Icon: Remnants of the North

by Vixavior

Act 4- Chapter 9: Run For It

Run for It
Proofread by TehSporkBandit

---

”Now then, Crystal Eyes, you’re home. Get!” The grasping hands finally let go of you, sending you reeling through the air and crashing down on the cold stone floor. You roll to a stop as a clamour of hooves meld with the crash of the slamming door. Pain from your broken tooth lances through your jaw and blood still trickles from your lips as you suck in a few breaths of air through your nose to avoid the potential daggers of cold air.

“Suga'cube?! Y'alright?” Applejack races over, skidding to your side as you raise your head and spit out a mouthful of blood.

“Yeah.” You swallow back the pain that swiftly changes the shock to nausea. Strong hooves lift you up from the floor, even if all you needed was a little support to steady your shaking limbs.

A gentle caress brushes against your lip. “You’re bleeding. My-my, hold still. Applejack, may I have one of those scarves? That is, if you aren’t using it.” Fluttershy tilts your head up but you thrust your palm up to redirect some of her concern. “Saw 'ahhh'” she mimes opening her mouth.

“I’m fin for now, kinda. Look, Ulf is waiting for some Day of Destiny thing. We’ve got, like… what, ten minutes before Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie screw something up? And we still can’t get to Rarity-”

Fluttershy whispers back to Applejack while you carry on, “At least we have some balsam for that tooth.”

“-or Twi.... wait really?” She had mentioned that it solved toothaches here, which made your mind divert into the thoughts about painkillers. It was brought to the forefront above your other concerns when Fluttershy’s gentle pat on your swelling jaw, made it feel like she’d shoved a needle into your gums.

“Sure as sugar do. Rarity's been complainin' about the smell. And the food, and the company.” Applejack shakes her head with a resigned sigh. “Besides,” she quickly pats the dust from your pants, “we actually got a real good idea about how ta' get Rarity outta’ there an’ escape.”

“How?” You spit out some blood and realize they were both looking at you again.

“You si’down proper like an’ ah’ll tell ya’.”

You shake off the idea, “Look, we don’t have time, Ulf is hellbent on using the five Unicorns he’s caught for some ‘take-over-the-world’ scheme. He thinks they’re the Elements of Harmony. So he’s using them and the Gremlins to set up the world here however he wants it, and then he’ll get Twilight to open another mirror rift thing and get back home to... get…” You’d inadvertently painted yourself into a corner.

Well, no way out of this one.

“Ahem,” you clear your throat noisily before continuing, “Ulf wants to leave and do this again somewhere else.”

“Maybe so, but ya’ ain’t looking well. Ah’ll sit on his chest and hold ‘em still for ya’, Fluttershy. An’ don’t you think ah won’t.” Her narrow green eyes and pursed freckled face softens to a worry creased smile, “Sit.” The farmpony helps to pull you up into a seated position near the fireplace.

“We really have to look at that tooth,” Fluttershy insists and gently mops your brow where sweat had formed without you knowing, “otherwise it will be very-very troublesome.”

Applejack sits with her back to yours. Soon, you hear her rifling through her pack while Fluttershy pokes and prods your tender cheek. You try to look back at Applejack but Fluttershy holds your face still, “They didn't take that away from you yet?”

“Nah, don't think they fancied a tussle o'r one little ol' bag like this.” Applejack sighs, “Too bad we don’t got pitons or anythin' like that. Buuut, it still might be useful.” The indistinct pause is broken by the sound of tearing cloth. The industrious mare produces a needle and thread from one of the pack's many pockets.

“Alright, but we don't have time for this. Not even to sort out this toothache.” You gently pull back from Fluttershy as a little trail of saliva runs down her hoof, “We have to get Rarity and Twilight out of there. It’s too dangerous, if Celestia falls into that trap then there might not be a functioning Equestria left.”

“Ah know it’s scary, but yer worryin-” Applejack’s comforting words only spurs on the rising surge of irritation.

“You said you had a plan, so what is it?” Fluttershy quails and dips her head at the sound of your raised voice.

