Knights of Ice and Crystal

by Leila Drake

Chapter 18: Friendship Castle

The plums were tasty. Sweet, juicy and filling, too. Sombra wiped his mouth. He swallowed hard when he realized something. If the food was fresh there had to be somepony who grew it. Which meant that they were not alone. Weird that the voice did not warn him. It had been so perceptive before. But he had to check nonetheless.

"Wonder who'sh taking gare of dis garden," said Abrasive Paper, still chewing.

Sombra squinted his eyes when he heard a faint rumble that quickly moved closer. The ground shook, but only a bit, and it sounded as if masses of water were approaching.

"Shit!" The guard jumped to his feet and grabbed his glaive. "Run!" he shouted, pointing in the direction where they had come from. Sombra decided that that was a reasonable suggestion and followed Abrasive Paper who, of course, had to be a better sprinter than him despite the bag and weapon he was carrying.

Dashing through the still open door, they swung it around and slammed it shut. They looked at each other, all ears turning towards the door. The hinges rattled, a noise that grew stronger each second. Both ponies ran for their lives.

Back in the garden, the rumbling subsided as a heap of brown stones emerged from the ground. The rocks lifted into the air, flew around each other and quickly assembled themselves into a bizarre shape. The creature had two massive arms, a small head atop a broad rock that was faintly shaped like a ribcage, and flaming eyes. A few rocks danced around its lower parts as if they could not decide on the number of feet it should have.

"Where they go?" rumbled the creature, sounding disappointed.

Next to it, water rose from the dirt below and formed a wave. It, too, had arms, but they were made of the purest water. White foam wandered around the liquid creature's body. It looked at its companion with two yellow dots where one could imagine a face.

"Dunno," it glugged. "Did you sssee who idd wasss?"

"Nay. Maybe they new."

"Or maybe not ourrr masssters at all," replied the water creature. "Better be carrreful."

There was another rumble and splash and both creatures disappeared into the ground again.

---

After changing trains in Canterlot, the remaining journey to Ponyville took only half an hour. The Ponyville train was called Friendship Express, another hint towards the fact that ponies valued harmony more than technology. It was decorated with maudlin motives - lots of hearts, pastel colours and organic shapes. Feather played card games with her children. White and Darren looked out the window and watched the landscape flying past them. The fields were a patchwork of green and yellow, dotted with trees. They passed blooming orchards and small settlements with straw-covered houses. Darren felt reminded of Lordaeron before the Plague, when the skies had been blue and clear, not covered by a looming cloud of green and brown mist.

He was thankful that White did not talk. It gave Darren the chance to appreciate Equestria in silence. This place was strange and yet felt real to the point of obtrusiveness. The Frozen North had felt more familiar to Darren than the pastures around him: it had been almost void of life. Darren had not seen this much green since Silvermoon. However, there was a difference. The Elves had put a lot of effort and magic into their city and the result had still been something artificial. But Equestria... Even though it was obvious that the ponies took care of the land, there was a wildness in it as if an ancient soul breathed in it. In retrospect, Darren realized that the Scourge had not only destroyed the lands of Lordaeron and poisoned its people. It had also taken its soul, its very essence. That was such a tremendous loss that he felt his stomach shrink as he understood. He had committed the ultimate crime: He had slaughtered the Innocent, which was evil enough on its own, but he had also taken part in killing a land.

White looked at him, a small line of worry between his brows. Darren ignored him and kept watching the landscape, trying not to show what was going on inside his head. He promised himself to never tell the ponies what he had done.

To his relief, the train soon slowed down and arrived in a quaint little town. The conductor - a mare with an unusually short mane and tail - walked through all the cars to the back of the train and told everyone loudly that they had arrived in Ponyville. White jumped from his seat and put on his saddlebags. Feather gave Darren the pack of cards back. Her husband used his magic to float the carpet outside the car so Darren could quickly take his sword and bag. They herded Eclipse and Peridot off the train and onto the single platform that made up the station.

