Harmony: Heroes of Gimlé - Arc I: Rainstorm

"B-but Princess! It's all my f-fault!" sobbed a small, violet unicorn filly.

"There, there Twilight everything's going to be alright," said a tall white alicorn mare as she bent down to her knees, in an attempt to be on a more even level with the distraught child before her. "You couldn't have possibly known that any of this would happen," she said.

"B-but I promised him I'd be there early! If I had been there to help like I said I would, it would have worked like it was supposed to and he would have passed and no pony would have gotten hurt and he wouldn't have gotten hurt or blamed or -" once again the little girl burst into tears.

"Oh Twilight..." the alicorn held the filly in an embrace and began sobbing as well. The small unicorn could feel her mentor's tears flowing freely, then without warning, it stopped. What replaced it was the feeling of her arms being squeezed painfully hard and when she was finally able to look upon the figure again, it was no longer Princess Celestia. They were too close to see most of the individual's features except for their eyes, which were completely pitch-black save for the irises which were glowing a vivid electric blue. The figure then shouted in Twilight's face with an angry, terrifying tone and volume.

"No matter what, I will never forgive you for abandoning me and ruining my life, you traitor!"

Planet Gimlé, Equestria, Ponyville (Ponyville General Hospital), April 18th, year 2, Reformation era, 11:17 AM -

Twilight woke up from her dream, tears running down her eyes. It took a moment for her to get her bearings and recall where she was and how she got there, then it all started slowly coming back to her. I must be at the hospital... she thought to herself as she slowly began to regain her senses. She quickly noticed she was covered in bandages and had an iv drip with various fluids being fed into her arm, likely a cocktail of water, healing potions, and painkillers. Then she looked to her left and saw to her surprise, Trixie sitting next to her bed and softly crying as Starlight sat next to her trying to comfort her.

"All those mean things I've said about her and to her, all the times I've tried to one-up her or just get under her skin. Now look at her, she could have died and I'd never have gotten to tell her how much I just wanted to be like her - how much I wanted to be friends with her!" Trixie said, fighting back another wave of tears.

Trixie...I had no idea... Twilight thought to herself as she listened to Trixie as Starlight tried to console her, neither of them having noticed Twilight's return to consciousness.

"But she's alive and well, Trix. You heard the doctor, alicorns have incredible regenerative powers so in a few more days it'll be like nothing ever happened," Starlight reassured her best friend. "That's why she hasn't woken up in a couple of days, her body is just focusing on repairing itself, that's all.” Now Twilight was really confused, why was she even in the hospital in the first place? What had left her in such bad shape as to put her in an alicorn's 'healing sleep' for a couple of days? Furthermore, where were her friends-! It was at this moment she remembered the attack on the train.

"The girls, they need help!" she exclaimed while trying to get up.

"Twilight, don't try to move!" Starlight yelled, getting up from her seat to hold Twilight down. "The others are alright but you're still pretty banged up! Now lie still or you'll just reopen all your wounds!" Upon hearing her friends were safe, Twilight relented and did as she was told, exhaling a sigh of relief as she did so. "I'll go get everypony and let them know you're awake," Starlight said. "Trixie, you stay with her until I get back, should take just a minute," Trixie nodded her head in agreement and Starlight bolted from the room. Trixie turned and stared at Twilight for what felt like ages, trying to decide what to say or how to act. She thought about smarting off to her in an attempt to save face, but Twilight spoke first.

"You know, those tricks you perform at your shows?" Twilight asked Trixie. "They're really amazing and a lot of them are just beautiful to watch. I know your real magic isn't very powerful right now, but what you accomplish without it is really impressive. I mean, you survived going through the heart of the changeling kingdom with barely a scratch, but with all my power I can't even take the train home without ending up like this," Twilight said with a weak smile, hoping to make Trixie feel better. The result, however, was Trixie losing control and starting to ball at the top of her lungs.

"Just what in tarnation is all that ruckus over!?" Applejack asked as she, the other elements of harmony, Spike, Starlight Glimmer, Princess Luna, Princess Celestia, and a few doctors all came running into the room one after the other in quick succession.

"It's my fault...I think," Twilight said as everyone gathered around her, with Starlight rushing over to Trixie's side to comfort her.

"*sniff* No, It's my fault, I've been such a jerk to you Twilight," said Trixie as she fought to regain her composure. "I even ruined the wonderful tea cakes Starlight made for you and the others and made her give you those smelly pretzels," she finished before pulling out a tissue to blow her nose on.

"Then I guess I owe you my life, Trixie," Twilight said, smiling at her. "Those 'smelly pretzels' are probably the only reason I'm talking to any of you right now," she finished. Everyone - especially Trixie - stood there visibly confused by the odd statement.

"...Yeah - think we need to compare notes on this one," Rainbow Dash spoke after a few moments of stunned silence. They then began to do just that, swapping stories of how the attack had unfolded from each of their perspectives.

Planet Gimlé, Equestria, Friendship Express (en route to Ponyville), April 15, Year 2, Reformation era, 12:13 PM -

"I recognize this from my training at the academy! These are military tactics!" RD explained. "I think we've walked into an -" before RD could finish her sentence the doors at both ends of the car opened and a small object was thrown into the car from each end. "- AMBUSH!" Rainbow yelled just before the objects burst, filling the car with thick smoke. As smoke obscured everything around them, Rarity and Fluttershy were grabbed from behind by somepony and in a flash of light, they were gone. Next, it was Applejack and Pinkie Pie's turn to be spirited away, as another assailant ran up behind them, grabbing hold of the two and vanishing with the pair into thin air, with nary a trace left. Finally, Rainbow Dash was seized from behind, and just as with the others she too disappeared in an instant, leaving Twilight to fend for herself.

When she opened her eyes, Rainbow Dash was in the lattermost car of the Friendship Express, still in the clutches of her would-be abductor. "Now I've got you, you little bit-ouch - oof!" the unicorn who had taken her was interrupted when RD had jerked her head back - striking him hard in the nose. She then proceeded to break free from him, and deliver a powerful knee to the gut, followed by a vicious right hook to the face, causing him to fall in a heap on the floor.

