Chapters The cold hand of Icecrown
Chapter one: my master brings his greetings
The magnificent city of Canterlot shone brightly, the streets were alive with bargaining or friendly chatter. Anypony who dared to start a fight would be stopped by the guards whose golden armor gleamed in the summer sun.
Yet, there was one spot of ink on this blank paper.
A hooded figure was walking along the cobblestone road, completely covered in the dark blue and purple robes that marked a wizard of high skill. He was circled by a group of guards wearing incredibly dark armor with glowing blue energy circling them. Both the wizard and the guards breaths carried vapor, yet it was burning outside.
The wizard turned his head towards the uppermost spires of Canterlot castle. The hood of his robe falling down slightly to reveal a slick white muzzle. His mouth turned into a twisted smile before he pulled his hood down and continued onwards with his strange guards.
The citizens who normally would have gone about their day now stared with awe at the ensemble. Some turned to whisper to their friends or special somepony, but all were entranced by the wizard and his cohorts.
A guard mustered the courage to walk up to the strange group, his armor pieces scraping together and warning the black guard of on comer. they turned to face the royal guard with swords on the ready. They were carefully crafted weapons with intricate runes running down the middle of the hard blade. Like the armor, the swords glowed with a soft blue hue, slightly obstructed by the green magic that covered each of their swords. The rune blades looked to be covered in ice, but what was mysterious was that it wasn't melting, on the contrary the amount of ice remained a constant.
The guard took a few steps back at the display, being on citizen duty he didn't carry weapons that could match a sword, let alone six of them. He eventually bumped into a lamp post and was cornered. Completely unnecessary, the guards hadn't moved any closer since the drew their blades. All of them had placed them on their backs and were staring at the guard with emotionless glowing blue eyes.
"W-what do you want?" He asked, stuttering uncontrollably and shaking violently in his armor.
The wizard nodded within his hood and the guards trotted off to the side. He walked slowly over to the frightened guard. The guard in question peered searchingly into the darkness created by the hood, but nothing was revealed.
The wizard eventually stood directly in front of the guard, staring down at him. The guard could feel his blood run cold, and his coat was standing completely on end. He could feel himself hyperventilating. His breath freezing as soon as it left his mouth.
"Your curiosity will be the death of you." The wizard said plainly, his voice raspy and hollow, the guard could feel his mind freezing itself as the chilling voice entered his ear canals.
The guard stared directly into the darkness of the hoof, and before his face a pair of icy blue orbs formed. They glared into his soul, questioning his worth. He finally shook his head and turned around.
The guards once again surrounded him, not allowing anyone entry. The guard himself just sat there for minutes before coming back to life with a shock.
"T-the princess, I-I must warn the princess!" He got back onto his hooves and galloped towards the castle, fearing that it might have been too late already.
"And therefore I suggest that lifetime imprisonment shall become a viable punishment!"
Celestia was sitting with false attention and listened to Blueblood's stupid ideas. This newest one had been brought up because he didn't find that citizens walking away from crimes, in his mind bumping into royalty was a crime in itself, to be suitable. So he had brought up the insane idea of lifetime imprisonment being a punishment executable by Canterlot royalty.
"I will take it into consideration Prince Blueblood." She nodded in his direction and he turned around with a smug smile, the other nobles nodded thankfully at him, and she was pretty certain she saw bits switching hooves. To Fancy Pants, who functioned as her secretary and advisor she whispered, "his request is not be noted."
The unicorn smiled and drew a line across the words he had been writing. She turned towards Luna who had been resting her head on the back of her own throne. Her eyes closed and snoring slightly, no one paid notice to this however. She prodded her sister and she quickly woke up while shaking her head.
"Blueblood was the last one, right sister?" She asked, Luna looked over a memo resting on the hooflean. She turned back to her sister and nodded before she leaned her head back.
"Good," she turned back towards the royals who had assaulted the liquor table with great enthusiasm, "if there are none more who seeks an audience then I will retreat to my chambers."
She hadn't even time to get off her throne before the down was almost slammed off its hinges. A group of armed guards wearing obsidian like black armor with swirly blue runes on them were surrounding a robed pony in their midst. Each of them carried a huge blade on their backs and their eyes glowed an unsettling icy hue.
"Who dares intrude upon this place!?" Luna shouted at the intruders, the loud banging of the door having shaken all drowsiness off of her in an instant.
Neither the sorcerer or the guards answered. The royal guards themselves, guided by Captain Shining Armor, jumped in to stop them from getting any closer. The royal guards crossed their javelins to block the intruders from getting any further. This proved futile as one of the black guards bit onto the sword on his back and swung it down, another one pointed his horn directly at the point were the handles met. A blue beam shot out and slowly but surely the javelins were reduced to ice. The sword continued down, shattering the now frozen metal handles in a display of icy doom. Both guards fell back as the frozen pieces of the javelins were still attached to their hooves.
Finally both sorcerer and guardsmen were standing in front of the thrones. Celestia looked at the guards with mild annoyance, but the sorcerer seemed more calm and collected, perhaps even purposeful. As if he had a job that meant more to him than his life.
"Greetings Princess Celestia, my master gives his greetings." The wizard bowed his head with a hint of playfulness tinged in his voice.
"Your master should perhaps send a less bombastic ensemble if he wishes to speak with us!" Luna shouted, lifting her head as high as she could to stare down at the wizard.
"What is it your masters wish sir....?" Celestia interrupted before the situation could escalate. The sorcerer was no doubt powerful, if his attire was anything to go by. So a scuffle between himself and Luna might lead to severe damage, or perhaps even casualties.
"Thank you, Princess," the sorcerer bowed again, "but my name is of no importance. My master rules a kingdom that lies far to the north, even beyond the Crystal Empire. His situation has become compromised as an old spell has left him trapped, he requires and age old artifact that lies deep within Canterlot Mausoleum to free himself from its grasp."
The Princess nodded, Canterlot mausoleum did house a variety of ancient artifacts, some of them she had put there herself out of necessity.
"What artifact does your master wish?"
Even though the sorcerers face was completely covered in the hood, Celestia could still feel him smiling.
"The orb of Kazakh Duun."
