> Frozen Through the Ages
>  by Anemptyshell
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Starting at Zero
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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.
> An Icy Touch
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I woke with a gasp, my heart pounding in my ears. I looked around my room in a vain attempt to track what had left me breathless. The vague shape of somepony or something slowly closing in. A shape that became more bleary by the second. The stalker vanished back into the subconscious where it'd come from. After several minutes, I'd relaxed enough to flop back into bed. The sun's light was already shining through the small window that sat not a meter away, the only means to tell night from the day in my bare room. It was a place to rest my head and nothing more. I didn't really need anything. I didn't spend much time around the house, and neither did Sire, for that matter. For a minute, I simply lay on my back, staring up at my wooden ceiling. While the nightmare had faded, the feeling it left behind was enough to make my stomach churn.

 "My my, you look like you've been visited by a specter."

I lazily followed the voice. Freya had taken to floating by my bedside. Face struck with a gentle sorrow. If incorporeal ponies could cry, I'd almost believe she would. I shook my head and sat back up. Father would no doubt be calling for me anytime now, and I didn't want to sour him over a bad dream. I hadn't gotten to talk to him last night. I didn't get to tell him what happened in the grove and the half-dozen frozen trees. I hope they thawed. I didn't need the town conjuring some folk tale about ice monsters or anything.

"That'd be just great," I whispered before sliding out of bed and slowly plodding my way towards the kitchen. I could once again hear Sire whistling as he made breakfast. No matter the time of day, my Father always had time for a jaunty tune. I smiled. It was something I always enjoyed waking up to. A reminder that things could still be okay.

"Morning, colt," Father said as I sat at our dining table. He didn't even look back. I grunted in response. The flick of Sire's ear had me straighten in my seat. 

"Morning."

"You sleep well?" he asked. 

I nodded. "Better than the night before."

Father turned to me and quirked an eyebrow. Without a word, he placed our breakfast on the table and offered me a plate. The silence that followed left me wishing I'd stayed in bed. When it did break, it was almost worse. 

"Did you and Azure Brew have any luck discovering your talent? You were barely awake when I gathered you in the square. The tired only somepony who worked hard can earn." 

He'd know more about working hard than most. Now that it was just him and I. He worked three times harder just to keep us comfortable. Even before I got my cutie mark, I'd always known that the docks were not a place for the lazy. Even before it was just the two of us, I'd always known my Father was anything but weak. In a sense, I felt proud that my Father acknowledged how hard I'd practiced yesterday. But that didn't stop it from hurting, even with someone else's memories. Some things could never be forgotten. 

"I know how I stopped the fire now. But it doesn't feel right. The magic feels wild."

"Wild, how so?"

I plopped my spoon into my breakfast and met my Father's gaze. He sat nothing given away, face like slightly perturbed granite. It'd been a habit the two of us had as far back as I could recall. Teal eyes lock with teal eyes. It was no fight for control, no act of defiance. It simply was as it'd always been. A way to see behind the mask.

"It doesn't like doing what it's told," I said before lifting my spoon back up and shoving it into my muzzle. 

"Does any foal?" 

I shrugged. "No, not really."

"Then why would a foal's magic be any different?" 

I snorted, choking on my meal, which also earned a smile from my Sire. When I managed to pull my spoon from the back of my throat, I pointed at him. He snorted and swatted at the utensil. I barely managed to pull it back in time before he swiped it, either for himself or across the room.

"That's not fair," I said. 

"Was it supposed to be colt?" I tsked and crossed my hooves. My Sire rolled his eyes and returned to his meal. "That reminds me. I managed to ask about your talent. Or, I asked about any such similar magic."

I sat up straighter. "Oh?"

My Father nodded. "Some interesting tales. Most of it was manure. But one or two seemed suspect."

"Don't most sailors tell bunk stories, anyway?" I asked. 

Father took a second to consider my question before nodding. "Fair. But, the one that stood out was more than simple fancy or delusion. It was ancient."

Well, that had my attention. I honestly wasn't expecting much from the dock hooves, fishers, or sailors. They were my Father's friends. They weren't bad ponies. They just liked a good yarn. Even my Sire had told a few fibs. I could recall a few with a smile. It wasn't often that he had time, but when he did tell a story, It was worth the wait. But telling stories and solving mysteries weren't really the same thing.

"The story was about pre-unified Equestria. You don't hear many stories about those times anymore. I haven't heard one since I was a foal. Those days were dark, bleak times. Yet, hear one, I did. A strange day for the both of us, I'd wager."

"Very true," I agreed.

“As it went, the tale was about a band of druids, not all unicorns, even back then. Outsiders, shunned by all. These druids came together, even amongst the cold, the windigos, and the uncertainty of war. Which would, for most, be enough to dismiss it outright. I'd have, too, if not for the description of the magic."

"Druids he says. How interesting, wouldn't you say Glacial? So very enchanting," Freya said, gushing as she danced around the table. I struggled not to roll my eyes. 

"They said those druids could conjure great magic, power to command nature. They made pacts with fae spirits and could be any tribe. All it took was one of those pacts to do it. Though even among these supposed druids, nothing was said of their cutie marks and talents. Though I was guessing, one can be as liable to learn druid magic as any other."

My fur stood on edge. None of this was in Hal's memories, even if almost all of those memories were of the future. The idea, the fae, had something deep inside me retract in disgust. Sire must have noticed as he leaned forward, eyeing me as I writhed under his look. 

"Doesn't feel right, does it?" he asked. 

I shook my head. He leaned back and scoffed. "Didn't sit right with me either. It goes against nature. Such pacts would be rife with prices no pony should ever need pay."

On that, he and I agreed. I was not too keen on selling my soul, cutie mark or not. That was if the fae were even real. Though, the magic did sound similar. I looked at my hoof. After yesterday, my hooves still felt cold, but it wasn't as bad as before. I'd hoped wearing myself out would have warmed them up. But there they were, still on the edge of stomping through a fresh coat of snow, a deep numbing chill.

"Do you think maybe I—"

My Sire held up a hoof. "Recall colt, it is a story. Even if true, I wouldn't know a thing about it. If it is druid magic, then I will be as proud of you as I'd be of any other. I advise asking someone smarter than me and a bunch of salted sailors about it all."

I didn't realize it at the time. Not until Father stood and pulled me from my seat into his embrace. I was crying. I was smiling and crying and held tight against my Sire. I didn't know if he knew just how much I needed that: his unconditional pride and the fierce fire hidden behind his sharp gaze. He was right. Maybe the druid story would lead somewhere, maybe not. But I wasn't alone either way. I had Sire, Azure, and even Freya. I had friends, and I had more than enough time to figure it all out.

When he finally let me go, I felt lighter. My sire offered me a pat on the head before moving me onto his back. "We're running late. We can talk more later if you want. Maybe you can ask somepony in town about druids or other ancient magic. If it is ancient magic at all."

"Yeah, okay," I said. I wiped away any stray tears. And settled in as we left the house and headed back into town. The walk was quiet. I was left with a million different thoughts, but none of them made any more sense today than they had yesterday. Could you even get a cutie mark in magic if it was from another race or from the fae? Were the druids even real? If anypony would know, it'd be the Princess. Celestia would no doubt be able to make sense of my talent. I bet she could even explain Hal, or Glacial, or both.

When we got to town, I glided off Sire's back and looked around the square. Nothing in particular caught my eye. I hugged Father goodbye and made a stop at a nearby bench. 

Unfortunately, Celestia isn't really an option right now. So, we'd work with what I could get. Maybe Mrs. Brew would know who to ask about old magic or druids or something. There had to be some books or scrolls somewhere. Books a pegasus could get their hooves on. 

"Do you think they're real?" Freya asked. I rolled my eyes. "Oh, come on, if ponies like that existed, where are they now? Where did they go?"

Freya hovered over me, her ordinarily amused face left in a pondering pout. One I was probably mirroring. Bogwood is a small town. If I were in Baltimare or Canterlot, I bet there would be all sorts of resources that could help. But, in Bogwood, I might just have to teach myself and hope for the best.

"Not here. Who knows? Maybe they aren't even real. What if they are, and they're illegal?" The thought hit me like a ton of bricks. There might be a good reason they're just stories. They might have been hunted down and left to disappear forever. 

"Glacial, calm down. You're overreacting."

I glared up at my imaginary companion. "What if I'm not?"

"You are. Think about it: why would Equestria outlaw special talents? That would be crazy. Not to mention, cutie marks are up for interpretation, so how would you prove the intent behind it? It makes no sense."

I blink and grumble to myself. She had a point. That wouldn't make a lot of sense. At the very least, you'd think they would supply a breakdown of what would qualify for such laws. My head was starting to hurt; this time, it wasn't lack of sleep and panic. No, it was me, just being dumb. I needed to get it together. I had some kind of adult in my head. I could at least pretend to be one.     

"Why does everything have to be so complicated?" I asked no one at all.  
  
"Look, there he is."

My ear swiveled to the approaching hoof steps. Azure marched up beside me. If it were anypony who would be looking for me, it'd be her. Though judging by the hoof steps, she wasn't alone. I pulled myself from staring at nothing to staring at a bunch of somethings. 

Sure as sunshine, there came Azure Brew in all her smug glory. With her, was the rest of our group friends. The amount of foals our age was few and far between. That season wasn't exactly the most loving and carefree. But, with the war for the heavens, one can hardly be blamed. The seasons after were better. This meant our friend group had a few foals, either late bloomers or a bit young for their cutie marks. 

Three others besides Azure'd decided it was Glacial hunting season. The whispers were a bit offputting, even if they tried to be subtle about it. 

"Glace, running a bit late today?" Azure asked. 

I waved her away. "We can't all be as perfect as you."

"I know," Azure said, pounding a hoof against her chest tuft. 

"So, is it true?"

So, it began. To be fair, Wayward Sky hardly meant anything by it. Even now, she was trying with all the subtly of a stampede to look over my shoulder at my cutie mark. Wayward was one of the few born alongside Azure and me, a bright orange pegasus filly with a mane and tail like an ocean sunset. She was also the oldest of my dad's best friends, Wayward Breeze. That meant I'd known her since birth. 

