Gems, Ice, and Dice

Chapters

Meeting the Diamond
Elementals and Gem Fighters
Need of "Ice-ssistance"
Middle of a Brainstorm

Meeting the Diamond

Blizzard was taking a calm stroll through Ponyville one morning, and said to himself, "Aah! What a nice day! The sun is out, the birds are singing, the pegasi are moving the clouds and everything is awesome!"

As he walked, he eventually made his way past Carousel Boutique, the place where the mare of his dreams lives. Rarity. He was still pretty shy towards Rarity so he tried to sneak through bushes so he wouldn't be seen.

Blizzard had past her dress shop, looked dreamily into the sky, and said, "Oh, Rarity, you're so beautiful and generous. Nopony is as awesome as you. *sigh* If only I had enough confidence to talk to her, but I get so embarrassed when I see her. Talking to her would make me a nervous wreck." Blizzard hung his head in shame as he trotted slowly towards the Everfree Forest.

"*sigh* Maybe I can find something fun to do in here?" His ears perked up as he smiled, "Yeah! Maybe I can find some monsters to fight! That'll cheer me up!" He begins to ice skate into the forest to find some enemies to fight.

Blizzard then begins to hear voices of other ponies. One voice said, "You gotta keep your focus on your target, and strike them hard!"

Another voice said, "Ok Caliber, I'm ready." Blizzard could tell who those voices were, but stayed hidden as he watched them swordfight. After a few minutes of practice, the ponies who were talking walked past Blizzard. He couldn't believe who they were. It was his best friends Caliber and Ticktock! To get their attention, Blizzard shouted at them.

"Hey Calibro and Timelord!"

They turned around to see it was Blizzard, Caliber said, "Hey IB! *brohoof* Long time no see! How's that ice sculpture business going?"

"It's going good," Blizzard replied, "I've gotten more requests recently and I've been raking in bits here and there."

"Hey Blizz." Ticktock said, "remember me?"

"How could I forget you...Rookie?" Blizzard said with a smug face.

"Very funny," Ticktock replied, "but I'm no 'rookie' anymore. I haven't been since the end of our adventure."

Caliber stepped forward as his stomach rumbled, "Ugh, I'm hungry. Why don't we talk some more over some assorted sweets at Sugarcube Corner?"

"Good idea," Blizzard said, "Let's race! 321 go!" He skates as fast as he could.

"I'm just gonna beat him again," Caliber said as he galloped through a hidden shortcut to SCC, while Ticktock calmly made his way by trotting.

"Haha! I'm first!" Blizzard said triumphantly.

"What took you so long?" Caliber had already beat IB there and was standing there smugly.

"How did?! Grrrr. You win...again. But i'll beat you next time!" he said while shaking his hoof in the air.

Blizzard and Caliber went inside and were greeted by Pinkie saying, "Hi there!" Then she saw Caliber, "Look out Mr. and Mrs. Cake," Pinkie said, "Here comes Caliber! The pony who eats almost as much as me! :pinkiegasp: "

Caliber said, "Yep, that's me. The usual please." he said as he sat down and paid with a gem the size of his eye. As he began munching on his sweets Ticktock had finally made it there as well. Caliber then asks IB with this face :ajsmug: , "So, how have you talked to Rarity yet?"

Blizzard blushed a little and twiddled his hooves, "Uh...well. No." he said as he hang his head in shame again. Then he looks up, "*sigh* I just passed by her house this morning and I couldn't help but sneak past because I didn't wanna be seen. You managed to talk to her just fine the other day, but I just can't." he said as he puts his face on the table.

Caliber recollected when he had last spoke with Rarity.

FLASHBACK

Blizzard and Caliber were outside Carousel Boutique. Blizzard had teleported away when Rarity walked up to them. And Rarity asked Caliber, "What's wrong your blue friend darling?"

Blizzard's voice echoed from far away, "You better not tell her!"

Caliber replied to Rarity, "You know he's just shy around girls."

Rarity asked, "Has he talked to mares before?"

"Well yes he has, but he seems to be shy around you for some reason," Caliber said.

Rarity put a hoof to her chin and said, "I wonder why he'd be like that only around me....*voice trails off* Oh well, if you see him again tell him I said hello. He seems interesting. Bye Caliber."

"I will. See ya Rarity."

FLASHBACK END

Caliber had finished eating, stood up, and said, "Hmmm. Ok that's it! You're gonna talk to Rarity today bro. Time to come out of your shyness shell."

Blizzard said, "B-but I-I don't wanna--" Caliber then looks him straight in the eye with dark magic, "OK fine let's go...."

Caliber asked Ticktock, "Wanna come with us?"

Ticktock replied, "Eh you go, I'll watch from a distance."

Caliber said, "Ok." to Ticktock, then to IB, "Trust me bro. You're gonna feel a whole lot better after you talk to her."

"*gulp* I don't know. I might pass out from embarrassment or worse!" Blizzard said while freaking out. He wasn't exactly keen on talking to his crush yet.

Caliber conked IB on the head and said, "Don't worry. I'll be right outside watchin' ya, you'll be fine." They had made it to Carousel Boutique and Caliber ringed Rarity's doorbell. Nothing happened for about 3-5 minutes.

IB was ready to quit and said, "Ok well she's not home oh well." Blizzard tries to skate off but Caliber tripped him, "Ow. Reaaly bro?"

"You're not giving up now. You will talk to her got it?" Caliber asked.

"*sigh* Yeah." Blizz said as he stood up. Suddenly a voice could be heard from inside.

"Coming!" Rarity said. Then she opened her door and says, "Welcome to Carousel Boutique, where everything is chic, unique, and magnifique. How may I help you?" She sees Caliber and asks, "Oh hello Caliber. What brings you by today?"

"Please don't make me. Please don't make me. Please don't make me," Blizzard thinks to himself.

Caliber replied to Rarity, "Hi Rarity. Remember my friend Ice Blizzard I was talking to you about the other day?"

Rarity replied, "Hmm? Oh yes I do remember him, he's the blue one that's shy correct?"

"Yeah that's him," Caliber said, "well he's right here," Caliber moves out of the way to reveal IB, "IB this is Rarity, Rarity, this is IB."

"Uh...h-hi," Blizzard said shyly.

"Hello there," Rarity replied.

