Luna of the Dead: Eclipse

Her eyes burst open, startled by the loud *clange* that sounded when the wrench hit the ground. Despite being the princess of the night, it still took a second for her eyes to adjust to the dull surroundings. Dim light soaked through the warped, bullet-hole ridden wood that made up the walls and ceiling. Soft wind could be heard blowing through the small holes and a small bird was perched in the shattered window, sweetly cheeping. Luna glanced around the room, finding Spike and Apple Bloom still huddled in the corner fast asleep. Rarity was gone of course. Of the week they had spent in the Train House, Rarity had left for most of the day everyday. She said she was looking for supplies and food, but she always came back with next to nothing. Luna offered to help her look, but she said she had to go alone, that she could move faster and more quietly alone. Luna was skeptic, but she let it go. The princess focused her attention to the source of the sound.

"Sorry 'bout that. I'll try and keep it quieter. Don't wanna attract another horde after all," the orange mare said. She gripped the wrench in her teeth and climbed back onto the train engine. How different she was now, Luna thought. She had always been so stubborn and arrogant, but she really must have reformed during her exile. Luna couldn't help but shutter when she remembered who Ember was, what she became, what she tried to DO. But she got over it; that was the past and this is now.

Four knocks were heard, and Luna moved to the train house's large, wooden doors. With a lift of the heavy lock and a swing of the creaking hinges, the doors were open. Rarity entered, her saddle bags full of canned vegetables. Spike was instantly awake and beside Rarity, eagerly awaiting the tune of her gentle voice. Luna re-closed the doors, and went to rouse Apple Bloom, who appeared to be having a good dream: the first she had in a long time.

"I was actually able to find some previsions. It seems that Mayor Mare had an entire safe house under Town Hall that nopony knew about. If only she had been able to tell us before... maybe things wouldn't have been so tough. There's still plenty to things there that I think we should get before we leave."

"Then y'all might want to go grab that, because we should be 'bout ready in a bit," said the orange unicorn. "Shouldn't take more than an hour or so. I just need to tighten the wheels, re-connect the brake line, calibrate the co..." Luna cut her off.

"Alright then. We should get going. If the train is ready in an hour, then we should be able to reach the Crystal Empire before nightfall."

Apple Bloom had risen to her hooves, dawned her saddle bags, and followed Luna, Spike, and Rarity to Town hall while Ember finished the work on the train engine.

~~~~~~~~~~

The grey sun was setting, and Ember was growing concerned. "They should have been back hours ago" she kept saying to herself. "Where are they?" Her mind grew still when she heard the gunfire coming from Ponyville. There were bright flashes radiating against the darkening sky, and she knew what happened. In the distance, she could see a filly and a baby dragon running toward her. She stood completely still, unnoticed by the pegasus flying overhead. It flew into a dive directly at Apple Bloom, but exploded into a shower of red rain and chunks of rotten flesh. Rarity quickly ran up behind Apple Bloom, relieved her shot had found its mark, and led her and Spike through the field to the train house. Ember had fallen out of her daze and was frantically loading coal into the engine. The fire blazed and the train began moving forward.

Rarity saw that the train was moving, so she started running towards the two train cars on an adjacent track. Ember got the train down to the cross-track, stopped the locomotive, and hoped out of the cab. Rarity and Apple Bloom finally made it to the cars, and began pushing them towards the engine while Spike helped Ember pull the lever that switched the tracks. A loud *clang* sounded as the cars coupled to the engine, and with a quick buck on the hitch, Ember locked them together.

Everypony clambered into the train, the orange mare started the train back up. Black smoke billowed into the sky. A dark shadow flew above the field and landed on the train. With Luna's arrival, and everypony accounted for, Ember set the controls to full-speed, leaving the once lively town of Ponyville behind them as they headed for the crystal mountains...