The Blue Crescent

Spike was looking for a place to sit, when a very familiar mare invited him to sit down.

"Berry!" he cried in joy, hugging her, "How's life going?"

"No better than usual," she replied, "So, what're you doing here?"

"Well, it's my job! I get to travel across Equestria, and get PAID for it! All I have to do is be nice to everypony!"

"Seems legit. How're you and Rarity?"

When Berry asked him that question, Spike remembered the trouble that their relationship was having to weather.

"Everythings just wonderful," he muttered sarcastically.

"Trouble?"

"Well, not really," the little dragon sighed, "But, sometimes, she can be so emotional...."

"UGH!" Berry scoffed, pounding her hoof on the table, making several empty wine glasses clink against eachother as the table swayed, "I HATE stuck-up ponies like that. They always get on your case! "Don't wear that, Berry Punch! You'd have to be DAFT to like that TV series, Berry Punch! You shouldn't drink so much, Berry Punch!""

She stopped as she noticed how surprised Spike was at her rant. "Oh, I'm sorry, Spike, I didn't mean to scare you." She picked up a menu, and began thumbing through it, looking for something that looked good. "What do you want to eat?"

"Wait a second." Spike was confused. "You're buying me dinner?"

"Sure! Why not?"

What a pleasant surprise, he thought. "Okay, I'll have a....I'll have what you're having."

"A glass of champagne with a T-bone steak and a salad?"

"Well....Minus the booze."

While they had their meal, a malevolent prescence hung over the train, like something wasn't right. Somepony was in trouble, in fact, everypony was in trouble, for the things that occurred that night set forward a chain of events which would jeapordize everypony's existance for the rest of the trip.

In the baggage car, Professor Twilight Sparkle was tied up in a chair, suffering blow after blow from Steinmetz and Talloway, blood pouring from her nose.

"We're gonna ask you one more time," Steinmetz warned her, pointing her pocket knife threateningly toward the purple mare, "WHERE ARE THE LETTERS?!"

"I'll never tell," she spat back, coughing up blood, "Starswirl would never want you to have them!"

She was about to say more, but Talloway hit her with a baseball bat. The wooden bat split in two as it hit her face, and Steinmetz stabbed her mercilessly with the knife, until her face was cut open to the point of somewhat of a grimdark fic.

"How about now?" Talloway growled, "You know we can keep you alive JUST ENOUGH to feel pain until you do!"

Twilight gasped in pain as Steinmetz began stabbing her again.

"Okay...." she finally admitted, "I'll tell you where they are...."

But, before she could, her eyes rolled back into her head, and she died of loss of blood.

The two changeling commanders stood over her body, which had toppled the chair in a violent fit of thrashing before her death. They exchanged a glance, and Talloway slapped her comrade upside the face.

"We weren't supposed to KILL her!" she explained angrily, "Just hurt her enough to make her reveal the letter's location!"

"Well," Steinmetz shrugged, "I guess we should go looking for them in the morning. But first," She gestured to the purple unicorn on the floor, "I guess we'd better dump the body."

As soon as they began to untie what used to be Twilight from her chair, Chrysalis entered from the door at the end of the train car.

"Well," she asked, "Any luck?"

"No," Steinmetz reported, "We killed her on accident."

"DAMN IT, YOU TOO!" she raged, glaring at them with her emerald green eyes, "Professor Sparkle was the only one who knew where those notes were!"

"Not to fear, my queen!" Talloway reassured her, grinning optimistically, "Tomorrow, we'll search her compartment. We'll find it for sure!"

"Come on, Spike!" Berry laughed, pounding the table again, "Tell that joke about those two dragons and the diamond dog again!"

The two had long finished their meals, and Berry had convinced Spike to have "just one little sip" of her drinks. The two were having a great time in their cloud of alcoholism, for the wine had fueled Spike to come up with some of the best dirty jokes the magenta mare had ever heard.

"Zo, anyway," the little dragon slurred, glass in hand, "Zhere were zhese two....Dragonz from....Alt-abama, righ'?"

"Uh-huh!"

"And they....Wal' into a bar, righ'?"

"YEAH!"

"So, they're knockin' back a few....MMBEERS....and one says to the o'her, ' 'ey, man....Wanna...' Oh crap, I jus' forgo' it comple'ly!"

"Oh, well," Berry chuckled, "It wasn't that good anyway." She stopped, and gazed over to Spike from across the table suggestively, her eyes blurred by the drinks. "Wanna go back to my compartment?"

Spike would've been happy to just go along with it, and use the classic, "I was drunk, I couldn't control myself" excuse, but he was a good dragon, and decided to think about it first. On his left shoulder appeared a small Fleetwood, who donned a classic example of "pimpware"- A purple suit with a stetson hat, with gold wherever it could be fashioned. On his right shoulder appeared Rarity, with a golden halo over her head.

"Cmon, kid!" Fleetwood coaxed, blowing cigar smoke in his ear, "You know you want to! Who'll ever know?"

"Don't do it, Spike!" Rarity protested on the other shoulder, pinching his other ear, "It's not right!"

"Don't listen to her!"

"Oh, please, Superfly, you think you can convince him? I'm his WIFE!"

Spike began to develop a headache after a while of the two caricatures arguing.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" he yelled, and the two blew up in a puff of smoke.

"Okay, then," he took a moment to regain his composure. "Sure, I'd love to!"

Pimpwood appeared again briefly to flash the Richard Nixon double peace sign in victory, and disappeared again. Spike attempted to swat him away, but failed, as his reflexes were slowed by the many glasses of assorted liquors.

The two began walking down the train to Berry's compartment.

As they entered the compartment, father up the train, in a restricted area, Chrysalis was attempting to get back down the train without being caught by security. She came around a corner, and was startled to see Eldorado strolling casually straight toward her. She had to think fast. Without thought, she shapeshifted into a soda machine.

Eldorado had been taking everypony's tickets for the entire trip so far, and was parched as a result, so Chrysalis was a relieving sight. He popped a quarter into her, and pressed the Coca-Cola button, but was shocked to recieve a drink labeled "Popular Non-Copyrighted Cola Beverage", but he concluded it would do.

He took a drink, but gagged, and spat out a mouthful of changeling larvae. He was blinded in rage by the incident, and began to violently shake the queen in disguise, demanding his money back.

"YA AIRDAMMED METAL SMARTASS!" he roared, shaking her even harder, "I WANTED SODA, YA GAVE ME JELLO!"

Eventually, he gave up and kept on walking up to the engine.

Chrysalis was relieved, the entire event had been quit painful. She regained her original form, and re-entered the permitted area of the train, while almost exactly above her, Steinmetz and Talloway dragged along Twilight's body on the roof, looking for a spot to throw it off....