This is a non-profit fanfiction created for entertainment purposes only. This story is a continuation to Silence of Ponyville, which is a side story of Silent Ponyville and Silent Ponyville 2 by author jake-heritagu on deviantART. While it is highly suggested to read the previous stories before this one. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is owned by Hasbro and Lauren Faust. Silent Ponyville concept belongs to jake-heritagu. Please support both. ---------------------------------------- Silence of Ponyville: The Shop - Chapter 1 As the waking world began to invade upon Knick during his slumber he began to question as he laid still if everything he's been experiencing the past few days had all been a bad dream. But as sleep drifted farther away, reality was sinking in and Knick was becoming aware without opening his eyes that something was already very wrong. Most obvious the feel of his skin as he laid upon a hard wooden surface, nothing like his mattress back home or Dreamer Dusts' couch. The air around him was heavy, almost musky and he could hear water dripping some where far away. Opening his eyes slowly he rose from his resting place to see not his home or his bathroom but some place far different. It was a train car. The wooden boards his body was laying on belonged to the floor of the passenger car he was in, which seemed to have been in a serious state of disrepair. The seats were old and the cloth torn and moldy. The floor he was on was stained with filth and the entire car looked as if it had not been maintained in years. With a groan the stallion rose onto his hooves and shook his head lightly. "Where... where am I? Wait! That hole..." He looked around himself but couldn't find the entrance he'd climbed into to get here. All around him was just the train's passenger car. A roof covered the car from above and on all sides were benches for ponies to rest their bodies upon. Before him was an open door, the direction he'd been facing when he awoke. So behind him naturally must have been the hole he'd crawled through. Turning slowly and letting his eyes adjust from his sleep he was able to make out the shadowy shapes around him. The moon light was full and radiant and the areas where the windows let it shine gave everything a mystic, eerie glow. Unfortunately the windows were not very abundant, and the fog he could see outside the glass further obscured the light. He was left alone in the dark and starting to regret the path he'd taken. Walking forward, Knick found a closed door undoubtedly leading back farther along the train to it's caboose. It was shut, and no matter how he pulled at it with his hooves or teeth he couldn't get it to budge. "Locked. Just great." He grumbled and shook his head a bit more. "So then how did I get here!?" It was the most illogical thing yet of everything that had occurred. Even with the terrible nightmares, the strange circumstances leading to his friend having to cast a spell on him, waking up in an alternate version of his own house AND an impossible hole appearing in his bathroom. None of those were quite as odd as the situation he found himself in now. What train was this? How did he get to a vehicle from a home by a connected hole, and then pass out part way through? Maybe someone knocked him out and dragged him here? If so, thankfully they hadn't taken any of his belongings as his saddle bag was still strapped to his body. Complete with his makeshift weapon of the metal pipe. He should have found a lantern in his shop though, it was far too dark. "Guess it doesn't matter now." He sighed and proceeded forward, the only option really left for him to do. Wandering forward with careful steps through the dark and dimly lit passenger cars by the moonlight from the windows it was here that Knick was starting to notice all of the train cars were in just as bad of condition. The whole train looked as if it had been abandoned and he was confused where he would have ended up that they'd leave an entire train like this. Where was the train located at anyway? He was wondering if there was a point to exploring this vehicle until he came to the fourth coach-class passenger car from his original location and saw a sliver of light by the wall. It was a door. He looked at it relieved, the passenger cars up until now had coverings around each conjoined area to protect the guests as they moved from one passenger car to the next. Here was an actual exit he could fit his body through, the windows having been too small. Bracing himself against the handle he pushed hard and was happy to feel the door slide open all the way and let light spill in. Stepping to the edge, Knick craned his head around in different directions. "Fog's really thick," he said. Seemed that whatever odd weather had plagued Ponyville was also at work here. He didn't know if that meant he was close to his home but was hopeful. It was the best opportunity thus far and he had to try and find everypony. Sticking his neck out further into the fog he was able to see another set of train tracks beside the one his current train sat on. So it wasn't just an abandoned train in the middle of nowhere. This was a train yard, which meant there had to be a station nearby. And with any luck, other ponies. Knick was just about to hop off the train when he heard a sound. Perking his ears up, he realized it was coming from back inside the train. Knick stepped closer