Gilda lied down in her hay bed, grumbling as she picked loose strands of straw from her fur and plumage. The door to the front entrance of the car opened up, Annie and Flash Sentry appearing through it. Flash Sentry lied on his stomach on the left of the car while Annie stood at the center door.

“Alright,” Annie spoke. “Now that we’re in the clear, I want you to tell me the truth, and not the version you gave me back at the correctional facility.”

“Hey,” complained Gilda, “I’ve been stuck in a concrete room for the past two days. I haven’t gotten much sleep, and that’s just what I want to do.”

Gilda began to lower her head onto the hay, sparking Annie’s anger. Drawing her sword from the sheath of her Maneuver Gear, she clanged the side of the blade against the bars, shooting Gilda to her feet and throwing hay all about her cell.

“You listen here,” Annie seethed, “I was almost killed twice tonight for your sake. The least you can do is respect me.”

“Hey, whoa,” Gilda said, putting her talons up defensively, “who said I didn’t respect you? I thought what you did at the hotel was pretty cool.”

“Do you think it was pretty cool that I was attacked by someone that I couldn’t prepare for because you told me a lie? Do you really think that’s respectful?”

Gilda began to realize that an argument with her would be pointless and even more heated if it continued. Gilda opened her beak for a rebuttal but found that none could come out.

“So,” Gilda said, shying down at last, “what do you want me to tell you?”

“Unless you were lying for most of the time,” Annie said, “everything.”

“Okay… I’ll tell you. Then will you let me go to sleep?”

Annie looked at Gilda, seeing that she was determined to do anything for some rest.

“If I find your story sufficient enough,” responded Annie, “my partner and I will leave this room and let you go to sleep. Deal?”

“And if my story isn’t… ‘sufficient’ enough,” Gilda scoffed, “I’m guessing you’re going to keep me up all night?”

“All you need to do is tell me the truth. It’s that simple.”

Gilda nodded. At this point, there was no use lying, and as of that moment, sleep was even more precious to her now.

“Let’s see,” Gilda began, “a couple of years ago, in the summer, I had been looking for work after my plans to stay in Ponyville were dashed.”

Annie raised her eyebrow, perplexed by her choice in words.

“I first went to Manehattan, which is the second most city populated by griffons.”

“Pardon my digression,” Annie said, “but what is the first, then?”

“Baltimare. Both are cities on the eastern edge of Equestria, further east is the griffon kingdom, so when a griffon does come by, that’s the city they come to. Of course, Baltimare is much rougher and grittier than Manehattan, but I knew the pay there would be lamer, so I hit up Manehattan first.

“It was then that I met Black Glass. He said he could offer me a lot of money, but the job was dangerous. And before I tell you what this thing is, don’t get mad at me. I didn’t take part in anything these guys did.”

“What guys?” asked Flash Sentry.

“They were called the Fates. They were a very small, but very elite sect of assassins-for-hire. Obviously, you met three of them.”

“Before we go any further,” Annie said, “I’d like you to tell me everyone you know in that group.”

“Alright. Black Glass, I didn’t make his name up. He was the head of the Manehattan branch of the Fates.”

“Branch you say? So there are more of these ponies in other cities?”

“Nah, they only had two branches, one in Manehattan and one in Vanhoover. Vanhoover managed all jobs west of Canterlot. Manehattan managed any jobs east of Canterlot as well as Canterlot itself.”

“Speaking of jobs, what was your line of work?”

“I was a courier for them, flying requests for jobs, payments, whatever from the eastern towns and cities and back to Manehattan so the ponies in the Manehattan branch could do them, or I would send ones for the western towns all the way to Vanhoover.”

“So, after Black Glass, who else was there?”

“That black pegasus you met was named Slicer. Her specialty is jobs at night, because she blends so well into the darkness and shadows, and her weapon of choice are those blades on her arms.”

“Is Slicer her real name, or just a pseudonym?”

“A pseudowoodo?”

“A nickname,” explained Flash Sentry, “an alias.”

“Right, right,” she chuckled. “In that case, no. No one, not even amongst each other, were they allowed to reveal their real names. That way, if one happens to get caught, they won’t be able to reveal a single name to the cops.”

