The C̸̞̙̭̽̌̀̈́̽̕̕ȗ̵̧̨̢̻̩̞̘͙̉̋̊͂͘ŕ̷͖̦̍͝s̵̫̪̋̍͂̆̆͆̄é̶̡̧̺͖d̸͎͒̒̿̈̀ Apocalypse

The other two were equipped as well. Cloudchaser shook with fear, and she kept clutching her taped-up shoulder. Sweat formed in my temple.

"Cloudchaser!" I yelled.

What to do? What to do?

My mind knotted up. They stopped halfway between their previous cover and us. I looked over my shoulders to make sure nobody was surrounding us. Dash was next to the house the boy was hiding behind.

"It's simple. Release him, and we'll release her," the main boy commanded.

I walked further forwards so Twi and the others had a view of me. Sweat covered my skin. I couldn't let them kill Cloudchaser. I'd never forgive myself if that happened. But I didn't believe them.

"Give me one reason why we should trust you," I demanded, keeping a tight grip on the boy.

"Awe, c'mon man. You don't trust us?" he snickered.

There was silence before he talked again. "We can see the blood from over here. The least you could do is trade. C'mon. We don't have much time."

The boy was bleeding pretty badly, but he was putting pressure on it. It was by his left hip, and the bullet had gone through, so no fragments were inside, I assumed. "I ... I still don't trust you." The boy went from peppy to angry in a second.

"Fine then." He pulled Cloudchaser up and shot her in the side.

"No!" Flutters yelled from the station.

He kept grip on her, and she store back in agony.

"Hurry up and decide!" the boy demanded.

"I am! Give me a second!" I kept talking, but got an idea to start inching to the side of them. If I could just get them cornered between Twi, the others, and me ... I could try giving them a clean shot. I hoped the others were picking up on the move.

"There's not much time left now."

Deep inside, I still didn't trust them. Who would? Now I was halfway to my targeted location. I inched on through and tried not making it apparent. Lucky for us, the boys appeared to be dumb. They all kept their eyes and bodies locked to us. They were intimidating, but not too smart.

"Issac!" the boy snapped.

One of the other boys quit looking at me and turned his attention to Twi and Rarity, and the other one drew his gun to the station.

I guess they aren't that stupid ...

"Quit playing stupid games, or you'll win stupid prizes. Now ... on the count of three, we'll release the pony, and if you don't release our brother, we'll blow all your heads off."

Dash cringed by my side. The look in their eyes was deceitful. Untrustworthy.

"One."

The air was tense. Sweat beaded down my forehead. Would they actually trade? I glanced at the others in the station again. They'd had their guns drawn the whole time, so if they were to exchange shots, I prayed they wouldn't die.

"Two."

I kept my eyes locked on the boys. Cloudchaser was ready to leap out. The boy was ready to bolt. My insides burst. Dash shook by my side. C'mon ...

"Three."