The train continued to chug along as Twilight looked outside of the window towards the besieged city. I couldn't see much of her face, but I knew that anger was the main expression she wore. Her ears folded back as her hoof tapped impatiently against the seat she sat on. She releases a frustrated sigh as she continues to keep her eyes locked onto the mountainside.

Shining, on the other hand, was busy sharpening his sword. With each few seconds, a metallic scraping sound could be heard as he brushed the blade against a smooth stone. With each flick, with each scrape, I could already see his growing desire to plunge the sharpened tool into one's side or throat. I don't think it was the fact that he was holding a weapon that intimidated me the most, but rather the calm, emotionless demeanor that sat upon his face. It was almost like he didn't care about taking a few lives. I get that he may have grown used to it, but it still creeps me out.

I'm sitting in the back of the train, looking at the two siblings as they both watched their home city being attacked from a distance. Two royals who despised the very race we were set to confront. Twilight didn't seem like she was too worried back at the palace as soon as she saw blood on the floor. Instead, it was almost like she had gotten used to it herself. Then again, if Cadance was trained to be proficient with a weapon, then it could also be the same with Twilight.

That thought just terrified me.

Twilight, the kind and gentle mare that would always do whatever she could to make me happy, to give me time when she had none for herself, my fiancee... To think of her simply carving her way through countless bodies to reach me. It would be terrifying to see her covered in blood as she walked towards me, hoping that I would kiss her shortly after. But then again, I'd have to keep in consideration that she'd only go so far if it was indeed necessary.

It's not a foreign thought to protect what you love. And in this case, it was no different. They had a father who was a retiree of a very prominent position. And if Spade─may he rest in peace─was right, then that means that he was just as wanted as the enlisted higher-ups were. And I'm pretty sure that the thought of losing their father was motivating them to cut and carve their way through the city to make sure he was safe.

Meanwhile, I'm just as out of place as a rainbow elephant in a room full of gray furniture. I couldn't really be of much help aside from batting down whoever I came across... That just made me think about something.

In order to make it out of this scuffle alive, I'd have to kill someone.

Yes I know that I'm not killing a human being, so my conscious should be eased, right? I'm a human, so what does a few kills of something that's not of my own species would equate to? Nothing, that's what. If I wanna run around and hack away at whatever runs at me, I should be able to do that with no problems whatsoever. As long as it isn't human, then I shouldn't harbor too much guilt, right?

If only it were that easy.

When Spade died, I was there to help usher him out. And in the end, he felt a desire to know if he had performed his duties to it's completion. He wanted closure so badly that he wouldn't have left this world peacefully without having it. Now imagine had he never completed his task, had he been left to die at the mercy of a species that sought to kill and destroy everything that he stood for. I could already see the twisted expressions on his face, the look of abject horror as he drew his final breaths, knowing that he'd die without being held, dying alone with no one to recognize him, to leave this world without any closure and with fear of that circumstance, that very same fear making you cry out as they did whatever they wanted to you.

Now I can truly understand my grandfathers strife with the past, how Shining feels when he wants to drink the pain away.

So I'm sitting in the back, watching the two ponies do what they were doing a few minutes ago, what they've been doing for the entire train ride. I looked back down to the sword sitting casually on my lap. I could easily trace out the intricate details of the scabbard that housed the blade, curling my fingers alongside each crevice and shape to help me pass the time. But before I could, the train screeched to a sudden halt. My head jolted up and my hand pulled the sword and scabbard away from my body as I prepared to draw.

Shining and Twilight looked to one another and nodded silently as they each took to a door on either side of the train. I quietly unsheathed my sword and waited patiently on their move. My eyes cut across the cart we stood in. To my left I could see off of the mountain we were placed upon. And just a couple of yards, I could see the edge of the cliff. To my right, I could see a shadow approaching the window. It moved rather quickly as it closed in on us.

"INCOMING! THREE O'CLOCK!"

Twilight and Shining looked back over to my position as I readied myself for what ever came at us. Twilight's eyes widened as she saw the dark blur making a beeline for me. "Nondis!"

The window broke, letting a smoke-gray creature in. As I ducked away from the shards of broken glass, I could see that the creature was some sort of equine. Yet at the same time, it had the same wings as a fly. Even it's coat looked hardened in comparison to the equines I've come across. It hissed loudly as it leaped towards me. I pulled myself up, picked up my sword and started to drive the creature back. As I did, more crashed into the train cart in an attempt to ambush Twilight and her older brother.

A bad decision on their part.

Twilight turned around and gave two a magical bolt of energy to the face as Shining punched another back out the window it came from. The one I fought continued to snap it's jaws at me while I slashed and thrusted my blade to keep it at bay. Shining magically pulled one of the creatures towards him as he held his sword out to welcome it's victim. Twilight drove a powerful hoof into the side of another, causing it to buckle down in pain. As it laid on the ground, she raised herself to her hind legs and let her body weight shift towards her forelegs as she aimed for the creature's head. The creature I still fought snapped and snarled as I waived my sword at it.

I wasn't intending to kill it, but it was making it really hard not to. When I swung my sword at it again, the insectoid equine pounced on top of me, bearing it's fangs at me. I raised my weapon to fend it off when it doubled back to bite at me. I raised my sword to hopefully deter it to pull back. Unfortunately, it was far too late for the creature to pull away. Unwittingly, I plunged the blade deep into it's chest. The creature stood over me, hissing and coughing as it continued to plunge itself deeper on my blade. When it's teeth was mere inches away from my face, I could already feel the warmth of it's blood trickling all over my hands and onto my chest through my shirt. The creature finally stopped breathing and became nothing more than a dead weight on my weapon. I kicked it off, shaking with horror as I entertained the thought of it trying to eat me.

