//------------------------------// // Hijack Alert // Story: Last Train to Stirrup Halt // by Packet //------------------------------// Luna’s moon shone brightly in the cloudless night sky, bathing the equestrian countryside in a dim white light. Out in the woods just north of Trottingham the moonlight seeped through the gaps created by the tree branches and leaves, creating a series of random kaleidoscope like patterns on the road that ran through that area. The peacefulness of the night was soon disturbed by the sounds of two stallions travelling through the woods with a heavily loaded cart, which creaked and groaned under the weight of its load of five reinforced steel boxes as its wheels dipped in and out of the many potholes which had appeared in the roads surface over the natural course of time. Despite this rough treatment, the boxes were securely roped down to the flat surface of the cart, preventing them from moving. The differences between the two stallions who were escorting the load were quite apparent just from face value. Stobart was almost a giant of a unicorn, with a pale green coat and a rather untidy black crop of hair. His well built body showed off his immense strength, though he normally shrugged this off by stating that he was just big boned. His strength however was his greatest asset when it came to his work as a delivery colt. Despite being the only pony attached to the cart he was pulling it with relative ease, not even straining his body to far when he’d had to pull it up some of the steep roads he’d encountered during the journey. Moneybags was the slimmer of the two. This was mainly due to him working as a manager for the Royal Bank of Equestria. His pale ochre coat stood out against his suit jacket shirt and tie he wore, his blonde hair sat light and fluffy on his head and a pair of thin wire framed spectacle sat on the end of his muzzle. He’d never had the chance to properly build up his muscles since he’d wasn’t one to take part in heavy, laborious tasks. Instead he spent most of his days sat behind his desk in the bank at Trottingham, sorting out customer’s problems, responding to letters and keeping his staff in order. To see him partaking in a delivery was a very rare sight for anyone who knew him well, but Moneybags felt it was his duty to oversee this delivery since the shipment was being held in Trottingham overnight and had personally arranged to travel with the shipment on its journey to Canterlot. Having met Stobart with the cart the day before, they’d spent most of the day travelling in a bid to arrive in Trottingham before night fall. Having proved unsuccessful, the two of them had to continue on their journey in the dark, which was beginning to play on Moneybag’s mind. Every shadow seemed to take on a more sinister look. The two of them stopped to have a brief rest of their hooves at a fork in the road they were travelling on. Stobart let out a sigh as he felt the weight of the cart lift off his shoulders as he sat down “It must be an important shipment for you to come along, Mr Moneybags. Usually it’s just me on these simple delivery runs; helps to calm suspicion about the load you know, not having any guards around and taking a different route every time” Moneybags was quite thankful of the conversation, as it helped distract him from the slightly unnerving surroundings “Every shipment’s important Stobart, but this one especially. How far are we from Trottingham?” The stallion looked down at the small stone signpost at the side of the road, ‘Trottingham, ½ Mile’. He scratched his chin with his hoof as he calculated in his head roughly how fast they were travelling “Well, if I’m correct we should be there in roughly half an hour” He gave a great heave on the cart once more as they started walking once more and turned down the track that would take them to Trottingham. No sooner had they left the fork in the road when two Pegasi stallions stepped out from amongst the trees at the side of the road. Both of them were wearing thick black jumpers and balaclavas to make their bodies show up less in the darkness. They both nodded to each other and slowly began to creep after them on hoof. Stepping on a twig without realising, Moneybags stopped and immediately jumped around to look behind himself like a startled rabbit. “W-What was that?” A hint of panic was now present in his voice. Stobart chuckled “Nervous, Sir?” “I’m sure I can hear somepony though, listen” The natural sounds the woods enveloped them once more, but after a few seconds Stobart’s ears pricked up as he realised he could hear the sound of two sets of hoofsteps off in the distance, very faintly. “They could just be ponies lost in the woods” Moneybags checked his watch “At 11 o’clock at night?” “Look” Stobart smirked, playing on Moneybags fear “If it’ll make you feel any better you can ride on the cart, it’s not like you can add that much weight to the load!” No sooner had he finished speaking and Moneybags was already sat on top of the iron boxes, still looking back along the road they’d travelled. “Well come on then” Moneybags said, a hint of panic still in his voice “You’d better start getting some speed on if we still want to get to Trottingham within the half hour” Further down the road a single pale blue earth pony mare was sat in the middle of the road, dressed in a thick black jumper and balaclava, tightly pulled up to her eyes. She raised a pair of binoculars to her eyes and looked down the road as the noise of the approaching cart became audible. Making certain it was the correct cart and not just some wandering traveller pony she waved towards the bushes at the side of the road. As she lowered her hoof an earth pony colt walked out from the bushes, pulling a large, empty cart out with him and dragging it into position across the road, blocking it to traffic. The trap was set. Seeing the two Pegasi behind them taking off and flying close to ground level behind them, Moneybags spoke up again. “I’m certain they’re still following us” he leaned over from the back of the cart to the front to make his voice clearer to Stobart “Can’t you pull this cart any faster?” “I’m using all my strength now, Sir!” Stobart gave a great heave on the cart again, breaking out into a run. The two pegasi flapped their wings more as they increased their speed to keep up with the cart. Moneybags still retained his position looking ahead, acting like a backseat driver to Stobart. “There’s something ahead in the road. I think we should stop” “No Sir, it looks like an Ambush! Hold tight, I’ve got an idea!” And Stobart began racing forward even faster, his horn beginning to glow a florescent green as he began to use his magic. “Dammit Stobart, stop!” Moneybags bellowed as the cart jolted, causing him to fall back onto the metal chests. The two ponies by the cart shared a panicked glance with each other through their balaclavas as they saw the sight of Stobart now charging straight for them, horn glowing. Looking into each other eyes they both realised the same thing, he wasn’t going to stop! They quickly dived back into the bushes at the side of the road for their safety. With a bright flash, Stobart, Moneybags and the loaded cart disappeared, catching the two pegasi by surprise. Unable to stop in time they smashed into the cart drawn across the road, causing their bodies to flail around like rag dolls as they lost control on impact. With a bright green flash, the fountain square of Trottingham was illuminated for a split second as the forms of Stobart, Moneybags and the cart materialised a few feet above the ground. They fell to the ground with a loud thud, the chassis of the cart snapping from the stress of the landing. Stobart had fallen out of the harness as he fell, landing on his back on the small patch of grass that ran around the edge of the fountain basin, breathing heavily. Having to cast such a powerful spell combined with charging with the loaded cart had taken all the strength out of him. “Are…are you alright…Moneybags?” Stobart gasped, staring up at the starlit sky. “”Yes” Moneybags replied, a hint of disgust in his voice as he looked for any damage to his suit “I’m fine” “Well, they couldn’t stop us, that’s a spell that they tell us only use when it looks like an ambush is imminent. We showed them alright!” Money bags picked his weak body up off of the ground and brushed the dirt from his suit jacket “You certainly did, Stobart. You certainly did!”