//------------------------------// // The Carmine Train // Story: Carmine and Carmine // by PonyManne215 //------------------------------// “You guys go ahead! I gotta go get the Cutie Mark Crusaders; I bet they can’t wait to meet you!” Scootaloo said as she ran towards Sweet Apple Acres. The Carmines waved her goodbye as the little orange pegasus disappeared in the distance. They weren’t sure what to do next for the time being. All they knew was that Pinkie Pie was throwing them an official welcome party that afternoon. “So..what now?” Anthony posed. “I don’t know. Maybe…we can go check out that tree that we charged into?” Benjamin said unsurely. They walked over to Twilight’s library in hopes of finding something to do there. Suddenly, they got lifted into the air by an unseen force. “What the fuck!?” Anthony shouted frightened. They were not only being lifted, but moved towards a fancy looking building. It looked a lot like a miniature castle of some sorts. The sign above the door read the words ‘Rarity’s Boutique’. “Relax, gentlecol- er..men. I simply just want to look at your amazing outfits. Please, don’t struggle, it’s very hard for a beautiful lady such as myself to carry two heavy creatures.” The white, curly purple-maned, unicorn sent them gently down when they got inside. Anthony was annoyed. “No one. And I mean NO ONE, picks up Anthony Carmine!” He pulled out his gnasher shotgun and was loading it before his younger brother spoke up. “Chill out, bro. She’s just a girl.” Anthony sighed and put the weapon back on his back. “Now, boys, I think we can all be reasonable here, right? How about I make you fabulous new clothes and you give me those?” She smiled at them, hoping to charm her with her extravagance. “No dice. And those faces you make aren’t gonna change our minds. We don’t roll like that.” Benjamin answered coldly. “Who said anything about rolling dear? I want to examine those beautiful pieces.” She said ignorant of what Benjamin said. “Lady, what he means is that we don’t sleep with PONIES.” Anthony put a lot of emphasis on the last word. “But didn’t you two sleep with Scootaloo last night?” She said. They both shook their heads, not believing the stupidity of such a refined mare. “We don’t..you know, with ponies.” Benjamin made a hole with his hands, and Anthony stuck one finger going in and out of the hole. Rarity’s white, alabaster, face turned into a luscious, rosy red. “Oh my…” She understood what they meant now. But then she examined the entire conversation she just had. A thought struck her. “Wait..you mean you boys..think I’m ugly?!” “What?” Anthony said dumbfounded. “You too think I’m u-u-ugly!” She jumped onto an expensive looking couch and cried into her hooves. Her sounds of self-lament were bouncing in the two brothers’ ears. They tried to block it off with their hands, but it was to no avail. Her cries were almost ripping at their minds. “That’s..that’s not what we meant..We’re just saying, we aren’t sure what you look like.” Benjamin said in a calming voice. Rarity took notice of this and looked up to them. Her eyes were a little red and tears rolled down her groomed face. “Hey man, I can’t tell. For all I know she could be the ugliest thing on this world.” Anthony said without thinking. “Wait no!” She started crying again, this time even more intense. Anthony muttered under his breath “Aw shit..” Benjamin, annoyed by his brother’s insensitivity went to the unicorn and put his hand on her warm and soft back. “Listen, he didn’t mean what he said. We didn’t mean any of this.” He said trying to soothe the crying lady. “Yes you did! You both did! You think I’m u-ugly! You think I’m a mule!” She buried her face back into her hooves. ‘I’m gonna fucking regret this.’ Benjamin thought to himself. He really didn’t want to say what he was thinking, but it was the only way to get her to stop crying so damn much. “……I think you’re…..pretty..” She started sniffling, surprised at what he said. Benjamin could hear a big old ‘What the fuck’ from behind him. “Do you r-really?” The calming unicorn asked. He slowly and regretfully shook his head up and down. “Y-yeah…I think you’re…hot?” He wished he had a better choice of words but that was all he could pull out of his mind. She looked at him, her blue eyes gazing into his own. Well, his helmet’s anyway. The tears slowly started to dissipate from her face as a smile had been put there instead. It wasn’t a happy smile, but more an attracted one. “I always thought there was something more to you, Mr. Carmine.” She started giggling. She then moved one of her hooves up and down Benjamin’s arms, gently caressing it. Benjamin was struck with terror. ‘No..Don’t tell me she-‘ She moved closer to his face, helmet, and spoke very softly. “Maybe we can go get something to eat sometime.” He wasn’t sure how to handle to this delicate situation. “Yeah..sure..” He himself was confused. Now that he had complimented her, had she taken that as a sign of interest. ‘No, that can’t be it. Maybe she just wants to be closer friends or something.’ He thought to himself reassuringly. ‘Yeah that’s it!’ “So, Benjamin..” She hung on his name for a few seconds. “Will you, strip down for me?” She said as a sly smile was painted on her face. At that moment, and not any sooner at that, Anthony pulled Benjamin out of the store. “See ya!” Anthony said quickly. They were out of that nightmare that turned into something far more unimaginable. “Well look at you, Squirt. A ladies’ man.” He chuckled to himself at his joke. Benjamin was always a little shy around the ladies. They resumed going back to the library, this time uninterrupted. “I never knew you had a thing for her, Benny.” Benjamin was flustered at this. “I-I’m not! I swear! I…had to say something!” He said defensively. They reached the door that they cut down the last time they were there. “Relax, everyone has their needs. Some, a little more fucked up than others..” They opened the door again. Benjamin wasn’t going to even acknowledge that last remark. They were amazed by the sight before them. A giant pile of books lay across the ground. Small pieces of paper were strewn about and all of the furniture was tipped over. “What.” Anthony said. “The.” Benjamin continued. The last word, they said in unison, holding the words last phonetic patterns on hold for several seconds. Their voices sounded like that of an opera singer. “Fuuuuuuuuucccckkkk?” Some movement could be heard from underneath the pile of books. A familiar lavender unicorn came stuck her head out of the pile. “Hehe..oh hey guys. I was just..uhh…studying. I didn’t bother to clean.” She had been spending the whole night cooped up in her research project. She wouldn’t let go of the books she had in front of her. ***** “Spike! Spike!!” Twilight yelled as she ran around the library, looking for her young and helpful assistant. “Arghh…WHAT? I’m trying to sleep.” A tired purple baby dragon said as he came out of the bedroom. HE was still in his pajamas. “I can’t find Mythological Creatures and Stuff of Legends!” She said as she frantically searched all of the shelves. “Did you check the top of the shelves?” An aggravated Spike said. “Oh! Thanks Spike!” At that, the assistant went back to sleep, “Here it is!” Twilight said aloud as she madly flipped through the pages. “Where is it? Where is it? Where is it?!” She was looking for one specific kind of creature. The ‘humans’ they called themselves. She wanted to find anything that she possible could on these strange beings. They were so different, yet so similar. They had emotions, could speak, and could think. They also could do most ordinary functions as ponies. So why wasn’t there any written record of them? She read through the entire 800-paged book in seconds. “It’s not here! Maybe I missed it!” She read the book fifty more times. “I need my glasses.” She didn’t put down the book for the rest of the night. Each time she had read through it, she would kick madly at a shelf, angry that she couldn’t find a single word concerning ‘humans’. Soon she was engrossed in a sea of books. This was when she decided to take a break. ‘Knock Knock.’ The two distinct sounds could be heard tapping on her door as it opened. Then, the two foreign voices spoke. She navigated through the ever-flowing ocean of knowledge. “Hehe..Oh hey guys!” ***** The Carmines helped Twilight organize the library once again. Although it was tedious and it was very specific, they finished without a hitch. Twilight came up to the both of them, a quill and scroll in hand. “Si..I was wondering if I could get a few questions about you two?” the nodded. She pulled up two beanbag chairs and a single chair for herself. The two brothers remained silent until she asked the first question. “Is that armor? Or is that your actual skin?” They shook their heads, feeling the need to hit themselves. “No, we just wear it to protect us.” Benjamin answered. “Can your people fly?” “Yeah! I was in this KR once, and we saved Marcus Fenix from a corpse, the MARCUS FENIX! Can you believe it?” Anthony yelled in excitement. “You saved Sarge?” Benjamin said confused. This was the first he had ever heard of this. “Excuse me, but what’s a ‘KR’?” Twilight interrupted. “A KR is short for King Raven. It’s just a helicop-“ “A what?” She asked. They realized that these ponies didn’t have helicopters. Nor cars, or tanks, or any kind of transportation that they had back on Sera. “Wait, you don’t even know what a car is, do ya?” Anthony asked to confirm their thoughts. “What’s a ‘car’?” They did it. They facepalmed. “It’s a long story.” The door got kicked open loudly. “Hey guys! You ready for a Pinkie Party?” Rainbow Dash said as she flew over to Twilight. “But we were in the middle of a ques-“ “Shit yeah!” Anthony ran off with Rainbow Dash. “Looks like it’ll have to wait another time, Twilight.” Benjamin said as he followed after his brother. She sighed disappointingly. “I hope I can get enough information to write to the Princess soon..” She on a saddlebag and tucked the quill and scroll inside. The two brothers were blindfolded and had been walking for what seemed like half an hour. “Almost there, almost