When a magic artifact is shattered, it's remains scattered across time & space, it's takes a group of brave heroes to take on this challenge. But instead we've got these guys: the Tracks of the worlds. Based on the stories from MARVEL's Spider-Verse!
Based on the plot of the popular MARVEL comic series & the 2010 video game: Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions. Staring "The best mama-jama whoever stood in front of a camera" himself, and his extended family, each in their own respective world. Fast Track, Sound Track, Neon Track, and Noir Track will venture out to recover the fragments of the Amulet of Harmony & Discord. But there will be some familiar faces of the brony fandom who will want the power for themselves, by any means necessary! It's a dramatic, magical adventure across time & space, I hope you're ready!
Hi, this is Fast Track, the best mama-jama whoever stood in front of a camera! And this is my first MLP:FIM fan fiction! And of coarse, it had to star myself, a few of my brony friends, and members of my family. While I thank you for wanting to read this MLP:FIM fanfic story of mine, (for whatever reason it may be, I'm guessing just out of boredom) I feel like I should take the time to address the basis of this story that I'm writing.
This story is based off the dynamic stories from MARVEL's Spider-Verse comics and the video game released back in 2010, Spider-Man: Shattered Dimension. I think it's fair to say that Spider-Man is my all time favorite superhero! A long time tale about a mere man who puts the welfare of others above his own, and proves that a single individual can make a difference in this world. That is what a true superhero is suppose to be! I enjoy all of his stories, comics, animated shows, movies, and of coarse video games based on him. Spider-Man: Shattered Dimension is my favorite Spider-Man game, with it's engaging story and amazing cast of Spider-Men, heroes and villains alike. It's really makes me proud to be a Spider-Man fan!
Now since I am a brony, it was only a matter of time before a make a cross over story. I'm quite surprised that this is the first MLP:FIM & Spider-Man crossover story on this site. And that's what this is! For those of you who want to get a heads up on what this story is about, here's the skinny. A powerful artifact known as the amulet of harmony & discord has been shattered, and it's remains have been scattered across time & space to alternate worlds populated by ponies and brony personal alike. "Who broke that amulet?" you might be asking yourself. It was me. Sorry!
Each alternate world has it's own Track, tasked to retrieve the fragments in an attempt to make it whole again and prevent each of their worlds from being destroyed! Each world is is set in a different alternate world at different times in history. Like the game this story is based on, the reality of each world is different from the other. Some only slightly, others quite radically. Let's meet our main heroes of the story
There's Fast Track (ME!). If you guys are familiar with my YouTube channel, then you already know who I am. A crimson unicorn with black and white hair and a passion for the strange and for action. In Fast Track's Universe (based on the Amazing Spider-Man universe), it is mostly similar to the MLP:FIM show that we are all presently familiar with. An open world , full of magic, rich history, diverse cast of ponies and other creatures of all walks of life who live together. From small towns to bustling cities, from beach side ports to country side, all of Equestria is ruled by princess Celestia, and everyone taught of the magic of friendship! But that doesn't mean that this world is without it dangers.
Then there's Sound Track. In real life, she is based off of my real life (adopted) sister. She has even guest starred in a few of my Fast Track videos. She is a pink earth pony with magic black hair that she can manipulate to her will. Just like Bayonetta, only it does not get to second base. In Sound Track's Universe (based on the Ultimate universe), it is more or less similar to Fast Track's world. The twist is that in this world all of the pony citizens are aware of the concept of politics, religion, pop culture, morality, and sin. Sins include prejudice, greed, lust, wrath, etc. Some people in this world, including Sound Track herself, are self aware of the medium they are in. Like Pinkie Pie, only way darker.
Up next, there's Neon Track (Formerly known as Neon Rainbow). Neon as a character is a representation of Fast Track's love interest based on my past girlfriends. (As of this story's creation, nobody currently holds the mantle of Neon) She is a cyan Pegasus with magenta hair with sea green highlights styled into long pig tails. In Neon Track's Universe (based on the 2099 universe), takes place in a high-tech & futuristic Equestria in the year 2110. It's a world where mechanics and magic exist together. Most of the businesses in Equestria is owned by the Flim-Flam corporation, with influences on future Equestria's government, it's media, and have their own secret sinister motives, that will soon be realized by the amulet fragment. Unless Neon Track has something to say about it! (And she does!)
Finally there's Noir Track. In real life, he is based off of my real life cousin. Though his initial introduction was as an alternate version of me in one of my Fast Track videos. He is a grey earth pony with black and white hair and wears a fadora with goggles and a long trench coat . In Noir Track's Universe (based on the Noir universe), takes place in an Equestria set in 1933 during the Great Depression, and the entire world is literally black and white, like a film noir movie. Most of the towns in Equestria are now bankrupt, crime-ridden hellholes where "friendship" is now a myth. The streets are run by the Mob, and the law is their puppet! Noir has to put himself above the law to shut this crime syndicate down!
These worlds also star some familiar faces of the brony fandom as the minor antagonist in this story (without their formal consent, but don't tell 'em that, I don't want to get in trouble!), who have been corrupted by the power of the amulet fragments. And it's up to the Tracks to stop their deeds and restore the amulet to save each of their worlds. Will they make it in time, or is everyone totally bucked?! Beats me!
It's a quiet, gloomy evening in Equestria and we find ourselves in Canterlot University and museum of ancient magic history after dark. The candles lighting the rooms and hallway flicker in the distance as there is no other noise in the air. The exhibits, kiosks, and priceless shimmering treasures on their pedestals are all that fills the buildings. Until a glowing, sparkling purple mist surrounds the tile floors of the school. As the mist passes, security laser are revealed across the room. A cloaked figure crosses the beams, carefully avoiding hitting them as this person let's out their pegasus wings and floats over the lasers. This mysterious figure in the night flies to a pedestal in the center of the museum's main hall, over to a hefty looking purple jewel on a silver chain necklace inside a glass cover atop a green pillow.
"Ah, The Amulet of Harmony & Discord." the thief in the night speaks in tomboyish voice as she lifts the glass casing, "Selling you on the Black Market is going to make me a mint!"
"Good! You could use a mint!" a familiar sounding voice says as the thief turns around to see. "I could smell your cheesy bad guy monotone from here."
The cloak figure sees her pursuer; a red unicorn with black hair, white bangs, and a hot rod flaming tire for a cutiemark. "Fast Track?!" she cries out in surprise.
As Fast Track hears the voice of the thief and recognizes as a feminine voice, he says, "Oh, I'm sorry, I meant bad girl monotone. My mistake." As he jokes around, the cloaked woman throws a handful of small spheres to the ground. They flicker on impact to create a giant puff of purple smoke to cover her body from Fast's sights. "Whoa, hey! The show's not over yet." Fast Track speeds over to the cloud attempting to stop the robbery, but by the time he was in reach of the pedestal, there was nothing to be found inside. As Fast Track views his surroundings, he hears feathers flapping overhead. He looks up and sees the thief with the jewel in hoof trying to make a break for it through the glass ceiling of the school. "Oh no you don't!"
Fast Track speeds up the stairs of the museum to the third floor. He reaches the floor's glass guardrail in a matter of seconds and takes a leap of faith for the thief. Fast Track grabs her by the cloak, her hood tightens over her eyes, and Fast starts weighing her down. "Hey, get off of me!" she yells as she struggles to keep herself afloat. During the commotion, she drops the chained jewel from her hoof. "NO!" she yells in desperation. She slips off the hooded cloak as she dashes down to catch the amulet, with Fast Track dropping down with her.
While Fast Track is plummeting back down to the first floor, within seconds he notices the figure he had been chasing. He see a cyan color coated pegasus pony. A brown mane with yellow highlight and a tail to match. And a cutie mark of 3 playing cards with the same familiar faces on them, each with a different expression. Fast Track shouts out in a state of extreme confusion "KP?!" In that moment, Fast Track's lands on a hanging banner suspended by velvet ropes, he hangs onto the banner for dear life as it breaks his fall. But within seconds it rips apart upon impact and Fast Track soon after hits the ground. As he gets back up on his hoofs, he notices the ripped object that broke his fall. He recognized it as what was the very first sewn Equestrian flag, made during the unification of the 3 pony tribes who founded the nation. Fast Track yells out, "HEY! That was probably very expensive!"
The once hooded figure now confirmed to be ILoveKimPossibleAlot turns around with the silver chained jewel in her hoof and replies, "Not as expensive as what I have here!"
"ILoveKimPossibleAlot," Fast Track said confirming exactly what he saw, "I never would have guessed you were the theif. At first I thought it was Trixie Lulamoon, what with all the smoke bombs you were carrying. But then I remembered; Trixie can't fly."
"True, but then again, neither can you!" said ILoveKimPossibleAlot as she began flapping her pegasus wings, getting ready to take off. But as she gets ready to make her grand escape, she notices a strange glowing pale-purple aura coming from the amulet in her hoof. ILoveKimPossibleAlot found that she couldn't look away from it. In a moment of what was only a second or two to her felt like minutes had gone by as the gem had her memorized. KP could of swore in the time of looking at the amulet she could hear whispering voices surrounding her and in her head. "W-wait, w-what is going on?"
"What's going on," Fast Track replied with a smirk on his face, "is that I just learned how to fly!" During KP's mezmorized state, Fast created a make shift slingshot out the fallen velvet rope used to hang the now ripped Equestrian banner. Fast launched himself up and over to KP. "Hey KP!" Fast Track proclaimed as he was diving towards her, "Think me!"
ILoveKimPossibleAlot eventually snapped back to reality and almost forgotten what was going on. She sees her red and black pursuer bulleting towards her with his clenched hoof out, she is screaming, there is no time to fly away. And just at the very last possible second, KP crosses her arms to block the attack with the amulet exposed.
