//------------------------------//
// Episode III: Fortissimo 
// Story: The Rhythm Of The Dance 
// by BlackRoseRaven 
//------------------------------//

Episode III: Fortissimo
~BlackRoseRaven

Cadence and Shining Armor both looked awkwardly at the train: the Friendship Express was the easiest way to get to the Crystal Empire, especially since the tracks had been extended all the way into the city-state. It wasn't really the favorite way for either of them to travel, but Shining had never loathed the idea of riding it north as much as he did right now.
That didn't have as much to do with the train, though, as it did with the fact that the old grouch General Archon was currently bullying all the civilians and train employees into doing what he wanted. He had gotten the passengers to line up as strictly as his own soldiers, and was currently shouting orders at his engineers and the train staff, who were working as fast as they possibly could to hook up several extra troop transports to the rare of the train.
“Someone should go stop that big bully.” Cadence grumbled, and Shining winced a bit before the winged unicorn slowly turned her eyes towards him, looking pointedly at her husband.
“Uh. I might be a prince, but I'm also just a Captain of the Guard. Archon is a general. The scariest general, as a matter of fact. And he hates me.” Shining said plaintively, and then he gestured at her a few times. “You, on the other hand, are a beloved and respected princess of Equestria. You should totally go say something to him. He won't set you on fire.”
Cadence looked for a few moments at Shining Armor, and then she sighed a little before saying mildly: “Your bravery is really showing, Shine. Truly, anypony can see why you were given all those medals for valor on the field.”
“Yes, exactly. On the field. That's a lot different from off the field, like now.” Shining nodded a few times, and Cadence sighed but smiled despite herself before Shining nudged her firmly with his shoulder. “So go talk to him. Besides, you're much better at being diplomatic than I am.”
The mare gave him an amused look, then she turned her eyes forwards and strode calmly across the platform, putting the best smile she could on her face as she approached. Archon's officers winced and saluted her sharply, but the General himself ignored her... even as he stomped right past when she stopped in front of him, shouting: “Search those earth ponies! You, soldier, double-check the baggage! You, scan the train, and you-”
Cadence pointedly cleared her throat, and General Archon scowled before slowly turning to her, saying moodily: “Your majesty, I am in the middle of preparations. Many of these security precautions are for your benefit. Well. Yours and your husband's, I should say.”
“I appreciate that, General Archon, but...” Cadence briefly thought of her options, realized that appealing to Archon's sense of mercy would be pointless, and so instead... “We're already running behind schedule, after all, and I'm sure that in the time they've taken, your soldiers must have already ensured that these civilians are no threat. Unless you doubt their competence.”
Archon gave Cadence a measuring look, and the mare did her best to keep her head high, her eyes forwards, her expression calm; poise, dignity, grace. And for Archon, a little snootiness: just what he expected in a princess.
Finally, the unicorn growled before nodding moodily, looking over his shoulder and shouting: “Start loading up the train!” He paused, then turned his moody gaze towards Cadence, asking distastefully: “And will you be riding with us, Princess Cadence, or will I only have the honor of your husband's presence?”
“I would prefer that my husband ride with me. I understand you will be busy enough maintaining and organizing your soldiers, after all, there's no need for you to attend to us as well.” Cadence replied equably, keeping her head in its high-and-mighty position even though her neck was starting to hurt.”If you'll excuse us, General Archon, I must fetch my husband and we must board the train. I plan to sit with our fellow ponies for... fellowship's sake.”
Archon muttered something that sounded vaguely like an acknowledgment, and Cadence nodded to him politely before she gestured imperiously at Shining Armor. The stallion gave a slight grin before hurrying over to her... and then he winced and creakily turned to look at Archon as the general said icily: “I will bear in mind that you've decided to take this journey as a prince, Shining Armor, instead of as a soldier. My report to Princess Celestia will be sure to reflect this choice, your lordship Shining Armor.”
“Uh.” Shining slowly cleared his throat, not knowing what he could actually say in his defense, then he simply gave a weak grin before slowly turning around, hissing through his teeth to Cadence as they started away: “What the hell did you say to him?”
“What was I supposed to say, Shine? What did you think was going to happen, having me talk to him for you?” Cadence muttered back as they made their way towards the train. Then both ponies winced when an officer immediately stepped in front of a family of ponies in line for the train, the burly unicorn shoving them all backwards before he turned to salute sharply.
Cadence and Shining Armor both looked awkwardly at the officer, then Cadence sighed as she glanced at the family of ponies who were now staring with disbelief back at them. “Uh... sorry.”
“Ma'am please enter the train ma'am!” the officer half-shouted, and Cadence sighed again before turning and muttering under her breath as Shining followed, looking uncomfortably at the officer: it would be pointless to argue. Archon trained all the soldiers under his direct command like guard dogs, after all... all the individuality, all the fun was stomped out of them so Archon could replace it all with unthinking loyalty and absolute adherence to rules and authority.
“One day, Archon is going to take over Equestria. You know that, right?” Shining muttered, and Cadence snorted in amusement.
“I don't think so, Shine. He'd have to get past us, after all.” Cadence replied after a moment, and then she smiled briefly as they made their way into one of the passenger cars, feeling a vague shiver of... was that excitement? “So we're really going.”
“Yeah. We're really going.” Shining Armor said softly, even though he could barely believe it himself. After all, in spite of how important it had felt to them both, they had also both... needed that extra push. And now, he was being sent there on business... although he had no idea how to tell Cadence exactly what that business was.
He grimaced a bit as they made their way through the passenger cars to the plush first-class seats. But even the comfortable bench-seats couldn't help him relax, even as Cadence slipped in to sit beside him with a sigh of relief, tossing her diadem down on the small table in front of them.
She dropped her head against his shoulder, and Shining sighed as he reached up to gently brush her multi-tone mane back, gazing at her with both tenderness and anxiety. He was worried about her... and admittedly, a little about himself, too. Less about the fact they were probably rushing headlong into danger, and more because he still hadn't mentioned anything to her about Miss Take.
He didn't exactly know how he was going to bring her up, either, and he was feeling more than a little guilty about it. He hated keeping secrets from Cadence, but well. He also kind of hated that horrible look she gave him every time he brought up the weird, obsessive half-Changeling. He really didn't understand why she got so worked up about it, it wasn't like he had any feelings for the creepy criminal stalking him. And it wasn't his fault she kept breaking the law and he kept getting assigned to try and hunt her down, either.
“Shine? What's wrong?” Cadence glanced up, and Shining gave a lame grin and shrugged awkwardly. She frowned at him, narrowing her eyes slightly as she almost pushed their noses together, and he winced back a bit. “Oh no. What did you do?”
“Uh...” Shining was saved, however, by a soldier approaching, and the unicorn instead gestured quickly at this, muttering: “Looks like you have to do your whole diplomacy thing again.”
Cadence sighed, but turned around and smiled briefly up at the officer as he saluted them, before announcing: “Ma'am! I have been ordered by General Archon to stand guard, ma'am!”
“We're perfectly fine by ourselves. Shining and I can look out for each other.” Cadence said politely, but the soldier looked unmoved by this, only turning to glare back and forth through the narrow aisle. “Uh. Honestly. You can go.”
“Ma'am, with all due respect, ma'am, regulations state that a prince and princess must not be left without defense, and I have been given a direct order from General Archon.” the soldier replied crisply,  “Ma'am, I cannot disobey the orders of my superior officer, ma'am.”
Cadence couldn't help but make a bit of a face, and Shining Armor frowned himself before he opened his mouth thoughtfully, but the solider immediately cut off him with a brisk: “Sir, General Archon reports directly to Princess Celestia and thus she is the only pony of higher standing in the chain of command, sir! His orders cannot be overruled by your princeship, sir!”
Shining Armor slowly closed his mouth, scowling horribly, and Cadence gave the slightest of smiles, glancing over at him and saying dryly: “So much for throwing your weight around, your lordship.”
“You know, maybe this is why Blueblood is such a jerk all the time.” Shining Armor grumbled, dropping his head moodily to the table with a clunk. “What's the point of being a prince if it's only in name? Everyone makes fun of me, Cadence. I was respected a whole lot more before I became a prince. I became a prince for you. I hope you never forget that sacrifice.”
“Oh, Shining, and it was a mighty one indeed. Now if only I could get you to trim your mane a little.” Cadence said wryly, reaching out and lightly flicking at his hair, and the ivory unicorn huffed and drew his head back, giving her a flat look.
“Why do you always have to make everything about my hair?” he asked mildly, reaching up to absently flick at his own locks a bit, and then he shook his head briefly before glancing up at her from the table and adding: “Besides, I thought you liked my mane longer. You said it made me look like a wild stallion.”
“A wild stallion with a mane that smells like flowers and a body laced with the rugged scent of lavender soap.” Cadence replied mildly, and Shining blushed slightly as he sat up and cleared his throat loudly, gesturing pointedly with his head a few times at the soldier guarding them.
Cadence only rolled her eyes in amusement, though: the soldier, after all, was only looking coldly down the aisle, staring down all the other passengers. “I don't think he's paying attention, honey. Besides, any pony who comes close to you knows.”
“It's... it's the polish for my very masculine armor.” Shining defended lamely, shaking his head briskly. “And your shampoo is the only thing that works for my mane. It's also got a picture of a stallion on it, so... you're the weird one here. Not me. Washing yourself with stallion shampoo.”
Cadence sighed a little... then looked up with a wince as the soldier guarding them held up a hoof when a pony tried to walk past, stepping into his way and saying curtly: “Sir, this area is off-limits.”
The pony stared for a moment, then tried to point past the guard, saying awkwardly: “The only other washrooms are back in coach... I'll just be a minute,can't-”
“Sir. Leave.” the officer growled, and the pony winced before scrambling in a circle and hurrying back down the aisle.
Cadence scowled at the soldier, but the officer simply resumed his cold vigil, and the princess sighed after a moment before she muttered to Shining: “I swear Archon must turn them into robots or something. Just look at him.”
Shining only shrugged at this, replying finally: “Archon is... very good. No, I mean that, honestly. He knows how to train his soldiers. But he's also very old-fashioned and everything is a little... well. Rough.”
“That's one word for it. Although I don't entirely buy that 'old days' excuse.” Cadence murmured, thinking her strange half-dreams, half-memories of the stallion who had to be her father... but then she shuddered and hurriedly shoved these away before they could become nightmares, mumbling: “I just think it's silly, that's all.”
The stallion looked at her curiously for a moment... but then the train rumbled, and he instead turned to look out the window with a slight smile, rubbing a hoof along Cadence's back as he said encouragingly: “Look, we're moving! We're actually doing this, going to... get to the whole root of this thing. We'll find the truth, me and you.”
Cadence smiled wryly, glancing over at Shining Armor even as she laid her head across her forelegs, looking softly up at the stallion. He was so enthusiastic, so positive, trying so hard in his own brave way. Brave and strong but... a little bumbling, too. A funny attribute to give the youngest stallion ever to be promoted to Captain of the Guard, who was so strong and professional out on the field, but when it came to real, everyday life...
But she loved that about him. It was cute... well... when it didn't get on her nerves, anyway. And sure, they had their fights and rough edges and didn't always get along so well, but was there anyone in Equestria who never argued? She doubted it. Besides, they had so many things in common, like... well... fighting, and... pretty manes, and... they both liked Twilight Sparkle.
“That doesn't count. Everyone likes Twilight Sparkle.” mumbled Cadence into her forelegs. Shining frowned at her, tilting his head, and she cleared her throat as she realized she'd spoken out loud, sitting up and meaning to say something encouraging and positive- “Shine, what do we really have in common?”
“Uh.” Shining blanked, staring at her for a few moments before he cleared his throat, then touched his own chest and said seriously: “We're both intelligent, attractive, strong, great in a fight-”
“Shine, be serious.” Cadence smiled a little all the same as she sat up, reaching out and poking his purple-armored chest gently. “Honestly, how much do we have in common? I mean... we're both nice ponies. Nice ponies who try and do nice pony things, who are both dedicated to our country and...”
Cadence bit her lip, and Shining sighed before he slipped a foreleg around her gently, saying softly: “You're worrying too much. And is it really this that's bothering you, or is it the fact that we've started this... quest-adventure thingy, and well... I guess I speak for the both of us when I say we're probably not completely prepared for it.”
The rose-colored mare nodded slowly, sighing a little as she dropped her head before Shining continued soothingly: “Look. We're almost at the root of... all of this. Let's just hang on until we get to the Crystal Kingdom... the answer's there, right? Well, we'll find it together, Cadence, and then we can move on from this and... maybe have ourselves a nice second honeymoon or something. How does that sound to you?”