Wayward was curious, if not a bit shy, filly. Even as I stood and let the others see for themselves. My cutie mark is on full display, under the scrutiny of everypony present. Wayward was already humming to herself as she leered at my flank. She was so lost in her examination her muzzle fell perhaps a bit too close to it for her own good.    

"Brew wasn't talking out her plot after all. Glad you've finally caught up."

"Yeah, yeah, I know, a late bloomer. You won this race, Tender Crop."

Tender Crop pulled Wayward back by her scruff. The earth filly smiled victoriously, all teeth. Which would be fine if she didn't have a chipped front tooth leaving a hole in her otherwise pearly whites. She was also the oldest of our group, a whole season older, to be exact. That meant she was both bigger and bolder than the rest of our herd of friends. A lead mare if there was ever one. 

"I always do. It's hard work tending the fields, ya know. The marsh is even worse. I didn't get these by sitting on my hooves." Crop flexed a well-toned leg. Her argument was sound, and her heavier frame was proof enough for me. It didn’t hurt her cutie mark; a mossy trowel didn't scream marsh pony.  

"Actually, why aren't you tending the fields today? You don't normally get many free days, now that I think about it," Azure asked.

The farm filly laughed. Her wild green mane almost consumed her whole face. Her only slightly lighter green coat didn't help. Yet wild or not, there was a certain attentive presence in the one orange eye that found freedom for her tangled curls. "Ma had to come in to wait on some tools coming in from the docks. She said I could go if I helped her when the boats came in. It should be about an hour or so. I figured I'd come to check in on you a lot before I go.”

The rest of us nod along. Crop's family worked at one of the bigger local farms. One of the more enormous herds, too. Six siblings, her two moms, and her pa. I hop from the bench and give her a quick nuzzle. 

"Glad to see you care," I said. Crop blinked, a tinge of pink coloring her cheeks. Even if it was lost in her bobbing locks.          

"So, wassit for?"

"Wassit to ya?" I asked.

Hailing from the city of Manehatten, or just west of Manehatten, Writ Tally groaned. Her accent had always been a bit of a sore spot. That and her Sire, but Writ was alright for city folk. She'd already found herself a job to boot. The new junior auditor. A job that not many wanted, but one Writ took to like the skies. As a fellow pegasus, it was almost paramount that I tease Writ for being such a bookish number addict. 

Writ jabbed an off-white hoof at my flank. "Quit stallin'. Wassit do, ya cloudhugger."

Both Wayward and I winced. The two non-fliers shared an unamused look. "Here they go again," Crop said. Azure nodded in agreement. 

Writ snorted. "Just because it goes over your head does not make it less true,"

"I'm no cloudhugger. I've been flying right for almost as long as you," I said. I took a step closer, and the two of us were just shy from muzzle to muzzle. My teal eyes stare right into Writ’s own golden glare. 

"Okay, that's enough," Azure inserted herself between Writ and I, pushing us apart. "We're here for a reason, and starting fights is not it."    

"Brew's right. We're here because Glace finally got his cutie mark. That means everypony is finally a proper adult now," Wayward said. She offered a shy smile, and the tension broke. 

I fell back on my haunches and sighed. "You're right, sorry Writ. I was just teasing. I didn't mean anything by it, I promise." I offered a hoof in surrender.
 
"Yeah, I know. Sorry for almost biting your head off," Writ tapped her hoof to mine. And a new age of peace was forged, for now. 

"So, what is your talent? Brew said you can make ice. So like snow, and such?" Crop asked. She pointed to the mostly empty sky. "Bout time for winter, ain't it?"

I looked to Azure, who'd looked nowhere in particular. "Not really, no. What did…" I pointed to Azure. "...She sctually say?" 

Azure harrumphed. "I just said. You make ice. Am I wrong then?"

I shake my head. "No, I do, just not that kind of ice."

A talent in hail, then?" Wayward asked, pouting as she leered even harder at my mark.

"It's not weather magic at all." I motioned over my shoulder. "You fillies should see what I did to a few trees off the park path."

The girls shared a look and then followed my lead. Azure took the back of the group. It seemed she was adamant about seeing and believing. She appeared all smiles when they were looking for me. A sneaky traitor to the end. The walk back to the park and then off the beaten path only took a few minutes, but the energy trailed us like a lost dog. 

The cooler days and far colder nights meant that the trees, as I'd left them, were primarily as they were when I made my way back to the market. Three separate trees, all in states of frozen. The first was wrapped in a wave of ice that started several hooves away and ended several hooves beyond by going out and away from the trunk properly. The second was far cleaner. The bark from root to eye level was frosted over but already thawing. The final tree was caught in a double helix that wrapped around but barely made contact with the tree at all.

"Wow, Glacial, that's, well, what is it?" Wayward asked. She'd approached and was running a hoof over the helix tree. Her eyes shone with rapt attention.

"Ice mostly," I said.  

"That was horrible," Tally said. Her eyes were glued to the tree held by the wave of ice. 

"Isn't it cool?" Azure asked. 

"That was worse," Tally corrected. 

"I thought you said it wasn't weather magic?" Crop asked.

Here was the hard part. I chewed on my inner cheek and looked from tree to tree. When it came to origins, I was still gripping at straws. The evidence of what I could do was there for all to see. That was all I had, though, frozen trees. 

"He does it with his hooves," Azure said, shouldering up to me and pulling me into a hug by the withers. "No clouds or anything."

"Excuse me?" Tally said, sputtering as she looked between Azure and me. "How does that even happen?" 

"Like earth ponies, clearly." Crop smiled wide as she took a post on my other side and managed to wrap Azure and me into a side hug with one leg.

"Can you show us?" Wayward asked, scuffing a hoof across the dirt. She managed a cough into a hoof before she begrudgingly met my eye. "Please?"

Fillies were traitors and scoundrels, the whole lot of them. Crop released me, and I stumbled forward, nearly running muzzle-first into the waiting Wayward. The others laughed, and I tried not to test just how well my ice-preserved live ponies. 

"Sure. I mean, I'm still new with it and everything. But the more practice, the better."

I walked up to the helix tree and placed a hoof on a spot in the middle of one of the open points of the helix itself. I took a deep breath in and felt my hoof tingle in response. The cold bubbled up under my skin. The biting chill of deep winter. I didn't even shiver this time. It felt good, a fount of peace and power. I was cold. The cold was me. I could feel it even as the ice bled through from the point of contact outward in a shapeless, creeping wave. The bark beneath became brittle, and flakes peeled off, dusting the dirt beneath me in a micro snowfall.

I heard a gasp from behind me and the whispers of the girls. I couldn't make out what was said and, for the time being, didn't care. I was free; it felt exactly how I'd felt the first time I'd flown with my own two wings, not gliding, not zipping around a cloud under hoof. It felt just like this, like everything was exactly as it was meant to be. 

When I pulled my hoof free, the cold retreated, and the splotch of frozen bark spread two hooves wide. I smiled. It was getting easier to control. I could at least conjure it on command now, for the most part. 

"Holy Faust," Writ said. I hadn't noticed her walk up beside me. She gingerly reached out and tapped the frozen spot. 

"You weren't kidding. That wasn't pegasus magic at all, was it?" Wayward asked. I wished I'd actually had an answer. I hated this nagging thump in the back of my head, the headache that wouldn't quite go away.

"See, I told you girls. Glace's talent is crazy."

"It's different; I've never seen anything like it. But, and I don't mean anything by it, but what good even is it?" Crop asked. 

"What?" I asked. 

"You got you got your cutie mark now. That means you'll have to get a job soon, right? We all have to pull our weight. So, the question is, what can freezing things do for work? It isn't like making snow, right? So, then what?"

You could hear a bit of drop across Bogwood. My jaw was slack, and I'd fallen onto my haunches without noticing. What good could I even know? I'd been so stuck on the how and why that I never thought up what I could actually do with my ice magic at all.

"Faust, damn it."

"Seriously?" Writ and Freya echoed, even if Writ was none the wiser. 

I planted a hoof hard into my face. Writ and Crop were right. The girls silently watched me as I struggled to cobble up an honest answer. Ice, what could you do with just ice? Where could I use it and not just make a mess? I shook my head. "I got nothing."

"Dang it, Glacial, are all colts as clueless as you are?" Tally asked. 

"Yes." All of the fillies said as one.

I crossed my hooves in mock rage, muzzle pointed toward the sky. "Gee, thanks, girls, glad to know how you really feel."

"You know we are kidding, ya big baby."

Azure nodded. "Tally is right. You know we love you."

I huff and turn away from my supposed friends. "Gross, maybe I don't want your stinky love. Ever think of that?"

"Nope, not even once," Azure said, crossing her own hooves. She was grinning so hard I wondered if she'd pull a muscle. The others backed Azure, nodding along with her.

"So, if you don't have any ideas, maybe we can help." Wayward spread her wings and waved at the frozen trees. "There has to be something you can do."

"You could always join your Sire," Freya said. She waved off vaguely in the direction of the docks. "Plenty of jobs there, right?" I chose to ignore her, even if she wasn't wrong. 

"Might help if we knew what he was doing." Tally sat off-white hoof, tapping away a tuneless beat on her chin.

"You mean freezing stuff?" Crop said. She leaned in towards Tally, brow raised behind the shrub she called a mane.

"He's not just freezing things. He shouldn't be able to freeze things like that at all. It makes no sense. He makes no sense."

"Does any colt?" Crop followed up.

"Nope," Azure added. This earned a giggle from the others. Even if Tally had to hide her smile behind a hoof.    

"She's right, though. Tally, I mean, not Azure." Azure muttered about me being rude, but I did my best to ignore her. "I don't even think unicorns can do magic like this. Earth ponies use their hooves but can’t make things cold and hot whenever needed. They would never have needed pegasi to control the weather at all if they could, right?" I looked to Crop, who shrugged.

