• Published 8th Jun 2013
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The Trancer - Ajaxis



A zebra leaves her home to make a reputation for herself, discovering allies and enemies among her kin and the droves of ponies slowly claiming her planet for their own.

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6. The Archetype Train Heist

“You’re going to get a beating from these ESSUG guys,” Druva said, as she nervously shifted her weight. “I’ve seen them strutting about Paradise City before. They tried to bring me in. They don’t mess around.”

“Neither do we,” said a mercenary, whose trembling legs belied the confidence in his voice. They were in the back of a transport craft, much smaller than a wagon like Matchlock’s. It hovered above the ground, thanks to some Pony technology Zuri couldn’t begin to comprehend, with the trunk bed carrying Druva, Zuri, Uzul, and several mercenaries towards New Appleloosa. The driver was in his seat in front of the cargo hold of the small hovercraft, maneuvering the vehicle quickly towards their goal.

All of the mercenaries were armed to the teeth, especially the big ones. Rainbow Dash had blades on her wings, and a tri-barreled cannon on her left side. She was also wearing a bodysuit, dark grey, with extra padding around the joints and at the bases of her wings. Druva had bandoliers full of multicolored potions she had spent the whole day brewing. Uzul had mounted a curious looking weapon on his back. At first glance Zuri thought it was just a large gun, but further inspection confirmed that it was different. A pack was strapped to Uzul’s back, while the weapon itself was mounted so that it pointed past the right side of the Zebra’s head. That end of it consisted of two long, semicircular tubes, one above another, about an inch apart. They had sharp-looking, tiny little disks on either side of them. There was the low hum of electricity emanating from it. Actually, a lot of the Mercenaries’ weapons were accompanied by that hum. Zuri supposed they had spent more money on weapons than they had supplies. At least they seemed well-armed, and, to Zuri, absolutely terrifying. She was able to wedge herself between Druva and a wall, which would be the best cover from all these guns around her. Uzul looked perplexed by the fear in Zuri’s eyes whenever she looked at him, but then remembered the weapon he had mounted on his back, and nodded to the Trancer in understanding. She did not nod back.

They were past the security checkpoint that lead into town, and now were hovering towards the train platform. Rainbow Dash was with them, a big grin on her face. “Oh boy. Wait’ll they get a load of us! They’ll shit bricks when they see Uzul coming at ‘em with an arc bow.” Zuri rested her head on the floor of the transport, trying to ignore the conversation.

“That doesn’t really look like a bow,” Druva said. “Looks more like one of those magnet things that those fancy scientists had. What kind of gun is that? How does the barrel hold the bullet in? It’s all… opened up.”

“It’s something to do with electricity,” Uzul said, tapping the end of the barrel. “It uses magnets to… what were the words you used, Rainbow Dash?”

“It uses electro-magnets to launch a magnetic slug, looking a lot like a crossbow bolt. That one Uzul has is a model named Velocitas eradico.”

“That’s your old language, isn’t it?” Druva asked her.

“Yeah. Gaitin.* Translates to ‘I, who am speed, eradicate.’” She grinned. “It’s real fitting, you’ll see, once you fire it at a couple Ponies.”

The craft halted with a jerk, making everyone in the hold lurch a bit. Zuri was briefly squished between Druva and the wall, and grunted, struggling to her hooves. “Okay, team, get your acting masks on!” Rainbow instructed. Right then, the three Zebras became the Mercenaries’ ‘slaves’, and were directed out of the vehicle first. They wore their cloaks, to hide their weapons from anyone passing by. Next came the six mercenaries, and finally Rainbow Dash, who spread her wings and hovered above the group.

The train station stood before them, with a staircase leading up to tall double-doors. Zuri and her friends were directed to ascend first, with two Ponies at either side, their weapons pointed threateningly at the Zebras. It took all of Zuri’s extra will to resist trembling like a little child attempting to stare down a furious parent. We’re free, she thought encouragingly. We do this and we are free, that much closer to getting home.

