Waking Night

by CrowMagnon

Part 11 - Last Train Out of Canterlot

"There's nothing more thrilling than a narrow escape. Honestly, I should've appreciated boredom more."

-- from the trial of Cathy Burglar, jewel thief

---

Waking Night
by Crowmagnon

Earlier...

Applejack clenched her teeth together and held on tight as the goats pulling the wagon raced downhill. As sure-hooved as they might have been, the wagon itself seemed determined to seek out every bump and dip in the road. Given that her heart was already pounding in her urgency to get to the station, the roller coaster-like velocity of her ride was terrifying and exhilarating in equal measure.

So it was that when the goat-drawn wagon abruptly screeched to a stop, nearly flinging her out onto the cobblestones, she needed a moment to breathe and get her bearings. "Thank you... thank you," she said to the drivers as she pulled herself out, only for her knees to turn to jelly beneath her and deliver her to a face-to-face meeting with the street.

"I'm okay," she assured the goats, lifting up a hoof to wave them off. After letting out a supportive bleat (she assumed) they took off for their next destination, leaving her to drag herself back up onto her hooves.

With memories of the scent of apple blossoms and the feel of the long dirt road of her fillyhood home giving her strength, Applejack pushed herself up and stumbled her way toward the ticket counter. A few minutes later, she sat on a bench and waited for the conductor to announce that it was time to board.

With the festivities about to go into full swing up above, there were very few ponies on the platform with her who were going to leave the city, but all around her ponies continued to pour out of the arriving trains. Most were in full costume, and as a couple passed by, their child bounding ahead in excitement, she smiled to herself as she imagined what was waiting for her. She envisioned herself and her brother walking through town, reminiscing about old times and catching up on everything that she had missed in the years since while escorting little Apple Bloom from house to house in the traditional quest for candy.

Applejack leaned back and let out a long, contented sigh. After spending the day with the feeling that everything was conspiring to keep her away, she was finally back on the right track. But as she looked up to the sky, that was when Moonshadow's cloud passed overhead, briefly casting the station in darkness before continuing on up the mountain.

In what felt like an instant, everything devolved into madness. Screams filled the air. Ponies that had been cheerfully strolling up the mountain mere moments ago stood stock still, and when the moon rose up to cover the sun, they came rushing back down toward the trains in a blind panic. Applejack got off the bench to stand, but immediately had to hop back up onto it in order to keep from getting flattened by the stampede of frightened ponies. The same couple that she had taken note of before were now struggling to keep their terrified, wailing child up above the fray as they joined the rush to pack themselves into one of the outgoing trains, pushing past the conductors in order to do so.

To Applejack's horror, the trains' engineers were also beginning to succumb to the fear that had stricken everypony else. A shrill whistle pierced her ears, even over the noise of the crowd. From her vantage point, she could see a train starting to lurch its way out of the station while ponies were racing to jump on before it started moving too quickly to catch up with.

The last she saw of it, pegasi were frantically beating their wings to carry their loved ones and children to the fleeing train. It was almost immediately followed by a second whistle, closer this time as another train started to move. In her own fear, exacerbated by the instincts of her equine ancestors, Applejack felt the urge to chase after it and let it carry her away.

Yet it was obvious that she would never get through the crowd in time to reach it, even though it was still half-empty. She could only watch as many ponies, most of them with families, begged and pleaded to be let on.

Instead, she turned and started looking this way and that until she spotted what she was looking for.

-----

At the same time, Rarity and Pinkamena struggled to keep from losing themselves in the crush of panicking ponies. The blaring of a steam whistle on the other end of the station told them that another train was departing.

Ponies instinctively turned that way in order to try to get on it before it left them behind, but neither of the Ponyville mares had to see the train to know that it was probably already packed. In any case, they would need wings to catch up, and that was a tribal trait that neither of them could make use of.

While Rarity stared in dismay at the state of her fellow ponies, so desperate to escape, Pinkamena looked around their more immediate vicinity. She then started insistently nudging her unicorn companion.

