The Royal Train. An elegant melding of both man and machine. Its stack shot white smoke fifty feet into the air and hundreds of feet back as it rocketed down the tracks. It's ivory white siding and dark blue inlay designs made the mechanical marvel a sight to behold. If the outside wasn't enough, one could find that the inside was just as beautiful. With velvet carpeting the floors and gold trimming on the floor and wall moldings only made the room shine from within. Casting its light upon the furniture that made it look more like a palace than a train. Soft couches, arm chairs and footrests that were as soft as a baby sheep's wool. It was all truly magnificent.

One such rider on the train made doubly sure to soak it all in and relax herself on the chairs. Rarity was no stranger to comfort. Scratch that, she was an abuser of comfort. She enjoyed the finer things in life. If it wasn't her royal purple hair that gave it away, it was her dresses and undeniable love of fashion that did. She stretched out over a couch and lazed her head on a velvety, soft pillow. She could get used to this sort of living. Well, she could if she didn't have to here to constant sound of speeding wings over her head.

"Rainbow Dash!" she snapped. "Must you really?"

The rainbow headed flyer stopped her frantic pacing in the air in a screeching halt. "I'm sorry, Rarity." Dash said sincerely. "But I'm just so excited!" As she spoke, her voice raised a couple octaves. "I cannot believe we are going to the Gryphon capitol! Not only do they have the best foods and shops, but they also have the most incredible, spectacular, and undeniably the most awesome thing in all of the Equestrian Alliance. THE COLISEUM!"

"What's so great about a giant arena?" Rarity inquired with a more of an annoyed tone than needed.

"Oh, come on, Rarity!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "How can you not be excited about going to the Coliseum? The roar of the crowd! The tension of a good fight!"

"Two sweaty gladiators" Rarity went on. "swinging their weapons around just to please a crowd of bloodthirsty spectators sounds horribly uncouth."

"Ya can't deny that seein' two muscular guys in nothin' but a few bits a armor and a loincloth gets ya a little hot under the collar." Applejack sealed her comment with a wink. She already saw the look in her friend's eyes s the image started to form.

The pretty designer couldn't help but feel a little heat on her back when she thought about it. She cleared her throat and said, "Though, I . . . must concede that the idea is nice, I still think that it's very barbarous for them to be trying to kill each other for the enjoyment of a crowd." The fashionista had to adjust her dress as it became uncomfortably sticky between her legs.

Rainbow Dash continued to prod Rarity to see her side, and Applejack was trying to put more alluring images in her friend's head for a good bit of reaction. Rarity handled both fronts with equal parts grace and fury. Trying to defend herself against the barrage was turning out to be a challenge. If this kept up, she would need to join Pinkie and Fluttershy at the bar for a drink.
______________________________________________________________________________

Down two train cars, the atmosphere was a little calmer. Well, as calm as it could be when Fluttershy was in a room filled with alcohol. She had a knack, the others have found, for flipping and tossing bottles in the air and doing weird tricks with them. She got especially bold, and more skilled, when she had a few martinis and old fashions floating around in her. Pinkie Pie, contrary to popular belief, was actually quite quiet when she drank. Choosing more to reflect on her life rather than get up and dance as she was known for.

"And then when I made my comment about oatmeal, I don't think anyone was really listening." Pinkie Pie took another sip of her cocktail when she finished her sentence.

"Oh, Pinkie." Fluttershy comforted her friend as she spun a bottle on her forearm and poured the drink into a shaker. "I'm sure someone heard you, but they just might not have been paying attention." She placed some ice in the shaker and capped it. She gave it a good shake and then poured out the contents into the glassed before her. "I'm sure that if your story was interesting, we all missed out on a good one." She dropped a skewered olive in each glass. "I know I would have enjoyed it." Without another word, the yellow winged flyer slammed down both drinks. "Oh, yeah. There's the buzz."

