Chapter 2: Our Mane Cast
Macintosh was winded. He sat for what seemed to be an hour, breathing heavily and unable to comprehend what had just happened. Only then did his injuries begin registering; he looked down at his yoke and saw it bore a very large crack in it from the bottom inwards -likely from the cart crash. He glanced at his hooves and saw that all of them had been roughed by the unreasonable sprint upon the jagged track bed, which also had awarded him a scraped knee that was bleeding slightly. Not to mention bruised and scratched all over from the tumble he had taken, stopping only feet before the gaps inbetween the railroad ties became perilous drops into the narrow gorge below. The pains paled in comparison to the turmoil of his emotions and concerns at the sights and feelings of only moments past.
"What am Ah gonna do?" he thought, foal-like fears boiling up inside him. "What if Ah never get Applejack? What about her friends- or the farm?" He stood, and his constitution restored itself with the remembrance of his position, Applejack's Big Brother, and the Stallion of Sweet Apple Acres. With that, he sped off to return to Ponyville.
"Ah'll find Twilight. She's a good friend of AJ, she's smart, she'll know what to do." thought Macintosh confidently. His sprint had indeed left him without breath, but he fought the moment's exhaustion by force of will every step of the way, until he found himself in front of the great tree of the Library. As urgent yet courteously he could be, he knocked hard on the door with his front hoof, banging just short of the strenuousness of a sledgehammer.
"Twilight! Twilight, wake up! Somethin' terrible's happ'ned!" he yelled upwards, hoping his voice would find its way into one of the windows. Only the wind seemed to hear him.
"Twilight!" he asked again, with a decreasing patience and equally increasing urgency. At a loss for whatever else to do, he elected to do the least gentlecoltly thing and break the door in, if it meant expediting the situation. He smashed it clean off its hinges easily with his hind legs, the library entrance being nothing compared to trees he had bucked before. Macintosh charged inside, running all the way up the stairs and finding Spike, chained together and trying to move around incapably, like a jagged purple ball.
"Spike?" he said with a surprised uneasiness.
"Big Macintosh!" exclaimed the little dragon.
"They took Twilight!"
"They took Applejack!" they said simultaneously. "You first." volunteered Macintosh.
"It happened so fast, they just grabbed her and ran away!"
"Did ye see what they look'd like? (Hold still.)" Macintosh was moving Spike around by the connective chains latched to the paws with his hooves, looking for something in the room on the shelves around Twilight's disrespected bed and Spike's unkempt basket.
"Not really, it was dark. They had hats and- hey, wha-?" Macintosh had extracted a diamond that was sitting near Spike's bed, and rested it upside down with its point upwards.
"Hey, that's my lucky diamond! What are you-"
He held Spike's chain over the stone's point and slammed down his front hoof upon it with all his might. The chain snapped like it was made of gingerbread with a sharp *clink!*, and the diamond had left an impression in the floor. Spike stood upright, his paws freed. Macintosh indifferently waved his hoof a couple times in the air at the shock the impact had created.
"Ah was out fetchin' the wood, y'know, mornin' work. An' Ah hear AJ call for help, so Ah ran out to her, and Ah saw these ponies and dog-things runnin' away with her all tied-up. They were wearin' black hats an' dark jackets."
"Yeah!" agreed Spike. "That's what they looked like when they took Twilight." He said, walking over to an out-of-place bowler hat lying on the floor. He examined it, looking inside, and reading the tag attached on the interior. "M.B.E."
"They took Applejack to a train an' ran off with her. Ah ran as fast as Ah could but couldn' catch'em." said Macintosh despondently.
"Wait- they took Applejack too?"
Macintosh shook his head in agreement solemnly.
"What if they took Rarity!" Spike sped off down the stairs in a panic.
"Don't worry Rarity! I'm coming!" yelped Spike. In a few strides, Macintosh caught up to him and lifted him onto his back.
"Where does Rarity live?" asked Macintosh as he cantered down and out of the destroyed door of the library, stopping in the town square in front of the tree.
"Carousel Boutique."
"Where'sat?" said Macintosh, beginning to regain his countenance.
Spike guided them down alleyway and corner in the faded ivory light of the lamps until they reached the well-appointed and heavily decorated cylindrical building of Rarity's enterprise. Spike jumped off Macintosh's back and ran to the door, banging loudly.
"Rarity! Rarity! Wake up, it's an emergency! Please be home!"