"What is it, Pinka--" Rarity turned to see Pinkamena pointing toward a train that was closer to them and still in the process of preparing for departure. Specifically, she pointed to a blond-maned earth pony whose appearance made Rarity's eyes widen in surprise. "Applejack?!" While other ponies were still distracted by the departing train, Rarity turned and galloped toward Applejack with Pinkamena following right behind.

"I thought Fancypants said she was going to the palace," Pinkamena recalled as they hurried over. "How do you think she got out of it?"

"I don't know, but unless that's somepony in an Applejack costume, this is the break I've been hoping for all day!"

"Really? I know she's the reason you came up here, but are you sure this is the best time?"

"There might not be another chance! I didn't come all this way for nothing! Besides, that train might be our only way home!"

"That's true," Pinkamena conceded.

Together, they hurried toward the engine car where they heard Applejack talking to the engineer. When they did, what they heard only made Rarity's jaw drop.

"Yes. I am most definitely trying to bribe you," they heard the businessmare say in a calm, blunt tone that immediately rubbed Rarity the wrong way. "The question is, is it working?"

"Yeah... okay, sounds like a deal."

-----

Moments earlier...

"Come on! Come on! Come on!" The engineer of the Friendship Express fidgeted nervously. While his crew were frantically pumping fresh water into the steam engine's tanks, he had already ensured that the fire magic-imbued crystals in the engine were primed. Now he could do nothing but watch the meter measuring the water level as it slowly rose.

"Pardon me, sir, but I could use a moment of your time."

"Wha?!" The engineer had no idea what was going on, only that everypony in the station was in a panic. So when he heard the voice of somepony else entering his car, he jumped in surprise.

Applejack, by contrast, had taken the time and effort to adopt a facade of calm. She pulled herself up the steps, adjusted her suit, then stuck her hoof out in a friendly gesture. "Hello, my name is Applejack of the Apple Orchard Farm & Loan. Maybe you've heard of it, maybe you haven't, but the point is that I need you to take me to Ponyville."

With Applejack's apparent calm conflicting with his own instinctive desire to flee, the confused stallion replied, "L-look lady, I don't know what's going on out there or how bad it's gonna get, so the instant this train's ready to go, we're not stopping until we reach--"

"Baltimare?"

"Balti... H-how did you know that?"

"I have my ways." Applejack elected not to mention the photograph hung up behind him depicting the engineer and who she assumed were his wife and children standing outside a sports stadium and proudly wearing Baltimare Ravens jerseys. "Your family are in Baltimare, aren't they? You're confused. You're scared. You want to get back to them as soon as you can. I understand, mister..."

"Track. Steel Track."

"Mister Track, I understand whole-heartedly. You're concerned for their safety. You want to see them again as soon as you can so that you don't have to worry, and so they don't have to worry about you. You want to be with them now in this uncertain situation to ensure that they have a good future to look forward to, don't you?"

"Well... of course, but what--"

Applejack stepped forward and sidled up alongside the engineer, putting a foreleg over his shoulder. Speaking quickly to give him no time to rebutt, she said, "Mister Track, I have a family too. I need to reach them just as badly as you do with yours. I also have the ability to set up an education fund for your children. Public colleges or apprenticeships are good, but institutions like Hayvard or Pranceton are better. Get me to Ponyville, and whichever school they go to, you won't have to pay one single bit for tuition or materials. Does that sound like a good deal?"

The engineer blinked a few times, his expression that of a rather confused cow as he slowly put together what she said. "I... well... it sounds kind of like a bribe..."

Applejack shook her head and reached into her pocket. "I see. Mister Track, this is very important to me, so I want to ensure that there is no ambiguity here. This is my family," she said, pulling out a folded-up photograph of Apple Bloom, Granny Smith, and Big McIntosh looming behind them with a goofy grin under his trademark Stetson. "This is my grandmother, my big brother, and the cute little filly is my baby sister. I've been so busy keeping my business afloat these past several years that I haven't seen her in person since she was a toddler. So if it will get me back to them tonight, then yes. I am most definitely trying to bribe you. The question is, is it working?"

Steel Track looked at the photo, then glanced back at the one of his own family before turning back to look straight into Applejack's pleading emerald eyes.

