//------------------------------// // 3: A New Nightmare // Story: Crossed Gears // by TheFoxern //------------------------------// The click of tools; it was comforting. When was the last time that he had built something? It was so very comforting. It was amazing. It gave him time to think; to get his thoughts together. Papers littered his desk covered in drawings and sketches. Suddenly something was off. Something had just changed and he looked up. “I said...what are you doing?” “Oh! Scootaloo,” Copper said with a smile. “Oh you would not believe the day I have had, the things-” “Copper...have you slept at all? You don't look like you've slept.” She moved towards him slowly,. “And...what the hell are all these?” She started picking up papers. “Notes... I'm trying out some things that I was inspired by when watching the movies...” He turned back down to the things he had collected. “Movies...right…” She sounded skeptical. “How many movies did you watch?” She picked up pieces of things. “Oh Scootaloo...movies...” He ran a hand through his hair. “Movies movies movies. Cinema. Film. It's all so fascinating. The things you could do with this technology... Education, entertainment-” he stopped, looking at her. “Of course you already use it for those purposes and more... It's...I can't even describe it.” He shifted things around the desk. “You have given up magic in exchange for technology... You can do things that replace magic...” She raised an eyebrow at him. “Have you slept at all?” she said again. He hesitated a moment and then shook his head. “No... I've not slept since I got here...which would have been...” His face scrunched as he tried to think. “Two days ago,” she said, frowning. Time was such a fickle thing. He'd shifted back and forth a few times. Don Burrasca had left him alone after that and no pony had even been in to talk to him. He'd spent the time just sleeping. Recovering. That damned switching. What triggers the shifts... It's not time. It's not events. It was all just random. He placed his hands over his face. Suddenly he was tired. Physically. He was mentally rested, but that was because of his other self. At least he had decided that he would refer to the other world as other and the current as the current one. It made sense in his head. Probably impossible to explain. But everything was impossible to explain. The movies had not helped him figure that out. It had just caused his mind to wander. “Right...then I suppose it's time to sleep...” She nodded as she moved over to a large closet and when she opened it, of all things, a bed fell out. “I managed to get you a meeting later tonight. I'll...I'll come back and wake you later.” He stared at the bed as he approached. “Yeah...thanks...” He looked at her, her arms folded in front of her. “Really. Thank you, Scootaloo.” He smiled at her. “For everything. I honestly don't know where I would be right now without you...” “Hmph... Well, just remember that if you ever snap back,” she said as she made her way out. “I'll see you later, Copper.” The door closed fairly softly. His gaze was pulled back to the bed, staring at it. Bed sounded good. Sleep sounded good. His bodies could not keep up with his mind going back and forth. He pulled his shirt off with some struggle. Clothing was still so new and difficult to do. He flexed his wing and spread it as far as he could. It was oddly heavier, but at the same time lighter. This body was strong and had been through a lot. How rough had this body had it compared to his other one? How had this body lost his wing? He would have to ask Scootaloo. Oh how soft the bed was. What was it filled with? Was it just his tiredness that made it seem so soft? His eyes closed and he was out when he hit the pillow. ~ Sand, that was what he saw. But it was taking shape. After just a few moments, his dreamscape was just as he wanted it. How he liked it. But with one major difference. There was a large projector sitting on a sideways turned gear, pointing off into the distance. He had given the projectionist four dollars to let him look at it and talk with him about it. He would have to figure out how it worked. How much did they cost? “Oho? What do we have here?” A shiver ran down his spine. “Nightmare...” he said and turned. And it was Nightmare. But...different somehow. “Mmm?” She drifted towards him. She seemed less solid, but oddly more...beautiful. She trailed smoke as she moved forward. Was she weaker, or stronger here? “You know who I am, little pony?” She reached for him, but the ground underneath him shifted and he pulled away from her. “Of course I know you. Or know somepony like you.” “Like me?” She moved closer again, though she did not try to touch this time. “But I am unique... Oh but so are you...” She took a deep breath and everything dimmed slightly. “You are not from here. Body of this world, but not in mind or spirit. Mmm...” She took another breath and the light dimmed further, before she exhaled. “Such strength...” “You are different than the one I know…” Copper said slowly. “The difference is obviously strength, but I do not know whether it is more or less...” She