//------------------------------// // II: The Magnificent Six // Story: The Good, the Bad, and the Ponies // by Sharp Spark //------------------------------// “You have got to be kidding,” Rainbow Dash said. Applejack reached down to pick up one of the necklaces and prod at it tentatively. “What kinda stunt are you tryin’ to pull?” She glared at the inset gem, shaped in the form of an apple but cloudy white in color and more than a little scuffed. With a growl she tossed the necklace back into the box. “What’s that supposed to be? Glass?” Twilight blinked. “No, they’re the Elements of Harmony. Don’t you—” “Elements of Hogwash, s’more like it.” Applejack narrowed her eyes as she studied Twilight’s expression. “I didn’t come here for shiny trinkets.” “Then you won’t mind if I take your share,” Rarity said smoothly, as her magic aura lifted the tiara up so she could appraise it. “Gaudy, yes, but if it’s real gold it could perhaps be melted down and repurposed.” “Even if you put them all together, that’s not a lot to work with,” Pinkie said, a dour frown on her face. “And you’re assuming they’re not copper underneath.” “Well, I am not leaving empty-hoofed,” Rainbow said. Fluttershy turned away from the crate to face Rainbow. “You’re not leaving at all.” One hoof slowly raised her knife. “Not until—” “Girls!” Twilight shouted. They all turned to her again, and Twilight wilted a little under the five expressions focused on her, ranging from dismissive to outright annoyed. “Just… just put them on?” Rarity promptly floated the tiara up to her head. “Hey!” Twilight said. “That one’s mine!” Rarity raised an eyebrow. “Well, someone certainly fancies herself a princess.” “Ugh.” Twilight frowned. “You’re supposed to take the one that has your cutie mark on it.” Several sets of hooves reached down into the crate. “Mine’s missing the cloud part,” Rainbow Dash groused. Twilight shook her head. “Now everyone put theirs on,” she said, as she doffed her hat and reached out with her magic to lift the tiara off Rarity’s head and onto her own. “See?” Fluttershy looked down at the milky-white butterfly enclosed in the golden necklace. “See what?” “Don’t you feel any different?” Twilight asked. She smiled brightly at the other ponies, who shifted their hooves uneasily. After a moment of silence, Pinkie spoke up. “I’m a little hungry, I guess.” “Embarrassed at this clashing dreadfully with my attire,” Rarity chimed in. “Annoyed,” Applejack said. “Now are you sure there ain’t a different crate of gold ‘round here somewhere?” Twilight’s face fell. “This wasn’t supposed to be how this worked,” she said, as tears welled up in her eyes. “It took me so long to track you girls down, and I tried so hard to have everything just right and to bring everypony together and...” Her words trailed away into soft mumbling in between teary sniffs. Applejack and Rarity shared a disbelieving glance, and Applejack mouthed some words, gesturing at Rarity and then Twilight. Rarity smirked, and Applejack turned to Rainbow Dash, who looked bored. Gritting her teeth, she glanced at Pinkie, who was already shaking her head 'no' violently. She sighed and steeled her resolve before noticing another pony had beaten her to the task. Fluttershy stepped forward and gingerly laid a hoof across Twilight’s shoulders, pulling her close. “Hey,” she said. “Um. It’s… it’s going to be okay?” Twilight looked up through wet eyes. Her breath caught as for the briefest of moments she saw a flicker in the gem on Fluttershy’s necklace. It didn’t last, but it was unmistakable, and Twilight’s eyes grew wide. “Eep!” Fluttershy said, freezing as Twilight grabbed her in a tight hug. She roughly pushed the unicorn away. “W-what’s wrong with you?” “I think I get it!” Twilight said. “Everything’s going to be okay.” Fluttershy took a step back as Rainbow Dash snickered. “We just need to stick together and—” Twilight hesitated, taking in the frowns that statement had brought. A cunning plan took form in her head. “And I’ll make sure you get all the bits you can carry.” Applejack shook her head. “How dumb do you think we are? We just shot up the better part of a train, and the law doesn’t look too kindly on that. I think I better get while the gettin’s good.” “No! You don’t understand, I am a personal advisor to Governor Celestia herself. I can get you all pardons. And plenty of compensation.” Applejack raised an eyebrow dubiously, not noticing the flicker of interest in Rarity’s eyes. “You know what?” Rainbow Dash said. “That just sounds super. We can stay and throw a slumber party and promise to be best pony friends forever.” “Yes!” Twilight said, clopping her hooves together excitedly. “Or no, better idea: I could ditch the lot of you.“ Without a look back, Rainbow rocketed up into the air, leaving behind a prismatic contrail as she flew through the gaping hole in the roof. To her credit, Fluttershy was the first to recover, springing up in pursuit. “No! We—” Twilight was abruptly cut off as Rarity leapt forward to wrap both hooves around her torso, the two of them disappearing with a pop of light blue magic. Pinkie and Applejack were left behind, the two earth ponies alone in the remains of a thoroughly shot-up supply car. Applejack threw her stetson to the ground in frustration. “Consarn it! Talk about a bust of a heist.” Pinkie ignored her, trotting over to peer out through a hole in the wall as the scenery rushed past. “We’re going pretty fast, huh?” Applejack grimaced as she trudged over to pick up her hat again. “Yeah, I reckon’. The engineer must be in a hurry.” “Too fast to jump off?” Applejack joined her to look out at the desert blazing by. They had to be going eighty, ninety— maybe even a hundred miles an hour. She shook her head. “Not if you like keepin’ your bones on the inside. Just wait till we get to Dodge Junction and slip off then. We mighta poked the hornet’s nest, but they won’t be buzzin’ round quite yet.” Pinkie looked askance at Applejack, her expression unreadable. “Dodge Junction’s not too far off now.” “Eeyup.” “And a little bit before you get to town, you gotta cross over Ghastly Gorge.” “Eeyup.” “Where that big bridge was.” “Ee—” Applejack blinked. “Wait. Was?” “Was.” --- Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but grin as she blasted out of the supply car into the open sky. Finally, she could take flight and leave those losers behind. Sure, she came away from the whole endeavor empty-hooved, but sometimes you gotta choose your battles. And the day was still young! She tucked in her wings and leveled out, relishing the push of the wind against her feathers for a brief moment before falling into a shallow dive to maintain pace with the speeding train. The big cargo mystery might have been a hoax, but she knew Blueblood. He wasn’t one to let a single bit slip past his grasp, and so chances were he’d have his crew round up the passengers to relieve them of any jewelry and valuables. In which case, by now, he was probably sitting on a nice little nest egg while most of his men were off chasing down the big-cargo-that-wasn’t. The sap was as controlling and paranoid as all get-out, but Rainbow Dash wasn’t afraid of a cityslicker with a big gun, a stallion almost certainly overcompensating for— “Rainbow Dash!” She heard the yell behind her and didn’t even look back. Her tightly-closed lips curved into a grin and she pushed herself harder, the wind whipping past her wings as she reveled in the speed. Fluttershy was a dangerous pony in many ways, but she didn’t have a chance in Tartarus of keeping up with the Rainbow Dash, fastest wings in the West. Flutters probably couldn’t even keep pace with the train at this speed, meaning Rainbow would have plenty of time to pop in, give Blueblood a quick and deadly surprise, and then hightail it for greener pastures. Yeah. Rainbow Dash had everything figured out. Behind her she heard a piercing whistle. It didn’t so much as faze her, but the responding screech from above set off alarm bells in her head. Then, a heavy weight slammed into her side, and Rainbow Dash found her flight abruptly impeded by a ball of razor-sharp talons and inordinate rage. She couldn’t help but scream as sharp pain lanced through her left wing, and she rolled on her side, kicking out in vain at the hawk that was tearing at her body. That turned out to be less than her best idea. Her flight form interrupted, she fell through the air, dropping like a rock towards the ground, still at close to her top speed. In a panic, her wings snapped open, causing a fresh wave of agony but managing to temporarily dislodge the hawk. Unfortunately, the abrupt action also jerked her body into an uncontrolled twist. The last thing she saw was the plate-glass windows of one of the train’s observation cars rising up in front of her. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to tuck in her wings as she crashed through, pain exploding in her body before the blackness took her. --- With a flash of blue, Rarity and Twilight materialized in the caboose, causing the junior-assistant engineer on duty to trip over his own hooves and tumble across the car in shock. It only took a moment before Rarity’s vision stopped spinning and she had him covered with a derringer. A quick glance was all that was necessary to have him read and classified as harmless before she turned her gun on Twilight. Twilight, who was staring at her with big, round eyes. “You can teleport?” Rarity gritted her teeth, already feeling the headache coming on. Twice in one day was stupid, but she didn’t have many options. “It always helps to have a few tricks up your sleeve.” “But the energy expenditure for not just one but two ponies should be remarkable, and I could only detect roughly a fifth of—” She halted, mid-thought and broke out into a sunny smile. “Wait, you didn’t teleport us any distance, you just kept our position constant and let the train move past us. How clever!” She glanced out the open back doorway of the caboose, seeing the tracks stretching out behind them. “Uh. Though that was close.” “Yes, well. Whatever.” She gestured with a derringer. “The important thing is that you’re coming with me, as soon as I work out a way to get us off this train.” She looked out the back again with a grimace. “Obviously I can’t count on those two to show up on time,” she muttered before turning to the engineer still cowering at the back of the train. “You! Can you disengage this car from the rest of the train?” “N-no… Not while we’re moving.” Rarity’s glare caused him to curl up in a shaking ball, both hooves wrapped around his head. She sighed. “Stallions.” “I’m not going anywhere without the rest of the girls,” Twilight said, staring right into her eyes with conviction. Rarity shivered and glanced away. “You don’t have much choice in the matter, darling.” She flourished her derringer again. “You’re my golden ticket, so let’s just do this the easy way, hm?” “Ticket to what?” “I don’t know about all the nonsense you were rambling about earlier, but you were telling the truth about being connected to Governor Celestia.” Rarity smirked. “I’ve heard the rumors.” “Rumors?” Rarity’s brows furrowed as her eyes met Twilight’s again. Those purple eyes were still shining with innocent sincerity. “Nevermind. Suffice it to say, I’m sure she’ll be willing to accede to my demands. Non-sequential bits— No. Gemstones. Easier to transport, harder to track. Yes, that’ll be a fine start.” Twilight frowned. “Is that all you care about? Money?” Rarity’s lip curled back in a sneer, but she fell silent, the witty retort dying in her mouth. The only sounds in the caboose came from the clatter of wheels against rails and the soft whimpering from the engineer. “There is one other thing.” Rarity’s lips pursed as her eyes focused on the wall behind Twilight. “As Governor, Celestia should be able to grant clemency. A pardon for a stallion wrongfully convicted. But it’d have to be discreet. No throwing him back in jail or getting him lynched as soon as I’m out of state.” Twilight’s head tilted, the question unasked. Rarity sighed. “He goes by Big Macintosh. I think he’s currently being held in Foalsom State Prison.” She frowned. “What? Why are you grinning like that? Stop it!” She poked Twilight in the chest with her derringer, and then glanced down, trying to figure out what the crazy unicorn was staring at. All she saw was the gaudy jewelry she was still wearing. Twilight brushed past her, headed towards the door leading further up the train. “C’mon Rarity. We need to catch up with the others.” “What?” Rarity stamped a hoof. “No! I’m the one with the gun here. I’ll… I’ll shoot you!” Twilight kept trotting. “No you won’t. Don’t worry. I’m going to fix this. For all of us. For Big Mac. For Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom.” Rarity’s mouth dropped open. “How did you know— Who are you?” Twilight looked back over her shoulder, still smiling. “A friend.” --- “We ain’t got time for this!” Applejack shouted. Growling, she stood up from behind the wooden bench and zeroed in with her shotgun. The first shot struck a bow-tied pony square in the chest, the force lifting him up off his hooves before he collapsed back down into an unmoving pile. The second just barely missed the other pony. She could practically see the buckshot part his mane as he ducked behind a bench of his own. And then she saw the door to the next car fly open, and two more ponies rush in. She dove down again as the reinforcements fired in her direction, slumping down with her back against the wood. Bullets whistled overhead. The pink mare next to her raised an eyebrow. “Get rid a’ one and two more show up,” Applejack muttered. “I feel like I’m at one of them shootin’ galleries at the county fair.” “At this rate there’s no way we’ll get to the locomotive in time,” Pinkie said. “Don’tcha think I know that?” Applejack felt around in her bag to grab some more cartridges, loading one up and tucking a few more into her hat. “Maybe if somepony else would lend a hoof.” “Alright. But no complaints.” Pinkie’s head popped up, peeking over the wooden seat. “I’ll just— Eep!” A bullet cut a hole in her poofy mane as she hastily dropped back down. “You think you could get ‘em to stop shooting for a minute?” “How d’ya expect me to do that?” Pinkie shrugged. “Improvise?” Applejack let out a sigh, then took a deep breath. “Hey y’all!” she shouted out. “Reckon we could take a quick breather?” The gunshots faded away, leaving behind a suspicious silence. A voice piped up. “Why?” “S’all yours,” Applejack whispered in a low voice, but when she turned to see what the pink mare was doing, she froze. Pinkie had a short-fused stick of dynamite in one hoof and a lit match in the other. “I got you a present!” she yelled, fluidly rising to stand on her back hooves. “Catch!” With an underhoofed throw, she pitched the dynamite towards the front of the car, where a surprised stallion just about dropped his pistol as he clumsily juggled between his hooves. Pinkie hit the deck, and Applejack barely had the presence of mind to jam her hooves over her ears. The explosion wasn’t quite as fiery as Applejack would have expected, but the concussive shockwave hit like a ton of bricks. It blew past the two with enough force that she was pretty certain it would have sent their makeshift wooden