They reached and passed through the doors, Rainbow landing beside the Zebras. The Train Station itself was well guarded. An officer stood at every door, and two stood before the train platform, staring straight ahead. “Tickets please,” a mare wearing half-moon spectacles demanded. Her face bowed down, looking at a piece of electric paper as it displayed current events. She tapped her hoof on her desk expectantly. Rainbow made a fake cough, and the mare looked up, and jumped back at the sight of the three Zebras, before she saw the weapons aimed at them, and then Rainbow looming over her.

“Hey, howzit going?” the Pegasus asked, grinning.

“Y-you need tickets, ma-ma’am,” the mare said, though her eyes flickered warily past Rainbow’s weaponry and clothing.

“We do? Nopony told me that. Hey, Lance!” One mercenary turned his head to look at her. “Did you know we needed tickets?”

“No, ma’am. Nopony told me we need no stinking tickets,” he said, grinning.

Rainbow turned to look at the mare again, and smiled. It was a strange smile, combining with the look on her face to say ‘hey, watch this.’ She then clicked her tongue three times, and every mercenary present suddenly whirled around and focused their aim on one guard or another. The two by the door started, and began moving towards the little group. Rainbow slapped Druva’s back with a wing, and the alchemist withdrew a bottle from her bandolier with her teeth. She drew back, and lobbed it with her jaw at the guards. It struck the ground, and bright green smoke exploded out of it, enveloping the two guards. There was heavy wheezing and gagging, and the guards stumbled out of the cloud. Their tongues had swelled up, and their eyes were crossed unnaturally. Muffled and blinded, they both fell to the ground, writhing. Druva pumped her hoof in the air, giving a triumphant, “Yes!”

“So, lady,” Rainbow said, smiling at the mare trembling behind the desk. “Would you like to have what those gentlecolts had, or should I just knock you out the old fashioned way?"

“N-neither!” she protested, trying to look assertive. “I’ll hit the panic button before you hit me!”

“Really, now?” Rainbow said, chuckling, and turning her gaze to Zuri. “Hey Zuri, draw!”

Though Zuri did not understand the joke, she did understand her cue. In the blink of an eye, she struck the mare with one fore-hoof to the face. She crumpled to the floor, incapacitated, and made no other noise. The mercenary group vaulted over the desk, still watching the guards with careful eyes. A train was just pulling up to the station, gradually grinding to a halt.

“That’s our ride!” Rainbow said, winging over to the platform doors and signaling for her group to follow. Brief gunshots brought out cries of pain from each of the guards, as one or both of their forelegs were hit with a bullet or arrow. Uzul himself was running with Zuri and Druva towards the platform. The sound of the train applying its breaks had concealed the shots fired from anyone onboard, and so Rainbow regained her kind manner as she approached the doors to the middlemost car.

A stallion outfitted in uniform with a cap atop his head stepped out before her, glaring down at her. “This train is for cargo transport, not for passengers. Go back inside, lady. We're unloading.”

Rainbow smiled a convincingly meek smile. “Uh, heh, funny story about that….” She held up her hooves in a shrug, only to grab his head between them, and throw him down onto the floor, smashing his snout onto the platform. “This train is no longer yours!” He came up again, aiming a swing at her. He connected, but she only grunted, and swung to one side. He went to grab for her wing, not seeing the wickedly sharp blade attached to it until it was cutting into his forelegs. He howled in agony, wheedling away and trying to stand on deeply-cut legs. She came in again, slicing him across the face with her wing-blades. He fell down, with his face bruised and bleeding badly. She sighed, rubbing the welt on her face where he hit her.

“Guh. Zuri, get in here and walk in before me. You’re much better at not getting hurt,” Rainbow Dash ordered. Zuri obeyed, and Druva was right along with her. Uzul stayed next to Rainbow Dash. “You two go towards the front car. We and the mercs can start clearing out the back.”

Zuri and Druva moved to the door leading to the next car ahead, and looked through the window. Sure enough, there were Ponies in there, standing around, chatting amidst a number of crates. The door automatically slid open, something that surprised Druva and Zuri, enough for the Ponies inside to notice them, shout a warning, and aim their firearms at them. One of the Ponies approached an alarm button, and neared it with his hoof.