reached out for him, though she was too far to touch him. “You have my mark... The mark of a vessel...but you have never been broken. Such strength you contain...but I have no need of vessels anymore.” His brow wrinkled slightly, staring at her. “What do you mean?” He was sure now that this Nightmare was much more powerful. “I can pass in and out of your world at my leisure...from the subconscious-” ~ His eyes snapped open and there she was, in the center of the room, stretching out large wings. The horn atop her head glowed softly. “To the conscious... I am impressed you managed to follow me so easily.” He sat up, staring at her. His gun was back in the drawer. He would not make that mistake again. “What do you want?” “I want to know you,” she said, sitting at the edge of the bed. “I felt you enter my world of dreams. Such power you wield. When most sleep, it is like a pebble dropping into the ocean. But for you...” She leaned towards him, smiling slightly. “For you...it was as if the moon came crashing down.” Again she reached out and ran her fingers over his chest. He swallowed, staring at her. “You want to know me?” Thoughts of striking her came to mind. Here she seemed quite physical. Her fingers actually felt warm. In his dreams when Nightmare had touched him, it had burned with cold. “Oh yes,” she said, scooting closer to him. She had this odd look of child like wonder. “Uhm...” He stared a moment and cleared his throat. It had just occurred to him that she was quite lacking in the clothing department. “All right...what do you want to know?” “Everything,” she said, leaning still further. He stared, focusing on her eyes. “Well...I'll make you a deal...I'll answer your questions, if you answer mine.” He had always been curious of Nightmare and this was too good of a chance to pass up. But the grin on her face was quite unsettling. “All right. I shall go first.” “Wait,” he said, raising a hand. “Not here. I need to sleep and so I would think it best to do this in my dreamscape.” Her brow rose. “Oho?” She licked her lips. “All right.” ~ That made his head spin, but he was back in his land of gears. And there she was again. “Ok... Me first,” she said, sitting in the air in front of him. “Who are you?” He blinked, his mind raced a moment. Of course she wouldn't know who he was. “My name is Copper Feather.” “Mmm...Copper Feather...” She was twisting oddly in the air. “Yes...now...hm...” He frowned slightly. Where to start? “What are you?” The grin on her face extended too far up her face, revealing far too many sharp teeth. “I am the manifestation of nightmares. The physical entity. Bad dreams do not simply leave...they linger. They persist. They feed on good dreams if you let them. My turn. Where are you from?” He opened his mouth and then closed it again, deciding to be vague. “Equestria.” Her head twisted round in a disturbing fashion. “So...you are a bad dream, that has eaten other bad dreams?” “Yes and no... I am the worst dream. The one that is dreamed the most. The one that terrifies all.” “Death,” he said, staring at her. “Precisely. The fear of death is persistent everywhere. I was born by that fear.” Copper thought on this and was surprised Nightmare was actually allowing him time to. Then came her question. “Do you fear death?” His eyes snapped to her and he smiled. “No. I do not fear death. Not anymore.” “Why not?” “Ah, no. It's my turn to ask.” She folded her arms in front of her. He thought for a moment, looking at her. “How can you manifest out of the dreamscape?” Did she seem more smoke like now, or was she always like that? “Can the Nightmare you know not? Mmm...well it used to be that I could only walk your world in a vessel, but those burn out.” She was a lot more talkative than the Nightmare he knew and much more willing to give knowledge, but it was probably circumstantial. “So I sought a way to escape entirely. I merely need someone who is asleep and I use them to come out. It is not easily done, takes a lot of power and they must want me to be real. Usually I simply trick them...but they stay asleep...they cannot chase me as you did. Now. Why do you not fear death?” Copper was making mental notes, wondering if they would be helpful, or harmful to his other self. “I have died before. It was painful. But I did so out of choice. After that I just...never felt the fear of death again.” She nodded slightly. She was becoming solid again, taking the shape she had on the bed once more. “You do not fear death...but you do fear.” It was partially a question but mostly a statement. He decided to ignore it, but he was running out of questions to ask now. She had given him so much to think about it was starting to get hard to think of new ones. Then something came into his head. “What are your goals?” ~ Eyes open, staring at the flap of the tent which was still closed. He took in a deep breath, though slowly. There was not so much pain now; there was just an ache. He felt as though he had simply been in a fight. His mind wandered to what he had been doing. He had been awake for a few hours and was waiting for somepony to come and bring him his food. To his