Canterlot, the beautiful scenery of white and classic gold. The home of royalty and the upperclass ponies. But, things in Canterlot aren't always so… peaceful. No, this wasn't the time to be sitting around, pondering on every breath taking location. This was around when trouble was starting to brew. The mysterious could fill up like a bog when a fire went off. But, since the mystery wasn't a fog, it wasn't noticed, just seemed like a spec of… something. This 'something' left a gap in the timeline, like it never happened.
Well, this 'something' was actually being discovered by the Royal Guards. This mystery wasn't going to be let off the hook, not within such a peaceful kingdom, anyways. Lezley, a pegasus royal guard, with purple eyes of determination. At the age of 25, He has sleek white fur, and a golden, light mane and tail. He was rather kind in heart. This kindness wasn't shown in his duty to work, though. He let his wings out as he took flight to the crime scene, a rather dense, cold mansion. The group consisted of five royal guards: Lezley, Fretzle, and three others that Lezley had never seen.
They entered the mansion, which seemed rather clean. It was expected though, since most mansions are just that: Clean and giant, enough to fill about ten ponies with little issue. Lezley looked to their captain, whom he had never seen until this day. He was covered in the royal captain suit and shouted an order to spread out. Lezley flew up to the second story of the mansion and started searching. The room he found himself in was the library portion of the place, who'd have expected such a small Library in a big mansion? Lezley didn't, that was for sure.
Lezley looked around and took a sniff of the air. "Where could this body be, anyhow? I heard there was a murder, yes. But, where? It's not everyday that a pony manages to enter a mansion, that's for sure." He whispered and turned his eye to a book that had been laying on the floor. "Hm?" He looked at the book. Upon picking it up, he read: 'Book of Spells, Volume 2.' Lezley didn't feel surprised by this fact at all. The owner that had mysteriously been murdered was indeed, a Unicorn. But, something else DID seem odd. This unicorn was known for his magic, why would he have this particular book out?
"What's going on in here?" A voice quickly announced with a hint of command and explanation.
Lezley knew that voice all to well. He quickly turned around and put his hoof up to his forehead, saluting his commander. "Well, it seems that a book of spells was laying on the floor. But, what's odd, is that the owner of this establishment seems to already know all these spells…," He started with his explanation. "What's odder, however, is that there seems to be a pony capable of breaking into a fully guarded mansion with no trouble, it seems."
The commander frowned. "Well, seems like we're not getting anywhere. Hmm… Fine. Let us search the rest of the house for more clues." He ordered.
"Yes, sir!" Lezley called back, and he started his search of the rest of the mansion. He flew down into a rather darker room, he ventured somewhat inside until he quickly knocked into a side table, which was for some reason in the middle of the room. Lezley looked around, startled. "Now who wo-" He started to ponder, before a shriek of pain was heard from across the mansion. Lezley gasped at the sound and started to fly to the location of the scream. Lezley landed in front of the door way and prepared himself for what was to come… He looked inside and his eyes widened. What he found wasn't very pleasing…
"And then! Whoosh! Just like that, the clouds were gone!" Cyan giggled. Khaz sighed as he struggled to remain hearing the story that he'd heard for the third time this month. Cyan Heart was a unicorn with a broken horn, she was a Normal heighten Mare, at the age of 22, but she had no cutie mark. She had a blue mane and tail that both had 2 red stripes through them. And obviously, cyan colored fur. She also had eight small slinky pieces around her legs, making wrattles of noise every time they were moved. Khaz was an Earth pony who had only one slinky piece, which was around his front left hoof, while two foam circles were around his back hooves. He was a giant of a stallion, at the age of 23. His red fur and green, messy mane was enough to watch. But, his blunt attitude was more agitating to deal with than his looks. He had a tool box for a cutie mark, which represented his dedication and talent for working hard and effectively.
Khaz sheepishly looked Cyan in the eye. "You've told me all this, already. We should stop."
Cyan sighed at his uncaring statement, even if she should be used to it, by now. "Khaz…" She sighed. "What do you plan on doing, anyways? You've been awkward lately." She commented. It was true, too. Khaz had been getting less meals and seemed to have been saving up for something. Maybe he was planning to get a gift for somepony? Or was it that he was starting to get greedy?
Khaz looked Cyan in the eye. He hadn't tried lying before, but now he was going to have to make an attempt to. "Cyan, I'm just trying to settle in with this town. I'm not used to ponies trying to be my friend all the time, is all, I promise."
Cyan smiled. "Oh, it was hard for me to, you know. I've been here a lot longer, right? I know what'd make you feel more at home! How about a relaxing trip to the spa?" She suggested.
