Chapter 16

It felt like it was yesterday when I had arrived at the royal capital to visit the princesses, only to find out about a man who was once revered as the guardian of this world, and I was to become his successor. For a while, I was content with just living in Ponyville with my new friends. Sure, I still missed my home, but at least I wasn’t alone in this world. In the back of my head, I hated the idea that I was expected to pick up the pieces Sir Rokai left behind. At least I wasn’t pressured by anyone to just pick up the job and do what needed to be done. The princesses reassured me that I can take as long as I needed to let my new role sink in. For now, I was due for a return to the humble town of Ponyville.

“Sure you don’t wanna stick around for another day or two?” Shining asked as he was tasked to escort me to the train station.

“Much as I would love to keep throwing hands with you, I’d rather get back to Ponyville,” I said with a chuckle. “Besides, you’ve given me a new perspective when it comes to combat. I think I’ll be taking my training a bit more seriously from now on.”

“Glad to hear that,” Shining said as we walked up to the platform. “I expect a challenge from you the next time we meet.”

I chuckled as I saw ponies loading onto the train car.

“Well, this is me,” I said.

“You take care now, Will,” Shining said. “Oh! Before I forget, I need some advice.”

“Sure, what is it?” I asked.

“Well, the thing is, I’m seeing somepony,” Shining said, sounding a little nervous. “We’ve been together for a while and I love her very much. I’m actually thinking of proposing to her.”

“Hey! Good on you, man!” I said while punching his arm playfully. “You’ll make a great husband!”

“Thanks, but that’s not the issue,” Shining said. “I have no idea how to propose to her. I was thinking I could bring her out to a fancy dinner, maybe have some music playing in the background, order her favorite desert-”

“Hey Shining?” I said finally, trying not to laugh out loud.

“What?” He said.

“Is it possible that maybe you’re overthinking this?” I asked.

“How am I overthinking this? I want to propose to the mare I love!” Shining said, sounding more nervous.

“Shining, let me let you in on a little advice,” I said as I wrapped my arm around his shoulder. “Don’t overdo it. How long have you known this mare?”

“Since she was my little sister’s foalsitter,” Shining said.

“And how long have you been dating?” I asked.

“A few years now, give or take,” Shining said.

“Do you love her?” I asked.

“Of course I do,” Shining nodded.

“And does she love you?” I asked.

“She tells me she does whenever she gets the chance,” Shining said.

“Then what’re you so worried about?” I asked. “When my mom was dating my step-dad, I remember him always bending over backwards to appeal to her. He’d wanna take her out to fancy dinners, buy her clothes he thought would look good on her, and always was there at her beck and call. But the thing about my mom was that she didn’t really need all those things. All she cared about was if my step-dad would love her and be there for her like any good husband would. And that’s exactly what he did once she told him that. Then, after over a year of dating, he proposed to my mom and they’ve married ever since. So don’t try and go the extra mile for your girlfriend, Shining, you should just propose to her in your own way. I’m sure she’ll say yes.”

Shining thought about my words and a smile grew across his lips.

“Huh, I never thought of it that way,” Shining said. “I’ll definitely keep that in mind. Thanks, Will.”

“Any time, Shining,” I said.

“You sure you’re not married too since you gave such good advice?” Shining teased.

“Ha! As if! I’m only twenty-four!” I laughed.

“Last call for Ponyville!” The conductor called out.

“Guess it’s time,” I said and shook Shining’s hand one last time. “Be seeing you, Shining.”

“Don’t be a stranger, Will,” Shining said before I stepped away and entered the train car.

I took my seat and waved to him out the window and he waved back as the train started to move. I was finally on my way back home and I was looking forward to seeing everyone again. I pulled out my phone and earbuds and scrolled through my playlist to listen to some smooth jazz as the train chugged along the tracks.

“Can I get you anything else, sir?” the clerk asked, pushing a cart full of snacks and beverages.

“Nah, I’m good, thanks though,” I said as I sipped my water.

“Alright.” The clerk went down the aisle while I just sat back and enjoyed the ride.