“I see,” sighed Annie. “Brilliant, really…”

“Then there’s Bruiser, that bulky blue stallion that was with Black Glass tonight. He usually teams up with Black Glass or Slicer to disguise their killings as simple muggings. Last, but certainly not least, there’s Doctor. When he kills, he uses poisons and these really weird things where he’ll punch someone somewhere and it hurts them really bad or even makes them freeze up.”

“Pressure points,” Annie whispered to herself.

“When he’s not killing,” Gilda said, “he k.o.’s their targets and sends them to one or more of the assassins to kill, and then places them in a spot where it would look more likely for that pony to have been, much like what happened last night.”

Annie’s eye twitched angrily over the new piece of information

“You knew about this murder?”

“Yeah, but I wasn’t going to tell you then!”

“And why the hell not?” she bellowed, grabbing the bars of the cell. “We could have prevented an innocent pony from becoming hospitalized!”

“And tell what to you? That I was working with a bunch of paid murderers and killers?”

“Yes! You never killed anyone, so you would have gotten a much lighter sentence.”

“No,” Gilda shuddered out, “you’re wrong. I did kill somepony.”

Annie let her hands go off the bars and stepped back, giving Gilda some space. Flash Sentry looked at Annie and then Gilda again, as if asking her if they should put her back in cuffs.

“So…” Annie reiterated, “there was something even bigger.”

“Yeah,” Gilda sadly answered, “I was already being put away for murder. Why add another crime to that?”

“What happened?”

“Over the couple years, minus some days, that I spent delivering messages for the Fates, they had trusted me enough that they wanted to make me an honorary member. As if I could refuse; they’d just kill me!”

Annie nodded, understanding the plight. Flash Sentry still couldn’t keep his mad glare off of Gilda’s face.

“That’s when I started hearing about the ponies we’d be killing;” Gilda explained further, “the letters that I used to deliver were now being delivered to me. However, one of the first letters that I got was an assignment that shocked me to the core.”

“Why?” asked Annie. “Who was it?”

“It was… a friend, that I had made in Manehattan. Yes, I worked for assassins, but I still had a life from that one. I couldn’t believe what I had read. I was being made to kill my friend!”

Gilda pounded on the hay hard enough to hit the wood and metal beneath, making a loud noise that shocked Flash Sentry.

“Sorry,” apologized Gilda. “But it was that moment that I hated myself for what I had become. I traced the letter back to the address it was sent from.”

Annie placed her thumb beneath her chin and her curled index finger atop it, suddenly coming to a realization.

“The murdered pony wasn’t by chance Flash Fly from Fillydelphia, was it?”

Gilda nodded shamefully.

“Yeah,” she confirmed. “That unsolved case last month, that was me. But you know what? I’d do it again!” she growled running up to the edge of the cage and standing on her hind legs, her talons gripping the bars. “I wasn’t going to let my good friend die!”

“Gilda.”

“What if one of the others had gotten the letter and sent it to Vanhoover? Then what?”

“Gilda!”

“They wouldn’t have cared!”

“GILDA!”

Gilda settled back on her fours, panting and looking genuinely frightened. Flash Sentry now looked upon this griffon with a newfound respect, now empathetic with her cause.

“I’m sorry that that had happened,” said Annie. “Please, tell me what had happened next.”

“It didn’t take too much time for the other Fates to know that it was me who killed him,” Gilda continued, “but they couldn’t tell the authorities about it lest they exposed themselves. The only option had to be to get rid of me. And that’s just what they tried to do.

“Two nights ago, I was asked to accompany Dark Glass to our next job, Stinkin’ Rich III. And while his business was failing, the reason for his death was entirely different. His brother, Madly Rich, did not want to see his brother driving their father’s firm into the ground, and wanted to take it over. Of course, Stinkin’ had to be out of the picture.

“I was so-called ‘subbing’ for Bruiser to make the murder look like a mugging. That’s when Black Glass pulled out that griffon claw thing, killed Stinkin’ Rich, and then left me to make it appear like I did it. So stupid.”