"Serves you right, asshole!" Rainbow said with a sneer as she spat on her unconscious attacker, but her victory was short-lived as three more assailants - two pegasi and an earkin - stepped through one of the doors. The pegasi carried a revolver each, the earkin standing in-between them had a repeating rifle and all three took aim and began firing at RD. "Oh fuck!" Rainbow swore as she took cover behind a seat just as a few shots flew past her, one close enough for her to feel the heat coming off it. She looked around hoping for something, anything able to help her and saw the unicorn she'd knocked out had a revolver on his person as well, she reached out and just managed to grab it as another shot whizzed past her outstretched arm. Ok Rainbow, you got this, it's what you trained for! she thought to herself as her attackers drew near. Though she had indeed trained for this kind of scenario and had even been on a few combat missions with the Wonderbolts, she hadn't had to kill anyone yet but this was different, this was life or death and she knew what she would have to do.

For my friends! she thought to herself as she mentally prepared herself for what was coming next. She peeked over the side of her cover and noticed each attacker would move up by one seat one at a time, immediately getting back into cover while the other two stood guard. Well, that tears it! thought Rainbow Dash as she observed the behavior. Definitely military trained, but no uniform or military-grade hardware, so either undercover or possibly a rogue merc guild? RD surmised, racking her brain trying to think why either one would come after her and her friends. "Damn it, figure it out later!" Rainbow said to herself as she heard one of them almost upon her and with her gun at-the-ready, she ducked out of cover to meet her would-be attacker. Before he could fire Rainbow shot first, hitting her enemy square in the head causing him to lurch back and hit the floor - dead.

As Rainbow's fight for survival began, Rarity’s and Fluttershy's own struggle was getting underway as the two found themselves in a similar predicament. The moment they and their abductor materialized in the car just behind the train's engine, the attacker pushed the two away and immediately hit Fluttershy with a kinetic blast spell from her horn, sending her flying across the car towards the engine. "I'll finish her off after I put you down!" the attacker said to Rarity.

"Ohhh, It! Is! On!" Rarity responded angrily. She could see Fluttershy wasn't seriously hurt as the pegasus started to pick herself up, and knew if she wanted to keep her that way she needed to focus on their attacker. Said attacker, believing she'd spotted an opening, lunged at Rarity and found out the hard way what someone who's been practicing the highly aesthetic and potent martial art Bakti Neighgara since the age of four can do. Rarity dealt a sweeping kick to her opponent's advancing leg, causing her to lose her balance and fall forward. During which, Rarity grabbed her opponent's arm with one hand and her face with the other, and using the attacker's own forward momentum to flip her around, slammed her head into the floor, knocking her out cold.

"Sorry darling, but you really shouldn't have been so rude as to threaten any of my friends!" Rarity said to the unconscious mare at her feet. She then noticed a bandage wrapped around the mare's arm and it had slipped just enough to show what seemed to be the hint of a crest, though Rarity couldn't see enough of it to tell what it was. "Now what do we have here?" she asked as she bent over to try and move the bandage back to see what her attacker's crest was, hoping it might help her friends and her figure out who was after them. Unfortunately for Rarity, she hadn't noticed an unfamiliar pegasus sneaking up behind her, though Fluttershy - who had finally gotten up off the floor - did and tried to warn her friend.

"Rarity! Look out!" Fluttershy screamed at her friend, causing Rarity to jump up just in time to see the attack coming, but there wasn't enough time for her to dodge or block the punch that struck her at the base of her horn.

Damn! Rarity thought as she stumbled a bit, nearly tripping over her earlier opponent. Aside from the sharp blow to her head leaving her in a daze, when a unicorn is hit hard below their horn right at its base - just where she had been struck - it temporarily disrupts their ability to channel magic through it. Rarity was stunned and without the use of her horn, at least for a few moments - a few moments she couldn't afford.

"Here, let me help you!" the attacker snarled at Rarity as he grabbed her hard by the wrist and threw her into a nearby seat. He then grabbed a heavy mace from his incapacitated partner as she lay on the floor, and held Rarity down by the scuff of her blouse as he raised the weapon above his head. "Let's see you run your smug-ass mouth once your fuckin' skull’s caved in!" he said menacingly as he prepared to murder the mare before him. Just then, he felt a sharp blow on the back-left side of his head, causing him to drop the mace and stumble back away from his would-be victim. To the shock and dismay of both Rarity and the dazed pegasus, standing behind him in a boxing stance was Fluttershy who began an attack of her own.

"Keep! Your! Damn! Hands! Off of her!" Fluttershy yelled as loud as she could, striking her opponent in the face with a flurry of powerful jabs with every word she screamed. Finally, with one more powerful left jab right between his eyes, the pegasus hit the floor, out like a light with two blackening eyes, a rapidly swelling face, and a broken, bloody nose. Rarity stood up, her mouth hanging open in disbelief as she stared at Fluttershy, then at the pegasus on the floor, then back at her friend again.

"Sweet Celestia, where did you learn to do that darling, and when?" Rarity inquired as she rubbed her forehead where she'd been hit just moments ago.

"Oh, well...back when Dash and I went to our flight school reunion at Cloudsdale we ran into Gilda. Her and I made up and the three of us hung out together through most of it," Fluttershy began explaining. "During that, I told her about my self-confidence issues and she gave me a book on pugilism and taught me a few moves herself, she even said I was a natural and since then, I've been practicing every day and it really has made me feel more confident in myself," Fluttershy said, starting to blush and fidget. "Gilda is a really lovely person once you get to know her..." she trailed off, blushing even harder now.

"Ohhh she is, is she?" Rarity chortled, giving Fluttershy a playful look which only served to make the yellow pegasi's face completely turn a deep shade of crimson. Just then a bullet flew right between the two of them, bringing them back to reality and causing them both to take cover across from each other as three more enemy pegasi entered the car firing revolvers at the duo. "Don't suppose Gilda also gave you a book on gunfighting as well darling?" Rarity asked Fluttershy who was hiding behind a seat just across from her.

"Hmm-umm!" Fluttershy squeaked fearfully as she shook her head no, tears just forming at the corners of her eyes. Rarity looked around hoping something would inspire her to think of a way to get them out of this mess when she noticed the unicorn she had KOed earlier had a smoke grenade like the ones from the start of the ambush.

