//------------------------------// // Act 2- Chapter 2: To Be Informed // Story: Icon: Remnants of the North // by Vixavior //------------------------------// To Be Informed Proofread by TehSporkBandit    “I should have been told Olaf.”    “I wasn't aware I had to tell anyone anything.”    “So long as you wish for my protection, then, in order to serve… I must be informed.”  The Bear, Sigvald Jarl of the Joms, grit his teeth.    Looking out over the meandering river, dragging their ships to the sea, Olaf Tryggvason leaned on the bow and listened to the Jarl’s careful chastisement. Ever since Olaf returned, the rift between himself and his mercenary Jarl had widened.  The few dozen crew and warriors stayed well clear leaving the small command retinue to deal with their lords: Kolbjorn and Thorkell, two shield thanes, stood side by side in uneasy silence while Ulf stood with the furled battle standard.     Jarl Sigvald cut a very different figure than the Northern Lord; one dressed in the barbaric garb of battle rather than conservative finery. “Olaf...” the Jarl’s bass growl waited for an acknowledging nod.  “Where are we bound?”    The question hung languidly in the air.  “Scilly…” Olaf said at last, finally gaining the attention of everyone in ear shot. “We head for Scilly. Then, we'll head for home.”  Something in his tone changed. Sigvald nodded once and retired. Thorkell, a head taller than Kolbjorn, looked back at his lord. Ulf caught it, a small shake of his head before both strode to the aft of the vessel.    “Kolbjorn,” Ulf whispered to his fellow thane as the Jarl and retainer departed, “nothing good can come from this. Mark my words, nothing.” ♣    It had been weeks since you were dogged by the relentless hounding of dreams.  Now they flooded back, stealing away your restfulness and sapping your strength.  It was as if you’d done no more than lay your head on the pillow.    A loud ‘bang’ causes you to bolt upright. The blankets slip off your chest, and you can feel the intense cold in the room while your blurry eyes look out at the fuzzy pre-dawn gloom.  Automatically reaching for your glasses, they were barely on your face when a rush of wind and rattle of ruffled feathers buffet you flat.    A harsh clap of hooves on wood slam down in front of you.  The dark amorphous shape gives you no time to collect yourself or collect your bearings, “If you did a thing to her, then we’re going to go take a walk in the Everfree…” the insinuation was as harsh as the accusative jab of her hoof.    The cinders had burned low, the first few traces of light barely crept through the window, and the freezing hiss of winter winds sweep in through the open door.  By that indignant 'squeak' in her voice, you knew exactly who it was. “Rainbow? What are you doing here so early in the morning?”    It was well known in town that she likes sleeping in, you didn’t have to be one of her closest companions to know that.  Which was good, as she had been a little suspicious of you and somewhat guarded in answering.  Suspicious or not, she had never been one to get up at the crack of dawn to jab somepony in the ribs.      Groggy, irritable, and barely coming to, the response was nothing short of indignant, “Don't play innocent! You and your kind are responsible for this, admit it.” there was a harsh shove that pushed you back into the couch cushions and would likely leave a bruise, “Admit it!”    At first you thought you were at home on Sweet Apple Acres, but the lower ceilings and wide open main room convince you otherwise.  Her shrill tone must have woken Fluttershy. Memories eke back into your tired mind.  Multi-coloured eyes barely sparkle in the darkness only a few inches away, lit by a snarl on the Pegasus’s muzzle.  She was aggressive, impulsive, and her posturing had pushes you as far into the couch as you could while your neck was arched back even farther.    “Mind telling me what in Tartarus you're going on about?”  This is ridiculous, she’d invaded her friend’s home, woken you up with a shove, and was breathing down your neck.    Another set of hoof falls echo from the adjoining hallway,  “Goodness! R-Rainbow?!”    She was too close.  Placing a hand on her chest you try to get her to back up with a slight press as you attempt to sit up.  With a wobble and rusty ‘Woah’ the athletic Pegasi tumbles back, sprawling back over the low table with the staccato of shattered plates and a rolling bowl.    That momentary silence was nerve-wracking.  “Rain-” with a snort of anger and speeding twist of a viper, she lunges back forward with a yowl.      She flings herself forward, slamming her shoulder and neck into your stomach.  Bowling you backward, head over heels, your breath leaves you completely.  Your stunted gasp doesn’t suck in any air.  The world itself appears upside down as the couch becomes overturned.    An angry hundred-and-some pound Pegasus slams her hoof into your thigh, spasming the muscle, before setting her forehooves onto your shoulders.  She roughly cracks your head back into the wooden floor.  Flares go off inside your skull, breath stolen away, you thrash and try to right yourself.    A knee strikes something soft and yielding as she gasps.  