Chapter 5-The Art of Train Riding
“Alright! Let's go!” Rainbow's voice filtered into my head, signaling the beginning of the day. I slowly woke up, shaking my head and seeing the cyan pegasus in front of myself and Derpy, who was awake and sitting up. “You two looked comfortable. Sleep well?”
I felt my cheeks heat up. “Yeah, it was okay.” Next to me, Derpy sleepily nodded.
Rainbow tersely nodded. “Good. Get ready for the day. Bathrooms are over there.” She pointed. “Breakfast's going on down on the main floor. Come back up here when your ready.” When she was done talking, she left the room. Derpy hopped off the sofa and stretched. “I'll see you downstairs Broken.” She trotted off to the bathrooms.
I sat up and held my head in my hooves. For a brief moment, I wished that none of this had to happen to Equestria. Sure, I wouldn't exist, but at least the place would be safe. I raised my head and smacked myself. This wasn't the time to wonder about what life used to be for the ponies of Equestria. Derpy and I needed to fix it. With a firmer resolve, I trotted towards the bathrooms.
. . .
After I had washed up a bit, I met Derpy on the ground floor to grab something to eat. We both grabbed a bowl of warm oats and went back up to the meeting room. Rainbow and her four friends were already up there and talking. The two of us slipped onto the couch as Rainbow started laying out our plans.
“Here's the thing. We thought that it was going to be just a cargo train, but it's actually a passenger train.” Rainbow said.
“Wait.” I chimed in. “Ponyville is the slums. What would Twilight gain from sending ponies here?”
“I think that it's a tour train.” Rarity said. “Twilight likes to show her esteemed guests every part of Equestria. Usually the buses have steered away from here, but they've been landing more and more.”
Pinkie nodded. “They also like to unload the ponies and have them walk allll around Ponyville!”
I put my food to the side. “Twilight's planning something. What's the plan Rainbow?”
Rainbow sat next to me. “Since it's a passenger train, I can sneak in with the other rebels that coming with us.” She pointed at us. “Derpy can come with us as well.”
“And..” I said, pointing at myself. “How am I gonna get in?”
Rainbow looked sheepish. “Well, you don't exactly look like a normal pony, so you're still gonna have to hide in the apple crate.”
“Wonderful.” I said, sticking my tongue out at her. Everypony in the room cracked a smile.
“Broken, your magical energy is stronger then any other pony around here.” Rarity said. “You'd be found out in an instant if you tried to get into the train normally.”
“And besides, we've coated my wood in some special tar.” Applejack said. “Those guard unicorns will have a hard time detecting any magic though that crate.”
“Once we've loaded everything into the train and gotten in ourselves, we'll come grab you.” Rainbow said. “Then we'll ride the train to Canterlot and be one step closer to Twilight.”
“About that.” Applejack spoke up. “What are y'all gonna do if you even reach Twilight?”
Rainbow talked before Derpy or I had a chance to say anything. “What we planned before AJ! We stop whatever plan Twilight's making and force her to atone for what she's done with Equestria!”
Derpy and I glanced at each other as Fluttershy softly raised her voice. “But Rainbow, why are we going to attack her anyway? When you think about it, isn't everything okay for now?”
“No it isn't.” Rainbow said. “There's towns across Equestria that are well founded and safe. We're struggling down here in Ponyville! Twilight's lived here long enough, and she did nothing when she rose to power.” Angrily, she stomped to the door. “We only have about twenty minutes. Outfit Broken and Derpy and have them meet me near the station!” She slammed the door and flew off.
Rarity walked over to Derpy and Pinkie bounced over to me. “These are special communicators. With this, we can talk to you and you can talk to us.” Rarity said, placing a small gem that stuck to my ear. “Also, we can see what's going on around you.”
“Now y’all better hurry.” Applejack said, hitting a button to turn on the giant monitor. “And good luck. As Derpy flew out the door, Applejack held me back. “Wait a second Broken. Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.” I said. “What's up?”
“Rainbow, she took it hard when Twilight forgot about us.” The orange mare said with a sigh. “She's not gonna be thinkin with her head. Could you make sure that she doesn't do anything too reckless?”