...Then his hoof was not there any more, and Zuri’s ears were ringing. The alarm button was smattered with blood, and the potential whistle-blower was on the floor, convulsing. A metal rod was stuck in the side of his head, crackling with electricity. It crackled a bit more, as it fried the Pony’s brain and head, leaving a very large black spot all around the entry wound.

“What!?” one of the Ponies shouted, not taking any time to check on his dead compatriot and instead choosing to hide behind a stack of boxes. Uzul had fired his arc-bow with precision accuracy, aiming the shot between Druva’s and Zuri’s heads, right for the Pony he had hit. Zuri ducked and dragged the stunned Druva down with her, as Uzul fired again and again, electrically charged bolts leaping over their striped heads and embedding themselves in cargo boxes and cargo guards alike.

Rainbow Dash was cheering him on as he landed at least one bolt in every Pony in the car, and then relaxed. “Damn, Uzul!” she laughed, clapping her hooves. “You’re a deadeye shot! We should set you up with a rifle or something… but later! Zuri and Druva can take care of themselves.” She eyed them. “Riiiight?” They nodded. “Good! Move!”

They moved, stepping over the corpses of Uzul’s targets, as they moved to the next car. This one and the next were unoccupied, filled only with boxes. They continued further, this time coming across two stallions and two mares playing cards over a crate. Zuri crouched low, and Druva followed her example as they crept into the train car, trying to stay low to the ground. Once again, it was Zuri who remained absolutely silent. A few of Druva’s clumsier steps resulted in one or more of the Ponies looking up for a moment, tapping at the crate the card game was being played upon, shrugging, and returning their attention. It was only when Zuri got closer that she heard ragged breathing, and saw little holes at the top of the crate. There was something alive in there, and the Ponies were treating the box as just another piece of lifeless cargo. She wondered what could be within, but had no chance to guess before one mare, a unicorn, looked up and saw her.

“Intruders!” she shouted, and the others immediately turned around. One of them had a gun and another had wing blades, but the mare who had saw them instead lit up her horn, scowling fiercely in concentration.

“Zuri! Help!” came Druva’s cry. Zuri looked back to see Druva being levitated into the air. She flailed helplessly with her hooves, trying to get back to the floor. Before she could turn again, one of the stallions fell upon her, pinning her beneath him.

“Hey! This one looks like that one on the bounty poster!” he yelled to the others. Zuri smacked him in the face with one hoof, but not hard enough. “Ha! Gonna take more than that to get ridda me, girly!” he sneered at her. There was a smashing of glass, and his sneer turned into a dumb, dazed look. He flopped down right on top of Zuri, forcing her to struggle to push him off. Druva had dropped one of her potion bottles on his head from above.

The resulting smoke was purple this time, and Zuri held her breath, shutting her eyes as she dove through it towards the crate, slamming herself against it. The unicorn mare was still right behind it, and shrieked as the large animal-occupied box fell upon her, crushing her. The animal inside emitted a similar cry, the buzz of insectile wings and the stumble of hooves accompanying it. Druva fell from the air as the unicorn’s magic abruptly ceased. She hit the ground and immediately reeled back, holding her breath against the purple fog that was quickly filling the train car.

The other stallion, the one with a weapon, was staring at the purple smoke in alarm, seeing it apparently bloom up from the back of his friend’s head. “Did I just shoot Flinger?” he asked himself aloud. “Maybe Sunflower was right… his head is full of smooaaack!” He gagged as he inhaled the smoke. Zuri watched him with curiosity, as he stumbled around, drooling thick purple saliva. His eyes had gone glassy. It was obviously some intense drug that Druva had brewed, for the express purpose of completely intoxicating its victims. It was obvious the poor stallion could not so much as see straight, as he stumbled around, groaning.

“Lock Latch!” cried the other mare, another pegasus. “Dammit, what did you do to him?” She ran at Zuri, who ducked, and grabbed the mare as she ran by. The Zebra threw her into the wall, knocking her out. Druva crawled under the floating violet fog, to Zuri’s side.