“Maybe Ma would know. She and my aunt Bramble are the ones who talk with the weather ponies. Perhaps they'd know something."

I smiled and nuzzled up to Crop, who ran flush again. It was too easy, really. But she deserved it. I didn't have many leads, so any help was welcomed.

"I could ask my Dam, too. She has to read up on all sorts of magic to make her potions. I bet she'd even let you borrow a book or two if we asked."

I smiled at Azure. "I was actually thinking the same thing earlier. My Sire mentioned some old stories that might mention magic like mine. Maybe your Dam would have something on that, too."

"What stories?" Writ asked. 

"Uh, druids, why?"

"Wait, aren't those foal stories?" Crop asked. 

I shrugged. "No idea, but according to my sire, they could use magic no matter what tribe they belonged to. Even magic their tribe can't normally use."

"Hmm, couldn't hurt to at least look," Tally said. The filly was still deep in thought. Nothing short of an earthquake would pull that filly from her head now. I was surprised she'd heard the talk of druids at all.

"Well, in the meantime, while we're all still here. Any ideas for what Glacial's special talent can do for work? Or, maybe somepony he can apprentice with? He can't go on and be a mooch forever, can he?

I hissed. Crop knew how to stomp my worries harder into my strained brain space. Something made worse by the manic grin Freya was wearing. She'd been strangely quiet this morning. However, with every pony around, she really didn't have much room to get a word edgewise. Instead, she mostly floated around the alcove of trees and watched everything play out.

"I've only had my cutie mark for a couple of days; it's not like I'm just lazing about, you know."

Apparently, Crop realized what she'd said and went so red I worried she'd burst. Azure pulled the bigger filly into a nuzzle. Of which Wayward joined. 

"She didn't mean anything by it, right?" Wayward asked.

"No, I just—"

I raised a hoof, silencing. The stuttering farm filly.

"I know, I was just kidding. You're not even wrong. I really should take some time to consider what good my magic can be. Hay, even if it is just preserving fish down on the docks. I could at least do that until I think up something better." 

I smile and join the group hug. There was always time for a good hug. Crop relaxed, and we let her go. That being said, any ideas would be welcomed outside of keeping fish on ice. I mean, I'd do it if I had to. Sire could always use an extra set of hooves and wings. 

"If you can also melt ice, I bet cleaning up after snowstorms would be a job any weather team would be grateful for," Wayward offered. 

"True, but that's pretty seasonal, isn't it? I could just be a normal weather pony outside of the colder months, but that doesn't reflect my talent much."

I had considered the weather team already. There were, of course, plenty of ponies who had jobs that didn't have a perfect match with their cutie marks. Sometimes, you just had to do whatever it took to survive. That didn't mean I'd want to if I could find something better.

"Can you melt your ice?" Tally asked. It seemed we'd roused the beast back to the land of the living. She was eying me intensely enough, and I felt myself shuffle my hooves in place. 

"I don't know. I've never tried. I was more focused on getting my talent to work than worrying about if I could undo it."

"Well, no time like the present."

Azure pounced, shoving me back to the tree I'd worked with a few minutes ago. I flail my hooves with little success, trying to deflect my attacker. When she did let go, I was nearly muzzle to tree with the frosted bark. 

"Geez, okay," I said, taking a solid step back. "Let's see.” I planted a hoof back on the icy patch I made before. I closed my eyes and focused on the ice, the chill on my frog, the feel of the bark beneath. When I froze something, I felt the ice channel out, so instead, I imagined sucking it all back in like a deep breath before plunging myself underwater. A shock ran down my spine. I gasped and opened my eyes. The ice was gone, mostly. What little remained could barely be considered condensation. Ice or no ice, the cold on the tree remained.

"I guess that answers that," Crop said. 

"Wow, that was amazing," Wayward said with a clap. 

"You make less and less sense by the day, Glace."

I turned and looked down at the still-seated Tally Writ. She looked back up at me without so much as a single flinch. 

I shrug. "True."

"So, everypony wanna come back to my dam's shop? I bet she could think up some jobs Glace could do. We could even ask her about the druids." Azure asked. 

"As fun as that sounds, I should probably head over to the docks. No clue when Ma will need me. 'Sides. Like I said, I can still ask my folks back home. They might surprise ya."

I bump the older fillies' side. "I'd be a moron to underestimate Mrs. Hard Forage or anypony in your herd."

"You better believe it."

That said, the group left the trees behind and returned to the park path. As we arrived at the market, Tender Crop peeled off and headed toward the docks. The rest of us made way for 'What Ails You.'

"Welcome to, oh, honey, you're back early. That you are." Mrs. Home Brew greeted her daughter. The two shared a nuzzle before Azure motioned to the rest of us. 

"Dam, do you mind helping me and the girls with something?" 

"I can spare a minute. I can, indeed. What do you need?"

"Well, we're trying to help Glacial with his talent. Because it isn't pegasus magic, and his sire was talking about druids…" Azure said, rushing through each topic with the reckless abandon of a bat out of hell. 

"Honey, slow down. You're going to fast. I don't follow."

I rolled my eyes and pushed Azure out of the way. "What Azure is trying to say is that my talent is a bit odd, and we thought that with all your magic know-how, you might have something that could help."

"And what kind of magic would that be, Glaci, dear?"

"Druid magic," Tally finished. 

"And why would you need something on that?" Mrs. Brew looked on the verge of a pout and a flinch. I felt an ear flicker as I tried to pinpoint what she was thinking. Mrs. Brew had never been a terrific liar. Hiding stuff was the opposite of everything she said or did. Whatever she was feeling was conflicted, which did not sit well. 

"Ooooh, the plot thickens," Freya whispered into my ear. I had to bite my tongue to stop myself from squeaking. This earned a side eye from Wayward, who drew in a bit closer and pulled me under her wing. It also resulted in Freya cackling like a hag. 

"It'd be faster to show you. If you don’t mind?" I asked from my soft, feathery blanket. I pointed to a splintered piece of dogwood. "Mind if I use that? I promise I'll give it right back."

Mrs. Brew's look grew more conflicted, but she nodded all the same. She scooped the wood up in her magic and offered it to me. I smiled and took the wood, which pulled me free of Wayward's protective wing. 

I took a deep breath, and wood in my hoof, I let the cold out. Deep in my hooves, the same cold that sat just below the surface ran back up and through my spine. The dogwood never stood a chance. In seconds, the whole of the wood was frozen solid. My task was complete, and I offered it back to its owner. 

"Oh my."

That was not an inspiring response. Though a certain err of confusion and intrigue dotted Mrs. Brew's knit brow. The girls seemed to see it, too. I swallowed hard and stretched my smile a bit thinner. The door was starting to look rather inviting. 

"I'll admit, that was quite unexpected, Glaci, not expected at all."

"Is that a bad thing?" I asked.  

"No, not as it is, no. It is rare and rarer for non-unicorns to be given a talent in elemental magic like yours. I promise I was just surprised."

I cocked my head to the side. "So, it isn't pegasus magic?" I asked. The question was rhetorical for me, but having somepony more aware of the subject confirm it was a bit relieving. It also means it isn't unheard of, which is even better.

"No, this is a more specialized magic. I won't lie; no, I won't. I'm no scholar, but keeping tabs on magic is half of an alchemist's job. As I understand it, the little I've seen. Such cases are usually passed through blood."

"Oh, So I won't get in trouble for my cutie mark?" I asked. I put on a pout and leaned into the naturally adorable nature of foals. If I was going to learn the truth, I'd need every advantage I had. 

"Not from the Princess or guard," Mrs. Brew answered. 

"What a way to phrase that. The Princess may not come for you, but somepony else might. You may want to reframe from telling any uppity unicorns then," Freya said, hissing in reference to the horned tribe. Did I have some built-in resentment going on? I don't feel like I secretly hated unicorns. My pout was no longer fake. 

"That does not bode well," Tally said.

"No, no, it does not," I agreed. 

"Are there any books we have that could help, Glace?" Azure asked. 

Mrs. Brew tapped away on her counter. Then, without a word, she turned and wandered into the back rooms of her shop, which doubled as her home, after a moment in her personal space. She returned after with an unsure silence, floating along a pair of books. 

"These two may have some useful bits, they may indeed. I don't mind you borrowing them as long as you return them once done. Okay?" Mrs. Brew floated the books into grabbable reach. While I happily nodded all the while. 

"Of course, I'll return them without a scratch."

Mrs. Brew took a long breath and smiled back. "Good colt. Now I really must get back to work, Azure as well, we do. So, please be safe, children, and have a wonderful day."

That was that. Wayward, Tally and I left Azure to work and made our way to the nearest bench. The afternoon waned on, and both Tally and I skimmed the two books I'd been given. The first was 'An Elementary Guide of Elements.' a simplified book about how the elements work. It offered little in explaining how a non-unicorn could get or use said magicks, but understanding ice magic, or if all else fails, learning necromancy, could be helpful if I am quartered. The second book, 'A Dissection of your Magic Affinities' was a bit more advanced to the point where even Hal would struggle. It didn't help that neither Hal nor I had any knowledge of magic or how it works. I might need to find a beginner's guide on magic as a whole. That would be a future me's issue. Tally at least seemed to understand most of the terms used. Which aided in giving me some ideas on the topics. 'A Dissection of your Magic Affinities' was still a bit of a nightmare even still. 

Wayward and Tally eventually had to get back to work or do errands. This left Freya and me browsing page after page. My head felt full to bursting by the time Sire came to get me. The light had faded to the point I couldn't have read much more, even if I'd wanted to.

"What have you there, colt?" Sire asked as he joined me by the bench. 

"Mrs. Brew had some books to help with my cutie mark. She let me borrow them, for a while. Even if they are hard to read," I said. I hopped from the bench and put the two books on my back. I smiled up at my sire, who chuckled in return. 

"Well, that was very kind of her. Learn anything else today?"

I nodded. "Well, my magic is not, as we thought, pegasus magic in any way. I also learned others have had magic like it before. So, that's good, right? I'm not alone, at least."

