A Beautiful Night

by MrNumbers

Training

The alicorn and the unicorn in the white plate stopped, and the unicorn through up a strong shield -- just like Twilight’s! -- around the both of them as they turned to see Twilight. “Twilight!” they both shouted at the exact same time and made the exact same face, like an old married couple.

Then a batpony smacked his halberd into the shield, and then Shining popped it and snapped around and kicked him in the chest, and Cadance was shooting spells at all the Solar Guard ponies that made them stand up straighter, slow down slower.

Twilight just shot laser beams at a bunch of bad guys who blasted them back.

“So there goes sneaking,” Moondancer groaned, “This was supposed to be a stealth operation.”

“Change of plans!” Cadance shouted, apparently having heard Moondancer over the battle noises, or maybe she hadn’t and Moondancer was just that predictable, “Fancy Pants got made.”

Pinkie stayed beside Moondancer and did everything she could to not draw attention to herself, prayed that the Background Pony spell had some lingering after effects.

“Where’s the Crystal Heart?” Twilight shouted, picking two Lunar Guard up and banging their heads together like a kid making her dolls kiss. They were out cold.

“Spike has it!” Shining shouted back. Instead of Twilight’s displays of raw power, Shining was the picture of military efficiency. He was unbuckling their armor with his magic, letting it slide off as they moved and jabbing them in the exposed weak spots it revealed. Applying force at the points of movement that had the least resistance, but most messed up a pony to be moved in that way.

Pinkie watched him do it three times in a row to three different guards, and she couldn’t even explain what he did once. It was just like that prank where you poke someone on the opposite shoulder to the side you’re standing on, except everywhere and it somehow made ponies crumple up at the end of it.

“Spike’s here?” Twilight was huffing and puffing and sweating up a storm, while her brother just looked like he’d taken a brisk jog through the crowd of elite soldiers.

“He’s not,” Cadance moved next to Twilight and her horn glowed. Twilight kept blasting more laser beams and knocking guards around as befit the Good Witch of the Everfree in her butt-kicking boots, “we’re meeting up with him later. We’re trying to draw attention until he and Fancy Pants can get to a safe house, then we’ll meet back up much later.”

Pinkie realized the bad guys couldn’t understand them. Probably Cadance’s magic, since she couldn’t see what other spells she was casting. Or maybe that was on purpose too? “Fancy Pants is safe?”

“You must be Pinkie Pie, then?” Cadance looked at Pinkie and, even though everything around them was blood and crumpled bodies, Pinkie thought everything was going to be okay. When is charisma indistinguishable from magic? “Fancy apologizes for not taking you with him, he’ll be glad to know you made it, but he wasn’t even sure we’d be willing to break cover to save him.”

Shining grunted, “Still threw himself out the window anyway. It’s not like he gave us much of a choice.”

“We made our choice, just as he made his, I think,” Cadance said back, “Twilight! It’s so good to see you.”

“We got married!” Shining added, falling back for a breather as he let the other Royal Guards do their work as well, “So you missed that. You didn’t miss much of a wedding, though.”

“What? You’re telling me this now?!” Twilight shouted, also falling behind the guards just to yell at him. Pinkie and Moondancer followed, Moondancer clutching her book to her chest as a shield.

“First available opportunity, that was my promise to myself,” Shining beamed, obviously proud of himself.

Twilight couldn’t argue with that. It looked like she really wanted to, but she couldn’t.

There was a stillness, but for the haggard panting of bone-tired soldiers, as the last Lunar Guard fell. Twelve of them, and the two Shadowbolts, for only two of the Solar Guard downed, and six more left standing. Shining and Cadance and Twilight tipped the scales in their favour it seemed.

Shining must have noticed her noticing. “We had the advantage of surprise, and they always have more reinforcements. This isn’t a win, this is barely acceptable losses.”

Cadance touched him on the shoulder, and Shining relaxed all at once, like her body heat radiated out from that touch and thawed him out. “They’re probably waiting for us now. I feel more coming, as well. Moondancer?”

Moondancer was already focusing really hard on a spell, her horn glowed white-hot, and then there was a corona around it. She grunted, and dug her hooves into the floor, and then...

Pinkie’s head twisted, it felt like someone was winding her brain around a screw. She could see everyone, her mind told her that she did, but her eyes said she couldn’t. It was like her eyes were seeing one thing, and her brain was editing the others in over the top of it, and it felt weird.

Twilight made a wretching noise. “I hate group invisibility spells. Makes me get solipsistic.”

“Well, this one doesn’t come with sound muffling, or conceal glowing horns so... General Armour?”

