Chapter 40:
The End of an Old One
The sun had long ago set, and what little light the moon could provide was blocked by the perpetually bleak and cloudy sky, so the room was lit only by the handful of candles that they could find and Trixie’s dim light spell she’d cast many hours ago. Sitting up, with her head against the headrest, Astrid wore a weary smile as she talked quietly with Polaris. The light from the candle on her bedside table flickered across her face as she spoke.
Trixie stood by the window, staring out into the black night. She was lost in thought, and only came out of it when she was tapped on the back by Corona, who was standing beside her. He said nothing, merely glancing over at Astrid, then looking back at Trixie. Trixie nodded. She stepped away from the window and took a seat next to Polaris.
“It’s well past midnight, you know,” said Trixie, drawing both Polaris and Astrid’s attention. “You should really get some sleep. Both of you.”
“I know,” replied Astrid with a soft sigh. “I’m just… I’m having a hard time falling asleep right now. I’m sure sleep will come in no time though. For now, though, Polaris is keeping me company, so I’m fine.” Smiling, Astrid glanced at her husband, placing her hoof over his.
“Aye,” said Polaris, nodding, “and before you go asking me if I want to ‘take a quick nap’ while you watch over her, now that I ain’t going to sleep until she does. Heck, even then I’ll probably just stay up anyway.”
Despite herself, Trixie laughed. “Well, I guess I can’t change your minds then.”
“Nope,” said Polaris, crossing his hooves. “My mind’s made up.”
“Then I won’t bother trying to convince you, but just so you know, Dr. Snowmane did say she should be fine for at least tonight, so you can sleep if you want to,” said Trixie, a little bit more forcefully than she had intended.
“Thanks, but I’ll be fine right here,” said Polaris as he pat the side of his chair. “I’m not even a bit tired yet.”
“Neither am I,” Astrid quickly added in. “I feel better than ever, in fact.”
Trixie chuckled. “Now that is a lie. I’m not that easy to fool, Astrid.”
After a moment of silence, all three ponies started to laugh quietly. Trixie covered her mouth while Polaris gave deep belly laughs, and Astrid only chuckled for a brief moment before her laughter turned into coughing, and she was soon doubled over, coughing so hard Trixie was sure she was about to hack up a lung.
Polaris stopped laughing and put his hoof on Astrid’s back, leaning in. “Astrid!” he shouted.
“I’m fine, I’m fine,” Astrid insisted once her coughing fit had subsided.
Polaris breathed a sigh of relief. “Don’t scare me like that. If you need us to get Dr. Snowmane in here, just ask, okay? Or if your pain gets worse, and you need more medicine, let me know, Astrid. I’m here for you.”
Astrid gave a pained smile. “I promise, sweetheart. I’m okay.”
“Do you remember when we first met?” asked Trixie. She didn’t know if she’d done it consciously, or if it was just a kneejerk reaction, but she felt compelled to change the subject to something else entirely. Trixie smiled, her hoof moving to her chest, where her brooch used to rest. “I found you trying to pry Polaris out from underneath a rock.” She chuckled. “Hardly an exciting to start to a grand adventure, is it?”
“Not exactly,” said Astrid with a weak chuckle, “but it’s not as if we knew what a grand adventure it would be once we’d met. For all we knew, you were simply a lost pony looking for a guide.”
“You’re still lost,” Polaris added with a hearty laugh. “‘Cept instead of Astrid and I leading you around, now you’ve got Corona taking you around Frostvale. He won’t be much use up north though, once we’ve passed the Onyx Mountains. Nopony will, matter of fact.”
Corona briefly glanced away from the window to respond, “I know the area better the most, I’ll have you know. I’ve studied dozens of maps.”
“Maps’ll do you no good up there, son,” said Polaris in a rumbling voice. He nodded at the window, through which could be seen the peaks of several mountains that formed part of the vast Onyx Mountain range. “Those mountains are a labyrinth of impassable spikes and tunneling caves that stretch for hundreds of miles. Maps are well and good if you’re trying to get from one town to another, but for trekking the most dangerous places, there’s no substitute for walking it with your own four hooves.”
“Well, I guess our real adventure has only just begun, hasn’t it?” said Corona, grinning.
“Our?” repeated Polaris, arching a brow. “Lad, I don’t remember you being with us for the past few months. Far as I recall, you only joined our little party a few days ago.”
“All the same, I can’t help but feel like this really is our adventure, you know?” Corona turned back to the window, placing his hoof on the glass. “After being captured by drakes, and escaping from windigoes with you guys, I feel like you’re my best friends in the world, not that you have much in the way of competition,” he said with a mirthless chuckle.