I looked out the window and watched the scenery pass by while listening to jazz. I then started to think about the memories I watched from Sir Rokai’s past. He was so brave and didn’t blink an eye when facing those monsters. Especially when it came to Valafar. No matter how many times they did battle, Sir Rokai met the demon head on. It made me wonder if I would be as brave as him if it ever came down to it. My thoughts were pushed aside when I saw something in the distance out the window. It looked like something was flying towards the train, which made me sit up straight.

“Are those…ponies?” I asked out loud.

Suddenly, I hear the train bell going off in alarm as the Conductor ran through the cars. “Remain calm! Stay in your seats!”

“What the hell?” I said, when the group of ponies flying towards us flew up and over the train.

We all heard a dozen or so thuds on the roof of the train. As I got up from my seat, the door leading to the car behind ours slammed open, revealing a pair of pegasi with crossbows aimed at the crowd. Behind them, a griffon with black feathers walked in. He had on a black coat with a black hat covering his face. When he looked up at us, he had a cracked beak where the split reached up to a scar over his right eye. The guy strolled in without a care in the world as he eyed all the passengers. When he made it to the middle of the car, he cleared his throat before addressing us.

“Ladies and gentlestallions. My name is Gabriel. My crew and I just came to relieve you of all of your bits and valuables,” he said more as a statement, rather than as a threat. “If you all cooperate, then no one will get hurt and me and the boys will be on our way. If you don’t.” He reached for his belt and pulled out a large knife before cleaning his claws. “Then things will get complicated for everyone.”

I gulped at the sight of the gang. To think, out of all the things that could happen on this train ride, it just had to be a train heist! As the griffin’s crew began demanding money and valuables from the passengers, I had to think quickly on what to do. I could just keep my head low and give them whatever I had on me. But then I thought that would’ve been the most cowardly thing I could possibly do. If it were Sir Rokai, he’d lay these guys out no problem! I knew it was stupid, but I couldn’t just let these guys rob everyone blind. I had to do something. I mustered all the courage I could and stepped in the middle of the aisleway.

“Hey!” I shouted, gaining their attention. “Didn’t your mothers teach you it’s bad to take things that aren't yours?”

“Haha! Boy, who do you think taught me in the first place?” Gabriel said after bringing out a handheld crossbow pistol. “Now listen. I get that you wanna be the big hero and feel tough in front of everyone, but you talk back to me again and you’ll find yourself with a bolt between your eyes.” The griffon aimed his weapon at my head and gave me a death glare. “Now, sit down!”

The passengers all cowered away and looked at me as if they begged me to comply so I wouldn’t get hurt. I’ll admit, I felt a little on edge that I was up against a group of thugs armed to the teeth, but I thought about Sir Rokai again and it kept my nerves in check.

“I got a better idea,” I said. I widen my stance a bit and raised my arms a little. “How about you leave these good ponies alone, and I won’t kick your ugly beak in.”

Gabriel stared me down before smirking. “You got guts, kid. I like that. Too bad they’re gonna be all over the floor in a minute.” He gestured to the two pegasi he came with and had them aim their crossbows at me.

I watched them aim their weapons at me and focused my ki as much as possible. My senses were dialed to eleven and the world around me began to slow. I watched the thugs slowly pull the trigger of their weapons and the bolts came flying at me. My eyes were unblinking as I watched the bolts come flying at me. I then leaned to the right and watched the bolts fly past me. One of the bolts whizzed past my face by a mere few inches.

Twisting my body around, I stomped my foot on the floor and kept staring at one of the thugs as the world around me sped up. I grit my teeth, clenched my fist, and delivered a hard flying right hook across the first pony thug’s face. He stumbled backwards and I followed it up with another punch across his jaw and a knee to his gut.

As he fell, I jumped in the air again while swinging my leg and kicked the second thug with a flying back kick right in his chest. The second thug was sent crashing against the wall as I landed on the ground. Everyone was slack jawed at my display of martial arts as I looked back at Gabriel with a mock glare.