there. Annnddd…stop!” Rainbow Dash stopped their motion as she undid the blindfolds. “Where the hell are we?” “Yeah I want to know that too.” Benjamin agreed with Anthony. “Go inside the barn and find out for yourselves.” Rainbow Dash grinned at the both them. Twilight snuck around to the back. “Alright…” They said in unison. They opened the door, unknowing of what was inside. The rush of screams, explosions, and cries frightened them. Instinctively, Benjamin threw a smoke grenade and Anthony readied his frag. “Surprise!! Welcome to Po-“ Their greeting was cut off by coughs and choking. Anthony and Benjamin realized they made a terrible mistake. It was just a harmless party, not a Locust ambush. “Why did you do that?” A pink blur said sadly as it rushed between them. “I wanted this to be the super funnest party ever!” Pinkie’s hair made a pop as her hair deflated. “It..was just…a grand entrance! Yeah that’s it, a grand entrance.” Benjamin said reassuringly. “I thought it was a grub-“ He got hit on the head by his little brother. “Got it.” Anthony understood why he just got hit. “Oh really?! I thought that you two were like going crazy, like this!” She span her eyes in circles while moving her head erratically. She brought them over to the center of the welcoming crowd. Around fifteen ponies were present. Most of them, the Carmines had seen and had more contact with than the rest of the town. The ponies smiled at the two humans, almost hauntingly. Anthony and Benjamin couldn’t help but feel like their every move was being watched. “Awkward, Squirt. This is really awkward.” Benjamin nodded to his brother’s statement. Finally, they reached the food. Before them, was something that was almost heaven. The only thing missing that would have made it heaven were bacon, ham, and sandwiches. “Oh my god…” Benjamin said. He stared at the huge amounts of cake, cupcakes, strudels, rolls, and almost every single variation of confections that were acquainted with apples. His mouth was watering profusely. He looked over to his brother. Actual drool was coming out of his helmet. And so, they feasted. They ate to their hearts’ content. Pinkie who was watching along with the rest of the party, giggled at them. “Wow, you can almost eat as much as me! Oh you silly fillies!” She said as she waved her hoof at them. Anthony’s head perked up. “Is that a challenge?” “Maybe..” She said sing-songy. “You’re on.” “Okie Dokie Lokie!” It wasn’t long until the winner emerged joyfully. “Yay! I win. I beat that weird thing!” Then the winner pointed towards the loser, who now was on the floor, rubbing their inflated stomach. Groans of pain could be heard coming from the loser. “Told you I’d kick your ass. Did you see that Squirt, little miss Pie here isn’t shit!” He laughed until he felt the pain in his stomach. “Where’s the bathroom..” Applejack pointed towards the back. The big, hulking blue human ran at the speed of light, almost faster than Rainbow Dash. “I think I should have warned you girls about my brother. He doesn’t like to lose.” Pinkie, who got over the stomach ache, was now with them. “Wow! That was really fun. I love you guys. You’re so fun! Hey, how about we start dancing?” She said without even stopping to breathe. “Vinyl! Start It up!” “Let’s spin this joint!” The loud sound of a ‘good’ dance song was playing. It was the girls’ favorite. The same song played at Pinkie and Gummy’s party. Benjamin scratched his head but decided not to question their taste. He started just swinging back and forth, not sure how to dance. He wasn’t the best dancer around, only good at one song. He also had to do this dance with one of his brothers. A loud crashing sound came from the back of the barn. A cackling Anthony walked up dramatically to the dance floor. “Shit just got real.” He then went to the DJ pony, and passed her a disk. The disk was put on and new music came. ‘Stay cool, Baby. Pow! Yeah, Bring it on sucka! This my kinda shit!’ The song seemed to have many beats and such, much different than what any pony listened to. Surprisingly, the ponies liked this. They had never heard such good and fascinating music. Vinyl Scratch, the DJ, tapped Anthony on his shoulder. “What is this?” “It’s the Cole Train Rap. IT. IS. THE. SHIT.” She wasn’t sure how to respond, but appreciated and listened to every single change in notes or tunes. She was going to try and make her own music like this ‘rap’. The ponies, not sure how to dance, just danced how they did with the precious song. The Carmines laughed at them. “That’s not how you dance to this. We’ll show you how.” Everypony moved off of the dance floor, clearing way for the two oncoming and confident brothers. The chorus started up again. ‘Yeah, bring it on sucka! This my kinda shit!’ The two brothers were dancing blockily. Almost like robots. Then came twists, turns, quick gestures with feet, and the waving of arms in different directions. Benjamin slowed down as the song came to an end, almost looking like he was frozen with one arm out. Anthony was on the floor, spinning on his head for a full minute. He didn’t even seem to lose balance. Then when the song ended with a final ‘Pow!’ he came to a halt, and laid on one side, the arm in the air holding his head and his foot in the air arched towards the floor. “Grab a plate, ponies. You just got served.” Anthony said nonchalantly. Even though their dancing style seemed eccentric, weird, and fast paced, it seemed to fit with the music. Almost like that’s how you were supposed to dance. The ponies, in pure utter shock and bewilderment, could not help but applaud the two dancers. They felt put to shame by the dancing skills of these newcomers. The two brothers got up, bowed, and said “Thank you, thank you. The shows not over yet, boys and girls.” The following hour consisted of various more similar songs like the ‘Cole Train Rap’ some being ‘Prescott’s Rally’, ‘Dizzy’s Hootenanny’, and ‘The Locust Bump’. The ponies, trying but failing, imitated the moves of the humans. Though they didn’t succeed, they still had fun. Anthony and Benjamin, however, were still the center of the stage. Finally, the dancing hour ended. Everypony was exhausted, and most began to head home. The party was definitely a blast. The Carmines sat down on a bale of hay, resting for all of the energy they just used. Anthony and Benjamin were moving their arms and legs, making sure they could still function. The entire time though, Lyra was watching them. She studied every movement of their arms and legs, fascinated by how they worked. The two brothers noticed this, and tried to avoid her gaze. They looked up at the ceiling, admiring the woodwork. Lyra, for some reason, was being held back by some unseen force. “Do you see them? They’re so…interesting.” She said as a passionate smile came across her face. She let out a long happy sigh. “Aren’t they dreamy?” “Lyra, what’s wrong with you? They’re so…weird! But compared to you, they seem to be normal.” Bon-Bon said to her fantasizing friend. “Are you going to be okay, Lyra? You look like you might try something..” Lyra didn’t answer her except for a silent nod. ‘Oh, I will.’ The Element came up to the resting two. “So, now that we have some peace and quiet, do you mind talking about your past?” A very studious Twilight asked. The others sighed, not surprised by what was Twilight’s first question. “I’ll do it, but I don’t think Ant will be able to any time soon.” Benjamin said as he pointed to Anthony. “Ah! Get offa me!” “Mister Mister! Do ya wanna help us git our Cutie Marks?! Oh please, won’t cha please do it?” A small yellow coated, red-maned filly asked him. “Yeah, Rarity won’t help me, so will you?” A similar looking Rarity-filly followed. “Hey get off of Anthony! He’s not a toy you guys!” Scootaloo said, trying to pry the Crusaders off of her big brother. Ever since the Crusaders saw the humans, they wanted to play with everything they had. From the helmet, armor, and boots, to the big toys that Scootaloo called 'no-no’s’. These toys were apparently really dangerous and loud. This was what Scootaloo had told them anyhow. Nothing else was said about them other than the humans should only use them. Anthony was still busy swatting the two kids off of him. "Yo, Scoot, get your friends off me." "I can't bro, they won't move. Come on guys, this isn't cool." Scootaloo said trying to persuade them to calm down. Anthony and Benjamin both finally learned about the ass tattoos. They were called Cutie Marks. They laughed at the idea of a male pony getting something called that. But they respected the ponies’ cultures regardless. "So, what is 'Sera' Like?" Twilight resumed. Benjamin seemed enthusiastic to talk about home. "Oh, it was the one of the best places to live on. It was big, peaceful, there were so many people, and there was so much bacon." He stopped for a minute, thinking of all of the misadventures he and his brother had. "Life was great, and you know, it wasn't so different from here, except you know, no talking ponies. Anyway, the technology was pretty advanced and everyday was basically the same." He stopped speaking, thinking of his memories some more. By now, the children and Lyra and Bon-Bon were sitting close, listening to the story. Anthony was next to his brother, Benjamin, who was telling the story. "Wait, why do ya keep talkin' about it like it changed? You keep sayin' it 'was' great." Applejack questioned . Anthony and Benjamin both sighed. This was where they had to tell the innocent ponies about the Locusts. The merciless, brutal, monsters. "You're right..something did happen. The peace wasn't there long. New things popped out of the ground. They were called the Locusts." And so, he told them the history of humanity's interactions with the enemy. He told all that he knew about the Lightmass Offensive and the mission he served on himself. The ponies’ reactions were greatly varied. There were looks of concern, confusion, sadness, anger, and many others. They couldn't begin to comprehend the concept of death, let alone killing and war. All they could do was listen to things they had no experience in. Equestria was never in war, it never had any