Tales of the Battle Foals

by Sirdubya

Center of Gravity

The foals waited patiently……very patiently for night to fall. Watching Crazylocks made things difficult with her virtually unhinged nature. A little anxiety rose as they wondered how they’d quietly sneak her onto the train. Shadow Shroud said that she might have an idea, but it remained to be seen. 8:30 could not have come sooner, because Crazylocks gave them a pretty long day. They even had to stop her from eating an empty turtle shell….whole, and it somehow ended with Air Slash being given a life lesson about the dangers of drinking overcooked flamingo eggs…….

Anyways, they had to gag Crazylocks so that she made minimal amounts of noise. Their train arrived at the station right on schedule. With the crowd of ponies waiting to board it at the dock at a minimal size, it was definitely going to leave on time as well. “Alright, Shroud, what’s your idea to get Crazylocks to go quietly?” Fire Fight whispered.

Shadow Shroud sighed. “You’ll have to forgive me…” she muttered. She crept over to their new friend, who seemed surprisingly ok with being gagged; she chewed on her gag as though it were gum. Shroud raised her hoof, and chopped the back of her neck, conking her out.

The others were a little shocked. “Fo’ real!?” Turf War whispered.

“Don’t worry. She’ll be fine. She’s far more controllable like this anyway, and since this will likely be our last ride on a train, I don’t see myself having to do this again. Plus, I’m fairly certain that her brain can’t be damaged any further than it already has…” Shroud said.

“So much for absolute care, huh?” Spiral Galaxy sassed.

“Can’t say Ah could think of another idea.” Kickback muttered.

They were on the other side of the train where they couldn’t be seen. Sneaking through the back of the caboose was possible, but there was too great a possibility of them being noticed this time for it to be the first option. Spiral Galaxy then noticed that there was a ladder leading up to the top of the caboose that was presumably for maintenance workers, and got an idea.

“You know what…… If we wait on top of the caboose, I should be able to keep us from flying off with my gravity magic. That way, we can safely climb down to caboose’s balcony when we get far enough away to where we won’t be seen.” Spiral said.

Shadow Shroud looked at her with some worry. “Are you sure you’d be able to control it? We won’t have a roof over our heads.”

Spiral held her head high. “Yeah. I think I’ve gotten my fair share of practice ever since I joined you guys. I think all that meditation I’ve done with you has really helped! Besides, little gravity fields are actually pretty easy……well, at least relative to everything else.” She answered.

“O-Ok…..Air Slash, you’ll have to carry Crazylocks up there while the rest of us climb that ladder.” Shroud said.

“Understood.” Air Slash affirmed.

“Ok, guys. Follow my lead.” Shroud said. She led them quietly through the moonlit grass towards their target. Turf War hauled Crazylocks on his back so that Air Slash could easily lift her up from there. Ponies were too busy exiting and boarding to notice the foals. Once they reached the ladder, they ascended it one by one. Fire Fight magically levitated his gauntlets so that they wouldn’t clang against the metal ladder, and Air Slash quietly hovered upwards with Crazylocks in his arms. Once they were safely atop the caboose, they laid flat on its roof just behind its ventilation ducts; the ducts themselves were unfortunately too small for the foals to fit through, so they had to settle for Spiral’s plan. There was no light other than the light of the moon shining on their location, so they were in minimal danger of being spotted. Air Slash handed Crazylocks off to the much stronger Turf War, who could keep her held down against the wind much more easily. Not even a moment sooner, the train whistled, and embarked. The whistle briefly woke up Crazylocks, but before she could make any noise, Shroud knocked her out again.

