One

In another part of the train, one pegasus sprawled out on the thinly padded bench in a small compartment. Magpie Muse was a pony of simple pleasures. She had no qualm with trains, or traveling in a manner most pegasi considered beneath them. In fact, she quite enjoyed the rocking thrum of the engine- while it aggravated most, she found it to be soothing, lulling her to sleep like a gentle thunderstorm. Feathers bristled as the blue-grey pony shifted her position once again. She considered herself a pony easily satisfied by things. This rickety bench wasn’t one of them. Muse could feel the nails beneath the sad excuse of a cushion. Her muscles were becoming bunched and stiff, and with a sigh, she sat up, pressing her forehead against the cool pane of glass. The moonlit landscape buzzed by, too fast to properly absorb anything memorable. Her short, asymmetric cerulean mane fell across her amber eyes, looking tousled from her attempt to sleep. Thinking of sleep, and how much she wished she was having it, Muse yawned, stretching her limbs. She was petite, and where most pegasi were long and muscled, she had gentle curves. Stretching her wingspan showed it to be far less impressive than the wingspans of more athletic members of her kind.

The compartment door opened suddenly, and Magpie looked up as a thin, gangly looking unicorn darted in. The buttermilk unicorn closed the door, her back to the pegasus. Her mane was a dark, deep purple and may have been curly, if it wasn’t swept back into a tight bun. A few pale mint-green streaks stood out in the mane. The pony’s thin frame held an overstuffed saddlebag- by some sort of miracle, which for the moment obscured her cutiemark. Magpie watched the unicorn for a moment, waiting to be noticed. When it was clear that the intruder was oblivious, she coughed, quietly. Pale ears twitched, but the stranger seemed fixated on staring out of the small glass pane on the door. Curiosity stoked, Magpie straightened, and after a moment called out to the unicorn.

“Hey?”  The thin pony swiveled around, revealing a pair of sharp, rose eyes glaring behind the half moon glasses which balanced on her square muzzle.

“Who are you?” The unicorn bristled in surprise, giving Magpie a suspicious look. The pegasus offered a smile in return, unfazed by the rude attitude. Muse lived in Manehattan- she knew how to cope with irritable ponies.

“Magpie Muse.” She answered. The unicorn eyed the other pony with obvious discomfort, muttering to herself quietly. Muse’s muzzle wrinkled at the haughty creature. Manners didn’t go far with this one. The pegasus felt her wings tighten up against her sides in annoyance. Well, Magpie tried to keep an open mind, but the way this pale pony was acting was testament to the stereotype that unicorn are all uppity little –

“I guess this is alright.” The unicorn finally burst out, levitating her bags to the overhead. Her eyes fixed on Muse again.

“I normally don’t like traveling with strangers.”

“I’m not a stranger.”

“….What?”

The unicorn’s ears twitched as she regarded Muse carefully. Her lips pursed together, the unicorn obviously trying (with increasing frustration) to place Muse’s face.

“I introduced myself. I can’t be a stranger if you know my name.” The pegasus smirked, a little proud of herself for the quip. The stranger considered the sentiment carefully, looking somewhat disgruntled by the chipper pony. To Muse’s shock, the pony relaxed, a tiny smile forming as the unicorn offered a hoof.

“I’m Ivory Spire.” She said. The blue-grey pegasus blinked, eying the unicorn’s off-white body.

“…Ivory?” Muse pursed her lips together in scrutiny. “You know, you look more…creamy.”

The smile vanished, replaced with a tired scowl worn with the ease of years of practice.

“My parents thought they were funny.” Ivory grumbled under her breath as she hopped onto the bench opposite to Magpie. The unicorn hesitated, trying to subtly check out the pegasus’ flank. The blue-grey pony stifled a snicker at the attempt. Some ponies were so awkward about checking a new pony for their mark. Magpie imagined putting cutie marks on the flank of ponies must have been quite amusing for the Creator.

“…You aren’t a weather pony?” Ivory asked, sounding surprised. Now it was Muse’s turn to look disgruntled.

“Yeah, because all pegasi are into weather control, just like you must be some research egghead judging from the horn on your face.” Magpie snapped, fluttering her wings.