Caliber starts to trot away, "I'll just let you 2 talk to each other. See ya later!"

"Bye Caliber!" Rarity said while waving. Then she turns to IB, "Hello, just like your friend said, I am Rarity. So you're Ice Blizzard?" she asks.

Blizz replied, "Yes I-I am," with his voice shaking a little.

"Well it's very nice to meet you Blizzard, I hope we can become great friends. I run a clothing shop, the Carousel Boutique. Your friend Caliber gave me some great ideas based off of his cape. Would you like to see them?" she asked.

"Uh sure," he said with more confidence as they walk inside, "I've read many magazines about you. You're famous!"

Rarity giggled and replied, "Maybe I do have a few articles in a magazine darling, but that doesn't mean I go around bragging about it."

"You should," Blizz said, "in my opinion, you're the best fashion designer ever!"

Rarity shuffles through racks of clothes to find the set of capes she made based off of Caliber's and said, "They very nice of you to say Blizzard, but a lady never boasts. I'm pretty sure that there's probably somepony out there who's better than me.' She shows Blizzard the capes and says, "Do you like them? Caliber's cape's color wasn't all that...reflective, so I made these with all kinds of I plan on making some for stallions and mares. What do you think?" she asked.

Blizz replied, "Yeah, they're beautiful! I like them! I'd certainly want one of those."

Rarity shouted, "IDEA! I'll make one custom for you."

Blizzard shyly said, "N-no you don't have to--"

"Oh nonsense. It'll be a symbol of our friendship." Rarity said, "I won't take no for an answer."

"Well, thank you Rarity," Blizzard replies, "No wonder you're the element of generosity. hehe" "She's more beautiful in person! I think we're already friends too! he thought to himself as he started blushing.

Rarity notices Blizzard blushing and asks, "Darling are you all right? Your face is purple."

Blizzard snaps out of his thoughts and replies, "Huh? (O///O) N-no I'm fine. I'll leave you to continue your work. Nice to meet you Rarity. Bye." he said as he made his way to the door.

Rarity replies, "Bye Blizzard, come back again when I finish your cape, ok?"

"I will, see ya!" he then steps outside and does a small victory dance for finally talking to his crush. Caliber and Ticktock walk up to IB.

"Well, well. you finally did it," Caliber said smugly, "Did you tell her how you felt about her?"

Blizzard facehoofed and said, "No. I cracked when she saw me blushing. I had to get outta there as quickly as possible."

"Well at least you finally talked to her," said Ticktock, "I guess you gotta go one step at a time am I right?"

"Yeah," said Blizzard.

"I'm proud of you bro, for manning up and talking to her. Ya did good. *pats IB on back*"

"Me too," said Ticktock.

"Thanks guys. But that's done now, who wants to go kick some flank in the Everfree Forest?!" Blizzard said as he punched the air.

"Let's go!" Caliber and Ticktock said together.

"Race ya!" Blizzard said as he skated off.

"I'm still gonna beat you!" Caliber said as he galloped after Blizzard.

Ticktock trotted slowly after the 2 shaking his head at first and then began to gallop, "Wait for me!"

THE END

Elementals and Gem Fighters

(This occurs 3 days after chapter one)

(BGM Check Author Notes)

BGM 1 Ice Blizzard and Caliber were strolling through Ponyville and talking about their combat styles. Blizzard says, "My ice powers pretty much give me an edge in a fight, but that doesn't mean I don't know how to use my hooves!" Blizzard then punches his hooves together for emphasis. He then says, "It's a good thing too, because if I overuse my powers, I'd have to wait for them to recharge, or worse! I could get a headache!"

Caliber replies, "Yeah, uh-huh. Just like how I'm nothing without my sword." Caliber then polishes his sword a little before putting it away. "Yep. Without my sword I couldn't win a fight if I tried."

Blizzard sighs and says, "Are you sure we couldn't get you some hoof-to-hoof lessons? I mean, what if somepony takes your sword from you?"

Caliber replies with a confident look, "Ha! That'll never happen!"

Blizzard asks, "What if it does?"

"It won't!" Caliber shouts, "Sorry about that Blizzard, but anyway my sword will never be taken from me ever!"

"If you say so," Blizzard replies with some doubt, but realizes, "Nah he's the best swordspony ever! No way that'll happen."

BGM 2 Suddenly out of nowhere, a bolt of lightning struck Caliber, "Aah!" he shouts and drops to the ground.

Blizzard went frantic, "Huh? What?! What the heck was that?! Where'd that come from?! Are you ok?!"

A voice could be heard above Ice Blizzard and Caliber, "Dammit! I missed!"

Blizzard looked up to see who it was and gasped, "You! It was you! What the heck is your problem Electron?! You could've killed him!"

"I was trying to," Electron says as he hovers above Blizzard, "well not him, but you! I was trying to get you! Ever since you got your ice powers, you thought you were the best in town!"

Blizzard replies, "What?! I never said I was better than anypony when I got my powers, you just stopped talking to me for some reason!"

Electron replies with hatred in his voice, "That's because you though you were better than me. But now that I have my electricity powers, we'll see who's the better elemental!" Electron then begins to fly off and Blizzard chases him.

BGM 3 "Get your flank back here Electron Wave Storm and fight me like a stallion!" Blizzard says as he skates after Electron.

"Haha! You can't keep up with me snowball! I'm able to fly faster than anypony with electricity control!" Electron says as he begins to fly faster, "You can't win snowball, you're out of your league! Why do you think I want you crippled for life or dead? I want you outta the picture so that I can rise up and be known all across Equestria as the best elemental pony! And I'll start with you!"

"Killing me will get you nowhere Electron," Blizzard says with sympathy, "maybe we can calmly talk this out?"

"You wouldn't understand snowball, you're not as cool as you think you are." Electron says as he charges himself up to light-speed fly away, "You will be electrified with what I can do! See ya loser!" And with that, Electron shoots a light bolt a Blizzard's hooves, and flies off into the distance and out of sight, while Blizzard stops skating, dodges the lightning, and starts panting.

BGM 4 "Wah! Oof!" Blizzard says after dodging the lightning bolt and trips over a rock. "Damn...you...Electron..." he says while catching his breath, afterwards he realizes, "Oh crap I left Caliber on his own back there!" It took Blizzard awhile to get back to where Caliber was, since he had used up most of his current ice energy by skating after Electron, he had to trot all the way back.