“As long as you’re with us, Corona, it will be our adventure, for better or worse,” said Astrid. She quickly moved a hoof to cover her mouth as a fit of coughing broke out. Waving her hoof, she assured Polaris she was fine, and then continued, “Besides, Corona, what would we do without you?”
“I imagine you’d get along just fine,” Corona replied with a shrug. “You managed without me for however long you’ve been traveling. Surely you could make it a little further.”
“Maybe so,” said Astrid, “but I know I’d rather have you right there beside us.”
He smiled. “Thanks.”
“Do you remember the forest we went through when we first met?” asked Trixie. “Not the one with the windigoes, but the one right after we met outside Hoofington.”
“Aye, I remember it well,” said Polaris. “I thought those wolves were going to be the end of us right then and there.”
“I wasn’t worried,” said Astrid. “We’d only just met you, Trixie, but I knew there was something special about you.”
“Would you still have helped me if you knew then what would happen afterwards?” asked Trixie. There was a hint of uneasiness in her voice, a twinge of doubt, but she asked the question all the same. In the back of her head somewhere she knew what Astrid would answer, but right now she felt in her heart that Astrid would say she wouldn’t have.
“Of course we would have, Trixie,” said Astrid, frowning. “Why would you think anything else? I don’t regret a single moment of anything that has happened up to this point. I wish things had gone a little smoother, sure, but I wouldn’t change it if it meant we couldn’t all be together.”
Polaris nodded solemnly. “I feel the same way.”
Not really knowing how to respond, Trixie merely nodded and then fell silent. For a time, silence was the only thing that filled the room. Astrid would cough occasionally, but other than that, no one made a sound. Eventually, however, after what had felt like hours passed, the silence was broken by Corona. As he moved away from the window he’d been silently staring out of, he took a seat next to Polaris and Trixie.
“So,” he said, shattering the wall of silence, “have you thought about names yet?” He gestured towards Astrid’s belly.
“Not exactly,” said Astrid as she sat up straight and glanced at Polaris. “We only just found out today, and it’s not as though we had any names in mind in the event that I got pregnant, so… no.” She grinned. “I suppose we’ll have to think of one though, won’t we?”
Polaris gave a nervous laugh. “Aye, I suppose we will, but at least we’ve got many months to decide. I can’t even imagine having to come up with a name right now. I mean, what if it’s a boy? What are we gonna call him, Drake?” He paused, blinking a few times. “Actually, you know what? That’s not a bad name at all. There’s power behind that.”
Astrid frowned at Polaris. “You want to name our son after the very creatures that imprisoned us?”
Polaris held his hooves up. “It was just an idea, dear. Don’t get too worked up over it. Besides, we don’t even know if the little bugger is going to be a boy anyway. What if it’s a girl? Are we just gonna name her after Trixie and be done with it?”
Trixie, snapping out of her self-induced ennui, looked up. “Wait, what? You’d name your daughter after me?” She shook her head. “You can’t do that. You have to pick a name that will suit her.”
“I think it’s a good name,” said Polaris, crossing his hooves.
“She’s right though,” said Astrid with a shrug. “The name has to come from the pony herself, not from whatever you can think of off the top of your head.”
“That’s a very poetic way of looking at it,” said Corona. “Do you think that’s how your parents named you?”
“My mother once told me that there’s a spark when a foal is born,” said Astrid, her voice soft. “She said that there’s a moment of unbelievable clarity where it becomes clear what the child’s name should be.”
“My mother told me that our names are chosen by destiny, and that us getting them is simply part of the plan,” said Trixie.
“Well, either way, we won’t have to worry about it for some time yet,” said Astrid. She looked at Polaris, putting her hoof on his cheek and smiling. “That’s a long way off.” Her eyes going wide, Astrid started coughing, harder than before. She was doubled over, hacking and wheezing while Polaris tried to help. After a few seconds, with no signs of her stopping, Polaris shot a glance at Corona.
“Get the doctor!” he shouted.
Astrid held out a hoof, trying to tell Polaris that she was fine, but she only got one syllable out before the coughing came back. She unconsciously clutched her chest, her expression becoming more and more pained. “Polaris,” she said, in between coughs, “help me. It hurts.”
“The doctor is coming, Astrid,” said Polaris, trying to keep his voice from sounding too worried. “She’ll be here any minute with some more medicine, and you’ll be just fine, okay?”
Trixie’s heart raced. She stood up, but didn’t move. Frozen in place, she simply watched as Polaris patted Astrid on the back, trying to help her cough while she moaned in pain. It was like everything was happening in some other world, and she was just looking in on it. It was a bizarre experience. However, it did have one particularly striking effect. Everything was crystal clear to Trixie in that moment, sharply in focus, and astoundingly resolute. Astrid would die if Trixie didn’t act.