After a silent series of minutes with continued banging and implorement from Spike, a most quiet, groggy and annoyed voice came from within the shut door. Spike's excitement grew he heard it, his head against the door, listening intently.
"Hello? What do you mean by knocking on my door at this-"
"Stand back." warned Macintosh, losing his patience and not hearing Rarity from inside. He bucked and sent the whole door flying, narrowly missing a very amazed Rarity, wearing eye-covers over her forehead and slippers on her hooves. Macintosh started to run inside before stopping immediately, almost running into Rarity with the same obdurate disregard as the thrown door.
"What is the meaning of this?" she demanded indignantly.
"Twilight and Applejack have been kidnapped!" exclaimed Spike.
"We came t'see if you'r alright." explained Macintosh.
"Kidnapped?" said Rarity in astonishment.
"They escap'd on a train with Applejack, Ah couldn't catch'em." said Macintosh. At this, Rarity noticed how banged up the stallion looked; cuts and bruises all over, as if he had jumped through a threshing machine. "When Ah ran to the Library to ask Twilight what Ah should do, Ah found Spike all tied up."
"But why on earth would they kidnap Twilight and Applejack?" said Rarity, dumbfounded.
"I don't know, but we should tell the others what's happening." said Spike.
"That makes sense; see if they're alright too. Flutter-" without letting her finish the sentence, Big Macintosh leapt out the door in a strenuous gallop that surprised Spike and Rarity both, the red stallion disappeared into the distance in a puff of fading dust.
"…Alright then, if he can get Fluttershy, then Fluttershy can get Rainbow Dash. Come Spike, we need to find Pinkie Pie."
"Right with you, Rarity."
His frantic running paid him well this time, Macintosh arrived at Fluttershy's verdant cottage in no time, and he immediately went to rap on the door.
"Fluttershy! Fluttershy, wake up, somethin' awful's happened!" he knocked on the door some more, and was awarded with a light turning on in one of the windows. The stallion waited patiently until the door opened, yielding only the most timid crack. Her voice was a mix of hesitant unknowing, and a slight croak of sleepiness.
"Hello?"
"Fluttershy, it's Big Macintosh, Applejack's brother, open the door." he said, calming down in direct response to Fluttershy's soft query. The door was opened wider.
"Big Macintosh? What are you doing up so early?" she asked innocently.
"I'm always up this early." Fluttershy's demure quietness struck a certain fondness in Macintosh's head, and he considered elaborating in the moment, but he stopped himself from being distracted. "Hrgph- Applejack and Twilight've been kidnapped!" Fluttershy gasped in horror, covering her mouth with her hoof.
"We need to head inta'town so we can' figure out what t'do."
"Oh my! ..Alright..." she consented, fearfully.
"We're meetin' at Rarity's, can you get Rainbow Dash?"
"Okay, I will." she said, and with her imperative nature occluding her fear, she took to the sky towards Dash's house, which she presently arrived at, Macintosh following behind her on the ground. The billowing house still somehow bore a rainbow despite the night sky's lack of illumination.
Fluttershy was not one of the soundest minds to be tending to emergencies, but when it all came down to it, a focused mind was important for the well-being of her friends. She trotted on the cloud up to the door and entered straight inside immediately, conducting herself into Rainbow Dash's room without announcement. Thinking it most prudent and efficient, Fluttershy decided to scream to get Dash's attention, beckoning all her strength in a strong inhale, and letting forth
"Aaaah!" she whispered.
"Oh dear, I forgot she never thought I was good at this." Her mind scampered with ideas on what to do, quickly her imagination becoming exhausted. She decided to kick Rainbow Dash, resulting in only mildly nudging her in the ribs, which registered Dash to twitch her leg once and smile, with some kind of incomprehensible pleased muttering, the slumber entirely unaffected.
"Rainbow Dash! Wake up, it's an'mergency!" bellowed a stern and rough male voice some distance away, which still ended up being louder than Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash's ear flicked in response.
A brick gently sailed through one of the puffy cloud walls and back through the floor, surprising Fluttershy with its spectre-like movement as it passed through the space at the apex of a throw. Another brick flew through, just-so happening to pass close and slow enough for Fluttershy to reach out at pluck it from its trajectory. She stood there, holding the brick, not really knowing what to do. Another brick sailed by slowly, before Fluttershy started to seize up with worry. Without any other ideas, Fluttershy screwed her eyes shut and held the stone menacingly over the head of Rainbow Dash, holding onto it so long that she thought herself incapable of the action that she was about to commit, until another shout from Macintosh below surprised her.
