Act III - Ch. 25 To The North!
Chapter 25 To The North!
***
Twilight’s horn lit up, cutting through the white gloom of the blizzard. It howled around her, but she pressed on. Spike, walking at her side with a claw clutching her saddlebag, occasionally let out puffs of green fire that managed to alleviate some of the cold. Each step she had to force herself to make, her weary limbs dragging her down. A tug reminded her that she wasn’t alone.
Strung along behind her, her friends followed in her wake. A rope connected them, keeping the group of seven from becoming lost. Even Rainbow Dash, her wings tucked within the sleeves of the woolen jumper Fluttershy had made for her, had agreed after the second time a blizzard had formed over them in the space of a few minutes. It was this or risk getting split up, which none of them wanted.
A sharp tug drew Twilight’s attention back. She looked at Applejack, the next in line. With a jerk of her head the farm pony gestured for Twilight to step back. Pausing for a moment, they swapped ropes, leaving Applejack to take the lead. Twilight let her horn’s light vanish, relief washing over her as the dull ache from constant magic use faded. Her magic reserves were fine, she had more than enough to last for a lot longer, but there was no reason to push it. Applejack had her own means of getting through the snow and ice, possibly even more effective than Twilight’s method.
A swirl of snow blinded Twilight. When she opened her eyes a moment later, Applejack had vanished within gleaming angelic armour. The armoured mare began her relentless march through the blizzard. Where Twilight had forged their path with magic diverting the winds and the snow, Applejack became a living battering ram that smashed the slush and ice away. Her steps rung into the earth, blowing away the snow and leaving bare earth and grass in her wake.
“We’re nearly to the end!” Rarity called to Twilight, shouting to be heard over the wind. She too was clad in woolen clothing crafted by Fluttershy. For all she considered herself the most appropriate to dress her friends, she had to admit that Fluttershy’s knitwear was wonderfully warm. Far warmer than it should be, in fact, and she was not the only one among them to have noticed that even the many parts of her body left exposed felt as though they were cradled in a layer of warmth and protection.
Twilight nodded, understanding why they had changed the lead. With Applejack leading the way in her impenetrable armour when she cleared the blizzard, any windigos waiting to ambush the first one out would be in for a serious surprise. Levitating Spike onto her back and ignoring his complaints, Twilight buckled down and pressed on, head lowered against the wind.
A few more minutes of struggling through the blizzard and what was apparent to Rarity’s enhanced vision became obvious to the others. Applejack burst from the blizzard, rime lining her armoured form that glittered in the afternoon light. She cast her gaze around, searching for signs of enemies. All she found was an average Equestrian field before her. Behind her, a blizzard. Rainbow Dash described it as a perfect ring from above, although she had only made one trip high enough to see. Applejack scowled at the white wall. The rope loosened as Twilight and Spike emerged, shaking off the loose snow.
“We’re all clear that Ah can see sugarcube.” Applejack began untying the rope. She didn’t let the armour fade quite yet, retaining it just in case.
Twilight nodded as Rarity arrived, removing her woolen hat and letting her mane bounce free in a flip that made Spike drool and go teary eyed.
“What a relief! The third horrible little storm since we started this horrid journey yesterday!” She huffed, her magic untying the knot of her rope the moment Fluttershy stumbled out.
Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash didn’t waste time just walked out. They erupted from the veil of contained snow at the same time, performing combat rolls and coming up in aggressive stances; Pinkie stood on her back legs, moving her forehooves in front of her like a boxer and hopping from side to side. Rainbow Dash let her wings fold in and unarched her back from her own posture, scowling.
“No windigoes? Again? Come on!”
“I think that’s a good thing,” Spike remarked dryly. Fluttershy nodded meekly in agreement, packing her beanie into her saddlebags.
“Wrong,” Rainbow Dash whined. “It’s boring! I mean, come on! We have these magic powers, let’s use them on something! All they do is make stupid blizzards and then buzz off. If he wanted us to come to him, why the heck is Ardleon is making things harder?”
The others exchanged worried looks at that. Rainbow Dash had a point. Pinkie, who hadn’t joined in with the others looking worried, shrugged.
“It’s not like it’s gonna stop us, right? We’re gonna go find him, and we’ll show that meany-head what happens when you mess with us!” she declared.
Rarity gave her a critical look. “What exactly happens, dear?” she asked curiously.
“A party!” Pinkie blinked a few times as she thought over what she said. “Wait, no, not a party! He’s being mean, so he doesn’t get a party! He’s a...a..”
“A beat down!” Rainbow Dash took over. “We’re gonna find that bozo and show him a-”
“A picture of kittens to calm him down?” Pinkie interrupted.
“What? No! A-”
“A foal photo so he knows we were all young and naive once upon a time?”
“No! A-”
“Good ti-”
“No!” Rainbow Dash ground her teeth together, scowling as she set off in the direction they had been heading. “I give up.”
Pinkie Pie bounced determinedly after her. “Wait, Dashie, you shouldn’t grind your teeth, it’s bad for them,” she called.
A chuckle spread among the others and they followed along, packing away their sections of the rope. Between her magic and her ability to sense flaws in the woven fibers, Rarity would easily reweave the sections of rope together when they needed a single long piece.
“Rainbow Dash does have a point,” she pointed out. Trotting alongside Twilight, she gave Spike a warm smile before focusing on Twilight again. “What could that dreadful angel gain from this?”
Twilight was silent for a moment, frowning thoughtfully. As cold as the weather was, she felt quite pleasantly warm. Fluttershy was doing more than just knitting when she made these clothes. Twilight suspected she literally wove her emotions into the wool, adding love and life and feelings into empty vessels and crafting...armour. Armour not for the body, but the for the mind and soul.
Shaking the thoughts on the curious effects of Angelic essence, Twilight focused on Rarity and her question.
“He could be trying to tire us out. Make it so we’re weak and exhausted when we get there,” she suggested.
Spike scratched his spines, staring up at the gloomy grey clouds, thinking it over as well while Rarity nodded at Twilight’s idea.
“That makes sense. Do you think that means we’re close?” There was a note of hope in her voice.
“After a day? I’m not sure. He just said north, so technically, yes, but something about the way he said it…” Twilight sighed in frustration. “I can’t help but think he’s meant the far north, near the glaciers.”
Rarity shuddered at the thought. “Goodness! That will take us weeks traveling like this. We’ll be exhausted enough without all this.”
“Maybe he doesn’t know that,” Spike joined in suddenly. He shrugged when they both looked at him.
“What do you mean?” asked Twilight.
“Well, that he’s an angel right? Like Paladin? Paladin sure didn’t know how a pony worked, and he is a pony now. Maybe Ardleon doesn’t know how much that will exhaust us, so he’s just kind of throwing stuff at us to be sure.” Spike ran a claw over his spines nervously. He clearly didn’t like the idea of travelling for so long with windigoes dogging their every step.
“That….that would make a lot of sense,” the studious unicorn conceded. Twilight couldn’t fight the frown she wore now almost constantly. She mentally calculated the distance, pulling out a map. A small mountain barely visible in the distance helped her confirm their general location and she winced.
Applejack and Fluttershy slowed to join the trio, the farmer spotting Twilight’s look of consternation.
“What’s wrong sugarcube? Ya look like ya’ll just found a peach in yer apple cart.”
Fluttershy made a very, very small frown. “Um, I like peaches…”
“We’re a long way away from where I think Ardleon wanted us to be. At least a month. That is really, really bad,” Twilight explained. Frustration was evident in her tone and expression.
“All those poor ponies…” Fluttershy shivered,her wings clinging tightly to her back through the cream-coloured wool of her jumper.
Twilight nodded gravely. “The Princesses looked exhausted from driving the windigoes off twice, I can’t imagine how tired they must be now. Another month...I don’t know if they could take it, much less be in any state to fight Ardleon.”
“We shall simply have to figure out a way to move faster. Perhaps you or Rainbow Dash could teleport us?” suggested Rarity with a hopeful glimmer in her eye.
It was a workable idea, at first glance. But a moment of thought had Twilight shaking her head.
“Rainbow Dash has gotten more proficient at teleporting, but teleporting all seven of us will likely tax her to exhaustion. For it to be worth the expenditure of energy and effort she would have to move us very far, which she isn’t capable of. Teleporting four ponies, including herself, from the middle of Ponyville to outside completely exhausted her from what you told me.”
“Oh…” Rarity lowered her head, her face a mask of disappointment.
“What about you, Twilight?” Laying a wing over Rarity, Fluttershy looked hopefully at her friend. She felt the answer before Twilight said anything, the bitter tang of disappointment radiating from her.
“Without knowing exactly where she wants to go, Twilight can’t teleport accurately,” Spike said before Twilight could. “I mean, she could totally move all of us across like a third of Equestria but she’d get tired and she’d have to have see where she’s teleporting us first.”
“Oh, poo,” Fluttershy murmured.
They trotted along in silence, the only sounds the crunch of grass under their hooves and Pinkie’s mirth ahead of them. The quiet was suddenly broken with a flash of light, Rainbow Dash dropping Pinkie to the ground in front of the others.
“What is taking you guys so long?” she demanded or, more accurately, whined.
Twilight stared at Rainbow Dash, her mouth hanging open. Something had sparked with Rainbow Dash’s arrival, her casual teleportation of herself and Pinkie Pie sending a blaze of inspiration across her mind.
Spike poked Twilight gently. “Uh, Twilight, you’re staring.”
Rainbow Dash shot him a cocky grin as she said, “oh, come on, give her a break. I am pretty damn awesome. Not surprising she’s starin-”
“I have it!” Twilight’s shout of jubilation rang out across the field. She pulled Rainbow Dash down into a hug, letting the bamboozled mare go after a moment. “I know what to do! Thank you Rainbow Dash.”
“Er...okay. Hey, guys, that was pretty awesome of me, wasn’t it?” Rainbow Dash, after a moment of indecision, happily lapped up the praise.
Applejack gave her an arched look. “What exactly was awesome?” she asked flatly, knowing as well as the rest that Rainbow Dash had no idea what she was taking credit for.
“Dunno.. But I guess when you’re as awesome as me you don’t have to do stuff for it to show,” the pegasus said with a lazy shrug.
Rolling her eyes at Rainbow’s inelegant bragging, Rarity instead addressed Twilight, who was beaming with the smile of someone who just got all the answers right on her test.