surprise, Gilda appeared. He blinked slowly, staring at her. “Hello, Gilda.” She frowned at him as she entered, placing a bag onto the bed. He knew it was filled with oats. “Don’t hello me. You are driving my father insane.” “Oh?” He smiled as he shuffled to get the bag open. It was a diet he was used to. “How am I doing that?” “Why don't you just escape already? Since you apparently have some sort of plan already,” she said, sitting down. He chuckled and looked at her. “Oh I see. Then it is working.” “I-” she stopped, her brow wrinkling. “Do you even have a plan?” “Do I need one?” Copper said as he laid on his side, looking at her. He could not lay on his stomach or back. But the side was fine. “I mean honestly, everything is going according to his plan. Why would I need to escape?” “So…” Her brow furrowed. “You don't have a plan?” “Who knows?” He again nibbled into the bag of oats. “Perhaps I'm merely saying this to throw you off the trail. Now I'm suddenly denying having a plan, yet I have stated that I have one.” Her frown was quite large, matched with her glare; Copper had no doubt he was annoying her. “I...so you’re driving him crazy...” “Yes,” he said, nibbling oats. Was he just eating for something to distract himself? “The mind is such a fragile thing. I am instilling paranoia into his head, waiting for him to make a mistake, which he has made several. But...the proper mistake is what I am looking for.” “You’re playing a pretty dangerous game, you know.” She was staring at him and Copper couldn't help notice the slight admiration in her gaze. “You think the game I play is dangerous? You are in far more danger than I...” Already out of oats. “You continue to stay by his side.” “He is my dad.” “He murdered your mother,” he said, returning her glare full force. “Because he thought she might betray him. He had no proof. He had no reason. It was just his paranoia driving him to conclusions that had no reason. And no one said otherwise against him, for fear of retribution.” He watched her claws dig into the ground, her beak shut so tight he was waiting for cracks to form. “Shut up,” she finally said and walked to the exit. “I am glad to see you.” She stopped, but did not turn around. “I was glad you were all right when I saw you on the train all those years ago...and I am glad that you're still all right...” He laid his head down onto the bed. “But I fear for how much longer...” She did not answer and simply left. He reached back and touched the stub that stuck out the wing slit in her jacket. It did not feel like his jacket, despite her giving it to him. He closed his eyes and waited. He waited for something to happen. He only had to wait an hour, once the shouting had quieted. Don Burrasca stood in the entrance. “So this is your plan, hm? Make me think that you're going to escape and just sit and wait...” He approached him slowly, Copper could not ignore the blood on his claws. “Change your story back and forth. Claim you have a plan, deny you have a plan...” “Whose blood is that?” Copper asked conversationally. He raised a claw in front of his face and stared as though he'd never seen it before. “The money isn't worth it,” he said slowly. Copper had broken him. It had not taken as long as he had thought it would have, or hoped it would have. “I thought you valued money.” Copper knew he was in no physical shape to get in a fight. “You're too much of a headache... You...” Don Burrasca's claw slowly lowered and he stared at Copper. He began walking towards him slowly, breathing heavily. He rolled off the bed and to the floor just before Don Burrasca's claws hit the bed. He kicked upward with his least hurt leg, catching him under the beak. Then hit him in the stomach, before knocking him over to the side. He rolled and winced as he came back up on his hooves. “That worked a little too well...” The griffon was breathing heavily, clutching at his stomach. “Blag,” was the noise he made. Copper wasn't sure if that was an attempt at a word, or not. A thought in his head said, kill him. Copper hesitated. Don Burrasca was evil, plain and simple. He had killed, because he thought ponies might do something against him. Might cause a problem. Might do damage. Might be a threat. Put him out of his misery and yours. The world would be a better place without something like him. He turned and walked out of the tent. Sadly, it wasn't that simple. There would be something to take his place. Copper's bones were fairly strong, although he’d suffered a lack of flexibility with the amount of breaks and mends that he’d had. He was a tough pony, tougher than most pegasi. But that was little meaning when compared to a griffon going full speed. He felt his ribs crack at the force of the hit and rolled several feet. Through the haze of pain, he managed to make out the face of Gilda as she pinned him to the ground. She looked angry and yet surprised. “Copper?! Damn it, I thought you were him.” Her head snapped back to the tent. “Did you kill him?” Her eye swiveled to stare at him. He coughed, splattering her a bit with blood and she quickly moved off him. “No,” he wheezed. She manged to puncture