Knights of Ice and Crystal

by Leila Drake

Chapter 21: Cards on the Table

The fortress was much bigger than Sombra had thought. No matter how many corridors, narrow stairwells and halls they searched, they could find no fire nor anypony other than themselves. Sombra's legs got heavier with every step and he almost heaved a sigh of relief when they stumbled upon a series of chambers that had to be sleeping quarters of some kind. Each room contained two beds. It looked as if the chambers were the home of guards or soldiers. The little furniture that was there had a funcional look to it; no ornaments, no finish or applications. Abrasive took a picture that stood on a small rectangular table into his hooves.

"Crystal pony," he muttered, putting the frame back. "Funny photo, though."

"Funny how?" Sombra stepped closer and took the picture into his magic. There were faint lines on the edges of the pony's head. When Sombra looked closely he could see single paintstrokes. "That's not a photo. It's a painting. A really old technique. I've seen it in ancient magic books," Sombra explained. "That picture is centuries old, from way back before, well, my reign. But," confusion made him lower his voice to a mutter, "it looks new." His gaze met the guard's. "Abrasive Paper," he began but was interrupted.

"Dude, nopony actually calls me that. It's one Tartarus of an unwieldy name. Just say Abs."

Sombra snorted.

"Alright, Abs. Look, the paint didn't faint. After centuries, it should have turned dark or yellow, depending on the pigment they used..."

Abs stared at Sombra.

"So you ain't a numbskull after all."

"Never said I was, grunt."

"Point."

Sombra put the picture back and looked around the small chamber. Now he noticed the untidy bedsheets and half-full mug of tea.

"Everything looks like they left in a hurry. I mean, a soldier would fold his blanket even when he has little time." Sombra tasted the tea, then quickly spat it out. "Cold, but only a day or so old."

"How could we have missed them leaving?" Abs frowned, his glaive scraping the doorframe as he turned to look at Sombra.

I am always close. You cannot hide.

"Maybe they didn't," Sombra suggested nervously. "We should get out of here!"

Abs sighed. "Wouldn't get far. Better to hide and try tomorrow. This place is a fucking maze and it's star-damned cold outside, don't you forget."

"Right... Stars dammit."

Abs set his weapon down and closed the wooden door. There was a key next to the door. He tried it on the lock and it fit. There was a satisfying click when he turned the key. Abs gestured towards one of the beds.

"That one's mine," he declared. Sombra noticed that the bedsheets were dark blue while the ones on the other bed shone in a pastel orange. They also emitted a faint flowery smell. After several nights in the shelter or, when those had been at full capacity, in the park, he could not care less about that. Sombra rolled his eyes, shook out the blanket and planted his rump on the mattress.

---

"Can we talk?" Feather stood in the doorframe, greeting Darren with a strange mixture of friendliness and caution. She looked tense; her mane was slightly out of shape.

He rose from his bed, putting aside the borrowed book he had been reading, and nodded.

"Of course. What is it?"

Daren could not help the sudden feeling of impending doom when Eclipse also stepped into the room, followed by his father. The latter shot him an angry look. Darren pointed at the bed with an open hand, inviting his guests to sit down. Feather and White shook their heads. Feather put her hoof on Eclipse's shoulder. Apparently, there had been A Talk.

"What can I do for you?" he rephrased his question.

Feather sighed and stepped forward. She opened her mouth.

"Eclipse told us what he saw. When he looked into your mind," White said bluntly before she could utter anything. "We... please explain to us why he saw that."

Eclipse peeked around his mother. He looked surprisingly calm. No - his hooves were trembling, his little wings were twitching and his face twisted into a half-smile that quickly morphed into a grimace.

Oh Light. Eclipse had seen his memories. Void powers or not, he was just a kid.

Darren heaved a long sigh, trying to bide his time. He had promised himself not to talk about this!

But now they knew. He had to explain his memories, he needed them to understand or, at least, he wanted to tell the truth... Darren remembered opening up before. Each time, the one listening had been a pony. Telling Twilight his worries had been a relief. Meeting Luna in his nightmares had been a blessing. Finally, sharing a glimpse of his pain with Cadence had been consoling. Darren hoped that this, too, would turn out alright because he did not want the colt to keep looking at him the way he was right now.

This is going to hurt, he thought. Better to get it over with.

"I see," he said aloud. "I suppose you are not asking about his magic but about my memories."

Eclipse and Feather nodded simultaneously. Eclipse sniffed and rubbed his muzzle. Darren felt his stomach cramping up with guilt: Eclipse had been crying; his eyes were slightly bloodshot.