"Darren!" That was Twilight Sparkle. Ponies respectfully stepped out of her way as she cantered towards her guests. Unfurling her wings to do a little jump, she hugged Darren. Feather's eyes widened in surprise. "And you must be Feather Rush and White Alloy! Nice to meet you!" She turned to the baffled ponies and shook their hooves. They responded with a "nice to meet you, Princess" and slightly awkward smiles.

Eclipse and Peridot, suddenly shy, stared at Twilight as she was greeting their parents.

"Welcome to Ponyville," she said with a beaming smile. "Let's get your things to the castle, then we can do a little tour and have lunch."

"The castle?" White stammered. "We wanted to book two rooms in the local inn..."

"No way," said Twilight. "You and Darren are my guests, you don't have to book rooms. There's plenty of room at my home, don't you worry."

Darren raised his eyebrows. "I thought you lived in a library."

For half a second, Twilight's smile wavered. "It was destroyed when Tirek attacked Equestria," she said. "But the Tree of Harmony grew a seed and that became a castle. I moved there with all the remaining books and opened a new library. Oh, in case you're wondering, Jonathan is working, that's why he didn't come. Arcus, too. Fluttershy and Applejack could make the time, they are waiting in the throne room."

Darren remembered the two names from Twilight's stories but he could not recall which one had the yellow coat and which one was orange.

"Princess, how can we accept this honour?" White Alloy said nervously.

"What do you mean - oh, all right," laughed Twilight. "Look, I'm just a pony, too. Please, you can call me Twilight."

"As you wish, Pr-, Twilight," replied Feather quickly. She exchanged a look with White which Twilight did not see because she was walking ahead of them. Darren gave them a nod to reassure them. Just like Cadance and Luna, Twilight preferred to keep formalities to a minimum. Darren liked that about her but he also knew that it could confuse common folk when the royals behaved like everyone else. You somehow just expected them to be snobbish, even if they were known to be kind rulers.

"What's the Tree of Harmony?" Peridot piped up.

"That's a magical tree in the Everfree Forest," said Twilight. "It's made of crystal... I think. The Elements of Harmony have a special connection with it."

They followed a broad street through the centre of town. Darren saw that the ponies gave them curious looks. Many seemed comfortable with the sight of him, more so than in other towns. Was it because of Twilight? Since it was close to midday, many took a break from their work and went home or visited the few restaurants they passed by.

"Five friends and I used to bear the Elements of Harmony for some time," Twilight continued. "They are powerful artifacts and each of them represents another aspect of the Magic of Friendship. But we gave them back to the tree to heal it when it was sick."

The road led them past an unusually large square. The middle of the plaza was paved with a beautiful stone ornament depicting a tree. The corners of the rectangular pavement were marked with four small trees in pots. Twilight gestured towards the ornament.

"This is where the Golden Oaks Library used to be. The little trees are saplings from new oak trees. The old oak," she cast a look at Darren, "exploded. We couldn't retrieve anything from the remains except for the roots." Darren noticed a certain look in Twilight's eyes, one he had seen several times when they had worked on a plan to rescue their friends from captivity. "Anyway, we're here," she added quickly.

"Whoa..." Eclipse and Peridot gaped at the magnificent structure.

It was very Equestrian. More crystals, reminding Darren of the Empire's castle, and more pastel colours. Blue was the dominating one. A star silimar to Twilight's Cutie Mark adorned the castle's highest tower. The entire building resembled a tree. The main portal was in the broad trunk. Twilight smiled, her focus apparently shifting from the past to the present.

"Welcome to the Castle of Friendship!" she said proudly.

---

Wheezing and panting, Sombra and Abrasive Paper leaned against a wall. They had run through a seemingly endless series of corridors which would have looked identical had it not been for the occasional window or colourful tapestry. The first few halls had been illuminated by large crystals. Now they only saw unlit torches in the dim light of Sombra's horn.

"Hey, look, it's you," said Abrasive Paper, his hoof pointing at one of the tapestries. "Oh, wait, his mane's different," he added nonchalantly when Sombra rushed to his side to take a glance at the woven picture. He gave the guard an annoyed glare. Touching the tapestry, Sombra discovered that it was soft and warm, not cold and brittle as one would have expected.

