“This is gonna be great!”
“Oh my gosh-oh my gosh-oh my gosh!”
“Oh how I can’t wait to see Canterlot again!”
“Can’t this train go any faster?”
The mane six await for their arrival to Canterlot on the locomotive that leads there. On the front half of the train car, Applejack, Rainbow, Pinkie, and even Spike were excitingly telling tales of their preordained actions while in Canterlot. Meanwhile Twilight, Fluttershy, and Rarity sit together on the back of the train car, quietly expressing their own enthusiasm to each other.
“What do you think we’ll do first when we get there?” Fluttershy timidly asked.
“I’m not sure,” Rarity said, “But what I do know is that I can’t wait to be staying in the Canterlot Castle again. Do you think we’ll all get our own separate rooms?”
“Oh Rarity, I think it’s safe to assume we get the best kind of treatment,” Twilight commented.
“What are you looking forwards to on this trip?” Rarity opened the question to both her friends.
Fluttershy answered first, “Oh I don’t really know at the moment, but I’ll definitely want to try to start over with the animals in the Canterlot Gardens. What about you Twilight?”
“Well, actually I’am rather excited to see my old mentor.”
“Is that it? But don’t you already see Celestia often anyways?” Rarity asserted.
“No, I didn’t mean Celestia,” Twilight started to explain, “You see there was another pony, a unicorn, who took just as much, if not more, of a role in teaching me about magic back when I first started being a student to the Princess. And I say it was an honor having her as one of my teachers…”
“Who’s the unicorn you’re talking about?” Fluttershy brought enough confidence to ask.
“Her name is Maroon Mars, but everypony just calls her Red Star. She’s famous throughout the entire world for being the strongest and over all best magic user ever. She even achieved becoming Celestia’s Arch Mage and General! In fact, only the three Princesses and the power of the Elements of Harmony surpass her in magical strength.” Twilight’s voice lifted in astonishment the further she described her old teacher.
“Wow, that’s incredible,” Rarity and Fluttershy exclaimed simultaneously.
“Then how is it that we’ve never met her before?” Rarity curiously asked, “After all we’ve been to Canterlot several times and you never before mentioned a ‘Red Star’ or that blue colt we met at the library, Cyclone was it?”
“Well, you see, like I said both Maroon Mars and Cyclone are generals. Which means that they both have a sworn duty to protect and serve Equestria; they simply are always kept busy because of that. The same goes for my brother as well. But right now I assume that they’re on leave, a break. Hehe, maybe they’re on a vacation themselves…”
“I dare say, Twilight,” Rarity commented, “Exactly how many friends in high places do you have?”
In response Twilight gave a weak smile, she could tell that Rarity’s question was a rhetorical one. Discontinuing the conversation, Twilight turns her head to look at the landscape the train travels through. Fluttershy and Rarity talk amongst themselves.
The only real noise that remains is the loud, overjoyed conversations happening between the other three mares lounging in the other half of the train car.
“Well, I’ll see you girls later,” Twilight said as she got up from her seat, “I’m gonna go check on Cyclone and Shining Armor up at the front of the train.”
“Alright, Twilight,” Rarity said.
“See you later,” Fluttershy added.
Twilight trotted away past the other group of friends and into the other train cars.
-----
“Shining Armor, what are you doing?”
“Waiting for the coffee to be ready. What does it look like?”
“I didn’t know you drank coffee.”
“Well I didn’t start until shortly after I had to take on the responsibilities of being Captain.”
“Ah, I understand fully.”
“But beside that, there are plenty things we both don’t know about one another nowadays. After all, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen both you and Red Star.”
Cyclone and Shining Armor quietly spend their time starting miscellaneous conversations in the train’s front food car. The white coated captain is the only one who’s moving around and pacing back and forth, while the blue general is almost rooted to his seat.
“Yeah I’m sorry about leaving everything to just you and Cadence,” Cyclone started, “And extra apologies for not being at your wedding. But you know, Maroon Mars and I were too busy dealing with a few things abroad in our neighboring empires.”
“It’s alright; I understand why you couldn’t make it. By the way, how did your little attempt at diplomacy go anyway?”
