Night Moves

"So you say you're a Princess then wouldn't you have a crown or something to prove or some kind of Royal seal" asked Pick, leaning against a box of carrots to steady himself from the light sway of the train car as the train powered on through the night.

"Listen Pick she's in a different body and was convicted a murderer of course nopony is going to listen to her" I responded but Luna put her hoof up saying "Actually that's a good point, if I can talk to my sister for long enough then perhaps I can at least convince her that something is wrong". "Well you can thank me for the idea later" said Pick with a once more arrogant grin and vocal tone which maybe would've had some effect on Luna had she not seen him crying mama five hours ago".

"I think I'll take first watch" said Luna as she headed for the Engine but I dis-agreed saying "I don't want you all alone in the Engine all by yourself, you could be overpowered and killed easily" I said but she waved her hoof saying "Relax I'll scream just like Pick did today when we were being attacked before". "Wait that was Pick" I said looking at the young stallion who had suddenly turned tomato red. "Well my mama did always say I had a great singing voice".

Luna smiled a bit and opened the carriage door to head for the Engine Room. I headed off too but before leaving I looked at Pick and warned "Don't touch anything dangerous, get some sleep and if you need help scream". "Very funny" he shouted as I closed the carriage's door and headed over to Luna who was shovelling some coal for the boiler.

"Hey I should do that" I protested but when I tried to take the shovel off of her she pushed me aside. I could tell she had developed a certain frustrated tension towards me and I thought I knew why. "Listen Luna…about today…with the Sheriff I never meant to lose control like that but he just made me so angry, how he abused his power and pointed those Crossbow's at us" I said sincerely.

"It's not that you over reacted in the heat of the moment Captain!" she interrupted loudly, cutting me off in my apology. I was puzzled, had I done something else wrong? Maybe she hated Pick and objected to him being in the line of fire?

"It's not that you over reacted" she continued "It's the fact that while you were doing it I looked up into you deep brown eyes" she said as she began to shovel coal faster and faster (quite difficult since she was still pretty scrawny". "I don't understand" I said sitting down on a pile of coal and looking at her.

She stopped shovelling coal and sighed before she plunged the shovel into the coal mound and pressed the tip of her hoof into my chest. "I cannot say I've walked Equestria for a thousand years, no quite the contrary actually but as you may have noticed from my scars and the quantity of them I was quite badly beaten when they arrested me and despite my protests locked me up in that prison and muzzled me like a rabid dog" she said angrily looking at me.

"Now since this was a thousand years ago things were a little different, sure love and friendship had spread across the land but old ways die hard and my sister, enraged at how our mentor had been killed ordered along with Clearwater who'd relished in this order to torture me for any information I might have that could be against the crown" she said and I looked across her scarred body in shock as she explained "I was young at the time and kept begging to be set free by my torturers, to see my sister but no they said that Princess Luna had ordered them specially to hold nothing back and they didn't believe me, for six months they tortured me and did such unspeakable things that I begged for death so often that eventually they told me it would be granted" she was crying now, tears streaming down her eyes as she poured out a story that if ever shown to public would cause riots and revolts.

"That was the last time I saw them however, they too everything with them and left me in that magical chamber to rot for a thousand years and I kept count every single day, I went mad multiple times, I cried until water was too low for my body to replenish and I called help so much that I screamed myself horse but then my cell opened one day and I saw you, your eyes were like they were now, kind but with so much pain and lots of cautiousness inside" she said as she looked me straight into my own watering eyes.

"Luna…I" but I couldn't even continue I was so shocked, it was the most despicable thing I'd ever heard of and yet this mare be her a Princess or not was only a filly at the time and had then been abandoned to die was still going strong.

"I saw you with the Sheriff…when you were choking him to death and your eyes were like my torturers… cold, wicked and with a sense of almost pleasure from causing the pain of another pony it…it made me feel like you were my enemy back then" she said as she wiped her red eyes and looked at me deeply.

"Luna I don't know what happened I just lost control it's just so hard" I told her, beginning my own sad tale although mine had less physical pain in it. "I told you once about that mare I killed right?" I asked and she nodded her head. "Well…she was my wife" I said as I let the story spill out.

However I couldn't continue nor see her expression for at that exact moment there was a huge CRASH and the whole world shook and rolled as the train got de-railed. Luna was thrown out of the train and into the night but I stayed inside the hull of the now great and crashing beast as it flipped over and over.