The door to the car opened to let a cool draft come it. From it, stepped none other than Princess Luna herself. "Good afternoon, ladies." She said in a fresh voice. Her starlight hair waving in a magical breeze. "What's on the specialty menu for today?" The lunar princess shifter her short sword as she sat in a stool at the bar next to Pinkie Pie.

"Oh, Princess Luna!" Fluttershy gasped as she continued to balance a bottle of gin on her nose. She flipped the bottle from its rest, over her head, and then caught it behind her back. "What can I get for you?"

"A glass of red wine, my dear." Luna replied happily. "Art thou alright, Miss Pie?"

Pinkie only took another sip of her drink.

"She's fine." Fluttershy assured as she popped the cork on a bottle of wine. "She just gets quiet when she drinks liquor." The yellow sweatered bartender poured a glass of Cabernet and handed it to the royal.

"I see." Luna took a sip of wine. The princess' expression changed drastically. "She's not the only one who's gone quiet."

Fluttershy's, and even Pinkie Pie's, eye brows perked at that. The lunar princess felt their confusion, and decided it wasn't best to keep what's going on from them. "Your friend, Twilight Sparkle, has gone into an internal exile. She won't speak, even to my sister. Her only method of communication is through Spike, who only delivers the letters to and from Celestia. Though the letters themselves seemed to have stopped. She had even gone so far as to seal herself in a car that was originally supposed to be used to transport magical artifacts of intense power." Luna took another sip of her wine and sighed. "I can only hope that she realizes that this all will blow over."

"It will?" Pinkie asked.

"Of course." Luna answered. "My sister only had to deal with assassins for about a good ten years."

"How long did you deal with it for?" Fluttershy dared to ask.

"Oh, a good half century." Luna recollected as she sipped her drink. "It should have followed my sister's length, but I guess it didn't help that I was torturing people." Luna saw the pair's faces screw up in horror. "What?! It was a different time!" Luna said defensively. She took another large sip of her drink. "Anyway," she started to steer the conversation away from her past exploits. "Twilight's troubles will pass once we figure out who's behind all of this."

"Who do you think would even want to hurt Twilight?" Fluttershy fished for an answer.

"Let alone kill her." Luna added.

"Maybe someone wants revenge." Pinkie chimed in. "I can't really see a reason to even hold a grudge against her, but maybe if we dig a little deeper into Twilight's past and dig up a list of some old rivals, we can find out who's behind it."

"But that requires Twilight Sparkle to open up and speak," Luna reminded without skipping a beat. "and she is only writing simple sentences down on paper."

"Oh." Fluttershy groaned. "I hope Twilight's alright."
______________________________________________________________________________

A knock resounded on the door to the car. "Can Ah enter?" a voice came from the other side of the portal.

"Of course." Came a voice from the other side. The owner of the wind chime voice was none other than Princess Celestia herself. The regent of the sun and co-ruler of Equestria.

The door quietly slid open and in stepped a very large gryphon soldier. His chainmail shirt was covered by the red quilted doublet, though this did little to stifle the noise for his clangs and clings could still be heard. His angular facial features, along with his nose, which curved to resembling a beak, and his perfectly circular brown eyes, made the man handsome by the standards of the Gryphons. His body, though covered by his armor, was in fact a giant for a citizen of the Kingdom.

"Finn McCool!" The fair faced lady of the room cried. Her shimmering hair in a breezeless dance whipped as the regent of the sun hurriedly rushed over to the warrior and wrapped her arms around his large torso. She stood only half an inch taller than her counterpart in her white silk robe, and wore the regalia of her land with a sparkling shine. A stark contrast to the man of battle she squeezed tightly.

The Gryphon let out a roaring laugh that shook the mountains around them as he returned the embrace. "It's good ta see ya, lassie!" He held the lady out at arm's length and inspected her face. "Ya still ne'er grew that beard!"

"Well, I haven't shaved since you said something about it." Princess Celestia laughed as she rubbed her silky smooth face.

