open The Adventures of Mike

[Pr0m4NV14 839]

@SummerHaven @Battenberg

Down in the train car, It was dark. Mike paused in the sudden lack of light. He didn’t have something to illuminate the room with him, however a slight glow could be seen from the windows. That was odd. The tunnel had no lights, so someone must be up there! “Alright guys, I’m going to see if anymore of those bandits are out there.” Mike said to the scared passengers. He took a purple hooded cloak lined with the fur from a yak (Buying it was not cheap.) And put it on. He stepped out of the car door and started climbing to the top of the train.

***

The bandit leader charged at the two ponies that somehow managed to take on his second-in command and wiped the floor with him. His blade dripped with the venom of the deadly Everfree Viper. Even if they got away alive, they wouldn’t go very far. Besides, he had another group of bandits (emergency reinforcements, if you will.) waiting at the end of the tunnel. This would be a piece of hypothetical cake.

[Victoria Sponge 1,017]

In the dark Summer felt a sudden breeze followed by a crash and a grunt of confusion as Victoria pounced on the bandit. The struggle echoes off the walls of a tunnel, grunts and shrieks and clunks before Victoria called out. “Summer I could do with a little light here! Use your unicorn magic or something!”

[SummerHaven 49]

@Battenberg (Did you miss my last post?)

@Pr0m4NV14

“I’ve got an idea. I just need you to buy me a bit of time!” Summer said as she started rummaging through her saddlebag. As Victoria battled the bandit, Summer mixed together a syrum from the medicines she had in her bag. 

Suddenly the bandit leader stopped dead in his tracks. His knees buckled and he tumbled to the floor of the car, revealing  a small syringe floating behind him. 

“That will only keep him out for about 10 minutes.” Summer shouted over the wind in the tunnel. “But it should give us time to  figure out what to do with him.” 

Edited March 17, 2018 by SummerHaven

[Pr0m4NV14 839]

@SummerHaven @Battenberg

Mike popped his head up from between the cars. He could see Summer emitting  the light from her horn, and Vitoria standing over the body of another bandit. “Hey!” He shouted through the wind, before hauling himself up the last little bit. He trotted over to his companions. The bandit leader lay crumpled on the roof of the train car. “Is that the last one” Mike asked the Earth Pony and Unicorn, before the train became illuminated by the bright moonlight outside the tunnel.

***

The group of bandits waited on an outcropping above the mouth of the train tunnel. In the distance, the brilliant lights of the Crystal Empire could be seen shining brightly. 

Suddenly, the train sped past below the group, and the bandits jumped onto the roof of the train, one of them landings on a greenish Unicorn. That particular bandit did not see the unicorn however, instead seeing the hooded Earth Pony looking at the fallen body of the bandit leader. “GET HIM!” The bandit shouted.

 

[SummerHaven 49]

@Battenberg @Pr0m4NV14

“As far as we know-“

Summer was cut off by the weight of a bandit pony crashed down on top of her. Summer struggled to try to get up, but the bandit held her down firmly with his hoof.

”Mike...use this!” Summer tried to shout but her voice came out weak. “She used her magic to roll the syringe over to his feet. “It’s still got some anesthesia left in it!” 

[Pr0m4NV14 839]

@Battenberg @SummerHaven

Mike was rather surprised by the arrival of the new group. “Came to drop in, eh?” He said, before drawing Jennifer. He did notice the syringe at his feet, but there was no way he could use it that quickly. Swinging Jennifer, Mike managed to hit the bandit with the flat of the blade. With the bandit stunned and off balance, Mike kicked him off of summer, and the bandit fell off of the car and got caught in the wheels. The resulting pain-t job was not pretty, but that was none of Mike’s concern. There were twenty-odd some more bandits on the train, and our trio were their targets...

***

One of the workers of the Crystal Empire train station looked up from his magazine.  Through the vast windows, he could see the train from ponyville speed out of the station. It was very late, and the worker was going to have a talk with the engineer when she arrived.