Eventually the train crashed onto its side where it rested and looking up at the blur the world had become I saw what looked like the flickering image of that mare who'd given me Clearwater's contract just five days ago. "Times up" was all I heard before I blacked out and she disappeared.

I couldn't have been long because when I woke up the dust was still settling from the crash. I stood up and winced as I felt every muscle in my body want to give up. I was cut and bruised badly but I knew that I had to check on the others, they might need my help and nopony was going to die on my watch. I staggered up and drew my sword, we might have been de-railed or we might have been attacked wither way I felt better when holding it in my hands.

I opened the door to the carriage and shouted "Kid, you in here"? There was a groan and his hoof shot up from under a pile of carrots. "Can you walk" I asked and he yelled back "Think so, what happened"? "Don't know maybe we crashed let me check to see if we're still on the rails" I said sarcastically, spinning round and climbing out to the top of the train.

All around I could see that we were surrounded by White Mountains but we were still very much in desert territory and it was still very much hot and now dark too. I broke off a train handle and tore of a piece of my suit sleeve and wrapped it around it. Then I thrust the stick into the dying boiler and went in search of Luna.

"Princess, where are you?" I called but there was no answer, except for a chilling wind which had decided to come along. I limped to the side of the rails where we'd de-railed and saw a heavy boulder painted with ancient lie markings. It was obvious that the native buffalo had done this. I'd read that in these parts they despised ponies and tried to sabotage their things without actually hurting or killing somepony but this seemed a bit extreme even for them.

"Tia doesn't, wouldn't, couldn't you can't do it" I heard a weak voice protest and looking down I saw that Luna was practically next to me by the tracks. The wind began to get up as I looked her over, shaking her roughly and repeating Luna, Luna, Luna" over and over. She wasn't unconscious by the look of her eyes; in fact by the way her eyelids flashed it seemed she was dreaming intensely about something.

I sheathed my sword and scooped her up, putting her over my back and proceeding forwards, back to the train and shelter from the wind which was beginning to get really strong. However as I pushed on, my torch went out and every movement felt like moving through warm oil" the going was tough but eventually I saw a faint light and the train's centre light flickering on and off.

I pushed Luna up and then myself before we both fell into the train and landed on Pick. "Ouch, howdy ya'll" he said despite the fact that Luna had unconsciously kicked him in the face. "Pick, we seemed to have been attacked by the natives of the land, we need to be cautious and Luna's out for the count so let's get her into the carriage behind" I told him and he complied.

Once Luna was safely stowed we returned to the Engine and listened in on the storm which was now raging outside. "Not many of those Buffalo come through Dodge but those which did were always interesting and massive I mean they could eat so many cherry pies we actually ran out when four arrived in town" said Pick but I wasn't getting into the conversation.

"Are there supplies and saddlebags back there" I asked cutting off the conversation. "Oh…well yes, this train comes by once every six months and carries all the materials the ponies of Appleoosa might be needing since its mostly isolated by the Macintosh Mountains" answered Pick.

"Right well go get four bags that's two for you and two for Luna and fill one two up with food and water" I told him. "Afterwards bring them in here and don't damage something on your way" I said. "Fine but why can't you do it" he asked but looked up at my bruised face in the small amount of lighting generated by the electric battery which was dying now the train was disabled.

"I didn't have a nice patch of carrots to land in when we crashed" I told him and he raised his hooves in peace and went to get the stuff I ordered. When he was gone I worked quickly, taking a sip from my canteen before pouring the remaining water in it all over the floor. After that I looked into my dishevelled backpack and prayed it was still there.

A bottle of Bourbon Whisky which I'd found a few hours ago and slipped into my bags was still intact and full. It looked like it was being saved above a shelf in the engine room and to my eyes it looked like a bliss painkiller from the stress and terrible memories I was being given and remembering. Since Luna had told me everything about her I knew that I needed this, it was my medicine but I knew Luna would question me if she saw so that's why I'd come up with a shameful plan.

I popped the cork from the bottle and began pouring it quickly into the canteen. I wanted to hurry since Pick was probably finishing up now but when it reached the top there was still some of the pressure fluid inside the bottle. So I screwed the cap on my canteen and hung it around my chest before I looked at the small mouthful in the bottom and took a draft.

