Apropos of the Sinners

by SpitFlame

Part V – Chapter V – Too Close for Comfort

The lights in the car had mysteriously gone out, which startled Sharp. He kept quiet as a dull darkness engulfed the room, ascertaining the area for any danger. He watched with bated breath as several citizens were cut down by the killers in black; he could not afford to show himself just then. But he was still swimming in confusion. At times he noticed dead bodies from both the ponies in black and in white. It was a hijacking committed by two opposing sides, he reasoned.

What was most shocking and, he found, almost beyond the realm of plausibility, was this very fact, this evil-come-true, where the Tic Tocs would even think of sending their own to start murdering ponies in a crowded train. They were a family held together by a respected yet feared reputation, one which denoted a dashing semblance of duty, either to themselves or to the city of Fillydelphia. But when word got out that their own members took control of a luxury locomotive and took part in a slaughter, together with the ponies in white—what would the authorities think? What about the press?

In fact, the ponies in white had a higher body count, now that he started to keep track.

He was crouched beneath a tipped-over table when he spotted a pony in black wandering out from the roulette car, so Sharp decided to follow him. This one was a unicorn, yet he could still use magic.

Must be that ring he's wearing, thought Sharp. He traced his movements all the way back to a cabin in second-class. Sharp made sure the pony in black was all alone in there, and waited for the right moment, watching through the little window.

The pony in black was bustling about by the looks of it, getting his hooves on things, seemingly getting ready for something or other. Sharp had to hide as more of those same ponies passed by, at times chasing the innocent bystanders. He must have been waiting there for at least two whole minutes, cautiously staring down the unicorn in the room, waiting for him to turn around.

Suddenly, when the moment struck, Sharp burst through the door and leaped into the cabin room, almost flying, while the pony in black had his guard down. The pony instantly turned around, but was greeted with a hard hook punch to his horn.

He grunted, fell to the ground, tried to get up, but Sharp angrily hit him again on the horn, disrupting his magical flow.

While the pony in black was groaning in pony, Sharp bent forth, put his teeth on the green ring, and yanked it out; but the moment he did so, the ring dissolved into nothingness.

"What is this?" cried the alarmed Sharp, scrunching his face and spitting out the vanishing remnants of the strange artifact.

Indeed, the pony in black managed to recover slightly; he heaved himself, glared at Sharp, and strained his face, but stopped short, realizing that his magic, too, had been cancelled.

"Lot of trouble you bastards went through," spat Sharp, grabbing him by the scruff of the necktie. "Are you really part of the Tic Tocs, or am I losing my mind?"

"We only seek retribution," said the stallion in a weak, wailing voice, yet glaring defiantly into Sharp's face.

"Retri... what?" Sharp creased his brow. "What's the plan here, huh? Gut the citizens and take off without a hitch?"

"We are here for one purpose only, to hold you all off. Once the time comes, we will take what is ours."

"That's real frank, but what are you talking about?"

"You don't have the guts to stop us, don't you know it. There is too much filth in this life; we must eradicate it and achieve our higher calling. We will all be born anew. The time is upon us."

"Eh, he's not using his own words! Who told you to say that?"

Suddenly the stallion shot up with his hind-leg and, screaming, tried to tackle Sharp. But the artillery captain dodged, grabbed the black-suited stallion from below, and used the moment to smash him against the wooden frame of the bed in the room.

The stallion moaned in pain, his arm having been broken. Sharp approached him, the ruthless ire in his expression about to bust. He bent low to match the pony's line of sight.

"There's over two hundred bones in a pony's body," said Sharp menacingly. "That was one. I can break all of them for you, if you want." He stepped on the pony's broken arm, receiving a strangled moan of pain in response. The scum started writhing.

"So who's behind all this, huh?" Sharp continued with the same menacing voice. "Who thought they could ventilate us? Hey, answer me. It's only polite to answer. Ah, shoot! He fainted, the scum!"

Indeed, the stallion's eyes became glazed over. He slowly fell over, hitting his face on the matted floor.

He must have banged his head or something, thought Sharp. He was about to start searching his body, but the stallion's whole figure starting shaking. His whole physiognomy instantly turned pale, the whites in his eyes turning black. Sharp jumped back, alarmed. And all of a sudden, blood gushed from his mouth and eyes, his neck twisted and bent almost backwards. He went limp, dead.