“Twilight, darling, whatever is it? Which problem?” she asked.
Twilight began to consult her map, but she was still clearly excited over her new idea.
“It’s simple, so simple I can’t believe I didn’t think of it. Rainbow Dash teleporting with Pinkie over here made me think of it,” she began to explain. “The effort to teleport other ponies should be increasing with each extra pony besides herself, maybe something like the distance times the amount of mass...anyway! If Rainbow Dash can teleport further with fewer ponies, we can start moving much faster.”
“You want me to teleport everypony, one at a time?” Rainbow Dash asked nervously, an element of uncertainty creeping into her voice. She quickly tried to squash it, but not quickly enough.
Twilight shook her head. “No, I don’t. I’m just establishing how I think your teleportation works. I was able to study some of the Princesses’ long-range translocation spell; I think I can teleport large groups easier, but I’ll have more restrictions. I want you to fly as far as you think you’re comfortable with, preferably landing in a town or a camp, somewhere safe. You memorise the location, then teleport back to where you left us, so you can teleport me to the spot you found. Once I’ve seen the place, I can lay down a locational anchor to help me pin-point it and you can teleport us back to the others again-”
“-so you can teleport everypony!” Pinkie Pie finished for her. “That’s a great idea! But wait! Won’t Dashie be in danger all on her own when she’s flying?”
That stole the cheer right from Twilight’s face. Her expression fell.
“Oh...you’re right. Stupid. I should have thought of that. I was stupid,” Twilight growled at herself.
A wing, sheathed in a woolen sleeve that somehow didn’t keep Rainbow Dash from flying, whapped Twilight’s gently on the head.
“You, stupid? Come on egghead, the only stupid thing you’ve said is that. This is an awesome plan, we can totally pull it off,” Rainbow Dash told her with a confident grin.
Twilight hesitated, but Rainbow Dash’s confidence was infectious. Perhaps literally, with Fluttershy around. She nodded.
“We’ll try it. But Rainbow Dash, the moment you feel like somepony is watching you or you get even a little bit suspicious about there being windigoes, promise you’ll come back right away.” Twilight’s tone was serious, and she stared at Rainbow Dash sternly.
“Yeah, sure,” Dash agreed dismissively.
“Rainbow Dash…” Twilight growled.
The pegasus rolled her eyes but lifted a hoof and Pinkie Promised. “There, you happy?”
“Yes,” Twilight answered with an honest smile.
Rolling her eyes again, because sometimes one eye roll just wasn’t enough, Rainbow Dash shot off, the good luck wishes of her friends following in her wake. She did take into account their current situation, flying low with a wary eye on the grey cloud cover that was now so pervasive across Equestria. Windigeos lurked above, save in the path the Princesses forged across Equestria as they tried to keep everypony safe.
Gaining a little altitude, Rainbow Dash searched for signs of life somewhere. A little village, even a camp site would be good enough. In a few minutes she had flown further than they had managed in the last two hours. Nothing, she decided smugly, beat flying.
***
Flying, Paladin decided sourly, was a lot more complicated than he thought.
Oh, he could manage it well enough. But now he felt twinges and aches from muscles he rarely used. Each beat reminded him of the weight of his saddlebags, and told him he should have exercised his wings more often. Sustained flight was proving the issue, sustaining it for more than an hour before he was forced to land and rest them. Wings made of light were much, much better, said his unbiased opinion.
Yet...he was enjoying himself in a way he never had before. The wind rushing over his exposed coat, tugging at his tail and running through his feathers with each beat of his wings. Even the ache of well used muscles wasn't entirely detestable. There was something satisfying about the feeling of exerting himself.
Paladin landed on a rocky outcropping, folding his wings up and shrugging off his saddlebags. That didn’t make his tiring so quickly any less vexing. He stretched, repeating exercises Rainbow Dash had shown him several times over. As he stretched, Paladin glanced at the sky. He was regretting not acquiring a timepiece of some kind. Marvelous devices, particularly when the sun was hidden from easy sight. For a moment he considered another flight, straight up to check above the cloud cover, but he dismissed the idea.
A windy neigh that bordered on a howl abruptly reminded him of the ever present threat of the windigoes. His nostrils flared, sucking a breath that came out a snarl. Paladin’s eyes wracked the sky, but he couldn’t find the source. The cry had been too sudden for him to pinpoint it.
It was the third time this had happened. He had yet to encounter any windigoes, but he had certainly felt their presence across the land. None appeared before him despite the fact the skies reflected their widespread influence.
Laying down to rest for a short time, Paladin focused his thoughts on the issue. As he furrowed his brow, however, he found the concentration he desired simply refused to come. Instead he felt the bond linking him to his friends, the literal magic connecting them, and most prominently he felt Fluttershy.
She had been unusually nervous, even for her, with moments of particular frightfulness or worry that plagued his thoughts for a long time after she calmed. He let out a wordless grumble to himself, pulling out a map in hopes it would distract him.
After nearly five minutes, Paladin realised he wasn’t actually reading the map; he was staring at it and thinking about Flut- something else. He pushed the map away with a scowl.
'She is fine,' he told himself sternly. 'Stop thinking about her. Stop. Now. Stop it.'
He carried on this way for another ten minutes, glaring at the mountainside, experiencing a simply spectacular lack of success.
A frustrated groan escaped him. Gathering his supplies and giving his map a cursory look to make sure he was heading the right way, Paladin set off. He had rested long enough, and he needed the distractions all the physical feelings of flight proving at last enough to keep his thoughts clear of her.
‘Them. All of them, not just her,’ he lied to himself as he flew ever northward.
***
Celestia almost dropped to the floor. She just had to rest. Ten minutes...she just needed ten minutes to rest, then she would get back to work again. Manehatten had been cleared, but the fiends had fled the moment she gathered her power. A scowl lit up her face for a moment.
‘I should have just burned them all,’ she thought irritably, only to feel a stab of shame. The flood of power was intoxicating her after so long starved of it. The urge to simply unleash it was there, even in her exhausted state.
The princess curled up on her bed in Canterlot, letting sleep claim her for a few minutes.
‘And here I thought it was a thousand years of loneliness and governance that tempered my passion’, she mused bitterly as she closed her eyes.
She woke, an alarm set before she closed her eyes ringing loudly. Her eyes snapped open and with an angry snarl she set it on fire.
“...deplorable device…” she grumbled. She didn’t need it to know how long she had rested. An hour, scant time to recover any of her strength, but better than nothing.
Celestia forced herself up. Luna would be preparing their long-range teleport to reach the next place the windigoes struck. The Princess of the Day was both grateful and guilty, knowing her sister would be tired too, even if she knew that logically Luna was far less tired than she. It still bothered her, to have rested while her sister worked.
She trotted down the halls, passing one of her guards, his dark coat clearly visible between the plates of his bright armour. Celestia paused for a moment.
‘Paladin. I was expecting him to have come to me by now about doing something,’ she thought, curious. Despite her curiosity, she knew she had only so much time. ‘I shall send somepony to check on him before I leave.’
That decision made, she hurried on her way. Canterlot was fine, the population recovering from the attack and everything was at peace. While the plagued the rest of the country, gleefully ignoring the magic of love and friendship that had once denied them their feasts, the windigoes had yet to return to Canterlot. It was a minor boon, but she appreciated it.
Another thing she appreciated was the aid of the youngest alicorn. A smile graced her features when the pink princess came into sight around a corner.
“Cadenza!” she greeted her royal niece with a warm smile and a hug. “I cannot thank you enough for organising things for us. It is an enormous relief to know somepony is taking care of Canterlot.”
“It’s nothing at all, aunty, certainly no less than I should do since I can’t do anything to help you with the windigoes. Shining Armour would want me to be helpful, instead of just hanging around uselessly,” Cadance agreed, trotting at her aunt’s side.
“I’m sure he would be quite proud of you.” The reminder that her captain of the Guard was out of commission made Celestia wince, but she knew even if this hadn’t happened she would have spent at least some time without him. The Empire’s return was less than a year off, after all, and she doubted very much that Cadance would leave her husband behind.
Cadance returned the praise with a faint blush. “He has been teaching me his shield spell, actually. I’m not as good as he is, but you don’t need to worry about Canterlot. So far, everything gone perfectly fine, except for Paladin, obviously.”
“Yes, I was very impr-” Celestia froze mid-word. “Wait, what about Paladin? Has something happened to him?”
“Yes, he’s been gone since the windigo attack. Didn’t you know?” Cadance grimaced. “I’m sorry, I thought you knew. He was seen afterwards, but he vanished. The monkey guards were found on the wall, both rather unhappy. They’ve been helping us, waiting for you and Princess Luna to return. I thought they would have gone to you the moment you arrived.”
Celestia groaned, rubbing a hoof against her forehead. One more thing to deal with.
“I took to my bed as soon as I arrived. Hopefully they alerted my sister. I can only pray he has come to no harm,” she said with a sigh.
“I don’t think him coming to harm is a problem. The monkeys were rather closed lipped about it, but I think he hurt one of the guards. One of the newest recruits had something of an encounter with him, but I can’t seem to find him.” Annoyance entered the pink alicorn’s tone, “I’m pretty sure they’re behind that, but I have no idea why.”
“Believe me, anymonkey Wukong left us will be at the very least mildly frustrating at times,” Celestia assured her, the pair climbings the steps towards the mage chamber. “He tends to select the most competent…and the most troublesome.”
The question about the guard’s location, and that of the monkey warriors, soon became moot. The primates were crouched in a corner of the mage chamber, not far from a guard who looked thoroughly intimidated.
“Sister!” Luna immediately called. “I am relieved to see you have rested! We have much to talk of this. This guard accuses Sir Paladin of striking him with all the honour of a thief!”
The guard’s intimidated look made even more sense now, and Celestia noted the monkey’s rolling their eyes.
“Paladin is absent, Luna, he may be correct.” Celestia held up a hoof to stop her sister’s reply. “Allow me to hear the story from him first, please. Have you located the windigoes yet?”
Luna scowled, but nodded. “Not yet. They have calmed, but I suspect they are preparing to attack multiple places at once. The spells are ready, we can depart in moments.”
“The angel may be holding them back to keep us on edge and unable to go after him; ready to unleash them the moment we begin to search for him. Every minute like this, we can recover and Twilight and her friends can get closer to finding him.” It grated on her to be forced to passiveness like this, but for now it was the only safe course. She trotted towards the unicorn guard.
