Chapter 58

The flight to Manehatten remained silent, with the exception of Odio mumbling complaints every now and then. Dave occasionally glanced at the depressed Strong Shield before looking down at the ground far below them

Adamas kept the flap of his wings slow and gentle, keeping himself moving enough to glide. His eyes narrowed slightly as his vision focused on a city on the edge of the horizon

“We are approaching the city,” Adamas arched his neck to see Dave nod and Strong Shield snap out of his thoughts as he looked in the direction of the city

Strong Shield nodded, “drop us off at the train yard, on the far side”

“Will anypony panic?” Dave called to the dragon

“I will hide myself again, the use of magic is almost second nature to me now,” Adamas almost smirked. “Nopony should see me, just concentrate on your parts of this mission”

Strong Shield nodded, “Fine, just get us there fast, we have to get the Daedalus moving”

“How long will the journey take?” Dave yelled to Strong Shield as Adamas began to fly faster and the noise of the wind picked up

“It depends on where the track has moved,” Strong Shield held onto the dragon’s spikes as the wind began to sting. “If it has stayed near the surface then it shouldn’t take more than a day, but if some parts have fallen underground then it could take up to three days”

Odio groaned, “Woopidy doo daa!” Odio cheered sarcastically, “three days in some metal tin with grumpy and unlucky”

“I will make haste for Tartarus once I have dropped you off,” Adamas didn’t have to focus his attention as he easily spotted the web of train tracks that were lined with large warehouses. The multiple tracks were all lined up neatly, a few crossed over to join them and a few short ones sprouted from the front on some of the buildings

The dragon opened his wings and decreased his speed, his passengers held on as the large drake shuddered, and his scales seemed to merge into one single surface before disappearing completely

The ground seemed to approach at an alarming rate before it suddenly stopped, the passengers still felt the gentle flapping of Adamas’ wings. Dave and Strong Shield exchanged glances before slowly sliding off the invisible dragon

Dave fell and rolled across the ground, pushing himself to his feet with a groan as he looked up at his father. “Oh come on,” he glared as he saw Strong Shield being helped down by Odio’s fog

“What?” Odio placed Strong Shield on the ground before retracting his fog back into Dave’s body. “He can’t heal and you can, I would prefer it if he didn’t get a broken hip”

“I’ll have you know that I have fallen out of a burning skyscraper,” Strong Shield looked at the various warehouses. “I may have been responsible for it blowing up but that is in the past”

Odio laughed, “Was it being run by evil vampires?”

“No a group of terrorists had taken control over it, taken hostages,” Strong Shield began leading Dave towards some old warehouses as they heard the dragon above them fly away. “I saved the hostages, went back into the building to dispatch the leader before blowing the main support pillar and caused the top half to separate and fall to the ground”

“How did you survive?” Dave rose an eyebrow as they began to walk between some of the large buildings

“A few terrorists were pegasi so I simply fought them until I reached the ground,” Strong Shield looked at the buildings as they reached a gap between some of the buildings, metal stairs went up to a walkway that was suspended between the long rows of warehouses

Dave followed the unicorn up the stairs, his feet tapped against the rusting metal as he reached the long, flat walkway. “So where is this Daedalus then?” Dave asked as he looked between the gaps of the buildings and saw Manehatten was still a mile away

“If I remember correctly…” Strong Shield pointed to the other end of the long walkway, a wooden wall signalled the end of the path. “Right through there”

“Oh a secret door?” Odio swirled happily. “I bet I can find the secret switch”

“No,” Strong Shield sighed. “I’m afraid we have to bash through and climb down”

Dave chuckled, “Bash through? Can’t you use magic?”

“No, the Daedalus emits a dampening field,” the unicorn frowned at the thick wood. “A full powered blast would turn into a spark the moment it touches the wood”

The human groaned as he crouched down and got ready to sprint at the wall. “I’ll let you know when it is safe to join me”

Strong Shield nodded as he stepped aside and allowed Dave to charge at the wall, getting as much speed as he could as he approached the thick wood. He gave a final burst of speed before launching his shoulder first into the wood

Thunk!

“HOLY SHIT!” Dave held his arm as he bounced away from the dense wood. “That hurt like a bitch!”