"No." Khaz refused on the spot, with little hesitation. "I'd… just like more alone time, is all." He tried to lie, again.
Cyan frowned in disbelief. "Uh… I'm the only pony you've really have gotten to talk to yet. I've been trying to get you to talk to others, you know." Cyan commented. She sighed about the fact she started to get the hint. "Tell me the truth, Khaz." She demanded, suddenly.
A sigh escaped Khaz. "I've been planning a trip to Canterlot." He admitted in his same, boring tone that he had always done.
Cyan squealed in happiness as she jumped out of her seat. "That'd be-"
"For me, only." Khaz added on, looking away. He knew a swarm of guilt was about to hit him. He could feel it already…
And so it did. Cyan sat back down with a frown. She suddenly stopped talking after these words. She had been feeling left out recently, and this sort of behavior started to get on her last nerves. She slammed her hoof onto the table and knocked her own meal off the table and stormed off in frustration. Khaz felt miserable now. He knew where that frustration had been coming from: Him. He hadn't been so nice to her lately. With all the activates he had been doing, he never really invited her. She had been his friend since he was a colt, back in their old school. They were the best of friends, after all…
…Or so he thought. She had finally lost her anger and exploded on him. He always figured that she was okay with him being out and about. But, until now, he never really considered the fact of the stress build up from his little friend…
Khaz looked down at the food in disappointment, he quickly realized that Cyan had spent a lot of bits for this meal, and here he was… by himself, wishing the little mare would return. "Dang it, Khaz…" He bickered at himself. "Look what you've done." He sighed and looked at the tickets that were in his bag. He remembered that he needed to pack… Tonight. "Tonight, and here I am, hurting my friend's feelings. Ugh, what a great time to be sulking." He commented and got up. He headed for his orange field, out of the way from town. He passed several ponies and watched as some put up signs, were sweeping, and others washing windows. He was going to miss the quiet atmosphere, aroma of the sidewalks, and most importantly, Cyan.
He reached the orange tree field and looked around, his small house was rather silent most of the time, the only visitors he really got were the different mail ponies and, you bet it, Cyan. It was a very small farm, definitely compared to the Apple family's. But, this wasn't what was on his mind, anyways. He wanted to make sure he had time to pack everything for his trip, and have time to go apologize. How was he supposed to explain such a mess to the little mare, though? Had she finally lost it? Perhaps… he pondered. Perhaps…
He put an umbrella, one suit, and other necessities into his large luggage. He looked around his room and went into the bathroom. Ofcourse, he thought. "I need to bring this…" He admitted to the air and picked up a bottle. This bottle seemed to be just a normal pill bottle, but, it wasn't. He had a little stone inside, which he knew did something special… But, what? He had pondered on this many nights, all of which lead to the same answer: No clue. He had a feeling, though, so he picked it up and put the bottle into his bag. He continued to go back to his room and collected the luggage that he had packed up for his trip. He looked outside at the sunset. Well, it was now or never…
Cyan entered her house and slammed the door shut. Her house was already a disaster, so what would a broken door really do to bother her? She looked to the fridge, which had messy and looped-sided door. She opened the door up and snatched her famous Pie, which she sold on the street market area. It had several ingredients like cherry, blueberry, and sometimes even mixed with other foods. She put it into the oven, which was rusty and missing part of it's door, too. She sighed and she looked around the dump of a house that she had, the only things that were really clean were the floor and her special Adamant Box.
Cyan had really like sharing, It was possibly one of her most favorable traits. She had always shared almost everything that she owned, even the famous blue pillow of hers! But, that Adamant box was one of the things that she never allowed anypony to touch. She went over to the box and decided to open it, to make sure everything was okay in it. As always, the other piece of her horn was still their, waiting to be connected back to Cyan. She smiled and closed the box back up.
After putting the box away, she sat down on the living room floor and decided to start planning what she'd do. Cyan glared out the window as the Pegasi started to set rain clouds up and make the rain fall, right on schedule, of course. Cyan wished that the clouds would just shock them away. She wanted a nice relaxing beautiful day, after all. Instead of being grumpy, though. She watched the pegasi and started to look for Gemini, one of her closer friends who was rather dark, almost black Pegasus. She had known him for awhile, too. She never saw him, not much to her surprise.
Knock knock said the door, who had a pony knocking on the other side of the door, wanting to see Cyan. She sighed, now her imagination was getting the better of her. The door talking? Yeah, she was going cookoo. The door actually did have a knocking behind it, Cyan finally noticed. She got up and ran to the door, hoping the pony wouldn't leave too fast for her to answer it. She opened the door with a large smile across her face. The smile didn't last long as she frowned at who the pony was… her giant, supposedly, BFF Khaz.
