Screams. Shouts and cries. The sizzling of magic. Memories that weren’t hers flooding her mind. The sensation of somersaulting through time as she was kicked out of the Celestial Plane by an unknown entity. These were the first and only things Izzy could remember as she slowly regained consciousness. Her eyes snapped open. Her vision cleared. The world around her solidified from abstract and blurry shapes to real surroundings.

As she came to, the first thing that registered to her was: This isn’t home. Indeed, it was not. Her comfy bed in the Crystal Brighthouse had been replaced with a thick leather chair in a dusty train car. The cabin she was seated in was a dark brown color with little to no variation. The paint was chipping and rustic. The air was filled with dust and a putrid smell permeated it. She coughed, reaching with a hoof to cover her nose, but something sharp and metal bit into them as she did so, preventing the motion. She looked down and saw that her front hooves were cuffed together in front of her. Her back hooves were strapped to the legs of the chair with locks. A solid black ring was around her horn, preventing any use of magic.

She was wearing a blue and white striped prison uniform with a heavy chain wrapped around her waist, shackling her to the chair and restricting her movement. One thing was for sure. She was not where she should be. She tried to recall what had gotten her arrested, but her mind failed her. The memories were blocked, and she was unable to access them. She could not remember a thing about her life outside of her own name, as well as basic facts about herself and her relationships. Anything specific was so far out of reach. She could form blurry images, but that was the extent of it. Whatever her captors used to put her out, it must have been incredibly strong to render her unable to remember anything.

She felt groggy and her breath smelled awful, like she had been knocked out by a heavy dose of anesthesia. Her limbs ached, possibly from the chains restraining her to the seat, but she also noticed deep cuts and bruises on them, almost as if she had been forced into the train against her will and put up a struggle during it.

Her pulse quickened. She struggled against her restraints and could feel herself breathing more rapidly from panic as the reality of her situation overtook her, but she refused to give in to fear. With all the effort she could muster, she stopped wriggling and focused on calming herself first. She knew she would not do herself any good if she screamed for help and made a scene. Wherever she was now, it was far away from Maretime Bay. There would be no help coming for her any time soon. She had to find her own way out, all by herself.

She looked around her. There were other ponies seated around the cabin, mares and stallions alike, similarly chained up and knocked out. Many of them had spit masks over their heads and a couple of them had even had muzzles forced upon them. This was a prisoner transport and she was being taken to…somewhere. She didn’t know where. Again, memory failed her. Whenever she tried to recall something from even a day ago, she would receive a splitting headache that basically told her not to do that again.

She whimpered, swallowing back the sudden rush of tears. Did Sunny know where she was? What about Hitch? Had she done something so horrible that he had no choice but to lay the law down upon her? Zipp? Pipp? Did any of them know where she was now? Did any of her friends even care that she had essentially been kidnapped? The thought that they knew, but didn’t care enough to save her was horrifying, but she mentally assured herself that they were most likely on their way to rescue her. They wouldn’t leave her to such a terrifying fate. They had to come back for her.

“Hello…?” Izzy managed to croak out. Her throat was dry and her tongue tasted like sandpaper. Her voice was scratchy beyond belief. But at least she could speak. She hadn’t been gagged and that was a relief. But she knew that she had to keep her voice low. “Is anypony awake…?”

“You’re actually up?” a stallion’s voice sounded to her right. “Oh, thank the stars. I was starting to believe I was the only conscious one here. I don’t like talking to myself, though I tend to do that a lot anyway.”

Izzy turned her head towards the sound of the voice. The owner was a lime green stallion with a long purplish pink mane and tail. He had glasses over his eyes, which were a purple color. He was unlike any pony she had ever seen before. She had a feeling that she should knew who he was, but as far as she knew, she had never met him before in her life.

“Hi,” she greeted him. She would normally be more excited at the prospect of meeting a new friend, especially one that looked like a unicorn, but she was too stressed out about her current predicament to feel any sense of happiness. “My name’s Izzy. Who are you?”

The stallion blinked in confusion. “Comet. You don’t recognize me?”

Izzy shook her head. “I just woke up here…my mind’s a bit fuzzy, sorry.”

Comet stared back at her. “Well, those guards did use some nasty sedatives on us, so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. I’ve been up for longer, so the memories are flooding back. They confiscated our communication devices.”

“Who did?”

“The Queen’s SS soldiers,” Comet replied. “We’re on our way to Ponshwitz to work as slaves for the Regime. I knew we should have heeded Hitch’s warning. It wasn’t safe to camp out in the Appleloosian Ruins. It was a trap. They were waiting for us.” He shivered. “At least you’re safe.”

“Why would Sunny want to capture us?” Izzy asked, concern in her voice. “I thought…I-I thought she and I w-were friends.”

“Sunny’s not the-“ Comet paused before correcting himself. “She’s not-sorry, I’m just so used to being forbidden from saying her name. You mention her in front of Hitch and he’ll blow a gasket.” He sighed. “Anyway, we can only hope that the Insurgency is on its way. Hitch saw us get captured, so it’s only reasonable to assume that he notified the others by now.”

“Wait wait wait,” Izzy cut in, holding up her chained hooves to stop him. “I don’t understand any of this. What do you mean Sunny’s not the-whatever you were gonna say? What’s the Insurgency? Why is Hitch leading it? What’s going on?!”