Celestias eyes widened to the point that they might have fallen out were it not that they clenched in rage a few seconds after, "ABSOLUTELY NOT!" She shouted and stamped the floor in front of her, making the royal guards cringe in fear. "I do not know who your master is, but the orb must never leave its pedestal! The consequences would be too dire to think of!"
The sorcerer shook his head in disappointment, "my master knew your answer even before I arrived. Tis a shame that he was not wrong." The sorcerer and his guards disappeared in a sudden flash of light, blinding princesses and guards alike.
"Captain Shining Armor, take the guards and head for the Mausoleum this instant!" Luna yelled as she jumped off her throne and ran down to the catacombs.
Shining nodded and gestured for the guards to follow him. They galloped out of the throne room and headed for the entrance to the depths. When they opened the door they were met with a cold wind and the smell of rot.
They walked carefully down the moist stairs, doing their best not to fall on the slippery steps. Finally they reached the mausoleum itself. Hundreds upon hundreds of coffins lines the walls, each with an inscription on the side. Shining's light guided them through the tunnels.
"Captain, what does the sorcerer, whatever he is, want with that orb?" The guard asked carefully as a rat ran between is legs, making him jump slightly.
"I don't know private, but the Princesses says he's to be captured, so we capture him." Shining said plainly. Nothing to talk about, just walking through darkness until they reached their destination.
Three of the black guards were standing in front of the door. One of them, presumably the lead, had his sword drawn and held it tightly in his mouth, preparing for true combat.
"Stand down this instant and we shall spare your life!" Shining yelled at the guard. The leader didn't even flinch, he just stared at the group of guards like a hungry cat eyeing newfound prey.
Shining shook his head in disappointment, whenever others choose not to surrender he always felt bitterness spread through his mouth. "Swift death then," he said, one of the guards charged at the combatant, javelin levitated in front of him and at the ready. The black guard shot what looked to be a dark glowing dragon claw out of his horn, it grabbed at the torso of the royal guard and tore him forward, seconds later he was impaled upon the glowing blade. The living of the two pushed the royal guard off his sword with indifference, as if he had just swatted a housefly.
"Bastard!" Shouted another guard and he let his halberd fall down and balance against his wing, he pulled backwards and got ready to jump, but Shining placed a hoof in front of him.
"Enough, I'll take him." He said. The guards breath came in stokes and he looked at shining with rage. Eventually he calmed down and nodded before taking two steps back.
Shining levitated his hammer off his back, it was large and sturdy, a Phoenix in flight could be seen going up the handle and spreading its wings onto the head.
"Shining Armor, of the Royal Guard." He represented himself in the standard dueling manner, hammer aimed straight at the opponent to show that he was here to kill. he wished not to be an indifferent gnat to an opponent, if he was to die know, his killer would respect his death.
His adversary nodded in acknowledgement. "Count Havelar, of the Darkriders."
so that's what they're called. Shining thought as he entered his standard battle stance, legs wide apart and bending his forelegs slightly, ready to pounce.
It would seem that his opposer would give him no such luck however, as the same black claw shot out of his horn yet again. However, unlike the previous guard, Shining was prepared for this. A barrier created by his own light blue magic evaporated the claw as soon as it got into range.
Shining saw his cue. He leapt forward and aimed for the head. It was a clear hit that shook the body of the Darkrider to the bone. He fell backward with a large hole in helmet, and blood dripping down the side.
Shining bent down and said the oath of the guards, "thou death in battle shalt never be forgotten." Before he turned back to face the two remaining guards. His hammer spun in the air before he held it dead center in front of him.
"Who's next?"
The cold hand of Icecrown
"By the laws of Equestria and the position given to me as captain of the Royal Guard, I hereby declare you under arrest. Lay down your arms and submit or we will be forced to take action!"
The purple clad sorcerer was standing in the middle of the antechamber. A large ornate room formed like a circle. Like the rest of the mausoleum there were coffins all along the wall, yet these looked more decorative and intricate.
The dead nobles of Canterlot.
The last three of The Darkriders were positioned around the sorcerer, whom himself was bent over a small table, energy swirling about him like swarms of bees.
The Darkrider in the center stepped forward. Whereas the others all wore full plate armor and carried swords, this one had no helmet, so his features were clearly on display. An old stallion with a grey coat and white mane, he was in his last years. And contrary to the others, he carried not a sword but a gigantic axe that looked much too heavy to wield.
"You dare fight the power of The Scourge?" He grit his teeth together in anger, "I will tear you apart, limb from limb!"
"You will do no such thing infidel!" Both Luna and Celestia stepped into the room, with Luna assaulting the night vocally, and Celestia with a stern and rage filled stare.
"Please, My Lieges." Shining said, extending a hoof to block their passage, "this is a battle that is to be fought by warriors, not royalty."
Celestia at first looked at him with wide eyes, before nodding solemnly, "if that is what you truly wish Captain, then neither me or my sister will hinder you." Both Alicorns just stood there, Shining nodded in a combination of acknowledgement and appreciation before he lifted his hammer in standard greeting.
"Captain Shining Armor of The Canterlot Royal Guard!"
The old Darkrider spat down at the ground in disgust, "Thane Kurr'shazz of the Elite Darkriders," he paused slightly as a green glow lifted his axe off his back, "and your death lad!"
Despite his appearance the old stallion wasn't some wily old fool, he was quick and agile. He lunged himself at shining with the speed of an arrow, Shining only just blocking the otherwise fatal hit with his hammer. He could see the very tip of the axe right in front of his eyes.
"Huh, quick reflexes," the Thane said with mock surprise, but with honest acknowledgement, "but that can't be what gotcha into the royal guard." A small ball started to form down at the chest of the Darkrider, "show me what else ye got!" An icicle fired directly towards Shining's chest. He quickly summoned his barrier in front of him. The icicle shattered against the magic shield, and the Thane looked up at him with childish glee.
"A quick thinker, and a good sorcerer?" He laughed loudly, making Shining wish his hearing was at least slightly impaired. "You're full'a surprises lad!" He pushed himself forward and his axe whirled from below to slice Shining across the chest, he jumped back, bumping into a guard who apologized and moved a few steps back.
That's when Shining for an idea, "Private, hand me your spear!" He shouted. The guard looked at him with a puzzled expression before finally pulling the spear off his back. Shining now bit onto his hammer, it felt odd after all these years to hold it in his mouth, but for now it was a necessity. The spear was enveloped in his magic and then he ran forward.
