//------------------------------// // Chapter Twenty Eight - Brother in Arms // Story: Ice Fall // by Bluespectre //------------------------------// CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT   BROTHERS IN ARMS   Chalk leaned his forelegs across the bar and rested his head on them, yawning loudly. Goddesses he was bored…of this village, this tavern, his whole bloody life. He closed his eyes and imagined himself sitting here as time simply trickled away around him like sand in an hour glass, grain by grain, bit by bit…   “Hoy! Lazybones, you asleep or what?”   Chalk opened a sleepy eye,   “Bugger off Brack, can’t you see I’m knackered here? Mum’s been working the bloody hide off me for days.”   Bracken knocked back the rest of his pint,   “You want to try my place; Mum and Dad are working my hooves to the bone. I tell you, dude, I did less work in the bloody army.”   “I hear ya.” Chalk flicked a fly away with his tail and took another pull on his drink, “Two more please, love.”   The bar mare rolled her eyes and trotted off to fetch their drinks. Every day had been like this - the same monotonous routine: wake up, work, drink, sleep…rinse and repeat. Bracken scratched his head in frustration,   “You know I thought this would be it. No more war, no more army, no more running for our lives from strange things constantly trying to kill us. And yet…” he opened another packet of corn scratchings, “I dunno, I just feel as if I’m missing something.”   “Yeah…” Chalk griped, helping himself to Bracken’s snack, “I just don’t feel like I belong here somehow. Not that I don’t love Mum and our friends of course, it’s just… it’s like I’m kind of detached from them all.” he shrugged, “Huh! For that matter I think I always was. Bunch of…” his next words were muffled by a mouthful of scratchings.   A loud conversation from across the lounge was growing in volume and the sound of furniture dragging caught their attention,   “I don’t give a flying buck what you think!” the old lime coloured stallion in the brown overcoat shouted, “You’re all stinking lousy cowards, the lot of you! If I was twenty years younger, I would have fought back, I would have fought for our princess!”   “Celestia’s dead you stupid old fool!” one of the others shouted back at him, “You know that as well as we do, so unless you know some way to magic her back to life, you’d better get used to having her sister calling the shots. It’ll keep your head on your shoulders a lot longer too.”   “You…!” the old stallion spat, “You make me SICK!”   There was a crash of a table and chair being upended. Bracken looked away quickly,   “And here we go…”   “Bollocks!” Chalky hissed under his breath, “The old soak’s coming over here…”   “And what about you two, eh? EH?” the stallion barked, banging his hoof on the bar beside the two friends, “You’re Lake’s boy aren’t you? Why aren’t you off fighting with the army then? Too hot for you was it? Miss your mummy?”   Chalk’s eyes narrowed, he could feel his hooves digging into the wood of the bar top as his anger began to rise.   Bracken clopped Chalk on the shoulder and shook his head in warning, “Don’t say anything” he whispered, “let’s just finish up and go.”   A second later a hoof slammed into Bracken’s own shoulder, “Got something to say have you?” The oldtimer bellowed in his ear, “Yes, you! The black stallion! Do you know what you look like? You look like one of those damned demon horses of the Legion! What are you? A bloody spy? Yes…YES! That’s it, you’re a spy for Nightmare Moon, the queen bitch hersel’…”   The lime coated stallion never finished his sentence. In a whirling, screaming flurry of hooves and rage, Bracken smashed the drunkard to the floor and pulled him into a head lock that, with just the right amount of pressure, would snap the old fellows neck like a twig.   “Brack! For Celestia’s sake, stop! Let him go!” Chalk yelled leaping off his chair.   Bracken’s eyes looked glazed, his breathing coming in deep, heavy huffs as his hooves began to twist. That old fool! He dared…he DARED!   Chalk’s face loomed in Bracken’s vision, his big green eyes staring into his. He was saying something. What was he saying? He couldn’t quite…   “BRACKEN! For bucks sake, let him go! You’re killing him!”   With a start, Bracken blinked, his eyes going wide as he came back to himself and realised the choking and coughing creature in his grip was mere moments from death…by his hooves. He released the stallion and got up shakily,   “I…I’m sorry everypony…I’m…”   With a neigh, Bracken suddenly bolted out of the tavern door into the street.   “You…you horses cock!” Chalk yelled at the wide eyed old stallion, “He was at River Valley you stinking, lousy old mule!” He turned on the others, “None of you, NONE OF YOU, have any right to question anypony who was there about their bravery…do you hear me? NONE OF YOU!” Slamming his beer mug down, the white unicorn charged out of the door after his friend.   Bracken wasn’t hard to find. When he was upset, there was only ever one place he’d go to, and after all this time it was amazing it was still there - Miss Windmill’s barn. Chalk slowed to a walk, approaching the rickety old building. In some ways it was a magical place, a timeless reminder of all the good, and bad things that happened in your life. Constantly in a state of semi collapse, it was always a surprise to find it was still standing at all. Of course, nature and time had taken its toll on the neglected barn; Miss Windmill had a new one now, and this one was simply…forgotten. Chalk shrugged to himself as he walked in through the half open door into the dark interior. Some day, he thought to himself, just like the barn even the war would be forgotten, changing from memory to legend, from legend to myth, as if it had been nothing more than a fairy story. In some respects, he reasoned, it was rather like the Crystal Empire.   Chalk shook his head, smiling at the familiar dark blue tail flicking from side to side as it stuck out from underneath a huge pile of straw. So, Miss Windmill did still use this barn after all eh? Apparently, appearances really could be deceptive. He sighed. Like some equine mole, Bracken had half covered himself in the straw, his head hidden under his forelegs. Chalk slid round and sat quietly beside his friend, letting him know he was there, but letting Bracken speak, if he wanted to. Minutes passed…   “It’ll never go away will it.” The voice from the straw said hopelessly, “The memories.”   “No…”Chalk replied softly. He stared up into the dark rafters, the occasion chink of sunlight sneaking through illuminating the darkness within, “I don’t think we’ll ever forget. I’m not sure I want to either.”   “Why?”   “For those who aren’t here now…” the white unicorn watched the dust motes swirling in the light and held his hoof up to them, “They can’t see, or feel, or speak in this world anymore. For them, if nopony else, I want to remember. If anypony asks me about the war, as little as I did for my part, I will tell them. The dead need a voice.”   Bracken’s head emerged from the straw covered depths, his eyes blinking,   “I…I keep seeing her, Chalky. It’s like a dream, but not a dream. She calls to me…”   Chalk smiled at his friend, “Look, why don’t we try and find the girls? Now the war’s over, we should be able to…”   “No!” Bracken cut in, “Not Pickles,” he shook his head in frustration, “I don’t know who she is, but she has these eyes....Dear Goddess, Chalky, they’re the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen and yet so terrifying I want to run and keep running until I run off the edge of the world.” “It’s just a dream, Brack.” Chalk said softly, “Just a dream.”   Bracken shook his head solemnly, “I don’t know…” he muttered, “It all seems so real. Sometimes, I see Pickles in my memories, but then this face appears that I can’t see.”   “You can’t see?”   “No! I…Damn it Chalky, its like trying to describe smoke.” Bracken rolled over with a groan, “The second I try to focus on it, it disappears, leaving only the memory of those eyes.”   “What are they like?” Chalk asked.   “I…” Bracken screwed up his face, “I…I don’t…ow! Bloody hell fire, my head!”   Chalk suddenly tapped Bracken on the muzzle,   “Shhh! Somepony’s coming!”   The two of them lay in silence, keeping as still as possible. All they could hear was the faint breeze making the barn creak occasionally and what sounded like mice scurring about further back. Chalk closed his eyes, listening to Bracken’s breathing slowing and returning to normal, his friend distracted by the possibility of approaching danger,   “Come on, Brack,” Chalk said rising to hooves, “they’ve gone. Let’s go home.”   “Hmph, I wish I knew where that was.” Bracken muttered, shaking straw from his mane, “This doesn’t feel like it.”   Chalk clopped him reassuringly on the shoulder, “I know, dude, I know.”   The two friends walked slowly back through the fields, each lost in their own thoughts. In some respects, life in Wellford Springs hadn’t been what either of them had been expecting. The pace of life was so slow here, that to a pony who had been involved in so much in so short a time, it was like hitting a brick wall. And yet here, there was also peace, a tranquillity of pace that many ponies had simply slipped into unconsciously. But to Bracken and Chalk, after everything they had been through, it felt like time had stopped completely. They reached Chalk’s house first, the solemn white unicorn nodding to his friend,   “See you in the morning, Brack.”   