a lung. He curled up, coughing again, splattering the snow red. “Damn it,” she said and made a loud cry of anger, before rushing into the tent. Copper rolled on the ground a bit, trying to find some sort of footing. “Och guid, he didnae murdurr ye!” He stared blankly into the bright, innocent eyes of Pots. “Though looks lik' he messed ye up ferr a lot. Alva, shift they hooves quicker lassie!” He could hear somepony rushing towards him. “He didn't land a hit,” he managed, “this was Gilda...” “Ah, aye. Girls oan th' war path richt nou. Don Burrasca gaed nuts, 'n' stairted butchering griffons 'n' ponies left 'n' richt.” Somepony came beside him and there was a bright light, followed by the uncomfortable shift of his ribs moving back into their right spot. “Now don't move. I don't think I have enough energy to fix you again,” a female voice said. His eyes began to see once again as the pain subsided. He looked at the pony and his mind went back to long ago, back to Froud Valley. “Changeling?” Copper said and she nodded. “Yes. Seems that's all that managed to survive. We're a lot tougher than ponies and I guess he thought we would go down easy...” She looked quite old, but for changelings you could never tell. “There's eight of us changelings. Two griffons, including Gilda. Three ponies, including yourself and Pop Pots.” “Three?” He was already feeling a lot better, but did not move as per instruction. It was always best to listen to pony doctors. “Yes. And no, it is not your conductor friend. He was found dead in the wreckage.” She needed work on her bedside manner. “One of Don Burrasca's grunts.” Gilda emerged from the tent, trying to glare at the whole world all at once. “He's gone. I couldn't have been a minute behind Copper leaving...” “Gone?” Now it was really hard to stay still. “How? I'm pretty sure I collapsed one of his lungs. And there's only one way out of that tent.” “Think I don't know that?!” She started slashing at the snow. “Calm doon lassie. He aye said he hud some kinda escape plan in case o' emergencies.” Pots was between Gilda and him, so he was unsure of Pots’s expression. But apparently it calmed her down a bit. Unfortunately, her anger quickly shifted to Copper, glaring at him as though it could pin him to the spot. He glanced at Alva, who was still focusing on him. He decided it was best to not move. “Why didn't you kill him?” He blinked. That was not what he was expecting. “I do not kill when there is another option.” “So you let him go?!” She went towards him, but found Pots in the way. “I was not aware that he had some sort of magical escape plan. Otherwise I would have incapacitated him.” He felt very vulnerable, laying in the snow. “So just calm down,” he said as he forced himself to relax, which wasn't easy as he could feel anger bubbling inside himself. “Easy for you to say. I have been waiting for a chance to take him out. This was the best chance I had and you just let him go, so stop lecturing me.” She was practically snarling at him. This was the same kind of anger that she had just before... “Or what?” he snapped, glaring at her. “You'll rip off my other wing? Finish the job?” He was fed up with her attitude, but that felt a little too far as everypony fell silent. The magic stopped and he stood up, dusting snow from Gilda’s coat. “Do not think that you can act like this to me, Gilda. I'm sorry, but you can't blame me for things that I could not have possibly known,” he said with a softer tone now. The situation was tense and he needed to calm it down, not aggravate it. She took several deep breaths, turning away from him. “Right...but now things are even more complicated... He's hurt. Off who knows where. With who knows who.” She turned back and froze. Everypony was standing motionless and it took Copper a moment to realize they were looking behind him. “Oh my. Is everywhere here this cold?” a familiar voice behind him said. He turned slowly, to see a large alicorn. She looked identical to Nightmare Moon, but without the armor the pictures had shown her in. Pitch black with a mane of the night sky. “Nightmare? But...how?” “You dragged me along,” she said as she walked slowly towards him, a bit wobbly. “Goodness, hooves are surprisingly difficult...mmm...” She pressed against Copper as she stood beside him, smiling at the rest of the group. “So many minds...similar but so different...” “Dragged you...what?” His mind raced as he tried to fit things together, but as she pressed her muzzle against his neck his mind went blank for a moment. She was being affectionate to him? “Oh yes. It would seem that I come with you when in your head...interesting, yes? Very interesting,” she said with a smile; she was using him for support while attempting to get used to standing on such legs. “Interesting is one way to put it,” he mumbled and looked at the group, who was still shocked into silence. “I'm not even going to explain, because even with her backing me up, you'd all think I was insane. This is Nightmare.” “Th' Nightmare? Th' actual Nightmare? Howfur?” Pots mumbled as he took a few steps back. “Not the Nightmare that I've spoken of,” Copper