A Changeling's Heart

by TheAnimerican

The Heart is Ticking

Although I was curious what it was like behind bars, I never thought it would actually happen to me.

Train robbery was very rare in Equestria, so I wasn't too surprised that there was only one jail cell on the train. The cell itself was about 60 in. by 30 in. and it was located inside one of the baggage cars. I guess they wanted to save as much room as possible, but I still thought it was stupid to have a jail cell in a car full of other's belongings. The cold hardwood floor and the vibration of the moving train made it very uncomfortable for me. Heck, even if I wanted to, I couldn't sleep with Circe on my mind. Despite the cold, the thought of Circe made my blood boil.

"Hey!" I shouted, "Let me out of here! I am not supposed to be in here!"

"Oh really? Well then I guess I ought to let you out of there then huh?" The guard questioned sarcastically.

Luckily, the guard was an earth pony. The unicorn guard from before went back on patrol as soon as he was relieved. If the unicorn was here with me, his magic would have just shut me up.

"Please. I have precious cargo and they stuffed it in the refrigerated cart. It can't stay in there; I have to get it out," I pleaded.

"Sorry sir, but you assaulted a staff member and you will remain here until we reach the next station."

"But it will be too late by then!"

I can tell I was annoying the guard, but this was my own way of fighting back. At this point, my goal was to annoy him until he gave in. He took a deep breath, "I don't get paid enough for this job."

"Right you are!" A new and yet familiar voice entered the room. "I really do apologize for my nephew's behavior. Why don't you take a little brake and I will watch him in the meantime?"

"I appreciate the offer sir," said the guard, "But I shouldn't leave my post."

"But you are looking rather tired. There are still waiters walking about the passenger cart. Why don't you get yourself some coffee?" Silver then tossed a bag of bits to the guard. Although the bag was small, I was able to hear there was more than enough bits for a simple cup of coffee.

"You know, I am feeling kind of tired. I think I will take you up on that kind offer. Thank you sir."

"No no no. Thank you. You earned it," said Silver.

The guard picked up the bag of bits with his mouth, but that didn't stop him from giving me a satisfied smirk before leaving.

After he left, Silver casually sat beside me with his back against the bars.

"Your nephew huh?" I asked.

"Well I certainly wouldn't make you my son. Now then, my mischievous little nephew, you care to share with me what it was you were so upset about?"

I kept silent as I contemplated on what to say to him.

"Oh no, you are not going to give me the silent treatment this time. Sharing a drink with you was one thing, but offering that guard a cup of coffee was another thing. Look, I'll even sweeten the deal." He didn't have to say anything as he presented a ring of keys hanging on the tip of his hoof."

"Are those-?"

"Yes they are," Silver interrupted me. "I am going to be honest with you, I didn't start off my living with honest work. I might be old, but I still got the magic touch."

"Silver, I can't explain right now, but I need to get to my things in the refrigerated car."

"Now you see, that is what has been puzzling me since you got thrown in there. When we spoke, you told me that inside that cart was silk. Even in a refrigerated car, the worse that could happen would be the fabric getting wet. Simple fix, you hang them out to dry. I mean, we would make it to Ponyville before noon. So I believe there is something far more important than cloth in that car. Now being the curious stallion that I am, I could give you the key if you care to share what you are hiding."

In that situation, what was I supposed to do? What was the right thing to do? I had to get to Circe right away, but would I be saving her if I told him what was in the car?

"I don't think that guard will be much longer with his coffee," Silver reminded me.

I knew he was trying to get the answer out of me, but he was right. I was running out of time and I needed to make a decision. "Silver, my wife is in the car," the room went completely silent as the words left my mouth; I couldn't even hear the sound of the train moving along the rails.

"You said your wife?" Silver questioned.

"Well, my fiancé to be exact."

"Why is your fiancé in the car?"

"She is very sick and too weak to move. I had carried her around in the cart all night."

"That still doesn't explain why she wasn't with you on the passenger car with us."

"No, it doesn't," I agreed, "I can't tell you everything. All I can say, is that she is a very special kind of pony. If she were to be caught, I am afraid of what might happen to her."