“Quick, let’s go before we inhale any of that stuff,” she said, and they moved on. The conductor and his station at the front of the train were only one car ahead. He was sitting before the control console, singing a tune listlessly, apparently waiting for some sign or message. Zuri had Druva stay by the door with another potion at hoof, as she crept closer and closer to him.

“Ah’ve been workin’ on the railroad…” he sang, obviously bored. “All the live-long day… I’ve been workin’ on the railroad, just to wait for my brain to rot… Eeyup. This is the life.” As Zuri approached him, she realized how big he was. Not fat, but muscular, with a tall neck and big jaw. His voice was deep and low. Everything about this stallion radiated power. His coat was red, and his mane and tail were a dark sandy blond color. He had especially long, unshorn fetlocks.

Zuri approached him slowly, her hooves not making a sound. Once she came within reach, she grabbed either side of his head. Before he had time to make a sound, she threw him at the left wall, smashing his face against it. That was easy. She thought, smiling, before a hindleg shot up, and hit her square in the chest. It threw her against the opposite wall, knocking the wind out of her. She gasped, feeling as if her ribcage had imploded. Somehow, she was still breathing and her heart still beating. A few breaths assured her that nothing was broken, though several bruises made themselves painfully obvious.

“What in the hay was THAT?” came the low voice of the stallion again, as he turned around and stared at her. “Aw, darn…” he said, sighing. “A Zebra? Here? Look, Ah’m awful sorry, ma’am, but Ah can’t let ya knock me ‘round like that.” He neared her, and she immediately moved, skirting to his left side and coming in for another strike. She did hit him, square in the jaw, but it just made his head turn, apparently harmlessly. He kicked her again, making her gasp, eyes bug out, as she slammed against the control console.

“Don’t get me wrong. Ah really don’t like hurtin’ anyone,” he said, in his slow, low drawl. “But if ya’ll make me, Ah will.”

“Druh… druh…” Zuri gasped, the blows to her chest having a terrible effect. Druva did get the message, and lobbed another potion. This one hit the stallions back, and emitted a green sludge.

The enormous stallion stopped in his approach of Zuri, to look at his back. “Uhh… Not that I’m kinda sick of all those red october jokes, but… this ain’t really the time or place for a new coat color,” he remarked, as it oozed around onto his hindlegs. He began nearing Zuri again, but even slower, and slower. “What the hay?” he said, looking at his legs, smattered with the green gunk. It was beginning to solidify, and he could not move. This gave Zuri enough time to recover, and hit him again. She whirled around, aiming a buck at him with her hindlegs. He grunted, and fell on his side, like a statue tipped unceremoniously over.

She neared him, and kicked him twice in the face. It didn’t knock him out, but he was dazed for the moment, long enough for Druva to pour another solidifying potion on him.

“Well, that went well!” Druva said, smiling broadly. Zuri nodded slowly, as she lowered herself to the floor. Stars, her chest hurt. She groaned, clutching at it with her forelegs. Breathing hurt. Holding her head up hurt. But the floor was cool, and solid. Hard, maybe, but still comfortable so long as she had her cloak. They had done it. The train was theirs. Maybe she could just take a nap for the moment. That sounded lovely.

———

“Zuri? Hey, Zuri!” Druva shook her friend vigorously. “Come on, wake up! This isn’t the time for a nap! Oh… Melose.” She let Zuri rest on the floor. She was still breathing, so she couldn’t be dead… yet. Druva looked around. Her eyes came to rest on the former conductor, now a prisoner of the green gunk.

“So,” she said to him, not speaking in Zebric. “Do you work out?” What am I doing? She had nothing else to do, as they waited for the mercenaries. She might as well socialize. If she were going back to Paradise City, she’d need to work on her civil tongue, even on a stallion like this, who may have beaten her friend’s insides to a pulp with just a few hits.

The red stallion looked up at her, confused at her behavior, before replying. “Uh, no. Ah used to, farmin’ apples and stuff, but Ah’m a bit far from home fer that.”

“Yeah,” Druva conceded. “Palosol just doesn’t have the right soil for apple farming.”

“Somepony told me that in a couple o’ years, that Frontier Forest place would be a good place to start.” He said.