cover flying had the seat not been bolted to the floor. As it was, it left her ears ringing and head spinning. “What in the—” “Nuh uh,” Pinkie said. “No complaining. You wanted fast, not clean.” Applejack cautiously peeked over the seat. The other half of the car wasn’t much more than a black scorch mark, with no sign of the ponies that had been there a moment ago. She stood, settling her stetson back on her head. “Let’s get movin’, then.” --- The steel of the blade felt icy cold, gripped between Fluttershy’s teeth as she strode through the sleeper car. The sensation was sharp. Purposeful. Properly mirroring her own resolve. Revenge. That was what really mattered. The only thing that mattered. Everything else was a distraction. The other ponies, the supposed ‘treasure’... it all had thrown her off, confused her, taken her back to a time when she was a different, weaker pony. But she was focused now. Revenge was all that she had wanted, for so very long now, and it was right at her hooves. Her hoofsteps were quiet on the carpeted hallway, but her gait was steady. Inexorable. She drew near to a thin door that opened off the narrow hall, and a flick of a wing slid it open. Her eyes flicked over the private sleeping compartment. Empty, the bed too low to the ground to hide a pony and the closet far too shallow. Her wing slid the door closed again, and she moved onwards. It was a matter of time. Rainbow Dash couldn’t escape, not with Devil watching the skies. Fluttershy could afford to be patient and methodical. She would wait until she had her opportunity, and then seize it. Fluttershy felt a trickle of blood drip down, bringing a sharp metallic taste to her tongue. She had been gritting her teeth too hard, and the knife had cut into the corner of her mouth. She took a deep breath to relax and kept moving to the next compartment. Fluttershy checked one room, then another. As she approached the fourth, a sound caused her ears to instinctively flick forward. A muffled, high-pitched wailing. She hurried through her check of the closest room and pushed on to the last compartment in the sleeper car. As she approached, the sound grew louder, until harsh words barked out, through the same wall. “I said keep it down! Or I will shut the damn thing up for good!” Fluttershy’s wing slid the door open. Even though these accommodations were technically the luxury suites, they were still limited by the size of the train to be fairly small. But the bedroom – at least half of it – was more than full. Seven or eight well-dressed, but terrified, ponies huddled against one wall. One couple clung together tightly, heads buried in each other’s mane. Another mustachioed stallion shook with fear, but kept standing, shielding a middle-aged mare carrying a tiny crying foal. In the other half of the room a single earth pony stood, a black bowtie clashing with the rags he wore. His mane was grizzled and streaked with soot, and the snarl frozen on his face revealed a single golden tooth. He turned his head at the sound of the door opening, but kept his tarnished revolver pointing at the huddled group of ponies. At the sight of the yellow pegasus and the long blade in her mouth, his eyes widened and mouth twisted in a silent curse. “This ain’t none of your business,” he said, his eyes narrowing as they darted back and forth. “Why don’t… uh. Why don’t you just keep on movin’, feathers?” Fluttershy didn’t speak as she sized up the stallion. She took in the strand of pearls around his neck and the two watches around his front foreleg. Then her gaze moved to the other ponies, still frozen with terror, but the eyes of the father conflicted. Terror… mixed with the slightest bit of desperate hope. The mare behind him was still shakily trying to rock the squalling foal, and another small head poked around the side of her dress, a colt not much more than a foal himself peeking out. Fluttershy looked back at the disreputable pony with the gun, watching his lips curl back as he bared his teeth again. “I said... this ain’t your concern,” he growled. “Now get.” Fluttershy didn’t respond. She took her time coming to a decision. “Close ‘r eyes,” she said. “What?” “I w’ ’nt talk’n to ‘ou.” The stallion’s mouth opened and closed, and then his arm twitched, swiveling to point the gun at Fluttershy. Across the room, the father squeezed his eyes tightly shut and turned, raising his forelegs to protect his wife and children and block the scene from their view. He heard a single gunshot, and then a ripping sound, as a few warm droplets were flicked all the way across the room to land on his coat. For an instant, one eye cracked open, and he saw the bandit, a stained foreleg pressed to his stomach as he frantically stumbled, falling forward and out the door into the hallway. One of the yellow pegasus’s wings dipped and then arched, a still-dripping blade sliding along the leading edge before a rapid flick sent it flying out into the hallway. His eyes flew shut again, but he still heard the wet thunk and soft gurgling that slowly faded into silence. Fluttershy considered the group of ponies. They all were either covering their eyes or looking every direction but at her. She turned and trotted out, stopping only to retrieve her knife. It took several tugs before she was able to pull the blade out from where it was lodged. She’d need to see about getting it sharpened soon. She paused to wipe the metal clean on a unbloodied patch of the bandit’s clothing and then continued on. She had many more cars to get through. Justice. That was what really mattered. The only thing that mattered. --- “We’re catching up to them, it seems.” Twilight paused, looking over at Rarity. “How can you tell?” Rarity pulled her hoof back from the body of a pony lying crumpled behind an overturned poker table. Her lips curved up in a half-smile. “You might say their trail’s getting warmer.” She was distracted from the amusingly grossed-out expression Twilight was making when she noticed a familiar shape, half hidden behind the chip exchange counter of the gambling car they were in. Rarity made a beeline for the heavy iron safe, hoping in all the chaos it had so far gone untouched. “We need to keep moving,” Twilight said. She jerked her head towards the door to the next car. “Come on.” “This will only take a moment, dear,” Rarity murmured, stepping around the counter to get a better look. The front of the safe held a single silver dial. It was an awfully sturdy safe, but they had neglected to invest in a truly good lock. Perfect. “We need to catch up with the girls before… before something else goes wrong!” Rarity glanced back. “Well, go ahead, but I’m staying here. So unless you want to leave me behind...” She grinned and gave Twilight a wink. “Not so much fun when the shoe’s on the other hoof, is it, dear?” “Uuuuugh,” Twilight groaned, already starting to pace back and forth rapidly. Rarity ignored her, placing her head against the cold iron of the safe’s front. With a glow of blue magic, the dial turned painstakingly slowly. Rarity’s other ear folded down as she focused intently, searching for a particular sound. The dial spun, and then, there it was. The tiny metallic click of the first tumbler opening. Rarity reversed direction, taking even greater care. Click! “Uh, Rarity?” Twilight’s voice butted in, causing her to momentarily freeze, trying to keep from missing the last tumbler and having to start from scratch. “Shush, I’m almost done.” Rarity closed her eyes, trying to block out everything but the sound. There was some sort of hissing, blowing sound getting in the way, making it hard to hear exactly. Twilight must be doing something or