He saluted, looking more and more nervous.
“You are Private Critical Hit, yes?” Celestia asked gently.
He nodded uncertainly, holding his salute.
“I just need you to tell me what happened. Why did Paladin attack you?”
Gulping and doing his best to report like he had been taught, he explained his run-in with the dark pegasus and their trip to the store room. By the time he had finished, the Princess’s expression had fallen.
“...Paladin has gone north. He’s gone after Ardleon. The foal. The utter foal!” Biting back her annoyance, she faced the guard with a soft smile. “Thank you for reporting this, Private, and for not spreading it around. This is a very important matter, I can assume you will keep it to yourself?”
“Yes, your highness!”
“Wonderful. Riko, Mojo, thank you for keeping him where this tale could not be spread. Now, I assume Paladin was able to slip past you?” she asked the monkeys.
“Err...not so much,” Riko admitted reluctantly.
“The pegasus fought with far more skill and tenacity then we had expected, your highness, and defeated us long enough to make good his escape,” explained Mojo.
Riko made a face. “He broke one of mi’ spears.”
“This...is unfortunate. I had hoped at that the very least Paladin would be safe here, and perhaps would be willing to serve as bait to draw the angel out. It seems his lie to the girls may soon be truth, however unwitting.” Celestia fought back a frown.
Problems. More and more problems, cropping up when she least needed them.
“Sister, Paladin is- was an angel. Barring this one mad warrior, what little I recall of them from our star-gazing is not at all like this. Sir Paladin must have had a reason,” Luna insisted.
Celestia nodded. “I agree. Except everything I have seen of Paladin since his arrival here tells me that he rarely allows others to do what he thinks is his duty, and Ardleon doubtlessly falls within his purview, as far as he is concerned.”
“Then we must send guards after him, to protect him! Ardleon will strike, if he has not already, once he learns Paladin is no longer under our protection here,” the Princess of the Night went on, not willing to give up yet.
“They won’t catch him; they would have to search in every direction north of Canterlot for a single pony, albeit a distinctive one, and he has a day on them.” Celestia sighed yet again. She had been doing that far too often. “No, sister, there is nothing we can do. For now, we must focus on-”
A shrill scream pierced the air, lights the colour of Luna’s magic flaring up.
“The windigoes have appeared!” Luna exclaimed, focusing on her detection spells. “Vanhoover, Baltimare...Las Pegasus! They’re attacking all three.”
Celestia’s expression darkened. “Damnation. Cadance, send for one of my scribes, Red Ink, she knows the spell to send letters to Spike. Tell Twilight that Paladin is heading north, and to keep an eye out for him. Have somepony take care of that, and then begin to prepare the recall spell to bring one of us back. Luna-”
“I shall take Vanhoover,” the dark alicorn cut in, her magic building for a moment before she vanished in an indigo blaze, teleporting halfway across the country.
“Las Pegasus for me then. Whichever of us is done - the detections spell should subside once the windigoes have concealed their presence again - recall so Baltimare can be protected. I must depart.” Though she moved to open the spell, Celestia hesitated, glancing at Cadance again.
“Auntie?”
Muttering a curse, Celestia summoned a scroll, quill and ink pot, along with something resembling a pocket watch cast in a golden case. Whatever she wrote, it was fast and messy, dried in an instant with magic. She rolled and sealed the scroll with a sharp snap.
“Cadance, tell Red Ink to send this to Card. Don’t break the seal, just have her send it,” she instructed, all but shoving the scroll at the smaller alicorn. Cadance barely caught it in her magic.
“Y-yes Auntie.”
Satisfied with the answer, Celestia accessed the prepared long-range teleport and followed her sister’s example, disappearing within the glow of her magic.
All but forgotten once his part was done, Critical Hit looked at Princess Cadance uncertainly.
“Uh...was I meant to hear all that stuff about ‘angels’?” he asked nervously.
Cadance spared a moment to facehoof before taking a breath. She wouldn’t let her aunts down, not at such an important time. Her husband was not going to wake up to find his home reduced to a frozen wasteland.
***
The small village had just begun to move again, after the pegasus had landed, demanded everypony stay clear or she would drop a thundercloud on them and then vanished in a burst of light. Her return, this time accompanied by a considerably friendlier unicorn, and their subsequent departure had attracted even more attention. The only pony with a stall, selling cabbages, was rather pleased with how everypony had gathered, wondering what was going on. Curious ponies were hungry ponies. Well, in his mind everypony was a hungry pony, if you gave them long enough. What better than a nice cabbage to slake their hungry? Perhaps the pegasus would come back. Appearing and disappearing surely took it out of her, and he was waiting with a yummy cabbage.
So when six mares and a small lizard suddenly appeared, he was less shocked than everypony else. In fact, he was pleased.
“Welcome!” he called blithely as everypony stared, the flash of light not so much dazing him as making it easier for him to imagine the shine of some extra bits. “Hungry? Cabbages for sale, always a good post-magic treat to get your hooves back under you.”
Rainbow Dash promptly threw up. In response, Rarity squealed and jumped away.
“Er...they’ll settle your stomach?” he suggested.
“Whoa nelly.” Applejack pulled Rainbow Dash up before she fell into her own mess. The farm-mare looked at Twilight. “Ah thought ya’ll did the teleportin’, why is Dash throwin’ up?”
“Really, some nice cabbage can really do wonders.”
Twilight stepped past the vomit with a grimace, looking Rainbow Dash over. “I’m not sure. I think moving me this far twice in a row, after going so far herself, just made her a bit delicate. My mass teleport was enough to unsettle her.”
“‘m fine…” mumbled the pegasus with a shudder. Her face went green and she shoved a hoof over her mouth. “...m-maybe not s’ fine…”
Applejack patted her back sympathetically, steering her away from the mess. A handkerchief from her saddlebag in hoof, Fluttershy cleaned Rainbow’s mouth and chin of any stray vomit, sending reassuring, soothing feelings to help keep Dash settled.
Twilight’s attention was drawn to the side, where Rarity was already engaged in conversation with a pony. After a moment Rarity led the pony she had been talking to, a mare in a very official, if rather baggy, vest.
“Twilight Sparkle, this is mayor-” Rarity began.
The pony cut in; “only during the week.”
Twilight blinked slowly. “Only during the week?” she echoed.
The working week only mayor nodded. “My husband is mayor on the weekends.”
“Yes, very fascinating darling, but I was just explaining to the mayor that we’ll only be in town for a day or so. They don’t have many visitors, but somepony may be willing to put us up for the night,” Rarity explained, her smile only a tad forced.
“Yep, I can see if anypony has a spare room or two. Green Rows, do you still have that empty barn?” the mayor called to the cabbage seller, who was in the middle of a ferocious haggling with Pinkie Pie.
“No, one bit for two and you’ll like it! Hm? Oh, my cabbage warehouse, yeah sure….wait a minute!” By the time he turned his angry glare at the mare who had outwitted him, Pinkie’s cheeks were stuffed with cabbage. She grinned at him happily, cabbage juice running down her chin.
Rarity twitched slightly. “Oh, a barn...how lovely,” she forced herself to remark with what was, technically, politeness. That, and a tiny shiver that might have been a suppressed shudder.
“If ib ab goob ab dessh, ib-” Pinkie Pie swallowed, her neck bulging obscenely as she somehow forced both cabbages down her gullet. She wiped the juices away before continuing; “If it’s as good as his cabbages, I can’t wait!”
Twilight sighed, rubbing her forehead tiredly. She had used a lot of magic teleporting them all there, but she was pleased by the fact she was conscious and not in the same state as Rainbow Dash. Tyrael’s essence really was working wonders on her magical reserves. They had always felt bottomless, but now they felt infinite. The only problem was that no matter how deep the well, how big the reservoir, there was only so much that could flow out at once. The strain of channelling that much magic was wearing on her. A nap and a meal would do her wonders.
“We really do appreciate it. We would also appreciate it if you could ask everypony to stop staring. It’s, uh, a little creepy.” Twilight glanced around, noting the number of ponies gathered. They were all staring, some in confusion, some in awe and some in fear. Only the mare and Green Rows the cabbage vendor seemed willing to approach them, which she supposed was better than the blind panic it might have caused in Ponyville if a group of unfamiliar ponies had popped into existence.
They followed the working week mayor, who was soon joined by her husband, the weekend mayor, to a ‘warehouse’ just off what passed for the main road.
“I don’t know why Green Rows is always trying to sell cabbages, honesty,” the mayor said as she pulled the door open. “I mean, we farm cabbages. That’s what the whole village does. Nopony really needs to get cabbages when they can get some of their own, or just ask for one from a neighbour.”
“You bought one,” her husband pointed out, his first words since his greeting.
“Well, yes, but he was just so convincing!” she exclaimed.
“How lovely. We would love to stay and chat, but Rainbow Dash needs to rest a bit, and I have a bit of a headache myself. Thank you so much for your help, mayor, we really, really appreciate it,” Twilight thanked her before the couple could get started on some inane story. She cringed at how impolite the thought was, but frankly her headache demanded some peace and quiet.
Speaking of which….
“Pinkie Pie, by the way, loves meeting new ponies and making friends. I’m sure she would just love to meet all the fine ponies in town, wouldn’t you Pinkie?” She looked at her friend as she said it, not bothering to try some subtle hinting that Pinkie should do it to give them some peace. Pinkie Pie took the bait eagerly.
“I sure would! Great idea Twilight!” Pinkie appeared between the mayoral couple, a hoof around each of them. “Let’s go meet the ponies!”
Twilight sighed in relief as Pinkie bounced off, talking animatedly with the mayor. She felt a moment of pity for the stallion, who trotted wordlessly next to the pair of eagerly chatting mares before shrugging.
‘Pity later, nap now,’ she thought, stepping in. Rainbow Dash was already curled up in a corner, Applejack and Fluttershy next to her, the yellow pegasus rubbing her stomach soothingly. The sight made Twilight smile slightly, the gesture reminiscent of rubbing an animal’s tummy.
“How is she?” Twilight asked, feeling her headache abate somewhat as she approached. Her tail flicked guiltily at the sight of her sleeping friend. “I didn’t think it would exhaust her that much.”
“She’s doing much better, and I’m sure she wouldn’t want you to blame yourself,” Fluttershy murmured quietly.