"Dash, it's the Wonderbolts!"
She yelped and dropped her weapon, it only plummeting about a quarter of an inch onto the nose of Dash, where it rested with all of the poignancy of an uncannily heavy marshmallow. Dash's eyes opened to look up and she saw the curiosity perched upon her head, awoken by the obscure feeling one receives from something heavy and gritty being placed on their face. Her eyes slowly listed to the side to see Fluttershy's nervous stare gazing back. To say that Rainbow Dash was confused would be an understatement.
"…Fluttershy, what are you doing?" the brick fell off as she turned her head, and it disappeared though the floor of Dash's bedroom, yielding a yell from below.
"Wake up Rainbow Dash! We' got -OW!#%!"
"Huh?" said Rainbow Dash, rising from her bed.
"Big Macintosh woke me up and said we have to meet at Rarity's. He said Applejack and Twilight were kidnapped!" blurted Fluttershy, elaborating on Macintosh's profound statement.
"What?" bawled Rainbow Dash. She grabbed Fluttershy by the hoof and darted out the door, to hover near in front of her house.
"Rainbow!" exclaimed Macintosh, far below them. Dash and Fluttershy looked down to see the stallion, kicking and walking in a small circle in a contrived dance to shirk some variety of pain in his hindquarters. "Hurry!"
They flew off towards the Boutique at breakneck speed. Macintosh, smarting from the oddness of a brick landing on his dock, ran off to follow the multi-coloured trail of the two pegasi flying into town. His legs complained at how hard they had been working in the past hour, as hard as they would typically work in a given whole day. The complaining he signed himself to letting his mind think about, rather than how much his everything hurt from minor injuries, most recently his rump as he ran.
Presently the three arrived at Rarity's Boutique, but finding no one there they sought to follow Rainbow Dash's rapid ability to conduct an aerial search for Spike and the fashionable mare. They found them knocking on the door for Sugarcube Corner, no answer registering as hard as Rarity would knock, which was not very hard.
"Oh bother it all, why won't she answer?" said Rarity, sounding very irritated. Fluttershy and Macintosh approached the stoop from behind her, Rainbow Dash hovering above them. Macintosh took a couple strides to stand at an equal heading to the door as Rarity, and knocked harshly three times, making the windows of the building shudder as he did so. Pinkie Pie immediately opened the door, her eyes bright with delight. Rarity secretly suspected that she had been playing one of her games, quietly hiding behind the door in the first place. That or just being Pinkie Pie in her inexplicable ability to ready herself from sleep to complete awareness in less time than it takes oneself to say the word "Party".
"Morning everypony, what's shakin'?"
"Pinkie Pie-" started Rarity, before being interrupted by the bouncy filly.
"Wait, I see Big Macintosh but no Applejack, and Spike but no Twilight. Are we playing a game? Is it hide-and-seek?" her rapid-fire happiness made it difficult to reply.
"Pinkie Pie," started Spike, before being stopped once again by the rambunctious pink pony.
"Wait, why aren't you smiling if this is a game? Early-morning games are supposed to be fun!"
"Pinkie Pie!-" retorted Rainbow Dash, but was cut off again by Pinkie.
"It's never a fun game if someone gets hurt, and Macintosh looks all scuffed up! Did you get in a rough-and-tough game?"
"Pinkie Pie." began Macintosh, his calm but solid demeanour commanding her heed. Pinkie immediately inducted his seriousness and spoke before he could continue.
"What happened to Applejack and Twilight? Were they kidnapped?"
For a brief moment, the succinct nature of Pinkie Pie's observance created an impasse of speaking, the other ponies and Spike just looking at her with an agreeing solemn nothing. Her ability to notice details seemed quite incongruent to her otherwise random nature. The moment ended with the night, the rays from the dawn peering over the edges of the far mountains, and a distant call of a rooster giving the change a voice as the sun began to be visible.
"They escaped with 'em on a train." said Macintosh, breaking the quiet. "I tried to chase 'em down but it was too fast." He gestured to indicate his less-than-clean condition. "Then it went over a bridge and Ah tripped."