I was hoisted onto Father's back, who hummed in agreement. "Could be worse then. Now, if only we could put it to good use."

"I'm working on that actually. I learned I can melt ice and not just make it. So, that is one more use than I had since yesterday."

"And the druids?" 

I let out a deep sigh. "Mentioning druids made Mrs. Brew upset. No, not upset, maybe scared. I'm not sure."

"Odd."

We fell into a gentle silence. Hal knew what cryomancy was back before he, I? Died. I don't know how much carries over if any did. Hal's world didn't have magic, so it was all imaginary. Tomorrow, I'd start experimenting. It was the only natural way I'd know for sure. Once I know where my limits are, I can get a bit more creative.

"Father?"

"Yes?"

"If you don't mind, I think I'd like to stay home tomorrow."

That earned a snort followed by a deep belly laugh. "So much like your dam." 

"Is that a no?" I asked. 

"You plan to mess with your magic, don't you?" Father asked. 

"Yes, I do."

"Well, I'd prefer it be on our land than shattering some shopkeep window."

I laughed along with my father. When the laughter stopped, I wrapped my hooves around my Sire's back as I could manage. "Love you, Sire."

"Love you too, colt."

Tomorrow was going to be interesting. I just prayed to Faust that I wouldn't break another lantern. I don't think Sire would be so forgiving of a second one.
> Frozen Whole
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I barely slept a wink and was up by dawn, the first rays warming the mist, and I returned to the dock. Only two days passed, and I saw myself lost in dread, frozen regardless of the winter winds and shaking hoof to head. No, the chill I felt now was of my own making. The dancing creeping ice in the veins of my forelegs. I'd spent the hours before bed rereading what I could from the books I'd borrowed. Most of it could have been a different language for all the terms I couldn't recite, much less put to practice. I would be on my own today, and while it would have been nice for somepony like Writ to be here, some things one can only learn through a trial of fire. Well, ice, but the point remains. I focused solely on my breathing, my breath clinging desperately to the air before fading only for another to take its place.

Freya skimmed over the river's water, lazily reclining as she watched me. It was more haunting than a companionship and had been since yesterday. A silence neither one of us had any desire to break. On top of my crash course through magic and learning to use mine. I also still had yet to learn what, if at all, any of this had to do with druids. After my talk with Home Brew, I'd at least learned others dabbled in magic and powers that sat outside the norm. My paranoia had settled at a manageable, but all present tick in the back of my head. 

Since Nightmare Moon's fall, the same paranoia seemed to settle over everypony, like that of the sun itself. I'd heard my sire call it a fissure, a tear in the very nature of pony kind. I didn't get it then, and I still don't. Hal made something more apparent, and some were far less so. My desire to learn my cryomancy wasn't the only reason I hadn't slept. My dreams, or memories, Hal's life captured in blurry, noisy snapshots. Each is distinctly important but only loosely connected. If Hal hadn't been in each one, most would have looked entirely unconnected. 

The only thing consistent was his voice. The others, those he called friends and family, were afterthoughts, broken up by static and whispers. The chasm between where Glacial Zero and Hal began and ended twisted in on itself the harder I tried to piece them together. I shuddered and blinked away the memories. 

"Let there be ice," I muttered. The wood beneath my hooves had already begun to frost over. The more I concentrated on the cold, the easier it became to sculpt. The lines of the icy spiderwebs zigged and zagged like thread. I hadn't noticed I'd spread my wings, yet there they were, flexed wide as the ice danced. 

Then, as suddenly as I'd begun, I relaxed, and the frost went still. "I should probably leave the dock alone. Sire would kill me if I broke it." 

He'd be awake soon, and I don't think he'd appreciate the first thing he heard was that the dock he'd crafted by hoof crumbling away. I shook my head and turned about, departing the dock and wandering off to the riverbank. It was probably safer, and the gentle current could toss any leftovers away.

"First, freezing and thawing," I said, eyes trailing the river water, which is bubbled and churned. The two things I seemed to do with nothing but willpower. The rules of such magic were simple. A disposition to a fundamental, or what the book said, was an essential element that broke down the world itself. Any such magic was known as a 'mancy', Thus my own being cryomancy. To do, or undo, to make of or mold, the books used many terms to describe it, some I'd never seen of in either life. The simplest it ever got was embody. My hooves were in a state of unending chill, my breath catching in every breeze. I controlled the cold itself by becoming the cold itself. I can only imagine what something like pyromancy must feel like. 

I tapped a hoof into the river. The water around my hoof froze almost instantly. I lifted and took in the chunk of ice that encased my hoof. Even then, my hoof felt no colder than it had before. I returned my limb to the water and watched all my work come undone. My hoof rose again, and there wasn't much as a flake left amidst my fur this time. I frowned and dipped my hoof under the moving waters again. This time, I let my desire wash over my entire body, a tingle of something almost warm. No, that wasn't right. It was the opposite. It'd become so cold it'd started to burn. It was a spindly leg of magic that took shape in its own imaginary path, from the tip of my hoof to the sands and stalks at the river bottom. I could feel it inch by inch, crawling deeper. As if the spell was my own leg.

It was midmorning before I'd even noticed the sun above. Father had left some time ago, and I vaguely recall him waving goodbye. I was transfixed by the ice that clung to my fur like paint to paper. I was peppered in flecks of frost and homemade snow flurries. I was damp but barely felt it when I was not actively trying to. I hammered a hoof into the dirty slush beneath me. A stalactite, about half a hoof at its base, rose like a spring in front of me. I tapped it, and the brittle structure cracked and fell to pieces. 

I chuckled. 'An Elementary Guide of Elements.' had made it clear that the more surface area the harder it was to make structures durable. It rang true. This had been my fourth such stalactite, and the fourth case where the taller it was, the more quickly it collapsed. "I guess I need to work on density," I said.

The same book also gave a brief essay on how to train one's magic. Of everything in the book, the first set of those instructions might have been the easiest to follow. It broke down into two ideas. The first was so simple that a foal half my age could follow along. Magic was like a muscle; the more you used it, the easier it was to use without tiring you out. The more you used a spell or affinity, the easier that affinity was to use. Thus, my repeated failed attempts at stalactites. The second set of instructions couldn’t have been more complex. One of the first rules established in both books I've been reading is one of the most complex. The use, understanding, and power of Thaums. Though most knew it as mana. The pool of energy one used to control magic. That part I understood it was everything that followed that left me floored. 

 While 'An Elementary Guide of Elements.' mentioned Thaums often enough, it rarely dove into the mechanics. It simply suggested ways to use them better. Which might have been helpful if I'd been taught this stuff before. That was the price of not being a unicorn. I was expected to pay little attention to magic beyond pushing clouds. I wasn't exactly a typical colt, regardless of my special talent. The voice living in the back of my head, or two, both Freya and Hal, left me wondering if I'd lost it completely. As if reading my mind, which she probably could, Freya tutted in my direction while looking at the sky above. She couldn't even bother looking at me in dejection.

'A Dissection of your Magic Affinities' had no such issue with throwing out elongated torrents of words that left me drooling. "Thaums regulated the flow of neuron networks in one's horn that allowed for, so on and so forth." I could feel my eyes drooping just thinking about it. I scratched my face idly.  

"Guess I'll just try by doing. Might have to find a unicorn-to-normal pony translator later. Azure or her Dam could give me a crash course. For now, though."

I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and thought back to the stalactite. I released my magic, and then it cracked from base to tip and shattered. 

"Oh, come on, what the hay am I doing wrong," I said. I groaned up to the heavens, but the sky never answered. 

"You really shouldn't brute force magic; you'll give yourself a migraine," Freya drifted over and swathed the mess I'd made with a wing. "You've only been doing magic for three days. You really should slow down."

"Not if I want to be useful." I leered at Freya. The phantom rolled her eyes and smirked.

"Will getting hurt help your poor sire?"

I could feel an eyelid twitching. Freya motioned for a response. I squinted hard enough that my eyes began to ache. Freya stared back coolly. She floated in a slow backstroke in a circle around me. I slowly twisted in place to continue my glare. 

"Exactly, you need practice and time. Something you do have plenty of. So, do the work, learn about your magic, and grow like any other foal."

"Easy for you to say," I huffed.

"It's not much harder for you to say. I bet your sire would agree," Freya said. She chuckled as my twitching eye gave out. I sighed and ran a hoof over my face and down my neck. 

"It isn't fair though."

Freya shook her head, hooves and wigs folded as she came to a stop where her rotation around me began. "Nope, sure isn't."

That was that. I turned away and watched the empty path that led to the dock from my cozy, tiny home. A word groove in the earth, one weathered by constant use. My thoughts wandered back to town, to Bogwood, where my friends were working to better their lives and those around them. It wasn't Baltimare, no big city with big city ponies with big city thoughts. My stomach churned just thinking about the crowds and noise. 

I kneaded my forehooves into the dirt and relished in my own dread. I had to repress an unfettered laugh. It was supposed to be easy. That was the whole point of a cutie mark. A means to guide you in the dark. But just like when I first used my ice magic, all it did was snuff out the light. The others had been right yesterday. My sire deserved me to do my best. I needed to find a place to repay even a fraction of his effort. 

"Glacial, what are you doing?"

I snapped back to reality. Freya hovered above me, face struck between confusion and fear. I blinked and followed her gaze to my hooves. My forelegs up to the knee were encased in a deep blue ice. A color I'd never seen, it was far darker than my coat, too thick to be my fur bleeding through. I slowly lifted one limb to eye level and waved it back and forth. I could barely feel the ice, neither the weight nor the temperature. I lowered it back down gently and repeated my observations with the second hoof. There was more, however. Wherever my hoof touched the ground, the ground itself began to frost over. The grass stood stiff, and the dirt became sludge. I took a deep breath and focused on one leg and the ice that ensnared it. 

I focused on warmth, on the blue ice melting away. At first, it tingled. Pins and needles ran up and down the chosen leg. The ice, however, did not budge. My wings twitched as I tried again. I'd melted ice before. It'd be fine. My mouth had run dry, and I couldn't rebuke several shallow breaths. The harder I willed the ice away, the deeper the tingle became. Then, as soon as it came, the tingle was gone, replaced with a searing ache. One that ran from my bones to the tips of my primaries. 

