Of Fire and Ice
“Rainbow, we are surrounded!” The voice of the grey unicorn stallion was stern and unwavering, his expression, fierce. His ragged, scarred face was framed by long, white, straggly hair that dangled past his shoulders and had been cut unevenly with blunt tools. His white, dead eyes, the results of an illness that had struck him many moons ago, stared nowhere in particular.
A group of ragged soldiers dressed in crudely woven wool and metal sheets stood behind him in a formation loose enough that it would never pass as such in any Equestrian regiment. Newly polished blades on axes, swords, and spears alike shone brightly in the red glow of a huge bonfire at the centre of the cave.
“There is no news in that, Jǫðurr. We have been for a week.” The answer resounded from a deep hole of ice and solid rock, crude steps hewn into the side of it for the many earth ponies carefully mixing deep-red iron-oxide and finely granulated aluminium at the ragged bottom. Huge buckets attached to even bigger wooden winches, that had been anchored into the permafrost walls, dangled over the floor, secured to the left and right of the shaft with strong hempen rope. “One more go and we are ready to leave. I can feel the orb’s presence.”
“You don’t understand. They have closed down the secret pathway. Blenda has betrayed us. She is a turncoat. May the harsh winds smash her on her next fight!” He spat on the floor, missing his second-in-command only because he stepped back in time. “That bitch has united the tribes in their hunt for us.”
“All out!” Rainbow ordered, propelling herself to the surface with a few strong flaps.
“What is your plan?” She didn’t take the time to look at her conversational partner, instead hurrying over to a barrel filled with long bands of thinly-hammered magnesium. After weeks of repetitive, hard labour, her movements were more automated than free will. A thick layer of dust clung to her fur and feathers, emanating in small clouds around her every time she took a step. Soot and burned patches had ruined her once shiny, colourful mane. The only thing still glistening on her was the yellow, thunder-shaped jewel around her neck, patches of cyan creeping up on the surface of it.
“We don’t have a plan, Rainbow,” Jǫðurr stated while his head stood steady, his ears twitching around, searching for the mare he spoke to.
“Why does it feel like I'm part of every problem?” She trotted over to Jǫðurr, staring into his lost gaze close enough that he could feel her uneven breathing. “I have enough work on my hooves down here already.”
“Show a little more respect to our eldest.” A young, brown pegasus mare even younger than Rainbow stepped forward, her combativeness showing in arrays of scars lining her head and limbs. A spear matching the image of her cutie mark was fast aligned to Rainbow’s throat.
If anything, Rainbow Dash was not scared. She was more annoyed at the constant lack of discipline and respect in the clans. Ignoring the sharp edge on her skin, she turned around, facing the workers she had to yell at again. “Why the hell aren’t you cleared yet!? Move!”
Seeing the ponies visibly step up in pace, Rainbow returned to the annoying soldier. One swift motion took her to the side of the pointed weapon fast enough that her perplexed opponent could not react until their heads were at the same level with Rainbow’s mouth aligned to the warrior’s ear. A line of disarrayed fur had appeared on the cheek of the soldier, right under the border of her iron helmet, where thin metal had struck. The weaponized magnesium rod had already been placed back to its position tucked under Rainbow’s left wing.
“If you were faster than that, you wouldn’t have that many scars, Yrr,” Rainbow Dash snarled, deliberately taunting the mare. “Now move that spear of yours, or I swear I will be gone from here faster than you can cry for your mommy when the bad ponies outside come and get you!”
The sound of grinding teeth echoed through the hall as the weapon retreated, now pointing to stone again instead of flesh.
“Good for you,” Rainbow whispered into Yrr’s ear before stepping back again to address the whole party. “I suggest you all move to the security chamber. It will get a little hot in here in a few minutes.”
While all helping hooves had left the cave by now, exiting to the adjoining chamber through a thick, crude, pinewood door right behind the group, none of the soldiers had moved a single limb, all eyes fixed on their leader.
“You heard what she said!” Jǫðurr verbally lashed out. “You all could do with a little more respect to her. Move your lazy flanks!”