Shining Armour nodded, and gave complex hoof gestures to the other guards. They started moving out silently, Cadance and Moondancer and Twilight following, and Pinkie falling in behind them. They moved silently, which was really impressive given all the armour they were wearing. That stuff should clink like a bag full of bits, but it was hardly noticeable at all under the sound of ponies panicked yelling.

Pinkie wanted to ask so many questions, and it was obvious Twilight wanted to ask them even harder than she did, but the invisibility spell wasn’t like the Background Pony spell. They couldn’t talk, just had to focus on following the General wherever he was leading them, out through a courtyard, down through a hedge row, out through the back of a groundskeeper’s shack, all wandering about with only the light of a full moon.

That probably did help a lot, actually. Every mission was a night mission. The chirpy bugs in the hedges they snuck through were louder than the sneaking ponies, which is probably why Twilight’s brother snuck them out this long way around.

There were so many ways they could have been caught if anyone had been paying attention. The crushed grass under their hooves, the ways they brushed hedges as they passed, and no matter how quietly you moved, you couldn’t hold your breath forever. And with the way Twilight and Moondancer flinched at every unicorn they saw, it seemed like a unicorn could have caught them at any moment.

But nobody came. Nobody saw them. Under Shining’s careful directions and plans, they hid and moved for hours. Down from the gardens until they got to the waterfalls under the palace, then down the cliffs of the slippery waterfalls -- one of the guards with them slipped and fell, and Cadance caught him before he went over the edge. Anyone could have seen her horn glow against the rocks, but they didn’t.

Down the waterfalls, flinching every time a rock fell over the edge and clattered down the mountain like an echoing billiards break. Following it down until they were above the tunnel the trains ran through. Then they just waited.

Or, everyone but one of the soldiers waited. He pulled a grey sheet off a rock, which turned out to be a footlocker. It was opened in a hurry, and two train tickets were taken out of it, two cloaks, and some potions.

Shining took the cloaks, throwing one on Cadance and one over himself. “We didn’t plan on taking more with us this way. The others are going to be raising tartarus to keep the attention off us. We only have supplies for two.”

Moondancer hugged Twilight tight, and the two seemed to have a moment that Pinkie didn’t understand. “It was good to see you again.” Moondancer said, “I’m heading back to the library, unless Fancy Pants named names...?”

“He didn’t,” Pinkie said.

Moondancer nodded. “Good. So, hopefully no dungeons for me when I get back. The resistance can’t afford to lose its head research librarian,” her tone of voice and frown were sarcastic, but her eyes were proud and determined. Pinkie could guess why she’d been friends with Twilight.

With that, the other soldiers with them formed two groups and ran down the mountain, one heading to their left and the other heading to their right. That left Pinkie, Twilight, Cadance and Shining alone, waiting on the tunnel.

“How are you two getting on the train. Also, does that mean you’re my sister-in-law now?”

Cadance grinned, and her eyes sparkled with mischief and excitement, “I’m going to jump,” her wings fluttered and twitched at the promise, “and Shining’s been practicing his combat rolls for two months now. Sometimes he doesn’t even throw his back out.”

Shining rolled his eyes. “Combat rolls from rooftops, dearest, it’s a bit trickier.”

Pinkie stared down at the tracks below them. “So you’re just going to jump down and...?”

“That’s the plan, unfortunately,” Shining obviously didn’t have half the sense of adventure his wife did, “It’s the only way we could meet back with our other agents. If they made it.”

Twilight was also looking over the edge now. The train was approaching, but it was still very far away. You could see it for miles with its bright foglight against the mountain at night. Finally, Twilight seemed to work something out. “Alright, Pinkie and I are coming with you. This train goes straight to Ponyville, doesn’t it?”

“Express, actually.” Cadance said.

Twilight was watching the train carefully. No cloak or anything. “I know what we’re going to do. You do your plan, and I’ll stay completely out of it, to minimize us getting the other caught.”

Shining sighed. “Okay, I trust you.”

“You better, I’ve been doing this as long as you have now, buster. We were doing fine sneaking our way out of the palace before you went and blew it up.”

Shining frowned. “What were you doing here, in the first place?”

“It’s a long story, and there’ll be plenty of time on the train, when we’re sure it’s safe. We’ll sneak on after you, I want to watch you do a combat roll.”

Cadance danced on her hooves and giggled. “It’s so dashing! He looks very handsome doing it. Don’t you think, Pinkie?”

“Uh, I dunno, I haven’t seen him roll yet?” Pinkie rubbed the back of her neck while trying not to ogle Twilight’s brother at the invitation of his wife.

“I just want to see if he pulls his back out.” Twilight grinned.