“Shhhhhhhh!” Comet admonished her sternly, but softly. “Keep your voice down! Do you want them to come in and muzzle you or what?! Because they will!!”

Izzy shook her head again fearfully, shrinking away from him and looking down at the ground in shame.

“Sorry,” he apologized. “I didn’t mean to snap at you. This day’s been too rough for me. You really don’t remember anything? Nothing?”

“No.”

Comet cursed under his breath. “Well that’s just great. I’m responsible for my amnesiac lieutenant. As if this day wasn’t already bad enough.” He faced her again. “We’re at war, Izzy. I can’t say who the Queen is as…names have power. But the point is, she rules the land. We’re fighting against what she calls the One Equestrian Regime. Hitch is leading the rebellion.”

Outside, the sky was pitch black. The only light came from the full Moon up in the sky, beaming down on the desolate wasteland below. The train sped along the tracks, chugging along to its destination and carrying innocent ponies to their deaths. Smoke emerged from the single smokestack at the top of the front car and polluted the air above it. Occasionally, it would let out a whistle in order to let other transports know that it was heading in a particular direction.

On the tallest hill overlooking the train tracks, a tan-colored stallion stood silently, concealed in the shadows. He had a short blue mane and tail, and the symbol of an orange police badge with a small blue horseshoe in the middle as a cutie mark. He wore a mask over his eyes to conceal his identity, as well as a small makeshift cape, which once served as a baby blanket. It flapped in the wind behind him, barely visible. He sported a bulletproof saddlebag that carried weapons inside. In his hoof was a single assault rifle, fully loaded and armed.

He was ready for action. It was dawn, and covert missions were best carried out at this time. The SS Army had gone too far this time. They had taken one of his closest friends. And he was about to make them pay for their transgression. He would carry out the full force of justice. He would bring vengeance upon the soldiers. He was thirsty for blood. He wanted to destroy everything the Regime represented, decimate it entirely for taking everything and everyone he had ever loved from him.

He was Hitch Trailblazer, the former sheriff of Maretime Bay and now war leader of the Insurgency. And whatever it took, he was going to bring that train down. He had been tracking it for a few days ever since the ambush in New Appleloosa, and was certain he had at last found his target. He would rescue Izzy from those monsters. He would not leave her to be enslaved.

As he stood atop the hill, lightning struck the sky above him and there was a tremendous peal of thunder, illuminating his face for but a split second. His expression was grim and filled with a primal rage that he could hardly contain. He gripped the rifle in his hoof tighter and he got into a defensive stance. He thought of the punishment he would bring upon those unsuspecting soldiers who had robbed him of his life. It had been a long time coming, but he could feel the war was at last slowly coming to an end. It would only end one way. He swore to the heavens that he would avenge the fallen and restore Equestria to what it once was. He would not fail this time.

Hitch set the rifle down for a brief moment and pulled out his communication device, a small circular trinket that essentially acted as a walkie talkie. He turned it on and spoke into it. “Sprout, prepare the tank. We’re going in.“

“Affirmative, Commander.” The red earth pony’s voice chimed in before the line shut off. Orders had to be brief and straight to the point. Having a communication device on for too long was like sending up a flare to the enemy and letting them know your location. They could be easily tracked. He had learned that lesson the hard way a couple days ago.

At last, he looked back down upon the train tracks and in the direction of the train, where Izzy was being held hostage. He silently prayed that the soldiers hadn’t hurt her yet. If they did, they would know true fury. She was all he had left to keep him sane. He didn’t know what he would do if she ever came to any harm, or was even killed.

One way or another, he would know soon.

It had been an hour since Izzy had woken up and she was beginning to feel bored. She was mostly done being scared. It wouldn’t do her any good to show it anyway. The soldiers had come inside the cabin upon hearing she and Comet talk, threatening her with a muzzle if she didn’t stay silent. So she did, not wanting to get either of them in further trouble. She wasn’t the best at bottling up her emotions, but she did the best she could by distracting herself with the view outside. Fortunately for her, she was seated in a window seat and had a single barred window to pass the time.

Her thoughts were beginning to clear up, if only slightly. She was starting to remember bits and pieces of what had happened to her before waking up on the train. Something about an ancient spell. Misty. The bugbear attack on Zephyr Heights the day prior. The banquet afterwards. It was all coming back to her in fragments, but at least she was starting to remember certain details. The tranquilizer was wearing off and her limbs no longer felt numb. It wasn’t like that meant anything given her current state, but at least she wouldn’t have to be dragged out of the cabin once they arrived at the concentration camp, which would almost certainly be humiliating. That was at least some comfort. She still wished that her friends would come back for her though.

She hoped that Comet had been right, and that the Insurgency was on its way to rescue her. She hated the idea of being forced to work like a prisoner in the hot sun for the rest of her life, let alone being killed in gas chambers according to some chatter she had heard from other ponies. If any of this was true, she was doomed. She still had no idea what was going on, or even how she winded up in this predicament to begin with. She was good at arts and crafts, but that really was about it. The soldiers at the camp would not take pity on her. She knew that much.