Applejack nodded. “She agreed to try it, an’ we’re days ahead now,” she pointed out, concealing her amusement from watching Rarity struggle to find clean a spot or find somewhere adequate to sit.
Bringing out the map, Twilight sat down next to them to study it. “Did anypony catch the name of the village?”
“Headtown, I believe the mayor called it. Oh my goodness, this floor!” Rarity cringed. After a moment she became aware of the flat stare she was getting from Twilight. “Darling?”
“...Headtown? Really?” Twilight asked, her tone as flat as her stare.
“Like ‘Ponyville’ is so much better,” snarked Spike with a snicker.
Applejack scowled. “What’s wrong with Ponyville?! ‘s a good name!”
Twilight sighed, tuning out argument. As amusing as it would surely be, she wanted to see how far they had gotten. She hadn’t precisely measured the distance when Rainbow Dash brought her here, simply laying down a marker at both locations so she could estimate if she had the strength to get them from one to the other.
“Headtown….Headtown…” she mumbled to herself, running up from where they had been. She was fairly certain which direction Rainbow Dash had flown in, and she knew roughly where they had been so it didn’t take her long to find the little dot that was Headtown. Her mouth dropped open.
‘We’re nearly a third of the way to the border of the frozen north!’ she thought in amazement. ‘Rainbow Dash and I teleported us this far in one go. She did it three times! No wonder she’s so tired.’
“Are we very far, Twilight?” Fluttershy’s voice intruded on her thoughts, prompting the unicorn to look up. She gave Fluttershy a confused look for a minute, knowing she had kept her feelings from her face, before realising she must have sensed her surprise and elation.
“Yes, nearly a third of the way to the border with the northern wastes.” Putting the map down, Twilight gave her friends a tired smile. “We’ll be there in a few days, as fast as a pegasus flying non-stop.”
“So, we’re sure he’s up in them there wastes?” Applejack inquired, concern colouring her tone. She looked to Twilight, not moving from Rainbow Dash’s side.
“Well, no, but I just have this...feeling. I’m sure he’s up there somewhere. All the stories about the windigoes after Hearth Warming said they fled to the north and were never seen again, and considering his ice-based magic it would make sense,” explained Twilight calmly.
Applejack looked uncertain, but nodded. “Ah trust ya, if that’s what ya think. Ah guess if he likes ice so much it would be a smart place fer him to hide.”
“It will certainly convey the brute some form of advantage, I expect,” Rarity agreed. “But I’m sure the Princesses will be more than enough to deal with that fiery winged ragamuffin.”
A belch and flash of fire interrupted them, Spike catching the scroll before it fell onto the ground. He coughed out a bit of ash before focusing on the scroll itself, the familiar royal seal marking it.
“Hey, a letter! Although it didn’t taste like it was from the Princess.” Spike handed it to Twilight, running one claw through his mouth.
“Claws out of there, mister. It must have been sent by Princess Luna or Cadance. Let me see,” Twilight was beaming as she unrolled it, quickly scanning the words. She was eager to hear anything about the Princesses, or her brother.
Her friends watched Twilight’s expression morph as she read further and further. Her eyes widened. Her mouth fell open, hanging slackly. Her eyebrows rose. About halfway down the letter her face began to twitch worryingly. She reached the end and with a growl her magic ripped the paper in two, then crumbled the two together, then ripped it to bits. She set the bits on fire.
“That...that...that foal!” Twilight growled.
Fluttershy let out a squeak of discomfort. Twilight was really annoyed. “What’s wrong? Y-you seem upset.”
“Ah thought Ah was the one with the anger problem,” Applejack quipped.
Twilight glared at the ashes of the letter. “Paladin, because he probably thinks he has to do everything on his own, assaulted a guard, stole supplies, beat up Mojo and Riko when they tried to stop him, and ran off on his own! All they know is that he was seen flying north. He probably wants to fight Ardleon, all on his own!”
Fluttershy felt alarm, but she wasn’t sure if it was her own or that of her friends. She was pretty sure it was a mix of both.
“Paladin has done what?” It took her a moment to realise she was the one talking. Fluttershy blushed but pressed on. “H-he wouldn’t do that, would he?”
“He might. Paladin does have that awful habit of believing he has to solve every lil’ problem all on his lonesome,” Applejack reminded her.
“Yes, he does, doesn’t he? Honestly, that stallion, sometimes I have trouble imagining what you see in him Flut-” Rarity found herself caught off by a yellow wing covering her mouth. Fluttershy did her best to pretend her cheeks weren’t blazing red, or her eyes wide with embarrassment. She pretended very, very hard. It didn’t change the reality of the situation, but everypony decided, for her sake, to ignore reality. Fluttershy slowly removed her wing with a murmured apology. Rarity gave her an apologetic nod before continuing.
“I mean, he does have that charming chivalry about him, but when he does dreadful things like this,” Rarity sighed. “I despair for him. He has friends for a reason; it would be nice if he remembered we can help him.”
“It would certainly be much less aggravating,” agreed Twilight. She glanced at the slumbering Rainbow Dash, glad that she had been asleep. Considering how she and Paladin had parted, this news would likely have set Rainbow Dash off.
Fluttershy looked away from her friends, guilt building up. She should have known something was wrong. Paladin’s feelings should have been different, there should have been something to tip her off. She reached for him, what little of their link was directional doing barely enough for her to look somewhere roughly north-east. Wherever he was, he was annoyed, which honestly wasn’t that big a change for him.
Yet still, she knew she should have been able to know, to do more. Should. Should. She was always stuck on what she should do. She should be less meek. She should be stronger. She should have asked him to da-
Silence dominated the barn, each mare lost in her own thoughts about this news. Somewhere, heading north just as they were, was Paladin. There was, of course, one major difference.
He was alone.
***
A low range of rocky mountains thrust out from the forest. Either the map was old, the map-maker hadn’t bothered finding the name or nopony had named them. Regardless, Paladin flew through the nameless range. Perhaps, he considered, it was simply too small for anypony to care. He certainly didn’t.
Grudgingly taking a break, as he could only subjugate his body to his will to travel for so long, Paladin landed with a grunt. His wings beat dirt from the ground as he stretched. Eyes wandering, Paladin observed what he had taken to be an alcove, carved into the base of of the rocky spike that served as a minor mountain, was in truth a cave. There were nothing to tell him how far into the mountain it went, shadows concealing the depths after a few feet, but a few brown feathers were scattered about.
Shrugging off his saddlebags and his worries about disturbing whatever occupied the cave, Paladin lay down for a moment. A few minutes rest were all he needed, and leaving would simply delay him further. His winter coat was draped over the bags, soon to be followed by his scarf. His hoof looping between it and his neck, the pegasus hesitated. He was reluctant to part with it. After a moment he lowered his hoof, scarf still in place.
‘Stop thinking about her,’ he ordered himself. It was a fruitless attempt, and by now he knew that, but he continued to try anyway.
It was fortunate for him that there proved to be a distraction available for his convenience. It would prove, to his annoyance in the near future, to be of the screech-y kind.
The scrabble of claws on stone and the pad of paws reached Paladin’s ears. He was on his hooves immediately, eyes narrowing.
“Who goes there?” he thundered, glaring into the cave.
An irritated squawk was his first answer, a creature formed of two beasts his second. White feathers from head to chest, brown across her wings and matching light brown fur across her hindquarters showed as she emerged.
“Hey, I should be asking that! This is my cave, you dweeb!” growled the griffon, clicking her beak angrily. “Buzz off.”
He relaxed slightly. Simply another creature. Perhaps a griffon, based on what little he had heard of the beings.
“I shall be here for a few minutes, and then I shall depart,” Paladin informed her calmly.
She scowled. “I said buzz off, not wait five minutes then buzz off. Get lost.”
Her hostile tone grated on his nerves. He was flying to what was likely his death to stop the windigoes from devouring this world, which he was fairly sure included this vexing female.
“I will leave in a few minutes,” he explained once more, voice flat and cold. “A minor showing of patience will see you free of my presence.”
“Why should I be patient? This is my turf. Go away, now! I don’t want anything to do with you goody-four hooves ponies.” She advanced on him, a talon jabbing at him with each step as though she could poke him from feet away and somehow get rid of him.
Paladin did not like to consider himself the sort to get angry. He was, he believed, quite calm. Yet this griffon was proving able to get under his skin in such a short time. That fact she was making him irritated made him further irritated.
“I’ll leave when I am good and ready, and not a moment before. I won’t be bullied by someone so unkempt, in the middle of nowhere, for no good reason. Return to your cave, and leave me in peace,” Paladin snarled, his deep voice booming through the rocky spires.
She stared at him for a moment, seemingly taken aback by his voice or his words. She was, as he had said, unkempt. Her feathers were askew and her fur was matted with dirt. She was, in a word, filthy.
“What? Hey, no dweeby pony tells me what to do!” Finally recovered, she managed another aggressive growl, which was remarkable given her beak. She gave him another air-poke with a talon as dirty as the rest of her.
Paladin considered her, his annoyance showing in flared nostrils and a franky snort.
‘What am I doing?’ he thought suddenly. ‘What is the point to this? I was pushing them away because they were targets, I have no reason to antagonise her, no matter her lack of manners.’
“...I don’t care.” Paladin sighed and began to collect his things. “I really don’t. Very well, I shall move on. I would suggest, however, that you try to calm yourself. With windigoes about, such easy anger will do nothing for you. They will freeze your body and twist your mind within moments if you continue to hold such anger to your heart.”
“Huh?” She seemed more confused than anything else, but he was gone before she could reply. At last, huffing in annoyance, Gilda the Griffon turned and retreated into her cave. She had had her fill of ponies talking down to her.
Creeping across the rocky terrain, tendrils of frost preceded the windigoes. There was only a single target they could attack, but it was rich in dark feelings. Hate for others and for self bubbled within the waiting meal, spiced with fear and guilt and loneliness. A feast of wonderful emotions and urges, enough to sate them for a time.
She was laid out in the crude nest of dead plants, the dried vegetation providing little in the way of comfort.
“Stupid ponies,” she muttered. A brown, dead leaf lay in her talons and she steadily tore it again. “Stupid Dash. Stupid Stinky Pie. Stupid, stupid, stupid-”
A shiver ran up her spine. Gilda realised with a start how cold it had become. The weather had taken a weirdly cold turn recently, but like so many things she had ignored it. Now her cave felt almost like a freezer. The mist of the windigoes leaked across the floor behind her, rolling towards her.
