//------------------------------// // Chapter 7 // Story: The Adventures of Shadow Chaser: Shadows of War // by RangerBeef //------------------------------// "What's wrong?" "Haliflanks is on fire. We need to stop the train." Cherish stopped in Shadow's wake. "What? Why? If the something is on fire we should be there to help them." Shadow turned to her, his voice taking up an annoyed tone at having to further explain himself. "You're not hearing me. It's not a building that's on fire, it's the entire town." "Oh." Cherish watched him turn and rush the final few cars to the conductor, whom Shadow spent a hefty amount of time arguing with before the conductor willingly pulled the brakes. When Shadow returned to her she spoke, "What did you say to him?" "I told him if he didn't stop the train I'd throw him off and then stop it anyway." Cherish eyed him curiously, unsure if he was joking. "So what's the plan? Turn around from here?" Shadow moved to the nearest door that led outside, pushing it open, "Not without knowing what we're facing. I'll be back in ten minutes." "What? You're going in there?" The thought had not even crossed Cherish's mind to investigate. "Yes. If I'm not back in ten minutes, tell the conductor to roll it the other direction and head for Stalliongrad and not to stop until you get there." Shadow stepped from the train, facing the direction of Haliflanks. "But we can't just leave you here!" Her status as a young agent was beginning to show. "Yes, you can. And, if I'm not back, you will. That's an order." Without giving her another moment to protest, Shadow took off into the night, they weren't too far outside of Haliflanks but he didn't want to waste any more time. Cherish moved up to the lead car and spoke with the conductor, "What's our top speed in reverse?" "Reverse? We can move as fast as we can forward but sharp turns and stopping become an issue." "Is there any way to make it safer?" "Not unless that horn of yours can lift this car to the end of the train." ----- Shadow moved as fast as he dared. The town was full of Xiao ponies. They barked orders he couldn't understand at ponies that simply cowered in fear of them. Not wanting to endure any more pain than that of their town burning. Haliflanks had always been the epitome of peaceful. A town on the fringes of Equestria but filled with happy folk who never wished harm on anyone. Mostly farmers in truth. They'd had their differences with one another before but when things boiled down, they all just wanted to farm their land and live their lives. Shadow slipped inside the back door of a building he had identified as town hall. The Xiao seemed to have set up their own base of operations inside. Keeping himself pressed to a wall he tweaked his ear until he understood them. ".. We are already behind schedule. The General wants no further delays. Finish with this town and let us begin our march to Stalliongrad. Our allies will strike in three days time and we must be in position before then. Do you understand!?" "Yes, sir!" Shadow heard the shuffling of hooves, whoever had been yelling was now gone and the pony that remained issued orders in just as harsh a tone as his commanding officer. Manure rolls downhill. Shadow thought. Shadow began to slink back to the exit when he heard the officer speak again. "I'm going out the back way. If the Colonel comes back in here tell him I've gone to check on the next train’s arrival. We cannot have a bunch of civilians surprising us." Shadow looked around him and ducked into the darkest shadow he could find. Waiting patiently for the officer to appear. As the pale yellow pony rounded the corner he stopped and sighed heavily. Removing his hat he ran a hoof through his dark colored mane. Shadow almost felt bad for him. It was clear he was new to this job and war was not something he had expected to have thrust upon him. As he stepped toward the exit, Shadow emerged and grabbed him, pressing him roughly against the wall with a hoof in his mouth. Shadow charged his horn for effect and spoke softly in the harshest tone he could muster. "Surprise. Here's what's going to happen. I'm going to remove my hoof and you're going to tell me exactly what your army is planning. If you try to scream you can rest assured that it will be the last thing you ever do. Do you understand me?" The wide eyed lieutenant nodded, his eyes telling Shadow he was full of enough fear to keep him from screaming. But upon removing his hoof Shadow was greeted with something he hadn't expected. "Please, you have to get me out of here. I know their plans but I just need to get away from this and I need help." Shadow raised a bewildered eyebrow. "What are you talking about?" "We're not soldiers. Not all of us. We're conscripts. When our government was approached and told they could have more land as long as they agreed to support a war with Equestria they began to conscript everyone they could. Those who refused were coerced." "Coerced how?" "They kidnapped ponies' families. Threatened them with torture if they didn't cooperate." Shadow looked back in the direction the lieutenant had come from, making sure they wouldn't be surprised. "Alright, I'm going to let you down. But so help me, if you attract anyone's attention I will not hesitate.." "Yea, yea. I'll keep quiet. Just get me out of here." The lieutenant's fear was undeniable. Shadow eased pressure off of him slowly, still wary this might be a trick. Only when the officer stood freely and only looked to Shadow for direction did he allow himself to relax slightly. "Alright, follow me. Stay low," Shadow