[SummerHaven 49]

@Pr0m4NV14 @Battenberg

Summer felt the bandit knocked off of her and scrabbled to her feet. There where way more ponies than she initially thought, and she was quite overwhelmed. She grabbed a few bandits with her levitation and tossed them over the side of the train.

Suddenly she piercing blow in her side as one of the enemies gave her a strong solid kick. Summer was knocked completely off balance and stumbled over to the edge of the car. Another one of the bandits seized her opportunity and headbutted Summer, causing her to fly off the the side of the train. She squeaked in pain as she fell into the snowbank below.

* * * 

[Victoria Sponge 1,017]

@Pr0m4NV14 @SummerHaven

Victoria winced as the bandit fell below the train.

"Do we have to kill them? Isn't throwing them off the sides of the train enough? Then again there are a lot of them, where are they all coming from?"

She turned and delivered a solid kick to the face of one of the bandits, knocking him out cold. She turned back around just in time to see Summer flying off the train, in anger she sent the bandit off after her and stood at the edge, contemplating whether she could survive jumping off after Summer.

"Mike, we have to go after her, how badly do you think it will hurt to jump off here?"

[Pr0m4NV14 839]

@Battenberg @SummerHaven

 

Mike was already running across the roof of the train cars to the rear. He could see Summer in the snowbank, getting smaller as the train sped along the tracks. Mike checked behind to see if Victoria was following, only to trip and fall off of the end. Hitting his head on a frozen railroad tie, Mike shakily got up. Summer wasn't too far, so Mike trotted towards the blue-ish unicorn.

 

[SummerHaven 49]

@Pr0m4NV14 @Battenberg

Summer ended up landing in a huge pile of snow, which was probably what had saved her from braking any bones. Her foreleg was throbbing; Summer figured she had probably landed on it. She tried to stand up and a jolt of pain was sent through her leg. She looked around and saw the back of the train speeding off past where she had landed. 

As the unicorn scanned the area she realized her saddlebag had been tossed a few feet away. 

“Snickers!” She immediately ran over the where the saddlebag had landed, all the while completely ignoring the pain in her leg.  The squirrel seemed to be alright though, he was shivering. “You poor thing. I’m so sorry.” Summer was preoccupied and didn’t notice that one of the bandits she had previously tossed off the train was sneaking up behind her.

[Pr0m4NV14 839]

@Battenberg @SummerHaven 

Mike’s head hurt, so it took him a few seconds to  notice that one of the surviving bandits  was sneaking up on Summer, who seemed to be picking up something in the snow. The wind was strong this far north, and Mike was glad that he had the idea of wearing the hooded cloak when he did. “Hey, you!” He yelled at the bandit, which made it glance at him. Mike drew Jennifer and charged the few 10-some yards to the bandit, who was wielding a nasty looking short sword.

*** 

The station worker glanced at the train again. It would arrive within a half hour or so. The engineer would get a very stern talking to. On top of the late train was a large group of cloaked figures attacking a trio of other ponies. One of the ponies, a blue-ish Unicorn, was flung off of the side of the train. The station worker gasped, and sprinted towards the station exit. He needed to get the authorities quickly.

[SummerHaven 49]

@Pr0m4NV14 @Battenberg

Summer heard Mike’s shout and turned around in time to see the bandit before he swung his dagger. The bandit paused to see where the voice was coming from. In that brief moment, Summer was able to tackle the pony into the snowbank catching him off guard.  

“Mike! You didn’t have to come after me! But I’m sure glad you did.” She said as he came charging over. The bandit looked up helplessly as Mike drew in closer with his sword in hand. 

[Pr0m4NV14 839]

@SummerHaven @Battenberg

Mike knocked away the Bandit’s weapon. “It’s really nothing. Anyways, we gotta catch up to that train” Hs said to summer, his voice slightly muffled by the sword. He stared hard at the Bandit, who was trembling with fear. “What do you think we ought to do with him?” Mike asked his Unicorn companion. He was’my sure if Victoria was still on the train or not, and there were a whole lot of those bandits on the train.