“Why is it so cold?” Gilda complained to herself, frowning a moment later. ‘Why am I talking to myself? Argh, it was that stupid dweeb-pony. I thought I was done with them out here.’
A neigh filled the cave from behind her, and her annoyance was blown into a full, heated fury. With a screech of rage she shot to her feet.
“I thought I told you to-” she stopped mid-threat, eyes widening at the monsters she had turned to find. No freakishly big pegasus, just a trio of looming, glowing eyed ghost-horses.
A scream echoed through the rocky mountains, all too swiftly reaching Paladin’s ears. He looked up from his search for somewhere to rest. He had only her heard shriek in annoyance and complain, but it sounded enough like her to make Paladin think of the griffon.
A grunt of exertion torn from his lips as his wings beat furiously, Paladin reversed his course. Whoever she was, however unpleasant she might be, he couldn’t just ignore such a cry for help.
Gilda curled up, quivering. The windigoes circled her, lettiing her languish in fear and terror.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” she mumbled, sobbing each word with tears that froze in the feathers of her cheeks. “D-Dash, I-I’m sorry…”
They did nothing to interrupt. The griffon was already a delicious meal, but soon she would be perfect. Her own emotions were being thrown into overdrive by the hate-mongers, deepening her guilt and regret with every second. They pushed at her loneliness, months of isolation giving them ample ammunition to assault Gilda with. They had feed off so much hate, it was a treat to make use of their expanded power and take strength from her sorrow and self-loathing. The windigoes drew closer, preparing at last to seal her in ice and devour every morsel of negativity within their captive. The prospect absorbed them, became the focus of their attention.
As such, they found the arrival of the pony their master had forbidden them from attacking a complete surprise. He might not have an Element of Harmony, but given the element of surprise he could do just as much with it.
“Release her, beasts!” Paladin roared. Unlike some, he let his thunderous cry loose only after he had already slammed into the windigoes, scattering them throughout the cave. They neighed in distress and pain, the hurt of one shared with the others.
Released by their loss of focus, Gilda groaned. She pressed a talon to her head as if that might rid her of the deep ache. It felt like something had run a cold claw through her mind...and her soul.
“Wh-what’s goin’ on?” she mumbled. Their cold presence had held her standing. Released, she staggered unsteadily. Before she could fall, a great white wing had folded over her back, curving over her wings and down to her stomach.
“Quickly, before they recover,” Paladin pulled her towards the exit, pushing her aching body to move. “Now!”
Gilda did not like authority. She was very much anti-authoritarian. Usually such a commanding tone would have simply sent her into an indignant rage. This time, weak from the sinister ministration of the windingoes, she simply nodded and did as he bid. Together they emerged into the gloomy light. Paladin bucked, his hooves striking the head of the first windigo to pursue them.
“You’ll not feast today!” Paladin released Gilda and turned to face the cave. His wings spread out, presenting himself as a wall protecting her. “Face me, and know justice at my hooves.”
They did just that, screaming out towards him, and he made good on his promise. Where other ponies found only misty and wind when they attacked the windigoes, his found all too real flesh to wound and bash. His wings blasted them with a wave of air, forcing two back and leaving him a single windigo to discipline.
His jaws bit into it and he slammed it to the ground, hooves mercilessly rising and falling as he beat it into nothingness. The assault tore the ghost-flesh, rending the spirit of frost and hate into shreds that dissipated in moments.
The death of one had its companions wailing and carrying on in pain and anger and no small about of fear. It was fear that drove them to take to the sky, vanishing into the clouds above. Paladin snorted derisively.
“Cowards,” he spat.
“...okay…” Gilda mumbled with reluctant awe, “that was pretty awesome.”
He trotted over to her, a frown on his face. “Are you well? The windigoes were moments from freezing you, it can’t have been an easy thing to endure. You were calling something when I arrived, but I didn’t quite make it out.”
Gilda shrugged, a tad less certainly than she would have liked. “I’m...buck, I don’t know what I am,” she admitted. “I’m not frozen, which, y’know, is pretty good.”
“Indeed,” he agreed with a nod.
Silence occurred. Awkward silence.
“So…” Gilda scratched the back of her neck. “Why did you come back?”
“I heard you scream.” Paladin sat down, removing his burdens. He assumed she would hold back her protests this time, and was proven right as she hunkered down in front of him.
“What, you just heard me scream so you came back for me? Why? I mean, dude, I called you a dweeb, I wouldn’t go back if I heard someone who called me stuff screaming,” she argued. Gilda wasn’t convinced. There had to be some angle.
Paladin just shrugged. “I’m not you. You might have been rude and unreasonable, but that was no reason for me to ignore your cry of distress. You’re fortunate sound carries so well here, or you may have been left in their clutches.”
The thought made Gilda shivered, her feathers ruffling. “T-that would be kinda lame, yeah,” the griffon agreed with a shudder. Everything had been drudged up, all her anger and despair since parting ways with Rainbow Dash, and now it was laid bare before her; she was lonely.
They sat together in silence for a few minutes until, as Gilda had know he would, the stallion rose.
“I’m afraid I have a quest to complete,” he told her as he put on his winter coat and saddlebags. His scarf, as before, had never left his neck.
“Oh…” Gilda scratched her beak, glancing around uncertainly. She didn’t want to be alone again, but she couldn’t think of a way to actually ask if he could stay, or if she could come. “Uh..w-wait, dude, thanks for the save and all but, I don’t think I got your name.”
He looked up with a frown. “Truly? My mistake. I am Paladin. And yourself?”
“Gilda,” she answered. Paladin. Huh. Not as bad as some pony names. ‘Like, pfft, ‘Fluttershy’ or Stinky Pie.’
“Be well, Gilda.”
With that, he took off, soaring away. Gilda stayed where she was, staring after him. She didn’t so much as move for the first minute, just watching and contemplating with a torn expression. After last, shivering against a cold wind, the unkempt griffon flared her wings and rose into the sky, flying after him.
***
Pinkie bounced along between her two newest friends.
“Wow, these cabbage fields are greeeeat! The best ones I’ve ever seen!” she exclaimed in all honesty. They were technically the only ones she had ever seen, but she didn’t let that dull her excitement.
The mayors smiled at that. The outskirts of the town was just rows of cabbages in every direction, from north to south and east to west. Only dirt tracks like the one they were trotting along now divided the fields at each compass point. Each field extended into the distance, waiting with a growing crop tended by an entire village.
“Thank you very much Pinkie Pie! My great-great-great-grandfather helped start the village!” The mayoress beamed.
“My great-great-grandmother tried to mug his daughter,” the mayor added.
“Mind you, this was when she was about ninety, so I think she did a pretty good job of it. She and great-great-granny became best of friends and his whole family moved here,” supplied the mayoress.
Pinkie nodded, every word entering one ear and immediately going into the ‘my new friends’ personal life, read later’. She loved learning more about her friends.
“Hm, looks like we’re in for a storm,” the mayoress muttered. She pointed at the horizon, where even darker clouds were overtaking the lighter grey, ever-present skies.
“Looks like snow. Strange, this time of year.” His brow furrowed thoughtfully.
Pinkie, however, was frowning. “Get everypony inside,” she told them, gulping. “The windigoes are coming! I have to tell the others, and you need to get everypony inside and safe and happy because if they aren’t and they don’t feel happy the windigoes will turn them into pony-popsicles!”
The mayors blinked, staring at her in shock.
“Now! Before it’s too late!”
PInkie’s voice rolled through them, a single word carried on a wave of power. They found themselves scrambling around and galloping towards town, Pinkie outpacing them in moments. She wore an unusually serious expression, one rarely found on the exuberant party pony. Windigoes took away the things she loved most; they made ponies sad, and unhappy, and lonely. If Pinkie Pie was the sort of pony to hate, she would hate windigoes.
Fluttershy looked up, her self-recrimination and guilt vanishing as Pinkie’s emotions flared in her mind.
“Something’s wrong with Pinkie Pie,” she announced to the quiet barn.
Her friends looked at her uncertainly.
“Uh, sugarcube, no offense, but if ya’ll are only just now realisin’ that-” Applejack began.
“No, I mean, something right now. Something bad is happening,” Fluttershy interrupted, shaking her head. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but we really need to find her, it must be horrible whatever it is.”
Applejack nodded, picking her hat up and setting it firmly on her head. “If ya say so.”
Putting away the one book she had brought along, Twilight stood up, nudging the napping Spike awake too.
“Whatever it is, I hope it’s not too bad. We’ve had enough bad news for one day,” Twilight said with a shake of her head.
The barn door burst open, Pinkie Pie sliding to a stop in the middle of the barn.
“Girls!”
“Hey!”
“Girls and Spike! We’ve got trouble! Windigoes are coming!” Pinkie cried. “We gotta do something, for everypony is gonna be as minty-fresh as a glacier! Because they’ll be frozen solid!”
“Those fiends are here? We must do something!” Leaving the spot she was nearly done cleaning, Rarity began to don the winter wool once again. She glanced over at her undressed friends. “It is going to get rather more chilly with them about, remember.”
Twilight closed her eyes, letting the sounds of her friends fade out as they followed Rarity’s lead.
“Pinkie, which direction?” she asked.
“North! What are we going to do?” Pinkie pulled her pink beanie on. It managed to flatten her mane despite all the odds against such a thing, and the baubles hanging from the sides quivering along with Pinkie’s lower lip.
“I’m thinking…” Twilight focused. Clear of mind. She had to put her fears for her friends to one side, her worry for the Princess, her guilt over her brother. She had to let them go for a moment and think clearly.
‘They’re cowards. The letter said they’re fleeing every time the Princesses confront them. Put up a fight and they retreat. Without Ardleon, the windigoes have never fought directly. Even given a change in tactics, they won’t abandon their base nature. Ardleon is playing to that with keeping the Princesses busy, but- no, Cadance’s letter said they attacked Princess Celestia and Princess Luna with no regard for their personal safety. They’re changing. But if Ardleon only intends to tire us before we find him, not defeat us, the moment he realises we’re here he’ll draw them back. I can’t rely on his control being perfect and instant. Shining’s Shield might be able to hold them off long enough, but that would tire me out too much if I had to endure an extended assault. I’ll have to use my friends in this fight.’