"Yeah... okay, sounds like a deal."

Applejack smiled and clutched the stallion's oil-stained hoof, shaking it vigorously. "Wonderful! Then I'll let you get back to your work." With that, she turned and hopped back out onto the platform, only to find herself right in front of a pink pony and an indignant unicorn dressed up for Waking Night as a beatnik and a farmer, respectively. "Oh! ... Hello, there."

"Hi," Pinkamena blandly replied while Rarity stepped forward.

"Applejack! I was starting to come around, but it turns out you really have no shame at all! What would your dear, sweet, handsome friends think of this?"

Thrown off guard by the use of her name, Applejack blinked in confusion. "I'm sorry, have we met?"

"And why would we have ever met?" Rarity snidely retorted. "I don't have money. I'm just a rock farmer from Ponyville, not somepony who can afford to bribe a train engineer!"

"Wait, you're from Ponyville?"

Rarity's eye twitched in anger. "That's not the important part! Do you think you can just buy and sell ponies? That you can just use them?"

Applejack flinched, but turned back to look Rarity in the eye. "I... no. But I needed to give him a reason not to leave without me."

Now it was Rarity's turn to be confused. "Without you? You're right here."

"Yes, but there are a lot of ponies who need to get out of here as well, and everypony's too panicked to keep their heads on straight. So I'm sorry that you're going to have to wait a little longer if you want to get to Ponyville, but I could use some help!"

With that, Applejack left Rarity sputtering in bewilderment as she hurried off toward the larger crowds and raised her voice in order to try guiding the scared ponies to board in a more orderly manner, even convincing some to leave their belongings behind in order to make room. Rarity and Pinkamena stood there and watched for a moment before the unicorn simply asked, "... What?"

Pinkamena cocked her head. "Hmm. Didn't see that coming."

-----

Elsewhere in the city, Eclipse growled menacingly.

"Where is she, Moonshadow?!"

A dark, miasmic aura surrounded Celestia's horn, as well as forming around the vampony's throat as Moonshadow was yanked from where she stood and brought nose-to-nose with the possessed alicorn. "Where is Celestia?!"

Moonshadow blinked in confusion, her casual confidence shaken as she stared into the black pits where Celestia's eyes should have been. "You're... wearing her, aren't you?"

"MEAT!" Eclipse let out a furious, raspy roar, and the shadows in the room writhed with anger. Moonshadow then found herself being hurled away against the far wall and pinned their by Eclipse's magic. "You've given me nothing but empty meat! You promised me Celestia, but s̢̼̣̜͉̣͚̰h̭̥̬̣͈̜̳͢e̵̯̘̥̳̻'̰̗̲̙ͅs͉ ̷̤̯n͙̳̜̣͜o͍͖̰͘ͅṯ̛̲ ̨̤̯̱͇i̴̖̗̥͈̥̤̳n̥͇̺͠ ̧͈̙͚h͕̜̫͙͙͞e̗̲͖̦̣̟͕r͍̪e͓̩!͓"

While Eclipse ranted and raved, Moonshadow's eyes flitted down to the poultice covering Celestia's chest. It was falling away from Eclipse's movements, but minute tendrils of shadow were already knitting the princess's flesh back together. Still, in the context of what she had just been told, the realization made her groan out loud. "Oh, you have to be kidding me."

Eclipse stopped in its tracks and turned Celestia's head at an unnatural angle to look at her. "... You know what happened." The darkness around Celestia's horn deepened, and Moonshadow felt the pressure pinning her to the wall increase. "Tell me!"

The thestral thralls crouched and braced to launch themselves at Eclipse, but were held off from doing so as Moonshadow waved them down. "First you're going to let me down... then you're going to ask politely."

Eclipse snarled. "How dare--?!"

"I dare because the only thing I'm afraid of is the sun," Moonshadow interrupted with a cocky smirk. "And you just said it yourself, that body is just an empty shell, and that magic sure doesn't look like hers. You don't have any of her power at all, do you? Which means that the one pony in all of Harmonia who actually does have control over the sun is in my pocket. That, my dear Eclipse, means that if anything happens to me, she has the means and the motivation to make the remainder of your life very, very difficult. And you don't know where she is, or even who she is."

