The Equestrian Apocalypse

— Devan —

The ride became peaceful as we slowly made our way along the railroad tracks right outside Canterlot. The wind from the mountain blew against my face, helping to relieve the heat from my now mild fever. We were moving at horse-carriage speeds now, not too fast but still moving along. Spark was operating the cart carefully, and she supposedly had experience driving one of these things. She mentioned her mechanical background, even working on the trains that ran this track a few times. We were lucky to have her at a time like this, and I was happy she had survived the nasty incident at Canterlot.

Candy sat beside me as I sat up on the cart, using my arms to hold myself up. She felt her hoof against my arm again before turning to Spark. “Can we go any faster? He is still burning up.”

“I’m afraid this is fast as we can go 'til we're down the mountain,” Spark replied.

“How come?”

“It’s unsafe,” she replied, “The track down the mountain is pretty curvy. We'd be riskin' derailment if we sped up. Plus, I wasn’t able to inspect the brakes of these carts before we got chased off. I'd imagine they're fine, but we don’t wanna put too much pressure on 'em.”

“I suppose you’re right,” Candy said, resting her hoof on my thigh. “You should lay down. We can use your backpack as a makeshift pillow.”

I opened my mouth to argue, but she threw a glare that stopped me. She helped me pull off my backpack and gently laid my head down on it. The cart shook mildly as we traveled along the unsteady track, rocking me gently on the backpack. As she sat above me, I locked eyes with her.

“Thank you,” I said.

“Of course, dear.”

“And thank you for this,” I replied, gesturing to my leg. She eyed me confusingly, trying to gauge any sarcasm. I smiled. “Seriously. You saved me.”

“Devan,” she replied gently, “you’re still sick because of it. Don’t thank me … not yet at least.”

“I’ll survive. I promise.”

She smiled back timidly. I looked up at the darkening sky and towering mountaintop, taking in the beauty of this world. The peace was interrupted when Spark cussed. As I raised my head to see, she turned around and gestured back at Dash’s cart behind us to stop. The brakes were applied, and I sat up to see what was happening. It was then that I noticed we were entering a bridge that rose high along the mountainside. Over the edge of the cart, the mountain was giving way to an incredibly daunting drop. That was not the reason that Spark stopped; She stopped because the bridge ahead of us stopped. A section toward the middle of it was missing, and the rails curved down before ending abruptly. There was a solid train-sized gap ahead, and the rail on the other side dangled above the steep, steep drop.

“Son of a bitch,” Spark commented. She turned back to me, then the others in the other cart, but they could see it too.

“Damn it,” Candy said, “Is there another route to Ponyville?”

“Not from this high up, no …” Spark answered. She was right. I had taken the train to Canterlot many times, and there was only one way to Ponyville. There was a backup section through the mountainsides if I remembered right, but it did not span far, and it had to be after this bridge.

"Wait a minute," I called, "What about the other train? The one that took Cloud's hoof. Where the hell did that one come from if the bridge is out?"

"Maybe it collapsed earlier today," Spark suggested.

"That is likely," Candy replied, "From what you guys told me, about how fast the train flew by you, maybe it was what caused it to collapse in the first place."

"Hang on!" I exclaimed, "The princesses! What if they were on the train?!"

Spark's eyes lit up, but Candy looked aside, deep in thought.

"Hold up," she said, "That is possible, but the train station is across town from the castle. I know they have guards, but them making it across town with all of the chaos that happened yesterday ... that's a stretch. Not ruling it out, but I'm just saying."

She had a point. We pondered for a few seconds before returning our attention to our situation.

"Well ... what now?" Spark asked.

Candy sighed. "We may have to make the trek to Manehatten ..."

“Do ya think that’s the best move?” Spark asked her, “honestly?”

“What other choice do we have?” she said, pointing her hoof at me. “He needs a doctor. The yellow pegasus said it. Even if he didn't, we can't go back to Canterlot, and we don't even have a sliver of intel on other cities like Baltimare.”

