//------------------------------// // Chapter 6: to distant lands // Story: The Terrarians // by Space Wizard Novablast //------------------------------// "Where are we headed?" Twilight hadn't exactly been comforted by Diablos weird demeanour, she had seen him angry, happy, excited. But never had she seen him give up. He had seemed to have lost all connection with reality once twilight had mentioned Wilhelm. "To the forge," Omnir said, looking much more worried than usual, "if you really are heading into the corruption," he shuddered slightly when mentioning the weird land, "then you'll need to be better equipped than you currently are." This caused twilight to frown slightly, "okay, equipped with what exactly?" He looked at her as if she was a complete idiot. Which in his eyes, as of right now, she was. "Armour, weapons, plain means of defending yourself." He said, still sounding worried, "if you don't have that, then the corruption will chew you up and spit you out." Twilight swallowed a lump in her throat she didn't even know had built up. Suddenly, means of defence sounded like an excellent idea, "What did he mean by saying meteor?" Twilight said, she had always known meteors as being large space rocks, not armor. "I think he should explain that." They had arrived Twilight could immediately feel the change of temperature when the door was opened, the walls were lined with racks upon racks of weapons and armour. The ceiling was a stark dark purple colour, which twilight was informed by Omnir was obsidian. She could hear sounds of metal against metal, and the sound of fire being put out. It came from a corridor to the left. "Don't mention Yrimir." Omnir said. Right after he uttered the name of the ranger the sound of thunderclaps became higher, as if the one who swung the hammer had gotten angrier just from the names mere presence. "I can hear why," Twilight said, rubbing her ears lightly with one hoof, it felt as if her ears were about to explode. They turned down the corridor And twilight saw the largest terrarian yet. He must've been a full three meters tall, if not more. His head was awfully close to hitting the chandeliers hanging from above. Every time he swung his arm upwards the hammer hit the obsidian ceiling, leaving a small dent in the incredibly hard volcanic stone. so that was why they chose a ceiling this expensive. twilight thought to herself. "Forgemaster Mallet," Omnir started, making the large man stop mid swing. "This had better be important Omnir, has Yrimir finally decided to let go of his auto hammer?" The large mans voice was incredibly low pitched, and it sounded rock hard, as if his words alone could smash men into broken bones. "I'm afraid not Mallet, this is a matter of much greater importance." Twilight blushed slightly at her being much greater importance, never before had such attention been afforded her. Albeit attention that entailed getting her prepared for what many judged a suicide mission. "What could possibly be of greater importance? I'm working, if you haven't noticed." The smith had lowered his arm, but only to continue hitting the metal construction, an anvil, twilight thought to herself. "Well first of, there's a new recruit that needs armour, and possibly some special equipment." Omnir said, smiling knowingly this time. Mallet had once again stopped mid swing, his arm now hanging limply down to the side, looking almost as hopeless as Diablo had. As it turned out, that was merely an illusion Mallet turned around, dropping his hammer onto the anvil, landing with an audible *clang.* his big bushy beard was lit up in a smile, which quickly turned into a frown when he saw a lavender pony instead of a human. But the frown quickly turned back into the friendly smile she had seen before "Hello mi'lady, my name is Forgemaster Mallet," he said proudly, "but you can call me Mallet, if you wish." The Goliath chuckled slightly at his brilliant introduction, leaving twilight and Omnir to shake their heads in disapproval. "Nice to meet you," twilight said, smiling carefully at the giant, "now, I was told I needed some armor?" The giant smiled even wider as she said this, "and special equipment mi'lady, don't forget the special equipment." "Of course not," Omnir butted in, making Mallets smile falter somewhat, "Twilight, what is your special talent?" did they have cutie marks as well? twilight wondered as she answered, "magic." "Ahh," Mallet said, sounding as excited as a foal on hearths warming eve, "meteor or jungle?" Twilight blinked twice as she was asked the weird question. To her, being asked meteor or jungle was like asking how she wanted to die the most. Instead of saying that, she said the next best thing, "what?" The giant sighed exasperated, "what kind of armor, meteor or jungle?" Omnir leaned in, trying to be as careful as possible, "take meteor." Mallet obviously hadn't noticed Omnirs guidance, or maybe he just didn't care, but Twilight wasn't about to throw away an experienced soldiers guidance. "Jungle." The soldier whose choice she had purposely ignored face palmed, being quite baffled as to why she would make that choice. Mallet however was overflowing with glee. "Amazing choice, so are you going with a blade of grass or the chakram?" Once again a weird choice, but this time she knew what she needed to do. "The chakram." She turned to Omnir who nodded approvingly, apparently she had chosen well. In blank contrast to before. "Also and excellent choice," Mallet seemed to be getting happier and happier with each passing word, "now, where