The stars above their head lightened the invisible path before their eyes, the cold sands beneath their hooves covering all their surroundings. Every couple of minutes they could see a cactus at a side of the road before rushing past it in silence. The sole sound of hooves hitting sand was a silent conversation that felt so much more natural and comforting that Silk's awkward attempts at starting a conversation. Hoarfrost would glare at him and Rail would try his hardest at maintaining himself out of it, to keep his mind calm as ever. Nervous stares at the ground had become normal by then, even when they had stayed together for a very short span of time; it had been more than enough for the three of them to know better than to start any discussions.
Well, that might have been correct if it weren't for the fact that Silk Thread had zoned out and was literally being dragged around by Frost and Railroad. The mare, fed up with the situation, decided to bring him back into consciousness the hard way.
"Move for once, for goodness sake!" she harshly shouted at him, as loudly as she could. Even Railroad jumped at the yell, but calmed down immediately. "If you're coming with us, couldn't you collaborate!?"
Railroad left out a tiny chuckle before saying: "To be fair, we never asked him if he wanted to—"
"Quiet and pulling, you," she dismissively said to Railroad. "Hey, porcelain hooves, can't you pull!? You've been out of it for a very long time... and I won't have any of it! You're such a lazy—"
"Aren't you wasting energy shouting at him?" asked Railroad, aiming for a rhetoric question.
Hoarfrost shot him a dark, gloomy glance for a moment before shaking her head as Railroad directed his gaze towards the ground. "I do what I want. You'll let me do what I want or else—"
"I just don't want any fights here," Railroad said quietly. "We're all seeking something, aren't we? And I'm sure we're not seeking any fights. Just calm down and carry on. The sooner you put it behind, the sooner it'll stop bothering you."
Without much of a surprise, Silk regained his consciousness and immediately continued his duty of pulling the cart.
"You're always so calm, Rail, even after what has happened," he said, smiling a little.
"Well, there isn't much sense in making such a fuss about thing you can't change, that's what I believe." Railroad returned to his silent stance, observing the distant empty horizon with his jaw half-open.
"I agree with you," said Rail. "Plus—"
"You two, couldn't you just pull harder? I've got little time and I don't pretend to waste it on listening to you two talk about your lives," she said, not even bothering to face the two. The indignation in her voice was so solid you could grab it and throw it against the ground and it would probably stay the same. "Maybe later I will, but now time is scarce."
Silk nodded slowly, then, his voice going lower than usual, his ears dropping to the side. "Ah, I understand. Can I... ask you something, Frost?"
"Not now. Maybe later I'll try to answer you."
They continued to canter down their path in silence once again, all of them moving their eyes back and forth. No one wanted to speak again, but they all felt like they needed it. It would help them to calm down, to think, to vent about what was bothering them. The tension between the three, the fact that nopony knew eachother, how much their personalities and goals differed, it all made them a little hesitant to interact.
After a long silence, Silk spoke up again: in a soft, almost inaudible whisper. "Rail, what's up with Hoarfrost?" he said, trying to maintain his tone low enough so the mare at the other side of the conductor couldn't hear him. "Do you know why is she like this?"
"Umm, Hoarfrost, dear," Railroad said in the most calming and neutral voice he could muster. "Why don't you just stop pulling for a moment? Just go back and take a break," he continued, hesitating a little on the fact of talking to her. He knew that she was more than just a bit unstable and impulsive. "You'll be far better, don't you think...?"
"And leave you two pulling the cart as you banter?"
"Trust us: we'll reach out destination as fast as we can."
She sighed in resignation before answering in a raspy voice. "I don't have time to disagree with you. Go on; but do it, or else..."
Silk and Railroad gulped at the same time. Hoarfrost didn't seem to be in favor of the idea, but she did it anyway. The cart slowed down, a small hill of sand forming in front of the wheels.
In a pair of stomps, she turned around and jumped over the wooden cart, landing on all fours. With a short groan, she lied down over the rudimentary planks before leaving out a relieved sigh. She needed to rest after having too many thoughts about what was expecting her.
Another long patch of time passed, the two stallions pulling the carts, avoiding looking at eachother. There was nothing but the sound of sand in the background and the dim light of the stars over their heads lighting their path.