“Is there no other way?” I asked, “Can we not go around? Maybe roll the carts down?”

“Devan,” Spark said, “These carts are built for the track. Rollin' them down could work, but they will prolly get caught up in the terrain, or worse, roll to uncontrollable speeds. I know you saw me move one, but they are still heavy. We need to stick to the rail.”

As she talked, Dash shimmied the other cart forwards. It slowly bumped into the back of ours, moving us an inch. “Hey,” she spoke over the idling engines below us, “what’s the plan?”

Candy turned around and pointed at Flutters. “You said he needs a doctor, right?”

Flutters looked at me briefly before nodding.

“So,” Candy continued, “King mentioned the doctor in Manehatten. I know we agreed that isn't the best ... but we don't really have a choice." She took a moment to pause, glancing back and forth between all of us and noticing the others' disapproving faces. "Look, I know it sounds risky, but what other option do we have? We can't go back to Canterlot, and getting around this ..." She pointed to the bridge. "... would be even harder than sticking to the track to Manehatten. The clinic he mentioned was on the outskirts, away from downtown. Even if he was wrong about the safe zone, and there is a mob, we can always backtrack ... or fight our way through ..." She glanced down at me worryingly. "Regardless, we have to try ..."

The others nodded along, slowly accepting of the plan. While I didn’t think it was the best play, she did make sense. I wasn’t really in a position to argue anyway, as my fever and headache were defiantly sticking around. I worried about how much longer my body could hold this heat. I laid my head back down as the others started reversing the carts away from the bridge. It didn’t take long to make it back to the split, and I looked back to see Dash hop off her cart to pull the lever beside the tracks. The track switched to the Manehatten rail, and after she was back on, we slowly made our way along it.

We coasted along as the track descended quicker, following the steep mountain down. The sound of the engine weakened as it was replaced by the wind. The cart was rolling along a bit faster now, causing me to sit back up so I could enjoy the ride. As the track got steeper and started curving again, I could feel Spark apply the brakes to ease our acceleration and keep us at a safe speed. I watched as the track took a left turn, bending around the mountainside. From how high up we were, I could see really far on the horizon. As we rounded the corner, I took in the breathtaking new view. Celestia’s sun shone beautifully, setting over the horizon in a red-orange glow. Distant, smaller mountains and hills rose all around, and vibrant forests and plains sprawled as far as my eyes could see. I squinted, trying to make out Ponyville in the distance.

“It’s so pretty,” I commented.

“It is,” Candy agreed.

For the next few minutes, we coasted down the mountain. Spark never had to give the cart power to accelerate as we made our way down. We were getting closer to the bottom now, and ahead of us was another left bend. Behind us, I heard Dash shout something, but I couldn’t make out what she was saying over wind taking hold of my ears. Only a second later, my head was jolted back as their cart collided with ours. I looked back to see a panicked Dash messing with the control lever.

“OUR BRAKES!” she yelled, “I CAN'T BRAKE!”

The sounds of our wheels scraping the rail grew as Spark pushed hard on our own brakes in an attempt to slow us down. Despite this, the weight of Dash’s cart started accelerating us even faster now. The wind against our faces grew as Spark fiddled with the brakes and turned around. “NOTHING?!” she cried.

We watched as Dash jammed on the lever with no luck. She shook her head nervously. “NO!”

Our carts entered the bend now, and I felt g-forces pulling aggressively at my body. Candy grabbed my arm and pulled as my body slid right, causing me to lean over the edge. The steep mountainside filled my vision as I fought against it, using my right hand to push violently against the cart’s small sidewall. The bend finally straightened out, giving me time to scoot back over, but there was another one just ahead of us. Candy continued clinging to my arm as I squeezed my left hand around her hind leg beside me and my right hand against the cart's sideboard. We helplessly held on as the cart continued accelerating toward it.