In that very instant, Fast Track punches the amulet with all his might and saw it shatter before him. As the jewel breaks apart, a surge of magical purple energy shoots out of the fragment jewel in all directions. The magic wave pushes Fast and KP to opposite sides of the room from it's shear force and knocked both of them out cold. The amulet fragments shoot out in every directions like bullets, and the blast lets out a shocking, echoing boom that nearly deafens the two ponies and shatters the surrounding glass windows in the building.
Then there was nothing but silence, as the air once again became still and calm. Fast Track comes to, with his ears ringing and his vision fuzzy. By the time he could see clearly again, it was too late. ILoveKimPossibleAlot was long gone, neither her nor the broken pieces of the gem were to be found. "Oh, well that's just dandy. I let the bad mare get away, and with the amulet no less!" Fast Track looks over his surroundings, and noticed all the property damage that was left behind. All the glass panels were broken, the statues were cracked, and the paintings were unhinged and/or severely damaged. "Oh sweet Celestia, I hope I don't I have to pay for all this."
"FAST TRACK!!!" a loud, booming voice said in a commanding tone.
Fast Track freezes in place, for that voice sounded all too familiar to him. He slowly turns around to look behind him, and it was just as he feared. Standing in his presence was the radiant, majestic ruler of Equestria herself; Princess Celestia. She stood before Fast with a stern look in her eye. Fast's body shivers and his teeth jitters, as he thinks to himself, "Well, I'm totally dead!" Fast Track forces himself to speak, "Hey, princess! Funny seeing you here tonight. The museum sure is lovely after dark. I do love learning about Equestrian history, don't you?"
Celestia gazes over her shoulder and sees the torn up banner that once hung proudly in the room now just laying there like a worn out dish rag. "Is that the very first sewn Equestrian flag made during the unification of the 3 pony tribes who founded this nation?!" she says to Fast.
Fast Track takes a gulp in fear as he tries to speak back. "Your majesty, I can explain. But I assure you I'll have this cleaned in a jiffy." Before Fast can turn around, a yellow aura surrounded his body as he was lifted off the floor and brought inches away from Celestia's face. In a moment of desperation, Fast Track started pleading for his life. "Oh please your highness, I swear none of this was of my intentions. This was all ILoveKimPossibleAlot's fault, I was just trying to stop her."
"Fast Track," Celestia goes on, "do you have any idea of what that jewel of which Ms. ILoveKimPossibleAlot was stealing was?" Fast shakes his head, for he did not know. "That was the Amulet of Harmony & Discord. The most powerful artifact in the magical realm, and of any realm. It's shear magical power knows absolutely no rival." Celestia pauses, "And you... just... SHATTERED IT!!!"
"I'm sorry." Fast says with an expression on his face that reads "I'm so totally going to die!"
Celestia let's down her magic and let's Fast Track fall to the floor. Celestia explains, "The fragments from the amulet have been spread across to different dimensions of reality, each one that are strange reflections of ours." Celestia raises her magical horn as her alicorn magic creates a reflective window inside her yellow aura. Fast Track sees his own reflection in this magic mirror, then the window ripples as an image is formed. Fast sees a grey earth pony with black and white hair and wearing a fedora with goggles and a long trench coat. "A past unlike that of your own." The window ripples again, and a new image is formed. Fast sees a pink earth pony with black hair and pink highlights who resembled a lot like his sister. "A present day out of sync." The window ripples one more time, and another new image is formed. Fast now sees a cyan Pegasus with reddish-magenta hair with sea green highlights styled into pig tails. "And a distant future which may and may not come to be."
Fast Track interrupts the exposition as he says, "Hey, wasn't that my sister?"
"FOCUS!"
"Sorry!"
Celestia continues, "Unfortunately, I will require your help to retrieve the pieces of the amulet. Yours AND the help of these 3 other Tracks. The ponies whose realities the amulet fragments have fell into."
"Whoa, whoa... wait on second." Fast Track says in confusion as he tries to make sense of this situation, "Other realities? Other Tracks? Like family or something?"
"Yes, I have already explained our dire situation to them. They will be your allies in this quest."
Fast Track's eyes widen in surprise. "Whoa, princess, I didn't know you could see and speak across alternate dimensions. That's pretty dang cool!"
Celestia flaps her alicorn wings, ascending to the sky as she says to Fast Track, "Fast Track, you must gather all the pieces of the amulet before they fall into the wrong hooves. Or else our reality, as well as theirs, will be utterly destroyed." Celestia flies out the broken window ceiling into the night air, leaving Fast behind.
Fast Track turns to the exit and speeds off through the streets of Cantorlot. "Gee, I try to stop a midnight robbery, and now I have to prevent a multidimensional apocalypse! No pressure or anything."
We start in the heart of Ponyville in the middle of the day. Seeing sights of the mayor's office, clerk stores, the business street carts, and the small cafes; all of them serving the smiling faces of the ponies. The sun is high and bright, and the residents are busy with their daily routine. As the ponies are crossing the streets minding their own business, we are reintroduced to our crimson unicorn with black hair, white bangs, and the cutiemark of a hot rod flaming tire. Fast Track enters the crowds of Ponyville on his newfound mission; recovering the lost fragments of the Amulet of Harmony & Discord before all Tartarus breaks loose. He got a good view of his surroundings, from the town fountain all the way to the royal crystal castle of the princess of friendship herself (which still stuck out like a sore thumb).
"I can't believe I'm the one putting all these innocent ponies' lives in danger." Fast Track sighs to himself as he trots through the streets of town. The burden of his actions weighing him down as he reminisces of how he was the one who fragmented the magical artifact.
As Fast goes on, a disembodied voice of Princess Celestia could be heard within his head. "Do not fret just yet, Fast Track," she says trying to lift his spirits, "You still have the chance to make this right again by collecting the broken pieces."
Fast Track's expression of hearing Celestia's voice in his head was like the feeling of horse flies buzzing around his ears, he shakes his head and ears out of habit but to no avail. "I don't think I'm ever going to get use to hearing you inside my head." Fast Track says to himself.
I'm your guide on this mission, Fast Track." Celestia replies, "You and the other Tracks will need me in order to find the fragmented pieces. So until the amulet is back in one piece again, you're stuck with me in your head."
Fast sighs in disgust, "Uh, fine. So how is this supposed to work anyways?"
"I have given you and the other Tracks of the different worlds the ability to sense the presence of the fragments when they are nearby. Think of it as like an extra natural sense."
Fast ponders, "Cool beans. Oh! I think I'll call it my 'Track Sense'!"
"Uh, will you just get to it already?!"
"Sorry about that." Fast Track continues through the streets until he senses something in the distance. He looks overhead, trying to figure out what it could be. "Hey, I'm starting to feel something. It's coming from up North, it might be the fragment." Fast rushes through the crowds until he comes across a large crater in the ground. The hole was enormous in it's width, and the perimeter was covered in black ash. "What is this place?" Fast ask as he looks at the hole.
"This place is..." Celestia's voice pauses, then continues, "I mean, this place was the Golden Oak Library. It was formerly the home of Princess Twilight Sparkle herself. Before it was demolished by the villain known as Lord Tirek."
"I see, I'm so sorry." Fast Track says mournfully. "Anyways, back to finding that fragment!" Fast climbs down the hole into the crater pit and looks around. He views a familiar looking purple glow that showed just beneath some of the ash and dirt. "X marks the spot!" Fast Track said as he started digging. In ten seconds flat, he unearthed the fragment and held it up with his magic. "Yes, I found one!" The amulet fragment soon after disappeared into thin air. "Whoa, what just happened?" Fast Track quickly checked his surroundings, making sure he didn't loose sight of it. "I didn't mean to make it disappear."
"You didn't," Celestia's voice said calmly and collectively, "When you had the piece in hoof, I was able to use my magic to have it teleported directly to myself. So you need not to worry, it's safe and sound with me."
"Good to know." Fast Track said with a feeling of relief. He hopped out of the crater and continued on his way through Ponyville. "Well then, one fragment down, and..." Fast pauses, then continues, "Uh, how many left to go, your highness?"
"Hmm... Twenty-One."
"Oh, well great!" Fast says sarcastically as he rolls his eyes.
Celestia chuckles for a moment, then says, "Well, 'A job well begun is only half done'! Now on to another Track, and to bestow a different gift upon her..."
* * * * *
We find ourselves in the Castle of the Two Sisters, surrounded by it's decaying walls, the towers in ruin, and several leaks coming from what's left of the ceiling. The rising morning sunlight peers through holes in the walls and the broken glass windows. Tiny animals from rodents to small birds to the spiders are the only living things that still roam the hallow halls. In the main throne room, we come across a stranger trotting in the castle. A pink earth pony with a black mane and tail and pink highlights and a vinyl record cutiemark surrounded by strobe lights of pink, blue, and yellow.
Celestia's voice breaks the silence as she speaks to her in a pleasant tone, "Ah, you must be Sound Track. Please to make your acquaintance."
Sound Track shakes her head in annoyance, "Yeesh, I'll never get use to this. How does anyone one get use to an annoying voice in their head?"
"I beg your pardon?" Celestia says with a sudden snap of seriousness in her voice, "Did you just call my voice 'annoying'?!"
Sound gasps and covers her mouth with her ponytail mane, "Uh, he-he, sorry. I'm not use to having a random disembodied voice in my head." Sound Track pauses, then continues, "Well, except for when I'm high."
Celestia's voice calms down and continues, "Could you please return to trying to find the amulet fragment so that we may both move on?"
As Sound Track traverses the maze-like castle, she responds with, "Your highness, remind me again why I'm searching for these random magic fragments?"
"An alternate reality version of your brother shattered the Amulet of Harmony and Discord, creating a multidimensional chain reaction, causing the fragments of the Amulet to be scattered to different dimensional planes of existence. And if the fragments of the Amulet were to fall into the wrong hoofs, the power would warp the minds and bodies of anypony who has them in their position. And if the fragments are not returned and back in one piece in time, their unique energy signature would create a dimensional attraction field that would force all the worlds to violently collide with each other, destroying all of ponykind as we know it!"
