Fallout Equestria: Brotherhood

CHAPTER 24: NORTHWARD EXPRESS

From north to south, the train will take anything. Weapons, ponies, or just about any form of cargo you want. That is, if you're willing to pay the price.

Gently, the train car moved, the soft sound of the wind racing by the car hummed as the train sped on. The lamps above jingled and shook as the sounds of soft snores quietly echoed in the empty car. Both brothers had their heads rested on the cushions of their seats, sleeping. It was the first time in a while since they had lay down to rest themselves. Especially with all that had happened the last few days, they were more than enjoying their calm rest.

Every now and again, a conductor would stroll up and down the car's center aisle to check on the two resting ponies. Sometimes, he would just take a seat and rest, or slick back his brown mane before fixing his dark green Legion uniform before moving on to the next car.

Faintly, the sound of two train whistles woke Adam up. At first, he blinked a few times tiredly, then, sitting upward, he stretched out his forelegs. His eyes sagged sleepily as he looked out the window to see where they were at.

Despite the fact that it were cushions they were sleeping on, it was the most comfortable sleep he had in some time. However, when he looked outside, he noticed the speed at which the train was going at. Had he slept that much? Were they already at their destination? He wasn't sure, and it made him wonder how long they had actually slept.

Adam noticed that the conductor was making his way down the center of the car. "Excuse me." Adam said rubbing his eyes.

The conductor pony stopped and answered him, "Yes?"

"Why are we stopping?" Adam asked, sounding slightly more awake than he had before.

The pony pulled out a polished silver pocket watch from his pocket and glanced down at it quickly. "We're stopping at the crossroads station. All I was told was that we were stopping there to pick up some things."

"What kind of things?" Adam asked.

The Legion conductor shrugged, "Not sure, to be honest. Where is your stop?"

Adam scratched his head, "As far north as this train will take us."

"Then your stop is at the northern outpost station. Once we're done at the crossroads station, it'll be another few hours until we get to your destination." He answered.

Looking once more at his watch, the conductor added, "Will that be all?"

Returning to the window, Adam nodded. "Yes, thanks."

"You're welcome." The conductor replied, returning to his walk through the train cars.

Suddenly, the train had come to an abrupt stop. All of the cars jerked forward causing the lamps above the seats to jiggle and sway. The sudden halt though, had woken Neo up as his head was shook forward by the car's movement. He blinked tiredly, whilst rubbing his eyes.

"Are we there yet?" Neo muttered in a low, tired tone.

Shaking his head, Adam continued to look out his window. "No, we still have a little ways left to go."

Neo squinted regaining his vision, as he too looked out of the window to see what his brother was looking at. "Where are we?" Neo asked.

"I'm not sure. Something called the crossroads or something."

Outside of their window was what looked like a massive Legion camp. Campfires and green Legion tents all orderly lined up covered the area around the train. Piles of wooden crates, labeled with chipped red paint had the words, "Iron Hammer" roughly painted on them. Near the center of the camp were several Legion flags flapping gently.

Iron wagons, pulled by ponies clad in thick dark green power armor, hissed, and strode across the roads between the tents. All the same, Legion soldiers marched rhythmically in groups of nine. Rifles at their sides, and a commanding officer at the front keeping them at a well paced march.

One thing that caught both brother's attention was a larger lifting crane from the old world lifting large boxes onto the train. However, for them to even get a slight glimpse of the machine, they needed to press their faces hard against the dust covered glass.

"Is that a crane?" Adam awed, trying his best to get a better look from their seat.

"I think so. But what are they loading on the train that they would need a crane that large?"

Though it was hard to see, Adam could faintly read some of the writing on one of the massive boxes the crane was lifting. On it, was the words, "Special Package" written with the same red paint as the other cargo.

Adam pulled himself away from the dusty window, and gently rubbed the dust from his face with the sleeve of his duster. His brother did the same, before commenting on what they had just saw.

"It's a massive camp. No wonder they had so many troops at Arkcannon." Neo said.

Remaining where he sat, Adam turned his gaze once again to the window, "How many do you think there are?"

"Too many." Neo replied.

"Heck," He added, "after seeing that out there I'm surprised the Coalition has lasted as long as it has."

Adam gazed off at the huge army, imagining the war the coalition was fighting. "It makes me feel sad for them. I just hope everything works out for them in the end."

Another thing that came up to the train was an Iron wagon. Unlike the other Iron wagons in the camp, this one in particular was surrounded by several heavily armed soldiers. Neither brother noticed the wagon, or the gathering around it, but out from the Iron wagon came Vladimir.

A cape hung loosely on his shoulders, as he stepped off the wagon. An officer greeted him with a bow, before escorting his leader to one of the train cars farther down the line. A conductor saw that the Legion's leader was onboard, and quickly waved to the engineer. In moments, the conductor got one whistle from the engineer, and went to the passenger car's entrance. The train whistle howled twice loudly, as the conductor stood at the end of the car waving to the engineer. In one sudden jerk the train moved forward. Neo relaxed in himself in his seat, and tried to get comfortable.

"I feel the same way Adam, but we've got to look ahead. They're capable ponies, and besides, it won't be long till we get off."

Adam continued to watch the train gain speed while the large Legion camp passed by them. "Just try and relax. For once, nothing wants to hurt us."

Adam sighed, watching the camp disappear and the bleak world return. Although, something in the back of his mind told him something. He wasn't sure what, but whatever it was he hoped to Celestia that it wasn't something wrong.

The car swayed relaxingly as Vladimir made his way to through the narrow passenger car hallway. He finally passed the cramped narrow entrance to his car, he sat down on the lovely velvet silk cushions of his own personal train car. And, oh, was it glamorous. Unlike the dim, dull passenger cars normal passengers were seated at, Vladimir's own car was made for royalty.

There were four seats, seated right across from the other. Edged with dull golden paint, with fine detailed carved corners. The walls were a heavenly crimson, with a diamond like pattern edges using the same color of gold his seats had. Above him were miniature chandeliers, with working light bulbs new and bright. Although the only thing the other cars had opposed to his own was size. As his car was significantly more cramped than the average passenger car.

His car had only two windows, which passengers riding on either side could look out of if they chose to. It was only himself inside the car though. Alone, with only his own mind. He liked traveling alone. Even in Iron Hoof, he liked the peace of silence. All of his officers knew this, and even those who soldiers didn't felt it best to leave him be when he traveled.

Keeping a solid, thought provoked look as he stared out the window feeling his head ache. "What is it this time?" He asked, not breaking his gaze from the window.

Across from him was a mysterious shadow-like figure. Genderless, the alicorn like apparition sat contently. "Are you sad for the lose of the town?" It cooed.

Vladimir didn't answer, "So you are. You really shouldn't keep secrets from me, Little Red. It isn't good for your health."

"You're not good for my health. And I can keep whatever I want from you to myself."

"Aha!" It laughed, "Why, that's silly, my boy. I can't believe I just heard you utter those words. I'm heart broken!"

It purred softly to him resting its foreleg on the edge of the window. "All I want is to see you succeed. Besides, that little town was insubordinate. If I didn't give you so much control I would made the troops find each of those escaped rebels, and make them kill each other in the ruins of their own town."

"Mmm,” It purred, “now, that would be fun. Don't you remember those days? When we enjoyed killing?"

"No!" Vladimir interjected, breathing heavily. "Those... Those days are behind me..."

"Oh, but it was through those days that we were able to build all of this." The figure added pointing to the train they sat in.

"I don't have time to argue with you," Vladimir added, taking a metal flask from a pocket in his cape.

Just before he took a quick drink from it, the shadow chuckled. " Heh, heh... I'm getting stronger."

With the flask almost at his lips he paused, a terrible sense of terror holding him. "Until recently, I found that you were wise enough to keep your will. However, as of recent, I've seen you go through a... Change."

"I... I..." Vladimir stammered.

"No matter, drink your filthy red gunk. Just know, if you show more weakness in the future, I'll have to... Step in."

Putting the flask to his lips Vladimir took two large gulps of the wine. Almost instantaneously did the apparition disappear, with only the faint sound of it's devilish chuckles echoing into silence. Laying back in his chair, a great feeling of relief came to him.

Sighing, whilst massaging the side of his head he muttered. "Mother... Father... What have I done to deserve this?"

Placing the flask down gently next to him, he looked down at both of his hooves in thought. "Is this the burden all leaders bare? To be tormented by my own mind..."

Relaxing himself, he sighed once more. The sound of a door opening had caught his attention, and from out of the narrow corridor came a Legion soldier. Dressed in the basic metal plating, with a thick gas mask covering her face.

Poking her head from the corner of the corridor she knocked on the wall. "Is everything fine, m'lord? I heard you talking to somepony."

Vladimir shook his head, "No, I'm fine. Just leave me be." He finished with a dismissing wave.

The Legion soldier bowed quickly, "Very well. If you shall need me, I will be in the next car."

The Legion soldier left, shutting the door calmly behind her. Leaving Vladimir alone once more. Returning his gaze to the outside, he did not reply.

Music softly played from Neo's Pipbuck in the brother's empty train car. It was a nice song, with a nice easy rhythm that calmed them as their trip went on. Adam swayed side to side to the beat of the music while his brother was inspecting all the other channels his Pipbuck could pick up.

"So, that's Cool Blue's channel, huh? I'm surprised we didn't start listening to it sooner." Adam commented maintaining his rhythmical sway.

Neo nodded while still looking at the other stations on his Pipbuck radio, "He does play a lot of decent music. I just hope he made it back to the tower okay."

Just as the song had started to slow Neo switched it to a channel that played booming, patriotic music. "What channel is that?" Adam asked.

"It's the Legion's channel."