“Brace!” Spark shouted before we entered the bend. It only took another second to realize we were going way too fast to make this left turn. As the cart tried to round it, too much force was applied on the right side, and even more powerful g-forces pulled at my body. While it was pulled, there was a squeal as I felt the cart lift. Within mere seconds, the cart quit following the track and continued forward as it tilted. For a second, we bounced around on top of the cart as it derailed, riding over the mountainside.

The cart continued to tilt until we all were simultaneously flung off. Candy and I lost grip of each other as our bodies tumbled down the rocky mountainside, rolling over and over the rough terrain uncontrollably. My body was sent airborne briefly before smacking back against the rough terrain, sending a pang of pain rushing through my side. I continued rolling for another second before getting sent airborne again. At this point, I saw the mountainside form into a cliff we were plummeting off of now. As I fell, I saw trees and a river below us grow in my vision. My heart stopped beating, and for a split second, I realized this could be it.

My body continued to freefall for another couple seconds. The wind grew as I accelerated, and any second now, I would splat to my death. But after a few seconds, a harsh pain filled my leg as I smashed into a cold surface. Instead of blacking out to nothing, I felt my body continue as I splashed down into water. It took me a few seconds to reorient myself as I realized I was underwater. With new pain stabbing at my leg and side, I waved my arms in the cold, dark water.

I had sunk a few body lengths down, so it took me a lot of flailing and kicking in an attempt to resurface. Missing a leg really affected my ability to swim upward. The water grew a tad bit brighter as I approached the surface, and I noticed Candy’s light pink body above me. I was nearly out of breath as my head emerged above the surface next to her. I gulped violently for air as I struggled to keep myself above the water. She was trying to catch her breath as well as she kicked against it too. We had fallen into a river, but the current was much lighter than the Canterlot one.

“Ca-!” I called before water entered my mouth. “-Candy!”

She turned to see me, blinking the water out of her eyes as she caught her breath. “Devan!” She winced as she kicked against the water, looking around us. “Come on!” she shouted, motioning to the side of the river. Despite barely keeping my mouth above the surface, I swiveled around to find Spark. Once I saw her head break the surface, I called her to follow us before I followed Candy, my body quickly exhausting of its energy. My foot struck ground beneath the water as we got closer, and I used it to help hop myself up to the surface. When I was finally free of the water, I collapsed on the grass and closed my eyes to rest for a minute. I heard Candy coughing up water beside me and Spark splashing in the water behind me.

“Fuckin' shit!” I heard Spark exclaim as water splashed beside me. I opened my eyes and looked to my right to see her lie out on the grass next to me. It took a minute of rest before I could push myself up, only to collapse again. I rolled over on my back, unintentionally brushing against Spark’s wet fur. The coldness caused me to scoot back over and give her space.

I looked up to the sky, seeing the cliffside we had just fallen from, as well as the mountain rising high above it. My head beat ferociously as a coughing fit overcame me. I was finally able to sit up, but the fit continued. Spark rolled onto her side beside me and reached her front hoof out to beat on my back as I did. When she did, my cough got deeper until vomit flew out uncontrollably, showering my stump as well as part of her body.

“Guh!! Damn it, ya’ fucker!” Spark hissed, backing away from me. She slowly pushed herself up to a stand and turned around to reenter the water. My coughing fit finally came to a stop as I rubbed the vomit off my lips, leaning on my other hand to stay upright.

“Sorry!”

When Spark got out of the water, she took a few steps away from me before shaking her fur dry. On my other side, Candy struggled to stand up, shaking her right foreleg lightly.

“Candy? Are you alright?”

“I think so. It’s just my hoof.”

I looked down the river and noticed our cart had landed on the other side of the river, half of it submerged. My backpack had smacked the ground next to it, and my baseball bat rolled to the river's edge with the batting end bobbing on the water's surface. Candy’s battle axe had also fallen on the riverside behind my bat. However, I couldn’t see the other cart or any of the others.

“Where are the others?!” I cried, “Did either of you see them?”