I smiled and nodded. “I'll do my best.” With that, I turned away and launched myself out the door.
. . .
Derpy and I took the tunnel that led back to Sugarcube Corner. The normally talkative pegasus was rather quiet on the way back, not even looking at me. I tried twice to strike up a conversation, but closed my mouth. Finally, I was able to speak asking, “Derpy, is something wrong? You aren't normally like this.”
“I'm worried Broken.” she replied. “I know that you're going to try to protect us and so is Rainbow, but I can't help but feel that this is a really bad idea.”
“We should be alright.” I said. “Fluttershy and Pinkie were monitoring that Enforcer thing, and they saw it leave the town. As long as we don't cause any trouble, we'll get to Canterlot just fine.” Derpy turned away from me, quiet.
We reached the end of the tunnel where I had shifted the opening into rock. Fortunately I could reality shift for a quick second and change it back into an opening so we could leave. We peeked out into the ruined building, searching for any life.
Derpy tapped me. “It's about two-thirty, Broken.”
“How did you tell that without a...right.” I glanced around again before pulling myself out of the entrance. Derpy flew up and landed next to me as I surveyed the shop. “Nopony's here.” I said.
“How can you tell?” Derpy asked, flying over to the stove.
I trotted over there and helped her push the stove over the tunnel opening. “It's the Elements. I can tell when other ponies are around because the dimension is created by the Elements. Sadly, I have to concentrate hard for it to work.”
“Why did we come out this way again?” Derpy asked.
I motioned for her to follow as we climbed out of the wrecked shop. “Everypony that has to keep up appearances will be following their schedules. That's why Rarity and Applejack had to leave. Also, we can blend in.”
We hopped out and landed on the ground in front of the shop. “Come on! We only have a few minutes to reach the train!” I said. Derpy nodded and flew in the direction of the train station, me following closely.
We traveled though the town at a good pace, checking for any robots. “I don't see the big one either.” Derpy said, glancing upwards.
“I have a feeling it's still around. Let's just hurry.” As we dashed though the town, we sat that there were almost no ponies outside. “Where is everypony?” I wondered.
“Schedule, Broken.” Derpy reminded me. “Remember?”
“Still though, you'd think that there would be SOME ponies outside.” I thought. “We need to get Twilight to stop this ridiculous schedule idea.”
Derpy landed in front of me, causing me to slam into her. Before I could voice my annoyance, she pointed. “Look!” Rainbow was waving us over to her.
“Right. Let's go!” I said, and we dashed away again.
. . .
We met Rainbow and two other mares behind the station. One was a aquamarine unicorn with a lyre as her cutie mark and the other was a dark blue unicorn with an hourglass.
“There you two are.” Rainbow said. “This is Lyra and Colgate.” The two mares nodded to us.
“What are we waiting for?” Derpy asked. “Shouldn't we get onto the train?”
Lyra shook her head. “Nope. We're waiting for Applejack to get here with the apples.”
I groaned. “I still think that I could slip in there without smelling like an apple pie.”
Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Please Broken. You're the one that's most likely to be noticed. Especially with that mane and tail. And by the way, why don't you have a cutie mark?
“Uh...” I didn't know what to say. The Elements must have forgotten to add that to me when I was created. I quickly glanced over to Derpy and saw that she was just at a loss to say anything as I was.
Fortunately, Applejack showed up then with her crate of apples. We all crowded around to make some last-minute plans.
“Now Broken. You're going to be stored in the back of the train. We'll come and get you out as soon as we can.” Rainbow said.
“What's the plan after that?” Lyra asked.
“We'll land at the station.” Rainbow said. “After that, we'll need to quickly get out and spread around the city. Lyra and Colgate, make sure to follow Broken and Derpy so you can take them to the spot we picked.”
Rainbow then turned to us. “I know you two are travelers, but you have to remember to SPLIT UP. It won't help if Twilight knows that we're all together.”
