Hello, everyone. Sorry I haven't posted the new chapter lately. I had some sad things in real life to deal with, and then Spring Break wasn't all I expected it to be. But anyways, here's the new chapter!
Cloud awoke the next day relatively early in the morning. She woke up excitedly, and pulled out her sword from under her bed. She held it in her hooves, and admired it in its scabbard. I should probably name this sword something awesome… but what? She pulled it out of its scabbard, and it shone brilliantly with the light of the sun hitting it. She inspected it closer, and saw something that was not on it the last time she used it. Tied to the hilt of the sword was a gold necklace of some sort with a sapphire embedded inside. Cloud looked at the necklace closely, and untied it from the hilt. She inspected it, and did not recognize it as anything she owned.
Weird. This isn't mine, and it's not my Dad's either. Why would it be tied up to my sword? She placed the necklace on, and continued to inspect her sword. She noticed something very different about it though. The sword, glowing white brilliantly before, now had a blue hue emanating from it. "Whoa! What's going on?" she said worriedly to herself. It shone brighter and brighter, until the blue light stopped. Cloud placed the sword back in the scabbard, and left her cabin.
She went into the dining car, where the cooks inside were setting up for breakfast hours. She sat down at one of the tables, where she placed her order. She waited at the table for her food, and she saw Umbreus enter the food car hoof-cuffed, along with Snake following him closely behind. Umbreus sat down calmly at a table, and waved both of his shackled hooves towards Cloud happily. She waved back awkwardly, and approached Snake. "Why is he in cuffs?"
Snake turned to Umbreus, and pulled out the keys to the cuffs. "He'll remain in cuffs when he stays in his cabin. For now, they'll be off," Snake said as he inserted the keys into the cuffs and released Umbreus. Snake then left the car back towards the cabins. Umbreus then sat down at the table where Cloud sat.
"I don't believe we've properly met. My name is Umbreus. What's yours, beautiful?" Umbreus asked, adding charm to his voice.
"Don't try anything, buddy. I'm older than you, and you aren't my type," Cloud rejected.
"All I asked for was your name, beautiful," Umbreus said casually.
"My name is Cloud. Like I said earlier, don't try anything, because it ain't gonna work out, hotshot," Cloud replied.
She's a fighter all right, and a beautiful one at that. I see she's without a doubt the Spirit of Persistence. She's found the Amulet of Persistence, and she's wearing it on her neck, so that leaves us with finding the other three, then. Maybe Chrysalis could be defeated after all. "Age is nothing but a number, Cloud. Don't knock it till you try it," Umbreus said with a wide grin on his face.
Cloud just groaned in annoyance, and her meal came. She gazed in wonder at the breakfast omelet laid in front of her, and her mouth began to water. Umbreus ordered himself a tray of toast and eggs, and he continued flirting with Cloud.
"So tell me, are you already taken by one of the stallions on here?" Umbreus asked.
Cloud had had enough of Umbreus's constant attempts, and she turned on him. "Listen here, kid, I am NOT available! Do you understand?" Cloud asked angrily.
Umbreus smiled at her, and nodded understandingly. "Listen… I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. It's just… I would like to try and ease tensions here. You seem upset about something. Would you mind sharing your troubles?" Umbreus asked soothingly.
Cloud turned away from him, irritated. "I do mind. I don't trust you, and no pony else seems to either, so just stay away from me."
He looked down, and looked back up to Cloud. "Well, your friend who let me freely wander the train does."
She turned to him angrily, pulled out her sword, and pointed it towards Umbreus. "You so happen to get near Leon, you'll end up with slash marks on your body," Cloud threatened.
"So, you do have a stallion? I figured you would. Leon seems like a nice guy," Umbreus said disappointedly.
Cloud lowered her head a bit, and she sighed. "Yeah… I bet he is," she said sadly.