explained. He had to try and explain this without lying. Hopefully they did not ask too many questions, or it would be difficult to keep to the truth. He didn't want to lie to them. Especially not Gilda. “So a Nightmare...but not The Nightmare?” Gilda said slowly. She had heard of Nightmare. Most had at this point. “Yes,” he said simply. “But enough. We need to get to the Crystal Empire... What were your father’s plans for getting payment?” “There...there weren't any.” Gilda said, everypony was staring at Nightmare, who was staring at the sky. “He was going to wait until we were well away before even contacting Princess Celestia.” Copper frowned. That meant nopony knew where he was. To them he had just vanished. But the question was, whether to go to the Crystal Empire, or back to Canterlot. “Which is closer?” “Crystal empire is closer, ainlie a days hike. Bit if ye'r heading tae civilization than we'll hae tae pairt ways again, Copper,” Pots said, which pulled Copper's gaze to him. Pots had been an odd friend. The first time he had met him, he was trying to kill him. But that was because of a misunderstanding and since then he'd been nothing but a good friend. He sighed and nodded in response. “Understandable... Not much for you in civilized society,” he said with a smile, which Pots returned as a grin. “Richt yer. Th' empire is that wey,” he pointed off in what felt to Copper a random direction, “ah suggest heading ower,” again a seemingly random direction, “thare 'n' follaein th' tracks.” Copper nodded and glanced at Nightmare, who seemed almost euphoric. “Where are you gonna go?” “Me 'n' th' lassy git a guid deal gaun oan. She kens whaur ah will be whin she needs me.” He actually gave Gilda a sort of playful nudge, which she seemed very displeased upon receiving. That seemed to be the best answer he would get and he had to accept that. So he nodded and smiled at Pots. “I'll see you then.” Pots grinned at him. “Count oan it,” was all he got, before he trotted off into the distance. Copper noted he was going in the opposite direction of the tracks. He thought for a moment and then sighed. “Can you walk yet?” he said looking at Nightmare, who finally looked at him, smiling. “Hm? What's the matter? Are you not enjoying being so close to me?” she said as her smile widened. Copper had absolutely nothing to say to that. The fact was that she was very warm and it was pleasant, but at the same time it was slightly unnerving. He knew she was immensely powerful in the other world, but what sort of things could she actually do? She had had enough power to physically manifest herself... “We need to get going,” he said, avoiding answering the question all together, which made her grin. Now he turned his attention to Gilda, who was staring off towards the tracks. “I'm sorry I snapped,” he said, moving towards her. Nightmare stumbled to keep up with him. “I am too,” she said, taking a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Alva, please go and get everyone. We're heading out.” Alva nodded and headed off towards the tents. “What was your plan then?” Copper was curious as to what she was thinking. “He has been degrading. I've seen it coming for a long time. He's been slowly going insane. Making rash decisions. Paranoid that everyone was out to get him. I think the only reason he wasn't suspicious of me was that I was acting suspicious...acting like I was out to get him, because I was.” Copper was standing beside her now and Nightmare was stumbling behind, trying to catch up. “He was quite insane. Something has been inside his head,” Nightmare said as she sat down behind Copper. He looked back at her, arching a brow. “How do you know that?” “Oh,” she grinned at him, “I've done a bit of mental torture in my time. Somepony has been inside his head and they have not been gentle. His thought process was destroyed. Someone attempted to use him for their own ends and ended up breaking him I think. Or they did it for fun.” Gilda was looking back at her, too. But she was glaring. “And you could tell all that from inside Copper's head?” “I prodded into his head a bit. As I did yours.” Her grin moved to Gilda, who shifted uncomfortably. “So than you were attempting a coup and...I messed things up,” Copper said, frowning and staring off at the tracks. Surprisingly, the wreckage of the train was gone and the tracks looked fine. “Would it be possible to flag down a train?” “I could do it,” Nightmare breathed. She was suddenly very close, whispering into his ear, which twitched as he leaned away from her. “I could make a train stop...” “Could you do it without hurting anypony?” This actually seemed like a good idea. “You actually trust her?” Gilda said, staring at him. He shrugged and shook his head. “No. Not really. But I don't doubt she could do it. I'm asking her to do it gently...” He heard the crunching of several hooves as a group approached. He could spot the one regular pony in the group, who looked fairly beat up. “Oh I can be gentle,” she breathed, leaning from the other direction. “I can be so gentle...” Copper moved forward after standing up and clearing his throat. “Right