//------------------------------// // Chapter 7 - The Train // Story: The Harmony Thief // by DamagedQ //------------------------------// This week has been kind of a bore, but things are about to get… exciting, you silently muse with a toothy, grin. “Are you even listening?” Luna huffs, thumping you on the back of your head with her forehoof. “Ow, hey! What was that for?” you bark in response, but she keeps her snout raised indignantly, ignoring you. You rub the back of your head, mumbling crossly, before you start following Luna once again. You notice her pout and sigh. “I’m sorry, what were you saying?” you ask dejectedly. “I’ve already old you twice!” she replies, “And you keep dozing off.” “I promise I won’t anymore, please just tell me.” You shift your gait closer to the alicorn, “Fine,” she replies, “Where was I? Oh, right, I was going over final plan for the next few days devised and edited by the CPD and Royal Guard joint commission. How far did I get before you started day-dreaming?” You falter uncomfortably, “Think you could, uhh, start from the beginning?” I am going to hit him, she thought with an irritated eye twitch at the floor as she walked. She instantly brightened up, however, looking over at you. “Alright, I’ll start over,” she began with a forcefully calm smile, “After we get to the train, we’ll be taking the three hour ride to Baltimare. I’ll be in disguise with a transformation spell, of course. After you place the poker chip in the telephone booth, we’ll stay in a hotel for the night, and then we’ll meet this 'Medley' at Foin de Fantaisie for dinner the next evening.” Luna pauses and gives you a look, probably wanting a response in order to discern whether or not you were paying any attention this time around. You smile, “Sounds alright with me. Why are we taking the train, though? Wouldn’t a chariot be a lot faster?” “This is an undercover mission,” she reminds you bluntly, “Do you really think flying in on a golden chariot being pulled by soldiers of the royal guard would be a good idea?” You mentally facehoof at your own stupidity, “Yeah, yeah, I get it. Please, continue.” “Well,” she continues as you turn a corner and stop just before a door, “Once we’re at dinner, hopefully discussing business, all we need is verbal proof, and then we can move in for the arrest: a basic sting operation. It’s been a while since I’ve done this,” she admits. You shoot her a quizzical glance, “You’ve done this before?” Luna grins, “Twice before; although, it’s been a couple hundred years. I might need a little refresher on deception. However…” Luna’s grin widens. “I still have my disguise.” Luna’s horn produces a blue aura and you start to ask what she’s doing before her entire body is enveloped in a white glow, silencing you with your mouth still agape and eyes squinted. The shape of her body shrinks and changes until it’s the recognizable shape of a mare slightly taller than yourself. As the light fades, you fully open your eyes and close your mouth as you examine Luna’s disguised form for the first time. However, your jaw drops again as you get a good look at her. Luna – as she stands before you – appears as a maroon colored pegasus, her coat finely accented by a pink mane and tail. Oddly enough, you notice that her body structure is similar to that of Fleur Dis Lee, a widely known supermodel from Manehatten. Her eyes match her red coat, and her cutie mark consists of a pair of cherries, like one might see printed on a slot machine in Las Pegasus. You find yourself staring and quickly shake your head with a blush rapidly forming on your cheeks. You look back up to see her looking towards you with a cheeky grin. “You like?” Luna asked in sultry tone before laughing at your embarrassment. Her voice apparently remained unchanged from the transformation, “You can call me Cherry Blossom while im in this form. Don’t get too used to it; I’ll only be like this for a couple days.” “R-Right,” you squeak out before clearing your throat, “Shouldn’t we get going?” “Yes, you are right,” she replies and leads you through the door and into a foyer of sorts. You shut the door behind you and look around the room. Inside the large foyer is a prepared looking arrangement of ponies, including somepony who appeared to be a royal soldier minus the golden armor, two unknown ponies, one with a brown coat and the other with a purple, and much to your displeasure, you glared over at Shining Armor, who was glaring back at you. You approach him slowly. “I see you’re tagging along to make sure Nopony has any fun,” you comment rudely. “This isn’t a vacation, you foal,” he growled back