said. As one they slipped out the back door of town hall and into a back alley. Shadow intended to follow the same path he had used to infiltrate the town but the fires were proving to make that difficult. Two of the houses he had used for cover had now collapsed and offered little in the way of hiding places. Thinking quickly he lead his new follower around the opposite side of town hall, staying off of main streets as much as possible. When they came to an impasse of guards on either side of a house Shadow began to climb in the window before his companion stopped him. "What're you doing!? That place is on fire!" "Yea, and it's our only option. Just move fast." "I don't think I can do this." The lieutenant had begun to shake a little from his fear. Shadow grabbed him roughly, pulling him close, "Listen to me. The only reason you are still conscious right now is because I don't want to carry you. Now get inside before I leave you here." Something in Shadow's words seemed to harden the pony. His shaking stopped and his brow furrowed in a kind of determination. Maybe it was just the fear of being left behind but the lieutenant happily climbed in the window in front of Shadow, moving with a purpose through the home. Shadow followed on his heels. Stopping at the front door of the home, they peered out; Xiao military were on both sides of the street and Shadow ducked down quickly as one of the soldiers looked at the house. “Any ideas,” Shadow asked. “Yes, but you’re not going to like it.” Shadow cocked an eyebrow. ----- The soldiers stood in the street, mostly watching the houses burn. Most had adjusted to their conscript life rather quickly and just did as they were told in hopes of going back home as quickly as possible, and if the whole of Equestria fell as easily as Haliflanks then it would indeed be a short war. “Get out there, Equestrian scum!” The shout came from one of the nearby burning buildings. A lieutenant was pushing a dark colored stallion out of the home. A few soldiers came over to assist the lieutenant. “Who’s in charge of you men?” The lieutenant spoke with force, he was clearly angry. Another lieutenant stepped forward sheepishly. “I’m in charge here.” “Then would you care to explain to me why I caught this stallion trying to escape out the rear of that house!?” His shout stopped everyone in the street. The stallion in charge of the platoon on the street could only stammer in response. “I’ll tell you what,” shouted the lieutenant. “Why don’t you take your men on a perimeter search of each building in town, to secure anyone you may have missed!” The platoon leader turned and shouted, “You heard him! Form up and begin a search of the buildings!” Nearly all the ponies on the street began to move immediately, most bumping into one another in an attempt to avoid the ranking ponies and further shouting. Shadow nearly broke character from laughter. Truly they were an undisciplined army. With a push from behind he was reminded of their plan and he moved toward the train station only a few steps before they were stopped by another officer. “Lieutenant Han!” Shadow and Han froze, Han because he knew who it was, Shadow because he recognized the voice. “Colonel!” Han stopped and snapped off a salute. “Where are you taking this stallion?” The colonel eyed Shadow with suspicion as he was not restrained in any way. “He is accompanying me to the train station. This is the resident mechanic for all trains that roll into station. He will tell the next train that arrives that there is a problem with the engine and the passengers will depart into our waiting arms.” Han spoke with a slight waver in his voice, it was clear the he feared this stallion. The colonel stood silent for a moment, once again glancing over Shadow and giving Han a skeptical look as well. His face hardened slightly before it loosened and he actually halfway smiled. “That’s the kind of motivation we need from all our soldiers, lieutenant. I’m glad you didn’t take my yelling at you too hard and you got right back on track here. I’m thinking when I pass this up the chain that you might be in for a promotion.” Han had a moment of pause. He had never seen the colonel smiled nor had he ever been complimented and promised a promotion at the same time. “Th-Thank you, sir! I’ll admit, I didn’t expect a promotion with the fiasco that this occupation turned into but it would be an honor.” “Don’t get too ahead of yourself, Han. You’re right, this was a fiasco, and that will reflect upon you, but it is how we operate in the face of adversity that speaks volumes about our character.” The colonel spoke as if he truly believed the homes that burned around him were part of some greater good that only the Xiao could see. Shadow coughed hard, waving at the air to indicate he’d been hit with some smoke, but mostly because he needed Han back in the moment. “Yes, you’re right, sir. Now if you’ll excuse me I need to get to the train station to be ready. The mechanic here said the train was set to arrive soon.” “Carry on, lieutenant.” They both snapped a salute and turned opposite directions, one headed toward his perverted view of patriotism for his country, the other headed for a freedom far away from that perversion. Shadow followed Han closely as they made their way across the town and into the train station. Making sure the coast was clear they slipped down onto the tracks at Shadow’s direction. Moving with caution at the edge of the building, they hurried off into the darkness beyond the town, heading toward the train. “You’re right,” Shadow huffed. “I hated that plan.” Han afforded