“Her fever’s coming back!” cried Polaris, his hoof on Astrid’s head as he continued to cough.
Trixie hesitated but a moment, then rushed to her bag and rummaged around for the only object she could think of to help. “Ah!” she said, pulling out the drake’s tooth dagger from one of the pockets. It felt cold to the touch, as Sypher had said it always would, and this was exactly what Trixie was hoping for.
Hurrying over to Astrid, she lifted the dagger in her magic and placed it against Astrid’s head, pressing the flat of the blade down against her forehead. “This should help bring her fever down,” she said, hoping that that was actually true.
A minute or so passed with them standing there. Astrid’s coughing had subsided for the moment, and Corona returned with Dr. Snowmane in tow a moment later. “Is she okay?” he asked as soon as he set foot inside the room.
Polaris nodded. “For now.”
Dr. Snowmane, her face solemn, approached Astrid. “What happened?” she asked, her voice ragged.
Not taking his hoof off Astrid’s back, Polaris answered, “Her cough came back, but worse than before. She’s in a lot of pain.”
Her lips curling into a grim frown, the doctor said, “I see.”
“You see?” cried Polaris, his words harsh. “How about doing something? Give her some more medicine, or something!”
“I’ve already given her all that I can,” responded Dr. Snowmane, her voice calm and cool. “As I suspected, your wife’s cold has worsened to the point where it’s become pleurisy. If I give her more painkillers than I already have, it could cause her liver to fail.”
Polaris stared at her blankly. He stomped his hoof on the ground. “That’s not good enough! There has to be something more we can do.”
“I don’t like this anymore than you, sir,” said the doctor, her grim face watching him carefully. “But I’ve done everything that I can. Until tomorrow morning, there’s nothing more I can offer. From now until then, whatever happens will happen due to Astrid’s strength alone. The best you can do is offer her support until the coughing recedes.”
His eyes alight with fury, Polaris looked as if he was about to yell something else, but he turned back to the bed when he felt Astrid reach out to him. She placed her hoof on his shoulder. “What is it?” he asked.
Their eyes met. Astrid stared at Polaris, her pupils flitting back and forth, searching his face. She was silent for what seemed like an eternity, then she said quietly and simply, “I’m scared.”
Polaris clenched his teeth. He wrapped his hooves around her and pulled Astrid into a tight hug. She coughed again. He hugged harder. “It’s going to be okay, sweetheart. Just lay still and let the cough take care of itself.”
Astrid nodded and attempted to lay flat, but immediately sat back up, her hoof grasping at her chest. “It hurts too much,” she breathed. “I feel like I’m drowning. Polaris, I’m scared.” She clutched his hoof, squeezing it. Her cough returned briefly.
Corona stood at the foot of the bed, next to Dr. Snowmane, watching as Astrid’s breathing became more ragged, and every inhale more laborious. Trixie kept the knife pressed against her forehead, even when she bent over to cough. It was all she could do.
“Astrid,” Polaris whispered, “look at me.” He put his hoof under her chin, turning her face towards his. “Do you remember when we first met?”
Astrid nodded, a strained smile crossing her face. “You looked so lost,” she said with a slight chuckle that was almost immediately replaced by a cough.
Smiling back at her, Polaris stroked Astrid’s mane. “What about our first kiss? Do you remember that?”
“As clear as da—” Coughing replaced the last word as Astrid doubled over once again.
Tears started to form in the corners of Polaris’ eyes as he said, “And when I asked you to marry me?”
She took a moment to stop coughing, but when it finally calmed down for a moment, Astrid smiled again and said, “I asked you.”
His cheeks now wet, Polaris smiled back. “Oh, right. I guess you do remember.”
“Polaris…” Astrid’s chest heaved. She reached out a hoof, grabbing at Polaris’ face, trying to stroke his cheek. “In books and fairy tales, ponies always say things like—” she coughed “—like, ‘I’m going to a better place’ or, ‘I’m not afraid of death’—” another cough “—but I don’t think I can be a storybook heroine.”
Shaking his head, Polaris placed a hoof over Astrid’s lips. “No, no, don’t talk like that, Astrid. You’re going to be fine.”
With her weak hooves, Astrid pushed Polaris’ hoof aside and continued. “I can’t be like the ponies in fairytales.” She paused to cough a few more times. “Because I’m afraid, Polaris. I’m so scared right now.” Another cough attacked wracked her body. “I… I don’t want to die.” As soon as the words left her lips, tears burst from her eyes. She sobbed, holding on to Polaris as tight as she could as she coughed yet again, even through her tears.