Khaz looked nervous, for once. He was caught off guard about seeing her unhappy with him for the first time in his life. He knew it was especially bad, seeing how she even frowned for just seeing him. He looked inside real quick, hoping to get out of the rain, atleast. "Cyan, may I come in?" He asked bluntly, trying to sound calmer than he actually was.
Cyan glared for a second and moved aside, letting him in for a while. "Yes? May I help you?" She stated with a rather bland, uncaring, stern look.
Khaz knew she was using his style of glaring, which he almost always used. "I just wanted to apologize to you before I get on the train." He stated and lied the luggage onto the floor. "So, I'm sorry for all the stress I put onto you."
Cyan sighed in disbelief. He was still going!? Did he really not care for her feelings? Was he just trying to convince himself that he was a polite stallion? "Okay. Thanks." She bluntly put down the words and started to go check up on her pie.
Khaz felt disbelief, too. He could tell. Well, actually, she wasn't trying to hide it… But, he could tell that she didn't truly accept it. "Bye…" He silently mouthed, without actually stating the words. He lifted up the luggage and started to walk outside. "Cyan…" He sadly mouthed again. He walked off and headed to the train station.
Cyan, though, was looking through her stuff. She had gotten an idea to try and make new things out of the stuff she had. She had a plan to use this stuff for a devious idea she had thought up. She was going to follow Khaz… even if it meant illegally following him. She got out some of her rags and started to stitch them together, then she got out her grey spray paint, which she used to paint the rags, trying to find a good color to hide in. She smiled as she tossed the rags onto her body and put on a hat, to hide the horn. She slowly sprayed the rags down and started using magic to make the rags have a fur effect. She looked like a completely different mare now, except one thing… her tail and mane. She walked back to her room and started to make a cover for her tail and the rest of her mane. There was one problem she still had, though. How was she supposed to get on the train without a ticket?
Khaz arrived at the train station, wishing he had brought an umbrella with him. He went ahead inside and sat down at on one of the waiting benches. He sighed as he realized how early he arrived, so he started to think on what to do for the next 30 minutes. He didn't think Cyan would stop talking to him so quickly, after all. The Train station was rather quiet and had a bland smell and had little fun. He looked around at the other ponies, hoping to find somepony who'd be interested in talking or atleast something to pass the time. Some of the other ponies had odd color schemes, others were seemingly short as fillies, or were they just normal fillies? Khaz watched as a family of ponies came into the station.
"Hello, Sir." A pony suddenly said, Khaz quickly turned his attention to the Pony addressing him.
Khaz was surprised by the Pony that was addressing him. It was a Unicorn Royal Guard, which he figured wouldn't ever talk to him. Had he done something wrong? "Hi." He responded.
The Unicorn had dark brown fur. His mane and tail couldn't be see due to the helmet and armor they always wore. "We're you headed off to, Sir? You packed quite a lot of stuff." He questioned.
Khaz could feel that the guard was suspicious of him, had he been watching him ever since he entered the station? "It's just my stuff." He answered with a stern look.
"Hmm… I see." The guard nodded. "My name's Hallow." He greeted and held a hoof out for a shake.
Khaz decided to play along and shook the hoof of the Royal Guard. "I'm Khaz Steel. Call me Khaz, though." He greeted. Was this royal guard trying to make him happy? If not, was he suspicious of him? The clock took it's time, making sure that what was only 30 minutes was to take an hour.
Hallow sat down on the bench next to Khaz, making it seem like they were already friends. "So? What do you like to do? It seems that you don't have much social skills." He commented, not even bothering to peek around the bush or be quiet about it.
Khaz felt an angry surge through his body. Did the guard really just say that without hesitation? Was he hiding behind his little title of: Royal Guard? "I run an orange farm and I don't talk much." He answered both questions as quickly as possible.
Hallow smiled, he couldn't get this stallion to open up, could he? "I noticed. Could you atleast tell me where you're going to, Khaz?" He asked curiously. "I don't mean to bother you, but you seemed so unhappy, so I'm trying o help."
Khaz rolled his eyes at the comment. So this was what it's about, is it? "I always look like this." He commented. "I don't need to seem happy."
Hallow nodded and took off his Helmet, letting his long black mane loose. He started to relax, being on duty all the time was frustrating, definitely with all the standing around and looking mad all the time. "Well, seeming happy would make other ponies happy, you know." He stated and smiled. "See? When the ponies see me happy, they get a sense of security and warmth."