Adam lay back in his seat listening to the spirit lifting music. "Well, it sure does make you feel like a patriot, doesn't it?"

"Yeah," Neo chuckled, "it's kind of ironic. They have a dictatorship, yet they play patriotic music."

"What other stations are there?"

"Let's see." Neo said switching to the next station.

The next station Neo played was hard to make out. It was quiet, and what little sound they did hear was smothered by static. Loudly, the static played and it only took Neo seconds of hearing the loud clatter before he switching it to the next station. Although, the next station played the very opposite of the last station. For it was completely quiet, with nothing playing.

Adam leaned forward in his seat, "What channel was that?"

Neo shrugged, "It says it's DJ-Pon3's channel. But I guess we don't get a very good signal out here."

"Brother, could you put it back to Cool Blue's station?"

"Yeah, one sec." Neo responded quickly switching the radio station.

As soon as he had switched the station a soothing low voice spoke out from Neo's Pipbuck radio. "Good afternoon my provincial brothers! It's me, Cool Blue, here to give you the news. First off, my sources are telling me that they found the ruins of Arkcannon today. That's right, the whole town is burned right to the ground! We can thank our local dictatorship for that. So, in respect for their fallen let's give them a moment of silence...

But folks, despite this horrible news I've (oddly enough) got some good news. It turns out some of the population got away, and they're out there somewhere, livin’ life. So if you see somepony from Arkcannon give them an ol' pat on the back. They went through a lot."

There was a pause from Cool blue before he spoke, "In other news. A pack of ghouls has been spotted outside of the northern outpost station. Hopefully, they should have moved on by supper time, but for all you nice folks near that area stay alert. There's no telling which way those things plan to go next. But that's enough of that for a bit. Let's get back to some tunes from that darling angel Sweetie Belle, singin’ Gone with the Sparrows."

A new song had started to play once Cool Blue stopped speaking. It was a nice tune, with a mare singing to the calming sound of a guitar. Once the song had started though, Neo turned down the volume to speak to his brother.

"Isn't that place the conductor had mentioned. You know, our stop?"

Adam nodded, "Yeah, it is, but you heard what he said, those ghouls should be gone by the time we're there."

Neo relaxed in his seat and sighed revealingly, "You're probably right. It’s just I’m used to running, and fighting everyday..."

Hills encompassed the landscape as the train steamed onward. Large puffs of white smoke rose up from the train's smoke stack, and steam hissed from the pistons on its wheels. Old pre-war buildings tattered and blasted dotted the hillsides. On one hill, far above the train tracks was nearly two dozen of ponies laying low to the ground.

Each one of the ponies was clad in tan leather armor that was overlapped with plated steel. Almost each one of them had goggles of some sort to protect their eyes from the wind, and those that didn't have goggles had bandanas that covered their mouths. A pink mare with a double striped patch on her left front hoof lay down on her belly, looking down at the tracks from the top of the hill though a pair of binoculars. In the corner of her mouth was a cigarette, half burnt out. A yellow stallion with a single striped patch was laying next to her with a rifle at his side.

He looked back down to his group and counted the ponies, and wagons they had before returning to the mare at his side. "Everypony seems to be ready. Any sign of the train yet?"

She continued to scan the area around the tracks, "No, not yet."

The stallion looked down at a watch on his foreleg, "Intel said that the train should have left the station already! Where the hell is it?"

"Patience, private," She muttered scanning the area, "we've been here all day, and since we haven't seen the train yet, waiting another hour won’t kill you."

The stallion sighed, holding his gun closer to him, "Is it true, though? Did the Legion finally manage to get Predators from down south?"

"Eeyup," She nodded, "and based on what else we've been told they're going to use them to protect Iron Hammer. Wherever it may be."

She let out a few large puffs a smoke that blew off into the wind, "That's the other reason we're here. That train is bringing supplies to Iron Hammer, and if we find out where it is, it'll bring the coalition that much closer to bringing down the Legion."

The stallion didn't reply, instead he went back to helping her scan the tracks for the train. For a moment his ear twitched. And a few seconds later it twitched again, followed by the distant sound of a train's whistle. Feeling the excitement build inside him, he nudged the mare next to him urgently.

"I hear it! I hear it!"

Quickly, she listened carefully for the whistle of the train, and just as he had said the whistle howled distantly. Pulling the binoculars to her eyes she glanced at the tracks in hopes of finding the train. Searching all around the area she finally found it speeding towards their area.

She grinned putting the binoculars inside her bags, "Let's get the others. We can't afford to miss this!" She exclaimed standing up.

Then, looking down at all the other coalition soldiers, she yelled, "Soldiers of the coalition! We have waited the whole day for this moment. Failure is not an option, for the fate of our order may very well depend on the success of this mission!"

All of the troops picked themselves up and continued to listen to her. "Just remember where you're supposed to be. We need this to be a quick mission."

With a firm nod to the stallion next to her, he responded with his own nod in return. And, putting a tan helmet on his head, he marched down to the other coalition soldiers calling out orders as he went.

"Get your rifles ready! Boarding wagons, and the runners get hitched up, we're moving out in one minute!"

Soldiers hurried around gathering their gear, and hitching the runner ponies to the boarding wagons. The coalition officer mare stood at the top of the hill looking down at the oncoming train. Raising her hoof in the air she waited for the right moment to strike.

Within moments the troops had managed to ready themselves. Some jumped inside the wagons, their weapons ready. The yellow stallion nodded his head to the other coalition troops to see if they were ready to strike. Giving him the OK he waved at their commanding officer at the top of the hill.

"We're all set!" He called up to her.

Remaining silent, she stood there holding her hoof high in the air. And right as the train had come close to their hill she swiftly waved her hoof downward shouting, "Charge!"

And, like bolts of lightning, the wagons blasted forth up the hill. Dust trailed behind them in massive clouds, as the metal bolts of the wheels squeaked loudly the faster they went. Just as the last cart had come up to the coalition officer she jumped on, and joined in on the charge downhill.

Like an arrow intercepting a target, their raiding party bolted towards the train. They had come down at an angle, that way as the train moved forward they could catch up to it faster. And as predicted, they intercepted the train.

All of the wagons pulled up to the train's left side. The hooves of the runner ponies pounded fiercely against the ground in efforts to keep up with the locomotive.

While the wagons were at the train's side, soldiers hopped onto the nearest train car entrance they could. Each soldier helped the next on as, one by one, they all climbed aboard. The coalition officer went up near the runner pony, and shouted to him.

"Take us down to the cargo cars! That's where they have the predators!"

Sternly nodding in response the runner pony slowed down to get to the cargo cars near the back. Once the last of the boarding wagons were emptied the runners broke off from the train's side, back into the hills. Leaving the soldiers on the train on their own.

Adam was watching his brother smiling. Neo had his forelegs crossed and a tired look on his face. Keeping his head low, Neo sighed sleepily, "I don't like work, and Neo keeps sleeping on the job. Why couldn't I have been a security guard like my dad wanted? Blah blah, stuff." He said in a deep tone.

"Hmm," Adam purred in thought, "let me guess... Flipper, right?"

Neo lay back in his seat and grinned, "Did I give too much away on that one?"

"Just a little." Adam answered.

"I'll have to try harder next time. Anyway, you go."

Adam cleared his throat and sat up stiffly, and in a high scratchy mare-like voice he said, "My my, Adam you silly boy! Stop drawing such weird things! Nopony has time for blueprints when there is math to learn!"

"Heh," Neo chuckled folding his forelegs, "Mrs. Blackboard, right?"

"Yep, although if I wanted to do it right I should of had a ruler with me."

Neo shuttered slightly, "That stupid ruler. Screw getting hit with bullets, that thing was like getting hit by a missile."

Giving his brother a slight wave from his hoof to go on, Adam said, "Your turn."

Putting a hoof to his chin he thought. "Hmm, well-"

However, a sudden jerk from the train halted his sentence. Both brothers tried to recover themselves from the spontaneous event, only just as they had it once again jerked wildly before returning to normal. They both repositioned themselves on their seats. Each of them were dazed, and slightly confused about what had just happened.

Looking out the window, Neo tried to see if there was anything he could see that might have caused the abrupt movement. Only, outside there seemed to be nothing but the empty hills, and twisted trees of the wastes passing by them.

"Huh," Neo muttered.

"Did you see anything?" Adam asked.

Neo scratched his black mane, "It doesn't look like there's anything out there."

"Maybe it was something on the tracks... Or maybe it was a gust of wind." He suggested.

At the back of their car, two Legion soldiers opened the back car door in a rush. Not even bothering with closing the door they dashed past both brothers muttering to themselves. Neo had managed to catch what one of them had said, sadly it was only a single sentence.

"They've boarded the train." Was what he had heard, and by the tone the soldier had he assumed something urgent had happened. Who boarded the train? More importantly, why?

These questions sat around in his head as the soldiers sped off to the next car. "What was all of that about?" Adam asked looking over to the door they had dashed to.

Before Neo could reply to his brother, a loud bang clearly rang from the next car. This was followed by several more loud shots, as the sound of ponies shouting in pain could be heard all from the next car. Neo stood up with his brother, and prepared for whatever was in the next car to come.

Getting their weapons out they got low, and took cover behind Adam's seat. In almost an instant, the door the Legion soldiers had went through busted open with a tan, steel armor plated unicorn standing in the doorway. And with a rifle lifted, and ready to fire she called out to the whole car.

"I know you two are there! Drop your weapons, and put your hooves in the air!"

Poking his head above the top of the seat Neo saw that the pony calling to them was a member of the coalition. "Ah crap." Neo swore.

"What?"

"It's a coalition soldier."

"What?! But, why is she here?"