“I missed you too, sis.”

“You’re still my B.B.B.F.F.!” Twilight threw herself at him and hugged him tight. He hugged back, “But I’m still your sister, and I really want to see you mess up trying to do something really cool.”

Shining puffed his chest out. “So, you think it’s really cool, Twily?”

“What, diving onto an oncoming train on purpose? Absolutely. It’s also really stupid and I hope you hurt yourself doing it enough that you never try this again.”

The train was getting closer. Maybe four minutes away, at a guesstimate. Cadance walked up next to Pinkie Pie super seriously, all business. “I see,” she said, “that we are both pink.”

“Yeah! I guess we are, huh?”

“This is the surest sign that we must be best friends.” Cadance’s kept her voice flat and even, and her face neutral. Pinkie did the same thing, trying to keep her own face neutral.

“Yes. This is evident. I agree with your conclusion”

“It is the most objective measure of friendliness there is.” Cadance kept her face neutral, even though her lip wobbled when Twilight and Shining started giving them odd looks. “There can be no doubt.”

“The legion of pretty pink ponies shall grow, befriending all,” Pinkie agreed, nodding. She didn’t say it in a ‘culty’ way, but like how you’d discuss the weather. It was funnier that way.

“Let all be welcome to our cheerful disposition and-” Cadance paused, “did you just say I’m pretty?”

Pinkie couldn’t keep a straight face any longer, she burst out laughing, “Yeah, we’re pretty pink ponies.”

Cadance swept her up in a great big hug. “I am keeping you. I hope Twilight’s gotten better at sharing since she was little.”

Twilight didn’t skip a beat, “You can have Pinkie, or you can have my brother, but you don’t get both.”

Cadance looked between Pinkie, still holding her tight, and Shining who was raising an unimpressed eyebrow at his wife. She finally sighed, let Pinkie go and slunk back over to Shining again.

“Honey, I love you, but you have to understand how hard that was for me.”

“I believe you, dear.”

“She’s so pink!”

“Speaking of looks,” Shining gestured at Twilight’s outfit. “It’s a new look for you.” Then he chuckled. Cadance gasped and stopped hugging him.

This time, Twilight puffed her chest out. “I’ll have you know, it makes me feel very self-confident and empowered.”

“It definitely works for you, I’d have never pictured you snapping a bunch of royal guard like matchsticks before,” Shining said, walking around Twilight so he could see the other angles of her, “I was just thinking how much you look like Death from Sandstallion.”

Twilight stopped, and looked down at herself, and her boots. “You really think so? You’re not just saying that because you know how much I loved that character.”

Cadance stuck her tongue out, “Maybe he’s just saying that because Death’s brother was Dreamy.”

“I’m definitely not Dream.” Shining said, with the I-know-you’re-joking-but-I’m-a-huge-geek-about-this-so-I’m-taking-it-seriously-by-choice tone that Pinkie had heard from Twilight so often in the past. She looked at Cadance and Cadance was giving her the exact look back; Yeah, mine’s like that too, and we love them for it. “I’d be Destruction.” Shining was very confident about that, and pretended not to notice how Pinkie and Cadance were looking at each other.

Twilight didn’t even have to pretend not to notice, she was too busy being a hopeless geek herself. “You’re ready to quit all this, and become a terrible painter?”

“Hey, now, Destruction was also a terrible chef, don’t undersell him. Cadance, when all this is over, we’re getting a big shaggy dog and naming him Barnabus.”

“I don’t get the reference, I’m sorry, but if we get a big shaggy dog out of it, I’m happy to go along with it.”

Shining and Twilight gasped. Shining looked personally betrayed. “You haven’t read Sandstallion?”

Twilight slugged him on the shoulder, “How could you marry anyone who hasn’t read the best thing Stardust ever wrote?”

“I didn’t know!” Shining said, “You have to believe me!”

Pinkie gulped, “I haven’t read it either?”

Twilight’s head snapped towards Pinkie. Eye contact was locked. Fire in her eyes she hadn’t seen even when she threw that unicorn off the balcony. “We are fixing that when we get back.”

Shining was still looking at Cadance with the haunted eyes of a heartbroken man. “Then how did you know Dream was Death’s brother?”

“Because you’ve talked to me about it before, and I’m a good listener who loves you dearly?”

“This marriage is built on lies and deception!”

There was a rumbling at their hooves, the train was approaching fast, now. It wasn’t going as fast as Rainbow Dash, but it was definitely moving faster than Pinkie could run. In just a few seconds it’d be passing under them. Cadance sighed in relief and put a hoof to her chest. “Thank goodness.”