“Quit yer huffin’, now.” Applejack barks back abruptly. With a sigh, she stands and peers up the soot stained chimney, “It ain't gonna help and yer just gonna’ be in more of a fix. We’re waitin’ on Rarity. She’s tyin’ most of them scarves an' blankets together ‘cause our rope ain't long enough after ya' cut it in half back in the swamp. Yer a sight bigger than either of us and yer legs are longer’n ours. So you can probably get up there easier than either of us. Ah know, ah tried. So, ya' wanted to know that plan, right? Here it is: you shinny on up that chimney and help us up when ya’ get ta’ Rarity's room-”

“There’s a fireplace grate up there. What if it’s sunk into the wall or locked?”

“It ain't, now hush up.” Applejack even smirks and gives you the faintest cuff up the side of the head. It's not enough to hurt but you feel a flush and a smile wiggle across your face. “Anyway, you can slide up there, the grates just pull right off, so ya’ can get to Rarity-”

“Yoo-hoo.” An urgent stage whisper echoes down the chimney flue as Applejack makes a strained huff of irritation at the second interruption. “Do hurry up, but mind the silk. And please, don't let it catch fire. It stinks if it starts to smolder, and it's a tremendous waste. Catch.”

She was smart, the bottom two or maybe three lengths were made of silk which didn’t burn well. The tiny fire was no threat, and it would give you some warmth without much smoke.

“This is attached to something, right?” you call up and see Rarity silhouetted against the bleak sky like an Equestrian version of the madonna, halo and all.

“Mais bien, sûr! I’ll help as best I can.” As you ready yourself to climb, there is a calming blue aura that starts to coalesce around you, pricking your skin with soft bubbly sparks. The weight lifts from your shoulders rather suddenly, like all the tension is gone and you are nearly floating on air.

Turning back to Applejack, you smile and nod, liking where the plan was going as you interpret the rest, “Then I get up to Rarity, tie the rope somewhere, help pull everypony up, get a guard’s attention, get them to open the door to break out, then get Rainbow and Pinkie to pick us up. Then we break Twilight out of that throne room, and be out in a few minutes.”

Your two friends merely look at each other, then back at you, “What about the four other ponies?” Fluttershy ventures.

“And? What about them? We need to get Rarity and Twilight out, then ourselves, then the others if we can find them.”

“Well who’s going to get them out if we don't? What if Ulf hurts them, or worse. He might if we escape with just Twilight and Rarity.”

“They might be dead or wish they were dead already. Rarity's here but she's only been here a few days.”

“Rarity said they weren’t.”

“Yeah, well, Rarity…” you rethink that. “Well, what do you expect? We’re right here; we can't just endanger everything blindly looking around for a few Unicorns elsewhere. It’s already a miracle Rarity is so close by. I mean… I don't like it, who would, but don't you think a castle full of Gremlins are going to notice us wandering around with a string of terrified ponies trotting behind us, then just waltz out the front door? No. More likely, we get noticed, lose the element of surprise, and then have to make a break for it and hope Rainbow and Pinkie can get to us in time. That's pretty much a best case sce-” A hoof quickly closes your mouth as Applejack looks into your eyes.

“Dumplin',” Applejack’s calm and collected voice is as soft as it is patronizing, “yer talkin’ about leavin’ all those ponies behind. Just calm down. Ya’ ain’t thinking so cle-”

You emphatically toss a hand up, slapping her hoof away in the process, “Screw them. We're out to get out friends back, everypony else is irrelevant.” The silence in the wake of that statement is deafening.

“Y-you don’t mean tha-” Applejack starts but a hollow sucking howl like the gasp of a grave rushes down the fireplace chimney with a deep sweeping curl of cold, smothering the fire and her shocked protest.

The fireplace isn’t just cold, large sprawling floral trails of frost are left in the wake of the primeval roar, like it had never been warmed since the dawn of time. Shivers, unrelated to the temperature, course through your limbs, “What the hell was that?!”

You cast a look to your left, only to see Applejack’s eyes open as wide as saucers, “No-no-no. Whoa Nelly. Ya' did hear that, Fluttershy, it wasn't just me, right?” The farm pony looks over at Fluttershy.

