//------------------------------//
// Starting at Zero 
// Story: Frozen Through the Ages 
// by Anemptyshell 
//------------------------------//

The smell of salt and aged fish mixed with my breath as it clung to the early winter mist. I sat at the edge of my Sire's old fishing dock. The creaking wood was older than me by quite a stent. The sun had barely crested an hour before, for whatever that was worth. I shifted from hoof to hoof. I'd been staring into the gently flowing river that crossed through the center of the somber little town I called home. Bogwood was south of Baltimare, a dingy community of fishers and sea rats. A place that seemed damp no matter the time or season. A state that left my mane hanging limply across my brow. The dark blue, nearly black hair was completely unkempt as I flicked my bangs out of my vision. I was wondering exactly how long I've been sitting on the dock. I shifted and fluffed my wings as a sudden gust made me shiver. A pale blue limb gently rubbed my temple. 

It was almost funny. I should be excited, thrilled, proud. I should be, but I wasn't. Yesterday should have been a day to celebrate. For any normal foal, it would be. Yesterday, I got my cutie mark. I looked over my shoulder, the proof of my achievement. A sword hilt and pommel pointed toward the ground, a gust of ice surrounding it. It was still there, and so was my headache. My cutie mark wasn't all I'd received yesterday. Or were they there all along? The memories. Hal, the human, his every life experience, played out in my head. Or did Hal wake up in the body of Glacial Zero, the little pegasus who lived in Bogwood? The same questions played on repeat in my head. Who was whom, who was real? My head throbbed again. I winced and tried to blink away the pain. 

"What does it mean?" I asked. 

"Does it mean anything at all?"

I jumped, letting out a helpless meep as I stumbled back from the dock's edge. No sooner had I realized what I'd done than the voice clicked in my frazzled mind. I turned to my left. Where they'd been sitting since I wandered out in the early morning chill to the dock. Freya had followed. I let out a sigh and shrugged. 

Freya hummed, not having looked up from her spot on the dock. To say she was sitting wasn't quite right. Freya floated just above the wooden dock. I could almost see through her to the shallow waters that flowed by below, as far back as I, as Glacial Zero, could recall. Freya had been there, an imaginary companion, 'somepony?' 'Someone?' to count on. Whichever, it didn't really matter. Freya was a filly I'd conjured up, white as the fresh snow, eyes so bright blue they glowed, and a smile that could melt permafrost. That wasn't to say I, Glacial, was lonely. I, he, we had friends in town. Bogwood might be small, but it wasn't barren. Yet here she was all the same.

"Shouldn't it?" I asked. 

"Do you feel different?" Freya asked. She'd finally looked up from the water and cocked a brow in my direction. 

My head thumped again. Visions of a world far away, in a different universe, reality, wherever played out in one non sequitur after another. Hal felt real. Hal's death felt even more real. I could see the blood, his heart racing, and the taste of iron in his mouth. I shivered in place. This time, the weather around me bore no account.

I wanted to cry and laugh at the same time. It was almost too outlandish. Memories of an alien who had memories of Equestria, memories from nearly a thousand years in the future. A time when Nightmare Moon returned and was redeemed. A future of a near utopia, a vision that clashed with the dreary, paranoid world I knew.  

"I don't know."

"Glacial Zero, you forget yourself. You claim a life outside the pony before you, reflected in the water beneath you. You claim to blur which life is the truest you, yes?" Freya asked, leering at me, her eyes growing brighter as she did so.

I drag my hooves down my face and groan. "I guess so."

"Yet here you sit before me, the same colt from yesterday and tomorrow. The flesh remains. All that struggles is your mind."

"I feel like we're talking in circles," I said, throwing my hooves to the sky.

"That we are, as we have been for hours. So, I ask again. Does it matter, can you not be both? Can you both not be one and the same?"

Could I, us, we? Would it matter? Does agonizing over it do me any good? Whoever was first was real; we are both here now. It was a lot to take in. Too much to explain in one go, in one day. I took a deep breath and felt the bitter chill sting my throat. Freya was right. She often was. My head still hurt. I'd laid awake all night, struggling with the same questions. I was tired, my head pounded, and I was fed up with all of it. Even if Hal was the real one, the one to simply consume the life of an innocent colt. His memories were so far off in the unknown that they may not be confirmed. It had only been eight years since Nightmare Moon was banished. It was the same year I was born. A fact all foals born that season would recall for as long as they lived.

