The Good, the Bad and the Unfriendly

The city of Las Pegasus was relatively new in Equestria, forming up as a recent boom town after silver was found in the hills around it. As such it became a popular and sprawling city in no time despite it being far and out of the way from the capitol. Because of its importance and wealth it had already gotten a rail line to it as well. However, as had become common knowledge, the trains going to Las Pegasus had a greater tendency to be robbed than the ones going to other major cities. The reason for this was there simply wasn’t much else on the way, it took longer for the authorities to respond and it was easier for outlaws to flee into the wilderness. Folks petitioned for heavier security on the trains but neither Las Pegasus nor Canterlot wanted to foot the bill. And it was still safer than traveling by wagon or horseback so once again the common folk were left without much recourse.

A young woman slept in her booth on the train to Las Pegasus, feet raised up and resting on the empty booth opposite her. She was a lean thing with not an ounce of fat on her and not a single curve to her chest. Not particularly tall but what height she had seemed to come entirely from her long legs. The woman seemed to be making something of an odd fashion statement with how she dressed as well, black boots, black pants, black shirt, black hat. It honestly had made a lot of the others who had seen her board the train nervous.

Course she only wore an outfit like that cause she thought it looked cool. That was Rainbow Dash’s only reason.

A slight bump in the tracks woke her from her slumber and she shifted about on her booth briefly, yawning and tilting back her hat so a few locks of untidy rainbow hair fell over her face. Rainbow Dash inhaled deeply through her nose, making a distinctly unladylike noise, and sat up straight as she took a big stretch. She was in one of the back cars of the train in the poorer seats and was one of the only ones sitting back here at the moment, her luggage in the overhang above the seats while a folded up newspaper rested next to her thighs.

Rainbow Dash glanced out the window—or tried to before remembering she had rolled the blinds down. With a frown she hooked a finger around the side of the blinds and peaked out them, momentarily being forced to squint thanks to the sunlight. All she saw out there was empty plains anyways.

“Still not there, huh? Not even close,” Rainbow Dash yawned and sat back. “Trains are so boring.”

She had been trying to get to Las Pegasus for a while now but it was a pretty long trip. Since the only rail line went from Las Pegasus to Canterlot you first had to go to Canterlot to get on the train, which ended up making things pretty roundabout for her. And all because of nothing more than a rumor and a hope.

Rainbow Dash was tracking someone down. Someone who apparently was in or had recently been in Las Pegasus.

It had been a few years at this point though since she had last seen them, and she was starting to get a little worried that she might never catch them. Every little word and rumor had so far turned out to either be false or too late in reaching her ears. She wasn’t going to lie, she had had plenty of fun and done a lot of amazing stuff in the meantime as she traveled around Equestria, but she really wanted to complete what had been her mission in life for years now.

Rainbow Dash reached over to the newspaper and unfolded it, sliding out a piece of paper that had been tucked into it. With a glare on her face she looked at the wanted poster that held the face of the woman she was hunting down.

LIGHTNING DUST

WANTED: DEAD

The sneering face of Lightning Dust threatened to make Rainbow Dash so angry she tore the wanted poster to pieces. But she liked keeping it around to remind herself of that anger. This was the very first wanted poster Rainbow Dash had seen of her old friend. She remembered angrily tearing it off the wall and getting into a huge fight with the locals…

Now she was in a really foul mood. Bored out of her mind and stuck thinking about unpleasant memories. That time where she had been learning how to sword fight was the happiest time of her life but now it was spoiled thanks to both of her former apprentices. One was a lone psychopath who killed their teacher and the other had gone and joined some gang terrorizing people all over the country. At least she parted with Indigo on better terms than Lightning Dust. But Indigo still annoyed her, not seeming to care at all about avenging their teacher or even following along in his honorable ways. Rainbow Dash wasn’t just out for revenge, she wanted to show the whole country there was still meaning in using a sword. Its time hadn’t died.

That’s why she had essentially become something of a bounty hunter, mercenary, and traveling hero all at once while she went around Equestria. She was trying to spread her name so people all over would talk about the amazing swordfighting woman who could even stop gun wielding bandits and murderers. She was trying to become a folk hero that others could look up to you. Maybe if she became famous enough, and stopped enough bad guys, she’d even start a renaissance in the art of swordsmanship. Unlikely, but Rainbow Dash loved to dream big.

First though she would need to kill the dangerous Lightning Dust. Who had been doing an excellent job of giving the sword a bad name with her various deeds across Equestria.

Lightning Dust wasn’t just wanted dead because she had killed their teacher, she had killed and killed and killed again until she was just as feared as the Shadowbolt Gang and the lone wolf outlaw Sunset Shimmer. Lightning loved to carve up anyone who so much as looked at her the wrong way. The one good thing about that was that it always easy to tell who her victims were. It wasn’t just personal with Rainbow Dash, she’d be doing the whole country a huge favor.

As soon as she got to Las Pegasus and could get on her trail for real that is.

What a pain. What a huge pain.

With how long it had taken her to even get on the way to Las Pegasus the trail was probably going to be completely cold again anyways. If there was at least something she could do there though like take out some other criminal the trip would at least be partially worth it. Rainbow Dash hadn’t really gotten to use her sword skills in a little while, she didn’t want to get rusty. Most of the time she was only able to practice the steps and the movements anyways. The last time she had had a duel was… who even knows.