"Idea!" Rarity cheered, and using a compact mirror she had on her, she peeked in the direction the gunshots had come from and saw their assailants were taking cover near the door to the previous car. Two of them had their heads sticking up enough over the seats to keep an eye on Rarity’s and Fluttershy's location while the other had just begun to slowly make his way forward between the rows of seats. Enough time had passed for her to regain use of her magic, and so with a singular motion while pulling its pin she levitated the smoke bomb at high speed towards the third attacker, accidentally hitting him below the crotch. He fell to his knees with a scream of pain and curled up like a worm on a fishhook. A moment later the entire end of the car was shrouded in smoke, giving Rarity the chance to leap out of cover and attack using her own kinetic blast spell. Though she couldn't see through the smoke, thanks to Rarity's near eidetic memory being surpassed only by Twilight's, she remembered exactly where her opponents were located and hit all three. When the smoke cleared the three assailants lay unconscious and Rarity let out a sigh of relief, glad that she and Fluttershy were still alive, though still aware the danger had not yet passed.

While all of this had been happening, Applejack and Pinkie Pie along with their abductor appeared several cars down from the middle car where they had been taken from, and just a few cars in front of the last car where Rainbow Dash was. Pinkie immediately slipped away from the unicorn's grasp and before he could react, AJ bucked him hard in the chest, sending him flying backward nearly to the other end of the car leaving him a crumpled, incapacitated heap on the floor. "Y’all alright Pinkie?" Applejack asked as she looked around to see if the coast was clear.

"I'm a whooole lot better-off than that guy," Pinkie said, pointing to the downed unicorn who miraculously didn't seem to be at risk of death, though no doubt he'd cracked several ribs - at least - and wouldn't be moving around a whole lot anytime soon. Then the door in front of the unicorn flew open and in charged an earkin stallion with a shotgun followed by an earkin mare with a tomahawk, murderous intent in their eyes. "Don't worry AJ, we can take them!" Pinkie said as she pulled a cupcake from seemingly out of nowhere and tossed it at the stallion, smacking him in the face, blinding him as Applejack leaped into the air and kicked him square in the head, leaving the earkin down for the count. Aside from the other services the Apple clan had provided Ponyville, they'd also served as protectors for the village in times of need, and AJ was no stranger to combat, having helped to fend off the occasional bandit attack here and there. AJ drew her bowie knife as the earkin mare headed straight for her, their weapons coming together in a stalemate. Just as the two crossed weapons, Pinkie was visibly stricken with another shiver down her spine, signaling more danger.

"Errr - what is it Pinkie!?" Applejack grunted, having seen Pinkie react to the shiver from out of the corner of her eye while still locked in a struggle with her opponent.

"I think Rainbow Dash needs my help!" shouted Pinkie, not entirely sure how she knew this.

"Then git!" AJ shouted back as her weapon parted ways with her enemy's, only for them to lock together again when she took another swing at AJ with her tomahawk. "I'll be fine here on my own, just hurry up and get to Dash!" AJ said to Pinkie.

"But Applejack!" Pinkie yelped.

"Go! Now!" Applejack ordered Pinkie.

"Fine, but if you get killed, I’ll never forgive you!" Pinkie yelled at AJ as she turned and headed for the last car.

"Pinkie promise Ah won’t, sugar-cube!" AJ hollered back at Pinkie Pie before turning her full attention to her opponent.

"Looks like it's just you and me now, 'sugar-cube.'" AJ's attacker said, using a mock country accent when saying sugar-cube.

"Whoa Nelly, are y’all maken' fun of my countryisms!?" Applejack asked, a mixture of anger and offense audible in her voice.

"Wow, and here I thought an inbred hick like you wouldn't have the brain cells needed to understand when somepony was talking to- ugh!" she was cut off when AJ kneed her hard in the stomach, then shoved her back.

"I don't much appreciate that there accusation you bitch!" AJ said furiously. Applejack was on the attack now, slashing and swiping wildly at her enemy, her opponent barely managing to block AJ's attacks, but with one well-placed swing by AJ's adversary, both their weapons went flying out of each other's grasps. The two mares scrambled to retrieve their weapons but when AJ found the shattered remains of the tomahawk she gulped hard saying "Oh boy..."

"That was my favorite tomahawk you hick-bitch!" said the other mare, as Applejack looked up to see her holding the bowie knife. "I think this will make a decent enough replacement though..." she said with a sneer.

"That there belonged to my Pa..." AJ said with an angry tone to her voice.

"Oh, poor thing," AJ's opponent said mockingly. "Here, you can have it back then!" she said as she prepared to throw the knife at Applejack.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, sugar-cube," AJ warned her attacker. Applejack's enemy smiled, giving a quick chuckle as she chucked AJ's knife at her, only for it to fly less than three feet before stopping mid-air then flipping left and flying right back at her, sinking itself deep into her throat, the tip jutting out the back of her neck.

"What the fuck?..." the mare barely managing to gargle out her last words before falling to the floor dead.

"Sorry there, miss, I tried to warn y’awl. That there's an Apple clan heirloom and it don't take none too kindly to ponies using it without its owner's permission - especially against an Apple clan member," AJ explained as she pulled the blade from the corpse's throat. Despite the fact she just pulled it from a recently active carotid artery, the bowie knife was completely immaculate, showing not a single speck of dirt or blood, thanks to it being forged from white mythril, the second rarest form of mythril on Gimlé.

As Applejack looked over the tool left to her by her late father, more enemies entered the car, two more earkin with revolvers and two pegasi armed with a rifle each. AJ didn't miss a beat, lunging for the shotgun left by the earkin she'd knocked out earlier, then leaping over three of the seats to meet the two new earkin in the car’s front, shooting both of them dead in quick succession before they could react. She then turned her attention to the hostile pegasi. As one tried to raise his rifle, she closed the distance between them and slammed the butt of her shotgun into the side of his face, knocking him out before he'd lifted his firearm enough to take aim. Next it was the other pegasi's turn but as he aimed his weapon at Applejack, she drew her knife once more and ran it through the side of the rifle's barrel, keeping her opponent from firing a single shot. With that out of the way, AJ pulled the weapon from the pegasi's grasp, and then smashed him square in the jaw, sending a few of his teeth flying and leaving him out cold. Applejack had been forced to kill attacking bandits in the past, but still wouldn't take anypony’s life if she could avoid it.