killing for that matter. The news of the two brothers being soldiers also shocked them. Even though they were nice and fun, they didn't seem the fighting type. The idea of the brothers also killing made them sick. When it came to Anthony's death, Benjamin skipped over it. Anthony decided to speak at this point. "Squirt was just a kid when this all happened. My big bro Clay, already joined the COG. I followed him. Man, do I have to say, the days in training were killer. We had to lift weights and work out every single hour. We barely ate too! But it was great overall. If I didn't go through it, I wouldn't have met Marcus Fenix. Also I would never have done all those awesome things to the grubs." Anthony finished speaking, taking a break for a moment. "Awesome? I'll tell you something, bro. I saw this one grub and I just got on top of him, and swung down with my fists one by one. Dude, by the time I was done, his head came right off." Fluttershy screamed at this, the others made retching sounds. The two didn't seem to notice this. "Sorry Squirt, but I got you beat. I saw this little shit try to crawl away, and I just tore his arm clean off and beat the shit out of him with it." He said proudly. The ponies were all screaming now. "That's good, Ant. But here comes the finale. Me and Dom got this ticker who was alseep, and tied it to a wretch. Then, we pushed the wretch toward a group of flame grenadiers. Oh my god, you had to see the fireworks. Little bits and pieces of grubs flew everywhere. I had to go clean my gear after that." The ponies remained silent now. They didn't even move an inch. The friendly humans they were having so much fun with revealed such a horrible and violent path. They weren't sure what to think at this point. The brothers stopped laughing and looked at the others. They realized that they must have sounded like the real monsters with what they said. "No. It's not like that. We're not like that. We were at war. It was kill or be killed. It was fight or die. If we didn't do this, everyone that we knew and loved would die. That's why we did it." Benjamin said, trying to convince them. A long silence followed. None of the ponies looked up at the brothers, not even Lyra or Scootaloo. This was a major blow to their character. Suddenly, a voice spoke up. "Ah believe y'all. Both of ya sound like you're tellin' the truth anyhow. If you say that you ain't evil, Ah believe you." Applejack slowly admitted. Soon, she was followed by the approvals and acceptances of the others. Things seemed to go back to how it was just earlier. This of course, was Twilight's perfect timing to mess up a peaceful time. "How did you two get here?" Her question sunk in the minds of Anthony am Benjamin. They weren't sure on how to answer. "Well?" Twilight persisted. Anthony began again. "We..don't know..The last thing I remember is..." He paused. Everypony leaned in closer to him to hear what he had to say. "...I died." "WHAT?!" Benjamin continued his brothers words. "Me too." They gasped and couldn't speak. All except Fluttershy, who was very sad. "How? If you don't mind me asking." "Well, I was securing a building. When my gun jammed, I stood up and..." "And I died when the riftworm swallowed me and Delta whole. These bug-things got ahold of me. They just ripped and tore and.." Benjamin stopped. The memory of the event returned to him. His whole death played out before him. But it was interrupted. He and his brother were surrounded by little warm bodies closing in. Everyone there hugged the brothers, hoping to lift spirits. They thought they were doing the right thing, and smiled. The Carmines, on the other hand, looked at each other, whispering ‘Get these things off me’ to each other. They had no remorse on dying. In fact, they liked this new place somewhat better than Sera. It was peaceful. Then, their prayer were answered. The girls all got pushed away. “Finally, I thought you girl wou-“ “There, there, Ben. You can tell Rarity all about it. In fact, I think we should go back to my place and talk about this some more.” Rarity said while sitting on Benjamin’s lap. “I think that would be a rather pleasant idea, don’t you?” Benjamin was baffled. But he wasn’t the only one getting this kind of ‘attention’. “So…Anthony, how about we go and lay on my bed back home?” Lyra said as she traced her hooves along Anthony’s chest plate. “Uhhh…” Anthony was speechless. “Get off him Lyra!” Bon-Bon said as she tried to pry Lyra away. Lyra, of course wasn’t moving. “So, what do you say?” Lyra looked at Anthony with a perverted smile. “Huh, wow look at the time! I have to go….water the..Scootaloo..” He said as he ran out of the door. “Wait!” The mint green unicorn shouted as she chased after her lover. “Yeah, I gotta go help Ant with that..” Benjamin said as he sprinted after the pair. “Where do you thing, you’re going mister?” Rarity attempted to pick him up with her magic, but he was already gone by the time she opened her eyes again. Twilight sighed and started for the door. “Looks like this party's at an end, girls. We shou- Princess Celestia!”