What was with this stallion? Khaz thought in frustration. Security and warmth? Then why am I feeling so bothered and cold? "I'm not a royal guard. I don't need to smile." He told the guard, who he knew would have a comeback for this statement…
"Well, before I was a royal guard, smiling always made my friends happier. Seeing me frown would always hurt them…" Hallow informed. "Maybe you could just force a smile? That'd make other ponies be happier to be around you." And with that, the Royal guard looked to the clock, as well. "Plus, the train isn't moving for another 20 minutes or so."
20 minutes too long. Khaz thought. He was getting rather frustrated with this 'guard of happiness'. "I don't need to look happy." He bluntly stated, trying to find a way to get the guard out of his mane.
The guard smiled as he took off his armor, too. He placed it onto the floor, next to his helmet. His tail was also black and long. "This isn't about be being a guard, you know. I was just trying to make you happier…" Hallow stated. "It's that attitude of yours that makes me worry so much for you." Hallow lied down on the bench and got comfortable.
"You don't need to talk to me, Hallow. I'm just fine the way I am." Khaz stated.
Hallow looked unhappy with that answer. "Alright… I was just trying to help you before it was too late…" He sighed and stayed put. "Mind if I atleast sit here for a while?" He asked.
With a quick nod, Khaz agreed. "Fine."
"Thanks." Hallow smiled again, knowing that he was welcomed to atleast sit next to him.
And the awkward silence began to kick in. Khaz watched the clock, hoping he could just speed stuff up, but to no avail… the clock started to seem slower than normal. Trying to keep his attention off Hallow was proving to be difficult, however. Hallow had started to shine his armor up even more, getting the rain and dirt off of it. With little to nothing to do, Khaz turned his attention to the fellow stallion. "Do you know Lezley?" He asked out of seemingly nowhere. But, really he had heard stories of Lezley from Cyan Heart. She had loved to talk to Lezley back in Canterlot and they had became good friends. Khaz himself had barely talked to this royal guard named Lezley. He was starting to wonder if he would see him in Canterlot, perhaps?
Hallow seemed rather shocked for two reasons. One, Khaz was actually talking to him, and that he knew Lezley? How!? He decided to act as if he wasn't surprised. "Yes, I've met Lezley. He's a really great guard and his heart is in the right spot. How did you know him, anyways?" Hallow asked, trying his best to keep the conversation going.
Khaz just shrugged.
The guard frowned again. "So, just a lucky guess?" He asked, highly doubting such a random question would fit so well. "I find that hard to believe."
"Cyan." Khaz explained.
"Hm?" The guard looked up at him, confused.
"Cyan Heart, the Mare? Clumsy, little mare." Khaz finished. "She told me about him."
Hallow nodded. "Okay, I was just wondering. I was sort of worried that you're the criminal type. You defiantly seem like the type. Big, serious, unfriendly. But, I doubt you are."
Khaz felt a little stream of anger pulse through him. Why did this annoyance have to be right? "I'm not a criminal." He quickly replied, getting agitated. "Don't you have work to get back to?"
Hallow smiled politely. "No, I just got on break, so I decided to come talk to you. I'll be boarding the next train that comes here, actually. Why are you here?"
Khaz felt angrier at this statement. "The next train…?" He questioned again as he made sure to listen to every word.
The stallion nodded. "I'm to help guard on the next train. Is there a problem with that?" He asked coolly.
Ofcourse there is. Khaz responded in his head. That's the train I'm getting on. "No… No problem's here." He answered, lying to the guard was harder than lying to Cyan.
Hallow chuckled silently, getting the hint. "Well, I'll be patrolling the carts… I hope that doesn't bother you." He informed Khaz. "… Too much." He added on.
Khaz sighed. What's with this stallion? Was he set out on the goal to agitate ponies before their trips? "Too much? So, you knew you were going to annoy me… Thanks a lot." He commented.
Hallow smiled and started to put his armor on. "Heads up, Khaz… The train is arriving. I wouldn't want you to be late." He smiled and headed to get on the train.
Khaz sighed and picked up his luggage. "Finally… Hopefully I'll be away from him in Canterlot." He prayed silently. He got onto the train and headed through the compartments… He looked through each, trying to recognize any of the ponies. He recognized Berry Punch, but that was about it. With little to no choice he walked into the emptiest compartment he could. He wasn't alone in the compartment. He looked over to a pony who seemed like she was busy investigating her luggage. She was a rather unique pony, Khaz thought. She had a full white body, with dark blue, puffy, mane and tail. She had cyan colored stripes through her mane and tail. He couldn't see her cutie mark, since it was covered by a small dress that seemed only for her back. On the back of her head was a dark pink bow. The mare closed the luggage and turned around, revealing some neat black sunglasses.