Silk was the first to speak up, or to whisper up, better said. "She's asleep already. Rail, I—"
"I only know her for around half a day," said Railroad, his voice serious and firm out of a sudden. "I know she's looking for somepony but I have no idea of why or what for. I really didn't want to ask her," he continued, a slight tone of understanding appearing on his voice just seconds after.
"Umm, Rail..."
"Yes, Silk? Is there something wrong?" Rail asked as he tried to widen his steps. He unconsciously started skipping over the sand, his hooves digging deep into the cold sands underneath them.
Silk Thread hesitated a bit before asking: "Where will you go now? You know, after... all of this..."
Railroad waited a moment before answering, thinking. "I think I'll go back to work for Jubilee, like in the old times," he replied, joyful. "You know that I live in Dodge, right? Because I remember saying that to you when we first met."
"Yes, I do remember that," Silk replied. "How could I forget that...?" So he'll stay there. Ah, Appleoosa, why can't I reach you? Why can't I...?
"And what about you, Silk? Weren't you going to Appleoosa?" the conductor asked, curious. "It's kind of far from here. Why are you going there again?"
Silk gulped, not sure of where to direct his gaze. After a pair of failed attempts, he managed to give an answer. "I've got an acquaintance there that will help me with something. Maybe I haven't told you, but she—"
Railroad gave Silk a knowing look before saying: "Ah, so she'll 'help' you with 'something,' huh?" Railroad proceeded to laugh before speaking up again. "Shouldn't you spend more time with your... acquaintance?" After saying that last word, he gave Silk a wink and a soft nudge.
"It's not that, Rail," the other stallion answered, a tad more serious than he would've liked.
"Oh, of course it isn't..." Rail said, barely containing a chuckle.
He directed his gaze towards the other stallion in silence, noticing how his expression still seemed to be worried about something, before asking something else: "You have another question, don't you?"
"It isn't a question, I just..." said Silk, his voice barely audible over the sound of the sands. His voice expressed his confusion, together with his wish to know what was going on exactly. "It's just a thought about something. I can't get it out of my mind."
"About what?" asked Silk, before smirking and jokingly biting his lip. "Try not to think about her too much, Hoarfrost might see—"
Silk cut Railroad off, forcing his voice over the joking voice of the train conductor. "Rail, do you what happened in that town?"
"Ah, that..." Rail replied, trying to go back to his serious tone. He thought for a long while, his eyes lost in the sky, before answering: "As far as I know, it has always been empty, or at least it has been like that for a very long time..."
"Rail, I met a mare there," said Silk, his voice gloomy.
"Didn't you have your acquaintance?" asked Railroad, a tiny bit baffled. "Wait, did you leave her behind?"
"Rail, the mare I just met is dead," Silk said without much of a thought.
The statement hit Rail like bricks, the conductor stopping in his tracks with an utterly baffled expression in his face. "Did you... Did you kill her?" he asked, not believing Silk in the slightest. As soon as he saw him nod lightly, he left out a sigh, but not one of relief. He spoke up again, his tone strong and raspy, sounding nothing like his normally easygoing voice. "Because if you did..." he said, giving a step towards Silk, silent fury in his eyes. "I you did, I swear I'll—"
"Rail, calm down, please," said Silk, giving a step back. "I haven't hurt anypony. She was... tied down..." he tried to explain, Rail still over him, as if he were to jump over him and curb-stomp him at any second. His voice went quiet again, but in the silence of the night, if was loud enough for Rail to make out the words without any trouble. "She was tied down with chains, and she spoke to me about taking care of foals..."
Rail shook his head before speaking up. "I had never heard of this place..." he said, a little bit lost in the conversation. "Wait, she spoke to you? She was alive?"
"Of course she was, Rail." Silk began to pull the cart once again, sighing. "I really mean it: I saw her dead in front of a doorstep, I saw her blood make a trail from another house."
"I s-see..." was the only thing Rail could reply. Silk had seen somepony die, or at least in the presence of a dying pony, and it hadn't affected him one bit. He only wished he could do that.
"I also found a note in another house about taking care of foals, Rail," said the travelling stallion, directing his gaze towards the eyes of the conductor. Silence. "There also was a dead stallion in there."
Railroad didn't answer past that point. He just stared at the horizon in silence, pushing like there was nothing else to take care of. Behind the two stallions, Hoarfrost wakes up, stretching in inaudible quietness. She had heard something about a dead mare close to the area, and her interest was picked. She decided to hear the stallions’ conversation before jumping into conclusions.
