//------------------------------// // Chapter 7 -- Clarity // Story: The Earth Ponies // by RomanCandle //------------------------------// Half Note's head shot up and her ears perked. What was...no. No, no way. Just keep walking. That's the best thing to do. The little Earth Pony began to sweat and tried to pick up her pace, trying to get a feel for the wobbly wood planks. It was so strange, being on something so unstable, and worrying wasn't going to help her any. Nope nope nope nope nope. One hoof in front of the other, just keep going. Firelock was trotting in place, biting her lip and looking back and forth from her friend to the edge of the bridge. Tornado was waving frantically and soon would be within earshot again. The little unicorn was torn between her options--run back and pool their chances at getting off safely, or run forward and guarantee her safety at least? She had no idea how far off the train was, which direction it was coming from, or how fast it was going. But she did know trains took a long advance notice to stop--they had to know there was an obstacle before they saw it, else they'd smash through--and no matter how sturdy a pony, tonnes of steel and coal would leave nothing more than a smear. She bit her lip and felt a tear tempt her eyelid. She didn't know any good magic yet, let alone anything strong enough to carry her friend or redirect the train. She cried out, once, loud, and took off running. Half Note looked up at the sounds of her friends distress, trying to ignore the shaking of her legs. The sight of one of her best friends running full speed away from her drained the blood from her face. More slowly than she could afford to, she looked up and saw a purple and greyish form spiraling down and gesturing back towards where they had come. Now that she was listening, she could just barely hear the sound of her friends voice, strained as though shouting. A high pitched whistle pierced the air and set her mane on edge and her pupils contract. She turned back forward and started moving as fast as she could stand--she slipped and almost got herself caught between two planks before regaining her balance. She couldn't see Firelock anywhere, and suddenly wanted to cry. She knew Tornado was too small to carry her, and there was nopony else around to help. Despair told her to give up, spare herself the effort that would only leave her dying tired; it told her to lay down and accept death with grace--or maybe just lay down and cry. She felt the tears sting her eyes and her knees wobble. Another emotion, one as of yet unnamed, slapped Despair in the face. The same emotion stared her in the eyes from the opposite side of the gorge and dared her, dared her to give up right there, and look like a coward to her friends. It challenged her to make Torando watch helplessly--to feel as helpless as she did now. The emotion told her death was the easy way out. It spat the word easy, like it were a curse. Half Note blinked back the tears and gritted her teeth. That wasn't her, and she wasn't about to let that be the last thing she was. She felt a fire in her veins and took off running. Tornado Bolt stopped spiraling downward and instead hovered and stared. She had watched Firelock run off the tracks, obviously distressed but able to make it off in time, and watched as Half Note had realized what was going on. She'd watched her friend panic, and had started panicking herself--what could she do? Now, though, she watched the shaky Earth Pony speed down the tracks like she were a locomotive herself, each hoof landing firmly on a plank of wood. Her heart jumped into her throat as she saw the train start to come round, pulling faster than any pony could hope to on hoof, aided by the power of coal and steam. It was still faster than Half Note. What to do what to do what to do... She stopped as a thought hit her. But for only a moment as she dove down, picking up speed as she hurtled towards her friend. Everypony knew that Pegasi manipulated the weather, and could bust clouds up with a good kick. Most, but not all ponies knew that, with just their wings, a flock of Pegasi could would and did lift up vast reserves of water to build clouds in order to distribute rain as needed. But very few truly understood the power that was needed to haul that much water. Granted, it was the strength of hundreds of Pegasi at once, but it was also all the water needed to fuel Equestria's weather for the year. But this was also just one pony she was trying to help move faster. Tornado Bolt felt the wind start pulling with her, filling in the vacuum behind her. She pulled out of her dive and flew above her running friend, feeling the air whoosh along side her. It wasn't much, she was sure, but putting the wind at her friends back was the least she could do--she was so close to safety, but not close enough. She swooped