&&&
“It’s a touch…small, is it not?” Rarity couldn’t help observe as the train came to a stop before them. Aside from the engine there were only three compartments.
Shining Armor lit up his horn, carrying everypony’s bags above him as he started walking over to the train. “We have to be able to travel light and fast. The front car has the showers and restroom. We’ll be sleeping in the middle car. The rear car is for eating and planning and anything else we need to do. Now come on, the Elements of Harmony are already onboard.”
Everypony walked into the middle car. There were a number of bunk beds set up along the walls of the train. “Gonna be a mite cramped in here.” Applejack noted, shrugging as she tossed her saddlebag onto one of the beds. “Ah well.”
Princess Cadence smiled at Shining Armor coyly. “Ah, a lone stallion on a train full of attractive mares. I hope you’re getting combat-duty pay.” She chuckled as a red blush appeared in Shining’s white face.
“Ah heh…” he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. “Just part of being Captain of the Royal Guard.” He mumbled.
Cadence walked around him, flicking her tail beneath her nose. “It is such a hazardous duty, but somepony has to do it, hmm?” She giggled as she set her bags down atop another bunk.
Suddenly feeling very annoyed, Rainbow threw her own bags down. “So can we get going already? Where’s the engineer already?”
“There isn’t one.” Shining cleared his throat as he started walking to the front of the train. The others followed in his wake as he walked over to the engine. “We’re using an experimental new magical fuel that’ll keep the train running without having an engineer constantly shovel coal into the furnace.” In a bowl by the furnace were a number of red, shiny gems. Rarity gave a high-pitch little squeal in delight as she held one up with her magic. “They’re gorgeous!”
Shining Armor nodded as he took hold of it with his own magic and proceeded to toss it into the furnace, not noticing the dismayed look on Rarity’s face. He pulled a switch and tugged on the whistle. The wheels slowly began to churn and smoke began pouring out of the engine as the train got underway. “There isn’t much, but we just have to add a new stone every three hours or so and the train will keep running.”
“So why not toss them all in now?” Rainbow moved as if to grab the entire bowl. “We need to get north fast!”
At the last second, a frantic Shining Armor got between her and the bowl. “Don’t! These stones are very potent magic and still experimental! Using more than one at a time could cause the engine to explode!”
Rainbow Dash swallowed as everypony looked at her. “…oh. Sorry?”
Shining just shook his head as the train began to pick up speed, the wind blowing louder and louder. “Let’s just…go back into the train.” He turned and trotted back in, not seeing Rainbow sag despondently as she trailed after him.
It was much quieter inside the train itself. The front car, as Shining Armor had said, was a bathroom with several sinks, three enclosed shower stalls and other necessities, clearly designed to accommodate ponies undertaking long trips who didn’t wish to smell like train funk.
Rarity looked around, delighted to know that her carefully crafted looks wouldn’t be neglected. “Well, it’s certainly a good thing I made sure to pack plenty of scented soap, oooh and my favorite shampoo and conditioner! Did I remember to bring my nice towels?” She tapped her hoof against her muzzle in deep thought.
Applejack nickered. “Well, ah made sure t’bring plenty of apples and other essential supplies,” she stressed, looking at Rarity.
The fashionista sniffed dantly and raised her head. “I am certain that everypony present will be grateful for my foresight once they are forced to awake to your...outdoorsy musk.
“Are you saying ah smell?!” AJ objected furiously, anger coming off her in waves. “That’s rich coming from a prissy pony that smells like she fell in a darn barrel of perfume!” Rarity gasped as she drew a hoof against her chest, mortally offended.
Shining Armor looked to Rainbow Dash uncertainly as the two mares started bickering loudly. “Um, should I be worried?”
She shrugged. “Eh, I’d be more worried if those two weren’t arguing about something.”
“I...guess it’s better than having them worrying about their sisters.” Shining allowed, albeit doubtfully.
Cadence shook her head, sending her long mane waving. “No...fear and hostility aren’t an answer to grief.” She stepped forward, interposing herself between Rarity and Applejack. “Everypony be still,” her voice was calm; soothing as cool spring water. “You two are friends. I know that you’re very different ponies, but right now you’re feeling the same thing: fear and helplessness. Does this help deal with either one?”
Applejack and Rarity studied their hooves before looking up at each other. “Rarity, ah...ah owe you an apology for being such a gosh-darn foal.”
The white unicorn shook her head. “No, it is I who owes you an apology, dear Applejack. I know how much you’re just concerned for dear Apple Bloom, like I am for Sweetie Belle. Going on about...well, my normal routine was inappropriate considering what your state of mind must be. It was…just a reminder of what wasn’t normal for you. Forgive me?” She couldn’t help add a little pout at the end.