Eclipse bristled, tightening its magical grip. Some of Moonshadow's bones could be heard bending and cracking under the pressure, but her smug grin didn't falter. "That's how you want it, Eclipse? To spend the rest of your existence jumping at shadows? Now that's ironic. Knowing that no matter what body you take, you'll always be hunted by somepony who has the power and the intelligence to take you out?"

The shadowy fiend ground Celestia's teeth together in frustration, but released its hold on her. As the vampony dropped back down to the floor, it said, "Explain yourself, Moonshadow! If I don't like what I hear, I will assume you've been plotting against me this whole time. Then I'll tear you apart and take my chances."

Moonshadow winced a little as she checked her body and manually pushed some of her bones back into place. "Ah-ah-ah. Remember what I said?"

If looks could kill, Moonshadow would have been reduced to a thin smear on the floor. Eclipse visibly shook with the effort of restraining itself as it replied, "P̼̥͕̦͉͞lé̞a͉̼͈̬͝s̨̳̜̞͉̩̞̳e̡ ́ȩ͚͚̮͕x͉ͅp̡l̴͙͍̪͎͈̙ai͔͇̘͖̫͍͡ͅn̺̩̩ ͍̦̱̘̮̖̮w̫̮̠̟̹͎ͅḫ̲a̭̠̜̹t̘͢ ͖̦̞͙y̝o̖̙̭͍u̶̜͉͇̯̣ ̩̬͉̮̮̣͈m̲ea̶̘͎̗n͈͓̲̜̮͕ b̸̝͕ḛ̹̦̘͝f̘̳̦o̶̙̰ŗ̱̮͎͖̘ͅe̻͓͓͝ͅ ̤̟Í ̟̗͢ͅde͇̹͖͉̜̙s̜̥̥͕̺̩t̡͖r̷͖̼̹̼̘̗oy̹͎ ͅy̸̼̩̠̝o͏u͕̲̪̪̱͜.̪̯͕͍͖̙̖́"

"Better," Moonshadow replied with a saccharine smile before she explained. "Remember that gang of meddlers who interfered with our last plan a few centuries back? Well, they stole my anti-Celestia weapon while they were doing it. Considering Celestia was taken out with a stab wound, it stands to reason that whoever did it got their hooves on my dagger, which would have drained all of her bright, shiny power after a deep wound like that. Find the dagger, and that's where you'll find Celestia's magic."

Eclipse grimaced. "And how will you find this dagger that's been lost to you for so long?"

Moonshadow laughed at that. "Oh, that couldn't be easier, so long as our would-be assassin is a pony." She turned her head and barked out, "You, by the window! Send out a signal. I want every single tufted ear in this city listening for the singing."

As the thestral obeyed, opening the window to let out a high-pitched keening that was soon echoed througohut the city by the other thralls outside, Eclipse simply stared at Moonshadow in confusion. "... Singing? Have the last two centuries driven you mad?"

"I wish," Mesmer snarked from his place at the doorway. "It's embarrassing to think we used to be just like those numbskulls."

"But oh so convenient for us," Moonshadow retorted. "You see..."

Vamponies, babe

We've got teeth, dear

Sharp little blades

In our gums

But a gold knife

Is what you need, babe

If you want to

Claim the sun

Eclipse stared at Moonshadow as the pegasus sang and danced her way around the room. "What...? How is this supposed to help?"

Mesmer shrugged. "Nopony knows how it works. Just that it does. She actually knows what she's doing," he said while Moonshadow sashayed her way toward the bloodstain on the floor and smelled the air around it with the pretentious air of a wine taster sniffing the cork.

Now I've been a vampony

Nine hundred years, now

And if there's one thing

I know, it's blood

From what I see here,

And I'd bet good bits, babe

It's not been five minutes

Since the deed was done

Now on the floor here, a-huh, huh

Ooh, cold tiles, a-huh

Laid a body

Drained of its life! Yech!

But the one who did it's

Somewhere around here

So we've got a chance

To get back the knife!