“As long as you don't try to go surfing again, Shining. It was a little embarrassing for us both.” Cadence said after a moment, smiling briefly as she looked up at the stallion, and he huffed a bit before the winged unicorn nodded slowly and sat up, gazing across at him softly. “Okay. Let's find the answer, and then... find our way back home. I don't think it'll take long, once we're actually in the Crystal Kingdom: I'm already starting to feel like... like I might know where I have to go. I just hope we don't get sidetracked by this business with someone else trying to steal the Crystal Heart again.”
Shining Armor smiled at this and nodded, and Cadence smiled briefly back... but when he turned back to gaze out the window, she lowered her head and rubbed silently at her temples. She didn't want Shining to worry about her... didn't want him to know that as the train began to pick up speed, she could feel herself getting more and more afraid of what they were getting into. That she was terrified of what they might find waiting for them in the Crystal Kingdom... that while she knew she had to find the truth, at the same time she was scared of what was going to happen to her when she did.
And her husband was already back to staring out the window, watching the terrain roll by: Cadence envied him. Able to just look out and enjoy the journey, getting excited like a little colt... and of course, how he could fool himself into believing he was doing such a fantastic job of not letting her know that something was wrong. Or, more likely, he'd done something dumb and was doing his damnedest to try and avoid telling her about it. Which annoyed her, but she trusted him enough to believe it was probably something embarrassing. He usually told her when he did something that she'd be mad at him for.
She decided to leave him be for now, though, instead glancing back over at the soldier and wishing absently he would go away as she fiddled with her diadem on the table. She knew that this was probably Archon's way of annoying them as much as possible, though: if he was really so concerned about their safety, the General would have just sat up here himself with them. Which would have had the added pleasure of making Shining curl in a ball but... Cadence figured that the General had some other plans of his own he wanted to take care of.
They didn't really share any conversation as the train rumbled onwards, rolling down the tracks for more than an hour: the entire time, the soldier simply stood by, occasionally rebuffing anyone who got too close, saluting the patrols that passed by at regular twenty minute intervals, and generally making Cadence wish she could knock him out. But that would probably just cause all sorts of further problems, which she really didn't need right now.
She wished she'd packed a book or something, but... they had kind of been rushed getting their luggage together, and Shining had thought it would be a bright idea to send it all ahead. And sure, he was fine, staring out the window and enjoying the scenery passing by, but she was feeling grumpy and wondering if all stallions could do that whole... zoning out while staring out a window thing.
Cadence slowly reached a hoof up and poked him in the side, leaning back on her other elbow grumpily as she heard the soldier snap at someone else. She decided it was probably better to just ignore him for now and make sure that she sent out apology cards later to the rest of the passengers unlucky enough to be riding with them. There unfortunately wasn't a whole lot she could do to deter the soldier, after all.
Shining Armor grunted and absently pushed at her as she poked him a few more times, and Cadence grumbled and poked at him a few more times, this time using both hooves to tickle up his side and over his back. He flailed grouchily at this, then began to turn... and then both ponies stared as a Pegasus mare easily hopped into the seat on the other side of the table, smiling pleasantly between the couple. “Hello, darlings.”
The ivory stallion slowly paled, mouthing wordlessly, and Cadence did a double take before slowly grinding her teeth together, one eye twitching slightly as she felt a burst of protectiveness and fury. But the mare only winked at them fearlessly, in spite of the fact that this train was full of Royal Guards and... “You criminal!”
“Nice to see you too, Princess Cadence, what a lovely pale shade of green blush you're wearing.” teased Miss Take with an easy gesture towards her. Shining Armor began to lean forwards as Cadence's eyes flashed, but then the Pegasus glanced towards him and added with pleasant curiosity: “Didn't you tell her that I would be joining you, Shining? You silly goose, we talked all about it the other day, right before you gave me the idea to go rob that bank!”
Cadence slowly turned towards Shining Armor, and the stallion shrank back into the corner, grinning awkwardly and slipping downwards until he was almost hiding under the table, saying weakly under his wife's immolating gaze: “It... uh... it's not what it sounds like?”
The rose-colored winged unicorn narrowed her eyes, and Shining gave an apologetic giggle and awkwardly dropped his hooves to tap them nervously together. But then Cadence turned her sharp glare back towards Miss Take, asking with disgust: “I suppose you're the pony who wants to steal the Crystal Heart too, right?”
“And why so angry, darling? You treat me like I'm an even bigger threat than Chrysalis, and that's certainly not true at all. Or do I threaten you, dear?” Miss Take smiled kindly as Cadence spluttered and began to shake her head violently at this. “Now, it's not such a silly thought, is it sweetie? Just look at you, how worked up you are! And, point of order, I said I would steal it if you didn't get there in time. But I guess Shine forgot to mention that, huh? Silly-billy.”
Miss Take tipped him a wink, and Cadence twitched as Shining Armor slumped lower before sitting up slightly, blurting: “The... the guard! Right! Guard, uh, guard, we need the guard!”
“Oh, I took care of him. He was mean.” Miss Take sniffed and flicked a hoof disdainfully off to the side. “But a flick of my flank, and he came running right to me... and long story short, you can fit surprisingly big things in those overhead baggage carriers.”
“You killed him?” Shining asked disbelievingly... then stared when Cadence suddenly grabbed her diadem off the table and threw it like a boomerang at Miss Take.
And, without flinching, Miss Take easily caught this, smiling pleasantly before she absently picked at her teeth with one end of the tiara, saying kindly: “Thank you, honey... oh, I'm guessing no one really knows that the points of this thing are so nasty-sharp, though! Golly, I wouldn't want to make you mad... and all those sharp things in your luggage, too! I would never use sharp things. And to answer your question, sweetie, no, I didn't kill the guard. I just... made sure he'd sleep like a baby until we get to the Crystal Kingdom together.”
Cadence growled low in her throat, and Shining stared between the two mares before he slowly rose a hoof and said awkwardly: “I need to pee.”
“No.” Both mares said in unison, glaring over at him. Then Cadence blinked in surprise and looked back at Miss Take, but the Pegasus only sniffed loudly as she tossed the diadem back down on the table, saying pointedly: “He didn't just lie to you, sweetie. I was under the impression he was going to tell you all about the plans we made.”
“Plans?” Cadence asked moodily, slowly turning her eyes back to Shining.
The stallion grinned lamely, rubbing at the collar of his armor before he cleared his throat and said weakly: “I uh. I should go and... not be... I mean, the other soldiers! Someone... definitely has to distract the other soldiers and Archon, gee, that... sounds like a great job for me to go do while you mares work this whole thing out and-”
Cadence glared at him,while Miss Take giggled and waved a hoof before saying dismissively: “Oh, don't worry your pretty mane over that, Shining, I already dealt with that little problem.”
Shining opened his mouth, likely to make some retort defending his mane... and then the train rocked violently as there was a tremendous boom. Cadence and Shining Armor both leapt up and stared over the back of their seat in shock as ponies yelled and shouted at each other in a panic, then the couple whirled around to glare furiously at Miss Take... except the half-Changeling looked just as stupefied by what had happened as they did.
The rose-colored mare immediately assumed it was a trick, however, refusing to be suckered in as she snapped: “What did you do?”
“Hey, don't look at me!” Miss Take retorted, looking both injured and insulted. “Explosions aren't really my thing at all. Far too messy, all flash and sizzle... usually literally. I took the much more debonair approach and just drugged all their food when mealtime rolled around, that's all.”
Shining and Cadence both stared at her disbelievingly, and then the pink mare snapped before she could stop herself: “That's the tool of cowards!”
“It's also the tool of smart people who don't like leaving permanent damage. Besides, you're only a coward when you use it to kill other ponies.” the Pegasus replied pettishly, flicking a hoof out disdainfully. “Otherwise it's the decent thing to do, in a situation like this.”
“You have a weird sense of decency.” Shining muttered under his breath, and then he shook his head quickly before grimacing a bit as he looked back over the bench, watching as someone charged in through the rear door, shouting and panicking, but still coherent enough that... “It sounds like we lost all the cars past coach. Which means the soldiers are drugged and-”
“Oh no! What about my luggage!” Miss Take exclaimed, looking horrified as she grabbed the sides of her face, and Shining and Cadence both stared at her disbelievingly as the Pegasus mare glared back at them, then said grumpily: “Well, pardon me for caring about my things! Haven't you ever heard of sentimental value?”
Cadence glared... then her own eyes widened, even as Shining Armor said grouchily: “Yes, clearly, that's clearly the important thing right now, the fact that we lost some baggage instead of the fact that the train was clearly just attacked by someone other than you, which really-”
“She's right! Our luggage!” Cadence said urgently, and Shining Armor stared at her with disbelief, mouthing slowly.
“Are... Cadence, you can't be-”
“My gear, you lunkhead! All my equipment, we stored it!” Cadence almost shouted, grabbing Shining by the collar of his armor and shaking him firmly, and the stallion winced and stared at her dumbly. “Oh no, you... no, no, no no no...”
“Oh, you poor dear!” Miss Take said sympathetically, leaning towards her with a worried look in her eyes. “That armor was very precious to you, wasn't it? I hear all sorts of funny things about you warrior types, you know, and I imagine if somepony as silly as Shining Armor treats his armor so well, someone like you must just go to pieces over her... what do you call it, darling?”
“My...” Cadence bit down on the words before she could say anything, instead shaking her head quickly and muttering: “None of your business. Besides, I wouldn't want you to think anything of mine is valuable. You might steal it.”
Miss Take put a hoof over her breast, giving Cadence a hurt look. “There's no need to be so mean now, Princess Cadence. I've never ever not once disrespected you, after all. I think very highly of you! And you can't really blame me for wanting the absolute very best for you and your husband now, can you?”
Cadence grumbled under her breath at this, glowering over at the mare and saying grouchily: “Yes, seducing my husband and stealing things and generally being a giant pain in the-”
“Uh. Ladies? The train?” Shining Armor said awkwardly from his corner, and both mares glared at him for a moment, making him wince even as he held up a hoof and said lamely: “Not to get in the way of your argument or anything, but we're apparently under attack here-”
“We are, but it's an ambush.” Miss Take replied mildly, gesturing at him easily, and Shining stared as Cadence frowned slightly. The half-Changeling looked between the two of them, then she gave a teasing smile, saying softly: “Please. You don't disconnect a train car with an explosion unless you're trying to draw someone out. Probably the only two ponies who would dare respond to such a thing... and, if you'll allow me to make a completely wild guess-”
“Phoenix Guild.” Cadence cut off shortly, and Miss Take huffed at her and crossed her forelegs grumpily, even as she gave a short nod. “But why now? We've been on the alert for any signs of their possible movement against us... and the saner ones must recognize that Sombra-”
“Because ponies who kill other ponies for a living and gobble down all that gross chunky meat as part of their cult rituals are really likely to be sane, sugar. Come on, sweet-pea, you should know better than that.” Miss Take said almost disapprovingly, and Cadence ground her teeth together slowly as she glared at the Pegasus. “I don't think any of their icky guild are really sane.”
Shining Armor looked between the mares, then he sighed and asked almost pleadingly: “Can we go and maybe do something about those 'icky ponies' before they-”
Both mares glared at Shining again, and he cleared his throat and slowly sank into his seat before Cadence muttered: “I am not working with a criminal. An... an outlaw.”
“Now, don't be so prejudicial. I prefer to be thought of as... 'free-spirited.'” Miss Take replied airily, waving a hoof before she winked over at Shining Armor. “Your husband certainly seems to enjoy it, after all. He understands that, now don't you, ShyShy?”
Shining gave a wheezing giggle, then held up his hooves and looked over at Cadence as she twitched and glowered furiously at Miss Take. “Honey, I uh... I think you and I should just go and uh... take care of those. Problems.”
“Yes. We should.” Cadence muttered, and then she straightened and glared across at Miss Take almost challengingly, even as the Pegasus smiled kindly back. “You stay out of trouble. We'll handle this ourselves. Understood?”
“So bossy! Honestly, now, there's no need for that.” Miss Take said with mock seriousness, clicking her tongue loudly and waving a hoof again. “I'll be a good girl and stay out of trouble down here, Princess Cadence. I wouldn't want to trample on your property or anything.”
Cadence glared at the half-Changeling, while Shining gave a weak laugh before he dropped his head and winced when the rose-colored mare glared at him. “Sorry. Your property is coming right along behind you, dear.”
“You're not my property. If you were, I could have stored you in baggage and we wouldn't be having this conversation.” Cadence grumbled, even though she was well-aware that statement likely didn't entirely make sense. Miss Take only giggled, though, and Shining Armor simply winced and dropped his head, knowing better than to argue.