up and prepared for another loop. As she flipped around she saw the smoke and steam from the engine pulling around the edge of the forest. She closed her eyes, shook her head, and spun over for another dive. This time she pulled ahead and pumped her wings, trying to pull her friend forward with the air current. She turned her head back and felt her skin chill as she saw the trains engine pulling around the corner and nearing the bridge at a breakneck pace. She'd never thought a huge chunk of metal could ever move so fast--she had only ever seen them pulling in or out of the station, after all. She looked instead at her friend, not able to hide her grimace of worry. The little pink pony was looking dead ahead, eyes focused on the edge of the gorge. She seemed to be on fire, her face furrowed with determination as she pounded her way forward across the bridge, faster than Tornado Bolt would have thought possible. It looked like she was going to catch fire--to the point where she seemed to be glowing orange. The Pegasus filly turned back forward and streaked forwards to the end of the chasm and to safety, pulling off to the side and spinning quickly, knowing that she didn't have enough time for another pass and trying to create as much of a pulling force as she could. She closed her eyes as she twisted and felt the wake of the train. She did not feel a small body come land beside her, for there was none. She turned and cried out, tears falling from her eyes. Her voice was lost in the scream of metal that was tearing over where her friend had just been. She fell down and cried, beating the dirt with her hoof, screaming where nobody could hear her. She turned away from the murderous metal, unwilling to risk seeing the remains of her friend. Instead she looked towards the bushes where she saw a small orange and red form curled up and shaking. Tornado was shaking now too--but not from fear. She ran towards Firelock and started yelling, just far enough away from the train for her to hear her own words. "YOU! Why did you run? Why didn't you stay and HELP HER? Maybe, just maybe, she would have made it! You coward!" She reached down and grabbed the other filly by the shoulders, pulling her up and shaking her as she screamed, eyes closed to try to stave off the unrelenting tears. "Now she's dead! DEAD, Firelock, and it's your fault! We could have stayed home, but you had to prove a *hic* POINT.*hic ARE YOU LISTENING?" Tornado Bolt opened her eyes and glared furiously at her friend through her hiccups and tears. Firelock returned the stare with eyes rolled back in her head, hung limply along her shoulders. Her horn was still glowing, though--a pale orange shimmer of magic. One eyelid twitched. The caboose of the train pulled away and off the gorge, fading rapidly into the background and taking the noise with it. Tornado let go of the unconscious Unicorn and backpedaled, whimpering. It was then that she turned around, where she saw Half Note panting on the other side of the tracks--exhausted, but alive. And surrounded by a faint orange glow to match that of Firelocks horn. The pink Earth Pony ran over while Tornado Bolt gaped, unable to form a coherent thought or word. She felt like fainting. "Hey! You guys are okay!" She got within spitting distance of the inert Unicorn before the glow around her horn extinguished and Firelock's eyes rolled back to their olive green irises before snapping shut tight as she immediately began gasping and coughing terribly, accompanied by a small nosebleed. "Woah, what happened to her? I thought she got off the tracks first?" Firelock opened one eye to stare at her friend and spoke between racking coughs. "I knew HACK HACK BLARCK Magic was never my talent." More rib-wracking coughs. "That was HORRRRK-AKBLAKACK an emotion spell, one my mom helped BLAKRACKHACK--ugh. Write. HACK I think HACK HACK HACK--I think I need a nap." She curled up into a ball and kept coughing. Half Note turned to Tornado Bolt, an eyebrow raised in query. "I...I think she used some kind of spell to help you cross faster. I don't know, I found her passed out and I thought you were dead and so I was yelling but then I thought she was dead too and and and I thought you were all dead..." The Pegasus foal took her head between her hooves and let herself fall in the grass beside her orange friend and started to cry. Half Note was shaking herself. She never, ever wanted to brush that close with death, ever again. She looked at her friends, collapsed on the ground, each dealing with their respective miseries. She looked at the sun--no longer high in the sky, it was casting long shadows as it neared the horizon. Normally they'd still be walking for an hour or two. But then this wasn't a normal day. Half Note opened her saddlebags and laid a blanket over her shivering friends, then began to pitch the tent for the night.