[SummerHaven 49]

@Pr0m4NV14 @Battenberg

“I’d say we just leave him. We don’t really have the luxury of time right now if we are going to catch the train. But defiantly take his dagger so he can’t use it.” Summer tied a bandage around her injured leg and collected her things. 

[Pr0m4NV14 839]

@SummerHaven @Battenberg

Mike got off of the bandit, who scampered away. He sheathed his sword and Defiantly took the dagger. Since the tracks were on the edge of a steep slope, the path that the train was taking could be seen. “I think we could catch up if we took this slope downwards. We might even beat the train to the station!” Mike exclaimed, looking at the Crystal Empire below. The Hooded Earth pony picked his way down the slope a bit, when he found an old sled on a ledge. “Huh. How convenient.” He muttered to himself while unearthing it from the snow.

[SummerHaven 49]

@Pr0m4NV14 @Battenberg

Summer peered down the slope and was instantly grateful that she had been kicked off when she had. She started to follow Mike down the side of the hill when she stepped on a patch of ice. She instantly slipped and slide down the hill knocking Mike onto a sled. This caused the sled to be put off balance and it slowly started tilting. Summer felt the sled moving under her almost in slow motion.

Summer looked at Mike regretfully. “Sorry...” She said, as the sled went sailing down the hill. Summer held on the best she could, and the two ponies went plummeting down faster than she would have thought possible. 

[Pr0m4NV14 839]

@SummerHaven @Battenberg

Mike forgot about the pain inhis head, as he was having a lot of fun as the two careened down the slope. On one of the sled’s boards the name of sompony was scratched in the old wood. Perhaps children slid down the mountains for fun. With a brilliant spray of snow, the sled and it’s passengers sailed over a bump and landed on the other side of a long gorge in the rock. Mike could see the train approaching the Crystal Empire station. They were close enough to the base of the mountain that they could overtake the train, but the path down seemed risky. There was a safer path to the left of the sled, but it mean that the duo would be a bit late. “Hey, Summer! Which way do we go” Mike shouted over the sound of the wind.

***

The engineer slowed the train down as the train approached the station. Through the window, she could see a mass of armoured and armed ponies on the platform. Were the authorities aware of the attack? Suddenly, there was a banging from the other side of the locomotive’s door, where a pair of bandits were attempting to ram it open. The Pegasus silently prayed that the door would hold long enough.

Edited March 23, 2018 by Pr0m4NV14

[SummerHaven 49]

@Pr0m4NV14 @Battenberg

Summer didnt feel like getting more injuries, and she didn’t trust the steeper of the two paths. She leaned enough to make the the sled turn slightly in the safer direction. 

“We should probably take the safer one.” She shouted as the frosty wind tried to muffle her voice. “We can try to regroup with Victoria once we get to the station!”

[Pr0m4NV14 839]

@SummerHaven @Battenberg

Mike leaned to the left as the sled barely missed a outcropping. The path was a lot smooother than the bumpy route that they had taken so far. The train had stopped at the station, and the little figures of armoured ponies capturing the large group of  bandits could be seen.  As the figures got closer, the sled hit a bump and flung the two passengers off of the old sled, which broke after all the stress. Mike tumbled down the rest of the hill, before falling off of a cliff and landing in the coal car of the train. He climbed out, (Now covered in a layer of black coal dust) and drew the bandit’s dagger to defend himself from any stragglers. Mike entered the train to collect his belongings that he left in the sleeping compartment and to figure out where  Victoria went.

[SummerHaven 49]

@Pr0m4NV14 @Battenberg

As the wobbly sled beneath them began to wear down, Summer knew she was going to have to jump off soon. She was preparing her retreat, when suddenly the sled decided for her. The duo hit a rock and the sled slip apart, flinging Mike and Summer into the air. Summer landed on the slope and started sliding down. She dug into the dirt with her hooves and managed so slow herself to a stop just before reaching the side of a massive cliff.