Perhaps next time she should look for a marauding tribe of Buffalo Men. They didn’t use swords but they didn’t use guns either. It had to be better practice, and far more exciting and visceral, to fight some hatchet and knife-wielding warriors than some gunslingers. But Rainbow Dash still wanted a real duel that involved her crossing blades with a skilled opponent. Only problem with that was there were exactly two people in the whole country who could provide that for her.

Rainbow Dash cracked her neck, then her fingers, and stood up from her seat. This damn train wasn’t going to get to Las Pegasus any faster but at least she could stretch her feet. Glancing around the car she was in she noticed it was mostly empty, and the ones who were in it weren’t really paying any attention to her. She decided to take a quick walk to the back of the train just to give herself something to do. The further back she went the poorer the passengers seemed to get—Rainbow Dash had only narrowly avoided sitting in the poorest compartments thanks to her fleecing a bank robber before turning him in before she came aboard the train. She wouldn’t have really cared to be honest, she was used to way worse conditions while living out on the road. But she wasn’t going to complain about a comfy booth for her to rest in either.

When she made it to the back of the train she took a step outside the caboose and placed her hands on the short railing of the outside section, watching the tracks as they went by.

“I could really go for a drink right now. Or a smoke,” Rainbow Dash sighed.

It was still just midday out right now. Would be a long time before they made it to Las Pegasus. She doubted the scenery would get any better either, nothing but plains and tumbleweed out there to gander at. Naturally she got bored pretty quick and decided to head back to her seat. Wouldn’t want anyone getting into her luggage while she was away.

The moment she turned around the sound of gunshots came from further down the track near the head of the train. Rainbow Dash’s eyes went wide and she quickly ran back into the train. A lot of the other passengers had stood up in shock too, more gunshots came down the carriages and some engineers and attendants began to run down to the engine to see what was going on. Rainbow Dash ran into her car to see a well-dressed woman running from the one ahead of theirs, she came over the buckeye coupler without worrying about her own safety and kept running right up until she tripped and fell on her face. Rainbow Dash went to go help her up and see what was going on.

“Woah, where’s the fire?” Rainbow Dash asked as she helped the lady to her feet.

She shook her head a few times and pointed back in the direction she had come from. “T-The train is being robbed!”

Rainbow Dash looked ahead briefly to the other cars and then back at the lady. “Seriously?”

“I saw them! They came from the ridge to the southwest on horseback and boarded the train!”

Despite the lady’s fear, Rainbow Dash did nothing other than pump her arm in excitement. “Yes!”

Up on top of that very same ridge, Sunny Flare and Sugarcoat sat atop their horses as they watched the train robbery take place. Most of the rest of the gang was down there doing the heavy-lifting. Sunny Flare just felt like watching over things today and cleaning up, the train robbery hadn’t even been her idea in the first place. In fact this was the first train that the Shadowbolt Gang had ever knocked over.

“I guess I owe Jet Set and Upper Crust an apology. It looks like they’re managing things well,” Sunny Flare said as she watched from far away.

“I figured you were just going to shoot them when they dared to suggest doing something to you,” Sugarcoat said.

“Admittedly the thought crossed my mind. I’m the one who decides what my gang does and no one else,” Sunny Flare said. “Buuut I was also a little bored of ambushing wagons. There’s probably all sorts of valuables on that train.”

Sugarcoat glanced at her and the barest hint of a smile appeared on her face. “And if our first train robbery goes wrong then you have two others to take the fall?”

Sunny Flare grinned. “I can’t lie that I’m in the mood to shoot someone today too.”

“Even if Jet Set and Upper Crust mess something up, Sour Sweet and the others should keep things going fine,” Sugarcoat said. “Maybe you should’ve told them to round up the conductors for you or some of the guests?”

“Maybe I should just shoot Jet Set and Upper Crust anyways to set an example?” Sunny Flare suggested, lazily cupping her chin in a hand.

Sugarcoat admittedly didn’t know if she was joking or not.

Rainbow Dash darted back to her booth while chaos erupted in the train. Whatever was going on up by the front of the train hadn’t reached her yet so she still had time to get ready. If someone was robbing a train they probably wanted to either kill or hold the conductor hostage, so the first car of the locomotive with the engine and boiler and all that was probably already under the bandits’ control. At least that’s what Rainbow Dash figured. This was just the kind of thing she was hoping would happen. With a smile on her face she reached up to the luggage railing above her seat and grabbed a long and thin box down along with a much messier bag.

The bag she tossed on the floor while the box she carefully set on the booth and kneeled in front of. There were two latches along the length of the box that Rainbow Dash flipped open, she then opened it up and grinned.

Her sword. As pristine and well taken care of as ever. A cavalry saber gifted to her by her teacher years ago with a black sheath and a golden handle. Rainbow Dash removed the blade from her box and quickly attached it to her hip. She wished she had a mirror right now to pose in cause damn did she love the way she looked wearing her sword. The sword wasn’t just the only thing she was getting either, Rainbow Dash reached into her messy bag and pulled a leather bundle out of it. Unfurling that revealed a dozen throwing knives on the inside. She pulled a few loose and put them in her boots, tucked behind her waist in her belt, and hidden tucked into her shirt and sleeves

Now she was ready to deal with whoever it was that was trying to rob this train.