In the lattermost car, Rainbow Dash - having just shot the second pegasus in the chest - aimed with her appropriated revolver at her remaining combatant - the earkin with the repeating rifle - just as he aimed at her. Their gunfight had been drawn-out and bloody, with Rainbow having been shot through the far side of her right leg causing every pained step she took to be a challenge, as well as leaving her pegasi opponents dead, and the earkin before her missing an ear. "Its a draw," said Rainbow - knowing one couldn't take a shot without risk the other would too - and secretly hoping against all hope she wouldn't have to kill anyone else. The earkin was silent for what felt to Dash like an eternity before letting out a sigh, then staring into Dash's eyes and replying.

"Signing on, me and my comrades all knew this would likely be a suicide mission," the earkin said, speaking as calmly as he possibly could. "I can't speak for all of us, but personally, I don't want anypony on this train to die - not even you or your friends. But this isn't about what any of us want, it's about what's necessary for the greater good..." he said, as he slowly began to squeeze the trigger of his firearm. "... and all of us are prepared to sacrifice everything, even ourselves if needed!" Realizing she was about to be shot, Rainbow panicking, squeezed the trigger of her gun just as the stallion in front of her did so - *click*. The sound made by the empty guns seemed to echo on forever as the two stared at one another in complete silence but unharmed, knowing full well the only reason either was still alive was little more than sheer dumb luck. Suddenly, the door on the forward end of the car flew open and in pronked Pinkie.

"Dashy! I'm here to rescue you!" the pink pony blurted out.

"Pinkie!? What are yo- oof!" Dash shouted as the earkin tackled her to the ground, landing on top of her and pinning her down. He had tossed aside the spent rifle and drawn a small knife which he was attempting to sink into RD's throat. As she lay there, using all her strength to push back against her attacker, she wished she could use her pegasus magic, but knew there simply wasn't enough room for her to safely do so, or she'd have ended the fight long ago. As the earkin pressed the knife further and further down - the tip piercing Rainbow's flesh just enough to draw blood - he was about to finish the pegasus off when Pinkie called out to him.

"Yoo-hoo!" Pinkie cried out to the earkin, and instinctively he turned to look at her, his jaw-dropping open at the sight before him. To the would-be killer's dismay, Pinkie Pie was pointing at him with a large blue cannon with large dandelion pictures taking up most of its pink wheels. Pinkie's party cannon was nearly as big as she was, begging the question - where had she pulled the weapon out from?

"B-but how!? Where!?" the earkin babbling as he sat up, dropping his knife in the process due to the shock of seeing a large piece of artillery, which had seemingly just appeared out of nowhere, aimed right at him.

"Word of advice pal," Rainbow said, drawing the earkin's attention back to her. Knowing he was no longer a threat to her, Rainbow Dash had her hands behind her head as if relaxing, an incredibly smug look on her face as she spoke to her attacker. "It's Pinkie Pie, don't question it. Trust me, buddy, you'll be much better off," she finished. The earkin opened his mouth to say something to RD, but never got the chance as Pinkie fired the party cannon, launching a mass of cake batter and confetti straight at the hapless assailant, sending him flying through the car's back door and off the train entirely. "Ok, maybe I wasn't quite right about the whole 'being much better off' thing," Dash said as she stared through the hole where a door had been before her enemy's exit. Rainbow then looked over at Pinkie and was about to thank her when she saw another earkin sneaking up behind her.

"Look out!" RD called out to Pinkie Pie, who didn't need telling twice as she quickly flipped the party cannon's barrel upward and holding on to its exit, leaped up to slam her foot onto the side of one of the seats. Pinkie then kicked off against it, spinning the cannon and herself around so it now faced the new enemy, at which point Pinkie then flipped the barrel back down so it was now aimed at the unlucky attacker. Pinkie then donned a sinister smile as she prepared to fire the weapon, the pony in front of her seeing the expression on her face and realizing what was about to happen said just two words.

"Awwwww, crud..." he was then blasted clear across the car to the front where he then - thanks to earkin having very strong bones and durable bodies - found himself quite literally stuck in the door at just under his chest, pinning his arms to his sides. He'd hit the door with just enough force to bend it in such a way as to jam it, and looking up he saw a few of his allies on top of the train looking down at him, having come to see what had caused all the noise.

"Hey, Reg! So...did ya get em yet?" one of them shouted down to the trapped earkin, completely missing the obvious.

"Oh yeah, this is just how my clan has celebrated victory for generations, by rammin’ our damn skulls through friggin’ doors hard enough to nearly knock ourselves clean out!" Reg replied with a clearly annoyed and sarcastic tone in his voice.

"Really? Sounds kind of painful to me," said another one who was very confused by his friend's strange family tradition. Reg let out a groan of frustration at the stupidity of the two morons above him, half wishing he'd been the one who had gotten evicted from the locomotive. As RD and Pinkie could hear the attacker she had just lodged in the door in front of them arguing with somepony outside about something, Pinkie offered a hand to Rainbow, who was still on the floor.

"What do you think that's about?" Pinkie asked as she turned to look at Rainbow, but saw she was staring sadly at one of the pegasi she had killed.

I...I killed him... RD thought as she gazed at the corpse, she felt like she was going to be sick. Everypony she'd killed during the fight - though they'd been trying to kill her and her friends - were still ponies, they must have friends, families, maybe even lovers, - none of whom would ever see them again - all because of her. They were alive...and I killed them...me... Rainbow was still mulling it over in her mind, struggling to wrap her head around it when she was brought back to reality by a hand on her shoulder.

"Dashy...I know it hurts, but you can't think about that right now," Pinkie said to her friend. Growing up on a rock farm in the middle of nowhere she'd seen a few bandit attacks, her family members and her having even been forced to fight to the death against them, so she had some idea of what Dash was going through right now. Pinkie then noticed Rainbow's gunshot wound, which was still bleeding somewhat. The bullet had gone clear through Rainbow's leg but entered far enough out from the bone that it wasn't too serious an injury. Pinkie knelt down to tend to her using some extra ribbons she carried with her to tie a clean hanky she had over the wound and then spoke to her friend again. "It's terrible having to do something like that, but you didn't have a choice. It was either you or them, and they would have just gone after the rest of us next and either we would have had to kill them or we'd be killed by them," Pinkie said as she finished applying the makeshift bandage to Rainbow's leg.

"If we let it get to us right now though, we could end up losing our friends to them, so, for now, we need to stay focused on getting to the others, then once this is over we can all cry about this together," Pinkie said standing up and giving Dash a big, earnest - yet sad - smile, minuscule tears forming in the corners of her eyes as RD noticed her mane was drooping a bit.

