//------------------------------// // Act 3 Chapter 2 // Story: Collision Code // by SSJRandomMaster //------------------------------// Act III: Collision of Wills Chapter 2: A Less-Than-Happy Reunion ------------------------------------------ The train continued north through the night, clattering along the tracks the whole way. Inside, though, not one soul heard anything of the sort. However, as the train proceeded through the night, the air got crisper and cooler. And as the train pushed onward into the morning, the sun began to rise.   Twilight squinted her shut lids a bit. It was a bit early in the morning, she knew. Even though the car was insulated, she could still feel a chill of cold air brush against her nose—the window was right next to her. Yet, she could feel a warmth directly behind her, something which made the chill not so bad. She realized she was still holding on to something with her one arm: the book she and Corey had started the night before.   Furthermore, when she tried to move her other arm to try to rub at her eyes, she realized her upper arm was more or less pinned to her side by something. Confused, Twilight creaked her eyes open, and as they adjusted to the waking world, she could make out the reason why she didn’t have the freedom she thought.   To her embarrassment and horror, she could see the image of a sleeved arm draped over her, which ended in a green hand that rested on her stomach. And peeking out from behind her head, was a mess of dark green hair, and the tip of a horn. Almost immediately after processing this information did Twilight understand what had happened, and her face lit up as fragments began to enter her mind.   T-that’s right! She thought, He climbed right in with me so we could both read the book…we must have fallen asleep like that! But then…how’d this…?   Twilight blushed even more as something else dawned on her. Even though she couldn’t see anyone looking at them beyond Corey’s sleeping form, it was bound to get even more embarrassing when they woke up and saw the two of them curled up like this. Though somewhere in her she found she didn’t care as much as she thought she would, the rest of her still cared enough to try to make sure no one saw them.   Quickly, Twilight shifted. Though her shoulder was pinned, she could still manage to reach Corey’s hand and squeeze it firmly. Praying that she was getting his attention out of whatever dream he was probably having, she began to whisper.   “Corey,” Twilight’s voice came out panicky, like trying to explain what was going on finally made her realize that the situation was dire, “Corey, you should wake up…”   “Five more minutes,” Corey mumbled, sounding annoyed. Twilight closed her eyes, sighing roughly. Did he even open his eyes? If he had…   “I really think you should look…” Twilight said, trying to force urgency into her voice despite having to keep quiet; she didn’t know if anyone else was in the car with them, but if they were she really didn’t want them waking up.   “Okay,” Corey said, shifting, his hand brushing against Twilight’s stomach. However, as soon as he completely locked up, Twilight understood what he’d seen. But before she could say anything, Corey immediately slid backwards, his arm and his warmth vanishing just as quickly as Twilight had first realized he was even there.   “OhmyGodhow’dthathappenwhatthehellis—“ Corey’s extreme motormouthing could only be cut off by one thing, the sound of a thud. Twilight sat up and turned—in his rush to escape the compromising position, Corey had scuttled right out of the bed, forgetting gravity still worked. He grunted as he landed on the floor side-first.   “A-are you okay??” Twilight asked. Corey quickly scrambled to his feet, and cast a quick look down the aisle. His cheeks were bright red, and his eyes were wide with…fear, if anything. However, what he saw apparently made him feel relief, even if only a little.   “Y-yeah,” Corey said, shaking his head for a bit before turning back to face her, missing her eyes, “S-sorry about that, Twilight! I-I don’t know what happened…”   “W-we must have fallen asleep,” Twilight dodged Corey’s eyes as well, finding the window behind him and to the left much more soothing to look at, her face still warm, “And then we—we got…comfortable.”   “I…I…”   “I-it’s okay…” Twilight tried to assure him, “…D-do you want to…continue the book until we…get there?”   Corey’s face flushed, and he slowly looked away, “I…I…uh…bathroom!”   “Wh—what?” Twilight asked, tilting her head.   “I just woke up,” Corey said, immediately making his way out of the car, his face still red, “I’ll let you know…when I get back!”   Quickly, Corey shuffled out of Twilight’s sight, no doubt trying to make good on his statement. Still, all the same, Twilight shook her head, not sure whether to be grateful he didn’t answer straight away, or to just take it as a “no” altogether.   After that awkward wake-up call, she couldn’t exactly blame him…though now that it was all over, Twilight felt her face heat up again.   