"I don't know, but for now. I'll just let it go. I don't want to think anymore. Besides, there is something else to consider." 

I looked back down at my cutie mark. It was still there, where all this insanity started. I chuckled and looked to the bank of the river, not far from where my father and I lived. It was just the two of us who had been out here for some time, out in a little alcove between the river bank and a charred tree stump. I was thankful that my Sire hadn't noticed yet. The broken lantern that had sat on that same stump for moons was missing. I'd cleaned up what I could, if only to buy time, to collect my even more jumbled thoughts. My hooves had been so cold that even the oil fire that had danced atop the stump had not warmed me as I flailed about. When I'd finished, the scene came back into focus. The first thing Glacial Zero and Hal had seen as one. It was the doused fire and the slush that was oil moments before. I'd always liked the cold, but now, the cold is a part of me. Even between all three of us, Glacial, Hal, and Freya, what had happened was confusing at best. A pegasus had done something that pegasi didn't do. 

"You should tell your Sire. He deserves to know, deserves to celebrate with his only son," Freya said, reaching over and letting her ghostly hoof punch through my shoulder. I couldn't help a small smile. 

"Yeah, you're right."

Freya nodded. "As always."

He'd be awake by now. Sire, as always, would be preparing a warm breakfast for the two of us. He'd sway in an invisible breeze, humming a sea shanty as he prepared the meal. He'd expect me any time now. Before he left for the main docks in Bogwood proper.

I stood and shook the dampness from my rump. It was time to face the piper. I plodded back to our home. I chewed on my inner cheek as I went over yesterday again in my head. I decided, at least for now, I'd keep Hal to myself, Freya, and myself. Which was the same thing, I guess.

No sooner had I opened the front door than I heard the shuffling of hooves in the kitchen. My home wasn't all that impressive—two bedrooms, a living space, and a kitchen—but it was small and cozy. Though Hal's memories of indoor plumbing weren't sitting well with me now that I thought about it.

"Son?"

I took a deep breath and headed towards the kitchen. "Yes, father."

I entered the kitchen, where my Sire looked towards me, brow knit tight.

"You were out this early?" he asked. 

I nodded. "I was."

Weathered Horizon was not a soft stallion. Years on the docks, in the river, and in the seas had ill afforded such luxury. He was a pegasus, but the salt of the earth had never described another stallion better. He was grey with an autumn mane that contrasted against his stalwart gaze and sharp teal eyes, the same eyes I shared. The same eyes that now bore into me with pinpoint focus. 

I sighed and turned to the side. It took only seconds for my Sire to put it all together. Though I will admit to taking some pleasure in seeing the surprise if only for the briefest moment, race across his face. Sire's own cutie mark depicted a wave crashing over a waning sun. I'd never asked what it meant. Though I'd never thought I needed to, Father was strong enough to survive anything, to weather any storm. Even if that wasn't what his cutie mark meant, it was what defined him, at least to me.   

"It seems you have a tale to spin during breakfast, colt."

That was that; my Sire returned to his pot of oats, and I took my place at our homemade dining table. A table with three chairs. The wait wasn't long, but the quiet seemed to stretch for minutes longer.

Freya floated over my shoulder, smirking at my discomfort. "Are you not the portrait of a colt in trouble? Oh, the youthful guilt," she whispered. I chose to ignore her. No reason to feed the beast. 

When the pot was placed in the center of the table, reality set back in. My father deftly scooped some of the heated oats into a bowl and sat it before me. He scooped his own and sat across the table, eyes staring through the steam of the food. My ears splayed back as I wilted under his gaze. 

"You look distraught, colt."

"True," I agreed. 

"And?" he asked. 

"Well, I got my cutie mark," I halfheartedly said.

His unimpressed stare could curdle the very oats between us.

"Right, sorry. It may have cost the lamp by the docks."

"The stump?" he asked. I nodded. "And this pertains to your cutie mark?" I nodded again. 

"I'd refilled the oil, as you asked. I caught a hoof on a stray root. The lantern smashed on the stump and burst into flames."