Thinking at a hundred miles an hour, Twilight understood her own feelings well enough to realise she was opposed to this. If she could spare her friends from harm by simply shielding the entire village herself, she would want to, even at the price of tiring herself out. She also remembered her feelings about Paladin’s determination to solve problems on his own.
‘I need to trust my friends. For all I was able to copy the long range teleportation, the amount of magic it requires me to use at once will tire me more and more as we continue. Less magic now, more chance of us reaching Ardleon before Paladin.’
“Wake Rainbow Dash,” she muttered without opening her eyes. Had she lifted her eyelids, her friends would have beheld the soft glow within.
‘I have to plan this out...’
“Huh, wha’s goin’ on?” Rainbow Dash yawned, stretching. She looked around, seeing her friends in a rather severe state of emergency. “Did I miss something?”
“Windigoes are about to attack,” Twilight answered. She opened her eyes, smiling with the certainty of a mare who had it all worked out.
“What?! Windigoes?” That certainly woke Rainbow Dash up. She began to stretch, clearly readying herself for a fight.
“Hold on sugarcube, we ain’t even sure how we’re gonna deal with them,” Applejack warned her.
“Oh, I know how I’m gonna deal with those frosty bast-”
“Rainbow Dash, calm down,” interrupting her friend before she could get started, Twilight sent the brash pegasus a confident smile. The same confidence radiated from her to Fluttershy, warming her like the comfort of a hearth’s merry blaze. “I have a plan.”
The windigoes streamed through the air towards the lonely town. They resolved into a dark spear-head, a single windigo taking the point with its herd spreading in its wake. Their hungry neighs roared before, crashing over the cabbage fields like thunder heralding a storm. Their thirst for hate, their hunger for fear, grew with anticipation.
Which was why the giant dome of magic appearing about an inch in front of the lead windigo, over half a mile from the village, was really very much not what they expected. Before they could comprehend what was going on, most of the herd had slammed into the shield. The mass of confused windigoes churned as they sorted themselves out, a task made infinitely easier by the shield fading a moment later.
Twilight let out a breath she hadn’t realised she had been holding. “Got them, thanks for sighting for me, Rarity. Got them right on the nose.”
The other unicorn smirked, flipping her mane elegantly. “Of course darling, with eyes like mine what is a mare to do?”
Giving her friend a brief smile, Twilight crouched behind the window of the home they were borrowing at the northern edge of the village.
“Pinkie, Rainbow Dash, it’s your turn. Good luck,” she murmured. They couldn’t hear her, but she hoped they felt the sentiment anyway.
Gathering together, the windigo herd sought the cause of their pain and delay. They were angry, pain feeding their fury and hunger urging them to struck. They wanted to attack something, badly.
So something gave them a target.
Well, somepony.
“Hey, you!” Pinkie stood in the middle of the road, grinning merrily at the herd. “That was me! Come get me!”
Windigoes were not intelligent, at least not as individuals. Massed together, blessed with slowly strengthening minds, they should have been more wary of a lone pony taunting them. A lone pony without a horn, with no way of having done that. Yet any doubts or thoughts of anything but attacking her vanished. Their own base urges took over with a little prompting from the pink pony. With a collective howl they charged.
Pinkie kept her grin up, smiling in the face of a deadly storm of hate filled windigoes. Her grin vanished, one flash of light hiding her, another taking her away. In place of her grin, Applejack smirked. Silver armour covered every inch of her. Warmth burned inside her, flowing to the farmer from Fluttershy’s distant touch.
“Howdy fellas.”
They crashed into her, their spear formation broken once again. Applejack was an immoveable object, but they were no unstoppable force. A cry rose up from the rear and they rose, yet many were scattered from the impact with the all too physically implacable Applejack.
Rarity’s horn glowed. Rings of blue light formed in front of Twilight and she fired a blast of magic straight through each. The windigoes scattered furthest by the broken spear were the targets, the arcane strikes sniping half a dozen too far from their herd to resist the magical power alone.
“I’m over he~eeeeeere!” Pinkie called from down the road. She was a few hundred feet from where she had been, further from the village, and in plain sight. She waved at the gathering herd. “Come get me!”
They needed little to sway them to attack her, blaming her for their pain. The slightly diminished herd streamed towards Pinkie. She yawned, looking at the watch inexplacably on her fetlock as though bored.
Two flashes, so close together they were nearly the same second, blinded the windigoes moments before impact. Once again, it was not an impact they had expected, and this time Applejack bucked one that remained too close when the attack broke off. Her armoured hooves struck it.
In the town square, surrounded by the villagers, Flutershy basked in the love and friendship they shared. She kept a hoof around Spike, the little dragon blowing on another cup of hot chocolate as he looked for somepony yet to sample his mastery of liquid cocoa. Words passed around her as the ponies, with a little help from their helpful mayoral couple, talked of their fondest memories. They shared laughter and smiles, the bonds forged together in their remote home radiating a strength the windigoes could never understand.
Fluttershy breathed in the loving emotions, holding them within her for only a moment before breathing out. The power flooded from her into Applejack, adding a golden sheen to her armour as she made contact.
The windigo she bucked let out a neighing bray, a pair of glowing, hoof-shaped burns stamped into its ghost-flesh. The sizzling golden wounds seared through it for a few seconds as the windigo thrashed until, with a final shriek, it disintegrated.
Applejack gaped for a moment, although it was impossible to detect within her armour. That was a lot more than she had expected.
Only a few beams of magic picked off the stragglers this time. Twilight let out a sharp breath, focusing. She couldn’t see the individual windigoes, but Rarity’s aim had been spot on before.
“Come on,” Twilight whispered, her tone as anxious as her expression, to the distant angel. “Pull them back. This has to be your plan.”
The windigoes streamed upwards, finally registering the danger. They gathered, focusing their attention on the village. The armoured mare was impossible to harm, and something was attacking from there.
“Hey, no, attack me! You guys! Me!” Pinkie’s voice boomed at them, but they fought it consciously. Hate and hunger welled up, forcing back the urge to follow her suggestions.
Twilight gulped as the herd swarmed towards the village, arching above. They were going to come down right on top of the square, where there was only Fluttershy to stop them from attacking the entire village’s population.
“No, he has to pull them back. If he wanted to defeat us, he could have done it by now. We have to stop them!” Her horn began to glow. A shield was all she needed, just to cover the centre of the village. The energies were there, she had more than enough magic to-
A squeak left her lips. A sharp, stabbing pain thrust into her horn, bursting her concentration like a weak bubble. Groaning, Twilight winced and rubbed her horn.
“No! Not now!”
Pinkie watched the windigoes, a horrible sense of uselessness striking her. This wasn’t how the plan went! They were going to hurt her new friends, and her less-new-but-still-fantastic friends and there was nothing she could do about it. She had shouted and been loud, but acting like a clown only went so far even with a magic voice. Her nostrils flared, puffs of air pushed out into the chilly air.
‘No, don’t given up! Pinkamina Diana Pie does not give in to horrible, nasty windigoes. I’m not going to just sit here and watch. But all I can is shout, I don’t even have my party cannon, just a magic voice. All I have are big lungs and lots of hot air now though...wait...’ her thoughts trailed off, an single wild idea forming. She had a magic voice, which meant she must have a magic throat and a magic mouth. ‘Maybe a magic tongue too. Oooh, I know what to do!’
Sucking in a great lungful, her chest thrusting out, her cheeks bulging ridiculously, Pinkie Pie took aim. There it was, the big grey monster-y target. She wasn’t going to miss, and it was going to work. Her magic voice...gathered. She wasn’t sure how else to describe it. She released it in a rush, the air rushing from her lungs with a single word etched into it that she roared to the world.
“BOOM!”
The centre of the herd burst, a perfectly round hole blasted through the core of the windigoes. It was as if an invisible cannonball had stuck them, punching a tunnel through the ghostly beasts. Their descent slowed, they began to reform their charge.
“It’s okay everypony,” Fluttershy assured the frightened ponies. Her voice was quiet, but it carried far and to them it was warm and comforting when all around them was a deadly chill. “They won’t get to us. My friends will stop them.”
Rainbow Dash, lying in the cabbage field, pushing herself up wearily.
“That’s...kinda cool…” she mumbled, shrugging tiredly.
Sucking in more air, Pinkie adjusted her aim slightly.
“BOOM!”
“BOOM!”
“BOOM!”
The herd was thrown into chaos. Blown about the place, they reformed above the village into a whirling mess. Pinkie panted, her throat feeling raw and her lungs aching. She tried to fill her lungs with air for another attack. A hacking cough interrupted her attempt, the party pony’s attempts thwarted by a body that was as unwilling as her mind was determined.
When no more attacks came, the herd stilled. It was a gloating action, a moment of purposeful inaction so those below would know the doom seconds from falling upon them.
“No…” Twilight leaned against Rarity, bitter tears of failure at the corners of her eyes.
“No,” a cold voice hissed on the wind. “Return.”
No one heard it but the windigoes. To the astonished eyes of the ponies below, the hungry beasts let out hateful whines as they fled. Where once had been sky, trackless clouds, a bright blue had returned to the endless view above. The grey clouds returned a mile away in every direction, but for a while the sky had been returned to them.
Pinkie Pie beamed, her grin as wide and jubilant as it had ever been.
“Yay!” she cheered, a little hoarse. “I helped.”
Having done that, she decided her next choice was action was allowed to be boring, just this once, so she fainted.
But she did it with a smile.
***
He had stopped to rest again, although in this case it was more for the sake of the griffon following him. It hadn’t taken him long to detect her; she seemed a strong flier, but she lacked any subtlety or skills in the arts of stealth. Paladin decided, a hoof running over his scarf, to let her be. He may not have been a master of socialising, but he could recognise someone who was as lonely as Gilda.
His rest, after a few minutes, was interrupted by a sound he was quickly coming to loathe. The hateful cry of a windigo echoed through the mountains, drawing him in search of the beast. Paladin gazed from his chosen vantage point, seeking a sign to clue him in to the location.
The frigid call sounded again, but this time Paladin was ready. His ears twitched and he looked towards the source, following the mountainside ridge to where it took a turn and came to an abrupt halt. A pair of windigoes circled a matching number of ponies. The ponies were backed into a corner, trapped by the slowly closing orbit of the ghostly beasts.