authoritatively. “Enough,” Luna sighs, stepping up next to you. “This is Spy Glass,” Luna introduced, motioning towards the unicorn with a brown coat and black mane, “And this is Amethyst Shield,” she continued, pointing to the earth pony with a light purple coat and stark white mane and hooves, “They are members of the CPD, and they will be joining us for the operation.” Luna then faced the white unicorn. “Over here, from the Royal Guard, is Iron Wing.” He nods and grunts and you reply with a curt bow and grin. “For all who are unaware, the name accompanying my disguise is Cherry Blossom,” she announces next, “And now that we are all acquainted, unless there are any questions, let’s get going.” She looks around presently, and with no pony speaking up, she nods, “Right.” --- You give out and exaggerated groan and slump back in your seat, “Are we there yet?” you whine. “One more time… Ask that one more time, and I’ll break your snout,” Shining Armor threatens. Luna puts a sympathetic hoof on his shoulder to calm him down. “It’s been twenty-five minutes,” Amethyst says calmly from the seat next to you, staring out the window. You sit in a four person booth, disconnected from the main walkway by a curtain, with Amethyst Shield next you, taking the window seat, and Shining Armor across from you, seated next to the enticingly disguised Luna. “Whatever,” Shining mumbles before standing up, “I’m going to find Spy and Iron.” You’re not entirely sure where Spy Glass or Iron Wing went, but they seemed like good buddies and you guess they found a booth for themselves. Shining armor stood up and walked out of the booth silently. Amethyst chuckles a bit, but looks inquisitive when you glace over at him, “What exactly have you done to Captain Shining Armor to get his temper so short with you?” You pause in thought. A flashback of you and Shining Armor outside of a mailroom, rolling on the floor and throwing punches and kicking at each other in a frenzy of malice. Several more images play through your head of multiple insults, comebacks, threats, and so on. “I have no idea,” you reply with a straight face, “He must’ve just woken up on the wrong side of the bed.” Luna reacts to your answer with a deadpan stare and mental facehoof at the wall across from her, and Amethyst merely shrugs. You groan inwardly out of frustration after a few minutes of boredom, knowing that you had nearly two and a half more hours of this torture. “Well I’m going to find the, uhh… bathroom,” you lie, standing up to go explore the train, hopefully unaccompanied. Luna gives you a side-glance of skepticism, while Amethyst seems unconcerned, giving you slight wave of his hoof. Taking Luna’s verbal silence as permission, you quickly exit the booth. “Are you going to follow him?” Amethyst asks calmly, keeping his gaze wandering across the rapidly changing scenery outside the window. Luna sighs, “I’ll let him be on his own for now,” she uncomfortably decides. You continue down the center walkway until you reach the next car. Seeing as Luna provided the group with first-class seating, you aren’t surprised to find a bar as you walk through the door. Only two ponies sat at the row of bar stools and a large, scruffy stallion stood silently behind the bar, cleaning a wine glass with a rag. One of the bars occupants is a pink-coated mare who appears to be in her mid-twenties. You sit near her with one empty stool between you, and the bar tender perks up at you but says nothing. “Got any Balveneigh?” you ask. “Plenty.” “With a splash of water, please,” you add. He walks over to you slowly, not bothering to stop cleaning the glass, “I’m going to need to see some ID, sir.” You pause for a few moments, “Actually, I think I’ll just have some ginger ale.” “Wise thought,” he mumbles, setting the glass down to get you your drink. The mare chuckles slightly in amusement and you glance over to her, “Now how would a little colt like you know anything about scotch?” she smiles playfully. “Who’re you calling a colt? Twenty-two is way too old of a drinking age,” you jest with a grin as the bartender sets the soda on the counter in front of you. “It’s that way because of colts like you,” the bartender mumbles as he walks away. “I’m Rose,” the pink mare says. You reply with your own name and smile, “Where ya headed, Rose?” “Baltimare,” she replies, “You?” “Same,” you say before taking a drink, “What’s in Baltimare?” “Oh, um, business, I suppose,” she giggles. You’re not sure what she thinks is funny, but you blame it on the champagne she’s drinking. “Are you celebrating?” you motion towards the drink in her hand. “In a way,” she chuckles