Sound Track stops walking through the halls trying to process everything that she just heard. "So what your saying is 'It's Fast Track's fault', right?"
Celestia's voice sighs in disappointment, "Sure, close enough. Now please get going."
"Alright, I've got this." Sound returns to searching the castle ruins. "So princess, how am I suppose to find this fragment anyways?"
"Using my own magic, I've given you the ability to sense the presence of any nearby fragments in your area."
Sound Track face beams with delightment when she hears that, "Coooooool! I've always wanted my very own Track Sense! Uh, did one of the other 'Tracks' make that joke already?"
"Yes. And it was no funnier then."
Sound Track sighs and presses on. She moves through the hall until she reaches a doorway blocked by heavy wood and stone debris, it looked like all together it weighed a ton. "Oh great, a huge hunk of junk blocking my path. Luckily, I've got just what I need to get through." Sound Track's ponytail mane slowly splits and extends as it goes under the ruble, lifts it up with ease, and simply chucks it out the way. The debris lands to the side with a loud hard thud, as the dust clears, Sound makes her way inside the room. "Too easy!" she proclaims.
"Very interesting." Celestia's voice says with much intrigue. "Tell me, what was that you did with your mane?"
"That was my telekinetic hair, a natural magical ability that I was born with, though my friends call it the 'wicked weaves'. Think of it as like Bayonetta, but I don't use my hair for clothing and don't instantly go to 2nd base."
Celestia didn't quite get what Sound was talking about from her description. "I'm sorry, but who, or what is this Bayonetta?"
"Oh right, you probably don't have Nintendo consoles in your world, don't you?" Sound Track lets out a light chuckle when she comes across a large, barely lit room with a single grand organ in the center. "Okay, now my Track senses are tingling. Ha! That's from Spider-Man!"
"Spider...who?" Celestia's voice asks Sound Track
Sound Track replies, "You know, the famous comic book Superhero that this My Little Pony fan fiction story just so happens to be based on."
Celestia has no clue what was going on. "WHAT?!"
"Never mind that now, look!" Sound sees a purple glow coming from inside one of the brass pipes from the organ. She goes over to the organ, pulls up a seat, and stretches her front legs outward as her hooves cracked. Then she presses against the note keys, the organ pipes let out high pitched hums as the fragments pops out the pipe and starts flying across the room. Sound Track gets out of her seat and darts to the other side of the room, yelling, "I've got it! I'VE GOT IT!!!" Sound's hair extends up and over, and catches the fragment just above her head. "Yes! That's a keeper!" The amulet fragment soon after disappears, returning to Celestia, and Sound Track makes her way out of The Castle of the Two Sisters. "These fragment things, they're all gonna be this easy to find, right?" Sound Track asks Celestia.
"No." Celestia simply replies.
"Son of a..." Sound Track mumbles in frustration.
"But now, I must turn my consciousness to the future. And to..."
* * * * *
We find ourselves high in the skies of bright, bustling, futuristic city. All the building were over 1,000 feet tall and towered over everything. The sounds of heavy motor engines hummed as high tech cars flew through the sky past the buildings at high speeds. Through the city there were many floating holographic billboards that showcased this worlds movies, products, and political poster. Every single one of them had the logo "Flim-Flamex" on them as they are randomly projected through the city. As the sun slowly starts to set of in the distance, the buildings themselves start to glow as the entire city lit up like a giant neon sign. The city was lit so bright that you could hardly tell it was close to nighttime, other than the blue colored glow in the air. As the holoboards float off and the cars fly by, we see a figure perched upon the top of one of the colossal buildings. A cyan coated pegasus with a reddish-magenta mane and tail with sea green highlights styled into pig tails sat perched on the edge of a glowing skyscraper. Her cutiemark was a heart of different layered colors; hot pink on the outside, light blue in the middle, and lime green in the center of the heart. The perched pegasus dove off the edge of the building, jetting through the flying cars and holoboards as a rainbow trail of pink, blue, and green followed her down. She then opened her wings, slowing her decent, and lands on a large elevated bridge connecting two glowing towers together.
Celestia's voice is soon heard, "Neon Track, of the year 2110."
"That's me. Ready to save the universe and looking good while doing it." Neon boasters.
"The next fragment is close. Just ahead in fact!" Celestia says with strong sense of urgency.
"I'm on it, your highness." Neon exclaims. "Though I have to be careful. This building is owned by the Flim-Flamex corporation, that means that the R.O.D.E.O. will be around here!"
"And what, pray tell, is this rodeo?" Celestia asks.
Neon Track explains, "The Radical Operatives Department of Equestrian Order, the police force owned by Flim-Flamex, and it's probably just as corrupt as them!" Neon Track makes her way across the bridge to the giant bay door. As she makes her way to the entrance, a camera above the door starts to lock in her position. Neon smiles and waves at the camera shouting, "Hi mom, I'm on TV! This is totally crash!"
Just then a group of three flying carrier cars with loud wailing sirens made their way to the building where Neon was. On the sides of the flying carriers read "R.O.D.E.O." printed in bold white letters. A stallion on a microphone shouted, "Attention, this building is under extreme supervision of the Radical Operatives Department of Equestrian Order, leave now or we will open fire!"
Neon pondered, "Hmm, let me think about that." Then Neon turned around, bent over, and shook her flank and tail at the officers. "Come and get me, R.O.D.E.O. clowns!"
The officer in one of the carrier cars immediately shouted, "FIRE!" A concentrated blast of magic energy was shot from the first carrier. Neon jetted into the air, missing the blast by only a few inches away as the beam misses her and instead blasts the door down behind her. As the dust clears, the fragment could be seen sitting on the floor among the supply crates.
Neon Track quickly flies over and grabs the fragment. "Thank you!" she shouts sarcastically as she flies around the building at top speed with her rainbow trail racing behind her.
"Don't let her escape!" The stallion on the mic shouted. The three floating carriers make their way around the building trying to catch up with Neon Track. Before long, the cars make a complete circle of the building with Neon nowhere in sight. "NO! How the shock did we lose her?!" The officer shouted. The cars split apart and flew in separate directions from the building to look for the thief.
"Are they gone?" Neon's head pops out from underneath the sky bridge she originally landed on. "We lost them, nice! One wrong move, and I'd be totally shocked!" Neon takes a breath in relief. She takes another glance at the amulet fragment before it soon disappeared and was sent back to the princess. "Well, that was a good warm-up. So when do we get a real challenge?"
"I fear it'll be sooner than you think!" Celestia's voice says in a warning tone. "And finally, I turn my attention from the future to a world set in the past..."
* * * * *
We finally find ourselves inside an old-timey station square in the middle of the night. From the outside of the building, the sounds of train engines and steam whistles could be heard in the distance. But on the inside, the station was overrun with a group of goons, each one carrying a pistol and a flashlight in the darkness. There was also a few spotlights shining overhead, yet even with extra light there was no color in this world, everything seen was just black, white, and grey. All of the station gates were closed shut and locked tight, with thug guards at the perimeter and inside. From at the far side of the building, near an open window, a mysterious figure is seen. Sneaking in through the window was a grey earth pony with black and white hair ,wearing a black fedora with goggles and a long grey trench coat. His cutie mark was a slightly muted red rose, the only color that shows on his body.
"Say your prayers, punks - here comes Noir." he said quietly as he shimmied across the wall ledge. He then perched himself to get a good view of his surroundings. "What do we have here? A couple of stallions packin' heat."
Celestia's voice was soon heard by Noir Track, "Looks like criminal forces have already taken over the station, they must've already found the fragment."
"Don't have to be a flatfoot to know that." Noir stated. He looked down from where he was perched and saw that he was right above lone thug, unaware that Noir Track was there.
"See if you can get the jump on this stallion silently." Celestia's voice insisted.
"You read my mind, doll." Noir said with delight in his voice. Noir Track tossed his hat to the ground, which caught the attention of the pony beneath him. He bent down to check it out, but as he did Noir leaped on top and body slammed him to the floor, knocking him out cold in that instant. "Thanks, you twit." Noir said sarcastically as he put his hat back on. "Mind if I borrow your 'Negotiator'?" Noir pulled out the goons pistol and aimed at the spotlights. He shot them all out, leaving the room nearly pitch black dark with only the thug's flashlights providing any sight in the room.
The thugs in the station start to panic, as they can barley see what's happening around them. "What the...? Who shot out the lights?"
"Where's the new guy? He was supposed to be watching that entrance."
"Oh cripes, it's the colts in blue. We need to split this joint now!"
"We can't man, do you want the boss to know you ditched the job."
"I don't want to end up in the big house, do you know what they do to colts in there?!"
"HEY GUYS! I found Greaseball's body! He's out cold and his gun is...WHOA!" His voice was suddenly interrupted as he was knocked to side my a mysterious shadowy figure.
"What was that?!" a guard said in worry.
"It's Track, let's light him up boys!" The thug guards started firing off their pistols every which way, only firing anywhere they can see with their lights. The flash from the gunfire made the entire station flicker with bright light. As the thugs were distracted with where he was, Noir started to perform a series of quick stealth take-downs on each pony. One by one, the sound of the guards' gun fire started to decrease and the lights were going out as more and more of them were brought down. The 1st guard took notice of the missing guards, soon realizing that Noir Track was taking them out. "Hold your fire!" The fire in the station stops, there were only two guards left standing.
"Where is everypony?" the 2nd guard said with much worry.
"It's Noir Track, he's in here roughing up our poses." The 1st guard looked all over, trying to get any sign where Noir was. Any sight, any sound. "HEY NOIR!" he started yelling at the top of his lungs, "We know you're in here! You might have taken out these colts, but ya think you're able to..." A slight muffled mumble was heard as his voiced stopped.