As Derpy was about to say some thing, we all heard a loud WHOOSH. A gleaming silver and purple train slowly floated down from the sky to land onto the tracks. As the train touched down, I saw that it had ten cars connected to the front. The doors on each door slid open.
“Get in Broken!” Rainbow said. “We don't have much time!”
Without a second thought, I hopped into the crate. I tried to maneuver myself so that I would sink to the bottom. With some final words, the lid was placed over my head.
“Remember Broken. Don't move. One of us will come and get you.” With that I felt myself be picked up, probably by the two unicorns. Concentrating, I put myself to sleep so nopony would tell that something was alive in the crate. Quietly, I slipped into slumber.
. . .
A jolt shook me awake. Somepony was trying to get inside the crate! I stayed completely still as the unknown pony struggled to open the lid. With a final crack, the lid opened. Light flowed in though the breaks between the apples. “Broken? Are you alright in there?”
“Derpy! Yeah, I'm in here.” I said, struggling to pull myself out. I poked my hoof out though the apples and Derpy grabbed it, pulling me out of the crate.
“Phew! Thanks.” I said, looking around. We were in the baggage car. There was luggage piled up and stacked against the walls, leaving a nice little aisle for us. “Uhh, that wasn't fun.” I looked up and saw that Derpy was gone. “Derpy..?”
“Halt!” I jumped and turned to see a ..member of the Royal Guard?
“Hello!” I said. “I was just coming back here to check on my baggage!”
“Uh-huh. Turn around and hooves to the wall!” I did as he said as he walked over to me. Out of nowhere a suitcase landed on his head and knocked him out cold. Derpy landed next to the unconscious stallion and nodded at me.
“You okay?” she asked.
I nodded, “Stupid reality shifting didn't work. I swear if I could control when it happens...”
Derpy smiled as the train lurched. “Come on Broken.” She flew out of the baggage car and I followed closely.
About two cars up we found the rest of our little gang calmly sitting down. Lyra and Colgate were on one side, and Derpy and I slid into the chairs next to Rainbow. She had donned a guard uniform to hide her mane and tail.
“So.” I said “We made it onto the train.”
Rainbow just nodded, so Derpy spoke up. “What's our plan Rainbow?”
“Same as before.” Rainbow said. “Split up. Colgate and Lyra will follow you and we'll meet up later.”
I looked out the window. “We're rather high up.”
“I know.” Rainbow said. “Also, did you notice that there's not a lot of ponies on the train?”
“So?” I asked.
“Something's up.” Rainbow said. “Something's wrong.”
“How so?” Derpy asked.
“Twilight has the most advanced technology in all of Equestria.” Rainbow said. “It doesn't matter if it was when we went though the doors, when you were put in the back car, when we sat down. We should have been noticed.”
I didn't know why Rainbow was so jumpy. She had a hoof on her laser weapon. I glanced over and saw that the two unicorns also had a hoof on their weapons. “And we weren't.”
“Exactly.” Rainbow said. “Twilight knows that we're on this train, Broken. This was a trap.”
At that, Derpy reached down under her chair. I sat perfectly still, still looking at Rainbow. “You're sure?”
“Positive.” Rainbow replied.
At that moment, every light on the train went out. Metal windows slammed shut, covering everything in darkness. I felt my power activate and light appeared in front of me. Guess my eyes DID glow.
Derpy grabbed my head and pointed it all around, using my eyes as flashlights. “Don't see anything!” She yelled over the panicking ponies.
Just as she sat back down, the windows opened up and the lights flashed back on. Instantly my power left me as I slumped back down. Then, every unicorn in the train car, including me, screamed in agony.
Derpy grabbed me while Rainbow ran over to Lyra and Colgate. “Broken! What's wrong?!”
“Horn...pain...magic..duck!” I gasped out. Derpy caught the hint and ducked as a burst of magic shot from my horn. But it wasn't only mine. Magic shot from every unicorn and consolidated in the middle of the aisle. Holding my head, I looked upwards.
The magic swirled around in a purple haze until it combined together and created, Twilight Sparkle?!
“What.” I deadpanned.