She turned around to give a reassuring smile to the other passengers in the car who had been watching her. “You guys just stay here and be safe. You’re about to be a part of something really special.” Rainbow Dash walked to the door that led to the outside of this car and the connection to the next. “I really wish I had a cape too, would be so awesome.”

At the front of the train, inside the conductor’s little apartment, were two dead bodies, two unsure criminals, and one bored Indigo Zap. Jet Set and Upper Crust both stood in front of the controls for the train, the various levers and other tools giving them no indication of what they were. Meanwhile the ones who could help them out, the conductor and the chief engineer, had both immediately been shot by them the moment the robbery had begun.

The plan initially was to board the train, start robbing the passengers, take it over, and then have it come to a stop right around where Sunny Flare and Sugarcoat were waiting so they could ransack the whole thing way easier and didn’t have to worry about their horses getting tired or any other kind of time limit. That plan had gone awry the moment Jet Set and Upper Crust realized they didn’t know how a train actually worked.

“We really should’ve just held them hostage instead of shooting them...” Upper Crust said as she held her head in worry.

“I’m sure we can figure out how these levers work, even if we just have to start pulling them at random,” Jet Set said as he kept looking over them.

Indigo Zap rolled her eyes. “No, you’re definitely not doing that. You might make the whole train derail while we’re on it. At this point we’ll just have everyone rob it like normal and then get back off it.” She looked at the hatch leading to the boiler powering the train. “Who the hell knows how long it’ll take this thing to slow down and stop without putting more wood in there.”

“Sunny’s gonna kill us for messing up,” Upper Crust shook her head, on the verge of tears.

“Well instead of standing around here and being useless you should go back with the others and start gathering valuables from the passengers,” Indigo Zap suggested.

Upper Crust instead started to pace back and forth in a panic while Jet Set hesitantly began searching through the pockets of the conductor and engineer in case they had instructions or a guide on them. Meanwhile the train kept speeding on and if it wasn’t brought to a stop soon it would go right by Sunny Flare and Sugarcoat and where the gang was supposed to regroup. Even though they were sure to get a great haul anyways it wasn’t going to be something that reflected well on the couple who had come up with the plan. Indigo Zap was content to sit back and watch the two screwups flounder, not like she had anything better to do.

She idly stared down at the rapier on her hip. If only there was someone worth fighting on this train instead of a bunch of scared passengers.

Meanwhile a few cars down, Trenderhoof was leading a pair of other Shadowbolt members as they threatened and stole from the guests. Each of them had a bag for money and jewelry and they had no problem waving their guns around. When the passengers had realized just who it was that was robbing them any thought of resistance left their minds. They knew they’d be lucky to not be shot by these people by the time this was over.

Trenderhoof had already made a pretty good score just getting the pretty ladies of the car to empty their purses. He left his goons to take care of the men.

“Wooh, well aren’t you something?” Trenderhoof said to a particularly curvy lady as she sat against the window of the train. She was pale of skin with red lipstick and auburn hair, a flowered hat was her accomplice and she wore a velvet purple dress with an open window at the top that showed off her ample bosom. As if to accentuate it further she wore a golden necklace with an amber pendant that hung down right between her breasts.

Trenderhoof dragged his hand through his hair and smiled at the lady, licking his lips. “Why don’t you take that off for me, sweetheart.”

She quickly brought up her shaking hands to the back of her neck and went to unclasp the necklace when Trenderhoof stopped her.

“Hold on, hold on. Who says I was talking about that?” He grinned and brought his gun down, touching the barrel to the top part of her dress right below the breasts and dragging on it, fully intending to expose the lady.

She squeaked and squeezed her eyes shut, turning away from him. “Please… don’t.”

He didn’t care. “What a shame, wish I had more time for you right now. But we’ll be stopping this train soon and I’ll be back. You better still be sitting here, else I’ll be pretty mad.”

With another tug he pulled down her dress in the front and the lady cried as her breasts and the rosy bra she wore over them was exposed. She wanted to cover herself with her hands but she was too scared. His gun may have been hooker over her dress but it was still aimed right at her and his finger was on the trigger. All she could do was sit back and pray for it to be over at this point.

“That’s a really fine view I must admit,” Trenderhoof said as he stared up and down the lady as she cried. “Do still have to fill this bag up first but I think I’ve at least got enough time for a touch or two.”

He dropped the bag of money and valuables he was carrying and reached out with his left hand towards the lady-

When a figure swung down from on top of the train car feet first and smashed through the window, slamming into Trenderhoof and knocking him onto the floor of the car where he hit his head and went out cold. Glass went everywhere as the other passengers shouted in terror of this new arrival while Rainbow Dash grinned as she crouched on top of the disabled Shadowbolt. Trenderhoof’s two underlings, who still had their guns drawn, were no more than ten feet away from Dash.

“Good aim and I stuck the landing,” she said and playfully slapped Trenderhoof’s cheek. “Sorry pal but something tells me you probably deserved it anyways.”

She stood up while the other two Shadowbolts were still in shock at what the hell had just happened and the passengers were all staring at her, including the lady she had just rescued.

Finally the thug in front of the other one managed to regain his wits. “Who the fuck are you?!” He shouted and lifted his gun to shoot her.