"You mean she is a criminal?"

"No!" Silver slightly startled from my sudden outburst. I took a deep breath before continuing, "No she is not. If anything, she is the kindest and most beautiful creature that I ever came across. But there are ponies out there that would see her as a criminal and I have to keep her safe."

Silver pondered as he jingled the keys. Then out of nowhere, he chuckled and turned around to face me. "I knew it," he said.

"Knew what?"

"I knew you were going to be an interesting sort as soon as I saw you board the train. I know what it is like to be in love and on the run. Although, as you might have guessed, things didn't work out the way I had hoped. Maybe tonight, is a way I can make amends for her," he smiled.

"Make amends?"

He nodded, "You know how I said I didn't make my first earnings honestly? Well, this one mare caught my eye as she wore this old necklace. That necklace of hers possessed a rare gem called alexandrite. I knew that if I got my hands on it, it would square away a debt that I had. However, it came at a higher price than I thought. She and I became very close; a lot closer than I meant to. Trying to get out of it quick, I stole the necklace and tried to get the bits I needed. On my way to a pawn shop, my conscience kept nagging me every step of the way. Finally, I realized what was more important and decided to give her back her necklace."

Although it sounded like the story ended happily, the look on his face said otherwise. "There is more isn't there?" I asked.

"Yes there is," he answered in a depressed tone of voice. "On my way back, those ponies I was in debt to caught up to me. They saw the necklace and thought that was my payment to them. I tried to explain that it wasn't mine, but they wouldn't have any of that. I tried to fight them off and hold on to that necklace, but they overpowered me and took it from me. Later, I was arrested by the guards for the wrong I tried to correct. At the trial, I saw her and there was so much pain in her eyes. Not the pain of her necklace stolen, but the pain of betrayal. I was of course found guilty and sent to the dungeons. I wasn't there for long since I got let off on good behavior, but it was enough for me to make a life changing decision."

"What about the mare? You never tried to talk to her again?"

He shook his head, "I couldn't. I couldn't bare to look her in the eyes. Although I never said it to her face, I apologized in my own way."

"How?"

"After years of making an honest business in trades, I made more bits than I could have ever imagined. One day, I noticed there was an auction. In the auction, I couldn't believe my eyes to see that the necklace was one of the items up for bid. It seems, that fate had decided the time was right. I entered the auction and I probably paid almost three times the actual worth. To me, it was still worth a whole lot more."

"Then you took it and gave it back to her?"

"Oh I gave it back to her, but not to her face. I wrote a letter and had the necklace delivered to her. Titanium, I deeply cared for her, but I could never forgive myself for what I done."

I was saddened, but also confused by his story. "I don't understand. If returning her necklace to her didn't make amends, then why would helping me be any different?"

Silver then looked in my eyes with a blank stare, "You are right. It wouldn't be any different, but it would surely help me feel better about myself." Before I could say anything, he diverted his attention to the other end of the car. "Uh oh. It looks like we ran out of time."

Although I couldn't see what he was looking at, I was sure he was referring to the guard coming back from his coffee break. He then slid the keys through the bars. "The refrigerated car isn't far. It is just behind the freight car with the rest of the merchandise. One day, I hope to meet you and your beautiful wife one day." He then got up and head toward the door.

I heard the door slide open, "Thank you for the bre-."

"Hey there buddy ol' pal!" Silver shouted.

"Buddy?" the guard asked confused.

"Yeah, you know, I think I had a little too much myself. Can you show me to my room?"

"Umm, of course. You can lean on my shoulder to-"

"Don't mind if I do," Silver did just that. I heard the guard struggle as he tried to keep Silver up. They then once again left the cart. When I knew for sure they were gone, I quickly grabbed the keys and was already flustered with pressure. There were no more than ten, but I knew time was of the essence.

It was one of those moments when I wished I was a unicorn. I had to be extra careful to not drop the keys. Although I knew how to handle keys with my feathers, I never done it on the other side of a cell before. I didn't bother to look at the keys. Instead, I tried each key one by one. With every failed attempt, handling the keys became more of a struggle.