The gentle Pegasi's stiff and automatic nod said it all, “I heard it, but I really wish I didn't.”

Taking the rope you grunt and set your back against the rear of the fireplace. “Just calm down. I'll go get Rarity and pull you two up one at a time, then we’ll look for the other missing ponies. Maybe Rarity's room will be easier to escape from. After all, there’s only supposed to be one pony there, right?”

You quickly grasp the rope as Applejack fastens the pack around your back. The top had been half-torn and stitched up so the lead was hooked through a nearly torn eye-hole so Rarity could cinch up any extra slack and keep you from plummeting back down the chute if you lost your footing. “Ah know you’re scared, but that’s okay. Just do what’s right. Take care now, ya’ hear?” Applejack nuzzles under your arm before giving you a hearty pat on the back to send you to the chimney.

There was time for a single look back before you had to divert your attention up to that dismal grey light so far above you. “I hope we have one damned window room so we can get Rainbow’s attention.” You take the rope, and pull.

This is a ridiculously stupid idea. We should get go straight up to the roof, what are they thinking?!

Looking up into the yawning abyss, the interior of the chimney was all crystalline as if you were inside a geode. Some of the ice crystals were upwards of an inch long, like a toothed maw. “A-Applejack, the fire went out!” Rarity’s voice fills the narrow passageway as you scrape your collar against the soot and frost, leaving a blackened trail with your back while your feet churn up a flaked grey mixture with every kick.

“You’re doing really well.” Fluttershy’s encouragement would have been pleasant if it wasn’t after just three and a half feet of climbing. It wasn’t going to be easy, but, you start your way up, hand over hand, walking your way up to Rarity’s level. Every footstep, every shrug or twitch of your back, sounds like it was cracking a thin pane of glass. It’s tiring, the soot encrusted sides fleck off and the chilling winds drift down with a lonely whine. Thankfully, there isn't another of those bone chilling screeches.

“Come on. Not too much further, dear.” You listen to Rarity’s whisper, watching her throw the metal grate open with a languid groan. A shower of soot and dust rattles down the chimney on top of you, coaxing a ragged cough from your lungs. Your back aches and fingers feel numb, but the haze of magic must be keeping anything from getting worse. Closing in on that grate, Rarity keeps it pushed up against the stone wall. The Unicorn is only a few feet away now as you twist, just enough to get your fingers on the edge of the small ledge inside the fireplace.

“C’moooon, yer almost there!” an encouraging Applejack calls.

“Now, you’re going to want to turn, and slowly twist to your right, eaaasy and smooth. One hoof, err-claw... finger, at a time. Theeeere.” The cooingis almost insufferable but Rarity’s gentle grasp under your arm makes it apparent she isn’t just supervising. “Rarity's got you, darling.” Pulling you up, there is a resounding cheer of accomplishment from the floor beneath you, singing your praises to the apathetic skies. You, on the other hand, have been pulled a few feet across the floor and now marvel at Rarity’s room.

Its large, open design is a far cry from the simple dour room down below. Each shelf is lined with exotic looking bottles and fetishistic artworks made of carved ivory and stone, several wooden stands hold large basins of water that shimmer with beaten brass linings. Lamps are hung at every corner of the room, giving light to the furs and tapestries lining the walls. As you gaze up, crude but colourful frescoes wheel overhead in tall, arching vaults like an Italian chapel; each picture portrays scenes of stars and moons, pictures of triumph and sorcery, Humans, Ponies, Gremlins, Dragons, and dozens of other mythic and non-mythic legends alike. Aside from that, a great canopy bed with blue drawn veils sits nearly made on the other side of the room. It is a suite, a grand medieval chamber that could have easily sated the needs of the greatest medieval king. Unfortunately, there is still no window here either. Rainbow and Pinkie would have to be signaled some other way..

Rarity’s prison is a true gilded cage and you are nothing more than an exhausted pauper muddying up the view.