The 2nd guard was all that remains, panicked and terrified. "That's it, I'm blowing this stand!"
As he turned around, his light shined on somepony standing behind him. Noir simply said "Boo!" The last guard screamed like that of little school girl at the sight of his pursuer. He turned around to try and make a break for the exit, but without looking where he was going, slammed his face in the door of an open station locker, knocking himself out cold as he fell to the floor. "Well, that was easy. Sleep tight, little Bruno" Noir Track said with a grin on his face. "Now where is that fragment I was looking for?"
Celestia's voice broke the silence, "Well done Noir Track, performing stealth attacks on these dirty louses. The fragment is just behind that station gate."
"I read ya," Noir said, "I'm getting one heck of a vibe coming from there." He made his way to a closed gate and shot the lock with the pistol he had stolen from the 1st goon before. He made his way inside and found the fragment sitting on a reception desk. Noir Track picked it up, and allowed Celestia to transport the amulet fragment back to her. Noir takes a breath in relief and says, "And that's the end of that!"
"On the contrary, Noir," Celestia's voice said with a despairing tone, "This is just the beginning."
Across the many dimensions, the four brave, and ever so reckless Tracks have began their journeys to restore the Amulet of Harmony & Discord. With the aid of Princess Celestia and her magic, they have managed to piece together the first four fragments of the jewel. They must continue their search for the remaining fragments, for time was of the essence for each of them. For the sake of each of their worlds to survive, they must find the amulet fragments, less they fall into enemy hooves. Fast, Neon, Noir, and Sound were all ready to face the next challenge ahead.
Meanwhile, back in Fast Track's universe, Fast was summoned back to the royal castle by Princess Celestia. Fast Track returned to Canterlot to meet with the Princess in person. Fast entered the Castle, passing through the many long hallways, observing the stain glass windows depicting the many feats of heroism from other ponies of before. He then came to the front door to the throne room, protected by 2 royal guard unicorns. "Halt!" The first guard said with authority in his voice. "Please state your name and business."
Fast Track glances at both of them in silence, clears his throat and starts to speak, " Hello, I am Fast Track, and I am here to meet with Princess Celestia for an important matter." He waits as the second guard looks at a list on a clipboard held by his magic. The guards share a nod and Fast is let into the throne room. He walks in where he sees Princess Celestia sitting inside, waiting for his arrival. Fast Track speaks to the Princess, "Your highness, you summoned me here for some reason, I'm guessing it has something to do with the amulet?"
"Yes it does," the princess replies, "You and the other Track have managed to recover the first-fifth of the amulet. This mission of yours has begun quite smoothly."
Fast Track smiles with confidence, "Thanks, I've always been quite good with scavenger hunts." Track looks and sees other pieces of the separated fragments floating within Celestia's magical aura. "I'm guessing the other 'Tracks' of their worlds had no problem recovering the pieces."
"Well, more or less." Celestia said hesitantly. The Princess knew that with different realities would come different forms of danger in each world. "What matters now is that you and the other Tracks of the different worlds find the remaining pieces as soon as you can, or else there literally won't be any world to save!"
Fast Track's body shutters as he whispers to himself, "Yikes! What have I done?" Then he turns back to the Princess and asks her, "Your highness, I've been meaning to ask; where is your sister, Princess Luna?"
"Ah yes, my sister." the princess tries to recall, "Princess Luna is currently in the search for something called the 'Nintendo console'. It was something that I brought up to her after it was brought up to me by Sound Track of the alternate dimension after talking about this person called 'Bayonetta'... it's a long story." Princess Celestia gives a light chuckle before returning to the subject at hoof. Princess Celestia stood up from her throne, walked down the stairs and up to Fast Track with the floating fragment pieces following her. "Just know that there will be many trials ahead of you in searching for these pieces."
"What trials are you referring to, Princess?" Fast says in a bewildered tone.
Celestia brought the amulet fragment pieces in front of herself and Fast with her magic as she explains, "Like moths to a flame, wondering pony souls will drawn to the unleashed power of the amulet fragments, twisting their minds and bodies with it's uncontrollable, chaotic magic. So far, you have been lucky that none of the fragments have fallen into pony hooves."
Fast gives out a sigh as he shakes his head from hearing the Princess say those unlucky words. "Why did you have go and say THAT? What a jinx!" Fast Track knows first hand to be careful of what you say, less it comes back to bite you in the flank.
As Fast Track speaks, Princess Celestia uses her alicorn magic to try and reassemble the four pieces of the amulet together again. Within Celestia's yellow magic aura, the fragments begin to come together again. As they do, a purple colored glow starts to radiate from the joining amulet pieces, as the now formed piece starts to make a low pitched hum. After the magic light show, Princess Celestia sends Fast Track back out on his mission to recovery the remaining fragments , wherever they might be.
*****
Meanwhile on the outskirts of Canterlot, on the top floor of an old renters' building, was an empty studio apartment. The room was filled to the brim with pictures, posters and sculptures of a familiar looking draconequus. An assortment of Discord merchandise littered the floor. Discord T-Shirts, Discord coloring books, a Discord lunchbox, boxes of Discord breakfast cereal, and a comedic sized Discord plushy doll that was tall enough to touch the ceiling. This collection filled the home like it was a little foal's playroom, from the front door to the pullout couch-bed. The bed was the only thing clean and neat. The only thing on top of the bed covers was a tiny broken piece of a familiar purple jewel. Soon after, the front door opens up and somepony enters the studio apartment. That pony was ILoveKimPossibleAlot, who came inside her place and slammed the door behind her.
"I WAS SO CLOSE!!!" She screamed as she entered the room. KP stomped through her room, frustrated with her loss at the museum. "The amulet could have mine, my absolute greatest treasure. It would have made me worth more than all the bits in Cantorlot. All of that effort and planning, and what do I get? Just a tiny, worthless shard."
KP looked over to her poster in a Hang-In-There pose, and started talking to it with desire in her voice. "Oh my sweet, chaotic senpai, I swear it wasn't my fault. It was that meddling red unicorn that broke the amulet. Why did the mean stallion have to get in my way to steal that jewel?"
In her schizophrenic frustration, she jumped on top of her bed and laid next to the only piece of the amulet she managed to get away with. "Ugh, what's the point of having this piece? It's nothing to me! It's as worthless as it was priceless" KP turned on her side away from the amulet fragment. As she curled up on her bed, she heard a low pitched hum that sounded like it was coming from the other side of the bed. She turned around and soon noticed that the amulet fragment that she stole was starting to glow as it made that noise. "Wait! What is this?" she said as she peered at the jewel. KP felt mesmerized by the glow, she could not look away. It was the same feeling she had when she first had the amulet back in the museum. She was tempted to pick up the piece to see what would happen. As she did, a strange purple aura surrounded the fragment, and then surrounded her hooves and forelegs.
"Whoa, is this for real?! What is this power?" KP said with surprise in her voice and in her eyes. Soon after, her eyes began to emit a purple, misty aura that surrounded her pupils. The sclera in her eyes changed from white to black, as she looked to see what has happened to her. KP smiled and laughed maniacally as she rose out of bed with the amulet fragment in hoof. "Ooh ooh oh, I think I can get use to this!"
We find ourselves on the outskirts of the Everfree forest in the middle of the day. Along the main route path into the forest surrounds the endless wild plants, towering trees with twisted branches, and the many strange, bizarre animals who dwell within the dark jungle. Sounds of the animals' noises, big and small, could be heard echoing through the depths. Heading down the dirt road path into the forest was none other than Fast Track, the only pony brave enough (or foolish enough) to enter the forbidden forest, in search for the next fragment of the Amulet of Harmony and Discord.
"Well, what do you know?" Fast Track says as he makes his way to the entrance path. "I travel along far enough overtime, and my new 'Track Sense' leads me to another fragment." Fast trots a few meters along the path into the Everfree forest, until his senses go off the wall. He peeks ahead and sees a glowing purple object overhead, just a few steps away. "And there's the Amulet fragment right now... just sitting there... right in the middle of the road... just waiting for me to grab it..." Fast feels hesitant to go over, for this scenario felt a little too simple. He slowly tips over to the fragment, making sure he takes notice of everything around. "It's quiet, too quiet. Why do I get the feeling that this situation is too easy?"
As Fast Track trots over, his left front hoof trips a thin wire that loosens a rope near a tree and causes the sound of gears to grind. "Uh-oh! That could only mean one thing" Fast Track looks above his head and notices a giant wooden cage careening towards him and quickly leaps out the way. "IT'S!" Fast then hears the sound of darts whistling in the wind, shooting at him at high speeds. Fast quickly ducks and slides under the poison darts' trajectory. "A!" Fast then notices a patch of large, loose forest leaves bunched together over the path. As he reached the edge of the pile, the leaves fall down revealing a dug up hole with rusty nail spikes at the bottom. In quick reaction, he jumps over the pit. "TRAP!"
When Fast makes it to the other side of the last trap, he falls face first on the dirt, inches away from the fragment he was tracking before just right in front of his eyes. Fast Track takes a deep breath of relief after that adrenaline rush, "Whew, well, glad that's over." Then out of nowhere, a small metal rod that looked similar to a garden sprinkler popped out from underneath the fragment, and pointed it's nozzle at Fast Track's face. "Oh, come on!" he exclaims in extreme frustration. A red mist was released from the rod nozzle, causing Fast to blackout.
As Fast Track looses consciousness, a figure walks towards him over to where he once stood. The only thing he saw were yellow hooves as they walked along the dirt road, the last thing he could hear was a hazy voice. "Rest now my prey, for when you wake up, we will begin the hunt!"
*****
Time passed as Fast Track slowly begins to come to as he laid on the forest ground. A faint voice in his ear begins to be heard, "Fast Track, wake up! Please, can you hear me?!" As Fast wakes up, he recognizes it as Princess Celestia voice in his head. "You have to get out of there now!" Celestia whales trying to get Fast Track to get up again.