another. Rarity considered speaking up again to tell the mare to knock it off, but then, with a click, the final tumbler caught, and the door to the safe released. Rarity squealed in delight, swinging the door to the safe open to find… Poker chips. She cried out again, this time in frustration, as she reached in the safe, raking out a pile of poker chips to scatter across the floor. No bits. No gems. “Rarity!” Twilight Sparkle said. This time, Rarity noticed the urgency in her voice. She turned to see a truly strange sight. In between them and the door to the next car, a black cloud had grown, mist seeping from the floor to swirl in a vortex as the cloud took on greater form and definition, until the form of a pony appeared. A shape with a ragged mane, a curved horn, and a wide-brimmed hat and poncho. Rarity didn’t hesitate to take the shot. Bullets flew through the air, harmlessly cutting through the shape of the pony like he was nothing more than a ghost. Unperturbed, the shadowy pony reared back. Two glowing green eyes snapped open, and a chilling howl echoed forth from between the figure’s razor-sharp teeth. “Twilight Sparkle! Tremble in fear before the great… Sombra de Diablo!” --- Pinkie moved rapidly through the door, pushing ahead into the next car. Applejack followed, shaking her head – the fool pony didn’t even have a gun and she was still taking the lead. She poked her head in, sizing up the next car for trouble. It looked clear, an open and spacious car with a thin bench running the length of the walls, huge plate-glass windows there to allow viewing of the scenery as the train traveled. But one of them had been smashed good, meaning some sort of trouble. Pinkie was already a third of the way through, her hooves crunching against glass as she passed the broken window. Applejack grimaced and ducked in to follow. Something about it gave her a bad feeling, but Pinkie had made it that far without running into any— Pinkie’s back leg twitched, and then she reared back as a loud bang of a gunshot rang out, right at her hooves. In a twisting motion that seemed physically impossible, she kicked her back hooves and jumped backwards, her forelegs swinging down in a hoofspring as another gunshot barely missed her and then, a third. There was no cover for either of them. Applejack brought her shotgun around to bear, hoof on the trigger and ready to blast away until the sight of the assailant caused her to momentarily hesitate. It was a big minotaur, grey in color, with a shining silver revolver in his hand. His other arm held a rainbow-maned pegasus in a tight headlock, her eyes drooping closed and body hanging limp. With a smirk, the minotaur held the gun to the pegasus’s head. “Drop your gun or this one’s done,” he barked out. Applejack’s brow furrowed for a moment before she broke out into a smile. “Sorry to disappoint, but I don’t rightly care what ya do to Blue Wingy over there.” She started to raise her shotgun up when a pink hoof next to her shoved it roughly back down. “No,” Pinkie said, her mouth set in a thin line as she stared forward at the minotaur. Applejack frowned. “I sure hope you got a plan or somethin’ here. What’s to say he doesn’t just shoot us anyways as soon as we’re unarmed?” Pinkie slowly raised her hooves in the air to show they were empty. “Trust me,” she whispered. Another loud bang sounded out as the minotaur fired a shot into the ceiling. “I’m not gonna ask again, pony. Do like your friend there.” Applejack levelly sized up the minotaur. The pegasus twitched slightly, causing the minotaur to tighten his grip. For a moment, one rose-colored eye cracked open, darting back and forth before closing to only a sliver again. Applejack glanced back at Pinkie, who hadn’t moved. With one final sigh, her gun clattered to the floor. The minotaur grinned and fired another shot with the revolver, causing Applejack’s shotgun to spin as it slid back along the floor out of reach. “I swear, if you so much as scratched the finish on ol’ Boomberg, I will end you,” Applejack growled. “I don’t think you’re in any position to be making threats,” the minotaur said. “Now I think— Why is she smiling?” Applejack blinked, and then she turned to Pinkie. Sure enough, the pony was… actually grinning. Applejack had only known her for a brief time now, but she hadn’t so much as cracked a smile until now. Damn fool crazy pink ponies. “I don’t think that gun belongs to you,” Pinkie said. The minotaur smirked. “If I steal, you’ll have to deal.” “Only…” Pinkie rested her chin on a hoof, gazing up as if in thought. “See, Dashie always carries a rather nice six-shooter.” “So?” the minotaur grunted. “And you’ve just used six shots.” The smile left the minotaurs face as he froze. Pinkie continued to grin. In a flash of motion, the minotaur flung the revolver forward awkwardly, and his hand dropped down towards his belt, where a second, older pistol hung. He found a blue-feathered wing in the way. Rainbow Dash slammed one elbow into the minotaur’s solar plexus and twisted out of his grip, her wing slipping the pistol out of the belt-holster and flipping it into her grip. The minotaur barely had the time to start a groan before Rainbow had the gun to his chest. Two gunshots rang out, and the hulking bandit fell. Rainbow distastefully dropped the old pistol with a clunk, and whirled around to Pinkie. “Are you crazy? He only fired five times!” Mischief danced in Pinkie Pie’s eyes, as her lips twisted, unable to keep from still smiling. Finally, she composed herself, and her expression returned to the neutral blank that Applejack had previously seen. “He didn’t look like he was very good at math.” She trotted forward to scoop up Dash’s six-shooter, and Rainbow Dash froze, brain suddenly registering Pinkie approaching with gun in hoof. Pinkie – a pony who probably had just as much reason as Fluttershy to bear a grudge. Rainbow’s eyes darted to the pistol she had stupidly dropped on the floor. She was gauging whether her aching wings could help her dodge a bullet, when Pinkie tossed the revolver in hoof, catching it by the barrel and offering it to Dash. Rainbow blinked and gingerly accepted the gun, sliding it back into her holster as she stared at Pinkie. The pony trotted past without another word. Applejack, having watched the whole interaction, just shrugged and followed her. Rainbow stood there in the middle of the train car, alone for a long moment, until a voice called back. “Hurry up, Dashie!” She turned and hurriedly followed the other two ponies. --- The train’s wheels screamed against the metal tracks as it took a banked curve at entirely too high of a speed, the scraggly desert growing rockier and rockier. At first, the speck in the distance could have been a mirage, not much more than a bright glint in the sunlight. But as it grew closer, the shape resolved into a strange conveyance, a machine in form similar to a miniature locomotive, but all burnished chrome and cherry-red paint. It kicked up a tremendous cloud of dust as it swept across the plains at an angle to intercept the train. The stallion at the helm adjusted his driving goggles and brought the vehicle in closer. He had to shout to be heard over the whipping wind. “Where do you think she’s at, oh brother of mine?” The mustachioed pony next to him clambered halfway up a metal exhaust vent that branched off the engine. He raised one hoof to block out the sun as he peered towards the train. An entire roulette table burst out of one of the windows of the train up ahead, and the pair’s vehicle swerved to hastily avoid it. A rain of poker chips clattered across their windshield. “I do not know, but I believe that deserves