The conductor, an earth pony mare named Full Throttle, looked nervously at the trees up ahead. Maybe it was just the night, and the moonlight, making the overhanging branches seem extra ominous, but she was pretty sure there wasn't supposed to be anywhere near that many trees in this part of the tracks. Still, it was a straight shot here, and all trains heading the opposite direction had been cancelled. She decided to live up to her namesake, and just go ahead and crank up the engine to full steam, at least until she neared the next corner. That decision would prove critical.
A beam of impossibly bright light cut down from heaven to earth, ripping through the coal car behind her like a hot katana through pre-melted butter. The next car or two rolled into the beam to the sound of shortlived screams before their momentum finally slowed enough to allow the ponies within the cars time to react and flee, literally diving out the windows. But those that did didn't fair much better. Bright flashing muzzle flares disrupted the illusions for a moment at a time, as the suspicious trees revealed their true nature.
The conductor had been planning to reach for the brake, to go back and help, but from here she could see she would be no help. The soft chuff of dozens of flying machines approached from behind the train, searing red beams of light already starting to tear up the caboose. No, now wasn't the time for the brake. Without the weight of the rest of the train, the little engine was picking up speed, and would continue to do so until the lack of coal to fuel it caught up with her. She only hoped she was far enough by then to escape the massacre undetected.
She saw one of the flying machines continue forward past the train cars, and saw an upcoming copse of trees she did recognize. Betting her life on a desperate gamble, she lept from the speeding engine, rolling into the underbrush, where she hid as best she could. It worked! The cruel machine chased after her engine, lancing it with bright red beams until the faithful chugger exploded, before turning back and rejoining the others at the remains of the car.
She sat in the undergrowth, shuddering and crying as the reality of what she had just witnessed, what she had just survived, ran through her. The trouble with surviving something like this was that afterwards.. you had to live with it. She hadn't even dared to blink yet, and already it was giving her nightmares. Then one of those nightmares became reality. The illusionary trees all vanished, the metal monstrosities that had generated them were on the move, following the tracks right toward her! For a moment, her hooves were too heavy with fear to move, the next moment they were light as air, as she broke cover and ran like the wind.
She needed to warn somepony, anypony, everypony! More importantly, she needed to not be there anymore!
An hour earlier..
The sleeper cars in the train finally gave Wind Chaser and I some well-needed privacy. We ended up sharing a cabin with Bardrick and Relena, the entire Itinerant Kingdom gathered together for the night, while our other travelling companions had the cabin across from us. Fortunately, Relena had the good sense to find an excuse to go explore the other cars, and dragged the apparently oblivious Bardrick along as 'protection'. I'm sure it said something horrible about our civilization that an eight year old had a better sense for adult needs than a grandfather from this world. Or maybe it just said something about her father's former lifestyle, I didn't really dig. We were careful to keep the volume down, and be done and presentable by the time they returned. It was amusing to watch Bardrick's face, though, as the lingering smells were aparently his first clue as to what had transpired.
I was pleased to see that Wind Chaser was looking healthier, more well-fed in her natural form. I didn't feel any particular drain on myself, though I wondered if it was the same lack of sense that prevented me from feeling the damage I had done to the sky. I would really need to find a way to detect these things. Or maybe it was just that willingly giving her my affection wasn't draining like having it stolen would have been?
When the others returned, I was back in my human form, which still felt.. almost unnatural to me already. Wind Chaser lay across my lap, receiving gentle pets and scritches while one of her wings wrapped around my back.
"You two make a cute couple," Relena commented. "How long have you two been together?"
"Not long. It was a few days after the uh, bus ride that I met her. We've travelled together since then, but only really gotten close the last couple days."
Relena thought about it a moment, "I guess it makes sense that a changeling would move quickly.. you probably get used to it from impersonating different people. I'm sure you can't always afford to let your heart catch up first."
Wind Chaser shuffled uncomfortably under the analysis, "Yes, well this isn't like that. He knows full well who and what I am, and I am loyally devoted to him for life. My king has all of my love, and I am happy to have his love in return."
"Sex is not love," Relena replied, matter-of-factly.
I chuckled as Wind Chaser squirmed, replying "true, but we can share both. They compliment one another."
Relena sat quietly a moment, contemplating that as if it were a novel revelation of dubious truthfulness. Bardrick shook his head, and adjusted himself in his seat.
