Memior

I stuck close to the spine of the sidewalk as I marched through the city.  The arrow rain was falling fast, pelting me a hundred times a second, but I didn't mind.  One of the reasons I wanted to move to this city was to be close to the rain and snow, which comes frequently throughout the year here.  Looking up, the cranes and skyscrapers to their tops were unseen and engulfed through the overcast above, which threw upon the ground a grey light from the sun churning far out in outer space.

I passed by many shops and restaurants on my way, and looked by many interesting ponies in the rain.  None of them could seem to help me though to find the Peaksea.  Then I came upon a large dome of a building, and hoisted high on a billboard pole was the sign, 'Shire Hill Ice Rink'.

I stopped and stared at the building for awhile, wondering if I could buy some coffee or something else warm and watch whoever was ice skating glide.  To be honest the rain I drenched myself in was making me yearn to be dry, but an ice rick was not the smartest place to be in when you're soaking wet.  I went in anyways.

I walked up to the large glass doors, pushed one of them open, and walked inside.  As I closed the door the first thing that hit me was the warmth abounding inside the large, green-carpeted lobby, and then the surreal sense of being in a foreign place.

To the far left of the lobby was a confectionery shop that was thankfully open.  I bought some black coffee and a pretzel from the lanky teenage'd employee and walked up a large flight of stairs set at the back of the lobby that lead to the viewer's box, a dimly lit reach that circled the circumference of the dome unending.  Their was a glass wall that was cut from ceiling to floor in the viewer's box that let out into a tall view of the ice rink laid one hundred feet below me.  I could see only one skater on the ice.  It was then that I noticed that the building was rather empty.  The only ponies I had seen in the building so far was the shop kid and the ice skater down below.  I didn't mind the loneliness of my surroundings though, it was rather peacefully silent around.

I walked the viewer's box a ways, passing by rows in multitudes of chairs that pyramided up the back wall so that anyone could sit and see a clear view of the rink.  I finally found a seat placed only a foot or two away from the glass wall, sat my suit case down to the floor, nestled my coffee cup in a holder carved into the armrest of my chair, and took a bite of my pretzel as I began to watch silently the mare skating on the ice.

She was an Earth pony, thin yet carved in curved grace.  Her mane and short cut tail were a browning blond and her coat was a distilled white.  She wore a pair of black skates and a baby blue scarf wrapped tightly around her neck.  From my height I could see her face as a concentration expressed in stone.  She was very beautiful.

I laid my head on the back of my chair and relaxed, watching her skate.  She glided on the ice as if she herself was just trying to relax but in her own way.

She moved to the back and to the forth of the rink, first slowly then she picked up her pace as she continued.  Going faster and faster she flew atop the white until at a time she touched the middle of the rink she jumped high into the air and spun.  I nearly jumped out of my seat as I saw her catch back onto the ice and glide again.  I could feel my jaw loosen.

Unexpectedly she lifted up three of her legs to one point of the fourth and twirled at least five times, then released and jumped again, sticking the landing perfectly.

I could feel my lips motion the word, 'wow' but my speech had fallen silent.

I sat in my seat watching the skater fly and twirl and jump and dive as minutes started to decade under hours, and all I could think of was short of what I was seeing.

I watched her, I watched her, I watched her, and she astounded me to no end.  About what felt like forty minutes had passed before a strange voice suddenly forked me from behind.

"She's wonderful, isn't she?"

Quickly I turned around, finding an older, grey Earth pony with a salt and pepper mane sitting two rows behind me.  He had a five o' clock shadow and a set of tired, brown eyes.  In his hooves and close to his mouth he held a white mug of coffee which he sipped on a second or two after he spoke.  Afterwards he set his mug in his cup holder and looked at me saying, "You have any idea what time it is?"

"No sir, I don't." I responded.

"Look at your watch."  He scoffed, looking again towards the skater below.

I gazed my sight to my wrist, finding that my watch had struck upon 8:24 P.M.

"WHAT!"  I exclaimed, "How did it get to be so late?  You'd think having a watch wrapped around my damn wrist would help me keep track of time!"

"Yeah, that's usually what their suppose to do, but the catch is that you have to look at them so they can do their job."  The old stallion chuckled, "Where are you suppose to be right now, guy?"

I looked back to the skater as she jumped into the air again and spun in her landing, "I was trying to find the Peaksea hotel while I was caught in the rain.  I passed by this place and wanted to come in to dry off.  I wasn't expecting to overstay my place."