towards the end of the passenger car and heard what sounded like female whimpering. It was faint but there was definitely something there. "Hello?" Knick called out ahead of himself. "Is someone else here?" No response but the whimpering didn't cease. Curious now that someone besides him may have ended up in this crazy world Knick proceeded further into the train. He didn't bother to close the door to the outside. Heading deeper inside Knick heard the faint cries growing louder with his approach. "Hello? If you're afraid please don't be. I don't know where I am." He looked around himself to see that the passenger cars before the one with the door must have been first-class, the ones he woke up in having been coach. Instead of the open benches for ponies to lay upon there were sliding doors that lead to private quarters for individuals. If the walls hadn't been receding from mildew and damage he was willing to bet this had been a pretty classy train. "Are you hurt?" "They're real." A voice! A female voice. It sounded like a filly from what he could tell. He stepped faster sure that one of the private quarters in this car had been the source it had come from. "Hello? I'm trapped out here." He was listening closely to each door now to see if it was the one that the voice was behind. "They're real, I've seen them." The same voice again. It sounded afraid somehow. Knick was pushing open the cabin doors finding no one behind each, the small windows they had giving even less light to the hallway than the other passenger cars. There were two small sky lights to provided him just enough vision to see where he was going. "Please come out, I don't know what's going on around here." He was getting frustrated and worried all at once, the lack of response was unnerving him. "They have long claws for gripping onto ponies, and pulling them into their dens. And large eyes for finding them in the dark." He followed her voice this time to one of the private quarters that was near the exit to the next passenger car ahead. Knick tried pushing it open right away but it was either locked or stuck on something. "Hey! Hey, open the door! I'm not going to hurt you." There was a buzzing in Knick's ear that was agitating him further now that he'd found the pony he was searching for but couldn't get to her. "Hey, open the door up!" "So please... don't leave me." "No one's leaving, just open the..." He fell forward onto his hooves as his pushing finally got the door to slide aside and create an opening. "...Door." He felt like a dork making his entrance this way but at least he was inside and now he could help whom ever was lost here with him. "Sorry about that I just... couldn't find you." The room was empty. There wasn't a single pony in sight. Not a filly, not a mare, nothing. It didn't look like anypony had been inside of the room either in some time. Everything was as run down as the rest of this dump. Knick grumbled to himself as he walked into the private guest quarters, wondering if maybe the filly who had been talking was hiding from him. But if that's the case why had she asked him to stay? Her voice had been so sad... almost pleading. It pulled at his heart and maybe he could have felt better if not for that annoying buzzing in his head. Just a second, that wasn't coming from his head. It was coming from his bag. Knick flipped one of the flaps on his saddle bags and looked inside. It wasn't his head that had been making the noise this whole time, it was that pocket watch from the shop counter. Now the thing decided to start working. Maybe the noise had scared the filly away into hiding. Knick pulled it out and looked it over in his hoof, pressing on the button on top of the watch but the face covering still wouldn't open. He twisted the knob and fiddled with it further but the weird grinding noise that had been bothering him was just increasing in volume. Getting annoyed Knick turned toward the door way he'd come through to chuck the stupid thing out of the room and hopefully get rid of whatever was causing the other pony to hide from him. It was as he looked out into the hall of the passenger car that he stopped dead still. Only a few seconds had he seen it, but undeniably it was there. A figure had passed by the door, its shadow apparent in the small glimpses of light provided by the skylights atop the train. The moon light coming in just enough to make out the shapes around him. Knick had thought he'd be happy to see some movement but there was something... something wrong about what he'd seen. It was too tall, far too tall for a pony. The thing that had walked by the door had been what Knick could tell at least a foot of height over himself while he was on all fours. It wasn't just that though, it was the shape of that shadowed being. Whatever had walked by he was certain had moved on two legs. He didn't see the back side of the creature follow along past its head, sort of like some pony that had propped themselves up on their hind legs and staggered by. That was the most logical answer anyway, maybe a pony carrying something in its front hooves. But it felt and looked wrong. And it hadn't seen him. Knick stood perfectly still like a statue as whatever it was walked by long past his line of sight and possibly to the next passenger car. As he listened for its movements the noise of the watch died down slowly and Knick was amazed whoever that had been had not heard it. Having