"WHAT THE SHIT IS THAT FUCKING THING!?" I screamed as I trembled a bit from the unusual experience.

"A changeling." Shining Armor confirmed. "These are the things that are attacking all of Canterlot."

"IT TRIED TO EAT ME!"

"Well," Twilight began. "Now that you know what we're going against, I guess you won't be so reserved the next time."

I'm still shaking from staring at the open jaws of a creature that I didn't know about until moments earlier. "THAT MOTHERFUCKER TRIED TO EAT ME!"

"Nondis, calm down." Shining suggested as he started to survey if any of the creatures had survived.

"CALM DOWN!? THAT FUCKER TRIED TO HAVE ME AS A SNACK! I'M NOT GONNA GO OUT LIKE THAT!"

Twilight wiped her hooves clean by summoning a rag. Shortly afterwards, she walked over to me. Twilight held me towards her as she spoke. "Nondis, I need you to calm down. No, there's no way that I'm gonna let you get hurt."

"THEN EXPLAIN WHY IT TRIED TO EAT ME!"

Twilight sighed as she stared at the corpse of the changeling I slayed. "Changelings bite are venomous, and what it does is that it will try to paralyze the muscles of the body for a short period of time. If it paralyzes the head or the neck, then you would be in some serious trouble. But aside from that, Changelings do not eat meat... unless when extremely starved."

Like that makes me feel any better. "That's nice to know. But that still doesn't help me get over the fact that one tried to sink it's teeth into my skin... And for that matter, how do we know that they aren't extremely starved now?"

"Well either way, it's dead." Shining concluded as he walked towards the one I stabbed. "So it won't be biting you for a while."

"And again, I'm perfectly fine with that. But what about the others?"

Shining turned back to me. "Well in that case, you'll have to do the only thing that's available to you. You either kill them, or be killed by them. The choice is yours."

"Shining!" Twilight called out sternly, upset by the brashness of his statement.

"He's right." I admitted, finally accepting that I might have to take a life to spare my own in this situation. "I can't fuck around." Giving myself a few slaps to whip myself back into shape, I shook my head and got my mind back on track to the task at hand. "I gotta do this."

"Nondis, you don't have to go as far as we do. We've gotten used to it already." Twilight argued as I started to make my way towards the door leading outside.

That was a shot to my pride. "And let me sit around as my princess girlfriend knock heads with the Changelings? If I'm gonna get approved, then I need to step up to the plate."

"Nondis, there's nothing heroic about doing something that-"

"Are you two done?" Shining interrupted as he opened the door to step outside. "Because if you're not, then I'm just gonna go on ahead and meet up with you in the city."

Twilight stopped and stared at me as she took a moment to think. "Nondis, I need you to secure this train. If there are any passengers on board, you need to liberate them at all costs."

"But what about-"

"We'll go to Canterlot and help out there. It won't take us long. Between the two of us as well as Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, we'll be done in a short while."

"But Twilight-" I was silenced by a pair of lips clenching against mine. Twilight pulled off of me as quickly as she threw herself at me.

"I don't want you getting hurt. It's not that I don't trust your skills, you're a very talented fighter. But I can't risk losing you. You're the only human here in Equestria, so getting medical help specified for you will be far too difficult. Remember, you may be a guard but you're still a protected species. That hasn't changed since you've came here."

I kissed my teeth and took a deep breath, shaking my head as I spoke. "Then why am I here? I'm a guard for a reason, Twilight."

"Do you trust me?"

"Of course I do, but it seems like you don't trust me at all."

Seeming appalled at my statement, Twilight became defensive in her arguments. "I do trust you. Haven't I told you that already?"

Shining shrugged and started to walk off. "Okay, I can see that this is going nowhere. I'm moving out."

"Twilight, I came here to help you! Don't you see that!?"

"I do! I just can't afford to let you get hurt! You're too precious to me!"

"Twilight, I'm going to get hurt! That's in my job description!"

"And!? Following my orders is in your job description as well!"

"So you're ordering me to stay behind while you go out and fight on the front lines!?"

"I'M USED TO THAT!" She hollered to the top of her voice. "Before you came here, I was on the front line fighting villains that threatened to send the land into an eternal night, turn the world inside out, enslave the pony race, a five-hundred year heat wave, a dragon that threatened to send Ponyville into a one-hundred year period under smoke, a corrupted unicorn, went to another world and fought against another corrupted unicorn, came back to fight off a magical plant infestation, battle against a magic-stealing centaur that almost took over all of Equestria, and the very same individual responsible for this invasion. And if I let you go against any of that, then I would've failed as your protector!"

"Twilight, I don't-"

"Every time I sleep at night, I receive a vision of you with a hole in your chest! I see flowers lined up beside a wooden box! I see you with your eyes closed inside of that box while I'm wearing a black dress! 'WHAT PART OF 'I'M SCARED TO LOSE YOU' DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND!?" She screamed at me, finally breaking down into tears. "And my worst fear is that I won't be able to do anything to help."

"Twilight-"

"I'm not gonna risk losing you! Not now!" She nuzzled me harshly, passionately as her hooves clenched around my body. Her cheeks were stained with the same tears I saw just earlier this morning. I held back onto her. As my hands wrapped around her, she clenched me even harder. I knew that this wouldn't be short. And despite the current circumstances, which urges us to carry on to more precedent matters, this was a time where she was also on edge and in need of comfort. She's risking the loss of her father as well as showing concern that I'd be biting the dust.

A battle of two loves. She doesn't know which to choose so she's going for the safest option.

"Twilight. Go on ahead. I'll take care of things here." I whispered in her ear.

