As our train left Appleloosa, I looked over the Starprancer book with Bruiser. The tale was charming; it told about a race of space ponies with otherworldly manes and coats who galloped the cosmos maintaining the suns. They flew on trails of stardust and were often mistaken for comets, it was said. The illustrations were breathtaking. The overall story was a bit light, it followed one of the Starprancers from foalhood to adulthood as it journeyed the universe.
After we finished, mom and dad came by to take Bru to the dining car for dessert, giving Div and I some quiet time.
Well, somewhat quiet.
As I cleaned myself off in the little bathroom, I felt a strange sensation. I’d gotten used to being on a train after six months of traveling, but this stop felt much more abrupt.
"Why did we stop?" I asked, looking over at Div in alarm.
He shrugged. "Dunno. It felt like we hit something while we were slowing down." We went to the window. The weather had turned to rain as we left Appleloosa, now it was coming down in buckets. Div turned to me. "I think we're on the bridge over the gorge."
Butterflies flitted around in my stomach. Div must've seen the expression on my face. "Don't worry, it'd take more than a little rain..."
I put both forehooves over his mouth. "Shh! Don't even say it. Don't put that energy out in the universe." I felt his big smile under my hooves.
Div backed up to get away from my hooves. "I'll go see the conductor and get an idea of when we'll start moving again."
I nodded, leaning in to give him a peck on the cheek before he could leave. He blushed slightly, but smiled as he walked quickly out of our compartment.
Dad walked in after Div left with mom and Bru in tow. Nopony looked particularly happy and I started to wonder if Bruiser did something when dad spoke up.
"Life, your mother and Bru wanted some company while I speak to the conductor. The weather is getting quite out of hoof and I'm concerned about this bridge." Dad announced.
I looked up in alarm, the butterflies flitting about again. “Why?”
“This country is usually very dry. Dirt that has too long been baked by the sun doesn’t absorb water as easily, leading to a lot of runoff. A sudden downpour like this could give us a mudslide on either end or even weaken the supports below, if the river is as affected as the ground.” Dad explained, his voice even.
“You think the bridge is that unstable?” I asked.
He shook his head. “Even a stable bridge wouldn’t be able to survive every weather condition. This is why weather management is so important. I don’t know if this storm got away from the weather ponies or if it was poorly planned, but it’s much more than the land can handle.”
Lovely turned to her husband and poked his shoulder. "I told you to keep that to yourself until you'd spoken to the conductor, you panic-causing pony!"
Second just shrugged. "I'm just stating my opinion. I could be wrong." He looked as if he doubted that. I had no reason to doubt him either, he was an architect, after all.
"Yes, but unlike you, I know how to bring up a subject without making ponies worry." She stated sourly.
He sighed. "You're right dear." Turning back to me. "It's probably nothing. We'll likely be moving again soon enough."
"There's just one issue and then we'll be on our way. Life, would you mind levitating my armor on. I want to take care of this quickly." Div said as he entered.
I went for his armor case. "You're going to explain this as I do."
"Not a lot of time, Life." He argued.
I snorted. "Wasn't asking a question, Sogni." I popped the latches on the case and brought out his hoof-guards.
"Fine. The train slowed down because there was...an animal on the tracks. It hit the animal, but at a low speed. We think it's just dazed, but either way, it's still on the track. I'm going out to move it off so we can continue." He explained shortly, avoiding eye contact as I adjusted the straps on his breastplate.
I wasn't about to fall for it. "In full armor. In the middle of a torrential rainstorm. What aren't you telling me." I asked as I held his helmet above his head.
He looked up and sighed as he realized I wasn't about to give it to him without the full truth. He looked me squarely in the eye. "The train hit a manticore."
I let the helmet down, none too gently and walked to the door. "I'm going to help you then." I announced.
I felt a tug on my tail before I could exit the compartment. Turning around, Div spat out my tail. "No, you're not."
To most ponies, the sight of one of Princess Luna's guard in full armor might be considered imposing if not outright frightening. To me, I could only see my husband. "I know I'm not a guard, Div. I don't plan on laying a hoof on the thing. I'll explain as we go." I turned back, taking care to lift my tail so Div couldn't hold me up.
