Shadow-Mane gently closed the door behind them, cutting off the load clatter of iron wheels on tracks from the outside. He turned his head back and looked around the caboose carefully as Macintosh and Sky-Driver took cover behind two of the seats. "Anything...?" Sky whispered, the colt watching the Captain with a careful eye.

After a moment, Shadow shook his head and muttered "Nothing...let's move quickly and quietly and get to the front of the train and see where this thing's going."

The two nodded, falling in behind Shadow and keeping as close as they could to the colt without stepping on his hooves. As they approached the door at the end of the car, Macintosh quietly asked "Shadow...do ya think Twi's really in Manehatten?"

Shadow put his hoof up on the latch, taking a moment to peer out of the window cautiously towards the other door which stood just across the metallic locks that kept the cars together before looking at big Macintosh. With a light sigh he shook his head and whispered "I don't know Macintosh...too be honest we don't even know if Trixie was telling the truth. All I know is that based on what Trixie said, Manehatten is our best bet. Even if she's not there, this train is under Trixie's command...and with the way she was talking about Twilight, it made it seem like they run into each other more often than I'd like to think. If we keep following Trixie...we'll find Twilight Sparkle."

"Yeah but..." Sky interjected, bringing pause to Shadow's hoof "If Trixie's the bad girl here...and she supposedly turned Twilight into one and...granted her friends and her own city...wouldn't that technically make them on the same side!?"

Macintosh and Shadow both looked at one another quietly, concern written on both of their faces. "Naw..." Macintosh said after a moment, shaking his head "Twilight's a good gal...she wouldn't side with her! From what ah remember from this Trixie mare...she's no good in Twi's book. She wouldn't even consider it!"

"I don't know Macintosh..." Shadow said with a tone of apprehension in his voice "If Twilight wasn't on Trixie's side...why wouldn't she help us against The Afflicted? If she's a Carrier, she can control them just like Trixie. Why wouldn't she keep them away from Canterlot? Why wouldn't she destroy them all for good? Over these past months...where's she been all this time? Sitting in Manehatten? If so...what was she doing alone for that long?" He took another peek out of the window, frowning at his inability to see into the other car due to some kind of splatter marks across the glass. "There's too many questions and no answers Macintosh...and sitting here thinking about it and coming up with four hundred possibilities isn't going to help us at all." He turned his head towards Macintosh and gave him a tiny smile as he muttered "Baby steps Mac...we'll find her...I promise."

Sky simply shrugged and watched as Shadow pushed himself up against the door, preparing himself to slide the door across, muttering "What I'D like to know...is exactly what Trixie is using this train for in the first place. She's a Carrier...their magic is amplified by at least forty to sixty times their norm...why would she need a train if she knows how to teleport?"

"Whoa...hold on." Macintosh interjected, turning towards Sky "Yer sayin' the Virus makes Carrier's STRONGER?!"

"Dangerously so..." muttered Sky, who simply shook his head and sighed "We're not sure exactly how it does it...but the Ravage Virus amplifies the magic capabilities, outputs, strengths, and usages of a Carrier at least forty to sixty times...which again, makes me wonder why Trixie needs this train in the first place..."

"I'd rather not think about THOSE possibilities either..." Shadow grumbled, and with that, he pushed up on the latch and started to open the door. The wind from the outside roared with great intensity as the three made their way out onto the small platform connecting the doors of the two cars. Shadow quickly made his way across and tried to open the door, grunting as he pushed his hoof against the latch. After several attempts he turned his head back towards the other two and hollered "Door's locked!!!"

Sky frowned and look towards the door for a moment before slowly looking up towards the roof. He then looked down towards the Captain who followed Sky's gaze and smiled as Shadow face-hoofed and shook his head. "Going up Cap?" Sky jeered as the colt rolled his eyes.

Shadow looked towards Macintosh after he lowered his hoof and shouted over the roar of the train "You ever done this kind of thing before?!"