The purple mare, sank her lips into mine once more before galloping off. But she stopped herself before walking out of the door and turned back to me. "Thank you for understanding. When we get back, I swear to you that I-"

"Don't you have a dad to save?" I questioned cutting her short.

"...I'll let it be a surprise then." She said as she turned back around. The moment she leapt off of the train, a few more changelings swooped in and tried to subdue her. With relative ease, she dispatched all three that came in. Two of which she knocked unconscious, the last one she left to perish from it's wounds. And even from a distance, I could tell from the caved-in skull of the not-so-fortunate creature, that he was a goner.

She did all of this with her bare hooves... Note to self: remind me never to piss her off.

---

For the past hour and a half, I have been walking from cart to cart, trying to clear out whatever changelings I encountered. I guess it didn't help me much that they were running rampant throughout the mountainside. I think I killed a decent thirteen of them on my own as well as dispatching several others. But as the time progressed, I had started to realize that they concentrated themselves in whatever cart that was in front of me, as well as ambushing the one I was already in. At this point I couldn't distinguish them any differently from German cockroaches; they keep coming and it seems like they come back with greater numbers. The more I fight off, the more I encounter as I continue along the carts.

But this cart especially, they seemed to have fortified their positions a lot more. Not only did they come back in greater numbers, but their animosity seemed to increase. They became a lot more aggressive than what I had originally encountered. They were faster, stronger, smarter, and harder to take down. But after half an hour of trying to funnel them through a single doorway, I managed to maim twenty, kill seven more and send three more running for mom. I wasn't complaining, it means less of those motherfuckers for me to fight.

Clearing what could've been the most fortified cart, I huffed and puffed as I tried to catch my breath. Despite the fact that I had an objective to complete, I still needed to breathe for a bit. Besides, if I can't catch my breath after ninety minutes of strenuous and deadly physical activity, then there was no way that I would be able to continue this lone-wolf operation. So instead, I decided to take a lean against the door and hear what I would have to deal with next. Trying to be as quiet as I possibly could, I placed my ear against the door and tried to listen in on what was going on next door.

"How hard is it!? I told you ponies to keep your head low and keep quiet!"

---

--The next cart over--

"How hard is it!? I told you ponies to keep your head low and keep quiet!" A changeling officer, dressed in stolen E.U.P. armor, commanded as he and a few others marched back and forth with stolen weapons in tow.

The cart full of civilians all whimpered and whined as the other changelings continued to harass them to keep them submissive. Many of them were either families on vacation or business ponies en-route to their respective jobs. A few others were just tourists and journalists. The remaining few were staff of the train. Even then, there wasn't too many on board, just enough to fill a caboose a little over it's maximum capacity.

"If you work with us, we will refrain from taking any lives! Try to play 'hero' and you will be made an example of! If you want a prime example, then I'd suggest that you speak to the conductor that we just escorted out not too long ago."

---

Conductor? That means that they must have sent him to the front of the train. I didn't see anyone resembling that of a train operator on my way up here, so the front would be the better assumption. If I can get with him, then we can get this train moving again. We needed to leave this place, it's swarming with changelings.

---

The changeling officer paced back and forth as he continued to patrol the hostages. His ears flicked as soon as he heard a low grumble of some sort. He turned around and shot a menacing glare at the hostages towards the back of the cart.

"Who was that!?" The entire train whimpered in horror of his voice. The captain continued to walk from pony to pony, harassing them to identify the source of the disturbance. "I demand to know who that was!"

All of the ponies remained silent. The captain drew his blade and struck a handlebar nearby, causing a loud ringing sound and a few sparks to fly. The ponies on the train squealed in fear of their safety as the officer continued to feign his anger. "Who in the Queen's name was that!? I thought I told you all to remain silent."

He turned his attention towards a little pegasus colt that sat between his parents. As he approached, the earth pony mare leaned over her son to protect him as the pegasus stallion bravely stood in the way to defend them both. The officer stopped inches away from the stallion, waving his blade in the father's face. "Do I suspect a hero amongst us?"

"Please, sir. We did nothing to hurt you, now leave my son out of this." The stallion pleaded.

The changeling looked towards the colt in the seat and his mother, giving them both an evil grin. He whispered to himself. "All of that love. The compassion of a mother defending one's own offspring. That is a love that proves too powerful to ignore." He turned his attention to the stallion and also saw something that pleased him. "And even now, I could see the bravery in this colt. He too desires to protect what is dearest to him. A father, willing to sacrifice himself for the safety of his own family. That too, is a love of significant volume."

The stallion feared for his life, but not as much as he did for his family as the changeling officer held the blade to his throat. The insectoid creature hummed gleefully as he called out to his accomplices. "Hey boys, you feeling hungry today?"

"Am I ever!" One of them called back.

"I can't wait to get my hooves on some quality love!" The other cosigned.

"What are we eating?" Another asked.

The officer hissed as he pressed the blade further against the stallion's throat. "Our lunch for the afternoon consists of a rich helping of love, fresh from a cowering family. A son, young and innocent, devoid of all guilt of this world, forced to see what unfortunate circumstances would soon to befall upon his parents. A mother, who ascends upon the mantle of guardianship with the desire to protect her precious offspring from dangers seen and present. Last but not least, a father who would fight to the death, sacrificing life and limb to make sure that his family remains safe."

The other changelings started to drool as they eyed the cowering family. "You mean..." one of the changelings started.

"That's right, a three-piece meal. All for the taking."

"...Barbaric vultures..." A voice mumbled out from the center of the train.

The three changeling grunts hissed violently at the insult as the officer removed the sword from the stallion's throat, still leaving a shallow wound on his neck. He turned his attention to a gray mare who scolded her husband for his speaking out. "You were supposed to remain quiet. Just leave it alone." She whispered.