The same sky had been present over them for what seemed to be the longest time. The monotonous task of pulling a cart across the desert at night was beginning to take its toll, as the two stallions began to feel the weight of boredom pulling them down into lethargy. They were both observing the sky like it was the most interesting and amazing thing ever, Silk mumbling made-up names of constellations beneath his breath. Hoarfrost considered going back to sleep, and almost managed to do so, just by looking at them lazily trot forward with no apparent direction. The desert didn't chance, no matter in what direction they looked. Armed with nothing but Railroad's knowledge of the area, the three of them embarked in a quest, one that not one of the trio knew what it would bring once it was over.
They only knew it was something they had to do.
"What a beautiful sky," Railroad absent-mindedly said, his eyes still lost in the starry sky. The particular shade of purple of the late night sky, together with the surprising brightness of the stars in that area of Equestria, made the sky a great attraction and distraction. He could literally feel Silk's gaze as he spoke. "Do you think the two are related? You know... That the note meant that the mare..." He couldn't bring himself to completing the phrase. Even as a calm, level-headed stallion, he couldn't think of death as something normal. It had always been his greatest fear, to see death in front of his eyes. "That mare you saw die was the one taking care of the foals? And what about them?"
Hoarfrost's ears perked up at the mention of the deceased mare.
"I just don't know, Rail..." Silk sighed before and after answering. He, in a way, felt responsible for the mare's demise. "There was a photo there, in the house of the note, and I just can't place everything in where it belongs. It's just too much."
"How many foals are involved here?" asked Rail, his voice sounding oddly concerned.
"I have no idea. It's just..." said Silk, feeling his energy leave him slowly as he pressed himself forward. "At least three. Yes, at least three foals are either dead or dying."
"Three..." said Railroad, sounding offended by Silk's sheer disinterest on the foals’ fate. "But are you sure this note is about that mare?" Rail was very concerned about the foals, up until the point where Silk had to ask him if he was going to turn back into the town and check every home to see if he could find something. Only when he informed Railroad that he had already done so, he said he wouldn't.
"Yeah, I think it's about Blizzard..." replied Silk, hanging his head low.
Hoarfrost gasped softly after hearing the name. A mixture of feelings and emotions exploded in her mind.
"Blizzard?" asked Rail, a little bit confused. "I have never heard that name before."
Hoarfrost gnashed her teeth together before asking, in the voice of fury: "Who?"
Silk tried to change the topic, but to no avail. He tried to greet her formally, but she couldn't have cared less about that. She only cared about the words, not who emitted them. "Hoarfrost, you're—"
The mare jumped down from the cart and, in a second, she was beside Silk. "I asked something," she said, loudly, not really caring about personal space. "Who is that mare?"
Silk Thread, with a slight fear on his voice, replied: "B-Blizzard."
"Blizzard."
A tiny silence was had before Hoarfrost deeply growled beneath her breath. She raised her head towards the sky after it, talking to the two stallions as if she was making a very important announcement. "You two, pull like nothing else matters. I really mean it this time." She directed her head towards Silk, not lowering her volume at all. The result was her shouting into Silk's ear: "Silky hooves, is Blizzard dead? Are you sure that she has passed away?"
"If it's her—"
Hoarfrost slowly nodded, her eyes expressing an inextinguishable fire of ire burning inside of them. "I need to speak to Rain. Yes, speak..." she said, before chuckling darkly.
Silk pressed himself against Rail accidentally, the two of them looking at eachother's eyes in nervousness. "Rail, I'm scared..." the travelled whispered.
"I'm scared as well," the conductor replied back. "Just run like your life depends on it. Today, your life does depend on it."
"Rain..." said Hoarfrost, her eyes lost, an appearance of total insanity in her entire body. Suddenly, she screamed with all of her might towards the sky: "Rain!"
I've got the worst feeling about all of this. Hooves, legs, it's showtime...
"You'll pay!" she screamed again, her voice audibly struck by the intensity of her shouts. She cleared her throat and mumbled something about that it would surely be sore the day after it.
She's a volcano of pure fury. If I even direct a word to her, she'll surely kill me... thought Silk, his eyes nervously jumping all over the place. He separated himself from Railroad and assumed his position before starting an accelerated gallop.