Just looking at them made him growl in disgust. There was no reason for them to hold off their attack as they were; the windigoes were playing with the ponies, tormenting them with an inevitable yet slow demise. The fact that, even with the limited senses of a mortal body, he could see the familiar blue of Ardleon’s wings in the glow of their eyes merely made the spectacle even more horrendous.
He launched into the air before he had given the matter another thought. The ponies, a mare and a stallion, looked up at the sound of wing beats. The windigoes did the same, although one of them was a bit too slow. Paladin fell from the sky, slamming into it. He lashed out with a hoof, smashing its snout crooked. He got in another blow before it evaporated from under him,slithering away to join its kin. They snarled down at him, and Paladin returned it. Wings spread to slow his descent to the ground, he kept his glare on them.
“Be gone, fiends!” he roared.
They seemed inclined to do the opposite, coiling together as though to pounce, only to abort. An invisible noose tugged the creatures back, and with hateful neighs they fled for the skies.
“You hurt it,” the mare, her coat pale orange with a brilliant red mane parted by a slender, pointed horn, observed. There was a touch of frost to her tone, and he wondered if she had been overcome by the beasts.
Paladin arched an eyebrow at her. She had just escaped an encounter with deadly hate-monger ghost-horses. He had few expectations, but a cold observation, however accurate, had not been among them.
“Yes, I did,” he agreed with just as much chill in his voice.
The stallion approached Paladin, smiling brightly. Again, not what Paladin had expected. Like the mare he seemed fit and strong, garbed with travel gear over his grey coat.
“It seems we owe you thanks, my friend. If they had decided to end their game, well, I wouldn’t be able to thank you,” he said with a friendly grin that stretched his dark goatee and close-trimmed moustache.
Paladin inclined his head. “No thanks are needed. I would have been remiss to have ignored you. I’m Paladin.”
“Nevertheless, we do owe your our lives. My rather perky companion is Jade Facade,” the stallion answered, ignoring the look the mare was sending him, “Wild Card is how I’m known.”
“A pleasure, Mister Card, Miss Jade,” Paladin replied politely. “I suggest you make your way from here, these are the second group of windigoes I have encountered today.”
Wild Card and Jade Facade exchanged cool looks.
“I won’t say I told you so…” Wild Card drawled smugly.
“Good,” she glared. “Which means I won’t say that I told you taking a pointless detour would cause us nothing but trouble.”
“Ah, good point.” He looked to Paladin. “We will take your advice, however, and make our way out of the area. We have what we came for, after all, so no reason to risk ourselves. Perhaps you’d consider joining us, there’s a town to the north-west we’re heading to,” Card offered. He glanced over, feeling Jade’s glare burning into the back of his head.
Paladin shook his head. He looked north, staring at the grim sky. “No. I cannot delay.”
Wild Card shrugged. “Ah, a shame. We could take care of your tail.”
“My tail?” Paladin lifted his tail slightly, looking at in confusion before glancing back to the earth pony. “Uh, thank you but no.”
“He means the griffon hiding by the rocks up there,” Jade explained with a scowl. “Because we apparently have nothing but free time to take detours and stop to help everypony we come across.”
“Exactly, so glad you agree! So, shall we keep her away for you?” He adjusted his long coat, light flashing from something distinctly bladed within.
“No. I appreciate your intentions, but I’ve allowed her to follow me thus far. If she wants to keep thinking I don’t know she’s there, I’m content to give her time.” A frown brought Paladin’s expression down. “I can understand feeling...lonely.”
Card gave him a calculating look for a moment before it was replaced by apparently sincere sympathy. For a moment he looked like he was going to give the large pegasus a pat on the shoulder, only to think it through and decide not to. Paladin was amicable, but he was also large, a stranger, and had dealt with windigoes despite the fact they were supposed to be untouchable. He was a dangerous pony.
“Traveling on your own, sans a stalker, isn’t something we’re all made for. I know dear Jade here keeps me sane. Travelling with friends is always preferable,” Card said, offering the pony who saved them what little help he could give.
“You’re right, Mister Card,” Paladin agreed. “If Twilight were here I wouldn’t have to deal with the damn map, for one thing.” The thought of his friends made Paladin winced, and he felt Fluttershy through their bond. He had felt fear a short time ago, after the link had seemingly grown weaker with distance.
Either she was strengthening the bond now that he was further, or they were somehow closer to him.
‘Impossible,’ he assured himself. ‘Even if they were following me, only Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash can fly. They could never catch me. I have been flying from dawn to dusk, with only a few minutes of rest.’
The possibility that Fluttershy was flying after him on her own suddenly occurred to him, and Paladin really, really wished it hadn’t.
Card and Jade shared another look as their saviour groaned, running a hoof along his maneless head.
“Forgive me, but I must be on my way. Good luck, both of you.” Paladin spread his wings, giving them time only for a quick farewell before he lifted off. They watched him leave, eventually catching sight of the griffon as she followed him with all the subtlety of a raging bull.
“You told him your name,” Jade said after a few minute minutes.
Card shrugged nonchalantly, translating roughly to ‘so I did’.
“More importantly,” she continued. “You told me him part of my name. I thought you knew better than to tell somepony wearing royal guard issued gear your name. You’re a smuggler; I’m a smuggler. What madness possessed you to do that?”
Wild Card chuckled, shaking his head as he turned and set off. She followed along after a few seconds of fruitless glaring.
“What do you know that you’re not telling me?” she demanded. Her eyes narrowed. “And don’t say ‘more than you know’, because if you do, I swear-”
“I know enough to know that Sir Paladin has little interest in smugglers, even if he knew my name,” Card interrupted. “Right now, he has far more important things to deal with. What with the windigoes spreading across Equestria, only days after a mysterious entity attacked the Grand Galloping Gala. The Grand Galloping Gala, I might note, where he was meant to be rewarded.”
She fell silent, her expression caught between impressed and annoyed. She hated how much he seemed to know, with no apparent effort at all. He wasn’t even a unicorn, so he couldn’t be using magic. Wild Card glanced at her, his eyes gleaming.
“Forget about him, Jade Fire. Let’s get moving. We have a town to reach before nightfall. It wouldn’t do for us to miss the Elements of Harmony.” He took out a golden pocket watch, opening it to reveal a compass. It pointed to the south-west, but unlike a few hours ago the magenta ring had shrunk, passing from one of the mark rings that emanated from the centre. He chuckled. “I do so love it when the Princess owes me.”
***
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You know what they say about sleep these days
We have an appearance by Gilda. Wonder how Dash will react to that?
I just had thought of something a bit off, and correct me if I'm wrong, but I recall almost all of the main 6 seeing visions of Tyrael's memories. However, I don't remember anything really coming out of that. Someone care to enlighten me, pls?
3568736
The memories faded mere moments afterwards again, IIRC. I think the visions were just in to help readers who weren't familiar with the Diablo universe
Well, I wasn't expecting a Gilda appearance, but giving her a chance at redemption really does fall into the series mentality. And who knew Pinkie could cause a sonic boom with her voice, you should totally have her do Guile reference with it. (Street Fighter)
Below you will find some typos for your editing pleasure:
*waste time just walked out. They - waste time and just walked out. They (Maybe a better way to write this, but as it is it’s a little choppy)
*heck is Ardleon is making - heck is Ardleon making
*get a party! He’s a...a..” - get a party! He gets a...a..”
*think he’s meant the far - think he meant the far
*“Well, that he’s an angel - “Well, he’s an angel
*she’d have to have see where - she’d have to see where
*right away.” Twilight’s tone - right away,” Twilight’s tone
*While the plagued the - While they plagued the
*far, everything gone perfectly - far, everything’s gone perfectly
*to finding him.” It - to finding him,” It
*had hoped at that the very - had hoped that at the very
*cabbage to slake their hungry? - cabbage to slake their hunger?
*sighed, tuning out argument. - sighed, tuning out the argument.
*found herself caught off - found herself cut off
*had only her heard shriek in annoyance and complain, - had only heard her shriek in annoyance and complaint,
*with. They had feed off - with. They had fed off
*not have an Element of Harmony, - not have a Element of Harmony,
*ponies found only misty and – pony’s hooves found only misty and (I suggest this change as further in the sentence you don’t clarify what of Paladin’s is striking, while obvious, grammatically it’s still needed.
*you scream.” Paladin sat - you scream,” Paladin sat
*thought made Gilda shivered, - thought made Gilda shiver,
*After last, shivering against - After another minute, shivering against
*personal life, read later’. She - personal life, read later folder. She
*do something, for everypony - do something, or everypony
*urging them to struck. They - urging them to strike. They
*Her armoured hooves struck it. - Her armoured hooves striking it down.
*thoughts trailed off, an single - thoughts trailed off, a single
A lovely update, and every bit as interesting as things should be, and a mess of arrivals to look for when things go north? Apparently, I guess that such opposites attract.
Ever since i saw the cabbage salesman, I knew that there's going to be an Avatar joke…
And now I wait...
Pinkie's magic voice is awesome!
I totally wasn't expecting Thrawn trilogy (and later) references, but I thoroughly enjoyed them
3571735 I'm glad someone was able to appreciate it. I mean, I was pretty sure very few to no one would, but I did it anyway because why not? Nice to know someone else enjoyed them!
3569095
IMO, it would be nice if they did remember those visions. Right now, the main 6 aren't showing/chanelling enough concern for the powers they got from Tyrael as well as the their exact natures. Given the fact that the Diablo universe is a very different place, and the MLP here is set close to canon, I'd thought the girls would be more disturbed by the idea of killing alone, and that the powers they received would be finely honed toward such. You could say it was the elements that suited these powers to their bearers, but i don't think angelic essence would be the type that is easily changed, especially by something as 'soft' as the elements of harmony.
3571885 That's going to come up, don't worry, but at the moment they're rather focused on saving the day. I haven't forgotten about dealing with their reactions to stuff like Paladin killing the Nightmare, I just haven't found a good spot to get it in. At the time, they were rather more preoccupied with just making sure everypony was okay and relieved it was over. The next few chapters, I think, and the final Act will have more stuff related to all this involved in it.
3571912
Good to hear
I'd be sad if those dreams were only ever there to help people who aren't familiar with Diablo because it'd mean they never had any weight in the story to begin with despite all the hassle you went through to come up with those vivid scenes. They were really significant to me as they would've help the 6 understand Tyrael as a being by now, and that ignoring it till now as well as Ardleon in his Izual-like descent made me feel like you were playing Diablo down.