Odio laughed as Strong Shield shook his head. “Try and break one piece of wood rather than the entire wall”

Dave took a step back before bringing his foot up and stamping his heel into the centre plank of wood. The wood remained solid but it definitely gained a dent, encouraging Dave to keep kicking at that spot until his foot finally went through, sharp wood scraping his legs

“That is one hell of a splinter,” Odio winced as Dave slowly pulled his leg out and revealed the large nail that was stuck in his shin. The human yelped as Strong Shield grabbed it with his teeth and yanked it out, Odio quickly assisted with Dave’s healing so his leg was better in seconds

“Thanks for the warning guys,” Dave groaned as he shook his healed leg. His eyes hovered over the nail before he took it from Strong Shield, the length of the metal was enough for Dave to hold it with both hands and still have the point clearly revealed. An idea flashed across his mind as he began to stab at the wood with the sharp metal, leaving scrapes and cuts throughout the wood

Strong Shield stood back as he saw Dave’s plan and allowed the human to hack at the wood until the nail finally bent sharply to one side. Dave threw the nail aside as he rammed his shoulder against the damaged wall, the wood bent as it broke in some places. Another ram was all it took for Dave to burst through and fall into the dark warehouse

“Wow, great mood lighting,” Odio hummed as he pushed some of his fog out of Dave and looked around the blackness, the only light was the small amount pouring in through the hole Dave had made

Strong Shield grunted as he fired a ball of light into the air, it flickered as it slowly disappeared within feet of leaving Strong Shield’s horn. “This is the right warehouse”

“You mean you weren’t certain?” Dave groaned as he pushed himself off the ground, dusting off his hands as he looked back up at the hole he had made, Strong Shield poking his head through

The unicorn looked at the drop and carefully jumped through the wooden hole, he landed on his hooves before looking around. “There should be a generator nearby, find it so we can get some light”

Dave groaned as Strong Shield looked at him again. Dave began walking along the wall of the warehouse, his fingers touching the wood so he didn’t get lost as his other hand made sweeping motions in front of him

He reached the corner and his hand bumped into something metal. His hand fumbled around the metal box until he found a lever that he was able to slowly turn. The generator coughed into life and began shaking violently as it began to produce power for the simple lights that were suspended from the ceiling

The lights flickered slightly before turning fully on and illuminating the room. One light exploded from its sudden activation and a few sparks rained down onto the large black arrow in the middle of the room

“Holy fuck,” Dave gawped as the Daedalus came into view. Its shape was perfectly smooth, two sides were visible as the point of the train was only an inch from the ground. The wheels weren’t visible and only some of the track still poked above the ground

Strong Shield sighed as he walked over to the train and slowly inspected it. The point raised slowly into the ground before it levelled off and formed the rest of the triangular train. The back was just another long point that almost touched one of the walls

“This is a demonic bullet train,” Odio chuckled. “But how do we get in? I can’t see any doors”

The unicorn began to place both hooves onto the train and push his weight against it, muttering angrily every time nothing happened. Eventually stopping as two parallel cracks appeared and a flap lifted up and revealed a way in

Strong Shield walked in first and Dave quickly followed, Odio’s fog soaking back into his body as he climbed aboard. He leaned back out of the train to grab a handle on the hatch door to close it as he looked around the interior of the Daedalus

The walls were smooth in here as well, except the only triangular parts were at either end of the train. The rest was a normal carriage large enough for Dave to do a full fitness workout without the fear of hitting the sides

Strong Shield walked over to a control panel, a few round buttons extended from the walls and two long pipes were directly in the centre. The unicorn slowly placed his hooves into the holes and the engine roared into life, the noise made Dave jump as the train filled with a red glow

“What is going on?” Dave asked as he walked over to Strong Shield, his hooves moved further into the pipes before they closed and locked his legs in place. A few black poles of metal poked out from the walls and supported Strong Shield’s weight, the buttons slid upwards so the unicorn could use his horn to push them

“I have activated the Daedalus,” Strong Shield took a deep breath as he looked at the buttons. “The door is locked and we are ready to go”

Strong Shield used his horn to press one button and the wall in front of him became transparent, allowing him to see the wall of the warehouse ahead. Dave sat on the ground behind the unicorn as he rubbed his neck

“So is there a door or what?” Dave asked as Strong Shield took a final breath

“There will be in a second,” he sighed as he pushed his hooves forward slightly and the train shot forwards, obliterating the wall and began to carve a trench through the train yard

The speed made Dave topple backwards and roll towards the back of the train. The Daedalus stuck to its own track as it began to tunnel into the ground, Strong Shield’s viewport was slowly being replaced by ground that the train was pushing trough

As the Daedalus surfaced again, an approaching mountain made Dave gawp. “Please tell me this track avoids that mountain!”

