I woke up as I felt the train coming to a slow. The rate of deceleration caused me to grab onto my seat so I wouldn't fall off. Curious, trains don't normally slow down that fast. I sat up and looked out one of the windows. Sure enough, there was snow everywhere, but the Crystal Empire was no where in sight, yet the train had come to a full stop.
I hopped off my seat and walked towards the front of the train, passing multiple confused passengers on the way. The conductor was assuring everyone that everything was fine and that they were just experiencing a short delay, but I wanted to find out what was going on myself. I entered the engine room and found the engineer working with some levers.
"Is everything alright?" I asked.
The engineer noticed me and stopped working, dusting his hooves off he let out a sigh. "Some of the levers and pipes have frozen over, I can't get them to work. We're stuck out here for the moment, but there's no cause for concern, after a few hours the next station will realize something has gone wrong and will send a rescue party."
I scratched the back of my head. "A few hours? How far away is the Crystal Empire from here?" I didn't want to come all this way to be hours late, that would cut off my time to talk with Shining Armor by nearly half a day.
"By train, probably another ten minutes. On hoof? In this storm, an hour, if you don't freeze to death first," answered the engineer.
I sighed. "Is there no way to fix it? I'm willing to help however I can."
"'Fraid not, unless you're willing to get out and push." The engineer let out a short chuckle.
"Push? Not a problem," I flared my horn. "I'll get the train moving, you unlock any brakes and see what you can do to make it easier. We'll make it to the Crystal Empire in no time."
I walked out of the engine room and into the passenger cars. The conductor was still trying to keep everyone calm, although some were complaining that they wouldn't make it in time for one event or the other.
"Eyes front, everypony!" I yelled. All eyes were turned towards me. "Parts of the train have frozen, and we won't be able to get moving any time soon unless we get out and start pushing. If there are any of you strong enough to come outside with me and start pushing, we can make it to the Crystal Empire in half an hour. Unicorns can help push with their magic or clear the snow ahead, I'll need some earth pony strength to pull, and if any Pegasi can help clear the skies above us to keep us from freezing, we'll be getting out of here in no time. Those who are able to help, stand up and get ready. The rest of you sit tight."
About a dozen ponies stood up ready to help push or pull. I gave them all a nod and pulled the conductor aside. "Go from car to car and tell them the same, the more we have pulling the faster this will be," I turned back to the rest of the passengers. "Alright, let's get a move on!"
I opened the side door and led the volunteers to the front of the train. Three pegasi began to circle above and clear away the falling snow. The unicorns cleared away the snow and ice from the ground to let the rest of the earth ponies get to the front of the train. After we cleared most of the area about two dozen more passengers joined us.
We had twelve pegasi clearing the skies, fifteen earth ponies able to pull and nine unicorns to clear the snow and or help push the train. I was at the back of the train with two other unicorns to help push. I signaled the conductor, and within seconds the train whistle blew and the earth ponies began pulling. With a mighty heave the train budged and slowly got back on track.
We kept at a trotting pace to keep safe, after about ten minutes most of the unicorns tired out and hopped back onto the train, but the earth ponies kept going. I always loved how much stamina earth ponies had. I signaled for the earth ponies to start running, they picked up speed and I began to have trouble keeping up with the train. The rest of the unicorns boarded before the train became too fast for them.
I ran up front of the earth ponies to keep the tracks clear of any ice using my heat spell (although it still wasn't that strong). Within another twenty minutes the Crystal Empire was in sight. The train whistle blew twice and the earth ponies began to slow down. Another five minutes and we pulled into the Crystal Empire station, which had now been moved inside the Empire instead of out in the snow.
As we stopped I collapsed on the ground in front of the train and began taking large breaths. I forgot how hard it was to breathe out in the cold. I looked over at the earth ponies who pulled the train, they all seemed to be a little exhausted, but fine.
A crowd had gathered around the train and some asked what had happened. The conductor and engineer explained everything. A couple of guards at the station noticed me and helped me back onto my feet.
"Thanks. I need to see Shining Armor, can you tell him I've arrived?" I asked. "I don't feel like I can walk for a little while."
The guards nodded and ran towards the castle, while I hobbled over to a nearby bench to catch my breath. I know I used a lot of my magic to melt the ice and push the train, but I never remember being this exhausted from something as simple as running with a heat spell on. Maybe it was just the cold, I had never been used to snowy weather.
After a few minutes I saw Shining Armor trotting over to me. I stood up and gave him a salute as he approached.
"Hey now, no need to be all formal on me, Sword Shield, you're on break," said Shining Armor.
I lowered my salute. "All due respect, Captain, it simply wouldn't feel right."
Shining Armor chuckled. "So, what brings you here only after a week? Did you miss me that much?"
"How about we get back to the castle first, then I'll explain," I answered. I felt a grumble in my stomach. "I could use a bite to eat as well."