again, moving to the stool in between you, “I got a promotion. That’s what I’m doing in Baltimare. Ya’ know, they’ve got some great museums in Baltimare. I’ll be the Curator and of contemporary art at the Baltimare Museum of Art. You should stop by sometime,” Rose smiles. You blush unnoticeably, “I’ll only be there a few days, but I’ll be sure to visit.” “What are you going to Baltimare for?” she asks curiously, leaning her forelegs on the bar. “Oh, well, I-…” you’re response is cut off by a feminine outcry. “Somepony help!” the voice yelled, “He stole my purse!” That came from the car I was just in… you realize, looking over in that direction. You hear Shining Armor’s voice just a moment later, “Who did, miss?” he asks quickly. “I don’t know, he snatched it and was gone!” Her reply confuses you, but you down the last bit of your drink before turning to Rose, “I’ll be right back.” Rose nods and you walk over to the door to the other car. You hear the distressed mare spouting off random observations to Shining as he tries to help her calm down. You open the door but hesitate in stepping into the car. Standing in the center walkway is Shining Armor, Luna, Amethyst Shield, and the distraught victim – a purple pegasus mare with a similarly colored mane. All those present are currently staring at you as you stand in the open doorway. “That’s him!” the purple mare suddenly shrieks. You panic and take a step back, “W-What!?” Shining’s steely glare hardens on you and he begins to trot towards you. You hear hoofsteps behind you also as you realize Rose had stood up and was coming towards you. Shining Armor growls out your name as he approaches and you back away from him, nearly running backwards into Rose. The irate victim galloped up behind Shining as he trotted, “It’s him! He’s the one who took my purse.” “Look lady, I didn’t steal your damn purse!” you shout back. “That’s right, he’s been at the bar with me the entire time,” Rose advances forward to your side. Shining Armor falters and takes a moment to think. You and Rose stand just inside the bar, facing the purple pegasus and Shining Armor. The others watch curiously from behind. “M-Miss, are you sure this is the stallion that stole your purse?” Shining asked again. The mare looks a little taken aback and glares at Shining, “I already told you he is, didn’t I? Just who are you, anyway?” “I’m Captain Shining Armor of the royal guard. He’s with me and we’re on our way to Baltimare.” The mare looks stunned at first but then her glare returns just as quickly, “Yeah, right. Why would the captain of the royal guard be travelling to Baltimare with this kid? I bet you’re his partner in crime! Just what are you going to Baltimare for?” Shining looks uncertain for a split second, “That’s classified, miss.” The mare immediately scoffs and turns to leave, “I’m calling the authorities on both of you.” Shining grunts in frustration and cuts her off, “We are the authorities, miss,” Shining said a bit more adamantly as he showed her his badge, “and I promise that we will find your purse and catch whoever did this.” You mentally groan, realizing Shining Armor had just enlisted your help as well. The purple mare falters as she examines the badge, and her gaze softens, “I’m sorry, I guess I’m still a little shocked. I’ll trust you.” Shining smiles, “Alright, we’ll start looking right away.” “Where do we start?” you ask casually, getting ready to aid in the investigation. Shining looks you up and down, “I… really think it would be best if you sat this one out,” he says a bit timidly. You eye him for a moment, but realize arguing could ruin your credibility with others present, “Are you serious?” “Yes,” he says a little more adamantly, “Go wait with Cherry Blossom in the booth. We’ll get you if we need your help.” Rose anxiously shifts around for a second and you look over to her and smile, “I’ll see you once all this blows over.” She smiles back, “Alright.” --- You sit in the booth with Luna across from you, keeping her eyes on you. You sigh and lay down across your seat, closing your eyes. “Is this really necessary?” you ask, “You know I could be helpful out there.” Luna looks out the window and replies, “I’d be betraying Shining Armor’s trust if I let you leave.” A voice outside of the booth catches both of your attention, “Princ- ah, um, Cherry Blossom? Could I speak with you privately for a moment?” Shining Armor’s voice calls through the curtain. Speak of the devil and he doth appear and almost blow your bucking cover. Luna glances at you and then to the curtain, “I’ll be right there,” she replies before looking back to you again, “I will be just