"No, I'm tired of this. I will not sit here and wait for them to feed on an innocent family!"

The changeling officer stood in front of a blue unicorn who stared right back at him. The creature looked at the unicorn with extreme disgust. "And who would you be?"

The stallion snarled back. "Why should I reveal my name to a gathering of bugs? They'll be trampled underhoof anyhow."

"Stop this!" The grey unicorn mare urged to her husband.

The officer gritted his teeth with indignation as he tried to pull the mare out of her seat. "Since you want to speak out of turn, then I'll let you watch as we punish her instead."

"Get your slimy nubs off my wife, you son of a whore!"

All the changelings in the cart hissed loudly as they turned their attention to the blue unicorn stallion. The officer threw the mare to the side and landed a powerful blow towards the stallion's abdomen, causing him to buckle down from the loss of air. He followed up his first strike by shoving the stallion's face into the ground below. As he held him under his hoof, he looked at the stallion with extreme disdain. The mare, who began to recover from her earlier launch across the walkway looked on with horror as two changelings held her husband up to face the changeling officer.

"Take him to the front. Let him talk his heroics up with the conductor."

---

Finally catching my breath, I readied myself to bust inside. But I knew if I had just walked inside and started swinging my sword, I'd have to put several civilian lives at risk. Not only that, but if I had to fight them, they'd be able to swarm at me from different directions. In other words, I couldn't just slice my way into this cart like I have for the past ninety-some-odd minutes. I needed to tactical.

I have to gather them in a single place and take them out as quickly as possible. If I round them up, then it will reduce the collateral damage. But the question is how was I going to do it...

I think I have an idea. It might be crazy and stupid, but I think it will work even better than just swinging my sword around like I was a Jedi. Here it goes...

"Who is it!?"

I held onto my trachea and pinched a little bit so that I could have my voice sound a bit raspier. I decided to speak in a nasally voice that imitated their own. "I'm just coming back from patrol. We got a situation going on in Canterlot! Permission to debrief, sir!"

The door began to open and I reached for my weapon. As the door open and the changeling crept around to greet me, he spoke briefly.

"What's the situ-"

The entire cart became surprised by the sudden discharge. While the changeling that greeted me fell dead to the ground, I took aim for the other two on the side of the room.

Screams of the patrons filled the cart as I ran forward, brandishing my sword in one hand as I held my black M9 in the other. The other two creatures looked on with shock as one started to back away. The officer, shaken up himself, decided to send his subordinate in after me rather than going at me on his own. "Don't just sit there! Get him!"

The changeling grunt screeched as he charged at me. His charge was cut short as he met with the end of my blade, all just as I pulled myself to the side to avoid him. While he fell to the ground, sputtering and squirming for a while, the officer started to back away, showing it's fangs in a display of feral bravery. He let loose a mighty loud hiss as his back arched and he readied himself to pounce.

And in one report, the officer landed to his side, jaw still agape as he fell lifelessly to the ground. The train remained silent as they all stared at me, mortified of what I would do to them. I looked over to see a blue unicorn stallion looking at me with amazement. Meanwhile, a gray unicorn mare ran past me to tend to the recovering stallion.

"Crescent!" She shouted to him as he blinked and shook his head. She placed a hoof on his cheek, inspecting him for any injuries. As soon as she verified that he wasn't too banged up, she hugged the stallion. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." He quickly responded, looking at me. "I'm more worried about who's side he's on."

I extended my hand to greet his hoof as I introduced myself. "Nondis. Private First Class of the Equestrian E.U.P. Guard. I'm not one of them."

He continued to look at me questioningly, never taking a moment to except my greeting. "You're not one of us either. I still don't trust you. What company are you in?"

"Royal Guard Division, Three-hundred-and-first regiment, Delta Squadron. Stationed in Ponyville and commanded by none other than Captain Shining Armor."

The stallion looked at me muddled and with shock. "You're under my son?"

I'm pretty sure that I returned that same exact look. "You're Twilight and Shining's dad?"

The mare that stood beside him gave me the look. "You know Twilight?"

...Did I just finish both my mission as well as Twilight's? Either way... "Yes ma'am. I'm stationed in Ponyville as her personal guard." And I'm going to be your new son-in-law. Isn't this amazing/awkward?

"My goodness. If you're supposed to be guarding my daughter, then what in blazing saddles are you doing here?" The stallion named Crescent inquired with a scowl.

"My orders were to clear out the train and ensure the safety of the passengers, as well as employees." I answered.

"Yet you were positioned to a princess. Why have you abandoned her?" The mare asked with concern.

"Because she was too busy worrying about me to let me go with her and Shining-"

"That's no excuse! I demand a better explanation on why you've left my daughter to walk into danger!" The mare asked. Captain obvious is stating that this gray mare with purple highlights in her mane was Twilight's mother. Amazingly, she looks exactly like her, just with a longer mane done with bangs and a curl on one side, a different color scheme, different cutie mark, blue eyes, smaller in body, and minus the wings. "Hello! I'm waiting!"

Let me stop staring and answer her question before I start to get hounded on. "She gave me that order, ma'am."

"And don't you think there are times to disobey orders, good sir!?" She was not letting me get off easy.

"Ma'am, she forced me to stay here, despite my pleading with her to take me with her. She told me to stay on this train to help the passengers while she went off to Canterlot to look for the two of you. Shining went with her as well."

"Are you so incompetent that your superior is doing your job for you?"

She is tearing me a new one. And I'm usually a patient person, but GODDAMN WAS SHE WORKING MY NERVES! "Ma'am, with all due respect. I just saved your-"

"And you would choose to save me over protecting my daughter, who just so happens to be a protector of this realm!? What kind of guard are you to abandon your princess in pursuit of personal glory!?"