nearly forgotten the filly he'd been searching for previously Knick slid the now quiet watch back into his saddle bag and waited until he was sure he heard nothing else moving. Taking a step forward his hoof collided with something and he cringed feeling the impact, afraid it would alert the figure. Nothing happened though, and while a bit tense Knick looked down to see what his hoof had nudged. Reaching down he picked up the small cylinder and held it up to try and make it out. After some examining he determined that this was the best find he'd come across so far. It was a candle, silver in color and oddly shiny as if the wax had been mixed with something to give it a reflective sheen. Regardless of its appearance it was a light source that he could use if he could locate some matches or a flame. However considering there were others in this train that Knick didn't fully come into contact with or know he decided that perhaps it was best to keep the candle aside and unlit for now. Keeping this in mind, Knick dropped the candle into his bag and stayed quiet. Lowering himself down he looked around to see if he could find the source of the filly's voice but there was no place that was practical to hide in the room. It was just two benches facing one another and a small area overhead for stowing away luggage. Not sure how she could have escaped Knick decided instead to look for more candles. While sifting quietly through the grimy items on the floor he found a paper that wasn't as filthy as everything else in the room. Knick tossed it into his bag as well deciding this wasn't the best place for reading and quietly walked his way out of the room. Looking the direction where the figure had gone he saw only darkness and heard nothing, feeling a small sense of relief. This could have been an over reaction, and maybe there was somepony in this place looking for another pony to help them escape. Maybe they knew where they were and could help get Knick home. Maybe... but Knick still walked out of the train car as quickly and quietly as possible. Finding his way back to the door way that lead out into the fog filled train yard he stopped and realized something. "I let that thing in." It had to have come from outside. He'd been at the back of the train by himself, he walked from one end to the other and it came up from behind him. Whatever it was it had been outside. That meant there could be more outside. Or as Knick decided it meant it was now inside and could stay there. Hopping out of the train he closed the door behind him and hoped whatever that tall creature was wasn't clever enough to open doors. If it was then maybe that was a sign at least he'd found a reasonable being. "No time to worry about that now." Walking forward towards what he figured would be the train's engine he didn't make it farther than past the first coach passenger car before he was met with a dead end. A box car that would normally be used for moving supplies had been left on the tracks next to the train he was in, attempting to go around it provided him with yet another dead end as it was jammed too close to his original train and there was another full train on the opposite side on another set of tracks, this one running much longer and farther down. He sighed seeing he was boxed in here and turned around to the only path available. "This is so dumb." Knick thought to himself. What was the point of all of this? He'd crawled through that hole to get out of his house because he'd been trapped there, now he was stuck in a maze of trains and passenger cars? The situation had gone from unsettling to down right dangerous and he was out here in... where ever here was looking for clues to... who knew what. "Matter of fact lets get some ideas." He reached into his saddle bag and pulled out the paper he'd picked up in the first class cabin. Travel Tracks Fillydelphia Railway Company Travel Menu Bran Muffin $5 Bits Daisy Sandwich $7 Bits Alfalfa Bowl $8 Bits Fruit Salad $10 Bits For the traveling individual with that special taste, please ask us about our Omnivore Special. $14 Bits It was a menu. Apparently the railway had provided their guests with meals on their travels. The idea of finding some food stored away on these trains was appealing as Knick had confirmed there wasn't anything left back at his "home". However there was something on the menu that was more shocking then the possibility of something to eat. "Fillydelphia... that can't be right." Everything that had happened so far seemed unbelievable to be sure. But the idea he'd crawled through a hole in his wall that had taken him to another city entirely was just too much. "How could I have traveled so far? This isn't possible." What's worse was this area was as covered with fog as Ponyville had been. How far had this spread? "Figure it out later." He reassured himself and continued through the fog filled tracks. He was starting to talk out loud a lot lately for some sort of sound that would ease him during all of this stress. He could have very easily panicked at any moment and while Knick Knack was a rather level headed and calm pony he wasn't above a freak out if it called for it. These trains were screaming for him to do so too, but he didn't plan to give it to them yet. Instead he trotted along and kept his eyes on the new set of train cars, finding an open door similar to the passenger car he'd hopped out of before. Since the