//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 // Story: The Few, The Proud // by IC1s5 //------------------------------// It was later in the day than Shining would have liked: the sun was up, not far in the sky but clear of the horizon. The sky was bird’s egg blue and clear, and it was just starting to get warm. They had been running for probably an hour by now. “Any idea of where we are?” Shining asked. “Hopelessly lost, more or less,” Luminous said. Every mountain looked indistinguishable from the one that came before. In the distance a railroad track was visible snaking its way through the mountains. At least now they were facing east which would make their blunderings only slightly more rational. There was a small stream flowing nearby. Shining’s thirst grew, slowly overcoming all of his other urges and nearly his sense of duty. If they didn’t get the chance to drink now he didn’t know if they would be able to rehydrate. “Wait,” Shining ordered. He got down on his forelegs, sliding Thundering onto the ground. He was getting heavy. “We need a moment.” “Time’s wasting,” Rock said. “We have to rest,” Shining replied. It was unlikely that the time spent upside down and unconscious constituted a good night’s sleep. His limbs ached and Thundering grew heavier every second. Any moment now and he’d collapse. Rock had half a mind to speed on ahead but without his companions he doubted that he would be of much use. “Fine,” he agreed, sitting down. “We can afford five minutes.” Luminous went straight for the water and lustily gulped it down. Shining had a couple of sips, watching Rock sit like a petulant child. In the distance a train hooted as it sped along the tracks. A few Pegasus ponies were specks in the distance: couriers, likely. The world was going on with its life, blissfully unaware of the new threat brewing. “How about we have a talk, take our minds off this for a moment,” Shining said. “Keep the coconut clear for awhile.” “Well,” Rock said, “excuse me if an Equestria shaking emergency isn’t a good time for some male bonding!” “Come on. I doubt they’ve overrun Canterlot by now,” Luminous said. “And my hoofs hurt.” “The realm can remain imperilled long enough for us to catch our breath,” Shining added. Rock sighed. “Well, what do you want, exactly?” “Don’t know---maybe have the first real conversation we’ve had since the start, which is unusual seeing as how we room together.” “Not for no good reason,” Rock said, facing Luminous. “He snores.” “Really?” Luminous asked. Rock nodded. “Sometimes I wonder if half of Equestria can’t hear him.” Shining rolled his eyes. Okay, could they move the conversation away his little tics and towards something more practical. “Well, you’re from Manehattan, right?” Shining asked. Rock nodded. “Not from the nicer parts of it, might I add.” All Shining knew of Manehattan was the nicer parts. When he went on his school graduation trip several months ago he was carefully warned to steer clear of certain quarters. The ponies from those condemned neighbours looked like they lived in the Everfree not a civilized Equestrian city. “So, you see things a little differently,” Luminous said. “Well, when your father decides that cider takes precedence over paying the rent, you kind of develop what you’d call a practical and less refined mindset,” Rock said. “My brother got out: he enlisted in the guard, so, having nothing better to do, I followd hm.” “I almost wish I was in your shoes,” Luminous said. “My parents figured I would be wasting my talents, having to deal with the unenlightened.” “They said that?” Shining asked. “Implicitly,” Luminous replied. “Go on, Rock.” “You know how there was a big hydra attack several months back?” The other two cadets nodded. Made the Canterlot papers, who were always eager to exploit fear of magical monsters. “Yeah, and I know that one of them earned a Crystal Star posthumously? He was in that group?” Luminous asked, the implication of Rock’s words stunning him after he opened his mouth. He felt quite stupid, but Rock gave him a sympathetic nod. “He didn’t come back: I don‘t really think posthumous awards count,” Rock said. He let his gaze drift up to the clouds. The others spent a moment to contemplate his story. “We almost ready?” Rock asked. “I just have to have a drink.” Rock drifted down to the stream and had a few gulps. He pulled his head out, feeling refreshed in a way he hadn’t in some time. Shining could feel his strength return; Thundering felt lighter as he propped him onto his back. “I don’t know what to say to that,” Luminous said. He studied his hooves for a moment, trying to think if there was anything he could add to that. A picaresque life of deprivation was inconceivable to him. “Seeing as how I am a decadent Canterlot pony and all,” Luminous began, “I got fed up with the cushy life and wanted something…more.” Luminous explained how his parents were involved with ceremonial armour during the major Canterlot celebrations. He was always more fascinated with the guards who wore the armour than the armour itself. “My parents keep thinking I’m going to come home any minute now and resume the family business.” “Even after getting your cutie mark?” Shining asked. “Especially,” Luminous said. “A cutie mark is a little hard to reason with.” “You need to meet my parents,” Luminous said dryly. “We’re always just one step away from the big strike, my dad always said. You just have to keep hitting the rocks until you find what you‘re looking for.” Luminous chuckled. “Or just keep striking them anyway, hoping you’ll turn granite in gold through sheer effort.” Luminous bitterly stared in the direction of Canterlot. He stared along the rows of mountains were the mines were located, remembering the times his father tried to spark his inspiration with trips into the grimy, dark abyss. Every time he went down all he wanted was to stampede right out; if he could, he would have tunnelled back to the surface with his bare hooves. “No matter what I do, they just think that I’m itching at the chance to be just like them.” Luminous had a final slurp of water. “I’m good.” “I don’t know,” Shining said. “For all I know I might be Celestia’s student if my talents didn’t lie with the guard. Magic never appealed to me.” Twilight took to that like a duck to water. Shining had an appreciation for magic, but was blown away by her talents and devotion. The excitement of having won Celestia’s eye had yet to simmer down. “I’ve always wanted to serve the country,” Shining said. “I always wanted “Maybe you will make captain