outside the booth, so don’t try to leave.” Luna exits the booth and you slump your head in frustrated defeat. That is until the proverbial light bulb appears above your head and you grin deviously over at the booth’s window. With a cursory glance side to side, you stand up and approach the window, opening it by sliding the lock and pulling the two swinging halves inward. The whooshing air isn’t loud enough to catch anypony’s attention, so you stick your head out and look around. There’s a small decorative platform just under the window, running the entire length of the car and the train. It appears to be about the width of your hoof, and you hesitate before stepping halfway out. This is going to be tricky, you contemplate. You hear a snippet of Shining and Luna’s conversation, reminding you that you have a limited window of opportunity. You close your eyes and take a deep breath, hardening your expression. You induce yourself into an adrenaline-craving mindset, determined to show whoever caused the purple mare to accuse you of such a mediocre attempt at thievery that nopony messes with a real thief. You are an artist, damn it! Concentrate. Focus. Calm... Rule number one: Do not hesitate. Efficiency is essential. You step out onto the ledge and stand up on your hind legs in one swift motion. You wiggle for balance and grunt as you lean with the train to counterbalance the wind threatening to topple you backwards. You reach back inside the booth and pull the window shut again, rattling the frame until the lock slides into the place. Rule number two: Cover your tracks. Err on the side of caution. With the window locked, you have no choice but to move forward, shuffling towards the bar car with a smile on your face. You keep your back and forelegs pressed against the vibrating and rattling train car. You eventually make your way to the end of the car and have to make the small gap. It would have been an easily makeable step if the cars weren’t rattling out of sync, but life isn’t fair, you suppose. You take the first step quickly, dividing your body in between two unequally moving platforms. You immediately realize how difficult it is to balance like this, so you take a small jump to get your entire body onto the next cart, coming uncomfortably close to disrupting your stability. Your heart beats incredibly fast and a few drops of sweat fall from your brow and are immediately swept away by the wind and into the dusty atmosphere, augmented by the barren desert-like terrain. However, you do not take the moment to relax. Rule number three: Stay alert. One second of ignorance could be one second too late. You grit your teeth and look forward, seeing that there are no windows on the bar car, and that the next opening is on the next passenger car. Suddenly, your attention is drawn to a spot about a mile ahead on the track, where the track itself seemed to completely end at a very large rock. Your heart skips a beat, almost making you choke. A-… A tunnel! you mentally scream with wide eyes. Judging by your speed, you had about a minute to make it to the next window, or else risk the tunnel being too narrow to fit you as well as the train, and under no circumstances did you envision a shoving match with the train ending well. The atmosphere turns silent, and with the slightest trace of a grin, you push forward as quickly as possible. --- “Thank you for the update, Captain,” Luna says as she turns around to enter the booth again. She walks through the curtain, eyes already moving to the spot where you once sat, “That took a little longer than I thought-…” Luna’s eyes widen and she rubs them frantically for moment before looking around once again. She calls out your name, looking under cushions and anywhere else she thought you could fit. After a few minutes of unsuccessful searching, a pang of realization hits her. She stares at the window and hesitates for a moment. The only reason she didn’t think of it earlier was because the window was closed and latched, but then she remembered who she was dealing with. Oh Celestia no. She trots urgently to the window and undoes the latch, pulling the two sides inward and sticking her head out. She looks backwards, seeing nothing but the caboose of the train, and then to the front, what she saw making her heart feel like a lump of ice. She sees you clinging to the side of the train two cars down, along with the rapidly approaching tunnel. She opens her mouth to call to you, but only terrified gasps come out. By the time she regains her voice, she realizes that distracting you may be the worst thing she could do at that moment, so she chooses to