previous train had only a set of dead ends and a possibly welcomed visitor it was only logical to try the next train over. Knick cautiously climbed inside and looked around, seeing a familiar setting in the dilapidated conditions of the coach passenger car and not much else to the train. Interestingly enough there was another open door directly across from the one he'd come in from. However it only opened to a boxcar on another set of tracks that blocked the path, nearly scraping against the train he was in currently. What was the logic of having them so close together? It just served as an obstacle. "Maybe that's the idea?" He grumbled to himself and looked between the two directions. The engine may have an escape route but if it was pressed against more trains like the rest of these cars then he doubted there would be an easy way out. Instead Knick decided to travel backwards to the caboose. There at least he hoped to find a door leading out the back. Knick's hooves tread carefully as he didn't want to trip on anything, the light inside this train even worse than the previous. Somehow the windows were grimier and the moon light couldn't shine its way through. There wasn't much need for maneuvering however as all the passenger doors between the cars were open and Knick eventually arrived at the back. "Great. Another dead end." He sighed and dropped down on his haunches, looking at the mess. If there was a door behind all of this he couldn't see it. The back of the train had all sorts of carts, chairs and trash just shoved against the wall. There was no way he could possibly move it all by himself and he wasn't sure the door would be unlocked anyway. Knick looked about dejectedly, upset that he'd wasted his time coming this direction. Still, he might as well explore and possibly find another candle for his travels. He hoped to come across something useful soon as his head was buzzing with another headache and a fruitless search wouldn't lessen it. Sifting through the debris, there wasn't anything of much use except for one cart that appeared undisturbed. Curiously, Knick lifted the covering off the plate on top of the cart and discovered some old, dirty and dried out hay. He winced thinking it must have been used as a side dish for whatever meal the passengers would have ordered. He wasn't eating it now though in this condition no matter how hungry he was. Dropping the cover aside with a louder metal clang than he would have liked Knick searched further and found an interesting sliding panel at the base of the cart. Pushing it aside revealed a cold interior. "Hello... now this may be valuable." Reaching in with his hoof he pulled out a parcel that was wrapped in paper. It had a bit of weight to it and was cool to the touch. Knick figured it must have been something that was kept in cold storage to maintain its freshness. "Perhaps my luck is changing." He didn't know what the food item could be, but finding it in the magically charged freezer still intact was pretty shocking for this place. Considering it was kept cold, he determined it was probably some sort of fruit or delicate vegetable that had to be stored in such a way. Dropping the parcel in his bag he hoped the paper wrapping would keep any moisture from dripping onto the cloth inside. It was when he flipped the bag open to collect his new prize that he realized that it wasn't his head that was chipping away at him with that grinding noise, it was his pocket watch. Its gears were grinding in that annoying fashion again. That was when he remembered the last time it had happened. He wasn't alone. Jerking his head over to the doorway Knick saw the shadow looming at the entrance. Up close it seemed almost taller than he'd originally guessed, its body straight and unmoving. Something dangled at its side but he couldn't make out the shape of it, nor any of the details of the being that was watching him so closely. Through the unrelenting grinding noise of his watch; He could make out the sound of what seemed to be sharp, short breaths. Like the creature was constantly sucking small gulps of air in rapidly, breathing at a quick pace and sniffing all around it. Knick's body stood frozen, watching wide eyed and trying to adjust his eyes faster to the shape before him. Hoping beyond all hopes that what he was seeing was just a trick of the shadows or his eyes seeing what wasn't there from fatigue. Then it moved. Slowly, carefully it walked in on what Knick could see was two legs. Stepping forward and ducking slightly under the door frame the creature hoisted the dangling item at its side and now Knick could confirm that it was its hand attached to a disfigured, unnaturally long arm. Long fingers adorned a large claw that curled as it rose, the other side having a limb that seemed just slightly too short to be natural for its size. As it moved Knick felt a sense of fear at how alien the being was; it walked upright on its legs, not like a bear or one of those dogs around Ponyville that often leaned upwards onto their hind legs to stand, curling forward in a hunch. This creature's back was straight, upright and unlike anything Knick had seen before. He could feel his legs shaking beyond his control and he tried to rationalize with himself that maybe whatever it was happened to be lost here like himself. "He-hello." He spoke up, swallowing the lump in his throat and trying to fight the instinctual fear in his