“Still wanna go?” I challenged, taking a Cat Stance.

“Can’t scare me that easily,” Gabriel said before taking out his knife and throwing it. The blade missed me by a mile.

“Aaaahh!” The scream came from behind and when I looked back, an elderly mare was almost impaled by the knife. While I was distracted, I felt a sharp pain in my right lower leg.

I cried out in pain and looked down to see a large cut on the side of my leg and a bolt sticking out from the floor. The bolt had just grazed me, but it was still a deep cut and hurt like hell. I looked back at Gabriel as he was loading another bolt in his handheld crossbow. Thinking quickly, I ran straight at Gabriel just as he fired another bolt. I managed to dodge out of the way and tackle him through the door. We landed on the connecting walkway outside and he kicked me off him before taking flight. I decided to follow him by focusing my ki again and took to the skies after him. Only as soon as I was in the air, I was met with the rest of his gang who were either waiting on the train cars or flying in the air above the train.

“I gotta say,” I looked up to see Gabriel aim two crossbows at me. “I didn’t think you could fly. But since you’re here, I’ll guess we’ll have to ground you.” The other gang members aimed their bows at me. “Fire!”

I quickly amped up my ki while crossing my arms in front of me.

“Here goes nothing!” I said as they all fired at me.

“Spirit Explosion!”

I swung both my arms out while letting loose a large wave of ki. The wave blew back all the bolts aimed at me and even blew back some of the airborne ponies. I took advantage of the opportunity and flew straight towards two pegasi ponies.

“Hawk Charge!”

I elbowed one thug in the gut and followed up with a palm strike. I sent the thug falling down and tumbling across the dirt. I then spun in midair while swinging my legs to land a triple helicopter kick to the thug’s gut, chest, and face which sent him plummeting to the ground and crashed. Looking down at the roof of the train car, I pointed my finger at the thugs while they aimed their crossbows at me.

“Dodon Ray!”

A beam of ki shot out my fingertip and exploded on the roof. The explosion knocked a couple of thugs off the car while others were knocked back onto the roof of the train car.

Just then, Gabriel tackled me from behind and we stumbled on the roof of the caboose.

I managed to jump back on my feet and he had brandished his knife. The remaining goons were right behind him and I took a stance.

“Not so cocky, now that I took out half your crew!” I boasted.

“Rrrg! I was just going to beat you half to death, but since you took out most of my crew, we’re just gonna have to kill ya!” He let out a roar that was a combination of a lion’s roar and an eagle’s screech before charging at me.

He came at me with his knife at the ready and went for a stab. I sidestepped out of the way and elbowed the back of his head as he flew by me. Two of his goons then charged and I engaged in a two on one brawl. I blocked the thug on my right while the one on my left punched me in my side. I countered by delivering a straight left to his jaw. Both thugs grabbed my arms with one hand each and reeled back to punch me together with their free hands. I leaned back as far as I could to dodge them and watched their fists swing in front of me. When I leaned back I pulled as hard as I could and made them butt heads with each other before tapping their sides with my palms.

“Spirit Palms!”

I used my ki to send a small ki shockwave from my hands and into their bodies. The two thugs were sent toppling across the roof and rendered unconscious as there were now only a few thugs left. Suddenly, the hairs on the back of my neck stood straight up and I barely had time to move out of the way from another one of Gabriel’s stabs from behind. The knife almost grazed my side and I grabbed the griffin’s arm and threw him forward. He didn’t fall off the moving train, but he was even more pissed that I managed to outmaneuver him and his gang. I wiped my lip and nose of the blood leaking and took another stance.

“Pile on him!” Gabriel commanded as they came at me all at once.

I took a step back and with all the momentum I could muster I jumped forward to meet them head on while swinging my fists and legs as fast as I could with the help of my ki enhancing my speed.

“Justice Rush!”