Shining Armor nodded. "Of course. Follow me." He led me through the city, much of which had been improved since I last visited. Many Crystal Ponies were out working or playing in the streets, the market district looked very busy. The whole place seemed to be loaded with tourists.
"Business must be booming around here lately," I commented.
"You can imagine. Trainload after trainload, we've been getting more tourists by the day," replied Shining Armor. As we approached the castle he nudged me. "Hey, you need to see this." Shining Armor led me under the castle to the center where a giant crystal heart was being held.
I walked around it curiously. "So this is the Crystal Heart?" I asked trying to sound as if I hadn't seen it before.
"Yup. This is what helps keep the Empire protected, both from the snow and from any hostiles," answered Shining Armor. "Strangely enough, Princess Luna came by a few days ago looking at it, but she left before I could say anything."
"I wonder why. Anything strange happen while I was gone?" I asked casually.
"No, not that I know of." answered Shining Armor. He led me over to the stairs. "Come on, let's go inside and get you some food, it's almost time for supper."
I was glad no one had noticed the Crystal Heart being swapped. I let out a grateful sigh and followed Shining Armor up the shimmering stairway. "Food sounds good."
Shining Armor led me to the dining hall, while I sat down and waited he had the cooks prepare dinner for three. I had already guessed that the third guest would be Cadance. The dining hall was a long rectangular room with carpets of red and royal purple, the table was also rectangular and made of a golden wood with some sort of glaze that made it shimmer in the light. It was large enough for about twenty ponies. Shining Armor sat across from me.
After a few minutes of waiting Cadance walked in the room. "Sword Shield, when you come to visit I expect you to at least say 'Hello!' before you rush straight to the dinner table!" She sounded relatively upset, although I'm sure she was joking.
"Sorry, but I was just so hungry. I just had to help push a train the rest of the way here, so you'll excuse me if I'm too weak to walk up an extra flight of stairs to the Throne Room," I explained sarcastically. "And uh... I'd prefer if you just called me 'Swordulan' now."
Cadance came and sat down at the table next to Shining Armor. "What happened?"
"Parts of the train froze over, seemed unlikely to me but you never know when you're this far north. I put together a small group to get the train moving again." After I explained a couple of servants entered the room and gave us our dinner. I got a nice bowl of veggie salad with plenty of carrots mixed in.
"No, I mean why do you want to be called Swordulan instead?" clarified Cadance.
"Oh," I shifted in my seat uncomfortably. "I just feel like it fits me better now." I levitated some carrot pieces into my mouth and hoped that Cadance wouldn't require further explanation.
Cadance seemed to understand. "Alright, if you feel that way I'll call you 'Swordulan'." She and Shining Armor continued to eat their dinner.
After a few minutes Shining Armor pointed towards my side. "Hey, where's your sword?"
I glanced at where I normally attached my sword and looked back at Shining Armor. "I left it with Twilight back in Ponyville, she wanted to study it to see if she could learn anything from it." Would have been nice to have the sword for pushing the train.
"I see. Well it's in capable hooves. You been getting along with Twilight? How is she doing?" asked Shining Armor.
I pulled a 'are you serious?' face. "Captain, you aren't secretly using me to keep tabs on your little sister, are you?"
"What? No, of course not... Okay, maybe just a little," answered Shining Armor with a chuckle.
I sighed hopelessly. "She's doing fine as far as I know."
"That's good. So, you said you'd explain why you decided to drop by. Is there any reason?" asked Shining Armor.
"I just needed to get away from everything for a little bit, being on break is almost as hard as being on duty," I answered. "I suppose I'm just not used to it as much."
"Well you're always welcome here," said Cadance.
"Except when you've got a job to do," added Shining Armor.
We continued eating in silence until each of us were finished. "Now, it's time for me to start asking some questions. How's progress here in the Crystal Empire?"
"It's going very well. We've expanded the borders and some ponies from other cities are even starting to move in, and there's definitely no shortage of new tourists," answered Cadance. "Luckily there hasn't been any problems with the Crystal Ponies, they're very excited to meet everypony that comes here."
The servants came back and cleared the table for us. Shining Armor thanked them and returned his focus to me. "I've got a new barracks up, and we're starting to get some recruits from the crystal ponies. Which reminds me, when you go back to Canterlot do you think you could reassign some trainers and another officer here? I could use the extra hooves."
"Not a problem." I let out a yawn and realized how tired I was. "Excuse me. I think I must have drained the rest of my energy pushing the train. I hope you don't mind if I retire early tonight?"
"Not at all, you look like you've had a rough time," answered Cadance. She patted Shining Armor on the back. "Shining Armor will take you to the guest room where you can stay for the night."
"Sounds good. Sleepover at the Princess's castle," I said groggily as I sat up from the table.
Shining Armor led me through a series of crystal hallways and stairs until we reached a medium sized bedroom, complete with a bed, some luxury furniture and a cozy fireplace.