“Why do you think they framed you instead of just killing you?”

“I don’t know! I guess they wanted to do the job and get me out; kill two birds with one stone, or something!”

Annie looked at Gilda, and she was absolutely flustered, both from her traumatic recounts and her exhaustion. Annie looked into Gilda’s pleading eyes, finding the truth boring from them like geysers. Flash Sentry was now gently smiling at Gilda, finding trust in her unabashed honesty.

“Thank you, Gilda,” she said. “I just have three more questions for you.”

“Yes?” asked Gilda.

“Do you know the pony that I rescued today? I mean, did you know what he was being targeted for?”

“No. Us members of the Fates handle our own assignments and only talk to the ones who we include in the assignments.”

“Alright,” Annie sighed, “and I’m surprised we didn’t talk about this sooner: Who are the members at the Vanhoover branch?”

“I’ve never met them, but they, like the Manehattan guys, have their own Slicer, Bruiser, and Doctor. However, their leader is named White Glass.”

“Okay. Last one. Is there a central boss for both branches?”

“Yeah. He only goes by Commander, and only Black Glass and White Glass can report to him, no exceptions. Who this Commander is, I have no idea. I literally know nothing about him except for the name.”

Annie and Gilda stared off as the former searched for any last questions she thought she would need. However, Gilda had a very exhausting day and had given away plenty of information that she deemed useful for her purposes. Annie closed her eyes and let out a relaxing, conclusive breath.

“Wait here,” Annie told Gilda as she turned to the door and opened it.

Gilda watched as Annie left the car, closing the door behind her.

“Wait,” Gilda called, “where’s she going?”

“Not sure,” answered Flash Sentry, whose voice was entirely humbled by her story. “So… yeah, I just want to say… I’m really sorry for what happened to you. And I’m sorry for giving you such a hard time this afternoon at the end there.”

Gilda looked into Flash Sentry’s eyes, and his sincerity shone from them. Even though Annie was away, her words and presence rung strong in her head.

“Don’t sweat it,” she said, fanning her talon. “I shouldn’t have lied in the first place.”

“You’re right. If I know the princess like I do, she would have been happier that you killed for a friend and were still sorry about it than killing in cold blood.”

“You really think so?”

“Why don’t you ask Annie when she comes back. I’m sure she’ll vouch for me on this one.”

“Where did she even go, anyway?”

“I might have a feeling…”

Annie emerged from the entrance to the cell car, two glasses filled halfway with ice and crystal pinched in her thumb and index fingers. Annie grabbed one of the other glasses with her left hand and knelt down before Gilda.

“Is that crystal?” Gilda asked, offended. “No fair! How come he gets some and I–”

Annie began to lift the glass in her right hand through the bars of the cell and hold it out in front of the confused griffon.

“Maybe if you didn’t get so hostile and just waited,” scolded Annie, “you would have known this crystal was for you.”

Gilda prowled to the front of the cell and slowly reached for her drink.

“Come on,” Annie egged. “You don’t want the ice to melt before you drink it, do you?”

Gilda huffed at her remark and snatched the drink from Annie’s hand. She immediately took a sip, savoring the taste of the liquor with a deep, calming breath.

“Where did this stuff come from?” asked Gilda. “This is really good crystal.”

“It was given to us on the train,” explained Annie before taking a sip herself. “Canterlot gets shipments of crystal straight from the Crystal Empire, so I’m guessing this is where it comes from.”

“Nice. Just one of the perks of being on the force, huh?” she responded with a cheeky smile.

“You can say that. In fact, let's start over from this point forwards. My name is Annie. Annie Leonhardt.”

Annie reached her hand through the bars towards Gilda. Seeing her harmless and friendly endeavor, Gilda smiled as she clasped her talon around Annie's palm.

"Gilda," she responded. "It's... really cool to meet you."

Annie soon pulled her hand away and stood back to her feet.

“Well,” Annie said, “it’s getting late, and we all need some rest before we get to Canterlot tomorrow morning. I just want to say… thank you, Gilda. You’ve been a very great help.”