"I don't know, but being a Province Guardian right about now would have been perfect for this situation."

"What are we going to do, brother?"

Neo thought for just a moment about where they were, and what their options were. That was, until the coalition soldier reminded them of her presence. "I said come out with your hooves up, and weapons on the ground! This is your last chance!"

Neo sighed, "Just do as she says."

And, standing up, they both threw their weapons down the center aisle of the car, and sat down in their seats again. Both of them put their hooves in the air as they watched the soldier come carefully towards their weapons.

"Good, and don't do anything stupid if you plan to make it out of this alive. We've got dozens more of us on the train, and you'll have to answer to them if you get past me."

As she approached their guns the back train car door flew open as two Legion soldiers charged into the car. It didn't take the coalition soldier more than two seconds to realize her position and take cover.

"Shit!" She swore diving behind one of the seats.

The Legion soldiers did not hesitate, and with guns ablazing they let loose every round they had at the coalition soldier. Soon the train car became a firefight between the coalition soldier, and the two Legionaries. Bullets flew above them, as both Adam and Neo kept low to the ground.

Bullets hit the the old chandeliers above shattering them into pieces, and the stuffing from the seats shot out from the cushions as bullets flew back and forth. Adam saw their weapons on the ground next to them, and focusing on the guns they moved themselves over to them. Picking up their weapons, Adam leaned closer to his brother to speak.

While it was hard to talk to his brother over the sound of gunshots being fired Neo could still hear him. "Brother, we need to get out of here!"

"I know! I just don't know how!"

Adam looked around when he could, making sure that every option of escape ended with them still alive. One thing he had noticed, was that the space underneath the seats was large enough for both of them to move under. And if they could make it to the door behind the Legion soldiers, hopefully they could get out of the fight in one piece.

"Brother," Adam said nudging his brother and pointing to the spaces under the seats, "if we can crawl through there, we could avoid the oncoming fire above."

Not seeing any other options Neo nodded to him, "Lead the way, but be careful!"

Confidently Adam smiled and got down onto the ground crawling under the first seat. Not far behind him was his brother, who crawled on his stomach following him.

The ground was covered in dust, and cushion stuffing. In some places on the ground, glass and bullet casings rolled around while they crawled. It was musty and filthy, but it was one of their few options. They could see the Legion soldiers fighting behind some of the seats across from where they were crawling. Although, it seemed that the fighting had most of their attention for the moment.

Just as they came to the last pair of seats the fighting didn't seem to stop. One thing Adam had realized when coming to the end of the seats was that they would have to go through the center aisle to get to the door. That would mean getting directly into the line of fire. So, getting up from the ground they took cover behind the last pair of seats.

"What now?" Neo asked crouching low.

Adam had to think for a moment, when it hit him. There was no clever way to do it, they just had to run and hope nothing hit them.

"Well..." Adam gulped.

"What is it?"

"We run."

Neo had a confused look as he responded to his brother, "We... Run?"

"Yeah." Adam replied unsurely.

"Are you sure that's what we need to do?"

"It's either that or we wait for more fighting to break out," Adam said.

"When they slow down to reload we make a run for it, right?"

"Exactly."

"Okay..." Neo murmured worryingly to himself.

Within moments the fighting slowed as both the coalition soldier, and the Legion soldiers reloaded. At that moment Adam galloped quickly to the door at the end of the car. Adam's instant dash had taken Neo completely by surprise, as he tumbled and tripped galloping behind him to the door.

And just as the fighting had started itself up again; They had managed to finally get passed the fighting in their train car, and into the small space that divided the train cars. The small area that divided the train cars was just as loud and heart pounding. Wind rushed by them furiously as the tracks raced below them. From side to side, the trains cars moved while the chains on the car links rattled.

Both brothers found it hard to stay still, for there was little room for both of them, and with the train's movement it became difficult to remain stationary. They knew this almost instantly, so Adam decided to go first into the next train car.

Opening the next train car's door carefully Adam went inside. Neo followed closely behind him, with his shotgun ready. The next train car was not a passenger car. Instead it was a dark wooden cargo car. Light peaked in from the cracks in the wood on the walls, and the whole car creaked uneasily as it moved.

Wooden crates stacked up branded with Iron Hammer's name filled the whole room. They were huge crates, tied down by old moldy rope. And as light creeped in from the outside the room was an almost disorienting mix of blue light and shadows.

Adam moved over to one of the crates, and knocked on it with a single hoof curiously. "What's inside these things?"

Neo circled around the crate Adam had looked at. On one side of it, he noticed a pin in between two grommets acting as a latch keeping it closed.

"Well,” he said, "let's take a look."

Pulling the pin from the latch he slid the top of the crate back, exposing some of the materials inside. Both of them looked down at the crate's contents oddly.

"Rocks?" Adam muttered.

It was filled with rocks. Plain, dusty rocks. With no sign of being special or at all holding any value in the slightest. "What would the Legion want with rocks?" Neo asked.

Several gun shots caught their attention before either of them could respond. They had heard gun shots from the last car over, but this time the shots they heard silenced the constant sound of gunfire. What startled them even more, was the spine chilling sound of one of the car doors opening.

Both brothers quickly tried their best to shut the crate, and hide. If it was the coalition soldiers they could be captured or killed. If it was the Legion soldiers, they might be killed as well. Both of them knew the risk was high, and in their current position their best option was to hide.

The combination of light and shadow amongst the crate piles made it easy to find a place to hide. Diving off to the side both of them got behind the set of crates nearest to them. No sooner had they found a spot to hide did four ponies come through the door into the dark room.

By the way they looked in the dim light, they seemed to be coalition soldiers. If that was the case, they must of killed the two Legion soldiers back in their car.

One of the four ponies spoke, and it sounded like the mare who had ordered them to surrender earlier. "I'm glad you made it. I wasn't sure how much longer I would have lasted in there."

A dark stallion among the small group replied, "You really shouldn't have of took off like that. This whole train is crawling with soldiers. If we're going to take the train, we're going to need to stick together."

"It doesn't matter," A firm authoritative mare interjected, "what does matter is that we need to find the predators. If the Legion manages to get those to Iron Hammer, it'll make our job of getting to it almost impossible."

"Yes, ma'am." Both soldiers replied in unison.

"Now, check some of these crates. If they're not here, we'll move on."

The mare who had given out the orders stood there for a second as the other three soldiers checked the car's cargo for the predators. Like Neo had done earlier, they opened the latches on the crates and looked inside. They did this several times, checking every other crate they could see that seemed to be large enough to hold something like a predator. Though, each time they found the same thing. Rocks. The same bland, normal pieces of rock that the brothers had found earlier.

"Ma'am..." One of the soldiers uttered lowly.

"Yes?"

"They're full of... Rocks, ma'am."

"What?" The mare responded in disbelief.

"He's right, ma'am." One of the other soldiers added.

Taking a few of the rocks out of the crate, the soldier showed what the brothers believe to be their commanding officer the rocks. With one of the rocks in hoof, the coalition officer dropped the rock onto the ground.

"Is that what all of the crates are filled with?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Great," She grunted in frustration,"let's move on. We've still got several other cars to check. And if we don't find anything. Blow the train apart. At least we'll put this stupid railroad out of commission."

With another ‘yes ma'am’ from the other soldiers, they all made their way to the door and left. The very moment the door closed, Adam and Neo came out from their hiding spots. Feeling a great sense of relief, they finally realized why the coalition was on the train.

Turning to his brother urgently, Adam said distressed, "Brother, do you know what this means? They have predators on the train!"

Neo recalled when they had first encountered the dreaded catlike hunting machines. "What does the Legion plan to do with those things?"

"I'm not sure, but imagine all the kinds of havoc they could cause with those things. And if the coalition can't get them..." Adam's eyes widened with fear, as he remembered what the officer had said they would refer to if they failed to find the machines.

"We have to get off this train! Who knows what they're going to do!"

Neo holstered his weapon and gave Adam a worried look. "Any ideas? You know more about trains than I do. Maybe there's an escape pod or something on these things. I don't know!"

"No, there isn't any escape pods on trains... Although..." Adam murmured in thought.

"There might not be any escape pods, or escape devices, but we can use the train to escape."

"How?" Neo asked.

"There are links linking the train cars together. If we can unhook one of the cars farther down the line we can escape this before something happens."

"Which car though?"

Adam thought a little more before responding to his brother, "Well... I remember reading that the caboose had an emergency brake, and on some old pre-war cabooses they had easy to unlock links."

"Isn't that at the very end of the train?"

"Well, yes. But it's our best shot at getting off in one piece."

Neo sighed, "It's never easy, isn’t it?"

Adam shook his head, "Yep, it's never easy."

"Then let's hurry. Hopefully, we can tail behind those soldiers and get to the caboose undetected."

"Right," Adam nodded in agreeance.

Together they took off to the end of the car. Hopefully Adam's plan would work, because if it didn't they weren't sure what would happen. Although one thing was clear if they were to fail, because most likely it wouldn't end well for them.

Vladimir sat idly looking out into the world from the comfort of his car. The car shook several times over, each time not distracting him from his content mood. The brief, but distant sounds of gunfire could be heard inside his car. The noise was muffled, and even the sounds of his soldiers in the other cars fighting off the coalition raiders seemed to not distract him in the slightest.

Urgently, a stallion clad in the green metal armor of the Legion slammed the door open to Vladimir's train car. The unicorn soldier levitated a rifle at his side, while with one hoof he held a bloody wound fresh from the fighting going on in the next car.

"Sir!" He cried, "The Coalition has boarded the train! We need to get you out to safety!"

Diverting his peaceful gaze toward the wounded soldier, he replied, "I see. So that's the cause of all the ruckus, correct?"