In one smooth motion, Rainbow Dash ducked down while bringing her right hand to her left wrist and pulling one of her throwing knives from her sleeve. Before he could properly aim and pull the trigger at her she had flung the knife with deadly speed and accuracy at him, impaling him in the chest. With a pained gasp he dropped his gun and bag and brought his hands to the knife embedded in the center of his chest. A look of horror came over his face as his body seized up and he fell over backwards, dead. The passengers screamed while the last Shadowbolt briefly looked down at his buddy in shock.

Unlike him though, Rainbow Dash wasn’t wasting any rime. She jumped up and drew her saber from its sheath as she made her way to take out the last threat in the train car.

He screamed and took a step back as he tried to put a bullet in her but as soon as he leveled his gun to fire, Rainbow Dash acrobatically jumped on top of one of he seats and then over the aisle to another one. The one panicked shot he got out went wide (going over the heads of some of the passengers too) before she came down at him and slashed him across the forearm with her razor sharp saber. He cried out in pain and dropped his gun on reflex, reaching up with his left hand to cradle his wounded arm.

Right up until Rainbow Dash stabbed him in the gut. A twist and a pull later and he was dead on the floor of the train too.

Rainbow Dash grinned down at her handiwork and then looked across the faces of the passengers she had just rescued. “Alright, you all stay safe! Rainbow Dash is here to save the day!”

She flicked the sword to get some of the blood off and then marched to the door leading to the outside of the train again and the next car over. The passengers she left behind were completely befuddled. Grateful of course, but confused as to what had just happened. Of course soon they realized that all the valuables that had been stolen from them were lying right there on the floor in three separate bags. It became something of a scramble as everyone went to retrieve their things and make sure none of the other passengers stole anything.

Rainbow Dash meanwhile deftly hopped across the somewhat unsafe gap to the other car. Peaking in she made sure the others still collecting money and tormenting the passengers didn’t seem to have noticed the gunshot from their friend. Or perhaps they just thought it was normal. She still had the element of surprise on her side, even though at close range she had the advantage with her sword and knives there still wasn’t a lot of room to really run around in inside a train car. And she couldn’t let the other passengers get hurt. Looking to the sides of the train she noticed a few people on horseback on each side, keeping pace with the train near the front cars. More members of the gang. If she went back on the roof they might spot her this time.

Rainbow Dash cracked her neck and put her hand on the handle leading into the next car. “Whatever, I like being direct anyways.”

Back at the front of the train, Indigo Zap idly watched as both Sour Sweet and Lemon Zest alongside the tracks. They had their guns with them and were threatening the passengers in the first few cars, acting like they were going to start shooting through the windows at them. She rolled her eyes at how childish they were being. But even that was still better entertainment than the idiot couple here with her in the conductor’s cab. Indigo Zap had to threaten him again but Jet Set finally got the message that she wasn’t going to let him screw around with the train’s controls while they were still on it. They’d rob it and get off while it was moving the same way other train robbers did it.

She heard a few gunshots come from further back on the train and sighed. “Idiots can’t help themselves? Waste of bullets if you ask me...”

Only the more she listened the more it sounded off. There would be one or two shots, then a pause for a couple of minutes, then one or two more that sounded like they were coming from closer.

Indigo Zap frowned. She couldn’t actually see back into the train cause of the huge container right behind the cab that was filled with wood for the furnace and boiler. The tender or something, whatever it was called. Something seemed wrong though, it didn’t sound like the other Shadowbolts were just playing around and shooting passengers or scaring them. Jet Set and Upper Crust hadn’t been paying attention and none of the riders had changed position either, but Indigo Zap was still wary.

“Tch,” she clicked her tongue and made to step up onto the huge pile of wooden logs. “I’m going to check on our guys getting the money together. You two stay here and don’t touch anything!”

“Uh, w-whatever you say...” Jet Set gulped.

She hopped up the little ladder for the big container and started walking across the wood. Halfway across she drew her rapier, just in case. She didn’t want to be taken by surprise.

The first car of the train after the engine and the tender was the crew compartment. Which meant the only people inside here were a bunch of dead bodies shoved into the rooms along the side of the corridor. Indigo Zap still tentatively kept her ears open and her eyes wide in case anything was amiss as she jumped from the tender onto the platform of the crew compartment. She pulled open the handle and walked inside, looking down the straight corridor to the door on the other end. There was a window on both doors but neither of them were particularly clear and she couldn’t really make out much more of what was behind it other than the outside of the train car and the first passenger car jostling behind it.

Well, dining car more accurately. There had been some passengers in there when they first boarded the train but they were robbed and subdued quickly. Now there should just be a couple of Shadowbolts left behind to look over shit.

When she got out of the crew compartment she tried squinting and looking over the coupler from her side into the window of the dining car. Instead of a couple recognizable blurs she only saw one figure standing there. That was bad.

Indigo looked to her right, Lemon was out there riding along with the train and some others. She whistled to grab the green-haired girl’s attention and waved her over, pointing at the dining car. Hoping that got her message across she took a deep breath and hopped over the coupler to the dining car. Her rapier was still up in defensive position in front of her face, her hand was taut and curled around the handle, and she was ready to spring forth and eliminate any threat. It may have been the age of the firearm now but that didn’t mean a sword was useless and a skilled person like herself couldn’t deal with the rabble.

Indigo Zap flung the door open and charged inside-

To come face to face with Rainbow Dash, saber at the ready in front of her.