“Nothing worth mentioning… a handful of rebels and bandits, a few varied assignments… Oh and for a full three days and nights Maroon and I got lost in the Ice Crystal Mountains… sigh I find that all our little adventures are somewhat amusing to me.”
“Ha! I wonder how well Red did in those cold landscapes!”
“Are you kidding, she can barely stand a little winter breeze!”
The two colts burst into a chain of laughs and playful teasing. Then without warning Twilight came in trotting through the hall of the train car and reached the two colts. Her presence was welcomed.
“Hey Twilight, it’s nice to see you again,” Cyclone greeted, “What are you doing here?”
“Yeah shouldn’t you be planning this trip out with your friends?” Shining Armor added.
“Actually I already did that,” Twilight eagerly replied, and then took a seat across from Cyclone, “I came here to kinda catch up with you guys with what’s going on.”
“Catch up?” Shining repeated, “I think Cyclone here has far more tales to tell than I do, Twili. After all, even I haven’t seen him in a long time.”
“I’ll say,” Cyclone concurred, “the last time I saw you, Twilight, you were just a young mare barely out of her teens. And now look at you, all grown up, highly skilled as usual, and an Element of Harmony.”
Twilight strikes a prideful pose to show her ‘growth’ since the time Cyclone speaks of.
Cyclone sees her attempt on a stance, and says, “Though I remember you better as the small, cute little filly that runs around doing random shenanigans with Red Star all over the castle.”
Twilight drops her jaw and looked jokily appalled. Meanwhile Shining Armor couldn’t help but snicker as he too recollects those memories of his little sister.
Cyclone immediately takes notice to Shining and turns to him, “And you, Shining Armor, what are you laughing at? Last time I saw you, you were just an adorable little recruit. Nothing but a whelp.” It was Twilight’s turn to lose control of her chuckles. Cyclone continues, “However, as I can see, you are now ranked Captain. In fact both you and Twilight are now practically related to goddesses of Night and Day- Sun and Moon… Ha! Yet I still outrank you both!” Cyclone starts laughing; Shining and Twilight amusingly roll their eyes.
Shining sees that his coffee is ready and pours himself a cup. “Well anyways,” he says, barely taking his eyes off the cup he’s levitating, “I got to go to find the part of the train where they have all the rooms, I feel like I could use some rest and time to myself.”
“Alright, then, see you later, Captain.” Cyclone says.
“Bye, BBBFF!” Twilight enthusiastically called out.
“Bye, Twili,” Shining replies.
Shining Armor leaves and Twilight is left with Cyclone.
“BBBFF?” Cyclone asks a few moments later.
Twilight explains, “Yeah, it means: big brother best friend forever.”
“… Hehe, I totally forgot that you called your older brother that. Anyways, what are you going to do now?”
“Well right now I want to just thank you for paying for the repairing of my home.”
“There’s no need, I’m glad to help. Accidents happen, after all.”
“Well actually things like that happen to my house… a lot… and I was always able to fix them on my own.”
“Well then consider this as just a gesture of kindness, I suppose. Your mess is being cleaned up for you, this time.”
The two take a moment to laugh. Then Cyclone changes the subject, “So… been seeing any colts lately?”
“Uh, what?”
“You know, did you meet a special somepony yet?” Cyclone teasingly insisted.
“I, uh, no!” Twilight couldn’t control her blushes and almost her whole face turns bright pink.
“Oh! Yes you did! I can see it in your eyes!” Cyclone couldn’t control his laughter. “Can I get a name? I bet he’s really smart like you. So exactly how long has the relationship been going?”
“W-we aren’t together, yet!” Twilight regretted the words as they came out of her mouth, her complexion only gets brighter.
“Oh, then is it a secret admirer thing? No, it’s probably that you’re not together, YET.”
“Ugh! I hate you for figuring that out so quickly!”
“It wasn’t that hard. Now mind answering my question?”
“Hmpf! Why should I?” Twilight gave an almost sassy attitude.