On the other hoof, Rarity is cloaked in white linens and swaddled in wide bolts of airy gold fabric. “My knight in shining armour!” She pulls you to your feet, “Dear, are you hurt? Let me see!” She insists, tugging at the few blood spattered blotches on your clothing.

“No, no it's not too ba-Ah!” She lifts a hoof to your jaw and strokes your swelling cheek as the painful wave washes over you like the tide.

You only vaguely make out what Rarity says as she almost seems to fade amid the pulsating pain in your jaw. The Unicorn returns moments later, giving the shockingly pained cheek a quick kiss as a motherly apology before pressing a hoof to your chin and gently pressing down. “I'm ever so sorry, dear. Toothaches can be absolutely horrendous, truly beastly. Be a good boy and say 'Ahh'.”

Like Fluttershy, she coaxes your mouth open and winces, eyes welling up,, applying a strangely sweet golden oil to your mouth. “Sweet Celestia, how in the world...” She winces while pouring a strangely sweet golden oil from a shallow dish into your mouth. It strings from the cold for a moment, but in moments the fragrant balm takes effect and deadens the pain. “How did you acquired such a positively dreadful wound?”

“Gremlin.”

“They're always burning this bothersome stuff until I said it gave me a headache. Which it did. Cloying sweet smoke is anything but good for a perfect white coat or a nice complexion, and right now… oh, I’m sorry, I know, I look positively dreadful. But I couldn’t take a bath like I wanted and remain incognito. I shudder to think what these barbarians would do if they caught on to our little ruse.”

Well, one Gremlin does know. Why he hasn’t said anything is something else entirely.

“I might not be a knight, I’m just a squire you know. Still, you look great, all things considered.” You pat her cheek, though your shoulder suddenly pops with a faint release of pressure. Combined with the coolness on your jaw, it doesn't feel half bad.

Rarity’s quiet murmur and needy nuzzle against your hand melds with an exaggerated sniff and breath, “You’re just saying that…”

Damn it, this better not be an ego thing, we don't have time.

Rarity's eyes stand as azure pools of fear and relief; it is hard to fault her for wanting some reassurance. She'd been here for days, alone and with the constant threat of death hovering above her head. The embrace causes her to keep bubbling up all the other repressed feelings as she lays her chin on your shoulder and you awkwardly pat her back. Nevertheless, it wasn’t overly comfortable as her horn keeps rubbing against your neck. “It’s o-”

“Hey, y'all almost ready there?” Applejack's echoing question jars you back into the present.

“Give me a second.” It’s probably a terrible job at comforting her, but there just isn't the time to spend that you needed, or the tea and cakes to smooth things over for that matter.

“Rarity,” you look towards the large carved door off to your right, “no one’s going to barge in, right?”

“N-hic-no.” Rarity hiccups as you gently pat her on the back.

“The other Unicorns, they’re back there?”

Rarity bobs her head and loudly sniffs, “P-pardonez mo-hic-moi. Yes, yes, the wardens check on us every hour. I’m almost certain it’s just the five of us, and Twilight, but she’s upstair- hic-airs. They’ll be checking on me again in about ten minutes. Hic, I told you I was a mess.” With her mascara running and nose an unsightly flush red, she is starting to actually look it, too.

You’ve regained your breath and given her a few moments of attention, rubbing her withers in tight concentric circles. “Listen, I’m going to get you out of here, you’re going to be safe. You’re going to be fine. I’ll pull Applejack up and you’ll help. Then Fluttershy. After that, we’ll need your best dramatic performance to catch the guard’s attention. Something dreadful. Does everypony here have their own guard?” She shakes her head to keep the unsightly warble in check. “Hmm, alright. We’ll signal Rainbow and Pinkie, pick Twilight up, and we'll be on our way back home.”

A lingering pall of reluctance pries you from Rarity as you watch the pony staring at you through tear-stained eyes, a trembling muzzle, as if she would never see you again. Her chest, her back, even her cheeks are soot streaked, but a little grime hardly matters now.