Judging by the speed of their travel and Railroad's knowledge of the area's geography, they would reach the.ir destination in maybe an hour. The two stallions were thirsty and would surely drop to the sands in exhaustion once they arrived in Dodge City. Hoarfrost, by her side, was being fueled by sheer fury and probably wouldn't run out of energy in a very long time.
And so, the three galloped for a very long time, the monotonous ambient making the task last an eternity. In their eyes, the mix of dark, cold sand and distant stars in the sky; in their ears, the sound of their hooves hitting the sand, the sound of the cart being dragged. No chilliness whatsoever, their throats dry, begging for water, which was nowhere to be found. In their minds, nothing but the mission of reaching their destination. It will be over soon, they repeated in their minds.
I've been running for way too long... I swear if I keep at this I'll be sore and tired for days... For how longer is this going to continue...? Are we even getting closer? "Are we there yet?" exclaimed Silk beneath his breath, without realizing he had talked out loud.
"We could have been there already if you really were pulling!" the mare shouted back, her sight lost in the middle of nowhere, expressing a deep disorder in her thoughts. The sheer bitterness in her voice made Silk jump.
"Y-yes!" he shouted in nervousness and fear, before accelerating his pace a little. Hoarfrost and Railroad followed without a word.
The sky slowly shifted away from the dim purple of the night towards the faint blue of dawn, the stars vanishing as dusk set over their heads. The moment where the stars disappeared, emptiness taking its place in the skies, was a solemn, peaceful moment, even with the undeniable tiredness that roamed free in their minds and bodies. The three felt their minds clear, trying to draw attention to how an event as simple as dusk could be such a good way of reaching quietness and peace. Dodge was nowhere to be found by then, as Rail hadn't said a thing about anything in the horizon, but none of the three bothered to say or think anything about it. All they wanted was to reach their destination and just do whatever they could, no matter how useless.
After another long while of silence, Rail finally said something:
"There it is."
Hoarfrost had been coughing profusely and almost shouted her lungs out with excitement: "Go, go, go! I'm not stopping any soon!"
Hoarfrost is totally psyched, remarked Silk on his mind, even his inner thoughts sounding absolutely beat. If I dare to stop, she'll probably zap me with her magic before rushing out like a madmare. Her fury is... it's horrifying. I have never seen somepony so angry before...
"Move those legs, Silk, or we're getting killed!" shouted Railroad, jokingly, his exhaustion making his voice difficult to decipher.
"Is that literal?" asked Silk, not truly wanting an answer. He at times lost focus on his legs and felt like he was about to trip and be left behind.
"Yes, it is!" shouted Hoarfrost, her heart pounding faster than a pneumatic drill. Her voice was raspy and sounded little like a mare, together with being a tad difficult to understand, but the sheer intensity of it made it difficult to ignore. "So move your porcelain hooves or I'll bury you right here, right now!"
"Gah!" exclaimed Silk in a deep dread. Hoarfrost was capable of anything in that moment. "I d-don't want to get killed!" he yelled, trying his best at diminishing his panting. He tried to go faster once again, his steps becoming even more spread and separated. At times he felt like he was flying.
"That's better," said the mare, before growling. "Raise those hooves; I want to see you giving the longest steps you can give!"
"Yes, ma'am!" the traveler shouted back, nervous. The sheer speed of his galloping both amazed and scared him.
More silence. The situation's tension seemed infinite, rising every second. With each step, they felt closer to their goal, even when the rest of their goings knew that they weren't even close. They were approaching their destination, yes, but still were a far way until they could reach it. Blindly, they hoped that they somehow appeared in their destination with no explanation whatsoever: they wouldn't be against it, at all.
Silk, after mouthing some gasps and panting for a moment, asked: "Hoarfrost, where are you going?"
"I need to speak to Rain," she replied, her voice oddly calm, despite how tired she was due to running for such a long time. "I'll be joining you, filly hooves, after this, so do stick around. I really need to see somepony else after this."
"You'll go with me?" asked the traveling pony, baffled. "But I'm going to Appleoosa and—"
"I heard you two have your conversation. I know where you are going to," she replied as if it were total and completely normal. "Don't act like it's weird, you two speak loudly," she explained, chuckling a bit.