As soon as the wind picked up, Spiral summoned her power, and generated a gravity field. It pressed down hard on the foals, but it was just enough that they didn’t have to try very hard to hang on; even Kickback’s hat stayed put even though he held it down anyway. As soon as they were at a desirable distance, Shadow Shroud crawled her way to the balcony of the caboose. She managed to safely crawl down to the balcony. After peering through the door window to see that it was once again a storage car, she used her kunai to create footings for the others to use to safely climb down. She ascended briefly to inform them of this, and they followed suit. Turf War lowered Crazylocks halfway down to Shadow Shroud where she retrieved her, and laid her onto the balcony. Spiral was the last to climb down since she was casting the gravity field; she lowered it so that she could focus on stepping down, but before she could begin her descent, she noticed that the gravity she created was intense enough to put dents in the caboose’s metallic roof. “W-Whoopsy Daisy….” She muttered.

With her gravity no longer there to hold her, Spiral had to carefully climb down Shroud’s kunai. Turf War raised his hammer-axe for her to grab onto so that he could simply lower her himself, but just as she reached for it, a gust of wind suddenly caught her, and made her slip off of the ladder, and she fell back away from the balcony with the wind!

“MS. SPIRAL!!” Kickback shouted. He quickly lashed his whip out, and it thankfully coiled tightly around her torso, but the wind was too strong to just pull her in by himself.

“GUUUUUUUUUYYYYYSSS!!!!” Spiral screamed. She was understandably terrified as she was dragged through the air at high speeds, and her horn subsequently began lighting! “OH NO! OH NO, NOT NOW!!” The swell of power was effective almost immediately as it began pulling dirt and gravel into her frenzied orbit.

“DON’T WORRY! WE GOT YOU!!” Fire Fight shouted. He grabbed onto Kickback’s whip, and began pulling. Shadow Shroud followed suit mere milliseconds later. Turf War grabbed Kickback from behind, and began pulling him back so that they wouldn’t go flying. Air Slash flew out towards Spiral, but stopped midway so that could start pulling the whip from further away. At this point, parts of the track were now being torn from the ground, and into Spiral’s orbit! She was doing a good job of slowing the progression of its intensity.

Air Slash managed to grab Spiral as She got close enough. “Gotcha!” he said. He pulled her back all the way as they all successfully rescued her, and lowered her back to the balcony. She managed to calm herself down, and make her storm subside with plenty of deep breathes.

Shadow Shroud immediately hugged her as she laid down on the balcony, and comforted her. “You okay?” she asked.

Spiral was still pretty shaken. Her power could still be felt radiating off of her as she took deep breathes. Kickback stepped in. “Ms. Spiral, it’s alright now. Yer safe an’ sound, and all’s well.” He very calmly consoled. Upon hearing him, Spiral calmed down considerably, and eventually powered down completely. Kickback could tell she was out of breath from the terrifying situation she was just in. “Ah suggest we get her inside.”

“Agreed.” Shroud said. Just before she could open the door, Crazylocks suddenly woke up.

“THAT LOOKED FUN! MY TURN!!” she said. She tried to leap out, but Shroud knocked her out once more.

Turf War sighed. “I ain’t mad at you no mo’ fo’ doin’ dat.” He commented.

“And I no longer feel quite so guilty. Now, shall we?” Shroud said. She picked the lock to the door, and let herself and her comrades in. Once inside, they quietly shifted the luggage around to make a suitable little spot to rest. After a few moments, Spiral calmed down completely.

“<pant><pant>……Oh my gosh, guys…..Thank you so much!” Spiral said.

Kickback tipped his hat. “Yer surely welcome, Ms. Spiral. Ah hope mah whip didn’t bite ya.”

“No…..No, Kickback, it didn’t…….<sigh>……..I thought I had it.” Spiral mumbled.

“What do you mean?” Air Slash inquired.

“I was stupid enough to think that I could control my magic so easily under all that pressure…...<sigh>…..Guess I still have a long ways to go.” Spiral said.

“But you did, Spiral. That gravity field made a huge difference, and you controlled it really well. That’s progress if I’ve ever seen it.” Fire Fight said.

Spiral sighed. “Yeah, but I freaked out when I fell off, and….”

“It’s ok, Spiral. Even that storm was under better control than the last. You may have a ways to go, but you’re very much making an effort to get there, so don’t lose sight.” Shroud consoled.

