Gems, Ice, and Dice

(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