"Something wrong, Bardrick?" I asked.
"I just don't feel like this is the sort of topic suitable for hatchlings. But then she seems more comfortable with it than I am, so perhaps it's just unsuitable for an old bird like me," he answered.
"Don't sell yourself short," Wind Chaser winked. "You're looking more and more vigorous by the hour, I'd be honestly shocked if you manage to remain unmarried for more than.. a year, two tops." She seemed extra pleased at his reaction, before he settled down to stare out the window at the passing trees.
A column of light in the distance caught our eye, stark against the darkness of night. Seconds later, our phones buzzed. I couldn't bear to look, but Relena read it off for me.
"<Player six has been eliminated. Seven players remain.
Player 6: Monique Ashland
Item: Infinite wardrobe
Starting location: Appleoosa>"
"There's no margin left. If one more dies, our only chance would be to somehow drag 'army guy' over to our side, but I'm not sure I'd even be willing to forgive him at this point," I said.
"So, what's our strategy then, 'king'?" Bardrick locked eyes with me, suddenly very serious. "Even if you get the other one, Angellica was it? You have all the QR Codes, and let's assume you can figure out how to activate them all, or that having two Loyalties doesn't matter. What then? Do you even know what winning will do?"
"I don't, honestly. My assumption is it would let us go home," I answered.
"Let you? or force you? Because unless he gets shoved through a portal," Bardrick gestured to the southwest, toward where the light had come from. "You'll be abandoning Equestria to his tender mercies. To say nothing of Gryphonia and your own precious 'Itinerant Kingdom'. Maybe Wind Chaser comes with you and learns to play act as a human, but you know I wouldn't be following you. Not with my world in this kind of peril."
"Maybe winning will disable our Items, and make 'army man's army disappear," I said, though I knew it wasn't a happy idea for any of us. The spiders in our bloodstream had disabled our immune systems, and taken over their function. If they just vanished, or worse yet simply became inert dead weight in our bodies, we were doomed. Relena was oblivous on that point, but quickly noted the looks on our faces. She probably couldn't guess the details, but she obviously guessed the punchline.
"That's why you won't make me a pony," she said, in her blunt, matter-of-fact way. I nodded. Close enough.
"Assuming they don't disappear.. I really don't think I belong on my own world anymore. Even in this form, I'm not really human anymore. A cyborg, I guess? I could pass as a human, most of the time, but I could pass as easily as a pony, or at worst a changeling here. Here I would be judged by my own actions, there I would be feared for what I theoretically could do. And that's even before considering the idea of being the only magic user in the world. Well, aside from Zeke. So, maybe the solution is that when the portal opens, I stay behind to finish the fight with 'army man'."
"If you do that.. Toodles should stay with you," Relena suggested. "I'll miss him, but you'll need him more than me. He.. doesn't belong in the real world, either."
Wind Chaser huffed. I figured it was because of the 'real' comment, but I decided to follow up on my own thoughts rather than get into that argument. "I'm sure Wind Chaser would love to visit our world, but she wouldn't belong there any more than I would. And I wouldn't dream of giving her up now." I smiled at her as she melted into my lap contentedly. I was glad I was sincere.. dating a changeling meant they knew when you were just going through the motions.
"If you're going to see the fight through to its end anyways, shouldn't that be higher priority than 'winning' your little game then?" Bardrick asked, bringing the discussion back around.
"No. It may be more important in the end, but the game has more urgency. We've lost a lot of players already, almost to the point of being unable to win. We need to make our play now, before it's too late. You saw that column of light.. I'm willing to bet 'army man' was taking out another player intentionally. With the Player Locator apps on our phones, we can't keep him from locating us at least approximately and sending a force, or even <nukes>. We need to win quickly before he can do that." I suddenly got a bit nervous. "We have three of us here, moving in a tight group, on a predictable route.. and another two stationary at our destination."
"Easy targets," Bardrick said grimly.
"<Nuke> bait," I concurred. "Relena, get on Wind Chaser's back," I said as I dumped the changeling on the floor and rushed across the hallway to the other cabin.
Within a minute, we were scattered into the starry night, leaving the train to chug along indifferently. Bardrick and I took the lead, breaking the sky in our wakes. Wind Chaser followed more cautiously, mindful of her passenger, but still outrunning the night guards as Cross Guard struggled to keep Frank aloft.