Macintosh narrowed his eyes and stared at him for a moment to let the stupidity of his question sink in before grudgingly replying with "Does it look like ah climb on the roofs of speeding trains for a livin'!?"

Shadow stared at him for a moment, blinking twice and taking a quick glance at Sky who merely shrugged. "Um..." Shadow said with a slight blush "Good point." He turned his attention upwards as he shouted "I'll go up first and help Macintosh up with a hoof. Sky, you give him a boost once I'm all situated up there. Once we're up there Macintosh, keep your body closely pressed to the roof and crawl. Just follow my lead, alright?"

"If ya'll say so!" Macintosh shouted "Let's get to it!"

Shadow nodded and braced his back legs before leaping up towards the edge of the roof. He gripped it with a firm hoof, adding a second one a quick moment later and shimmying up onto the metallic surface. The wind pummeled the Captain with fierce intensity as the air resistance from the gap of the train disappeared. "Luna damn it all...I'm getting too old for this..." he grumbled to himself, turning his body carefully and pressing his belly against the cold roof. He shivered as he lowered a hoof towards Macintosh, who with a strained boost from Sky, was pushed upwards and towards his extended hoof. Macintosh hooked his hoof in Shadow's and threw the other over the edge of the roof. After a few difficult moments, the two Guards managed to push and pull the heavy stallion onto the roof of the car, with Sky following shortly after.

Shadow took the lead as he crawled across the roof, squinting his eyes against the wind and blinking as much as he could to prevent his eyes from being dried out too quickly. In the span of two agonizing minutes, the three finally managed to crawl across the expanse of the roof. With a quick heave and a not-so-graceful landing, Shadow dropped down onto the metal platform. Sky and Macintosh followed a few moments later, the three of them hugging themselves for a moment in an attempt some kind of feeling back in their limbs. "By Luna's mane!" Hollered Sky, a chuckle rising out of his voice "Remind me to put that on my list of 'Things to never do again in my life time', eh Capt-AAAARGH!!!"

He was cut off as the window of the door behind him shattered and a hoof reached out, wrapping itself across his neck and pulling him back towards the door. "SKY!!!" Shadow roared, charging forward with a quick unsheathing of his knife. An Afflicted shrieked as Shadow approached, the Captain quickly driving his blade into the eye of the beast and releasing Sky from its hold. It fell backwards as several more hooves reached out in attempts to grab the coughing soldier, the three of them retreating back towards the other door. The latch on the door rattled violently as Sky looked on in horror towards the door, being able to see inside the locked car. Afflicted were packed to the walls inside the car, crawling over one another and retching blood everywhere. The sounds of shrieking and howling blasted through the glass as Sky shouted "Holy SHIT! That's what she's using the train for!!! It's not a transport, it's a friggin' TROOP CARRIER!"

Shadow narrowed his eyes towards the cramped car as he spoke "This must've been what she was up to all this time...gathering and collecting as much Afflicted as she could for the siege against Canterlot." He turned his attention towards the door behind them as he barked towards the others "We need to get to the engine car and stop this damn train, NOW! If we can put a dent in Trixie's reinforcements, then maybe we can buy Canterlot some time!"

The Captain peered into the window of the door, looking across the long hallway that was flanked on the left and right by 'Bed Seats', bunk beds embedded into the wall that all had their private curtains drawn to a close. "Alright..." he said towards the two "Looks like the coast is clear...let's get through this one quick." With a quick opening and closing of the door, the three quickly moved inside. The three of them quietly walked through the car with Shadow in the lead, followed by Sky and finally Macintosh, their hooves making soft padding noises as they moved through. At the half-way point, Macintosh quietly turned his head to look behind him, staring towards the shattered window of the Afflicted cramped car and noticing that they were no longer reaching through the broken opening. He was stopped, however, by the sudden impact of Sky's flank against his chest.