Farther down the mountain, Fluttershy waited for a moment to catch her breath in the shadows. In hindsight, a bright yellow coat and pink mane weren't exactly the best colors for moving stealthily, especially while carrying a fully-grown mare. Still, Lt. Sparkle's directions had helped her get them this far without being spotted.

With her darker coat making it easier for her to do so unseen, Twilight poked her head out and watched the movements of the vampire batponies flying around, fighting her pegasus comrades-in-arms. Every instinct drilled into her through her training screamed at her to go out and help them. Even if she had the right to do so, though, she was in no shape to fight. All she could do was keep looking until a path opened up.

"It's not far now... do you think you can keep going, Fluttershy?"

Fluttershy sucked in a deep breath and collected herself enough to give a bright, cheery smile in reply. "No problem! I actually bench press even more than Will," she bragged. When Twilight shot a skeptical look back at her, she retorted, "I do, honest! Every time I see a bench, I press myself down against it until I'm nice and comfy, like this."

Flopping down over Lt. Sparkle, she wrapped her legs around the guardsmare, giving Twilight a tight, reassuring squeeze before she started flapping her wings and lifting them up to hover off the ground. "See? I'm ready when you are!"

Twilight let out a startled wheeze when she felt Fluttershy's weight press down on her, but the warmth of another pony's embrace in the face of so much fear and doubt was more welcome than she cared to admit.

You know you don't deserve it, came a thought that grabbed Lt. Sparkle's heart and squeezed. You've dragged an innocent into your mission, and she won't be safe until you're out of the city. You don't need comfort, you need to finish the job, soldier!

Her body shuddered as memories of the past few hours and fears of the immediate future pelted her psyche like a mental hailstorm. Her mind and body both ached with the need to recuperate, but there was no time to do so. Raising a trembling hoof, she pointed the way. "Okay... there seem to be fewer vamponies that way. Go two blocks, then take a left. It's a straight shot to the station from there."

"You got it!" Keeping low, Fluttershy flapped her way down the street. Taking the turn when it came, she was able to look down the street and see it slope straight down toward the trainyard. It was mostly empty, but there was one train left in the station, its smokestack pumping out steam as it prepared to leave. The sight filled her with such relief that she felt the urge to sing out in joy.

There's a train, *huff* *huff* *huff*

Still in the station, I can see

It's getting ready

To take us outta here

Oh, that smoke is puffin'

The engine's chuggin', dear

So don't give up

Or break down in fear

It's not fear why I'm shakin'

And I just can't say

What the cause is

Until my final breath

But I've got a mission

I must complete it

To give some meaning

To Celestia's d--

Twilight immediately clamped her mouth shut, cutting herself off mid-word. What the buck just happened, she thought to herself. Why did we suddenly start singing like that? I almost--

"Sorry, what was that last bit?" Fluttershy asked, furrowing her brow as she interrupted Twilight's thoughts.

"Nothing! Just get on the train," she shouted. Then, the sound of leathery wings flapping toward them caused her to glance back over her shoulder, and her eyes went wide at the sight of a squad of vamponies flying after them. And not just a mere hoofful of the ones causing random destruction, but a full dozen whose eyes and ears were firmly focused on the two of them. "Get on the train now!"

Now we've got 'em!

They won't escape us!

We will retrieve it

Moonshadow's fang!

Oh, flap harder

Fluttershy

Our only hope is

On that train!

Yeah, now we've got 'em!

They won't escape us!

We will retrieve it

Moonshadow's fang!

Oh, flap harder

Fluttershy

Our only hope is

On that train!

Fluttershy felt like her wings were bathed in acid as she pushed herself to her limits. She was fueled by both fear and a determination to not let Lt. Sparkle down, but while the spirit was willing, the flesh was running on fumes. Behind her, the vamponies were rapidly gaining. She didn't dare look back, but she could hear the beating of their leathery wings and the gnashing of fangs.

So could Twilight, and she clutched the golden dagger wrapped in her best friend's cape tightly against her breast. Unlike Fluttershy, she did look back and could see that there were far too many to fight, though her tired mind raced, struggling to think of a way out.