“Hello, all my ponies!” Twilight said, slowly walking down the aisle. Everypony shrank away from her. Derpy stayed in front of me, rubbing my head as I glared at Twilight.
“I'm sure that you're all wondering why I'm here today. Well, don't worry about it. I'm here for one reason.” As Twilight continued to stalk down the aisle, Rainbow caught my eye and shook her head. She was telling us to be quiet. Twilight stopped walking and looked straight at Rainbow. “You.”
Apparently Rainbow knew that it was pointless to protest, because she squared her jaw and stared Twilight in the eyes. “Twilight...”
Twilight clapped her hooves. “Great, you remember me! Wonderful. And who is that with you? Colgate and Lyra?” She pointed at the two unicorns which must have felt the pull that Twilight's spell was drawing from. It was drawing on me also, but it wasn't as bad because my power came from the Elements.
“I was hoping you'd be here Rainbow.” Twilight said. “You see, this was indeed a trap for you. I was planning on capturing you and your friends and bringing you to me.”
Rainbow snapped at Twilight. “You were our friend also, Twilight! When did that change?!”
“It didn't have to.” Twilight said. “You refused to move forward in the world, and I had bigger plans.”
“But, this? Your strict rules, your hold over food? You aren't helping Equestria, you're hurting it!” Rainbow yelled.
Twilight smiled at that, a truly evil grin. “Equestria will soon be saved, Rainbow. Very soon.” She then turned to us. “And as for you two.”
“What about us?” Derpy asked, still rubbing my head.
“You didn't think that you could just destroy my robots and get away with it, did you?” Twilight softly asked. “No. All my robots I send out have recorders on them so I know what happens if they're deactivated.”
“Great.” I mumbled.
“You are quite the fighter, pegasus.” Twilight said. “I could use you in my guard...what are your names?”
Derpy glanced at me. I motioned for her to tell her, trying to cut the spell that was draining me. “Fine. My name is Ditzy, and his is Broken Hope.”
Twilight nodded. “Well, as I said before, you are quite the fighter. It's too bad though.”
“Bad...for what?” I forced out.
“That I'm going to kill you.” Twilight said. “See, the “rebellion” against me wasn't doing any harm, so I left it alone. But once you two came around, you forced me to send out my only Enforcer. I didn't feel like dealing with that, and I had a hunch that Rainbow would want you with her to come attack me.”
“Wait! You knew we were gonna be on this train!” Derpy said. “Why did you reveal yourself?”
“Because, you're going to die.” Twilight replied. “Destroying my property and inciting rebellion are two serious crimes. That I will not stand for. And besides,” She walked up and put her hoof on my head. “I can't have somepony as strong as you wandering around.”
Derpy and I stayed completely still, even though I knew that my friend was poised to attack her. “Quite the stylish mane you have, Broken Hope. It does symbolize your...power. And I can already assume that you'll refuse to join me, so I'll have to accept draining your magic out though your corpse.
Derpy smacked her hoof off of my head. “You can't kill him!” she barked at Twilight.
“Really now.” Twilight said. “This is MY Equestria, and I'll do as I please.”
“Please.” I hissed. “We've taken on your little “army” before.”
"You know, that really was interesting how you managed to escape my robots in Ponyville.” Twilight replied. “Matter manipulation? Maybe I'll torture that spell out of you before I have you killed..."
“Not if we're supposed to die in here.” I groaned.
The train lurched suddenly, throwing Derpy and Rainbow to the ground. Twilight just smiled and moved back into the middle of the aisle. “All my ponies, I am so sorry for what will happen to you. But know, that your sacrifice will benefit all of Equestria.” With that, she disappeared Instantly, the pull on my horn dissolved.
“What did she mean by that?!” Derpy yelled.
“I don't know!” Rainbow said. That moment, the entire train lurched forward and a loud explosion rang out. Looking back, we saw a few of the Royal Guard, weapons in hoof.
“Duck!” I yelled. As the guards opened fire, Derpy and Rainbow flung themselves behind chairs. Derpy landed on my other side, by the window.
“Laser baton?” She asked.