But as wife and husband made their way down the aisle, they both became more serious. Cadence let Shining take the lead as the knot of panicking passenger ponies turned towards them: with his armor and reputation, he seemed like much more of an authority figure, while the fact that she had rescued him had already become little more than an urban legend. “What's going on?”
“The rear cars are gone! They exploded!” blurted one of the ponies, pointing several times at the ajar door leading to the next car.
Shining Armor looked over the ponies: most of them were still in their seats, looking terrified... but clearly expecting someone else to deal with this problem for them. And after a moment, the stallion gave his best self-assured smile, saying calmly: “Please return to your seats. Princess Cadence and I will handle this.”
How the hell the ponies expected them to 'fix' it, Cadence had no idea. Yet all the same, the ponies all looked at them with naïve trust, in spite of whatever worries and fears they had. Very justified fears, at that, considering the fact that part of the train had just apparently blown up...
Yet all the same, the pony that had rushed in opened the door to the rear car, calling with almost-tangible relief: “Captain Armor is here! He's going to fix everything, guys!”
Shining Armor rose his head proudly, and Cadence gave a short roll of her eyes as she followed behind her husband. As much as she loved him... sometimes he could be just a little bit annoying when it came to things like this. And they didn't always agree on the way Equestria seemed to work: how ponies were all taught to trust and follow their strong leaders... but what happened when there were no leaders left, or they made bad decisions?
Cadence only shook her head briefly as they walked through the coach car, ponies cheering and applauding them as they made their way towards the rear door... and Cadence frowned slightly at this, trying to bring her focus away from these... almost-helpless ponies to the rear door. The passengers near the back had been startled, clearly, but not hurt... and even the door itself looked like it was in good condition.
While Shining said some encouraging words and promised that they were going to deal with whatever was wrong and handled all that nonsense he always claimed she was better at, Cadence slipped past to touch the door and close her eyes. She wasn't surprised to find it wasn't that hot, and the winged unicorn frowned for a moment before she grasped the handle and slowly forced the door to slide open.
She winced at the feeling of the wind pulling at her as she leaned down, studying the damaged coupling as Shining continued to distract the passengers. It was blackened and burnt, but not that warped or damaged. And most of the damage was suspiciously straight: a gentle brush of her hoof against the metal told her that this had definitely been cut in advance, and the splintered edge near the bottom meant...
“Someone really knew what they were doing.” Cadence muttered, looking down the tracks and grimacing: she couldn't see the rear cars anywhere. It made her worried... and the winged unicorn shook her head quickly before she turned around-
If she hadn't been expecting it, the assassin would have landed right on top of her: as it was, she was barely able to throw herself to the side before she slammed an elbow back into the face of her attacker, knocking him backwards with a grunt of surprise before she slammed both hooves into the chest of the pony that had tried to jump her.
He was knocked hurtling out the back of the train car, and Shining gaped as Cadence only grimaced over her shoulder, catching a brief glimpse of a Pegasus before he crashed down to the ground beyond the tracks. The mare cursed under her breath: even if she hadn't actually managed to catch much of a glimpse of him, those tactics...
“What was that?” Shining asked disbelievingly, gaping as openly as the passengers. Cadence gave her husband a dry look for a moment, then she simply shook her head before her eyes flicked sharply up to the ceiling as something hammered loudly against it.
She ducked low, and Shining Armor winced and did the same after a moment, the stallion narrowly avoiding a blade that tore down through the ceiling and just managed to clip through his mane. He swore loudly as the passengers shouted in shock... or rather, almost all of them did, Cadence's sharp eyes noted.
She threw herself forwards, cannonballing herself into Shining and knocking him sprawling on his side a moment before a blast of poisonous magic ripped through the air where the stallion had been. Cadence glared at the snarling unicorn that had fired the blast, preparing to leap-
Then there was a loud crack before the unicorn that had attacked them simply slumped to the ground, twitching weakly. Cadence and Shining were both left staring in disbelief as Miss Take smiled brightly from behind the fallen pony, saying kindly: “I hope you don't mind me butting in. But really, that was such a nasty trick.”
Cadence ground her teeth together... then both she and Shining looked up in shock as two large, glowing blades tore through the roof before they both ripped curving swathes through the ceiling, sending an enormous chunk of metal and wood crashing down into the car.
The winged unicorn snapped her horn sharply to the side with a curse, blasting the circle of roof out of the way before she lunged fearlessly straight up even as an assassin leapt down towards her with a glowing katar already drawn back to strike. The weapon lashed out, but Cadence deflected the strike with her horn as her wings flapped hard, letting her kick both rear hooves straight up into the pony's stomach.
The assassin gagged as he was launched upwards before hitting the rim of the hole with a sickening crack: he spasmed as he fell back down, and Cadence slammed both front hooves into his face, sending him crashing bonelessly to the floor and nearly rolling out of the train.
A second assassin leapt down, his own katar poised to strike, but a blast of magic from Shining Armor smashed into his face and knocked the Pegasus off course, sending him crashing into a row of empty seats. His katar pierced only wood, the assassin cursing before Shining Armor tackled him backwards into the wall and slammed a hoof down into his face with enough force to snap his jaw and crack his head off the window.
The Pegasus collapsed to the floor between the seats in a prone heap, and Shining quickly ripped his katar free from where it had gotten lodged in the seats, grimacing as he turned the triangular blade back and forth before muttering: “Well, any stable in a storm.”
“And I assume you two have room for one more, then?” Miss Take almost purred, and Cadence and Shining Armor both glared before the half-Changeling pointed easily at one of the unconscious assassins. “See their bracers? That design means they should be at least second rank, but they're covered in rust and they've lost all their paint. You see, the Phoenix Guild specially treats their bracers while forged so they have a thin layer of very highly-oxidized material on the surface. It doesn't make them any less durable, oh no no, but it does mean that if they aren't treated each and every day, they lose all their color.”
Cadence stared for a moment in disbelief, while Shining looked dumbly up before the half-Changeling added pleasantly, gesturing at the katar in his grip: “And those are normally ceremonial weapons. Dangerous, oh certainly: their ceremonies are closely guarded in secret, but meat-eating meanies like these ponies are certainly can't be expected to have nice, quiet little rituals, can they? Something's wrong with them. And I don't mean the obvious, darlings.”
“Thanks for all that input, really.” Cadence said sourly, and then she shook her head quickly before grinding her teeth together. As much as she absolutely loathed what these strange instincts inside her were telling her to do... “Can you... back us up? Only because you seem to know so much about these guys.”
“Darling!” Miss Take smiled brightly, clapping her front hooves together before she said positively: “Of course, oh I most certainly would be just thrilled to! You and me and darling Shining Armor, we'll be unbeatable, and... cover!”
Several large, crystalline orbs flew in through the hole in the roof, and Cadence cursed and leapt forwards as Shining tried to duck for cover in the seats. But when the orbs hit the ground, the exploded with not fire and heat, but flashes of light and antimagic that sent waves of agony ripping through the stallion despite his attempt to hide behind the seats, crying out as his horn sparked painfully and his weapon fell uselessly to the floor.
Cadence gasped, caught at the edge of the blast and stumbling as the antimagic shocked over her body, but then she gritted her teeth and concentrated, making her horn light up with a pink glow. It repulsed the toxic energies, Cadence cursing as she spun around in a circle, readying herself for the attack that would doubtlessly follow up the attempt to disable them...
And nothing came. She stared at the opening as crucial moments became seconds, enough time passing that Shining was able to blearily raise his head and look dumbly at the hole himself as the antimagic's worst effects wore off.
Cadence opened her mouth... then her ears flicked at a sickening crack before she looked disbelievingly over her shoulder to see Miss Take standing calmly on top of another pony. He was still holding a knife in his jaws, but he clearly was in no position to use it as the half-Changeling almost tenderly massaged the back of his neck. “I remembered we were having a discussion about cowards before. You see the difference between what I do, and what they do? Cowardice is sneaking up on a person when their back is turned. But I'm not a coward because I was sneaking up on a sneak. You see?”
The rose-hued mare only took a slow breath as she glared at Miss Take, grinding her teeth together and not wanting to admit how easily the half-Changeling was getting under her skin. And Shining Armor couldn't help but give an awkward smile before he asked uneasily: “So uh... do you think that's all of them?”
“For now.” Miss Take said easily, winking over at the stallion before she stepped off the unmoving pony and absently brushed herself off. “But I'm certain that very soon, they'll be back.”
“What are you talking about? No, you know too much about their tactics, about what they're doing and-”
But Cadence was cut off as Shining Armor stepped forwards, reaching up and gently squeezing his wife's shoulder as he said pointedly: “I think what my wife is trying to say is that we're very happy for your help but uh... well... this may be just a little bit suspicious...”
“Oh, Shine! So protective of us both!” Miss Take said delightedly, while Cadence looked with frustration over at Shining Armor... although part of her understood what Shining Armor was trying to do. Be the good guy, the hero, the pony to act as an intermediary and work things out between both sides. He was actually a lot better at it than he acted, too... at least, as long as he considered the ponies he was talking to his equals.
Cadence grumbled a little as she stood up, then the rose-hued mare shook her head quickly before asking grumpily: “So are you working for them?”
“What? Of course not!” Miss Take huffed and touched her own chest, and Cadence looked at her suspiciously... then ground her teeth together when Shining Armor only gave a brief nod and an uneasy smile.
Cadence opened her mouth... then realized what she was about to do, as she felt the magic her horn was still enshelled with curdling, sparking... and the pink mare slowly closed her mouth and her eyes, dropping her head forwards and making herself calm down.
Jealousy. Envy. Anger. She felt those things, trying to rear up inside her... trying to worm their way out, corrupting the effects of her magics. And she knew it was because of their... history with Miss Take. And the many mistakes that Shining Armor seemed to always make around her.
Oh, sure. He always said he didn't like her. He claimed to chase her because he was somehow always assigned to capture her. But he also always avoided talking about her, with the excuse that he didn't want to make Cadence uncomfortable or he didn't want to poke old wounds or... a thousand other excuses that were all variations of the same damn thing.
And none of that would bother her so much if he'd just be honest with her. She cared about him, and she would be willing to discuss his feelings and maybe try and resolve this whole mess if he'd just talk about it once, but... Shining wasn't really the talking sort. And even if they could read each other better than your average friends... couple, I mean, couple...
“Cadence, darling, it might not be my place to say, but please come back down to Equestria, sweetie. We need you here now.” Miss Take said kindly, and Cadence twitched before glaring over at the mare, but then she gave a brief, grudging nod. And Miss Take smiled in response before politely bowing her head forwards, saying gently: “Thank you, dear.”
Shining Armor looked awkwardly between the mares, then he cleared his throat and simply stepped off to the side, likely just now realizing that he had nearly been caught up in a crossfire between the two mares. Cadence gave her husband a dry look, then shook her head briefly before she forced herself to focus. Oh, sure, a large part of her wanted to snap and argue and just act like a controlling little filly with her first crush over this whole thing, but...
Cadence forced herself to look over at the half-Changeling, grinding her teeth together before she asked moodily: “What do you know? And be honest.”
“As if I would lie to either of you!” Miss Take put a hurt look on her face, but she had a mischievous gleam in her eyes as she said gently: “When the guild first came to Canterlot, they found little old me. They wanted me to do some scouting for them, and kidnap you. I refused, of course, Cadence, and I will be perfectly honest and say not just on moral grounds. I have two strict rules: I don't help ponies kill each other, and I don't pick fights with ponies who could kill me.”
The rose-hued mare scowled a little, then she turned a moody look to Shining Armor, who winced and awkwardly held up his hooves, saying lamely: “Hey, I never told her about your uh... hobby. And... wait, why do you always attack me, then?”
Miss Take simply smiled kindly at Shining Armor, who looked back at her before his expression soured and he said flatly: “I'll have you know that I'm just as good a fighter as either of you are. I just... I don't like hitting mares. That's all.”
“Well, there's your problem them, my sweet.” Miss Take said kindly, striding over to him and leaning towards the stallion with a teasing smile, her eyes half-lidding. “Because it seems like we mares certainly enjoy hitting you.”
Shining cleared his throat awkwardly and gestured violently towards Cadence with his head, and the pink mare scowled horribly at the two of them before she shook her head shortly and said loudly: “Then how do you know what they're doing now?”
“I don't, not really. But while we were talking I 'borrowed' one of their cute little rulebooks for their cute little club.” Miss Take replied pleasantly, giving a slight smile and tipping a wink towards the winged unicorn. “Or perhaps I should say 'liberated,' considering that you went and... dealt with all those nasty nasty ponies afterwards. They certainly don't have any use for those books now. Really, it was fortunate it ended up in the hooves of a collector of fine things like myself!”