heart. "I'm... I'm sorry if I locked you in that train. I was just l-lost." Knick scolded himself, he was sounding like a coward! Stallion up. "Maybe... we can work together to..." He cut his sentence short when the creature reached out to him with its long hand. Perhaps it couldn't see very well in the dark and was searching for him by his voice. It wasn't moving especially fast and Knick rose up a hoof to meet its hand in a shake of a friendly greeting. They have long claws for gripping onto ponies, and pulling them into their dens. And large eyes for finding them in the dark. The words recited in his head suddenly. The voice he'd heard when inside the first train, from the filly that seemed to disappear when he'd searched for her. The creature's hand began to reach farther in towards Knick than the distance necessary to touch his hoof. They're real. Knick leaped backwards on his legs but it was a second too late, the long claws of the creature scraping against his shoulder and outstretched leg. He let out a surprised and painful cry feeling the claws pull at his skin. His eyes darted down to his leg to check the damage but it was near useless with the lack of light. He could feel something warm and wet and he was sure he was bleeding. He just didn't know how badly. There wasn't much time to ponder it as the creature was looking at its hand that had come back without a pony gripped inside. Then began to stagger forward and reach for him again. Knick wasn't attempting diplomacy any longer. "Get... get back!" He shouted trying to sound intimidating but it just came out scared. "Stay away from me! Get back!" He backed up on his legs, trying to keep the injured one raised off the ground. The creature didn't respond though, just staggering forward for him and still grasping eagerly in the air. The train car growing shorter with each step and that annoying watch grinding out its warning to Knick Knack that this was indeed real. Knick was pressed near to the back wall when he heard the metallic ting of something colliding with the it. Of course! Craning his head back Knick pulled out the pipe he'd wrapped a grip around for his mouth, now wishing he'd kept those bandages for his leg instead. Sliding the pipe loose from the straps of his saddle bag he brandished it threateningly in his mouth at the creature. Making growling noises and trying to be intimidating. It didn't work, the monster still gaining ground on him. When the claw began to close in for a second time on his left side Knick's body shook and ran on instinct, swinging the pipe as hard as he could into the creature's arm. To his credit, it seemed to stop the monster for a moment, letting out a louder throaty moan when it was struck. However it didn't deter it from reaching for him still and Knick's adrenaline was kicking in. He swung the pipe at its outstretched claw, hitting it at least four times and knocking it against the caboose wall. Longing for escape he galloped forward towards the creature and craned his neck for another hard swing, this time into the monster's legs. It let out a sickening gurgle and fell to its side, Knick striking it once more to dissuade it from getting up. With it falling, he jumped over the monster's collapsed form and winced with the landing but ignored the pain, survival primary on his mind. Running to the caboose door Knick slammed it shut and backed up, dropping the pipe from his mouth with a clang. He stared at the door for a while waiting. In the silence as he watched for something to occur he noticed that his pocket watch had stopped with its insistent noise. Did he... kill it? Knick looked down at the pipe on the floor that had been his weapon and back again at the door. "I didn't really just kill something... right?" He hadn't hit it that hard he thought. At least not enough to take something's life, but the reality was he hadn't really been paying attention to all of that. His mind was screaming at him to survive and he'd done just that and didn't care of the consequences for reaching those ends. Knick had never even been in a violent altercation before, let alone fought something. The idea of taking a life with his own hooves was chilling. He considered leaving the pipe behind but with what just happened it would be foolish to abandon it. If nothing else at least that thing knew he was serious and may think twice about attacking him... if it still could that is. He picked up the pipe and slid it carefully onto his back again, then proceeded towards the front of the train. The light from outside the sliding train door he'd come in from let him get a better look at his leg and he could see that it was gashed enough that he'd been bleeding. It seemed to be slowing down and he hoped that meant it wasn't very deep. He'd left all his bandages back at his house... or fake house. Or whatever was going on around here. "I still have no idea what I'm doing." Pressing forward he passed through the remaining passenger cars and as expected into first class again. Careful steps revealed no sounds, and all the doors were open with nothing of particular interest inside. He considered searching them for more of the shiny candles he'd found before but thought better of it. Staying mobile was more important now with his injury. He pressed all the way forward until he came to the front of the train which with everything that had happened so far he didn't really expect to see. The