. They saved my life once.” I said, chuckling.
The train suddenly shuttered violently, sending both of us ramming onto the ground. A loud screeching noise rang throughout the entire car. After awhile the entire train stopped to a halt, the noise replaced with silence.
“What was that?!” Rainbow shouted, getting up and looking out the window.
I, too, looked out the window as my eyes focused on six objects in the sky. I tried to focus more as the objects seemed to be moving towards the train. My eyes widened in horror as I soon found out what they were. It was the Black Squadron, commencing an attack on the train. They probably assumed I would be here and they decided to try and eliminate me once and for all.
A sudden burst of anger ignited inside me as my look went from horrified to dead cold. I hated every single one of them. It was they who killed Cosette, the love of my life. Now I sought revenge on every single one of them.
“It’s the Black Squadron, Rainbow.” I said, Rainbow looking at me in surprise.
“The Black Squadron? Crap!” She yelled, hitting the wall.
I turned back and stared out when the train shook yet again, this time more viciously. Rainbow and I flew back and hit the opposite wall, the train slightly tilting backwards. As it stopped I stood up as best as I could, looking towards near the front. I noticed the entire front was now gone. I slowly walked over to the torn off edge of the car and looked out. The entire front of the train was now gone off the side of the mountain, burning in flames down below the deep ravine.
“Buck! They took out the train!” I screamed back towards Rainbow.
She only stared back, unable to respond. She seemed really shaken, which made me confused. Only then did I realize that she wasn’t staring at me, she was staring behind me. I turned to see the six Black Squadron members staring at me, evil grins on their faces.
I backed up rapidly as one by one they landed inside the broken train, Night being the last to land. She looked at me with the same smile she gave me when we first met. It sent me spiraling back into more painful memories I no longer cared to endure.
“Well, well, well. What do we have here, squadron? It appears we found Ozone.” She admitted in a sarcastic tone, the others inserting a small chuckle to her words.
“My name is Shadow, by the way. I have no need for your stupid code names, Night.” I growled at her angrily, wanting just to charge at her and to make her suffer the way I did when they forced me to watch Cosette’s death.
“Well then, ‘Shadow’, Princess Luna knew you would have escaped… and she sent us to kill you. This is a very opportune moment… because not only will we kill you, but we will get away with killing a Solar Imperial Commander. The infamous Rainbow Dash of the Solar Elites. She will be a prize…”
I looked back at Rainbow, who stood up giving them an equally hating look. I backed up a bit and kept a defensive stance, staring into Night’s cursing eyes. I began to think about the situation as my anger only grew. It would be my fault if Rainbow Dash died. She can’t die because of me… NO PONY will ever die because of me ever again!
“You will not touch her… I can garuntee that. I will slaughter you all right here, right now!” I roared as I unsheathed my blade, pointing it at a now giggling Night, who also pulled her sword out.
“I will make each one of you suffer, like you did with me!” I screamed, swinging my blade at her, thus beginning the battle.
She ducked as the other Black Squadron members watched the fight that was beginning to unravel. She shot her sword forward, nearing my chest before I moved to the side, kicking her down.
Jumping back up, she flew into me, knocking me against the side of the train, which slightly moved to a now upright position. I bucked her off, slamming her on the other side of the train, making it tilt again.
“I’m going to enjoy watching you die slowly…” I confessed, looking at Rainbow as I motioned for her to go in the room with Eagle and Wolf.
Rainbow nodded and went in the caboose as Night swung her sword at me. I lifted my blade and caused a loud clash of our weapons, causing sparks to fly off the impact. All of a sudden I saw out of the corner of my eye some movement. It was Pyro, making a move by charging at me with his blade. I kicked Night away and flew back, barely missing Pyro’s attack. Next it was Titan and Joker, who decided to attack me simultaneously.
I fought them both as best as I could before Joker grazed my arm. I flinched and got hit in the face, falling to the ground. Joker stood on top of me when I realized a perfect opportunity. I threw my blade into him, piercing his chest. His eyes widened, realizing the one mistake that cost him his own life. The others moved back, watching as I twisted my blade around in his chest, causing him to let out a scream in pain.
Within mere seconds, I twisted the blade completely around, shoving it all the way into his body and out the other side before his body fell limp. I kicked him off my blade and looked down at his body.
“One down…” I started, looking back up into the multiple pairs of eyes staring at me in astonishment.
“five to go.”