Frozen Through the Ages

by Anemptyshell

Storm Warning

The early morning breeze sent a pleasant chill across my coat. I couldn't help a gentle smile, even as my spit clung like glue to the inside of my throat. I'd woken early, though less early than the day before. Breakfast had been quiet, quick, and unsatisfying. Father seemed almost as eager as I was. The clicking of his hooves as he trotted into town, perhaps faster than needed. The subdued glint in his eye spurred a particular pride in my chest. I puffed out my tuft as I glided beside him.

"Excited?" I asked my father. The grand lead of Bogwood's docks. A face anypony in town could suss out in a heartbeat. My Sire smirked, wings fluffing as he sped up more.

"And why would that be, I wonder?" he asked.

"I have no idea, Sire, not a clue." I dipped a wing and veered over his back and to his opposite side. He took a deep breath of the early muggy air. It was humid enough that I'd gotten damp just walking out our front door. The sticky salt and moss that clung to everything made flapping more painful than most pegasi would admit. Most pegasi in Bogwood ended up earthbound during the winter. The weather team and the docks were the only real exception.

If you went high enough and the sky cleared away. When all there was you and the open air. And the winds rushed by. That was when Pegasi was genuinely free. I coughed into a hoof and pointed into town. The weather center was deeper into town than I usually went, close to the docks. Since the docks were priority one, having every able-winged pegasi they could get as close as they could manage made sense. You wouldn't find any unicorns coming down this way. They called it the 'Fish and Feather' district. I'd always liked that name. It fit Sire to a tee.

"You better be on your best behavior. Freezy Breeze might be a bit old for the job these seasons, but she knows how to keep the team in check."

Sire had spent most of the dinner making sure I knew who and what I was getting involved with. I'd met Freezy Breeze before. She wasn't really that old. Sure, she was past her glory days. The scars across her chest reminded every pony in town of what happens when you think you're invincible. I must have been three or four when Freezy picked a fight with a pair of griffons who were hunting in Bogwood fishing space. The griffons had been run off, but the state they'd left Freezy was enough to scare the whole town.

Father was right, though. If I wanted to avoid getting booted by an irate mare, I'd have to go in smart and bring up my talent at the right time. Could I make it from the grounded building to the cloud storage above before I make my move? I was less likely to freeze something vital if I was in the air. I tapped my chin and hummed.

"Nervous?"

I nodded. "A bit, but it's not every day you try to find your place in Equestria."

That earned a tired chuckle. Sire's hoof shot out and ensnared me before I could react. I was pulled to my father's side and nuzzled. "A sight every Sire wants to see. Even if their son ruined their yard, freezing everything he touched." Sire's grip grew tighter as I struggled.

"I already said sorry."

"I believe your exact words were. It'll melt, eventually."

I relented and slumped in his grip. "That's the same thing."

Sire didn't respond and instead let me go. I landed on the road butt first. I glared up at my father, who showed little concern. "Don't go freezing anything valuable, colt."

I blanched, hooves held up in surrender. "I wasn't gonna."

Sire pushed me toward the building door. "Well, colt, the rest is in your hooves."

"The ones that froze the yard, you mean?" I asked. That earned me a more brutal shove and a chuckle. That was two.

The actual Weather center was two separate buildings. The rest of the town uses the grounded one. If you needed to schedule something or complain, that was where you went. It was also the place I'd need to enter to ask about work. The building was old, one of the oldest in town. It was a dull, worn wooden cabin, smaller than my home. It was only there for the rest of the town's sake. The larger, more functional half, the sky-bound cloud center, was the actual place of operation. Clouds, snow, rain, it all came from up there. The path around us and the side roads around us were deserted. My ear flicked as I tried to make out any noises from the weather center altogether. There wasn't so much as a peep. I took a heavy gulp, and my front legs twitched. In the best case scenario, I walk in, the nopony is in, and I wait. It'd give me a chance to run through my pitch.

"I'm off."

Then Father was off to the docks where he belonged. I shook my head and pushed the door open. I was not mistaken. As far as the grounded center was concerned, it was eerily empty. I stepped in and let the door close behind me. I approached the counter. A basic wooden design that stretched across the whole room, with a simple hitched gate at one end. The only things of note were a stack of blank paper, a quill, some ink pots, and a single brass bell. The type you dinged for service. The device had the fur on the back of my neck stand on end.