“I am.”

“What?”

“I work for the museum in Trottingham.” The unicorn’s matter-of-fact statement kicked all the air out of Muse’s snark.

The two sat in silence, avoiding each others' gaze.

“Oh.” Muttered the blue pony.

“An archivist, really. It’s. Quite egghead-y.”

“…Oh.” Muse cringed inwardly. Talk about hoof in mouth. What was she even doing, using egghead as an insult? Her cheeks burned with shame. She was no rough-talking pegasus from the clouds. Her cutie mark, proudly worn, was a silver quill in the shape of a question mark, hovering over a black inkblot. Who was she to call names? The train rattled on in spite of the tense stillness of the pair.

“I like books.” Muse said suddenly, defensively.

“I’m sure.”

“No, really, I write.”

“Books?” The voice held a note of cautious interest.

“Well. No.”

“…” The unicorn risked a sidelong glance at Magpie, before looking back out the window. “…I see.”

“I write plays.” Celestia damn it all, why couldn’t Muse just top talking. She wasn’t even trying now. The pony just sat with her head buried in her hooves as she blabbered uncontrollably. Finally the conversation seemed to have died, mercifully. The two stared out the windows beside them, determined to ignore the other pony in the compartment. Magpie shifted, settling down, trying to nod off. Still, something itched in the back of her head. No, she told herself firmly while fidgeting in the awful seat. No more talking. She sighed audibly, earning another look from Ivory. Their eyes met, and then quickly fixated on something else. The itch nagged.

“It’s a form of writing.” Muse shot out loudly. The noise surprised both ponies. Ivory gave her a wide, startled look. Muse groaned inwardly, but still gave the unicorn an admonishing glare. “They- they aren’t books, of course. But they’re still writing.”

“What are you talking about?” Ivory asked, looking lost and baffled. Magpie puffed herself up.

“Plays. You write them. Just like books.”

The two stared at each other.

“What. Don’t you like plays?” Muse demanded in a quavering voice, unable to let her tirade die quietly now that Ivory’s scrutiny was upon her. The stare continued, each desperate for the exchange to end. Finally Ivory spoke.

“Uhm. Sorry?”

They eyed each other, testing if the apology was satisfactory. Finally they both sat back and blinked. Embarrassed, Muse laid down, moving until her back was to the unicorn.

Eventually, Magpie sighed, hearing the soft, heavy breathing of a pony fast asleep. She rested her head against the pane sleepily. It had been a long day for her. All she wanted was just a few blissful hours to get well-needed sleep. Blearily, her amber eyes looked up at the stars overhead. Funny, she thought as she snuggled into a tight ball, she thought there were supposed to be more stars visible in the countryside. This time she closed her eyes, and willed herself to sleep.

The dark sky overhead watched the train as it chugged across the desert. The air was still, the animals had stayed in their dens this night. They could sense the foreboding nature of the stars tonight. Equestria’s creatures shuddered, their eyes instinctively avoiding the sky, as another star winked out.

Muse was woken by a distant scream. Her eyes began to crack open, the young pegasus barely having a moment before being bombarded by the red lights and the acrid smell of smoke.  Muse smacked her lips together, her mouth full of the coppery taste of blood. Her head was pounding. Everything felt like it was in slow motion. As she tried to move her heavy head, her vision blurred, jagged and confused.  She looked up to see the bench she had been sleeping on before. Beneath her she felt broken glass. Confused, she lifted her head, and distantly became aware that sometime during the trip the ceiling had become the floor. She stared at the lantern beside her, spilling oil and flame. It used to be harmlessly dangling above her.

BAM.