I heard him lunge after me, to no avail. I'd put on a burst of speed to compensate. "We don't have time to argue about it in the compartment."
Div caught up to me, but didn’t move to stop me. "Explain, then."
"I'll levitate the manticore off of the tracks." I said.
"Can you do that?" He asked.
With a smirk, I lit my horn and lifted him off the floor, keeping him in pace with me as I trotted. "You know how good my levitation is." I let him down slowly, letting him get his feet underneath him as I did so he could stay abreast with me.
"Fine. I'll let you on one condition. You do it from the engineer's room at the front of the train. I'll be on the ground to make sure the manticore doesn't attack us if it wakes up." I wasn't exactly thrilled with having him in harm's way.
"How far from the engine is the manticore?" I asked.
"Worried you won't be able to lift it?" He challenged. I was, but if I had any doubts, he'd just send me back to the compartment.
"Just trying to prepare myself, Div. How far?"
"Twenty feet." He replied.
I fell silent. Pushing aside the nagging doubts, I had to concentrate if this was to work. At that distance, I could probably manage only a few feet off of the ground and would have to move the manticore more quickly. I'd likely have a small headache afterwards, but I could do this. Besides, I had to keep Div away from danger. I'd accepted that he might get hurt when I decided to marry him, but he didn't have to get hurt if I could do something about it.
"Can you do it?" He asked again.
"Absolutely."
"We could get another unicorn to join you." He offered, giving me a good compromise, unfortunately, time was of the essence.
"We're already short on time. If it is only dazed, it could wake up at any moment and attack the train. Without the engine, we'd be stuck on this bridge. You heard dad, the longer we’re on the bridge, the more that could go wrong.”
We arrived at the front engine and Div explained our plan to the engineer. I readied myself with some mental exercises and a breathing discipline I’d learned years ago at the school in Canterlot. The engineer stepped aside to give me a better view of the scene before us. Div patted my shoulder and left out the side door to ready himself by the train just in case.
I looked out through the curtains of water. A black lump lay on the tracks not too far away, silhouetted by the train’s headlamps. I closed my eyes and reached out to it mentally. As my magical glow engulfed it, I could ‘feel’ it breathing. It landed on its side when after it struck the train, lying perpendicular on the track. Aside from a bump on its head and some rib bruising, it didn’t seem to be bleeding. Tough creature. Thankfully, it wasn’t awake.
Opening my eyes, I kept my magic wrapped around it. Taking a deep breath, I exhaled as I lifted it magically. The manticore rose slowly, but I’d anticipated that. I kept my breathing measured, careful to keep it steady.
I spoke to the engineer. “Get ready to move us forward as soon as Div is back on board.” He nodded and placed a hoof on a lever.
I turned back to the manticore and began moving it away from the track. Its head pointed west, so I moved it that way towards a clearing on the side of the rail line. Progress was slow again; if I wasn’t trying to keep it asleep I could’ve just thrown it. Knowing it was still alive, I couldn’t bring myself to harm it any further. Now just its tail hovered over the train track.
That’s when things got out of hoof.
In my defense, the storm hadn’t been much of a thunderstorm. It mostly just rained. The first sign of lightning was as sudden as it was unfortunately timed. A flash struck a tree not ten feet away from the manticore, blinding me. My concentration half blown, the resulting thunder blast put a dent in my careful control. As I’d been focused on the tail a scant second ago, I’d managed to keep a magical hold on that. The top half, however, hit the ground. Between the loud crash of thunder and the sudden impact with the ground, the manticore woke up. Suffice it to say, it wasn’t pleased.
Div jumped in front of the train and drew his sword. Between that, the train headlamps and my current hold on his tail, the manticore couldn’t help but to notice the train.
Thinking fast, I drove the tail into the ground with as much force as I could muster. The poisonous tip buried itself fairly deep. A roar erupted from the creature as I leaned out to shout at Div. “Get back inside!”
He backed towards the train, but the manticore freed itself. I erected a shield between the manticore and Div. That accomplished, I looked at the engineer. “Can you back the train up?”
