Cryogen

"Should we wake them up?" I hear someone whisper just as I'm starting to wake up.

"I don't know, they look so peaceful... and kind of adorable." A voice which obviously belongs to a certain white unicorn says. I swear if they try to wake me up, so help me-

"WAKE UP!" A high pitched voice yells right into my ear. Despite already being awake, I almost fully jump off the bench, taking Rainbow and Applejack with me who let our their own yelps as they hit the ground.

"Alright, listen here to little pink piece of-"

"Zack!" Twilight says with an annoyed tone. "That's not necessary."

"Don't wake me up and I don't call you a little b-"

"How long have we been out?" Rainbow cuts me off, rubbing the side of her head. I look up at the sky in response, having the shut my eyes to protect them from the burning sunlight.

"Long enough apparently. The train is about to leave, c'mon." Twilight leads the others onto the train, while Rainbow, AJ, and I slowly pull ourselves together. My knees pop as I stand up, causing me to let out a small cry from almost falling over.

"Did she really call us... adorable?" Applejack asks as she readjusts her hat.

"You heard that too?" I ask while stretching my other limbs, trying to get all the kinks out. Benches aren't comfortable no matter how many pony pillows you have.

"Yeah, so did I." Rainbow pipes up. I glance over to her to see her stretching her wings out, bending them at odd angles that just look straight up painful.

"I'm not adorable, and I refused to be called so." I say as I start walking towards the train.

"Same here." Both mares behind me say in unison, causing us all to laugh.

"We never talk about that again, alright?" I say with a smile still on my face as we board the train. They both nod, and we make our way to where the others are sitting. The train is pretty empty aside from us, so I don't have to worry about anyone freaking out over me or anything. The seats hold four ponies each, which means one can hold two ponies and one Zack. I sit down at a seat behind everyone else, drop my bag by my feet, and lean back against the window as I feel the train moving forward, the whistle blowing loud enough to rattle my ears. I close my eyes, hoping to resume my nap when something, or someone plops down on the seat across from me. I open one eye and sigh before closing my eyes again.

"Go away." I mumble at her, curling up against myself to try to warm up.

"Why?"

"Because I'm tired, and I like sleeping alone."

"But the other seats are full thanks to Rarity taking up an entire booth with her weird cushion."

"And why can't you sit alone? Or maybe you could fly alongside the train."

"Because I paid for a ticket, and I'm not going to waste it. Besides, this is a long ride."

"Wait, how long we talkin' here?" I ask, cracking an eye open.

"Like four hours at least. Canterlot might look like it isn't that far, which it isn't really, but the tracks have to wind through a bunch of hills and stuff... Point is, it takes forever to get there."

"Well maybe you should get some sleep then. Y'know, in your own booth."

"What, you don't want me to sit with you or something?" She says with a smirk. I realize that I'm not going to be getting rid of her any time soon, so I sit up and rub my eyes, trying to get the sleep out of them.

"I don't want anyone to sit with me to be honest." I say with a tired chuckle. "I guess I'd take you over some people I know, or uh, knew."

"I'm flattered, really." She says with laugh.

"So, guess I'm not going to be sleeping. What do you want to do for four hours exactly?"

"You could tell me more stories and stuff. Only if they're cool though, I don't like all that boring egghead stuff that you talk about with Twilight over there."

"I could do that, but I want something in return."

"Shoot."

"Tell me more about yourself. I don't really know much about you, and I feel kinda left out when I'm with all of the others because I know almost nothing about you guys."

"Well, what do you wanna know?" She asks, perking up a bit at the thought that I might be slightly interested in what she has to say.

"Do you... like any sports teams? Basketball, football maybe?"

"What and whatball?"

"Nevermind, guess they're lost to time... sadly." I say with a huff.

"I'm a huge fan of the WonderBolts actually. I've seen like almost all of they're shows when I had the chance."

"Who are the WonderBolts?"

"You don't know who they are!?" Rainbow says in a shocked tone, matching Twilight's when I didn't know who this Celestia character was.

"No, I've been here for a little over a week, why do you think I know everything?"

"Right, sorry. They're this flying, stunt team that does all of these amazing tricks and stuff, and they're just so... awesome! I want to join they're team some day, but only the best fliers can make it."

"Sounds like the Blue Angels if you ask me."

"What are Blue Angels?"

"They were this flying team, similar to what you described, only they didn't use wings, as human obviously don't have them. Instead, they used jets which are basically these big machines that you can sit in that can fly. They were part of our military, but they also did shows for civilians, usually over the ocean or at an air base. I think they were cooler than any old pegasus." I say with a smirk.