The mare carried the luggage with her magic and placed it onto the dark pink blanket, claiming the bed for herself. Khaz knew from this moment that she was an Unicorn. The mare looked to him for a split second and sat down on her blanket. "What's up?" She casually asked.
Khaz looked around the room quickly. "Not much. Just going to Canterlot." He calmly answered.
The mare shrugged. "Sounds about right." She picked. "It's not like this is the train to Canterlot…" She remarked sarcastically.
Khaz rolled his eyes. Great… another rude pony to deal with. "If you're going to talk to me like that, I'm leaving." He grumpily remarked back.
She frowned. "Sorry, I was just sorta in a bad mood." She apologized. "Hey, I've seen you around. You're that stallion that tends to the Orange farm." She pointed out.
Khaz nodded. "Yes, I do…" He answered. "My name is Khaz. You are?" He asked politely. Maybe it's time to try this 'friend making'. he thought.
The mare looked back at her luggage quickly, then back to Khaz, frowning. "Promise not to laugh?" She asked with a frankly unhappy frown.
Khaz nodded. "Why would I laugh at your name?" He asked and started to put his luggage onto the other side of the room. He opened it up and set his own blanket onto the bed.
She kept a serious frown on her face and kept her eye on Khaz. "Potato."
Khaz looked sort of confused. "Excuse me?"
"Potato." She responded again. "That's my name… Potato." To her surprise, Khaz didn't giggle or even smile.
Khaz nodded. "Nice to meet you, Potato. I don't see what's wrong with your name." He commented as he looked at his slinky piece, suddenly remembering his lesson on friendship.
Potato smiled as she looked out the window. "You know, Khaz…" She started.
Khaz looked to her and raised his eyebrow. "Yes, Potato?" He questioned.
"You're the second pony who hasn't even snickered about my name… That makes me happy, just so you know." She informed, and started to draw a smiley face onto the window.
Khaz had expected him to be the first to not laugh… But, even he could be wrong. "Second, huh? I wonder who the first one is."
Potato smiled at his interest. "Sickle is the first one, actually…" She commented. "Si-" She stopped when she heard a snicker… "Khaz, was that you?" She asked and looked to the giant stallion.
Khaz turned to reveal a snicker. "Sickle? I use one of those everyday… Well, almost. Her name is seriously: Sickle?" He asked and frowned again.
Potato couldn't help but find some humor in this. Usually they respected Sickle's name, and laughed at hers. But, this stallion was obviously different. "Well, yeah…?" She couldn't think of what to say…
Khaz shook his head. "Sorry, I shouldn't be laughing at your friend, now should I?" He apologized. "Anyways… you look rather young." He pointed out.
"Well, duh! I'm still in school. We're just on break." She smiled again. "By your size… I'm guessing there's NO way you're still in school." She guessed.
"Correct…" Khaz answered. He decided to try and ask another question, but what? He decided to try a casual question. "Why are you going to Canterlot?" He asked the mare.
Potato repositioned her sunglasses and grinned. "To see my BFF." She responded and turned slowly to look back out the window.
Khaz sighed. She was being difficult to talk to… Was that on purpose? "Which is…?" He asked in the form of a statement.
"Sickle." Potato responded quickly. "She had to go to Canterlot for a while, and I wanted to give her a surprise party to tell her: HELLO!" She cheered, suddenly.
Khaz nodded. He felt guilty now… Potato was going to Canterlot to see a friend… while he was subconsciously running away from his BFF… Why did everything suddenly go wrong? He looked out the window and started to watch the stars… How he wished he could spot one of the constellations… but, he couldn't… He tried to recall all the past mistakes he had made. He remembered the time where he was mean to two of Cyan's friends… who had come over for a slumber party JUST for him, truthfully. He winced about the memory of telling Cyan how silly she was always acting and of course, the time where he had called her 'as lazy as a mule' and claimed that was the reason she couldn't get her cutie mark. He finally snapped back into reality, where he was staring at a picture of space that had been taped on the wall in front of him. "Where did this come from?" He asked.
Potato giggled. "I put it there because you were 'staring' into space!" She snickered and retreated to the protection of her blanket.
Khaz felt a smile on his face. "Haha… good one." He commented and kept looking at the poster. "Huh… Here's Mars." He commented and continued searching. "Did… you draw this? It's beautiful…" He complimented.
Potato's voice was low under the blanket, but was still heard. "Yeah… I didn't think it was too special, though." She admitted. "You like it that much, huh?" She asked, curiously.
Khaz nodded. "Yes, I just complimented it for a reason." He chuckled. "But, seriously. This is an amazing piece of work."
Potato came out from under the blanket. "You really think so? Gosh… I didn't know I was that good at drawing, truthfully. It always looked normal to me, natural, even." She explained.