"You should've called me! I could've stopped them." said Rainbow Dash, half-way inbetween proclaiming her ego and the other half being a serious sentiment of her abilities. Macintosh said nothing, knowing it would have been a toss-up to guess if it was smarter to take the time to get Rainbow Dash and have her stop the train, seeing as flying was faster than any ground transportation.
"Who were the kidnappers?" said Rarity, realizing they needed to have more logical reproach to the situation.
"I saw them a little when they took Twilight. I didn't get a good look. They were wearing little round hats and it was dark." said Spike, recalling the only momentary flurry of Twilight's abduction. He then recalled what had happened better thereafter. "Macintosh, you said there were ponies and "dog-things". What kind of dog-things?"
"Dog-things?" exclaimed Rarity, recalling her less-than enjoyable encounter in the past. "You mean like… Diamond Dogs?"
"They had weird sorta snouts like Wynona's, but they'w're big with long arms and they was runnin' on their hind legs. There'was only a couple of 'em."
"Why would Diamond Dogs kidnap Applejack and Twilight?" pondered Fluttershy.
"It sort of made sense when they were after you, Rarity." said Spike, his memory in unified disgusted connotation with Rarity. "They wanted gemstones, so they were after your spell." Rarity opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by Rainbow Dash.
"It doesn't matter why they took them, we've gotta get 'em back!"
"How?" said Rarity, somewhat flabbergasted by Spike's comment, not understanding why Diamond Dogs would not still be after her for whatever reason.
"Did you see anyone around, Macintosh?" asked Rainbow.
"..Nope. Maybe there was somepony at the station though- th'train was stopped in town and then it jus' shot off. 'Even went past a signal, Ah saw it." He said, already turning in the direction of the part of the town were the station was.
They all travelled in a quick pace to the station which seemed quite abandoned. There weren't any apparent signs that a train had ever even been there. Fluttershy trotted closer to the station platform.
"Are you sure, Macintosh?" asked Rainbow, somehow doubtful.
"Eeyup." he said adamantly. "Look, see, the signal down the way is still set t'Stop." he pointed his hoof up to a signal tower whose sign arm was ascended to its flat position, alongside a vehemently bright red lamp, lit in stark contrast to the violet sky.
"A train was here, look." said Fluttershy. She had noticed some snails crawling over the rail ties near the platform, which seemed contented with large moist patches- water releases caused by a recently stopped or departed locomotive.
Pinkie Pie bounded up to the station, curious about the building. She knocked a couple times on the door.
"G-g-g-Go away! I've got a wrench here, a-an' I-I'm not afraid to use it!" barked a voice from inside.
"What's wrong?" asked Pinkie Pie happily, oblivious to the threat of the voice inside.
"…Is he gone? Who's there?" said the voice, the edge of his fear being quite dulled.
"There was a train here earlier, they kidnapped our friends." said Dash, walking onto the platform. "What happened, where'd it go?"
The door swung open and presented a quite dishevelled looking brown stallion of a similar stature to Macintosh.
"Kidnappin' 'Twha that makes all sense. I got a call yesterday from.. I don't rightly know who, but anyways, they said they wanted to make a special freight stop here at 3:30, so I wrote 'em in. When they arrived, this big fella' stepped out and just waited on the platform for a spell. I didn't get to check the time of how long he stood there, and then after a little while I asked him when he was leavin'. When I did, he pulled out a knife an' pushed me through that there door, and I fell over an' hit mah head. I jus' lay there a while until I gathered enough wits to stan' up and defend myself, but when I looked out the train was gone. I've been sittin' here since, too scared to come out."
"Did th'train look red, kinda long an' swoopy?" asked Macintosh, trying to corroborate thoughts.
"Yeah, it was red, pretty long for a loco- I ain't seen one like it before… swoopy? Yeahnn…- oh you mean streamlined, yeah. 'Looked sort of spiffy."
"Where did it go?" said Rainbow Dash.
"The 'table said it was headed for… Fillydelphia I think, but that city ain't a mainline terminus so it might be headed farther, I don't rightly know."
"Can we catch them?" asked Rarity.
"'Prolly not but you can get an' express there later this mornin'. 'The National' should be on-time for seven o'clock; it'll take you right there in no time."
"Thank you ever so much for your assistance." said Rarity.
"We'll need some tickets for that express." said Dash to the assembly of characters and the engineer.
"And some gear t'go with us. We don't know where we'll be headed after we get there." said Macintosh.
