My Little Pony: Origins.
Chapter Thirteen.
Rescue.
February 16th 2015, Ponyville, Equestria. 13:40 pm.
David fired the Type 56 AK47, the bullets ripped through the skulls of the skeletons, their eyes were ablaze with a deep green flame, brighter green mist escaped the eye sockets, the same coloured mist flowed through the rib cages. One skeleton roared as a bullet exploded through the skull, shattering the bone into millions of pieces.
''Take that fucker!'' David shouted, pulling the trigger again, only for no bullets to spray out, ''Shit.'' He said, chucking the gun at another skeleton before running past the confused being, it threw the gun away and chased him, ''Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!'' He shouted as he ran around the front of '43999', cutting his arm on the sharp edges of the broken buffer beam, causing a sharp grunt from him as he held his arm close to his chest as he continued running for cover, tripping over a stump.
David fell to the ground, a sharp pain running through his ankle. He caused even more pain as he struggled to stand up, causing him to limp as he struggled to find a suitable hiding spot. He crawled under the first TPO, cutting his head as he squeezed under the rusting chassie, David gritted his teeth in pain as he rested his back against the bogey of the coach, his jacket sleeve was soaked in blood, dripping onto the few pieces of snow under the wagon. He watched as a skeleton slowly marched past his hiding spot, he tightly held the large opening on his arm, blood seeped through his fingers, gritting his teeth in pain.
''What have you gotten yourself into David.'' He asked himself as his ankle went numb from the freezing air around, his breath was like a mist, the screeches of the skeletons slowly fell silent as the next blizzard rolled in, the wind began to pick up.
David slowly moved out from under the carriage, he couldn't see or hear the skeletons anywhere, he slowly looked left and right before fully emerging from under the coach, he leaned against the carriage shell, the snowflakes settling on his head and shoulder, he looked down and found a tree branch and picked it, using it as a makeshift walking stick. He felt weak as he slowly walked towards '43999's cab, grunting with every painful step. The fresh snow crunched under his foot as the stick dug into the ground, his bleeding arm dropped blood with each step, he dragged his hand along the carriage body, leaving a bloody handprint on the side. Twigs snapped behind him as he limped towards the rusting locomotive, the roaring wind masking the snaps.
David stopped when he felt a presence behind him, he turned around, only to see nothing but the fast falling snow, he turned back around but froze when he felt something land on his shoulder, he looked over and saw mucus dripping down, followed by another drop. He looked up, coming face to face with skeletons, there eye sockets glowing green, one jumped down and knocked David backwards, landing near '43999's tender, it snapped the branch in the process. Another skeleton appeared and clawed at David, leaving five deep gash marks on his chest before uppercutting him, sending him backwards some more. David dragged himself into the cab of '43999', grabbing the fireman shovel to protect himself. The skeletons let out an ear piercing scream as they closed in on the cab, David rose of the cab floor, leaning against the rusting regulator, blood dripping from his chest and arm onto the cab floor. One on the bony creatures jumped down into the cab, getting a swift hit with the shovel blade to the skull, knocking the head into the forest. The metal blade of the shovel was now dented and bent, another skeleton jumped down and attacked David, dodging the shovel swings in the process. David tried swinging at it, missing and heading the cab, the blade broke off and bounced off into the the forest as well.
''Shit.'' David grunted before the skeleton punched him out the cab, it jumped out, screeching.
'47500's six drive wheels pounded the rails as it topped out at 40 mph, it raced along the branch line, dragging the currently off class 19's. Dusty fully opened the regulator as the tank engine climbed up the incline, Cadence leaned out the cab side, the others were on the forward running board for '642'
''There's the junction!'' Dusty shouted as the opening to the spur appeared on the right hand side of the line, she started to apply the brakes with a hiss, sparks began to fly from the brake shoes as '47500' began to cross over to the spur line, the screeches of the skeleton began to get louder.
''What were you guys doing here?!'' Cadence asked, dodging a tree branch to the face, she looked at the earth pony as the line straightened out again, ''Well? Answer me!'' She shouted.
''Look it was his idea ok?!' Dusty snapped back, ''I only went with him because i too wanted to know what was on this line. We found a steam engine with three coaches and a brake van full of gold bars, money and dead bodies. The bodies came alive and began attacking!'' Dusty added, slamming the brakes on as the toad brake van appeared ahead. Cadence jumped down as the tank engine slid to a stop, she ran off towards the screams.
David backed away as the rest of the skeletons surrounded him, his escape was blocked by a large tree trunk, one jumped at him, pinning him down.
''Guys, can't we talk about this?'' David said, hiding a whimper under his grunt, the skeleton opened its claw like hand and was ready to strike.