You quickly unbuckle the exceptionally uncomfortable Equine harness with the rope tether and call down, “Heads up, AJ.” Tossing the harness down, you cross over towards the bed where the impromptu rope is hitched to the bedpost in a few pleasant bows. Thankfully, it comes loose in a trice and you wind the linen cord around the post then around your shoulders. “Alright…” that feels like the only thing to say as you head back over to the fireplace. Taking the rope, you tug on it a few times.

You hear the low murmur of voices down below and hope that they aren’t talking about what you said earlier. Rarity didn’t know… well, she might have heard a bit, but she couldn’t be certain. That little slip had stunned them as much as the sudden axe blow to the Carrion Lord. How would Rarity deal with that?

“Alright, ah’m comin’ up.”

You set your back to the edge of the fireplace and look behind you as Rarity skips over towards the edge, tactically avoiding the soot and clinging to the opposite pillar. Her horn begins to glow and she gives you a nod. “Alright.” You mumble and heave. Your back pops as your shoulder pulls. Applejack is a solid, tough, dependable, but extremely heavy pony. She isn’t plump like Twilight is, and that muscle makes her all the heavier. There is that awkward memory of having her sitting on your shoulders, that burden was bad enough but now it was having to haul her up a whole floor as dead weight.

As your grasp begins to falter and your fingers throb with the first pulsing pangs of a cramp, it’s hard enough to keep a grip on the taut rope let alone pull any further. “Rarity, tie the rope, tie the rope!” You seeth as your strength begins to fade.

“Just a touch more, dear.” As the burning strain in your chest and arms becomes unbearable, you open your eyes and see an orange hoof slide up to grasp the edge of the fireplace.

Rarity stretches over to hold the grating up and keeping it from falling on Applejack’s head as the farm-mare scrambles into the room. “C’mon, little bit of a swing… Be a dear and lend a hoof.” Rarity calls back as you cinch the line tight and drag yourself over.

Applejack scrapes at the edge of the chimney, gritting her teeth while muttering, “Ah'm fine... just a little, hmmph-” she grunts as Rarity, then yourself, grasp her under her forelegs. The farmpony strains as you set your feet in the fireplace, her head practically in your lap as you drag her backwards onto you and Rarity.

Rarity squirms out from under the pile Applejack swiftly pulls herself to her feet. You look up at the mare who looks just as sweat-stained and disheveled as you. Her usually glimmering coat is caked in soot, smeared and fanned through every inch of fur in chalky black and grey ash, including her golden mop of a mane. “Leg still hurting?”

The Dickensian chimney sweep of a pony flashes a thankful smile with a warm emerald glitter in her eyes. “Nah, just keepin' it fully out like that's a good way ta' stiffen it up. Besides, it's icy.” She stamps a few times and scrapes the bottom of her horseshoe against the stone edge of the fireplace.

It is enough to cause a smile to spread across your face. “You got a little something there.” You gently pat the side of your face as she reflexively moves to do the same, caking on another layer of soot rather than cleaning it off.

She realizes the ruse in a heartbeat smirks, “Har-dee-harr-harr.” Applejack's tap on your uninjured shoulder sends up a puff of black powder. “Looks who’s talkin’. Now c’mon,” she quickly worms her way out of the harness and drops it back down to Fluttershy. “Fluttershy, put this on and we'll haul you up. Okay?”

A mousey ‘okay’ filters up from the deeps below you despite the concern and encouragement. Applejack circles back around to take up the slack on the rope, adding add her considerable strength to your own. Fluttershy was easily scared, and the nervous jangle of buckles and unsteady tap of hooves is definite. “Don’t worry, you’ll be right up here with us in a few seconds, alright?” You quietly call down to the mare.

Small tendrils of white mist creep down the chimney like spreading tentacles. Whether soot or stone, wherever the mist touches, ice formations bloom into existence in sinister snaking patterns that crackle and pop to life. Even your toes feel like they have been plunged into a bucket of water. You quickly kick away from the rapidly cooling fireplace.

“You sure recover quick, AJ.” You blink and look at the mussed up farmpony, golden locks frayed and stuck out at odd angles. The brown stetson is nowhere in sight, “Hey, your hat!” You cast a glance around for the prized possession.

“Don’t you fret, Fluttershy's keepin' it.”