"Split and meet back here in an hour, grab everything you'll need." said Rainbow Dash, and she sped off back to her house. A thought at the back of the mind of Macintosh suddenly occurred, recalling conversations he'd had with Applejack in the past, and he spoke to Rarity.
"Not really everythin', just… essentials."
"I know how to pack for a trip, Macintosh." said Rarity daintily, and she started off towards her house, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy doing the same. Macintosh and Spike stood for a moment as all the mares departed.
"That's what I'm afraid of." sarcastically quipped Spike.
Macintosh looked down at the baby dragon, and he looked back up. The stallion felt inclined to make a question, but Spike spoke up before he asked.
"Don't worry, I'll be able to look after myself. Just go grab your own stuff, Macintosh. We'll get them back, don't worry. Twilight and Applejack can look after themselves." he said, walking away.
"That's what I'm afraid of." Macintosh whispered in his mind.
Rainbow Dash whizzed around her home, finding things she'd need for such a trip, not even knowing where they'd head once they reached Fillydelphia. A sleeping bag, jacket, a package of granola and some dried fruit and a few other things rendered her ready. But in her mind she was quite aggravated- in that very moment, two of her friends were getting farther and farther away and she wasn't chasing them. Worst of all, the only information that would allow her to give chase meant she had to be waiting for hours. The very thought was almost torturous. She snorted in frustration as she looked at her assembled saddle-pack. To try and alleviate her botheration she lay down on her bed, hoping to get a quick nap to pass the time, but found she was unable to anything but toss and turn in consternation.
Rainbow sighed and resigned herself to the sleepless comfort of her bed, mind deprived of the solace by her unease for her friends.
Spike undertook the endeavour of packing with a very mixed mind. Every step of the way he found himself stopping and asking himself "Is this what Twilight would've packed?" His efforts were compounded by how few of Twilight's things were made to be portable for a baby dragon such as himself. He decided not to use Twilight's pack and instead used a handy book back to carry with him the smashed chain that used to be his handcuffs, as well as some grainy quartz for snacking, in addition to some of his beddings. He bounded out the door after having spent a great deal of time almost arguing with himself on what was needed, and often getting distracted by wanting to look for Twilight's various different situational packing checklists.
"Angel? Oh dear, something terrible has happened. Twilight and Applejack have been kidnapped." said Fluttershy as she entered her home and justified her sudden departure earlier. The white rabbit went from impatience to surprise instantly. "I have to go with my friends to get them back, so I'll have to do some packing. Don't worry; I'll get someone from town to look after you, alright?" Angel nodded, his face disquieted despite the pegasus's quiet disposition. "Don't worry, everything will be all right, you'll see. Now, can you help me find some things for travelling?" In varying levels of efficiency Fluttershy and Angel packed all she would need in her own saddle-pack and she set off to return to Ponyville.
In the square near the station, Macintosh was sitting at a café, staring off into space, his mind deeply entangled with possibilities and outcomes that he was fighting to control with reason and rationality, but all that came out was simply a motionless stallion.
"Morning, sir."
His thoughts were interrupted by a friendly face of a cream-colored stallion with a blue mane who was wearing a simple fashionable vest. "Are you waiting for us to open?" the stallion gestured to the building and Macintosh realized he was sitting in front of.
"Uh… … nope." said Macintosh, trying to remain polite.
"That's alright. Can I get you anything?"
"Tea'd be fine. Somethin' strong, please."
"Right away, sir."
The red stallion wasn't alone with his thoughts long before the friendly fellow of the café came back out with a wide cup brimming with a very dark looking liquid in it, steaming into the bright morning air.
"There you ar-"
Unconsciously, Macintosh downed the entire cup in one gulp as he stared forwards. The heat might have burned the tongue of a lesser pony but he had been quaffing his morning beverages in that manner for so long that it was an ingrained habit to which he had conditioned himself to. The café pony looked somewhat stunned at the action, and stood in an awkward silence looking at Macintosh. Macintosh realized what he had done, uttering only,
"Oh uh.."
"…I'll just leave the kettle." said the café pony, taking the gesture as one of great thirst.
Spike was the first to reconvene to the station, and he noticed Macintosh at the café, since there was nopony else around except for a small hoofful of other early risers preparing their shops and such.
The café pony noticed Spike's arriving and brought another cup with the kettle, placing both on the table, and returning inside. Spike slid his shoulder-mounted bag slid under the stool and sat down. He poured himself some of the tea.