someday,” Luminous suggested. Rock found himself nodding in agreement. Shining thought of Twilight, his parents, Cadence, everything that brought him to this moment. He was not going to let them down. Shining rose to his feet. They had a job to do. “Are we good?” “Yeah,” Rock said. Luminous nodded. They helped heave Thundering onto his back, who was beginning to gurgle, which they took to be an encouraging sign. “Come on then,” Shining said, leading the charge. # Two unicorn cadets, either the morning patrol or their search party, were found lying under a tree, dazed. A brown unicorn with a firefly cutie mark and a pale gold unicorn. Both of them had taken rocks to the head. Judging from the damp blood on their brows it hadn’t been long since they were left there. Shining felt their pulses and their breath against his hoof. “They’ll make it,” he announced. Maybe the gremlin’s vanguard had passed by and conked them out, leaving them behind out of laziness or devotion to a more immediate cause. They weren’t that menacing, not yet, for which Shining breathed a small prayer. Luminous and Rock sighed. Shining shook off Thundering and laid him on the ground. Immediately he could have seen where the gremlins had gone. Their paths were thick and rapid. He could tell how many were moving and where they were going. Difficult to tell how many they were dealing with but it couldn’t have been more than thirty. “He’s coming round!” Rock called. Shining raced over to the cadet. The brown unicorn’s head was rolling as he reawakened. He moaned and began to rub his temples. “Its okay,” Luminous, “we’re fellow cadets. The night patrol.” “What’s your name?” Rock asked. “Cadet Brown Coat,” the pony replied. “What happened here?” Shining asked. Brown Coat thought for a moment. “Gremlins…we got hit by them. Golden Rod went down in a flash. I don‘t remember much, so I must have followed soon after.” Brown Coat frowned in shame. “I tried the paralysis spell,” Brown Coat said. “It did nothing.” “That’s something we know,” Shining sighed. “Its not going to work against them.” Brown Coat’s eyes nearly bulged out of his head. It was an expression of surprise and anger. “How?” “They found a way around it. We don’t know any more than that,” Shining said. “We were on night patrol. We ran into them before you did.” “You guys were taking too long,” Brown Coat explained, “so High Tower sent us out early. Thanks a lot for that, too.” “Not our fault: we were…indisposed,” Luminous replied. There was a moan from behind them. Thundering’s eyes opened. “He’s awake!” Rock declared. Shining raced over. Thundering’s head rolled on his neck and he moaned. His eyes snapped open and he furrowed his brow. “What…what mango tango logarithm?” “What’s with him?” Rock asked. Shining remembered something Twilight had described to him: aphasia. For some reason he couldn’t speak, though to him it would appear that he was speaking. “He’s fine,” Shining said, “ability to speak notwithstanding.” “A Hoorepa hoorepa a num num!” “You said it pal,” Rock snorted. “Who’s that?” Brown Coat asked. “Our fearless leader,” Rock replied, “though obviously not an indestructible one.” Brown Coat laughed. “So what are we going to do, then?” Shining needed to think for a moment. Too much information to process, or rather, he had already processed the information and needed to come to terms both with the fact he made the decision and what the decision entailed. If the gremlins weren’t stopped, or at least slowed, here, what were they going to do? Maybe they wouldn’t be a threat to Equestria, but another complication, one that could over time become corrosive. There was no choice: just a hard bit to bite and a job to do. Nothing to do now but to do it. “Luminous, Brown Coat,” Shining barked. For the first time since their ordeal began he was assuming command, rather than being the voice of the obvious. It was like another pony had slipped into his skin. Both ponies snapped to attention. Shining cleared his throat, finding the commands he would issue to be easier to say than he thought. He didn’t know immediately whether this was a good thing or bad: was this the right thing to do, or not? He didn’t have the luxury of following orders or getting a second opinion. “Get Golden Rod and Thundering to safety. Rock and I will take on the gremlins,” Shining ordered. “You can’t be serious,” Luminous said. I am. Dear Celestia, I am that serious. “They’re too weak to help,” Shining explained. “Rock has experience in anti-magic warfare. You need to get those ponies to safety, Luminous.” Luminous nodded. He hadn’t been the best guard he could have been, so he accepted the responsibility with dedication. “What about you and Rock?” “We’ll…hold them off,” Shining said. The resolute part of his mind was out shouting the part of him that wanted to scream, flee for the hills and curl up in a ball. “Both of you?” Brown Coat looked like he was about ready to laugh. “We’ll improvise,” Shining said. “Its gotten us this far.” Rock and Shining began to trot away. Luminous felt paralyzed for a second. He fought the weight that was impressing his tongue. He had to swallow his fear and just say it. “Wait,” Luminous said. Rock and Shining glanced back. “Something I noticed in the cavern: I think they found a vein of Fool’s Iron.” “Are you sure?” Shining asked. It was fairly common in places in the mountains. Knowledge about it, however, was supposed to be strictly pony. An uncomfortable development if there ever was one. Luminous nodded. “It exists very close to the surface. Not hard to get to really, and once you know what its purpose is all you need to do is crumble it up.” “Okay,” Shining said, “thank you. That really helps.” “It explains a bit,” Rock said, “like how they’re not going down as easy as we would hope.” That meant his magical options were limited. Obviously the paralysis spell, or any of the higher level spells he had learned so far, wouldn’t work. Where was Twilight when he needed her? “All right: get back to the academy, raise the alarm. We’ll be back.” Rock and Shining dashed off. Luminous watched them go, hearing Golden Rod groan. He, Brown Coat and Thundering shuffled back to the academy. A minute or so later Golden Rod was reasonably lucid. Luminous’ conscience was biting into him with very sharp teeth. Following Shining’s orders was the right thing to do…but following his orders had brought them out here. He made his decision. “Take him!” Without waiting for a reply Luminous dumped a confused Golden Rod onto Thundering’s back and sped off after his fellow cadets.