"Yes sir, we need to move to the farther end of the train. I'll call for reinforcements when I can to help take care of the rebels."

Remaining completely calm, Vladimir stood up regally from his seat. "Very well, let us move. And do be quick about it, I was enjoying myself."

"Right sir, as you wis-" Before the soldier could finish the back of his head erupted into dozens of bloody pieces, followed by the sound of a shotgun being cocked.

There on the ground, in a bloody mess laid the soldier, and as Vladimir stared down at the body in disgust, three coalition soldiers stormed inside. All three of them stood in the narrow hallway leading out of the car. Rifles aimed at his head, and guns ready to fire. The coalition soldier who had killed his soldier with a shotgun stood in the middle of the trio grinning.

"Put your hooves over your head, or we'll-" The shotgun pony stopped in mid-sentence realizing who was in front of him.

His grin got wider, as he stared down Vladimir, who returned a dull unimpressed expression. "Looky what we've got ourselves! The tyrant himself! Whoo-whee! I'm gonna enjoy blasting your sorry ass across the walls!"

"That's all very nice, but you see I need my... Oh, how do you put it, 'sorry ass' in one piece."

"So," He added taking a flask out from his pocket, "will you be good sports and step aside for me?"

The massive grin the soldier once had faded, "You trying to fuck with us? Cause I ain't going to listen to your bullshit anymore! Light 'em up, boys!"

Just as the soldier had gave the order, Vladimir took a sip from the shinny flash. At that moment, the voice before giggled slightly. The chuckled was followed by Vladimir's horn glowed brightly, surrounded by a magical aura. The very same aura had started to glow around the soldier's shotgun, and quickly pulling itself from the pony's side the shotgun placed the end of its barrel against soldier’s head and fired.

Little remained of his once whole head. It had all happened so quickly the other two soldiers stood there petrified. The blood and brains of their companion covered their shocked faces and bodies. Finishing his drink in the flask, he sighed distastefully, realizing what had happen. And, putting it back into his pocket, he stepped up to the frozen soldiers who look up at him in terror.

In his voice was low and weak, with an unsettling feeling stirring in his stomach. "Now, if you would be so kind as to step aside... I-I would greatly appreciate it...."

Dropping their guns the soldiers slumped against the bloodstained walls. He did not respond. Rather, he simply continued walking forward, feeling queezy in his stomach.

With slightly more heavy steps, he walked between them to the next car, only before he did it, he stopped in the doorway. He realised that the reaction he had on the soldier had left a horrible feeling in his gut. And he didn’t know why.

Finding it hard to speak at first, he said to the soldiers as sincerely as he could. "If... If I were you I would find a way to get off this train as soon as possible." After he had finished he moved on to the next car.

In the next train car, coalition soldiers stood ready to fight any more oncoming Legion resistance. There were five soldiers, armed with short swords, and small firearms. They took cover behind several supply crates they could get behind. An orange stallion with an officers symbol branded onto his tan helmet at the end of the room noticed who it was that came through the door.

And, without hesitation he exclaimed, "Open fire!"

Quickly, Vladimir realized his situation and dove to the side, taking cover behind one of the crates. Bullets rain down on his small little crate, and with each shot fired, time for him was running thin.

His head was pounding, and the little bit of wine he had in his flask he had already drank to numb the pain when confronting the previous soldiers. Sitting across from him was the shadow-like figure, legs crossed in a lazy manner.

"You’re weak." It hissed.

"Shut up." Vladimir growled.

"I could... Take over, if you wish. It would give you strength."

He thought about it for a moment, though the more he thought the stronger the aching pain in his head became. "I... I... I'm not sure if I can handle it..."

"Oh, come now, Little Red. It will only be for a little while." It persisted.

It crawled closely to him wrapping its cold shadowy foreleg around him. "The pain will stop for a little while, and before you realize it, this mess will be over."

Vladimir remained silent in thought as the constant sounds of gunshots rang in his ears. "J-Just... Make it quick..."

"Smart boy..." It chuckled.

In an instant, it vanished. The pain started to clear from his mind, and a feeling of energy, and strength came to him. Picking himself up he kept low against the crate and snuck around the boxes next to him. Once he had reached the end of the nearby boxes, he peaked over the corner to see a soldier watching for movement.

Vladimir grinned wickedly, keeping his hoofsteps quiet and quick. Gradually, he moved from box to box. Cover to cover before only being a few feet from the coalition soldier. The soldier in question, was a purple earth pony mare, wielding sub-machine gun in her mouth. Listening carefully from behind his cover he could hear them talking to one another.

"Did we get him?" One voice called out.

"I'm not sure. Go check it out, just remember to be careful." The officer replied.

Vladimir heard the sweet clicking, and jingle from the gun as the soldier reloaded her weapon. And, just as the final click was heard, he knew it was the time to strike. Leaping over the crate he dashed up to her, taking her by surprise.

Wrapping his hooves around her neck, she gasped in fear. "Please..." She whimpered.

But without giving her any other chance to speak, he snapped her neck causing her to dropped the gun from her mouth. Across the room one of the other soldiers had heard the commotion, and quickly turned to the sound's source. Taking cover behind another crate Vladimir took the weapon the mare had dropped.

"He's over there!" Shouted the soldier across from him.

With the gun levitating in front of him, he took a quick moment to breathe. And standing up from behind the crate, he proceeded to unload the clip of the weapon on the soldier. Bullets flew by the soldier, the sounds of weapons firing, and bullet casing hitting floor echoed throughout the car.

The sub-machine gun he had stolen was halfway out of ammunition by the time the soldier he was shooting at had taken cover. All of the coalition soldiers shouted madly at each other, while they tried to get an idea of what was happening. Vladimir took this to his advantage and dashed across the car to the soldier he had been shooting at. Two of the other coalition soldiers, including the officer, saw him dash like a bullet to the other side of the car.

"I saw him! North, look out, he's after you!" The officer exclaimed.

The coalition soldier Vladimir had been shooting at, whose name he now knew was North, peeked over the top of his cover.

"Where is he?!" He replied in a terrified tone.

Terribly frightened by his position North pulled out a combat knife from his side. The knife in his hoof shook wildly, as fear overcame his body. Vladimir was right next to his crate and carefully glancing over the corner of the box he was behind, he could see the scared soldier.

Grinning wickedly, he dashed lightly toward North, the weapon aimed right at his head. Before North had known it, he was staring right up the barrel of the sub-machine gun. Vladimir didn't even give him a moment to gasp before he unloaded three rounds right into his petrified face.

All of the other soldiers heard the sounds of the gun firing, "Quick, move in!"

Vladimir was almost out of bullets in his gun, so taking both the combat knife, and pistol North had, he waited for the other soldiers to get closer to him. Each hoofstep the soldiers took was careful. A mix of terror and anticipation mixed inside of them. And even with their weapons ready, and their numbers greater, these feelings were still present.

One of the soldiers wielding a revolver came close to Vladimir's position. With the knife levitating at the ready, Vladimir popped out of his cover for but a brief moment. Like a bullet on it’s own, the knife flung itself with lighting speed at the soldier. And stabbing itself five inches into the pony's skull, the knife had struck him right in the left eye. Dropping to the ground, the soldier lay there twitching spastically a knife protruding from his eye.

It was only a moment that the other soldier coming onto his position look down at the pony with a knife sticking into his eye. She gasped, with the rifle still ready to fire at her side. It was, however, that one moment of distraction that Vladimir needed.

And, just like the first pony he had killed, he took North's weapon, and fire two deadly accurate shots at her head. Like all of her companions before her, she lay on the ground dead.

The only one left was the officer, who by this time, now had halted his advance, and stood there in place. All of the gear on his body rattled and shook. Fear took over his body causing him freeze in place.

"C-come out!" He stuttered.

The orange stallion turned pale, "I s-said... C-come out!"

The car creaked as the train went on, and every noise it made put him more on edge. One last time, he mustered the courage to speak. "T-This is y-your last-"

He stopped speaking, for the sound of faint hoofsteps caught his attention. The sounds seemed like they were moving around him, but because of all the boxes the sound bounced off of the walls, and crates. Vladimir had moved to his side, and from behind the safety of the crates he saw his chance to strike.

Hopping over the crate he galloped at full speed towards him. Taking the officer completely by surprise he tackled him causing the weapon he had to fall and slide off to the side. With his weapon out of reach, Vladimir pinned him to the ground, with the revolver's barrel pointed to his head.

The stallion's heart was pounding outrageously, "P-please..." He muttered.

"Why are you here?" Vladimir snarled at him.

"W-what?"

He shot once to the side of his head as a warning. "I said, why are you here?"

"Please... I don't..."

"Heh, surely you're not here to kill me. The coalition would have sent somepony a little more... Competent."

"N-No! We're... We're here..."

"Why are you here?!" He screamed in the pony’s ear.

The officer had started to sob, "The predators..." He murmured.

Leaning his ear close to the officer's mouth he asked, "Excuse me? I didn't quite get that, run that by me again."

"T-The... The... P-predators..."

"That's a good boy... I’m glad I can kill you... You’re such a waste of lif-"

The gleeful murderous mood he was once in faded, as little drops of blood dripped down onto the terrified soldier. Putting a hoof to his muzzle he tapped his nose, and looked back at his hoof.

To his surprise, the blood was his own, his nose was bleeding. The pain had started to come back, only it returned at full force. In terrible head splitting pain the headache came back. The pain was so severe his vision had become disoriented, and blurry.

Suddenly, a feeling of guilt came over him realizing the situation he was in. "W-what?" He mumbled looking down at the confused coalition officer.

He realized the gun was at his head, and the five ponies that had once been shooting at him now lay dead across the car.