doors to the exit being blocked seemed more plausible but funny enough here he was at the train engine with the moonlight shining down. Knick inspected the train's controls and they looked as old and neglected as everything else but not damaged. Curiously he pushed at one of the levers but there wasn't a response. So much for a dramatic escape on a locomotive. Digging around further some movement caught his eyes and his head ducked down instinctively after the last encounter with something else that could move. Peering out the engineers window to the train that was pulled up directly against the train he was in now he could see through one of the filthy windows. There was a light inside and the shadows of something inside moving about. The light flickered suggesting a candle like he'd found earlier and further suggesting the filly he'd been looking for when he discovered the silvery piece of wax. If not her, at least somepony intelligent enough to light a flame. He had to get over to that third train he'd now discovered. Finding somepony else in this crazy place would be reassuring to say the least. But with the second train's current position he couldn't find a way to get there. Perhaps he could try to climb onto the roof, but with his leg gashed he didn't know if that would be plausible. Thankfully the box car that had sat between his first train and this one wasn't connected to anything, so it allowed him to exit the engine on his right side. Stepping down he could see the box car that had prevented him from traveling to the front right away before, and in the opposite direction past the engine itself was... fog and dark. For as far as the eye could see fog and darkness. As if the train tracks lead off into nothing. He could try walking past the second train engine he'd come out of to get to the third one over, but something in his heart warned him not to venture out there. As if that blind space would swallow him whole. It was his ears next that gave him warning as the grating sound began to faintly grow from his saddle bag. Knick was catching on that the last two times he'd heard this one of those tall beasts had appeared and he was backing up from the front of the train quickly. Had it gotten up? Was it coming for him for revenge? Knick was watching the little door he'd hopped out of when he exited the engine carefully, and so didn't notice the sneaking clawed hand that gripped around his back left leg. Knick collided hard with the dirt and train tracks when he was pulled off his balance by the hand, letting out a surprised yelp and looking behind himself. From beneath the second train he'd just exited a long, outstretched arm had gripped around his back leg with a terrible strength. Following the arm he could see two large, black eyes over a muzzle like a bear or a dog's face, teeth exposed and arm pulling at his body to come closer. Knick's body shook with the realization it had caught him and he pulled at the rails along the train tracks to keep it from yanking him closer but it was just too strong. His grip loosening Knick turned his body and in a frantic shout began to beat his hoofs at the creatures face as it pulled him closer. It let out pitiful moans in protest but eventually succumbed to Knick's panicked strikes and loosened its grip. Once he was able to kick his leg free Knick, painfully and quickly pulled himself to his hooves and backed away as much as he could from his attacker. He looked at the monster startled by the sight, its black and unfeeling eyes gazing back at him. He'd never seen anything so seemingly devoid of intelligence and it was shaking his nerves harder than he expected. When it began to pull itself out further from beneath the tracks to pursue Knick fled immediately, running towards the dark fog. He didn't care anymore that it seemed foreboding, now more concerned with the apparent threat behind him. Knick however didn't even get past the engine before clumsily colliding with a lever, swinging it forward. He bounced back a little and coughed, feeling the wind get knocked out of him. Suddenly there was a loud metallic screech and he knew it was too great to be his watch. The tracks had moved. When he'd hit the lever he changed the way the tracks had aligned, now instead of curving before the engine pushing straight forward. He hadn't noticed it before as he couldn't see it from his original vantage point and frankly it wouldn't have mattered anyway with the train being stuck in its position as it was. Or so he thought. Screeching to life the wheels on the train began to move forward, shattering the rust that had encased it for who knew how long. Slow at first but gradually picking up speed the train moved, with no sound of the engine ever coming to life. He'd gotten it to push forward by accident somehow. And that thing was still under there. "The train's moving!" He shouted behind himself, surprised that he even cared. "The train's moving! You have to get out of there!" Maybe it was just in a pony's nature but he didn't want to see the monster die even if it had tried to drag him under to... well he didn't know what but it certainly seemed fearsome. But now it was powerless and Knick ran back to it just as the monster was pulling itself half way out from under the train car it had been hiding beneath. "You have to move or..." It was too late and Knick knew it. He turned his head away as a sickening crunch filled the