Something hard connect with the side of your head, sending you rolling over, glasses flicking off and skipping over the floor.  Did she just strike me with the side of her head?    Your worrisome wheezing still doesn’t bring your brain any more oxygen as you flail a hand out and try to rise to your feet.  Through the miasma you see a distinct blur that you vaguely recognize as the aggressive blue Pegasus. She'd rolled onto her side before bucking her rear legs.  Turning aside, you couldn’t quite avoid the lightning-fast kick, but moving with it staggers you back across the living room floor.  Dragging your heels over the wood, there is a scraping sound and bolt of pain as a splinter tears into your foot.    Finding your voice at long last, a surprised howl of anguish and deep hollow gasp rips forth from your throat. The sound was alien to your own ringing ears. Rainbow Dash hesitated in surprise before rearing up on her hind legs. Seeking to end it quickly, you roughly envelope her in a bear hug.    Fluttershy tried to say something, but the adrenal drip into your brain was saying ‘stop the Pegasus’.  The athletic mare twists and turns, reeling from the grapple as she twists down and brings herself up hard.  The uppercut misses your chin by a fraction of an inch with a sweeping rush of air.    Rainbow thrashes as you catch her in another crushing bear hug, her right foreleg trapped in an upward angle as she recovers from the uppercut, and is left pinned against her barrel.  On two legs you were far steadier than her, and with that in mind you press towards her trying to overbalance the Pegasus.  She snorts and flaps her wings hard to keep her upright.    “Rainb-” you only get that far before she cranes her neck forward before biting down, hard.  Her flat equine teeth snap into your left shoulder, drawing blood and triggering the nerve bundles.   Reflexively, you release her at once, hand shooting to your shoulder through a teary veil of pain.    There is a rough grunt of air and what sounds like a harrowed war cry before the thundering right hook strikes you.  Torrents of pain radiate out from the lower-left of your back.  It feels like you’d been stabbed.  Sinking to your knees, clutching your lancing side, you only try to recover some sense of yourself. Naked, kneeling, wanting to simply flop to the ground, you can’t move a single aching muscle.  Every breath brings a fresh tide of agony as if you were on fire.    For thirty seconds you stay perfectly still aside from shivering in pain.  Soft arms enfold your trunk. Flinching away from the sensation, you’re sweating, and your mouth is open but no sounds are forthcoming.    “Are you okay?  Dear-dear… hold on, keep breathing, and don't move. I'll get Doctor Goodall.” Fluttershy's voice was recognizable but the words were a meaningless mess to you.    Another more stable, but certainly agitated, tone calls from the doorway, “Rainbow, do you have any idea what you could have done?! That's where his kidneys are! If you hit those one of those too hard it might just shut down!”  The clap of hooves mingles with a strained grunt before the couch was righted with a leaden thud.  Strong hooves support your stomach and chest as you slowly feel the paralysis lessen on the left side of your body.    Still missing your glasses, a blurry face greets you as you looked up.  Bright green eyes stared back with a gentle smile that imparts a deep reassuring calm.  “Shush, y'all look like ya took a pretty good lickin’. Leeet's just getcha' to the couch, huh?”  A weak and weary nod is about all you can manage. Slowly you and your 'heroic godsent' make it to the couch.    A blanket is passed over you, surrounded in a hazy mist of fuschia sparks, “Rainbow.  A word in the other room, now.” The purple Alicorn trots by, making everything prim and proper, despite her terseness.    The cowpony next to you wraps her green and white scarf around your neck as well. Shivering, still in a considerable amount of pain, you were coming back to your senses. Perched on the low couch, legs crossed, blankets tightly tucked in, you look and feel like a hospital patient.  The door to Fluttershy’s bedroom opens as the cerulean Pegasus trots in after a parting glare.  She enters, Twilight a step behind, then the door is with enough force to shake the floor.     “What in Equestria were you thinking?!  Or were you even thinking at all when you decided to come over here and attack our friend?!”  though muffled, her first words are readily audible.    “Our friend?!  Do you know that Twilight?!  He lied, he's not some troll from Gallopoli, and if he is I‘ll eat my tail!”  She snaps back. The Pegasus was serious, anxious, and indignant.  Your mind is already comparing her tone to Charlton Heston in Soylent Green.    Your glasses are fetched by the helpful cowpony who trots over to you.  Perching the spectacles on your nose, she nudges them forward to fit better.  A broad wink follows that.  “There, ya’ look as pretty as a fresh painted barn.  Ain't never seen Rainbow take a bite out'a anypony like that before.  Reaaaal humdinger of a love bite.”  She looks at your shoulder before hopping down.  