Khaz sighed. "It's natural to you because you're so good at it." He admitted. "I couldn't draw anything like this, that's for sure."
Potato shrugged. "You could say that. I truthfully don't see anything special with it." She told him.
Khaz sighed… Everypony's special… He though.
The train was stopped and wasn't going to be moving for a small while. This was it… Cyan got into the station and quickly walked up to the guard at the train, who, like she expected, wanted a ticket. She started to follow through with her plan. She wasn't sure it would work and she didn't have much of a back up plan, either.
The Unicorn Royal Guard smiled at her. "Hello, Ma'am. Ticket, please." He asked and raised his hoof up. He looked at the sickly Mare and frowned. "Are you okay?"
Cyan started to play sick the best she could, now. Maybe this guard will fall for the act. "S-sir… I… need to get on the… train, please…" She faked some coughs into the act.
The guard looked hesitant. "T-ticket, Ma'am…" He ordered, trying to keep his cool.
Cyan faked another cough, making it drastic… She spit out a marble that she had colored greenish. "P-please…" She begged…
The guard looked over her suspiciously. "I'll take you to the Hospital, Ma'am…" He informed and tried to grab her shoulder.
Cyan through her should back and made a run for the train, trying to find another way on. She knew now… She was being chased. Cyan gasped at the thought, what would she do if they caught her? Was she ready for this? The guard had quickly caught up to her, now… She felt a sense of doom coming over her…
The guard caught onto her hoof. "STOP!" He ordered. Cyan felt her nerves react before she could talk some sense to herself. She jumped and twirled herself in the air, bending the stallions hoof and tossed him down. She was shocked by what she just did…
Hallow gasped as he hit the floor. Usually, he was ready for this… But, coming from a supposedly sick mare, he was caught off guard. Hallow leaped up again and turned to see the mare who had already jumped onto the train. He gasped as the train started to head into motion… "Stop the train!" He tried to yell, but it was too late… The train started heading off, with Cyan on top of it.
The mysterious mare waved to Hallow and giggled to herself… Now, all she needed to do was get into the train and pretend to be innocent. This couldn't be hard, right? She jumped down into the section where the train carts were connected. She opened the first cart and walked in. She now looked like a rather mysterious pony, with being gray and all… She walked into the next room, already feeling scared because of what she just had done. Hopefully, none of the ponies noticed. Then a thought struck her. Surely some royal guards were to be on the train, too. They had to, why wouldn't they? They do protect all of Equestria, right?
Cyan was relieved when she realized that all the ponies in the compartment were sleeping. She decided to try and find a hiding spot. She looked around the room, panicking. The royal guards to come in at any moment! She climbed under one of the beds and quickly hid herself. "Come on, I have to think of a better spot than this if I want to stay on this train." She mumbled to herself.
"Is somepony else here?" Came a voice, suddenly. Cyan's iris shrunk, the felt that doom was coming even closer now. Without an idea of what to do, she decided to try a different trick. "Hello?" The mare above the bed called again. But, still no response. "…" She started to suspect one of her bunkmates to be the one picking on her, so she lied her head back down and started to rest.
Phew… Cyan sighed and started to look around. What am I? A criminal now? She thought.
Potato watched in shock. She had seen the whole even that had gone on. Now there was some sort of robber on the train. "Khaz, I think it'd be best if we hide our stuff." She insisted.
Khaz looked over to the mare. "Why? You don't think either of us can be trusted, do you?" He asked, disappointed about how quickly this seemed to turn.
Potato shook her head. "No, it's not that. I just say a pony jump on top of the train. That means there's a thief somewhere around here… So, it's not you." She informed. "Now I'm not even sure about going to sleep, truthfully." She admitted and started keeping an eye on the door.
Khaz nodded and sighed. "I can never go anywhere without trouble." He commented. "Well, how about we make some sort of alarm device. That way the thief will be startled and we'll wake up when he or she tries." He suggested.
Potato's ears perked up. "Huh… Sounds good, but how are we going to do that?" She asked.
"Khaz walked over to his own suitcase. "Well, first we'll need a loud noise device to wake us up." He explained.
Potato reached into her luggage and got out a megahorn from it. She smiled innocently and smiled, letting off a squee. "How about this?" She asked as normal as possible.
Khaz raised an eyebrow in utter shock and confusion. "Uh… Why were you bringing that?" He asked her with high doubt that this 'Sickle' would like her ears blown off. "Please don't tell me…"
Potato snickered and laughed quietly. "Yup, it's for the party." She informed. "Well, what else am I going to do with it?" She asked as she waved her hoof into a shrugging motion.
