//------------------------------//
// Prologue: Train Ride 
// Story: Flash in the Pan 
// by Gladi Writes 
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Flash Sentry stared out the window, watching as the trees swept past, covered in snow and almost glowing orange as the sun set in the distance. It was certainly beautiful, peaceful, and he was starting to relax into his short vacation. Glancing to his side- where an older stallion was snoring away the trip- he smiled, and leaned down to cup his tea between his hooves to sip at it.

With the Magnificent in for another round of routine repairs, he was on leave. Even so he was still a 'big name' now, and had been given an invitation to chair a think tank summit in Vanhoover. Leading students the Lunar Strategic Studies Program at Princess Luna's Royal Military Academy were due to present to him their theories on how go better fight the war. He would just be there so that the students could deliver their ideas to someone that had actually fought, and his experience would be a boon to their studies. It was exciting really- all those kids looking up to him. Finally, a way to help the country that didn't involve large amounts of explosions.

As much as he enjoyed blowing stuff up, it was getting rather exhausting at this point. He had been fighting, hopping island to island, for months now. While the snows fell on Canterlot and winter came to Equestria; the Wonderbolts and Marines fought on. Soon it would be Hearthswarming, and there was no end in sight. A standstill, with Equestria forward enough to establish a firm foothold, but facing an equally firm Griffon foothold as they encroach on the home islands.

Still, even the strategic situation stunk- he wasn't high enough on the pay grade to worry too much. Those decisions would be made in Canterlot, he just had to follow them as best he could. The time would come for him to return to the Magnificent and depart, but not today.

He looked out the window again, and fell asleep to the sight of snow difting beside the tracks as the train passed by. 

When Flash awoke to the sound of the train horn, night had fallen and all he could see out the window was an inky blackness. No moon out tonight, just the faint stars in the sky and the pitch blackness between cities. He felt a tap, and turned to the stallion that was sitting beside him. He smiled, barely visible in the dim candlelight of the cabin. Flash yawned.

"Need something?" he asked sleepily.

Flash felt something against his rear, and found that the stallion had pressed a gun against him. Backwards, thankfully- but stil rather distressing.

"Take this, keep it close, and stay quiet," the stallion directed.

Flash, despite wanting to ask a million questions, was no fool. If a stallion was offering him a lethal weapon for some reason, then by Celestia he was going to take it. So he did, slipping it behind him and shuffling a bit so his right hoof wrapped around and held it at the ready.

Light pierced into the cabin from the next car, shining over the dozen or so passengers who grumbled and blinked at it. Flash noted that his companion had an empty holster at his thigh, which had been hidden behind a suit until now. The stallion pulled his suit down to cover it up and shifted up in his seat.

The door opened, and a train attendant strode in. 

"Someone cut the power, has anyone suspicious been in this car?" the attendant asked, as he swept along the ceiling and then down to the seats, looking for signs of sabotage.

"Not that I've seen, should we be worried?" Flash's companion asked, as the other train passengers began quietly talking amongst eachother, the worried chatter of the sheep wondering if it's sacrifice day.

"No no, just..." The attendant sighed, and opened the door at the other end of the car, "... say put."

Then he vanished, continuing his search down the length of the train.

Flash leaned close to his companions ear and whispered "Should we be?"

The stallion simply nodded.

For a time nothing happened, just the train continuing onward forward through the silent void of a winter night. The power may be cut, by the engine itself ran on coal. The conductor must've decided that it was best to press onwards than stop and try and sort all this out.

Flash agreed, he suddenly had an intense dislike of trains.

When that time passed, it was to another opening of a door- the rear one- and then the sound of someone trying to close it as quietly as possible. These old doors creaked though, and Flash tried to lean over to see what was going on. His companion put a hoof to him though and pressed him back. Flash waited, hoof growing white as it pressed against his pistol, as the sound of someone creeping up on them- evident from the groaning of floorboards, became slightly louder, closer... 

The train bumped, Flash nearly ended up firing the gun off but managed not to. Their ghost bumped against someone and hushed apologies were muttered in the background. 

Then a face appeared out of the dark, so suddenly that Flash's breath stuck in his throat and he instantly tensed up. Eyes looked at him, the face masked by darkness, and the pupils moved rapidly as whoever they belonged to examined them. 

"Celestia's Flank." The pony said, in a muffled whisper.

"Seven Miles," Flash's companion replied, and slouched slightly- obviously relieved. 