Bracken gave a sad, distant smile that never reached his eyes,   “Aye, take care.”   Everything would be alright in the morning.   ********************   Bracken sat at the breakfast table, his family tucking into their usual repast of toast, tea and boring conversation. Nopony was really listening, it was just…something you did. A unexpectedly furious hammering on the front door made everypony jump. Reflexively, Bracken leaped back, falling into a fighting stance.   The letterbox was pushed open and a familiar voice called through,   “Is anypony in? Amber? Nightjar? Hello? HELLO?”   Bracken’s father trotted to the front door, pushing it open to the nigh on hysterical white mare,   “Lake? What’s going on?”   Bracken could hear the conversation coming from the hallway, his ears twitching as he listened.   “Why are you standing like that?” the filly sitting next to him asked, shovelling another piece of toast into her mouth, “You look silly!”   “Shush!” Bracken said waving his hoof at his sister. She harrumphed and crossed her forelegs in mock exasperation as she licked the jam off her hooves.   A few seconds later, Lake’s face appeared in the doorway, her striking scarlet eyes wide with worry,   “Bracken? Oh thank the goddess you’re here!”   “What is it? Is Chalky okay?” His heart suddenly racing, Bracken’s hoof instinctively began reach for the sword that wasn’t there.   Lake shook her head, “I don’t know! All hell’s broken loose in town!” She turned to Bracken’s mother, “Amber, for the love of Luna, don’t let Marbles go into school today.”   “Why” Amber asked, “What’s going on, Lake?”   The distressed white mare shook her long green mane,   “Thestrals! There’s a whole group of them in the village! They just walked in.”   Bracken’s ear twitched, “But so what?” he said in a calmer voice than he felt, “They haven’t hurt anypony, have they?”   “No!” Lake rubbed her face with a foreleg, clearly trying to focus her thoughts, “It’s old pony Jitters, the idiot went wild when they appeared. He started shouting he was going to ‘Defend Equestria’ or something and the next thing anypony knew was that one of the thestrals had been shot.”   Amber looked like she was ready to faint, “Oh goddesses, no…”   Bracken’s father went to his wife’s side to comfort her, “Whats this got to do with Chalky?” he asked, “The war’s over, Lake. Let the thestral’s deal with Jitters.”   Lake shook her head, “You don’t understand! When Chalk heard about it, he rushed off into the village!” The white mare looked like she was going to be sick, “I checked his room, and he’s…he’s taken his sword with him. Bracken, I…I think he might do something stupid. Please, can you…?”   “Buck it all!” Bracken spat, “I’ll bring the silly sod back. Don’t worry, Lake, get yourself a cup of tea. I’ll be back soon.”   In short order, Bracken had his cloak across his shoulders and was out the door, leaving a shocked and worried household behind him. If he could, he would have barricaded the door to keep them safe, but what would that achieve? The thestrals were part of Nightmare Moon’s army and although the war was officially over, their troops would no doubt still be active for some time to come. Unfortunately, the thestrals themselves were nothing short of terrifying in appearance and ponies, who were often easily unsettled by the unknown already, tended to react badly when confronted with them. That still didn’t stop them being painfully inquisitive though, Bracken thought to himself as he rounded the corner of the general store and into the mass of ponies all staring at the newcomers.   The village centre was packed, with most of the onlookers jammed together watching the strange black coated creatures in silent fascination as they tending to one of their downed comrades. Meanwhile, several of the thestrals had taken up defensive positions and held their heavy looking crossbows at the ready. Fortunately for all concerned, the village doctor was on hoof, but seemed to be having some problem communicating with the soldiers. By his gesturing, it appeared to be more a case of him being hopelessly out of his depth. Bracken scanned the mass of equines, looking for Chalky, but of his friend, there was no sign.   “What’s going on?” Bracken asked one of the ponies in the crowd, hoping for more information.   The tan stallion pointed at the downed thestral with his hoof,   “One of them’s been shot.”   “I can see that!” Bracken sighed, “Who did it?”   “How should I know?” The stallion said rolling his eyes, “Even they don’t…look out!”   