himself a small laugh. “At least it worked, right?” “I thought you were going to stay with them when he offered you that promotion.” Again Han laughed, “I take it you’re not a big fan of foreign films?” Shadow shook his head as they continued forward. “You, sir, are looking at the best actor the Xiao have to offer.” This time Shadow did laugh. They slowed as they neared the train. “Well, you certainly sold it well enough. What the…” Shadow stopped as he noticed the car they approached was not the engine he had been expecting. It was simply the passenger car normally trailing just behind the engine. Walking around the side of the train they noticed several ponies walking around outside the train near the caboose. As they approached Shadow was met with an amazing sight. The engine of the train had somehow been moved to the rear of the train. This would decrease their travel time to Stalliongrad significantly, as they wouldn’t need to account for the engine pushing the train instead of the normal pull. Looking around Shadow spotted Cherish standing just beyond the engine with the conductor at her side. Cherish seemed nervous while the conductor was still trying to convince her of something. “Miss, I certainly appreciate you corralling enough unicorns to move this thing but we can’t wait for your friend any longer. Before too long, the ponies in that town over there will see this here train and get curious why it’s stopped and they’ll come to investigate. And I’d rather not be here when that happens.” “Just a few more minutes. He’ll be here, I swear.” Cherish’s voice was meek, she was running out of excuses as she looked around at the unicorns boarding the train, finally spotting Shadow and Han headed straight for her. “Shadow!” “How did you do this?” “Well, the little miss here asked me about who was on board and as it turns out, a right many of them are unicorns. We explained the situation and they all chipped in to help move the engine back here.” Han stood with his mouth open. Where he was from most ponies were Earth ponies. To think that with enough of them the unicorns could move this train car, he was certain the Xiao would have little effect on Equestria’s true army. “Huh,” Shadow glanced at the train next to him and then to Cherish, nodding approvingly. “Good work, Cherish. Now let’s get out of here.” Cherish blushed slightly at the acknowledgement. “Yes, sir.” “Ain’t gotta tell me twice,” the conductor said, climbing into the engine and beginning to crank up the engine. As Shadow, Han and Cherish climbed aboard, Shadow stopped Cherish short just inside the car. “Truly, good work. This will save us a lot of time.” Cherish nodded slightly. “Thank you, sir. Who is the pony you brought back?” Shadow explained that Han had information about the Xiao plans and would be a valuable asset to the Equestrian military. Their only goal was to rally at Stalliongrad and prepare for the coming conflict. As they moved farther into the train, eventually settling in next to Han, Shadow reflected on the coming events. He knew he’d not be at the keep when the fighting started. His place was elsewhere. He had to make sure the alliance between the nations was severed as quickly as possible. “So, just a bunch of unicorns, huh?” Shadow smiled incredulously at Cherish from his seat across from her. She nodded emphatically, “Yeah! Everyone was very helpful except for this blue mare that kept referring to herself in the third-person. She seemed more interesting in performing parlor tricks than actually helping.” “Can’t win ‘em all, I guess. By the way, getting something like that accomplished is what this agency is all about.” Shadow spoke with emphasis. He knew a good agent when he found one. “I guess. But I couldn’t have done what you did. I couldn’t slip into town and back out unnoticed.” Her voice once again filled with doubt. Shadow sighed choosing his words carefully. “There’s more than one type of agent. You have the ones like me. Masters of subtlety and stealth. Able to slip in and out with no one knowing we were ever there. And then there are agents like you.” “You mean bad ones?” “No. I mean agents who specialize in subterfuge. You have an innate ability to unite ponies. Though the reason you unite them is not always the truth. You are the type of agent who can cause a civilian uprising to turn over a corrupt government. Making it seem like we played no part at all and that the ponies just got fed up with how they were being treated. You lead them, but, most often, not directly.” Cherish fell silent, contemplating his words. She had never felt like a leader at all. In fact, it had been the conductor who rallied the unicorns at her behest. Maybe he was right. She looked up at him and nodded as if she understood. “Alright, we should all grab some sleep. We’ve got a bit before we arrive so now’s the best time.” Without protest from his two companions they all leaned their heads back, closing their eyes each struggling with a mind full of very different thoughts. One anticipating just how he was best going to deal with the alliance of nations facing them, another pondering her future in an organization she was unsure she belonged in. The final doing his best to quell the nightmares that would plague him for years to come, screams of ponies trapped in their homes as they burned. Silently, he wiped a tear from his face. His acting days were long gone and life had come at him quickly, thrusting him into a position of cruelty he had never even dreamed of occupying. Letting out a deep breath he cleared his mind and did his best to find sleep.