Their apparent friend then slipped in and sat across, taking up the extra seat and- distressingly- blocking Flash's exit.

Flash flicked off the safety and squinted at the two ponies. Both stallions, both wearing a suit, and both unicorns. The new arrival was apparent now, a slightly more aged stallion than his fellow but wearing the same serious face and a nearly identical suit. It was too dark to see, but he guessed their ties even matched. A small bulge in his suit near the thigh betrayed that he was hiding a sidearm.

"Hold on there Colonel," the second pony said, and looked to Flash, "We're here for your protection. We're Centurions, and we have reason to believe your life is in danger."

This didn't much help the anxiety Flash was feeling, and he continued staring.

"I'll give it to you straight, Sentry: You just walked into the biggest intelligence clusterbuck in history, and its gonna take some doing to not get in the crossfire. Zebras have been awful interested in Vanhoover as of late, and your head would look great on an enemy spook's resume," he explained.

Flash sighed, "I'm not even on the front lines- do I really have to worry about people trying to kill me even when I'm off duty?" 

"No, that's our job."

Flash shook his head and then clicked the safety off again before pressing the pistol towards his companion. He shook his head.

"I'm here to protect you, and I know you can use that. So keep it close, and don't worry about me."

Flash nodded and hid the weapon between the seat and the wall for now. 

"Alright so, I've got two centurions- what's the enemy composition?"

The stallion snorted, "If we knew, they would be dead. All we know is that there's somepony- or somebody rather- on this train that wants to give their bosses your head. You're damn lucky we're good at our jobs or you would be in a ditch right now."

Flash glanced outside, it would take months before anyone found his body with all this snow. Maybe even have to wait until it all thawed. He shuddered, bad way to go.

The stallion beside Flash had been thinking on the same lines: "That's right, wouldn't even have to kill you- just tie up your wings and let nature do the work," he said, and reached in his jacket for something as he spoke.

"Now, since we're both here- I suppose I should get formal," he said, and hoofed Flash a small envelope. "You can call me Centurion K, and my friend is Centurion G. In that envelope is a list of people in town you can trust- don't open it unless you need it, it'll burst into flames ten minutes after."

Flash nodded, and stuck the envelope within his jacket. As he did, a pillar of light streamed in the cabin just before the door at the other end slid open, and the train attendant looked them all over again.

"We found the short everybody. False alarm- the military is taking all the copper so we just have to make do," he said, and passed by- nodding at Flash- before continuing back up the train.

A few minutes later the lights came back on, and Flash got a better look at his companions. Centurion G was a gruff looking unicorn, and that suit of his was hiding a good deal of muscle as he sat across from Flash. Centurion K was of a smaller build, but as a pegasus- that was to be expected. 

"So what's with you two? I thought the Centurions were just Celestia's brute squad when 'acting motherly' didn't work out.

G laughed, "That's more accurate then I care to admit- but times change, and so do we. Once upon our a time our primary goal was slapping down Lunar fanatics, for a while we just kept to ourselves and made sure nobody threatened sunny-butt. Now... well things are different, we gotta prove we're worth keeping around," he said, and then sighed, "Everyone else is thinking the same thing- Wonderbolts, Night Guard, Legion- when all this settles down there's going to be a reckoning, I just hope we stick together when the time comes."

Flash listened intently, he had never had the pleasure of meeting a Centurion before- they were certainly a rare sight outside of the castle, or even inside. The saying went that "if you see a Centurion, you're already done."

For a time they talked amongst themselves, sharing stories. These two had been together for quite a while, and it was surprising how often they had to deal with seemingly innocous matters. A mare in Ponyville angrily explains "Celestia!? Who needs her!" after she gets a sunburn? A centurion shadows her for weeks- and she'll never even know it. Not a pony in Equestria so much as thought anything ill towards Celestia without getting their attention. Flash grew concerned for a moment- wondering if they had ever shadowed him (he would have to check the recods later- neither would say for certain), but so long as they never actually /acted/ without a good reason- he supposed it was justified. 

Centurion K had an idea, and offered to switch clothes with Flash- or rather 'strongly recommended' they do so. Even a moment of confusion could save them if it came to it, and Flash agreed. The suit didn't fit him too well, but it didn't much matter.

The lights went out again, and the attendant soon returned, grumbling about how shoddy their systems were. 