My Sire leaned forward, looking me up and down. Seeing nothing, or perhaps everything he'd been searching for, he hoofed me to continue.

"I panicked and flailed about. I just wanted the fire to stop. I kept wishing it'd been snowing, even if it was a bit early. I just wanted the fire to stop, and then I stamped my hooves over the fire, and it did."

Weathered Horizon, in all his glory, rose from the table and, in two stomps, had rounded it. He grabbed hold of my own hoof and pulled it up. He inspected it for a moment and then grabbed the other. I found it hard to look at him as he looked me over. He let me go when he finished but did not return to his seat. 

"No burns."

I shook my head. "No burns, just cold."

"Cold?"

"When I did, whatever it is, I did. The fire went out. I'd closed my eyes. But when I opened them, the oil was slush, and my hooves were fresh with frost. I cleaned it all up, though. I'm sorry, Sire." My gaze dropped to the floor. 

Seconds later, my father's massive hoof reached down and lifted my face towards his. He scoffed. "You believe the lantern is that important?"

I blinked in confusion. "You aren't mad?" I asked. 

He scoffed again. "My son has become a stallion. Though foolish, your fate revealed itself to you. That is nothing to belittle."

"But, what is my fate?"

I didn't expect him to know. It was muddied at best. Since when can a pegasus freeze things with a touch? If that is what I did at all.

My father shook his head. "I do not think what you describe are the natural magics that we pegasi command," he said, lifting a wing to add to his point. 

"I didn't think so."

My father left it at that. He returned to his seat, and we ate in silence. The trepidation had abated for the moment, though the headache remained. I was missing something that was clear. I looked down at my hooves once more.

"Perhaps while in town, I may ask the other dock-hoofs of your plight. Or, perhaps that unicorn filly you visit may know of such things, yes?"

I attempted to respond but found no words. Maybe Azure would know something or her mother. This reeked of magic; if it were pegasi magic, then Father's friends might learn something. 

"It is better than hoping the answer might fall into your lap." Freya floated overhead with a titter.

"Ha, ha."

My Sire hummed. "Beg pardon?" 

"Nothing," I said, adding a cough. I returned to my oats with forced gusto while watching as Freya tittered. When we finished, the bowls were collected and scrubbed clean. I wasn't big enough to reach the counter myself, so I was hoisted up and made to dry the eating bowls, the larger pot holding the oats, and the accompanying spoons. I let the chore pull me from my thoughts, if only for a few minutes. My head could use the break, lest it break itself. 

Once that was done, I was again hoisted onto my Sire's back, and we were ready to leave. Weathered added his own equally weathered saddlebags onto his back, and thus, we departed for Bogwood's square. 

"Perhaps the mares in town can fathom up an answer to what is eating you, colt," Weathered said with a hum.

"It is that obvious?"

"You look ready to jump at phantoms."

I looked over to Freya. The apparition stuck her tongue out at me. "Not phantoms, but something equally vexing."

Weathered nodded along, though they seemed uninterested in what sorts of things I was referencing. It was for the best, and nopony deserved to be privy to Freya and her snark.

"Have you attempted to reenact your first attempt?"

I lifted a hoof and glared at it. "I did, but no luck."

"Then we have all the more reason to discover what your fate has in store for you. Don't we, son?" Weathered looked over his shoulder and offered a tired smile. I offered one back. Our teal eyes met, and I couldn't help but relax if only a little.

I almost nodded off as we made it to Bogwood's center and market. As the sun had roused, so too had the warmth of this dreary little day in our humble little town. The locals were either working or preparing for work. Some foals ran about, doing whatever they pleased, under the watchful eye of nearly every mare within and sometimes not even within sight.

I was hefted from my father's back and placed beside him. "Be mindful."

"Right." Thus, with a wave, my father was off, and I was left to my own devices. 

"You didn't tell him of your plight," Freya said. She gave her own dainty wave after Weathered. 

"True, I didn't." 

"No trust even for your father?" 

I shook my head. "Not an issue of trust, but an issue of ignorance. If I don't understand what is happening in my head, how could any sane normal pony?"