Grudgingly, the soldiers set off, but not before throwing venomous looks into Rainbow’s general direction, unnoticed by the eldest but not by Rainbow who chose to ignore them for now.
Content with the established level of security, she trotted over to the fire, lighting up the magnesium but searing even more of her hair in the proximity of the large flames. A bright white fire, burning even hotter than the igniting flames, gnawed at the metal, slowly moving towards the pegasus’s hoof but not fast enough to actually reach her. A quick check revealed that nopony was left at the base of the hole, leaving only the red and grey potent mixture filled into drilled holes and spread over the surface.
Without waiting another second, Rainbow let go of her rod, sending it tumbling down in a trail of light while she ran to the door. Great amounts of smoke and a wave of heat informed her of the success of the operation. A moment later, wooden slabs blocked her vision, just in time to hold off the shockwave hammering against the recently closed door with brute force before escaping through the numerous air shafts.
“And that is why I asked you to leave.” Rainbow smiled at the group waiting for her, kicking open the passageway again to reveal large chunks of debris thrown all over the room, partly hidden in the dark, grey smoke screen covering the whole room. Workers carrying heavy bellows hurried to the door, putting machines the size of three ponies into place and working them with magic and muscle.
“Now, what do you need to tell me, Jǫðurr?” Rainbow addressed the old pony, placing herself on one of the chairs set to a long table in the middle of the room. She thankfully accepted a large tankard filled with thin mead and took a big gulp before looking back up expectantly.
On Jǫðurr’s signal, a map was laid out before her, coloured stones depicting the positions of the enemy as reported by the many scouting pegasi out in the field. The enemy lines of the previous days had begun to advance on their defences, now encasing them like a snake wrapped around its prey, forming around the natural formations of the mountains they had retreated to. Previously unsupervised pathways had now been blocked off. It sure didn’t look good for them.
“Do we have the strength to breach their lines at a weak point? We could leave behind everything but the orbs and ourselves.” Rainbow climbed up to the table to improve her view of the battle plan, sending a few plates and mugs scattering to the ground in the process.
“I fear that is not possible. They have set up an air force a thousand ponies strong. We cannot outrun them.” The second-in-command had stepped up next to Rainbow, installing the missing pegasi pieces.
“But I can,” Rainbow retorted with a cocky grin on her lips. “They only want the orb. They will leave you unharmed if I leave with it.”
“No they won’t,” Jǫðurr explained, a deep sadness echoing in his voice. Somehow he had managed to directly face the cyan mare. “A messenger has returned, bearing a message from Blenda. She has ruled you an enemy of the tribes and threatened to kill us all should we not surrender you within the day.”
“You’re not going to, are you?” Rainbow jumped down from the table, landing in front of the stallion, closely monitoring his expression.
“Do you have the power to wield the orb?”
Rainbow could do nothing but stare at his unmoved features. She couldn’t believe he had just asked that question. A shiver ran down her spine on the sole thought of using it. She was one of only a few ponies, the only one in all the tribes, connected deeply enough to harmony to feel the strong dark aura of the mystical instrument, and it was creeping her out.
“Nopony can or should even think on doing so. If the world has to come to an end, it won’t be my making.”
“I am sorry I asked, Rainbow. I thought maybe your element could control the power long enough to give us a chance.” A heavy sigh escaped the dark stallion’s lips. “We don’t have many options left.”
“We should kill her and hide the orb.” It was Yrr speaking up from behind, drawing approving nods from too many of her companions for Rainbow’s liking.
“I know you can’t be picky, but you should think about the company you keep, my dear friend.” Rainbow took another sip from her mead before emptying the rest of the tankard over Yrr’s head. “That’ll cool down your hothead. Now leave the politics to the grown-ups.”
The expression on the young soldier’s face turned from a smug grin, congratulating herself for her statement, to pure hatred. The only thing holding her back from stabbing the colourful mare were her own friends restraining her, holding off her thrashing attempts to jump at her enemy.
A grey hoof made itself visible, silencing the commotion at once.
“I will heed your advice, Rainbow.” Jǫðurr’s blank expression had merged into a horrific smirk, dry lips moving to unaccustomed positions. “But for now, I like Yrr’s idea. I have to protect those I hold dear.”