"Dual wielding now are we lad?" The Thane said before laughing again, "if I weren't 'bout to kill you then you coulda become a fine Darkrider!" He charged ahead aswell, axe lifted high above his head. This was exactly what Shining had hoped for. The axe came down towards his head, but in stead of planting itself in his skull, it hit the spear that was being held above it. With his hammer he swung his head and slammed the Thane square in the chest, ripping his axe away and simultaneously flinging him back.
"Ohhhh," the Thane grumbled as he surveyed the damage, "ah think I mighta broken a rib or two."
Celestia suddenly jumped from her calm and serene state, and soon after that Luna looked towards the sorcerer with distress and worry. Weirdly enough, the swirly energies that had circled the sorcerer before had vanished.
"The orb!" Luna yelled, "it's been charged, get to him!"
The sorcerer whirled around the orb now floated softly besides him, and his eyes shone a clear icy blue. This made his features slightly visible, he was old, even older than the Thane. You could see a beard that ran down his robes, that his horn, if he had one, was gone.
"Enough!" He yelled, his voice booming and resonating within the ears of the listeners, "You have meddled with the affairs of the scourge for too long!"
The orb started floating higher, and so did the sorcerer, until he was in the dead center of the entire room, floating there like som magic balloon.
"Minions Servants," he chanted, "Soldier of the cold dark," dark blue beams shot out of the orb and bit onto the coffins, making them shake violently, soon scream erupted. But nothing happened until the sorcerer finished his chant.
"Obey the call of Kel'Thuzad!"
The coffins exploded, they didn't shatter or crumble, they exploded. Bones of ancient nobles started spinning wildly. Purple energy swirled around them, creating a torrent of lavender and white. Soon after, the bones began connecting, forming something large. Four legs, two ears, 16 claws, a sharp row of teeth, and two red orbs as eyes.
The thing before them resembled a timber wolf, yet it was constructed purely from bones, and it was bigger, by a substantial amount. The Darkriders, including the Thane, started walked over beneath the sorcerer.
"Glory to the Master!" He shouted, before a green light covered both sorcerer and Darkriders. The green light imploded into itself, and then both Sorcerer and Darkriders were gone.
The bone-wolf snarled angrily at them, biting the air in rage at its sudden reawakening. It snapped out towards Shining who promptly jumped a few steps back.
"You will return to where you once came!" Luna shouted before flapping her wings and taking to the air. Her horn started to glow with incredible power and a ball started to form at the tip. A long spear of dark purple energy shot out and impaled the bone-wolf, shattering it completely.
"We did it!" One of the guards shouted, but he was quickly silenced by a stern glance from one of his comrades.
"We may have defeated the beast," Shining said, panting from the battle with the Thane, "but at what cost?"
A mile or so away from Canterlot sat a group of black dressed stallions and mares. They were sitting around a bonfire, prodding it with sticks to keep the fire going.
A sudden explosion of green light shook them all out of their trance, because suddenly a group consisting of three Darkriders and a single sorcerer appeared a few feet away.
One of them, one whom wore the armor of a Darkrider, but with a scarf wrapped around his face, walked slowly up to the sorcerer and his guards.
"Kel'Thuzad," he simply said, "I suspect that the operation was successful?"
"Rivendare," the sorcerer said while nodding towards him, "yes, the orb is in our possession."
Rivendare nodded, he himself was second in command on this little expedition, he knew exactly what he was talking about.
"And what about the secondary objective?"
The sorcerer threw back his hood. Revealing an ash gray beard an similarly colored mane. He had so many wrinkles that they were beyond counting, and the bags under his eyes showed clear signs of lack of sleep. His lips turned from serious business to grim smile in a matter of seconds.
"He will follow us, no matter where we go, no matter how fast we run, he will follow." The sorcerer threw back his hood and walked towards the fire, "our master will get his new champion soon enough."
Rivendare nodded before he turned to the camp, "everyone get set, were moving out!"
And as the first rays of sunlight broke through, the Cult of the Damned prepared to march for Icecrown, with their newly acquired prize.
The cold hand of Icecrown
Chapter three: we head north
"He was a necromancer."
Shining turned to face one of his guards, his second in command Lietnaunt Farwing. The pegasus was looking at the floor while mumbling to himself about something he called a 'necromancer'.
"Has the age finally gone to your head Farwing?"
Farwing glared angrily at the guard who was walking behind him, he didn't know his name and he didn't care what his name was. No one insulted a senior commander and got away with it.
"Private, I think the chefs might be in need of an errand boy, why don't you go and help them." Farwing said with the slightest hint of a smile.
The guard scowled and nodded before walking off in the direction of the royal kitchen. Whenever a soldier or guard was sent down there it was always some the most tedious of tasks they were set up with, cleaning dishes, cutting onions, or perhaps just picking out the trash. Most guards preferred watch duty, or even cleaning the barracks, above being down there.
"What did you say Farwing?" Shining asked, the mumbling hadn't escaped him, and when Farwing spoke, you listened.
"The bloke who teleported those guys away, he was a necromancer." He looked back at the floor and slowed his pace a bit, "my mother would tell me stories about the sorcerers who dabbled in the arts of dark magic, and eventually started raising the dead to become more powerful."
Shining nodded, while dark magic was not unheard of in Equestria, it normally wasn't practiced by anyone. Firstly because it was outlawed, and secondly because ponies feared it. A load of books had been written of the ancient magus' whom first discovered the terrible spells, and how later they formed groups and cults to worship whatever god they had created in their madness. But they were nothing more than that, legends, stories created to scare unicorns into ignoring the dark arts.
"That's what he did," Farwing continued, "he used the corpses of the dead to create that....... Thing."
Shining nodded solemnly, "I won't deny that what he did aligns with the ancient myths," Farwing continued to look at the ground and occasionally kicked some small pebbles around, "but no one has seen a necromancer, ever, they are just stories Farwing, and I think they are going to remain such."
The Lietnaunt didn't even react, he just kept walking, and occasionally kicked some pebbles. They continued walking until they finally reached the throne room. They walked right in, seeing as the door hadn't been closed since the Darkriders bombastic entrance. Both princesses were looming over a table, which by the looks of it had a map on it. Luna had a brick of a book placed in front of her, which she frantically flipped through.