“Yeah, and Shroud and I will still meditate with you. All you’ve ever wanted were friends, right? Well, that’s us, and we’ll support you ‘til the end.” Fire Fight added.

Hearing their reassurance brought Spiral much comfort. She slowly regained a smile as she lifted her head again. “Thanks, guys.” She said. “No more train rides though, ok? I think they’re gonna be more hassle than they’re worth.” They all agreed with her.

They were all ready to take a little rest when the PA suddenly came on. “Attention passengers, just a quick reminder that the dining car will have to close an hour early due to minor maintenance issues. We thank you for understanding as we continue our approach to Canterlot. Goodnight!”

The foals were flustered as they heard the…..somewhat alarming news. “Canterlot!? I thought this train was supposed to go to Ponyville!” Air Slash said.

“Ah reckon it might go through Canterlot with Ponyville being its next stop?” Kickback theorized.

“No. Ponyville is closer to Fillydelphia than Canterlot. Plus, it’s on a mountain while Ponyville is on a flat plain! There’d be no reason for that! But……I-I-I don’t understand! I read the schedule, and-……wait…..no! Was I so foolish as to misread it!?” Shroud said. She couldn’t believe herself!

“Yo! Look at it like dis, a’ight? Canterlot’s prolly the toughest place we gonna look since it got all d’em guards and rich ponies an’ s***- er, stuff. If we find lost foals chillin’ d’here, dat mean we don’t gotta go back d’here no mo’. So really, dis kinda work out d’ho! Ya know what I’m sayin’?” Turf War said.

“Yeah…..good point, Turf War. I was honestly thinking about heading there next anyway. We’ll just have to be really careful to keep a low profile there. The Royal Sisters live there, and if they catch us, this whole mission is done.” Fire Fight said. They all agreed. Fire Fight held out his hoof. “Put ‘em in, guys.” They all fist bumped, and ‘Yeah’ed. Crazylocks then suddenly woke up, and put her muzzle in the bump instead.

The other foals looked over at her in surprise. She just kept her head the quietly for a moment as her eyes moved around individually, and then pulled back. “I will make nose bumps a thing if it’s the last thing I do!” she aggressively whispered.

Seeing as she might not be a big problem, and Shroud could confirm that the car in front of them was unoccupied, the foals decided to take turns keeping watch for the night as they awaited arrival at their unexpected destination.

Comments

[KingJoltik]

A little anxiety was born of them wondering how they’d quietly sneak her onto the train.

They gave birth to anxiety! The anxiety of a sentence that doesn't make sense at the start!

Anyway, they had to gag Crazylocks so that she made minimal amounts of noise.

Anyway should be 'Anyways'.

and Shroud confirm that the car in front of them was unoccupied,

Confirm is in the wrong tense.

Also, you should Ctrl F and relook over all the 'its' in this chapter. A bunch of them need to be: 'it's'

Anyways, grammar helping aside, so...our foals are taking an unexpected detour to what possibly could be the most dangerous place for them to go to...besides Ponyville where everypony knows Fire Fight. This should be interesting. Wonder if they'll get some noble reject foal next. It would be different if it was some rich filly snob.

[Sirdubya]

7866082 Thanks. I never knew that Ctrl F could do that. I kinda suck with computers.

[KingJoltik]

7866106 No prob. Now I'm convinced that it'll switch to Twilight and the others. If it stays with the foals, I'll be surprised.

Wait...is this how Luna gets into the story?!?!

[KingJoltik]

Guess I still have a long ways to go.” Spiral said.

One last one, the ways doesn't need to be plural.

Also, check the ', and' in this. There are way too many unnecessary comma with this.

Sorry if I'm being nitpicky.

[Stranger pass]

wait is that? Won't you delve deeper into the lockycrazy story? Why are you going to leave it like that? she is so nice

[Sirdubya]

11688187
Her backstory is further explored later on.