"Pinkie..." Dash's voice trailing off as she spoke her friend's name, realizing she wasn't the only one disturbed by the bloodshed. Rainbow knew Pinkie had had to kill a couple of bandits during a raid on her family's rock farm when she was young. In fact, it had been what caused her to move to Ponyville where her Nana Pinkie had finished raising her. It had taken Pinkie years to come to grips with what had happened but she had, though not since that awful day had Pinkie been in a position like this and it had to be taking its toll on her. Dash knew she was right, they couldn't afford the luxury of breaking down right now, and turning to Pinkie she said: "Right, let's figure out where the others are and how to get to them asap!"

"Don't think we can go through here," Pinkie said as she examined the door Reg was occupying.

"Hey, better idea!" Rainbow smirked, pointing out the missing door toward the back of the car. With that, the two rushed over to their exit and climbed up to the top of the train, where they saw a few dozen ponies were all spread out along the train's roof, armed with varying forms of weaponry. Axes, swords, flails, revolvers, rifles, shotguns, and more, all wielded by a diverse mix of pegasi, unicorns, and earkin. It wouldn't be easy but Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie were ready to go.

Pinkie taking note of the opposition spoke to RD. "I know there's a whole bunch of them Rainbow but don't worry, as long as we stay together we'l-"

"Oh, they're in for it now Pinks!" Dash interrupted, a confident smile spreading across her face. This was just what she'd been waiting for, open-air, and now the ball was in her court. Rainbow was a decent fighter on foot, but give her the sky and she was truly a force to be reckoned with. RD took a deep breath and exhaled as she readied herself for takeoff, then just as the enemy finally noticed her and Pinkie, with her small wings buzzing like those of a hummingbird, she rocketed towards her adversaries. In a flash she had knocked several of them off the train. Seeing this, eight well-armed pegasi took to the air as well to engage Dash in a vicious aerial dogfight, while all of them strove to keep up with the speeding train.

As she watched her friend literally fly circles around her attackers, Pinkie smiled and waved happily in Rainbow's direction as she shouted, "Okie-dokie-loki, that works too Dashy!" Rainbow was untouchable, zooming around her pegasi foes faster than some of them were even able to track despite pegasi having 20/4 vision. Though being armed to the teeth as they were did give them a slight advantage - or so they thought. As one of them came up behind Rainbow she took careful aim at her blue adversary. Taking into account target deflection she was about to shoot Rainbow when in the blink of an eye Dash was gone.

Before the attacker could even try to look for her target, she felt a hoof slam into the small of her back as Dash struck her from above at blinding speed, sending the pegasus tumbling down through the air, then RD flew back around and followed up with a sharp right hook to the face - knocking her out. Dash then grabbed her by the ankles and dumped the unconscious foe safely on the ground, then proceeded to dispense with her other opponents similarly, defeating them all one by one till she alone commanded the sky. She had opted to not KO a couple of pegasi instead, busting one wing on each of them, forcing them to land, and as they watched the train fade into the distance, they turned to one another confused as to why they were still alive.

"This makes no sense, we should all be dead right now!" said a white pegasus to his red counterpart. "Does she really take us so lightly as to think we're not worth putting down!?" he asked.

"...I don't think that's it..." the red pegasus answered, straining to look back at his broken wing, which as far as he could tell had suffered no permanent damage. "If it was like that she wouldn't have gone to the extra trouble and risk of catching our buddies when she knocked them out, and she clearly has the skill to take us out so that's not it either. The rest of them are the same way, only killing us off as needed. Call me crazy, but I don't think they want to kill anypony," surmised the red pegasus.

"Then care to remind me why we're trying to kill them in the first place!?" the white pegasus demanded to know. "Cause last I checked, the oath says 'defending th- !'"

"I know what the damn oath says, and you know why we're doing this!" the red pegasus angrily interjected. A deafening silence filled the air between them and they both stared at the ground, neither wanted to kill their targets but they had no choice. "It's them or Equestria," the red pegasus finished glumly.

Back above the train Dash was about to engage more enemies when she happened to look over at the car just behind the engine and saw Rarity waving to her out one of the windows. Dash was overjoyed and flew down to see her friend, "Boy am I glad to see you, Rarity!" Rainbow happily greeted her as she stuck her head in through the window.

"Oh, I'm overjoyed to see you as well darling!" Rarity said to Rainbow, almost wanting to jump out of the window and give her friend a Pinkie Pie-esque hug.

"Are you alright!? Are the others with you!?" Rainbow asked fearing the worst for them.

"Fluttershy's with me and we're alright, but I haven't the slightest clue where the others are," Rarity said with urgency in her voice. "So you haven't seen any of our friends yet?" she asked Rainbow.

"Well, Pinkie's with me and -" Dash was cut off by the sound of the party cannon going off somewhere above them and Pinkie cackling as several batter-covered ponies were ejected from the train's roof.

"Party cannon?" Rarity asked in a dry, monotone voice with a blank expression on her face.

"Party cannon," Rainbow answered back with the same tone and expression. "We’ve got to find the others!" Rainbow said.

"You've got to find the others. Fluttershy and I had to barricade the door to the back to slow these...ruffians down. The door to the engine won't budge so until we thin these hooligans out a bit, I'm afraid we're trapped in here for the moment," Rarity explained. Just then, one of their attackers shoved an arm through the backdoor's window and tried to aim his gun at Rarity, only for Fluttershy - who was right next to the door - to punch his arm hard enough to break it, causing him to drop the weapon and retract the damaged limb with a howl of pain.

"Don't worry, I'll handle this, starting with finding Twilight!" RD said confidently. Just then the two mares noticed a flash of purple light coming from the centermost car and recognized it at once.

"Hey, I'm pretty good at this!" Dash said as she headed off toward the source of the flash. As soon as she reached her destination, she looked through a window and sure enough, there was Twilight with a barrier spell around her deflecting numerous bullets being shot at her from both ends of the car. Every once in a while she'd open a small gap in the barrier just big enough to squeeze a kinetic blast through and incapacitate an enemy, but as one went down they would be pulled out of the car by an ally and a new combatant would take their place. It was obvious the attackers had labeled Twilight a priority and were determined to eliminate the princess of friendship by any means necessary, though at the moment it seemed far too lofty a goal as she remained completely unharmed thus far. "Don't worry Twilight, the cavalry’s here!" Dash exclaimed just before ducking below the window as a bullet was sent her way, preventing her from entering Twilight's car.