"I hope this do for tonight," said Shining Armor.
I looked at the room with a weak smile. "It's better than my place," I trotted into the room and collapsed on one of the sofas. "So soft... where do you make these wonderful beds? I want one."
"That's the sofa."
I lifted my head and stared at my Captain. "You mean there's something BETTER?"
Shining Armor looked at me confusedly. "Are you okay?"
"Ah'm fine, just need sleep. Goodnight Sugarcube," I answered faking a southern accent.
"Uh, goodnight Lieutenant." Shining Armor closed the door and left me in the dim light of the fireplace.
I waddled over to what looked like the bed and collapsed, using what was left of my magic to take off all my armor. I quickly forgot anything that happened next and fell into a deep sleep.
I woke up in the late morning feeling more drowsy than usual. I sat up in bed and rubbed my forehead. "Ugh." At least I know I slept well, I don't think I've slept so comfortably in a bed before. I'd have to thank Cadance later.
I hopped out of bed, ignoring putting on my armor, and walked over to the mirror and sink. "Heh, I guess sleeping comfortably comes at a price." I looked like a mess, my mane was all over the place. I washed my face and brushed my mane back to my good looking self.
I left my room and headed for the throne room, dodging multiple servants or cleaning ponies along the way. I entered the throne room and was surprised to see it was just Cadance inside, sitting on her throne as usual. I looked around curiously. "Where is everypony?"
"It's not usually busy around here this time of morning," answered Cadance casually. "You missed breakfast. Did you sleep well?"
I nodded slowly. "Yeah, they don't have beds like that in Ponyville. Thanks for letting me stay the night." The world still seemed to be moving a bit slow for me.
"It's the least I could do for a friend. Have you been enjoying your break?" asked Cadance.
"I... don't know. Some of it has been... stressful." I answered reluctantly. I walked further into the room and stood to the left of Cadance.
"Stressful? Well what was-" Cadance cut herself off and gasped, she was staring in confusion at something behind me.
I looked behind me and saw nothing. "Is something wrong, Cadance?"
Cadance pointed towards me, her hoof was aiming at my Cutie Mark. "What happened to your cutie mark? It's changed!"
I looked at my flank to see what she meant. Nothing looked wrong with it, same old sword, same old shield and same old five stars. "Cadance, my cutie mark has been like this ever since I got it, what are you talking about?"
"Swordulan, your cutie mark used to have six stars, not five," answered Cadance.
"I'm pretty sure I've always had five, are you sure you aren't just seeing things?" I asked, half thinking Cadance was just trying to mess with me.
Shining Armor walked into the room. "Cadance, you have an appointment at the spa later this afternoon, you wanted me to remind you. Oh, good morning Lieutenant."
"Shining Armor, look at his cutie mark. Tell me it used to have six stars, not five," responded Cadance, again pointing at my cutie mark.
Shining Armor walked over to me and saw for himself. "What the... you're right, he's missing the bottom left star. Swordulan, do you have any idea how this could have happened?"
I was beginning to think they had lost it. "I'm telling you, I never had six stars on my cutie mark! I've had five for as long as I can remember."
Cadance and Shining Armor looked at each other worriedly. Shining Armor walked off somewhere and came back with a picture. He levitated the picture towards me. "This was a picture of you, myself and Cadance from the wedding. Look at your cutie mark in the picture."
I took the picture into my magic and looked at it closely. It was the three of us dressed up after the wedding and before we left in the carriage, and in the picture my cutie mark had six stars on it. "This can't be right. I remember having five stars during the wedding. Did you change the picture and you both are just playing some joke on me? Because it isn't funny."
"Why would we joke about something like this? Something must have happened to you, a miscast spell or strange illness. Do you have any idea what might cause a cutie mark to start disappearing?" asked Shining Armor seriously.
I kept looking at the picture and shaking my head. "No. This shouldn't even be possible, so either you're pulling some kind of prank or somepony else is."
"Well I assure you that it's not us," said Cadance. "I suggest you go back to Canterlot and talk to Celestia, I'm sure she can help you."
I sighed. "Alright, I'm not sure I fully believe you, but if you're telling the truth then there is something very wrong."
"Better to be safe than sorry," said Shining Armor.
"Yeah, I'm just sorry I wasn't able to stay longer. So long Captain, Princess." I bowed to either of them.
"You know that I'm a Prince now, right?" asked Shining Armor.
"Yeah, that's just weird," I began walking out of the throne room and called back one last time. "And don't worry, I won't forget to send you those extra trainers."
I left the throne room and made my way back to the guest room, finding and equipping my armor. I walked down the many staircases and trotted back to the train station, a few times being distracted by the grumbling in my stomach and many stalls selling fresh carrots. Oh how I wish I had just a few bits, but eating would have to wait for Canterlot.