I see where Shining get's his animosity from. "Look, I was ordered to this train. I was ordered to clear this train. I was ordered to-"

"You were ordered to stand by my daughter, no matter the circumstances! Some husband you'll be!"

"Ma'am, if I could expla-" Hold on a sec... "H-h-husband?"

"Well you're the one called Nondis, correct? I do remember you introducing yourself as such."

So... she already knew from the moment I gave off my name. She's... what a fucking troll. "Yes. And you were just heckling me, weren't you?"

"Oh maliciously!" Crescent answered as he started to laugh at my misfortune. "I can't wait to tell little Twilight about this!"

"Little?" I asked, feeling somewhat confused.

"Now where are my manners? I never got around to introducing myself." She stated coyly. "My name is Twilight Velvet. I'm the original Twilight. The one you're currently pursuing is my carbon copy. Although the print didn't come out just right, I still love her nonetheless."

Something tells me that she's going to be taking shots at everyone and everything all day. "An honor to meet you, ma'am." I said as I extended my hand once more.

"If it's such an honor, then why didn't you get to meet the original Twilight Sparkle anytime sooner?" She quipped.

"Well, I was under the impression that I was going to leave." I answered truthfully.

"So if you were going to leave my daughter, despite her desire to have you, then what does that make you then?"

Now that's low. "But I-"

"Sonny," Crescent began. "If you're going to learn anything, you should learn to never take anything she says seriously. She wouldn't tell you your house was on fire until after the fact."

They're almost like an old married couple. Then again...

"Just like you said that you'll pull out before you released. And thus Twilight was conceived!"

Okay, we're getting a little personal here. Time to change the subject. "Well, I'm glad that-"

"Oh, and I suppose that Shining was my fault too? I suggested we'd wear a condom, you said it would feel better without it!"

Twilight Velvet laughed. "And here I thought you said to never take what I have to say seriously."

"At the time, I didn't know that!"

"And two foals later, you still won't cuddle with me after. I suppose I'll find me another pony to cuddle."

Wait a minute, we don't need to go that far! "Uh-"

"If that's the case, then why don't you cuddle with Nondis over there?" Crescent suggested as he pointed at me. Twilight Velvet began to smile as she zipped over towards me, grabbing my arm and tugging it towards her.

"You know... that's not a bad idea. I need to see if he's even equipped to satisfy a mare, let alone my daughter."

WHY ARE WE EVEN TALKING ABOUT THIS!? WHY IS THIS A THING!? "Ma'am, that won't be-"

She brushed a hoof against my lower abdomen, partially lifting my shirt. "So break it out, human. Let's see what all the hubbub's about. Obviously Twilight had gotten in trouble over you, so I might as well see if you were worth the commotion."

There are foals here. Have you no shame? "No thanks."

"Are you implying that your length, girth, and stamina is insufficient to properly please my daughter?"

Now she's calling me shrimp dick? HELL NO! "Well no, not re-"

Her hoof lightly tapped at the crotch of my pants. She grabbed me much like Twilight does when she's usually in the mood to tease me. And her name was Twilight too... FUCK! "Well in that case, let's see what you're hiding underneath all of these clothes."

I try to back away, bumping into the door that lead to the conductor cart. I looked towards Crescent and stared with amazement. "Sir, your wife is sexually harassing me. Why are you okay with this?"

The blue stallion merely shrugged his shoulders as he sat back and watched. "I dunno."

"So what are the human mating rituals? I find that my daughter would find immense pleasure in knowing the detailed specifics used to turn you on."

Between her gently petting my crotch and pulling my arm towards her, I'm caught between a rock and and a hard dick right now. "Ma'am. There are foals present." I whispered.

"Yes, but nothing is wrong with a little education. After all, this stuff comes naturally to us. They'll learn about it sooner or later."

She's playing with me, in a train full of ponies, with dead changelings lying on the floor. She can't be serious. "Um..."

Giving me a playful bop on the nose, she giggled and teased me for my being flustered. "You're such a stick! Loosen up!"

"Ma'am, there are dead changelings on the ground. All of which I've killed, and that's not including the ones I killed to get up here. I'm not going to be loose until I see-"

Suddenly, the train shook and jolted a bit, indicating that the engine had started to run. There was no whistle to indicate that we were moving, instead we were moving regardless. We started to proceed towards the city, moving slowly and rapidly increasing in speed. I at least didn't need to sit around and wait to find the conductor to get this train moving. We also saw quite a few of the changelings retreating from the city overhead.

Evidently, Twilight and Shining were winning.

---

--Meanwhile in Canterlot Castle--

"Once again, we thank you for your unflinching bravery, your undying loyalty, and your strength in this time of great peril. We can only offer our sincerest apologies for your inability to locate your father."

A council consisting of the remaining generals and officers bowed their heads in reverence to the prince and princess that stood before them. Shining remained silent as Twilight spoke in his place. "Thank you. Let us know if you should find out anything about him."

"Of course. This is the only way to properly thank you both for your assistance. If it wasn't for your intervention, we would've lost many more lives in this catastrophe."

The small remnant of the Equestrian Military council has lined themselves up in front of both Shining Armor and Twilight Sparkle as they gave their salutes to the two royals. Shining Armor grimaced as he returned his as Twilight continued to show an optimistic front. Shortly after the newly-rescued members of the council took their leave, Shining finally stormed out of the room, having his younger sister following close behind.

"A breach in security, assassinations and executions of multiple officers, and now this. I can't believe we came all this way to find out that dad's M.I.A.. And we haven't even found a trace of mom either." The stallion voiced with unease.