They rapidly approached the city, the sands turning more and more arid as they advanced. The sky was still totally empty, but an almost imperceptible radiance slowly grew in the border of the horizon. The houses of the place were similar to the ones in the town before, but were much more numerous and organized. By the looks of it, nopony was awake yet. The sound of the cart being pulled echoed through the road, the trail of their journey disappearing in the distance.
They had arrived at last. They stopped their rush in an intersection, a long moment being spent in nothing but panting and giving eachother triumphant looks. Rail was the first to speak up.
"I'll go visit Jubilee for some time. I think I need to start over, and there's not a better single thing that can make that happen than working for Cherry Jubilee. I guess that this is here where our roads bifurcate," he mumbled beneath his breath, his tone nostalgic. "It's been a pleasure being with you, especially you, Silk. You're a very nice stallion with a quest that I only hope you can finish." He proceeded to give the traveler a firm hug, before speaking up again. He walked towards the mare and nuzzled her before saying: "As for you, dear Frost, I hope that everything that can go well goes well. May nothing but happiness burst through your barn's door."
"Thank you, Rail. I hope the best for you too," said the other two at unison, grinning. They all felt like their quest was truly over. Well, at least Rail and Hoarfrost thought so.
"Alright, time to set things straight," said Hoarfrost to nopony in particular, hyping up once again. Her voice was dark and anticipating, a strange fascination with the situation being evident. "It's time for the truth, and if there's no truth, I'll make my own truth! Rain, I hope you have missed me."
The mare walked away, giving large, determined steps, a malicious chuckle beneath her breath. After some seconds, she disappeared.
"Rail, please don't go away right now," said Silk out of a sudden, clinging to the train conductor. "I think I... I think I might need to be with somepony for a while."
"Well, I won't be going anywhere right now, partner," he replied in his typical cheery tone. "I'm somewhat interested in knowing how did Hoarfrost's encounter go. With the determination she had, I can only hope it goes well."
"So you aren't going to Jubilee's right away? Ah, I don't know how to thank you," said Silk, sighing in relief.
"But of course I won't. It's very early in the morning and everypony's either asleep or just waking up. We're at dawn just now."
"Oh, you're right..." Silk let the stallion go and stood in all fours once again. Suddenly, the sound of glass being shattered propagated throughout the silent city ambient. "Was that Hoarfrost?"
"I hope not..." answered the conductor. "Ah, Silk... Why is that, that thing that you need to be with somepony?"
"It's n-nothing, just that..."
"Is there something bothering you? Is about that deceased mare and her foals?" Rail asked, genuinely interested. "Because it's about her, I'm also struck—"
"Rail, I think I might have had the chance to save her," said Silk, his voice barely strong enough for Rail to understand him. "I think that it's my fault. I was scared, I just wanted to run... and now she's dead." He stopped for a moment to gulp, before continuing, his voice even more affected than before: "Those little foals are probably starving right now and I—"
"Silk, try to calm down," said the older stallion, giving him a friendly look.
"—I can't stand it. I just can't stand it," said the traveling stallion, his voice breaking. "Knowing that I should have done something, that whatever I might have done would have been enough..."
"Silk Thread, try not to put too much pressure on you," stated Rail, his voice sounding a tad more serious and demanding. "You know very well that the fact that she's gone now has nothing to do with you."
"Rail, you didn't hear her beg for her life to be saved. You didn't hear the hope in her voice," said Silk, his voice erratic and impulsive. It jumped in tone out of a sudden and was much faster than usual. He sighed before saying: "You... you don't understand why I am so affected by this. I have seen things, Rail, things that I can't wish even to the worst of my enemies, things that—"
Growling, Rail just slapped the rambling colt back to sense. The sound of the hit echoed through the roads of the city, with nothing but silence following. "Silk! Listen to what I say. You aren't the first and you won't be the last pony to have that situation happen to him," he said, his voice sounding supporting and reassuring. "I understand that you feel it's all your fault, I really do, but I've learnt to leave what's painful behind. I have been taught to hold on to what you feel like it makes your life better and to leave whatever mires you away from you."
"But I—"
"No buts here. Now, answer me this simple question: why are you so shaken by it?" Silk sounded far too serious for him, almost sounding threatening.
"Rail, I care about everyone. That mare was screaming in agony, and the chains tore her bones apart," explained the colt, rubbing his struck cheek with a hoof. "You have no idea of how much it hurt for me to see her lying on the sand after a while. I just tried to pass her up and... and forget about her."