"They're performing..." Sombra took a deep breath. "...a ritual of some kind. No, it's a fight..."

The unicorn on the tapestry stood in front of a horde of white wolves, a few more grey-coated, black-armored spellcasters behind him. All of their horns were aglow, the effect produced by silver, black and purple threads stitched onto the image. Their spells gathered in a dark cloud, shaped like a creature Sombra had never seen in real life.

"Weirdest squid ever," chuckled Abrasive Paper.

"I'm pretty sure they usually don't have two legs and tentacle arms," said Sombra dryly. He looked at the guard. "And the cloth is warm." He went over to the next tapestry which showed a similar scene, only with a cloudlike, slim purple creature instead of the messed up squid monster. The images went on like this; each displayed grey warriors and spellcasters fighting animals or foreign ponies coming from the ice, using purple magic, monsters and sharp weapons. Their enemies usually looked at them with terror, twisted limbs showing pain and anguish. Sombra was not sure if it the artists had just overdone the poses or if it had been their idea of a powerful military force. The determined faces and ruthless fighting style of the grey ponies sent a shiver down his spine.

"The air is warm," Abrasive Paper corrected him. "Walls, too. Like the other hallways. There must be a fire somewhere."

Sombra tore his eyes from the glorified fighting scenes. "Not necessarily. It could be magic, like the crystals in the other halls."

"Still, a source of warmth means there's probably somepony around. Better be careful."

"Right, so they don't notice us stomping around causing floods and earthquakes."

"Yeah. That." The guard scoffed. "I'm gonna look for a place to sleep. Preferably not a dungeon. Sound good?"

---

"Welcome!" The chipper voice of a pony used to smiling greeted them when Twilight's magic opened the castle's portal. "I'm Starlight Glimmer," said the mare. She was a pink unicorn with a purple mane that had light turqoise streaks in it. She gestured for them to enter. Tilting her head back to look at Darren's face, she showed no surprise. Only her smile grew a little stiff when she saw that he was not smiling. Her hind leg twitched as she resisted the urge to shift away from him.

"Thanks for preparing the table, Starlight," said Twilight warmly. "I'll go and tell Spike and the girls we're here. Can you please show Darren and the Whites their rooms?"

"Sure," beamed Starlight. She led the way to a staircase, casting a quick look back to make sure she was being followed. "This way, please, everypony - I mean -"

"It's alright," said Darren calmly.

"Oh-okay! Sorry!" Dear Light, the mare was growing more nervous with every second. It was even worse than with the train conductor. Did she feel that guilty for the slip-up? Strange. Darren frowned.

"How do you know the princess?" asked Feather.

"Well, uh, we're friends!" said Starlight. "We, er, met in a small town. I don't really want to go into details, if you don't mind... let's just say that I'm kind of her student." She chuckled awkwardly. "This is you room, Mrs and Mr White..."

Feather smiled warmly. "I'm Feather Rush," she said. "And this is Eclipse..." - "Hi!" said the colt - "...and Peridot."

"And I'm White Alloy but you can call me White. There's no need for the Mister."

"A-and you are Darren, right?" Starlight asked for confirmation.

Darren nodded. "Nice to meet you, Starlight Glimmer." He decided to smile.

Her own smile almost distracted from the tiny frown on her forehead. She cantered over to the next door, banging her hoof on the edge of the frame, and declared it to be Darren's room, also that they would meet in the entrance hall in ten minutes if that was okay.

The Whites said, "See you later," and disappeared in their room. Darren entered and closed the door of his own room. He put the rolled-up carpet down and hung the sheathed sword onto the back of the door. His bag went into the large closet. He threw the cloak onto the bed and went back into the hallway.

The clatter of hooves indicated the direction into which Starlight had disappeared. He went down the stairs and saw a door at the end of the hall. Starlight's tail had just disappeared behind it. The door had not closed completely. Darren heard voices from inside and hesitated when he recognized Twilight's voice.

"Starlight, are you alright? You look terribly nervous. Did something happen?"

