Chapter 110 - Departures
In the darkness of his bedroom, Barrier was awakened by a feeling of movement on the bed beside him.
As his eyes adjusted to the low light provided by the moon, he spotted Daring making her way to their closet.
“You may want to take a shower before you put your adventuring outfit on.” Barrier’s whisper made the golden pegasus pause. “We worked up a bit of a sweat before we went to sleep.”
“Sorry if I woke you,” Daring quietly replied before quickly sniffing her foreleg’s pit and wincing. “Yeah, I should take a shower.”
“I hope you weren’t planning on leaving without saying goodbye.” A voice beside Barrier made the unicorn’s ears stand at attention, letting him see Fleet start to sit up in the bed.
Daring sighed as she slowly dragged her way back to the bed. “I find it tends to be a bit easier when it comes to trips like this. I’ve got no idea how long it’s gonna take me to take care of things at the tomb and such.”
“Personally, I’d prefer to get a goodbye,” Fleet said before pulling Daring into a hug and planting a kiss on the cheek.
Daring sighed again as she fell into the hug that Barrier quickly joined. “I’ll be sure to remember that.”
Breaking from the hug, Daring started towards the bathroom. “Would either of you like to join in?”
***
Nearly a half hour later, as darkness still covered the city, Barrier, Fleet and Daring were gathered at the train station, awaiting the first train to Dodge City, due in ten minutes.
“Y’know, it’s kinda weird,” Daring muttered to herself as she used her wing to adjust her pith helmet. “It’s been so long since I’ve needed to go on an adventure that I started to get used to having a pretty calm life in this city with all of you and the others.”
“Is it really wise to be out and about outside of your disguise?” Fleet asked as she leaned over to see if she could spot anything on the tracks.
“I figure it’s fine since it’s not even dawn yet, and I doubt that any of my enemies are watching, much less would know I’m here and where I’m about to go,” Daring casually replied as she patted Fleet’s back.
“And even if some were here…” The three quickly spun about to see the privates coming up to the station with Swift leading and carrying a tired Wind Whistler on her back. “You have seven ponies who would strike them dead if they tried anything to harm you.”
“Make that…” Wind Whistler widely yawned as she looked over Swift’s shoulder. “Eight.”
“Did you really think you could just head out without saying goodbye?” Hat Trick asked as he trotted up the steps.
“Sorry, kids, but this is important. Getting to the tomb takes priority,” Daring answered as she leaned against a support post.
“Well, in the event that one of your enemies shows up, I suggest you take this.” Swiftsword’s horn glowed, cutting through the dark as she pulled a sheathed dagger out of her mane. “Remember, pulling the blade out of a wound will likely cause your enemy to bleed out.”
“Ugh… Thanks, Swift,” Daring nervously said as she grabbed the dagger with her wing and stowed it away in her saddlebags.
“We’re all gonna miss you, Aunt Daring,” Wind Whistler said before she fluttered off Swift’s back and to Daring’s side, where she gave her foreleg a tight hug.
“I’ll miss you too, Windy,” Daring said before nuzzling the little filly. “Hopefully I’ll be able to take care of this and be able to get back as soon as I can.”
Breaking the hug, Windy wiped her eye with her wing before returning to her mother’s side. “Hopefully. Try to get back in one piece.”
Daring chuckled. “You’ve got it. I’ll try to see if I can get you something as a souvenir.”
***
After Daring had left, things fell rather quiet for the household of ponies, with the only issues arising from preparations for their upcoming trips.
The time soon came for the ponies to go their separate ways. Hat Trick and Winter Gem were the first to leave, setting off for the vacation in Las Pegasus. Forge prepared for his hockey game with Snow Sweeper.
Eventually, on the twenty-third of May, while Wind Whistler and Fleetfeather left so they could go on on the school’s trip to Manehattan and Verdant went with Erica and Storm Cloud to Rainbow Falls to prepare for the Equestria Games that morning, Barrier and Swiftsword were off to Canterlot that afternoon for the royal wedding.
While Swiftsword was nearly bouncing in her seat with her two swords on her lap, Barrier was staring out the window, going over a mental checklist to recall if he’d missed anything.