"To some extent I saw this coming." The mysterious voice hissed.

While the shadow-like figure was nowhere to be seen, his voice was still clear. "You're back in control now. Finish the job."

"Why? We could hold him for questioning. We could learn more about what-"

"No!" The voice added angrily.

"He is just another soldier who will do nothing but get in the way. We can find another to question. This one dies!"

"But-"

The voice sighed, "I've got all the the information we need. Just do it. Pull the trigger and let him die!"

Vladimir felt wrong, and looking down at the pony who was at his mercy made him feel scared. "I can't... I..."

"DO IT!" The voice screamed at him.

Upon hearing the screaming voice ring through his aching head the gun fired. The bullet from the gun lodged itself right in the forehead of the officer. Feeling weak in his legs Vladimir collapsed to the side. The room around him spun, and the taste of blood was in his mouth.

He coughed horsley, "Why?" He wheezed, feeling the pain spread through his body.

"Good boy," The voice purred, "For a moment, I had thought you were going soft on me."

And as the voice faded away, Vladimir lay there on the cold ground of the train car in horrible pain. He could faintly hear one of the doors opened on one side of the car. In muffled echoes he heard a voice say, "It's his majesty! He's down! Quickly, help me with him!" As the voice had stopped speaking the world around him became dark, as he passed out into unconsciousness.

Crates filled the train car. A few lightbulbs above flickered overhead in the car. Unlike the last car, it had an inviting atmosphere about it. Probably due to the dim light that filled the cramped space. Adam and Neo poked their heads through the door into the car. Coalition soldiers were farther into the car searching every box they could see.

Neo put a hoof to his mouth and whispered, "They look busy. If we sneak past them, we can get to the door and to the caboose."

Taking the greatest of care they opened the door. As it opened, the door creaked loudly sending shivers down their spines. They didn't need the door to be completely opened to get through, and when it was opened enough for both of them to get through both of them stepped inside with lightly steps.

Neither of them tried to speak or mutter even the smallest of noises as they moved through the car. The first box they came to was large and covered in metal plates. Once they were behind it, Neo peaked over the top of the box to see what the coalition soldiers were at. It appeared that they had covered most of the boxes along the walls of the car. So Neo thought about their position, and a plan sprouted in his mind.

Remaining silent, he motioned Adam to peak over the top with him. Adam looked over the top of the box, all the while trying to keep as low as he could. His brother motioned his hoof to the sides of the walls. By what Adam could see, the way the boxes were stacked and organized, small paths were made between them.

Adam pointed to the paths behind the boxes and nodded at his brother. Neo nodded back to him.

Adam smiled. It seemed like a good plan and since the boxes were large, it made movement that much easier. Patting Adam softly on the shoulder, Neo crept forward to the side paths made by the boxes. It was slightly more congested than they had thought initially. And they found that despite the better cover from the soldiers, it was a little more risky.

Plates that had started to come off of the boxes stuck out a few inches, making them almost like razor sharp knives. So, to prevent themselves from slicing their legs apart, they took extra caution while moving.

"Ma'am," A stallion's voice said, "we haven't found the predators yet."

"Damn it!" A mare's voice replied, "Keep searching. We're not leaving without them. If we can't find them here, we'll try the next car."

"Yes, ma'am." The voice answered.

The brothers were halfway through the pathways when all of a sudden the train jerked slightly. It wasn't enough to make them fall over, but for a moment they lost their balance. Almost out of nowhere Neo felt a sharp pain jab into his left leg. Out of pure natural reaction he screamed, "Shit!"

Neo and Adam froze in place, as Neo promptly put his mechanical foreleg over his mouth. He felt warm blood drip down from his leg. One of the outward plates stabbed him in the leg. Removing his leg from the metal plate they stood there hoped the soldiers didn't hear.

"Wait," A voice said, "did you hear something?"

The sound of guns shifting could be heard as the rest of the soldiers spoke. "Yeah, I heard something. Do a quick sweep, we might not be alone..."

Both brothers knew they needed to move quickly. Especially now that they suspected that they were there. Fortunately for Neo the wound didn't seem that bad, although it was sore the pain was tolerable for the moment. They picked up their pace, and moved more quickly through the narrow path the boxes made.

They could see the end of the path, just around the corner from it would be the door. If they were quick and silent enough, they could get out without alerting the soldiers. As they came to the end of the path, they quickly turned around the corner of the ending box only to be met by a soldier holding a larger than average high-powered rifle.

The coalition soldier blinked a few times at them before she held her gun up at them. "I found them!" She shouted.

Neither brother could think of something clever to do in the situation, so they did the next logical thing. They raised their hooves in the air to surrender.

Two other coalition soldiers came to their comrade's side, a stallion and a mare. Holding their own weapons, they looked at the two ponies before them oddly.

"Don't move! If you do we'll shoot! And you won’t be getting away from me this time!" One of the mare’s commanded.

Another mare's voice called over to the group of three ponies that cornered the brothers, "Bring them out here in the open. I want to see who they are."

"It’s alright, ma’am. They’re just a bunch of Legion scum I confronted earlier." The pony with the high-powered rifle replied.

“I don’t care, I want to see who they are! And that’s an order!”

The mare they had encountered before stepped aside, and motioned her gun for them to move. "Well? Come on, move!"

Stepping carefully past the soldiers they moved to the center of the train car. They hung their heads low, and hoped they didn't get mowed down. Both of them stopped before a mare near the center of the train car. A light bulb flicked right above her, as she stood there smoking a cigarette.

Unlike the other soldiers, she wore a double striped patch on her left foreleg. Goggles hung from her neck, as she stood there puffing out small clouds of smoke. "What the hell are you two supposed to be? Minus Legion scum, that is"

Both brothers looked at each other curiously. "Excuse me?" Neo asked cocking his head to the side.

She took the cigarette from her mouth, and tapped it gently letting the burned excess part of her cigarette fall off. "I said, what the hell are you two supposed to be? You don't look like spies, because if you’re, then you’re fucking horrible ones. And you don't look like Legion trash either, even though Widget over there says different."

Taking in a deep breath with the cigarette in her mouth, she blew a huge cloud of smoke onto the two brothers. Their eyes watered, and they coughed smelling the strong smoke.

"I'll ask you this again..." She said opening her holster on her leg, "What the hell are you?"

"We're passengers." Neo coughed fanning the area around his face with one hoof.

"Bullshit," The mare grunted, "you don't look rich. And only rich folk get to be passengers on this train. They're the only ones who can buy tickets."

"Well it's the truth. We won some tickets in a little town off of the tracks."

She raised an eyebrow at them, and turned her gaze to the dusters they wore. "And where did you get these?" She muttered poking Adam's duster.

"The dusters?" Adam asked.

"No, the pink floppy hats y'all are wearing. Of course I mean the fucking dusters!"

They had to think hard about their next response. By the way things had look she seemed to only get more annoyed every second they stood there. So Neo thought of something that might just get them out of this mess.

"They were given to us." Neo answered.

"By whom? Those are genuine provincial guardian attire, and your telling me somepony gave them to you?"

Neo knew that if he told her that they had been province guardians that she wouldn't believe them. They had earned their dusters, but to get him and his brother out alive he had say otherwise. "Lucy gave them to us."

She looked at them conspicuously, "You know Lucky?"

"Yeah, she gave us the dusters."

"Heh, then you don't mind answering a question then."

"Shoot." Neo replied.

"What's her favorite thing she owns? This should be easy if you know her." She snickered at them.

Adam scratched his mane for a moment, "I don't know which is her favorite. I always thought she treated her gun and wagon the same."

The officer’s face turned sour, "Ah, fuck."

"What do you want us to do with them, ma'am?" The stallion coalition soldier asked.

She gave them a dismissing wave of her hoof, "Just let them go. These two aren't worth shooting."

All of the other soldiers just looked at each other unsure of her order’s legitimacy. "L-Let them go... Ma'am?"

The coalition officer flicked her old cigarette to the side and pulled out a brand new one from her pocket. "Are you deaf and stupid? What did I just say?"

They saluted her, "Yes, ma'am!"

Taking a lighter she lit the end of her cigarette, "You two are lucky I owe Lucy some favors. If you didn't know her and I wasn't indebted to her I would have shot your asses down. Just don't go sneaking around us again. Or we'll shoot you."

Stepping to the side, the soldiers made way for Adam and Neo to get to the door. Although, before leaving, both brothers looked puzzled at each other. Neo made it a note to remember who she was, that way when they met Lucy again they could see what kind of favors she did for her.

Cautiously moving back they kept themselves facing the intimidating mare, "Okay... Thanks..." Adam muttered unsurely.

Nearing the door there was a loud clatter coming from the other side of the car. At first it was muffled, but second by second it grew louder. Within moments it was clear. The sound was that of several Legion soldiers stampeding toward the car they, and the coalition soldiers were in.

Pulling out the gun from her holster, and taking cover behind a metal plated crate. The coalition officer faced the door at the other end of the car.

"We've got company!" She announced.

Instantly all of the other soldier's jumped behind the nearest thing they could use as cover. The only things left in the open were the two brothers, who at the moment found it best to keep going to the door in the opposite direction of the noise.

The door at the end of the train car bursted open, as a Legion officer, and soldiers raced in. They didn't hesitate to start firing, however, they themselves were met with the loud gunshots of the coalition soldier's guns.

Bullets flew back and forth smashing, and shattering the framing on the crates. Adam and Neo ducked, dodged, and avoided the bullets that flew past their heads and bodies.

Hurrying as quickly as they could move to the door, they threw it open and slammed it behind them. The small glass window, and the thin wood did little to stop bullets from bursting through the door. And, to better avoid the oncoming fire, they placed their backs firmly against the wall next to the door.