"We'll find them. I know we will. We just have to remain positive." The purple princess stated as they both walked down the disorganized halls of the royal palace.

"I'm trying... But how are we going to find them in this mess? Canterlot is in shambles and we don't even know if they're under a damn building somewhe-"

Twilight stopped walking and teleported directly in front of her brother, causing him to back away a bit. "Don't you EVER insinuate that our parents are hurt or worse! They are perfectly fine and they won't need any medical help when we find them. Do I make myself clear?"

Shining shook his head with disapproval. "Twily-"

"We are both in positions of power. If we want to find them, we can and will."

"Okay then. Tell me where we would look at first. The place we stayed at when we were younger is in shambles, our mom is nowhere to be found, and our dad is a target. Try to find some optimism in that."

"They could be still alive. That's what's driving me now. That's what should be driving you."

Shining started to walk towards the window, looking out in the distance to see parts of the city in a smolder. He drew in a deep breath as he watched the medical teams perform their jobs in the streets below. "Twilight, we just saved a group of stallions and mares that ranked either the same or higher than I do. If he's not in that group, then where could he be?"

Twilight walked beside her older brother as she nuzzled him lightly. "He's safe. Let's start there."

"'Safe' isn't a place. Where do we really start?" The stallion asked his younger sister.

The younger mare placed a hoof on her older brother's shoulder. "Shining, we'll be okay. They'll be okay. I don't need the new Brigadier General to start going into a panic. I need you to remain calm, cool, and collected. That's the only way we'll get things done."

Shining scoffed at his new military title. "What difference does it make? If I can't protect two ponies from harm, then what good will a shiny, new button do for me?"

Twilight continued to peer off into the distance towards the mountainside entrance of the city. "I know that you've lost your confidence. You think you're the only one?"

Shining looked into the distance, only seeing the mountain and the lands beyond it. "So you're scared too?"

"I'm terrified. But that doesn't mean that I shouldn't keep a positive outlook on things."

Shining looked even further into the distance, something catching his eye. "Maybe we're thinking on opposite ends. I have another thought in my head as I'm saying these things aloud."

"And that is?"

"I'm optimistic, but I keep myself in the mindset of the worst-case scenario."

Twilight turned to her older brother. "Why?"

"Because I find that whatever I say ends up being the opposite. I jinx myself when I say everything will be just fine. So who's to say that the theory doesn't work both ways?"

Twilight rolled her eyes at her brother's logic. "If you keep going on about it, then you might just convince yourself that it would actually happen."

"Yeah, but it never failed me this far. Why go against something that I know works out for my good?"

"That's not exactly healthy."

Shining chuckled a bit as he continued to stare in the distance. "I know."

As the time continued to progress, Shining started to become concerned over what was going on in the distance. Twilight seemed too busy thinking about their parents to notice the moving pillar of smoke rapidly ascending the mountainside. "Twily, I gotta ask. Did you ever give Nondis any special instructions?"

Twilight glanced over at her brother. "No, I just told him to secure the train. Why?"

"Did you give him any orders to start the train?"

"Why do you ask that?" The purple mare questioned as Shining rose off of the window seal.

"Oh no. This is bad." He mumbled to himself as he started to gallop at full speed towards another opening to get a better view of the situation. "Twily, we gotta go, kiddo!"

Twilight took after her brother and saw the train approaching the city at a blistering speed. "That train is going way too fast. It'll derail on the smallest curb at this rate!"

"That's not the problem." Shining pointed out.

"Then what is?" The princess asked her older sibling.

Shining directed her head in the direction where he was looking. As soon as her eyes met up with where he was looking, she felt something within her body sink into her stomach. Her heart started to pound furiously as she began to panic.

"That's... a really big problem."

---

--Back on the train--

Crescent and I held down the wounded changeling that charged after me just earlier as we continued to interrogate the creature for information in regards to his orders. Twilight Velvet, Velvet for short, continued to look after the other passengers.

"Okay, we're going to go over this one last time. Who sent you?" Crescent asked sternly.

The changeling coughed as he spurred and snarled at us both. "We will never give up. For the future of our colony-"

Crescent gave him a well-placed stomp to his hind leg, still making sure that he didn't break anything as of yet. The changeling yelped as the blue unicorn snarled back at him. "Your future doesn't exist. I think it would be best to clarify your intentions. At least then you'll have a future."

"Dude, we're gonna be here all day dealing with you. Just tell us what your objective is so we can throw you out the window or something." I stated impatiently as I tried to keep calm.

"Um, boys." Velvet began. "I don't mean to get off track, but don't you think we should be stopping this train?"

We then turned to her. "Why stop now? We're almost at the city." I asked.

She grabbed and pulled me towards the window and pointed to the bridge that lead into the city. My eyes opened wide as I saw the damaged span, or rather the missing part of the bridge. There was a large gaping hole where the arch used to be and instead of leading towards the city, the tracks gave out and lead us towards the craggy, sharp rocks below.

"Oh... fffffuck..." I muttered to myself in horror.

The changeling started to laugh as he looked at my reaction to the bridge being out. The other ponies started to see what we were on edge about and began to panic. Crescent looked at me once and realized that there was something extremely wrong. Turning his attention back to the laughing changeling, he bashed his head against the flooring. "Shut up, you!"

"Well, at least my future isn't the only one that won't exist." He joked as Crescent growled at him.

"What did you do with the conductor?" I asked the changeling.

"Him? He's quite beside himself right now." The creature answered.

I immediately walked towards the conductor's cart and opened the door to see who was manning the controls. Instead, I was greeted by an immense heat as the engine started to overheat. I shielded my face as the searing temperatures threatened to cook my skin. I looked to the side of me and saw a brake lever that had the wires pulled out from below, the shaft covered in blood. I looked up and discovered a severed head sitting on top of it like a ghoulish decoration of some sort. The stallions eyes were well placed on his own body that rested mere inches away from him against the wall. A look of despair sat upon his face and remained there as all color faded from his expression.