As he begins to open his eyes to see where is, he has the feeling that drops of water are running down his face. Fast Track's eyes are halfway open, he uses his front hoof to wipe the water off his face to examine what it was. The water on his hoof was slightly green and smelled like bog water. "What is this stuff?", he whispers to himself. As he checks his hoof, a sudden growl could be heard. Fast Track's eyes are now fully open as he slowly turns his head upwards to see where that noise and strange water was coming from. He looks up and sees a gigantic, drooling cragadile peering at him. It stared at him with a deep menacing look, and drooled over his body as if it was ready to maw on him for a snack.
Fast Track freezes in place from pure fright from what he sees. "Maybe, if I'm silent and stay perfectly still, it won't respond and go away." Fast thinks to himself trying to re-ensure that he might make it out of here alive. Then suddenly, the huge cragadile opened up it's enormous mouth letting out a huge roar that felt like it shook the ground. As it let out it's roar, Fast caught a glimpse of it's layered teeth and green drool flying at him. Fast immediately started screaming like a little scared girl, as he knew he was about to be eaten. "AHH! My idea was stupid!"
Suddenly, from just above Fast Track's head, a mysterious figure leaped down from the trees, screaming "YEE-HOO!" with great excitement. He landed directly on top of the cragadile's head with enough force cause a huge THUD sound to be heard and knock the beast out cold. As the beast went down, Fast Track's petrified face looked up to see what mysterious pony just saved him from certain death. "Oh yeah, this cragadile didn't know what hit him. Literally!" The stallion said triumphantly as he stood atop the cragadile's head. The mysterious stallion turned around to face Fast Track, as he still laid there from what he just witnessed. He saw a yellow coated earth pony with a black mane, a yellow & black tail, a puffy patch of chest hair, and a bold-black-manly mustache on his face. The stallion came down from the beaten cragadile , and lend his hoof to Fast Track. "Hey there, the name's Dustykatt, Dustykatt Rhoades!"
Fast's jaw dropped from the shear implausible feat he'd just witnessed. He began to mutter, "W-w-what... w-what happened?!" As he tried to make sense of everything that just happened. "How did you do that?"
"What, this? It was nothing." Dustykatt said as he helped Fast off the ground and put his jaw back into place. "Would be a real shame if somthin' bad happened to ya. Wouldn't want you dying so early without a bit of a challenge now, am I right?"
Fast shock his head in confusion, then tried to speak. "I'm sorry, come again. 'Dying too early', 'A challenge'?! Did you expect me to be out here about to be eaten by some wild, feral beast?"
Dustykatt smirked as Fast was pondering 'bout the situation. "Yeah, pretty much. Who did you think put you into this place anyway?"
Fast Track's eyes widened from the shock of what he'd heard. "Wait a minute, you set up those traps on the forest path? You knocked me out cold? You dragged me out here to this place?!" Fast looked around to view his surroundings, seeing nothing else but trees and leaves for miles. "Where am I by the way?"
"Why you're in my very own personal hunting reserve, my good boy." Dustykatt said with a joyous expression. "Acres upon acres of the Everfree forest I've reshaped and crafted with my own hooves into my very own dangerous paradise! Filled to brim with wild creatures, deadly traps, and even my very own thunder-dome! What do ya think?"
"I think you're nuts!" Fast said with mad enthusiasm. "How do you even shape the Everfree forest into a hunting reserve? I mean, I know your 'The manliest brony in the world', but even I find this hard to take in."
Dustykatt chuckled at Fast Track's question. "I was hoping you would ask me that, and the answer is with this." Dusty holds his hoof out to Fast Track as he reveals a piece of the Amulet of Harmony & Discord, it shined bright in Dustykatt's grasp. "This tiny purple gem piece that I found lying about the forest amplified my already excessive, testosterone filled power to unimaginable levels. Enough to allow me to create 'The manliest hunting reserve in the world!'
Fast Track saw the amulet fragment, the same size and shape that he saw coming through the forest path. Princess Celestia's voice is soon heard in Fast Track's head, "Fast Track, that's the amulet you've been looking for! It's unstable magic has corrupted his mind, you must get it out of his possession!"
"Hey!" Fast tried to grab it out of Dustykatt's front hooves as fast as he could, but Dusty simply pulled it back before Fast could touch it. "That doesn't belong to you, give me that!" Fast demanded as he looked at Dustykatt with a stern look in his eyes.
Dustykatt grinned maniacally, "So sorry, but finders, keepers," he said sarcastically as he waved the jewel just out of Fast Track's reach. "If you want this precious little gem, you'll have to take it from me." Dustykatt then leaped several feet in the air onto a tree branch. "If you believe you're man enough, head westward to reach my thunder-dome to face me and to claim your prize. But you'll first have to through miles of forest and jungle, with danger lurking around every corner." Dustykatt turned around made his way through the forest atop the tree branches. "Good luck, kid. You'll need it!"
As Dustykatt vanishes through the trees, Fast yells at him, "Hey, I'm not finished you! I want that fragment!" Fast speeds off in the direction that Dustykatt was heading. Unaware of his newfound surrounding or where he was going, within seconds Fast Track finds himself out of the neck of the forest and at the edge of a cliff near a waterfall. "Woah, Nelly!" He immediately stops himself from running off and over, the force of his momentum breakage caused a trail of dirt mounded skid tracks to be formed behind him. He finally stopped himself, just inches away from the edge. "That was too close."
After the sudden stop, Celestia's voice is soon heard, "Fast Track, you must be extra cautious. The Everfree forest is already a strange and dangerous environment, but with Dustykatt's influence on the area, it's a near death trap!"
"How am I suppose to find Dustykatt and the fragment again when this entire forest is covered in booby traps?" Fast says worryingly as he scopes the surroundings of where he is.
"You still have the ability to sense the fragments' magic with your, uh... 'Track Sense'," Celestia says with a sarcastic tone remembering how childish that phrase sounded, "Dustykatt is sure to still have the amulet fragment in hoof, so you can follow his trail, find where he's hiding and take back the fragment."
"Right," Fast Track said reassuringly, "I remember him saying he was going west to his thunder-dome, so I'm heading..." Fast pauses, then continues, "Uh, your highness, which way is west again?"
"Straight ahead of you, Fast Track."
Fast looks ahead of himself, only seeing the huge waterfall next to the cliff he had almost ran off of. "Well, I don't think I can jump that." Fast says concerned. Then there was a sudden sound of brushing leaves and cracking twigs coming from behind Fast Track within the forest. Fast Track looks back as he hears a growl coming from bushes. A pair of glowing green eyes were seen inside the darkness of the forest, and the sound of clacking wood followed by the growls that was heard earlier. From out the shrubbery was a pack of timber wolves surrounding Fast near the cliff, hounding towards him. "Oh no, timber wolves!" He backs up to the edge of the cliff, as his back hoof misses the cliff's edge, he looks back down to see the river the waterfall was pouring into. He looks back at the timber wolves slowly cornering him. "Well, it's either a leap of faith, or pony buffet?" As the the timber wolves begin to get the jump on him, Fast Track turns and dives off the cliff, falling several stories towards the river below, screaming the entire ways down. "AHH! This idea was also stupid!"
*****
Time passed as Fast Track made his way along down the river from the waterfall he fell off of to escape the pack of timber wolves. He was soaked through his fur coat and still shaken from the fall that he miraculously survived. Despite the setback, it didn't slow him down from his goal. He kept following the river leading westward deeper into the jungle, hoping to catch up to Dustykatt and retrieve the amulet fragment from him. As he followed the flow of the river, a familiar feeling to him was felt in his body. "Hey, I'm getting that feeling again. I think it might be the amulet fragment!" Fast leaves the river, cuts through a few trees and bushes, and comes across another dirt road. Fast looked along the road he'd found and saw that the path was leading toward a giant dome shaped building with a metal cage on it's top. "Hmm, I'm gonna take a wild guess, and say that's the thunder-dome?"
As Fast Track trots over to the building, his front hoof trips a thin wire that loosens another rope, the sound of gears start grinding. "Uh-no! Not again!" Right in front of Fast was a hefty sized rock hanging from a jungle vine, swinging swiftly towards Fast Track's face. "Whoa!" Fast ducks down to get out of the way, as the rock swings above and past Fast Track's head. Once it passed, Fast got back up and was surprised that he was untouched. "Ha! You missed me! Guess 'the manliest brony in the world' couldn't make anymore decent traps." Meanwhile, the same rock attached to the swinging vine made it's way up to a flash-bee hive and knocked it out of the branches. It landed on the path behind Fast Track and broke open in half. "What was that sound?" Fast stopped from his walk towards the thunder-dome to see what that noise was. As he looked behind him, a giant swarm of flash-bees started pouring out of the broken hive and pointed their attention at Fast. Fast Track did a nervous gulp, and said, "Well, this definitely stings (No pun intended)."
Fast starts running toward the dome, trying to get ahead of the angry swarm of flash-bees flying after him. As he makes his way through the jungle, a few of the bees begin to sting Fast Track in the face, in the back, and in the flank. "Ow! Get off of me!" he yells in burning pain. Fast Track sees a large door entering the inside of the caged dome, he runs inside and slams the doors behind him making sure that the bees don't follow. Fast takes a deep breath of relief as he tries to catch his breath, "Oh, I can't believe it, I'm still alive!" Fast Track's fur coat was covered in dirt, loose leaves, and bee stings that burned his skin, but he was still up and running. The moment of relief soon ends when Fast sees the inside of Dustykatt's thunder-dome. As he entered the center of the dome, he was surrounded by giant steel walls with torches lighting up the arena, while above his head was a giant iron cage, aged with rust and jungle vines. As Fast entered the arena, he yelled out, "Hey Dustykatt, I'm here now, so show yourself!"