then... You have a train manifest, when does the next one come?” He started to walk towards the tracks. Gilda followed him, as did Nightmare, though she struggled in the snow. “Yes, they were surprisingly quick to replace the train when it didn't come back, probably to check what happened and it's been running properly since then.” “Perfect.” Things were going right again. Hopefully this luck actually held up. “We've got less than an hour till the next train going to the Crystal Empire,” one of the changelings said and a piece of paper floated out off to the side of Copper. He glanced back at the eager changeling, reminded that he had quite a good reputation among changelings. He wasn't sure how he felt about that. “Thank you. Seems we're having good luck now...” Copper, Gilda and Nightmare walked in silence towards the tracks, but the changelings could not seem to stop chattering to one another, but it was to be expected. What stories about him had circulated amongst them? Gilda moved to speak with the other griffon, leaving Copper alone. He had to slow down to let Nightmare catch up; she was still struggling to walk properly. “You never did get a chance to answer my question,” he said conversationally as he let her lean against him. “Hm? Oh, about my goals? Mmm...” She looked thoughtful for a moment, staring off into the distance. “You mortals and your dreams. You want so much sometimes...but what are my goals? I suppose I do not have any... I was having so much fun living.” She looked at him, smiling. “Are we asking questions of each other again?” He gave a slight shrug. “If you would like.” “I would like that very much.” She sounded tired and worn out. She almost seemed docile now. Probably because of a loss of power; there was not as much fear in this world. “Well, I won’t count that as your question...so feel free,” he said, looking around to make sure that nopony was in earshot. “Why do you do it?” she said softly, her eyes half lidded. “I have seen your memories...but all they are are things that you have done. What drives you to keep doing it?” That was a good question, one which he didn't readily have an answer to. They were almost to the tracks before he had finally worked out an answer. “It isn't because I have to...it's because I can. It's because I don't want anypony to have to go through those things, so I put myself through them. Yes, others could do it. Some could do it better than I could hope. But I would rather take the pain myself. If I could I would do everything. I have thrown away my life twice and twice I have returned unscathed in the end. I don't know what else to do with myself. I'm retired. I have a home. I have more friends than I can count...and I don't want any of them to have to deal with the things I have. I dirty my hooves, so that others may stay clean.” He sat down in the snow a ways from the track. He was rambling now, but now that he started he couldn't seem to stop. “It took me a long time of thinking, staring at what I almost did to her and decided that I do what Celestia asks of me, because I adore her. I would be nothing without her. There was nothing I could do against her when the time came. And I even planned it so that I did nothing...because I knew if it came down to my decision, I would let her end me.” “You wish to take the world on your shoulders, because you can...because she asks you to?” Nightmare was sitting beside him, watching him with curiosity. “She asked me to be better. To do the things that are necessary for everypony to live happily. But it required so much sacrifice...and I am no closer to completing that goal than when I laid in that bed as a colt,” he said and then looked at her. “And that was two questions. Not fair,” he managed a smile. She gave him a small grin, “Oh but you were so willing to talk, I had to take advantage of it.” “Uhm... Copper?” He looked over to see one of the changelings standing a bit to the side, shuffling almost awkwardly. “The train is coming.” He blinked and then looked at Nightmare. “Well it's a tad ahead of schedule...but could you stop it for us? Gently.” Nightmare nodded and stood up. He looked over at where the train was, it was moving quite fast, though it was a fair distance away. But as Nightmare's horn glowed, he could hear the screech of the brakes. “There...stopped.” Copper looked and she was gone. But he could feel her back in his head, vaguely muttering to herself. It was a feeling he had come to be accustomed to; a weight in his mind that was not his own. The train came to a stop and he entered the lead train as the others headed into the back. He found himself in the middle of an argument, “-just flipped itself! And it's stuck! I can't get it to go,” a unicorn was saying. “Gentlecolts,” Copper said and wasn't surprised when both spun around. The other one in the car was a griffon, who was brandishing a shovel. “Sorry to stop you at such an inconvenient place.” Something compelled him to wave a hoof and so he did. The brake released itself. “But I was a tad stranded and didn't feel like walking.” “Copper Feather?!” the pony breathed, his eyes wide. The griffon was