''Get your filthy fucking hands off my brother!'' David heard Cadence scream, the skeleton was shattered in seconds by a powerful punch from Cadence, David looked over, as did the skeletons, to see an enraged Crystal Empress, ''Come on! I'll take you all on!'' She shouted, summoning two blue crystal swords before charging at the skeletons, they charged at her and piled on top of her.
A blinding flash of blue erupted from the pile, sending pieces of bone everywhere, Cadence swung her swords as more skeletons charged back at her, slicing them in half from head to toe. She kept slicing and dicing until she was surrounded by small pieces of bones.
''Mom! That was awesome!'' Flurry Heart shouted from behind Shining Armor, the rest of the ponies, including Luna were left surprise as what they had witnessed, Cadence finally snapped out off her rage when she heard David grunt in pain, she turned around and saw him, quickly running to him,
''Oh no! David!'' She said, stopping beside him, she looked up and down his body, seeing all the blood and cuts along him, ''What did they do to you?'' She asked, her hoof getting covered in his blood.
''I've been through worse.'' He wheezed out, hiding a chuckle under his breath as he staggered to his feet, his ankle crunched under his weight, sending a shockwave of pain up his leg, he bit his lip as he placed his hand on tree trunk. Cadence was glaring at him as he stood up, he looked at her, feeling the heat in her eyes, ''What? I told you i'm fine.'' He said, Cadence continued to glare at him, her nose scrunched up even more.
''David! You aren't ok. You're hurt. Let me help you.'' Cadence sighed, looking up at her brother leaning against the tree, she caught '43999' out the corner of her eye, ''What the? Is that what i think it is?'' She asked, David nodded, limping over to the cabside.
''Cadence, everyone! I'd like you all to meet '43999', the lost fowler 4f.'' David said, presenting the locomotive, a long awkward silence followed, the only sound was both the wind and '47500's safety valves popping.
''Oh my gosh!'' Flurry Heart shouted, breaking the silence, she quickly buzzed around the train, taking in every detail of the aging railway stock, she flew around the cab of '43999' babbling complete nonsense..
''Is she ok?'' David asked, feeling rather confused as he watched a nearly adult pegasus, seemingly fangirling over a steam engine, a rusting steam engine.
''Give her a minute.'' Cadence said, hovering at David's shoulder height, tending to some of the cuts on his face, ''David, what happened? Why did you leave?'' She asked, rest of the ponies looked around the rusting train, David flinched as Cadence's hoof brushed past the cut above his eyebrow he received after hitting the hay cart, he looked down, looking away from her face, an expression that was a mix of pain and shock was plastered to her face, her eyes were void the usual happy-go-lucky spark that filled them, in place were the eyes of someone who was about to cry a river.
Cadence turned her head away from her brother, she shut her eyes, forcing herself not to cry, after all the stupid things her brother had done, this took the biscuit, she was so mad at him, yet also pleased that he wasn't dead. She had bottled up her sadness since she had heard David had ran away, she bit the inside of her cheek so hard, she could taste the iron in her blood.
''Cadence? Are you ok?'' She heard David say, she turned back and looked at him, she couldn't hold back her emotions any longer, her eyes filled up with tears, she lept into David's chest and burst into tears.
''David!'' She sobbed, tears flowing from her eyes, soaking his shirt, ''I thought i lost you!'' She screamed, her tears streaming from her eyes, she dug her face deep into his chest. David was taken aback by the sudden influx of emotions from the pink empress, he felt the friction burn from her fur rubbing against his skin. David was unsure on what to do, should he comfort her and tell her that everything was ok or if should should let get it out of her system before doing anything else.
Twilight's horn lit up, the magenta glow of her magical aura casting a dull glow in the surrounding area, her mane and tail fluttered with every step the alicorn took as the strong winds of the blizzard were weakened to nothing more than a breeze inside the haunted forest, the roar of the wind outside was deafened by the trees and undergrowth. The mare stopped as she felt a rat scurry across her hoof, she flinched her hoof back, losing her footing and hitting her head on the side of the first TPO's front buffer beam, she fell between the tender and the coach. The mare grabbed the rusting screw link coupling with her hoof, she expected to feel the the cold touch of the rusting steel but instead, felt the touch of something else. It was cold but felt organic, almost like it was once part of a living being, a being now long since dead and scattered to the winds. She inspected the object, finding that it was once a hand and lower arm, the skin had tightened, showing all the features of the bone below, she looked down at the torn flesh, the broken bone's razor sharp edges clearly showing that it was violently torn away from a body. She stopped her inspection when she heard Cadence shouting.
