Author's Note

This is a little A.U story. NOT PART OF THE MAIN STORYLINE

Last Man Standing A.U(Edited By NagaShark)

(I don’t own the rights of this song)

Walking down a deserted road filled with sand, a lone hooded figure makes his way toward a half destroyed Sugar Cube Corner, as he moves a piece of wall and enters through a secret tunnel where more sand, water barrels and an improvised bed, desk, and chair rested.

Sighing, the human sits on the chair and puts some cans on the desk as he takes off his mask revealing a dirty and hairy Mark that pinches his nose in sorrow.

After taking inventory of what he has, the human starts to write in a book he had safe in one of his pants pockets.

Day 35

Still no signs of survivors, today I venture to the remains of Twilight’s school, manage to find 3 cans of food next to a corpse, the blood was fresh, the mantis were probably close, I was lucky not to stubble into any of them.

Something shining catches his attention and with a glare he looks at the crown of Ambrosia and how said object has been the source of his suffering for more than a month ago, the memory of how it all started, during Nightmare Night still fresh on his mind.

“The mantis curse?” Mark questions as he listens to Daring Do over the phone.

“Yeah a very nasty one too, Ambrosia was a paranoid Queen according to what I found, all of her stuff was riddled with traps, curses and viruses, and her crown in particular, she used the worst on it. Mark, you need to get to a hospital, call Twilight, call the Princess, call whoever you can...right now any mare you have getting into contact with you could…”

The call ended and a rumble in the ground alerted the human as he stood outside his house and saw how the sun turned red, and a string of yellow light exploded from Canterlot.

Clenching one of the now empty cans Mark tosses it and hits the crown in annoyance as he rests his shoulders on the table and grabs his head in his hands in shame.

Day 40

Exiting another building in ruins Mark stops and looks at the horizon where the crater where Canterlot used to be was still smoking, shaking his head he turns around and speeds up his pace the moment he hears some growling in the distance.
Forcing his way, Mark opens the round table and cleans the leaves that have fallen from a hole in the wall. With a sigh he gets to work and places seven candles in front of each throne and lights them up as he sits in the distance and just watches the wax melt and join the rest.

I raided the local music store, didn't think anyone would care right now, found the parts needed to build me a radio transmitter, I still can’t believe my luck, when I found the book on how to make one. I know this is just wishful thinking but maybe, just maybe. There can still be someone out there

Clearing some sweat he finished the last tombstone in front of Fluttershy’s cottage, the once radiant place filled with life was now a ghost town, as he spent the time giving a proper burial to all of her animal friends. Just like Fluttershy would have wanted.

Taking time to pause and look around, Mark looks around the destroyed town as he sits on a wishing fountain in front of Town Hall before going to Carousel Boutique and grabbing another mannequin and handful of fabrics back to the refugee.

Day 45

Slowly screwing a metal box, Mark flinches and shakes his hand when electricity passes through as he glares at the infernal invention in front of him, before giving up and turning to his book once more.

Building one of these is harder than I thought, I lost count on how many times this damn box just zaps me, so far I can only hear static. If I get it to work what should I be saying? “Hi, someone out there? The idiot that ended the world is still around.” God I need to stop bringing the mood down, I will never fix this otherwise, I must keep hope. Haven’t encountered a mantis yet, that must be good for something.

With a sigh he looks back at the radio and nodding to himself he goes back and continues working on it, managing to finish it when the clock reaches midnight, as he starts to test the radio station and brings the microphone near his mouth.

“This is…this is lone ranger, trying to find someone, I will keep this station open to anyone out there, if there is someone there I’m in Ponyville, the place looks far worse, there are some minor Mantis sightings but I managed to find a refugee, I have food, water, and shelter. I will be going to town hall and will stay there for the remaining of one hour, if anyone is out there…anyone, please talk to me.”

Finishing the transmission Mark turned to his bed and went to bed.

