//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2 
// Story: Ashy's Struggle 
// by ForgottenBliss 
//------------------------------//

	It was still raining by the time I got to the train station.  "Man, this stinks," I said to nopony in particular, "The rain should have let up by now."  A mare next to me that I never did get the name of replied with, 
"I know, right?  It's crazy how long it has lasted." With that, we both boarded the train along with many other ponies.  The rain began to let up a little bit as we got about halfway to Canterlot.  I began to stare at a strange black dot in the distance.  Unable to make out what it was, I shrugged and moved on to the next item of interest, the train that I sat in.  It was filled in every car with ponies.  I never knew or even imagined that this many ponies could fit in such a small space.  I saw mares and stallions of all shapes and sizes.  I didn't know them at all, and I figured I might not ever see them again, so I didn't bother introducing myself.  I looked back out the window and noticed something peculiar, the black dot was gone.  No, you must just not be looking hard enough, I told myself. Maybe if you just keep looking. So for the next minute, all I did was try to find the black dot.  I didn't realize until about five seconds before the bombs hit that I heard the loud whine of a jet engine.  Then, explosions ripped the train car around me and I fell to black.

When I woke up, it was a disaster zone.  It was like a bomb had been dropped on the place.  Oh wait, that actually happened.  Anyway, there were bodies of hopefully unconscious ponies strewn about.  A few ponies, myself included, seemed unscathed or with only a few scratches.  Others, however, bore the black marks of heavy burning plus red gashes all along their sides where pieces of the exploded train slashed their flanks.  I sat there dumbfounded until I heard the screams of agony beginning to erupt around me.  How long have I been oblivious to those noises? I silently asked.  Then I put two and two together and realized that ponies really were gravely injured and this wasn't just a dream like I had thought.  I stood up quickly, a little too quickly, as I had to steady myself to stop from falling over.  I checked the ponies around me first.  Many seemed fine, well all of them actually.  All except one, that is.  That one happened to be the mare who had talked to me at the train station.  I walked over to her body and prodded her side. 
"Hey, wake up," I said urgently, eager to continue on to the others who needed help.  When she didn't respond, I began to worry. "Hey, this isn't the time for games," I flipped her onto the other side to make sure that she was alright.  I was horrified at what I saw.  There was a long gash extending from the base of her skull to her ear.  I began to realize what had actually happened.  Just to make sure, I checked her pulse.  After 10 seconds of no pulse, I came to the conclusion with absolute certainty.  She was dead.  I didn't have time to mourn the loss of a pony I didn't even know, however, as I had others to attend to.

As I finally finished patching up the last pony, I counted the ones still lying on the ground.  Thirteen dead in all.  Five already dead before I got there.  Eight more dying in my hooves.  I decided that I would check the first mare for any sort of I.D.  I looked around and saw her saddlebag and picked it up.  As I did so, a license fell out.  It read: Starry Night, Age 17, Gender, Female.  It was a school I.D.  She wasn't even old enough to graduate.  I flipped the card over and saw that she was going to Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns.  Judging by the calendar in my head, today is the last day of school before break.  I fell flat on my butt as I realized that she must have been going to Canterlot for her graduation ceremony.  Yet, that wasn't destined to be.  That bomber stripped her life away so early.  Come to think of it, I never did figure out who bombed the train.  The New Lunar Republic would never bomb a Solar train and Celestia wouldn't dare bomb her loyal subjects.  It means it must've been a mercenary of some sort.  I went numb as I thought of my sister, Shadow Whisper, who had become a mercenary.  No, you mustn't jump to conclusions, I told myself.  I decided then that until I had more information, I wouldn't blame anybody.  But now there were more pressing matters at hand, how to get the dead and wounded out of here.  I turned to the alright ponies and shouted, "Does anypony have a cell phone?!"  
A young mare raised her hoof and quietly said, "I do." She pulled out her phone and gave it to me.
"Thank you," I said as I took the phone and called 911.  As the phone rang, I couldn't stop myself from thinking that this was probably going to be all over the news.