"Glacial," Freya whispered. I hadn't noticed her approach. I hadn't watched her pull me into her ghostly hooves as she tried to hug me close. It was like the air itself was holding me close. My hooves were shaking. But as much as it burned, my anger was greater. That was all I could manage. I froze a half dozen trees two days ago, but I let my magic plunge too far from my own grasp, and I all but shut down. I bit my lip, pulling myself back onto shaky hooves. 

"No."

"Glacial?"

I turned, tears still fresh on my cheeks, a new spot of blood trickling down my chin. "It won't stop."

Freya shook her head and reached out towards me. "You can't force it, Glacial. You could get hurt or worse."

I turned and growled. I stared back into the water and watched a fuming colt stare back. "I've melted ice before. I know I can do it."

Freya sagged, phasing into the floor as she attempted to sit while already at floor level. My tears had stopped and been replaced with a deep scowl. I didn't have the time to fall to pieces. The conversation I had with my friends yesterday emphasized one thing. I couldn't and wouldn't let Sire carry the weight of him and me in silence anymore. I almost wanted to smile, thinking through Hal's own life. He'd been nearly double my age when he first went to work when he first carried his own future. Step by step. The fire that lit in his eye, through the stinging heat of the auto shop, the grease stains of a diner's kitchen. He worked and worked and worked himself right into the grave. I could taste the copper, the cold sting of steel as it buried itself in Hal's, my chest.

I gasped, shaking back to reality. Freya sat, eyes trained on my own. I couldn't look her in the eye. My head felt raw, full to bursting. I was sweating, I was hot, too damned hot. I gnashed my teeth, choking down my own spit. The river, the sweet relief of its water, freedom from this damned heat. I lifted a hoof. It barely rose to my chest before falling back helplessly. 

"Glacial, calm down. You need to calm down," Freya waved a hoof against my face. I barely noticed. It was just too hot. I just needed the water, and everything would be fine. I ran my dry tongue over my equally dry lips. It was hooves away, so close I could feel it. 

"Glacial."

I shook my head. So, close. I just needed to cool off a little. 

"Glacial."

"Enough." Then everything went white. The world around is distorted, refractions of reflections bouncing off one another. I panted, body tensed as I struggled to make sense of it. The heat faded, my vision swam, and all I could see was me or slivers of my face at every angle. "Ice?" I mused. Frozen spikes spouted from below me, swallowing me in a wall of ice. I was still sweating, even as my body returned to a reasonable state. The chill in my hooves returned. I stepped back, bumping flank first into the nearest barrier. It didn't make sense. What had I just done and why, now?

"I think it's time you took a break," Freya said. She offered a phantom hoof. I smiled and swiped through her offered limb. 

"What are you gonna do, carry me back to my room with those ghostly hooves of yours?" I asked. 

Freya laughed. "As likely as I am to strangle you with them."

"Then I think I'll stay here."

I nestled my back into the pillar behind me. Freya scoffed and motioned to the wall I'd encircled myself in. The Blue ice looked just like my hooves. I blinked and looked down at said hooves. Even now, they remained frozen over. I sighed. I'd worry about it later.

"In a bed of ice?" Freya asked. My ear flicked, and I cracked an eye open. Freya smiled down like an angel rung in refracted daylight bathed in a pale blue glow.

"Yep, right here, in a bed of ice," I confirmed. I closed my eyes and went slack, wings spread, mind fogged with unmolded questions and concerns for tomorrow. "Right here."

"Glace. Where are you?"

My eyes shot open. I fell forward, ears swiveling as I tried to follow the voice that had just called my name. I'd only managed a few minutes of dreamless slumber before the world rebelled against my peace. 

"Who?" I mumbled. 

"Who else would come to hunt you down on the day you haven't gone to town this week?" Freya motioned behind me. The light in her eyes returned, and her smile matched in both delight and foreshadowing. 

"Glace, are you…" The question was interrupted by a gasp. I flinched and slowly turned in place. A wall of ice between me and my pursuer. "...Is that ice?"

I sighed and pulled myself over the lip of my creation. "Yes, yes, it is."

"There you are. Holy Faust, what did you do?" Azure Brew asked, looking up at me from my vantage. She smiled brightly, swaying in an unseen breeze, a pair of saddle bags full to bursting on her back.

I shrugged. "No idea. It was kind of an accident."

Azure stopped swaying, though her smile grew wider. "Geez, if you keep this up, you'll freeze all of Bogwood solid."

I coughed into a hoof. The very thought sent a chill down my spine. One that was colder than anything I'd made today. If Azure noticed, she didn't say anything. Freya stuck her tongue out at me before drifting down to hover around my dear, oblivious friend. 

"A whole new ice age. That is some ambition, Glacial," Freya said.

"I think I'll pass on that, thank you. So, what are you doing here today?" I asked. My teeth ground together as I pointed at Azure. 

"Well, Dam was worried about you. She thought those books you borrowed might confuse you, so she wanted me to come by and make sure you didn't hurt yourself."

I had no words. My mind ground to a halt. That, coupled with Freya's howling laughter, left Azure staring up at me as I struggled not to bash my own head in. The ice below my hooves cracked as I gripped them with all my might. 

"She wasn't completely wrong. I mean, you have your own personal ice fort. I bet Tally would love this. You could add some clouds and a moat. That'd be amazing."

Azure bound up and started jabbing chunks of the ice wall. I slid back down my perch and groaned. "And why would I need a fort?" I asked. 

“Don't know, but it'd be one hay of a statement. I bet it'd even impress Tender Crop. However, if you did it in the summer, you'd completely flood your land. I doubt Mr. Horizon would like that very much."

I could see it now. The piercing teal eyes melt the ice all their own. Not to mention my poor tanned hide. I rubbed my backside in sullen pity. I'd only managed to stand back up before Azure came bounding over the opposite wall. 

"Dam, also thought a study buddy might make it easier. You never learn better than with someone to learn with, right?" she asked. 

I flicked Azure's nose. "Gee, Azure, it's almost like your mom doesn't trust me."

"What, that's silly. My dam loves you silly, like her own flesh and blood. That's why she worries. Ever since your…" Azure's eyes went wide, and the words died on her tongue. "Since your sire got really busy. She just wants to help."

Azure flinched, and I raised a hoof. A hoof which even now was still coated in blue ice. "I know, your dam is a good pony. I'm not a unicorn, I get it, but I'm not stupid either. And, before you say anything, I was doing great this morning, before well." I motion to our shelter. "I'm not even sure why this happened at all. It certainly had nothing to do with the books, though."

Azure wrapped a hoof around my neck and pulled me into a hug. "Of course, you aren't stupid. Who said you were. If you were dumb, do you think Dam would have let you borrow her magic books?"

That was a very good point. My ears pinned down as I reflected on Azure's words. She was right, of course, but it was all the same. It wasn't exactly typical for a pegasus to need magic books at all. Well, maybe one or two about weather control and protocol, but that was it. 

I pulled away from the hug and tapped a frozen hoof to the side of my head. "Yeah, that's fair. Sorry for all that."

Azure rolled her eyes and grabbed my hoof. "So, what is with your hooves?"

"This happened before the fort; they just sort of did it all their own. I started small, got frustrated, and then boom frozen hooves," I said. I threw my hooves up in surrender. "Can't get them to thaw either."

Azure's head cocked. She grabbed hold of my hoof in her magic and waggled it around. "That doesn't make any sense, Glace. We saw you melt your ice before."

I nodded. "You did, but these." I glared daggers at the hoof still in Azure's telekinetic grip. "Traitors, are being almost as stubborn as Crop."

"Want me to get a hammer?"

My eyes widened, and I pulled my hoof away with enough force to stagger Azure. I was against the ice wall, wings wide. I looked up at a nearby cloud and wondered if Azure's magic could reach that high. 

"Wow, calm down, you big baby. I was joking," Azure said.

I looked between her and the cloud. "No, you weren't."

She cracked a smile. "No, I wasn't."   

"You're a savage, you know that?" 

Azure considered it, hoof tapping gently on her chin. "Probably. But, for real. Maybe I can help melt them. If you know your magic isn't working, maybe mine will."

"She's right, you know. It might work," Freya said. The inviable terror phased through my chest and attempted a jab at my head. The feeling of her entering and leaving my form sent my stomach shooting into my hooves. I could feel bile tickle the back of my throat. 

"Maybe," I managed past an acidic burp. "Can't hurt to try."

"Sure it can, you silly colt," Freya said. She'd made herself comfortable sitting beside Azure, who shrugged. 

"Okay, let's see what we can do."

The following two hours were spent on an evergrowing list of attempts and regrets. The blunt force had resulted in my hoof recoiling from Azure's grip right into my face. If I had a black eye later, I was freezing Azure's bed solid. 

After that was the reverse of blunt force, which was well reversed regarding what was gripped. Azure had made a case that, like a squirrel with a nut, we could break the ice with a solid rock bashing. I was speechless when the rock itself broke in half on the ice. 

"Well, at least we know your ice is nice and sturdy," Azure said. 

I wasn't sure if I was impressed or horrified by that attempt. Almost all other examples of my ice had seemed pretty average as far as the ice went. Though the rest had not been blue ice either. A thought had occurred as I thought that point through. 

"I wonder if the ice is blue because of magic or something? Maybe it is full of mana or feeding off it. Well, the hoof ice, that doesn't really work for the walls, does it?"

"I mean, it wouldn't be the strangest thing magic can do. But, if it was just magically enhanced, wouldn't you be able to cut the magic off?" Azure asked.

That left little else to do but try another of Azure's ideas. This time, Azure went straight for the throat. She'd quickly gathered some thatch in her magic and packed said thatch into a ball of fire. With a slight start I had made good on my cloud plan. There, I peered over the edge of my fluffy protector. Azure glared up at me, fire ball still in hoof. "Oh, come on, fire melts ice. It makes sense."