“Not quickly.”
“Then get it started. If we can back up enough, we can bottleneck the manticore on the bridge.” He turned to the controls to back the train up. I turned back to Div. “Div, in the train, now! We’re backing up!”
He shook his head. “Keep the shield up, we can’t outpace it going backwards. I’ll stay in front until we get back across the bridge.”
We started backing up. The manticore stubbornly pursued us. It struck my shield with its tail and claws a few times, but my shield held up. The rain never let up and my dad’s concerns rang in my head with every foot of slow progress. We got word from the rear that we’d made it to the other side just as the manticore turned around. With a final slash of its tail, it slumped away angrily. Div looked up at me and we both sighed in relief.
Before we could react, the manticore came back charging at full tilt. It slammed into my shield, breaking though. Thankfully, the shield slowed its charge enough for Div to recover and get his sword up to defend. He parried the tail and ducked under a claw swipe. My heart leapt to my throat as it made to bite his head off but he rolled back and kicked under its chin with a rear hoof. He rolled back to his feet and slashed at its shoulder, slicing through its hide. It roared in pain and backed up. I caught the next tail sting attempt in my magic and started to form a tether. Tying the tail to the track, I worked on its front paws then neck and rear paws. Finally, I had the manticore tied to the track. Div ran to catch up with us and jumped in. He slid a bit on the floor, his hooves slick with grime and rain.
“Good! How long can you hold that?” He asked, panting from exertion.
“As long as it’s in viewing range. Our rear is on the ground now. We should be off the bridge soon.”
“Good, because believe it or not, I think it’s getting worse out there.”
“Oh good.” I said, fighting butterflies again. The train stopped; the engine fell silent.
“Well that’s perfect.” The engineer announced.
Dad burst into the engine room, his coat wet. “Thank Celestia you made it this far, you have to get this train off the bridge now!”
We turned to the engineer. He shook his head. “We’ve lost pressure in the boiler. I’m sure we have a valve failure.”
“I am an architect from Canterlot. This storm is about to wash the bridge out from underneath us. I surveyed the bridge magically while you took care of the manticore. We have minutes at best.
“This train is going nowhere under its own power. We'll need to pull it. I'll tell the conductor and staff to evacuate all passengers as a precaution while the pulling team gets ready.”
The engineer rounded up a few sturdy looking ponies and left Div and I in the engine room. “Life, we have to…”
“Um, I’m still holding a manticore at bay here.” I reminded him. Div turned to look at the creature tied to the tracks.
“I’ll take care of it.” He said, pulling out his sword. With a mental flick, I shoved it back in its sheath. Div looked at me.
“We’re not killing it.”
“What do you suggest we do? We have to evacuate and it will attack if you just let it go.”
“I won’t let it go until we've evacuated and pulled the train back.”
“You heard your father. This bridge could go at any minute! We have to evacuate and that manticore has to die.”
“Don’t you dare kill that manticore. It’s just a beast, it doesn’t understand what happened.”
“Life Story, you are not staying on this train.” This time it was Dad.
“Sorry, dad, I have to.”
“It’s conscious now, so just blast it back to the other side of the bridge.” He said.
“A throw that far could kill it!” I exclaimed.
“Just let go of my sword and you won’t have to kill it.” Div offered.
“Nopony is killing that manticore!” I yelled.
There was a tug and the train started to move back again. The pulling team must've started. “There, see? We’ll just have the pulling team pull us back and I’ll let it go. If it comes after us again, then you can kill it, Div.” I said, trying to compromise.
A split second after I finished, we slowed to a stop. “Are we there already?” I asked, ready to release the manticore.
“I don’t think so.” Dad said.
“What in the hay happened?” Div wondered.
The engineer came back in. “The tow lines snapped. All four of them.”
“How? Aren’t they made to pull trains?” I asked.
“They are. The one I looked at wasn’t all stressed. It looked like it had been cut in places to weaken it.”
“Sabotage? Who--?” Dad started.
“Genuíne.” Div whispered low enough only I could hear it.