//------------------------------// // Chapter Six // Story: A Pale Light // by Nobrains //------------------------------// Chapter Six Everyone was situated outside of the cavern mouth like Totem had described. Titus pushed to the front of the crowd where Totem was keeping a look out. He caught sight of the Paladin breaking from the crowd and rushed over to greet him. “There you are! Let me be the first to say we appreciate all that you are doing for us today.” Titus put a hand behind his head. “What exactly am I going to be doing?” “Ha ha! Nothing too outrageous, I assure you. For the first and most important part, we'll be trying to clear out the town of the vile creatures. After that, we need to collect any kind of information we can on the location of their placed heart of ice. Then the last part is your honor, human.” “What part? Why do I have to do it?” Titus asked curiously. “Young one, we all have our share of special abilities here. But yours come from a much more divine source. Don't look at me like that, there is a lot I can tell from a simple glance. Your touch is the touch of a higher power, and that is what will be needed if we are to have any hope as to shatter their frozen heart.” “But my powers work little on the Icebringers. What makes you think it would be more effective on the heart?” “The heart, my young friend is a passage to one's true character. Even though the heart we speak of is not that of an individual, it still follows the rules of all things natural. A touch from your pure, untainted heart should be too much for a withered old icy heart to handle. Do you understand now?” “Yes.” He sighed heavily. Always something important for a Paladin to do, he thought to himself sadly. Even in a different world, he was the go to man for all sorts of endeavors. It made him feel stressed and happy at the same time. Even in this world, he found himself doing all sorts of good for the residents. But this world offered something that Azeroth couldn't: peace, and each time he tried to partake in that sort of lifestyle, he was thrown into another ridiculous adventure. “So.. I have to destroy the heart, huh?” He kicked at the ground, disappointed. “Your touch is what will be the key, my young friend. Now, pick yourself up, we don't need anyone going out into the battle with melancholy.” He nodded, understanding his duty. The others always come first. Always. Totem looked outside once, and gave the signal for all to step outside. The group was larger than Titus had initial thought. A small regiment of about three hundred Minotaur, with the occasional pony stepped out onto the thick snow, looking around in awe of the Icebringers’ doings. Totem raised his voice above all the 'oos' and 'awws'. “No getting distracted out here! More than likely they already know we're on the outskirts of their base of operations! I need every last one of you to be ready for anything! We still haven't seen all that these beasts are capable of, and I don't intend for any of us to fall victim to their tactics! Is that clear?” Everyone nodded, including Titus. The Minotaur had quite the voice on him, and he found it hard not to feel rallied when he rose his voice in such a manner. These people among them would likely die for Totem if he so decided it was necessary. Some would today, in actuality. Titus hoped he wouldn't be a number when the body count came into play. He had been in fair share of battles, however, and knew that he could hope all he wanted but acting out on his thoughts and senses would be more important than any hope would. After everyone seemed ready, Totem turned towards Hoofington in the distance. “Today we do our duty for all of Equestria. Even though the majority of us are not of the Equine race, we are citizens and guardians of this land we call home. TODAY WE RIGHT WHAT WE'VE WRONGED!” He put are strong arm in the air, and threw it forward. “GO!!” With that, the regiment of mixed races rushed headstrong into the snowed over pine trees towards the icy shadow that once was Hoofington. Titus ran hard, trying desperately to keep up with the others that surrounded him by all angles. He kept his eye on Totem, if he lost him than he wouldn't be able to know exactly what he was suppose to be doing after the initial incursion. A sharp whistling sound filled the air, as if something was cutting through the air violently. “Heads up! We got shards of ice falling from the sky!” One follower cried out. Sure enough upon looking upwards, he saw large blades of ice falling to the earth and upon them. How they even got up there was beyond them since the Icebringers had no actual form of technology available to them. Regardless of how they got there, they needed to take multiple detours through the trees or risk being pinned down by one of the raining shards. When they hit the ground, the earth shook violently and snow was thrown upwards and upon them in volleys. If anyone had got hit, Titus wasn't aware of it. He was too busy hopping and darting through the mix of raining ice and snow. He wasn't sure if they could pull this off anymore, and they would fail without even clearing the first obstacle. He pushed the self doubt to the back of his mind and pushed onward... until a blade of ice crashed into the ground right at his side. He was thrown into a nearby tree, falling into the thick snow below. His ears were ringing as he realized he was suffering from shell-shock. Trying to stand, Titus rested a hand on the tree he had collided with. The vertigo that came as the result of the collision kept him wobbly. Everything was shaking around him, and he heard voices trying