Summer felt a huge knot form in her stomach as she looked around and Mike was no where to be found. She could however, see the train at the base of the hill. Summer knew he would be following the train, and figured she could find him at the station. She glanced down at the daunting cliff side. Ok, Summer you can do this. Just be careful where you step and everything will be fine. She only partially believed herself.

The unicorn swallowed her fear, and started making her way down the rest of the massive bluff. 

Edited March 27, 2018 by SummerHaven

[Pr0m4NV14 839]

@SummerHaven @Battenberg

“I-is anyone there?” Mike said. The train was eerily silent compared to the pandemonium of the previous events. Behind Mike a large trail of coal dust led from the coal car all the way through the food cars and passenger cars to the sleeper car where the Light brown (Now black) Earth Pony stood. In front of him was the door to the compartment in which he slept in the previous night. Victoria might be in there, and besides, he needed the stuff he bought. Mike took the bandit’s dagger and pushed the door open. “Hey Victoria, are you in here?” He said though the blade in his mouth. 

*** 

The chief of the authorities was checking a report. The bandits on the roof of the train were stripped of their weapons and were tied up, ready to ship off to the local prison. The engineer and passengers were being questioned about the events. It seemed that most of the bandits wore black garments with hoods. After some interrogation, the leader said that they were looking for the Blade of The Holy Light, which was rumoured would be on the train. The chief was not going to fall for such a weak bluff. The chief of the authorities sent in a group to sweep the insides for any stragglers. It was going to be a long night for the chief...

[Victoria Sponge 1,017]

@Pr0m4NV14 @SummerHaven

Victoria's scarf lay on the floor in front of Mike, it was tattered and torn and had clearly been cut by a knife, luckily it seemed clear of any blood so the chances of Victoria having been harmed in the attack that had done this to her scarf were low. Besides her scarf there didn't seem to be any traces of the mare in this compartment, though a trail of sooty hoofprints, not Mike's own, led away from the room and down the carriage.

[Pr0m4NV14 839]

@Battenberg @SummerHaven

Mike followed the hood prints, not before putting carrying his luggage with him. He followed the trail of hoof prints through the train car, checking in the other compartments as he went. Nopony was in sight. The trail of hoofprints lead out to thhe next car. The door was locked. On it was a sign. “BAR CAR - NO MINORS ALLOWED.” Mike knocked on the door. “Hey, Victoria! Are you in there?” He figured that the bar car door would lock by itself.

[SummerHaven 49]

@Pr0m4NV14 @Battenberg

Summer ended up slipping and tumbling down the slope most of the way but managed to make it to the bottom without much issue. She saw the train speeding off in the direction of the empire and, fearing the long walk in the snow, decided to try to catch it. She winced as her foreleg flared up in pain, but she new she was going to have to run if she would have any chance of catching up. 

The distressed unicorn took off after the train in a surprising burst of speed. As she galloped up to the moving cars, she knew it wasn’t going to slow down. She was going to have to jump. 

The train was much faster and it was pulling ahead. She had to act soon, lest she get left behind. She used her magic to toss her bags onto the platform and mentally prepared herself for the jump. Summer using all her remaining energy, jumped up and managed to land onto the platform with a loud crash of her hooves. She then collapsed in exhaustion. 

[Victoria Sponge 1,017]

@Pr0m4NV14 @SummerHaven

The door clicked open and slid gently and cautiously aside. Peeping round it was a very shaken looking Victoria, her mane was a mess and her make up was smeared and her fur was black with soot even her socks of pure white fur were darkened by the dust. Upon confirming that it was indeed Mike she threw herself at him, wrapping her hooves around his neck.

"It's so good to see a friendly face finally! I wasn't sure what had happened to you and Summer, I'm so glad to see you're ok! W-where's Summer?"