Twicord AGAIN?!

Part 7

Pinkie Pie bounced from seat to seat, a massive smile on her face. "This is so much fun!" she squealed. "I love trains! I love train rides! I love going to the Crystal Empire! I love my friends! And guess what? I'M ON A TRAIN RIDE TO THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE WITH MY FRIENDS! AH!" She pulled a party cannon out of her mane and fired it, confetti covering the floor.

Rarity shook her head, a smile gracing her beautiful features. "Pinkie, would you please keep it down?"
"I think I can agree with the party pony," Discord said, laughing heartily.

Twilight Sparkle entered the car, looking like she was about to be sick. She sat down next to Discord. He extended his wing, brushing comfortingly across her back.

"Are you okay?" he asked gently, his voice much too soft for her liking.

"I'm fine."

Applejack cleared her throat. "I agree with Rarity. This isn't any laughing matter, Pinkie. We're here on serious business."

"Anything involving King Sombra is serious enough to me," Fluttershy remarked, hiding in her wings with a terrified squeak. Discord patted her head reassuringly.

Twilight looked at the notes she had brought, all from the cavern, and all written by Sombra. His handwriting was so neat. His notes were so quirky and odd, even funny. How could someone so bad have written something so good? She sighed.

Rainbow Dash, who had been pacing aimlessly back and forth, stopped to glare at Fluttershy. "Oh, come on, Flutters!" she cried. "We have to be serious, not scared! We should be intimidating him, not the other way around."

The draconequus beside her growled. "King Sombra is the personification of fear," he retorted darkly. "I would say that fear is the most sane reaction."

Pinkie gasped, pointing out the window ahead. "Look! We must be getting close, everypony!"

The sky was pitch black. Lightning crackled literally every five seconds, so it seemed, and thunder roared. A fierce wind shook the train back and forth, slowing it down substantially, ripping through the air.

Rarity gasped. "My stars! When Princess Celestia said there would be a storm around the Empire, I wasn't expecting night time!"

"I don't think any of us were," Applejack remarked. She adjusted her hat on her head. "Come on, girls. We're almost there. Let's get ready."

Discord turned to Twilight. The alicorn had a blank stare on her face. Waving his talon in front of her face, he finally snapped her out of her stupor.

"Huh?"

"We're leaving now, my dear," he said as the train screeched to a stop.

She nodded, getting up off her seat and stretching her wings.

As soon as she exited the train, her entire body was battered by a fierce wind. She splayed her legs across the platform, spreading her wings to keep from tumbling off. Discord interrupted the wind, shielding her as he shoved the rest of them behind his figure.

Rarity nodded at the draconequus. "Whew! Thank you kindly, Discord."

With a flash of magic, he erected some sort of bubble around them. The wind stopped, and the cold was gone, replaced instead with insurmountable heat. They all sighed in relief, fixing their manes and adjusting their wings.

"Are we all okay?" the draconequus asked, amused. "Nobody blew away, did they?"

Twilight shook her head, taking that a little too seriously. Fluttershy shivered in fear. Rainbow Dash, with a roll of her eyes, lifted her onto her hooves.