Umbreus knew he had treaded into uncomfortable territory, and he stopped speaking. He received his plate of food, and he began eating. He stopped after a bit, and he looked back at Cloud. "Hey, listen, for what it's worth… I think you're something special," Umbreus said admiringly.
Cloud looked back at him, and turned away. "You must know what it's like… feeling left out and ignored. How do you cope with it?" Cloud asked sadly.
Umbreus was a bit surprised at the question, but he decided to answer anyway. "I don't cope with it. It stays with me forever. What I do to make it almost unnoticeable is find that one pony that can help you, and have them make you feel special. That's what I did in Los Pegasus… Lyra making me feel like I mattered, and that's why we were such great friends. Do you have any pony onboard to make you feel like that?" Umbreus asked.
Cloud seemed to ignore the question, and she looked down in sadness. Umbreus thought for a moment, and he had an idea. He transformed into a perfect replica of Leon, and tapped Cloud for her attention. She looked up at him, and her pupils grew in size a bit. "Leon? What… you transformed into him?" Cloud asked.
Umbreus nodded. "I want to make you feel better, Cloud. If this is the way to do it, then I'll do it," Umbreus said.
Cloud was touched by this. "You didn't have to transform into him… but thanks anyway for trying to make me feel better."
"I don't want to try, Cloud. I want to succeed… is there anything that makes you feel better?" Umbreus asked.
"No… you really don't have to do this. It's already nice enough that you at least tried to make me feel better. Thank you… Umbreus," Cloud said gratefully, still looking down a bit. She blushed a bit, and she tried to hide it from Umbreus.
Umbreus approached Cloud slowly, and grasped her hoof with his. She looked a bit shocked back at him, and he gazed into her eyes. Cloud was a bit shaken at what Umbreus was doing, but she let him. Umbreus moved in a bit closer, and Cloud had closed the distance between them. Cloud and Umbreus shared between themselves a warm and passionate kiss, lasting for a great moment. They then both heard the car door opening to find Orion, Chloe, and Doc enter, and they saw Umbreus in disguise with Cloud in their pairing. Chloe looked at the scene in horror, and that shock quickly turned to anger as she galloped towards them.
"Leon, what do you think you're doing!? You told me you were heading to the bathroom!" Chloe stated angrily.
"NO! Chloe, it's not what it looks like!" Cloud pleaded.
"YOU!" Chloe seethed. She snatched Cloud from her chair and slammed her into the wall. Still holding onto Cloud, Chloe raised her hoof back, and was about to swing at Cloud, but her hoof stopped in midair. She couldn't move it, and she felt her other hoof let go of Cloud. She couldn't move, and Cloud backed away from her slowly.
Umbreus, still disguised as Leon, was using his magic to restrain Chloe. When Cloud escaped, Umbreus released Chloe, and she turned on Umbreus. "How could you, Leon!?"
"Will you let me explain?" Umbreus asked.
Chloe turned away angrily from Umbreus, and saw the car door open. Leon, Snake, Percy, Annabelle, and Draco entered the car room, and they saw an angry Chloe, a frightened Cloud, and another Leon. Chloe saw Leon enter the car, and turned back to the disguised Umbreus. "What's going on?" Chloe asked.
Leon looked in anger and disappointment at Umbreus, and he confronted him. "What do you think you're doing disguised as me?" he asked angrily.
Umbreus transformed back into his regular form, and backed away slowly. "No… you don't understand…" he pleaded.
Leon used his wings to secure Umbreus, and he threw him onto the ground. "I asked you a damn question! What are you doing disguised as me!?" he repeated furiously.
Cloud stepped in, and she pushed Leon back. "All he was doing was trying to cheer me up! You don't lay your wings on him!" Cloud said, defending him. Chloe then stepped in as well.
"Why would he disguise himself as Leon, then, Cloud? Why were you kissing him?" Chloe asked angrily. Leon lowered his ears a bit, and his face went red. He awkwardly swung his foreleg back and forth, and didn't know what to think about the revelation.