desperately to break through the ringing within his skull. He couldn't stand for too long, however, and fell to his knees. He felt a hand on his arm and another flurry of voices breaking through the ringing. He felt his legs give way behind him, and he was being dragged through the snow. He looked up and saw the Minotaur that was pulling him. It wasn't anyone he'd seen before, but he was sure to take note on who to thank in the near future. Eventually the ringing stopped and the rest of the world came into focus. The familiar whistling of the ice shards were back and sounded even more intense. He yelled for the Minotaur to stop pulling him, and was obliged. He straighten himself out and made sure his hammer was secure on his back still. He wasn't about to lose another one of them. With a nod, the Minotaur continued on towards Hoofington, amongst the yelling and crashing of the ice shards. It was an incredible sight, to see such a natural thing as ice turned into an extremely deadly genocidal weapon. Mages knew exactly what was possible in the powers of ice. It was one of their many main weapons amongst enemies back in Azeroth. He thought he wouldn't have to see such things used this way in this world, but obviously was proved wrong by the very presence of the Icebringers. He realized that he was standing there, forcing others rushing out after the village to detour around him. He began to run again, determined not get hit on his blind side once again, or fear risking serious injury. One lone stallion was running at Titus' side for what seemed like an eternity until a shard of ice propelled him up ahead and into one of the pine tree's branches. He didn't have time to see if the stallion was okay as the ice shards kept etching ever closer to Titus' ever changing position. He couldn't believe that Hoofington was this far away, he was huffing and puffing trying desperately to keep pace or fall victim to the death bringing ice shards. The number of people accompanying him through the accursed gauntlet was constantly dwindling as the ice shards kept falling and falling, crashing with booms, sending even the large Minotaurs flying. Finally they reached the hill right below the city, where Totem and several of the others were scouting out the town's interior. Why the ice shards didn't continue to fall was beyond the Paladin, but he was glad that once the main body had cleared the small pine tree forest, the attacks ceased. Totem greeted all that made the trip unscathed, and eventually made rounds, distributing what appeared to be phials. As the many volunteers each took one they stared at its contents giving it a blank look, wondering as to what they should do with it. “That there is water from the springs. It will be your weapon against the Icebringers as only our Paladin friend here” he gestured towards Titus, “is the only one actually equipped for any form of toe to toe fighting. All you have to do is take the contents and splash it onto anything that even resembles an Icebringer. Don't waste the water, however, I only have enough for you all to have only one.” He walked over to Titus and grabbed his hand, gently placing a phial into his open palm. “Your going to need this for a very different reason then the others, I would think.” He gave the Paladin a nod and walked over to the foot of the hill once more. “Whats the state of things up there?” he asked one of the scouting acolytes. “Just frozen citizens so far, no sign of the Icebringers.” The scout looked up to one of the towers. “They aren't even watching us from up there. I'm not sure what’s going on.” “Very well. Bronze!” He called out. A particularly large Minotaur stepped out from the crowd, popping his knuckles. “Yes, master Totem?” “Why don't you take point up there and see exactly what these Icebringers have in store for us.” He handed him a phial. “Be sure to use this if there is no way to fall back, understood?” Bronze nodded and quickly hopped up the hill to the town above. Titus came over and poked his head over the hill to see exactly what was going on. Bronze walked in between buildings looking around at the occasional frozen pony or two. He came into the middle of the small town, and shrugged in confusion from not being ambushed. He looked at Totem from back behind the hill, who nodded and told him to return. Bronze was about to oblige but a hand shot forth from the snow he was standing on, grabbing his hoof. He looked down and noticed his leg was beginning to freeze. He screamed and kicked the hand grasping around his ankle. “The phial, Bronze!” Totem called out. Bronze fumbled around with the cork on the phial, trying desperately to get it free. The ice continued to spread up his body but he eventually was able to open up the phial. He looked down to the hand once more and quickly poured the contents onto the hand. The pale hand twisted in horrible and unnatural ways, eventually letting go of Bronze, and slipping back under the ice. Bronze cheered at the results, but then looked down to see the lower half of his body was still encased in ice. “Oh dammit!” He cried out. Totem brought a hand to his face in disappointment. “Alright...” he said behind the palm. “We are going to have to go out there and fight those things, are you all prepared?” Everyone nodded and Totem quickly gave the call for advancement. They rushed up the hill and into the town yelling at the top of their lungs in protest and challenge to the Icebringers. Titus followed quickly after, freeing his new hammer of its strap and bringing it into his grip. Nothing seemed to happen in the middle of town as Totem tried to free Bronze of