Shield spell? No, I'm too weak. They'd surround us, cut us off from the train, and break through in less than a minute. Focused magic bolts? Too many of them. I could probably drop two or three, but then the rest would be on us. Flash bomb? They're bats. They can keep chasing us with sonar.

Telekinesis! I can hold the Fang and... and... For a moment, she envisioned herself controlling the dagger, making it slice through the swarm of batponies, but the mental image of a possible victory was swiftly overwhelmed by the image of Princess Celestia, the ancient monarch's life force draining away while Twilight's nostrils were assaulted by the phantom stench of blood.

A fit of revulsion seized Twilight, her body spasming uncontrollably and forcing Fluttershy to struggle even harder to hold on to her as she flew.

It was a struggle that she lost as Fluttershy felt the guardsmare slip from her hooves and tumble to the ground. She immediately wheeled around to try to pick her up and take off again, but her wings lost their strength when she put her forelegs around Lt. Sparkle and looked up to see that the vamponies had caught up and were hovering around them.

Twilight swallowed back the bile rising in her throat and looked up at the crimson-eyed batponies that had them surrounded. Fluttershy held onto her tightly and shouted up at them, "Y-you'd better not try anything! There's only one monster who gets to nibble my neck, and I married him!"

Twilight's vision panned around, looking at the monsters around them. They were circling the two of them, sizing them up. She weakly put her hoof over Fluttershy's and whispered, "It's over, Fluttershy... There's too many of them. Make a break for it... I'll hold them off as long as I can..."

"Wh-what? No! You can't. I'm trying to help you, but I can't help if you aren't around to be helped," Fluttershy whispered back, only for Twilight to hug her weakly. While she did this, Fluttershy felt the unicorn secretly slip the Fang under one of her wings, keeping it out of the vamponies' sight.

"Get somewhere safe... find soldiers and tell them they need to find Princess Luna..." Twilight replied.

"Or, you know, instead of hunting for a dead alicorn, you could just hoof over the knife and save us the trouble," one of the vamponies interjected loudly as the others snickered down at the two mares. "Seriously, did you think the bat ears were just for show? How about you make this easy for yourselves?"

Another suggested, "Or we could just tear them apart and take it. It's better than what Moonshadow or Eclipse'll do to them."

"True. Okay, let's finish this..." the vampony said, trailing off as his attention was briefly diverted by tendrils of thick mist that crept into the train yard. The fog moved swiftly despite a lack of wind, swallowing up the gathering of ponies and vamponies.

"Oh, you think you're clever, now? We don't need to see you to kill you," the vampony threatened. His ears swiveled as he heard the sound of hooves tapping softly against the cobbles, so he launched himself at the mares before they could sneak away! But when he pounced on the location where they were supposed to be, his hooves found nothing but air and mist.

Moments later, the batponies heard movement elsewhere. Two of them tried to move to flank them, only find nothing, just like the first. As the vamponies quickly realized that they were being distracted, the sound of hoofsteps was suddenly everywhere, going every which way. Confusion overtook the vamponies as they listened carefully, trying to figure out which sounds were real and which were not. Some attempted to swoop through the mist in order to find the real mares, only to collide with each other instead.

At the same time, in the middle of the fog, Fluttershy held onto Twilight and propped her up so that the guardsmare could stand. She turned her head around, hearing the vamponies grow more confused and frustrated by the sounds of ponies who didn't seem to actually be there. She herself was frozen in place, not sure which way she would go even if she could move. Still, they couldn't just stay there as long as there was a chance to get to the train.

Fluttershy took a few of the seconds that they had been granted to think about the mare leaning on her. The lieutenant was on an important mission, and wouldn't be able to make it out of the city on her own. They would both need to make a run for it, and needed to believe that they could make it to the train if they were going to escape. To that end, she swallowed her terror and put on a bright, beaming, 'it's going to be okay' smile for Twilight. She then lifted up her hoof to take the first step that would guide them to safety.

Right when she was about to take that step, though, a dark hooded figure suddenly appeared in front of her, rushing at the two of them and placing a pale blue hoof over Fluttershy's muzzle before she could even think of screaming in surprise!