"Here goes nothing," I said and dinged the bell twice. The response was a bit too quick as if summoned from the depths of Tartarus itself, and a pegasus mare sprung up from behind the counter. I reeled back as the mare rubbed a hoof over one eye. I didn't recognize the stormy grey mare, eyes like sunset, mane, and tail like a golden fleece. She was pretty or would be, if she wasn't half asleep and failing to hold back a full-bodied yawn.

"Who's there?" The mare asked.

"Good morning."

The mare scanned the room before pulling herself over the counter's edge and looking down at me. The mare looked a bit more awake if the unamused murmurs were any indication. I offered a smile, and the mare stared back silently.

"I'm here to see Freezy Breeze."

"What for?" The mare asked.

"I just got my cutie mark and thought it could be useful for the weather team. If that is alright with you."

The mare was starting to get under my skin. She blinked slowly. All I could muster was to return the look in kind. After several seconds, the mare sat back and delivered a heavy sigh.

"So, little colt, what is your special talent? It looks a bit like a snowy sword or something?" the mare asked.

I looked back at my cutie mark and shrugged. She wasn't entirely wrong. The fact she could see it from her position, leering over me, was impressive, if not a bit creepy. I pulled myself up on the counter and stood on my hind legs. We weren't exactly eye to eye, but at least I could see more than her face and forehooves.

"I can manipulate ice, so since winter was right around the corner. The weather team might have something I could do to help. So, is Mrs. Freezy Breeze available?"

The mare hummed to herself, head bobbing from side to side. She gave another sigh and nodded. "I'll check, but I don't promise she'll be free."

"That seems more than fair, thank you." I offered another smile. That said, the mare stood, stretched her wings, and departed through a door behind her. Thus, it was quiet again.

"She was quite the headache, wasn't she?"

I jumped in place, wings flapping in retaliation. Freya snorted and circled me lazily. I scoffed and watched the ghost backstroke through the air.

"I hate when you do that," I said.

Freya stopped in place midstroke for a brief moment before continuing. "I know."

A ghostly filly who was secretly my personal brick wall. Oh, how I enjoyed running face-first into my tulpa. I continued to pout and wait. Freya seemed all too happy to leave it at that. The wait wasn't that long. It couldn't have been more than ten minutes or so. It was challenging to keep track without the sun or a timepiece. When the counter mare returned, she looked more alive than when I'd roused her from her nap.

"So?" I asked.

The mare pointed to the door she'd come from. "She said she could spare a few minutes. She'll be down to get you when she can. She always has a soft spot for the colts," the mare said, more to herself than me. That didn't mean I wouldn't store that tidbit away for later.

"Thank you, miss."

"Tidy Tassel."

"Oh, okay, Ms. Tassel."

A silence fell between us as I waited for Freezy Breeze. I found a spot against the wall and searched my answers for any surprise questions. That'd be the easy part, though. What would matter was the practical. That's how Pegasi did things. It was funny; I knew that without a word, there was no passed-down work ethic, no forced drive. I just needed to do what I set my mind to. Even if I was often jabbed into action by Freya, Azure, my dad, or my other friends, it might be a slow start, but I only stopped once the job was done. I smirked. That wasn't a half-bad answer for any ambition questions. That was one thing Hal, and I had no similarity in. Glacial Zero was a slow start and hard finish; Hal was a burn-the-candle-at-both-ends type. My smirk fell away. He might still have been alive if he'd slowed down a bit.

My ruminations were silenced by the sound of a door being flung open. The stomps that followed were no less disruptive. I barely had time to turn before I was muzzle-to-muzzle with the same mare I'd come to see. She eyed me like a starving dog might eye a steak. I swallowed hard and tried not to back as far into the wall as possible. Freezy Breeze was exactly like I remembered, except for a pair of spectacles balanced on her muzzle. She was a paler variant of my colors: dull blue coat, darker blue mane, and pale violet eyes. A pair of eyes squinted harder down at me.

"You're Weathered's colt, right?" Freezy asked.

I nodded. "Yes, ma'am."

"Got yourself a mark now, too. Good for you, colt. Tassel said you might be helpful with the weather. She said something about ice?"

I nodded harder. "I'm good with the cold. You can ask my Sire if you need to."