I nodded, “Laser baton.” Derpy jammed a black cylinder into her mouth as the world shimmered. I poked my head out and pointed at the guards. Their weapons dissolved into bread as Derpy launched herself at them, me closely behind.
Derpy slammed into two of the guards. The cylinder had shot out two glowing green laser sticks. Not lethal, but would hurt in a fight. Rainbow landed next to me as I decked another one on the head. “Careful! Twilight's taught them karate!”
“What?!” I asked, shocked. Just then, I took a hoof to the stomach and was launched into the aisle. The guard leapt at me, whereas I jumped up, grabbed his hoof, twirled him around and launched him out the window.
Derpy flipped the guard she was fighting and brained him with the baton. She jammed the baton into the other one's throat and pulled it out. As he choked, I grabbed a metal bar from the top of one of the chairs. I threw it at him and clocked him in the head. Turning I saw that Lyra had hypnotized some guards to sleep and Colgate was trying to comfort the passengers.
“Lyra! Colgate!” Rainbow yelled. “Get control of the train! Broken's in charge if I'm not with him!” They nodded and ran up the the front. “Come on! To the back!” With that, we ran as fast as we could.
. . .
“Wonderful.” I said when we reached the back. Half of the luggage car was simply GONE. Blown to complete bits.
“Broken!” Derpy said, pointing. Looking up, we saw that the giant unicorn robot was flying after the train, surrounded by smaller robots.
“It's the Enforcer...” Rainbow gritted her teeth. “That's what she meant. She'll kill them all to make sure we die with them.”
“Wait.” I pointed. The smaller robots were flying past us, towards the front of the train. I waited, and saw them fly away from the train, with ponies on them.
“Oh no.” I said. “She's going to go ALL out on us.”
“Incoming!” Rainbow yelled. We jumped back as several robots landed in the broken train car. Derpy jumped on one of the robot and started to ride it. Rainbow fired at them with her laser weapon. I ran over to the side of wall, where there was still luggage. I turned and started slamming my back hooves against it, as my shifting was not active.
“Come...On.” I grunted as I tried to knock the luggage down. I gave it a brutal kick and finally it shifted. I ran out and stood in the middle. As all of it fell, the world shifted. I pointed my hoof and the luggage flew out and slammed into every robot that was flying toward the train car, knocking them away. As I was about to hit one of the robots that was about to attack Rainbow, I stumbled and hit myself with a suitcase.
“Rainbow!” I yelled, struggling to orient myself. Turning at my call, she flipped around and slammed her body into the robot, sending him off the edge.
Hearing a unique humming noise, I broke away from the fight to look up at the Enforcer. The giant robot's horn, was now glowing with a purple light. “Guys? Get out of this train car!” I yelled, pointing at the Enforcer.
My friends looked up, paled, and ran for the door. I was already there and opened it for them. As the Enforcer fired, I slammed the door shut, ran into the next car, which was the kitchen car and yelled, “Hit the ground!”
BOOM!! The explosion actually moved us forward. I slammed into the dishwasher and heard the groans of my friends. Shaking my head, I recovered enough to see more of the robots flying at us. The explosion had taken out the back wall of this car also. “Come on guys! There's more of them!”
Derpy recovered first and snatched two saucepans from the racks and attacked them as I ran over to Rainbow. “You alright?”
Rainbow angrily shook her head. “We're stuck, Broken.”
“Don't think like that.” I said. “We can stop it.”
Rainbow sighed. “Broken, that Enforcer's only testing it's strength. Once it has enough, it's going to take out the entire train in one shot.”
I racked my brain for any ideas. “Once it has enough, we need to stun it. A big one, so that it'll need more time to recharge. But how?”
Rainbow stood up. “I have an idea, Broken. We need to stall until it's fired again though.” We nodded and split up.
I ran over to the stove. It was a gas stove, rather than electric. I quickly turned it on full blast and ducked behind it as several of the robots fired at me. Rainbow and Derpy did their best to direct attention from me.
“Come on...” I gritted my teeth as the stove keep heating up. As soon as I saw the world shimmer, I slammed my hooves on the stove, forcing it to heat faster. The metal plates on the top became red hot within seconds.