"Well, well, well..." An echoing voice said in a snarky tone, that was heard just above Fast Track's. Fast had suddenly got a strange sensation going through his body, as he felt the presence of the amulet's magic, only even stronger than it ever was before. "Look who decided to show up." He looked above and saw the stallion he had seen before hanging by his own mustache at the top of the caged dome. Dustykatt looked down at Fast as he looked back at him and said, "Please, don't mind me, I was just practicing my chin-ups." Dustykatt unhinged himself from the top of the iron barred cage and leaped toward the ground below. He landed on the floor with enough force to cause the ground to crater & rumble under his hooves. He looked up to face Fast Track in front of him. His eyes began to emit a purple, misty aura. The sclera in his eyes changed to black. There was definitely something wrong with Dustykatt. "So, seems you were man enough to survive the dangers of my hunting reserve. But are you ready to face 'the manliest brony in the world'?!" Dustykatt took the opportunity to flex his muscles and admire himself in different poses.
Fast dusts himself off trying to get the excess dirt and leaves off his body, then says, "Oh yeah, I'm ready! Show me what you got!"
Dustykatt chuckles maniacally and says, "With pleasure." Dusty begins to charge at Fast Track, stampeding like an elephant. He collides with Fast and pushes him to the walls of the arena. He takes a few hits at Fast Track's face and Fast takes some shots at Dustykatt, but he either avoided the hits or barley budged. Dustykatt then knee jabs him in the stomach. As Fast goes down, Dustykatt's mustache turns into the shape of a fist and uppercuts Fast right in the jaw. Dustykatt takes a step back and tells Fast, "Come on boy, I was expecting you to put up more of fight."
Fast Track get's back up, trying to gain his breath, and tries to get out of the cornered spot. He then hears Celestia's voice in his head, "He is too strong and too quick for you, Fast Track. You cannot beat him with brute force alone."
"How else can I beat him?" Fast says while trying to dodge Dusty's swings, "He is using his own mustache as a weapon, his manliness is off the charts!"
"You have to be clever, use his strength against him."
"Use his strength against him?" Fast Track takes a quick look at his surroundings, trying to find something that could help him in this fight. As he does, Dustykatt takes another charge at Fast Track, sending him to the other side of the arena wall. As his body is on the wall, Fast Track notices the hanging torch mounted on the wall right next to him. He suddenly gets an idea, "That's it!" He turns head to Dustykatt as he pinned Fast to the wall. "Hey Dustykatt, your mustache is pretty impressive, though not as much as your mother's!"
Dustykatt scowls at Fast Track's remark, "Oh, now you've crossed the line, my little pony!" Dustykatt took a step back as his mustache starts to tense up, getting ready to strike. "I'm gonna make you regret messing with the manliest brony in the world!" Within that instance that he was free, Fast Track grabs the lit torch hanging from the wall. As Dustykatt's mustache comes in for the punch, Fast uses the torch to set it ablaze. "Noooo!!! My mustache, my beautiful mustache!!!" As Dustykatt's mustache burns away in front of him, a familiar jewel drops from the bushel of burning hair.
Fast Track looks down to see the amulet fragment out of Dusty's grasp. "Now that looks like it doesn't belong to you!" In a quick reaction, Fast makes a dive for the fragment on the ground.
Before Fast could touch the amulet shard, Dusty stops Fast Track's hoof with his hoof. "Oh no you don't!" Dustykatt turns around and throws Fast over his shoulder and tosses him to the far end of the arena where the entrance door was. The force was enough to send Fast Track's body through the door and out of the thunder-dome. Dustykatt picks up the fragment with his free left hoof and follows Fast Track out the door. He peers around the open entrance, looking for a trace of where Fast Track ran off to. "Alright you little mustache-burning varmint, you better show yourself now or else I promise you won't make it out of this jungle alive!"
There is a voice in the distance of the thick jungle, "Come and get me, tough guy. I'm over here!" The voice immediately got the attention of Dustykatt, as he followed the trail.
Dustykatt soon finds himself on the main path through the Everfree forest looking for where that sound originated. "I'm gonna hunt you down and then skin ya like a rabbit!" Dusty shouted out, searching for Fast Track.
"No need," Fast Track's voice said. Dustykatt looks upwards and sees Fast sitting on a tree branch with vine-tied rock between his hooves. "You've already fallen into MY trap!" Fast Track throws the rock and let's it rapidly swing towards Dustykatt's head.
"Whoa, hey!" Dusty ducks down as the rock swings above and past his head. Once it passed, Dusty got back up and looked back at Fast up on the tree branch. "Ha! You missed me! Did you actually think I would fall for one of my own traps?"
"Wait for it..." Fast Track says with a suspenseful tone.
Meanwhile, the same rock attached to the swinging vine made it's way up to the half-broken flash-bee hive from before and knocked it out of the branches where Fast had placed it. The hive tipped over as it fell atop of Dusty's head, cover him in a sticky coat of flash-bee honey. "What is this?!" Dusty takes a lick at his cheek where some of it landed and takes a taste. "Is this... honey?" Confused, Dusty looked back up at Fast Track, "What was this suppose to accomplish?"
"Wait for it..."
Suddenly, in the distance, the sound of an angry swarm of flash-bees could be heard making their way towards Fast & Dusty. Dustykatt turns around to see the group of flash-bees darting at his honey covered body with their stingers out. "Oh boy, this is gonna sting (No pun intended)." While still high up in the branches, Fast Track could only watch as the flash-bee sting away on Dustykatt, occasionally shielding his eyes from what he saw, but still could hear Dusty's screams, "Ahh!... Ouch!...No!...Mercy!..." Dusty races through the Everfree forest trying to outrun the bees, leaving the amulet fragment behind on the ground.
"Well, well, well..." Fast Track boasts as he drops down from the trees, "Looks like the hunter has become the hunted." Fast Track chuckles as he picks up the shard that Dusty dropped. "Your highness, I do believe that this is yours." The amulet fragment is then teleported out of Fast Track's hooves and back to Princess Celestia.
"Well done, Fast Track. I must say, that was some clever quick wit on your part." Celestia's voice says with a cheerful tone. "But the hunt for the jewel fragments is not yet over!"
"Hey, I was going to say that!"
Section 2 - Chapter 2: You've Got A Train To Catch
We find ourselves at the far east docks of Fillydelphia as the twilight gleams over the water and the stars in the night begin to shine in the noir city. It was low tide at the docks as the water was calm after a rain shower passed early in the day. The buildings of wood and brick around the bay were covered in streaks of water on their walls while the concrete ground held various puddles of water with nests of rats scurrying across gritty sidewalks. To the east, there were the sounds of waving waters, splashing atop the shore and the boats parked on the dock. To the far west, the inner town became more quiet as the city started to fall asleep. The sound of steam whistles could be heard in the distance as well, where the train yard was shipping out it's late night cargo. From atop the rooftops of the bay side buildings, a familiar face in his signature hat, goggles, & trench coat could be seen trotting along rained on structures heading towards the docks.
"A good ole night on the waterfront" Noir Track says as he makes his way to the pier. "My favorite place to go every summer whenever I needed a cool-down from the heat, or a place to relax when I'm feelin' joed." Noir looks around the roof of the buildings gazing at the shimmering waters of the bay, enjoying it's beauty in the night. "Lot's of my childhood memories made here; fishing, swimming, and riding the sails on the juicy waves."
"I see, you have very fond memories of this place, if I'm not mistaken?" Celestia's voice said to Noir Track.
"You know it right, Celestia." Noir said calmly to Celestia. After a few moments of reminiscing of his good times at the waterfront, Noir Track's mood shifted to a more sour tone in voice, "Now this pier is one of the main stops for this city's crime network. From trafficking to weapons dealings, it's no place for anymore fond memories." Noir stops at the edge of a building that was closest to the pier and starts to look around, "A tip from my voice on the inside, Abercrombie brought me to this place, now I just to find out what's going down?"
From just nearby Noir Track's position, a random voice was heard, "Whoa, it's slippin'!" Then the sound of a sudden crash got Noir's Track attention. He followed the sound to corner of the roof and peered down to see 2 goons and a pick up truck loaded with an assortment of boxes and crates. One of the stallions had just dropped a small wooden crate, letting the top break off. "Hey, Hatchet, look at this." he said to his partner.
Noir suddenly had a weird feeling in his head, to him that could only mean one thing. "Well, looks like my favorite intel swinger was onto somethin'." He looked at the dropped crate to see a fragment of the Amulet of Harmony & Discord sitting in a foam sponge mold inside the box. "Just what I was lookin' for."
As Noir looked at the crate another stallion picked it up with his unicorn magic to examine what was inside "It's nothing more than a tiny, broken hunka rock? What's all the extra protection for?"
From nearby the pickup truck carrying the cargo, a loud gun shot was heard that caused the goons to shake and turn and for Noir to duck down. A female voice was heard after the shot was fired. "Oh, I'm sorry. Is the boss payin' you to ask questions now?" She said with a menacing tone getting the goons to be silent.
"Uh, n-no, Ms. Idea..." One of the stallions said nervously as to not upset her.
"Ms. Idea?..." Noir Track thought to himself as he peered over the balcony to see who fired the gun. Walking towards the goons was a snazzy suited female unicorn levitating a Thompson submachine gun with her magic and bared a yellow lit light bulb cutiemark with a white cursor arrow on it (The only color that showed on her body). It suddenly hit Noir Track who the mare was, "Ah snap, it's Bright Idea."
The mare in the suit walked toward the pair of goons with her gun still levitating. "Then shut yer traps!" she snapped at them, "Our sources says Noir Track is searching for these weird lookin' jewel pieces after that stunt he pulled back at the Ponyville train station. And the big boss wants all measures taken to make sure he doesn't get his hooves on this one."