Sharp nearly fell down on his rump, with a horror-stricken expression. He stared at the corpse of the stallion, with its mangled features, and he felt lightheaded. He sat there, frozen in deafening silence, for a whole ten seconds.

"W-what... in Equestria...?" he managed to say through gritted teeth. Sharp forced himself to regain his composure, approached the dead stallion, a small pool of dark blood now forming below the back of his head. Did he use some sort of suicide spell? he thought. I didn't even know those existed. But now's not the time to get distracted.

After another moment of hesitation, he searched his body, found nothing important or useful, turned around and left the cabin, shutting the door on the way. He slowly and decidely walked across the car, but froze when he heard more hoof-steps. He back-stepped behind another counter in order to hide. He still felt his head ringing from shock.

This time it was the ponies in white. They were conversing about something; what it was Sharp did not understand. The main thing was that word which the previous one emphasized—the supposed "time" that was going to come. This too he did not understand.

Nova was running, I think; he went down the compartments. I gotta find him! Sharp waited for them to leave, then he bolted into the next car. And with Airglow... was it the right call to leave her there?

* * *

Knob was skipping and hopping down the hall to the dining car, a wickedly anticipative grin plastered on his face. He let out a few titters every once in a while.

"Ooh, what's in the dining car?" he said to himself in a sing-song voice, almost frothing at the mouth. "Wait a minute"— He stopped, his ears twitched, then he resumed his gait faster than before —"I hear screams, and stuff breaking. Ooh! Danger, I hear danger! What's in the dining car? Who's killing who? I have to s-e-e-e-e! Yes, yes, yes, yes! This has gotten far more interesting!"

He burst into a brief sprint, past the hall, and he at last reached the so-desired dining car, stopping right at the entrance.

Several corpses were lifelessly piled across the floor. Many ponies here had been killed, not not all, he noticed. A few families were trembling together along the sidelines. Knob's eyes skipped from the bodies, to the terrified guests, to the two ponies in black right in front of him, all the while his smile growing more and more vicious.

"Who're you!" reproached one of the ponies in black, along with his friend. Their horns ignited.

"Gentlecolts, do not be alarmed!" said Knob in a mechanical, overly formal voice, but the smile on his face remained intact.

"Are you with those vermin in the white suits? Wait, stay there, don't move any closer." The first pony in black started approaching him.

"Hey, careful," his friend called back. "You don't know if he's carrying a weapon!"

"Rest assured, I am completely unarmed," said Knob, continuing to walk forward.

"Hey, buddy, stop walking!" warned the first pony. He horn grew brighter.

"I am just as clueless as all the other passengers on board."

"I. Said. Freeze!"

"I am just a completely normal citizen, there is no need to fear me!" With a burst of energy, Knob shot forward, and before the unicorn in black could react, landed a hard, fatal punch right up the pony's jaw. Several bones cracked. The muscles on his face immediately loosened, blood squirted from his mouth; he fell to the ground unconscious.

"Son of a—!" cried his friend in a rage, and at once fired off multiple blasts of magic. Knob bobbed and weaved past them with ease, closing the distance. The unicorn roared in anger, and in a panic wrapped Knob with magic and lifted him up.

"So that's how you wanna play?" said Knob. The moment he started to be levitated, Knob pivoted midair, swiping his arms beside him, and grabbed hold of a silver tray, whipping it at the unicorn.

It hit him square in the face, leaving a red mark. He flinched back, yelping in pain; his horn went cold, more focused on covering his face with both hooves. Before he knew it, Knob was right on him.

"You won't be needing this, pal!" cried Knob; with his body weight he tackled the unicorn, placed the his horn up against the edge of a table, cocked back his hoof, and hit down with all his might. There was a brief flash and spiff of smoke; the unicorn croaked in severe pain. A piece of his horn, along with several drops of dark blood, hit the ground below.

"Now it's a fair fight, wouldn't you say!" Knob heaved up, crossing the distance between them in a half a second, and delivered a blow to the unicorn's face. "C'mon, put up your dukes," he mocked, punching him again. Then again and again.

With each punch the passengers onboard squeaked in fright. They witnessed as the stallion in white pummeled the one in black across the car, pushing him back like a rag doll, while small bits of blood splattered everywhere along the way.