On opposite sides of the door, they seemed to be safe from the incoming shots fired by the Legion soldiers. The wind blew fiercely in the middle section of the train car. If they moved forward, they could just go through the next car's door. That, though, would mean potentially being shot by the bullets coming through the door.

"Adam!" Neo shouted loudly, over the sound of the loud wind.

"What!"

"What do we do now!?"

"I'm thinking!" Adam replied.

"What?!"

"I said, I'm thinking!"

"Oh, okay! Take your time!"

Adam thought about it, and the best logical answer was to get onto the next car. It would be risky, but he believed they could do it. "We're going to get onto the next car!"

Neo raised a hoof to his ear. "What?!"

"I said, we're going to have to-" Adam stopped speaking altogether, as a Legion soldier opened the door to the next car.

For the moment, the continuous stream of gunfire had seemed to have subsided. Only the three ponies stood there, staring at each other in surprise. The unicorn Legion soldier pulled up his rifle to fire, only to have Adam push him back and close the door.

Once again the Legion soldier pulled open the door, and like he had done the first time, Adam pushed him back inside the train car and closed it once more.

By now, the sounds of many Legion soldiers could be heard. While it was unclear as to what they were saying, both brothers knew that they were pissed, and ready to blow the door open to get to them.

Now from both cars Legion soldiers encased them, and the coalition soldiers in the previous car. Adam had to think, within moments, the Legion soldiers stormed through the door in front of them. Looking around their environment he saw a small metal ladder lead up to the top of the car.

"Brother! We need to climb the ladder!"

"What?!"

Adam rolled his eyes in frustration, "We need to climb the ladder!" He added this time pointing to the ladder.

Neo glanced at the ladder, and understood what his plan was. Nodding back to him, Adam started first up the ladder to the top of the train car. Neo followed behind him, and as he did a slight twinge of fear rolled around in his stomach.

Adam reached the top of the ladder, and looked across the flat train car tops. They were a dull grey metal, and each of the tops seemed to be worn down. Placing one hoof, then another on the top of the train car's roof he crawled onto the top of the train car.

The breeze was significantly stronger than that of the breeze before. Just like Adam had, Neo crawled onto the top of the train putting a hoof over his eyes breaking the powerful breeze. Below they heard the faint click of the door below them open. Commands, and loud battle shouts could be heard coming from between the cars.

Adam gestured a hoof for his brother to follow him and together, they trudged onward. Both moved at a good pace, keeping one hoof in front of their faces to break the wind. Their dusters flapped and waved wildly. Adam decided that he might need both hooves for the trip along the top of the car. So, taking the goggles around his neck, he placed them over his eyes.

With both hooves free, he picked up his pace. Neo struggled to keep up, but as he did, he noticed that another pony had wanted to catch up to them. From between the cars, three Legion soldiers had climbed the ladder up to the top of the car with them. Like Adam, they wore protective goggles shielding their eyes from the wind.

Coming to the end of the first car, they leaped over the small divide. Neo checked behind them, and, slowly but surely, the three Legion soldiers were on their tails. Neo noticed this and dropped the hoof he used as a windbreak to speed up his movement. Although his eyes watered profusely, he had to use both hooves to move if they were going to get away from their pursuers.

Adam too looked behind him. Panic raced through his mind as the soldiers pulled out their weapons and began firing at them. Due to the high winds and moving cars, it made their shots sporadic and random. Neo levitated his shotgun, and shot downwind of them.

It slowed them down, as with each shot he fired, the Legion soldiers dodged his shots. Together, they came to the end of the next car and swiftly jumped over it. Now, moving as fast as they could on the train car tops, they dashed to the end of the train. It was incredibly hard for Neo to see, for only a small blue fuzzy object was the only thing he could make out.

Just following Adam, he relied on him and his actions to get to the end. Just before they reached the end of the semi-last car, Adam made sure his brother was ready to jump across. With confirming nods to each other, they jumped across.

The Legion soldiers were gaining on them, now only a few feet from them, they reloaded their weapons in preparation to fire. Looking back one more time, Adam noticed a large metal beam that bare several rusted train signs on it come up across the tops of the train cars.

Urging his brother to move faster, they rushed to the end of the car. With the steel beam only seconds away from sweeping everything off of the top of the train. The divide was in view and after letting his brother go down the ladder first, Adam jumped down, and ducked.

Overhead, the beam swiped across the top of the train cars, taking the Legion soldiers who were following them with it. Adam sighed in relief and wiped his brow before climbing down the ladder. Together, the brothers entered the next car, taking the utmost caution.

Neo levitated his shotgun closely, and as they opened the next door, they were taken back by a horrifying sight. The train car they were entering had a narrow hallway leading into a the nicest car they had seen all day. And in said hallway, there were two bodies. By the tan, steel plated armor, it was clear that one was a coalition soldier. And the next one next to him bared the green plated armor of the Legion. But the more grueling fact of the matter, was both ponies had half of their heads blown clear across the walls.

Closing the door behind them, Neo holstered his weapon. They both tried to respect the dead ponies and stepped over their bodies. Both of them inspected the beautifully decorated interior of the car. It had wonderful red cushions and majestic shining golden edged wallpaper. And a sparkling chandelier above them illuminating the car.

Adam pointed to the end of the regal car, "Just past that door is the caboose... Or at least it should be."

Neo continued to admire the fine details of the car in awe, "What do you suppose they use this car for?"

"Royalty, maybe?" Adam answered.

"Hmm, interesting." Neo added.

Adam opened the door at the end of the car. Cold wind rushed inside, "Come on, brother." Adam said holding the door open for his older brother.

Neo stepped through the door and into the divided section separating the caboose from the fancy train car. Each of them stepped on the caboose's side and glanced down at the link holding the train together. Adam and Neo stared down at it curiously.

"So..." Neo hummed loudly looking at his brother.

"So, what?" Adam replied trying to speak over the sound of the wind.

Neo shrugged, "How do we un-linkify the caboose?"

Adam returned to the train car's link. "I... I..." Adam found it hard to respond.

"To be honest, I don't really know..."

Neo's jaw hit the floor in shock, "What!? I thought you were the train guru or something!'

"Hey! I might know a lot about trains, but I don't know everything!"

Neo sighed, and inspected the link that held the two cars together. "Maybe that little chain thing there has something to do with it."

Adam saw the little chain his brother mention, and connect to it was the bar keeping the link together. Adam's eyes lit up, "That's it! Or it should be."

Neo shrugged, "Let's see. Maybe it is..."

"Right," Adam agreed taking the chain in his mouth, "Letsh try and pull it out. Our levitashion saddles can't handle the force."

Neo picked up a section of the chain, and helped his brother pull. "Alright, when I shay pull. We pull, okay brother?"

Neo nodded. "Okay... Pull!"

Together they pulled the chain back forcefully. They grunted, and yanked on the stubborn chain until the bar linking the cars together started to squeak. Little by little the bar loosened with every tug.

Finally, pulling it one last time with all the strength they could muster, the bar holding the cars together popped off. Both brothers fell back against the caboose with the chain in their mouths.

Recovering themselves, they stood up and watched as the caboose gradually slowed. The train they were once on continued on down the tracks while their little caboose drifted away.

"We did it, brother! We did it!" Adam cheered hugging his brother.

Neo cupped his hooves together around his mouth,and shouted boastfully back to the train that rode off without them, "Yeah, you hear that!? We ain't dying today!"

Adam smiled, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw a small wheel next to the ladder that lead up to the top of the car. Inscribed on the wheel were the words, "Caution. Emergency Brake."

Moving up to the wheel, he spun it around quickly. "Here," Adam said spinning it faster and faster, "this should help us slow down a bit more quickly."

Sparks flew from the small wheels of the caboose, as it came to a screeching halt. It took a few moments for the caboose to fully stop, and when it did the two brothers sat there on the edge of the caboose looking down the tracks.

For once, all was quiet. Only the calming sound of the wind blowing, and the sand being blown on the ground could be heard. Neo nudged his brother playfully with a smile.

"We did it." He said.

Adam smiled warmly, "Yep... We did, didn't we?"

"Although, how far away are we from Silvermane tower now?" Adam added..

Pulling up his Pipbuck, Neo looked at the marker on his map. "Actually, we're not too far away. If we walk now it'll be half a day's walk from here to Maneton. Then we can rest there and be at Silvermane by tomorrow."

Adam didn't reply; instead he continued smiled warmly. Neo wrapped one hoof around his brother's shoulder, "So... How was your first train ride? Was it all you had hoped it would be?"

"Yeah, I only wish we could have rode it all the way through... Without being shot at."

"Well," Neo sighed, "maybe we'll get to do that one day."

"Yeah... Maybe one day." Adam chuckled.

Together they looked down seemingly endless tracks that rolled and climbed over the hills. It seemed almost endless. Even with all that had gone on, just sitting there, appreciating each other's company was reassuring. Because soon they would move on, but before they did, they just wanted to enjoy the fact that they were alive.

Vladimir was spread out lazily on a long green cushioned seat along the side of the refreshment car. Across from him, a bartender tended to his counters with a dust rag in hoof. Bottles and small tables lined the sides of the car on the other side of him. A dark green ceiling with stars painted filled the space above them. Like most of the other cars, chandeliers with lightbulbs rattled and shook gently as the train swayed ever so slightly.

A unicorn soldier stood attentively at his side, while he relaxed on the seat. Levitating closely to Vladimir, the soldier had a silver tray with a fresh bottle of red wine ready for him. With a glass in hoof, Vladimir tipped his drink toward the soldier, who promptly filled the glass halfway.