“Really? Didn’t look like that when we were there… um, what’s your name?”

“Big Macintosh,” he replied, looking at her with his emerald eyes.

“I’m Druva, Druva Non-ni Altra,” she said, laying down next to Zuri, and poking at her cheek to see if she’d respond. She did nothing but sigh and roll over like a rag doll. “I’m an alchemist.” She gestured to the glop that was holding him down.

“I’m a conductor, retired apple-farmer.” He sighed. “Probably gonna be a retired conductor after this, too, if y’all let me live.”

“I couldn’t kill you,” Druva said. “I just don’t have the strength left to do it. Maybe if I glazed your face with this soldifying potion…” She shivered. “No, I couldn’t. I’ve never actually killed anyone before, not even a Pony.”

“Has she?” Big Macintosh looked at Zuri when he asked.

“She has. Or, I think she has. She’s at least beaten a lot of Ponies to paste,” Druva said, pulling the unconscious blue Zebra to her side. “She’s usually pretty quiet, and really scary with what she can do, but she’s my friend, I suppose.”

“Friend. Good. A Pony without a friend is never a good thing.” Big Macintosh coughed. “Uh, or a Zebra. Ah don’t think much of the difference, if there is one.”

“I think so,” Druva said, a little miffed. “You’re from a totally different planet.”

“But we’re both Equines,” Macintosh said. “We walk on four legs, we gallop, we have friends, culture, the rest. Maybe the details are different, but the idea’s the same.”

“Like you all being oppressive bigots,” Druva pointed out with venom.

“Do ya see me callin’ you a… what’s the word… a ‘stripey’? Nnnnope. No ma’am. Ah think of y’all as a… distant relative, like a twenty-seventh removed cousin, or somethin’.” He said, looking at her. “Does that make sense?”

Druva wasn’t sure. This stallion apparently thought of Zebras as just a different kind of Pony. It was true, she had noticed so many similarities between her and the Ponies she had been living near in Paradise City. Maybe he had a point. A strong one.

“As Ah was sayin’, Ma’am. Friends are important, one of mah own friends told me that. The best ones look out for ya, stay with ya, protect ya against some twisted kinds of evils. What’s that one done for you?”

“She set me free,” Druva said, without having to think. “I’m more thankful for that than she knows. She let me and every Zebra imprisoned with me go. The rest of them died, but one other, she, and I all stayed alive. A unicorn just held me up, making me float around like a toy, and she went for that one first. She’s done a lot. She even got me my cauldron back.” She patted the outline of the Vuiol wrapped around her body.

“Sounds like some friend,” Big Macintosh said, grinning. “Reminds me an awful lot of a group of friends Ah know. Ah’m sorry Ah hit her so hard, Ah was just defendin’ myself. If Ah could Ah’d rather just let her at the controls. Ah guess you could say that Ah’m a Zebra sympathizer.”

“I doubt it’d help. She hardly knows how to operate anything Ponies make. You should have seen her try and use a toilet. She made such a mess that I was glad the floor was mostly dirt.” She snickered, and he chuckled with her.

“Ya shouldn’t be talkin’ about that kinda thing with some stranger like me,” Big Macintosh said, though he was still grinning. “She might not like it.”

“If she doesn’t she is welcome to wake up and punch me. I’m sure she would, anyway.”

“Well, alright,” Big Macintosh said, before craning his neck, which was still free, and peering at Zuri. “Is blue a normal color?”

“You know, I’ve never asked her about that,” Druva said, looking at her friend’s blue stripes curiously. “Maybe I should, when she comes to.”

“She is still breathin’, right?” Macintosh asked, a look of worry on his big face.

“Yes. I think it would take a lot more than that to kill her. She’s fairly resilient, from what I have seen.”

“Ah, good,” Macintosh said, relaxing. “Ah’d never forgive mahself if Ah killed anypony. Ah know, kinda weird because I was hittin’ her like a train hittin’ a cow, but Ah didn’t wanna kill her.”

“I think I believe you,” Druva said, slightly smiling at him.