his icy prison. He poured several phials of spring water on the ice, which eventually melted, allowing Bronze to fall back into the snow. “Aww man! My legs are all numb now!” Bronze called out, looking at his now drenched legs. He tried desperately to wiggle them around but cried out in frustration at his unresponsive limbs. “That's what you get for not acting faster.” Totem said flatly. “Ya, okay gramps.... So who wants to carry me back to the cave?” He looked around expectantly. Everyone just stared and awkward coughs resonated from the crowd. “Whatever then, I'll just stay here... jerks.” He folded his arms and looked away from all the eyes upon him. “Somebody get this big baby back to the cave...” Totem said angrily. Two acolytes quickly picked up the immobile Minotaur and staggered off towards to the pine forest. The whole incident left an odd air about the group, making it hard for them to remain serious and on the alert. Titus noticed and quickly readied his hammer. Totem watched Titus and quickly mimicked his behavior. “Stay on edge! Don't get comfortable now!” Totem called out. “Where to first, master?” One of the remaining called out. “The way things are looking, and the way the Icebringers are reacting to our presence, I say we have a look into town hall.” Everyone agreed unanimously, and they set off to the large building in the distance. Hoofington was different than the other towns in one way: there had been an extremely heavy resistance when the Icebringers had arrived due to the fact that the attack had come in the daytime. Frozen ponies were encased in ice as they were thrashing out at their attackers. The streets told a story of gritty resolve falling to overwhelming presence of an assailant that was actually prepared for confrontation. The group slowed down amongst the frozen ponies, paying their respects to those that had been unfortunate enough to reside in this doomed town. It was like staring at piece of history, a horrible piece that should never have happened. That only toughened their resolves, however, and they marched on to the town hall. Totem told the regiment to wait outside while he and Titus gave a quick search through the icy town hall. What he was thinking, Titus had no idea. He just hoped that Totem was sure about them going alone. Reluctantly, he followed after the old Minotaur, staring at the frozen monuments of the ponies that had worked there in the snowy lawns. ************************ Within the caverns, Lyra was waging her own war. That war was on the non-existent invisible forces of the shadow army. With a nearby blanket she had donned, she became a powerful unicorn sorceress, capable of dropping several enemies with a single crackling spell. So she went around the cavern, defeating the unseen beasts, knocking over tables and splashing spring water onto dry ponies resting near the springs. They yelled out in anger, telling her to stop. But she didn't listen or care, she had to practice her fighting and prepare herself for whatever evils may come. In actuality, she highly doubted that anything would slip into these sacred springs, especially considering some of the people that didn't volunteer and stayed behind seemed to be capable fighters. It didn't stop her from practicing her hopping and dodging though. “Can't you do that outside?!” One pony called out, drying off her mane. “Uhmm. No.” Was all Lyra said before hopping back into the springs and splashing her once more with the sacred spring water. “You're really pushing it!” She called out after Lyra. She simply put it to the back of her mind and continued the imaginary gauntlet around the caverns. Some of the Minotaur acolytes watched her curiously, coughing and pretending not to notice her rampage through the springs. They didn't seem too irritated by her little romp, which surprised her way more than the ponies who shouted obscenities at her. It was all going pretty swell until she tripped in one of the springs, soaking her and her blanket mantle. She simply lay there, glaring and dribbling air bubbles surfacing above her submerged snout. Some of the ponies dipping their hind legs into that particular spring giggled tremendously. She felt slightly embarrassed about her current state and slowly crawled out of the springs, sitting out near the mouth, dripping with spring water. “See? I knew you'd do something dumb like that!” The pony next to her said shaking her head, trying to get the perspiration out of her soaked mane. She didn't say anything back, but shivered, she didn't know why, but there was some sort of cold breeze blowing into the caverns now. Nothing to be concerned about, she told herself. It was probably like this most of the time in these caverns now that the land had been transformed. “Hey! Listen to me!” The pony yelled at her. She sighed and looked up to the ornery pony. “Yes...?” she asked in a dull tone. “That's better. Now tell me what compelled you to even do such a dumb thing?” “I had to practice...” “Practice what? Getting us all wet?” “No.” “It has something to do with your Human friend, doesn't it?” She didn't answer back to that one. She didn't need to, not to these ponies. They didn't understand what it was like having a Human for a friend. What it was like being held by one and living with one. “Gosh, you're weird.” The pony said bitterly. “You always were...” That hurt her more than it should have. They always thought she was weird because she didn't act like the rest of them. She didn't even like playing her lyre that much anymore, which put her out of place amongst the majority of the population. She should love playing the lyre, for