Freya relented. So, first stop, Azure Brew, in all her glory. Azure Brew was the only pony besides my father, whom I trusted. The first friend I'd made, we were nearly inseparable, even if it did earn us some less-than-friendly stares. However, Azure may have simply never noticed if she hadn't been outright ignoring them. At this time of day, she'd most likely be with her dam, opening the apothecary. Ever since she discovered her own cutie mark a few months ago, she'd been tailing her dam near every chance she could. Like mother, like daughter, it would seem.

The path to said apothecary, ‘What Ails You,’ sat west of the main road heading out of the center and toward the streets that lead to Baltimare. If I were lucky, Azure's older sisters would be out. I needed those two like I needed a broken wing. Speaking of. I lazily flapped my wings and took to the skies as high as I could get before one of the shopkeepers would yell at me. It wouldn't do to have a foal, especially a young colt, go and break his neck flying all alone. I could practically hear the busybodies say. Even if I was only a few meters up.

The flight across the town center wasn't long, but it gave me just enough time to come up with a few ideas about what Azure and I could do to test these new skills—if I could get them to work again at all.

The front door to 'What Ails You' was open, and the endless parade of potions and spices was always welcoming. It was even more so on chilly days like today. No sooner had I stepped hoof into the shop than the familiar greeting of the shop's owner reached me. The apothecary was one of the more recently built busnesses. The wood had yet to smell of mildew, and the floors didn't have as many scratches as most. It did, however, have a warmth that only a hearth in winter might rival. A warmth that mirrored its owner perfectly.  

"Good morning, welcome—Oh, who have we here?"

I rolled my eyes. Home Brew smiled down over her counter. The unicorn mare wore an unshakable smile, one complimented by the bright range of purples that made her up from hoof to mane. How anypony could be as happy as her from dawn to dusk will forever elude me.

"Good morning, Mrs. Home Brew. How are you today?" I asked. 

"Better for seeing you, little colt. Azure is in the back, if you're wondering. Give her a minute, if you please."

"I don't mind. Makes the surprise even better," I said, stepping to the side with a toothy grin and a wink. 

Home Brew smiled and winked back, her eye flicking to my cutie mark and back. "I take it you have plans for this fine day, I do believe."

I nodded. "Something like that."

My wait was short. A moment passed before the door leading to the storeroom flew open, and out strutted Azure Brew. While Home Brew was every shade of purple imaginable. Her youngest foal was a pale purplish white, with a bright pink mane and a stripe of her namesake right through the middle. She marched in with a broad smile and a jar of some ingredient on her back. Ever since she'd gotten her cutie mark, she'd been spending most of her free time that wasn't with me or her other friends helping her mother run their shop. Her cutie mark was like her talent, similar to her dam's. Home Brew had a sloshing pot of some unknown mix. Azure's was a similar pot, but instead of liquid, a smoke or mist pillowed out from the top. One is for the craft, and the other is for the reagents. A pair blessed by Faust above.

"I found the jar. Dam. Where did you want it?"

"Just set it aside, dear. You have a guest. You do. One that might need you more than I, for a bit at least."
  
"Huh?" Azure blinked in surprise, mouth set in a pout. The gears in her head chugged along right before landing on me. I was braced for impact and even still was nearly flung to the ground by Azure's tackle hug. "Glace."

I chuckled and returned the hug. "Morning."

"Now, you two. Don't get too excited; my shop doesn't need to be destroyed. It does not."

"Sorry, mother," Azure said and stepped back, scratching a hoof idly through her mane. "So, Glace, come looking for me, or what?"

I scoffed and shoved Azure idly. "I come looking for you? Never."

"Now, children, all is well. You two have your fun, but please don't block the store entry. We can't have that."

"Sorry, Mrs. Brew," I said, motioning for Azure to follow me outside. Home Brew was a very nice mare, always happy to help. But I pity anypony who tries to make folly in her store. Even the sailors and fishers know to be polite in 'What Ails You.' So out Azure and I went. 

"Mom said you needed help?" Azure asked. 

I tapped a hoof on my chin." Kind of. I came looking for advice if you have any."

Azure's ear flicked as she bobbed her head in thought. "Advice for what?"

"Cutie marks."

"Cutie—"

Her eyes trail down to my flank, and she gasps. I suppress a sigh, and I'm pulled into another hug before I can respond. This one is far harder than the first. I can barely sputter before the rest of my breath is ripped free of my lungs. I struggle vainly in Azure's vice grip. I can hear Freya cackling behind me. The traitor.