Shining stared her down, “You’d really rather throw yourself at a moving train than have this conversation?”

“I love you!” Cadance shouted as she jumped over the edge. Then the locomotive was under her hooves. Shining followed, jumping over the edge to the roof of the first passenger car, his legs crumpling underneath him and he rolled on his side across the entire length of the carriage, falling down into the gap between carriages. He looked like he landed on his feet fine on the catwalk part, but they only saw him for a second.

“We’re getting in the caboose, the last carriage.” Twilight said, making Pinkie realize that while Twilight said she had a plan, she hadn’t actually told her what it was.

“Do we- should we jump?”

“That would probably help, yes.” Twilight looked over the edge of the tunnel as the last car approached. “Just look over the edge, and as soon as you see the front of it clear the edge of the tunnel, that’s when you jump. Ready?”

Pinkie got over to the very edge and looked down, bracing herself to jump. Her knees bent. The train was moving so fast and she had no idea how to roll like Shining had. She was going to get herself killed wasn’t she? She was going to die? She was literally throwing herself into the path of an oncoming-

BANG

POP

The caboose was dark, no lights but what spilled through the carriage ahead. There was a big lever in the middle of it, and some bells hanging from the walls. There was a guard, but she was snoring soundly. Twilight had already flashed a sleeping spell at her, otherwise they were alone.

Twilight hugged her. “Sorry, just had to make sure you were standing absolutely still to do that.”

“What if I actually jumped!” Pinkie whisper-shouted at Twilight, in case anybody could hear them over the clattering of the train down the mountain rails. Twilight smugged at her, which was something she’d only really seen Rainbow Dash pull off.

“Were you going to, after I told you to look over the edge?”

“No!”

Twilight looked around the small carriage. It was about the size of a garden shed on four wheels, and the outside bright red paint was just oily board in here.

“This is actually just a guard van,” she said, “a proper caboose is where all the workers stay on a freight train. But on a passenger train this small, it’s just for the emergency brake.”

“That’s a weirdly specific thing to know about trains.”

“There was a week just after I got my cutie mark where I just got really obsessed with trains. I think I had just found out that their wheels are sort of cone-shaped, and I wanted to know why.”

Pinkie was about to tease Twilight for being a nerd even when she was a kid when she thought, “Train wheels are cone shaped?”

“It helps them roll back towards the center of the track. That’s also why they have a single fixed axle for both sides, or they’d slide off the tracks. There’s a reason I got really interested in them.” Twilight pointed at the sleeping guard, “Could you put on her uniform and see if you can’t find Cadance and Shining? Tell them to meet back here.”

Pinkie saluted and stole the guard’s uniform. She felt a little rude doing it, but at least the guard wasn’t going to wake up to tell her off about it. It was just a blue vest, and a matching blue hat like an upside-down-cake tin with a short black brim.

“It’s a good colour on you.” Twilight watched from the back of the carriage, “Matches your eyes.”

Pinkie snorted, doing a little twirl to show off all the angles of her ‘new uniform’. “Maybe I should have been a train conductor, so I could keep the hat.”

“I think you can just buy the hat,” Twilight stared at it, like she was working out what style it was if she wanted to do that.

“You’re not allowed to wear this hat unless you work on a train though!”

“Pinkie, you’re wearing that hat right now, and you absolutely do not work on this train.”

“Which is why I absolutely can’t get caught.”

Twilight opened her mouth, but then closed it and seemed to chew that one over. “That’s actually a good point. Go find Shining and Cadance now?”

Pinkie saluted, and headed into the passenger carriages.

Comments

[nemryn]

Banter! Lots of great banter.

[Darkstarling]

Sandstallion, by Stardust! Squeeeeeee!

*ahem*

So yeah, I love the banter. All of it.

And the fact that Group Invisibility makes you hallucinate the other people covered by the spell. And of course I'm always a fan of how you write telekinetic martial arts. Little things.

[Luna Aeterna Solutae]

There's a lot of...
I don't know if I can handle you jerking my emotions back to front so rapidly like this.
It's like watching The Hudson Hawk. There's tense moments and a romance but it's also a screwball comedy with a ton of great bants and I dunno how I feel about this.

Also you desperately need an editing pass or a second pair of eyes. "Through up a shield" really? Whew.

[Zobeid]

“I was just thinking how much you look like Death from Sandstallion.”

And this is the moment when I can't resist going down to the comment section and plugging my own FiM–Sandman crossover fic, featuring Nightmare Moon → Black Angel

[kits]

I know others have said it before, but the banter is great.

[Drake-O-Kid123]

Nice chapter

[Hyper Star]

I love the Cadance in this fic