There was a loud ‘thunk’ as a crossbow bolt slammed into the ground right by Brackens hooves. The thestrals responded immediately, hissing and clicking to each other in their strange language. By their body language, it was clear they’d quickly homed in on the direction the shooting was coming from…   “Oh Goddess…” Bracken breathed, “Not the bloody school.” He turned back to the tan stallion, “Are there any foals in there?”   The stallion shrugged, “Probably at this time of the morning.They have breakfast club.”   Bracken spat angrily, and looked around the crowd again. Still no sign of…A sudden thought hit him – surely the shooter wasn’t…? Damn it! He went to move off as a tall sleek thestral stallion appeared right in front of him,   “Move out of the way, Celestian…” the thestral hissed, then stopped, turning back slowly to peer at where the black pony had been standing only a moment ago.   “He’s buggered off.” The tan stallion chipped in, jerking a hoof in the direction Bracken had gone.   The thestral shook its head and trotted across to speak to the doctor.   Running as hard as he could, Bracken dodged instinctively from cover to cover, closing in on the back of the school house but careful to keep out of sight of the large bay windows. The shooting, by the looks of it was more than likely to be coming from the school bell tower, but in the poor light today, it was difficult to tell for sure. One thing was for sure though, there were definitely foals in the school - he could hear them inside crying whilst an adult’s voice tried to calm them. Bracken took several deep breaths, readying himself for a run to the rear door, when…   “Brack?!”   Bracken stumbled over his own hooves in surprise,   “Gah! Celestia shaft me, Chalky! Where the hell have you been?! What are you doing here?”   “Good time for questions, isn’t it!” Chalk hissed, “It’s that crazy old stallion you walloped the other day, he’s holed up in the bell tower.”   “Damn it!” Bracken rubbed a foreleg across his face, “Mum said that idiot Jitters went nuts when the thestrals came into the village. One of them’s down, but the rest are homing in on the school.”    “Bollocks!”  Chalk adjusted his sword belt and shook his head angrily, “You know what these buggers are like, Brack. We have to get the foals out of there.”   The black stallion nodded, “Got it. Let’s move.”   The two slipped around the side of the tool shed, Chalk watching each corner before waving Bracken across. The threat was no doubt targeted towards the thestrals, but there was no sense in taking chances. If it really was Jitters, he’d really crossed the line this time. The bigger concern though, was that if the thestrals stormed the school, the chances were they wouldn’t distinguish between their foe and innocent bystanders.   Chalk was the first to reach the back door and peered over the window ledge. Bracken slipped up beside him,   “You see anything?”   “Rear doors locked.” Chalk whispered, “I can see the foals and the teacher, they’re just on the other side.”   Bracken nodded to his friend. There was only one way they could do this now. They were out of time. The shouting from the thestrals coming from the front of the school may have been in an alien language, but it still carried an urgency and intent that the two friends recognised - they were going to assault the school.   “Ready?” Chalk mouthed.   Bracken nodded.   “One…two…three!”   With an almighty thump, Bracken bucked open the rear doors and the two of them ran in shouting as loud as they could. Miss Trinity, the school mistress was huddled in the corner like some mother hen with her chicks, holding a large ladle and waving it at them menacingly,   “Keep back! I’m warning you!”   Chalk drew ran up to the partition wall, watching the open hatch while Bracken braved the ladle wielding mare,   “Miss Trinity! Come on, follow me!”   The pink mare’s eyes went wide, “B…Bracken?”   “Yes, it’s me! Now hurry up, quickly!”   Trinity began hurriedly organising the foals and headed for the back door. Bracken stopped her as she was about to leave,   “Head for the tool shed, from there the store house. Keep the foals in there, I’ll be right behind you, understand? Don’t stop for anything!”   Agonisingly slowly, the foals began to troop out, following their teacher all in a row. Bracken checked around the room then rushed over to Chalky,   “It’s clear, come on, time to get the buck out of here.”   Bracken rushed out of the door, Chalky backing out covering them. There was no sign of Jitters though, maybe he’d…a sound made Chalk freeze. It was a scratching, like something was moving, and then he heard it…a whimper. It was coming from the cupboard under the sink. Pulling the door open, a yellow coated foal stared up at him with huge blue eyes. She backed away as far as she could in terror, but Chalk didn’t have time to be gentle,   “Out you come!” he said merrily, or at least as much as he could.   