“Friends?” Applejack held out a hoof. Rarity accepted it gratefully.
“Friends.”
A softly bleated yay filled the car. Everypony turned to look at the source. Fluttershy blushed. “Oh, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to shout…I was just so excited that I lost control! …I’ll try to be quieter from now on.” She finished with a whisper that was barely audible.
Pinkie Pie giggled and wrapped Fluttershy up in a hug. “Silly Fluttershy! You don’t need to be sorry for being happy!” She whipped her head around to look at the rear of the train. “Oooh! I wanna see the dining car! Or is that the breakfasting car?” She zoomed off so quickly that Fluttershy didn’t have a chance to regain her footing and fell over with a soft meep.
Twilight quickly moved to help Fluttershy up. Once done, Twilight looked back to Cadence. “I’m really glad you’re here.” A wide grin plastered on her lavender face.
The princess smiled and gently nuzzled Twilight’s face. “Me too. Ooh, you’ve gotten so big!” She wrapped Twilight up in a hug. “I remember when you when you were just a little filly, pouring over your books and trying to sound out the big words by yourself.”
Shining Armor chuckled as he tousled his sister’s mane. “I remember the first time you came over. You had to literally drag Twilight away from her books. ‘Just one more page, just one more page!’” He imitated a young filly’s voice.
That got a snicker from Rainbow Dash, reminding Twilight that they had company. Applejack tugged her hat down and let her eyes dart this way and that as she tried, and failed, to look like she wasn’t paying attention. Rarity meanwhile brought a hoof up to her face and let out a gentle titter of amusement. The poor Twilight blushed and pouted adorably. “You guuuuys!” She couldn’t help letting a hint of a whine in her plea. “Not in front of my friends!”
Cadence gave an equally cute pout, shamelessly utilizing the dreaded puppy eyes. “What are you saying? I thought Shining Armor and I were your friends too!” Her lower lip trembled as her eyes shimmered.
“Y-you are! I—but—they—you—” Twilight stammered, her train of thought having collided headlong with a mountain.
“I think you broke her.” Rainbow observed, grinning.
Shining Armor nudged her. “Don’t you start Rainbow. I have plenty of material on you too.”
Rainbow’s face paled as she spied the toothy-grins Rarity and Applejack exchanged with one another. Princess Cadence’s eyes lit up. “Oh that’s right Dashie! You were so cute as a filly! I remember this one time—”
“SO ANYWAY!” Dash spoke loudly, interrupting her as she looked to Shining Armor. “You…uh, said the Elements of Harmony were here?”
The stallion nodded. “Right. To business.” He trotted over to the door and into the next car. “Watch your step ladies.”
The rest of the ponies—sans Pinkie Pie—followed Shining Armor into the sleeper car where they found him rooting around beneath one of the beds. “Ugh, where is it…aha!” Triumphantly he tugged out a small safe with a combination lock. “Here we are…the Elements—hng!—of—graah!—Harmony!” He tugged on the door handle with all his strength.
It didn’t budge. Somepony coughed.
“Um, maybe it’s locked?” Fluttershy suggested helpfully.
Shining sighed. “Great…what was that combination again?” his horn and the lock glowed with his magic as he spun the spinner around. “Was it two…no, three to the left…then back to the right…or was it right, then left?”
Cadence took a step forward. “Do you want me to—”
“No, thank you Princess, I’ve got this.” Shining grunted as he started spinning the lock, seemingly at random.
“Are you sure? Because I know the—”
“It’s under control.”
“But—”
“It. Is. Under. Control.” Shining asserted, a mad gleam in his eye. His pride as Captain of the Guard was on the line now. He would not fail! Especially in front of his sister and the princess!
“…why don’t I show them the eating car, then.” Cadence suggested diplomatically, taking a half-step back. “We’ll…catch up with you later. Come along girls.”
Nopony objected as they carefully walked around the determined unicorn and walked into the final car. There was a stove, an oven, several sinks and cupboards full of food supplies. The walls were lined with windows and fans graced the ceiling. Given the pony now occupying the kitchen car, this was probably a good thing. “Hi everypony!” Pinkie beamed as they came in. “I was just making a snack for you guys! Here!” A ready-made tray of cupcakes, delicately frosted, sat on top of a small table by the door. “Help yourselves! I made each one special for you and everything!”
On the tray sat eight cupcakes, each one frosted a different color to match a particular pony’s coat and mane. She even used a bit of icing to draw their cutie marks on top. “How did you do all this?” Applejack asked incredulously. “You couldn’t have been gone fer more than ten minutes at the most! It ain’t possible that you made eight cupcakes in that time.”