Celestia's sake it was her own cutie mark! But she just didn't find any fascination with the thing anymore, not since she had had that dream depicting the light silhouette against the darkness of oblivion. It told her all about humanity and its place to play in Equestria's history. That's what changed it all. She had to learn more and more about humanity, but there was absolutely nothing she could find about the mysterious race. All the other ponies thought she was crazy for dedicating all her time to finding more about a race that nopony thought existed. Then Titus had come, and she could finally gain the secrets she had been dying to learn. She learned much from the Paladin that had seemed to appear out of nowhere, especially of his own world. It was amazing and she didn't think anything could get better than having a human around that actually was her friend. Until she had discovered that she had developed feelings for the human that fascinated her so. It was a bittersweet feeling, however, as he did not seem interested in any form of intimacy with her. It didn't stop her from having pokes and sending signals, however. She couldn't count the times the Paladin had simply ignored her flirtations. She remembered the night back at the abandoned palace that once belonged to Luna. She had tried to kiss him there, but he barely kept her away from his face, saying that they were just friends and she had only been able to get in a heartfelt hug. Overall, she had been left empty handed, but was just happy to have him around. The thought of not having him here was unbearable at this point, and she worried for his well being outside the cave. What had she been thinking letting him go off on his own? She felt tears rise to eyes as she continued to worry about him. Unfortunately, the other pony took notice of her moment of weakness. “What’s a matter? Gonna cry cause you ain't got your human here?” The pony was poking at all the sensitive spots. She wanted nothing more than to be gone from here. But couldn't find the will to get up and trot away. She had thought this would end now that Titus was a part of her life. But he wasn't here right now, and he couldn't be the watchmen for her right now. So she sat there and fought back tears, while the mean pony poked and prodded at her emotions further. “Come on! I thought you were better than this!” The pony said in a mocking tone. “Wahh! All you do is cry! I thought you didn't do that anymore!” She was on the verge of breaking out in tears when a voice shot well over the ponies mocking insults. “Hey! You shut up and leave her alone!” That voice was familiar for some reason. She hadn't heard it for a long time... but it still reminded her of trips to... The dentist! She looked up and saw Colgate giving the inconsiderate pony a piece of her mind. “Why don't you just get up and leave? You're nothing but a jerk! So get out of here!” The pony stared at Colgate for a few seconds before quickly shoveling off and grumbling in defeat. Colgate came up to her side and gave her a pat on the back. “Some ponies can be such jerks. Sorry about that.” Lyra looked back into the springs, still not feeling convinced by the sincerity that Colgate was offering. It was the first time another pony had defended her, and she wasn't too keen to believing it had just happened yet. “Hey... come on you can trust me. I talked to your human friend.” Colgate was trying hard to sound as sensitive as possible. Oh no. She talked to Titus? She must have told him about how crazy they all thought she was, and all sorts of lies about what she did. No wonder Titus wasn't acting normal around her when she came to him! Now she knew why he refused to let her tag along. He wasn't going to come back. She felt tears start to swell up in her eyes again. “Whoa, whoa, what’s wrong?” Colgate asked sitting down next to her. “What did you tell him?!” Lyra asked furiously. Colgate leaned away, scared by the sudden ferocity Lyra had presented. “Nothing! He told me!” “Told you what?!” “About you guys! Sheesh!” “Wh-what?” What could Titus have said about them? “How you two got here with the rest of us. You both had to go through some crazy stuff I heard.” She was dumbfounded. Titus didn't usually talk to anyone, but here he had been talking to Colgate about their adventures. She didn't know to feel good about the whole thing or embarrassed at what he might have said. “He really cares about you... you know.” Colgate suddenly said. “Huh?” Lyra looked up at that. “The way he told the story. It was always keeping you safe that came first to him.” “R-really?” Lyra couldn't believe what she was hearing. Colgate scowled at her. “Why would I lie? Anyways, yeah. I could tell that he meant it too. I should know, I'm a girl.” Lyra couldn't help but smile at the thought of Titus caring so much about her. “I never thought I was that important to him...” “You better think again, then!” Colgate called out happily, slapping her on the back once more. “Have you tried making a move on the fella yet?” she asked innocently. Lyra's stomach took a leap. But found she couldn't compel herself to lie to the dental pony. “Yes... but I don't think he's interested in that kind of way...” “Oh, whatever!” Colgate said. “You just gotta be a bit more forceful is all! Make him realize that it's going to happen your way, not his!” “I'm not sure if I follow...” Lyra said softly. “He seems like a guy that really isn't that talkative, but also used to doing things his way. You just gotta show him that it is going to work this time, and then he's all yours!” Colgate said proudly, flinging her hooves in the air for