Just then, Rainbow Dash and Uzul burst through the car door, and stumbled before they saw Big Macintosh laying glued to the floor. “Druva… what in the world is on this guy? And what happened to Zuri?” Rainbow asked, looking back up at the Zebra.

“Uh… The big one knocked her out, and I glued him to the floor. Not in that order, if that makes sense.” Druva said, looking like a deer caught in the headlights.

“It doesn’t,” Uzul said, his face showing his confusion.

“Wha-hey!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, as she walked around and saw Big Macintosh’s exposed head. “Big Mac!”

“Z’at you, Rainbow Dash?” He asked, blinking up at her.

“Sure is! Still the fastest flier you’ve met, definitely! What are you doing operating an ESSUG train?” Rainbow asked him, smiling enthusiastically.

“Oh… wanted t’explore space. Signed up for ESSUG civilian duty, and, well, they stuck me here.” He shrugged. “Was hopin’ to pipe some money back to the farms on Equestria, but… Ah’m guessin’ you’re puttin’ a stop to that.”

“Well, if I’d known you were here, I’d get you out of the line of fire, first!” Rainbow said, looking a little dismayed. “Shit, Mac, are you okay?”

“Ah’m fine. Head’s a little sore, but ya need to worry about that one over there, if she’s one’a yours.” He nodded towards the unconscious Zuri, who had curled up in her sleep. “She just kinda sat down and closed her eyes. Probably did a number on her chest.”

“Aw hay, Mac, if you had a go at her she might as well be dead. Uh… Druva, you know anything about caring for the ill?” Rainbow asked, adding in an undertone, “‘Cause I don’t.”

“Just that she should just sleep for now, and if she wakes up we should be really grateful,” Druva answered, looking at Zuri with worry.

“Well, in the meantime, DAMN! We got ourselves a friggin’ train! This is so awesome!” Rainbow made a strange face, squishing her cheeks with her hooves. “Hey, Mac, would you like a lift back to Equestria?”

“Sure would. S’been months since Ah saw Smith or Applebloom.”

“Cool! We’re gonna go get the money to maintain our ship. S’why we needed the train, by the way. You can still operate it if you like!”

“Sounds mighty fine to me.” Macintosh smiled. “Who’s that Zebra with the Arc Bow?”

“This is Uzul,” Rainbow said, wrapping a hoof around Uzul’s shoulders. “This guy could hit a fly off of an earmuff from two miles away! Aw man, you should’a seen him, Druva! He was strutting in there, firing bolts this way and that. Every single one’a them hit something important. He’s a natural.”

Uzul was turning red from the gushing. “Oh, come now. I missed sometimes.”

Rainbow ignored him, getting more excited. “And in the car after the one we entered, it was full of Ponies who actually knew how to use cover. I couldn’t hit them worth squat. So I got pissed off, cuz I got a short temper, and charged in! If it weren’t for this guy, right here.” She pointed exaggeratively at Uzul. “I’d be dead, blown to bits! He nailed the guy right between the eyes who got me pinned down. He’s my freaking hero!” Without any more warning, she suddenly grabbed Uzul by the face and kissed him. Uzul went wide-eyed, having no idea how to react. He just sat there, blushing a brilliant red even when Rainbow disconnected her face from his. “And he’s got a damn good kissing mouth too!” she finished with a smug grin.

Druva laughed at this, making a gagging motion with a hoof, just to rub it in. “Ewww! Interspecies relationships! Uzul, don’t do that kinda thing in front of me!” she giggled.

“I wasn’t—” Uzul began, but he cut himself off, bowed his head, and tried to hide his reddened face.

Big Macintosh gave a low laugh. “Don’t be so sour ‘bout it, mister,” he said, grinning. “Ah tried to get that mare to kiss me for years, and you were able to get it done in less than an hour.”

“I wasn’t trying!” Uzul protested, trying to edge away from Rainbow Dash, but she grabbed him again, rubbing her cheek against his.

“Shuddup, Uzul, and just sit there,” she told him. “I’ll radio in the rest of my troops, and Druva, get Mac off the floor. We need him to operate the train.”