Her mind was still reeling from everything he had told her. Equestria was now a totalitarian regime. Hitch was leading a rebellion against it. The land was at war. She was part of this movement, a lieutenant no less. Not Sunny (her placeholder name for this unknown Queen) ruled with an iron hoof. It all sounded too overwhelming to be true. Just a day ago, the realm was at peace. She and her friends had defeated a king bugbear. Well, her friends did. She was excluded as usual, but the point still remained. They had been celebrating their massive victory, and now suddenly everything had gone back to the way it was before Opaline’s defeat? Nothing made any sense. How could everything derail that quickly overnight? And why did she feel like she knew the reason, but couldn’t exactly place her hoof on it?

It was all too much for her to deal with. She had to escape and find out why this was happening. She had to find her friends. Maybe Sunny would know how to fix this. She always knew what to do. But then again, Comet had mentioned that Hitch got extremely sour when reminded of Sunny. What had happened to warrant this much animosity between them?

“Please…” she whispered softly to the window. “Somepony help me…I wanna go home…” She choked back a sob. She would not cry. She had to be strong. Her friends were coming back for her. She knew they were. They would not abandon her. They wouldn’t…right?

The more minutes ticked by, however, the more that hope seemed to be slowly fading away. There didn’t seem to be anypony coming. She was trapped, shackled and bound with several ponies she didn’t know, and shipped away to either work as a slave or be killed. It was the grimmest possible future she could imagine for herself, and she never thought that this would be where her life ended.

She sighed deeply, feeling her heart sink to her stomach. She had to accept the inevitable. She had no way of escaping her situation alive. Even if she somehow managed to escape, the soldiers were armed with weapons that she had no idea even existed. They would shoot her down in an instant before she even got six feet away from the train. The only outcome was death if she tried anything. It was either prove herself useful or die.

She leaned back against the seat, exhausted from everything that had happened so far. If she was going to live the rest of her life as a slave, she might as well get some rest before arriving at the camp. But right as she was about to close her eyes and drift off to sleep, she was jolted awake by the sudden rocking of the cabin. She cried out, startled. She initially thought she had imagined it, but then the cabin rocked again.

Alarms began going off in all directions, blaring at such a loud volume that Izzy wished she could cover her ears. She could hear the shouting of the soldiers as they scrambled across the different cars in a desperate attempt to warn the conductor. Prisoners who had fallen asleep themselves woke up from their naps and looked alarmed at the chaos that was rapidly unfolding. They talked amongst themselves in worried whispers. There was a loud THUNK sound from the window and Izzy turned her head, only to see several bullets ricocheting off of the glass and back to where it originated. There was no mistaking what was happening. The train was under attack.

“What is going on?!” Izzy asked in a panicked voice. “Why’s everypony panicking?!”

“It’s Hitch!” Comet exclaimed, his eyes lighting up with hope. “He’s come back for us-WHOA!!” He barely managed to grip the armrests of his seat with both hooves as the cabin shook for a third time, albeit more violently. It appeared as if a large vehicle had rammed into the caboose, which sent tremors throughout the whole train. “They found us!!”

“Hitch is doing this?!” Izzy could not believe her ears. The sheriff had come back for her! Her friends were on their way! She could feel her spirits rising once more for the first time since she had woken up. They were going to be rescued. She was going home.

“FIRE ON THAT WAR MACHINE!!” The conductor yelled through the speaker to his subordinates. “SHOOT THOSE ANIMALS DOWN NOOOOOOOOOWWW!!!!”

“WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE!!!!” An earth pony mare wailed from the back.

Outside, the train picked up speed and the soldiers started firing from different windows as a large red war machine emerged from an explosion behind them. It was Sprouticus Maximus, the very vehicle that had been once used to terrorize Equestria. Now it had been rebuilt and was being used for the rebel cause. The engines roared like a lion about to chase its prey. The wheels spun, pelting green goop in all directions. The large tank gun at the very top fired repeatedly onto its target, trying to knock the train off balance.

In the driver’s seat was none other than Hitch himself with Sprout right next to him. They were leading the assault with the other members of the main attack force following close behind. So far, they had succeeded in getting the attention of the occupants by ramming the caboose, but were no closer to stopping the train itself. All they could do at the moment was chase it until they could find some way to detail it off of the tracks. It was now or never. They couldn’t lose it this time. Not while Izzy and Comet were inside, and their lives were in danger.

“Fire on that tank!”

“FIRE!!”

“Shake ‘em off!!”

The SS soldiers were doing their best to make the effort difficult for them, though their efforts of shooting Sprouticus Maximus down yielded little to no success. The windshield was bulletproof, so the bullets only harmlessly bounced off of it before falling towards the ground. This only served to make Hitch angrier, and he increased his speed by yanking down on one of the levers. Sprout gripped the armrests with his hooves and held on for dear life as the tank accelerated forward, bouncing along the rugged terrain.

“What exactly is your plan here?!” demanded Sprout incredulously.

“You’ll see.” Hitch replied simply, true to his usual non-answer responses whenever he was asked about anything. He turned the steering wheel to the right and the tank sharply veered towards the tracks, now running parallel to the train itself.

The conductor, a large and burly unicorn stallion, peered his head out of the window and blew raspberries at the approaching tank. “Try to catch us now, Hitchie boy!!”

“I’ll give you Hitchie boy, punk.” Hitch answered under his breath. He pressed down hard on the red button and a storm of bullets came firing out of the main cannon. They hit the train, distracting the other soldiers long enough for him to veer again and slam into the side of the middle car. The impact left a huge dent. The conductor’s eyes went wide as he realized that the earth pony wasn’t playing around. He meant business and would not hesitate to kill him in an instant if he got the chance.