"No Rainbow Dash, stay out of here!" Twilight ordered while still maintaining her barrier.

"But it looks like you could use some help!" Dash pointed out while keeping her head safely below the window, forcing her to shout to be heard over the wind outside.

"No, I'm alright for now, but I can't keep this up and cover you while you climb in. You need to find the others, then let me know when all of you get to the roof, once you do I'll teleport up there with you and then teleport us all home!" Twilight said, shouting her plan to RD, fully aware the enemy could likely hear every word but not seeing any other option.

"Can't you teleport up there first and then I'll get the others to you or something?" Dash asked Twilight.

"And let them swamp the roof like this? It's clear I'm their main target so they'll likely continue to focus their forces wherever I'm at at the time, and it will take most of them a while to get up there and that will give me enough time to get us the Hell out of here! If I head up there now before you and the others get into place, you wouldn't be able to get close enough to me for all of us to leave, and I won't go without you!" Twilight explained to her friend.

"Ohhh - fine, but be ready to leave soon!" Dash shouted as she took off to find Applejack. She'd no sooner begun her search, when she saw a unicorn fly out a window on a car near the back of the train and from the same window out popped AJ's head as she shouted after her now long-gone foe.

"And don't yawl dare tell me 'My Mother was a whore' ever again!"

"Wow AJ, what the Hell was that all about!?" Rainbow Dash asked her friend.

"Rainbow Dash, I'm sure glad to see y’awl are alright! That thar’ suma-bitch and two of his buddies, been talkin' shit bout my family - like callin' my Ma a ‘whore’ and such!" Applejack said, clearly furious about the insults aimed her way, but none the less thrilled to see Rainbow alive and well.

"Ugh...Not too bad for a hick..." said a pegasus as he started picking himself up off the floor right behind Applejack, and began making his way toward her. "Guess you're a lot tougher than I tho- oof!"

"Hey back there, would yawl mind pipin’' down for a spell?" AJ asked calmly as - without even turning away from her friend - she bucked the would-be attacker hard in the mouth, knocking most of his teeth - and him - out.

"Look AJ, I found everypony and Twilight has a plan to get us out of here, so we need to move now!" Dash instructed.

"Well, what are we waitin' for, sugar-cube!?" Applejack replied happily.

While the others readied for their escape, Twilight continued to successfully keep her attackers at bay - though for how much longer she'd be able to was anyone's guess. "Damn, you heard her, they're going to make a break for it soon!" said one assailant to the others as they stood just outside Twilight's car.

"What are we gonna do? We can't let them escape, and we're just about out of reinforcements!" said another enemy.

"We're almost at Friendship Station at Ponyville and on top of that, I can't get Sightshroud to answer the fuckn' radio!" For all we know, the bastard's not even on the stupid train anymore!" a third one informed them as he entered their car.

"B-but he was supposed to be holed up in the engine car- keeping his illusion spell up! You telling me there might not even be anything covering up what's happening on the train right now!? The ancestor's-damned military could be on top of us any minute!" said the second one in disbelief.

"Furyin was right, his brother's a no-good coward! Traitor must have ditched us the minute the train hit the countryside, right when we started the attack!" said the first one angrily.

"Then we have no choice, we'll have to go with plan B," the third one said, his comrades nodding in agreement. Twilight stood ready to fight on - her barrier still up - when she saw a makeshift white flag wave in the doorway. This confused her quite a bit but gave her a sliver of hope the battle might finally be over.

"What is it? Are you ready to surrender?" Twilight asked, still not dropping her guard or her barrier.

"Actually, I was about to ask you the same thing," said a large earkin as he stepped through the doorway, holding a small pegasus in front of him with one arm, a revolver pointed at his head. Judging by the clothes the pegasus was wearing Twilight surmised he was the train's firepony, whom they must have taken hostage sometime after the train had departed. The Friendship Express was designed to only need coal shoveled into its furnace once every several hours thanks to both its physical construction and the various enchantments it was imbued with. Twilight knew this meant her foes needn't fear the train stopping without him for a while, thus they could afford to kill him if she didn't comply and she feared what might happen if she made any miscalculations with her next move. "Put down you're barrier, stick your hands straight in the air - fingers spread wide, get on your knees, and close your eyes, and I promise it will be quick and painless," said the earkin as the rest of his allies poured into the car from behind him - guns drawn and trained on the alicorn princess.

"Promise me you won't hurt him! Twilight yelled at the pony before her.

"I give you my word Princess, no pony else on this train has to die today, just you," the earkin said to Twilight.

"Fine," she said, doing as she had been told while the surrounding enemies prepared to open fire on her.

"Sorry, I wish there were another way, but this has to be done," said the earkin as he pointed his gun at Twilight, preparing to shoot her along with the others. Just as they were about to fire, a piercing violet light flashed from her horn, blinding her attackers, and leaving them immobilized, Twilight had used her crowd-freezing spell to trap everyone in the car but her and the firepony. She immediately ran to the firepony who was lying on the floor to see if he was alright and after a quick check, she determined he was unharmed much to her relief.

"Get up, we got to go now!" Twilight said looking behind her to make sure no one was coming up behind her. "My friends should be waiting for me on the roof, once we're together I can get all of us to safety, but I can't keep my crowd-freezing spell up forever, so we have to go right now!" Twilight said as she turned back around to face the firepony, only to be met with a revolver pointed right below her horn - barely a centimeter above her forehead - by the very pony she had just rescued. This had been a miscalculation on Twilight's part, she hadn't once considered the hostage might be a diversion just to get her to drop her guard, that the firepony might be one of them, or that after everything she had been through over the last two years, that a simple train ride back home with her friends might cost her, her life. *Bang!* Twilight had just started channeling energy into her horn for a protection spell while simultaneously trying to back away from the gun when the firepony had fired it. As a result, he had barely missed shooting her and instead had shot her horn right above the base - the bullet bouncing off due to the protective power she'd been pouring into it for a barrier spell - and cracked it, causing her to fall backward and slam her head hard onto the floor.