The clatter of hooves is still quite clear as she retreats to the kitchen, “Cold enough tah chip a tooth on soup.  Ya still like'n good ol' tea and honey or you want some’n real strong?  There should be some extra in 'ere, 'cause neither of ya could drink that much in a evenin'.”    She keeps prattling on from the kitchen but you appreciate it, “Thanks.”  She is being a little overly chatty but voices keep drawing your attention to the other room.    “…Oh you didn't think that was important enough to tell us?!  Or literally anypony that we might have some mad psycho on our hooves here?!”  Rainbow's indignant shout practically vibrates through the foundation, “You saw what he can do, my wing is still pingin!  I'm telling you we have a right to know, Fluttershy might have been trapped in here for days with him.  She bolted the first chance she got!”    “She ‘bolted’ to get medical help because you kicked him in the stomach, then pulverized his kidneys!  And you just decided to come over here, by yourself, and deal out judgement like you were Celestia?”  Twilight was affronted.  Actually, it seems like she’s more offended than you are, though she sounds less confused.    For all you knew, Rainbow had been like 'that dog down the street' in every news broadcast: the kind of good dog, no problems, that turned around and bit a kid one day without any provocation.  Of course, that little proclamation by Twilight had you gingerly rubbing the bruised spot on your back.    “Hmm, well seems we got a lot a good stuff.  Ya’ll in the mood for a mite-bit'a somethin’ sweet or savoury?”  AJ calls back louder than the voices with a lingering tone that tried to tell them 'hey, we can hear you in here'.  Then the realization hits you, she was trying to drown out their conversation so you won't be insulted.   Does she know what’s going on?    Clutching the blanket tighter, you take off your glasses and polish the lenses on the material, “Savoury if you wouldn't mind.  AJ, how did you find yourself out here with Twilight at this time in the morning?”  The blanket kinda smudges the surface while AJ's scarf cleans it perfectly.  It’s damned good, soft, and warm material, whatever it was.  You realize your thoughts were just fluttering back and forth away from the howling racket in the other room.  Why was it making you nervous?    “Oh, yeah, that.  Ya' got some mail by dragon.  So Twi came out to the farm, an' ah figured on takin' her here too.  Y'know, shoulder the sled'n all.”  Well, lying isn't her strong point so you figure she was being truthful.    “It had to be important enough to matter.  What was it about?”  You query again.  That might give you some idea of it but the anxiety of Rainbow's sudden appearance coupled with some mysterious letter was becoming uncomfortable.    “Sorry pardner. Ah didn’t ask, but Twilight seemed tah be in a hurry and if'n it was from spike, odds are it means it’s from Princess Celestia, more'n likely.”  There was the bubble of the kettle along with its pops and pings while the fire starts to crackle away, casting more light in the perpetual pre-dawn gloom that cloaks the living room.    The door opens again as the ashen-faced Alicorn ambles in from the bedroom.  She is wide-eyed and uncomfortable, the narrow eyes of the Pegasus in tow showed no mirth but she had ‘won’.   There is no way that’s good.    Twilight plops herself down on the couch across from you, slowly taking off her scarves while Rainbow flicks her wings and sits down next to her.  Looking at Rainbow, the squinting eyes say it all: ‘I’m watching you’.  Twilight flitters through her saddle-bag with the sound of brushed crystal, producing a parchment scroll,  “A letter from Princess Luna for you…”  Her lilted and awkward tone meshes with the wide-eyed discomfort as she sits stiff as a board.  It was obvious there was a problem.    Taking the letter you open it, “It came this morning and I went to get you as quickly as possible.”  And sure enough, a few splotchy sentences had been hastily scribbled down on a piece of parchment. As a course of official notice, We require that you attend to Us this evening at Twilight Sparkle’s residence.  Issues have arisen.  You may be required to undergo a journey, be prepared for this possibility. ~Noctum Regina    Blinking at the letter there was a flap of newsprint practically thrown in your face.  You didn't need to see the print, you didn't need to read the details, what burned its memory in your mind was as plain as day in the flickering firelight.    A single enlarged photo, blown up and distorted, was plastered across the front of the Canterlot Courier.  There, standing at the fringe of a small town in a stand of evergreens, was a large bipedal form.  It was clad in a thick suit of mail, a wide nasal helm covered its face completely, a curling beard of white, and a thick cloak of blue with a cuff of bear fur around its shoulders.  In his right hand he gripped a short axe, a sack cloth bag stained with crimson firmly clutched in the other, and around his neck hung a single twist of ivory.    Twilight’s rattled breath translates what you already suspected, “It’s the first picture we’ve had of the so-called ‘Unicorn Slasher’.”