“Rainbow?!”

“Indigo?!”

The two former students gawked at each other for a second, almost dumbly dropping their swords to the ground in shock.

Rainbow Dash shook her head and spread her arms in a disbelieving gesture. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Me? What the hell are you doing here?” Indigo Zap pointed at her.

Rainbow frowned. “You’re a Shadowbolt?”

Indigo Zap looked behind her at the rest of the dining car, seeing two dead bodies belonging to guys formerly of the Shadowbolt gang. “Yeah, yeah I am. It didn’t start out like this but it’s how things are now. And so what about you? You killed them?”

“That’s right,” Rainbow Dash nodded. “What did you expect? You’re robbing a train, they had guns, I’m not going to just take this all sitting down.”

“You’ve been doing that through the whole train?”

“I’ve been saving passengers and stopping a robbery through the whole train, yeah. Sorry but I’m not exactly about to cry over killing Shadowbolts. I don’t really keep up with most of the news in Equestria but even I know how bad you guys are.”

Indigo Zap narrowed her eyes. “Well I’m not about to let you go any further and keep ruining things for us.” A smirk suddenly tugged up her lips. “And it’s nice getting a chance to use my sword and training for what they were meant for.”

Rainbow Dash darkly chuckled and wiped the blade of her saber on a chair’s cushion to get the blood off it. “What happened to you Indigo? I knew you didn’t really care about justice or doing the right thing like me and our teacher, but I didn’t think you were like Lightning Dust either.”

“Don’t you compare me to her!” Indigo glared at Dash. “I was doing good things, at least at first, but… Sunny Flare’s my friend. I’m just helping her out.”

“Why don’t you help me out instead then! Weren’t we friends? Didn’t you care at all when Lightning Dust killed him?” Rainbow Dash pleaded to her former fellow student. “Let’s find her together and take her down!”

Indigo Zap sighed and shook her head. “What’s the point? Even now I’ve done too much stuff as a Shadowbolt. And to answer your question: no, I don’t really care about Lightning Dust murdering him. He wasted our lives!”

Rainbow Dash’s jaw dropped. “What the fuck are you talking about?!”

“This, Rainbow Dash!” Indigo Zap angrily held up her sword. “I might take pride in this, I might enjoy it, but the age of the sword has been over for centuries now! What the fuck was the point of all those years we spent learning to fight with these things? We’re relics. We’ve been relics since we were teenagers. Am I supposed to be grateful to him for taking us in and forcing us to learn the way of the sword just cause he was a crazy geezer that refused to see reality? Cause I’m not!”

Indigo Zap got into a fighting stance, bending her knees and leaning forward, rapier pointed straight out towards Rainbow Dash with her left hand held steady parallel with her chest.

Rainbow Dash’s jaw was clenched and she was red in the face. “You bitch, I’m going to make you regret saying that.” She got into a stance of her own, left hand on her hip with the saber held up in front of her, slightly tilted towards Indigo Zap.

For a long minute the two just stood there facing off against each other. Neither one of them made the first move, beads of sweat began to fall across their faces while the train car rattled around on the tracks. This was no time for fancy gallivanting or tumbling. Rainbow Dash knew that swinging around her sword like it was a club or jumping around like an acrobat would get her stabbed.

They slowly inched closer to each other, their feet just barely shuffling over the floor until the tips of their swords were less than an inch apart.

Indigo’s rapier went first, stabbing towards Rainbow Dash. Rainbow batted it to the side with her saber and backed up, quickly flicking her wrist to bring her saber back to a defensive position in front of her. Another thrust, a quick bat to the side, another thrust, a quick bat to the side. They were testing each other’s reflexes and nothing more initially. Indigo Zap then drew back and went for a lower thrust, then a quick swipe at Rainbow Dash’s extended forearm. It’s true the rapier wasn’t exactly built for cutting in that way but it could still cause serious injuries thanks to its razor sharp nature if it ever came in contact with exposed skin. But Dash turned away the blade both times with her sword and Indigo Zap drew back her rapier and held it straight up in front of her face while Dash let out a calm and steady breath.

“Ready to test your footwork, Rainbow? I know you liked to half-ass your way through the proper footwork training and just rely on your speed.” Indigo said, grinning at her.

“I know the right moves perfectly,” Rainbow said and took a step forward.

Indigo Zap then changed her stance, putting her foot straight forward and bending both legs, slightly leaning towards Rainbow Dash.

“En garde, Rainbow.”

The next time their blades met it was in a swift flurry of blows as both Rainbow and Indigo went for the kill. One of them would press forward at first only to be driven back as the metallic cling of the swords clashing together filled the train car. Rainbow Dash deftly stepped over the dead body of one of the Shadowbolts she killed while Indigo Zap was forced around one of the dining tables. Both of them were keeping on their feet well and pacing themselves.

A flick of the rapier to Rainbow Dash’s face was met with her turning her head to the side to avoid it and cutting out with her saber to Indigo’s chest that Indigo had to back away from. High and low, slash and thrust, they both kept going at each other. Constantly the metal screamed as dozens of attacks were blocked and parried while the two duelists faced off. Rainbow Dash went for a slash around Indigo Zap’s midsection and then had to instantly bring her saber back up to knock aside the rapier that went for her throat. Indigo Zap was able to pull back her sword ever so slightly and make quick thrust after thrust at Rainbow’s exposed points to keep her on her toes.