Gilda smiled at Annie and raised her glass to her before gulping the rest of the crystal down. She suddenly realized how stupid a decision that was when her face contorted into nausea and she erupted into a huge coughing fit, overpowered by the strong drink.

“Careful there,” Annie said. “We don’t need you choking to death on the train.”

Gilda chuckled as she wiped her beak with her arm, Flash Sentry watching her as he held the door open.

“It’ll take more than a little crystal to kill me,” she gagged.

“Right. Well, good night anyways.”

Flash Sentry walked into the next car up while Annie followed him into the entryway. Gilda saw as Annie too gulped the last of her drink, but did not react as violently as Gilda did. Gilda found her feat to be quite incredible. Once the door closed, Gilda let out another smug smirk and scoff, pushing her glass out of the cell and letting it slide to the floor.

“Not bad,” she muttered to herself as she curled her body up and lied down upon the hay. “Not bad at all…”

Gilda felt a wave of calm and tranquility wash over her as her eyes quickly shut, finally happy with a comfortable place to sleep.
________________________________________________________________________________________

A train, which consisted of only an engine, one small boxcar, and a caboose, had sped off the Manehattan Bridge and onto Equestria’s mainland. Snow had begun to fall from the sky, lightly frosting the grass and glistening it with white. As the train ran by, the snow whipped off the ground and swirled in the air behind it as it passed.

Inside the boxcar, a light from the center shone down Lying down on their sides, both Black Glass and Bruiser groaned in discomfort. The side of Black Glass’s head contained an icepack, which also covered his left eye. Bruiser lay on his left side while a hefty amount of bandages covered his right forearm. Doctor held a pair of tweezers in his magic grasp, carefully removing the small shards of glass and wood that were still lodged into Slicer’s skin. With each piece pulled out, Slicer let out a small squeak as she bit a cloth.

“She’ll pay for that,” grunted Slicer. “That human and that griff– AH!”

Doctor pulled a sizable piece of glass from Slicer’s wing, placing it in a large glass beaker along with the other blood soaked pieces.

“Calm down,” scolded Doctor as he wiped the gash clean with a damp and blood-stained towel. “Your aggression will only make the procedure worse.”

“Yeah, well,” mentioned Bruiser, “that girl broke my ribs and my arm! She also made the fates look like a bunch of tots! Do you expect us to be fine and dandy about that?”

“I expect you to shut up and let the medicine do its work.”

Bruiser huffed angrily as he laid his head back down onto the floor of the car.

“And we’ll be healed by tomorrow morning?” asked Black Glass.

“Yeah,” agreed Slicer. “I can’t do anything with my body like th– AHAHA!”

“I told you to calm down,” Doctor ordered as he discarded another piece of glass into the beaker. “That serum I gave you was very expensive and I don’t want you wasting it. It will speed your healing significantly, but only when bodily activity is at a minimum.”

Slicer let out another hiss as a piece of wood was pulled from her flank, keeping her teeth clenched on the cloth.

“How much faster can we go?” asked Bruiser. “They’ll be in Canterlot way before we will.”

“It doesn’t matter,” assured Black Glass. “Whether through the greatest luck or the worst misfortune, we will get them before then. After all, not everything goes according to plan…”

Black Glass gave his comrade a confident, toothy smile, leading both Bruiser and Slicer to give him a smile as well, knowing that they could have full faith in their leader. Doctor, still preoccupied with Slicer’s wounds, pulled another shard of glass from her body, making her wince in pain once again.
________________________________________________________________________________________

Annie snoozed comfortably on the booth at the left side of the car facing the back of the car with her glass from the night previous upon the table, only a layer of melted ice water left inside. Her 3D Maneuver Gear and sheaths were organized and set on the bench across from her.

Flash Sentry was out of his armor and strewn across one of the booths of the right side of the car like a dog, sleeping as peacefully as his human partner. Sunlight leaked through the closed blinds, but could not distract Annie nor Flash Sentry from their sleep.

The sound of screeching brakes and a sudden forward jerking of the train stirred Annie from her sleep. While the lurch pushed Annie and Flash Sentry into the backrests, Annie’s Maneuver Gear shifted off the bench and fell to the ground with a loud, surprising clang.