When Blizzard had finally made it back to Caliber, he lifts him onto his hooves and asks, "You ok bro?"

Caliber replies weakly, "Yeah I'm fine. Caliber the Wanderer doesn't die!" he coughs and says, "Did you get that turd Electron?"

"I lost him," Blizzard says, "the son of a gun got away from me." Blizzard was pissed. He wouldn't have cared all that much if he was shocked, but since it was his friend Caliber who was hit, Blizz was really disturbed by it. After Caliber got up, he started to trot off.

"Hey where are you going?" Blizzard asks.

"Where do ya think?" Caliber replies, "I'm gonna hunt that no good electro-rod down and give him what for!"

Blizzard then asks, "Woah, woah hey, are you sure? You were just struck by lightning!"

"Caliber the Wanderer can't die remember?" Caliber says with confidence.

"Want me to come with you?" Blizzard asks.

Caliber replies, "No. That guy has been giving you problems for years. But when he involves me, he's made a big mistake. I'll see you later." Caliber says before galloping off after Electron.

BGM 5 Now Blizzard is all by himself. He says sadly to himself, "Oh great. Just great! Now I'm all alone. Damn you Electron!" Blizzard begins to walk back to his house slowly and sadly. He sighs and says to himself, "Darn Electron, shocking my friend like that. I should take him on one day, and show him what I can do. But if he keeps flying off before I can get to him, he may never understand what it's like to truly be an elemental. Oh well."

Blizzard kept walking sadly back to his house. When he was about to go inside, he heard somepony struggling in the distance, "Ugh! Come on cart thing! Unh!"

Blizzard's ears twitches when he heard that voice, "Hmmm sounds like somepony needs help." Blizzard walked int the direction of the voice. As he got closer, he found himself nearly at the edge of Ponyville in a field with rocks everywhere and thought, "I wonder who would need help with a cart. And what are they doing way out here?" He started looking around, but couldn't find any sign of the pony he had heard before and says, "Well I guess nopony's here." Blizzard shrugs and begins to trot back home, but then he hears a familiar voice.

"Ugh! Just how am I going to pull this cart AND dig for gemstones at the same time?!" Rarity says with a frustrated look on her face.

"Huh? It's Rarity! But what is she doing here?" Blizzard thinks to himself. He hadn't heard Rarity say she was looking for gems, so he had no idea what she was doing here with a cart. He decides to go up and talk to her and says, "Uh, hey Rarity whatcha doing?"

Rarity turns around to find Ice Blizzard and says, "Oh? Hello Ice Blizzard. I'm looking for gems right now for an order I have to fill. How are you today?"

Blizzard replies, "I'm fine, but why are you here on your own? Don't you have anypony to help you?"

Rarity replies, "Well, I do get some help from Spike, he's a little dragon that digs up the gems for me." Rarity sighs and says, "But he's away with Twilight in Canterlot, so I'm on my own today."

"Interesting, but how exactly do you find the gems in the first place if they're buried underground?" Blizzard asked with a confused expression.

"Like this darling." Rarity says, as she uses her magic gem-finding spell and marks where she finds a pile of gems with a stick. She then says, "I know there are gems right there but I can't dig them out."

Blizzard offers to help and says, "Here, let me help you. I'll push that cart and dig the gems out for ya, just tell me where they are."

Rarity then says, "That's very kind of you to offer, but I can handle it."

"No it's no problem. Here let me take that from you," Blizzard says. Rarity releases herself from the harness as Blizzard goes behind the cart to push it.

"Are you sure?" Rarity asks. "It's really no big deal."

"No problem, I'm always happy to help anypony out," Blizzard replies.

"Well, thank you Ice Blizzard," Rarity says, "but I must ask, how do you plan to dig up the gems if I can't?"

"Hmmm.." Blizzard says. He hadn't actually thought about that part. He was too eager to stop and think before just saying that he'll help with the cart AND dig up the gems. He was stuck for a minute until he thought of something, "I got an idea! You'll mark where the gems are right?"

"Mm-hmm," Rarity says.

Blizzard then explains his idea, "I'll freeze the ground with my ice powers and break the ice with my hoof to free the gems!"

Rarity is confused and says, "Ice powers? You mean like magic? But you are an earth pony correct? Since you don't have a horn, how are you able to control ice?"

Blizzard replies, "It's a long story, but I'll spare you the details, I got my powers as a colt from an ice spirit within a crystal that I found."

Rarity replies, "That's very interesting. I'd sure like to hear the whole story one day."

Blizzard says, "Yeah, maybe, but for now, I wanna help you out. And I can only do it so many times before I have to let my powers recharge, so where is the first set?"

Rarity uses her gem-finding spell and locates 3 separate piles of gems underground, "Over there Blizzard, 3 piles."

Blizzard charges himself up, "I got it." He goes to each pile, freezes the dirt above them and breaks it, revealing the gems. "Found 'em!" He then gathers all 3 piles and puts them into Rarity's cart. "Where to next Rarity?"

"Over there, 3 more!" Rarity says.

"On it!" Blizzard replies.

BGM 6 As Rarity and Blizzard were gathering gems, voices are talking quietly, "There she is!" says one voice, "it's the gem finding pony! Are the dogs ready?" he asks.

"Hahaha. Yes. The dogs are ready to be released." another voice says, "This time we are prepared to capture her and we'll force her to work no matter how much she whines!"

"Good. Is the trap with big gems ready?" the first voice asks.

"It's set, there's no way she'll miss it. And there's no way we'll miss her!" the second voice says.

Meanwhile, things are going great for Blizzard and Rarity, their system of teamwork has almost filled up Rarity's cart. "Wow! We did pretty good huh Rarity?" Blizzard asks.

Rarity replies, "Yes we did. Thank you for your help--" her horn is then suddenly attracted by a large amount of gems, "Blizzard! This way! I think I've found a lot this time!"

"Ok, I'm coming," Blizzard says as he pushes the cart, "Ugh! This is getting heavy."

"There! Right there! If we get these, then that'll be just enough," Rarity says while pointing her hoof to where she had located gems.

"I got 'em," Blizzard says as he moves towards the gems, unaware of the trap that was set. "Wow! These are huge!" he says as he knelt down to retrieve the gems, he set off the net trap that was meant for Rarity and barely dodges being caught and says, "Woah! What was that?! I reached down to collect the gems and there was a net that almost trapped me!"