Cadence grunted and Shining Armor sighed, before the stallion asked moodily: “You do understand the difference between right and wrong, don't you?”
“Oh, come now! We've talked about this already, twice!' Miss Take said pointedly, but she sounded no less enthusiastic, apparently not annoyed in the slightest by either pony. “Come on, my dears, as you both say... can't we save this for later?”
“Fine. You said they're going to attack again?” Cadence asked shortly, and then the rose-colored mare grimaced as she looked back and forth at the few passengers that were still in their seats, staring at them with expressions of half-terror, half-amazement. “Uh, maybe we should move, too...”
“Now, darling, where else is there to go? Besides, you shouldn't mind a few curious eyes. I know that I certainly don't.” Miss Take winked over at Cadence as she swayed her body back and forth, licking her lips teasingly... and Cadence really just felt like... punching her. She wasn't even entirely sure why, but just... everything Miss Take did made her want to physically hurt the half-Changeling in ways that she normally wouldn't consider hurting even the most frustrating of ponies.
Miss Take seemed to catch on to this, because the Pegasus gave a long, theatrical sigh before she stepped away from Shining Armor, saying more seriously: “I believe this is what their rulebook calls a multi-point ambush. Except it was very muddled... they're messy, aren't they?”
“Yes, the whole... coming at us through the roof and somehow sneaking past Archon and all of that, definitely shows that they're amateurs.” Shining Armor said drolly, and Cadence gave him a flat look as Miss Take only smiled almost patronizingly at him, which made the stallion grimace and mumble before he could stop himself: “I never imagined you two would agree on anything.”
“We both agree you're a cutie. And that you really need to take better care of your brain, which I know rhymes with 'mane,' but you shouldn't mix the two up so often.” Miss Take said pleasantly, and Shining Armor blinked slowly before he scowled horribly, but the Pegasus had already turned her eyes back towards Cadence almost expectantly.
And after a moment, Cadence nodded slowly before she hesitantly strode towards the prone assassin that Miss Take had brought down. She studied the pony silently for a few moments, then said softly: “His coat colors have faded slightly. And he feels... cold, even though he's still breathing. He sounded perfectly normal, he was able to blend in enough to get past Archon and his troops... but they seem more fragile, like their bodies aren't moving on instinct anymore. Like...”
“They're driving themselves on thought and willpower alone.” Miss Take finished, smiling appreciatively over at Cadence. “They lack the will to live, the drive to fight, all their instinct... instead, they're living on what seems like pure hate for you and your husband, my darling.”
Cadence frowned over at Miss Take, forgetting her dislike of the mare for a moment as she asked uneasily: “But what would do that to them?”
But she already had an idea... and when Miss Take tipped her a knowing wink, she thought that was the same theory the half-Changeling had come to as well. Shining Armor looked a little confused, but the winged unicorn figured that he would catch up sooner rather than later.
Sombra... and for some reason, the mare didn't think it was anything intentional on Sombra's part. Rather, it was likely some kind of side effect of his dark magic: maybe being around him, even while he was possessing another pony, made ponies... more like him...
Cadence shivered a bit, then she shook herself quickly before saying quietly: “If... if there's a second ambush waiting for us up ahead, we should move to intercept it before it can happen. Roof?”
“Good idea. We're on a rather rough incline, and it's only going to get rougher as we move through the mountains: I'm sure they'll attack us when we're slowed to a crawl through these icky barrens, I have almost no doubt of that.” Miss Take said mildly, gesturing easily to the side with one hoof. “Should we get a nip to eat first, though? Maybe something to sippy-sip?”
“I don't think we should get anything to 'sippy-sip.'” Cadence said sourly, glowering a little, but Miss Take only smiled pleasantly and shrugged easily before the winged unicorn sighed and said finally: “Miss Take, maybe you should stay down here, just in case there's-”
“Oh, no, don't worry. I can fix that!” Miss Take said brightly, and the gemstone on her forehead glowed brightly before she closed her eyes and flicked her mane back with a grin.
There was a bright emerald flash, Cadence flinching to the side and Shining Armor almost throwing himself to the ground with a curse. All the same, the minds of both ponies sizzled with a wild array of emotions and feelings, blinding them to the world for a few moments before Cadence managed to shakily pick herself up.
She shook herself quickly out, grinding her teeth together as her eyes flicked back and forth before she asked with what was half-exasperation, half-disgust: “Did you honestly have to hypnotize everyone?”
“I didn't. Rather, it was just a little touch of emotional overload.” Miss Take replied easily, shrugging a bit and looking at her with a slight smile as the strange haze of green faded from Cadence's sight and mind. It let her more clearly process both her thoughts... and understand what had happened to the drooling ponies now sprawled in their seats and over the floor. “It's the best way to make sure no one else has to get hurt. Besides, it's the furthest thing from cruel, really: a few lucky ponies get a nice sleepy-weepy until all this madness is over, and those strange, numbed ponies might get a little bit of the feeling back in their... broken hearts.”
“Broken hearts.” Cadence said moodily, and Miss Take nodded seriously. “What makes you think they have 'broken hearts?' All we've talked about is the lack of instinct, the-”
“The forced reliance on the mind darling! Besides, I'm half-Changeling. I can taste their emotions, and to me, they taste... all bland, broken, diluted. Like white-out. It makes it very easy to figure out which one of them have been taken over.” Miss Take replied happily, as Shining slowly began to pick himself up.
“Wait, you... you can tell who the assassins are?” Cadence asked disbelievingly, and the half-Changeling only smiled and shrugged before the winged unicorn twitched, then shouted: “Then what the hell is the point of... of all of this?”
“I'm being cautious and taking intelligent preventative measures. Also, it's a lot more fun this way.” Miss Take answered with an easy shrug of her shoulders. Then she simply winked before leaping into the air, a single flap of her wings propelling her through the hole in the roof and onto the top of the train.
Cadence glared furiously up after the half-Changeling, then she turned her scowl on Shining Armor, who looked back at her blankly before he asked incredulously: “What did I do?”
“Apart from not telling me it was Miss Take you were chasing, or that this is all one of her stupid games?” Cadence asked sourly, and Shining rose a hoof... but then only looked at her dumbly, unable to come up with a proper response of any kind. Which was probably a good thing, because the rose-colored mare was already mad enough as it was.
All the same, after a moment, Cadence shook herself briskly and swallowed her emotions... or at least, most of her anger. She gestured quickly to her husband, muttering “Well, look. For now let's just... focus. We can't let anyone get hurt by these assassins. Including us.”
“Good plan.” Shining nodded firmly in agreement, smiling supportively... and with more than a hint of relief that for now Cadence was focusing on the mission. He did his best to do the same, clearing his throat before asking: “Should I stay down here?”
“No, you head up to the engine, make sure the driver's okay, and then get on top of the First Class car. I'll be waiting for you.” Cadence answered quickly. She was half-tempted to bring up Miss Take again, but forced herself to drop the subject for now. There would be plenty of time for little fights and dramas later.
Cadence turned and leapt up, flapping her wings to catch the edge of the hole... and then she grimaced as she pulled herself out onto the roof, wincing at the cold wind that tore against her body.
She shoved her mane out of her eyes as she took in her surroundings with a few quick looks: the roof was smeared with ice and snow, but hadn't yet become too slippery for her hooves. They were moving at a good rate, but steady enough she was able to carefully walk forwards, scowling a little as she approached the half-Changeling.
Miss Take smiled at her, and what irritated Cadence most about her big, friendly smiles was the fact that they seemed so weirdly... genuine. The pink-hued mare looked suspiciously at the Pegasus, but Miss Take simply looked affably back before she gestured easily off to the side with one hoof, saying kindly: “Not much to look at, is it? And I assure you, living here is even worse than you might guess from our scenic overlook.”
Cadence looked moodily out over the dark, broken mountains they were slowly rolling through, and then she returned her eyes to Miss Take. She felt like she was being baited, so instead of replying, she said stiffly: “The train is slowing further. More than normal, I think.”
“Yes, I'm guessing due to frost... whether magical in nature or not, I'll leave that for you to decide.” the Pegasus answered in her annoyingly-pleasant way, and then she continued kindly, as if Cadence had actually voiced the question: “And oh, well, I had to grow up somewhere. I wasn't born in the Hive, after all... my mother, as a matter of fact, was of very high rank. But she had to leave the Hive: females, you see, are not born as drones but instead-”
“You're like ants.” Cadence said shortly, and Miss Take blinked in surprise before the winged unicorn looked ahead down the tracks, moodily studying the way the cliffs curves, how the incline they were on became even steeper... and all the nooks and valleys and ledges in the gray, jagged cliffs that anyone could easily leap down from to attack them.
Miss Take looked at her thoughtfully... then she suddenly smiled again, but her eyes were slightly narrowed, her expression a little less sultry, a little more annoyed as she asked pointedly: “And tell me, darling, what do you think ants are like?”
“I think that ants could have a better society than our own... if they didn't spend so much time doing mindless, repetitive tasks and they weren't all barely-functioning slaves to one dominant queen-figure.” Cadence replied moodily, drawing her eyes out over the barrens. “Even if they're all united, working together as cogs in the machine, they're all ultimately only as intelligent as their leader. And about as functional, as well: if she makes a mistake, the whole hive falls apart.”
“Ants live in colonies, dear. And drones are males; ant workers and soldiers are mostly female.” Miss Take said kindly, winking over at the winged unicorn before she stepped suddenly forwards, almost pressing their faces together as she continued to smile, but her eyes went cold. “Changelings, darling, are not insects. More than you'd expect escape the influence of the Queen... and we are not without our own feelings, our own thoughts.”
The two glared at each other for a few moments, and then Miss Take suddenly smiled before stepping back and bowing her head cordially, saying calmly as she glanced over at the jagged cliff: “But we should save this argument for later, perhaps. We're about to be attacked, after all; it would be rude to be caught arguing during this ambush they've painstakingly set up for us, no?”
Cadence nodded shortly, and then she glanced over to the side, muttering: “I hate that I actually agree with you. Fine, let's get this over and done with.”
“Good, sweetie. We can be friends, you know...” Miss Take said gently, as her eyes flicked up to scan along the jagged, rocky peaks. “I would much prefer to have a friendly rivalry over that handsome Shining Armor, rather than fight tooth and nail against you for his hoof.”
“It's a fight you already lost. He's my husband, and you're just a mistake.” Cadence muttered, then she grimaced a bit, adding moodily: “I hate your name, by the way.”
“Yes, and your own is really so darling.” Miss Take replied wryly, and then she lowered her head and added softly: “We all want what we want, my dear. It's foolish of us to deny that pursuit, in particular when I don't think Shining Armor knows what he really wants.”
Cadence bared her teeth, glaring over at Miss Take... but inside her, something twisted. Was Miss Take right? And if not, then why was she feeling so angry, so defensive, so... so afraid of losing her husband to this sneaky exotic seductress...
Miss Take glanced over at her, then she smiled kindly before her eyes flicked over one shoulder, looking into the empty space on the other side of the passenger cars as the train squealed and shook violently, losing traction on the frosted tracks. “Oh, darling, look! They're trying to be creative!”
Cadence winced and spun around, just in time to see several Pegasi swoop up out of the gorge, each flinging a large, dangerous-looking silver hook at the train. Cadence cursed, snapping her horn out and managing to blast one of the hooks away, but the rest of the half-dozen or so crescent-shaped blades hammered down into the roof of the car.
Metal screamed as the Pegasi hauled hard on the ropes to lock the hooks into place, and Cadence gritted her teeth as she ran towards the nearest, grasping it with telekinesis and cursing as she tried to yank it free from where it was wedged tightly in the train. But even as she managed to tear it loose, the other Pegasi had already shot sharply back down into the gorge, dragging the ropes with them, and Cadence winced as she started to brace herself-
“Darling, behind you!” Miss Take called as cheerily as if this wasn't anything more than a relaxing game, and Cadence winced over her shoulder as she heard the sound of wings almost too late, cursing and throwing herself into the air with a hard flap of her own.
She somersaulted just overtop the Pegasus that had attempted to lunge into her, the winged unicorn snapping her horn out as she landed smoothly on her hooves and blasting it out of the air with a telekinetic hammer. She didn't watch to see if it fell or if it managed to catch its balance as she turned quickly around, drawing her eyes sharply along the broken top of the cliff and the members of the Phoenix Guild rushing down towards them.