train yard along with rapid, panicked gasps for air. As the second train moved further the crunching noises grew in intensity, and then began to stop. Once the sound of the wheels turning had died down Knick mustered the courage to look forward at his attacker. It was gruesome. The wheels had severed its body in half, along with its arm that it must have reached back with after it had been crushed the first time to try and escape. Knick winced and fought off the urge to throw up what contents he had left in his stomach. He'd never seen something so bloody before. He'd read books with violence in them, heard stories of atrocities that had happened before but never bore witness. It was shocking. Above the creature's body, Knick saw the train had moved forward enough that he could access the original open passenger car on this side of the parked box car now. Peering through it the opened door on the opposite side lead into and open door to the third train he wanted to get to. Lucky... right? "I'm sorry it came to this." He apologized to the beast that no longer moved, his silent pocket watch seeming to confirm it for him. Carefully stepping past the remains of the creature he climbed inside of the train car and proceeded across it to the next one. This train was as expected the same as the others. Designed to carry passengers and in a total state of disrepair. Still he had a clear goal in mind and hoped when he got to it he could save a life rather than be partly responsible for taking it. "Or entirely responsible..." No, that kind of thinking wouldn't help him. Not in this insane place. He had to move forward. He had to get back to Ponyville. To Annie. His back leg was throbbing but it didn't seem cut and he was hoping it was just sore from being rough housed so badly. A broken limb wouldn't do him any good right now. Walking towards the front of the new train he'd entered Knick only had a short ways to go before he found the light source he was after. On one of the benches in the coach class passenger car sat a lantern. Its flame was low as if it didn't have enough oil left to stay lit and it barely cast any visible light within the train car. Counting his good fortune Knick pulled out his silver candle he'd found earlier and lit it on the lantern's flame. Pulling it aside with his mouth he balanced it on his hoof and noted that even the light it gave off was oddly silver. Maybe it was magic? With any luck it wouldn't go out then. Taking careful steps on three legs at a time he shined the candle light about and noticed something very peculiar about the door leading to first class in this passenger car. "What... the hay?" It was blue door with a gold, vine like trim around its frame. It wasn't that it just that it looked different though, it didn't look like it belong in a train at all. The door had a handle on the front that suggested something more like a door leading into a room in a house. Also it wasn't in the run down condition that the rest of the train appeared to be in, instead looking very clean and tidy. It was as if someone had jammed a doorway from a house into the side of the train and gotten it all to fit together. Knick approached it slowly, reaching out with his mouth to turn the handle. Then he heard the crying. To his side and huddled in a corner past the benches was a filly, a young one at that. The candle allowed him enough light to make out her body and her coat seemed matted and filthy as if she'd been in this place for a long time. Her body was shaking as she cried and Knick suddenly remembered that she was the reason he'd come all the way over here from three trains ago in the first place. Seeing her fragile state which after everything he'd seen he could relate to Knick carefully approached the girl. "Hey... are you hurt?" He asked cautiously but she didn't respond. "Listen, I'm not like those other animals out there. What's your name?" He hobbled closer to her and she turned slightly to face him. "My name's Knick Knack. I don't know how I got here but maybe we can help each other?" She stopped crying and let out a throaty moan as her body shifted his direction. Before he saw it he knew, the pocket watch's creaking from his bag unnecessary at this point. He knew, but it didn't help him deal with it any easier. "Where are her eyes!?" It was the first thought that ran across his mind. The filly's head turned and Knick was able to see now that the rough texture of her coat wasn't just mud and dirt. It was blood, the dark matted parts of her body areas where skin had been ripped off. He could have dealt with that though considering the creatures he'd seen, her being an apparent victim of this place the same as him. But it was her eyes; They were gone. Where they had been were two holes that were splattered with blood and her mouth ran with a black liquid. He barely noticed but it was apparent that she was a unicorn and her horn was broken off half way down. She let out a moan that was both high pitched and too deep for a filly to be able to make, turning her body around and falling onto all fours. Startled beyond thought Knick dropped the silver candle and it hit the ground, rolling towards the filly. When it came close to her she let out a shriek of surprise and began to climb up the wall of the train like a spider. Crying out at the sight of the silver light she pushed her head against the ceiling, her neck bending sickeningly against