"Nice try with the cheap tricks, you Princess Celestia wannabe!" Knob spoke in between punches. "You think you're all high and mighty"— another punch —"what with you having magic and not us"— and another —"you think you can rule over us, eh, pal? Ha!" The final punch made the unicorn hit the wall; he broke a painting framed on the wall, the glass cover cracking on impact. His face was all red and bruised up, most of his teeth broken. Strangled gasps left his lips, but he could hardly speak.

"You're still conscious, huh?" asked Knob, sounding impressed. He grabbed him by the neck. "I guess I gotta work on my right jabs." He glanced at his own bloodied hoof. "You're trying to make me look bad, aren't ya?"

"A lowlife... like you... will never defeat us..." the unicorn in black gasped out in a convulsive voice. "You will... never... defeat... the great Elder Solid. You will nev—ah!" Knob interrupted him with a thwack to the eyes. He slid down the wall in his own blood.

"Who in tartarus is Elder Solid?" asked Knob with an amused grin. But the sight of this unicorn, accompanied by his bold claims of "never being defeated," ignited a fire in Knob's blood. Some darkness suddenly came over his face; he scowled with self-evident hatred.

"Oh, I see... You're one of those types of ponies, the type who believes they'll never die, huh?" said Knob, passing more and more into anger. He fell down on the unicorn, pinning him there with his lower body. "You ponies are all the same," he hissed, cocking back his arms, and started to deliver a series of blows to the half-dead stallion's face. The ponies in the room who were still alive watched with a sort of widening horror, most covering their eyes.

"Oh yeah, look at us!" cried Knob in a severe voice which could hardly sustain its mocking tone, in between the punches. "We're invincible and unstoppable! Nothing can kill us! We are so strong, taking this train, no oh no! I don't care who Elder what's-his-face is, all I know... is you guys... are my newest... enemies!"

On the last word, "enemies," he dealt the final punch to a sack of meat which hardly resembled a face. The pony in black fell over limp to the side.

Knob slowly got up, breathing heavily, with ecstasy glittering in his eyes. His smile returned once he observed the splatters and wisps of red spread across his entire suit.

"You ponies are so astonished when I kill you," he said to the dead body. "Especially when I squish your brains in my hooves like raw dough."

A few hoof-steps approached him from behind. He turned around.

"Knob, what in Equestria is going on here?" asked one of his crew members. He stopped to check the body of the first pony in black. "I thought I heard some kind of explosion, and I come to find you like this?"

"Heh, heh," giggled Knob, wringing his soaked hoof. He strode down the dining car but halted, noticing Madame Hemlock clutching her children. When he turned to look at her she flinched, trembling for dear life. "So you're Madame Hemlock, eh? Senator's wife?" he asked, but she did not answer. He sighed in great disappointment. "Don't worry, you're not on my hit list or anything; if anything, I need you alive. Send my regards once we're outta here, will ya?"

He hopped over several of the bodies, joining his crew member. There were many features about these black-suited ponies which fascinated him, but which he did not reckon, in spite of his earlier calculations being tossed to the wind.

"Listen," said Knob, cranking his neck to the side, "it seems like these friends of ours in the black suits cut off the magic. The unicorns on our side are puffed out." His crew member gave him a perplexed gaze. "Pretty smart move, wouldn't you agree?"

"But who are they?"

"Beats me! But hey"— Knob grinned once more, leaving the dining car with the other in white —"don't get upset; after all, this just means there's more ponies for me to kill."

But something else caught his attention. On the way out of that car, he looked down at the enemy he had rendered unconscious not even two minutes ago—the pony's neck was twisted backwards, eyes and mouth leaking blood. Dead.

* * *

Airglow was quickly pacing the room. Her heart was pounding so violently she felt like it would burst from her chest any minute. At times she would cover her ears to block out all the panicked screams, her lips shaking from fright; but after sitting like that, she stiffened her upper lip, audibly inhaling and exhaling, debating whether she should leave or not.

In those moments Airglow would stare at the door, almost mistrustfully, expecting some un-welcomed knocks; she herself would become flustered, take a few steps forward, ready to open the door and peer out both ways, as if a morbid sense of curiosity eclipsed everything else. But then she would come to her senses, stop, and sit back down.

Come on, think! ran through her mind, trying all she could to remain in full possession of her reason, to not let pointless fear take over. Sharp said he'd go get my brother. Best case scenario: they both return unharmed, and we stay here safe, together. Worst case: they both get found, and then... She bit her lips. Realistically? If one of those criminals tries to open this door, they'll see it's locked, and then they'll break it open. What should I do then?