Cadence cursed as she heard banging against the side of the machine, as sparks flew from the train tracks and it continued to try and struggle its way up through the damaged barrens in spite of the ponies now swarming in on them from all sides. The winged unicorn gritted her teeth as she tried to figure out what they could even do with so many attacking at once...
Miss Take laughed loudly as she leapt up to meet a unicorn that jumped down from the cliffs, the gemstone on her forehead glowing brightly before releasing a toxic flash just as the unicorn's horn began to thrum with energy. The pulse of antimagic knocked the unicorn senseless, knocking him sprawling backwards before the half-Changeling slammed a hoof into the unicorn's stomach and sent him crashing brokenly off the top of the train.
The mare grinned slightly as her eyes flicked to the side, watching as another assassin leapt towards her, this one with a blade raised... but with ease, she slipped beneath it and kicked both rear hooves up into the pony's chest, knocking it flopping backwards to bounce across the top of the train and knock down another assassin that had been about to lunge.
Without slowing, she turned and dove into another pony, catching it by the head and smashing its head cruelly into the metal roof as she leapfrogged it, spreading her wings to flap them and give herself an extra boost. She cannonballed herself straight into another Pegasus, knocking the assassin off-balance before he could bring his crosshatch blades down: a moment later, she followed up with a neat swing of both her rear hooves upwards, kicking the assassin savagely under the chin with both hooves.
He was knocked in a high arc, blood flying from his mouth in a fine spray and hooves swinging limply as he flew backwards. The assassin bounced off the edge of the train, while Miss Take landed smoothly, tossing a teasing smile towards the nearest group of assassins. “Over here, darlings. Try and keep up now, won't you?”
Then, without hesitation, Miss Take kicked one rear hoof firmly backwards, smashing an earth pony that was just climbing over the edge of the train in the face. She looked almost thoughtfully over her shoulder at the hook buried in the side of the vehicle before she said brightly: “Oh, I get it! Very creative, my darlings!”
With that, Miss Take smoothly leapt off the top of the train with a grin, furling her wings tightly against her sides as she dropped and slammed both rear hooves sharply down as she caught the rope in her front hooves, zipping down the line and knocking earth ponies attempting to drag themselves up the length flying in all directions with howls of pain and terror.
Miss Take smiled as she looked back and forth, but her eyes sharpened as she looked back and forth at the sheer numbers the assassins were attacking in. Except they weren't just members of the Phoenix Guild: some weren't adorned in armor or their distinct bracers, but instead hides and thick, ugly leather armor. Mercenaries. How... quaint.
The half-Changeling spun herself around the rope as she flapped her wings hard, launching herself to the next hanging line and landing rear-hooves-first on the face of another earth pony that was climbing the rope. He clawed wildly at the tensile line, swearing loudly before Miss Take grinned and almost daintily flicked one rear hoof backwards, reprimanding: “That's no way to talk to a lady now, young stallion.”
He flailed wildly, grabbing at her hoof uselessly as she levered him away from the rope, and then she almost-gently kicked him loose, sending the earth pony falling with a yell. Other ponies attempting to crawl up the rope flinched and attempted to lean out of the way of the mercenary that had been jarred loose... but a moment later, Miss Take came sliding down the rope herself, smashing ponies loose with all the force of a wrecking ball.
Halfway down the rope length, a Pegasus launched himself at her, meaning to smash her into the wall, but Miss Take reacted with ease, suddenly arching her whole body upwards and scissoring her body over Pegasus before she spread her wings and flapped them hard, shooting back up towards the top of the train.
The assassin painfully crashed into the wall, but flung himself off it and shot upwards after her, joining a mishmashed squadron of Pegasi that was chasing the half-Changeling. Which was precisely what she wanted as she drew their attention, zipping between ropes and knocking ponies loose from the lines, calling cheerfully as she did so: “Try and keep up, darlings!”
Even with Miss Take's distraction, however, Cadence felt like they were going to be slowly but surely overwhelmed: the train had been slowed almost to a stop by the weight, the slope of the cliff, and the damage that had been done to the tracks.  And more and more assassins and mercenaries were piling on from all sides: even if Miss Take was distracting the climbers and many of the airborne ponies, plenty were still leaping down from the jagged cliffs and even coming from both in front and behind the train...
A mercenary leapt at her, snarling, and Cadence's eyes widened as a memory overlapped; for a moment, it wasn't a soldier in rough, tanned armor, but instead a grinning barbarian...
She reacted on instinct, catching him by the sides of the neck before slamming him face-first into the train and twisting hard, vertebrae popping and snapping as he gargled for breath and went limp. Part of Cadence was horrified by what she'd done; the rest of her kept her body moving, smoothly leaping over the mercenary she'd just taken down to slam her head into the face of another pony, knocking the assassin sprawling as she twisted and kicked both rear hooves into the face of another mercenary, knocking him flying off the top of the train.
She dropped low even before she was entirely aware of what she was doing, narrowly avoiding a blast of magic before she snapped her own horn out, replying with a ray of pink energy that hammered into a unicorn warrior before he could prepare another spell.
It knocked him skidding backwards, pink-tinged arcs of energy sparking around his body and making him spasm and howl, as if the ray of focused emotion was actually enough to hurt the stallion. Either way, Cadence used the moment of vulnerability to leap in front of the stallion, seizing his horn and using that to yank his head down so she could bring a crushing elbow into the back of his neck, sending him sprawling brokenly.
Two mercenaries began to crawl up onto the train, and Cadence found her body again reacting without thinking, seizing the unicorn she had just taken down and half-flinging, half-sliding him over the slippery roof of the train to send him crashing into the pair and knock them sprawling off the vehicle. She didn't see them fall, and yet her instincts somehow told her what had happened even as she leapt sideways and rolled her body smoothly overtop a Pegasus that tried to swing a crosshatch blade into her.
She landed behind the assassin and snapped both her rear legs around one of his own, twisting to the side to smash him down onto his own before there was a grisly snap as she continued to rotate her body, shattering the lower limb. The assassin sprawled with a gasp, but Cadence had already leapt on to the next, her body almost a blur, her eyes glowing with focus and anger and beneath it all, fear: fear of not the enemy, but terror at how smoothly she moved, how savagely she fought, how easily she killed.
An earth pony swung a kleated hoof at her: with ease, she caught him just behind the hoof and yanked his foreleg out entirely, then slammed her other hoof up in an uppercut that turned bones to splinters. He screamed, and she only yanked him forwards by his broken limb before catching him around the neck and flinging him viciously into another group of ponies, knocking them sprawling in all directions like dominoes.
Calculated instinct told her what to do, and her body was helpless to do anything but act, puppeted by something beneath conscious mind and intelligent thought. All she could do was dance this deadly dance that every nerve and muscle in her body seemed to know, even as her mind cried out against her body's almost-alien fury.
Mind and body were almost disconnected: one fought, the other only watched. And yet there was a strange familiarity about that, too: it was like she had always been of two minds, one physical and primal, the other empathetic and emotional. For the first time in her life, she felt like that strange discipline and focus wasn't a gift, in spite of the fact it was the only thing letting her keep up with the tirade of enemies: she felt like it was something possessing her, driving her, trying to drag her down into some kind of... wickedness.
She smashed a hoof across the face of a Pegasus, ducking at the same time to avoid a sharp counter from one of the assassin's crosshatch blades. The assassin cursed as she fell in a half-sprawl, stumbling before trying to launch herself forwards... and with ease, Cadence caught the Pegasus mare before flipping her smoothly over her body and slamming the assassin viciously down onto her back.
Cadence moved to the next, hitting with a one-two jab, then to the next, smashing her head into it and knocking it flat, then the next, slamming a hoof up under the mercenary's jaw before she leapt into the air with a snarl, a double-kick of both rear hooves sending the earth pony's limp body rocketing into a unicorn just as he unleashed a spell.
A fireball arced through the air, a bright red star that drew the attention of almost all the ponies present before it fell and smashed into the side of the rocky cliff, exploding with enough force to rattle the train and send down a rain of stone and shrapnel.
Cadence winced and flicked her horn to the side, creating a glowing barrier around her body: it locked her inside a bright pink sphere and made her an obvious target, but it was enough to protect her from the avalanche and not even the most determined assassin was able to get enough of their bearings through the storm of rock and dirt.
The train rattled violently, shaking back and forth beneath the hail of stone before Cadence flicked her horn sharply, and the orb of pink energy exploded with a bright flash and a tremendous thoom that blasted a hole in the cloud of dust and smog that had engulfed the vehicle. Cadence quickly caught her bearings, even as she saw Pegasi leaping to the skies to break free from the musty cloud.
The winged unicorn glanced back and forth, her mind managing to take over for a moment and stop her body's killing dance as she gritted her teeth... but the moment she settled on a course of action, her body took it, throwing herself towards the edge of the train and vanishing back into the thick veil of smog and dirt.
Assassin Pegasi were already forming a double line in the air, however, as unicorns shielded themselves or cleared the area around them, shouting orders to stunned and surprised mercenaries. Within moments, the members of the Phoenix Guild had recovered from the avalanche: a moment more, and the Pegasi dropped in formation before they all gave a mighty flap of their wings, blasting away dust and debris with a powerful gust.
Cadence was almost knocked off-course by it... but she managed to catch herself, zigging back in and slicing her horn through one of the thick, tensile rope leading up from the bottom of the cliff, and sending the unfortunates clinging to it falling with howls of terror.
She shot towards the next rope in line, slashing viciously through it before cursing as a unicorn managed to hit her with a bolt of magic energy, knocking her zigzagging off course. She caught herself against the side of the cliff, gritting her teeth... and then staring as Miss Take calmly landed on the shoulders of a mercenary near the top of the rope, a knife gleaming in her jaws.
The mercenary she was standing on shouted at her almost desperately, but the half-Changeling only hummed to herself as she started to saw through the taut line. Several strings snapped loudly before the Pegasus huffed when the mercenary beneath her grabbed wildly at her rear hooves, and then she simply stomped on him, knocking him loose and sending him sliding down the rope.
Miss Take twisted the knife and yanked it to the side, tearing more than halfway through the rope before she grinned over her shoulder and flapped her wings firmly, launching herself out of the way before a Pegasus assassin could slam into her. Instead, the assassin hit the rope, seizing into it to try and catch himself and yanking on it-
There was a loud ripping sound, and the last threads holding the length of line snapped, sending the entire line of mercenaries plummeting to the ground with yells. Miss Take giggled at this, giving a tender smile before she flapped her wings and smoothly launched herself straight up into the air even as several Pegasi shot down towards her, the half-Changeling looking up at them with a fearless, almost-pleasant smile.
They launched at her from all angles, a maelstrom of Pegasi that rained from the sky: Miss Take met them fearlessly, a front hoof striking one, using it as an axle to kick both rear hooves into the face of the next, then using that contact to fire herself like a missile into another.
As Miss Take smashed her way through the assassins, Cadence kept her focus on the ropes, tearing through another before wincing and dropping to avoid a flurry of magical blasts. She managed to curve her flight sharply to the side, but dropped too low, and instead of hitting near the top of the rope, she smashed bodily through a mercenary.
He was knocked flying off the rope, but Cadence was sent off to the side, disoriented, before a blast of fire magic struck her wing, searing flesh and turning feathers to ash. She spiraled out of control, leaving a stream of smoke behind her as she gasped in pain before gritting her teeth and forcing her burnt wing to furl in spite of the agony, flapping her other wing hard to send herself rolling through the air in the other direction.
She swung her hooves out almost wildly, and she narrowly managed to catch the back of one of the mercenaries scaling a rope: unfortunately, all she managed to do was yank him free, the two tumbling free from the line as the earth pony clawed at the air and Cadence managed to wrap a foreleg around his neck.
The winged unicorn slammed her rear hooves up into the earth pony's back, forcing them both to flip upside down so she was standing on his back for a moment before she kicked off, almost floating in the air for a moment as she stretched desperately out...
Her front hooves caught the rope, the mare wincing as she slid down the coil before her rear hooves crashed down on top of a mercenary beneath her, stopping her slide before she gritted her teeth and quickly began to yank herself hoof-over-hoof up the line.
One of the mercenaries above yelled a warning to the others along the rope, and then he simply let himself drop before kicking both rear hooves viciously down at her... and Cadence spun herself around to the other side of the rope, easily avoiding the kick before slamming a punch into the mercenary's stomach, knocking him flopping off the line with a gargle.
The mare spun herself with the momentum of her strike, catching the rope again and continuing to haul herself quickly up it even as the second mercenary slid down towards her. He leaned backwards and caught himself a short distance above her, twining one foreleg and a hind limb in the rope before yanking what looked like a hoof-full of caltrops out of a pouch, grinning as he tossed them down with an easy flick of his wrist.