Day 46

I had to jinx it, didn’t I? I was just exiting the apple farm's barn when one of those damn mantis jumped me, the bastard almost took my neck. Not sure what luck was that I lived to tell the tale. I swear it was wearing a red bow. God I hope I was just seeing things, I have enough on my shoulders as it is, can’t have child murder on the list too. Although would that be redundant at this point? After all, I was the one that...

A bark interrupts him and looking back Mark sees Winona with a bowl wagging her tail waiting to be fed. Smiling Mark nods and fills the bowl and pets her head as she eats with gusto.

Things are starting to seem brighter, I found my first sign of life, one of Winona’s cubs still lives and doesn’t seem to hate me. The poor soul seems to have been surviving by falling fruits, hunting mantis and raiding the kitchen.

Smart girl, she is a survivor that is for sure. She looks just like her mother, as well as her friendly behaviour, but is easily two or even three times the size of her mom and has deeper fur, Winona must have had some fun with a rottweiler or some other dog bred to hunt must likely, I decided to name her after her mother to honour her memory, all things considered, I count my blessings to finally have some company even if I don’t deserve pets.

A whining catches his attention and he is startled when Winona rests her head on his lap and looks at him with concern. Smiling Mark continues to pet her feeling better to finally have company with him.

The following days went in relative peace as Winona joined in on Mark's raid and the two managed to make a fairly good team as she could use her nose to find hidden treasure and squish into small places. Finding treasures like the remains of Rainbow Dash home which became a perfect spot to collect and gather clean water and charge things with a still active thunder cloud. After a while the two managed to mass a nice, fully functional hideout between the two and continue the transmission as they make the town a bit safer. The day they manage to bring back to life the kitchen and find a way to make desserts was enough to bring a tear to Mark's eyes.

After another raid on their way back to the refugee, a scream alerted the two, rushing to investigate the two found a hooded Holstaur being chased by 3 manti with the flower mares clothes, like the others, they look similar to mares but their jaw were twice as big and had razor sharp teeth, their eyes were completely black, their fur was a darker shade and hands have fangs capable of ripping through metal like it was nothing. Each of them having a bite mark on their necks, arms and legs respectively, more victims of Mark’s actions.

When the Holstaur trips and the Manti were about to jump her, Mark springs into action, and throws a grappling hook into a bookshelf near them, and brings it down, pinning them to the ground allowing Winona to finish one off by biting her neck off as Mark jumps and uses a crossbow gauntlet on his wrist to impale the head of one and a hunting knife to finish the final one, giving Winona another snack

Recovering, the Holstaur looks at the two, as the human and dog retrieve the bolts and approach her.

“You alright?” Mark gets closer as Winona smelled her ankle, and then licked it for good measure.

“Y-Yeah, thanks.” The Holstaur replies with a nod as she removes the scarf and goggles over her eyes revealing a familiar face that shocks Mark immediately.

“Are you by chance Lone Ranger?” Mark was left frozen as he admired her features, it hasn’t been so long since they last saw each other but her hair has grown quite a lot, all this time, she seems a bit dirty and her horns seems to had grown slightly over the years, with a holden ring pierced into one of then, but there was no doubt about it, in front of Mark, was none other than Daisy the stripper / model he sort of had the pleasure to meet a couple of years ago.

“Well, are you?” She asks again, making him realize he hasn’t responded yet.

“I…y-yeah, that’s me.” In that moment they hear howling in the distance, making Winona growl at the direction it came from. “This place isn’t safe, those 3 were probably scouts, come with me quickly!”

Mark motions for Daisy, as he grabs her hand and brings her along. “Winona, arrow formation, take us home girl!”

The dog goes ahead and guides the group through alleys and ruined buildings stopping them before they could get in the way of more Manti until eventually they reach their home where they sigh in relief once Mark hides the entrance once more.

“There, we should be safe now.”

“What is this place exactly?” Daisy questions looking around as Mark goes and takes his mask off before fetching a bottle of water and takes a sip before putting some more in a bowl for Winona before sitting in a chair.