Rainbow’s saber was more broad and stiff than a rapier, it didn’t allow for simple flicks but it was still a sword with a lot of dexterity and allowed for easy movement. As long as she didn’t overreach she could match the speed of Indigo’s assault and deflect the pinpoint thrusts.

Both of them were getting more and more frustrated as their impeccable defenses weren’t allowing for the other to get a single hit in. It was hardly an amateur fight where two people unfamiliar with knives or swords would constantly leave themselves open. Both were guarded because they knew the true danger of the weapons they wielded. You had to be incredibly careful with these blades.

After another trade of blows both girls separated from each other, the tips of their swords crossed and pressing against each other for dominance. They glared at each other while more sweat coalesced on their brows.

From the side though, movement caught both their attentions. Rainbow and Indigo both looked to see Lemon Zest riding up alongside the dining car with her rifle in hand, aiming it at the rainbow-haired girl through the window.

Indigo Zap’s eyebrows shot up. “Wait!”

If Lemon Zest heard her she didn’t care. Her repeater rifle was leveled at Rainbow Dash and she fired, cocking the lever and firing again and again and again. She filled up the train car with bullets, blowing away the windows and obliterating a good portion of the insides thanks to the cartridge that held so many bullets in her rifle.

Both Indigo and Rainbow ducked to the floor of the car while the bullets flew overhead, neither of them safe as the wild girl fired without a care in the world from on top of her horse.

Rainbow Dash turned around and started to crawl away, going back towards the train car she had come from.

“Hey! Where are you going!” Indigo Zap called after her.

“Sorry, Indigo, but I’ve got a train full of passengers to save! We can finish this later!” Rainbow said, making it to the door and carefully reaching a hand up to pull it open. She slid out of the dining car and vanished.

Indigo slammed a hand down onto the floor. “God damn it, Lemon! Stop shooting!”

Rainbow Dash held onto the top of the train car and shimmied along the windows on the side with her saber back in its sheath. It was the opposite side from where that green-haired gal had come from but there were other riders out on this side that could see her. She needed to get across the car and then she’d hop back in and start going through the train like normal again.

“Damn it, Indigo. What the fuck is wrong with you?” Rainbow Dash said to herself. “At least I killed all the others on the train. What do I do now though?”

As she got to the end of the car she swung herself over and safely onto the back end just in front of the coupler. She took a deep breath and leaned against the door for a second. “I’ve gotta get to the front to take control of the train… at least the passengers should be safe with only Indigo around, she won’t kill them for no reason.” She frowned. “I hope.”

“What’s the plan, what’s the plan, what’s the plan?” She muttered back and forth.

Her eyes gazed down at the buckeye coupler that connected each train car to the next. A grin lit up her face.

“That’ll work.”

Rainbow Dash opened up the door and walked into the passenger car. It was one of the one’s she had went through earlier during her cleanup of the Shadowbolt Gang members that were collecting money from the passengers. The people inside were surprised to see her suddenly come back in from the other end.

“You’re back!” An old lady said as she sat in her booth with her husband.

“Yep! And I’m here to tell you something important so listen up!” Rainbow Dash said to them all. “You need to start moving up to the first few cars and make room for everyone else okay? And I need some of you to go into the cars further back and tell all the other passengers on the train to move up to the front cars as much as they can, okay?”

“Why?” Someone else asked.

“Just trust me okay, I need your help right now and there’s not a lot of time so let’s work together,” Rainbow told them.

“But is the train safe?”

Rainbow Dash nodded. “I promise. You won’t have any trouble from anyone else still on this train, I’m about to save the day and take you all safely to Las Pegasus! Remember to tell everyone about the sword-wielding hero who saved you when you get there!” She went over to one of the dead Shadowbolts and picked up their revolver, tucking it into her belt behind her back. “And I’ll need you for later.”

Indigo Zap stood on the train’s roof as she walked down its length to try and spy Rainbow Dash if she tried to go from one car to another. She had had to wait for Lemon to completely stop shooting, which took far longer than it should have, to stand back up and wipe the glass off of her and then get on top of the dining car. Her mood was sour, it pissed her off to hear Dash say those things to her and it pissed her off even more to have their duel interrupted. If she knew it was Rainbow Dash on the train she wouldn’t have gotten the attention of the others at all.

She paused when she got to the lip of the car’s roof and saw passengers moving from the car down and into the dining car.

“What the hell? Why are they doing that?” She raised an eyebrow. There was no way they would’ve started doing something like this on their own, Rainbow Dash had to have told them to, but why? Indigo walked to the side and looked down the train, seeing others going back and forth between the cars too. But she didn’t see any sign of Rainbow Dash.

“She’s getting them to all move to the front of the train but… oh shit,” Indigo Zap put her rapier back in its sheath and turned around, running for the front of the train.

“Look, if we don’t stop the train before we pass Sunny Flare then she’s going to kill us for screwing up!” Upper Crust said. “Let’s just choose a lever and pull!”

Jet Set sweated as he looked over the levers. “B-But if we pull it too hard and sudden the train might derail, right? And if we disobey Indigo Zap then won’t she kill us too?”