hold her tongue for the moment. Her mouth hangs open as your window of opportunity steadily declines. The tunnel is only a couple seconds away, and Luna leans out of the car and yells out your name, but her voice is lost to the wind. One quarter of a second before the tunnel would have hit, your figure jumps forward and swings back into the train through a window. Luna immediately closes the window and drops down to the floor, her back against the wall. She breathes heavily, her eyes watery from a mixture of extreme anxiousness and the wind blowing in her face. --- “Rule number four: Remain calm! Letting yourself be distracted could kill you!” you say through gritted teeth. You lunge forward, and in two swift kicks, latch onto the top window sill and kick the window open below you while entering. Luckily, the window’s latch broke and swung inwards, rather than the glass shattering into the car. You feel a blast of air hit your back as the train enters the tunnel, the side of the rocky cave coming uncomfortably close to shaving the back of your head. You hear an abbreviated feminine scream upon entering, which you ignore for the moment, dropping down onto the floor and leaning against the wall, panting fanatically with your eyes closed. Rule number five and the final rule: Have fun! After you catch your breath, you smile and stand up, closing the window before you turn around. You yelp and fall back onto your haunches when you see a pony already occupying the booth, but your features soften when you see who realize it’s Rose. Rather than being terrified or worried, she sits there smiling smugly at you. “Spill the beans,” Rose smiles, “Who are you?” You lift yourself up with a groan and grin, “I believe I’ve already introduced myself, Rose.” She looks up at your mane and giggles, and you know that the wind probably did something funky to it. “I know your name, but I still don’t know who you are,” she clarifies. “Oh, me?” you ask, “I’m just a little colt who can’t get any scotch.” She rolls her eyes and you get up to make your way to exit the booth. “Hey, where are you going?” Rose huffs. “Well, are you going to help me catch a thief or not?” --- You went quickly at first, so you could stay one step ahead of Shining Armor in their search for the missing purse. The search was unfruitful for the first several minutes. You searched in every nook and cranny for that purse, invading some strangers’ personal space while you were at it, but it never turned up. You sigh as you walk into the next and one of the last cars. Upon entering, however, you hear a call for help. You step into the main walkway quickly and look for the source of the plea. “Somepony stop him!” a mare’s voice cries out. An instant later you see a blackish-gray, medium sized stallion, exit the booth where the mare’s voice came from. He’s starts to run in your direction, looking behind him where the irate mare stood, peeking out of the booth in shock and anger. “I got you!” you say, charging at him head on. “Huh?” he says in shock, looking up and attempting to skid to a halt on his hooves. Your determination falters and you attempt to stop as well, both of you looking into each other’s eyes in confusion and slight horror. It was like you were staring in a mirror, looking at a picture perfect image of yourself holding a golden-yellow handbag in your mouth. “Wait, you’re-…!” you barely yell out before you crash, both of you tumbling backwards, nearly bowling over Rose in the process. While you two are regaining your cognition, on the floor in a daze, you hear a loud noise as the door from the last train car opens and in floods an indiscernible amount of ponies. The first voice you can distinguish is Shining Armor’s calling out your name in frustration, “Where the hay have you been? Oh, uh… whoa.” Your disorientation fades and you look up at him, “What is it? Is it my mane? I guess I should’ve fixed it before-…” “Why, you!” an angry voice from your left suddenly cuts you off. In a split second, your doppelganger is on top of you, pinning you to the floor, “What are you doing Captain? Arrest him!” You look over to Shining Armor in horror, noticing Luna, Iron Wing, and Spy Glass for the first time as well, “What the-… Hell no, he’s the fake!” you shout back, trashing until your attacker is forced to step off of you. You lunge at the fake you and grapple with him for leverage while the other ponies seem to be discussing something among themselves, huddled in a circle. “I could use my magic to detect and transformation spell, but it would unwise while I am in this form,” Luna whispers to the huddled group that was struggling