closer scrutiny!” the mustachioed brother called back. “Right you are.” The thrumming sound of the engine grew louder and higher in pitch as the vehicle picked up speed, drawing level with the hole in the window. The pony behind the wheel slammed his hoof down against a button. With a cacophonous blaring, several different horns began playing a string of jaunty notes. He waited, as the wind whistled past. Just as he raised a hoof to pound the horn again, a white unicorn flew out the side of the car, screaming bloody murder. Overlapping auras of bright green caught her in midair and she hung upside down, her eyes tightly closed. One of them cracked open, taking stock of her situation. “You two!” she yelled out. “It’s about time!” “Pleasure to see you again, Miss R.,” Flim stated, taking a moment to bow. “I trust you have upheld your end of the bargain and possess the treasure as expected?” “It’s not— There’s been a change of plans.” Rarity flailed her legs in a vain attempt to flip herself right-side up again. “I just need to get a friend and we’re leaving.” Flim and Flam shared a look. “We’re not going anywhere without said treasure,” Flam said. “She—” Rarity heard a crash from inside the train and she winced. “We don’t have time. Throw me back in. I swear, you two will get your bits.” Flim shrugged, and Rarity couldn’t help but squeak in surprise as the magic enveloping her roughly flung her back into the car. It was only with Flim’s exceptional hearing that he managed to make out the sounds coming from the train car. Of course, Rarity’s angry scream as she charged into battle was plenty loud enough, but the crashing of furniture being turned into splinters, the desperate commands from another voice, and the deep rumbling laughter? Harder to hear. And then came a loud slam and a momentary reprieve, before the squeals of metal dragging across wood. A huge metal safe appeared at the hole in the side of the car, and the eyes of the two brothers lit up. “You thinking what I’m thinking, Flim?” “Most certainly, brother!” As Rarity and another unicorn shoved the safe out the side of the train, it found itself wrapped in green magic, only barely slowing the rate of its descent as it landed on its side in the back of Flim and Flam’s vehicle. “You idiots!” Rarity yelled out. “What are you doing? Get rid of that!” Flam doffed his straw boater, waving to Rarity. “Thanks, Miss R.! We’ll just be going now.” “You— Get back here! We had a deal!” Flim grinned widely. “You of all people should know – no honor among thieves. Good bye and good luck!” Rarity sputtered, while the other unicorn watched them with big round eyes and her mouth hanging open. It made for an amusing sight in the rear-view mirror as they sped away into the distance. Flam hopped down and started to examine the safe in greater detail. “Look-ee what we got here,” he crowed, spinning the dial. Flim kept his eyes on the terrain, swerving around rocks as they made for the horizon. “What’s the score?” He paused, waiting for an answer that didn’t come. “Flam?” “Brother, what kind of treasure normally… shakes this much?” Both of them heard the angry roar, even muffled through an inch of iron. Then the locking mechanism gave, and the door to the safe blew open. --- “This is getting ridiculous,” Applejack said. Rainbow popped up from behind the overturned food cart the three ponies were squeezed behind and a flurry of gunshots rang out. As she dove down again, a gurgling groan indicated at least one of her bullets had found its mark. “How many?” Applejack asked. A fresh round of bullets slammed into their makeshift cover, causing the cart to shake. “Too many.” Rainbow’s hoof dipped into her pocket, rummaging around. Her face paled as she began to search with more urgency. She grimaced, and pulled her hoof back, holding a single bullet. “Way too many.” Applejack reached up to touch the brim of her hat, her own last two shells tucked into the band. “How ‘bout you, Pinkie? Got any more of that dynamite?” “Yeah, but nothing small enough to be useful. We’d be talking about blowing up the whole car. Us included.” Pinkie frowned. “And probably derail the better part of the train.” “Let’s file that away as plan B, then,” Rainbow said. Applejack snorted. “And what’s plan A?” “Well. They’ve gotta run out of ammo sooner or later, right?” “That or they realize we’ve stopped shooting and circle around.” Applejack said. “How much time we got left, you think?” Pinkie frowned. “Till they figure out we’re sitting ducks or till we end up at the bottom of Ghastly Gorge? Either way, a few minutes, tops.” “We had a mighty fine run at it, anyways,” Applejack said. She tipped her hat. “S’been a pleasure, girls.” “Whoa!” Rainbow Dash’s wings flared out. “We’ve still got time. We can— If—” Her face scrunched up in thought. “What if we surrendered?” Applejack shook her head. “After gunning down as many of ‘em as we have? I ain’t gonna die on my knees.” A rueful grin crossed her face. “Might as well bring a few more along with me.” “We don’t all have to die,” Pinkie said. Applejack looked up to see Pinkie’s eyes drilling into Dash. “She’s got a point. I figure if we’re enough of a distraction, you could probably make it to the window and out.” “And leave you two behind?” “Don’t be dumb, Rainbow,” Pinkie said. “You getting killed too isn’t going to help anyone.” Rainbow Dash looked down at the revolver in her hooves. On the other side of their cover, the rate of gunshots started to dwindle, and they could hear muffled whispers and furtive movement. “Reckon it’s about showtime,” Applejack said. She loaded up her shotgun with one of her last shells and raised a hoof to center her hat on her head. “No big bang until I’m out of ammo and Blue Wingy here’s clear of the car.” Pinkie nodded, carefully cradling a tightly-wound bundle of dynamite in her hooves. Rainbow Dash’s glance flitted between the two, a pained expression on her face. “Three… Two…” The door behind them banged open with a clatter, and an inky darkness fell throughout the whole car. “What the—” Applejack heard hoofsteps racing towards her and then felt a breeze as a ghostly white figure leapt right over them, landing lightly on the cart they were crouched behind. The confused shouts from their enemies gave way to absolute panic as gunshots rang out rapidly, flashes appearing from the figure above. Applejack could barely see in the dim light, but the movements of the figure’s arms never stopped, aiming with precision at the ponies in the back half of the car. Not sparing a motion, the pony above dropped both guns right as two more appeared from her sleeves as if by magic. One landed with a thunk in front of Applejack, and she reached out to fumble at it. A derringer, one all-too-familiar. “Rarity?” she said. The gunshots continued as the screams died away. Even the groans of pain found themselves sharply cut off by more bullets flying in their direction. After exhausting her third set of derringers, the figure above paused, leaving the car deathly silent except for the sound of the train’s wheels on the rails. “That’ll do, Twilight,” Rarity called out. The darkness vanished, and Applejack squinted as light poured back into the room. Twilight Sparkle trotted up, her eyes wide at the chaos. The bodies of bow-tied ponies were strewn across the whole other half of the car, unmoving and still. “I think I’ll need to learn that spell myself,” Rarity said. “It seems quite helpful.” “Did you really have to…” Twilight looked particularly pale. “Applejack,” Rarity said neutrally, nodding ever so slightly as she hopped off the cart and offered Applejack a hoof to pull her upright. “Rares, I don’t