The hooded pony leaned in and shook her head, then pointed in a different direction. She moved as silently as a shadow as she came around to Twilight's other side and helped to support the weakened unicorn, guiding them through the fog.

"Trixie...?" Twilight whispered as quietly as she could, but the hooded mare didn't reply. Instead, they were led in silence through the mist until it began to thin, allowing them to see the train once more. At that point their pace quickened, supporting Twilight enough that she wouldn't fall. They needed to, as the train began to start moving without them.

At the same time, some of the vamponies had come to realize that while they couldn't detect their prey within the fog, they knew what the mares would be fleeing toward. They flapped up above the mist and turned their attention toward the departing train. Once they saw the two (now three) ponies attempting to escape, they let out blood-chilling shrieks and flew after them in pursuit!

-----

Inside, ponies reflexively cowered when they heard the sound of the vamponies' screeches over the slow rattling of the train. While many took cover beneath the benches, Rarity, Pinkamena and Applejack peeked out the window. "There are still ponies out there!" Applejack gasped.

"It doesn't look like they'll make it," Pinkamena said, her usual stoicism replaced with naked worry.

Rarity's body trembled. The three ponies outside were struggling to catch up before the train left them behind, but the vamponies giving chase were going to catch them before that even happened. She didn't want to watch, but was too frozen with fear to turn away.

"Somepony needs to help them," Applejack exclaimed, bumping against Rarity as she turned to hurry toward the door.

Nudged out of her paralysis, Rarity asked, "Are you crazy?! Even if you can get them aboard, those vamponies will just attack us!"

"We have to at least give'em a chance!" Applejack shouted back, her Manehattan accent very briefly slipping into country twang. "After all we did ta make sure nopony got abandoned!"

"So you'll abandon your family again, instead?!"

Rarity might as well have slapped her, Applejack recoiled so hard. "W-wha..." Pinkamena similarly gasped in shock as Rarity's accusation seemed to echo through the train car.

Inside the young rock farmer's head, though, it was different words that reverberated in her mind.

"Are you mad? Of course I want to leave," Applejack said, moving on as another train left without them. "But if we don't get every one of these trains full of ponies, then somepony is going to be left behind."

Somehow, Rarity and Pinkamena had found themselves getting caught up in the businessmare's wake. Rarity had told Pinkamena that it was to keep an eye on Applejack and make sure she didn't try to sneak away at first, but as it became increasingly obvious that Applejack was being genuine, that motivation had morphed into a desire to "find out what her game is."

With the Royal Guard fighting in the streets and the skies, the three of them ended up taking de facto management of the evacuation, convincing travelers to board in an efficient, orderly manner.

At the same time, Rarity's frustrations had grown, not lessened, under the surface from watching Applejack take charge. The businessmare's refusal to leave before everypony else had thrown her into confusion as she tried to reconcile it with her image of the mare she had intended to confront. Worse, the seeming selflessness of it deprived her of a chance to lay into her as she'd intended to.

It made her feel petty, small, and sick inside. Determined to find some fault in Applejack's motives that would justify her ill will, Rarity asked, "And why does that matter so much to you? Trying to be a hero, or do you just not have anypony waiting for you?"

The question momentarily threw off Applejack's step as they reached the last train. The one that would take them home. "I may be a big city mare by choice, Miss Stone, but I was born and raised in the country. I might have left a lot of that old life behind, but I still remember our values, and one of the worst things in this world is when one pony starts acting as though wealth or privilege makes them worth more to society than any other."

Applejack looked up with yearning at the engine that would soon take them away. "The last time I saw my baby sister, she was barely as tall as my knee. After all this time, I finally have a chance to see her again. To make up for lost time and become part of her life again. But if I'm going to do that, then I need to be the sort of sister that she truly deserves while I am there. If I stood before her as anything less... as a mare who would abuse her position to abandon anypony in their time of need... I'm sure she would never forgive me."

Rarity and Pinkamena stood in silence beside Applejack. The unicorn slowly chewed her lower lip. Finding no fault or retort to turn against Applejack, she sighed, muttered, "Oh for goodness' sake," and pushed that small, petty part of herself down as far as it would go.