"What in tarna-" he began but was quickly stopped by Sky's hoof pressing against his mouth. The colt had a terrified look on his face as he slowly shook his head, the work horse noticing that Shadow had stopped mid-stride, his horrified eyes looking towards his right. Macintosh followed his gaze and his own eyes widened with fear at the sight before him. One of the bunk bed's curtains was open...and inside rested a beast that made Macintosh want to puke. It was a pony, a colt. His coat was a dark blue color, with two bite marks adorning his leg and back. He was Afflicted, Macintosh could tell...but what he lacked was eyes. Its eye sockets were scratched and chipped of bone, with tiny droplets of blood leaking out of the pit and onto the sheets underneath it.

Macintosh looked towards Sky who carefully took his hooves away and pointed towards the blind Afflicted. He pointed to his own eyes and shook his head, but when he pointed to his ears he nodded with a grave expression on his face. Macintosh turned his attention back towards the Afflicted, noticing that its ears seemed to have...grown, along with two large fangs in the front of its mouth. 'A Variant...' Macintosh thought 'Must be a scary type if it's got them big chompers for weapons...'

With a quick nod from the workhorse, Sky turned around and lightly tapped Shadow on his flank twice. Shadow nodded slowly and the three of them began to once again walk through the car...at a much slower and quieter pace. Macintosh watched in complete terror as they came across several more open bunks...each with a blind Afflicted resting inside. Shadow-Mane stopped suddenly as one of the Afflicted slowly crawled out from its bunk, looking up and sniffing quietly. The Captain simply stared with wide, intense eyes as the Afflicted let out a quiet whimper and turned towards them, beginning a slow walk in their direction. With a frantic wave of his hoof, Shadow quickly and quietly stepped over to the side as the Afflicted approached, the two colts behind the Captain mimicking his side-stepping movements.

Several tense moments passed as the blind Afflicted quietly walked past the three, the colts' eyes following its movements carefully. Once it had passed, Shadow pointed a hoof forward and resumed their treacherous trek across the car. The door was approaching quickly, drawing a smile to Macintosh's face...until a violent lurch of the train shattered that hope. A suitcase came flying out of one of the higher bunks as the train suddenly banked to the left in a sharp turn, the container bursting open and revealing two wine glasses amongst the midst of discarded socks and scarves that fell. The three watched in horror as the two glasses came down, shattering loudly on the floor of the train.

The immediate reaction was a near heart-stopper for the group as the heads of very pissed off Afflicted shot out of the drawn curtains of their beds. A unified growl of warning was carried across the entire car as Shadow silently gulped, pointing forward with a hoof quietly and moving as carefully as he could across the shattered remains of the wine glasses in front of him. Sky was up next, passing over the glasses with no problem and letting out a quiet breath of relief. Macintosh followed suit right after, gingerly stepping over the glass and trying his best to keep up with Sky. He misplaced his back right hoof however...stepping right on a sharp piece of glass.

"OW!!!" He hollered, drawing a heaving gasp out of the two guards in front of him. "Aw shi- Sorry! Ah'm SORR-"

...

...

...

"SSSSSSSCCCCCCCRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!" came the unified, blasting cries of the blind Afflicted, the monsters leaping from their beds and swarming up the middle hall as the colts flattened their ears to their heads in pain.

"SHIT, RUN! RUN!!!!" Shadow shrieked, bolting forward with Sky and Macintosh close behind. The blind Afflicted gave chase behind them, startling the Workhorse as they approached faster than he could have ever predicted. Shadow reached the door quickly, throwing it open and dashing outside as Sky and Macintosh followed. With a quick closing of the door, Shadow and Macintosh braced themselves against it and grunted as several thuds were felt against their backs.

"Buck a cat and call me a Red Delicious, that was the scariest shit ah've ever seen or been through!" Hollered Macintosh. The two glared at him for a moment, drawing a sheepish grin and a blush out of the workhorse as he rubbed the top of his head with a hoof and chuckled "Eh heh...sorry bout' that...stepped on some glass."

Shadow sighed and shook his head, stepping away from the door as the thudding ceased. "Well...at least that's over." he grumbled, looking towards the next car and breathing in a sigh of relief. The next car had a walkway running along both sides, allowing for a quick bypass of anymore Afflicted that they might run into.