"Dang it, none left for me" came Pick as he quickly entered through the door and grabbed the empty bottle from my hands. I coughed and nearly spewed the whisky. "I'm amazed this survived the crash, you bring it along?" asked Pick with an innocent enough look on his face. "No I…found it lying on the floor and since there was only a little I thought as good a time as any right.

Pick nodded his head in agreement to my statement and said "Skies that be true, oh yeah I got the saddlebags, no emblems though they need to be sewn on if you want them personalised" joked Pick and I chuckled half-heartedly along. The kid may have been arrogant but he was certainly not dumb.

I got serious once more however and stared hard into those golden eyes. "Listen Pick, you don't have to be one of us you can leave, take the supplies and head into Appleoosa and get an honest job and hide out you aren't important in this fight they'll ignore you and follow me and Luna" I said, trying to get him out of danger.

"Look I saw you this morning and I know you're a great thief but this is a race against the entire Kingdom to get Luna to the Northern Mountains and If you're going to start crying or bailing halfway through then we'll have to cut you loose, so you have two options you're wither with us or your hiding what'll it be?" I asked looking carefully at his eyes.

He looked a lot more serious now, no joking or laughing just straight stallion to stallion conversation. "Well now sir I don't like the sound of a straight job and despite the prospect of death looking bad you need me, I can pick locks and sneak I just don't fight so well or hold up good in one on one so hay yes I'll come with you and Luna, you ponies showed me adventure and after the taste I want a full portion" he exclaimed excitedly.

His argument seemed solid enough and an extra hoof to at least offer the Princess a decoy or at least pony who could fight pathetically was still help and right now we needed help. "Ok, we're going to be moving out as soon as Luna wakes up and this storm clears up" I said and Pick nodded.

"Where we going?" he asked and I unfurled the map in my saddlebag and pointed to the Bad Lands. Pick whistled and asked "So why are we in Appleoosa, the Macintosh Mountains act as a block between here and the bad lands so how are we going to get across it, especially in storm season"?

This part had me thinking too since going back was no option and climbing the mountain was absurd but a voice from behind said "We won't go over the mountains no…we'll go through it". Luna looked a little worn but other than that she was strangely determined and willing to go.

"Luna are you alright" I asked and she nodded giving me and Pick a small hug and thanking us for being there when nopony else was. "Well it's nothing really Princess I just want to see right over wrong, I might be too old to serve but I'm never too old to protect" I responded. "Yeah and I can't resist a lady in need" said Pick charmingly, earning a cute smile from Luna.

"I cannot think of anything in Equestria that would be better than spending a night in a train with two ponies I hardly know, yet have already shared so much with" she said sarcastically yet kindly and Pick said "No reason to thank me but when you do return to Canterlot and defeat hat evil you or something then make me a count or something, my Momma would be so proud" he chuckled as he most likely imagined himself a count.

"You have got my word" promised Luna and now she turned to me and asked "What is your heart's desire Captain"? I was taken by surprise at the sudden question but I quickly turned bitter when I remembered why I'd set out on this trip in the first place. "If you could bring a Pony back from the dead then that would be nice" I mumbled in the same bitterness I was feeling right now.

The room instantly went cold and humour all died, however the silence was enough for me to be able to detect that the storm was over. "Ok storm's finished, Luna what do you mean by go through the mountains, are there tunnels of a kind" I asked to which she responded "No, but there is a cave which might contain something useful, something that could help us get to my Mountain" she explained.

I jumped out of the train and looked around in the darkness of night. I grabbed the stick I'd used to start a torch a while ago and plunged it into the boiler to relight it. "Ok, so now it's time to move on, the Royal Guard may not be attackers but give them a place to defend and they'll do it with a fanatical look in their eyes" I explained.

"Oh yeah you used to the Captain of these fanatical ponies right?" asked Pick sarcastically but stopped when Luna elbowed him in the ribs. "The fake Princess Luna might be calling the shots now, who knows but from the reports I've read and what I've witnessed she's very cunning, very clever and very dangerous so we move quick and hopefully another storm will come along and clear out hoof prints" I said as I pulled Luna and Pick up and out of the motor.

Pick brushed himself down and got set to go and Luna took one last look at the train before sighing and saying "When I reclaim my throne and sister I'll build a train to honour this one and it will be stunning". I handed them both the saddle bags, then handed Luna her Crossbow before we set west for the Macintosh Mountains.

…Yay…