“Pinkie Pie secret party lair, or what used to be I suppose.” Mark tells dejectevely looking down. “Found it when exploring the town, and been using it as a refuge.” He points at his bed. “I’m sorry I can’t offer much but feel free to take the bed, tomorrow I will see if I can find another bed.”

“Bed? Wait” She shakes her head and turns to look at him. “That is not what I’m here I…wait I think I know you, you are the human right?”

“Yep, pretty much, glad you remember me Daisy, it's been a while.”

“Oh my Celestia, now I remember you, I can’t believe you are still alive!” She goes for a hug but Mark flinches and stays back. “I wouldn’t advise it. Kind of toxic to the touch.” He warns her, confusing the Holstaur.

“What?”

“Looks like we both have some questions for the other, so let me ask first where have you been all this time?”

“I was in Canterlot, that’s right! That is why I’m here, to come pick you up.”

“Pick me up? Daisy I don’t know if you notice but so far we are the only things not infected right now. There is nowhere to go, especially that crater, there is nothing there.”

“Nothing except the camp” She says in excitement.

“What?” It was his turn to look at her in confusion.

“Here let me show you, do you have a radio or something?”

He points to a corner of the room where he had his built radio, and without saying anything she starts to play with the signals.

“You are wasting your time, Daisy, I have been trying frequencies for weeks. There is only static.” He says.

“That is because you were just putting random lines, if you had just found the correct station…there!” She takes the microphone and headphones.

“Hello? Hello, Daisy here, reporting. Colgate, can you hear me?”

To his shock there was actually a response on the other end. “Here, this is Colgate, glad to see you made it Daisy.”

“What?!” Mark stood up in shock.

“I see you made contact, how many refugees did you find Daisy?”

“Just one, an old friend called Mark.” She winks at him. “It’s just like you thought Ponyville is completely void of life, he is probably the only survivor.”

There is a pause before the transmission continues. “I see Twilight and Moondancer. How long until you come back?”

“Not sure yet, I found a pretty big Manti nest near the forest, so that leaves out my way in. I will keep in touch with you about any new developments.”

“Understood, take care, over and out.” Colgate ends the call, as she smirks at him. “See? We are not alone.”

“But…but that is impossible.” He has to sit again, trying to recover as Winona approaches him, whining in worry. “Assuming that came from Canterlot how…how did you all survive?”

“Curious fact that not many know, underneath Canterlot there is an old abandoned gem mine, when the event happened, the city collapsed underneath it, many were injured but we managed to pull it together and turn it into our camp. Didn’t you ever see our bonfire?”

“That was a bonfire? I thought that was just the remains of the explosion.”

“Mark, you thought an explosion would last an entire year?” She puts her arms on her hips and looks at him in disbelief. “Well it doesn’t matter, the important thing is that you don’t need to be alone anymore. If we work together we can go there and…” She tries to reach for his hand but he pulls it away. “N-No! I mean Daisy, I’m happy to know there are still others I mean, I really am but…but if that is the case then I should be as far away from you as possible, this…this was a mistake, I shouldn’t have made that stupid radio in the first place.”

“Ok, seems like it’s my turn to ask, what exactly are you talking about? What do you mean you are toxic?”

“I mean I’m the reason the Mantis were made in the first place.” He sighs looking at an old hat of Daring Do with an arrow hole piercing through, as he recalls what happened.

“Fluttershy, please stay with me.” Mark begs her as she holds her head in pain, while he keeps hugging her.

“Mark…I’m scared.” She tells him with teary eyes as she looks around the infirmary where other ponies, all mares, were developing similar symptoms.

“Oh, no, no, no NO!” Daring bursts through the door and looks on in horror at Mark, as royal guards follow behind her. “Quickly! Put him away!”

She orders and the guards use their magic to levitate him away from Fluttershy.

“Hey what the hell!?”

“Didn’t you hear a single word I said?! I told you to put yourself in a hospital!” Daring Do chastises. “You are fucking patient zero! Any pony you touch will be infected, you just doomed your marefriend!”

“What?!” To his horror her claims were soon proven as Fluttershy seems to have a seizure, and foam starts to form around her mouth, as her eyes go black and soon after attacks one of the guards, ripping his head off and proceeds to eat it.