"I bet I could fly faster than those lame jets." She says, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah right. Those jets could break the sound barrier. Do you even know how fast you need to go to do that?"

"Eh, been there done that. Only pegasus to ever do it actually." She says in a prideful tone.

"Bullshit. You're lying through your little pony teeth. There's no way a living creature could break the sound barrier with wings alone."

"Well tell that to everypony that saw me do it... twice!"

"Yeah, sure. So, what do you want to know about me? I won't lie like you did." I say while smiling at her. She rolls her eyes again, but looks back at me to ask her question.

"What was that thingy that Daring gave you?" She asks. "Y'know, at the party."

"Well, that was a solar charger for my phone and laptop. It uses the sun's energy and changes it into electricity to power my devices. Thanks to her I have at least a couple of luxuries from back in the day." I say while reaching my hand into my pocket. I pull out my phone which is almost fully charged, showing her the lock screen.

"What is that called again? You were talking about it to Twilight but didn't say much about it."

"It's called a cellphone, and it can do so many things, it would blow your little pony mind." I say, making an explosion with my hands, accompanied with a little sound effect from my mouth.

"What does it do?"

"It can do this." I respond, opening the camera app. I point it at Rainbow who only looks at it with a confused look. I snap a picture, the sound of which causing her to jump back a bit.

"What did it do?" She asks, somewhat nervously.

"Look how ugly you are." I show her the picture, trying to hold in my laughter.

"Hey, whoa, watch the insults." Say says with a half smile. "So it's a camera? Why is the picture on the thingy and not printed out."

"It's saved onto the device, it doesn't need to be printed." I say quickly. "Are you self-conscious Rainbow?" I ask while cracking a smile.

"M-me? Of course not, I'm awesome." She says while flipping her hair with a hoof.

"Yeah, keep telling yourself that. So, this thing can also take videos and play them back instantly."

"Really? Show me!"

I turn the phone towards her and press a button, and a little Rainbow on the screen yells, "Really? Show me!"

"That's so cool! How does it do that?"

"I'd explain, but you probably wouldn't understand. It's also kinda eggheady."

" Y'know, you aren't as lame as I thought you were." Rainbow says with a smirk.

"You aren't as annoying as I thought you were."

"Aw, I'm not annoying to you anymore?" She says mockingly.

"I said not AS annoying. You're still up there Skittles." I reach over the table to flick her ear, only to get thrown over the table by the train suddenly slamming to a halt. All I hear is the train's wheels screeching, and Rainbow yelling as I practically land on top of her. The lights in the train flicker, and everyone starts yelling incoherent statements throughout the train.

Everything comes to a stop, tossing me onto the floor, and leaving a crushed Rainbow in her seat. I shake my head, groaning as I do so. Most of the windows had been closed so it is now dark in the train, making it hard to see much of anything.

"Rainbow, you okay?" I ask, coughing to try to clear my throat after choking on my own spit.

"Y-Yeah, I think so." She says weakly, pulling her self off the seat. "You're pretty heavy."

"What's going on!?" I hear Rarity yell. I help Rainbow up before running up front to see the rest of the girls and a few other passengers trying to get the windows open.

"Somebody must have pulled the emergency brake up front." I say as I head back for my bag. I walk past Rainbow and pick up the bag, slinging it over my back. Just in case, and also out of instinct, I pull my gun out and hold it at my side.

"Why do you need that?" She asks a little nervously.

"Just in case... There was no reason the train should have stopped, so I'm just being careful in case something's wrong. I grew up in New York, so I always like being prepared for anything."

I walk past the group of ponies, making my way to the front of the train. I knock against the door that leads to the head car with my gun, hoping the conductor might know what happened.

"Sir, what happened?" I ask through the door, holding the side of my head to the door. No answer. "Sir?" Still no answer. I try to open the door, but it's locked from the inside. I look back at everyone, and motion for them to move back a bit. I take a step back and raise my foot in front of me. "I really hope this works like it does in the movies..."

My leg flies forward, making contact with the wood just under the knob. It makes a crack, but it doesn't break open. I take another shot at it, this time breaking the wood around the lock. The door flies open, and I slowly walk inside, alone.

"Holy shit..." I mumble out loud.

"What? What is it?" Twilight asks from behind me. I look back into the cabin where the conductor is slouched over on the emergency break which has obviously been pulled back. I walk up and tap the conductor, only for him to fall limply out of his seat.

"Zack? What's going on in there?"

"The conductor! He's dead!"