With the real danger finally dawning on him, he got back into his seat and yanked the train to the left just as it reached a crossroads. Hitch repeated the motion and the chase was on once again. It was a game of cat and mouse, a tense pursuit of a sheriff chasing outlaws. The two vehicles drove across the desert as fast as they could in an attempt to one-up each other. The train let out a loud whistle, which could almost not be heard over the loud roaring of Sprouticus Maximus. It was a cold blooded predator, a brutish, almost primal beast, and it spared nothing in its path. The soldiers were still firing their guns through the windows and shouting orders at each other to shoot Hitch down. Their attempts were in vain. For as many bullets as they fired, they would quickly be counteracted by the tank retaliating with its own line of fire.

Hitch yanked the throttle down with one hoof and pressed the red button with the other. All at once, a hurricane of bullets exploded out of the cannon and hit the back of the caboose. Others flew past the windows, startling the hostages inside. The conductor was pushing as many buttons as possible on the control panel. He yelled obscene profanities into the speaker, a gleam of insanity in his eyes. He was a crazy driver out for blood. He desired death. He didn’t seem to care if he killed all of the ponies onboard. All he wanted to do was throw Hitch off.

With the yanking of the lever, the train abruptly lurched. The hostages protested and screamed for help through the other side of the line. Izzy’s voice was the loudest among them, instantly recognizable. The conductor didn’t listen. He had already come too far to back out now, and was too high off of his own power to heed any reason.

“QUIET!!” he yelled loudly into the speaker. “I SAID SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTHS OR I’LL KILL YOU ANIMALS MYSELF!!!!”

The screaming instantly died down to a couple frightened whimpers. The message had been received, but the aura of panic and uncertainty was certainly not gone. The prisoners knew better than to disobey at this stage, but that didn’t mean they were any less terrified.

“Down with the modern world…” he muttered with a cruel smile. “Back to the dark ages.”

The train continued chugging up the hill, Sprouticus Maximus following close behind it. The soldiers continued to fire at Hitch, who quickly retaliated with his own bullets as always. It was as if both vehicles were invincible. Neither were making any sort of sizable dent on the other. Sensing an impasse, he maneuvered over to the right side of the train and began experimenting with the buttons on the control panel just as the conductor had done. However, Hitch was calm and reserved. He knew how to keep his emotions in check when it came to tense chase situations. Stealth won the game, not recklessness.

“What the hay are you doing?!” Sprout asked in confusion. “You know you gotta drive this thing, righ-WHOA!!” He was cut off when the cockpit suddenly lurched violently. The tank had hit a large bump in the rocky and untamed mountain terrain.

“Just hang tight,” Hitch replied simply. “Trust me.”

He pressed down on a blinking yellow button that read simply: TEAR GAS. All at once, the cannon changed from firing bullets to releasing the blinding substance. The noxious pale yellow substance exploded from the hole, blinding the soldiers for but a brief moment. They stopped firing and screamed in pain, clutching their eyes. One stallion even dropped his gun, which fell lifelessly to the ground just as the train barreled straight through a dimly lit tunnel.

Once they had entered, it became harder to see almost immediately. The tunnel was almost completely covered in darkness, with the only light source being several tiny flickering overhead beams on the ceiling. This certainly wasn’t enough to make out any clear shapes. Hitch could make out a vague outline of the caboose, but that was it. The soldiers were still disorganized, flailing and screeching at each other for wet wipes. This was the only chance he had at further detailing them.

Without missing a beat, he switched back to bullet mode in the speed of a couple seconds, much to Sprout’s vocal astonishment. The bullets flew out of the main cannon hole like bats coming out of a cave after having been awoken. The soldiers tried to swat them away as they whooshed past, but that was the exact trap that Hitch had wanted them to fall into. Two out of the four soldiers were leaning too close out the edge of the window and suddenly tripped. They fell onto the ground quickly, with their last moments of life being Sprouticus Maximus running over them and flattening them like dough. There was the sickening cracking of bones and the unfortunate officers were dead.

Hearing the commotion, the conductor screamed with rage. His entire plan was falling apart at the seams and his pursuers showed no signs of getting tired at all. They could probably do this all day if they wanted to, and he didn’t have that kind of time. He had to lose them no matter what.

“Hitchie, Hitchie, Hitchie,” the conductor stated in a mocking tone, almost to himself. “You think you’re so cool?! Well, get a load of THIS!!”

He tightened his grip on the main steering bar. He violently jerked the train from left to right in a display of anger. Izzy and the other hostages cried out again as they were bounced up and down in their seats like rag dolls. The only things keeping them from falling off were their restraints.

The train then burst out of the tunnel into the open sunlight. Chunks of rocks fell from the top as the seemingly invulnerable vehicle speeded back down the mountain and back down towards flat terrain. The cave began to crumble behind them before it exploded in a huge burst of light. The conductor shouted with triumph. His eyes glinted with a sadistic aura. He had won. In that moment, it seemed he thought he had lost Hitch. He thought that at long last, he had destroyed the leader of the Insurgency. After all, there was no way he could have survived the blast. It wasn’t possible.