''David! Why did you leave in the middle of the night!'' Cadence shouted at David, tears still streaming from her eyes, she punched him in the chest, perhaps too hard, but at this point she was letting her true emotions control her every motion. David said nothing, he just stood there, staring into her ice blue eyes, ''Tell me.'' She said, he did nothing, just continued to stare, ''Tell me!'' She roared, everything went silent, like all sound in the world was muted.
''You really want to know why i left. Why i really left all those years. Why i left last night?'' David turned away from her, closing his eyes. Cadence glared at him, ''Well, do you?'' He added, opening his eyes as he waited for her answer.
''Yes, i do. I do want to know. Tell me!'' She ordered, her legs were trembling with both fear and anxiety, what did he mean by what really made him turn his back on his family, turn his back on her, his own sister. He reached deep into his jacket pocket and pulled out an object, he turned back to her a held it his hand, it hung from a piece of string.
''A flash drive? Really?'' Cadence said, she was about to explode with anger, she felt like she would explode with such force, that it could rival the world's most powerful nuclear bomb, her eye twitched as she tried to keep her anger under control.
''It's not just a flash drive. It's the flash drive that our dad died trying to keep from the Russian terrorist. If it wasn't for me, he'd still be alive today.'' David said, no emotion in his voice whatsoever, Cadence tilted her head, what did he mean by this? ''If it wasn't for the file on this drive, he would still be alive. A file that i made. A file that if executed, could hack into government network of any enemy country, steal their nuclear launch codes, it could then use these codes to use the enemy country's missiles against that country. I made a program, a virus, that if in the wrong hands, could cause a nuclear holocaust. It's all my fault dad died. Mum was right about, she always was.'' He added, Cadence's ears flopped down, she went to speak, ''Now, you may be wonder, what does have to do with me leaving? The terrorists were able to track it from the underground base, who's to say they aren't tracking it right now, who's to say they aren't already here and are waiting for me.'' He looked at the silver piece of computer hardware, ''That's why i left the family, that's why i left last night. That's why i'm here.'' He put the flash drive back into his pocket.
The pink mare just stared at him, she didn't know where to start, her jaw was hanging low, her wings were touching the snow covered ballast.
''Now you know why i left. It was to protect the family, my friends and you.'' He added, collapsing to his knees and punching the ice hard, Twilight had heard the whole story, her brain was still processing this, maybe the stories she was told about humans being truly evil were false, she had watched David, she felt the remorse he had for the role in his father's death, she watched as he punched the ice repeatedly, she slowly placed her hoof down, and moved away from the TPO, her mind deep in thought.
''David.'' Dusty said, walking up behind the human, he looked at the earth pony, ''Are we gonna get '43999' out of here of what?'' She added, placing a hoof on his shoulder, '47500's safety valves popped again, sending scorching steam into the cold air.
David looked back at the train, spotting the last two surviving class 19's behind the tank engine, ''Let's get to it.'' He spoke, smiling as he stood up and began limping over to the diesels, ''Dusty, i gonna need your jinty to couple up to the front of-'' He said before Dusty cut him off.
''Already ahead of ya!'' She said, hopping up into '47500's cab, she released the brakes and set the reverser into reverse, she slowly opened the regulator. The tank engine slowly backed away from the Ex- Great Western Railway 20t brake van.
The tank continued to slowly back up, '644' began to emerge from the forest as the tank slowly started to clear the top of the triangle junction, Dusty slowly applied the brakes, dumping some of the air before leaving them in the running position. The brake shoes moved over and made contact with the wheels, '47500' slowed to a stop, '644's nose was directly facing towards Ponyville. Dusty climbed down from the jinty's cab, she uncoupled the tank engine from the leading diesel locomotive, the brake pipes were released with a hiss, the maroon paint work of the rear buffer beam was chipped away as the heavy screw link coupler swung down. Dusty climbed back up into '47500's cab as David towards '642', the earth mare moved the reverser into the forward position and released the brakes, the tank engine slowly rolled ahead, crossing back over the points at the tip of the triangle junction. The steam locomotive stopped, just clearing the points. Dusty leaned out the cab, she was about to jump down to switch the points, but as she did so, the points lever was engulfed with a light blue hue, the lever moved over, the tracks switched over, opening access to the left side of the triangle.
Dusty looked up and saw Cadence's horn glowing, the empress nodded, Dusty nodded it back, setting the tank engine into reverse and releasing the brakes, '47500' rolled backwards, clearing the points once again as it braked to a stop, Cadence closed the points, giving the class 19's access to the fowler now.
