Shadows of Equestria

They made their way into the town to be met by a team of ponies setting up banners and pumpkins surprisingly no pony fled at the sight of them anymore so perhaps that conversation with the three mares in Sugarcube Corner paid off in an unexpected way why wasn’t a bad way either.  As they made their way sluggishly through the town they eyed the buildings hoping to find somewhere that sold coffee or the means to make coffee as they felt they couldn’t survive long on their drastic lack of sleep and energy and by the time they reached the end of the street they felt as if they could lay down in the middle of the street and just sleep but they knew that they couldn’t after all it was likely that now the Stalliongrad attack on Ponyville had been defeated that they would be whisked away to Stalliongrad in some way shape or form as soon as the royal guard arrived in Ponyville so they could at least have some form of defence. As they wandered aimlessly down the streets a gray mare approached them with a mail bag

“Good morning to you” Began Dark as the mare approached

“Good morning! Is one of you called Double Vision?” Asked the mare in an exceedingly happy tone

“That would be me” Replied Double

“There’s a letter here for you” Continued the mare, smiling as she spoke. Taking the letter Double thanked the mare and they continued their course down the street as he tore open the letter which bore the royal seal

“What news?” Inquired Burning as they approached the town square again

“We’re being moved to Stalliongrad by cover of night” Replied Double placing the letter back in the envelope having read it several times already

“How do they plan that?” Stated Dark confused by this development

“By supply trains running from allies in Equestria, there’s one passing through Ponyville this evening” Resumed Double “And it just so happens it’ll be making an unexpected stop”

The rusted supply train rushed along the track it’s rusted wheels grating along the track breaking the silence in the fields of Equestria, along the supply carts was a large Stalliongrad flag which was, despite being new, barely recognisable as Dark flew above and examined the train. His earpiece crackled once more as Doubles voice came through

“How far is it from Ponyville?” Inquired Double

“We have about 30 minutes” Replied Dark “Is everything ready over there?”

“Not quite” Resumed Double nervously “This is going to be close”

“Any civilian appearances?” Managed Dark after having several bugs fly into his mouth

“None so far” Replied Double “The disguises seem to be working”

At the station Double was sat wearing a bowler hat holding a newspaper in front of his face with a plaid waistcoat and a large pipe next to him while Burning wore a tweed jacket with the Stalliongrad flag stitched onto the back. Dark was the only one not wearing a disguise, much to his luck, as they wanted him to wear a Stalliongrad Pegasi uniform while flying over military occupied Equestria.  The train continued its course along the track with the lighting of Ponyville now in sight as Burning finished up placing the last barricade on the track

“We’re all set, Double” Stated Burning as he backed into the shadows

“Right, Dark keep track of the train and we’ll remain hidden” Began Double “This could go great or horribly wrong”

As the train approached the station it began to lose all momentum, they had spotted the barricades as planned and were leaving the train to remove them. A few soldiers exited and patrolled the station to secure the area

“Don’t do anything stupid” thought Dark laying on the train station roof “You’ll get us all killed” one soldier wandered past the ticket booth only to be dragged into the shadows and have his throat slit by Double whilst another had his neck broken by Burning. They both placed the soldiers armour on and hid the bodies

“Sorry for the poor bugger that has to clean this up” Muttered Burning as he pushed the body under the ticket booth counter

“And the poor pony that finds it” Added Double, they were talking over the earpiece and microphone system that they had received shortly after getting the letter to mask the smell they covered the body in rags that had been sprayed with deodorant shortly before so the smell was not as strong as when they began. Dark swooped down to the ground near the tracks and crawled to the undercarriage of the train intending to crawl up onto the cargo bay once the train begins its course, the soldiers and technicians were eventually called back onboard the train and it began its journey once more.

With that Burning, Dark and Double had left the comfort of their homeland and were entering a confused and violent recently formed state to undergo and extremely dangerous mission, and that was just how they liked it.

The train slowed yet another time and Dark’s heart skipped a beat. The sound of the technicians making conversation with the guards of Stalliongrad echoed through the rusted iron carts of the train with a very noticeable accent from the guards the conversation dragged on

“We are forced to search the train before it enters Stalliongrad. Our glorious leader has foreseen that espionage will be a major part of this war” Stated the guard in an unquestionable tone

“V-very well then” Stuttered the train driver, by his accent he was definitely not from Stalliongrad and was likely a spy himself. A terrible one at that, the small rusted door connecting the cart next to Dark’s opened to reveal Burning and Double without the armour on

“They’re going to run a identification test with the soldiers aboard we need to get off now” Demanded Burning, crawling along the cart floor they approached the left side door which was opposite the sounds of the guards and slowly opened it being careful not to make a noise. Holding the door open Double glanced back into the train cart to see if there was anything useful and amongst the piles of ammunition and surplus was a torn piece of parchment, presumably a map of the local area.

“Double get down here now” Hissed Burning as he lay in the thick coating of snow which blocked the grass from vision

“There’s a map in here, I’ll meet you in the forest” Stated Double “Cover your tracks and remember to not disturb the natural landscape, they probably know this place to well”

“You’re coming with us” Stated Burning and with that Double slid the door shut and crawled over to the piece of parchment. Cautiously as possible as to not make any noise Double tugged it out of the pile, there was a noise from the door. Somepony was opening it.

Double thought fast, faster than he had ever thought in his life. He wasn’t only out of the frying pan and into the fire but he was out of the fire and onto the kitchen floor for all to see, he picked up some old military boots and placed them on followed by an enchantment spell causing them to stick to any surface so he would be able to crawl along the roof.

The search party entered and opened the side door which Double took as an opportunity to crawl out of and onto the roof then he slid down the back end of the train and submerged himself in the thick snow. With the map now in hand and the search party none the wiser he could now make his way to the forest to regroup with Dark and Burning.

But he knew it wasn’t going to be that simple. It never was.