extra effect. “You really think that would work?” Lyra asked, hope washing over her. “Yeah! It should always work on guys!” Colgate said, still flinging around her hooves. “Okay... I'll try it sometime.” Lyra decided. “Great! I bet everything will go fine and you'll have yourself a human... coltfriend! Or... whatever they call it for them...” She looked over past Lyra and soon shot up. “Hey! That's my blanket! What do you think you're doing with it?!” She ran after the unseen blanket thieve, leaving Lyra to mull over the new found information she had received. Could it be that Titus really cared so much about her? The thoughts shot giddy butterflies through her stomach just at the slightest hint that it was possible. Could Colgate's advice really help her finally get Titus under an intimate snag? She sure hoped so, and made a mental note to take care of it whenever the Paladin got back. She would have continued the mulling had there not been a high pitched scream shooting and bouncing off the cavern walls. It sounded horrible, but there were words being made out, and she perked her ears up to try to make sense of it. “They're in the caves!! EVERYONE GET OUT!!” The voice was being stretched out from the horror it must have been feeling. It was time to get serious, Lyra thought. She shook off the rest of moisture from her green fur coat and made a mad dash for the slope leading to the entrance of the cave. She saw ponies running in the opposite direction, which confused her. Why would they try to keep themselves stuck in the caves? Then she realized that the Icebringers were already descending the slope into the springs. She doubled back, running away from the beckoning hoarse voices that the Icebringers possessed. “Friends... it's time to join the others in enjoying this amazing gift...” Nope. No way was she going to let those things get her. She quickly hopped under a nearby display table. She poked her head out from under, hoping that none of the Icebringers had seen her. She bopped herself on the head for not being braver and tried hard to keep her breathing from giving away her position. Luckily the Icebringers slipped right by the table, gliding after the ponies that had run to the back of the cave. She scolded herself for not doing anything to help them. They were going to get frozen and there was nothing she could do to stop it. She jumped when she felt something tap her on the shoulder. She fought back a yelp and hit her head on the bottom of the table, soon holding her head in pain. “Relax it's just me. Colgate.” She gave a silent thanks to Celestia after the realization and turned to her new friend. “What are you doing here?” “Doing something with sense, unlike the rest of those dimwits.” She looked over to the spring. “We gotta do something... you see those to bedpans over there?” Lyra nodded as she followed Colgate's gaze. “Good, let’s fill em with some of the spring water and splash it all over them!” “Are you sure it will work?” Lyra asked hesitantly. “Trust me! Come on!” She suddenly darted out from under the table, magicking up a bedpan with her horn. Lyra followed and did the same thing. Soon both bedpans were filled the sacred spring water. She couldn't help but feel like she was disrespecting the spring in some way by carrying the water in some as degrading and unmentionable as a bedpan. But if it helped her live to see another day, so be it. Colgate hopped onto the table they had been hiding under and began shouting at the Icebringers for their attention. “Hey, you pasty little sorry excuses for a race! Why don't you come over here and show me what you skinny washouts can do?!” “What are you doing?!” Lyra hissed up at her. “Saving the day... duh!” Colgate spat back. The Icebringers closing in on the ponies pinned to the wall soon took notice of the challenge being called out to them. They took the bait and soon were coming down on the blue pony still shouting at them from the table. “That's more like it!” As soon as the Icebringers were just feet away from the table, Colgate hopped back off the table and threw forth the bedpan with her magic. It hit one of the Icebringers squarely on the head, hanging from the toilet seat. The water splashed onto its faceless head, and it screeched out in agony, a mouth suddenly stretching across its face, giving way to the its voice. She turned to Lyra. “Throw it now! Before they attack again!” She didn't have to take the command twice and threw forth her own bedpan. It hit one in the chest and the spring water splashed onto several others, causing them to mimic their already injured brethren. Unfortunately upon contact, the bedpans had frozen completely and the smooth metal began to unbelievably crack under the ice's grasp. Knowing that they wouldn't get another chance like that, they ran and dove under another table, looking desperately for another container to harness the power of the spring water with. There were no more bedpans over near this table, causing Colgate to surprisingly let out a profanity. Lyra looked over to where they had faced the Icebringers. They were holding their heads in between their pale hands, shaking violently and trying to stand up despite the injury they had received. They may have gotten away with that, but Lyra knew that this was more than likely the end of the line if they got back up. She just hoped that they wouldn't find them under the table far away. She didn't want to end up like the others, not when there was so much she needed to do. She should have been at Titus' side right now, where he could protect her from these monsters. “No friend can hide from the gift.....”