“Hehe! It’s fine you don’t have to if you don’t want to. Though, it’s kinda interesting: seeing you in a relationship. Last time I saw you, you didn’t seem like the kind to do that.”
“For the last time I’m not in a relationship!”
“Yet.”
“Hmpf!”
Another pause lasts and the two let out sighs. Then the silence loiters before them as they both seem to have nothing left to talk about. The stillness becomes awkward when Cyclone notices Twilight blankly staring at him.
“Everything alright?” he finally asks.
“Sorry, it’s just that you talk about seeing such a big difference in both me and Shining Armor.”
“And?”
“You seem the exact same from the last time I saw you…”
Abruptly Cyclone’s expression turned from positive and happy, to indifferent and listless. “… What do you mean?” The blue pegasus offered an equally apathetic tone.
“Well, you don’t seem to have aged very much. Your voice, your body form, and even your face… they all still look as young as ever. The only difference I see is that your hair is slightly longer and darker and your coat is lighter.”
“Hahaha! I admire the complements, but to be honest I wasn’t as young as you thought I was even when we first met all those years ago.”
“Y-you weren’t- I mean aren’t?” Twilight was confused. “Then how old are you exactly?”
“Oh, I’am much older than you could anticipate. In fact, don’t tell anypony I said this, but the same goes for Red Star! She only looks like a youthful frame! Want to know something else? This hair of mine used to be white a long time ago, long before you!” Cyclone admitted between laughs. “It’s just that both Red and I know how to take care of ourselves. And we do whatever we can to try to stay in shape and healthy for as long as we can. I mean, after all, what would the Princess do without her two only generals?”
“Uh… well I suppose that’s as good an explanation as any. But that aside, it was nice to see you again, and I just can’t wait to meet Red Star again!” Twilight’s voice grew louder with exhilaration.
“Ah, I see your still the excited little fan girl,” Cyclone humorously commented.
Twilight gets back control of her form, “Sorry, it’s just that I haven’t seen her in so long and well…”
“I understand.” Cyclone passively takes a peak at the watch hanging onto his wrist, “I’m sorry to say, but right now I have to go take care of some business. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Oh, of course. I’ll just go back to my friends, now. Again, it was nice seeing you again after so long, Cyclone.” The violet mare begins trotting away.
“It was a pleasure to see you too, Twilight Sparkle.”
-----
Meanwhile in the other side of the train, the rest of the main six still remain in separate groups and discuss their next moves when they reach Canterlot.
“Which maneuver do you think will impress the Wonder Blots more,” Rainbow Dash projects to Applejack and Pinkie Pie who sat across from her, “the Nova Shot or the Buccaneer Blaze?”
It didn’t take long for Pinkie to respond. “Why don’t you just show them your Sonic Rainboom?”
“Yeah,” Applejack added, “you can almost immediately get in good with em if they see you do Rainboom first hoof! Why not show that off?”
Rainbow gave a moment to ponder that herself. “Because! I don’t need the Sonic Rainboom to prove myself worthy. Using it would just be extreme overkill. Also I can’t just summon it on a whim; it only works if I really need it to work.” Her tone becomes expressive as she starts explaining, “You see the Sonic Rainboom to me is a very special and a rare thing. I mean no other pony has ever been able to do it. Ever! Except me. And that is why I will only use it when I need it. Otherwise it won’t be so cool.” The sincerity in Rainbow’s tone was nothing if not noticeable.
“You know, I never thought of it like that before.” Pinkie admitted. “That sounds awesome!”
“Well if that’s the case, I think the nova shot would be more fascinating and original,” Applejack suggested. “By the way, I’m glad to see that you’ve taken an appreciation to your prized talent, Rainbow.”
“Well, you know me. Always modest.” Rainbow joked. The three mares take a moment to laugh.
Then Applejack thought it was time to move on to another topic altogether. She asks, “Hey why did Midnight decide to not come along on this here trip?”
Pinkie is first to respond, “He said it was because he didn’t want to go back to Canterlot so soon after he just left there.”
“Yeah. Turns out Twilight had a lucky hunch with guessing what Midnight would think.” Rainbow added.
“Is that so?” Applejack held.
