Canadian Pacific 5-5

“A table for seven and a table for four,” I said pointing to the ponies and my friends respectively.

The waiter’s expression never changed as she said, “Right this way.”

The place was rather busy but we got tables pretty close together. The server took our drink orders and I began to continue the story.

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Chapter 8: The Turning

Andrew stopped when he saw the horrified looks on our faces.

“What?” he asked, “I just wanted to make sure that they got the message. Plus I kind of enjoyed it.”

“WHAT!?” I exclaimed, “First, that was totally uncalled for. Second, if you enjoyed doing that there must be something wrong with you. Besides how did you get your sword? You know we’re not allowed to bring weapons to school.”

“Well, I can use the shadows like portals. In theory I can step into a shadow here and step out of a shadow in Japan,” Andrew replied, “Now, if you won’t let me enjoy tazing their nuts as a friend I’ll just have to enjoy it as your enemy!”

And with that he stepped into a shadow and disappeared.

A moment later a piece of paper fluttered down from above. I grabbed it and saw that there was a letter written on it. The letter read:

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“Excuse me but are you ready to order?” our server asked.

She wrote down the Mane 6’s orders before turning to me.

“I’ll have the pancake combo please,” I said, selecting from their all-day breakfast menu, “With a side of bacon. But could you send the bacon to my friends?”

I pointed to their table before the server said, “sure”.

As she walked away I noticed the ponies staring at me.

“What?” I said defensively, “I think that eating meat in front of ponies is rather uncouth.”

“We just think that it’s really sweet of you to do that,” Rarity said.

“Aw shucks,” I said blushing a little, “Now as I was saying earlier...”

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The letter read:

Dear Friends;

I’m sorry about Andrew’s sudden personality change. I had created an “Evil Andrew” reference document for one of my friends and Andrew took to it like a moth to a flame. Unfortunately I cannot get rid of the file until he stops using it. Plus, Windows claims that it is now a “read-only” file and I can’t modify it. But there is some good news everyone; I was unable to give Evil Andrew the ability to teleport into my world before he took control. I’m sorry I can’t offer more help right now.

Sincere Apologies;

The Writer

“Well that explains a lot,” I said, “At least we know that the real Andrew would not have gotten that much pleasure out of torturing those men like that.”

We then stood there for a long moment.

John broke the silence when he asked, “Still feel like going to McDonald’s?”

We all nodded and said “yeah, sure.”

Late Wednesday night I got an email from Andrew. The e-mail said to meet him at the abandoned oil field just outside of town at noon on Saturday. The e-mail also said to come alone. Naturally I had to tell John, Brent and Brody about it. They figured it was probably a plan to lure me to the dark side. We figured that it would be best if they came along but stayed out of sight. Saturday rolled around all too quickly and at 10:00 we suited up. We grabbed our swords and sheaths off their wall hooks and hooked them to our belts.

We then grabbed the trench coats given to us by the city as sorry/thank you presents. John’s coat was dark grey, Brody’s was burgundy, Brent’s was a shadowy teal and mine was made from brown leather. I looked over and saw Andrew’s trench coat still hanging there on its hook. It was made of black leather with golden trim. It saddened me to see it just hanging there but it hardened my resolve to bring Andrew back to the side of good. We then walked out to the bus stop and waited for the next bus out of town.

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“Oh, food’s here,” I said, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Our server replied.

As she set down the last plate I doused my pancakes in maple syrup.

“Now where was I?” I said as I chopped my pancakes into bits with my fork, “Oh, yes...”

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We climbed on and paid our fares before taking standing positions in the buses aisle. Two stops before the stop nearest the oil field my friends got off and gave me a small salute as the bus pulled away. When the bus let me off later I was a nervous wreck. I paced back and forth for a minute just trying to steady my nerves. I then folded the chain link fence back. The new hole in the fence was wide enough to drive a car through.

As I walked farther and farther into the oil field I felt an increasing sense of foreboding with every step I took. Soon I was standing amidst the numerous pieces of machinery. I looked up and saw Andrew standing atop one of the derelict oil derricks. As I approached he leapt down and landed in front of me.

“You are extremely smart,” Andrew began, “However the others are holding you back. If you join me I can help you unleash your full potential.”

“I figured you’d say that, Andrew,” I replied, “I can’t stand by and watch you be evil without trying to bring you back first.”

Suddenly John, Brent, and Brody leapt out from behind some of the disused machinery. As my friends drew their swords I stepped back and placed my hands on the pile of rusted steel. I suddenly realized that I had acquired a sort of sense that allowed me to tell where a metal object was. As I reshaped the rust covered machinery I had the irresistible urge to duck. As I dropped closer to the ground I felt the presence of iron race past me, right where my head had been the moment before.

Then I stepped back and admired my creation for a second before turning to Andrew and calling, “You’re grounded!”

Andrew turned to look at me and saw that I was pointing to a 1000-foot tall lightning rod. Andrew became furious and attempted to conjure lightning nevertheless. His attempt was fruitless though as the bolt struck the towering piece of steel and dissipated harmlessly into the ground.

“You haven’t seen the last of me!” Andrew vowed as he blinded us with shadows. When the shadows dissolved a moment later we saw that Andrew had disappeared leaving behind one of his signature fedoras.

“WHAT THE…”Brody began.

I put my hand on his shoulder and said, “There’s nothing more we can do at this point and there’s really no need to get worked up over it either.”

“Come on,” John said, “We should get home. Besides, I’d like you know how Conner dodged that piece of metal. I mean, you weren’t even looking in our direction.”

“I’m not entirely sure myself,” I replied as I began walking, “I think we all may have some sort of sense related to our element…”

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I finished the chapter as the ponies finished their lunches. I then grabbed a spare menu and ran some quick calculations as I found everyone’s meal. Digging out my wallet I figured out the tax and a tip before rounding up to the nearest dollar. I tucked the money beneath the edge of one of the plates before standing up.

“Alright,” I said, “Time to go.”

“Woo!” Pinkie exclaimed, “Let’s get this show on the road!”

Pinkie Pie then bounced out the front door and onto the truck.

“Craziest. Pony. Ever,” Brent said as the rest of the E5 caught up to me.

“And never runs out of energy,” Brody added, “I swear that thing’s just a pony shaped, nuclear powered insanity generator.”

“Don’t be daft!” I replied laughing, “That’s just the tip of the squirrel-shaped iceberg.”