Taking a few sips from the glass, a Legion officer with a cap bearing a single white star stood in front of him. He was a blue stallion with a silver beard and a sword at his side.

"Are you feeling better, m'lord?" The officer asked.

Vladimir took a few sips from his glass. "Yes... Much better, Lieutenant."

"Very good, sir. I'm just happy we found you in time."

Gulping down more of the wine, he motioned his glass to the soldier next to him. "Yes, well, after that whole ordeal I went through, I'm surprised I didn't die."

"It would be terrible to think if that was the case, m'lord. Let's just be thankful it did not turn out that way."

He looked down his at his drink regretfully. In his voice, a faint hint of hesitation could be heard, "Yes... Let's be thankful of my good fortune..."

The door at the end of the car opened and out marching stiffly came a Legion officer. Like the other officer before Vladimir, he had a cap with a single star. Only that at his side was a large combat rifle. Brushing his orange fur on his neck tiredly he stepped up to Vladimir and saluted.

"Your majesty. Permission to give my report, sir." He solidly asked.

Waving a hoof tiredly, Vladimir gave him permission to speak. "Sir, we had captured the last group of rebels that had boarded the train."

"Oh?" Vladimir muttered curiously.

"Yes sir, two were killed in the fighting when we were on our way to retrieve you. Near the end of the train though, we encountered the last group. Two of the coalition soldiers died during our counter attack. Fortunately, the last group was quickly outnumbered when we had troops trap them from both sides of the car."

"How many did we capture?"

"Three, m'lord. One who we believe to be their captain, and the other two had explosives and radios on them."

"Can you bring them in here? I would like to talk to them."

Bowing his head slightly to Vladimir, the orange coated officer motioned a hoof for one of the soldiers to bring in the prisoners. Through the door at the end of the car came stumbling, locked tightly together by chains, the last members of the coalition boarding party.

Side by side they lined up in front of the Legion Emperor. Cuts, bruises, and scars covering their beaten bodies. Vladimir sat up in his seat, although as he did an aching soreness festered throughout his head each time he moved at all.

"Kneel before his majesty!" The blue Legion officer commanded.

The mare in the middle smirked at the officer from behind her pink mane. "I don't kneel to tyrants." She sneered.

Taking the end of his rifle the orange coated officer hit her, and her two other companions behind their forelegs. Grunting in pain, all three of them kneeled before Vladimir, who looked down on them. All but the pink coalition officer in the middle looked back at him with contempt.

"Rise." He said, keeping his gaze on the pink mare.

"Now," Vladimir said taking a few sips of his wine, "who are you, and minus coming for the predators, what was your mission?"

"Hell, we don't even care anymore. If it pisses of the Legion, we do it." The mare chuckled.

One of the officers rose his rifled to beat the mare, "Why you- I'll beat you for talking to his majesty that way!"

Just before he did, Vladimir raised his hoof, halting the officers actions. "Please Trireme. Let her speak freely. I want to hear what she has to say."

Vladimir could feel the soreness in his head still as he spoke, "I'll ask you again... What was your mission?"

The two other soldiers shook slightly, as the sight of the Legion's Emperor sent a terrifying feeling down their spines. Turning his attention to the quivering soldiers next to her, he addressed them instead.

"Do you know how many Legion laws you've broken today? Hmm? Do you?"

They didn't respond. "You know, each one of those crimes is easily punishable by removal of a limb, castration, or even death. The best part is that I can easily let one of my officers punish you now. Because blood, while difficult to get out of the carpet, can be cleaned. But a limb... Oh, you see, without a protege in magic around, you won't be getting that limb back, and that is something you can't fix quite as easily as could clean a carpet."

Relaxing himself in his seat, Vladimir continued, "I was just faced with death by your people, and I am not in the best of moods right now. So, here's the deal. You say something that I find remotely informative, and you get to keep your balls. And for the fine lady over there, she gets to keep her legs."

Tipping the glass toward them he said, "What do you say? Do we have a deal?"

All but the mare continued to shiver in fear, not giving him even so much as a glance. Vladimir sighed, "This is all very frustrating, did you know that?"

Another soldier came through the door urgently and saluting he said stiffly, “Sir! I have news!”

Vladimir turned to him, “I was in the middle of something... Make it quick.”

“The caboose is... gone, sir.”

Giving the soldier an odd glare he said, “What? It’s... Gone? Are the predators still on the train?”

“Yes sir, they are still on the train. However, the caboose is gone.”

Vladimir sighed in frustration, “This is fantastic... Lieutenant, have somepony go back for it once we arrive at the crossroads station.”

The blue Legion officer named Trireme bowed, “Yes sir, it will be done.”

“Good,” Pointing to the soldier who had informed him of the caboose he returned his attention to him, “as for you, run off, I’m sure you have something that needs to be done.”

The soldier saluted him and went back the way he had came. Massaging the side of his head with one hoof, Vladimir moaned feeling the pain ache in his head.

Returning to the ponies in front of him, he added, "Sadly, I just can't control what might happen if I let my officers do what they wish. You may not come back out of this with all your legs. Maybe one of you might even lose a horn... I'm just not sure."

One of the Legion officers pulled out his sword and ran the tip gently across one of the soldier’s body. Both coalition soldiers breathed heavily in fear for their lives. "Because my officers can be very... Creative, when it comes to pain."

Just as the sword tip came to the pony's neck, Vladimir interjected, "But! There is a chance you could walk out of here with everything. You can go back to your friends, your lovers, or whatever you have back home. For all I ask is for some simple information."

Sheathing his sword the officer stepped back from the coalition soldier. "Now, look up at me." Vladimir commanded calmly.

Only the two coalition soldiers looked up at him. "Good," He cooed sweetly, "what was that mission of your’s again?"

At first the two soldier's found it hard to speak. Sweat ran down their pale grey coats, as a nervous heat gathered under their battle worn armor.

"We... We came for the predators..." The soldier on the left answered.

"Yes, and what else? Surely it was not to murder me."

"N-No... We came, just for them..." The soldier replied.

Smiling at them, he said, "See how easy that was? All this talk of torture and death can have a real effect on one's nerves."

The pink mare spat at her comrade’s hooves, "Fuck you, we would have got away with it too if you fucking pussies didn't give up on me. You dishonored our whole order, our freedom, and your dignity. You make me puke!"

"Freedom is a relative term, ma'am. Any creature that does not have some form of control can be free." Vladimir added.

"You see, before my Legion, there was nothing. Bandits roamed freely pillaging, raping, and murdering innocent ponies. Raiders destroyed entire towns just to see them burn and mutants devoured the poor souls that crossed their paths. Salvers, junkies, lawless violence. These were the things your order misses. What kind of freedom is that? The freedom to live in hell? What I bring is order, structure, and law to a world that has been deprived of it."

She glared at him viciously as he spoke. "Of course, we kill many; of course our laws are strict. But it is necessary to rebuilding society. Those souls who wish to destroy order, sanity, and peace are the true tyrants. What has your order done? I can tell you mine has brought back working roadways. Three trains are fully functioning in the province and towns are protected from raiders. I don't want to exclude the decrease in raider activity, and mutant activity as well."

"We have a full standing army that feeds, protects, and ensures peace throughout this province," He leaned closer to her face, fighting the pain in his head, "if it were me... I would fight for a world with a chance for real peace. For real freedom, than for the lawless hell our land once was."

She remained silent, staring at him with wild rage in her eyes. "Now... Is there anything you want before I send you off? Anything you are itching to say?"

All but the mare shook their heads slightly, keeping their gaze off of him. "And you, is there anything you have to say?"

The coalition mare grinned, "You got a smoke?"

"Heh," He chuckled and turned to address an officer, "get a cigarette."

Saluting him, the blue coated officer went over to the bartender, who gave him a cigarette. With the cigarette in hoof he asked, "What shall I do with this, sir?"

"Put it in her mouth." He answered.

Like he had ordered, he put the cigarette in the corner of her mouth. "Now, be a good lad and light it please."

Taking a lighter from a pocket on the outside of his armor, he gave it Vladimir, who levitated it to the cigarettes end. Lighting it only once, he held it at the cigarettes end until it was burning. Quickly removing the lighter he smiled and patted her on the head.

"Will that be all?"

The coalition officer took in a deep breath, and through her nose she let out a cloud of smoke onto him. "If it’s not too much trouble, you could order one of your lackeys over there to fuck you. That would be pretty nice." She snickered.

"Cute," He laughed.

Giving his officers a dismissive wave of his hoof he said, "Please, take and lock them up somewhere. They'll make good workers in the Dark Mines. Especially her, the Warden will have his work cut out for him."

Both officers saluted at him in unison. "Yes, sir!"

Moving them back towards the end of the car, they left Vladimir alone with his wine server and the bartender. Sipping the wine from his glass, an echoing voice hissed in his ear.

"You could have killed them..." It said.

Vladimir did not respond, but instead he took a few more sips of his drink. "Are you going to ignore me, Little Red? After all the fun we had earlier?"

Vladimir continued to drink his drink as if nothing was there, "Aaaw, you make me sad... Just know, next time you act soft and let traitors like them get away, I'll take over myself and show you what real authority is."

Like that, the voice was gone. He waited to make sure the voice had left. Once some time had passed, he sighed, resting his almost empty glass next to him. And, burying his face in his hooves, he thought hard about his decision. But something inside him felt good about what he had done... For all the death it had made him do, he was strong enough to pardon some of the lives. Even if it required him to act menacing, he felt much more happy that they lived than torturing them to death like it would do. And that left him, in some ways, feeling content.

Both brothers stood at the top of a hill with the cold wind blowing strongly against them. Off in the distance was the caboose they had left behind. It had seemed like the Legion wasn't going to come back for it, and even if they did, they were not going to be around when they did.