"No amount of logic is getting me anywhere near you and fire, Azure," I yelled back down at her. Azure pouted and extinguished her spell. 

"There, the fire's gone. We'll try it as a bonfire. You can melt it at your own pace."

I accepted her compromise and rejoined her on the land of the wingless heathens. As she had suggested, Azure lit a controlled bonfire on a less icy patch of earth. A few things caught us both off guard. One, the fire was working somewhat. It was slow, and even putting my hoof entirely in the fire barely made a difference. 

"So, magic ice is fire resistant. That's new," Azure said. She leered at my hooves as they sat, barely dripping in the bonfire. 

"Yeah, that's neat and all. But the whole not unfreezing thing is getting a bit annoying." I said, joining my friend in her leering. 

"Wait, actually. Are your hooves okay? Does it hurt or anything?" Azure asked. 

I shook my head. "Not really, if I wasn't paying attention. I'd barely have noticed they were still frozen at all."

"That's a bit freaky."

I nodded again. "Yeah, I'm glad we're not in town right now. I might give some of the elders a heart attack. Like Mrs. Whimsey, that mean old hag." I hissed in defiance of Mrs. Whimsey and all her stuck-up unicorn ways. 

"Yeah, she is a bit mean, but you shouldn't wish ill on anypony, Glace."

"Because, of course, the filly who lives in an apothecary is gonna protect that smelly old nag," I said and crossed my hooves. Which seeing as that meant they were no longer in a fire, I quickly reversed course and uncrossed them. 

"Yes, yes, I would."

I sighed as loudly as I could muster and looked into the dreary, cloudy afternoon sky. My hooves dripped away with the seconds. As it went on, I was left with other points to consider. I was glad Azure had come by. She and Tally are the only ponies I know with a mind sharp enough or creative enough to make up for my otherwise dull imagination. 

"Do you have any ideas for where I can put weird magic to work? I know we talked about this yesterday, but I'm still trying to figure out where to go. I could go freeze fish or produce. But that's kind of overkill, with the wicked amount of the stuff I seem to create."

I listened to Asure hum to herself, my eyes still trailing the nearest cloud. The one I'd sat on before had poofed away when I'd returned to the ground. My mind wandered to the last time Sire had taken me flying. That'd been right after my eighth birthday. I placed a hoof over my heart. Even through the blue ice, I could feel the slight reverb of my heartbeat. 

"You could always try the weather team. I bet they'd love the help during winter, at least. If you got really good at controlling your ice, you could do snowflakes and hail, maybe even cold showers."

I huffed. A seasonal weather pony wasn't unheard of. The ones in Cloudsdale or the new capital had part-time specialists. Tender Crop's aunt worked with them enough that every Crop learned bits and pieces. That still circled back to what we'd thought up yesterday. I closed my eyes and conjured a rough view of Bogwood in front of the skies, the muggy swamp and river that created a natural barrier around our humble home. Even in my head, the town was small. A runoff for Baltimare's larger piers. I didn't know for sure; I hadn't even thought about it before, but the town couldn't have more than a couple hundred people living in it. I liked that about Bogwood; it was quiet, and everypony knew everypony else. That did mean it only had so many jobs and workers to consider. 

I gave a dry chuckle and waved a hoof over my head, the half-melted limb tracing the line of the cloud I'd been watching drift about overhead. "I might just hold the weather team for the season if they’ll have me. It'd give me time to think up something better. I bet my father would appreciate the extra bits."

Azure grabbed my wandering hoof with her magic and pulled it back over the fire. "Stop moving; you're only making the melting take longer, you know."

I rolled my eyes. "Sorry, just got caught up in thinking."

A jab to my gut pulled my attention back to my friend, who motioned back to the bonfire. My ears ticked back. I'd pulled my hoof back out of the fire. I slowly returned it to the flames and offered Azure a pitiable smile. 

"You're hopeless."

I couldn't argue that point. Azure had been keeping my head on my shoulders for as long as I'd known her. She was loud and proud, but it never stopped her from slapping me upside my head when I deserved it. I smiled, and Azure returned the smile. I closed my eyes and let my mind drift to nothing amongst nothing. My breathing slowed, and a tingle starting from the base of my spine ran up through my nape and down both forelegs. A sudden splash and the sputter of a huffing flame. 

"Glace."

I opened my eyes to find three things. One the bonfire had been doused. Two, the dousing had come from my now free and drenched forehooves. The third thing was Azure's face, which made me smile as she stared at my free hooves. 

"Um."

"You unfroze them," Azure said. 

I nodded. "I guess so."

"How?" Azure leaned forward, her eyes squinting as she got a bit too close. 

"I have no idea. I just sort of relaxed, and it happened."

Azure sat back and pointed a hoof at me. "You better not have been faking this whole time."

I held up my dripping hooves waving them feebly. "I promise I wasn't doing anything."    

"Stress can do many things to the body. I guess all that panic earlier gave your magic the cold shoulder," Freya said. The wicked phantom smiled, mouth widening beyond that of an average pony. A disturbed gag had me look away. She followed, slowly drifting back into vision. This time, her smile was far more fitting for her size. 

"Right, well, that's one problem solved and another at least considered. I could ask Sire to take me by the weather office tomorrow."

"Couldn't hurt. Winter is almost here," Azure said. 

"Hey, Azure."

"Yeah, Glace?"

"Thanks for coming by today. I really needed a second opinion."

Freya scoffed. "I'm right here, you know."

"No problem. Dam thought you might need a mare's guiding hoof."

I stuck my tongue out in Azure's direction. "Right, sure."

The day was bleeding away. The afternoon sky foretold the snow and rain that the weather team was no doubt preparing for. If tomorrow goes well, I might be crafting the storms, too, before too long. I couldn't wait to have a bunch of the local farmers yelling at me. If I got lucky, maybe I could get put on Tender Crop's family farm and spend the season driving her mad. 

"Every cloud has its silver lining. Magic, talents, jobs. It's all the same, really." I mused. I hadn't even realized I'd said it out loud before Azure grunted in agreement. 

"Yeah, even if one of us is a pegasus with weird magic that freezes himself solid for no real reason," Azure replied. 

I cracked a smile. "Couldn't have said it better myself."
> 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.
> Cracks in the Ice
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The waiting was easy: I just had to sit at the table and pretend Tender wasn't plotting a particular mare's death. Solid had left us be, returning to his work. The hard part was the explanation after the waiting was done. When Bramble Broach returned to the farm, she was met with a certain somepony needing her help getting home. Tender made it very clear how poorly she thought my return to town would go. I, for one, did not need an envoy. If I flew home, I could avoid any bog-related mishaps. Even if we all knew the bog was the least of my worries 

Thus, I was ushered away by a very unamused mare. Bramble hid her disgust well; if one didn't know what to look for, it would have been nearly impossible to spot at all. I'd never have seen it if I was just an average colt without a human living in my brain. 

"Don't worry, Glacial, I'll have you home in no time at all. No rain jockey is going to get you while I'm on duty," Bramble said. She offered a rigid salute and a bright smile. It took all I had not to roll my eyes. 

Bramble was an enigma to most of Bogwood. A pegasus with a penchant for finding trouble, and when she didn't seek it, somepony was all too happy to bring it to her. So, more often than not, when Bogwood needed a hero, it was Bramble Broach who saved the day. It wasn't hard to imagine; she was tall, with broad shoulders and well-toned legs. You could definitely tell she was born to a pair of earth ponies. Her grounded colors, various browns from mane to fetlocks, screamed farmer for all to hear. I'd caught more than one pony around town comment on how brave and plain Bramble was in equal measure. If Bramble knew what the gossip around town had to say, she never let it get to her. She smiled and laughed away disaster after disaster. It was the kind of contagious joy not many had to spare. Her eyes were the only thing on her that wasn't a shade of brown. They were a glistening silver like the light shining through a rain cloud.

I offered a salute of my own. "If anypony can get me home, it'd be you, Ms. Bramble."

Bramble reached over and ruffled my mane. "Firstly, drop the Miss if you would. I am not some old crone, you know. Secondly and more importantly, I have no idea what got into Freezy, but it's not right to scare off a foal, especially a colt. Might need to have a chat with her myself later."

"No!" Tender and Broach looked at me in a mix of confusion and perturbed senses of decorum. "I mean, please don't."

"Glace, you can't be serious. All you did was—"

Bramble placed a firm hoof on Tender's shoulder, and like a switch being pulled, Tender's words died in her throat. Bramble offered a tut and a wink. "It's fine. We don't go spreading rumors or stirring up trouble, do we, Crop?"

The farm filly huffed but shook her head. "No, Aunt Bramble."

"I have one question, though, if you don't mind humoring me, Glacial."

My ears fidget as I wiggled under Bramble's earnest, all-seeing stare. It was uncanny, really, like the very power of Faust herself was being conjured forth from a single mortal's unflinching gaze. 

"Yes?"

"As you and Tender explained, you have some sort of ice magic. I get that part. I can even confirm that Home Brew, the silly mare that she is, isn't wrong. There's a foal born every so often whose magic is a bit unusual. So, my question is, why not talk to the mender in town? They have resources for such cases. You don’t have to do it all alone, you know?"

I caught myself grinding my teeth. Bringing up the mender was like a hot iron. My chest was heating up. It was enough to have me shake in my seat. "The mender and I don't get along," I growled. Bramble didn't react outside a single raised brow. 

"I suppose your family wouldn't, would you? I'm sorry, Glacial. I didn't mean to upset you. Sometimes my mouth runs away, and I don't realize what I've said till it is already said." Bramble reached out a single wing and dragged me against her side. It was soft and warm, and I struggled to hold back a yawn. All my anger just floated away. 

"I know, I'm sorry I snapped."

"Well, that said, we'd better get you home. I'm sure when your sire hears about this. He'll be planting his hooves somewhere no foal should ever see, on or in poor Captain Breeze. May Faust have mercy on her soul."