"My Lieges." Shining made them aware of both his and Farwings presence. The rulers turned around and both soldiers bowed respectfully, before being given the sign to stand up.
"Captain, if you'd please." Celestia said and waved him closer, both Captain and Lietnaunt quickly stepped up the table, it turned out to be map of the entirety of Equus. To the west was Aarde Hui, home to the zebras and bison. To the east was Equestria itself, with all the cities clearly displayed. To the south was Draconia, the land where fire spewed from the ground itself and where dragon hatched their eggs.
And to the north was The Plains Of Shadow, or in common terms, Northrend.
The land of evil was infamous, it is rumored that the infamous wendigos themselves were born in the frozen wastes. There was no documentation of a living being ever returning from Northrend, therefore nothing was known of it.
"We know now where the intruders are headed." Celestia proudly announced, tapping at spot that marked Northrend. "If the wizard Kel'Thuzad's chanting is anything to go by then he is headed for The Plains Of Shadow."
Shining nodded, the armor of the Darkriders certainly looked alien enough to come from an unexplored area, and if they came from Northrend it would explain their dark magic.
"To get there they will need ships, and the only place to get those would be at the Solar Harbor, north-west of here."
"I understand, we will take our leave immediately!" Both Farwing and Shining saluted before heading out the room.
"Wait," Celestia, said, Shining turned around with his expression being a battle between confusion and annoyance. "Yes my liege?"
"You will have someone, special, accompanying you on this trip." She winked at him, causing a smile to spread on his lips, at least he was heading for uncharted territory with a friend.
"Thank you princess." He bowed again before he and Farwing walked out the door, and headed for the barracks.
"Captain, are you sure this friend, of yours is coming?"
The small roadside camp that the group of guards had set up was nothing more than a fireplace which no one had lighted. But when you had carried baggage that weighed more than you did for the entire first half of the day, you do need some rest. But furthermore, Shining armor was waiting for a special somepony, and she hadn't arrived yet.
"I'm confident, she can get off track when she's in a hurry." He said, smiling fondly. The memories of his childhood flushed through his mind, it would be wonderful to see her again.
There was a sudden rumbling nearby, and the sound of trees cracking or falling over was echoing through the clearing. A purple unicorn came running out from the forest, she quickly turned back towards the trees as a pack of timberwolves came leaping out, snarling and howling at their prey.
Farwing hurried to his bag, grabbing his sword in his mouth and ran towards her, "follow me, we must protect her." The guards picked up their respective weapons, mostly spears or javelins, and hurried to obey the order. But they were quickly stopped by Shining.
"Stand your ground gentlecolts, she can take care of herself."
Certainly enough, the unicorn shot a single beam out of her horn which hit the ground, and what looked to be a large purple, water-like pony rose up. It fired streams of what Indeed looked like purple water at the timberwolves, gradually peeling away the branches and leaves of the magical wooden wolves. The unicorn herself shot a blue cloud out of her horn, the cloud soon found itself right above the wolves who were dancing around doing their best not to get hit. The cloud started firing what looked to be spears of ice down at the wolves, impaling them and pinning them to the ground. One wolf managed to avoid the affair, but the sight of his two defeated companions made him retreat to the woods.
The group of guards, lead by Shining, moved closer to the by now quite exhausted mare. "Gentlecolts, allow me to introduce you to Twilight sparkle, alicorn princess of magic, and the most talented sorcerer in all of Equestria."
"Thank you Shining," her horn lit up and the water pony receded back into the earth, "it's been a while." She smiled and went over for a hug. Shining could feel all of his muscles relax, his sister, that was what he'd needed. He let go and they both took a step back.
"Too long."
She nodded before turning to Farwing, he bowed his head down to pay respect to a princess. Twilight winced, making Shining stifle a laugh as best he could. "You're still not used to the whole princess role I see."
Twilight couldn't help but laugh as the rest of the guards bowed, some of them did it quickly in a more noble way, but it seemed to be for fun moreso than anything.
Shining rubbed his eyes free of tears, "good times."
Twilight tried her best to put on her straight face, but she didn't succeed entirely as a small smile remained. "What is the first thing we should do?"
Shining's straight face was more of success, as he actually managed to look like an actual soldier. "Were here to investigate whether or not the Darkriders passed through here."
Twilights face turned grim at the mention of the spell wielding knights, she scuffled with her hooves and she looked directly at the ground. "Then let's not waste any more time."
The group moved out and soon the small town of Sunnervale came into view. It wasn't that big, it didn't even have a farm, which explained the cart with a load of apple-crates placed in the middle of the town.
"This place is cozy." Twilight said dryly. The citizens were waving happily at the guards who ignored them as best they could.
"Be alert," shining said, eyeing the ponies with suspicion, "we never know if they are allied with the Darkriders."
"Captain, you're being paranoid." Farwing said while waving at a pegasus mare, "these aren't Darkriders, they aren't wearing armor."
The group eventually arrived at the supposed bridge, but the entrance was blocked by a large group of stallion who was murmuring to each other.
"Clear the street everyone, guards moving through," one of the stallions shouted. The group dispersed and revealed the bridge. Or rather what remained of it, the edges of the destroyed bridge was charred and black. And it was too far to jump.
"What has happened here?" Farwing asked one of the stallions who had moved off to the side, he was incredibly large and was built like a tank.
"Some Black Knights accompanied by some weird magic bloke came through here, they burned down the bridge once they crossed." He said, his voice was laced with venom.
"Do you know of a way we can get over?" Twilight asked him, he smiled at her sincerely, "there is one way missy, down the road there's a shallow in the river. But I wouldn't recommend going there, rumors of brigands and weird creatures are coming from there."
"I think we can handle it." Twilight said with enthusiasm before she turned to her brother, "what could go wrong?"
The cold hand of Icecrown
"What are these things?"
Farwing was running, as fast as his legs could carry him, and a little beyond that. His weapon was lying somewhere in the shallow water, he'd dropped it about thirty seconds ago in pure panic.
But who could honestly blame him.