Cadence did her best to twist herself out of the way, cursing as several of the sharp, pyramidal tacks caught against her all the same, weighted enough that they tore bloody gashes through her bare flesh and lodged themselves painfully into her shoulders and tangled in her mane. She gritted her teeth as she looked up... just in time to see a rear hoof swinging towards her face.
It smashed against her muzzle, and she cried out and nearly lost her grip on the rope, dropping a bit down the line before clutching it fiercely and spitting to the side, forcing herself to look back up even as she felt too well-aware of the other mercenaries crawling eagerly up beneath her. She watched as the mercenary slid down a bit with a second kick at her face, but this time, Cadence caught his leg and then yanked him firmly down.
He cursed, but he had his other limbs tangled in the rope still, and the line snared painfully into them but saved him from falling. Cadence, however, simply yanked down on his rear leg as she snagged into his tail with her other hoof, the stallion cursing and swearing angrily at her as she climbed him like a ladder, blocking his free elbow when he swung it back at her before slamming her own into the back of his neck.
The mercenary slumped, the ropes pulling tight against his limp limbs and letting Cadence quickly scale over him. She looked up... and her eyes widened in shock as she saw the remaining mercenary above had a knife in his hoof and was quickly cutting through the rope.
Cadence cursed and hauled herself up hoof-over-hoof before her eyes widened as she heard the distinct sound of the tensile line starting to tear, and the winged unicorn flung herself upwards as hard as she could, a moment before the rope dropped with a loud snap. It whipped against her body as it passed, tearing a long swathe down her body before she managed to seize tightly into the rear hooves of the mercenary above.
He cursed loudly, one foreleg tangled in the rope and the knife flying out of his grip as he dangled, trying helplessly to kick the mare loose. But Cadence only gritted her teeth and then hauled herself quickly up to his back before launching herself past and to the rope above.
He swiped a hoof up, but only managed to tear loose a tuft of hair from her tail before Cadence slammed a rear hoof back into his face and knocked him free. She didn't watch as he fell, instead hurriedly continuing up the rope as she heard several loud bangs as well as Miss Take laughing...
Cadence caught the edge of the train roof, then hauled herself up with a gasp before wincing as an assassin lunged at her, swinging a crosshatch blade down... but his attack was interrupted as he was blasted off his hooves by a powerful bolt of magic.
She looked to the side, and Shining Armor grinned at her and tossed a quick salute in the mare's direction, calling clearly to her: “Thought you could use a helping hoof!”
“Better late than never.” Cadence muttered as she yanked herself up onto the roof of the train, and then she grimaced despite her best efforts to focus on the task at hoof as Miss Take dropped down beside her with a wink. “This isn't a game.”
“Life is a game, darling, and one that I quite excel at playing.” Miss Take replied eloquently, bowing her head pleasantly before she added in a quieter voice, as Shining spun around when several assassins landed around him, forcing him to slowly back towards the mares: “Their numbers are far from infinite, dear. The band at the bottom of the cliff is dispersing, and there's only a few more above. I'd say... twenty.”
“Twenty against three. Well. Two and a half.” Cadence grumbled, and Shining gave her a half-pleading look over his shoulder. “I hate to say it, but we've been doing all the work here, Mister Youngest Captain Ever.”
“Hey, I... there were a whole bunch of them at the engine. I just saved the train.” Shining Armor said after a moment, then he grimaced a bit as two more Pegasi landed, adding awkwardly: “Well... maybe I should wait until after we finish this to say that.”
“That might be a good idea.” Cadence muttered, looking back and forth: she counted only a few earth ponies, and then quite a few Pegasi... and scattered here and there were unicorns. And apart from the earth pony mercenaries that seemed determined to see this fight to the end one way or the other, all of these ponies looked pestilent and poisonous, their skin stretched tight over pronounced skeletons, the Pegasi seeming to drip ashes with every flap of their wings, the eyes of the unicorns leaking an evil miasma as their horns thrummed with dark energies.
Then one of the Pegasi slowly stepped forwards, baring her teeth as she said in a voice filled with hate, and yet somehow all the same lacking any emotion whatsoever: “We only came for Cadence and Shining Armor. But if you continue to interfere, whore, then we will kill you along with them. Fly away, little insect.”
Miss Take chuckled quietly at this, then she shook her head slowly and said softly: “Now, you should know better than that, dear. I've always been very good to the Phoenix Guild, haven't I? And both of us know that work is never personal, darling... that's how you end up with silly things like this.”
The Pegasus only shook her head at this, then flapped her wings firmly, sending out a burst of ashes and a few rotted black feathers. “So your answer is no?”
“My answer is no.” replied the half-Changeling with a calm nod, even though her eyes narrowed further, her expression darkened ever so slightly more. “All the same, dear, a little respect wouldn't kill you... and even if it did, sweetie, it looks like something else is more likely to kill you first, anyway.”
The Pegasus only gave the half-Changeling a cold look, and then she turned her eyes towards Cadence, saying calmly: “Surrender, and we will give you a quick death. Fight, and we will capture you and draw your suffering out. Look around you: there are few here who were not of First Rank and close to the Praetor. The fodder has weakened you. The hunters will kill you.”
Cadence growled, and Shining Armor snorted as he rose his head and remarked wryly: “You know, that's not the first time we've heard something like that. But we're still here.”
The Pegasus only gave a thin smile, then simply flicked her mane to the side, and four Pegasi immediately all shot past her: two of them seized Shining Armor by either foreleg before he could react, then flung him backward, sending him flipping head-over-heels.
Miss Take and Cadence barely managed to leap out of the way, the stallion's heavy body smashing down with a clang in the space where the mares had been just a moment before. But before they could even land, the other two assassins had already pounced at them, crosshatch blades gleaming and their eyes locked coldly on their chosen targets.
Cadence flicked out her horn, blasting the assassin in front of her out of the air before she smoothly turned and smashed her hoof across the face of a mercenary that attempted to leap at her, before using both front hooves as an axle as she kicked her rear legs savagely up and out, smashing a scissors kick across the face of the first assassin as the Pegasus tried to lunge again. The guildpony was knocked unconscious by the strike, but then a second Pegasus slammed cruelly down into Cadence's back, making her cry out in agony as she was driven to the ground.
Miss Take, meanwhile, had already broken the neck of the assassin that had attempted to attack her, and was smiling calmly as she easily dodged vicious, clumsy strikes from an earth pony mercenary. She let him drive her backwards until she was right beside Shining Armor, and then Miss Take caught the earth pony by one foreleg before yanking him off his hooves and slinging him viciously into the assassin pinning Cadence.
The two were knocked sprawling as Shining Armor rolled to his hooves... then cursed as he felt more than saw the blast of magic coming at them, leaping into Miss Take and tackling her out of the way before a streak of black fire ripped through the air where she had been a moment before. It narrowly missed them, instead striking one of the mercenaries, making him scream in agony as his body burst into dark hellfire before he simply collapsed into a charred, half-melted mess.
Miss Take looked up at Shining Armor with surprise, and then she gave a brilliant smile, looking almost like she'd forgotten the swarming enemies and the chaos all around them for a moment as she said brightly: “You saved me!”
Shining Armor winced at this, then he hurriedly rolled off her before suddenly sweeping the Pegasus up, making her squeak before he leaned forwards and flung her with a grunt at the unicorn who had cast the dark magic at them. The half-Changeling only laughed as she shot through the air, however, before she smashed headlong into the unicorn and drove him to the ground with a resounding crunch.
Cadence leapt to her own hooves with a grimace, then winced when two Pegasi shot down towards her: yet her body reacted on its own, the rose-hued mare flexing and spreading her damaged wings before she leapt upwards and flapped them painfully once to boost herself towards the two. Immediately, both assassins attempted to flank her, the left swinging a hoof in low and the other lashing a crosshatch blade towards her face, but the winged unicorn dodged smoothly to the side and caught the hoof and upper forelimb of the Pegasus to the right before jerking his crosshatch blade viciously down and into the skull of the other pony before either could pull away.
The left assassin crumpled into a bloody heap with a broken skull, while the right yanked his crosshatch blade quickly back with a snarl... and then gagged when Cadence slammed a hoof directly into his throat even as she fell back towards the ground.
She landed, and the Pegasus crashed down on his back a moment later before Cadence leapt forwards and seized him by one hind leg, twisting and snapping it briskly before she quickly hopped backwards... and ended up almost rear-to-rear with her husband, the two glaring in different directions as they anchored themselves in position.
There was silence as the assassin encircled them again: a train car away, they could hear the sounds of Miss Take trying to deal with her own distraction, both vaguely feeling a distinct tingle in their horns as she canceled out magic attacks with eerie flashes of emerald light. And for some reason, the only thing Cadence could think of saying was: “I thought that was our thing.”
Shining Armor rose his head slightly, mouthing wordlessly for a moment before he groaned and then muttered over his shoulder, even as he kept his eyes locked ahead: “I thought you didn't like it when I threw you.”
“I don't. Still. I thought it was our thing.” Cadence replied quietly, and then she winced as, in the distance, she saw a blast of magic somehow make it through Miss Take's antimagic defense, the half-Changeling hissing audibly as she was almost knocked out of the sky by the fireball. “I think we're all starting to run out of steam.”
“I have faith in... both of you.” Shining Armor said quietly, although his voice was laced with hesitance. And yet all the same, Cadence couldn't help but give a wry smile, shaking her head slowly before she closed her eyes and nodded.
But the moment she seemed to drop her guard, an assassin leapt in at her: it was so fast that Cadence almost failed to react in time, dropping low beneath a swipe of a crosshatch blade before her horn sparked and unleashed a sharp blast of telekinesis, hammering the Pegasus into the air. Then she leapt up, seizing the assassin by his rear hooves before swinging him bodily down into the steel roof of the train.
Even as he crashed down, two more Pegasi leapt at Cadence, but she blocked both their swings at her. They were relentless, following up with vicious flurries of blows from their front hooves in almost perfect synchronization, but Cadence kept her balance and, more importantly, refused to let either of them force her backwards.
Shining Armor, meanwhile, managed to catch an assassin by the skull and slam him headfirst into the metal roof, then he yanked him up and slammed a hoof under his jaw, knocking him flopping backwards. But the stallion caught the stunned Pegasus in midair with telekinesis before he gritted his teeth and lashed his head to the side, swinging the body of the pony like a giant club and smashing two more assassins backwards.
Then the ivory unicorn hurriedly flicked his horn upwards, creating a barrier of energy and narrowly blocking a black fireball. The explosion was enough to reduce the wall of magic to nothing but motes of energy, however, Shining wincing away before he forced himself to duck beneath another assassin's attack, then leapt forwards and tackled the Pegasus onto his back, slamming one, two, three hard strikes down into the assassin's face.
The unicorn was smashed off the Pegasus by a vicious kick to the face, Shining cursing as he was knocked sprawling before he covered his face with his forelegs as another guildpony jumped on top of him, pinning him beneath a hail of blows, every punch seeming to smash right into a vulnerable or unarmored point.
He attempted to shove his way out of the pin, but the Pegasus easily knocked the stallion's forelegs wide before seizing him by the head and muzzle, beginning to twist his head viciously to the side. Shining cursed as he grabbed at the assassin's forelimbs, trying to stop him from disjointing his neck as he attempted to focus magic through his horn-
Both of Miss Take's rear hooves slammed into the face of the Pegasus, sending him crashing limply backwards, and Shining Armor looked up in surprise before the half-Changeling dropped her body over his and smoothly rolled him up to a sitting position, spinning him around to brace him like a shield as she whispered into his ear: “Shield, darling.”
Shining Armor began to open his mouth... then he stared in horror as a black fireball shot towards them, the stallion reacting too little, too late: he only managed to half-form a wall of magic energy before the fireball crashed into it and exploded in a torrent of hellfire that knocked him backwards with a gasp of pain into Miss Take.
The half-Changeling caught him and braced him against her own body, however, keeping him upright before grasping his shoulders and kicking both her hind legs up, snapping them around the neck of an assassin that had tried to sneak up behind them. She locked her hind legs into place, then shouted even as she already began to move: “Behind us!”
As Shining Armor whirled around, Miss Take flung herself sideways, adding his momentum to her spin as her powerful legs flexed and snapped the neck of the Pegasus, even as she hauled the assassin limply into the air and then slammed him down into the ground.