to come up with a course of action. Your copy gets the upper hand for a moment, and plants a kick firmly into your gut, knocking the breath out of you and making you wheeze. You respond with a forehoof straight to his eye. He cries out in pain and falls backward. “There appears to be a fake one,” Shining points out, “With my magic, I could probably hold them still for about thirty seconds. Do you think we can decipher who is who in that time?” You approach the clone to take advantage of his impaired state as he holds his hoof over his eye, but you underestimate his abilities. When you’re just near enough, he plants a firm buck to your chest, sending you backwards with a pained yelp, giving him the advantage. “It’s the best option we have so far,” Iron Wing replies, “I think we should go for it.” Your doppelganger runs in to take advantage of his opportunity, but in a burst of rage, you cry out and side step his lunging punch. You grab his hoof in yours and pin him to the ground, standing on his back but holding his foreleg backwards up in the air, clamping a pressure point in his hoof. “You pretty fond of this leg?” you pant. He decides to call your bluff, “You wouldn’t!” he barks. It was strange hearing your own voice come from somepony else. Spy Glass turns away from his huddled position to observe, “By the looks of it, we should hurry.” Everypony turns in your direction just in time to see your sadistic glare, thoroughly provoked into a state of anger. *SNAP* “Oh, shit…” Shining Armor whispers, stunned. Your clone emits a blood-curdling scream that no doubt calls the attention of everypony in the car, causing some of them to peek their heads out of their booths in curiosity. Shining seems to be the first to recover from his shocked stupor and ensnares both of you in a levitation spell. “O-Okay, I’m going to ask you one question to decipher the real from the fake,” Shining Armor starts hoarsely before clearing his throat. “How many months have I been married?” Your heart sinks for a moment before you fill with anger, “How the hell am I supposed to know that!? Like I would pay enough attention to you to know something so ridiculous!” “That’s an easy one, Captain,” your clone with his foreleg lying limp to his side smiles and winces, “You have been married to Princess Cadance for four months.” Why would he ask a question like that? you think seriously, anypony who pays enough attention could remember the number of months since the royal wedding. “No, no, no! You don’t understand-…!” you begin to plead, only to be interrupted as Shining shoots a blue and white beam of magic at your doppelganger, “Huh? H-How?” “The question didn’t matter,” Shining replies with a steely gaze at the copy, “the real you would never call me ‘Captain’.” You sigh and grin as you are released from the magic, turning to your clone, who is interestingly shimmering like a mirage until the waviness fades and there appears a medium sized unicorn who looks to be in his twenties. He has a white coat and gray mane, and he holds onto the shoulder of his broken foreleg, writhing in distress. Shining Armor approaches you, and you perk up, waiting to be greeted; however, you receive a punch to the face. You seethe and look back up at him angrily. “Hey, we already know I’m the real one!” you bark. “You’re absolutely horrible. For starters, he’s going to get off free for brutality with a broken leg. But even worse, you completely lack any decency or sense of mercy!” he scolds you. You sit there, stunned for a moment. You had never realized that doing something like that could have consequences. “Nothing good can come from showing mercy,” you retort, “It can get you killed.” Shining doesn’t back off, “Maybe in your filthy line of work.” You purse your lips and prepare to argue, but then just growl and trot quickly out of the car, pouting your way back to the booth that you started in at the beginning of the train ride. “I think I’ll go make sure he’s okay,” Luna says gently. Shining approaches the incapacitated, groaning thief, “We’ll need to meet the authorities in Baltimare upon arriving and have this stallion shown to a hospital in police custody. That really doesn’t look like fun,” he remarks, frowning at the unfortunate unicorn’s foreleg that’s sticking up in the air at an awkward angle, “In any case, I’d like to get some information before we arrive.” You plop down on the seat of the booth, pouting as you mull over what Shining Armor told you. Lack of decency? Horseapples! He was the enemy, for Celestia’s sake. You hear Luna softly say your name from just outside the curtain, “I think we should talk.”