According to their Pipbucks, Maneton wasn't too far off. Their hopes were that, by the end of the day, they could make it. Because at night was when the bigger, more hungry creatures came out in search of prey. Trudging swiftly through the hill-covered landscape, they came to a rather large flat open area.

The flat area they had stumbled upon looked like a small junkyard. Wagons and buses were crushed on top of one another. Huge piles of scrap littered the few places vehicles didn't. Unfortunately, the hills around them blocked any other part of the junkyard, making it almost impossible to predict how big it was.

A massive billboard worn and beaten by the elements was positioned next to the junkyard. On its front was a cyan unicorn mare dressed in a smart black suit. She seemed to be pointing to whoever was reading the sign with a sincere look on her face. Above her, in white bold letters, the sign read, "Help rebuild our future! Only you can restore our land to its former glory!"

Both brothers stood there at the top of the hill scanning the junkyard carefully. "It looks clear... But I'm not completely sure it's safe." Neo muttered trying to inspect the junkyard.

Adam looked to the sky and saw that the clouds above were turning a dim orange, "Maybe we should go around. It'll be a little while longer, but we'll avoid anything that's down there."

Neo checked once more the area around the junkyard. Nodding, Neo agreed, "Let's play it safe... We just got away from the Legion, the next thing we need is to come close to death again in one day."

Going across the hills, the two brothers marched. Dust devils twisted and spun before vanishing into the wind. Coming over the next hill, they could now see the junkyard and it's entirety. Neither of them had guessed how big it really was. From the small flat area, it stretched further over the next set of hills.

Looking down both ways, the two saw no other paths. The wasteland was cruel like that, giving them obstacle, after obstacle. Fortunately for them, there didn't seem to be any signs of raiders or soldiers.

Adam coughed breathing in some of the dust in the air that the wind kicked up, "There's no going around this, isn’t there?"

"It looks that way..." Neo moaned tiredly.

"Let's move quickly, if we can get through before it gets too dark, we won't have to worry about anything."

Adam didn't reply, he was exhausted. And, carefully maneuvering their way down the hill, they came into the junkyard. Walls of rusted steel of vehicles were piled high. Tools, trash, and a whole plethora of different scrap covered most of the ground. In huge heaps it sat weathered by time and the elements.

The brothers referred back to their Pipbucks as it was their only eyes in the maze of junk. Twisting and turning, they trotted on through the junkyard. Sometimes hopping over old concrete dividers or pushing loose dangling metal out of their way. By the time they had gone through a majority of the maze, they had had enough. Their minds were dulled, and their hoof steps sluggish.

As they walked on, something perked their ears up and sent a bone-chilling sensation throughout their bodies. It was a loud screech. Not the kind a pony would make, but the sound of a bloodthirsty animal.

Turning sharply to the sound's source, there, standing along side almost fifteen others, was a ghoul. It was glowing a pale green color. Flesh and tendons were exposed, dripping glowing green fluid from it’s wounds. The other ghouls in the herd were zombie-like in physical appearance. Clothes torn, or ripped apart hung loosely from their scrawny bodies while they too were covered in rotting flesh.

Once again, a loud screech came from the glowing ghoul. And, dashing toward them, it panted heavily with every hoof step. Memories of the ground level at Ironhoof city came rushing back to them. With panic and adrenaline pumping through their veins, the brothers ran.

"Run, Adam! Run!" Neo shouted running away from the herd.

Tripping, stumbling and running, the ghouls were all fixated on catching them. Nervous sweat ran down their brows as it seemed the ghouls started to slowly come closer to them. It was clear their pursuers wouldn't stop, even if it meant tripping, bumping, or shoving the other members of their herd to get to them quicker.

Neo and Adam searched their surroundings and found that a broken down bus splitted in half could slow them down. Making a mad dash for their only hope, they climb inside and hurried on to the end of the bus. Opening the pulling door, they jumped through it to the other side of the bus. The ghouls at first found it hard to maneuver through such a small and consecrated spot.

But even the bus didn't help them before they shoved and trampled the others in their herd to get past the obstacle quickly. Both of the brothers continued to run until they came to a dead end of the junkyard. The hills around them were blocked off by huge walls of metal vehicles. The only other path they could use to escape was near the ghoul herd, making them trapped.

The ghouls still had their sights set on them and, with time running out, both Adam and Neo pulled out their weapons. Levitating them closely, fear overtook all other emotions in their minds.

"Brother?" Adam asked worryingly, "What are we going to do?"

Neo gulped watching the ghouls speed closer to them, "We do what we can. Stay close to me, and don't let them get a hold on you."

The glowing ghoul that had screeched earlier took the lead as the first ghoul in front of the herd, and just as it came ten feet away from them, a huge noise boomed off of the walls of scrap. This noise was followed by the head of the ghoul blowing into pieces.

All of the ghouls stopped, and turned their attention to the direction of the noise. There, at the top of the hill, was a pony. He was a unicorn, clad in dark power armor and a red visor across his eyes. He wore a brown duster over the armor that seemed to cover every inch of his body. A “W” was inscribed on the flank area of the coat along with another W just under his helmet.

Levitating in front of him was a huge sniper rifle. Nearly three times larger than the one Lucy had, firing bullets that matched the size of the gun and the pony wielding it.

Letting several more shots out four more of the ghouls in the herd had their heads explode into a cloud of red mist. Screaming dementedly, they charged for him. Each step the ghouls took towards him was another kill for the armored pony. Finally, what remained of the herd reached him. Jumping, they tackled him. With vigorous force, the mysterious pony shoved them off of him only to buck them back and curve stomp those he had knocked over.

Pulling a large python revolver from a side holster, he shot each ghoul that came at him with deadly accuracy. He started walking toward the brothers shooting, and killing each ghoul that came up to him. When he had run out of ammunition for his weapon he holstered it, and fought hoof to hoof with the remaining ghouls.

Unlike before, it looked like he struggled fighting the ghouls with only his hooves. The mad creatures bit, scratched, and pounded on him. Neo and Adam felt that this pony had helped them. Whether or not the pony meant to harm them after the ghouls were gone was irrelevant. Because deep down inside, it was the right thing to help him.

Pointing his shotgun to the few ghouls left, Neo began shooting the few ghouls that surrounded the armored pony. Adam did the same, using VATS to get the best shots on the mutated ponies. One by one, the creatures fell dead until none remain.

Both brothers panted tiredly as the pony recovered himself and stood up. Neo approached him cautiously with his weapon ready to fire, "Are you okay?" He asked with caution.

The pony picked up his sniper and folded it in half before holstering it onto his back. Neither Adam nor Neo had seen a sniper fold in half before. Then again, Adam found it intriguing that he had modified the rifle to be more compact.

The metal clad pony dusted himself down. His voice was low, firm, and metallic. "Affirmative. I am functioning properly."

"Why did you help us?" Adam asked with the same amount of caution as his brother.

The pony just stood there, it was hard to read what he was thinking due to the helmet and visor that covered his head. "I owe Lucky. Her orders have become my main priority. Main priority: Protect brothers that were described as white coat, black mane, province guardian. Smaller pony, blue coat, brown mane, province guardian."

Neo raised an eyebrow at him, "So... Lucy sent you, to protect us?"

"Affirmative." He answered.

"That makes you our ally, correct?" Adam asked.

"Affirmative."

Neo stepped forward inspecting the pony before them. "How did you find us? Have you been stalking us or something?"

"Freelancer guardian reports identified two ponies leaving a caboose and moving toward Maneton."

Adam's eyes grew wide, "Are you a freelancer guardian?"

The stallion nodded once. "Affirmative."

Without taking his eyes off of the pony for a moment, Neo put his weapon away carefully. "Can you get us to Maneton safely?"

"Affirmative. I can escort you safely to the settlement of Maneton."

Gesturing a hoof for him to move on, Neo said, "Then lead on, but don’t think for a second that I’m taking my eyes off of you."

"Order confirmed," The stallion said turning away from them, "follow me."

Adam approached his brother and whispered to him in a curious tone of voice, "Brother, should we trust this guy? He just came out of nowhere, and we know nothing about him."

Neo pulled up his Pipbuck and showed Adam the screen, "It looks like he's going in the direction of Maneton. And don't worry, I don't trust him. Like I said, I won’t take my eyes off of him."

Adam felt unsure about the situation, and a troubling feeling irked itself at the bottom of his stomach, "Alright. We'll just have to be careful then."

Neo smiled at his brother, "Don't worry, just be ready to draw on him if he shows any signs of suspicious behavior."

Adam continued to walk at his brother's side remaining silent. Like he had said, he needed to be ready to draw on the armored pony, even if the stranger had helped them.

Neo trotted up closer to the iron stallion, "If we're going to go to Maneton together, at the very least, I would like to know your name."

Neo bumped into the stallion as he abruptly stopped. Then, turning his head to Neo he said, "Wester. I am called Wester."

Foot Note: Level up!

New Perk: The Circle of Stats: Two skills that have less than 5 points now go up by +2 each.

Foot Note: Level up!

Would you like to level up Adam as well?

Yes-

No

New Perk: Handsome Jack: Bartering increased by +2, as well as charisma by +2.

Proofread by:

Noakwolf

LyonAzakura

Thefullmetalbrony

Blackflames

(AN: I really enjoyed making this chapter. I always thought that train robbery/hijacking scenes in books, movies, and just about everything was cool. So I told myself when crafting the story that I would do a chapter with one. And this is that chapter. Some of you may might be a little confused on the ending, and just who this mysterious pony is. If you want to refresh your memory a bit, head on over to the end of chapter 15. Just so you guys know. Anyway, as always I look forward to the next chapter! - Noakwolf)