Rarity asks Bllizzard, "Are you alright?"

Blizzard replies, "Yeah, I'm fine, but what kind of messed up individual would set a trap with gems?"

Suddenly, multiple strange characters jumped out from behind bushes. It was the Diamond Dogs. Blizzard had never seen anything like them before and was going a little nuts when he saw them and says, "Wh-what?! Who are you?! Want do you want from us?!"

Rarity says in a serious voice, "The diamond dogs. What do you want? Haven't you ruffians learned your lesson that last time I was here?"

Blizzard is even more confused and asks Rarity, "Wait you know them?! How do you know these freaks?!"

Rarity replies to Blizzard, "Yes I do know them. The last time I was here with Spike, these dogs had the gall to hold me captive. But I managed to escape by outsmarting them." She then speak to the dogs, "If you're trying to capture me again, you might as well give up, because you and I both know what will happen if you do."

"Oh your whining won't be a problem for us anymore," one of the dogs say, "We plan to force you to work for us this time while wearing this muzzle!" One of the guard dogs show the muzzle that they plan for Rarity to be wearing.

Another dog says to Blizzard, "You can walk away now blue one, just leave us the gem pony and nopony gets hurt!"

Rarity says with frustration, "For the last time, my name is Rarity!"

Blizzard attempts to process the situation and says, "So wait, you're telling me that you plan to make Rarity work against her will for what reason again?"

"To make her find all the gems!" one of the dogs shout.

"Yeah, now to me, that's just unethical," Blizzard says, "Nopony's being captured on my watch!"

"This doesn't concern you blue one!" another dog says, "Leave now, or face the hounds!"

"Blizzard go!" Rarity whispers, "I've dealt with these dogs before, and I can do it again!"

"There's no way I'm leaving you here by yourself," he whispers back. He then speaks to all the dogs, "I'm not leaving her! Bring it on! i can take on anything you've got!" Blizzard was confident with what he said, even though he had no idea exactly how many enemies he may have to face, but there was no way he'd leave anypony behind, or turn down a challenge.

"Your choice...release the hounds!" one dog says before he blows on a dog whistle, which calls around twenty guard dogs that surrond Blizzard and Rarity. "Last chance." says the dog.

BGM 7 Blizzard was a little nervous, but had confidence, "Y-your puppies don't scare me! Rarity, get behind me. This is about to get ugly."

Rarity whispers to Blizzard, "Can't you just freeze them all?"

Blizzard replies, "I could, but not right now, I used up most of my ice energy finding the gems! It's gonna be about 10 minutes before my power fully recharges."

Another dog says, "Hounds attack!"

A guard dog jumps at Blizzard, but before he could react, Rarity karate kicks him in the face. "Hiya!" She says as she kicks him.

Blizzard and the Diamond Dogs were astounded, "You can fight?!" Blizzard asks with a surprised expression on his face.

"She can fight?!" the 3 Diamond dogs say together.

Rarity says to Blizzard, "Just because I'm a lady, doesn't mean I don't know how to get my hooves dirty." she then says to the Diamond dogs, "Well, is that it?"

Blizzard finds the time to think to himself, "Wow! She's beautiful AND she can fight?! There's more to her than I thought!"

"Continue to attack!" one of the Diamond dogs say.

Blizzard snaps out of his thoughts and says to Rarity, "Well let's get them together!"

"Let's do it!" Rarity says before punching another dog in the face.

Blizzard still has to wait for his ice powers to recharge in 7 minutes, so he couldn't do much except what few hoof-to-hoof moves he did know, "Shattering drop kick!" Blizzard says as he drop kicks a dog in the face. He then slides under another dog and says, "Sliding kick!" taps the dog on his back, and punches him square in the face.

Rarity was doing pretty well herself, bucking a few dogs in the face here and there, but she knew it wasn't enough and asks Blizzard, "How much longer before your power recharges?"

"Just a bit longer, 5 minutes at the most!" Blizzard says while punching another dog in the face. And he thinks to himself, "Come on come on! Regenerate! If my powers don't regen soon, we could be in big trouble." He was also getting a little tire, but he wasn't about to give up yet!

Rarity and Blizzard manage to defeat 10 dogs, but Blizzard had dropped from exhaustion, was bleeding from lip a little, and to make things worse, his powers weren't regenerating for another 2 minutes. Rarity had also got tired from fighting and was on the ground.

The diamond dogs walk over to Blizzard and one of them says, "Well, well, well, look who tried to be a hero and failed!"

Another dog laughs and says, "Maybe next time you'll think before you jump at the chance to save somepony! Tie her up!" A few of the standing guard dogs began to walk over to Rarity with a rope. "Any last words before we take the pony away?" The dog asks Blizzard.

BGM 8 Blizzard looks up and says, "Yeah....pain is best served cold!" And before the dog could react, Blizzard delivers a powerful ice uppercut to his chin, and freezes the two dogs that were about to tie up Rarity and says, "Now you know what it means to be cold! Now get outta here before I put you in the deep freeze!" Blizzard says as he threateningly charges himself up with an evil look into the dog's eyes.

"Let's get outta here!" One of the dogs say as they all jump back down a hole.

BGM 9 Blizzard then pushes the frozen dogs down the hole as well and says, "And stay down!" He then goes over to Rarity and asks her, "Rarity are you ok?"

Rarity coughs and says, "I'm alright darling. What took you so long? You know it's not good to keep a lady waiting." she says jokingly.

Blizzard helps her onto her hooves and says, "Sorry, but I had to wait for my powers to recharge. If I didn't I would've given myself a massive headache. Anyway, are you ready to go? I think you got enough gems right?"

Rarity looks at the gems in her cart and says, "Yes I think this will do." Rarity looks at herself, she's covered in dirt and had a few cuts on her body and says, "I look terrible."

Blizzard consoles her and says, "You don't look THAT bad, Trust me, I've seen way worse, Caliber could probably tell you."

Rarity blushes slightly an says, "You're too kind darling, but I must get home and clean up."

"Ok, let's go," Blizzard says.

Blizzard then begins to push the cart back to Ponyville. As he and Rarity were walking, she says, "I saw what you did back there with those dogs before they tied me up. That was impressive I must say."