As tears poured down his face as well, Polaris kissed Astrid’s cheek, saying, “You’re not going to die, sweetheart. You can’t. I know you can’t.”
“I don’t want to die!” Astrid cried, her body shaking with fear now. “I don’t want our child to die either, Polaris. What kind of mother would I be?”
“Don’t talk like that…”
“I feel—” she covered her mouth as she coughed again “—I feel like I’m drowning.” Her breathing was getting worse every second, and it was starting to sound like she was breathing through a straw. “It’s… it’s so hard to breathe, Polaris.” Her eyes wet with tears, Astrid tugged on Polaris’ hoof. “Please—” another cough “—help me.”
“I don’t know what to do,” said Polaris, his voice cracking. “I don’t…” He whipped around, staring at Dr. Snowmane. “Help her!”
Astrid’s hoof soon brought Polaris’ attention back to her. Her face soaked with tears, she said, “I… I… I… can’t… bre…” Her breathing was barely more than a whisper now. Her face was starting to turn blue, and skin grew cold.
Polaris shouted again. “Help her! Do something!”
Dr. Snowmane’s face was cold and expressionless as she stomped her hoof. “There is nothing I can do. I already told you that she will live or die by her own strength now.”
“Astrid is strong!”
Polaris’ voice shook the room, and for a tiny second, everything was silent. It was broken moments later by Astrid’s weak voice reaching out to him. He turned back to her, leaning in, putting his ear up beside her muzzle.
Astrid sucked in a tiny breath, then said, “I… I’m… so scared… Polaris.” She paused to breathe again. “I don’t... want… to… die.”
Weeping, Polaris lay his head against Astrid’s chest, tears streaming down across her stomach. “I don’t want you to die,” he whispered. “Please… don’t leave me.” Lifting his head up, he saw Astrid trying and failing to gasp another breath. His own breathing quickened. “No…”
With her tears gone, and now drying, Astrid placed her face against Polaris and said with her last breath, “I’m… sorry.” All at once, her body became heavy as she slumped against Polaris.
The room was silent once again. No one said anything for a time, then, as the sun broke over the mountain peaks, casting its first rays of sunshine down into the room, Polaris repeated, “No…”
The drake tooth dagger clattered to the ground, falling from Trixie’s grasp as she too crumpled to the ground. With her head in her hooves, Trixie felt tears streaming down the side of her face. She looked up and saw Corona standing silently, a grim look on his face. Dr. Snowmane had already left, and Polaris lay weeping over Astrid’s rapidly-cooling body.
A knock came at the door.
Only Trixie turned to see it as it opened. She was greeted by three tall stallions in leather armor with axes strapped to their backs. The middle one looked around the room and said, “Which of you is Trixie Lulamoon?”
Trixie slowly stood up. She glanced at Corona, who didn’t look back, and then said, “I am.”
The stallion nodded. “Come with me. The Warden requests your presence.”
Her brow furrowing, Trixie glanced back at Astrid. “I’ll speak to him later. As you can tell,” she said, her voice growing more angry, “there are more important things at the moment.”
Seemingly unfazed, the stallion stared blankly at Trixie. “Perhaps I should rephrase, Miss Lulamoon. The Warden demands your presence.”
Trixie clenched her teeth. “Well, he’ll have to wait then.”
“The Warden does not wait, ma’am.”
“He will for me,” said Trixie, practically spitting the words out.
The three stallions stared at Trixie. Their horns lighting up, they reached for their axes, but stopped before they reached them.
“Trixie…”
Turning around, Trixie saw Corona shaking his head. “It’s not worth it. You’ll either end up dead or in jail, and I’m sure that’s the last thing Astrid would want. Just go with them, all right? I’ll stay here with Polaris.”
“Your friend is very wise, Miss Lulamoon. You can be wise too,” said the stallion in the middle.
Trixie stared at them for a long time, then she finally broke her gaze and said, “Fine.”
The stallion cracked a broken smile. “Excellent. There is much The Warden wishes to discuss with you.”
Gathering up her bag, Trixie approached Corona, whispering to him, “Wait for me. I’ll be back as quickly as I can.”
“Be careful, Trixie,” Corona warned, his face serious. “The Warden is as cunning is he is cruel. Watch your tongue while you speak with him.”
Trixie nodded.
Motioning towards the door, the guardspony said, “This way, Miss Lulamoon. We will guide you to the tower.”
Falling in line behind the three as they exited the room, and left the hospital, Trixie muttered, “I have some questions for this ‘Warden’ as well. We’ll see just how cunning he is.”