staring wide eyed at the brake and seemed stunned into silence. There seemed to be a vague sense of something in his head saying that he was welcome. “Yes. If you don't mind...” He slumped against the side of the train and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. The adrenaline was finally wearing off and he felt sore. “I'm just gonna sit here till we get to the Crystal Empire.” The pony pulled the griffon towards him and there was a rushed, quiet conversation that went on. Copper didn't bother paying any attention to it as he looked out the window. “Well I can't just sit idly by and not ask,” the griffon said and took a few steps towards him. “Why do you have a griffon coat? And why is it covered in blood?” “It's my blood,” Copper responded, giving him a calm look. “At least I'm fairly certain most of it is. I was a tad out of it when it was given to me.” He wondered what about it gave it away as a griffon coat, but than again he hadn't taken a very good look at it. He had never seen a coat like it before, but he was very out of the loop when it came to fashion. “It was a gift from a friend, who's also on the train. Along with one other griffon and nine ponies.” They looked at each other and it looked like the pony couldn't keep quiet anymore. “What happened? You were scheduled to arrive the day before yesterday. But the whole train just...vanished.” “Train robbery, courtesy of Don Burrasca.” Both of them froze and Copper waved a hoof vaguely. “He's gone.” He hesitated a moment and decided not to tell them about Gilda. “He had Pop Pots blow up the train. The conductor is dead.” That unasked question seemed to buzz in the air and immediately died. He watched as both of them removed their hats, staring out the window. “Pilot was a good conductor. His father was a conductor...” The pony seemed to be trying to come to terms with the news. It was surely difficult for them. Copper didn't know how well they would have known each other, but surely they were at least acquaintances. “I'm sorry,” he said, taking another deep breath. His body hurt as it warmed. His severe injuries were healed, but he would still have bruises and new scars everywhere. “I don't know if it was the explosion that killed him...or if it was Don Burrasca...” Despite what Alva said, he had the feeling that Don Burrasca would not have spared Pilot even with Copper's prompting. “And what of Pop Pots?” the griffon said and there was obvious anger building. Copper shook his head. “I don't know. Don Burrasca went crazy, started slaughtering his own men. Griffons and ponies... Either he fled, or was killed.” It wasn't good to have Pots as an open friend. He was a killer with a bad reputation, even if he didn't kill females or children. That didn't seem a good enough answer for either of them as they turned back to their equipment, obviously trying to distract themselves. Copper stood up again and moved out of the lead train, closing the door softly behind him. This train was different, obviously not built for this kind of route, but capable of making it. The places between cars was open to the air, not confined and covered like the other, so the cold was a bit of a surprise to him. He shivered as he quickly moved into the next car and hesitated a moment as he saw several ponies staring at him. He cleared his throat. “Sorry for the delay, but you were ahead of schedule and I needed a ride.” They were all staring at him and he realized that he must be quite a sight. Copper Feather, wearing a griffon coat covered in blood, who had been missing for over a day, along with an entire train, looking quite beat up. He was looking for an empty seat, or a pony he knew. But there was nopony in this car that he recognized, which was disappointing, but it was to be expected. Almost everyone he considered friends, were either in Canterlot, in Ponyville, or dead. That was an unpleasant thought. He moved to the next car, collecting a bit of snow on the way. He was quite surprised to find Gilda heading towards him when he entered. “There you are. Where's-” Copper shook his head. “Gone back.” “Well...she was really helpful... C'mon, the next car was fairly empty. That's where we're setting up,” she said as she turned and walked back towards the cabin. There was an annoying amount of murmuring going on. “Yes, I'm Copper Feather. No, not dead. And this is my blood on the coat,” he said as he followed her. He was surprised to find that she left the first door open for him and was holding the other door open for him, waiting for him to get into the car. There was a moment’s hesitation, could she be trying to trap him? But the changelings would side with him, so there was no way she could use them against him. But there was that other griffon and a pony, perhaps... He shook his head and closed the door before moving into the next car. Just as she said, it was mostly empty, but there were all the changelings and the other griffon and pony. He moved to an empty seat and laid down onto it. Was he really tired, or not? He was just beat up. There was no need for him to sleep, just to rest. Rest until they reached Crystal Empire.