Well, I guess this will be a thing I'll remember in therapy. Closing the door back and leaving the cart, I looked at Crescent and shook my head. "Conductor's out of commission."

"How out of it?" Velvet asked as she walked beside her husband.

I could only shake my head in response to her question. I tried to let words come out, but silence choked out my thoughts. I sighed deeply as I placed a hand on my forehead and thought about what to do next. My heart was beating faster than what this train was chugging out. My stomach was trying to climb out of my throat. My eyes expanded to twice their size as I continued to panic.

"You okay?" Crescent asked as he removed himself from the changeling's side.

I quickly denied his question with a rapid shake of my head. "...Naaaahhhhh..." I stated as I looked back to the closed door, thinking about what I had just seen. "I'm... I-I-I'm good, but he's not."

Crescent walked up to the door I stood in front of, kindly pushed me out of the way, opened the door, peeked inside, and immediately withdrew himself for a short while due to the heat. After placing up a magic shield around himself, he looked to the left and saw the remains of the conductor. After leaving the cart, slamming the door shut, he shook his head with shame. "Damn creatures, have they no sense of respect."

"What's his status?" Velvet asked.

"Dearly departed."

"Then who's controlling the train?" She asked worriedly.

"Nopony as of now."

Velvet threatened to enter into the cart. "Then shouldn't there be a lever of some sort that could stop this train?"

"Brakes are cut." I quietly recalled, thinking about the hellish imagery that refused to leave my head.

She stopped short of opening the door as her husband withheld her from going any further. "We have to stop this train somehow!"

"Velvet, do you know how to operate a train?" Crescent asked.

She brushed her husband off and started to advance. "How hard could it be?"

Suddenly, in an ironic twist of fate, we heard the sound of metal moaning and creaking. And shortly after, a small explosion took place in the cart ahead. The cart started to catch fire as well as billow out black smoke. Both Crescent and I turned to her in silence as she looked back at us with embarrassment.

"So... Plan B?"

My mind, still a jumbled mess, tried it's best to come up with an escape plan. I knew that I was in a rush to do something, but if I didn't think of something, we'd all be dead. My mind continued to go over the details of the situation, almost simulating the results of each one. I know that it's too difficult and dangerous to just leap out of the train at this speed. Especially considering that we were on the mountainside, jumping wouldn't be a smart option. I thought about disconnecting the cart, but then I had thought about the size of the mass in relation to the motion that we're traveling. That meant we needed to cut down on mass for it to work. Otherwise, we'd still be running over that bridge and into the rocks below. With each mental simulation that passed, we became ever closer to a painful, imminent doom. I began to size down the simulation and think of any alternatives... Think dammit, think!

Size it down... That's where it hit me.

I stood off of the ground and pointed to the other side of the cabin. "Everypony! Your attention please!" I called out. "I need you all to run to the back of the train. Move quickly to the final cart and do not, I repeat, DO NOT grab anything that can be replaced. That will only slow us down! Move in an orderly fashion, do not shove! Let's go people!"

"What are you planning?" Crescent asked.

"We're gonna detach the carts as we go along." I added as we walked towards the back.

Velvet walked up to us both and gave us her input. "That front lock is welded shut from those flames. We'd have to detach ourselves from this cart instead."

"Well, we're going to be in the back, so it doesn't matter."

"What about him?" Velvet asked, pointing to the wounded changeling.

It didn't take any time for me to think about what to do with him. He had information, so he needed to be kept alive. Simple as that. "Take him with us."

---

--Back in Canterlot--

Twilight and Shining ran as fast as they could to the chariot hanger. Guards greeted them with salutes and bows as they eagerly started to unfasten one the chariots. One of the guards spoke. "Could we help you with anything, your highness?"

Twilight angrily pulled at the strap, trying her best to undo the latch that held the vehicle to the ground. Finally seeing her efforts being in vain, she turned to the guard and pointed at the object of her frustration. "Undo these bonds! We need to catch a train!"

"But your highness, there shouldn't a train coming in since the travel advisory went out just an hour ago."

"There's one coming now!" Shining rebutted. "And if we don't stop it, then we might not ever get to see that train, or it's passengers, ever again. Now undo these locks!"

A more distinguished colt in armor walked up with a checklist. "Sir, I'm going to need you to-"

"FUCK PROTOCOL, THIS IS AN EMERGENCY!" Shining yelled out, getting the stallion's attention.

Twilight took the list and signed her name and listed the reason for take-out was for 'rescue operation'. After the colt received the list and read the excuse, he nodded in respect and backed away. As he did, he called for his best stallions to line up before him.

"Steeds! Attention!" The stallion with the checklist ordered. A long line of pegasi lined up in front of him, wings flared open as he marched back and forth between them. He turned back to Shining Armor, who was pulling apart the locks and straps along with another stallion who was familiar with the set-up. "Sir, our finest fliers are currently at your disposal. How many do you need?"

Twilight wasted no time as she simply blasted the last strap holding the chariot down. "All of them! I've got a plan!"

---

--Back on the train--

As we waited for the final group of passengers to leave the first cart, we started to place the plan into action. We all jumped aboard the second cart. As we finally evacuated the first cart, we turned our attention to the lock that held the compartments together. Crescent removed the bolt that locked us in, freeing us from the runaway caboose. We carried on our operation towards the very back of the train.