Rail gave him a firm glare, not believing him too much. "And nothing else? Just your love for everything and everyone."
"Y-yes," replied the traveler, nervously.
"I don't believe you at all," replied Rail, his voice really serious, sounding nothing like his usual self. "Now, Silk Thread, be honest with me: is there something else bothering you? Anything? Because you seem to have been carrying a weight over you and I'll be damned if I don't try to knock it off you."
"You don't want to know, Rail, you don't..."
"Of course I do. Please, tell me, if it's nothing too personal." Rail gave a step forward, looking at Silk right in the eyes.
"Rail, I..."
"Yes, what? I can't force your words out."
"I have..." Silk sighed, turning his head towards the sky. The glow in the horizon has grown enough and the sky was slightly tinted blue.
"Come on, boy, make an effort. You want those thoughts out? Then put those words out," Rail said, putting ones of his hooves behind the head of the traveling pony.
"I have a memory, Rail."
"And?" asked Rail, not surprised. "Everypony has memories. Wait..." he continued, realizing something in his mind. "Is that mare your... is she a relative of yours?"
"No, it isn't that..." said Silk, nervously moving his eyes between the leaning stallion and the sky. "Rail, I think I might have done something horrible in the past," he finally said, his voice apologetic, hanging his head, his mane obscuring his eyes and his insecure frown.
Rail got serious out of a sudden. He got closer to Silk, sounding more like an interrogator than a friend. "Killing, am I right?"
Silk spoke up, his voice shaking in desperation. "Please don't get furious with me, Rail, I don't want to lose—"
"You're not denying it."
"I swear I didn't want for it to happen! I'm not even sure if it did happen. I’m just too confused." As soon as Rail let go of Silk, the traveler started to pace around, his steps being poorly coordinated, with no pattern whatsoever.
"Well, then do speak up. I will listen to you closely, very closely..." Rail followed the stallion around, never letting him get too far away.
"Please don't stand so close to me. You're scaring me," said the traveler, feeling persecuted. His nerves didn't let him think correctly.
"You are the one scaring me," replied the train conductor. "The thought of knowing you've murdered somepony else is horrifying, I can barely bring myself to stand in front of a... of a murderer. A murderer like you."
"Rail, I didn't kill anypony—"
"But you just said that—"
"I know what I said," Silk replied, sounding like he was regretting all of his actions in the past year. "Listen, Railroad, I'm being dead serious here: I think I might have somepony else's memories in my mind."
"Is such a thing even possible?" asked Railroad, his curiosity overpowering his indignation.
"I don't know. All I know is that sometimes I hear and see things that I have never ever experienced, and I swear I'm not insane."
"I'm sorry, but that does sound like insanity—"
"I'm not crazy! I'm not crazy! I'm not, I tell you! This is real, I swear I'm not insane!" shouted the traveling stallion, clinging to Rail with both hooves.
"It's difficult to believe you when you act like this..."
Silk immediately noticed his strange behavior and separated himself from the stallion, leaving out a nervous laugh. "I'm sorry. As I was saying, lately I... I've had a voice talking to me lately. It speaks to me as a watcher, someone who has been looking into my actions and feelings but can't comprehend what's happening."
"Maybe it's another personality?" the conductor asked, meaning his question to be rhetoric. "I've heard some awful things about that."
This is starting to make sense. Silk has my voice in his head, and that's why he has been so confused in his actions lately. If I have to be honest...
"I'm sure I have nothing wrong in my head," replied Silk, offended. "Rail, I beg you, you have to believe me: I have somepony else's memories in thoughts in my head. They're talking right now, right now, in this very instant!"
"And... and what are they saying?" asked the conductor, a little reluctantly. He still took the entire situation more as a joke than anything else.
Maybe the vision of the couple being murdered is part of someone else's memories as well? Could it be part of Silk's actions?
"It asks about how I—"
Silk suddenly cut his message, his eyes glued to nothingness. His jaw was wide open and his ears had dropped to the sides.
"Yes, Silk?" asked Rail. "Umm, Silk?" he asked again, a little bit more of concern in his voice. "Silk? Are you there?" asked the conductor, moving his hoof in front of Silk's eyes. "Partner, are you alright...? He's out of it." He shouted next to his ear in a last attempt to bring him back. "Answer me!"