"That won't make things any better, though," I said. I leaned back in my seat and stared at the ceiling. I could see Bramble cringe. She meant well. They all did. But, humbling Freezy Breeze would only make things worse. All I'd done was deviate from the norm, and it sent the normally respectable weather veteran off. If my cutie mark had been the issue, I doubt the captain would have bothered with the test at all. The same went for my talent as a concept. Ice isn’t exactly an unheard-of talent when referring to weather. She'd also had nothing but high praise for my father. Whatever I did, it hit Freezy harder than I could understand. 

Sire never said anything; he never really had the time to explain it all. Ever since Dam left, I'd hoped it'd all work itself out. The looks in town were subtler than Freezy Breeze. The whispered comments were possible to ignore if you tried. It wasn't everypony, not even the majority, but they were there all the same. 

"She deserves it, though."

Bramble and I looked at Tender Crop, who was shaking in place. She seemed angrier than I'd been a moment ago. It made me a bit happy that she'd feel that offended for me. That alpha mare thing was on full display. Tender might be a bit dense, but she made up for it with enthusiasm. On the other hoof, Bramble snatched up her niece with her free wing and tucked her against her other side. 

"At the end of the day, that is all Weathered's decision. If he chooses to act or not. So, Tender, my dear righteous little filly, simmer down. But if he does pursue Freezy, and he just so happens to ask for my help. Well then, as an upstanding mare, I'd be obligated to help a stallion in need. Now, wouldn't I?"

Bramble gave us an exaggerated wink, actually saying it aloud as she did. I snorted. Tender choked a chuckle. Then, as if on cue, both Tender and I started laughing. The tense smog that seemed to bathe the farmhouse in bad vibes vanished in an instant. Bramble pulled both Tender and me tight and laughed along. When we calmed down, I felt better. The worming fear in the back of my head was still there, but now, I was in control instead of letting it drive me from one headache to the next. 

"So, what do you say, Glacial, ready to go home?" Bramble asked. 

I stifled another long yawn and nodded. The chill in my hooves returned. I hadn't realized it'd gone until it came back. Days of nonstop chill, and then, it had simply vanished for a moment. It didn't feel right. The chill felt more comforting than even the feathered prison I was in. The warmth just lacked a certain sincerity.. My mind was lost to the sudden epiphany. Maybe on some level, Freezy Breeze had been right to be angry, to fear something that fell so diametrically opposed to the normal. I numbly nodded at Bramble's request.

Bramble released Tender and I. Then, she silently guided me out of the farmhouse. Tender followed behind. Tender’s eyes locked onto the back of my head. I resisted the urge to turn and glare back. The afternoon had come about and was already passing us by. We'd ended up waiting for Bramble longer than I'd expected. 

"Okay, Tender Crop, I think your break has been more than over, yeah?"

"Oh, right, sorry, Aunt Bramble," Tender apologized, and then she was off. 

"Sorry for all this," I said, offering Bramble a wry smile. 

She flicked a hoof in dismissal. "Don't worry about it. If we don't look out for each other down in these swamps, who will?"

Bramble took a single sizable flap and jumped into the sky. She looked down expectantly. I gave my smaller wings a few beats and gauged my lift, primaries catching the muggy breeze, and up we went. The farm fell away as the clouds grew closer. A full-body shudder shook away the worries, but not the cold. Bramble veered down and slowed beside me. It'd have been easier for her to carry me. I couldn't keep any sort of pace with a natural like herself. Yet, she seemed none too concerned about the speed and let the winds guide her idly. 

"Don't get much practice, do you?" she asked. 

I shook my head. "Not really, no. But it's fine; it makes those times when Sire and I go flying more special. Right?" 

Several seconds passed. And then there was laughing, full-bodied, shaking-in-the-air laughter. If we'd been in town, any pony below would have absolutely seen and heard it. I glared, pouting on full display as Bramble just kept on laughing. This was precisely why I don't talk about these sorts of things with mares. They're all so rude. 

"You're not wrong. That would make them all the more precious. Even if it means you're missing out on prime experience. Can't be much of a pegasus if you can barely flap your wings."

Bramble knowingly patted my head. Some ponies, I swear. It was like common sense was a rare commodity. I swatted Bramble's hoof away and focused on not looking aerially inept. The next few minutes were a silent glide over Bogwood. Where the folks below went about doing whatever it was, they did. I felt a tingle on the back of my neck as I scanned the skies and land below for a certain weatherpony or her various underlings. 

"It'll be fine, little Zero. Even if Breezy was here and did make a scene, do you really think she could get by me?" Bramble asked. Some could have mistook her words as a joke or boast. Those that did would have had to be blind. The look in Bramble Broach's eye at that moment. A fuse ready to light. A certain unnatural danger in the glint that twinkled in her gaze. It was enough to set off every survival instinct in my head all at once. There were, of course, reasons one did not pick a fight with Bramble Broach or those she held dear. It simply wasn't done.  

"I hate that nickname." That was all I could manage. These are the only words that came to mind when I managed to look away. They seemed to do the trick all the same. Bramble snorted and assaulted my mane once more. Curse my charm and good looks.

"Well, we're about a minute out from your humble home. I doubt Weathered is back yet. That said, we will need to talk with him before I leave. That means you must tell your father everything you told Tender and us. Is that okay?"

I'd been afraid that was the direction we were heading. Bramble had a point. Sire deserved to know just how poorly my interview went. Between him and Bramble, I began worrying about Freezy Breeze's safety. I mean, regardless of her reaction to my cryomancy, I didn't want her to vanish one night without a trace. We had to be better than that. Senseless aggression would only invite worse from those of like mind.  

I nodded. "Yeah, I was going to tell him either way. He has more than enough to think about without me keeping secrets," I said. The words were bitter on the tongue. No secrets besides those I was already keeping if nothing else. 

"Good colt, but I do have one question for ya. If you don't mind a little prying."

"Is it prying if I'm the one who came to your farm first?" I asked. 

"Right, fair enough. So, now that the weather is no longer a market you can pursue. Do you have any other ideas? For foals your age, finding a mentor can be, well, not very fun. You're lucky if your family already has a business you can take to. But freezing things and fishing are not all that compatible. So, have you thought about asking your Dam's side of the family?"

"I take it back. You are, in fact, prying," I said. This was not a road of thought I wanted to go down at the moment. I had enough to worry about. I didn't need to give any more ponies like Freezy Breeze reasons to doubt me. Eight years, that is all it took. Now, everypony watched each other like every pony was one bad day away from doing something unforgivable. Hal's history had driven that point deep. His people lived on that razor's edge. Now, I couldn't unsee it, unsee what a single moment could do to drive everypony mad. 

"Yeah, sorry. I know that's probably a sore spot. It is an option, though, if nothing else is working. You should at least think about it, even if most of Bogwood has turned their backs on them, on you. You aren't alone."

She meant well. As much as I wanted to be mad, I couldn't. I missed my Dam; I missed a lot of ponies who have or were forced to leave. Before Hal, I knew something was wrong. Now, though, with the endless trickle of memories of a person decades my senior, many of my perspectives have changed. But as much as things changed, the more they stayed the same. 

"Yeah, I know. You're right, they are."

By that point, my home was in sight. The dock and surrounding area was still a mess. I'd need to find a better place to practice. The mud alone wasn't worth it. I could melt the ice just fine, but all that water had to go somewhere. That, plus the already sodden soil, meant muck two hooves deep. I was lucky; my father hadn't noticed, or at least he had pretended he hadn't. But from above, it was unsightly if I were being charitable. 

"You sure did a number on your land, huh, little Zero?"

We landed by the front door. I huffed and ignored the smiling mare. I went around the side opposite the dock in a divot by a rather gnarly set of vein-like roots. Under which sat a single brass key. It wasn't uncommon for doors to go without locks, at least in homes. However, there were far more locks throughout town these days. I retrieved the key and opened the door, allowing Bramble to enter.

We had some time before Father's return. So, with a hop, skip, and flutter of feathers, I decided to offer some tea like any good host. It was one of the few things Sire trusted me to do in the kitchen. That settled, and the two of us fell into a measurable silence. A silence that brought something else to my attention. It had been some time since I'd seen Freya. It wasn't uncommon for her to meander in the background, especially in public, but since I'd been at the Forage homestead, she hadn't just been quiet. She'd simply vanished. It was an odd feeling. Now that I had noticed, It felt all the more off. The silence became heavy. I had trouble sitting still, to the point even Bramble had taken notice. 

"Something the matter?" Bramble asked. 

I took a moment to acknowledge the question, or for that matter, the mare at all. Every corner, surface, and ceiling, there is no sign of Freya in any way. "Feels like something is missing." 

Bramble scanned the room and settled her gaze back on me. 

"And that would be?"

I shook my head. "Just something."

I would have to wait on Freya until Bramble had left. While an imaginary friend wouldn't be earth-shaking, the fact that I was worried about where she went might earn more than an odd look. Freya would be fine; how could she not be?

 To my relief, Bramble let the subject drop. We both returned to our tea and only minutes later, the sound of the front door opening drew our attention. "Glacial?" my father asked. 

"In the kitchen, Sire. We have company."

The unmistakable release of a held breath, followed by the closing of the front door, disappeared the suspicion that had clearly earned Sire's attention. He stepped into the main room and offered us a nod of greeting, to which I returned a wave and Bramble her own nod of acknowledgment. 

"Evening, Weathered. Good to see you doing well," Bramble said, raising her teacup and taking a dramatic sip. "Hope you don't mind me stopping by."

"Should I?" Father asked.

Bramble turned to look at me. "Possibly. Isn't that so, Glacial?"

I offered my father a tired look and a heavy sigh. "Possibly."

"Did something happen?" It was impressive the speeds one could obtain from standing still when you were both a pegasus and a concerned parent. It seemed to catch Bramble by surprise, judging by her blinking at the spot Father had been, to where he stood in front of me now. He crouched down and met me at eye level. "Speak, colt."

 "Well, you remember my trip to the weather center this morning, right?" Father nods. "Well, it didn't go quite as well as the rest of us had hoped."