The supposedly un eventful trek over the shallow river had taken a turn for the worse as different creatures had started assaulting them. Gnolls, weird doglike creatures that bore a striking resemblance to the diamond dogs, so much that Twilight was convinced they were related somehow. Some weird rock creature that had taken minutes and a guard to finally kill it.
And now it was weird piranha-like ponies with wide maws and primitive weapons that came in hordes. Things weren't going well.
"They're Murlocs!" Twilight shouted as her purple elemental blasted away yet another of the attackers, it quickly got up and bellowed something unintelligible at her, something along the lines of; "mrglglglgl!"
"Great, now I know so much more!" Farwing shouted as he finally found his javelin, he quickly ducked his head under the water and bit onto it, placing it in front of him as the Murloc ran closer, a second after it was impaled it died out with a soft "mrglgl." Before it finally breathed its last. Farwing pulled the spear free and turned back to the battlefield. So far there had only been casualties on the enemy's side, that being mostly thanks to Twilights ability as a spell caster and Shining's leadership skills, but if the fishponies continued to assault them in this fashion then they'd be done for.
He noticed a different kind of Murloc on the field, this one held a staff with what looked to be a unicorn skull at the tip, out of said skulls horn shot a stream of light that encompassed all the other Murlocs, their previous wounds now slowly disappearing like morning dew in the sunlight. And unlike the others, it's eyes shone with a sort of primitive intelligence.
"Hey, you!" Farwing decided that maybe if this was the leader he could maybe communicate with it. It turned its ichor green eyes towards the Lietnaunt and leaned its head to the right, encouraging him to continue.
"Why are you attacking us?"
The Murloc sorcerer snarled, "ground dweller come into territory of razorfin tribe. Ground dwellers die!" He yelled as he lifted his staff into the air, so it actually could speak.
"Please, we mean no harm to your tribe." Farwing yelled. He saw yet another Murloc charge towards him, but their leader lifted the staff into the air again, this time all of the other Murlocs stopped, they didn't gradually stop, they just stopped.
"You no be with dark ground dwellers that make water cold?" It asked with surprise. So some of the Dakriders had passed through here, good to know. "Then who you with?"
This time Shining took the word, "we come here in search of the dark ground dweller," he said, making the Murlocs eyes glint with excitement, "they have stolen something precious from us, and we wish it back."
The Murloc tapped its scaly chin with the horn of the unicorn skull, "we know were ground dwellers go!" It said, and all it's tribesmen nodded their heads like they were incredibly wise.
"Will you tell us where we should search?" Shining asked, if these things truly were native to the river then they could probably lead them to the other side intact.
"We do better!" It exclaimed, the staff once again going into the air, much to the other Murlocs excitement, as they jumped into the air and started stamping the ground. "I send best scout, Mudlurker, with you to the pony city brill!" As the Murloc leader said this a small Murloc walked forward, his scales were a deep brown, which had probably earned him his name. It executed a clumsy bow in front of Farwing, wrongly believing him to be the leader, causing more than a few snickers from the guards.
"Now go friendly ground dweller," the leader said as he threw the staff into the air only to bite down on it a second after. "Razorfin tribe will harm no ground dwellers not wearing the dark clothes."
Shining saluted before turning to the brown Murloc. It promptly waved a single scaly hoof in a northwest direction.
"I guess we put our faith into a small unintelligent crossbreed." He said with an exasperated sigh.
Finally they were on dry land, the Murloc had been extremely cautious to not alarm any of the other horrors that lurked in the river. Shining was thankful for the sentiment, but he would have preferred if they'd arrived sooner.
"Pony city Brill that way!" The Murloc said as he pointed towards a collection of rather large towers, "me no go further or me die from sharp arrows."
Shining nodded, somehow he thought that other ponies might not be so welcoming of a small fish-like version of themselves. "Tell your chieftain that he isn't to let any Darkriders cross the border."
Mudlurker nodded before turning to face Farwing, he promptly executed the same clumsy bow he had when he'd first met them. After that he jumped into the deeper reaches of the water and started swimming off until he ducked underneath water and was out of sight.
"I wonder were these things could have come from...." Twilight said, sounding puzzled.
"Doesn't matter, they pose no threat, and therefore they aren't important!" Shining said, clenching his teeth in anger, they had wasted too much time. The Darkriders could be in Solar harbor by this point.
Suddenly a shout cut through the air and shocked the entire group. "To arms brethren, we must not fall back!" Someone further on yelled. His voice carried authority and fear, a combination most commonly found by a commander in combat.
"Hurry, someone's in danger!" Farwing shouted as he took flight, zooming on ahead as Shining, twilight, and the recruits were restricted to galloping on the ground.
Soon a pair of stone towers came into sight. They had banners attached, which bore the half moon half sun of the Equestrian empire. In between the towers was a total of three stallions. Whereas normal guards wore golden armor to show that they were the royal guards, these ones wore normal iron or copper plating, the subjects militia.
"Phalanx," one of them shouted, and soon after shields held up by magic was lifted into the air as a volley of arrows rained down upon them, plinking off on the huge metal shields.
"Milord," one whom wasn't forming the phalanx said as Shining and his group came into view, "you've arrived just in time. Eldritch horrors from the darkest stories are attacking!"
Shining thought the commander mad, he pushed him aside to get to the front lines. He was greeted with the sight of unicorn archers firing quickly, and in perfect unison.
"These are just brigands sergeant, what's the problem?" He turned to the sergeant who shook his head in disbelief and shock. "Neigh milord, they are much more." He bit into a single lens binocular and shining lifted it up to his eyes. And the unicorn archers were still unicorn archers.
But they were skeletons.
Their magic worked fine, they fired in completely perfect unison, and they shouted curses at the militia, and now the guards. But they were skeletons. Bones picked completely green as if they had only recently dug up from their grave.
"Do you see?" The sergeant almost shouted, "they've come for us." He was screaming loudly the words and making some of the soldiers turn, one of them dropped his shield in shock and was immediately picked out and Impaled by a wooden arrow.
"Control yourself sergeant!" Farwing picked up both the word and the shield, trying his best to keep it balanced against his much too small form, "your panic is killing your men!"
The sergeant nodded slowly, trying his best to control his breath. "Yes, yes of course." He turned back to the problem at hand, "everyone, when the archers aren't firing, move forward!"