“Get down!” I barked to my friends. They fell to the ground as I headbutted the stove and forced the plates to fly off and smack the guards that had landed. I turned and bucked the stove, turning it and causing it to shoot out a rush of fire, roasting the robots and guards alike.
“Here it comes!” Rainbow yelled.
I waved them over to me. “Quick! In the middle!” The Enforcer fired and blew the entire roof off of the train car. The shock wave alone slammed us to the ground.
We slowly picked ourselves off the ground. “Uhh, that one hurt.” Derpy said.
“This isn't gonna work.” Rainbow mumbled. Suddenly, her eyes lit up. “Come on you two. Follow me!” She ran towards the front, Derpy and myself on her hooves.
. . .
The Enforcer had resigned itself to launching smaller blasts at us and sending more robots at us. We had finally reached the middle of the train, or what the middle would be if one car wasn't gone and the other one without a roof.
We stopped, panting and wounded. Rainbow had gotten rid of her armor and had a nasty scratch across her forehead. Derpy had a burn on her side and her legs were scratched. I had a long cut along my flank and my chest was burnt.
“Guys..we can't keep this up.” I gasped out. “It's going to blow up the train.”
“Not just yet.” Rainbow said. She jumped over my head and landed in the sixth car. “Derpy, grab and start cranking that lightning cannon.”
My friend jumped over and picked up the dark blue cannon. She pointed it upwards and started to turn a crank on the side. Sparks started to dance along the sides and the opening of the cannon, but Derpy continued to crank.
“What do you want me to do?” I asked.
Rainbow had picked up a hammer and was whacking the bolt that connected both halves of the train. “When your power comes back, get the Enforcer's attention.”
I nodded, “Right.” At that moment, the world shimmered. I pointed my hoof at the roof of the train. I narrowed my eyes, concentrated as hard as I could. Slowly, ever so slowly, the roof of the train car began to glow. In just a few seconds, it was glowing bright as the sun. I heard a humming sound and cut my power from it. “He knows.”
“Ready Derpy?!” Rainbow yelled, still smacking the bolt. Derpy nodded, a determined look in her eyes.
With an explosion, the Enforcer took out the roof of the train car. “Now!” Rainbow yelled. Derpy let fire from the cannon, striking the Enforcer in the side with a flurry of lightning. We saw an explosion from the side and the Enforcer's altitude dropped until it almost landed. It also lost speed, because it moved backwards a bit.
“Right.” Rainbow said, raising the hammer.
“Wait!” Derpy cried. “What are you doing!”
Rainbow looked up at us, and I saw tears in her eyes. “Ending this.” With a final violent swing, she broke the bolt, sending the back half of the train flying away.
“Broken!” Derpy screamed.
Not missing a beat, I ran over and slammed into the side of the train car. I ran my hooves across it and made a flinging motion. The wall extended and slammed into the back half of the train adhering to it.
I knew that I wasn't going to be able to hold it for long. The prolonged battle we've been in for the last hour had taken a toll on me. “Rainbow! Get back here!”
“I can't!” She called. “The wind is too strong! Let it go! You're almost at Canterlot!”
Derpy came to my side, about to jump before Rainbow stopped her. “No, Derpy! You'll be trapped with me!”
“Rainbow no! You can't die now!” Derpy yelled, her voice breaking.
“Look. This explosion will take out enough of the Enforcer's power so that you can get this train past the barrier.” Rainbow said. “I'll guide it as best as I can so it'll hit what I need it too.
“But...you'll....die.” I gasped out, trying my hardest to hold the train.
Rainbow glanced at both of us, then at the Enforcer. “I know, Broken. I already knew that I wasn't going to live throughout this little fight we've been having with Twilight.” She turned and looked me in the eyes. “Promise me this, Broken Hope. Do not let my death be for nothing. Stop Twilight.”
Unable to turn my eyes away, I nodded. “I promise.”
She then turned to Derpy. “Keep him safe, alright?” Derpy nodded, crying.
“Let it go Broken.” Rainbow said. “The Enforcer's going to recover.”