Tell Heavy Weight I’d be out of town? Check. Inform class there's no training on Friday? Check. Packed my uniform? Check. Got my mane touched up? Check. Barrier sighed, somewhat annoyed that his thoughts weren’t distracting him enough from the train’s rumbling. Wait, is the milk about to expire? … Crap, this is gonna bug me the rest of the way to Canterlot.
“Attention passengers,” a mare’s voice came from the hallway. “We shall be arriving in Canterlot shortly. All those not bound for Baltimare, please be ready to depart.”
Turning his gaze out the window, Barrier spotted the capital city. To his mild surprise, the city seemed to be encased in a translucent magenta bubble.
At least they’re taking precautions with the wedding coming up. Barrier thought to himself as Swiftsword slid off her seat and carried her luggage in her magic.
A few moments after leaving the cabin, a field of magenta light washed over the train, briefly sparking when it reached Swift’s black sword, seeming to be unable to touch it.
Soon after the train came to a halt, as they stepped off, Barrier saw a large number of guards standing at attention at the train station. Several were on the platform and waiting on top of the station.
“Halt, ma’am,” a white-coated pegasus said as he flared his wings and approached Swiftsword. “Why are you carrying those weapons?”
Several of the guards tensed. Barrier raised an eyebrow in amusement as he saw several of the unicorns flaring their horns while the pegasi looked ready to charge and the earth ponies tightened the grip on their spears.
“At ease, everypony.” A slight smile graced Barrier’s face as Shining Armor stepped forward from the crowd, decked out in full armor. That smile quickly faltered as he saw that Starshine was closely by his side with her usual glower. “They’re guests for the wedding… Though I am surprised that Swift’s got a pair of swords on her.”
“A Falchion goes nowhere unarmed, Captain,” Swift said as she threw out a salute.
“She thought it would be best to have them, should something go wrong,” Barrier stated as Shining and Starshine came to a halt before them.
“Well, considering you were there for both Nightmare Moon and Sombra, I can see why,” Shining said as he glanced over Swift’s sheathed blades. “Was one of those things made of mystibane?”
“Indeed, sir,” Swiftsword proudly answered. “It was very expensive, but I’d say it was worth every bit for such a weapon.”
“Guess that explains the weird feeling I had with the forcefield a bit ago,” Shining muttered as he brought a hoof to his chin.
“Captain, such a weapon seems highly dangerous and I don’t like her reasoning for bringing these weapons into Canterlot,” Starshine said as she maintained a defensive stance. “I suggest confiscating these weapons.”
“I understand your reasoning, Lieutenant, but I trust Barrier and Swiftsword after the Crystal Empire,” Shining replied, making Starshine’s glower intensify. “However, should she draw them without the need to, feel free to confiscate them and only return them only after she’s outside the city’s limits.”
“Aye, Sir,” Starshine said as Shining Armor led Barrier and Swift over to a nearby bench.
“Cadance’s should be arriving in a few minutes, so we might as well just stay here and go to the palace together,” Shining Armor said as he sat down on the bench. “So, how’s things been treating you?”
“Eh, mixed bag,” Barrier responded as Starshine sat down on the bench beside Shining Armor. “Mostly work related stuff, teaching self-defense classes and the trials of maintaining a herd.”
“Heh. I don’t think I could ever do that. Cadance is the one mare for me.” Barrier thought he spotted Starshine’s green eyes twitching at Shining Armor’s words. “So, how come it’s just the two of you?”
“Save for Daring, who had a sudden business to attend to, all of them had previous engagements of some sort. A school trip, acting as a chaperone, trip to Las Pegasus, a hockey game and some kind of qualifiers for the Equestria games,” Barrier answered as he leaned up against the bench.
“Huh. Didn’t know they did qualifiers this far in advance,” Shining replied as he focused his gaze on the train tracks. “Still, glad to have you two here. And I’m sure Twily will be happy to see you again. When was the last time she saw you? Nightmare Night?”
“Actually, she visited a while back to help find a self-defense teacher.” Barrier’s ears pricked up as he heard a train whistle somewhere off in the distance. “I managed to get an old friend of mine to take care of it.”
“Nice. Hopefully learning a bit will help her feel better,” Shining said as he rose up from the bench. “I spoke with her after Discord’s attack and she confided how worrying it was to not be able to use her magic.”