With a squeak of fright, the foal was extracted from the cupboard and held under Chalk’s shoulder. Three legs it was then! After a quick check that the coast was clear, Chalk made for the back door just as the front one exploded into fragments,   “You there! Down on the ground, NOW!”   “Watch your aim, he’s got a foal!”   Chalk froze, moving the foal behind him and faced the thestrals slowly,   “Don’t shoot! I’m not your enemy!”   One of the thestrals, rushed forward, and roughly shoved Chalk to the floor,   “Stay down!”   The heavily armoured warrior shouted over to the others in a series of shrieks, hisses and clicks, which had them all quickly taking positions around the school room, covering the hatchway to the bell tower. Chalk gasped for breath, the weight of the thestral was incredible for such a skeletal looking creature, but he knew all too well how their appearance belied the frightening strength that lay beneath that heavy armour. The school room fell silent, and then a noise, a distinct scraping and banging drifted down from the bell tower.   “You!” The thestral hissed at Chalk, “Do you know the pony that shot my comrade?”   “I think so,” Chalk wheezed, “let me speak to him…I may be able to convince him to give himself up.”   “Do it!” The black armoured creature snapped, and released Chalk.   Coughing and gasping to get his breath back, Chalk gave himself a shake and stepped forward, all too aware of the burning eyes of the Legion’s warriors watching him. He lifted his head and took a deep breath,   “Jitters! Is that you up there?”   Silence.   He tried again, “Jitters, give yourself up for the Goddess’s sake. Don’t you think there’s been enough suffering? The war’s over!”   “I know your voice…” the familiar voice called down, “You’re that traitor, the coward…you don’t deserve to call yourself Equestrian.”   Chalk could feel his blood beginning to boil, his anger rising, but he had to try and defuse this somehow. Goddess help him if these thestrals thought he actually had some connection with the old goat, “Jitters, these soldiers are here on the orders of the princess, they’re not here to harm you or the people of the town.” Chalk hoped that was actually true.   “It’s all lies!” Jitters yelled, “And you’re one of them! A traitor to our princess, the real princess of Equestria, not that damned whore, Nightmare Moon!”   A hoof roughly knocked Chalk out of the way as the thestrals began to move. The tallest, Chalk presumed by the white stripes on his armour was an officer of some kind, blew a thin snort of smoke from his nostrils,   “Burn him out.”   “What?!” Chalk rounded on the thestral, “Dear goddesses, don’t!”   The thestral lifted his crossbow and pointed it at the white unicorn’s throat, addressing the others,   “Do it.”   Several of the warriors lifted their muzzles and breathed in, the hissing, whooshing sound one that Chalk recognised all too well. He closed his eyes, knowing what was coming next. Flames erupted from the bell tower, the glare so bright it was unbearable even through his closed eyelids. If only he could have closed his ear too…then he wouldn’t have had to endure the screams that followed.   In a burning, screaming crash, Jitters jumped from the bell tower and out onto the roof. His fur ablaze, his mane and tail a fiery mass of smoking charring flames, the elderly pony dropped to the ground sending the terrified citizens of Wellford Springs into a blind panic. Meanwhile, Chalk was dragged bodily outside, the thestrals leading the way and surrounding the stricken Jitters. Chalk gasped in alarm,   “For the love of the goddess, somepony get some water!”   In answer, the burning elderly stallion rose to his hooves and somehow managed to draw a dagger. Uttering a dreadful howl of defiance, he threw himself at the thestral commander. Chalk stared in horror, unable to speak, unable to help. It was a sight he would never forget, and one he’d remember in his nightmares until his dying day. Jitters, the drunken old stallion, charged, his words echoing out around the village,   “FOR CELESTIA AND EQUESTRIA!”   It was the last thing he would ever say. Half a dozen steel tipped bolts ripped mercillessly into the smoking, smouldering wreckage that had once been a life. The villagers, those who hadn’t already fled in abject terror, stared at the blackened corpse, their eyes wide with shock. Some cried, some vomited where they stood, but Chalk could only feel pity for the old stallion. What a waste of a life, ended so brutally and in such a pointless manner…foolish. He closed his eyes and let out a pent up breath - at least the foals were safe.   