think I’ve ever been so glad to see ya.” Rarity rolled her eyes. “Where’s Fluttershy?” Twilight asked, as Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash stood up. The two shared a look. “Beats me,” Rainbow said. “We’ve got bigger worries. The bridge’s out.” Pinkie raised a hoof as Twilight’s mouth opened to frame a question. “Long story that we can all laugh about later. We need to stop the train and pronto before we all end up at the bottom of Ghastly Gorge.” “O-okay, then let’s go!” Applejack had her back turned when the solitary figure quietly stood up from the pile of bodies, a pale stallion that had lain hidden among the dead. Blueblood gritted his teeth in a sneer as he raised his pistol. “Look out!” somepony screamed. Three shots rang out. --- To say that Rarity moved without thinking would be a lie. Rarity was a mare that prided herself on thinking fast. It was a skill that was in many ways necessary for surviving out on the frontier. The strong took from the weak, but the quick took from the strong. And the slow? They tended to take a one-way trip to the the undertaker’s. But Rarity was always a step faster than everypony else. And so, even though she moved, in part, based on pure reflexes, when she heard the shout and saw the flicker of movement, she had an idea of what was coming next. And when she leapt in front of Applejack and the bullets slammed into her, that only confirmed her worst suspicions. Rather than the hard impact of the floor, she felt hooves catch her inches from the ground and looked up to see a wide-eyed Applejack gently lowering her down. “Rarity!” Applejack cried out. “Rarity! Are you okay?” To their side, a small wisp of smoke rose from the gun Twilight Sparkle held clutched in both hooves. Blueblood looked down at the blood rapidly staining his white suit and raised his hoof to touch where the bullet had hit him in the gut. The gun tumbled out of his other hoof and he sank to his knees. A brief flash of agony crossed Rainbow Dash’s face as her head swiveled between Blueblood and Twilight. Twilight kept her gun trained on the stallion, but her face was deathly pale as her hooves shook. Rainbow gritted her teeth. “I’ve got this,” she said, her voice even raspier than usual. Her hoofsteps were loud on the floor as she walked over slowly, taking the time to load her last bullet in her revolver. Blueblood looked up at her, face twisted in an ugly sneer even though his eyes looked glassy. “Don’t you want to hear my last words?” he asked. Rainbow pulled the hammer back on her revolver. “I just did.” Twilight turned her head away at the sound of the gunshot, biting her lip fiercely. Pinkie Pie’s eyes never left Rainbow. Still held in Applejack’s firm grip, Rarity’s eyelashes fluttered as her breath grew shallow. “Rarity,” Applejack repeated, desperation creeping into her voice. “Stay with me. We’re going to— It’s going to be okay.” “Don’t,” Rarity breathed out. “Lying is unbecoming of you, dear.” Applejack’s eyes glistened. “Before…” Rarity forced herself to take a shuddering breath. “Applejack. Can I— Can I ask you something?” “Anything.” “Why did you leave?” Applejack closed her eyes, the tears flowing freely now. “I… I…” “The truth,” Rarity whispered. “Because I thought you were going to cross me first.” A ghost of a smile flickered on the unicorn’s face. “You— You might have been right. Hard to tell. But sometimes, I think… I think we could have had something.” “Rarity,” Applejack said, unflinching as she looked deep into her eyes, “There ain’t been one day that’s passed in the last two years that I’ve not regretted leaving you behind. That’s the truth.” The faintest glimmer appeared in the necklace she still wore, but Rarity wrote it off as a trick of the light. Rarity’s eyes slowly slid shut. “You always were too sentimental, dear.” “Rarity! Hang in there!” Applejack clutched her desperately, as Rarity’s breath dwindled. Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Twilight Sparkle looked on, giving the two room, even as Rainbow’s wings fluttered in agitation and tears flowed down Twilight’s cheeks. A smirk suddenly blossomed on Rarity’s face. “That being said,” her voice rang out, louder and more assured, “sometimes sentimentality isn’t all that bad.” One of her hooves reached up to slide beneath her coat and retrieve something from an inner pocket. It was a tarnished metal flask, imprinted with a familiar insignia. And right in the center of the three embossed apples, a bullet sat, halfway embedded in the metal. “You are damn well the craziest pony I’ve ever met,” Applejack said, eyes wide. “I always have been good at putting on a show,” Rarity said lightly. “Oof!” She found herself locked in a tight hug from the orange pony. A more genuine smile shone on her face for a moment, before she wriggled in Applejack’s grasp. “Ow. Gentle please, I still feel like someone bucked me right in the chest.” Applejack let go. “I— You—” She took a moment to compose herself. “We are going to have words about this, Rares.” Rarity nodded. “Yes, but I don’t think we can spare the time now. Don’t you have a train to stop?” Her eyes cut over to the other three ponies, still guiltily looking on. Twilight gave a start and rapidly cantered over to the door to the next car, Pinkie behind her. Rainbow Dash hesitated, still watching the two. “You’re right.” Applejack stood and offered Rarity a hoof, pulling her up. “We’ll talk about this later. Let’s go.“ Rarity ruefully shook her head. “Yes. But go ahead, I’ll be right behind. I just need to catch my breath.” “Are you sure?” “Go, Applejack.” Applejack nodded, and Rainbow Dash followed her as they headed away. The last Rarity saw was Applejack looking back over a shoulder, trying to maintain a reproving frown that couldn’t help but melt into a smile. Rarity closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Always been good at putting on a show, indeed,” she murmured. She winced as she bent down to set a chair upright again, and settled into it heavily. One hoof rose to touch her stomach. With care she moved her coat aside slightly and looked down to see the red stain spreading from where the second bullet had hit. Rarity’s eyes closed. “Sorry Applejack,” she whispered. “But I think right now they need you more than I do.” The diamond-shaped gem in her necklace glowed as she sat alone in the empty car. --- Twilight panted as she ran, trying to keep up with Pinkie Pie. The pink mare blazed through the train at a full gallop, stopping only for a moment at each door to the next car to cautiously peek inside. But each time, the room was empty and quiet. It worried Twilight. A lot. Sure, Blueblood was… was gone, and he was presumably the leader of the bandits, but this was too easy. A feeling of creeping dread weighed her down, but she forced herself forward. It was just a hunch. Not even that. A silly feeling, and how often had those proven to be false? Or at the very least, only overexcited exaggerations of minor worries. Plus, she was with Pinkie. Unlike her wild stabs at intuition, Pinkie would certainly— Pinkie stopped in the middle of the car, the cessation of motion allowing Twilight to catch up with her again. “Pinkie.” Twilight took a gulping breath. “Is everything okay?” The pink pony’s teeth clamped together and then began chattering wildly. Her entire body went rigid, her mane and tail shooting straight out. Then she began vibrating – huge, jerky spasms that bounced her up and down on the floor. “D—” she choked out. “D— D—” “A doozy?” Twilight said, her eyes growing big. At last, Pinkie forced her mouth open long enough to gasp out a single word. “Dynamite!” Everything