"What...were those things, by the way?" Macintosh asked, drawing a shiver out of Sky as he was forced to recall them.

"Those...were Shriekers," Sky answered "They're blind Afflicted who're considered one of the most dangerous Variants of Afflicted that exist. They can't see...but what they lack in sight they make up for it in hearing, their ear-piercing shriek, and incredible speed. I take it you noticed those large fangs that were growing in their mouths?" Macintosh nodded his head in response as Sky went on "Well those are what makes them the most dangerous. They're pumped full of blood that'll turn you into an Afflicted almost immediately after they've bitten you. It cuts the infection time from minutes into seconds, making it to where the ratio between defenders and attackers is turned around almost instantly."

"Nasty bunch ah take it...definitely stayin' away from them in the future." Macintosh grumbled as Shadow peered into the next car.

"...Shit," swore the Captain as he looked through the glass "We've got a problem."

"Oh great," scoffed Sky "I'll be sure to add that to the list of bullshit we've already gone and accumulated already."

Shadow rolled his eyes as he turned away from the door, growling "There's a lot of shimmering in there, which mean this car's devoted to Lurkers."

Macintosh raised an eyebrow as he spoke "So? There's balconies on this car...we can just walk around."

"It's not that simple..." Shadow spoke with irritation in his voice "The window's of these cars are all broken, which means the Lurkers can still lean through and attack! It looks like they already know we're here..." He turned his head back towards the window, watching as the shimmering intensified and moved about the car wildly, some of it flashing in front of the window Shadow stood by. "We're gonna have to crawl across the balcony and hope that they're not within hoof's reach. They're masters at grappling...if you remember."

"Let's just go..." Sky groaned "The faster we get by em the faster we can get to the engine car. How close are we anyway?"

Shadow frowned, moving onto one of the balconies and peering around the corner of the car towards the front. A small smile spread across his face as he spotted only one more car in front of the Lurker's car before the engine car. "Just one more after this one Sky, and we're home free." he said. He frowned, however, as he looked off into the green plains to their right, spotting a familiar range of mountains in the distance. "I know those mountains...we're nearing Manehatten." He turned his head towards the two behind him and barked "We gotta double-time it if we're going to stop this train before we reach the city, come on!"

The two nodded and followed close behind Shadow-Mane as he dropped to his belly, crawling across the wooden walkway towards the opposite end. "Aw dammit...ah'm gonna get splinters in mah belly!" groaned Macintosh, drawing a stiff chuckle out of Sky who replied with a light "Oh grow up ya big baby..."

"Both of you be quiet!" Shadow hissed, looking back towards them "Do you want to let the Lurkers know we're he-"

"Hisssssss!"

"...Shit."

"Real smooth Mac..."

"Says the loudmouth!"

The three of them crawled as quick as they could forward, wincing as the Lurkers swiped at them from above. Macintosh could feel the air of the swipe pass over him quickly, and even let out a loud whine as he felt something wet splatter against his back. "Awww SHIT, they're drooling on me!"

"Tell me you don't have any back wounds Macintosh!" Hollered Sky as they neared the end of the car "It'd be a real shame to have to kill you now, seeing as we're so close to the city already!"

"Aw fuck you!" shouted Macintosh "And no, ah ain't wounded on mah back, so don't go puttin' the thought through yer head!"

The three of them finally made it to the end of the cart, standing and heading towards the next car. "Let me guess..." Sky said with a sarcastic laugh "This one's filled with Hurlers...no, better yet, why not make it cramped with Thunder-Hooves!? That'd be a fucking RIOT!"

"Glad to see yer takin' this so well..." Macintosh grumbled, drawing a firm head shake out of Shadow as he stepped away from the door.