Blizzard replies, "Me? You're impressed with me? No, you were awesome Rarity! I can only recall a small amount of mares that can fight like that. That was truly amazing!"

Rarity replies, "Thank you, but like I said before, just because I'm a lady, doesn't mean I can't get my hooves dirty. And I must admit it was pretty fun." she says before she giggles. "I'm still grateful you were there to help me. Without you, I might have never gotten these gemstones I needed."

"Eh, well it's no problem," Blizzard replies, "I'm always happy to help anypony out, but that fight! Whew I'm gonna need some rest later."

As they keep walking, they eventually make it back to Ponyville and to Carousel Boutique. "Thanks again for all your help Blizzard," Rarity says, "but now I must get these orders filled and get cleaned up." she says while levitating the gems into her house. "Oh and this is for you." she says while levitating a gem as deep blue as Blizzard himself to him, "A little something for your trouble."

Blizzard was stuck for a moment before he grabs the gem out of the air and says, "Thanks Rarity," "I'm gonna cherish this gift from her forever!" he thinks to himself, then says, "wait a moment I'll be right back."

"Huh?" Rarity says as Blizzard dashes back to his house. He quickly gets something from his house and runs back to Rarity at her doorstep and gives her a necklace. "I want you to have this." he says while handing the necklace to Rarity.

Rarity's eyes are beaming when she sees the necklace as she gasps and says, "For me?! It's beautiful! Oh thank you Ice Blizzard." She says before hugging Blizzard.

While Rarity was hugging him, Blizzard thinks to himself and blushes a little, "I'd never thought I'd get a hug from her! This is an awesome day!"

After Rarity lets go of Blizzard she says, "Thank you so much!"

Blizzard replies shyly, "Hehe, you're welcome. I'm gonna let you get back to your work now. Bye!"

Rarity waves as Blizzard walks away and says, "Goodbye!"

Blizzard was tired after a long day and said to himself as he walked back home, "Between chasing Electron and fighting alongside Rarity, I gotta get some rest." He then sees his friend Caliber walking up the street with a content look on his face, and Blizzard asks, "Bro what happened? Did you get Electron?"

"I found Electron and got him back for shocking me," Caliber replies, "Anyway I saw what happened with you and Rarity. Good stuff bro. Did you finally gave her that necklace?"

"Yes and she hugged me," Blizzard replies, "I think I might be getting somewhere."

"Well good for you," Caliber says, "I'm going to Sugarcube Corner wanna join me?"

Blizzard yawns and says, "Nah, I'm tired maybe later."

"Ok see ya later!" Caliber says as he trots off to Sugarcube corner.

Blizzard goes into his house, lies on his bed and puts the gem Rarity gave him on his relic shelf, and thinks to himself, "Wow! That was an awesome day! Electron got away from me, but I got to pound some Diamond dog face in! And Rarity hugged me! I think that's just about one of the best things that could've ever happened to me. I even found out that somepony as ladylike as Rarity can fight! Who would've thought it?"

Blizzard yawns again and drifts off to sleep, imagining all the cool things he has done that day, as well as hoping that he could eventually admit his true feelings to Rarity one day. Be he's gonna take it one step at a time.

THE END

Need of "Ice-ssistance"

(Two Days after Chapter Two)

BGM 1 Blizzard gets out of bed and looks out his window and says, "What a nice day! Hopefully Electron won't ruin this one." he says in a snarking voice. He brushes his teeth, then goes to eat breakfast, a bowl of cereal. While he's eating he thinks to himself, "Hmm, the other day Rarity said she was impressed with my fighting skills. Although the fact that she could fight was waaaaaaaaaaay more impressive, she still said I was impressive. I wonder if there's any other ways I could impress her. Ugh! I can't think of anything! I might need some help with this. Hm.....I got it! I'll go ask somepony else! I might get some help from an external source! Yep, that's it I'm going out again today." Blizzard finishes his breakfast, leaves his house, and begins to take a stroll around Ponyville.

As Blizzard is walking, he begins to think, "Hmm, now who should I ask for help on impressing Rarity? Let's see, Caliber's gone wandering and won't be back in Ponyville until day after tomorrow, Ticktock's not here either. So who could I possibly ask on how to impress Rarity?" Then it hits Blizzard like a ton of bricks and thinks to himself, "I should ask her friends! They'll probably know how!" But then he realizes something else and thinks again, "Wait a minute, I don't want anypony to know I like Rarity, so I'm gonna have to dance around what I'm really trying to say in order to keep it a secret."

Blizzard then sees Sugarcube corner and says, "Maybe a snack will help me think about this." And he trots a bit faster to get there quickly. He arrives at Sugarcube Corner and says to Pinkie, "Hi Pinkie."

Pinkie replies happily, "Hi Blizzard! Where's your friend Caliber?"

Blizzard replies, "Aw he's off adventuring again to Celestia knows where."

"Oh, ok! What can I do for ya?" Pinkie says.

Blizzard replies, "Oh just a muffin please."

"Okie dokie lokie! That'll be 4 bits please." She says as she puts the muffin on the counter.

"Here ya go." Blizzard says as he pays Pinkie and takes the muffin, "Thanks."

"You're welcome!" Pinkie replies.

Blizzard was walking towards the door planning on walking around and thinking. And then it hit him, "I should ask Pinkie!" he thinks to himself, "she's one of Rarity's friends, so she might know. And I know just how to ask without blowing my secret." So Blizzard walks back to the counter and says, "Hey Pinkie, one more thing."

"Yeah? What's up?" Pinkie replies happily.

Blizzard then says, "I got a question, how do you impress somepony enough to get them to like you?"

Pinkie says, "Like you? Oh that's easy. Just be nice to them! Or do something for them that'll make them happy. Like a party! That's what I did when Twilight first came to Ponyville and she loved it!"

Blizzard then rewords his question in an attempt to get a better answer, "No, no. I mean how do you get somepony to...like-like you?"

Pinkie replies, "Oooh, like-like?" Pinkie thinks for a second and then says "Hmm...I know! Just be friendly! Being friendly is a surefire way for somepony to like-like you!"

Blizzard was unsatisfied, "That's not what I m--- uh, nevermind, thanks Pinkie."

Pinkie laughs and says, "No problem! Bye!"