The message got across, as a moment after the shield barricade moved a few hooves-lengths forward. It continued as such. "Volley incoming," and then the shields were raised, "Move forward!" And the militia took a few steps forward.
Until finally the archers were in range.
The shield wall fell, and the guards an militia jumped into the fray and started to cut down the bony horrors by the numbers. Shining aimed a shot straight for the skull, and it crumbled before him like a cracker.
But the skeletons never fled, they were getting massacred, and yet they stood stock still and just kept shooting, actually taking out a few of the militia in the process. But they were no match, and were soon reduced to what they should have been, corpses.
"I told you," Farwing said, trying his best to get his halberd out, it had unfortunately embedded itself in the ribs of a wayward archer, "who else but a necromancer could have done this?"
As much as Shining hated to admit, this wasn't the work of an ordinary sorcerer. He doubted that either Twilight or himself could even perform such a feat, and as far as he knew they were some of the best sorcerers in Equestria.
The sergeant quickly trotted over to them. His axe was placed on his back and had a few dents in it, but otherwise he was fine. Tired, sore, and sweaty, but fine.
"Thank you Captain, mi'lady, and of course you Lietnaunt," he was smiling broadly, "if you hadn't arrived right this moment I fear that our fates may not have been so fortunate." He wiped his forehead with a hoof before taking a deep breath, "now, what actually brought you here?"
Farwing looked to Shining, the Captain nodded and turned to the sergeant, "we are actually hunting the pony who's responsible for this." He said as he pointed at the skeletons whom were now getting burned.
The sergeant hissed through his teeth, "that's a bit of a pickle." He just stood still and thought for a minute, "the bastard there," he pointed towards the now lit bonfire which started to smell a lot like liquid death, "came from Brill, which is only a short walk from here."
"Thank you sergeant." Shining said as he turned around, "get ready everyone. Were heading for Brill!"
The group was soon walking towards another smalltown. It didn't take long, after about 15 minutes the first sign of life showed up in the distance. A barn.
"Gah," Twilight gasped and placed a hoof on her forehead, she kept rubbing her forehead right at the base of horn and occasionally grunting in pain.
"What's wrong mi'lady?" Farwing asked.
"Something's wrong, I can sense something....... Close to us." She eventually blinked a few times and took her hoof down, "it's coming from that barn."
Shining, whom had been listening, nodded and waved Twilight to follow him. They galloped to the barn as not to waste anymore time. As they got closer Twilight could feel the presence become more prominent.
Eventually they got there, and what had looked to be a relatively normal barn now revealed a much darker side. The grass outside was either gone, replaced by grey and lifeless dirt. Or it was just as ash-grey as the dirt beneath it.
"The land," Shining muttered, "it's....... Dying."
Twilight moved closer, the dirt beneath her feeling like stone that crumbled like sand. The thing she had detected was coming from a pretty weird source. An apple crate.
"Is this what you got me over here for Twilight?" Shining snarled, "an apple crate?"
"It's not the crate shining, it's the apples." Twilight said, she sounded distressed and scared.
"They're infected......" She said, moving back, until she felt her butt bump into something.
"They most certainly are!"
The cold hand of Icecrown
Chapter five: Cult Of The Damned
Twilight jumped forward again, diggin her hooves into the gray dirt and tearing up the grass. The cause for her sudden shock, a stallion wearing black and green robes with a hood much like the Necromancers, was standing right behind her with the hood dragged down over his head, only allowed the tip of his muzzle to stick out.
"Who are you?" Shining asked, hammer being lifted slowly off his back, "identify yourself!"
The stallion didn't move, he just smacked his lips as if the current situation was just a pass by.
"Are you responsible for this?" Shining growled, hammer now pointing directly at the opposer. The stallions breath started coming in stokes, as if already hyperventilating.
"The population of this world shall disappear!" He almost screamed, making both siblings take a few steps back. What he said next was more controlled and less loud, "it is only a matter of time."
"What.....?"
The stallion for the first time stared directly at them. His hood had been thrown back, revealing scared glassy eyes that darted from left to right at alarming speed. "You have no idea what horrors are in store for you!" He almost wept, his voice carried pain and worry. "You have seen nothing yet."
As he said the last words his body started to spasm uncontrollably. Bending in direction his limbs were never even supposed to. "The cold dark heart of Naxxramas awaits you."
His fore hooves went up to his head, clasping around it with strength that seemed not his own. His eyes grew wide in shock and terror, and just before his hooves started to twist his neck, he muttered a few more words.
"Life is meaningless." They could hear his neck crack as it was slowly twisted by his own hooves, "it is in death that we are truly worthy of our master!" Finally his hooves pulled as hard as they could, and the following snap echoed all throughout the nearby woods. The birds startled by the sudden sound, they took flight.
Shining just stared at the now unmoving corpse in horror. This stallion had broken his own neck, apparently to deliver a warning, or perhaps to scare them away. He turned to Twilight, who had her head low and a pool of vomit in front of her. He couldn't blame her, he could feel the ichor rise in his throat as well.
"Twilight," he breathed out to get the terrible taste of death away, but to no avail. "Where are these crates coming from?"
Twilight turned her head just enough to look at the seal on the crates, a bundle of wheat was being held in the beak of a Phoenix. The official mark of......
"Andorhal..." She said, spitting out some more of her old lunch, "the crates are coming from Andorhal."
"Is this Andorhal?" Shining asked, eyeing the strangely quiet houses of the town with suspicion.
"No," Farwing answered, looking as concerned as Shining, if not more. "This is Brill, my hometown."
"Wasn't that the town the Murloc chieftain spoke of?" Twilight asked while the gears in her head worked furiously to remind her of the chieftains exact words.
"I guess geography isn't their greatest skill." Shining couldn't help but huff, in his eyes those things were abominations. No redeemable qualities and a blemish upon the world, he would report to his father of their dangerous nature, with them being so close to Brill itself.
"Why is it so quiet though?" Farwing was still looking around frantically for any sign of family or friends. "It has been a few months since I've last been here, but people would either be at the inn than be asleep already."
Suddenly Twilight lifted her head and so did her ears, frantically trying to lock onto the sound she had heard. "Gentlemen," she said horn flaring up and making her elemental fly from the ground next to her, "we are not alone."