“HAHAHAHAHA!!” boasted the conductor proudly, throwing his hooves up in the air for emphasis. He glanced behind him with a massive grin on his face. “I GOT’CHU!! I GOT‘CHU!! I GOT’CHU, STUPID LITTLE PONY!! AHAHAHAHAHA!!!!”

His victory was short-lived.

In an instant, Sprouticus Maximus burst out of the explosion with a powerful roar, completely intact. It rocketed into the air, its outline briefly being silhouetted by the light of the Sun. The entire main body was coated with fire, but it had survived. It was as if it had entered and risen again from Tartarus itself. The engines could be heard louder than before. They bellowed like a mother bear protecting her endangered cubs. The wheels, though partly bent, were spinning much faster. The monster had fully been unleashed. The flames danced on the windshield as they slowly died, leaving nothing more but mere scorch marks in their place. In the front seats, Hitch and Sprout were both still alive and angrier than ever. As the tank slowly descended back down towards the ground in dramatic fashion, the former sheriff fixed the conductor with a hard, unnerving glare that only he could give. It was an expression that could wither one to ashes, a cold and threatening death stare that basically sent one singular message to its recipient: You’re next, pal. Hitch had survived the explosion, and now…he wanted vengeance.

All sense of victory left the conductor’s eyes at that moment, replaced with genuine horror. What had he done?! What had he DONE?!! His insides filled with dread, and he swallowed hard as it finally dawned on him the terrible mistake he had made. Sprouticus Maximus was flame resistant! These were demons! There was no stopping them. He had messed with the wrong enemy, and now that enemy was coming for him.

The chase continued on desert ground once again. It was at that moment that Hitch’s reinforcements descended from their hang gliders upon being given the signal by Sprout. Pipp Petals, Posey Bloom, and Windy, all wearing protective armor around them and carrying guns in their hooves. They landed on the ground with precise accuracy and wasted no time in joining the chase. The main attack force was now engaged, flanking the train on both sides and refusing to let it out of their sight. Everything had been perfectly timed and now the remaining soldiers had nowhere to run. They were trapped.

Pipp brandished a bow from her saddlebag and loaded a couple arrows. She then got into a defensive stance, reared back, and fired with a yell. Her aim had been precise and deadly accurate. The arrow struck the windows of the caboose, shattering the glass into a million pieces that fell into the cabin inside, startling the ponies within it. Posey then ran up beside her and launched herself at the car. She clung onto it with her hooves as it abruptly changed direction once again, gritting her teeth. She then climbed up the side and entered through the broken window.

Meanwhile, Windy hovered in mid air using her prosthetic armored wings. She was the only one who hadn’t landed as she needed to provide aerial support. The wings she was wearing had been crafted in a lab by Hitch’s best scientists and were fueled by a special anti-gravity material that powered flight. All pegasus soldiers were required to use them in order to be useful in battle. They were a temporary solution until the Queen was defeated, and she couldn’t stay in the air long. The wings could only hold her up until a certain point where they needed to be recharged.

Seeing Pipp on the ground firing, she reached into her pack and pulled out her own bow. She fired as well, her arrow smashing right through the front windows of the train. Down on the ground, the conductor cursed and barked orders to his subordinates to “engage all hostiles.”

Inside the tank, Hitch looked around at his fellow ponies and smirked, knowing that they wouldn’t let the train go anywhere. Now was his moment to enter and rescue Izzy. He turned towards Sprout. “You’re driving this thing. You know what to do. She needs me.”

“Wait, I’m-WHAT?!” Sprout protested, but his complaints were ignored as always. Hitch opened the door and flopped onto the soil below.

Wasting no time, he got to his hooves again and ran after the train. He climbed up the back of the caboose and landed on the roof. The wind was howling, making it difficult for him to move. But he had to try his best. Izzy needed him.

While all of this was happening, Izzy could feel the chase raging from inside. The cabin was shaking and rocking with intense force. She thought she was going to be sick. She was trembling all over from fear and was counting down the seconds in her head until either the train crashed or she was rescued. The alarms were still blaring and the other ponies were in a panic, screaming and asking a ton of questions. Comet was trying his best to calm them down, but even he could only do so much. She couldn’t help but admire his bravery in a tense situation like this. Even when it seemed like they were going to die, he put others first and she liked that about him. She wished that she remembered him and knew what they were to each other. It seemed like they had been close.

But of course she wouldn’t remember. This was a different timeline that she had somehow winded up in overnight. She didn’t know him. She didn’t know anyone on this train. She didn’t know if anything was still the same in this new world. And although she definitely felt horrible about that fact, the sooner she figured out what was going on, the sooner she could hopefully return to her own timeline. She just needed to find Sunny…wherever she was.

Suddenly, a green arrow smashed through the window she was looking at. She cried out in alarm and barely managed to dodge it. She couldn’t stand due to being chained to her seat, so the most she could do was duck and put her head down. It was mildly successful, aside from a part of her long blue mane being nixed. At least that would grow back to its full size at some point. Her head certainly wouldn’t.

The arrow fell to the ground beside her right as something flashed by and clung to the side of the train car. She stole a glance upwards and saw the outline of a yellow earth pony with a pink mane and tail climb up to the shattered window. She was dressed in black armor, but enough of her face was recognizable. It was Posey. She entered through the opening and fell to the ground on her stomach right next to her.

“Posey!” Comet exclaimed.