"Not needed; Weathered's a good stallion; I trust he raised you right."

I pursed my lips and restrained an eye roll. "Thank you?"

"That's Good, so let's see what you can do, colt. If you want to work with the team, you must contribute."

Freezy was marching to the front door faster than her words could leave her mouth. I looked at Tassel, who smirked and waved toward her boss. So much for there being an interview part of the job. I guess expecting a weather pony to care about words was unrealistic.

So off we went. No sooner had I stepped into the morning air than Freezy waved over her shoulder and shot into the sky. I could feel my hooves shaking, but I followed as best I could. Freezy was one of the best fliers in Bogwood, heyday or not. She circled up to a pair of clouds and sat down, waiting for me. The amusement in her eyes did not match her frown when I joined her.

"You could use some flight practice, colt. Weathered doesn't have the time, though. A pity that a stallion is pulling a herd's weight."

I looked off toward the docks. You could see them even in the boggy mist. I didn't see my Sire, though the dockworkers were more shapes than ponies at the distance Freezy and I sat. I could feel Freezy's eyes on the back of my head.

"It ain't your fault, colt. That said, we got work to do." She was right on that point. I turned, tossed on the brightest fake smile, and waited for my instructions. Freezy looked at the docks behind me before standing on her cloud. "Well then, colt, tell me about your talent so I can best assess your skill level. Good with the cold is a bit vague."

"Right, yes, ma'am. My talent focuses on ice and cold. I can freeze things really well and shape ice, even if I need some practice. I can unfreeze things, too, so I even clean up after myself. I've only had my talent for a few days, but Sire could use the help well."

Freezy's frown gave just a bit. She winged at the clouds around us. "So, let's see it then. I should be able to tell what you've got best if you give me an example." Freezy pointed to the cloud I was sitting on.
My mouth ran dry as a quiet horror filled my every pore. My eyes pierced the cloud as I restrained a groan. It occurred to me. At no point in my time practicing my magic, had I ever tried using a cloud.

"Now, this should be good," Freya whispered in my ear from behind. Add to that the very real dull gaze of Freezy Breeze, and I'd found the perfect storm of my own making.

"Freeze," I whispered. My hooves tinged and wrapped themselves in a gentle blue aura. The cloud shifted beneath my hooves. My nerves frayed. I felt my throat close as I pushed my will into the cloud harder. I closed my eyes and tried again. The air around me misted in a chilly aura. My hooves glowed a bit brighter. I ignored Captain Breeze's boring glare. I took a second deep breath. "Freeze," I said a little louder. The cloud obeyed, and what was once a fluffy grey Nimbostratus was now a block of ice, a hefty falling block of blue ice. I let out a yelp as I joined the cloud in a freefall. Instinct beat rational thought as my wings shot open, and I went from a total crash to a gentle glide.

When I landed, my first reaction was to stare down at my still-glowing hooves. One day, my hooves freeze; the next, they act like a unicorn's horn. I fell to my flank. Wings still spread, hooves held up in dread.

"Oh my, Glacial, you certainly did it this time."

Freya landed beside me, resting a spectral hoof on my shoulder. She tutted and cooed as I remained in place. Then, the sound of gentle wingbeats behind me sent me into a different terror altogether. I slowly turned to see a blank-faced Freezy staring at me. The fury in her eyes was enough to melt anything I could conjure up. The fire, a writhing silent dare to approach lest you were burned away into nothing at all.

"Um," I said, only for Captain Breeze to silence me with a shush.

"What are you pulling, colt?" she asked.

My ears flattened against my head. "Pulling, ma'am?"

"Answer my question now, colt."

"I don't understand."

"Whose idea was it?" Freezy Breeze had stomped forward and was now standing over me. A snort had me shrink onto the ground. "Well?"

"I don't—"

Freezy Breeze stomped down harder and barred down on me further. "Which unicorn wanted to waste my time today?"

I blinked away tears. "Unicorn?"

"That!" She pointed at the shattered cloud nearby. "Was no pegasus magic. So, what else could it be? Those damned hornheads think they can use a colt to mock me."

"But I did that," I said. I felt a bubbling rejection of the mare's accusation. How dare she, how dare she think I was a joke, a liar. If she heard me, the raving captain didn't bother responding. She was scanning every building, side street, and alley for the culprit at that very moment.