"It's spiced orange-clove." informed Macintosh, not changing his look but being more aware of his surroundings. Spike took a long sip from the large mug.
"How're ye holdin' up?" said the stallion in a brotherly manner, still looking straight off into space.
"I don't know." said Spike, unable to gauge his own emotions. "Twilight's gone on adventures before, and I trust her to come home every time. But this is the first time she's been taken from me."
"I know how that feels." said Macintosh.
"I don't know if I can deal with it, Big Mac. How do you?"
"You trust her; ye believe she can deal with it?" Spike thought back on all of the times where he invested his all into the ability and consideration of his good friend Twilight. Twilight was as close as a sister could be, perhaps in some shape or form a mother. His dependence on her ran deep, he realized. And that realization he also noticed, was something he didn't think about very much. It was possible Spike trusted Twilight so much that he took it for granted.
"…Yeah."
"Well then, believe in yerself."
The acute nature of Macintosh's tiny speech felt odd to Spike. It was as obvious as it was short: take the trust which he had placed in Twilight, and apply it to what he honestly knew that he could do. Why he had never thought of it before struck him as odd. Odder still, he thought, was Macintosh's speech. Most other ponies seemed so content or intent to be long winded, but Big Macintosh, with his present aloof air staring forwards held a strange variety of concise wisdom. Spike smiled at the epiphany.
"How come you don't talk all that much, Macintosh?"
"'Tis better t'be thought a foal than t'open your mouth an' remove all doubt." quoted Macintosh. Spike had to think about it a tiny moment before he completely understood it, and when he did, it was an interesting metalogic of how self-proving Macintosh's simple intelligence was, and how difficult to counter.
"Who said that?" said Spike, wanting to continue the conversation.
"Haven' the faintest." replied Macintosh. With that, the stallion's troubled mind was dislodged to the present and he poured himself another cup of tea. Pinkie Pie bounded up, her pack filled with all sorts of whatevers that were in all likelihood as enigmatic as her brain.
"Morning Macky! Morning Spike!" exclaimed Pinkie Pie. At the impenetrable surface level, she seemed to be perfectly excited to be readying to undertake an adventure, with no thought given to if they would succeed in finding their friends or not.
"Morning Pinkie Pie." said Spike, taking another sip from his mug. She pulled out some chocolate danishes from her bag and placed them on a plate.
"How'sabout some breakfast, guys?" Spike realized he hadn't at all eaten that morning, but it was still early for his normal breakfast time. "If we're gonna be finding our friends, no better way to start than with a full stomach!"
"Thanks, Pinkie." said Spike. He hungrily grabbed one and began gobbling it in largish bites.
Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash both arrived at around the same time, both pulling up their own stools and taking part in Pinkie Pie's ad-hoc breakfast.
"So what will we do when we get to Fillydelphia?" asked Spike, starting on another danish.
"If we weren't after Twilight and Applejack, I'd want to go to the Aerodrome." said Rainbow Dash. "Fillydelphia has one of the biggest and best airfields in all of Equestria, and it'd be great to get some flying in there. Sometimes the Wonderbolts practice there, you know." The café pony came out with five more mugs.
"Will you need a menu? Or are you going to have breakfast?" Macintosh nodded, thinking he was still speaking for himself. "There is a special on cream-of-wheat this morning. It comes with milk and syrup." the café pony continued.
"That sounds good." said Fluttershy, agreeing with Macintosh's motion.
"Alright, I'll be right back." said the café gentlecolt, placing a menu on the table beside the kettle.
"Ah think we should ask th'engineers at the Fillydelphia station if they saw th'train, an' we'll go from there." said Macintosh.
"What did it look like then?" said Spike. Macintosh recalled what he had thought to himself shortly after he got up that same morning how he wanted to see a train up close.
"It didn' look like a normal sorta train, it was made all smooth-like. With one long curve from th'top to th'front." he illustrated the shape with his hoof in the air. "All the cars behind it had a red stripe on 'em, same color as the engine, and the last car was sorta shaped like th'front. When Ah was runnin' after it, it got dark away from the town so Ah stopped bein' able to see it well. Ah only could see it when Ah turned th'corner and what Ah could see by the station, so Ah only got a glance before it pulled away."
"We'll recognize it when we get there." said Rainbow Dash. Her anxious demeanour was levelling off with the prospect of food. A thud made her whip around to see Rarity placing her pack upright near an empty stool and join the group. Although her saddle-pack was the same size as the rest of theirs, it was obvious that it was much heavier.