Folding his hands, Darren hesitated. Where should he start?

"If there's one thing I've learned from Twilight, it's to... share trust," Darren said eventually. He noticed his northern Lordaeronian accent getting stronger but found that he did not care. "You deserve to know the truth behind what you've seen. All of it." He swallowed hard.

"You know I'm not from Equestria." The ponies nodded. "I'm from Azeroth. It's not as peaceful as your place is now. More often than not, it's getting torn apart by all kinds of conflict. I used to live in Andorhal, with my... wife and five kids. Then came the Plague and with it the war. It was..." He shook his head. "...horrid. What Eclipse saw was the second war I was in." He paused. As the Whites anxiously waited for him to continue, he found it difficult to do so.

"We were called The Scourge of Lordaeron. And the shoe fit. It was evil - by all intents and purposes. But - but I wasn't in control. It was dark magic - a curse that had enslaved my - mind, my body, everything. When it was over I was mortified... I'm... deeply... ashamed of what I did back then. I can't forget - the faces -"

His voice cracked as he remembered the horror of realizing his deeds. He had fallen to his knees, with the bloodstains from his latest victims still on his armour, face and blade. He had burst into tears, wailing over the loss of his life, his honour and his family. It had been the only time he had ever succumbed to deep emotions while he had been a Death Knight. The knuckles of Darren's folded hands turned white as he kept staring at them. He did not want to see how the ponies looked at him.

"There was a final battle at Light's Hope Chapel. The Light - it broke the dark spell on me and my comrades. All of a sudden, we were free. It was... as if a veil had been lifted. But I can't undo anything of what had happened." Now Darren was at a point where he could not stop himself. The words just kept on coming.

"Everything... everyone I loved... was gone. The only thing we could do was take revenge on the man who'd enslaved us. The souls he'd held captive were set free. That, at least, we got right. Then I went home, to Eastern Lordaeron. It's sick and dead, the ground poisoned, my town... long burned to ashes. People changed its name, call it the Plaguelands now. I earned my living by decimating the cursed creatures there. That's how I got my last name - Houndslayer." Darren smiled at his hands. "And then Twilight Sparkle and her friends came along."

The ponies were very quiet. He risked a look into Feather's direction. Her foreleg was on Eclipse's shoulder again. She looked back at Darren through teary eyes, with sympathy and sadness. Even White's stern expression had disappeared. He looked at the ground, wiping his muzzle and clearing his throat.

"Jonathan - he'd been under the same spell as me," Darren went on. His throat felt dry. "But Twilight accidentally took him along when she opened a portal to Equestria. And while he was in Ponyville, the Light lifted the final curse and he lived again."

White gasped incredulously. Darren winced as he realized what he had just implied.

"He... he was dead? I mean - un-dead?" Feather stammered. Eclipse's jaw dropped and he simply stared at Darren with wide eyes.

Darren nodded, giving her a sad, tight-lipped smile.

"A-and you, too," White concluded, pointing at him.

"Yes. Necromancy." Darren's face contorted with disgust as he spat out the word. "I used to be a paladin, a warrior of the Light. And they twisted me into a - a monstrosity, a force of Evil!" Breathing heavily, he clenched his shaking fists, forcing himself not to hit anything while the kid was present. Still, he could not keep his vision from blurring and his face from turning hot. "I hated it!"

"Y-you said that Twilight and her friends came," Eclipse whispered.

"Right." Darren took a deep breath through his nose to calm himself down. "Jonathan was looking for wand materials. He hired me as a guide. We became friends. When I found out about Twilight's home and the cure that came with it, I asked if I could join them when they returned to Equestria. Twilight accepted."

"And were you healed, too?" Feather asked, tilting her head.

"I was. Thanks to the Crystal Heart, I'm alive again," said Darren. "Back to human. You might have noticed the difference in my eyes. Though," he rolled his eyes and gave Eclipse a lopsided smirk, "the hair remained white."

That got him a shaky smile from the colt.

"I'm very sorry you had to see my memories," Darren told Eclipse. "If I could take them away from you, I'd do it in an instant."

"I'm sorry for making you remember," Eclipse said quietly. He somehow sounded less like the child he was; his voice was lower and firmer. "It was really scary. All the - killing and - monsters - Yeah, I'll probably have nightmares for a month." He chuckled without humour. "But Princess Luna is gonna look after me. Maybe you, too." He shrugged off his mother's hoof and she let him step closer and sit down at a little distance to Darren. Wet streaks on his cheeks glistened in the light that shone through the window. "But there's nothing we can to about your past, I guess. So, you really used to be evil. But now you're good again? Right?"