“You got it!” Druva said, smiling down at Big Macintosh as she picked another potion from her bandolier, this one simply marked, in Zebric runes, ‘Undo.’ Dribbling this all over the green glop that stuck to his body, she watched as it began to sizzle. The material holding Big Macintosh down gradually wore away, and he was able to stand up.

“Thanks, ma’am.” He said, nodding at her as he stretched. She smiled, and got out of his way as he neared the console again.

And thank you Zuri, for setting me free, Druva thought, reminding herself that she still needed to properly thank the Trancer. She should probably remind Uzul that he should renew his own thanks.

Fairly soon, Rainbow’s mercenaries began arriving en masse, loading onto the train. Rainbow asked them as they arrived, “Have any trouble coming aboard?”

One answered, “Well, there was this one mare who screamed at every one of us, from one corner of the station.” After that, they had apparently ensured that the desk clerk was properly restrained with some tape they found behind one of the doors the guards had been guarding. Some sympathetic mercenaries had tended to the wounds of some of the fallen guards.

Eventually, all fifty of Rainbow Dash’s mercenaries were on board, and Macintosh started the train at a slow pace, gradually picking up speed as they drew away from New Appleloosa, to the east, and towards Paradise City. The mercenaries were jollier than before. They finally would have more supplies, more money, more everything. They could have all that was on this train, and a quick search revealed that it contained a lot. Some crates carried food, and others, weapons. One had a personal flying vehicle, a float-scooter. Rainbow Dash claimed that one, and relocked the crate herself and put it off to the side, saying it would be a gift to “a little squirt of a friend” back on Equestria. The one crate that apparently had a creature inside was unique. Rainbow Dash and her lieutenant, Moondancer, stood, looking at it. Druva and Uzul peered at it as well.

“Do we open it?” Moondancer asked Rainbow, who shrugged.


“I wanna know what’s in it, first. Is there any label?”

“Not one that we could see,” Druva said, “but we heard yelping and buzzing, and heavy breathing. It could be barely alive, or really scared. Zuri and I didn’t have time to check. In fact, the only thing we did with it was tip it on it’s side, to squish a mare.” The crate was still like that, with the mare still under it. Big Macintosh was selected to move the crate back, which he did with as much ease as one would push open a door. He did it carefully, knowing full well that something was alive in there. The mare underneath it no longer was.

“There’s a label on this side,” Macintosh said. Curiosity directed everyone to gather around that particular side, and look closely at the little paper tab for any clues as to what lay within.

“Says it contains… ‘one adolescent Amorpha Insecarequus Regalis,’” Big Macintosh read aloud.

“That’s Gaitin,” Moondancer said, in slow recognition, then gasped. “That box has a changeling in it!” Macintosh looked up in alarm, and Rainbow Dash gaped. Several nearby ponies all looked around, wide-eyed. Uzul and Druva just stood there, not comprehending. “And not just any changeling,” Moondancer continued. “There’s a Queen in there.”

“A Queen Changeling?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Here? Why in the hell would anyone ship a Changeling, on Palosol of all places!? ‘New! Demonic shapeshifters, half price, free shipping! Return order by mail if not one-hundred-percent satisfied!’” She groaned, and glared at the crate, then looked up at Uzul and Druva. “You know what’s in there? A bug. A really big, really dangerous bug. A changeling can turn into anything it wants, any shape, any animal, doesn’t matter. They feed off of emotions, mostly love, and usually they decide to get involved in a couple, getting rid of one partner or the other, and replacing them. They’re impostors.”

“I’ve never even heard of them,” Druva said, and Uzul nodded in response.

“That’s because they don’t live on Palosol. They’re not native to here! They come from Equestria, and that means someone wanted this Changeling, here, and sent it from Equestria,” Rainbow swore, beginning to pace around. “This changes everything. Anyone who’s powerful and ballsy enough to bag up a changeling, or steal one of their eggs is someone who means serious business. And right now, we’re hi-jacking the train that their serious business is on. They’ll be out for our heads if they find out we’ve got our hooves on this thing! Oh, and it gets even worse. Any normal changeling and this would be a bad situation, but this is a Queen! One that can reproduce like crazy, and she’s bigger, meaner, and smarter than any other one.”