"Is the skater down there also the reason why you got stale coffee and a half eaten pretzel next to ya?"

I looked to my right, finding my coffee completely cold and my pretzel dried out.  "aw crap..." I mumbled.

"Heh heh, heh.  Would you like to meet the skater down there on the ice?"  The older pony asked.

His question caught me off guard and all I could say was, "What?" in response.

"The young mare down there is my daughter, I've come to get her to stop skating for the night before she never leaves the ice again."  Then he propped his right hoof out to me, "My name's Darid, I'm the owner of the ice rink.  Also I'm the chief figure skating coach around here.  All the moves you're seeing my little girl down there cut, she learnt from me."

I reached my own hoof out and shook his, gobsmacked that I was caught here with him.

"Meelo.  Nice to meet you."

"Yes it is nice to meet you Meelo."  Suddenly Darid stood up, chugged the coffee he had left, and started walking to the lobby stairs.

"You comin'?" He asked.

"Coming where?"

"Already said where, or more correctly to whom.  Now get off your back hide and follow me."

I stood up, grabbed my suitcase, and followed Darid down and behind the lobby stair case, then down a second flight of stairs that entered into the lower bleachers under the viewer's box, and we walked down the bleacher steps to a dugout fixed in heavy impact Plexiglas that surrounded the whole of the actual ice rink.  He gave a loud whistled when we reached the dugout, and he caught the skaters eye, then he motioned for her to come to him.

I felt a jolt of nausea bite my stomach, and a subtle nervousness then gripped me.  I gave into my will to fight through it though so I didn't look like an ass, and I dropped my suitcase to the floor.

The skater swerved into the dugout, sat down on a bench, and began taking off her skates.  Darid went up to the Plexiglas and asked, "How long where you here today?"

The mare lifted her head up to see her father, and I could see her eyes then for the first time.  They were a dark blue, like the color of a ridden old stone cast into a breaking sea.

"Since three."  The skater said shortly.

"Three at this morning or three in the afternoon?"  Darid asked.

"The morning."

"Seventeen hours?"  I said a little shocked and quite loudly.

Both Darid and the skater looked at me, and I then started to feel a twisted warmth writhing red embarrassment under the skin of my face.

I really shouldn't have said that out of the nowhere. I thought.

"Someone's obviously good at math." Darid jeered.

"Who's your new friend dad?"  The mare asked, tying off her fourth skate.

"Says his name is Meelo, he's looking for the Peaksea hotel.  Think you can take him to it?"

"What?" I said, unexpectedly confused.

The mare set her skates on the bench and started to walk around to a compartment door that led the dugout into the lower bleachers.

"Yeah sure, I can take him." She rounded the corner of the door and came to meet us face to face.

"I haven't eaten dinner yet though so he's buying at Greenie's."

"Greenie's?" I asked in echoed response.

"Sounds fair," Darid said, "you kids have fun. Don't stay out too late."

"Need to sleep sooner or later dad, I got sweat to heat and ice to cut in the morning."

"Atta' girl."  Darid soothed, "See you tomorrow honey.  Love ya!"

"See you tomorrow dad.  Love ya too."

Then Darid started to walk away, down towards the other end of the ice rink.  I tried to say something to him before he got past ten feet from me but I was interrupted by the skater.

"Hey." She said, bumping my shoulder to catch my attention.  She raised her right hoof to me and said, "My name's Aisling.  It's nice to meet you."

I shook her hoof with a quaff loose smile, looked towards her eyes and said to her, "It's uh... nice to meet you too."

Once we let go of the shake she asked, "Are you ready to go?"

"Go where?" I asked.

"To Greenie's!"

"Where and what is Greenie's?" I asked.

"Best late night restaurant in town! C'mon you'll love it.  I haven't eaten since midday and I need ta eat something!  I promise I'll take you to the Peaksea right after we eat."

I stood there thinking for a bit, then said, "Alright, I suppose dinner wouldn't hurt."  I picked up my suitcase in my maw and motioned Aisling to go ahead of me, but she did something rather unexpected instead.

"Oh, wait here I have something that'll help you hold your suitcase."  The white mare then went back into the dugout, and brought out an empty hockey bag.  "Here, this way you can put your case in here and it'll be easier for you on the way to Greenie's."

I humored her by strapping the bag around me and putting the suitcase inside.  The idea actually had worked out really well, and soon we walked out of the ice rink, into the building lobby, and back out into the city, and it was still raining beautifully.