The mare landed on her stomach with her body curved in an arc beside Shining, who had already fired a bolt of magic energy at another unicorn. It smashed into the battlemage's face and knocked him backwards with a snarl of frustration, but it did little more than dazzle his eyes as he began to snap his horn forwards-
The spell he had been preparing struck an almost translucent barrier of energy Shining had created right in front of the unicorn: the resulting explosion was tremendous, knocking the unicorn in a broken, unrecognizable heap as Shining flinched only slightly from recoil as his fake wall was destroyed. He forced himself to stagger around quickly again all the same, taking in his surroundings and readying himself to at least try and dodge another spell...
But Miss Take had already launched herself to the unicorn that had hit them with the black fireball, the half-Changeling seizing him by the horn and slamming him face-first into the ground before she yanked him up and slammed her other hoof into his throat. He choked and staggered, eyes bulging, and then Miss Take smiled coldly as she grabbed him under the chin while yanking his horn savagely to the side, snapping his neck like a brittle twig.
He fell... and two more assassins fell as Cadence stepped back from them, breathing hard, one staring at her with hatred but both front limbs broken and a wing hanging uselessly, the other with its own crosshatch blade impaled through its features. And as the pink mare looked slowly back and forth, she realized...
“So much for your revenge.” Cadence said quietly as her eyes flicked towards the Pegasus mare who seemed to be the leader. She had two fellow mare assassins on either side of her, and there was one remaining unicorn mage, who looked... bruised, for lack of a better word.
The leader only looked back at her without emotion, without empathy, without any compassion for her own fallen comrades, scattered all around the hissing, stalled train. It made Cadence uncomfortable as she shifted slowly, studying the Pegasus silently until Miss Take calmly stepped up beside the winged unicorn.
Cadence winced a bit at the half-Changeling, but then forced herself to nod briefly to her, at least acknowledging her and... showing some of her gratitude for the mare. Miss Take's eyes flicked towards her, then she gave the slightest smile in return before returning her calm, practiced-pleasant gaze towards their foes, advising gently: “I would recommend that you be on your way now, darlings. There is no dishonor in retreat from a superior foe... and besides, why not come and try again another time, another day, when you're better prepared? I'm sure none of us would try and stop you from escaping... I'd certainly like to, but oh, you know these 'good guys' and their rules, so to speak...”
The leader of the Pegasi only shook her head slowly, saying quietly: “You know that is not an option for us. We gathered all that were loyal to our old cause, and used what treasures we had to buy soldiers that have proven to be... disappointingly inferior. They could not even serve their purpose as a distraction to you.
“We are dead, either way. Within hours, we will be dead.” The Pegasus paused, then looked calmly over at the unicorn, saying coldly: “Some of us, sooner than others.”
The unicorn rose his head and grinned at this, then he turned his maddened eyes forwards as dark energy sparked over his horn, roaring loudly as his whole body began to thrum with power before he charged straight down the train at the two as he burst into black flames.
Shining could only stare in horror as the darkly-burning unicorn charged straight at the two mares: there was nothing he could do even as time seemed to stand still, leaving him wanting to spring forwards and shield them both, yet knowing it would be impossible to, that this moment stretching into forever was only a trick of his mind...
But Cadence and Miss Take were both already reacting, the rose-hued mare cursing as she leapt upwards and flapped her ragged wings, forcing herself higher into the air as her horn glowed bright pink. At the same time, Miss Take's wings were spreading wide as the gemstone on her forehead glowed, her body tensing as she leaned back and anchored herself.
The unicorn howled as he dove towards them... or at least, where they both had been a moment ago. Now only Miss Take was standing there, but if the unicorn noticed, he didn't seem to care as he blazed brightly with such deep darkness, hurtling towards them...
A ray of bright pink light slammed into the unicorn and knocked him flying backwards, the unicorn roaring before he crashed down on his back, bouncing once before exploding in a tremendous wave of dark hellfire.
Miss Take calmly flung herself backwards, spreading her wings wide as she smiled pleasantly and flapped them hard, almost serenely riding the wave of force that erupted as the stallion's burning body exploded with a tremendous bang, followed by a roar of dark flames. But the half-Changeling simply dropped her head forwards, a flash of green punching a hole through the vile magic that she passed harmlessly through.
Cadence gasped and flung herself upwards, gritting her teeth as the black fire rose and rose, nipping her hooves, sending agony through her burnt wing as the flames sizzled against them... and then the dark fire dissipated into dark smoke, and Cadence began to sigh in relief as she let herself start to drop-
A Pegasus slammed into her, knocking her backwards before a sharp one-two combo hammered across her face, then both rear hooves kicked into her stomach and launched her backwards with a gasp. And before she could recover, the mare that had apparently led the attack slammed into her and tackled her backwards into the cliff wall with a tremendous crash.
Shining Armor shouted almost desperately, turning to leap towards her... and another assassin slammed directly into his face, smashing him to the train roof and then landing on top of him as a long, thin needle popped out of the bracer, the assassin driving this down towards the ivory unicorn. He barely managed to catch its foreleg between his own front hooves, the needle only inches away from his eye... and likely coated in a poison so deadly that even a prick of it against his cheek would be enough to kill him.
He gritted his teeth, then his eyes widened as the assassin swept up her other foreleg, a second needle popping free before she drove it viciously down towards him; the only thing that saved the stallion was instinct, his horn glowing brightly as he narrowly halted the attack with a telekinetic vise.
Shining Armor gritted his teeth, trembling as he pushed slowly back against the needle bearing slowly down towards him with both his hooves and all the magic energy he could gather up. Then he caught a flash of movement, starting to look up as he saw something shooting down towards him-
The assassin suddenly lashed one needle up, slashing it viciously out and driving Miss Take back as the half-Changeling narrowly managed to halt herself in midair, grimacing and yanking her head just out of the path of the needle. Then the assassin shifted all her weight onto the foreleg still trying to stab the needle down into Shining's eye, the stallion cursing as he was forced to support her as she flung herself at Miss Take with a thrust of her other foreleg.
The half-Changeling grimaced, narrowly drawing her head back and out of the way before she swept a forelimb up, catching the assassin's foreleg in one of her own limbs before she gritted her teeth as another Pegasus all-but-appeared out of nowhere and lunged in towards her with a crosshatch blade.
But Miss Take reacted with speed and precision, twisting herself sinuously around the forelimb she had already trapped and yanking it to the side to ram it viciously into the throat of the mare. The assassin gurgled as blood spurted out around the needle, and then Miss Take smoothly leapt upwards, flapping her wings to half-roll her body before she viciously kicked both rear hooves into the side of the other assassin.
The stabbed Pegasus collapsed backwards with a gurgle, foam bursting from her jaws, as the other Pegasus was slammed to the side with a snarl. The guildpony almost immediately caught her balance, starting to swing both needles down... but both her forelegs were caught by Shining Armor as he leapt up, then slammed his head into the mare's with a sickening crack.
The assassin staggered backwards dumbly, the faintest look of surprise appearing in her eyes before Shining gritted his teeth and lashed his horn down, blasting the Pegasus away with all the telekinetic strength he could muster.
She was flung from the train, and he and Miss Take traded a quick look before the two leapt to their hooves and turned towards Cadence and the last remaining guildpony. Then Shining winced as he saw his wife crash painfully down into the top of the train car, the winged unicorn barely managing to roll onto her back and catch herself before she hit the edge of the roof.
The Pegasus assassin tried to slam down on top of her, but Cadence kicked both rear hooves up at almost the last moment, hitting the mare in the chest and knocking her backwards to flop almost-brokenly on the other side of the train roof. For a moment, the two lay like that, both breathing hard before Cadence bared her teeth and slowly crawled up to her hooves... then glared at Miss Take and Shining Armor when they both started to step forwards, snapping: “She's mine!”
“No... you are my prey.” murmured the Pegasus, as she slowly hauled herself up to her hooves... and Cadence couldn't help but grimace at the sight of the mare, how her chest had been crunched in, the sick veins pulsing through bruised flesh... “You are the one who will lose. I am already dead.”
The rose-hued mare only shook her head slowly, then said quietly: “No. That's exactly why I can't lose. I have life, goals, hopes and dreams... I have reasons to live. All you have is a reason to die.”
The Pegasus laughed quietly at this, shaking her head slowly before she said softly: “Hopes and dreams are meaningless fantasy and whimsy; the ultimate goal of all life is death. I am a death-giver. And what I am offering you, Cadence, is a kindness.”
Cadence shook her head slowly as she stood, her horn glowing before she gritted her teeth as magic energy thrummed through her body, breathing quietly as she did her best to heal what little damage she could. She was vaguely aware that Shining and Miss Take were off to the side, but she felt completely disconnected from them both: they simply didn't matter right now.
Right now, the entire world consisted of only her and the Phoenix Guild Pegasus across from her. They faced each other as Cadence slowly straightened, her wings twitching weakly and uselessly as the pink glow faded from around her horn. The two mares looked at each other for a few moments, and then the Pegasus said softly: “Thank you for wasting your most precious resource.”
“I don't want to win because of my magic. And I don't need it, either.” Cadence said quietly, and the Pegasus simply gave a thin smile in return before the two slowly set themselves, eyes narrowing.
There was only silence, spiraling out as the two measured each other with their eyes, studying every shift, every flex and twitch, every movement. Their bodies tensed and readied as discipline and focus took over... but while the Pegasus only stared soullessly, Cadence felt determination, anger, and even bittersweet sorrow flooding through her veins, fueling her, giving her reason not just to fight, but to win.
Their eyes met, the two gazing coldly into each other, their bodies going tense as steel, time seeming to freeze as a second stretched into an eternity; an eternity in which the two warriors came to know each other, acknowledge each other, perhaps even respect each other; all things that only contributed further to wanting to outdo and defeat their bitter rival.
The second passed, and both mares lunged, slamming into one-another with a flurry of sharp, focused blows as they flowed together almost like liquid. Hoof struck hoof and foreleg, every attack blocked or deflected as the two pushed fiercely into each other before Cadence cursed as one of her punches was swept to the side, allowing the Pegasus to lunge and slam a short, fierce volley of blows into her face.
An uppercut hammered under her chin, knocking her crashing onto her back before the guildpony attempted to leap on top of her, but she managed to kick her rear hooves into the pony's chest and knocked her crashing backwards with a gasp to hit the ground hard on her back.
Both mares rolled almost simultaneously backwards to their hooves, catching themselves and raising their heads to glare at each other, eyes locking before they both leapt forwards, clashing violently a second time.
Cadence struck at the assassin, who caught her foreleg and twisted; Cadence rolled her body with the movement, flapping her one good wing to give herself just enough boost to try and reverse the throw; the assassin, however, mimicked the movement, rolling with Cadence's reversal before yanking herself free and slinging her other hoof forwards.
The winged unicorn caught this in her own hoof... and realized too late that it was exactly what the Pegasus had wanted as she immediately shoved Cadence's foreleg aside before she leapt forwards and slammed her face into the winged unicorn's. Cadence staggered with a curse, then cried out in pain as a volley of blows slammed back and forth across her features again.
She narrowly managed to swing her horn out, deflecting a hard hook punch before she leapt forwards and wildly slashed her horn down, scoring a deep cut across the guildpony's face and knocking her off balance. But the Pegasus swiftly caught herself and lunged, flapping her wings to give herself an extra boost and tackling Cadence, attempting to fling her onto her back-
Instead, Cadence dug her rear hooves in, catching the mare around the neck and gritting her teeth before she slung the guildpony sharply down into the roof of the train. She hit with enough force to bounce, but then flapped her wings hard, launching herself away and flapping her wings to flip her body smoothly, skidding backwards to a ready position.
The two glared at each other, breathing hard before they both leapt at each other again, crashing together with another barrage of vicious strikes. They traded blow after blow, the Pegasus moving with soulless, almost machine-like determination and the winged unicorn depending on her passion and her need to know the truth to pull her through.
The Pegasus lunged at her... and Cadence slammed a hoof up under the guildpony's chin with all her strength, knocking her head back with a sickening crack before she snarled and slammed her other hoof forwards into her bloody chest, sending the assassin crashing onto her back and leaving her in a broken, prone heap at the edge of the train. Then the winged unicorn collapsed forwards on her stomach, gasping weakly and shivering a bit before she stared in disbelief as the Pegasus slowly, shakily began to stand.
The assassin managed to reach her hooves, breathing quietly as a bit of blood dripped from her mouth, her chest a broken and ruptured mess of bone fragments and torn flesh and leaking crimson. But there was no sign of pain, or pleasure, or anything: only that hollow gaze in her eyes, as she looked calmly across at Cadence before saying softly: “I am already dead. No heart, no soul... no reason to live. Only my mind and my discipline keep me alive now.”