The other enemies - freed from Twilight's spell - started getting up off the floor, picking up their weapons as they went. Twilight stood up as well, in an unbelievable amount of pain due in part to getting a concussion and even more to her now cracked horn, being perhaps the worst physical pain of her entire life. When a unicorn, or alicorn, in this case, suffers an injury of this kind, it can make using their horn dangerous as magic channeled through it is highly unstable and unpredictable. Though there are certain exceptions depending on the cause of the damage, a damaged horn can heal over time - even if broken clean off - and in the case of alicorns, a damaged horn takes even less time to heal, but Twilight didn't have anywhere near that much time. Unable to think clearly and with desperation setting in as her assailants prepared to finish the job, Twilight began trying to cast a barrier-push spell in the hope she might be able to clear an escape path.

Meanwhile on the roof of the train, as the last few would-be assassins were promptly dealt with by the rest of the elements, who were slowly but surely drawing near their agreed-upon rendezvous point, the two remaining enemies (who happen to be the ones annoying Reg earlier with their obliviousness), snuck down to where he was trapped and attempted to free him. "Reg, I thought you said you got them!" said one of them - a unicorn mare as she began using magic to try to shove her friend back through the door.

"Yea Reg, why celebrate gettin' em if you didn't get em?" added another pony - this one a pegasus stallion - as he pushed against Reg's face, also trying to extricate him from the door.

Why couldn't that stupid cannon have killed me? Reg thought to himself, unable to freely speak his mind at the time due to the combined pressure on his face keeping his mouth sealed shut. Then just as the dense duo managed to free Reg, a fierce rumbling shot through the whole train, something which had not gone unnoticed topside as the elements looked around, confused as to what might be causing it.

"What in Sam Hill is goin' on now!?" Applejack asked irritably as the train began to shake more and more sporadically.

"Girls, I think it's Twilight!" Pinkie yelled, causing the others to turn and see her shivering uncontrollably, "I think she needs our he-!" Pinkie never got to finish her warning as the middle car - which was right in front of them - ruptured in a flash of purple light. As the five mares were catapulted into the air, all making attempts at a safe landing, Pinkie fired her party cannon midair at the ground, right where she was headed, to create a soft landing for herself. AJ aimed in the general direction she seemed to be headed and threw her knife at the ground, its magical properties turning the otherwise hard ground into a large, soft, bubble of mud, breaking her fall, though at the small price of a slight blow to her dignity, as the result was a sprained ankle and her being covered head-to-toe in mud. Rarity was lucky enough to be in close proximity to Fluttershy, who safely caught the unicorn as she flew through the air. Rainbow was closest to the explosion and as she took off, she did her best to dodge the incoming debris but was struck in the head by a small piece causing her to fall out of the sky and land near the obliterated car.

Twilight lay on the tracks, motionless - at first - but slowly opened her eyes and looked around, and seeing the destruction she'd wrought she felt panic start to well up within her. I...have to...find...my friends... she thought to herself as she tried to stand up, but the only limb not broken by her failed spell was her left arm. Her wings, legs, and right arm were badly broken. Even her horn was now almost completely broken, the pain was nearly unbearable. Still, she continued dragging herself through the wreckage of the train, desperate to find her friends, when Twilight heard somepony walking up behind her, she barely managed to flip herself over to see the badly injured - but still quite mobile - earkin stallion that had taken the firepony "hostage" earlier. The stallion was covered head-to-hoof in painful-looking cuts and bruises, his left leg was a twisted mess, and his breathing was ragged and forced, and his eyes were filled with rage.

"You cunt!" he bellowed at Twilight before lunging on top of her and wrapping his fingers tightly around her throat, determined to strangle the life out of the young mare. Twilight couldn't breathe, couldn't get away, and even if her horn wasn't so badly damaged, she had neither the strength or focus to cast even the simplest magic. Desperate, Twilight groped around with her left hand for something, anything she could use to save herself. That’s when she felt the bag of spicy pretzels Trixie had given her on Starlight's behalf. Thinking quickly, she reached into the bag and grabbed a handful of the now pulverized pretzels and threw the dust directly into the earkin's face, causing him to leap backward and up away from the princess, using his unbroken leg, and loudly scream in agony. As he stumbled backward in pain, Twilight fought to stay awake while using her remaining stamina to crawl away from the earkin, but she'd barely gotten a few feet away when he managed to wipe enough of the agonizing powder from his eyes to see her trying to escape and shouted at her, "Just where do you think your g-!?" he was silenced by a sizable pipe with enough force to kill him instantly.

"Son of a bitch!" a furious and badly battered Rainbow Dash snarled at the dead earkin, as she held onto the improvised weapon. Her wings seemed roughed up, but unbroken and she was barely able to walk. She had scrapes and bruises up and down her body, otherwise, though, her crash landing hadn't seemed to cause too much damage to her. "Heard that ass-hole screaming in pain and went to see what the deal was, found you here Twilight...Twilight!?" Rainbow tried to get her friend to respond, but Twilight's consciousness was fading quickly. As she turned her head toward a small, nearby patch of woods, Twilight saw what looked like a pony in a tattered, brown cloak watching her from just behind one of the trees, in her condition she couldn't be sure but he looked somewhat familiar.

"Shadow Lock?..." Twilight barely managed to whisper the name of the unicorn she and her friends had gone up against just three days earlier when everything went black.

Planet Gimlé, Equestria, Ponyville (Ponyville General Hospital), April 18th, year 2, Reformation era, 12:43 PM -

Rainbow Dash was walking down one of the halls at Ponyville General on her way to see Spitfire, captain of the Wonderbolts, who'd asked to speak with her just a short while ago. As Rainbow headed towards her destination, she was lost in thought over the accounts the others had given on their experiences during the attempt on the lives of her friends and her, still processing everything that had happened as of late. After Twilight had explained to everyone how Trixie's snacks had saved her life by buying her enough time for Rainbow to find her, it had hit Twilight that in her own words, "If it wasn't for those 'smelly pretzels' she’d be dead" and upon stating this fact out loud she'd burst into tears, and to everypony’s surprise, Trixie was the first to try to comfort the princess of friendship, with a tearful embrace. I Can't make up my mind which is more shocking. Twilight's life being saved by those crappy pretzels, or Trixie actually crying for Twilight and being nice to her for once... Rainbow thought to herself as she continued down the hallway.