“It's too late! We need to leave now!” Daring looks at the other guards who nod and teleport the two away before the other patients could attack.

Appearing outside Twilight puts Mark in a bubble and nods to her brother who ignites his horn and with his squad torches the place.

“NO!”

“You can cry later Star.” Daring glares at him holding her wrist which has a bite mark on it. “Right after you fix this mess.”

Sniffing some tears back, Mark clears his eyes before standing up. “I caused this mess! Everypony I touch will turn into that monster in a day, heck the effects would start to show immediately with dark spots on their bodies, God I don’t even want to imagine what would happen once it reaches other nations.”

“But Mark don’t you see, that is only more reason for you to come.” Daisy doesn’t seem discouraged. “We have a lab facility and the best magicians and doctors of Canterlot are still working on a cure.” She shows him a blue serum. “We have come close to a prototype with your help it would be possible to find a more permanent cure.”

He looks at her wary as he looks at the vial for a second.

“Plus you said it yourself, it targets ponies only, I’m not one.” She surprises him by grabbing his naked hand before he could react.

“Daisy no!”

“No, no, look! Look.” He shows her hand. “See? No dark spots are happening. I'm immune, you don’t need to be wary about me.”

He was shocked at the revelation and intertwined his fingers with hers staring at their hands before looking at her. “You are ok.”

“And I don’t want you to keep living alone, please Mark, will you come with me?”

“I…” He stops, grabbing her hand and looks away. “…I don’t know what I will do, even when I put that damn crown back into its tomb it just came back to me like a boomerang and nothing changed. I’m where I deserve to be.”

Winona whines and rubs her face against his leg.

“Do you really think that is what your herd would have wanted? Do you just stay in the dark and mop around feeling self pity? Please, Mark at the very least you have to try. That is why you built that radio in the first place didn’t you? You haven’t lost hope yet.”

He remains quiet and keep his gaze down.“Please just…just let me think, there is a lot I need to process right now, I will go fetch some food for tonight and we will talk in the morning.”

He tells before heading upstairs, Winona close by. “No Winona, you stay.”

She whines in worry and follows again. “No Winona, I need time, stay.”

She sits but keeps whining as she watches him leave, while Daisy consoles the distressed pet.

That night Mark stares at the starry night, his mind in turmoil of emotions not knowing what to do.

“My hunter…” Startled, he looks back to see the ghostly form of Fluttershy smiling at him.

“F-Fluttershy?”

She closes her eyes as she keeps smiling before pointing at Canterlot.

“You too think I should go?”

She nods once.

“But…but after what I provoked, I don’t know if I will ever be able to forgive myself.” She brought her hand to his cheek and cleaned a tear as she put her forehead next to him. “They need you.”

She whispers before starting to dissipate. “You have my forgiveness, please don’t punish yourself any more, save my world, save Equestria, accept our help.”

With teary eyes, Mark nods and watches her leave for a couple of more moments, before returning to the cave where he finds Winona waiting for him and Daisy soundly asleep on his bed.

Smiling Mark kneels and pets the dog. “Don’t worry my sweet Winona, I will never push you away ever again.” He promises bringing her into a hug as she wiggles her tail and licks his cheek. “Hehe ok, ok we will play later, for now, to bed young lady.” He orders pointing at her dog bed as she goes and rests, while Mark goes to Daisy who slowly wakes up when she feels him looking at her.

“Mark?”

“I’m sorry for staring.”

Slowly sitting up, she meets his eyes in time for him to kneel. “It's been so long since I have had any sort of company, especially one so gorgeous.” He proclaims cupping her cheek and making her blush and eep slightly.

“Y-You are just saying this because I’m the only female here. I remember how much you were afraid of me.”

“You are wrong!” He refused to break eye contact. “I was never afraid of you, I was stuttering because of how in awe I was of your beauty.”

“Y-You mean it? You are not scared of how big and muscular I look?”