"Rarity, I thought I said pack light." said Dash.
"You said nothing of the sort."
"I said essentials." Macintosh restated.
"These are essentials. I had to do a lot of figuring out what were only the most necessary things to bring along… Speaking of necessities, Macintosh, where are your things?" said Rarity, looking at her pack and then at Macintosh's lack thereof. Macintosh looked behind himself and then stood up, showing a very small bag slung behind his collar, not much smaller than Spike's head.
"That's all? What are you bringing?" questioned Rarity.
"Some water, some oats, a blanket and mah hat if it starts to rain hard."
"That's all?" she responded as if slighted, like his lack of preparedness was a form of minor insult. "You're not even going to bring a poncho or a pillow?"
"With awll due respect Rarity, Ah'm not th'pony I'm worrin' about." said Macintosh coolly. They looked at each other in a slightly awkward silence. A minor tension arose from what sort of seemed like an incompatibility of the assembly. Although they had their complimentary respects, Big Macintosh and Spike felt a twinge of fear for if they would be able to work with the other mares to the ends of saving their friends. The café pony returned with a large pot brimming with white stuff and a spoon, and several bowls.
Upon it being placed down, Macintosh served out five bowls of hearty portions. Fluttershy raised an eye at how large her bowlful was, but continued into it knowing that in all likelihood she'd be needing all her strength anyways, either in heart or will.
Once all the others had been served, Macintosh poured as much as his bowl would allow for his own serving, and began to drink it as if it was an oversize mug. Rarity was first to notice how impolite it was of Macintosh to eat this way, and slowly but surely the other ponies and Spike stopped, just watching Macintosh seem to swallow half the pot's worth of the creamed cereal. He stopped and placed the bowl down and sort of held still, looking at the other mares staring at his unusual action. Rainbow Dash's gaze broke with a small snigger. A smile was creeping onto the face of Rarity, and Pinkie Pie.. well, Pinkie Pie's expression hadn't much changed all the while.
They all sat still for an instant.
"…What?"
All at once, the others burst out laughing melodiously at Big Macintosh and his soupy white granulated moustache. Rainbow Dash and Spike both collapsed onto the ground with mirth, as Fluttershy passed Macintosh a napkin. He blushed, well-hidden by his crimson coat, and wiped off the remainder of the meal from his mouth. It was funny to be sure, and whatever embarrassment he should have felt, didn't appear, him soon appreciating the humour. The tension of their awkwardness melted away with the bout of happiness, and perhaps there was hope for their adventure after all.
The smoothest sliding of the train over the rails made the interior feel as if it were perfectly stationary. Applejack awoke dreary-eyed and with a throbbing pain on the top of her head, which made her urgently realize how her hat was missing. She looked around and found herself inside a furbished rail car, lying on a carpet. Not all that far away she saw Twilight, apparently sleeping and with her legs in an odd configuration, evidently not having positioned herself thus. Suddenly the urgency came to her head as to where they were and why- the kidnappers!
"Twilight!" she exclaimed, trotting over to her friend. She nudged her in the neck, trying to receive some kind of indication that she was still present. Twilight moaned with a tinge of agony before her eyes opened.
"..Applejack?" she said, with very little consciousness.
"Twi, wake up! We've been kidnapped!"
Applejack's imperative started registering with Twilight and her eyes opened wide before she stood up, slightly uneasy and with a dull pain as well as discomfort in her legs.
"Where are we?" she said at last, as she started to look around.
"On de Elements Express, my dearz." said a very distinct voice from behind them. They turned and saw a unicorn zebra wearing a quite dark jacket, standing in the doorway of the passenger car they were in. Applejack instinctively bent forwards in preparation to charge, the source of her confusion and anger suddenly have a voice and therefore a target.
"No need for dat, Miss Applejack." said the zebra, his words ushering two unicorns to stand beside him, and a diamond dog behind them. "My name is Zoroko, I work a gentledog thief named Misder Montclair. He is in need of your magic for de finding of a special artefacdt."
"Why would he want us?" asked Twilight.
"He seeks a very old jewel which is held in a secret location. Very few ponies know how to gedt it, which is why he is in need of two of de represendative Elements of Harmony to find it."
"Why?"
"Montclair is a gentdledog thief; a collector of rare idems. He also wants to be de most infamous criminal mind in all of Equesdria, ahnd believes daht stealing dis specific jewel will be de highest poindt of his career."