David climbed up onto '642's front running board and entered the cab. He walked over to the rear bulkhead, looked at the start/shut-off switch and turned it to the left. The class 19s roared to life, exhaust bellowing from the roof grills, the remaining ditch lamp flickered to life alongside the headlights. The air brakes released with a hiss as David moved the reverser into the forward position, moving the throttle into notch one. '642' jerked to a rolling start s the rails sunk into the ground under the weight of the locomotives, Dusty blew '47500's whistle as the diesel rumbled past, crossing over the points and descending into the darkness of the Everfree Forest. Tree branches scraped the roof and windows of both '642' and '644' as the two got closer to the Fowler, the rusting rails creaked as the class 19's rolled along the old spur line, David slowed the train down as the brake van came into view, the brake shoes locked against the wheels, the train squeaked to the stop, the buffers pressing against the brake vans buffers, he put the train into idle before leaving the cab.
Rainbow had been exploring the second TPO, she approached the gangway door between that TPO and the third one, as the mare went to open the door, she found it to be locked.
''Sugarcube, what in the hay are you doing?'' Applejack said, appearing behind the pegasus, startling her and causing them fall over, ''Well, what are you doing?'' The earth pony asked, raising her eyebrow.
''N-Nothing!'' Rainbow said, still panting from the scare by the cowgirl pony, ''Help get the door open will ya?'' Dash said, trying to force the door open, Applejack rolled her eyes as she trotted over to the locked gangway door and started pushing, the oak door beginning to crack open. The wood splintered as the door flung open, knocking the two mares onto the floor, kicking up the dust. A foul smell filled there nostrils, they scrunch their faces up at the stench emanating from a pile at the back of the coach.
''What is that smell?" Rainbow said, trying not breathe through her nose in a bid to not inhale what smelled like a rotting corpse left in the sun for a week, Applejack approached the pile slowly, the floorboards creaking as her orange hoofs made contact with the aging pine wood.
''I think it's coming from this.'' AJ said, placing her hoof on the sheet covering the pile, whatever was under it was soft, like clay or a water balloon, the smell was intense at this point, she looked at Rainbow, ''Should i do it?'' She asked the rainbow maned mare, Dash nodded, AJ breathed in and gripped the sheet.
As she was about to pull it off, the coach jerked forward abit followed by a horn, ''I think they're hooking this train up, we better get going.'' AJ said, walking out the coach, dragging Rainbow with her.
Rainbow Dash and Applejack hopped down from the open door on the first TPO. The two walked back towards the brake van along the track bed, the ballast crunching under their hoods, Rainbow ran ahead. David stepped down from '642' and walked over to the coupler, stepping under the buffers and grabbing the chain screw link coupler of the brake van, gripping the rusting iron and lifting it up, he felt a hoof brush against his hand as the chain was lowered around '642's hook. David looked down and saw Rainbow's hoof resting on his hand.
''Hello there.'' He said, looking at the mare who had her eyes shut, he moved his hand away, startling her, she blushed and moved her hoof away from the coupling as David tightened the screw link.
''Can i help?'' She asked the man, tilting her head, David placed his hand on his chin and had a thought, ''Well? What can i do?'' She added, her rose pink eyes looking into his pale blue ones.
''If you want, you can release the brakes in '43999's cab.'' He said, Rainbow looked at him and smiled, ''I would do it from '644' but the brake van has no vacuum pipe lines.'' He added, she nodded, understanding completely, backing away before David stopped her.
''Release the brakes when i blow the horn ok?'' David said, Rainbow nodded, running towards the fowler and climbing into the cab. David rolled his eyes and walked past '642' and towards '644', climbing up the front steps of the running board and entering the cab, he sat down in the driver's seat, the hum of the idling engines was the only sound heard from the cab, he flicked the switches on the control panel, the headlights and ditch lamps flickering to life, his cold fingers gripped around the lever of the horn and pulled it down, sending a long blast echoing through the forest. Rainbow heard the horn blast echoing around, her hoof wrapped around the brake lever, she closed her eyes as the world around felt like it was in slow motion. She could hear her heartbeat and breathing, she opened her eyes and pulled the lever.
The brakes released with a hiss, air flowing back into the brake line. The brake psi gauge needles twitching and moving around as the brake shoes released from the wheels, '43999' rolled forward down the slip before stopping, being stopped by the braking power of both '642' and '644'. David felt the jerk as '43999' dragged the two class 19's backward a few inches, friction stopping it, he pushed the sanding button, dropping sand onto the tracks. He moved the reverser into forward position as the other ponies boarded the brake van, the throttled moved into notch one as the class 19's brakes released. Very slowly, the two diesels began to pulling the train away, the weeds that had grown around '43999's drive wheels broke away from the metal.
Unbeknownst to those aboard the brake van, a small object stuck to the undercarriage of the first TPO began to flash a red light, emitting a beeping.
End of Chapter Thirteen.
Author's note: This chapter is dedicated to my cat Tilly who died during the production of this part.