Blizzard says as he makes his way out the door. He then starts to walk around again and thinks to himself, "Hm, that didn't help much. I don't even think Pinkie understood what I was saying. Although she was right in a way. Just doing something nice or being friendly could work, but I'm looking for something more than that." As he walks, he writes "being nice" down in a notepad and continues his stroll.

Blizzard then looks up into the sky and sees rainbow stripes zipping across it. It was Rainbow Dash, "Rainbow's a tough pony," Blizzard thinks to himself, "maybe she'll know how." Blizzard then calls out to her, "Hey hey Rainbow Dash!"

Rainbow Dash stops flying and hovers asking, "Huh? Who's that?"

"Down here!" Blizzard says, "I wanna ask you something!"

Rainbow looks down, lands, and says, "Oh it's you, uh, Blizzard right? Rarity told me about you, she said you were awesome at fighting!"

"Yeah, I'm Blizzard, and Rarity actually said that?" Blizzard asks.

"Yeah, she did. Anyway what did you wanna ask?" Rainbow replies.

Blizzard then asks, "Oh yeah, I wanna ask, how do you impress somepony enough to like you?"

Rainbow replies with her cocky voice, "Oh that's easy! Just show them how awesome you are." Rainbow begins to fly around, and does several tricks in midair. When she's done, she lands again and says, "Yep, all you gotta do is show them your stuff, and maaaybe brag a little, but not too much. Nopony likes it when you brag too much. Just a little bit, got that?"

"Uh-huh," Blizzard says as he writes down 'show what you can do' in his notepad. Then he says, "Thanks Rainbow, see ya later."

"No problem Blizz, see ya!" Rainbow says as she flies into the sky again.

Blizzard continues to walk and think, "Hmm, show off what you can do and brag a little? That sound good, but I kinda already showed Rarity that I can fight, I don't know what else I could do." Blizzard then spots Twilight's giant castle and says, "Aha! The princess will know! She's the Princess of Friendship, no way this can fail." Blizzard then begins to skate to Twilight's castle. When he gets close, he stops skating and trots to the castle door.

"*gulp* I hope the princess is in a good mood today." He says then knocks on the door. After a few minutes, the door is opened by Twilight Sparkle.

"Hello there." Twilight says.

Blizzard, out of respect, kneels to Twilight and says, "Your highness."

Twilight is embarrassed a little and says, "You don't have to call me that. Just call me Twilight." Twilight looks at Blizzard for a second and says, "You must be Ice Blizzard, Rarity told me about you yesterday. You were a big help with finding gems and fighting the diamond dogs."

Blizzard gets up from his kneeling position and replies, "Well, thank you, Rainbow Dash told me that same thing. It was really no big deal."

"No big deal?" Twilight says, "But Rarity told me that without you, she'd have never gotten her orders filled. That sounds like a pretty big deal to me."

"Uh I guess," Blizzard says while blushing a little. Then his face returns normal as he says, "Anyway Twilight, I got a question. Do you have any books on how to impress somepony enough to get them to like you?"

"Hmmm," Twilight says, as she puts a hoof to her chin. Then she replies, "I think I've got just the book you're looking for on that subject, wanna come in?" She says while motioning for Blizzard to come inside.

BGM 2 "Ok sure." Blizzard says. Blizzard then enters the castle and says, "Wow. Nice castle Twilight."

Twilight replies, "Thanks, I'm glad you like it. Let's see.....here's the royal library." Twilight opens one of the doors leading to the castle library and says, "I'm pretty sure I got just the book you need, wait right here." Twilight then beings to fly around and levitating books to find the one she thought was right for Blizzard.

Blizzard was amazed, "Woooaaah.......that's a lot of books. I've been to some libraries before, but THIS. This is awesome!"

"Thanks," Twilight says, "aaaand ha! Here it is! Just the book you need Blizzard!" Twilight then lands in front of Blizzard and levitates the book to him asking, "So whaddya think?"

Blizzard reads the title of the book, "'How to woo a mare you have a crush on, without failing'?" Blizzard begins to blush a little and says, "Uh, no offense Twilight, but I--this isn't what I'm looking for. I don't have a crush on anypony." He says while laughing nervously.

"Oh, ok. I just thought maybe you know, you were trying to impress a certain somepony." Twilight says with a smug face, then laughs and asks, "I think I might have another book that could help you. Want me to get it for you?"

Blizzard quickly says, "Uh, no thanks I'm good. But you've helped me Twilight, thank you." He then walks towards the door and says, "I'll see ya later I got some thinking to do."

"Ok Blizzard, bye!" Twilight says while waving to Blizzard as he leaves the castle.

BGM 1 Once he's outside, Blizzard writes down in his notepad, 'books', and thinks to himself, "Hm, the princess was spot-on with what I actually needed, but I couldn't risk my crush not being a secret. Ugh! There's gotta be someway I can get actual help without revealing my secret!" Blizzard kept walking until he got an idea, "Wait a minute," he thinks, "Rarity told me a few days ago, that she has a sister! And her sister and friends have meetings about getting their cutie marks in a clubhouse near Applejack's farm! I bet Rarity's sister and her friends know how. Little foals are always trying to impress others, so this can't possibly fail!"

Blizzard begins to trot in the direction of Applejack's farm, when he notices 3 fillies running down the street. It was the CMC, they were out trying to get their cutie marks again. As they're running, Scootaloo says, "So how are we gonna get our marks today? Cooking? Cleaning? Ooh! How about skydiving?"

"That's a great idea!" Applebloom replies.

"Yeah we can be Cutie Mark Crusader Skydivers!" Sweetie Belle says.

Blizzard hears their conversation and thinks, "Stuff about cutie marks, that must be them! And I bet the white and purple one is Rarity's sister. What was her name again? Sweetie Belle that's it!" Blizzard then tries to talk to them and says, "Hey! Sweetie--oof!" He says as he runs into the Crusaders. After he gets up, Blizzard says, "I'm sorry about that. Are you fillies ok?"

"We're ok, sorry mister," Applebloom says.

"No problem, sorry." Scootaloo says.

"Yeah, we're fine," says Sweetie Belle. The Crusaders get up and Sweetie notices something about Blizzard and says, "Hey...are you Ice Blizzard?!" She asks with wide eyes.

"Yeah, you've heard of me?" Blizzard asks.