The tallest of the thestrals, a stallion by the looks of it, walked over to Chalk and glowered down at him,   “Where is your friend, the black pony?”   “Who?”   The thestral half turned and then back-hoofed him across the muzzle,   “Don’t lie to me, boy. Do you think me a fool?”   A loud commotion broke out from behind the store house making Chalk’s heart sink. It was Bracken, being dragged half conscious by another thestral. By the looks of him, the rats had really done a number on him too, but at least he was alive. Without a word spoken, Chalk’s friend was shoved to the ground next to him, both ponies covered by the crossbow wielding thestral warriors. Their commander turned to face the villagers,   “I am First Spear Arc of the Royal Inquisitorial Inspectorate Command. By order of the Goddess, any and all resistance or opposition to her divine rule of law shall NOT BE TOLERATED.” The tall thestral’s eyes flared as he paced back and forth, smoke curling out from his nostrils, “These two,” he waved a hoof at Bracken and Chalk, “have interfered in the execution of a murderer, and therefore shall be executed as an example to all of you that although loyalty shall be rewarded, disobedience will result in death.”   Chalk sighed, casting a look at his friend,   “Sorry Brack…”   Bracken shook his head,   “Don’t worry, Chalky. See you on the other side, dude.”   The thestral span, screeching at Bracken, “SILENCE!”   “Oh go buck yourself, you cock.” Bracken laughed, “What are you going to do, kill us twice?”   A hoof shot out, grabbing Bracken around the neck,   “You…!”   He froze. Bracken’s eyes suddenly flew wide open, a sound of rushing air emanating from his open mouth making everypony back away hurriedly. Chalk stared in horror as light, an otherworldly white glare, poured from his friend’s mouth while the very sky above them darkened, plunging the village into almost complete blackness; black, except for the blinding light that now shining out of his friends eyes like search lights. The thestral officer looked stricken, as if unable to let go of the pony in his grasp. Chalk’s horn began to itch horribly, the sure sign of a large magical build up, but…it seemed to be coming from…Bracken?   A voice, heavy, feminine, and commanding, boomed out across the village. The source, incredibly, was Bracken himself,   “First Spear Arc, this pony is not to be harmed. By my order, you are to release him and his friend immediately. Any injury upon his person, or the ponies of this village, I will take as a personal attack against my person. Do you understand this?”   The thestral, Arc, bowed low to the ground as, in fact, did the others. His voice sounded respectful and, Chalk noticed, utterly obedient.   “Yes, your divinity.”   “Good. You have your order, First Spear Arc. I expect you to carry them out.”   “By your divine guidance.”   Chalk’s ears popped, the sudden change in air pressure so dramatic it caused the very roofs of the buildings to shudder and rattle violently. Around him, the ponies winced, rubbing their ears to try and alleviate the strange sensation. Whatever had happened, whatever that was, it certainly had an effect - the thestrals simply got up, collected their gear, and walked away…   It was so quiet Chalk could have heard a pin drop. Only his heart pounding in his chest and his breathing, reminded him he was, quite surprisingly, still alive. Beside him, Bracken stirred,   “Ch…Chalky? Goddesses, my bloody head! What’s going on…are we dead?”   Stirred into action, Chalk grabbed Bracken’s head in his hooves,   “Brack, listen to me. Something’s going on, I don’t know what it is, but we need to get out of here!”   “Why? Where are the thestrals?” Bracken looked around himself in a half daze. The world had seemed to ‘jump’. One minute he was about to be executed and the next thing he knew he was sat on his haunches in front of a mob of very confused looking villagers. He narrowed his eyes, “Why are they looking at me like that?”   The black stallion rose to his hooves and immediately several of the villagers shrieked and tried to back away, the rest of them surging back like a school of fish frightened by a shark.   “Chalk? I don’t like this…”   “Come on, Brack!” Chalk hissed, “We have to go!”   Bracken’s head began pounding like a drum, the pain and nausea easing quickly but still making him a little unsteady on his hooves as he ran after his friend. His house was nearest, and the two of them hammered on the door which was opened moments later by Nightjar,   “Bracken? Chalky? What’s going on? We could smell smoke.”   Bracken tried to catch his breath, “Dad, look, I’m sorry but somethings happened and I have to go.”   