Posey got to her hooves and immediately began yanking at the shackles around Izzy’s hooves, trying her best to get them off while senselessly berating her in the process. “Stupid girl! Stupid stupid!! Do you realize what you put us through?! I warned you it was a trap! You just had to tell Hitch to go to the-“

“Posey,” Comet interrupted calmly. “Izzy’s been through a rough day. She hardly remembers anything about that. We can talk about this later.”

Posey scowled. “You keep making excuses for her, Comet. She’s the reason we’re even in this situation to begin with, amnesia or no.” She glanced back at the shackles. “These are locked tight. I don’t know what they used to cuff you, but these chains aren’t coming off.”

“It’s a mix of metal and unobtanium,” Comet replied. “Sealed by magic only the Queen and her Apprentice can use. You’ll need to grab the key from the conductor’s seat.”

Posey nodded begrudgingly. “Well, with any luck, Hitch should be able to draw him out and onto the roof. He briefed us on our roles before we left. I should be able to run up and get it while he’s distracted. It’s silver-colored, right?”

“Yeah. It’s got the symbol of the Regime on it. They only use one of these things to restrain us.”

“I don’t know what any of you are saying,” Izzy piped up curiously. “But it sounds like a bunch of interesting techno babble! Can I try it too?”

Posey glared at her. “We’re gonna have a long talk about this with Hitch when we get back, missy. Until then, I’m in charge of-“ Suddenly, there was an audible thunk sound on the roof. “That was fast. Keep her safe, Comet. Watch her.”

In a flash, she was gone. Izzy watched her go, confused as to what she had done to incur that much anger. She hated not being in the know about important stuff. Her friends had always kept these things before the attack on Zephyr Heights because they supposedly wanted to “keep her safe.” Whenever she heard that phrase, she wanted to throw something at the wall. She wasn’t a filly. She didn’t need to be “protected.” She wanted to prove herself so badly after Misty’s death, yet no one trusted her enough to do so. It wasn’t fair.

Still, she couldn’t do anything about it now. She couldn’t run after Posey and help her with getting the key. All she could do was sit around and do nothing while her friends got to do all the fun stuff and win the glory. She was a sitting duck, useless while all the action happened around her. The story of her life.

On the roof, Hitch crawled towards the front car. It was a struggle with the wind blowing in his face and the train moving at top speed, but he was determined. He had to reach the conductor’s seat. Only then would he be able to stop the train and help the trapped ponies get to safety. Using a grappling hook, he grabbed onto the surface in front of him and hoisted himself forwards. He repeated this motion again and again. He gritted his teeth and grunted as the pressure took a heavy toll on his strength. The climb wasn’t easy. The Sun was slowly beginning to come up on the horizon, casting a little bit of light on the rooftop. But it still wasn’t enough to offset how dark everything still was. He had to be careful where he stepped or else risking a potentially fatal fall to the ground below.

Suddenly, he ducked as the train zoomed through a tunnel and back out of it. At that moment, a hatch opened in front of him and from it emerged the conductor, armed with a gun in his hoof. He had a wild glint in his eyes and a crazy expression on his face. He had left control of the train to the engineer as he wanted to take this opportunity to kill Hitch once and for all.

“You got a lot of nerve comin’ here, law stallion!” The conductor taunted him. “I got your girlfriend! How many do you even have, eh?! Seems like you lose ‘em all the time!”

Hitch said nothing, instead grabbing out his own gun and loading it as fast as he could. They both ducked again as the train headed through another tunnel. They emerged out in the bright sunlight, being blinded by the morning dawn for but a brief moment. Then they got to their hooves and began firing at one another with their weapons.

Hitch ducked as several bullets sailed past him, barely having enough time to fire his own. The conductor had to have been an athlete in his free time because he was an expert at dodging attacks. He jumped, ducked, and rolled, all while maintaining his balance on the roof. He fired again just as Hitch did. Several bullets whirled past him, one of them managing to graze him on the cheek.

He yelled out and clutched the wound in pain just as the conductor advanced upon him. He lunged at the former sheriff, who was prepared this time. He grabbed at the other stallion’s neck, a move that caught him off guard. They wrestled on the roof, dropping their weapons and engaging in an all out brawl. On a moving train, this wasn’t wise and Hitch knew this. But he had to keep the conductor distracted for Posey’s sake. She needed time to snag the key and free the other imprisoned ponies.

They continued biting, scratching, punching, and clawing at one another as the train continued down the next track. Hitch bit into the conductor’s left forehoof as hard as he could. The conductor screamed with pain, blood oozing out of the wound. With that momentary reprieve, Hitch punched him as hard as he could muster. The burly stallion stumbled back and nearly fell off, but managed to grip the edge as his hooves dangled over the side.

Hitch then took that opportunity to run across the rooftop and towards the front car. His heart pounded in his chest and his breathing was fast as he made a mad dash for the control room. The morning Sun shone down on his face like a blessing from the heavens, and the wind howled. He was almost there. He was going to make it. He could feel it.

That was when the train began to lose control.

Izzy struggled against the chains as hard as she could as the train abruptly veered off the tracks and onto the desert ground. She yanked, pulled, twisted, and kicked in a desperate effort to escape, but no matter what she tried, it was useless. She couldn’t get free. The other ponies shrieked as the cabin suddenly lurched and the train suddenly began barreling straight through a nearby power plant. The garage exploded and Izzy coughed and gagged as she inhaled the fumes.