The track still headed towards the mountain but tilted so the Daedalus began to roll, causing Dave to fall and roll around the inside but new metal poles constantly appeared to keep Strong Shield in position

The Daedalus didn’t lose speed as it smashed through the mountain and Dave continued with his falling and tumbling like a sock in a tumble dryer. Strong Shield looked over his shoulder as he saw Dave bounce against his face

“If you are desperate then I can activate the prisoner restraints,” Strong Shield saw a thumbs up and a pleading smile as an indication to press a button beside his head. For spikes appeared at the rear of the train and shot out in Dave’s direction

The human had enough time to yell in pain as the spears pierced his wrists and ankles. He saw the spear split in half and curl around his limbs as they retracted and pulled him to the back of the train, pinning him helplessly as the Daedalus continued to scar the landscape

“You could have warned me that I was going to be FUCKING CRUCIFIED!” Dave yelled down the train at Strong Shield

“Look on the bright side,” Odio chuckled. “At least you aren’t being tossed around like a ragdoll”

Dave groaned as Odio began to make more jokes, laughing loudly to himself every time Dave began to lose attention. Strong Shield constantly kept his eyes focused on the view ahead, making sure that he had enough time to stop the train if a random pony appeared in front of him

A few hours later…

“Are we there yet?” Dave groaned from his wall

“No,” Strong Shield yawned, his view of the outside had been dirt for the past two hours, a few rotations had kept things interesting but nothing interesting

“I spy with my little eye,” Odio sighed out of boredom. “Something beginning with… w”

Dave looked around the plain and simple train. “Wall?”

“Correct,” Odio groaned as he began poking at Dave’s mind again. “This is driving ME nuts and I spent a thousand years in space by myself”

The human groaned in agreement, “yeah, can we stop for a bit?”

“I suppose we could have something to eat,” Strong Shield hummed. “We will have to wait until we are outside or in a large cave if I am to get far enough away from the Daedalus to summon some ration packs”

“Fine,” Dave sighed. “I could do with a break from being Jesus”

Odio chuckled, “All you need is the beard, besides that you have already died for our sins”

“That was your fault,” Dave growled. “And don’t forget the fact that you still kinda owe me”

“Hey, I made you immortal didn’t I?” Odio snapped

“Will you both shut up?” Strong Shield looked over his shoulder to yell at the pair of squabbling beings. All of them became silent as the train shook and lurched in various directions, Dave groaned as he was pulled on the spikes that kept him in place

Strong Shield pulled back on the pipes that he was connected to as he looked out the viewport. His view was hidden by a black smudge but he could see a large cave that stretched out just enough for him to get out of the Daedalus’ influence.

“It is a bit dark but I think I can see a space that is far enough away,” Strong Shield narrowed his eyes as he tried to get a better view of the outside

“I’ll be fine here,” Dave gritted his teeth as his arms healed around the metal again. “Just go get some food”

“Alright, I’ll be quick,” Strong Shield pressed a button and he was released from his supports. “Odio, come with me, you might be able to counter the Daedalus in case we can’t get enough distance between us and it”

Odio‘s fog poured out of Dave’s body as his flaming eyes flashed into life. “Oh I love being helpful, you know me,” he groaned sarcastically as he followed Strong Shield out of the hatch

Dave allowed his head to drop as he rested his eyes. “Maybe a short nap before they get back.” The sound of hoovesteps made Dave gently flap one of his hands. “I’m alright dad, I’m not dead”

“That’s good,” A familiar female voice said happily. The sound of the hoovesteps approaching Dave made his eyes open as he looked up

“Oh shit”