She also thought about what Princess Celestia had said, "You should be well enough to travel in a few days, and as soon as you are, I want all of you to report to Canterlot Palace - that means the three of you as well," Celestia had said gesturing towards Spike, Starlight, and Trixie. "By then preparations should be complete, and we'll have some more long-term protection ready for you. Until then, all of you shall remain here together while Princess Luna personally stands guard over you, ," she'd informed them. When asked what she meant by "long-term protection" Celestia had told them, "Shining Armor and I have been busy picking out some of Equestria's best warriors to look after you until the culprits behind this attack are brought to justice," she'd then given another long pause before going on. "I've also sent word to an old friend of mine - somepony you were once acquainted with long ago Twilight," and when pressed for further information about who she was referring to, she had only answered, "He's a very skilled mercenary whom I trust dearly," Then before anyone could question her further, Celestia had left the room at a brisk pace, no doubt wanting to get back to choosing the aforementioned guards who would soon be watching over them.

I get the guard detail, but why some random merc? Is he some kind of ex-Wonderbolt or some freelance unicorn demon hunter? Maybe he's some ancient dragon warrior that helped the Princess defeat some horrible monster from a thousand years ago, or maybe he is some kind of horrible monster from a thousand years ago! Rainbow was so lost in thought she almost smacked right into the door to the small office where she was supposed to meet Spitfire. Rainbow let out a sigh and then knocked on the door, unsure of what to expect. She'd already been debriefed about the incident and had even filled out a detailed report on it (With twelve copies! Carbon paper won’t make that many copies, each had to be filled in by hand!), which had not been fun. Perhaps that was what this was about, maybe she'd made a mistake on it and Spitfire had come to personally chew her out over it?

Dash gulped as she heard a gruff, somewhat raspy, yet still clearly female voice bark from the other side of the door, "Come in!".Dash did as she was told and opened the door to find a brilliant gold pegasus mare with fiery hair, strong orange eyes somewhat obscured by a pair of dark aviators sunglasses, and wearing a dark-blue mare’s suit and tie, adorned with a myriad of service medals. "Ah, there you are Crash, have a seat," Spitfire said, addressing RD by her Wonderbolts handle, a name which had once been a great source of pain for her but had been redefined for her by the elite corps, and now was something she took great pride in. This caught Rainbow off guard, as she had expected to be yelled at for something, but even though Spitfire's voice still held a serious no-nonsense tone to it, there seemed to be just the slightest hint of gentleness barely audible within. Rainbow knew better than to make her commanding officer repeat herself, so she did as instructed and sat down in front of the desk, which according to the wooden nameplate facing her, belonged to a "Dr. Top". Though the silence hanging in the air felt like it went on forever to Dash, in reality, it was mere moments before Spitfire spoke again.

"I've read through your report, Crash," Spitfire said to Rainbow.

Celestia damn it, I did screw-up something in my report! Dash thought to herself, dread starting to sink in. "Sorry, ma’am! I'll do better ne-!" Rainbow was silenced with a wave of her superior's hand. Oh crap, now I'm really gonna get it! Dash thought as she braced herself for the dressing-down of the century, but it never came.

"Your work that day was exemplary, and we're all proud of you soldier," Spitfire said with a warm smile, leaving Rainbow Dash speechless, "From what's here in your report, and what we've learned from other reports regarding the events that took place during the April 15th incident, you performed admirably in the face of adversity. Overcoming incredible odds, keeping calm in the face of almost certain death, and even managing to save Princess Twilight Sparkle's life. You've done the Wonderbolts and your country proud!" Spitfire exclaimed. Dash sat there in stunned silence for the longest time, unsure of how to react. She’d been expecting some kind of scolding from the commander, not praise. Rainbow stared down at the floor, then quietly spoke up.

"T-thank you ma’am, but that's not really necessary, Twi- I mean Princess Twilight's my friend. I would have saved her and the others no matter what..." Dash's voice trailed off as she replied to her commander. "So...is there anything else ma’am?" Dash asked, eager to leave.

"There is," Spitfire said with a sigh, "There's no easy way to say this, so I'm going to just cut to the chase. I know this was the first time you ever had to kill anypony," she said as she removed her sunglasses, a concerned look on her face. "I came here to let you know, if you need to talk about it, the rest of the Wonderbolts and I are always ready and willing to listen. We've all been through this kind of thing before and we're all in this together, we're family Crash," Spitfire finished, a stern yet caring look in her eyes.

"Y-yeah, thanks but I'm cool!" said Rainbow as she shot up out of her seat, and turned to leave.

"Rainbow Dash...nopony is 'cool' after going through what you've gone through," Spitfire said, trying to reason with Dash. "It's not healthy for you or anypony around you to keep this all bottled up! You need to face this now while you have the chance before- !"

"Ma’am I'm fine, I don't need to talk about anything!" Dash interjected as she wrapped her fingers around the doorknob, panic in her voice. "Now I got a lot of stuff I got to do, so-!"

"You looked in their eyes, didn't you?" now it was Spitfire's turn to interrupt Rainbow Dash, stopping the blue pegasus cold in her tracks. "You can tell they're gone, that there isn't a soul behind them anymore, can't you? And the hardest part isn't even knowing that those eyes are empty because of you, it’s that if you hadn't done it, then they'd have killed you and your friends instead, and then your eyes would have been empty, just like theirs," Spitfire finished, recalling the first time she'd ever had to kill somepony. Rainbow stood there, paralyzed as her mind drifted back to that horrible day, and how she had indeed looked into the cold, lifeless eyes of one of her assailants. It had been the first one she had shot, she'd watched the light flicker out of his eyes as he laid there, bleeding out from the gunshot wound she'd put between his eyes. She'd put it there between his eyes, his lifeless eyes. Suddenly, Dash spun around and made a b-line for a nearby garbage can, barely making it in time for her to vomit into it.

Spitfire walked over to Dash's side as she hung her head over the edge, in case she needed to use it again, then Spitfire knelt down to Dash's level and put her hand on her shoulder. Rainbow slowly turned her head to meet Spitfire's gaze, tears streaming down her face and a small strand of saliva still hanging from her chin. "I-I killed them, I didn't want to and I tried not to kill as many of them as I could, but I still had to kill some of them, cause if I hadn't then me and my friends would have..." Dash couldn't bring herself to finish the statement, it was just too hard for her to right then. Rainbow then burst into tears as Spitfire embraced her, as RD sobbed, no longer able to contain her emotions.

"You'll be alright, I promise..." Spitfire said as she patted Rainbow Dash's back, she knew Dash needed to confront her pain now, while she was - at least relatively - safe at the moment, because who knew how long before she'd have the chance to do so again.

Chapter 2: Finished