Khaz's ears stooped down and hung there. "You tell me. You're the crazy one." He joked.
Potato shrugged again. She put the horn on the bed. "So, should we put our stuff together?" She suggested. "That'd help protect the briefcases."
Khaz agreed. "Sure." He simply said and lifted his luggage, then moved it over to the top bunk, with Potato's luggage. "We'll set up the alarm when it gets darker." He ordered and looked out the window at the rain, which had started to pour even harder. "Yeah… That pony has to be inside the train by now. He or she couldn't stand being out there that long with a slipper roof under them." He explained, observing the outside.
Potato put a hoof to her forehead. "I remember seeing the pony, actually… Hey! I have an idea! Le-"
Khaz finished it quickly. "Look for the pony, right?" He guessed and stared at the mare.
The Mare nodded in excitement. "Yes! Let's see where this pony is… then we might be heroes." She stated with enthusiasm and started digging into her luggage.
The giant of a stallion stopped and started to think this over. "Well, this would be helping all the ponies on the train… I suppose it wouldn't be a bad idea." He agreed.
Potato got out a magnifying glass which she carried with her magic. "Then it's settled. We'll find this pony ourselves." She ordered. "Sickle's going to be proud of me." She exclaimed.
Khaz rolled his eyes. "This 'Sickle' can't be that important." He remarked and opened the door to the next room, which was heading to the front of the train. "Let's go this way." He ordered simply.
After a mean glare back and fixing her sunglasses, Potato sighed and followed Khaz.
Cyan sighed as she heard the door open to the compartment. She looked to the direction and had to hide a gasp that tried to escape. She saw a royal guards hoof, slowly looking around the room.
The pony on the bed above Cyan got up quicker than somepony hearing an alarm could. "Sir? Is there a problem?" She asked to the royal guard.
"Well," The voice boomed back. Cyan struggled as she climbed out the front of the bed, avoiding the guard and looking at the door, hoping to get out safely. "There seems to be a mare who got on the train… illegally." He informed.
The pony gasped as she got up and off the bed. "Well, I think I heard a voice from under my bed, earlier…" She admitted and started shaking at the thought.
The royal guard was started to get down to the ground. Now was her chance! She leaped for the door and opened it. She smiled as she ran out, feeling free like a bird. "HEY!" The voice yelled. Cyan felt joy leave her as fear took over. She had been spotted…
The royal guard was at a quick search for her, chasing her outside. Cyan quickly climbed the ladder back to the top of the train and started sliding to the front of the train. As quick as a whip, the guard jumped onto the train's top and looked at the mysterious mare. He could tell she was scared, even with all the robes and difficult to see face. "Look, here, criminal… I know you made a terrible choice, so I'm going to give you a second chance. Come with me and spend only one night in the dungeon, or refuse and spend 30 nights in the dungeon, deal?" He asked calmly, trying to calm the mare.
Cyan started thinking the deal over… what would a brave pony do? She felt more fear come into her. Wouldn't they find out that she's Cyan Heart if they took her to the dungeon? Wouldn't Khaz find out, putting her plans to follow him secretly to vain? She had to think of something… But, what? She looked down, letting the guard know that she was pondering on her choices. Well, she hoped that's what he thought, because she was really looking for a quick escape route. Her eyes widened as things took a drastic turn for the worse. The rain had been taking the fur dye off of her leg, revealing a dark shade of cyan colored fur on her.
The guard raised an eyebrow then gasped. "Wait… it's you!" He took out his lance, preparing to take a chance at attacking her. Despite the rain, she could feel the paint taking its course at making her day worse, as the wind started to blow the hat off. Cyan quickly caught the hat and gulped, she knew he had seen her horn in time, too. "And you have a horn? Then I no longer have doubt… It's you, the assassin that's been getting away with it all… Spice!" He yelled and took a step closer.
Spice? Cyan wondered. She had never heard of such a pony… did she really resemble her? Well, she'd have to, ofcourse. Or she wouldn't be having some guard suddenly assault her for her looks, alone. She had to think of something, fighting was something she had never even tried to do, yet alone fight a whole royal guard.
The train was starting to speed up even more and a warning horn went off. What was that? Cyan pondered. Knowing something was up, she turned her head to look in the direction that the train was moving and regretted that choice. They were heading straight for a tunnel…
The giant stallion opened the door to the next compartment. "Well, hopefully this one will have the mysterious mare in it… right, Potato?" He asked quietly.
The mare smiled, trying to keep her spirit up. "Try six is always the best… So, let's go ahead and try." She stated in a bored tone, almost painfully boring sounding one. They started to look around the room, with Khaz searching the upper bunks and Potato looking under the beds of the lower bunks. Like the rest of the compartments they had faced, though, there was no sign of this supposedly illegal pony. "Please tell me I wasn't just dreaming it or something…" Potato sighed in disappointment.