“Well, duh!” Pinkie rolled her eyes. “I mean, yeesh Applejack, you’re being a silly pony.” She reached into the over and took out another tray. “I made sixteen! That way everypony gets to have two!”
Applejack facehooved. Cadence picked up a pink and cream colored cupcake and took a dainty bite out of the side. “Hmm…this is delicious!” She pronounced. “This is the best cupcake I’ve ever had!”
Pinkie giggled happily and bounced up and down around her. “She likes it, she likes it, she likes it! You know what this calls for? A party!”
Any party preparations were rudely interrupted by a sudden cry of anguish coming from the middle car. “Shining Armor!” Cadence exclaimed.
Not hesitating, Rainbow Dash bucked the door open and flew into the sleeper car, quickly followed by Cadence and the others. “All right, put ‘em up! No pony lays a hoof on Shi…ny?” She blinked, her righteous anger burning away in an instant.
Shining Armor: the cool, collected captain of the royal guard, was busy using his magic to slam the safe against the floor like a foal in the middle of a temper tantrum. “Why. Won’t. This. Stupid. Safe. Open?!” He grunted angrily, punctuating each word with a slam against the floor.
He raised the safe up to the ceiling, intent on one final smash when he suddenly found the safe floating out of his magic’s control and into Cadence’s. “Shining Armor…are you really sure that puncturing a hole in the floor of a moving train is really the best method?” She quirked her brow skeptically.
The suddenly embarrassed unicorn rubbed the back of his neck. “Well…perhaps not.” He allowed. “But I know I got the combination right! I’ve tried everything!”
“Did you try asking nicely?” Everypony looked at Fluttershy, who promptly covered her mouth with her hoof. “Um, it couldn’t hurt…” She squeaked softly.
Applejack shook her head, walking up. “Allow me sugarcube. This sounds like a time for some good ol’ Apple family…finesse.” She reached out and bucked the safe latch. There was an audible klink and the handle switched positions, letting the safe door slowly creak open.
“….thanks.” Shining Armor grumbled as his cheeks flushed. Clearing his throat, he reached out with his magic. “As I was saying earlier…here are the Elements of Harmony.” The inside of the train lit up as he pulled out six magnificent jeweled necklaces, each one featuring a gem in the shape of the girls’ cutie marks: a red lightning bolt, an orange apple, a yellow butterfly, a green diamond, a blue balloon, and a purple six-pointed star, each one shimmering with their own inner light.
Everypony oohed and awwed at seeing the fabled artifacts. Cadence leaned in. “Oh my goodness…they’re so beautiful.” She paused. “Shame they aren’t tiaras.” At everypony’s questioning look, she blushed slightly. “…I like tiaras.” She pouted defensively.
Chuckling softly, Shining Armor gently put the Elements back in the safe, closed the door, and put it back underneath the bed. “They’ll be safe here until we get to the Crystal Empire.”
“How long will that be?” Rainbow Dash asked.
Pulling a map out of his saddlebag, Shining Armor unfurled it for everypony to see. “Unfortunately, the railroad won’t take us all the way to the Crystal Empire…it’s not as if we have a station just sitting in the middle of nowhere in the frozen north.” He chuckled grimly. “The last major stop is Vanhoover. After that it’s just a couple of small towns and then…end of the line. We’re looking at about a week on the train, then another two or three days on hoof.
Everypony winced. Being stuck on a tiny train for a week with over half a dozen other ponies was going to be…cozy to say the least. And the prospect of trudging through the frozen north on hoof for several days was even worse.
Rainbow shot her friends her most confident grin. “So we take a little train ride, do some hiking and camping and then we beat up the bad guy. Easy-peasy, one-two-threesie as Pinkie might say.”
Pinkie nodded. “She’s right, I would totally say that! And maybe even add rice-and-cheesy if you pleasy!”
Smiling slightly, Cadance reached over to give Rainbow Dash a shoulder hug. “I remember the time we went camping in the palace hedge maze. It took us forever to get through the whole thing. Of course, it didn’t help that a certain filly kept running ahead, trying every wrong turn and finding every dead-end.”
“Not my fault you were too slow,” Rainbow protested cheekily. They shared a quick giggle. “Getting through the Everfree Forest was quicker.”
Shining Armor frowned at them. “This isn’t a frolic through the palace grounds.” His tone was frosty as he chided her. “We’ll be trekking through some of the most hostile and unpleasant terrain in Equestria. You need to take this seriously.”