Rarity smirks back, “Recover quick, hmm? Well, Earthmares do. Anyway, is everypony ready?”

Applejack pokes your hip with her hoof, “Might as well get behind, else ah’m just pullin’ down on ya.” Taking up a grip behind her, she picks up the linen cord, “Reggy!” She flicks her tail and waves it left and right like the starting flag at a race track. “Seht…. Powl!”

The rope whips back and coils at your feet as she yanks the lead and backs up, “Gah, not so fast!”

The strength of the Earthpony was impressive; there's no need for a slow pull-and-cinch crawl like you'd managed before with her, you can actually hear the rope knots rubbing against the stone edge of the fireplace. You stop only once, winding the impromptu rope around the bedpost before pulling it around like a spindle before Fluttershy pops out of the fireplace like a rabbit from its hutch.

Rarity helps the Pegasus up to her hooves before embracing her with a coo. The shaking Pegasus had been hauled up as quickly as an elevator despite a few mewling protests, and her hooves, chest, and muzzle are completely covered in soot and thick ice crystal formations. You and Applejack just rest on the floor for a second, looking over the pair. She pats your side, a quiet and affirmative ‘good work’ which brings an involuntary smile to your face.

There is a scrape at the door, a bar being shifted by scratching claws. A thin weedy voice calls from the other side of the thick wood, “Mistress, we have to be sure of your fire and food.”

“Be ready.” Applejack whispers and crouches as you kneel alongside her. It is easy to see the course of events: the way would be unbarred, the door would creep open, Applejack would buck it back and knock the creature flat, you would slip around and fetch the keys. It was foolproof.

The locking bar scratches along the metal and stone ties.

Just one more se-

There is an earth-shattering rumble that courses through the floor, shaking the walls and ceiling. Plate slabs of plaster rain down from the cracked ceiling, kicking up an impenetrable white cloud. “AJ, door!” The farmpony bucks hard, cracking the door right down the middle. Throwing your shoulder against it, the wood buckles, smashing a gaping wound in the dessicated wood as a whole plank gives way.

“Move!” You barely roll out of the way as Applejack bucks again, demolishing the damaged door, sending only a few scraps of wood rocking back against the wall on bent hinges. The rest of the wooden structure scatters across the floor like matchsticks and kindling. The Gremlin lay sprawled in a twitching heap a few feet away, knocked senseless by a hefty chunk of now pulverized plaster that turned its ruddy hide stark white.

Outside the dust choked suite is a large well-lit rotunda covered in the same vaults and plaster with various tapestries of gold and taupe. Around you are four other doorways, each embossed with the distinct emblem of a separate cutie mark above the lintel, and each is sealed with a thick oak bar and iron lock. But on your left is an open hallway with its flimsy wooden door unbarred and unguarded. You glimpse what lies on the other side: it's a single familiar hall with a broken chair and blood stained floor, across the hall is that banquet hall you'd met Ulf in not long before.

“If that crash was from upstairs we’ve got to get going!” You wave your companions forward into the open hall. All three want to help the various ponies stuck behind these doors but a terrible feeling churns in your guts: hopefully, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie hadn't gotten ‘bored’ and spoiled your one chance at getting everypony out. “Please-Please-Please don’t do anything stu…”

You glimpse a Gremlin Carrion Lord and its retinue as they rush up the steps into the banquet hall behind you. It looks over, beady red eyes locking with yours. “Keep running and don’t stop!” You dart up towards the stairs, thundering ahead while the drone of clattering hooves on stone rings behind you. You don’t dare stop now.

Up the flight of stairs you race, three companions hot on your tail. “Right!” The left is a hallway chock full of Ravens. You fling yourself right and through the empty hallway before climbing again, nearly skidding to the far side of the wall on the landing, and up the last short flight of stairs before careening into the grand chamber. The great dual doors loom up in front of you, brazen knob, stately finish, and elaborate etchings towering above everything else like some millenium vault. All are ignored as you throw your shoulder against the wood and press the brass lever.

The doors thunder open with a laborious groan, spilling you into the wind-lashed chamber beyond.