Khaz shook his head towards her as he looked over his shoulder from the top bunk. "No, Potato. You wouldn't imagine something so threatening, would you?" He asked, hoping he didn't go crazy and imagined Potato altogether himself. "Surely she's just hiding really well. Maybe she even has a device to be invisible or spell…" He suggested.
The mare looked up at him and frowned. "I might have, but I highly doubt I just' imagined' a guard getting flipped onto his back. So, I have to be telling the truth." She announced sarcastically.
Khaz jumped off of the bed and landed onto the floor in the middle of the compartment. "I'm finding it hard to believe that we haven't seen her, yet. Do you think she's sti-" He was cut off as the whole train went dark, due to the train entering a tunnel. "Nevermind… I doubt the thief is still up there, unless the pony's a ghost." He sighed.
Potato seemed doubtful… "Let's check the front of the train, perhaps the pony's trying to steal the train." She guessed. Khaz nodded, not liked they had much chance, right? They headed to the front of the train, not bothering to search the rest of the compartments. Light returned to the train as quickly as it left.
They continued to the front of the train and ran into the last compartment. Then they saw a royal guard… in the outfit of the mysterious pony! There were guards surrounding the pony, some looked sad, others were angry.
Potato gasped. "W-what's going on!?" She asked quickly, getting the attention of the guards. The guards looked hesitant to answer her.
A Pegasus royal guard took the silence into his favor, ignoring the other guards. "This royal guard has betrayed us… it's obvious that he was the one in the suit! He must have tried to hide in this petty outfit." He explained, knowing that he had a high chance of being wrong, but had to try.
A Unicorn royal guard frowned in doubt. "Hold on, hold on. What if he was just trying to stop the thief?" He tried to defend his fellow guard, trying to refuse the possibility that they had a traitor. "He's not conscious! This is an unfair argument!" He yelled at the other guards.
Khaz and Potato exchanged looks. What were they going to do in this sort of argument? It wasn't exactly the best idea to interrupt royal arguments.
Potato fixed her sunglasses and took them off real fast and looked around, before putting them back on. "Well, atleast he's not bleeding." She stated, trying to help.
Khaz nodded casually. "That would be unfortunate." He agreed.
The Pegasus guard pushed the attack again. "Then explain where the 'thief' is?" He taunted. "It's obvious he took a large blow and the rain had made the roof slippery." He tried to explain.
Potato wanted to join in on the argument, but was lost for words. If she told them that she had seen that had grey fur, they might think that she was the mysterious pony… She stopped herself from talking and put a hoof on Khaz's front hoof. He looked down to her and raised an eyebrow. "We should be going…" Potato whispered, worried about the outcome of this argument. Khaz nodded silently and the two headed back to there compartment.
Khaz looked around the rooms, hoping to find some sort of explanation that would prove the guard to be innocent. He found this odd to even himself, since he didn't really like royal guards. Shrugging it off for now, they entered their compartment.
Potato sighed. "We'll be in Canterlot in the morning… So, I'm going to go ahead and sleep. Tonight's been chaotic enough for this mare." She commented.
Khaz nodded. "I understand." He simply said and went over to his bed. He looked out the window at the passing stars and looked back to Potato, who was already lying down. "Goodnight." He told her and got into his own bed, across the compartment.
He watched the stars pass and sighed quietly as he blew the lights out, taking out any light that was in their compartment. Well, I'll be in Canterlot tomorrow… but, why do I feel so… empty? What was hurting his feelings suddenly? He decided to ignore it and kept watching the stars, it was helping make him sleepy, after all. He started pondering on what it would be like if he had been nicer to Cyan… How could he never realize the stress he had been putting on her? What could she be doing now? Perhaps she was still at home, possible crying, possible happy that he was gone. Khaz felt sadder at these thoughts, but he kept thinking about it, without meaning to. He stared back out the window, deciding to stare at the Moon, wondering what if was like looking at Equestria from there. Lonely… was the only word he could find… He started feeling himself sob silently.
"A-are you okay, Khaz?" A voice called to him. Khaz swept the tears away quickly, shocked that she was able to hear him, definitely with how hard he was trying to be quiet.
"Yes… I'm fine. Just go to sleep." He quickly ordered her, trying to avoid this conversation the best he could.
Potato was heard sighing before agreed. "Fine, but I'm here if you need somepony to listen." She offered and lied back down onto her bed.
Canterlot was going to be seen in the morning, which is all Khaz was worried about…