Amber and Marbles appeared from the kitchen covered in flour,   “What’s that? You’re going? What do you mean, you’ve just come home!”   Bracken hurriedly began grabbing his gear from his room and kissed his mother on the forehead, “Mum, I’m sorry, if I could explain it, I would, but Chalky and I have to get out of here. If I manage to work things out, I’ll…” he’ll what? Goddess damn it, he didn’t have a clue what was going on, and yet he had an overwhelming urge to run, to get away as far from here as possible. He had to protect his family, no matter what. Bracken leaned down and gave Marbles a quick hug, the youngster shoving him off with an irritated look on her face. For his Dad, he gave him nod and then pulled the surprised stallion into an embrace, “Bye Dad…I love you, all of you. If anyone asks, tell them you don’t know where we’ve gone.”   Amber lifted a hoof, “But…We don’t know where you’re going!”   “Good! Neither do we!” The black stallion charged off up the garden path, “Goddess bless you all!”   Chalk’s house was next, but of his mother, Lake, there was no sign, only the smell of cinnamon buns, freshly baked and sitting on a rack to cool. A small note next to it read,   ‘Take four for yourself and four for Bracken’   “Goddess bless you Mum,” he said quietly, dropping the buns into his pack. Hurrying down the hallway, in a surprising display of acrobatics, Chalk swung up through the loft hatch. A great deal of banging and scraping later, he re-appeared carrying his sword, several dusty old books, and sporting a big grin on his face, “She never found my hidey hole!”   Bracken shook his mane, “You ready?”   Chalk shook his head, “Nope, but we’ve got food, water, bits and the devil biting at our arses.” He shrugged, “So it’ll have to do.”   The black stallion nodded, “Then let’s shift it Mister Chalk”   The friends turned to leave as a shadow appeared in the doorway…a shadow in white with a green mane and flashing scarlet eyes,   “You aren’t ‘shifting’ anywhere!” Lake tossed her mane angrily, “I’m not losing my son again!”   Chalk’s tail flicked irritably, “Mum, please, you don’t understand what’s going on here…”   “-And neither do you!” she shouted, “I heard what happened in the village Chalky, and what happened to Bracken. Don’t you see? This is a sign! A sign from the Goddess! You can’t just run off!”   Chalk stomped his hoof, “Sign or not Mum, you saw the looks on the villagers faces. They were terrified of us!”   “Terrified of Bracken!” she turned to Chalk’s friend, “I’m sorry Bracken, but if you feel you have to go, then go. You’re not taking Chalky.”   “Mum, I’m a fully grown stallion!” Chalk snapped at his mother, “You can’t order me around anymore.”   Lake’s eye’s flashed dangerously, “You are not going anywhere! Put that stuff back, and that bloody sword as well. I thought I’d thrown all that rubbish out years ago.”   “I’m not Dad, Mum, and I’m not abandoning you, but I have to look out for my friend. Bracken was the only one who stood up for me when those bullies…” Chalk trailed off.   Lake’s eyes were full of tears, “It…its happening again! I’m going to be alone, alone again…”   “Mum…I’m so sorry.” Chalk lifted a hoof up to touch her, but she backed away, her sides heaving. “Mum, look, I promise I’ll be back. I promise.”   “LIKE HE DID?!” Lake suddenly shrieked, “He never came back, Chalky! He went off on some bloody hair brained adventure and I never saw him again! I can’t…I can’t lose you too!”   Chalk pulled his resisting mother into an embrace and kissed her on the forehead,   “I’ll be back Mum. I don’t know when, but so long as there’s breath in my body, I’ll be back. And, Goddess willing, I’ll bring someone home I’d like you to meet too.”   “What? Who?” The white mare sputtered.   Chalk slipped past his mother to the front door, “She’s a pirate!”   Laughing and waving, Chalk charged off up the road his tail and mane whipping out behind him, his friend close by. He closed his eyes as he ran, wishing there’d been some other way, a better way, but at least he was doing ‘something’, and it made his heart soar. Bracken had the same look about him too, the look of freedom, the promise of adventure burning in his heart. Whatever had happened, they could discuss it later, but for now, they just wanted to run and get away from Wellford.   Bracken shouted over to him, “Where are we going? I’m just following you!”   Chalk laughed out loud, “That’s us knackered then, I was following you!”   The cold north wind blew across the land, its bitter chill promising ice and snow would be visited upon the land all too soon. Chalk shook his mane and kicked up his hooves. His Dad had gone north, and north sounded…’adventurous’ somehow. He grinned to himself…North it was!