"Rail," said Silk, with no emotion in his voice.
"I'm here. What's wrong with you?" asked Rail, very concerned about the mental coherence of his friend.
"Rail, I'm a killer."
"W-what?"
"I killed a married couple to find information. I killed a married couple." His eyes expressed a deep shock and disappointment, almost like he had found out that everything he knew and loved was a lie.
"Silk, don't lose it. Hold on to your sanity!" exclaimed the older stallion, holding Silk's head between his hooves.
"I killed, Silk, I killed. I murdered, I ended two lives." All life in his voice had disappeared, leaving nothing but a husk behind.
"S-Silk!" shouted the conductor, giving Silk another slap, this one far stronger than the last. "Get a hold of yourself!" he yelled at him, accidentally spitting over him.
"Don't you hate me? Don't you want to end my existence?" asked Silk, his whole being not back yet.
"Both yes and no, but that's no topic now! Tell me where we are."
"Dodge City," replied the traveler, his eyes not focusing on anything at all. "I'm supposed to meet a mare that will give me something very important. After that, I'll return to Canterlot to explore."
"Wait, what? Are you going to Canterlot right after going to Appleoosa? What happened?" asked Rail, concern returning to his voice.
"Everypony's gone, Railroad. They all disappeared," Silk replied, his voice flat and monotonous.
"Silk, be logical!" shouted the conductor, his gaze glued to Silk's jaw. "If such a thing could even happen, everypony would know right away, or am I wrong?"
"Rail... Rail, I'm not joking..." said Silk, his voice still low and almost lacking energy.
"I won't believe a word you say," said Rail, a stern tone in his voice.
"Rail, listen to me... I beg you..." Silk said, hanging his head low, resting his body against the older stallion. His voice sounded urgent and worried, almost like he was having a battle in his mind. "Most of Canterlot disappeared one night; I don't even know what happened. When I woke up, Canterlot was a ghost town—"
"Don't waste energy rambling, mate. Just calm down and breathe, everything will be fine."
"Rail, please..."
"Say, shouldn't we go check on Hoarfrost?" Railroad asked, his voice returning to normal. He gave a step back, lowering his chest in expectation.
"I don't think we should—"
"Oh, but pf course we should!" he exclaimed in excitement, managing to get below the traveling stallion, launching him up in the air, making him end up on the conductor's back, his hooves not reaching down the ground anymore. He skipped before breaking into a canter. "Let's go!"
"Rail, wait...!" shouted the involuntarily lifted stallion, his voice expressing a little bit of fear. "Didn't you see how furious she was? She will—"
Rail laughed for a moment as he skipped down the road, before saying: "Don't worry, she wasn't furious: she was impatient and with good reason: she had been stranded in that town hall for a very long time."
"Rail, didn't you see the ire in her eyes when I mentioned Blizzard?" Silk asked, his voice echoing through the city's walls. "Something's wrong, and I don't think we should interfere..."
"Don't worry, partner," assured Rail, his cheery voice being the only sound in the quiet dawn. "Plus, if something's going wrong, we can make it better!"
"Your optimism is sickening but I feel obligated to agree..."
"Well, I see the house with the broken window. It's obvious that she is there."
"She'll kill us if she sees us..."
"Hold on, do you hear that?" the train conductor asked, his ears perked up. "That's Hoarfrost panting." With a playful giggle, he said: "I know what's going on in there. Better leave them alone—"
"Rail, don't," said Silk out of a sudden, raising his head in attention. "That's not the kind of panting you'd expect. She's terrified," he continued talking, almost explaining it to Rail as if he were a small colt. "Something is going horribly wrong. Rail, can you jump through the window without injuring yourself with the glass shards?"
The referred stallion jumped, making Silk spin over his back, the younger stallion ending up with his front legs wrapped around Rail's neck, his back legs firmly fixed to the conductor's flanks. "I'll try," he said, his tone serious once again. The older stallion gave a step back, pawing at the sand. In sight went back and forth between his front hooves and the window.
"Hold on a moment, don't jump," asked Silk, abruptly. He took a deep breath before shouting: "Hoarfrost, are you there!?"
There was no reply, a long patch of time spent in silence.
Rail stomped at the ground a few times before lunging himself forward, towards the window, with a technique worthy of a rodeo contestant.