She could see several tons of dynamite being knocked over and blowing up as they emerged on the other side, which also exploded behind them. The interior of the train began to catch on fire, starting with the ceiling. This soon spread to the seats and open windows. Izzy watched with horror as the flames began engulfing the cabin and blazing with intense heat. She screamed, calling for anypony to help. She was hopelessly trapped and was about to be burned alive. She didn’t know what else to do. She felt like she had to scream or die. She could feel the smoke inhalation in her lungs, constructing her breathing. The flames were getting closer and closer towards her. This was it.

But right as Izzy was about to accept her impending doom, Posey kicked down the flaming automatic doors with all her might and burst through them with the key in her mouth. They collapsed behind her in a heap of burning wood. Her armor was on fire and her face looked like it was covered in soot. There were also scratch marks all over. But she was alive and okay. She had done it. She had gotten the key to free them all. The other ponies cheered as she emerged from the wreckage with a determined grimace.

Quick as a flash, she ran up to Izzy and unlocked her chains one by one. Once she was free, Izzy couldn’t take it anymore. She collapsed into Posey’s shoulder and sobbed her eyes out. She couldn’t contain her relief anymore. She was being rescued. The earth pony consoled her briefly before letting her go. Together, they worked to free the rest of the captives from their bonds and lead them in the direction of the nearest exit.

“YOU CAN’T TAKE MY LIFE’S WORK AWAY FROM ME!!”

Hitch turned around right as the conductor got back on the roof of the train. His whole body was on fire and his uniform was shredded beyond repair. But it seemed like he didn’t care. All he wanted to do was kill the intruders that were on his property. He lunged at Hitch, who was caught off guard.

They tumbled across the rooftop once again in a mad fight for survival. This would only end one way. Either one of them died or the other. There would be no escaping this attack unscathed. The conductor bit into Hitch’s chest as hard as he could manage. He screamed with pain as the conductor violently began beating him over and over, a murderous look in his eyes. He continued to punch Hitch into submission, and the former sheriff could do nothing to stop it.

“THESE ARE MY PRISONERS!! THESE ARE MY SLAVES!!!” The conductor screamed at the top of his lungs. “WHO ARE YOU TO TAKE THEM FROM ME?!!”

Hitch was on the brink of losing consciousness. He had the wind knocked out of him and was about to pass out. But when he heard the word slaves, he suddenly grew angry. A slave was what Misty had been for most of her life. A slave was what his beloved Sunny had become. A slave to darkness. He had lost far too many ponies to the shackles of darkness and if this monster thought he was going to do the same to poor innocent Izzy, then he was wrong. Oh, he was dead wrong.

Anger began building from within Hitch’s gut, a desire to take away everything this stallion had as revenge for what had happened to him. It was because of the Regime that the lives of his friends was forever ruined. It was because of the Regime that some of them were dead. He had seen far too many betrayals and loss in one lifetime, and he was not about to experience it again. Not by a long shot. Not now, not ever. He was not just an ordinary stallion. He was a SHERIFF.

Strength came back to his body and he grabbed the conductor’s throat, cutting off his source of breath. The burly stallion croaked in pain and tried to fling him off, but it was no use. Hitch then punched him as hard as he could and knocked him over to the edge once more. The conductor grabbed on to the ledge for dear life, his body still on fire. He tried to climb back up, but at that moment, Hitch pounced on his hooves and dug into them.

The conductor screamed in agony. Hitch didn’t care. Normally he would not be this violent towards others, but he had seen too much. His innocence had been taken away from him, and so had the love of his life. There was no more room in his heart for mercy. He had spent it all getting hurt and betrayed by others. He would not show it anymore to anypony, especially not to scum like this guy.

“This is my life’s work!!” The conductor begged. “You can’t do this to me!! The Queen ordered me to bring these ponies to her, please! You can’t make me fail her like this!! DON’T LEAVE ME LIKE THIS!!”

“Shut up.” Hitch answered simply. He took in the fear present in the other stallion’s eyes for one last time before flinging him off of the rooftop and onto the ground below. He landed with a sickening crunch, all the life gone out of him in an instant. It had been a merciful death, all things considered, and one that he didn’t deserve.

With that, he jumped off of the roof, landing next to Posey, who had gotten all of the captured ponies out to safety, including Izzy and Comet. The flaming train then careened into a ditch and fell on its side, before exploding in a blinding flash of light that lasted for about a solid minute. Soon enough, all that was left was smoke billowing from the wreckage below.

It was over.

Izzy took a deep breath to calm herself. She stared at the rising smoke with a feeling of sadness. Yes, that train had been where she had been captured and held hostage. But she couldn’t help but feel bad for the soldiers. As cruel as they had been, they were ponies too and deserved a second chance in her opinion. They didn’t deserve to be left onboard and killed in the explosion. If they hadn’t been incinerated, they almost certainly were now after that blast. She felt a twinge of remorse for them, even though they had threatened her.

She stole a brief glance at Comet, who put a reassuring hoof on her shoulder upon seeing her distraught, before looking at Hitch. He was checking the survivors over one by one, asking them if they were okay, the way a responsible sheriff would. He was almost unrecognizable from the heartless killer he had become when he threw the conductor off to his death.