I punched and kicked all of them from different angles. A punch to the gut, liver, face, and neck. A kick to the groin, chest, jaw, and followed up with a couple roundhouse kicks. My blows felt heavy as I laid into them and all the goons were knocked off of the train and tumbling across the dirt. Once my attack was over, I had to catch my breath from the exertion. To my surprise, only Gabriel managed stay on the train and stood back up, and he glared at me like a madman. I took another stance when I felt another sharp pain on my side. I looked down to see a deep slash wound and was leaking blood through my shirt. I also glanced down at my leg to see the sleeve of my jeans completely drenched in blood and leaking down into my shoe.

Shit, this hurts… I thought, to keep weight off my leg.

“What’s the matter, boy?! Finding it hard to stand?!” Gabriel mocked.

“Just shut up and let’s end this,” I said. “I won’t fall until you’re off this train or seeing stars. These ponies won’t be getting robbed by the likes of you!”

“Big words for a dead creature!” Gabriel grabbed two of the large crossbows and aimed them both at me. “Die!”

Gabriel fired them at me and I ducked out of the way just in time. However, it ended up being a distraction because he kneed me in the nose and used his claws to cut my chest. I yelled in pain and raised my arms for another one of his claw swipes, but it only wounded my arms in the process. I decided to go on the offensive again and kicked Gabriel in the thigh, ribs, and his arm. He staggered back a little and I went after him. Suddenly, he pulled something out from his coat and something sharp pierced my shoulder. I yelled again and stepped back to see a knife sticking out of my shoulder.

“Fuck!” I cursed from the pain as blood oozed from the wound.

“There’s more where that came from, boy!” Gabriel boasted before brandishing two knives in each claw. “I’ll skewer you and fry you over a spit!”

As Gabriel reeled his hands back to throw the knives at me, I raised my hand and aimed to fire ki blasts at him. I charged my ki in my hand and fired the orbs right at him. They detonated on impact as the griffin was forced backwards, coughing up a little blood from the damage. We were both breathing heavily as the wind from the moving train blew against us. I grit my teeth and grabbed the knife in my shoulder. I grunted loudly as I pulled the blade out of my flesh and threw the knife away.

“Give up, Gabriel!” I said, raising my fists once more. “I’ll keep coming at you no matter what!”

“Then you better keep coming! Cause this ain’t over, as long as I’m breathing!” He yelled while pulling out yet another knife.

“Fine…you asked for this!” I said and readied my hands above my head.

Please work, please work, please work! I thought as I charged up as much ki as I could in my hands.

Gabriel flared open his wings as a bright light shined in my hands above my head. He roared at me again and flew at me while holding the knife out. Just as he was a few feet away, I thrusted my hands forward after building up as much ki as I could.

“Masenko!!”

A large blast of ki shot out from my hands and enveloped Gabriel.

“Aaaaaa-!!” Gabriel screamed before he went silent and slowly lean to the side until he fell off the train and slammed into a tree.

As I watched Gabriel fall off the train, the toll from the use of ki and damage I took began to weigh in. My wounds stung as the wind of the moving train blew against me. I needed to get back inside the train, so I limped my way to the end of the caboose and saw a ladder. I carefully leaned down to climb down the ladder, while trying to be mindful of my wounds despite the pain. Once I managed to climb down the ladder, I opened the door back in the train car. The ponies inside were speechless when they saw me hobble towards one of the seats. I grunted loudly as I slumped onto one of the seats. I tried to catch my breath and looked at the ponies who stared at me with mild concern. One of the clerks walked up to me.

“Are you okay?” He asked.

“I’ll live…” I said with a pained smile. “Can you all do me a favor? Let me know when we arrive in Ponyville. I’m gonna…get some shuteye…”

My eyes began to close as I started to lose consciousness. My vision blurred as the clerk told the passengers something but I couldn’t hear very well due to the sudden ringing in my ears. The last thing I saw was the ponies scrambling around me as darkness overcame me.

3rd POV

The passengers suddenly freaked out as William’s body went limp on the seat he sat on. Sure enough, someone immediately called for a doctor while others began panicking on what to do next.

“Is anypony a doctor?! This colt needs help!” The clerk cried out.