Rainbow felt her face heat against as Shining spoke to her like she was a filly. “Hey! My godfilly and a bunch of my friends’ sisters are out there! Don’t tell me I’m not taking this seriously!”
Shining surprised everypony by stomping his hoof down in front of her, snorting angrily. “Then ACT like it!”
His angry shout seemed to reverberate through the suddenly still cabin. Dash gave a weak nod. “…O-okay.” she swallowed shakily. “I got it. W-whatever…’scuse me.” She flapped once and flew over him. “I’m just…gotta take care of something,” with a strangled croak, she opened the door and made her way into the front car.
The door had just closed when Cadance turned to her bodyguard. “Shining Armor…” Her gaze was piercing, terrifying in its intensity.
The stallion winced, then sighed. “I know…I know. I’ll go take care of her.”
Cadance nodded once. “See that you do.” Shining made his way to the back of the sleeper car and opened the door. The noise of the wind rushing by filled the car only to fade away when he closed it behind him. Then there was silence.
& & &
“Rainbow Dash?” Shining Armor stuck his head into the compartment that served as a restroom and shower. “Dash…uh, can we talk?” He really didn’t want to make this more awkward by walking in on her at the wrong time. “Dashie…I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap like that.”
Getting no answer, he stepped inside and looked around. There was no sign of her. He briefly thought she might have gone forward to the engine or even gone outside for a flight to clear her head, but then another idea struck him. Walking over to the showers, he opened the stall door. “Ah, there you are.”
Rainbow looked up at him from her place on the tiled floor, hugging her knees close to her chest. “Do you make a habit of walking in on mares in the shower?” She sulked.
Shining chuckled briefly. “Dashie…c’mon. Let’s talk, okay? I’m sorry I got mad.” He offered her a hoof. “Would it help if I got down and begged for forgiveness?” Flashing his pearly whites, Shining put on his most charming poster-boy-for-the-royal-guard smile.
“…fine,” grumbled the rainbow-maned pony as he helped her up. “You’re lucky I’m such a cool, forgiving pony, Shiny. Otherwise, you’d be dead.”
“Of course,” Shining allowed graciously. “Truly, your mercy knows no bounds.” His humor soon dissolved into concern as he gave her an apologetic nuzzle. “I’m really sorry. It’s just--this is big. We don’t even know what King Sombra is up to. I know you’re a really capable mare and you took care of Nightmare Moon, but...well, this time I’m aware of what’s going on and I have to take some of the ponies I care the most about into danger.”
Rainbow nodded. “I get it…”
He shook his head. “No…you didn’t know. I should’ve explained instead of just going off on you. But when I think about somepony I care about in danger—Cadance, Twiley…you.” He gave her a comforting nuzzle that made her cheeks flush. “I get so worked up that I lose my head sometimes. Forgive me?”
She didn’t have to think twice before throwing her forelegs around him and burying her muzzle in his neck. “Of course…” Rainbow breathed. “I can’t stay mad at you...”
Shining was too relieved to catch that last part, or the way she said it. “Thanks Dashie…” He hugged her back. “That means a lot to me. You know I trust you, right?” She nodded quickly. “Well, I’m going to tell you something I haven’t told anypony else. Not a one.”
Rainbow pulled back, watching him excitedly. “What is it?”
Taking a deep breath—and taking a last look around to make sure nopony was listening in—he blurted out. “I’m going to ask Cadence to marry me!”
The silence was deafening. Rainbow’s jaw dropped open as she could literally hear the blood rushing in her ears. Shining Armor…was going to get MARRIED? To Cadence? Even though Dash had come to grips with the fact that her longtime crush loved somepony else—or so she thought at least—hearing that he was going to get married was still a bombshell.
Mistaking her expression for one of amazement, Shining nodded. “I was going to ask her before but this stuff all sort of blew up at the last second and…well, I’m just so excited that I have to tell somepony or else I’d just explode!” A concerned look took over his face as he thought to ask. “Are you…okay? I mean, I know that this must be kind of a big shock considering—”
“A-are you kidding?” Rainbow forced herself to put on her biggest smile, her face about to crack under the pressure. “It’s great! Cadence is great. Y-you’re great…it’s all great!”
Shining sighed in relief. “That’s good…I’m glad I have your support Rainbow. You’re a good friend.” Rainbow winced as if in pain at Shining’s wording. As intelligent as Shining Armor was, at the end of the day he was still a stallion. That meant that there were something things about mares that he naturally just…missed.
Of course, one can’t really hear somepony’s heart break. You can only feel it.
Rainbow Dash was right. This was going to be a long trip.