"Why should we help you?" said Applejack, quite annoyed by Zoroko's presence. "Just as well that we might just try an' escape."
"If you can escape (which I would be very surprised of), you will not be able to prove anydting I just told you, ahnd Montclair will simply explore different ways of getding de Gem. Oderwise, you are his prisoners, ahnd you will eider help uz find de jewel, or stay in his possession. If you help uz find de jewel, he will have you returned home."
"What's so special about this jewel?" asked Twilight, starting to weigh their options.
"I cannot say, Miss Twilight. Misder Montclair was very specific daht he wanted to explain daht to you ahnd Miss Applejack personally. Do you have any other questiuns?"
Twilight and Applejack looked at each other uneasily.
"How far is this 'Montclair'?" asked Twilight. Applejack continued to look around the space, taking stock of how it was rather well adorned for a simple passenger car with most of the seats removed.
"Montclair Mansion is quidte far from Ponyville. We shall be in transit until tomorrow morning, ahnd I will not be detailing where or when we will be making stops, if you are so curious."
"Why are ye kidnappin' us with this fancy train?" asked Applejack, her presumption of what a kidnapping would look like being quite far from what she was experiencing, as she looked closer at one of the windows.
"As I said, Montclair is a gentledog thief. It would not be in his interests to be brudtal, although if you'd prefer to be put in a box in de baggage car, we'd be able to oblige, Miss Applejack." said Zoroko. Applejack frowned at the combined reception of information, hearing him and noticing that the glass was frosted and anything that she could see was too murky to make out any details.
"Gentledog?" said Twilight, raising an eyebrow.
"My dear ponies, 'thank you for your cooperation." finished the zebra, avoiding the query. "Meals will be served in due time, and I truzt you shall remain comfordtable. Have a pleasandt day." Going with the two other unicorns and the diamond dog, they excited through the door, which locked with a *clatch*. Applejack frowned. She looked over and Twilight seemed to be lost in concentration with her eyes closed. "Twilight?"
Twilight looked like she was having a headache. She stood in the sort of repose that she would do if she were casting a powerful spell, but nothing was happening. Then Applejack noticed,
"Twi, ye've got something on your horn." she observed, worriedly.
Twilight gasped, opening her eyes and relaxing from her intense mental effort.
"I can't use my magic!"
"Ye've got somethin' on your horn, Twilight." repeated Applejack. Twilight made some kind of surprised noise, trying to look up but failing. She continued bending her neck back and trying to see the fixture of her head, craning up in frustration before stopping.
"It looks sort of like a little necklace, but it's wrapped around." Twilight stopped moving and let Applejack get a better look. "It's got a little cap bit that's on the tip."
"What color is it?" said Twilight, sounding almost mournful.
"Silver."
"Oh no…" said Twilight, dropping to the floor, looking at her friend. Applejack raised an eyebrow at Twilight's reaction. "It's a Disenchantment Chain. I can't use my magic as long as it's on, and it can only be removed by somepony else's magic." explained Twilight morosely. Applejack considered the detail and sat down beside her.
"We'll get out of here, just sit tight."
"You can't just smash a hole in the wall, Applejack. If you do, then we jump out onto the ground while moving at high speed, and we don't even know where we are or where we're going or how far we are from our friends." said a very defeated sounding Twilight. Applejack was quick with a rebuttal.
"Don't worry, Twilight. Our friends'll find us."
The train sped on flying into the morning sun and distancing itself from all, pluming only its red blur in and out of view, and a column of steam that quickly dissipated.
Zoroko walked through the connectors between the cars until he entered into a well-appointed sleeper. Sitting on a chair and reading a newspaper was the dark figure, now well seen in the light shining through the windows.
"Dey've been informed, now all dere is left is for us to arrive."
"How long until we reach the juncture?"
"I believe it is going to be another hour or so. I can ask de conductor."
"Get them to stoke the engine a bit more or whatever, get us going faster." said the figure, sounding slightly agitated.
"I'll see what he can do. Somedting de matter bozz?"
"Not really. 'Just had the funny feeling like we're being followed."
"Bozz," chortled the zebra. "we're on de fastest train in the coundtry going to a secret location with all of our bazes covered." he resonated. "What de Bozz don't know can't hurt 'im."
The dark figure suddenly had a silent, subliminal loathing of his words being returned.