"You hear me, you little shit. Come out and face me."

"There isn't a unicorn." I scrambled to my hooves. I ran in front of the red-faced mare. She didn't even look down. I took a single deep breath. Where once the deep chill ran through my veins, a new heat boiled away beneath my skin. "I froze the cloud."

Captain Breeze looked down at me, brow knit, eyes smoldering. "Don't lie to me, colt. No pegasus just freezes things. Now, move." the captain pushed me aside.

My legs had gone numb. My breath escaped in clouds of mist. Freya leaped in front of me, waving her hooves in silent protest. I stepped through her. My wings flared. I brought my forehooves over my head. "I said…" The captain tutted and looked back at me. "...Freeze!" My hooves stomped back down, and the ground beneath them erupted in icy spires, cracking the earth and cratering it hoof-deep. I was no liar. This. Ice. Was. Mine.

I huffed and puffed. My chest burned as I tried to breathe. The world danced around me. Freezy Breeze was no longer glaring. Staring yes, but the fire in her eyes had burned out. Behind me, Freya was muttering to herself. When Freezy blinked, her eyes were full of something far more intense. The utter disgust on her face was enough to break my resolve. Her mouth warped into a grimace as she took a step back.

"What the Tarturus are you?"

My mouth opened, but nothing came out. My throat ran dry as I struggled to place the tone in her voice. Before I could answer, the fear and disgust became a rage far deeper and colder than any ice I could conjure.

"What the Tarturus are you!"

This time, it wasn't a question. If she planned to say anything else or do anything at all. I wouldn't, couldn't hear her, to think this started out so well. To think I'd trusted her, trusted Captain Freezy Breeze to relate to my unique abilities. I just wanted to help my Sire. Freezy Breeze took a single step forward. So, I turned tail and ran. I hooved it as hard and fast as I'd ever done. I didn't look back; I couldn't; tears spilled over my cheeks as I ran blindly down the main road, past the knee-high wall that played the border of Bogwood and out into the marsh beyond.

The muck clung to my hooves as I slowed my escape. The longer I ran, the harder lifting my hooves from the muddy soup beneath was harder. By the time I came to a complete stop, I'd found a more solid space to sit. My breath came in ragged gulps as I sucked in the thick acrid air. My tears had stopped some time ago, but my brain still rattled on replaying the scene repeatedly in my head. The look in Freezy Breeze's eyes stirred something vile in my chest. The heat had died, leaving me numb inside. I could taste the bitter taste of vomit in the back of my throat. My mind was racing faster than my legs could manage. A minage of thoughts, Glacial's and Hal's, played out mixed and matched into a somber pit where all of my emotions were leeched away.

When I finally came to a stop, I slowly looked about. The mud I'd stopped on wasn't the only solid mass around. In fact, there was an excellent path cutting a twisting road between trees and thicket. A makeshift fence planted bounds between the path and the muck beyond. It was a common trick in the area. The further south you went, the worse the swampage became. Markers like fences and stakes saved ponies a lot of trouble.

I scanned the area, and one thing stood out: the closest markers on each wooden pole plodded an incomplete path through the sludge. Each one possessed a tuft of pink ribbon—a very familiar pink ribbon. I sat, my mind racing as I tried to put the ribbon in its place; by then, my mind caught up with my racing heart and sluggish breath. It struck like lightning.

"Forage Farms."

I bit my lip and jogged in place. At this point, I'd lost track of which way the town even was. The markers pointed to civilization but did not directly indicate which way. I could taste iron. Spinning in the direction of the closest post, I started a jog in the next direction.

The trek was quiet, just me, my thoughts, and the complete absence of a particular incorporeal entanglement. Freya's words, not mine. I wasn't even sure what it meant. There was also the ever-sloppy sound of hooves pulling out from the mud. Even the more solid path was still messy at the best of times. It was a wonder that any farms existed in the area at all. I played out the scene with Freezy Breeze over and over in my head. I couldn't piece together what I'd done wrong. I expected some of the elders to make a fuss if my talent made the gossip trail. I hadn't expected the captain of all ponies to explode. No matter how many times it repeated, nothing stood out; no point of no return. It was just my talent, a talent that defied the norm.