After a few minutes had passed in relative silence, Barrier spotted something that made him hate trains even more. The engine car seemed to be carved entirely out of light blue crystal while the cars it pulled seemed to be crystalline as well, in the colors of red, purple and magenta.
“I’m guessing a modern designer picked the colors for this train,” Barrier remarked as the train started to pull into the station. “That, or they’re severely colorblind. I feel like my eyes are going to bleed.”
Not long after the train stopped, a pair of guards emerged from one of the cars. After glancing at the fellow guards and getting a nod from Shining Armor, one of the guards barked, “All clear,” before they stepped away from the doorway.
With the doorway cleared, a tall, vibrant pink alicorn stepped off the train, her eyes covered by a pair of heart shaped sunglasses.
“It’s great to finally see you again, Shining,” Cadance said before she gave the captain a nuzzle, “It’s been far too long.”
“I missed you too.” A warm smile graced Shining Armor’s face before he pulled back to look upon the elegant empress. “Is there anything I can get you?”
Cadance chuckled as she brought a hoof covered by a gold shoe up to her glasses. “A hot cheesy pizza with extra mushrooms, a good book…”
The alicorn slid the glasses off her face, making Swift gasp at the alicorn's baggy and bloodshot eyes. “And a cannon to shoot me.”
“Oh, Cadance, what happened?!” Shining asked worriedly as the alicorn slipped the sunglasses back on.
“Nothing too much,” Cadance tried to sound casual as she masked her tiredness. “I just put my snout to the grindstone to try to get everything taken care of ahead of time so we’ll be able to have a nice, peaceful honeymoon.”
“Aw, that’s sweet, but Princess Luna could have handled things in the empire while we’re having the wedding and honeymoon,” Shining said as he nuzzled the alicorn’s neck.
“I know, but I didn’t want to burden her too much. Spending so much time in the empire helped me see how much adjusting she’s probably gone through.” Cadance fought back the urge to yawn as a pair of guards emerged from the train. While one carried what looked like a large luggage bag, the other seemed to be carrying a large plastic cooler.
As Barrier observed the cooler, a pair of loud thuds came from inside the plastic bin, nearly causing the guard carrying it to stumble.
“Might I ask what’s in the cooler, your imperial majesty?” Starshine asked as she took the cooler in her brilliant green magic aura, stabilizing it on the guard’s back.
“Oh, it’s a rainbow quartz trout I had caught since one of the guests is Queen Leena,” Cadance said as she leaned against Shining Armor. “I figured a big, fresh fish from the empire would be the perfect treat for our griffin guests. Now, can we please go to the palace? I’d like to take a well deserved power nap.”
“Of course, dear,” Shining said as he and Cadance lead the way. “Lieutenant, please take care of the empress’s bags.”
“Yes, Sir,” Starshine nearly growled as her magic picked up Cadance’s luggage and followed her, the golden mare’s eyes filled with venom.
“Come on, Barrier, Swift,” Shining Armor said as he headed towards the palace with Cadance leaning against him and weakly nuzzling him. “Let’s get you all settled in at the palace. I figure it’ll probably be a while before Twily and her friends get here.”
“Very well,” Barrier replied as he and Swift fell in line behind Starshine, with the charcoal unicorn noting the look of hatred in her eyes.
I can understand why Starshine dislikes me, but why does it look like she wants to murder Cadance in a grisly fashion?
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Chrysalis replaced Starshine and is angry that Cadance did something to interfere with plans is my guess. I doubt There'll be answer before the next chapter and it might be later than just the next one.
Possible scene...
Swiftsword: Should I be worried that I want to draw my sword against Starshine?
Barrier: You are having the same bad feeling about her as I? Good. That just means we know who to keep an eye on.
Hmmm, name change maybe?
11738077
Fixed.
11738077
Can't believed I missed that. My oops.
I am going to guess Chrysalis was going to replace Cadence couldn't get her alone and had to settle for Starshine and is angry she had to change her whole plan. The early revival of the Empire ruined Chrysalis's plans that she likely took years to set up. Heck Equestria seems to be a bit more paranoid in this timeline, security is less lax and Chrysalis's invasion will be even less successful.