"Happen? No, no, I'm totally fine. Yeah." Not even Darren was convinced by that. "It's just..." There was a pause.

Another mare spoke. The voice was so soft thatDarren could not make out the words.

"What's there to be scared about?" said someone else, this time a colt. "Was he that intimidating? I thought you said that Jonathan was taller."

"He is," said Twilight, "but Darren... well, how do I put it?"

"He's a warrior, isn't he?" said Starlight. "He had this huge sword on his back and this vicious tattoo on his face and I think he - he saw right through me! It's like those eyes are ice - they could drill right through - through...," she stammered in a panic.

Darren frowned, his hand hovering over the handle. It seemed that even though the curse was gone ponies still felt cold around him. His hand clenched into a fist. Maybe he had decided too soon to visit Ponyville.

"Sugarcube, how 'bout y'all take a deep breath," said another mare. "Did he say anythin' mean to ya?"

"N-no, not really. It was just the way he looked at me, you know..."

"Starlight, I swear I didn't tell him anything about your past," said Twilight. "I would never do that. Darren can..."

"Twilight, the map!" said the mare that had called Starlight a sugarcube. "It's glowin'." There was a pause when everyone was probably looking at the map.

"I've seen that Cutie Mark before," muttered the unknown quiet pony. "Could it be..."

The rest of her sentence was drowned by a terrible scream.

"Darren! Help!"

Feather. Darren spun around, the overheard conversation forgotten, and rushed upstairs taking three steps at a time. He could hear Twilight and her friends running after him. He found Feather standing at the open door of their guest room, waving for him to quickly come inside.

"It's Eclipse, he - I don't know - dark magic again -" she stammered.

Darren ran past her, nodding to show he had understood, and found a familiar scene.

Eclipse was in midair, black steam rising from his coat and mouth. He flapped his small wings, trying in vain to regain control over his body which floated in the air as if underwater.

"Mom!" he wailed. "Mom, it hurts!" Tears ran from his wide, glowing eyes.

"Mister Darren!" begged Peridot, clutching her father's leg as they both helplessly watched her brother writhing in agony.

Darren leapt forward and grabbed Eclipse's leg, pulling the colt down onto one of the beds. As soon as he touched him, the cool sense of purpose was gone. His heart pounded against his ribcage and cold sweat ran down his neck. Was that fear he was feeling?

He stretched out his hand - strange, it was shaking - and felt for Eclipse's forehead. It was time to free the colt again. Darren closed his eyes to concentrate better and reached for the dark hole in his own soul...

Nothing happened. Darren pulled away from Eclipse, trying to stay as calm as he could. Why did it not work anymore? Since when could he not drain magic?

Of course... The curse was gone. He was not a Death Knight anymore, just a human...

The only way left to do this kind of magic was with his sword.

"Be right back," he muttered, gently pushing Twilight and an orange mare aside as he ran to his own room. He pulled the weapon from the hook at the door and unsheathed it as he dashed back to Eclipse, dropping the scabbard on the carpet of the hallway. He skidded to a halt in front of the bed and raised his sword.

"What are you doing?!" shrieked Feather, aghast.

Darren hesitated, suddenly realizing what he must look like pointing a runeblade at the little colt. For the first time since his death, he felt his face turning red hot. He lowered the weapon.

"Feather, I swear I would never hurt your boy," he said, trying to put all of his sincerity into the words. "I want to use the sword as a focus. Like... a wand. Or a horn, if you will. To pull the dark magic from Eclipse."

Feather stared at Eclipse, then Darren. Finally, her gaze settled on her husband.

"You'll just point it from a distance?" asked White cautiously. Peridot, her forelegs still locked around his, looked up at him and nodded wildly.

"Yes!" replied Darren sharply. He waited, his trembling hand pointing the sword at the ground, until White finally nodded.

"Do it," he said.

Comments

[Two_Madmans]

Aaand we have shamans.

"I'm pretty sure they usually don't have two legs and tentacle arms," said Sombra dryly.

Aaah, ak shath gaz.