"I can hear it aswell," one of the guards suddenly blurted out, "it sounds like....... Chanting?" He looked at Twilight whom nodded, she had heard the same sound, and she could practically taste the magical energies.
"Whomever they are they will answer some questions!" Farwing pulled his javelins from his back and clasped it firmly between his lower back and his wing. "CHARGE!"
The Lietnaunt galloped ahead as fast as he could. Shining shook his head as he pulled his hammer off his back. He reared as he shouted the order, "Charge!" Yet In a much more controlled voice than Farwings, which had basically been screaming.
The group sped up as they headed for the outer reaches of Brill. The sound of chanting eventually became loud enough for all to hear, even Shining could feel the strong magic in he air, it was bitter and unclean. He almost felt corrupted by it.
This turned out to be yet another barn.
With a few mysterious figures out the front.
Some of them were wearing the same garb as the suicidal they had met earlier. Black robes with either purple or green highlights. Others yet looked normal enough, but it was a colorful ensemble. Griffins, pegasi, unicorns, even a changeling by the look of it.
And the sorcerer.
He was standing right there, robe, beard and everything. He was speaking with some of the darker clad ones, but his attention was quickly turned from them to the guards.
"We have been discovered brothers, flee quickly, they must not interfere with the masters plan." The dark clad ponies started running as fast as they could toward the northern gate. The sorcerer however, stopped dead in his tracks after he'd taken a few steps.
"I am sorry that I cannot accommodate you but, duty calls." His hood fell back to reveal a broken horn. What looked to be magical energies flowed out of his horn and entered the barracks, making something within it shake violently. The sorcerer ran to his comrades, fearing his masters wrath more than death.
"Me smash!" Shining could hear something bellow. The ponies and others Shining had noticed before turned out to be not so normal at all. Some of them had either limbs or flesh missing, others were clearly rotten. Undead.
Soon the door of the barn started shaking violently, soon a single hoof broke through it. Or rather a claw. The door was torn off its hinges, revealing a monstrosity waddling out. It looked to be stitched together from different creatures, with the string that held it together still completely visible. The legs of the thing looked to be those of an earth pony. It had griffin claws as functioning arms, in which hands it held a meat cleaver and an over-sized sickle. The head was that of a dragon. If this necromancer was anything, he was creative. Even more disturbing was the huge hole in its stomach that left its guts completely visible.
"By all that is good," Shining heard a guard whisper behind him. He himself couldn't help but quickly draw the celestial symbol in the air. A circle with a single line through it.
"Rotten meat!" It yelled at them, it's maw opened disgustingly wide revealing slowly rotting teeth. It started running as best it could on with its pudgy legs. It might have looked entertaining had it not been its desire to kill them. It's smaller more 'normal' friends proved to be both smarter and faster as they charged directly forward towards the guards and their commanders, howling like hurt wolves.
"To arms brethren!" Shining yelled, own battle hammer ready as an undead unicorn attempted to spear him. He neatly stepped to the side and swung the hammer, cracking the skull of his oncommer completely. "Let none of them stand!"
The guards themselves charged forward to meet the encroaching horde. Javelins at the ready. Shining couldn't help but smile as the vast majority of the undead were speared upon the soldiers weapons.
But the idyllic nature didn't last.
The giant, which Shining had dubbed 'flesh golem' were busily tearing his way through their rank, smacking guards aside with the flat of his cleaver as easily as swatting a fly. He kept on yelling in sentences of no more than two words, whatever brain they had given the thing it wasn't one that had belonged to a smart pony. A second or so later after thinking such thought, shining bore witness to the thing opening it's mouth and spewing some strange green liquid at the phalanx. Some dodged it, others could only scream as their armor, flesh, and mane melted away.
"Farwing, overhead spearing!" Shining yelled, his Lietnaunt got the message as he flapped his wings and flew directly towards the clouds. Eventually he was about 90 feet above the giant, who had noticed nothing as he kept on laughing and smacking the guards about. He clasped his spear between his forelegs and plummeted towards the ground, holding the weapon as far from himself as he could. The giant looked up as he heard a strange whistling noise.
Bad idea.
The spear went directly into the throat of the abomination. Going through his head and eventually going out where the Adam's apple would be. The flesh giant choked for a little while before falling over with a sickening thud.
"Well done Farwing!" Shining lifted his hammer high as his friend landed with tired gasps beside the giant.
"It was nothing," he got out through huffs of air. "Any pegasus could have done it."
"It's not that I want to ruin the celebrations guys." Twilight said, looking worriedly towards north, "but I can see smoke rise in the distance."
Shining turned to where she was looking, and sure enough, in the direction of Andorhal smoke was rising.
"they're burning the city...."
The cold hand of Icecrown
Chapter six: The heart of a dead city
"What are these?"
Twilight remembered Andorhal. It wasn't a large city, but it was fairly big. When she had first visited the place colts and fillies had been running through the legs of their parents in joyful games of tag. The grown ups where either bickering with each other at the market or talking peacefully. She couldn't remember a single mare or stallion ever say a bad word about the trade emporium that this city was.
There was no bickering now, no foals playing tag, no peaceful talking. Only death.
Huge and horrific buildings that looked to have erupted from the ground itself were all over. Some of them looked to be constructed from bones. Another looked to be a schoolhouse, but with graves and corpses littering its playground rather than toys and slides.
Another had a gigantic wheel on the top with spikes running along its edge. It wouldn't have looked too horrible if the corpses of the dead hadn't been speared on them, most of them still screaming while the blood ran down their chests.
"This is horrible..." Farwing whispered, eyes wide in horror as he saw the twisted ziggurats all around him. He could occasionally see a figure dart around inside of them, but it quickly disappeared again. "Who would do something like this?"
"That's what were here to find out," Shining growled, his magic covering his hammer just in case something decided to jump from the burning buildings. The streets themselves were empty, save for the cold corpses of the dead and the occasional still breathing victim the guards had trouble putting to rest.
"Can you hear something?" Twilight suddenly whispered, ears high in the air and trying to re-capture the sound, which if her expression was to go by she had. "It's like, someone is sobbing."
"If there are survivors then we'd better find them before the undead does!" Shining kicked into a gallop, his sister following to guide with her above exceptional hearing, "everyone have your weapons at the ready! We don't know if we'll face guards."