exactly would a beautiful....... Mare, as yerself be going to need such equipment?" Twilight looked down, knowing what Mallets reaction would be. "She's going to the corruption." Omnir had thankfully butted in and saved her, yet that didn't stop Mallets reaction from kicking in. And it was quite explosive. "No, no, NO!" He had picked his hammer back up and stared straight at the unicorn, "I'm not going to aid anyone in going there. None more shall be lost to that wretched place!" His voice had reached extraordinary levels, making the walls shake slightly. Small lava falls had started forming on the side of the walls, they having cracked slightly in some places. "Get out of here, both of you!" He turned back to the anvil, slamming the hammer down even harder than before, "and stay out." "What happened?" Twilight had been shocked by Mallets sudden change of behavior, it seemed as if the word corruption turned him into a completely different person. The before kind and generous man suddenly turning into a screaming barbarian. Omnir sighed, he suddenly found the marble floor on which they walked on very interesting. "What happened?" Twilight asked, this time sounding more stern than before. Omnir sighed again, but he knew she deserved an answer, "Mallet has lost his son to the shades." Twilight recoiled slightly, looking at the ground in a similar fashion to Omnir, "I had no idea......." "And no one expected you to," the soldier assured her, "he will come around eventually, and if he doesn't, then Diablo is gonna talk some sense into him." Twilight could easily imagine Diablo making Mallet quiver in fear, somehow the archmage seemed much more frightening than a whole platoon of changelings. "What am I gonna do now?" She asked, she had no armor, no weapons, only her magic would do her any good. Twilight was no soldier, but she saw how many shades escaped from the battle, those alone could rip her to shreds within minutes. "Say goodbye," Omnir said, shrugging lightly, "if you still plan on going that is." Twilight could hear the small tint of hope in his voice. He really wanted her not to go. But this was about applejacks safety. "I'm going, no questions asked." Omnir sighed, for the third or fourth time that day, "somehow I knew you were going to say that." "Lady Twilight." The library was still twilights favored resting place, it brought her an immense sense of calm. Almost as if the entire place was a living breathing thing, enhancing her focus. But that didn't mean she liked being interrupted. "Yes?" She said, trying her best not to sound annoyed. A guard in silvery armor stepped in, his face was largely concealed by the mask, so twilight couldn't identify his face. "The Forgemaster has asked to see you." Twilight jumped from diablos book, she had taken the time to read through it, finding it to be only about one spell, called Waterbolt. She had read through it and practiced, preparing for the journey ahead, she thought she was going to need every single advantage she could get her hooves on. "Understood." She said, skipping past the stonified guard. She found that the smith was actually sitting on a bench in the hallway. "Please, take a seat mi'lady." He said indicating a hand at the opposite bench, before realizing the mistake, although he said nothing of it, twilight knew he regretted the offer. "I'm fine Mallet, thank you." She said, smiling at the huge man who now looked so very small when sitting down. He was shifting slightly, as if what he was about to say troubled him quite a bit. "Mi'lady, first of all, I'd like to excuse for me outburst, it was uncalled for, and I regret it." He finally said. "Thank you Mallet, its fine," she had of course been scared i death but there was no reason for him to know that. "And the second thing is..... I'd like to explain the reason for said outburst," he said afterwards. "Please, it's been bugging me the whole day," twilight said, her eyes crossing over slightly as she remembered her earlier brainstorm. "I lost my son in one of their attacks." Twilight has stopped everything, her face portrayed shock and pity, and some remorse. "They took him, it wasn't enough for them to kill him, but they were gonna offer him to that damned god of theirs." "The eater of worlds?" Twilight asked, dreading the answer. "The same," he said, chin resting on his hand in a relaxed position. "But what does that have to do with me traveling there?" Twilight asked. He sighed, in a manner similar to that of Omnir, and she wondered if the two men were family. "When me lad was first captured, he wasn't hidin like most civilians under an attack, he was fighting," Mallet paused for a second to breath, "with weapons and armor made by me." Twilight nodded, she understood it better now. "So ya see mi'lady, if you were to go in there, and die, I'll have repeated my mistake. So therefore, I have two pleads." The giant man ended his monologue. Twilight nodded, preparing to answer. "The first plea, is for you to look for my son, anything, bones, a corpse, his ashes, or if I'm lucky his live and well being." Twilight nodded at the blacksmith, this was something she was willing to do for him. "The second one, on the other hand, is more personal." Twilights muscles tensed slightly at his words, what now? "Don't die." And with those words he handed her the armor, it was a slick green colour with vines and plant life all over, in the middle lay a iron binding with vines and thorns hanging off of it. She took the armour and the chakram in a telekinetic bond. "I'll make sure not to."