Darren smiled sadly.

"I try."

Feather turned her head to exchange a look with White.

"Why are you so interested in helping us?" White asked. "Are you - are you trying to make up for what you did?"

Darren shook his head.

"I'll never make up for that," he stated matter-of-factly, wiping his nose. "I just... like you fellas," he admitted and spread his arms. "You..." He exhaled, only now noticing that he had held his breath. "You remind me of my family. The one I used to have. You're not them, obviously. But I still don't want to see you hurt by the Void. Or by that Sombra character."

White sighed, rubbing his forehead.

"I believe you," he said. "You said that you were a father..."

"Used to be," Darren corrected softly.

"Used to be a father," White amended. "We can see how well you treat our kids." He gave off a short chuckle. "How you literally rush to help - without hesitation - every time we call for you. You're doing your best, Darren, I gotta respect that. How can anypony expect more than someone doing their best? I want to trust you. And now that you've been so honest... I think I can do that." He walked towards Darren, stretching out a foreleg that was only trembling a little bit. "So. We good?"

Darren cleared his throat. He stood up and firmly shook the offered hoof.

"We're good," he rasped.

"Thank you for telling us." Eclipse leaned over and gave Darren a careful hug. From up close, his short black mane looked very unkempt.

As the child's head touched his chest, Darren tried to grasp what had just happened. The Whites looked shaken and intimidated by the memories he had dumped on them and yet they still wanted to be friends! Twilight and Luna had been right. The truth had not destroyed the bond he had with this family. It had cleared the air. Darren was so relieved that a sob escaped him. He put a shaking arm around Eclipse and managed to give him two awkward pats on the back. When Eclipse let go, he smiled at Darren.

"We're good," Eclipse said, determination replacing the uneasiness on his face. "And I'd love to have you as my teacher."

---

Peridot's chin touched the tablecloth. She groaned.

"I'm hungry," she complained. "What's taking them so looong?" Dragging out the word, she managed to sink even further into her chair without lifting her head from the table.

"Please," said Twilight in a hushed voice, "we're in a restaurant." Her ears went down, looking around if anypony was looking. But no one cared that the only child at their table was bored. The soft clinking of cutlery on porcelain and quiet conversation filled the dimly-lit room. Twilight felt for Peridot. It was hard to remain patient when the smell coming from the other tables was so delicious.

Relax, Twilight told herself. That talk should soon be over. I hope they are okay...

Feather had not said what the talk with Darren was supposed to be about. Probably a discussion whether or not they would accept him as Eclipse's teacher. Twilight forced herself not to stand up and pace around the room. Instead, she checked the menu card for the eighth time. Her ears twitched. She cast a look over to Jonathan. He gave her a small shrug.

"Should I check?" he offered.

"Where are the other ponies anyway?" Peridot went on. "I thought at least the nice pegasus would show up. It was fun to play with her... though we still didn't go to the lake."

"Fluttershy can't come, she needs to feed her critters. And Applejack is at the farm with her family," Twilight explained absent-mindedly. She closed the menu card and shoved it back into the slim wooden box in the middle of the table. She had half a mind to walk back to the castle when, to her relief, the restaurant door opened and Darren walked in, followed by Feather, White and Eclipse.

They all looked kind of mangled. Darren's eyes were slightly bloodshot, so were Eclipse's. White and Feather both took a deep breath and put up their friendliest smiles as they passed the threshold. They looked like ponies who had just done something exhausting and were glad to go on to more pleasant things. Oh dear, had the talk been that bad? When they saw Peridot waving at them, they quickly joined her at the table. Chair legs scraped across the wooden floor as everyone shuffled around to make room for the newcomers.

Peridot lifted her head.

"Finally!" she declared, throwing her forelegs into the air. "We're, like, starving."

"Sorry, everyone! It took a bit longer than we expected." White raised his eyebrows and floated the menu card over to himself and Feather. "But it was important. I promise we'll go to the lake tomorrow," he added with an apologetic look towards Peridot.

"How did it go? What was it even about? If you're okay with telling us," Twlight quickly amended when she saw Eclipse's face.

To her surprise, Darren answered.

"We talked about my past. Under the influence of the Scourge." He crossed his arms and leaned onto the table. "They know. Eclipse saw it when we fought."