Finally, I heard the magic sound of the cell unlocking. Slowly I opened the cell door and checked both sides to be sure it was clear. As I exited the cell, I closed the door and cautiously left the car.

***

Outside the car, my robe flapped in the wind and the air was very cold. However, I doubt I could have compared that with the cold Circe was dealing with. Although Silver told me where to locate her, I still was not sure which direction to go. I knew in one direction, was back to the other passengers. I didn't know what was in the opposite direction, but I felt that was probably the best route at that point.

I secured the keys in my mouth and then cautiously walked to the next car. From what I could tell from the outside, it might have been another passenger car. I peaked through the door's window and saw a couple of ponies in uniforms. While observing, I recognized one of them to be the pony I scared off earlier. I assumed this was a car for the staff.

At this point of the trip, the train was going down the side of the mountain. To my left, there was the mountain wall. To my right, it was clear and I was able to see the flat land of Equestria below. I walked to the right and looked over the car's platform rails.

Luckily, the train curved in a position where I can see the other cars. I saw that behind the staff car, there were two other freight cars and the caboose at the end. Although it was dark, I was able to see one of the freight cars to be made of metal as the moon shined off its surface. The metal car was behind the other freight car; I had to assume that was the refrigerated car.

My only dilemma was how to get there. There was no way to avoid the staff and waiting for them to leave was not an option. It was risky, but I saw there was only one way to Circe; I had to fly to her.

On a regular day, I would like to think I would have been able to do this no problem. However, I was very tired and I was still at risk of being seen. Of course, I was out of options and I already wasted enough precious time.

I checked one last time over the rails to be sure nopony was looking and see if the drop was clear. I took off my robe as I feared it would have got in the way of my wings. After I took a deep breath, I threw myself over the rails.

At first, I let gravity do the work to pick up speed. Not much later, I opened my wings and swung my way back up toward the caboose. I thought by doing this, if anypony did see me, I would have made it more difficult for them to pinpoint me. However, on my flight back up, I found I made the task more difficult for me instead.

I didn't realize that the train was about to enter a tunnel. With whatever strength I had left, I flapped my wings as hard as I could. I drew closer to my target, but my wings became heavier as I climbed. I checked again and saw that the train had entered the tunnel. My time was running out and I was only a few yards away. I gritted my teeth on the key ring as I made that final push to get on the car. When it seemed like I was about to hit the exterior of the tunnel, I closed my eyes for the impact.

I did ram into something, but the pain wasn't as bad as I thought it was. Also, the surface of a mountain side was different than I expected. I opened my eyes, but there was nothing but darkness. I listened to my surroundings and heard the sound of a train's whistle. I laid down, with the keys still in my mouth, I took deep breaths at the sudden realization that I made it. "Almost there hun. I'm almost there," I thought to myself.

Although I was unable to see, I did my best to continue on. As I tried to get back on all fours, I felt a sharp pain in my left hind leg. I didn't notice it before, but I might have injured myself when I crashed. I was pumped with so much adrenaline earlier I doubt I would have felt anything at the time. Dealing with the pain, I knocked myself up against the cold metal wall. When I became more stable, I tapped along the wall, hoping to find a glass window or maybe come across the knob.

After the next couple hops, my chest rammed into something. With my available hoof, I felt the obstruction and realized I found the doorknob. I felt around and found what I believed to be the keyhole. With my right wing, I took the keys and got to work. Again, I dealt with butter feathers as I struggled to find the correct key. I thought behind cell bars was a challenge, but the pressure was worse when you were in the dark and used only one of my wings. With every key, it took me a couple minutes as I struggled to find that keyhole. I got worried as I was running out of keys to try. It was until I got to the final key that my heart stopped. "Did I screw up? Did I miss the right key? Did the guard even have the correct keys to begin with?" Worry and doubt poured in my mind. Pointless, but it made me feel better to close my eyes, as I hoped this final attempt was a successful one.

Comments

[harts fire]

i am really hoping Titanium is in time to save Circe.

a good chapter fore a grate story.