Then, she reached out and pulled the businessmare into a reassuring embrace. One that was soon joined by Pinkamena.

Applejack blinked, her cheeks warming from the unexpected attention. "Oh, um... well, thank you," she replied.

Suddenly, there was a commotion from a few cars down. All three turned their attention farther down the train, where some of the railway workers were struggling to separate ponies from their luggage to make room for the remaining evacuees.

"Oh dear. I'd better see to this..."

Rarity winced. She knew how her words sounded, but there was no time to lose. "Go out there, and you'll only get eaten, or worse! You got us on this train, now it's our turn!" With that, she turned back to the window, her horn wreathing itself in pale blue magic.

-----

"Drop me... and run...!" Twilight huffed, struggling to push herself along with all of her greatly diminished strength. The pegasus and mysterious hooded mare holding her upright wouldn't hear any of it, however.

"We're almost there! Just keep going! One step at a time," Fluttershy exclaimed, almost as a cheer. There was a shrillness in her voice, however, that betrayed her fear.

Indeed, the train hadn't quite left the station yet. If they kept going at their current pace, they could possibly jump onto one of the last cars, but the vamponies were hot on their tails. The one in the lead was almost right on top of them, fangs gnashing and chomping menacingly.

Ahead of them, though, there was a momentary glow of light blue that surrounded a newspaper resting on a nearby bench. It flew up into the air and smacked the vampony across the nose before falling open, sending numerous pages fluttering on the breeze and distracting the thestrals at the front of the swarm.

This only bought the fleeing mares a couple of seconds by itself, but from inside the train, a voice shouted, "Come on, everypony with a horn, help me out here! Hit them with whatever you can lift!" The blue aura then started picking up bottles, bits of garbage, anything that was small and within reach, and launched them at the flying monsters.

Blue was soon followed by pink. Then orange, yellow, purple, red... All the colors of the visible spectrum seemed to light up to turn everything on the station's floor into a projectile to fend off the vamponies. Some of the heavier objects, such a benches or large trunks abandoned by their owners, were held up and thrown by multiple auras working in concert to knock thestrals out of the air, as well as give the mares a clear path.

Fluttershy gasped as she ran, taking in the sight. She was almost distracted by the view until she suddenly heard Twilight gasp out, "Jump!"

"Jump? AHHHH! Jump!" she shouted when she realized that they were right at the edge of the platform. Her reflexes were too slow to get a proper jump onto the now-speeding train, causing her and others to stumble over the edge, but she started rapidly flapping her wings, giving them a little extra push that made them tumble and fall hooves-over-head into the back of the caboose!

Lt. Sparkle and Fluttershy both lay on the floor of the train, gasping for air as they waited for their heart rates to get back to normal. Just outside, they could see the aura continuing to hurl anything and everything that could be lifted to fend off the vamponies until the train's speed left the bat-winged pursuers behind. Fluttershy let out a squeal of pure joy and kicked her hooves in the air like an excited foal as she giggled in triumph.

"We did it! We did it! Lieutenant, have you ever seen anything so pretty in your entire life? Taste the rainbow, evil!"

Lt. Sparkle was almost too dumbstruck to reply. She found herself smiling, though, in the wake of her new companion's infectious glee. "Heh... yeah, we did it, thanks to everypony. Especially you. What's your... name...?" she asked, turning to face the hooded mare who had helped them escape. She trailed off, however, when she realized that she was speaking to empty air.

As silently as she had appeared, the mysterious pony had vanished without a trace.

Author's Note:

[Note: 7/23/17] Edited Rarity's behavior to better reflect where she was in Part 5.

Comments

[Frankie2]

So, Rainbow Dash somehow made it to Canterlot. I did not expect that. Now the six of them are on their way to Ponyville. And once they get there, more than likely, all hell is going to break loose.

[CrowMagnon]

8166282
Strap yourself in. It's going to be a bumpy ride.

[RanmaChaos]

Another enjoyable chapter. Good job.

[CrowMagnon]

8170984
Thanks! Any parts that you particularly liked?