“Never once” He nods with a genuine smile before trapping her lips in a kiss that take her off guard as she gasps and then moans on how the kiss became longer and more intense when he pokes ler lips with his tongue and she grant her access for more as they explore each other mouth and their tongues dance together.

Eventually the need for air makes him break the kiss, with a string of saliva still connecting them.

“Sorry I just couldn’t control myself, I haven’t been with a woman in so long and your presence is just awakening something in me.”

“Don’t be sorry.” She smiles back at him. “I understand.” She brings him into a hug. “I share the feeling.” With half lidded eyes she continues the kiss and slowly brings him to the bed with her.

Before any of them knew what was happening, the two were already naked and rubbing and caressing each other's bodies for dear life, as if they fear that they will disappear the moment they stop touching the other.

Sniffing with a big grin Mark stops and admires the orbs in front of him catching Daisy's attention.

“Is something the matter?”

“Nothing it’s just…I’m so happy I can finally have the chance to see this view again. Countless nights I spent dreaming about you, the night I met you, how much I wanted to play with your breasts.” He starts to massage and move around her boobs. “How much I missed the ambrosia that was your milk, and the desire to hear you moan.

Bringing his fingers down he plays with her soaking wet pussy, as his mouth and free hand were busy attending her lonely breasts making her gasp and arch her back in pleasure as like so much time ago he did with so many other mares. Drinking and moving slowly with fluttering eyes, fully intending to burn the experience into the back of his mind for the rest of his life, until a cute high pitch moan catches his attention as Daisy comes immediately.

Smirking, he stops to look at the blushing mare.

“A squirter?”

“Please don’t look at me.” She looks away with a deep blush. “It’s embarrassing I hate that I always make that sound, and I always finish so fast.”

“It’s ok.” Mark kisses her cheek lovingly. “I think it's just plain adorable.”

Removing his fingers he lines himself up with her. “I just hope you have a bit more energy, because I’m particularly pent up myself.”

Nodding rapidly she spread her petals for better access. “Please, I can't wait much longer either.”

With that said, Mark went to work, and slowly penetrated her, for how wet she was, access was fairly simple, and for the first time he could feel that there was a bit more room despite having hilted completely. Even so the gasps, and moans of approval from Daisy, was all the approval he needed to hear and decided not to make that be a deterrent as he started to pull away until only the tip remains before ramming inside once more, giving her time to get used to it the sensation before speeding up, and going drunk in lust at the sight of her boobs moving up and down, with her movements accompanied by her cute little moans, as she continue to cum but didn’t seem to need to stop anytime soon even when his own orgasm was fast approaching.

Grabbing his head the two share a kiss and scream into their mouths as to not make too much noise while they continue their session through out the night changing positions over and over again until they were left as a sweaty dopey smiling mess with Daisy refusing to let go of their hug and Mark on cloud nine with his face smooshed in her chest.

The next day their grins didn’t disappear whatsoever when the barks of Winona alerts the two and they saw her waiting to be fed too.

“Duty calls.” Mark jokes.

“So it seems.” Daisy nods and lets him go, so he could go feed the dog and use the sheets to cover herself. “Mark, I wanted to tell you what happened last night, it wasn’t just me trying to convince you or anything.”

“I know.” He turns around to look at her. “We were just a bit hungry ourselves right?” He says with a smirk putting on some pants making Daisy blush deeply.

“Y-Yeah I suppose.”

“If anything it’s just one juicy and delicious bonus.”

That catches her attention and grins. “Do-Does that mean…?”

“Eh, it beats just staying here moping around, let’s go to Canterlot.”

Before he could react Daisy already rushed to him and hugged his face once more. “Oh Marky, thank you so much! You don’t know how happy this makes me.”

“Not as much as how happy I am right now I bet.” Mark manages to mention with his face smooshed between her breasts once more, making her realize what she was doing and stops with an embarrassed giggle. “Sorry.”

“Do it again.” He smiles at her, making her chuckle and wave her fingers. “Ah ha, we will have plenty of time for that once we get back to the base.”