After all, it really is no trouble to just google the Diablo wiki to read and catch up on the thing
3571949 When you say 'playing Diablo down' do you mean the Prime Evil, Diablo, or the game? Also, exact meaning of playing it down, you mean lowering it's importance to the story or making seem weak power wise?
3571958
The game, and yes but in significance as well, not just power alone. It's hard to find crossovers that completely satisfy each side of a fan which support each series. A complicated thing to do.
3571987 Seeing as the story takes place in locatations primarily in one setting, yes it is complicated to do, particularly since there's only one actual real character from Diablo, since Ardleon is entirely created by myself except for his name, so while he's based on Diablo, he's just a Diablo OC.
3571994
Yep, and you're doing a swell job for something complex, not that I don't appreciate it. I do very much, but that's just the unreasonable/eager part of me talking, the part that wants something better in addition to what's already there, even when it is already great as is
3572531 I'll be honest, despite how awesome Jonathan Adam's voice is (he's the guy who voices Tyrael in D3), I have a habit of hearing that 'indeed' in Christopher Judge's voice as well.
3573118 I think Stargate has ruined "indeed" for just about everyone. Teal'c's line has just become too iconic.
Nononononononono pleeeeeeeeeeeeeease NO SHIPPING TYRAEL WITH SHY !!! He didn't fall in for any1 in Diablo 3 while human, so why is MLP so special ??? I'm okay with love like "Jesus love's us all", hes flipping JUSTICE incarnate, it doesn't belong to some1, it belongs to ALL.
You will burn Me for THIS, but it's just out of character for him to have attachments to a single person.......so.....there !
3574551 I disagree. For thing, as I've tried to make clear, over time 'Paladin' is becoming a different person. Having feelings for someone, in a way that is alien to his existence as an angel, help to highlight how he changes. Just because he didn't do it Diablo 3 is no reason for me not to do it here if I think it helps the story, and I do. Different situations, different events, different results. Tyrael is justice incarnate. Paladin is not.
I'm okay with precisely the opposite kind of love, but then I don't believe in Jesus. Also, to be honest, I have trouble taking complaints when they are...rather lacking in grammar, makes it hard to take seriously as it takes away from your meaning.
3575254 yea yea yea.....just another way to say " Go suck a ****, I'll wright what ever i want"
It's still wrong with me, why must every single major character from movie/game/book be shiped ?!
What's next ? Great Evils (it's a shame there is 7 of them and not 6, coz it would have been perfect) learn the wonders of friendship by falling in "love" with the Mane6 !? < this would have been a great "trash fic", just for shits and giggles.
I'm just HOPING that "Paladin" will die at the end and in order to resurrect Him, girls will give away his gifts, he'll reborn anew, remember his JOB, wave Equestria bye-bye and be off to give my Barbarian quests to grind.
3575690
Well he is mortal and has changed from that, and there is no problem with him falling in love, and being "out of character", because if it was, that's nice and all but it becomes stale and boring, the author did not make a Fan-Fic just to make it exactly like the game, he/she made it so he/ she could express his/her imagination and thoughts to others.
There is nothing wrong with expressing your thoughts about it, but your kinda being the dick here
3575254
Oh love the story by the way, I love the humor inside of it, I love your style of writing as well, hoping to help the fire there
3576727 If it OK to express my thought, then why am i a dick ? You're being hypocritical !
I didn't insult any1, all i did is express my displeasure in the plot, that's called critics, and why the hell are you offended ? (don't answer that, don't flood the comments, this isn't the place for it)
3576746 I'm glad you're enjoying the story, thanks for saying so. It's 'him', by the way, I'm all man. Well, I mean, I was last time I checked but who knows what's happened since then!
3577734
Your welcome :)
So I just got into your story but I'm finally all caught up so this comment counts for 25 comments on each individual chapter.
It's a great story so far. I'm really enjoying it and I'm looking forward to the next installment. The curse of catching up in a story and then having to actually wait for another update
.
3573928 I wouldn't say that its ruined but I will admit that I can't hear someone say indeed without raising one eyebrow and giving a blank but stern look.
Good chapter. It was nice to read it aaand...no cliffhangers so I can wait patiently for more ;)
Oh, I do so love this story. How you managed a harmonious mix of the horror and darkness of Diablo and the MLP universe is beyond me, but you have my respect for managing it. And making it awesome.
Cool to see Gilda, I like the smugglers and it was nice to get a reference for when this is happening. Very good.
Also, before I forget, the monkeys have now graduated from "why did you include these guys?" to "these guys are awesome" in my head. When I first saw them I found them unnecessary and clashing with the style, I think I mentioned that, but I think I'm now of the opinion that they are worth including just for their scene with Paladin.
Now, for my exhaustive list of petty nitpicks. If I sound arrogant, condescending, it is probably a mistake or a bad attempt at humor:
"Strung along behind her, her friends followed in her wake. A rope connected them, keeping the group of seven from becoming lost. Even Rainbow Dash, her wings tucked within the sleeves of the woolen jumper Fluttershy had made for her, had agreed after the second time a blizzard had formed over them in the space of a few minutes. It was this or risk getting split up, which none of them wanted." I rewording this paragraph slightly, because the rope is obviously not something that keeps them from getting lost. It's only function is the bit you say afterward, to avoid getting separated.
“What a relief! The third horrible little storm since we started this horrid journey yesterday!” She huffed, her magic untying the knot of her rope the moment Fluttershy stumbled out.
Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash didn’t waste time just walked out." First, if Rarity huffed the dialogue there, it probably shouldn't be an exclamation mark, just a normal comma. Second, there is something wrong with the sentence about Dash and Pinkie. You're missing some word, maybe "and". Besides, the following paragraph mentions something like "bursting out of the snow" and combat rolls, so they obviously aren't just walking out, more like charging. I suggest changing those a bit.
"Sustained flight was proving the issue, sustaining it for more than an hour before he was forced to land and rest them." There is little connection, grammatically, between the two parts of the sentence. I suggest: "issue. He was unable to sustain it for more... land and rest his wings."
"While the plagued the rest of the country, gleefully ignoring the magic of love and friendship that had once denied them their feast," It should be "they plagued", with a "y".
"The monkeys were rather closed lipped about it, but I think he hurt one of the guards." Think it's "close-lipped". The online dictionary says so at least.
“The angel maybe be holding them back to keep us on edge and unable to go after him;" It should be "angel may be holding them back". You wrote "maybe be".
"What better than a nice cabbage to slake their hungry?" One, think you mean "hunger", not "hungry". Second, I'm pretty sure you can only slake a thirst, while you sate (or something else) a hunger.
"After a moment Rarity led the pony she had been talking to, a mare in a very official, if rather baggy, vest." There is something missing in the sentence. We are not told where Rarity leads the pony. The sentence just stutters to a stop after the description. Maybe "After a moment Rarity approached, followed by the pony she had been talking to, a mare in a very official, if rather baggy, vest."
"Applejack scowled. “What’s wrong with Ponyville?! ‘s a good name!” Is the missing "i" in "is" supposed to be her accent showing? Because it looks weird.
"Twilight sighed, tuning out argument. " Missed "the" before "argument".
"Silence dominated the barn, each mare lost in her own thoughts about this news." Think it's "these news" or "this bit/piece of news". News, standing on its own, is always plural.
"They had feed off so much hate, it was a treat to make use of their expanded power and take strength from her sorrow and self-loathing." It's "fed on so much hate", with one "e".
"The thought made Gilda shivered, her feathers ruffling." Again with the wrong ending on words, there were a few of those in the previous chapters as well. It's "made Gilda shiver" without the "ed"-ending.
"They sat together in silence for a few minutes until, as Gilda had know he would, the stallion rose." Missed the "n" in "known".
"We gotta do something, for everypony is gonna be as minty-fresh as a glacier! " This would make more sense with "before" or "or" instead of "for" before "everypony".
“Rainbow Dash, calm down,” interrupting her friend before she could get started, Twilight sent the brash pegasus a confident smile. " This sentence hangs together poorly. It would to wonders if you changed it to "Twilight said, interrupting her friend before she could get started and sending the brash pegasus a confident smile." As you have written it, it looks like two separate bits of sentence melded together into something of a mess.
"They were angry, pain feeding their fury and hunger urging them to struck." It should be "strike", not "struck".
"‘No, don’t given up!" Should be "Don't give up". You have an "n" too many.
"Rainbow Dash, lying in the cabbage field, pushing herself up wearily." Should probably be "pushed herself up wearily."
"They snarled down at him, and Paladin returned it." Not sure you can say "it" here when the "it" refers to a verb.
Anyway, all my nitpicks is my way of showing that I care and really like this story. Always remember that and it might make me seem less of an arrogant, grammar-nazi. So I'm really looking forward to the next chapter, for more action, more emotion and more humor, because you are able to have all three things even in these very serious chapters, and that is something that takes skill. Well done and get to it. Happy writing.
I have a question how are the smugglers ahead of paladin?
Didn't celestia send them after he left?
3602697 She sent a letter TO them, when they were already in the north. She clearly had some knowledge or knew it was highly likely they would be up north for whatever reason, thus why she sent it to Wild Card in the first place. If he hadn't been up there, he wouldn't have gotten the letter.
3604020
thanks for the clarification
Pinkie Pie was feeling a little.....Horse.
words cannot describe how epic this story is.
vpwallpapers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/diablo-3-8.jpg
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I really dug this chapter. The inclusion of Gilda is a good shakeup of the Paladin-Mane 6 dynamic.
Wonderful as ever. looking forward to more.
Inefficient. Don't the elements have a feelable thread thing going on? You know, feeling each other? She teleported on that thread's positioning alone.
I'll omit the idea of actually teleporting to Paladin. Twilight could just have Rainbow zip-zap all the way to the mountains and then teleport to her thread location.
Unless we are conveniently forgetting established mechanics in favor of plot ambush twist.
Pinkie Thu'um Unrelenting Force!
Dat Skyrim reference doe
You know, Paladin really should have known that the new asshole on the block wouldn't leave his six friends alone. They have his powers and our new asshole knows that. He was shouting it loudly during the Gala. I doubt there is any way he could NOT have known they would still be in danger. Major plot hole here.