Rainbow continued, “But what’s really a shocker is that he says that he’s been in the castle before and even met the Princess.”
“What? Are you serious?” Pinkie and Rainbow nod at the same time to Applejack’s surprise. “Well color me impressed!” the orange pony exclaims.
“You’re telling me! Who would ever guess Midnight was important enough to know the Princess… I wonder what he was to Celestia and what he did in Canterlot… I mean Celestia never mentioned him before…”
“She probably just didn’t have the time to mention him to use.” Pinkie shared her thought, and then she immediately lost interest and was engrossed to the landscapes the train was passing through.
“Yeah, kinda like…” Rainbow stopped when she notice Twilight saunter back in the same train car. She came in just next to where Rainbow was seated. Then the cyan pegasus turned her attention to Twilight, “Kinda like how Twilight never told use that she was besties with generals!” Her tone was unnecessarily loud and sarcastic and obviously wanted the lavender mare’s attention.
“Oh. You’re not gonna get upset over that, are you?” Twilight gave the same tone back to Rainbow.
“I’m just saying. You had the Princess as a teacher, got another one of the princesses as your babysitter, and your brother’s a captain! Now you’re trying to tell us you were good friends with THE generals?”
Twilight took a moment to think of a response. “The only reason why I didn’t tell you about them is because I didn’t even know when I would see them again. They’ve been away on missions for a long time and…” All of a sudden Twilight’s tone died down a little as well as her expression, “and they didn’t really say when they would be coming back… In fact I was starting to think I would never see them again.”
Rainbow and Applejack immediately sense a sudden shift in Twilight’s sensitivity. Without bothering to switch glances with each other, they immediately come to a consensus to try to uplift Twilight’s mood.
Applejack is the first to attempt saying some comforting words. “Aw don’t worry about that now, Twi. It’s alright if you didn’t feel like bringing them up to us.”
Rainbow joined in, “Yeah, cheer up. All that matters now is that you get to see them again, and the rest of us have the pleasure of meeting them.”
Twilight lifted her head and faced her friends. She was able to implement a weak smile. She sighed, “Thanks for the heartening approach, girls. Sorry if I was getting a little too cheesy there.”
Rainbow immediately responds to that, “You don’t have to apologize. It’s okay to be a little sappy once in a while; it’s not like there’s anything wrong with it. And in this case you have a perfect reason for being little emotional!” The typically impassive pegasus supported her statement with a strong attitude, surprising not only Twilight and Applejack, but also the pink pony who’s silently sitting and listening as she pretends to stare out the window.
A moment’s past and nopony said a word. Then Twilight regained her posture and smile. “Thanks again,” she said, “that really helped.”
“No problem. What are friends for, right?”
“That’s right.” Twilight let out a final sigh before moving on. “Anyways, have any of you seen Spike around?”
“Oh that’s easy!” Pinkie called out, “he’s sleeping right behind you!”
Twilight looked behind her and saw that the baby dragon is laid faced down across the seat. Each of his appendages are spread in opposite directions and he lets out muffled snores.
“How long has he been like that?” Twilight asks.
Applejack answered, “I’d say not long after you went to the other cars looking for Cyclone and your brother.”
“Well I might as well let him sleep. It’s going to be a long day once we get to Canterlot, after all. I’ll just go back to Rarity and Fluttershy; see you girls later.” Twilight continued to her previous destination and trots down the hall to reach the other mares.
“See ya, Twi.” Applejack, Rainbow, and Pinkie call simultaneously.
Once the lavender pony is truly absent, Applejack doesn’t spare a moment to interview Rainbow Dash on what just happened. She jokingly said, “Well-well, you surprised us Rainbow. Mind telling us what brought up your sudden… strong words?”
Rainbow’s eyes wander downward in thought, “Uh, to be honest, I’m actually not sure…”
“What do you mean?” Pinkie joined the conversation.
“I don’t know. It just sorta happened…”
“Well I just gotta say, me and Pinkie here haven’t really seen that side of you in that close proximity. Still that’s a good thing; it shows that there’s more to you than meets the eye.”