"There are other ponies with weird talents. Why is mine a problem?" I whispered to myself. At this time, the posts ended, and with them, a much larger gate with a worn wooden sign announced my arrival at Crop's family farm.

Even as one of the larger farms in Bogwood, it was still compact, the foundations as fleeting as the solid ground from here back to town. I looked back over my shoulder. I could make it back to town. All I'd need to do is retrace my steps. I shook my head. A little space might do some good. Who knew if the weather team would wait for me or what they'd do?

I had yet to make it ten hooves past the gate before a voice jolted me in place. The owner came trotting in my direction from one of the farm's larger sheds. Hard Forage, a mare that could bench the same shed on an off day. Bright orange, she radiated presence like a second sun. In that same vein, her always smiling cyan eyes glinted in recognition.

"That you, little Zero, what brings my Tender's favorite colt around?" she asked. I choked back a wheezing laugh. One she took full advantage of. "Come to court, my Tender, have you? By the princess, foals these days." My choked laugh evolved into a coughing fit, even as I waved at the mare in surrender.

"Forage, please don't kill a colt on the farm. Ponies might think ill of us and our produce." From the opposite direction, completing a pincer movement left me nowhere to run. The stallion of the house strolled up, a smile to match his wife's.

"But, he came to steal our daughter away."

A look passed between the two, and Forage groaned, having given up on her attempted murder. I owed Solid Crop a thank you later. The stallion in question closed in and kissed his mare on the cheek. Solid Crop was a name that perfectly summarized the stallion. He wasn't quite as big as Forage, but I don't know a single pony who was. But he was still more significant than most. A murky green and a grey mane and tail, his somber tones blended into the very swamp he lived in. A true native in every way.

"I'm sorry," I said, drawing the attention of the two farmers. Solid flicked a look between me and Forage. A hoof to the side had his wife blinked in recognition.

"Oh no, you did nothing wrong, little Zero. I was only teasing. I'm sure Tender and the others would be happy you came by. A very neighborly thing, even if you're from across town and, for that matter, in town to begin with," Forage reached down and patted my back gently, which was enough to all but flatten me.

I sighed and righted myself. "No, I'm sorry that I troubled you at all. I didn't even mean to be here. I just kind of did."

"Beg pardon?" Solid asked. The couple mirrored a gentle look before ushering me further into the farm. "You look like you could use an ear or two, colt. I'm sure Tender would want to know you were here all the same, accident or not."

Solid wasn't wrong; Tender indeed wanted to know I was here and, more precisely, why I wandered out of town into the dangers of a swamp I rarely ever set hoof in by myself. If I was honest, I wanted to know that too. Even now, I am sitting in the main house of Forage Farms, where Solid and Tender had sat me down and listened to my morning adventures.

Forage had too much to do to stay for the story, and Tender's siblings barely knew who I was and thus had little reason to care. I bid them no anger for that. I wish I could not deal with my day that easily, too. Neither of my listeners seemed all that pleased with my story. Tender looked one word off from flipping the family dining table. The glint in her eye as she stared out the window behind me was reassuring. I even managed a wry smile. Solid also looked displeased, though his emotions vanished behind a mask of somepony with too much to do to spend time not doing something about it.

"She just ran you out of town like some thieving rat. That stupid airhead didn't even care how you could freeze stuff, just that you did it at all."

Tender snorted, crossed her hooves, and turned to her Sire. Solid shook his head, and his daughter wilted. He had the right idea. Starting a fight in town wasn't going to do me any good. It's not like they needed a reason to spit vinegar in my direction. Freezy Breeze wasn't the first, though she was the first to make my talent the cause of anger and not everything else.

"Glacial didn't deserve the weather captain's spite. But, it isn't our place to fight his battles for him, Tender. You know that."

Tender glowered harder. "Somepony needs to."

"Meaning?" Solid asked.

"Glace didn't do anything wrong."

Solid sighed and nodded. "No, he didn't. That isn't going to stop it from happening today, tomorrow, or weeks out."

"True," I agreed.

"Glace, why aren't you mad?" Tender asked, slamming a hood into the hoofcrafted wood of her family table.

"I'm more tired than angry."