"How flattering." Noir said sarcastically
"We're taking that beaten jewel and the rest of the cargo to the train yard, then taking the train upstate to deliver the goods to the boss." Bright Idea turned and walked back towards the truck, "Now load it in and let's get movin'!" The two ponies placed the crate with fragment on the back of the truck, got inside and started the engine.
Celestia's voice is heard in Noir Track's head, "Noir Track, you must stop them from getting away with that amulet fragment."
"I'm on it, your highness." As the truck started to make it's way exiting the waterfront, Noir started tailing them from the rooftops. As the truck started gaining speed. he then leaped off the roof of the building landing on the back of the moving truck to try and retrieve the crate with jewel.
The sudden bump from him landing on the truck caught the attention of the passengers as they looked to see what the commotion was. The first stallion goon at the wheel yelled out, "It's him!"
The other stallion also cried out, "It's Noir Track!"
As the commotion was going on, Bright Idea yelled to the stallion riding shotgun, "Then stop gawkin' and start throwin' lead!"
The second stallion took out his Browning Superposed shotgun and fired couple of rounds at Noir. The first shot got Noir Track's attention, as tried he tried to duck around to the side of the moving truck to stay clear of the blasts. The stallion at the wheel saw where Noir was in his side mirror. "I see Noir, he's on my side now!" The driver started picking up speed to loosen Noir Track's grip from the side. As they came across the turn to the train yard, the driver tried drifting the turn at top speeds to try and shake him off causing the other goon to fall back in his seat from the momentum. After the turn, they checked the back again, Noir was nowhere to be found. "I think we lost 'im, Ms. Idea." he said reassuringly.
The truck came to a stop at the entrance to the train yard. Bright Idea got out and using her unicorn magic, picked up the small crate in the back carrying the amulet fragment. "Keep your eyes peeled, boys." She instructed the goons as she looked throughout the area, "If you broncos see anything out of the ordinary, you know the drill: shoot first, ask questions NEVER! We're not takin' any chances, read me?"
"Loud 'n' clear, Ms. Idea." one of the goons said as he got hold of the other cargo with his hooves and back.
While the stallions were unloading the cargo for Bright, from just along the truck's undercarriage was Noir Track hanging for dear life on the trucks belly, where he has been hiding to avoid the sights of the driver, the gunner, and Bright Idea so they would take him right where they were heading. As he hugged the belly of the truck he could hear and watch the ponies going about as he hanged upside down. Princess Celestia's voice is heard in Noir Track's head, "Very clever fooling the driver into thinking you fell off the last turn a few miles back. Now Noir Track, you must get back the amulet fragment."
"You got it, your highness." he whispered to Celestia. Noir Track gently climbed out the underside of the truck to find himself at the South entrance gate of the Fillydelphia train-yard, the grounds overrun with giant steam engines and large train carts, with miles and miles of interchanging train tracks. From just a ways away, Noir could see the two stallions and Bright Idea walking towards the entrance gate, with the gate surrounded by other guards standing armed. While minding his distance, Noir sneaked along side the parked train carts to eavesdrop on Bright Idea and the other ponies. "Let's see what this new cinder dick can listen in on."
As Bright Idea walked along the path to the entrance, she was greeted by another mare, "Welcome, Ms. Idea. We've got everything set up for ya..."
"Save it, Montana. No time for gab." Bright interrupted, as she was in a hurry to get going with the fragment she has. "I got a real important delivery for our boss."
"That's right, Bright. And I'm gonna follow you right to 'im" Noir Track thought to himself as he sneaked his way through the yard. He glanced at his surrounding, noticing groups of ponies guarding the gates and building entrances very tightly with spotlights over them. "Hmm, too many Tommy guns for my tastes. Better hug the shadows for now, 'less I want to get filled fulla holes!"
From the other side of the train carts, Bright Idea could be heard barking orders at the pony guards. "Montana, you're with me. We got business to discuss."
"Of coarse, Ms. Idea." Montana responded to Bright.
Bright Idea turns to one of her henchponies who came with her, "Hatchet, you've got the extra juice packin', so you're watching my back while we're on the move. Savvy?"
"Yes, Ms. Idea." Hatchet responded to Bright.
Bright Idea turns to the other henchpony, "And Ox..."
"Yes, Ms. Idea?" He asked.
"...Stand there and look stupid. From what I can see, you've had a lot of practice." Bright, Montana, and Hatchet start trotting along through the entrance gate into the yard leaving Ox behind to stand guard of the gate. As they walk away, Bright Idea gets their attention, "Alright my little ponies, listen up! We've got ourselves a very special delivery for the boss up in Manehattan, so special that it even got the attention of hitlist target number one; Noir Track. If he's still suckin' air, I want to be ready if he finds us..."
As Bright and the gang enter the yard, the other armed ponies at the buildings and gates started following her as well, leaving the lone guard Ox to stand in and watch as he angrily mutters to himself, "Hmf! 'Stand there and look stupid' she says! Why I otta...!" As he talks, he starts pacing around the gate in frustration. "Last time I checked Bright, I was the one who left Noir in the dust back there. He's probably road kill by now."
"Are you sure about that?" A familiar sounding voice said from behind the bumbling pony.
"What the hay!" Ox said in surprise as he turned around and noticed an uncanny silhouette in the shadows. "HEY!" he screamed out. In that instance, Ox was sucker punched to the muzzle hard enough to knock him out and down to the ground.
From just along the entrance gate inside one of the nearby buildings, a lone guard pony heard the commotion coming from outside. He peered through the window to see Ox now out cold on the gravel. "Oh man! What the hey just happened?" he said in surprise. The pony reached for his nearby walkie-talkie to get hold of Bright Idea. He turned it on and spoke into the speaker, "Ms. Idea, Ms. Bright Idea, this is Packset. Do you read me?..."
*****
From within the deeper parts of the train-yard, Bright Idea and her small crew were walking northbound along the tracks until Packset's sudden call caught their attention. Bright Idea, pulled out her walkie-talkie with her magic and answered, "This is Bright, what's the commotion Packset?"
Montana and Hatchet joined Bright's side as they listened in on Packset's muffled voice through the speaker, "One of your stallions at the South gate, I heard some noise outside of my booth, and when I looked outside the window he was out cold."
"Ox! You are a real curve!" Bright Idea angrily muttered to herself! Then she but her voice back to her speaker, "Packset, did you see anyone else out there near the gate? Anyone familiar?" Bright Idea and her side ponies waited for a few seconds for a response from Packset, but there was no response from him. "Packset, I'm asking you did you see anything else?!..." Still no answer from Bright's walkie-talkie. "Packset, what's wrong? Do you have cider in your ears?!"
"Sorry Ms. Idea, but Packset is a bit out of commission at the moment. But I'd be happy to relay a message." Said a familiar voice from the walkie-talkie.
"Noir!" Bright Idea exclaimed in rage.
"That's right, Bright. I'm still suckin' air." Noir Track bolstered, "Now listen carefully, Bright. You've got something that doesn't belong to you. Well, you know, other than all of that other illegal stuff your boys got packed on those trains. Now I'm going to make this really simple for you. Gimme that shiny gem you got in that crate, and I'll leave you and the rest of your stupid goons alone. And if you don't, I'll be sure to knock your lights out! Whatcha say?"
In a fit of rage, Bright Idea tossed her walkie-talkie into air and shot it repeatedly with her Tommy gun until it broke into pieces, all the while screaming in a fit. "That low-life, gutter-swimming, dirty-eyed..." Bright Idea took a few seconds to breathe and calm herself. She turned around to face the other ponies accompanying her. "Change of plans, everypony. We've got trouble, and his name is Noir Track. He's comin' for us, so we have to be ready for when he catches up to us. Montana, get one of the other stallions to help you bring the goods to the next train, ASAP! But leave the gem with me. If Noir's lookin' for it, then I want it with me."
"Yes, Ms. Idea." Montana answered as she left with the other boxes.
"Hatchet, do we still have one of the train engineers captives?"
"Yes, Ms. Idea." Hatchet answered, "She's being held at the building at the North gate."
"Perfect, we're going to need her for when Noir gets here. Because I've just got myself a... Bright Idea!"
*****
A few minutes passed as Noir Track made his way northbound through the train yard to find Bright Idea and the amulet fragment. While he was searching the yard, Princess Celestia's voice could be heard in his head. "Noir, any readings of the fragment's whereabouts from your 'Track Sense' yet?"
"First off: Yes, I'm getting quite a feeling coming from this direction your majesty." Noir Track replied. "Second: Really, 'Track Sense'? Who calls it that?"
"You'd be surprised." The princess said with a hint of sass in her voice. "What I mean is that if this is the way to where the fragment shard is, wouldn't there more guards in this direction? You haven't seen any since the two henchponies you've beaten at the South gate. Just be on your guard for anything suspicious."
"Of coarse your highness." As Noir found his way to the North entrance gate, he heard some banter coming from around a building. "What in the world is that?" he thought in confusion. It was roughly in the same direction of where he was sensing the gem shard, so he decided to take a look. He peeked around the corner and saw what appeared to be a mare in a conductor's uniform with her mouth duct taped and her body tied down to the train tracks with one of Bright's stallion guards holding a gun at her. "Well that's no way to treat a mare."
As the conductor pony attempts to unbind herself from the tracks, the stallion guard shouts at her, "Oi! I thought I told you to stop your squirming. If you don't sit still, then I'll make ya!" He used his unicorn magic and pointed his pistol at the mare as the muffled sounds of her screams leaked through the duct tape. As the guard was staring her down, he felt a sudden poke on his back. "Huh?... What?" The lone guard looked behind him to see Noir with a long piece of a 2x4 wooden beam wound up behind his shoulder. Before he could react, he took a hard whack to the head was out cold as the beam broke into two.