“I can't..” I said angrily. I couldn't just let her die.
“Then goodbye.” We turned to see Rainbow point a pistol at me. She fired, and a gust of air blew me backwards. I hit the ground and lost concentration on the train, breaking the wall.
“NO!” I yelled.
“RAINBOW!!” Derpy screamed.
As we watched, the remaining four cars slammed into the Enforcer's left side. A enormous explosion took place, knocking us to the ground. “Rainbow,” I whispered. “I'm sorry...”
As I stood up and looked at Derpy, I realized something very important. We had faced killer robots, insane guards, and were flying on a train that was going to crash. But I would gladly take that all again then what I witnessed before me.
Derpy's normally relaxed face was twisted in anger, no complete rage. She was tapping her hooves and was gritting her teeth. But the thing I saw clearly were her eyes. Rage dancing in them, they were completely normal. She wasn't cross-eyed.
At that moment, I resolved to NEVER piss off Derpy Hooves.
Quickly she snatched up an extendable laser sword. Turning to me she said, “Grab me.” Then, jamming the hilt of the sword in her mouth, she threw herself out the train.
Good thing I was still able to shift. I ripped open the cushion on one of the train chairs. Digging my hoof into it I pulled out a bunch of cotton. “This better work.” I wrapped all of the cotton into a long tough rope and ran the the end of the car.
I looked out to see Derpy extend the sword and slam it into the Enforcer's other eye, effectively blinding it. I threw the cotton rope and used my power to extend the rope and wrap it around Derpy's back leg. I clamped the rope in my teeth and reared back to grab it with my hooves.
The force of the wind made it difficult to pull, but I kept at it. “Come...on.” I groaned. Slowly, slowly she came closer to me. With a final yank, I forced her into the train car. She slammed on the ground and rolled over, crying.
Seeing my friend upset, made something inside me snap. Instantly, I ran over to her, picked her up and carried her into the next train car. Laying her down on one of the cushions, I stood at the door, watching the Enforcer hover behind the ruined train car. My vision tinted red and I snarled at the robot.
“Kill my friend? Break my other friend's heart?” I barked at it, rage dancing in my eyes. “NO MORE!” With that, my mane and tail glowed a bright red as I extended one hoof and pointed at the Enforcer. The entire train car shook violently, a red glow covering everything in the car. With a snap, the train car broke free from the front half of the train. Manipulating the car, I proceeded to slam it into the Enforcer's other side, the one that Rainbow didn't hit.
I turned and walked over to Derpy, my power shutting off and dropping me to the ground. I crawled over to my weeping friend and laid a hoof on her shoulder.
“Derpy,” I panted. “I'm sorry. We need to keep going.”
Derpy kept weeping. “She died Broken. She died and we couldn't do anything.”
I had to get her up, or we weren't going to make it. “I know. She knew that she wasn't going to live though this. That's why she did it. So we would have a chance to live. To fix this dimension!”
Derpy looked up at me. “Broken. When we find Twilight, you're going to have to hold me back.”
“I promise.” I said, wrapping her in a hug. I looked up to see the broken body of the Enforcer barreling right toward us. Luna, I'm sorry.
You will NOT die on me Broken Hope.
Derpy and I disappeared and reappeared in the second train car from the front. BOOM! The train gave the worst lurch yet.
Still holding Derpy in a hug, I heard Lyra's voice come though the communicator. “Broken,we've lost main control! What do you want us to do?”
“Lyra...” I started. I knew that Derpy trusted me completely. “Do you trust me?”
There was silence for a few moments before Lyra's voice came back to me. “Yes.”
“Slam the train into the barrier.” I said. “It'll pass though, but we're not going to be conscious to see it.”
“Are...are you sure about this?” her voice came back to me.
“Positive.” I said.
“Then Broken Hope, Derpy, we'll see you at Twilight's castle.” The last two remaining cars on the train shifted as we fell towards the barrier.
“Broken?” Derpy said.
“Yeah?” I replied, still holding her.
“..Thanks.”
With a sickening crunch and a following explosion, everything faded into darkness.