Tender wasn't wrong; I should have been angry, but I wasn't. On some level, I'd expected this. I knew from day one that whatever my magic was, it wasn't what a pegasus should be using. I wasn't modeling clouds or wrangling clouds. I was turning things to ice by hoof. If I were a unicorn, nopony would have given it a second thought. I bet even as an earth pony, I'd only get a few weird looks. But I was a pegasus, the proud, the bold, the adventurous. But I wasn't any of those things. Most of Bogwood knew that. Between my friends, I was lucky that any other foals would interact with me as anything but a necessity to play with the rest of the group. I felt a deep, cold lump in the pit of my stomach. I should have been angry, but I wasn't. I should have been sad, but I wasn't. If anything, I was tired.

"Hey, now." I was wrapped in a hug before I'd even looked up. Solid had pulled me close, Tender joining only seconds later. "It'll be okay. You're a good foal, Glacial. Things will work out. Tell you what, once Bramble returns to the farm, we'll have her fly you home. Even Freezy Breeze isn't dense enough to tangle with Bramble, especially once she hears what that means old Nag did. Okay?"

"Pa's right. Aunt Bramble could take half of Bogwood with both wings tied," Tender puffed out her chest. The earth filly never looked braver than when somepony brought up her aunt. Bramble Breach was a local legend, the type even Freezy Breeze got overshadowed by. She was the only pegasus in a long line of earth ponies. But could our earth pony most of them all the same? Strong, fast, brave, and undauntable. Bramble Broach was a mare to awe.

"Right, if any pony could, your aunt would be that pony," I said. Tender tightened her hug around my side. All there was left to do now was wait. "If your aunt doesn't, my Sire sure will. That's for sure."

Solid chuckled. "There is no terror like a father protecting their young. I'd tango with a whole pack of swampbears before I would get between your Sire and Captain Breeze."

"Mr. Solid."

The stallion hummed. "Yes, Glacial?"

"Thank you."

Solid ruffled my mane. "No trouble at all. It's what we do, colt. We protect our own."

"Pa is right, nopony bullies my friends," Tender said.

"Even Tally?" I asked.

Tender blinked hard. "Even Tally." She added while earning herself some serious sideye from her father.

I may have ended up out at Forage Farm by chance, but that didn't mean I should be anywhere else. At least here, no pony would turn a blind eye only if they wanted a Bramble Broach brand scolding. I'd seen it several times, but it wasn't pleasant.

Author's Note:

This is the first wave of chapters. I try to give readers a chance to really grasp what I am developing. I seek to neither confuse nor mislead those who are willing to give my stories a chance. If I can help it, I will be posting in a similar format going forward, several chapters at a time.

Thank you, and have a fantastical day.

Comments

[loudsilence34]

You have something really cool here, can't wait to see more ! ~~

[Mix-up]

Fun story I do like the concept of a elementmancer for a pegasus, reminds me of FoE the Last Sentinel being a Ice Mage. Through I suspect the HiE element, see that you could remove anything about his past life and the story still being functional as a story, it suggest to me that is just a tacked in to get more readership, A bit sneaky, but it got me to reading. I am curious to see where this goes. I wonder why the weather pony was so hostel about Glacial's power a simple colt, what makes them so suspicious compared to Ponyville ponies?

[TheAbsoluteRadiance]

TFTC. It's nice, Looking forward to more.

[Anemptyshell]

11934684
Well, when you live through the rise of Nightmare Moon, suspicion will be second nature. lol.

I also promise that the human thing will play into the story the deeper it goes.

[emperer]

Why do i have a feeling that some time in the future glacial wil accidentally freeze himself solid for a thousand years?

[tranquille]

Mmm hamburger 🍔🤤

[Status L]

11935024
I think that's because of the title, and I also think that.

[Nismo Rose]

Love the story can’t wait to see more!!!

[Rainy_Skies]

Good story, fun to read, mysteries to solve and a pretty unique time period to start off in. I look forward to more of this as it comes out. Not much else to say tho as it's still early.

It is in need of an editor, however, and I would have offered to to do it in post, but I have too much on my hooves already.

Keep up the good work!

[Alabaster Augment]

Great story thus far, but you should consider seeking editors, maybe from the FimFiction discord or one of its associated groups. You’ve been swapping tense and the verbage is a little off sometimes. It’s readable, but editing goes a long way in making your story shine and re-reading an edited work before publishing can help you see things you may have missed. Still, I need to read every word of this. Thanks for publishing!