Muse’s world tipped upside down as the carriage once again went tumbling over and over with sudden force. There was the horrific screech of metal tearing apart, and the screams of ponies. The tiny compartment was washed in heat and flickering orange light from fire. The pegasus stumbled to her feet, looking for an exit. Her ears flattened against the sounds of terror-filled ponies, fighting against the panic rising in her chest.  Smoke filled the compartment full of broken glass and splintered wood. Glass? Magpie started, heading to one of the shattered windows. The pony stuck her head out the tiny window. It’d be a tight fit, but she’d risk a few bruises and scrapes to get out of this train. The pony put a hoof on the edge and struggled to lift her way out. In return, Muse felt a stabbing pain, and screaming, she fell back to the floor.  Shards of glass pierced her front hoof and her sides, blood leaking out freely. Whimpering, she sat back and raised her hoof to her mouth. Her teeth clamped on the largest shard in her hoof, and eyes watering, Muse pulled the piece out, letting it drop to her hooves. The pony let out a single shaky whine of pain, then quickly plucked the rest of the glass from her hoof. The bitter taste of blood filled her mouth. The grinding sound of something within the train collapsing brought the pegasus back to the need of an escape route. The glass in her side would have to wait. Tenderly, the pony put pressure on her injured hoof, whimpering at the pain. Muse cursed herself, too foolish and eager to check for glass.

She stumbled over to where the door had been, only to find a wall. The pegasus stared at it blankly, scraping at the wall with her good hoof. Something touched her back leg and Magpie, wings unfurling, leapt into the air in fear. She looked down at the cream colored unicorn, lying crumpled on the floor in a puddle of blood. Ivory looked at the pegasus, and pointed up. Magpie followed her gaze, and blushed to see the door just above her. Right. She’d been running on the ceiling. The pegasus poised to take off, and froze, landing back on the ground.

“Oh Tartarus.” Muse looked back at the larger pony. The unicorn avoided her gaze weakly. The blue pony bit her lip. She couldn’t just leave Ivory to die.

“Can you move?”  The pegasus asked. Ivory looked back at Magpie’s question in confusion.

“What?”

“Good enough.” Magpie moved closer, wrapping her front legs around the unicorn’s midsection.  Her wings spread out and began flapping, straining against the weight. The cabin around them gave a sudden lurch.  The pair dropped back to the ground as the door splintered and shot off its hinges.  A stallion, his fur possibly white beneath the blood and the ash and the scarlet burns covering his body, fell to the ground still shrieking in panic, his wings flared out, singed and smoking slightly.

“Please, please, help me. H-Help me!” The pegasus quivered, crawling towards the two on bleeding stumps. Muse cringed away, the smell of burning hair suffocating her. She watched the stallion crawl towards them, eyes fixated on the sight of his front legs, ending in ragged stumps of meat at the knees. Every time he moved, she could see more blood pulse out of his stumps, and the more he crawled the more his body became slick with his own blood. Instead of gagging, or screaming, or fleeing the horrific sight, Muse simply stared, shock giving her a numbed edge. Where were his legs? She wondered. What was happening? Why didn’t he stop crawling? He had wings after all. Then, an idea stuck her, clicking into place solidly.

“Can you fly?” She asked, approaching the pony. Perhaps, with this pegasus’ help, all three could escape from the wreckage. Two sets of wings, a unicorn’s magic, that had to be enough to fly to the nearest emergency exit, force it open and spill out into the clean, safe air. It would work. They would live.

“Don’t let them take me.” The whispers came out ragged, flecks of blood dribbling past the pegasus’ lips. “Don’t let them…”

Muse frowned, moving closer, coughing in the haze of smoke.

“Hey, hey, calm down. We’re getting out of here. W-What’s your name?”  She asked, tying to sound nice and calm but instead feeling gruff and pushy. She could smell his blood, and his skin cooking from the burns. Her fur everywhere bristled nervously. She felt a cautious tap from her left.

“M-Magpie.” Ivory whispered in a high pitched whisper that sang with fear. “M-M-Magpie. The door. The door.”

The blue pegasus looked back at Ivory, glimpsing her wide eyes and her ears flattened against the unicorn’s skull. Then she followed the unicorn’s gaze to the doorway. Muse froze, seized with sudden alarm. Creeping, slithering past the doorway into their cabin was a large scarlet tentacle, flesh ugly and mottled. It was covered in bumps and scars, and moved like a hideous snake. It felt its way down the wall towards the ponies, searching for something warm and wriggling to snatch up as a prize. The unsettling thing moved at a slow, confident pace of a predator, old to the game of the hunt. Whatever the appendage belonged to, it was used to methodically searching for its cowering prey. Instead of suckers, Muse could see a flash of long, black barbs every time the tentacle adjusted its course. She shivered, understanding where the stallion’s legs went.