"Ouhhh." Jonathan grimaced uncomfortably. "But -wait - you guys are still okay with," he wiggled his hand around between himself, the Whites and Darren, "the teaching thing?"

Feather nodded and White said, "We are." They both smiled. "Everypony makes mistakes," White went on, "some... some worse than others. How we treat creatures who made them defines who we are, doesn't it?" He hesitated. "Also - we're friends. And the way I understand it, Darren is good now. We've only seen him being good anyway." He almost winced at how bluntly he had put it.

"Thank you, by the way, for your statement, Princess," said Feather quickly. "The one you made in the news about the events at the Summer Sun Celebration. It put some things into perspective."

"Oh." Twilight was surprised about the sudden change of subject. "You're welcome. I just wanted to make sure that no one would confuse Princess Luna with Nightmare Moon anymore. After what happened at Nightmare Night it felt like the right thing to do." Getting a confused look from Darren, she explained, "Princess Luna visited the festivities but everypony thought she was still basically Nightmare Moon. There was absolute chaos. It all worked out in the end but I learned that ponies can't always tell the image of a pony apart from the pony themselves. And that the past isn't all that defines someone." Her eyes widened as she made the connection. "Ah, I see! Sure, right! You're very welcome."

Jonathan just gaped at Darren who could not suppress a grin.

"Must have been some talk," Jonathan said dryly.

"You could say that." Darren accepted the menu card that White was offering to him. "How large are the portions here?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Too small. Order three things. Minimum." Jonathan smirked and leaned back. "Avoid the hay. There's burgers without. I love the Griffin's Choice but fish isn't everybody's thing."

The waiter came along as soon as he noticed that the group was complete. He looked down at them along his grey muzzle but apart from that he seemed rather polite. Everybody ordered, Jonathan and Darren decided to share a small barrel of cider, Eclipse and Peridot both wanted spaghetti.

When the waiter had disappeared back into the kitchen, Feather leaned forward.

"So, Jonathan," she said, "I heard that you have a shop?" Right. The Whites had invited Jonathan to get acquainted...

"Yep. I basically sell enchantments. You know, like spells that can be stored in scrolls and used later. Or magic mirrors, that kinda thing."

"We heard that you are from... Azeroth, too?" Feather asked.

Jonathan suddenly seemed unsure. He looked at Darren who just shrugged and nodded. Jonathan visibly relaxed. No more secrets, it seemed.

"Mh-hmm," he said, fiddling with his napkin. "Let's see... My dad was a merchant, we had a little trading post halfway between the Capital and Southshore - a frequented route," he added. When Feather still gave him his undivided attention, he continued. "I studied Doctrine in Lordaeron, uh, that's our religion's teachings of the Light. So my sister took over the trading post, our parents had died until then. I also learned Enchanting, obviously," he chuckled.

"And you used to be un-dead, too?" Eclipse piped up.

Twilight dropped her fork with a clang. She dove under the table to find it.

Peridot's shocked gaze darted from Eclipse to Jonathan to Darren. Feather put a hoof around her for reassurance.

Jonathan cleared his throat. "Er. Y-yes. I was." He raised an eyebrow, giving Eclipse a lopsided smile. "Guess you really are up to date."

"How did you and the Princess, er, Twilight, meet?" asked White while Twilight reappeared above tablecloth level with the fork in her magic field and a blush across her muzzle.

"On a zeppelin on the way to Northrend." Jonathan grinned as he recalled the memory. "Ah, yeah, there were pirates and sea-snakes. And it was freezing cold. Didn't me bother at the time, though."

"Cool!" Eclipse beamed. Darren grinned inwardly as he saw the excitement on the colt's face. Pirates in Equestria were probably less deadly and ruthless than the ones on Azeroth.

"Actually, they were really mean," said Twilight as if she had read Darren's thoughts. "But we made it to the shore. You see, Northrend is a cold continent, in fact a bit like the Empire. And Dalaran has got a magic barrier, too. It's the Mage's City there. Anyway, Jonathan helped me to get back home to Equestria. We've been friends ever since." They exchanged happy grins.

"And you fought pirates," Eclipse insisted.

"Yeah. We fought pirates." Jonathan smirked. He opened his mouth but closed it again when he noticed that the waiter was back with their drinks. He needed to walk twice because of the cider barrel.

When everyone had their drink, White lifted his glass.

"To new beginnings," he said.

"Hear, hear," said Jonathan.

"Cheers," said Twilight and Darren at the same time.