"Well somepony had to knock some sense into you, treating a mare like that." Noir Track said after the guard was knocked to the ground. The conductor pony continues to shake her head and body as she sees all that happens in front of her. "Alrighty then miss, let's get you free." Noir Track leans in to take the tape off the conductor's mouth, but she begins to shake more frantically as he comes in closer. "Whoa, look doll, it's OK, I'm trying to help you out o'ere!"
Noir Track rips the tape off the conductor's mouth in one swipe, allowing her to be able to speak. "OW!... IT'S A TRAP!"
Suddenly, without warning, giant area lights shined bright white light over where Noir and the conductor were. They were completely exposed. Surrounding them was an entire band of armed guards with their sights and pistols on Noir, ready to fire if he makes a run for it. From atop of a suspended walkway stood Bright Idea. "Well, well, well, looks like Noir Track has the spotlight!" She starts laughing maniacally at her own pun as the other guards join in.
"Bright Idea, you rotten mook!" Noir yelled, "You got a lot of nerve putting innocent lives at risk! And for what, just to get to me?!"
"Oh don't be like that Noir, you knew this was coming. You been a thorn in my side for far too long, now my men and I have you surrounded." As Bright boasters towards Noir, she has the small crate which held the amulet fragment over to her side, then proceeds to open the box. "It's a shame you came all this way to bite the dust, for some tiny broken jewel. What's so special about it anyways?"
"Wait!" Noir tries to make a run for the stairs to the suspended bridge, but was stopped by the sound of the surrounding guards firing off warning shots at Noir hooves. Noir steps back and directs his attention back to Bright Idea. "Bright don't be messing around with that thing. It ain't no ordinary piece of jewelery, I need it!"
Bright Idea then uses her magic to float the piece out of its box, "Sorry Noir, but this belongs to me now!" Bright Idea grabs the fragment with her hoof. As soon as Bright grabs the piece, a sudden glow begins to radiate from the inside. Then bright streaks of light burst from her hoof. "What the hay?!" Then suddenly, Bright Idea's entire body was engulfed by a violet light. Bright Idea let out a chilling scream as the chaotic magic of the amulet shard took over as Noir Track and the surrounding guards could only watch in horror.
"Bright, get outta there!" Noir Track yelled with panic in his voice. "You need to put down the jewel, now!" He looked up above hoping his words were heard amongst the chaos, but to no avail.
After a few seconds of the comotion, the light of the magic dispersed into the air leaving Bright Idea visible again. Her entire body seemed to emit its own glow. The magic of the amulet changed Bright Idea's skin and clothes into bright glowing white. "I can feel the power." Bright said slow and softly as she trembled on the railing of the suspended walkway. "I can hear the power!" Bright Idea opened her eyes, having the striking look of one with vein coursing power. Her eyes began to emit a purple, misty aura. The sclera in her eyes changed to black. "I have seen... the light! Ha-ha, ha-ha!" Bright laughs uncontrollably at her own pun, with each chuckle showing signs that she was losing her grasp on reality.
"It is too late!" Celestia's voice is heard in Noir Track's head with heavy worry, "Her mind and body have been corrupted by the gem, that's no longer the Bright Idea you once knew. Be prepared for anything."
The surrounding trainyard guards didn't know what to do as their boss was literally gleaming with power. One spoke up, "Wow boss, you're very bright!"
"HEY!" Bright idea snapped at the henchpony below with her bright white hoof pointing at him, "I do the puns 'round here!" Just as she raised her hoof to the stallion's general direction, a bright beam of white was shot at the crowd. It barely missed the out-of-turn spoken pony and burned a hole through a train cart behind him. "Ooh, I like that a lot." Bright said gazing at her newfound powers.
"Oh man, I don't get paid enough for this!" Another henchpony said in utter disbelief of what he just saw. "I'm getting outta here before I'm well done!"
"Same here, I do not want to get turned extra crispy!" The guards dropped their pistols and left the trainyard towards the North gate exit.
"Cowards! What do I pay ya for, eh?" she screamed at the top of her lungs as all of her henchponies fled the tracks, "Fine by me, I don't need you goons anyhow. I'm now a one mare army!" She looked back down at Noir Track, carrying the captured conductor to safety. "Where do ya think you're going, Noir?" She hopped over the bridges railing and landed onto the ground, having no problems with fall. "We' were just gettin' started.l"
"Get to cover, I'll handle this." Noir told the conductor. She made her way around a building to leading to the North gate while Noir stayed behind. "Okay Noir, you're about to fight a big deal crime boss who can now shoot beams of smoldering hot light from her body. This should be interesting."
Bright Idea marveled at her new form and at the jewel, "I can see why you were so interested in this tiny hunka rock, Noir. It speaks to me, like some sorta dame whispering in yer ear. Now I don't swing that way, but I kinda like it. I think I'll be keepin it. My boss won't be able to call the shots anymore when I have this with me. First, I'll get rida you. Then, I'll get rida the Wolf! I'll own this town!" Bright Idea raised her front hoof to point at Noir, a series of rapid fire beams shot at him like bullets from a tommy.
"Sweet Celestia!" Noir Track barely missed the shots as he dodged and ducked behind a large pickup truck. Noir took a sigh of relief, but then felt a weird burning sensation coming from his lower back. He turned his head to find that Bright Idea had shot holes through his trenchcoat, and they were burning away at his coat. "Gosh darn it!" Noir quickly took off his coat before it got to his fur coat. "That was the only good one. Hey Bright, you owe me a new coat, ya walkin' lightshow!"
"Don't worry, I'll get you something nice to wear... at your funeral!" Bright Idea let out a chuckle as she closed in on Noir while he hid behind the truck. In frustration, Noir Track threw his coat up & over the roof of the vehicle. "Aha!" Bright noticed the coat thinking it was Noir trying to make a move and fired another light beam hitting the coat and the top truck.
The entire roof of the front of the truck was cut off as it flipped over in front of Noir Track, its frames smoldering from the heat. Noir thought to himself, "Oh no, that's going to be me if I don't think of something right now." Noir could see the white glow around the truck getting closer and brighter, he had to act fast. Noir was then caught off guard by a glare shining in his eye. "What is that?" He then looked back at the blown up roof of the truck and saw a large rear-view mirror sticking up from it shining the light from Bright Idea into his face. That gave him an idea.
Bright Idea continued to walk towards the truck, waiting to catch Noir and have him blasted apart with her new chaotic powers. Her grip still holding tight to the amulet fragment. "Come on out Noir! What's the matter? Afraid of the light!" Bright Idea started laughing as she kept walking forward. Then Noir Track lept from the side of the vehicle putting himself out in the open for Bright Idea to spot him. Bright idea pointed her front hoof at Noir as he was sprinting off, "Eat light, Track!" she yelled as she fired. Noir Track then turned his body to reveal he had broken off the rear-view mirror from the ceiling of the truck. He held the mirror in front of him, letting the light ricochet off the mirror and back at Bright Idea. In that moment, the beam struck Bright Idea directly in her face. "AAHHH! MY EYES! MY EYES!!!" Bright Idea dropped down to the ground on her knees screaming in pain. She placed both of her hooves around her burned eyes, letting go of the amulet fragment as she did.
Noir noticed the fragment fall in front of Bright as she was screaming, and he made sprint towards the piece while it was in the open. He snatched the fragment off the ground with his hoof and then yelled, "Now, your highness!" The amulet fragment then disappeared from Noir's grasp.
"It is done." Celestia responded through Noir Track's thoughts. "The amulet fragment has been safely returned back to me in my reality."
As the amulet was returned, the chaotic magic which had consumed Bright Idea's body had vanished too as Bright's skin and clothes returned to normal. She remained on her knees crying and holding her face. Noir Track turned around and noticed the crying. He slowly made his way towards Bright Idea. He reached for her shoulder and asked, "Bright, are you OK?"
"YOU!" Bright Idea frantically turned around and tried to grab Noir. Noir stepped back as she fell back on her knees. "No I am not OK! You took away my new powers, I coulda been the new topdog with those! And you made that light beam hit me right in the face roast my eyes! I can't see! I CAN'T SEE!!!" Bright Idea continues to cry in agony.
Noir Track then picked up Bright Idea by the suit. "You may be blind, but you may still be useful to me. Now tell me, where were you planning on sending that fragment and other stuff to?" Bright Idea did nothing, didn't say a word. Noir only got more angry. "Talk Bright! I need to find those other jewel fragments before the rest of your boss's gang finds them! And I'm pretty sure they wouldn't want to learn that one of his top street generals was planning to betray him. Now spill!"
Bright Idea started laughing as her body was being suspended like a puppet, "Sure thing, Track. Anything for an old friend."
"We are not friends! Not anymore. Now talk!"
*****
A few hours pass as Noir leaves Bright Idea tied down to the train tracks as she had done to the previously captured conductor leaving her for the police to take her in. All the while, Noir and the now free conductor take a ride on one of the steam engines heading North. "Thank you again for getting me outta there. If you ask me, she had it comin' to her!" the conductor said as she manned the engine. "By the way, we were never properly introduced. The name's Happy Trails."
"Pleasures all mine, Ms. Trails." Noir Track replied. "And thank you for the lift. We need to get to the major junction, ASAP if I'm gonna crack down on the rest of these goons and get back the jewel shards."
"On it!" Happy Trails continued shoveling coals into the furnace. Then pulled down on a hanging chain letting the train whistle blow. "Next stop, Baltimare!"
As the train sped on, Noir Track made his way to the cart behind the engine to rest up in the seats. As he kicked back, he reached back out to Princess Celestia, "Well your highness, our girl Bright Idea's gonna be booked by the broncos in blue. Something tells me she's gonna be 'seeing thing' in a whole new 'light'. And my 'Track sense' has us on the path to the next fragment."
"Well done, Noir." Celestia replied, "But the journey is far from done. Make sure to keep your wits up on your next stop. And if all goes well, the future is sure to look bright!"