"No, Rail, wait—!" Silk stopped shouting when he realized that not a single glass shard dug into his coat. The sound of their landing was muffled and way softer than what they expected. An instant of silence was had before Rail managed to see Hoarfrost in the corner of his eye.
"Hoarfrost!" he exclaimed with pure joy. "So sorry for the loud entrance. We thought you were having some problems and we— what is this thing we're standing on?"
Hoarfrost looked in deep horror at the hooves of the two stallions, not reacting to Rail's immediate hospitality. As soon as they moved their hooves around a bit, she tried to stop them, but her body didn't respond. The two stallions realized that the floor below them was warm and moist, together with very irregular. "Rail, S-Silk, I—" She tried to speak, but couldn't think of anything to say. Silently, she pleaded for them not to look down.
Silk lowered his head, noticing on what he was standing. He immediately raised one of his hooves and put it against Rail's jaw, saying: "Rail, don't look down. Don't do it—"
"Why? Is there something I—?" The train conductor managed to knock Silk's hoof aside and stared right down, not knowing what to expect. "It's a dead stallion," he stated, without processing it too much.
"Hoarfrost—"
"Hoarfrost, what do you think happened here?" Railroad asked, checking the room for anything his imagination could come up with. He jumped down from the corpse and continued to walk around the room in confusion.
"I don't know, I just wish it hadn't happened..." Hoarfrost, for the first time, sounded lost and sorry.
"Frost, is this—?" No, wait, wrong question at the wrong moment.
"He has been dead for a very short while. Maybe he died right before we arrived here," observed Rail, the seriousness in his voice unnerving Silk. He examined the corpse very closely, his eyes passing over every detail he could appreciate. He extended a hoof, moving one of the legs of the deceased stallion. "He can still bend with no problem and the blood hasn't formed scars yet."
"Yes, he was dead when I arrived," said Hoarfrost, sounding completely broken inside. Her eyes were fixed on the dead body, her ears dropped to the sides, moving her tail from side to side.
Sweet... Celestia. Hoarfrost has murdered who can only be Rain. We have to get out of here before somepony finds out...
"Silk, we have to get out of here," said the mare, raising her head. It seemed like she was trying her hardest to come back to her rough, secure appearance. She directed herself towards the door, raising her hoof. "We're as out-of-place in this town as a zebra in Manehattan."
"Isn't that a little disrespectful, dear?" asked Railroad, a little bit confused.
"And misinformed?" Silk added. "Zebras’ integration to the Manehattan population has been one of the best in Equestria."
The mare shot a zap of magic to the lock, which ended up covered in ice. She slammed her hoof against it, the lock shattering, and the door opening. "There's no time and we've got to run!" she shouted, opening the door in an instant, preparing herself for another frenzied run. "Silk, get to the cart! We have to escape as fast as we can. If nopony sees us, perfect."
Silk took a deep breath.
The two burst through the door and made run for the cart, not bothering to say goodbye to Rail. As soon as they reached and positioned themselves to pull the cart, Rail appeared right by their sides, with a sheer amount of determination in his face.
"Railroad!?" both Silk and Hoarfrost asked, not believing it. "Weren't you going to stay in Dodge!?"
"When my friends need a hoof, no matter how big or small, I'll give it to them," he explained, smiling. "Now let's go, before they start to think Hoarfrost killed him."
I know she did kill him... She's in fear and she seemed to be very capable to kill a stallion in her infuriated state.
Hoarfrost, also for the first time, blushed and gazed at the sky dreamily. In the distance, the sun could be seen rising in the firmament, its radiance painting the sand with its golden glimmer.
"All set!?" asked the train conductor, giving his partners a determined grin.
"Set!"
"Let's go! Nothing is more important than running in this moment!"
With that having been said, they started to trot away from Dodge, the cart behind them giving the sound of the sands they had listened to for a very long time just an hour ago.
"Do you two have your belongings with you?"
"I know I do! Hoarfrost, how about yours?"
"Coat-colored saddlebags! It's all in there!" The mare shot a smile to her journey partners, before giggling like a schoolfilly.
"Perfect, my friends, now let's go!" Railroad shouted, smiling in an almost oneiric excitement and enthusiasm. "Onwards to Appleoosa! We'll reach it in no time if we keep this up."