“Oh, now we are getting there by sunset.” Mark was even more pumped with Winona barking in approval.

“Hehe you are excited too Winona? Yeah you want to go for a walk? Would you like to go see Canterlot?” Mark pets her as she licks his hands and jumps in excitement “Good then we should pack up.

“Ah Mark I appreciate the enthusiasm but there is still the issue of the nest, we can’t go back through the forest.”

“It's ok, I have an idea for that.” Mark pumps his chest in confidence. “But it will be noisy, so once we start, we will need to go, and fast.” Mark warns her, making Daisy blink.

Once everything was packed and using Pinkie’s special expanding bags for the biggest materials. The two made their way to the train station where Mark guides Daisy to a secret underground tunnel.

“Was that always here?” Daisy looks around as they advance.

“It was part of an emergency exit Twilight proposed some years before I came to equestria, according to her it was placed after the Tirek attack and was intended as a means to evacuate the citizens quickly and discreetly. Unfortunately it was never finished but I was able to fill the gaps.”

Mark lights a bonfire with the torch he was carrying, illuminating the space and revealing a modified train with an ice breaker, with spikes on the front, reinforced glass, and no chimney, attached to a single wagon covered in barbed wire and long spikes.

“We are here.” Mark opens the door and helps Winona get inside as he starts to unpack some mannequins, and approach a computer at the driver seat. “Close the door behind you.”

Crouching a little Daisy manages to squish inside and close the door before taking a seat.

“What kind of train is this?”

“One that makes its own railroad, and can ram past Manti.” Turning it up Daisy started to hear music and peeking out of the bar window she saw speakers poking outside.

“Raiding the town I found Vinyl’s Wub Canon and the blueprints to build me my own. Spent months building and modifying this beauty so it runs on it instead of coal to run and go faster than a regular train.”

He explains going back and stabbing both her and Winona. “Please hold tight, you will want to to grab on to something once we start moving.”

“You…did think of breaks right?” Daisy asks in worry.

“Yeah I thought of that too but I didn't have the time to test them .”

“What was that?”

“I mean this thing will cut through that nest in no time if we time it right” He goes to the driver's seat in confidence, and puts on seatbelts and a helmet.

“Get ready with the transmission Daisy, once outside I don’t know how much time we will be cutting so better tell Colgate that we are coming and probably we will be coming in hot and fast.”

“Canterlot train station has completely collapsed. When we reach the peak of the mountain we will have to leave the train.”

“Hehe, trust me, if this works there will be no need for that.”

“If?”

Pulling the lever music starts to blast outside the train shaking the ground as it starts moving.

“Ok Ponyville, let's make our escape with a bang!”

As the train advances Daisy notices that the road ends in a stone wall.

“Mark there is no road, there is no road!”

“Told you Twilight never finished this project, but luckily it only needed one last detail”

Pressing a button Mark launches two rockets giving them an opening as the train jumps at the surface at max speed carrying the explosion with it and smashing a couple of manti as they take to the road.

“Alright! Canterlot here we go!”

Sighing in relief Daisy puts her hand on her chest. “A warning would have been nice, you know?”

“Sorry, got excited and forgot that part, this train technically isn’t fully complete, much of it features need to operate manually but if the tree of us work together I’m sure we could make it work, and we aren’t out of the woods yet. Daisy, how good are you with the turret?”

She takes off the seatbelt and goes to him.

“Never used one, why?”

“Because we are heading straight for the nest.”

He glares when in front of them was a sea of Manti rushing straight at them and blocking the tunnel to Canterlot. “Don’t worry we don’t need accuracy, just need a clean path” He points at the roof where part of a set of stairs could be seen.

“Mark, I can barely fit here, I can’t enter there.”

She confesses but then they hear a bark and Winnona wagging her tail.

“Ah Winona you aren’t actually thinking…?”

“Hey, my girl is a born hunter, I say let her.” Mark chuckles as she rushes and climbs the turret using her bowl to stir the control with her face and then blast the Manti pressing the button with her paws.

“You gotta be kidding me.” Daisy looks at that in shock.