"We all have." Applebloom says.

"Sweetie Belle told us about you!" Scootaloo says, "she told us how you helped Rarity find gems and fight the diamond dogs!"

"Oh yeah, that." Blizzard says bashfully, "Everypony keeps saying that like it's a big deal, but it really isn't."

"To my sister it was!" Sweetie says, "she was really grateful for your help."

"Mm-hmm," Applebloom and Scootaloo agree.

"Thanks," Blizzard replies, "I try to help out anypony whenever I can." Blizzard then asks, "Hey do you fillies know how to impress somepony enough to get them to like you?"

"Hmmm..." All the crusaders say together.

Sweetie then says, "Sharing a common interest is one way. Take us for example, we all thought we were the only blank flanks in school, and we were all interested in finding ways to get our cutie marks."

"Sweetie Belle's right," Applebloom says, "Likin' the same things is great way to make new friends!"

"Yeah and not having our cutie marks yet, is what helped us!" Scootaloo says.

"I never thought of that," Blizzard says as he writes down 'common interests' in his notepad. He puts it away and says, "thanks."

"No problem Blizzard!" Scootaloo replies, then says, "Hey wanna check out our clubhouse? It's where we have out cutie mark meetings and stuff."

"Sure," Blizzard says, "it sounds nice."

"Cool!" Scootaloo says, "let's go!"

"Yeah Let's go!" Applebloom says, as she and Scootaloo run to the clubhouse. However, Sweetie Belle decides to walk with Blizzard.

Sweetie says to Blizzard with a smug expression, "So Blizzard, is there anypony in particular you wanna impress?"

"Whaddya mean?" Blizzard asks with embarrassment.

"You wanna impress my sister Rarity so she'll like you? Is that it?" Sweetie asks, still smug.

"Huh? I don't follow," Blizzard asks.

"You have a crush on my sister, don't you?" Sweetie asks while nudging Blizzard.

Blizzard blushes a little. He didn't realize that a filly would be able to catch on so fast about his true feelings for somepony. Blizzard sighs and says, "Yes it's true. I have a crush on Rarity," Blizzard says as he hangs his head in shame, "I was also asking Rarity's friends the same question I asked you guys so my secret would be safe. But I gotta ask, how did you figure out that I like her?" he says as he brings his head up.

"Well, I saw you giving that nice necklace to Rarity, the other day. I also saw you blushing when she hugged you. Sounds to me like you already have a very special somepony in mind already. Am I right?" Sweetie asks.

"Yeah I guess," Blizzard says, "But you can't tell anypony that I like her! Please, not even your other 2 friends. Please?"

"Ok I won't," Sweetie says. Then she gets an idea and seizes the opportunity to blackmail Blizzard and says, "But if you want me to keep it a secret, then we could use your help with something," she says with a smug face.

Blizzard gulps and says, "Ok what do you want me to do?"

Sweetie replies, "Oh, nothing big, just help carry a box of our crusader stuff to our clubhouse, please?"

"Oh ok," Blizzard says, "Where is it?"

"It's by my house," Sweetie says, "let me show you." Sweetie then runs over to her house and shows Blizzard the box that seems to be overflowing with stuff. "There it is! Can you handle it?"

Blizzard stretches and says, "Nothing I can't handle." The box itself was about the size of a grown pony so Blizzard had to make an effort to move it, "Unh! Urrg! This is a little heavy, what's in here?"

"I told you," Sweetie replies, "It's a box of our crusader stuff. It's what we use to try and get our cutie marks."

Blizzard stops and thinks for a second, "Hmm how am I gonna move this without pushing it?"

"Do you have an idea?" Sweetie asks.

"I got it!" Blizzard says. He then proceeds to create a path of ice along the ground and under the box, "This way, I can slide the box to your clubhouse." Blizzard then gives the box a push and it slides away from them. He then says, "Come on! Let's race back to the clubhouse!" Blizzard says as he runs after the box.

"Oh you're on!" Sweetie Belle says as she runs after Blizzard.

"Which way is the clubhouse?" Blizzard says while galloping after the box.

"That way!" Sweetie says, "Over by the apple orchard."

"Got it." Blizzard says.

The box of the crusader's stuff kept on sliding across Blizzard's ice path until it ended at the clubhouse. He and Sweetie were both breathing heavily when they finally get there. And she says, "Thank....you....Blizzard." After a bit more breathing, she goes over to Blizzard and nudges him again, "Don't worry, your secret is safe with me."

"No....problem," Blizzard says.

Applebloom and Scootaloo hear the box stop on the grass and see Blizzard and Sweetie Belle outside the clubhouse. They open the door and come down to see Blizzard and Sweetie Belle.

"What took you guys so long?" Scootaloo says, then she notices the box of crusader stuff they needed, "Awesome! You got our stuff! Thanks Ice Blizzard" she then jumps into the box to look for skydiving gear.

"Yeah thanks!" Applebloom says, "We couldn't move that thing ourselves, that thing weighs a ton! How'd you get it here?"

"I made an ice trail under the box, and pushed it all the way here," Blizzard says, "the ice made it so that the ground was slippery and it could slide all the way here."

"Wow!" Applebloom says, "that's amazin'! And you don't even have a horn! How can you do ice magic with no horn?!"

"Oh yeah! I just noticed that!" Sweetie says, "You're an earth pony with ice magic?! That's amazing!"

"Yeah, it's no big deal," Blizzard says humbly, "I got my ice powers as a colt from a crystal spirit, but that's a story for another time."

"Aww please?" Sweetie asks, "Tell us how you got your powers!"

"Maybe some other time," Blizzard says, "I gotta get home and review my notes." he says while holding out his notepad. then he puts it away and says, "Besides, I don't wanna get in the way of your crusading. I'll see you all later ok?" Blizzard says as he begins to trot back home.

"Ok....bye!" Sweetie says.

"Bye Blizzard!" Applebloom says, "What a cool guy."

Scootaloo had hears everything from inside the box, and says, "Bye Ice Blizzard!" a little muffled. Then she pops her head out and says, "Look girls! Skydiving suits and stuff!"

"Alright! Let's go!" Sweetie Belle says.

"Yeah!" Applebloom says.

"CUTIE MARK CRUSADER SKYDIVERS!!!" All the crusaders shout as they run to go practice skydiving.