"You finally got your mark. I can't believe it. I was starting to worry you'd end up markless forever. That'd be awful." Then, I was released, gasping and wheezy.

"Yeah, so would dying," I said between gasps.

 Azure waved a hoof in dismissal. "Oh please, you've only passed out one time. You'll be fine, you big baby."

I leer at my friend. "One time is one too many."

"She is right, Glacial. You do sound like a baby. Freya circled over Azure, and she grinned like a shark. "Or am I to believe you dislike Azure Brew's affection?"

I cross my hooves in mock defiance. "The two of you will be the death of me."

"Two of us?" Azure asked. 

"Never mind."

Azure nods and points back to my cutie mark. "Right, well, let's hear it. What'd you do? What's your talent?"

I motion for her to follow as we make some room between us and Home Brew's shop. "That's what I wanted to talk about, actually."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, you see. I'm not actually sure what my talent is. I mean, I know what I did. But I have no idea how I did it," I said. The two of us made our way due south toward a pathway, where several makeshift benches sat looking out towards the sea. I took a seat and let out a deep groan. Azure joined me, smiling like all was right with the world.

"So, what did you do?"

"I put out a fire."

Azure's stare fell to an unenthused glare. "And?"

"With my hooves," I added. 

"And?"

"By freezing it, or the oil from the lantern, either way, really."

"While learning, you might be a body-stealing monster from another world and time," Freya said, leaning over me and chuckling darkly.

Azure's despondent look had been replaced with curiosity as she tried to steal a glance at my magical hooves. If they had anything to do with what I did at all.

"Not your wings or clouds or something?" Azure asked. 

I shook my head. "Nope, I panicked, waved my hooves, wished the fire was out. Then my hooves were freezing, and the fire was gone."

"That is odd."

"Sire said the same thing," I said, looking up to the still grey skies. "I don't get it."

"Could you show me?" Azure asked. 

I shrugged. "I can try."

Azure leaned forward. "Try, you haven't done it again? You didn't show your Sire?"

"Can I tell you a secret?" I asked. 

Azure leaned in even closer. "Of course."

"My hooves are still cold. Like frigid, but not normal cold."

The look I got back was more or less expected. I offered a hoof, to which Azure prodded gingerly. It was like she'd expected to be frozen the second she did. After a few pokes, she looked back at me. She wanted answers, and so did I.

"They don't feel cold."

"Yep, like I said, it's not normal cold. They aren't cold on the outside, but they feel frozen solid on the inside. I'm kinda scared of what it might mean."

"What about a mender? Maybe they can help?" Azure jumped off the bench expectably. "I didn't follow."

"The mender doesn't like my father."

Azure's brow knits. "So?" She said with a pout. 

"She doesn't like me either."

Azure took a step forward. "And how do you know that?"

I took a deep breath and scowled at Azure. I snorted. "Because she hated my dam. Now my dam is gone, and she still hates me and my Sire." 

I hadn't realized I'd raised my voice quite so loud. Azure looked around as if expecting a mob. I took my own idle look around. I didn't see anypony, but that didn't mean they couldn't see us. I licked my lips and shuffled in place. 

"Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean—"

Azure shook her head hard. "No, no, I'm sorry. I know that. I mean, sorry." Her words died in her mouth. Her ears lie flat against her skull. She peered at the ground, her eyes sparkling with unshed tears.

I hopped off the bench and nuzzled Azure softly. "It's fine. I know you didn't mean anything by it. I just, it still hurts. You know?"

Azure nodded against my shoulder. "Adults are just dumb like that." On that, I could not argue. After a moment, Azure pulled free, tears gone and replaced with a spark of fury. "Now, back to your cutie mark. Maybe we could ask my dam or my sisters. Or…” Something clicked in Azure's look. A smile spread wide, and she pointed off back into town. "...It has to be magic, right, like how each tribe can use their own type of magic."

"Magic, sure, but it isn't pegasus magic or weather magic. Sire was convinced of that. I've been on clouds and have seen some of the weather teams use magic to make it rain. But all the pegasus magic I know of needs something else to use it. I froze stuff all by myself."