“Equestrian pets, Daisy, never underestimate them!” Mark chuckles, getting more pumped as he keeps blasting sound forward and helps make their path on a bumpy road.

“Ok Daisy, we need to avoid stragglers, can you do me a favour?”

“Sure.”

“There is a button in front of the mannequins, when I say go press one in the left and right to launch them”

“Got it” She goes back and grabs a pole waiting for the signal.

“Ready…GO!”

Pressing the buttons the mannequins are placed in containers and launched at the air where they run in opposite directions to be chased by the Mantis only to explode in ice the moment their heads are ripped open.

Soon the 3 manage a good rhythm and finally enter the tunnel when the last dummy is launched, blocking the entrance with ice, letting them take a moment to celebrate and breathe when they get past the nest.

“Colgate, do you hear me?” Daisy calls once the emotions die down.

“Daisy?” Colgate replies on the other side. “Please tell me it was you who is making all that racket, all of the sudden we have been hearing dub music in the distance.”

“Yeah it was us, Mark has a machine to get past the nest, we are on our way to Canterlot, we just entered the tunnel.”

“You are using the train railroad!?” No Daisy, turn back! That tunnel is too dangerous.”

“Why?”

“The explosion that sank Canterlot broke it in half. You are on a collision course right at the side of the mountain; you will just launch yourself in the air.”

“What?!” Mark and Daisy look at her in horror.

“Colgate we can’t turn back now, we sealed our escape with ice, there is a horde on the other side we are completely trapped”

“Then you better find another way, and stop before it’s too late.”

Mark looks down and starts to think. “No.”

“What?” Daisy looks at him in horror.

“This train has one last trick, Daisy, Winona back to your seats, put on seat belts, and grab something solid as hard as you can!”

“What are you planning?”

Mark looks at the console panel right at a button that says. ‘Sonic Boom Box.’”

“Put all the juice in this trick.”

“Mark unless this thing can fly I don’t think going faster will change a thing.”

He looks back at them with a smirk.

“Oh Celestia, this thing can fly.” Daisy's eyes widen, and she and Winona, strap in and grab their seats for dear life, once secure Mark sighs one last time and admires the button.

“Sorry Rainbow Dash” He breaks the glass and presses the button. “I will have to break your record!”

The second the button is pressed the music stops momentarily, and the blue lights die down only to be brought back to life and blast full power so strongly that the train shakes and a trail of music could be visible, as everyone is pressed against their seats as the end of the road is fast approaching and just when they exit the train breaks the sound barrier and obliterates part of the tunnel, revealing more speakers on the base which Mark used to form a road and actually fly upwards as they finally reach the crater of Canterlot.

“Oh Celestia we did it! We did it!” Daisy cheers continuing the transmission.

“Daisy…what in Equestria is that thing!?” Colgate asks in shock looking at the window.

“It's us Colgate! Prepare for landing.”

“Ok Rarity’s best tailor work, don’t fail us now.” Mark says mostly to himself, killing the engine and using Rarity’s fabrics as makeshift parachutes to slow down as they begin their descent.

“Ok just like in the movies, like Akira, like Akira, like Akira!” Taking a sharp turn to the left, Mark engages the brakes, and the train bounces once before screeching to a halt in the middle of the town.

Once free he lets go of the controls and sighs in relief. “Man, I'm good!”

He is blindsided when Daisy comes and kisses him full on the lips. “You did! You did it Mark!”

Winona barks and goes to him too, making him chuckle.

“We did it.”

A knock on the door catches their attention and putting on the mask everyone goes and sees the residents of Canterlot.

“Everyone is fine?” Colgate asks them, wearing casual clothes, much to Mark's confusion as he looks around and sees that the town despite having watchtowers and more guards than usual didn’t seem to different with the mayor change being the ruins of the castle in the distance and the rock walls circling the entire town.

“Yeah…I think we are.” Mark finally nods, grabbing Daisy's hand as they exit the train, and walk to greet the welcoming committee.

Next time: Quarry Of Madness