"Bah!" The Gryphon threw his arms in false irritation. "Just be sure to keep razors from yer cheeks."

"Oh, I'll do all I can to grow a yeti like yours on my face."

Both laughed heartily at their ridiculous conversation. However, as fast as the mirth came, it died just as quick. Finn McCool only came to Equestria for one reason and one reason only. For the protection of the ruling body of Canterlot. His presence only meant that King McCool was worried, and as the sun goddess knows, McCool has only been truly scared only twice before in his fifty years as King of the Gryphons. To send his son and second heir, only intensified his resolve to make sure that everyone on the train made it to their destination and back home unharmed. The gravity of it all hardened the pair's faces.

"How is the wee lass?" Finn asked as he gestured with the red beard on his chin to the giant, ruin sketched door at the other end of the room.

Princess Celestia looked to the same metal portal with a choke in her throat. "She hasn't sent a letter in over an hour. I can only imagine what this all is doing to Twilight mentally and emotionally."

The bearded warrior patted the woman light enough on her shoulder to snap off a branch from a healthy tree. "I think she'll be fine." he assured. "If what you say is true about her, she'll find some sort of comfort."
______________________________________________________________________________

'I can't think of anything to fucking say.' Spike thought to himself. 'I've tried everything. Telling her of the force she for her protection, the friends she has, the three and a half nations that support her. He even told her old stories to help cheer her up. All of them failures. I just don't know what to do!' The half dragon continued to ponder his words while he stroked Twilight's purple hair. The latter laid curled on her simple bed, feeling nothing but stillness in her heart.

Twilight Sparkle had always faced challenges that could have ended in serious injury, or even death. But this time was different. She had been attacked eight times. All of them from people she knew. One of them she knew from magic kindergarten. Another from her time in her advanced studies. She used to eat lunch with her. However, the worst one of them all was when one of the royal guards tried to murder her. He faked being a messenger to give her a note that was blank. He would have been able to do his dirty deed had he not been stopped by Spike. Come to think of it, it was because of Spike, all eight times, that she was saved. She remembered him having to receive stitched in his head because he blocked a sword with a piece of hardwood and was left with only a gash on his head from the stifled cut. Though Spike was injured every time an assassin came to try and end Twilight's life, he still came back stronger and more willing to stand in the line of danger. The sweater-vested girl turned to Spike and looked at him in the low light of the single burning candle in the room. She noticed the solemn face of her hero and put her hand on his face. She weakly smiled at him. The half breed returned the smile and even grinned a little wider as he held her hand to her cheek.

"Thank you for being here for me, Spike." she choked.

The draconian nearly jumped up from his knees and hit the roof. Twilight actually spoke! After days of silence, she spoke! Spike only could smile back wider when he heard her voice. Well, that's not all he did. He wrapped Twilight in a hug so fast one would think he was made of greased lightning.

Twilight laughed nervously and said, "Whoa, calm down!" she giggled. "What's all this about?"

"You spoke." Spike whispered through his tears. "You spoke after so long."

"You really missed my chatter that much?" the librarian chided.

"Of course I did." Spike said as he brought his eyes to Twilight's. "You not talking for that long . . . it was like you died, and what was walking around was just a zombie of some kind."

"Well, I'm definitely not a zombie." Twilight said as she rolled her eyes. Twilight chuckled a bit at the end of her sentence. She hugged Spike from her prone position and pulled him in for a warm embrace. He returned the gesture with equal measure.

"I love you, Twilight." Spike said as he squeezed tighter.

"I love you too, Spike." Twilight's fears and worries seemed to become a little bit distant to her as she held her little brother close. "Please don't ever leave me."

"Never." Spike said as he smiled.

Author's Note

And that's when Spike pulled out a dagger and killed Twilight. The End.

JK

Tell me what you think. I want to hear what you have to say.

1000Fights