“M-Magpie.” Ivory’s voice warbled uncertainly. “W-What?”

The injured pegasus noticed the sudden change in the room and he turned slightly, looking past him. Then the stallion screamed.

“TAKE ME WITH YOU. HELP ME.” He shrieked, flopping and crawling towards the mares. The tentacle’s slow crawl stopped and it shot towards the sound and movement. There was a sickening squelch as the barbs sank into the screaming stallion’s flesh. The fleshy arm began dragging its prey back out of the door.

“YOU BITCHES! CELESTIA DAMN YOU. YOU STUPID FUCKING-“ The insults were pierced by a gurgling howl as the tentacle rippled and squeezed. Bones crunched and snapped, followed by the slippery sound of the pony’s intestines spilling to the ground.  A spray of blood coated the cabin and a dull, meaty thud sounded as the pegasus’ bottom half fell to the ground. Muse finally saw the stallion’s cutie mark: a filing cabinet. He must have been an incredibly boring pony, Muse thought as she stared at the pile of ragged flesh, organs spilling out and cracked, ugly bones peaking through. The stench of death and feces made the air even harder to breathe in.  Ivory finally snapped, a scream breaking out of her muzzle. Two more scarlet, growth covered arms appeared at the doorway, bobbing there as if listening.

“RUN.” Muse snapped out of her frozen state. She rammed her head into the unicorn’s side, forcing Ivory’s hooves to move toward the window. Glass or not, this was it. The lankier pony struggled, straining to fit through the small window. Tears sprang from Muse’s eyes as she struggled to shove Ivory through. Out of the corner of her eyes she saw the tentacle crawling towards them. She got the dark sense that Something was playing with the mares. Her breath came out in fearful whinnies. Finally Ivory’s legs went through and Muse dove though the window after them. Ivory seemed to have regained enough of her senses to wrap Muse’s hooves in green light and try to help levitate her out.

“Hurry Muse.” Ivory grunted. “They’re coming. They’re-“

Muse glanced over her shoulder, hesitating in fear as she saw the muscles in the closest tentacle ripple, like a snake coiling before it strikes. The hesitation was a mistake. She saw a flash, and then felt pain as the barbs struck her skin.

“Ivory!” She yelped, straining against her captor. Ivory straightened; her heart pounding as her magic wavered. She wrapped a shard of glass in her magic and with as much force as she had in her, stabbed in into the tentacle. It recoiled in pain, releasing the pegasus, who screwed up her face and forced her way through the rest of the window. The pair leapt off the edge of the train and as soon as their hooves found dirt, they ran. Screams followed them as they fled into the desert.

Suddenly during their running, Ivory stopped. Muse slowed, and turned to console the unicorn. She too, felt like crying. But the unicorn wasn’t crying. The pony was instead staring up at the sky in horror.

“Muse.”

“We can’t stop, Ivory, we need to keep running.”

“Muse, look at the sky.”

The pegasus sighed and looked up.

“…Where are the stars?” She asked.

The sky above them was black and empty, save for a shining moon beaming down at them. The nominally guiding night sky was suddenly a silent void that seemed to suck the light out of the tiny world it enveloped. Muse shivered as a stiff breeze blew through her coat, ruffling her feathers.

“What’s happening?” She whispered to Ivory. The two exchanged glances, and then looked back at the wreckage of the train. In the distance, the gutted train glowed orange from the fire. Screams still sounded from the survivors still fighting back death. Towering above the carcass of the train, obscured by the thick smoke to the air, the ponies saw several huge beasts ripping the carriages apart. Where Muse reckoned a head should be, she glimpsed the familiar movement of tentacles.

There was a pregnant pause between the mares. Quietly, they both remembered the other passengers who had given them a nod, a smile, a pleasant greeting. Somewhere in the wreckage, some of them were still alive. If the two were heroes, they would save the other passengers; the mares, the foals, everypony.

They glanced at each other, Muse feeling a leaden weight in her heart as they each reached the same conclusion. The two mares, still bleeding and singed from fire, turned and ran.