exploded. --- Applejack and Rainbow Dash felt the explosion before they heard it, as a wave of concussive force slammed into them, nearly sending the pair head over hoof. Then the sound came, a deafening roar arriving alongside a flash of burning but thankfully brief heat. Applejack shouted something unintelligible as Rainbow shook her head to clear the ringing in her ears. Together they dashed forward, jostling as they made for the next car. Beyond that door was chaos. The whole upper half of the train car was gone, obliterated into kindling from the explosion, and the steel skeleton that held up the floor could be seen through jagged holes. Smoke was everywhere, but the rushing wind as the train barreled onwards sent it streaming away, and as the haze cleared, they could see a glimmer of magic from the middle of the train. There, under a half dome of wavering magenta magic, Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie stood. A whirring, purring whine sounded out, dragging Rainbow’s eyes up to a hulking metal shape mounted to the roof of the next car. She wasn’t sure what it was at first, but when the spinning metal cylinder began spitting a hail of bullets, its purpose was clear. Blueblood had brought a gatling gun. A hoof pulled Rainbow back from standing in the doorway, and she and Applejack peeked out to see the stream of shells smash against Twilight’s barrier with a resounding crash. Twilight visibly recoiled at the impact, but the glow around her horn intensified as she leaned forward, pain written across her muzzle. A crack blossomed in the surface of the magical field, spiderwebbing out and deepening as the bullets kept flying. “We’ve got to do something!” Applejack yelled over the cacophony. “They won’t last long!” “Shoot it!” Rainbow shouted back. “Shoot what?” Applejack’s hoof flung forward at the gatling gun, its operator completely hidden behind a thick shield of metal that protected the gun’s front. “I can’t get a shot from here. And how am I supposed to get behind it?” Rainbow paused for a moment, her heart thumping. She took a deep breath. “What if he turned? Could you get the shot?” Applejack’s eyes flashed from her shotgun to the gatling gun, and then lingered for a second on Twilight visibly straining to maintain her shield. “I— I think so. But how—” “A distraction,” Rainbow said, and her wings snapped open. “That’s suicide!” Applejack yelled out, but Rainbow was already in the air, soaring up above. From the height she could see Ghastly Gorge far in the distance, drawing ever closer. And, with a moment of shock, she realized the gun hadn’t even followed her. Her wings beat as she hung there in midair, and a thought crept into her mind. She could just leave. There were other scores to be had. There was no reason to risk her life for ponies that she either barely knew or who probably still hated her. She had left them once before, after all. What was one more time? Her eyes flickered to the glowing circle of magic below, where the cracks in the shield ran deep and jagged. She could barely see Twilight and Pinkie, but she knew they were there, still clinging onto a fruitless hope of survival. Rainbow Dash screamed and blasted forward, a prismatic contrail in her wake. The gem around her neck flashed a brilliant red, as the gatling gun’s barrel turned upwards to follow her, still firing. --- “Twi!” Pinkie cried out. Sparks popped and sizzled from the unicorn’s horn, scattering in all directions as with a resounding, tearing crash, the shield broke and fell apart. Twilight stumbled forward in a collapse and Pinkie caught her. She cringed, waiting for the pain of the gatling gun tearing through them. But no bullets came. “Move!” a voice behind them shouted. Pinkie obeyed, doing her best to drag Twilight forward. She risked a glance back to see Applejack stepping forward, shotgun raised and waiting. Above them, rainbows crisscrossed the sky in jagged zigzags as a blue figure weaved between the hail of fire. Applejack raised her gun, one eye squeezing shut as she aimed for the barest hint of pony flesh visible at the side of the gatling’s front shield, but the train jerked and the shot went wide. “C’mon Twilight,” Pinkie said, shaking her roughly. The unicorn looked up at her, eyes cloudy, but shook off her daze enough to stumble along as the two made for the safety of the doorway ahead. Applejack gritted her teeth and loaded her last shell. Her shotgun raised again, and her hoof tensed as she took aim, desperate to make her last shot count. She held out for a long, agonizing moment, and then the gatling gun turned to the side, and she saw the pony behind in profile, a grey-maned pegasus hunched close with both hooves on the controls. She had her shot. It would have worked, too, had the sharp scream not broken her concentration. Instead, the buckshot harmlessly pinged off the metal shielding of the gatling gun, and Applejack’s face grew pale at the realization of what that scream had meant. Rainbow Dash had taken a shot to the wing. The blue pegasus above twisted and jerked, losing the rainbow trail of her flight as she fluttered her other wing to try and keep from falling into a completely uncontrolled spiral. “C’mon!” Pinkie yelled back at Applejack. “No— No!” The gatling gun paused its firing for a moment to recenter on the easy target that Rainbow Dash made. Applejack and Pinkie both stared up in dread, unable to look away. And a yellow figure flashed overhead, rocketing towards the gatling gun. --- Fluttershy did move without thinking. She had been following the other ponies for some time, biding her time as she sought for an opportunity to catch Rainbow Dash alone. Yelling out when she had seen Blueblood was a mistake, a slip of the tongue, but luckily one that had been overlooked in the resulting gunfire. But when Rainbow Dash screamed… Fluttershy moved without thinking. She moved, knowing, launching into the air with a direct and undeniable purpose. It didn’t matter why, whether it was a simple, pragmatic desire to personally be the one to kill Rainbow Dash, or some mysterious swelling feeling that she thought she had long ago stamped out. All that mattered was the action itself. She flew upwards to meet the gatling gun faster than she would have thought possible, only veering at the last second to catch the corner of the front shielding with a wing, jerking the swiveling platform aside as the motion and force flung her body around in a compressed arc to meet that of the gunner. Her hooves slammed into him, sending him flying, and her body followed the movement, maintaining contact. Her neck twisted as the blade flashed in her teeth. She almost rode the body all the way to the desert floor, only popping her wings open and releasing her grip at the last second. The pony’s head landed at least twenty feet further away. --- “How do you stop this thing?” Twilight shouted, almost drowned out by the roar of the train’s engine. “Here!” Pinkie said, reaching to a lever painted in chipped red. As she touched the metal, Twilight could hear the sharp, burning hiss, and Pinkie cried out, yanking her hooves back. “I got it!” Twilight’s horn flared up, the unicorn wincing at the expenditure of magic, and a magenta field enveloped the lever. It shuddered but refused to budge. Applejack pushed the both of them aside and grabbed it with both hooves, letting out a yell at the touch, but refusing to let go. The muscles in her forelegs bulged as she used all of her strength at once. And with a snap, the lever broke off, sending Applejack crashing backwards. A moment of dreadful silence passed as Twilight and Pinkie Pie shared a horrified look. Pinkie was the