Annie and Flash Sentry both shot up at the sound and finally heard the full extent of the screeching and the feeling of slowing down. Annie began to walk her way to the engine, but found herself slamming into the car’s door instead.

“Are you alright?” shouted Flash Sentry over the screeching.

“Yeah,” grunted Annie. “Check on Gilda! Make sure she’s alright!”

Flash Sentry fought the forwards force as he made his way to the back of the car. Annie slid open the door into the entrance to the engine and let the force of the continual stop pull her in, seeing the scared face of the conductor inside.

“What is going on?” asked Annie.

“Look!” the conductor responded.

Annie peered through one of the front windows on both sides of the engine, and the sight that she saw made her seize with fear herself. Up ahead, about fifty yards, a wooden bridge that looked to be passing a small waterfall and cliff on the right was destroyed, a boulder set on the left side of the bridge, wooden and metal debris scattered all about it.

“You have got to be fucking kidding me,” Annie gasped.

The train finally came to a stop about thirty yards from the end of the track. With the train finally stationary, Annie ran as fast as she could to the passenger car, stopping at her booth and sliding her disarrayed Maneuver Gear from under the table. Being that it was already constructed, Annie didn’t have too much trouble putting it on.

Once it was fastened and secured, Annie ran back to the cell car, just managing to continue running as she opened both the front, then the back doors of the storage car. Annie burst into the cell car, seeing Flash Sentry kneeling beside Gilda on the other side of the bars, who rubbed her head in response to the extremely rude awakening.

“What in the hay is going on up there?” Gilda groaned. “Why did we stop?”

“The tracks have been destroyed,” Annie said. “A boulder rolled down the cliff and took the bridge out.”

Gilda shot to her feet, despite having a face of crippling depression.

“What?” she shouted.

“This can’t be a coincidence,” Flash Sentry reasoned angrily. “Gilda, you tell me, how fast do you think it would take for the Vanhoover Fates to get here?”

“For all of them?” asked Gilda, flustered by the time-ticking away. “They’d need to get here by train too, and that wouldn’t be for a couple more hours… but…”

“But what?”

“Their Slicer, I’ve heard she’s a very fast and enduring flyer. She could have very well came about an hour ago and set off that boulder.”

“I see. That settles it then.”

“What are we going to do? Those guys are going to catch us!”

“Calm down,” ordered Annie. “I have a plan. Flash, I need you to put your armor on, grab your saddlebags, empty whatever’s in there, and fill both bags with as much food and water as you can.”

“On it!” confirmed Flash with a salute before turning to the door.

“Wait!” called Annie. “Bring the crystal too.”

“Annie,” hissed Flash Sentry. “This is no time to be drinking.”

“We’re going to be going up against trained killers. If, God forbid, one of us gets hurt, that crystal is the only kind of disinfectant we have. Bring it.”

“Uh… yes, ma’am!”

Flash Sentry ran back into the next car up, going off to run Annie’s plan. Annie began to follow Flash Sentry into the next car.

“Hey,” shouted Gilda, “where are you go–”

Before Annie went into the next car, she slipped through the left space in between the cars, confusing Annie. From inside, Gilda could only hear a burst of gas, followed by footsteps landing on the roof of the car above her.

“Annie?” called Gilda. “Be careful… she might be out there.”

“I’m aware,” Annie said. “But we need to get you out of there first.”

Hearing the clambering of Annie’s feet and knees above her and approaching the left side of the car, she heard a clicking of the latch holding the side door open.

“Now, Gilda,” called Annie, “when I open this door, I want you to fly up to the roof with me, can you do that?”

“Yeah, sure,” she responded.

“Alright then, get ready.”

As Annie crawled further back to get the last latch, Gilda lowered herself down and unfurled her wings, ready to fly the second the door swung open. With a final click, gravity opened the door down and exposed Gilda fully to their surroundings. As quick as instructed, Gilda leapt out of the car and opened her wings, allowing her to loop backwards and land atop the roof beside Annie.