Her own self-inflicted pressure grew too much, and at last she felt that she had to do something, anything at all, but to not act stupidly. She reached for the door handle, undid the hook, and slowly opened it, making sure she could not hear anypony else on the other side. She opened it just a tad, her hooves trembling; she began listening. She listened for a long time, becoming more and more encouraged to open the door further.

But somewhere down the hall, around the corner, two voices were shouting loudly and shrilly, arguing and swearing. The door to the right started to open. Airglow nearly lost her breath; she quickly closed the door and locked the latch. As the hoof-steps approached, she had begun to reason or suspect that they must be coming there, to her very room. Why? She did not know. Could the sound have been somehow peculiar, portentous? The steps were heavy, regular, yet hurried. Their breathing became audible; Airglow held a hoof over her mouth, staring with shrunk pupils. And it suddenly seemed to her as though she had turned to stone, as though she were in one of those dreams where the dreamer is being pursued—the pursuers are close, they are going to kill her, and she's rooted to the floor like a stump, unable to move.

The hoof-steps ceased. They now stood opposite each other, with the door between them; she was listening to what they were saying.

"Must be boring," said one gruffly voice. He sounded big and fat. "Do you think we can meet up with Knob after rounding up the remaining passengers? Why does he want us to take them to the freight hold anyway? Is it for a prize?"

"Nah, that's expecting too much," the other answered. "We'll worry about that later. Let's get finished with clearing the first-class cabins, 'kay? Huh, what in Equestria! It's locked!"

Indeed, the ponies on the other side tried to open the door, but the latch prevented it. He started banging on the door.

"Hey, any of our own in there?"

After a few seconds he started to impatiently tug at the door handle with all his strength. Horrified, Airglow watched the doorknob wobble violently from side to side, and waited in dull fear for the thing to break off. Indeed, it seemed possible. It occurred to her to hold the handle in place, but that would give her away. Her head was starting to spin again.

I... I think I'm gonna pass out! flashed through her, but then the banging and tugging stopped, and she immediately recovered herself.

"Is this cabin empty?"

"Obviously not, idiot. If it's latched, that means somepony must be inside, trying to hide. How else would it be locked? It can't be latched from the outside."

"Oh, you make a good point..." And again, enraged, he started to hit the door and pull on the handle. But after ten more attempts it proved to be in vain.

"No good," came a defeated voice.

"Ahh! If we only had our magic, we could blast this piece of junk open! Listen, you stay here, I'll run down and get the crowbar."

"Why stay?"

"You never know. Maybe once we leave, whoever is on the other side will escape."

"But what if it's those halfwits in black in there?" he exclaimed.

"No, look, this doesn't add up. If that were the case, they could just use their magic to fry us, no? And why would they split up? They all talk the same, going off about some weird plan to remake the world, like they serve some deity... I dunno. My gut says it's one of the passengers hiding."

"But maybe—"

"I'm not staying, damn it, you stay! It's obvious I'm right!" the pony cried hotly and went running down the hall.

The other one with the gruffly voice stayed. He gave the door handle one more little tug, and it clinked once; then quietly, as if examining and reflecting, he began to move the handle slowly, pulling it and letting it go, to make sure once more that it truly was locked. Then he bent down, puffing, and tried to look underneath the door for any shadows; fortunately, Airglow was smart to stick to the walls, just out of sight.

Airglow truly felt like she were ready to faint on the spot. She was sweating bullets, and was as if in delirium. She had to cover her mouth once more so that they didn't hear her teeth clattering.

After another minute passed, the pony on the other side started to stir.

"Ah, to tartarus with it!" he suddenly cried, and impatiently, abandoning his post, he too set off down the hall, hurrying and stomping his hooves. His steps died away.

Airglow at once unfastened the hook, opened the door a little—not to make a sound. And suddenly, as if she did not possess control of her body, she went out, closed the door behind her as tightly as she could, and started running in the opposite direction. But that door, too, was locked. They were trying to box the passengers in. She turned around, gulped, and willed herself to dash down the hall of her pursuers. She ventured through two separate cars when she heard them again. This time Airglow took cover, and they ran past her.

"Metal Dart, Metal Dart! Ah, damn your eyes!" one of them was crying out.

In utter despair she marched straight on. She needed to find the others no matter what.