Maybe I should have let him have five more minutes… Curious, Twilight peeked out into the aisle, and her eyes widened. There was Rainbow leaning against John. Neither of them seemed to have noticed, but her face flushed horribly as the realization washed over her, O-on second thought, maybe it’s better like this… ------------------------------------------ The morning progressed from there without much further incident, though everyone began to wonder just what happened that made Corey and Twilight dodge each other (or try to, anyway) for that first couple of hours. Less than a minute before the train screeched to a halt at its stop, the air in the car stopped being cold. Corey looked around, confused, still hugging his own arms out of the chill he’d been feeling.   “Wait, what just happened?” Corey asked, turning back towards the window. He blinked as he registered the frozen ice caps out the window were replaced with the far more pleasant sights of spring.   “Oh, that’s right,” Twilight said, getting his attention. Both flinched just a little when he turned to face her, but there wasn’t a lot of hesitation on her part before she continued, “You’ve never been up here before. The whole empire has a sort of wind barrier over it. It’s really cold outside, but on the inside, it’s actually quite pleasant.”   “Huh,” Corey said, “Wish I could have set one of those up back home last winter…”   “Attention passengers,” called the conductor’s voice, “The train has reached its destination.”   On this cue, everyone began to file out one by one, gathering what they had brought along with them before leaving.   Among the last to come out were Corey and Twilight. He’d almost been out the door when he awkwardly cast a glance to his left, blushed lightly, and stepped aside to let an equally awkward Twilight ahead of him. Finally, Corey disembarked, letting out a heavy sigh.   “Alright, everyone,” Shining said, “Follow me. We’ll be meeting some of the guards up here, who will escort us straight to the palace…”   The whole group had no objections. Carrying whatever they’d packed, the group followed behind Shining. Lagging behind were Corey and John, who even now were taking in the sights of the Crystal Empire. Though there were normal ponies mixed in with the crowd, they could already see the crystal ponies, and they hadn’t even left the station.   The two shuffled after the others, though couldn’t help but rubberneck just a bit to prolong the experience. Though they didn’t look that much different from earth ponies, the way the light danced on their exposed skin really helped them to stand out. Two crystal ponies caught their gazes and waved. Corey blinked, flinching, but waved back along with John. As the two went off to catch up, the two resumed their conversation, believing the two to be little more than tourists.   It wasn’t long before they met up with the royal guard up north. It was a bit awkward for Corey and John to hear the words “Prince” and “Armor” used directly after one another, but nothing they couldn’t handle. As they were being lead to the palace, Corey and John once again were met with a round of sightseeing.   The architecture around them was so different from anything they’d seen back home. The fact they were literally standing in it now did nothing to diminish the fact they had technically seen the buildings before. The sunlight reflecting throughout the streets produced an effect that was simply visually incredible to look at.   “Wow,” Corey said, looking around, “Reminds me of when I read Wizard of Oz…”   “You read that?” John asked, “Always thought it was just a movie…”   “No, it wasn’t,” Corey said, “I actually don’t remember seeing much of that movie…”   “There’s a lot of things you didn’t see…” John said.   Corey was on the verge of retorting, but before he could get the words out…   “Hey,” Rainbow called back to them, “Mind keeping up back there?”   “Oh, right,” Corey said, his head snapping back towards the group, tugging on his glasses with one hand immediately afterward.   “Sorry, just got caught up in the sights,” John responded, taking a few steps ahead of Corey. Corey, in turn, sighed, before taking off after him. The two caught up with the others quickly enough, and the rest of the trip to the palace at the center went on without any real interruptions. ------------------------------------------ The escort from the crystal guards went right up to the doors of the Crystal Castle. Once the group had stepped through the door, everyone could see the atmosphere had changed. It was no longer light and welcoming like the rest of the empire. Now, it was heavy and foreboding. There were guards posted at every corner, each of them looking like they would attack if someone so much as forgot to say “bless you” if a pony sneezed. Not that anyone could blame them; after what had happened, it would have been a crime to not tighten security.   Twilight and her friends had little trouble adapting to the foreboding aura of the place, not bothered in the least by the sudden security increase. Corey and John, on the other hand, realized they’d never been face-to-face with such high security, and for royalty, no less. Of the two, John feared that if he slipped up, he’d be the one catching hell. Corey was similarly careful to avoid gawking or falling behind the group. That definitely would have gotten a guard ready to bash his head in…   The group continued through the halls and up several flights of stairs before they finally got to where they were going. The door to the throne room was probably the most heavily guarded with several guards standing between them and the door. They could only assume that there were several more standing behind them. And Twilight could feel there was some magic involved as well.   “Prince Armor,” said one of the guards as he saluted Shining.   “Open the doors,” Shining commanded. Ever since he first learned of the attack on his wife, he’d tried to keep himself calm. But now that only a single pair of doors were separating him from her, he could no longer bring himself to be patient.   The guard nodded and turned his attention to the others. Quickly, he motioned them to open the doors. In just a few seconds, the doors were opening and the group was allowed to enter. Both Shining and Twilight took point. As soon as they entered the room, they saw her sitting at her throne. The sight was not pleasant. Even though she was wearing her usual dress, it did not hide the signs of bandages. The most notable being the ones wrapped around her head, followed by the wrappings coming out of the sleeves of her dress.   “Cadance!” Twilight and Shining both cried out at once, running over to her. Cadance smiled, slowly rising to meet them. However, the instant they began to put the squeeze on her, her smile faded, replaced by a pained grimace.   “E-easy, you two…” she winced, her wounds still not healed that point.   “S-sorry,” said Twilight, taking a step back. Only now did she see her sister-in-law’s posture. Her brows furrowed as she took it all in. Cadance couldn’t manage to stand up straight. One of her hands was pressed to her side as though it was bothering her.   “I’ll have to skip on our usual meet and greet, sadly,” Cadance smiled, though it was a weak attempt at hiding her discomfort.   “Next time,” Twilight said, still looking to Cadance with a concerned look.   “Here, sit down,” Shining said, helping his wife to sit back down. Once seated, Cadance let out a sigh. As she was now, even standing up was a challenge. Looking at his wife, Shining felt a stab of anger course through him. Someone had made an attempt on his wife’s life while he wasn’t around.   “I swear, I’ll find who did this,” growled Shining.   “We all will,” Twilight said.   On her cue, everyone else began to get closer. Cadance noticed them quickly. As she expected, Twilight’s friends always had her back. But as she scanned the group, she noticed two new faces, one of which stood out in particular…   “I see you’ve made some new friends,” said Cadance. Quickly, Twilight turned back to the others. She blinked. New friends? Who was she—   “O-oh, right!” Twilight said, quickly moving towards the two in question. First, she made her way towards the larger of the two, “This is John. Though he looks intimidating, he’s actually harmless.”   “Nice to meet you,” said John, placing a palm over his chest and bowed his head slightly.   “Likewise,” said Cadance.   “And this is Corey,” said Twilight, moving over to him, “He was John’s friend before we met. Believe it or not, he’s actually my student now.”   Not even thinking of it, Twilight placed her hand over Corey’s back. In that moment, they looked to each other. Cadance could only raise a brow as something passed through each of their eyes. Twilight moved her hand away as the two looked away from each other. Corey said nothing, while Twilight tried to get back on track.   “They both sort of got pulled into this situation with us,” she said, “And they’ve been a big help.”   “Well then,” Cadance said, “I thank you both for standing by them.” Both John and Corey bowed their heads slightly one last time. With the introductions out of the way, Cadance’s eyes passed over the group once again. This time, she noticed somepony was missing.   “But what about Fluttershy?” she asked. The others frowned at the mention.   “She didn’t come with us. This whole ‘game’ just started to get to her,” explained Twilight, “We plan to try and bring her back, but for now, it’s best she stay where she’ll be safe.”   “Poor girl,” Cadance’s brows furrowed.   “For now,” Shining said, “We have to worry about what happened here. The letter we got didn’t go over much. Can you fill in the gaps?”   Cadance leaned back on her throne and let out a small sigh.   “It all happened so fast…” said Cadance, her brows knitting as she began to go back into her own memory, “The sun had just set, and I was making my way towards my bedchambers when I noticed a guard. I didn’t pay him much mind. It wasn’t like I didn’t expect a guard or two to be patrolling the halls at night. But maybe…maybe I should have. The moment I reached my door, I was attacked from behind.”   Cadance paused for a moment, placing a hand to the front of her head, flinching as the memory of an impact washed over her.   “The first thing the attacker did was slam my head on the door before opening it and pushing me inside. It didn’t knock me out, but I was taken by surprise. I couldn’t react fast enough. After I was inside the room, I fell, but somehow, I managed to get a look at who blitzed me. It was a guard…or at least, who I thought was a guard.   “It was then I noticed something: he had a horn. His horn started to glow, and before I knew it, his appearance began to change. I tried to make out what he looked like, but the room started to grow too dark for me to see clearly. He…he started to come after me. I wasn’t sure what to do, so I cast a quick spell and made a bright flash of light…”   As Cadance continued on, her voice changed, and her body twitching as she’d become restless.   “I thought it worked, so I ran towards the door. I thought if I could get out, I’d be able to call for help. But… but the moment I touched the door…” Cadance halted, her body now trembling. Seeing her pain, Shining gently pulled Cadance in to comfort her.   “That’s enough,” Shining said softly, “You don’t have to continue.”   “N-no,” Cadance said, “It’s almost over…”   Cadance took in a deep breath. The fact Shining was holding on to her seemed to give her strength, “When…I touched the door, I felt something strike me from behind, something sharp. I felt so much pain I dropped to the floor. I could feel the blood running down my back. I…I went into shock. All I could do was look back at the figure. He was laughing at me…”   “I started to feel myself blacking out. So, in a panic, I put as much magic as I could muster into one focused blast. All I could remember was blowing a hole in the wall before I finally blacked out…”   Hearing this was hard one everyone, especially to her family. Even the normally unflappable John could be heard trying to suppress a draconic snarl. But Corey stared straight ahead, his closed fists trembling at his sides, anger swelling in him as he heard the story.   “I woke up the next day…the guards said they’d rushed to my room when they’d heard the explosion, and they saw me on the floor… in a pool of my own blood…”   The thought of being so close to death was more than enough for Cadance. Even if she’d been close just once before that she could remember. She leaned in on Shining’s chest, letting out a choked sob as she tried to get her composure back.   “You don’t have to worry anymore,” said Shining, “I promise he’ll never hurt you again.”   Twilight remained silent, processing the incident. However, there was one question on her mind. She wasn't sure if she could bring Cadance to remember anymore, but…she had to know.   “C-Cadance,” Better now, while the moment was there, than later when she was trying to move on, “Did he say anything to you?”   Cadance looked over to Twilight for a moment, before nodding. The words she said sent a chill down everyone’s spines.   “‘You’ve grown so much’…” ------------------------------------------ It wasn’t long after that that the group had chosen to go to the scene of the crime. It wasn’t too far from the throne room. The door was still wide open, two guards posted on either side of it. Upon seeing who the visitors were being lead by, though, they let the group in. Looking around, the fact that there were two guards combing the room didn’t immediately register with anyone.   Everyone could only stand in horror, taking in the scene around them. Right at their feet was a bloodstain that hadn’t been cleaned yet—as Cadance had said. There were some splatters here and there as well. A couple of things had been broken in the room, and at the wall farthest from them, there was a giant hole leading to the outside.   “I…can’t believe it…” Twilight said, her eyes wide.   She fought so hard… noted Corey, feeling his anger spike again, But it looks like the surprise attack did most of the job…   Shining looked around, his back turned to the group. Stepping into the room, he approached one of the guards, who turned to him.   “Prince Armor,” he said, saluting.   “At ease,” said Shining, “Have you found anything in here?”   “There was something,” he said, putting his hand to his chin, “We think the attacker dropped it. Hey! Emerald!”   The second guard had stopped what he was doing, looking over to the first guard, “Yes, sir?”   “That book we found…” said the first guy, “Prince Armor wants to see the evidence we’ve gotten…”   “Right away,” Emerald said, reaching into a sack which he’d left resting on the bed. It wasn’t long before he withdrew a black notebook, splotched with red spots in places. He then walked it over to Shining, who took it and began skimming through its pages.   “We put in it evidence the moment we scanned the room,” said the first guard, as Shining continued to skim, “We thought you’d want to see it as soon as you arrived.”   Shining wasn’t listening. He had stopped skimming. Something on one of the pages caught his eye. He gave a small, sharp “Tch” to it, a bead of sweat running down his brow. Twilight, standing next to Shining, noticed his distress.   “We originally thought that it may have belonged to Princess Cadance, but—“ The first guard didn’t get to finish his sentence.   “There’s no way a book like this would belong to her,” Shining coldly stated, slamming the book shut.   “Sir?” asked the first guard, tilting his head in concern.   “Increase security all around the empire,” was the only thing Shining could say. Still holding on to the notebook, Shining stormed out of the room, the others quickly getting out of his way. Twilight, however, wasn’t content to let him simply storm out like that. She quickly moved, managing to catch up with him.   “Shining, what’s wrong?” asked Twilight, trying to keep up. Upon registering her question, Shining stopped. He turned to Twilight. In that moment, Twilight could see a distinct sort of fear in his eyes, masked underneath a layer of completely appropriate anger. He spoke, and what he said next sent chills throughout Twilight’s body.   “This book,” Shining said, “Has to be the attacker’s journal. And if it is, Cadance isn’t his first victim…”