“Then should we kill it?” Moondancer asked her.

“I don’t even know if you can,” Rainbow said, slumping back and rubbing her forehead. “The only other time I saw one, it was shot out of a city by a concentrated shockwave of magic, and it was still howling and yelling as it flew through the air until it got control of itself again. One bright side is…” She looked at the crate again. “This box is way too small for that queen to fit in, no matter how she sat. No, the one in here isn’t matured yet. Which means it might be more vulnerable.”

“Shouldn’t we open it first?” Druva asked. “Make sure it’s not just some poor sod mistaken for a Changeling?”

“You can’t get mistaken for a Changeling,” Rainbow said, rolling her eyes. “They’re pretty distinctive. Slitted eyes, black chitin-skin, fangs, bug wings, hooves with holes in them… And because it’s a queen, this one probably has a mane and tail too, full of holes and sagging as if she’s just found out her fifth birthday party has been ruined by a terrible fire that also killed her dog.” She shivered. “They’re creepy.”

“Sounds to me from your extensive analogy that they’re just really depressed,” Uzul replied, furrowing his brow. “I wish to at least see first, if you’re going to kill her.”

“Actually,” Moondancer spoke up, “since this one is youthful, we might be able to convince her to work with us, especially if she’s never had any real interaction with changelings before. She might have been hatched in captivity.”

“But we don’t know that.” Rainbow persisted. “It could also have been raised by some maniac to be a special-trained killer. Hell, it already had half the requirements to meet that standard when it was born. It’s a freaking shapeshifter!”

“It also sounded pretty freaked out, when Zuri tipped the crate over,” Druva pointed out. “Its voice was a little strange, but it sounded like some early adolescent was stuck in there.”

“That’s how they fool you,” Rainbow continued to doubt. “They can turn into any kind of adolescent they want! It’s probably feeding off your sympathy for it right now!”

“Then I want to look her in the face when I say ‘stop eating my emotions,’” Uzul said, and looked at Big Macintosh. “Will you help me open this?”

Macintosh was quiet for a moment, then replied, “Well, okay, but if the bug won’t listen to reason Ah’m stepping on it.”

“Mac! What are you doing?” Rainbow shouted, looking desperate. “There is a MONSTER inside that box! What if it bites your head off? OooooOOOOoOoOooOooo!” She held her hooves up above her head as she made that ghost-like sound.

“Now you’re just bein’ silly, Rainbow. C’mon, admit it, ya wanna talk to it too,” Macintosh said, chuckling. Rainbow Dash opened her mouth, shut it, opened again, and then turned away shaking her head.

“Fine, fine,” she finally replied. “But don’t say I didn’t warn you!” She made a harumph, and did not turn to look at them.

Uzul and Macintosh found the edges of the crate lid, and began pushing upwards on it. The nails bent and creaked, as the top came away. Inside there was a bed of straw, somewhat tumbled around from all the crate’s motion. On the bed lay an alarming creature, matching Rainbow’s description. It had a shimmery, black body, with dull blue-green mane and tail that looked lifeless and unkempt, somehow full of holes. It had insect-like wings, that twitched occasionally. Its hooves were also full of holes. It had fangs, and cat-like, green eyes that glowed in the lowered light of the crate as it looked up at them. Despite all this, its form still vaguely resembled a Pony’s.

Druva peered in too, and found its shape, however alien, to be feminine, especially since whenever it blinked, long eyelashes swept down, and came up again. The eyelids were a strange, dark, over-saturated turquoise, a similar color to the hair. Druva also noticed the little shape atop the changeling’s head, right before the backward-curving horn atop its head that was, like the hooves, full of holes. The shape was like a crown, with three tubules coming off of it ending in little glowing green bulbs. Obviously irremovable, like some sort of old royal headwear that had been absorbed into the head.

The Changeling stared up at her liberators, hardly making a sound save for when her wings twitched. Her eyes were wet with faint-green tears, which she hurriedly blinked away. She sniffled, and said in a strange, quiet rasp, “What are you going to do to me?”

Author's Note:

*A play on words. Combination of 'Gait' and 'Latin'