Cadence shook her head in disbelief, then she slowly crawled up to her own hooves, trembling a bit... and yet in spite of the pain, the exhaustion, the... everything... she felt such a depth of... of sadness, and pity, for this wretched and broken thing. And she realized... “You must be... so strong. To be so... so brokenhearted... and yet look at you. Not just keeping yourself alive and fighting, but so focused on this battle... and you can't find any pleasure in any of it? You really have no reason for revenge but... this hollow hatred, that's not even really focused at me?”
The guildpony only shook her head slowly, replying quietly: “Revenge is its own purpose. You won't distract me from that: my reward will be my death.”
Cadence smiled faintly at this, reaching up and touching her own breast as she felt her anger, her battlerage, all these other emotions being swallowed up by such... such sorrow and sadness that she couldn't completely explain the root of. Part of it was because she didn't just see an enemy across from her: she saw someone who could have rivaled her at her finest, in spite of the cruel tactics that the guildpony had used. And that in and of itself was part of why she felt sad: seeing this Pegasus who had likely been raised to believe in a system that was honorless and destructive, meant to be subverted and twisted whenever possible...
But there was something deeper, too. Some part of her almost recognized this... brokenheartedness. This sapping of the spirit, this poisoning of the soul. Part of her cried out to reach out to this pony and... and... “What's your name?”
Cadence was surprised by her own question: she didn't even know why she had asked it or what had compelled her to. And the Pegasus looked just as surprised, losing her focus for a moment... and with that, some of the emptiness seemed to leave her eyes, as she frowned at the winged unicorn before lowering her head as if in deep thought.
“My name...” she murmured, furrowing her brow, and then she looked up and grimaced, muttering: “No. My name isn't important. You're only stalling.”
“Without a name, who are you?” Cadence asked quietly, tilting her head, and the Pegasus only frowned at her before the pink mare said softly: “If you don't have a name, if you don't have any identity... then why do you care about any of this? Your only connection to this world can't just be... hatred. You have to have some kind of reason, you have to revere... something.”
“Why?” the Pegasus asked coldly... and yet at the same time, she wasn't moving. Even if she didn't seem eager to speak or stall, at the same time she somehow looked like she couldn't help but reply to them, like the conversation itself had trapped her... like maybe there was some piece of her, desperately trying to wake up, to escape what she had become...
“The Phoenix Guild used to protect Equestria, didn't it? Even if you've changed over time, it never used to be all about destroying and hunting and killing...” Cadence hesitated, then she lowered her head and said softly: “Phoenixes rise from the ashes. They don't just burn everything in their path. You must have had hopes and dreams at some point; it wasn't a desire for revenge that made you as strong as you are now, with so much focus, so much discipline. You must have had goals... dreams...”
The Pegasus only gave a short, bitter laugh, then she said with contempt: “And what use are any of those now? All of them have been stolen from me. By you and your actions... and very soon, I will die. What use is there to remembering who I am?”
“I didn't kill you.” Cadence said quietly but firmly, looking up as the brokenhearted Pegasus looked coldly back. But she was listening, and Cadence took a slow breath before she leaned forwards and said softly, as she met the Pegasus' eyes: “You killed yourself by forgetting who you are. Even if you became... brokenhearted, even if something poisoned you... all you're doing is the bidding of that very thing that did it. You're cruel and you and I don't have the same idea of honor and I don't think we could ever be friends... but from what I've felt, you should have more self-respect than this. You shouldn't be stupid enough to go lashing out at me because Sombra told you to... not when Sombra was the one who did this to you.”
The Pegasus chuckled quietly at this, shaking her head slowly and saying softly: “Loyalty to the Guild first. And our master was not named 'Sombra.' The Praetor-”
“Was possessed by Sombra. Was taken over by that horn he fused to his head.” Cadence said sharply, pointing at her own forehead, and the Pegasus frowned across at her before the pink-hued mare said quietly: “If you really believe in loyalty first, then you should be going after him. Not after me. You should be... turning this poison against him. Using darkness against the darkness.”
“How childish...” And yet all the same, the Pegasus shifted uncertainly, as if Cadence's words were actually being heard, actually getting through, before the mare suddenly shook her head and whispered: “No. My body is going to stop working soon. Which means I have only a few minutes left to kill you. That is the only thing I can do.”
The Pegasus began to step forwards, and Cadence laughed faintly before she shook her head and murmured: “Fine. Then I won't fight you.”
Shining Armor began to step forwards, but Miss Take reached up and caught the stallion, shaking her head shortly. The Pegasus, meanwhile, only scowled as she continued to approach, saying coldly: “Your tricks won't-”
“It's not a trick. I'm not strong enough to kill you. You weakened me, and you should be dead. I don't know how to stop you. I don't think I can stop you.” Cadence said honestly, and then she bowed her head low in submission, saying quietly: “You win. And maybe it's better to die now than... find whatever's waiting for me ahead.”
“Maybe it is.” the Pegasus agreed after a moment, stopping in front of Cadence... and there was a long silence for a moment before the mare reached up and slowly placed her hoof on the back of the mare's neck. They stood like that as seconds passed into minutes, and Cadence only looked at the roof of the train, not even knowing what to do, what to say, what to think... only closing her eyes, breathing slowly, waiting for this to play out in... whatever way it would.
Then, slowly, the Pegasus drew her hoof back, and Cadence frowned before looking up. The two gazed at each other as the pony silently rose her hoof and touched her own broken chest, and then she examined the black blood on it for a few moments in thought.
The Pegasus turned her hoof back and forth, then closed her eyes... and chuckled. It was a soft sound, with a hint of not just bitterness, but real amusement, real emotion, and the assassin shook her head slowly before saying softly: “Interesting.”
Cadence frowned, looking uncertainly up, and the Pegasus looked coldly back before she said softly: “Pain makes us do foolish things. I figured I would kill you... and then I would die. The pain would be over. That is weakness on my part, because this pain is part of what fuels me... the very thing killing me is also what is keeping me alive.
“You are also right. I am not a foal to be goaded. I am not a servant to be used.” the Pegasus turned her gaze down the train tracks, and then she smiled thinly. “And killing you would end your own pain, and I know for a fact that evil and suffering awaits you ahead... the poison is ahead. Chances are... if I let you live, you will become like me. You will know my pain. I'd like that.”
Cadence laughed shortly, and then the Pegasus turned her eyes back to Cadence, adding coolly: “You have amused me, and I would like to take more away from you before I kill you. I don't want your submission. I want you broken. So I will withdraw for now... and we will meet again. I allowed fear to cloud my mind, to overtake my discipline, to make me act with haste. It has resulted in dealing with dogmeat and the evisceration of my own remaining forces. That is not a way for a First Rank to act. None of this is. And what I am doing now... it's foolish. And yet some part of me hungers to do it anyway... urges me to do this. Because death is not painful... life is painful.”
“Life is suffering. But there's meaning in it, too.” Cadence said quietly, and the Pegasus only gave her a cold look before the winged unicorn shook her head, saying softly: “So you want me to kill Sombra for you, and then you'll kill me. That's your plan, right?”
“Yes.” the Pegasus said simply, and then she leaned forwards and studied the winged unicorn as she said softly: “Something strange is happening to me. Not like with the others... the others weakened, went insane, died or became like puppets. I, too, was weak... but fighting you has woken something up inside me again. Something that makes me... almost enjoy this pain. Who are you, Cadence? What secrets are inside you?”
“We'll fight again, one-on-one. And then we'll learn more about each other.” Cadence said evenly, and the two studied each other before the Pegasus began to turn away. But before she could, Cadence asked clearly: “What's your name?”
There was silence for a few moments, and then the Pegasus smiled thinly and slowly turned back around. Her almost-black eyes looked into Cadence's, so splattered with blood and dust that it was impossible to even guess at the colors of her coat and mane... but those eyes were so striking, so deep and dark, that they pulled in all of Cadence's attention...
“My name is...” She stopped, licked her lips slowly and frowned, then looked up and said slowly: “You will know me as Pain.”
“Pain. That's a nice name.” Shining Armor muttered, and then he winced a bit when Miss Take elbowed him firmly and the others glared at him.
“It's a more honest name than most ponies have.” Pain replied icily, and then she spread her wings and flapped them hard, launching herself into the air and hovering above Cadence as she looked down at her with a thin smile. “We'll meet again.”
With that, Pain launched herself past Cadence before dropping down over the edge of the cliff and diving into the gorge. Cadence glanced over her shoulder, grimacing a bit at this before she sighed quietly and turned her eyes towards Shining and Miss Take.
After a moment, the half-Changeling smiled before saying kindly: “Brilliant work, darling. You did an incredible job. But how did you know her so well?”
“I fought her. When you fight someone, you get to know them... I... can't explain it any better than that.” murmured Cadence, and she shivered a bit as memories flickered strangely through her mind, before she lowered her head and added uncertainly: “And what was happening to her... the brokenhearted... I feel... I feel like I've seen them before...”
Shining hesitated, wanting to ask a question... but then he only shook his head before clearing his throat loudly when Miss Take looked at him, the unicorn saying pointedly: “You should either hide or leave. Nice as it was to have your help, you're still a wanted criminal. We have to get this train moving again, and it's not going to be long before a very-angry General Archon shows up. Even if you saved Celestia herself he'd still set you on fire.”
“I'm delighted you care, Shining Armor.” Miss Take said kindly, and then she turned her eyes back towards Cadence, giving a slight smile. “I don't understand what you mean as well as perhaps I should, darling, but I do get the gist of what you're saying. You're a strange cookie though, Cadence... I'm rather certain that even if we found a hundred other mares that looked and acted just like you, you'd still stand out as someone... different.”
“I don't think you entirely mean that as a compliment.” Cadence said moodily, and Miss Take chuckled again before winking at the mare.
“Neither do I, darling. But very well, ShyShy is correct. I'd best not overstay my welcome.” Miss Take leaned over and kissed Shining Armor's cheek lightly, and Cadence scowled as the stallion gave a lame grin, awkwardly attempting to hide his head in his armor before the half-Changeling leapt to the air and all-but-vanished with a few flaps of her wings.
“She uh. Isn't one for long goodbyes.” Shining Armor said awkwardly, and Cadence gave him a flat look that made him realize a little too late that probably wasn't the brightest thing to have said.
But after a moment, the pink mare sighed softly and shook her head slowly, muttering: “Forget it. Let's just head back into the train for now. It looks like it's stalled completely, probably thanks to all the ice and rocks on the track, and we're going to have to figure out a way to explain all... this.”
“Cadence, wait...” Shining said quietly, and the rose-hued mare stopped, looking over her shoulder at him. For a moment, there was a strange flicker of hope inside her: a sudden scream from her heart, pleading for him to say just the right thing, at just this right time, to reassure her, to make her feel like... like this was all going to be worthwhile...
“You did an amazing job. We're going to... face this together, you and me, okay? I love you and I'm here for you. This isn't a mistake.” Shining Armor said softly, stepping towards her.
Cadence smiled, but it was forced, and she felt... betrayed. It wasn't fair at all, but that was exactly what she felt, all the same, hurt and betrayed and just... disappointed. She knew her expectations were unrealistic. She knew he'd been out here as fast as possible, and he'd had to fight through the train's interior alone as well as secure every single passenger on the way to the car. She knew that, and more, and yet...
“Thank you, Shine. I'll see you inside, okay?” Cadence said quietly, turning away, and Shining Armor watched silently as his wife strode slowly down the roof of the train to find a way down between the cars.
He gazed after her in silence for a few moments, then held up his hoof and chewed on it slowly, a old, nervous habit he'd never gotten out of. Then he cursed under his breath before stomping on the roof and looking slowly around at the corpses, the bodies, all the ponies that Cadence had killed and Miss Take had beaten. Sure, he'd stopped the engine from being blown up and saved the ponies inside, but there was no excuse for all the time he'd wasted, or his poor performance today. There was no excuse for his feelings towards...
He shook his head sharply, then looked up into the sky for a moment, biting his lip... then sighing and resolutely making himself focus on the here and now. They were going to get to the Crystal Kingdom one way or another, and once there, he and Cadence were going to find this... this great truth she was searching for. And that would help them stop Sombra, drive off these attackers, and let Cadence put all her fears to rest and put away her weapons again and just be the pony he'd loved so much when they'd first gotten together, and... everything would be back to normal and perfectly okay. There would be no more exotic Miss Take with her sensual dangerousness, and Cadence could put away her armor and her weapons and all this... anger... and they could just live happily ever after...
With that, Shining nodded to himself and followed in the hoofprints of his wife, heading back inside the train and promising himself he was going to do everything he could to help Cadence and avoid Miss Take... and not realizing that very little of what he wanted fixed was anything that was actually broken.