As Blizzard trots back to his house, he thinks to himself about all the help he's received and looks over his notes, "Hmm so let's see, I've got 'Be friendly' from Pinkie, 'Show off' from Rainbow Dash, 'Reading books' from Twilight, and 'Having stuff in common' from the crusaders. Now how can I apply all that to trying to impress Rarity enough to get her to like me? Hmmm....."

BGM 3 "UGH! I gotta rest my head and think about this later." Blizzard says as he puts a hoof to his head. When he makes it to his house, he goes inside and puts his notepad on table and goes to his bedroom. He then comes out of his bedroom with the book he got from his grandfather that contains his stories from the Equestrian war, and sits out on his porch. "Well, everypony helped me out, and I helped somepony else today. But I gotta think about impressing rarity later. For right now, I'm gonna clear my mind with some reading." Blizzard thinks to himself as he reads his grandfather's old book.

THE END

Middle of a Brainstorm

(One day after chapter 3)

BGM 1 Blizzard got up this morning and had already finished his daily routine, but when he looked out the window he saw the weather Pegasi moving in the clouds to make it rain today. Blizzard sighed, "What a beautiful day....or what it would've been if Rainbow and her weather friends didn't have to make it rain today!" Blizzard said angrily, "I'm gonna be stuck inside because the rain is gonna make the ground all soggy and I doubt anypony else will be out there except the Pegasi when it rains. Oh well, it is their job I guess."

Blizzard looked over to his notepad of ideas he had gotten from Rarity's friends that was on his table, "Hmm, maybe I should look these over and try and hatch some ideas on how to impress Rarity." He got up from his windowsill and sat at his table with his note pad and looked it over, on it was:

Be friendly - Pinkie

Show off - Rainbow Dash

Books - Twilight

Common Interests - The Crusaders

"Now how am I gonna apply all this to impressing Rarity?" Blizzard thought to himself as he tapped his pencil on his head, "As far as being friendly, I got that part down fine, I was friendly to Rarity when I first met her, and when I helped her out with finding gems and fighting the Diamond dogs, I'll just have to continue to be friendly and I know I'll get somewhere with it." Blizzard then wrote 'Continue to be Friendly' down next to that note.

Blizzard looked at the next idea on his list, "Show off a little, well that's no problem! I can do that just fine!" Blizzard said as he made a wall of ice and punched his hoof through it to break it apart, "Showing off is what I do, but like Rainbow said, bragging isn't good. Maybe just a little, but not too much to turn other ponies off. But I kinda already showed off to Rarity that I could fight, what else could I show her?" Blizzard had to think for a bit, "Maybe some of my work as a sculptor? Yeah! I could probably show her an ice version of herself! And maybe some of my other ice art too." Blizzard then wrote 'Ice Art' next to that note.

Blizzard looked at the next note, "Books...." he said as he put a hoof to his chin, "I've learned before, that books are useful sources of information. That's why I went to the princess' library, but I didn't want her or anypony else to figure out why I needed a book like that. Grrr....! This is frustrating!"

As Blizzard said that, it began to rain outside. "Oh great," Blizzard said, "yep, there goes my day." Blizzard then breathes out with frustration, "I'll probably just have to find a book that can help me, but for now, books is an unresolved solution." And with that, Blizzard put 'needs more thought' next to the note on books.

"And last but not least," Blizzard said as he looked at the note, "Having common interests. Hmmm..." Blizzard thought for a bit, "What things do Rarity and I have in common?" "UGH! I can't think of anything!" he said aloud, "Why does this have to be so difficult?! Why can't figuring out how to impress somepony be easy! If only Caliber were here, he'd know what to do." he said as he made an ice sculpture of Caliber in his hoof.

He looked at the sculpture of his friend and it hit him, "Wait a minute," Blizzard then made the sculpture of Caliber in his hoof disappear, "Rarity is elegant and she makes elegant clothing art. I can make elegant ice art! That's it! That's what we have in common! We both have artist-- artistic-- artsy, whatever it's called." Blizzard then wrote down 'art talent' next to the note on common interests.

Blizzard takes an overall look at his notepad, "Well that just about covers everything. Now I just need to apply all this info to future times I see Rarity and I'll have her impressed in no time!"

During Blizzard's note taking, it began to rain harder outside, turning into a storm complete with thunder and lightning. When he heard the sound of thunder, then a lightning bolt strike, Blizzard was surprised, "Aah! woah! oof!" he had fallen out of his chair backwards, "Ow, damn thunder always scares me." He then walks over to his window again and sighs, "This storm outside reminds me of Electron. It's too bad he hates me now, but I can't remember what his problem was with me. I do remember when we used to be friends..."

FLASHBACK

BGM 2 Ice Blizzard and Electron Wave Storm both grew up together in the Crystal Empire. They were both good friends as foals and liked to play around with each other roughly. (This is them as foals)

Ice Blizzard was chasing Electron, "I'm gonna get you this time Electron!"

"No you're not Blizz!" Electron said, "I'm gonna beat you again!"

Blizzard then jumped onto Electron, "I gotcha!" The two then begin to roll down a hill and landed in mud. "Haha! That was fun wasn't it Electron?"

"Yuck, yeah I guess it was." Electron said, "Looks like you got something in your hair."

Blizzard looked at his head and said, "Huh? i don't see any--"

Electron had thrown mud into Blizzard's face, "Gotcha!"

"Very funny." Blizzard said as he gathered up mud in his hooves and threw it at Electron, "Now I got you!"

Blizzard and Electron both laughed as they played together for the rest of the day.

FLASHBACK END

BGM 3 As Blizzard was reminiscing about his past with Electron, another lightning bolt had struck and scared him, "Woah holy crap!" Blizzard fell over onto his back, "Ouch! Damn lightning strikes!" Blizzard then sat back at his table, ad sighed, "Darn Electron. Ever since he's started hating me, I've been more surprised by lightning than I was when I was a colt. I wish he wasn't so hostile, but what can I do besides try and get him to be friends with me again."

Blizzard looked outside and noticed the rain had let up a little, "Hmm, I'm not gonna let my fun day get ruined over a little rain! I'm going out today regardless of the weather! I'm not gonna be held back by some rain!" Blizzard then put on his rain coat and boots and made an ice umbrella, "Time to have some rain fun!"

THE END