“I don’t think they derailed,” Spark said, “I didn’t see them or their cart on the way down.”

I breathed out half a sigh of relief. From what I could tell before we were flung, and judging by how far we fell, there wasn’t much mountain left for them to potentially fly off of. I hoped they coasted down the rest of the way with no problems.

We all took a few minutes to rest and attempt to dry off. It was easier for them, as they just needed to shake the water off their fur. Candy generously tried to help me dry off by brushing her hooves against my clothes to absorb the water, but my shirt, pants, and jacket were soaked. The damp clothes were uncomfortable, but they did feel kind of nice against my burning skin. However, the new pains from tumbling down the mountain and slamming against the water only accentuated my headache and fever. Celestia’s sun was setting as well, and the cold of the growing darkness drove goosebumps along my skin.

“We need to get moving,” Candy said.

“How?” I asked.

“The cart,” Spark mentioned, “It still looks intact from here.”

“But you said-“

“I know ... they’re heavy. Candy and I should still be able to pull it.”

We all looked down at the river. Part of me wanted to stay out of water forever now. But the cart was on the other side, so I hesitantly swam across with Spark’s help. She was also able to assist Candy, who was still having trouble with her front hoof. I sat up on my elbows, still resenting that I was missing a leg.

Candy and Spark got into position behind the cart, getting ready to pull it out of the river. As they readied themselves, I angrily hobbled in between them, sat down behind it, and grabbed onto it to help. After a short debate, the three of us managed to pull the heavy cart out of the water. Once it was out, Spark inspected the wheels and frame thoroughly. It was hard for her to tell if it would sit right on the track, but she told us that it looked promising.

After setting our stuff back on top of the cart, we all got behind it again, pushing the cart along the grassy riverside. Spark mentioned that the river eventually led to the tracks again, and even though it was slightly farther, it beat having to haul the cart over the rough, jagged terrain of the forest along the mountainside. After some pushing, I finally backed off after Candy hissed at me to do so. As they pushed, I found a stick tall enough to use as a makeshift crutch and used it to follow them along. The cart was heavy, forcing them to rest every so often, and by half an hour in, neither of them could seem to catch their breath.

After roughly an hour of pushing, we finally caught sight of the tracks again, with a railroad bridge running over the river we were following. With a final burst of energy, the mares shoved the cart beside the tracks and took a moment to rest. I glanced both ways down the track as the others carefully set the heavy cart back on it. However, there was no sign of the other cart. The track we had come across was relatively straight, so I was able to see far. I chalked it up to the darkness of the night until I caught sight of something strange. To our left, the distant tunnel that led up the first portion of the mountain had a weird grey tint to it.

“Do y’all see that?” I asked them after they finished setting the cart down. Candy trotted beside me and looked.

“See what? The grey reflection?”

“Yes! What is that?”

The cart’s engine started abruptly. I turned to see Spark messing with the control lever, inspecting it to make sure it was still in good condition. She turned back to us. “Why don’t we go see for ourselves?”

Candy helped me climb back onto the cart. Once we were settled again, Spark slowly reversed us down the track. As she did, I dug into my backpack and grabbed my flashlight. After observing it briefly, I flipped the switch to turn it on. Thankfully it did, so I pointed it behind us to see what the grey reflection was. As we neared the tunnel entrance, it became clearer what we were seeing.

Rocks.

Large gray rocks covered almost all of the entrance to the tunnel, piling outward and filling in the hole in the mountain as if nature was taking itself back.

I wanted to cuss, but I was in a state of ... shock? panic? I did not know how to react to this as it was not clear what it meant. I could not recall this section of track, as I had not visited Manehatten often during my stay. However, if it was like the other entrances in the mountain, it meant that Dash's cart had careened at a downward slope straight toward this blockage.

"no ..." I whimpered.

Spark did not share my sudden grief. Instead, she jumped off the cart and started climbing the base of the rocks.

"Spark!" Candy yelled, "What in Equestria are you doing? You might hurt yourself!"