“Hmm I guess so…” Rainbow concluded the conversation with a seemingly lacking in interest.
Before a silence could linger, out of nowhere Pinkie Pie called out, “Ooh look, it’s snowing!” She made it obvious she was talking about the windows on the other side of the car; she didn’t even bother looking at the window that’s right next to her own seat. Without second thought, she dove onto the seat that held the snoozing dragon, causing Spike to bounce off and hit the floor.
“AH! What was that all about Pinkie?” he hollered out as he gets himself back up.
“Sorry Spike, but it’s snowing! And I don’t want to miss this.” After her poor explanation, she began to fog up the glass with her breath, “Hehe hehe!” Then she begins drawing smiley faces.
Meanwhile Applejack and Rainbow look out through their window and see that there’s a blizzard of snow running across their view of the mountains.
“Huh, the climate sure changed pretty quickly.” Applejack stated.
“Well it’s about that time of year where the Appaloochian Mountains start getting blizzard weather.” Rainbow spends more time gazing at the scenery. “But if we’re here that means we’re half-way to Canterlot. Won’t take long now.”
“Well, anyways I feel bored and tired right now,” Applejack yawned, “I’m gonna just rest a little right here.” She doesn’t waste time to lay her head on the armrest and stretch the rest of her across the seat and then she puts her hat over her face.
“You know the train has beds to sleep in.”
“Yeah I know, but I won’t sleep for long.”
“Suit yourself.”
Rainbow goes back to staring out at the landscape. She starts thinking about her actual chances on joining the Wonder Bolts. “I shouldn’t be so optimistic…” she thinks in her head, “I bet they see a lot of people like me that just yearn to join just as much if not more than me… but I know I am the best flier…” Suddenly she loses train of thought when she could’ve sworn she saw something on the mountain.
She wipes the fog from the window to clear her sight. And she did see something… a pony. “What the…?” On the edge of the mountain there’s a silhouette standing at the very tip of a cliff. Rainbow Dash squint her eyes to get a better look. All she can see is that the pony has wings and is a pegasus, but the pony is too far away to see anything else.
“Hey, Applejack.” Rainbow nudges her friend and tries to get her attention, keeping her eyes on the suspicious figure. “Check this out,” she keeps nudging Applejack, but the farm pony groans and kicks in resistance.
Rainbow keeps observing. At first the figure was being still. But then…
If Rainbow didn’t know any better…
She’d think the pony in the distance looked straight back at her…
Then she was urged to quickly look back at Applejack to say, “Dude, look at this, you won’t belie-” Mid-sentence she turns her head to look back out the window. But when she looked to see the pony standing in the distance, she was surprised by the figure as it suddenly flew right past her window at high speeds.
It was a split second moment, and Rainbow didn’t get a good look at the pony flying so close that it left a large shadow coming from the window. All Rainbow could manage to make out was the red eyes the figure bared. It was only inches away and in eye level with Rainbow, staring right back at her. The rest was a blur. And before Rainbow knew it, the mysterious pony had flown by and gone.
Frazzled and surprised, the cyan mare jumped out of her seat with haste. She couldn’t believe what she saw, and she wonders if anypony else saw that. She quickly turned to look at the rest of her friends on the train. They all seem like they didn’t see or notice a thing.
“Everything alright, sugar cube?” a voice broke through Rainbow’s disorientation, and snapped her out of it. The voice came from Applejack, who is still laid down and had her hat moved just enough for her left eye to peak through.
Rainbow was still a little confused on what just happened. But she figured it would be best to not bother anypony else with something she herself wasn’t sure it ACTUALLY even happened. It just didn’t seem legit.
“Uh, yes, everything’s okay. Just got a little frazzled over… nothing, I guess…”
“Alright then. Be sure to tell me when we get to Canterlot, okay?”
“Will do.”
Applejack pushes her hat back in place, covering her face.
Rainbow remains standing for a few more moments. When she finally sits back down, she doesn’t gives little thought into what just happen. Instead she decides to put it in the back of her mind and just tries to enjoy the rest of the trip.
In her mind, the whole situation with that shadow was too bizarre to be real anyway…