Cloud looked away in frustration and confusion, and turned back to them angrily. "I asked him to transform to Leon. He tried to keep me company, and that's when I did it!" Cloud asked.
Chloe was angrily ranting at Cloud now. "But why would you have him transform to…?" Chloe stopped for a moment, and realized what was going on. "Cloud… did you really have something for…?" she didn't finish.
Cloud looked down in sadness and turned back. "Yeah… I did. Then I saw that he stayed with you on the beach near Clover Ranch. You don't know how much that hurt me…" she admitted shamefully. Her eyes filled with tears, and she lowered her head.
Leon then approached Umbreus. "As for you, you're getting off this train the moment we arrive at Dodge Junction. It would have been Trottingham, but you would probably meet with Changelings there."
Cloud looked back at Leon, and she stood up to him. "I don't think so! You're not laying one hoof on him, otherwise I'm leaving too!"
Umbreus stopped her by stepping up. "No, Cloud. I'm not needed here… or anywhere…" he said sadly. "But you are. You're not going to abandon your friends… I just can't let you."
Cloud turned back to him, sadness in her eyes. "Umbreus… don't do this."
"I have to. It just proves that all I am is trouble." He then walked up to Snake, and stuck his hooves out. Snake placed the hoof-cuffs on Umbreus, and they walked out of the car along with Leon, Draco, and Orion. Cloud stood there, her ears lowered and her eyes sunken, staring at the doorway. The other Searchers didn't know what to do, what to say. They slowly and awkwardly left one by one, and Cloud was alone in the dining car.
…
Leon, Snake, Draco, and Orion led Umbreus through the cars to the far end of the train. Snake opened the door of the final car, and he took Umbreus to the railing of the balcony. "I knew you couldn't be trusted," Snake said as he punched Umbreus. Snake then picked Umbreus up, and held him over the railing.
Leon was surprised at what Snake was doing, and he interrupted. "Snake, what are you doing!?" Leon asked.
"I'm throwing him off the train, what does it look like?" Snake said.
"I thought we were waiting until Dodge Junction to leave him. He'll die out there if he's thrown out!" Leon argued.
"Exactly…" Snake said.
"Snake, don't do this. We should ask Cloud what he was really doing. She was there with him, and she'll tell us what happened," Orion debated.
"We already know what he was doing! He took Leon's form, and took advantage of her," Snake said.
"Can I just speak up and explain what happened?" Umbreus asked desperately.
Snake looked at him coldly, and threw him over the railing of the balcony of the train. Umbreus eyes widened as he fell off the train, yelling in terror as he did. He slammed onto the rails of the railroad tracks hard, and rolled and tumbled for a bit before he stopped. He lay eerily still, as the ponies in the back of the train watched in horror as he did. They then turned on Snake.
"Why did you do that!?" they all asked him at the same time.
"Better he not make it back to Chrysalis after we leave him," Snake replied calmly.
The Searchers on the back of the train watched back at the tracks as the train quickly pulled away from Umbreus, where he still lied motionless on the ground. Disappointed, the Searchers all left slowly back inside the train, while Snake still stood on the balcony, pulled out a cigarette, and lit it. "Done and done. Better give the good news to Major Campbell."
…
Umbreus lay on the tracks for a bit, before he raised his head, looking around. He stood up, and tried to walk. He noticed his left hind leg was sprained, his right wing was twisted, and when he tried to walk, he could only limp. He was bleeding from the corners of his mouth, and he looked back to where the Pony Express was rapidly disappearing. He sighed heavily, and breathed with much trouble. "That… bastard… I need to warn them… before it's too late." He limped off the tracks, and followed them slowly towards the direction the Pony Express fled.
What will happen to Umbreus after being thrown off the Pony Express? What will the others say about Cloud? What'll happen in Dodge Junction when the Searchers arrive? Find out next time!
