//------------------------------//
// Chapter 19 - Cold 
// Story: The Earth Ponies 
// by RomanCandle 
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The stallion's golden coat and brown, fluffy mane stood out in stark contrast to his limp expression. The yellow shirt he wore was bright, while his eyes only showed the faintest tint of green. The three mares stared at him for a moment, and he seemed to take that as their compliance, as he laid his head back down and closed his eyes.

Half Note worked her mouth, but no words came out. Firelock was the first to speak up, in a whisper. 

"Okay, so we're in the middle of a national crises, where there's a monster out there ripping the magic out of Ponies. We need to focus. What do we do if the train doesn't come soon? How long do we wait?"

Tornado shrugged, and replied in a slightly-less-quiet whisper. "I dunno. The train ride could take a week, depending on how fast it goes. How fast do you think we could walk through the Frozen Wastes?"

Half Note grimaced and whispered herself. "Probably not very fast, or for that matter, very long. We're not really geared up to face winter, and it's already started getting cold down here. The best we could do is walk to another Equestrian city and hope the train comes through there."

Tornado raised an eyebrow. "Well if this Tirek guy is as dangerous as he sounds, I don't think it's any safer out in the open. And if he's the reason for the delay, the other trains won't be running until he's taken care of somehow. I don't like waiting, but even if we were super lucky with perfect timing, at best we might save a day or two."

Firelock nodded. "Good point. We're just going to have to wait it out, I guess."

Half Note shivered. "I hope the train gets here soon. This place gives me the willies."

The three sat in silence for a while, the hushed whispers of the few Ponies with enough wherewithal to keep up conversations the only sound aside from the errant breeze against the windows. Tornado Bolt fidgeted where she sat, Firelock twiddled her hooves, and Half Note laid here head down on her forehooves and stared at the stallion who they had woken earlier.

"Tirek drains magic..." She furrowed her brow. Aestrak and Zephyr had both been insistent that Earth Ponies did have magic - and the victim in front of her was further testimony to that. What she couldn't figure out was what that magic was, even as she stared at a Pony who had been drained of it.

The stallion was motionless aside from the rise and fall of his chest. Other ponies walked around or stepped over him, and he hardly flinched. As Half Note watched, Sun Shower came over with a cup of water in her hooves and gently prodded him.

"I brought you some water, Cheese."

He mumbled "Not thirsty."

The yellow Pegasus frowned slightly. "You haven't been thirsty since you got here. You still need water, even if you don't feel like it."

He cracked open a single eye before dipping his muzzle into the bowl and swallowing. He received a pat on the head, and Sun Shower started to fly away. Half Note stood up and followed her.

"So...was he uh...did Tirek..."

Sun Shower nodded and kept flying, though a little slower so Half Note could keep up. "Yeah. I know it's tragic for everypony, but seeing him like that...it hurts a little more than the others."

Half Note raised an eyebrow. "Why's that?"

The Pegasus stopped and shook her head. "Right, out of towner. He came through here a few months ago, some crazy party pony. He was full of energy then, and seeing him like that..."

Half Note nodded. "So is it any easier or harder on Earth Ponies, do you think?"

Sun Shower shrugged. "I couldn't tell you. Everypony drained of their magic has acted about the same. It's not like you can get them to talk and compare it." She shook her head. "I just try to remind them to eat, drink, and maintain some basic hygiene."

Half Note grimaced, but the Pegasus continued undaunted. "We've had to clean up a few messes, but we've got a schedule down for most of them so we don't have to wait for the smell - they won't even tell us when they have to go, they just...mess themselves, like asking for help is too much work. It's like taking care of big quiet foals, honestly."

"So...ah...nothing different about the Earth Ponies than the others?"

Sun Shower shrugged again, dipping the cup under a water spout against the wall. "Moving them is harder than a Pegasus or Unicorn, but that's mostly just the muscle mass, I guess."

Half Note frowned. "So how long has Tirek been...doing this?"

Sun Shower swirled the water in the cup and turned the water off. "I don't know, exactly. We've only been hiding a couple days - the state of emergency was announced just before that - you remember the morning the sun was all wobbly? Everyone was joking that Celestia had a hangover until Tirek himself came through. But from what I've heard, Tirek had broken out of Tartarus earlier and they were hoping to take care of him quickly and quietly to avoid panic. It might have been a week, it might have been months." She frowned. "How long have you been out of touch?"

Half Note bit her lip. "Well, we left Appleloosa halfway through the summer..."

Sun Shower balked. "Celestia, that was months ago! Autumn is almost over. Did you walk the whole way?"

"Well, ah, we were doing some research on the Buffalo Stampede..."

"Wait wait wait, the Stampede? They actually let you? Why would you even want to?"

Half Note shuffled her hooves. "It's a bit of a long story..."

Sun Shower set the water bowl down. "I think we have time, at least until - oh speak of Tartarus..."

A faint vibration in the earth turned into a fainter rumble. Many of the Ponies who had been laying about stood up and started to try to wake others. Sun Shower went straight to Cheese and started shaking him gently.

"Cmon, Cheese! Time to get up!"

Half Note looked around with ears pinned back as the the rumble and vibrations got louder - everypony who could be seemed to be excited, but Half Note felt very, very nervous. She was about ready to panic when a familiar screeching noise made it clear what was going on.

"The train!" She ran over to her friends, who were already standing up. "You guys ready to go?" 

Tornado and Firelock nodded - Sun Shower grunted "Care to give me a hand? Cheese is a lot heavier than he looks."

The stallion in question was slumped, eyes half open on an uncaring face as the Pegasus tried to lift him up - his torso was about an inch off the ground, and not going any higher. The three mares helped as best as they could - which was quite a lot. While Half Note did have to admit that Cheese was far heavier than she would have expected a stallion his size to be, the four of them were able to lift him up fairly easily. Only Firelock and Sun Shower seemed strained at all. She credited it to the months of running with the Buffalo. With a few encouraging words from Sun Shower they were able to get him to the platform just as the train screeched to a halt. 

Other Ponies carried each other onto the train - Half Note was relieved to see that there was more than enough room for everypony. After getting Cheese into a seat, Sun Shower dusted off her hooves and turned to the three. "Thanks. I'm gonna go talk to the conductor real quick."

A few awkward minutes passed, only a few comforting whispers in the background as Cheese and the other drained Ponies stared off into nothing. Sun Shower came back just as the train started moving.

"He says that everything's gone smoothly, but since there's nopony to flip the switches he can't turn around back to the Empire. So we'll be going the long way around, through Ponyville, but we'll get there all right."

Firelock shifted uncomfortably. "Will we be stopping there?"

The Pegasus shrugged. "He said we'll stop anywhere there are Ponies as long as it's safe and we have room. It's a rural farming town, though, so it should be pretty quiet."

Tornado Bolt lowered her eyebrows. "You know there's a Princess living there now, right?"

Sun Shower blinked before a look of recognition appeared in her eyes. "Oh, I remember that. Well, that'll be good. Maybe we can get some official word on what's going on."

Firelock gulped. "Yeah. Yeah, that would be good."

The three Ponies felt a chill run up their spines and their coats stand on end as something rumbled in the distance.