the surface before pushing through it and disappearing to the roof of the passenger car. Knick could see in the silver light that she'd actually gone through the roof without damaging it, like she faded through the solid surface. Like a gho... "Do not finish that thought." No, he wasn't going to believe there were ghost fillies haunting an evil train in a fog filled, moon lit abandoned train yard from a magic hole in his fake house! He wasn't going to surrender his sanity that easily. But he also wasn't going to stick around to challenge it. With the candle seeming to keep that thing at bay Knick ran back as fast as his legs would allow and picked up the lantern with his mouth. Gripping it by the handle Knick walked out of the passenger car the way he came, not testing his luck with the odd blue door. Let it have its mysteries, he was done with this. Gripping hard onto the sliding door between the two passenger cars he pulled it closed hoping that would keep that odd ghost-filly from following him. He breathed a bit harshly and listened, the creaking from his watch hadn't stopped and he didn't know what that meant but proceeded the opposite direction of the train car with the blue door. As he walked through the coach-class passenger car into the next that had the open door he'd originally used to enter the third train his watch suddenly rose with its grinding and he became aware it wasn't trying to tell him about the strange filly any longer. Before him a large claw and arm drug a body into the passenger car. Knick's body froze wondering if the creature he'd accidentally killed earlier had survived being run over. He awaited the horrible sight of the torso of a monster being drug inside the train by its long claw but he was unusually relieved to see it had legs attached. Broken ones. Knick sat the lantern down on one of the benches. "You're from the other train!" It was the first monster he'd fought, apparently injured but still pulling itself towards him. "Listen I'm sorry about your friend but it was an accident. We don't have to be enemies." He tried to reason with the creature before him but it looked on with those same large, black eyes that only knew instinct and seemed to lack clarity. Knick backed up a little but he didn't want to run and let this thing chase him. "Please stop, we can work this out without fighting. Violence isn't necessary." Still it drug itself forward, propping itself up on its unusually long arm. Knick thought that perhaps he's finally reached out to one of these beings. Maybe it wouldn't be necessary to go through this nightmare anymore. Naturally he was surprised when the beast hurled itself forward off it's long arm, muzzle opened and gnashing as it flew at him. Knick leaped back in time despite his injuries before the creature could collide with him, mouth open and hungry. He quickly brandished his makeshift weapon from his back and held it threateningly hoping to remind the monster of what had occurred before. It didn't work. Propping itself up on its good leg it reached for him still with its hand. Knick fended it off with his pipe feeling the fear grip him again. "Stop it... stop it! Stop it!" He growled the words out through his mouth around the pipe, his neck swinging the weapon harder at the creature's arm. "Stop it stop it stop it!" The monster leaned forward and managed to clasp its fingers around Knick's back. He felt the pressure squeeze at his torso and knew there wasn't any way for him to break that grip. As it pulled him closer Knick shut his eyes tightly and jammed his pipe forward at the monster, feeling it collide with his target. After a moment the grip on his back slackened but Knick didn't stop, pushing the pipe forward further and driving it in despite the resistance against the tip. Before long, the noise in the train had died out. The watch no longer groaned out its warning; The monster's strange breaths no longer wheezing. Knick stood with weapon in mouth, scared to open his eyes. When he convinced himself to let go of the pipe it didn't fall from his teeth, instead wobbling in the air where he'd gripped it. He opened his eyes and looked forward and was able to see his handy work in the lantern's dim light. He'd driven the pipe directly into its throat, blood dripping from the open wound in its neck. Its hand rested on the pipe as if it had tried to pull it out at the end but was far too late with Knick's persistent pressure. Knick stared at the creature he had murdered for a while, amazed at what he'd done. He'd deliberately taken a life, something he'd never even known a pony to have done or be capable of before. Slowly grabbing the lantern in his mouth Knick walked on through the train, leaving the pipe behind in the body of the beast. He didn't want it anymore. Hobbling carefully Knick traveled all the way to the caboose of the train where he was met with an odd but familiar sight. A hole was in the back of the train, but it didn't lead outside into the train yard. Instead it was dark and deep, and surrounding the opening was a red circle with smaller circles and designs inside its boarder. Knick didn't know what those symbols meant, but the sound of air passing through told him it lead out of this place like the previous hole had lead out of his home. Without regret for his choice he climbed inside, and silently he prayed to any deity that would hear him for forgiveness for his violent actions.