"Nope...standard Afflicted, and all these windows are secure" Shadow said, turning towards the balconies "Let's get to the engine car!" With a quick nod from the others, the three of them hastily galloped across the balcony, reaching the opposite end in no time. Shadow quickly approached the door to the boiler room, peering in and swearing after a moment "Dammit...there's already too much coal inside, Trixie's really pushing this train to its limits...explains why its been lurching on turns." he grumbled before turning towards the other two and shouting "You two wait here, I'm going to get up into the Conductor's room and see if I can't yank the brakes on this thing!"

"You might want to hurry up with that Cap!" Shouted Sky as he peered to the left of the train "I can see Manehatten from here, and she's coming up fast!" The colt grimaced as he spotted the towering city in the distance, dark plumes of smoke and fire rising up across its entire expanse. "Stars above...that place has seen better days."

With a nod, Shadow turned on his hooves and moved around the side of the boiler room, hopping up on a small platform before peering into the smashed window of the Conductor's room. He swore loudly as he spotted the emergency brake, the bar torn off at its base and rendering it useless. He looked forward, watching the train's direction of travel for a moment before noticing that they were rolling on tracks that moved AWAY from Manehatten in a wide turn, not towards it. With a quick retreat, Shadow shook his head and hollered "Brakes are out, Trixie must be stopping this thing with magic and refueling it with coal only when she needs it to go again! It looks like she already moved the tracks herself...probably pointing it straight towards her staging ground!"

"Well sir..." started Sky "I don't know about you, but I'd rather not be on this train when it reaches her war camp...and the thousands of Afflicted she's probably got stockpiled. I think we better abandon ship here!"

"But how!?" Hollered Macintosh "If ya'll didn't notice, we're on a high speed train! Jumping at this rate would be suicide!"

"Staying ON IT would be suicide!" countered Sky, the two finally looking towards Shadow-Mane for an answer.

The Captain was quiet for a moment before looking up towards Sky with a sheepish grin on his face and shouting "How close are we Buckson River?"

"No...no fucking WAY Captain!" cried Sky "There's no way you're considering th-"

"Looks like there's a bridge ahead! Ah think ah see water!" Interjected Macintosh with a smile, the workhorse leaning over the edge of the left balcony, drawing a nod out of Shadow who trotted up towards the edge of the balcony.

"Captain you're not serious are you!?" hollered Sky as Macintosh and Shadow threw their front two hooves over the railing.

"What's wrong Sky!?" laughed the Captain "afraid to get your hoofsies wet?!"

The train clacked loudly as it roared onto the bridge crossing the river, drawing a shout out of Macintosh "It's now or never, JUMP!!!"

"AW HELL!" Sky hollered as he followed the two jumping colts off the train, leaping with them as the train rocketed away. The three of them plummeted through the air for several moments, drawing a hearty laugh out of Shadow-Mane and a panicked scream out of Sky as the water quickly approached.

"YEEEEHAAA-" began Macintosh, the stallion quickly being cut off as they plunged into the water with a loud 'SPLASH!' The water rippled from the impact for a moment before being disturbed once again by the emerging of the trio. With a laugh out of Shadow and Macintosh and a disgruntled look out of Sky, the three began their quick swim towards shore as the Afflicted packed train continued its deadly course onwards.

As they shifted onto shore, the three of them shook their bodies and rumps, doing their best to get as much water out of their coats as they could. "Well..." Macintosh began with a laugh "At least the impact didn't kill us! Mighty good luck there eh Shadow? ....Shadow?" After hearing no response, Macintosh turned his head towards Shadow and Sky who were staring towards the city with jaws agape and eyes wide. "What's wrong?" He asked, drawing a grim look out of Shadow who gulped and turned towards the stallion.

"Remember how I said Manehatten was our best bet at finding Twilight...?" he asked, drawing a single nod out of Macintosh. "Well..." he muttered, pointing behind him and saying the words that drove a cold, icy wave of fear and through his heart

"I think...we found her."

Macintosh turned his head slowly, peering towards the city and letting his eyes widen and his irises shrink, and a gut wrenching gasp escape his lungs.

Found her...indeed.