Spark turned back to us before pointing at what looked like a hole in the upper left corner of the blockage. "There's a hole! I might be able to see inside!"

Candy looked back at me. "Devan, stay here. You probably shouldn't be looking anyway ... just in case ..." She grabbed the flashlight from my hand, hopped off the cart, and followed Spark up the pile of rocks. I was still in denial, not wanting to think about what could have happened to the others. As my breathing intensified, Spark shouted names through the hole.

"Rainbow! Cloud! Fluttershy!"

I assumed she was calling out to see if they were in there until she said, "Hey! Up here!"

There was a muffled yell from inside that perked my ears. Spark yelled back. "Are you alright?!"

"Are they in there?!" I shouted at Candy. Spark had taken her flashlight and was pointing it through the hole she was yelling through. Candy was trying to peek through the hole, but there was hardly enough room for one pony.

Instead, Spark turned and answered, "They are!"

My heart accelerated as I threw my leg off the side of the cart and stuck my stick in the ground. Using it to stand up, I hobbled just in front of the stone blockage. I realized the stick would cause me more problems than it was worth, so I tossed it back in front of the cart and instead chose to start half-climbing up the rocks with my hands and one good leg. Candy noticed me as I started climbing the base of the rocks and backtracked to meet me.

"Devan, stop it! You stubborn, crippled fuck, you're going to get yourself hurt!"

She set her foreleg against my shoulder to hold me back.

"STOP!" I exclaimed, "I need to see them!"

"We've got it. Just go back to the cart."

"No!"

"DEVAN! Please. Your body is far too sick to be doing this. I don't want your fever to kill you now. We still have a ways to go until we get to Manehatten."

I gazed into her blue eyes, struggling to fight my stubbornness as she spoke again.

"Please."

My heart was racing still, not showing any signs of slowing. The throbbing in my head was becoming prevalent again. I breathed deeply, trying to overcome my symptoms, but the fever was returning back to its severity. Maybe she was right. My stubborn ass was going to get me killed if I did not start being careful.

"Fine ... maybe you're right ..."

"Thank you. Let me help you," Candy replied. She assisted me back onto the cart and laid me down, allowing me to see the newly dark sky and Luna's bright stars. By the time I was settled again, Spark came down from the rocks.

"They're okay," she reported, "The cart smacked into the rocks, so they are a bit shaken up. But none of them have any massive injuries."

I looked back at them, growing nauseous from my ambitious adventure up the few small rocks. "How are they going to get out?"

"The rocks are stuck in there tight. I couldn't get 'em to budge. They said they'll make their way back up soon as they feel better. It might take 'em a while though ... and their cart is probably done for. They won't be able to pull that heavy piece of crap up the slope anyway. Even if they do, the front end is smashed up good ... and its brakes failed. We have ta somehow fit everybody on this cart."

"Spark," Candy said, gesturing to me with her hoof. "I don't know if we can wait for them to go around ..."

Spark frowned briefly before jumping on the cart beside me to feel my forehead herself. Her worried expression was enough to tell me I was really in bad shape. I continued deep breathing, as it was my only defense at the moment.

"Should we really leave without 'em?" Spark asked.

I shook my head slowly to prevent my head from pounding any fiercer.

"Devan," Candy said, "We will let them know first, but I think we have to ..."

I cussed to myself after realizing she might have a point. After not really being given a choice by the two mares, Spark hopped off again to discuss with the others trapped inside. She came back down a minute later and explained their talk. The others, especially Flutters, agreed with them: Spark and Candy needed to take me to the clinic now. Dash's group would make their way out and instead head back to Ponyville.

The cart accelerated away from the mountain a minute later. I rocked on top of it, struggling to manage my growing emotions. I hoped that the others would be alright, but leaving them at a time like this sent fear and bad thoughts rushing through me. I shook them away with the rocking of the train cart as it made its way along the tracks, slowly drifting to sleep beside Candy.