“Grow a pair, Jet Set!” Upper Crust yelled at him. “I don’t know about you but I-”

She didn’t finish her sentence as a strangled gasp came from her throat instead and she fell forward onto the floor of the cab, a knife protruding from her back. Jet Set yelped in fright and looked to see Rainbow Dash pulling herself up from the undercarriage of the train into the cab. His hand fumbled for his gun but she quickly ran to him while pulling out her saber and stabbed him in the gut. Jet Set squeaked, tears coming to his eyes and blood dripping from his mouth while Rainbow Dash painfully yanked the blade out and tossed him out of the cab. Jet Set collided with the ground at full speed and his body tumbled alongside the train tracks until it came to a stop.

“Alright, train’s under control now,” Rainbow Dash said. “I am never crawling under one of these things again.”

It was a hell of a feat, she had crawled all along the undercarriage of the train while it sped along the tracks. Very dangerous and risky but it allowed her to make it here totally undetected.

“Now for part two,” Rainbow Dash grinned and hopped up onto the wood in the tender. “All the passengers should be up to the front cars soon.”

“Rainbow Dash!”

The eponymous girl looked up to see Indigo Zap on the roof of the crew compartment, glaring at her. Rainbow Dash threw an obnoxious smirk at her and shrugged.

“What? I told you I had a train to save. But if you want to finish our duel then I’m fine with that now,” Rainbow said and ran across the logs of wood, jumping forward and onto the crew compartment while slashing out at Indigo Zap.

Indigo drew her rapier and twirled the saber to the side while backing up and giving Rainbow Dash room to land.

“You’re still just as crazy and childish as you always were,” Indigo said to her.

“And I’ll take that over being like you,” Rainbow said and charged at Indigo, slashing at her torso, head, and limbs as she pressed the other fencer back.

Indigo dexterously turned every slash away from her body though and calmly backed up along the roof of the train until she needed to stop and start pushing against Rainbow Dash instead. “You’re still good with the sword, I’ll give you that. Maybe better than the last time I saw you.”

“You’re better than I would’ve thought someone would be after spending who knows how long as a vicious thug,” Rainbow sneered at her.

“I’m not like that. Even if I don’t believe in this shit the same way as you I’m not just gonna let myself become a psycho either. And what do you think you’re even going to do if you catch up to Lightning Dust? Kill her? Remind me again how many duels you won against her when we were students.”

Rainbow Dash frowned. “Zero. But things have changed.”

“Not enough,” Indigo Zap said and thrust her rapier at Dash’s chest.

Rainbow Dash parried the blade and let it pass by her, her saber sliding against it as she turned her hand and tried to angle her own sword down to Indigo Zap’s head. But Indigo pushed against Dash and the two went around in a circle on top of the roof as they each tried to get that perfect angle to cut the other while sparing themselves. It didn’t happen though and they detached, Indigo then swiping at Dash’s shins, something Dash jumped over while slashing diagonally at Indigo.

More and more did they clash blades while battling atop the train, Rainbow Dash made another high slash at Indigo Zap that the Shadowbolt had to lean away from, almost losing her balance and falling off the train before steadying herself and redoubling her attack on Rainbow. Indigo Zap waved her rapier around in a circle as she held it out at Rainbow Dash, the blade fluttering and wavering, trying to catch Rainbow Dash off guard. Rainbow Dash instead just ducked down so Indigo would have to shift her arm down to effectively strike at her and brought her saber up in a sweeping blow at the Shadowbolt’s rapier. Rainbow Dash batted it up and turned her sword around to land a strike on Indigo Zap but had to abort that as Indigo quickly sliced back at her, forcing Dash instead to parry the blow, less the both of them get cut instead. A swift trade of blows occurred after with the louder sound of the train plowing down the tracks overpowering the metal screams. Outside like this the sound of the train was greater than anything else.

Rainbow Dash and Indigo Zap both kept a hand on their hips to steady themselves as they dueled, the frantic and intense fight was starting to take its toll on the both of them. While they were both used to far more strenuous activity there was something far more stressful about engaging in a sword fight with an equal where one wrong move would mean death. Now it became more about their quick feet and the swift steps they took on the roof. Back and forth as one delivered strikes and then parried the return strikes of the other. No point or zone was left unprodded as both duelists aimed for any spot they could.

A brief respite came as they both made a few feints at the other before falling back.

“I remember you being too impatient for feints as a kid,” Indigo said.

“I’ve had to pick up a thing or two if I want to beat Lightning Dust.”

“You’re so obsessed with finding her even though she’ll kill you. Guess when she murdered our teacher she killed you too, you’re just taking longer to realize it. One sword, two deaths.”

Rainbow Dash felt her anger rise but she didn’t let it consume her. “Better than living like you. If I’m walking to my death then so be it. I’ll do it as a proud duelist. What can you say about that?”

“You know what I can say? I can say that I’m gonna keep living! Right after I finish things with you here!” Indigo yelled and charged Rainbow Dash.

It was a relentless attack, Indigo Zap swung and thrusted her sword at Rainbow Dash with greater fury than before. Dash’s sword, arm, and eyes, were put to the test as she blocked and parried the hungering strikes. They locked blades and Indigo Zap forced her way in close, grabbing Rainbow Dash’s wrist while Rainbow did the same to her and the both attempted to simply out-muscle the other while their swords pressed right by their faces.

“Indigo! Get off of her!” A voice called from the side of the train.