Pipp and Windy landed on the ground beside Posey, with Sprout following close behind. He had parked Sprouticus Maximus near a dead tree, deciding to join his fellow teammates in reconvening following the attack. Izzy waved at Pipp, but the pegasus didn’t even acknowledge her, instead checking over Posey’s burn marks and gasping at each one. It made her feel hurt. Pipp had always been one of her bestest friends. Why was it so different now?

At last, Hitch turned towards her. “Thank goodness you’re alright, Izzy. I-I was beginning to worry that-“ He cleared his throat, clearly not wanting to get overly sentimental in front of everypony else. “Right. You get the idea. You’re lucky to be alive. Once the train caught on fire, I wasn’t sure what to think. I thought I lost you. How did that even happen to begin with?”

“It was a mad dash for the key,” Posey explained. “The engineer and I got in a bit of a tussle and he lost control of the train fighting me. I had to yank the key from his pocket and run back to the car where Izzy was being held. Believe me, it wasn’t easy.”

“You did well.” Hitch complimented her, nodding in acknowledgement. He then turned his head toward Comet. “So did you, Comet. Keeping Izzy and all those other ponies safe amidst this chaos, alive even. You’re a hero too. I oughta see about your promotion to a higher rank.”

Comet blinked in surprise, clearly not used to such high praise from his superior. He adjusted his now cracked glasses awkwardly. “Thank you, sir.”

Hitch smiled, but only for a moment before his serious expression took over again. “You all did well. You should pat yourselves on the back. We’ll take the survivors back to our base and find out where they live. Civilizations have certainly become scattered in the past few months, so I can’t know for sure. I’ll interview them one by one before seeing to Izzy’s punishment for leading us all into a trap.”

Izzy looked down in shame.

“Sir,” Comet piped up, noticing her sadness. Upon receiving a glare, he paused for a second before resuming. “Izzy has amnesia. She doesn’t remember anything about that. She wouldn’t be able to give you a convincing explanation anyway. Can you let her off the hook…please? I’ll forgo the promotion if that’s what it takes. She’s been through a lot today.”

Izzy couldn’t believe that he was forgoing a potential promotion and standing up for her. She barely knew him, and yet here he was saving her from a harsh reprimand like they had been fighting alongside each other for years. It made her feel even worse that she didn’t remember him. He deserved better than that.

Hitch stared him in the eyes with a hard expression before turning back towards Izzy. “Amnesia? Is this true?!”

She resisted the urge to cower in front of him. Hitch wasn’t normally this intimidating. But the way he looked at her sent shivers down her spine. He definitely wasn’t the fun, baby dragon-loving sheriff she used to know. This Hitch was a hardened general, and she had to be careful around him.

“Y—y-yes, it is…” Izzy said in a trembling voice. “I-I d-don’t know what’s going on-going on. I-I just woke up on that train. I’m n-not supposed to b-be here.”

“Damn right you’re not.” Hitch replied sternly. “You nearly got us all killed. Count your blessings that you don’t remember anything.” He finally conceded the point, seemingly believing that he had scolded her enough for one day. “Very well. There is a loophole for amnesia in the rulebook, and I can only assume it’s because of the sedatives they used on you. I believe you, Izzy.”

Izzy looked up. “Y-you do?”

“You’re one of my closest friends,” answered Hitch, his face softening a little. “We’ve been through so much together. I know you wouldn’t lie to me. Others might, but you don’t. I know that much.” He sighed heavily. “This day has been a complete mess. At least you’re safe and sound. We’ll figure this memory thing out, I promise.”

“Thanks…”

With that, he turned towards Posey and barked orders at her. She then turned and motioned for the troops to move out and take the survivors with them. Pipp stood with ten other earth ponies, while Windy and Sprout herded five unicorns forward. They were at last heading away from the sight of the wreckage. Sprout eventually split off from the group to take Sprouticus Maximus, while Hitch stayed with everypony else.

Before long, they were on their way back towards Maretime Bay. Izzy walked with Pipp at the very back of the crowd, who still refused to look at her. And this made her feel even more terrible. Since the moment she had woken up, it was like her life had completely fallen apart, and she had no way of fixing it. The only thing she could do now was stay with the Insurgency and figure out how she had even gotten to this timeline in the first place. She had to find Sunny, wherever she was now in this twisted world.

And then she would find her way home.

Author's Note

I’m back!! And with a huge narrative-based G5 story, how ‘bout that? Now that’s what I call a comeback. Yes, as this generation approaches its unfortunate, but inevitable end, so to does my G5 Universe to boot. It has been an amazing 3 years and I’ve been so honored to track this generation’s progress with my stories. I started this journey all the way back in early 2022, and look where I am now. This story marks the transition between the end of an old journey and the beginning of a brand new one. And I thought…what better way to get y’all hooked than two bonkers action sequences? I feel like I’m gonna need quite a lot of those for the Lunar Literary Universe, so I decided to practice here. The mystery is just beginning to unfold. Where is Izzy? What is the secret behind this rebellion? Who is this mysterious Queen? What happened to Equestria? So many questions, yet so little answers. And nobody really knows the truth, do they? Oh wait…I know. Find out the next part in Izzy’s epic journey on Tuesday!

In the meantime, any feedback in the comments would be greatly appreciated as always. Stay tuned!