first to recover. “Now what?!” “How am I supposed to know!” Twilight said, holding her hooves to her head. “Well figure something out!” Pinkie flung one arm out to point at one of the locomotive’s grimy windows. “We are almost out of track here!” “That’s it!” Pinkie looked at the mad glint in Twilight’s eyes and then turned her gaze to Applejack, who was gingerly getting to her hooves again. A sound of breaking glass caused her to turn back to Twilight, just in time to see the mare squeezing through the locomotive’s window, ignoring the shards of broken glass that still hung in the frame. “What! Where are you going?” The last thing Pinkie heard was Twilight yelling back over the rushing wind. “Don’t worry! Everything is going to be okay!” --- Rainbow Dash barely managed to land on the top of one of the train’s cars, and that only by accident. Her wings hurt. Everything hurt, a constant throbbing pain lancing up to overwhelm her entire body. She stared upwards, her vision beginning to blur as the few wispy clouds in the sky wavered in and out of focus. And for the strangest reason, she was smiling. It was the stupidest thing she had ever done. Suicidal was right, and heck, who’s to say that wasn’t still the truth, given her lightheadedness and the warm blood she could feel beneath her. But for some reason, she couldn’t help but feel like for once in her life, maybe even the first time in her life, she had done something right. Rainbow heard a thump, and she tried to tilt her head to look before the pain made that thought impossible. So she waited, and a moment later, a yellow blob appeared above her. She had to squint her eyes to recognize the shape as a pony. “Hi Fluttershy,” Rainbow said. Fluttershy didn’t say anything, and Rainbow couldn’t make out the expression on her face. “Guess you finally caught up to me, huh?” Rainbow’s voice was a hoarse whisper, but she forced the words out. “Can’t say I don’t deserve it. And I don’t guess it matters anymore, but…” Rainbow squinted again. Fluttershy still hadn’t moved, but Rainbow’s vision itself felt like it was spinning, so she shut her eyes, the smile refusing to leave her face. “But I’m sorry. Don’t got an excuse. Wouldn’t be one good enough. Just sorry.” She waited. After a long moment, one of her eyes cracked open. “Go ahead,” Rainbow said. “I don’t got all day. Heh. Literally.” She felt Fluttershy’s hoof push against her to forcibly roll her on her stomach. And then sharp pain as cold metal dug into her left wing. “Ow!” Rainbow yelled out. “Buck! Can you at least make it fast?” “Shut up,” Fluttershy said. “I need to get the bullets out if you ever want to fly again.” Rainbow Dash’s brow furrowed. She flailed her hooves out weakly to push and twist her upper body to see the other pegasus. It was the strangest thing. Rainbow Dash figured she really must be losing a lot of blood, because it looked like the butterfly on Fluttershy’s necklace had lit up bright pink. --- “Stop it,” Pinkie snapped. She stopped pacing back and forth to glare over at where Applejack was leaning up against one wall of the locomotive. “Stop what?” Applejack said. “You’re smiling. Why are you smiling? We’re all going to die.” Applejack’s grin grew even bigger. “Reckon that’s part of it. Sometimes you gotta laugh if you don’t wanna cry.” “What kind of sense does that make?” Pinkie said. “Or could be that it’s more ‘n a little ironic that we wouldn’t be in this mess if it weren’t for you.” Applejack’s hoof reached up to rest against her chin. “But really? I’d have to say I’m smiling because I don’t for the life of me know why, but I really do think that unicorn’s gonna save us somehow.” Pinkie stared at her. “You’re crazy. There’s no way. You’re messed up in the head.” Applejack shrugged, the smile still on her lips. Pinkie looked at the window that Twilight had squeezed through. She looked at the engine still pounding and roaring. She looked at Applejack, nonchalantly leaning there against the wall. “You’re insane!” Pinkie said, her lips twitching as she stalked back and forth down the length of the locomotive. “Ain’t the first time I’ve heard that,” Applejack said. “You—! I—!” Pinkie finally settled on a disbelieving grin. “I’m going to die alongside the only other ponies in the state – no, country – who are more messed up than me.” Her hooves suddenly halted and she twisted to peer at Applejack. Her face returned to a deadpan as she stared at the other pony with grave intensity. Applejack’s brow furrowed, a crack of worried curiosity showing in her faltering smile. “Hey,” Pinkie said. “Why’d the six crazy ponies murder a train?” Applejack blinked. “What?” After a moment of silence passed, she amended her statement to a “I don’t know. Why?” “Loco motives.” It took a moment to click, and then Applejack winced in exaggerated pain at the joke. She couldn’t help it though. A snort broke through. And then Pinkie giggled, which caused her to break into a guffaw, and then both ponies were overcome with a hysterical, gulping laughter. The engine of the locomotive kept chugging and the wheels of the train screamed against the track, but Applejack just slung one foreleg over Pinkie’s shoulder, the two of them so overcome with laughter that tears streamed down their eyes. Neither one noticed the shine in Pinkie’s necklace. --- Twilight clung onto the slick metal of the top of locomotive with all the force she could muster. Choking smoke billowed past her from the exhaust pipe in front, but she pushed on, her horn lighting up as she used her magic to sense her surroundings. She only barely kept from tumbling off when the sway of the train beneath her threatened to knock her off her hooves, and had to twist when that overcorrection almost sent her stumbling back to where a metal rod churned up and down with vicious force. She pressed on, using all of her concentration and willpower to keep going, even though her head alternated between searing pain and a fuzzy blankness, the rapidly transitioning sensations symptoms of extreme magic exertion. She edged her way past the smokestack, moving with urgency but caution – one false step meant she’d fall at a speed that’d leave her as little more than a purplish smear across the desert ground. Then she was home free, perched at the very front of the train. Right in front of her, the Ghastly Gorge rose up, a yawning cavernous pit filled with razor-sharp rocks. They were barrelling towards it, and she could see the wreckage of the bridge’s supports on this side. Nothing spanned the canyon anymore. No bridge, no track. They only had one option. A plan that depended on not just her but everypony else, where any sort of failure on the part of one would mean death. There were a million ways for her to have miscalculated, for something to have gone wrong, for one of her friends to have failed and as a result doomed them all. Twilight closed her eyes as she smiled. She knew with absolute certainty it would work. The train hit the twisted end of the track with a ear-splitting screech of metal scraping against metal. The locomotive jerked viciously, its speed causing it to derail spectacularly as it leapt upwards, gaining the slightest bit of altitude before gravity caught up and it began to plunge forward into the abyss. When Twilight’s eyes opened again, a blinding white light spilled forth from them. Her hair floated up in tendrils of magic as the gemstone in her tiara radiated power, reaching out to its counterparts and weaving all of their power together. It would work. It did work, because she trusted her friends. A rainbow of power burst outwards, its blindingly vibrant hues exploding into being from all around. ---