Both duelists looked to see Sour Sweet riding alongside the train, a revolver in her right hand that she was unsteadily aiming at Rainbow Dash, waiting for a clean shot. Besides her a number of other Shadowbolts were riding, also getting their guns ready to do the same.

“No!” Indigo Zap yelled and turned both her and Rainbow Dash around so her back was to Sour Sweet and none of them could safely shoot her opponent.

“Wha—Indigo! Get the fuck out of the way!” Sour Sweet shouted.

“No, damn it! Put your gun down, all of you put your guns down! No one’s shooting her, she’s mine!” Indigo said to them all.

“Didn’t know you cared,” Rainbow Dash cheekily grinned and headbutted the distracted Indigo, releasing her grip she jumped away from the other duelist and ran down the roof of the train car, hopping off of it onto the next car down.

Sour Sweet leveled her gun at her but Indigo shouted to get her attention and pointed her rapier at her from atop the train. “Don’t you dare, Sour Sweet! If you shoot her I’ll kill you!”

The freckled girl glared at Indigo Zap but lowered her gun all the same, with a bark to the other Shadowbolts the whole group fanned out from the train. Their horses were starting to get a little tired from running full speed alongside the train for this long. They’d need to take a break soon. Which is what should have happened when Jet Set and Upper Crust brought the train to a stop close to Sunny Flare. But that had been ruined and now if the train kept going like this they were going to lose it soon.

Meanwhile Indigo Zap chased Rainbow Dash, the both of them jumping from roof to roof.

“Stop running, Rainbow Dash! Stop running and fight me!” Indigo Zap yelled.

“Why didn’t you just let them shoot me?” Rainbow Dash yelled back as she laughed while running across the train.

“Because I’m not letting you die like that!”

“Guess you care more about this silly honor stuff than you admit!”

Indigo growled. “I just wanted to beat you myself!”

“Yeah sure, you care about the way of the sword our teacher told us about, you can’t really think it’s worthless! Admit it!”

“Shut up!”

Rainbow Dash jumped onto the second to last car of the train and stopped running, turning around and backing up to the middle of its roof and letting Indigo Zap jump on after her. Both of them raised their swords and pointed the tips right at each other’s heart. Slowly they inched towards each other until the tips were just barely touching. A sudden step forward and Dash slashed at Indigo’s outstretched arm. A flick of her wrist and Indigo turned the blade away from her arm. More slices came from both of them while the blades clinged together. Dozens of practiced and expertly aimed blows were matched and parried just as expertly.

Rainbow Dash was forced back a bit as Indigo put her on the defensive. She was getting closer to the edge of this car’s roof but she had no intention to let Indigo force her to jump to the last car. In fact, that’s what she planned to do to Indigo instead.

A thrust from Indigo’s rapier and Rainbow Dash raised her sword to parry it and allowed the blade to pass by her while she rushed in at Indigo. She grabbed Indigo Zap’s wrist and was rewarded with a quick punch into her rubs from Indigo’s free hand while the hilts and blades of their swords still struggled against each other. Rainbow Dash grunted and pulled Indigo Zap around, reversing their positions so now Indigo’s back was to the last car. She released her wrist and pushed away from Indigo, batting away the slice from the rapier that came.

With a grin, Rainbow Dash now went on the offensive, almost carelessly thrusting and slashing with abandon just to make Indigo Zap back up some more.

Indigo Zap grit her teeth as she blocked the blows from Rainbow Dash while carefully backing away until she had no more space to stand. A quick glance behind her showed the roof of this car was ending and all that was left was the last coach car. Rainbow Dash was forcing her to jump over the gap between cars so they could continue their fight on the last one.

“Tch,” Indigo Zap blocked a slash at her midsection and turned around, quickly making the jump over the gap so that Dash didn’t have the time to strike at her back. She immediately spun around and held her rapier at the ready as she waited for Dash to make the jump too.

Only, Rainbow Dash didn’t jump.

“Well Indigo, sorry but I think I have to say goodbye for now,” Rainbow Dash smiled and pulled out the gun she had picked up with her left hand.

Indigo’s eyes widened. “What are you-”

Rainbow Dash cocked the trigger and aimed—and then pointed it down at the coupler, firing a single shot that knocked out the pin holding the two joints together. The coupler snapped open and the last car of the train detached from the rest of the train, slowly falling behind the rest of the locomotive as its momentum only carried it so much.

Indigo Zap’s jaw dropped and she nearly dropped her rapier as well. Already the distance was too far to jump. Dash got her. And that stupid rainbow-haired idiot just cheekily saluted her and jumped down to run back inside her car while Indigo drifted and drifted farther down the tracks.

“God damn it!” Indigo Zap yelled to the sky.

Sunny Flare and Sugarcoat both watched from their vantage point as the train kept chugging along towards Las Pegasus instead of stopping for them. Both of them also noticed the one car that had become detached and eventually lost momentum, coming to a complete stop.

Sugarcoat glanced at Sunny Flare to see how she would react and saw her leader with a playful smile on her face as she watched the train go past them.

“That’s not what was supposed to happen according to Jet Set and Upper Crust, is it?” Sunny Flare asked Sugarcoat.

“No.”

The leader of the Shadowbolt Gang started humming to herself and reached down to her hip to unholster her pistol. “I hope they get back soon.”