Flash fell asleep again sometime later, feeling rather comfortable as the pair watched over him. It felt good to, for once, entrust his safety with someone else. Normally it was him watching over his men, but here- for a time- he knew that somebody was trying to kill him, and yet he was safe. He knew his enemy, and he was beyond their reach.

So he slept, and some time later Centurion K slipped out to take a bathroom break. Centurion G, naturally, stayed with Flash, and kept a sharp eye out.

Closing the door behind him, and awkwardly waddling down the dark corridor- Flash's uniform was rather... tight on him- he made his way towards the washroom. He opened it, glanced inside, and finding it empty strode in and went to his business, letting the door close behind him.

He tensed up when a small sliver of light trickled in from under the door- but remembered the attendant, and relaxed again. It wasn't until the door opened and he looked over, finding himself blinded by the light directed in his eyes, did he realize his mistake.

The attendant was on him in seconds, dropping the flashlight and lunging forward with a knife. Centurion K was sent to the ground and against the wall, badly injuring both his back and head, before the 'attendant' stabbed him, but had fumbled when the train shifted and dug his dagger into the centurions muscled bicep. Concussed and bleeding, he was still able to fight back and kicked his lower legs, launching the attacker into the air and slamming him against the door. It splintered and broke off the doorway, and the assassin wobbled on his hooves in the hallway, reeling.

Centurion K grunted, spat out some blood, and stood on all four. He snorted, and then launched himself forward, tackling the attacker against the wall. He reached for his holster then- but found it empty.

In that moment of hesitation his attacker took the upper hand, and pushed off from the wall against the centurion, pushing him down against the tile of the bathroom again. He spat out blood as the wind was knocked out of him, and the flashlight rolled to explose him in bright light. The assassin blinked- perhaps realizing he had mistaken his pray, for this was certainly no orange coated pegasus- and the centurion had an opening. He arced his right arm with incredible velocity, shattering the attacker's jaw and sending a spew of blood against the wall. He repeated this with his left, but missed- a sudden wave of dissyness from his concussion overcoming him for a moment. 

The last thing he heard was an idle mumble: "didn't want to draw the attention..." before he heard a click, and in a flash- everything faded to black.

Flash awoke with a start back in the cabin, finding Centurion G darting out of his seat, weapon drawn and back against the wall beside the door. "Stay put, I g-"

A crack, and the window of the wooden door seperating the cars shattered inwards, and the passengers screamed in terror. Flash had his weapon drawn in seconds, and leapt across the aisle to put his back up against the other side of the door.

"I ain't staying put. If it's a fight, I'm not going to lose sitting down."

The other centurion nodded, and then craned his neck to try and look at what they were facing. He was met with the blinding light of the flashlight, and a moment later a cracking shot pierced through the wooden door, sending splinters everywhere and the centurion falling backwards. Flash glanced down, and the centurion howled in pain.

"I- it's just my shoulder, but I can't shoot like this!" he exclaimed.

"Lay down and empty your magazine into the door!" Flash ordered.

The centurion, perhaps confused, did as ordered- trained to obey even if they didn't understand, as any good soldier did. He rolled and used his left hoof to aim his weapon upwards at the door, and sent a volley of haphazard fire through it, punching holes through and sending metal hurtling down the hallway. Shells ejected by his gun rolled on the floor and burned Flash's hooves, but he held his position against the wall. As soon as his gun clicked empty, Flash tore the door open and leapt down the hallway, quickly shooting towards the only thing he could see- the flashlight. It exploded and someone cursed angrily, returning fire but missing entirely, the shot simply exiting towards the outside. Flash, with his eyes adjusted to the darkness, had an advantage on his enemy now. 

"Surrender!"

The reply was a click, and Flash stood, knowing he had won. His enemy, wearing the torn uniform of a train attendant, covered in blood- perhaps not all his- lay on the floor at the end of the car, panting for air, as the tiny sidearm he had hid lay on the floor beside him.

"That," he coughed, sputtering out a little bit of blood, "was a clever thing... with the clothes..."

Flash decked him the head, and he fell to a different sort of blackness than the Centurion he had murdered.

As if adding insult to injury, the lights came back on- just for a moment- allowing Flash to see past the broken doorway and to where Centurion K had met his end. Flash stood silently, dropped his still smoking gun, and saluted. He had died like a true soldier, giving his life to fulfill his mission to the best of his abilities. The lights went back out after only moments, and another train attendant arrived. Flash shook his head, and looked the pale-faced pony in the eyes as he saw what had happened.

"You're late."