As we all continued to move from cart to cart, we continued to detach ourselves to minimize the mass. Also, we started to see a noticeable degree of separation from one cart to another. When we had finally reached the final compartment, ironically where my mission began, we detached the final lock and waited for the slow down. We kept moving, but at a significantly lower pace than that of the initial speed. Though we crept forward, we were no longer bound to the fiery engine that flew onto the bridge. Each cart, moved towards the bridge at their own pace.

Meanwhile, the final caboose, filled with all of the passengers of the train. Velvet continued to finish off where Crescent and I left off with the changeling. Meanwhile, those who weren't encouraging the torture of the unfortunate creature found themselves staring out the windows, clenching onto one another as they watched the carts move onto the bridge. Crescent looked to me as he clenched his jaw in anticipation. "Do you think this will work?"

I gulped as the thought of my failure started to play out in my head. "Well... if it doesn't, would you be satisfied with me saying that I tried?"

Crescent took a deep breath and closed his eyes. His limbs stiffened as he seemed ready to take on the worst. "Well, you gave it your best, considering how quickly we had to throw it all together."

I think I was on the verge of throwing up at this point. Scratch that, I was nauseous and on the verge of a heart attack. My life could end here and now in the grisliest fashion. I wasn't even five months into my approval process, I just met Twilight's parents, and I'm still a virgin. But on the bright side, I fought and killed numerous changelings that tried to eat me and temporarily saved the lives of dozens of civilians. I think I'll be able to take solace in that. "Well... If this doesn't work... I tried."

"And if we do die, just know that I won't resent you for it." Crescent stated somberly.

"Hell, I will." Velvet added. "I wanna see if my grandfoals will have wings or horns. Or maybe even both."

Yup, being herself to the very end... And I'm cool with that.

The infernal conductor's cart blazed and smoldered as it chugged right off the bridge and into the rocks below, exploding upon impact. The second cart, the passenger cart we were on from the beginning, went along with it. The third, the first one we detached, quickly moved off of the bridge and fell off. The fourth, moved at a slower pace, but still had enough momentum to push itself off of the bridge. The fifth cart moved with enough speed to make it's way across the bridge, but not far enough to fall into the hole. And finally, our cart bumped against the first cart, stopping us entirely. Instead, the cart that was before us, crept along and finally fell into the smoking ruin below. The cart we all remained on continued to creak for some time until we came to a complete stop, just a few yards away from the gaping hole in the span.

We stood inside of the cart, counting our lucky stars that we weren't in that cart. Sighs of relief and an eruption of applause sounded throughout the car as Crescent and I finally loosened up a bit. Albeit, we were stuck on the bridge, but we didn't have to worry about going over the edge. My heart, which pounded at several million miles an hour finally gave way and shut down for an instant. I collapsed onto the ground with relief, trembling as I nearly cried like a baby. "Fuck... we're alive."

So, let's sum up my experience for today... Me and Shining walked into a bar, shared a drink, watched a guy die, changed my shirt and grabbed a gun for emergency purposes, boarded a train, nearly got eaten, got into an argument with my girlfriend, resolved said argument, fought a shitload of bug horses, saved a dozen lives, met Twilight's parents, saw that the bridge ahead was destroyed, saw a decapitated body, shit myself, came up with a plan to once again save the group of civilians, and successfully pulled it off. All of this before three in the afternoon. If I ever had to write a book on my life and sum this up in one chapter, this would be entirely too damn much to shove in one chapter.

Hollywood should hire me for the shit I just went through.

"Hello!? Is anypony in there!?" A voice called out to us from outside.

I pulled myself off of the ground and walked over towards the back end of the caboose. When I had walked outside, I could see a sizeable pegasi squad flying overhead. Inside of the chariot rode a distraught Princess Twilight and a relieved Shining Armor. When the chariot landed on the ground, Twilight jumped off and ran towards me. Shining followed suit as the purple princess leaped for me, nearly pushing the cart forward.

"Oh shit!" I screamed as Twilight jumped back off of me. Instinctively, I tried to grab on to the cart to pull it towards the grounded tracks. "A little... help, please?" I asked as Shining Armor approached.

The white unicorn stallion ignited his magic and began to march forward. As he did, the convoy disassembled and a small swarm pegasi all lined up on either side of the train and pulled towards the cliff. Twilight hovered in the air as she used her magic to push from the front end. I myself pulled for a short while, but found myself nearly being dragged under. After assessing the risks of my getting ran over, I decided to trek back to the mountain and laid myself next to a rock. I watched as the two pulled what was left of the train onto solid ground. I laid on the ground, looking at the sky as I finally gave myself some well-deserved rest. As soon as the cart hit solid ground, the passengers started to file themselves in line to leave the caboose.

"Nondis!" Twilight called out as I laid on the ground. "What in Celestia's mane were you doing!? You could've gotten yourself killed!"

I looked at her with a dumbfounded expression on my face. "Really? You order me to secure a train full of changelings, liberate the passengers, and now you're telling me that I could've been killed? That's a little ass-backwards, ain't it?"

"I didn't tell you to start the train!" She argued, pointing to the single caboose.

I got off of the ground and dusted myself off. "I didn't start it, for one. Two, the conductor was already dead. Three, I don't know how to operate a train. And four, the brakes were cut."

Shining pulled his younger sister back as he began to think. "If you didn't start the train, and the driver was already dead, then who did?"

"I think our friend here want's to come clean, Nondis!" Crescent hollered from the back of the train.

Both Twilight and Shining looked back to see the blue unicorn stallion standing on the back-end of the train cart. They both looked at me and finally towards him again. "Dad?"

Crescent leaned back as he listened in for something else within the train. "Oh, and your mother wants to know what you two wanted to eat for dinner tonight."

Next Chapter: Chapter XXIII Estimated time remaining: 135 Hours, 7 Minutes