As Gilda looked up at the cliff on their right, ensuring that an attacker wasn’t present there. Annie looked out to the left. The snow from the previous night had left a thick blanket over the small hill that led to the forest up ahead. Right below her, the left edge of the tracks to the train dropped off in a steep slope. Just further up and on the right, the mountain on which Canterlot stood rose high into the sky.

“Follow me,” Annie said, jogging atop the cars and to the passenger car. Gilda followed her lead, making it to the car with her.

“What’s going on?” asked Flash Sentry from inside, his voice slightly muffled by the roof.

“We’re heading out on foot,” Annie said. “We need to leave in less than three minutes.”

“Alright, I’m packing the food and drink now.”

“Hey, Annie,” suggested Gilda, “wouldn’t it be easier if we just flied to Canterlot?”

“No,” Annie said. “If the one who stranded us out here is a pegasus, and is as fast as you claim, we’ll be nothing but a moving target to her. If we get stranded up on that mountain, we have no chance of making there by foot after that.

“It will take much longer, probably overnight, but we can cut down on her flight capabilities by going into that forest and moving on from there. However, this means that engaging with the rest of the Fates is more-than-likely inevitable.”

“So, like, fight them? Are you nuts?”

“Perhaps, but if it means survival, it’s our only option. Besides…”

Annie placed her operational devices over the bases of two blades and drew them out, taking Gilda aback.

“…I’ll ensure that those bastards are given justice… my justice.”

The door to the storage car slid open, and Flash Sentry flew out of it and landed right next to Annie, putting her in between him and Gilda.

“You’re going to kill them?” Gilda asked, flabbergasted. “That’s not very guard-like of you.”

“If it’s for the good of ourselves, as well as any innocents they will prey on next, I know the Princess will forgive me.”

“Annie,” reasoned Flash Sentry, “just think about this for a second. You’ll be going up against trained, hardened killers.”

“So will they,” Annie responded, rendering Gilda and Flash Sentry silent. “I’ll do whatever it takes to ensure that Gilda gets to Canterlot. Conductor?”

“Yes?” called the conductor from the engine.

“Obviously, you’ll need to stay here to send a distress signal for other trains trying to pass through here and keep them from crossing that bridge. This means you’ll more than likely have to come across the ponies trying to chase us when they come by.”

“Well,” he stammered, clearly nervous, “what should I tell them?”

“Tell them exactly where we are.”

“WHAT?” Flash Sentry and Gilda shouted at the same time.

“We’re going to be engaging with them whether he leads them off our trail or not. What I want to keep from happening is this conductor getting killed when they find out he’s lying. So, just tell them what they need to hear, and they’ll leave you be. Understand?”

“Y– Yes, ma’am!” the conductor called back.

“That’s that then. On my mark, we get off this train and take cover in the forest. Then we make our way to Ponyville?”

“Ponyville?” Gilda asked, poorly concealing her shock.

“Without climbing that mountain,” Flash Sentry explained, “it’s the closest town from our location.”

“That’s right,” Annie confirmed. “Once we make it there, we can take a train back to Canterlot and get Gilda to safety. Now then, are we ready?”

“Yeah,” Gilda and Flash Sentry answered in tandem, Gilda sounding more reluctant.

“Then we go now!”

Annie hopped off the roof of the train and down to the embankment. Both Flash Sentry and Gilda leapt off and glided down to the ground. Annie landed upon the top of the steep slope and slid down, leaving two wide, deep tracks of snow where her feet had passed. Upon reaching the bottom of the hill, Annie sprinted up and towards the forest.

Gilda landed down behind her while Flash Sentry continued to fly behind Gilda, turning around to be Annie’s eyes from behind. As he looked back, seeing nothing amiss, he looked at the boulder that had destroyed the bridge. On the side of it, there was a black, wavy ring upon it. Flash Sentry huffed, realizing that it really wasn’t coincidence.

A bang sounded from the train, and a red ball of light flew high into the air, leaving a pillar of smoke in its wake. Flash Sentry, already realizing the certainty of the Fates’ arrival, glanced behind him to see the forest within only a few yards. Landing back on his hooves, he galloped behind Annie and Gilda and disappeared into the cover of the forest with them.