"And what does that have to do with Bramble Broach?" Father asked, looking from me to the mare in question. Bramble offered a wary smile of her own. 

"Captain Freezy Breeze did not care for my special talent. To the point of seething anger," I said.

"Oh?" 

Thus, the tale of my poor job interview and the fallout that led me to Forage Farms was told, to which Father kept a face like chiseled stone. There was not the barest tell in his eyes, no subtle movements of his wings. He had taken the only open chair as I recounted my day. He listened without questions. Bramble offered her own thoughts as I finished. 

Weathered Horizon worked hard. He did not complain, blamed no pony for his struggles, and never gave in to anger. Those statements were what I'd thought made up not only my father but the tenants that any hardworking pony should adhere to. That was not to say he was emotionless or cold. He simply knew how to temper his reactions accordingly. It, in turn, seemed that the tempered response to Freezy Breeze and her outburst was a silent rage that, if it were a fire, would have reduced our humble home to ash in an instant. 

"I see." That was all he said. For minutes, neither Bramble nor I sought to fill the silence. We sat, waited, and listened when the time came. "It seems I may need to pay Captain Breeze a visit before work tomorrow. For it would seem my judgment of her character needs some refinement. As does her addled mind if she thought such an outburst would bear no consequences."

"Weathered, wait," Bramble leaned forward. My father ignored her, simply raising a hood in protest. 

"Do you disagree, Bramble?" he asked.

"That the captain went too far? No, I don't. I think making a spectacle of it will do more harm than good."

I had to agree with Bramble. At this point, starting fights will only worsen the feelings some in town had of ponies like me and Father. There was a reason we lived outside of town. It wasn't as bad when I was little. However, with time, when the slowly creeping infection of propaganda and fear swept across Equestria, it hit smaller towns and cities the worst. 

"Then what pray tell would you suggest I do? I care little for what Bogwood or its ponies think of me. I care even less for their meaningless shunning and slander," Father's voice rose, though the emotion behind it remained unreadable. It left a sour taste in the back of my throat and an inability to meet his eye. "However, I have no patience for threatening my foal, directly or not."

As uneasy as I sat. Bramble seemed unphased. She rested her chin on a hoof and swatted at an imaginary gnat. The wishy-washy disinterest of somepony who'd heard the same lines over and over. On a certain level, it irritated me, even if I couldn’t put my hoof on why. If it were due to my mind being too young or numbed to its rage, I could not say. 

"Weathered. Do you really think I believe so little of you? That the seedy hysteria ‘The War of the Sisters’ caused isn't noticeable?" The longer Bramble spoke, the hotter the flames of her anger grew. By this point, wings flared, and she towered over the table, a hoof pointed at my father's chest. "Do you think I can forgive them for what they did to Belfry?"

There it was. I'd tried to keep that word off my lips. The name of my mother, Belfry. Ever since she left, it has made it easier to accept. Before the paranoia, she'd been a beacon of the community. I could still hear her voice sometimes as I lay in bed. I could almost hear the songs she'd hum when I was younger. I hated that the sting of tears was welling up in my eyes. My chest hurt, a deep encroaching pain that sought to crush me in its grip. 

"It was not just her. It was almost all of them, every last thestral. Reviled by those for things they never did. She left Bogwood with the rest. She was hounded and heckled until she and the rest left." 

The conversation was over; all that remained were three hurt ponies, three souls who had nothing they could do. Father's mask had shattered. Bramble's coy apathy was erased, and my tears fell without resistance. I missed her, I missed my Dam so much. No pony knew where she'd gone, where any of the thestrals had found refuge. The only ones that remained were in the employ of Celestia, the night guard. However, even they were spat upon. 

I lost track of what happened next. I was in a haze; I was lost in my thoughts and tears. The next thing I knew, I was sitting in bed. The sun long dipped beyond the horizon. I was exhausted, and my mind, body, and soul were left hollow as I tried to recollect myself, if only to find sleep. I had yet to figure out what to do moving forward. However, one thing was clear: both Bramble and Weathered were worried about the thestral hunts and rumors. It wasn't my mother that Freezy Breeze judged me by. It was the very origin of power, my cryomancy, that she feared. A fear I was beginning to share. 

"It must hurt." It was barely a whisper. I cast my eyes to the foot of my bed. Freya sat looking at the ceiling. Her snow-white visage sparkled in the dark. 

Though it wouldn't have mattered even if she were as dull a stone, I could see her. I could see anything. I had never feared the dark as I'd never seen it, truly. The deepest depths it could sink. When the air is too thick to choke down, the unknown surrounds you and consumes you. The light in my eyes shredded away the shadows and made it so I could gaze out into the night.  

"Freya?" I asked. 

"To lose someone so dear to you. I am left wondering where they are, what they are doing, and if they are also thinking of you. It must hurt."

Less than a week, that was all it took, and I was already falling apart. I cuffed my blanket in my hooves and pulled it tight. "Yes," That was all I could say. Freya fell backward, hovering just above my bed, looking at me; her eyes swirled like snowflakes in the breeze. It was as mesmerizing as it was unnatural. It seems even my tulpa was not left unaffected by my state. I grit my teeth. "I won't quit. I won't."

"I would never forgive you if you did," Freya said, her eyes returning to normal. She frowned at me as I mirrored her look. There had to be something I could do, a place I could belong. Father and I deserved better. 

I fell back onto my pillow. Tomorrow was a new day. As for now, I'd be of little use if I stayed up all night. I hadn't gotten much sleep this week as it was. I was tired, and I was sick of it. The fog of dreams consumed my sight. And as I drifted off, I could almost hear Freya whisper good night. Though if that were real, I could not say.

---

Lightning lit the sky, and the thunder was almost completely drowned out by the pouring rain. I stood back to soaking wet brick. The alley was quiet and dark. It wouldn't have mattered in this storm if I were standing in the middle of the four-way, not a block back. No, I stood in the alley, drenched and shaking all the same. It brought a single speck of comfort; it wasn't the first time the alleys of this shitty old city had bought me a moment to breathe away from the hustle and bustle of the millions that called it home. 

I swatted a messy tangle of dark curls from my face. I looked down to my stomach. My shoddy, used tee shirt was plastered to my skin, stained not just by the rain but red with blood. A hand pressed hard into the wound that peeled at least three inches across my skin. It was deep, and the blood hadn't staunched at all. I cursed under my breath, my body shaking as I slid down the apartment wall behind me. I choked back a guttural grunt. I only needed to catch my breath and a minute to think. The nearest hospital was miles away. I deftly patted my pant pocket. No dice, the phone was gone. I already knew that I'd checked at least twice since making it over the fence. 

A dog barked. I flinched, eyes darting through the dark and into the rain. There was nothing, not a sound, no running or yelling, no gnashing teeth and growls. I was still alone, for now. 

"Damn it, what the hell do I do?" I asked my shadow. My body lurched as the twisting pain of my wound arced up my spine. "Damn it, come on, Hal, think."

No response, no moment of epiphany. My vision swam. The dark teased at the corners of my vision. I pressed against the brick with my back and tried to push myself to my feet. I failed and slid back down. I looked back down to the hand still pressed against the bloody gash. Even in the rain, my hand was splattered red. 

Another dog barked; it was closer. I struggled against the wall, using my free arm as an anchor. I pulled myself to my unsteady feet. I couldn't just stay in the alley all night. 

I stumbled onto the sidewalk. A path of fluorescent lamp posts bathed the deserted street in an eerie yellow. I managed a few wobbling steps forward. The hospital was four or so miles away. If I hurried, I could make it before I landed back on my ass. If I fell again, I doubted I'd be able to stand again. The pain in my gut thumped along with the rain, the wind, the thunder, and my heart. A symphony that deafened everything but the pain. 

"Tonight was a mistake, a stupid fucking mistake."

Another dog barked from back the way I’d come. I stumbled forward a bit faster. I swayed as the wind ripped around me. Everything was a blur, all definition lost to the obscuring water that stung my skin. I sneezed. Add that to the ever-growing list of problems today. All I had to do was get to the hospital, but it was so cold. I just had to keep moving. 

As I pushed forward, my hooves pounded the sodden concrete, my lungs taking in stinging, icy breaths. I leveraged out my wings to shield myself from the torrent. It was getting colder. I looked down at my hooves. Blue ice wrapped them tight, and the sidewalk below them frosted over. 

"Come on, Hal, we can make it."

Another dog barked. This time, I could hear voices following behind the barking. I grit my teeth and hobble forward. I swung an arm out like a blind man's cane. I blinked hard. Something wasn't right. It was a wing, right? No, arm, dots played across my vision. I stumbled into a nearby alley. I heaved, spitting icy rainwater onto the dingy path. I pressed my back into the wall behind me. I took a deep breath. The rain poured on.  

Lightning lit the sky, and the thunder was almost completely drowned out by the pouring rain. I stood back to soaking wet brick. The alley was quiet and dark. It wouldn't have mattered in this storm if I were standing in the middle of the four-way, not a block back. No, I stood in the alley, drenched and shaking all the same. It brought a single speck of comfort; it wasn't the first time the allies of this shitty old city had bought me a moment to breathe away from the hustle and bustle of the millions that called it home.

I swatted a messy tangle of darkened mane from my face. I looked down to my stomach. My blue coat was plastered to my skin. Stained not just by the rain but red with blood. I only needed a minute, just a chance to catch my breath. Then, it all went white. It was cold, so fucking cold. I heard footsteps, followed by the whine of a large dog. I whispered out a prayer. My gut was searing. I couldn't see anything. I waved an arm out, desperate for anything to grab onto. The footsteps stopped. 

"You look like shit, you know that?" The voice asked. A weight settled on my shoulder, pushing me back against the wall. 

"You brought this on yourself, you know that, right?" I couldn't speak. I was doing all I could to heave in and out. My breaths are shallow as a hoof rests on the same force holding me in place. "We should have tossed you out with your mother."

Something wrapped around my throat. I clawed at the limb. Everything was going dark. I felt my limbs fall to my side. I just needed a minute. It was too cold—just a minute.