“Hey get back! Give him some air!” One of the other passengers shouted as he moved the crowd back when a pony with a black bag finally appeared and proceeded to give me first aid.

“Celestia’s light, it’s a miracle he’s alive!” The doctor said in disbelief as he pulled out his tools to patch William up as the train was about to arrive in Ponyville.

“This colt needs a hospital immediately!” The doctor said.

At the Ponyville train station, Twilight and Spike were standing on the platform to welcome their human friend back from his trip to Canterlot. Twilight eagerly awaited Will as her eyes glued to where the train would arrive while Spike stood by her.

“Did we have to wake up so early, Twilight?” Spike said and yawned.

“Of course! I want to be the first one to know how William’s meeting with the princesses went!” Twilight said.

“Hi, Twilight! Hi Spike!”

Twilight and Spike looked behind them to see Lyra approach with her friend Bon Bon.

“Well hi there, Lyra, Bon Bon,” Twilight said. “What brings you by?”

“Oh, I’m just here to see Bon Bon off before she makes the trip to Dodge Junction,” Lyra said. “What’re you two here for?”

“We’re welcoming William home, his train should be arriving any minute,” Spike yawned before hearing the sound of the train grinding to a halt as it pulled into the station.

“They’re here!” Twilight said with excitement but the moment the doors opened, passengers came flooding out as they began making a path.

“What’s going on?” She asked aloud when the train’s conductor ran up to her.

“Miss Twilight! Oh thank Celestia, we need your help!” The conductor said.

“What happened?” Twilight asked with concern.

It was at that moment when William was brought out by several passengers all covered in bloody bandages. Twilight gasped in complete horror after seeing he was beaten to a pulp.

“WILLIAM?!” Twilight shrieked at the sight of her friend.

“Oh my Celestia!” Lyra yelped as they followed William. “What happened to him?! Why’s he all hurt like that?!”

“I saw the whole thing!” One of the clerks said as he too followed. “Bandits attacked the train! This colt single-handedly beat them all and saved us!”

“Spike, see if you can get any of our friends to help while I try to keep him stable,” Twilight told Spike.

“Can you do that?” Spike asked with worry after seeing his friend’s condition.

“Don’t worry, I read plenty of medical books. Now hurry!” Twilight said.

Spike nodded and ran off while William was gently laid on the floor and some of the other ponies went to call for a medical carriage.

“I’ve done all I could with the tools I brought with me, but he’s taken some serious damage!” The doctor said. “You don’t happen to know any healing spells, do you?”

“The wounds are too severe for that, he needs surgery,” Twilight said as she used her magic on some of William’s wounds.

Just then, the mediacal carraige arived as medical ponies rushed to bring the young human into the carriage.

“Careful, looks like he’s got some broken bones.” the first medic said while helping his partner wheel him in.

“It’s like somepony ran the colt over twice and then threw him off a cliff!” The second medic replied before shutting the doors and pulled the carriage towards the hospital.

As the ponies watched the mediacl carraige take William away, a mix of unpleaseant emotions filled their hearts. Twilight clutched her chest as she ran off to the hostpital while Lyra and Bon Bon stayed behind.

“Bon Bon…what just happened?” Lyra asked, still in shock.

“I…I don’t know, Lyra. I don’t know,” Bon Bon answered.

Author's Note

This is just a touch of what is to come.

Side Note:
Hey. It’s been a while, huh? Especially with this story. I’m gonna level with you all. This story has become a bit of an on an off project. Unlike my other stories, there isn’t as much thought put into it. I know it’s not something I thought I’d say about this story, considering it’s a revamp of my very first story, but it's just how I feel. I want to try and remedy this. So, as far as my stories go, I'm gonna try and put a little more effort into this story as I did before. Hopefully, and it's a big hopefully, I won’t abandon this story for half a freaking year again. To my readers who’ve been diligently waiting for an update from this story, I sincerely thank you for your patience.

Special thanks to Cali Luminos for the amazing artwork!

Hope you enjoyed!

~WurkyWilk has left the building…