"Well, maybe if we can get it to cast again, we can figure out what type of magic it really is. Then, we can figure out even better ways to use it."

Before I could respond, Azure had already grabbed me by the leg and dragged me into the nearest grove of trees. The manic excitement on her face was enough to send a spark down my spine. This would end poorly.

When we stopped, Azure released me and motioned to the trees around us. "Now, let's see. What do we freeze first?" 

I threw up my hooves. "Woah, hold on, we're doing what?"

Azure approached and tapped the nearest tree. "How else are we gonna get your weird freezing hooves figured out. You froze that lantern oil before, right?"

I slowly nodded.

"Then, we'll just do that repeatedly until you can do it in your sleep."

I recoiled. "I'd rather not freeze things while I'm asleep, thank you."

Azure leaned against the tree beside her and arched a brow. "And you have a better plan?" she asked. 

I sighed in defeat. Freya took a spot on the other side of Azure's chosen tree. "Practice is key to excellence, is it not? You need to master your magic to become greater still."

"I don't like it, but you're right. Regardless of my talent, it won't be useful if I can't even do it on command." 

"Good, glad you saw it my way, like a good colt."

"What was that?" I said, swatting Azure's muzzle. "Watch it, or I might end up freezing you instead."

I turned to the tree and exhaled slowly. I wasn't really sure where to start. Yesterday had been a blur. I tried to concentrate on how I felt then. Fear, nervousness, confusion. Not all of that was due to the fire. Hal hadn't made this easier. I could feel my earlier headache just waiting for me to spiral again. 

"Feel anything?" Azure asked. 

"Nothing magical."

"Perhaps you should get mad. Let it all out. Magic is known to flare during intense emotions. Right, Glacial. It couldn't hurt," Freya offered, waving a hoof in and out of the trunk of our chosen tree. 

It wasn't the worst idea, but it was kind of annoying that most of my best ideas came from my imaginary friend, of all places. I placed a hoof on the trunk and took a deep breath in. Was I mad? Was that what having all these memories was doing, what having a weird talent was doing? I didn't like it. I didn't want my head feeling full to bursting. But was it anger?

"I'm not angry," I said. I hadn't realized I'd said it out loud. I believe Azure said something, but I wasn't listening. It was something more profound. It hurt not knowing, and it hurt more when I thought about it. I wasn't angry; I was afraid. 

Afraid of my memories, my talent, and the future. My head was throbbing. My hooves were so cold they ached. I just wanted to go back. I just wanted to be expected. I didn't want to be afraid. I breathed out. My hooves stopped aching. 

"Glace."

I opened my eyes. I blinked once, and my hoof dropped from the tree. No, my hoof hadn't been touching the tree. Where I'd been touching was frozen over. A wreath of ice is wrapped around the tree. I'd done something, but I still had no idea why my hooves froze the tree. This time, I was sure it was correct.

"So, what happened?" I asked. 

"You don't know?" Azure said, falling on her haunches and motioning to the partially frozen tree. "Really?"

I shook my head. "Not a clue."

"Your hooves were glowing, and then they got frosty and then ice. Ice everywhere."

"Huh, well. All I can do now is try to do it again, right?”

"Hay yeah, this time, try it with your eyes open," Azure said, pulling me into a side hug and tapping a chunk of frozen trunk.

"Well, here goes nothing."

I spent most of the day repeatedly freezing trees. The more I practiced, the easier it seemed to happen. Even watching it, the glowing hooves and spouting ice blasts did little to explain what was causing it. It felt like something other than magic or what I thought magic should feel like. Neither Glacial Zero nor Hal could explain it. The more I practiced, the more afraid I became. By the time I'd stopped, Azure had already retreated back to 'What Ails You.' She still had chores to do. I understood I didn't like it, but I understood. By the time I'd grown tired and was shivering in place, my hooves stained in frost. It was late afternoon. I didn't know why I'd kept going, but as afraid of what I was doing, I was more fearful of stopping. 

When I did stop for the day, my hooves were numb, and my entire body shook in a phantom chill. I made my way back into the town square. Where I waited for my Sire. It must have been an hour later before he returned from the docks. The sun had already set, and I was still shivering. I don't remember falling asleep between Sire picking me up and getting home. But I did all the same. A cold and empty sleep.