The guards followed orders, as soon the sound of unsheathed swords, free javelins, or in some cases axes, was echoing off the destroyed buildings if Andorhal.
"Left!" Twilight shouted. The guards and their two commanders did a complete 90 degree turn down another street, straight to the center of the city, where there was a small spring.
And a foal sitting in front of it.
He was hunched over a dead body, and it was obvious he was crying. His sobs could be heard everywhere, that was the entire reason they had found him. So why hadn't the undead?
Farwing took a few steps towards the foal, but was immediately blocked off by Shining placing a hoof in front of him. "Don't go any closer, it's an obvious trap."
Farwing just pushed his commanders hoof down. "Do you honestly expect me to let a foal sit in the middle of a monster infected city without protection?" He asked, looking both perplexed and disgusted. "I'd expect better of you Captain."
The other guards nodded their agreement, some whispering to each other, thinking their commander out of hearing range. Yet he could still hear them whispering, "cruel bastard." He heard one, "heartless monster." He heard another, "he's no better than the undead."
"even now they usurp your leadership, you must take action if they are not to overthrow you! "
The voice he had then heard did not come from any of the guards, but rather from his own head. He could practically feel the droning and hollow tone prickle his skin and chill his blood. It spoke to him, and none of the others had heard it.
"Farwing, I want you to go and rescue the foal," he breathed out, barely able to contain himself, "but if anything goes wrong I hold you personally responsible."
"Of course," Farwing stepped forward and started walking calmly towards the foal. Some of the guards patted Shining on the back, either in apology or acknowledgement.
The Lietnaunt closed in on the frail colt, whom was still busily sobbing over a corpse of an elderly mare. The colt in question smelled awfully, like he hadn't bathed in ages.
"Hey, you." Farwing whispered, trying his best not to alarm any of the undead that might've been close to them. "Are you alright?"
The colt looked up from the corpse, but didn't turn around. His sobbing had stopped, so at least he realized that Farwing was actually there.
"Come with me, it's not safe." He whispered again, waving a hoof towards himself even though the colt had no way of seeing the gesture. The colt slowly turned his head, and stared directly into Farwings eyes.
And Farwing wanted to scream.
Half the colts face was missing, leaving a single eyeball to swivel around its own eyesocket completely exposed. The skull was completely visible, and showed large dents and teeth marks. The smell that Farwing had mistaken for bad hygiene was in fact just the rotting flesh of the ghoul itself. But the worst part, was the large chunk of flesh clenched between the jaws of the colt ghoul, which after further search revealed itself to be the mares throat.
The ghoul opened its mouth, letting the meat chunk fall to the ground with a sickening splat. It opened its mouth unspeakably wide and screamed as loudly as it could. It tore at the ears of not only Farwing but the guards and siblings alike.
"Kill it!" Shining yelled as best he could above the noise.
Farwing looked back to the ghoul who was still screaming. He picked the javelin off his back and placed it right on the monsters exposed throat, he couldn't help but have his eyes glaze with tears, "I'm so sorry." He whispered, before jabbing through the air canal and make the ghoul abruptly stop it's shrieking.
It let out a faint question before it fell together in a heap, "where..... Mommy?" And with those words it fell to the ground, the body almost falling apart from its rotten state.
Farwing balanced himself on his javelin as best he could. Trying his best not to throw up. Twilight hurried up to him and put a reassuring hoof on his shoulder. Shining, however wasn't in the same mood.
"So Farwing, was killing an undead foal what you were hoping for when you decided to be a hero?" He snarled.
"Shut up Shining...." Farwing spat out, along with the gathering in his throat.
"You will speak to your commander with respect Lietnaunt!" Shining shouted, most of the guards behind him were either awkwardly fiddling with their weapons or nodding with angry looks.
"continue, you have him cornered now! Eliminate him! "
"If you disrespect me like this again Lietnaunt Farwing, I assure you that your punishment will be grave!" Shining looked down at the exhausted pegasus with cold eyes.
Farwing returned the look with anger, "understood, Captain."
The bickering was cut off completely as the sound of rumbling echoed through the ruined city. The sound of hoofsteps and screams were hammering the eardrums.
And then they saw the source.
From every one of the alleyways, except one weirdly enough, came hordes upon hordes of the undead. Their horrendous howls petrifying the guards, if only for a second.
"RUN!"
Once Shining had executed his command, they started galloping as fast as they could. The wave of the dead right behind them. Occasionally Shining could hear the scream of a guard being devoured by the flood of walking corpses, but neither he, Farwing, or Twilight ever let up.
Eventually they came to a crossroads, but once again every passage but one was blocked off by the living dead. As if guiding them towards a particular place.
Eventually that place was apparently reached, for the ghoulish horde let up on their chase and just blankly stared at them. They had been lead to a pair of open gates with corpses hanging from its walls.
"If I remember correctly," Twilight said, occasionally looking behind her and seeing the army of rotting bodies before quickly averting her gaze somewhere else. "This leads to castle Mournwind."
Shining looked back at the now blocked passage. "Do we have any other choice?"
"No sir," Farwing answered, even though the question was of rhetorical nature.
"Then let's go."
The inner reaches of Andorhal were peaceful. The gardens were still lush and fertile, the flowers and plants still in their early stages of bloom. None of the buildings they had seen earlier cursed this beautiful scenery.
Until they reached the castle itself.
What Shining was convinced were guards had been hung with chains from the upper walls just above the morgue. The water looked disgusting, with some of the guard corpses having fallen off and ended there.
The drawbridge itself was down, revealing the castle courtyard.
And the sorcerer standing in front of the spring.
"Necromancer!" Shining shouted, "By the laws of Equestria I hereby declare you under arrest! Follow along peacefully and no harm shall be done to you!"
The necromancer completely ignored what Shining had said, in stead turning around to face the guards who by now had drawn their weapons and were growling threats.
"Greetings younglings. I am Kel'Thuzad." He bowed his head, "and I am here to bring you a warning." His broken horn lit up and the green magical energy flowed into the spring. The water darkened and soon lifted itself and took upon the form of a dragons head.
"Turn back now!" The dragons head roared as the necromancer spoke, "your curiosity will be the death of you."
